Page images
PDF
EPUB

FORT GRATIOT AND MACHINAW

MISSIONS.

In our last Annual Report, it was mentioned, that the Mission at Fort Gratiot was about to be suspended, and that another Station would eventually be selected in the Michigan Territory. In the mean time, it was deemed proper, that Miss Osmar, the Female Assistant, should repair to Machinaw, where her services were greatly needed, and that the Missjonary property should be transferred to the same Station. By the following letter from Mr. Hudson, Superintendent at Fort Gratiot, dated at Buffalo on the 9th ult. it appears, that the transfer has been made agreeably to the directions of the Board.

It is proper to remark, that these measures have been neither adopted nor hastened on account of any dissatisfaction with Mr. Hudson. On the contrary, his management of the Mission, and the whole of his conduct as a Missionary so far as is known to the Managers, have merited and received their entire approbation. As the Board were not yet prepared to select a new Station, and as his services were not at present required at any of our stations, he was permitted to return.

DEAR SIR, Yours of June 1st was received at Fort Gratiot on the 25th of the same month. Brother Ferry arrived there on the 2d of July. On that day and the next, a transfer was made to him of the Society's property; and I, with my family, embarked on board the same vessel in which he came, and arrived at this place on the 7th. Three of the Indian children go with Mr. Ferry to Machinaw, and two, James Crane and George Whitefield, having previously concluded to go East, and having funds of their own sufficient to defray the expenses of their journey, are now with

me.

[ocr errors]

My Journal for May and June was in part prepared, when I received your letter. If the Board wish it, 1 will forward it to you.

On the recommendation, and at the request of the Rev. Mr. Ferry, Superintendent of the Machinaw Mission, Miss Elizabeth M'Farland of Plainfield, Otsego County, New York, was appointed an Assistant to that Mission, with the request that she repair as soon as practicable, to her destined Station. Her

[blocks in formation]

All the above articles have been forwarded, and the freight paid, to Buffalo.

Miss M'Farland left my house in good health on Monday evening, the 28th of June, for the station at Machinaw. I am much pleased with her appearance, and presume she will be useful to the Society.

Mr. Hudson in the letter already quoted, adds--

Miss M'Farland is now at Buffalo. She will leave it to-morrow in the Steam-Boat. I have provided facilities for her at Detroit. I am happy also to inform you, that I have here found a box of clothing, from Sandwich, Massachusetts, designed for the Fort Gratiot Mission, and two boxes from Utica, all which I have forwarded to Machinaw.

Foreign Entelligence.

AMERICAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS.

PALESTINE MISSION.

JOURNAL OF MESSRS. FISK AND KING AT JERUSALEM.

[Abridged from the Miss. Herald.]

time immemorial. The side of the hill was covered with Turkish women, and the road was full of armed Turks of fierce appearance, occasionally firing off their muskets for amusement. It would have been unpleasant, and perhaps unsafe, to remain

over the field, and indulge a few transitory meditations.

Our last number contained an account of the jour-long in such a place. We could only walk ney of Messrs. Fisk and King through the desert, and of their arrival at Jerusalem on the 25th of April, 1823. We now proceed with some extracts from their journal written after their arrival at the Holy City.

April 26, 1823. Called on the Gover

nor of Jerusalem with a letter of introduction from the Governor of Jaffa. He welcomed us to the city, with many compliments. Toward evening we took a walk on mount Zion. A part of it is covered with the tombs of Greek and Armenian Christians. On the east and south sides, it is ploughed and cultivated. Near the summit is a little walled village, containing a mosque and a few mussulmans' houses. The Jews call this village the city of Zion, and it is generally believed to contain the tombs of David, and Solomon, and the other kings of Israel.

The following day being the Sabbath, Mr. Wolff and Abraham Shliffro, a Jew, who seems to have been convinced of the truth of Christianity, called at the rooms of Messrs. Fisk and King, to unite in the appropriate exercises of the day. In the afternoon the Greek priests called to welcome the Missionaries to the city, bringing with them various tokens of their friendship.

On the 28th, towards evening, they walked out from Jerusalem, and visited the garden of Gethsemane, the valley of Jehoshaphat, the pool of Siloah, and the valley of Hinnom.

[ocr errors][merged small]

Mr. King's first visit to the garden of Gethsemane is thus described.

After waiting a little time for two men te accompany me, I went out of the city, passed over the brook Cedron, and entered the Garden of Sorrow. It lies at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and within a stone's cast of the brook Cedron. In it are eight large olive-trees, whose trunks show that they are very ancient. They stand at a little distance from each other, and their verdant branches afford a refreshing shade. The land on which they stand, and around them, is sandy and stony, and it appears like a forsaken place. Around it is the appearance of a little wall, composed of small stones, and broken down. On entering this Garden, I requested the two men with me to sit down under one of the olives, and I went a little distance from them, to another olive, and read the 53d chapter of Isaiah, and also, in the four Gospels, the scenes of that sorrowful night, when the Son of Man was betrayed into the hands of sinners.

We then followed the bed of Cedron at the foot of Mount Moriah. The hill is high and steep, and the wall of the city stands on its brink. On our left was Mount Olivet, still covered with olive-trees. Near the bed of the brook is a small monument, called Absalom's Pillar, and believed by the Jews, to be the one referred to, 2 Sam. viii. 18. It is near the west end of the valley of Jehoshaphat, or the King's dale. Near this is another monument called the Sepulchre of Pharaoh, but why so called, nobody has been able to inform us. The valley of Jehoshaphat was deep, with steep sides. This valley, we are told, runs to the Dead Sea, but how far it bears the same name, we do not know.

Pool of Siloah.

On the east side of the valley is a small village called Siloah, and back of the vil

lage is a hill, distinct from Mount Olivet, which is called the Hill of Offence, because supposed to be the hill, on which Solomon built the high places, mentioned Kings xi. 7. Near the south-east corner of the city at the foot of Zion and Moriah, is the pool of Siloah, (See Neh. iii, 15.) whose waters flow with a gentle murmur from under the Holy mountain of Zion, or rather from under Ophel, having Zion on the west, and Moriah on the north. The very fountain issues from a rock, twenty or thirty feet below the surface of the ground, to which we descended by two flights of steps. Here it flows out without a single murmur, and appears clear as crystal. From this place it winds its way several rods under the mountain, then makes its appearance with gentle gurgling, and forming a beautiful rill, takes its way down into the valley, towards the south-east. We drank of the water both at the fountain, and from the stream, and found it soft, of a sweetish taste, and pleasant. The fountain is called in Scripture the "Pool of Siloam." It was to this, that the blind man went, and washed, and came seeing. John ix. 7-11.

The Potter's field.

South of this valley, rises a mountain of huge ragged cliffs of rocks, between which are little spots of cultivated ground. One of the most rude and rugged spots, and which is close to the valley of Tophet, is pointed out as the field purchased with the money, for which Judas betrayed his Master, and which is called the Potter's field, or the field of blood. Here Judas is said to have been buried, and perhaps it was here he hanged himself. Acts i. 18. There are trees standing near the brink of huge cliffs and precipices, and if he hung himself on one of these trees and fell, it is very easy to see why he should have burst asunder, and all his bowels have gushed out. There are many tombs in it hewn qut of the solid rock, and it looks desolate, and is uninhabited.

From the valley of Jehoshaphat we turned west into the valley of Hinnom, or " the valley of Slaughter," called also Tophet, where the children of Israel caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch. See Jer. vii. 31,32, In this valley we pursued our way towards the west at the foot of Mount Zion, and returned through Jaffa Gate, to our lodgings.

Visit to Bethlehem.

The next day they visited Bethlehem. The journal continues-

We went out at Jaffa gate, crossed the valley west of mount Zion, ascended a

steep rough hill, and then came to a tole. rably level road, bearing S.S.W. In an hour and a quarter, we came to the Greek convent of the Prophet Elias. Thence the road to Bethlehem is a little nearer south. In half an hour from the convent we came to Rachel's tomb; or, at least, to the place which Jews, Mussulmans and Christians, all visit as such. Instead of a simple pillar, which Jacob erected, (See Gen. lv. 20,) there is now a stone building, evidently of Turkish construction, which terminates at the top in a dome. Within this edifice is the tomb. It is a pile of stones covered with white plaister, about 10 feet long, and nearly as high. The inner wall of the building, and the sides of the tomb, are covered with Hebrew names, inscribed by Jews.

West of this place, at a little distance, is a village, now called Ephratah, which has been called by some, Rama. If this were one of the ancient Ramas, it would be easy to see the force of that glowing description of the scene which transpired at Bethlehem, when Herod sent, and destroyed the young children. The lamentations and wailings of bereaved mothers were so great that they were heard even in Rama, wept in her grave. and Rachel sympathized with them, and

In half an hour from this tomb we came to the city, where was born, 1800 years ago, "a Saviour who is Christ the Lord," where "the day spring from on high" first visited our world, where the Saviour incarnate was first adored by man. As we entered the city, a multitude of little children, dirty and ragged, came out to meet us, and, holding up their little hands to receive alms, they began to sing," Pilgrims go in peace," "" Pilgrims go in peace.' "The Greek, Catholic, and Armenian convents are together, a little east of the village, and enclose the supposed place of our Saviour's Nativity.

Here they were introduced by a letter from the Greek convent at Jerusalem. Having passed through the church, they were conducted to the spot, sacred as the birth-place of our Lord, and to the manger, in which he is said to have been laid. A great number of lamps were burning over these venerated places, and the whole wore an appearance of splendour, widely different from that of a stable.

The field of the Shepherds.

From this place a Greek priest accompanied us to the Shepherd's field. It is twenty minutes' ride from Bethlehem, a little the south of east. The way to it is rough and stony. Bethlehem itself is on a hill, which seems like a pile of rocks, with here and there a patch of verdure. Between

the rocks, however, where it is cultivated, vines, figs, and olives appear to grow in luxuriance. On our right, as we descended the hill, was a little mean-looking village, in which it is believed that the Shepherds lived.

[ocr errors]

We rode along among the rocks and cliffs, reflecting how David here once tended his flocks, and learned to sing the praises of Jehovah: and how the Prophet Samuel came to anoint him king, and how the Son of David here made his appearance in our world; when, all at once, a delightful valley, covered with green fields, opened to our view. Its beauty was heightened by the barren rocky hills all around it. As we entered it and rode along, it was delightful to imagine how a multitude of the Heavenly Host came flying down from heaven upon the tops of the mountains, and, hovering over this verdant spot, where the flocks were resting, sung," Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men." Near one side of the plain is a field of olives, enclosed by a wall, with a subterranean Church in the centre of it. This is pointed out as the very spot where the Shepherds were, when the angel announced to them our Saviour's birth. Our guide told us that the Greeks and Catholics had a long dispute about the possession of this place. The case was carried before the Grand Seignor, and the Greeks, by dint of money, gained their cause. In this Church the Christian Arabs now assemble for worship. Over this church, are the ruins of another church, and of a convent, which stood above ground. Under an olive-tree near by, we sat down, and read Luke ii. Sung, "While Shepherds watched their flocks by night," and Hymn 3d, book 1st, and then united in giving thanks to the God of heaven, for the glad tidings which were here announced, and which had come to our ears in a far distant land, and to the ears of our dear Christian friends,who were also at this time remembered by us. After this season of devotion we gathered some flowers in the field, and returned to Bethlehem. Many maps and geographies place Bethlehem south-east of Jerusalem. It is in fact west of south.

[blocks in formation]

place before the foundation of the world; and the other is, when the Messiah will come. In support of the first point he quoted Job xxxviii. 4-6. Here we felt no disposition to dispute him. In regard to the other point he said, "Daniel has declared that the time is sealed up; and what fool will pretend to be wiser than Daniel?" We then inquired, whether there are not Jews, who do endeavour to ascertain the time. He said he would give an answer of great understanding, and then confessed that there are such Jews, but said they are not upright but wicked. We then inquired, whether, in his opinion, Shiloh, in Gen. xlix. means the Messiah. He said Shiloh was the name of a place. Rabbi Isaac said that, in Gen. xlix. 10, it means the Messiah; and when it means a place, it is spelt differently. The old man seemed angry at this, and said to Isaac, "I have more understanding than you." We then examined more than twenty passages in the Hebrew Bible, in which the word Shiloh is the name of a place, and found the orthography in every place different from what it is in Gen.xlix.10. Another Jew came in and interrupted the conversation by informing the Rabbi of the death of a Jewish woman. During her sickness, Rabbi Marcowitz had tried to cure her by virtue of the ineffable name. Application had also been made to a wizard to cure her by his enchant

ments.

The folly and wickedness of such proceedings were pointed out to them by a reference to 1 Sam. xv. 23, Exod. xxii. 18, and Deut. xviii. 10,11. Rabbi Marcowitz confessed witchcraft to be wrong, but said, " To tell men their duty, when we know they will not do it, is not necessary."

May 2. The Missionaries visited the church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is not the same building described by Chateaubriand, that was burnt soon after he visited it, this was erected by the Greek Christians a few years since. The journal describes it minutely, and also the ceremonies of the following day--the day preceding Easter Sunday, according to the opinion of the Oriental Christians. After having witnessed these impious scenes, the Missionaries say, "we felt as though Jerusalem were a place accursed of God, and given over to iniquity. The Jews hate the name of Christ, and when you mention it, some of them will almost gnash on you with their teeth. The Turks exalt the name of their False Prophet above his most glorious name, and are pre-eminently distinguished for hypocrisy, tyranny, and lying. The Greeks and Armenians profane the temple of the Lord, and seem to know very little of the true nature of Christianity."

Monthly Concert on Mount Olivet.

The afternoon was a highly interesting season to us. We made our first visit to

Mount Olivet, and there bowed before him, who from thence ascended to glory, and "sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." There we held our first Monthly Concert for prayer in the promised land;-there, where our Lord first commissioned his disciples to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, promising to be with them even unto the end of the world. There we have been permitted to look up towards heaven, and plead with him to hasten his second coming.

Description of the Cave of Jeremiah.

The same day they visited the cave of Jeremiah, near to the gate of Damascus ;---said to be the place where the Prophet wrote his Lamentations. Here they found twenty-five or thirty Jews, one of them an old man, who passes much of his time in the cave, and hopes to die there. They thus describe the cave--

It is one of the rudest and grandest caves we ever saw. It is about forty paces long, thirty wide, and thirty or forty feet high, -the roof supported by two huge pillars. It is evidently a natural cave, though it has been altered by art. The interior is damp, and through some parts of the vaulted roof water is continually oozing. The interior forms a kind of semicircle. The entrance is nearly as wide as the cave itself, and over it the rock rises forty or fifty feet perpendicularly. Just as you enter the cave, there is a cleft in the rock, on the left hand, called the bed of Jeremiah, where it is supposed he used to sleep. Whether it be fact or fiction, the thought of Jeremiah writing his Lamentations in this place is certainly sublime. There we read from Lamentations, and then the first eight verses of Jeremiah 9th;-a most exact description of the character and conduct of the present inhabitants of Jerusalem!

Proceeding on their way to Mount Olivet, they came to a vault filled with muddy water, which passes for the dungeon in which Jeremiah was kept by Zedekiah, till enlarged by the kindness of Ebedmelech, Jer. 38. Thence they passed over the brook Cedron, by the garden of Gethsemane, and ascended the mountain where David went up weeping, 8000 years ago, and where David's Lord and ours wept, as he beheld the devoted city, in which he was about to suffer.

this are some ruins, that are said to mark the spot where Bethphage stood.

Bethany.

Turning back toward Jerusalem, we came to Bethany, the town of Mary and Martha, and Lazarus. It is at present a small Mussulman village on the declivity of a hill, and all around is uneven and rocky..

Here, of course, they visited what is called the grave of Lazarus. It is a natural cave, and is in no way unlike many others in the vicinity. The ruins of the house where Lazarus and his sisters lived are yet pointed out, and, from their solidity and venerable appearance" it is easy to believe them as old, at least, as the time of our Saviour."

Valley of Jehoshaphat.

With some olive branches from Olivet, and some flowers from the mansion-house of Lazarus in our hands, we returned by a winding way around the south of Mount Olivet, till we came to the brook Cedron, where it enters the valley of Jehoshaphat. This valley seems like a frightful chasm in the earth, and when you stand in it, and, see Mount Zion and Moriah, towering above it with steep hills and precipices, on your right hand and left, you can easily feel the force of those sublime passages in the prophet Joel, in which the heathen are represented, as being gathered together there to be judged. The prophet seems to represent the Almighty as sitting in his holy temple, or on the summit of Zion, to judge the multitudes in the valley beneath him; and then executing his judgments, while the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining, and Jehovah roars out of Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake and it is thus made manifest, to the confusion of idolaters, and to the joy of the true Israel, that God dwells in Zion, his holy mountain, and is the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

In consequence of not reaching the city till after sunset, when the gates are shut, they were kept waiting without, till a message could be sent to the Governor to gain his permission to have them opened. "This reminded us," they observe, "of their unhappy situation, who will one day be shut out of the

From Mount Olivet you have a view of Holy City, New Jerusalem, without any one to interthe Dead Sea, where Sodom and Gomorrah stood, and of the mountains beyond Jordan, from one of which Moses viewed the promised land.

[blocks in formation]

Icede for their admittance, and who must wander among dogs, and sorcerers, and murderers during an eternal night."

During the two or three succeeding weeks, they were diligently engaged in such Missionary labours as their circumstances would permit. With the Jews, Turks, and Catholic and Greek Christians, they had

« PreviousContinue »