, a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford,
and chaplain to the English factory at Aleppo, who visited Jerusalem in
the year 1697:--

"_Saturday, April 3d._--We went about mid-day to see the function of the
holy fire. This is a ceremony kept by the Greeks and Armenians, upon a
persuasion that every Easter Eve there is a miraculous flame descends from
heaven into the Holy Sepulchre, and kindles all the lamps and candles
there, as the sacrifice was burnt at the prayer of Elijah.--(1 Kings
xviii.)

"Coming to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, we found it crowded with a
numerous and distracted mob, making a hideous clamour, very unfit for that
sacred place, and better becoming bacchanals than Christians. Getting,
with some struggle, through this crowd, we went up into the gallery, on
that side of the church next the Latin convent, whence we could discern
all that passed in this religious frenzy.

"They began their disorders by running round the Holy Sepulchre with all
their might and swiftness, crying out as they went, '_Huia!_' which
signifies '_This is he_,' or, '_This is it_,' an expression by which they
assert the verity of the Christian religion. After they had by their
vertiginous circulations and clamours turned their heads, and inflamed
their madness, they began to act the most antic tricks and postures, in a
thousand shapes of distraction. Sometimes they dragged one another along
the floor, all around the sepulchre; sometimes they set one man upright on
another's shoulders, and in this posture marched round; sometimes they
turned men with their heels upwards, and hurried them about in such an
indecent manner as to expose their nudities; sometimes they tumbled round
the sepulchre, after the manner of tumblers on the stage. In a word,
nothing can be imagined more rude or extravagant than what was acted upon
this occasion.

"In this tumultuous frantic humour they continued from twelve to four of
the clock, the reason of which delay was because of a suit that was then
in debate before the cadi betwixt the Greeks and Armenians, the former
endeavouring to exclude the latter from having any share in this miracle.
Both parties having expended (as I was informed) five thousand dollars
between them in this foolish controversy, the cadi at last gave sentence
that they should enter the Holy Sepulchre together, as had been usual at
former times. Sentence being thus given, at four of the clock both nations
went on with their cerem