THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.
Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement. (38 Conduit Street, W.)—Canon Malcolm MacColl contributes to this number an elaborate argument in support of the traditional sites of Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre. He does full justice to his case, except, indeed, by the occasional acerbity of his language. "Elaborate guesswork and slipshod reasoning" (applied to Dr. Robinson, who, after all, was a meritorious pioneer in days when things had not been made easy for the explorer); "fantastic paradox of Mr. Ferguson" (Ferguson's theory raised more topo- graphical difficulties than it met, but it had much architectural force) ; "jaunty allegation," "egregious absurdities,"—all these are phrases which are out of place, in this topic above all others. But the argument is very cogently stated, the authorities are skilfully marshalled, and the inferences, on the whole, fairly drawn. We cannot go with Canon MacColl in supposing that Pilate revenged himself for the constraint which had been put upon him to condemn a prisoner whom he wished to acquit by causing the Crucifixion to take place in a sacred spot, the place where Adam's skull had been found. He was too much afraid of the Jews to venture on the insult, nor could he have wished to break his recent reconciliation with Herod. But as a whole the traditional argument, taken by itself, scarcely admits of an answer. Now, too, the direction of the wall is fairly well established as running within the Sepulchre site. Yet when all has been said, the site, as a locality, seems unlikely. There is the fact, for instance, that it was but a quarter of a mile from the nearest cloister of the Temple, and less than half a mile from Mount Zion. The narratives certainly leave an impression of greater distances. Anyhow, the general result is that Professor George Adam Smith, whose authority in all matters of Palestinian geography is unquestionable, is content to leave his judgment in suspense (" Biblical Encyclopmdia," a. v. "Golgotha"). Canon MacColl's paper is followed by another on the same sub- ject contributed by the Rev. Canon Gell. In this the general argument of probability as regards the site is drawn out. Canon Gell holds that the "Gordon" site is ex- cluded by the fact that at the time of the Crucifixion it was in the middle of a populous suburb. His own theory is that the Sepulchre is to be found in a spot called "the Tombs of the Kings." This certainly has the advantage of being about half a mile outside the Damascus Gate. It should be noted that Canon Gell thinks that the objections of Dr. Robinson, which Canon BracColl dismisses so contemptuously, remain unanswered. How- ever this may be, we heartily agree with Canon Gell when he says,
God forbid that in this faithless age I should speak scornfully even of erroneous beliefs."
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