MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT. 61 



of the principal towns of the Pashalik of Acre. As 

 might be expected, it abounds with relics and 

 legends connected with the parentage and infancy 

 of the Messiah. Travellers are still shown the 

 house and workshop of Joseph ; the latter, which 

 is near the convent, is now a small chapel, perfectly 

 modern, and white-washed like a Turkish sepul- 

 chre ; the synagogue where Christ disputed with 

 the doctors ; the precipice from which the monks 

 aver he leapt down to escape the rage of his towns- 

 men, who w T ere offended at his applications of the 

 sacred text ; the table, a long flat stone, on which 

 it is affirmed he eat meat with his disciples, both 

 before and after his resurrection, are among the 

 venerable curiosities pointed out to the devout 

 pilgrim. 



But the principal of these ancient monuments is 

 the convent of the Latin Friars, a very spacious 

 and commodious building, within which is the 

 church of the Annunciation, containing two tolera- 

 bly good organs, and next to the Holy Sepulchre 

 at Jerusalem, the finest church in Syria. Here is 

 shown the spot where the angel stood when he an- 

 nounced the Messiah to the Virgin. Behind the 

 \ altar is a subterraneous cavern, divided into small 

 ! grottoes, where Mary is said to have lived; her 

 i kitchen, parlour, and bed-room are shown ; besides 

 several other pious wonders, of which the Syrian 

 Christians have a copious stock, unfounded upon 

 any authority of Scripture. 



At the time of the French invasion, Nazareth 



