DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0267
A MORAL PHENOMENON.
251
he was rich, and had no children ; and what I never
before heard from the lips of man, he said that he
was perfectly happy. I was the first American
who had visited him since he had received his ap-
pointment ; and it seemed as if he could not do
enough for me. He had repaired and recon-
structed the whole road from Jaffa to Jerusalem ;
and when I asked him what reward he promised
himself for this, he answered that he had done it
for God, the pilgrims, and his own honour. I re-
mained with him that night, and would have gone
early the next morning, but he would not part
with me so soon ; I dined with him again ; and in
the afternoon, escorted to the gate by two janiza-
ries, each with a large silver-headed mace in his
hand, I left, probably for ever, my Armenian
friend and the ancient city of Joppa. I do not
know when I parted from a man with more regret.*
I slept that night at Ramla ; and the next day,
about 4 o'clock, in company with several hun-
dred pilgrims, I was again entering the Bethlehem
Gate. Notwithstanding the munificence of my Ar-
menian friend, the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa, a
road travelled from the time when Jonas went
thither to embark for Tarshish, is now a mere
mule-path, on which I was several times obliged
to stop and turn aside to let a loaded mule pass by.
* March 28. The last arrival from Smyrna brings intelligence
" that the town of Jaffa has been destroyed by an earthquake ; and
of 15,000 inhabitants, 13,000 were buried in the ruins." Has my
Armenian friend escaped ! I dare hardly hope it.
251
he was rich, and had no children ; and what I never
before heard from the lips of man, he said that he
was perfectly happy. I was the first American
who had visited him since he had received his ap-
pointment ; and it seemed as if he could not do
enough for me. He had repaired and recon-
structed the whole road from Jaffa to Jerusalem ;
and when I asked him what reward he promised
himself for this, he answered that he had done it
for God, the pilgrims, and his own honour. I re-
mained with him that night, and would have gone
early the next morning, but he would not part
with me so soon ; I dined with him again ; and in
the afternoon, escorted to the gate by two janiza-
ries, each with a large silver-headed mace in his
hand, I left, probably for ever, my Armenian
friend and the ancient city of Joppa. I do not
know when I parted from a man with more regret.*
I slept that night at Ramla ; and the next day,
about 4 o'clock, in company with several hun-
dred pilgrims, I was again entering the Bethlehem
Gate. Notwithstanding the munificence of my Ar-
menian friend, the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa, a
road travelled from the time when Jonas went
thither to embark for Tarshish, is now a mere
mule-path, on which I was several times obliged
to stop and turn aside to let a loaded mule pass by.
* March 28. The last arrival from Smyrna brings intelligence
" that the town of Jaffa has been destroyed by an earthquake ; and
of 15,000 inhabitants, 13,000 were buried in the ruins." Has my
Armenian friend escaped ! I dare hardly hope it.