THE HOLY ROSE OF JERICHO.

This curious plant (Anastatica hieropuntica) grows among the sands of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, and is found in Barbary. It is cruciform; and when its flowers and leaves have withered and fallen off, the branches, as they dry, curl inwards, and form a round mass, thence called a rose. The roots die; the winds tear the plant up, and blow it about the sands till it lodges in a moist spot, or is wetted with the rain; then the curled-up globe expands, and suffers the seeds to escape from the seedvessel in which they were enclosed; and becoming embedded in the sands, they germinate anew; hence its name, Anastatica. It is venerated in Palestine from the tradition that it blossomed at the moment when our Lord was born, and was endowed with qualities propitious to nativity. Wherefore the eastern women, when occasion requires, are anxious to have one of these dried plants expanding in a vase of water beside them, firmly beÎieving that it has a salutary influence. It is an article of commerce, and bears a high price in the East. There is a madrigal by an old Italian poet, Benedetto dell' Uva, very applicable to this "Rose," to whose existence and expansion moisture is so necessary.

THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

In the church of Santa Croce at Florence is the Crucifix of Donatello, one of his early carvings. Being proud of it, he showed it to Brunelleschi, who told him that he had placed on the cross a figure of a peasant rather than a representation of Christ, whose person was of the greatest possible beauty, and who was in all respects the most perfect man that ever was born.

In the church of Santa Maria Novella at Florence is a crucifix of wood, which Brunelleschi executed in rivalry, after he had rallied Donatello upon the inelegance of his in Santa Croce. It is said by Vasari, that when Donatello saw this production of his rival, he was so surprised with its excellence, that, lifting up his hands in astonishment, he let go his apron filled with eggs and cheese for his dinner, all of which fell upon the ground, saying, "To you belongs the power of carving the figure of Christ; to me that of representing day-labourers." Yet the work of Brunelleschi is somewhat open to the criticism which Sir Joshua Reynolds made upon the early saintings of the Crucifixion-that they represent our Saviour as if He had been starved to death.

"I. H. S."

In a circle above the principal door of Santa Croce, the "Westminster Abbey" of Florence, are the letters "I. H. S.," remarkable as having been placed there by St. Bernardine of

Sienna, after the plague in 1347. Having remonstrated with a maker of playing-cards, which were then illuminated, upon the sinfulness of his calling, the man pleaded poverty and the needs of his family. "O," replied the saint, "I will help you;" and writing the letters I. H. S., he advised the card-maker to gild and paint these upon cards, and sell them; and they succeeded greatly. The letters are usually thought to signify Jesus Hominum Salvator; they are, however, of Greek origin, and denote the holy name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ.

HISTORY OF THE HOLY CROSS.

In 1831, Lord Mahon read to the Society of Antiquaries the history of this sacred relic, of which the following is an abstract:

In the reign of the Emperor Constantine the Great, his mother Helena, when almost an octogenarian, undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in search of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Cross on which Jesus Christ had suffered. A vision, or perhaps dream, disclosed the place of the Holy Sepulchre; the three crosses were found buried near it, and that of the Saviour is said to have been distinguished from the others by its healing powers on the sick, and even restoring a corpse to life. The spot was immediately consecrated by a church, called the New Jerusalem; and of such magnificence, that the celebrated Eusebius regarded it as the fulfilment of the prophecies in the Scriptures for a city of that name. A verse of the sibyl was also remembered or composed, which, like all predictions after the event, tallied in a surprising manner with the object they so happily revealed.

The greater share of the Cross was left at Jerusalem, set in a case of silver; and the remainder was sent to Constantine, who, in hopes of securing the prosperity and duration of his empire, enclosed it within his own statue on the Byzantine Forum. The pilgrims also, who thronged to Jerusalem during a long course of years, often obtained a small fragment of the Cross for themselves; so that at length, according to the strong expression of St. Cyril, the whole earth was filled with this sacred wood. Even at present there is scarcely a Roman Catholic cathedral which does not display some pretended pieces of this relic; and it has been computed, with some exaggeration, that were they all collected together they might.prove sufficient for building a ship of the line. To account for this extraordinary diffusion of so limited a quantity, St. Cyril has asserted its preternatural growth and vegetation, which he ingeniously compares to the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

From this period the history of the holy Cross may be clearly traced through the twelve succeeding centuries. In spite of its frequent partitions, say the monkish writers, the Cross remained undiminished at Jerusalem until the year 614, when that city was besieged and taken by the Persians, who removed the relic to Persia, where it continued fourteen years, until the victories of the Emperor Heraclius, who restored it to its former station on Mount Calvary; the emperor laying aside his diadem and purple, and bearing the Cross on his own shoulders towards the Holy Sepulchre. An officer was then appointed to its pe

* For the discovery of the Cross, compare Theodoret, lib. 1. c. 18; Socrates, lib. 1. c. 17; and Sozomen, lib. iii. c. 33.

culiar care, with the title of Staurophulax; and the anniversary of this event, the 14th of September, is still celebrated in the Greek Church as a festival, under the name of the Exaltation of the Cross

Only eight years afterwards (A.D. 636), an army of Arabs, proselytes of Mahomet, invaded Palestine; the imperial forces were routed at Termuck, and Heraclius, downcast and dismayed, returned to Constantinople, bearing with him the invaluable fragment, whose alleged miraculous powers were never exerted for its own protection. It was, however, preserved at Constantinople with the utmost veneration in the church of St. Sophia, and the honours paid to it are attested by the father of English historians, Bede. Never but on the three solemn festivals of the year was its costly case unclosed; when a grateful odour pervaded the whole church, and a fluid resembling oil distilled from the knots in the wood, of which the least drop was thought sufficient to cure the most inveterate disease.

In the year 1078 the holy Cross recommenced its travels. During the tumultuous deposition of Michael VII., a wealthy citizen of Amalfi secured the Cross in its golden case set with jewels, and offered the relic at the shrine of St. Benedict, at Casinum. We next trace the Cross to Palestine, where the Crusaders bore it in the van of their armies when marching against the Mussulmans; during one of their battles with Saladin, the sacred relic was broken, and one-half of it The rewas captured by the enemy, and most probably destroyed * maining fragment, early in the thirteenth century, took the field with the King of Hungary and the Duke of Austria; from whom it passed into the hands of their brother-crusaders, the Latin sovereigns of Constantinople; but it was not received with its ancient share of veneration-a new Crown of Thorns, alleged to be that of the Passion, held at this period a far higher rank with the public.

In the year 1238, the pressure of poverty and impending ruin compelled the Emperor Baldwin II. to sell what the piety of Louis, king of France, induced him as eagerly to purchase. A very considerable sum was given in exchange for the holy wood; and on its arrival in Paris, it was deposited by King Louis in a chapel which he built on this occasion. There the Cross remained for above three hundred years, until May 20, 1575, it disappeared from its station: the robber could not be traced, nor the spoil recovered, when it was reported that Henry II. had secretly sold it to the Venetians; and to appease the angry murmurs of his subjects, Henry, the next year, on Easter-day, announced that a new Cross had been prepared for their consolation, of the same shape, size, and appearance as the stolen relic, and asserted that in Divine powers, or claim to religious worship, it was but little inferior to its model; and "the people of Paris," say Estoile, an eyewitness of this transaction, "being very devout, and easy of faith on such subjects, gratefully hailed the restoration of some tangible and immediate object for their prayers." Of the original fragment no further trace

has been found.

It should be added, that Constantine the Great obtained, at the same time with the Cross, the pretended nails of the Passion. He melted part of them into a helmet for himself: and the other part was converted into a bridle for his horse, in supposed obedience to a prophetic text of Zechariah: "In that day shall there be upon the bells (bridles) of the horses, holiness unto the Lord" (Zech. xiv. 20). Yet, though the *There is some account of its recovery by a Genoese, but it is clouded with miracles: he walked over the sea as over dry land, &c. See Muratori.

†The restoration of this beautiful edifice (Saint Chapelle) was completed in 1856.

helmet alone might appear to have required all the nails which could possibly be employed in a crucifixion, it is not unusual in southern Europe to meet with fragments of old iron for which the same sacred origin is claimed. Thus Lord Mahon saw at Catania, in Sicily, one of these nails, which is believed to possess miraculous powers. There is another in a private oratory of the Escurial. All the nails from the time of Constantine are rejected as spurious by Cardinal Baronius ; yet Pope Innocent VI. expressed his belief in their authenticity. One of the nails is stated to have been used in the Iron Crown of Lombardy.

THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.

This venerated scene of our Lord's Passion is about a third of an acre in extent, and is surrounded by a low wall. When Mr. Catherwood was there, in 1834, taking the drawings for his beautiful Panorama of Jerusalem, the garden was planted with olive, almond, and fig trees. Eight of the olive-trees are so large that they are said to have been in existence ever since the time of Jesus Christ; although we learn from Josephus that Titus cut down all the trees within 100 furlongs of the city. These trees are highly venerated by the members of the Roman communion here, who consider any attempt to cut or injure them an act of profanation. Should any one of them be known to pluck any of the leaves, he would incur a sentence of excommunication.

On this site, also known as Aceldamus, Dr. Wild discovered, in 1839, a cave containing a great number of skulls, which, according to his statements, were not those of Jews, but of foreigners. By this circumstance the fact was established beyond doubt that this is the very field which was bought for the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas as the reward of his treason. Since then, other travellers have visited the cave; and new chambers have been discovered, where the bones of thousands lie mouldering. In fact, the vicinity of Jerusalem abounds in caves and subterraneous passages, where the bones of the millions who once worshipped on Mount Moriah, are whitening. It has been often a matter of surprise to travellers that so many skulls should be heaped together in one cave. It is explained in the Talmud, which informs us that it was the custom of the Jews to bury their dead in a particular place, and, after the flesh was destroyed, to gather the bones together, and place them in some vault. Many families had their own vaults.

BEELZEBUB.

The name of the Prince of Devils, or Beelzebub (Matt. xii. 24), or the Lord of Flies, some think to be a name of scorn given by the Jews to this great Jupiter of the Syrians, whom

they named from the sacrifices in his temple being infested with multitudes of flies, which, by a peculiar privilege, notwithstanding the daily great number of sacrifices, never came (for such is the tradition) into the temple at Jerusalem. Others believe it was no mock name, but a surname of Baal, as he was worshipped at Ekron, either from bringing or driving away swarms of flies, with which the eastern countries were often molested; and their reason is, because Ahaziah, in the time of his sickness (when it is likely he would not rally with the god from whom he hoped for relief), sends to him under the name of Beelzebub.-Cowley's Notes to his Davideis.

EGYPTIAN WORSHIP OF CATS, CROCODILES, AND BEETLES. These animals, it is thought, were at first worshipped in Egypt as representative symbols only of the deities to whom they were respectively sacred; but, in the progress of idolatry, became adored as manifestations upon earth of these divinities themselves.

The Cat, many embalmed specimens of which animal have been found in the Egyptian sepulchres, appears to have been sacred either to Isis, or to her half-sister Nephthys.

Strabo, relating his own observations, states that "in the city of Arsinoe, which was formerly called Crocodilopolis (in Upper Egypt, now called Medinet-el-Fay-um), the Crocodile is worshipped; and a sacred crocodile is kept in a pond, who is perfectly tame, and familiar with the priests. He is called Suchus; they feed him with corn and meat and wine, which are continually brought him by strangers." One of the Egyptian divinities, apparently that to whom the crocodile was consecrated, was pictured a crocodile's head; and is denoted in the hieroglyphic inscriptions by a representation of that animal with the tail turned under it.

The Beetle was regarded by the Egyptians as a particular personification of Phthah, the father of the gods: that insect is used in the hieroglyphics for the name of this deity, whose head in the pictured representations of him either bears a beetle, or is itself in the form of a beetle: in other instances the beetle, in hieroglyphics, has clearly a reference to generation or reproduction; which is a sense attributed to this symbol by all antiquity, and from which Dr. Young, in his hieroglyphical researches, inferred its relation to Phthah,—an inference since confirmed by the inquiries of Champollion. The Egyptians embalmed and preserved all the animals they adored; and in the Royal Egyptian Museum at Berlin are some mummies of the sacred beetle.

Mrs. Hamilton Gray, in her work on the Sepulchres of Etruria, observes: