Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/84

 42 ORIGIN OF THE WAK OF 1853 chap, up to be an anxious and suffering man, and • submitting to be cruelly tortured and killed by the hands of His own creatures, they longed to touch and to kiss the spots which were be- lieved to be the silent witnesses of His life upon earth, and of His cross and passion. And since also these men were of the Churches which sanc- tioned the adoration of the Virgin, they were taught, alike by their conception of duty and by nature's low whispering voice, to touch and to kiss the holy ground where Mary, pure and young, was ordained to become the link between God and the race of fallen man. And because the rocky land abounded in recesses and caves yielding shelter against sun and rain, it was possible for the Churches to declare, and very easy for trustful men to believe, that a hollow in a rock at Beth- lehem was the Manger which held the infant Re- deemer, and that a Grotto at Nazareth was the very home of the blessed Virgin. Priests fastened upon this sentiment, and al- though in its beginning their design was not sor- did, they found themselves driven by the course of events to convert the alluring mystery of the Holy Places into a source of revenue. The Ma- hometan invaders had become by conquest the lords of the ground ; but since their own creed laid great stress upon the virtue of pilgrimage to holy shrines, they willingly entered into the feel- ing of the Christians who came to kneel in Pales- tine. Moreover, they respected the self-denial of monks ; and it was found that, even in turbulent