the middle of the fourteenth century, Robert, King of Sicily, obtained by purchase from the Soldan of Egypt the sanctuaries of Palestine, and placed them under the care and guardianship of the monks of the Franciscan order. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Holy Land was conquered by Selim; and the treaty between his successor and Francis I. placed under the protection of the crown of France the holy places, as well as the monks who guarded them.

In 1757, a serious collision took place between the Greeks and the Latins, the former having previously disputed the exclusive possession and guardianship by the latter of the shrines, on the strength of firmans obtained from the Porte. That collision arose out of the fact of the Greek pilgrims having pillaged the Latin convent of Jaffa; and it was followed by another attack made by the Greeks on the monks, who had shut themselves up in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Complaints were made to the Divan, and each party accused the other of the first outrage. The Divan heard all parties, including the French ambassador; and the result was, a hatti-scherif, dated in the year above-mentioned, which expelled the Latins from the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin and that of Bethlehem; and the Holy Sepulchre and other sanctuaries were placed under the guardianship of the Greek monks. From that period, notwithstanding some firmans occasionally granted, and favourable to the Latins, these last gradually lost the prerogatives they had previously possessed.

In 1808 a new cause of dissension arose. The Holy Sepulchre was partly consumed by fire. The Greeks claimed, and obtained from the Porte, the right to rebuild the cupola of the church; and having done so they claimed additional prerogatives; but their architect was accused of having intentionally destroyed the tombs of the kings of Jerusalem, that had been preserved in the same church, and of having used the materials in the construction of the new cupola. Since then, the disputes have been frequent between the Latins and the Greeks; and even the Armenians profited by their dissensions and the cupidity of the Mussulmans, and purchased from the Porte the enjoyment of privileges which interfered with both. It was to put an end to these scandals that the French and Russian governments opened, in 1819, the negotiations above-mentioned, and which were interrupted in the manner described. In addition to the above facts, M. de Marcellus drew up a statement of the " possessions and prerogatives of the Latin Church in Palestine." It is to the following effect :—

"I. IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.

"1. The church of the Holy Sepulchre. 2. The monastery of Deirul-Amoud, or the Holy Saviour, its appurtenances and dependencies. 3. The sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is in the centre of the church of the same name. 4. The great and the small cupola, with the lead which covers them. 5. The arches and columns which are round them, as far

as the iron gates, placed to mark the line at which the part of the church belonging to the Greeks commences. 6. The galleries and dwellings of the Latin monks which are over the aforesaid arches or columns. 7. The great arch which is surrounded with the cupola which is over the above-mentioned iron gates. 8. The chamber which is at the end of the wall of the above-mentioned great arch. 9. The chandeliers placed by his Majesty the King of France under this same great arch. 10. The stone called that of St. Mary Magdalene, and the entire space which extends from the step of the vestry of the Frank monks to the steps of the gate of the Cistern, and from beneath the columns to the steps of the Catholic chapel. 11. The upper part of the seven arcades, called the arches of St. Mary. 12. The lower portion of those arches. 13. The small altar which is beneath the said arches. 14. The entire space from the stone of St. Mary Magdalene to the large gate which is beside the door of the Greek chapel, and from the wall of the said chapel to the wall of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. 15. The lower part of the grotto of the finding of the Holy Cross. 16. The half of Mount Calvary, called the Place of Crucifixion. 17. The four arches of Mount Calvary, in the lateral part of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. 18. Its two altars. 19. The marble resting-chair, 20. The stone of unction. 21. The entire space which extends from the steps of Mount Calvary to the lower part of the arcade in possession of the Armenians, and from the wall of the

Greek chapel to the steps of the door of the temple of the Holy Sepulchre. 22. The chapel called the Exterior Calvary, placed on the top of the temple, to which the ascent is by a stone staircase.

"II.-OUTSIDE THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.

"In the Valley of Jehoshaphat,-23. A grotto which serves as a church, in which is placed the sepulchre of the blessed Virgin Mary. 24. The two chapels of St. Joachim, St. Anne, St. Joseph, and a chamber or vestry. 25. The grotto which is beside the first aforesaid grotto above and round the gardens. 26. The field in which the Frank monks and the strangers who die in Jerusalem are buried.

“III.—IN THE Village of BETHLEHEM.

"27. The convent of Bethlehem. 28. The gardens of the convent. 29. The church of St. Catherine. 30. The grotto of St. Jerome, the altars of St. Paul, St. Eustochia, St. Joseph, and the Holy Innocents. 31. The church named the great Church of Bethlehem. 32. The interior of the grotto in which is the manger in which our Lord Jesus Christ was laid at His birth. 33. The two altars of the Nativity and of the Magi. 34. The manger. 35. The two gardens appertaining to the above-mentioned birthplace. 36. The place named the Columns, and the corridor of the great church, called likewise the Church of the Columns. 37. The chamber called the Old Mill, in the corridor of the said church. 38. The continuation

of the said corridor to the door leading into the street. 39. The ruin named Bed-el-Sultan. 40. The great garden which serves as a burial-place for Frank monks and foreigners. 41. The field in which is the grotto of the pastors. 42. The wall called the Roman Wall. 43. The cistern and the wood of olives called the Wood of Bethlehem.

"IV.-IN THE VILLAGE OF ST. JEAN.

"44. The convent called St. John. 45. The church called of the Birth of St. John. 46. The two gardens of the convent. 47. The ruin called the Visitation of St. Elizabeth, in the mountain, at a short distance, and opposite the convent of St. John.

"V.-IN PALESTINE.

"48. The convent of Rama, (Arimathea,) its gardens and appurtenances. 49. The convent of Jaffa, (Joppè.) 50. The convent of Acre (Ptolemaide) and all its dependencies. 51. The convent of Nazareth, its gardens, appurtenances, church, chapel, the ruins of Mount Thabor, and other places to be visited in Galilee. 52. The convent of Seyde (Sidon) and its dependencies. 53. The convent of St. Damascus, in Syria, and its dependencies.

"PREROGATIVES.

"1. The Fathers of the Holy Land, Latin monks, alone possess the keys of the gates of the convents or sanctuaries above-mentioned, and particularly the