Eut of the entrance is the Column of the Scourging, formerly exhibited in the reputed bone of Calaphas, which visitors are permitted to touch with a stick, but cannot see swing to the defective light. In the Latin Sacristy are shown the sword, spurs, and cross of Godfrey de Bosition.

Leaving the Rotunda we now enter the ancient church of the Crusades, which at the time was gite separate from that of the Sepulchre, but is now all thrown into one. Tik building, which is a combination of the French transition style of architecture with Samose detalls, was erected in 1149 and restored in 1808.

Immediately opposite the door of the Sepulchre is the fine Arch of the Emperors, ander wh is the entrance to the sumptuous church of the Greeks, supposed to stand in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. The throne of the Patriarch of Jerusalem is Between the entrance and the choir is a part of a column rising from the floor, with, wording to a very early tradition, marks the centre of the world! and is the got from whence the dust was procured from which Adam was created. The writer confesses to having been amused, when watching the zealous pilgrims who frequent this chapel, to note how devoutly many of them kneel and kiss this column, in most profound ignorance of what they are doing or why they are doing it. Passing now into a dark aisle, we are shown two round holes which the Greeks assert to be the footprints of Christ. The adjoining chapel is called the Prison of Christ, where it is said He was incarcerated while His cross was being prepared.

Taming back towards the choir of the Greek church, we come upon a series of •mali chapels, each bristling with legends. The first is the Chapel of St. Longinus, the centurion who thrust the spear into the side of Christ, and afterwards said, "Truly this was the Son of God; "-then the Chapel of the Division of the Vestments, where lots were cast for the garments of our Lord; and farther on the Chapel of the Crown of Thorns, with a greyish column on which it is said our Lord sat while the people derided

Him.

Descending now a flight of thirty steps, we reach the Chapel of St. Helena, on the site of the Basilica of Constantine, its massive substructions dating from the seventh century, its pointed vaulting from the time of the Crusades. The chapel is the property of the Abyssinians, by whom it is let to the Armenians. Here is an altar to Dimas, the penitent thief, and another to St. Helena, near to which is a niche in a low wall, called the Chair of Helena, where it is affirmed she sat when search was being made for the true Cross. Immediately opposite that seat is a descent of thirteen steps leading to the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross-a cavern in a rock, the left of which belongs to the Greeks and the right to the Latins. The legend of how the pious Empress was divinely directed to this spot; how the workmen dug until the three crosses, with nails, crown of thorns, superscription, and other relics were found; how the true Cross out of the three was ascertained by placing upon it a noble lady on the point of death, who immediately revived-is too well known to tell in detail. The commemoration of this event is called, in the Calendar, The Invention of the Cross.

Retracing our steps past the choir of the Greek Church we ascend a flight of eighteen marble steps, and arrive at the reputed site of Calvary, fifteen feet above the level of the Church of the Sepulchre, and about forty yards distant from the tomb. An opening, lined with silver,

marks the spot where it is said the Cross was planted in the rock; and two other holes, each five feet from that in which the Cross of Christ was planted, are said to be the site of the crosses of the two thieves, that of the penitent thief being on the right hand. Silver lamps burn ceaselessly, and pilgrims kneel adoringly, and are allowed to thrust their hands into the socket where the Cross of the Saviour was planted. About four or five feet from this spot is the Rent in the Rock said to have been made at the time of the Crucifixion, and reaching to the centre of the earth. The rent is covered over with a brass slide and a grating, but when these are pushed aside a cleft is seen about eight inches deep.

The chapel adjoining to Golgotha is where Christ is said to have been nailed to the Cross. It belongs to the Latins, as does also the Chapel of St. Mary, where it is alleged the mother of our Lord stood with the disciple John at the time of the Crucifixion. The adornments of this chapel are of the richest and most profuse description.

Such are the main features of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the joint property of the Greeks, Latins, Armenians, and Copts. It would be tedious to tell of the many minor "sacred localities" in the church, such as the Tomb of Adam and Eve, the Tomb of Melchizedek, &c.; nor would it be possible to attempt a description of the endless services of the various churches held in these holy places. It may be mentioned, however, that the different sects take their turn in making processions and worshipping at the various shrines, and the fact that the Latin Calendar differs by some days from the Greek is a matter of great convenience in avoiding unseemly collisions. It may also be noted that some of the places held in great veneration by some sects are lightly esteemed by others; for example, the Chapel of St. Longinus belongs to the Greeks, who do homage there, but the Latins ignore the tradition, and so pass it by when making their processions.

THE VIA DOLOROSA.

The traditional Via Dolorosa, the route by which our Lord is said to have borne His cross to Golgotha, is a narrow, ill-paved, dirty street, winding in and out by ruined walls and rickety buildings. There are picturesque spots here and there, and invariably scenes of interest may be witnessed when devout pilgrims are making their religious tour along this Street of Pain, or Way of the Cross; but in itself there is little to inspire reverential feeling,

especially when it is remembered that it is not mentioned until the fourteenth century, and that since then the records of travellers show that many of the holy places have changed sites!

Starting from the barracks, which are said to stand on the ground once occupied by the Prætorium, the residence of Pilate, the Via Dolorosa winds through various streets and lanes until it reaches the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in which building are five of the fourteen stations for prayer and meditation marked out for the devotion of the faithful. The first station is the chapel in the Prætorium, now Turkish barracks; next, the place where the cross was laid upon Christ; then comes an arch called the Ecce Homo Arch, from which Pilate is said to have uttered the words "Behold the Man!" And so on in succession are pointed out, a column where He is said to have sunk under the weight of the cross, the spot where He met His mother, the spot where Simon of Cyrene had the cross laid upon him, an impression in the wall left by the shoulder of Christ when leaning against it, the place where He addressed the women: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me!" In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the remaining "stations" are those to which we have already referred, including Calvary, the Stone of Unction, and the Holy Sepulchre itself.

In the south-east quarter of Jerusalem is the spacious area known as the Harâm-esh-Sherîf, "The Noble Sanctuary," entered by eight gates, surrounded by lofty walls, studded with trees-the olive and the cypress-verdant with grass, and adorned with exquisite fountains and cupolas, prayer-niches and arches. In the centre is the Dome of the Rock (Kubbet-es-Sakhrâ), or Mosque of Omar, a building of exquisite beauty; and within the enclosure is also the massive Mosque El-Aksa.

This area is the most interesting spot in the whole world-sacred alike to Jew, to Moslem, and to Christian-for here it was that Ornan had his threshing-floor; that Abraham offered up his son Isaac; that David prayed for the plague-stricken people. Here it was that Solomon reared that "holy and beautiful house," the Temple of the Lord, wherein were the Holy of holies, the ark, the mercy-seat, and all the poetical symbols of the worship of Israel; here Zerubbabel reared the second Temple, after that of Solomon had been destroyed; and here was erected by Herod that gorgeous Temple into which our Lord so frequently came, where His gracious words were spoken and many of His wondrous deeds wrought.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70, when the Temple was burnt and razed to the ground, Hadrian erected a temple here in honour of Jupiter and himself; to this spot Mohammed came; and here was built the so-called Mosque of Omar, which some claim to have been built by Abd-el-Melik, A.D. 686.

This is the spot where for ages the One God was worshipped, while all other lands were steeped in idolatry; here were observed the stately rites and ceremonies of the Law; here shone forth the Shekinah; hither came up the tribes to the great annual feasts; here came the One who in Himself fulfilled the types and shadows of the Law and instituted His church. From first to last this was the centre of the religious, the poetical, and the political life of the Jewish nation. Every Jew regards this spot still as the most sacred upon earth; every Christian regards it with reverential interest; every Moslem looks upon it as the most holy place after Mecca.

Let us adopt the same course we pursued with regard to the Church of the Sepulchremake a tour of all the places of interest, and collect as we go the histories and legends of the sacred sites.

Standing on a platform ten feet high in the centre of the Harâm, and approached by a flight of marble steps, is the Dome of the Rock, an octagonal building, each of the eight sides being sixty-eight feet in length, covered with richly-coloured porcelain tiles, in which blue predominates; and above, a frieze of tiles running round the whole building, upon which are inscribed passages from the Korân. Four gates face the cardinal points of the compass, with inscriptions on the lintels dating from the year 830.

When the building is entered-and Christians have been at liberty to enter it since the Crimean War: a privilege not accorded to Jews, who, it is said, would not avail themselves of it if they could, for fear they should commit the sin of treading on the "Holy of holies "it is difficult to see anything for a long time, the interior being so very dark, notwithstanding the fact that there are fifty-six stained-glass windows to the building. Soon the designs on the windows are visible, and they are found to be of wonderful brilliancy and beauty; then the eye catches the golden letters above the windows, consisting of portions of the Korân, curiously enough referring to our Lord as "Jesus, Son of Mary, the word of truth;" and finally it wanders up to the Dome, ninety-seven feet high and sixty-five in diameter, richly adorned with bright colours on wood, and gorgeously-coloured glass in the octagon and drum. After awhile the arrangement of the interior becomes visible; and it is seen that the whole of the flooring is of marble mosaic, covered in places, however, with mats; that there are two cloisters, or aisles, separated by an octagonal course of piers and columns, within which, again, is another circle of four great piers, and twelve Corinthian columns. which support the Dome. The shafts of the columns are of marble, and many are of great antiquity-some from the temple built by Hadrian, and some, according to the guides, from the temples of Herod and Solomon.

In the centre of the building, under a large silken canopy like a tent, and enclosed by a coloured wooden screen, giving to the place an unfortunate resemblance to an equestrian circus, rises the Sacred Rock, bare, rugged, and unhewn. "The rock," says Captain Wilson, "stands about four feet nine and a half inches above the marble pavement at its highest point, and one foot at its lowest; it is one of the 'missæ' strata, and has a dip of 12° in a direction of 85° east of north. The surface of the rock bears the marks of hard treatment and rough chiselling; on the western side it is cut down in three steps, and on the northern side in an irregular shape, the object of which could not be discovered. Near, and a little to the east of the door leading to the chamber below, are a number of small rectangular holes cut in the rock, as if to receive the foot of a railing or screen, and at the same place is a circular opening communicating with the cave."

Jews and Moslems alike pay reverence to this remarkable rock as the site of the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. Just such a place as this must originally have been, is the customary native threshing-floor at the present day, a breezy spot on a lofty plateau of rockin this case not quite on the ridge of Moriah, but a few feet south of it,-the ridge or peak itself being occupied by the cavern for corn-the usual accompaniment to the threshing-floor -in which the grain is garnered. On this rock, according to the Jews, Melchizedek offered

sacrifice, Abraham brought his son Isaac as an offering, and the Ark of the Covenant stood. The circular hole is believed by some to be the place through which the blood of the sacrifices poured, and was carried, by way of the brook Kidron, outside the city.

A flight of eleven steps on the south-east of the rock leads to the famous cavern which has been, and will be, the battle-ground of controversialists. In this cavern, tradition says, Araunah and his sons, when they saw the destroying angel, hid themselves through fear. The Mohammedans say that when their Prophet ascended to heaven on El-Burak, the rock wanted to follow him, and started for that purpose, but the angel Gabriel held it down, and in doing so left the impress of his fingers, which may be seen to this day. They affirm that the rock is still suspended in the air, but has been walled

up, as pious pilgrims were afraid to pass under it-in proof of which assertion they tap the walls, which send forth a hollow sound.

One of the strangest theories, but one which had many supporters, was that put forth by Mr. Fergusson-that this cave is none other than the Sepulchre of our Lord. Against this theory there are many convincing objections.

The extreme length of the Harâm area from north to south is something under 1,600 feet-nothing like twice the extent of the Palace of Westminster, little more than two and a half times that of Trafalgar Square. As nearly as possible midway stands the Dome of the Rock, covering the mysterious cavity which, according to the theory of Mr. Fergusson, is the actual Sepulchre of our Lord. Now 600 feet is the narrowest limit assigned, on any hypothesis, to the area of the Temple, with its court and precincts. It follows that the Sepulchre must have been distant less than 200 feet from the northern wall of the Temple. Not much beyond a stone's-throw from the Holy of holies itself, in the very heart of the busiest and most sacred portion of the city, we are, according to this theory, to imagine "the place Golgotha," where malefactors were publicly put to death, for