The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-23
No. Is.

with Abraham. The Flgnt Is q patneuc
one which you touch a hear 81
stone, for il IL one born Of loFe. cor
row and religion.
When Abraham was q z and
a so5ourner among the sons Of Heth,
the shadow III Z great sorrow felI upon
him in the death Of SaTan WITH
money which was current with the
merchant. ne purchased the cave 81
Machpelah and buried therein the
BODY Of his wife. Afterwards ne was
placed by her side. Isaac and Re
becca followed. Years later tho
mummy II JACOB "as brought up
from Egygt tn sleep with hi9 ances-
tors. ~ his side Lean Was laid. fIfls
beloved Rachael sleeps on the highway
near Bethlehem.
When Abraham. the friend Of
God" had finished his curse his body
Was laid 10 rest in Machpelah, by his
sons Isaac and Ishmael, who not only
loved thcir father, but appeared 70
cherish far each other a brotnerlN
love. l;rt. in the process of after
yes, the mia Of Ishmael en-
traced q ue.t religion, founded upon
hSte. an3 uHinh was in the nature or
q trotcs' s1aifst that Of n jews.
Ghis religion iheV planted in Canaan
rs the power IF the sword, and they
also pOssaes-d Themselves Of the prom
fed land it-e!f. Into their possession
passed the cave Of Machpelah. Around
was erected a stone wall fifty feet
y, ard within the wall and over
cave was erected a mosque which
- dedicate7 To MOhammed. The
f naticaf MosIeIns reverence the tomb
of Abraham as a most holy shrine, and
they allow no Jew 70 enter the sacred
Enclosure under penalty Of instant
death. But around the inclosing wall
The children Of Isaac assemble, read
their scriptures and wall over their
unhappy lot. 50 great is their love
for their great patriarchal ancestor,
that they eagerly put their hands
through q small hole in the wall in or
der that they may feel the air within.
Their humiliation is compete n
their lamentation is in the nature Of
religious service. In the poWerleSs-
ness Of death Abraham can give no
help to a posterity who nave rejected
the promised Messiah.
Mills of Fate Grind Strange Grist.
The treatment and sad lot of the
Jews Of Palestine suggest some ques-
tons regarding the covenant that the
seed Of Abraham should possess the
land Of Canaan. Did it embrace all
of his seed or only those through
Isaac? If Ishmael was not within the
promise, why are his descendants in
possession Of the Holy Land and So
cruelty mistreating the posterity of
Isaac? II the descendants of Isaac
have forfeited their rights under the
covenant, hen why should the nnd
be under a wors people? But those
matters / leave to the preachers. The
sorrOWful wall of the Jews of Hebron
shows further that Fortune some
times puts the bottom rail on top"
When Sarah had attained that age
when hope of offspring was aban-
doned, she still sought to remoye the
Ieproach Of barrennesS as FAR as pos
sible. To that end she licensed
Abraham 10 obtain her children d.
her Egyptian handmade. But, as
soon as her hopes were about to be
realized, the very natural feeling of a
wife asserted itself, and she no longer
treated Iiagar with kindness. And
after Sarah was miraculously blessed
with q baby boy. in her old age, she
one day caught the rude little Ishmael
hooking her beloved 1saac. That was
more h a a devoted mother could
tolerate. and she made Abraham send
Ishmael and Hagar away into the will
dernesS Of Reersheba. Starvation
and death were about to claim the
little o%utcast, but God heard his cry,
blessed him and promised TO make Of
him q great nation. That promise
has been fulfilled, as the cities and
countries Of northern Africa and west
efn Asia fully attest-great in num-
bers, great in war and great in the
propagation of a powerful, albeit a
pernictous. religion. SO intense was
SS83 Oil . tIIV LII pI OStIIi-
tor of the modern Arabs, that she
plainly told her husband that Ishmael
should not be heir with her dear little
Isaac. But the mills Of Fate grind
out strange grist. Today the descen-
dants of IShmael are in possession Of
Sarah's and lsaac's tomb, and will
not even allow their pOsterity to APP
proach the cave which contains their
ashes without a forfeiture Of life.
Christians, like the Jews. are not
low 20 - . -
count of this and other reasons, very
few tourists To the Holy Land visit
hebron 1t is eighteen miles from
Jerusalem. has no hotel and no accom-
m0dations. The town is dirty and the
people filthy. The towns chief inter
est is its past.
Cities That are More Interesting.
Nearly midway between Hebron and
Jerusalem lies Bethlehem. It's popu-
lation is christian. The peoDie are of
natives and are descendants of the
Crusaders. They are cleaner, more
energetic and more prosperous than
the MOhammedaEs. They are en-
gagged mainly in the manufacture of
curious n beautiful articles in olive
wood, coral and mother of pearl. 1t
must do the heart of old Santa
Claus" good to visit Bethlehem, for
there he can find ten thousand things
that will tickle the little folks-and
oID'1I W. q 2A4lS4
names and events are connected with
the little city. but the greatest inter
est centcrs i'll the place where Christ
was born. over the cave stands the
church Of the nativity, and a flight of
steps lead down into the chapel Of
the nativity. 1t is lighted by thirty
TWO lamps which burn night and Gay.
A small garrison of soldiers is sta
toned nearby, and one is on guard all
the time. Ghe reason for The presence
of these armed men / win explain n
another time.
The spot where the Savior of man
kind Was born is marked by q Urge
silver star IN the center Of a white
marble slab. Inscribed on it in Latin
are these words:
"Iiicde Virginie Maria Jesus Christos
natuS est"
fHere Jesus Christ was born or tho
Virgin Nary. The manger wherein
he was laid vas moved to Rome years
ago and placed III the church of Santa
Maria Maggiore. There is a substi-
tuted mango where the original was
The walls of the cave are decorated
with beautiful tapestry, pictures ana
other befitting the birth
place of a God. One instinctively fe"is
that one is on halloWed ground, FOL
the very place itself suggests that
s"omethlng wonderful once occurred