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v-;7 - : . . . ';,'':"''';.'- ; ' '- - l. -. -. . ;- i-- ;." '. ' , . - - ...... - A' TLD Tl TD JTmlrXV' ' tm mm o Y - - VOLUME ml NEWBERN; C. SAfTOYOeTdBEK : 28, 1)820. NUMBER! 136. li .PRINTED AND PUBLlSHEp WpY, BY PASTEUR f lSON, a is . . 1 -x a s i nor annum half in advance, i MISCELLANEOUS. FBOM THE NATIONAL GAZETTE. JERUSALEM, IN 1318. . - . r it Froff Coim FarbirCs Travels in the hj Land in 1817-1?. Ho- To reach Jerusalem, the traveller 'rial combats ywhich (brbod pjreat has to crpss, for the exjieiit of two disasters to the children of the earth, or three miles, plains tolerably well ! Oh'the'4y of my arrival; ij saw cultivated, those of the ancient A- the whole of the Hebrew population rimathea and Xydda. ' jfhe rising; of Jerusalem collected in he' vjalley sun illuminated our route, and we reacnea uxc 'yM - "This," said the Drogoman to me, ujs the birth place of arabbas, the murderer and thief ; ' those 'who look down into this well for a con siderable tima are sure to I see th? figure of this man of blood." We next entered deep valley's, the vegetation gradually becoming wea ker and more scanty until, it ceased altogether. From these valleys to Jerusalem, the soil is- broken, red dish a nd ungrateful, while m the dik tance, the only objects which meet the view are imrnense mounds of ruins, the beds of dried-iip tor. ents, aad winding roads, covered with flints. Decayed cisterns., at the bot tom of which is a greenish! water ; steep ami naked m untainj in the contour : -3uch, agreeably to the lament of Jeremiah, is the terebin-' thine vale which prepares the mind for the strong and terrible impres si m mnde on it by the sight of Je rusalem. ' - I . " The sun was about to self, when, from the summit of a moujuaia, in passing along a flinty road separa ted by two Walls from fi, 'di, which were also covered with flints, I per ceived at , length long ramparts, towers, and vast edificfes, surround ed by a barren soil, and blackened points of rocks which seemed to have fe!t the lightning's stroke : This was Jerusalem. A few Chap els fallen in ruins, were here and there to be seen, with Mount Ston, and, in the back ground, this naked chain of the Mountains of j Arabia Deserta. Appalled and seized with an involuntary terror, we saluted the Holy City , "the first sight of which iias as powerful an'effect on thefsenses, as the existence and disperion of the Jewish nation can produce on the mind. ' The Gate of Bethelhemfor E phraim, by which our caraven made its entry, is not far distant from the Convent of the Reverend Fathers, Missionaries of the Holy Land, by whose exemplary display of charity our reeeption was marked, j They inhabit in ; immense house, the 11 T 1.1I,. r.l I atp.iiin gate of which, while it is constantly cpen to pilgrims and to afl who suffer, is as constantly exposed to the insults of the Mussulmans ; it is low and decayed, with iron fast enings. Having entered it i 1 vaul ted passage terminates in an inner court, provided with dark and? Wind ing staircases, which lead to aev erai cloisters, and to the Church, f It is there that these courageous fnonks lead a secluded life, havine- totstm gle daily against the persecutins of xne i urics, tne hatred of the Creeks and a fond yearning for their iative homes. " Although belonging to so many different nations, I heard them blend their voices, in I accordance, with .that of the native inhabitants of Israel. A Ionk,' whose skill in the arts had once ac quired him celibrity io Europe, ted on the organ ; and incense' moked in the saactuary, where the ords of the God of Horeb and of blnai still resounded. I pity the traveller who, amid ese noble ruins, is solely innuen l b' e doubts that perplex Urn, the mazes in which he is plun- wc happiDCSS of fa man who j has ll A smSular land with a live lJ and confident faith. But what- ever the religious opinions may be, intellectual torpor alone can resist i the sensation of surprise - apd ref spect Jerusalem inspires. A rouud this city all is mute ana the the silent: the last exclamation of son of God seems to have: been latest sound repeated by the echoes of Siloe & Gehennon. From the sum mits of Abarim, of Phasga, and of Achor, desolated nature presents herself to the view like a' witness still struck with terror by the which ha JiUt' passed! The . - scene I ma- emation pourtravs tne- sanguinary wars of the Crusaders, like those si- of fehosaphat: the lyiotsallam had sold the Tews the permission td eel- ebrate there the festival of the 'tombs. Go seeing these captives seated in silence on the tombstones of their ancestors, one, might have said that the clamjour of the last trump was heard, that generations were Crow ding to the banks of the Cedron, and that words of joy a,nd of tribula tion . had already burst from the cl )ud. v" ' ' ' ' The quarter of the Jew3 was what attracted my earliest attention. E'ght or nine thousand of the chil dren of the masters, of Jerusalem still inhabit this capital of the past. A narrow, craggy space, covered with filth, which can scarcely be called a street, divides the houses of this quarter, which are falling in ruins. Pale and iickly beings, with strungly marked physiognomy, thre engage in warm disputes abjut a few medins.i Having descended .by a flight of broken steps, into cel lars, the falling roofs of which were propped by pillars once sculptured and gilt, T learned with surprise that this was the great synagogue ; chil dren in; tatters there learned from an old blind man the history of this city, where their ancestors adored the God of Israel and of Judeah, beneath marble porticoes, and roots suDDorted by ihe cedars of Leban- on. They counted over again the miracles of him whom they also ex. pected, of him who had guided the footsteps of their ancestors in the Deserts of Midan, and who so often brought them back triumphantly in to this Land of Canan, where were to flow fountains of milk and honey. Such are the remains of this na tion, whose captivity left on every side such great remembrances, and fwho raised with their hands, and bathed with the sweat of their brov.s, the proudest monuments of Mem phis and of Rome; j We had to cross the valley of Re phaim to reach Betheihem (in Ara bic, Beyt elahm.) This name by which is denoted the house of bready is said to have been Bestowed -on', it' by Abraham: it was likewise Zs phrata (the fruitful) to distinguish it from another Bethlehem belonging to the tribe of Zabuion. Here it was that David tended his flocki. Abesan, Booz, and Ruth were Beth lehemites. The primitive Chris tians built a small chapel contain ing' the Stable; in which our Saviour was born ; and in, its place the Em peror Hadrian erected 'the , altar of Adonis , which was thrown down by the order of Saint Helen, and on the ruins of which she built a spa cious Church, the form and architec ture of which resemble the Church of Saint Paul, without the walls of Rome. Forty eight columns of E- gyptian ted marble support a wood en fabric said to be of cedar : the mosaics and paintings with which the walls are ornamented, bear alt the characteristics of the barbarism of the middle ages but are in a better taste than the carvings of the capitals and bases of the columns. The-Armenians are in possession of this temple. ? ' I Tne monks in full procession, led me to the subterraneous church: they thcr;e pointed out to me the ' spot where the mapi stopped, and the Governor. , t A small Turkish coin. one where our Saviour , was boras was deafened by impQrtunate cries, all 't(ie chapels are incrusted wiih , and blows were struck ; while the marble, jasper, and thin plates of crowd mingled with the , processions gdt . bronze : they , are lighted by , as they crossed each other ; ythe en gotd and silveMamps. semble presented a tumultuous and The convent is spacious and clos-' afflictinc: Spectacle. v . c . ' - - i-:.: ' .... . ed py high walls : it nas a strong resemblance to a fortress. , The principal gate is very low and nar row, to guard against the Vrabs ma king their way within on horseback and in lage bodies. There was a dreadful tumult at the time of my arrival : a contribution of ten thou sand piasters had , jusV been levied on the population Of Betheihem ex clusively composed of Christians. Cries and threats were to be heard on every side ; but the good monks, who are accustomed to these storms, did not on that account forbear the honours of their modest refectory, which was spread out to us, with all the display . 6f the charitable and hospitable spirit I met with in the other convents pf Palestine. . The inhabitants of; Betheihem cultivated a part of the coasts ? of Rama of those coasts which heard the loud and pathetic plaints of Ra chel Of this resource" they have, since been deprived, and are; now reduced to the necessity of making rosaries, wodden crosses mlaid with mother of pearl and imitations' ot the crib ; these are all consecrated at the , Holy Sepulchre, sol6 to pi -gnms, and their produce paid to the Turks. The features of the daugh ters qf Betheihem are in general reg ular, and their forms graceful: over the face a veil is thrown, but with out concealing it ; and their arms are naked, and-frequently of, the fi nest form that can be imagined. We found them very affable, and courte ous. I visited several families ; and on my departure these good people accompanied me, offering up their prayers to heaven for my safety. The houses of Betheihem which are low and square, like those of Je rusalem, are covered with a terrace or with a small fdora; : almost all the 'flights of stairs are without side. Oh leayinghe city, the view to the right commands the mountains of Hebron, where they still point out and the the to you the tomb of Abraham, the valley of Mambre, where ashes of Caleb repose.- Still ther; are-seen the mountains of geddi, the hills of Odollam, pointed rock which overlooks cavern where David concealed himself-j ; shun the fury of Saul, Mas sada, the vestiges of the fort of Her od, Bethulia, and the summits, of Sennacherib. Vv On the following day I visited the church of the Holy Sepulchre, from which the convent of the Holy Land is distant about four hundred paces only. The streets of Jerusalem are crooked and badly paved ; and the houses, which are for the greater part built of free-stone, are indebted for a scanty portion of light to a small door and one or two windows provided with wooden lattices In a few paltry shops, olives, fruits brought from Dernascus, rice, corn, end a scanty supply of dried legum inous plants are sold while a group of Arabs, dying with hunger, ea gerly survey these stores, the Tur kish dealer smokes his pipe with indifference, as if uttterly regardles i of his profits. .1 The convents of the reverend : fa thers, Missionaries of the Holy Land, being situated in the most el evated part of the city, I had to de scend, bv a flicrht nf stpen stens. in- ' j - o - t r I to the decaveH vanlts nf Souael-Nas- sara, to reach the site of the Holy Sepulchre. The facade of this mon ument is a mixture of the more sque and gothic stiles of architecture; a square tower, deprived of its stee ples, and le velled to the height of the church, has been thus mutilated since the epoch when the Turks re gained the possession of Jerusalem. The exact drawing made by me of this place will perhaps help the rea der to'it. It was on a festival ; the doors were thrown open ; and pil grims thronged either to enter pr pass out. Turks, in the interim, squatted on a divan, mercilessly ex- V The Church of the Holy, Sepul chre has been described in so exac: a maimer, that I shaU forbear a repeti tion of what has been so often &aid respecting it ; the plan of the edi fice is so, regular, that it requires a onsiderable time to come at tht distribution of the parts. -1'he dime of the circular church in the middle of which the chapel of the Holy Sep ulchre is placed, was burned on the twelfth of October T807, and was rebuilt six months after, conforma bly to the plans of a Greek architect of Constantinople,- named Comean. Lalfa. 1 he.Tatins ascribe this ac cident to the Armenians & Greeks without whose riches however, tht restoration could not have beer made. Accordingly, the Greeks findvin the rebuilding a pretext for excluding the Latin Catholics from the Holy Sepulchre. . , The cupola, buiUofse cement ed with stucco, and open likethat of Pantheon at Rome, is supported by pilasters, each separated by an ar cade, which forms a circular, gallery, divided between the different com munions admitted in this basilick. The Holy Sepulchre' is a low marble altar, seven feet in length,1 and two and a' half in breadth, en closed in a, small square chapel built of marble, lighted uv rich and mag nificent lamps, aad entirely covered by hangings of velvet. A painting within, above the sacredUtone, rep resents the triumph of Jesus Chris: over death. It is impossibljaot to feel a profound emotin, not to be impressed with a religious aWe, on seeing this humble tomb, the ' pos session of which has craven rise to more disputes than that of the finest earthly thrones ; of this tomb thr pbwer of which has survived -empires, which has been so often be dewed with the tears of repentance and of hope, and from above which the most ardent supplications daily ascend to heaven. In this mysteri ous tabernacle, before this altar ot perfumes, to which our attention has been directed from our earliest in fancy, we feel an irresistible infl i ence, an overpowering delight. This is the land promised by the; proph ets, and guarded by angels, to which the tiara of Constantine, and tht. brilliant htlmet of Tancred, did ho mage. Lastly, it would seem that the regards of the Eternal are more specially fixed on this monument, the sacred pledge of the pardon and redemption of man. , I quitted the chapel, and spent an hoUr in visiting the different sta tions, which the Italian monks who accompanied me explained. By seyeral fateral naves, beneath lof to. vaults supported by columns of an order of an architecture linknownJo me, we proceeded, sometimes amid the glare of thousand of lumps, and at others feebly aided by the uncer-1 tain light let in by small glazed win dows. " Here," said m conduct ors, 4 (hrlst ivas .sccurgtd ; here," proceeding onward, '"his head wai invested with the crown of thorn-" and still further, "here lots xvere drawn for his garmmts" Havi ng ascended by a flight of steps wind ing spirally round an rnornious pil lar; we entered another church, or h pavement of which they imprin ted .kisses ; it was Golgotha. A mor.k who was still busied in reciting lis prav t rs, pointed to a gate thro' which the cleft in the rock where our Savioui 's cross was fixed was to be seen. " Here," said he, "is the place where opprobrium and sorrow aided death to consum mate the triumph of sin. Here was commit ted the crime which1 dismayed the heavens, scared the shook the remotest sepulchres and foundations of the canh." Christians of Coptos of Yemen, and of Abyssinia, were thf re pros trated at the side of the pilgrim of Tobolsk, of Novogorod, or of Te- - From the ftew-York Daily Advertiser. GENERAL EATQf. It is well known tliat the United States were indebted to the adventurous spiiit, v undaunted braverj , and unexampled per-j severance of the late Gen. EA'l of Massachusetts, for the release oj a large number of their seamen who! had been captured, and were held; id the most ' cruel slavery by, the Tripolitans; 1 he services that herendered His coutitiy were never i enumerated ; atd this en terprising oflicer fell a victim to a broken spirit, athe age of 47, leaving a young and amiable family hot only j to mourn the loss of a parent, but oppressed with , the evils of straitened and embarrassed circumstances. In the year IbOO, when Gen. Eaten was Consul for tbeW. S. at funis, he was instrumental h procuring , the redemption of 6 Danish vessels that had been ca Mured bv the Tunisian. Cor sairs, with their crews, and the .latter UU : l' i - : rri L'i il I i... . I. iiem hi uonudge. x ne rviug uiiieiiiuaiii, desirous of manifesting his respect and gratitude to our countryman, tor the above, act of kindness and generosity transmit led to him, in July of the (lollowiiig year, a goiu snuu uox, ornamenteu wim ' tne initials ol his own name, and bnliant- . . ly set with diamonds. rl his handsouien j . i i . present was accompanieu uy a letier from " TAc Members of the Board for 'he affairs relative to tne States of Bar bary, exbressive of his majesty's lelings on the subject. , j - r In November, 1 800, Gen. Eaton, in a letter to Mrs. Eaton, says,l " in my last 1 mentioned that 1 had redeemed six; Danish prize vessels. But l have resto red them to the original proprietorsl Ask you why ? Because there is more pleasure in being gener.. us thaii rich. I could undoubtedly have saved $ 8 or 10,000 by the speculation. I have had tbe pleasure of seeing 86 unhappy cap tives embark in these vessels and shape ' their course for their native country." Such sentiments as these will in some measure explain the reason why General Eaton atiiis death teft his affairs and ins family in embarrassed circumstances, i he snuff box presented to him by his Uanish majesty, is an elegant, and in- I deed splendid trinket.' Its form is oval, ncduy inree in cues anu a dall by two and a half and is richly ornamented. On the lid are the ' royal initials' of Chiistian VII. set with diamonds, and surmounted with the figure oil a crown finished in the same manner. ) The let ters and crown are surrounded by a row of diamonds, originally near 50 in num ber, but several of them have been taken out since the box passed out of the hands of the farailjr. More than thirty of them still remainA The form, workmanship, and ornaments, are of the ,mdstelegaut description. V j This boxlwas delivered by General Eaton during a 'fit of sickness.! to a credi- tor as Security far a tlfh the attachment of other more! necexsarir articles of furniture. - As the family could not redeem it, it has since passed from one hand to another, either ai an article of merchandize, or as a pledge ; andjs now held by a person from a distant part of the country, , into whose hands it came mc uiuuidry transactions oi; nis 0US1- ness, as security tor a debt, ft he pres ent possessor had no agency in its being taken from the family, and -knewjiotb-ing of it untH it came, as justjnentioned, into his possession. Being under the ne cessity of raising the money frorrr it, he must dispose of it for that nurpose: -Urv on being made acquainted with the fore going facts, he has consented to let it re main at this office for a few idays, thats an attempt may he n- 'e, to accomplish his object in another modeone we trut more gratifying to the public. . ''" It ; is therefore respectfully proposet!, from a just regard to the'eminentservicA.' ! rendered to his country by (jeneral yj ton, particularly in his unexampled ent r prize across the African Desert fn ni Egypt to Tripoli, and the redemption byi Iiu firmness and bravery, of a! large num-1 oer of American citizens froni Barbarian ; vvry. that? two hundredi and fifiir dollars be raised bv voluntarv suhscrin- tion (that being one half the amount for which the box is pledged) and paid over to the person who now holdi the same, with the view of redeeming it, and lor the express purpose of restoring it to tl;e iamily of Gen. Eatoi, that! they may possess such a memorial of jhis diitiji guished services in the cause of humanity and benevolence. ! -T We cannot but believe, that this amourit for the purpose mentioned, can easily be? raised in thiscitya small Contribuf!'n from a few individuals; will be all thai is necessary to accomplish the object. ; 11at - tne ooject, wnen accomplisned, win ie a source of cordial gratification j to die chil dren of this gallant officer, there cannot be the shadow ol a doubt. -7! 7,il - v 1 , .--"li 1 VI cted the entrance tribute : the ear V
Newbern Sentinel (New Bern, N.C.)
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Oct. 28, 1820, edition 1
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