s--as, for instance, the
restoration of the silver star, which the Greeks stole from the shrine of
the Nativity, at Bethlehem. The Latins, however, not long since,
demolished, _vi et armis_, a chapel which the Greeks commenced building on
Mount Zion. But, if the employment of material weapons has been abandoned
for the time, there is none the less a war of words and of sounds still
going on. Go into the Holy Sepulchre, when mass is being celebrated, and
you can scarcely endure the din. No sooner does the Greek choir begin its
shrill chant, than the Latins fly to the assault. They have an organ, and
terribly does that organ strain its bellows and labor its pipes to drown
the rival singing. You think the Latins will carry the day, when suddenly
the cymbals of the Abyssinians strike in with harsh brazen clang, and, for
the moment, triumph. Then there are Copts, and Maronites, and Armenians,
and I know not how many other sects, who must have their share; and the
service that should be a many-toned harmony pervaded by one grand spirit
of devotion, becomes a discordant orgie, befitting the rites of Belial.

A long time ago--I do not know the precise number of years--the Sultan
granted a firman, in answer to the application of both Jews and
Christians, allowing the members of each sect to put to death any person
belonging to the other sect, who should be found inside of their churches
or synagogues. The firman has never been recalled, though in every place
but Jerusalem it remains a dead letter. Here, although the Jews freely
permit Christians to enter their synagogue, a Jew who should enter the
Holy Sepulchre would be lucky if he escaped with his life. Not long since,
an English gentleman, who was taken by the monks for a Jew, was so
severely beaten that he was confined to his bed for two months. What worse
than scandal, what abomination, that the spot looked upon by so many
Christians as the most awfully sacred on earth, should be the scene of
such brutish intolerance! I never pass the group of Turkish officers,
quietly smoking their long pipes and sipping their coffee within the
vestibule of the Church, without a feeling of humiliation. Worse than the
money-changers whom Christ scourged out of the Temple, the guardians of
this edifice make use of His crucifixion and resurrection as a means of
gain. You may buy a piece of the stone covering the Holy Sepulchre, duly
certified by the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, for about $7. A