We visited the place once in the afternoon, and were allowed to enter after waiting nearly an hour, and at the cost of a dollar or two. Passing through this door, the visiter finds himself in a hall or vestibule, about forty feet long by twenty in width; and in front of him, on the floor, a slab of reddish marble, with huge candlesticks and candles at either end; they call it the stone of unction, and say that on it our Saviour’s body was anointed previous to interment. And here commences a series of legends and fictions, dealt out unsparingly to the visitor, which often produce disgust, and always jar on the feelings of the pilgrim whose mind is not steeped in the grossest credulity. I could fill a book with them, but have no relish for such a task; and during this visit gave but little attention to them, as I wished to keep my feelings free from the effect of such puerilities; and I shall at present trouble the reader with them only so far as to give him an idea of this blot on Christianity at Jerusalem. By doing more, we should only stir up emotions that cannot harmonize with the place, and which will prevent us from feeling the influence of that which is real and true. Turning now to the left we came, at the distance of about twenty feet, to a large door-way which admitted us into a circular church, quite lofty, and about fifty feet in diameter.[51] The lower part of this is lined with a range of pilasters, between which are arched openings into a dozen chapels, some used by the Copts, Greeks, and Armenians, and some occupied by altars connected with the legends which have just been noticed. Above these runs a corridor, and the whole is surmounted by the large dome which had drawn my attention when on the top of our monastery. In the centre of the area of this church is a structure of masonry, about eight feet wide, eight or nine in height, and about twelve in length; at one end is a marble platform, raised about twelve inches from the floor, with steps quite around, and bordered part of the length with a low marble wall or parapet on either side; the other end of this structure, instead of being square, has three faces, in which are very small chapels for the Copts, Abyssinians, &c. The structure itself is faced with the richest marbles, in compartments, and enriched with mouldings, and has on the summit a little tower like a lantern, used, I believe, as a vent for the smoke from some lamps within the tomb. Yes, this, they tell us, is the tomb of our Saviour, hewn originally in the solid rock; but that the exterior rock has been cut down so as to form a kind of shell, in the shape of a chapel, with its exterior surface enriched in this manner with marble. If this be so, they have sadly disguised the place, for, being lined with marble also in the interior, it has now not the least resemblance to what the Scripture account of it would lead us to expect. The entrance is at the end towards the east. We ascended