The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-04 00:00:00

THE TOMB OF ,RACHEL

Froni Carne's Recollection: of Travels in the East.l
,c A few miles further on are the ruins of

the village of ; fragments of walls, only ri
few' feet high, are now the vestiges -of the place
where the Prophet so beautifully predicted thd
mourning for the Innocent. There is a spot on
the plain, at no great distance from the ruined
village, of much higher interest,—the tomb of
RacheL It is one of the few places Where the
observer is persuaded that tradition has not
erred ; as it fulfils literally the words of Israel
in his last hour, when dwelling on the only in-
delible remembrance that earth seemed to claim
from him. The long exile, the converse with
the angels of God, the wealth and greatness
which had gathered round him, all yield to the
image of the loved and faithful wife ; And as
for me, Rachel died by me, in the way from
Bethlehem, and I buried her there.'
" The spot is as wild and solitary as can well
be conceived ; no palms or cypresses give their
shelter from the blast ; not a single tree spreads
its shade where the ashes ofthe beautiful mother
of Israel rest. Yet there is something in this
sepulchre in the wilderness, that excites a deeper
interest than more splendid or revered ones. The
tombs of Zacharias and Absalom, in the valley
of Jehosaphat, or of the Kings in the plain of
Jeremiah, the traveller looks at with careless in-
difference, beside that of Rachel his fancy
wanders to the land of the people of the
East,' to the power of beauty that could so long
make banishment sweet ; to the devoted compa-
nion of the wanderer, who deemed all troubles
light for her sake.
" The Turks have surrounded most of the
burial places of the chief characters of the Old.
Testament, with more pomp and stately observ-
ance than this : over that of David and Solo-
mon, on the declivity of Zion, a mosque is
erected ; the cave too of Machpelah, at Hebron,
is covered by a large and ancient Mosque, and
all around, the soil is held inviolable. The cave
is in the middle of the interior of the edifice ;
its dark and deep entrance only is visible ; and
it is rarely entered, even by the steps of the
faithful. For more than a century, not more than
two or three Europeans are known, either by
during or bribery, to have visited it ; the last
was an Italian Count, a traveller, who, by pay-
ing very high, was allowed by his guardians to
tread the floor of the mosque, and descend into
the obscurity of the hallowed cavern ; this was
thirty years since. It is a great pity that so
memorable a scene should be closed to the curi-
ous eye ; the bold valley in which the ancient
town of Hebron stands is often visited by the
steps of the pilgrim and the traveller ; but the
penalty of death to every Christian who enters
within the walls of the mosque, is too dear a
payment for the gratification. The cave is said
by the Turks to be deep and very spacious, cut
out of the solid rock ; and that the resting places
of the celebrated patriarchs still exist, and are
plainly to be discerned.
" The tribute paid, however, by the followers
of the Prophet to the burial-place of Rachel, is
far more sincere and impressive, than walls of
marble or gilded domes ; the desire which the
Turks feel that their ashes may rest near her's, is
singular and extreme. All around this simple
tomb, lie thickly strewn the graves of the Mus-
sulmans. A trait such as this, speaks more for
the character of this people, than many volumes
written in their praise ; for it cannot be for any
greatness, or wisdom, or holiness, in the charac-
ter of her who sleeps beneath, (for which quali-
ties they show so much respect to the sepulchres
of Abraham, of David, and his son)—but simply
_ _

for the high domestic virtues and qualities which
belong to Rachel, she was a devoted wife and
an excellent mother, as well as the parent of a
mighty people ; and for these things do the
Turks venerate her memory.
" It is a scene of no common interest, when
a funeral train issues from the gate of the city;
and passing slowly over the plain of Rephidim,
draws nigh the lonely sepulchre, with an earnest
desire that the parent or child whose remains
they bear, may sleep in a spot so venerated.
Was a Jew to cross the procession, at this mo-
ment, he would be treated with deep curses, and
looks of hatred and scorn, by the very people
who arc about to kneel around the ashes of
one of his ancestors. Deeply fallen nation
forbidden even to draw near or bow down at the
place that is full of the remembrance of its
ancient greatness. So rigidly are the Jews ex-
cluded from entering the monument, that the
four arches which support the simple dome have
been filled up. The band of mourners stand
round the place, and the turban is bowed to the
earth, while the funeral wail passes over the soli-
tary waste, solemn and impressive, as if the spirits
of the prophets themselves had come back, and
saw the desolation of their land.
" No splendid pillars of wood or stone, with
inscriptions in letters of gold, are here, not a
single memorial, which this people are otherwise
so fond of erecting in their cemeteries. It seems
to he sufficient, that they are placed beneath the
favourite sod ; and small and numerous mounds,
over which the survivor sometimes comes and
weeps, which mark the places of the graves. I f
it be beautiful, in the splendid cemetery of Pere la
Chaise, to see the widow or the orphan planting
flowers over the ashes of the departed, and bath-
ing them with their tears, it is surely more im-
pressive to see the Oriental, in his simple and
flowing garb, like that worn perhaps in patriar-
chal days, mourning over the lonely grave in the
wilderness, where human pride and vanity cannot
come."

Three persons, a father, mother, and child,
narrowly escaped death by poison at East Winch, Norfolk,
on Monday week. It appears that a rrantity of arsenic
had been put into the water from which the tea was made
':or breakfast.— &Pa 1161 dad.