The circumstance[324] that perplexes every traveller, is to account for Mount Calvary having been formerly without the city, whereas it is, at present, not a small way within; and in order to shut it out, the ancient walls must have made the most extraordinary and unnecessary curve imaginable. But tradition could not err in the identity of so famous a spot; and the smallest scepticism would deprive it of its principal charm.
The street leading to Calvary is called by the Christians Via Dolorosa, or "Dolorous Way," in commemoration of the sufferings of Christ, in the carrying of the cross to the place of execution. It rises with a gradual ascent as it approaches Calvary, where it terminates. There are many interesting spots in this way; and Mr. Robinson thus describes them:—
(1.) "An archway across the street, designated the Arch of the Ecce Homo, over which there is a double window, separated by a column. Here Pilate brought the Lord forth to the people, saying,—'Behold the Man!'—(John xix. 6).
(2.) "The place where Christ turned round to the women, who followed him with their lamentations, and, moved by the tears of his countrymen, he addressed them in the language of consolation; 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me.'—(Luke xxiii. 28.) Where the Virgin, witness of the trying scene, and overcome by the feelings of a mother, fell into a swoon.
(3.) "Where Christ, falling down under the weight of the cross, the soldiers compelled Simon the Cyrenian to assist him,—(Luke xxiii. 26); it is marked out by the broken shaft of a column, just where the lower city terminates.
(4.) "The dwelling of Lazarus.
(5.) "The dwelling of the rich man.
(6.) "The house from which Veronica, or Berenice, issued, to present our Lord with a handkerchief, to wipe his bleeding brows.
(7.) "The gate of judgment, formerly the boundary of the city.
"And finally, Calvary, the scene of his crucifixion."