TRANSLATION. WE, FRANCESCO SALVADORE ANTONIO, brother of the holy Franciscan order of Minori Osservanti, of the province of Val di Noto and Malta, theologian and member of the supreme definitive council, correspondent of the Holy College for propagating the principles of the Christian faith, prefect of the missions in Egypt and Cyprus, apostolical commissary in the districts of the east, protector of the Holy Mountain Sion, and of the most Holy Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ, guardian and inspector of the Holy Land, and an humble servant in the Lord, Most faithfully assert and bear testimony to all such as may read this our declaration, that M. Thomas Robert Jolliffe, an English gentleman, has visited Jerusalem, and attentively inspected the different objects of veneration in Galilee and Judea. This gentleman having evinced an ardent desire to co-operate with his compatriots of the invincible English nation, in providing some relief for the present embarrassments of the Christian Church in Palestine;-while we express our acknowledgments for the pious and charitable services which the above-mentioned Mr. Jolliffe is desirous of performing, in order more effectually to enable him to carry such purpose into execution, hereby make known the state of extreme distress to which the Holy Land is at this moment reduced, in consequence of the heavy debt which it contracted during the late war, from the failure of those supplies antecedently remitted by the Christian powers. The sum of this debt amounts to ONE MILLION FRANKS; and the subsidies which actually arrive from Christendom are for the most part absorbed in discharging the rate of interest. The religious establishment at Jerusalem is bound to maintain twenty convents and hospitals, to find sustenance for many thousands of distressed Christians, to support the children in the different schools, and to procure habitations for such as have not the means of providing for themselves; and in addition to the pressure of these claims, it is subjected to many exorbitant expenses incident to a dependency on the Turkish government. We venture to indulge the hope that this our deplorable condition will find some alleviation in the extensive munificence of the British public. His royal highness the Prince Regent of the united kingdoms of the empire of Great Britain, has graciously transmitted a sum that has in no slight degree contributed to mitigate our sufferings; and we trust to the influence of so illustrious an example, operating on a great and enlightened community. Given at our convent of the Holy Saviour in Jerusalem, 18th August, 1817. Signed, FRANCESCO SALVADORE ANTONIO, Guardian of the Holy Land and Apostolical Commissary. By command of the holy and most reverend father, Sira Sifno and Nio Tino Antonio S. Vitali Nicola di Antonio Gripari Girolamo Scordialo Tripoli in Syria. Geo. Co. Catziflis THE answers annexed to the following queries were furnished by an officer in the Artillery, to whom the writer and his friends had the good fortune to be introduced, while at Rome. His name is familiar to the public, but for obvious reasons it is not mentioned on the present occasion. 1. On embarking at Naples for Alexandria, what are the chief requisites respecting baggage, letters of credit, &c.? 2. What description of bed is preferable? 3. If a firman must be procured from Constantinople, to enable us to proceed from Cairo to Jerusalem, will it be proper to write from Rome? and, if so, to whom should application be made? 4. What steps are to be taken on landing at Alexandria? |