DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0231
THE SEPULCHRE.
215
risen; come see the place where the Lord lay."
Again bending the head, and lower than before,
the visiter enters ihe inner chamber, the holiest of
holy places. The sepulchre, "hewn out of the
rock," is a marble sarcophagus, somewhat resem-
bling a common marble bathing-tub, with a lid of
the same material. Over it hang forty-three
lamps, which burn without ceasing night and day.
The sarcophagus is six feet and one inch long, and
occupies about one half of the chamber; and one
of the monks being always present to receive the
gifts or tribute of the pilgrims, there is only room
for three or four at a time to enter. The walls
are of a greenish marble, usually called verd-an-
tique, and this is all. And it will be borne in
mind that all this is in a building above ground,
standing on the floor of the church.
If I can form any judgment from my own feel-
ings, every man other than a blind and determined
enthusiast, when he stands by the side of that mar-
ble sarcophagus, must be ready to exclaim, " This
• is not the place where the Lord lay ;" and yet I
must be wrong, for sensible men have thought
otherwise; and Dr. Richardson, the most cautious
traveller in the Holy Land, speaks of it as the
" Mansion of victory, where Christ triumphed over
the grave, and disarmed death of all its terrors."
The feelings of a man are to be envied who can
so believe. I cannot imagine a higher and holier
euthusiasm ; and it would be far more agreeable
to sustain than to dissolve such illusions ; but, al-
215
risen; come see the place where the Lord lay."
Again bending the head, and lower than before,
the visiter enters ihe inner chamber, the holiest of
holy places. The sepulchre, "hewn out of the
rock," is a marble sarcophagus, somewhat resem-
bling a common marble bathing-tub, with a lid of
the same material. Over it hang forty-three
lamps, which burn without ceasing night and day.
The sarcophagus is six feet and one inch long, and
occupies about one half of the chamber; and one
of the monks being always present to receive the
gifts or tribute of the pilgrims, there is only room
for three or four at a time to enter. The walls
are of a greenish marble, usually called verd-an-
tique, and this is all. And it will be borne in
mind that all this is in a building above ground,
standing on the floor of the church.
If I can form any judgment from my own feel-
ings, every man other than a blind and determined
enthusiast, when he stands by the side of that mar-
ble sarcophagus, must be ready to exclaim, " This
• is not the place where the Lord lay ;" and yet I
must be wrong, for sensible men have thought
otherwise; and Dr. Richardson, the most cautious
traveller in the Holy Land, speaks of it as the
" Mansion of victory, where Christ triumphed over
the grave, and disarmed death of all its terrors."
The feelings of a man are to be envied who can
so believe. I cannot imagine a higher and holier
euthusiasm ; and it would be far more agreeable
to sustain than to dissolve such illusions ; but, al-