The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1881-12-23

have seen for the burial of holy men in AL
giers and Syria. 1t is the tomb of Rachel
Surrounding It are found the slovenly tombs
of Mohemmedans with their rough tomb
stones lying loosely in dirt and dust. 1t was
built by the Hebrews. Here they come on
/ Thursdays to wall and burn incense There
is no doubt that not only here was BENJAMIN
born, bat Rachel died. All agree to this
and it is pleasant to have brothers-both He
brew and MosIem, both of whom claim fee
simple in ali that concerns Jacob-agree up
on something. Here Jacob set a pillar 20
memorize the last resting place of her whom
he won after such a romantic, though dill
tory, courtship. Seven years was nothing
''for the love he bore her" 'And as for
mellow sad the simple story-'I buried
her there, in the way of Eprah-the same is
Bethlehem 20
Who is the strange man we see sitting
wearily at the arched door of the tomb?
What brings this pilgrim here-he of the
grizzly beard and long, unkempt hair? He
is no Arab-nO Hebrew. He wears no bour-
nous of stripes and no dark gaberdine only
a plain black garment, dusty, like his bare
feet. with travel. We asked him, through
our Yankee Arab guide, not altogether in.
curious at this sad, strange and lonely ward
er at the birthplace OF BenOni-''son of nv
sOrrow'-Is he, too, like US, pilgrim to the
tomb and shrine of our elder day? Yes, he
is pilgrim, like us-and from Russia. He
Is Greek priest from the Voga, and lives
spiritually upon JOrdan's stormy banks,
waiting for the rain to fructify his fields He
owns lands heTeabout also, and has come
hither TO max his new leases. Thus was
our Illusion of the pilgrim at Rachel's tomb
dissipated for even here the cause of the
pilgrimage was cGlsi lltcri. Near by, on the
west, In the village of Belt Jala, live the
Greek and ATme MIA patriarchs, so that this
is piOus precinct, and land is none the less
valuable because it IS not cultivated by the
Arabs, or CveTrun by BedOuins Christians
till it, At this point you may go to Solo
mon s pools. They are one of the wonders
Of this vicinity and worthy of minute de-
scrption for their beauty, size, history, and
permancy. From them yet waters flow into
the mosque which is built over the temple,
Here is the sealed fountain referred to in
Solomon's songs. It is said that these pools
were repaired by Pontius PLATE, but that
would not make their waters more agree
able. Maiden hair ferns abound about them
take plunge and come up beaded with an
tiquities We had no occasion to study in
! that fashion. and were content to see the
Arab women I'LL their goat skins from one of
the openings in the aqeduct.
The hill tops show little villages after we
leave the Hebron road, but none look as
bithe and prosperous as Bethlehem, as she
sits crescont-shaped upon the mountain
side. How OF whence come its vine, fig and
olive luxuriance I cannot see, except that the
water comes mysteriously from the pools Of
Solomon, for is it not said in Ecclesiastus
81 made me pools of water to water there
with the wood that bringeth forth the trees?''
Or perhaps this white soil hath dews. Ger
tain it is that in ann around Bethlehem
something else was grown in early days
than the sheep that David tended here
, abouts, or the lion and the bear which he
fought. Here were once the fruitful barley
fields which Ruth CLEANED after the reapers
when the great love arose in the breast Of
Boaz, out of which grew the stock of Jesse
and David-a line ever made benign by hav-
ing rs its pleasant:places the vicinity of Beth
lehem, and its ancestress Ruth, and its des-
cendant Jesus, the son Of Mary and Joseph
Here is the source of the Kings of Judah and
the worlds Savior
We halt at the gate of the town. We are,
owing to impediments, compelled to aban-
don our carriage. We are surrounded by a
bevy of Bethlehem girls. One is exceedingly
pretty and does not degrade the .neighl I.
hood of Ruth by unseemly screeching for
aims. She plies a pair of pincers, and turns
in and twists upon the wires olive beads for
rosaries, with a property of easiness,' which
Shakespeare commends in the ''hand of lit
tie employment, My wife buys one and con-
tracts for another rosary, to be made before
we return.
These dozen girls, os whom "Eothen''
makes an extravagant picture of coy and
debOnair Ioveliness, are yivacious and some
what pretty, and would be more so if not
dirty and sore-eyed. They wear little close
cottage caps, with two or three rows of coins
tapping closely on each other, and in the
sum making quite a dowry. They jingle
meTrily when shaken. l would not Gepre-
ciate these Christian maidens, for these are
not of the MosIem religion, whatever their
blood. But 1 cannot fail to portray one
beautiful woman-a young mother, who, be
it reverently, recalled, if not the Madonna,
the picture of her by Raphael, ola Perla'-
in which the magi are offering gold, franklin
cense, and myrrh. She sat apart upon
stone under the shade OF an aTchway. nurS
ing babe. Her hair had that rich auburn
and ethereal fineness with which Murrillo
favors his MadOnn as which are likenesses,
by the way, of his Andalusian wife l won
der il, peradventure, this beautiful Bethie-
hem mother might not have in her veins
some of that precious blood of the house and
lineage of David that escaped the murderous
/ decree of Herod.
Bethlehem has 4, 900 people and 500 houses
Many of the houses are substantial The
/ streets are so narrow that our guide has to
ride ahead and employ people to move i'm
pediments out of the way. 1t is said the
people are handsome. That reputation may
come from the ruddy cheeks of David, or
the graces of Ruth, or the pictures Of the
Madonna. One thing must be said of the
town, and that is that if it has any beauty or
good in it, it is Christian, for it is par excel
lence the Christian town of Judea, In 1884,
after an insurrection by the Arabs, Ibrahim
Pasha, then ruler, riddled the Moslems unto
death after his peculiar methods, quite wor-
thv of a descendant of HerOd.
Before purchasing our olive wood beads,
mother of pearl, and other souvenirs where
many such are deftly made BY exquisite art,
we make our visit to the most attractive
place of Bethlehem. The place Of the Natiy-
N