It Seems That The
"Citizen" Sultan, Old Louis Philippe, Has Done Very Little Indeed
For Holy Church In Palestine.
Although the pilgrims perform their devotions at the several
shrines with so little apparent enthusiasm, they are driven to the
verge of madness by the miracle displayed before them on Easter
Saturday.
Then it is that the Heaven-sent fire issues from the
Holy Sepulchre. The pilgrims all assemble in the great church, and
already, long before the wonder is worked, they are wrought by
anticipation of God's sign, as well as by their struggles for room
and breathing space, to a most frightful state of excitement. At
length the chief priest of the Greeks, accompanied (of all people
in the world) by the Turkish Governor, enters the tomb. After
this, there is a long pause, and then suddenly from out of the
small apertures on either side of the sepulchre there issue long,
shining flames. The pilgrims now rush forward, madly struggling to
light their tapers at the holy fire. This is the dangerous moment,
and many lives are often lost.
The year before that of my going to Jerusalem, Ibrahim Pasha, from
some whim, or motive of policy, chose to witness the miracle. The
vast church was of course thronged, as it always is on that awful
day. It seems that the appearance of the fire was delayed for a
very long time, and that the growing frenzy of the people was
heightened by suspense. Many, too, had already sunk under the
effect of the heat and the stifling atmosphere, when at last the
fire flashed from the sepulchre.
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