THE

YOUTHS' MAGAZINE;

OR,

EVANGELICAL MISCELLANY.

OCTOBER, 1847.

CRYPT OF THE NATIVITY.

In the account of Bethlehem, given at page 481 of our last volume, we made some allusion to the church of the Nativity, or as it is sometimes called the "Basilica of St. Mary of the Manger."

Under the East, or chancel, end of this church, the crypt or grotto, part of which is represented in our engraving, is excavated; and though the monks who shew it to strangers, do not pretend that its furniture and fittings are the same as those of the stable in which our Saviour was born, they insist that it occupies the precise spot which He consecrated by His presence when it pleased the Father that He should be made flesh, and visit our world for man's redemption.

This crypt or grotto is of very irregular form, consisting of various stair-cases, chambers, and passages, the chapels of St. Joseph, and the Innocents, and the reputed study of St. Jerome; his tomb, and those of some other saints. The principal room, looking eastward, forms the subject of our illustration: it measures forty feet in length, and varies in width from ten, to eighteen or nineteen. The

S

THE

YOUTHS' MAGAZINE;

OR,

EVANGELICAL MISCELLANY.

OCTOBER, 1847.

CRYPT OF THE NATIVITY.

In the account of Bethlehem, given at page 481 of our last volume, we made some allusion to the church of the Nativity, or as it is sometimes called the "Basilica of St. Mary of the Manger."

Under the East, or chancel, end of this church, the crypt or grotto, part of which is represented in our engraving, is excavated; and though the monks who shew it to strangers, do not pretend that its furniture and fittings are the same as those of the stable in which our Saviour was born, they insist that it occupies the precise spot which He consecrated by His presence when it pleased the Father that He should be made flesh, and visit our world for man's redemption.

This crypt or grotto is of very irregular form, consisting of various stair-cases, chambers, and passages, the chapels of St. Joseph, and the Innocents, and the reputed study of St. Jerome; his tomb, and those of some other saints. The principal room, looking eastward, forms the subject of our illustration: it measures forty feet in length, and varies in width from ten, to eighteen or nineteen. The

S

walls are decorated with tawdry hangings and pictures, and to the right of the reputed place of the Nativity, distinguished by a large star on the pavement and an altartable having a range of nine lighted lamps below it, may be seen a recess on a lower level: by stepping down into which, the visitor will have the sacred manger on his right hand; and on his left, the altar of the magi, distinguished in our print by the two candlesticks placed upon it. The steps leading down into the crypt, are shewn at the back of this altar, as well as in the opposite side of the chamber. The first-mentioned flight conducts us to the chapel of the Circumcision; the other to that of the Three Kings, in the church above.

THE NINE BEST FRUITS.

CHAP. X.-MEEKNESS OF WISDOM.

The little narrative, which I am about to bring forward as a most striking example of the power of the Divine Spirit to bring forth its fruits, and to carry them on to a high degree of perfection under the most adverse circumstances, was related to me by a Mrs. Blaney, an old lady residing not many years ago in the city of Bath, who is now, I trust, in heaven, for it pleased the Almighty to enable her to receive the truth as it is in Christ our Redeemer, and to walk according to the glorious light, some years before her death. Without farther preface, I shall therefore commence her narrative.

“Having tried various plans of life,” said Mrs. Blaney, “all of which failed in pleasing me, I came to Bath when I was near upon entering my sixtieth year, took handsome lodgings in Gaystreet, and, because I had wearied out one lady's maid after another, I proposed to adopt another kind of victim, and, by the recommendation of a friend and neighbour, Mrs. Bearcroft, received a very pleasing looking young girl into my family as a companion, the same Olivia Sedley, who now, as you must have seen, is more precious to me than a daughter, as I desire to render myself dear and indulgent to her as a mother.