The Jordan Valley and Petra . uity was a chargeupon the government allowance made toward thesafe convoy of the yearly pilgrimage to through the destruction of their fortress bythe partial demolition of its mighty walls, the open-ing of ready communication afforded by telegraphwires to Damascus and the central governmentat Constantinople, the corrupting stream of silvercoins, the grarrison of reo^ular soldiers and hawk-like horseman, not to mention the accompanyingband of civil officials, with all that their presencemeans, this ancient eagles nest has been stirredand broken and its fie
The Jordan Valley and Petra . uity was a chargeupon the government allowance made toward thesafe convoy of the yearly pilgrimage to through the destruction of their fortress bythe partial demolition of its mighty walls, the open-ing of ready communication afforded by telegraphwires to Damascus and the central governmentat Constantinople, the corrupting stream of silvercoins, the grarrison of reo^ular soldiers and hawk-like horseman, not to mention the accompanyingband of civil officials, with all that their presencemeans, this ancient eagles nest has been stirredand broken and its fiery brood is at last reduced toa state of poverty, laziness, and degradation, fromwhich they will never recover. If the governmentfinds that it must retain its garrison in order tosecure the road to Mecca, the city will live on ;otherwise it will fall still lower when the line of de-fence against the desert moves eastward to thevicinity of the new railway, and Kerak, the prideof the Crusaders, will lose its importance ?: ^^ Kerak 349 TluTe is sonicthini^ in every human breast whichrebels against the resistless changes which comeover such cities and locations, on whose existenceand strength the destinies of civilization onceseemed to hang. It is perhaps impossible now torealize how much of the welfare and safety ofChristendom once seemed linked with this frontierfortress in Arabia. The importance which thebuilders attached to it can be seen from the massesof gateway, bastion, keep, and fortress which theyreared at an enormous outlay of gold, and thendefended with shining swords and coats of mail, untiltheir last drop of blood was shed in the cause theyso passionate!) loved. Nor did they struggle anddie in vain for the great cause which Kerak repre-sents. While the armed knights paced the ram-parts of this lonely outpost, modern Europe wasborn, and before the last Crusader banner wasswept from the Holy Land, the Anglo-Saxon starwas in the ascendant, Gods alchemy had form
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