DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0169
HOSPITALITY OF THE JEWS. 153
quaintances in the Holy Land. The descendants
of Israel were fit persons to welcome a stranger
to the ancient city of their fathers ; and if they had
been then sitting under the shadow of the throne
of David, they could not have given me a warmer
reception. It may be that, standing in the same
relation to the Turks, alike the victims of persecu-
tion and contempt, they forgot the great cause
which had torn us apart and made us a separate
people, and felt only a sympathy for the object
of mutual oppression. But whatever was the
cause, I shall never forget the kindness with which,
as a stranger and Christian, I was received by
the Jews in the capital of their ancient kingdom j
and I look to my reception here, and by the monks
at Mount Sinai, as among the few bright spots in
my long and dreary pilgrimage through the desert
I had seen enough of the desert, and of the wild
spirit of freedom which men talk of without know-
ing, to make me cling more fondly than ever even
to the lowest grade of civilization; and I could
have sat down that night, provided it was under a
roof, with the fiercest Mussulman, as in a family
circle. Judge, then, of my satisfaction at being
welcomed from the desert by the friendly and hos-
pitable Israelites. Returned once more to the
occupation of our busy> money-making life, floating
again upon the stream of business, and carried
away by the cares and anxieties which agitate
every portion of our stirring community, it is re-
freshing to turn to the few brief moments when
VOL. II.—-O
quaintances in the Holy Land. The descendants
of Israel were fit persons to welcome a stranger
to the ancient city of their fathers ; and if they had
been then sitting under the shadow of the throne
of David, they could not have given me a warmer
reception. It may be that, standing in the same
relation to the Turks, alike the victims of persecu-
tion and contempt, they forgot the great cause
which had torn us apart and made us a separate
people, and felt only a sympathy for the object
of mutual oppression. But whatever was the
cause, I shall never forget the kindness with which,
as a stranger and Christian, I was received by
the Jews in the capital of their ancient kingdom j
and I look to my reception here, and by the monks
at Mount Sinai, as among the few bright spots in
my long and dreary pilgrimage through the desert
I had seen enough of the desert, and of the wild
spirit of freedom which men talk of without know-
ing, to make me cling more fondly than ever even
to the lowest grade of civilization; and I could
have sat down that night, provided it was under a
roof, with the fiercest Mussulman, as in a family
circle. Judge, then, of my satisfaction at being
welcomed from the desert by the friendly and hos-
pitable Israelites. Returned once more to the
occupation of our busy> money-making life, floating
again upon the stream of business, and carried
away by the cares and anxieties which agitate
every portion of our stirring community, it is re-
freshing to turn to the few brief moments when
VOL. II.—-O