chain the cross is dependant. The new chevalier then arises, and having reverently saluted the sepulchre, closes the ceremony by restoring his ornamental investment to the hands of its venerable proprietor.1

1 The writer has dwelt on this subject more at length, as some slight services, whose importance was greatly overrated, which he had the good fortune to render to certain individuals of the Catholic community, induced the leading authorities of that establishment in Jerusalem to consider him not undeserving some mark of their approbation. But the statutes were found to be imperative in requiring that the companions of this order should be of the Romish Faith. An English traveller was therefore ineligible. Yet a Protestant of the nineteenth century might abate something of his habitual sternness, while contemplating an institution with which so many reverential feelings are associated. “Que l'on songe que j'étois à Jérusalem, dans l'Eglise du Calvaire, à douze pas du tombeau de Jésus Christ, à trente du tombeau de Godefroy de Bouillon; que je venois de chausser l'éperon du libérateur du Saint-Sépulcre, de toucher cette longue et large épée de fer qu'avoit maniée une main si noble et si loyale; que l'on se rappelle ces circonstances, ma vie aventureuse, mes courses sur la terre et sur la mer, et l'on croira sans peine que je devois étre ému." (Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem, par F. A. de Châteaubriand, tome troisième, p. 39.)

LETTER XVI.

TO SIR G. ET, BART.

DEAR E,

Jerusalem, August 26, 1817.

WE have taken measures for quitting this city to-morrow, and shall proceed to Joppa by a route, which may comprise the fortress of Modin, an elevation anciently distinguished by the splendid sepulchres of the Maccabees. (Lib. I. cap. ii. ver. 70.) Before I close this part of my narrative, let me claim your indulgence for the very imperfect manner in which much of the preceding statement has been sketched : a considerable portion was written, on my bed, amidst interruptions and embarrassments of various sorts; and although it may be preferable in many respects to record an observation, while the impression is fresh in the memory, one is frequently too much exhausted by the labour of examining the different objects during the heat of the day, to sit down at its close circumstantially to detail them.

Our accommodations in the convent have been the best which the society could furnish, but there are some evils inseparable from the climate and the present state of the country. The chamber reserved for the use of pilgrims was assigned exclusively to my friend and me-our servants have slept in an adjoining apartment-both rooms are totally destitute of any kind of furniture, except a broken table and a couple of chairs ; they are, however, tolerably spacious, and open into an extensive and airy terrace. The names of many of our predecessors are carved on the door and wainscotting, but we looked in vain for those of M. de Châteaubriand and Dr. Clarke; they had, probably, no great relish for such vehicles to immortality—but each has since left a record of having visited the Holy City, as imperishable as the language in which the history of his travels is preserved.1

1 M. de Châteaubriand has, on another occasion, expressed his sentiments on a practice similar to that above alluded to, in the following terms. (At the time of his arrival in Cairo, the Nile was not sufficiently retired to admit of the Pyramids being approached by land, and the canals were too scantily supplied with water to allow a passage for a boat:) "Il fallut donc me résoudre à ma destinée, retourner à Alexandrie, et me contenter d'avoir vu de mes yeux les Pyramides, sans les avoir touchées de mes mains. Je chargeai M. Caffe

The refectory of the convent is well supplied, and our table has been rather sumptuously furnished; the purveyor attended regularly every morning to receive directions respecting dinner, and the hour at which we would wish to have it served. Many of the dishes, of which there is always a sufficient variety, are as highly seasoned as if the cuisinier had been specially instructed in the composition of ragoûts, qui piqueraient la sensualité: it is, however but justice to the Friars to observe, that they have none of the externals of what has been mistakenly called epicurism; the greater part of them are men of spare forms, grave

d'écrire mon nom sur ces grands tombeaux, selon l'usage, à la première occasion: l'on doit remplir tous les petits devoirs d'un pieux voyageur. N'aime-t-on pas à lire, sur les débris de la statue de Memnon, le nom des Romains qui l'ont entendu soupirer au lever de l'aurore? Ces Romains furent, comme nous, étrangers dans la terre d'Egypte, et nous passerons comme eux." (Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem, tom. iii.)

When the writer of this narrative ascended the Great Pyramid, he sought with avidity for some proof that M. Caffe had not been inattentive to his charge-but as no traces were visible, he was anxious to supply the omission, and engraved the name of DE CHATEAUBRIAND, in large characters, on the north point of the apex. On his return through France he had an opportunity of assuring the Vicomte, to whom he is indebted for many civilities, that he had thus far contributed de remplir les petits devoirs d'un pieux voyageur !

and solemn in their air and carriage, and to all appearance, deeply impressed with a reverential feeling of the sacred functions they have been destined to as

sume.

Provisions, generally speaking, may be considered extremely cheap in comparison with European prices: they are very much inferior also in quality. Lamb and kid are almost the only flesh known here, veal being seldom dressed, and beef and pork alike disused: fowls are in great plenty, but these are the only poultry. The bread is much coarser, and I think far less nutritive than ours; their cheese, if it deserve the name, seems a totally different composition from what is made in England, and butter they appear to have no conception of. The honey, though not equal to what is produced in Greece, or the south of France, is bright and well-flavoured, but very difficult to preserve in any other than a fluent state. All the fruits here are excellent in their kind; there is not, indeed, any great variety, but such as there are surpass in richness any that I have elsewhere met with. The grapes are peculiarly excellent; the figs also are larger and less insipid than those of Europe, and in addition to these, the olive, pomegranate, and water-melon, may