We passed on，and halted before the tomb of Melchisedek!You will remember Melchisedek，no doubt；he was the King who came out and levied a tribute on Abraham the time that he pursued Lot’S captors tO Dan，and took all their property from them．That was about four thousandyears ago，and Melchisedek died shortly afterward．However，his tomb isin a good state of preservation． When one enters the Church of the Holy Sepulchre，the Sepulchreitself is the first thing he desires to see，and really is almost the firstthing he dose see．The next thing he has a s~ong yearning to see is thespot where the Saviour was crucified．But this they exhibit last．It is thecrowning glory of the place．One is grave and thoughtful when he standsin the 1ittle Tomb of the Saviou—e could not well be otherwise in sucha place--but he has not the slightest possible belief that ever the Lord laythere，and SO the interest he feels in the spot is very，very greatly marredby that reflection．He looks at the place where Mary stood，in another partof the church，and where John stood，and Mary Magdalen；where the mobderided the Lord；where the angle sat；where the crown of thorns wasfound，and the true cross；where the risen Saviour appeared--he looks atall these places with intel’est，but with the same conviction he felt in thecase of the Sepulchre，that there is nothing genuine about them，and thatthey are imaginary holy places created by them monks．But the place ofthe Crucifixion affects him differently．He fully believes that he is lookingupon the very spot where the Saviour gave up his life．He remembersthat Christ was very celebrated，long before he came to Jerusalem；heknows that his fame was SO great that crowds followed him all the time；he is aware that his entry into the city produced a stirring sensation．andthat his reception was a kind of ovation；he can not overlook the fact that when he was crucified there were very many in Jerusalem who believedthat he was the true Son of God．To publicly execute such a personage was sufficient in it self to make the locality of the execution a memorable place for ages；added to this，the storm，the darkness，the earthquake，the rending of the vail of the Temple，and the untimely waking of the dead．were events calculated to fix the execution and the scene of it in the memory of even the most thoughtless witness．Fathers would tell their sons about the strange affair，and point out the spot，the sons would transmit the story to their children，and thus a period of three hundred years would easily be spanned．一at which time Helena came and built a church upon Calvary to commemorate the death and burial of the Lord and preserve the sacred place in the memories of men；since that time there has always been a church there．It is not possible that there can be any mistake about the locality of the Crucifixion．Not half a dozen persons knew where they buried the Saviour，perhaps，and a burial is not a startling event，any how；therefore，we can be pardoned for unbelief in the Sepulchre，but not in the place of the Crucifixion．Five hundred years hence there will be no vestige of Bunker Hill Monument left．but America will still know where the battle was fought and where Warren fell．The crucifixion of Christ was too notable an event in Jerusalem。and the Hill of Calvary made too celebrated by it，to be forgotten in the short space of three hundred years．I climbed the stairway in the church which brings one to the top of the small inclosed pinnacle of rock，and looked upon the place where the true cross once stood，with a far more absorbing interest that I had ever felt in anything earthly before．I could not believe that the three holes in the top of the rock were the actual ones the crosses stood in．but I felt satisfied that whose crosses had stood SO near the place now occupied by them，that the few feet of possible difference were a matter of no consequence．
When one stands where the Saviour was crucified．he finds it all he can do to keep it strictly before his mind that Christ was not crucified in a Catholic Church．He must remind himself every now and then that the great event transpired in the open air，and not in a gloomy，candle-lighted cell in a little corner of a vast church，up stair—a small cell all bejeweled and bespangled with flashy ornamentation，in execrable taste．
Under a marble altar like a table，iS a circular hole in the marblefloor，corresponding with the one just under it in which the true crossstood．The first thing every one does is to kneel down and take a candleand examine this hole．He does this strange prospecting with an amountof gravity that can never be estimated or appreciated by a man who hasnot seen the operation．Then he holds his candle before a richly engravedpicture of the Saviour，done on a massy slab of gold，and wonderfullyrayed and starred with diamonds，which hangs above the hole within thealtar，and his solemnity changes to lively admiration．He rises and facesthe finely wrought figures of the Saviour and the malefactors upliftedupon their crosses behind the altar，and bright with a metallic luster ofmany colors．He turns next to the figures close to them of the Virgin andMary Magdalen；next to the rift in the living rock made by the earthquakeat the time of the Crucifixion，and an extension of which he had seenbefore in the wall of one of the grottoes below；he looks next at theshow—case with a figure of the Virgin in it，and is amazed at the princelyfortune in precious gems and jewelry that hangs SO thickly about the form as to hide it like a garment almost．All about the apartment the gaudytrappings of the Greek Church offend the eye and keep the mind on the rack to remember that this is the Place of the Crucifixion--Golgotha--the Mount of Calvary．And the last thing he looks at is that which was also the fist—the place where the true cross stood．That will chain himto the spot and compel him to look once more，and once again，after he has satisfied all curiosity and lost all interest concerning the other matters pertaining to the locality．
And SO I close my chapter on the Church of Holy Sepulchre--the most sacred locality on earth to millions and millions of men，and women，and children，the noble and the humble，bond and free．In its history fromthe first．and in its tremendous assOciatiOns，it is the most illustrious difice in Christendom．With all its clap-trap side—shows and unseemly impostures of every kind，it is still grand，reverend，venerablewfor a god died there；for fifteen hundred years its shrines have been wet with the tears of pilgrims from the carth’S remotest confines；for more than two hundred，the most gallant knights that ever wielded sword wasted their lives away in a struggle to seize it and hold it sacred from infidel pollution．Even in our own day a war，that cost millions of treasure and rivers of blood，was fought because two reval nations claimed the sole right to put a new dome upon it．History is full of this old Church of the Holy Sepulchre--full of blood that was shed because of the respect and the veneration in which men held the last resting-place of the meek and lowly，the mild and gentle，Prince of Peace!peculiar adj．奇特的，特殊的，罕见的assail v．质问；攻击misery n．悲惨，穷困，不幸saviour n．救助者，救星，救世主circumstance n．环境，事件，状况cathedral n．大教堂crusader n．十字军战士，改革者crucifixion n．钉死于十字架；精神痛苦；拷问solemnity n．庄严；庄重；严肃；正经veneration n．尊敬；崇拜