[73] Travels, vol. iv. p. 289.
[74] The original presents one of the most animated and musical passages in the Gerusalemme Liberata:—
"Ma quando il sol gli aridi campi fiede Con raggi assai fervente, a in alto sorge, Ecco apparir Gerusalem si vede! Ecco additar Gerusalem si scorge! Ecco da mille voci unitamente, Gerusalemme salutar si sente!"—Cantoiii. stan. v. 2.
[75] Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. ii. p. 303.
[76] Notes on Egypt, &c. p. 274.
[77] Travels along the Mediterranean and parts adjacent, vol. ii. p. 285.
[78] Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 301.
[79] Travels of Ali Bey, vol. ii, p. 214.
[80] Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 321.
[81] Travels, vol. ii. p. 325.
[82] Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 71.
[83] Journey, p. 74.
[84] Journey, p. 76.
[85] Maundrell's Journey, p. 94.
[86] Journey, p. 96.
[87] "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.
"Il n'en est pas de méme d'une pratique superstitieuse des Grecs schismatiques, dont la bizarrerie ne laissera pas de divertir un moment.
"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 pretres 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'a 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 état de grace. Ils se frottent les mains d'une certaine eau, qui les garantit de la brulure à la première approche, et par ce moyen ne se font aucun mal en touchant leurs cierges. Leur prosélytes 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 de là que les prêtres, paraissant jouir exclusivement de la grace de Dieu, en sont plus respectés et mieux prayés."—Mariti, Voyages, &c., tom. ii. p. 340.
[88] Richardson, vol. ii. p. 333.
[89] Journey, p. 69.
[90] Travels, vol. iv. p. 315.
[91] Vol. ii. p. 21.
[92] Buckingham's Travels, vol i. p. 384.
[93] Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, &c. vol. ii. p. 22.
[94] The invocation alluded to must be familiar to the youngest reader:
"Sing, heavenly muse, that on the secret topOf Oreb or of Sinai didst inspireThat shepherd who first taught the chosen seed,In the beginning, how the heavens and earthRose out of chaos; or, if Zion hillDelight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowedFast by the oracle of God; I thenceInvoke thy aid to my advent'rous song."
Paradise Lost, book i.
[95] Travels by Rae Wilson, vol. i. p. 220.
[96] Travels in Palestine, vol. i. p. 297.
[97] 2 Samuel xviii. 18. Travels in Palestine, vol. i. p. 302.
[98] See Tour of the Holy Land, by the Rev. Robert Morehead, D.D.; in the Appendix to which are extracts from this anonymous manuscript.
[99] "Having so often mentioned Clarke, I must say, that although an animated and interesting writer, and not incorrect in his descriptions, he is more deficient in judgment than any traveller I am acquainted with; and I do not recollect an instance, either here or in Egypt, where he has attempted to speculate, without falling into some very decided error. I mention this the more, as his enthusiasm and conviction of the truth of his own theories led me formerly to place great faith in his authority."—Anonymous Journal.
[100] Buckingham, vol. i. p. 316.—The following words, put into the mouth of Titus by the eloquent author of the "Fall of Jerusalem," will be read with interest in connexion with the view just given. The son of Vespasian stands on the Mount of Olives:—
"It must be—And yet it moves me, Romans! it confoundsThe counsels of my firm philosophy,That Ruin's merciless ploughshare must pass o'erAnd barren salt be sown on yon proud city.As on our olive-crowned hill we stand,Where Kedron at our feet its scanty watersDistils from stone to stone with gentle motion,As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace,How boldly doth it front us! how majestically!Like a luxurious vineyard, the hill-sideIs hung with marble fabrics, line on line,Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearerTo the blue heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces,With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;Here towers of war that frown in massy strength.While over all hangs the rich purple eve,As conscious of its being her last farewellOf light and glory to that fated city.And as our clouds of battle, dust, and smokeAre melted into air, behold the Temple,In undisturbed and lone serenity,Finding itself a solemn sanctuaryIn the profound of heaven! It stands before usA mount of snow fretted with golden pinnacles!The very sun, as though he worshipped there,Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs;And down the long and branching porticoes,On every flowery sculptured capitalGlitters the homage of his parting beams.By Hercules! the sight might almost winThe offended majesty of Rome to mercy."
Old Sandys, a simple and amusing writer, describes Jerusalem as follows:—"This chic, once sacred and glorious, elected by God for his seate, and seated in the midst of nations,—like a diadem crowning the head of the mountaines,—the theatre of mysteries and miracles,—was founded by Melchisedek (who is said to be the son of Noah, and that not unprobably) about the year of the world 2023, and called Salem (by the Gentiles Solyma), which signifyeth Peace: who reigned here fifty years.—This citie is seated on a rockie mountaine; every way to be ascended (except a little on the north) with steep ascents and deep valleys naturally fortified; for the most part environed with other not far removed mountaines, as if placed in the midst of an amphitheatre."—Lib. iii. p. 154.
[101] "Bethlehem soon after came in sight,—a fine village, surrounded with gardens of fig-trees and olives. There is a deep valley below, and half-way down on the top of a hill is a green plain, the only one we have seen in Judea:—I could fancy Boaz's field forming part of it. The convent is a very remarkable building, and well worth seeing. Without, it is a perfect fortress, with heavy buttresses and small grated windows, on entering, we immediately came to a magnificent church, with a double row of ten Corinthian pillars of marble on each side,—forty pillars to all. On the arched roof are the remains of Mosaic, of the Empress Helena's time. One part was very distinct: it represented a city with temples, &c., and over it was written in Greek characters,Laodicea."—Anonymous Journal.
[102] Richardson, Buckingham, Maundrell.
[103] Bethleem nunc nostram, et augustissimum urbis locum de quo Psalmista canit (Ps. lxxxiv. 12).Veritas de terra orta est, lucus inumbrabat Thamus, id est, Adonidis; et in specu ubi quondam Christus parvulus vagiit, Veneris Amasius plangebatur.—Epis. ad Paul.
[104] Pour ce qui est des ornemens de ce saint Temple, il n'en reste que fort peu en comparaison de ce qui y estoit. Car tous les murs estoient autrefois magnifiquement reuestus et couvertes de belles tables de marbre gris onde, comme on en voit encore en quelques endroits que les infidelles n'ont poe avoir. Comme ils ont emporté tout le reste pour en orner leurs Mosquées, et est une chose pitoyable de voir que tous les murs sont remplis de gros clous et crampons de fer qui les tenoient attachez. Au-dessus des colomnes de la nef est un mur tout couvert, et peint de la plus belle et fine Mosaique qu'il est possible de voir, n'estant composée que de petites pierres fines et transparentes comme cristal de toutes les couleurs, qui representent grandes figures et histoires de la Vie, Miracles Mort, et Passion de Nostre Seigneur, si narument faites des couleurs si vives et éclatantes, et le fonds d'un or si luysant, qu'il semble qu'elles sont faites depuis peu, encore qu'il y ait plus de treize cens ans. Entre ces figures sont treize fenestres de chacun costé, qui rendent un grand jour par toute l'eglise: derrière la troisième et quatrième colomne de la main droite est un tres-beau et riche base de marbre blanc de forme ronde à six pans de quelques trois pieds de diametre, qui sert de fonds baptismaux.—Doubdan, p. 133.
[105] Maundrell, p. 90.
[106] Relation of a Journey, p. 183.
[107] O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.—Jer. vi. 1.
[108] Modern Traveller, vol. i. p. 183. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv e. 13.
[109] Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, Pref, vi. Modern Traveller, vol. i. p. 203. Doubdun, Voyage, p. 322, 326.
[110] Chateaubriand, tom. i. p. 408.
[111] "Haud procul inde campi, quos ferunt olim uberes, magnisque urbibus habitatos, fulminum jactu, arsisse; et manere vestigia, terramque ipsam, specie torridam, vim frugiferam perdidisse."—Tacit. Hist.lib. v. cap. 7.
[112] The Abbé Mariti, who saw little himself, is not willing to allow to others the advantage of having been more fortunate. "Quelques voyageurs ont avancé qu'on distinguoit encore les debris de ces villes infortunées, lorsque les eaux de la mer etoient basses et lympides. Il en est même que disent avoir apperçu des restes de colonnes avec leurs chapitaux. Mais, il faut que l'imagination les ait trompés, ou que depuis leur retour, cette mer ait eprouvé de nouvelles secousses, car je n'y peux rien voir de semblable, malgré toute ma bonne volonté. Un père capucin crut aussi reconnoître sur ces bords les effets frappans de la malédiction celeste. Ici, ce sont des traces de feu, là, une surface de cendres, partout des champs arides et maudits. Il croit même respirer encore un odeur de soufre. Pour moi je suis affecté en sens contraire: rien dans ce lieu ne me rappelle la desolation dont parle la bible. L'air y est pure, le gazon d'un beau vert; en plus d'un endroit mon oeil se refraichit aux eaux argentines qui jaillissant en gerbes du sommet des monts; la sterilité dont une partie de ces campagnes fut frappée dès la naissance du monde, rend plus douce par le contraste l'apparence de fertilité que je remarquai dans le sol d'Alvona. Mais d'où vient donc que deux voyageurs peuvent être si opposés? C'est que un capucin porte partout les cinq sens de la foi, et que moi je ne suis doué que de deux de la nature."—Tom. ii. p. 334.
[113] "On plutôt doit on admettre l'opinion des physiciens Arabes, qui établissent, non sans quelque fondement, qu'elles se dissipent en evaporation?".—Tom. ii. p. 334.
[114] Mr. Gordon, however, maintains, that persons who have never learned to swim will float on its surface.—Chateaubriand, tom. i. p. 412.
[115] "Le Cardinal de Vitry la nomme la Mer du Diable, et Marinas Sanutus dit qu'elle est tousjours couverte d'une fumée epaisse et de vapeurs noires, comme quelque soupirail ou cheminée d'Enfer. D'autres disent que son eau est noire, gluante, epaisse, grasse, fanguese, et de tres mauvaise odeur; et toutefois j'ay parlé à des Religieux qui m'ont asseuré y avoir été, et que cette eau est claire; nette, et liquide: mais très-amère et salée. Et comme j'ay dit, je n'y ay veu, ny fumée ny brouillards."—Doubdan, Voyage de la Terre Sainte, p. 317.
[116] "As for the apples of Sodom, so much talked of, I neither saw nor heard of any hereabouts; nor was there any tree to be seen near the lake from which one might expect such a fruit. Which induces me to believe that there may be a greater deceit in this fruit than that which is usually reported of it, and that its very being, as well as its beauty, is a fiction, only kept up, as my Lord Bacon observes other false notions are, because it serves for a good allusion and helps the poet to a similitude."Maundrell, p. 85.
[117] The reading in Hasselquist must beeighteeninstead of eight, or eight fathoms, instead of feet, for Mr. Maundrell remarks that the breadth of the river "might be about twenty yards over, and in depth it far exceeded my height."—Journey, p. 83.
[118] Deut. xxxiv. 1-7.
[119] 2 Kings ii. 19-23.
[120] Paradise Regained, Book I. v. 295, &c.
[121] Among these he found, with great delight, a very curious new cimex orbug, p. 129.
[122] Journey, p. 80.
[123] Paradise Regained, Book II. v. 281.
[124] A Visit to Egypt, &c. p. 285.
[125] Travels of Ali Bey, vol. ii. p. 251.
[126] The Mussulmans say prayers in all the holy places consecrated to the memory of Jesus Christ and the Virgin except the Tomb of the Holy Sepulchre, which they do not acknowledge. They believe that Jesus Christ did not die, but that he ascended alive into heaven, leaving the likeness of his face to Judas, who was condemned to die for him; and that, in consequence, Judas having been crucified, his body might have been contained in this sepulchre, but not that of Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that the Mussulmans do not perform any acts of devotion at this monument, and that they ridicule the Christians who go to revere it—Ali Bey, vol. ii. p. 237.
[127] Chateaubriand. Itinéraire, tom. ii. p. 169.
[128] Journey, p. 76.
[129] Pausanius, describing the Sepulchre of Helena at Jerusalem, mentions this device: "It was so contrived that the door of the sepulchre, which was of stone, and similar in all respects to the sepulchre itself, could never be opened except upon the return of the same day and hour in each succeeding year. It then opened of itself by means of the mechanism alone, and after a short interval closed again. Such was the case at the time stated; had you tried to open it at any other time, you would not have succeeded, but broken it first in the attempt." Paus. in Arcad. cap. xvi.—Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 383.
[130] Journey, p. 63.
[131] Deut. xi. 29, 30.
[132] "Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's Well was there."—John iv. 5, 6.
[133] Travels, vol. iv. p. 264.
[134] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 275.
[135] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 280.
[136] Richardson, vol. ii. p. 415.
[137] Travels in Palestine, &c. by J.S. Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 144.
[138] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 104.
[139] Num. xxi. 24. Deut. ii.
[140] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 244.
[141] Travels in Palestine, p. 259.
[142] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 261.
[143] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 261.
[144] Joseph, lib. iii. De Bell. Jud. Hasselquist, p.157. Clarke, iv. p.227.
[145] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 359.—"Quae urbes, quod ipse servator ils praedixerat, hodie in ruinis jacent."—Cluverius, lib. v. cap. 20. "Capernaum was visited in the sixth century by Antoninus the Martyr, an extract from whose Itinerary is preserved by Reland, who speaks of a church erected upon the spot where St. Peter's dwelling once stood."—Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 211.
[146] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 366.
[147] "Within two hours and a half of Tiberias, we looked down on a fine cultivated plain, quite bare of trees; beyond which, at a much lower level, lay the narrow Valley of the Jordan. This plain was pastured over by horses from the town, for the keepers of which white tents were scattered about in all directions. We now came in sight of the Sea of Galilee: we only saw the northern half, and its size disappointed us; but the dark blue still water, the green hills around covered with bushes, and the high snowy ridge of Djibbel el Sheik made a very delightful landscape. Tiberias, with its high-feudal citadel, its walls and towers, now forms a remarkable feature in the view; and the steep hills, which descend at once to the lake on the east, attract attention from their strangely-channelled sides diversified with dark green bushes and white chalky soil. The lake at the town may be six or eight miles broad. We could see no stream formed by the Jordan through it. Before it was dark we had a very fine view of the lake; at the southero part it is narrow, and the sides bold. The sun threw a deep shade on this side and on the water, while it marked the hills and valleys on the opposite side with strong light and shade. The northern part is much wider and tamer; but the hills are still high and green, and the lofty snowy mountain of Djibbel el Sheik rising over them gives great dignity to the landscape. This mountain was very striking late in the evening, as retaining the sun's rays after every thing around us was in darkness. In all respects it is the greatest ornament of the lake, and I am surprised that travellers have not mentioned it more."—Anonymous Journal.
[148] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 368.
[149] Dr. Clarke relates, that "the French, during the time their army remained under Bonaparte in the Holy Land, constructed two very large ovens in the earth at Tiberias. Two years had elapsed at the time of our arrival since they had set fire to their granary; and it was considered as a miracle by the inhabitants that the combustion was not yet extinguished. We visited the place, and perceived, that whenever the ashes of the burnt corn were stirred, by thrusting a stick among them, sparks were even seen glowing throughout the heap; and a piece of wood left there became charred."
[150] The following extract from the unpublished journal already so often referred to will amuse the reader:—"We arrived at the foot of Mount Tabor. It is, in its general outline, a round, regular-shaped hill, but is rocky and rough enough when it is to be ascended. It has many trees, mostly Valonia oaks. It stands on the east of the great Plain of Esdraëlon, up a recess formed by Mount Hermon on the one side, and the hills towards Nazareth on the other. Its height from the plain I should guess at 1000 feet. We ascended the greater part of the way on mules. On the top of the hill is one of those large cisterns, or granaries, so often alluded to before. There was one also near Jennin, which we observed in coming in. I have since seen them in numerous other places, which puts an end to Dr. Clarke's pagan remains. The whole of the Great Plain is fully cultivated, yet we could hardly see a single village, which adds to the peculiarity of its appearance,—one sheet of cultivation without a rock or tree".
[151] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 260. Doubdan, Voyage de la Terre Sainte, p. 507. Paris, 1661.—It is remarkable that all the descriptions of the view from Mount Tabor appear to be borrowed from this sedulous Frenchman, whose work, in point of topography, is still unequalled.
[152] Journey, p. 112.
[153] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 170.
[154] 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 Loretto; and our only astonishment is, that the house should have taken flight and left the chimney and kitchen behind."—vol. ii. p. 440.
[155] Luke iv. 28, 29, 30.
[156] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 315.
[157] "Traditio continua est, et nunquam interrupta, apud omnes nationes Orientales, hanc petram, dictam Mensa Christi, iliam 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 fldelibus hunc sanctum locum visitantibus, recitando saltem ibi unum Pater, et Ave, dummodo sint in statu gratiae."
"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."
[158] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 167.
[159] "De là nous retournasmes sur nos pas, à l'entrée du village par où nous avions passé, pour aller voir la Fontaine où on alla puiser l'eau qui servit à ce miracle; mais en allant ces femmes et enfans nous penserent accabler de pierres et d'injures, tant ils sont inhumains et enemies des Chrêstiens."—Le Voyage, &c. p. 512.
[160] Clarke, iv. p. 187. "We were afterward conducted into the chapel, in order to see the relics and sacred vestments there preserved. When the poor priest exhibited these, he wept over them with so much sincerity, and lamented the indignities to which the holy places were exposed in forms so affecting, that all our pilgrims wept also. Such were the tears which formerly excited the sympathy and roused the valour of the Crusaders. The sailors of our party caught the kindling zeal, and nothing more was necessary to incite in them a hostile disposition towards every Saracen they might afterward encounter."
[161] Travels, vol. iv. p. 141.
[162] Travels vol. iv. p. 148.
[163] Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 35.
[164] Buckingham, vol. i. p. 181.
[165] History of the Jews, vol. iii.
[166] Decline and Fall, vol. ii. p. 385.
[167] The reader who wishes to examine the evidence for the miraculous nature of the interruption sustained by the agents of Julian will find an ample discussion in the pages of Basnage, Lardner, Warburton, Gibbon, and of the Author of the History of the Jews.
[168] History of the Jews, vol. iii.
[169] "When the first light brought news of a morning, they on afresh; because they had intercepted a letter tied to the leg of a dove, wherein the Persian emperor promised present succours to the besieged. The Turks cased the outside of their walls with bags of chaff, straw, and such like pliable matter, which conquered the engines of the Christians by yielding unto them. As for one sturdy engine, whose force would not be tamed, they brought two old witches on the walls to enchant it; but the spirit thereof was too strong for their spells, so that both of them were miserably slain in the place.
"We must not think that the world was at a loss for war-tools before the brood of guns was hatched: it had the battering-ramme, first found out by Epeus at the taking of Troy; the balista to discharge great stones, invented by the Phenicians; the catapulta, being a sling of mighty strength, whereof the Syrians were authors; and perchance King Uzziah first made it, for we find him very dexterous and happy in devising such things. And although these bear-whelps were but rude and unshaped at the first, yet art did lick them afterward, and they got more teeth and sharper nails by degrees; so that every age set them forth in a new edition, corrected and amended. But these and many more voluminous engines are now virtually epitomized in the cannon. And though some say that the finding of guns hath been the losing of many men's lives, yet it will appear that battles now are fought with more expedition, and Victory standeth not so long a neuter, before she express herself on one side or other."—Fuller's Holy Warre, p. 41.
[170] Fuller remarks, that "this second massacre was no slip of an extemporary passion, but a studied and premeditated act. Besides, the execution was merciless upon sucking children whose not speaking spake for them; and on women whose weakness is a shield to defend them against a valiant man. To conclude, severity, hot in the fourth degree, is little better than poison, and becometh cruelty itself; and this act seemeth to be of the same nature."—Fuller's Holy Warre, p. 41.
[171] On this interesting subject we refer to the "Itinéraire" of Chateaubriand, and his "Génie du Christianisme;" the History of England by Sir James Mackintosh, volume first; and to Mills's History of the Crusades, volume first, chapter sixth. We may add Dr. Robertson's "Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had of India."
[172] Mill's History of the Crusades, vol. ii. p. 48.
[173] Mills's History of the Crusades, vol. ii. p. 129. Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, tom. iii. p. 187.
[174] A curé at Paris, instead of reading the bull from the pulpit in the usual form, said to his parishioners, "You know, my friends, that I am ordered to fulminate an excommunication against Frederick. I know not the motive. All that I know is, that there has been a quarrel between that prince and the pope. God alone knows who is right. I excommunicate him who has injured the other, and I absolve the sufferer." The emperor sent a present to the preacher, but the pope and the king blamed this sally:le mauvais plaisant—the unhappy wit—was obliged to expiate his fault by a canonical penance.—Mills's History, vol. ii. p. 253.
[175] The address of the Pope to the Fourth Council of Lateran, as translated by Michaud, is not a little striking:—"O vous qui passez dans les chemins, disait Jérusalem par la bouche du Pontife, regardez et voyez si jamais il y eut une douleur semblable à la mienne! Accourez donc tous, vous qui me cherissez, pour me delivrer de l'excès de mes miseres! Moi, qui étais la reçue de toutes les nations, je suis maintenant asservie au tribut; moi, qui étais remplie de peuple, je suis restée presque seule. Les chemins de Sion sont en deuil, parceque personne ne vient à mes solemnités. Mes ennemis ont écrasé ma tête; tous les lieux saints sont profanés: le saint sépulchre, si rempli d'éclat, est couvert d'opprobre; on adore le fils de la perdition et de l'enfer, là où naguères on adorait le fils de Dieu. Les enfants de l'etranger m'accablent d'outrages, et montrant la croix de Jesus, ils me disent:—'Tu as mise toute la confiance dans un bois vil; nous verrons si ce bois te sauvera au jour de danger.'"—Histoire des Croisades, tom. iii. p. 394.
[176] "On se rappelait alors les vertus dont il avait donné l'exemple, et surtout sa bonté, envers les habitants de la Palestine, qu'il avait traités comme ses propres sujets. Les uns exprimaient leur reconnaissance par de vives acclamations, les autres par une morne silence; tout le peuple qu'affligeait son depart, les proclamaitle père des Chrétiens, et conjurait le ciel de repandre ses benedictions sur la famille du vertueux monarque et sur la royaume de France. Louis montrait sur son visage, qu'il partageait les regrets des Chrétiens de la Terra-Sainte; il leur addressait des paroles consolantes, leur donnait d'utiles conseils, se reprochait de s'avoir fait assez pour leur cause, et témoignait le vif desir qu'un jour Dieu le jugeat digne d'achever l'ouvrage de leur delivrance."—Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, tom. iv. p. 299.
[177] Ibid. p. 302.
[178] It was during the siege of Tunis that Louis died. "Our Edward would needs have had the town beaten down, and all put to the sword; thinking the foulest quarter too fair for them. Their goods (because got by robbery) he would have sacrificed as an anathema to God, and burnt to ashes; his own share he execrated, and caused it to be burnt, forbidding the English to save any thing of it; because that coals stolen out of that fire would sooner burn their houses than warm their hands. It troubled not the consciences of other princes to enrich themselves herewith, but they glutted themselves with the stolen honie which they found in this hive of drones: and, which was worse, now their bellies were full, they would goe to bed, return home, and goe no farther. Yea, the young King of France, called Philip the Bold, was fearful to prosecute his journey to Palestine; whereas Prince Edward struck his breast, and swore, that though all his friends forsook him, yet he would enter Ptolemais though but only with Fowin his horsekeeper. By which speech he incensed the English to go on with him."—Fuller's Holy Warre, p. 217.
[179] "It is storied how Eleanor, his lady, sucked all the poison out of his wounds, without doing any harm to herself. So sovereign a remedy is a woman's tongue anointed with the virtue of loving affection! Pity it is that so pretty a story should not be true (with all the miracles in love's legends), and sure he shall get himself no credit who undertaketh to confute a passage so sounding to the honour of the sex. Yet can it not stand with what others have written."—Fuller's Holy Warre, p. 220.
[180] The motives for the massacre of Jaffa are given by Bourrienne in so impartial a manner, that we are inclined to believe he has given a true transcript of his master's mind. "Bonaparte sent his aids-de-camp, Beauharnais and Crosier, to appease as far as possible the fury of the soldiery, to examine what passed, and to report. They learned that a numerous detachment of the garrison had retired into a strong position, where large buildings surrounded a courtyard. This court they entered, displaying the scarfs which marked their rank. The Albanians and Arnauts, composing nearly the entire of these refugees, cried out from the windows that they wished to surrender, on condition their lives were spared; if not, threatening to fire upon the officers, and to defend themselves to the last extremity. The young men conceived they ought, and had power, to accede to the demand, in opposition to the sentence of death pronounced against the garrison of every place taken by assault. I was walking with General Bonaparte before his tent when these prisoners, in two columns, amounting to about four thousand men, were marched into the camp. When he beheld the mass of men arrive, and before seeing the aids-de-camp, he turned to me with an expression of consternation, 'What would they have me to do with these? Have I provisions to feed them; ships to transport them either to Egypt or France? How the devil could they play me this trick!' The two aids-de-camp, on their arrival and explanations, received the strongest reprimands. To their defence, namely, that they were alone amid numerous enemies, and that he had recommended to them to appease the slaughter, he replied, in the sternest tone, 'Yes, without doubt, the slaughter of women, children, old men, the peaceable inhabitants, but not of armed soldiers; you ought to have braved death, and not brought these to me. What would you have me do with them?' But the evil was done. Four thousand men were there—their fate must be determined. The prisoners were made to sit down, huddled together before the tents, their hands being bound behind them. A gloomy rage was depicted to every lineament. A council was held in the general's tent," &c.
On the third day an order was issued that the prisoners should be shot,—an order which was literally executed on four thousand men. "The atrocious crime," says M. Bourrienne, "makes me yet shudder when I think of it, as when it passed before me. All that can be imagined of fearful on this day of blood would fall short of the reality!"—Memoirs, vol i. p. 156.
[181] Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. i. p. 163.
[182] Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. i. p. 165.
[183] Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. i. p. 168.
[184] Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria and the Holy Land, p. 315.
[185] Weimar, Geographical Ephemerides; and History of the Jews, vol. iii. p. 332.
[186] History of the Jews, vol. iii. p. 338.
[187] See Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 191.
[188] Hasselquist's Voyages and Travels, p. 284.
[189] Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 223 and 307.
[190] Travels or Observations relating to several parts of Barbary and the Levent, vol. ii. p. 153.
[191] Travels or Observations, vol. ii. p. 135.
[192] Travels through Syria and Egypt, vol. i. p. 313.
[193] 1 Kings, iv. 23.
[194] Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. p. 280.
[195] Job xxxix. ver. 9, 10, 11, 12.
[196] Job xxxix. 5, 6, 7, 8.
[197] Appendix to Bruce's Travels, p. 139.
[198] See an article in the sixth volume of the Wernerian Memoirs, by Dr. Scott, of Corstorphine, "On the Animal called Saphan in the Hebrew Scriptures."
[199] Daubenton, Calmet, vol. iv. p. 645. See also Shaw, Hasselquist and Dochart.
[200] Calmet's Dictionary, vol. iv. p. 659.
[201] See Calmet, vol. iv. p. 688.
[202] Churchill's Voyages, vol. ii, p. 296.
[203] Revelation ix. 3, 10.
[204] Calmet's Dictionary, vol. iv. p. 696.
[205] Malte Brun, vol. ii p. 130.
[206] Shaw's Travels, vol. ii p. 152.
[207] Isaiah, v. 4.
[208] Voyages and Travels in the Levant, p. 288.
End of Project Gutenberg's Palestine or the Holy Land, by Michael Russell