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HOLY LAND. 
UETHLEHEM. 
Bethlehem is situated at the distance 
of six aiil'-f, ^ 
Jerusalem, in a fine country, blest with a salubriou®‘''^jy 
abundant fertility. The water is conveyed in a !oW 
FOKS 
HELicias SoLOMONis lavcs the herbage of the v 
uuaieuil 
is still in good 
beautiful rivulet 
which formerly passed to Jerusalem. The * — ,,[i. 
is a charming spring, yielding a constant supply of 
three large cisterns, one of which * 
At a small distance from these, a 
fertilizes several fine gardens, while the circutnjac^®' ,iiit 
if" 
richly clothed with an elegant assemblage of fig-b'^®®' 
and olives. 
Bethlehem received its name, which signifies the 
Bread, from Abraham ; and it was surnaraed Jr 
Fruitful, after Caleb’s wife, to distinguish it froth 
Bethlehem, in tlie tribe of Zcbulon. It belongphj^i,f'| 
tribe of Judah, and also went by the name of /, 
of David, that monarch having there been 
tended sheep in his childhood. Abijan, the L 
of Israel, Elimelech, Obed, Jesse, and Boaz, 
David, natives of Bethlehena, and here must be P) 
scene of the admirable eclogue of Ruth. St. j 
apostle, also received life in the village of Betlileb®’ ^ ct^ 
The convent is connected with the church 
certain')' 
t often ^ 
Oil the P; 
This court leads by y‘,“; 
inclosed with lofty walk; 
door into the church, The edifice is 
antiquity, and, though often destroyed and as 
it still retains marks of its Grecian oriain. 
at the foot of the altar you oljocrve a marble 
corresponds, as tradition asserts, witli the P° ‘j jj ,,; gt 
heavens where the miraculous star that conducte' 
kings became stationary. The Gretks occupy K 
the filagi, .as well .as the twu other 
transom of the cross, t hese last are erapty>^‘J.j-j^ei'®,tl'' 
naves fob^'r 
aiib 
aiiars. Two spiral staircases, each composed or 
open on the sides of the outer chyrch, and cou 
tu 
