number, and immediately extinguish them, and there is no kind of virtue they do not think them to possess. I was in the midst of the tumult, and being asked why I had no taper to light, I had an opportunity of expressing my disapprobation of their conduct. At the close of the ceremony, the Jews were publicly cursed, then the Mahomedans, and probably others whose names we could not distinguish. It is said that the practice of the deception can be traced back to the times of the Greek emperors, when the church was involved in a darkness that in these countries is yet felt. It has been opposed, both with keen ridicule and powerful argument, by several modern Greeks, and among others by the celebrated Coray, who died lately in Paris. The priests themselves would probably be glad to be well rid of the scandal, if it could be done without reflecting upon their predecessors. A pigeon was formerly let fly from the dome, to represent the visible coming of the Holy Ghost, but this part of the mockery is now abandoned. The fire continued to burn some minutes, but not always with the same brilliancy, and during this period the people continued to light their candles at the original source, but it seemed to be considered equally efficacious at the second or third hand, as it was in this way the greater part of the people received it. I have at words in my favor, and I was permitted to remain. The scene had very little resemblance to a Christian assembly, met together in a Christian place of worship. The Turks were quietly smoking their pipes, and smiling in derision; and others were beating the people without fear or favor to preserve order. Bread and water were carried about for sale, as some of the pilgrims had been all night in the church. The noise was like the uproar of an ale-bench at a village feast. Many were running round the sepulchre with all their might, and others were carried round on the shoulders of men, waving their hands as if blessing the people. They clapped their hands, leaped, and shouted; threw their caps into the air; and at times they set up the shrill whoop they make at funerals,—a sound that is indescribable, something like the quick hooting of an owl, but the effect is awful. As the time passed on, the noise and uproar increased. They lifted up their hands to heaven, to supplicate the hastening of the miraculous gift. All eyes were directed towards a small hole in the side of the wall of the sepulchre, where it was known that the fire would appear, and whenever the noise received additional force there was a general rush towards it. Every person present had a wax taper in the hand, which was held out towards the same spot. The miracle at last appeared, and in a few mo-tended many descriptions of heathen festivals. I ments every taper in the place was lighted by the senseless multitude. I cannot describe the scene. I thought of the furies, of the mad dances of the ancients at their idolatrous feasts, but I can find no comparison rightly to describe it. They shouted louder, and leaped higher, and waved their burning tapers in the air: add to these the smoke, the awful glare, the moving about of the immense mass, and a faint idea may be formed of this open desecration of the house of God. The sepulchre is sealed the day before, the superior bishop of the Greek church now enters the place, and offers up a prayer, and after a little time a flame appears at a small hole in the wall, opposite the entrance into the Latin church, which the people most firmly believe is miraculously lighted from heaven. I am told that the bishop was accompanied into the sepulchre by a Turk, but of this I am not certain, as I did not see him enter, nor did any of the party, though they stood in a different direction. have seen the devil-dancers apparently under Satanic influence, and the Mussulman devotees shout round their fires at the feast of Hussein Hassan, but I never witnessed any exhibition that excited in my mind feelings of deeper disgust, and this too in the name of Christ, and in a place probably not very far distant from the sacred spot where he bowed his head and died. On Easter Sunday, after the ceremonies were concluded in the church of the sepulchre, service was performed in the chapel of the principal Greek convent. The Gospel was read in different languages, to commemorate its introduction to as many different nations by the apostles. At the end of each part a bell was tinkled. The people again held tapers in their hands, and a priest offered one to each of us, but we declined to countenance so foolish a custom, though we were seated next to the bishop. The bishop officiated in his robes, and the priests in order, after prostrating Pliny Fisk, the American missionary, requested themselves before a picture of the Saviour, knelt permission to enter with the bishop, stating that before him with their heads to the ground, then the conversion of an unbeliever would increase rose and kissed his hand, and again bowed themthe celebrity of the fire by confirming its truth, selves to the earth. It would have been an amusbut he was told that if he were present with the ing sight, could we have looked upon all this as bishop at the time the fire appeared, his instant the play of a parcel of children, but when old men death would be the consequence. The people in priests' garments, and long white beards, enmaintain that the fire will not burn those who be-gaged in it, and called it a religious ceremony, it lieve in its powers; hence some of the men pass- excited feelings of the sincerest pity. The coned it quickly over their beards, and put it under gregation were very still, and there appeared in their clothes, but in such a way that any other some of their minds a degree of solemnity, and it fire would be equally harmless. The women near might be devotion. me passed it along garments they had brought for the purpose, as they believe it to have a nighty influence, and in these they intend to be buried. It was affecting to see the poor creatures thus preparing their own grave-clothes, with as much earnestness as if the eternal salvation of their souls was secured by the act. They also preserve the tapers they have lighted, as many of them light a The greater part of mount Zion is without the present walls of the city. There is a mosque upon its summit, said to be built over the tomb of David. Near it is a room in which our Lord is said to have eaten the last supper with the disciples. In an Armenian chapel is the stone that covered the sepulchre. Upon this hill, under the walls of the city, is the burial ground of the Christians. The different denominations are separated from each other even in death, and in their own plots they await the sound of the last trumpet, when it will not be asked of what shape they made the cross, but in what way they loved Christ. A Latin inscription in the Roman Catholic ground announces, that an Englishman in his last hours was brought from error to the bosom of the true church. There is one Protestant missionary quietly sleeping with the rest, Dr. Dalton, who is probably the first of many whose bodies are to be here deposited. The mount is not much higher than some other parts of the city, which have probably been elevated by the number of ruins they bear. The descent is very steep towards the valleys of Gihon and Jehoshaphat. Near the bottom there are terraces, upon which a few olive-trees are grow-ence, but all much broken. They are of white ing, and there are single trees in other parts of the slope. The city of David stood upon this hill; it contained the royal palace, and appears to have then been the strongest part of Jerusalem. The sides of the hill, that once bade defiance to the invader, are now brought under the plough, though their cultivation must be attended with some difficulty. "Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps." Mic. iii. 12. The valley of Millo extended from this mount to the hill of the temple, and though it was filled up by David and Solomon, its situation is still apparent. The objects of interest that are situated WITHOUT THE WALLS are much more numerous and more worthy of attention than those within. It may be well to leave the city by the Jaffa gate, and examine first the plain towards the north. The ground gradually rises until it reaches the northwest corner of the wall, from whence it declines as far as the north-east corner, when it becomes more equal. Near the wall are the remains of a dry moat, not cut with regularity. Towards the Damascus gate, is a cistern of water, in arched compartments, under ground, and near it, now used as a trough, is a stone coffin of the same description as those found in the sepulchres of the kings. In the same direction is a place called Jeremiah's grot, where the prophet is said to have resided, and of late inhabited by a band of dervishes. The surface of the plain is uneven, in some parts cultivated, and it has many olive-trees growing upon it. The city formerly extended itself in this direction, and it would not be difficult to trace its probable boundary. There are some caves, and remains of buildings and towers. About a quarter of a mile from the city, on the Jaffa road, is a Turkish burial-ground, and near it an ancient pool for water, about one hundred yards long and eighty broad. The sepulchres of the kings, as they are called, are situated on the right hand of the Damascus road, about a mile from the gate of the same name. The first place that is seen is an open court, cut in the rock, like a dry pool, about thirty yards square. On the south side there is a portico in the rock, with a sculptured frieze that runs the whole length of the opening. The sculpture consists of flowers, fruits, and other ornaments, worked with some taste, but now fast falling into decay. The opening to the sepulchre is at the left hand, nearly closed up with stones. It is not improbable that there are other entrances, perhaps one in the centre of the portico, and another opposite the entrance now open. We had some difficulty in effecting an entrance; as we had to crawl at full length, like worms, with lights in our hands. We soon arrived at a room about eight yards square, from whence we passed into several others, into some of which there is a descent. There has been displayed more art and care upon these caves than upon the common sepulchres, but some of the latter have required an equal degree of labor. In nearly all the rooms there are ledges in the sides for coffins, of which many remains are in existstone, and the lids are ornamented with figures of grapes, garlands, and similar devices, apparently more appropriate for a wassail-bowl than for a coffin. In the floors of the rooms narrow channels are cut, as if to receive the water that is continually dropping from above. The doors are all thrown down and broken. They were of one entire stone, turning upon two swivels let into the rock, and of exactly the same form as the panelled doors now in use. Near this court is another of a similar description, with caves at the sides. We entered one of them, but found in it nothing remarkable. Josephus speaks of "the sepulchral caverns of the kings" in this direction, from whence these caves have derived their name, but the authority is not sufficient to settle all doubts upon the subject, nor, indeed, is it known aright what kings are intended by the historian, as the monarchs of Judah were buried upon mount Zion. We proceeded a little distance after we had examined the tombs, whether royal or not, and then descended into a ravine, which is near the commencement of the brook Kedron, at that time without water. It begins a little more to the north-east, and passing between the plain and mount Olivet, forms the eastern boundary of the city. It deepens as it proceeds, and forms an angle opposite the temple, then takes a south-west direction, and passing between the village of Siloam and the city, runs off towards the Dead Sea. The ashes of the idolatrous vessels and altars, burnt by Josiah, were cast into this brook, and it received the blood from the sacrifices of the temple by a drain. From the commencement of the ravine unto the end, with the exception of the slopes under the temple, its side are perforated with sepulchres "hewn out in the rock," which were no doubt the tombs of the ancient citizens. We examined a great number of them, and found them to be nearly all of a similar character. Some have only one room, and others have eight or ten, of all sizes, from two yards square to twenty. In general they are so high, that we could walk in them upright, and some are lofty. There are several that have been used as dwellings. They contain no ancient sculpture or inscriptions, though some of the walls are covered with Hebrew characters, written by Jews, who have visited the places from curiosity. The floors of most of them are even with the entrance, but into others there is a precipitate descent. The roofs of the large rooms are supported by pillars, and some of them have entirely fallen in. In one of them we found the dead body of a man, nearly naked, who had, perhaps, crept in for shelter, and perished from famine or disease. a Pursuing the bed of the Kedron, we arrived, as it were, under the city, at the north-east angle. On the slope nearest the city there are many Turkish graves, that continue à little further than the gate of St. Stephen. This part of the valley was called Hinnom, in which many cruel and idolatrous ceremonies were performed, and children were passed through the fire to Moloch by their unnatural parents. It was also called Tophet. The filth of the city was here collected and consumed, and from the fires that were continually kept burning for this purpose, its name was chosen to designate hell, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." It was defiled by king Josiah, that no more human sacrifices might be presented in it to the demon of blood. The brook is crossed by a bridge, over which the road passes from the city to the mount of Olives and Bethany. Near the bridge is the roof of a church, even with the ground. It is built over a large cave, in which are the supposed tombs of the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and Anna. The objects that next attract attention, after passing the garden of Gethsemane, are some ancient sepulchres. The rock has been cut away from two of them, so that they appear as if erected in the usual manner; but they are each of one stone, and with their columns and ornaments have been cut out of the rock where they stand. They are attributed to Absalom and Zechariah. That of Absalom appears as if supported by six columns on each side. The ornaments on the frieze are of the same character as those on the portico of the royal sepulchres. It is surmounted by a roof formed of a separate stone, circular, and gradually tapering towards the summit, where it finishes in a knot or knob. The body of the tomb of Zechariah is of a similar description, but the roof is of one stone with the tomb, and rises in the form of a plain pyramid. The rock is cut away from them to the extent of a few feet, so that there is space to walk round them. There has not originally been to either of them any visible entrance, though holes have by force been made in their sides, and it is probable that they were entered from under ground. There is another tomb, attributed to James, a plain cave, with the frieze of the portico sculptured, and supported by four round columns, so that it resembles the front of a small Grecian temple. It is absurd to attribute these monuments to the persons whose names they bear. The pillar of Absalom was "reared up," we are told expressly, and this monument, on the contrary, is cut out of the rock. "Now, Absalom, in his life-time, had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the kings' dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance; and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place." 2 Sam. xviii. 18. From the style of their architecture, which is substantially Doric, it has been conjectured that they were built about the time of the Maccabees, and it is possible that they may have belonged to some of the high-priests who governed Judea previously to the rise of the Asmonean family, as the tombs of the Maccabees were at Modin. I had a conversation with an Irish gentleman of great intelligence, in the church of St. Peter, at Rome, on the subject of these sepulchres, and he suggested an idea that, to me, was original. He thought that the Ionic volute was first taken from the architecture of the Jews, and with them originated in the design to imitate the form of the scroll containing the law, when placed upon a pillar, as the manner was, to keep it open at the proper place of reading, whilst some other part of the service was carried on. The scroll and pillar would present the exact appear. ance of the Ionic column. About and above these sepulchres there is a countless number of separate stones, that mark the burial-places of the modern Jews. Nearly all of them have Hebrew inscriptions. This valley was used as the place of interment in times as ancient as the reign of Josiah, as we read that he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kedron, and burned it at the brook Kedron, and stamped it all to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people." 2 Kings. xxiii. 6. 66 On the side of the hill, towards the city, is a fountain, supposed by some to be that of Siloam. It is descended to first by a flight of broad steps, when there is a landing-place, and some narrower steps lead from thence into the water. Several Jews were bathing themselves in it when we approached. The depth of the water varies at different periods, but the stream was now scarcely perceptible. "Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, that go softly." Is. viii. 6. The course for the water is hewn out of the rock, and it would be an interesting attempt to examine it as far as possible with lights, as at the entrance it is high enough for this purpose. The taste of the water is not very excellent, though not absolutely disagreeable. The Mahomedans have a tradition that the spring comes from the celebrated well Zemzem, at Mecca, which, they say, is proved by this circumstance, that a water-vessel was put into the well of the prophet, and afterwards found here. A Mussulman related this account to us upon the spot. It appears from Josephus that there were other springs without the city, but this was the principal stream. On the same hill, a little further on, is another fountain, which is approached by a narrow entrance cut in the rock. Near it is a tank, and another opening to draw water, and the ruins of a small mosque. The pool is about fifty feet long and twenty broad. The sides are of wrought stones, and there are the remains of several pillars. A tanner was washing some skins in it when we were present. This is also called by some the pool of Siloam, but it is probable that neither of them is the ancient pool: they may be upon the same stream, but not in the same spot. The village of Siloam is in the steep sides of the opposite hill. Most of the houses have been tombs, and some of them are hewn out in the rock, in one solid mass, in the same way as the sepul chres already described. It may contain about ancient construction, and may be the place to four hundred inhabitants. which Hezekiah brought the upper water-course of Gihon. The walls of the city are here built up with a strong mole, and have a more formidable appearance than in any other part. We have now completed the circuit of the city, and may return home by the Jaffa gate, from whence the course of our observations commenced. On this side of the city the descent was perpendicular, with a strong wall from top to bottom, and immense outworks. So many ruins have been thrown down it, that it may now be ascended without much difficulty. The whole slope is intersected by a number of paths, and between them the ground supports a few olive trees, but is principally ploughed for grain. The valley is occupied by gardens, watered from the stream that supplies the pool, the whole of which is soon lost in the numerous little rills into which it is divided. This is the only part near Jerusalem that assumes any thing of a cheerful appearance, and it is supposed, with some probability, that the king's gardens were in this direction. Near the place where the gardens terminate, there is an old mosque and a small tank. The ravine between the city and the mount of Olives is called the valley of Jehoshaphat, and it is believed by the Jews that the last judgment will here take place, from a passage in the prophecy of Joel. "Let the heathen be awakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about." Joel iii. 2. The space occupied by the gardens is formed from the union of the valleys of Jehoshaphat and Gihon. The hill that rises from thence to the city is mount Zion. The valley of Gihon, here deep and broad, is gradually contracted as it rises towards the plain on the north. The side opposite the city is formed by the hill of Evil Counsel, upon the top of which are some buildings that I neglected to examine. The water-course from the pools of Solomon, near Bethlehem, runs along this slope, and here we are again presented with tombs. In some of them the roof is cut in a manner similar to the ornamented circles from whence chandeliers are usually suspended, and they have tured entrances. At the outside of some of them are carved, by a modern hand, the words The range of the Mount of Olives is seen from almost every part of the city. The highest part may be nearly half a mile from the walls, opposite the temple. It is not much higher than the most elevated parts of the city, from which it is divided by a deep ravine. The tessera used in ancient times to form mosaic floors are found here, as well as in other parts of the suburbs of the city. The 5th and 10th legions encamped upon this mountain during the siege. The ascent is gradual. It has three summits, the furthest of which is over the village of Siloam, and is composed of bare rock, in which many cisterns are cut. The middle summit is the highest, and it contains a mosque and some houses. The Turks show a chapel of an octagonal form, with small marble pillars, in the floor of which is a cavity, said to be the print of one of our Lord's feet, left at the time he ascended from this place, and the everlasting doors received the King of Glory. The pilgrims are eager to take casts of it in wax. It has at present no resemblance to a foot, but may have been much worn away by the kisses of its deluded visiters. The other footstep was formerly shown. It was an ancient belief that these marks could never be hid by a pavement, or covered by a roof. In the court are altars, at which the different bodies of Christians offer up their prayers. From an elesculp-vation not far distant, there is a commanding view of part of the valley of Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the mountains of Moab. At a lower range than the mosque, in the direction of the city, is a small vault, built of stone, and covered over with cement. The sides are divided into compartments In others we observed paintings of saints, which by the ribs of a rude arch between each. It is show that they must have been in the possession supposed to have been used as a place for secret of Christians. Many of them are now used as and idolatrous worship, but this is mere conjecstores by the persons whose gardens are near, ture. It may be the cave referred to by Eusebius, and some of them have been inhabited at a recent as a place where our Saviour communicated to period. The potter's field was probably in this his disciples many mysteries. On the same hill direction, as it is the only place in which I ob- are many broken columns. The other summit is served any appearance of clay. There are the covered by a collection of stones, and there is a remains of a church under ground, perhaps the large cistern cut in the rock with several openings. same that travellers represent as having been The report was very loud, and the reverberation built by the empress Helena, and as being the re- long continued, when we put our heads into one ceptacle of corpses that are thrown into it from a of them and shouted. The water at the bottom hole in the top, and consumed in the space of for- was perfectly clear. The fields on the slope are ty-eight hours. We did not observe any bones, divided from each other by stone walls, and are but the practice may be now discontinued. The principally sown with corn, interspersed with a west end is formed of the natural rock, and the few of the trees most common to the country.arches of the roof are out of their proper level. Near the foot of the centre mountain, not far from Further on, there are large cisterns, of separate the burial cave of the Virgin, a small plot of stones, connected with the water-course. The ground is walled off, said to be the garden of valley is crossed by two strong ramparts, built of Gethsemane. It has a few olive trees growing wrought stones, over which the road passes to- in it of venerable appearance. The exact limits wards Bethlehem. They were probably erected may not be known, but it is highly probable that to preserve the water that flows in this direction the hallowed spot was not far from this place. from the hills around. They are undoubtedly of We know that Christ went over the "brook THC ATIAC CIWN + Kedron, where was a garden," and that this garden was upon "the mount of Olives." Not content with probability, the monks pretend to show the exact spot where our Lord prayed, and where the disciples slept. The space in which the traitor Judas walked, when he betrayed his divine master with a kiss, is walled off from the rest, and looked upon as accursed. Though olive trees are found near other parts of the city, they are here so comparatively abundant, that the mount may still with propriety retain its ancient name. brought away a few branches from the garden as remembrances of the place. The road to Bethany winds along the foot, and passes over the southern extremity. Jerusalem has lost its rank in political importance. It was once the head of a pachalic, and until lately the office of governor was considered to be a respectable situation, and was entered upon with great pomp; but it is now filled by a person from the immediate neighborhood, and of comparatively low rank. I was much surprised at the small number of soldiers in the city. The guard at the gates is not regularly maintained; but such is the terror of the pacha's name, that the people are now kept in greater tranquillity than they have been for ages, when it was thought necessary to support an immense military force. It is difficult to state the population with any degree of certainty. From the observations I was enabled to make, though it was the busiest period of the year, and there were at least two thousand strangers present, I think that in the statements before the public the truth is exceeded. I should estimate the numbers in this proportion:-6000 Jews, 3000 Mussulmans, and 3000 Christians.The interior of the city would accommodate 30,000 people upon its present plan. By far the largest assembly I saw, was on the slopes of the hill near St. Stephen's gate, on the morning that the governor and his guard accompanied the pilgrims to the Jordan. Jerusalem is one of the dullest places I ever entered, and if the traveller did not come here to converse with the dead, rather than the living, he would be much disappointed. It has no commerce, few manufactures, and when the pilgrims are absent, little intercourse with other people or cities. There are three descriptions of persons within its walls, all of whom have a rooted antipathy to each other. The Jew despises alike the Mussulman and the Christian, and regards them both as intruders upon the soil given to his own nation by God. The Mussulman, with a consciousness of greater political dignity, and with a supposed freedom from the degrading superstitions that the others practise, looks upon himself as so far above the Israelite dog and the Nazarite kaffer, that he would not willingly allow them to tread the same earth, or breathe the same air. The Christian, with equal pride, curses the hand of the Islam oppressor, under which he constantly writhes, and turns from the child of Abraham as from one who would defile his purity, or steal his purse. Necessity obliges all to come at times into contact, but there is no common interest in which they have all one heart and one wish. They worship in separate churches, though all profess to call upon God; they live in separate quarters, though citizens of the same place; and at their homes they speak a different language, though inhabitants of the same country. This is, indeed, the fact in almost every city of Syria, but in Jerusalem it appears with greater prominence, and strikes the mind with more melancholy force. The bazars are arched over, dark and gloomy, and are more like the aisles in some ruined and desolate monastery, than marts in which commerce is to be carried on, and wealth procured.The pavement is of immense stones. In the goods exposed for sale there is nothing attractive, nor any attempt to display to advantage the few articles that are collected together. There are a few mechanics, such as smiths, tinners, carpenters, saddlers, and shoemakers; but no extensive sale. rooms. The butchers exercise their calling in a manner more disgusting than I have elsewhere witnessed, and by their filthy habits contribute not a little to the general offensiveness of the streets. Many of the bazars are partially deserted, and as these places are made the receptacle of every nuisance, a mass of impure matter is daily accumulating, that will soon render its removal out of the power of the supine authorities, and be the death of numbers who have to move in its desolating vicinity. To the sincere Christian, a residence in Jerusalem is connected with many circumstances that will tend to depress his soul, and remind him of the righteous judgments of God. He looks abroad, and the only men who assume an independent carriage, or present a respectable appearance, are without exception enemies of Christ. The two extremes meet, for we may look away from the man that rushes past on his fiery steed to the miserable being who crawls along in indigence, and he too cherishes an enmity, and an enmity still deeper, towards the same Redeemer. The Christians may profess an outward love to the blessed Name that the others reject as evil, but there is no communion with his Spirit, and the worship that they offer is offensive in his sight.We may try to shroud ourselves from these distressing scenes, but sounds will follow us to our retirement. There is a call to worship at the shrine of Christ, but it is not the tone of the cheerful bell; it is a dull stroke upon a plank of wood, an acknowledgment of degradation, a voice that dares not to speak out lest the infidel should be roused, and as such more painful far than would be absolute silence. There is another call, professing to invite men to worship God, but it is from the minaret of a mosque, and the name of the false prophet mingles in its cry, at such a place scarcely less startling than the sight of a spirit of darkness would be among the hierarchies of heaven. The cry of the muezzin is always affecting, but when heard in Zion, as it passes from minaret to minaret, at the hour of prayer, and comes in loud accents through every part of the city, and is re-echoed from spots where He once taught who spake as never man spake, there is no soul that can listen to it without tears. |