The Cecil Whig., 1855-12-15
Gi)c Craus!er.
From the New York Observer.
Notes in the Holy Land.
HEBRON.

HEBRON.
And now we come to Hebron. 1t was III
end ofour camel travel. Right glad was
to be able to discharge the beast and hi
bcaStly attenlants. The old rule, nevc
throw away dirty water ill you get clean
was one We were ready to violate, for nothin.
could be worse than the plague ofthrse Bed
awin ShekS guides and servants, and tllci
came|S with broken saddles, shifting burdens
back breaking trnt, sudden jerks and swing
ing gait, that bid defiance to all powers o.
patience, and made travelling for health and
pleasure rather melancholy and sick cnna
entertainment. Yet there is not one of Us
who would not go back again by the SANG
route, and encounter the same fatigucS and
exposures for the sake Of that fee and glor.
iouS passage of the rocks and mountains, tht
boundl,ss desert, and the thousand thoughts
of anc ionl sacred scenes that can be cnioycd
only in crossing the wilderness from Egypt
to the Promised Land.
Here we are in the mrlst of the plain of
Mamre which is Hebron. The hills rise
Sloping Oh every side and are clothed with
vcrdurc. We are surrounded by the album
dant fruits Of fertile fields and so strong is the
contrast with the long series Of days in the
desert, that we feel as the IsraclieS must
| have felt when the spies came bac! with the
grapes of ESchol borne upon pole. On this
plain stands the walled town of Hebron. At
the gate we send in word to the governor. to
announce our arrival, and wait for him to
bid us welcome and give the necessary orders
lor our lodging. This comes at last, and we
enter the city.
The streets Of Hebron are narrower than
the narrowcst of Cairo, some of them not
| A. ,. q l., L
stories high, often surmountcd with small
domes. and built of rough brown stone. Tie
sunlight is excluded from some Of these mar
row streets by covering stretched ACROSS
! from house to house, producing dampncss
and gloon favorable neither to health nor en-
joymcnt. Numerous mosques with no great
prctcnSion to architectural beauty are found
| in Hebron. showing how completely the Ma
honctan faith has usurpcd the Abrahamic.-
Indeed. the principal mosque, and into which
no Christian is allowed to enter, stands upon
the spot where tradition says that the father
of the faithful was buried. The sacred cdiiicc
is within massive WALL and carefully guar
dcd against PROCLAMATION by the foot of an in
iidcl Within it are the tomhs of Abraham
and Sarah, of Isaac and Rcbccca, and of
Jacob and Leah, (for Rachel was buried at
Bethlchcm.) There is more reason to give
credit to this, than to many Other Of the ira
diiiUns with which the land a',ounaS.
brought away with me specimen of the
marble SdId to he part of the tomb, and as
Joscphus records that the monuments Of the
patrlarchs at Hebron were Of the finest mar
bic, am willing to believe that mine is a gen
uine portion of the mauSolcum Of father Ahra-
ham. But if we were excluded from the mos
que, the synagogue of the jews was open to
ms and we entered its humble portals, in the
dirty quarter of the city 20 which they are
restricted, and there we sat down on the floor
while the master of the synagogue unrolei
the manuscript copy of the law and rcycrcn-
TALLY exhibited it as. a holy record. The
people came in to worship while we wcie
there, and some of them appeared deeply alb
sorb, and affected in the midst of their de-
vo.iOns. 10 me there was profound and
painful interest IN the scene. Here for the
first time had entered city Of the Holy
Land: was among the people who had given
the Billie and the Saviour to mankind: | was
a pilgrim from beyond the seas to the tombs
Of the patriarchs, and was now in perhaps
the Oldest city on the earth, where the Lord
God had oftcn appeared to his servants and
given them revelations Of his will, and now
among the descendants of those patllarchs
worshipping the God Of their fathers, but still
with veil on their hearts and ignorant Of The
only way Of access TO hlm hy his Son. \
sense Of the ancient and solemn came down
on me, even in this low and gloomy apart
mcnt and despite the unbellcf and onmity of
these Jews, my sympathi,s were deeply stir
rcd, when looked upon them as the lincal
representatives Of mighty race that once
pcoprd these wales and hills
AT sunset | walked out Of the town, and
stood by the immense reservoirs of water
which were here constructed in very early
times, and are kept in rclair for the supply of
the city with water, as we'll as for the liockS
and herds that are daily brought down from
the mountains. Without doubt these are the
very pools which arc spoken Of in the history
Of David and not unlikely Abraham and
Isaac watcred their sheep where these ilocks
arc drinking. And then turned to Genesis
xviii : |, where it is written, "And the Lord
appeared unto Abraham in the plains of Nam
re and he sat in the tent door in the heat Of
the day. And he lifted up his eyes and looked
and TO- three angels stood by him. This
valley is so narrow that the city of Hebron
covers most of the plain, and we must he very
near where these angels stood, where the
LORD himself appeared in human form and
talkCu WIN lic Iiaularcn i'te W lucc' all
noumcing to him the birth of Isaac ard before
they parted informing him of the impending
doom of Sodom. Here too came Jacob from
Padan Aran,, while his father, Isaac, was
dwelling in Hebron. bringing his children and
Lcahard the mothcrlcSs sons Of Rachel. llrc
too, that wild boy, Ab>alom, came, and rails
cd the bloody standard of revolt against his
father, who afterwards mourncd his death IN
words that have not lost their eloquent beauty
in the lapse of years. How many stores
from sacred history come thronging the mem
ory to make this region one of more than TO-
mantle interest, carrying us back to the ear
licst record of men, and compelling us TO feel
IN spite of the circumstances that now annoy
us and mar the harmony of our associations,
that the ground whereon we stand is holy
What were the thoughts of the old patriarch
when the ambassadors Of heaven approached
the door of his tent ? This valley is one of
| the audience chambers of the Most High, and
the land into which we have come is indeed
none other than the Holy Land.
IREN.EU S.
o-TSan Francisco is burdcncd with debt
size cannot pay, and her treasury is empty;
New Orleans has disposed of the use of her
public wharvcs for three years, so as TO raise
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