MOUNT. 
from which our Saviour afcended info heaven. On this 
fummit is a fmall round church. Here was formerly a 
magnificent church, built by the emprefs Helena, in me¬ 
mory of (Thrift's afcenfion ; but there only remains a 
Gothic octagonal cupola, about eight yards in diameter. 
The natives have here two altars; and the Greeks, Copts, 
and Armenians, one each, in which they fay mal's; but 
Chriftians of every defcription have free accefs to the 
place throughout the whole year, upon paying a certain 
caphtir, or tribute. Every place that is fliown upon this 
mountain has either a church, chapel, or oratory, to feed 
the devotion of pilgrims, and the indigence of the monks 
that refide upon the l'pot. The fecond fummit of the 
mountain, towards the fouth, is that called the Mount of 
Corruption, or Offence. The third, towards the north, 
which is the higheft fummit of all, and ftands about two 
furlongs from the middlemoft, is that which was moft 
commonly ftyled the Mount of Galilee. Here are alfo 
fhown many places mentioned in the Gofpel; fuch as that 
where Chrilt mounted the afs; where he wept over Jeru- 
falem, &c. Thefe are ftiil vifited by multitudes of Chrif¬ 
tians of all forts; though the Latins have the pofleftion of 
tliem, and perform the particular ceremonies that belong 
to each refpettive place; e. g. on Palm Sunday, the monks 
and priefts attend their fuperior from the place where 
Chrift, mounted on an afs, proceeded to Jerufalem. He 
is drefted in his pontifical habit, mounted alfo on an afs, 
and accompanied by crowds of fpedlators, w ho cut down 
and ftrew branches before him, and make the air refound 
with their harangues. The Mount of Olives was originally 
called by the Jews the “ Mount of Unftion,” on account 
of the great quantity of oil that was made from the olives 
that grew upon it; but, when Solomon had once defiled it, 
by ere&ing fundry temples to the gods of the Ammonites, 
Moabites, &c. in complaifance to his ftrange wives, they 
changed the name of it by a fmall alteration of the letters, 
that is, of rniy into JYTljyft, w'hich fignifies the “ Mount 
of Corruption, Deftruftion, or Offence.” The Greeks, 
however, have retained its ancient appellation. 
In the time of kingUzziah, the Mount of Olives was 
fo fluttered by an earthquake, that half of the earth that 
was on the weftern fide fell down, and rolled four furlongs 
towards the mountain which w'as oppofite to it on the eaft; 
io that the earth blocked up the highways, and covered 
the king’s gardens. 
The evangelill Luke, fuppofed to be the writer of the 
A£ts, as well as of the Gofpel that bears his name, has 
been charged by one advocate of the caufe of infidelity, 
with having contradicted himfelf; for in his Gofpel he 
tells us, that Jefus afcended into heaven from Bethany ; 
and in the ACls of the Apoftles he informs us, that he af¬ 
cended from Mount Olivet. This objeffion proceeds, as 
the learned bilhop of Landaft has obferved in his excel¬ 
lent Apology for Chriftianity, either from ignorance of 
geography or ill-will to Chriftianity; and he recommends 
to the writer to recollect for the future, that Bethany was 
not only the name of a town, but alfo of a diftrift of Mount 
Olivet adjoining to the town. 
Mr. Maundrell tells us, that he and his company, going 
out of Jerufalem at St. Stephen’s gate, and crofting the 
valley of Jehoftiaphat, began immediately to afcend the 
mountain; that, being got above two-thirds of the way 
up, they came to certain grottoes cut with intricate wind¬ 
ings and caverns under ground, which were called the 
Sepulchres of the Prophets; that a little higher up were 
twelve arched vaults under ground, Handing fide by fide, 
and built in memory of the apoftles, who are faid to have 
compiled their creed in this place; that fixty paces higher 
they came to the place w here Chrift is faid to have uttered 
his prophecy concerning the final deftriuftion of Jerufalem ; 
and a little on the right hand, to another, where he is (aid 
to have .dictated a lecond tim§ the Lord’s Prayer to his 
dilciples; that fomewhat higher is the cave of a faint 
called Pelagia ; a little above that, a pillar denoting the 
place where an angel gave the Blefted Virgin three days 
Vol. XVI. No. 1099. 
133 
warning of her death ; and, at the top of all, the place of 
our blefted Lord’s afcenfion. 
If Mount Calvary has funk beneath the overwhelming 
influence of fuperftilion, fludioufly endeavouring to mo¬ 
dify and to disfigure it, through fo many ages; if the 
fituation of Mount Sion yet remains to be afcertained ; the 
Mount of Olives, undilguifed by fanatical labours, exhi¬ 
bits the appearance it prefented in all the periods of its 
hilfory. Dr. Clarke vifited it in the year iSot ; and it 
ftiil afforded fo commanding a view of Jerufalem, that the 
eye roamed over its ftreets and walls as if in the furvey of 
a model. The Mount of Olives, from which the travellers 
made this furvey, is remarkable for various events in the 
Jewifh hiftory. It was to its fummit that king David af¬ 
cended to addrefs a prayer to Heaven, when he was about 
to be driven from Jerufalem by Abfalom’s rebellion: it 
was at thedefcent of this mount that our Saviour foretold 
the downfall of the holy city: and, finally, it was on the 
fide of this mount that the army of Titus encamped to 
accomplifh the prediction. The view of the country from, 
its top is extenfive ; the moft ftriking objeCt being the wide- 
expanfe of the Dead Sea, or Lake Afphaltites, furrounded 
by lofty mountains. Between this lake and Jerufalem 
are fcen the fertile paftures of the plain of Jericho, wa¬ 
tered by the Jordan, whofe courfemay be diftinftly traced. 
On coming dowm from the mount, the travellers vifited 
the olive-ground, which is defcribed, and with reafon, as 
the garden of Gethfemane. Near this they found a grove 
of olive-trees, of immenfe fize, which fnggefted to them 
the idea of cutting off fpecimens asprefents to thofe friends 
who might wifh to obtain memorials of the Holy Land. 
Thus olives continue to grow on the hill which derived 
its name from them three thoufand years ago, in the fame 
way that promegranates are ftiil feen to abound in Rhodes, 
and oaks in the forefts of Dodona. Clarke's Travels, Part 11 . 
MOUNT OLYM'PUS, in ancient geography and fa¬ 
bulous hiftory. See Olympus. 
MOUNT OLYM'PUS, in modern geography, a moun¬ 
tain on the weft coaft of North America. Lat. 47. 50. N. 
Ion. 236. 24. E. 
MOUNT ORGU'EIL CAS'TLE, or Gowray Castle* 
a fortrefs in the ifland of Jerfey. It was called (rowray 
Cajlle, from the adjacent village of that name. The pre- 
fent appellation of Mount Orgueil is derived from the 
proud promontory on which it is fituated ; a title, accord¬ 
ing to the vulgar tradition, given it by Henry V. but this 
opinion Mr. Falle corrects in the fecond edition of his 
hiftory of this ifland, and there attributes it to the duke 
of Clarence. 
Neither the age nor founder of this building is afcer¬ 
tained ; common report gives its conftru&ion to Robert 
Curthofe, fon of William the Conqueror, who is faid to 
have built moft of the caftles in this ifland, and alfo that 
of Guernfey. It however was in being, and occurs in 
hiftory, as early as the reign of king John. Falle fays, 
it was already then, and had been long before, a confi- 
derable fortrefs; and, as that king repaired and ftrength- 
ened the fortifications here and at Guernfey, Gowrav- 
caftle, the principal defence of the ifland, was undoubt¬ 
edly not neglefted. In the reign of Edward III. this cal- 
tle was more than once attacked by the French, who were 
always repulfed. A manufcript in the library of the late 
Thomas Aftle, efq. had the following account of the gar- 
riion of this caftle, together with their pay, in the 15th 
year of that king’s reign : “ Henry de la More, lieutenant 
of the caftle of Gurry, per diem, twelve pence fterling; 
fix men at arms, at twelve pence fterling per day; fix 
other men at arms, at fixpence fterling per day; one hun¬ 
dred archers, at threepence per day.” The latter end of 
this reign this fortrefs was again attacked by Bertrand du 
Guefclin, conftable of France, at the head of an army of 
10,000 men. The fiege was carried on with great iikili 
and vigour, and as gallantly defended ; fome of the outer 
works were thrown down by lap, when at length, to lave 
the effufion gi blood, it was agreed that, if it was not re- 
M m lrc-Ycd 
