our delaying the inquiry from what country the wanderers
have arrived. How agreeably was I surprised, when Father Paul came
to me with the intelligence that these gentlemen were both Austrian
subjects. What a singular coincidence! So far from my native
country, I was thus suddenly placed in the midst of my own people.
Father Paul was a native of Vienna, and the two counts, Berchtold
and Salm Reifferscheit, were Bohemian cavaliers.

As soon as I had completely recovered from the fatigues of my
journey, and had collected my thoughts, I passed a whole night in
the church of the Holy Sepulchre. I confessed in the afternoon, and
afterwards joined the procession, which at four o'clock visits all
the places rendered sacred by our Saviour's passion; I carried a wax
taper, the remains of which I afterwards took back with me into my
native country, as a lasting memorial. This ceremony ended, the
priests retired to their cells, and the few people who were present
left the church. I alone stayed behind, as I intended to remain
there all night. A solemn stillness reigned throughout the church;
and now I was enabled to visit, uninterrupted and alone, all the
sacred places, and to give myself wholly up to my meditations.
Truly these were the most blissful hours of my life; and he who has
lived to enjoy such hours has lived long enough.

A place near the organ was pointed out to me where I might enjoy a
few hours of repose. An old Spanish woman, who lives like a nun,
acts as guide to those who pass a night in the church.

At midnight the different services begin. The Greeks and Armenians
beat and hammer upon pendent plates or rods of metal; the Roman
Catholics play on the organ, and sing and pray aloud; while the
priests of other religions likewise sing and shout. A great and
inharmonious din is thus caused. I must confess that this midnight
mass did not produce upon me the effect I had anticipated. The
constant noise and multifarious ceremonies are calculated rather to
disconcert than to inspire the stranger. I much preferred the peace
and repose that reigned around, after the service had concluded, to
all the pomp and circumstance attending it.

Accompanied by my Spanish guide, I ascended to the Roman Catholics'
choir, where prayers were said aloud from midnight until one
o'clock. At four o'clock in the morning I heard several masses, and
received the Eucharist. At eight o'clock the Turks opened the door
at my req