7
v..
B, r. SOHWEIER,
THE CONSTITUTION THE UNION AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
Editor aad Proprttor.
TOL. XLVII.
MIFFLINTOWIN. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. MAY 31. 1893.
NO. 24.
. The Brooklyn Divine's
Sunday Sermon.
Subetr-Hhi.p a4 Javelin."
Tfxt ".1 nit TW.vr 1 I . ... ...
,i , , ... fu.vru 'ran n i nana at
" other Umyawl ,:ierf ,ra, a . . '
br'.". " ??.??r .? raw, which
whieh i. . T i w ola Pe"8 o Insanity to
. Li'6 L?'1 ? s,,bit. If one is disposed
to sons physical
ailment aad h. iret real
aul is a ravinsr nunim -n. fc-
' who 1 ;?'Vt,B1 ''"" Propfeu or sibyls,
I th. . ",Qi K-sf'-ulxted wildly whes
I vT .P"",-n'l-'l to be foretelling events. ,
! nl hr"r the !:h"i',1;" o' the royal stat
r iVAZ V I . . ,or lue aisor.tered klnir
II now not but David prescribed musio!
, nM?""' "J the harp.'hto flairs beifaS
Th' he "-,l",froTi me vibratin strings.
k'n" -m rum! Thrum! No use. The
it wU'not llsle to thaexqulsite cadences.
a lets fly a javelin. expecting to pin th.
minstrel to the wall, but David dodged th.
weapon and kept on. for he was confident
that lie coul. I, as before, subdue Baui'i bad
l.nt by musio. I
Arain the javelin Is dan?, and Daviit
Jodges it and darti What a contrast I
Locate D.ivid with a harp and enraged Hani
with a javelin. Who would not rather play
the one th:in flinrthe other? Rnt th.t i '
not the only time in the worlds history that
, harp and javelin met. Where their birth-
u i are- 11 said that
the lyre was first suxested by the tlRht
drawing of the sinews of a tortoise aaross its '
hell, and thit the flute was first suinreeted '
by the blowing of the wind across a bed of ,
rrt". ana mat tue ratio of musical intervals
was first suirested to Pythagoras by the dif
ferent hammers on the anvil of the smithy,
but the harp seems to me to have dropped out
of the sky an.i the javelin to have been thrown
np from the pit.
The oldest strinsro.i instrument of the world
is the burp. J ubal sounded his harp in the
book of (i.-nesis. David played many of his
p-films on the harp while he sansr them. The
captives in Babylon hunt; their harps on the
willows. Jos-phtis celebrated the invention
of the lO-stnused harD. Timotheu. the
Milesian, was imprisoned for addinir th.
twelfth String to the harp, because too innoti
luxury or soun.l mnrlit enervate the people.
Egyptian harps. Scottish harps, Welsh harps,
Ir.sh harps have been celebrated. What an
inspired triangle !
Everlasti'is honors to Sebastian Erard,
ho by pedals invented called the foot as
well as the hand to the harp. When the
harp'soor.l maker for whom he worked dis
charge 1 him for hig Kenlus, the employer
not w.intin r to be eclipsed by his subordi
nate, .rnra suTTsreo irom the same passion
of je-ilousy that threw Saul of my text into
tbs 1't during which hs Uuu? a javelin at the
harnisr. The harp is almost human, as you
fin-i when you put your linger on its pulse.
drier instru'iieuia bave louder voice and
tnny be better 'or a battle charge, but what
exquisite sweetness slumbers between the
harp strings, waking at the first touch of the
tips of the tinkers. It can weep. It can
plead. It cm soothe. It con pray. The
tluto is more mellow, the trumpet is more
etirtUnj, tlis orjan is more majestic, the
cymbals are more festive, the drum is more
r-xonndlus, but the harp has a richness of its
own and will continue its mission through
ali time an t then take part in celestial sym
phonies. Kr -t- Joliu s iys he heard in heaven
the harps of God.
But the javelin of my text U just as old.
It is about five and a half feet lonir, with
wooden handle and steel point, keen and
sharp. But it belonirs to the great family of
death d al. rs an 1 is brother to sword and
spear and bayonet, and first cousin to all the
Implements that wound and slay. It has cut
Its way through the ages. It was old when
Paul, in the 8v.-ene of my text, tried to har
poon David. It has cashed the earth with
f rave trenches. Its keen tip is reddened
with the blood of American wars, Knirlisb.
wars, German wara, Russian wars, French
Wars, Crusader wars and wars of ail ai:es.
Tue structure of the javelin shows what
it was made lor. The plowshare is sharp,
but aimed to cut the earth in preparation for
harvests. The lightninjr rod is sharp, but
aimed to disarm the litrbtninm and secure
safety. The ax is sharp, but aimed to fell
forests and clear the way for human habi
tation. The knife is sharp, but aimed to cut
the bread for sustenance. But the javelin is
harp only to open human arteries and extin
guisn human eyesight and take human life
and fill the earth with the cries of orphanage
and widowhood and childlessness.
Oh, I am so glad that my text brines then,
so c!03e together that we can see the contrast
between the harp and the javelin. The one
to soothe, the other to hurt ; the one to save,
the other to destroy ; the one divine, tb other
diabolic ; the eue to p'ay, the other to hurl,
the one in David's s ciiliul hand, the other in
Saul's wrathiul clutch. May God speed the
harp, may God grind into dullntw the sharp
edf;e of the javelin.
Kow what does all this make you think of?
It suggests to me musio as a m licine for
phvsical and mental disorders. David took
bold of the musical instrument which he best
knew how to play and evoked from it sounds
which were for King Saul's diversion and
medicament. But, you say, the treatment in
this case was a failure. Why was it a failure?
Saul refused to take the medloine. A whole
apothecary shop of curative drugs will do
nothing toward healing your illnesses if you
refuse to take the meiiicine. It was not the
fault of David's prescription, but the fault ot
Saul oostinacy.
David, ous of the wisest and best of an
iges, stands before us in the text ad minister
ial music for nervous disorder and cerebral
disturbance, and David was right. Musio is
the mightiest force in all therapeutics. Its
results may not be seen as suddenly as other
form, nf -nr. but it is iust as wonderiuL
Von will never know how much sullering and
sorrow musio has assuaged and healed. A
soldier in the United States army saia w
on the days the regimental band played near
the hospitals all the sick and wounded re
vived, nd men who were so lame they could
not wallt before got up and went out lind sat
in the sunshine, and those so dispirited that
ther never expected to get home began to
pack their baggage and ask about timetables
on steamboat and rail train.
Theodoaius, the emperor, wrathful at tn
behavior of the people of Antloch, who, on
some sudden provooation tore down the
statues of emperor and empress, resolved
severely to punish them, but the bishop,
knowing that the emperor had a group of
boys to sing to him while eating at the table,
taught tho boys a plaintive song in which the
people lamented their bad behavior, and the
king under the pathos of the musio eried out,
"The city of Antloch is forgiven. The rage
of Achilles was assuaged by a arp. Ascie
piades swayed rebellious multitudes by a
'"liter the b.ml of Torktown, when a
musician was to suffer amputation, and be-
tore the days of autesthetics, the wounded
lol? -:..JJ.. . m,iHical instrument and
aTtta forty -inute. of
imputation. PP
ninank.-rVK creditor.
;ed sT rnchnting.y before him that the
creditor forgave the debt and gave the debtor
ten guineas more to appease other creditors,
ITeit physician of olde tun. oaa
tenjed (of course carrying our th"7
'a?) that all ailments of the world could be
cud by music The iWjo
report their recoveries by this mode. Butto
wuat "twilight hour has many a saint of God
Placed heartache with a hymn hummed or
Xf. bunEnrat the stake. Ov.r what key.
of pi-no or organ consolation has walked.
Vei in church one hymn nae rolled
a thousand of tne worried, perplexed
"while'ther are hymns and tone ready for
the jubilant, then, is a rich hrmnology for
the suffering "Naomi" and "Eventide and
"AutuWLeaves - and "Come y. donso
lato" and wh)le portfolios and librettos ot
cs st to mniio. All th. wonderful
Suphs of surgery and all the new node.
oVsuJoessful ttmentofphyiand men
tal disorders ax. discussed JXX
ventlons and 'PS
mint i. Aiitt vv.., ,
tK' medicated by music,
wi r d '"ftromentaJ, let the world know
ZSuJZ lt?T b la 8weet ound, whether '
cWdorS r ,pia' from tightened .
ciord or ascend.ng from ivory key.
foo1Uofth..rUniVer,,:l' At thfc
?ogther w8mBnt:, neT" to 68 ,n P' 1
ithSTi. ' Ut on,e tlng was not hurt, and 1
' over" ?.h- "e wori 1
n!ae -Z nussia at a watering
! VT. T. were -r,wtl w. entered a great
doriuin, which was tilled with thousanT.
' "lana. whose language I oould Hot
understand any more than they oould under
stand mlna.
But after the grand band had, out of com
pliment to us, played our two grmt Ameri
?an f1. I stepped on the platfom and said
to the bandmaster: "Russian air I Kussian
irl and then he tapped with his baton on
the music rack, and with a splendor and
majesty of power that ai:iiust made cs qunil
iu lull baud pjarel fortu their National
uithen. fuey nnlerstood our American
Ausid. aad a-. aadrrslooJ their EuAian
nis:a, It m . am versa! luajroaya, .--1 M
root ter nmri our.
i s'uoald ui wouaer if la ths diy of iui
ment it should be found out ht n,f V1.
have been saved by musio than by preaching.
I should not wonder if out of the one hun
dred and forty and four thousand ransomed
ouls that John foresaw before the throne of
God at least 130,000 had been saved by sweet
Jong. Why does not the church on earth
take the hint? Heaven is the great musical
oenter of the universe, the place of doxolo
gies and trumpets and harps, and in prepara
tion for that place we ought to make more of
musio on earth.
The band of musio at Waterloo played tht
retreat of the Ferty-second Highlanders back
to tha'v planus, and sacred musio has re
turned many i itsrlz; host ot God into the
Christian conflict with as much determlna
and dash as Tennyson's "riix Hundred. "
Who can tell what has been accomplished by
Charles Wesley s 7000 hymns, or by the con
gregational singing of his time, which couid
be heard two miles off? When my dear
friend Dio Lewis (gone to rest all too soon)
conducted a cainuaiim airainst drunkennu
U the West, and marshaled tnousands ol the i
nomest women of the land in that inagniu
sent campaign, and whole neighborhoods and
villages and cities shut up their grog s Jops,
lo you know the ohief weapon used? it was
the sons.
Nearer, my God, to Thte,
N irur to Tne
They s.mj it at the door of hundreds ot
iquor saloons which had been opeu for
Tears, and either at the first cli ,r -.i of tue
lampuiga or the second the saloon suui up.
It tue first versa of "Nearer, .My Go 1, to
Tnee" the liquor dealers lauuod, at tue
iecoud verse tuey looked solemn, at tue tui
verse they began to cry, and at the fouriu
verse they got dowu on their knees, luu
lay they opjned their saloons aam. Yes,
iome ol tnein did. But it is a great thing to
aave hell shut up if uniy for a week. Give
rua swing to a good gospel hymn, and it
would take tue whole world iorGod !
But when in my tet I see Saul declining
this medicine of rhythm and cadence and ac
tually hurling a javelin at the heart of David,
harpist, 1 bethink myself ol tue fact tliat
iin would like to kill sacred music We are
not told what tune David was playing on me
barn that day. but from the character of tue
man we know it was not a'crazy mairigai, or
a senseless ditty, or a sweep ot strings sug
gestive of the melodrama, out elevated music.
God given music, inspired musio, religious
music, a whole heaven of it encamped under
s harpstring. No wonder tnat wicked oaui
hated it and could not abide the sound and
with all his might burled an instrument of
death at it.
I know there are styles of musio that sin
admires, and you hear it as you pass the
casino or the dunce hall, and tue uevu has
stolen most of the uddies, though 1 a:u gial
Che Ule Bails have snatched up tue charmed
nrings from their desecration, but it is a la - t
that sin has a javelin lor sacred sound. In
many churches the javelin of criticism has
killed the music, javelin flung froai organ loit
or from adjoining pew of tne supersensitive,
haul's javelin aimed at David's harp. Thou
sands of people so afraid they may not sing
icieutiflcaily, they will not sing at ali, orsmg
with such low tone that no one hears tiiear.
In many a churcli tue jaei,u ot criticis-n
oas crippled tile harp of worsuip. It satia
.'ould Silence ail tne Sunday -sjhooi suns
wd the hymns of Chria'.iau worship, he
would gain uis greatest achievement. t hen
iho millennial son,' shall rse and it is be
ing made rea-iy tnere will be such a roil of
voiccs,such a con r-ut rated powor of strained
ind wind instruments, such majesty, such
unanimity, su.n coniincntai an i hejirspherie
ind planetary acclaoiatiou, that it will oeim
,ossiule to Know wnere eartu stops and
aeaven begins. Koll on, roll in, roil up,thon
millennial narmony 1
See also in my subject a rejected oppor
unity ol revenge. ny did not David pick
ip Suui s javelin aud hurl it uacic aain?
Oavid had a skillful arm. He demonstrated
jn another occasion he could wield a sung,
ind he could have easily picked up that
javelin, aimed it at Saul, the wuuid-te
issassin, aud left the foaming and de neu'.ed
monster as lifeless under the javelin as he
had left Goliath under a sl'ng. Uii, David,
now is your chance. No, no. Men and
women with power of tongue or pen or hand
to reply to an iinblttered antagonist, better
imitate David and let the javelin lie at your
feet and keep the harp in your hand. Do
uot strike back. Do not play the game of
tit for tat.
Gibbon, in his history, tells of Bajaset, th.
great Moslem General who was brought a
japtive to the tent of Tim nr. He had at
tempted the massacre of Tiinur and his men.
fimur said to him "Had you vanu,uuned us
I am not ignorant of the lute wulcn you re
terved for myself and my troops, but ld
dain to retaliate, lour lue and honor are
secure, and I shall express my gratitude to
Ood by my clemency to man." Beautiful.
Bevenge on Chrjttian's tongue or pt or
land is inapt and more damage t tue one
who employs it than the one against whom
it is employed. What ! A javelin hurled at
you and fallen at your feet, and you not hurl
it back again? Yea, I have tried the plan.
I learned it Irom my father and have prac
ticed it all my life, and it works well, and by
the help of God and javelins not picked up I
nave conquered all my foes and preaciie 1
funeral sermons in honor of most of them.
The best thing you can do with a javelin
nurled at you is to let it lie where it dropped
or hang it up in your museum as a curiosity.
The deepest wound made by a javalin is not
by the snarp edge, but at the dud end of the
handle to him who wields it. 1 leave it to
you to say which got the oest of that light in
the palace Saul or David.
See also in my subject that the fact that a
man sometimes dodges is not against bis
courage. My text says that when Saul as-
him, -J'--1 id nVOw'-'l 0t Of ii I
enc. twice'' tnat is, when the javelin wue
flung, be stepped out of Its direction or bent
this way or that in other words, he dodged.
But all those who have read the Hie of David
know that he was not lacking in prowess.
David had faults, but cowardice was not one
9f them.
When David, who was, I guess, about four
and a half feet high, went out to meet the
giant, who was, I guess, about 10 feet high,
It was a big undertaking, and the inequali
ties of th. struggle were so great that it
struck the giant's idea of the ludicrous, and
he suggested to the little fellow that be would
make a fine dinner for a buzzard or a jackal
"ttun to me, and I will give thy flesh unto
the fowls of the air and to the beasts ot the
Ueld."
When David went out t. meet that giant
and conquered him, he demonstrated, as he
aid on other occasions, his courage. But I
find that when Saul flung that Javelin,
David dodged it. or the chief work of his lif.
irould never have been done. What a lesson
Ibis is to those who go into useless danger
and expose their lives or their reputations or
their usefulness unnecessarily. When duijr
demands, go ahead, though ail earth and hell
oppose. Dodge cot one inch from the right
position. But when nothing is involved stop
Lack or step aside.
Why stand in ll way of perils that yem
can avoid? Go not into quixotic battles to
fight windmills. Ion will be of mor. use to
the world and the church ss an active Chris
tian man than as a target for javelins. There
are Christians always in a fight, If they go
Into churches, they fight thera. If they go
into presbyteries or conferences or consocia
tions, they fight there. My advice to you is.
If anvthing is to be gained for God or th.
truth", stand out of the way of the javelin.
I Samuel, xviii., 11, "David avoided out of
his presenc twice.'
Washington was as mighty In his retreats
as in hi. advances. His army would several
u- hua hmb deatroved If he had not
' dodired. H. dodged on Long Island ; he
djdgad aa yew Jmamw height Uaooia o
J. way to Inauguration at Washington was
waited for by assassins, but he took another
train and dodged the desperadoes. We have
high exa: yle ot the fact that sometimes a man
will serve God best by disappearing from this
or that place, this or that environment.
A mob brought Chnst to the top of th.
rocks back of Nazarrah. They did not ilk.
IIis preaching, and they proposed to hurl
Him down the precipice. But while they
were getting ready for the massacre Chjist
darted Into the crowd and amid the confu
sion escaped to Capernaum and continued
exercising devils and cooling fevers and till
ing IV h nets and giving healthy circulation
of blood to paralysis and curing dementia and
turning corpses into living men and women
and doing His chief work.
What a good thing He dodged the crowd on
the rocks back of Nazareth! Likewise at
Jerusalem one day, while He was sauntering
up and down in Solomon's porch waiting for
an opportunity to say kind worts or do a
useful deed, the people proposed to pay Him
for His self sacrifices by stoning Him to death,
'tU the record is, "He escaped out of their
hands."
See also la my subject th. unreasonable
attitude of javelin toward harp. What
that harp in David's hand done to the javelin
In Saul's hand? Had the vibratingjtnnga of
one hurt the keen edge of the other? Was
thar. aa old n-nlm hmtmmmn the two faM
rpcut? Had the
triangle ever insulted the polished shaft?
Why the deadly aim of th. destroying
weapon against the instrument of soothing,
calming, healing sound?
Well, I will answer that If yon will tell me
why the hostility of so many to the Gospel,
why the virulent attaoks against Christian
religion, wsy the angry antipathy of so
many to the most genial, most inviting, most
salutary Influence under all the heavens.
Why will men give their lives to writing and
speaking and warring (gainst Christ and
t tie Gospel.' Why the javelin of the world',
hatred and rage against the harp of heavenly
love? Vou know and I know men win get
wrathfully red Li to. face and foaming at
the mouth and urs ih. gesture of the clinched
i-n at down their feet with uv'
tfmp-iasis and invoke all sarcasm ana iio.iy
ani vituperation and s.-orn and spite at the
Cbr.stiau religion. What has the Christian
religion done that it should be so assailed?
Whom bath if bitten and left with hydro
phobia virus in their veins that it should
sometimes be chased as though it were a
uaddened canine?
To bead off and trip up and push down
and corner our religion was the dominant
thought in the life of David Hume and Vol
taire and Shaftesbury and even the Earl of
Kochrstnr, until one day in a princely bouse,
in which they blasphemously put God on
trial, and the Earl ol l'.ochester wastheatUsS
ncy against God and religion and received
the appiause of the whole company, when
tuddeniy the earl w.is struct under convic
tion and cried : "Good God, that a man who
walks uprightly, who sees the wouderiul
woriis ol God and has the use of his senst-a
and reason, should use them in defying his
Creator 1 1 wish I had been a crawling leper
in a ditch rather than have acted toward God
s 1 have done.'
Javelin, of wit, javelin of Irony, javelin of
tournlily, javelin of sophistry, javelin of nu
man and diabolical hostility have been flying
for hundreds of years and are flying now.
But aimed at what? At something that has
come to devastate tne world? At something
that slays nations? At something that would
maul and trample under foot and exeruoiat.
and crush the human race?
No. aimed at the gospel harp harp on
which prophsis played with somewhat linger
ing and uncertain Angers, but harp on which
aposufl. played with sublime certainty, and
mw;n piayed while their fingers were on
Ore. Harp that was dripping with the blood
of ths Chrjit, out of wnose heartstrings th.
barp was cnorded and Irom whose dying
groan the strings were keyed. On. gospel
harp I All thy nerves a-tre:nble with stone.
Si self sacrifice, liarp thrunmed by lingers
long ago turned to dust. Harp that ma ie
heaveu listen an 1 will yet mae all the earth
bear. Harp that sounded pardon to my sinful
soul and peace over the grave where my dead
ileep. Harp that will lead the chant of th.
blood washed tlirong redeemed around th.
tnrone. May a javelin slay me tetore I fling
a jr.velin at taau Harp wiiieh it seems al
most too sacred for me to" touch, and so I
call down from their throne, those who used
to linger it and ask them to touch it now.
''Comedown. VAiliain Cooper, and run your
Angers over the str.Ut'S ol this harp." He
Tays, "I will," and ha plays :
'i a r i . ;ouni i:n au-il with blood
li'itto from luuuft'a:l veins.
"Come down, Charles Wesley, and touch th.
strings." He says, "I will," and he plays :
Jo, lover of my soiil.
Lei me lo ioy ho-om fly.
'Come down, Augustus Toplady, and sweep
your lingers across this gospel harp." H.
says, "i Will, and ne ptays -
Ko. k of .V.:et, cieft for m,
Ll in. bids uiyif In thee.
"Come down, Isaac Watts, and take thit
harp." He says, "I will," and he plays i
A., and did mr s.v.or bleed,
Aud did my ovjrvUo die?
"P. P. Bliss, come down and thrum this kos
oel harp." He says, "I will," and he plays t
tllklnjh. 'tn d m.l
I believe on the Soa.
Ineffable harp I Transporting harp ! Harp
of e.'Uth ! Harp of heaven I Hnrp saintly
and seraphic ! Harp of God 1 Oh, I like the
idea of thut old monument In the ancient
church at I'Uard, near Kilkenny, Ireland.
The sculpture on that monument, though
chiseled more than a thousand years ago, as
appropriate to-day as then, the sculpture
representing a barp upou a cross. 'That is
wnere I hang it now : that is where you had
better hang it. Let the javelin be forever
buried, the sharp edge down, but hang th
harp upon the cross.
And now upon our souls let the harps of
heaven rain musio, and as when the sun's
rays fall aslant in Sw.tzerland at the approach
of eventide, and the shepherd among th.
Alps puts the horn to his lips and blows a
blast and says : "Giory be to God," and all
the shepheriis on the Alpine heights or dewn
the deep valleys respond with other blasts of
horns, saying,' "Glory be to God," and then
all the shepherds uncover their heads and
kneel in worship, and altera few moments of
silence some shepherd .see from his knees and
blows another blast of the born and says,
"Thanks be to God,' and all through th.
mountains the response comes from other
shepherds, "Thanlcs be to God," so this mo
ment let all the valleys of the earth respond
to the hills of heaven, with sounds of glory
and thanks, and it be harp of earthy worship
to harp of heavenly worship, and the words
of St. John in the Apocalypse be fulfilled, "I
heard a voice from heaven as the voice ot
many waters and as the voice of a gre:4
thunder, and as the voice of harpers harping
with their harps."
Th. highest volcano is Popocatepetl,
Mexico 17,748 feet, with a crater a
mile in diametet and 1000 feet deep.
XE'.VS IN BRIEF.
Henry IV., (f Fiance, -was af d
or cats and Ir. uibled whenever he saw
otie.
The I'tftich Government sti'I has
fa tli iu the practical iluy of submaiine
b')ut..
Sj many people st.irve to death in
L)ii !on that few cases at tract much
attention.
A man In Wolfe County. Kentnckv,
bus tu-en c.U fram-lused for life for fil
ing li's vote.
Tbe Q ieen of ItaTy seldom appears
In a f-.at, mid her bonce; s are email a: d
close-til tine.
Mrs. Aster, the N'i w York leader
of fa-diion, t.ever pays, less than f25 for
a pair o' shoes.
With a vocahnlary of 1000 woids a
roan cau transact all the orlii.ary busi
ueas matters of life.
S.-veiity per cent, or the peop'e of
Ceylou live by agriculture. The per
cer.ta;e in Britain is 15 44.
yueen Viciortp, of Euglanl. Is
very fond of making omeLtte?, and it
seeaas has several rtoeipra.
J. W. FelKtier. or Pala'.ka, Fla , Is
the owner of an English coin which be
claims bears tbe date of 1124.
CELIAIO ROSAMOND.
Is It truer They really mean
Kick .nam to crinoline?
Will i suit your style and mine
This old faMiion once so flnet
Dj the. really truly, mean
lo lake us (pack Ij crtnolineT
See on Leech's pictured pane
The niaiilens of a Dyisone age,
Fat snd tlumpy, one and all,
latiiiiU round and ren ltlial.
Hanuti g sleeve ;nu beetles. Mioe;
(love- one button's cot to do;
Chubby cheeks and rliubbv arms
billy poets call Ihem charihs'
hair in nets, rolled loose snd free;
Cnised Kltldti their hoop nischine;
Like llie-e mabiens shall we be
Vt hen we've got our crinoline.;
Must we all so short asaln
lis ve e truly grown in valnt
Will Queen 1 a-lilmi. Queen nf Whims,
lop two Inchis off our IbnbsT m
Mus: the tennis icrouud tie left
Forlorn, of all I lie mi l- bereltt
Must we rease lo run and play
because I lie hoop Is In ibe wayf
And henceforth majestic go,
W bile the iionp sw eps broad below f
Muxt we slowly pace the green
W heu we've got our crlnolinet
Home muck this Queen of Whiut.
Let us siay as we iiave been
Keep the use of hand and limb,
bwear a swear both great and grtm,
Never never never
tin no account whatever
NfcVfcK put on crinoline.
Walter Besakt. tn Z7i Queen.
MOUNT ATHOS.
Br THE RV. rnoFKasoii .
1). D., P. C. U
P. MaHaFFEV,
L There are no inns or roads npon
The gods of the heathen the inyen- Athos, nor is any stranger permitted to
.ions of particular races were local-, land there, unless he be accepted as a
ized to fixed or fa orite seats. Even-I gnest of the monks. sor this purpose
theOodofthe Jews was for a long he must obtain lettejayfrom'Oreek arch
time supposed to be nearer to Jem- i ihops, or t rime ministers, or Tnrk
saletn than to any other site upon ish ambassadors,- which be presents to
earth, and it was a new revelation, ! the governing body assembled at
'vhen -leBus Christ told the woman of Kuryes, who then issue a circular to
Suinsria that not there, nor at Jerumi- the twenty-one societies of the Mount,
leni only, but everywhere, should they ' recommending tbe visitor to their hos
tht worship in spirit and in truth find pitahty. From that moment he lives
and worship tho eternul Father. In free, and is received not only at the
this respect tho Protestant Churches of table with the monks, bat is sent br
the world s aud u. arest to the I'escrip- boat or mnle from each religious house
tion of our Lord. Though there are ' to the next
Churches of nghind, of Geneva, of i
Cnnnd ), no one for a momei.t supposes :
that any one couutry, or hpot in that
cisntry, is more holy than the nst, or
the favorite seat on earth ol the Cio l
tbeycerve. The various names only
refer to the particular form of the s.rv-
ioo In the frame of the organization.
But witu other Churches it is not
yet so. Not to speak of the Jews, who
still hold the decayed Jerusalem in
peculiar veneration, tbe Church of
Komo still has its centre, not only
political, but nplr tual.at liome, so thut
a pilgnmase to that city 18 always the
dream of every ions adherent to that
system.
It is
8 mewhat the same case with
tbe Greek Church, which calls itself
Orthodox. Though tbe establishment
of three patriarchs (at Jerusalem, Alex-
andria and Constantinople) prevents
any or e city from assuming tbesuprem -
acy which Borne does in t e west, there
is, as it were, un inmost shrine, a Hoiy
" "v -1.,. iuo vv-i vim-linn
looks as the purent and noblest rtahza-'
tion of bis Church iu the world T. is!
spot is the wild and romantic itodh n-'
tory of Athos, a peninsular in tho'
ktrjefest sense, whose narrow conflict
with the mainland has been for ceo- j
tunes easily guarded by a few soldiers, j
whose preoptions cliffs, lashed by per-
petual strms, are thorror of marin-
ers to this day a lnd of louel loveli
ness, made more, lonely by tbe men
that inhabit it, of reparation from the
world ai.d its highways, a laud devoted
specially to the service of God, and
called in all the Greek world Hution
Oiax, r-be Holy Mountain. The
mighty snow-capped douie which ter
minates the 4" miles of tbe woody
ridge, rises 7, 00 leet into the clouds,
a land mark toall that sad in the north
ern Levant. Froui tbe summit the
woud ring eve sees in a vast amphi
theatre the mount. ins of Thessaly,
Jr'elion, O.-si, the giant Olympus, then
those of Maredonia, l'anvtens, Khodope,
tne distant llicmns, till the Asiatic
Olvmpus of the Troad completes tlie
greut arc of land, looking seaward
are islands of lenown in ancient days,
Lemnos, Jmbros, aud the once holy
Samotlirnce, the racred mountain of
iue em vjreeus. luiieu ira prospeei
iu enrope u coni are witu mis iu
beantv and h stor o interest comhii ed. I
Hither it was that princes and states-!
men tied from Constantino- 'e, from
the wearinesses nna the vices ot liy- ; tl.ry to another, we preferred to go
zantine civilization, and shared with ; ,jown to the sea and attempt the jour
some obscure anchorites the peace and j m,y in an open boat. But tho first
ireedi m of a secluded solitude. But it ; time we met with so heavy a swell.
was only a solitn..o as retards cities
. n ,1 ... .. .. v.. . l . r. r..,M , i . a ; i
" " ul""l" ""i"
deserts of Egypt, "tbe glens and Csves
of Athos afforded a sholter clothed with j 8tCt,nd attempt was even more disas
splendor and variety of vegetation. I trous. We were laboring hard to
peopled with the tong of birds aud ; ronnd a point beyond which we knew
sound of tumbling stroams. It js a j we suould find the monastery of Xero
very garden of Eden for beauty, if j p0tamn, when a boat coming down the
beauty it was which tbese early monks I w,ni warned ns that a squall was ap
lesired. j proaching. A moment later it was
At all events they sorgbt seclusion, ! ni,on rjg. Fortunately, we had just
and with it liberty Jn the ninth ceu- put about the boat, and Mr. Sampson,
tury the tvrauny of acrnel bureaucracy brave man ana a gooj 8iir Wa8 at
weighed heavily upon the Eastern Em- the rudder. In one minute the sur
pire. The mm that came to Athos, ) fuco Df tne SPa waa not ouiy suow.wnjtA
came in search of relief from this in- : Wth. foam, bnt there were tremendous
tolerable buiden, and as soon as they waves, over which we sondded down
so increased as to form monastic tte wjn(j at a terrible pace. The biat
societies aud build churches with cells g, Wlth the exception of tho old
adjoining, we find without snrprise ! Uout skipper, who saw we were in
that tbey repudiate every master. ihey;K 1 hands, were terrified snd noisr.
obtain charters of civil independence I Tha soldiers who were with ns as' a.
from Emperors. 1 bey next reject
the jnns lie tion of the arch) ishop of
Cavnlla, their diocesan. Presently they
go farther, and disclaim the inter
ference of the very Metropolitan of
Constantino pie. Thus without control
of archbishop, without sanction of
Synod, thmeu of tbe Holy Mountain
gradually crystallized iuto twen'y-one
distinct monaster!es,-6tudiling tLelanil
scape like so many luge C'.stks, with rau Bafeiy in, and were dragged on
gre t walls and I aitletui-nts, a - quirug j thore by two monks who had ton
lands even outside the promontory, ac- down from above to help us. So we
qn:ring too, by pift and bequest, ' thanked God for our escnje, aud dc
wealth and treature!! of art; each in- u-rmined m future to risk the preci
dependeut of the rest, following its pices snd not the squalls of Mount
own customs; each sc-ndinpr to tho cen-1 Atl os. I will add that, upon inquiry,
tral town a rt j re sentative. with his w0 found that accideuts to riders are
vote determining the yearly connc I very rare, aud seem only to happen
of five, who direct this earliest and . tbrngn the fault of the man. not of
iluw Mriciiy represeciaiivo ui an iue
democracies of uieihro al Europe.
Though we are not here directlv con
cerned with politics, yet for tne re
ligious history of the place it is of
gree.t importance b know that tbe
monks have for centuries been perfect
lyfree. and nntrnmmelled iu the excr
else of their faith. What aver tbeir
spiritual life now is, it is tue natural
development of the creed which they
profess, and which they declare to be
the only pure creed in tbe world.
Een the Turks, under whose nominal
sway tbey have remained since the con
quest of Mahomet II. (.1452), made
honorable terms with them, more hon
or a I le indee 1 to the Turks 'han to the
Christians, for the monk', thrust pa
triotism aside, and submitted to
i Mahotcet before bis victory, and not
. till the war of 1821-9. did a single
Turkish soldier invade the baered
Mount, ladtpeadrnt. Uervfore, ler
ten centnric a, reixcted even by ITh tB,
infidels' and heretics, this great society
baa kept tip tbe same traditions, the
same exerciser, tbe same services, and
now stands ont in Europe isolated no
less In spirit than in sitoat on. As an
aged sovitor on the Alonnt expressed
it to me in enrions modern Eng lish be
bad once b en a sailor on the American
eoawt when I asked him the reason
for some childish custom ;MTe find it
to; we run it so.
Tbe number of visitors who reach
this enrions place being very few in
deed, it is woith while lor those who
have been there to tell their experi
ences. My object in going was to ex
amine the many iinminated mann
ecptpis for which their libraries are
famous; for 1 desired, if possible, to
fiud the eurlii r stages of that wonder
ful art, which bnrsts npon us in its
unapproachable perfection in the fa
mous "Book of Eel's. But I should
ind. ed have been dull and worthless,
if I bad not been deeply impressed
with tbe natural features, still more
with the religious condition os this
across a vast chasm,- poised npon its
cliff with tbe sea 500 feet beneath, the
great dome of tbe Mount iu the back
ground, we folt without hesitation that
it farexceeded anything we bud ever
seen in all onr travels. Who can tell
that similar catastrophes and forest
fires may not mar the -beanty of the
ivionnr, and row us for ever of the most
I nr-pcions relip of a hvcmriA hpo?
Armed with these introductions, I
was carried from SidnnicA hv nne nf
li.M.'s snn-Loats, and was waked no
at five in the morning with the hurried
messiice from the captain tbat I mnbt
, ianii at once, or be carried off to
j L,emnoa, for one of the usnal storms
wa rising, and the first glance showed
i me how danoerons was tb coai.t. VY
lay clot-e to a huge wall of grev rock
reaching np to heaven, which showed
iw'ui beneath no vegetation or track of
man, till the eye caught a castle,
perched like an eagle's nest fur up the
face ofhe cliff. Then I discerned
' a tiny bo., t bouse straiirht beneath it.
j with no .visible harbor, or connection
i with the aerial keen. Yt it whswL arlv
j the entry to tbe other, and the sailors
p ronght ns toaa tiny quay and littie
j shelter for a boat where weTanded, not
without diflioulty and danger. I was
' accompanied by my sob, fresh from
Marlborough School, and by Mr.
Sampson, the missionary in cbHrcre of
i iu American missions in jiaceuouia
and Bulgaria. This excellent man,
who j readies every Sunday in Greek,
was invaluable in making inquiries aud
carrying on conversations, for which
my modern Greek was inadequate.
Each monastery bas a boatman
monk, who lives in its boutnouse; and
beig now received aud qne-tioned by
this venerable person, be put bis
month to a Jong tube, like a trumpet,
slid sang np themountniu, J'' ttt Mnut.
aria, "live mules!" We hardly beard
him beside us with the mgiug of the
wind and lashing of tbe waves, and yet
after a few n. mutes be showed us, al
most straight over our heiid, ti e outer
edes of tbe n ules coming down to
our assistance. As we saw the empty
stirrup now and then Lunging in the
ait over us, we usked nneuslly whether
we were to ascend in this way; and yet
so e did. Il is the habit of the er
fectly snre-foottd bessts, who curry
loads along these break-neck paths, to
avoid being jostled by the inner wail
, ol the cliff, by walkmg along the outer
ej,,e over the precipice,
No doubt
i thev hsve" ascertained, by tbat inst
which renrosents ce-nBrntinnnnf m
iuct
experi
i etlCe this is the safest plan, and
no ri,ier ,g f0(.l enough to quarrel with
a mnle in such a situation, but leaves
l. submissively to its own course. It
is, reverth less, at first, very trying Y)
the nerves, aud we felt it so much that
j twice, when passing from one monas
tbat alter mnch toiling we were fain to
... . ,.. "...
i lunil ana rnnKe tne rest ot Mia wv nn
fnr,t . nondinir back nnr l irr.,jA Ti.
guard of honor, though landsmen, snd
prolwbly never before in such a plight,
were perfectly Ciilm and courageous.
To our lee, about a mile ofT, was the
great inevitable wall of cliSs, a certain
destruction if we did not mate in our
straight run a tiny boat harbor which,
in the distauce, looked hn.dly big
enough to bold our bout- Yet bv tbe
tLe btukt.
When we had ascended to tbe mon
astery IS, Gregory's), which turned
otii to be almost the most remote and
secluded of them all, we rode into a
wailed court surrounded with high
ch rubers and towers, snd studded
with small, but very decorated,
cucrchcs. file buildings were all piled
together in tbe most picturesque con
fusion. Ont of many window s tiers of
monkish beads looked down upon us
in y wonder meat, for we came with
out notice, and any stranger is a great
curiosity in tbe land. The heads of
tbe place received ns with cold respect,
and were not satisfied till we produce j
all our pompous introductions, and
told Ihem we intended to present them
formally next day at Karyes to tbe
Council. In tbe interval, we asked
ttiem to anticipate tbeir hospitality.
Tbey took the letters, and retiring to
their ajjtaabers read them very leisoxe-
ly, a all events delayed long time be
fore they caine Lack with a graoions
reply. . Though we Lad greatly viola
ted etiquette in not first going to
Karyes, they would overlook this
stumbling-block, and entertain us.
Indeed, already a servitor had bronght
a tray with a plate of jam, a fjimbler
full of spoons, and littU glasses of
mastteh liqueur. The visitor takes a
spoonful of jam from the plate, and
then taking the liqueur, drinks to the
health of the monks pfsenL A mo
ment later and tbe servitor appears
with Tnrkiiih coffee. At every monas
tery, at every visit, this ceremony is
repeated, and when it is over conversa
tion commences.
I he monks are not very interesting
ta'kers. As they never study, hardly
ever see even a newspaper, and ar
long since separated from the world,
their stock of ideas is small, and ti ey
bave little to give forth from their
mental stoiea. two human qualit'es,
however, are still strong in them: tbe each visitor who arrives there at once
first is curiosity, shown by all man- a-ks for the libraries, and looks for the
l er of strange inquiries about their books, the good monks bave e-dis-visitors
and their country. They covered their wesltb, and we may now
wanted to know why we came, why e be fairly secure that no more MSS.
had been bronght in a ship of war, will be destroyed. But those of seoo
whether Mr. Gladstone was likely to lar interest have almost all been carried
marry the Qnen, and more silly talk into Europe long ago. As far bank as
of tbe kind. The other salient point the days of the revival of learning tbe
abent them was their over-weenirig ', Holy Mount was known as the bunt
opinion of the importance of Mount ing-gronnd for classical texts, and
Athos, its extraordinary sanctity, and many of onr Greek books are derived
L.e great name and fame which they from this workshop of oopyista.
possessed in all tbe world. They The number of copies of the Got
thought lhat in religion especially they pels, many illuminated in gold and
bad no equals, and they were very splendid colors, is enormous, and I
much sRtonishefl when Mr. Sampson, I noted at first with surprise that the
like a true mis-ionary, began to ques- j Gospel of St. John always comes first,
tion their very idM of holiness, and to , But I soon felt the nroorietr of this.
I preach to them a gospel to which tLej
:
- I " n.taiiauicig. j V IIUJ UU, W 11C1I3 UJYBlOntlUS WUIIU-HIU
For here is a large society, or set of ciples are more prominent than the
' societies altogether devoted to re- ' simple laws of faith and practice. To
J ligiTtD, whose every act, whose every I them the Gospel of St John waawihjjt
sight reminds them of holy things, and natnral preface of introduction to the
ytt the whole conception of godliness, New Testament, beginniug as it does
: in our sense, is perfectly absent. For j with its conscious echo of the oening
; to them, piety consists in striot ortbo- ! of Genesis. In tbe beginning was the
j doxy according to the Eastern Church, Word and the Word was made flesh.
' from whose tenets not one of them has , The apostle, in fact, pives ns tbe meta
file smallest temptation to secede, aud pbysiSSl afnetia of the spiritual crea
iu honoring God by perpetual services, tion of the Chur.-h, as Moses bad given
wherein they spend hours of the day us the historical genesis of the physi
' nnfl of the night, bnt in which devotion cal cteatiou of mankind.
in not rtqn:red. They understand no j Bnt when 1 had turned over dozens
! service of God beyond the respectful . npon dozens of these fair copies, I
renmng ont or singing oi enaiess
1 psHlmHl(6sonc, and prayers. At the
great monastery called Lavra, we were
present on the eve of Palm Sunday, at
. a service which lasted from aeven in
: the evtjiing to niue in the morningl
. Many times in the night asl was sleep-
. less with excitement at all these won- . service books, with very curious mnsi
. ders, I rose and went into tbe church. ! cal notation ion one line. Instead of a
i where 1 stall had been reserved for me. ! stave I, thev could not read, though I
It was brilliantly lighted; the jewelled " showed them, iu the Horary at Vato
pictures on the screen glittered in : pedi, a MS. of the fourteenth century,
mauy colors; while the solemn monks, ! giving a full description of this use.
I in sober black, formed a strange con- j To my great regret 1 hail no time to
I trast in the stalls which surrounded conv even a nart of it
Ial i:..- . . a
iue niue transept, a. crowu ot ser
vantssilent, vacant, patient faces
filled the west-end; while at a lectern
in the midst, the priests intoned the I
I one hundred and fifty realms of David,
I or the whole narrative of the Passion.
' Many of tbe very old monks were
j asleep dnring most of tbe night; others
I were allowed to pns out into the
! court, where the full moon was shin
1 ing npon (be countless galleries and
' cables, and npon tbe two giant cv-
' pres-ts in the mjdst, which have stood,
black as the diulu, in this court for
many ceLtnries.
It is the iashion of the Greek Church
not to bave more than one service in
any chnrou on any one day, hence also
the fashion of having a number of
small churches instead of one great
one. In this Lavra, tbe largaj-t of tbe
monasteries, there were over" forty of
inese enpeie, iitoictibu ii various
saints, and all claiming sanctity irom
the presence of various legs, armv1
toreues and teeth of the holy persons, i
j wb. so frail bodies are supposed- to re-
ti.iu tbe virtues of their long-departed
spirits. 1're-eminent among these rel
ics are fragments of what is called the
True Cross, that is to say the cross
which the Empress Helena, mother of
Constnntine, is Raid to have sought
and fouud in the place supposed to be
Golgotha, and which was proved to be
! that of onr Saviour, among those which
: were exhumed, by bringing to life a
1 i . ... . .,
dead man hud upon ltl Of this cross,
, ,i 1 . , ,
I a considerable portion is supposed to
I , , - ' , . - ,
be preserved in the various churches,
i ti .i. i
: IttMe thing savor so strongly of sup-
... . : , . , .
ArHtilinn tlmt wa imacrinA nnrnlvpR at
; Treves or at Naples, where the Holy
Coat, or tbe blood of h' Jannariua,
liquefied twice a year, u'aupposed to
' a . .
I possess miraculous virtues.
j The whole series of monasteries on
I tbe west side of the Mount are wild and
; poor as compared with those on tbe
j milder elopes of the east side. Here is
- a series of great castles beginning
; with Va toped i, near tbe junction of the
isthmus, and ending with the magnifi
cent Lavra, near tbe point of the prom
I cntory. To this general rule there are
I exceptions, notably that of the Russioo.
! a Kussian monastery on the west side,
I where, along with that called the
Serai, near the central Ks
Serai, near the central Karyes, is
.-....: t.i. i- r: j:
I
I luauinuuii oi limb iiesJifie, wuu ueniro
if ,. t. i
in Greek
I lauds, and are, therefore, regarded
with great jealousy by tbe nationalist
party on tbe Mount. I will not send
a word upon these rich ami apparently
modern establishments which endeav
ored to show their genuine hospitality
by pntting their visitors into European
beds, with carpets on the floor of
European manufacture, and by pro
ducing at dinner a course of imported
piikles.
Oue of tbese modernizers actually
told me that he thought the exclusion
of women should be abandoned, and
tbe Holy Mountain made in this re
spect like the rest of ths world! Upon
me such an opinion o :nie with a pain
ful shock, iu the midst of a society so
conservative of old tradition. And
what a terrible violation of tradition
w )uld it be, seeing the mischievous
sex have been excluded fiom tbe
Monut since 1218, so tbat not even
cows, goats, bens, or other female
domestic animals are admitted! 1' is
indeed most strange to ride into Kar
yes, through large villas with gardens,
into streets lined with shops, and find
not a woman or a baby. There are
young boys imported from the main
land; but "all these are at work, labor
ing for tbe monks, whose servants
seemed to me to have a depressed and
worn look. Tbe streets of tbe town
are gloomy and silent, no peals of
laughter or games of children occur
there, nor do 1 remember any trace
of high enjoyment, unless it were the
love-songs of the nightingales, who bid
defiance to tbe monks.
From Karyes we went to Vatopedi,
and then all along the easterm coast,
passing from monastery to monasterv,
studying treasures, examining M3S.,
and noting what we could of tbe man
ners and customs of the monks. The
larger bouses have nAoy books and
MSS.; there have even been a few
priated, at a small press one kept at
Lavra. But as nobody ever reads any
thing but the t-crvice books in use in
the chapels, the liuraries are covered
with dust, and a ere in former days
pitifully neglected. The habit of c. py
mg out tl e Gospels aud other good
"books seems to have c ased aJUsrat the
end of the tiittenth century. Shorty
alter that tine early travellers epj-a
of tbe monks as so ignorant tbat
could not read, and when Mr. Cnrzon
wrote bis famous "Monasteries of the
Levant," he found the VSi. at Mount
Athos nenornll.v c st into some damp
cellar, and going to ruin with other
lumber. The monks, therefore, were
far less shocked to see, thau we are to
bear, tbat quantities of those precious
parchments were made into cartridge-ca-es
by the Tuikish soldiers during
the War of Liberation of the Greeks
(121-9). The negotiations of Mr. Cur
zon for some of these neglected treas
ures form tbe most amusing part of
bin excellent book. Now at last, whoa
. especially in the metaphysical Greek
I t' 1. i . Li
came to the conclusion that in earlier
times copying out tbe Gospels must
have been counted a religious service,
. like reciting long rituals in the present
day. '1 here was no desire or expecta
, tion that any one shcnld ever read
; these precious books. Even their old
i S. .
the other treasures of the monas
ter'.es are beautiful embroidered vest
n.ents, niary of them of great antiq
uity, and mosaic pavements or de
signs npon the wall, in the fisrtn of
rich carpets bung against them. There
wet. also many splendid crown lights
of ban mered brass, and, of course,
much q mint and elaborate carving In
stonework of the b':ildiu.-s. 1 noticed
at lviron, one of the richest of tbe
foundations, a set of capitals faced with
i rams' -head--, which
were peculiarly
; striding. hven the outer walls of
j brickwork are diversified by having
plates of Khodian ware built iuSetheui,
so as to produce symmetricirt orna
ment. j I have frequently spoken of tb
wealth of the monks, aud this is still
! true, though much of their property
j in Bulgaria has been sequestrated.
' elt uer ,j the lurks, or in
eiiuer by tne xurks, or in nonmania
IT the new tiovernment But thev
still own no small property, both on
nuninsiiU i,i..ii u mma "r
fertile slopes uiid uplands, on the sister
peninsulas which form thut famous
trident of old called the Cbalcidioe,
and even in M ice. Ionia. One monk is
allowed to reside in Salonica as their
agent, and it is quite amusing to meet
' an T-ai7ent on the Hnlv MnuntAln ha
' jg so smartened, so experienced, so
Sp0iit from the old simple ideal b'
j contact with the world.
j T . . . , '4K- u, ,.
I have ss vet said nothing about the
I , t,. . . .
i diet ot these monks. 1 bough some of
, , . . . , , .
i the houses make what rules and relax
i . . . . , , ., ,-
i what rules thev like, still the force of
. .- ' .,;,
i i mot cut uiBBn mrui buucic uuiiwi u.
! 1
ly enongh to a very strict regimen. Of
their vigils, night services, long pray
ers, I bave spoken. But there are
many, especially of the Btricter anchor
ites, who live alone in the mountain,
to whom meat is nnknown. Even firh,
except shell fish, is forbidden on tbe
proper fast days. As they bave no
cows they have no milk; no bens, and
thev bave no eggs, unless imported
for Easter from the mainland. Tbeir
main diet, then, is black bread of good
quality, with a figure of Christ stamped
npon each loaf; soup, made chiefly of
oil aud rice; such vegetables ss fennel
and garlic; finh, Bnails, and plenty of
stroutr red wine. Ibis last, and oon-
,: " , 7,. , , ,,
i stant cups of lnrkish cofle, sustain
I , rrii ; nA
their lives well enough. There is no
object in sustaining tbeir energies.
We were, unfortuuately," not then
in the fruit season, and found the fast
ing in Holy iVeek very severe, tbough
tbe good monks did all tbey could to
make us comfortable, and showed
themselves perfect models of courte
ous hospitality. But tbe beauty of the
place, the freshness of the air, the
strangeness of the life, the deep inter
est of this fossil religion, engrossing
the whole life of i s votaries with a
faith that was not faith, with works
that were not work, with its ideal life
tbat was no lifn, with listlesstices for
its hope, apathy for its love who
could think of material conforts in the
midst of tbese strauge experiences?
And so we Bat far into the night in
aeriel balconies, which clung to the
outward summit of tbese castles, show
ing ns through tbe floor the sea a
thousand feet beneath; we passed
through fcrests of heath, over carpets
of forget-me-not, of iris, of orchids; we
rode npon sallies of rich carpet
through pathless brake of evergreen,
amid the torents and precipices; we
passed from the rich castles on tbe
nhore, where the courtly abbot
pledged us in generous wine, to the
alpine cliffs where the lonely asoetio,
seeking God amid the heats and storms
of nature npon the naked rock, would
not so much as turn and look npon ns;
and constantly the question came back
upon us. Have they found the God
whom they so diligently seek? It
would, indeed, be pr. sumptuous to
answer, So. Divers nations have
divers ways of aspiring to perfection.
Tha Oriectsl mind and these men
may be classed without hesitation
amocj Orientals will never be thor
Ougbly understood by us. Tbeir mo
tives, tbeir reasoning, their ileal, seem
quite different from onrs. Tbey fee
themselves s superior to as as any o)
us caa feel to them.