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VOLUME G, NUMBER 30
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an unfailing spring, now known as Mary's foun
tain. Dr. George Adam Smith in his "Historical
Geography of the Holy Land" points out the re
lation between the springs and the routes of
travel and omphasizes the prominence of Naza
reth in tho Bible times. Christ's boyhood and
young manhood were spent near a great high
way, for the old Roman road from Damascus to
Egypt ran through the town. Caravans passed
to and fro laden with tho riches of the Euphrates
and the Nile; princes passed that way on their
royal journeys, and in time of war it was on the
route of armies. From a high hill just outside
tho town Christ could look to the west and seo
the surf line on the shore of the Mediterranean,
to the east he could survey the walls of the
chasm in which lay the Sea of Galilee, while to
the northeast rose Hermon, iq pride of the
mountains. Several of His parables fit quite nat
urally into the scones upon which He looked, and
those parables were the more effective "because
they wore taken from the everyday life of the
people. The stony ground, the rocky roadways
and the narrow strips of fertile soil were woven
into tho Parable of the Sower, and some acquain
tance of His youth, following the merchantmen
into Egypt or Mesopotamia, may have been the
original of the Prodigal Son.
Rev. Selah Merrill, our consul at Jerusalem,
has refuted the statement so frequently made
that tho Nazarenes wero held In con.tempt. He
shows that there is no just foundation for the
aspersions cast on this Bection of Galilee. - Mr.
Merrill's book, "Galilee in the Time of Christ,"
is, I may add, a very useful preparation for a
trip through this part of Palestine.
Chapels have been erected to mark the home
of Joseph and Mary, the carpenter shop and the
rock where Christ met His disciples after the
resurrection, but one never feels certain about
the identification of places selected, so long after
tho death of Christ and having no permanent
physical marks.
A few miles to the east of Nazareth is a
village called Cana which claims to be the
"Cana of Galilee" where the first miracle was
performed, and a 'church has been erected over
a well from which, it is argued, the water was
taken that was turned into wine, but two other
villages with similar names contest the honor with
this Cana. ',..
The Sea of Galilee has a double claim to dis
tinction. To its natural beauty, which, is unsur
passed, is added the glory of having furnished
the fishermen who were to become "fishers of
men." Nearly seven hundred feet below the
level of the ocean and walled in by high hills,
it has a character all itB own, and its shores were
the familiar haunts of Him who, by precept and
example, taught the nobleness of service. The
sea is some twolve miles in length by six or eight
in breadth. The Jordan pours into it the waters
of Hermon and Lake Merom and carries away its
overflow to the Dead Sea. The Plain of Genne
aeret includes nearly all the level land adjacent
to it, save tho Jordan valleys above and below,
and is so prominent a feature of the landscape
. that its name is sometimes applied to the sea.
,!T,he .village of Magdala, home of one of the
Marys, is situated on the edge of this plain, but
is now only a collection of mud huts, each one
bearing a booth of boughs upon its flat roof.
The house top is an important part of the house
in the Orient and furnishes a sleeping place for
the occupants during the warm summer nights.
The village of Magdala, with the land belonging
to it, has recently been sold to a syndicate whioh
proposes to very much improve its cultivation.
i o i tle arSep south, on the west side of
? ' i8 eclty of Tiberi the only city still
remaining of the ten or more that, two thousand
years ago, stretched along the shores. The city's
name gives evidence of its Roman origin, and
it was once so important a place that its name
2? arr.rnVaV0r Galilee ln the designation of Se
sea. Tiberias was one of the sacred cities of
the Jews and today the descendants of the Heb
rew race constitute three-fourths of its popula-S2S-
A Jewish society of which Baron Roths
child is the patron has several schools here, and
a number of the residents devote themselves en
tirely to the study of tho law. Near Tiberias are
the hot springs spoken of by Josephus, and their
wi, D Waters sti11 llave a Sreat reputation. The
SI! S,eSAar,not lcept as they would be in
of S, wAmerC0. but the mineral Properties
of the water make it very Invigorating.
th w ?h syna&euo been erected by
S uSwff1"88' and the annual feaBt In bonor
cfo a bm,eycr was celebrated there during our
kim tJ be!',aS- AM11 was the only 'east of the
wW,2mdovep nded, we found it exceed
jj interesting. The devout Jews were gath-
The Commoner?
ored in large numbers, some coming several days
journey; many of tho men wore a long curl in
front of each ear, a custom which we first no
ticed in Jerusalem. The feast is an occasion of
rejoicing and there is dancing, music and merri
ment. A part of the ceremony is the burning
of garments contributed by those in attendance,
and the right to light the fire is made a matter
of auction. We went into the room where the
bidding was in progress, and were informed that
more than ten dollars had already been .offered
for the honor. The feast had many of the char
acteristics of a fair, the vendors of candles, cakefe,
drinks and merchandise plying their trade and
different delegations marching with banners.
There is at Tiberias -a splendidly equipped
hospital established by the United Free Church
of Scotland, and conducted by a skillful surgeon
and a corps of assistants. More than one hundred
and fifty persons were treated the day that we
visited the hospital. Surely this institution is
a fitting memorial, and what more appropriate
place for a hospital than these shores where the
lame were made whole, the deaf were healed and
the blind received their sight!
The site of Chorazin, the city which Christ
denounced for unbelief in connection with Caper
naum and Bethsaida, is still a matter of dispute,
but Capernaum where Christ dwelt during the
greater part of His minfstry has probably been
identified. It Is situated on the northeast corner
of Gennesaret, close by the shore of the sea.
There is no town there' now and no houses save
a- Catholic monastery, but recent excavations
have unearthed the foundations of a building be
lieved to have been the Jewish synagogue in
which Christ spoke. On one of the stones of
this synagogue is a representation of David's
seal and a pot of manna; if this is in reality the
synagogue in which Christ referred to the bread
of life, it may be true, as someone has suggested,
that Pie found His text, "Your fathers did eat
manna in the .wilderness" in this carving upon
the stone. -
There has been a great deal of discussion
over the site of Bethsaida, .and. some have argued
that there were two towns of the same name,
one at-the north end of the lake just east of' the
mouth of the Jordan and the other on the west
side not ,far from Capernaum. But both towns
have so completely disappeared th'at they can
not be located with any certainty.
Safed, another of the sacred cities of the
Jews, lies some distance west of the sea of Galilee
but within sight of it, perched on a high hill.
It is so conspicuous a landmark and so often
seen by the Great Teacher that it may have sug
gested to His mind the illustration, "A city that
is set on a hill can not be hid."
The sea of Galilee, beautiful as, it is with its
clear water and its "picturesque environment, is
a treacherous body of water. Its surface is swept
by sudden gusts of wind and tempests often
lash it until its waves beat high upon the shore.
A resident of Tiberias told us that he had seen
it when it might be mistaken for an ocean, so
violently was it agitated, and he bore testimony
also to the unexpected squalls that visit it. "We
Spent two days on the sea, and in crossing it
found the wind so variable that probably half a
dozen times' the sail became useless and it was
necessary to resort to the oars. There was no
great tempest while we were there, and the
waves did not "beat into the ship" but the wind
was at times contrary. The uncertainty of the
weather has been attributed to the numerous
ravines or canyons which run down from the
mountains round about tho sea, and as these are
the same now that they wero two thousand years
ago, travel upon the lake is attended with the
same risk that it was then.
In tho time of Christ the sea of Galilee was
the scene of busy life. The population of the
country described as Galilee has been estimated
to have been at that time about two and a half
millions. The sea was covered with boats, built
for fishing, for traffic, for war or for pleasure.
Josephus collected two hundred and thirty ships
upon one of his expeditions upon the sea, and in
a sea fight that took place there the number
killed on ono side alone was given at from four
to six thousand.
Tho sea was full of fish, and the Gospels
furnish abundant proof of the importance of fish
ing as an industry, a fact also established by out
side evidence. Dr. Merrill, in the book above
referred to, says that the fish taken were not
only sufficient to satisfy the local demands but
that they wore packed and shipped to Jerusalem
and even to cities along tho Mediterranean. The
.supply of fish has not yet been exhausted, Salim
Moussa, of Jaffa, the very efficient Arab drago
man furnished us by Cook, supplied us with a
net when we visited the' sites of Capernaum and
Bethsaida and ourson caught enough fish for
our lunch. It was a delightful outing that wo
had that day, gathering water-worn pebbles from
the beach, picking up shells, of which there aro
many varieties, and feasting on fish fresh from
the sea and on a lamb bought from a Bedouin
who wna tending his flock near by.
The visit to the Horns of Hattin was re
served for the return trip, the road from Nazareth
to Tiberias passes near the hill which bears this
name. It was in 1157 the scene of a celebrated
battle in which Saladin won a victory over tho
Crusaders. This hill, by a tradition which has
come down from the time of the Crusaders, 'm
styled the Mount of Beatitudes. There is noth
ing to determine just where the Sermon on the
Mount was delivered, but because the Horns of
Hattin have been associated with that wonderful
discourse, I was anxious to visit the place. There
is no road leading to this eminence and the bridle
paths can scarcely be followed. The ground is
covered by boulders and broken stones, half con
cealed by grass and thistles and flowers. The
guide stepped over a large snake before we had
gone far, and as it was of a very poisonous va
riety, he felt that he had had a very narrow es
cape. From a distance the top of the hill is
saddle-shaped, and the two horns have given it
its name, but on the top there is a large circular
basin, probably two hundred yards in diameter,
and the rim of this basin was once walled and
a citadel built there.
The view from this mount is one of the most
beautiful I' have ever seen. To the north, Her
mon rises in grandeur, his summit covered with
snow; the intervening space is filled with hills
except in the immediate foreground where the
sea of Galilee sparkles in the sun. At the foot
of the mount stretches a verdant valley, and
from the valley a defile runs down to the sea.
This openiti'g gives a view otf the shore where
Capernaum and Bethsaida are supposed to have
stood, and one of the roads from the sea to
Nazareth follows the stream which flows through
this defile. On the, opposite side of the Mount,
Tabor can be seen, and beyond, the hills of Sa
maria. There is. inspiration in this commingling
of. hill and vale and sea and- sky.
Whether, as a matter of fact, -Christ, '-'seeing
the 'multitude" ascended tq this .placed know not,
but it furnishes an environment fit for the sublime
code of morality presented in .the .Sermon on
the Mount. No other philosophy has ever
touched so high a point or presented so noble a
conception of human life. In it purity of heart
is made the test, mercy is enjoined, humility em
phasized, forgivenness commanded and love made
the law of action. In, that Sermon He pointed out
the beginnings of evil, rebuked those who allow
themselves to be engrossed by the care of tho
body and gave to the world a brief, simple and
incomparable prayer which the Christian world
repeats in unison. ,
If in other places He relieved those who suf
ferings came through the infirmities of the flesh,
He here offered a balm for the healing of the
nations.
Copyright
JJJ
SAFE!
W. Ellis Corey, president of the steel trust,
posed in 1896 as a "defender of national honor,"
yet in the Corey divorce proceedings, his sister
testified: "Ellis Corey- is not a proper person for
his son to associate with."
Yet the national honor is, of- course, perfectly
safe with a man who is not a fit companion for
his own child.
WHEN WALL STREET WAS SILENT
A few days ago, in the very midst of the
fevered rush of speculation, Wall street grew
silent, and business was largely suspended.
A little girl was the cause of it all.
She slept in a little white coffin after
weary weeks of fighting for life, and as the
tiny casket was borne from No. G Wall street,
bankers and brokers who had known the little
miss and had loved her, stopped and with
bared heads watched the pallbearers march
slowly and solemnly to the hearse. The little
girl was the daughter of the superintendent of
the building, and the family home was therein.
It was a strange sight to see Wall street, with
all of its selfishness, all of its craze and greed
for gain, all of its frenzied fighting for gold, paus
ing long enough to pay a last tribute to the little
one. It was only for a moment, then the rush and
roar began again with redoubled vigor.
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