in regard to the future of palestine the outlook of different writers varies perhaps as much as upon any similar question that could be named. every one is familiar with the utopian dreams which optimistic constructors of programmes cherish regarding it. on the other hand, grave and thoughtful writers have sometimes felt the misery of its present state so heavily as to abandon all hope for the future, and to acknowledge the most discouraging views as to the possibilities before the land. apart from sentiment, or from some favourite method of interpreting prophecy, the reasons for such pessimism are mainly two. one is the change of climate, which appears from many indications to be an unquestionable fact. the other is the destruction of terraces, and the consequent washing away of soil from the higher regions of the country. these are serious considerations, which cannot be ignored. if this view be the correct one, the only permanent continuance of syria will be as a symbol of judgment, a kind of lot’s-wife pillar among the peoples, a sermon in stone upon{240} the ethical principles which govern the fortunes of nations. the land will remain as a proverb, but will never again be a home.
yet neither these nor any other such forebodings seem to the ordinary observer quite to be justified. if the climate has changed, may not that be due to causes that can be remedied? by proper drainage of swamps and planting of trees, it would seem perfectly possible to modify climatic conditions to an extent at least sufficient to allow the hope of prosperous agriculture and pleasant habitation. as to the terraces, if they have been constructed once they may be reconstructed with hope of result. there are tracts even in the desert itself where traces of former cultivation may still be seen. if the uncivilised or semi-barbarous tribes of the ancient time built up the land until handfuls of corn waved on the tops of mountains, surely it is not too much to expect that men armed with all the skill and appliance of modern engineering may yet repeat the process. the instance of malta has been already cited; and, apart from that it is a very dusty world, and soil accumulates as if by magic where man provides for it a place to rest on.
it seems rash in one little qualified for the task to pronounce judgment of any sort on the future of palestine, yet the conviction that all is not over with the land grows stronger, rather than weaker, with reflection. renan speaks of “the little kingdom of israel, which was in the highest degree creative, but did not know how to crown its edifice.” put in another{241}
[image unavailable.]
the north-east end of jerusalem and mizpah, from the mount of olives.
the mountain above the city to the north, with mosque and minaret on its summit, is the point from which the crusaders had their first view of jerusalem.
form, this means that the holy land is a land of prophecies unfulfilled or half-fulfilled. but each such prophecy was an inspiration, by which the highest men saw possibilities for the nation, whose conditions the lower men failed to realise or to fulfil. yet the possibilities were there, as to a great extent they still are there, and, as coningsby puts it, “the east is a career.” as to what those possibilities and that career may actually be, the past history of the land may guide our speculation. here, as elsewhere, the lines of hope for the future are pointed out by the failures of the past. the failure has been due to bad morality and disloyalty to religious faith; the hope of success lies in ethical and religious regeneration.
when we sought for an explanation of the misery of palestine we were thrown back on the ethical aspect of the case. had the land been faithful to her high calling her story would have been very different. never was a country honoured with so lofty a trust as hers; never did a country so often betray her trust. this was the despair of her ancient lawgiver, and the burden of her later prophets. when christ came to her, she knew no better thing to do with him than to break his heart and to crucify him on calvary. within the century jerusalem was crucified in turn; and soon a christian syria took the place of the perished judaism. that in its turn decayed. its creed became artificial, its spirit effeminate, and its morality corrupt. the spirit of christianity had sunk so low in palestine before the mussulman occupation as to manifest its zeal{242} by using every effort to defile that part of the temple area which they regarded as the jewish holy of holies. the young faith of islam, fresh and vigorous, and not as yet embittered, made an easy conquest of the effete religion, which has lived since then on sufferance, lamenting its sufferings, but never realising its desert of them. to this day the christian travelling in syria is oppressed by the sense of its desertion. christ has forsaken the desolate shores of the sea of galilee. he walks no more in the streets of jerusalem. it is the old story—“they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts, and he entered into a ship, and passed over and came unto his own city.”
yet somehow it is impossible to believe that he has gone from the land of his earthly home for ever. an incident which occurred to us in damascus dwells in our memory with prophetic significance. we had visited the great mosque, which rose upon the ruins of an ancient christian church. the original walls were not entirely demolished, and among the parts built into the new structure was a beautiful gate on whose lintel may still be deciphered the greek inscription, “thy kingdom, o christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” to see this inscription we climbed a ladder in the jewellers’ bazaar. at the height of some fifteen feet we stepped upon a ledge of rather precarious masonry, and after a short scramble along this came to the lintel, half concealed by a rubble wall running diagonally across it. a stranger was with us, a devout christian{243} from a town far south of damascus. in the whole city nothing moved him so deeply as this stone, and he exclaimed, “it was the christians’ fault—they were so rough, so rude, so ignorant—it was done by the wish of god—but he will have it again.” and he will have it again, sooner or later! when omar heard that mohammed was dead he would not believe it, but proclaimed in the mosque of medina, “the prophet has only swooned away!” but mohammed had died, and it is his dead hand that has held the land these thirteen centuries. christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; and the future of the land lies with christ. to the western world he has fulfilled his tremendous claim, “i am the resurrection and the life,” not only in the hope of immortality, but in the spring and impulse which his faith has given to national ideals. it is impossible not to hope for a fulfilment of the promise to the land where it was first spoken. looking down from tabor upon the hill of d?hy, one has sight of endor to the east, while shunem lies just round the western slope, and between them is the village of nain. it is as if that hill were a sanctuary from death, where the grave could not hold its own. palestine holds in trust for the world those empty graves, and one grave above all others from which he himself came forth. surely she, too, will rise, by his grace, in a faith and character purer than those which she has lost.
it would be impossible, within our present limits, to say anything of the political or national outlook of syria, or of the many schemes and agencies which are{244} dealing with such problems. the impression made by christian missions, however, must have a word of record before we close these notes of travel. we have already described at considerable length the sadness of palestine. as you journey from place to place the impression deepens. sores, exposed and fly-blown, intrude themselves into the memory of many a wayside and city street. the dirt and stench of the houses make the sunshine terrible. after weeks of travel the feeling of a sick land has deepened upon you until it has become an oppression weighing daily upon your heart. suddenly you emerge in a mission-station, and an indescribable feeling of relief possesses you. there is at last a sound of joy and health. these are the spots of brightness in a very grey landscape, little centres of life in a land where so much is morbid. the visiting of sacred places would be the most selfish of religious sentimentalities if it were done without a painful sense of helplessness against the misery that surrounds them. the only thing that turns pity into hope in palestine is the mission-work that is being done there. no one can see that work without being filled with an altogether new enthusiasm for missions. across the sea, one believes in them as a part of christian duty and custom. on the spot, one thanks god for them as almost unearthly revelations of “sweetness and cleanness, abundance, power to bless, and christian love in that loveless land.”
the names of christian missionaries are imperial names in syria. it is, indeed, an empire of hearts, and{245}
[image unavailable.]
the plain of jericho, looking towards the mountains of moab.
the road in the foreground, stretching across the plain, is that from jerusalem to jericho.
its coming is not with observation. but of its reality and power there can be no question even now, and its sway is extending year by year. to those whose syrian travels have given them the vivid imagination, vivid almost as memory, of the real fact of christ in the past, this fact of christ in the present is as welcome as it is evident. they feel, and the east too is feeling, that the great healer still goes about the land doing good. the future, whatever its political course may be, is religiously full of hope. it may take time—god only knows how long it will take. the ancient miracles of christ did not reveal the healer to the world in a day. yet quietly and out of sight, the east is learning that christ is indeed the healer of mankind. it does not as yet confess this, even to itself. but the hearts of many sufferers know it, and every christian knows that certainly “he will have it again.”
