l from heaven at the time
when prophecy commenced at Jerusalem. It was employed as a seat by the
venerable men to whom that gift was communicated, and, as long as the
spirit of vaticination continued to enlighten their minds, the slab
remained steady for their accommodation; but no sooner was the power of
prophecy withdrawn, and the persecuted seers compelled to flee for
safety to other lands, than the stone manifested the profoundest
sympathy in their fate, and evinced a determination to accompany them in
their flight: on which Gabriel the archangel interposed his authority,
and prevented the departure of the prophetical chair. He grasped it with
his mighty hand and nailed it to its rocky bed by seven brass or golden
nails. When any event of great importance to the world takes place the
head of one of these nails disappears, and when they are all gone the
day of judgment will come. As there are now only three left, the
Mahometans believe that the end of all things is not far distant. All
those who have faithfully performed their devotions at this celebrated
mosque are furnished by the priest with a certificate of their having
done so, which is to be buried with them that they may show it to the
door-keeper of Paradise as a ticket of admission. I was presented with
one of these at Jerusalem, and found another in the desert of Al Arisch,
a wondrous piece of good fortune in the estimation of my Mahometan
followers, as I was provided with a ticket for a friend, as well as a
pass for my own reception among the houris of their Prophet's celestial
garden.

The Greek monastery adjoins the church of the Holy Sepulchre. It
contains a good library, the iron door of which is opened by a key as
large as a horse-pistol. The books are kept in good order, and consist
of about two thousand printed volumes in various languages; and about
five hundred Greek and Arabic MSS. on paper, which are all theological
works. There are also about one hundred Greek manuscripts on vellum: the
whole collection is in excellent preservation. One of the eight
manuscripts of the Gospels which the library contains has the index and
the beginning of each Gospel written in gold letters on purple vellum,
and has also some curious illuminations. There is likewise a manuscript
of the whole Bible: it is a large folio, and is the only one I ever
heard of, excepting the one at the Vatican and that at the British
Museum. One of the most beautiful volumes in the lib