the hill, distinguished by the name
of Moriah, and levelled by human industry, was crowned with the stately
temple of the Jewish nation. After the final destruction of the temple
by the arms of Titus and Hadrian, a ploughshare was drawn over the
consecrated ground, as a sign of perpetual interdiction. Sion was
deserted; and the vacant space of the lower city was filled with the
public and private edifices of the AElian colony, which spread themselves
over the adjacent hill of Calvary. The holy places were polluted with
mountains of idolatry; and, either from design or accident, a chapel was
dedicated to Venus, on the spot which had been sanctified by the death
and resurrection of Christ. * Almost three hundred years after those
stupendous events, the profane chapel of Venus was demolished by the
order of Constantine; and the removal of the earth and stones revealed
the holy sepulchre to the eyes of mankind. A magnificent church was
erected on that mystic ground, by the first Christian emperor; and the
effects of his pious munificence were extended to every spot which had
been consecrated by the footstep of patriarchs, of prophets, and of the
Son of God.

The passionate desire of contemplating the original monuments of their
redemption attracted to Jerusalem a successive crowd of pilgrims, from
the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and the most distant countries of
the East; and their piety was authorized by the example of the empress
Helena, who appears to have united the credulity of age with the warm
feelings of a recent conversion. Sages and heroes, who have visited
the memorable scenes of ancient wisdom or glory, have confessed the
inspiration of the genius of the place; and the Christian who knelt
before the holy sepulchre, ascribed his lively faith, and his fervent
devotion, to the more immediate influence of the Divine Spirit. The
zeal, perhaps the avarice, of the clergy of Jerusalem, cherished and
multiplied these beneficial visits. They fixed, by unquestionable
tradition, the scene of each memorable event. They exhibited the
instruments which had been used in the passion of Christ; the nails and
the lance that had pierced his hands, his feet, and his side; the crown
of thorns that was planted on his head; the pillar at which he was
scourged; and, above all, they showed the cross on which he suffered,
and which was dug out of the earth in the reign of those princes, who
inserted the symbol of Christianity in the ban