I set down these first thoughts because they are natural—­not because they are just or because it is right to set them down.  It is easy for book-makers to say “I thought so and so as I looked upon such and such a scene”—­when the truth is, they thought all those fine things afterwards.  One’s first thought is not likely to be strictly accurate, yet it is no crime to think it and none to write it down, subject to modification by later experience.  These hermits are dead men, in several respects, but not in all; and it is not proper, that, thinking ill of them at first, I should go on doing so, or, speaking ill of them I should reiterate the words and stick to them.  No, they treated us too kindly for that.  There is something human about them somewhere.  They knew we were foreigners and Protestants, and not likely to feel admiration or much friendliness toward them.  But their large charity was above considering such things.  They simply saw in us men who were hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and that was sufficient.  They opened their doors and gave us welcome.  They asked no questions, and they made no self-righteous display of their hospitality.  They fished for no compliments.  They moved quietly about, setting the table for us, making the beds, and bringing water to wash in, and paid no heed when we said it was wrong for them to do that when we had men whose business it was to perform such offices.  We fared most comfortably, and sat late at dinner.  We walked all over the building with the hermits afterward, and then sat on the lofty battlements and smoked while we enjoyed the cool air, the wild scenery and the sunset.  One or two chose cosy bed-rooms to sleep in, but the nomadic instinct prompted the rest to sleep on the broad divan that extended around the great hall, because it seemed like sleeping out of doors, and so was more cheery and inviting.  It was a royal rest we had.

When we got up to breakfast in the morning, we were new men.  For all this hospitality no strict charge was made.  We could give something if we chose; we need give nothing, if we were poor or if we were stingy.  The pauper and the miser are as free as any in the Catholic Convents of Palestine.  I have been educated to enmity toward every thing that is Catholic, and sometimes, in consequence of this, I find it much easier to discover Catholic faults than Catholic merits.  But there is one thing I feel no disposition to overlook, and no disposition to forget:  and that is, the honest gratitude I and all pilgrims owe, to the Convent Fathers in Palestine.  Their doors are always open, and there is always a welcome for any worthy man who comes, whether he comes in rags or clad in purple.  The Catholic Convents are a priceless blessing to the poor.  A pilgrim without money, whether he be a Protestant or a Catholic, can travel the length and breadth of Palestine, and in the midst of her desert wastes find wholesome food and a clean bed every night, in these