miles and imagine the angel appearing, with shadowy wings and lustrous

countenance, and note the glory that streamed downward upon the Virgin's

head while the message from the Throne of God fell upon her ears--any one

can do that, beyond the ocean, but few can do it here. I saw the little

recess from which the angel stepped, but could not fill its void. The

angels that I know are creatures of unstable fancy--they will not fit in

niches of substantial stone. Imagination labors best in distant fields.

I doubt if any man can stand in the Grotto of the Annunciation and people

with the phantom images of his mind its too tangible walls of stone.

They showed us a broken granite pillar, depending from the roof, which

they said was hacked in two by the Moslem conquerors of Nazareth, in the

vain hope of pulling down the sanctuary. But the pillar remained

miraculously suspended in the air, and, unsupported itself, supported

then and still supports the roof. By dividing this statement up among

eight, it was found not difficult to believe it.

These gifted Latin monks never do any thing by halves. If they were to

show you the Brazen Serpent that was elevated in the wilderness, you

could depend upon it that they had on hand the pole it was elevated on

also, and even the hole it stood in. They have got the "Grotto" of the

Annunciation here; and just as convenient to it as one's throat is to his

mouth, they have also the Virgin's Kitchen, and even her sitting-room,

where she and Joseph watched the infant Saviour play with Hebrew toys

eighteen hundred years ago. All under one roof, and all clean, spacious,

comfortable "grottoes." It seems curious that personages intimately

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The Innocents Abroad