DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0392
84 THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS [chap. ix.
The Jew performs no pilgrimage; if he visits the Holy City, it
is in the hope of dying there, and laying his bones in the Valley
of Jchoshaphat; so great a privilege is this considered, that San-
dys saw shiploads of Jewish skeletons waiting for disembarkation
at Jaffa, in order to be carried to Jerusalem for interment.
Most of the Christian pilgrims belong to the humbler classes,
and even those who have the means, abstain from making any
shew of luxury during their journey to Jerusalem. They find
shelter and some slight refreshments in the hospices devoted to
the reception of their various sects at Jaffa, Ramleh, and Jerusa-
lem ; having heard Mass in the Holy Sepulchre, they visit the
manger at Bethlehem, bathe in the water of the Jordan, visit all
the prescribed stations in and around Jerusalem, and return to
Europe, respectable for the remainder of this life, and secure of
eternal happiness in the next.
As the soldier-spirit seems epidemic wherever armies meet,
and the landsman feels something of the sailor stir within him, as
the ship that bears him battles with the waves; so one inevitably
experiences something of the pilgrim enthusiasm on approaching
Jerusalem, and endeavours to cherish the feeling as if it were a
religion in itself. In such a mood, even the traveller who pro-
fesses a more spiritual faith might kneel upon Calvary, and pros-
trate himself at the Holy Sepulchre as a mere sentiment, if awe
of the sacred places did not dispel every illusion, and sternly call
upon the startled soul to put off all masquerading. Not so the
professed pilgrim—the very ceremonies and the actor in them,
from which we shrink as from a mockery, exercise a power
and a spell over his excited heart: the gilding and ornaments,
the painted altar, and the embroidered priest, the pealing organ
and the fragrant incense—all are full of mystery and awe to
those for whom they are intended. Take, then, one brief glance
at that sepulchre; visit the reputed Calvary, for the sake of the
association, which can realize its own locality ; pause not to scofl
at, to condemn, or coldly scrutinize, the wrapt worshippers around
you—but go forth in the humble hope that your faith is right,
and that, whatever church-name you may be called by, your
heart is catholic.
Let us leave to those who make livelihood by them such scenes
The Jew performs no pilgrimage; if he visits the Holy City, it
is in the hope of dying there, and laying his bones in the Valley
of Jchoshaphat; so great a privilege is this considered, that San-
dys saw shiploads of Jewish skeletons waiting for disembarkation
at Jaffa, in order to be carried to Jerusalem for interment.
Most of the Christian pilgrims belong to the humbler classes,
and even those who have the means, abstain from making any
shew of luxury during their journey to Jerusalem. They find
shelter and some slight refreshments in the hospices devoted to
the reception of their various sects at Jaffa, Ramleh, and Jerusa-
lem ; having heard Mass in the Holy Sepulchre, they visit the
manger at Bethlehem, bathe in the water of the Jordan, visit all
the prescribed stations in and around Jerusalem, and return to
Europe, respectable for the remainder of this life, and secure of
eternal happiness in the next.
As the soldier-spirit seems epidemic wherever armies meet,
and the landsman feels something of the sailor stir within him, as
the ship that bears him battles with the waves; so one inevitably
experiences something of the pilgrim enthusiasm on approaching
Jerusalem, and endeavours to cherish the feeling as if it were a
religion in itself. In such a mood, even the traveller who pro-
fesses a more spiritual faith might kneel upon Calvary, and pros-
trate himself at the Holy Sepulchre as a mere sentiment, if awe
of the sacred places did not dispel every illusion, and sternly call
upon the startled soul to put off all masquerading. Not so the
professed pilgrim—the very ceremonies and the actor in them,
from which we shrink as from a mockery, exercise a power
and a spell over his excited heart: the gilding and ornaments,
the painted altar, and the embroidered priest, the pealing organ
and the fragrant incense—all are full of mystery and awe to
those for whom they are intended. Take, then, one brief glance
at that sepulchre; visit the reputed Calvary, for the sake of the
association, which can realize its own locality ; pause not to scofl
at, to condemn, or coldly scrutinize, the wrapt worshippers around
you—but go forth in the humble hope that your faith is right,
and that, whatever church-name you may be called by, your
heart is catholic.
Let us leave to those who make livelihood by them such scenes