MODERN BETHLEHEM.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1918, Page 8

MODERN BETHLEHEM.

A FIXE DESCRIPTION*. A very fine description of modern Bethlehem is given bv Sir Frederiel; Treves in "The Land That Is Desolate.' and it i= specially interesting in view of the fact that apparently all is so tlilferent from what is usually imagined by those who have not visited the Holy Land. lie describes the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem as "a slouch - in? and unsteady road, raw and rough which i.s indicated I*,' a haze of hot dust in the summer, and by a tract of furrowed .nwl in the winter. Jt traverses a poor- bare, and colorless country, unfriendly and unlovable, where the painfully cultivated fields arc littered with stones, where rough walks take the place of hedges, and where the land is treeless but for a few mendicant olives. It is hard to find in the Holy Land any of that charm of scenery, say's Sir Frederick, which some writers persist in bestowing upon it. The tomb of Rachel, which is situated four miles along the road, Is a modern Moslem sanctuary; made of whitewashed plaster covered with the scribbling o* many devout pilgrims. Nearer the town is David's well represented at present, bv three rockhewn cisterns filled with fetid water described in the guide-books a, "highly dangerous." Sir Frederick recalls "the touching Biblical story of David, who when hard pressed bv the Philistines longed and said, "Oh, that one would give me s, drink of the water of tin. Well or Bethlehem, whk-e. is bv the "ate " J'bis well wa.s at the time held bv the enemy but three of his men overheard their chiefs cry, and determined to «ive him wnat he longed for. They foiHit their way through, „ ml brought him back a pitcher of watei. David's action *hen he took the pitcher, and looked at the three gallant men who had risked their hvca to give him a moment's pleasuse was very fine, as he poured (he water on the ground, and with dry lips refused the draught bought at the jeopardy of such precious lives. Round about Bethlehem the country is of low imestonc bills, on the ridge' of one the ,°nl n i 1S * }t ™ ted : " lt ls amoi,e ™ town, unrodcemab y „g,y. and built of stone dug from the gaunt flank of the hills it crowns. The slopes of this ridge rre hackedl ,„to a multitude of step-like terrace., for vines, supported bv interminable drao walls. It is a drab cit7 „ n f onlnl' 0 " 8 " ,°" " inh rrite*I * e * monotonousm color as a pile of dry bones. No donln;. when the flowers are in bloom am, the leaves are on Hie vines the place is less ashen, but it would need a garden of the Hespends to make the Jitv of dry bones hve.' The Church of the' Natmty , s of groat, size, and was erected by Hie Lmperor Constantine in AD.T< .vears later, and since (hen, '-like other hurches, has been the subject o? many destructive restorations." This l,n"?i™ »«? in the least like a clmrch-no ,", or dome no norch „,• cloister-just with ma wide paved square is a heavy ma s o bu,ld,ngshi s huponthefaccofwhteh aie a ew narrow windows lieavily bar>ed Ih,. place might he mistaken for a fortress or prison. Inside is an im "umse square ehambe, separated a-los by pi,l„rs „f yelloXown'st "m? surmounted.by Corinthian capitals ami o the walls are the remains'of w-ondc, "'I mosaics. A small chapel is f°n 0 f ornament, decorated screen " '„! ™t*. lamps, candlesticks Pictures, and am /■;? ? R ' tee Grotto of the NaUvitr , *\ t0 srrf Sir