the Tale. 
342 THE HOLY LAND. 
Holy Land richer than Jerusalem itself, in the 
number and the importance of the relics she 
biiitrof' conveyed'. If there had been originally any 
hill or roch wherein the real sepulchre of Joseph of 
uirimathea was hewn^ for its Jeiuish possessor, is 
it likely, or was it possible, that every trace of 
it should have been swept away ? Can there be 
any reason assigned for supposing that Helena 
would have destroyed what every Christian must 
have been so anxious to preserve ? that, in the 
construction of a church, to commemorate the 
existence of the Tomb, she would have levelled 
and cut away not only the Sepulchre itself, but 
also the whole of Mount Calvary f This is so 
little in consonance with common reason, that 
it is impossible to allow the old tale any degree 
of credit. It is true, that, in order to discuss 
this topic with any attention to accuracy, we 
shall find there is much to unlearn; we must 
tread back the path of History to the time in 
which all the dreams of the age of Constantine 
(1) " His et aliis pietatis operibus egre^i^ peractis, revertitur Ro- 
mani ad filium suum dilectisslmum Imperatorem Constantinum, 
deferens immensum thesaurum, pretiosissimas Reliquias, crucem, 
clavos, qu'hbus Salvator noster homines et angelos ccelestibus bonis 
ditavit." Quaresmius, Eluc. T. S. lib. v. c. 28. Antv. 1639. 
(2) ' Le petit temple, qui est proprement le lieu du S. Sepulchre, 
est aussi tout de marhre, et il a de chaque c6te trois colomnes, et par 
derriere, quatre." Voy. an Levant, par Corneille Le Bruyn, torn. II. 
p. 245. Paris, 1725. 
