The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-02 00:00:00

PETITION.

" To the Honourable the Commons of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament
assembled.
" The humble petition of Thomas Brodigan, of Piltown
House, in the county of Meath,
" Showeth,—That petitioner having a desire to visit Syria
and Palestine, left this country in November last, under a
foreign-office passport, which he had Triad at Athens by
the British Ambassador, and by that of the Sublime
Porte. That on landing at Beyrout he had it further
wised by. Colonel Rose, the British Consul-General. That
in addition he procured a firman from his Excellency Kiamed
Pacha, the Turkish Governor-General of Syria, and was
thus perfectly en regle.
"That thus supported by ambassadorial, consular, and
vice-regal authority, petitioner reached Jerusalem during the
Holy week, for the purpose of witnessing the religious cere-
monies of the Latin clergy in common with the numerous
European Christians there assembled. That on the sacred
occasion of the ceremonies of Good Friday, petitioner joined
in the religioua procession, and had proceeded to the chapel
on Mount Calvary, which contained a great number of per-
sons of the Greek Church. That when the vicar president of
the Latin convent and his clergy had moved in front of the
spot where our Saviour had been crucified, an objection was
made by some of the Greeks present to the removal of the
cloth that covered the marble table, which stands over the
hole in the rock in which the cross was inserted. That there
is a hole in the table corresponding with that in the rock be-
neath, and, unless the that co

_ in the Latin
pro Cession could be inserted in the rock according to ancient
custom. That such obiection amounted to a virtual defeat of
the ancient right of the Latins to use the left, or Greek side
of the chapel on that occasion.
" That petitioner was standing close to this table when
the Greeks interrupted the service by their objections and
their clamours. The Latin clergy asserted their right to
proceed as usual, and from high words blows were given,
which ended in a general engagement. That petitioner,
having no wish to interfere, was pushed forward by the
Greeks from behind, and was thus thrown into the midst
of the fight, where he came in for a share of the blows of
the contending parties; that he was grievously assaulted,
and, with difficulty, extricated himself in an almost fainting
condition. That in the violence of the conflict, knives were
used, wounds were inflicted, and petitioner's life seriously
endangered.
" That there were present a good many British subjects,
ladies and gentlemen ; that this sudden attack filled them
with horror and consternation ; that many of them' were
assaulted equally with petitioner, and all were outraged to
an indescribable degree by the desecration of a place so
sacred in the estimation of Christians of every denomina-
tior.

" That this fight was only quelled by inilitary force ; that
the numerous guards on duty in the chapel being unable
to keep the peate, an express was sent to. his Excellency
➢iamoud Paths, who promptly attended at the head of a
battalion of 600 men, and it was this force alone that sepa-
rated the combatants. That had his Excellency not been so
prompt, there is no knowing the extent to which life might
have been lost; for the tocsin of the Greeks, and that of the
Latins, was sounding, calling on the respective nations to the
combat and the rescue.

" That petitioner has heard that such scenes of violence
and barbarity are of frequent occurrence, and bad he anti-
cipated such an outrage he would not have gone to Jerusalem
at that season, however strong his desire• to witness the
theatre of man's redemption during the anniversary and
celebration. That this liability to assault and personal injury
will amount to an interdict against the visit of Christians
of distant nations, where the free access to the Holy
Sepulchre is secured by the treaties of Christian princes with
the Sublime Porte.

"That the King of the French is the protector of the con-
vents and Christians in the East; that his Majesty is their
especial guardian ; and on this responsibility of the great and
powerful nation of 'France, Christians of all countries have
hitherto visited the Holy Land in the full confidence of pro-
tection from outrage or personal injury.
"That petitioner has shown that this protection is inade-
quate ; that the Latin clergy are assaulted and interrupted
in the performance of their sacred ministry, on the most
sacred spot, and most solemn occasion.
" That effective means must be resorted to by the Sublime
Porte for their protection, through a separation of the sects
in their respective ceremonies, and that the civil governor of
Jerusalem must be invested with and made to exercise a
more repressive anthority.
"Your petitioner, therefore, humbly prays of this Honour-
able House to take such measures as will secure the fulfil-
ment of the variws treaties securing to Christians of every
denomination a safe and free access to the Holy Sepulchre.
History proclaims that this freedom of access was established
through the chivalrous blood of England in the Crusades,
and petitioner prays that through the peaceful agency of
diplomatic interference British subjects visiting Jerusalem
and the Holy Land may be hereafter protected from outrages
similar to that of which he was a witness.
" And petitioner will ever pray.
(Signed) " THOMAS BRODIGAN."
" On board the Egyptus, May 11, 1846.
"My Rev. Father,---In common with all other Christians
who were at Jeruplero, I was very much grieved at the de-
secration which took place in the chapel of Mount Calvary,
in the church of St. Sepulchre, last Good Friday.
" It was a circumstance much to be regretted by all pro-
fessing Christianity that such a sacred place should have been
profaned in so deplorable a manner. I sincerely desire to see
an end put to these differences between the Greeks and Ca-
tholics, and it appears to me possible that a religious and po-
litical influence might be exercised in order to arrange the
rights of each worship, to separate their ceremonies, and thus
to put a stop to their differences, which are quite oppoeed to
the spirit of Christianity.
"You, reverend father, have been an ocular witness of all
that took place, and I rely upon your goodness to favour me
with all the details, in writing, of this unhappy affair. Have
the goodness to excuse this liberty, and accept the assur-
ances of my sincere respect. _ _

" Believe-me, Rev. Sir, your very devoted servant,
"THOMAS BRODIGAN.
"To Father Gio Battista da Mondovi,
of the Order of Capuchins."
(Translation from the Italian.) _

" On board the Egyptus, May 11, 1846.
"My most Illustrious and most Worshipful Mr. Thomas—
I hereby hasten to give you as concise a description as
possible of the sanguinary, horrible, and scandalous tragedy
premiditated and concocted by the religious portion of
the schismatic Greeks, in concert with their Patriarch,
and the Greek consul of the Morea resident at Jaffa,
against the Catholics, and particularly against the person
of the Very Rev. Father Paolo, commissioner apostolic of
the Holy Land from Moretta, which took place on the
evening. of Good Friday, in the very site where the Divine
Redeemer deigned to fulfil the redemption of the human
race. On the said evening the procession commenced from
the church of the Minor Fathers superintending the Holy
Land, and residing in the Holy Sepulchre. There a brief
but fervent panegyric oration, adapted to the procession
and ceremony, was recited in the Italian language, and at
the usual stations several other orations were successively
delivered in divers languages ; that is, the second one in
French, the third in Polish, the fourth in Greek, and this
last at the very site of the Crucifixion. This being over, an-
other one in Italian was about to commence, after which
the ceremony of the placing of the cross on the altar (where
the hole in which the cross was fixed with Christ crucified is
to be seen) was about to be performed; but, lo ! the riotous
and seditious Greeks—a faithless and irreligious people—not
knowing how otherwise to interrupt so beautiful, mysterious,
and in every respect touching ceremony, infringed the ancient
established custom, not only by their presence, but what is
still worse, by placing on the said altar a carpet and alighted
candle, a circumstance never known before. In consequence
of which the Catholic sexton, after having begged of the
Greek sexton to remove the said two obnoxious articles, and
having seen him absolutely pertinacious in wishing them to
remain where they were, such being his instructfons from
the Patriarch, he (the Catholic sexton) at length, after find-
ing that all entreaties proved ineffectual, resolved to take
them away himself, which he did. Scarcely had this taken
place when a mob of Greek priests and pilgrims burst forth
from the side of the chapel, all of them armed, some with
daggers, some with sticks, some with whips, and others with
stones, which were all used against the Catholic fathers of
the Holy Land; and, what is still more remarkable, in the
height of the conflict a voice was raised, exclaiming, " Lay
hands, lay hands on the Papa!" that is, "Kill, kill the
Father Superior!" who stood in the midst of the chapel, clad
in his pontifical robr, and at this instant a Greek priest
rushed against the said father superior with a candlestick, to
kill him with the spikes of the same, and the attempt would
certainly have succeeded had not M. Gaetano Tognetti,
and principal of the Damascus Hospital, who was present,
averted the mortal blow. Meanwhile most of the Catholic
fathers of the Holy Land, together with the secular pilgrims,
rushed cut in the greatest confusion; and what appears
most disgraceful, the French Consul, representing as he
does the protecting power of the Christians in the Levant,
who, as in duty bound, should have used his influence
to allay the disturbance, was the first, together with
his family, to decamp. But if he proved himself by
his flight a coward, and altogether indifferent in an affair of
so great moment, I must not, however, fail highly to com-
mend the magnanimous conduct of the Sardinan consul, who
not only remained immoveable, but took measures to apprise
the Pacha. As soon as the Pacha received notice, although
out on pleasure, he hastened personally, at the head of a
battalion, to the most Holy Sepulchre. Providential inter-
position ! Ceartgalieneittmise,eteheaerethwadouhleddhealvayeesduchcieseinterference
int
h e theeig least, a:ftthe
these
oCtahtehro,laicnt God only knows how much blood would have ham
shed; and, notwithstanding this interference, woe of the
Catholic fathers of the Holy Lsnd were wounded. No sooner
had matters been allayed by the Paeha in person, than the
ceremony recommenced without further interruption, both in
the chapel of the Calvary and the Uction Stone, as well as
in the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre; and although, by the
grace and help of God, the Greek rebels suffered more in this
conflict than the Catholic fathers in defending themselves, it
would, however, be highly laudable and hUno,urable if some
check were put to such like continual disturbances caused by
the Greeks, and which are even scandalous to the Turks them.
selves. Here, then, you have Mr, Thomas Brodigan, my
dearest fellow traveller, an impartial account of the above
profane act from an ocular witness, and although greatly
suffering in consequence of the agitation of the vessel, still I
have endeavoured to express myself with as much brevity as
possible. In conclusion, I leave it solely for you (if desira-
ble) to impart to the subject whatever style you may deem
proper, and beg to offer you my services in whatever you
may think lam capable of performing for you. I have the
honour to remain, with the greatest respect, and to subscribe
myself as your most humble, devoted* avid obedient servant,
" FATHER JOHN BA.TTIETI 114 MONDOVI
Apostolic Alissio9ary an Capuchin of Syria,"

A ROBIN'S NEST IN 4N ORGAN.—On Sunday last,
during divine service in St, Michael's Church, in this town,
the organist found some obstruction in the organ that pre-
vented him playing, and on searching for the cause after the
congregation were dismissed, discovered, to his no sm4ll se-
tonishment, a robin's nest, with three youne miss in it. They
were not disturbed in their singular retreat, but were left to
take their flight, wbich they will be able to do in h fow
days.—Shropshire Conservative.