formed us was the sacred chapel, enshrin- | I did not believe that the tomb before me ing within its walls the tomb of Jesus was that of our Saviour, or that the marble Christ. We crossed the marble pavement, sanctuary was the sepulchre in which he and paused for a moment before a lofty was laid? I was in a christian church in richly-painted screen, which divides the the heart of Jerusalem, and at all events but church of the Holy Sepulchre from the a little way removed from the spot where chapel of the Greeks. From the top of Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, and ofthis screen was suspended a vast sheet of fered himself as a sacrifice for mankind. silk stretched on cords, which were carried It has been urged by those who have across to the top of the marble entrance of pointed the shafts of sarcasm with the the small sanctuary, containing the sacred greatest force against the practices of the tomb, thus forming a magnificent silken monks and priests at Jerusalem, upon the canopy overhead from the door of the credulity of pious pilgrims, that it is perGreek church to the entrance of the "holy fectly impossible that the marble sarcosepulchre." We proceeded onwards to phagus here shown can be other than a some marble steps, which we ascended, cheat, as it is totally irreconcileable with and then traversed a small marble plat- the account given of the mode of our Lord's form between a lofty row of wax candles, sepulture by the Evangelists. In this I standing in silver candlesticks. Stooping apprehend they are mistaken; there is no down, we passed through a low marble such contradiction as amounts to an imchamber illuminated by sixteen silver possibility; true it is, that a marble sarlamps, which were suspended from the cophagus is not expressly mentioned in ceiling by silver chains. A cornice sup- the New Testament as having been the reported on small marble columns extended ceptacle of the body of our Saviour; but around the sanctuary, and the pavement every one who has had an opportunity of was composed of inlaid marbles of various examining the tombs in the neighbourhood and beautiful colours. In the centre of of Jerusalem, and of this part of the world this small chamber the worthy monk generally, must have observed that the pointed out to me a mass of marble used sepulchral chambers, hewn out of the rock, as an altar, which he authoritatively as- appear to have contained a sarcophagus serted to be the self-same stone which of marble, granite, or other stone, in which เ was rolled to the door of the sepulchre," the body is placed as in a coffin. This and on which sat the angel who announced was the case generally in the East, and to Mary Magdalen, and Mary, the mother particularly among the ancient Egyptians, of James and Salome, the joyful tidings of the resurrection-" He is risen, he is not here: behold the place where they laid him!" whose sarcophagi are more familiar to us in England than those of any other Eastern nation, and are to be found in abundance in all our principal museums. ManWe now took off our shoes, and prepar- kind in times past paid more attention to ed to enter the second sanctuary, which, the mansions of the dead than is customary it is averred, is the very chamber hewn in with the present generation, and nothing the rock, but cased with marble, in which was of more common occurrence, as we the body of our Saviour was placed! A find from the sepulchral inscriptions at curtain was drawn aside, and, on stooping Palmyra and elsewhere, than for a man of to enter a low doorway, the scene that wealth and consideration to plan, arrange, presented itself was imposing to a degree. and decorate his tomb, previous to his The interior of the sanctuary was clouded death. Thus in 2 Chron. chap. xvi. "They with the wreathing smoke of burning in- buried him (Asa) in his own sepulchres, cense, and the air was loaded with per- which he had made for himself in the city fume. Forty lamps of massive gold, or of of David; " and St. Matthew tells us that silver gilt, the presents of as many differ- when Joseph had taken the body of Jesus, ent European potentates, suspended by " he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and chains of like material from the ceiling, laid it in his own new tomb, which he had diffused a brilliant but softened light hewn out in the rock." This was the throughout the marble chamber, and usual sepulchral chamber which was, no around a marble sarcophagus placed at the side of the sanctuary. On the right of the doorway extended a row of lighted wax candles, placed in richly chased candlesticks, and leaning against the opposite marble wall was seen a tall, motionless figure, habited in a long black robe; his hands were folded across his breast, and he held within them a long white wand. The pealing organ was still faintly heard, and the voices of the choir dying away in the distance. The old monk knelt by the side of the marble tomb, and, influenced by a thousand varied emotions, I placed myself by his side. What matters it that doubt, provided with the customary stone sarcophagus, or coffin, for containing the body. That a sarcophagus is not mentioned in the scriptures is no argument for its non-existence. For we might, on reading an account of the body of a king of England having been placed in a stone vault under a church, as well argue that there was no leaden coffin, because it did not happen to be expressly named. The priests here, of all sects, who have the custody of the sacred relics, allege that the floor of the church has been planed down below the level of the original sepul chral chamber, and the rock so cut away all round as to leave only a thin wall of An old monk then repeated in a loud voicerock, forming the sides of the chamber," Apprehendit Pilatus Jesum, et flagellavit, which has been cased with marble as we ac tradidit eis ut crucifigeretur." now see it; and the sarcophagus within, A long Latin hymn was then sung, after say they, remains in the same state, which we all knelt down with book and standing within the chamber, as when first candle in hand, and a Latin prayer was refound. The lid of it is rent into two pieces; peated. We then rose, and went in solemn this is affirmed to have been done at the procession to a cell called "the prison of resurrection! Although there is no impos-Christ," where it is alleged he was secured sibility in all this, yet the improbability is previous to the crucifixion. Here we again indeed great, and the history certainly drew up, and the monks chanted another draws too strongly on our credulity to hymn, commencing gain much credit with Protestants, who put no faith in the numerous miracles brought forward by the monks and priests in support of their assertions. "Jam crucem propter hominem This was a very long hymn, and at the end of it a monk repeated, in a loud voice, "Ego te eduxi de captivitate Egypti, demerso Pharaone in mari rubro: et tu me tradidisti huic carceri obscuro!" &c. Then we had another prayer, after which the line of procession was again formed, and, headed by crucifixes and wax candles, we moved on to a small chapel, which is called "the place of the division of Christ's garment! Here we halted again, and sang another hymn which ended thus; "Precamur ergo cernui On leaving the little chapel of the Holy Sepulchre we proceeded to the Catholic church, which opens upon the northern side of the circular hall. Vespers were not yet concluded. The organ still sent its thrilling notes through the vast building, and the hymn of praise still re-echoed along the vaulted roof. I joined the small congregation in front of the altar, and remained for some time listening to the music, and to the prayers that were occasionally chanted. The service at last ceased, and some venerable monks, with long snow-white beards, holding rosaries and crucifixes in their hands, approached, and informed me in Italian, that they were about to visit in procession the holy places contained within the precincts of the church, and asked me if I would favour them with my company. To And, after the usual recitative and prayers, this I saw no objection, and immediately re- we proceeded along a vaulted passage, and plied in the affirmative. I was, however, descended some steps into a gloomy, damp, hardly prepared for the sequel. A wax subterranean chapel, having an altar at one candle, half as tall as myself, was brought end, adorned with some dirty wax candles, Here we formed ourand placed in one of my hands, and a book and pieces of tinsel. containing the Latin service which was to selves into a circle, and by the hymn that be performed, in the other. The monks and was commenced I found that we were now friars then collected together from all quar- arrived at the spot where, say the monks, ters, each armed with wax candles, and the true cross was found by the pious emfurnished with little books, and I thus unex-press Helena, together with two others that pectedly found myself attached to a grave had been manufactured by Jewish malignity and solemn Roman Catholic procession. It to confound the devout Christians. She, was too late to retreat; so, following the ex- however, it is said, discovered the true one ample of the rest, I lighted my candle, by means of a miracle, or by scourging and The monks thus beopened my book, and moved off with the torturing the Jews! holy brotherhood, who all commenced a gan in praise of the true cross:long and most lugubrious chant. On entering the large circular hall I encountered my servant, who was walking about with an Egyptian soldier. The lad stared at me and my candle with stupid astonishment, and I had great difficulty in preventing myself from betraying an unseasonable levity on the occasion. Headed by crucifixes, and a large image of our Saviour upon the cross, we visited in succession all the sanctuaries, and first halted at "the pillar of the flagellation," a small piece of which is pretended to be shown! Here the monks chanted the appointed hymn, which concluded thus: "Se dat percutientibus, Dat suis vitæ aditum. Amen." "Crux fidelis inter omnes Arbor una nobilis: Thus we continued singing hymns and repeating prayers at all the sanctuaries. We halted at the" column of the crowning," which, it is asserted, marks the spot where the Jews "platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand!" Here we had a long hymn, after which an old monk loudly ejaculated,-" Ego dedi tibi sceptrum regale, et tu capiti meo imposuisti spineam coronam • Plectentes coronam de spinis, Then came the prayer, which being | city and stoned him, calling upon God." finished, we again moved onwards. The For it was near this gate, say the Christians, worst part of the ceremony was now to that the cruel murder was perpetrated! come, for we were all requested to take off We descended by a steep path the abrupt our shoes; after which we ascended by a declivities of Mount Moriah into the valley narrow staircase to the upper portion of the of Jehoshaphat, and crossed the bed of the church, which they call Mount Calvary! the ancient brook Cedron by a stone bridge. monks chanting the appropriate hymn. We The water flows along a deep channel worn passed through a chapel, und visited in suc- in the rocks, but it is only in wet weather cession a piece of a rock, with a hole in it, that there is any water at all; and through. in which they assert that the cross was out almost the whole of the year the stranerected, and a small crack which, they ger who is searching for the far-famed gravely assure us, is a rent made in the rock Cedron will see nothing but the narrow by the earthquake at the crucifixion!! I confined bed of a mere mountain-torrent. was heartily tired of the procession, and in The common tradition current is, that the sad fear lest I should be laid up with a fever, water finds a subterranean passage among in consequence of standing barefoot on the the clefts of the rocks to the Dead Sea. cold pavement of the church. I was obliged, however, to listen to a long Latin extract from the New Testament, descriptive of the crucifixion, and after this to a prayer, which being finished, I was rejoiced to see the monks in advance move down stairs, and put on their shoes. Immediately on crossing to the left bank of the torrent, we arrived at the vaulted entrance of a spacious subterranean chapel, called by the monks "the Sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin !" The entrance was protected by a strong iron gate, which was then open, and we descended a spacious marble The business, however, was not yet finish-staircase, through a vaulted passage hewn ed, for we now proceeded to the vestibule out of the solid limestone rock. A descent of the church, and ranged ourselves round of about fifty marble steps, each step being "the stone of unction" before described, twenty feet wide, conducted us to a series where a hymn, recitative, and prayer, were of vaulted chapels, from whose roofs dependall solemnly gone through; and the same ed numerous lamps, which shed a softened thing was done at the Chapel of the Holy and subdued light over various marble altar Sepulchre, after which the candles were puffed out, and my candle and book were both presented to me, with a request that I would preserve them as a memorial. On quitting the church, I hurried home through the streets, which were wet and dreary. The rain poured in torrents, and not an animated object was visible save a solitary jackass, driven by a boy. On arriving at the Casa Nuova, I found that my small apartment had been neatly arranged by the worthy and hospitable monks, and I enjoyed, after a deprivation of many weeks, the luxury of a table and a looking-glass. Here I was annoyed by the Frenchman in the peagreen-jacket, who actually invited himself to dine with me, and directed my servant to place a plate for him at the table, -an order which was, however, quickly countermanded. But he was not very easily to be abashed, for he walked in uninvited to the dessert. pieces, pictures, crucifixes, and images of departed saints. The floor was covered with a thick matting, so that the intruding footstep was scarcely heard; and the silence of the subterranean sanctuary was broken only by the low murmuring accents of some Armenian priests, who were kneeling in prayer around the supposed tomb of Mary, the mother of Jesus. They were surrounded by Armenian Christians and pilgrims, who had wandered on a long and toilsome journey from far-distant lands to offer up their prayers to the Virgin in this sanctuary under the fond impression that her intercession on behalf of sinful mortals is allpowerful on high, and that their prayers will be the more surely granted when offered up from this consecrated spot, where it is supposed her mortal remains lie buried, and where it is fondly imagined that her sainted spirit regards with favour and satisfaction the zeal and piety of her devoted worshippers. Nov. 21.-I proceeded with the Frenchman through various dull streets of the city, Besides the subterranean altar and chapel sometimes among ruined houses, and some- dedicated to the Virgin, there are three other times over wide tracts of ground where there vaulted chapels hung with lamps, in which, were no houses at all; at one time among say the monks and priests, were buried St. heaps of brick and pottery,the ruins of modern Anna, St. Joachim, and St. Joseph ! Each buildings, and at another among huge frag. chapel has its altar handsomely decorated ments of stone, the remains of those ancient and furnished with crucifixes, pictures, and edifices which, in days of yore, were the artificial flowers. It would be well if the pride and admiration of the once far-famed catholic and Greek Christians would abolish "daughter of Zion." We arrived at last the plan of sticking miserable daubs of at the city walls, and passed out of the paintings over their altar-pieces, representgateway called Saint Stephen's gate. It is ing scenes and incidents from the Gospel a narrow gateway, constructed of blocks of narrative. The imagination, left to itself stone, which have been taken from the ruins undisturbed by sensible images, calls up of ancient edifices, and it is named after the ideal scenes and representations infinitely martyr whom the Jews "cast out of the more agreeable and touching than those delineated on the walls by the rude and un-lanterns, and torches, and weapons." St. skilful hand of the painter. John xviii. It is called by the Italian monks "la terra damnata," or "the accursed ground.” At what time and for what purpose this grotto was constructed, we have no satisfac- This is certainly a most interesting spot. tory information. As none of the early chris- It is near to the brook Cedron, and to the antian writers have alluded to it as the tomb of cient road leading from the Mount of Olives the Virgin, we have pretty plain proof that into Jerusalem; and of all the tales and trathe tradition did not in their times exist, and ditions treasured up among the pilgrims and consequently strong reason for believing that ecclesiastics, this carries with it the greatest the whole story is a juggle, contrived by the degree of probability. But here, again, the monks and priests to attract the pilgrims. absurd minuteness of identification made use The first allusion to the grottos, as "the se- of only tends to throw an air of ridicule over pulchre of the Virgin," occurs in the writings the whole history. A ledge of rocks at the of Adamnanus, the Irish monk, who quotes upper end of the garden is confidently pointArculfus, a writer of the seventh century, as ed out as the very spot where our Saviour his authority. Were it not for the expense found the disciples "sleeping for sorrow," and labour which the excavation must have and "a stone's cast" from thence is a small cost, we might suppose that it had been con- excavation called the grotto of Gethsemane, structed by the monks and priests themselves. which is positively affirmed to be the identiBut the more probable supposition is, that, cal spot where our Saviour "kneeled down like "the sepulchres of the kings," it was and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be excavated to serve as a place of burial for some willing, remove this cup from me; never. of the royal line of David, who were not bu-theless, not my will, but thine be done!" St. ried in "the sepulchres of the kings," of Luke. The grotto is covered by a small which several are mentioned in Chronicles. chapel, the keys of which are kept by the There is Asa, son of Abijah king of Israel, monks of the Latin convent. whom the Jews "buried in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed, which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art; and they made a very great burning for him." These grottos, it is true, could not have been within the city of David," but the same may be said of the other sepulchral excava. tions which are all just outside the ancient walls. It is evident that it was not the custom of the Jews to bury within the walls,an excellent practice, universally adopted by all people in hot countries; and therefore the words" in the city of David" must be taken generally as meaning that the persons mentioned were buried at Jerusalem, and nothing more. The olive trees overshadowing this enclosed plot of ground appear to be of very great antiquity, and are held in the highest veneration by Christians of all sects, who positively affirm that they are the identical trees which stood on the spot in our Saviour's time! The trunks of the largest of these trees are of great size and of immense girth; they have become splintered and shrivelled with age, and are certainly great curiosities as vegetable productions. Leaving the "Garden of Gethsemane," we traversed a steep path which ascends from the bed of the brook Cedron to the summit of the Mount of Olives. Numerous olive trees were scattered along the sides of the declivity, and around a mosque and convent, which crown the lofty eminence. We hurried impatiently to the highest point, and then, turning to the westward, a magnificent panora mic view of the whole of Jerusalem and of the surrounding country suddenly burst upon our sight. Chateaubriand, in reference to this supposed "tomb of the Virgin," says, "Although Mary died not at Jerusalem, yet, in the opinion of many of the Fathers, she was miraculously buried by the apostles at Gethsemane." Enthymius, speaking of this marvellous fu- The present city, with its churches, neral, tells us that St. Thomas having caused mosques, houses, gardens, and fortifications, the coffin to be opened, naught but a virgin-lay extended immediately below, and the robe, the simple garment of the queen of eye took_in, at a bird's-eye view, every glory, was found within it! After ascending once more into broad daylight, we crossed over the rocky path leading to the summit of the Mount of Olives, and we then arrived at a square plot of ground enclosed by a low rough wall of loose stones, and overshadowed by eight enormous olive trees which appear to be of very great antiquity. This is alleged to be the Garden of Gethsemane, "over the brook Cedron, to which Jesus ofttimes resorted with his disciples." A piece of ground, marked off from the rest of the garden, is confidently pointed out as the spot where our Saviour was betrayed by Judas, when the latter, "having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came thither with house and street, and almost every yard of ground. The scene was certainly very imposing, and the appearance of the city, with its domes and cupolas, and the minarets of the mosques, is from this point of view quite magnificent. The first objects which strike the eye are the two magnificent mosques occupying the site of Solomon's Temple. The one on the north is the celebrated mosque of Omar; that on the south is the Mosque El Aksa. They are close to that portion of the city walls which immediately borders on the Mount of Olives, and with the courts, porticos, and gardens attached to them, they occupy a fourth part of the whole place, and present a most imposing appearance. The town rises gradually above these, and the most prominent object beyond is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with its two domes of striking aspect; the one being white, and the other almost black. Here and there a lofty tower or a tapering minaret rises above the gloomy stone houses of the natives. Of these the lofty tower or minaret said to be built on the site of the house of Pilate, with its galleries and Saracenic decorations, appears most prominently to the eye, and the minarets of Ben Israel, of the Seraglio, and the one said to be placed on the site of Herod's palace. Most of the private dwellings were covered with low domes, and my intelligent cicerone pointed out to me the different churches and convents, and a long range of stone buildings surmounted by small cupolas, which he said was a college of dervishes. "Ma fuor la terra intorno e nuda d' erba, D'alberi, e fare schermo, ai raggi estivi. No tender flower exalts its cheerful head; Here, on the summit of the Mount of Olives, we may legitimately indulge in the varied associations and recollections which the surrounding landscape is so eminently calcu lated to draw forth. Here, undisturbed by the doubts which must invade every mind with regard to the identity of the different Altogether the city, as seen from the sum-sacred places pointed out below, we can leimit of the Mount of Olives, may be ranked surely survey the whole prospect, and take in as one of the finest of Oriental cities in its at a glance the theatre of the great events in external aspect. A long line of battlemented Jewish history, and of all the interesting cirwalls, with their towers and gates, extends cumstances attending the close of our Savithe whole way round the town, and a few cypresses and other trees throw up their leafy branches amid the porticos and gates of the mosques. After the surprise and admiration, which this prospect at first naturally excites, have subsided, the bare, rocky, and desolate aspect of the surrounding country, and the solitude and silence of the city itself, most forcibly attract the attention. Neither in the streets, at the gateways, nor along the rocky mule-tracks leading therefrom, is there aught of life or animation. Some solitary woman, with her water-pitcher, climbing the craggy eminence, or some slowly moving pilgrims, are alone seen. The eye, on a closer scrutiny, discovers large tracts of open and waste ground within the walls, and many a ruined house and dilapidated building. There is none of the bustle and animation ordinarily perceptible about a large town. No moving crowds traverse the public thoroughfares; the ear strives in vain to catch the noise and hum of a large city, for such it appears to be;-all is strangely and sadly silent. "The noise of the whip, and the noise of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots," are no longer heard in Jerusalem. our's life. On that consecrated enclosure immediately beneath our feet once stood the gorgeous temple of "the wisest of kings," and in place of the clear deep chant of the muezzin, which is the only sacred music now heard proceeding from the spot, once issued the sublime sounds of praises and thanksgivings to the one true God, which accompanied the solemnities of the Jewish worship, when the Levites, which were the singers, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, and with them an hundred and twenty priests, sounding with trumpets, were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." Although the frail structures of man soon pass away, yet these rocks, and the neighbouring eminences upon which stood the ancient Jerusalem, "the city of David," still remain. Here, or shortly distant, must be the spot where "Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple," and all this ground he must oft have traversed, "for he was wont to go to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples with him." If we search for some carriage-road or great After enjoying the interesting prospect, we public thoroughfare leading from the provin- entered the small mosque which crowns the ces into the city, we shall discover nothing summit of the lofty eminence; it is surmountbeyond a narrow rocky mule-path winding ed by a small dome thirty-five feet in height, along the valley, and among the opposite and is flanked by a minaret. This little precipitous elevations. We see no luxuriant building is said to be the remains of the foliage and verdant gardens watered by run- church of the Ascension, founded by Helena, ning streams, as at Naplous, and at Darnas- the mother of Constantine. I entered a small cus, and at many other places to the north-courtyard, and was there shown an indentaward; but on all sides bare rocks rear their tion in the rock, which is gravely affirmed to sharp and craggy points, and a few wander- be the print of our Saviour's foot, left by him ing zig-zag paths lead between them. Everywhere around the city is extended a wild and solitary country, and to the eastward the eye ranges over the summits of bare arid elevations, and at last rests on the lofty and majestic ridge of blue mountains bordering the Dead Sea. when he ascended from hence to heaven! Unfortunately, however, for the story-tellers, we are told by St. Mark that Jesus led the disciples out "as far as Bethany," where he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." Bethany is nearly a mile dis tant, on the opposite side of the hill. Casts in |