Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

Finally, among the Arabs it assumed the features of which we have already spoken-of the architecture of the desert, enchanted as its Oases, magical as the stories narrated beneath the tent, but liable to be carried away by the winds with the sand which at first served it for a foundation.

In support of my opinion I could adduce a million historical facts; I could demonstrate that the first temples of Greece, such as that of Jupiter at Onga near Amycle, were genuine Egyptian temples; that the sculpture itself of Argos, of Sparta, of Athens in the time of Dædalus, and in the heroic ages, was Egyptian. But I fear that I have already extended this digression too far; and it is high time to proceed to the Gothic monuments at Jerusalem.

These consist of a few tombs. The monuments of Godfrey and Baldwin are two stone coffins supported by four little pillars. The epitaphs, which the reader has seen in the description of Deshayes, are inscribed on these coffins in Gothic letters. In all this, separately considered, there is nothing very particular; yet I was exceedingly struck by the appearance of these tombs on entering the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Their strange forms, în a strange land, were indicative of other men, other manners, other countries: I fancied myself transported into one of our ancient monasteries; I was like the native of Otaheite when he discovered in France a tree of his country. I contemplated with veneration these Gothic mausoleums containing the

ashes of French chevaliers, who from pilgrims had become kings, and who are the heroes of the Jerusalem Delivered. I recollected the words which Tasso puts into the mouth of Godfrey:

Chi sia di noi, ch'esser sepulto schivi,

Ove' i membri di Dio fur già sepulti?

As to the Turkish monuments, the last witnesses that attest the revolutions of empires at Jerusalem, they are not worth notice: I have mentioned them merely as a hint that the works of the Tartars must by no means be confounded with the productions of the Moors. It would, in fact, be more correct to assert that the Turks know absolutely nothing of architecture; the utmost they have done has been to disfigure the Greek and Arabic structures, by crowning them with massive domes and Chinese pavilions. Some bazars and oratories of santons are all that the new tyrants of Jerusalem have added to that unfortunate city, with the different monuments of which the reader is now acquainted.

On returning from my visit to the Sepulchres of the Kings, which have furnished occasion for the preceding descriptions, I passed through the valley of Jehoshaphat: the sun was setting behind Jerusalem; he gilded with his last rays this mass of ruins and the mountains of Judea. I sent back my companions by the gate of St. Stephen, keeping nobody but the janissary with me. Seating myself at the foot of the tomb of Jehoshaphat, with my

face towards the Temple, I took a volume of Racine my pocket and read Athaliah. At these first

from

verses:

Oui, je viens dans son Temple adorer l'Eternel, &c.

it is impossible for me to express what I felt. I fancied that I could hear the songs of Solomon and the voices of the Prophets; ancient Jerusalem rose to my view; the shades of Joad, Athaliah, and Josabeth issued from the tomb; and it seemed as if I had been incapable till that moment of appreciating the genius of Racine. What poetry! since I thought it worthy of the place where I was. impossible to conceive the effect of Athaliah, read upon the tomb of the "holy King Jehoshaphat,” on the banks of the brook Cedron, and before the ruins of the Temple. But what has become of this Temple, "adorned in every part with magnificent festoons ?"

Comment en un plomb vil l'or pur s'est-il changé,
Quel est dans ce lieu saint, ce pontife égorgé ?
Pleure, Jerusalem, pleure, cité perfide,

Des prophètes divins malheureuse homicide:
De son amour pour toi ton Dieu s'est depouillé ;
Ton encens à ses yeux est un encens souillé.

Ou menez-vous ces enfans et ces femmes ?

Le Seigneur a détruit la reine des cités :
Ses prêtres sont captifs, ses rois rejettés;
Dieu ne veut plus qu'on vienne à ses solennités :
Temple, renverse-toi; cèdres, jetez des flammes,
Jerusalem, objet de ma douleur,

"Tis

Quelle main en un jour t'a ravi tous tes charmes ?
Qui changera mes yeux en deux sources de larmes
Pour pleurer ton malheur?

Azarias,

O saint Temple!

Josabeth.

O David!

Le Chœur.

Dieu de Sion, rappelle,

Rappelle en sa faveur tes antiques bontés.

The pen drops from my fingers: one feels ashamed to scribble any more after a man has

written such verses.

I spent part of the 9th in the convent to collect some particulars respecting private life at Jerusalem; having seen every thing of consequence within and without the city, except Nehemiah's Well, in which the sacred fire was concealed at the time of the captivity, the Sepulchres of the Judges, and some other places. These I visited in the evening of the 9th ; but as there is nothing remarkable about them except their names, it is not worth while to detain the reader's attention with them.

I shall therefore proceed to those little details which excite curiosity in proportion to the renown of the places that are treated of, Who could figure to himself that people live at Athens and Sparta in the same manner as in his own country? Jerusalem, above all, whose name awakens the recollection of so many mysteries, overawes the imagination; it seems as if every thing must be extraordinary in that extraordinary city. Let us see how far this

is really the case, and begin with the description of the convent of the Latin fathers.

You reach it by a covered way, which leads to another passage of considerable length, and very dark. At the end of this passage you come to a court formed by the wood-house, cellar, and pantry of the convent. In this court you perceive to the right a flight of twelve or fifteen steps, ascending to a cloister which is immediately over the cellar, wood-house, and pantry, and consequently overlooks the court by which you enter. At the east end of this cloister opens a vestibule communicating with the church, which is very pretty. It has a choir fitted up with stalls, a nave lighted by a dome, an altar, in the Roman style, and a small organ; but all comprised in a space only twenty feet by twelve.

Another door at the west-end of the above-mentioned cloister leads to the interior of the convent. "This convent," says a pilgrim (Doubdan), in his description, not less distinguished for accuracy than simplicity, "is very irregular, built in the antique style, consisting of several parts, high and low, the offices small, and concealed from view, the apartments mean and dark, several little courts, two small gardens, the largest of which may be about fifteen or sixteen perches, and adjoining to the ramparts of the city. Towards the west end is another court, with some small rooms for pilgrims, All the recreation to be found in this place is to ascend to the terrace of the church, where you enjoy

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »