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HOLY LAND, AND CYPRUS. 197

village. It is a neat building, enclosed by walls; and, at
that time, inhabited by only ten or twelve monks. It is said
to be the place where the Virgin's house, now at Loretto,
stood previous to its miraculous removal. On presenting my
letters to the procurator, or treasurer, a room was appointed
for me; a tolerable dinner and good wine served up, with
the additional luxury of cleanliness. I was visited by two or
three Italians, who soon showed me there were commerages in
religious as well as civil societies. Our conversation ran on
the old subject of the unfortunate separation of England
from the church of Home; and a new one added, that since
we had done so much for the Pope, alluding to the offer of
money by Lord William Bentinck to that sovereign, in the
name of the Prince Regent, we should complete our work of
goodness, by reuniting under his paternal guidance. They
prayed Heaven, in addition to the miracles already per-
formed, to work our conversion by miraculous means.

The inhabitants of Nazareth are chiefly Christians of the
Greek and Maronite persuasion, the latter acknowledging the
Pope. The Mahometans are least in number; each has a
sheik. A detachment of cavalry insures the preponderance
of the Mahometans; which was evinced in a most cruel
manner a short time before my arrival, occasioned by a dis-
pute between a Greek and Mahometan woman, where the
latter havin«r reviled the religion of the former, the retort was
 
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