William Young Martin

“ I think the practice of looking at things—especially distant objects—is one that will repay all with exquisite pleasure. Even the rich variety of curves in the landscape, and the simple outlines of distant mountain tops against the background of sky, become things of beauty, as John Ruskin points out, and may become to us “a joy for ever,” as John Keats sings. To neglect them is surely to despise some bounty of the Great Giver! ”

“ And now in bidding adieu to the East and its marvellous ruins, this thought impressed me, as it had done before when gazing at the Egyptian Sphinx, perhaps the most ancient of them all—How can we, standing before her ancient works of art, entertain the idea that the improvement and civilization of our race have been progressive, and that to trace mankind backward leads us down to barbarism? Taking the most ancient writers, Moses and Homer, the same feeling prevails. Is it possible to think of Joseph the Governor of Egypt, or of the patriarch Job as half-educated savages? ”

“ Prominence is given to the inevitable results of Moslem domestic life—the slavery and imprisonment of women. Industry, art, and patriotism have disappeared, as also national probity, and even the fertility of the land! Turkey has no Shakspeare, no Burns, no Béranger, because the sentiment of tenderness, in which all poetry has its root, is extinct. Need we be very much surprised if such a people should become fiendlike? ”

“ From the Prophet’s Tower hill, looking toward the sun rising, the plain of Damascus and desert beyond lay spread out like a great map. Except where partially limited by a low ridge of hills, the view was the most extensive I have ever seen, and bounded only by the power of the eye to scan it. But when the eye fails, imagination readily fills up the unseen beyond. Nearly north-east the beautiful ruins of Palmyra or Tadmor, in the desert; and farther east, between the Upper Euphrates and Tigris, lay the cradle of the human race—Mesopotamia—and Padan-Aram, the birthplace of Abram ”

“ Slavery has long been legally abolished; but it is said that young girls are yet frequently, though not publicly, sold for the harems of those who are able to pay for them, in most of the Moslem cities. Nor can I see how this monstrous trade can be eradicated, unless by the spread of Christian education amongst parents and children themselves. So long as profit is to be made, there will be found dealers to evade the law, especially if the judge is as guilty as the culprit; for there, if anywhere, gold is king, and bakshish is his prophet. ”

“ Our evenings were very pleasantly spent in visiting each other in our tents on alternate evenings, when conversation, both interesting and amusing, filled up the time most pleasantly till eleven o’clock, when we generally retired to bed. Here we learned to sleep with enjoyment, notwithstanding the noises of the night, consisting almost invariably of the songs of the Arabs, monotonous in the extreme, but amply relieved by the howling of the jackals, the neighing of the horses, the braying of the donkeys, and, if we were near to a village, the barking of the dogs. ”

“ A richly sensuous or ceremonial religion has great attraction for the vulgar, and if only artistically performed, equally great charms for the fashionable and refined, simply because the education of the eye and the ear is much more easy and pleasant than that of the understanding—hence the strength and influence of such religions. For if once the sensuous is admitted as an element in any degree whatever as rendering our worship more acceptable to God, it obviously follows that worship ought to be made as highly sensuous or ceremonial as is possible. ”

“ The Peloponnese is a desert; the Turkish yoke has borne with increased weight on the Morea, and part of its population has been slaughtered by the Albanians. Nothing meets the eye but villages destroyed by fire and sword. Grinding oppression, outrages of every kind, complete the destruction of agriculture and human life. ”

“ The city now consists of a few houses of modern appearance, and some rows of ancient stone columns and other ruins, evidently of Roman erection, probably of the days of Herod. It seems to have been a royal residence, and once the capital of the kingdom of Samaria. It commands a fine and extensive view; on the north but distant horizon the range of Mount Carmel, north and east the great plains of Esdraelon, the battlefields of most of the great wars of Judah and Israel with their foreign invaders, and under its surface lie the bones of countless combatants with their weapons of war ”

“ They as it were shut out the light and genial influence of the sun of their social life, cast away the one earthly sweetener of the bitter waters of Marah—and so, besides debasing the family affections, destroy those feelings of compassion and friendship, and consideration which they owe to their fellow men. It is obvious such an unfeeling state of mind will qualify them for the committal of almost any crime, and explains somewhat their surprise that the world should complain of them. ”

“ This fact lies, I believe, at the root of the visible declension of the Turkish power and the effeminacy of the race, and not only so, but is, I have no doubt, the producing cause of that abyss of utter worthlessness and shamelessness of character into which they have sank. The unacknowledged but most potent influence for good of the gentler sex is lost to them as a community. They lock up the greatest civilizers of the world, without whom we must all eventually return to a state worse than that of the savage. ”

“ Surely a humble teachable spirit like the great Newton’s is more likely to see the way than that of some self-confident philosophers of our day, who, like the lost sheep of the parable, climb up to the mountain top and there from its uppermost peak gaze up into the blue empyrean, and demand, as it were, of the great Creator, to give an account of His actings for their review! ”

“ Near the inner threshold is a marble star which we were once more told marked the centre of the world. This church, like that of the Holy Sepulchre, is in charge of the Turks, who divide its use equally to the Latins, the Greeks, and the Armenians. Descending a stair of sixteen steps from the north corner of the church, we enter a grotto or vault probably nine to twelve feet high, and lighted by numerous silver lamps, casting a gloom over the place much more like a sepulchre than a birthplace. ”

“ The speed is high for a city, and before the carriage there runs a tall Arab in his white calico dress—somewhat scant—flourishing his long arms and a still longer white rod, and crying aloud to all natives to make way for the man the Pasha delights to honour ”

“ Rare opportunities seem to exist for reaching, at very small cost, the poor people of various sects, who seem very willing to learn, notwithstanding the occasional opposition of interested local priests and petty chiefs, especially of the Druses, a singularly proud and exclusive race, whose religion is a mystery, requiring secret initiation, but similar to Mahomedanism. In Beyrout, notwithstanding its large and influential Christian population, I was surprised to be told that no openly declared convert from Mahomedanism would be tolerated there—by law he was, but his life would not be safe. ”

“ Turkish rule, even the most fertile and finest portions of the world have become, like this, a wilderness.
Next morning we resumed our journey up to Jerusalem—this time by ascending the mountain path to Bethany, celebrated in Gospel history as the road of the man who fell among thieves, and certainly the way gradually became wilder and wilder, and more and more rocky, each hour of our journey. Near the bottom of our ascent was a large fountain, or rather its remains, with ample proofs of fertility, and with very little culture there was some show of verdure amidst the wilderness around. ”

“ Without arts, manufactures, or agriculture, their revenues only another name for plunder, and all the energy and industry of the country dead, so far as the Turks are concerned, they rely solely upon the political sufferance of their subject races. The industry of the country is now dependent upon these; the Armenians and the Maronites if united could any day dissolve the Empire. Almost the only industry remaining in the land seems to rest with them, the Jews, and some sections of the Arabs. But they are without ambition, only glad to be let alone. ”

“ To describe them in the mass, I know no way of doing so better than saying that they are simple and purely practical in character, and extremely migratory in habits. Under no king, nor government, nor army, nor fortification, nor priesthood, except his own sheik (unless by force) , each is a king, a priest, a government to himself; and so he declares no wars, but lets other potentates fight to clear the way for his own occupation and profit, or that of his sheik.
Between them and the Jews there is, I think, a remarkable resemblance as well as contrast. ”

“ Except the securing by Government open navigation and the freedom of commerce, the only duty that seems imposed upon Great Britain now, is to fulfil her treaty obligation of twenty years ago—namely, the seeing that complete protection and religious liberty be secured, not only to the Greek Church, but to all sects alike—Christian and Jew. This may prove no easy task, however, and requires unanimity. There is very great danger that, in befriending Turkey, Great Britain may unintentionally strengthen her in evil, and this it now appears was pointed out by the late Prince Consort. ”

“ The confusion of landing is, as almost everywhere else, apt to end in a scramble, and sometimes in a fight for possession of the luggage by the porters of the hotels, or by the Arabs on their own account for the sake of “Bakshish”—a word we heard for the first time, but which we were not allowed to forget.
Viewed from the deck of the steamer the appearance of Alexandria is fine. The grand modern breakwater on the left forms its northern boundary; the quays themselves are immediately in front, and the shore or beach of the city on the right side—forming nearly a semicircle of great extent. ”

“ In this view the Church of Rome undoubtedly bears the palm of merit over all others, Moslem and Christian, and defies with amazing success the criticisms of its opponents, however well founded in truth. No doubt the religion of Judaism was sensuous and ceremonial, but this was minutely defined and strictly limited from every human addition. The Divine Teacher emphatically tells us that the Father is no more to be worshipped in holy places as such, nor with sensuous service, but in spirit and in truth, for He seeketh only such to worship Him. ”

“ No doubt glances are occasionally obtained, and on that gala day I saw a few good faces; but the popular idea of Eastern beauties is, in England, one of the many Oriental romances which a journey sadly dispels. The boys and very young girls have generally fine eyes; but, as in Egypt, most of the adult females looked as if they had sore eyes or squinted, while many of the men there as well as in Egypt seemed blind of one eye. ”

“ The Turks personally are warlike and greedy of power, but almost universally are early enervated by luxurious indulgence. They rule their Arab subjects oppressively, and with a high hand. Those of Syria and Palestine are ignorant and downtrodden, and, as before shown, naturally submissive to their master, whoever he may be; but are greatly instigated and controlled by the Moslem priests, who are bigoted, treacherous, and cruel in all matters of their religion.
The same may be said of Egypt, but there the priesthood seem less intolerant, and the Arabs more submissive still than those of Asia. ”

“ But I think that, as conducted, pilgrimages instead of good are productive of great evils. They are carefully and strictly confined to religious and sectarian objects, and the encouragement of superstition by the traffic in relics and the like. Instead of being personal and free, they are communities disciplined and led by priests, and cunningly guarded from any influences calculated to open their eyes or minds by the perception or reception of any truth beyond the narrow views in which they have been carefully instructed. ”

“ This ancient statue—perhaps the finest in Egypt—is a beautifully finished piece of sculpture, sixty feet high, in bluish black granite, and lies prostrate in the mud, but in perfect preservation, as fresh looking as if finished the previous day!
Returning by the western bank of the Nile, we—with several other travellers from our hotel—had a most amusing donkey race upon the sands northwards viâ the Pyramids of Ghizeh to Cairo. This valley seems one vast graveyard: numerous finely built tombs have been, and are still from time to time being uncovered ”

“ Most true is it, as a wise man teaches us, that ‘Doubt of any sort cannot be removed except by Action.’ On which ground, too, let him who gropes painfully in darkness or uncertain light, and prays vehemently that the dawn may ripen into day, lay this other precept well to heart, which to me was of invaluable service: ‘Do the Duty which lies nearest thee,’ which thou knowest to be a Duty! ”

“ There are several remains of the original to be seen, especially the deep foundation of the south-east corner, and the remains of an ancient arch at the south-west angle of the Haram wall. These indicate a noble and very different style of building from the present.
There are no scavengers in Jerusalem—nor, indeed, in any of the cities of the Turks—except dogs, which have a sort of sacred respect paid them; and the Arabs, who practise cruelty to all the brute creation otherwise, respect the dog. In a state of semi-wildness, they seem the property of no one ”

“ The whole place is overlaid with artificial trappings and ornaments, and monster-size wax candles, silver lamps, jewels, polished marbles, and woodwork, wholly incongruous with the ideas of a cross or a sepulchre. All is under lock and key, and a Turkish soldier opens and shuts the gate at his good pleasure, in a way very tantalizing and insulting to all the sects. ”

“ Jerusalem is nearly, if not entirely, surrounded with tombs. Perhaps no city in the world presents evidence of so vast a congregation of the dead—altogether disproportionate to its present size. The Moslem population does not mix with the Jewish or Christian even in the grave. Its great Valley of Jehoshaphat is a vast graveyard, or rather two, for its western [129] slope surrounding the city walls downward is nearly covered with the well-known Moslem tombs, while the larger eastern and southern slopes of the valley are crowded with countless multitudes of the “Ancient People.” ”

“ And yet they who, like Mahomet, preach Charity as the foundation of all religion, are themselves in practice the most cruel and intolerant of all—and are indeed the chief upholders of slavery in the East. ”

“ The poor Arabs, by no means unaccustomed to treatment of this kind, waited patiently till night fell without complaining, and, submitting to their fate, after duly performing their sunset devotions, composed themselves to sleep as they best could for the night—very likely without any supper. Next morning they were discovered by the railway officials, who meantime had received a telegram from Cairo asking what had become of that afternoon’s train! Can we imagine such an absurdity occurring at an English railway station? ”

“ Palestine is a desolation, yet the skeleton of its former self remains entire; but the once rich and fertile valley of the [201] Euphrates is “empty and void, and a waste.” Nineveh—“that exceeding great city”—and Babylon, “the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency”—travellers now describe as great mounds of mud—even their sites are uncertain. ”