by the venerable
prophets of Jerusalem. So long as they enjoyed the gift of prophecy,
the stone remained steady under them; but when the gift was withdrawn,
and the persecuted seers were compelled to flee for safety to other
lands, the stone rose to accompany them: whereupon the angel Gabriel
interposed, and prevented the departure of the prophetical chair,
leaving on it indelibly the marks of his fingers. It was then
supernaturally nailed to its rocky bed by seven brass nails. When any
great crisis in the world's fortunes happens, the head of one of these
nails disappears; and when they are all gone, the day of judgment will
come. There are now only three left, and therefore the Mohammedans
believe that the end of all things is not far off. When the Crusaders
took possession of the sacred city, they altered the Mohammedan
legend, and attributed the mysterious footprint to our Lord when He
went out of the Temple to escape the fury of the Jews. There can be no
doubt that the marks on the rock are prehistoric, and belong to the
primitive worship of Mount Moriah, long before the august associations
of Biblical history gathered around it. To this spot the Jews used to
come in the fourth century and wail over the rock, and _anoint it
with oil_, as if carrying out some dim tradition of former primitive
libations.

In the Octagon Chapel of the Church of the Ascension on the top of the
Mount of Olives, so well known for the magnificent view which it
commands of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, is shown the native rock which
forms the summit of the hill from which our Lord ascended into heaven.
On this rock, it is said by tradition, He left the mark of His
footsteps. Arculf, who visited Palestine about the year 700, says: "On
the ground in the midst of the church are to be seen the last prints
in the dust of our Lord's feet, and the roof appears above where He
ascended; and although the earth is daily carried away by believers,
yet still it remains as before, and retains the same impression of the
feet." Jerome mentions that in his time the same custom was observed,
followed by the same singular result. Later writers, however, asserted
that the impressions were made, not in the ground, or in the dust, but
on the solid rock; and that originally there were two, one of them
having been stolen long ago by the Mohammedans, who broke off the
fragment of stone on which it was stamped. Sir John Mandeville
describes the appearance of the sur