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'All around the acclivity, the soil was so thickly covered with tall shrubs and wild verdure, that it was a little difficult to make one's way: the prickly-pear was the most frequent. This fruit seemed to fatten on the desolate soil, that was seldom trodden by any foot, and was composed partly of piles and fragments of ruined habitations, that had stood and fallen here ages ago. The flat terraced roofs of the city, the domes and minarets of the mosques, blended with the cupolas of the churches, came into view from this ruinous eminence, where the traveller might well sit for hours, and muse on the strange and various picture at his feet. There, to the east, stood the palace of Herod ; and amidst the gardens and palm-trees, the home of the beautiful Mariamne: close to the forsaken spot where it stood, is now a mosque, and that mosque is built on the ruins of a Christian church. To the left, on the site of the tall and strong tower built by the Crusaders, and now garrisoned by the Turks, stood the palace of the king of Israel.

woe.

Each solitary place around was once trodden or dwelt in by a prince or a prophet, and alike echoed to the splendid predictions of future glory, or the warnings of unutterable There is not a single guilty and fatal passion or deed that man can know, but what is told of by these poor remains. There is no place where both worlds seem to be so blended together, or rather where the veil of the present one is so drawn aside, as amidst the ruins of Jerusalem. The voice of the angel of the Apocalypse, who stood on the ocean and the shore, and told that Time should be no longer, could hardly thrill through the excited fancy more than the wail of a lost nation, that seems to come forth from the sepulchres and desolate places of the City of God, and tells of this world sacrificed, and eternal glory cast away.

A scarcity of water was often experienced in Jerusalem, in ancient times: a plentiful supply of it was always considered a blessing by the inhabitants; and it is mentioned among the most meritorious actions of their kings, when they obtained an additional spring or cistern; thus it is commemorated, that "Hezekiah stopped the watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the City of David. And the rest of his acts, and all his might, and how he made a pool and a conduit, and brought water into the city," &c. The situation of Jerusalem, as the capital of a great people, was unhappily chosen; inconvenient as to the purposes of trade or commerce, with little level space or water in the neighbourhood: its position, as a stronghold, in the midst of warlike enemies, could alone have induced David to make it his chief city. The great and rich plain of Esdraelon, through which the Kishon rolls, and bathes the feet of Carmel, offered a splendid site; the shores of the lake of Galilee had also great advantages, with the loveliest scenery-in which Jerusalem, even in its palmiest days, must have been deficient. Its ancient aspect, its walls, towers, palaces, and temple, crowning Zion and Moriah, with deep defiles on three of its sides, must have been one of the most gloomy and magnificent in the world. When we read the descriptions of the ancient land of Canaan, by its first describers, we can scarcely help imagining, that, rich and beautiful as that land was, part of the colouring and imagery of these descriptions may be ascribed to the force of contrast, which all feel, who pass from the wilderness into a gay and fruitful country. From "the howling desert, the terrible and fearful land, and not inhabited," where Israel had sojourned so long, the transition to the Land of

Promise was one of rapture and exquisite beauty. No wonder that the vivid descriptions and indelible feelings of their forefathers, when they entered and dwelt at last within it, each man "under his own vine and fig tree," were remembered and handed down by their descendants. The traveller who has passed but a few weeks in the deserts, can tell with what joy he hailed the lonely group of palm, and the gushing rill or fountain beside :—the bright verdure of the trees, the sound and the glancing of the waters were like balm to his heart, and a long-lost love to his eye. Lofty hills, not mountains, encompass Jerusalem on three sides, now mostly barren, but formerly covered with groves, gardens, and pastures. Olivet is the only picturesque elevation. There is a glimpse from the city, over the vale that leads to the wilderness, of the distant mountains of Arabia Petrea, which redeems the otherwise monotony and sadness of the scenery.

The air had now become sultry, and the ruinous places around afforded no shelter. This ancient reservoir of water, to which we had come, was a welcome object, and the few women who came there at intervals seemed to seek it as their only dependence; the dwellings that stood around were mean and wretched. Turning from the place, we retraced the path to the Franciscan monastery. This spiritual fortress, as it might be called, seldom admitted the beams of the sun, and always had a cold and gloomy appearance, on entering it from the brilliant atmosphere without. Time always hung heavy within its walls; yet not so heavily to us, as it did to a noble visitor who dwelt there about a year before. She came with her lord; the most beautiful and adventurous traveller that had ever explored the East. Her foot had stood beside the farther cataracts of the Nile, even in the interior of Nubia, and had not flinched from the parching desert,-and then she wandered to Damascus. The latter city could only be visited in a Turkish dress: the spirit of curiosity overcame every difficulty as well as danger, and the fair traveller was presented to the pasha as an English youth of quality. He gazed on the elegant form and features with surprise, and, not suspecting the disguise, pronounced the stranger to be the handsomest Frank he had ever beheld. To a refined and accomplished woman, in whose character daring and gentleness were exquisitely blended, this journey must have presented rich and various sources of information. Unlike Lady Mary Montagu, she could not visit the harems of princes, but it was perfectly easy to traverse the enchanting walks and river-sides around the city, to observe the many costumes and manners of the people in perfect liberty. The people would never have endured the sight of a European lady in her own garb. From hence to Jerusalem was a change, as far as the aspect of nature went, from a lovely land to a joyless waste. A portion of the monastery had been lately fitted up for the accommodation of female visitors: but the tent of the Arab, with its simple drapery, carpet, and sincere welcome, would have been to her a more tasteful and acceptable home. Can any thing more unsuitable be imagined, than the residence of an attractive and romantic being beneath the roof of these Franciscan monks, where there was a total want of all the agrémens, cleanliness, and comfort to which an English lady of rank is accustomed. Una dwelling amidst the tenants of the forest, or the Princess Pekuah amid those of the desert, present situations parallel to the above: the former simile is perhaps the most just, for these fathers have done every thing in their power to render their human form as

ungracious as possible-with corded loins, bare and dirty feet, old rusty garments, evil odours, and mortifying looks. If report said truly, this monastic residence was found more dreary than the shores of the cataracts or the Syrian deserts: the monks still talk of this visit, as a curious event in the history of their convent.

But each scene within and without the city seems to yield in interest to the interior of Calvary: it was now peopled every day, for it was the feast of Easter. Some of the pilgrims drew nigh with rapid and eager footsteps, and with the air of men who were conscious that the end of their toils was before them. Others hesitated long ere they ascended the three marble steps that led from the floor of the church to the side of the sepulchre they knelt on the pavement, and turned an imploring eye, not on the priest, for the priest was nothing at this moment, but on the sacred chamber within, where the light fell, and whence hushed sounds issued. One very old man, of tall stature and wasted form, whose hair and beard were white, and who seemed to have come from a very distant home, was observed to bend long beside the first marble step that conducted within. Numerous pilgrims passed him, of both sexes, and one of the priests came and whispered in his ear some words of encouragement: but the old man still lingered, as if a long life of sin or of carelessness had then risen before him, or he doubted that there could be mercy at so late an hour as this. Rich and handsomely dressed men passed him and entered, and women of different persuasions, dressed in white, the young, the old, the beautiful, the lady, and the woman of low degree, were among them: a few looked earnestly at the aged man, who still knelt beside the lowest step, his looks bent on the floor, his thin white locks falling on his shoulders, and at times veiling his pallid cheek: his hands were clasped, and, from the movement of his lips, it was evident that he was engaged in earnest prayer—that in this moment his thoughts were all swallowed up in the conflicts and distress of his soul. O who can tell the swiftness and clearness of the thoughts, the keen recollection and exquisite upbraiding felt on the step of Calvary, at the entrance of the Sepulchre ? It was more than the eleventh hour-it was the verge of his earthly pilgrimage, and this was perhaps the last offer of mercy-the last call of that voice that bade him "turn to the Lord, and be saved." He felt it to be so; and he yet lingered, till the greater part of the pilgrims had left the place. He then rose, and entered the tomb, in which was no one save the priest: falling on his knees, he spread his thin hands over the Sepulchre, laid his head on it, and burst into tears. This was a true repentance, a sorrow of the very soul, even in extreme old age: perhaps the "silver cords of his life were loosed, and his golden bowl broken at the fountain:" wife, children, all, perhaps were dead, and each dear affection cold, for no one was with him, either companion or comforter. Yet mercy touched his wearied spirit with its ineffable power, and by the tears he shed, and the relief he felt, it was evident that hope, the hope of immortality, was given in that hour.

The noble Mosque of Omar, with its large dome, in the middle of the plate, is, perhaps, the most beautiful mosque in the Turkish empire: much of its material is a light blue stone, which has a peculiar effect in the brilliant sun-light: it is forbidden to 2 B

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