Tour to the Jordan. — Bethlehem. 
657 
of dcpnrtm^, the religious began to sing 
in the church of the monastery* I 
enquired the reason of this singing, 
and was informed, that they were cele¬ 
brating the festival of the patron of 
their order. I then recollected that it 
was the 4th of October, St. Francis^ 
day, and the anniversary of my birth. 
I hastened to tiie church, and ofiered 
up my prayers for the felicity of her, 
who on this day had brought me into 
the world. I deem it a happiness that 
my hrst prayer at Jerusalem was not 
for myself. I contemplated witJi respect 
those religious singing praises to tiie 
Lord, within three hundred paces of the 
tomb of Christ; I was deeply affected 
at the siglit of the feeble but invincible 
band wliich has continued the only guard 
of the Holy Sepulclire sitice it was aban¬ 
doned by kings. 
TOUR TO THE JORDAN. 
We left Jerusalem to the north, be¬ 
hind us; on the west we had the moun¬ 
tains of Judea, and on the east, beyond 
the lied Sea, those of Arabia. VVe 
passed tiie convent of St. liiijah. The 
spot where that prophet rested on his 
nay to Jerusalem, is sure to be pointed 
out to you, under an olive-tree that 
Stands upon a rock by the side of the 
i’oad. A league furtlier on we entered 
the plain of Kama, where you meet with 
Kacheds tomb. It is a square edifice, 
sunnouuted with a small dome: it enjoys 
the privileges of a mosque, for tlie 
lurks, as well as tJie Arabs, honor the 
biiiiilies of the putriacchs. Tiie tradi¬ 
tions of the Christians agree in placing 
Racliei’s sepulclire on tins spot; histo¬ 
rical criticism favors this opinion; but, 
in spite of Thevenot, Monconys, iioger, 
and many others, 1 cannot admit vviiac 
is now denominated Rachel’s tomb, to 
be an antique monutnejit: it is evident¬ 
ly a Turkish edifice, erected in memory 
of a sanrofi. 
We perceived in the mountains, for 
mglit had come on, die lights of the 
village of Rama. Profound silence 
i’cigned around us. It was doubtless in 
such a night as this that Rachel’s voice 
suddenly ^fruck the ear; “ A voice was 
beard in Rama, lamentation and bitter 
weeping; Rachel, w-eeping for her chil¬ 
dren, refused to be comforted, because 
they were not.” Here the mothers of 
Astyanax and Euryalus are outdone; 
Homer and Virgil must yield the palm 
BETHLEHEM. 
We arrived by a narrow and rugo-eR 
road at Bethlehem. We knocked"^at 
the door of the convent; its inhabitants 
were thrown into some alarm, hecausa 
our visit was unexpected, and All’s tur¬ 
ban at first excited terror; but matters 
were soon explained to their satisfac¬ 
tion. 
Bethlehem received its name, which 
signifies the Home, of Bread, from Abra-* 
barn ; and was surnainc-d Ephrata, the 
Fruitful, after Caleb’s wife, to distin¬ 
guish it from another Bethlehem, in 
the tribe of Zebulon. It belonged to 
the tribe of Judah, and also went bv 
the name of the City of David, that 
monarch having there been born, and 
tended sheep in his childhood. Abijan, 
the seventh Judge of Israel, Elimeiech, 
Obed, Jesse, and Boaz, were,like David, 
natives of Bethlehem, and here must 
be placed the scene of the adipirabie 
eclogue of Ruth. St. Matthias ilm 
apostle, also received life in the same 
town where the Messiah came into the 
world. 
The convent of Bethieliern is connect¬ 
ed with the church by a court inclosed 
with lofty wails. We crossed this court, 
and were admitted by a small side-doo.*- 
into tiie church. T.he edifice is certain¬ 
ly of high antiquity, and, though often 
destroyed and as often repaired, srili 
retains marks of its Grecian origin. 
On the pavement at the foot of this 
altar you observe a marble star, which 
correspon^ds, as tradition asserts, uiib 
the point of. the heavens wiiere the mi¬ 
raculous star that conducted the three 
kings became stationary. So much is 
certain, that the spot where tiie Saviour 
ol" the wmrld was born, is exactly un¬ 
derneath this marble star m tiie subter¬ 
raneous church of the manger, of which 
I shall presently have occasion to speak. 
The G reeks occupy the choir of the 
Magi, as well as the two other naves 
formed by the transom of the cros.s. 
These last are empty, and wiihoui:. 
altars. 
Two spiral staircases, each composed 
of fifteen steps, open on the sides of the 
outer church, and conduct to the sub¬ 
terraneous church situated beneath this 
choir. This is the ever-to-be-revered 
place of the nativity of our Saviour, 
At the farther extremity of this crypt, 
on the eas't side, is t.he spot where tiie 
Virgin brought forth the Redeemer of 
aian’tuidj This spot is marked by a 
lyhffg 
