The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-04-20
From the Boston Transcript.

ARRIVAL OF THE PROTESTANT BIsHoP IN PALEs-
TINE. Jan. 81. The entry of the Bishop Of Pales-
tine into the city of David marked by favora-
BILE circumstances could possibly have been antici
pated by the most sanguine friends of Protestant
missions in the East.
On the morning Of the Goth inst our little commu-
nifty much excited by the arrival Of messenger
from Jaa with the intelligence that the British Con-
sui General and Bishop Alexander had arrived off
that port in steam frgate, and might be expected
in Jerusalem on the following day. MIR. Nicolay-
sen, highly respected and talented Hosten Danish
gentleman who is now a clergyman of the Church of
England and the head of a mission for promoting
Christianity among the Jews at Jerusalem, mmedi-
ately started to meet them. The rencontre took
place at Ramleh, the Ramah of Scripture, (stl
considerable town. where the Bishop, the Consul
General, and numerous suite, halted to pass the
night The Bishop took up his quarters at the house
of the American Consul, the wealthiest Christian in
the place, and the Consul General with several Of
fcers OF the Devastation steam frigate, aghted at
the Armenian Convent.
On the following day they made the entry into our
ancient capital, in procession which will be
bered by those who it to the latest day of their
lives. When within five miles of the gates they
Joined by the few British and American residents
horseback, headed by Proconsu Johns, who is arch-
tect of the intended church, as well as ocn te,ens
of MIR. Young. On approaching the town, the cav
alcade which already consisted of so or 60 persons
was swollen by the junction Of the Bey, second in
command of the troops who accompanied by guard
of honor and the Janissares Of the Pacha had been
sent to compliment Colonel Rose his arrival while
all the loungers OF Jerusalem turned out for the
casio. Not the least interesting object of the throng
was Mrs. Alexander, the fair partner of the Right
Rev. Prelate. Being Gin that state in which ladies
wish to be-" it had been considered by the physician
of the mission unadvisable for her to attempt the
journey on horseback Accordingly large later
wan or Oriental litter was constructed, which, sup
ported before and behind by stout mules conveyed
Mrs. alexander and the younger portion of her fam
lily over the rocky and precipitous tracks which lead
from Jafa to Jerusalem. The procession consisted of
more than 100 persons on horseback.
The throng passed on, and the scene which ensued
at the Bethlehem gate, by which it entered the town.
battles all description the side were the grey
massive battlements and picturesque towers of Jeru-
sale mo mean specimen of the solidity with which
Sultan Suleyman fortified the conquests of his pre-
decessor, Selim and the other was the vale that
leads to Bethlehem, now rugged and now unduated,
with all its light and shade softened in the approach
ing twilight, while the dark and sngularly and
unpeaked line of the mountains of Moab beyond the
Dead sea walled in the prospect. The wildly
tired and unearthly looking Bedouin iregulars, who
had been playing the deereed, and gamtollng round
the process at the full speed Of their desert horses
contented themselves with firing off their muskets
being now hemmed in by the motley throng of citizens
and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in their furred pelisses
and well-folded turbans, down to the filthy old Polish
Jew, in the last stage of wilfu hydrophobia.
After acknowledging the presentation of arms at
the Bethlehem gate, the party moved on towards
tne mouse OF Iur. NlcOlaySon, ana Just as the new
corners turned their heads to admire the Titan-like
masonry of the tower of Hippicus, which dates from
the days of Herod the Tetrarch the guns Numbered
forth the salute for the of the Courban Baram.
Thus, by an odd chance, the Protestant Bishop
made his public entry into of the four holy
cities of Islam (the others Mecca, Medina, and
Damascus) on the occasion of one of the greatest
festivals of the Mahomedan religion. Colonel Rose
descended at the Spanish convent of Terra Santa
Dr. Alexander took up his quarters temporarily with
Mr. Nicolayson, his own residence, which is upon
the Pool Of HezekiaI, being as yet unfinished
On the 22d, Colonel Rose, Dr. Alexander, and |
large party, inspected the intended site of the new
church. 1t will be built upon the most elevated part
of the city, the body of the church will be gothic |
and the towers in the style of mosque minarets, |
which accords admirably both with the church itself
and with the other public edfces of the city, for |
Gothic and Saiacenio the twin daughters of the
byzantine style. The Bishops residence will be |
Elizabethan. The stone necessary for the ed6ce
will be procured from the Mount Of Olives.
In the afternoon of the some day Colonel Rose
presented DIR. Alexander to Tahr Pasha, who as I
have understood, received him with great politeness
Of course, it would be an illusion to suppose that
this reception proceeded from any sympathy with
the objects of the mission the part Of the Turkish
authorities.
On the 23d, the Bishop preached his Introductory
sermon, choosing for his text Isaiah, chapter 65
and verse Is: VIII reas thou (alluding to Jerusa-
lem and the Jews) hath been forsaken and hated SO
that no man went through thee will make thee an
eternal excellency, JOY of many generations The
OF the right reverend Prelates discourse
was 10 show that, although Jerusalem had endured
and might still endure, much suffering in the fulfil
ment OF inspired prophecy, nevertheless brighter
days were at hand.
(lI >rp Mr. r n |