The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-02-09

was not tar distant from the other. The spot IS
a naked rocl1 from four to five hundred feet broad
at its base, and not over twenty-five feet IN per-
pendicuar elevation but, as it rises IN an Cd
lique direction, its height does not appear to De
more than from fifteen to twenty feet. VINO can,
with propriety denominate that mountain On
the summit are excavations, into which the loot OF
the cross. and also the crosses of the thieves, We're
inserted Some such device must have been en-
ploved to fix the crosses in an erect position and
il is not imnrobable that by OF Wedges these
excavations were awaited of for that purpose. OF
the evidences of the crucifxion, some were tenn
norarv and evanescent such, for example, as the
General darkness. We have, indeed, the anthem
| tic testimony of those who witnessed it; but the
thing itself was transient The rending of the
veil of the temple was another event, the proof OF
which remained longer, probably till the destruc-
ton Of the temple by the Romans; yet that also
has long since passed away. But there was one
Witness whose voice has continued to speak from
age to age. The Bible declares that when Christ
expired, {" the rocks rent" and to this day, near
the base of the rock have Described are assures
in the rock, broken and ragged in their surface,
and slightly diminishing as they go nward-re.
resembling nothing artificial but on the contrary,
exactly resembling such ruptures as are the effect
of earthquakes elsewhere. This much for the
place Calvary, a spot which naturally attracts and
concentrates the intense curiosity and interest OF
the Christian world. From hence 10
The Sepu1chre
The distance is short; and this, too, has been
urged as grand object to the authenticity of its
alledged position; it having been profoundly sug
gested that the pretended spots have been brought
near to each other, with view to the greater ac-
commodation of visitors, an imputation as I'M
worthy as it is unfounded in truth. On this point
pursued the same rule as in relation to the other,
having resolved to search the Scriptures for my
self Nor have we need of any other guide. On
comparing the two spots with the Scriptural record
found every thing perfectly harmonious. 1t is
true, the Evangeliss in speaking of the position
of the sepulchre do not all employ the self-same
words. If they had, it might have been suspected
that they copied from each other. Each describes
it independently for himself. John speaks thus :
" Now IN the place where he was cruci6ed there
was garden, and in the garden new sepulchre,
wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they
Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews preparation
day for the sepulchre was nigh at hand" They
carried the body there because it was near In this
brief description, there is the clear indication of
three things; first, that the tomb was hewn out Of
a rock secondly, that it was new and probably
unfinished; and third, that was nigh to the place
of crucifxion. Nigh, is word of very indie
terminate Specification, and its meaning must be
Judged by the circumstances in which it is used
and the subject to which it is applied. The plan
cts are comparatively nigh to the sun, though at
the distance of millions of miles from that lumina-
ry. Comets are sometimes said to pass nigh to
the earth. England is nigh to France and in
building like this, the speaker may be said to be
nigh to the hearer yet if single individual on
returning home should be asked by his friends,
|" were you nigh to Mr. Buckingham 2" he might
very properly say "No;" especially if his seat
were near the door. The word, therefore, must
be judged from the thing spoken Of And what
are the things here spoken of? The death of the
Saviour, and his inerment; and if man were
now inferred within a hundred yards of the spot
where he died. would you not say that the place
of his sepulcher was nigh at hand.?" Certainly
you would and such is precisely the fact in rela-
ton to the sepulchre of Christ. Joseph of Ari-
mathea, wealthy Israelite, had been getting a
tomb made for himself. 1t had never been occu-
pied, and probably not quite finished and he
gave it freely as place for the reception of
Christ's body.-That sepuchre is still to be seen.
1t is "hewn out of the rock" 1t is a chamber,
excavaed out of mass of surrounding stone, and
in it there is a sarcophagus. 1t is very true that
the Empress Helena, in her zeal, very unadvisedly
made alterations and additions but she never dis
turbed either cavern or the sarcophaeus. And in
the latter there still remains proof that it never
was completely finished for in one of its angles
there is part of the stone which protrudes be-
You'd the proper line, and has not been cut away
by the chisel. Can any thing be more natural,
than that the feeling of deep and Undesirable VEN
Grafton associated with such an event should ex-
tend itself to the material substance of every thing
around and that those who had the control of the
place, should say to all who would interfere with
it, "Forbear! Let this stone be preserved as it
stands. No tool of man shall approach it. To
alter it in the slightest degree, would be but
proclamation" appeal to every man who hears
me, whether there is not feeling within his own
bosom which responds to such language, and wheth-
er the present state of the tomb is not just what
we might expect it to be?
And now, satisfactory as are these evidences in
the localities themselves, both of the cross and of
the tomb,-if they were not so, and we had moth
ing to confirm the voice oftradtion in the matter,
what is more natural than that the spot where two
such events took place should be scarcely preserv
ed by a local tradition? In England, every boy
in the neighborhood can show you the spot where
Cesar landed; the most ignorant farmer of the
vicinity will lead you to the field where the battle