Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1847-09-30

o clock when we passed the boundary. 1t was
impossible to tell the exact moment; but within a
mile or two we felt that we were indeed in the
native land of Christ, and probably on his very
track. lie might have been here His relations
lived at Hebron; and during the first thirty years
of his life he had probably visited them, after
meeting them at the feast of Jerusalem. lie
might have walked over the hills which swelled
higher and higher as we advanced, and rested
beside some Of the wells which yawned beside
our track. At any rate the trees and flowers
which we saw must have been familiar to his
eyes; the thorny acacia which began here to rise
and spread from the stunted shrub of the desert
to the dimensions of tree the scarlet anemone
with us precious garden flower which here
streWed the ground for acres around; the cycam-
en-, which pushed forth its tufts of white and
lilac blossoms from under many stone and
4 bush; and the poppy, maIow, hemlock, and wild
oats which grew as thickly as in any English
hedge. did not know before that these weeds
were as common here as with us; and never be-
fore did the sight of them give me so much plea
sure. Itwould have been pleasant anywhere to
meet these familiar weeds so far from home; but
the delight to-day was to think that He and his
disciples were as much accustomed to them as
was, in the pure country much the same thing
to them as to us.
But we soon came upon traces which showed
that the eXpanse OF pure COUNTRY here was small
in those days, compared with what it is now
The towns must have been more thicky set here
than in any country / ever saw. Patches and
masses of ruins showed themselves Oh every
hand, so near each other as to indicate that the
land must have been pcoped to degree now
nowhere known The first ploughing we had
. seen for ONE weeks was a striking sight to us a
mere scratching Of the soil at the foot Of the hills
but close by lay heap Of building stones, the re.
: mains of town or village Presently we saw
rude plough, with a single camel at work, and al
) hQri was long foundation wall, laid in fal
- distant century. On hight further on, were
= the remains Of a large ancient building, with two
> broken pillars standing, marking the site of the
u ArOer of scripture. Then, though there were
II water-courses about every hill, wells began to a
bound; substantial, deep wells, built with a rim
g with holes i'll it, to receive the covering stone
> such wells as tell of settlement beside them
We stopped early this day-partly because i
was Sunday and partly because our Aral
guards, who know nothin of our Sunday, fount
- a convenient place among the hills, somewha
II sheltered from the cold wind and here,
Il very few niles from the boundary, the gentle
g men of the party discovered that we had sa
IT down in the midst Of what was once larg
u town, though the place appeared a mere ston
u tract, like many that we had passed In tn
y morning early, went out to see for myself, an
e was astonlshed at the extent of the ruins, whic
H. | should not have observed while merely ridin
o. Bly, ] could trace the lines of foundation wal
"a for half a mile and building stones, overgrow
III with grass, lay in hlocks for a considerable d
+ lance round. The many cayerns in the lime
TO stone rocks, now used as beds for goats, wer
found to be the vaults of large buildings no
gone to ruin In a few minutes, we traced thrC
I'd temples, or other such buildings, by their owe
I'd thrown pillars Our eyes being now openet
ne We this day saw more and more remains, till "
ne were convinced tat all the way from the boun
III airy to Hebron, the land was thick-set with town
a and swarm,Ag with inhabitants in the days of
gory-the days when the Teacher went up al
down IN 1t, medltatlng the changes which mu
make It whit | have seen it now lis bills al
streams, its skies and flowers, are to-day VIII
cir they were before his eyes; but where he sa
nd towns on every height, and villages in every moo
he there Is now hardly left one stone upon anothC
ire A group OF black BedOuln tents on a hillside
I'd, camel or two browsing here, and a flock of Goa
le there, are all that relieve the utter solitude whe
RI there was then an innumerable throng of men,
e. As we advanced, on the Monday, the soil /
,se came richer, and field was Joined to field so tn
lat we began to look for the land marks which a
en- here uso3 instead Of fences to bound field pl
- perty. We entered upon thickets and shrubt
so RES, where white roses, the cyclamen, convovr
on us, and fragrant herbs abounded. Soon aft
DDS noon new scence opened upon us. On O
ow left hand lay a wide, deep basin among the hill
To- full of vineyards and oliye-grounds, where t
of stones from the soil were built up into lenc
or and i'll almost every plot rose garden-house.
the This was a sure sign that we were near a TOW
ta- and as we rounded the hill on our right, we cal
in sight of the two eminences on which HEIR
-.. is built. There stood the town where John
Baptist was born; and here were the seer
which he must many a time have talked of W
- his cousin, in their boyish meetings at Jerusal
for the leasts. Hebron, too is only twenty mi
from Bethlehem; only twenty-six from Jerusale
and in those days, when a large amount of We
ly travelling was solemn religious duty noun
ent upon every family, it is scarcely possil
but that relatives must have often visited e;
ere other, and that Jesus and his parents must HI
lch Gonna 70 Uobron
COulC W IltDI Ou
at The cave of Machpelah is there; and the b,
lcn al-pIace of Abraham and his family was sac
onl locality, and an object of pilgrimage to the Jc
was of all ages. As we inquired for it, and wall
TO round the nclosure which the Mohammed
BON 20 now permit no Christian to enter, could
d but think who might have been before us in
10 same quest-1He PcopJe's Journal
sert --------.--~.---44-.-.-- = - *
ll'l A STRUGGLE FOR FREEDoM.-The Mercer La
the nary gives the following account of a slave who
her Gently passed through that place. his way to CT
he da. He was from Louisiana, and he has been Il