The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-05

naive. the defacinR caused By humidity and
dust, Everything here Is In q stare 81 diisni.
aatlon. rom the depths below thers comes a
pIucession OF Abyssinian priests, looking like
ancient Mag coming from the bowels Of the
EARTH. In the distance. near the kiosk Of the
ports two chApels. into which one enter. Nv
about twenty stone steoe, which for the ,rosd
From the. perlstyle OF these chapeIs. as from
an elevated balcony, the view commands a
churches. The most splendid Of ai is that
o. the creeks. Cpon q nimbus Of silver. which
there appear in life sine the pale images Soi
the thrre -cruclfed ones Christ ard the two
thieves; The walls disappear under the
ICONS OF silver. gold. and precious stones. The
altar Is erected at the precise place where the
crucinTion took place. Under the altar rail
rock the hole where the cross was planted. and
L Is there that the pilgrims crawl on their
their tears and their Kisses. while a soothing
sound or chants and prayers necessarily comes
from the churches below.
And here for now nearly 1000 yearS the
same scenes have been enacted in this place,
slth9ugh under different forms and In different
basilics. with Interruptions Of sleses. battles.
and massscres. only To be reproduced again
more passionately than ever. Herr, Is the same
cations and OF triumphant acts Of grace
certainly these adorations seem "a little idol.
those who adore Him must aaop. II spi IN .p arn
and In truth" But they are so human! How
well they respond to our instincts and to our
LoANAl NN AIEk II Ia III Lhc
purely spiritual spring OF their faith, when
The teaching of the Master was still fresh in
their souls, did not cucumber themselves with
the magnt1cences of symbOls and images. Ger
tainly 1t was not earthly recollectious-the
place OF a martyrdOm or an empty sepulchrp-
that preoccupied them. They did not seek
their Redeemer there. because they saw Him
,.orever freed from transitory things and stand
ing above IN serene Light. But we, the people
or the w est and of the North. have escaped
more recently from naive barbarities than the
antique societies from which the first Chris
ttans sprung. In the middle ages. when the
faith penetrated our forests, IL was Obscured
by a thousand primitive religions: and IL l. the
smallest number among us that have been SUI
ficiently enfranchtsed from accumulated ira
dtttons to be able to embrace the evangelical
worShip, In spirit and In truth. And. more
over. when faith Is extinRuished in our mod
ern souls It Is still toward this generation OF
sacred spots and cherished recollections thar
unoelieyers like me are brought BY the sad re-
greet OF the lost Saviour.
oh. that Christ. for whom all these crowds
have come and for whom they weep; that
Christ for whom the poor old woman near me
kneels do Sn. kisses the pavement. and throws
upon the flags her broken heart, while she'd
ding tears of delicious hope: that Christ who
holds nc here also la the same place. Just as
s~weet-oh. II He were only one OF our brothers
In suffering. vanished forever now in death,
Let His memory be adored all the same, for
His sublime teachings OF brotherly love. OF
hope, ard OF eternity! And let this place also
be blessed, this unique and strange place which
Is called the Holy SepulChre-even cor testable
or fictitious, II you will-but where for now
nearly fifteen centuries there have come count
less grief stricken multitudes, where hard
hearts have melted like the snow. and where
burst of prayer-ilogical, perhaps, but inetfa-
Bile and intnttei