building, passing "the Stone of Unction on our way, and pushing through a crowd of noisy Greek and Latin priests in the Vestibule (B), entered the nave of the church (c), in the centre of which is the Holy Sepulchre (D). The nave is about 100 feet in diameter, in the form of a circle, surrounded by eight square columns (15) and eight pilasters (16), supporting galleries above, and a lofty cupola. This is the Latin Chapel, in the centre of which is an oblong building of stone resembling marble, brought from the Red Sea. It is surmounted by a small cupola, pierced with circular windows, and supported by columns. This is the Holy Sepulchre (D), which is the object of the pilgrim's visit to the City of God. Ascending a few steps, we entered the vestibule or ante-chapel (6), in the centre of which is a small square block of marble, which, we were told, was the stone the angel rolled back from the door and sat upon, when he announced the tidings of the resurrection to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary: "He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." a Stooping down, we passed through a narrow doorway, partially veiled from curious eyes by a curtain, and entered the sepulchral chamber (7), which is about seven feet square, containing the sarcophagus or coffin of marble, about six feet long, three feet high, and three feet wide, which forms a kind of altar. Above this a large number of gold and silver lamps, suspended from the roof, are kept constantly burning. They are the gift of princes and nobles, some of whom have made the pilgrimage. The sarcophagus, which is a modern production, is asserted to be the one wherein Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body of our Saviour. b From the sepulchre we proceeded to the place where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, as "she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus." c Near this is the Chapel of the Apparition (E), belonging to the Latins; and within the door, on the right, is the Pillar of Flagellation (22), 'which is almost hidden from view. This is said to be the identical pillar to which our Saviour was tied when he was scourged, before being crucified. d The guide fixed a lighted taper to the end of a long stick, and passing it through a hole in the inclosure, showed us the broken shaft of a pillar. Near to the Altar of the Flagellation is the Altar of the Holy Cross (21), and that of the Holy Sacrament (20), but they are not worthy of special notice. Retracing our steps from this spot, we turned to the left and entered the Greek Church, which occupies the largest space in the building. It is fitted up in a rich and costly style, and contains the spot where the head of Adam was found, which the Greeks also call the Centre of the World (13); the chair of the Greek patriarch of Jerusalem (11); the chair of the Greek vicar (12); and the Sancta Sanctorum (10), with the screen before the altar (9). Outside of this is the prison (24), where, it is said, our Saviour was confined when he was bound and delivered to Pontias Pilate, the governor; e and the guide showed us one of the miraculously-created wonders of the priests-a stone with holes in it, on which our Saviour was placed when put in the stocks! Near to this is the altar of the Inscription over the Cross (25), where the soldier is said to have pierced our Saviour's side with his spear;f and, adjoining it, the chapel where the soldiers "took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part,” and cast lots for his vesture (26).g Keeping towards the south-west, we descended a flight of about thirty steps (27), leading to the Chapel of the Finding of the Crosses (G), which is a dark, damp chamber, about eighteen paces square, dimly lighted by some lamps suspended from a pole. The roof, which is rough and black, is supported by four large columns. In front of us was the altar (28), and, on the right, a seat where the Empress Helena sat and watched the workmen digging below, when they were searching for the crosses. Below this is another chamber (29), darker than the other, which is reached by descending fourteen hope and sorrow, of joy and repentance, of self-denial and triumph, teach us a mighty lesson? Who can gaze on these people, who have sacrificed health and happiness, wealth and luxury, in exchange for poverty and all its horrors, with fell disease, and not be sad? Yet these people, who have braved so much, implicitly believe all they see, and all they are told, and go their way, faint and steps. The guide points to a slab marked I turned with intense satisfaction from viewing these pretended relics, to gaze upon localities that had at least more of the semblance of reality and probability. Indeed, I should not have trespassed upon the reader's patience thus far, but for a desire to relate things as they exist at the Sepulchre, or, as it was formerly called, the Church of the Resurrection. A visit to the Holy City, that has been "trodden down of the Gentiles," and "ploughed as a field," leaves impressions upon the sober-minded Christian of a mournful kind. The A visit to the Sepulchre is replete with painful associations and feelings. aged and the young, the noble and the beggar, undergo many a peril and privation, and encounter many hardships, to bow down before the supposititious sacred places and relics. The young and beautiful, the fairest daughters of other lands, were there, with pale faces and sunken features, that bespoke much mental and bodily pain, days of toil, and weary journeying. Yon man, with a proud and haughty bearing, whose piercing dark eyes wander restlessly over the sea of heads, bespeaks a noble origin; but ever and anon a saddened look overspreads his features, and reveals a tale of hidden woe-perhaps the remembrance of some dark deed committed, that must now be atoned for by rigid penance and vigil.graphy? Contrast all the groups of devotees with the jovial-looking monks around; the impassioned fervour and intense devotion of the pilgrims, whose days are numbered, with the jocund laugh of the priest, well lodged and fed. Does not this scene of a Matt. xxvii. 27-31. TOMB OF JEREMIAH. hungry, but buoyed up with the shadow rather than the substance the illusion and not the reality. How can we reconcile the discrepancies between traditional and biblical topo We are Are we to believe that the Calvary of the present day is the Calvary of Scripture? Assuredly not. told in the Bible that Jesus "suffered without the gate ;" b "for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city;"c and there was a garden in it, and in the garden a new "sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid." a In the face of all this, we are shown the spot of the Crucifixion, of the nailing to the cross, and the rent in the rock, in a space forty-seven feet square; and collected within a comparatively small space, the sepulchre where the body was laid, the place of anointing, the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, and many other places. But we have to remember that the Holy Sepulchre was burned A.D. 614, and the true Cross, with the patriarch Zacharias, carried away; that it was set on fire again A.D. 969; that about A.D. 1010 the Sepulchre was razed to its foundations, and every exertion made by the Khalif el-Hâkim to remove all traces of its existence; and that, in addition to these, it has been partially destroyed on several occasions. It is but just, then, to conclude that the sites pointed out to pilgrims and travellers, by the monks and guides, do not coincide with historical and biblical accounts, and that the true sites are hidden for some wise purpose. b We must forbear mentioning the particulars of the enacted representations of the Crucifixion by the Latin church; the riotous scenes that occur on the eve of the Greek Easter-day, when the ceremony of receiving the Holy Fire is performed in the sepulchre, and other exhibitions of the same character. Passing out of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and through several narrow streets, we came to the Bab-es-Sham, or gate of Damascus, the outer part of which exhibits a fine specimen of massive Saracenic architecture. It was from this spot that the city was taken by Titus, and from hence the road leads to Damascus and the northern part of Palestine. To the right of the Damascus road, and nearly in front of the gate, is the Cave of the prophet Jeremiah, where he is said to have retired to pour forth his Lamentations, where he sat and looked upon the city, exclaiming, "All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth." It is a cave wrought in the face of the rock, under a burialground, and divided from the road by a low wall of loose stones. Here hermits were wont to live, but the place is now untenanted, unless by a few goats that browse on the slope in front of it. Proceeding a short distance from the cave of the prophet, we came to what was formerly called Bezetha or Conopolis, now occupied by olive trees, but formerly by people of the lower class, and inclosed by Agrippa with a thick wall of great strength. Not far from this are some fine ancient sepulchres, commonly called the Tombs of the Kings of Israel, but generally considered to be the tomb of the Empress Helena, Queen of Adiabene, who was buried near Jerusalem, with her son, Izatus. After clambering over some rubbish, and descending a little, we arrived in a large open court cut out of the rock. On the west side it is hollowed out so as to form a wide entrance, which has a band of carved work over it, consisting of large clusters of grapes and garlands of flowers, mingled with other ornaments, all beautifully sculptured, and bearing evidence of Roman skill. The sides of the entrance, which were once ornamented with columns, are now broken and defaced. On the left-hand side of this entrance is a small aperture, through which we crept on our hands and knees, and entered an antechamber, about six feet high and ten feet square. We saw several passages leading from this into other chambers, where there are recesses hewn in the rock for the reception of marble sarcophagi, portions of which, with fragments of the panelled stone doors that closed the entrance to them, are strewn on the ground. The doors had stone pivots, which turned in sockets cut in the rock. As the day was closing, we took a hasty glance at the Tombs of the Judges, that are situated a short distance to the north of the sepulchres we had just quitted; but were not repaid for the trouble, as they are far inferior in execution. Crossing the fields in a south-easterly direction, we came to the head of the Valley of Kedron, where some vineyards and olive plantations form the eastern boundary of the deep bed of the brook, which passes in a southerly direction through the vale, between Mount Olivet and the hills on which the Holy City is built, thence through the wilderness of St. Saba, and is finally lost in the Dead Sea. Although the bed of the Kedron bears ample evidence of its former greatness, it is now dry, and no longer gladdens the eye of the pilgrim with its silvery stream; for, except during the winter months, when the rain has contributed with the snow to form a pool, there is never any water in its bed. There are associations of an historical kind connected with the brook. It is probable that David and all his people crossed the ancient bridge over its bed, which is near to the tomb of Mary, when he fled from Absalom. a It was near to this brook that the idol of Maachah was burnt by her son Asa; b it was in the fields of Kedron that Josiah ordered the priests to burn the vessels that were made for Baal, and to cast the dust of the altars, which the Kings of Judah and Manasseh had made, into the brook; c and "Thou, soft-flowing Kedron! by thy limpid stream, Our Saviour, at night, when the moon's silver beam Shone bright on thy waters, would oftentimes and "; 'near to the city." The guide pointed to a part of the garden, which, he informed us, is looked upon as accursed, being the place where the traitor Judas walked when he came with "a great multitude, with swords and staves," and betrayed his Divine Master with a kiss. e The south-eastern corner of the garden-a ledge of rocks-is assigned as the spot where Peter, James, and John slept.f Commencing the ascent of the Mount of Olives, we were shown the Grotto of the Agony, which the monks assert is the one where our Saviour retired, and, "kneeling down,” prayed "Oh, Father, behold in compassion thy Son,Now let this cup pass;' then, as plaintive, he sighed, Exclaimed, Not my will, but thine, Father's, be done;" and his drops of ground." sweat was, "as it were, great blood falling down to the A little further on, the guide pointed to a spot where our Saviour is said to have taught the Apostles the Universal Prayer, and near to this is the cave where the Creed was composed! The Mount of Olives forms part of a range of limestone mountains extending to the north and south-west. It has three unequal summits; the highest of them, rising from the garden of Gethsemane, is crowned by the Church of the Ascension, within which is shown a stone having a mark something like the impression of a foot. This is affirmed to be the print of our Saviour's foot, left upon the stone at the moment of his ascension; the mark of the ot! er foot is said to have been removed by the Saracens, and placed Helena, the in the Mosque of Omar. mother of Constantine, founded a monastery on the spot, which was afterwards converted into a mosque; and the Turks now exact a tribute from all pilgrims who may desire to have an impression of the foot-print on the stone. A little to the north of the church is a spot pointed out as the one where the Apostles retired after the ascension of our Saviour; "and while they looked stead fastly toward heaven," they were accosted | Homo! over which is a double window, by two angels: "Ye men of Galilee, why where Pilate is said to have brought our stand ye gazing up into heaven ?" a Saviour forth to the people, saying, The view from this part is very fine," Behold the Man!" d At this time of and decidedly the most extensive. At the year and day the street was thronged our feet is the Garden of Gethsemane, with pilgrims and Jews, and bore an unand the Tomb of the Virgin near to it; usual appearance of bustle; for camels the Valley of Kedron and the Vale of with noiseless tread were bearing bales of Jehoshaphat, with the Tombs of Absalom, merchandise along, while the hum of Jehoshaphat, and Zacharias. To the voices was louder than usual. A fer south is the village of Siloam, the Mount yards beyond this are the remains of a of Offence, and the Pool of Siloam. Be-church, built on the spot where the fore us is a cluster of flat-roofed buildings, mingled with domes and lofty minarets, and relieved by long lines of streets and ruined walls, cypresses and olive trees, rugged cliffs and sterile banks; while in the midst we can see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the bazaars, the Via Dolorosa winding from St. Stephen's Gate, and in front Mount Moriah, crowned with the Mosque of Omar, flashing its gilded crescents and spires in the last rays of the declining sun. Far away to the south the eye wanders o'er the barren hills of Judah, the Jordan, the still waters of the Dead Sea, and the distant mountains of Moab ; and below us on our left is a fine olive tree, with gnarled trunk and branches, that stands near the road to Jericho, along which the Bedouin is leading his camel; while, afar off, a husbandman is gathering the flocks that have endeavoured to obtain a meal from the scorched herbage during the day. b Although we saw many other spots from the Mount, including the Hill of Evil Council, Mount Zion, and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, the day was too far advanced to remain there any longer; therefore we descended, and retracing our steps, passed through St. Stephen's Gate, so called from its vicinity to the spot where Stephen was stoned, c and entered the Via Dolorosa, the road along which our Lord passed to Calvary, which contains many traditional sites connected with that event. Proceeding along this street, which runs from east to west, we were first pointed out the residence of the Turkish governor, and then the arch of the Ecce a Acts i. 11. 6 See Engraving, p. 222. c Acts vii. 58. mother of our Saviour met him. Sixty After But we have lingered almost too long amid these traditional sites, for "The sun is set-and yet his light Is lingering in the crimson sky, "The dews fall gently on the flower, Their fresh'ning influence to impart, As pity's tears, of soothing power, Revive the drooping heart." doubt poetical, as may be proved from the many celebrated men who have signalised their love of gardens and shrubberies, by causing themselves to be buried in them. Plato was interred in the groves of Academus; Sir William Temple gave orders for his heart to be inclosed in a silver casket, and then placed under a sun-dial opposite his library window. Rousseau was buried in the Island of Poplars, in the garden of Ermenonville. Horne Tooke was buried in his own garden. Bonaparte often walked to a fountain in the island of St. Helena, and said to his confidential companions, "If it is destined that I die on this rock, let me be buried in this place," pointing to some willows near the fountain he so frequently visited. LOVE OF BURIAL PLACES.-The feeling is no |