The monastery at Nazareth contains seven clerical and eight lay brethren. The latter divide among themselves the secular duties of the household; thus one is sacristan, another tailor, a third coffee-maker, a fourth cook, a fifth steward; and to each is assigned an office which he is required to fill for the good of the fraternity. They are all Italians or Spaniards, who come to this country for a limited period, generally for three years; at the expiration of which the greater number are thankful to return home : a small minority remain bound by a vow for life. They live comfortably, but simply. Every necessary is in abundance, though luxuries are scarce: but it is to be remembered that most of the brotherhood belong to the lowest orders of society, and in all probability would never have earned by the sweat of their brow the half of what they now enjoy in repose.

The routine of church duties entirely engrosses the clerical members. Forms are multiplied without number; and the greater part of the night, as well as of the day, is passed with rosaries, crucifixes, and missals. To a Protestant some of their services appear a solemn mockery: but God judgeth not as man; and, perhaps, under many a pharisaical form and

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monkish cowl, the Searcher of hearts discerns rectitude of purpose and an earnest desire to honor him.

We spent a sabbath here, which happened to be Palm Sunday; accordingly, we witnessed the ceremony of blessing the palms, performed with all the pomp characteristic of the Romish church. When consecrated, the branches were thrown to the people, who eagerly scrambled for them. I was actually pushed down by the violence of the mob on the steps of the altar; and a little child by my side was very nearly killed.

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Within the wall of the convent is the "Church of the Annunciation," under which is a chapel, originally a subterranean grotto, where tradition says the virgin was sitting when the angel of the Lord greeted her with Hail, thou that art highly favored among women," and announced her destiny as mother of the Messiah. Part of a granite column, fastened by its capital to the impending rock, is supposed to be miraculously sustained the pious pilgrims say "to see is to believe," and hold the tradition, nothing doubting that the angel broke the pillar because he wished to convert into a seat for himself its lower half: yet, so little care has been

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taken to make this fraud consistent with itself, that the upper and lower parts of the pillar are of different materials; a fact which renders equally ridiculous another story current, namely, that the Turks cut the column in two under an impression that treasure was contained in it. The truth is, that its capital is artificially attached to the solid rock, and therefore remains in its present position where it was purposely fixed to give color to a miracle. But the most wonderful part of the history of the "Cave of the Annunciation" is that it originally contained a house; and that this house was uplifted by angels, who, after traversing Europe to find a fit spot in which to deposit it, placed it in Loreto, where we saw it in the centre of a magnificent church! The dimensions of the cave and of the house, of course, exactly correspond; and such correspondence is regarded as quite sufficient evidence of the fact that the one was taken out of the other.

The Greeks show another site of the Annunciation. It is marked by a fountain to the north of the town, whither maidens still resort, as in the days of Rebekah and Rachel, to draw water; and where they say the virgin was similarly engaged when she received the heavenly visitor. But this assertion of the

"schismatics" (as the Romanists call them) is gratuitous and contrary to the account given by St. Luke, in whose gospel the word translated "came in" implies that the angel entered into a house. They, like their rivals, have built a church over the spot, which for a Syrian building may be called handsome, though the exterior resembles a tent, as their funds have been insufficient to enable them to substitute a better roof for the temporary one originally constructed.

The narrow passage leading from the body of the church to the fountain is ornamented on both sides with Dutch tiles and variegated marbles arranged alternately in the form of panels; and the floor is perpetually wet with drops from the "water-pots" filled at the sacred fount. These water-pots are made of common red earth, furnished with two handles, and precisely similar to those in use throughout Asia and the south-eastern parts of Europe they are always carried by women, and generally on the head. Sometimes the vessel used to hold water is the skin of a sheep, calf, or goat, with the orifices carefully sewed up; while smaller utensils of the same material frequently attract the eye and explain the

* Luke i. 28.

scriptural allusion, unintelligible to an European, regarding "new wine put into old bottles." Indeed, at every turn the Christian student meets with illustrations of the inspired writings. The expressions, parallels, and imagery of the Bible are peculiarly adapted to this Holy Land; and Syria may be regarded as a local commentary on the sacred volume. Here some of its prophetical declarations seem almost to carry with them a double fulfilment: thus, when the Christian reads that Joseph settled in Nazareth, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene," he is not a little surprised to find himself designated by the same name of reproach, and to learn that Nasari, or Nazarene, is the Syrian appellation of every disciple of Him who was termed "the Prophet of Nazareth.”*

Returning to the convent from the Greek Church of the Annunciation, and musing on the mystery here first distinctly announced to man, we saw in the path a snake which had recently been killed. Its head was smashed and the destroyer was destroyed. The coincidence was striking. What a drama was that in which the parties were Jesus of Nazareth and that * Matt. ii. 23, and xxi. 11.