the pain of excommunication, dared to light his torch at that of another; every individual was bound to derive his flame from the miraculous spark that descended from above, and which could only be conveyed by the hands of the chief priest.*

Having seen the exhibition of this vile and infamous delusion, the traveller naturally inquires what credit he ought to give to the historical statements and local descriptions derived from the Christians who now occupy Jerusalem. Are the honoured spots within these walls really what the guardians of the metropolitan church declare them to be? Is the Mount Calvary shown at this day in the holy city, the actual place where Christ expired upon the

"Je ne décrirai pas la suite des cérémonies réligieuses qui occupent le reste de la semaine sainte ; c'est un récit qui peut bien édifier des ames dévotes, mais non pas plaire à quelqu'un qui lit un voyage pour s'instruire et s'amuser.

66

Il n'en est pas de même d'une pratique superstitieuse des Grecs schismatiques, dout la bizarrerie ne laissera par de divertir un mo

ment.

"Cette secte, abusée par ses prêtres, croit de bonne foi que Dieu fait annuellement un miracle pour lui envoyer le feu sacré.

"A en croire les prètres Grecs, cette faveur divine, dont on ne peut pas douter, est un preuve insigne de l'excellence de leur communion. Mais ne pourrait-on pas objecter aux Grecs, que les Arméniens et les Cofes, qu'ils traitent d'hérétiques, participent à cette même grace. Ennemis acharnés les uns des autres, les ministres de ces trois sectes se réunissent en apparence, pour la cérémonie du feu sacré. Cette réconciliation momentanée n'est due qu'à l'intérêt de tous; séparément ils seraient obligés de payer au gouverneur, pour la permission de faire la miracle, une somme aussi forte que cette qu'ils donnent

ensemble.

"Ces prêtres portent la fourberie jusqu'à vouloir persuader au peuple que le feu sacré ne brûle pas ceux qui sont en etat de grace. Ils se frottent les mains d'une certaine eau, qui les garantit de la brulure à la premiere approche, et par ce moyen ne se font aucun mal en touchant leurs cierges. Leurs proselytes sont jaloux de les imiter; mais comme ils n'ont pas leur recette, bien souvent ils se brulent les doigts et le visage : il arrive delà que les prêtres, paraissant jouir exclusivement de la grace de Dieu, en sont plus respectés et mieux payés."-Mariti, Voyages, &c., tom. ii. p. 340.

cross to redeem the human race? Is the Sepulchre there exhibited really that of the just man Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of the blessed Jesus was laid? Or are all these merely convenient spots fixed on at random, and consecrated to serve the interested views of a crafty priesthood ?*

We agree in the conclusion, that it is of no consequence to the Christian faith in what way these questions shall be determined. The great facts, on which the history of the gospel is founded, are not so closely connected with particular spots of earth, or sacred buildings, as to be rendered doubtful by any mistake in the choice of a locality. Nor is there any material discrepancy between the opinions of Chateaubriand, which we are inclined to adopt, and those of Dr Clarke, who treats with contempt all the traditions respecting holy places; for the outline may be correct, although the minuter details are open to a just suspicion. For example, it is now extremely difficult to trace the boundaries of Calvary; the effects of time, and the operations of the siege under the Roman prince, have obliterated some of the features by which that remarkable scene was distinguished; it has even ceased to present the appearance of a mount,—an appellation, by the way, which is nowhere given to it in Scripture. But it does not follow that the Christians, who returned from Pella to inhabit the ruins of the sacred metropolis, should have been equally ignorant of its extent and situation; nor is it at all probable that places so interesting to the affections of the infant church would be allowed to fall into a speedy oblivion.

* Richardson, vol. ii. p. 333.

The main error of the modern priests at Jerusalem arises from an anxiety to exhibit every thing to which any allusion is made by the evangelical historians; not remembering that the lapse of ages and the devastation of successive wars have destroyed much and disguised more, which the early disciples could most readily identify. The mere circumstance that almost all the events which attended the close of our Saviour's ministry are crowded into one scene, covered by the roof of a single church, might excite a very justifiable doubt as to the exactness of the topography maintained by the friars of Mount Moriah. "This edifice," says Mr Maundrell," is less than one hundred paces long, and not more than sixty wide; and yet it is so contrived, that it is supposed to contain under its roof twelve or thirteen sanctuaries, or places consecrated to a more than ordinary veneration, by being reputed to have some particular actions done in them relating to the death and resurrection of Christ."*

All that can now be affirmed, observes Dr Clarke, with any show of reason, is this, "that if Helena had reason to believe she could identify the spot where the Sepulchre was, she took especial care to remove every trace of it, in order to introduce the fanciful and modern work which now remains. The place may be the same pointed out to her; but not a remnant of the original Sepulchre can now be ascertained. Yet, with our sceptical feelings thus awakened, it may prove how powerful the effect of sympathy is, if we confess, that when we entered into the supposed Sepulchre, and beheld, by the

light of lamps there continually burning, the venerable figure of an aged monk, with streaming eyes and a long white beard, pointing to the place where the Lord lay,' and calling upon us to kneel and experience pardon for our sins,—we did kneel, and we participated in the feelings of more credulous pilgrims. Captain Culverhouse, in whose mind the ideas of religion and of patriotism were inseparable, with firmer emotion, drew from its scabbard the sword he had so often wielded in the defence of his country, and placed it upon the tomb. Humbler comers heaped the memorials of an accomplished pilgrimage; and while their sighs alone interrupted the silence of the sanctuary a solemn service was begun."*

It is observed by the author of the Itinéraire, that the ancient travellers were extremely fortunate in not being obliged to enter into all these critical disquisitions; in the first place, because they found in their readers that religion which never contends against truth; and, secondly, because every mind was convinced that the only way of seeing a country as it is, must be to see it with all its traditions and recollections. It is, in fact, with the Bible as his guide that a traveller ought to visit the Holy Land. If we are determined to carry with us a spirit of cavil and contradiction, Judea is not worth our going so far to examine it. What should we say to a man who, in traversing Greece and Italy, should think of nothing but contradicting Homer and Virgil? Such, however, is the course adopted by too many modern travellers; evidently the effect

of our vanity, which would excite a high idea of our own abilities, and at the same time fill us with disdain for those of other people.*

A short time after M. Chateaubriand visited Jerusalem, the church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed by fire; and although it has been since repaired, it is admitted that both the architecture and the internal decorations are much inferior to those of the original edifice. The general plan of the whole building, however, as well as the arrangement of the holy stations, are so exactly preserved, that the descriptions of the earliest writers apply as correctly to its present as to its former state. It is true, that the tombs of Godfrey de Bouillon and of Baldwin his brother, which called forth the enthusiastic admiration of the French author just named, have been annihilated by the malignant Greeks, so that not a vestige remains to mark the spot whereon they stood. The Corinthian columns of fine marble which formerly adorned the interior being rendered useless by the fire, the dome is now supported by tall slender pillars of masonry, plastered on the outside, and so closely grouped together as to produce the worst effect. We are told, indeed, that the meanness of every thing about the architecture of the central dome, and of the whole rotunda which surrounds the Sepulchre itself, can only be exceeded by the wretched taste of its painted decorations.+

It was of the older building that the Vicomte made the following remarks :-" The church of the Holy Sepulchre, composed of several churches erect

* Vol. ii. p. 21.

+ Buckingham's Travels, vol. i.

P. 384.