Star.
London, England, 1828-12-23 00:00:00

IATIV-144C Of OUR fIA VIOU-It.BBTHLEHE 1.
I set out with my servant, the Dragoman, Janissary,
and a domestic of the Convent, from Jet widen'. to rho
village of Bethlehem, six miles tbs. ant from, and in a
south-east direction of tl e H ily City. memorable for a
number of events recorded in the sacred volume, but
particularly the spot of ot.r Savorait's nativity. I
left the city by the gate called Babel El HAleel, or the
well-beloved, and after passing the valley of Jehosha-
phat, went across the field denominated that of Blood
64 unto this day." from being purchased with the pieces
of silver received by Judas for betraying our Lord.
Without adverting minutely to the ruins of the house
of Simeon, sadistic tomb of Rachel, u intthe way," and
Rama, where tire sanguinary decree of H.:rad was com-
manded to be executed, I may mention one circum-
stance that itruck me forcibly at entering Bethlehem,
the cradle of the Christian world. To the left h and, at
the archway or gatei,are some antique Wells, in a cir-
cular form: These brought to mind that.p4rt of Holy
Writ respecting the wish '.l David to di ink of the water
of the " well of. Bethlehem which is by the gale:—
(2 Sam. verse 15) As these cisterns were almost
contiguous to the porch, 1 consider it highly probable,
nay, I might say certain, that some of them contained
that water he so anis 'usly longed after. But how is it
possible to describe all those emotions with which I was
Affected at 'setting my loot in this corner.of the earth,
and approaching that blessed spot where the Redeemer
was born in helplessness, clothed with mo.tal nature,
laden with infitart es, and undertaking to bear the
burden o( our sins. My mind was fir ed with the most
profound and awful reverence, etc mpanied with a
holy joy. There reigned at the moment a glorious so-
lemnity amidst tt e stillness of the day, in unison with
that min of reflection which the inspection of such
inte rating scenes raised to a high degree of excitement.
The
.glotiou. luminary shone. most brilliantly, and it
appeared remarkable that a sort of star or diamond in
the centre °Ellie roof of the convent sparkled w th in-
describable-beauty, as almost to blind the eyes, bring-
ing most' forcibly to mind that glorious planet which
had conducted the magi to this identical spot. The
convent stands to the east, is separated from the teem,
and contiguous to the church of _tS . Mary, built by
Constantine and the Empress Helena over the place of
the nativity, and forms with the adjacent. mona-teries
a vast pile in the shape of a cross, approaching more in
appearance to a fortress, than the habitstionsuf' =ea
devoted to the worship of Goa. It is altogether un-
rivalled this chtirch in point of beauty and maeilifi-
cence i the ro f is constructed of the cedar of Lebanon,
and nobly supported by four rows of lofty marble co-
lumns, being abi ut fifty in number. The interior of
the walls were incrusted with marble, but robbed of it
to adorn the palace of Grand Cairn. The choir is spa-
cious, ant terminates in a semicircle, in which the prin-
cipal altar is placed. This part of the edifi.e is covered
with a cupola, adorned with figures in Mosaic, and
was enriched by ttieliher ality of Baldwin 1, who was
Crowned here Kii.g of Jerusalem.
Having inspe,ted the objects of art and adoration, I
was conducted to a small starcase le ‘ding to the chapel
of the Nativity, which is under ground. where the so-
lemn stillness, added to the contemplation of that mo-
mentous event which occurred on this most sacred spot
of earth, are well calculated to over hiflm tie mind
with the deepest awe-and veneration. Before the altar
several massy silver lamps, the gilts of Cathis.ic P. ince:,
are kept constantly burning, and the pl ice worie our
LORD endured the penalties r f human guilt, is marked
with a star, formed s t white marble, inlaid with jasper,
and surrounded with a radiance or glory, over which
the planet stood which led the wise wen to this humble
village.
Hie de Virgin, Jesus Custsv natus est.
To the light of this, is shown the place where thp
manger stood in which he was laid : it appears to be
tut out of the natural r ck, and lined with marble;
lamps of silver are always kept in an Muminated state
before it. Agrreableto a practice obserted by /Mgt Ina,
I felt on my .knees and saluted the sacred spot of the
Nativity, although no kind of ceremony was certainly
requikiteto enhance that sublinie•sense 1 entertained at
this critical moment of those eternal obligations w hich,
in commis with the whole race of mankind, 1 was
under to that glorious Baiwo who here began his career
of suffering, humiliation,. and submiSsion, which termi-
nated at the mement, when hanging on tire Cross he
meekly said,. "It is finished !" bowed his head, and
gave up the Ghost: but who now sits at the right hand
of the MaJerre on High, to make intercessam for us,
being the only Mediator between POD and man I
Having quitted the Chapel. 1 proceeded by an ex-
tremely narrow passage into that of the Innocents, and
liras shown a cell in which the Monks mentioned St. Je-
rome had made a translation of the Scriptures. A short
distance from the Convent I was Conducted to a grotto,
where, according to tradition, the Mother if Jesus con-
cealed herself with him during that period when. J. Iseph
was making arrangements for their Bight. I formerly
had occasion to remark, that caves and grottos appear
to have been' considered as the scenes of most of the
great incidents interesting to the mind of the Christian,
in and about Jerusalem. Many of the habitations in
Bethlehem are f wined out of goltos, and also several
of the stalls for cattle are in excavations of the earth
and rock, so that any objection which m y aii.e, so f.r
as respects the place• of the Nativity being who rune-
ous, can have no founnation, but. oh the contrary, re.
ceives the strongest posYthle -cot& 'nation ft om bring
so much similar to the stlbles ordinarily in use in that