616 JERUSALEM on the other hand the great majority of Cath- olics and some Protestant travellers believe in the genuineness of these remains. Among others, Mr. William 0. Prime maintains the authenticity of the sepulchre on the following grounds: " It is not credible that this locality was forgotten by Christians within 300 years after the great events of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Critical scholars and learned men, employed in investigating the topography of the Holy Land, had no doubt of its authen- ticity in the beginning of the 4th century ; no one, so far as we know, thought in that age of disputing the fact, but all men acknowledged its truth ; it is not doubted by any one that this is the locality in which those learned men placed their confidence, it having been well preserved from that time to this." The main entrance to the church is on the south. Af- ter descending a broad flight of rude steps, a large open paved court is reached, along Church of the Holy Sepulchre. whose sides are the bases of a row of col- umns, which probably once supported clois- ters. Recent excavations have shown that under this ' court is a crypt with arches of high antiquity. On the left is the convent and chapel of St. James ; and on the opposite side is the convent of Abraham or Isaac, in the place, the Greeks say, where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son. The facade of the church occupies nearly the whole of the N. side of the court. The lower story has a wide double gateway, with marble and granite col- umns supporting richly sculptured architraves, on which is represented Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem ; over these are finely carved arches. The eastern section has been closed for several centuries ; it is said to have been walled up by the Moslems to limit the Christians to one entrance, where the fees could be collected by one person. A large polished slab of stone on the floor of the church, near the entrance, is called the stone of unc- tion, and is said to cover that upon which Jo- seph laid the body of Christ to be anointed for burial. On the east of the stone is a cham- ber, the roof of which forms the floor of the chapel of Golgotha ; this chamber has on the right and left the tombs of Godfrey and Bald- win, between which the visitor passes to the chapel of Adam, ending against the native rock, in which a huge fissure is visible, said to have been made by the earthquake at the time of the crucifixion. This rock, ascending through the roof, is pointed out as Calvary, where Jesus was crucified. Ascending a flight of stairs out- side of the chapel of Adam and the chamber of Godfrey and Baldwin, the low vaulted chap- el of Golgotha is entered. At the E. end is a platform about 10 ft. long by 7 ft. broad, and 20 in. high. In the centre is an altar, under which is a hole in the marble slab on the floor, said to be the place where the Saviour's cross was fixed, and on the right and left are shown the holes where the crosses of the thieves were placed. In the plat- form is another opening in the marble pavement, through which is seen a rent in the rock con- tinuous with the one be- low in the chapel of Adam. On the right hand, S. of the plat- form, is another division called the chapel of the crucifixion, said to have been the place where Christ was nailed to the cross. This part does not stand on the rock, but forms a kind of upper story, which is accounted for by say- ing that Helena removed | the ground beneath it and took it to Rome, so that the chapel is still on the real site. Through a barred window in this division another chapel is seen, the entrance to which is by a flight of steps outside of the church. Here the Virgin Mary and the other women stood watching the crucifixion. Returning down stairs from the chapel of Golgotha, and passing by the stone of unction, we enter the rotunda, about TO ft. in diameter, surrounded by 18 massive piers which support the Armenian church on one hand and the Latin galleries on the other ; the whole surmounted by a large dome with an opening at the top. This dome was a few years ago in a ruinous condition, but in 1869- '70 it was repaired at the joint expense of the French, Russian, and Turkish governments. This combined action was a compromise reached after long negotiations, in which the two Chris- tian powers strenuoiwly contended for the privilege of doing the work, as protectors re-
