The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1844-02-22
NJ | S G L L l. A N Y .
From the Brother Jonathan.

man Tailor, from Werdohl, IN West
phaiia. Translated from The third
German edition, By William HoeoiH"
NAzA TIL.
We asked the way to Nazareth-ca!ed
in Arabec Nazara and it was pointed out
10 us with the assurance that it was very
easy to find. Thereupon we laid US down
under a shady 6gtree by cattle-shad,
and refreshed ourselves by the clear water,
but had nothing to eat, Alter this, when
we had climbed over hills covered with
low brushwood, had seen to the east the
village of Cana in Galiee, with its little
mud hus, which looked like ruins, and
had again refreshed ourselves with cold
water at a well, near village, in dale
planted with fig and oIive-lrees, we espied
the lutte town Of Nazareth, standing still
and lcne y on another hill, with its little
hu!s of clay and mud, with flat roofs. from
amid which a conven, lowered alo0. sur
rounded by a wall. One hut, owing TO
the stcepness of the hill, lay as it we're
over the other.
And this then was the place where our
Savior passed the years OF his childhood,
and where he afterward, on his perambu.
lations, taught in the schools. And he
came 10 Nazareth, where he had been
brought up, land as his custom was, went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,
and stood up 10 read" Luke w. l6.
Between. two hedges of Indian.fg,
whose prickly leaves "A foot long, six
inches broad, and an inch thick - grow
when they fall to The earth, and whose
fruit has a pricky shell and a kernel
within, we climbed the hill, and attempted
10 address some young women from the
Frankish convent; but they fled in terror
into the houses, and fastened the doors
after them. The children, too, who saw
us, ran off with loud oulcries, for our
German costume was not only strange 10
them, but we wore at our sides stou, 50.
bres. We were also warned off by the
monks. They declared that the plague
prevailed in Nazareth, and that the con
vent was in quarantine. Thereupon |
demanded loudly, and with desperation,
whether we were to lie down and perish
on the road2 They let US know, how
ever, from distance, that they could not
hel p u.s. and asked what countrymen we
were. We replied, Germans, and from
Prussia!" 10 which they rejoined, that
not long before a Bavarian prince had
been there, whom they had also refused
10 admit
d II II L e H N.
Bethlehem lies on hill, and is, like
the Mount of Olives, surrounded with
vineyards and fig trees. On the mount
aims we saw hocks of sheep and goats
l called 10 mind the shepherds, who, on
that sacred night, tended their focks in
the fields of Bethlehem, when the angel
of the Lord descended from heaven, and
announced to them the birth OF the Re-
deemcr Of the World; and a mountain |
was pointed out to me at about mile and
q half from Bethlehem, which was of a
conical form, and strongly distinguished
from the rest, as the scene Of this joyful
Bethlehem is inhabited entirely by Chris.
tians, who chiefly maintain themselves by |
carving pictures from the Sacred history,
on tablets of mother-ofpearl, and selling
them 10 pilgrims. The convent of Beth
lehem is attached to the church, which is
built upon the spot where Christ was
born, and both lie in the same court, sur
rounded by great wall. The church,
like that Of the Holy Sepulchre, has three
for the Armenans, Greeks, and
Catholics. We went first into the Cath.
olic, in order TO attend divine worship
As We had been conducted to the tomb of
Christ, so were we here conducted 10 the
'acred spot Of bis birth. bearing burning
in our hand, and there we knelt
With the clergymen and performed our
levolions. These tapeIs, which, at the
POTION are impressed with a picture of
he newborn child, on the one side, and
IN the other, with that Of the crucifxion,
have also brought home with me as a
memento.
In the elevated choir of the church,
which belongs to tbs Greeks, there stands
IN altar Of the Wise Men of the East.
At the foot of this altar you observe in ,
he pavement a marble star, and exactly
above this, it is said that the star which
he Wise Men followed, stopped.
We descended thence by a winding
'toir of fifteen steps, and found ourselves
n the sublerranean grotto under the choir,
which occupies the site of the place of
he Savior'S birth. Quite at the east end I
If it, you are sho vn the exact spot where !
le was born, where his mother wrap.
aim in swaddling clothes and laid him in
, manger. AT the distance OF a few PAGES
stands maDger hewn in stone, and lined
with marble, which serves to remind you
IF that in which the marvellous child {
once lay, on hay and straw. Sixteen
amps, perpetualy burning, hang over it,
md ilIumine the darkness of the grotto.
You are now led still farther down some {
,tnrs nd cnnan int, liz. c.-aL.o 10 .,,hich ! .