and south, it is impossible to understand Josephus, who informs us that, in his assault upon this part of the city, Titus stationed troops in towers along the southern part, and dispatched others to throw down the northern portion. The remains at the Damascus Gate of an ancient gateway with towers, the masonry of which is of equal antiquity with that in the northeast corner of the Temple area, are no doubt the ruins of the northern gate of the second wall; and the traces of an ancient wall between the old gateway and the Latin convent clearly indicate that the second wall inclosed Mount Akra on the west, and therefore included the Calvary and Holy Sepulchre of the monks. Though the legendary claims of this renowned church are rejected, and its pretended rights to the affections of mankind denied, yet the antiquity of its origin and the romance of its history can not fail to awaken a momentary veneration in the most indifferent spectator. Dedicated to Jesus in the year 335 A.D., it remained standing in all its primal grandeur for two hundred and seventy-nine years, when, in 614 A.D., it was ruthlessly destroyed by the Persian, Chosroes II., who, after the capture of the city, massacred thousands of the citizens, including many monks and nuns, and, as the crowning act of his vengeance, carried the Patriarch of Jerusalem, together with the “true cross,” into captivity. Sixteen years later the church was rebuilt, under the superintendence of Modestus, superior of the convent of Theodosius, and the exiled patriarch returned, entering the city in triumph with the “cross” on his shoulder. Destined to the most remarkable vicissitudes, it was again destroyed in 969 A.D. by the Fatimites, who, in the madness of their retaliation, committed the aged patriarch to the flames of the burning building. Remaining a heap of ruins for more than forty years, the revengeful Khalif el-Hâkim, the spiritual and fanatical Prince of the Druses, caused it to be entirely demolished, plowing up its very foundations, and attempting the utter destruction of the tomb itself. With an energy as untiring as their gifts were munificent, the Christians rebuilt their favorite sanctuary within thirty-eight years after their cruel persecution by El-Hâkim, and it remained standing till 1099 A.D., when the Crusaders captured Jerusalem; the church was enlarged and beautified by them; and during the lapse of more than seven centuries it continued unimpaired till the year 1808 A.D., when, on the night of the 12th of October, a fire, originating in the Armenian chapel, consumed the noble pile. So intense was the heat that the massive walls suffered immensely; the cupola was rent in two; the roof of the nave and of the triforium gallery, together with all the altars, images, and pictures, were consumed; the marble piers in the rotunda were calcined, and the lofty dome above fell in with a tremendous crash upon the Holy Sepulchre. Inheriting