The Shasta courier., 1858-11-13
Bethlehem.

Bethlehem, you know, is Christian town
The people are quite unlike the common Arahs
of the country. They are far whittier. and clean
er, and saucier. Many of the women are ysrv
beautiful.
But it was not its tidy streets, nor its lively
women, that claim the tribute of nv eratef,,,
reverence. Here g. God made manifest in the
fesh," descended from Heaven to become the
lowest of the low Upon these hills and smiling
valleys His infant eyes first looked-those ewes
whose lustre was to be quenched on Calvarr 7
fastened to the spot which tradition fixes as the
Nativity. Entering the Latin Convent was led
down fight of stairs into a grotto. Itwas
brilliantly Illuminated, reminding one rather of
the Palace of the Genii in the Arabian NIGHTS
than the humble cot where the meek and lowlv
Jesus was born. Coll and silver lamps were
burning, and the air was heavy with incense.
Beneath gorgeous altar was semi circular
excavation in the rock, where | was told theEa
tivity occurred. 1t was faced with marble kth
the exception of single point about an kh
square, where the black and rugged rock was
visible. Near by, ] was shown pillar against
which the Virgin leaned when she presented the
infant Christ to the adoring Magi Some few
feet to the right was another gorgeous altar, be-
meath which was the manger in which he was
laid This too was faced with marble and re-
fiected the glitter Of the gold and silver lamps.
Oh, priestly PROCLAMATION thus to deck the holi-
est spot on the earth with gewgaws! 1t needed
not your gold and silver, your gorgeous altars,
and the precious incense to make it sacred He
was born in poverty; and you have made His
Nativity grander than kingy palaces. He was
meek and lowly; and you have bedaubed the
ground he trod with your gaudy tinsels. His
Kingdom was not of this world but you have
degraded him to the level of vulgar hero by
your idle decorations and your hollow honors
Away with the glittering censers away with
'he dazzling affairs away with the marble case
ments; away with the costly pictures Give us
the lowly cot and the humble manger; restore
the badges of poverty by which he was sur
rounded; give us back the Nativity of Him who
had no place whereupon to lay his head-who
was the humblest of the humble, and the poor
est of the poor.
An hour and half from Bethlehem and
was at Solomon's Pools. believe that there is
no question that these remarkable reservoirs are
the work of the great King whose name they
bear. They are three in number the largest of
which is some 5S2 feet long by 25O broad They
are built upon an inclination, rising one above
the other, and connected one with the other, by
an acqueduct. From them the water is convey
ed by means of acqueducts, to Jerusalem. The
greatest one has a depth of so feet and yet
they rest on arches )! They were filled with
water when | saw them, and amazed me by their
great size and wonderful preservation They
lie in beautiful valley, in which tradition as
serts was garden where the King was wont to
resort.
And now turned my horses head toward
Jerusalem. Two hours ride brought me to the
tomb of Rachel, the beautiful wife of Jacob. 1t
stands in barren and desolate spot; no palm
or sycamore protects it from the fierce blasts of
winter or the burning suns of summer, and no
cypress waves its sad branches over it. As
looked upon that lonely tomb and thought of
the beautiful life of the sleeper, remembered
the touching words of Jacob in his last hour:
And as for me, Rachel bury me in the way
from Bethlehem, and buried her there As
cending high hill, passed the Convent of
Elias, and soon after entered the beautiful plains
ofRephraim, where the hosts of Senacherb were
smitten by the destroying angel Descending
from my horse, walked through the gloomy
valley of Hinnan, and thought of the terrible
maledction of Jerusalem q This place shall no
more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son
of Hinnam, but the place of slaughter"