Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1853-07-09
History of the EEoly Shrines.

| In foreign paper we find a history of the
| holy shrnes, the possession of which is said to
be the chief cause of dispute between Russia
and Turkey. From this account we learn that
| the sanctuaries or churches built on the site of
the great miracles of the Redemption were
founded by st. Helena and her son, Constan-
tine the Great. They We're destroyed by the
sovereign of Persia in 6l4, reestablishcd by
the Emperor Heraclius, and some years after
were taken possession of, by the Kaf Omar,
who permitted the faithful to have access to
them-were subsequently destroyed by ANU
rath, and re-established by his mother Mary, Il
christian, in 1909. About the middle of the
fourteenth century, Robert King of Sicily, pur-
chased from the soldan of Egypt the sanctua-
rjes, and placed them under the guardianship of
the Franciscan monks. In the beginning of
the sxteetl century the Holy Land was con-
qucred by Selim, and the treaty between his
successor and Francis |. placed under the pro-
lection of the crown of France the Holy places,
as well as the monks who guarded them.
In 1857 4 serious collision took place between
the Greeks and Latins, in consequence of some
Greek pilgrims having plaged the Latin con-
vent at Jaf1a. Complaints were made to the
Divan, and after some patient hearing to the
matter, the Latins were expelled from the
Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, and that of
Bethlehem and the Holy Sepulchre and other
sancturies were placed under the guardianship
of the Greek monks. From this time the La
tins gradually lost the prerogatives they had
previously possessed.
a new cause of Gissension arose in 1905
The Holy Sepulchre was partly consumed by
fire. The Greeks claimed and obtained from
the Porte the right to rebuild the cupola of the
church, and having done so they claimed addi-
tonal prerogatives; but their architecst was
accused of having Intentionally destroyed the
tomb ofthe kings Of Jerusalem that had been
preserved in the same church, and of having
used the materials in the construction of the
new cupoIa. Since then disputes have been
frequent between the Latins and the Greeks,
and even the Armenians proited by their dis
sensions and the cupidity of the Mussulman,
and purchased from the Porte the enjoyment
of privileges which interfered with both. To
put an end to these troubles, an understanding
was come to by Louis XVIII who acted on
the ground Of his being the sheredtary protec-
tor ofthe Catholics of the East," and the Emper-
or Alexander, who acted as ''the sovereign Of
the greater number of the followers Of the
Greek church." to endeavor to obtain some
arrangement from the Porte, which, under the
combined guarantee of the three powers, might
put an end to the constant dispute between
the Greeks and Latins, might define the pre-
negatives, and establish common enjoyment.
Negotiations were opened, and the'two agents,
one in behalf of the French government, and
other in behalf of the Russian government,
were sent to Jerusalem to collect information
upon the subject. They returned with informa-
ton which led to the hope of attaining salts
factory conclusion, when the negotiations were
interrupted by the Greek revolution which
broke out in 1921 The struggle for indepen-
dence which followed, and the agitation which
survived even the battle of Navarino, prevented
the governments from resuming these negotia
tions.