I went to Tiberias, and soon got afloat upon the water. In the
evening I took up my quarters in the Catholic church, and the
building being large enough, the whole of my party were admitted to
the benefit of the same shelter. With portmanteaus and carpet
bags, and books and maps, and fragrant tea, Mysseri soon made me a
home on the southern side of the church. One of old Shereef's
helpers was an enthusiastic Catholic, and was greatly delighted at
having so sacred a lodging. He lit up the altar with a number of
tapers, and when his preparations were complete, he began to
perform his orisons in the strangest manner imaginable. His lips
muttered the prayers of the Latin Church, but he bowed himself down
and laid his forehead to the stones beneath him after the manner of
a Mussulman. The universal aptness of a religious system for all
stages of civilisation, and for all sorts and conditions of men,
well befits its claim of divine origin. She is of all nations, and
of all times, that wonderful Church of Rome!
Tiberias is one of the four holy cities, {27} according to the
Talmud, and it is from this place, or the immediate neighbourhood
of it, that the Messiah is to arise.
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