Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-16
IN PALESTINE.
LINGERING AT BETHLEHEM AND
RECALLING ITS MEMORIES.
Trying to Sink in Its Waters
The Jordan.
special Correspondence of the REcoRD-US1os. ]
On THE JORDAN, I


along the aqueduct and past Urtas, the
site Of Etam, where Sampson slew thou
sand Philistines also, the Garden of Solo
mon. Of Etam, built by Rahoboam, only
ruins remain, but the gardens, still watered
from the pools above them, are very fine.
From the mountain side they seem but
sixty or eighty feet wide, and are about
two miles in length, including the side
canyons. They are hemmed in between
two steep mountains of Juda near Tekoa,
about 300 feet below the bride path over
which we passed. They are nevertheless
1000 feet wide and bear vegetables and
fruit whose demand in the markets file
rIsalem bring the very largest price paid
for produce of their kind As we ride
past these luxuriant beds and terraces
Solomon's saying affords no relief to us.
not being able to enter and eat, but there
was q mental feast in his words concerning
them that will bear quoting: Awake, o
north wind, and come thou south blow
upon my garden, that the spices thereof
may flow out. Let my beloved come into
my garden and eat his pleasant fruits
Bethlehem is now in sight. Beautiful
Bethlehem, ephratah! 1t is surrounded by
valley and glen, and the scar look of these
wild, rugged hills and ravines inspires one
with spirit of buoyancy, such as charac-
terlzed the inhabitants in the days of Da-
vid. Is there a city on earth so highly
honored as Bethlehem? Jerusalem has its
Antonio and its Golgotha, its place of trial
and execution; but Bethlehem, the
"House of Bread," is revered as the CITY of
the birth of the Savior, and to this day il
Is esteemed as being entitled TO place of
great distinction in Palestine. The events
of sacred history recorded as having oc-
Cured in ii and in the vicinity are worthy
to be named, and give to Bethlehem a
central historical location.
As | stand upon the street at the entrance
of the Church of the Nativity, and see
mothers carry their babes upon their arms,
each passing stranger brings the recurring
thought of Him who assumed the helpless.
Illuminating attitude of an earthly rela-
ton that he might meet the wants and
necessities of fallen man from his infancy
even down to old age. The observation of
General Lew Wallace, concerning the
visit Of the wise men, is a simple and
beautiful narrative of the " Babe of Beth
lehem:" They saw the child was as other
children; about his head was neither MIN
bus nor material crown; its lips opened not
in speech; and if it heard their expressions
Of JOY, their invocations, their PRAYERS, it
made no sign whatever, but babv-like.
looked longer at the flame in the lantern
than at them"
The Church of the Nativity was erected
over the grotto where Christ was born by
the Empress Helena, A. D. 327. Prop
erly speaking, the Basilica was then
erected. 1t is monument of Christian
design and construction, and is the oldest
in this respect in the world Its length is
l20xll0 feet. 1t has nave and four
aisles. The horizontal architrayes are
supported by ranges of Corinthian col
umns. The marble columns are said to
have come from Solomon's porch of the
Temple at Jerusalem. The rich mosaics
that once adorned it are rapidly fading
away, and the whole building is going to
ruin. 1t is the property of all the sects
that have quarters about the grotto. Two
winding stalrcases lead down to the cave
where Jesus is said to have been born, one
from the Greek, and the other from the
Armenian Chapel. The Latins also have
a chapel here. My letter necessarily en-
braces too much territory to remain here
long; but let US descend the grotto and see
how it looks. Three things are promi-
nent: the lesser is the crypt-like place
where St Jerome spent the greater part of
his life. The vOluminous works that came
from his heart and hands were written
here. Here the "Father of the Church"
lived the life that made him an ''illustri-
ons rscluse," and here he died and was
buried. How secluded is this place How
cheerlessl Did the gloomy and solitary
surroundings of this damp subterranean
chamber beget within him the remarkable |
,uayity that characterized his numerous
writings? or did he choose such retire
meut because it was in harmony with his |
mental temperament, and detracted not
from either the letter or the spirit of his |
gifted productions?
The other places of which | desire to |
speak are those containing the "manger,"
and the location of the birth of Jesus" |
After passing the tomb of ST. Eusebius- |
not the historian-and the SITS. Paula and |
Eustachia, her daughter, and gazing at the |
altar marking the entrance to the vault |
where the 100000 children murdered bv |
Herod were buried" called The Altar of |
the lnnocents, we go through a marrow
passage some % or 30 feet long, and enter
the westside of the Chapel ofthe Nativity. |
1t is low vaulted chamber not to exceed
in hight u feet, and 3S feet long and II
wide. There is a semicircular apse at the
east end, in the marble pavement of which
is q silver star. Suspended over this are
sixteen silver lamps, whose dim light con-
tinually struggles to displace the darkness
and midnight gloom that seeks TO hover
al
each side of it are altar decorations, some
of which are not so rude as others, but
taken as whole, in general view, makes a
passable display of taste in arrangement.
Upon drawing near, the Latin inscription
on the star could be easily read:
"HIC DE yIRGINE MARIA JESUS cHRIsTrs
NATUs EST"
IL Here Jesus Christ was born of the Vir
gin Mary.")
Near this, to the right, and a little west
of it, is the Altar Of the Manager. mar
bic trough is set in front of mantle. on
which are decorations, and lamps are kept
burning. Pilgrims numerous come to this
chapel to worship, and are eager to kiss
this silver star and this manger of marble.
Whatever doubt tradition brings to us
concerning this spot, the fact that Jesus
was born here-eyen here in Bethlehem
makes the little city with all its dwellings,
and the very hills about it, sacred to the
believing heart.
We also entered another chamber hewn
out of the soft rock near the Church of
the Nativity. 1t is honored as the place
where Mary and Joseph lived until the
flight to Egypt. 1t may be doubted
whether or not the "Well of David" is
identical with the one shown us. When
he longed one day while in the cave of
Adullam for drink of "the water from
the well of Bethlehem which is by the
gate" q Sam. xiii, 14-16l, and imme-
diately three of his mighty men" haz-
arded their lives, and broke through the
ranks of the Philistines and brought him
his desire, which he then refused to drink.
Our course of travel leads us across the
{" field of the Shepherds" and also the
field where Ruth CLEANED after the reapers
of Boaz. In this valley the "voice of the
angelic host resounded"
The boast that heather deities took the
place of the Christians God, and on Chris