Ixvi AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



They have so deluged the press with accounts 

 of its economy, its treasures, and antiquities, 

 that there seems nothing left for future tourists 

 whereon to exercise their pens. For my own 

 part, having seen most of the curiosities full 

 twenty years ago, I did not feel much inclined 

 on this occasion to renew my acquaintance with 

 many of them, especially as I found the tem- 

 perature of the galleries and palaces any thing 

 "but genial. Still I got a sight of some things 

 which have made a lasting impression on me ; 

 one of these was the titulus which was fixed 

 over the head of our dying Saviour; a most 

 learned rabbi of our days has proved its authen- 

 ticity, if any new proof were wanting; for the his- 

 torical records at the time of its being brought 

 to Rome are so clear and positive, that no one 

 who has any faith at all in history, can doubt 

 that this identical piece of wood is the same 

 that was used on the cross, when our blessed 

 Lord suffered for the sins of the world. The 

 wood itself is sycamore, and the words appear 

 as though they had been cut hastily into it by 

 some sharp-pointed instrument. 



I fear the world will rebuke me when I tell 

 it, that instead of ferreting out antiquities and 



