pointed out the kitchen and the fireplace of the Virgin Mary; and as all consecrated places in the Holy Land contain some supposed miracle for exhibition, the monks, he informs us, have taken care not to be altogether deficient in supernatural rarities. Accordingly, the first things they show to strangers who descend into the cave are two stone pillars in the front of it; one of which, separated from its base, is said to sustain its capital and a part of its shaft miraculously in the air. The fact is, that the capital and a piece of the shaft of a pillar of gray granite have been fastened to the roof of the grotto; and "so clumsily is the rest of the hocus pocus contrived, that what is showed for the lower fragment of the same pillar resting upon the earth, is not of the same substance, but of Cipolino marble."

A variety of stories are circulated about the fracture of this miraculous pillar. The more ancient travellers were told that it was broken by a pasha in search of hidden treasure, who was struck with blindness for his impiety; at present it is said that it separated into two parts, in the manner in which it still appears, when the angel announced to Mary the glad tidings with which he was commissioned. Maundrell was not less observant than the author just quoted, although he does not so openly expose the deception. "It touches the roof above, and is probably hanged upon that; unless you had rather take the friars' account of it, namely, that it is supported by a miracle.”

Pococke has proved that the tradition concerning

* Clarke, vol. iv. p. 170.

the dwelling-place of the parents of Jesus Christ existed at a very early period; because the church built over it is mentioned by writers of the seventh century. Nor is there in the circumstance, that their abode was fixed in a grotto or natural cave, any thing repugnant to the notions usually entertained either of the ancient customs of the country or of the class of society to which Joseph and his espoused wife belonged. But when we are called upon to surrender our belief to the legends invented by men, whose ignorance is the best apology we can urge for their superstition, a certain degree of disgust and indignation is perfectly justifiable.

In such a case we are disposed to question the good effects ascribed by some authors to the pious zeal of the Empress Helena, who, although she did not in fact erect one-half of the buildings ascribed to her munificence, most undoubtedly laboured, by her architectural designs, to obliterate every trace of those simple scenes which might have been regarded with reasonable veneration in all ages of the church. Dr Clarke, in a fit of spleen with which we cannot altogether refuse to sympathize, remarks, that had the Sea of Tiberias been capable of annihilation by her means, it would have been dried up, paved, covered with churches and altars, or converted into monasteries and markets of indulgences, until every feature of the original had disappeared; and all this by way of rendering it more particularly holy.*

*Vol. iv. p. 174. "Up stairs, above the chapel of the incarnation," says Dr Richardson, "we were shown another grotto, which was called the Virgin Mary's Kitchen, and a black smoked place in the corner which was called the Virgin Mary's Chimney. I believe none of the cinders, fire-irons, or culinary instruments have been preserved; these probably fled with the Santa Casa, or Holy House, to

Of the original edifice, said to have been erected by the mother of Constantine, some remains may still be observed in the form of subverted columns, which, with the fragments of their capitals and bases, lie near the modern building. The present church and convent are of a comparatively recent date, at least so far as the outward structure and internal decorations are concerned; the former being filled with pictures supplied by the modern school, all of which are said to be below mediocrity.

Besides the antiquities already mentioned having a reference to the early history of our Lord, the traveller is conducted to the "workshop of Joseph," which is near the convent, and was formerly included within its walls. It is now a small chapel, perfectly modern, and white-washed like a Turkish sepulchre. After this is shown the synagogue where the Redeemer is said to have read the Scriptures to the Jews; and also the precipice from which the monks aver he leaped down to escape the rage of his townsmen, who were offended at his application of the sacred text. "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way."*

The Mount of Precipitation, as it is now called, is, according to Mr Buckingham, about two miles distant from Nazareth; is almost inaccessible, from the steep and rocky nature of the road; and is de

Loretto; and our only astonishment is, that the house should have taken flight and left the chimney and kitchen behind." Vol. ii. p. 440. *Luke iv. 28, 29, 30.

cidedly not upon the hill where the town could ever have been built. Dr Clarke, on the other hand, maintains that the words of the evangelist are most explicit, and prove the situation of the ancient city to have been precisely that which is now occupied by the modern town. In a recess there is an altar hewn out of the rock, said to be the very spot where Christ dined with his disciples. Close by are two large cisterns for preserving rainwater, and several portions of buildings, all described as the remains of a religious establishment founded by the pious and indefatigable Helena. Immediately over this scene, and on the edge of a precipice about thirty feet in height, are two flat stones set up on their edges. In the centre, and scattered over different parts of one of them, are several round marks like the deep imprint of fingers on wax; and it is insisted that these are the impression of our Saviour's hand when he clung to the stone, and thereby escaped being thrown headlong down.*

One celebrated relic still remains to be noticed, which, although it is not alluded to in the New Testament, is regularly authenticated by the Pope; who, besides, grants a plenary indulgence to every pilgrim visiting the place where it is exhibited. This is nothing more than a large stone, on which it is affirmed that Christ did eat with his disciples both before and after his resurrection from the dead. A chapel has been built over it, on the walls of which are several copies of a printed certificate, stating the grounds of its claim to veneration. Dr Clarke transcribed this curious document, which we give in a note

below, accompanied with a translation, for the use of such readers as have not formed an acquaintance with the Latin tongue.*

There is not an object in all Nazareth so much the resort of pilgrims,-Greeks, Catholics, Arabs, and even Turks, as this stone: the former classes on account of the seven years' indulgence granted to those who visit it; the two latter, because they believe some virtue must reside in a slab before which all comers are so eager to prostrate themselves.

In a valley near the town is a fountain which bears the name of the Virgin, and where the women are seen passing to and fro with pitchers on their heads, as in the days of old. It is justly remarked, that, if there be a spot throughout the Holy Land which was more particularly honoured by the presence of Mary, we may consider this to be the place; because the situation of a copious spring is not liable to change, and because the custom of repairing thither to draw water has been continued among the female inhabitants of Nazareth from the earliest period of its history.

* ❝ Traditio continua est, et nunquam interrupta, apud omnes nationes Orientales, hanc petram, dictam Mensa Christi, illam ipsam esse supra quam Dominus noster Jesus Christus cum suis comedit Discipulis ante et post suam resurrectionem a mortuis.

"Et sancta Romana Ecclesia INDULGENTIAM concessit septem annorum et totidem quadragenarum, omnibus Christi fidelibus hunc sanctum locum visitantibus, recitando saltem ibi unum Pater, et Ave, dummodo sint in statu gratiæ."

"It is a continued and uninterrupted tradition among all the Eastern churches, that this stone, called the Table of Christ, is that very one upon which our Lord Jesus Christ ate with his Disciples both before and after his resurrection from the dead.

"And the holy Roman church hath granted an INDULGENCE of seven years, and as many lents, to all the faithful in Christ visiting this sacred place, upon reciting at least one Pater Noster and an Ave, provided they be in a state of grace."