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 OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 253 peror with the keys of the holy sepulchre, and perhaps of the city of Jerusalem. In the decline of the Carlovingian monarchy, the republic of Amalphi promoted the interest of trade and religion in the East. Her vessels transported the Latin pilgrims to the coasts of Egypt and Palestine, and deserved, by their useful im- ports, the favour and alliance of the Fatimite caliphs : ^an annual fair was instituted on mount Calvary ; and the Italian merchants founded the convent and hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, the cradle of the monastic and military' order, which has since reigned in the isles of Rhodes and of Malta. Had the Christian pilgrims been content to revere the tomb of a prophet, the disciples of Mahomet, instead of blaming, would have imitated, their piety ; but these rigid Uiiitariajis were scandalized by a worship Avhich represents the birth, death, and resurrection, of a God ; the Catholic images were branded with the name of idols ; and the Moslems smiled with indignation ^^ at the miraculous flame, which was kindled on the eve of Easter in the holy sepulchre.™ This pious fraud, first devised in the ninth centurj-,"! was devoutly cherished by the Latin crusaders, and is annually repeated by the clergy of the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic sects,"'^ who impose on the credulous spectators '^ for their own benefit and that of their tyrants. In every age, a principle of toleration has been fortified by a sense of interest ; and the revenue of the prince and his emir was increased each year by the expense and tribute of so many thousand strangers. ^ The caliph granted his privileges, Amalphitanis viris amicis et utilium intro- ductoribus (Gesta Dei, p. 934). The trade of Venice to Eg>'pt and Palestine can- not produce so old a title, unless we adopt the laughable translation of a Frenchman who mistook the two factions of the circus (Veneti et Prasini) for the Venetians and Parisians. ^'.'^n -Arabic chronicle of Jerusalem (apud Asseman. Bibliot. Orient, torn. i. p. 628, tom. iv. p. 368) attests the unbelief of the caliph and the historian ; yet Canta- cuzene presumes to appeal to the Mahometans themselves for the truth of this per- petual miracle. '" In his Dissertations on Ecclesiastical History, the learned Mosheim has separately discussed this pretended miracle (tom. ii. p. 214-306), de lumine sancti sepulchri. "1 William of Malmsbury (1. iv. c. ii. p. 209) quotes the Itinerary of the monk Bernard, an eye-witness, who visited Jerusalem A. D. 870. The miracle is confirmed by another pilgrim some years older ; and Mosheim ascribes the invention to the Franks soon after the decease of Charlemagne. ^'^Our travellers, Sandys (p. 134), Th^venot (p. 621-627), Maundrell (p. 94, 95), &c. , describe this extravagant farce. The Catholics are puzzled to decide w/ien the miracle ended and the trick began. "^The Orientals themselves confess the fraud, and plead necessity and edification (Mdmoires du Chevalier d'Arvieux, tom. ii. p. 140; Joseph Abudacni, Hist. Copt. c. 20) ; but I will not attempt, with Mosheim, to explain the mode. Our travellers have failed with the blood of St. Januarius at Naples.