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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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SOME THINGS ABROAD 
 
 BY 
 
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 ALEXANDER McKENZIE 
 
 'S 
 
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 BOSTON 
 D LOTHROP COMPANY 
 
 FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS 
 
 X \ 
 
Copyright, 1887, 
 By D. LOTHROP COMPANY. 
 
 
 Electrotyped 
 By C, J. Peters & Son, Boston. ) 
 
^0 
 JOHN N. DENISON, Esq., 
 
 WITH GRATITUDE AND 
 RESPECT. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding fronn 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/soniethingsabroad01mcke 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. From New Yokk to Belfast 7 
 
 II. From Belfast to Newcastle ...,».. 28 
 
 III. From Newcastle Through Norway . . . . , 61 
 
 lY. From Norway to Italy 118 
 
 V. In Northern Jtaly 164 
 
 VI. To AND Through Athens 192 
 
 YII. In and About Constantinople 231 
 
 VIII. From Constantinople to Damascus 265 
 
 IX. In Damascus 304 
 
 X. Banias and Tiberias .322 
 
 XI. From Tiberias to Jerusalem ....... 348 
 
 XII. In and Around Jerusalem ........ 394 
 
 XIII. To THE End 440 
 
SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 FKOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST, 
 
 We were waiting for the hour of sailing when we 
 walked out upon the bridge which joins New York 
 and Brooklyn, and read the words of restriction and 
 caution which were repeated for the benefit of travel- 
 lers, — Keep to the right and keep moving. We felt 
 the force of the counsel, and allowed it to settle in 
 our minds as we turned to the unbridged sea. 
 
 It was on the Fourth of July that we really began 
 to move. The day was as hot as it could be, and the 
 tar melted in the seams of the deck. It was refresh- 
 ing to think of cooler airs, which were lying in wait 
 for us. Days passed before we found complete relief. 
 Between the hot sides of the ship and the hot 
 air of the engine, our state-rooms were intolerable. 
 When they became comfortable, the sea became rough, 
 and the appearance of the upper deck changed, as it 
 is accustomed to do in the process of the voyage. 
 Men Avere fewer. Ladies concealed themselves en- 
 tirely, or, encased in shawls, clung to their long chairs. 
 A general seriousness prevailed ; while incipient 
 friendships were nipped in the bud, and neighbors 
 were interrupted in their promised intercourse, and 
 
8 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the ship rolled with might and main. But we were 
 at sea, with no familiar faces to remind us of the 
 land we had left, or to recall the discussions and 
 conflicts that had grown wearisome. For us there 
 was more calm on the sea than on the land. The 
 incidents of the voyage were not remarkable. Yet 
 it takes but little to enlist attention and interest in 
 the long leisure and the somewhat persistent languor 
 of mind which belongs to a landsman upon the 
 deep. Of course, a few of the company were more 
 conspicuous than their fellows. There was one gen- 
 tleman from the British Provinces who carried good- 
 nature on his round face, and dealt it out to every 
 one who manifested any need of such cheer as he 
 could impart. He had his opinions upon most sub- 
 jects, and illustrative incidents were at his command. 
 He was frank, and, some might say, intrusive. He 
 was very fond of walking with the ladies, when walk- 
 ing was permitted, and of chatting to them at 
 other times. Yet he was still in the state in which 
 he was created, because he had never met a woman 
 who, upon his analysis of her character, answered 
 his demands. He made no concealment of his fond- 
 ness for conversation with those on whom he could 
 not bestow a complete admiration. " They don't 
 scrape you down to the brick," he remarked. This 
 testimony seemed impressive and expressive. But, 
 as I think upon it, I am at a loss to know from what 
 department of masonry he drew his comparison, or 
 why he should object to the intelligent scraping 
 which removes what is superficial, and discloses the 
 substantial character beneath. 
 
FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 9 
 
 He was an indulgent story-teller, always pointing 
 out the point of his narratives, and doing this re- 
 peatedly in condescension to dull hearers. He liked 
 to tell of a misguided goat who ate dried apples 
 and drank water till he looked like a side-wheel 
 steamer. This tale illustrated conscience, but he 
 did not make the application clear. 
 
 He was a man of experience, and when, on one of 
 our early days, he announced that there is a way to 
 be comfortable in a hot state-room, we listened hope- 
 fully for the rule. The rule proved to be this: Find 
 out how hot it is, and then adapt yourself to it. 
 This was disappointing, and yet I doubt if he could 
 have done better. He professed, more than once, to be 
 shocked at the unbecoming conduct of his room-mate 
 after a very warm night, when the poor fellow '' came 
 up to the surface of his sensibilities," and, not heed- 
 ing the supposed devotions of his companion, made a 
 brief remark which had a resemblance to swearing. 
 
 Then we had an English Nimrod who had been 
 exploring our Far West. He told thrilling tales of 
 his prowess. At his approach, the American buffa- 
 loes fell upon their knees, and the deer, with the pit- 
 eous tears chasing one another down their innocent 
 noses, lay quiet at his feet ; while the eagle faltered 
 in his flight and fluttered into the sportsman's hand. 
 Possibly I exaggerate the statements, but I preserve 
 the tone of th^m. 
 
 We had also a long Romish priest, who had served 
 as an army chaplain in India and Australia, and was 
 talkative and good natured. His geography seemed 
 a little confused, as he plainly thought that Captain 
 
10 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 Cook was killed in New Zealand. And he told of 
 a man who had seen a hundred and twenty-five dif- 
 ferent clubs with which the murder was committed. 
 He amazed a bluff Scotchman with some story of a 
 Parsee. " Was he an Englishman? " the Scotchman 
 asked. "No; a Parsee." "Oh, he belongs to that 
 country." "No, no; a Parsee — a fire-worshipper — 
 a Persian." I do not think the man has yet found 
 out why the priest was so emphatic ; he was certainly 
 staggered at the priest's report of Parsee wealth, and 
 of a hospital a mile long which one had built in India. 
 The priest had brought back one other tale, of a man 
 with whom he was once riding who refused to strike 
 his beast because the soul of his brother was then re- 
 siding in it. This was an inconvenient application 
 of the doctrine of transmigration ; and it might be 
 asked why he was willing to drive his brother at all. 
 
 On our one Sabbath we were favored with a ser- 
 mon from an American bishop. He had a fine pres- 
 ence, a strong voice, an impressive manner. He had 
 a good text, as they used to tell us at Andover, and 
 the sermon was earnest and helpful. 
 
 Our Canadian friend said that some people go 
 through the world "like a paper-knife," smoothly 
 and easily. It was in. this manner our passage w^as 
 made, for the most part. On the morning of the 
 13th of July we saw land, and, after running 
 down the pleasant coast of Ireland, in the afternoon 
 we left the Bothnia for the Jackal. We had a 
 charming sail, for an hour, in the fine harbor of 
 Queenstown, and then our feet were on Irish soil. 
 The prudent custom-house officer inquired if we 
 
FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. H 
 
 had tobacco or fire-arms, and, finding that we had 
 neither, suffered us to go on our way. We found the 
 people easy in their habits, and very deliberate. 
 We demurred at the needless delay, and were told 
 that Americans are in too much of a hurry. That 
 may be true, — I fancy that it is. But I am sure 
 that neither the lesson nor the instruction was 
 attractive just then. We had time for a glimpse 
 of Queenstown, which is more of a place than we 
 expected to find. At length we were on the train. 
 We had a delightful ride along the Lee to Cork, 
 where we found quarters at the Imperial. They 
 put us at. the top of the house, in recognition of our 
 nationality or our personal worth. A fellow-passen- 
 ger on the steamer invited us to drive about the 
 city. The poor man had been greatly disturbed at 
 Queenstown, by finding that his valise had fallen 
 under the wheels of the dray and been crushed out 
 of shape. He tried to obtain redress, but none was 
 to be found. He was an old traveller, and did not 
 let his equanimity be long disturbed. He engaged 
 a jaunting-car, and gave us a very agreeable hour. 
 The large, busy city, with its fine buildings, is in 
 strong contrast to the Cork of the stranger's imag- 
 ination. We found that men, women, and children 
 had a way of walking in the streets endangering 
 their lives and bothering the drivers, who are con- 
 tinually screaming " Whayl " which is understood at 
 once and opens the way for the approaching carriage. 
 There was an evident good-nature which was agree- 
 able. There was a distinct recognition of America 
 in the sign over one shop, — " Waltham Watches." 
 
12 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 I ventured to have a strain of Irish blood added to 
 my own timepiece, in the confidence that it would 
 not produce any aberration. 
 
 The chief thing to see at Cork is Blarney Castle, 
 which we visited, by an Irish boy and a jaunting-car. 
 The castle is a fine old ruin, and well managed. 
 There are two gates, an inner and outer ; and, by 
 keeping a man at each, they secure a double fee, 
 which becomes a treble fee when you have gone 
 further in. It was claimed that special favor was 
 shown to Americans in regard to visiting-days. A 
 woman received us at the castle, and descanted 
 volubly on the ruins. We were allowed to wander 
 about at our pleasure. The Blarney stone was 
 found in its place, but, as I had little use for elo- 
 quence at that time, I contented myself with touch- 
 ing it. This was much easier than kissing would have 
 been, which there does not go by favor, but by un- 
 easily twisting and turning, thrusting the body 
 into a window, and bending down the head till the 
 lips press the stone in the face of the wall. The 
 country was very pleasant as we drove through it. 
 The little stone houses, many of them with thatched 
 roofs, were picturesque. The trees were heavy with 
 foliage, and the roadside flowers were pretty, as they 
 always are. There was less evidence of care than in 
 the hedges and lawns of England, but Ireland was 
 green enough to justify her reputation. The chil- 
 dren whom we met looked sleek and well fed, though 
 their clothes were in a less creditable condition. 
 There was an air of innocent trustfulness in the 
 faces of the people, except, perhaps, those of the old 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 13 
 
 women. It seemed queer to be in a land where 
 Irish is the mother-tongue. It was not always easy 
 to understand it. Donkeys abounded, and had a 
 patient, overworked look, though they seemed to 
 be on good terms with their owners. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon we left Cork, and, after a 
 journey of six hours, reached Killarney. The very 
 name was alluring, and the place at once promised 
 to fulfil our desires. There are the finest mountains 
 and lakes of Ireland. Walter Scott said that he had 
 seen no grander lake than the middle one at Killar- 
 ney, saving only Loch Lomond. We found a fine 
 hotel, — the Royal Victoria, — and settled down for 
 the Sabbath. These lakes would be thronged if they 
 were near one of our large cities. All that could 
 be asked is there, — delightful scenery, cool airs, 
 pleasant drives, charming walks, good fishing and 
 sailing. It is a place to be sought, and which will 
 long be remembered. On many a weary day I shall 
 sigh for the repose of Killarney. There was no 
 church near the Lakes, so that we had leisure to 
 commune with our own thoughts and be still. 
 
 On Monday we made the grand excursion, in com- 
 pany with some of the Bothnia s passengers. The 
 excursion takes the whole day, and rewards the in- 
 vestment. Besides what one sees in the way of 
 scenery, there are various side-shows which are 
 thrust upon his notice. The first fact which is made 
 apparent is that all the people live on the traveller. 
 You bargain at the hotel for all you want, and agree 
 to pay a good price for it. Do not think that is the 
 end. You have scarcely lost sight of the house 
 
14 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 before gay cavaliers gather about you and almost 
 force you to ride two or three ponies. Boys and 
 girls solicit your monej^ " to buy a book, sir." As 
 a friend of female education, I cheerfully gave a 
 penny to a girl, who laughed and begged in the same 
 breath, and specified the '' Fourth Reader " as the book 
 which her attainments demanded. Kate Kearney 
 stands at the door of her hut, with a bottle in one 
 hand and a pitcher in the other, and business in her 
 untamed eye. She, has none of the beauty of her 
 famed ancestress, but she has goat's milk and moun- 
 tain dew, which she is willing to part with for a 
 suitable consideration. Thenceforth women attend 
 you. They run at your horse's side, in bare feet, 
 and beg you to buy stockings. They flourish two 
 bottles and crave your patronage for the two kinds 
 of beverage just mentioned, while their red shawls 
 wave in the wind, and their fluent tongues invoke 
 upon you long life and other blessings. From all 
 this, if your horse is fleet, you may run away. But 
 there is no escape from your legitimate attendants. 
 Not a man whom you have hired is content with the 
 price agreed upon. Each one makes his separate 
 appeal to your compassion, and confidently holds out 
 his hand. He expresses his discontent with your 
 alms, and turns away like a wretch you have 
 wronged. This unprofessional beggary is the worst 
 of all ; the hardest to satisfy and the least thank- 
 ful. This custom of begging prevails throughout 
 the island. Common beggars are not quite every- 
 where, but the uncommon ones abound. You run a 
 gauntlet from the Lakes of Killarney to the Giant's 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 15 
 
 Causeway. You have almost to escape from your 
 hotel by stealth, if you have funds enough left to 
 take you to the nearest banker's. 
 
 The scenery was very impressive as we rode 
 through the Gap of Dunloe. Wild, dark, sublime, 
 solemn were the mountains which enclosed us. We 
 rode through the Black Valley, but saw no traces of 
 the railroad of that name of which we had heard. 
 There were signs that it was not far away. We 
 passed the place where St. Patrick craftily boxed up 
 the snakes, and threw them into the water. The 
 work was thoroughly done, for not a snake was to 
 be seen. The driver said only an approaching storm 
 can awaken them, when they throw the waters into 
 tumult. " They will come out day after to-mor- 
 row, which never comes." At Lord Brandon's cot- 
 tage we took a large boat with four rowers and were 
 carried about eleven miles. At a certain point the 
 boat was stopped, and we w^ere asked to solve the 
 Killarney puzzle — how to get out of the lake. The 
 captain promised a bottle of Irish whiskey to any 
 one who should guess right, and expected one from 
 each person who failed. He was disappointed. 
 There was only one correct guess, yet no bottles 
 changed hands. 
 
 We were then driven to Muckross Abbey, the 
 finest ruin in Ireland. The cloister is in almost per- 
 fect preservation, with the customary yew-tree in the 
 centre of the open space. The monuments are nu- 
 merous, and the ivy is luxuriant. A young man of 
 the company expressed a desire to see the yule-tree 
 from which the yule-log is cut, but there was no w^ay 
 
16 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 of gratifying him. We were ticketed in to see the 
 Tore waterfall, which is the best in these parts. 
 We saw Ross Castle in its decay, and from its 
 broken wall had a fine view. It was a famous for- 
 tress in the old wars. The place was beset with 
 women, who had for sale a variety of things made 
 of the bog-oak and arbutus-wood. To the solici- 
 tation of one woman some one said ''No"; where- 
 upon she cried after him, "Such a fascinating young 
 man as you to say ' No ' to a lady ! " We took 
 boat again, and were taken past Innisfallen and its 
 ruins, which we had no time to visit. Then we 
 crossed the rough waters of the lower lake, Lough 
 Leane, and disembarked near the hotel. It was a 
 very pleasant excursion, very faithfully carried out. 
 
 We came northward by rail to Dublin, where, in 
 the Shelbourne, we found "the best hotel in the 
 United Kingdom" — so some travellers say. But 
 "best" is a word to be used with caution. It 
 was certainly a fine house, though it gave us rather 
 narrow accommodations. On the side of a jaunting- 
 car and on the top of a tramway carriage we had an 
 outside view of the inside of the city. There is the 
 Cathedral, dating from the twelfth century — the 
 first church in Ireland in which the liturgy was read 
 in the English language. And St. Patrick's Cathe- 
 dral, on the site of the church built by the national 
 saint. Among the memorials in this cathedral are 
 the simple marble slabs which mark the graves of 
 Swift, and "Stella" whose name and life were so 
 closely and darkly associated with his. There, too, 
 is the monument of Whately, with the Archbishop 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 17 
 
 reclining upon it. The ancient castle has been mod- 
 ernized, like so many other buildings of its time, but 
 preserves something of its old estate. When we 
 were in Dublin, the most familiar local name was 
 Phoenix Park, which had been recently the scene of 
 the cruel murder in which madness expressed its 
 hatred of English rule. We knew it was in Dublin 
 that Tom Moore was born, and Wellington, and that 
 O'Connell for a long time had his residence. But 
 we could not stay even to see what has been named. 
 
 We moved on to Belfast, second in rank of the 
 Irish cities, but had only two hours for a drive 
 through its fine streets and among its comely build- 
 ings. 
 
 Still moving northward, we came to Portrush and 
 the Northern Counties Railway Hotel. The house 
 was formerly the Antrim Arms, but has surrendered 
 that fine name for one more remunerative. The 
 connecting of railroads and hotels has become com- 
 mon in the United Kingdom, and has some advantages. 
 But it is a pity to lose the good old names. The 
 view from our windows, which looked over the wide 
 sea from the very end of Ireland, could only be grand 
 even to eyes which were accustomed to the sea. 
 Close at hand were the Skerries, with their light- 
 houses. The Skerries, for '^Skerry" is applied to 
 any isolated rock in the sea. We had a pleasant 
 walk, and saw a good many of the people. There 
 had been apparently an excursion from some other 
 place, and we were amused and interested in watch- 
 ing the embarkation of the returning voyagers. 
 
 We devoted the next day to the chief attraction 
 
18 SOME THINGS ABEOAD. 
 
 of the locality. But before we saw the Giant's 
 Causeway, we saw what was almost as great a mar- 
 vel in this remote region, a horse railroad with the 
 cars drawn by an electric engine, — I am imitating the 
 Irish method of writing, "This is the Premier Elec- 
 tric Tramway," " the first in the United Kingdom, 
 and the largest in the world." The novelty disgusts 
 the hotel-keepers, who find their tourists spirited 
 away from their doors, and the drivers of jaunting- 
 cars, who find the tramway preferred above their 
 own vehicles. Eight miles of the tramway brought 
 us into the midst of guides and boatmen who were 
 lying in wait, prepared to render all manner of ser- 
 vice, desirable and undesirable. It was necessary to 
 employ a portion of them, and it seemed best to bar- 
 gain with them before setting out, though this latter 
 part of the arrangement was of less value than a 
 stranger would suppose. We were so fortunate as 
 to secure the services of the best boatmen there. 
 We knew this, for one of them assured us that it 
 was the fact. We were taken into the smallest cave 
 where a boy, for whose presence we had not been 
 able to account, accounted for himself by producing 
 an old pistol and arousing the numerous echoes of 
 the place. We had not asked for this luxury, but 
 we paid for it, and the boy left us for fresh victims. 
 We Avere then taken into the larger cave, as the day 
 was favorable for this, and we looked in wonder on 
 its awful grandeur. Then we rowed and sailed past 
 the cliffs, getting a very fine view of them, when 
 our guides took us for a short walk over what seemed 
 to be sunken columns. When this excursion was 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 19 
 
 over, the guides announced that their mission was 
 ended, and that the time for payment had arrived. 
 As a matter of course, they demanded more than we 
 had agreed upon, but we thought upon their superior 
 qualifications, which we certainly should not have 
 discovered, and we added to the stipulated amount. 
 That was not all. Each guide was armed with a 
 rough wooden box, covered with newspaper and la- 
 boriously surrounded with twine. At an auspicious 
 moment two of these were opened in our boat, and 
 we were asked to buy both or either. There seemed 
 to be no partnership in this traffic. The boxes proved 
 to be filled with specimen stones, arranged in straw- 
 berry fashion — the best on the top. We bought 
 more than we wanted. Could we do less? After 
 that came men with broken pieces of double- 
 refracting spar, which has the power of making 
 one shilling look like two. I adopt their illus- 
 tration, though I noticed that they did not use the 
 spar for this purpose when collecting their pay. All 
 the mysterious powers of the stone were given up to 
 the purchaser. If one should buy all the stones 
 that are offered him, he would need to hire all the 
 men and women who infest the rocks to carry them 
 for him. Yet it is not easv to choose when vou want 
 none but must take some. We came upon a queer old 
 man who was selling water from the '' Giant's well." 
 There was some variety even in his simple enterprise, 
 for he had a cup for the well and a bottle for the 
 still. The ''mountain dew" had evidently collected 
 in the bottle. When we asked for a drink of the 
 water, I thought it prudent to remark that we did 
 
20 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 not desire any appendage from the bottle. ^' Will 
 you wait — " he said. ''But we don't want any of 
 that." " Will you just wait — " he persisted in ask- 
 ing. " But I tell you we don't want anything 
 from the bottle ! " And the queer old man, in a 
 solemn, almost reproachful tone, made answer : 
 '' Will you just wait till you're asked ? " We waited. 
 When we had refreshed ourselves from the spring, 
 I sought to draw the offended gentleman into con- 
 versation. '' Did the giants drink of this spring?" I 
 inquired. '* No, the giants drink of no spring." 
 '' But they say that when the giants piled up these 
 rocks, they used to come to this well," I ventured to 
 remark. '' No giants built up these rocks," he 
 answered. '' Who did, then ? " " The one who 
 made these things is the One above," — and he 
 pointed toward the sky. I found that he was get- 
 ting the better of me, and I hastened to reply that 
 we ought to try to please Him who is so great and 
 has done such wonderful things. He assented to 
 this, and added that he feared we do not please 
 Him. I said that some day we should see Him. " I 
 hope so," he continued; " I hope that we may have 
 one look." Then we left him. But it is a strange 
 scene even now as I look back upon it, — the grand 
 cliffs, the vast sea, and all the strange sublimity, and 
 in the midst this lone priest in the Temple of the 
 Giants, standing by the spring among the rocks, 
 with a tin cup in one hand and a bottle of whiskey 
 in the other, turning upward his red face, and point- 
 ing with a finger, set free for this purpose, to the 
 dwelling-place of Him who has uplifted and upholds 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 21 
 
 the mountains. Well, who shall say how much he 
 thought and hoped in his long solitude, or Avhat he 
 has learned in a life which must have had its vicissi- 
 tudes. It may be that his ruddy cheeks will look 
 less earthy when the hand of death has passed over 
 them. Who does not look for some gain in that 
 transformatio'h ? 
 
 We sat in the " wishing chair " of rock, w^hich the 
 guide said was also the '' Giant's chair." It was a 
 much frequented place, but the visitors did not look 
 like descendants of the giants. Afterward we sat 
 in another chair, nearer the sea, which is said to be 
 the real seat of the giants. It was reasonably com- 
 fortable as a chair, and we had it to ourselves, which 
 was a marked advantage. 
 
 I have said very little of the "Causeway." The 
 ride to it from Portrush was very pleasant by the 
 sea, among the cliffs, over the gorges. We passed 
 Dunluce Castle, an old ruin, which crowns the iso- 
 lated cliff where it has stood for five hundred years. 
 The Causeway has been so often described and pic- 
 tured that I need not attempt to present it here. 
 Everybody knows how it looks. It is not quite 
 what we supposed, but it is fully as grand and 
 strange. To walk over the tops of huge columns 
 sunk in the depths, to look up at the towering peaks 
 and mountains of rock, to wander along the baj's 
 between the cliffs, to penetrate the deep caves, to 
 gaze upon the ocean beyond whose borders lies the 
 land we love, — this is full of interest and wonder : 
 surprising, awakening, quieting ; stirring the deep 
 emotions of mind and heart. It would be well to 
 
22 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 linger among these stuj^endous works and sIoayIj 
 receive their inspiration. The grandeur grows as 
 the hours pass, and the eye and the mind expand to 
 the proportions of the place. But we had to move 
 on. We came again among men and Avomen. We 
 resisted their solicitation to purchase mosses and 
 fragments of the rocks ; we had our final look at 
 their miseries and our final listening to their com- 
 plaints, and came back to the civilization of Port- 
 rush, and then moved on at once toward Scotland. 
 
 Before we leave Ireland there are a few more 
 things to be said, which may be set together here. 
 There is a great deal of interest attached to the 
 people of this island. They are wonderfully good- 
 natured and very obliging. They are talkative, but 
 kindly. The jollity is toned down as their estate 
 improves, but outof-doors and along the road the wit 
 and humor remain. They seem to take life easily, 
 and to make the best of the seasons which are short 
 and hard for shillings, sixpences, and strangers 
 to dispense them. Even their extortion and vexa- 
 tion have but a brief existence. Plainly the people 
 are poor. The cottages must be barren places to 
 live in, and the national drink is somewhat expen- 
 sive. We saw no signs of hunger. We were not 
 in the right quarter for that. We saw health and 
 length of days. Indeed, it is a fact which disturbs 
 our estimates a little that the Irish race deteriorates 
 on our soil. The generation born in America is not 
 equal physically to that which came over the seas. 
 The change in the habits of life does not work in 
 their favor, in this regard at least. 
 
FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 23 
 
 As a whole, our first impression was sustained. 
 There was clearly more to eat than there was to 
 wear. Economy in dress was evidently a necessity. 
 We saw one barefoot woman with her shoes in a 
 basket on her head. She was waiting for ex- 
 tremes to meet, as in some domains they have a way 
 of doing. Animal life was represented by donkeys 
 and crows, with here and there a horse, and now and 
 then a cow. A stray sheep occasionally came in 
 sight, and there was on the hills and plains a sprink- 
 ling of goats, which called to mind the sequestered 
 outskirts of New York. We saw men cutting peat, 
 which they stack for drying, and we enlarged our 
 knowledge of Natural History by learning that in a 
 few years from the time when they are stripped, the 
 bogs are supplied with a new crop of the national 
 fuel. 
 
 As we went northward, the people looked better. 
 The women in the fields wore shoes and stockings, 
 which may be regarded as marking the boundary be- 
 tween poverty and less poverty. The sleek, plump 
 children had a more comfortable aspect than those 
 of the same class in some other countries. I asked 
 why the people in the north were better off than 
 those in the south, but the answers were not satis- 
 factory. One said they were more industrious in 
 the north, and had better land. But the land in the 
 north is certainly not the best in the island. It is 
 common to ascribe the advantage to the prevalence 
 of Protestantism. But whether the Protestant faith 
 and institutions are cause or effect, as relates to 
 the well-being of the people, did not appear on the 
 
24 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 spot. I presume that they are both. That they are 
 a superior sort of folk at the north was clear enough. 
 I cannot discuss Irish questions here, but no one 
 can travel through the island, even as hastily as I 
 did, without feeling that the people deserve a better 
 history than has been made for them. The men at 
 the north were anxious to have it imderstood that 
 they were not rebels and discontents : that it is at 
 the south riot and murder assert themselves. They 
 complain that the name of Irishman is made to bear 
 reproach which is sectional, and from which they 
 ought to be free. The point is well taken and 
 easily appreciated. We were continually reminded 
 of a past. Ruined castles were on the hill-tops, and 
 were so numerous that after a time we scarcelv 
 troubled ourselves to look at them as we rode bj^ 
 They are the witnesses to times which have gone. 
 Rough times they were, but not wanting in heroism 
 and virtue. 
 
 We thought of the fame which has perished: of 
 the days when this was the " Island of Saints " ; when 
 its schools were renowned and drew scholars from 
 other lands ; when its missionaries went out with 
 civilization and religion. We saw one sign in Dub- 
 lin which seemed a relic of the more learned years. 
 It was on a druggist's shop : Medicce adsunt artes^ 
 herbarumque potestas. 
 
 Is the record of that time closed ? Is there to be 
 a coming back of renown and power ? Ireland in 
 her great cities gives an impression of wealth and 
 strength. May there not come, in the slow process 
 of the suns, a reviving of the light and life ? The 
 
FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 25 
 
 sympathy of the traveller makes him hope for this. 
 The echoes of Dunloe are quickly started by the 
 cannon and trumpet, and the pittance of coin which 
 the tourist is expected to bestow. The land is full 
 of silence which easily breaks into sound, and the 
 voices leap from hill to hill in long reverberations. 
 Who will not hope that the land is to be awakened 
 from its troubled sleep, and regain the place which 
 it has lost ! Violence will not accomplish this. 
 But time and reason and right may bring it all to 
 pass. 
 
 There is another point upon which I am con- 
 strained to say a few words. It is the abandonment 
 of national customs and the importation of foreign 
 ways in hotel life. In Ireland we would like to see 
 Irish usages at the table, that we may know what 
 the people eat, and how it is served. A table which 
 was characteristic of the country would have a charm 
 of its own, even if the manner of it was not thought 
 worthy of imitation. In out-of-the-way places the 
 methods of the people may be found, I presume. 
 But at Killarney the table was Parisian. The wait- 
 ers appeared as if attired for a metropolitan ball, and 
 the menu was written in French and was a list of 
 unknown dishes, some of which retained their incog- 
 nito to the close. This usage prevails through the 
 island. At Portrush the menu was chiefly in Eng- 
 lish, but the meaning remained French. At the 
 Giant's Causeway we found a steward or head- 
 waiter who might have been chief-justice of the dis- 
 trict, so far as dress and manners were concerned. 
 He did not hold that lofty position, nor did his ap- 
 
26 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 pearance attract us to the board over which he spread 
 the shadow of his magnificence. This is all a mis- 
 take. Let each country preserve its individuality. 
 It will be more honest, and far more interesting and 
 profitable. 
 
 There is another thing which one misses in travel : 
 that is himself. At home he has a name, a title, 
 house, office, honors, and much which separates him 
 from the throng. His comings and goings are no- 
 ticed, and his identity and self-respect are preserved. 
 He goes abroad and all this is changed. He passes 
 through the process which awaits the convict in the 
 prison and the patient in the hospital. He is num- 
 bered, and by his number he is known. The waiter 
 has only to ask, "What is your number, sir?" 
 When the bill is made out, it is only a number which 
 is debtor for board and lodging. At Killarney I was 
 No. 50; at Dublin 37. In Portrush I became 72. 
 I sympathized with Mother Hubbard in her efforts 
 to find out who she was. How all this shrinks the 
 volume of complacency with which a man ventures 
 with his merit and name into the world ! There are 
 advantages in this loss. For a time it is agreeable 
 rather than otherwise. To have no dignity to main- 
 tain, no responsibilities to fulfil, no name to bear, is 
 at first a relief. But soon a man wearies of being 
 nobody, and having nobody know that he is nobody. 
 If he has some companion to whom he can remark 
 that nonentity is delightful, and that there is beauty 
 in the curve that makes a cipher, even the obscur- 
 ity has a charm. I had one of the best of compan- 
 ions in an observing and inquisitive boy, interested 
 
FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 27 
 
 in everything, patient under all provocation, and 
 wise in liis estimates of persons and things. I real- 
 ized that whatever is pleasant is pleasanter when a 
 friend is at hand; the grandeur of the mountains, 
 the breadth and verdure of the fields, the gloom and 
 silence of the gorges, the wandering streams and the 
 unfathomed sea. With a friend the castles can be 
 rebuilt and repeopled; not with ghostly forms, but 
 with veritable Irishmen, the O'Sullivans and their 
 compeers. On the other side, there is little comfort 
 in being miserable unless some one knows it. 
 Grumbling lacks half its charm when it finds no lis- 
 tening ear and responding growl. 
 
 But come, 72 ! Enough of this. Call your boy. 
 The G-orilla waits. '' All clear, sir ! " And the 
 steamer glides from the harbor of Belfast with her 
 prow towards Caledonia, Our quarters were close, 
 but we had an extra man in our stateroom to make 
 up for the want of space. It seems to be the Irish 
 way. We slipped off the numbers of Erin, and 
 moved on. In the morning, only an hour or two be- 
 hind time, we were at the pier in Glasgow. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 
 
 This chapter begins with Friday, July 20, and in 
 Glasgow. 
 
 It was with confidence born of recollection that 
 we ordered the driver to take us to the '' Queen's." 
 We found that hy- some law of retrogression the 
 " Queen's " had become the " George." But it was 
 the same house. What's in a name ? I recall the 
 answer of a young parishioner to that question, 
 "A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
 riches." Either of these names was good enough 
 for the very comfortable hotel in which we settled 
 for a few days. At once I became 52. I do not 
 know whether that is an ascent or descent from 
 Portrush. Poor Marshal used to say in college, 
 that he should stand very high if the class was ever 
 turned around. 
 
 The guide-book informed us that Glasgow is a 
 city of very ancient origin, and the third in the 
 kingdom in riches and people. Its growth has been 
 in its later years. It has now a population of more 
 than half a million, and is the seat of extensive and 
 varied manufacturing. It has one chimney four 
 hundred and sixty-eight feet high. With this valu- 
 able information in our hands we went into the busy 
 
 28 
 
FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 29 
 
 streets. George Square is in front of the hotel, and 
 this fact may have given the new name to the house. 
 There we found equestrian statues of the queen and 
 the prince consort, and statues of Scott, Peel, Sir 
 John Moore, and another in whom Scotland may 
 indulge a loftier pride, Livingstone. We soon made 
 our way to the Cathedral, which was full of interest, 
 as cathedrals always are. This has one peculiarity 
 among the great houses of Great Britain, that it be- 
 longs to the Presbyterians. This would have shown 
 us that we were over the border, if there had been 
 nothing else to remind us of it. The Cathedral has 
 the weight of seven centuries upon it, though it has 
 received additions of modern and modernizing glass. 
 The crypt has the deep solemnity and stately propor- 
 tions which have given it high rank in ecclesiastical 
 architecture. We passed through to the Necropolis 
 which is connected jvvith the Cathedral hill by the 
 "Bridge of Sighs." There we saw the towering 
 column of John Knox, who deserves this place of 
 honor; the man so strong, bold, and severe, for 
 whom the robes of a bishop and the dignities of the 
 world had no attraction, who held with a rigid mind 
 and stout hand to the hard realities, and was con- 
 trolled by an energy which submitted to no restraint 
 and which '' put more life into him than six hundred 
 trumpets." There, too, is the statue of another man 
 of might, who will long fill a large place in the relig- 
 ious history of his country. As his funeral proces- 
 sion passed along the street, a man in workman's 
 attire, whose hands and arms showed that he was of 
 the people, gave this witness from his heart: "There 
 
30 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 goes Norman Macleod. If he had done no more 
 than what he did for my soul, he would shine as the 
 stars forever." These are the men who last: the men 
 whom we would like to have live. 
 
 There is evident in these monuments a desire to 
 commemorate the occupation of those who lie be- 
 neath them. We read of William Miller, " the laureate 
 of the nursery," ^'Author of Wee Willie Winkie," 
 which is probably well known among those who will 
 read the inscription. We read of other vocations, 
 confectioner, cloth-lapper, boot-maker, seed-merchant. 
 We know that in the highest sense a man's works do 
 follow him, and it is not unfitting that the fact should 
 be recognized in the memorial of him. A man's 
 honest calling, in which he has made his chief gift to 
 the world, has a claim to be known where he is re- 
 membered. It is a part of him. Perhaps it would 
 be well to have this in mind when we choose what 
 we will do. 
 
 A very good way in which to get a view of a town 
 is to ride on the outside of an omnibus or horse-car. 
 We adopted this method of surveying Glasgow, after 
 we had looked down upon it from among the monu- 
 ments. We took the long road by the fine botanic 
 garden at pleasant Kelvinside. 
 
 I have spoken of the hotel tables in Ireland. Sim- 
 ilar methods prevail beyond the North Channel and 
 the Irish Sea. But our first dinner in Scotland 
 opened appropriately with "hotchpotch." That has 
 a Scotch sound. The lobster was undoubtedly na- 
 tive, though it presented an unhistoric appearance. 
 One of the waiters had borrowed its livery and 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 31 
 
 blazed about us in a red jacket with brass buttons 
 for sparks. So we came on to the strawberries, 
 which were large and early, and were given to us 
 with their hulls on. That must be the original man- 
 ner. We were not so far from nature as we might 
 have expected. 
 
 Saturday morning was rainy. There was nothing 
 remarkable in that, nor was it altogether discourag- 
 ing. It seemed to be a feature of the weather in 
 these parts that it seldom remained of one sort 
 through the day. We devoted the day to the lakes. 
 One of us had seen them before, as he had seen 
 much of this Scotch land. An hour by train 
 brought us to Balloch Pier, where we took the 
 steamer Prince Consort for Inversnaid. Loch 
 Lomond was gloomy under the clouds, and perhaps 
 preferred that setting for its grand mountains. We 
 enjoyed all we could, and that was much. But the 
 cold and the drizzle interfered with our comfort. 
 Yet this was Loch Lomond, with its islands and 
 hills, and Rob Roy's prison on the banks, and tradi- 
 tions of chieftains in the air. We took the stage 
 for Stronachlachar Pier, where we found a comfort- 
 able house and a refreshing lunch. Then we went 
 out upon Loch Katrine in the Mob Roy, The 
 weather had improved ; the sunshine fell on the 
 serene water; the inevitable photograph boy could 
 display his wares on deck, while the voyagers could 
 enjoy the reality whose images he desired to make 
 us own. The scenery was the finest we had seen. 
 Ellen's Isle had its own beauty, as it sat fair and 
 green in the lake, wearing its garland of story and 
 
32 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 song. After leaving the steamer, we were driven to 
 the Trossachs, and rested for a time at the castel- 
 lated hotel where I had spent a pleasant Sabbath 
 years before. Then we rode by Loch Achray and 
 Loch Venachar, through a district full of familiar 
 romance, till we reached Callander, where we found 
 the train which took us back to Glasgow. Reflec- 
 tion : It would be a relief if this region were rid of 
 speculation. To have a fee demanded at every turn, 
 and photographs and wooden ware intruded upon 
 the gaze which is fixed on mountains and lakes, adds 
 nothing to the delights of travel. Where " every 
 prospect pleases," there is a man trying to make 
 money out of it. Possibly I should have finished that 
 sentence by lengthening the citation from the hymn 
 instead of writing a thought of my own.. In these 
 places one wishes to see and hear as little as may be 
 of buying and selling. Yet monetary affairs are 
 more obtrusive than at home. The Scotch would 
 say, " This is a needcessity," but I wish it was not. 
 
 Our homeward journey took us through Stirling, 
 past the old castle, of which we had a fine view. 
 We had to think upon its wealth of historic associa- 
 tions, and to imagine how grand the view from its 
 walls must be, and to keep moving. We returned 
 to Glasgow in a crowd. There had been a fair, 
 which had closed the workshops for ten days, and 
 many of the work-people had improved the opportu- 
 nity for visiting their friends. On this Saturday 
 night they were returning from their holiday. A 
 plain woman who was in our compartment was very 
 communicative and instructive as we rode through 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 33 
 
 places which she knew and we did not. Let me 
 close the week by copying a sign which is capable 
 of more than one interpretation. And what does it 
 mean? "Royal Liver Friendly Society." A com- 
 mon sign runs, ''Boots repaired while you wait." 
 Could they be mended at any other time? 
 
 Sunday morning was very pleasant. I studied the 
 list of churches to know whither it was best to go, 
 and selected one with the name of whose minister I 
 was acquainted. We were a little late in reaching 
 the church, and found no one in the vestibule ; we 
 opened a door, entered the audience-room, Bnd found 
 an empty pew. We could have found many more. 
 We ventured to take a seat. No one assented or 
 objected. The minister was engaged in prayer. 
 His allusion to the absent pastor made it clear that 
 he was a stranger. I had inferred that from his 
 general bearing, in a hasty glance. It is so strange 
 that ministers will leave their people in this way ! 
 The good man prayed that the absent pastor might 
 be blessed in preaching, if he was preaching, or in 
 resting, if he was resting. That was a comprehen- 
 sive statement. Few people stood during the 
 prayer, but none during the singing, which was by 
 the congregation, and was good. There was no 
 organ. Then followed a psalm ; and another prayer, 
 of a wider range than the first. The sermon was 
 from a great text : '' For me to live is Christ." The 
 preacher said many good things in fifty minutes, but 
 he divided his minutes badly, and was hurried when 
 he came where he needed time the most. The ser- 
 mon was not commonplace, but it was not in tune 
 
34 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 with the text. He attempted analysis where it was 
 soul and spirit which he wanted. On the heights of 
 his theme he rambled into exposition and speedily 
 fell into exhortation. He did not see that the apos- 
 tle was revelling in the sublime consciousness of his 
 union with his risen Lord ; that he was not teaching 
 philosophy, but opening his heart and letting his 
 inspired passion burst into an exclamation which 
 can no more be dissected and reasoned about than 
 can the throbbing of the soul. He could not leave 
 the truth where St. Paul left it. He must show 
 how it was, when there was no "how." It just 
 was. It was Christ, his Life, with sparkle and 
 delight, with melody and rhythm, with a limitless 
 exuberance of which we can sometimes, under the 
 stars, feel ourselves partakers. Language is beggared, 
 imagery falters. The spirit feels, and in feeling 
 knows. Out of this feeling it puts its finger on the 
 life of another soul and wakens it to singing, and it 
 teaches the new song. It was a good sermon ; but 
 it was a sermon. He was a good man ; but he was 
 a man. Unction is from above. He had it in his 
 measure. But, oh how far beyond us all was that 
 great human heart which found its life at the gate 
 of Damascus, and felt the oil of God and the breath 
 of heaven, and knew "the power of an endless life !" 
 In the evening I went to the Cathedral. It was a 
 "people's service," and the church was crowded. I 
 stood with many others. The singing by the con- 
 gregation, led by the choir, was spirited and impres- 
 sive. The officiating minister was one who is best 
 known as "The Country Parson." His essays were 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 35 
 
 popular in their time, though no one seems to read 
 them now ; vet they are good reading. He intoned 
 the prayers — I suppose it was intoning. It was 
 puerile enough for that process. If any one wishes 
 to hear this absurdity carried to an extreme, let him 
 listen to a man who pronounces English with a local 
 accent and brogue. Yet this was a man of gray 
 hair, which was scant enough to have restrained him 
 from trifling with sacred things. His sermon was 
 from the two words, " Get wisdom." It was a much 
 easier text than that of the morning. The sermon 
 was in the style of the essays, bright and light, crisp 
 and fresh. The matter was not original, but the 
 treatment was. The style reminded me of the essay, 
 "Concerning the Art of Putting Things." He put 
 things well. He spoke in the language of his hear- 
 ers. They could not mistake his meaning. He said 
 that wisdom is not that ct)mmon-sense which is born 
 in a man and cannot be acquired. It is better than 
 that, and can be gained. Some tell us that wisdom 
 is not the same thing as knowledge. *' Well, what 
 man in his senses ever supposed it was?" To know 
 what one ought to do, and to have the purpose to do 
 it, is wisdom. Wisdom in the Bible concerns itself 
 with the heart ; it belongs with morals. Wisdom 
 will be given to us if we ask it, and in it we may 
 grow. 
 
 An American congregation would have been 
 pleased with the sermon, but those who heard it did 
 not appear to see its merit. Or was this only the 
 absence of expression; a stolid way of listening? 
 They may have felt more than they showed. But 
 
36 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 an American audience would have helped the 
 preacher by signs of approval, by the answer of 
 the face. 
 
 As I left the Cathedral the setting sun was casting 
 its light through the fine west window, and the 
 whole scene was beautiful. The stately old house is 
 worthily used for a service especially suited to " the 
 people." The service could easily have been better 
 suited to their wants and tastes, and could have left 
 a deeper impression on their hearts. But, as it was, 
 it was something for which to be glad. The multi- 
 tudinous waves of sound which rolled under the 
 high arches had surely uplifted the great assembly 
 of men and women. The effort to make their great 
 churches useful to "the people " — as if we were not 
 all people, though bearing or not bearing the marks 
 of nobility — is to be commended. Yet it suggests 
 the distinction at which I have just hinted, and that 
 is not well. " The people " do not wish to be 
 patronized, nor will they be content with the use of 
 our best churches at the hours when we prefer to be 
 at home. What to do for ''the people" is one of 
 the problems on both sides of the ocean. Suppose 
 we stand with them, and regard them as children 
 with us of the Father who is in heaven and on 
 earth, living side by side with us in his love, hasten- 
 ing with us to the house which is above ! But I 
 must not preach. 
 
 As I walked home I came upon a street preacher 
 violently haranguing a small collection of men and 
 
 bovs. He seemed more in earnest than his hearers. 
 
 t/ 
 
 "- Salvation Army Barracks " looked out from a 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 37 
 
 street lantern, but none of the soldiers were visible. 
 On the tramways when your fare is taken the con- 
 ductor gives you a ticket which is not taken back, 
 so that you amass a collection in a few days. The 
 fire-alarm boxes in the streets look like iron banjos. 
 With these desultory notes we enter upon Monday. 
 We left Glasgow at eight o'clock in the morning. 
 We took the train to Greenock, and there embarked 
 on the steamer Coluinha. It is instructive to notice 
 how history and biography and nature stamp them- 
 selves, not only on their country, but even on the 
 names of conveyances by land and sea. At Ardris- 
 haig we landed and walked to the Crinan Canal, 
 where the Linnet \Y2iitQA to carry us through the canal, 
 when the lona took us up for Oban. It was a wonder- 
 ful day's sail, as the maps will show. The scenery 
 w^as fine and varied; the islands had their own special 
 interest, — Bute and Arran and Mull and Kerrara, 
 and the rest, — while the Kyles of Bute and the Bay 
 of Crinan and the Sound of Luing opened up a waj^ 
 among them where they were arranged in forms of 
 grandeur and beauty. But the air was cold and the 
 wind was high, so that we had to take the scenery 
 in instalments, and to shelter ourselves in the saloon 
 between our observations. In the canal the lochs 
 were numerous, and we amused ourselves in watch- 
 ing the operation of them. Quite as exciting was 
 the gathering of boys and girls at the first loch. 
 Each had a tin pail and a tumbler, and each voice 
 kept up the one cry, " Any milk, sir?" They ran 
 from loch to loch, crying as they ran, now and then 
 securing a customer, for whom they seemed grateful. 
 
38 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 and a penny, which was their objective point. 
 They wore only Nature's attire on their locomotive 
 arrangements, and there was not a pretty face 
 among them. Very appropriately a bagpiper ap- 
 peared at one place and played us a welcome to the 
 Highlands. It was a very graceful attention, but 
 it marred the romance of the greeting to have him 
 pass round his hat afterwards. Perhaps he had that 
 in view all the time. But he did not get much. 
 We left out our side of the attention. 
 
 Oban is finely situated on the curving shore. 
 The houses are near the beautiful bay, for the most 
 part, while a few creep up on the hills which shut in 
 the little town, but as a recompense give a beautiful 
 outlook to any one who will go up to their summit. 
 Oban has become a place of considerable resort, and 
 must be very pleasant through the leisure weeks of 
 summer. It has large hotels, but we declined the 
 polite offers of the liveried suitors, and walked 
 quietly to an attractive little house called the " Ar- 
 gyle." A neat Scotch landlady stood in the door 
 and readily agreed to furnish all we desired in the 
 way of bed and board. She kept her word. The 
 pillows were hard and the fare was simple. But 
 everything was neat, and there was a primitive 
 method of management which was pleasing and in- 
 expensive, two qualities which are seldom found 
 in combination where tourists abound. Very quiet 
 and restful were the streets of this village as we 
 strolled through them at night. It was refreshing 
 to be far away from the noise and bustle of the 
 world we had left. But we were to keep moving. 
 
FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 39 
 
 On Tuesday morning we left Oban in the Chev- 
 alier^ and we landed at lona, or Icolmkill. It 
 was famed in its day. There the Druids had their 
 principal seat, but it is more than thirteen hundred 
 years since the Pictish king gave it to St. Columba, 
 whom his own people called Columbkille. It is a 
 good place to recall the story of his life. He was an 
 Irishman, born of the royal race of O'Donnell on his 
 father's side, while his mother was a princess of Lein- 
 ster. He was trained and ordained in the Church of 
 Rome, and became one of its most zealous sons. 
 Using his wealth and his influence, before he was 
 twenty-five years old he had founded thirty-seven 
 monasteries in Ireland. We are getting back into 
 the grandeur of the island we have just left, as we 
 think upon such works. At length, trouble found 
 the good man, as it is apt to do, and he was involved 
 in a suit concerning a choice manuscript of the Psalterc, 
 and the king decided against him. The king's men 
 put to death a prince of Connaught, who had sought 
 asylum in the saint's monastery, whereupon in revenge 
 Columba led his kinsfolk against the king and de- 
 feated him. Then followed excommunication and a 
 final expulsion from the island of his birth. With 
 twelve companions who were monks, he went to lona, 
 and ministered to the wants of the people there and 
 in the region round about. Prince Connal, to whom 
 the island belonged, gave it to Columba, who devoted 
 himself heartily to his Christian work, so that 
 churches and monasteries multiplied. Thus early 
 did lona become the flourishing seat of Christianity. 
 When the Scotch Parliament abolished religious 
 
40 SOME THINGS ABROAD r 
 
 houses, in 1560, that established at Tona fell with the 
 rest. The island came into the possession of the 
 McLeans and then became the property of the Diike 
 of Argyle. Its length is three miles and its breadth 
 is a mile and a half. There are some three hundred 
 people on the island, who rear black cattle on the 
 land, and draw the fish from the sea, and thus, with 
 the help of potatoes and barley, pick up an honest 
 living. It is scarcely necessary to confess that I did 
 not learn these historical and statistical facts on the 
 spot, but have since gleaned them from books. I 
 confess this the more confidently because a great 
 New England philosopher and writer has said boldly, 
 "Every book is a quotation; and every house is a 
 quotation out of all forests and mines and stone- 
 quarries ; and every man is a quotation from all his 
 ancestors." Originality is hardly to be expected after 
 that. 
 
 We landed at lona in a large boat. "We saw little 
 except the island with its moorland and hills, and 
 the ruins which are the memorials of its better days. 
 We went to the nunnery first, because it was nearest. 
 It bears the name of Mary and dates from the twelfth 
 century. There was at the gate the girl of the pres- 
 ent century. On this occasion she was selling peb- 
 bles, or, more correctly, offering pebbles for sale. 
 Within we found sheep who were not of the orig- 
 inal fold. They fled at the approach of a stranger, 
 for they knew him not. If the women we saw were 
 nuns, or had any special character, they wore only 
 an every-day look. Then to the Cathedral, which is 
 also St. Mary's but is in desolation, both spiritual 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 41 
 
 and material, and has fallen from a house of prayer 
 to a house of merchandise. The boy was there. The 
 photographs were with the boy, where most of them 
 remained. The old Cathedral is an impressive ruin, 
 w^th its large square tower, some seventy-five feet 
 high, and the walls, Avhich are nearly complete, and 
 the wealth of traditions and memories. Outside 
 stands the famous lona cross, the oldest of the four 
 which now remain of the three hundred and sixty 
 stone crosses which were erected on the island. Not 
 very far away is the McLean cross. We saw also 
 St. Oran's Chapel, which is older than the Cathedral, 
 and that of St. Mary, which is nearer the shore. 
 
 We should have been glad to linger at lona, to go 
 into the cottages which stand in a long row looking 
 towards the sea, to talk with the simple island folk 
 and gather up the stories of departed times, and to 
 bring again to the sacred houses those who once filled 
 them with song and prayer and many a saintly deed. 
 But we turned away. We left behind us the grave 
 of Columba. It is known to be his grave, because 
 when it was opened his bones were not found in it. 
 This may seem an Irish method of reasoning. It is 
 not quite so illogical as it appears. For, by the tra- 
 dition, the bones of the saint were taken to Ireland. 
 So there was good reason for believing that they 
 would not be found in lona. And thev were not. 
 
 We left also the graves of kings of Scotland and 
 Ireland and Norway, and of holy abbots and High- 
 land chieftains. The island was a famous place for 
 the repose of the great. They liked to lie down 
 under its sacred sod. There was, too, an ancient 
 
42 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 prophecy that when the second deluge should come, 
 seven years before the end of the world, and all the 
 nations should be submerged, the island of Columba 
 would float securely over the waste of water. It is 
 not strange that kings took possession of the added 
 years, though they were far distant. Yet how little 
 it really mattered where the royal dust returned to 
 dust, or where the coming deluge left the ashes which 
 had been dethroned. Not for this reason was lona 
 made the last resting-place of sixteen American sail- 
 ors over whose graves rises the granite monument 
 which our government has set to mark the haven 
 into which they passed through storm and shipwreck. 
 King or sailor, it is a peaceful spot to find when the 
 reign is over and the voyage is done. 
 
 lona and its conspicuous Cathedral afforded very 
 pleasing sights as we steamed towards Staffa, where 
 we landed in a large boat. There was no difficulty 
 in recognizing the island as we approached it, for 
 the school-book pictures had given us an idea of it. 
 The tall columns of rock mark the place beyond mis- 
 take. When the wind and water permit, small 
 boats make their way into Fingal's Cave, which is 
 the chief place of interest. This was not one of the 
 days when such permission is given. We landed at 
 Clam-Shell Cave, which was entered by some of the 
 company. We all made our way laboriously over 
 the irregular tops of the massive pillars to the cave 
 which is called after the old hero of Gaelic poetry. 
 Fion na Gael, or Fingal, furnished the name for 
 Ossian's epic of six books, and also for this great 
 grotto. He was of royal blood, the son of Comhal, 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 43 
 
 who was the son of the Kmg of Morven, and Morna. 
 He married the daughter of Cornac I., the third 
 King of Ireland, and Ossian was their son and the 
 successor to the throne of Morven. All this is in 
 the books, but not in the rocks. It may be well to 
 take from the books also a few dimensions. Unfor- 
 tunately the books do not agree. But the cave is 
 two hundred and twelve or two hundred and twenty- 
 seven feet long, and its width at the entrance is 
 thirty-three or forty-two feet. It is sixty feet high, 
 and the water is about twenty feet deep on the floor. 
 Immense ranges of columns support the high arch 
 which forms the roof, and stalactites of many tints 
 hang between tlie lofty pillars, which dash back the 
 rushing, foaming waves that are thrown upon them. 
 We found a wire railing which guided and protected 
 "US as we advanced in the cave towards the dark. It 
 was a sombre and iwvful place to be in. Not long 
 after we were there, several persons were washed 
 from the ledge where we walked by the fierce incom- 
 ing of the sea, the treacherous and resistless sea. 
 The construction of Staffa suggests the Giant's 
 Causeway. But there is more variety there, and 
 the pillars are more regular, though some in Staffa 
 are larger than any we saw in Ireland. We as- 
 cended a long wooden stairway, and climbed to the 
 top of a hill from which there is an extended view. 
 Our stay was too short because the day was so short. 
 Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Staffa is 
 that nothing is there offered for sale ; not a photo- 
 graph, not a piece of wood or a fragment of rock. 
 I doubt if there is another place of interest in the 
 
44 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 United Kingdom of which this can be said, or a 
 place of equal size where no beggar puts in an ap- 
 pearance. I do not find these facts mentioned in 
 any books to which I have access, and I am gratified 
 that I can bring them to the attention of travellers. 
 Columns of rock may be seen elsewhere. We had a 
 glimpse of a set of pillars on one of the islands 
 which we passed. I read not long since that similar 
 columns have been found on one of the Pacific 
 Islands. But they are so rare that they are worthy 
 of a visit wherever they are to be seen. It was a 
 rich day's excursion which ended in the Bay of 
 Oban. Yet much of the day had been cold and 
 windy and cloudy, yielding at last to the sunshine. 
 The scenery which we saw was equal to any in these 
 parts, but it would be much more convenient if the 
 weather would cooperate with it in the interest of 
 strangers. The air was mild on the land. The 
 linen sheets on the beds were a trifle too cool, but 
 we had an abundance of blankets. Our little hotel 
 was very comfortable in all respects. I am con- 
 strained to mention the rarity of attractive faces 
 here at the North. The common people have a hard 
 look, as if the shadows of their mountains rested on 
 them. There are signs of poverty, though these are 
 not numerous where we have been. We took on 
 board the steamer that day a wretched-looking man 
 and woman with their bare-legged children. They 
 drew out our sympathy, perhaps further than was 
 necessary ; for they were all on the forward deck at 
 once, the woman with a pipe in her mouth, and a 
 baby in a shawl hanging on her back, Indian fashion. 
 
FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 45 
 
 Life seemed to have no perplexities for her or hers. 
 After a time the man took the pipe, which seemed 
 to be a family luxury. Whether it descended to the 
 brood, to whom comfort would not have been amiss, 
 I did not see. The burden and the back often get 
 fitted together as the years roll on. 
 
 We left Oban very early on Wednesday morning. 
 The "boots " of the " Argyle," who acted also as clerk 
 on this occasion, had some difficulty in making up 
 his accounts for us, and would certainly have de- 
 frauded the worthy woman whom he represented if 
 our arithmetic had not been more accurate than his. 
 But he was a novice and v\^e were not. The steamer 
 Mountaineer took us to Banavie, where we were 
 transferred to the Glengarry^ which was better 
 adapted to the journey before us, and in this we 
 entered the Caledonian Canal. From Banavie there 
 is a good view of- Ben Nevis, the highest of the 
 Scotch mountains. An ungracious cloud did all it 
 could to liide the mountain from our view. The 
 canal is more than its name denotes. It is sixty 
 miles long, reaching from the Atlantic to the Ger- 
 man Ocean, from the Firth of Lorn to Moray Firth, 
 thus running across the county of Inverness and 
 dividing the island. In more than half its length it 
 makes use of lochs and rivers, Avhich are joined by 
 the artificial stream. The water is seventeen feet 
 deep, and the canal is wide enough for large steam- 
 boats. The day was cold in the first part, with 
 occasional showers, and grew milder as it went on. 
 
 But no weather could destroy this romantic jour- 
 ney, from loch to loch, among mountains and hills, 
 
46 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 past castles which were laden with story. There 
 was Tor Castle, where the Camerons ruled in the old 
 days; and Invergarry, where the "Lord of the Isles" 
 mustered the clans which followed him. We hadu 
 bought the poem at Oban and were able to read it 
 among the scenes which it describes. By falling in 
 ruins the castles have preserved themselves from the 
 hand of improvement, and have thus retained some- 
 thing of the character which was their strength, and 
 now constitutes their attractiveness. Between Loch 
 Oich and Loch Ness is a series of seven lochs, ex- 
 tending through two miles and taking an hour and a 
 half of time. Many persons prefer to walk while 
 the steamer is slowly making her way down the hill 
 to Fort Augustus. At Loch Lomond we were be- 
 guiled from the stage into the ascent of a muddy 
 mountain, under the flimsy pretence that our little 
 walk would relieve the horses. No such inducement 
 of mercy was held out to us at the lochs, and the 
 walk was not only voluntary but agreeable. We 
 were not left to ourselves. Women and girls who 
 were native to both manor and manner attended us, 
 carrying milk, the visible and staple refreshment o\ 
 the region. They received but small pecuniary en- 
 couragement. Probably this was not entirely a dis- 
 advantage to them. For it is to be presumed that 
 the less they sold, the more they had for their own 
 evening repast. 
 
 At the Pier of Foyers we were allowed time to 
 visit the fall of that name, which is sometimes 
 changed into the " Fall of Smoke." It was a tire- 
 some walk, over a steep and rough path. I do not 
 
FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 47 
 
 think we should have been repaid if the walk had 
 been a thousand miles, to take Wilson's estimate, but 
 there was compensation for the walk which we did 
 take. A leap of a hundred feet is not very much for 
 a stream in a land of mountains. But the surround- 
 ings here were picturesque, with their grandeur and 
 beauty, their roughness and grace, while the waters 
 plunged from sparkling sunlight into the shadows 
 below. 
 
 We may properly here recall the lines which Burns 
 wrote with a pencil as he stood by the Fall of Foyers, 
 the lines beginning : — 
 
 " Among the heathy hills and ragged woods 
 The roaring Fyers pours his mossy floods." 
 
 Our day's journey ended at Inverness, "the capital 
 of the Highlands," where we took up our quarters at 
 the Imperial Hotel. The old name of the town had 
 a more metaphysical look than the present one. It 
 was Innerness. The River Ness runs through the 
 town. It is a very old place, and once had a castle 
 near by, in which it is thought Duncan met his 
 death at the hands of Macbeth. There was a later 
 castle, in which, in the times of James I., Parliament 
 was once held. In 1746 that castle came to an un- 
 timely end, and now the court-house and county 
 buildings occupy the site. Three miles away is Cul- 
 loden. The town has a flourishing trade by means 
 of the canal, and its imports and exports run into 
 large figures. We strolled through the streets for a 
 little time, and looked into the shop windows, which 
 were well supplied with goods. We ventured into 
 
48 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 the open door of the Town Hall, a large stone build- 
 ing, with a fine hall for public meetings. The coats- 
 of-arms of the Scottish clans were in the windows. 
 
 The next morning we left Inverness, and found 
 that we were ticketed to Edinburgh by a very long 
 way. But this enabled us to have an hour in Aber- 
 deen, which we improved by a stroll, and a survey 
 of the very fine new market-house which was abun- 
 dantly furnished with good things. It was a weary 
 day's ride, and we were glad at night to enter our 
 names at the Royal Hotel in Edinburgh. 
 
 Edinburgh is so often visited, and has been so fully 
 described, that I need not give much space, to the 
 brief time which we spent there. We saw what 
 everybody sees, and what T had seen before. Yet 
 these places were worth far more than we could give 
 to them, and their relics are their own. We went to 
 the castle, and looked from the high, peopled walls 
 down upon the city. We saw the old regalia, and 
 we went into Queen Mary's room and Queen Mar- 
 garet's Chapel ; and expressed the usual wonder at 
 the size of Mons Meg. We went to Holyrood palace 
 and abbey, wandered among the pictures, and through 
 the rooms, told again the sad story of Mary, and saw 
 where Rizzio's blood had stained the floor. The 
 ancient tapestries, the antiquated royal bed, the fur- 
 niture of other days, the little trifles and treasures 
 which association has made valuable, all these we 
 saw and talked about. What a wonderful place it is! 
 And how the heart warms up to Scotch story and the 
 things which have had a place in it ! The broken walls 
 of the Chapel Royal show what a fine structure it 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 49 
 
 must have been in its glory. Why could not these 
 wonders of architecture have lasted to our day? 
 We v^ent to St. Giles', where we were admitted for 
 three-pence each. I remonstrated with the ticket- 
 seller on the impropriety of asking a fee for admis- 
 sion to a church. But my words made no impression. 
 He took the money just the same. I presume that 
 was the whole of his office. This is the old parish 
 church, with restorations. They were still restoring 
 or decorating when we were admitted. 
 
 We drove through the old city, through its narrow 
 and dark streets, peered into its dismal closes, looked 
 at the dingy buildings, watched the human life which 
 in its poverty and dirt swarmed into the streets, 
 marked the attempts at cleanliness as they hung from 
 the poles which projected from every story of the tall 
 houses, and thought on the days which are no more, 
 and tiie events of which these crowded thoroughfares 
 and antique buildings were the scene. 
 
 A sixpence from each of us gave the right of 
 entrance to the house of John Knox. We saw the 
 rooms which he occupied, and the study in which 
 he wrought great works. It was made plain that 
 the size of the room has little to do with the quan- 
 tity of the study or of the learning which results 
 from it. We looked from the window of this small 
 room, from which he preached to the multitude on 
 the streets below him. A chair is the only thing 
 now in the house which confesses him as its owner. 
 
 It was a fine drive which we had on Arthur's seat, 
 where the "Queen's drive" is the public road. The 
 monuments had their share of attention, Nelson's, 
 
50 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Burns\ and chiefly the magnificent pile of stone 
 which commemorates the name of the man who has 
 added even to the renown of Scotland, and has done 
 more than any one besides to preserve the song and 
 legend of its ancient life, and to make a journey 
 under his guidance rich in such pleasure as he alone 
 could impart. 
 
 It is a delightful afternoon excursion from the 
 great city to quiet Hawthornden and Roslin Chapel 
 and Castle. The chapel is beautiful beyond any 
 power of words. It is a gem of architecture. The 
 Gothic period has left nothing more elegant. It is 
 four hundred years old, and more. For only a shil- 
 ling one can cross its antique threshold and listen to 
 the recitation of its wonders by a man who probably 
 knows little of them beyond the piece which he 
 speaks. He is an encumbrance; but he will go on 
 and on, though life is short. It would be hopeless to 
 attempt to escape from him, or to look for a few 
 leisure moments after his declamation. It will then 
 be time to leave. But as his story spins itself out, 
 the eye wanders through the church, examines its 
 exquisite tracery in stone, admires the columns and 
 arches^ takes in the whole symmetry and grace, 
 while once again the story of the twisted pillar is 
 told and heard. Who has not heard it? Of the 
 master who vainly tried to create the column, and 
 who went to Rome to learn the art ; of the appren- 
 tice who wrought out the marvel in his master's 
 absence, and paid for his cunning by his death when 
 the envious master returned? A legend? Yes; 
 but the pillar is there. It might all have happened. 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 51 
 
 Read it as legend or parable, and it has happened 
 scores of times. We turned from the chapel to 
 Roslin Castle, or to what remains of it, hanging 
 over the river. It was cheaper than going to 
 church, for the proprietor demanded only a sixpence 
 of each visitor. An amiable guide represented the 
 proprietor, and escorted us through the dungeons, 
 which are nearly all that is left. The fact which he 
 labored most to impress upon us Avas that he had 
 the lumbago in his back. This was not particularly 
 valuable as an item of history, but it had a certain 
 local interest, and was a specious appeal to our sym- 
 pathy. He did partial service, and on account 
 of his malady excused himself from more. But he 
 had enough strength to take the shilling which we 
 felt obliged to add to the legitimate entrance fee. 
 After all, the dungeons were no better than the 
 church, even in a monetary view. 
 
 We followed a footpath along the Esk, through a 
 romantic glen, and crossed the river on a small 
 bridge. A lonely guardian of the bridge demanded 
 from each a shilling toll. We remarked upon the 
 excessive charge. He admitted that it was rather 
 hard on us, but declared that it was not his fault. 
 On this walk we explored the cave where Bruce is 
 said to have taken refuge. We saw his sword, so 
 called, and John Knox's desk. A woman was in 
 charge of the place and its treasures. I fancy that 
 she expected a shilling in return for her courtesy; 
 but she made no sign to that effect, and we did not 
 run the risk of offending her by offering to pay for 
 what had been pleasantly rendered. We thought, 
 
62 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 too, that the landed proprietors had made enough out 
 of us for one afternoon. At Hawthornden we waited 
 for a train and were returned safely to Edinburgh. 
 
 Saturday afternoon we came down to Melrose and 
 found a most comfortable home at the Abbey Hotel, 
 hard by the abbey. I found that the house had 
 been enlarged since I was last in it, which was a 
 token of prosperity. Its situation is perfect, and all 
 its arrangements are excellent. We had the house 
 almost to ourselves, and the quiet was very restful. 
 It was delightful to be so near the abbey; to have 
 the ruins before our windows, where we could look 
 upon them as the day glided into the evening and 
 the shadows of night crept over the walls, and to 
 hear the ancient bell ring out the hours of da}^ and 
 night. There were none to answer, but the bell 
 maintained the fidelity of its more useful years. 
 "Melrose Abbey (admission, 6d.) was founded in 
 1136, but was destroyed in 1322," — so runs the 
 book. Not long after the walls were reared of the 
 house which now stands desolate. It was one of 
 the finest of the class of fine houses to which it 
 belonged. The stone was hard enough to preserve 
 some of the carving which embellishes it. The 
 graves of kings and other mighty men are yet to be 
 seen, and the place where tradition says the heart 
 of Robert Bruce was laid when it had ceased to beat 
 with love for his country and his people. It was a 
 good place for the last slumber, and as safe as 
 Icolmkill. The waves of time have alreadj^ swept 
 over island and abbey, but the sleepers have not 
 been wakened. 
 
FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 53 
 
 Melrose is a very attractive place. The old 
 monks liked a fair, well watered country about their 
 houses, and they had it here. The abbey was 
 worthy of the place which they selected for it. 
 Even in its despoiled estate it is majestic and beau- 
 tiful, with its massive pillars and lofty arches, the 
 delicate tracery of its capitals, where constructive and 
 inventive skill labored to one end, and the graceful 
 and grotesque figures which look down from the 
 walls, and the empty framework of its great win- 
 dows. The venturesome boy, with an instinctive 
 desire to stand in high places, wished to go up to 
 the gallery where of old the monks walked, and from 
 which they looked down into the sacred courts. 
 But visitors were not allowed there. Perhaps the 
 regulation is wise ; it certainly can be made remu- 
 nerative. I had a friendly chat with the motherly 
 dame who was in charge of the abbey, and she repre- 
 sented to me the perils of the high promenade. She 
 said her son had forbidden her to go there; but I 
 so far ingratiated myself that she finally said the 
 boy miglit go if the woman who serves as guide 
 would attend him. The woman was more than will- 
 ing. She knew there was reason for yielding a 
 cheerful consent. So the youth passed along the 
 dusty path once trodden by feet which long ago 
 rested from their wandering and turned to dust in 
 the field beside the house they loved and served. It 
 is an interesting old burial-place where they are 
 lying with many of later days. 
 
 How much charm there is in the very name of 
 Melrose ! What house awakens more tender recol- 
 
54 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 lections! For this we are doubtless indebted in good 
 measure to him who chose his home on the banks 
 of the Tweed. But the house and its history have 
 their own choice interest for us. The house has its 
 heroic annals : — 
 
 ^^For Branksome's Chiefs had in hattle stood 
 To fence the rights of fair Mehose : 
 And lands and Uvings, many a rood, 
 Had gifted the shrine for their souls' repose." 
 
 But who shall tell the tales of love and devotion, of 
 gentle charity and gracious ministry, of hope and 
 desire, and holy communion even with those who 
 had gone up into the excellent glory? So many of 
 the best things never get written ! The bones of 
 Michael Scott and the heart of Bruce may not be 
 there. Alexander and the Douglases may not be 
 found. The saints have left their niches empty. But 
 the lives remain, and it is not very hard to bring 
 back the men who once had here their home, and re. 
 ceived those who came for rest in life, or for the rest 
 which follows after. 
 
 " More meet it were to mark the day 
 Of penitence and prayer divine, 
 When pilgrim-chiefs, in sad array, 
 Sought Melrose' holy shrine." 
 
 We looked upon the scene ''so sad and fair" when 
 
 **The gay beams of hghtsome day 
 Gild, but to flout, the ruins gray," — 
 
 and when 
 
 ** The broken arches are black in night, 
 And each shafted oriel glimmers white; 
 When the cold light's uncertain shower 
 Streams on the ruin'd central tower ; 
 
FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 65 
 
 When buttress and buttress, alternately, 
 
 Seemed framed of ebon and ivory ; 
 
 Wlien silver edges the imagery, 
 
 And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die." 
 
 You who read this may think there was no need of 
 copying lines so familiar. If j^ou do think so, will 
 you try to write of Melrose, and leave them out ? 
 
 But when one indulges his imagination by moon- 
 light, he must be prepared for the disillusion. I 
 looked from my window at night down among the 
 graves, and saw the figure of a young woman in the 
 arms of her lover. Not far off was the stately figure 
 of her mistress, as I conjectured. She was very 
 prim, and her skirts were scant and straight as they 
 fell to her feet. As she was watching, and I feared 
 with no good intent, I felt at liberty to share her 
 vigil. My sympathy was with them as against her. 
 Of the little group no one moved. The spell which 
 was upon the abbey and the graves seemed to have 
 fallen upon them all. At length I was forced to sus- 
 pect that there was a lack of reality in the vision. 
 The morning showed that it was even so, and that 
 my fancy had been playing with the monuments. 
 Well, it might have been true. In that field, or 
 some other of the fields, it has been true. 
 
 It was a fine place for the Sabbath. What could 
 be better ? It was a pleasant walk to the churches. 
 I selected the Church of Scotland as best adapted 
 to my condition. Could one choose any other, being 
 there ? The building had an old look, though it has 
 not closed its first century. The watchful bird upon 
 the spire looked aged and weary. Indeed, I have 
 
66 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 seen no one of these sentinels in the United Kingdom 
 who could be compared with the dignified, vigorous 
 bird who so long presided over Boston streets and 
 Boston harbor, and now looks down upon the Cam- 
 bridge parsonage. The pews were unpainted, and 
 liad very high and straight backs, with very narrow 
 seats, whose severity was not relieved by cushions. 
 I was given a place near the high pulpit. The pulpit 
 and the gallery were of oak, so far as the genius of 
 the local painter could transform pine into oak, and, 
 to the same degree, the supporting pillars were of ele- 
 gant marble. Decorative art could not have gone 
 much further, at least in that direction. After a time 
 the sexton, if that was his title, made his appearance 
 with the Bible and hymn-book, which he placed in the 
 pulj)it. He descended and the minister came in, a short 
 man with a long beard. He marched down the broad 
 aisle, holdiug up his gown as if he was passing through 
 deep water. When he was fairly in his place, the 
 sexton, if he was the sexton, mounted the stairs again 
 and closed the door. Pie had the preacher safe till 
 he chose to let him out. All the ceremonj^ was 
 amusing to a foreigner, but not without impressive- 
 ness. Yet when I try to imagine all this done by 
 the sexton and minister with whom I am most con- 
 cerned, I can never make it work well. I fear they 
 would not fit into these arrangements gracefully. 
 But they might come to it. The manner of the 
 preacher was dignified and serious. " Let us solem- 
 nize our minds by singing the eighty-ninth Psalm, 
 beginning with the fifteenth verse." Then a man in 
 a black gown stood at the end of the broad aisle and 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 57 
 
 raised the Psalm. There were a dozen boys in 
 front who appeared to be the assistants of the 
 leader. There was no organ, but the singing was 
 hearty and good. I shall not report the sermon. 
 "All things work together for good," was the text, 
 with the rest of that helpful verse. If the good 
 man had stopped with the words of the apostle, he 
 would have done well. But he proceeded to show 
 how much of the spirit and life of a grand sentence 
 he could take away in thirty or forty minutes. No 
 man could fail to say good things on such a theme. 
 But he dwelt so carefully on the latter part of the 
 verse that there was small comfort left in the former 
 part. I could not avoid the feeling that the man of 
 Tarsus and Damascus wrote larger and better things 
 than the man in Melrose described in his name. 
 The people did not listen as if the increasing words 
 had added much meajiing to their own first thought, 
 though now and then the girl who sat next me 
 brushed a tear from her eyes. I fancied it was more 
 for some memory of her own than for the sentences 
 that fell upon her ear. At the close of the service 
 I asked her if this was the stated preacher there, 
 and she answered with a pleasant smile and the be- 
 witching Scotch accent, " No ; it is a strange minis- 
 ter." 
 
 I am coming to feel that to preach is more diffi- 
 cult than I have supposed. The preacher's message 
 is so great in itself, so noble in its tone, so gracious 
 in its spirit, that it is hard when a man has spoken 
 it to speak about it. I wonder if it would be better 
 to start with ourselves; with the human thought 
 
68 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 and want and longing and experience, and work our 
 way up to the mount where we may hear the voice 
 which comes to every man according as he has need. 
 When one wants the word he waits for it, and listens 
 while it is speaking to him. I am more and more 
 persuaded of one thing, that preachers ought to let 
 God's word to the soul have its full meaning and force 
 and speak for itself. When we keep close to him 
 whose messengers we are, and speak as we are bidden, 
 we shall have more authority, and therefore more in- 
 fluence. 
 
 ** Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 
 *' Who is this that darkeneth counsel by w^ords without knowl- 
 edge ? " 
 
 All this is a soliloquy and not a criticism. It is ad- 
 dressed to only one man, and I hope he will profit 
 by it. 
 
 Monday was given up to that to which the day 
 belonged. Its occupation was easily determined. 
 We had a delightful drive to Abbotsford. It was 
 not merely the residence of Sir Walter, but his home, 
 the house and home of his own making. Castles 
 and abbeys furnished stones for it, and the history 
 of the Highlands was enshrined in and within its 
 walls. I doubt if there is another house in the 
 world where so many people would feel at home. 
 The form of it is known to everybody. Who does 
 not know the ample hospitality which dwelt in it? 
 Who has not sung the songs and read the tales 
 which issued from its heart ? Who has not roamed 
 through its garden with the master and his com- 
 
FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 59 
 
 paiiions? We were fortunate in the time of our 
 visit, as we had the genial cicerone to ourselves and 
 he seemed in no desire to hurry us. So we lingered 
 in the rooms, among the arms and the books, and 
 the gathered relics of many days, and the abounding 
 memories which were more than recollections. 
 
 The drive lost none of its charm when we turned 
 towards Dryburgh. We had to leave the carriage at 
 some distance from the Abbey, and to cross the 
 bridge on foot. Tlien we walked on till we stood 
 among the remains of magnificence, and communed 
 again with vanished glory. Melrose and Dryburgh 
 were founded in the same century, and were both 
 destroyed by Edward II. Dryburgh had two centu- 
 ries more of life, but at length fell again and has 
 found no one to restore it. We could easily erect 
 the walls and divide them as of old ; and there was 
 enough of the former work to serve as a pattern for 
 the restoration. But the chief attraction of the place 
 is in St. Mary's aisle, where, in a broken corner of 
 the ancient pile, with that of his wife and son, and 
 of Lockhart, is the tomb of Walter Scott. An iron 
 gate shuts out the visitor, but he can stand near and 
 easily read the modest inscription. A better memo- 
 rial are his own words, which are in all the world. 
 What a life it was ; industrious, incorruptible, patient, 
 courageous, simple, and gentle, full of friendliness, 
 rich in love of his country — doubly his — and of all 
 which ever belonged to it ! He illuminated the land, 
 opened its secret treasuries, told its tales, and taught 
 others to sing its melodies, until, more than any other, 
 he has given Scotland its place in the hearts of men. 
 
60 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 This is remembrance worth having, when it comes 
 unsought, when it has to come, when a man compels 
 it by virtue of his manhood and manliness. It may 
 be long a-coming, but such a career and name as his 
 make us trust that the day will dawn when it shall 
 be seen that not before thrones or titles or estates 
 is the truest and most loyal homage paid, but before 
 men and manhood. I cannot feel that the place for 
 his grave was well chosen. Why should he lie in 
 the past who inhabits the present, and whose name 
 is the most common one and the most honored one 
 in his land ? Should he not lie in his own home, or 
 on some hill-side over which his Highlanders wan- 
 dered, or by some lake whose waters he brightened and 
 widened, rather than with the dead, in the midst of a 
 ruin, among the grim and broken stones of a fallen 
 house to which he never belonged? So I thought 
 when I stood by the grave. I wished that he was in 
 the sunlight, where the minstrel's song might seem 
 still to charm him, and he could "feel the daisies 
 growing over him." But even that would be his 
 grave, and he is not dead. 
 
 We drove back through Newstead and took a last, 
 long look at Melrose. 
 
 *' Was never scene so sad and fair ! " 
 
 In the afternoon we moved on, bidding farewell 
 to Scotland. At ten o'clock we were at Newcastle- 
 upon-Tyne. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM NEWCASTLE THKOUGH NORWAY. 
 
 Newcastle once held the new castle which was 
 begun by Robert, the eldest son of the Conqueror, 
 in 1079 or 1080, and finished by his brother, William 
 Rufus, and had an important part in the wars of 
 that period. A hundred years later Henry II* 
 erected the castle of which the Edwards made much 
 use when they led their armies into Scotland. The 
 castle has been restored, and is a fine representation 
 of the military architecture of the Normans. But 
 the town reaches into an earlier time, when the 
 Romans had a camp there, which they called Pons 
 ^lii, which was one of the forts which defended 
 the wall of Hadrian. The deserted camp of the 
 Romans was taken up by a colony of monks, and 
 the town thus acquired the name of Monkchester. 
 Not for these things, but for its vigorous modern 
 industries is it famed now. It stretches for two 
 miles along the river, which furnishes a natural dock 
 for the shipping. Artificial docks have been added 
 to this for the accommodation of the multitude of 
 vessels. Ship-building is carried on upon a very 
 large scale, and we found the river studded with 
 iron ships in the process of construction. A familiar 
 saying reminds us that Newcastle has coals enough. 
 
 61 
 
62 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Indeed, its extensive trade consists largely in coal 
 and in such things as coal helps to make. It is an 
 ancient traffic, reaching back to the Henrys and 
 Edwards. The railway system had its origin here, 
 and here the Stephensons wrought upon locomotives 
 and civilization. 
 
 We drove about the town in a leisure hour, and 
 had a passing view of. its fine streets, its large build- 
 ings, and the signs of its earlier and latei^ life. The 
 place deserved — what place did not — a longer time 
 than we could give to it. 
 
 At one o'clock on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
 July 31, we left the pier at Newcastle on the tender 
 which was to take us to the steamer at the mouth 
 of the river. The name of the tender was Provi- 
 dence^ which had a pleasant suggestiveness. It was 
 an interesting sail down the Tyne, between the ship- 
 yards and the factories. Where the river widens 
 into the sea we passed through the " graveyard," 
 and looked with a sense of pity at the old ships 
 which have ''outlived their usefulness," and are now 
 abandoned together there for the elements to break 
 them up. We found the Norge waiting for xis. Slie 
 belonged to a new line of ships running between 
 England and Norway, and promised more comfort 
 than the ships whose English port is at Hull. The 
 new line fulfilled its promise, and it is much to be 
 regretted that it has been discontinued. 
 
 We wei'e allowed for this northern journey to 
 join two of our countrymen whose plans were like 
 our own. With one of them we had crossed the 
 ocean and rambled about Killarney. I think they 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NORWAY. 63 
 
 will allow me the pleasure of mentioning their 
 names, for they were the most genial companions, 
 and greatly enlarged the interest and happiness of 
 the weeks which we spent with them. They were 
 the Eev. Dr. Williams of Baltimore, and Mr. L. M. 
 Blackford, the master of a noted school for boys 
 near Alexandria, Va. There were but few other 
 passengers on the steamer, and conspicuous among 
 them was a learned and courteous canon of the Eng- 
 lish Church, with whom we kept company for some 
 time in Norway. There was but one lady among 
 the passengers. The North Sea, which is capricious, 
 and at times most violent, was very quiet during our 
 voyage, so that we could enjoy it to the full. The 
 staterooms were small but comfortable. There were 
 so few of them that our two friends were put into 
 the smoking-room, which was not in all respects 
 comfortable. They <?ould not have it till the smok- 
 ers had gone from it, leaving the lingering fragrance 
 of their presence. There was no key in our door, 
 and a watch-case hung over each berth. It was clear 
 that we were among honest folk. The table was 
 good, and was abundantly furnished with cheese, 
 which we found to be a staple article on sea and 
 land. We had at least four kinds, so that we could 
 give to our meals something of an experimental and 
 comparative character. One kind, which resembled 
 an obelisk in shape and color, and gained that name, 
 seemed to be the main reliance. The service was 
 rather primitive, but generous and good-natured. 
 It was not without difficulty that we managed to 
 make return for the extras, which we enjoyed with- 
 
64 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 out knowing that they were extras, so that memory 
 and imagination were taxed to sustain our integrity 
 and the ship's finances. When we had conscien- 
 tiously given in our personal statements, there came 
 the added difficulty of paying for what we had 
 received in a currency of which we were ignorant, 
 and to men who were ignorant of our language. 
 But I fancy that they w^ere reimbursed, as they 
 deserved to be ; for all of the men and maidens of 
 the ship, from the captain to the table-girls, were 
 eager to minister to our comfort. 
 
 In forty-four hours from the time of our starting 
 we were in the harbor of Bergen, on the south-west 
 coast of Norway. The approach was very pleasing. 
 The coast-line was not unlike that of Ireland, al- 
 though the hills were more rocky and barren. Ber- 
 gen has a picturesque look, with the red roofs of its 
 houses, which are mostly clustered at the base of a 
 high hill, and on a sort of promontory stretching 
 into the fjord. The people count seven hills back 
 of the town, and a stranger in the land can readily 
 count four. He has a suspicion that the balance 
 must have a classical rather than a natural exist- 
 ence. The steamer stopped in the harbor, and boats 
 at once came around to take us to the quay. We 
 were landed in a fish market, though the market 
 itself was chiefly in boats which were massed to- 
 gether and formed tlie scene of a busy traffic, carried 
 on by both men and women. Besides fish, we saw 
 potatoes, pottery, cheese, and other commodities. 
 The women were bareheaded, or wore a peculiar 
 peaked cap. Some of the men and boys had wooden 
 
FR03I NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 65 
 
 shoes. We found no carriage or van to take us and 
 our belongings to a hotel. But there were porters 
 for the baggage, which was loaded on the back of 
 an old man to an incredible degree. We moved in 
 procession behind him, and soon found ourselves at 
 Holdt's, which is one of the several hotels of the 
 town. The porter shook hands with us when his 
 duties were over, and went his wav. We found 
 then, and afterward, that politeness is a strong point 
 among these people. The house was crowded by 
 the time we reached it. The register was kept on a 
 blackboard fastened to the wall, and there the enter- 
 prise of Dr. Williams had placed our names against 
 vacant numbers. We were thus well provided for, 
 and we found the house very comfortable. 
 
 Our introduction to Norway was most fortunate. 
 We had been commended to the consul of the United 
 States at Bergen and to another gentlemen of prom- 
 inence in the country. They were both members of 
 the Storthing, or national Parliament, and were able 
 to give us much trustworty information in regard to 
 public affairs, as well as those of more local interest. 
 Nothing could have exceeded their attention, and no 
 men could have made kindness more serviceable. 
 
 Bergen is one of the oldest of the towns of Nor- 
 way. It has some thirty-four thousand inhabitants. 
 The climate is mild and damp. Bergen has been 
 called ''the fatherland of drizzle," but the weather 
 was good while we were there. It had been an ex- 
 ceptionally dry season. The town has suffered much 
 from fires. But these have opened the way for plac- 
 ing modern buildings among those of more antique 
 
66 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 design. The people are said to be more social and 
 vivacious than in other parts of the country, and 
 their holidays are merry ones. But they are indus- 
 trious and frugal ; a very pleasant people to live 
 with. The language is very musical. There is a 
 peculiar inflection at the end of a sentence which 
 makes speech almost like a song. It is a delight to 
 listen to it when it is spoken by a refined, musical 
 voice. 
 
 The consul took us out to a fine country house 
 which he was building. It was a charming drive. 
 We found that the construction of the house was 
 very substantial. The timbers were heavy and were 
 well set together. No plaster was on the walls, but 
 above the wainscot they were covered with brown 
 linen. This could be covered with paper, if one 
 chose to have it so. But as it was, it was much 
 more pleasing to the eye than bare white walls would 
 have been. Many of the houses are fine structures. 
 The town house of the consul was so much admired 
 by an English traveller that he procured a copy of 
 the plans, and had the house reproduced in England. 
 
 Bergen is a town of a considerable trade. The 
 leading article is fish. The northern fishermen make 
 this their market, which is the largest in Norway. 
 There are also yards for shipbuilding, and steamers 
 and vessels of many kinds frequent the port. We 
 made some small purchases, but found that we could 
 do this more easily under the guidance of one of our 
 friends. The language offered some obstruction, 
 and it was not so easy as it might seem to make our- 
 selves understood, even with a vocabularj^ in our 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 67 
 
 hand. I wanted a knife, and, coming upon a store 
 where I thought I could obtain one, I boldl}'- repeated 
 the Norwegian word ''kniv." The kind woman 
 stared, but did nothing to gratify my desire. Yet I 
 was sure of my word, for I had it in my book. Fail- 
 ing in the department of words, I resorted to the 
 sign language, and asked my boy to exhibit his cut- 
 ting utensil. The woman was enlightened, and, re- 
 peating my word, giving a peculiar click to the k^ 
 she produced the knife. 
 
 We went into the Exchange and saw the busy 
 merchants of Bergen, who appeared very much like 
 those in Boston. We went to one old house, rebuilt 
 in the last century like an earlier one in which, 
 in the time of the Hanseatic League, a merchant 
 lived and did business. It was a very quaint build- 
 ing. The staircase of the living-room was very steep 
 and narrow; the bedrooms were extremely small. 
 Yet once a stirring life was content to have its home 
 in these contracted quarters. Now the house is a sort 
 of museum, containing many objects of the period 
 to which it belongs, and all curious and instructive. 
 We visited the public museum, which is a fine build- 
 ing, with collections of many things illustrating the 
 natural history of the country, and many others 
 which are connected with the methods and history 
 of ^he people. There is a good library on the lower 
 floor of the museum. But nothing interested us 
 more than the grave of Ole Bull, to which we were 
 taken by one of his old friends. It stands in a cen- 
 tral spot in the cemetery, in a position of especial 
 honor, and is a rectangular mound with ivy running 
 
68 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 over it. There were fresh flowers lying on it. The 
 scene of the funeral of the great artist, whose home 
 for so much of the time was in our own land, was 
 described by his friend, and we thought we could 
 imagine something of the intense interest of that 
 day when all the people gathered to pay him sincere 
 honor, and to mourn for one who had long carried 
 them on his heart. We were told that a monument 
 was to be erected to his memory in the towji. His 
 name and his work will not be dependent upon 
 stone, but will live in many hearts on both sides of 
 the sea. 
 
 On Saturday morning, the 4th of August, we 
 left Bergen in the steamer Lyderhorn for a day on 
 the Hardanger Fjord. The steamer was not large, 
 but she was comfortable and well arranged for an 
 inland voyage. It is a peculiarity of Norway, made 
 evident by the map, that it is penetrated by fjords, 
 arms of the sea, which reach far into the country 
 among the mountains, and form broad highways for 
 the traveller. It is of surpassing interest tlius to 
 journey through the land. Our sail down the harbor 
 was very interesting. Boats were gathering for the 
 the market-day, laden with enterprise and expecta- 
 tion, and more salable products. Women rowed in 
 the boats with men and seemed quite as strong, and 
 quite as well used to the work. Indeed, men and 
 women seemed to share life along this coast, at least 
 on business days. They had joined in producing, 
 and came with a common interest to the disposing 
 of their goods. We passed among islands of many 
 shapes and sizes. We thought of Lyso, the island 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NOBWAY, 69 
 
 which Ole Bull had loved from his boyhood, ^Yhe^e 
 at length he made his home, among the tall pines 
 which caught and repeated the melody of the wind 
 which blew across its rocky shores. There in his 
 double loyalty he would give our own flag to the 
 breeze with that of the land of his birth. There he 
 rested at the close, when his fingers lost their cun- 
 ning and his heart grew still. From its seclusion he 
 was borne to the grave amid the homage of rulers 
 and people. We did not pass within sight of the 
 island, but a Norwegian gentleman, at my request, 
 pointed in the direction in which it lay. 
 
 It is too early to be weary of the attempt to de- 
 scribe wonderful scener3^ But the pen falters even 
 now. We had seen nothing to equal that which was 
 about us that day. Tiiere is more variety in the 
 views on this fjord than is found on the others. 
 The quiet waters lie between rough and steep moun- 
 tains, where trees contend with rocks, and have a 
 measure of success, while along the banks are grassy 
 fields. The coast-line winds gracefully into bays 
 which are the seats of hamlets nestling at the foot 
 of the hills. Over hill and sea the light and shade 
 play with continual change, making the whole scene 
 both grand and delightful. It was a sunny day, but 
 clouds were on the mountains, and the Folgefond, 
 that mass of ice and snow, thirty-five or forty miles 
 long, was covered from our sight. We knew it was 
 there, for we saw it on the map, where it lies like a 
 vast lake among the hills. 
 
 The steamer stopped at various places along the 
 way. Sometimes she went up to the pier, at other 
 
70 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 times only waited for a boat to come from the shore. 
 These were all forlorn-looking settlements, with a 
 few lone houses, and in the largest places perhaps a 
 mill and a church. Life must have an even flow in 
 such retreats. Once a cannon was fired for our 
 entertainment, and the echoes had a striking, but 
 familiar, sound. Echoes seem independent of na- 
 tional tongues. We had the usual amusement in 
 watching the passengers, who were of several 
 classes, and were to a considerable degree possessed 
 of the same purposes as ourselves. The eating 
 arrangements of the steamer were not on a lavish 
 scale, but the steward and his assistants did what 
 they could, and were always patient and obliging. 
 There was an unusual amount of consideration 
 shown in assessing the fares. Persons travelling in 
 a family had family rates, as I found at a later time. 
 Our distinguished church dignitary was easily the 
 most important personage on board, and he was 
 always courteous, and ready to use his fund of 
 knowledge for the common good. He had studied 
 the language of the country for his own convenience, 
 though the Norwegians seemed to get on quite as 
 well when he used his mother-tongue. He seemed 
 to have given some attention to our country, 
 for he remarked while we were at Bergen that he 
 had no doubt the English language was well spoken 
 in Boston and the more settled parts of the country, 
 but that it must be more rudely used in the wilder 
 portions, as Cincinnati and Oregon. His repetition 
 of that phrase indicated that it stood for all our 
 wide West. Yet I have seldom met a man to whom 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY, 71 
 
 it was so pleasant to listen in his familiar talk. I 
 am confident that he adorns the high position which 
 he holds, and he seems like one who has deserved 
 even a loftier place. 
 
 By slow degrees the day wore on and the dark- 
 ness gathered. We all grew dull as we sailed down 
 the Sorfjord. We even grew anxious. We knew 
 that we were bound to a very small place. The 
 guide-book was not encouraging. It told of Ole 
 PrsBtsgaard's, near the pier, and Baard Aga's, two 
 hundred paces off, and the Vetterhus. But we were 
 a large company, and how could so many find quar- 
 ters late on Saturday night ? It is to be confessed 
 that we were more especially concerned for four of 
 the company. Our excellent friends at Bergen had 
 marked out our route through the country, adding 
 their suggestions to the plan made for us before we 
 left home ; and the consul had also telegraphed in 
 our behalf to Mr. Baard Aga. We had expecta- 
 tions. But who could tell whether a line over the 
 wires would give us precedence among so many who 
 had shown themselves equal to securing the best 
 places on the steamer? It was about eleven o'clock 
 when we drew up to the pier at Odde. It was dark. 
 Many people were on the quay. But to which of 
 them were we consigned? We called, '' Mr. Aga ! " 
 and had no response. With increased emotion we 
 again shouted '-'- Mr. Aga ! " He appeared at our 
 cry, and we found that he had received the news of 
 our coming, and that our rooms were in readiness. 
 We followed him to his house, which was not an 
 imposing building, although it was very attractive 
 
72 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 
 
 at that time. We were received by a woman who 
 could speak English, but could hardly be called pro- 
 ficient in the accomplishment. She may have learned 
 it in Cincinnati or Oregon. But she knew as if by 
 instinct what we wanted. She fairly read our 
 thoughts, late as the hour was, and dark as it was 
 out-of-doors. It is an inestimable aid when travel- 
 ling where there is no common tongue, that the 
 pressing wants of men are very few, and can be 
 quite accurately determined by the time wlien they 
 present themselves. This woman knew that we 
 wanted rooms and beds. She offered two rooms to 
 our party of four. They were on the same floor, and 
 opened out of the dining-room. The room assigned 
 to my boy and myself was about eight feet square. 
 The walls and ceiling were nicely painted. There 
 were two beds, which were short, after the manner 
 of the country. My own bed was apparently mod- 
 elled after a bread-tray. The sides were some four 
 inches liigh, and the floor of the bed was exactly my 
 length. It was very comfortable, and difficult to 
 roll out of. It was good for sleep, and for that pur- 
 pose it was wanted. We had two pitchers and 
 bowls for personal ablutions — one set on a wash- 
 stand, and the other on a chair. Everything was 
 wonderfully neat. We always found neatness in 
 Norway. We proved the table in due time. It was 
 excellent in the abundance and quality of that 
 which it set before us. That was a matter of the 
 next day. 
 
 Sunday brought its disappointment, for we had 
 expected to attend service in the village church. 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE TIIllOUGII NOB WAY. 73 
 
 But tliere was no service on that day. Only one 
 Sunday in three is the minister in this vilhige of 
 forty houses. We saw the humble house in w^hich 
 he makes his home, and wished we could have seen 
 him. I think there is a Sunday-school in the neigh- 
 borhood, where some good man instructs the chil- 
 dren who are sent to him. We should have been 
 glad to have worshipped with these plain country 
 folk in their Lutheran Church, and could have 
 joined in the songs and prayers even though the 
 language was strange. It would have been interest- 
 ing to see the peasants as they came from their scat- 
 tered homes in their gala costumes up to the house 
 w^hich was a home for them all. But we w^ere left 
 to ourselves. We went for a little time into the 
 empty church, and sat in its silence and communed 
 with our own hearts. We looked up to the hills 
 and out upon the stream, and far above us saw a^ 
 part of the Buarbrse, a portion of the Folgefond, all 
 of which had been hidden on Saturday. A visit to 
 the glacier makes an excursion of four or live hours. 
 This includes the Gaarden Jordal, with its elms and 
 birches, a garden shut in by a precipitous wall of 
 rocks. Some of our fellow-visitors made the excur- 
 sion. Some went fishing and came back with very 
 creditable trout. We passed the day more quietly; 
 but it was a pleasant pause between the weeks, and 
 it was a fine place in which to have it come to us. 
 
 It was very early on Monday morning when we 
 returned to the steamer and resumed our voyage. 
 We went from Odde up the fjord, turned into the 
 Eidfjord, and landed at Vik. We made haste to the 
 
74 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 inn of the town, which was kept by the brothers 
 N^sheim, and was reputed to be a more expensive 
 stopping-place than some others ; yet nothing in the 
 outward aspect of the building or in the furnishing 
 of the rooms presented any sufficient reason for this. 
 But we had not come to see the village, and there 
 was little to see if that had been our design. Like 
 many a large place, this derives its importance from 
 the independent fact that it is near certain natural 
 attractions. People stop at Vik in order to go fur- 
 ther, as a tourist from Killarney might properly 
 remark. We wished to see the Voringsfos, which 
 ranks among the very best of the many fine water- 
 falls of Norway. We made a very short tarry in 
 the house, but one long enough to secure the ser- 
 vices of a guide. He was not promising in appear- 
 ance, but it seemed a good fortune that we found 
 any one unemployed. We had learned that at Vik 
 we should take a boat for the falls. We learned 
 more when we were on the spot, for there was ^ 
 walk of two English miles across the neck of land 
 which lies between the fjord and the Oifjords- 
 vand, — there is a real pleasure in writing these 
 names from memory and Baedeker, — which is a lake 
 fifty-four feet above the level of the sea, and bor- 
 dered with high rocks which are adorned with 
 waterfalls. The boatman lives at Gjellero, and when 
 he is there may be addressed in shouts which will 
 bring him to his boat in due course of time. When 
 he was obtained, it became clear that the boat in 
 which he proposed to ferry us across had absorbed 
 too much of the lake. Bailing out was a slow pro- 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 75 
 
 cess, but our time was not of much account. At 
 last we embarked. It was a fine boat-ride, and it 
 ended where we were to take horses — that is, a 
 further walk of half a mile brought us to the place 
 where it was fabled that there were horses. We 
 made the walk in haste, as there were plainly more 
 persons, in different boats, than there were likely to 
 be horses. Our fears were not groundless. We 
 thought our speed was considerable, but it was not 
 immediately rewarded. One of the brothers had 
 remarked that he did not know whether we should 
 find horses or not. He was correct. We came to 
 a small house w^ith a large sign, and there we 
 halted. Other persons were doing the same thing, 
 and apparently for the same reason. The sign was 
 somewhat remarkable : it was rectangular, and in 
 the lower right-hand corner was a small table, on 
 which stood a bottle and tumbler. The bottle was 
 very much higher than the table, which was about 
 as Iiigh as the tumbler. On the top was the legend 
 
 HERE APvE HORSES AND GUIDES 
 AND GOOD LODGINGS. 
 
 Of the lodgings I have nothing to say. We were 
 then running up a bill at Vik. But there were no 
 horses. A woman appeared, and to her we ad- 
 dressed ourselves with some embarrassment. Her 
 ideas on the subject of horses, or bests as she 
 called them, were vague. From the humble, very 
 humble, dwellings about the natives speedily ap- 
 peared. No species seemed to be lacking. Men 
 were in the mustering group and women ; boys 
 
76 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 were there and girls. The aged grandmother tot- 
 tered out on her bare feet; the matron with her 
 arms full of a baby and agricultural implements 
 came squarely to the front. The freedom of the city 
 was evidently at our disposal; but from the whis- 
 pering of the natives one with another nothing 
 came. They stood and they stared, but they pro- 
 duced no bests. We partook of such refreshments 
 as the unassuming hostlery offered ; but this brought 
 us no nearer to the stream which was leaping over 
 the remote cliffs. To us and to the other tourists 
 there seemed to be an uncertainty attending the 
 outcome of our expedition. Now and then a hest 
 appeared, and there were rumors of men seeking 
 more among the mountains. Our own peculiar 
 guide disappeared. After a long absence he re- 
 turned with two bests. We learned from him, 
 through a friendly interpreter, that a third would 
 soon be along ; of the fourth he was more uncertain, 
 as he was supposed to be grazing on an island. He 
 came at last, and proved to be the best of the lot, 
 and he fell to me. We mounted, grasped the rope 
 reins of the rope bridles, and moved off in solemn pro- 
 cession. We were the last in the line. There were 
 ladies before us, the most favored of whom had the 
 national side-saddle, which was the ordinary saddle 
 with a curving back on one side and one stirrup or 
 step. 
 
 It was a serious two hours which followed. The 
 road was narrow and stony, and often so steep that 
 we dismounted and led the horses. In one part we 
 left them to find their own waj^ for ten minutes, 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH JSTORWAY, 77 
 
 while we clambered on as we best could. There 
 were paths before two of us wliich make these seem 
 easy in the retrospect; but then they were hard. 
 We rode up and down stairs, crossed bridges, and 
 forded a considerable stream. Much of the way ran 
 by the side of the rapids, which roared and rushed 
 in their descent. It was rarely possible to hear the 
 voice of a person at hand. Then we heard the deep 
 roar which told us that we were drawing near to the 
 cataract which we were seeking. It was a stupen- 
 dous journey. I had never so deeply felt the sub 
 limity, the immensity of mountains; the grandeur 
 and the awfulness which belong to them in their 
 highest estate. To move slowly, silently among 
 them, yielding to their sombre and weighty control, 
 was the most impressive experience of the day. 
 
 We left our horses when we could go no further, 
 and made our way-over the wet and slippery rocks 
 till we stood opposite the falls. It was certainly a 
 fine sight which was before us. The water falls by 
 a single perpendicular leap of four hundred and 
 seventy-five feet into a basin of rock. It breaks 
 into spray as it descends, and the spray rises from 
 below like smoke. We could see this long before 
 we saw the falls themselves. We went further on 
 into the mist till it was like a thick, fine rain and 
 we could not face it. We were drenched by it 
 almost as if we had been under the stream. Then 
 we turned back, regained our horses, had a bit of the 
 poor lunch we had brought with us, and returned by 
 the way over which we had come. Now and then 
 we found peasants w'ho seemed to be interested in 
 
78 ^OME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 US and ready to serve us. Once a woman gave me 
 a drink of water from a large bo\vl which she held 
 in her hands. We reached the hest station in 
 safety, where we paid for our steeds, about eighty- 
 six cents each. Then we walked to the boat, re- 
 crossed the lake, and walked back to the Neesheims', 
 which we reached at half-past seven. We had done 
 a good day's work for novices. There was some 
 difference of opinion regarding the profitableness of 
 our excursion. Dr. W. said that he was glad that 
 he had seen the Voringsfos, but that he would not go 
 again. He affirmed that he desired to see no more 
 waterfalls. Mr. B. seemed chiefly impressed with 
 the danger of the ride on account of the roughness 
 of the road, and more particularly of those portions 
 over which we passed on our own feet, where we 
 might easily have been crippled. The boy thought 
 it had been a very good day, but regretted that he 
 had not enjoyed a fleeter steed. For the remaining 
 member of the party I can only express my satisfac- 
 tion. The expedition to me was remunerative. I 
 knew that I should remember it and feel its 
 power. 
 
 I must add a few words more touching the moun- 
 tains through which we passed. They were so great 
 that they made us feel very small as we crept along 
 the narrow path which they gave us. In such a pres- 
 ence one feels carried beyond himself, and brought 
 close to Him " which by his strength setteth fast the 
 mountains; being girded about with might." Life 
 dw^indles, till a man remembers that he is greater 
 than the hills, and shall live when they have been 
 
FBOM XE]VCASTLE THROUGH ^OBWAY. 79 
 
 moved out of their place. It is grand that we can 
 know we are his children, and that ''the strength 
 of the hills is his also." 
 
 On our return to the inn we found that othei 
 guests had come while we were away. One of them 
 I knew as an Andover student, then studying at 
 Berlin, and another was the son and associate of the 
 famous geographer Kiepert. We travelled with them 
 afterwards. Then, there were many strangers, too 
 many. We had come home hungry. But on the 
 subject of dinner or supper the landlord could give 
 us little comfort. He heard our statement of our 
 case, and recognized our prior claim to places at his 
 expensive table. But that claim he did not enforce. 
 I do not know at present Avhether he could have 
 done so. It seemed then that something should be 
 done. It was done only by the later comers to the 
 house, who were the-^earlier comers to the table. It 
 seemed probable that our time might arrive. So we 
 waited, but not patiently. Finally we found seats 
 at the table. We found little besides. Raw beef 
 and fried eggs were proffered us, but not accepted. 
 The fish, a salmon, had been finished. We remon- 
 strated in the language we understood best, and at 
 last somebody brought forward a very good trout. 
 Then we made our supper. We followed this by a 
 conference, after which we climbed into our boxes, 
 and over a very smooth road glided into sleep. 
 
 There were clouds and showers in the morning, 
 but the day promised well. We visited the very 
 old church of the place, which stands on a moraine 
 conveniently placed for this purpose. The house 
 
80 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 bears marks of its age. The seats were very narrow, 
 with high backs, and were unfavorable for ecclesias- 
 tical napping. The pulpit was high and gaudily 
 painted, as were portions of the walls. The artist 
 was probably a resident of the region. There was 
 a painted crucifixion over the communion table. 
 A partition divided the church. There was a brass 
 alms-plate, and an iron frame for it to rest upon. 
 Small boxes for mone}^ were on the walls. The con- 
 tribution-box was a small leather bag affixed to 
 the end of a pole six feet long. Just behind the bag 
 was a bell, like one of our sleigh-bells, which gave 
 timely notice of the approach of the collector. By 
 the side of the church was the yard where '' the rude 
 forefathers of the hamlet sleep." 
 
 As the regular mode of conveyance was not at 
 hand, and there was no more to detain us at Vik, we 
 chartered a boat and four rowers to carry us on our 
 way. Nothing could have been better. The air 
 was soft and the water quiet, the hills were friendly, 
 and the clouds were considerate. We had leisure 
 for a long talk, with no stranger to understand or 
 interrupt. We discussed matters of church, in re- 
 gard to which we had diverse opinions but one 
 spirit. Then we passed to the war and the questions 
 connected with it. The two members of our party 
 who were from the South were able to speak from 
 that side of the matter, which we considered. One 
 of them had been an officer in the Southern army. 
 Both could describe the spirit of the conflict, and its 
 causes and issues. Both could open up the life out 
 of which the war came, and in which it ran its course. 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NOBWAY. 81 
 
 I shall not attempt to repeat their words or thoughts. 
 But their sincerity and intelligence and earnestness 
 were manifest. It is like a dream, that long boat-ride 
 on that summer day in Norwegian waters, where we 
 were in perfect repose and leisure, far separate from 
 the wide world, thinking and speaking of events 
 which seemed to belong to another age, in times 
 which were remote from those we were living in. 
 We talked of conflict in that impressive peace, and 
 told of the strife of armies as we moved on an 
 unruffled sea, where we heard none of war's alarms, 
 but only the sound of our own friendly voices, and 
 the continuous plash of the heavy oars which were 
 held by men who knew none of the things we said. 
 Yet, doubtless, among those who fought for the old 
 flag were some men from Norway. There was an 
 old alliance of blood which must have made itself 
 felt when the NortKinen rose up in the name of free- 
 dom. 
 
 Thus two hours were passed, making a serene 
 memory, and our boat touched the pier at Ulvik. 
 This was a finer and larger village than any which 
 we had seen. It was charmingly placed on the 
 rounding shore among the high hills. It was 
 rich in hotels, and was clearly a place of summer 
 resort. It was admirably situated for this. It 
 was a spot on which we should be glad to linger 
 for rest. I may say here that ''vik" means creek, 
 and for obvious reasons is a common appendage 
 to names in this land of streams. We thought 
 it expedient to patronize the nearest hotel which 
 promised what we desired. Baedeker assured us 
 
82 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 that Vesterim's Hotel was the house of the For- 
 brugsforening. We saw no reason to call his state- 
 ment in question, but it was more convenient for us 
 to seek the S jur Brakenses, which he called ''- unpre- 
 tending." We were soon in doubt whether it was 
 not too unpretending for four American travellers. 
 Could the deaf and dumb boatmen have said any- 
 thing to our discredit ? Our arrival created not so 
 much as a ripple of excitement, though we came by 
 private conveyance, in a boat and four. We boldly 
 entered the house, but even that aroused no one. 
 We dropped our luggage in the narrow hall, and 
 awaited developments. There were none for a time. 
 At last there was a movement. Twenty people, 
 more or less, appeared and hurried into the dining- 
 room. We knew what that meant, and attempted 
 to join the procession. We succeeded in this per- 
 fectly, but when we reached the threshold of the 
 door every seat at the table was occupied. We 
 came and saw, but left the quotation incomplete. 
 We deliberated, and no one offered us so much as a 
 word of encouragement, or a scrap of the advice 
 which is usually freely given under such circum- 
 stances. We made no remarks to the company or 
 to the proprietor; I do not know that we even saw 
 a proprietor. We were not fluent in the Norse, and 
 if we had been there was no one to listen to our 
 appeal. With the help of our red-coated friend, who 
 went with us everywhere, we could have inquired, 
 Hvad kan jeg faa at spise? Some one could have 
 replied. Vent I'idt ! Bi I'idt! But there was no use 
 in talking. We walked out and took an outside 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 83 
 
 view of other hotels. There was the Skycls Station ; 
 and Villerasen's, which had an attractive look. But 
 we saw no encouragement, and we had grown dis- 
 trustful of ourselves and of the world. We went 
 back to our luggage, quite as hungry as when we 
 set out, and waited to see what would happen. 
 Nothing happened for a long time. Finally, a woman 
 emerged and drew near to us. Her face indicated 
 good-nature, with a touch of curiosity. Her manner 
 hinted a suspicion that we might be in want of some- 
 thing, and it was barely possible that dinner might 
 meet our views. She looked an inquiry till one of 
 us ventured upon speech. ''Middag?" She replied, 
 "Ja." ^^Fisk?" ^^Ja." ^^Orret?" ^'Ja." Our conver- 
 sation was entirely satisfactory. The woman went 
 off pleased, and we remained pleased and expec- 
 tant. As soon as conld be expected, the trout were 
 on the table and we were summoned to our repast. 
 It was good, and our patience, if it was patience, had 
 its reward. When we had paid the proper charges, 
 there remained an hour in which we contentedly sur- 
 veyed the landscape, and then we left the house as 
 unnoticed as when we entered it. This is all charac- 
 teristic of the people. They are kind and hospitable ; 
 but they are at the farthest remove from sycophancy, 
 while they abound in politeness. Hence the arrival 
 at a house and the departure from it are without cer- 
 emony, and the guest is allowed to care for himself 
 and to use anything which he can find. When you 
 do come upon anybody in authority, you are treated 
 with deference, and no one is so poor that he will not 
 shake hands with you. This simplicity is attractive. 
 
84 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 I now see four travellers descending the steps of the 
 Sjur Brakenses, each of them bearing his own im- 
 pedimenta, and the sight is pleasant as a memory. 
 One of us left a hat behind him in the house, and 
 the same is probably doing dut}^ on the shore of the 
 fjord to-day. We nearly missed the steamer for 
 which we were waiting. There was no one to 
 instruct us, and we went to the nearer pier. Pres- 
 ently the sharp eyes of the bo}^ discovered that the 
 steamer was coming to the other pier. We seized 
 our bags and hurried off, and were just in time to 
 embark. 
 
 From Ulvik we went to Eide. The pier at Eide 
 was crowded with soldiers who had broken up camp 
 and were on their way to their homes. The boister- 
 ous manner of some of them indicated that not far 
 from the camp had been the cup which both cheers 
 and inebriates. The sale of liquors had been the 
 subject of legislation, but perhaps the old rule, that 
 in the time of war the laws are silent, applies to a 
 military encampment in time of peace. Later in the 
 evening we saw a young fellow, with a fine fresh 
 face, lying in deep slumber on his dray, while his 
 contented horse nibbled the grass at the roadside in 
 lieu of the hay in the manger from which he was 
 detained. We touched the man as forcibly as it is 
 proper to prod a gentleman with an umbrella, but 
 we made no sensible impression, and we left him to 
 his shameless sleep and shameful wakening. We 
 looked into the crowd on the pier and inquired for 
 Mr. Maeland. He presented himself, and we men- 
 tioned the name of the consul at Bergen. It was 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NOBWAY. 85 
 
 enough. He took charge of us and our belongings 
 and. escorted us to his house. This was under his 
 personal care, and in its management was not unlike 
 a good American hotel. We had seen nothing like 
 this, and it was refreshing. Eide is pleasantly sit- 
 uated at the base of the mountain, and is more 
 resorted to in the summer than any other place on 
 this fjord. But the views are not so good as there 
 are at Ulvik. In the morning, at ten, we were off 
 ao^ain in a carriac^e of our own. We had an inter- 
 esting drive. Shall I say once more that our way 
 was among mountains and waterfalls, over roads 
 which were often steep and rocky, through plains 
 which were green and fruitful? Early in the 
 afternoon we reached Vossevangen. Two hotels 
 had been recommended, but neither of them with- 
 out qualification. We hesitated, but settled upon 
 Fleischer's. Here ^was a Norwegian who had been 
 in our Northern army, and a Confederate officer had 
 come to be his guest. But neither was disturbed by 
 the military affiliation of the other. Mr. Fleischer 
 was a stout, good-natured man, and seemed to take 
 life as easily as he could. His house was a busy 
 place, and not so well ordered as Mr. Mseland's at 
 Eide. We were in time for dinner, which was a 
 very slow meal. The chief article presented was a 
 compound of meat, bones, cabbage, and potatoes. 
 Mr. B. insisted that the foundation was ox-tail, but 
 we could not see that he had sufficient ground for 
 that opinion. Then came sausage and potatoes, fol- 
 lowed by cherries, nuts, and raisins. Cherries were 
 plenty at this season, and I should think that sau- 
 
86 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 sages in different forms were alwa5"s in season. It 
 was a very fair dinner. There was in the house 
 a rather extensive collection of national costumes, 
 and trinkets, chiefly of silver. These were for show 
 and for sale. The silver was left unguarded, and 
 was a witness to the national confidence. The girls 
 who were in attendance showed us the dresses, and 
 with them an elaborate crown such as is worn by a 
 bride. We asked the younger of the girls to put 
 this on her head that we might see how it looked. 
 She laughed and declined ; but she afterwards set it 
 on the head of an older woman, and also the cap 
 which is worn on the way home from church, after 
 the crown has been taken off. There is a pointed 
 and most becoming white head-dress which only 
 married women can wear. It is an art to put 
 one on properly. We saw it done at Odde. Un- 
 married women wear on their heads a handkerchief, 
 or nothing, while their hair hangs in long twisted 
 braids. All the costumes are certainly pleasing, 
 and it is a pity that they are now so little worn 
 except in the most retired parts of the country. 
 
 Vossevangen is at the eastern end of the Vangs- 
 vand, a beautiful lake with several towns around it. 
 We devoted a few hours to an examination of the 
 town and its surroundiijgs. The country about is 
 finely cultivated, and has been significantly termed 
 '' the kitchen-garden of Bergen." But it is surely much 
 more than that. The farms are well conducted, and 
 are more extensive than are usually found in this 
 land of mountains. The most interesting building 
 is the stone church, which is six hundred years old. 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 87 
 
 A venerable dame admitted us to the ancient pre- 
 cincts. We found the church very neatly kept. A 
 very young child was the companion of the very old 
 woman, and probably the solace of her age, if not 
 the assistant of her labor. The woman seemed 
 properly impressed when she learned that we were 
 from America, though it was not without difficulty 
 tliat we conveyed that information to her somewhat 
 sluggish brain. She cordially extended her right 
 hand after we had generously put something in the 
 left. There was an old altar-piece, a candelabrum of 
 1733, and an antique Bible, with memorial tablets 
 in honor of long departed worth. The font was a 
 pewter basin held by a plaster angel, who was sus- 
 pended from the ceiling by an iron rod fastened in 
 his back. We went into the high gallery, where 
 there was an old and infirm organ, and a music-book 
 published in Cleveland, and a copy of Bliss and 
 Sankey's hymns and tunes. 
 
 They have prizes for something of a sportive sort 
 even in this remote town : for in a window we saw 
 two silver cups, and this inscription upon a paper 
 which was lying on them : — 
 
 Central foreningers 
 
 Premier 
 
 Yed 
 
 Konkerreneeskydningen 
 
 paa Yoss 5te August 1883. 
 
 At nine o'clock on Thursday morning we resumed 
 our seats in our carriage and left Vossevangen. The 
 clouds were heavj^, and it soon rained hard ; but we 
 
88 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 were protected by umbrellas and rubber coats. We 
 dined at a small house by the Opheimsvand, upon 
 the customary trout and sausage. The rain was 
 over when we started again, save for an occasional 
 sprinkle, and w^e greatly enjoyed our drive. The 
 mountains and valleys in the latter half of the day 
 surpassed any which we had seen. The sublimity 
 of the one and the profundity of the other are un- 
 equalled, at least in this part of Norway. The 
 valleys were a picture of quietness as we looked 
 down into them. '^Vang" means meadow or pas- 
 ture, but we saw more rocks than grass. Far up 
 the hills we could see patches of green which it 
 seemed well nigh impossible to reach. It looked as 
 if the grass there must be cut with scissors, and the 
 grain measured in a thimble. Small buildings — 
 soeters — showed where herdsmen have their summer 
 homes, and where sometimes the sportsman is glad 
 to find refuge, and to be refreshed on fladbrod, with 
 milk and cheese, and to rest in a mountain bed. 
 From lofty fields the hay is sent down on a wire. 
 In the fields below we saw the grass hanging upon 
 a sort of fence made by poles and strings running 
 across a line of posts, where it could quickly be 
 dried. Where the showers are frequent, haste in 
 haj^making is very necessary. We saw grass grow- 
 ing on the roofs of many of the poorer houses and 
 sheds. In some cases trees of considerable size were 
 firmly rooted on the roof. The roads were excellent. 
 In some parts they were marvels of engineering. 
 We were reminded of the Swiss passes and their 
 wonderful winding roads. Waterfalls were of con- 
 
Fli02I NEWCASTLE TIIBOUGFI IS'OIUVAY. 89 
 
 stant occurrence, from the impoverished rill to the 
 affluent fos. The fine cup which a Cambridge 
 friend had given me was very useful. We came at 
 night into a narrow valley between awful moun- 
 tains. The gloom was oppressive. Never had we 
 been so completely shut in and overpowered. For 
 sixteen weeks in the year the sun does not reach 
 into these depths, and it can never linger there. 
 Our road led into the valley and through it. There 
 was no other. On one side of the fjord was a path 
 at the base of the mountains, by which the little 
 church could be reached; for there was a church 
 there, and a few houses and two hotels — Helland's 
 and Hansen's. This was Gudvangen, at the head of 
 the Naro Fjord. The attentive canon had arrived 
 before us, and, fearing that we might not find 
 accommodation for the night, had engaged rooms 
 for us at Hansen's, and he came out to tell us that 
 he had done so. We were made very comfortable 
 for the night, but it was a fearfully lonely place. 
 How life must shrink and thought die out, and the 
 whole man be crushed, in these sombre recesses of 
 the earth I 
 
 We left Gudvangen at six o'clock the next morn- 
 ing. The rising sun changed the aspect of the 
 mountains, and the cloud effects baffled all descrip- 
 tion. Think of the liglit stealing down the long 
 slopes, creeping slowly into the valley, and casting 
 the shadows of the clouds it sported with over the 
 long ranges of rocks ! The steamer came out into 
 broader waters and under a more open skj. We 
 passed through the Aurlands Fjord into the Sogne 
 
90 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Fjord, near its eastern end, and, running into the 
 Lardals Fjord, landed at Lardalsoren. The consul 
 had telegraphed to Mr. Lindstrom, the proprietor of 
 the hotel, and he had a carriage in waiting for us. 
 We completed the process of bargaining, and re- 
 sumed our travel by land. We were in a carriage 
 with seats for four persons. It was very much the 
 same as one of our barouches; but it was rather 
 shabby, and the two front seats were much more 
 uncomfortable than the others. This seemed to be 
 the best mode of convej^ance for us. It was not the 
 only one. We could have taken the public stage, 
 or diligence ; but in that case we should have been 
 subject to such horses and such company as might 
 be provided. We could have hired a stolkjoerre^ 
 which is a light wagon for two persons, or a hariol^ 
 which is a kind of gig for one person. Then the 
 luggage would have been tied on behind the seat, 
 and somebody called a skydsgut^ ot gut^ would have 
 had his seat upon the luggage. The traveller could 
 drive for himself and run the risk of accident, or the 
 attendant would take both reins and risk. The gut 
 might be a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. In 
 either case there would be little conversation with 
 the traveller. At intervals along the road are sta- 
 tions where horses can be procured or changed. 
 These are regulated by law, and are of two kinds. 
 At the faste stationer^ or fixed stations, a certain 
 number of horses must be kept in readiness. In the 
 parts of the country where there is little travel, 
 there are the tilsigelse stationer — stations whose 
 keepers are required to send out to the farmers in 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 91 
 
 the vicinity and procure horses when they are 
 needed. This is the origin of tlie name, for tilsige 
 means to tell to, or send to. The period of waiting 
 may be prolonged for hours, so that tourists natu- 
 rally make a name in antithesis to the former, and 
 call them " slow stations." The proper thing to do 
 is to send a forhud^ or message, in advance, that the 
 horses may be on hand when they are wanted. Of 
 course, when there are many travellers it is not an 
 easy matter to provide horses for them ; and, while 
 the first comers are promptly supplied, those who 
 are later may have a long trial of patience. But 
 there is a book kept at every station, called a dag- 
 hog^ or day-book, in which the traveller can make a 
 record of his orders, and can also enter his com- 
 plaints. This may help the next man, and may 
 bring an offending master to a reckoning ; but it 
 cannot be of much immediate advantage to the com- 
 plainant. It is to be supposed, however, that those 
 vvlio are engaged in the station business will do all in 
 their power to '' speed the parting guest." They also 
 welcome one who comes, as the station is usually a 
 modest house of entertainment, where the traveller 
 also finds bed and board. At the season of the year 
 when we were passing through the country the 
 arrangements of all kinds were ample. 
 
 We did not wish to move in a string of four 
 kariols^ or even of two stolkjoerres. Neither method 
 would be favorable to friendly intercourse. Riding 
 alone must be lonesome, and the person behind the 
 traveller could not break the monotony. There was 
 an attractiveness about the national conveyance, 
 
92 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 
 
 but we adhered to our instructions and our shabby- 
 barouche. We moved on without delay, and at 
 noon stopped at Husum, a faste station. We were 
 in the Lardal, one of the grandest of the valleys of 
 Norway. The station was at the centre of its best 
 scenery. We had the usual dinner and rest, and 
 then moved on. At night we stopped at Maristuen. 
 Our plan set down Nystuen for this night ; but our 
 driver had declared before we set out that he could 
 not go so far, and he proved this by his slow driv- 
 ing. We muttered as we came along, and when we 
 stopped we reasoned. It made little difference 
 where we were that night; but we wished to reach 
 our allotted place on Saturday, and to lose a station 
 on the first day meant that we would be a station 
 short on the second day. We prevailed on a 
 friendly stage-driver, who knew enough English for 
 this purpose, to express our views to our driver, and 
 to offer him a pecuniary inducement to take us 
 through to the right place on the next day. The 
 man stubbornly refused. We resolved to remember 
 his obstinacy when we meted out his gratuity. It 
 was plain that, while we travelled in our own car- 
 riage, we were not our own masters. 
 
 We were in a very lonesome place, but the kind 
 woman in charge gave us a good supper of cheese 
 with other things. The station-house proper was 
 full, and my boy and I were taken across the road, 
 where we had a good room and beds. We were 
 on good ground, for six hundred years ago, almost, 
 a hospice had been founded here by pious men, 
 for the comfort of travellers through their moun- 
 
FRO^f NEWCASTLE THBOUGII NOIIWAY. 93 
 
 tains. Their house was gone, but the hospitality 
 remained, to be enjoyed by men from beyond the 
 sea. 
 
 I have not mentioned the most interesting part of 
 the day's journey, our visit to the old churclr of Bor- 
 gund. No one knows its age, but we may call it 
 seven centuries and not be far out of the way. It 
 is one of the very few surviving specimens of an 
 ancient and fantastic style of architecture, and is in 
 better condition than any other. Nothing bat a pic- 
 ture can give anj" idea of its peculiar construction, 
 and a picture at once suggests China and its pago- 
 das. It was built of logs laid horizontally and 
 strongly fastened to heavy posts. Upon the walls is a 
 high roof, from which rises a clerestory, out of which 
 rises a structure resembling a belfry, in three dimin- 
 ishing stories, surmounted by a very slender spire. 
 There are many gables. Some of them are adorned 
 with a cross, while from others spring the most curi- 
 ous projections, which have the look of serpents 
 attempting to escape from the influences within the 
 house by a sudden flight into the open air, though 
 never able to free themseves from the imprisoning 
 roof. Within, the church is extremely dark. The 
 builders made scant provision for the admittance of 
 light and air. There is a nave, which is nearly 
 square and very high, and encircling this are low 
 aisles, with round pillars sustaining arches of wood. 
 The choir is at the east, but appears to be cut off 
 from the church proper by the aisles, which run 
 aground the central portion or nave. The w^alls and 
 roof are shingled. There is no paint in or on the 
 
94 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 church, but the exterior looks as if it had been 
 coated with tar for its better preservation. It is al- 
 most black. About the Wwer story is an arcade, or 
 covered passage, with small columns of wood. This 
 may have been designed to protect the house against 
 the severe cold and the snow. The doors and their 
 frames, the capitals of the numerous columns, and 
 other parts of the building, are decorated with 
 strange carvings, dragons twined together, and ani- 
 mals in various eccentric forms, with foliage and 
 elaborate scroll-work. It needed a lively fancy to 
 produce such marvellous ornamentation. On one of 
 the dooi"S are Runic inscriptions, which are trans- 
 lated : — ' 
 
 Thorer wrote these lines on St. Olaf s fair. 
 This church in the church-ground. 
 
 I do not know what meaning these lines may have 
 had when they were traced. But now the former 
 reads like inscriptions which are painfully com- 
 mon in public places, and as if Thorer had sought 
 fame in an easy way; while the latter seems 
 to be the work of a thoughtless knife in an idle 
 hand. But it is very likely that they had a higher 
 significance in the forgotten century which gave 
 them to the world. Entirely separate from the 
 church is the old Klochstapel^ or bell-tower, a lofty 
 structure of wood with sloping sides, and a cleres- 
 tory with an ornamented roof. There are two bells 
 in the high belfry. These buildings now belong to 
 the Christiania Antiquarian Society, and will thus be 
 preserved as a memorial of the elder days of art. 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY, 96 
 
 The church is not used for public service. It would 
 hold about a hundred persons. The altar and font 
 are of stone and very rude. The pulpit, which is 
 dismounted, and the altar-piece are of more recent 
 times, I think. It would be pleasant for the people 
 to raise their psalm and prayer where their ancestors 
 worshipped. This would not be convenient. Yet a 
 stranger would much prefer an hour within its 
 gloomy, venerable walls to one in the modern and 
 well appointed church which is near by, and is now 
 the meeting-place and sanctuary. 
 
 We left Maristuen at nine o'clock on Saturday 
 morning. The day was cold in the first part, but 
 grew warmer and brighter. We found the road 
 hilly, so that we walked much of the way. In por- 
 tions the road was quite under the cliffs out of which 
 it was cut. At one place a shed had been built to 
 protect the traveller from falling stones. We dined 
 at Grindaheim, where the landlord, Ole For, speaks 
 English, if the book is to be trusted. But he did 
 not present himself, and we derived no benefit from 
 his linguistic talent. We had parted company with 
 the accomplished canon, but a pleasant German and 
 his wife kept along with us, and there was also a 
 young Lancashire man, whom we called '' Kariol " 
 because he journeyed in that vehicle. In the after- 
 noon we met a funeral procession. • A low cart car- 
 ried the black coffin, on which three men sat astride. 
 Then came eight small vehicles, of different styles, 
 filled with men and women who showed no signs of 
 grief. It might have passed for a festal company 
 but for the coffin. The end of the line was decidedly 
 
96 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 of this character. As we came up, the last two car- 
 riages were in trouble. One of these was a kariol, 
 but on its single seat was a woman with a man in 
 her lap. This was probably regarded as an improve- 
 ment on the inventor's design. In the other carriage 
 were a young man and a woman with a gay handker- 
 chief on her head, which showed that she was unmar- 
 ried. These two vehicles had collided. Evidently, 
 one or both of the men had partaken too lavishly of 
 the funeral refreshments. Locked in the step of the 
 kariol was the hub of the wheel of the other carriage. 
 Words attended the entanglement. The brilliant 
 head-covering made a flying leap, and the maiden who 
 wore it landed at the side of the road, where she stood 
 and expressed her feelings. She expressed her feel- 
 ings in Norwegian, which seemed equal to the exi- 
 gency. Her man pulled his wheel clear, while the 
 other man kept his seat. At length the extrication 
 was complete, the freed carriage fell into line, and 
 the sad procession went on its way and was soon 
 lost to sight. The impressiveness of the occasion 
 was marred by the incident which I have described. 
 Yet the ending of a life is always solemn, even when 
 -one knows nothing of him who has passed away. 
 There were sad hearts at the front of this little com- 
 pany, and some home was darker for want of the life 
 which had gone out from the hills of Norway to the 
 land which is not very far off. We noticed that the 
 graves which we passed were usually marked by a 
 wooden cross on an upright board. The inscription 
 was chiefly on the cross-piece. We saw white stones 
 at some graves. We passed this afternoon a Lu- 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 97 
 
 theran minister on his way to his Sabbath service in 
 some one of these scattered hamlets. 
 
 At night we reached the station at Loken. We 
 expected a great deal here, for the landlord, Mr. 
 Ordgaard, was a member of Parliament. We thought 
 that this fact and the commendation which we 
 brought from two other members of Parliament 
 would secure for us all the luxuries of the place. 
 Perhaps it was so. Tlie M. P. was a man of good 
 appearance, and his house was superior to those 
 we had before seen. The building was large and 
 somewhat adorned. If the proprietor spoke English, 
 we did not find it out. Mr. B., who prided himself 
 on his abilitj^ to talk English to a foreigner, labored 
 hard to convince hiin that more covering was needed 
 on his bed. At last he resorted to pantomime, the 
 universal language, and the proprietor expressed 
 himself convinced and enlightened. The supper 
 was rather ordinary, all things considered. " Will 
 you have supper ? " " Yes.'' " What would you 
 like?" ''Fish." ''No fish." "No fish?" "No 
 fish." " What ? " " Eggs." " And meat ? " " Yes, 
 meat." So the bill of fare was constructed — eggs 
 and meat, with tea. The meat proved to be the 
 inevitable sausage-balls. After a time one wearies 
 even of such dainties. The German lady wished to 
 " command shicken." We knew that would be 
 hopeless. " Kariol " arrived late, having experi- 
 enced many delays. He had a woman for a skyds- 
 gut. Four Norwegians arrived in a carriage, and the 
 house was full. Beds were on e\evy side of us. In 
 the morning I heard the voice of birds and fancied 
 
98 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 we were to have "shicken." The voices ceased, 
 and the hope grew towards an assurance. Then the 
 voices were heard again. I wondered if there were 
 any fowls in those parts. A lonesome hen which I 
 saw afterward made it probable. The word for 
 chicken is kylling. Was there ever a greater mis- 
 nomer? The chickens of Norway must reach an 
 old age. The eggs gave out at breakfast, so that a 
 hen's life cannot be laborious, which would secure 
 longevity. 1 believe that up to this time we had 
 seen fowls on the table but once, and that was at a 
 private house in Bergen. 
 
 We found that there was no service in the Loken 
 church on that day, for Avhich we were sorry. We 
 passed tlie time very quietly. The view from the 
 house was very fine, including a lake and the moun- 
 tains standing around it. The whole scene was 
 restful and refreshing. The lone hen was cackling 
 out a frivolous existence, and no one was hurried or 
 troubled. 
 
 We found it necessary to pass the night a little 
 farther on, at Fagerhund, the fair grove.- It was a 
 delightful spot. Artists and sportsmen resort to it, 
 and many others find it attractive. It was well 
 appointed for the pleasure of the guests. We found 
 a very bright girl who spoke English remarkably 
 well. She gave us an admirable supper, late as it 
 was when we arrived. She also gave us a fire in 
 the parlor, for the night was cold. 
 
 We had an early awakening, and were faithfully 
 cared for by the English-speaking girl, who did her- 
 self credit at the table. Then we took our carriage. 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY, 99 
 
 The way soon brought us to a high hill, — a moun- 
 tain, in fact, — and we made most of the ascent on 
 foot. This was largely a pedestrian journey. At 
 noon we halted at Sveen, a well placed station in 
 an interesting part of the country, with good views 
 and pleasant walks. The day was sunny and warm. 
 The scenery was less bold than that we had left, 
 but the fields looked better. We passed large farms, 
 which were well tilled, with good houses and vari- 
 ous farming machines, which were the signs of a 
 more prosperous condition. We drove through for- 
 ests of spruce, and saw many weeping birches, very 
 handsome trees. We were pleased with the chil- 
 dren whom we met. Many of the boys took off 
 their hats in our honor, and the girls dropped a 
 courtesy. The men and women often greeted us 
 with respectful salutation. At night we reached 
 Odnses, and our long drive was ended. It had 
 been very pleasant, and we had been prospered in 
 all our way. We had come through a wonderful 
 country, to which no words can do justice, and we 
 had seen much of the people and their mode of life, 
 and had made a good store of things to think about 
 on the other side of the sea. 
 
 We paid our driver his hundred Jcrones^ and 
 added the six which we had been told would be 
 a proper gratuity. This part we had talked of with- 
 holding when he refused to carry out our plans; 
 but he had been a good-natured fellow, and had 
 brought us through very comfortably, and we felt 
 amiable and generous. He shook hands with us, 
 and went off highly contented. 
 
100 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 The hotel at Odnses was forlorn so far as eating 
 went, and that is a long way in a hungry land. We 
 struggled hard for bodily refreshment, but there 
 were many engaged in the same work, and we had 
 but moderate success. We left the town early the 
 next day, and had a dreary passage down the fjord. 
 It rained and rained, and the boat was crowded ; 
 but we reached Randsfjord before two o'clock. We 
 saw a hotel at some distance off and made our waj^ 
 to it and took our seats at the table. No one ob- 
 jected; no one did anything else. A waiter paid 
 some attention to other guests, but spared none for 
 us ; so we left the table and walked through the 
 sand towards the railroad station. Soon we found 
 that a woman was following us, and beckoning us 
 back with abundant gesticulation. But we gave no 
 heed. She had lost her chance. We found a table 
 at the station, with coffee and cakes, and we helped 
 ourselves, after the manner of the country, and paid 
 our reckoning upon our own statement. When the 
 train was ready we took our seats, and at eleven 
 were in Christiania. We needed a conveyance to 
 the Victoria Hotel. A man offered his services, and 
 we accepted them. We took him for a cab-driver. 
 It was a mistake. He led us through the station 
 and out-of-doors, past all the carriages. Whither 
 was he taking us ? That was our inquiry, to which 
 he made no intelligible reply. With wild motions 
 he disappeared, and we stood on the pavement with 
 our luggage. He soon reappeared with a hand-dray, 
 upon which he placed our goods. Then he started 
 rapidly down the street. We followed him, for 
 
FB02I NEWCASTLE THROUGH JSTOBWAY. IQl 
 
 there was nothing else to do. Xow and then we 
 lost sight of him, and realized the absurdity of our 
 position as we rushed blindly through the streets of 
 a strange city at midnight. We finally came up 
 with him, and soon stopped at the friendly door 
 which we sought. The excellent consul at Christi- 
 ania had engaged fine rooms for us, and had left a 
 good pile of letters which had come to his care, and 
 we had a very home-like feeling as we ended the day 
 in the delightful house which was to be our home 
 while we remained in Norway. 
 
 Christiania, the capital of Norway, is a city of 
 seventy-seven thousand people, according to the 
 last reckoning which I have seen. It has a fine sit- 
 uation at the head of the fjord of the same name as 
 the city. Its appearance is modern, for it has been 
 renewed by fires from time to time, so that the most 
 of the old houses 4iave disappeared. Those were, 
 naturally, built of timber, while their successors are 
 usually of brick covered with stucco, which gives 
 them a very neat look. The wide streets, the great 
 buildings, the well furnished stores, were especially 
 impressive to us who had just come from the sim- 
 plicity of the interior. It was evident that we had 
 come into the life of the present, with its novelty 
 and its eagerness. Here there was, eight centuries 
 ago, the town of Oslo, or Opslo, founded by Harald 
 Hardraade. That was burned by its own citizens, 
 that it might not fall into the possession of the 
 Swedes. Fifty years later the town was again 
 burned, and then the king, who was Christian IV., 
 set up a new town about his fortress of Akershus, 
 
102 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 or Agei'shus. About this a wall was erected. It 
 suffered fearfully from a plague soon after, but a 
 little later it profited by the misfortune of its Lon- 
 don neighbors, whose great fire made a demand for 
 the lumber of Norway, and thus created a foreign 
 trade. The town has felt the vicissitudes of the 
 years, but it has prospered. There the Storthing, 
 the national parliament, holds its annual sessions. 
 The one university of Norway is there, where Fred- 
 erick VI. established it in 1811. Its lecture-rooms 
 were in various places in the town, but are now in 
 one large and handsome building. The last report 
 which I have gives five faculties, with fifty-three 
 professors, and more than a thousand students, and 
 a library of two hundred and fifty thousand vol- 
 umes. There are various museums connected with 
 the university, for the illustration of the natural and 
 social history of the country. Near by is the Art 
 Museum, in a building presented to the town by the 
 Savings Bank, and containing the galleries of scal])- 
 ture and painting. 
 
 At the time of our visit the National Exhibition 
 was open, and we were surprised to see how exten- 
 sive and excellent this was. We saw what the 
 people were doing, and with the greatest interest. 
 There was wonderful work in silver, in designs 
 of surpassing beauty and with the greatest deli- 
 cacy of execution. There were elegant carriages, 
 from the stately brougham to the more character- 
 istic kariol or carriole. Furs were there in large 
 variety, and woollens of fine quality. The exhibi- 
 tion of books and of photographs and of paintings 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 103 
 
 was most creditable. The building itself was an 
 attractive specimen of architecture, and admirablj'' 
 adapted to its purposes. It was a delight to wander 
 through its departments, to listen to the fine music, 
 to watch the people, and to know that this was the 
 Norway among whose mountains and hamlets we 
 had been wandering. Here we saw the commodities 
 and elegancies of the life of the nation ; the furni- 
 ture of the houses, the pottery and crockery, the 
 gloves and shoes — even the cod-liver oil and punch 
 and beer, which were in proximity to whale-meat, 
 which seemed to be a new article for hardy fisher- 
 men whose earnings are not enough for luxuries. 
 
 Through the great courtesy of our excellent con- 
 sul we saw a little of the best home-life of Norway. 
 We visited his own place, Frogner, which is a little 
 way out of the town, and preserves its charac- 
 ter as a country hi)me. The buildings make up an 
 extensive establishment. We could hardly believe 
 that we were in private grounds as we drove up 
 between the outstretched buildings to the long 
 house which is the residence of the family. There 
 we found the hospitality which has no national 
 limits, which gave to us the best of two nationali- 
 ties. It was more pleasant than I can tell to have 
 these hours in a home ; to look down upon a fair 
 garden, to sit under the majestic trees, and to renew 
 a friendship formed beyond the sea. If the eyes of 
 Consul Gade should ever rest upon these lines, I 
 trust that he will pardon me that I liave spoken so 
 familiarly of his house and household. 
 
 I was permitted to go still further into the coun- 
 
104 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 try and to get another glimpse at the home-life. 
 This was at a summer house, a neat, attractive 
 building, where the handsome wood was allowed to 
 show its color and texture untouched by paint 
 within or without. The hospitality was in keeping 
 with the house, and was generous and genuine. 
 Some sixteen or eighteen persons were at the 
 dinner, which was in honor of a gentleman who 
 had formerly been the British consul at Christiania. 
 It was a very pleasant party, and I was able to learn 
 many things through eyes and ears, and to get what 
 seemed a fair idea of the Eastern feeling upon the 
 disturbed political affairs of the country, and to 
 balance that which I had received at Bergen. 
 
 I cannot describe all that we saw in Christiania, 
 or give an adequate impression of any of it. We 
 visited a large new hospital, which we saw to advan- 
 tage under the guidance of Dr. Gade, one of the 
 surgeons. It was very complete, so far as we could 
 judge. Our sympathy was drawn out by a poor 
 sailor for whom some of our friends had been caring, 
 to whom he seemed to be grateful. He had lost an 
 arm on one of our national ships in a Fourth of July 
 salute, and was waiting till he could return home. 
 He had every attention, and appeared to deserve the 
 care ; but I have since learned that he turned out 
 to be a worthless fellow. The kindness was right, 
 nevertheless, and will not lose its reward. We 
 went also to see the viking's ship, or the viking's 
 ships. One of them is in very good preservation. 
 There is some personal interest in these vessels; 
 for, if these particular ships never reached our coast, 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 105 
 
 others which were like them certainly did so. It 
 is judged from their shape that they were good sea- 
 boats. The viking was a venturesome man ; liis 
 name has a distinguished sound in it ; but he was 
 in truth a sort of sea-rover or adventurer, not to give 
 a harslier epithet. One of these old wanderers, 
 dead for a thousand years, has been betrayed at this 
 late day. He made his ship his tomb, and rested 
 quietly through stormy centuries. Then curiosity 
 opened the mound which was over him, and tomb 
 and tenant came to light. It was at a time when 
 Science could reconstruct him. He Avas not more 
 than fifty years old, and he was over six feet high, 
 and in those distant and forgotten days he suffered 
 from rheumatism. His life on the rough seas wrote 
 its story into his bones in hieroglyphics which we 
 can read, and at last, in the height of his years, 
 the stout sailor made his last voyage, but did not 
 give up the ship. " Then I said, I shall die in my 
 nest." We saw also the bones of horses and dogs 
 who had sometimes kept him company. We could 
 readily construct a tale of adventure which might 
 not be very far from the truth, while we were 
 near the man who made it a real thing. We have 
 not yet done justice to those old Northmen, upon 
 whose history our own abuts on our shores. Per- 
 haps we shall know more and do more by and by. 
 
 The visitor to Christiania brings away a few pieces 
 of old silver, in addition to the new works which he 
 admires. Men are going about the country with 
 their wares, which the peasants are glad to buy with 
 their old-fashioned spoons and cups and brooches. 
 
106 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 So this old ware, sometimes bearing a date and a 
 name, finds its way to the silver-smith's, where it is 
 preferred above that which is new, and with good 
 reason. We were able to examine a notable collec- 
 tion of bric-a-brac in a private house. The house 
 itself was of rare interest, and it was filled w^ith 
 relics and wonders, and was rich in wood-work, 
 beatifully carved, and in china, glass, and silver, and 
 pictures. There were great treasures in a small 
 place. 
 
 We went out to Oscar's Hall, which is in a fine 
 park on a high hill. It was built for King Oscar 
 and is left for the use of the reigning sovereign. It 
 has many fine paintings, and affords extensive views 
 of the surrounding countr}^- Many royal dresses 
 are to be seen, standing as stiff as if their elegance 
 still enclosed the royalty which they once covered 
 and adorned. It was a vision of pageantry without 
 the life. It was the viking's ship without the man. 
 We wanted to try the kariol, and for this purpose 
 the boy and I chartered two in which we drove to 
 the Frognersseter, where there is the summer resi- 
 dence of Consul Heftye. The vehicle proved an easy 
 one, but our experience confirmed our impression 
 that it must be a lonesome method of travelling. 
 One does need another one with whom to talk, even 
 if he has not much to say. We could not go into 
 the house, but as it was not occupied, and the win- 
 dows had no closed shutters, we seemed to be 
 invited to look in and see where undoubtedly com- 
 fort and plenty have their seat, where we should 
 have been glad to find them that day. We ad- 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THEOUGH NORWAY. 107 
 
 mired the grand views which the height opened 
 before us, and went up beyond the house, where we 
 could have a still wider range over sea and land, 
 and out to the mountains of snow. It was a profit- 
 able excursion in all respects. 
 
 Our little company broke up at Christiania. Dr. 
 Williams and Mr. Blackford were going to Stockholm 
 and Finland. We saw them leave us with regret, for 
 we had been very happy with them, and we wanted 
 to see the countries which they were to visit. But 
 our way led towards the south. On Saturdaj^ the 
 18th of August, we said our Farvel to our kind Chris- 
 tiania friends, and on the large steamer which bears 
 the name of the city we sailed away. 
 
 But I must say a little more of Norway before we 
 go further. One cannot be in the country without 
 becoming interested in its political condition and 
 relations. His inquiries may not take him back to 
 Ynglingar, or Olaf Troetelje, or to Halfdan Svarte, or 
 even to his son, Harald Haarfager, the fair-haired 
 king. But he will surely wish to know the connec- 
 tion between Norwaj^ and Sweden, which seem to 
 have been destined by nature to make one kingdom, 
 and which are one and not one. There is no occasion 
 to multiply names and dates in these pages. At the 
 very end of the fourteenth century, Norway, Sweden, 
 and Denmark were united under Margaret of Den- 
 mark as regent. This union, which was little more 
 than nominal, lasted for a hundred years and over, 
 when Sweden withdrew. That was the time when 
 the Vasa line began to rule in Sweden. The other 
 two countries maintained the union until 1814. 
 
108 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 During this period Sweden attempted to get con- 
 trol of Norway, and did not succeed. But the 
 purpose was not abandoned. A national spirit was 
 rising in Norway. The people were encouraged by 
 the result of their conflict with Sweden, and by their 
 wealth and independence. They were becoming 
 separated from their allies, the Danes, whom they 
 regarded as inferior to themselves. In 1810 a soci- 
 ety was formed for the welfare of Norway, and by 
 some persons it was urged that this end would best 
 be secured by a union with Sweden. In 1812 Russia 
 gave Sweden permission to annex Norway, and in 
 1814, at the Peace of Kiel, Denmark ceded Norway 
 to Sweden. Thus Norway and Denmark were sep- 
 arated. In these transactions the party chiefly 
 interested had little share. It is not a solitary 
 instance of this in European politics. But Norway 
 was not ready to submit to this chess-board treat- 
 ment. The spirit of independence was rising, the 
 old Norse temper. What had been done in tlie 
 name of liberty in France and America fostered the 
 desire for a free country. The Swedish king prom- 
 ised a liberal constitution, but the Norwegians pre- 
 ferred one of their own making, in which the neigh- 
 boring king should have no part. With fasting and 
 prayer and preaching and vows of fidelity, they met 
 by their representatives, and made their declaration 
 of independence. They set up a temporary govern- 
 ment, and framed a constitution which was adopted 
 on the 17th of May, 1814, at Eidsvold, a small town 
 forty miles above Christiania. The farm-house in 
 which the meetings were held has been purchased 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NORWAY. 109 
 
 hj the government, and on its walls are portraits of 
 members of the famous assembly. The Seventeenth 
 of Mavis the Norwegian "Fourth of July." The 
 day deserves its honor. It was a brave deed which 
 these men wrought, a bold stand which they took for 
 independence, when a people few in numbers and with 
 scant resources asserted their right to liberty, in the 
 face of all the nations of Europe. They did not accom- 
 plish all their purpose, but they served and advanced 
 their country. They proclaimed the Crown Prince 
 of Denmark, Christian Frederic, King of Norway. 
 Then the great powers, Russia, England, and the 
 rest, came to Christiania to carry out their plans and 
 enforce their bargains. War was declared against 
 the brave people, and they could only submit to the 
 forces they could not resist. They fought well and 
 with success, but they could not hope to prevail. 
 The outcome of it till was, that Christian resigned 
 his throne and went back to Denmark, that the 
 Storthing which had been summoned confirmed the 
 union with Sweden, that the new constitution was 
 modified, and that Charles XIII. was proclaimed 
 king. After him came the Bernadotte family, 
 Charles XIV., Oscar L, Charles XV., and Oscar 
 II., whose reign began in 1872. 
 
 The union of the two countries is peculiar and 
 not very close. There is one king, who resides at 
 Stockholm, but passes a portion of the year at Chris- 
 tiania. The 'Council of State consists of two minis- 
 ters of State, one of whom resides in each capital, 
 and at least seven councillors, of whom five are in 
 Norway and two in Sweden. On his accession to 
 
110 SOME THINGS ABEOAB. 
 
 the throne the sovereign is crowned at Drontheim 
 as King of Norway. Norway has a separate Parlia- 
 ment, — the Storthing, — which holds the legislative 
 power. Its members are chosen by deputies who 
 are elected by the people. One-fourth of the mem- 
 bers constitute the Lagthing, or Upper House, and 
 the remainder the Odelsthing, or Lower House. 
 Except in the foreign relations of the kingdom, the 
 two countries are practically distinct. Each has its 
 own language. The language of Norway has long 
 been the Danish, although this is enriched by words 
 from the old provincial dialects. The people prefer 
 to call it the Norsk, and dialects derived from the 
 old Norsk are found in the more secluded parts of 
 the country. The currency has been made uni- 
 form in the two countries. One hundred ore make 
 one krone, and eighteen krones are equal to one 
 English sovereign, or five dollars. But each coun- 
 try has its own coinage. Each country has its own 
 flag, and in one corner of each is the "Union mark" 
 which constitutes it a national flag. But there is a 
 deep unwillingness on the part of many to have the 
 yellow of Sweden in the flag which floats on the 
 Norwegian breezes, except when it is used for 
 purely national purposes. Ole Bull was one of these, 
 and would never unfold any but the Norwegian 
 colors. We noticed that the boys in Bergen, when 
 they played soldiers, marched under the banner of 
 Norway. In Christiania the union flag was much 
 more common. Indeed, we found that the political 
 sentiments of the two sides of the country were fur- 
 ther apart than their coast-lines. It was a time of 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. HI 
 
 unusual excitement, and we had no difficulty in ob- 
 taining information. So far as we could understand 
 the position of affairs, there was a contest between 
 the king and the Storthing touching the royal privi- 
 lege. In ordinary cases the king has the veto power 
 over the decrees of the Storthing. If, however, the 
 Storthing passes a resolution three times, it becomes 
 a law, even if the king refuses his sanction. The 
 Storthing claims that this provision relates to all 
 matters, even to the fundamental law of the land. 
 The king, naturally, denies this. For if this is con- 
 ceded, some day a Republic may be proclaimed and 
 the king be deposed. He would hold his office at 
 the will of parliament. It is claimed, on his side, 
 that the Constitution is a compact between him and 
 the people, and that it can only be changed by the 
 consent of both parties. There seems to be reason 
 in the claim. The king had in this contest thirty- 
 two members with him and eighty-two on the other 
 side. The majority of the Storthing claimed the 
 right to have a militia, and voted supplies for this 
 purpose. They also voted that the Ministers of 
 State should be members of the Storthing. These 
 were grave matters affecting the Constitution. The 
 king refused to give his consent, and declared that 
 these measures could not be passed without his con- 
 sent. In this view he was sustained by his Council 
 of State ; therefore the Storthing impeached the 
 ministers and councillors. They did this, it was 
 asserted by the king's friends, at a time when they 
 had secured a court after their own mind. The 
 trial was to be before the Lagthing and the Judges 
 
112 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 of the Supreme Court. The decision was not 
 doubtful, it was said. But it was not clear how a 
 new Council could be obtained if the men in office 
 were to be removed. The king would not want 
 men who agreed with the Storthing, and the Stor- 
 thing would have no others. The Conservatives 
 claimed that they had the greater proportion of the 
 intelligence and property of the country; the office- 
 holders Avould side with the power which appointed 
 them, and the clergy would feel that they and their 
 cause were safest on the royal side. But the num- 
 bers were on the other side, and there were certainly 
 among them men of the highest intelligence and of 
 large property. There seemed to be, also, in the 
 general contention, some who sought an extension 
 of the liberty of speech on matters of religion ; but 
 we did not find that this was prominent in the dis- 
 cussion. Whatever was the result of this move- 
 ment, we had little doubt that the authority of the 
 people would prevail, as it has done elsewhere. The 
 popular movements of our time set in one direction 
 and with one result. It is not likely to be other- 
 wise in Norway. 
 
 As I write now I have before me the result of tlie 
 trials which were impending when we were in Nor- 
 w^ay. The trials lasted nearly a year, and eight 
 ministers and councillors were declared unworthy to 
 hold office, and each of them fined eight thousand 
 krones and the cost of his trial. Their friends ral- 
 lied to their assistance ; over twenty-five thousand 
 dollars was raised by private subscription for their 
 aid, and a public dinner was given to the deposed 
 
FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 113 
 
 statesmen. The king filled their places with other 
 men similar to those who had been removed, while 
 the opposition were consulting over the expediency 
 of trying to remove those whom their former efforts 
 had not convicted and deposed. The end has not 
 been reached. The king seems to have yielded 
 something to the Radicals, and to have made up a 
 Cabinet which is not entirely Conservative. But 
 the popular movement will go on. Old claims will 
 be asserted. At last the people will be in power, and 
 will put their own meaning into the terms of the 
 Constitution which declare that Norway is "free, 
 independent, indivisible, and inalienable." To so- 
 journers like ourselves there did not seem to be 
 grave causes of complaint against the government, 
 or evils which demanded severe remedies. The 
 present king appeared to be administering the gov- 
 ernment quite as well as kings in general do, and 
 the country seemed to be improving upon itself, and 
 increasing its material and intellectual wealth ; but 
 larger things are sought, and we must hope that 
 they will be secured. 
 
 The Lutheran is the State church of Norway. 
 There are six dioceses, or stifts^ each of which has 
 its bishop, who is appointed by the government. 
 On account of the connection of this church with 
 the government, and its natural sympathy with the 
 appointing and sustaining power, many of the people 
 are not well inclined towards it. There are many 
 other churches of different denominations, and these 
 seem to have more spiritual energy. Tliey have 
 been very active of late, and their work has had a 
 
114 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 large and deserved success. There is a generous 
 distribution of religious literature among the people. 
 The temperance reform has engaged the attention 
 of the rulers and the people. The legislation is 
 based on the principle of local option. The author- 
 ities in each district may grant licenses for the sale 
 of ardent spirits by retail, or may refuse to do so. 
 They may, if they think it best, grant to a company 
 a monopoly of this trade, with the condition that 
 after the expenses of the business are paid, and five 
 per cent interest on the investment, the rest of the 
 profits shall be paid to the municipality. The latter 
 method is more common in the larger towns. On 
 Sundays and saints' days, and on Saturdays and the 
 eves of festivals after five o'clock, the sale is for- 
 bidden. The sale of wine and beer is carried on 
 with restrictions which are less stringent. By these 
 arrangements intemperance and its attendant evils 
 are much less than they were but a few years ago. 
 We hardly saw a drunken person in Norway. 
 
 I have, perhaps, said enough of the general char- 
 acter of the people. They are marked by their hon- 
 esty and sincerity, and by the simplicity of their 
 life, especially when they are living b}^ themselves, 
 out of contact with the wider world. They bestow 
 and respect confidence. They are polite and help- 
 ful. Their hand-shaking and their Crod natd^n^ Far- 
 vel are pleasant to the visitor. Their ways are often 
 clumsy, and there seems to be a lack of enterprise ; 
 but the stranger would be slow to change their 
 methods lest he should mar them with his improve- 
 ments. Their thoughtfulness is sometimes startling 
 
 j 
 
FB03I NEWCASTLE TUBOUGII NOE[VAY. US 
 
 in its simplicity. When we were on the Rands Fjord, 
 a German lady carelessly allowed her shawl to fall 
 into the water. No one of us saw any way of recov- 
 ering it. We knew only the manners of other and 
 prouder lands. But the honest Norwegian captain 
 stopped the steamer, reversed the screw, and we all 
 went back to recover the property, which was then 
 at quite a distance from us. A boat was lowered, 
 and the shawl was recovered and restored to the 
 owner. That may have been an extreme act of 
 courtesy, but it may stand as a sample of Norwegian 
 kindness. 
 
 The physical structure of Norwaj^ must have 
 affected the character of the people. It has left 
 them to a good degree isolated, and allowed their 
 native virtues to flourish ; but, beyond this, the 
 stern mountains and the dark valleys must have put 
 their impress upon those who have lived for genera- 
 tions among them. This may be seen in the stories 
 of the ancient faith. One cannot be surprised at 
 the grandeur and sternness of the Norse mythology 
 who travels through the land in which it was con- 
 ceived, and sees where the gods were born and 
 where their deeds were done. This was no place 
 for sportive divinities, or for the light fancies of a 
 sunnier clime. The sombre and solid character of 
 the land entered into the making of the people and 
 the construction of their legends and their faith. 
 The stories of Norway should be read in Norway. 
 The sagas need the mountains. 
 
 The emigration from Norway to our own country 
 has become large. The Norwegians are excellent 
 
116 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 colonists and settlers, as we know. But in tlieir 
 own land we could not help asking if so many stout- 
 hearted and stout-handed men and women could be 
 spared. The instinctive answer was in the nega- 
 tive. But to ride through the country, to see how 
 much rock there is in proportion to the soil, and to 
 mark the evident poverty and hard struggles of the 
 peasantry, removes all wonder that men seek a new 
 home for themselves, — and especially for their chil- 
 dren, — where life can have a larger hope under 
 more generous conditions. The land is likely to 
 have enough sowers and reapers for its narrow 
 fields. A country which offers so little bread can- 
 not blame those who seek a land of prairies and 
 harvests. In a new land the character of the people 
 will be modified ; but we may hope that they will 
 preserve the virtues which are their honor and 
 strength. We shall still be able to see the true 
 Norwegian in his own home. Travellers will carry 
 in their strange ways and corrupt the simplicity of 
 the people. But it will be long before the charm 
 disappears. The attractions of Norway are very 
 fresh and great. The country is easy of access, and 
 travelling is inexpensive and agreeable. In the 
 years to come, Norway will be more frequented by 
 the English, who are already there in good numbers, 
 and by Americans, who are now rarely met. The 
 continent will be the roaming-ground for its own 
 inhabitants. The Germans are on foot, and are 
 flocking into Switzerland in the summer months. 
 But Norway remains for travellers from beyond the 
 narrow and wide seas. The North Cape and the 
 
FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NOBWAY, 117 
 
 midnight sun will allure them in growing numbers. 
 But many will be content with nearer things, and 
 will pass a few weeks delightfully upon the southern 
 fjords, and in the wonderful scenery about them, 
 and in the cities and villages of the land ; while for 
 the pedestrian, the sportsman, and the artist the 
 resources in every direction are almost without 
 limit. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 
 
 The passage from Christiania was without special 
 incident. We ran down the fjord, across Bohas 
 Bay and the Skager-Rack, and in the early morning 
 touched at Gothenburg, or Goteborg, the capital of 
 the province of the same name, and in commercial 
 importance the second city in Sweden. There was 
 only time to go a little way up the quay, and with 
 this step on the border of Sweden we were obliged 
 to be content. Although it w^as Sunday morning, 
 there was quite a stir around us. As usual, people 
 gathered about the steamer, and some of them 
 joined us as passengers. Other steamers were pre- 
 paring to leave the harbor. A boy was busy selling 
 papers, which appeared to be of a secular character, 
 but which, whether sacred or secular, could be of 
 small advantage to us. Far away a church bell was 
 ringing in the day. But our path led from the 
 church door, and we were soon on our way down 
 the Cattegat. These days at sea were very restful 
 after the hurried life in strange places, where we 
 were compelled to make the most of every hour. 
 They gave leisure for thought, for gathering up the 
 threads and fastening them together, and for adjust- 
 ing ourselves to the new scenes which were soon to 
 
 118 
 
FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 119 
 
 open upon us. About six o'clock in the afternoon 
 we reached Kjobenhavn, Copenhagen, the '' Mer- 
 chants' Haven." There was the usual bustle of 
 the Custom House officials, which resulted in noth- 
 ing but delay and annoyance, and then our luggage 
 was put upon a dray which a man pushed along the 
 streets. They gave us a very lofty position in the 
 Hotel d'Angleterre, but we found a fine house, wor- 
 thy of its reputation. The capital of Denmark is 
 on the large island of Sjeland and the small one of 
 Amager. The approach to the city through the 
 narrow gateway, which is guarded by Elsinore and 
 its castle of Kronborg, and then along the Sound, 
 is very interesting. The capital itself is full of 
 interest. The city is rich in public squares, and in 
 churches, palaces, and other buildings. When we 
 thought of exploring the great city, we w^ere pain- 
 fully conscious that we had lost not only our pleas- 
 ant companions in Norway, but also the friends 
 there who had done so much to guide and assist us 
 in a strange land. We were alone, and we knew 
 neither the people nor their language. But we 
 were able to get some advice, and we had the inge- 
 nuity which had served us a good purpose on pre- 
 vious occasions. First we visited the Church of 
 Our Lady, where we saw Thorwaldsen's. statues of 
 the twelve apostles, and other works from his hand. 
 The church is large, but not especially attractive in 
 itself. The exterior is very plain. Trinity Church, 
 is famous for its round tower, which was intended 
 for an observatory. The ascent is by means of a 
 wide road which winds its upward way inside of the 
 
120 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 tower. It is said that Peter the Great went up this 
 road on horseback, while Catharine went up in a 
 carriage. We had a fine view from the top of the 
 tower, and were able to form a good idea of the 
 city. We walked in the Rosenborg Park, a place 
 so much frequented by young children and their 
 guardians that it is popularly termed the '^ Nursery." 
 The university is four hundred years old, and has 
 twelve hundred students and a body of able profes- 
 sors. But we saw very little of academic life. We 
 spent some time in the extensive Botanic Garden, 
 with its palms and ferns, and many other appro- 
 priate treasures. At night we mounted to the top 
 of an omnibus-horse-car, which sometimes ran on 
 the track and at other times on the pavement. This 
 double arrangement seemed to be desirable, as it 
 surely was practicable where the road lay partly in 
 the city and partly in the country. We went out 
 to the '^Tivoli," a public garden much resorted to 
 by all classes of the people, and affording ample 
 materials for a pleasant evening. The lonely citizen 
 could there meet his neighbors, while the father of 
 a family could give his household an outing at very 
 small cost. There were a great many persons there 
 at the time of our visit, but there was good order 
 everywhere. Many sat in the open halls and lis- 
 tened to good music; some watched the acrobats 
 and bicycle riders in their performances. There 
 were various exhibitions of various kinds, and each 
 engaged the attention of a portion of the throng. 
 Nothing was more novel to us than the Rutsch- 
 banen. A double series of wooden hills and valleys 
 
FBOM NOBWAY TO ITALY. 121 
 
 had been built, over and through which the traveller 
 glides, as the book calls it. He first climbs a flight 
 of stairs to a high platform, where he is placed in 
 a car whose seat is wide enough for two or three 
 persons, and is provided with a leather apron for the 
 securit}^ of the passengers. The car glides swiftly 
 down the first hill, and thus gains enough impetus 
 to carry it to the top of the next hill, which is a 
 little lower than the first. This process is repeated 
 till the end of the route is reached, at the top of the 
 fourth or fifth hill. The car is then drawn up to a 
 higher level, which the passengers reach by stairs, 
 when the journey is repeated in the opposite direc- 
 tion. The motion is exceedingly rapid, and one 
 can hardly breathe as he rides. He wonders what 
 would happen if anything should break. He won- 
 ders whether he is enjoying the ride or not. But 
 on the whole the performance is exhilarating, and 
 might form a profitable addition to our American 
 picnics. This description is tame, but the thing 
 itself is sufficiently exciting. 
 
 There are two other places in the city which are 
 of great interest. One of these is the Ethnographi- 
 cal Museum, which has large and finely arranged 
 collections illustrating the history and customs of 
 many lands from remote times. Stone weapons, 
 ornaments of bronze, and articles in iron and silver 
 and gold abound, while there is a great quantity of 
 coins from many countries and periods. 
 
 The other place of special interest is the museum 
 which bears the name of the sculptor of whom Den- 
 mark is so justly proud. Thorwaldsen was the son 
 
122 SOME THINGS ABUOAB. 
 
 of an Icelander, and was himself born at sea, be- 
 tween Iceland and Denmark. But his name and his 
 work belong to Copenhagen, where he studied when 
 a boy, and which he enriched by his genius and 
 generosity. He bequeathed to the city his collec- 
 tion of works of art and the greater part of his 
 large property, to establish and maintain the museum 
 which is called after him. The museum was opened 
 in 1846. The building is large and fine. On the 
 lower floor are Thorwaldsen's own works in marble 
 and plaster, and on the upper floor are other works 
 which belonged to him. There are also personal 
 memorials, which are of value from their association 
 with him. There is seen, also, the work which he 
 left unfinished. It is a bust of Luther, who was a 
 fitting subject to engage the skill of the master. 
 The head seems complete, but this has not wholly 
 freed itself from the marble. In its condition it is 
 like the man, for the work of Luther is not com- 
 plete. It is further from perfection than we have 
 been inclined to believe. The work is grand, and 
 the head of it stands out in strength and beauty. 
 But more is to be done before the spirit can have 
 rest. The Reformation must advance until all 
 things are free and true in the domain of religious 
 thought and life. We honor the Reformers and 
 their achievements when we carry forward what 
 they left unfinished. As I think upon the stone 
 which the sculptor left I am not sorry that it is 
 incomplete. It is the better presentation of the man 
 who wrought so mightily for the moulding of human 
 thought and the widening of human life. 
 
FROM NOB WAY TO ITALY, 123 
 
 In a court within the walls of the museum is the 
 grave of Thorwaldsen, a rectangular mound enclosed 
 at the sides and ends with stones which tell his 
 name and the date of his birth and death. The top 
 of the mound is covered with ivj^. Thus the great 
 workman rests among the works in which he em- 
 bodied his life, and which remain to do him honor. 
 It is a good resting-place, and he is worthj' of it. 
 
 We left Copenhagen in the afternoon and were to 
 be in Lubeck the next morning. A thin mist was 
 hanging over the islands, and a beautiful light was 
 shining through it upon the city and the water. 
 The effect was peculiar and recalled Turner's Ven- 
 ice, and others of his dreamy pictures. Sea and 
 shore seemed a fairy-land, serene and distant. We 
 did not know what the splendor portended. We 
 found out. Such scenes can be trusted to declare 
 themselves. Soon the radiant mist thickened to an 
 unsightly fog through which the steamer slowly 
 groped her way all night, while the shrill whistle 
 reached our narrow quarters to remind us that we 
 were moving in the dark. Wlien morning came no 
 land was to be seen, but how near or how far the 
 shore was no one could tell. Seaman or landsman, 
 we were equally lost. The lead and line were freely 
 used, and at length thej^ warned the captain that he 
 was as near the land as it was prudent for him to go. 
 Accordingly, at his word the anchor went down, the 
 fires went down, and the skipper went down for a 
 nap after his long and anxious watch. The fore- 
 noon wore away, but the fog did not. The whistle 
 had lost its voice, and the tongue of the restless bell 
 
124 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 took its place and rang out its appeal. I suppose 
 this was intended, like the blind man's lantern, to 
 keep others from running into us. The hours were 
 leaden. I thought of absent friends, and multiplied 
 letters to them. We had simple amusements, but 
 there was a dulness in all our play. Late in the 
 afternoon the fog lifted, and we saw that we were 
 very near to the shore. We had not stopped too soon. 
 The land was very attractive just then, though I 
 fancy it was, a very common piece of ground. The 
 captain cameuip, and the anchor and the fires fol- 
 lowed his example. The steamer started, but before 
 we went down to supper the fog had returned and the 
 anchor had dropped into its old place. Eating had 
 become a matter of uncertainty. We were not pro- 
 visioned for a long voyage. The good-natured Ger- 
 man girls did their best, but there was a lean look to 
 the table. White bread was scarce. There was an 
 egg here and there. Melting the butter restored it 
 to its original state, and gave us milk for our coffee. 
 While we struggled through this miscellaneous meal, 
 we heard the rising anchor once more. Then we 
 moved on. After a time the boat stopped at a vil- 
 lage and allowed any who wished to take the train 
 and finish their journey where no fogs could in- 
 terrupt it. We would not give up the ship, and 
 early the next morning we were in Liibeck, twenty- 
 four hours late. A day had dropped out and left no 
 sign. There were few people astir, except money- 
 changers and their clerks. These offered us induce- 
 ments to give up our money for theirs, but we had 
 arranged such matters with the captain on the 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 125 
 
 steamer. We found our waj^ to the railroad sta- 
 tion, which was very dreary at that hour, but we 
 managed to get a cold repast, and then devoted 
 ourselves to the study of the best route for our 
 journey. Advice was freelj^ offered us, and we 
 made our decision. We had satisfied the custom- 
 house officials that the treasury of the empire would 
 not be defrauded if we were allowed to pass on, and 
 we took the train for Hamburg, and then again for 
 Cologne. It was a long day's ride, but it was over 
 at last. At Cologne the Hotel du Dome was in 
 doubt of its ability to receive us. Pending the 
 settlement of the question we turned into the 
 cathedral. It was a good time for our visit. We 
 looked up the majestic pillars and along the high 
 arches in the twilight which gave an added mystery 
 and grandeur to the place. The shadows deepened 
 the solemnity as they crept through the stillness. 
 The whole impression was enhanced by the service 
 which was going on in a chapel, with the monoto- 
 nous reading of priest and people, the singing of 
 boys, and the rich, full tones of the organ filling the 
 gathering gloom with melody. The next morning 
 we went again into the cathedral and saw in the 
 brightness what we had seen in the gloom. How 
 grand it is, by night or by day ! Gothic architect- 
 ure has its culmination in this church, which has 
 been six hundred years and more in rising to its 
 wondrous majesty and grace. It was a large faith 
 which consented to toil so slowly for what was to 
 last so long, whose completion generations of 
 builders were to believe in and not to see. There 
 
126 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 was a service in the morning and in the evening. 
 The beadle or sacristan — I do not know what his 
 title is — properly warned us from the precincts 
 where the few worshippers knelt about the officia- 
 ting priest, but was not so much absorbed in the 
 sacred rites that he could not sell us tickets which 
 would admit us to the foot of the stairs which lead 
 up into one of the high towers, and allow us to 
 work our way upward as far and as fast as w^e chose. 
 It was a wearisome ascent, and we were not repaid 
 for our trouble. The glory of the house is not seen 
 from above, but as one walks through its long 
 aisles, and wanders about it on the outer ground. 
 We paid afterwards a liberal fee for the poor privi- 
 lege of passing along the lofty gallery and looking 
 down into the interior of the church. But we were 
 able to resist the demand for a larger gratuity which 
 would have opened to us the Chapel of the Three 
 Kings, and have brought us a few feet nearer to the 
 shrine containing the bones of the Arabian kings, 
 who were not kings so far as any one knows, but 
 wise men from the East, whose relics probably do 
 not rest in this gorgeous enclosure. We confess to 
 a slight struggle between good sense and a desire to 
 see all which we were told that we could see. But 
 prudence turned the scale. We lost the imposition, 
 but we kept our francs. Yet we were prepared to 
 give our tribute of respect to the faith and desire 
 of the Magi who have gained a place in sacred 
 story : — 
 
 '* For Gaspar and for Melchior and Balthasar, who from far 
 Found Mary out and Jesus by the shming of a star." 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 127 
 
 We yielded to the spirit wliicli we had resisted in 
 the cathedral, and went to St. Ursula's — ''the bone 
 church," as I heard a child call it. The house is old 
 — so much is certain. The walls are crowded with 
 bones which are wrought into many ingenious figures. 
 Whether they are the remains of eleven thousand vir- 
 gins whom the Huns killed is very uncertain. We had 
 a priestly guide, who had no doubt or no belief on 
 the subject. His manner would indicate either con- 
 dition of mind. After all, what did it matter? Very 
 likely, these relics never belonged to the women^for 
 whom they are named. But they belonged to men 
 and women, — or most of them did, — and they served 
 a useful purpose in their time, and bore their part 
 in martyrdom, it may be. There is always a pathos 
 about the form which a living man has used and 
 deserted; the dust which he lias laid aside. But life 
 and the living are more attractive and helpful. In 
 a steady and easy flow of words, with a scant use of 
 periods, our attendant called our reverent attention 
 to the skull of St. Ursula, and to other relics of the 
 saint and her chief companions ; to a stone water-jar 
 in which the water blushed into wine that a bride 
 might not blush at her wedding-feast in far-away Cana 
 of Galilee. Nobody knows where Cana was, or what 
 befel the six water-pots of stone. It is not easy to 
 think that this was one of them. He showed us thorns 
 from the Saviour's crown, and assured us in the same 
 tone or monotone that two francs and a half would, 
 be a suitable reward for his services. We saw other 
 churches — St. Gereon's, which commemorates the 
 martyrs of the Theban legion who suffered under 
 
128 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Diocletian ; St. Peter's, with the crucifixion of that 
 apostle for its altar-piece ; the work, it is claimed, of 
 Rubens, who is said to have been born in a house near 
 by. We marked the multitude of Farinas whose 
 names stare from the front of so many stores, present- 
 ing the perpetual conundrum, which is the only genu- 
 ine and original maker of the perfume which has made 
 the name of the city a household word. But among 
 these things we could not linger. We passed the 
 long day upon the Rhine. The weather was very 
 pleasant, the steamer was large, and it was delightful 
 to glide along the curving line of the shore, under 
 the high hills, below the ruined castles, among legends 
 and songs of war and of love, stopping at some of 
 the towns on the banks, watching the people as the}'' 
 were coming and going, enjoying every hour with its 
 new scenes in new lights, till in the darkness, at nine 
 o'clock, our voyage ended at Mayence. 
 
 I cannot continue to trace our steps from day to 
 day, but there are a few places, seen then or after- 
 wards, of which I may make a brief record here. 
 
 Strasbourg ''is a place that the tourist should not 
 fail to visit," — so runs the guide-book. There were 
 certain monetary reasons which enlarged the neces- 
 sity that we should pause at this ancient city on the 
 111. We found that the banker had locked his door 
 and gone to dinner. It was the custom of the place, 
 and had not been found susceptible of modern im- 
 provement. We made a vain effort to persuade 
 somebody to help us. It was an unheard-of thing 
 to deliver money out of hours, and there was no 
 help but in waiting. Indeed, our difficulty began 
 
FBOM JSrOJRWAY TO ITALY, 129 
 
 earlier than this, when we chartered a guide to take 
 us to the bank without loss of time. He too was 
 under the influence of the hour, and led us promptly 
 to the door of a restaurant. Our French seemed a 
 long time in making an impression upon his preoccu- 
 pied sensibilities. So we lost the train we meant to 
 take. It was to no purpose that we had disregarded 
 the advice of the Mayence porter and made a very 
 early start. We were stranded in the middle of the 
 day. But it was in a very good place. We readily 
 found bur way to the cathedral, which stands around 
 the Strasbourg clock. It was not Cologne : but it 
 was a house full of grandeur, one of the finest of 
 these fine Gothic buildings. It stands where there 
 has been a church since the days of Clovis, the son 
 of Childeric. This house was founded eight hundred 
 years ago and more. The lofty spire, with its uncer- 
 tain height but its unquestioned beauty, has a lone- 
 some look without the mate which should have been 
 placed beside it. It has the more interest in that, 
 when its designer had left it incomplete, the work was 
 carried on by his son, and afterwards by his daughter. 
 Some of the fine work of Sabina is also found within. 
 What wonderful results can be produced in stone, if 
 the workmen or workwomen have skill and patience ! 
 Those old builders were as noted for their patience 
 as for any other quality. They used time over their 
 designs. They were sure of the centuries, and in 
 this assurance laid out their work. If the genera- 
 tions passed awa^y, the plans remained, and other 
 hands could move them slowly towards their fulfil- 
 ment. If money failed, as it had a way of doing. 
 
130 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the years would last, and more money would grow. 
 Bat patience only comes with age. It needs not a 
 little absorption in one's work to be willing to com- 
 mit it to other hands, desiring only that it should be 
 done. Work for the work's sake ranks among the 
 higher laws of building, whatever the material may 
 be. The old minster illustrates and enforces the 
 principle. The unfinished cathedrals are a witness 
 to a large purpose, and one which could wait. 
 There were many persons moving about while 
 we lingered in the sacred sublimity and elegance. 
 Some of them were peasant women with the Alsatian 
 ribbons on their heads. The long black bows seemed 
 in keeping with the ancient house. It was interest- 
 ing to watch tliem as they came in. Their first resort 
 was to the font of holy water. We saw two sisters 
 enter together ; we judged them to be sisters. One 
 dipped her fingers into the water, and then touched 
 the hand of the other. It was a simple and natural 
 communication of grace. 
 
 Whatever else may be seen at Strasbourg, the 
 ordinary visitor will be certain to see the famed 
 cathedral clock and to give to it a full measure of 
 wonder. The present clock is only about forty 
 years old, but it has the place of one which was 
 constructed three hundred years ago. The puppets 
 march and divide the hours, and their appearance and 
 disappearance are waited for, albeit their motions are 
 not quite life-like. The noon, when the full proces- 
 sion appears, is a time of high importance. The star- 
 ing company wait and watch and deem themselves 
 rewarded. This is all vulgar, of course. Why 
 
FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 131 
 
 should grown-up men and women care for a sense- 
 less show like this? The question is asked with a 
 sneer at the popular taste. Well, let it pass. What- 
 ever be the aesthetic judgment, the people will 
 look at that which interests them. The Strasbourg 
 clock does interest them. They can appreciate it. 
 Doubtless there are more visitors who can take in 
 the mystery of the moving figures than there are 
 who can detect "the amalgamation of the German 
 and French manners " in the architecture of the 
 cathedral, or properly estimate the splendor of the 
 glorious wheel window with its forty-two feet of 
 diameter. But some can do all this. For the rest, 
 people have some right to know what pleases them, 
 and to enjoy what is suited to an innocent taste. 
 They may be trained to something higher. Mean- 
 time let them possess their pleasures in peace. To 
 us there was not much illusion in the high structure 
 in which the planets hold their place. There was 
 even less when we had seen two men ascend the 
 stairs and enter into the clock, and heard the Satur- 
 day windings by which suns were to rise and men 
 were to move. But it will be long before the 
 traveller fails to seek the huge wonder in the corner 
 where it has so long done its work. 
 
 In the ceiling of the cathedral we noticed many 
 empty holes. There was no one to tell us their 
 meaning, but we conjectured that they once held 
 the standards of the French banners which the Ger- 
 man war had removed out of their place. 
 
 From Strasbourg let us pass to Baden. They call 
 this Baden-Baden, because there are other Badens. 
 
132 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 It is on the border of the Black Forest. We had a 
 long ride among the dark trees, in a car which 
 allowed us to look freely upon the district through 
 which we were passing. The tops of the hills have 
 few trees, but lower are pines, and maples, and 
 beeches, which are supported by the thick, dark 
 groves of fir. Among the rocks are found gold, 
 copper, iron, and other minerals, while mineral 
 waters spring up generously for the invigoration 
 of the visitors who resort to them. The manufac- 
 ture of w^ooden clocks and music-boxes and similar 
 things has formed the leading industry of the 
 people. 
 
 Baden-Baden has been a place of fashionable 
 resort since the time of Antoninus and Aurelius. 
 The Romans seem to have enjoyed the springs. 
 They left behind them tokens of their presence, 
 which have been placed in a museum for the delight 
 of later generations of health and pleasure seekers. 
 I do not know that there is any natural connection 
 between mineral springs and gambling, unless it is 
 the leisure which is afforded by the one and em- 
 ployed by the other. There is high authority for 
 believing that idle hands readily take to mischief. 
 Baden-Baden had the most renowned gaming-houses 
 in Europe. But these were closed in 1872, with 
 other institutions of their sort throughout Germany. 
 The town remains, and throngs still resort to it and 
 enjoy its pleasures ; but its power and occupation 
 are gone, which is for the advantage of everybody. 
 It is a very attractive town, with its fine streets and 
 noble trees. The Kursaal, a large park in the cen- 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 133 
 
 tre of the town, is a charming place for a leisure 
 hour. A small admission fee is charged, and then 
 the visitor is free to wander where he will. There 
 is good music in the d'dj and evening, and it is very 
 restful to listen to it while sitting before the showy 
 stand or strolling over the grounds. There are 
 many stores in the park, and these are brilliantly 
 lighted at night, so that their windows present a 
 dazzling array of goods of many kinds. Gold and 
 silver ware, and glass in many colors and more 
 designs, allure and tempt the passer-by. There is 
 something in all this, — in the place, the people, the 
 music, the gay shops, the absence of horses and 
 carriages, the general air of quiet and sense of 
 pleasure, — which constantly reminded us of Venice 
 and the Piazza of St. Mark. What can be said 
 more of the luxury and delight ? The large Trink- 
 halle suggests its purpose in its name. It had a 
 deserted appearance at the time when we were at 
 the springs, but in the season must be full of life 
 and of the effort to make life more desirable. The 
 Conversationhaus is more than would be inferred 
 from its prolonged title. It has an immense assem- 
 bly room, though we saw none flit over its polished 
 floor ; and a very inviting library and reading- 
 rooms, which drew many persons among the books 
 and papers. There are very pleasant drives about 
 the town. The Lichtenthale Alice is a long avenue, 
 shaded with tall trees, and bordered with groves 
 through which run winding paths leading to charm- 
 ing places of rest. This road is a special feature of 
 the town. As we went along this avenue, we came 
 
134 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 upon a fragment of our home life. We found the 
 flag and the name of our own country, commendmg 
 to the people of these foreign parts '' The Great 
 American Circus." It may have been American: 
 it certainly was not great. There were two ele- 
 phants, two forlorn camels, a meagre array of horses, 
 with gayly caparisoned riders, and an immense car on 
 whose perilous summit rode the bespangled queen of 
 the enterprise. I do not know whether the pa- 
 geantry impressed the people of Baden with the 
 magnificence of the republic, or not. But it drew 
 after it a long train of men and women, boys and 
 girls, even as it would have done in its own national 
 domain. 
 
 Castles are not a rarity in the region where they 
 are the remains of a different order of things from 
 that which now prevails. Baden-Baden has the 
 ruins of the old castle where the Margraves lived 
 and ruled. The broken walls stand on the summit 
 of the Schlossberg, and afford a wide view over the 
 town and country beneath. The ruins are open to 
 all travellers and without price. This is a fact 
 deserving of notice. The peculiarity is in some 
 measure balanced by a neighboring restaurant, for 
 which patronage is requested but not demanded. 
 Furthermore, when the visitor has ascended as far 
 as he cares to go, he sees, leaning over a railing 
 above him, a man. There can be but one reason for 
 his presence there. It is possible to mount to his 
 level, and on this possibility he evidently depends 
 for his livelihood. To venture higher is to pay for 
 his useless presence and worthless services. The 
 
FROM NOBWAY TO ITALY, 135 
 
 wise do not disturb his meditation on the beauties 
 of the landscape. But he shows no signs of regret, 
 or of anything else. It is not hard to fancy him a 
 part of the ruin : one wliom time has forgotten and 
 left behind, and v^ho now lingers on the poor stage 
 which a living creature would desert; or, if he did 
 not desert it, from which he would descend nearer 
 to the victims, who could not then escape him. At 
 the new castle, which dates from 1479, there is a 
 venerable keeper who is more alert. He is so dig- 
 nified and courteous that a novice would either 
 shrink from offering him a fee for his pompous 
 attentions, or else make the gratuity so large as to 
 disturb his equanimity. The experienced traveller 
 commits neither mistake. The new castle, as it is 
 termed by comparison, is not so high an elevation as 
 tlie old. But it is high enough. In this castle the 
 Grand Duke sometimes resides in summer. In his 
 absence the stranger may see where he dwells when 
 he so elects. He will be much more impressed by 
 the parts of the castle which are now untenanted, 
 but which forcibly suggest the misery, the agony, 
 once endured within their narrow walls. These 
 dungeons are small but dark and awful. Hope 
 must have been left at the outer door when the" 
 prisoner entered their chilly gloom. There is the 
 small room in which the secret court sat to condemn 
 its victims. TJie places of the judges' seats remain. 
 From that relentless tribunal the condemned were led 
 aw^ay, often under the pretence that they were to be 
 released. They were brought before a small figure 
 of the Virgin, and told to kiss the image. While 
 
136 ( SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 t'hey pressed their lips upon the form which repre- 
 sented their sole reliance, perhaps their deliverance, 
 the floor dropped from beneath their feet, and they 
 sank into a deep well upon the knives which were 
 not more merciless than those who appointed them 
 to their office. All that is over, so we say standing 
 there. No ; all is not over. ''There is a God." 
 
 We came up from the caverns, our candles were 
 extinguished, and we returned into the light of day. 
 The gay throng was moving through the pleasant 
 streets. We were in the present, which has broken 
 from the past, — the light-hearted present from the 
 oppressed and oppressing past. 
 
 The Villa Solms is a fine house in the town, 
 somewhat castle-like in its architecture and fur- 
 nished in the style of the middle ages. We found 
 an obliging man in charge, and enjoyed roaming 
 over the whole building, and seeing the attempt of 
 a family of our age to reproduce the surroundings 
 of another. A little further up the hill on which 
 the Villa stands is a Greek church, or chapel, con- 
 taining several fine monuments. The marble antici- 
 pated the need of it in some instances. There Avas 
 a beautiful statue of a mother who was then living, 
 which was hung with black in memory of her son. 
 This was carrying realism further than we had 
 before seen it, and opening the household grief to 
 the public compassion. One or two priests whom 
 we saw appeared to be having an easy life on this 
 height, where they could read and meditate, with no 
 cares to vex them and few duties to interrupt them. 
 
 The last word which I can write of Baden-Baden 
 
FBOM NOB WAY TO ITALY. 137 
 
 must be in praise of its beauty and its many attrac- 
 tions. 
 
 A veiy different place is Niirnberg, Nuremberg. 
 
 **Iii the valley of the Pegnitz, where across broad meadow-lands 
 Else the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg, the ancient, 
 
 stands. 
 Quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of art and 
 
 song, 
 Memories haunt thy pointed gables, like the rooks that round 
 
 them throng." 
 
 It is getting into the past to enter this old town. 
 It was a conspicuous place in its day. Emperors 
 resided there, and patrician families administered 
 its affairs. It was the seat of manufactures and the 
 home of art. It has been termed the '' Gothic 
 Athens." This glory has largely passed away. 
 The trade in lead-pencils and toj'S is extensive, so 
 that the town has^a commercial importance. But 
 too much of the antiquity has already been rubbed 
 off. This is a pity. Yet mucli remains. The medi- 
 aeval architecture preserves its peculiar attraction, 
 and many of the newer buildings have copied the 
 old and picturesque style. Tliere is an ancient look 
 upon the town, and upon the separate parts of it, 
 — the streets, bridges, churches, fountains, castle, 
 liouses, — so that it stands as a well preserved frag- 
 ment of the middle ages. The river, which has been 
 already named, divides it in two parts, which are 
 nearly equal. Each of them has its great church, 
 and its saint, from whom both precinct and sanctu- 
 ary take their name. St. Sebald and St. Lawrence 
 share the honors of the divided municipality. Each 
 
138 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 has his " side." The churches are both in the hands 
 of the Protestants, so that ecclesiastical rivalry does 
 not bring in confusion. 
 
 St. Lawrence's Church is the largest and finest in 
 the town. It boasts six hundred years, and stands 
 in its Gothic nobility unmoved in the passing of the 
 centuries. The muUions in its towers present the 
 symbol of the saint whom Valerian laid upon 
 the gridiron. The front is rich in sculptures. The 
 Virgin and the Child are on a pillar between the 
 doors, while around and above them are repre- 
 sented various scenes in our Lord's life, while Adam 
 and Eve, with prophets and apostles, illustrate the 
 sacred storj^ We noticed that over the head of 
 the Christ in the Crucifixion and in the Last Judg- 
 ment a dove was hovering, the sign of the Spirit 
 which was and will be upon Him. There are two 
 other doors of wonderful workmanship, elegant in 
 form and rich in decoration. One bears the name 
 of the bride's door. The interior of the chnrch is 
 adorned by splendid windows. One, which is called 
 after the Volhauser family, is hardly surpassed in 
 Europe in its marvellous coloring and admirable 
 design. But there is nothing more striking than 
 the tabernacle, the sacramentshauslein, where the 
 wafer of the sacrament was placed. Shall I quote 
 again ? — 
 
 "• In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix of sculpture rare, 
 Like the foamy sheaf of fountains rising through the painted air." 
 
 It is a structure of stone which, tapering as it 
 rises, reaches a height of more than sixty feet. The 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 139 
 
 top bends over, as the top of a tall fir-tree bends in 
 a strong wind, and tlie end turns under in a grace- 
 ful curve. The plan is perfect, and the execution 
 faithful to the last detail. The light form of all the 
 parts, and the open-work with its delicate tracery, 
 give a charming grace and beauty. Around the 
 base is a low gallery, or platform, where the officiat- 
 ing priest could stand. Above the recess for the 
 bread the chief events of the Passion are appropri- 
 ately represented. The Christ is seen taking leave 
 of the mother whose soul is soon to be pierced. 
 The Eucharistic Supper, the Agony in Gethsemane, 
 the Scourging and Crucifixion, and the Resurrec- 
 tion, are all portrayed in the almost living stone. 
 Under the whole fabric, as if bearing it upon their 
 shoulders, are the kneeling figures of Adam Krafft, 
 the sculptor, and the two apprentices who wrought 
 with him. Five years of thought and skill are 
 enshrined in this notable creation of human genius 
 working with high purpose for a sacred end. The 
 work was completed in the year 1500. Seven years 
 later, the old artist died in great distress in a hospi- 
 tal at Schwabach. But in his work he lives in 
 honor. 
 
 St. Sebald was distinguished among the German 
 saints of early times. The legends make him the 
 son of a Danish king, and his English name we 
 know as Siward or Seward. He went through Ger- 
 many as a missionary, and finally made his home in 
 Nuremberg. This is not the place to recount his 
 miraculous deeds. Indeed, I have not many to 
 recount. He came one day to a hut where he had 
 
140 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 often rested, and fonnd the family freezing. He 
 had icicles bronght in and cast upon the scanty 
 coals, when the room was filled with warmth. 
 When the lord of the city had put out the eyes of 
 the saint's servant, who had obeyed his master but 
 disobeyed the lord, the saint gave the poor man his 
 sight again, as he seems to have been bound to do. 
 The church on the north side of the Pegnitz bears 
 the name of the saint. It is a superb building with- 
 out and within. It carries five centuries and more, 
 and bears the weight of heavy and elegant sculpt- 
 ures. At the west end, on the outside, is a colossal 
 bronze statue of Christ, which is one of the oldest 
 works of its kind in the city. In the interior archi- 
 tecture may be seen the transition from the round 
 to the pointed style. The windows are narrow and 
 high. In a chapel is a very old bronze font in 
 which Wenzel the Emperor w^as baptized, and 
 which is more noted as being the oldest Nurem- 
 berg casting now remaining, if fame is to be 
 credited. It would be expected that the shrine of 
 St. Sebald would be a prominent feature of his 
 church. Peter Vischer and his five sons con- 
 structed it, with thirteen years of labor. It is of 
 bronze, in the richest Gothic. Slender columns sus- 
 tain a canopy of fretwork, and underneath, in a 
 cliest of oak, encased in silver, are the relics of the 
 saint. At the sides of the columns, standing on 
 brackets, are statues of the twelve apostles. The 
 figures are much admired for their naturalness and 
 expressiveness. Over them are twelve fathers of 
 the church in smaller figures, while over these are 
 
FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 141 
 
 leaves and flowers, with cupicls and mermen, and 
 living creatures of different sorts. In bas-reliefs 
 under the sacred chest the miracles of the saint are 
 set forth : the burning icicles, the broken kettle 
 mended by a blessing, the stone which was changed 
 to lead, and the rescue of a man whom the earth 
 was swallowing for his unbelief. At one end is a 
 figure of Sebald, and at the other of the artist in a 
 mason's dress, with a chisel in his hand. In the 
 statue of Sebald the saint is represented as a pil- 
 grim with shell and staff, rosary and wallet, and 
 holding in his left hand a model of his church. The 
 entire structure has a fantastic support upon the 
 backs of snails. 
 
 Near the church is the parsonage-house, whose 
 chief attraction is an oriel window of singular 
 beauty. 
 
 The Church of Our Lady, the Frauenkirche, has 
 a great treasure of sculpture and a fagade of great 
 beauty. The Gothic portal, with its elaborate orna- 
 mentation, is the notable feature presented by this 
 ancient edifice. This is the Roman Catholic Church 
 of the town. 
 
 Back of this church is the goose market, where 
 enough copies of this bird can be bought to save 
 any number of Romes. The geese are alive at the 
 time of the sale, and are fastened with withes of 
 straw to the baskets in which they have been brought 
 from the country. The market was in good order 
 when we saw it, and the selling was chiefly per- 
 formed by women who were in the peasant cos- 
 tume, which it is always a pleasure to see. We Avere 
 
142 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 drawn to the market by the fame of the "goose 
 man." He turned out a much more insignificant 
 fellow than we expected to see, — simply a small 
 figure of bronze, having under each arm a goose 
 from whose open bill the water was spouting in a 
 feeble stream. 
 
 But near by stands the ''Beautiful Fountain," 
 which is really an imposing affair. It is a pyramid 
 of stone, eight-sided, Gothic in style, and rising to a 
 height of fifty-six feet. It is very old, and was 
 originally covered with painting and gilding. It 
 has been restored and is still an interesting work. 
 It is surrounded with twenty-four statues, full- 
 length, seven of which are for electors of Bavaria, 
 nine for heroes, Christian, Jewish, and pagan, and 
 eight for Moses and the prophets. The town has 
 many other fountains, each of which has its own 
 merits and its own patrons. 
 
 Portions of the old walls and towers of the city 
 remain, a witness to the military strength and con- 
 sequence which have passed away. Between an 
 outer and inner wall is a deep, dry ditch which 
 makes a very good place for gardens. We drove 
 out of the town to St. John's Churchyard. Along 
 the way, at regular intervals, Avere seven pillars of 
 stone, each of which presented in bas-relief an event 
 in the Passion of the Redeemer. A citizen named 
 Ketzel, four hundred years ago, made two journeys 
 to Palestine, and brought back the necessary meas- 
 urements for reproducing in his own town the Via 
 Dolorosa of Jerusalem. The sculptures were made 
 by Krafft, but they have been defaced in the course 
 
 1 
 
FROM JSrOBWAY TO ITALY. 143 
 
 of the years. Some have been restored, and traces 
 of the original beauty of the work can still be seen. 
 We found a kind woman in charge of the church- 
 yard. She would have known our errand if we had 
 not told her, and she led us promptly to the two 
 graves which we had come to see. We had seen the 
 houses in which Diirer and Sachs had lived, and 
 would see the places where they were laid when life 
 was over. We stood by the grave which is called 
 Albert Diirer's, and are now told that it is no longer 
 tenanted by his dust. It was a great life he lived. 
 He reached what we should call his majority in the 
 year that Columbus reached these Western shores. 
 He was architect, and painter, and sculptor. His 
 works abound and are his monument. He was de- 
 voted to his profession. It is a pity that the daughter 
 of Hans Fritz, to whom his father wedded him, should 
 have worried a man who had cares enough without 
 her. In his last portrait the flowing hair in which 
 he took an honest pride is wanting, and the lines of 
 care are drawn over his face. At last he died, and 
 now no man knows his grave. But a monument, 
 with a bronze statue, has been erected by the people 
 of Nuremberg, who delight to preserve his name and 
 fame. There is also a monument to Hans Sachs. 
 He was born in 1494, and became a cobbler. He 
 went to Munich, where he learned to make verses 
 and to sing them. It is said that he wrote six thou- 
 sand poems of various dimensions. He was one of 
 the meistersingers. These were an association of 
 master tradesmen whose object was to revive the 
 minstrelsy of their country, which had fallen with 
 
144 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 the decline of the minnesingers, the low minstrels. 
 They chose subjects for the most part of a religious 
 or moral character, and pursued their art by fixed 
 rules. The three chief meistersingers were Hans 
 Rosenbliit, an armorial painter; Hans Folz, surgeon 
 and barber ; and Hans Sachs. He died in his eighty- 
 second year, having gained the name of ''Honest 
 Hans Sachs." He liad done much to help on the 
 Reformation by his writings. It will be noticed that 
 the men whom Nuremberg holds in special honor 
 were men who served their town by their useful 
 lives. Not high birth, but high service, made their 
 lasting renown. It speaks well for the place. Can 
 I do better than to copy familiar lines once more ? — 
 
 **Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent heart, 
 Lived and labored Albreclit Diirer, the Evangelist of Art. 
 
 '' Here Hans Sachs, the cobbler-poet, laureate of the gentle craft. 
 Wisest of the Twelve Wise Masters, in huge folios sang and 
 laughed. 
 
 **]N"ot thy Councils, nor thy Kaisers, win for thee the world's 
 
 regard ; 
 But thy painter, Albrecht Diirer, and Hans Sachs, thy cobbler-bard." 
 
 We paid the requisite fee for admittance to the 
 German Museum. No reluctance was shown in re- 
 ceiving it. It was hardly out of our hands before 
 we were told that the time had come for closing the 
 building. Why? It was the time when they closed. 
 There was but one course to pursue — to see what 
 we could in a few minutes, and to return another 
 day. There is the usual collection of antiquities in 
 their accustomed variety. These are always ijiterest- 
 
FROM NOB WAY TO ITALY, 145 
 
 ing, and often more. We saw abundant illustrations 
 of the land and its history. You would expect to 
 find many of Diirer's paintings, but they are not 
 there. One of his best works remains, in the por- 
 trait of his patrician friend the Burgomaster Holz- 
 schuher. There is also a striking painting by 
 Kaulbach — " The Openiiig of the Grave of Charle- 
 magne by Otho III." 
 
 The highest position in the town was naturally 
 given to the castle. It is a rambling collection of 
 buildings which have survived their usefulness. 
 Some rooms are occasionally used as a royal resi- 
 dence, but the buildings as a whole are on exhibition. 
 There is no lack of attendants, and there is no 
 danger that the gratuities which they accept will 
 be less than they are entitled to. The inhabited 
 rooms are commodious, and there are, of course, fine 
 views from the windows. No one know^s how old 
 the castle is. In fact, it belongs to no single time. 
 It grew as it was needed. A portion of it is thought 
 to be older than any other building in the town. 
 The castle has a double chapel, or two chapels one 
 above the other. The upper one was used by the 
 seigneur and his family, the lower one by his retain- 
 ers. They date from the eleventh century. The 
 chapel proper is small and bare, but sermons must 
 be imbedded in its stones, and some things besides 
 sermons. There are fiiie pillars which, if legend is 
 to be trusted, were brought from Rome by Satan 
 himself, who was outwitted by a monk who said the 
 Litanies with unparalleled rapidity, and was honored 
 with an effigj in testimony to his success. In the 
 
146 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 castle yard is a lime-tree whose straight trunk reaches 
 a height of tliirty-four feet from the ground, and has 
 a diameter of five feet. The tree has a historic in- 
 terest;, for tradition tells that it was planted more than 
 eight hundred years ago by Cunigunde, the daughter 
 of Siegfried, and the wife of Henry 11. of Germany, 
 Emperor and saint, founder of schools and monaste- 
 ries. The Empress had once proved her innocence 
 by w:alking on red-hot ploughsliares, and in 1201 she 
 was canonized. Her tree has received great care, 
 and is still flourishing in its old age. 
 
 In one building is a famous well. A venerable 
 woman is in charge of this, and on her authority I 
 give its depth as three hundred and thirty-five feet. 
 She did all in her power, short of a personal descent 
 or actual measurement, to impress us with the truth 
 of lier figures. She poured water from a dipper and 
 bade us listen till it struck the water below. It was 
 a considerable interval. She lighted candles and 
 lowered them into the darkness and then with a 
 mirror threw the reflection of the lights upon the 
 surface of the water. We were convinced that it 
 was a very deep well. It must take the truth a 
 long time to come up from such depths, and this 
 may explain some tales one hears. We found the 
 water refreshing, and, having recompensed the 
 attendant for her pains, passed to less pleasant^ 
 places. In different rooms connected with the 
 castle are kept the instruments of correction and tor- 
 ture which have come from cruel times. Some of 
 them are not without their merit, rude as they were^ 
 We could not use them now, yet every one must 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 147 
 
 fiave seen a person on whom he could consent to 
 have them tried, gently and briefly. Such were the 
 head-pieces for scolding men and women, and the 
 ducking-cage for incorrigible beggars, and the pillory 
 in which the contentious man and wife stood side by 
 side, eating with one spoon from the same dish. We 
 have so far eliminated the element of shame from 
 our punishments that the penalties we inflict have 
 lost half their proper terror. We would not bring 
 back the curious devices by which quiet and peace 
 were sought. But we looked with horror upon the 
 inventions by which men sought to torture others, 
 oftenest better men, to their own purposes. If cru- 
 elty has any monuments and memorials, they are in 
 the dungeons which were built not very long ago, 
 and the instruments wliich were the ally of the 
 prisons. We saw them at the old castle. They 
 are curiosities now^ yet, as one thinks upon their 
 uses and their powers, he almost hears the groans 
 which went up to heaven but found no resting- 
 place on earth. We saw the rack on which men 
 were stretched and beaten ; the wheel on which 
 they were broken ; the sword by which they were 
 beheaded, and even the chair in which they sat to 
 receive the stroke. Ingenuity had labored that 
 tjYSinnj might grow fat on blood. Most cruel of 
 all, in appearance at least, was the Iron Virgin. 
 It is of wood, lined with iron, and roughly 
 represents the form of a woman. It is seven 
 feet high, and its front is divided into two 
 doors. The interior is pierced with long, sharp 
 S]3ikes, or iron poniards. The bed where the con- 
 
148 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 demned person, man or woman, passed the last 
 night stands in a corner of the room, and on the 
 wall is the crucifix which received the last kiss of 
 penitence and appeal. The dread doors of the Vir- 
 gin opened, and the victim was thrust within, where 
 all the space was thus filled. Then the doors were 
 shut upon him, into him ; pressed in and held in 
 place by a bar of iron. The end could not have 
 been long delayed. Then a sliding door was drawn 
 from under his feet, and the mangled body sank 
 into a deep well, where its destruction was com- 
 pleted, and the pieces found their way into the 
 river. The cruel woman will never be used again. 
 But it is well for us to see of what men have been 
 capable. 
 
 Not far from Nuremberg is Bayreuth, the home of 
 Wagner, where, in the building which he prepared, 
 his music is performed. Many resort to the place to 
 hear the music in its home. The story of Percival, 
 or Parsifal, was presented to throngs of listeners at 
 the time of our visit. 
 
 While we were in Nuremberg we stayed at the 
 Baierischer Hof. It is an old house, and lacks 
 many things with which a more modern hotel is 
 furnished. But the table was good, the company 
 agreeable, and there was a general desire to make 
 the guests contented. We passed a Sunday there. 
 The reading-room of the hotel was transformed into 
 a chapel, where service was held after the English 
 form. The congregation was small. So was the 
 sermon. It is not well to be critical of preaching. 
 It is a rare discourse which does not have some- 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 149 
 
 thing helpful in it. But the summer chaplains who 
 are sent from England to the hotels of the Continent 
 are seldom very edifying. They have the impres- 
 sive church service in which it is good to join. 
 There seems to be little reliance placed on the 
 preaching. Yet there is no reason why the two 
 should not be combined. There is certainly admi- 
 rable preaching in many of the English churches. 
 This is so common that it cannot be claimed that 
 the sermon is of small account. The wonder is that 
 men of thought and reading, with a knowledge of 
 the world and its affairs, who are very interesting 
 and instructive in conversation, can consent to be 
 so stupid in the pulpit. The Nuremberg discourse 
 was on the net which was cast into the sea and 
 gathered of every kind. In a manner which would 
 have prevented any success in fishing, so lifeless was 
 it, the bearded preacher described the way of using 
 the net, and pictured the conduct and emotions of 
 the entangled fish. The lessons were serious ones, 
 but it must have been with greater powers of per- 
 suasion than he employed that the saint drew the 
 fishes by his call. This man was quite animated 
 afterwards at the table, where his conversation indi- 
 cated more of spirit and truth. He may be a dili- 
 gent man in his parish and a model to all the 
 country round. But why does he not carry his 
 enthusiasm when he goes upon his travels? It may 
 be that some found in his words the spirit which we 
 missed. Let us trust that it was so. 
 
 From the old to the older. We left the train at 
 Schaffhausen and were driven in an omnibus to 
 
150 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Neubausen, and the Schweizerhof, which we found 
 a most attractive house. The large dining-hall has 
 one side of glass, through which the falls of the 
 Rhine can be seen. The broad piazza affords a 
 broader view, and one which is enchanting. An 
 extensive garden, or grove, is below the house, and 
 through this there are pleasant walks to the shore. 
 It is delightful to watch the river as it breaks upon 
 the rocks which divide it. There is not the volume 
 of water which is found in some places, nor does the 
 stream descend from so great a height as some 
 others. But the rush of the swift waters is full of 
 energy and grace. We crossed the river by the 
 bridge and were received at the Castle of Laufen 
 for a consideration. We saw what the house had to 
 present in the way of armor and paintings and curi- 
 osities of various kinds. We found the customary 
 souvenirs in ivory and wood, penholders and pencils, 
 paper-cutters, match-boxes, and photographs; with 
 the usual microscopic pictures which are calculated 
 to amuse the youthful mind. We found that even 
 this tumultuous nature was fenced in for private 
 emolument, but we responded to all demands, and 
 encased ourselves in rubber coats, and stood where 
 the spray was thick about us. We returned by a 
 rowboat which took us nearer to the leaping stream 
 that we might better see and feel its force. We 
 could have climbed to the top of an island which 
 stands firmly in the midst of the waters. It did not 
 seem desirable to do this. We had many views of 
 the falls. At night they were illuminated with 
 lights of several colors, and their appearance was 
 
FEOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 151 
 
 very novel and charming. The stranger wonders 
 at the unaccustomed generosity which provides for 
 him this glowing scene. His admiration is some- 
 what chastened in the morning when he finds a 
 practical reminder of the display in a single line of 
 his bill, where the scene is sketched by a master 
 hand. The illumination is less brilliant when set 
 forth in black and white. But he paid for looking 
 out of the castle window, and lie pays for the splen- 
 dor which he has enjoyed but not ordered. These 
 are the trifles of travel. There is a sameness in 
 them as one journeys from place to place. There 
 were, however, two novelties at this hotel. One 
 w^as the waiter-girls, who were dressed in the becom- 
 ing Swiss costume, and made a simple but pleasing 
 feature of the place. The other was the special 
 request that no fees should be given to the ser- 
 vants. We fancied that as much as we deducted 
 from the usual payment, so much they deducted 
 from the usual attention. But we fared very well. 
 The brief visit is delightful in the retrospect. This 
 was one of the places where we longed to linger for 
 days and days in the quiet, amid the beaut}', with 
 everything to minister to eye and heart. But we 
 kept moving. 
 
 We gave more time to the Lake of Lucerne, the 
 Lake of the Four Forest Cantons. Lucerne itself 
 is a place of much interest. Two of four bridges 
 across the Reuss, which here leaves the Lake, belong 
 to another time. The roof of each is decorated with 
 paintings. Li the one these represent scenes in the 
 life of the patron saints of the town, and events in 
 
152 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the history of tlie country. In the other they illus- 
 trate the " Dance of Death." It is not very easy to 
 see the pictures, but they deserve examination. 
 Joining the historic bridge is an old tower where the 
 archives of the town are kept, and where the fabrics 
 which belong to the place can be bought. Lucerne 
 abounds in hotels, and in those of a superior char- 
 acter. They are finely situated, where they overlook 
 the best of the Swiss lakes with its fair waters, and 
 beautiful banks dotted with pretty villages, and the 
 stately mountains which shut it in and keep guard 
 over it. The old Hofkirche, with its slender twin 
 spires, the fine organ and pulpit and windows, and 
 the churchyard by its side, fits into its place per- 
 fectly, and makes a convenient landmark by which 
 the town can always be recognized, even in the little 
 pictures which find their way abroad. The market- 
 place of Lucerne is full of life and stir. Almost 
 everything is for sale in the booths, and around them 
 are the contributions from the farms. The winged 
 creatures cackle and struggle in their baskets, and 
 wait, with the fruits of many kinds, to be bought 
 and consumed. The traffic is to a large extent 
 carried on by women, who are as worthy of notice 
 as their goods. This is the every-day life of the 
 people. We were amused in watching a rustic belle 
 who had on the back of her head a long showy pin, 
 much ornamented, and in shape very like a flattened 
 spoon. Something, — it looked like cotton, — was 
 braided into her hair. She was neatly dressed, as she 
 knew, and she also knew that she was pretty. So did 
 the young soldiers whom her charms drew in her 
 
FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 153 
 
 train. It would have made a capital sketcli ; the back- 
 ground, the girl, the martial admirers. These bits of 
 genuine life are charming. But the most noteworthy 
 thing in the city hardly needs to be mentioned. 
 Everybody knows the Lion of Lucerne, who is alone 
 in liis peculiar renown. Since 1821 he has stood out 
 from the rock of which he is a part, without " pawing 
 to get free." His rest is of course appropriate, see- 
 ing that he is the representation of the soldiers of 
 the Swiss Guard who fell while defending the Tui- 
 leries. In his vast proportions he is the symbol of 
 courage, devotion, heroism even in death. The 
 broken lance is at his side, but his spirit is not 
 pierced. The inscription underneath tells the mean- 
 ing of the monument. It is in a retired and lovely 
 spot. Trees and vines overhang the rock, and at its 
 base is a pool fed by a stream which runs down at 
 one side. The lion needs to be seen from many 
 points, that his grandeur and beauty may be appre- 
 ciated. It was a happy thought to construct it 
 directly opposite a large store where models and 
 photographs of all sizes and qualities can be pro- 
 cared, with the endless variety of forms into which 
 the cunning hands of the Swiss carve their wood. 
 The street which leads to the Lion is bordered with 
 shops which are devoted to the same purpose. The 
 country is lavish of its trees, and certainly transforms 
 them into lovely shapes. Xear the Lion is a garden 
 to which admission can be gained in the usual 
 method, where there are wonderful memorials of the 
 ice-period. The great rocks are worn smooth by the 
 glaciers, while there are numerous deep holes which 
 
154 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 have been cut into the rock by the stones which the 
 waters liave driven round and round, in strength and 
 patience. There is a chance, also, to see a fine relief 
 map of Central Switzerland, which gives a clear idea 
 of the mountains and lakes. Photographs of every- 
 thing are amiably dispensed by the young woman in 
 charge of the exhibition. If the visitor wishes, he 
 can examine relics from the lake-dwellings, and walk 
 among the animals of the Alps where they are 
 arranged in natural and unnatural ways in their 
 stuffed and harmless condition. 
 
 It is a pleasant sail upon the lake, when it does 
 not rain. Many boats are steaming up and down, 
 touching at the various ports all the way to Fluelen. 
 A few days can be spent agreeably at any one of 
 these lake-side villages. From the houses which are 
 on the hills, as at Axenfels and Axenstein, beautiful 
 views are obtained, and pleasant walks are easily 
 taken in the fine air. The regular thing is to stop at 
 Vitznau. The little town itself has an inviting look. 
 We strolled into the village church. It was plain 
 and humble. But before the altar stood a bier cov- 
 ered with black cloth, decorated with the cross, and 
 over it the skull and cross-bones. Around the bier 
 were unlighted candles. It seemed that the archer 
 whose arrows are more certain than Tell's was 
 haunting even this quiet retreat. Vitznau is chiefly 
 important as the lower terminus of the Rigi railway. 
 The station is very near the pier. A train usually 
 consists of one car and the engine. The car goes 
 ahead in the ascent and the passengers usually ride 
 backward as they go up. One side of the car affords 
 
FBOM NOUWAY TO ITALY, 155 
 
 much finer views than the other, and there is a 
 scramble for that side. There are many impressive 
 sights on the ride. The point of chief interest is 
 where the road crosses a ravine seventy-five feet deep 
 on a bridge which rests in the middle on two iron 
 pillars. They are quiet moments when the train is 
 creeping over those deeps on that frail structure, and 
 the traveller looks far down into the abyss over 
 which he trembles as he moves. Through the pro- 
 jecting rock is a tunnel eighty-two yards long. 
 There is a great deal of travel on this road, and the 
 cars are often uncomfortably crowded. But most 
 persons are good-natured, and as they are thrown 
 together from many lands they form interesting ob- 
 jects for the survey of one another. There are frag- 
 ments of conversation which are entertaining. We 
 were amused at hearing a young soldier, whose 
 knowledge of the English language and literature 
 could not have been extensive, declare his preference 
 by saying, "I do not like Shakespeare. I like Mark 
 Twain." Plainly, there are different avenues into 
 the world of English letters. 
 
 The first station of any consequence on this Rigi 
 railroad is Kaltbad. There is a hotel at the station, 
 but only a little removed is the Rigi Kaltbad Hotel, 
 which is the fashionable house of the mountain. 
 The house offers the attractions common in a place 
 of popular resort, and at rather high prices. The 
 nobility make it their headquarters. The Prinz 
 Georg von Preussen was occupying a goodly por- 
 tion of the large building at the time of our arrival. 
 But we were taken in, and allowed to hover on the 
 
156 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 coast of aristocracy and listen to the band in one 
 evening and morning, when we flitted off on a branch 
 of the railroad and found a much more agreeable 
 house at the Rigi First. No one seemed to regret 
 our sudden withdrawal from the fashionable world, 
 and we were certainly gainers by it. We entered a 
 fine house, charmingly situated, with elegant appoint- 
 ments, and a landlord who cannot be excelled. The 
 courtesy and attention of Mr. Humbel left nothing 
 to be desired. It was a real pleasure to us wlien, a 
 year afterwards, we could again put ourselves in his 
 care. 
 
 It is not common for American travellers to stay 
 long upon the Rigi. Yet few places hold out more 
 inducements. The name is more inclusive than is 
 usually supposed. The Rigi is a group of moun- 
 tains between the Lake of Lucerne and the Lakes 
 of Zug and Lowerz. The circuit of the group is 
 about twenty -five miles. The height of the peaks 
 above the Lake of Lucerne varies from forty-five 
 hundred to nearly six thousand feet. There is, how- 
 ever, one member of the group to which the name 
 Rigi is commonly limited ; and this is the place of 
 chief resort for those who would gain the extended 
 view, and especially the glory of the sun-rising. To 
 witness this daily phenomenon is the restricted idea 
 associated in the popular mind with the ascent of the 
 Rigi. For this purpose every night during the sum- 
 mer raises a throng of visitors to this commanding 
 spot. Something is expected of the sun in his 
 setting, when the whole stretch of hill and plain is 
 bathed in glory. But the interest culminates at 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 157 
 
 dawn. The Alpine horn summons the expectant 
 sleeper from his bed, and the houses are soon full 
 of hunting men and ^Yomen. A unanimity of 
 purpose and sentiment prevails. In all kinds and 
 degrees of attire the visitors hasten from the doors 
 to stand upon the brink of the summit, or upon the - 
 small tower which lifts a few persons a little nearer 
 to the sky. There they wait, cold and impatient, 
 j^et eager and hopeful, for the spectacle. They see 
 the darkness grow thin and roll away. The stars 
 disappear. The light begins to glimmer in the east, 
 and to brighten the multitudinous peaks through a 
 circumference of three hundred miles, and to make 
 them resplendent with its " orient pearl." When 
 •the sun has ascended, the whole expanse is full of 
 his splendor. Within the cordon of mountains one 
 sees thirteen lakes, large and small, with towns and 
 villages in every direction : each a cluster of white 
 objects, with one larger than the rest raising its 
 humble roof and spire among them — the church 
 among the homes. No one can ever describe this 
 scene or depict its surpassing grandeur and beauty. 
 The watcher feels repaid with usury for his untimely 
 rising, and treasures up what he looks upon with the 
 vague intention of telling what he has seen. This 
 is the region of vain hopes. But the reality is en- 
 joyed and remembered. All this at which I have 
 hinted may be. It has been. Sometimes it is all 
 found. Yet there are few things that speak more 
 confidently to the ear, and treasure more frequent 
 disappointments for the heart. The impenetrable 
 clouds do not always look kindly upon the intruder, 
 
158 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 and they have a sullen way of saying so. They are 
 quite in the habit of spoiling the picture they could 
 not paint. They settle down upon all the country 
 around, and quietly defy the sun. There is no help. 
 The pilgrim who has squeezed from his mortgaged 
 days this one morning hour for doing the Rigi has 
 little to show for his lavish expenditure of time, 
 unless he can find it in staring at a mass of vapor 
 and grumbling at the failure of his enterprise. He 
 cannot wait for a happier time, and he turns his 
 frowning face towards the waters which he left in 
 expectancy. He may be able to draw some pleasure 
 from the sellers of wooden ware ; but it hardly pays 
 to come up so high for what can be found in the 
 valley. The truth is that the Rigi demands time. 
 It simply refuses to be hurried. Wait on its leisure, 
 and it will be gracious. When the sky is clear the 
 broad top of the mountain offers attractions which 
 will employ many hours and repeated visits. I do 
 not refer to the place itself, but to the opportunities 
 it presents. I do not mean the opportunities wliich 
 are nearest and most clamorous, which cluster around 
 more stalls and stands than one wishes to count, 
 and hide out of the sunshine under the huge white 
 umbrellas, and keep company with the men, and 
 women, and youth whose entire interest is in you 
 and in their minerals, flowers, pictures, paper-cutters, 
 stamp-boxes, watch-cases, and thermometers, jewelry 
 and trinkets of ingenious device, all bearing the sig- 
 nature of Rigi. I do not forget that these centres 
 of traffic receive a disproportionate share of atten- 
 tion, and that travellers from the far West turn away 
 
FROM NOBWAY TO ITALY. 159 
 
 from the wonders of nature to the marvels of art — 
 if this is art — and linger too long around the money- 
 changers who have ventured into the temple. Every- 
 body does it. But there are finer and rarer things 
 waiting on every hand. The hours pass too rapidly 
 as the visitor swings around the circle, and studies 
 with his glass the scene which is outspread beyond 
 and beneath him. The snow-covered Alps lift up 
 their peaks which crowd one upon another, each 
 with its own name and worth, while they stand as 
 the strong guardians of the valleys, which are so far 
 below that high hills sink to the level of the fields 
 about them and the lakes which nestle and glisten 
 among them. 
 
 The Rigi Kulm, which is the place most fre- 
 quented, is but one of the attractive points. From 
 other places there are different but hardly less im- 
 pressive views. Indeed, it is only by standing in 
 many positions that any complete idea of the sur- 
 rounding country can be gained. The scene varies 
 as the spectator moves. Mountains come in sight 
 that have been concealed. The light falls at ever 
 varying angles as one passes from height to height, 
 and the shadows pass on with him. Besides such 
 changes are those which the clouds make, as these 
 constantly change. Whether the sky is clear, or the 
 light clouds are floating in deep blue, the vision is 
 full of delight. While there is discomfort in being 
 quite shut in by mist, there is a peculiar charm when 
 the clouds lie beneath you, and you look down 
 upon them from an uncovered spot. Sometimes the 
 valley will be so completely filled with the vapor 
 
160 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 that it looks like the Mer-de-Glace, and one almost 
 fancies that he could walk upon the frozen sea. The 
 traveller will be well cared for at the hirge hotels at 
 the Rigi Kulm, or in the others which have been 
 mentioned, from which there is easy access to the 
 summit of the railroad. The branch road on which 
 the Rigi Fir^t stands runs to the Rigi Scheideck, 
 wliich is a place much resorted to, especially by the 
 Germans. The position is isolated and lonely, but 
 the views are very fine. Connected with the hotel 
 is a small chapel which is used by both Catholics and 
 Protestants. There may be seen the altar of the 
 Romish Church, and the Prayer Book of the English, 
 with the Bible. The place is high enough and far 
 enough out of the world for this outward friendship. 
 In a basin among the mountains, reached by a 
 short walk down a steep road from the Rigi First 
 and other points, is the Klosterli, a humble monas- 
 tery of the Capuchins with a corresponding hospice. 
 The number of monks in residence seemed to be 
 very small. We noticed that one venerable ecclesi- 
 astic, when he had entered the door of the hospice, 
 or sanatarium, looked through the window at the 
 side upon the ladies who were visible, with as pleas- 
 ant a smile as if the joint vows of sanctity and celi- 
 bacy were not upon him. It must be a lonesome 
 life they lead in this valley from which nothing can 
 be seen but the surrounding hills. It must be more 
 comfortable in the winter than places further up the 
 hills. Pilgrimages are made to the chapel, and the 
 herdsmen have special recognition in the services. 
 The sacred house was well furnished with the usual 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. \Q\ 
 
 votive tablets and the waxen effigies of arms and 
 legs which have been restored. There are two 
 hotels, the Schwert and the Sonne, but there was 
 nothing inviting about them except the probable 
 cheapness of board. 
 
 A more interesting chapel to us was St. Michael's, 
 which is near the Kaltbad. It is a very small stone 
 building, standing among immense rocks, boulders 
 perhaps, which almost hide it from view. A narrow 
 path between the rocks leads to its door. The 
 chapel was erected by two sisters, who found refuge 
 at this spot from a persecuting ruler when Albert 
 was king. Before the door is a spring, which used 
 to be called Schwesternborn, There are votive tab- 
 lets, one of which tells the story of the two pious 
 women, and there are other memorials of a humble 
 but expressive character. Yet that which arrests 
 attention, and especially interests the English or 
 American visitors, is the marble tablet placed in the 
 wall by Dean Stanley in memory of his sister. The 
 tablet has her medallion portrait upon it, and bears 
 her name and her brother's, with a brief recital of 
 the circumstances which placed it there, while her 
 grave is in England. She spent much time on the 
 Rigi and derived good from its pure air, and was 
 blessed as a worshipper in this modest temple. At 
 the bottom of the tablet are these sentences from 
 the Vulgate : — 
 
 Levavi ociilos meos in montes, unde veniet auxUium inihi. 
 Requiescat in monte sancto tuo. 
 
162 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Beyond the chapel is a pleasant park, with the 
 Kanzli, a pavilion which is finely placed for a sur- 
 vey of the mountains and lakes. 
 
 We had the Rigi weather in most of its varieties. 
 It cannot be said that it is pleasant to be on a 
 mountain through successive days of rain. A very 
 congenial company might make it tolerable. We 
 had our fine house filled for the most part with 
 strangers and foreigners, regarded from our point of 
 view. They may have regarded us as interlopers. 
 We had little to do with them, for several reasons. 
 As usual in such places, the evenings were the hard- 
 est to dispose of. Our associates tried to amuse 
 themselves but seemed to find it hard work. While 
 they were sufficiently noisy at other times, they 
 carried much solemnity into their play. One night 
 they had a New England game, spinning a plate or 
 cover, and imposing a forfeit when it was not caught 
 before it fell. . There was some levity while the 
 cover was passing from hand to hand, but the for- 
 feit was adjudged and paid almost as if a magistrate 
 was administering the statutes of the canton. Even 
 the dancing was performed with the gravity which 
 usually attends more serious affairs. Yet they 
 seemed happy and kind, and probably supposed 
 they were having a very good time. The liveliest 
 person of all, the leader, was an Italian lady, who did 
 her best with her more ponderous followers. 
 
 Sunday was as other days. Men sat over their 
 beer. Chess and checkers held their place ; at night 
 there were fireworks and dancing. Everything was 
 done naturally, apparently. It seemed to no one 
 
FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 163 
 
 that there was a more appropriate way of celebrat- 
 ing the Lord's resurrection. The fire-balloon from 
 our house responded to the fire-balloon from the 
 Kaltbad. There was no excitement; no excessive 
 mirth : and no further recognition of the day as 
 separate in meaning from other days. There were 
 services in the parlor of the Kaltbad, but there were 
 few in attendance. It was not New England — 
 may New England never be like that ! 
 
 We did ]iot see much of the natives at home. 
 One night a few Tyrolese musicians entertained us 
 with national songs and other musical devices, 
 including the yodel, and quite as much by their 
 personal appearance and deportment. Even upon 
 these something of the wide world had passed, and 
 had done them no good. They would have been 
 more pleasing to us, and perhaps to themselves, in 
 their native simpliaity, and the habits of their moun- 
 tain life. But doubtless they esteem themselves 
 profited by the glimpses of society which they catch 
 in their professional tours. 
 
 We left the Rigi First with regret. A man and 
 boy carried our luggage on their backs, and we 
 attended them on foot down the declivity to the 
 Klosterli, where we took the train which runs on 
 that side of the mountain, and came down to Goldau, 
 where we took the train from Lucerne, and at night 
 we were at Locarno, on Lake Maggiore. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN NORTHERN ITALY. 
 
 We had come by the St. Gothard Railway, that 
 wonder of engmeering, and the ride Avas one of sur- 
 passing interest. We were much crowded in our 
 small car, but nothing could destroy the pleasure of 
 the ride. The long line of rails winds up and down 
 the mountain, within and without, winding through 
 cpvered tunnels, turning upon itself and making 
 loops with the tracks, and thus surmounts the 
 height and descends into the valley. Only a draw- 
 ing could make this plain, and that could do it but 
 imperfectly. The road illustrates the changes by 
 which the Alps of other days are passing away, and 
 travel surrenders its romance for ease. Is anything 
 really gained? The old St. Gothard pass was 
 famous in its time, and the grandeur is still there. 
 But "Europe in sixty days " prefers the iron road. 
 
 We were at the Italian Lakes. They are called 
 Italian, yet some of the villages among them belong 
 to Switzerland, though even these have the Italian 
 character. The boundary between the two coun- 
 tries, which is often crossed, is made evident by the 
 scarcely ornamental encumbrance of custom-house 
 officers, who examine bv intuition whatever comes 
 in their way, and cannot collect enough in tribute to 
 
 164 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 165 
 
 pay for their worthless services. I would speak 
 more emphatically were it not that the traveller has 
 more trouble at the American custom-house than at 
 any other. We shall outgrow this in time. Photo- 
 graphs of Swiss mountains cannot seriously endan- 
 ger American art, nor will our silk-looms be made 
 idle by the stray dress patterns from France. 
 
 Of the shapes and sizes of the Italian Lakes the 
 maps will give much better information than any 
 writing. It may be well enough to say here that 
 Lake Maggiore is about thirty-seven miles long, and 
 four to five miles wide according to the place of 
 measurement. It is nearly seven hundred feet above 
 the sea-level. Locarno is one of the Italian towns 
 that belong to Switzerland. It has some two or 
 three thousand people. The streets are quaint and 
 interesting, and the lemon and orange trees and 
 luxuriant vines make more beautiful a place which 
 is beautiful for situation. My walk in the early 
 evening brought me to the door of an old church in 
 which I found a few persons at their devotions. The 
 house was dim, almost dark, with the three lights 
 which were burning. A distant voice, which sounded 
 like a woman's, was reciting the prayers, which 
 elicited a faint response. The place, the hour, the 
 gloom, and the few voices speaking when the persons 
 were nearly or quite invisible, made the service very 
 impressive. 
 
 The next morning we came by steamer down the 
 lake to Baveno. We meant to stop there for an 
 hour or two. We were taken captive. The beauty 
 of the place, the perfect serenity of lake and land, 
 
166 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the charming influences of a charming spot, were 
 more than we could resist. We confided our feeling 
 one to another, and the desire to remain was found 
 to be common. The air was very soft, the clouds 
 had their most delicate beauty, the hills were green 
 in hospitality, the lake was sparkling in greeting. 
 A man could not work there, but for repose nothing 
 could be better. The one stately building of the 
 town is the Villa Clara, which stands in a fine park. 
 A park may well be fine in such a climate. The 
 Villa has its special interest in the fact, found in 
 other places and never concealed, that it was for 
 a few days a royal residence. In April, 1879, the 
 Queen of England passed three Aveeks as its guest. 
 We visited a church which claims to have been 
 founded A. D. LXVIIL, and the adjoining chapel of 
 John the Baptist. On the outer wall is a picture of 
 the baptism of Christ. The cloister is decorated 
 with crucifixion scenes. There is also a " sepulchre," 
 in which is an image of the Saviour. This is about 
 four feet long and lies in a glass case, with an angel 
 at the head and at the feet holding candles. It is 
 hideous, of course. It may be that there are persons 
 who are affected for good by such attempts at 
 realism. It seems almost necessary to suppose so. 
 What looked like a monastery is connected with the 
 church, and near by is an asylum for children. 
 
 Between Baveno and Pallanza lie the Borromean 
 islands. On Isola Bella Count Borromeo, two hun- 
 dred years ago, built a chateau, and covered the 
 rocks on which he placed it with terraced gardens, 
 richly furnished with trees and flowers, and adorned 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 167 
 
 with fountains and statues. A part of the showy 
 house has fallen, but most of it remains, with doors 
 which can be opened with a silver key. We con- 
 tented ourselves with a distant view, and the story. 
 There are also on the island hotels, which seem to 
 be chiefly restaurants. The Isola dei Pescatori be- 
 longs to fishermen, as its name leads one to infer. 
 The islands are a pleasant teature in the lake. They 
 would be worth exploring if there were leisure. 
 
 The mellow bells were ringing early in the morn- 
 ing. But we could not stay. We waited as long as 
 we could, and then took the steamer up and across 
 the lake and landed at Luino. It is a favorite place 
 for summer visitors, but we were tourists. Not 
 Garibaldi's statue, nor the silk-factories, nor the 
 ruins of the Borromean Castle could detain us. We 
 took a carriage immediately and drove to Lugano, 
 on the lake of the-same name. Tlie lake is smaller 
 than Maggiore, but its banks are pleasant and well 
 adorned. The groves are delightful to look into, 
 and the buildings among them have an enchanting 
 look. Lugano is a large town, with six thousand 
 people. We found comfortable quarters amid a 
 variety of associations. The hotel was once a gov- 
 ernment building. There is a monument to the 
 architect, Canonico di Tesserete, and a marble bust 
 of General Dufour. These adorned the stairway. 
 Finally, the house is named '' The Washington." 
 In these distinguished surroundings Ave took up our 
 temporary abode. The town has a busy look, with 
 its arcades, and workshops, and paved streets. But 
 something of its renown disappeared with its nionas- 
 
168 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 teries, nearly all of which have been suppressed 
 many years since. We visited the Church of S. 
 Maria degli Angioli, which has survived the depart- 
 ure of the house to which it was attached. The 
 chief attraction of the church is in the works of 
 Luini. He was the follower, if not the pupil, of Da 
 Vinci, and his works are deserving of admiration. 
 They may be found at Milan, Como, Florence, and 
 elsewhere. This church at Lugano has a fine fresco 
 by him of the Crucifixion. The figures are numer- 
 ous, and represent different scenes, making an im- 
 pressive picture. There is one fresco of The Last 
 Supper, and another of the Madonna. When we 
 had spent the allotted portion of time, we took ship 
 once more and went up to Porlezza, at the head of 
 the lake. The attractions at this place, according 
 to the best authority at our command, were a cus- 
 tom-house and a harbor. The latter we had entered, 
 the former we had no desire to enter. It is also 
 mentioned that Porlezza can be left. We acted on 
 this hint and availed ourselves of an omnibus, which 
 took us safely, if not comfortably, to Menaggio on 
 Lake Como. The Romans called it Lacus Larius, 
 and Virgil was pleased to write : — 
 
 *' Onr spacious lakes, thee, Larius, first." 
 
 Mau)^ agree with the line from the Georgics, as 
 they glide on the pleasant waters, past vineyards 
 and gardens, mountaiDS and forests, and the showy 
 villas alono' the banks. The lake is thirtv miles 
 long, but Yery narrow. It was refreshing to sail 
 
IN NOBTHEEN ITALY, 169 
 
 upon it. For the roads of Italy are not free from 
 trouble. The dust of Italy is as the dust of other 
 lands. No classic memories can make it agreeable. 
 It may blow from plains where emperors have 
 walked, along roads which imperial armies have 
 trodden; but it is still dust, insinuating, persistent, 
 disagreeable. Italian suns may look down upon the 
 orange groves and chestnuts of to-day, on the ruins 
 of temples and tombs, but its beams in midsummer 
 are as hot as if they fell on the vulgar fields or paths 
 of western lands. It was good to escape to the 
 cool breezes of the lakes which for centuries have 
 been giving rest and life to weary men from many 
 climes. 
 
 Menaggio has its Grand Hotel Victoria. It is not 
 especially grand, but it has a fine outlook across the 
 lake and out upon the banks beyond. The house 
 boasts a steamboat pier, at which the passing 
 boats stop when they please. When they do not 
 elect to do so, the numerous boatmen improve their 
 opportunity and carry the traveller to the regular 
 stopping and starting place, which is not very far 
 away. Menaggio has its silk-factory, and little 
 besides which is its own. We chartered the row- 
 boat of a willing proprietor who carried us across 
 to Bellagio, which is much more of a place. It 
 stands superbly at the end of the promontory which 
 stretches up into the lake, and divides the lower end 
 into two portions. It luxuriates in hotels, which is 
 an index to its character. Any one can see by the 
 maps that it is a place to be sought. It has a thriv- 
 ing business in wares of different kinds, and each 
 
170 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 visitor bears away a cup, or box, or knife, with the 
 name of the town upon it, that he may not forget 
 where it came from. So tenacious are associations ! 
 Of course we strayed into an old church, but there 
 is nothing more to be said of it. 
 
 We left Menaggio the next morning at one of the 
 hours when the steamboat did not stop at our pier. 
 We were loaded into a large boat which took us to 
 the steamer, and we came to the southern end of 
 the lake and stopped at Como. Como could be 
 described, if there were space, even though we did 
 not remain there. We read that the Pliny s were 
 born there ; that there is a fine marble cathedral, 
 with several hundred years upon it, and handsome 
 windows within ; that there are twenty-four thou- 
 sand inhabitants, and more ; and that the town is 
 environed by mountains, save where the waters of 
 the lake rest upon its shores. It has a railroad sta- 
 tion, also, and with that we were just then more 
 concerned. For some of our party this was not the 
 first visit to the lakes, and those had enough influ* 
 ence to draw the others away. It was hard to turn 
 from the fair, alluring, rewarding waters. 
 
 While we are on the way to Milan, let me insert 
 a few disconnected remarks. We found the Italians 
 whom we met very talkative, even noisy. In their 
 intercourse among themselves the}^ fairly blustered, 
 and any one watching them would think they were 
 angry, when really nothing was meant by the 
 threatening manner. We had men with the air of 
 , brigands to wait on us at table, and to show the 
 candy and gloves in the stores ; but they were harm- 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 171 
 
 less and considerate. It was a rare thing to see a 
 fine-looking man or a handsome woman. Some of 
 the girls had fair faces. They seemed in general 
 kind and light-hearted; slow, and not inclined to 
 go out of their way to meet trouble. Women wash- 
 ing clothes on the shores of the lakes made a com- 
 mon sight. Now and then a man was seen in the 
 same occupation, which might have been indefinitely 
 pursued. They had a board at the water's edge, 
 with an upright board Avhich formed a sort of box 
 near the upper end. Kneeling on this, within the 
 box, the women scrub and pound. It must be good 
 exercise, and more helpful to them than to the fab- 
 rics they manipulate. These are small matters. 
 Yet there is an interest attaching to the people of 
 any land, who should be seen at home to be truly 
 seen. They blend with the pictures which the mind 
 carries away and often looks upon. 
 
 It may be doing some one a good turn to say that 
 while in Milan we stayed at the H8tel de TEurope. 
 The picture of the house which we cut from the 
 head of our bill presents the edifice in a brilliant 
 red hue. The picture is misleading. There is 
 nothing remarkable about the exterior. But we 
 found it a very convenient and comfortable house. 
 It is very near to the cathedral, which is an advan- 
 tage. It has on the wall of the reading-room an 
 immense painting of a carnival, which serves to 
 amuse leisure moments. The souvenir presented 
 to the parting guest is a photograph of this paint- 
 ing. I believe that the landlord figures as one of 
 the participants in the national sport. 
 
172 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 A proper caution was exercised in admitting our 
 company of five persons into the Capital of Lom- 
 bardy, where an archbishop has his seat, and an 
 army corps its headquarters ; where art had flour- 
 ished and been rewarded ; a city with suburbs and 
 more than three hundred thousand residents ; where 
 the making and selling of silks and woollens and 
 other things is upon a large scale, and prosperity 
 has descended from generation to generation. The 
 railway station is out of town, either for its own 
 security, or for the safety of the city. Frescoes and 
 sculptures and custom-house officers have combined 
 to make it attractive. Even our luggage received 
 attention in the excess of hospitality. It was duly 
 examined and adorned with a label which seemed to 
 give us the right of entrance into the city. It was 
 not quite so. At the gate an alarmed officer looked 
 into the omnibus in which we were making slow 
 headwaj^ towards our hotel, that he might be cer- 
 tain that neither the nation nor its treasury would be 
 defrauded if we were allowed to move on. On a 
 later day, when we were returning from an excur- 
 sion into the country, a cautious officer passed 
 through the horse-car in which we were entering 
 the city, but was able to find nothing which looked 
 suspicious except a small basket which a child held 
 in her hand. He gave his whole mind to that for a 
 time, and after proper deliberation decided to take 
 the responsibility of allowing the girl to go through 
 the gate. Yet all his care might have failed to 
 detect the tobacco or fire-arms which the basket 
 
IN NOBTHERN ITALY. 173 
 
 might have contained. A dog has been made a 
 smuggler before now; why not a young girl? 
 
 But we were always admitted to the guarded pre- 
 cincts. It was worth far more than it cost to be 
 there. For some of us it was not the first visit ; to 
 all it was crowded with delight. Every one knows 
 the treasures of Milan, and many have described 
 them with pen and pencil. Their work need not be 
 repeated here. Yet the pen refuses to pass on until 
 it has told its own story in few and unadorned sen- 
 tences. First, the Cathedral. The simple mention 
 of it presents to the reader's eye the magnificent 
 house of Mariae Nascenti, whose statue rises above 
 it. The marble house has been tarnished by wind 
 and weather, but its wealth of ornament remains. 
 Over its broad roof we walked as on a floor, among the 
 ninety-eight gothic turrets, and more than two thou- 
 sand statues which look out from niches and off from 
 pinnacles. These statues have been carefully made, 
 and all the workmen in stone appear to have remem- 
 bered that " the gods see everywhere." We found 
 men replacing some of the carvings which had fallen 
 under the burden of years and the assault of storms. 
 It has been often and truly said that the front of the 
 Cathedral is not high enough for its place. It should 
 seem to be springing into the air instead of settling 
 down to the ground. But it is only at the front that 
 this impression is received. The interior, as a wdiole, 
 is surpassingly fine. I mean that it was so to me, 
 despite all which critics of architecture say. I know 
 that architectural claims are not satisfied. I have no 
 doubt that German taste affected Italian taste. I 
 
174 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 am sorry for the pitiful and deceptive paint and 
 plaster ceiling, where honest and graceful stone 
 should be. When all has been said, I modestly 
 maintain the superior grandeur and beauty of the 
 Milan Cathedral. Its fifty-two pillars, twelve feet in 
 diameter with capitals of canopied niches tenanted 
 by marble statues, above their lofty summits branch 
 into the arches which form the majestic vault over 
 the mosaic floor. It is hard for a layman in art to 
 think of anything better than this. The vastness of 
 the whole structure impresses him as he walks 
 through the nave and its four aisles, and the transept 
 with its naves and aisles while the light which longs to 
 reveal the stately and delicate beauties of the house 
 clothes itself in glory, and in an exuberance of color 
 passes through the immense windows and illumines 
 the radiant glass. I never saw golden light until I 
 saw it there. "- The poetic beauty of the interior," 
 and the "magical brilliancy of the marble splendor 
 of the exterior " are apparent to the trained eye and 
 the untrained imagination. 
 
 Like all cathedrals, this needs to be seen many 
 times and under varying conditions. In the broad 
 sunlight it can be studied in detail. But its charms 
 appear when the light of the full moon is upon it, 
 silvering the pinnacles and arraying their saints in 
 white, and setting the towers in bold relief upon the 
 shadows. It is like a palace built by all the fairies. 
 Within, it must be seen in the morning light and the 
 evening shadow. A day might well be spent in 
 watching the progress of the light from morning to 
 evening, or catching the changing effects which it 
 
IN NOBTHERN ITALY. 175 
 
 produces among the columns and arches. I cannot 
 lose one picture. It was early, and the sunlight was 
 entering by the upper windows and flooding the 
 house wdth gold. At a side altar were a priest and a 
 few worshippers. At that moment the light from a 
 single window in the dome fell upon the group. It 
 transfigured them, and framed them in, and the little 
 company stood in the glory which was but wide 
 enough to cover them, and separate them from the 
 dimness which was about them. They did not know 
 that the brightness was upon them, but we who were 
 beyond could look in and admire. 
 
 On Sunday w^e attended the morning service in 
 the Cathedral. It was less impressive and instruc- 
 tive than the house. The performances of men must 
 needs be feeble in the presence of such majesty. 
 Only the highest grandeur of simple worship, and 
 the strength and beauty of loftiest truth, could 
 stand where art has wrought her wonders, and the 
 centuries have added their renown. I can readily 
 conceive that those who w^ere more familiar with 
 the place, and better able to comprehend all which 
 was done, may have enjoyed the service more than 
 strangers could. A procession was moving through 
 the Cathedral when we entered. We hired rush- 
 bottom chairs, and secured good places for them. 
 It was not favorable to the spirit of worship to 
 be interrupted by guides, who sought to beguile us 
 into the places of secret treasure. There was the 
 usual High Mass. The music was poor. There was 
 a sermon by an old man with a good voice, and it 
 seemed to be a good sermon. The frequent repeti- 
 
176 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 tion of " Christiana Carita " told us his theme. He 
 preached for some time, then took his seat for a 
 moment, after which he arose and proceeded with 
 his discourse. He sat once more, and sitting said a 
 few words, whereupon men began to go about with 
 bags for money, while the preacher again, stood up 
 and talked. He was teaching charity by an object - 
 lesson, which is the best way. There was a large 
 attendance, and people were coming and going all 
 the time. As a religious service it was far inferior 
 in value to that which was found that day in many a 
 humble meeting-house in the New England hills. 
 The Cathedral has its sacred curiosities, some of 
 which are to be seen in the treasury. It has a won- 
 derful candelabrum of bronze, mediaeval in age and 
 style. It is sixteen feet high, and rises in the form 
 of a tree, with branches and leaves. Dragons are at 
 its feet, and clusters of figures adorn it, or make it 
 instructive in sacred history. The whole is finely 
 finished, and jewels enhance its beauty. 
 
 Out-of-doors there was little to remind any one of 
 Sunday. Most of the stores were open, and the 
 streets seemed as busy as on other days. The steps 
 of the Cathedral were encumbered with persistent 
 merchants who sought to exchange pictures which 
 nobody wanted for silver which everybody wanted. 
 Apparently their efforts were not remunerative. 
 
 Milan has many things to show to the stranger. 
 The large arcade or gallery, with its imposing faQade, 
 its roof of glass, its fine frescoes, and its fine stores 
 with windows all full of temptation and deljght, 
 is in itself an attraction. In the light of its two 
 
IN NOETHERN ITALY, 177 
 
 thousand gas-jets the place is very brilliant. But 
 this is new. It is the old which the traveller seeks. 
 
 The Brera gallery has pictures, and books, and 
 casts, and other ancient and modern works, which it 
 opens to the stranger. Then there is the Ambrosian 
 library, with its books, and manuscripts, and other 
 literary treasures, with paintings and engravings. 
 
 The Church of St. Ambrogio is reputed to stand 
 where once Bacchus had a temple which none too 
 soon was destroyed. The church is very old and its 
 gates claim to have been those which Ambrose 
 closed against Theodosius. The emperor had sent 
 an army of barbarians against Thessalonica to 
 avenge the killing of some of the officers of his 
 garrison. The people were invited to the circus, 
 and there slain by thousands. Ambrose refused to 
 admit the guilty emperor to the church until he had 
 performed a fitting penance. The emperor yielded, 
 endured the penance, and the doors were opened. 
 It is to the credit of both that they were fast 
 friends after this. But the church rejoiced that 
 it had maintained its authority over the state. 
 Why should not these be the gates which an 
 emperor's crime closed and an emperor's peni- 
 tence opened? It is not very long since A. D. 
 889. The iron crown which used to be put on the 
 heads of kings and emperors in this church is now 
 in a casket over the altar of the Cathedral of Monza. 
 Should not Milan keep the gates of St. Ambrose? 
 His church has one relic about which there is no 
 doubt. It is the brazen serpent which Moses lifted 
 up in the wilderness for the healing of his smitten 
 
178 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 people. The Scripture saj^s that it was broken in 
 pieces by King Hezekiah because the people did 
 burn incense to it. But here it is, and the incense 
 is still fragrant about it. It supports its curved 
 length on the top of a lofty column, and there is 
 no extra fee for believiug in its antiquity. 
 
 The monastery of S. Maria delle Grazie was sup- 
 pressed into barracks for cavalry. The refectory 
 was saved from such sacrilege and remains a bare 
 and deserted room. Upon the wall at one end is 
 one of the chief glories of Milan, in the painting of 
 the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. No paint- 
 ing has become more familiar. It is well that it has 
 been in some measure preserved by photographs and 
 engravings. The monks cut a door through the 
 table, and time has carried their inroads upon the 
 picture still further. The paint was not adapted to 
 the wall on which it was placed. But it is nearly 
 four hundred years since the colors were laid in oils 
 upon the plaster. The faces are marred and faded, 
 but much of the beauty of the work remains. It 
 was not without difficulty and delay that it was exe- 
 cuted. The artist told the impatient prior that he 
 had not been able to fiDd a face which he could 
 copy for Judas. The prisons and the haunts of vice 
 had no model for the traitor. He silenced the prior 
 by suggesting that he should sit for the likeness. 
 So the story runs. The central face does not 
 satisfy. No picture of Christ has contented his 
 friends. Da Vinci waited long before he could 
 create a conception of it. His conception is not on 
 the wall. Others have touched what they have not 
 
IN NOBTHERN ITALY. 179 
 
 adorned. To me it is not now a pleasing face to 
 look upon. There is a constrained look about the 
 mouth, a lack of the calmness, of the Divine consent 
 to the Divine sorrow, by which the hour and the 
 event were marked. The sketch for this face which 
 is now in the Brera gallery seemed to me much 
 finer. But there is a peculiar interest in looking at 
 the wounded and bruised painting, and in letting it 
 bring before the mind the scene which it represents. 
 Never could it have equalled the simple narrative 
 in the Gospels, while it may have stood in their 
 stead for many a devoted heart who could not 
 read what was written but could feel what was 
 painted. 
 
 It would be better if this memorable picture were 
 alone in the room it consecrates, but there are 
 copies which men have fallen low enough to make, 
 and which bear the names of the painters, who 
 would be quite glad to dispose of their productions. 
 It might be supposed that a man who had any 
 appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the work 
 would be reluctant to attempt to transfer it to his 
 own canvas. The supposition would be erroneous. 
 There are few things in this direction to which men 
 are not equal. 
 
 One afternoon we went out to the Certosa di Pavia, 
 by the steam tramway and an omnibus. The Certosa 
 
 was a Carthusian monasterv. It was founded in 
 
 «/ 
 
 1396, suppressed, restored, and finally suppressed 
 with the other Italian religious houses. It is now 
 kept as a '^national monument." The church sur- 
 prises the visitor by the solitariness of its position. 
 
180 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 It is a palace in a desert. It is literally alone in its 
 glory. It is a deserted house. The fagade is filled 
 with statues and bas-reliefs. Many artists brought 
 their skill to it. "The church may be reckoned 
 among the noblest of those structures in which the 
 Italian love for spacious effect finds in the Gothic 
 system a perfectly unfettered and beautiful expres- 
 sion." This description seems just, though I could 
 not have given it. The church is indeed spacious 
 and beautiful. It has a nave and aisles, and four- 
 teen chapels which are finely decorated. Ten slen- 
 der columns sustain the dome. The high altar is 
 rich in mosaic work. There is an air of luxuri- 
 ance through the whole edifice. Marble is made 
 to do its best. Neither cost nor pains has been 
 spared. All this for a monument in a wilderness ! 
 We looked into the refectory and the library, 
 and walked among the marble columns of the 
 cloisters. The buildings are all in excellent condi- 
 tion, and are well kept by the few monks who 
 remain in charge. There are many small houses 
 where the monks lived in the days of their presence. 
 The rooms are small, but pleasant, and well adapted 
 to study and meditation. It looks as if they had a 
 comfortable time, where their lines had fallen in 
 pleasant places. They must have been sorry to be 
 driven out. But for their ecclesiastical character 
 we should be disposed to think that they grumbled, 
 or did even worse. They left their quiet rooms 
 which now wait for new occupants who do not 
 come. I think that if I were to become a monk I 
 should apply for one of these pretty houses, and for 
 
IN NOBTHEBN ITALY, 181 
 
 the privilege of carrying on my solitary career amid 
 their congenial surroundings. The battle of Pavia 
 was fought near by, but it is hard to bring the 
 armies back to the peaceful plain. The world has 
 moved on, soldiers and monks have vanished, but 
 the splendor of marble preserves the memory of 
 them. 
 
 The day came when we paid our last visit to the 
 cathedral of Milan, and then turned our reluctant 
 feet eastward. It was a pleasant ride to Padua, 
 over the plains of Lombardy, with the Alps in the 
 distance, past the Lago di Garda, — 
 
 ^^Benacus, with tempestuous billows vexed," 
 
 then quiet and fair. The village looked down upon 
 us from the hills as we hurried on. At the gate of 
 Padua a solicitous officer stared into the omnibus, 
 muttered something, and glanced at our hand lug- 
 gage and allowed us to proceed. We selected as 
 our abode the Hotel Fanti Stella d'Oro. It is not 
 an elegant house, but it is reasonably comfortable. 
 It was something to be in a town whose history 
 reached into the myths. Antenor I. was a prince 
 of Troy, and one of the wisest among the elders of 
 liis city. He was in some way a family connection 
 of Priam the King. He seems to have used his 
 position for his own advantage. At least he did 
 that which would be so described in modern times. 
 When Menelaus and Ulysses came to Troy to 
 recover Helen, he received the Greek ambassadors 
 kindly, which was not a thing likely to be popular. 
 
182 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Nothing came of the visit, but the people called him 
 a traitor. They found fault also because when 
 
 Ulysses 
 
 '^ had given himself 
 Unseemly stripes, and o'er his shoulders flung 
 Yile garments like a slave's, and entered thus 
 The enemy's town, and walked its spacious streets,'' 
 
 Antenor knew " who it was that passed," but failed 
 to make him known. When Troy was taken he 
 was spared by the conquerors. But what became 
 of him is not quite clear. Some say he started a 
 new kingdom on the ruins of the old one. Some 
 that he went to Africa. But in Padua the thing 
 to believe is, that he came to the western shore of 
 the Adriatic, and, venturing a little way back from 
 the coast, founded Patavium, which became Padova 
 and Padua. This is probably true, for the sarcoph- 
 agus which holds what is left of his bones is now 
 standing in front of the house of Dante. To m ike 
 this doubly sure, the sword of Antenor was found, 
 with the fleshless hand still grasping the hilt. His 
 city became great and flourishing. It grew weal- 
 thy through its manufactures and commerce. At- 
 tila plundered it, as a matter of course, and it was 
 afterwards destroyed by the king of the Longobards. 
 It has come up again, and is the capital of its prov- 
 ince, and has between forty and fifty thousand 
 inhabitants. The river on which it is built tra- 
 verses it in various directions and makes numerous 
 bridges necessary. The streets are very narrow and 
 winding. Many of them contain arcades on one or 
 both sides, something after the manner of the Ches- 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 183 
 
 ter rows. These arcades are very pleasant when the 
 sun is high. There are many squares for many 
 kinds of trade. The square before our windows 
 was filled early in the morning by a company of 
 women and girls, with two or three men and boys. 
 They had come in from the country with freshly 
 cut grass, which they sold to hackmen and to other 
 owners of horses. The sellers were bare-footed, 
 but they were cheerful and patient as they sat by 
 their wheelbarrows, occupying their long waiting 
 moments with the gossip of the day. It is a fine 
 thing that the people who have so little indoor to 
 solace them have a climate which permits them to 
 be abroad. Or should I say that it is a pity they 
 have not a climate which would compel them to 
 live at home, and to make home attractive? As 
 it is, they use the larger house. They throng the 
 streets, and sit at their tables on the sidewalks and 
 in the squares and porticos. The men all smoke 
 and seem to live by it. The women are so used to 
 being smoked upon that they are not annoyed, and 
 courtesy asks nothing of the men in this regard. 
 Ices and wines are the perennial comfort. Street 
 musicians add their melodies, and collect their cen- 
 times. Life flows on easily, but apparently to no 
 great purpose. This is the outside. Padua has its 
 earnest life. Its University has been famous for six 
 hundred years. Was not the ''young and learned 
 doctor" Portia from Padua? The faculty of medi- 
 cine is renowned in its own country, and law, the- 
 ology, and the humanities all have a place. The 
 latest report I have gives sixty-five professors and 
 
184 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 over eleven hundred students. There are museums 
 and libraries, and a botanic garden and observa- 
 tory, and all which belongs with the life of modern 
 times. Here Livy was born, and here Dante found 
 one of \\\^ many homes. What did we see in our 
 brief visit ? We saw the Church of St. Antonio, 
 ver}^ old, with seven domes, and a statue of the 
 saint over the door. There are fine monuments and 
 paintings and bronzes, and cloisters with high and 
 wide arches. Very near is the Scuola del Santo, 
 the hall of the brotherhood, with the walls deco- 
 rated fittingly with seventeen frescoes in which the 
 life of the saint is depicted. Some of them were 
 painted by Titian, who had come from Venice to 
 Padua. The neighboring Chapel of St. George has 
 many fine frescoes, upon sacred and legendary sub- 
 jects. The Church of St. Justin has a plain front of 
 brick, and a floor of variously colored marble. It is 
 fortunate in possessing the sarcophagus of St. Luke, 
 a box of iron, apparently in an iron cage, and of 
 St. Matthew, with the tomb of St. Justin above the 
 high altar. The choir stalls are beautifully carved 
 with representations of scenes from the Old and 
 New Testaments. But I will say no more of 
 churches. I might tell of the beggars at their 
 gates ; of boys w^ho start up before every carriage 
 when it stops, eager to open the door , of the cus- 
 todians w^ho live on the curiosity and credulitj^ of 
 strangers. But these are not peculiar to Padua. 
 
 An hour's ride brought us to Venice. The gon- 
 dola took us and our belongings to the Pension 
 Suisse, or Hotel Roma, — not a large house, but a 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 185 
 
 pleasant one, well situated and Avell conducted. The 
 palaces and canals were found as we had left them 
 years before. There are some tilings which are too 
 old to change. Yet many of the palaces have fallen 
 to hostlei'ies and warehouses, and a steamer is on the 
 Grand Canal, much to the disgust of the gondoliers, 
 who not only lose custom but have their waiting 
 boats dashed against one another by the tides which 
 the unhandsome rival creates. Every right-minded 
 person sympathizes with the boatmen who belong to 
 the canal in history and romance, and to everything 
 which is good, unless hurry is good. 
 
 We saw one other novelty — a horse. He was not 
 on land, to be sure, and never would be in the city. 
 He was on a boat, and gliding quietly to his doom at 
 the horse-railroad on the Lido. He had no idea that 
 this fate was awaiting him. He had never heard the 
 like from his ancestors, or in the legends of the 
 stables. He gazed with curious eyes on the new 
 scenes through which he was passing, and even 
 seemed pleased with his solitary grandeur, and 
 showed his pleasure by whisking his long tail 
 towards the passing gondolas. Well might he 
 greet them, for he had seen nothing more graceful 
 in his travels by land or sea. What can exceed 
 the grace of a gondola under the control of a skil- 
 ful hand ! The boat sits like a swan upon the 
 water, and like a swan proudly lifts its head and 
 silently winds its way over its native element, turn- 
 ing from the broad avenue into the narrow paths 
 with a precision that adds a delicate amazement to 
 the serenity in which one is borne along, hearing 
 
186 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 only the gentle plash of the oar and the quick cry 
 of the gondolier, who seems to be a part of his 
 gondola. If there is a poetry of motion, it is this. 
 Surely it is this when the full moon lies on the still 
 waters, and the boat moves through a stream of 
 silver, with the statelj^ fronts of palaces gleaming in 
 the light, and the splendors of other and better days 
 flitting from shore to shore in the brightness. It 
 was a pretty sight at evening, when a gondola, 
 adorned with colored lanterns, and bringing a com- 
 pany of minstrels, drew up at the steps of the 
 veranda where we were sitting ; and it was pleasant 
 to hear the songs which were sung. The voices 
 were not very sweet or smooth, but what the music 
 lacked of melody was supplied by the boat, the 
 lights, the water, and all the accompaniments. All 
 this is the life of fairy-land. 
 
 Easily we pass to the Piazza. The Cathedral still 
 turns its face down the broad square, and the four 
 horses are in their place. The upraised feet remain 
 raised up. The Campanile rises in majesty over all 
 which surrounds it. The tall masts have been re- 
 moved and now lie on the pavement beyond the 
 Cathedral. The windows of the stores glitter with 
 silver and gold, and jewels rare and not rare, and 
 furnish a generous exhibition of beautiful things. 
 The people are in their places, in the same chairs, 
 at the same tables, busy with the same indolence, 
 awakening to the same ices, listening to the same 
 music, toying with the same flower-girls as when we 
 were here before. The doves hear the stroke of 
 two, and flock to the same window where they and 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 187 
 
 their kindred have been welcomed and rewarded 
 for six hundred years. They alight boldly at the 
 feet of men, and take corn from the hands of chil- 
 dren, upon wliose arms they stand to be fed. We 
 turn into the Piazzetta, and the two Syrian columns 
 are in their place at tlie water's edge. St. Tlieodore 
 is still upon his crocodile, and St. Mark, who sup- 
 planted him as the guardian of Venice, is represented 
 by liis winged lion. The gondoliers keep their head- 
 quarters where once criminals met their death, and 
 importunity for patronage is heard where the words 
 of the last farewell were spoken. On all this the 
 Palace of the Doges looks calmly down. 
 
 Our house fronted on the Grand Canal. But at 
 its side was a narrow alley, dark and not free from 
 unpleasant smells, yet affording a convenient pas- 
 sage out among the shops. A little extension of our 
 walk brought us to the Piazza. It was easy to enter 
 the Cathedral door and stand on its uneven floor, 
 under its domes and among its marble columns. A 
 look of age is on everything ; but it is of an old age 
 beautiful in mosaics and gold and bronze. It is 
 a building which grows upon one as he becomes 
 familiar with its .antique grandeur. Each visit dis- 
 closes something more to be admired. There is a 
 fellowship with the departed splendor, with the days 
 when nobles came with their retinues, and power, 
 ambition, wealth, and honor bowed at the altar. 
 They have gone ; but the signs of their presence are 
 on the walls where they lavished their riches. 
 
 We saw the bronze Vulcan strike the hours with 
 the heavy hammer on the resounding bell. We 
 
188 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 climbed up within the Campanile, and looked over 
 ^tlie city of islands. We visited the Palace of the 
 Doges, walked through its long porticos, stood in its 
 spacious halls, studied its great paintings, and in the 
 dreariness tried to bring back the vanished life. We 
 stood in the hall of the feared and fearful Council of 
 Ten, and thought upon the tyranny which was gone. 
 We went into the prison and down into the subma- 
 rine cells. Among others we saw that in which 
 Faliero was confined. We went on the Bridge of 
 Sighs, saw the stairs by which the prisoners ascended 
 to their trial after crossing the bridge, and the stairs 
 by which they descended to their doom, and the spot 
 where men of rank were beheaded and humbler, men 
 were strangled, and the holes in the stones by which 
 the blood escaped, and the closed window through 
 which the body was lowered in its chains into the 
 gondola, from which it was to be cast into the sea, 
 where it could tell no tales. I give these particulars 
 on the authority of our guide, but with an impres- 
 sion that things were not quite as he represented 
 them. The place was gloomy enough for anything, 
 and there were cruel days among those which are 
 behind us. We tried to see the Arsenal. We did 
 get into the Museum, and saw some relics of the 
 palmy days of Venice, models of ships, the remains 
 of the Bucentaur, banners from Lepanto, armor of 
 old Doges, and of Henry IV. of France, old weapons 
 of many patterns, and other curious things. We 
 tried to gain admittance to the Navy Yard. Several 
 persons tried to cut or break the red tape, but they 
 kindly wasted our time without success. We did 
 
IN NORTHERN ITALY. 189 
 
 look upon the four lions from the Piraeus, one of 
 which is fabled to have come from Marathon. 
 
 It was a delight to visit the Academy once more 
 and behold the Assumption, with its glorious face, 
 and to see the Virgin as a girl of twelve going up 
 the Temple steps for her presentation. Can it be 
 she who attained the splendor of the Assumption? 
 In the picture of the girl her light hair hangs in a 
 braid. She wears a blue dress, which she holds with 
 her right hand while she reaches out the left to the 
 high-priest, who waits at the top of the steps to 
 receive her. There is a bit of realistic relief in the 
 old woman who sits at the foot of the steps with a 
 basket of eggs. There is a charming simplicity 
 about the child. She looks what she was. I can 
 add nothing to this brief catalogue. Nor have I 
 much to say of the churches, which deserve so much, 
 but have been seenJby so many. In St, Maria For- 
 mosa is the beautiful St. Barbara of Palma Vecchio. 
 The Frari is one of the finest churches in the city, 
 and has among its treasures the monuments of 
 Titian and Canova. It is amusing to see the pains 
 the sculptors have taken to rise to renown by cut- 
 ting their names into these memorials which they 
 had made for greater men. Titian's has Pietro Zan- 
 domeneghi F. and Luigi E. Pietro Zandomeneghi 
 F. ; and Canova's, Antonio Boso Scolpi, with others 
 which I did not copy. St. Sebastian's Church has 
 paintings by Paul Veronese, and his tomb. Tinto- 
 retto's pictures are in St. Rocco's care. How rich 
 are the churches in these paintings, and how fortu- 
 nate were the painters to find such places for their 
 
190 SOME THINGS ABROAB. 
 
 work! But the Churcli which gave the subjects for 
 many of the best works deserves to have that which 
 she had done so much to produce. We had a pleas- 
 ant ride in a gondola to the Armenian Convent of 
 St. Lazarus. The island is called by the same 
 name. The buildings are large and pleasant. 
 There had been a fire not long before our visit, 
 and the work of restoration was not completed. 
 The institution is really a theological seminary. 
 It has twenty monks and thirty scholars. There is 
 a good library, with mummies and other appendices, 
 and a printing-office, where good work is done. 
 Byron was at one time a student here, and his table, 
 inkstand, and pens are exhibited, I suppose with 
 admiration for the poet. It seemed a good place 
 for study, if isolation is favorable to it. Perhaps 
 men of more sense and broader sympathies would 
 be produced nearer to the heart of things. A gen- 
 tle monk, who spoke English well, took us over the 
 place and told its story in a serious voice. He 
 would take no fee, which was suspicious; but his 
 attentions brought us to a small room where books, 
 photographs, and embroidery could be bought at 
 extravagant prices. To purchase was a way of giv- 
 ing a gratuity which could offend the feelings of 
 neither party. Of the glass and lace factories of the 
 city, the Ghetto for the Jews, the cemetery island 
 with its brick walls, and many a place besides, I 
 shall not speak. They are there when any would 
 see them. 
 
 Venice must be seen. Descriptions are unusually 
 feeble here. The times of greatness are gone, and 
 
IN NOBTHEBJSr ITALY, 191 
 
 the city lives in good part on its history. It is 
 always pitiful when a place prolongs its existence 
 by exhibiting its monuments. But the place is rare 
 for situation. The traveller enters it with surprise 
 and delight, and leaves with wonder and regret. Is 
 there nothing there but pleasure? There might be 
 some things set on the other side of the account. 
 But to what purpose? There is the fragrance of 
 the canals, under certain conditions : and mosquitoes 
 which the smoky pastils subdue without destroy- 
 ing: there are guides who are worse than their 
 winged associates : and men with pictures to sell at 
 your own price, and men with boat-hooks studded 
 with brass nails, who render a needless service and 
 hold their battered hats for the fee which to them is 
 evidently not needless ; and there are beggars at the 
 church doors, and beggars within who distract your 
 meditations with the boxes of promises which they 
 rattle before your face. These and like things are 
 not agreeable. But why think upon them ? The 
 gondolas and canals, the churches and palaces, the 
 pictures and the pigeons are there. The canals may 
 be filled up, as some have proposed, and then the 
 place will indeed be despoiled. But to-day Venice 
 survives. Long as the city retains what it has not 
 yet parted with will men from all lands flock thither 
 as the doves to their window, and' they will be 
 rewarded for their coming with recollections which 
 nothing can confuse or destroy. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TO AKD THROUGH ATHENS. 
 
 We have reached the dividing line in these move- 
 ments. In the afternoon of the 28th of September 
 we left Venice for the older world beyond. It was 
 with rather heavy hearts that we glided in our gon- 
 dola from the steps of the hotel, and left behind the 
 dearest friends we had. But we had set our hearts 
 on seeing the borders of the East. Our railway 
 journey was not long and was relieved by our com- 
 panions. We found in the compartment an Italian 
 man and woman who appeared to be in some irre- 
 pressible period of love-making, if we might judge 
 by their conduct. But we were more impressed by 
 the behavior of another young man and woman who 
 joined us. There was an excessive demonstration 
 of affection on her part, to which he submitted in 
 patience. This went so far that it became clear all 
 was not right. This conviction gave a sad interest 
 to the whole scene. Evidently, the mind of the 
 woman had lost its balance, and her insanity, for 
 the time, took on this gentle form. But nothing 
 could exceed the gentleness of the man, who was 
 taking her to some place of security, which should 
 be also a place of healing. 
 
 At another point in the ride there came in an old 
 
 192 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 193 
 
 man aud two women. After a season, with the usual 
 German deliberation, the man fainted. The women 
 had less of the national deliberation when they dis- 
 covered his condition. There was a rapid mustering 
 of bottles and handkerchiefs, and a quick succession 
 of bathings and rubbings, with quite as much jabber- 
 ing as could be helpful, till at length the old gentle- 
 man recovered his equanimity. Was he grateful for 
 the attention which had restored him ? Apparently 
 not. He certainly resented the continued efforts of 
 the women, and gave no heed to their anxious solici- 
 tations. One of the nurses carried her efforts so far 
 as to sit on the man's hat. That seemed to mean 
 nothing to him, and not much more to her, or even 
 to the hat. 
 
 With these excitements the few hours passed by. 
 We found at Gorizia, where the custom-house force 
 assisted us, that we^ were crossing into Austria, and 
 at ten o'clock we were at Trieste. We found pleas- 
 ant quarters at the Hotel Delorme. From that 
 moment we had little occasion to think for our- 
 selves, so far as travelling was concerned. For we 
 were in the care of an enterprising tourist company, 
 and under the personal charge of Mr. Thomas G. 
 Mill, of London. We were fortunate in being 
 placed under his direction. He was a man who 
 had seen not a little of the world, whose knowledge 
 reached through a wide range of subjects, who was 
 skilful in planning a journey and in carrying it 
 through, who was courageous in difficulties and 
 patient amid complaints, — a wise conductor, a 
 genial companion, and a friend to be remembered. 
 
194 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 If I ever travel again, I shall bespeak him for my 
 guide. I want to insert here the address of Mr. Mill, 
 at 49 Grove Lane, Camber well, London. 
 
 If one is to go into the East, the first thing to do 
 is to put himself into the hands of some one whose 
 business it is to arrange the plans and details of the 
 journey, and who has all that is necessary for its 
 prosecution. For travelling, especially in unfre- 
 quented places, is now reduced to a science, and the 
 prudent man will avail himself of the fact. The 
 next thing is to connect himself with others who 
 are of a like mind. Of course it is possible to 
 travel alone, or with a single friend. But this is 
 more expensive and has other disadvantages. As 
 things are now managed, the party for a journey is 
 commonly made up by the agent. Each person 
 may have his one or two friends, but there must be 
 the grouping of these into companies of convejiient 
 size, and this must be done by the wise man who is 
 to have the control of the expedition. It becomes, 
 therefore, a matter of great interest to discover who 
 are to be the companions upon the jou^iey in strange 
 lands, where the association must needs be close. 
 So many things go to make up a pleasant travelling 
 companion, that there is always a large element of 
 chance in this mode of journeying, and one feels this 
 strongly when he first looks in the faces of those who 
 are for several weeks to share his life. Concerning 
 those who should be in our party we were in uncer- 
 tainty for a long time. Indeed, the company was 
 never made. The members of it simply drifted 
 together, and half of them came when the journey 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 195 
 
 was half over. There were rumors at Venice of 
 three or four men who were to appear at Trieste, 
 and the rumors remained in force all the way to 
 Turkey. But those men have not yet been found, 
 with one exception. Of that one I must now speak. 
 I do it with pleasure, for he proved a good compan- 
 ion. When we went to breakfast at Trieste, we met 
 at the table a gentleman with whom we were to 
 move on. We looked hard at him for the sake of 
 what was coming. A plain, honest, intelligent face 
 answered our staring with its own. I suppose it 
 would not be just to insert any more true names. 
 It will answer my purpose to say that this was Mr. 
 Garry, of Pennsjdvania. In his calling he combined 
 the merchant and the mechanic. He had risen by 
 his own merit to a good position, and was disposed 
 to use a portion of the leisure which he had earned 
 by seeing more of the world than lay among his 
 mountains. His chief thought in visiting Palestine 
 was to see "where the Apostles and the Saviour 
 lived." He cared little for cities, — 'Hhere are 
 cities enough in America." In pictures and statues 
 he had no interest. But he longed to look upon 
 the places which are ''mentioned in the Bible." 
 I set him down for a sturdy, sensible deacon in the 
 church, who had the Scriptures written in his mind, 
 and whose pious designs were worthy of the indul- 
 gence which he purposed to give them. In this 
 judgment I was not entirely correct. But I think 
 that I did not over-estimate the man. He showed 
 his character at once. For no sooner was breakfast 
 over than he offered me his assistance in procuring 
 
196 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 anything T might need. In the few hours he had 
 spent in tlie city before our arrival he had measured 
 its capacity, and had found out what it had to offer 
 in objects of utility and interest. His sight-seeing 
 had already begun, though he had not come upon 
 the footprints of apostles. He had been to the 
 Chateau of Miramar, and had mourned over the 
 fate of Maximilian, the beguiled and betrayed mon- 
 arch of a land which had no use for him, and he had 
 admired the splendors which the prince left for a 
 throne and a grave. 
 
 There were a few purchases to be made, of things 
 which pilgrims would be sure to need. There was 
 one visit to be paid to an old and honored friend, 
 Ex-Consul Thayer. We found him in his pleasant 
 rooms, among his books and pictures ; lingering in 
 the land which had long been his home, yet hoping 
 that his last days might be spent in the land of his 
 birth. His hope is the desire of all who know him. 
 
 The half-day which we had in Trieste gave us no 
 time to go about the city. It was a rainy forenoon, 
 and all things wore a sombre look. We could see 
 great buildings, clean streets, and the signs of a 
 large traffic. For Trieste is the chief seaport of 
 Austria, and has a fine position at the head of the 
 Adriatic. It has its bishop and cathedral, its school 
 of theology and naval academy, its museum and obser- 
 vatory. It is in effect an Italian city, though men 
 of many nations meet in its markets. The steamers 
 which are coming and going make the harbor a busy 
 place. How long this will last, no one knows. 
 Commerce changes its channels at its will, and 
 
TO AND THBOUGH ATHENS, 197 
 
 the Suez Canal makes Trieste of less importance 
 than in former years. The trade to India will natu- 
 rally seek the shortest way, and this port seems 
 likely to be left on one side. Such has been the 
 fate of many places in the old world and the new. 
 Whether the old city can adapt itself to new condi- 
 tions remains for time to determine. Trieste is 
 mentioned as a Roman town fifty years before the 
 Christian era, when it was know^n as Tergeste. 
 Roman has the sound of antiquity there. We shall 
 soon be where Roman means modern, and the trav- 
 eller hardly deigns to look on that w^hich bears the 
 name. 
 
 Early in the afternoon we drove to the steamer 
 Hungarian and were soon on our voyage towards 
 Athens. We saw Miramar in the distance as we 
 moved away. Mr. Garry reminded us that he had 
 trodden its floor ; and added that he could no more 
 tell its beauties than he could tell how many pails of 
 water we had passed since we left Trieste. The 
 comparison was impressive, and calculated to make 
 us dissatisfied with ourselves. But it was too late 
 to fill up our deficiency. 
 
 The accommodations on the Mediterranean steam- 
 ers are not entirely to the American mind. We 
 found that our state-room was a small cabin with 
 berths for five or six persons. We could get nothing 
 better, and with protest settled down for the voyage. 
 There was a variety in the passengers. Two young 
 ladies were from Boston, and were on their way to 
 Constantinople. There was a man Avith a tall hat, 
 whose circumference increased with its height, and 
 
198 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 with long, brown robes. We judged him to be an 
 Armenian patriarch. Then there were Greeks, and I 
 know not what nationalities besides. Our first day 
 at sea was Sunday. It was refreshing to open the 
 port-hole over my berth and to catch a breath from 
 the outer world. It was a fine day, with a mild but 
 over-abundant air. Monday was cloudy and dreary, 
 and few persons were to be seen on the upper deck. 
 We passed down the hill}^ coast of Albania and 
 in the early evening reached Corfu. It was too 
 dark for us to see much of the town, but the lights 
 along the coast made a very pleasing effect. Boats 
 came off to the steamer, and we gave up some of 
 our passengers and took on others. These were 
 mostly of the third class, who found places where 
 they could lie along the deck in poverty and uncon- 
 cern. We wished that all who came were of the 
 same grade, for one man of a slightly higher condi- 
 tion was thrust into our cabin. It was not his fault, 
 but our misfortune. The next day was fair and 
 bright. Our way lay between Ithaca and Cepha- 
 lonia. The Kingdom of Uly ses was in appearance 
 an immense rock, with green spots upon it. But it 
 is some fifteen miles long and has some ten thousand 
 people upon it. The ruins of the Castle of Ulysses 
 can be seen on Mount Aeto, so the islanders tell, but 
 the castle was not visible to us. Cephalonia is the 
 largest of the Ionian islands. Its mountains are 
 conspicuous and its currants abundant. The latter 
 are the leading product of this and the neighboring 
 islands. Ship-building and other industries have a 
 place there. The island has its ancient fame and the 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. I99 
 
 necessary ruins to sustain it. Zante comes next and 
 suggests raisins. The large vineyards are prolific, 
 but the grapes are small, even as we see them in 
 their dried estate. Zante has its place in classic his- 
 tory. Its capital, of the same name, boasts a Greek 
 archbishop and a Roman bishop, with five churches, 
 and other important buildings. Herodotus calls the 
 island by its longer name and writes : " I have my- 
 self seen pitch drawn up out of a lake of pure water 
 in Zacynthus; and there are several lakes there: the 
 largest of them is seventy feet every way, and two 
 orgyse in depth ; into this they let down a pole with 
 a myrtle branch fastened to the end, and then draw 
 up pitch adhering to the myrtle ; it has the smell of 
 asphalt, but is in other respects better than the pitch 
 of Pieria. They pour it into a cistern dug near the 
 lake, and when they have collected a sufficient quan- 
 tity they pour it off from the cistern into jars." I^ 
 seems that petroleum is not a novelty. But we 
 saw no wells or lakes. Reading had to supplement 
 vision. 
 
 We rounded the Peloponnesus and turned up the 
 eastern coast of Greece. With what adjective shall 
 I attempt to describe the sail along the classic shore? 
 The ^gean was as quiet as Waban water. The 
 islands rested peacefully upon its bosom. The sea, 
 the land, the wind, the clouds seemed full of de- 
 lightful memories which were wakened by the names 
 we heard and the thoughts which came with them, 
 as we drew near to Athens. We entered the Saronic 
 gulf, and passed by ^gina, and then Salamis, into 
 whose broad bay we could look over the waters no 
 
200 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 longer disturbed by contending navies. Themisto- 
 cles and Xerxes were no longer with their fleets; but 
 for us there was no other Sahimis but theirs, and the 
 Salamis of Solon and Euripides. 
 
 The hills are there still, and there are ruins, and 
 imagination can do the rest to restore the vanished 
 renown. Soon the masts of the Piraeus appeared, 
 and in the distance we saw Hymettus, and the 
 heights of Athens. What a vision it was ! Who 
 can forget the moment when he first sees the col- 
 umns of the Parthenon, the congregated wonders of 
 the Acropolis ! We passed into the ample harbor 
 and stopped. An officer went on shore to secure 
 permission for us to land. A long line of boats was 
 in waiting till the permission should be given. At 
 length the signal was given that it was granted, 
 w^hen there came a genuine boat race. Never were 
 crews more eager. The men rowed with their might 
 and shouted with their main. As they approached 
 the steamer men in the rear boats leaped into those 
 in front and thus made their way to the ship. We 
 were assailed with a demonstrative hospitality. 
 Hotels and boats were offered far beyond our capac- 
 ity for acceptance. We had no part in the clamor. 
 Mr. Mill knew the man whom he wanted, and we 
 were soon in his boat and on pur way to the shore, 
 under a local guide. When we touched the pier our 
 guide went off, and soon returned with two officials, 
 who gazed at us for a moment and signified that 
 they had no objection to our stepping upon the soil 
 of Greece. We accordingly took the step. Indeed, 
 we were there for that purpose. Our luggage was 
 
TO AXD TIIBOUGU ATHENS, 201 
 
 put on a carriage, a hack of familiar shape, and ^Ye 
 were phiced inside the same vehicle. Then \\q 
 started for the city, which was one hour away. 
 We were stopped once by an official of uncertain 
 grade, to wliom our new guide addressed himself in 
 appropriate terms, and we were allowed to keep 
 moving. Our only other pause was for the refresh- 
 ment of man and beast, especiallj' man, that is the 
 driver and guide. There was little of interest on 
 the road except that it led to Athens. We passed 
 mills, or water-wheels, which looked like pictures 
 we had seen, and men carrvino- in carts huo^e leath- 
 ern bottles filled with wine. The way was dustj^ 
 and without beauty. It was good to enter the city ; 
 to see Greek words on the signs ; to look on Greek 
 men and women in their homes; to know that we 
 were in Athens. We found a delightful hotel near 
 the royal palace, beneath Lycabettus and its lofty 
 Church of St. George. The " Grande Bretagne " 
 sounded well even in Greece. 
 
 The house deserved its name. It was spacious 
 and attractive, and the table was excellent. So far 
 as our experience went, this was the outer border of 
 fine hotels. Beyond, only comfort could be secured. 
 Athens threw in luxuries. 
 
 We were under the special care of Mr. Thomas 
 Manessi while we were in Greece. It was very 
 good care. He was intelligent and indulgent, as 
 becomes a guide. Under his direction we saw the 
 city pretty well, if the brevity of our stay is con- 
 sidered. We saw too much to warrant an attempt 
 at description, and too little to make a description 
 
202 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 of any value to those who have the numerous books 
 and pictures which have made Athens and its treas- 
 ures and its history familiar. Athens is not so 
 large that it cannot be known. The mind readily 
 grasps its chief features and retains them. Nor are 
 its records so indistinct that they cannot be read. 
 The wonderful and imperishable interest which is 
 attached to the city and to everything in it will 
 make it more widely known as the years pass on. 
 
 Athens is now in three portions. In the newest 
 part the buildings are good and the white walls give 
 them a very bright, fresh look. The streets are 
 wide and clean, and the whole appearance indicates 
 thrift. I was not able to ascertain clearly upon 
 what Athens depends for prosperity. But the 
 amount of shipping in the Piraeus shows that she is 
 engaged in quite an extensive commerce. Wine 
 was almost the only thing we saw which was likely 
 to be exported. There must be grain, and perhaps 
 other commodities, to be sent away, and the trade 
 with the interior must be considerable. A town has 
 grown up at the harbor, with the appliances of a 
 large business. 
 
 On the other side of the cify are the remains of 
 ancient Athens, solitary and grand. Between the 
 oldest and newest portions is the district which is 
 neither old nor new: where the streets are narrow 
 and not clean, and houses and shops are huddled 
 together, after the fashion of most places in that 
 part of the world. There was very little to remind 
 us that we were in Athens. The ordinary Euro- 
 pean dress was worn by everybody, except one 
 
TO AND TIIBOUGH ATHENS. 203 
 
 guide who hung around our hotel, waiting for 
 employment. He wore the full white skirts reach- 
 ing nearly to the knees, and the long white stock- 
 ings reaching towards the same boundary line, with 
 an elaborate jacket and cap. It seems a pity that 
 the national dress has been laid aside. The copying 
 of French costumes lessens the attractiveness of any 
 people. The appointments of our hotel we should 
 have found in Paris. We should have been better 
 pleased with the fare of the country served in the 
 national method. The carriages in the streets were 
 such as one finds in Boston. The large, open ba- 
 rouche was the most common. We asked for some- 
 thing which we could carry away as characteristic 
 of the place and people. Manessi said there was 
 nothing. When we pressed him he suggested shoes. 
 We saw the shoe-makers along the streets, and the 
 large pointed foot-coverings, but they were not what 
 we wanted. He also proposed silks, but he showed 
 us nothing desirable. At length it dawned upon 
 his mind that there was not far away an industrial 
 school established by American missionaries. Our 
 first attempt to visit this school failed. We tried 
 again and gained entrance. We found children 
 learning to sew and embroider and make lace, and 
 women and girls weaving silk and making carpets. 
 The implements were rude and clumsy for this 
 day. But the work was well done, and we were 
 glad to buy a few specimens of the silk goods as 
 souvenirs of Athens. We did find, also, in an old 
 market, a lot of national knives, with wooden 
 handles and triangular blades. They are doubtless 
 
204 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 useful in the fish trade, but for general cutting 
 purposes tliey are not of much value, as the price 
 indicated. Our only mistake was in not buying 
 more. 
 
 When Manessi entered upon his work of showing 
 us Athens, he first chartered a carriage for four per- 
 sons. We were to view antiquities, but with the 
 modern appliances. But of ancient conveyances 
 there were none, unless the human feet could be 
 described under that term. The order of sight- 
 seeing puts the carriage first. Walking comes in, 
 but at a later stage. 
 
 Our first stopping-place was at the Stadium. 
 This was an amphitheatre, in which the labor of 
 men had improved the natural features of the hill of 
 Agrse, which was in the form of a crescent, and" had 
 constructed a place for the games in which the peo- 
 ple delighted. There gladiators contended, and 
 wild beasts were matched against men. In its glory 
 this was a magnificent theatre. It was nearly seven 
 hundred feet long. It had marble seats for forty or 
 fifty thousand people, and standing room for as 
 many more. The games were on the same scale. 
 At one spectacle, it is reported, a thousand beasts 
 were killed. The Temple of Fortune, with an ivory 
 statue of the goddess, was on one side. Little remains 
 of the grand Stadium besides the hill, which keeps 
 its ancient shape, and could easily be restored to its 
 former uses if a degenerate age should demand it. 
 In its present desolation it is difficult to think of the 
 mad excitement, the fierce passion, the suffering and 
 renown, which then made a part of the play of a 
 
TO AND TFinOUGFI ATHENS. 205 
 
 great people. Yet tlie desolation is not deeper, is 
 less oppressive, than that which broods among the 
 ruins of structures which had a higher purpose. 
 
 We stopped next at the Temple of Zeus Olympius, 
 if by that name it can now be called. Once it held 
 high rank, as the largest and one of the finest of the 
 temples of Athens. Pisistratus, the ''genial tyrant," 
 laid the foundations'; but it was left for Hadrian to 
 complete the work. The house was, therefore, nearly 
 seven hundred years in being built. There were a 
 hundred and twenty columns around it, but only six- 
 teen- of them remain. They have a very lonesome 
 look as they tower sixty feet above the dreary plain. 
 Even a hermit who once found a home on the archi- 
 trave has disappearred. He has left the massive pil- 
 lars to stand sentinels over their own past. Xear 
 by is the gate, or arch, of Hadrian. It does not 
 appear to have been the gateway to anj^thing in 
 particular, but to have served as a boundary mark 
 betwee]! the older and later i\.thens, the city of 
 Theseus and the quarter which was the especial 
 care of Hadrian. The gateway is some twenty feet 
 wide and rises between two immense square piers. 
 There were two Corinthian columns before each 
 pier. The arch is in two stories, having a sort of 
 attic over the gateway. Upon the frieze of the 
 architrave, on each face of the arch, is an inscrip- 
 tion. One of these declqj'es that the citj^ which it 
 faces was the Athens of Theseus, and the other that 
 the place which it confronts was the city of Hadrian. 
 It is probable that the arch had a triumphal charac- 
 ter, but there is nothing imposing about it now, and 
 
206 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 it has lost the special meaning which would have 
 given it interest and dignity. 
 
 Before another building we were thrown into con- 
 fusion. The book called it the Lantern of Demos- 
 thenes. Maiiessi insisted that this was a mistake — , 
 that it should be the Lantern of Diogenes. Proba- 
 bility leaned heavily on the side of the interpreter. 
 We knew that the Cynic had a lantern, and had 
 good use for it. Whether the greatest of orators 
 had need of such illumination we were not so sure. 
 But a better authority than guide-books or guides 
 would have relieved us from the necessity of decid- 
 ing between the two claimants. It is really the 
 monument of Lysicrates. It commemorates a vic- 
 tory obtained at a public contest in music. Hence 
 its title, choragic. It is on the Street of the Tri- 
 pods, and is among the finest of the smaller monu- 
 ments which have been preserved. It is a circular 
 building, with half-Corinthian columns about it, and 
 a square foundation beneath. Above are a beautiful 
 frieze and cornice, while the top of the structure is 
 elaborately decorated. Its shape is not very unlike 
 a lantern, which may have suggested that name. 
 The court of a French Capuchin monastery was 
 once about it. We were told that Byron passed a 
 night within the monument or lantern. It is of 
 pure Pentelic marble, is thirty-four feet high, and 
 dates from B. C. 335. There seems to have been an- 
 other building similiar to this, which was called tlie 
 Lantern of Diogenes. But there are no traces of it 
 now. On the southeast side of the Acropolis we 
 passed into the enclosure of Dionysus, or Bacchus, 
 
TO AND THBOUGH ATHENS. 207 
 
 the wine god of Attica. Two temples were there, near 
 the great theatre of Athens. The upper part of the 
 theatre was cut out of the cliff, and the rest was con- 
 structed of wood and stone. It was a fine structure 
 when at its best estate. The stage and auditorium 
 remain, and the front seats of marble, which bear the 
 names of the priests who occupied them. There are 
 other seats above these. The place of the orchestra is 
 clearly marked, and the open space where there was 
 dancing around an altar. It is conjectured that the 
 women had the upper seats, where they sat apart 
 from the men. The centuries have been working 
 out a deeper tragedy than was ever performed by 
 the actors who have gone into the great realities. 
 
 We entered the sanctuary of ^sculapius, which 
 was afterwards a Christian church. " The blame- 
 less physician " was very widely worshipped. All 
 Greece paid him homage. His temples were numer- 
 ous and were often built on hills and near wells 
 whose waters were thought to possess healing prop- 
 erties. Care was taken to secure a healthy place 
 for the worship of one upon whom so many 
 depended for immediate benefit. This temple at 
 Athens had a good situation. We found in a cave 
 a well whose water is disagreeable enough to be 
 salutary, and we could easily believe that the medi- 
 cine concocted and compounded with it had the 
 desirable qualities. 
 
 Herodes Atticus was one of the greatest of the 
 benefactors of Greece. He had wealth, learning, 
 and eloquence, and he used all for the advantage of 
 his country. He almost despoiled Pentelicus of mar- 
 
208 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 ble when he would adorn the Stadium, — so it was 
 said, but not without exaggeration. He certainly 
 ventured on a magnificent scale. He was of an old 
 family of Marathon, and his father enriched him- 
 self by finding a hidden treasure. The father 
 bequeathed the greater part of this wealth to the 
 Athenians, but the son made a compromise with 
 them, by which he kept most of the money. He 
 inherited more from his mother, and more came to 
 him by his wife. He was therefore able to be 
 a public benefactor. A theatre, aqueduct, race- 
 course, and hospital were among his gifts. Of his 
 literary productions nothing has survived, but his 
 material benefits have left their traces through the 
 land. At the southwest corner of the Acropolis he 
 built the Odeum or Odeon, to which he affixed the 
 name of Regilla, his wife. It was a theatre which 
 would hold from six to ten thousand spectators. 
 Something of the walls and seats can now be seen. 
 It had a roof of cedar, finely carved, and this was 
 a distinguishing feature of the structure. The 
 Odeum was devoted to the contests of poets and 
 musicians. There the rhapsodist could display his 
 skill, and the pla3^er on the lyre solicit the admira- 
 tion of his listeners, and prizes could be gained 
 which were held of great account. We found noth- 
 ing of the kind going on. An old woman and a 
 headless statue seemed to be the guardians of the 
 place, from which music and poetry had fled. 
 
 Thus we wound our way up the Acropolis, tarry- 
 ing among these annexed ruins in this subordinate 
 desolation. There was some little life, but it was 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 209 
 
 of the modern and vulgar sort. Coins of a professed 
 antiquity were offered for sale, and shells from 
 Marathon sought purchasers. Whatever may have 
 been the intrinsic value of these wares, it was some- 
 thing that we could buy them there. 
 
 Now that we are fairly on the Acropolis, what can 
 I say of it? I shall attempt little. The plans and 
 pictures which are so readily found will give a far 
 better idea of the place than any words could create. 
 The name has a description and a history in itself. 
 The higher or upper citj is an instructive term. 
 Sometimes it has been called ''the city" to mark its 
 pre-eminence. It is a hill or rock rising five hun- 
 dred feet or more above the sea. There Athens had 
 its beginning. The houses were small upon the 
 hill itself, but as they were built beyond it, out upon 
 other hills, they increased in size, and their arrange- 
 ment became orderly as the settlement took on the 
 form of a city. The Acropolis proper became a cit- 
 adel, with the town around it, and walls enclosing 
 the whole, with other walls reaching to the towns 
 on the sea. Upon the summit were erected build- 
 ings which have given to the height its chief inter- 
 est. The Propyleea was the gateway. It was built 
 by Pericles, who died in B. C 429. It was more 
 than an entrance. Those who saw it in its glorj^ 
 thought it more wonderful than the Parthenon. 
 Immense stones were built into it, and their 
 strength was made beautiful. Sixty marble steps, 
 seventy feet from side to side, led up to it, and 
 through the centre of these steps was a road run- 
 ning to the entrance above. A portico with six 
 
210 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 
 
 columns was at the head of the steps, and beyond 
 this was a large and magnificent hall, with five gates 
 at its east end, through which entrance into the 
 Acropolis was gained. The Propylaea, from its posi- 
 tion and construction, was a substantial defence to 
 the hill upon whose front it stood. On each side 
 was a wing with Doric columns. In that on the 
 north was the Pinacotheca, where the works of the 
 great masters were displayed. At the right of 
 the south wing was a small temple, twenty feet 
 wide, devoted to the Unwinged Victory, and express- 
 ing the hope and confidence of the Athenians that 
 the Goddess of Victory would never fly away from 
 them. Passing through the Propylsea, there is seen 
 upon the left tlie Erectheum. As the story goes, 
 this was built by Erectheus I., or Erichthonius, an 
 Attic hero, who drove out Amphictyon and became 
 King of Athens. He set up the worship of Athena, 
 instituted a grand festival in her honor, and built 
 her this temple. His fame as the original driver of 
 a chariot with four horses is now commemorated 
 among the stars, where Auriga, or the Wagoner, or 
 Charioteer, holds his place among divinities. The 
 temple was conspicuous in 
 
 " the well built town of Athens, 
 Town of Erectheus with the noble heart, 
 Earth-born, but fostered by Athena's care, 
 Jove's child, and in her own rich temple set." 
 
 There were three parts to the temple,, or three 
 temples together. One for Athena, the protectress 
 of the State ; then the sanctuary of Erectheus, and 
 
TO AND TUB UGH ATHENS, 211 
 
 finally the sanctuary of Pandrosos, "i\ie all-bedew- 
 ing" daughter of Cecrops. The building was 
 oblong, with a portico at the north-west corner, 
 and a smaller one at the south-west. This smaller 
 portico, the Cecropium, is remarkable for the six 
 Caryatides, who stand there in patience holding up 
 the mass of stone which presses on their heads. 
 These marble pillars are Attic maidens of rank and 
 of beauty, and in their calm faces and flowing 
 drapery, and their vigor and repose, they are good 
 representatives of the glory which has passed from 
 the temple which they adorn, and of the spirit which 
 can be burdened but cannot be destroyed. One or 
 two of the little comjjany have been removed out 
 of their place, and the substitutes of baser material 
 and formation are in unpleasant contrast to their 
 older but nobler sisters. The Persians destroyed 
 the temple, but it was rebuilt. Little now re- 
 mains of it — so little that it is impossible to 
 determine the arrangement and uses of its many 
 apartments. 
 
 The special glory of the Acropolis is, of course, 
 the Parthenon. This too the Persians destroyed, 
 and this too was restored. Ictinus and Callicrates 
 were the architects, while Phidias and his pupils 
 gave to it its wealth of sculpture. Indeed, Phidias 
 superintended the whole work. It is of Pentelic 
 marble. Three steps lead up to the base on which 
 the temple stands. The temple itself is one hun- 
 dred and ninety-three feet long and seventy-one 
 broad. It is surrounded by a colonnade of forty-six 
 columns, with an inner row of eight at each end. 
 
212 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 and others within the walls. The temple was in 
 two unequal parts : the temple proper, where stood 
 the " colossal chryselephantine image of the god- 
 dess," "a core of wood covered with plates of gold 
 and ivory," the heroic work of Phidias ; and the 
 smaller apartment, which was the public treasury. 
 There are signs that there were paintings on the 
 exterior of the temple. Tints of blue and red are 
 still to be seen, with traces of the patterns in which 
 they were set. The sculptures presented historical 
 and mythological subjects. Many of these were 
 taken to England in the early part of this century. 
 It is said that Lord Elgin exaggerated the permis- 
 sion which was given him to remove some of the 
 marbles, and fairly despoiled the Parthenon of its 
 treasures. However glad we may be to see them in 
 England, when in Athens it can only seem a refined 
 vandalism which has torn them from the structure 
 of which they were a part. The Parthenon survived 
 the special purpose for which it was erected. After 
 a time the Virgin supplanted Athena, and the tem- 
 ple became a Christian church. But war has small 
 regard for art or religion. In the conflict between 
 the Turks and Venetians, in 1687, the Parthenon was 
 destroyed. Destroyed is too strong a word. Its 
 columns were chipped, and broken, and cast down ; 
 the interior was ruined; but enough of the columns 
 and walls remained to be a witness to the skill and 
 devotion which built the house ; to testify to its 
 magnificence, and represent its grandeur. Still 
 stand the lofty pillars upon the lofty heights, visi- 
 ble from afar, upon the land and upon the sea, the 
 
TO AND TnROUGH ATFIENS, 213 
 
 proudest monument of the proud city which has 
 been the teacher of the world. 
 
 Athens has a rightful claim to her illustrious posi- 
 tion. She was the city of wisdom from the first. 
 The story may be told again, and it comes in well at 
 this point. Athena, Pallas Athena, who was called 
 Minerva at Rome, and her uncle, Poseidon, whom 
 the Romans called Neptunus, contended for the pos- 
 session or ownership of Attica. Athena was the 
 goddess of wisdom, and she had in her charge a 
 variety of arts which were useful and ornamental. 
 The plough and the needle were in her keeping ; 
 the ship and the loom. Poseidon was the god of the 
 sea. He had a submarine palace off the coast of 
 Euboea, and there he kept his horses with manes of 
 gold and hoofs of brass. He liked to come up for a 
 drive, and the waves over which his chariot rolled 
 became level for 4iis convenience, and he had a 
 famous retinue of his neighbors and subjects who 
 frolicked about him as his steeds leaped over the 
 waters. One would think that this might have con- 
 tented him. He was too much like a man to be 
 contented. He wanted a position on the land. So 
 he applied for the protectorate of Attica, and the 
 other candidate was his niece. That was in the reiofn 
 of Cecrops, the first king of the country, and a 
 monarch who made himself a father to his people, 
 though he was only half human in form, if the 
 legends are to be trusted — and if we do not believe 
 them what can we learn of those distant times ? In 
 those days the Civil Service rules were in force, 
 and there was a competitive examination. The can- 
 
214 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 didate who should produce that which would be 
 most useful was to have the place. It was a case in 
 which taste and habit would have a large influence. 
 Quite naturally, Poseidon offered a horse, and Athena 
 an olive-tree. The commissioners, who were divini- 
 ties, decided in favor of the woman. Thus wisdom 
 was enthroned where Athena set her imperishable 
 name. The accounts do not entirely agree, but the 
 substantial points are quil^ clear. 
 
 Poseidon was not satisfied. What defeated candi- 
 date was ever content ? But he left his mark on the 
 place over which he could not rule. For at some 
 time in this contest he struck his trident, the three- 
 pronged sceptre, on the Acropolis, whereupon the 
 salt water sprang from the rock. Some of these 
 statements can now be verified. We saw the place 
 where the spring was. But Pausanias, who made 
 an extensive tour through this country in the second 
 century, found the sea-water in the cave of Poseidon, 
 and was not so much surprised as could have been 
 expected. He was surprised to find that when the 
 wind was from the south, there was a sound in the 
 well as of the waves of the sea. He saw also in the 
 rock the form of the trident. The marks may be 
 seen now. There are but two of them, which is 
 unfortunate. But it is a long time since Neptune 
 smote the stone with his sceptre, and more important 
 things than a hole have been lost. The story should 
 not be allowed to suffer for such a trifling defect as 
 that. Pausanias saw also the sacred olive-tree, the 
 crooked " citizen " of the height. We also saw the 
 olive-tree, a mere shrub, without impressiveness save 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 215 
 
 that wliicli its romantic history lends it. The tree 
 was burned in the wars, but on the same day it sent 
 u]i sprouts two cubits long. Herodotus saj's they 
 were but one cubit long ; but he is not altogether 
 trustworthy. In either case its long life is accounted 
 for. 
 
 Whatever may be the exact truth regarding de- 
 tails, there can be no doubt that Athena was the 
 divinity of the city which has so long been called 
 after her. We saw where her statue was, where she 
 heard the prayers of the people, and the place un- 
 derneath where the priest was hidden who responded 
 in her name. There was the aperture, too, through 
 which the suppliants dropped the money which re- 
 warded the goddess and supported the priest. 
 
 We came down from the Acropolis and made the 
 ascent of a hill which is much less imposing but 
 which holds a prominent place in a history which is 
 broader and larger than that of Athens. Mars' Hill, 
 as we know it, the Areopagus, as it was called in the 
 daj^s of its power, is a mass of rocks, not large or 
 high, and having no treasures of antiquity separate 
 from itself. On the north side the ground rises 
 gradually till it terminates in the broken ridge. The 
 south side is a rough precipice, whose highest part is, 
 perhaps, fifty feet above the valley, from which the 
 hill looks like an immense boulder which a classic 
 glacier has left in its advance. There is a feeling of 
 disappointment in finding that there is no more of a 
 place whose name suggests grandeur and importance. 
 Its history is in several parts which are quite dis- 
 tinct. It gets its name from Ares, that is Mars, who 
 
216 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 killed the son of Poseidon, and was tried before the 
 gods upon this hill. Euripides embodied the fact in 
 his lines : — 
 
 '^ There is a Hill of Mars, where first the gods 
 In council sat and voted about blood, 
 When cruel Mars slew Halirrhothius." 
 
 There is a different account given of the name, 
 but this seems to be the most authentic. The hill 
 was the seat of the famous court or council to 
 which from ancient times were committed the grav- 
 est Athenian causes, both civil and religious. The 
 court was held in the night, so it is said, that the 
 judges might hear the voices of those who spoke to 
 them, without seeing their faces. The sessions were 
 held in the open air, that the judges and prosecut- 
 ing officers might not be sliut in with the criminals, 
 whose presence would be polluting. The court met 
 on the highest part of the hill. Sixteen steps, cut 
 in the rock, led up to tlie platform, which can still be 
 traced, where were the seats of the judges. These 
 also were cut in the rock where they can even now 
 be seen. Pausanias, the traveller, saw two rude 
 stones on the hill, on one of which, during a trial, 
 the accuser stood, and on the other the accused. 
 
 It was a wonderful place for a court. The Acrop- 
 olis and its temples towered above it. The city- 
 was spread around it, even reaching to the base of 
 the rock. A temple of Mars was on the hill, while 
 in a chasm under the seats of the judges was the 
 entrance to the sanctuary of the Eumenides, or 
 Erinyes, or Semnse, or, more popularlj^, the Furies. 
 
TO AND TnBOUGH ATHENS. 217 
 
 The first name signifies '' \Yell-meaning," and was 
 used because the people \Yere afraid to call these 
 dread divinities by their true title. Gods and men 
 were afraid of them, and not without reason if they 
 are correctly described as having black bodies, with 
 serpents twined in their hair, and with blood drop- 
 ping from their eyes. It is but fair to say, however, 
 that their images have nothing especially frightful 
 about them. Perhaps discretion prevailed over 
 truthfulness in this. 
 
 Above the whole scene rose the colossal form of 
 Athena, with her spear and shield and helmet, 
 defending and adorning the city which bore her 
 name. Greek tragedy found a place upon Mars' 
 Hill, where so man}' real tragedies found their end. 
 Judges and actors have disappeared. The plays are 
 still read by scholars, and now and then become the 
 delight of the few__who see them again in living 
 form, that the pursuits of other j^ears may be the 
 pastime of the present. 
 
 But for the most of those who know the Areopa- 
 gus, and who have an intelligent concern with the 
 course of the world's thought and life, the great 
 interest in Mars' Hill is in the fact that there once 
 stood upon it a man wdiose influence was to exceed 
 that of his predecessors, and to stamp itself deeply 
 and permanently into the lives of men. Nothing in 
 the history of the place is more impressive or instruc- 
 tive than this single line, — '' Then Paul stood in 
 the midst of Mars' Hill." He addressed the world 
 and the centuries when he said, "Ye men of 
 Athens." 
 
218 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 It was no man who that day was on trial for his 
 life. The thought, belief, action, the civilization 
 and religion, of the days when the Parthenon was in 
 its splendor, were on trial. No : the trial was over. 
 Tlie verdict and sentence are in the ruins of the 
 Acropolis, and the desolation it looks down upon. 
 We stood where St. Paul stood. It was in the 
 midst, or middle, of the narrow top of the rock. 
 We must have been upon the very spot. There was 
 no audience. But we could imagine the time when 
 there was life among these temples, and the places 
 of men's homes, and we could see the multitudes 
 standing beneath the preacher as from his high pul- 
 pit he uttered his bold words. We could mark 
 their surprise, and could see their faces as they 
 turned away leaving him still in his place. ''Some 
 mocked: and others said, We w411 hear thee again 
 of this matter." The place where the altar was on 
 which he read the inscription which gave him a text 
 is still pointed out. Upon it stands a Christian 
 church. Paul has been heard again. 
 
 Nothing seems great after leaving the Acropolis 
 and Areopagus. I can do little more than name 
 some of the places which we visited. Close at hand 
 is the Agora, the market-place of Athens. It was 
 — I was about to speak of its ancient magnificence. 
 But it is as well to stop with the was. There are 
 ruins, and little besides. The most unsightly part 
 of the city is now on the ground where trade and 
 worship met in the best days of Athens. The 
 market-place of the present is full of business and 
 confusion. Manessi said that the buildings were to 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 219 
 
 be removed that excavations might be made. It 
 would be well to clear the ground and begin again, 
 even if none of the ancient improvements were 
 recovered. The Stoa of Hadrian is near, sometimes 
 called his Gymnasium, a structure of great elegance 
 in its day. Some of the fine columns which en- 
 closed it are yet standing. The Tower of the 
 Winds, or Horologium, is of marble, octagonal m 
 form, having on each side, at the top, sculptures in 
 relief which represent the different winds. On each 
 wind is its name, upon the cornice. On each side 
 was a sun-dial. The floor was arranged for a water- 
 clock, for which the water was brought from the 
 Acropolis. There was once a Titan on the summit, 
 who served as a weather-vane. West of the Acrop- 
 olis is the hill of the Pynx, out of whose rock was cut 
 the place in which the Athenians held their political 
 meetings. There was room for many thousands of 
 people to be seated. Projecting beyond the solid wall, 
 a part of the rock, was a cubic block, eleven feet long 
 and broad, and five feet in height, resting upon a 
 platform which was reached by wide steps. Other 
 steps led to the top of the block. This was the 
 Bema, on which the orators stood. It may have 
 been that Demosthenes and Pericles stood there 
 wdien they roused the people by their eloquence. 
 We tried to reproduce the eloquence, but there was 
 no response, and our audience was very small. The 
 throngs no longer assemble on that spot. On the 
 Museum Hill rises the monument of Philopappus, a 
 Syrian. It was an elaborate structure, but much of 
 it has fallen. One forgets that, when he sees the 
 
220 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 extensive view which the height affords him, over 
 the cit)^, the country, the sea. On the side of the 
 hill of the Museum is the prison of Socrates. Three 
 chambers have been cut into the rock. Tn one of 
 these, twelve feet by seven, the philosopher was 
 confined, and there he died. Such is the tale, 
 which, I believe, no wise man credits. This is a 
 pity, as the rooms of stone have a prison-like appear- 
 ance, and seem to fit into the story very well. 
 Some part of the prison is now occupied by cattle. 
 In the front of the hill are holes in which beams 
 were placed for the roof of a projection of wood. 
 
 The best preserved of the buildings of ancient 
 Athens is the Theseum, commonly called the temple 
 of Theseus, for the legendary hero who came to the 
 aid of the Athenians at Marathon. The name of 
 Theseus is denied to it, but there is no other to put 
 in its place. So it stands with its wails and col- 
 umns for general admiration because of its own 
 merit. At one time it was dedicated to Christian 
 worship and devoted to St. George, the dragon- 
 killer. The interior is surprisingly small and very 
 dreary. It is now used as a museum, but its curi- 
 osities are not extensive. 
 
 We went to the Burial Ground of Agia Triada, 
 where excavations have brought to light many 
 ancient tombs and statues. The treasures found 
 in the tombs have been taken to the Polytechnic, 
 a building for paintings and sculptures, with fine 
 collections of antiquities from Mycenae and Egypt, 
 At the entrance to the burial ground is a small, rude 
 Greek church, which we entered. The bell had 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 221 
 
 been doing its best to suminon a congregation, but 
 we found no one except the two priests. As soon 
 as we appeared, and as if they had been waiting for 
 us, they began to recite something with great rapid- 
 ity. Then a man came in and began to trim the 
 lamps. Failing to find edification in the scene we 
 withdrew, and the priests were relieved from the 
 burden of ministering to us. Manessi said there 
 was formerly a temple connected with this ground, 
 which is yQTj likely. We did not see that, but we 
 saw a wall which had the marks of advanced age, 
 and which he said was Pelasgic. 
 
 We examined the vegetable garden which holds 
 the place of the Academy of Phito. A few pieces of 
 broken marbles have been dug up and ranged in a 
 row as witnesses to what may be still uncovered. 
 That was all we saw which had an academic look. 
 There is a very smajl church in the garden. These 
 minute edifices are found almost always where a tem- 
 ple has been. They do theii' best to keep up the 
 character of the places. We wondered why there 
 was not a persistent effort to find whatever may be 
 hidden in this garden with so promising a name. 
 Perhaps Plato did walk there with his scholars, 
 though no footprints are to be discovered. We 
 tried the pomegranates of the place, but there was 
 not much refreshment in their seeds. 
 
 There are two metropolitan churches in the city. 
 The newer one is showy and large, and was built of 
 material from seventy small churches and chapels 
 which were destro5^ed in 1840. The smaller church 
 is of more interest, because it was built of framnents 
 
222 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 of ancient buildings, whose old stones are well set 
 together. 
 
 But I must not prolong this catalogue. It can be 
 hardly more than that. It may be a hint of some of 
 the notable things in this wonderful city. In the 
 days we were there we were able to get quite a clear 
 idea of the position of the points of special interest, 
 which we visited as often as we could. Mr. Garry 
 added to our common explorations his private tours 
 of discovery. He seemed never to be weary, and no 
 other place interested him so much as Athens. It 
 was pleasant and amusing for many a day to hear 
 him boast of his knowledge. With great animation 
 and not a little pride he would declare, " I can tell 
 you where everything is. Say we're standing on the 
 Acropolis. There's Mars' Hill. There's the tem- 
 ple of Theseus. There's the prison of Socrates. 
 There's the monument of — " " Philopappus ? " 
 "Yes, Philopappus. There's the Stadium.*' And so 
 again and again would he make himself the willing 
 guide for any one who wished for information of 
 this character. I have no doubt that many a com- 
 pany among the mountains of Pennsylvania has 
 followed his outstretched finger over the hills and 
 houses of Athens. 
 
 We had seen so much Pentelic marble that we 
 riaturally desired to see the place from which it had 
 been taken. In the morning we started early in 
 a carriage which took, us to a monastery, which the 
 guide-book told us was the wealthiest in Attica. If 
 apj)earances could be trusted, the other monasteries 
 of Attica must be poor. The buildings were old 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 223 
 
 and their rooms were small, and had the bare look 
 which has been thought becoming in places for 
 meditation. Two or three monks who had no signs 
 of wealth about them, unless a general shabby con- 
 dition could be so regarded, were apparentlj^ in 
 possession. We were informed that there were sev- 
 enteen connected with the establishment. They 
 have a custom, when a monk dies, of locking the 
 door of his room and leaving it unoccupied. We 
 saw several of these closed doors. If the monastic 
 spirit should revive, so that these apartments were 
 needed, I presume that new-comers would enter into 
 the places of those who had passed on. It should be 
 so, out of respect to those who had approved that 
 method of life. A stray soldier or two hovered 
 about the grounds, and two cats found a quiet abode 
 in the hallowed precincts. The place now belongs 
 to the government, Avhich seems to have no use for 
 it. There is a grove of plane-trees near by and a 
 spring of good water. We were established in a 
 room from whose windows we had a fine view, and 
 there we opened our baskets of provisions and had 
 our lunch. Mules had been ordered to meet us 
 at this place, and they made their appearance not far 
 from the time when they were due. They had the 
 saddle of the country, clumsy and hard enough for 
 any purpose, too much so for our uses. I made 
 my own tolerable by adopting General Taylor's 
 method of riding, with both feet on one side of the 
 beast. We soon found our ascending road paved 
 with white marble, or, if not paved, it was covered 
 with chips of marble, wliich made it attractive to the 
 
224 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 eye. Perhaps tlie mules would have preferred 
 nature unadorned. Thus we came into the midst 
 of the quarries out of which so much of old Athens 
 had come. Temples and palaces had been broken 
 from these white rocks. The stones had been cut 
 into countless forms of grandeur and beauty. There 
 seemed to be enough left for other cities. But all 
 was as quiet as if the world had no more need of 
 marble halls. We found a large grotto, and walked 
 over its treacherous floor, with stalactites hanging 
 above us and beside us. There was not much for us 
 beyond. The clouds gathered sullenly, and the 
 mists soon shut out from us the wide rgach of 
 country we had hoped to look upon. It was dark and 
 cold. The drizzle was as dismal as drizzle can be on 
 a mountain. We pressed dismally through the wet 
 obscurity, till hope utterly disappeared, and it was 
 clear that nothing would be gained bj^ reaching the 
 summit, or nothing but the summit. We turned 
 the heads of our mules downward, and they slowly 
 crept from rock to rock along the narrow path till 
 their part of our excursion was over, and we could 
 resume our carriage. But we had fine views in 
 going up and when we had come below the rain, 
 the plain of Marathon, Parnassus, and Hymettus, 
 and far way Acrocorinthus, while the whole coun- 
 try over which the eye wandered, and the long 
 ranges of mountains, were full of delight. It was 
 a very good day, even if it might have been better. 
 A day was devoted to Eleusis. It is one of the 
 fascinating names. It was hard to make it real that 
 our feet could stand in the scene of the ancient 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 225 
 
 mysteries : that a ride of two or three hours could 
 carry us so much further beyond the world we had 
 entered. But little is known of the religious rites 
 which had their seat in Eleusis. They have re- 
 mained mysteries. They were of a very venerable 
 antiquity. It has been thought that they were 
 older than the mj^thology of Greece, and had their 
 origin in a time when men were more earnest in 
 their thought and in more intelligent connection 
 with nature. They concerned the world which lies 
 outside of this, and the years which are beyond 
 these, wdiich so often pass for the whole of life. 
 They kept their influence as they came down 
 through generations of men to whom, under the 
 holiest sanction, they were imparted. In the early 
 autumn, De meter, or Ceres, the goddess of the earth, 
 in whose care were the fields, and their harvests, in 
 the grea.t festival ^t Eleusis was honored with the 
 splendid and impressive worship. Visitors came 
 from all lands. From Athens to Eleusis twenty, 
 thirty thousand people moved in procession along 
 the sacred way. For nine days the festivities were 
 maintained. Everj^ Athenian who was freeborn was 
 required to receive initiation into the mysteries. At 
 night, those who were to be instructed and admitted 
 to the brotherhood were led through the darkness 
 into the lighted temple, where they saw and heard 
 what they could never reveal. The secret has been 
 kept. But that the mysteries were of high value 
 is evident. One writer has left the remark that 
 '-' those who are initiated entertain sweet hopes of 
 eternal life." In times of great peril a man would 
 
226 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 turn to his friend with the question on whose 
 answer hope seemed to hang, " Are jou initiated? " 
 It is said that the only secret of Eleusis which has 
 come from the temple of Ceres consists in the mys- 
 terious words, Konx, Ompax. 
 
 We were very near the proper time for visiting 
 Eleusis, but our solitary carriage would hardly pass 
 for a procession. We took the proper course, over 
 the sacred road, and ascended to the Pass of Daphni, 
 where we stopped at the Daphni monastery. There 
 was a temple there which is thought to have be- 
 longed to Apollo. Some columns are still standing, 
 and pieces of others grace the British Museum. 
 The monastery is six hundred years old and looks 
 as old as it is. There is a dome adorned with 
 mosaics : and there are two empty tombs, and a few 
 empty rooms, and the appliances of a common Greek 
 church. A little beyond we passed a wall in which 
 were small, irregular niches. This is what remains 
 of a temple of Aphrodite. There were also large 
 stones which belonged in the fortification with 
 which the pass was formerly defended. The drive 
 along the Bay of Eleusis was very pleasant. We 
 had a fine chance to see Salamis again, and the Bay 
 of Salamis, and to think upon the battle which 
 Xerxes watched from his seat upon the Attic shore. 
 Probably he enjoyed the reality less than we were 
 pleased with the memory. 
 
 The city of Eleusis in importance once stood next 
 to Athens. It was the most sacred place in the 
 pagan world. Its temple was the largest in Greece. 
 It had the same architect as the Parthenon, and 
 
TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 227 
 
 was designed in the time of Pericles. Pentelicus 
 furnished the marble for the house which was to do 
 it honor. Of all this little is now to be seen. An 
 insignificant village, whose name is of so little con- 
 sequence that it is spelled in various ways, occupies 
 the site of the grand edifice. Ruins there are, but 
 even the ruins are mostly out of sight. The modern 
 village was built upon the buried temple. The 
 houses have now been removed, that the former 
 house may be unearthed. A new village, or collec- 
 tion of small buildings inhabited by a few men and 
 women who seem to have been left over, represents 
 the proud city. Eleusis was. The temple was so 
 placed as to be conspicuous to the procession from 
 Athens. Its white walls must have made a fine 
 appearance. The ruins which have been brought 
 to light give hints of the magnificence, and promise 
 a fuller revelation^ We saw what was to be seen, 
 and imagined the rest. The ruins of the old gates, 
 a few bases of columns, broken stones with some- 
 thing of their true character now i>pon them, make 
 up essentially the architectural remains. The old 
 church of Saint Zacharias was built entirely of 
 stones which had served a grander purpose. With 
 some delay, while the key and keeper could be 
 found, we gained admittance to a sort of shed in 
 which some fragments of stone are preserved, with 
 their inscriptions and carvings. There was a paper 
 plan of the place, which the venerable custodian 
 offered to sell. Mr. Garry offered to buy it, and 
 the price was agreed upon. It was one franc. The 
 coin which was produced was pronounced by the 
 
228 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Eleusinian too much worn, and as our friend's 
 patience was in the same condition the bargain 
 fell through. In our rambles we came upon a man 
 treading grapes. The grapes were on a stone floor 
 having channels through which the juice ran into 
 a small well, out of which it was to be dipped that 
 it might be made into wine. It was a good object- 
 lesson in temperance. No one would thirst for the 
 wine who saw the process of manufacture. The 
 wine-maker took us into his house, which was, for 
 substance, one room. There was a table about a 
 foot in height. In the corner were roUed-up beds. 
 Two women and various children composed the fam- 
 ily. One of the women took from the fire a mess 
 of maccaroni over which she sprinkled cheese. This 
 was the dinner of the household. Possibly it was 
 also an exhibition for the benefit of the strangers. 
 We saw, too, a very primitive loom. There was 
 little besides. We found a rude sort of hostlery, 
 where we brought out our provisions, and had a 
 comfortable dinner. Then we took our way to- 
 wards home. 
 
 We were in Athens at the time of the ingathering 
 of grapes. In the vineyard women and girls were 
 picking the dusty clusters and dropping them into 
 baskets to be taken to the presses. A few men 
 superintended the work. The grapes were com- 
 monly growing on what appeared like low bushes 
 rather than vines. The pickers had the hard, 
 bronzed look which comes from living out-of-doors, 
 and, unless it . was seen from afar, there was no 
 beauty in the work. It was not much like the 
 
TO AND THBOUGH ATHENS. 229 
 
 pretty pictures which make one wish he could rest 
 under the vines and refresh himself with the tempt- 
 ing clusters. We saw goats in abundance in city 
 and country. They are most useful animals, fur- 
 nishing milk while they live, then giving their flesh 
 for meat for the poor, and their skins for bottles. 
 We saw some sheep and a few cows. In one field 
 we noticed a herdsman with his flock, the sheep on 
 one hand and the goats on the other. There were 
 huts in which the shepherds and their families and 
 flocks live in the winter, when they cannot be out 
 upon the hills. The donkey is the beast of burden 
 for the poor. He makes a comical appearance when 
 loaded with immense baskets, with a man or woman 
 at the top of the load ; or bearing masses of hay, or 
 fuel, far beyond his own dimensions, till he looks 
 like a shrunken mastodon with wings. In it all he 
 is patient, and as obedient and docile as animals of 
 his class are apt to be. 
 
 We visited the University of Athens, if walking 
 through groups of students, and then through the 
 library and museum, and looking over a few manu- 
 scripts, can be called a visit. We were courteously 
 treated, and at less cost than if it had been an 
 English university. There are four departments — 
 Theology, Law, Medicine, and Philosophy, and an 
 observatory. There are about fifteen hundred stu- 
 dents, and sixty or more professors and teachers. 
 On the same street is the Arsakion, a school for 
 girls, and the largest in Greece. The American 
 Classical School is on the other side of the city, 
 where it has made a beginning in its important 
 
230 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 work. This is hardly the place for an appeal, yet 
 I cannot resist the desire to say a word in behalf 
 of scholarship and patriotism, as these are related 
 to this school. It is now in hired rooms, where the 
 director and his family have their residence. The 
 government of Greece presented to the British 
 school a piece of ground on the southern slope of 
 Lycabettus, where a suitable building has been 
 erected. The government has offered to the Amer- 
 ican school a similar lot of land near that given to 
 the English school, or in some other part of the 
 city, if a different site is preferred. The money for 
 the building has been provided. Surely there are 
 persons enough who have an interest in such inves- 
 tigations and studies as can best be pursued in 
 Greece to make it a simple matter, and one not 
 long to be delayed, to provide the few thousands 
 of dollars which will raise this promising American 
 institution to a becoming place among the schools 
 of Athens. It will be a prominent witness to 
 American learning, and will give us a share in a 
 work in which it should be our delight to engage. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I]Sr AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 How little I have said of Athens ! How small a 
 part of all which we saw and thought can be trans- 
 ferred to paper ! Our days were packed with 
 interest. To be there was an unbroken delight. 
 Whether we looked upon the old or the new, there 
 was enough to keep the mind busy and to keep 
 memory and imagination on the stretch. I find 
 that I have written nothing of our visits at the 
 house of the American minister, where, surrounded 
 with orange-trees and flowers, he served his country 
 and enriched the literature of the world. Nothing 
 of Mr. Kalopothakes and his chapel, and the good 
 work he is doing for his people. Nothing of the 
 royal palace, with its tarnished glories, and its neg- 
 lected park where we strolled in forbidden and 
 unforbidden places, and came upon a sleepy lioness 
 in whose cage courageous or initiated rats nibbled 
 at a piece of raw meat, which they proposed to 
 draw through the bars for consumption at their 
 leisure. I have indulged in no moralizing, nor 
 have I attempted to picture the future of Greece, 
 when her energy and bravery shall have given her 
 among the nations the place to which she is entitled. 
 The past will not return, but better days than these 
 
 231 
 
232 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 may come. They will not spring from the vine- 
 yards, or be exhumed from the ruins. They will 
 oome from the works of justice and liberty, of 
 education and religion, which have made younger 
 nations great. To one who spends a few days in 
 Greece there seems to be a lack of enterprise and of 
 an earnest spirit. They seem not to be keeping step 
 with the swift movement of the years. Her cur- 
 rency and her postage stamps in their insufficiency 
 are small signs of large deficiencies. But from all 
 this she will rise. Beside her ruins and over them 
 will grow up the new Greece which will be worthy 
 of the name. 
 
 It was nine o'clock in the evening when we 
 turned reluctantly from Athens. At the Piraeus 
 we parted from Manessi, embarked in a sailboat, 
 and were soon on board the steamer. We were 
 most fortunate in our ship. The Titania was 
 destined for the India trade and was then mak- 
 ing an experimental voyage. Everything was new 
 and neat. The state-rooms were large and conve- 
 nient, and all the appointments were excellent, even 
 to electric lights. Neither before nor after did we see 
 so fine a steamer in those waters. It was at mid- 
 night that we were to sail out of the harbor, but in 
 the morning we were still there and still taking in 
 freight. It was a good place to linger in. Our last 
 look at the Parthenon, Hymettus, Lycabettus, and 
 all which could be made out from the sea was im- 
 pressive. Tenedos, Lemnos, Mt. Ida, and the site of 
 Troy all appealed to us as we made our pleasant 
 way across the ^gean. We entered the Darda- 
 
IN AND ABOUT COXSTAXTINOPLE. 933 
 
 nelles, passing between the two forts on the opposite 
 points between which Leander used to swim at 
 night, for a worthier purpose than marked the simi- 
 lar feat which has been performed there in our time 
 by Mr. Webb. We stopped for a few moments and 
 the waiting boats came off to us. From a row of 
 buildino's on the Asiatic shore floated the flags of 
 the nations which had their consulates there. On 
 the last and most imposing of the series was the 
 banner which is always so beautiful in a strange 
 land. Then we jiassed through the Hellespont and 
 across the Sea of Marmora and at midnight on the 
 12th of October came to anchor before Constanti- 
 nople. The next morning the city was somewdiat 
 obscured by fog, which gave to the whole scene a 
 spectral look. We moved farther on and again the 
 boats gathered about us. It seemed a pity to leave 
 a finer ship than we were to have again. But w^e 
 took to the boats. Presently we were stopped be- 
 side another boat, which belonged to the government 
 of Turkey, and the passport of one of our company 
 was held up before the proper official. T believe that 
 it w^as an English document, but it Avas just as well, 
 and we were allowed to land. At the quay other 
 officers lay in w^aiting. Some satisfactory arrange- 
 ment was made wdth them by the man who had us 
 in charge, and our luggage was seized by porters who 
 had a peculiar cushion on their backs upon which 
 heavy loads could rest as the men carried them. 
 Carriage or dray there was none. We formed in 
 procession, guides, travellers, porters, and moved up 
 the street, if street it could be called. It w^as very 
 
234 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 narrow, very steep, very dirty and rough, and 
 thronged with men and dogs. I suppose the boats 
 could have taken us to a better place, but that was 
 not their way. The porters were to be provided 
 for. We toiled on and at length reached our hotel, 
 the Byzance. We were in Pera, the part of the city 
 in which the English have their homes. On the 
 other side of the Golden Horn is Stamboul, the old 
 city, while Scutari is on the opposite side of the 
 Bosphorus. The view of the city from the water is 
 wonderfully fine. The illusion vanishes when one 
 is on the land. We had, as usual, our local guide 
 who bespoke our favor by presenting the book of 
 the Hon. S. S. Cox, in which his name appears. He 
 was Dionysius of Ithaca, and in his directions we 
 had entire confidence. 
 
 It has been very well said that there are four cit- 
 ies which belong to the whole world. One of them 
 we had just left. Of course Rome is another, and 
 Jerusalem, while Constantinople must be the fourth. 
 If the reader is not perfectly familiar with the posi- 
 tion of the city, let him turn to his map and see 
 what an unrivalled place was chosen for it. It is on 
 the highway between the Mediterranean and the 
 Black Sea, between the continents, while it is de- 
 fended by two narrow straits which can be readily 
 fortified and easily held, with hills and lakes pro- 
 tecting it beyond its seas. It is the natural seaport 
 for the vast extent of country which lies in every 
 direction around its fine harbor. Chalcedon was said 
 to have been founded by blind men, who could not 
 see how much better was the other side of the Bos- 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 235 
 
 phorus. The city has had rich natural advantages. 
 But when it is asked what it has done for the 
 world, what great gifts it has conferred, we cannot 
 answer as when the question relates to either of the 
 three cities which are named with it. Greeks from 
 Megara laid the foundation of Byzantium in 667 B. C. 
 The Persians held the city for a time, till it entered 
 the Athenian Confederacy and came with Athens 
 under the Macedonians, and then under Rome. 
 Constantine enlarged the place and called it New 
 Rome. But the people called it for the Emperor. 
 Till 1453 it was the eastern capital of the empire. 
 Then the Turks became its possessors. Mohammed 
 II. assaulted the city, and with his army forced his 
 way into it over its defences, and drove the Greeks 
 to St. Sophia, where women and children, old men 
 and priests, had taken refuge. They trod down the 
 fugitives, and the conqueror riding upon their fallen 
 bodies entered the church, and struck his bloody 
 hand high up against a column. The mark remains. 
 That heavy red hand has crushed out the life of the 
 people. The mad cry of the conqueror, with its 
 eternal truth and eternal lie, has been darkness on 
 the land, and the inspiration of cruel centuries. It 
 is impossible to tell the population of the city. 
 Estinmtes vary from five hundred thousand to nine 
 hundred thousand. They are of many nationalities. 
 Turks, Bulgarians, Armenians, Circassians, Greeks, 
 Africans, Franks form the motley throng which 
 moves through the streets. Perhaps one-half of the 
 people are Mohammedans. These are united by 
 their religious faith, and united in their hostility to 
 
236 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 all others. The other half have a variety of beliefs, 
 but a common hatred of the Turks. The Turks 
 fear the Christians, whom they associate with Russia 
 and its intentions. The Christians feel that the 
 Turks would be as willing as in other days to 
 destroy them, if the word was given. The Turk 
 knows the power of the Christian States to whose 
 influence he is obliged to submit. The Christian as 
 he walks by St. Sophia sees this sanctuary profaned 
 by the infidel and recalls the slaughter of his breth- 
 ren. With all these causes of division, there is 
 nothing in the government to inspire respect, or in 
 the national life to encourage public confidence. 
 Meanwhile the position of the city gives it impor- 
 tance, and at once endangers and protects it. What 
 the end will be, there is no prophet to declare. A 
 change there must be, and a thorough one. It was 
 with pride and thankfulness we saw that the best, 
 most helpful, most promising institutions in Constan- 
 tinople were American : — Robert College, the school 
 at Scutari, and the Bible house with its printing- 
 presses. The star in the west is rising with healing 
 in its wings. 
 
 There is a modern look about Pera. The stamp 
 of France is on it ; on press, money, language, and 
 manners. What is not Turkish, in the large .^ense, 
 is French. We found some good streets and good 
 shops. There were a few horses and carriages, but 
 most persons trudged along in the middle of the 
 street. We were looking for the native and his 
 ways. Dionysius took us to the upper end of a 
 tunnel through which cars ascend and descend. The 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 237 
 
 force used is invisible. The trip lasts about three 
 minutes, and is a great convenience. We were 
 landed in Galata, below the high tower of the 
 Gauls. This is the commercial part of the city, and 
 is at the point where the Golden Horn and the Bos- 
 phorus meet. We made our waj^ through the crowd 
 to the bridge which is the chief thoroughfare be- 
 tween Pera and Stamboul. The bridge is said to 
 rest on boats. It is a free use of the name. The 
 boats are huge iron boxes which are anchored in 
 their places. Upon these are planks, worn and 
 broken with much travel till they make a very 
 uneven road. A dense stream of men and women 
 is constantly passing to and fro. Stretched in a 
 line across the way, at each end of the bridge, are 
 men in long white frocks who are kept very busy 
 collecting the toll. They have to jump briskly from 
 one person to anotjier, but they miss nobody. There 
 are beggars, too, who haunt the bridge, and with 
 even more persistence, though with less reason and 
 less success, seek tribute from the traveller. They 
 whine, and smile, and pluck at your sleeve, and will 
 not be denied, and are denied after alh They know 
 the strangers, and devote their attention wholly to 
 them. 
 
 After crossing^ the brido^e we soon came to the 
 bazaars. It is not easy to describe them. Let one 
 think of a large market with its stalls, and extend it 
 indefinitely, taking as many streets as he pleases 
 into the enclosure, and he may have some idea of 
 the general plan. Fill tliese countless stalls with 
 goods of many descriptions, and the passages be- 
 
238 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 tween them with an equal variety of people, and let 
 the place be the scene of incessant bargaining, and he 
 may get a faint picture of the bazaars. The ways 
 are rough and dirty. There is nothing attractive 
 besides the goods, but a lively interest is maintained 
 as one moves from street to street, studying customs 
 and costumes, and setting his money and wit against 
 the wit and wares of the dealers. There is a sys- 
 tem of classification which is convenient. Thus 
 you have the druggists' bazaar, the goldsmiths', the 
 silk-merchants', devoted to their special sorts of 
 merchandise. The whole scene is novel and spir- 
 ited, but there is seldom any rudeness, and no one 
 seems surprised whether his goods are taken or 
 refused. It is literally a place of trade. No one 
 thinks of getting or giving the price which is asked 
 for anything. The dealer names a price and nego- 
 tiation begins. It is proper to offer anything, bat 
 not safe unless you are willing to be taken up. It 
 needs a little hardening to make a good buyer. I 
 was equal to considerable in the way of trade, but 
 there was a line I could not cross. When I wished 
 to make an extreme offer, from which my sense of 
 propriety shrank, I resorted to Mr. Garry, who was 
 fearless. The price would be five francs. " What 
 do you want to give ? " " I'll give one franc." '' Let 
 me have your money." Then taking the goods in 
 one hand and the franc in the other he would push 
 his hands alternately towards the astonished mer- 
 chant, appealing to him all the while, " Which will 
 you take? " It ended in his taking the franc, when 
 the obliging broker would hand over the goods to me 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 239 
 
 and the money to the merchant. I do not know 
 what theory of philology Mr. Garry held. But he 
 had facility in making himself understood, and was 
 always willing to exercise his talent. He had learned 
 something of colloquial German from living with 
 Germans in Pennsylvania, and this served him well 
 on some occasions. But he did nearly as well in 
 Turkish and Arabic, and made up in patience and 
 good-nature and pantomime what was lacking in 
 language. 
 
 The usual difficulties of trade are complicated in 
 Turkey by the state of the currency, if currency it 
 can be called. I doubt if any but old residents are 
 masters of even practical finance in Constantinople. 
 I made several attempts to get a working knowledge 
 of it, but never succeeded. I committed to memorj^ 
 tables of currency, but they always failed me when 
 anything was to be paid for. I found out that forty 
 paras made one piastre, which is about equal to 
 twopence English. I find in my guide-book a pencil 
 note in which I had calculated that twenty paras 
 equal one-half a piastre; or a penny English. I 
 know I was in a tight place when I made the reck- 
 oning. A pound sterling is one hundred and ten 
 piastres ; a Napoleon, eighty-seven and a half ; a 
 twenty-mark piece, one hundred eight and a half. 
 Then we continually heard of bechliks, which are 
 five piastres. Altogether confusion was confounded. 
 I have not stated all the difficulties, nor can I. The 
 names bewildered us. The Turkish franc was worth 
 three-fourths of a piastre more than the French. 
 The money of Roumania was at a discount, because 
 
240 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the Roumanians had offended the Turks. The value 
 of the piastre itself was uncertain. Thus a postage 
 stamp was marked one piastre ; but if you offered 
 that coin more was demanded, on the ground that 
 the stamp meant a gold piastre. There is no gold 
 piastre, so that it was necessary to add the difference 
 between gold and silver to the actual coin to make 
 it equal to the imaginary one. There was only one 
 solution of the difficulty, and that lay in an appeal 
 to Dionysius. Either he was requested to pay for 
 me and put it in my account, or I offered him such 
 money as I had on hand and let him select what was 
 necessary. In this unsatisfactory state we wandered 
 about the streets, and roamed through the bazaars 
 where everything could be bought, from a string of 
 perfumed beads to a diamond necklace; from a pair 
 of wooden shoes to a last year's dress from the 
 Sultan's harem, rich in velvet and heavy with gold. 
 There was variety in the methods of the merchants. 
 Some were in their stalls, busy with their goods ; 
 some sat cross-legged waiting for the customers 
 whom destiny might bring in their way ; while 
 others, more enterprising, came outside and with 
 politeness and persistence invited the strangers to 
 enter and examine their goods. But everybody was 
 good-natui"ed. Money-changers abound along the 
 streets, but they keep a dear school in currency. 
 There was a scarcity of change when we were in the 
 city. I fancy it is a chronic trouble. It is a serious 
 one. Not unlikely the ticket-seller at the railroad 
 or steamer, who has j^ou at his mercy, will refuse 
 the money you offer, because he cannot give you 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 241 
 
 change, or will enforce a discount which will make 
 you careful the next time. 
 
 The mixed condition of things is somewhat in- 
 creased by the two kinds of time which are kept. 
 Civilized time is in common use, but you also find 
 the Turkish, in which the day begins at sunset. 
 They say that their style is the simpler, because no 
 one can tell just when it is noon, but anybody can 
 see when the sun sets. The daily paper publishes 
 the time for the day, but I did not hear in what way 
 the clocks are adjusted. It is well that the equa- 
 nimity of the people is not easily disturbed. 
 
 I must name some of the things which are to be 
 seen in Constantinople. It can be little beyond 
 naming. Dionysius took us to the cistern of a 
 thousand columns. I think that he overstated the 
 number. But there were hundreds of them. It was 
 a reservoir in its day. The Turks filled it up to the 
 depth of nearly two-thirds of the length of the col- 
 umns, and the place is dismal in its disused condi- 
 tion. We went to the tomb of the Sultans, or to 
 the building which has that high-sounding designa- 
 tion. There is the tomb of Mahmoud II., the re- 
 former, and of his sisters and daughters, and of his 
 son Sultan Abdul Aziz. The tombs are handsomely 
 decorated after the Turkish manner and are faith- 
 fully cared for. Mahmoud deserves the title of 
 reformer, if he is judged in his own place. He 
 improved roads, sent out ambassadors, enlarged the 
 liberty of women, administered justice on an im- 
 proved plan, but at the same time carried things 
 with a high hand, and by his treatment of the 
 
242 SOME THINGS ABBOAI). 
 
 officers of the realm, both in their person and their 
 property, encouraged a perpetual revolt. It was a 
 stormy time, full of perils. But it ended in 1839, 
 and then followed the cahn repose in which we 
 found him, where marble and gold enshrine his 
 dust. We passed into an older time when we 
 entered the Hippodrome. The place is dreary 
 enough. We saw no running horses. I believe 
 there were two or three horses moving around over 
 the sandy plain, but there was noticing exciting or 
 alluring. The interest of the place is in its three 
 columns. One of them is an obelisk from Egypt 
 which is in good order and is like Egpytian obelisks 
 in general. There is also the column of Constantine 
 VII. with which time has dealt less kindly. But far 
 the most important of the three is the serpentine 
 column. It came from Delphi, and is a lonesome 
 remnant of the pagan days. Three brazen serpents 
 twisted together, without their heads, and carrying 
 an old and weary look, and the mutilation which 
 must come in twenty-three centuries of a naughty 
 world, make up what has been called '' probably the 
 most remarkable relic that the world possesses." 
 It may be so ; but standing there, despoiled of its 
 fair proportions, and separated from the environ- 
 ment of time and place which gave it meaning, it 
 is not impressive. Not even its age can make up 
 for that which it has lost. We saw another column 
 in the city which has the merit of great antiquity. 
 But it bears marks of time and violence and fire, 
 and wears a pitiable aspect in the life of to-day. 
 The first days which we spent in Constantinople 
 
JN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 243 
 
 belonged in one of the festivals, and many of the 
 shops were closed. But enough were open, and the 
 city was full of stir. We made our way into a large 
 court-yard before a mosque, and found it nearly full 
 of people engaged in holiday pursuits. Children 
 were riding and swinging, and men were strolling 
 about trying to be contented and to look at ease, 
 and women were sitting on the steps and watching 
 the crowd through th^ir veils. The only disorder 
 we saw was where a woman had removed her veil. 
 The police appeared and commanded her to cover 
 her face. They used the language of the police, 
 which is the same in all countries. The woman 
 refused. A crowd gathered and clamor began. 
 Matters grew serious, and we waited to see what 
 would come of it. There could be but one result. 
 Threats prevailed, and the woman drew her veil 
 over her unattractive beauty. Why call this ab- 
 surd? It is the land of the absurd. Very little in 
 Turkish usages does not suggest that idea to a 
 traveller from the West. But shall not a country 
 have its own customs ? The veil but partially con- 
 ceals the face of the wearer. Between the upper 
 and lower folds may be seen the black eyes, which 
 turn in curiosity towards the passing stranger. 
 Nature will have her way. The Avomen do not 
 seem disturbed when a stranger looks at them, 
 but the men regard it as a grave offence which they 
 are quick to resent. Many of the dresses of the 
 women are very showy. The contrast between 
 the wearer and the garb are often very striking. 
 It is amusing to see through the thin veil the face 
 
244 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 of a negress who gains by concealing her personality 
 in the general attire of womankind. 
 
 It is a pity that the Turkish dress has been so much 
 cast aside. French fashions have too far supplanted 
 among the men what in the Orient at least is superior. 
 If it had ended there, it would have been bad enough. 
 But the young Turk has borrowed the vices of a 
 nation whose virtues he has overlooked, and grafted 
 them upon his own stock of weakness and wicked- 
 ness. A company of persons of this sort is not 
 a pleasant sight, or a hopeful one. The richer peo- 
 ple, although claiming what rank there is, have less 
 character and worse habits than the poor whom they 
 despise and oppress. There is not much of the real 
 Turk blood in the people, and the mongrel race 
 which holds the ground now has little to commend 
 it. If there is a future for Turkey it must come from 
 without. There is no power of reform under the 
 Crescent and the bloody hand. The years as they 
 pass will bring in something for a land which has 
 cast away its opportunities ; for a people which has 
 deserved a respectable government and a decent 
 religion, and has had neither. 
 
 Constantinople is a walled city, that is the old part, 
 Stamboul. The walls enclose all but that which lies 
 along the Golden Horn. It had walls in Constan tine's 
 time. Theodosius built outside of these, and his walls 
 were kept up till the Turks came into possession. 
 The wall on the land side is stronger than that by 
 the sea, being double, with a deep moat and large 
 towers. Portions of the walls have fallen, and the 
 marks of sieges and attacks are yet upon the stones. 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 245 
 
 As a defence they would be of small use. The 
 government values them so little that it needed 
 the interposition of the British Ambassador to save 
 them from destruction. The Turks have taken the 
 precaution to wall up a small gate in deference to a 
 tradition that at some time a Christian army will 
 come through, and they will be sent back to the 
 places which they should never have left. There is 
 a similar gate with a similar tradition at Jerusalem. 
 
 It is not easy to give any idea in words of the 
 chief religious edifice of the city, the Church of St. 
 Sophia. It was a Christian church before it sunk 
 to a mosque. The building has kept its original 
 character better than any other Christian church of 
 the very early days. Constantine founded it, Jus- 
 tinian rebuilt it, Mohammed II. degraded it. The 
 fourth, sixth, and fifteenth centuries have thus 
 worked upon it. It has received some renovation 
 in our own day. It was built of light bricks and 
 lined with marble. Justinian brought eight porphyry 
 columns from the ruins of Aurelius' Temple of the 
 Sun, at Rome, for the adornment of this church and 
 the support of its roof. Other columns were brought 
 from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, and from the 
 Temple of the Sun at Baalbec, and from other 
 famous eastern shrines. The church was of the 
 highest type of oriental architecture. It is rectan- 
 gular in shape, with a massive dome, one hundred 
 and six feet in diameter, and very flat, so that it is 
 hard to see what keeps it in its place. The walls 
 and roof were resplendent with mosaics. The mar- 
 ble glittered with gold. Nothing of skill or cost 
 
246 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 was spared in the decoration. Prophets, bishops, 
 and cherubim looked down into the sanctuary and 
 added to its sacredness. Against all this the Turk 
 protested, and when the church passed into his 
 hands, some mosaics disappeared and others were 
 covered with whitewash or plaster. They feared 
 that the image might lead to idolatry. Through the 
 thin covering the outlines of the figures can now be 
 seen. Some of the mosaics have been copied. 
 Much of the splendor has been lost. We read of 
 the choir whose screens had silver columns and 
 rails; and of the golden altar adorned with precious 
 stones, and the high tabernacle of silver which was 
 over it ; and of the hangings embroidered with gold ; 
 and the pearls and gems which encircled the pre- 
 cious stones. This has passed away. But the 
 house is there. The Mohammedans hung up texts 
 from the Koran, and wrote others in massive letters 
 about the dome ; and below the dome they painted 
 four archangels, or four groups of six wings as sym- 
 bols of the beings whom no man has seen. 
 
 The whole effect of the sacred edifice is most 
 impressive. Space, grandeur, unity appeal to the 
 mind and heart. The history of the church en- 
 hances the impression. Here the Byzantine Emper- 
 ors were crowned, and the Greek and Latin Churches 
 were joined in a bond easily severed : and the last 
 scene in the death of the empire was enacted, when 
 the red hand and the red scimitar made the mark 
 upon the pillar of stone. The false prophet has 
 long held the house. But the old occupants are 
 looking through the veil which was thrown over 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 247 
 
 them, and we noticed that when the large cross was 
 torn from the door the mark of it remained. It 
 could be replaced in precisely its old position, even 
 to the nails which kept it in its place. Some day it 
 will go back, and the house will revert to the people 
 from whom it was taken away, and be once more a 
 Christian church. 
 
 When we came to St. Sophia we thrust our feet 
 into commodious slippers, and then shuffled our way 
 over the straw matting which covered the floor. 
 Very few persons were in sight and we saw none of 
 the worship. But we did mark the wonderful 
 beauty which surrounded us and gazed with rare 
 interest upon the roof, walls, pillars, the sacred 
 texts and half-seen mosaics ; the thrones of the 
 preachers and the dignitaries of church and state, 
 and the recess where the Koran is laid, and the places 
 for the men who come to worship. We saw the 
 square raised platforms where a family can gather 
 for devotions, as we enter our pews and shut our- 
 selves in. One column has the name of Helena. 
 There is a small hole in it, and into this men put 
 their hand and touch their eyes, that healing may 
 come to them. We saw the process many times 
 repeated, but perceived no benefit. Women, of 
 course, do not attend the public services in the 
 mosque, but sometimes they may be seen seated on 
 the floor when there is no service, and sometimes a 
 priest may be seen giving them appropriate counsel. 
 All this will be improved when the cross is again on 
 the door. 
 
 The interior of St. Sophia is very much finer than 
 
248 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 that of any other mosque. They are usually very 
 bare and dreary buildings. That which bears the 
 name of Suleiman, or Solyman, the Magnificent, has 
 a very fine exterior, much superior to that of St. 
 Sophia, but within it is far below it, and it has 
 much less historic interest. Its name is grand, as 
 that of the great sultan who enlarged the power of 
 the Ottoman Empire and advanced its literature and 
 art. He was borji about the time that Columbus 
 discovered America. We admired his mosque, but 
 were more interested in the mosque of Bajazet. Its 
 court-yard was a busy place. There were letter- 
 writers ready to put on paper the thoughts which 
 others had but could not express. They were not 
 doing much work just then. We were more pleased 
 with the pigeons which resort to this yard to be fed. 
 They came in large numbers, and fliocked about 
 those who had grain for them. They were regarded 
 as sacred and were without fear. The service 
 which they had rendered in a former generation 
 was remembered to their advantage. 
 
 Dionysius took us through the Greek quarter. It 
 was a long and tiresome walk over the rough streets. 
 But he was patriotically bent on our seeing what 
 related to his country and religion. There are 
 twenty-one Greek churches reported in the old city, 
 and the Greek patriarch has his seat there. We 
 visited the Church or Cathedral of St. George. I 
 suppose this is the St. George who has been honored 
 as the patron of chivalry and held in special venera- 
 tion in both the east and the west. It is impossible 
 to trace his history. It ended in martyrdom, after 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 249 
 
 an active and useful career. The dragon which he 
 conquered was the symbol of pagan power wliich 
 persecuted him. Soldiers have asserted a personal 
 claim to him because the legends show him as a sol- 
 dier. The Hellespont was once called St. George's 
 Arm. I trust T am not giving the church to the 
 wrong George. In the church are valuable treas- 
 ures. The hand of St. Andrew is among them. 
 There are the bodies of other saints. The throne 
 and pulpit and book-chest of St. Chrysostom are 
 there. Above the gate are the nails on which one of 
 the patriarchs was hanged. I think he was a patri- 
 arch. The nails and the story are still there, if any 
 one wishes to investigate the matter. One is less 
 curious and critical in such affairs when he is on the 
 ground, somewhat hurried and with a crowed of things 
 to be seen and remembered. We saw the hole in 
 the ground in which was laid the body of Constan- 
 tine, the last of the Greek emperors. The grave is 
 walled around, but has a neglected look. The Turk 
 does not allow any care to be given to it, we were 
 told. An old lantern hangs over it. Constantine 
 deserved a better fate. He stoutly defended the 
 city against the Turks in 1463, refusing all com- 
 promise, and when the walls were stormed he 
 was killed. His body was found among a heap of 
 his slain soldiers, and was recognized by the golden 
 eagles which were embroidered on his shoes. 
 Mohammed was generous enough to give the body 
 an honorable burial, but the head had been cut off 
 before this was done. There is a story that the 
 head was sent as a trophy through Persia and 
 
250 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Arabia. It would not have been out of keeping 
 with much that was done, but it is doubtful if this 
 particular thing ever took place. Not far from the 
 grave of the fallen emperor is a sort of iron cage in 
 which is the grave of the man who killed him. He 
 thought he was doing good service, but when the 
 deed was done and confessed and proved, the con- 
 queror had the man beheaded. There are some 
 people whom it is very hard to please. It is a good 
 old church, and has good right to the honorable 
 place it holds in a city which the Greeks founded 
 and lost, but may regain. 
 
 The Armenians and the Jews have their districts, 
 but of these I will not speak. I must say a word of 
 the Seraglio Palace, which is on the point where 
 Stamboul pushes into the sea. This point is cut off 
 from the rest of the peninsula by a wall. It was 
 here, it is thought, that the earliest settlement was 
 made. As you look at this point on the map, you 
 think at once of the end of Cape Cod. But on the 
 plan of the city, instead of Provincetown you see 
 the summer harem. There the emperors lived in 
 the early days, and the sultans after them, in a large 
 fortress and palace, where cruelty could be con- 
 cealed and crimes of every character be committed 
 in safety. It was easy to sew in a sack any living 
 obstacle, any officer who resisted, any favorite whose 
 charms had fled, and to drop the bag from the walls 
 into the sea which is long in giving up its dead. 
 Fire has always had a large opportunity in the city, 
 and it has strewn the point with ruins. Something 
 of the palace remains. A museum preserves in 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 251 
 
 disorder monuments of art which have been brought 
 from Asia Minor and the Isles of Greece. Utterly- 
 neglected, they form heaps of treasure. There is, 
 also, the Church of St. Irene, the Holy Peace, which 
 is a fine specimen of Byzantine architecture, though 
 it has lost its true character, and is now a temple of 
 war, with its walls adorned with swords and lances 
 and rifles, w^iile cannon with their balls rest idly on 
 the consecrated floor. The beauty and honor of the 
 place have departed, the shame has become inactive, 
 the weapoi]s are harmless ; but the tall cypresses 
 mark the spot, and draw to it the attention of the 
 stranger, who asks what is there, and hears the tale 
 of the changes which have been wrought for better 
 and for worse. 
 
 I can say so little of all which should be said of 
 this confused city that it matters little where I stop. 
 There are hospitals, baths, schools, libraries, papers, 
 but it does not seem worth while to write much 
 about them. Some of the hospitals have provisions 
 for Christians. The baths are for anybody who 
 likes them. That there are many such persons is 
 evident from the two thousand public places which 
 are provided. We tried the Turkish bath in the 
 home of it. We had the wetting, drenching, drown- 
 ing, rubbing, warming, with a bed and a cup of 
 coffee as a finale. I cannot call it agreeable. The 
 attire of the boy who inflicted himself and the water 
 upon us was extremely scant. But he did his work 
 thoroughly. The effect was good. To have the 
 process end was as good as any part of it. We 
 could not then have left Turkey without this per- 
 
252 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 sonal experience, but at another time we could 
 do so. 
 
 Education is not in a flourishing condition in this 
 city. It would be too perilous to all the institutions 
 to have the people know anything. Reading and 
 prayers are taught in the lower schools, and there 
 are schools for adults. But the grade is low and 
 will be kept so. The military schools are better, 
 and there are other professional schools. The libra- 
 ries belong to the mosques, and are of small service, 
 though old manuscripts may be buried in them. 
 What would be found in a small Western city, and 
 would abound in a capital, cannot be seen in this 
 metropolis. The government has no interest in 
 such things, and the people make no demand for 
 them. Hence there is a noticeable absence of 
 museums, art-galleries, libraries. High Schools, and 
 other marks and products of civilization. The 
 reason is plain. Go back to St. Sophia and see 
 again the mark of the red hand. Civilization is 
 impossible under its palm, beneath its knuckles. It 
 has no fondness for learning. Thought it dreads; 
 life it crushes. It veils its women and blinds its 
 men. 
 
 No one mentions Constantinople without speaking 
 of its dogs. They are there. It would be an exag- 
 geration to say that the streets are paved with them, 
 but one keeps his eyes down as he walks. The dogs 
 lie quietly and heavily where he would tread. He 
 steps over them and they do not stir. He would 
 not dare to kick them. The dogs might not care, 
 but there are men who would resent such an innova- 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 253 
 
 tion. It is hard to rouse the animals from their 
 repose by any moderate suggestion with the foot. 
 They are not handsome — far from it. They have 
 all one look. They are useful as scavengers. Their 
 fondness for bones is the relief of their owners. 
 You cannot say that the streets are kept clean by 
 them ; but you do not see in the dirt anything tliat 
 a dog could eat to advantage. T said owners. Bat 
 private ownership does not prevail to any extent. 
 The dogs are a public institution. They have their 
 districts, like their betters. The dogs of any quar- 
 ter are its defenders against all comers. A dog who 
 ventures on the precincts of otliers is the common 
 enemy. For the time being sleep is over, and the 
 canine host advances on the intruder, who pulls 
 down his flag and retreats. 
 
 The most evident sign of tlie life of the world 
 wdiich the city affords is the Tramway. Horse-cars 
 in Constantinople have a modern look. I think the 
 cars were taken from America. They run on a plan 
 of their own. The intervals between their startings 
 vary. They are fond of keeping together, so that 
 you may see many when you want but one, and wait 
 a long time before another group comes your way. 
 They pass around the outside of the city and wan- 
 der into the country. There are steam railroads 
 also, which conuect with Adrianopole and various 
 other places. Steamboats are running to and from 
 the city all the time. But the boats are old and 
 poor, and we found too many passengers for our 
 comfort. The Golden Horn is a great thoroughfare. 
 The name is said to have been taken from the vast 
 
254 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 
 
 shoals of fish which came down from the Black Sea 
 and were captured in these waters. The trade was 
 so brisk and lucrative that the name " Golden " was 
 set upon the horn of plenty. We found a motley 
 collection of fellow-passengers whenever we jour- 
 neyed where the fish used to come : Turks of many 
 grades, and men of other nationalities ; women in a 
 place curtained off for their seclusion ; beggars, of 
 course; and once a ragged hermit, who was seeiving 
 alms. There was no conceivable reason for showing 
 this last beggar any favor. Nothing in his person 
 or his trade commended him, and he seemed aware 
 of this. Superstition must have fallen lower than 
 usual before it could encourage his peculiar style of 
 rags and laziness. There are many objects of inter- 
 est in a sail through the Golden Horn. We saw in 
 the distance the place of the Sweet Waters ; saw 
 the ruined palace of Belisarius, whose victorious life 
 had so disappointing an end. It is denied that in 
 his last days he wandered a blind beggar through 
 the streets of the city which had honored him afore- 
 time. But he was impoverished, and he did spend 
 in prison the most of his last year, because he had 
 conspired, it was charged, against the life of Jus- 
 tinian. Nowhere are the vicissitudes of fortune more 
 seen than in these eastern lands, where home and 
 life are held by so slight a tenure. We passed, also, 
 in the Golden Horn a showy building of brick and 
 stone in which a Greek school is established. The 
 building had an encouraging appearance, and gave 
 signs of life. There are many wooden houses in the 
 city and on the shores of the sea. The villages come 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 255 
 
 to the very shores of the Bosphorus, as on tlie Swiss 
 and Italian lakes. The street cries are very harsh 
 and loud. But the people in general seem to be 
 good-natured, either content with their lot, or in 
 despair of improyement. Time and fate roll on 
 together, and the people go with them. 
 
 But there are better things in this great city than 
 these of which I have been speaking. The outer 
 and truer world has begun to flow into the gates 
 which have been reluctantly opened. Life and 
 light are to be found wdiere domes and minarets 
 rise oyer darkness and death, striving to shut them 
 in. We may well be grateful that American enter- 
 prise has found a place within and without the walls 
 where it is working for the sake of the Name. 
 
 One morning we went on board a steamer at the 
 old bridge, wdiich is the common pier for the steam- 
 boats, and turned up the Bosphorus. We sailed 
 past the Sultan's palace, whose long white front 
 makes a fine appearance. It looks very pure with- 
 out. We could not see what was within. We saw 
 on the hill a smaller palace in w^hich the Sultan was 
 at that time residing. There were pah^ces for the 
 Pashas, also, and an attractive building at the 
 '' sweet waters of Asia," which we were told was 
 a summer resort for bathing and other recreation. 
 It w^as a fine ride which we had over the w^inding 
 course of the Bosphorus, among its rocky hills and 
 quiet villages. We Avent up far enough to look 
 through the entrance into the Black Sea and then 
 turned back. On the return trip we left the steamer 
 at Roumeli Hissar, the station from which Robert 
 
256 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 College is reached. But we were far enough from 
 the college itself, which we could see above us. 
 We admired the sagacity of the founder who had 
 built upon the hill. We knew that the view from 
 the college must be fine, for the large stone edifice had 
 a very commanding site. We soon began to doubt 
 the sagacity of the founder, as we toiled wearily up 
 the steep and rough path to the classic grounds. 
 When we were in the college grounds, there was 
 still an ascent to be made before we reached the 
 building. We thought that the hill of learning 
 must yield excellent and abundant fruit to attract 
 students. But the climb brought its usual reward. 
 The view was, — but mj adjectives were long ago 
 exhausted. Say it was extensive, superb, magnifi- 
 cent, not to be excelled by any school in the world. 
 We looked down on the Bosphorus and far away 
 beyond it. We looked back upon the city and the 
 waters which enclose it. The eye wandered from 
 height to height, finding everywhere somethiug to 
 admire. Below the hill were the old towers of 
 Mohammed 11. with others on the opposite shore. 
 This is the narrowest part of the Bosphorus, and 
 from this point boats were carried by Mohammed 
 over the land and launched in the Golden Horn. 
 If the towers could but have followed the builders ! 
 Below the hill, again, on the city side, could be seen 
 the modest building of the Bebek Seminary, where 
 good work was formerly done by American mission- 
 aries. The building of Robert College is large and 
 substantial. It seems strong enough for a fortress, 
 and its massive stone walls could stand a siege. 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 257 
 
 This appearance was enhanced by the iron gratings 
 at the windows, which are very strong in the lower 
 story. There have been times when the need of 
 these bars was felt, and no one can tell when 
 Mohammed may come up the hill, and discarding 
 his old towers, assault the citadel which imperils 
 the tyranny and cruelty and ignorance which are 
 dear to his heart. He was very unwilling to have 
 the college built. First, land was promised. Then 
 came weary years of waiting. Negotiation yielded 
 nothing. Permission to build could not be obtained. 
 Lay this book aside, and read the story of the col- 
 lege told by the only man who knows it. Cj'rus 
 Hamlin, the learned scholar, the ingenious mechanic, 
 the man of inventions, the devoted missionary; 
 wise to teach, skilful to devise, patient in waiting ; 
 who could give to the people whom he had sought 
 the bread of life, and at the same time feed them and 
 the English army of the Crimea with bread ; whose 
 genius and courage stood guard around the impov- 
 erished Christians, while he planned the deliverance 
 of the land ; whom no duplicity could deceive, and 
 no obstacles discourage; — his name and deeds de- 
 serve the renown which attends them wherever they 
 are known. A boatload of bread for the army 
 brought the missionary into connection with Chris- 
 topher Robert, and out of that meeting sprang the 
 college which bears the name of the New York mer- 
 chant. The timely arrival of Admiral Farragut and 
 his fleet, and a question quietly asked at the Sultan's 
 table by the American sailor, secured the permission 
 which had been waited for in vain, and at length 
 
258 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the walls of stone towered over the Bosphorus. 
 There are tiraes when the American flag floats from 
 its lofty staff. The Turk does not like to see it 
 there. But the late American minister said that if 
 any serious objection was made he would have an 
 oflice in the building, which would keep the flag of 
 his country over the American college of Turkey. 
 
 The building is constructed around a square court, 
 and on the sides of this are the rooms for the stu- 
 dents and for the officers who live in the college. 
 At the time of our visit there were two hundred and 
 seventeen students. There were twenty-five or thirty 
 Protestants among the students. The students are 
 of various nationalities, but the Turk rarely is found 
 among them. The language of the college is Eng- 
 lish, but instruction is given in fourteen other 
 languages. Latin is required, and Greek taught 
 without being required. The students were re- 
 ported as very ready in learning from text-books 
 and lectures, but lacking in those qualities of mind 
 and character which come from constant intercourse 
 with thinking people. They have not been trained 
 to observe and discuss ; to read the papers, and to 
 have an active interest in public affairs. They come 
 to college without this sort of discipline which the 
 youth of America have from their childhood. Time 
 will change this in some measure. The college is 
 doing excellent work, and in many directions. The 
 results are very encouraging. A broad Christian 
 training is given ; and this lasts, and repeats itself 
 when the students have gone out to their work. 
 The appointments of the college are good, but 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE, 259 
 
 should be much better. It was fairly pitiful to 
 look at the lean library shelves and the starved 
 cases of apparatus for scientific study. There is a 
 fine chance to invest money, if any one wishes to 
 give for Christian manhood, for civilization and 
 liberty. President Hamlin is now in America, where 
 he has just closed a useful college presidency. But 
 President Washburn will carry forward the grand 
 work which has been so finely begun, and widen its 
 proportions, and in this will have tlie devoted service 
 of his associates. Let me ask the reader again to 
 lay aside this book long enough to draw a check in 
 favor of Robert College, Constantinople. Thus I 
 put my small boat-load of bread where some large- 
 hearted man may come. 
 
 Another day we crossed the Bosphorus and landed 
 at Scutari. Some of the party washed to see the 
 ground wheie the English soldiers who died in the 
 Crimean war were laid. I preferred to see life, and, 
 under the guidance of an American young lady 
 whose delight it is to teach in Turkey what she 
 learned in New England, I went to the Girls' School, 
 which is more commonly known as the Constanti- 
 nople Home. The school is in fine buildings which 
 belong to the Woman's Board of Missions, and they 
 are finely situated where they look over the Bospho- 
 rus and the Sea of Marmora and up the Golden 
 Horn. A hundred and thirty girls, or about that 
 number, were found to be connected with the school. 
 The teachers are young ladies, Americans, who have 
 a little help from non-resident masters. The scholars 
 are Bulgarian, Armenian, a few Turkish, and a few 
 
260 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 are from English and American families. After 
 graduation many become teachers, thus extending 
 the influence of the school. The appointments are 
 modern and homelike, such as might be found in 
 the schools of our own country. The girls assist in 
 the domestic work, Avhich is of especial advantage 
 to them, and will be felt in their homes. The dor- 
 mitories are arranged for four, six, eight, twelve 
 scholars. A girl would be lonely and homesick if 
 she were put in a room by herself or with only one 
 companion. But each girl has a closet, three or four 
 feet square, in which she can keep her personal 
 treasures, and secure retirement when she desires it. 
 The customs of the country are regarded so far as it 
 is expedient. The girls would hardly know w^hat to 
 do with the pitcher and bowl which are found in our 
 chambers. But as a substitute for water poured 
 over the hands they hold their hands under a long 
 pipe which has numerous faucets, and thus combine 
 ancient usage and modern conveniences. The schol- 
 ars are fond of music and carefully instructed in it. 
 The whole aim is to make them intelligent, refined, 
 Christian women, who shall brighten the homes in 
 which woman has been allowed to do so little, and 
 shall thus enlighten the land. 
 
 The ladies in charge of the school spread their 
 table for us, and we had the great pleasure of break- 
 ing bread with them in their own house — an Amer- 
 ican home in a strange land. I have brought no 
 more pleasing picture from the East than that which 
 is clear in my mind as I write — that cheerful room 
 with its wonderful outlook : the fair table and its 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE, . 261 
 
 hospitality ; the simple elegance, the sweet serenity, 
 the earnest temper, the ministering spirit, the in- 
 spired hope, and, best of all, the American women 
 themselves, who in their youth, the days of their 
 gladness, when the years were lying at their feet, 
 have carried their life where it will become life for 
 other women, and make the name and the grace of 
 Him who was born of woman familiar to the ear 
 and precious to the heart. The young lady of whom 
 I first spoke had been a teacher in the school at 
 Scutari, but had left it that she might engage in 
 missionary work at Stamboul. We saw her in her 
 new home, the house of Mrs. Schneider, so long and 
 so well known in connection with the missions in 
 Turkey. She was engaged when we were there in 
 what we should call city missionary work. With 
 her assistants she was holding a Sabbath-school in 
 her own home, wliich was attended by two hundred 
 scholars, of various ages, who were interested in the 
 effort which was made for them. The teaching was 
 i.i several languages and was followed with good 
 results. Besides this was the work for individuals 
 and families, so far as these could be reached. So 
 long as it is with extreme peril that a Mohammedan 
 becomes a Christian, the direct and open influence 
 of the mission must be restricted. But the work is 
 well planned and must continue to prosper. It was 
 a real pleasure to come so near to so good an enter- 
 prise. I cannot refrain from expressing the delight 
 Ave had in seeing in Constantinople that Yankee 
 institution, the Doughnut. It was refreshing to 
 partake of this missionary bounty and the cup of 
 
262 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 tea which was given with it. The room we sat in 
 has a very cheery look as I recall it — a bit of home 
 in a very unhomelike place. 
 
 At the front of mission work in Turkey is the 
 Bible House in Constantinople. It is a large build- 
 iijg, substantial and plain, with a look of perma- 
 nence and enterprise upon it. We found it the 
 scene of an earnest life. Its printing-presses were 
 busy, and the work of publication going forward 
 with great zeal. It is furnishing a Christian litera- 
 ture for Turkey. School-books and religious books 
 and papers in different languages are constantly sent 
 out. Its book-room is like an armory, furnished with 
 many kinds of weapons for the overthrow of iniquity 
 — weapons which will work surely and steadily, if 
 they make little noise. The men who administer 
 the affairs of this institution are diligent and alert, 
 well qualified for the difficult work intrusted to 
 them, and patiently carrying it forwai'd. When v/e 
 were there they had received some encouragement 
 through opposition. A Turkish newspaper had 
 been printing a series of violent articles against 
 Christianity, and these had been collected in a book. 
 I saw the book, but had not time to read it. I must 
 not say much of its contents, lest the erudition should 
 be revamped here and put upon the market. But, 
 among other things, the learned writer said that 
 Saul of Tarsus wished to marry Gamaliel's daughter, 
 and, when the course of true love did not run 
 smoothly, became vexed and turned Christian ; and 
 that Paul and Peter quarrelled so much that the 
 emperor was pained in his heart and put them both 
 
IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE, 263 
 
 to death ; that Luther sold indulgences until Tetzel 
 undersold him, when he became a Protestant. I 
 need not multiply these fragments of history. They 
 interested the people. The sale of Bibles increased 
 for a short time. One of the missionaries seized the 
 occasion to prepare an account of Christianity, 
 which the same paper published, adding comments 
 by way of counteraction. Perhaps not much came 
 of this movement ; but it is suspicious on the one 
 side, and liopeful on the other, when a man begins to 
 read. If a Turk should really begin to think, who 
 can say what might not come to pass ? The fear of 
 the Turks is both amusing and suggestive. De 
 Amicis' book on Constantinople was not only seized 
 at the Custom House, but burned. There is a natu- 
 ral and wholesome fear of hymns. People might 
 learn to sing if they did not learn to read. Hymns 
 with "king" and "kingdom" in them are condemned. 
 "Hold the Fort" aroused the fears of one magis- 
 trate. " The children are gathering from near and 
 from far " has been condemned. But not hymns 
 alone are watched. There was an innocent Sabbath- 
 school book on conquering giants, and, though the 
 giants were of a moral or immoral character, the 
 word had to be changed to "spiritual enemies." A 
 man published a series of fables, one of ivhich 
 brought in the ignis fatuus^ which he called the "star 
 bug." The sultan's palace is known as the " star 
 palace," and this story was regarded as a reflection 
 upon him and his residence. They told me a story 
 of a safe which remained in a part of the wall of an 
 old building which had been destroyed. It had not 
 
264 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 been used for a long time, and the key could not be 
 found. The police were alarmed. They demanded 
 the lost key, but it was in vain. In vain w^as the 
 assurance that there was nothing in the safe. Who 
 knew that? They would see. Police and soldiers 
 and workmen gathered, and an admiring group of 
 spectators, to uncover the treason. It was a long 
 job ; but at last the door was forced open, and some- 
 thing was found in the safe — an old umbrella and a 
 pair of overshoes. Then the laugh went round, and 
 the chaffing. These are small things, but they 
 manifest the constant fear of the government. No 
 one can be trusted. A perpetual Avatchfulness is 
 the price of tyranny. From the sultan to the 
 beggar no man can count upon life or liberty, to say 
 nothing of the pursuit of happiness. Uneasy lies 
 the head wdiich is under the red hand. 
 
 We attended one service at the Crimean Memorial 
 Church. It is a fine house. A hundred persons 
 were present. The service was restful and pleasing, 
 though for the most part its words could not be dis- 
 tinctly heard. Fortunately, we knew the most of 
 them by heart. The American flag was there, and 
 that is always a good thing to look upon. Here, 
 then, I close these rambling notes on Constantinople 
 — with an English church, with memories of the 
 Crimea, and under the American flag. They all 
 mean life. It will come. The crescent is very thin. 
 By and by it must change and grow wider and then 
 wider, till the full, round moon looks down upon the 
 Bosphorus and silvers the waters of the Golden 
 Horn. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FEOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 On Thursday the 18th of October we were taken 
 to the steamer Oreste, Some of the ships of the 
 Austrian Lloyds had been detained by the quaran- 
 tine, so that one of the smaller steamers was put on 
 this route for this voyage. It was an unfortunate 
 time for the substitution. Many of the people of 
 these regions, who had been driven northward 
 through fear of cholera, chose to return in this 
 steamer. The result is evident. The ship was 
 crowded to the last degree. When we went on 
 board, the upper deck was in possession of the 
 natives. They were settling into their places, and 
 seemed likely to leave no place for any one besides. 
 We gained a foothold in one corner and waited. 
 Strange faces and costumes crowded about us, and 
 strange voices added to the confusion. After a time 
 the Moslems were huddled together on one side of 
 the deck, and the other side was given up to us, 
 while a fence separated the two parties. Our neigh- 
 bors were only women and children. For the most 
 part they spent their days and nights in the same 
 place. The men were quartered on the deck below, 
 and some women and children were with them. It 
 was always an interesting episode to watch the 
 
 265 
 
266 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 arrival of the families of the country, as we had 
 frequent opportunities of doing. They came with 
 huge bundles of bedding, and with provisions for 
 the passage. They found as good situations as they 
 could, using as much care as more favored voyagers 
 employed in securing state-rooms. A pile of boxes 
 or a row of barrels offered a desirable site for 
 a home ; or the elevated hatchway, which had 
 the disadvantage of instability, as the family 
 had to move whenever the hold was opened; or 
 a more or less protected place under the lee of the 
 high rail or the friendly house. In some selected 
 if not sequestered spot housekeeping was carried 
 on. In fine weather there was a reasonable amount 
 of comfort. When showers came up, an awning was 
 spread for protection, but the quarters lost the 
 attractiveness they had in the warm sunshine. 
 The scene was novel and picturesque, and we 
 enjoyed watching the separate families as they pre- 
 pared their coffee at their little fires, and at night 
 as they made readj^ to encamp, or as the dim lantern 
 cast its feeble light on the slumbering groups. The 
 men passed their time in smoking, playing cards, 
 and eating, as the slow hours moved on. Now and 
 then those who were separated froTii their house- 
 holds would come up to our deck bringing water, and 
 offering to the women such attentions as circum- 
 stances required and permitted. The women sat in 
 stolid silence all the day, smoking cigarettes, and 
 staring out over the sea, while their vacant faces 
 gave no sign of life or thought. There w^as one 
 little family of a better appearance than the rest. 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 267 
 
 Tlie mother had a fairly mtelligent face, and the 
 daughter was actually pretty and spoke French. 
 Tliey had a cabin by night, and camped out by day 
 with their less favored sisters, in their regard for 
 their national customs and the religious principles 
 which kept them apart from the people over the 
 fence. We were told that this was the family of 
 some official at Jerusalem. We should have been 
 more than glad to have some intercourse with our 
 neighbors, but barriers of language and still more 
 insurmountable barriers of race and religion made 
 this impossible. We could only look on, so far as 
 propriet)^ and timidity allowed, and do such think- 
 ing as was appropriate. There was sufficient still- 
 ness save when the children cried in the notes and 
 tones of the common humanity. We had a good 
 opportunity for studying the looks and manners 
 and customs of th^ people, and in this we were 
 more than repaid for any inconvenience caused by 
 their presence on the ship. 
 
 We were less fortunate in another part of our 
 freight. At Constantinople we received thirty-two 
 oxen, who had been brought from Odessa in another 
 steamer. They were afflicted with the cattle disease, 
 and had suffered on their previous voyage, so that 
 to all appearance they were dead wlien they were 
 hoisted aboard our ship, by a rope fastened around the 
 roots of their horns. It was a painful and disgraceful 
 sight, but not an unfitting souvenir of the country 
 and its government. Most of the poor creatures 
 completed their dying in a day or two, and the rest 
 were killed, and all were thrown into the sea. The 
 
268 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 process, often repeated, broke the monotony of the 
 long days. 
 
 At the Dardanelles we were visited by the usual 
 fleet of boats. The scene was less imposing than in 
 the days when Xerxes joined the continents with his 
 bridge of boats, perhaps less exciting than when the 
 bold swain swam from Abydos on his visits to Hero. 
 Ours was a less romantic spectacle. If a confusion 
 of voices makes a Babel, this site would have an- 
 swered for the tower. Words rose perilously near 
 to fights, without quite reaching them. There was 
 a humble traffic in fish, fruit, bread, and pitchers, 
 carried on by men and boys on the one part, and by 
 our housekeeping passengers on the other part. 
 
 On Saturday we entered the magnificent harbor 
 of Smyrna, and came to a stop near the fine quay. 
 The large city is mostly on the plain between Mount 
 Pagus and the sea, with a portion of its houses 
 stretching up the slope of the hill. The history of 
 the place is interesting, but it need not be recited 
 here. It was probably settled by Greeks, and it was 
 one of the cities of the Ionian league. It has had 
 its full measure of vicissitudes. It has been de- 
 stroyed by war, thrown down by earthquakes, and 
 ravaged by fire. But it has risen again and again, 
 and is now a very large city. The books do not 
 seem to know how many inhabitants it has, but we 
 were told there are two hundred and twenty thou- 
 sand. Its situation is quite sure to keep the place 
 large and flourishing. The Christians have so large 
 a preponderance of the population that the Turks 
 call the place the Giaour-city, or Dog-town in our 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 269 
 
 vernacular. Here was one of the seven churches 
 named in the Revelation, and the message sent to it 
 then announced the tribulation which was to come. 
 In that letter are the words which have given so 
 much of fortitude to suffering souls in many genera- 
 tions : '' Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
 thee the crown of life." Polycarp, the disciple of 
 St. John, was bishop here, the man who answered 
 the pro-consul who would have him curse the Christ 
 whom he served, — ''Six and eighty years have I 
 served Him, and He has done me nothing but good; 
 and how could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour I 
 If you would know what I am, I tell you frankl}^, I 
 am a Christian." He would not let them fasten him 
 to the stake, but amid the fires calmly witnessed to 
 his faith. 
 
 I have spoken of tlie large number of Christians. 
 It is not to be inferred that they are a vigorous 
 religious force. There are, however, vigorous Chris- 
 tians here, who are quite worthy of the place into 
 which they have entered. Again it is the West cast- 
 ing its life into the East, and holding up its light. 
 There is a fine stone church, built by our American 
 Board, where services are held every Sunday in 
 Turkish and Greek. There is a flourishing girls' 
 school connected with the church. Smyrna is fortu- 
 nate in having the enterprise and devotion of George 
 Constantine. He is a Greek, as his name suggests. 
 He was born in Athens, but he graduated at 
 Amherst in 1859 and at Andover in 1862. After 
 preaching in his native city for eighteen years, he 
 went to Smyrna in 1881. He was still to work for 
 
270 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 his own people. In a conspicuous place on the 
 quay is the Smyrna Rest, a place where the stranger 
 can rest, can find books and papers, and wholesome 
 food, and, better than all these, a friend. Over this 
 house Mr. Constantine presides, with his active ' 
 assistants. There are times when the business is 
 so good that the resources of the establishment are 
 taxed to their utmost. I heard an amusing account 
 of the arrival of an English man-of-war with troops 
 from Egypt. The strangers made an inroad on this 
 house and demanded eggs and other edibles with 
 such extravagance that they seemed likely to create 
 a famine in the land, certainly in the city by the 
 sea. The minister and all became waiters and sent 
 away their good-natured guests satisfied with their 
 entertainment. On the walls of the pleasant " Rest " 
 are Scripture verses, which are the more impressive 
 because they are in Greek. Among them is the 
 sentence already quoted, first written for Smyrna, — 
 " Be thou faithful unto death." Near the " Rest " 
 is a commodious chapel where Mr. Conatantine 
 preaches and teaches. He has also the Greek ser- 
 vice in the stone church. No mention of this man 
 would be complete which did not pay its tribute of 
 respect to the noble American woman who bears his 
 name and shares his abundant labors. 
 
 Smyrna in some ways resembles Constantinople, 
 though on a small scale. The streets are narrow 
 and dirty, though less so than in the larger capital. 
 There are bazaars on the same general plan as those 
 which have been described. They are, of course, 
 much less rich and interesting, but the prices are 
 
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 271 
 
 more stable. Not much is taken off from the sum 
 first named. Trade is, therefore, far less exciting. 
 The narrow streets were encumbered with strings of 
 camels tied one to another; often the driver, or 
 master, preceded the line upon a donkey. This last 
 useful animal presented himself for our patronage, 
 or, more accurately, his owner presented him. The 
 donkey is a serviceable though tantalizing beast. 
 He seems always to have a grudge against some- 
 bodv. Discontent lies in the curve of his humble 
 back and clings to his bristliug mane. He seems 
 bent on a persistent revenge. His favorite device is 
 to grind his rider up against a wall of stone or 
 plaster, as if he would rub him into it. I under- 
 stand now the verse in Numbers which tells us that 
 the " ass thrust himself unto the wall, and cruslied 
 Balaam's foot against the wall." I know how 
 Balaam felt when -'^ he smote him." 
 
 For occasional variety the donkey is pleased if he 
 can find a shutter of the lower story of a house 
 hano'iijcr out over the street. He will insist on 
 going under it that he may strike his rider's head 
 against the blind. I once had a donkej^ try the 
 same experiment under the low branch of a tree. I 
 saw my approaching fate, but no persuasion or force 
 could change his purpose. Under the limb he went, 
 and the helmet I chanced to be wearing took the 
 blow he meant for my head. The donkej^ is larger 
 in the East than with us, and his saddle is needlessly 
 high. The rider is perched on an insecure place. I 
 have known the saddle to slip because the girth was 
 not tight, and the helpless rider, with nothing to 
 
272 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 which he could cling for support, could only roll 
 ignominiously to the ground. It was not very far, 
 but it is humiliating to fall from a donkey. 
 
 Our one ride in Smyrna was to the summit of 
 Mount Pagus, where are the remains of a Macedo- 
 nian and Crusaders' castle. Little is left except the 
 walls. The ruins were more interesting than they 
 would have been a few weeks later, when we had 
 learned to think of the crusades as of modern times. 
 The view from the hill was remarkably fine. We 
 looked down on the new city and on the plain 
 where the old city was, — for here, as at Athens, the 
 new is not in the place of the old. We saw the bay 
 and its winding shore, and the ships in the harbor 
 of this important seaport. We looked on the old 
 aqueduct, and the railroad to Ephesus. Then we 
 came down, passing in our descent the tomb of Poly- 
 carp. From his lofty grave, if tradition can be 
 relied on, he still watches the city which he loved 
 and for which he lived. 
 
 Our stay was too brief. In the middle of the 
 afternoon we were moving out from among the 
 ships of the harbor. It was Saturday. As the week 
 ends, let me pause long enough to mention a few of 
 those who were sailing with us. One was Mr. 
 Karey, or El Karey, an Arab, and a Christian mis- 
 sionary at Nablus. He had been in England and 
 was returning with his wife and her sister to his 
 home. Another was Mr. Greenlee, a young man 
 who had devoted his life to the missionary service, 
 and was on his way to Zahleh, where he was to 
 begin his work. He was a man of fine spirit and 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 273 
 
 manly bearing; one sure to have the success that 
 crowns intelligent endeavor. Of three others I must 
 speak, because we were companions in the jour- 
 ney to Jerusalem. There is no reason why I should 
 not give their names, except that they might not 
 like the public mention. I will call one Mr. Brown- 
 ing. He was an Episcopal clergyman from our 
 West. He was always dignified, courteous, well 
 informed, and most appreciative of all we saw. Mr. 
 Logan was a Congregational clergyman, a bold 
 rider, a strong swimmer, a good singer ; making the 
 best of everything and helping others to do the 
 same. Mr. Keil was a German who had made his 
 home in America; a decorative artist; a man of 
 good taste and a generous temper; a genial com- 
 rade, who did more to make us merry than any one 
 besides. These three men had drifted together. A 
 common purpose to see Jerusalem was keeping them 
 in company. They had not proposed to ride 
 through the country. But they found that this was 
 our plan, and that they could join us, so they cast in 
 their lot with us and we were thenceforth one party. 
 Add Mr. Mill, Mr. Garry, and the boy, and you have 
 the whole of as. But we were not formally organ- 
 ized till we reached Beirut. 
 
 Sunday, October 21. In the night we stopped at 
 Scio, or Chios. This morning we passed Samos. 
 There is rare beauty in these Grecian islands and 
 rare interest in their story. But it was of far more 
 worth to us to pass near to Patmos. We had the 
 island in sight for a long time, and were able to see 
 it from many points. I had thought of it as rugged 
 
274 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 and desolate. More than once have I spoken of it 
 as a rock in the ^gean. We saw a long, low island, 
 quite green, but showing no trees. This was cer- 
 tainly its appearance. But I have seen it described 
 as " an irregular mass of barren rock twenty-eight 
 miles in circumference." We could see the houses 
 of a village, with one large building, an old monas- 
 tery, which shelters some fifty monks. In the days 
 of the Roman emperors this was a place of banish- 
 ment, and thither St. John was sent by Domitian. 
 It was there he received the Revelation wdiose record 
 closes our New Testament. The cave is now pointed 
 out in which the vision of things to come was given 
 to him. It was wdth an absorbing interest that we 
 looked upon this quiet island in the light of the 
 Lord's Day. We looked into the sky which was 
 over him, and out on the waters where rested his 
 weary eyes, — the waters which parted him from all 
 which he held dear. It was in the vision of the 
 world to come that " there was no more sea." 
 Weariness and loneliness would be forever in the 
 past. It was good thus to enter a little way into 
 his life and to think his thoughts after him. I was 
 glad to read his words, " I John your brother, . . . 
 was in the isle that is called Patmos ... I was in 
 the spirit on the Lord's Day ... I heard behind 
 me a great voice, saying. What thou seest write in a 
 book, and send it . . . unto Smyrna." The hours 
 Avhen we were near Patmos were among the best 
 which are written in this book. It was a quiet Sab- 
 bath at sea. We communed with our own thoughts, 
 and one with another. We sang our hymns, in 
 
FR03f CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 275 
 
 which the English ladies held a prominent part. I 
 shall never hear ''Beulah land: sweet Beulah land," 
 without recalling those hours among the Greek 
 islands. It seemed fitting that we should have a 
 religious service, as we had so many ministers. We 
 consulted the captain, who readily gave us the use of 
 the saloon. The steward added his consent. All 
 seemed to be going on well, when the captain ap- 
 peared and said that we could have the service, but 
 must have no singing. The reader thinks that he 
 did not like our style of singing. But that was not 
 the trouble, for he said that we might sing on deck. 
 We sent a committee to assure him that we were not 
 the Salvation Army, but very quiet and well behaved 
 people, and to ask the poor privilege of lifting up 
 our voices in song. The captain was firm. He said 
 he had already granted a large favor. We might 
 pray all we pleased,^ and sing on deck ; but sing in 
 the saloon we should not. Why ? Some persons 
 might wish to converse ; praying would not disturb 
 them, but singing would. We should oblige him by 
 having no singing, as he had already done what he 
 had no right to do in giving the room to us. There 
 was no appeal. We had found the one point on 
 which official authority would assert itself for the 
 comfort of passengers. We went below,' read from 
 the first chapter of Revelation, had our prayers and 
 a brief address, and thus wound up the day. About 
 nine in the evening we anchored off the island of 
 Rhodes. It was too late to land, but we saw the 
 lights of the city, and the place was pointed out on 
 which the Colossus stood. Boats came off to the 
 
276 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 
 
 steamer and there was the usual clamor. Then all 
 was still and we sailed on into the night. 
 
 We came to anchor before Cyprus, at Limasol, 
 and again at Larnarka, where the European consuls 
 and merchants reside. These are the chief commer- 
 cial cities. We expected to go on shore. But the 
 captain was in an unamiable state of mind and would 
 not promise us even an hour. He could not say how 
 long he should remain. He waited about five hours, 
 but we had only the satisfaction of looking at the 
 island which has held so good a place in history. 
 The island is very long, and we could see the moun- 
 tains towering in their long ranges back of one 
 another. The houses appeared to lie along the 
 shore, but really reached back for some distance. 
 Two minarets were in sight and some trees. There 
 was nothing to remind one of St. Paul, but it was 
 natural to recall the incident described in the thir- 
 teenth chapter of the Acts, and to think of the 
 blinded sorcerer and the astonished and believing 
 pro-consul. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, October 24, Mt. Lebanon 
 was in sight. But the light was dazzling and the 
 mist was lying heavily on the hills, so that we could 
 not see the snow or the cedars. We sailed into the 
 majestic and beautiful harbor of Beirut, and could 
 then see the high mountains and the snow which 
 adorns their summit. Few places are so fine to look 
 upon as the harbor of Beirut, with its background 
 of mountains. The boats came off, and in one of 
 them we saw a gentleman who was pointed out to us 
 as Howard. The name we knew. We had grown 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 277 
 
 familiar with it, as we had looked forward to a jour- 
 ney through Syria. Alexander Howard is the grand 
 dragoman of this country. He is an Arab, Avas 
 educated in England, has visited America, and is 
 in a large way a man of the world. He has hotels 
 at Latrun and Jaffa, and all the equipments for 
 camp life. We had fairly touched the East when 
 we took his hand. We were soon in a boat and on 
 our way to the shore. There was an older and 
 smaller man than Howard in the boat. He was 
 dark, with a shrewd but pleasant face, and bright 
 eyes behind his spectacles. This was Ibrahim Mor- 
 decai, who was to be our special dragoman. He was 
 a Jew born in India, long a resident of Jerusalem, 
 at one time an apothecary, and now one of How- 
 ard's lieutenants. We landed on the rocks and 
 were escorted to the Hotel d'Orient, close upon the 
 sea. We were hardly established in our rooms before 
 the American consul sent for us. We answered his 
 summons and were told that a complaint had been 
 made to him that a company of Americans had 
 landed without passports. It was a critical hour 
 for the Turkish Empire, or at least for some of its 
 officials. The consul did not hesitate to assure us 
 that the sole object of the complaint was to extort 
 money from us. We easily satisfied him and were 
 dismissed. The next day our passports were called 
 for. They gave satisfaction, and as there was no 
 hope that anything else would be given, no more 
 obstacles were put in our way. 
 
 Beirut has a long and eventful history. Like 
 every place of consequence in this part of the world, 
 
278 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 it has passed through many and violent changes. 
 The Phoenicians have the credit of building it. The 
 Romans captured it. The Moslems took it from 
 their hands and twice gave it over to the Crusaders. 
 The Druses held it for a time, and w^ere succeeded 
 by the Egyptians, who were driven out by the Eng- 
 lish, who gave the city over to the Turks. It was 
 here that St. George killed the dragon, and his 
 name has been given to the bay which is the best 
 place for anchorage on this coast. The city has, 
 perhaps, eighty thousand people, about one-third of 
 whom are Mohammedans. Christians, Druses, Jews 
 make up the rest. After the massacre at Damascus 
 many Christians found a new home at Beirut. The 
 place has become the commercial centre of northern 
 Syria. The Christians, especially, are industrious 
 and enterprising. The climate is fine. The heat, 
 which is seldom oppressive, is tempered by the sea 
 breezes. Many of the Europeans pass the months 
 of summer upon the mountains. The old town has 
 not much which is attractive. The streets are nar- 
 row and rough, and the houses are closely huddled 
 together. But a little out of the old district the 
 streets are wider, and in the suburbs fine modern 
 buildings are found on sites of remarkable beauty. 
 There is nothing of special interest in the bazaar, 
 which has lost much of its oriental character. Noth- 
 ing which we found among the shops solaced and 
 refreshed us so much as the stands for lemonade. I 
 recall one booth in an open square, with its inviting 
 array of many-colored syrups. In the centre rose a 
 long spike of iron and on this was a block of ice. 
 
FEOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 279 
 
 When \ye called for lemonade, the man poured syrup 
 into a glass and then with a knife scraped ice into 
 it, and gave a delicious drink which was most 
 refreshing. It does not seem much in the telling; 
 but as recollection carries me to the warm days of 
 Beirut and to the weary streets, the cool flavor of 
 that eastern beverage comes back to me, a reviving 
 memory of the Orient. 
 
 The most encouraging and creditable things in 
 Beirut are the Christian schools. This is the centre 
 of the missionary work of our Presbyterian Church. 
 The mission was established fifty years ago. On 
 the hill at the south of the city is the college, with 
 its preparatory schools and its schools of medicine 
 and theology. The buildings are large and substan- 
 tial. That which is devoted to theology is very 
 imposing with its white walls and marble floors. 
 No seminary in the world can be more beautiful for 
 situation. From these seminaries men go out to 
 help and save their land, carrying what they have 
 learned to those who have sore need to receive it. 
 
 In the town is the large mission church, and near 
 it the Bible house with its printing-office and book- 
 store. Very near is the large girls' school, the 
 Beirut female seminary. We had a very pleasant 
 visit at the school. The accomplished lady who is 
 at its head was very kind to us, showing us all 
 which we wished to see and answering our numer- 
 ous questions. We saw the girls together and 
 heard them sing '' Hold the Fort,*' in Syriac words. 
 On the chapel wall was a characteristic picture, of 
 the maid who came to the wife of Naaman the 
 
280 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Syrian with her report of the propliet who was in 
 Samaria. The picture was well chosen. The girl 
 and the girls' school are to enlighten Syria with the 
 good news first heard in Israel. It has the deepest 
 significance, the educating of girls in the East. It 
 means a noble womanhood, the home and the home- 
 life, the coming of the day when they that sit in 
 darkness shall see the great light. 
 
 I should enlarge this account of Christian work in 
 Beirut by the British Syrian schools, aud the schools 
 and orphanages of the French and Germans. The 
 massing of Christian institutions at this point shows 
 the importance of the place in its relation to the 
 whole land on whose coast it stands, facing the West. 
 One is impressed with the grandeur and stability of 
 missionary work when he finds it thus established 
 in permanence and strength. The whole endeavor 
 long ago passed from the period of experiment and 
 is now wisel}^ and stoutly bent upon enlargement 
 until its work is accomplished. 
 
 Our stay in Beirut could not be prolonged. In 
 this brief sketch I have brought together two visits 
 which we made. Our eyes were on the interior. 
 But before we started on our long ride it was said 
 to be expedient that we should try our horses. I 
 am by no means sure that this was the design of an 
 excursion which we made to Dog River, called by the 
 Greeks Wolf River. There is a legend that once a 
 dog cut in stone stood by the river and barked when 
 an enemy approached. A portion of the statue is 
 pointed out, where it has fallen into the sea. 
 
 On Thursday morning the horses were brought in 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 281 
 
 front of the hotel that we might make our personal 
 selection. That was not difficult, though there were 
 elements of uncertainty in the choosing. The mat- 
 ter of saddles entered into the experiment, as some 
 of the horses had the ordinary English saddle, and 
 others that of the army pattern. To the horse 
 which fell to my lot I gave the name of Prince, 
 from his resemblance to a horse at home who bore 
 that title. When w-e were mounted trouble began. 
 The horses were restless and frisky, and careered 
 wildly in the narrow street. The more we pulled 
 and shouted, the more they dashed about. The con- 
 fusion was increased by the comments of bystanders 
 and by the counsel of the grooms who were in 
 charge. They knew but little English, but they 
 knew their horses and they saw our difficulty. 
 Madly screaming ''Slack bridle! slack bridle!" 
 they at last persuaded us to give the steeds their 
 liberty, when they were as quiet as well behaved 
 horses ought to be. We had no serious results, 
 save that Mr. Browning pulled his horse to his hind 
 legs and then gracefully or ungracefuUj^ slid into 
 the street, to the amusement of the crowd. The 
 poor man lost off his glasses, which were promptly 
 appropriated by somebody to whom they did not 
 belong. Another horse was provided for the un- 
 lucky rider, who would not be persuaded to mount 
 to his former place. He was a loser by the ex- 
 change, as his second horse was much inferior to the 
 first. The amount of protest which the good man 
 lavished on the new beast before we reached Jerusa- 
 lem cannot here be stated. At length we were 
 
282 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 ready, and with slackened bridles we rode slowly in 
 a long line through the streets of Beirut into the 
 open country. I shall not linger on the ride, which 
 had nothing of marked interest about it, except that 
 it was the beginning. We went oyer part of an old 
 Roman road, and lunched at a khan. This we were 
 to do many times afterwards. There was some rid- 
 ing which then seemed rough. It was nothing in 
 comparison with that which we were to find. There 
 are in the face of the cliff at whose side we rode and 
 walked mn»e old sculptures, of which three are 
 Egyptian and six Assyrian. Not much is known 
 of these curious works, which represent gods and 
 kings. They stand in the desolation, a reminder of 
 days which have gone. It is strange that so little 
 remains of the times which were crowded with 
 great events. 
 
 We were all tired when w^e reached our hotel. 
 No one seemed to think that we had gained much 
 by our long ride to Nahr el-Kelb. But it gave us one 
 day's trial of the life into which we were entering. 
 Friday morning, October 26, we made our real 
 start. It was rather an imposing affair. We had 
 about twenty-one beasts in our caravan, horses and 
 mules with a donkey or two. There were nine or 
 ten men besides the tourists proper. We had five 
 tents, with the appointments for a three weeks' ride. 
 Howard rode with us the first day, to see that 
 everything was properly arranged. The first stage 
 of the journej^ was to end at Baalbec. We rode 
 about sixteen miles, and then rested and lunched at 
 a khan. Nine miles more finished the day. Our 
 
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 283 
 
 ride up the slopes of Lebanon was extremely fine. 
 Tlie views were magnificent as we looked down into 
 the valley and far out over the blue waters of the 
 Mediterranean. We had a good vieAV of the moun- 
 tains of Anti-Lebanon and the rich plams of Coele- 
 syria, with Hermon in the distance. It was a 
 delightful ride, and gave us much encouragement 
 for our long pilgrimage. As we came down the 
 hill above Mexy we saw our tents for the first time. 
 It was a charming sight, especially after a day of 
 so great pleasure. Our camp equipage had pre- 
 ceded us, and the tents were awaiting us. Three 
 of these were to be our houses, one was the dining 
 tent, and another the kitchen. They made a 
 pretty group. From the three in which we were 
 to live floated the stars and stripes. The flag never 
 looked better to us than when we saw it in a strange 
 land, floating in theevening liglit under a clear sky. 
 A camel-camp was near us, but everything was still. 
 We took possession of our tents very quickly, 
 enjoying the novelty and excitement. An excel- 
 lent dinner was soon ready for us. We had a good 
 talk with Howard, who told us many things of 
 interest, and marked out the daily life we were to 
 lead. Thus ended our first day's ride in Syria. 
 
 This way of journeying, travelling on horseback 
 and living in tents, has been reduced to a science, 
 and Alexander Howard is a master in it. In this 
 part of the world, as I have before said, it is neces- 
 sary to travel in parties, and under the charge of 
 some one who knows the country and the people, 
 their language and customs, and is provided with all 
 
284 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the needful appliances. To travel in any other way 
 would be difficult, and at times would be perilous. 
 Ver}^ much depends on the character and disposition 
 of those with whom one is thus thrown into close 
 relations. But in a journey of this kind through 
 Palestine, it is more than likely that the members 
 of a party will be reasonably intelligent and con- 
 siderate. It was certainly so with those who were 
 set in our company. Our diversities increased the 
 interest and advantage of our journey. We were 
 all amiable, and each one contributed his portion to 
 the common stock of comfort and happiness. Our 
 arrangements were very much the same for our 
 days of riding. We were called very early, even 
 while it was dark, and w^ere no sooner out of our 
 tents than they lay upon the ground, to be at once 
 put on the backs of mules, with our luggage. Of 
 luggage we had as little as would serve our purpose. 
 Mr. Garry w^as the most encumbered, as he had a 
 leather trunk. But this was a public convenience. 
 If anything was to be carried which was in danger 
 of being broken, there was room for it in the 
 trunk. I had a distinct bargain, by which Mr. 
 Garry should carry a bottle of ink which I had 
 bought at Dr. Lorange's in Beirut, and in return 
 should have the free use of the same in his corre- 
 spondence. The breaking-up process in the dim 
 morning light, the loading up, the unloading and 
 resettling at night, were the daily events in which 
 we were all concerned. 
 
 Soon after we were out-of-doors, breakfast was 
 served, and as soon as possible after that we were 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 285 
 
 on our horses. This gave us the cool hours of the 
 morning for the greater part of our ride. About 
 noon we stopped, sometimes at a khan and some- 
 times in a field or by the roadside. In either case 
 we had our own provisions. Joseph, the Arab 
 steward, would spread a rug on the ground, set out 
 our tin plates and mugs, much battered by long use, 
 and then produce a cold chicken, which he dexter- 
 ously pulled apart and distributed. To this he 
 would make variable additions of such things as he 
 had in stock. When lunch was over, Mordecai, who 
 always had a special care for my comfort, would 
 bring me his saddle-bags, whicli made a good seat. 
 The rest of the party chose the softest places they 
 could find. We had a very little conversation, a 
 little reading, a little writing, and some sleeping. 
 Thus the noon passed, wlien we resumed our horses, 
 and rode two or three hours to our camp. The 
 theory was that our tents should be in readiness 
 when we reached the camping-ground. The fact 
 was commonly the other way. Our mules did not 
 always take the same road which we followed, as 
 their purposes and wishes were more restricted. 
 They reached the place for the encampment about 
 the same time with ourselves. This was well 
 enough when the weather was good. We enjoyed 
 the liberating of the poor mules, — or pure mools, as 
 Keil used to call them, and truly, for they were 
 cruelly overloaded, — and the raising of the tents and 
 the settling down for the night, perhaps for a longer 
 time. But when it rained all was changed. We 
 stood around in the wet, and watched the unload- 
 
286 ^OME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 ing of our tents and other furniture, which were 
 wet in spite of their coverings, and saw the wet 
 canvas rise into shape over the wet ground. It was 
 dismal, and gave us unpleasant suggestions of colds 
 and malaria. It was not often that we were afflicted 
 and endangered in tWs way. But one who has not 
 come in a wet state into wet tents on wet ground 
 can tiardly realize the danger and discomfort. We 
 liad changes of raiment, when we could get to them. 
 But what was to be done with the discarded gar- 
 ments, and how could they be dried ? There was 
 no fire, except the feeble coals in the kitchen, and 
 the cook naturally objected to have us around his 
 camp-range, holding our soggy boots. Mordecai 
 would strain a point, and surreptitiously get the 
 boy and myself dried out in the course of the night, 
 but the whole business was attended with embar- 
 rassment. One who rides all day on horseback in 
 a driving rain-storm is helpless. He can only sit 
 still, and take the drenching as it comes. A rubber 
 coat is some protection, but not enough. The 
 rider should be completely encased in rubber, in a 
 single garment which should leave nothing uncov- 
 ered except his face. This he can provide for him- 
 self. The baggage should have a similar covering; 
 this others should be required to provide. There 
 remains the wet ground, over which boards should 
 be laid to make the flooring of the tents. The tents 
 usually shed the water very well, but between the 
 side wall and the upper canvas a storm of any spirit 
 will get in. Whatever lack of energy may be 
 detected in the East it does not ai)pertain to the 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 287 
 
 storms. Nature has all her energy well in hand and 
 makes it felt. 
 
 But if there is discomfort for the dwellers in 
 tents, those who are without even this protection 
 are in a much worse condition. The habit of life 
 may have hardened them to exposure, but it cannot 
 be otherwise than distressing to spend both day and 
 night out-of-doors, as our patient muleteers were 
 accustomed to do. Whether they found any shelter 
 in the night when it rained, I cannot tell. Possibly 
 they covered themselves by some means. I believe 
 they crawled into the dining-room and kitchen. 
 Even then their lot might well make us content 
 with our own. We had all the necessaries of life. 
 Our tents were furnished with iron cots, and the 
 beds were fairly comfortable. They were more than 
 comfortable after a tiresome ride ; and the other 
 arrangements made for us were quite sufficient for 
 our few wants. 
 
 When we were established in our tents the signal 
 for dinner w^as sounded. Each man picked, up a 
 camp-stool and found his way to the dining-room. 
 The dinner was elaborate for the place. We had 
 several courses, from soup to dessert, and all were 
 w^ell prepared. Joseph and Mordecai officiated as 
 waiters, and we dined in style. The dinner of the 
 first day was beyond the common run of such 
 repasts ; but our ordinary fare was very good. We 
 had to live on the country to a large extent, and the 
 products of the country had a sameness. Still, there 
 was enough, and there was small reason to complain. 
 It was a cardinal point in making our camp to be 
 
288 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 near water. This was easily managed by those who 
 knew the country. The water was over-warm for 
 our taste ; but our authorities were easily satisfied 
 and the rest of us were fain to be content. But I 
 have written enough, for the present, of the condi- 
 tions of travel in Syria. As I look back upon the 
 journey it does not seem a hard one. The discom- 
 forts are forgotten in the thronging recollections of 
 the things which were enjoyed. 
 
 We were called at six o'clock on our first morning 
 in camp, and were on our horses at seven. We had 
 a general order of march. Mordecai led our line. 
 He wore a faded olive suit. On his head was a cov- 
 ering of white cloth, and over this a purple shawl, 
 kept in place by black cords. His costume was ap- 
 propriate, being a combination of the Orient and 
 Occident, as he was in person and in office. Behind 
 him came our string of horses who were arranged 
 by chance, save as Browning very much preferred to 
 be near the leader. The black horse which he had 
 secured after his disaster in the street of Beirut was 
 too small for his length of limb, and, what was more 
 serious, was devoid of that activity which had charac- 
 terized his predecessor and had caused his own pro- 
 motion. In fact he was slow. His rider was kept in 
 constant exercise by his effort to keep the steed in 
 exercise. Even then his success was only partial. 
 He thought he secured a more tolerable rate of 
 progress by keeping near to Mordecai and having a 
 diligent beast in his rear. The case was so good that 
 no one disputed Browning's right to the second place. 
 
 Keil's trouble was somewhat different in its na- 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 289 
 
 ture. His horse was active enough, but the physical 
 conformation of the animal was such that it was 
 hard for the girth of the saddle to get a firm hold 
 upon him. Consequently when we rode down hill 
 our German friend was compelled to rest on the 
 horse's neck, and when we went uphill only con- 
 tinued vigilance could keep him from receding over 
 the opposite extremity. Here was an occasion for 
 frequent remonstrances and readjustments. But, 
 from the nature of the case, the evil could never be 
 remedied. Yet Keil was very patient. I hope that 
 it was some compensation for his difficulties that 
 they were amusing to the rest, despite all our sym- 
 pathy. It was hard to keep back the smile and 
 retort at his frequent cry, " Antoine ! Joseph ! My 
 saddle's slipping off! " On the whole, we were well 
 mounted. The horses were strong and were sure- 
 footed. The latter quality was indispensable. After 
 the first days we seldom saw a road. Indeed, roads 
 are a rarity in Palestine. Our way often led where 
 there was not even a path. Sometimes we rode in 
 the dry bed of a brook; sometimes up and down 
 hills and across fields. Frequently the way was 
 very steep, needing the greatest care on the part 
 of the sagacious horses. Yet they seldom slipped. 
 Now and then we dismounted and let the horses 
 find their own way over the rugged places, while 
 we made our way from rock to rock as we could. 
 Several times Mordecai found that he was out of 
 his true course, where there were no landmarks, 
 and Joseph's additional knowledge would be called 
 into requisition. 
 
290 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Travelling on horseback seems attractive and ro- 
 mantic. Under easy conditions it is most agreeable. 
 But as we found it, it is a wearisome method of 
 journeying. The ways were so rough that our 
 horses could rarely do more than walk. They were 
 so narrow that we commonly rode in single file. 
 Where the country was interesting, in itself or its 
 history, all was very well. But there were most 
 tiresome days. To move slowly up and down the 
 hills, day after day, and yet be reasonably patient, 
 needed all our resources. One should be on good 
 terms with himself if he attempts it. I tried all the 
 devices which I could think of to wear away the 
 hours. I played games with myself, repeated poetry, 
 capped verses, called up scenes which were past and 
 friends who were far away, anticipated the getting 
 back to my work, and what would be done when 
 home was reached, guessed what time it would be 
 when we reached a point before us ; — did all I could 
 think of to break the monotony. It was always so 
 good to stop ; to stand on one's feet ; to exchange 
 comments on the day. 
 
 There were times and places when we rode side 
 by side, and chatted as we went. I received some 
 choice bits of personal history in this way. Or we 
 could dash out over the plain, and refresh our horses 
 and ourselves. It seems now as if there was nothing 
 very hard in those days of riding. But I cannot for- 
 get that some of the hours were very long and very 
 lonely. I thought then that nothing would induce 
 me to repeat the journey. I am less confident now. 
 
 From Beirut to Damascus there is a fine diligence 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 291 
 
 road. It was made in connection with the French 
 expedition of 1860. It is seventy miles in length. 
 There is no road like it in Syria. We enjoyed this 
 for the first day and so long as our course would 
 permit. Our second morning was less interesting 
 than the first. Before noon Howard bade us adieu 
 and went back to Beirut. Thenceforth Mordecai 
 was in sole command of our troop. 
 
 In the autumn Syria has a barren look. We saw 
 few flowers in all our long ride. In many places the 
 ground was so thickly covered with stones that it 
 seemed well nigh impossible to find a place for seed. 
 The stones serve a useful purpose in holding the 
 soil in place in the heavy rains. Hermon was in 
 sight as we rode on and the Anti-Lebanon moun- 
 tains. We passed through Zahleh, w^here our friend 
 Greenlee was to have his home. The town had an 
 uninviting appearance. There is no beauty in the 
 low, square, dull houses, with their flat roofs. Yet 
 this is a place of considerable importance, having 
 a population of some fifteen thousand, the most of 
 whom are nominally Christians. The people are 
 described as of a turbulent character. The treat- 
 ment which they have received may account for 
 this in a measure. 
 
 We turned aside for a little while to visit the tomb 
 of Noah. We found it in a stone building con- 
 iiected with the ruins of a church. The tomb is 
 apparently built of stone, and covered with plaster. 
 It is very long. Its length is given as forty-four 
 yards, but I think that this is an over-measurement. 
 We remarked upon the length of the structure. 
 
292 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 The guardian assented to our view of the case, but 
 said that Noah was a very tall man. The tomb was 
 covered with cloths of different sorts ; a common 
 custom in Mohammedan countries. I suppose that 
 this is thought to be a benefit to the owner of the 
 handkerchief or veil rather than to the occupant of 
 the mausoleum. The keeper seemed to have small 
 confidence in the efficacy of these adornments, or 
 else small care for those who sought to appropriate 
 it. For he readily consented to sell to Keil and 
 myself a couple of the veils at a moderate price. I 
 trust that no one became the poorer by this trans- 
 action. 
 
 We passed large herds of cattle as we journe5"ed, 
 and sheep and goats who were kept together. In 
 one place we saw two men and a boy running one 
 shovel in the construction of a ditch. Two were in 
 the trench, which was about two feet deep, and the 
 other was on the ground above. One had the handle 
 of the shovel and the others worked ropes which 
 drove it into the ground, and then hoisted it to the 
 surface. The boy seemed amused at our amusement 
 as we watched this laborious process. 
 
 We had our usual nooning. I remember nothing 
 of it, except Keil's appearance. He wore a tall, 
 black hat, which was quite unsuited to a tour like 
 ours. For greater comfort he had put Noah's hand- 
 kerchief over his head, and his hat over that. 
 When he removed his double covering, it was 
 found that his forehead was gaudily frescoed with 
 the colors and shapes which adorned his mortuary 
 veil. As he was a decorator by profession, there 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 293 
 
 was an appropriateness in this display, upon which 
 we did not fail to comment. 
 
 In the afternoon we passed what is known as the 
 Temple of Doris, or Tomb of Doris. It is octagonal, 
 and constructed of pillars and other stones from 
 Baalbec. An antique sarcophagus, standing on one 
 end, made a small but convenient place for prayer. 
 We rode into a quarry from which stone had been 
 taken for the temples, and saw one immense stone 
 which had not been wholly cut from the rock of 
 which it was a part. We walked on the top of this 
 block, which is seventy-one feet in length, fourteen 
 feet in height, and thirteen in breadth. We got 
 some idea of the labor of those builders of the olden 
 time when we looked upon the stones which they 
 piled, and wondered by what means they were able 
 to set them in their places. 
 
 Thus we came to Baalbec. We entered the pre- 
 cincts of the temple by a long passage, which was so 
 dark through much of the way that we could see 
 nothing clearly, and could only let our horses take 
 their own course through the gloom. We came into 
 the great entrance court of the temple, and pitched 
 our tents against the north wall. It was a superb 
 place for our little camp, and we were in a state of 
 rare delight as we looked on the massive walls and 
 tall columns, and remembered where v/e were. It 
 was Saturda}^ night after an eventful week. Where 
 could its days have a better end? 
 
 But what shall I v/rite of the place ? I could fill 
 pages with descriptions and reflections. But the 
 pictures which any one can see are more satisfactory 
 
294 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 than words, and reflections are not of much account 
 unless one makes them for himself. No one can tell 
 when the temples were built whose stupendous ruins 
 are solitary and deserted. Baal is found in the old 
 Hebrew scriptures ; but whether Baalbec is referred 
 to in those ancient writings is uncertain. In the 
 early Christian times we find the place under the 
 Greek name of Heliopolis. The City of the Sun 
 was a Roman colony, and as early as the second 
 century, it would seem, two temples were built by 
 imperial authority. It may be that one of the 
 two found on the coins of Septimius Severus was 
 never finished. When Christianit)^ became the 
 religion of the empire, one of the temples was 
 changed into a church, and the other was destroyed. 
 Moslems and Crusaders appear in its later history. 
 Earthquake has completed the work of war, until 
 only fragments of grandeur remain to excite the 
 wonder and admiration of travellers. 
 
 The temples were higher than the town, on a plat- 
 form which was reached by broad steps. The tall 
 columns which adorned the portico have gone. 
 Beyond was a hexagonal court wliich opened into 
 the Greek court, a quadrangle four hundred and 
 forty feet long and three hundred and seventy wide. 
 The bare walls, despoiled of their beauties, enclose a 
 desolation. It was in this court that our five tents 
 were set up, while a little be3^ond them our horses 
 and mules rested in the sacred domain. Beyond 
 this court was another which was yet higher, in 
 which was the Temple of Baal. Six massive col- 
 umns of the peristyle remain in their place, but 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 295 
 
 of the Temple walls, if tliey were ever erected, 
 no trace can be found. The columns were of a 
 yellowish limestone. The base was in one block, 
 and the shaft in three, which were held together 
 by clamps of iron. The iron has proved more 
 attractive than the architecture to the Turks and 
 Arabs, who have broken the stones that they might 
 appropriate it. These assaults and the more steady 
 wearing of time seem likely to throw down these 
 tall sentinels, and leave the ruins unguarded. 
 
 In the w^est wall are the immense stones which 
 are often referred to. In some respects they are 
 as wonderful as anything which is seen. They are 
 the largest stones, so it is said, which were ever 
 taken from a quarry, or ever set in a wall. I must 
 give figures, which will have some meaning if the 
 distances which they denote is paced on the ground 
 or measured off on the side of a church. The three 
 famous stones are respectively sixty-four feet in 
 length, sixty-three feet and two-thirds, and sixtj^- 
 three feet. They are about thirteen feet high and 
 thick, and are placed twenty feet above the ground. 
 We may well wonder how they were ever taken 
 from their place, brought to the height where the 
 temple was to stand, raised to the place they were 
 to fill. They were so nicely fitted one to another 
 that the blade of a knife could not be inserted 
 between them. There are nine other stones of 
 about half the length of these. As we look upon 
 them in amazement, we gain a crude idea of the 
 skill and force which entered into the masonry in 
 the times of the lost arts. Now they are curiosities 
 and memorials. 
 
296 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Outside of the courts, parallel to the temple of 
 Baal, is the Temple of the Sun, which the Romans 
 consecrated to Jupiter. This is smaller than the 
 other, but it is now the largest temple m Syria and 
 the most beautiful, while it has additional interest as 
 the one which is best preserved. It had a magnifi- 
 cent entrance, of which very much remains. It was 
 forty -two feet high, and the width is half the height. 
 The ornamentation of the stones is most elaborate. 
 Vines, grapes, acanthus leaves, figures of men and 
 animals, adorn the gateway in the greatest profusion. 
 The portal was nearly shattered by the earthquake 
 of 1769, when the huge keystone dropped some three 
 feet, where it hung in the centre of the lintel for 
 over a hundred years. Then the English consul 
 built under it a pier of stones on which it may rest 
 for a long time. There are stairways within the 
 stones which form the side of this gateway. One 
 entrance is closed, but if you are willing to creep 
 through a low opening on the other side you can 
 climb to the top of the wall and get a broad view of 
 the courts and temples, the expanse of ruins. The 
 boy of the party naturally made the experiment. 
 Many of the columns of this temple are standing, 
 with portions of others, while one has fallen against 
 the wall, where two portions of its shaft still lean. 
 
 At the east of the Acropolis, in the miodern vil- 
 lage, enclosed by garden walls, and standing among 
 mulberry and poplar trees, is a small semi-circular 
 temple, whose exterior is very attractive with its 
 columns and carvings. The building was once a 
 Greek chapel, but it is now becoming ruins. We 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 297 
 
 get so accustomed to that word, ruins ! Yet how 
 jiiuch it means of thought and toil which have left 
 ]io mark; of human passions and desires which have 
 burned to ashes ; of centuries which have gone over 
 to the rapacious past! The golden capitals have 
 fallen, and the proud pillars which they surmounted. 
 Statues have fled from the niches which they graced. 
 Altars have disappeared and oracles become dumb. 
 Temples and men have passed into the realm from 
 Avhich there is no return. ''Ruins," we say, and 
 gaze at the lofty piles which are waiting for the 
 word. I did not mean to moralize. But who could 
 spend a quiet Sunday among the fallen splendors of 
 Baalbec and not be set a-thinking? The walls would 
 rise again. The priests would stand at the altars. 
 The people would bring their offerings and their 
 prayers. The old Psalm would sing its way into 
 the silence and the long procession move through 
 the imposing gates. What did it all mean ? Who 
 shall say? Who can doubt that sincere hearts were 
 here, with honest thanksgiving and fervent peti- 
 tions? For the multitudes, the blind led by the 
 blind, and not unwillingly, I have now no word. 
 But surely there were some here who under strange 
 names and with strange rites paid a true homage to 
 the God whom they dimly saw, for whom their 
 hearts longed, in whose hands they knew that their 
 life was. Some went down these steps and back 
 into the world with a clearer vision of unseen 
 things, and with a firmer purpose to follow the 
 inner light and to hearken to the inner voice. It 
 is easy to believe this, waiting in the temple, keep- 
 
298 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 ing the Sabbath Day, sure that God is in this 
 
 place. 
 
 The priests have gone. I will not take their 
 office. It was a restful, impressive day: a good 
 pause between the new world we had left and the 
 old world into which we were advancing. 
 
 There are remains of the old town in heaps of 
 stones, some of which retain signs of their former 
 use and beauty, and from the ruins statues are some- 
 times brought to light. There is a modern village 
 at the east of the temples, partly upon the site of 
 the town. There are two hundred and fifty houses, 
 more or less, occupied chiefly by Greek Catholics. A 
 school for Syrian girls marks the presence of Christian 
 teachers, and is another bright spot in a dark land. 
 
 The laugh and talk of our German companion 
 roused us earlier than was necessarj^ on Monday 
 morning. But we secured an early start and a long 
 ride in the cool of the day. There was nothing of 
 special consequence in the forenoon. The red fields 
 looked finely in the sun, but the paths were narrow 
 and rough. We had our lunch in a dreary place by 
 the roadside, near the village of Surghaya. The 
 village is among corn-fields and orchards. Rock 
 tombs are to be seen on the hill. In a small stream 
 near our halting-place women were washing clothes, 
 in the Italian manner substantially, with much rub- 
 bing and pounding. One woman was washing a 
 reluctant black sheep. We wanted to inspect these 
 processes, but were warned that it would not be 
 safe. We ventured near the washing-place and saw 
 all we could, and returned in safety. 
 
FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 299 
 
 The afternoon was more eventful. We had hardly 
 started before the rain began to fall. It rained. It 
 rained hard and long. The drops pelted us like 
 hailstones as the wind hurled them in our faces. 
 Our rubber coats proved an incomplete protection, 
 and nothing remained but to take the drenching 
 provided for us. After a long time the rain ceased, 
 and we expected to get on better. We had begun 
 to cherish this hope when Mordecai leaped from his 
 horse, which was the signal for us all to do the same. 
 We were to descend a hill which was too bad for 
 riding. It was too bad for anything. If I should 
 say we walked in mud, the expression would give no 
 idea of the reality. We ploughed our way through 
 deep, sticky, heavy, red mud. We stumbled, slipped, 
 struggled down the muddy hill, leading our dripping 
 horses, and wondering what and where the end 
 would be. We went through, or this record would 
 jiot have been written. At the same time the rain 
 SLcmed to be throug^h. The scene had been briofht- 
 ened by lightning and enlivened by thunder, but 
 these were over. The sun came out and made fair 
 proposals, but he could stay so little time that he 
 did us little good. We did hope to be sun-dried, 
 but the hills were too high and the light went down 
 behind them. At the end of the ride we found a 
 comfortable house, with good fires, hot drinks, dry 
 clothes, and all which wet men needed ? Far from 
 it. We stopped in a dreary open field. Not a tent 
 was up. But at length the wet canvas covered 
 spaces of wet ground. Rugs were spread over the 
 damp earth, and such changes of raiment were made 
 
300 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 as were found practicable. The iron bedsteads were 
 put up and the wet corners of our mattresses cov- 
 ered as carefully as was possible. Our situation had 
 little to alleviate its dreariness and discomfort. We 
 seemed, also, to have a reasonable chance of malaria. 
 The conditions were favorable. We had quinine, 
 the standard specific, but it did not dispel our fear. 
 Such a dinner as could be served was given to us, 
 and we seasoned it with suitable grumbling against 
 our preparations for rainy weather and wet ground. 
 We knew that Arabs were not far away. Mordecai 
 had the camp pistols fired, that the natives might 
 know we were strongly fortified and keep away 
 from us. So the day ended, and early sleep came 
 with its forgetfulness. 
 
 The morning was clear, but we were not in con- 
 dition for an early start. We did very well, how- 
 ever, in the uncertainties touching the issue of our 
 adventure. We took quinine, and moved on. Our 
 camp had been near the town of Zebedani, famous 
 for its apples and grapes. The place is finely sit- 
 uated among the mountains of Anti-Lebanon, nearly 
 thirty-six hundred feet above the sea. It is in the 
 midst of gardens and vineyards, and has a flourish- 
 ing fruit trade with Beirut and other large cities. 
 There are three thousand inhabitants, one-half of 
 whom are Christians. The traveller can find toler- 
 able entertainment in the town, as he can also at 
 Baalbec. But it is more convenient to carry your 
 own house and furnish your own table. 
 
 On our ride we soon came to the river Barada, 
 one of the " rivers of Damascus," and better known 
 
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DA3IASCUS. 801 
 
 as the Abana. The river has its rise high above 
 Zebedani, and rushes swiftly down a deep gorge. 
 We had to pass the tombs which are in the cliffs 
 above the river. The stone doors are gone, and 
 the sepulchres are untenanted. We could not even 
 linger to visit the place where Abel was laid, if we 
 may trust the Mohammedan tradition. But we had 
 a long noon at El-Fijeh, the great spring which 
 pours it waters into the Barada, and may almost be 
 called the source of the river. The copious spring 
 bursts from beneath the mountain, and rushes vio- 
 lently over the rocks, soon to become a broad stream. 
 Above the place at which the spring issues from the 
 ground, there was a small temple, standing on a plat- 
 form of rocks, and below are seen the walls of 
 another edifice standing in a beautiful grove. This 
 was, very likely, the shrine of the deity of streams 
 and springs. The rivers are not impressive, but the 
 place is charming in its solitude, with the living 
 stream which still goes on, while men come and go, 
 and, for the most part, leave it to its memories. 
 Some of our company could not resist the tempta- 
 tion to swim in the clear waters, while the rest were 
 content with inferior ablutions. There are a few 
 houses near the spring, and some of the natives, 
 chiefly in the juvenile period, made their appearance. 
 We had no intercourse with them, beyond an ex- 
 change of staring. 
 
 Our afternoon ride was unusually pleasant, as we 
 rode down the bank of the Abana. As we watched 
 the clear, sparkling water, and saw^ it break over the 
 stones into count-less waterfalls, we were not sur- 
 
302 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 prised that Naaman the Syrian preferred it above all 
 the rivers of Israel. When we had seen the Jordan, 
 we were still less surprised at his hesitation to leave 
 his own noble river that he might bathe in the tur- 
 bid waters of a strange land. The river we judged 
 to be some twenty or twenty-five feet wide through 
 most of its course. The trees upon its banks added 
 much to the beauty of the scene. The green was 
 in so great variety that the appearance was like 
 that of our own woods in autumn, even though the 
 reds were wanting. But we saw red leaves the 
 night before as we rode in the dry bed of a brook 
 with bushes on both sides of us. Through all this 
 beauty and life, we made our pilgrimage towards 
 Damascus. We took a circuitous route that we 
 might have the best view of the city before we 
 entered it. Late in the afternoon we reached the 
 hill of Kasiun, barren and sacred. We rode as 
 far as we could upon its rough slope, and then, 
 dismounting, clambered over the rocks to the sum- 
 mit. Legend has dealt generously with the moun- 
 tain, for it makes it one of the homes of Adam, and 
 there it has Abraham receive the sublime doctrine 
 of the one God. The red stones were stained with 
 the blood of Abel who was laid in the cavern in the 
 hill. From this height Mohammed, the young 
 camel-driver from Mecca, looked down upon the 
 ancient city, and, though allured by its beauty, 
 turned away because ''there is but one paradise, 
 and mine is fixed elsewhere." On the summit is a 
 small, open building which is called the Dome of 
 Victory, and also the Dome of the Carnel-drivers. 
 
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 303 
 
 It is a wonderful sight upon which one looks down. 
 The barren country through which he has passed gives 
 place to the broad plain, with its forests and streams, 
 and resting among them, silent and beautiful, is the 
 great city of the East, lifting among the trees the 
 domes and minarets of its hundred and one mosques. 
 Nothing could be more fascinating. To believe that 
 paradise was here requires but slight effort. Who- 
 ever is here, let him linger and prolong his rapture. 
 He will never see the quiet beauty again. Once in 
 the city the charm will be broken. He may come 
 again to the mount of vision, but the " tender 
 grace " of his first vision will not come back. 
 
 The path of the Barada is marked by the luxuri- 
 ance of the grass and trees which it nourishes and 
 beautifies. The river rejoices in the liberty of the 
 valley, and, breaking into small streams, carries its 
 life and beauty over all the wide plain, and finally 
 disappears in the marshes and lakes of the desert. 
 
 Upon the calm and wondrous scene we looked 
 as long as we were permitted, then reluctantly 
 made our way down the mountain, and entered 
 the city. We were very quiet as we rode along the 
 streets, and drew up our horses at the gate of the 
 Hotel Dimitri. We were in Damascus. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IN DAMASCUS. 
 
 We were in Damascus. The golden dream of 
 years had come true. We were in the city of the 
 eastern world, among the treasures and mysteries 
 and traditions and legends of the Orient. All this 
 we felt as we passed through Dimitri's narrow por- 
 tal, and it was surpassed as we stood in the large 
 court of this eastern dwelling. In the centre of the 
 court was a garden, with orange and lemon trees, 
 vines and shrubs, and a fountain casting up its cool 
 waters. Around the court were rooms for many 
 uses, and there the traveller might lie at his ease 
 on a broad divan, like a man in a story, and dream 
 of Araby the blest, while, if that were his fancy, he 
 smoked his fragrant nargileh, or sipped the dark 
 coffee in its tiny cups. The mysteries of the ram- 
 bling house never lessened. We enjoyed our large 
 rooms, and liked to wander in all open places, yet 
 there was the consciousness all the time that we 
 were on the border of our dwelling-place, and that 
 the Arabian days and nights were beyond us. 
 There were no splendors, and few luxuries. The ease 
 of the East was everywhere apparent, a carelessness 
 which was almost negligence, but which was sooth- 
 ing to strangers from a far land. 
 
 304 
 
IN DAMASCUS, 305 
 
 The house was quite shut in from the city and 
 the street. It would stand a considerable siege. 
 The large gate was closed and stoutly fastened. 
 Through it was cut a small, low door by which all 
 who had a right went in and out. This is for secur- 
 ity against a mob which at any time might renew 
 the bloody work of 1860, when six thousand Chris- 
 tians were slain in Damascus. It is thought that 
 fourteen thousand perished in that outbreak of 
 fanaticism, when the red hand souglit to crush out 
 the life which it could not control. We saw in one 
 of the streets a stone column which still bore the 
 stains of that time of carnage. 
 
 The little door was fastened by a curious wooden 
 lock or bolt which it is impossible to describe. I 
 brought away one similar to it. It is ingenious, and 
 effective under ordinary conditions, though it would 
 not be hard to break it. These locks are sometimes 
 very large and heavy. 
 
 It is common to say that Damascus is the oldest 
 city in the world. If that is claiming too much, it 
 is not too much to say that no other city has for so 
 long a time maintained its greatness and importance. 
 It is the centre of Syrian life, and the metropolis of 
 the East. It is mentioned in the annals of Abram, 
 whose steward was Eliezer of Damascus, but of the 
 origin of the city nothing is certainly known. Its 
 history is associated with that of the Jews, but it 
 held much wider relations, which extended wher- 
 ever civilization and commerce flourished. The 
 West sought its market-places, and from its gates the 
 caravans ventured into the farther East. I shall not 
 
306 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 attempt to trace its eventful story. It became, of 
 course, a part of the empire, and Christianity was 
 early establislied among its people. It had its 
 bishop, and its ancient temple was changed into a 
 church. The name and the place must always be 
 conspicuous, if for nothing else, because it was near 
 the city, and while he was hastening to enter it, that 
 there came the change in the life of a man who 
 beyond all other men has impressed his character 
 and his faith upon the world. It was in Damascus 
 that St. Paul ^'proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son 
 of God.'' 
 
 It was in the seventh century that the Arabs half 
 seized and half received the city which they had 
 besieged. The Christians then had fifteen churches 
 there. The city was made the capital of the vast 
 Moslem empire, and though it has felt the curse of 
 Moslem rule, and has lost much of its importance, 
 still, with its fortunate situation and its high re- 
 nown, it has in a good degree preserved its strength, 
 while it offers to the traveller an unequalled oppor- 
 tunity for seeing the people and ways and means of 
 times which are past. To the Arab Damascus is 
 like paradise. The conception of paradise which he 
 gains as he reads the description which is written 
 in the Koran takes its form from this city of his de- 
 light, from the fair fields and ripe fruits and sparkling 
 fountains of Esh-Sham and Dimishk. To the stran- 
 ger Damascus does not readily suggest paradise. It 
 might be so if he was content to remain on the hill 
 where the young camel-driver paused, and to gaze 
 on the enchanting beauty beneath him. But the 
 
IN DAMASCUS. 307 
 
 illusion vanishes when he walks through the narrow, 
 rough, unclean streets, jostled by Jew and Bedouin, 
 imperilled hj horses, provoked by donkeys, annoyed 
 by dogs, overshadowed by camels, with wild boys 
 and untamed girls confusing the complexity. The 
 cry for bakshish is surely mundane. We heard it 
 frequently, and usuallj^ from the children, who 
 seemed to have no need of the gift they asked, nor, 
 it should be confessed, much desire for it. It may 
 be added that they rarely received it. They had 
 conformed to the custom which had been bequeathed 
 to them, and with that their responsibility ended. 
 
 We had, as usual, a local guide in the city, 
 though Mordecai looked after our general interests. 
 Damascus has been compared, as regards its shape, 
 to a spoon. It has different quarters for different 
 classes. Christians, Jews, peasants, though the Mos- 
 lems naturally occupy most of the ground. The 
 quarters are divided into small sections having 
 wooden doors which are closed at night. The 
 streets are dark at night, and the stranger needs a 
 guide who is familiar with all the turnings and 
 windings of the ways, and is furnished with a lan- 
 tern of his own. The sensation is very peculiar as 
 you grope your way through the gloom, following a 
 man you never saw before, knowing that treacher- 
 ous characters are on every side of you, haunted by 
 strange stories of mysterious things which have been 
 done in these streets, and with an undefined fear 
 which increases the romantic interest of the walk. 
 But we were rich in confidence, though the domain 
 of knowledge was beyond the sea, in the office of 
 
308 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Jenkins, who intrusted us to Mill, who put us in the 
 hands of Howard, who handed us over to Mordecai, 
 who had us follow the Arab who knew Damascus. 
 
 Let me write of some things which we saw. We 
 were taken to an immense plane-tree, which is said 
 to have grown from a stick planted by Ali, the 
 friend of Mohammed. They told us that the tree 
 is forty-eight feet in circumference. One of its 
 branches has -ghastly associations, in that it is now 
 and then made to serve as a gallows. 
 
 We went into the bazaar, which is saying little 
 more than that we walked among the shops and 
 stores, wondered at the endless variety of wares, 
 watched the manners of the dealers, listened to the 
 jargon of voices, bought such things as we were able 
 to pay for and carry away. Near Dimitri's is the 
 horse-market, where one may hire a donkey, if he 
 feels the need of discipline, and wliere on certain 
 days horses are collected and sold. Many of them 
 are uncomely, but some boast a purer blood. The 
 Arabian horse of story and song, beautiful, swift, 
 intelligent, the friend of his master and the play- 
 mate of his owner's children, we never met. He 
 must belong further in the East. The horses we 
 saw were far enough from this description. The 
 connection is not a happy one, but this is a good 
 place to say that the entrancing beauties of the East, 
 the fair Arabian women whose charms a jealous 
 manhood conceals behind the veil, whose presence is 
 redolent of witchery and love, into whose fathomless 
 eyes one gazes only to be lost, we never saw. 
 Veiled women were in abundance, the thin covering 
 
IN DAMASCUS. 809 
 
 but imperfectly concealing the face beneath, while 
 the eyes turned boldly in the slit between the upper 
 and the nether veil, and were not ungenerous in 
 their glances at the passing Frank. But the women 
 of ballad and romance did not come in our way. 
 True, we did not cross the threshold of the harem, 
 and saw only the daughters of the people. Yet 
 peasant women have their full share of beauty and 
 grace, from the fjords of Norway to the lakes of 
 Italy. 
 
 We are lingering. The saddle-market is, very 
 properly, near the horse-market, and stalls for the 
 sale of grain are even nearer. Very brilliant are 
 the horse equipments, with their gaudy tassels and 
 cloths and spangled bridles. We watched the 
 coppersmiths at work in their open shops, and a 
 blind man working the rude bellows for the fire 
 over which another was lining a kettle. In the 
 Greek bazaar were all sorts of shawls, weapons, 
 coins, gems, and curiosities. We went into the 
 rooms of an old man who is called the '' father of 
 antiquities." His wares so nearly covered the floors 
 of several rooms that it was not easy to move among 
 them. There was a general sense of disorder and 
 dust. The prices were not fixed in their amount, 
 and we succeeded in bringing away some attractive 
 things in brass. We also found in the cloth and 
 silk bazaars many goods of great beauty. The 
 prices were said to be absurdly low, as trade was 
 extremely poor. We had a long process of bargain- 
 ing, and our only error was in not buying more. I 
 think that feeling is common when one reaches 
 
310 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 home. There is no need of extending this list to 
 the fanatical booksellers, the bakers and confec- 
 tioners, the pipe-dealers and fruit-dealers. No 
 bazaar is more interesting than that of the gold- 
 smiths, who are in a large building, very old and 
 dilapidated, which is little more than a roofed space, 
 with passages through it and among the numerous 
 stalls where the cunning workmen in precious 
 metals ply their trade. Much of their work was 
 beautiful, and they were very eager to dispose of it. 
 They brought forth hidden treasures as they caught 
 sight of us and followed us with their eager solicita- 
 tions. 
 
 The wholesale trade has its separate place, where 
 the different trades are divided, and the business is 
 on a large scale. It was instructive to examine the 
 great collections of merchandise and to see the 
 methods of traffic, the bringing in and the sending 
 out of goods. In these walks through the city the 
 people, their houses, dresses, manners, usages, are 
 all seen together, and the complex impression is of 
 great value. 
 
 '' The street which is called Straight " still runs 
 through the city, though it has lost much of its 
 original grandeur. It was about a mile long, reach- 
 ing from the east to the west gate, and was more 
 than a hundred feet wide. It was divided into 
 three avenues by Corinthian columns. The middle 
 avenue was for foot passengers. Remains of the 
 colonnades are now to be seen. The street is now 
 essentially straight through the greater part of its 
 length, but it is much narrower than it was. The 
 
IN DAMASCUS. 311 
 
 buildings at its sides are very ordinary, and have 
 the look of age without being very old. The street 
 is the most interesting in the city because we know 
 it by name from our childhood, and because it is 
 connected with events which concern tlie common 
 life. The house of Judas is pointed out, where 
 Ananias found the praying Saul of Tarsus. The 
 building is ancient, but not old enough for that, 
 unless it is in some of its stones. It is now a tiny 
 mosque, and by its side is the fountain from which 
 the water was taken for Saul's baptism. One would 
 like to believe this. We could not be far from the 
 place where these things were done. We went into 
 one of the buildings to see one of the old 'pillars and 
 found ourselves in a small school. The teacher 
 and the scholars were sitting with their books 
 behind low benches, and did not seem disturbed 
 by our curiosity. Not far away, on a side street in 
 the Christian quarter, is the house of Ananias, or a 
 house with that name. Now there is a small chapel 
 there, which we wished to see. The key could not 
 be found. We interested the neighbors, who gave 
 us the benefit of all they knew and did not know. 
 They were bent on furthering our desires, and 
 finally succeeded in finding two ladders which they 
 tied together and thrust through a window into a 
 room below. The descent was difficult and not free 
 from peril, but we w^ent down and found a rude 
 room with an altar and a few benches. If this was 
 the place where the man lived who laid his hands on 
 the man of whom he had been in dread, calling him 
 "Brother Saul," — but who shall say that it was not 
 
312 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the place of his dwelling ? I suppose that tradition 
 is willing to be truthful when it can be. It points 
 out the place where Saul was smitten by the great 
 light and fell to the earth. This is the Latin tradi- 
 tion. A low structure with an inscription marks the 
 spot. In the Middle Ages a village six miles away 
 was regarded as the place of the conversion. The 
 house of Naaman the leper has disappeared, but its 
 site is shown, and upon it stands a large building 
 which is fittingly used as a hospital for lepers. We 
 did not go into the house, but we saw, sitting on a 
 donkey, a forlorn man who was said to be a victim 
 of the frightful disease. Mr. Garry expressed his 
 doubts regarding the man's malady, but I could not 
 see that he had good reason for his suspicion. Is it 
 not probable that those poor men, dying by slow 
 degrees, think often of the prophet of Israel, and 
 long to throw themselves into the Jordan, even 
 with Abana and Pharpar before them? In the 
 south wall of the city we saw the place down which 
 St. Paul was lowered in a basket that he might 
 escape from those who sought his life. The tomb of 
 St. George is very near. This was not the saint 
 whom we found at Beirut, but the man who helped 
 St. Paul in his flight. There are many Christian 
 graves in the burial-ground by the tomb, but the 
 Moslems have dealt roughly with them. It gives 
 additional interest to this neighborhood that Buckle, 
 the English historian, was interred in this Christian 
 cemetery in 1862. It will be remembered that he 
 had spent the winter in Egypt and had crossed the 
 desert to Syria, and was stricken down with fever, 
 
IN DAMASCUS. 313 
 
 to die at Damascus. We passed a Moslem grave- 
 yard, where men and women were in a tent. They 
 were mourning for one recently taken from them. 
 They may have been friends whose grief was pro- 
 found. The signs of grief are often boisterous. 
 But on some occasions mourners are hired and then 
 the exhibition of sorrow must be excessive. It is 
 common for the mourning family to spend two or 
 three days beside the grave, reading tlie Koran and 
 offering prayers. The numerous methods of ex- 
 pressing sorrow of which we read in the Bible are 
 still to be found in the land of the Book which in 
 many ways gives so good a comment on the sacred 
 narratives. 
 
 A caravan had come in from Bagdad as we were 
 riding one day, and we were glad to see this ancient 
 method of travel and transportation. Rugs and 
 tobacco are brought from Persia, and other mer- 
 chandise is carried back. The camels were shaggy 
 and unattractive, but they had done good service 
 in their long march, and were as grave as if they felt 
 their importance in the work of the world. Perhaps 
 they do. The camel is a serious animal. He stur- 
 dily maintains his dignity, and is ready to assert his 
 rights. He will bear so much burden as he thinlvs 
 suitable. If more is put on his back as he kneels, 
 he quietly remonstrates. If his remonstrance is not 
 heeded, he has a way of rolling off his load and 
 compelling his driver to begin again and proceed 
 with more discretion. I do not know that any other 
 beast of burden thus asserts himself. I never saw 
 anything to exceed the pack-mule of the East. Stub- 
 
814 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 born he may be by nature, but he is effectually sub- 
 dued and made to carry a load which it would seem 
 impossible for him to hold. For pathos and sorrow 
 and despair, no sound can surpass the complaint of 
 the eastern donkey when his heart is touched. He 
 cries, murmurs, wails, as if in a hopeless miserj^, 
 loudly combining all sounds which are dismal, 
 hoarse, asthmatic, while all the time he has no 
 burden or pain, and apparently no definite object 
 in his objurgation. Something may be on his mind, 
 yet he excites no compassion and finds no relief. 
 Evidently he is discontented with his lot, and lacks 
 the patience of the mule and the resistance of the 
 camel. 
 
 We attended a dramatic exhibition one evening, 
 and had a fine sample of this kind of work and 
 play as it is pursued by the Arabs. We went in 
 procession under experienced guides, and carrying 
 paper lanterns. There was an air of mystery about 
 the whole business, but this was probably due to 
 the strangeness of the expedition. By a long and 
 circuitous walk through the dark we reached a large 
 hall which we found well filled with men. Not a 
 woman was to be seen. There was an orchestra 
 composed of five men, four of whom had musical 
 instruments, and all of whom had voices. They sat 
 cross-legged on a high platform, and interspersed 
 their melodies where they were deemed appropriate. 
 That they were anything more than appropriate can 
 hardly be claimed. Thej had a mournfulness which 
 seemed out of keeping with the occasion, but this 
 appears to be characteristic of the music of the 
 
IN DAMASCUS, 315 
 
 country, and so could not be deemed out of place. 
 I noticed that the low singing or humming with 
 which our guides and muleteers relieved their long 
 marches was always plaintive. At this exhibition 
 the performers were all men, some of whom wore 
 the dress of the women whom they personated. 
 The chief piece was a love story with tragic ele- 
 ments. For the most part, it was very dull, though 
 there were striking incidents. There was much of 
 the recitative, delivered in the most monotonous 
 manner, with equally monotonous chanting. One 
 performer followed another, almost as if it was an 
 exercise in declamation. Then swords would be 
 drawn, and waved w^ith loud vociferation, and there 
 were startlino; effects with colored lio^hts. We were 
 left to conjecture wdiat it was all about, and this we 
 were unable to do; nor could we get assistance. 
 Mordecai said that thej^ used the "deep Arabic," 
 which he could not understand. I inferred that 
 they used the classic forms rather than the dialect 
 of the people. It is my conviction that Ibrahim's 
 knowledge of Arabic did not extend far beyond 
 the colloquial necessities of a dragoman. After the 
 tragedy came a pantomine, which was cleverly done 
 and readily understood. It was full of fun and w^as 
 the more amusing for the rarity with, which any- 
 thing of the kind was seen. To see the people on 
 and off the stage, to examine their costumes and to 
 observe their ways, was of constant interest. We 
 sat in large arm-chairs. The audience were much at 
 their ease. They used a large liberty, relieved the 
 tedium with eating, drinking, smoking, and chat- 
 
316 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 ting, and everybody seemed amiable and contented. 
 But for the novelty of the whole scene, the evening 
 would have been dull for the stranger. As it was, 
 while we should not care to repeat it, our visit to 
 the Oriental drama was entertaining and useful. 
 
 Damascus is a walled city. Romans, Arabians, 
 Turks, at different periods have laid the stones 
 which shut it in. Towers, round and square, have 
 been erected for greater security, but these would 
 not offer much resistance to an assault. They have 
 grown weak and assaults have grown strong as the 
 centuries have wrought upon them. The wall pre- 
 sents a feeble appearance. There were many gates 
 in the old days, and some ten or twelve are now 
 0f)en. Of gates within the city mention has already 
 been made. At the ends of the Straight street are 
 gates in the wall. The east gate, Bab est Sherki, 
 claims attention for its antiquity. The gateway was 
 nearly a hundred feet long. It was divided into 
 three ways, two of which were long since closed 
 and made part of the wall. The small north gate 
 is now open, and over it rises a tall, square minaret. 
 
 Damascus has its citadel, a heavy square structure, 
 of the thirteenth century, surrounded by a moat, 
 which is concealed by a dense growth of reeds. 
 The general look of the fortress was sombre and 
 solid, but not warlike. We ventured through the 
 gate and were ordered out. At another time we 
 invaded the martial precincts again, and passed 
 through the open, desolate square with impunity. 
 I have not said much of the buildings of Damascus, 
 for there are few of which much can be said. The 
 
IN DAMASCUS. 317 
 
 architecture and arrangements of eastern houses are 
 familiar, and those of Damascus follow the general 
 rule. The outer walls are of a dull gray. The win- 
 dows are small, if indeed there are windows. The 
 door is narrow and opens into a hall, which again 
 opens on the interior court, paved with marble, and 
 enclosed by parti-colored walls. In the centre of 
 this space a fountain throws up its clear waters from 
 among the stones which stand about it. Around 
 tlie court are the rooms of the house, with their 
 beauties of adornment according to Oriental taste, 
 and the conveniences and comforts which life 
 demands and enjoys. Such things, there as every- 
 where, must vary with the means and taste of 
 the proprietor. I have an impression that the 
 visitor misses the splendor and grace which he has 
 been led to expect, the gorgeous beauty which be- 
 longs with every conception of the far Orient. 
 Visions dissolve as one threads the streets of an 
 eastern city with the '' Arabian Nights " in his 
 mind, or enters where time has drawn its hand 
 over the pictures of luxury and repose. 
 
 We were admitted to the house of the late 
 Shammai, a rich Jew, or to one room which is very 
 richly decorated. There is a small synagogue with 
 a library connected with the house. We also visited 
 the house of Josef Ambar, a rich Jew. The rooms 
 are arranged about three courts. The walls are of 
 w^hite marble and the floor is laid in mosaic. This 
 is elegant, but cold and hard ; good for exhibition, 
 but chilly for a home. But home means different 
 things in different lands. 
 
318 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 By the latest figures I have there were in Damas- 
 cus seventy-one large mosques with a large number 
 of chapels and schools, in which study and devotion 
 were united. Many of the schools have been closed. 
 The fame of the schools and scholars of Damascus 
 belongs in the past. The schools which have tlie 
 patronage of the authorities are chiefly for theology. 
 The Koran, of course, is studied and the sayings of 
 the Prophet, with enough philosophy and grammar 
 to help out the higher learniug. There are schools 
 of a lower grade, and a military school, but educa- 
 tion is not the strong point of the Moslem faith. 
 Naturally, there is more life and hope in the Chris- 
 tian schools. The Greek and French schools are 
 doing a good work in promoting the idea of learning 
 and elevating the standard. We were more inter- 
 ested in the English schools which we visited. In 
 one, the scholars welcomed us with the salaam, 
 touching heart, head, and lips, aud greeting us with, 
 "Good morning, ma'am." One class sung to us in 
 Arabic of "the home over there." We found a 
 very pretty chapel, which had just been renovated. 
 The motto of these schools is well chosen, — Jeho- 
 vah-Jireh. An English gentleman accosted us on 
 the street, seeing that we were strangers, and told 
 us that he was engaged in mission work in the city. 
 He was doing it in an informal way, meeting the 
 people as he could, hearing and answering their 
 questions, and telling them the good word of God. 
 We visited a school which is under his care. We 
 found a few boys and one male teacher. One boy 
 read a little simple English quite Avell. A poor rabbi 
 
7.V DAMASCUS. 319 
 
 was doing his best to teach Hebrew to a young boy. 
 He read the text and the boy read with him and 
 after him as well as he could. It was done in a 
 chanting tone, and I could not easily follow the 
 reading, even with a book. The task, which seemed 
 unpromising for the pupil, must have- been dismal 
 for the teacher. Yet I dare say they were both 
 used to the labor and accepted it as a part of life. 
 
 It is encouraging to remember the Christian 
 schools which are doing faithful work against a 
 mass of darkness and superstition, looking for the 
 better day which they are bringing nearer. 
 
 Mosques are not interesting places. They are 
 usually very bare, and so dreary that it seems 
 scarcely necessary to make it difficult or impossible 
 for the visitor to gain admittance. Few of them 
 would be often invaded by those who are seeking 
 the picturesque or the beautiful. There are some 
 which have a history enhancing their attractions, as 
 St. Sophia. The great mosque of Damascus stands 
 in the place of a heathen temple. When Christi- 
 anity was established in the empire, the building was 
 changed into a church, and was called by the name 
 of John the Baptist. When the Mohammedans 
 came in, they shared for a time the use of the house 
 with the Christians, whom they finally dispos- 
 sessed. Then a magnificent mosque was erected, 
 which retained a part of the old walls. Extrava- 
 gant praise is poured upon the edifice which archi- 
 tects, artists, and genius created. Precious stones 
 gleamed among the marbles, and gold glittered in 
 the ceiling, under which hung six hundred golden 
 
320 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 lamps. Fire came and war came, and much of the 
 glory vanished never to return. The house can no 
 longer be called magnificent. But it is impressive 
 by its size and the remains of its better days. Its 
 length is a hundred and forty-three yards, and it is 
 divided into^ three aisles by rows of columns. In 
 the transept is the shrine in which is preserved the 
 head of the saint for whom the church was named. 
 This marble shrine is quadrangular, adorned with 
 columns, and decorated with extracts from the 
 Koran, and above is a gilded dome surmounted by 
 a golden crescent. There are three minarets. On 
 the loftiest Jesus is to descend in the great day and 
 sit in judgment over the nations. We ascended the 
 western minaret, and were repaid with an extensive 
 view of the city and the country around it. Far in 
 the distance Hermon lifted up his head on high, and 
 beyond lay the land towards which our hearts were 
 reaching. When we had left the mosque, we looked 
 into the marble chamber where Bibars, the soldier, 
 usurper, and ruler, who fought valiantly against the 
 Crusaders, whose name and deeds are in high re- 
 nown among the followers of the Prophet, after his 
 eventful life was laid for his last repose. We saw 
 the fine mausoleum which bears the name of Sala- 
 din, but we could not stand beside his tomb. We 
 looked upon the graves of two of the Prophet's 
 wives and of his daughter, Fatima, over Avhich 
 stands a dome of clay. The names revive the 
 heroic days — the days which are fullj^ of the past. 
 The new already presses hard upon the old. The 
 proud Moslem sees the star which is coming out of 
 
IN DAMASCUS, 321 
 
 the West and feels that the crescent changes at its 
 approach. New arts and mdustries are commg in, 
 with new men before whom he must recede. It is 
 the inevitable, and he does not bow to it with his 
 wonted resignation. Against fate he cannot con- 
 tend; but he can revenge himself upon those who 
 bear the name he hates, who belong to the steadily 
 advancing force of the new day. Surely it is com- 
 ing. The Moslem Avho stands on the minaret is 
 crying better than he knows. The hour of pra5^er 
 draws on. We heard his cry from a grated window 
 in "the street which is called Straight," hard by the 
 house where Saul of Tarsus prayed. The voice will 
 be heard, and here men will kneel beside the world's 
 apostle. On the wall of the great mosque, over the 
 central gate, is a sentence in Greek which has been 
 strangely preserved where it waits for its fulfil- 
 ment : " Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting 
 kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all 
 generations." - 
 
CHAPTER X, 
 
 BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE, 
 
 We left Damascus in the care of the Psalm which 
 rules above the gate of the mosque ; for we were 
 compelled to move on. The great city, with its 
 teeming memories and traditions, with its hope and 
 promise, we left behind and turned our faces to the 
 south. A crowd of bystanders watched our depart- 
 ure in the early morning. We rode by the Pharpar, 
 which is narrower than the Abana, but whose swift 
 waters are clearer than those of the Jordan. In 
 itself our day's ride was not remarkable. There was 
 one incident which was exciting and painful. We 
 had not ridden far before Mr. Garry's horse, which 
 was one of the best we had, showed by plain signs 
 that he was not able to go on. Our men tried sev- 
 eral methods to relieve his evident pain, that he 
 might pursue his journey. They bled him. They 
 burned him, I suppose on the same principle that we 
 apply a blister to a man. They compelled him to 
 run at the top of his speed. The result was that he 
 pushed on till noon, when we reached our stopping- 
 place, and then again fell to the ground. All the 
 surgery of the camp was put in requisition but to 
 no purpose. As the men were keeping up their 
 vain efforts an old fellow came riding by, who cast 
 a look at the horse, and, saying that he could cure 
 
 322 
 
BAJSrlAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE, 323 
 
 him, rode on. Mordecai shouted to him to come 
 back, and promised him a napoleon if he would save 
 our horse. He seemed confident that he could earn 
 the money. He dismounted, and ordered a fire 
 made. Then he tried the burning process once 
 more, and the horse sprang to his feet, only to fall 
 again. The doctor sent away for charcoal, and a 
 small quantity was brought. He heated an iron, 
 and thrust it into the leg of the horse just above his 
 hoof, but no impression was made. He cut the ears 
 of the dumb patient, but could not bring him back 
 to life. He saw that the case was hopeless, and 
 went his way more quietly than before. In a short 
 time the poor horse was dead. His work was done. 
 We left him where he had dropped. Every one felt 
 the pathos of the event. Our sympathies were 
 touched by this death in a strange land. It was a 
 horse who died, but death is always a serious thing, 
 and we were not ashamed of our pity for the crea- 
 ture, who had been faithful to the last, and had died 
 at his post. 
 
 We rode on into the afternoon. From the top of 
 a hill we saw our tents in a field, near a lone tree. 
 Soon it began to rain, and we began to be wet, get- 
 ting more and more wet till we reached the camp. 
 We did not seem to be very badly off, though it was 
 bad enough. We were near the Moslem village of 
 Kefr-Hawar. The name is said to refer to the silver 
 poplars which abound there. But Mordecai said 
 that it means "the place of unbelievers." Both 
 may be right. Whatever the word means, the sit- 
 uation was far from cheery. A brook ran before 
 
SJ4 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 the camp with its unwholesome suggestiveiiess. 
 We heard the half-human bark of the jackals, as 
 they made their way home. The natives around us 
 might prove troublesome neighbors. Mordecai had 
 the camp pistol fired. In each tent a chain was run 
 through the handles of bags and valises, and bells 
 were affixed to the chain, which was fastened to the 
 tent post. The theory was that if robbers came 
 thej^ would attempt to reach under the tent and 
 draw out the luggage, when the bells would sound 
 the alarm. In addition to this precaution, three or 
 four men were brought from the town to serve as a 
 guard through the night. Then we settled down, 
 for everything seemed secure. Soon the rain, it 
 rained again, and in earnest. How it poured, and 
 how it assaulted our frail tent ! It made its way 
 into the tent, and the beds on the windward side 
 were in a sad plight. I was aroused by the flood 
 without and the river within. It was a hard case 
 under our conditions. I found a rubber cloth, which 
 I spread over my bed, and, dressing mj^self, lay on 
 the edge of the cot, and waited for liappier times. 
 The rain still rained. I could hear it, and occasion- 
 ally a drop fell on my face. Slowly, how slowly ! 
 the hours of that night wore away, while the boy 
 slept serenely on the dry side of the house, perhaps 
 dreaming of the fountains of Damascus. It was 
 about half-past five when I heard the inspiriting 
 voice of Mordecai, "Doctor, it's time to get up." 
 ''How's the weather?" "Bad." He was right. 
 It was bad. When we mustered for breakfast there 
 was hope of a change. But the air was raw and 
 
BlNtAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 325 
 
 chilly, and we put on our winter coats. We forti- 
 fied ourselves with quinine, and mounted our horses. 
 Soon the rain, it rained again. Apparently it was 
 the first shower after a protracted drought. We 
 went up and up, down and down, over the rockiest 
 hills. Hermon showed his white head when we 
 started, and for a little time afterwards. Our way 
 lay along the slope of the mountains. Soon nothing 
 was to be seen. The mists and clouds gathered 
 thickly about us, and it rained. The cold wind 
 drove the heavy rain into our faces. For a few 
 minutes the clouds would break, and we could see 
 the sun glimmering through the mist. Then an- 
 other cloud would come along the valley, silent but 
 resistless, and the rain would fall as if we could be 
 more wet than we were. There is said to be a limit 
 to the capacity for absorption. A man on horseback 
 is a long while reaching the limit. Our road 
 changed. There were fewer rocks. There was 
 more mud, — thick, heavy, sticky, beyond anything 
 we had ever seen. It was pitiful to see the jaded 
 horses sink into it, then pull out their weighted feet, 
 and struofo'le on. There was an end to the mud, 
 and we came upon rocks once more. We trusted 
 that the worst was over, when Mordecai drew up 
 his steed. He said that he did not know where he 
 was, and could not see through the mist. Back we 
 went into the mud, and forced our way on till 
 another halt was called. Mordecai and Joseph Saab 
 held a consultation, and we turned for another 
 attempt. Another halt, and the wind and water 
 were doing their worst. The glimpses of light 
 
326 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 made the returning gloom more intolerable. Mor- 
 decai and Joseph held another council of war, and 
 separated to see what could be found. Some of us 
 followed one, and some the other. We kept behind 
 Mordecai, as the authorized guide. Presently some 
 one behind Joseph shouted, ''Come on, come on." 
 We turned and followed the successful leader, and 
 the rain, it rained. Tlie intervals of sunshine con- 
 tinued, but they were brief and disheartening. We 
 left our horses, and walked for a time to get some 
 warmth into our chilled feet. At length we went 
 down the mountain till we reached the little Druse 
 village of Mejdel-esh-Shems, in '' the place of sun- 
 shine." Mordecai waited till we all came up, and 
 then made a concise address. He said, ''I don't 
 think I can lead you to Banias. I know the way, 
 but there are several paths, and in this fog I cannot 
 tell which one is right. If you say so, I will do as 
 well as I can, or, if you think it best, I will try to 
 get you lodging here." There was but one answer — 
 " Here ! " He went to the nearest house and soon 
 returned, saying that he had engaged it for us. We 
 made no delay in moving in. It was a neat stone 
 house, of two rooms, with an entry between. Be- 
 neath were apartments for horses, donkeys, camels, 
 etc. The best room was given up to us. Our 
 men had the other. The family occupied the hall 
 between. When we entered, the woman of the 
 house was sweeping the floor with a small broom. 
 There was no window, but a wooden shutter covered 
 an opening in the wall, and there was a side door 
 which could be opened for light. Furniture there 
 
BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 327 
 
 was none, if I except two wooden boxes, such as are 
 carried on a donkey. There was a feeble fire in one 
 corner of the room, and this Avas replenished for our 
 benefit. When our luggage arrived, we were able 
 to make a change of raiment, and there was fire 
 enough to dry the garments which we removed. 
 Our beds were laid on the hard floor. We had our 
 table and dishes and food, with our usual attend- 
 ants. Glad and grateful for the shelter into which 
 we had been brought, we w^ere ready to seek our 
 couches in good season. The fleas of the country 
 received us with open arms, and did their best to 
 entertain us. They carried it too far, as we remem- 
 bered long afterwards. It was Saturdaj^ night w^hen 
 we went to housekeeping. Sunday found us "pris- 
 oners of hope." But we were very comfortable. 
 Our large room showed signs of skill and taste. 
 The floor was of hard earth. The ceiling was of 
 small trees or poles, on which brush had been laid, 
 on which earth had been put, making the common 
 Iiard, flat roof. Some of the space in the partitions 
 was used as a granary, and from a hole in the wall 
 the gi'ain could be drawn. There had been a little 
 attempt at decoration, and the plaster festooning 
 Iiad a pleasing eftect. The weather was far from 
 clear and settled, and we speculated much on the 
 chances of our getting away. Logan sang two verses 
 
 of 
 
 *^ Are your windows open towards Jerusalem, 
 Though as captives here a little while we stay." 
 
 The words seemed appropriate, and the song was 
 enlivening in a moderate degree. We were to have 
 
328 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 had this Sunday at Banias, but we consented cheer- 
 fully to this shutting in. The morning passed 
 quietly, with reading and thinking. It was a 
 wholesome pause. In the afternoon the weather 
 was much more promising, and we walked up into 
 the village. It was a rough and weary walk, over a 
 steep muddy path, strewn with pieces of rock, 
 which were of help to us and served to keep the 
 earth from sliding away. We heard a tiny bell and 
 found our way to a small stone building of two 
 rooms, one of which was a Protestant chapel, while 
 the other was the residence of the young minister. 
 We went into the chapel and were received with 
 real courtesy. Seats were brought for us, though 
 the congregation had dispensed with such comforts. 
 Only a few persons were present. A small line of 
 women stood and sat against the w^all, and a little 
 group of men held the floor in front of the desk. 
 Civilization had so far penetrated into this region 
 that persons dropped into the service from time to 
 time after it began, in the American fashion. One 
 man came who was plainly of superior distinction. 
 We fancied that he was the head man of the village, 
 or at least of the church. His dignity was made 
 evident by his better dress and by the boots which 
 he kept on his feet while the other men left theirs at 
 the door. It was made apparent further by his sitting 
 on a stool and on a cushion which a young woman 
 brought for him. The preacher was a young man 
 from the seminary on Mt. Lebanon. The service was 
 in Arabic. There was singing, then prayer, and the 
 reading of the Scriptures by the minister and people. 
 
B ARIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE, 329 
 
 After that was a catechetical exercise, in which the 
 minister asked questions and the people answered. 
 The head man took part with the others, and all 
 seemed interested in the exercise. We regretted that 
 we could not understand the inquiries and replies. 
 More singing followed^ which was conducted chiefly 
 by the minister and one girl with a shrill voice, and 
 the service closed with a prayer and blessing. Then 
 the minister gave us a friendly greeting, and the 
 men and women clustered about us, the sheik or 
 deacon with the rest, and shook our hands with 
 great cordiality. Some extended both their hands 
 to seize and hold ours. An American congregation 
 would not have given strangers a more honest or 
 generous reception. We had no common language 
 but that of smiles and sympathy and hand-shaking, 
 but each one knew what every one meant, and we 
 had a good time together. There was a small box 
 for offerings. We comprehended its language and 
 intent, and were more than glad to make a contribu- 
 tion for some good work. There were about thirty 
 persons present beside ourselves, including the dig- 
 nitary and two babes in arms. The men were not 
 attractive in appearance. On the road they might 
 have passed for bandits, with their dark faces, 
 heavy brows, and unkempt locks. But their faces 
 were bright as they joined in the simple exercises of 
 the church, and illumined at times as they felt the 
 glow of spiritual thought. The truth which had 
 been brought to them had transformed their charac- 
 ter and bearing. We passed a few moments in the 
 preacher's room, which was simply furnished for a 
 
330 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 good man's dwelling, and, wishing him well, found 
 our way down to our residence. This visit was the 
 sunshine of our Sunday in Mejdel-esh-Shems. 
 
 On Monday we resumed our journey. The head 
 of the house which we had hired and occupied was 
 absent at the time that we took possession. On 
 Sunday afternoon a tall man stalked into our apart- 
 ment and gazed about him with an air of mingled 
 curiosity and authority. We made him comprehend 
 that we regarded him as an intruder, but our state- 
 ments to that effect probably lost some of their force 
 in being transmitted through a language which he 
 did not understand. But he withdrew without 
 remonstrance, while we were somewhat shocked 
 when we learned that it was the proprietor of the 
 dwelling whom we were ordering out. The family, 
 for the most part, kept to themselves, though the 
 children visited us and stared in wonder at our 
 watches and other appointments. Mordecai had 
 more trouble with our landlord and his household, 
 who wanted, as it was explained to us by our drago- 
 man, that we should '' make them rich." The alter- 
 cation was protracted and spirited ; but it ended at 
 last, and we rode away. In two hours we came to 
 Banias, where we were to have had the Sabbath. 
 We saw nothing to make us regret that we had 
 tarried at Mejdel. 
 
 Yet this was the Paneas of the Greeks, and here 
 was a sanctuary of Pan, the divinity of flocks and 
 shepherds. Long before, it had been called Balinas, 
 after Baal, who was worshipped here. Indeed, the 
 place has had many different names. Here is one 
 
bAnIAS and TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 331 
 
 of the chief sources of the Jordan, which flows from 
 a cavern over which Herod the Great built a temple 
 in honor of Augustus, who had appointed him ruler 
 of the district. Philip made the city larger, and 
 gave it the name of Csesarea, to which his own name 
 was afterward appended that the place might be dis- 
 tinguished from another Csesarea. King Agrippa 
 tried to have it called Neronius, bat the ill-omened 
 title passed awaj^ It was a famous place. When 
 Jerusalem was captured, Titus here celebrated the 
 conquest with gladiatorial games, in which Jews Avere 
 compelled to fight one with another and with wild 
 beasts. The town was conquered again and again 
 in the Crusades, and the remains of its strong forti- 
 fications bear witness to its importance. All that is 
 of the past. The place is wretched enough now. 
 The situation is very fine and could not easily be 
 impaired. Nearly everything else is gone. There 
 are some fifty houses, most of them within the wall 
 of an old fortress. We saw something of the better 
 days. The ruined castle looked down upon us from 
 its height. We did not go up to it. I do not know 
 when this hill was first fortified, but the greater 
 part of the castle belongs in the Middle Ages. In 
 this land structures of that period are of small 
 account. Even older ones are little regarded. 
 Mordecai rode by ruins which would be the for- 
 tune of Europe, and, when we asked what they were, 
 answered carelessly, " They're only Roman." An- 
 tiquity is a relative term, and varies with the bound- 
 aries of nations. 
 
 We left our horses and walked a short distance to 
 
832 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 
 
 see the cavern from which the river emerges. The 
 cave has been much diminished as the limestone cliff 
 has become worn and broken. The fallen rocks lie at 
 the mouth of the cavern, and the full stream of clear 
 water rushes over them. In the cliff are votive 
 niches, and over one is the inscription, " Priest of 
 Pan." 
 
 There is another cave, in which Elijah rested, if 
 the Moslems are to be believed, and to which he 
 will return. On the hill above is a small mosque. 
 The Moslems have been careful to put a religious 
 structure near a sacred place, and in this have 
 shown more discretion than in most other things. 
 The village of Banias is dismal enough, as I have 
 intimated. It seemed to be market-day when we 
 were there, though I fancy that market-day is a 
 movable feast, depending on having something to 
 sell. We found a gathering of inhabitants in an 
 open square. Some member of the bovine family 
 had been slaughtered, and was now to be disposed 
 of. The head and blood were on the ground. The 
 dissevered members were hung up where they could 
 be examined by those who were in need of fresh 
 meat. The trade did not appear to be brisk, and 
 evidently time was of no account. In the midst of 
 so much which was forlorn, it needed an effort to 
 recall the years which were gone. To have a place 
 named in the Bible, and especially in the New Tes- 
 tament, is to invest it with an importance which it 
 retains when its strength and honor are taken away. 
 The region around Caesarea Philippi has a prominent 
 place in the life of our Lord. When he had made 
 
BANIaS and TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 333 
 
 Judea unsafe for him, and the Jews sought to kill 
 him, he sought the retirement of this part of Gali- 
 lee. Here Peter made his grand confession : '-' Thou 
 art the Christ." On one of the hills of Hermon 
 overlooking the city the Lord was transfigured. 
 These things bear the mind away from the desola- 
 tion now resting on the city which w^as once re- 
 nowned. 
 
 Our riding away was not at all like the march of 
 the Crusaders, with their flashing armor and fljang 
 banners and martial music and martial steeds. We 
 went quietly and in solitary reflection. I do not 
 know how it happened, but I found myself left 
 behind by all our company. In the windings of the 
 path they were lost to sight among the trees and 
 bushes. Nor did I know which path to take tliat I 
 might catch up with them. I began to be alarmed. 
 It was fearful to be left alone, and there. Would 
 they miss me and come back ? That was not likely, 
 for I very often rode at the end of the line, and no 
 one would notice that I was not with the troop. 
 What could I do if they did not come back? Where 
 should I come out if I took the wrong way, as I 
 could easily do ? I knew there was meat in the 
 market, but I knew that I had no words in which to 
 bargain for it ; nor was meat the sole requirement 
 of a man on a horse. But sometl.ing had to be 
 done. I was sure that Prince knew as much as I 
 did, and possibly he knew more. His instincts were 
 more trustworthy than my reason; so I slackened 
 bridle once more, and let him choose his path. The 
 confidence was well placed. Before long he brought 
 
334 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 me where I could see the advance guard, and at his 
 superior pace he readily joined the line. 
 
 It is wortli noting, as we lose sight of the Castle 
 of Csesarea, that in the crusading times this was the 
 seat of " the old man of the mountains," the sheikh 
 of the assassins, the clan of fanatics who were held 
 togetlier by a medley of beliefs, and who with their 
 atrocities made themselves a terror in the land. 
 Great princes paid tribute to the chief, that they 
 might be secure against the marauding of the band. 
 He used to stimulate his followers to their cruel 
 work by giving them hashish^ from which they w^ere 
 called hashishmen^ which w^as corrupted into our 
 word — assassin. That is one account of the origin 
 of the name ; but some say that they were named 
 after their first chief, Hassan ; and others that the 
 stealthy method of their work gave them their title. 
 
 We came to Dan, w^hich was Laish till the Danites 
 took it and called it after their ancestor. It was the 
 northern landmark of Palestine, and is best known 
 from its connection with its co-ordinate term, Beer- 
 sheba. Dan is now represented b}^ a fine oak-tree, 
 which stands, quite naturally, over a Moslem tomb. 
 From the hill or mound on w^hich the tree stands 
 issues the Little Jordan, one of the upper streams of 
 the great river. Thus we entered Palestine. 
 
 We passed two Bedouin villages. Their tents 
 were long and low. Some were made of black 
 goat's-hair, and others of what looked like our straw 
 matting, except that it was coarser. In some only 
 the lower part was made of this matting. There 
 w^as nothing pleasant about these rude dwellings. 
 
BANIAS AND TIBJERIAS INCLUSIVE, 335 
 
 t 
 
 but tljey were picturesque, and were of interest as 
 belonging to the country. We saw what Mordecai 
 called Bedouin buffaloes, which we should have 
 called oxen. Life must be dull to these tribes when 
 thej^ are at home, and their nomadic habits do not 
 carry them very widely. The men probably have 
 their own excitement, especially when they are fur- 
 ther away from civilization. Yet I think that their 
 ordinary life must be unromantic and unprofitable. 
 
 The villages which we found, whether they be- 
 longed to the dwellers in houses or to the dwellers in 
 tents, had a dreary, desolate look. Sometimes only 
 broken walls and fallen stones showed where men 
 had lived. But where there were still people, they 
 seemed to be very poor, stupid, lazy, forlorn. The 
 color of the houses — or the absence of color — in- 
 creased the sense of dreariness. The women looked 
 much like American Indians, and the men not much 
 better. Those whom we saw at Mejdel-esh-Shems, 
 where the Christian church is, were of a higlu r 
 order. We saw signs of the native taste, in the 
 black paint around the eyes of children and some- 
 times of older girls. Some of the w^omen had their 
 hands and the upper part of the breast tattooed, and 
 we saw similar marks just over the feet. I think 
 the color was not put in in all cases by the slow and 
 painful process employed by Pacific savages and 
 others, but that it was a superficial painting. The 
 amount of ornaments of silver and other materials 
 depended on the means of the wearer, though most 
 persons seemed to be able to have a little of this 
 kind of adornment. 
 
336 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 Riding in these narrow paths is not without diffi- 
 culty. It is not agreeable to meet any one. The 
 not infrequent sight of an approaching striiig of 
 camels loaded with household furniture, wliich 
 seems to cover the whole path, if not more, with 
 wardrobes and bureaus grazing the cliff on one side 
 and hanging over the abyss on the other, cannot be 
 considered a pleasing episode. We always managed 
 to get by, in spite of the stolid faces of the camels, 
 who have the habitual look of creatures who are 
 outraged and are sensible of the outrage yet do 
 submit for reasons best known to themselves. This 
 day we met a string of donkeys carrying dispropor- 
 tionate loads of wood. The horse of the boy col- 
 lided with one of the long-eared caravan; the stirrup 
 caught in the wood, and, as the horse was the 
 stronger, the donkey was suddenly wheeled around. 
 I cannot say what might have happened, but the 
 stirrup gave way, and the donkey was free to take 
 up his march. We repaired our damages and passed 
 on. I must remark again that an overloaded donkey 
 is a queer sight. He seems concealed beneath his 
 encumbrances. Often nothing can be seen but an 
 immense moving mass, with four short legs under it, 
 and a small head peering out in front. At times the 
 load is less bulky, and a woman sits upon it in man- 
 fashion. It is not always easy to tell a man from a 
 woman, but we marked that on the road the women 
 are more likely than the men to be barefooted. 
 That is not a certain sign, however. 
 
 We had our lunch under an old bridge at the 
 River Hasbany, another of the streams of the Jor- 
 
BANIAS AND TIBEBIAS INCLUSIVE, 337 
 
 dan. The way was very rough this day. Just as 
 we were going into camp it began to rain, but this 
 did us little harm. We made our camp about an 
 hour from El-Mellaha, near a swamp and a brook. 
 It was a poor place. But the moon and stars ap- 
 peared, and looked in a friendly way down upon 
 our little village of tents, and we ended the day in 
 hope. 
 
 I do not mention all we saw. There were distant 
 views which were of rare interest, especially moun- 
 tains of historic character, towards which we turned 
 eager eyes but could not set our faces. Not a day, 
 not an hour, was devoid of scenes, memories, and 
 impressions which we could have had nowhere else. 
 There is but one Holy Land. The next day's ride 
 was one of the best. We had on one side the moun- 
 tains of Naphtali, while the mountains beyond the 
 Jordan could be seen in the distance, and Hermon 
 was still visible behind us in his majesty. It was 
 pleasant to be making our way southward. The 
 country had the bare look of autumn, but there was 
 seldom a place so rocky that we did not find a few 
 delicate flowers. Our road took us quite near the 
 waters of Merom, or Lake Huleh, which is supposed 
 to be that which is known by the former name. 
 Merom is once mentioned in the Scriptures as the 
 place where the confederate kings of Northern 
 Canaan came together, and where they were sub- 
 dued by Josliua, who "houghed their horses, and 
 burnt their chariots with fire." Other noted events 
 took place in this neighborhood. Huleh is the later 
 Arab name, and applies to the plain and marsh as 
 
338 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 well as to the lake. The region is a fine hunting- 
 ground. Wild animals in great variety and profu- 
 sion are found, while water-fowls haunt the lake. 
 The wide plain is fertile and beautiful, but its 
 insecurity repels inhabitants. It is the resort of 
 robbers from beyond the river. The lake is triangu- 
 lar in shape, being some four miles wide at the 
 upper part and ending in a marsh which is impene- 
 trable from its thick growth of cane. There are 
 places, however, at which the shore of the lake can 
 be reached. One who has travelled extensively ex- 
 presses his opinion of the region in these enthu- 
 siastic terms: ''The Huleh — lake, and marsh, and 
 plain, and fruitful field — is unrivalled in beauty in 
 this land, no matter when or from what point 
 beheld, — from the heights of Hermon, the hills of 
 Naphtali, the plain of Ion, or the groves of Banias, 
 in midwinter or midsummer, in the evening or in the 
 morning." It may be remembered that the Rob Roy 
 canoe found its way to the waters of Merom. 
 
 We lunched at the Khan Jubb Yusef, the inn of 
 the pit of Joseph. The Khan is an extensive build- 
 ing, or series of buildings, affording shelter to soldiers, 
 farmers, travellers, — to any one who may need its 
 hospitality and carry his own provisions. We spent 
 our noon-time in examining the large edifice, which 
 in appearance is almost a castle, having even a rude 
 chapel. In a yard at the side of the Khan is a well 
 thirty feet deep into which Joseph was cast by his 
 jealous brothers. We have both Christian and 
 Mohammedan traditions as vouchers for the iden- 
 tity of the place. Unhappily, the pit at Dothan was 
 
BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 339 
 
 two days distant from this field, and this well has an 
 unfailing supply of water, while that into which tlie 
 luckless youth was lowered had no water in it. We 
 were sorry for these facts, as it would have given the 
 place greatly enhanced value to our eyes if we could 
 fairly have found the story confirmed by the truth 
 lying at the bottom of the well. It seemed a pity 
 that when we had this well and no other we should 
 lose the story. All this was soon forgotten in the 
 rare delight of our afternoon ride. The supreme 
 moment in Palestine is when the first view of Jeru.- 
 salem is gained. Next to that is the hour in which 
 one first looks upon the Sea of Galilee. Long 
 before we reached the sea, it was lying before us in 
 its placid beauty. It could only be with deep feel- 
 ing that Ave approached the lake which had beyond 
 all others been sacred in our thoughts. The lake 
 seemed almost a part of the Bible. It was there 
 that words were spoken and works Avere done in 
 which heaven and earth were together. It seemed 
 almost as if on the shore of the sea we should meet 
 the Christ himself. We had looked forward to this 
 hour and talked of it. When it came, there was 
 nothing to be said. We communed with our own 
 hearts and were still. 
 
 We reached the Sea at Khan Minyeh, which, like 
 Khan Yusef, is on the old Damascus road. The 
 Khan reckons its years from the time of Saladin, but 
 is now in a dilapidated condition. It has been 
 thought by some that this was the site of Caper- 
 naum. Mordecai declared himself of that opinion. 
 But the weight of argument, I think, favors those 
 
340 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 who put Capernaum a little further up the lake, at 
 Tell-Hum, where there are the ruins of a place of 
 importance. It is impossible to assign with cer- 
 tainty the sites of some of the places on the shores 
 of this lake. Bethsaida may have been a fishing 
 village where Khan Minyeh is. The Bethsaida 
 which bore the name of the emperor's daughter, 
 Bethsaida Julias, may have been on the opposite 
 side of the river, or may have been a little removed 
 from the shore. It is to be regretted that we cannot 
 be sure regarding the site of Bethsaida, inasmuch 
 as it was the home of Philip, Andrew, and Peter. 
 It is suggested that Khan Minyeh may have been a 
 government station, with a custom-house and other 
 offices, and that Matthew may have been found there 
 when he was called to be a disciple. 
 
 We watered our horses at the Fountain of Figs 
 and rode on. We looked up to the Karn Hattin, 
 the hills whose cone-like shape have given them this 
 name, the Horns of Hattin. In the time of the 
 Crusades the natives circulated a tradition that the 
 Sermon on the Mount was delivered on this moun- 
 tain. Indeed, the stone on which Jesus sat with the 
 multitude around him has been pointed out. There 
 is an older Greek story — that the feeding of the five 
 thousand occurred in this mountain. This is simply 
 the result of the common desire to assign places for 
 important events. With the whole land open, places 
 were readily selected, and the imagination of one 
 generation became the belief of another. We saw 
 Tabor far off. We rode through the village of 
 Mejdel, — a forlorn collection of huts holding the 
 
A A 
 
 BANIAS AND TIBEBIAS INCLUSIVE. 341 
 
 ground where Magdala was, the birthplace of Mary 
 Magdalene. Thus we came to Tiberias, where our 
 tents were pitched in the yard of an old Crusader's 
 castle. There, with the sea at our feet, and sacred 
 memories and imaginations in our minds and hearts, 
 we were very glad to settle down. It was a beauti- 
 ful evening, and Mordecai engaged a boat for the 
 next day, that we might have a ride on the lake and 
 visit Tell-Hum. It was more than romantic to have 
 the night come to us on the shore of the Sea of Gali- 
 lee, whose waters, dashing on the beach, gave the 
 last sound we heard as we closed our eyes. Our 
 night was to be less quiet than we thought. We 
 were awakened by the fierce wind, which shook our 
 canvas houses till it seemed almost impossible for 
 them to stand. We waited patiently to see what 
 the end would be. But above all the raging of the 
 storm could be heard the loud voice of Keil, " An- 
 toine ! Antoine ! our tent is coming down!" Then 
 we heard the pounding which showed that the faith- 
 ful Arab was driving in the stakes for that tent and 
 the others. The wind kept blowing, and soon Keil's 
 alarmed cry was heard again, "Antoine! Joseph! 
 I think our tent is being blown down ! " More 
 pounding followed, and we waited for the light. In 
 the morning our tents were still there. The sea had 
 felt the wind, and the high waves and white caps 
 witnessed to its severity. I have seldom seen a 
 heavier sea than that which dashed upon the shore 
 and broke against the wall, and threw the white 
 spray over the towers. It was hard to believe that 
 this was the quiet lake of the day before. Our 
 
342 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 excursion was given up, for a fisher's boat could 
 hardly live in such a sea, and no boatman would 
 venture out. Whatever we lost in this way was 
 made up to us by the storm itself. We could realize 
 how suddenly these strong winds arise, how hard it 
 must be to row against them, how easily a boat 
 would be filled and sunk. The thrice-told narrative 
 of a company of men who launched forth upon these 
 waters ; of one who laid his head upon the boat- 
 man's cushion and in the quietness fell asleep ; of 
 the great storm of wind breaking upon them, and 
 beating into the boat till it was full ; of the cry of 
 the frightened men as they woke Him who slept, — 
 " Lord, save us ; we perish ! " of his rising and 
 rebuking the winds and the sea so that there was a 
 great calm, — all this was real and near as we thought 
 upon the serene evening and the night of tempest 
 and the troubled sea. This is one instance of the 
 way in which the land of the Bible illustrates the 
 book. 
 
 Tiberias is an imposing name. Its situation is 
 very fine, with the sea in front and the hills behind 
 it. It stands upon or near the site of a city wliicli 
 has perished. Columns of granite which are found 
 indicate that the old city was a place of consequence. 
 The new town was built by Herod Antipas, and in 
 part upon the cemetery of its predecessor. This 
 made the place unsuitable for the residence of Jews, 
 if they were at all strict, and made it necessary to 
 bring in strangers and slaves, and men of many 
 classes, to make a people for the city to which the 
 name of the emperor was given. Herod erected a 
 
BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. §43 
 
 palace and public buildings of magnificence, and 
 adorned the city with gates and colonnades and 
 statues, and built for the Jews a fine synagogue. 
 The place soon acquired a large importance socially 
 and politically, though as a commercial centre it 
 may have been surpassed. The city was enclosed 
 by walls, which were strengthened with round tow- 
 ers, and was thus protected from an assault by land 
 or sea. The place is mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment only by St. John, who calls the sea by the 
 same name. It is supposed that our Lord never 
 visited the place. 
 
 At the north of the city stands an old castle, 
 deserted and partially destroyed. But it is strong 
 and extensive as it is now seen, and could easily be 
 made a defence against any force that would be 
 likely to assail it. We wandered about its gloomy 
 apartments, and, as in other places, tried to bring 
 back the life which had once filled it. It was more 
 satisfactory to ascend to the top of the broken wall 
 and look down on the lake below us. I do not 
 know why it has ever been questioned whether this 
 sea of many names — Chinnereth, Gennesaret, Gali- 
 lee, Tiberias — is beautiful or not. To us it seemed 
 fair be5^ond description. There is not much which 
 is attractive on the western shore, and it is unsafe 
 to intrude into the country beyond its eastern 
 banks. Tell-Hum is ruins ; Capernaum and the 
 Bethsaidas have been lost ; Magdala is a desolation, 
 and Tiberias has lost its glory. But the waters are 
 unchanged. The ships and boats have disappeared, 
 for the Arabs have no use for them and no fondness 
 
344 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 for tlie sea. The lake has a lonesome look, if you 
 compare the present with the days when many sails 
 flitted from shore to shore, and many nets were 
 drawn through the deep places, which still are ten- 
 anted with the fish, whom there are few to disturb. 
 Yet the sea is there, and in itself is fair to look upon 
 as it lies among the hills and mountains, which retain 
 their places and their grandeur. 
 
 The shape of the lake or sea resembles a pear. It 
 is about twelve miles long, and in its widest part 
 some six miles broad. It is nearly seven hundred 
 feet lower than the Mediterranean. 
 
 Tiberias has little to commend it. The streets 
 are narrow and confused, and at least quite as 
 dirty as in other Syrian towns. There are said to 
 be three thousand people there, and more than half 
 of them are Jews. Many of them have come from 
 Poland, and the language of the people is therefore 
 mixed. The Jewish men wear large felt hats, and 
 keep the front lock of hair long and twist it into a 
 curl. It gives them a queer appearance. The boys 
 wear the hat, and arrive at the curl as early as they 
 can. There are a few small shops, but the wares 
 are not tempting. Girls came to the camp, wearing 
 in the nose a small ornament which should have 
 been of gold adorned with a precious stone. When 
 we offered to buy one of these, a sale was quickly 
 effected, and I presume we might have despoiled the 
 maidens of Tiberias at a small expense. We bought 
 some of these nose ornaments in the bazaars. 
 
 We were also visited by an aged Jew. He was 
 poor, as his dress indicated. Indeed, it was his pov- 
 
BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 345 
 
 erty which brought him to us, for he came begging. 
 He was communicative regarding himself and his 
 people. He told us that he had a daughter in the 
 United States, — at St. Louis, I think, — and that 
 he had spent a few years with her. He could not 
 be content there. The Hebrew spirit was too strong 
 for voluntary exile, and he had found his way back 
 to Tiberias, where he was to end his days. He was 
 still looking for the Messiah, with the old hope appar- 
 ently unbroken. He knew his scriptures and tradi- 
 tions. He knew the rabbles and their tombs, and 
 corrected some of the information which we had 
 received. Beyond any one whom I ever met he was 
 a Jew ; a living piece of the old Jewry, with the 
 national sorrow and desire. Despite his poverty 
 and his sorrow, there was something sublime in this 
 venerable personage, waiting in Tiberias, by the 
 Sea of Galilee, for the fulfilment of the promise of 
 his God, and knowing not the day of his visita- 
 tion. 
 
 There are famous springs a little south of the 
 town. The water is hot and sulphurous as it bursts 
 from the ground, but it is believed to have medicinal 
 virtues. There is a large bath-house, consisting for 
 the most part of a huge circular tank, which is the 
 common bathing-place. It is not an attractive place ; 
 — it is very unattractive. The steam which fills the 
 room conceals some of the accumulated dirt, but 
 enough is visible and enough more suggested to 
 make a stranger willing to bear the ills he has rather 
 than to plunge into the unsavory ones which invite 
 him. Yet multitudes of persons to the manner born 
 
346 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 bring their maladies to this pool and seek to have 
 them boiled away. 
 
 We visited a building near the baths which con- 
 tains the tomb of a noted rabbi. The Portuguese and 
 German Jews are in possession of this shrine, and 
 visit it in numbers at Pentecost, when they make 
 burnt offerings of clothes, jewelry, etc., placing them 
 for this purpose on the top of pillars or pillar-like 
 altars hollowed out at the top. The gold and silver 
 are removed from the ashes and put to proper uses. 
 Such is the tale which was told to us, and we saw 
 the pillars. The Jews have a burial-ground west of 
 the town, where many of their distinguished scholars 
 have found a resting-place. 
 
 There is a small monastery in Tiberias, — belonging 
 to the Greeks, I believe, — and also a school. There 
 are many sjaiagogues, of course, and one of them 
 near the sea is very old. The interior of the town 
 is in a dilapidated condition through time and 
 earthquakes. Some of the houses have an arbor 
 on the flat roof, which must be pleasanter than the 
 spaces on the other side of the earthen floor in 
 which the trees and vines are set. 
 
 Tiberias has its long and varied history, which I 
 shall not attempt to relate or condense. I have 
 spoken of it chiefly as I saw it, roaming through its 
 rough streets, watching its uncouth people, and with 
 delight looking on the sea, wandering on its shore, 
 and dipping the hand into its waters to bathe the 
 head. This is to-day. But there are thronging 
 recollections of the events which have made the 
 Sea of Galilee illustrious. The record of them is 
 
BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 347 
 
 throughout the world. With this sea and the coun- 
 try around it the life of our Lord was intimately 
 associated. Capernaum was here, and Bethsaida ; 
 and Nazareth was not far away. It was from the 
 shores of this sea that He called his chief disciples, 
 and through its waters he brought fishes to their 
 nets. He trod these waves with the feet which for 
 our advantage were nailed to the cross, and He 
 stilled them with the voice which on one of these 
 mountains taught the multitude, even as near by He 
 fed the thousands with bread from these fields and 
 fish from this sea. It was on this shore that He was 
 seen by his disciples in the early morning, after the 
 weary night, when He bade them '' cast the net on 
 the right side of the ship." Into these waters, on 
 which once he had tried to walk, Peter cast himself 
 that he might go to Jesus ; and here, when Jesus had 
 fed them with fish from the sea and fish from the 
 coals. He questioned and commissioned the man who 
 tlirice confessed his love. It all comes back as you 
 look upon the sea, the unchanged sea. 
 
 '* How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, 
 
 O sea of Galilee ! 
 For the glorious One who came to save 
 
 Hath often stood by thee.'' 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 FEOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 It was in the early morning that we left Tiberias. 
 We saw the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee. Long 
 before it appeared we watched the clouds as they 
 caught the light and were changed into masses of 
 purple and gold. We lingered, enraptured by the 
 glory, and then turned up the hill, often looking 
 back upon the lake which we were leaving, and up 
 into the sky which was fading '' into the light of 
 common day." At length sadly we looked for the 
 last time upon the waters which had been so much 
 to us, and moved on our upward way. 
 
 Above us, standing out against the sky, above the 
 hill, we saw the outline of a camel descending to- 
 wards us. Presently we saw that a woman was rid- 
 ing. She was dressed in white, and h^r appearance 
 was very pleasing and picturesque. She might 
 have been a king's daughter, in her morning ride, 
 or a fair pilgrim communing with the rising sun. 
 The light white folds, which revealed and concealed 
 her, left us to imagine what we would of rank and 
 beauty. Nor was the illusion dissolved till she 
 came so near to us that we could see hanging be- 
 neath her moving drapery a pair of large, uncovered, 
 uncomely black feet. Even then, might she not 
 have been of Ethiop's royal line? It is possible. 
 
 348 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 349 
 
 Hermon we saw once more, with its gleaming 
 snow and all its rugged grandeur, and the Horns of 
 Hattm rose up among the hills to remind us of the 
 Beatitudes. Tabor's round summit was before us. 
 High above us was Safed, famous for the honey 
 which was gathered from the fertile fields around 
 it ; more famous as the '' city set upon a hill.'' The 
 description is accurate, and it may have been that 
 our Lord pointed to Safed when he spoke of the city 
 which cannot be hid, and told of men who ought 
 not to be hid. Safed is still a city, with the remains 
 of its castle and the recollections of Crusaders and 
 Templars. It was one of the four holy cities, and 
 had a rabbinical school and numerous synagogues. 
 But its importance belongs in the past, though 
 many Jews from many lands gather together there, 
 sharing their superstitions and fanaticism. We 
 looked into the Valley of Doves, but the birds 
 which have furnished so much expressive imagery 
 were not to be seen. David sang of ''the wings of 
 a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with yel- 
 low gold." The Song of Solomon praises the beauty 
 of those who are loved with, '' Behold, thou art fair ; 
 thine eyes are as doves' behind thy veil." " His 
 eyes are like doves' beside the water-pools ; washed 
 with milk, and fitly set." 
 
 Then we reached Kefr-Kenna. It is a small, 
 dreary-looking village, of some six hundred peo- 
 ple, half Greek Christians and half Mohammedans. 
 The only thing which gives the place any renown is 
 the tradition that it is what is left of Cana of Gali- 
 lee, the scene of our Lord's first miracle, and of the 
 
350 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 later one in which he healed the nobleman's son 
 who was at Capernaum. It was there also that 
 Nathaniel had his home. Kefr-Kenna needs some- 
 thing to commend it; but investigation, which 
 spares so little, has wellnigh broken down the old 
 tradition which is the life of the place. A church 
 was built on the site of the house in which was held 
 the wedding feast which was made forever memora- 
 ble. We went into the building, which is very 
 plain and unattractive. In a large barren room we 
 saw two stone jars or pots, which were set in plas- 
 ter. The settings differed, but that was not strange. 
 There is as much mystery about the ''six water-pots 
 of stone " as could be expected. That they should 
 survive somewhere would not be strange. When 
 St. Willibald was at Kefr-Kenna, only one was to be 
 seen. Centuries later, Lamartine appears to have 
 seen the six. The Crusaders carried them to 
 France, where one is now preserved. One is in 
 St. Ursula's Church at Cologne, but that is much 
 smaller than the two which are now seen in Galilee. 
 The matter is not clear, therefore. Nor does the 
 presence at Kefr-Kenna of the fountain from which 
 the water was brought to fill the jars satisfy us 
 either with regard to the genuineness of the two 
 which are now exhibited, or the identity of the 
 place with the Cana of the Gospel. It would be 
 interesting to be sure of the place and of the water- 
 jars. Yet this is not necessary. The truth and 
 meaning of the narrative do not depend on such 
 things. It is of greater profit to mark the gentle- 
 ness and kindness which interposed in a time of real 
 
FBOM TIBERIAS TO JEBU SALEM. 351 
 
 if not of extreme necessity, and made "the conscious 
 water " blush that the bride might not blush to 
 remember that the wine failed at her marriage. 
 
 There was one conspicuous house in Kefr-Kenna, 
 a white building designed for a school to be con- 
 nected with the monastery at jNTazareth. Four or 
 five miles north is the ruined town of Kana-el-Jelil, 
 which is thought to be the place where Cana was. 
 The name sounds more like Cana of Galilee. It is 
 suggested that the guides have a preference for 
 Kefr-Kenna because it is on the direct route from 
 Tiberias to Nazareth. Can this have influenced the 
 sober-minded Mordecai ? Can this have helped to 
 take from Kana-el-Jelil the honor which the earlier 
 traditions ascribed to it ? 
 
 We had our noon repast that day in an olive-grove 
 at Er-Reineh, and then rode up a steep hill and had 
 one of the finest views in Palestine, looking upon 
 Nazareth, the plain of Esdraelon, with Hermon and 
 Tabor and the range of Carmel reaching to the great 
 sea. Nazareth is beautiful for situation and fine in 
 itself far beyond any other place we had seen in the 
 land. Its white houses, on the side of a' lofty hill 
 surrounded by hills, make a fine appearance, which 
 is greatly enhanced by the olive and fig trees and 
 the cactus hedges which surround them. It seems 
 like a city in a garden. As we look down upon it, 
 it is the place which we should choose for the home 
 of the Son of Man. In this beauty he grew up, in 
 favor with God and man. Over these hills he wan- 
 dered, looking far off to the mountains or towards 
 the waters beyond. He plucked the flowers of these 
 
352 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 valleys, and heard the singing of birds in these trees. 
 In the midst of this bountiful and beauteous nature 
 he lived from his childhood till he was about thirty 
 years old. The place was suited to the man. We 
 can understand in some measure the strength and 
 beauty of a character which was formed amid these 
 scenes, and the love of nature which marked his life 
 and entered so largely into his teachings. He liked 
 the great outer world, which had retained so much 
 of the nature given to it. We came thoughtfully 
 down the hill and pitched our tents at the north side 
 of the town, among the trees. 
 
 One thing far beyond all others gives to Nazareth 
 its unchanging interest ; yet it has had its history 
 apart from the one life by which it has been conse- 
 crated. It finds no mention in the Old Testament, 
 and has no commercial importance in the New. It 
 was only a Jewish town till the time of Constantine. 
 It is a tradition that the first church to commemo- 
 rate the Annunciation was built by Helena. The 
 vicissitudes of rough days robbed it of its increased 
 honors, which were restored by the Crusaders who 
 erected churches. Saladin wrested it from the 
 Christians, and it was soon destroyed. The French 
 became its patrons, and rebuilt the Church of the 
 Annunciation, and added a cloister. The French 
 and the Turks contended at Nazareth and in the 
 plain below the town. After his victory Napoleon 
 spent a few hours at Nazareth. The homage which 
 he afterward paid to Him who was born there justi- 
 fies the feeling that deep thoughts filled his mind as 
 he stood with his conquering sword at the birth- 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 353 
 
 place of the Prince of Peace. He must have seen 
 his own littleness and the vanity of his pursuits as he 
 lingered among the quiet memories of Nazareth. 
 The present population of Nazareth I cannot give. 
 The estimates run from five to ten thousand. 
 Among these there are no Jews and a small propor- 
 tion of Mohammedans. The place has a prosperous 
 look as compared with others. There are steam- 
 mills, which are a sign of modern life, and there 
 is a considerable trade. It has connection by a road 
 with Haifa on the sea and with the country at the 
 east of its hills. In the time of Christ it was a 
 stirring little place, as one of the caravan routes 
 from the sea passed through it and brought into its 
 market-place men of various nationalities. Its syna- 
 gogue was important as one of the places where the 
 priests met in preparation for their service at Jeru- 
 salem. It had, therefore, a close connection with 
 the great city and its temple. Yet the inquiry of 
 Nathaniel, who was of the neighboring town of 
 Cana, ''Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" 
 has suggested the comparative unimportance of the 
 place and its isolation from the great interests of the 
 nation, and perhaps the unpromising character of 
 the people. But it is doubtful whether the guileless 
 Israelite had in mind anything more than that the 
 Messiah could not come from Nazareth. It was 
 written that he should come from Bethlehem. It 
 will be remembered that in the gospel Nazareth is 
 spoken of as a city, which is an indication of its 
 character at that time. 
 
 Hither the child Jesus was brought by Mary and 
 
354 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Joseph when Herod was dead and Arcbelaus was 
 reigning over Judea. For the most part, his long 
 thirty years were spent here. His father was poor. 
 The humble offering which was made when the child 
 was presented at the Temple shows this. Of the life 
 of the child and youth at Nazareth little is told. He 
 was brought up carefully, we may be sure, when we 
 remember all which his mother knew of Him. At 
 twelve He was taken up to the Temple, his Father's 
 house, where He sat among the Doctors, amazing 
 them with his understanding. Then we lose sight 
 of Him till the time for his ministry has come. That 
 He worked at the trade of Joseph is not unlikely. 
 He must have had ^some trade by the common law. 
 His education was scrupulously regulated. Till the 
 Jewish child was ten, he was taught only the Bible. 
 From ten to fifteen he studied the traditional law, 
 and after that he was instructed in higher matters 
 of theology. The home and the synagogue pro- 
 vided for the teaching which was deemed neces- 
 sary. It is not difficult to think of this ingenuous 
 boy growing to manhood under his mother's watch 
 and ward. It is not so easy to imagine Him like 
 one of these boys or one of these gay young 
 men. Surely, He could never have dressed as they 
 do, and never have had their bearing and demeanor. 
 No ; He was different from them. Yet He was a real 
 boy and a true youth, for He was the Son of Man. 
 If we shrink from placing Him on these rough streets 
 and among these uncouth men, let us remember that 
 it was the rough, rude world into which He came, 
 that He might be in it the Truth and the Life. 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 355 
 
 Such thoughts come to one at Nazareth, and, 
 while he muses on the past and strives to repro- 
 duce it, he is reluctant to go down into the city of 
 to-day, so unlike tlip Nazareth of imagination and 
 reverence. But we are here to see the place. Let 
 us go down into its narrow streets. 
 
 Nazareth is divided between the Latins, the 
 Greeks, and the Moslems. They have separate 
 sections of the town, the Moslems having the small- 
 est. When we had taken a general survey of the 
 town, we naturally desired to see where the house of 
 Mary stood. The house we could not see. Not even 
 tradition could do much for us in this case. I do not 
 know why the house was removed from its proper 
 site. Probably some ecclesiastical exigency de- 
 manded it. Or it may have been thought that 
 Nazareth could well afford from its abundance of 
 sacred associations to surrender one for the benefit 
 of distant neighbors. Or it may have been removed 
 to save it from Moslem desecration. Whatever fur- 
 nished the occasion, angels took up the house and 
 carried it to the height of Dalmatia, near the head of 
 the Adriatic. It was then taken across the sea to 
 Recanati in Italy and finally to the hill of Loretto. 
 There it remains, as multitudes of pilgrims can bear 
 witness. They can testify also to the method of 
 transportation, for only angels could have taken up 
 a stone house, thirty-six feet by seventeen, and have 
 carried it so far safely and speedily. The early his- 
 tory of the house is not known. It does not 
 appear in the Italian records until the fifteenth 
 century. The walls are encased in marble, though 
 
356 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the inner side of them can be seen. They seem to 
 be " of a dark red polished stone." In the west 
 wall is a square window through which the angels 
 of the Annunciation flew. It is " the most fre- 
 quented sanctuary of Christendom." It is " the 
 petrifaction, so to speak, of the 'Last sigh of the 
 Crusaders,' " and stands as a bit of Palestine in the 
 domain of the Church. The ages pay their devo- 
 tions at this shrine where a hundred priests are in 
 attendance, and kings and peasants wear the pave- 
 ment with their knees as they crawl around the 
 holy house. I have borrowed this description be- 
 cause the house seems to deserve it in any account 
 of Nazareth. Indeed, there are two Nazareths, and 
 this house makes one of them in a strange land. It 
 is of course known to the monks who are in posses- 
 sion of the Church of the Annunciation in Palestine 
 that the church has given its sanction to the house 
 beyond the sea. They make the best of their loss 
 by pointing out the place where it originally stood. 
 The church at Nazareth belongs to the Franciscans 
 and stands within the walls of their monastery. It 
 was very warm as we crossed the yard in front of 
 the church. We were soon admitted, and found 
 ourselves in a modern building, that is, one which 
 in its present form is a hundred and fifty years old. 
 It is not large, and its appointments are good. The 
 paintings are of the usual grade in such places. 
 Marble steps lead up to the high altar and the space 
 around it. But our interest was below. Fifteen 
 marble steps descend to what may be called the 
 crypt. We first entered the Chapel of the Angels, 
 
FBOM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 3'')7 
 
 where there are two altars, one for the angel 
 Gabriel, and the other for St. Joachim, the legend- 
 ary father of the Virgin. By two more steps we 
 reached the Chapel of the Annunciation. The 
 chapel walls are of marble, and silver lamps shed 
 a mild light in the dimness. The altar is in a recess, 
 where a portion of the natural rock can be seen. In 
 front of the altar is a marble slab, with a cross in 
 the centre, and the inscription. Hie Verhum caro fac- 
 tum est. The stone is worn with the kisses of many 
 devout lips. It was here that the house of the Virgin 
 originally stood. It is readily seen that the house at 
 Loretto does not fit into the place. At the side of the 
 entrance to this chapel is a pillar marking the spot 
 where the angel stood when he greeted the Virgin, 
 " Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with 
 thee." Near this is tlie fragment of a granite column 
 hanging from the ceiling above the spot where Mary 
 sat as she listened to her celestial visitant. To pre- 
 vent one from striking against this depending stone in 
 the attempt to pass beyond it, a column of marble, 
 or the part of one, stands directly under the other. 
 From this chapel there is an entrance to the Chapel 
 of Joseph, a small dark room with an altar, and the 
 inscription, Hie erat subditus illis. Beyond this are 
 steps cut in the rock which lead into the "kitchen 
 of the Virgin." It is simply a cave, small and dis- 
 mal. It is hard to put the gentle Mary there. This 
 is not necessar}^ as the cave was doubtless only a 
 cistern, and the chimney was the mouth of it. We 
 made everything as impressive and suggestive as we 
 could. It needed all our imagination. It may be 
 
358 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 granted that those who have built churches over the 
 holy places had a reverent purpose, with their mis- 
 taken devotion. If places could have been left as 
 they were, they would render a much better service 
 and more easily. It is not helpful to go into the 
 basement of a church to find a home. The place 
 is gloomy, utterly unhomelike. The sanctity which 
 has been superimposed is burdensome to the faith 
 which would gladly connect sacred events with the 
 places in which they occurred. But when all neces- 
 sary divesting has been done, it remains that here, 
 certainly very near this church and its dark chapels, 
 the favored Virgin lived, and here was found by her 
 great joy. 
 
 In the quarter of the Moslems is the house or 
 workshop of Joseph. At least, that is the name of 
 the small building which is also held by the Latins. 
 It is not claimed that this was actually the build- 
 ing in which Joseph carried on his useful business, 
 but that it stands on the spot where his shop was, 
 and even rests on the same stones. A part of the 
 original wall is also shown. The inevitable church 
 now occupies the ground, with a painting in which 
 the carpenter is seen at his work, and the child Jesus 
 is working with him. We saw the synagogue, or 
 the outside of it, into which Jesus entered when He 
 came back to Nazareth after He had begun his won- 
 derful life abroad ; where He read from the roll of 
 Esaias, and announced to his old friends and neigh- 
 bors, who listened eagerly to hear what one would 
 say whom they had known from his boyhood, that 
 the prophecy of God was his biography, already ful- 
 
FBOM TIBERIAS TO JEBU SALEM, 359 
 
 filled in their ears. The synagogue has gone, but 
 the words remain. The angry hearers of that day 
 " rose up and cast him forth out of the city and led 
 him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city 
 was built that they might throw him down head- 
 long." The Mount of Precipitation is pointed out, 
 but it is too far away to answer the description of 
 St. Luke, if the city then was where the city is now. 
 There are other places where the mad purpose of the 
 Jews could more readily be carried out. It matters 
 little what hill they sought, for his time was not yet 
 come. In another small, bare chapel is to be seen 
 the Mensa Christi, a part of the solid rock which 
 was used by our Lord and his disciples as a table, 
 before and after his resurrection. The table is some 
 twelve feet long and ten wide. It would have an- 
 swered very well for the purpose assigned to it. 
 We had there the company of a German-speaking 
 priest, a monk whose narrations flowed smoothly 
 from his lips, but seemed to amuse him more than 
 they convinced us, if we could judge from the laugh 
 with which he accompanied his tales. 
 
 There is one thing in Nazareth which was proba- 
 bly there in the time of our Lord. This is the 
 Spring of the Annunciation, or the Fountain of the 
 Virgin. It is also called Jesus' Spring and Gabriefs 
 Spring. It is found near the Church of Gabriel, or 
 the Greek Church of the Annunciation. The water 
 is taken into the church and led by the side of the 
 altar, where it can be drawn and used by the Greek 
 pilgrims who are refreshed as they bathe their ej^es 
 and heads. By a conduit the water is led to Mary's 
 
360 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 well, from which it is taken by the women of the 
 city, who continually resort thither for water and 
 gossip. It is a busy scene when they assemble 
 there, of all ages and many conditions. We w^ere 
 amused at the trick of one girl. An old woman had 
 put her stone jar down under one of the small 
 spouts, and was waiting for the water to fill it while 
 her mind was intent on pleasanter things. The girl 
 cleverly put her finger at the end of the spout and 
 diverted the stream into her own jar without dis- 
 turbing that of her venerable neighbor, who was 
 prompt in checking the diversion when she discov- 
 ered it. The girls of Nazareth have a good repute 
 for beauty, and they present a pleasant sight as they 
 move from the well into the town, adorned with 
 their strings of coins, and bearing on high their 
 graceful earthen jars. Mary's well has long been 
 used by the people of Nazareth. It may have been 
 — it is more than probable — that Mary herself 
 visited it with her neighbors. One tradition makes 
 this the place where she received the salutation of 
 the angel. 
 
 Nazareth maintains its religious character so far 
 as institutions can do this. The Greeks have a 
 church and a bishop ; the Latins a monastery and 
 nunnery, and the Protestants have a church and 
 school and orphanage. We were much interested 
 in a bright Christian school-boy who came to our 
 camp. He spoke English well, and gave us a very 
 cheerful impression of his school. We bought in 
 the bazaar some flowers of Nazareth, which are the 
 chief thing offered to strangers. We bought also at 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 361 
 
 the Bible rooms a copy of the New Testament in 
 Syriac. The flowers and the book were good souve- 
 nirs of our visit. Travellers are entertained at the 
 Franciscan convent, but we preferred our tents on 
 an old threshing-floor, where we could be closer to 
 the life of the old and new Nazareth. 
 
 It was in the early morning that we rode from the 
 town, and all was still. It was good to remind our- 
 selves that we were in the streets of Nazareth. By 
 the side of the road in one place lay a huge iron 
 boiler for one of the mills. For the first time my 
 horse was afraid. He refused to go by till a native 
 took him by the bridle. He was true to his country. 
 With the true Syrian instinct he feared nothing but 
 civilization. 
 
 Our path now brought us into the plain of Esdrae- 
 lon. It was a relief to get down from the hills 
 and to ride for hours on level ground. We could 
 ride side by side, or start out on separate raids 
 which proved the speed of our horses. It was a 
 famous place. '^ It is a wide reach of about twelve 
 miles in width between the mass of southern Pales- 
 tine and the bolder mountains of northern Pales- 
 tine." The plain is two htindred and fifty feet above 
 the level of the sea, and is marshy in some parts. 
 But the soil is fertile, and in the spring has the 
 appearance of '*a vast waving corn-field." It has 
 been a renowned place in history. Here the low- 
 landers and highlanders met and contended for 
 supremacy. Here ''the Lord delivered Sisera into 
 the hands of Barak." Here Gideon triumphed over 
 the Midianites and Saul was defeated by the Philis- 
 
362 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 tines and " the beauty of Israel " was slain. Here 
 Josiah met Pharaoli-Necho, King of Egypt, as he 
 marched against Assyria ; and here he fell, sore 
 wounded by the archers. Among the battle-fields 
 of later times Esdraelon has a place in keeping with 
 its earlier fame. 
 
 We looked off upon the mountains of renown, 
 and turned often to look at Nazareth. Its white 
 houses were long to be seen. If at any time in the 
 path we lost sight of them, it was only to regain the 
 fair vision, which was a thing of beauty and delight 
 through the greater part of the day. There were 
 many places of interest on our route. We saw afar 
 off "a city called Nain," once a place of importance, 
 now ruins, with a few Moslems finding a home in 
 the desolation among the graves. Only a few lines 
 in the New Testament preserve its fame. We 
 passed El-Fuleh. It is deserted now, but it has the 
 remains of a castle of the Crusaders which was cap- 
 tured by Saladin. It was near El-Fuleh, in the inva- 
 sion of Syria by the French in 1799, that Kleber 
 was posted, and here he held in check the Syrian 
 army, with fifteen hundred men against twenty-five 
 thousand, fighting from sunrise- till noon, when 
 Napoleon came to his relief and frightened the 
 Turks from the field. Mount Tabor, with its 
 rounded height standing so quietly in the quiet 
 plain, gave no sign that it had witnessed that con- 
 flict which bears its name. It is among the most 
 difficult things which the imagination attempts to 
 rebuild the cities which have fallen or restore the 
 perished people to the places which they filled with 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 363 
 
 life. It is perhaps even harder to bring contending 
 armies into the silence and peace which rest on the 
 fields where they fought with the fury of beasts and 
 the brutality of men. We rode through Sulem, the 
 ancient Shunem. The old story comes up at the 
 name. '^ And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to 
 Shunem, where was a great woman: and she con- 
 strained him to eat bread. And so it was that as 
 oft as he passed by^ he turned in thither to eat 
 bread." When she was persuaded of his holy char- 
 acter, she proposed to her husband to make a little 
 chamber in the wall, and to furnish it with a bed, a 
 table, a stool, and a candlestick. This was to be his 
 room so often as he came that way, — the prophet's 
 chamber, which has been repeated in many hospi- 
 table homes. It was on the prophet's bed that the 
 good woman laid her son when he was dead, and it 
 was in his room that he gave back to her the living 
 bo3^ Familiar as it is, there is a pleasure in telling 
 again the simple tale. There is an added pleasure 
 in recalling the incident in its own place. But can 
 this be Shunem? Can a great woman have lived 
 here ? In which of these houses would a weary 
 prophet seek bread and rest and find his chamber? 
 There are some two hundred families now there, it is 
 said. But the town is little more than a collection 
 of miserable hovels built of mud and stone com- 
 bined. A few wretched survivors were sunning 
 themselves, who had only energy enough to stare at 
 the strangers. There must be times when they 
 work, but this was not one of them. 
 
 Thus we came to Jezreel, which closely resembles 
 
364 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Sliuiiem. Jezreel is conspicuous in the Old Testa- 
 ment, but there is nothing in the place to suggest 
 this. It was here that Ahab and Jezebel lived, and 
 there are stones now on the hi41 which belonged in 
 their palace. So it is told, and I do not know why 
 it may not be true. These stones are now the foun- 
 dation of a much later building, and at the rear of 
 this the inhabitants were sitting around an ox or 
 some member of that family, who had recently been 
 slaughtered and was then undergoing subdivision 
 for the public good. It did not seem an enlivening 
 occupation, but was sufficiently exciting for the par- 
 ticipants. We passed a small stream in which, 
 according to the local tradition, the chariot of Ahab 
 was washed after he had been pierced by the Syrian 
 arrow which was sent at a venture, and where the 
 dogs licked up his blood, as Elijah had said. In the 
 Book of Kings the washing is said to have occurred 
 at the pool of Samaria. It was not easy to see how 
 a chariot could be driven from the palace down to 
 the plain. There must have been a road in that day 
 which has been lost to sight. Thus we rode over 
 the red fields of Esdraelon, with the mountains of 
 Gilead in the distance and of Gilboa and Tabor 
 close at hand. So we came to Ain Jalud, the spring 
 of Goliath. It has this name from an unfounded 
 tradition that in this valley the giant was over- 
 thrown by the young champion of Israel. The 
 Fountain of Jezreel is a more appropriate name for 
 the waters which spring up from the ground and 
 form a pool, and in part issue from a cave in the 
 cliff which rises above the plain. We had our noon- 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 365 
 
 day rest here. It was refreshingly cool as we lay 
 on the rocks in the shade, and dreamed among the 
 recollections awakened by everything which we saw. 
 We were told, and the tale is not improbable, that 
 this was the spring to which Gideon brought his 
 army when he was to prove his men by the lapping 
 of the water, and thus find the three hundred on 
 whom he could rely. 
 
 Our afternoon's ride brought us to Jenin, where 
 we made our camp. Jenin is the most important 
 town between Nazareth and Nablus and is about 
 equally distant from them. It was an old Levitical 
 town under the name of Engannim, or the Garden- 
 spring. That name could easily be corrupted into 
 Jenin. The spring remains as one of the sources of 
 the ancient River Kishon, and the town stands among 
 gardens and orchards. The population is chiefly of 
 the Moslem credulity, and numbers from twenty-five 
 hundred to three thousand. There is a considerable 
 business, especially with the Arabs, from a distance. 
 There was nothing of beauty or interest to be seen. 
 The houses were of the common shape and color, 
 and the few streets had the Oriental characteristics. 
 Our camp was in a grassy field among the huge 
 cactus plants and beside a graveyard. The people 
 of the town have so bad a reputation that the camp 
 pistol was fired, the baggage chained to the tent- 
 posts, and a watch kept through the night. Some- 
 body constructed a scare-crow and put it against our 
 tent. These precautions were successful, and the 
 night passed without disturbance. 
 
 The next morning's ride had not very much 
 
366 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 worthy of record. We rode by Kabatiyeh, a large 
 village of stone houses. Mordecai said that this 
 was called " the village of robbers." Whatever the 
 people had stolen they had used up, apparently, 
 as there were no treasures in sight and no other 
 signs of plunder. The place is reputed prosperous. ^ 
 Below us was the plain of Dothan. ^'And Joseph 
 went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan." 
 Very likely it was by the fountain which is still 
 flowing that they were watering their flock when 
 Joseph found them. It may have been into some 
 one of these ancient cisterns hewn in the rock that 
 thej^ cast the dreamer. There was no water in it, 
 but it would be a secure prison for the boy whom 
 they hated. From Gilead came the Israelites with 
 their loaded camels, carrying their spicery to Egypt, 
 and to them the boy was sold. What story so full 
 of tenderness and unchanging interest, from youth 
 to age ! Was it really here that they were, Reuben, 
 and Joseph, and the rest, treading these fields, rest- 
 ing by this spring ? Doubtless it was here, but we 
 cannot quite bring it before our eyes. We passed 
 Sanur, a strong hill town. There was a Moslem for- 
 tress here, held by a rebellious people, who were 
 besieged by Abdallah, Pasha of Acre, in 1830. The 
 fortress was taken and burned. The town has been 
 rebuilt, and the fortress again surmounts the hill. 
 We rode across the beautiful plain which bears the 
 name of the ''drowned meadow," because in the 
 winter it is covered with water. In the summer 
 the lake dries up, and the rich soil is ready for the 
 seed and the harvest. 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 367 
 
 We rode on among the hills till we came into a 
 broad basin out of which rose another hill on whose 
 summit was one of the renowned cities of the land. 
 In the historj^ of Omri, King of Israel, we read : 
 "And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two 
 talents of silver, and called the name of the city 
 which he built after the name of Shemer, the owner 
 of the hill, Samaria." This city became the capital 
 of the northern kingdom. There is another passage 
 regarding the place, ''I will make Samaria as an heap 
 of the field and as the plantings of a vineyard; and 
 I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, 
 and I will discover the foundations thereof." The 
 sentence has been fiiliilled. Ruins are on the top of 
 the mountain, and on its side, and in the valley. 
 The ruins stand where a great city w^as. The posi- 
 tion was exceedingly strong. The hill was so high 
 and so steep that it was easy to repel an assault. 
 It was finally taken by Sargon, the Assyrian, after a 
 siege of three years. The place had become the seat 
 of idolatr}", and there Baal had a temple which Ahab 
 erected and Jehu destroyed. The town was rebuilt 
 and again destroyed and again rebuilt. At length 
 Augustus presented it to Herod the Great, who re- 
 stored it and renewed the fortifications, and gave to 
 it the name of Sebaste, in honor of the imperial bene- 
 factor. The glory long ago disappeared, but there are 
 scattered remains of it. Columns are standing in 
 their old places, and others have fallen which com- 
 posed a colonnade of grand proportions which Herod 
 probably erected as an ornament to the principal 
 avenue of his city. These stone pillars have a 
 
368 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 strangely lonesome look as they rise above the 
 desolation and stand as sentinels over a perished 
 past. There are also the ruins of a church built by 
 the Crusaders on the site of a basilica which was 
 standing in the sixth century. The church bears 
 the name of St. John, and there is a tradition that 
 John the Baptist was buried here, while a later tra- 
 dition has him beheaded here. On the broken walls 
 are still to be traced the crosses of the Knights of 
 St. John. In the court within the walls is the tomb 
 of the saint, covered with a modern Moslem dome. 
 The tomb itself is a grotto or chamber cut in the 
 rock, and is reached by a flight of thirty-one steps. 
 Besides the one who has giveiitits chief fame to this 
 sepulchre, Obadiah and Elisha are also reputed^ to 
 have found their last resting-place within it. Near 
 the church are the ruins of another building which 
 may have been the residence of high officials when 
 the church was standing. The modern village 
 which has succeeded to the place of Samaria is 
 called Sebastiyeh. There is nothing attractive in 
 the town, unless it be the fallen columns and blocks 
 of stone, some of which have been used for later 
 building purposes. 
 
 Among the ruins, beside the standing pillars, we 
 had our simple lunch. Men and children assembled 
 around us and expressed a desire for bakshish. 
 Thus far we understood the Syrian language. One 
 girl rubbed her two forefingers together in a mj^ste- 
 rious manner. Mordecai said that by this act she 
 declared herself a Christian and of the same faith 
 and fellowship with ourselves- We were more 
 
FBOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. gQQ 
 
 pleased with another girl who shared to the full 
 the desire for a pecuniary offering, but could not 
 claim it on the same ground. She was of a Moham- 
 medan family, and therefore could not put her 
 fingers together in the prescribed manner. She 
 tried to compromise Avith her integrity, and brought 
 the fingers as close to one another as a stubborn 
 Syriac conscience would allow, but she could not 
 give the sign. Her struggle and her victory were 
 impressive. They were worthy of the place. We 
 relied on Mr. Garry in such cases, and with his ac- 
 customed liberality he bestowed gifts on both the 
 girls. Thus fellowship acquired the pledge it 
 sought and fidelity received its reward. 
 
 A ride of two hours brought us to Nabulus, Nab- 
 lus, Sychem, Sychar, Shechem. All these names the 
 place has borne. It was Saturday afternoon, and 
 we were glad to find our tents in readiness between 
 Ebal and Gerizim. It was a good place for the Sab- 
 bath. Mr. El-Karey, the Arab missionary from 
 whom we parted at Beirut, came to the camp and 
 then conducted us into the city. We found our- 
 selves in the usual narrow and crooked streets, with 
 more darkness and dirt than in most places. Some 
 of the lanes or passageways run under houses, or 
 houses stand over them, and these tunnels have 
 additional horrors, making them hazardous for the 
 stranger. When a stream of water is rushing down 
 the street the pedestrian finds new difficulties. The 
 houses are of stone and have a substantial appear- 
 ance. Trees and vines grow among the houses and 
 add something of beauty where the addition is much 
 
370 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 needed. It is a busy town, having a trade in wool, 
 cotton, grain, and cattle, with places on the sea-shore 
 and in the interior. The olive-orchards enter 
 largely into the domestic and commercial life of the 
 people, who make a free use of the fruit and convert 
 much of the oil into soap. Twenty-two soap-facto- 
 ries are reported^ but, judging from the general look 
 of things, nearly the whole product must be sent 
 away. Of course we procured specimens, chiefly as 
 a curiosity. Mr. Garry did the purchasing. The 
 population of the town varies in different accounts. 
 Conflicting statements were reconciled by the re- 
 mark that one counted the women. There is mate- 
 rial for reflection in this assertion, but we will not 
 dwell upon it. There may be thirteen thousand 
 people there, including a very small number of 
 Samaritans and Jews, and a few hundred Chris- 
 tians, wiiile the Moslems are the bulk of the inhabi- 
 tants and are of a fanatical and rebellious sort. We 
 were taken to the Samaritan synagogue, which is a 
 small room whose walls are whitewashed. We were 
 not invited to enter, but allowed to wait at the door, 
 where the high-priest appeared, to whom w^e were 
 formally presented by our guide. This ecclesiastic 
 was a young man and had little of the bearing of 
 one in his exalted position. The floor was covered 
 with matting, and on this a few men in white were 
 seated. Some were on a floor a little raised. 
 They were reading their service, which did not 
 seem to be impressive to them and which their 
 manner did not make impressive to us. One of 
 the readers lightened his labor by looking at us 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 371 
 
 and then turning with unconcealed laughter to his 
 neighbor. There is in the synagogue an ancient 
 copy of the Pentateuch, which was written by the 
 grandson or great-grandson of Aaron, — so the tra- 
 dition informs the credulous. We wished to see it, 
 and a roll of parchment was produced and opened. 
 I presume that we were expected to believe that 
 this was what we sought, but we knew that it was 
 not the most ancient and most hallowed scroll. 
 That El-Karey said we could not see. Much elabo- 
 rate ceremonial and preparation was necessary be- 
 fore it could be taken from its silver case and satin 
 robe and exposed to the eyes of a favored few of the 
 sons of men. We paid three francs for the one 
 which we saw, and that was three francs too much. 
 
 We looked into the great mosque, which the Cru- 
 saders erected as the Church of St. John. The gate- 
 way is in good condition, and certainly had claims 
 to some beauty before the Mohammedans covered 
 its stones with tawdry colors. The building has 
 borne well the passing of the centuries. 
 
 There is not very much in Nablus to detain trav- 
 ellers. The bazaars are like those in other places 
 where the manufactures of the country are blended 
 with those from the western world. The costumes 
 are of interest, the people are a studj^ the camels 
 are obtrusive, and the whole scene is Oriental, with 
 a border from the newer world. It is the city of the 
 elder days which engrosses the thoughts of the 
 stranger, who is carried back by its history almost 
 to the beginning of things. Shechem was here when 
 Abram came into Canaan. " Abram passed through 
 
372 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the land unto the place of Sichem. . . . And the 
 Canaanite was then in the land." Jacob pitched 
 his tent before the city and " bought a parcel 
 of a field where he had spread his tent. And he 
 erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel." 
 I need not trace again the story of the city as it has 
 been recorded. It was here that Rehoboam came to 
 meet his people and be made their king, and here 
 that the policy was inaugurated which divided the 
 kingdom. The ten revolting tribes made this their 
 capital, and here Jeroboam resided. After the cap- 
 tivity it became the seat of the Samaritan worship. 
 The name of Samaria extended far beyond the city 
 on the hill, and covered all of Palestine which was 
 above Judea. The part on the east of the Jordan, 
 and that which was afterward known as Galilee, 
 Samaria lost, and thus became reduced to the mid- 
 dle one of the three districts of Palestine as we 
 commonly see it. The Samaritans were separated 
 from the temple and city which the nation had 
 reverenced, and became idolatrous. The Assyrians 
 finally swept them away and into their places were 
 sent settlers from the east, who mingled with any who 
 may have been left behind by the conquerors. Thus 
 a mongrel people possessed the land, and their relig- 
 ion was like those who formed and used it. A 
 new temple arose on Gerizim, and new rites rivalled 
 those at Jerusalem. It is easy to see how there 
 came to be the enmity which was so persistent and 
 extreme between the two peoples and the two relig- 
 ions and which is expressed in the mild words of 
 the Evangelist, "For Jews have no dealings with 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 373 
 
 Samaritans." Yet the Samaritans had a good place 
 for their home ; and a fine site for their chief citj^, 
 between Ebal and Gerizim, in the plain over which 
 passed the responsive blessings and curses of the old 
 law. On Mount Gerizim are extensive ruins of a 
 castle and a church. The site of the ancient altar 
 is marked, so the Samaritans think, by a sloping 
 rock, before which they take off their shoes. They 
 point to the rock on which Abraham would have 
 offered Isaac, though that was probably not on this 
 mountain : and to the stones of the altar which 
 Joshua built and on which he wrote the law, al- 
 though in the book which bears his name that is 
 said to have been on Ebal. But it seems probable 
 that some of the stones that are now lying on the 
 mountain belonged in the Samaritan temple. It 
 would be expected that the building should leave 
 such substantial traces of its presence, even if they 
 gave no clear suggestion of the structure of which 
 they formed a part. 
 
 Among these ruins the Samaritans continue to 
 worship. The great festivals are still observed 
 where they were kept in the days of prosperity, 
 and the ceremonies are described as impressive, 
 while they must be attended with a great sadness. 
 There is a true pathos in the words of the Samaritan 
 woman to our Lord, " Our fathers worshipped in 
 this mountain ; and you say that in Jerusalem is 
 the place where men ought to worship." The tem- 
 ple of the Jews was then standing, thronged with 
 worshippers. But there was a deeper meaning than 
 she knew, deeper than the falling of the temple 
 
374 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 could disclose, in the words with which he replied 
 to her : '' Woman, believe me, the hour cometh 
 when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem 
 shall ye worship the Father." The years have 
 brought their fulfilment. The mountain has been 
 deserted and in the city the mosque casts its bale- 
 ful shadow over all the altars. He meant more than 
 this. He did not propose to exclude these places 
 from the kingdom which was to come : but that 
 worship should no longer be rendered especial!}^ 
 at these conspicuous and contending shrines, but 
 should be extended through all the earth. These 
 are good thoughts wherewith to end the week. 
 
 It was pleasant to have Sunday morning come to 
 us in Sbechem. We had slept with a guard of four 
 soldiers about our tents, and the day began with 
 soldiery, for a procession of men went by the 
 camp, followed by women who were wailing bit- 
 terly. El-Karey said that they were men who had 
 avoided serving in the late war with Russia and 
 were now being driven to the army to make ujj for 
 their delinquency. 
 
 It had been arranged that we should have a ser- 
 vice in Mr. Karey^s chapel, and a man was sent to 
 conduct us to the place. It was thought best to 
 meet in his dwelling-house, and we were taken there, 
 where we had an hour of worship. Including his 
 man we numbered eleven. We sang from the Gos- 
 pel Hymns, — the Lord's song in a strange land, — 
 and worshipped "in spirit and in truth." The brief 
 sermon could have but one theme. That Christ had 
 been there, that he had rested at the well near by, 
 
FBOM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 375 
 
 was in our minds, and naturally formed the subject 
 of the address. There was a rare delight in reading 
 and repeating his words where they were first spoken. 
 We lingered for some time with the Kareys and saw 
 a little of their manner of life. Their house was 
 quite large and very comfortable. But w^e fancied 
 that the English ladies had not become entirely 
 reconciled to their change of domicile. We invited 
 them to dine with us, and in the afternoon they 
 came to our camp. We enjoyed extending the 
 stranger's hospitality to this missionary and his 
 household. It was an event in our nomadic life. 
 Mr. Mill and Mordecai and Joseph exerted them- 
 selves in honor of our guests, and a repast was pro- 
 vided which exceeded all our former experience. 
 Everj^thing was in the best of order. Fringes of 
 paper adorned our candlesticks. All the elegancies 
 which we had were brought forward. The luxuries 
 of the time and the place abounded. Course fol- 
 lowed course with precision and propriety. Best of 
 all was it to have ladies at our table. I can never 
 forget our feast under the shadow of the great 
 mountains. When it was over, we ended the day 
 in conversation, drawing from our missionary friend 
 the information which he was glad to impart. Then 
 as the evening drew on we said our last good-bys. 
 Our friends went back to their home and their work. 
 I wonder how it has fared with them since, — if the 
 good wife has truly found a home in an Arab city, 
 and if her sister still sings of ^' Sweet Beulah land, 
 w^here mansions are prepared for me." There are 
 many strange things to which the western dweller 
 
376 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 in the East must accustom himself or ever it can be 
 made home to him. His house at least should be 
 his own, and there his old life can preserve itself. 
 
 We saw on Saturday in Nablus a funeral proces- 
 sion. Men were walking rapidly through the crowd, 
 carrying a coffin on their shoulders, and singing a 
 mournful chant. Mr. Karey said that when the 
 coffin had rendered up its wrapped inmate at the 
 grave it would be brought back for a like service 
 in another's behalf. It seemed strange to us but 
 not to them. 
 
 We thought of Abraham as the sun went down, 
 and of those who had looked up to these hills in 
 many generations, and then we slept with our sol- 
 diers watching before the tents. 
 
 It was well to rise early in the morning in which 
 we were to leave Shechem that we might not be hur- 
 ried as we wound out of the centuries which still 
 remain in the mountains and the valleys. A short 
 ride brought us to Joseph's tomb. " The bones of 
 Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out 
 of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of 
 ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor 
 the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of sil- 
 ver : and it became the inheritance of the children 
 of Joseph." This place answers the description, 
 and there seems no reason to doubt that it was 
 here that the coffin of Joseph was laid when his 
 hundred and ten eventful years were ended. The 
 Moslems say that the body was afterward carried to 
 the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. But they join in 
 paying reverence to this spot. H. B. M, consul at 
 
FItOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 377 
 
 Damascus in 1868 was so well assured of the identity 
 of this grave that he put a wall around it and inserted 
 in the wall a marble tablet commemorating his confi- 
 dence and his conduct. The enclosure is perhaps 
 twenty feet square, and is open at the top. It is di- 
 vided into two parts. The grave is in the usual style 
 and is about seven feet long by three or four feet high. 
 At each end of the grave is a square pillar which 
 was hollowed at the top so that the incense and 
 possibly other things could be burned upon it. The 
 superstructure of the tomb seemed to have been 
 used for a similar purpose. Some of the cinders of 
 past offerings remained. In the wall are niches in 
 which lamps are placed on special occasions. There 
 is nothing impressive about the place except as the 
 visitor furnishes it out of his own thoughts. There 
 is more than the usual difficulty in connecting the 
 man and the tomb. For a life so romantic, so full 
 of intense interest, with such a charm for youth and 
 age, this is a dull and dreary resting-place. It 
 seemed incredible that this could be its earthly con- 
 summation. We wanted more or less. Either less 
 or more would have been fitting : more of nature or 
 less of man. 
 
 Not far away is Jacob's well. This is disappoint- 
 ing, of course. Yet we were more familiar with it, 
 and in itself it seems more a part of the time in 
 which it belongs. The old is there, and changed 
 but little except in growing older. It is agreed 
 that the well and its name belong together, and that 
 this is the well of which Jacob himself drank, and 
 his sons and his cattle. Some have been surprised 
 
378 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 that he should have dug a well here, two miles from 
 the city. It was its distance from the city which 
 commended the spring to him, it is natural to be- 
 lieve. The people of the city would not wish to 
 have him and his large flocks and herds depend 
 upon their wells, wdiile he would certainly prefer to 
 be independent of them. He provided this well for 
 his own house, and left it for those who should come 
 after him. This personal character of the well has 
 been preserved. At the opening of the fifth century 
 a church stood around the well. It is reported that 
 the church was in the form of a cross, having the 
 well at the centre. Before the Crusades the churcli 
 had fallen, and part of its ruins remain. At first 
 you see only a mass of rubbish, in which is an open- 
 ing into what is left of a vault which covered the 
 well. You can go down into this vault and stand 
 by the true mouth of the well. There is a stone 
 over this some two feet square, and in this a round 
 hole through which you may look into the neck of 
 the well. This is perhaps four feet long. The well 
 itself is about eight feet in diameter. Its depth it is 
 not so easy to state. In 1697 it was given as one 
 hundred and five feet, with fifteen feet of water. In 
 1841 it was seventy-five feet. The stones which 
 have fallen and been thrown into it readily account 
 for the difference in these measurements. A rough 
 masonry lined the upper part of the well, and per- 
 haps the entire interior. There is an unusual inter- 
 est in Jacob's well from its association with him, 
 and for the long years in which it rendered a rare 
 and needful service to the travellers between Judea 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, ' 379 
 
 and Galilee. But beyond any other attraction is 
 that which belongs to it because of its connection 
 with our Lord. In no other place can one feel an 
 equal confidence that we are on the very spot w^hich 
 his presence made sacred. The outer beauty and 
 service have not remained. But the lessons wdiich 
 lie taught, being here, have lost nothing of their 
 meaning or inspiration. 
 
 He had no prejudice which kept him from passing 
 through Samaria or restrained him from talking 
 with a Samaritan and a woman. Perhaps she came 
 at noon that she might meet no one. Why she was 
 so far from Sychar, if that be Shechem, we cannot 
 tell. Some work she had near the w^ell, it may be, 
 or her home even. She came to draw water, and 
 found a stranger sitting on the curb, wearied with 
 his journey. '' Give me to drink," He said. It 
 w^as a chance to triumph over him, this Jew, com- 
 pelled to ask drink of a woman of Samaria. He was 
 not vexed at her bantering words. ''If thou knew^- 
 est the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 
 Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him 
 and He would have given thee living water." 
 Again she saw her chance, yet was less trifling. 
 '• Sir, thou hast nothing to draw w^ith, and the well 
 is deep." Still, He would fain help her. '^ Whoso- 
 ever shall drink of the water that I shall give him 
 shall never thirst." '' Sir, give me this water." 
 She had grown to a suppliant in her manner, and 
 half perceived there was a meaning in his sentences. 
 " Go, call thy husband and come hither." She was 
 startled at his knowledge of her, and made haste to 
 
380 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 shift the conversation from husbands to mountains. 
 She drew out from Him that sublime declaration, 
 " God is a spirit : and they that worship Him must 
 worship Him in spirit and in truth." She was eager 
 at last. Her slumbering hope was quickened. She 
 forgot her shame in her awakened faith. "I know 
 that Messiah cometh." ''Jesus saith unto her, I 
 that speak unto thee am He." All this was here. 
 The woman here found what so few had discovered 
 — that God was her Father, and that living water 
 she could have for the asking. Here by this well- 
 side she left the water-pot she had brought ; left it, 
 the sign of her old life ; and, possessed of a new 
 spirit and a new delight, she hastened into the city 
 with her question, "Can this be the Christ?" It 
 all comes back as we wait by Jacob's well, peer into 
 the anxious faces, and hear the earnest questions 
 and replies, and look off on the wide fields which 
 even then were white with the harvest ; the harvest 
 which even yet has not been gathered in. 
 
 Patience, good Mordecai ! When will you bring 
 us to another place like this ? " So when the 
 Samaritans came unto Him, they besought Him to 
 abide with them : and He abode there two days." 
 But the sun is getting high, and the way is long 
 before us. Let us move on. 
 
 This day we passed Lebonah, which gains the little 
 interest which appertains to it from its mention in 
 the Book of Judges in connection with the desperate 
 attempt by the men of Benjamin to procure wives. 
 They were told to go up to the feast in Shiloh, " in 
 a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the 
 
FROM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 381 
 
 east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel 
 to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah." 
 They were to lie in wait in the vineyard, and when 
 the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance they were 
 to come out and catch every man his Avife, and carry 
 her to his home. And they did so. "- In those days 
 there was no king in Israel : every man did that 
 which was right in his own eyes." A few people 
 remain in Lebonah, which is now Lubban, and there 
 are tombs in the rocks which are memorials of better 
 days. 
 
 Thus we came to Shiloh. The name promises a 
 great deal, but the place does not furnish it. It was 
 one of the early sanctuaries of the Hebrews, and iu 
 it the great Tabernacle was set up and the Ark of 
 the Covenant rested. But from the time that the 
 Philistines conquered Israel and captured the ark, 
 which had been carried into battle, the place lost its 
 importance. The sad story of Eli and the charming 
 account of the boy Samuel invest it with interest, 
 in addition to the other events which made it con- 
 spicuous. The traces of a vanished city are now to 
 be found, and ruins are scattered over the hill. 
 Cisterns and tombs remain in the desolation which 
 has fallen upon the better past. We brooded over 
 the changes which time and man had wrouo-ht, and 
 realized as in few other places how much has per- 
 ished out of the history of this land and its people, 
 so prominent in the world's thought and life. Here 
 at Shiloh, as we rested and mused at noon, w^e saw 
 the remains of a church, with thick walls enclosing 
 a room with an arched ceiling supported by columns. 
 
382 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Another building was near by where there was also 
 a vaulted room. The sides of the building had a 
 slanting appearance from a buttress which slopes up 
 from the ground and sustains the wall. Surely this 
 was very little for so great a name. 
 
 We came in the afternoon to Bethel. It received 
 this name, the House of God, from Jacob, who there 
 slept, with stones for his pillow, and saw in his 
 dreams the ladder which reached from earth to 
 heaven. In the early morning he changed his pillow 
 into a pillar, and hallowed it with the oil which he 
 poured upon it. " And he called the name of that 
 place Bethel : but the name of that city was called 
 Luz at the first." The city became prominent in 
 the history of Israel. Indeed, it had an earlier im- 
 portance. For it was near Bethel that Abram halted 
 when he came into the land and set up his tent and 
 altar. To Bethel he returned after his sojourn in 
 Egypt, and from a neighboring hill he looked with 
 his nephew over the surrounding country when he 
 gave to Lot the choice of a dwelling-place for him- 
 self and his flocks and herds. There the young man 
 showed the character which he held to the last. 
 Perhaps the old man, who was as a father to him, had 
 been over-indulgent towards his brother's son. Per- 
 haps the experience of Lot in Egypt had brought 
 him under the fascination of city life, so that Sodom 
 was more attractive than the country towards the 
 Great Sea. But it was here that God came to 
 Abram when Lot had left him, and made to him the 
 magnificent promise which has been so grandly ful- 
 filled. 
 
FROM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM, 383 
 
 Here Samuel held his circuit court, and here Jero- 
 boam established the worship of his golden calves. 
 Beth-el became Beth-aven, the house of idols, or 
 house of vanity. The situation of Bethel would 
 prevent it from being a large place, but its renown 
 did not depend on its dimensions, nor could it be 
 preserved by them. It still existed after the cap- 
 tivity, but its glory had departed long before. The 
 town now remains under the name Betin, but is a 
 collection of wretched houses where some four hun- 
 dred people solicit bakshish and tobacco. 
 
 We made our camp in an old reservoir. This is 
 about a hundred yards long and seventy wide. It 
 was enclosed in substantial walls, large portions of 
 which are now standing. We found an excellent 
 place for our tents on the earth which now occupies 
 the place of water. At the spring near us female 
 Betmites were washing their jars and filling them. 
 The process did not make us thirsty as we watched 
 it. The girls seemed in excellent spirits, and would 
 undoubtedly have been communicative but for cer- 
 tain linguistic difficulties. They looked more than 
 they said, and the outstretched hand indicated hos- 
 pitality less than bakshish. We walked into the 
 village on the hill and examined the ruins of a 
 church. These had signs of beauty and Avealth 
 beyond anything of the present time, and seemed 
 strangely out of placed Part of an old tower stands 
 in the village ; but who built it, or when, nobody 
 knows. A modern superstructure makes it of ser- 
 vice to men who could not have erected it. There 
 are some ruins in the fields, but none which are of 
 any account. 
 
384 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Our next daj^'s ride was of special interest. We 
 passed through Der Diwan, a Christian village not 
 far from where the city of Ai stood. Ruins once 
 more. In the distance we saw Neby Samwil, the 
 mountain where Mizpeh, the watch-tower, is thought 
 by some to have been. The name of the prophet 
 belongs with the tradition that it was here Samuel 
 was born and that here he was buried. We also 
 saw Rimmon on its hill, where the survivors of the 
 army of Benjamin took refuge after the battle of 
 Gibeah when the enemy had chased tlie Benjamin- 
 ites and trodden them down bj^ the thousands, and 
 gleaned of them in the highways. But six hundred 
 men turned and fled to the wilderness, unto the rock 
 Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 
 
 We watered our horses at the robbers' spring, and 
 had our nooning under a thorn-tree, whose thin 
 branches were a poor protection from the hot sun. 
 In the afternoon we had a good view of the Dead 
 Sea, which we had before seen afar off, and the Jor- 
 dan. We saw the mountains of Gilead, and the 
 mountains of Moab, with Nebo, and the tomb in 
 which Moslem tradition has laid the body of Moses. 
 We passed the Mount of Temptation, with tombs on 
 its side. Our way this day was harder than any we 
 had seen. Much of the time there was no path, and 
 the rocks were strewn and piled in such confusion 
 that it was almost like descending a long flight of 
 steps which had been shaken by an earthquake. 
 We did more walking and leaping and climbing 
 than usual, and the horses had enough to do to get 
 themselves down in safety. We were coming near 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 385 
 
 to Jericho. We rode past the old town, or what is 
 left of it, on the hill-side. The ruins were more 
 ruinous than is common. We came down to a nar- 
 row shallow stream, called the Sultan's Spring, which 
 once furnished water for this city. We preferred to 
 recognize it as Elisha's Spring and to receive the 
 tradition that it was here Elisha cast in the salt and 
 said, " Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these 
 waters; there shall not be from thence any more 
 death or barren land." We rode through the 
 stream, letting our horses drink of the healed 
 water from which our camp was also supplied. 
 For we set up our tent near by and were not sorry 
 that we were drawing near the end of our pilgrim- 
 age. Through the day we had two soldiers, in verj^ 
 unmilitary attire, as guides and guards. At night a 
 man reputed to be the brother of the sheikh came 
 in to take command of our forces and to be our 
 security against assault. The principle seemed to 
 be not that these armed men were in their valor 
 strong against all comers, but that they were repre- 
 sentatives of the ruling powers and would be con- 
 tent with what we chose to give them instead of 
 helping themselves. The whole theory of Arab 
 robbery, as it was explained to us, was that it is 
 simply the act of the strong against the weak. If 
 we were the stronger, we might fairly be expected 
 to do the same thing. There is much in history 
 to justifj^ this view of the matter. It was also 
 asserted, and probably with truth, that the Bedouins 
 have no desire to harm the person and will only do 
 so to secure a higher end or to protect themselves. 
 
386 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Probably a pistol is most dangerous to the travel- 
 ler who carries it. He could hardly do a more haz- 
 ardous thing than to use it against an Arab. To let 
 it be seen or heard at a safe distance may be of 
 some advantage. But it is best to trust to a good 
 dragoman and purchase safety at a price which is 
 not extortionate. It increased our sense of safety 
 to see the doughty warriors at the head of our line. 
 But to have the brother of the sheikh ! There were 
 no signs of royalty about him, though he was better 
 armed than the other guardians of our peace. He 
 was a pleasant fellow so far as we could have inter- 
 course with him. On the other side of the bushes 
 about our tents we heard the cries of jackals. Their 
 sound was painfully human. In a great city we 
 should have been certain that packs of the wildest 
 street Arabs, crowds of hoodlums, were in their 
 wildest games and most frantic warfare. 
 
 In the morning we set out for the Dead Sea. We 
 soon came into the present village of Jericho. It 
 seems absurd to give that name to the forlorn group 
 of houses through which we passed. Low and dark, 
 with rough walls of stone and a flat roof covered 
 with brush on which earth has been laid, they are 
 only less dismal than the people around them, who 
 seem as unconscious as their houses that there is 
 anything unattractive in their appearance. We saw 
 the site of the house of Zacchaeus, which is marked 
 by a tower-like building and is certified to by a tra- 
 dition which is not venerable. Near it is a Greek 
 convent and hospice with the neatness and thrift 
 which tell of a different class of residents. A camp 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 387 
 
 of gypsies was also there, looking as such establish- 
 ments always look, save that in the East their for- 
 lornness is unconcealed. Some work was going on, 
 and some of the men, finding that we were willing to 
 buy their weapons, offered them at prices which was 
 a sign of their real poverty and our apparent wealth. 
 Thorn-bushes abounded on our path. These serve a 
 very good use as hedges, for they are impenetrable 
 by man or beast, unless they are violently torn 
 away. The belief that the crown placed upon our 
 Saviour's head was made from thorns like these is 
 rational. We saw the apple of Sodom, a fruit 
 which resembles a small apple but has nothing else 
 to commend it. Thus we came to the shore of the 
 sea. The water was calm and clear, but the desola- 
 tion was profound. Something may be ascribed to 
 our preconception, but the whole scene is dreary. 
 Death seems to be around the sea, as it is in its 
 name. The silence was unbroken. The very sand 
 and pebbles of the beach had a pale, forbidding look, 
 and the scant bushes reaching out their white arms 
 as if to repel an advance, while the brushwood and 
 pieces of trees on the shore lifted up their weird, 
 bleached forms as if they wondered at our intrusion. 
 The old belief that these Avaters cover the cities of 
 the plain, and that columns and arches can be seen 
 in their old places under the surface, has long ago 
 been dispelled. The sea, or a sea, was here while 
 the cities were standing. Indeed, no one can tell 
 where they were. They perished in fire, which 
 could not have found it difficult to destroy places 
 with a foundation of bitumen. No fish are found in 
 
388 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 these waters, no shell nor coral, and fish which are 
 put into it are soon dead. But it is not true, as has 
 often been said, that no bird can fly across the sea. 
 The whole place is remarkable. It is thirteen hun- 
 dred feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and 
 thirty-seven hundred below Jerusalem. The scenery 
 about it is pleasant. Ruins are found upon its 
 banks, where hermits once found a place of resi- 
 dence suited to their peculiar purposes. Sometimes 
 a storm breaks in upon the sea and raises its tran- 
 quillity into heavj^ waves, which soon become quiet 
 when the wind has gone down. The heaviness of 
 the water is its most obvious quality. Its specific 
 gravity varies in different parts of the sea, but every- 
 where greatly exceeds that of common salt-water. 
 It is easy to float on its surface and often difficult 
 not to do so. If one loses his footing on the slip- 
 pery bottom he finds it a hard matter to get on his 
 feet again. Mordecai would not let the horses go 
 in for fear that they would come to harm. Vespa- 
 sian is reputed to have tied the hands of men be- 
 hind their backs and then to have thrown them into 
 this sea, where he could gaze at their helpless rolling 
 and tumbling. When we came out of the water we 
 felt as if we had been oiled. We were willing to 
 leave the lake to the desolateness which is not 
 likely to be broken unless the projected canal 
 should take the Dead Sea into its course. We 
 were told that French explorers used a steam yacht 
 on the lake, and gave it to the neighboring sheikh 
 when they were done with it. The Arabs came and 
 broke it up, unwilling that the arts of the West 
 should invade their barbarism. 
 
FBOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 389 
 
 We hurried up to the Jordan and dismounted at 
 the pilgrim's fording and batliing place. Tlie river 
 is so very swift that tliere are usually few places 
 where it can be forded or where bathing can be 
 indulged in. The tradition that our Lord was bap- 
 tized here has given to this place a sacred renow^n, 
 and from early days it has been accounted a privi- 
 lege to bathe here. At one time it is related that 
 the banks were covered wdth marble and that a 
 wooden cross stood in the stream. The priest 
 blessed the water, the pilgrims entered it, and pre- 
 served the linen covering which they wore that they 
 might be wrapped in it for burial. The water of 
 the river is of a clay color. We went in with cau- 
 tion, but found it easy and agreeable to bathe as long 
 as we pleased. We were glad to wash off the oily 
 sensation we had brought from the Dead Sea, whose 
 waters are much clearer in appearance, but much 
 less pleasing in all other respects. Trees and bushes 
 of different kinds w^ere growing on the banks. We 
 were kept busy during our intermission in thinking 
 upon the events into which the Jordan runs, and 
 gathering up the impressions which the place sug- 
 gested. On our return we passed the ancient Gilgal 
 on what many think to be the proper place for that 
 name. A large tree is now in possession of the 
 ground. If this is Gilgal, then here the Israelites 
 encamped when they first entered Canaan after 
 crossing the divided river. ^' And those twelve 
 stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua 
 pitch in Gilgal." A church was built afterward 
 upon this spot, and the twelve stones were enclosed 
 within it. 
 
390 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 We reached our camp at the close of an interest- 
 ing clay. The ride was an easy one. It gave nie a 
 good opportunity for a long talk with Mr. Garry, 
 who told me many things out of his own life, and 
 let me see how much of incident may come into the 
 career of a quiet man. I cannot write the tales 
 which he narrated. But, as I recall them now, it 
 seems strange that we should have been riding to 
 Jericho in conversation on tilings which happened 
 long ago in the mountains of Pennsylvania. We 
 had taken our home and our home-life with us, and 
 under all the events and impressions of the Holy 
 Land these held their place and were readily uncov- 
 ered. As this was our last night together, our men 
 gave us a characteristic exhibition. Some covered 
 themselves with skins and represented bears or other 
 wild animals, while their leaders set them to per- 
 forming all manner of antics, yelling at them and 
 beating them as if they were beasts in reality. It 
 was a droll performance in the evening light be- 
 side Jericho, with these dancing, singing, howling 
 men entertaining the western strangers. We appre- 
 ciated their efforts, which were grotesque and excit- 
 ing, but it is hard to give any impression of them in 
 words. At length it was all over, and we stretched 
 ourselves on our iron beds to rest till the dawning of 
 the day in which we should see Jerusalem. Sing 
 once more, Logan, before night fairly closes in upon 
 us. Sing, '' Are your windows open towards Jeru- 
 salem ? " 
 
 The sunrise over the mountains of Moab was very 
 fine as we prepared to move on. We took an early 
 
FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 39I 
 
 start. This was the day to which we had long been 
 looking forward. We found the greater part of the 
 road very hilly and rough. A part which had been 
 recently built was very good. We passed the ruins 
 of old aqueducts whose usefulness was over. We 
 saw what is left of the Jericho of Herod. We came 
 to the inn to which the Good Samaritan brought the 
 man who had fallen among thieves. Three men 
 were sent to help the poor fellow, but only one of 
 them was good enough for the work which should 
 immortalize him. There were no guests at the inn 
 when we reached it. In fact, the inn itself was not 
 there, but the floor of a ruined khan where travellers 
 were once allowed to rest. We rode upon this floor 
 and thought the story over. It was very near this 
 place that the inn stood. Why not just here ? The 
 very spot where the Samaritan found the stranger 
 was pointed out to us. The road was certainly one 
 on which robbery could easily have been committed 
 then, or in later times. Noon brought us to the 
 Apostles' Spring or Fountain. As the name de- 
 notes, the apostles were accustomed to drink of its 
 waters in their journeys between Jerusalem and Jer- 
 icho. There was at one time a fine building over 
 the spring, and part of it remains, holding an arch- 
 w^ay over the water. On the opposite side of the 
 road was a ruined khan, where we had our simple 
 repast and bade adieu to cold chicken. The water 
 of the spring was good, and it is by no means un- 
 likely that the apostles may have been refreshed by 
 it in their time. 
 
 We rode up the Mount of Olives, saw Bethphage, 
 
392 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 looking dull and dreary on its hill, and came into 
 Bethany and rode among its dismal houses, so unlike 
 any thought which we had had of the town of Mary 
 and Martha. From the mount we had our first view 
 of Jerusalem. It was the supreme moment of all 
 our journey. This was '' the joy of the whole 
 earth," " the city of the great King," " beautiful for 
 situation." We saw the hills and walls and gates ; 
 the great churches and the countless domes of the 
 houses. We saw the city lying in peace where it 
 had been for so many centuries ; centuries holding 
 the heart of the world's history. Far beyond all 
 which we saw with the eye was that which we saw 
 with the mind and the heart. For over all which 
 was visible we looked upon the real Jerusalem. 
 
 We came down past Gethsemane and the Church 
 of the Virgin. We crossed the dry brook of the 
 Kedron, saw the swift, clear waters of Siloa's brook, 
 and rode through the valley of Jehoshaphat and by 
 its graves, past the tomb of Absalom and the pile of 
 stones beside it, by the tomb of Jehoshaphat, the 
 grotto of St. James, the tomb of Zechariah, the vil- 
 lage of Siloam, the Mount of Offence, the Hill of Evil 
 Counsel, the Potter's Field high up on a bluff, the 
 cave in the hill, the pool of Siloam, and the Virgin's 
 Fountain above the valley of Hinnom and its pool, 
 past Job's well and Isaiah's tree, under which he 
 mended his clothes, by Solomon's garden, which was 
 very green ; crossed Hosanna Street, and thus came 
 to our resting-place. 
 
 Our entrance into the city was more exciting than 
 we expected, and might have been disastrous. As 
 
FBOM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 393 
 
 we rode slowly up the hill, some boys with wheel- 
 barrows were coming down. One saw his opportu- 
 nity and started on a run. What horse of any spirit 
 would endure such a descent upon him? Not 
 Prince. He saw and started. I was not prepared 
 for this, and for a few seconds it was doubtful what 
 the result would be. I succeeded in keeping my 
 seat till the good horse was quieted. But the epi- 
 sode was a startling one. My faithful attendant ran 
 after the boy, but pursuit w^as useless, and we re- 
 sumed our march. Soon we were at Teil's Hotel, 
 near the Jaffa gate. We were in Jerusalem. 
 
CHAPTER XTL 
 
 IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 
 
 I HESITATE to begin this chapter. The word 
 "Jerusalem " suggests far more than can be written. 
 The most sacred influences and associations cluster 
 around this beautiful and despoiled city, this proud 
 and humbled, this towering and buried capital. 
 Who shall write of this ? The guide-book which I 
 carried opened its account of Jerusalem with New- 
 ton's familiar lines : — 
 
 " Glorious things of thee are spoken, 
 Zion! city of our God!" 
 
 Jerusalem is a mountain city. It is on a high table- 
 land, more than two thousand feet above the Medi- 
 terranean. Standing on Mount Zion and Mount 
 Moriah, the city well deserves to be called the 
 "mountain throne" and "mountain sanctuary." 
 " Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, 
 is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of 
 the great King." The wall which now surrounds 
 the city was built, or rebuilt, in 1542, by Suleiman 
 the Magnificent, the successor of Selim L, the con- 
 queror of Egypt. The population of the city is 
 variously given, but is probably about twenty-four 
 thousand. The Christians, Jews, and Mohamme- 
 
 394 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 395 
 
 dans have their separate quarters, as elsewhere. 
 The three nationalities have their separate claims to 
 the renown of the place. To the two former it is 
 pre-eminentij- the Holy City, while to the last it is 
 one of the three sacred cities. Few places have so 
 eventful a history as that of Jerusalem. That it 
 was the Salem where Melchizedek reigned — that 
 lonely, stately figure before which Abraham paid 
 homage — is more than doubtful. But we read of 
 Adonizedec, King of Jerusalem, in Joshua's time. 
 When the Israelites came into the land, they took 
 the city from the Jebusites who were settled in it; 
 but the old proprietors retained Zion, which was 
 their stronghold. David captured the fortress and 
 established his capital where it stood. Solomon 
 used his wealth and power in strengthening and 
 adorning the city, and gave to it its chief glory 
 when he erected the Temple which his father desired 
 to build. When the kingdom was divided, this capi- 
 tal lost some of its importance, though it remained 
 the centre of the real national life. I cannot trace 
 its history through the rugged and broken years 
 w^hich followed until its final overthrow by Titus, 
 when all the forces which cruelty, tyranny, and 
 wealth could devise were leagued against the de- 
 voted, despairing, unyielding people, to whom the 
 city and its Temple were more precious than life. 
 It was a complete destruction. The Temple fell, 
 yielding its splendor and renown to the unsparing 
 fires, and the towers which the conqueror would 
 have preserved as memorials of his costly triumph 
 shared the common desolation. The ploughshare 
 
396 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 passed over the ground where the sacred house had 
 been. A little town sprang up around the Roman 
 garrison, and afterward Hadrian built another city 
 with palaces and temples and the divinities of Rome. 
 Wars upon wars, sieges on sieges, brought their vio- 
 lence against the city of peace. What names are 
 clustered in its violent annals — Chosroes the Per- 
 sian, the Caliph Omar, Godfrey of Bouillon, Saladin 
 and Selim and Suleiman I It is no wonder that the 
 city has gone, buried beneath its own ruins, and that 
 its venerated places have been lost. The Jerusalem 
 under the Crescent is not the proud city of David 
 and Solomon. The stranger walks over the per- 
 ished grandeur and treads upon the fallen sacred- 
 ness. We are inclined to say that no higher pur- 
 pose could be served by modern Jerusalem than the 
 restoration of the old by the removal of the new. 
 It would be a satisfaction here, as in other places, to 
 stand where the past was in the days of its great- 
 ness. It is with profound satisfaction that the 
 stranger sees that while the city has gone, the moun- 
 tains which surrounded it still hold their place, and 
 enable him in a remarkable degree to restore the 
 Jerusalem which has perished. 
 
 I can write of but few things in Jerusalem, and I 
 shall set them in no order. Perhaps in this way I 
 can best take the reader along its streets. The air 
 of antiquity is on almost everything which is Jewish 
 or Mohammedan. What has the look of newness 
 has been brought in from Christian lands. The 
 streets are like all streets in this part of the world — 
 narrow, rough, crowded. For that one cares little. 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM, 397 
 
 It belongs with the land. Mordecai felt a local 
 shame as he walked with us through his own sec- 
 tion, and he remarked, with a sigh or a sneer, " They 
 make us pay taxes to keep the streets lighted, but 
 they don't do anything. It takes all the money to 
 support their wives." It is natural to seek the old 
 Temple, or the place of it, that we may be in the 
 city of ancient days. The hill on which stood the 
 three temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod is 
 in the south-east quarter of the present city. Walls 
 were constructed on the top of Mount Moriah, mak- 
 ing a lofty platform for the sacred houses. The 
 platform is irregular in its shape, and its dimensions 
 are given differently by those who have measured it. 
 For our purpose it is near enough to say that it is 
 about sixteen hundred feet on the east and west 
 sides, by a thousand on the other two. It is not 
 clear on what portion of this large area the temples 
 stood. Of the old buildings, of course, nothing 
 remains unless it be in separate blocks of stone. 
 But portions of the foundation walls, or the sub- 
 structure on which they rested, have had firmness 
 enough to hold their place. 
 
 It required the usual amount of diplomacy and 
 expense to obtain the right to visit the hallowed 
 enclosure and its buildings. This business was per- 
 formed by others in our behalf, and we entered the 
 Haram esh-Sherif. It is not long since Christians 
 were prohibited from treading the holy ground. 
 But western intrusion has opened the gates, and 
 with our armed guard and a retinue of attendants 
 we made our way in. We came to an elegant 
 
398 SOME THINGS ABROAB. 
 
 pulpit of marble, built in the fifteenth century. It 
 rests on horse-shoe arches, and is surmounted by a 
 canopy which is sustained by slender columns. The 
 carving is abundant and graceful, and the whole 
 structure is a pleasing specimen of the art which 
 constructed it. There was no one to forbid us, and 
 with the professional instinct and with the boy I 
 ventured up the long marble stairs and stood where 
 the duly authorized man preaches to the faithful in 
 the fast of Ramadan. We felt that we could have 
 discoursed to the edification of the faithful, or at 
 least to their advantage ; but they were not there to 
 listen, even if our sentiment and pantomime could 
 have passed for preaching. There were themes 
 enough about us on every side and as far as the 
 eye could reach over city and country. It needed 
 more ceremony to visit the Dome of the Rock, the 
 great mosque in which the interest of the place now 
 centres. The mosque stands on a platform ten feet 
 high, which is reached by flights of steps on three 
 sides. At the top of the steps are elegant arches or 
 arcades which bear the name of the Scales, because 
 from them are to hang the balances in which the 
 righteous and the wicked will be weighed in the 
 Judgment. Protecting our feet and the pavement 
 with appropriate slippers we entered the '' noble 
 sanctuary." This is octagonal in shape, and each 
 side is sixty-six feet long. It was covered with 
 marble, but porcelain tiles were placed on the upper 
 part by Suleiman in 1561. Passages from the Koran 
 form a frieze for the building. The Byzantine style 
 and taste govern the design of the mosque. The 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 399 
 
 dome, which gives its name to the house, is a fine 
 piece of Oriental workmanship. It rests on four 
 massive piers, and is itself nearly a hundred feet in 
 height and sixty-five in diameter. It is made of 
 wood, and is richly adorned on the inside. Under 
 the dome is The Rock. Twelve columns stand 
 around it among the piers of the dome, and an iron 
 railing keeps off all intruders, while a crimson 
 canopy hangs over it. It is a limestone rock, fifty- 
 seven feet long and forty -three wide, and at its high- 
 est part is some five or six feet above the pavement. 
 It appears to have been a part of the summit of 
 Moriah, and to have been left when the top of the 
 mountain was levelled to make a place for the Tem- 
 ple. What its history is cannot be told with cer- 
 tainty. That Abraham and Melchizedek offered 
 sacrifice upon it, and that here Isaac was bound for 
 a burnt offering, and that Jacob anointed it with 
 oil, tradition claims. It is connected with Mo- 
 hammed, which would be enough to make it re- 
 nowned. It was the last place which his foot 
 touched as he left the earth, and his footprint is 
 still to be seen. The rock, naturally and unnatu- 
 rallj^ proposed to accompany him, but was arrested 
 in its fiight by Gabriel, who left the mark of his 
 hand upon the stone. The rock cried out when the 
 prophet went up, and its tongue remains in sight. 
 The rock now keeps its place without support, if we 
 can believe it. This is difficult, because if one's 
 eyes are to be trusted it has visible means of sup- 
 port. We went into the cavern under the rock, into 
 the sanctuary of Abraham and David and Solomon 
 
400 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 and Elijah, where they were wont to pray. In the 
 rock above us we saw the impression of Mohammed's 
 head, which must have been immense. In the floor 
 is a circular slab which covers a well or cavern of 
 some sort, and gives a hollow sound when it is 
 struck. It is worth adding that the Moslems regard 
 this as the opening into Hades, and that within the 
 gloom below the souls which have left the world 
 above come twice a week for their prayers. 
 
 The place is rich in sacred associations with the 
 past and the future. It has been called the centre 
 of the earth. Here, some have thought, stood the 
 holy of holies of the temple and the great altar of 
 sacrifice. Here the throne will be set in the judg- 
 ment when the last day shall come. But I have no 
 room for more legends. The general appearance of 
 the mosque is very pleasing, with its colored mar- 
 bles and painted windows, its domes and arches, and 
 it needs no fables to make it worthy of a longer 
 time than the stranger in Jerusalem can give to it. 
 There is another church, which bears the name of 
 El-Aksa, a pile of buildings which with the Dome of 
 the Rock really forms one temple. El-Aksa is said 
 to stand on the site of the Mosque of Omar, al- 
 though it is very much larger. But the building 
 was originally a basilica founded by Justinian and 
 dedicated to the Virgin. It has fallen with every- 
 thing else. The Moslems hold it in high regard. 
 It is ninety yards long and sixty-six wide, and has a 
 nave with six aisles and many columns of many kinds. 
 It is much more like a Christian church than any . 
 other mosque we saw. There is a handsome carved 
 
m AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 401 
 
 pulpit of wood with finely decorated stairs. Behind 
 this is a stone which bears the mark of our Lord's 
 foot. There are two columns so near together that 
 it is not an easy matter to pass between them. 
 Indeed one who has not been born in lawful wed- 
 lock could not force his way through. Some are 
 more strict in another direction, and say that one 
 cannot enter heaven unless he can pass through this 
 narrow gate. An addition to the mosque proper 
 covers the spot where the Mosque of Omar really 
 was. In the nave of the church is a slab in the 
 pavement which looks like the monument of a mod- 
 ern knight, but it is reported to be the tomb of the 
 sons of Aaron. We descended to the vaults under 
 the mosque, where we saw piers and arches, col- 
 umns and walls, which are very old. Mordecai 
 believed that they belonged to Solomon's Temple. 
 Who shall say that it is not so? We went down 
 into a small chapel or oratory, where we saw the 
 " cradle of Christ," a niche which has long borne 
 this name. There Simeon lived, and the Virgin 
 mother passed a few days after the presentation of 
 her child. So the stovj runs. 
 
 We went into vast subterranean vaults which are 
 called " Solomon's Stables." Mordecai claimed that 
 he and Dr. Wilson discovered them. Solomon's pal- 
 ace was not far from this place, and it may be that 
 some of his numerous horses were quartered here. 
 There are a hundred square piers of stone. Many 
 of the columns have holes at the edges, in which a 
 halter could be fastened, and there the horses of 
 Franks and Templars have doubtless stood. The 
 
402 SOME THINGS ABUOAB. 
 
 old and the new are strangely jumbled together in 
 this ancient world. From the wall surrounding the 
 temple area we gained a fine view of the valley and 
 the hills around us. It was a good place from 
 which to survey Jerusalem and mark all which 
 belongs to it in its relations to the city tow^ards 
 which it looked. The moments were crowded with 
 thoughts, and pictures rapidly succeeded one an- 
 other as memory drew the lines. I inust leave the 
 reader, if I still have one, to think it out for himself. 
 The Golden Gate we saw in the wall of the Area. 
 There is a projection from the wall six feet deep and 
 fifty-five feet long, and in this is the double portal 
 which has been called by many names, — the Golden 
 Gate, the Eternal Gate, the Gate of Mercy, the 
 Gate of Repentance. It is now walled up. A small 
 door in the outer wall opens into the space between 
 the two faces of the gate-way. In the time of the 
 Crusades the procession on Palm Sunday passed 
 through the Golden Gate, which was also opened at 
 the festival of the Raising of the Cross. Strangers 
 are sometimes admitted to the interior now as a 
 special favor, and the Mohammedans use it as a 
 place of prayer. But the gate itself cannot be 
 opened. There is a tradition that on some Friday 
 a Christian conqueror will enter by this gate and 
 recover Jerusalem. It may be so. Yet the Chris- 
 tian conqueror will care little by what door he 
 enters. The Moslems have another belief, that when 
 He comes, Jesus will pass through this gate and take 
 for His own the Gitj which He could not save, and 
 with it the whole world which lies about it. 
 
IN AND ABOUND JEliUSALEM, 403 
 
 We must not linger within the walls, hard as it is 
 to go out. Let it be Friday afternoon when we 
 betake ourselves to the base of the wall in the val- 
 ley of the Tyropoeon. It is a very old wall, and the 
 stones in it and under it may have belonged to the 
 house which Solomon builded. They have a lone- 
 some look now. Thither for centuries the sad- 
 hearted Jews have resorted, that they might weep 
 over the desolation of their sacred city and cry for 
 its deliverance. " In the palace that lies desolate 
 we sit in solitude and mourn for the walls that 
 are overthrown, for the great men who lie dead." 
 We found some seventy or eighty Jews there. A 
 few were rabbles, but the greater part were old 
 women. The men could not be there, for they must 
 be earning their bread in more promising pursuits, 
 — that was Mordecai's exDlanation of their absence. 
 The people who were there were chanting the Psalms 
 in mournful voice, kissing the stones, and wetting 
 them with their tears. The grief was obtrusive, but 
 in many it seemed sincere. We did not understand 
 their words, but we knew what they were sighing, 
 '' Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember 
 iniquity forever; behold, see, we beseech thee, we 
 are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilder- 
 ness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 
 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers 
 praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our 
 pleasant things are laid waste." It was a solemn 
 scene. We shared the pain and the lament. But 
 we remembered that the city died by its own hand. 
 Above the wailing and the weeping we could hear 
 
404 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 the voice of Him who came to save : " O Jerusalem, 
 Jerusalem ! how often I would, and ye would 
 not!" 
 
 On the other side of the narrow space in which 
 we were gathered were a few wooden boxes, on 
 which some of the rabbles took their seat. We fol- 
 lowed their example and rested as we watched. As 
 the service grew monotonous, I had the curiosity to 
 see what inscription was on the box which served 
 me. Could it be anything appropriate to the place ? 
 Anything in harmony with the occasion? It needed 
 but little knowledge of ancient languages to make 
 out the words. There is one thing from the West 
 which we found everj^where in the East. The in- 
 scription was of this, and not of temple or mosque, 
 of ruined splendor or broken hearts. On my seat in 
 the wailing-place in Jerusalem I read this, — ^'Bush 
 and Denslow's Peerless Oil. Improved Patent Can. 
 Guaranteed Safe, Pure, and Brilliant. New York." 
 
 When we would visit Bethlehem it was thought 
 best, for the sake of variety, that we make use of 
 the donkey of the country. He was produced in 
 sufficient numbers, a larger beast than we see in 
 America, and of a variety of colors. I have before 
 alluded to the saddle which is put upon his back 
 and w^hich adds very much to the height of the 
 rider, but lessens his comfort in the same proportion. 
 The seat is insecure, which would be an annoyance 
 were it not for the feeling that if one should roll off 
 he could not fall very far. We had the usual reti- 
 nue of boys to make the donkey's life a burden to 
 him and to keep his rider in a state of physical and 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 405 
 
 mental suspense, not unmingled with fear. Their 
 spasmodic attacks upon the patient animals resulted 
 in an irregular series of jumps and gallopings which 
 made the ride exciting, if it was not perilous. A 
 fine road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem was in 
 process of construction. Men were working with 
 considerable vigor, while women and girls were 
 bringing dirt in baskets. The process was necessa- 
 rily a slow one, but it answered its purpose. The 
 distance between the two places is about four miles 
 and a half. The ride is very pleasant on all ac- 
 counts. On every side is seen something of immedi- 
 ate or of historic interest. The names of the places 
 between which we were riding were enough to 
 excite and engage our thoughts. Yet it is singu- 
 lar how readily a person becomes accustomed even 
 to a country like this, so that the names are spoken 
 with almost as little feeling as if they belonged to 
 New England towns. It is so hard in the midst of 
 the old world to realize that you are there. The 
 discomforts which are felt are modern, — the w^eari- 
 ness, the loneliness, the moods and methods of men ; 
 and these are intrusive and exacting, and in no 
 small measure dull the senses to what is of far 
 greater account, and cover from view the wonders 
 of the land. One has to recall himself to himself, if 
 he would make the most of that which he has come 
 far to see. We rode by the Well of the Star, or the 
 Well of the Magi, which marks the spot where the 
 Wise Men from the East regained the sight of the 
 star which was guiding them to the child whom 
 they sought. We passed the monastery of Mar 
 
406 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Elyas, where a few Greek monks reside. Near this 
 was the bed of Elias, a large rock which retains the 
 mark of the reclining prophet. There is some doubt 
 in regard to the genuineness of this couch, as it was 
 not the prophet, but a Bishop Elias, who at some 
 unknown time founded this house and gave his 
 name to it. Elijah did indeed lie under a juniper- 
 tree and sleep till he was touched by an angel. But 
 there is no reason to suppose that he rested on this 
 rock, in spite of the depression which it bears. The 
 tomb of Rachel has more to commend it. "And 
 Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, 
 which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon 
 her grave : that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto 
 this day." The tradition which makes this the 
 place of her burial is very old. For a long time 
 there was a pyramid of stones here. Now a domed 
 building of considerable proportions, similar to the 
 tombs of many saints, stands over the grave. With 
 all this there is room for doubt whether this is the 
 place where the sorrowing Jacob erected his simple 
 monument. In a little cemetery near the tomb 
 there was a burial as we passed by. We could only 
 look on the group of mourners whose grief was a 
 part of the great human sorrow, which gains and 
 loses nothing before legends and centuries. 
 
 We rode up the hill and under an arched house 
 into the streets of Bethlehem. The town is very 
 old, and, like other places, has its different quarters 
 for diffei-ent sorts of people. There are perhaps 
 five thousand inhabitants, who for the most part 
 live by farming. The fertile fields about the town 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 407 
 
 justify the name Bethlehem, "the house of bread," 
 and Ephrath, the old name of the place, which is 
 thouofht to mean " the fruitful." It was here that 
 David was born and was anointed to be king. We 
 saw the " Wells of David," or the three cisterns in 
 the rock which are called after him. Toward the 
 wells of his boyhood the heart of the soldier turned 
 when he was at war with the Philistines : " And 
 David longed, and said. Oh that one would give me 
 drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which 
 is by the gate." Three mighty men broke through 
 the Philistine ranks and drew the water which he 
 longed for, and when they brought it to him he 
 would not drink it because it was " the blood of the 
 men that went in jeopardy of their lives." He 
 "poured it out unto the Lord." Why should not 
 
 these be the wells to which this romantic incident 
 
 * 
 
 belongs? Here earlier were the fields of Boaz in 
 which Ruth gleaned, when her devotion to the 
 widowed Naomi had its reward, and the alien blood 
 of Moab mingJed with the blood of Judah, and the 
 stranger became the mother of Obed, the father of 
 Jesse, the father of David, and set her name into 
 the proudest lineage the world has known. 
 
 Here were the fields where the shepherds watched 
 their flocks by night, and " the glory of the Lord 
 shone round about them," and the angel gave to 
 them and to the waiting world the " good tidings of 
 great joy." "And they said. Let us now go even 
 unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to 
 pass." A part of the fields where the shepherds 
 were when they heard the Gloria in Excelsis has 
 
408 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 been enclosed, to mark the place where the angel 
 met them. A church and monastery were there, 
 and there is still a subterranean chapel, which is 
 called the Grotto of the Shepherds. 
 
 It was of this village the prophet Micah wrote, 
 ''Thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be 
 among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one 
 come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, 
 whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." 
 Seven hundred years after that there came a virgin 
 from Galilee to be enrolled at Bethlehem, and there 
 He was born of whom the prophets WTote and the 
 angels sang. 
 
 Surely it was well that we were brought to the 
 city of David. For the event of Bethlehem has 
 become the centre of the world's life, and the 
 Christmas joys are sj)readiiig through the earth. 
 It is a prosperous place now. It was interesting 
 to see that this town and Nazareth had lived and 
 are now feeling the life of later days. Our entrance 
 into the chief street was marked. The hospitality 
 of the place was at once and profusely extended to 
 us. We were not Galilean peasants but travellers 
 from the far West. The merchants left their shops 
 and clustered around our donkeys, and offered us as 
 many inducements as their powers of illustrated 
 speech permitted, to enter their warehouses and 
 procure their goods. We were more than willing 
 to comply, but there was difficulty in making our 
 choice among the merchants. We chose liberally 
 and examined the goods which were offered in 
 abundance. Olive-wood and mother-of-pearl had 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM, 409 
 
 been carved into numberless forms, of chains, neck- 
 laces, bracelets, paper-knives, pen-holders, crosses, 
 charms, boxes ; while the seeds of fruit were strung 
 together into ornaments, and the black stone from 
 the Dead Sea presented itself in inkstands and 
 vases. There was variety, the goods were pleasing, 
 and their associations with the place would always 
 render them of value. When our purchases were 
 completed, we left the dissatisfied merchants and 
 proceeded to the more serious purpose of our visit. 
 
 The central point in Bethlehem is naturally the 
 place of our Lord's nativity. On this stands, of 
 course, a church, or two churches, which are used 
 by three sects who are called after the Christian 
 name, the Greek, Latin, and Armenian Christians, 
 while each division has a monastery of its own, and 
 the collection of buildings forms an imposing pile. 
 The main part of the church belongs to the Greeks. 
 The building is very old, and is by some traced to 
 Constantine, and even to Helena. It has had its 
 natural vicissitudes. In the front part of the 
 church, which is nearly square, are the nave and 
 double aisles, separated by columns of stone. The 
 ceiling is of wood. The nave is cut off from the 
 transept by a wall, in which are openings through 
 which persons can pass to and fro. In the transept 
 are the Greek altar, the throne of the Greek patri- 
 arch, and the pulpit. Abutting upon the transept is 
 the church of the Latins, who were allowed to share 
 in the sacred edifice through the kind offices of 
 Napoleon III. Their portion is called after St. 
 Catharine. It is quite long, but very narrow, and 
 
410 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 its decorations are more elaborate than among the 
 Greeks. The Armenians have an altar in the Greek 
 church. It is pleasant to see these three bodies of 
 believers using the same church — that is, the theory 
 of it is agreeable. There is less unity than would 
 be expected; perhaps no more than would be found 
 if they were not all of the same general faith. We 
 marked that a Moslem guard was required to pre- 
 serve the peace. We were told that there is so 
 much jealousy that it is difficult to care for the 
 house properly. When we were there some trifling- 
 repairs were necessary which either party would 
 have been glad to make, but which neither would 
 consent that another should make. Yet it was here 
 that the Prince of Peace was born. That, however, 
 was below. Two flights of steps lead from the 
 Greek precincts and one from the Latin into the 
 crypt. The Greek stairs lead at once into the most 
 important part, the Chapel of the Nativity. It may 
 have been here that our Lord was born. There 
 seems to be no reason for questioning the tradition 
 which hallows the spot. 
 
 There was no room in the inn, the khan, to which 
 the strangers from the north came at the summons of 
 the emperor, which had brought a crowd to the vil- 
 lage. The rooms for travellers were occupied when 
 they arrived, and they were glad to find a resting- 
 place in some lower or adjoining room, which they 
 must needs share with the quiet creatures of the 
 fields. It is not uncommon in the East for a farmer 
 to make this double use of a large room, placing in 
 one part a raised platform for the family, while the 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 411 
 
 lower portion is given up to his cattle. In the 
 house which we occupied at Mejdel-esh-Shems, I 
 found under our room a small household and a 
 camel quartered happily in the same apartment. 
 
 A verj^ early tradition places the Nativity in a 
 cave. This is not history, but it is not improbable. 
 The manger in which the Child was laid was proba- 
 bly like tiiose now used — a box of stones and mor- 
 tar, in which the Babe could be safely and pleasantly 
 cradled. 
 
 The Chapel of the Nativity is about forty feet 
 long and twelve feet wide and ten feet high. Its 
 floor and walls are covered with marble. In a 
 recess stands the altar, under which is a silver star 
 w4th the inscription, ''Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus 
 Christus natus est." Around the altar fifteen lamps 
 are burning, of which six belong to the Greeks, five 
 to the Armenians, and four to the Latins. By three 
 steps we descended to the place of the manger. 
 The true manger was carried to Rome. Very near 
 is the altar of the Adoration of the Virgin. The 
 place from which water sprang out for the use of the 
 holy family is further along in the Grotto. A little 
 further on is the place at which Joseph received the 
 command to take the young Child and his mother 
 and go into Egypt. By five steps we went down to 
 the Chapel of the Innocents, in which mothers took 
 refuge with their children from the bloody edict of 
 Herod, and where they were found and the children 
 were slain.^ Near the end of the Grotto, hewn in the 
 rock, are the Chapel and Tomb of St. Jerome and 
 the Tomb of St. Eusebius. Jerome came to Bethle- 
 
412 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 hem in the fourth century arid retired to a cell, 
 whither he was followed by some of his Roman con- 
 verts, who used their wealth in founding .monas- 
 teries. Over one of these Jerome presided, making 
 it a hostlery for pilgrims. There he made his Latin 
 translation of the Scriptures, the Vulgate, the ver- 
 sion used by the Roman Church, and produced other 
 works of interest. This chapel is reported to be the 
 room in which he lived and wrote. Eusebius was a 
 pupil of Jerome, or one of those who followed him 
 to Bethlehem. Whether there is truth in the story 
 which places Jerome here or not, his name and work 
 do not seem out of place. A painting fittingly pre- 
 sents him with a Bible in his hand. This was a 
 notable visit. Beyond all question, we were very 
 near the place where the life began which is proving 
 the Life of the world. 
 
 We saw but little of the monasteries. We were 
 taken into a room where was a long table from which 
 visitors may be fed. Entertainment for a few daj'S 
 is provided by the Latins. The monasteries serve a 
 useful purpose in this way. There is in Bethlehem 
 a Protestant school, under German direction, where 
 a goodly number of boys and girls are taught. 
 
 I seem to have said very little of Bethlehem, 
 where we saw and thought so much. But what can 
 I do with words ? The simple narrations of the 
 Bible give to the place an unfailing charm. There 
 one loves to linger and to recall the days which can 
 never be lost in the past. Bethlehem will last while 
 the world stands. There are not many places in 
 Jerusalem which are associated with our Lord's life. 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 413 
 
 An immense reservoir, called Birket Israil, has been 
 regarded as the Pool of Bethesda, on whose marble 
 steps our Lord stood when waiting in the place 
 where there was no man to put a cripple into the 
 healing spring — the vacant place between divine 
 mercy and human need. The pool is now nearly 
 filled with rubbish, and there is no proof that it was 
 ever the "House of Mercy." But it may have been. 
 There is nothing interesting about it now except 
 this possibility. 
 
 Of the Pool of Siloam we can be more confident. 
 We read in the Book of Nehemiah that Shallum 
 built " the wall of the Pool of Shiloah bv the kino^'s 
 garden." It was to the Pool .of Siloam that Jesus 
 sent the man who was born blind, that he might 
 receive his sight. That this is the same pool, and 
 the same as that now known as Siloam, is gen- 
 erally admitted. At one time a church was bailt 
 over it, after the custom of the country. Now 
 broken walls surround it, and much rubbish has 
 fallen into it. But it will always be held in 
 special regard, whatever its condition may be. 
 Now it is, like the land which holds it, a portion 
 of the past. 
 
 When we come to the last days of our Lord's life, 
 we can mark his way more clearly. Beyond the 
 Zion gate is a group of buildings called by the name 
 of David, and containing his reputed tomb. We 
 were taken into a large upper room, in which, it is 
 said, our Lord kept his last Passover with his disci- 
 ples. The room is desolate, with nothing pleasing 
 or suggestive in it. It is said that it was here the 
 
414 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 tongues of fire and the power of the Holy Spirit 
 descended at Pentecost upon the apostles.. A church 
 once stood on the spot. 
 
 In the same building in which the Lord's Supper 
 was instituted we were shown the tomb of David. 
 In a recess behind an iron gate was a large structure, 
 fifteen or twenty feet long, resembling a coffin. It 
 was covered with a green cloth, on which is in- 
 scribed, " O David, whom God has made vicar, rule 
 mankind in truth." Before this shrine is an arch, 
 and within the recess a door and w^indow. Over the 
 door it is written in Arabic, '^ This is the gate of the 
 garden of Paradise," words which commonly have 
 reference to the tomb of a saint. It is claimed that 
 by this door access can be had to the cavern in 
 which David was laid. The sarcophagus which is 
 seen is said to be a copy of the one below, which no 
 one is allowed to look upon. The Mohammedans 
 are jealous guardians of their sacred places. The 
 neighboring Armenian convent is known as the 
 House of Caiaphas. There in the altar of the small 
 church is preserved the stone which closed the 
 Lord's sepulchre, which the angels rolled from the 
 door. There can be seen '^the Prison of Christ," 
 and the pillar on which the cock stood when his 
 crowing warned or reproved Peter. This pillar is 
 under the altar, and only small portions of it are seen 
 through the plaster which has been put over it. 
 The Latin, Greek, Armenian, American, and English 
 cemeteries are here. We looked with respect on 
 the tombs of the Armenian patriarchs of Jerusalem. 
 On some of the stones in the Armenian cemetery 
 
m AND AROUND JEBU SALEM, 415 
 
 were what appeared to be the signs of the work of 
 the man who had been laid to rest, as a hammer and 
 anvil, an easel with brushes, and shears. There was 
 not very much to be credited in this visit to the 
 Moslem sanctuary of David. But tliere may be 
 truth under the traditions. 
 
 On our way back we passed the Potter's Field, 
 bought with the money of the betrayal. Far above 
 us as it was it had a dreary look. A lone tree but 
 added to the desolation by its legend that it was 
 from its branches that the traitor hung himself. 
 Some one suggested that it must have been very 
 small for that purpose eighteen hundred years ago. 
 I ventured one day to ask Mordecai his opinion of 
 Judas. '^He was a bad man; hung himself." ''Yes; 
 but what do you think of his conduct?" "He was 
 a bad man ; he hung himself." " True ; but he be- 
 trayed his Master and Friend. What do you say of 
 that ? " " I don't want to talk about it. I have to 
 do with all kinds of people, and I must not express 
 opinions on such things." We changed the subject. 
 
 In the northeastern section of the city is the 
 Church of St. Anne, one of the churches of the 
 Crusades. It has kept its integrity very well, and 
 has received modern restoration. Napoleon III. was 
 presented with this church by the sultan, and it is 
 under French protection. The Arabs still attach 
 Saladin's name to it. Under the church is a crypt 
 cut in the rock. Formerly there were altars there, 
 and there is a story that there St. Anne lived and 
 the Virgin was born. The church is near St. Ste- 
 phen's gate, by which one passes out towards the 
 
416 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Mount of Olives. The gate also bears the name of 
 our Lady Mary. There seem to be reasons for 
 both names ; for not far away is a rock marking the 
 place where Stephen is said to have fallen under the 
 stones which were thrown upon him ; and also very 
 near is the Church or Tomb of the Virgin, where 
 she was laid by the apostles and remained until her 
 Assumption. The present building dates from the 
 twelfth century, and is in good condition. We 
 crossed the valley of the Kedron, passing by a bridge 
 over the channel of the brook, and found ourselves 
 close to the church. It is a curiously constructed 
 building, being for the most part underground. A 
 large porch with an arched portal, within which is a 
 door, is the part which is seen on the outside. Steps 
 lead down to the space in front of the church, and 
 within a long and handsome flight of broad steps 
 leads to the floor, which is thirty-five feet below the 
 ground before the poi-tal. On the right as you go 
 down the stairs is a small chapel with two altars 
 and the tomb of Joachim and Anne, who were 
 brought from the Church of St. Anne that they 
 might rest under the sanctity of their daughter. 
 On the left is the tomb of Joseph, the husband of 
 Mary. In the ground plan the church proper is 
 cruciform, and the stairs enter at the west end of 
 the transept. Two-thirds of the way down the 
 nave is the sarcophagus of Mary, in a small chapel 
 which is reached by a very narrow entrance. The 
 Armenians honor and protect the deserted tomb by 
 their devotions, as the Moslems were once allowed 
 to do, while the Greeks and the Abyssinians have 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 417 
 
 altars near the opposite end of the church. The 
 Armenian service was going on at the time of onr 
 visit, and we had to wait until the dismal sounds 
 had ceased before we could go behind their altar 
 into the sanctuary where is the shrine of the Virgin 
 to whom all hearts are drawn. A long side passage 
 leads to the '' Cavern of the Agony," a grotto fifty 
 feet long, with three altars, and the remains of 
 paintings on the ceiling. There used to be an altar 
 to mark the spot where our Lord forgave Peter all 
 his sins, and there was a well which was filled from 
 the River of Paradise. On the whole, there is not 
 much here which commends itself to faith. The 
 most singular thing is the church. It has been con- 
 jectured that it is the filling of the valley which has 
 left the house underground. Yet the ground about 
 it seems to be no higher than it was centuries ago, 
 and the oldest accounts of the church present it 
 as a subterranean building. This must remain with 
 many things which are not explained. 
 
 Crossing the road, we came to the Garden of Geth- 
 semane. Here we could feel more confidence. For 
 we know that Jesus, after his last Passover, went 
 over the brook Kedron into the Mount of Olives, 
 "where was a garden into which he entered, and his 
 disciples." The Latins have enclosed with a high 
 wall an irregular quadrangle whose circuit is given 
 as about seventy paces. Entrance is easy, and the 
 attendance is sufficient without being an annoyance. 
 Very near the gate, outside the wall, is a rock mark- 
 ing the spot where the three disciples slept while 
 Jesus was praying and suffering. The spot is also 
 
418 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 pointed out where Judas met his Master and gave 
 the kiss of betraj^al. The fragment of a pillar 
 marks the place. Within the wall is a hedge en- 
 closing seven olive-trees which are reputed to have 
 been there in the Saviour's time. There is no rea- 
 son to believe this, but the trees are certainly of 
 great age, so that they need to be strengthened by 
 having the trunk filled with stones, after the man- 
 ner of the country. It is possible that they sprung 
 from trees which were growing there when the gar- 
 den became sacred. There are younger trees, which 
 are of no special interest, and flower-beds, which are 
 well cared for, and from which the visitor may carry 
 away a memorial of the place. The oil of the olive- 
 trees is naturally esteemed of rare value, and com- 
 mands a large price. Between the garden proper 
 and the wall is a passage containing oratories at 
 which the devout can offer their prayers, with their 
 hearts softened and quickened by the associations of 
 the place. Was it just here that Jesus endured his 
 agony and poured out his soul in supplication and 
 submission? There is nothino: to show this. But 
 it was very near this place. It could not be 
 expected that the Greeks would allow the Latins 
 to hold the garden of Gethsemane. They have a 
 rival garden further up the Mount. But, as Mor- 
 decai observed, ''how can they get the olive-trees?" 
 The very spot cannot be known, but here elesus was 
 met by the band which came out to arrest Him, and 
 here He gave himself into their hands. The night 
 comes slowly back as one waits reverently where 
 Jesus was, and thinks upon the hours which sanctified 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM, 419 
 
 the close of his life upon the earth, and brought Him 
 under the shadow of the cross. No spot in Jerusa- 
 lem is so dear, so sacred, as this. For we know that 
 it was here He bowled under the olive-trees and felt 
 the sorrows of death. 
 
 *' Mortal I if life smiles on thee, and thou find 
 
 All to thy mind, 
 Think Who did once trom Heaven to Hell descend 
 
 Thee to befriend : 
 So shalt thou dare forego, at His dear call, 
 
 Thy best, thine all. 
 
 'O Father! not My will, but Tliine be done!' 
 
 So spake the Son. 
 Be this our charm, mellowing Earth's ruder noise 
 
 Of griefs and joys : 
 That we may cling forever to Thy breast 
 In perfect rest ! " 
 
 It breaks the order of events, but while we are 
 at the Mount of Olives let us pass to Bethany, which 
 is on the road to Jericho. The Franks say Bethany. 
 The Arabs call the place after Lazarus, El-Azariyeh. 
 We can reach the village by the same way over 
 which our Lord walked, as we suppose, on which He 
 was met by the triumphal procession which came 
 out from Jerusalem to bring Him to the capital amid 
 tlieir hosannas. Bethany was a place dear to Him. 
 There was the house of Mary and Martha, to which 
 He was fond of resorting and where He was always 
 made welcome. There the one sister wearied her- 
 self in her care for Him, and the other gave Him 
 more delight as she sat at his feet and heard his 
 words. He loved them both and accepted their 
 
420 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 ministering. The place where their house stood is 
 shown. This is partly enclosed with walls. There 
 is no house upon it now. A building occupies the 
 site of the house of Simon the leper, where they 
 made a supper for Jesus, and Lazarus sat at the 
 table, and Martha served, and Mary broke her erase 
 of alabaster and poured the costly spikenard on the 
 head of Jesus and filled the house with the fra- 
 grance of the ointment. In the insight of her 
 heart she anointed Him for his burial, and gained 
 in his Gospel remembrance for her devotion ; and 
 beyond this made the world sweeter ever since by 
 her faith and hope and love. 
 
 The appearance of Bethany is forlorn in the ex- 
 treme. Some forty hovels contain the Moslems who 
 now dwell in the places out of which better people 
 have gone. Those whom we saw were not attrac- 
 tive, though the begging of the younger portion was 
 persistent. I suppose that we felt the dreariness 
 the more that the place was associated in our minds 
 with the pleasant village of the Gospels. It was 
 hard to consent that this should be Bethany. The 
 chief point of interest now remaining is the tomb of 
 Lazarus. The Moslems hold him a saint and have 
 put a mosque near his grave. There was a church 
 over the tomb centuries ago. The tradition is 
 therefore an old one which marks the sepulchre in 
 which the brother of Mary and Martha was laid. 
 Again it was difficult to attach the sublime narra- 
 tive of the Gospel to the place now connected with 
 it. We recalled the days which made Bethany 
 illustrious, and the one day which gave it its great- 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 421 
 
 est fame. The simple account of it, written by one 
 who was present, can never fail to engage the atten- 
 tion and the affection of those who read it. Lazarus 
 of Bethany was sick. His sisters, in their confidence, 
 sent to Jesus the tidings which were so brief, which 
 they knew would bring Him to them — " Lord, 
 behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." He lin- 
 gered, that the sickness might be " for the glory of 
 God," and then went to them. The brother had 
 been dead four days. He stood among those who 
 bewailed him, with the sisters, whose hope was 
 touched with fear. "Jesus wept," not because 
 Lazarus was dead merely; for He knew what He 
 would do, and that the sorrow would soon be 
 changed to joy. But all men were dying and 
 dead, and the burden of the world's grief and 
 pain was upon Him. He spoke the words which 
 have remained for the solace and the promise of 
 countless hearts which have mourned their dead. 
 In countless Bethanys, by numberless sepulchres, 
 has He been heard, through the long and heavy 
 centuries, still saying, "I am the resurrection and 
 the life : he that belie Veth in me, though he were 
 dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and 
 believeth in me shall never die." At his bidding 
 the stone was rolled from the door which it guarded. 
 Jesus, when he had spoken to the Father, ''cried, with 
 a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He that was 
 dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave- 
 clothes, and his face was bound about with a nap- 
 kin. Jesus saith unto them. Loose him and let 
 him go." It was here that Jesus stood. Let us 
 
422 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 believe it. Standing here, He spoke the words which 
 proved him 'Hhe Resurrection/' Here Lazarus 
 came out of the gloom in which he had been lying, 
 and opened his dazed eyes upon the world he had 
 deserted. 
 
 '' This is the tomb of Lazarus." So our guide said, 
 as if it were a common place ; and it meant so much 
 to us. The door was opened for a price, and with 
 candles we painfully groped our way down a long 
 flight of worn and broken steps to a rude chapel 
 where Moslems and Christians say their prayers. 
 Then, bending low, we crept through a narrow pas- 
 sage and went up three steps into the small chamber 
 where Lazarus had been, and out of which he was 
 summoned. The dreariness and discomfort of the 
 place made devout contemplation difficult. The 
 dark, cold, rough walls repressed the feeling which 
 we should have been glad to indulge. We retraced 
 our way and came slowly back into the light, not 
 to be greeted with the strong words of the Christ, 
 or the glad cries of the women, but with the harsher 
 sound which from many lips breaks the silence of 
 Bethany, " Bakshish, Howadji, Bakshish ! " We 
 had returned into the world of to-day. It was 
 memory alone which could invest the scene with 
 interest. Perhaps we had expected too much. Can 
 one enter Palestine and not expect what no other 
 land has offered him ? He should be thoughtful and 
 moderate in his desires, but this is not the spirit 
 w^th which he has sought the Holy Land. He must 
 not expect to find the miracle there, or the record of 
 it on the rock, or those who witnessed it, or any 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM, 423 
 
 memorials which can add aiij^thiiig to the narrative 
 of one who has written for us what he saw and 
 heard. In this spirit he will find profit in standing 
 where the Lord was, and those who were his friends. 
 It is the New Testament, and not the tomb of Laza- 
 rus, which brings us the comfort of the Resurrection. 
 In its living pages we find the times when the vil- 
 lage of hovels was a village of homes. There too is 
 lived before us the life of the Life. Palestine can 
 well be visited while we remain in our own dwell- 
 ings. If we do not see it there, we shall not find it 
 in the desolateness of 
 
 ** those holy fields, 
 Over whose acres walked those blessed feet 
 Which . . . were nailed 
 For our advantage on the bitter cross," 
 
 Leaving the Mount of Olives, we can enter the 
 city by St. Stephen's gate, when we are in the Via 
 Dolorosa, the street over which our Saviour is said 
 to have carried his cross. The street is narrow and 
 dark, and leads under arches and arched ways which 
 add to its gloom. There are ''stations" which mark 
 special points. I need not say that no one knows 
 that Jesus passed over this street in his sad walk to 
 Calvary, or that imagination has set up the "sta- 
 tions." The tradition which makes this the "street 
 of pain " does not appear to be very old. The first 
 station is in the Turkish barracks, which are said to 
 occupy the site of the Prsetorium, the house of 
 Pilate. The steps of the house, as everybody 
 knows, are now in Rome, where the faithful ascend 
 them upon their knees, and the less devout look on 
 
424 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 in a confusion of unbelief and wonder. But what- 
 ever may be the previous history of the stairs, they 
 have a historic and abiding interest from their con- 
 nection with Luther and that which he did for the 
 world. The second station marks the place where 
 Jesus received the cross. Beyond this an arch 
 thrown across the street is called Ecce Homo, and 
 the Arch of Pilate, because it was there that the 
 troubled governor brought out his prisoner and said, 
 ''Behold the Man!" Adjoining this is a church, and 
 opposite the church is a mosque. A broken column 
 at the third station shows where Jesus sank under 
 the cross. Passing the house of the poor Lazarus, 
 we come to the fourth station, where Jesus met his 
 mother. Passing the home of the rich man at whose 
 gate Lazarus was laid, we reach the fifth station, 
 where Simon of Cyrene received the cross. In a 
 neighboring house is a stone bearing a mark made 
 by Christ's hand as he fell upon it where it lay 
 beside his path. The sixth station is near the tomb 
 of St. Veronica, who gave her handkerchief to Jesus 
 and received it back with the print of his face upon 
 it. At the seventh station the Franciscans have a 
 chapel and a school for girls. The eighth station, 
 where Jesus spoke to the weeping women who fol- 
 lowed him, is at the end of the Via Dolorosa. The 
 ninth is in front of a monastery of the Copts. Here 
 Jesus is said to have sunk under the cross. But the 
 cross had already been laid upon the Cyrenian 
 stranger. 
 
 We are thus brought to the Church of the Holy 
 Sepulchre, within which are five more stations. 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 425 
 
 This is the central point, of course, in Jerusalem. 
 The most profound interest would naturally belong 
 to the spot where the Saviour was crucified and the 
 sepulchre in which he was laid. It may be to guard 
 us against an undue reverence for the places, and to 
 fasten our minds constantly upon the events them- 
 selves, that it has been allowed to become impossible 
 to tell where the cross stood and where was the new 
 tomb wherein never before a man had been laid. It 
 is not a very old tradition or belief by which the 
 place has been selected on which this church now 
 stands. It is said that Calvary was found in the 
 reign of Constantine, while others have said it was 
 the mother of Constantine who discovered both the 
 cross and the sepulchre. We know that Golgotha 
 was outside the walls, and this church is within. 
 But it is possible that the walls may have been ex- 
 tended since the time when Golgotha was described 
 by the Evangelists. But it may be added that 
 scarcely any man of authority in such matters re- 
 gards what is known as our Lord's sepulchre as that 
 in which hjs friends placed him after he had been 
 taken from the cross. Yet in the fourth century a 
 church was erected here, and ever since the adora- 
 tion of countless multitudes has been rendered at 
 this sanctuary. Whatever other purpose this has 
 served, it has kept in mind the facts of the cruci- 
 fixion, the entombm.ent, the resurrection, and has 
 given them in literature and history a position which 
 can never be lost. Here again we may say that we 
 cannot be very far from the places where these 
 events took place. Fragments of the old church 
 
426 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 remain. But the Persians destroyed the church, 
 which was rebuilt, and partly burned, and desecrated 
 by Mohammedans. Then came the church which 
 the Crusaders found, and which they entered with 
 bare feet and singing their psalms. In the twelfth 
 century the Crusaders built a larger church, which 
 has remained and has received many additions. 
 The buildings of the Crusaders suffered at the hands 
 of their enemies and the enemies of their faith and 
 from fire ; but a pious zeal continued to build and 
 rebuild, till we have now what may be considered a 
 modern church, though it retains part of the build- 
 ings which have preceded it. 
 
 I shall not add another to the numerous descrip- 
 tions of this building or collection of buildings. 
 There is a large central portion, with what may be 
 termed three wings. The list of its apartments and 
 their peculiar treasures is long. The mere reading 
 suggests the wealth of sacredness which is here 
 accumulated. The church is crowded in between 
 other buildings, or rather other buildings have 
 sprung up around it, so that there is nothing im- 
 posing in its appearance. In front there is a court- 
 yard, which is below the street and is reached by 
 a few steps. This is a fine situation for dealers in 
 mosaics and relics, pictures and charms, and for the 
 beggars, who are everywhere shrewd enough to look 
 for their victims among the people who go to church. 
 There are chapels at the sides of this court, but they 
 are not of much account. Entering the open door, 
 we soon came upon the Turkish guard, Vv^ho preserve 
 order among the Christians, and whose office at cer- 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 427 
 
 tain seasons is not a sinecure. Morclecai, being a 
 Jew, would not be allowed in the cliurch, and he 
 intrusted us to the care of a guide whose knowledge 
 of the church was less than his desire to make our 
 visit profitable to himself. With an excellent 
 guide-book and plan we had little need of an at- 
 tendant. Very soon we came to the stone on 
 which our Lord was wrapped in linen cloths with 
 spices in preparation for his burial : we saw the 
 marble slab wdiich covers the true stone. The 
 upper marble is held in great reverence, and pil- 
 grims gather there, bowing before it and kissing 
 it, and rubbing off its virtue with handkerchiefs. 
 Many have brought their winding-sheets that these 
 might be consecrated by contact with the holy 
 stoue, or with its representative. At the right of 
 this stone are stairs which lead to Calvary. There 
 is seen the hole in which the cross of Christ stood. 
 The places of the other crosses are also marked, and 
 in the rock is seen the cleft, a few inches deep, 
 which was made when the rocks were rent. The 
 sepulchre is on the floor v/hich we left. In the cen- 
 tre of the large rotunda is a structure of white mar- 
 ble, twenty-six feet long and seventeen and a half 
 feet w^ide. The interior is divided into two rooms. 
 The first is the Chapel of the Angels, where may be 
 seen a part of the stone which the angels rolled 
 from the door. From this chapel we passed through 
 a low door into the holy sepulchre itself. It is a 
 small room about six feet square. Forty-three 
 lamps hang from the low ceiling. A relief in 
 white marble shows our Saviour in the act of rising. 
 
428 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Marble columns sustain the roof. The place is so 
 covered with marble that the original form of the 
 tomb, if such it was, cannot be seen. On one side 
 of this small chamber is a marble shelf which repre- 
 sents the place where the sacred body was placed. 
 There is very little to help the memory or the im- 
 agination in the effort to think of the events wdth 
 which the place is associated. The words seem 
 there more true than ever before, " He is not here." 
 In front of this sanctuary there is a raised place 
 which serves as a porch, or an open ante-chamber. 
 It is guarded by immense candlesticks and candles, 
 and is furnished with parallel seats of stone. I 
 went one day to the church in company with a 
 clergjmian of very high ecclesiastical principles, and 
 we took our place for rest and meditation on one of 
 these seats, and gave ourselves up to the impressions 
 of the afternoon hour. Before long a young man 
 whose dress and general appearance indicated that 
 his position in the church was of a very low order, 
 if of any order at all, stepped before us and began a 
 system of pantomime which might indicate a dis- 
 ordered intellect. He stared at ns very hard, and, 
 putting one foot over the other, drew it back with 
 vehemence. His behavior surprised us but did not 
 produce whatever result he desired, for he immedi- 
 ately and with more emphasis repeated his strange 
 conduct. It was still a failure. Then he took his 
 seat opposite to us and threw one leg over the other 
 and instantly jerked it back with his hands, pointing 
 to my friend. His meaning w^as now clear. My 
 clerical neighbor was sitting at the door of the holy 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM, 429 
 
 sepulchre with one of his long limbs supporting the 
 other. He saw the point and felt the reproof. It 
 was very cutting, and he was unable to see the ludi- 
 crous side of it. He had been rebuked in church, 
 and for an act of indecorum which had attracted the 
 attention of the humblest servant of the house. 
 Happily I had not offended. If I had I should have 
 forgiven myself readily. It was not so with him. 
 For he was put to shame in a matter where he was 
 careful to be correct. I fancy that remains a sorrow 
 in his mind as he recalls Jerusalem. 
 
 At the rear of the sepulchre, and touching it, is 
 the Chapel of the Copts, and beyond that, out of the 
 rotunda, the Chapel of the Syrians. The Greeks 
 have the finest church in the Church. The Latins 
 come next, with the Chapel of the Apparition, 
 where Christ appeared to his mother after the 
 resurrection. Almost every spot connected with 
 those sacred days in his life is pointed out and per- 
 manently marked. The Chapel of St. Helena is 
 below. There are found the altar of Helena, the 
 altar of the Penitent Thief, and the chair of Helena, 
 where she sat while search was made for the cross. 
 Still lower down the natural rock is seen, and there 
 is the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross. The 
 name tells the meaning of the place and brings to 
 mind the whole story in all its romance and interest. 
 I have named but a portion of the things which 
 are to be seen and believed within these sacred 
 walls. But I ought not to omit the centre of the 
 world, which is marked by the fragment of a pillar. 
 
 The Easter festival is naturally the time of ex- 
 
430 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 ceeding interest in these sacred places. The cere- 
 monies are elaborate and impressive for those who 
 are in this way impressed. The miracle of the holy 
 fire is still performed under Greek patronage, and 
 still draws a crowd. The procession moves around ^ 
 the sepulchre, the lights are put out, the patriarch 
 goes into the Chapel of the Sepulchre, priests and 
 people pray, the fire descends from heaven and 
 gleams through a hole in the wall of the sepulchre, 
 the priests appear with lighted tapers, and the peo- 
 ple crowd about them to light their own tapers, and 
 soon the church is again illuminated. We did not 
 see this. But we saw the place in the wall where 
 the light appears. 
 
 Let us go into the open air. Again our steps 
 bear us over the Kedron and up the Mount of 
 Olives. We are following tradition in seeking at 
 the summit the place of the Ascension. The Scrip- 
 ture does not tell it was there. — " He led them out 
 as far as Bethany." Buildings were then on the 
 top of the mountain. Still, for a very long time the 
 Ascension of our Lord has been associated with this 
 spot. Helena built a church there, but perhaps not 
 because of the Ascension, for there was a sacred 
 cave which needed preservation. There is a mod- 
 ern church now there. It is in form an octagon. 
 The precise spot within it where Jesus last stood 
 upon the earth is shown, and there is even a foot- 
 print which he left. All this goes for nothiug. 
 But the view from the top of Olivet is wonderfully 
 fine. In the quiet of nature and its broad expanse 
 there is a good place for thought. Near by is the 
 
IJSr AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 431 
 
 place where our Lord taught the prayer which bears 
 his name. In 1868 the Princess Latour d'Auvergne 
 erected a church there, in the form of a Campo 
 Santo. Around a quadrangle are covered passages, 
 lined with slabs which contain the Lord's Prayer in 
 many languages. A small convent is near at hand. 
 A little further on is the chapel where the apostles 
 did not form their creed. The church which was 
 there is gone. The creed, which was written some- 
 where, and which is the record of the apostles, lives 
 with an increasing life. 
 
 Not from the summit did the Lord ascend, — so 
 we are told now. It seems fitting that it should 
 have been from a height that he went up into his 
 glory. Yet the mountain is not nearer heaven than 
 the valle3^ Somewhere upon this sacred hill he 
 stretched his hands over his disciples and blessed 
 them, and was parted from them and carried up into 
 heaven. — ''It is good to be here." 
 
 There are a few more scattered notes upon Jeru- 
 salem which I must bring together. Among the 
 pleasant hours which I remember are those which I 
 spent with the American Consul, who added to his 
 fitness for his official duties a rare interest in archae- 
 ology, and a large knowledge of the land of which 
 so few know anything. It was a great advantage to 
 the traveller to have him for a counsellor and a 
 guide. It was a credit to the country to have Selah 
 Merrill for its Consul at Jerusalem. It is on all 
 accounts to be regretted that the necessities of pol- 
 itics should have removed him from his place. One 
 afternoon the Consul took me to a round hill not far 
 
432 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 
 
 from the Damascus gate, above the Grotto in which 
 Jeremiah is said to have written his Lamentations, 
 and to have been buried. The story is in great need 
 of corroboration, but the prophet's name clings to 
 the cave. The hill of which I have spoken is re- 
 garded by Dr. Merrill and others as the place of 
 the crucifixion. It is shaped somewhat like a skull. 
 An old Roman road leads towards it. Old Moham- 
 medan graves are now upon it, and it is known that 
 the Mohammedans do not put graves where a house 
 has been, nor a house where graves have been. 
 Putting together various points of circumstantial 
 evidence, there seems to be reason to think that 
 this was Golgotha. He took me to tw^o churches 
 near the hill, which had recently been unearthed 
 and whose pavement has been uncovered, bringing 
 to light the remains of paintings and mosaics. The 
 owner of the ground wondered at the unproductive- 
 ness of this part of his estate, and, having enough 
 energy to look for the cause, found two churches. 
 An old Greek tomb had also been found, and we 
 were allowed to go down into it. There were places 
 for four bodies, and a Latin cross on the wall. I 
 found that the Consul had no confidence in any- 
 thing in Jerusalem which is above ground. But 
 few know so much of what would be found if the 
 new Jerusalem should suffer the old to come to 
 light. 
 
 The Muristan was founded by Charlemagne as a 
 monastery, to which a convent and church were 
 added. After a time, the order of Hospitallers, or 
 Knights of St. John, was formed, at first for the 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 433 
 
 care of pilgrims, bat afterward devoted to warfare 
 on infidels and for the general promotion of the 
 faith. In the changes of the times all this went 
 down, and a great deal more. But there remains 
 something of the old buildings, under the name of 
 the Monastery of St. John. The ruins are meagre 
 but interesting. The remains were given to the 
 Crown Prince of Prussia, when he visited Jerusalem 
 in 1869, and under his patronage excavations were 
 begun, which have now ceased. We looked down 
 into large and deep cisterns, and there must be other 
 things concealed which it would be well to open to 
 the light. We learned that a church and school and 
 other buildings were to be put near the Muristan for 
 the benefit of the German community. We went to 
 the old and the later church of the Copts, and saw 
 their place for the sacrifice of Isaac. We saw the 
 stone on which the boy was to be offered. A black 
 woman, who seemed to be at home there, said that 
 the offering was not made at the stone but where a 
 tree now stands, which she pointed out. Thus au- 
 thorities differ. In the new church is a dove on the 
 top and front of the pulpit, where the crucifix is 
 more often seen. There was a prevailing lonesome- 
 ness about the whole place, which could not have 
 been there in the ancient days. 
 
 The tombs about Jerusalem are a marked feature 
 of the place. Among these, the chief are the Tombs 
 of the Judges and the Tombs of the Kings, on the 
 north side of the city. They are catacombs, with 
 chambers and recesses, and were undoubtedly de- 
 signed for the last resting-places of persons of dis- 
 
434 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 tiriction. The tombs of the prophets and the Grotto 
 of St. James, on the east of the city, are much 
 smaller. These rock tombs were stately burial- 
 places; and besides these, which were carefully 
 planned, are the many in the cliffs which stand 
 above the plain. Some of the special tombs were 
 prepared with great pains. The tomb of Absalom 
 is cut from the solid rock, in the shape of a cube, 
 twenty feet in each dimension, and with a round 
 superstructure, terminating in a very low spire. 
 The tomb of Zacharias resembles Absalom's, but is 
 not so high, and the top is simpler, a pyramid rest- 
 ing on the cube which makes the body of the mon- 
 ument. The tomb of Jehosaphat has a broad en- 
 trance, and several chambers within. 
 
 Mordecai took us to what he called Solomon's 
 quarries. He further declared that he and Barclay 
 discovered them. They are an immense cavern 
 from which stone has been quarried at some time. 
 By Solomon ? Who shall say ? We groped our way 
 in with candles, but it was rather difficult. Far 
 within the cave we found a pool or well. It was 
 a fearful place, and we were glad to emerge into 
 the daylight. 
 
 The Russian buildings are conspicuous at the 
 north-west of the cit}^ There is a fine cathedral, 
 with a hospital and hospice for men and women, and 
 the Consulate. A thousand persons can be accom- 
 modated, and the poorest persons are taken in. In 
 the yard we saw a huge column which had not been 
 cut away from the solid rock to which it belonged. 
 Portions of old columns were discovered when these 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 435 
 
 buildings were erected. The Russians had more 
 power in the land than any other nation, and their 
 fine buildings made this evident. It was pitiful 
 to see in what narrow and barren quarters our 
 Consulate was housed. 
 
 Our hotel proved a pleasant home for us. It was 
 modern, and well placed near the Jaffa gate. It 
 was in the usual Oriental style, with the quadrangle 
 and rooms around it. We had a good view to the 
 north and west, and good air from the open country. 
 Just within the Jaffa gate is the Citadel, or City of 
 David, with its five square towers. The founda- 
 tions, at least, are very old. This castle was the 
 last place to yield to the armies of the Franks. Our 
 attention was called to a hole resembling a mouth, 
 in a wall near by. This was one of the stones 
 which would cry out if men should hold their peace. 
 I think the men were not silenced ; but this may 
 have been an impatient stone. 
 
 There are three Sabbaths in Jerusalem, — that is, 
 there is none. Some shops may be closed on certain 
 days, but the greater part are always open. The 
 stores are small, but there are niany fine things to be 
 found in them. Excellent photographs were to be 
 bought, while olive-wood presented itself in innu- 
 merable shapes. The dealers were anxious to sell, 
 and the competition seemed to be eager. We could 
 obtain all we wanted, at prices much below those 
 which were asked and not expected. The wares 
 were brought to the hotel, but we preferred the 
 shops. Every one was good-natured, but there was, 
 ^t times, more importunity than was agreeable. The 
 
436 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 beggars were numerous and more persistent than in 
 most places. The Greek and Latin churches pro- 
 vide room and bread for their poor members, but 
 still they beg. The Moslems do nothing for their 
 poor. Why should they interfere with the will of 
 God? A gentleman whom we met gave one of the 
 regular beggars his stipend of so much a week, 
 that he might not be assailed by him whenever 
 he went abroad. 
 
 There was a small American colony in the city 
 when we were there. They had come out by divine 
 direction, and were waiting to be told what they 
 should do next. Their means of living seemed un- 
 certain, but they lived. Some of our company 
 visited them, and brought back conflicting reports. 
 Mr. Garry brought back one or two doughnuts, which 
 were of the New England type, and were worthy of 
 a place in the East. These people seemed harmless, 
 but visionary. They belonged to a considerable 
 class of whom a wise woman remarked to me that 
 they came to Jerusalem to help the Lord fulfil his 
 prophecies. 
 
 On Saturday night we went to the synagogues of 
 the Jews. At the German synagogue I naturally 
 removed my hat, when an old rabbi motioned to me 
 to keep it on. Mordecai said that was the proper 
 thijig, and that it was expressive of the present 
 homeless, wandering life of the people. Among the 
 Spanish Jews we found four synagogues in one. 
 The Sabbath service was just beginning, and seemed 
 to us formal and hard, wliile it did not seem impres- 
 sive to those for whom it was designed. In one 
 
IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 437 
 
 synagogue we saw a harp hanging on the willows, 
 which were breaking under the weight. We also 
 saw a rude painting of a steamer. This seemed in- 
 congruous, but may have had its meaning to these 
 strangers in a strange land. 
 
 We attended service on Sunday at Christ Church, 
 which belongs to the English mission. It is a fine 
 building. A goodly number of children from the 
 English schools were in attendance, but the service 
 seemed remote from them and their needs. Yet I 
 have no doubt that they are well instructed in other 
 places. Just beyond this church is the Armenian 
 convent, with a fine garden. 
 
 I was glad to attend a meeting held by the Eng- 
 lish clergy on the afternoon of a week-day. It was 
 in a room used as a vestry. The room w^as not very 
 cheerful, but there was a gathering of the clergy 
 and their workers and others. The rector presided. 
 We sang, " Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah." A 
 part of St. John's Gospel was read. The English 
 gentlemen of the Society of Friends who were mak- 
 ing a missionary journey took part in the service. 
 One of them, Mr. Braithwaite, gave a warm Chris- 
 tian address. A German offered prayer in his own 
 language. The service was simple, but sincere and 
 helpful, and the more to be enjoyed because it was 
 there. Is there a better place than this for me to 
 close these desultory notes upon Jerusalem ? 
 
 In view of all which has been said in these pages, 
 it may be asked if it is well for one to visit Pales- 
 tine. The answer is promptly given, and in the 
 affirmative. Does it add anything to the sum of 
 
438 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 useful knowledge, or deepen religious impressions, 
 or bring the heart and life into closer fellowship 
 with Him whose presence made this the Holy Land? 
 This it may do or may fail to do. It depends on 
 the person. 
 
 It is of great interest to visit Palestine. It is an 
 old land, which has filled an important place in the 
 history of the world. From it have come forth 
 influences which are felt at the ends of the earth 
 and are steadily increasing. Men who have im- 
 pressed themselves deeply on the human thought 
 have there had a birth-place and a home. If we 
 trace to its source what we are proud to call civili- 
 zation, with our liberty and all which belongs to it ; 
 our homes, schools, governments ; our art, science, 
 business ; we are carried past Italy and Greece to 
 the narrow, neglected land which lies between the 
 Jordan and the Great Sea. History, in any of its 
 departments, is not thoroughly studied or clearly 
 understood until the things which were wrought in 
 Palestine are taken into the plan. It must always 
 be with a peculiar and profound interest that an 
 intelligent man journeys from the West to stand over 
 the buried Jerusalem or to tread the narrow streets 
 of Bethlehem and Nazareth. He should be able to 
 see through what now is and to discern that which 
 has been ; to look past the men whom he meets 
 to those of another generation, and to hold inter- 
 course with them. A man must be independent of 
 his immediate surroundings who would find in 
 Palestine that which the land can give him, which 
 he can find nowhere else. He will not look for the 
 Christ there : but he can see where He was. If he 
 
IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 439 
 
 has pictured to himself a paradise, an ideal land of 
 broad meadows and still waters, of clear skies and 
 fragrant airs, a land in keeping Avith the divine char- 
 acter which ennobled it, the illusion will pass away 
 when his feet press the stony roads and he lies on 
 the hard ground and the rains assail him from the 
 clouds. But why should the man have made this 
 mistake? Christ came into the world as it was. 
 He came into its rough and stony places, with its 
 sorrows and sins, among the actual men and women 
 whose home was there. He saw the wilderness and 
 the fruitful fields, the thorns and the flowers, the 
 good men and the bad men. Men were poor, blind, 
 maimed, bruised, sad and sick, sinful and dead. He 
 came to them where they were and as they were. 
 If such things are now seen in the land as He found 
 in it, this should help us to comprehend the condi- 
 tions under which his life of ministry and mercy 
 fulfilled its purpose. If one knows the Christ, — 
 knows his life, appreciates his design and his accom- 
 plishment, — it will be to him a rare privilege to 
 stand where He stood, to walk where He walked, to 
 feel what He felt. The best guide in Palestine is 
 the Bible. The best preparation is sympathy with 
 Him who came to Palestine for the world's advan- 
 tage. For one who is thus furnished life will grow 
 richer and stronger as he walks in the steps of the 
 Son of Man, and lets the land and the people illus- 
 trate his life. Neither there nor anywhere is the 
 letter enough. He needs the spirit. With this the 
 days will be memorable, the land will be holy, and 
 henceforth more than ever '' Faith will have its Oli- 
 vet and Love its Galilee." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 TO THE END. 
 
 Our last night in Jerusalem was marked by an 
 exhibition which has a distant relationship to the 
 East. Some wandering magician presented the usual 
 attractions of men of his craft, and in the usual 
 manner. Perhaps the masters of his art, who belong 
 in the mystery of lands further east, and in the fas- 
 cination of the Arabian Nights, would not have 
 recognized his modest efforts at our hotel. But they 
 were a diversion for an hour when we could not go 
 abroad. 
 
 Our long journey seemed over. We went down 
 to the stables where our horses were resting, and took 
 an appropriate leave of those faithful companions of 
 our journey, and of such of the men as could be found. 
 We furnished Mr. Mordecai with an elaborate rec- 
 ommendation as an accomplished dragoman, and 
 presented to him and to others the gratuities which 
 were expected, and which seemed to give satisfaction. 
 
 It was on a Wednesday morning that a wagon 
 came to the door, and we turned our faces home- 
 ward. Some of our company remained in Jerusalem. 
 Mr. Garry, with his accustomed discretion, had left 
 the day before. The other three of us distributed 
 ourselves among the numerous seats, and set out for 
 
 440 
 
TO THE END. 441 
 
 Jaffa. The road was steep and rocky, and wound 
 down the hill in many and short curves, around 
 which our young Jehu drove his horses with an 
 entirely unnatural celerity, which made us somewhat 
 fearful touching our safety, even after all our expe- 
 rience of mountain roads. It must have been easier 
 to go rapidly than slowly, or this juvenile native 
 would not have broken the established rule of delib- 
 eration in everything. We soon lost sight of the 
 domes and walls of the city, and felt ourselves fairly 
 embarked on our Western journey. We passed the 
 fine Russian buildings, the Austrian Consulate, the 
 English Mission House, and other suburban and 
 modern structures. We hurried by Lifta, tlie 
 Nephtoah of whose fountain we read in the Book of 
 Joshua. There is still a good spring there, and the 
 remains of old buildings. On our right was the 
 village of Kul8niyeh, which has sometimes been 
 thought to be Emmaus, to which our Lord walked 
 with two disciples, Cleopas and another, whose hearts 
 burned within them as he talked with them, to 
 whom he made himself known ''in the breaking of 
 the bread." But Emmaus was threescore furlongs 
 from Jerusalem, so that this could not have been the 
 place. But near by is the scene of David's conquest 
 of Goliah, if we may confide in the tradition. Fur- 
 ther on we saw where the young champion of Israel 
 found the stones which he chose for his combat. He 
 left a great many, and even then took "four more 
 than he needed." 
 
 On our left was the village of Karyet el-Enab, 
 which in late years has been known as Abu G6sh or 
 
442 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Ghaush, from a mighty sheikh who with his brothers 
 and attendants was the terror of the region. Pil- 
 grims were his especial prey. The gang has been 
 broken np, but it is said that the timorous native 
 fears as he passes the castles, which may yet conceal 
 some survivor. Dr. Robinson thinks that this was 
 the Kirjath-Jearim, or city of woods, to which the 
 ark was taken after its removal from Beth-Shemesh, 
 where it was carried after it was sent away by the 
 Philistines. He thinks also that it may have been 
 the Emmaus of the Gospels. The village of iVmwas, 
 still further on, has a name which sounds like Em- 
 maus, and some have thought that the honor of 
 bearing the latter designation belongs here. It is 
 possible that it may be so, though there are serious 
 reasons against it. We can at least be certain that 
 no one knows where the village was to which a 
 single incident in the Saviour's life has given an 
 interest so lasting. 
 
 For our noon rest we stopped at Latrun. The 
 name suggests robbers, and perhaps with good rea- 
 son. It was a simple thing in finding places for 
 events to fix upon this as the home of the penitent 
 thief whose cross stood beside that of the Christ. 
 His name is given as Disma. The place was a 
 military station in the Crusades, and the remains of 
 an old fortress and church can now be seen. In the 
 third century Julius Africanus rebuilt the town and 
 called it Nicopolis, in memory of Titus and his 
 victories. The village itself has a most desolate and 
 ruinous look. But it was interesting to us as the 
 half-way place between Jaffa and Jerusalem. How- 
 
TO THE END, 443 
 
 ard has a very comfortable hotel there, for which the 
 patronage is scant. We were told that it was nec- 
 essary that he should keep a house on the road, or 
 his rival, Cook, would do so. We greatly enjoyed 
 our rest. The repose was perfect. Nothing broke 
 the stillness. If we had not been beckoned away, we 
 should have been glad to remain there and do nothing. 
 After a generous pause, we climbed into our wagon 
 and rattled on our way. We soon came to Ramleh, 
 a large town of three thousand inhabitants, with a 
 Latin monastery, and Greek and Russian hospices, 
 with churches and soap-factories. The story of 
 Ramleh is that it stands on the site of Arimathea, 
 the town of Joseph, the wise and thoughtful Israel- 
 ite who went to Pilate and asked the body of 
 Jesus, and laid it in his own new tomb. It may 
 have been here that he lived. Who shall say ? The 
 principal mosque was a Christian church, and stands 
 as a sad witness to the profanation of a town which 
 had churches before the coming of the Crusaders, 
 and enjoyed a large prosperity. Its history is in the 
 history of the land. The conspicuous object in 
 Ramleh is its tower. It stands by itself, lifting its 
 solitary grandeur and beauty above the surrounding 
 desolation. It is twenty-five feet square at the base, 
 and is divided into several stories, each of which has 
 its own style and adornment. The top is reached 
 by a flight of worn stairs in the interior. There are 
 about a hundred and twenty-five steps. The history 
 of the tower is uncertain. It belonged to a mosque, 
 but whether that was its first use is not so clear. It 
 has been known as the White Tower, and White 
 
444 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Mosque, and by other names. Portions of the build- 
 ing to which the tower belonged are now standing, 
 but they are too small and scattered to tell much of 
 its character. There are extensive vaults, and in 
 them one tradition has buried forty companions of 
 the Prophet, and another the same number of Chris- 
 tian martyrs. Some portions of the ruins look as if 
 they were parts of a large khan. There are fine 
 orchards at Ramleh, with olive and sycamore and 
 other trees, but the place had a very dull appearance, 
 and seemed very lonesome. We ordered our wagon, 
 which we left at the entrance to the town, to go by 
 the road and meet us near the tower. The direc- 
 tions were misunderstood, and to our dismay we saw 
 the vehicle go past, pursuing its way to Jaffa. We 
 shouted, but to no purpose. We ran, but the pur- 
 suit seemed hopeless. We found the rough ground 
 very hard as we chased our chariot across the fields, 
 A boy of the vicinage took in the situation, and vol- 
 unteered in o\^ cause. He was fresher and fleeter, 
 and, putting his wings upon his unsandalled feet 
 and exercising his lungs in the native vocabulary, he 
 finally succeeded in stopping our impatient equi- 
 page. But for certain difficulties, growing out of a 
 difference in language, we might have had an 
 explanation from the driver, to which we could have 
 added appropriate remarks. As it was, we con- 
 tented ourselves with rewarding our Mercury, and 
 then pushed on towards the sea. 
 
 It was dark as we entered Jaffa. We passed the 
 house of Tabitha, who, under her other name of 
 Dorcas, has been the patroness of so much ecclesi- 
 
TO THE END. 445 
 
 astical cliarity and has bestowed so many coats and 
 garments which have gladdened the hearts of 
 " sahits and widows." We drew up at Howard's 
 Hotel, where we found good quarters and a hearty 
 welcome awaiting us. We had been told that it 
 was important that we should reach Jaffa that 
 night, as the steamer was appointed to sail for the 
 North on the next day. We found that the steamer 
 had not arrived. But it was not yet the next day. 
 The morning came and we were still there. The 
 steamer was not. Would she be in that day? 
 Howard was non-committal. A less interested 
 resident told us that she would not make her 
 appearance. '' When will she come ? " " Nobody 
 can tell. Last trip she was a week late. She is not 
 often so date as that." There was nothing to do but 
 to wait. It was tedious and annoying. My passage 
 from England was engaged, and the day set for resum- 
 ing work at home. Could I carry out my plans ? It 
 was hard to have the unsolved problem continually 
 recurring, and in a place of no more attractions than 
 Jaffa presented. The view from our hotel was 
 interesting, although the interest was restricted. 
 Across the road was a Mohammedan burial-ground, 
 and beyond that the sea, over whose blue waters we 
 were at liberty to gaze as far as we wished, and 
 much longer. It would have been a pleasing sight 
 if we could have been satisfied with a sight of 
 the sea. Not a sail intruded itself on the far 
 horizon or broke the tranquil surface of the bound- 
 less waters. It was indeed the unplanted sea. 
 Thursday morning gave us a burial in the field 
 
446 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 below us, but that was not exciting. We explored 
 our own premises. We found that Howard had a 
 garden which was fine for this part of the world. 
 He had, also, a barouche which he had imported 
 from England for visitors of a higher rank than 
 those to whom he did not proffer its luxury. He 
 had, moreover, an apparatus for making ice by some 
 chemical process. This would have afforded us a 
 trifling solace on a hot day, but unfortunately it was 
 not in working order. We walked out into the 
 town. It was as others. The streets were narrow, 
 rough, dirty, slippery. The bazaars were small, but 
 had the usual variety of people and merchandise. 
 Greeks, Latins, and Armenians were found to have 
 their monasteries. The mosque was in its place, 
 and its bare walls were uninviting. It was well 
 that it was so, for it might have been hard to gain 
 admission. We came upon a large well which is a 
 place of popular resort. Standing in a court, cov- 
 ered with an eight-sided roof, or cupola, and show- 
 ing something of the Saracenic character, it is a 
 finer piece of work than anything else in the town, 
 and it was a busy throng of men and beasts which 
 was going and coming, through which with difficulty 
 we made our way. 
 
 Friday was rainy, very. There seemed to be 
 water enough before, as no steamer in these parts 
 was in want of any. We had leisure to think upon 
 the history of the place, but the amount of our his- 
 torical knowledge was not large. It is said that the 
 town was built before the Flood. It was the seat of 
 an old Phoenician colony. When Solomon was 
 
TO THE END, 447 
 
 about to build the temple, Hiram, King of Tyre, 
 was appealed to for men and trees, and agreed to 
 bring wood in floats by sea to Joppa, whence it 
 could be carried to Jerusalem. The place came 
 into the possession of the Jews, and Greeks, and 
 Romans. Its name became changed from Yafa to 
 Joppa. Christianity gained an early entrance, as 
 we find from the Acts of the Apostles. The stir- 
 ring centuries which followed left their mark, and 
 the town was destroyed by Saladin. In the seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries it came up again. 
 The quay was constructed and walls were built. 
 The present population is estimated by Baedeker 
 at eight thousand, which seems large. There is 
 quite an extensive trade with Egypt, Sjaia, and 
 Turkey, in soap, grain, oranges, and other things. 
 As the only port of southern Palestine, and there- 
 fore the gateway of Jerusalem and all which lies 
 around it, Jaffa possesses a great advantage in its 
 situation. The buildings come close to the sea and 
 reach back from it to the base of a higli cliff. A 
 reef of rocks runs parallel with the shore, making a 
 breakwater inside of which boats . can find room. 
 Large vessels must stop outside and in rough 
 weather are often unable to effect a landing. In- 
 deed, landing is very apt to be difficult, as it can 
 hardly be said that there is a harbor. But all the 
 conditions favored our remaining. We might have 
 ventured out in boats, but it would have been to 
 return in boats. Yet it w^as here that Jonah, when 
 he was vainly fleeing from the presence of the Lord, 
 found a ship which was going to Tarshish. ^'So he 
 
448 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 paid the fare thereof, and went down into it." That 
 vessel seems to have been taken off the line. 
 
 Saturday brought more wind and rain, but brought 
 no steamer in sight. We strained our eyes across 
 the graveyard, and turned Howard's large glass to- 
 wards the restless sea : but no wreath of smoke, no 
 moving speck was to be discerned. At times we 
 tried to fancy that we saw something unusual, but it 
 was only to be disheartened once again. A few 
 graves were dug in the morning, and later there was 
 a burial. We went out when we were able to do so, 
 and found that the rains had flooded the streets. 
 They needed washing, and this was the only way in 
 which they could get it. 
 
 We made a visit to the house of Simon the tan- 
 ner, — to his two houses, in fact, his Latin and 
 Greek residences. The Latin hospice covers the 
 site of one of them, while a church has succeeded 
 to the place of the other. Simon was a tanner of 
 Joppa, whose house was by the seaside. Upon its 
 flat roof, another Simon, surnamed Peter, received 
 the vision which opened the Gentile world to him. 
 We found a house by the seaside and went upon its 
 roof. Not far away were tanneries. It could not 
 have been far from the spot where we stood and 
 thought upon Peter and his vision that the house of 
 the tanner stood. For two hundred years tradition 
 has dignified this site. The Moslems, as would be 
 expected, have a mosque on the spot where they 
 assert the house was. No one is very far out of the 
 way, which is some satisfaction. 
 
 A little beyond the city was the settlement of a 
 
TO THE END. 449 
 
 German colony. Mr. Garry, with his usual enter- 
 prise, investigated the colonists and their buildings, 
 and subsequently took us out to his new acquaint- 
 ances. There was an American colony there, but 
 that had disappeared. The present foundation dates 
 from 1868. Some two hundred and fifty persons 
 were reported in connection with it. The Jerusalem 
 Hotel was in front, and back of this houses and 
 shops. A variety of industries employed the people 
 and furnished them with a good livelihood. The 
 place was quiet, and everything had a peaceful and 
 contented look. If the people deem it necessary to 
 dwell in Palestine, in view of coming events, they 
 seem to be doing it in quite a sensible way. The 
 day wore on to night. There were no good omens 
 in the air. It was here that Andromeda, daughter 
 of Cepheus and Cassiopea, was taken from her boast- 
 ful mother and chained to a rock where she would 
 be devoured bj^ a sea-rnonster. This is the rock. 
 Sunday we kept at home. Showers were frequent, 
 the streets were muddy, our spirits were low, the 
 English service was on the other side of the town. 
 In tlie afternoon we did go with Mr. Garry into a 
 neighboring orange and lemon orchard. The Greek 
 proprietor was very hospitable, and gave us all the 
 information which his knowledge of the country and 
 his ignorance of English would allow, and liberally 
 endowed us with the immense products of his fra- 
 grant and beautiful tfees. Still Perseus delayed to 
 come for Andromeda. It was wearisome turning 
 our anxious eyes towards the sea and the fair, far 
 countries beyond. 
 
450 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 Monday morning brought an unusual sound. It 
 was the whistle of a steamer. No orchestra ever 
 discoursed such music, no symphony was ever so 
 delightful. We hastened to the balcony, and just 
 off the town lay a small steamer — small but comely. 
 Our preparations were quickly made, and we hur- 
 ried to the quay. Mr. Mill went to the agent's 
 office, while we repaired to the banker's to replenish 
 our treasury. I asked for £20 and after an hour's 
 waiting procured it. Meanwhile, Mr. Mill brought 
 us the tidings that the Selene would not sail till the 
 afternoon of the next day. He had found that the 
 agent was in his bed-room at nine o'clock. Upon 
 being aroused and brought into his office, he de- 
 clared that no business could be done till he had re- 
 freshed himself with his hubble-bubble, or water- 
 pipe. That was over at last, and the desired tickets 
 were secured. I do not remember what we did, 
 except that we waited and complained. 
 
 Howard did all he could for our comfort during 
 our imprisonment. He fed us on the choicest which 
 the market afforded. He ministered to our Yankee 
 taste with what he called pumpkin-pie. If this had 
 come a month earlier, before our imagination was 
 jaded, we might have given it the same name. He 
 did his best. He bore our detention better than we 
 did. We were his only guests, and it was not for 
 his advantage to send us off. I have a notion that 
 he would have let us stay longer in Jerusalem if his 
 hotel had not been in Jaffa. I believe that Mr. 
 Garry was of that opinion. 
 
 I have mentioned the Moslem burials. They 
 
TO THE END. 451 
 
 were frequent and peculiar. We saw on the street 
 a procession marching to what ^sounded like martial 
 music. The music was made by a drum and two 
 sets of cymbals. Men led the way, and were fol- 
 lowed by women with black veils over their faces. 
 A coffin covered with crimson cloth and trimmed 
 with flowers was carried by men. At the grave the 
 coffin and the women entered a tent. After a time 
 the grave was filled up. I presume that the body 
 had been taken from the coffin and laid in the 
 ground. Then the company dispersed, hastened by 
 the rain, though some of the women remained in the 
 tent. There was what appeared to be a dispute 
 about the grave or something connected with it. 
 One woman talked in a loud voice and swung her 
 arms violently, and the grave-digger, as I took him 
 to be, responded in a befitting manner. 
 
 Women were in the cemetery early on this morn- 
 ing. Some were seated around a newly made grave. 
 One elderly woman remained through the forenoon, 
 when she was joined by another, who threw a hand- 
 kerchief over and over, and laid it on the grave, 
 repeating this many times with words that did not 
 reach us. 
 
 In the afternoon there was another funeral. A 
 procession came down the street and entered the 
 ground, with a rude band and twelve flags. Men 
 followed bearing an open coffin, in which lay the 
 body, wrapped for its last slumber. Women in 
 white, with black veils, followed. When the grave 
 was reached, the women sat, while the men stood in 
 a circle and sang a funeral hymn, throwing them- 
 
452 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 selves backward and forward, swinging half-way 
 round, bowing as they turned, finally reducing their 
 movements to the shaking of the head. After this 
 came the interment. 
 
 We walked on the shore of the Mediterranean, 
 picking up pretty stones and shells, and wondering 
 when we should go '' sailing into the West." It is hard 
 to make plans in this land of deliberation and delay. 
 In Jaffa they draw water for irrigation by a system 
 of buckets arranged on a rope. They had a similar 
 method in Egypt in Pharaoh's time, judging from 
 the pictures. The wheel is worked by a mule, 
 whose eyes are covered with a cloth. If he could 
 see he would not go, we were informed. It seemed 
 probable. If he could see the men, his imitative 
 instinct would prompt him to follow their customs, 
 and the water would remain with the truth. He 
 might use his energy in constructing a cigarette or 
 raising the fumes of the nargileh; but as a mule he 
 would be a failure. 
 
 On Tuesday we were told to be on the steamer by 
 half-past eleven in the forenoon. We were there. 
 The sea within and without the breakwater was 
 quiet, and we made the transit without difficulty. 
 We sailed at half-past three. We waited, it was 
 said, for the post. A general impatience prevailed 
 after a time, and we whistled — that is, the steamer 
 whistled — to hasten the operations on shore. The 
 post finally arrived, and consisted of several letters. 
 It is possible there may have been a paper besides, 
 but we did not see any, nor did we know of any 
 reason why there should be a paper, except that on 
 
TO THE END. 453 
 
 such occasions papers are usually present. There 
 was altogether about half a bushel of mail matter. 
 At last we were off. Our destination was Beirut 
 and Smyrna. We were to retrace our voyage along 
 the coast. We regretted this. We had hoped for 
 Egypt, but there had been a few cases of cholera 
 some time before, and the quarantine laws were in 
 force and likely to continue. We could have gone 
 into the country, but w^hen we could get out again 
 it was impossible to say. Hence we left the pyra- 
 mids and sphinx for another journey. We had 
 hoped for a steamer which would take us directly to 
 Italy ; but the cholera had caused the quarantine, 
 and the quarantine had deranged the shipping, so 
 that we were forced to take anything which offered. 
 In this frame of mind we drew a line over the water 
 parallel to that which we had left on the land, and 
 on Wednesday forenoon steamed again into the fine 
 harbor of Beirut. There were the mountains of 
 Lebanon, the finely curved shore, the imposing 
 buildings, the schools, churches, hospitals, the print- 
 ing-press and lemonade. But nothing was quite the 
 same as before. Then we were moving into a 
 strange and fascinating country. Now we were 
 looking towards the home places and home friends. 
 The wind was strong through the night, and the 
 Selene rolled more than seemed necessary. We 
 stopped off Haifa, and could see the lights in the 
 town, and, beyond and above, the mountains of 
 Carmel, holding their long, dark line against the 
 dark sky. The most interesting feature of the pas- 
 sage was the presence of an Arab, of whom, even 
 
454 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 now, it is a pain to write. When we were at the 
 Mediterranean Hotel, in Jerusalem, as the guests of 
 the American Consul, a fine-looking Arab was in 
 charge of the dining-room, and he cared for us with 
 dignity and intelligence. He was born in Egypt, 
 and his parents were Moslems. They died when he 
 was a child, and he was brought up in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and for twenty years had been a 
 Christian. Being a Christian, he could not be forced 
 into the Turkish army, and he had paid the tax 
 which was accounted a substitute for personal ser- 
 vice. But one morning, as he was on his way to 
 market, he was seized, taken before the court, and 
 made to draw from the drafting-box. Of course he 
 drew a black paper, and was doomed to military 
 service. He had a wife and four children, but he 
 was not allowed to see them. He was at once 
 started for Jaffa. His case was hopeless. Every 
 one who knew with whom the man had to deal said 
 that he would never come back. The interference 
 of the Latin Church was hoped for, which might 
 send the case to France. But if he was released, 
 what would he gain? He would still be in the 
 hands of the Turks. Or, as one man suggestively 
 remarked to me, he would very soon die. Fatal 
 maladies can be produced at an instant's notice. 
 The plan was to have Mustapha walk to Jaffa. 
 It was a cruel march, for it was a very long way, 
 and the poor fellow was heavy and unused to exer- 
 cise. Some of his friends found out what had been 
 done, and sent a horse after him. But it was after- 
 ward learned that the men feared the soldiers and 
 
TO THE END, 455 
 
 did not come up with them. He was forced to walk 
 to Ramleh, where he succeeded in hiring two don- 
 keys for liimself and the officer in whose special 
 charge he was, who needed, I believe, a furtlier 
 bribe to make him consent to this arrangement. 
 So he reached Jaffa, where he was thrown into 
 jail with some twenty ragamuffins, who had been 
 seized on various pretexts and were destined for 
 the army. There he was kept eight days in the 
 greatest discomfort. He received some small kind- 
 ness from friends, but his confinement was most 
 painful to him. Whether he looked back to Jeru- 
 salem and his home, or forward to his unknown 
 fate, his thoughts could only be burdened with 
 anxiety and dread. 
 
 Mustapha was brought to our steamer, where we 
 were able to talk with him. He thought that his 
 seizure was due to the betrayal of his confidence 
 by a Turkish effendi at the hotel. The charge 
 against him was that he had abandoned the Moslem 
 faith. Against this he had a good defence, if he 
 had been in a country of law and justice. He was 
 one of a sorry-looking company of Arabs, half- 
 naked, ragged, infested with vermin. Falstaff would 
 have spurned the lot. Mustapha made little com- 
 plaint. He seemed submissive, and to cherish an 
 indefinite confidence that things would turn out 
 better than they promised. " I trust in the Lord," 
 he said. We were glad of the trust, but we should 
 have been glad to see more spirit on his own part. 
 He had a hope that he might be released, through 
 the efforts of his friends, when he would seek a 
 
456 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 
 
 home in America. At Beirut the men were taken 
 on shore. The others were crowded into the bows 
 of a boat, but Mustapha sat in the stern with the 
 officers. He gave us a cheerful good-by as the 
 boat pushed off. 
 
 We landed some brown monks, also, who were 
 lowered into the boat by their arms. We enjoyed 
 the process more than they did. We had rather a 
 varied company, for a third of the upper deck was 
 covered with canvas, maidng an apartment for a 
 few Moslems. 
 
 We were at Beirut at nine in the morning. There 
 was a high wind and sea, with rain, but the condi- 
 tion of things improved. At half-past one a boat 
 came for freight. Some one, somewhere, seemed 
 to have awakened to the fact that we were there 
 to discharge a portion of our cargo. The men who 
 came in the boats were fine-looking fellows, quick, 
 strong, and willing. They were so much better 
 than their betters. If only they could be made the 
 rulers, and the palaces and offices emptied into the 
 boats ! 
 
 Thursday was a bright day, and the snow was 
 glittering on Lebanon. The morning was well ad- 
 vanced before we received any freight. One impor- 
 tant thing was accomplished. A barber came from 
 the shore and shaved the captain. A French 
 steamer came in, destined for Jaffa. There was 
 in port an English steamer on her way to Port 
 Said. But it was too late for the land of the 
 Nile. We found that but one course was open to 
 us, to return to Smja^na, and there at some time 
 
TO THE END. 467 
 
 to catch a steamer bound somewhere. We went on 
 shore, went to the hotel and read the Latest papers, 
 visited the Bible House and American school^ and 
 enjoyed a few hours of civilization. We remem- 
 bered that at home this was Thanksgiving Day, and 
 we gave thanks. When we returned to the ship 
 we found that four or five hundred men had been 
 taken on board and were to be forced into the 
 Turkish army. There was a good deal of bustle, 
 preparatory to our sailing. Mr. Mill planned to 
 have Mustapha escape. He had been brought back 
 to the ship. Mill had fl-ranged with some one on 
 shore to take care of him if he should get away. 
 It seemed not very difficult, as no one was watching 
 him, and boats were coming and going. He got a 
 soft felt hat for him and a coat unlike that he had 
 been wearing, and told him to watch his chance and 
 slip into a boat which would carry him ashore. All 
 went well. Mustapha made his way down the 
 steps, and took his seat in a friendly boat. He was 
 already quite a distance from the ship when some 
 wretch, who should have been thrown overboard, 
 screamed out, " One of your soldiers is running 
 away." It was all over. Mustapha was brought 
 back, his small store of money was taken from him, 
 and an eye was kept upon him till we had left the 
 harbor. He had no further punishment, so far as 
 we knew. We saw him from dav to dav, and there 
 seemed to be in him a mixture of Moslem fatalism 
 and Christian faith. He was taken to Constanti- 
 nople, I suppose, and sent somewhere into the 
 interior, where he could not readily be found, and 
 
458 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 where he could expiate his crime of being a 
 Christian. 
 
 The captain's clean clothes came oflP in the same 
 boat with us, and there seemed to be nothing more 
 to detain the Selene. At seven in the evening we 
 sailed once more out of the beautiful harbor of 
 Beirut. The next morning we were at Larnaka, on 
 Cyprus, where we remained till one. Saturday was 
 a pleasant day, but Sunday was dark and rainy. 
 Patmos was covered with clouds. The day was in 
 severe contrast to the Sabbath when we passed 
 through the same waters, going in the opposite direc- 
 tion. But our voyage was made interesting by the 
 soldiers whom we had on board. They were wretch- 
 edly clothed, but they seemed, for the most part, in 
 good spirits. They had been seized in the fields and 
 about their work, and hurried off as they were, 
 under the charge that they had evaded the lawful 
 military service, and must now pay their dues to the 
 State, which deserved nothing. In themselves they 
 were a good-looking set of men. They were well 
 made, and their faces showed a fair degree of intelli- 
 gence. I doubt if the same number of men swept in 
 from any country would have made a better appear- 
 aace. There was variety in their dress, or undress. 
 They were like the men we had seen in our ride 
 through the country. It was most interesting to 
 watch them from time to time through the day. 
 Some would be lying on the deck asleep. Here one 
 would be telling his beads, and there one having his 
 unkempt head gleaned by friendly hands. There 
 was a kitten which did its part to relieve their 
 
TO THE END. 459 
 
 monotony. Some would be found looking over their 
 scanty clothes, and making any practicable improve- 
 ment. The saddest sight of all was where one or 
 two would be apart from their companions, sitting 
 with mournful faces, thinking of the home and 
 friends from which they had been torn, and of the 
 dreadful life to which they were being carried. It 
 seemed easy to interpret their thoughts. There one 
 thought of his wife and children, left destitute, and 
 wondering why he did not come in from the field. 
 There a boy heard his mother's voice, and saw her 
 anxious face peering into the gloom of evening, 
 watching for his return. Here a young man, of fine 
 bearing, with a face inexpressibly sad, submitted to 
 his fate, while his heart was with the maiden w^hom 
 he loved, who was to have joined her life to his when 
 the harvest should be gathered in, who must wait 
 while their sundered lives languished for the day 
 w^hich might never come. 
 
 We liked to watch the giving-out of rations. 
 These consisted of olives and onions, with water. 
 At first the men seemed to have bread in their bags. 
 Some had brought oranges and grapes. After a 
 time bread also was given to them. It was very 
 hard. Even Arab teeth demanded that it be soaked. 
 Once we found a dispute going on over the bread. 
 Words grew loud, and scales were brought. Then 
 the bread was weighed out in lots for six or eight 
 men. It was in slices and pieces. The men were 
 generally quiet while they were being fed. They 
 had a natural courtesy. Once an officer who had 
 been very rough in his manner towards them began 
 
460 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 to take off his coat that he might work more easily. 
 They began to help him, and when the coat was off 
 and he was holding it, a man offered to take it, and 
 it was given into his keeping. A quarrel now and 
 then enlivened the hours. Men from different parts 
 of the country asserted themselves against one an- 
 other, and blows followed. But blows come so 
 readily among these men that there seems to be no 
 ill-will in them, or only that which is of short dura- 
 tion. Once two men on board had a fight. One 
 whipped the other. Whereupon the officer beat the 
 victor, and equilibrium was restored. 
 
 We reached Smyrna at one o'clock Monday after- 
 noon, and went to the Mille Hotel on the quay. 
 Mr. Garry asserted that the terms offered by the 
 runners of the house were not confirmed on shore, 
 and he sought quarters of his own. But the rest 
 were satisfied with the Mille. We found that on 
 Wednesday a steamer would sail for Italy, via the 
 Piraeus. It seemed hard to lose another day. Yet 
 it was expedient on our own account. The boy, who 
 had been wonderfully well and happy through the 
 entire journey, began to falter at Beirut, and on the 
 voyage to Smyrna was dizzy and weak. The. sur- 
 geon of the steamer, in intervals of comparative so- 
 briety, looked at him, and expressed the professional 
 opinion that the trouble was only of a temporary 
 character. I think he expressed himself more seri- 
 ously to others. It was a relief, therefore, that we 
 could lie over at Smyrna. A German physician was 
 called, who said there was a gastric trouble, for 
 which he prescribed. Our time in Smyrna was 
 
TO THE END. 461 
 
 therefore very quiet. Mr. Garry made an excursion 
 to Ephesus. A guide who had volunteered to con- 
 duct him proved good for nothing, but to exact 
 money, and the visit was not very profitable. 
 
 On Wednesday the doctor said we could go on, 
 and his permission and warranty were most grateful. 
 We thought that the boy would be as well off at sea, 
 and we knew that he should be moving towards 
 better care than he could have anywhere else. At 
 two o'clock we went to the Italian steamer, the 
 JPachi7io^ and were hardly in our state-room before 
 wiDrd was brought that the captain wished to see 
 me. This was an unusual courtesj^ but I responded 
 to it. The captain was a man of substantial appear- 
 ance, but of few words, and those chiefly in a lan- 
 guage unfamiliar to me. But Mr. Mill was there. 
 The captain remarked that I had brought a sick boy 
 on board, and that he did not dare to take him. I 
 remarked, through the interpreter, that the boy had 
 been sea-sick, and was suffering from its effects. I 
 cannot repeat the conversation. There had been 
 cholera in Egypt, — more's the pity — but the chol- 
 era had made quarantine, and if the steamer reached 
 Italy with sickness on board she might be detained 
 for weeks. The agent for the steamer kindly ex- 
 pressed his belief that there was no danger, and that 
 the boy should be allowed to go. The captain cluiig 
 to his fears. " Would he regard the certificate of a 
 physician ? " He would. The agent and Mr. Mill 
 jumped into a boat and went ashore, sought out the 
 doctor, and came back with a written certificate that 
 this was a case of mal de mer. Still the captain 
 
462 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 frowned. Not a ray of hope illumined his bronzed 
 face. We had brought up from Beirut an Italian 
 Consul, with his family. To him I appealed. I said, 
 " You have seen this boy on the ship all the way from 
 Beirut to Smyrna. You know the whole matter. 
 Won't you please tell the captain that it is nothing* 
 but a case of sea-sickness?" "No; I won't inter- 
 fere. I'm not a doctor." "But you know there's 
 nothing the matter with the boy." "Are you a 
 doctor ? " " No ; but here is the physician's certifi- 
 cate." I could make no impression on him. I 
 became persuaded that it was he who had complained 
 to the captain and awakened his fears. The little 
 man was afraid that under the peculiar rules of his 
 country there might come some inconvenience, and 
 he preferred to have us suffer the inconvenience. 
 Better that we should wait at Smyrna than that he 
 should be detained at Brindisi. I was well nigh in 
 despair. After so m^^ny delays, after so much 
 anxiety and suffering, to be put off the last steamer 
 which we needed did seem to be hard. But you can 
 generally trust a sailor, if you can reach him. The 
 captain was true to his calling. He consented that 
 we should go to the Piraeus. There, as he said, the 
 agent of the ship would decide whether we could go 
 further. I doubt if he meant to ask him. But the 
 compromise answered a good purpose, and when the 
 Pachino steamed from the harbor of Smyrna the boy 
 was on board. 
 
 We were to have sailed at four o'clock in the 
 afternoon. The sea was so rough that we did not 
 leave until eight on Thursday morning. It was a 
 
TO THE END, 463 
 
 very hard passage. I never saw the Mediterranean 
 more angry and turbulent. The ship was lightly 
 loaded and was tossed about in the most reckless 
 fashion. I was the only one who was constant at 
 meals, but I kept up the proprieties of the ship. 
 The Italian consul came into a better feeling, and 
 seemed to regret his churlishness. He told me that 
 he spoke to the captain in my behalf. He exerted 
 himself to make it plain to me how I could get from 
 southern Italy to Switzerland, and at the Piraeus he 
 took his large household and went on shore to spend 
 a week with friends, and to wait for a calmer sea. 
 We reached the Piraeus about seven on Friday 
 morning. I found the captain on deck. "How is 
 your son?" "Better." "Do you think you can 
 get him through ? " " Oh, yes." We heard nothing 
 of an appeal to the agent. 
 
 We sailed again at noon. The distant glimpse 
 of Athens was pleasing and attractive. But our 
 thoughts v/ere not with the past. Saturday was a 
 hard day. The ship was jumping and rolling with- 
 out pause or change. The boy was my anxious 
 care. Yet he seemed to be doing well. Mr. Mill 
 was attentive and he was something of a surgeon. 
 The cook and steward did all they could in the way 
 of tempting soups. Mr. Garry was most thoughtful 
 and unselfish. He had always an encouraging word. 
 " Ken will come through all right." He believed in 
 dreams. I told him that in the night I saw a man 
 standing over me as if he would strike me. " Well, 
 he didn't strike you, did he ?" " No." " Don't you 
 know what that means? It is just as plain. You're 
 
464 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 
 
 anxious about your boy. The trouble is standing 
 over you, but it won't strike you." Still, they were 
 long hours and serious ones, day and night, night 
 and day. Sunday was better. There was less sea. 
 The boy was doing very well. I watched him and 
 nursed him. I read through the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews, and saw how much more it means when 
 read as a whole. I cherished every hope which 
 came to me. Late in the afternoon we reached 
 Brindisi. A boat came oflF, and an officer was sent 
 on shore. We were notified that we must be on 
 deck early the next morning, when the quarantine 
 officers would inspect us. On Monday morning the 
 rain poured down. It was unlikely that the doctors 
 would come to us, or at the time appointed. For 
 some m3^sterious reason they were on hand promptl3\ 
 They took their places at the side of the ship, and 
 the crew marched by them and back again. The 
 third-class passengers did the same. Our turn 
 came. It was the critical moment. I told the boy 
 that he must do his best. He was thin and pale, 
 and uncertain as to his gait. The fortunate rain 
 allowed me to conceal his face with an umbrella, 
 while I let him rest on my arm. Mr. Garry consid- 
 erately walked next, to cover any peculiarities of 
 locomotion. We went past reasonably well, and, 
 before we could make our way back, the doctors 
 had pronounced us all right, and were on their way 
 down to their boat. We were told that we could 
 go on shore the next day. Why must we wait ? 
 Nobody knew. It had been said. We waited. It 
 was a good place, if we mast wait. But days were 
 few and precious then. 
 
TO THE END. 465 
 
 The harbor was very pleasant. The stern castle 
 frowned upon ns with its round towers. We 
 thought of the story of the old town which 
 marked the end of the Appian Way and was thus 
 bound to Rome. We were carefully watched lest 
 we should escape to the shore. I do not know how 
 they thought we might effect this. I doubt if they 
 thought the matter out so far as that. Early on 
 Tuesday morning we were called and counted, and 
 ordered on deck. The government took every pre- 
 caution against the few wanderers from the West. 
 But when we reached the deck, the officers had com- 
 pleted their inspection and departed. We left the 
 ship at half-past eight and with delight set our feet 
 on the soil of Italy. We found a very comfortable 
 hotel, the Oriental, where we established ourselves 
 for a few hours. It was interesting to walk in the 
 steep, narrow, winding streets, among the houses of 
 stone which show their age, and to mark the signs 
 of a new life which is coming in now that this is 
 made the point of departure for steamers to the 
 East. Brindisi has its history, but we were weary 
 of the past. Still, we enjoyed this bit of the empire 
 which has been preserved by its distance from the 
 capital. 
 
 In the afternoon we took the train for the north. 
 At Foggia Mr. Garry parted from us, as he was 
 going to Naples. We regretted to have him leave, 
 for 'he had been a very kind companion. We have 
 not seen him since, but we heard of him Avhile he 
 was pursuing his exploration of Italian cities, wliere 
 his tall form was conspicuous, crowned with his 
 
466 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 
 
 Oriental fez, and asserting its nationality wher- 
 ever it went. 
 
 At Foggia we changed to a compartimento di 
 letti^ a very convenient apartment, where the 
 night's ride was as pleasant as it could be made. 
 The road through much of its course ran close to 
 the sea, and it was very restful to look out over the 
 Adriatic as it lay quietly by our side, and to know 
 that we were set free from its tossings and delays. 
 We saw a little of Bologna from our windows, and 
 there changed cars and came by a long day's ride to 
 Torino. There we were put into a coupelit^ a narrow 
 compartment with a series of extension chairs on 
 which we could stretch ourselves. Mr. Mill took 
 leave of us, as his mission was ended, and we seemed 
 qualified to finish the journey under our own guid- 
 ance. We were to change cars at Culoz. If there 
 is one thing that is more annoying than others in 
 travelling in a strange country, it is to know that 
 you have to leave one train and find another at some 
 uncertain time in the night, and chiefly by your own 
 wit. Sleep is too perilous to be indulged in. A 
 moment's lapse may be the delay of hours. I kept 
 awake as we entered and left one station after an- 
 other, till at length I thought we must be near 
 Culoz. No one spoke the magic word in my hear- 
 ing. When my suspicions had become sufficiently 
 strong, I inquired of the porter who opened our door 
 if that was Culoz. Instantly he made it evident 
 that it was not, and, further, that Culoz had been 
 left behind. The unfortunate lapse had befallen me 
 in spite of all my pains, and at the fatal time. With 
 
TO THE END. 467 
 
 the hurried advice and vigorous assistance of the 
 porter, the boy and I tumbled out of the car and 
 stood on the lonesome, dreary, dismal platform of 
 a large station and saw our train pluuge on into the 
 dark. Where were we? — At Amberieux. Nobody 
 else seemed to be there. When we could leave no 
 one could tell us. We made our way to a dimly 
 lighted restaurant and sought information. To pro- 
 cure that we procured refreshments. The sleepy 
 proprietor had more coffee than knowledge, or more 
 which was available for our purposes, but there was 
 a similarity in the qualitj^ of the two. Thrown 
 upon our own resources, we scanned the walls of the 
 room and discovered a railway poster. To our relief, 
 we made out that a train would soon come along 
 which would take us back to Cuioz. It came. We 
 were wide-awake when Culoz was called out. There 
 we took a train for Geneva. Through our delay on 
 the road we missed the train we meant to take for 
 Geneva ; but the station was large and comfortable, 
 and the hour or two which we had to wait passed 
 pleasantly enough. Then we went on to Lausanne, 
 and thence to Vevey. Nobody at the station seemed 
 to be expecting us. We made our way through the 
 wet snow, carrying our luggage, and finally attracted 
 tlie attention of the omnibus driver whom we sought. 
 When he dropped us at the door of the Hotel Monnet 
 this journey ended. 
 
 It was a good place for the end. The situation of 
 Yevey is fine, as it looks out upon the lake and to- 
 wards the snowy mountains beyond. It has been a 
 favorite place of resort. The climate is milder than 
 
468 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 
 
 at Geneva, while the quiet of the little town is very 
 restful. The name of Rousseau is associated with the 
 place, and the traveller now finds a coffee-house 
 where he found an inn. The streets which wind 
 among the simple houses have a quaint and simple 
 look, while the market-place has the attractions 
 which belong to the assembling of busy people 
 intent on the affairs of daily life. St. Martin's 
 Church, nearly four hundred years old, stands high 
 above the town, among the graves of the people. 
 The view is very fine from the hill which it adorns. 
 Within the church are the tombs of two English 
 regicides, — Broughton, who read the sentence of 
 death to Charles I., and Ludlow, his associate. 
 There are other churches ; among them a fine Rus- 
 sian chapel with a gilded dome, and a handsome 
 English church. There is a boy's school, also, which 
 has been well patronized by English and American 
 families. The boys have excellent facilities for 
 boating, and for other things which they delight in. 
 Vevey has attractive shops for books and jewelry, 
 while Mack's Bazaar is a museum crowded with 
 things in general in an immense variety. There are 
 delightful excursions in every direction. Montreux 
 is not far away, with its figs and pomegranates, its 
 laurels and its health, and the Castle of Chillon on 
 its rocks in the lake. The prison is very gloomy, 
 with heavy memories of Bonnivard worn into the 
 pavement and lying on the stone where he sat in his 
 weary years. 
 
 Vevey is indeed a charming place for resting and 
 thinking. But for two persons who had come into 
 
TO THE END. 469 
 
 its beauty and repose the chief pleasure was under 
 the Three Crowns, where a united household sat 
 around the blazing logs and talked of wanderings 
 in the East and of the return to the fairer land 
 across the sea. The hours were as a dream be- 
 tween two hurried days. I think of them as I write. 
 Once again I look out upon the lake and over to the 
 hills. At Vevey, with the gulls swooping to the 
 windows, resting their broad wings on the still air, 
 and plucking the bread from a child's hand, I lay 
 down my pen. 
 
INDEX, 
 
 AbbottsfoPvD, 58 
 Acropolis, "^08 
 jEgean, Sunday in, 273-275 
 Albana, River, 301 
 Athens, 200-231 
 
 Acropolis, 208 
 
 Agora, 218 
 
 Areopagus, 215 
 
 Eleusis, 224 
 
 Herodes Atticus, 207 
 
 Mars' Hill, 215 
 
 Parthenon, 211 
 
 Pentelic marble, 222 
 
 Sanctuary of ^sculapius, 207 
 
 Stadium, 204 
 
 Temple of Zeus Olympius, 205 
 
 Theseum, 220 
 
 University of, 229 
 
 Wine-making, 228 
 
 Baalbec, 293 
 
 Ruins of, 296 
 
 Temples and walls of, 294 
 Baden-Baden, 132 
 
 Castle of, 134 
 Banias, 330 
 
 Market-day in, 332 
 Bare no, 165 
 
 Villa Clara, 166 
 Bedouins, Dwelling of, 334 
 
 Customs and dress of, 335 
 Beirut, 276, 456 
 
 Christian schools, 279 
 
 Lemonade, 278 
 
 Selection of horses, 281 
 Belfast, 17 
 Bergen, 64-68 
 Bethany, 392, 419 
 
 Tomb of Lazarus, 420 
 Bethel, 382 
 Bethlehem, 406 
 
 Chapel of the Innocents, 411 
 
 Chapel of the Nativity, 410 
 
 Chapel and Tomb of St. Jerome, 
 411 
 
 Merchants of, 408 
 
 AYells of David, 407 
 Blarney Castle, 12 
 Blarney Stone, 12 
 Borgund, Church of, 93 
 Brindisi, 464 
 
 Caledonian Canal, 45 
 Cana of Galilee, 350 
 Castle of Baden-Baden, 134 
 Castle, Blarney, 12 
 Castle of Chillon, 468 
 Castle of Dunluce, 21 
 Castle, Edinburgh, 48 
 Castle of Laufen, 150 
 Castle, Nuremberg, 145 
 Castle, Ross, 16 
 Cathedral of Cephalonia, 198 
 Cathedral, Cologne, 125 
 Cathedral, Dublin, 16 
 Cathedral, Glasgow, 29 
 Cathedral of Milan, 174-176 
 Cathedral of Strasbourg, 130 
 Cathedral of St. Mary, 40 
 Certosa di Pavia, 179 
 Chapel of the Angels, 356 
 Chapel of the Annunciation, 357 
 Chapel of the Innocents, 411 
 Chapel of Joseph, 357 
 Chapel of the Nativity, 410 
 Chapel of St. Jerome, 411 
 Chapel of St. Michael, 161 
 Chapel, Roslin, 50 
 Christiania, 100 
 
 Frogner, 103 
 
 Hospital, 104 
 
 Kariol, 106 
 
 National Exhibition, 102 
 
 Oscar's Hall, 106 
 
 Viking's ships, 104 
 Church, Crimean Memorial, 264 
 Church of Borgund, 93 
 Church of Christ, 437 
 Church of the Copts, 433 
 Church of the Holv Sepulchre, 424 
 Church of Our Lady, 119 
 Church of St. Ambrogio, 177 
 Churcli of St. Justin, 184 
 Church of St. Lawrence, 138 
 Church of S. Maria degli Angioli, 168 
 Church of St. Martin, 468 
 Church of St. Peter, 128 
 Church of St. Sophia, 245 
 Church of St. Ursula, 127 
 Church, Trinity, 119 
 Cologne, 125 
 
 Cathedral of, 125 
 
 Church, St. Peter's, 128 
 
 471 
 
9 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Colog"ne {continued) 
 
 Church of St. Ursula, 127 
 Como, 170 
 Coiistantinoph^, 233 
 
 Bazaars, 237 
 
 Bible House, 262 
 
 Bridge between Pera and Stam- 
 boul, 237 
 
 Church, Crimean Memorial, 264 
 
 Church of St. Sophia, 245 
 
 Constantine, Grave of, 249 
 
 Currency of, 231) 
 
 Dogs of, 252 
 
 Hippodrome, 242 
 
 Home or Girls' School, 259 
 
 Public Baths, 251 
 
 Robert College, 2.56 
 
 to Damascus, 265 
 
 Walls of, 244 
 Copenhagen, 119 
 
 Church of Our Lady, 119 
 
 Church of the Trinity, 119 
 
 Thorwaldsen, 119, 121 
 
 Tivoli, 120 
 
 Rutclibaueu, 120 
 Cork, 11 
 
 Blarney Castle, 12 
 
 Blarney Stone, 12 
 Culoz, 467 
 Cyprus, 276 
 
 Damascus, 304-306 
 
 Bazaar, 308 
 
 Camels, 313 
 
 Caravan, 313 
 
 Citadel, 316 
 
 Drama, 314 
 
 Father of Antiquities, .309 
 
 Great Mosque, 319 
 
 History, 305 
 
 Horse-market, 308 
 
 Hotel Dimitri, 304 
 
 House of Ambar, 317 
 
 House of Ananias, 311 
 
 House of Naaman, 311 
 
 House of Shamai, 317 
 
 Mosques, 318 
 
 Plane-tree, 308 
 
 Quarters and streets, 307 
 
 Schools, 318 
 
 St. Paul, 312 
 
 Straight Street, 310 
 
 Tomb of Bibaus, 320 
 
 Tomb of St. George, 312 
 Dan, 334 
 Dead Sea, 387 
 Dome of the Rock, 398 
 Dothan, 366 
 Dryburgh, 59 
 Dublin, 16 
 
 Cathedral of, 16 
 Dunluce Castle, 21 
 DUrer, Albert, 143 
 
 Edinburgh, 48 
 Castle of, 48 
 
 Edinburgh {conthmed) 
 
 House of John Knox, 49 
 
 Queen's Drive, 49 
 
 St. Giles, 49 
 Eide, 84 
 Eleusis, 224 
 El-Fuleh, 362 
 Esdraelon, Plain of, 361 
 
 Fagekhunu, 98 
 Fall of Foyers, 46 
 Fingal's Cave, 42 
 Fjord, Hardanger, 68 
 Foggia, 465 
 
 Galilee, Sea of, 339, 343, 347 
 
 Storm on, 341 
 Gap of Dunloe, 15 
 Gerizim, Mount, 373 
 Gethsemane, 417 
 Giant's Causeway, 18 
 Giant's Chair, 21 
 Giant's Well, 19 
 Gil gal, 389 
 Glasgow, 28 
 
 Cathedral of, 29 
 
 John Knox, Statue of, 29 
 
 Norman Macleod, Statue of, 29 
 
 Sunday in, 33-37 
 Golden Gate, 402 
 Good Samaritan, 391 
 Gudvangen, 89 
 
 Hippodrome, 242 
 Holyrood Palace, 48 
 
 Ion A, .39 
 
 Cathedral of, 40 
 Ireland, 10 
 
 Cork, 11 
 
 Dublin, 16 
 
 Giant's Causeway, 19 
 
 Killarney, 13 
 
 Muckross Abbey, 15 
 
 People of, 22-26 
 Isola Bella, 166 
 Halian Lakes, 164-165 
 
 Jacop>'s Well, 377 
 Jaffa, 444 
 
 Arrival of steamer, 450 
 
 House of Simon, 448 
 
 Moslem burials, 450 
 
 Well in, 446 
 Jenim, 365 
 Jericho, 386 
 
 House of Zaccheus, 386 
 Jerusalem, History of, .394-396 
 
 American colony, 436 
 
 Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 424 
 
 Church of Christ, 437 
 
 Church of the Copts, 433 
 
 Church of St. Anne, 415 
 
 Church of the Virgin, 416 
 
 Dome of the Rock, 398 
 
 El-aksa, 400 
 
INDEX. 
 
 473 
 
 Jerusalem (contented) 
 
 Garden of Gethsemane, 417 
 
 Golden Gate, 402 
 
 Haram esh Sheiif , 397 
 
 Lord's Supper, Room of, 413 
 
 Magician. 440 
 
 Olivet, 430 
 
 Pool of Siloam, 413 
 
 Potter's Field, 415 
 
 Sabbath in, 435 
 
 Solomon's Stables, 401 
 
 Tomb of Absalom, 434 
 
 Tomb of David, 414 
 
 Tomb of the Judges, 433 
 
 Tomb of the Kings, 433 
 
 Tomb of Rachel, 406 
 
 Via Dolorosa, 423 
 
 Wailing-place, 403 
 
 Well of the Star, 405 
 Jezreel, 364 
 
 Fountain of, 364 
 Jordan, River, ;389 
 
 KastOm, 302 
 Kefr-Hawar, 323 
 Kefr-Kenna, 349 
 Khan Jubb Ytisef , 338 
 Killarney, 13 
 Knox, John, 29 
 
 Desk in Hawthornden, 51 
 
 House in Edinburgh, 49 
 
 Statue in Glasgow, 29 
 
 Last Supper, Da A^inci, 178 
 
 Laufen, Castle of, 150 
 Lebonah, 3S0 
 Locarno, Town of, 164 
 Loch Lomond, 31 
 Lucerne, 151 
 
 Hofkirche, 152 
 
 Lion of, 153 
 
 Market-place, 152 
 Lugarno, 167 
 
 Cliurch of S. Maria degli Angioli, 
 16S 
 Luino, 167 
 Lysicrates, 3Ionument of, 206 
 
 MACLEOD, Nor:\[AX, 30 
 3Ianessi, 201 
 Mars' Hill, 215 
 ^lediterranean steamer, 197 
 Mejdel-esh Shems, 326 
 
 Housekeeping in, 326 
 
 Protestant cliapel, 328 
 
 Sunday in, 327 
 Melrose," 52 
 
 Abbey, 52-55 
 
 Sundav in, 55 
 Menaggio, 168-170 
 Merom, 337 
 Milan, 171 
 
 Brera Gallerv, 177 
 
 Cathedral, 174-176 
 
 Certosa di Pavia, 179 
 
 Church of St. Ambrogio, 177 
 
 Milan {continued) 
 Last Supper, by Da Yinci, 178 
 Monastery of S. Maria delle 
 
 Grazie, 178 
 Sundav in, 176 
 
 3Iount of Olives, 391 
 
 3Iuckross Abbey, 15 
 
 31ustapha, 453-457 
 
 Xablus, see ScHECHE>r 
 Nazareth, 351 
 
 Chapel of the Angels, 376 
 
 Chapel of the Annunciation, 357 
 
 Chapel of Joseph, 357 
 
 Fountain of the Virgin, 359 
 
 House of Mary, 355 
 
 Life of Jesus in, 354 
 
 Mary's Well, 360 
 
 Synagogue, 358 
 Xeuhausen, 150 
 
 Castle of Laufen, 150 
 
 Schweizerhof, 150 
 Xewcastle-upon-Tyne, 61 
 Norway and Sweden, History of, 
 
 107-117 
 Nuremberg, 137 
 
 Beautiful Fountain, 142 
 
 Castle of, 145 
 
 St. Lawrence' 
 
 Sunday in, 148 
 
 Walls "and towers of, 142 
 
 Ob AX, 38 
 Oddc, 71 
 Olivet, 430 
 Ordgaard, 97 
 Oscar's Hall, 106 
 
 PADUA, 181 
 
 Chapel of St. George, 184 
 
 Church of St. Justin, 184 
 
 Church of St. Antonio, 184 
 
 Scuola del Santo, 184 
 
 Streets, 182 
 
 Universitv of, 183 
 Palace of the Doges, 188 
 
 Bridge of Sighs, 188 
 Parthenon, 211 
 Patmos, 273 
 Pentelic marble, 221 
 Piraeus, Tlie, 463 
 Polvcarp, 269 
 Porlezza, 168 
 Portrush, 17 
 
 Giant's Causeway, 18 
 
 Premier Electric Railway, 18 
 
 Ramleh, 443 
 Rigi, The, 155 
 
 Klosterli, 160 
 
 Sundav at, 162 
 Robert College, 256 
 Roslin Castle and Chapel, 50 
 Ross Castle, 16 
 
474 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Sachs, Hans, 143 
 Safed, 349 
 Samaria, 367 
 
 Church of St. John, 371 
 
 Woman of, 379 
 School at Athens, 203 
 Schweizerhof, 150 
 Scotch Lakes, 31 
 Shechera, 369 
 
 Funeral procession, 376 
 
 Samaritan synagogue, 370 
 
 Streets, houses, and trade, 369, 370 
 
 Sunday in, 374 
 StatHi, 42 
 St. John, 274 
 St. Paul, 217, 312 
 Sychar, see Shechem 
 Sychem, see Shechem 
 Syria, 282 
 
 Tomb of Doris, 293 
 
 Tomb of Noah, 291 
 
 Travel in, 282, 291 
 
 Temple of Baalbec, 294 
 Temple of Zeus Olympius, 205 
 Temple of Theseus, 220 
 Thorwaldsen, 121 
 Tiberias, 341 
 
 Castle in, 343 
 
 People, dress, and customs, 344 
 Tomb of Absalom, 434 
 Tomb of David, 414 
 Tomb of Doris, 293 
 Tomb of Joseph, 376 
 Tomb of the Judges, 433 
 Tomb of the Kings, 433 
 
 Tomb of Lazarus, 420 
 Tomb of Noah, 291 
 Tomb of St. Jerome, 411 
 Tomb of Walter Scott, 59 
 Trieste, 193-197 
 
 Ulvik,81 
 
 University of Athens, 229 
 
 University of Padua, 183 
 
 Valley of Doves, 349 
 Venice, 184 
 
 Academy, 189 
 
 Armenian Convent of St. Laz- 
 arus, 190 
 
 Bridge of Sighs, 188 
 
 Palace of the Doges, 188 
 
 The Frari, 189 
 Vevey, 467 
 
 St. Martin's Church, 468 
 Via Dolorosa, 423 
 Vik, 73 
 
 Church in, 79 
 Viking's ships, 104 
 Vitznau, 154 
 
 Voringsfos, Excursion to, 74-79 
 Vossevangen, 85 
 
 Church in, 86 
 
 Watlino-place, 403 
 Well of David, 407 
 Well of Jacob, 379 
 Well of Mary, 360 
 Well of the Star, 415 
 
 ZANTE, 199 
 
THE SCHOOL OF HOME. 
 
 Let the school of home be a good one. Let reading be 
 such as to quicken the mind for better reading still ; for 
 the school at home is progressive. 
 
 The baby is to be read to. What shall mother and 
 iister and father and brother read to the baby ? 
 
 Babyland. Babyland rhymes and jingles ; great big 
 letters and little thoughts and words out of Babyland. 
 Pictures so easy to understand that baby quickly learns 
 the meaning of light and shade, of distance, of tree, of 
 cloud. The grass is green ; the sky is blue ; the flowers 
 ' — are they red or yellow? That depends on mother's 
 house-plants. Baby sees in the picture what she sees in 
 the home and out of the window. 
 
 Babyland, mother's monthly picture-and-j ingle primer 
 for baby's diversion, and baby's mother-help ; 50 cents 
 a year. 
 
 What, when baby begins to read for herself.^ Our 
 Little Men and Women is made to go on with. Baby- 
 land forms the reading habit. Think of a baby with the 
 reading habit ! After a little she picks up the letters 
 and wants to know what they mean. The jingles are 
 jingles still ; but the tales that lie under the jingles 
 begin to ask questions. 
 
 What do Jack and Jill go up the hill after water for ? 
 Isn't water down hill ? Baby is outgrowing Babyland. 
 
 No more nonsense. There is fun enough in sense. 
 The world is full of interesting things ; and, if they come 
 to a growing child not in discouraging tangles but an 
 easy one at a time, there is fun enough in getting hold 
 
 i 
 
of them. That is the way to grow. Our Little Men 
 AND Women helps such growth as that. Beginnings of 
 things made easy by words and pictures ; not too easy. 
 The reading habit has got to another stage. 
 A dollar for such a school as that for a year. 
 
 Then comes The Pansy with stories of child-life, travel 
 at home and abroad, adventure, history old and new, re- 
 ligion at home and over the seas, and roundabout tales 
 on the International Sunday School Lesson. 
 
 Pansy the editor; The Pansy the magazine. There 
 are thousands and thousands of children and children of 
 larger growth all over the country who know about Pansy 
 the writer, and The Pansy the magazine. There are 
 thousands and thousands more who will be glad to know. 
 
 A dollar a year for The Pansy. 
 
 The reading habit is now pretty well established ; not 
 only the reading habit, but liking for useful reading ; and 
 useful reading leads to learning. 
 
 Now comes Wide Awake, vigorous, hearty, not to say 
 heavy. No, it isn't heavy, though full as it can be of 
 practical help along the road to sober manhood and wom- 
 anhood. Full as it can be ! There is need of play as 
 well as of work ; and Wide Awake has its mixture of 
 work and rest and play. The work is all toward self- 
 improvement; so is the rest; and so is the play. $2.40 
 a year. 
 
 Specimen copies of all the Lothrop magazines fot 
 fifteen cents; any one for five — in postage stamps 
 Address D. Lothrop Company, Boston. 
 
 ii 
 

 
 You little know what help there is in books for the 
 average housewife. 
 
 Take Domestic Prohle77is^ for instance, beginning with 
 this hard question : " How may a woman enjoy the de- 
 lights of culture and at the same time fulfil her duties to 
 family and household ? " The second chapter quotes from 
 somebody else : " It can't be done. IVe tried it ; but, as 
 things now are, it can't be done." 
 
 Mrs. Diaz looks below the surface. Want o^ prepara- 
 tion and culture, she says, is at the bottom of a woman's 
 failure, just as it is of a man's. 
 
 The proper training of children, for instance, can't be 
 done without some comprehension of children themselves, 
 of what they ought to grow to, their stages, the means of 
 their guidance, the laws of their health, and manners. 
 But mothers get no hint of most of these things until they 
 have to blunder through them. Why not ? Isn't the 
 training of children woman's mission ? Yes, in print, but 
 not in practice. What is her mission in practice ? Cook- 
 ing and sewing ! 
 
 Woman's worst failure then is due to the stupid blunder 
 of putting comparatively trivial things before the most im- 
 portant of all. The result is bad children and waste of a 
 generation or two — all for putting cooking and sewing 
 before the training of children. 
 
 Now will any one venture to say that any particular 
 mother, you for instance, has got to put cooking and sew- 
 ing before the training of children ? 
 
 Any mother who really makes up her mind to put h?r 
 children first can find out how to grow tolerab^ child^-a 
 at least. ^ 
 
And that is what Mrs. Diaz means by preparation — a 
 little knowledge beforehand — the little that leads to more. 
 
 It can he done ; and you can do it ! Will you? It's a 
 matter of choice ; and you are the chooser. 
 
 Domestic Problems. By Mrs. A. M. Diaz. $i. D. Lothrop Company, Boston. 
 
 We have touched on only one subject. The author 
 treats of many. 
 
 Dr. Buckley the brilliant and versatile editor of the 
 Christian Advocate says in the preface of his book on 
 northern Europe " I hope to impart to such as have never 
 seen those countries as clear a view as can be obtained 
 from reading '' and " My chief reason for traveling in 
 Russia was to study Nihilism and kindred subjects." 
 
 This affords the best clue to his book to those who 
 know the writer's quickness, freshness, independence, 
 force, and penetration. 
 
 The Midnight Sun, the Tsar and the Nihilist. Adventures and Observations in 
 Norway, Sweden and Russia, By J. M. Buckley, LL. D. 72 illustrations, 37b. 
 pages. $3. D. Lothrop Company, Boston. 
 
 Just short of the luxurious in paper, pictures and print. 
 
 The writer best equipped for such a task has put into 
 one illustrated book a brief account of every American 
 voyage for polar exploration, including one to the south 
 almost forgotten. 
 
 American Explorations in the Ice Zones, By Professor J. E. Nourse, U, S. N 
 TO maps, 120 illustrations, 624 pages. Cloth, $3, gilt edges ^3.50, half-calf ^6 
 35. Lothrop Company, Boston, 
 
 Not written especially for boys ; but they claim it. 
 
 iv 
 
The wife of a U. S. lighthouse inspector, Mary Brad- 
 ford Crowninshield, writes the story of a tour of inspection 
 along the coast of Maine with two boys on board — for 
 other boys of course. A most instructive as well as de- 
 lightful excursion. 
 
 The boys go up the towers and study the lamps and 
 lanterns and all the devices by which a light in the night 
 is made to tell the wary sailor the coast he is on ; and so 
 does the reader. Stories of wrecks and rescues beguile 
 the waiting times. There are no waiting times in the 
 story. 
 
 All Among the Lighthouses, or Cruise of the Goldenrod. By Mary Bradford 
 Crowninshield. 32 illustrations, 392 pages. ^2.50. D. Lothrop Company, Boston. 
 
 There's a vast amount of coast-lore besides. 
 
 Mr. Grant Allen, who knows almost as much as anybody, 
 has been making a book of twenty-eight separate parts, 
 and says of it : " These little essays are mostly endeavors 
 to put some of the latest results of science in simple, 
 clear and intelligible language." 
 
 Now that is exactly what nine hundred and ninety-nine 
 in a thousand of us want, if it isn't dry. And it isn't dry. 
 Few of those who have the wonderful knowledge of what 
 is going on in the learned world have the gift of popular 
 explanation — the gift of telling of it. Mr. Allen has 
 that gift ; the knowledge, the teaching grace, the popular 
 faculty. 
 
 Common Sense Science. By Grant Allen. 318 pages. $1.50. D. Lothrop Com- 
 pany, Boston. 
 
 By no means a list of new-found facts ; but the bearings 
 of them on common subjects. 
 
¥/e don't go on talking as if the earth were the centre 
 oi things^ as if Galileo never lived. Huxley and Spencer 
 have got to be heard. Shall we wait two hundred and 
 titty years ? 
 
 The book is simply an easy means of intelligence. 
 
 There is nothing more dreary than chemistry taught as 
 it used to be taught to beginners. There is nothing 
 brighter and fuller of keen delight than chemistfy taught 
 as it can be taught to little children even. 
 
 Real Fairy Folks, By Lucy Rider Meyer, \. M. 389 pages, ^1.2$. D. Lo 
 throp Company, Boston. 
 
 "I'll be their teacher — give them private scientific 
 lectures ! Trust me to manage the school part ! " The 
 book is alive with the secrets of things. 
 
 It takes a learned man to write an easy book on almost 
 any subject. 
 
 Arthur Gilman, of the College for Women, at Cam- 
 bridge, known as the "Harvard Annex," has made a little 
 book to help young people along in the use of the die- 
 tionary. One can devour it in an hour or two ; but the 
 reading multiplies knowledge and means of knowledge. 
 
 Short Stories from the Dictionary. By Arthur Gilman, M. A. 129 pages. 60 
 cents. D. Lothrop Company, Boston. 
 
 An unconscious beginning of what may grow to be 
 philology, if one's faculty lies that way. Such bits of 
 education are of vastly more importance than most of 
 us know. They are the seeds of learning. 
 
 vi 
 
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