Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-08-19
The TOMB OF RACHEL. CORES


"Upon returning to Bethlehem, I rode
by the tomb of Rachel, small build
ing with whitened dome, and having
within it a high oblong monument. built
of brick and succeed over. The spot
is wild and solitary, and not tree
spreads its shades where rests the beau
tifal mother Of Israel. Christian, Jew
and Moslem all agree that this is just
the spot where Rachel was buried, and
all unite in IGNORING it. The Turks
are anxious that their ashes may rest
near hers, and hence their bodies have
been strewn under tombs all around the
simple grave of Rachel. The sweet
domestic virtues of the good wife have
won Their love and admiration, as the
tomb of Absalom, near the brook Ke-
dron. their detestation. Upon the lat
ter they throw stone to mark their
horror of the disobedient son; while
around the former they wish when they
die to be inferred. Nor is this won
derful. The wife worth fourteen years
of service as a shepherd must have been
wife worth having. The whole life
of Rachel is, indeed, one of the most
touching in Biblical history. The sweet
shcpherdess has left her mark upon the
memory of man, as we'll as the place
of her tomb. The great women of the
earth, the Zenobias and the Cleopatras
have died, been buried, and their very
places of burial been forgotten but to
this day stands over the grave of Ra-
chel, not the pillar Of Jacob set up,
but modern monument in its place,
around which pilgrims from every lar d
under the sun gather in respect am
reverence for the faithful wife and good
mother of Israel"
On reading the above, there comes
almost involuntarily from every one
the expression, how beautiful, how
true! In contemplating her history,
there looms up before the mind in
colossal proportions the personifcation
of everything that is noble and great
and angelic infemale character. From
the summit of moral grandeur to which
she has by her example elevated her
sex, may be seen far below the pigmics
of the same sex, whose chief ambiticIIl
appears to be to hutter like butterfly
for one brief hour and then pass to the
shades of forgetfulness.. The figurers
at women's rights Conventions and the
street sweepers Of the nineteenth GEN.
fury, can scarcely belong to the same
race ; or if they do, the length of time
which has interviewed between her course
and theirs is much greater than the
distance between her greatness and
Their insignifcance. The women of
the present day and age Of the world,
who are worth fourteen years. service,
are comparatively scarce; a1d he who
pays that price may think himself for
tunate if he is not cheated out of at
least thirteen years Of his time. But
it must in justice be admitted that the
degeneracy in the other sex is as great,
and that the Jacobs are about as scarce
as the Rachels and that when the
former shall have come back to the
} true standard CT primitive manhood.
, the latter will be found to exhibit more
Of those excellencies Of character
which may justly be denominated the
: good, the beautiful and the true.
POWER OF IMAG1NATIoN.-Dr. No.
Bile, in very able and analytic lecture
at Manchester, On the Dynamic In.
luence Of Ideas" told good anecdote
Of NJ. Courthouse, a French savant
in illustration to the power Of imagina.
tion. AS DR.. Noble says:
"Mr. Courthouse served in Napo-
Icons army, and was present at many
engagements during the early part Of
the last century. At the battle OIL
Wagram, in 1900, he was engaged il
the fray; the ranks around him hac
been terribly thinned by shot, and al
sunset he was nearly isolated. While
reloading his musket he was shot dowr
by cannon ball. His impression was
that the ball had passed through his legs
below the knees, separating them from
the thighs for he suddenly sank down
shortened, as he believed, to the extent
Of about foot in measurement THE
trunk Of the body fell backwards on the
ground, and the senses were completely
paralyzed by the shock. Thus he lay
motionless among the wounded and deac
/ during the rest of the night, not daring
, to move a muscle, lest the loss of blooc
i should be fatally increased. He fell
7 no pain, but this he attributed to the
stunning effects of the shock to the
, brain and nervous system.
cat early dawn he was aroused by
one Of the medical staff, who came
around to help the wounded. whats
the matter with you my good fellow !?
said the surgeon. 'Ah! touch me ten,
: derly,' replied NJ. Courthouse, Il be.
seech you ; cannon ball has carried
off my le5s.' The surgeon examined
the limbs referred to, and then giving
him good shake, said with Joyous
| laugh, Get up with you, you have
/ nothing the matter with YOU NJ
Courthouse Immediately sprang up in
| utter astonishment, and stood firmly
on the legs he thought lost forever. i
felt more thankful said NJ. Bout
house, than I had ever been in the
whole course of my life before. had,
! indeed, been shot down by an immense