AWARDED !*i BY ME M. AVILSON, TO NV^. 1 FOR GENERAL GOOD CONDUCT, AND PROFICIENCY IN iRITHMETIC. GLASGOW NORMAL SEMINARY, 185)^. .MM. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF Estate of David Prescott Barrows THE HOLY LAND. L. SEELEY, THAMES DITTON, SURREY. HhlatSelka I lit iiou^ ^^m-er'-Rusit' ;r1 ^ 'Tlannitiil Eirt f Irrrnavi -ITm >fjr /i .^ 2 ytt/htoK ^ ^ /<>/ iiZoti te / Ephratm. gj iiiolta.'t 7 D m 10 ftmain 11 ^n^i 12 ^ii,en H>A<7^ THE HOLY LAND SKETCHES OF THE JEWS, AND OF THE LAND OF PALESTINE. COMPILED PROM THE BEST SOURCES. SEELEY, BURNSIDE, AND SEELEY, FLEET STREET, LONDON. MDCCCXLIV. GIFT BCsr The object of these pages is to present the reader with a general view of Jewish history, manners, and customs ; and also of the aspect and productions of Palestine. The history of the " peculiar people " forms a deeply interesting subject of contemplation ; but all that can be done in the present work is to give a brief view of its leading features. The chapters on the Jewish war, and the subsequent history both of the Holy Land, and its banished people, with those on the Ancient and Modern Jews, have been carefully con- densed from a variety of authorities. The topogra- phical portions have also been drawn from numerous ancient and recent travels, as well as the natural his- tory ; every detail respecting this wonderful country being well worthy the attention of Christian readers, as bearing on the illustration of Scripture, and the providence and dealings of the Almighty. London, July, 1844. 608 ILLUSTRATIONS. Map of Palestine PAGE face Title Jerusalem . 161 Walls of Jerusalem . 193 Bethlehem . 199 Nazareth .... . 245 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGS INTRODUCTORY .... . . 1 CHAPTER II. SKETCH OP THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO THE DESTRUC- TION OF JERUSALEM .... 17 CHAPTER III. THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM . . .44 CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF PALESTINE, FROM THE PALL OF JERUSALEM TO THE PRESENT TIME . . ,102 CHAPTER Y. DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND . . .142 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PACK THE MOUNT OF OLIVES BETHANY BETHLEHEM HEBRON 193 CHAPTER VII. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HOLY LAND . . . 269 CHAPTER VIII. THE ANCIENT JEWS . . . , .314 CHAPTER IX. HISTORY OF THE JEWS, FROM THE FALL OP JERUSALEM TO THE PRESENT TIME ..... 349 CHAPTER X. THE MODERN JEWS ..... 397 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. CHAP. I. INTRODUCTORY. The East is connected, in every cultivated mind, with many bright pictures of imagination, with splendid and wonderful events, with visions of beauty and witchery of song ; but, of all its vast territories, the Holy Land is the most interesting, for that small spot has been the theatre of the grandest events recorded in the annals of mankind. The mention of Palestine immediately recals to the Christian the image of his Saviour, the " Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ;'* he follows Him in His wanderings through that land gazes on the bright star of Bethlehem, which led the eastern sages to His feet, listens to the sayings of Him who '* spake as never man spake," by the sea of Tiberias, on the Mount of Olives, or in the temple at Jerusalem, he contemplates the gloom of Gethsemane, and the cross of Calvary, treads with awe the plains, ascends with de- light the mountains, once gazed on by those eyes which beamed Divine love and mercy, which shed tears at the grave of Lazarus, and over the devoted city. In that ?-and flourished the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, there the temple was erected by Solomon, there the inspired Scriptures were written, and there, in " the fulness of 2 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I time," He arose, who accomplished the work of redemp- tion. The Holy Land witnessed His ministry, His obedience for man, His death, resurrection, and glorious ascension. There are the hallowed Nazareth, and Tabor, the scene of the transfiguration ; Cana of Galilee, Em- maus, the brook Kedron, the Sinai and Horeb of the old dispensation, the destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, the captured Jericho, and the humble Bethany ; Sa- maria, whose daughter received the word of life at Ja- cob's well, and Sarepta, whose widow entertained Elijah, the man of God ; Zion, where dwelt the " sweet singer of Israel," and Jerusalem, " the city of the great King." To this interesting country then, is our attention to be directed ; the land given for a possession to the peculiar people of God, the land of prophecy and miracle ; a land which, as the dwelling of the visible presence of God under the Old Testament economy, and the sojourn of Jesus Christ, "God manifest in the flesh," under that of the New, possesses a pre-eminence before which Greece, Rome, and even more ancient countries, with all their classical and splendid associations, are felt to be as nothing. We do not see in this land the ruins of the ancient temple, ^that has been swept away by God's vengeance, but we have the ruins of the city, where once stood that temple, which alone was hallowed by the presence of Jehovah : we see here no triumphal arches, through which the victor's train advanced, but we behold the scene of that triumphal entry into Jeru- salem, made by him who is " King of kings, and Lord of lords." Here no classic Olympus pierces the sky, no Tiber pours its stream, renowned by ancient bards, but here is the mountain that burned with fire at the presence of God, and here the river Jordan, whose waters stood still, until the cliildren of Israel had passed over, and the Dead Sea, whose sullen waves rest upon the cities of the plain. Every spot is connected with some interesting or miraculous event. *' God Himself has spoken in these regions, dried up the rivers, rent the rocks, and opened INTRODUCTION. ii the grave/' There are ample materials at hand for the gratification of our curiosity respecting this wondrous country ; for it has ever been an especial object of in- vestigation to the Christian traveller ; a powerful interest has led many to visit the land * Over whose acres walked those blessed feet. Which, eighteen hundred years ago, were nailed. For our advantage, to the bitter cross,' The country known to modern authors as Palestine, is that part of the Turkish empire, in Asia, compre- hended between the 31st and 84tli degress of north lati- tude, and extending from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, and the river Jordan, eastward. Inhabited by a people "peculiar" in all respects, the earliest source of historical knowledge, and the great depository of reli- gious truth, the annals of this country present events unparalleled in any other part of the globe ; the memo- rials of a faith, once restricted to its own people, but yet presenting hopes most intimately connected with the destiny of man, and reaching onward to the consum- mation of all things. The mere facts of the Jewish history are truly strik- ing. The origin of the Hebrew nation is not lost in ob- scurity, but dates from one great and venerable ancestor, a man honoured with preternatural revelations, and with whom God had formed a covenant of mercy, renewed with the succeeding patriarchs. The Jews were the chosen people, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. Though now a proverb and a by- word in every land ; yet, in the ages of antiquity, their existence formed a perpetual miracle. While the surrounding kingdoms were enveloped in gross dark- ness, they had the knowledge of the one true God, they alone could worship Him in spirit and in truth. That religion which they possessed only in types and figures, but which has since shone out in noonday brightness, preserved them as a moral oasis amid the surrounding "viiste, though they could form but a dim conception of B 2 4 THE LAND OF ISBAEL : its glories. Prone to depart from God, often drawn into idolatry, they were visited with a constant succession of miracles and chastisements. Yet their moral character rose conspicuously above the other nations of the East ; they looked to God as their king and guardian, the sym- bol of whose presence was within their temple. This cast into the shade the grandeur of other countries and monarchies. They were His chosen people ; His out- stretched arm had driven out the Canaanites, that they might dwell in the good land flowing with milk and honey : He was the defence around their border ; His name was pledged to scatter their enemies in confusion, as long as they served and honoured Him only. This thought nourished a proud independence and patriotism in every Hebrew bosom. But, even this was not all ; they looked forward to the coming of that glorious Being, whose advent had been prophesied even at the fall, and formed the grand purpose for which God had preserved them as a nation. Each succeeding prophet enlarged more fully on the power and splendour of Mes- siah's reign, it became the topic on which every Jew delighted to dwell, the source of hope in misfortune and captivity, of increased joy in the seasons of festival and jubilee. The most remarkable passages in their history, the government of their civil rulers, the cere- monies and off'erings of their solemn worship, all pointed to the promised Deliverer. The books of Moses are full of subjects which engage the heart, and excite the imagination ; from the first interposition of Jehovah, until His presence is revealed to the great lawgiver on the Mount, His glorious agency is seen. He tries the faith of the patriarchs, and guides them on their way ; He gives wisdom to Joseph, and causes the Israelites to become a great nation ; He leads them forth from their house of bondage. His presence goes before their host ; His hand divides the waters of the Red Sea, He who dwells between the cherubim shines forth, and leads His people like a flock. "We will not now enlarge on other deeply interesting INTRODUCTION. 5 points in Jewish history, however tempting : for we might dwell upon the eventful life of David, and the deeds he was enabled to perform for Israel ; he who un- derstood the spiritual import of the promise that " his kingdom should be established for ever," who trans- ferred the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem " the city of David," and who was inspired to compose so many " psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs." We might describe the reign of Solomon his son, the greatest of eastern monarchs, to whom God vouchsafed the spirit of wisdom, adding those earthly treasures which the king had justly judged to be far inferior ; and who was per- mitted to erect, in honour of Jehovah, a temple of surpassing beauty and magnificence. At one period, the Jews are the victims of cruel slavery and bondage, menaced with total extinction, yet still looking to the land promised to their fathers, still trusting that God would visit them in the house of their aflBiction, and convey them to that peaceful inheritance. Again, we see them carried captive by idolators, and enticed to comply with their demands, and to worship their images ; but still they remain a separate people, an exception to the general doom of the vanquished, uadistinguishable absorption among their conquerors. The whole fabric of Judaism is wonderful ; it com- mences with the call to Moses in the desert, and he, an old man, timidly shrinking from the summons, becomes thenceforth the prophet of the Lord, and the lawgiver of his people ; we then behold the theocracy, the guar- dianship of the supreme of all sovereigns and the Jewish hierarchy, the stateliest of all establishments, formed by express command of heaven. Then arise the kings, and soon idolatry prevails, Israel and Judah both faU, and the one is seen no more in the page of history ; but, though exposed to unexampled vicissitudes, broken, captive, and all but lost to the human eye, Judah still survives. She saw the mighty Assyrian, Persian, and Babylonian empires successively perish in the ocean of human casualty, but Judah * rose to the surface, left 6 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: her imperial oppressors in depths from which they were never more to rise, and floated along for a period greater than was ever permitted, before or since, to earthly- sovereignty/ But this was in accordance with the language of prophecy ; " the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." At length, that period, fixed in the pur- poses of heaven, arrived ; Shiloh .came, the giver of peace, the Messiah. He came, " but his own received him not ;" his doctrines were contemned, as much by his own countrymen, as by the warlike Roman, or the philosophic Greek ; yet they gained ground, and were *' mighty to the pulling down of strong holds." The monuments of Pagan idolatry, the worship of a thou- sand years, upheld by the authority of the highest monarchs, fell, one by one, before the apostles of the new faith ; the purpose of Judaism was now accomplished, and when the One great Sacrifice had been offered, the kingdom of Judea passed away in dust and flame, the temple and its worshippers perished together, * and the soil, on which that superb sovereignty had stood, anointed by the very hand of heaven, was given to the successive desolations of the Roman, the Saracen, and the Tartar.' These are no common revolutions ; not such as often change the face of nations, or raise up a new dynasty in empires ; eff'ects whose impression is diminished by time : the events of Jewish history possess an influence on human affairs as enduring as the existence of the species. Equal interest attaches to the land which witnessed these great events ; every portion of its varied territory, its mountains, lakes, and even deserts, have been the scenes of mighty transactions. In former ages, this interest was carried to excess, and the localities of Pales- tine were regarded with undue and superstitious rever- ence ; as were also certain relics supposed to identify particular spots mentioned in the gospel history. * The zealous pilgrim, who had travelled many thousand miles, amid the most appalling dangers, required a solace to his faith in the contemplation of the cross, or in being INTRODUCTION. 7 permitted to kiss the tlireshold of the tomb wherein had lain the body of his Saviour.' He thought no details too minute, no description too particular. Forgetting that the Roman armies had destroyed Jerusalem, and that the awful doom pronounced from the Mount of Olives had been fulfilled, he expected to enter the judg- ment-hall, to visit Pilate's house, and to trace, through the streets of the city, the Redeemer's path to Calvary. He wished to have his senses gratified by beholding and touching the very instruments of the crucifixion. This impatience for visible mementos of holy persons and transactions produced a tissue of imposture on the part of monks and priests, desirous as ever to improve the weakness of credulity to their own advantage. They exliibited the nails that pierced the hands and feet of Christ, the linen which wrapped his body, the milk of the Virgin Mary, and the swaddling-clothes of the blessed babe. A moment's reflection in such cases, un- veils the deception, and fills the mind with disgust at its absurdity. Too frequent instances of this imposture have thrown suspicion on every thing connected with the Holy Land, and caused men of sceptical mind or weak understanding, to regard even topographical cer- tainties with doubt. What evidence then do we possess on these points ? Are we able to separate the real from the fictitious ? Undoubtedly we are, in many cases ; and that by the assistance of both friends and enemies. The natural limits of Jerusalem render its position and localities more easy to be ascertained than those of any other ancient city. We must suppose that the early Chris- tians would mark with peculiar care, and select for their places of worship, those spots which had been distin- guished by the actions and sufferings of Christ : at least such spots as the Mount of Olives, Golgotha, and the garden of Gethsemane, would be carefully remembered. We must not place the traditions preserved by the Arab inhabitants of the country on a level with those invented purposely by the monks. The Arabic names 8 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : found still existing by late travellers, suffice, of them- selves, to point out many interesting and important sites ; and they have served, in some instances, to cor- rect the monkish or crusaders* traditions concerning holy places. Palestine combined beauty with sublimity in its scenery ; and on whatever part of it the Jew might tread, he was on hallowed, as well as on picturesque ground. In the lovely vale of Hebron, reposed the hones of the three great patriarchs ; in the plains of Mamre, beneath the magnificent turpentine-trees, Abra- ham had entertained the heavenly visitants, and had erected an altar to God ; on the shore of the Dead Sea rolled those sullen waves which covered the cities of the plain ; on the high top of Nebo, Moses had ex- pired ; at Gilgal, Joshua had commanded the sun and moon to stand still ; on the high places of the moun- tains of Gilboa, the glory of Israel had been slain. The face of the country, though small in extent, was diver- sified with the highest natural beauties, and though mountainous, it was capable of high cultivation. At the foot of the hills grew the products of the torrid zone ; on their sides, those of the temperate ; on their summits, the robust vegetation of the north. The as- cending circles of the orange-grove, the vineyard, and the forest, covered them with perpetual verdure. To the mind of the Hebrew, Lebanon and Carmel sug- gested ideas of richness and beauty, as the name of the latter denoted, ' the garden of God.' From a beautiful secluded vale the Jew might ascend to the mountain, and recline beneath the venerable cedars of Lebanon; from the Lake of Tiberias he might pass to the Dead Sea, with its barren and gloomy shore ; from lovely gardens of olive, orange, and cypress, to a dreary wil- derness, like that of En-gedi. The river Jordan varied too in appearance, at different seasons of the year, and in different parts of its course. Originating in the perpetual snows of Anti-libanus, and proceeding for some distance under the surface of the earth, it soon INTRODUCTION. 9 falls into the Lake Merom. * There the beholder might, at one season, cast his eye over a broad and .beautiful expanse of water, and at another, over an almost in- terminable marsh, covered with shrubs and rushes, the abode only of wild beasts. Again, wh^n the snows had melted on the mountains, the reedy marsh became a sheet of pure crystal, bordered with luxuriant verdure and foliage. Pursuing the course of Jordan, a little farther, he found himself at the Sea of Galilee ; pure and sweet, secluded in its situation, and surrounded by elevated and fruitful declivities. Passing from this delightful lake, the river flowed onwards, increasing in beauty and size, through a part of the country to which its tributary streams gave such freshness and fertility, that it was termed by way of eminence the region of Jordan.^ This varied beauty has an additional claim on the attention of the devout traveller, who finds the physical features of the country, as delineated in Scrip- ture, unchanged. The hills yet "stand round about Jerusalem," as in the days of David and Solomon. The dew still falls on Mount Hermon, the cedars rise from Lebanon; the river Kishon flows from Mount Tabor, and the Sea of Galilee is still the same ; the fig- ti-ee springs up by the way-side, the sycamore spreads abroad its branches, and the mountain-steep is still graced by the vine and the olive. We cannot accurately calculate the area of a country whose frontiers were on every side irregular ; but, ac- cording to the most probable estimate, at the time when Canaan was divided among the tribes, it was 180 miles in length, by 130 in breadth, and contained 14,976,000 acres. This quantity of land will divide to 600,000 men, about twenty-one acres and a half each, with a remainder of 1,976,000 acres for the Levitical cities, the princes of tribes, the heads of families, and other public uses. Sup- posing this estate of twenty-one acres and a half assigned to each household, a larger proportion of pasture must have been given to those tribes who subsisted on their flocks and herds, than of arable land to those who 10 THE LAND OF ISRAEL *. lived by tillage ; and therefore the portions of the latter must be reduced. But here we must remember the ex- traordinary fertility of the country ; scarcely any part was waste, or covered with unprofitable woods. The fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces, or covered with gardens and orchards; while vineyards clothed the more rocky and barren districts. At the present day, the ravages of fire and sword, the wars and misgovernment of ages, have not exhausted the natural richness of the soil. Malte Brun remarks that Galilee would be a paradise, if inhabited by an indus- trious people, under the government of an enlightened ruler. Vine-stocks may there be seen a foot and a half in diameter, forming by their turning branches, vast arches and extensive ceilings of verdure.. No land could be less dependant on foreign countries ; it bore within itself everything that could be needed for the subsistence and comfort of a simple agricultural people. The climate was healthy, the seasons regular ; the ground was prepared for the seed by the former rains, which fell in October ; and the corn grew rapidly under the latter rains, during March and the beginning of April. On the ceasing of these showers, the grain ripened still faster, and was gathered in during May. The summer months were dry and hot, though the nights were cooled and refreshed by copious dews. The vintage took place in September. The vine, the olive, the almond, the date and fig, the orange and pome- granate, with many other fruit-trees, flourished luxuri- antly. There was abundance of grain, wheat, barley, millet, yea, and other kinds of corn. Honey was collected in great quantity, and the balm-tree grew in Gilead and about Jericho. These natural gifts were assiduously cultivated ; even now, marks of the terraces on the hill- sides may be seen, and also the cisterns in which water was stored, and the canals by which it was conducted through the fields. It was truly " a land flowing with milk and honey ; " a land of luxuriant pasture, of ex- haustless fertility. INTRODUCTION. 11 To these accounts of the country, some have objected the barren and desolate aspect of many provinces, in the present day. But other regions besides Palestine can be pointed out, where the barbarism of modern inhabitants, and the disuse of former means of cultiva- tion, have produced the same result ; so that lands can now scarcely afford sustenance to families, which in an- cient times supported whole tribes in abundance. The Roman historians, in describing Palestine as a part of the empire, fully confirm the glowing accounts of Jewish writers. Thus Tacitus says, that the soil is rich, and the atmosphere dry, the country possesses as many fruits as Italy, besides dates and balm. It cannot be matter of wonder that in some places this fertility is now lost : the springs of water are buried under heaps of rubbish ; human toil no longer brings forth the hidden treasures of the earth ; the soil of the mountains being no longer kept up by the industry of the vine-dresser, has been hurried into the valleys below ; and the eminences once covered with woods of sycamore, now present nothing but a parched and barren surface. In proceeding to take a brief survey of Palestine, we shall commence with Judea Proper, the ancient king- dom of Judah, where was the central seat of David's sovereignty. It comprehends the territory from the Lake Asphaltites, or Dead Sea, to the Mediterranean, and is composed of a range of limestone hills, rising by stages from the level of the sea, the neglected plain along whose shore was once extremely rich. Sandys, in travelling from Gaza to Jaffa, describes the caravan as almost buried amid crops, which were left * unmowed and uneaten.' Here the mountain-sides are covered with groves of oak and cypress, and the earth is fragrant with aromatic plants. Among these mountains are interspersed vallies covered with crops, and the district also produces excellent wine. The mountains are inha- bited by wild Arabs, who have their dwelling in the numerous caves. ' As we approach the centre of Judea,* says Chateaubriand, * the sides of the mountains enlarge. 12 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : and assume an aspect at once more grand and more ])arren ; by little and little the vegetation languishes and dies, even mosses disappear, and a red and burning hue succeeds to the whiteness of the rocks. In the centre of the mountains, there is an arid basin, en- closed on all sides with yellow pebbles, which affords a single opening to the east, through which the surface of the Dead Sea, and the distant hills of Arabia, present themselves to the eye. In the midst of this country of stones, encircled by a wall, we perceive extensive ruins, scanty cypresses, bushes of the aloe and prickly pear ; some Arabian huts, resembling whitewashed sepulchres, are spread over this heap of ruins. This spot is Jeru- salem.' The approach from the north, however, is through a more fruitful and cultivated country ; and later travel- lers give a more favourable account of the general ap- pearance of the city. Professor Robinson speaks of it as 'the cleanest and most solidly built' of all the Oriental cities he visited, excepting Cairo. The Scottish Mission, still more recently, write that, while the first glance ' suggested no idea of the magnificence of former days,' they ' were soon to learn that all the elements of Jerusalem's glory and beauty are still remaining, in its wonderful situation, fitting it to be once again, in the latter day, " the city of the great king." ' To the north of the ancient Judea lay the province of Samaria, now the district of Napolose. Sebasti, the site of the old capital, is an insignificant village. Napolose itself, formerly Sichem, is now the chief town. The whole region is mountainous, but flourishing, well cultivated, and maintaining a considerable traffic. Its plains produce corn, silk, and olives. Its most striking feature is Mount Carmel, whose grottos were, in the middle ages, inhabited by thousands of monks. North of Samaria, but communicating with Judea by the banks of the Jordan, is Galilee ; the scene of our Saviour's first preaching and miracles, remarkable for its natural beauty and fertilit}^, indeed the richest INTRODUCTION. 13 part of the Holy Land. Esdraelon, once the valley of Jezreel, is a plain of twenty miles in breadth, by two day's journey in length, and though only partially cul- tivated, produces fine crops of barley. Above it rises Mount Tabor, of a conical form, with a plain at tho top, commanding a splendid view. The lake of Gene- sareth or Tiberias, is surrounded by lofty and picturesque hills, once highly cultivated, and on its banks were opulent towns, now deserted. The regions beyond Jordan, though less known, in- clude many tracts, once fertile and flourishing, which until the days of Seetzen and Burckhardt had almost eluded the notice of modern geography. The district of El Botthin, the ancient Battanea, is distinguished by thousands of caverns, hollowed out in the rocks, which served as abodes for the ancient inhabitants ; and many of the larger ones now receive whole families, with their cattle. Here, and in the ancient Roman district of Decapolis, are found the ruins of splendid cities, con- taining all the edifices with which those of Greece were adorned. To the south, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, is the barren, bleak, and mountainous dis- tinct of Karak, where are seen the extensive remains of Rabbath Moab, the ancient capital. If we turn from the country to the people who in- habited it, a striking spectacle is presented to our view. Their distinctive character, their religious ceremonies, their festivals, their priesthood, and the splendour of their worship, prefiguring the advent of the Messiah, all render them the most interesting of nations. Even under the New Testament dispensation, the Apostle gives us a lively idea of the feelings with which every Jew regarded these peculiarities. He describes the taber- nacle, and enumerates its contents : " the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the cove- nant ; and over it the cherubim of glory, shadowing the mercy-seat." If such were the feelings with which 14 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I they looked on even the tabernacle in the wilderness, with how much greater awe and veneration must they Iiave regarded the ceremonial of worship, as performed within the splendid temple on Mount Moriah, with stately processions, clouds of incense, and solemn music ; that temple which was garnished with precious stones, and in many parts overlaid with gold. And now that they have long ceased to he a distinct nation, and have been scattered through all lands, like the foam upon the waters, their preservation, their pe- culiarities, and their hopes, render them not less worthy of attention. No greater prodigy can be conceived than their preservation through so many hundred years of misery. Though during the greater part of this period they have been hated and persecuted, they have yet sustained and widely extended themselves. Kings have exerted the severity of edicts, and the weapons of the executioner for their ruin. The multitude, by mur- ders, and wholesale massacres, have committed still more tragical outrages. Princes and people^ Pagans and Mahometans, Christians disagreeing in all other things, have unsuccessfully combined in the attempt to extermi- nate them. The expulsion of the Jews from many parts of the world has only served to spread them through all regions. From age to age they have been exposed to persecution and misery ; yet still they exist, in defiance of abiding and almost omnipresent ignominy, while kingdoms and monarchies have fallen, and left but the shadow of their name. The judgments of God upon this people have extended to the men, the religion, and the country. No longer can they observe the ceremo- nials of their worship : the ritual law, which cast a splendour on the national worship, and impressed the Pagans so deeply, that they sent their presents and their victims to Jerusalem, is completely fallen ; they have no temple, no altar, and no sacrifice. A curse and a blight seems to rest upon their land ; the mosque and the minaret gleam above the ruined dwellings of Jeru- salem ; their strong-holds present- only shattered walls ; INTRODUCTION. 15 the aspect of nature has been changed, the harp of Judah hath ceased its melody in the land of the oppressor: ' On Jordan's banks the Arab camels stray. On Zion's hiil the false one's votaries play, The Baal-adorer bows on Sinai's steep.' The high places of Salem have been desolated and profaned by successive invasions of barbarians and idolaters ; Jerusalem has been occupied by all nations, but the Jew has been forbidden to sit down and weep over its vanished glories. Yet upon the history of that fallen race is suspended the grandest of all moral phe- nomena, and the restoration of the sons of Jacob will usher in the regeneration of the globe. Prophecy un- ambiguously foreshadows that the nation of Israel shall not be finally cast off, nor Jerusalem for ever sit deso- late, trodden down by the Gentiles, and mourning her banished children. Isaiah declares that there shall come a day, when '* the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt ; and shall worship in the holy mount at Jerusalem." A voice shall yet say to prostrate Israel, " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." "The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee ; for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee." We presume not rashly to expound the signs of the times ; we know not by what mighty impulse, nor at what mysterious signal, the scattered tribes, by some great moral resurrection, shall arise from the mountains, and vaUies, and islands of the earth, and hasten to the land promised to Abraham and his seed ; nor do we know what instrumentality shall be brought to bear upon mankind, when God shall " say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back ; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth ; " but we are assured that whatever be the means which the God of Abraham in his wisdom shall employ, they shall flow into Jerusalem from every district 16 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I of the globe, they shall fly as " the doves to their win- dows ; " and the waste and desolate places shall become " too narrow by reason of the inhabitants ; " who shall again rejoicingly pitch their tents in the plains watered by the Jordan : then shall they recognize in the ** Man of sorrows," the promised Messiah ; then shall the times of the Gentiles be completed, and the jubilee-year of creation commence. And as of old the silver trumpets proclaimed the gladsome festival, with the sound " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," so all nations, and tribes, and tongues shall proclaim with one voice that blessed is " the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords ; *' then shall " the Lord's house be esta- blished on the top of the mountains," and Jerusalem be '* the glory of the whole earth." ' Yes, Salem, thou shalt rise, thy Father's aid. Shall heal the wounds his chastening hand has made ; Then on your tops shall deathless verdure spring, Break forth, ye mountains and ye vallies, sing ; No more your thirsty rocks shall frown forlorn; The unbeliever's jest, the heathen's scorn ; The sultry sands shall tenfold harvests yield, And a new Eden deck the thorny field.' CHAPTER II. SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. In proceeding to give a slight outline of the history of the Jews, we shall touch very briefly those events with which we may suppose the reader already acquainted, from the narrative of the Old Testament. It is the history of a people who are, and have ever been, on every account, the most remarkable on the face of the globe : Who have exercised a more permanent and ex- tensive influence upon the rest of the world than the mightiest monarchies of antiquity than the arts of Greece, or the arms of Rome ; who have survived the last wrecks of their palaces and cities, and the annihila- tion of their political existence ; who present the won- derful spectacle of a race retaining its peculiarities of worship, doctrine, language, and customs, during a dis- persion of eighteen hundred years. The Jews derive their origin from Abraham, a native of Chaldea, who flourished about 2000 years before Christ. The whole world then lay in idolatry, and God chose Abraham, that by him and his posterity the knowledge of the great principles of true religion might be preserved in the world, and the way prepared for the revelation of amove comprehensive system to the human race. At the Divine command, Abraham early withdrew from his home and kindred* in order to separate himself from their superstitious practices. He journeyed forth, and took up his abode in Palestine, the land promised to his c 18 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. descendants. In his time, part of Palestine was un- occupied, and the rest inhabited by various small tribes of Canaanites, among whom Abraham lived as an Emir, or chief of a nomadic tribe, removing from place to place, as the increase of his flocks and the number of his followers required. Under their founder, as well as Under Isaac and Jacob, the Hebrews thus formed a migratory tribe, their history presenting to us the hunter, the herdsman, and the incipient husbandman ; but more distinctively the worshippers of the true God. They still retained their habits of pastoral simplicity ; and during the period of 215 years, from the arrival of Abraham to the departure of Jacob into Egypt, they do not seem to have advanced much in the arts of civilized life. The cause of his migration was the elevation of Joseph at the Egyptian court, and the assignment of the land of Goshen as a residence for his brethren ; where they rapidly increased, and became formidable to the Egyptian monarchs, who in their jealous regard of for- mer national obligations, subjected them to great hard- ship and cruelty ; and the founder of a new dynasty, perceiving the precarious tenure of his usurped do- minion, formed a plan for their extermination. But the rigour with which this plan was put into execution, led to events whereby it was not only frustrated, but made conducive to the establishment of the Israel- ites, as a separate and independent nation. God visibly interposed, and Moses, who had been marvellously pre- served from falling a victim, was chosen by God to lead his people from the house of their bondage. After the death of Moses, the Israelites, conducted by Joshua, entered the promised land. The inhabitants of Canaan were visited with that just severity which their atrocious wickedness had merited from the Divine displeasure. But the command for the total destruction of the Canaanites was only partially executed ; and many evils arose to the Israelites from the evil commu- nications resulting from this presumptuous clemency. The extent of the Hebrew territory we have computed HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 19 at about fifteen millions of acres ; assuming the true boundaries to have been Mount Libanus on the north, the Wilderness of Arabia on the south, and the Syrian desert to the east. On the west some pf the tribes ex- tended their possessions to the very waters of the Great Sea ; though others found themselves restricted by the Philistines, whose rich domains comprehended the low- lands and strong cities which lay along the shore. It has been calculated by Spanheim, that the remotest points of the Holy Land, as possessed by king David, were situated at the distance of three degrees of latitude from each other, and as many of longitude ; including in all about 26,000 square miles. The country was divided among twelve tribes, viz. ten tribes of the sons of Jacob, Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, and two tribes of the sons of Joseph, Eph- raim and Manasseh ; the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh being on the east of the Jordan. The tribes remained distinct, each with its chief elders ; the wor- ship of Jehovah being a common bond of union, form- ing them into a federal state. For the preservation of the confederacy, and of the Mosaic law, the Levites were set apart, a body of priests distributed in forty-eight cities, throughout the country ; the high priesthood being hereditary in the family of Aaron. The judges, raised up in seasons of emergency to deliver their country from foreign interference, were active military leaders, whose authority extended over sometimes a greater, sometimes a less number of tribes, according to circum- stances. We have already alluded to the punishments suffered by the Jews in consequence of their disobedience to the command to exterminate the former inhabitants of the soil : they often apostatized, and proved unfaith- ful to their gracious and heavenly sovereign ; their folly and impiety were punished by internal discord, and sub- jection to the power of the surrounding idolaters. For eight years CushanRishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia, oppressed them ; but from this yoke they were delivered c 2 20 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. by Othniel ; they had eighteen years of Moahitish, and twenty of Canaanitish servitude, from which Deborah's heroic exertions freed them ; these were followed by the seven years devastation of the fierce Midianites, whom Gideon de'feated. Jephthah expelled the Ammo- nites, who had overrun nearly the whole country. These desolating incursions were succeeded by the longer oppres- sion of the Philistines, which even Samson's strength and courage did not terminate, an oppression accompanied by the taking of the ark of the covenant. But Samuel, a prophet and a judge, restored the worship of Jehovah, and forced the Philistines to quit the country. But the Israelites, impatient at the apparently un- certain government by which they were ruled, resolved to establish a monarchy, under which the whole kingdom might be united. Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was chosen to this dignity, and reigned for nearly forty years over all Israel ; a period during which it enjoyed neither prosperity nor happiness ; for though his bravery kept off foes from without, he had not sagacity enough to consolidate the tribes into one harmonious body. Upon his death the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, having re- fused to recognize his son's authority, chose David, whom Samuel had previously marked out for regal honours, and who was endeared to the people by his bravery, generosity, and princely bearing. The other tribes had declared for Ishbosheth, Saul's son. But David, Hhe man after God's own heart,' was equally remarkable for valour and prudence ; by him the whole of the tribes were after some time united into one kingdom, whose capital was fixed at Jerusalem, and materials were collected during the latter years of his reign for the build- ing of a temple there. By his victories over the Jebu- sites, Philistines, Idumaeans, and other hostile tribes, the kingdom was extended from the Euphrates to the Me- diterranean, and from Phoenicia to the Arabian Gulf ; commerce was established, and the general welfare of the people promoted. Under his son Solomon, Israel rose to its greatest height of prosperity, and was the HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 21 principal monarchy in Western Asia : in this wise and peaceful reign, not only did commerce flourish, but the arts and sciences were patronized and protected. Then came the feeble rule of his son Rehoboam, under whom, as a punishment for Solomon's idolatry, the fabric of Jewish polity was broken asunder. * The seeds of disunion,' says a judicious writer, ' lay deep in the character and situation of the different tribes, and, though counteracted for a time, they were ever ready to operate when occasion was afforded. The jealousy that subsisted between the twelve sons of Jacob seems to have been inherited by their de- scendants; but it was only among the more power- ful tribes that such jealousies could lead to a dis- memberment of the commonwealth. From the begin- ning a rivalry may be observed between the tribes of Joseph and Judah. The former inherited a double por- tion in the allotments of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph ; and their founder had been dis- tinguished from his brethren by the blessings pro- nounced upon him. The tribe of Judah had the right of primogeniture, and the promised Messiah was to spring from thence. In this way the two tribes regarded each other with ill- concealed sentiments of hostility ; and Shechem and Jerusalem, their respective capitals, were each the focus of a party ready to engage in active warfare. The impolitic exactions of Rehoboam, while they gave dissatisfaction to all his subjects, inflamed the Ephraimites to open revolt, which, fomented as it was by the ambition of Jeroboam, terminated in the esta- blishment of a separate kingdom ; and thus the wrath of man was made to work out the secret purposes of God. This kingdom comprehended all the tribes, with the ex- ception of the two southernmost (those of Judah and Benjamin), together with all the tributary nations as far as the Euphrates. The royal residence in the new king- dom was in Shechem, where the Mosaic ritual was super- seded by a new mode of worship, and the link that bound Ephraim and Judah together, finally severed.' 22 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. The kingdom of Israel survived the separation 253 years, under nineteen kings of different families, v^ho succeeded each other by means of violent revolutions, Shalmanaser, king of Assyria, took Samaria, and put an end to this kingdom, carrying the inhabitants avsray captive to the interior of Asia. The Israelites left in Palestine became mixed up with colonists from Babylon and other eastern cities, and to this composite race, the name of Samaritan v^^as applied. The kingdom of Judah existed under twenty kings of the house of David, and the throne passed successively from father to son, the succession being only twice interrupted, by the usurpa- tion of Athaliah and foreign interference. During the reign of Manasseh, the worship of the Phoenician Baal was introduced, and the Mosaic law disregarded. But Josiah restored the temple and worship of Jehovah, found the lost book of the law, and placed religion on its ancient footing. In the year 602, during the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebu- chadnezzar marched with a formidable army into Pales- tine ; when the timely submission of the monarch and the people, averted their destruction. Soon after, Jehoi- akim made an effort to recover his freedom, and, in the conflict which followed, he was slain, and his son Coniah was compelled to open the gates of Jerusalem to the Assyrians, by whom he, with his chief nobles, and most accomplished artisans, were carried away prisoners. The nominal rule was now in the hands of Zedekiah, who made another effort for independence, which caused Nebuchadnezzar to blockade Jerusalem. The siege continued for fifteen months ; when the city was taken, Zedekiah's two sons were executed, and his own eyes put out ; he was conveyed in fetters to Babylon, and cast into prison. Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, " burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. And the army of the Chal- dees that were with the captain of the guard brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. The rest of the HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 23 people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did the captain of the guard carry away. But he left the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen." The desolation of Jerusalem caused deep sorrow, and dread for the future. Jeremiah, at the peril of his life, had warned the Jews of the coming judgment, prophe- cying that unless the monarch and his people humbled themselves and repented, the king of Babylon would lay their palaces desolate. Jeremiah saw his darkest predictions fulfilled ; first in the horror of famine, then in the triumph of the enemy. The strong-holds of Jeru- salem were cast down ; the palace of Solomon, the tem- ple of God, with its courts, its roofs of cedar and gold, destroyed and burnt, the sacred vessels, the ark of the covenant with the cherubim, polluted by profane hands. " How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people ! How is she become as a widow ! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, is become tributary ! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks ! Judah is gone into captivity ; she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest." Reft of thy sons, amid thy woes forlorn, Mourn, widowed Queen, forgotten Zion, mourn ! Is this thy place, sad city ? this thy throne ? Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone. While suns unblest, their angry lustre fling. And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring ? Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy view'd. Where now thy might, which all those kings subdued? No martial myriads muster in the gate ; No suppliant nations in the temple wait ; No prophet-bards, thy glittering courts among, Wake the full lyre, and swell the flood of song ; But lawless force and meagre want are there, And the quick darting eye of restless fear ; While cold oblivion, 'mid thy ruins laid. Folds his dark wing beneath the ivy shade.' Heber's Palestine. During the captivity, the vanquished Jews were 24 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. mildly treated, and seem to have been regarded by their conquerors more in the light of colonists than captives. Unconfined to any particular locality, they were allowed to mingle with the Babylonians ; and were placed in thinly-peopled districts, where industry secured them at least a competent support. In this foreign country they met with some of the expatriated Israelites, who now joined the tribes that had adhered to the pure form of worship, and from this time the name of Jews was ap- plied to them all. The wisdom of the Mosaic institu- tions was now shown : their law and religion were the great bonds which kept the Jews together ; to their law they clung, from a conviction of its excellence and per- petuity ; their religion, by its very nature, was unalter- able ; so that, notwithstanding intimate converse with another race, in the midst of encompassing idolatry, they held fast the great doctrine of the Unity of the Godhead. Yet the region in which they were now placed, was strik- ingly contrasted by the Jews with their own land. Their picturesque mountain-city, looking down upon deep ravines, through one of which a scanty stream wound its way, was exchanged for the vast square city of Babylon, lying on either side of the broad Euphrates ; the colossal temple of Belus, with its eight stories, tow- ering over their heads ; the royal palace, double the ex- tent of Jerusalem, the hanging gardens and terraces, luxuriant in artificial cultivation. * How different from the sunny cliffs of their own land, where the olive and the vine grew spontaneously, and the cool, shady, and secluded valleys, where they could always find^ shelter from the heat of the burning-noon.* Well might they sit down and weep by the waters of Babylon, when they remembered Zion. The Jews remained in captivity till 536, B.C., when Cyrus ascended the Medo-Persian throne. Isaiah had foretold that by him should deliverance come to Israel ; and in the first year of his reign, he published a decree, by which all the people of God were invited to return to Jerusalem. Of this permission 50,000 took advantage. HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 25 Assembling at an appointed place, according to the usual custom of caravans, they proceeded, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, who was nominated governor of Judea, and returned to their own land after seventy years of captivity. They brought with them the remain- ing sacred vessels of the temple, which Cyrus had re- stored ; and their equipage is described as comprising " servants and maids, singing-men and singing- women, horses, mules, camels, and asses." The diminution of their numbers caused by those who were content to re- nounce their country for a residence at Babylon, was probably made up by a crowd of the common people who accompanied them. The restoration of the worship of God was their first object ; the altar was set up, the feasts re-established, and the first stone of the new tem- ple laid amid the glad acclamations of the multitude, but with the tears of the " ancient men that had seen the first house, who, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice." Now indeed were they " fallen from their high estate" from the prosperity of the times of Solomon, when the ports of the Red Sea poured the treasures of India and Africa into their land. No doubt they had again a temple, which, though it could not boast of the splendour of the former, was of equal extent, and built on the same consecrated ground. But they had more grievous losses to lament the Ark, the symbolic Urim and Thummim, the Shekinah, or cloud of glory, denoting the presence of the Most High, the celestial fire which had burned unceasi,Qgly on the altar, and the decreasing spirit of prophecy, which, though it still lingered with Haggai and Zechariah, expired on the lips of Malachi. The sacred writings also had been dispersed, and the ancient language was becoming obsolete. However, the canoni- cal Scriptures were now collected, and the great syna- gogue of 120 learned men was established for the critical revision and explanation of the Scripture, as well as, separate synagogues and schools for the expounding of the law, and the instruction of the people. 26 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. To the completion of the temple, the jealousy and enmity of the Samaritan colonists presented great ob- stacles. The work seems even to have been abandoned for a time ; but the expostulations of Haggai and Ze- chariah overcame this indifference, and were so effec- tual, that in consequence of the application of Zerub- babel, the governor, and Joshua, the son of Josedek, the priest, Darius renewed the decree of Cyrus, and the temple was completed without farther interruption. Greater obstacles hindered the restoration of Jerusalem. The false representations of the Samaritans caused the Persians to fear, that if Jerusalem were again fortified, the Jews might be tempted to revolt ; so that though Artaxerxes Longimanus permitted Ezra to take with him to Jerusalem as many of the Chaldean Jews as were disposed to return, he was not allowed to fortify the city ; and it was not till twelve years after Ezra's return, that Nehemiah, his successor, had authority to repair the city and re-construct its walls. This change in the policy of the Persians towards the Jews has been ascribed to the humiliating conditions of the peace which Artaxerxes was obliged to make with the Athe- nians after the signal defeat of his forces by Cimon, by which conditions no Persian army was to advance within three days march of the sea. Being thus ex- cluded from the line of sea-coast, it became an object to the Persians to have a fortified town like Jerusalem in their interest, which, without infringing on the treaty with the Athenians, might serve as a pass for keeping open the communication between Persia and Egypt, which latter country had been reduced anew under the Persian yoke. The manner in which Nehemiah ex- ecuted his task, the corruptions introduced upon his return to Persia, the measures he adopted to restore the Mosaic constitution, which was completed in the reign of Darius Nothus, are recorded in that book of the Old Testament which bears his name. Henceforward we can discern a great change in the character of the Jews, and in their civil and ecclesiasti- HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 27 cal polity. With a greater reverence for the institutes of Moses, springing from the judgments with which their apostacy had been visited, their restoration to their own land drew their attention more closely to those predictions which spoke of the submission of the whole earth to the sovereignty of Israel's God. We now perceive few traces of their tendency to bow down, before idols, but a scrupulous observance of the Mosaic ritual, on which were grounded their expectations of the fulfilment of the Divine promises to their people, under the reign of the expected Messiah. We have already alluded to the formation of the Sanhedrim, and of the synagogues. Probably Nehemiah assembled a council of the most influential inhabitants of Jerusalem to aid him in conducting the government ; the advantages of which led to the formation of similar councils, subordi- nate to the head sanhedrim, in the various parts of the country. And as the Mosaic law had reference not only to religious but civil life, the scriptures were constantly referred to, were read and explained as a religious ex- ercise, and their meaning and application were subject to daily consideration, from their forming the statute- book of the judge. A class of men thus arose who made the explanation of the law their chief employ- ment, whose skill acquired distinction and exacted homage ; these were the doctors or scribes, both lawyers and divines, who ultimately obtained the direction of the synagogue- worship and of the legal courts, while the power of the priests over the people gradually diminished, till they remained only ministers of the sanctuary. A few centuries sufficed to complete this change. The rabbis had now the priestly authority, and the sanhedrims and synagogues supplanted the schools of the prophets. Wherever the Jews abode, between the Tigris and Euphrates wherever they went to Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and at a later period to Greece and Italy they carried the synagogue- service along with them. While their personal interests prompted them to wander over different lands, a com- 28 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. mon feeling united them ajl to the country promised to their fathers, and to the hopes connected with its pos- session. These expatriated Jews confined themselves to the regulations prescribed from time to time by the learned doctors of Judea ; they contributed to the sup- port of the temple as long as it remained, and by these Mieans, and by avoiding all intercourse by marriage with other nations, the Jews were distinguished as a separate people over all the world, and the spirit was confirmed which has prevented them from being con- founded with others, even to the present time. After the death of Nehemiah, Judea became a part of the prefecture of Syria ; the high priests had the ad- ministration of strictly Jewish affairs, subject to the control of the provincial rulers. The prosperity of the people depended on the personal character of the suc- cessors of Cyrus ; but their condition underwent no material change till Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian empire, when Jerusalem fell under the sway of that mighty conqueror. On the death of Alexander, the Jews had to exchange the peace and security of the Persian dynasty, for bloodshed and devastation. In the wars carried on by Alexander's successors, the in- termediate situation of Judea, between Syria and Egypt, caused it to be the alternate prey of the contending par- ties ; so that Josephus compares the Jews to ' a ship tossed by a hurricane, buffeted on both sides by the waves, and living in the midst of contending seas.' At first they were subject to Laomedon, with Phoenicia and Coele-Syria. But Ptolemy Lagus, the ambitious ruler of Egypt, having entered Judea, and assaulted Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day, conquered it without resistance, and carried off 100,000 of the inhabitants as captives, settling them in Cyrene and Alexandria ; laying, in the latter place, the foundation of a colony, conspicuous in the Jewish annals for four hundred years. With the exception of the inroad of Antigonus, the Jews remained under the liberal and wise rule of Ptolemy. Under the reign of Ptolemy PhiJadelphus, HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 29 the successor of Ptolemy Lagus in Egypt, the Septua- gint translation was commenced. Judea suffered much in the wars between the Ptolemys and Antiochus the Great ; the country being laid waste and plundered by the armies of each. The Jews courted the alliance of Antiochus, who in return contributed gifts to defray the expenses of their sacrifices, and secured the peace- able exercise of their religious rites. But the Jews found Antiochus Epiphanes rapacious, cruel, and bigotted in his dealings towards them. He commenced by depriving Onias, the high priest, of his office, and bestowing it upon his brother Joshua, in return for the promise of a large tribute, the payment of which was secured by the conferring upon him of certain privileges, and which was to be employed in the introduction of Greek customs among his country- men, whereby they might be rendered forgetful of their national peculiarities. Joshua suffered the temple ser- vices to be neglected, and established a gymnasium, that the Jews might be won over to heathenism, under the pretext of cultivating athletic exercises ; he also assumed the Grecian name of Jason. He was supplanted by his brother Menelaus, who pursued a similar course. Mean- while Antiochus, having overrun Egypt with a powerful and victorious army, hearing a rumour that the Jews had revolted, immediately turned his arms against them. So suddenly did he attack Jerusalem, that no defensive measures could be adopted. The city was taken ; forty thousand put to the sword, and an equal number made slaves. Antiochus added profanation to cruelty ; he entered the temple, rifled the treasury, carried off the golden candlestick, the table of shew -bread and altar of incense, with the sacred vesels, after which he gave orders that a great sow should be sacrificed on the altar of burnt-offerings, part of its flesh boiled, and the liquor from the unclean animal sprinkled over the whole sacred edifice, including even the Holy of Holies. In the year 168 b.c, he issued an edict, the execu- tion of which was worthily entrusted to Apollonius, 30 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. for the extermination of the whole Jewish people. On the sabbath, while they were engaged in worship, the soldiers fell upon the defenceless multitude, the blood of the slain deluged the streets, and the women were led away captives. Jerusalem was plundered, disman- tled, and in many places burnt ; its walls destroyed, and a strong fortress, which commanded the temple and the neighbouring city, was reared on the loftiest point of Mount Sion. The soldiers of this garrison harassed the people of the country, who stole in with fond at- tachment to visit the site, or offer up their hasty and interrupted worship in the ruins of the sanctuary ; for the public services had ceased, and no voice of adora- tion was heard, but the profane heathen invoking their idols. Antiochus issued a decree from his capital, command- ing that the gods of the king should be worshipped, and none but his religion acknowledged throughout the empire ; a measure dictated both by his rapacity and bigotry. Not only were the temples thus enriched by the offerings of the worshippers, but from the security of their consecrated walls, great sums of money were deposited in them ; and probably the suppression of their worship was a prelude to the confiscation of these treasures. His command was not resisted by the hea- thens, but the partial opposition of the Jews excited the tyrant to atrocious measures of severity, which caused the gallant acts and daring heroism of the Mac- cabees. The enforcement of uniformity of worship throughout Judea and Samaria, was entrusted to an old man named Athenaeus, whose qualifications for the task consisted in his intimate acquaintance with the in- stitutions of heathenism. It is said that the Samaritans felt no scruples, but allowed their temple on Mount Gerizim to be dedicated to Jupiter Xenius. By the threat of condign punishment, all the observances of the faith were prohibited at Jerusalem : throughout the whole land, the Jews, under penalty of dreadful tor- tures, were compelled to worship at the Pagan altars. HISTORY OP PALESTINE TO A.D. 66. 31 Circumcision, the keeping of the sabbath, and of the legal institutions, were made capital crimes, and every copy of the Scriptures that could be found was destroyed. Groves and idolatrous altars were planted in every city ; the people were compelled to offer sacrifices and join the religious processions at fixed periods ; and in every part of the country were officers, with a military force to compel obedience. The temple was consecrated to the worship of Jupiter Olympus, whose statue was erected on the altar of burnt-offerings, and to whom sacrifice was duly performed. Two women, who had performed on their children the initiatory ordinance of the Mosaic law, were hanged in a conspicuous part of the city, with their infants suspended round their necks ; one out of many instances of atrocity which are said to have been perpetrated. The same profanations and barbarities extended to every city. The licentious bac- chanalian feasts of the Greeks, which the severe virtue of the older Romans regarded with disgust, were sub- stituted for the feast of tabernacles ; the Jews being compelled to join the orgies, and bear the ivy, the in- signia of the deity. The hour in which the spirit of awakened resistance would burst forth, was now at hand ; and providence interposed by the lofty patriotism, valour, and zeal of the Maccabees. Its beginning is narrated in the first book bearing their name. When the officers of Antio- chus, in traversing Judea, came to the city of Modin, to cause the people to sacrifice, they ordered Mattathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib, to come first, and fulfil the king's commandment. " Mattathias answered with a loud voice : God forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances : we will not hearken to the king's voice to go from our religion, either to the right or to the left." Now when he had left speaking these words, there came one of the Jews in the sight of all, to sacri- fice on the altar which was at Modin, according to the king's commandment. Which thing, when Mattathias saw, he was inflamed with zeal, and his reins trembled. 32 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. neither could he forbear to show his anger according to judgment ; wherefore he ran and slew him upon the altar. Also the king's commissioner, who compelled men to sacrifice, he killed at that time, and the altar he pulled down. Thus dealt he zealously for the law of God, as Phineas did unto Zamri the son of Salom. And Mattathias cried throughout the city with a loud voice, saying, Whosoever is zealous of the law, and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow me. So he and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they ever had in the city." Thus they began their noble stand for the religion and liberties of their country.* Mattathias was soon joined in the mountains by brave and determined associates from all parts of Judea, who only required a competent leader to pour down upon the enemy. After lurking for a time in the mountain-fast- nesses, they descended upon the towns ; and their ranks being swelled by the Chasedim or zealots for the law, they destroyed the Pagan altars, enforced circum- cision, punished all apostates who fell into their power, recovered many copies of the law which the enemy had mutilated, and re-established the synagogues. Im- mediately after the return from the Babylonish captivi- ty, two sects had divided the people ; the Zadikim, the righteous, who observed the written law of Moses ; and the more austere and abstemious Chasedim, or the holy, who added to the law the traditions and observances of the Fathers, and professed holiness beyond the letter of the covenant. From the former sprang the Caraitesand Sad- ducees of later times ; from the latter, the Pharisees. The aged Mattathias did not long endure this laborious and enterprising warfare ; his sons inherited their father's * Mattathias was the son of John, the son of Simeon, the son of As- moneus, whence his family was called Asraonian. There has been a difference of opinion respecting the origin of the name Maccabee. Some conceive it to have been a surname given by Mattathias to one of his sons, on account of his brave deeds fAe Hammerer ; but the common explanation is, that it arose from the four initial letters of the inscription on their banner, Mi Chamoka Baelim Jehovah, who is like unto thee, among the gods, O Jehovah. HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A. D. 66. 33 spirit, and during twenty-six years, carried on a con- test with five successive kings of Syria, which termi- nated in the establishment of their country's indepen- dence. Judas, his most valiant son, who first assumed the command, had for a time unbroken success. The contest, originally only a revolt, spread to a mighty and important war ; the best generals and strongest armies of Antiochus were defeated ; within three years the Jews had regained their capital, restored its altars, purified its temple, and commenced the sacred services. The Syrians were compelled to sue for peace with the Maccabees after the death of Antiochus. But the effbrts of the victorious leaders were coun- teracted by the factious spirit of a people which com- bined so many elements of disunion. The followers of Judas, zealous for the ceremonial and traditionary law, had to contend with those who had conformed to the Grecian worship, and who were in the interest of the Syrians, who eagerly took advantage of these dissen- sions. Judas, though deserted by many of his followers, still maintained the war successfully, till having at- tacked near Azotus, with only eight hundred men, the strong army of Demetrius, he fell in the field of battle. Jonathan, his brother, a man of equal prudence and valour, succeeded to the command. In the struggles of Demetrius and Alexander Balus for the Syrian crown, both parties courted Jonathan's alliance ; who was enabled to secure favourable terms for his countrymen. But in the war which followed the death of Balus, he was treacherously assassinated by Trypho, who, under friendly professions, had tempted him to enter Ptolemais unguarded. Simon alone remained of the family of Mattathias ; undaunted by the fate of his family he accepted the hazardous elevation. * Since all my brethren,' said he, 'are slain for Israel's sake, and I am left alone, far be it from me to spare my own life in any time of trouble, for I am no better than my brethren ; doubt- less, I will avenge my nation and the sanctuary, -and D 34 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : our wives and children.' Judea was put without delay- in a defensive state, and a league was formed with Demetrius, Trypho's rival, securing such privileges for the Jews, that henceforward (143 b.c.) they may be regarded as independent of Syria. Simon was now elected by the Jews to the station of prince, as well as that of high priest, an office to be hereditary in his family. His vigorous and wise plans were ended by violent death ; his son-in-law, who had conspired with Antiochus, king of Syria, to root out the Maccabean family, having slain him and two of his sons at an entertainment. His third son, John Hyrca- nus, having fled to Jerusalem, succeeded to the govern- ment, which he carried on prosperously for thirty years. In his r^ign the boundaries of Judea were extended ; Samaria conquered, and the temple of Gerizim destroyed ; the Idumeans subdued and proselytized ; and the league of Judas MaccabeuSjWuth the Romans, confirmed on most favourable terms for the Jews. Jerusalem was in- creased in strength, and the castle of Baris (afterwards called Antonia) built within the walls which sur- rounded Mount Sion. The brief reign of his son, Aristobulus, was darkened by domestic crimes. After imprisoning and starving his mother to death, and assassinating his brother An- tigonus, he expired in an agony of horror on account of his enormities. Alexander Jannaeus, a man of bravery, but cruel, deceitful, and tyrannical, next carried on the government. His reign was spent in making head against intestine revolts, partly occasioned by the tur- bulent Pharisees, but mainly by his own severity. Be- fore his death, he judiciously advised his wife, Alexan- dra, to join the Pharisaic party ; she did so, and carried on for nine years a prudent, vigorous, and successful reign. At her death, the people were divided into two opposing parties, under her sons Hyrcanus and Aristo- bulus, who were both competitors for the crown. Hyr- canus, the elder, who had been crowned, being inferior to his brother, both in talent and resolution, would pro- HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A. D. 6(5. SB bably have yielded, but for the aid of Antipater, a sori of Antipas, governor of Idumea. At last, their mutual claims were submitted to the decision of Pompey, who was fresh from the victories of the Mithridatic war. Pompey delayed from time to time his decision in favour of either party, till Aristobulus, despairing of help from the Romans, took up arms, and enclosed himself in Jerusalem, against which Pompey immediately marched, and took it by assault, after a three months* siege. It would have been no easy prize, had not the Romans chosen the Sabbath for their day of assault. At the time of the taking of the temple, the priests were per- forming the daily sacrifices ; and, amidst all the horrors which surrounded them, they proceeded in their solemn services unmoved, thinking it better to suffer whatever came upon them at their very altars, than to omit any thing that their law required of them. Pompey sur- veyed the temple, and even entered the Holy of Holies ; expressing his astonishment at finding in it neither statue nor symbol of the Deity, to whom it was conse- crated. He left the sacred vessels of the temple un- touched, and even the treasury, in which were 2,000 talents of gold. He ordered the temple to be purified, and the service to be suffered to proceed. Hyrcanus was appointed high-priest, and tributary governor of Judea, but without either regal title or ensigns. Pom- pey carried Aristobulus, his two sons and daughters, prisoners to Rome, to grace his triumph ; and separated from Judea, Phoenicia and Coele- Syria, which were an- nexed to Syria as a Roman province, while Judea was degraded to a subordinate principality. The date of this occurrence was 63. b.c. Hyrcanus himself, unable to carry on the government) was wholly guided by the influence of the lofty and ambitious Antipater, who appointed Phasaelis and He- rod, his two sons, to be governors of Jerusalem and of Galilee. Herod, then but twenty-five, already gave dark indications of his future conduct behaving with equal vigour and severity. His first victims were a band of D 2 36 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : robbers, who disturbed the province ; when cited before the Sanhedrim, to account for this stretch of authority, he entered the chamber with so menacing an air, that all were awed to silence, Avith the exception of one indi- vidual. A secret plot was formed by many of the lead- ing men of Judea, for the destruction of the family of Antipas, and he was poisoned at one of the high priest's entertainments ; Herod and Phasaelis escaped. En- deavours were then used to alienate the affections of Hyrcanus ; but Herod increased his influence at court, by marrying his grand-daughter Miriam, or Mariamne. Herod's enemies now took up the cause of Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, who, having escaped from Rome, had prevailed upon Pacorus, the Parthian, to aid his attempt to recover the Jewish throne. A war ensued, in which success attended Hyrcanus and the sons of Antipas. But Hyrcanus and Phasaelis having entered into the enemy's camp, under the pretext of an amicable arrangement, Phasaelis was put to death, and Hyrcanus suffered the barbarous punishment of the loss of his ears. This treacherous proceeding caused Herod to summon up all his energies. Having removed his family and his most valuable effects to Massada, a fortress on the Dead Sea, he sailed to Italy to supplicate Roman aid ; and it is no small tribute to his talents and address, that he succeeded in gaining the favour of Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Marc Antony, and the friendship of Augus- tus and Agrippa. Herod's object in visiting Rome, was, it is reported, to advance the interests of another Aristo- bulus, a grandson of Hyrcanus, and a brother of the beautiful Mariamne. But Octavius and Antony be- lieved that they would better consult the interests of the empire, by conferring upon Herod, in preference to an inexperienced youth, the tributary diadem of Judea. Herod returned to Judea before the end of the year, raised a large body of troops, relieved Massadra, and prepared to fight Antigonus. During the course of the three years' war which ensued, Jerusalem was exposed to a protracted siege ; and after it was taken, the Ro- I HISTORY OP PALESTINE TO A. D. 66. 87 ans, enraged at the trouble which its capture had cost, would have massacred the inhabitants, and burnt the city, but for the remonstrance of Herod, that *they were going to make him king of a desert.' The pusil- lanimous behaviour of Antigonus, on his capture, ex- cited the contempt of the Roman general, who sent him in chains to Antony, under the name of Antigona, as if his conduct had been worthy only of a woman ; and at Herod's cruel solicitation, he was put to death, like a common criminal, by the rods and axe of the lictor. He was the last of the line of Asmonean princes, which had continued for 126 years. The gloomy and tyrannical Herod was now master of Judea. One of his first acts was to put to death all the Sanhedrim, but two individuals. Seeing in Aristobulus, the brother of Mariamne, whom the populace viewed as the rightful heir of the Asmonean s, one whom chance might elevate into a dangerous rival, he gave orders for liis execution. The mother of Aristobulus applied to Antony to avenge her murdered son ; Herod resolved to avert his danger by a personal interview, visited Au- gustus upon his arrival in Egypt ; his artful address produced the usual favourable results. * But the quali- ties by which he was able to attach to himself many illustrious friends, and the munificent acts and proud and princely undertakings which shed a barbaric splen- dour over his reign, formed no atonement for the many deeds of blood by which he had arrived at his guilty pre-eminence. His crimes, however, were not allowed to pass unpunished. He regarded not how much misery might be endured by others, that his own pas- sions might be indulged ; and in those passions his guilt found avengers.' Upon departing to plead his cause before Antony, Herod had left orders that should he be condemned, Mariamne should be put to death, lest she should ever wed another. While absent at the court of Augustus, he repeated the same instructions ; Mariamne could not be thought of by him, otherwise than as his own ; such 38 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : was the fervour of his love if the name be applicable to the selfish passions which tortured his guilty breast. During his first absence, the queen had been apprised of his fatal purpose, and upbraided him on his return with the cruel design. Instantly his jealousy was roused ; he rushed upon her with a drawn sword, demanding whether any one but a lover could have revealed such a secret. But the fury of his paroxysm passed away ; he forgot his suspicions in soothing the agitation of his in- jured wife. He found, upon his second return, that his secret had been again disclosed ; and the enemies of the beautiful and haughty Mariamne incited him to give orders that she should be led to execution. His mind was now racked by remorse and despair, and a dreadful storm raged within his soul. Day and night he was haunted by the image of the murdered Mariamne ; he called upon her name ; and frequently burst into pas- sionate tears. Every species of diversion the banquet, the revel, the excitements of society were tried in vain j no device could drive away the gloomy thoughts that tormented him. He suffered under a complication of mental and corporeal agony, ending in an insanity which overshadowed him at intervals to the close of his life. His declining years were darkened by as fearful a tragedy as those with which his reign had already abounded. His suspicions became awakened against his sons by Mariamne, on account of the interest with which the people regarded them. For a time, the tyrant and the father strove for the mastery within him, but, at length, he appeared as their accuser, first before Augus- tus, and again before the deputies Saturninus and Vo- lumnius ; sentence was passed upon the unfortunate youths, who were strangled by their father*s orders. During the whole of his dismal reign, his palace was the scene of perpetual intrigue, misery, and bloodshed ; his worst sufferings, and his gloomiest fears being caused by his near relatives. Yet it cannot be denied, that his wicked and cruel reign was productive of public benefit ; perhaps his great works had their origin in anxiety to HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A. D. 6Q. 39 divert his uneasy mind from the apprehension and re- morse which preyed upon it like a viper. He built a royal residence on Mount Sion, many citadels through- out Judea, and founded several splendid towns. One measure he adopted in order to ingratiate himself with the people, was the restoration of the temple, which the lapse of 500 years, and repeated sieges, had much dila- pidated. The Jews, jealous of Herod, viewed his con- duct with anxiety ; afraid that under the pretext of re- pairing, he would destroy the sanctuary. Their appre- hensions were quieted, when they beheld with pride a new fabric of regular and stately architecture, crowning Mount Moriah with its glittering white marbles and golden pinnacles. Even at this time, Herod displayed his double character ; presiding at the Olympic games, to the support of which he contributed largely, and being nominated president of this pagan festival. At length he expired, under a lingering and horrid distem- per. No reader requires to be told, that, in the last year of his reign, the Messiah was born, and carried into Egypt for security ; and that when Joseph " heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither : notwith- standing, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee : and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth." Palestine was now divided among Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip, the three surviving sons of Herod. Archelaus was governor of Judea, Idumea, and Samaria ; Antipas tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip tetrarch of Trachonitis. In the tenth year of the reign of Augustus, Archelaus, who had his father's spirit without his talent, was de- posed inconsequence of the complaints of his subjects, and banished to Vienna in Gaul ; his government re- duced to a Roman province, and placed under the con- troul of a Roman governor, subordinate to the prefect of Syria. Of those governors three were appointed suc- cessively near the close of Augustus' reign, and two, Valerius Gratus, and Pontius Pilate, (a. d. 27), in that 40 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : of Tiberius. The preceding governors had lived at Csesarea, hut Pilate chose Jerusalem for his residence. The Jews suffered most rigorous treatment from their Roman conquerors. The extortions of the publicans, or tax-gatherers, were excessive ; and the avarice and injustice of the local governors, precluded any hope of redress by an appeal to them ; and not the slightest affliction of the Jews was the fact that they were compelled to yield tribute to a heathen government. The presence of the Roman soldiery, though a check on disobedience, irritated their minds, and led to repeated tumults, seditions, and murders. And the party of Zealots, who considered it a violation of their religion to pay taxes to a foreign power, and cherished the fond hope that Judah might still be restored, often excited the people to revolts, which the Romans re- pressed as they arose ; yet their principles spread and acquired a strength, the development of which caused the final ruin of Jerusalem. At the death of Philip, Trachonitis was annexed to Syria. At the accession of Caligula, Herod Antipas, on account of meditated trea- son, was deprived of his tetrarchate, and banished to Lyons, in Gaul. Our plan does not include a reference to the events the greatest in the history of the world which were accomplished at Jerusalem during the government of Pilate, and which faU under the pro- vince of sacred history. Agrippa, a grandson of Herod the Great, ultimately became governor of all Palestine, having at his com- mand what was considered a sufficiency of Roman troops to preserve peace in the province. In the reign of Caligula, those dissensions began between the Jews and Romans, which ended in the complete subversion of the Jewish polity. Hitherto the Romans had toler- ated the performance of the national worship ; but the insane vanity of Caligula prompted him to place his own statue in the temple, if not as an object of positive worship, at least of national respect and homage. The governor of Syria perceiving that this would lead to all HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A. D. 6Q. 41 the horrors of a revolt, seconded by the efforts of a Jewish deputation headed by Philo, with difficulty prevailed upon the emperor to suspend for a time the operation of his decree ; but the Jews w^ere only relieved by the emperor's death from the apprehended desecration of their holy place. * The worst evils, however, endured by the Jews at this period, were not directly from the emperors them- selves, but from their provincial governors, who, with- out exception, seem to have been men insensible to the claims of justice, and actuated solely by a spirit of vio- lence and rapacity. Gessius Florus is represented by Josephus as spoiling whole cities, and ruining entire bodies of men ; as giving security to robbers and law- less men, when made a sharer in their depredations ; and finally, as aggravating the oppressions of the people, to instigate them to open rebellion, that he might escape the danger of a representation of his crimes being made to the emperor. It was natural for the Jewish historian to represent the revolt which terminated in the destruc- tion of his country, as originating in the injustice of their enemies ; and it must be allowed, when we contemplate the proceedings of the Romans, that if ever there was a case in which revolt was justifiable, it was in that of the Jews. It may be doubted, however, whether they can be looked upon entirely with that generous sympa- thy which is always awakened by the history of a people nobly uniting in the assertion of their rights and liberties. Judea, at this period, was torn by factions, a spirit of insubordination and fanaticism, chiefly con- nected with views of their promised Messiah, pervaded the great body of the people ; and miserable as was their condition under the oppressions of their procura- tors, it is impossible not to perceive, in perusing the works of their own historian, that their greatest suffer- ings were occasioned by the unsettled and violent spirit that reigned among themselves.' The combined effect of the grinding tyranny of the Romans, and the efforts of the zealots, was to prepare 42 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the Jews for revolt. To retain their authority, the go- vernors found mildness and severity, which were now tried in turns, alike ineffectual. On every side appeared individuals, probably either enthusiasts, or in the pay of such as desired to stir up the people to resistance, who proclaimed to the Jews that the hour of deliverance for the oppressed children of Jacob was at hand. Hostilities were commenced in various quarters ; the discipline of the legionaries seldom failing to crush the ill-directed force of the tumultuary levies. Jerusalem was subjected to the alternate assaults of the conquerors and the conquered. The predictions of its downfal, already circulated among the Christians, began to mingle with the shouts of its fanatical inhabitants ; and al- ready, even at the accession of Agrippa the Second to his limited sovereignty, every thing portended that miserable consummation which, at no distant period, closed the scene of Hebrew hope and dominion. Agrippa, seeing the horizon covered with indications of the gathering tempest, left Jerusalem in a. d. 66. The hostilities directed by the Jews professedly against Florus, were turned into an attempt to throw off the Roman yoke. They were persuaded by Eleazar, the son of Ananias, the high priest, to reject the offerings made by the emperors to the temple, which had been continued from the time of Julius Caesar ; the fortress of Massada was taken, and the Roman garrison put to the sword. Eleazar took Acra, and the temple, and soon after the whole cit}'^, and put to death the Roman garrison, who had capitulated, under promise of mercy. On the same day, a general massacre w^as made of the Jewish inhabitants of Csesarea, amounting to twenty thousand. This kindled a flame which burned wildly throughout the whole land, and the insurgents made an attack upon the province of Syria. Cestus Gallus, the prefect, advanced against them with an army of ten thousand men, and made his way to Jerusalem, where his appearance created great consternation ; and which would inevitably have fallen, had Cestus shewn either HISTORY OF PALESTINE TO A. D. 66. 43 bravery, activity, or prudence. But instead of pro- ceeding to the easy task of mastering a city, many of whose inhabitants were anxious to open the gates to him, Cestus, after scarcely having made one vigorous attack, withdrew his troops : * God, I conceive,' says Josephus, * on account of our sins, abhorring his own sanctuary, would not permit the war to end thus.* Cestus lost half his army in a disgraceful retreat, which the vigorous onsets of the Jews speedily converted into a flight. Many Jews now departed from Judea, ' as from a foundering bark, that was soon to go down in darkness and death ; ' and we learn from Eusebius, that the Christians, remembering our Lord's predic- tions, retired from the coming calamities to Pella. CHAPTER III. TO THE DESTRUCTION OP JERUSALEM. JuDEA had now revolted from Rome ; this revolt was indeed mad and desperate, for to war against Rome was to defy the power of the whole civilized world. The Jews could expect no allies : the rest of the Roman provinces were in a state of profound peace ; and the foreign Jews, as we learn from Josephus, took no inter- est in the fate of their countrymen, or had been either threatened or actually visited with persecution them- selves. Nor had the people of Judea internal resources for a long resistance. They had not even command of all the fortified places ; they had no organized force, no warlike engines, except those taken from the Romans, nor any large stores of provisions. Worse than all, they were divided among themselves, without any ge- neral leader ; and in every city there were the timid, the interested, or the prudent, who wished to purchase peace at any cost. Their sole dependence was, in their own stubborn endurance and fierce valour, and in the confidence that Heaven would yet interpose for their deliverance. Yet the history of their expiring struggle is full of interest, from its records of hopeless heroism, of a vain struggle for freedom after the endurance of galling tyranny, and of sufferings prolonged and acute, beyond any other recorded in history. The Romans were not only astonished, but somewhat alarmed when they heard of the revolt of this compa- ratively small province, whose inhabitants had defeated a Roman prefect at the head of his legionaries, Nero, TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 45 \vho was then in Achaia, immediately appointed Vespa- sian to command the army against the Jews. This general had been bred to arms from his youth ; had ac- quired much fame in the German wars ; had conquered Britain, and acquired the honours of a triumph for the Emperor Claudius. He immediately sent his son Titus to Alexandria to conduct the fifth and tenth legions ; while he himself travelled rapidly by land to Syria, col- lected all the Roman troops, and demanded forces from the neighbouring tributaries. During this time, the Jews were by no means inac- tive : many of them, indeed, departed from Judea, as from a foundering bark, doomed to go down in darkness and death ; and the Christians, remembering the pro- phecies of our Lord, sought in the town of Pella a shel- ter from the approaching calamities ; but those who re- mained laboured to put all their strong places in a state of defence. The revolted, having made use both of per- suasion and violence to induce the peaceable citizens to join them, appointed civil and military officers to carry on the government. Ananias, the high priest, and Jo- seph, the son of Gorion, superintended the preparations at Jerusalem. Eleazer, the son of Simon, who had laid hold of most of the booty taken from Cestus, and had enriched himself and followers by plundering the public treasury, was not appointed to any office ; but obtained unbounded influence over the populace by his profes- sions, his promises, and his gifts. The military com- mand in Idumea was given to Jesus, the son of Sap- phius, the high priest, and to Simon, the son of the high priest Ananias ; to whom Niger, the governor of that district was subordinate. The same office w^as entrusted to Joseph, the son of Simon, in Jericho ; to Manasseh in Perea ; to John the Essene in Thamna, Lydda, Joppa, and Emmaus ; to John, the son of Ananus, in Gophnitis and Acrabatere ; and to Flavins Josephus, the historian, in Galilee and Gamara. We shall quote Dr. Jahn's clear and concise account of the preparations made. 'In Galilee, Josephus appointed a supreme 46 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : council of seventy members for the management of more important civil affairs, and in every city a coun- cil of seven judges to decide the less important legal controversies. In lower Galilee he fortified Jotapata, Barsabe, Salamis, Capparecco, Joppa, Ligoe, Mount Tabor, Tarichaea, Tiberias, and the caves about Lake Gennesareth ; in Upper Galilee, the rock of the Achaba, Seph, Jamneh, and Meroth ; and in Gaulanitis, Seleu- cia, Sogane, and Gamala. He collected an army of more than 100,000 men, and armed them with such old weapons as he was able to procure. He divided the soldiers in the Roman manner, appointed officers, and exercised his troops in the use of their arms. His infan- try amounted to 60,000, probably exclusive of the gar- risons ; but his cavalry consisted of only 250 effective men. He had, besides, 4,500 mercenary troops, and 600 men for his life-guard. Notwithstanding all these precautions, he was involved in imminent perils by the machinations of John the Gischalite, a very crafty rob- ber, from which he could not extricate himself without difficulty ; and besides the many open revolts which he had to quell, his life was often in danger from the per- fidy of his own soldiers. ' When the high priest, Ananias, saw that all attempts to restore peace were vain, he put the wall of Jerusalem in a state of defence, provided armour, and military machines, and exercised the youth in arms. He then sent an army against Simon, the son of Giora, who had collected a seditious mob in Acrabatene, by whose aid he was abusing the rich men, pillaging their houses, and endeavouring to make himself master of the country. Simon fled to the robbers of Massada,and excited disturb- ances in Idumea. Josephus's exertions at this trying pe- riod were signalized by patriotism, energy, and prudence.' The city of Jerusalem must have exhibited a strange spectacle during these preparations, which were prose- cuted with as much alacrity as in Galilee. This din of war struck the timid with anxiety, and, amid the clat- tering of arms, aad the gymnasia echoing with the TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 47 trampling march of the youth engaged in learning the military exercises, many sadly thought of the misery and ruin with which the city the place of national festival and concourse, the rich, the beautiful city of Zion would be visited. They could not offer up prayers in the temple, nor sacrifice at the altar, without the fear that soon their worship would be at an end, and the courts of the Lord's house, so long enlivened by the blast of silver trumpets, and the pomp of a splendid hierarchy might be laid waste by fire and sword, the battlements and towers overthrown, and the whole be made as a ploughed heap : yet when they read the con- sequence of uttering their misgivings in the fierce eye of the zealot or assassin, they were compelled to suppress their fears. Soon after the defeat of Cestius, the Jews had made an unsuccessful attempt on Ascalon a fortress about fifty-two miles distant from Jerusalem, and defended by only one cohort and a squadron of horse. But the assailants, who wanted discipline, &c., were driven back with the loss of 10,000 men. They soon after made a similar attempt with a still more numerous force ; but Antonius, the Roman governor, having drawn them into an ambuscade, 8000 men perished. The remainder fled, and some, among whom was Niger the commander, took refuge in the tower of Bezeded. The Romans did not attempt a regular siege, yet, unwilling to suffer this leader and the remnant of his followers, to escape, they set fire to the wall, and retreated triumphantly, after having seen the tower wrapt in flames. Niger, however, leaped down into a deep cavern at the bottom of the tower ; three days afterwards some of his compa- nions having come to seek the body, heard beneath a feeble voice, calling for help. The Jews were rejoiced at their champion's narrow escape, and regarded it as a proof, that the Divine favour attended their cause. Early in the spring, Vespasian appeared with a pow- erful army at Antioch. Thence he proceeded with King Agrippa to Ptolemais, where the people of Sephoris, a 48 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: place formerly garrisoned by Cestus, united with him, obtaining a body of 6000 infantry, and 1000 horse, who encamped without the walls, and laid waste the sur- rounding country. Josephus made an unsuccessful attempt against the fortifications of this city, which he had himself constructed ; and the tide of Roman devas- tation rolled on still farther. Vespasian's army now amounted to 60,000 effective men : he had assembled at Ptolemais the Roman troops, and the auxiliaries of Antiochus, Agrippa, Schem, and Malchus the Arab ; and had been joined by Titus with the soldiers from Alexandria. During the gradual confluence of these divisions, Placidus, in a series of brief incursions on the neighbourhood, slew many of the Jews, and compelled the others to take refuge within the walls of the fortified cities. He was put to flight by the citizens of Jotapata, who had marched against his troops, exhausted with fatigue, and encumbered with spoils. Vespasian's mighty force now approached the bor- ders of Galilee. His order of march has been described by Josephus with the fidelity of an eye-witness : * He must, indeed, have watched its stern and regular ad- vance with the trembling curiosity of the sailor, who sees the tempest slowly gathering, which is about to burst, and perhaps wreck his weak and ill-appointed bark. Before the van came the light-armed allies and their archers, scattered down the plain to watch the enemy, and search each wood or thicket where an am- buscade might be posted. Next came part of the heavy- armed horse and foot, who were followed by ten men of each centenary, who bore the furniture and camp -ves- sels ; who were followed by pioneers, whose duty it was to straighten the curved roads, cut down the woods, and level the hills in the way of the main body. Then fol- lowed a strong detachment of cavalry, guarding the baggage of the commander and his officers. Next rode the general, guarded by a chosen body of horse, foot, and lancers ; he was followed by the horse of his own legion. The military engines, and the besieging train. TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 49 were borne by mules. After them came the lieutenant- generals, commanders of cohorts, and tribunes, each with his chosen band the eagles, one for each legion the trumpeters the phalanx itself in files six deep and a centurion, to preserve order and last, the camp- followers with the baggage, on mules. Then came the mercenaries, and the procession was closed by a strong rear-guard of light and heavy-armed troops, and a long array of cavalry. The host passed on in stern and awful magnificence.' Vespasian halted on the frontier of Ga- lilee ; as if to give the revolted province time for re- pentance, or to strike terror into the more obstinate insurgents. The measure was not without effect ; no sooner did the army of Josephus, which lay at Garis, hear of the progress of the Romans, than they dispersed before the enemy came in sight : Josephus was left nearly alone, and after gathering the wreck of his army, was compelled to fly to Tiberias. Gadara was assaulted by Vespasian ; it was defence- less, and the hapless inhabitants were made a monument of Roman vengeance. All the youth were put to the sword, and the city, with the adjacent villages and hamlets, burned. But Josephus did not desert the hopeless cause, though he could have made his own terms with the enemy ; he sent despatches to Jerusa- lem, exhorting the people either to submit at once, or send into the field an efficient army. The greater part of the Galilean troops had taken refuge in Jotapata, a strongly-defended town in a rugged mountainous dis- trict. Though there was no path for horse ; and in- fantry could scarcely make their way, Vespasian's pioneers cut a practicable path through the mountains in the space of four days, and appeared before the place, into which Josephus had just time to throw himself. His arrival was announced by a deserter to Vespasian ; who in his anxiety to secure the Jewish leader, ordered two of his most trustworthy officers, with one thousand cavalry, to guard the walls, and prevent his escape. On the 15th of May, Vespasian advanced with his whole 50 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : force. During all the day, till late in the evening, the defenders of Jotapata saw, from their lofty battlements, the slow and endless files, emerging from the straight and level road which led to the city walls. It was in the strength of their position, their rugged and precipit- ous mountains, and their dark and impenetrable forests, that they had relied for their security. To their con- sternation they saw the woods falling before the axe of the pioneer, like grain before the sickle of the reaper ; the lofty crests of their mountains, as it were, bowing down their heads before the resistless invader ; and na- ture itself giving up the custody of the fortress. To terrify the besieged, the Roman army was drawn out on a hill within a mile to the north of the city ; the trembling garrison kept within the walls the Romans quietly waiting till the following day, before they drew a triple line of circumvallation which precluded all chance of escape round the devoted place. This roused the people to fierce valour and stubborn resolution, ^to the frenzy of despair. The attack commenced on the following day, when the Jews encamped before the trenches, and gallantly met the enemy. But their ranks were thinned by the missiles of the bowmen and slingers, while Vespasian with the infantry proceeded to gain a declivity which conducted to the weakest point of the fortifications. This did not escape the vigilance of Josephus, who by a resolute effort, drove the Romans down the hill. The action was not concluded till night ; few of the com- batants were slain, but many were wounded, the Ro- mans were attacked in the same manner for five succes- sive days, the contest waxing progressively fiercer. To give clearness to the description of the siege, we shall quote the following account of the situation of Jotapata, and the efforts made for defence. * It stood on the sum- mit of a lofty hill, on three sides, rising abruptly from the deep and impassable ravines which surrounded it. Looking down from the top of the walls, the eye could not discover the bottom of those frightful chasms. It TO THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. 51 was SO embosomed in lofty mountains, that it could not be seen till it was actually approached. It could only be entered on the north, where the end of the ridge sloped more gradually down ; on this declivity the city was built ; and Josephus had fortified this part with a very strong wall. Vespasian called a council of war. It was determined to raise an embankment against the most practicable part of the wall. The whole army was sent out to provide materials. The neighbouring moun- tains furnished vast quantities of stone and timber. In order to cover themselves from the javelins and arrows of the garrison, the assailants stretched a kind of roof!, made with wattles of wicker-work, over their palisades ; under this pent-house they laboured securely at their embankment. They worked in three divisions, one bringing earth, the other stones or wood. The Jews were not idle, they hurled down immense stones and every kind of missile on the workmen, which, although they did not do much damage, come thundering over their heads with appalling noise, and caused some inter- ruption to their labours.' The Roman military engines 160 in number were drawn out to drive the defen- ders from the ramparts. * The catapults began to dis- charge their hissing javelins, the balistas heaved huge stones of enormous weight, and balls of fire and blazing arrows fell in showers ; while the Arab archers, the javelin-men, and slingers, were so unceasingly active, that a great part of the wall was totally deserted. The wily nature of Jewish warfare now appeared ; small parties of them surprised the Roman workmen, pulled down the breast-works, striking at them with good effect, since, for expedition, those in the trenches had laid aside their armour. Vespasian, to prevent this, caused the openings to be filled up, so that the trenches formed a complete circle, and in spite of all the efforts of the Jews, the Romans completed their embankment, which was nearly of equal height with the battlements * it stood right opposite to them, as if another city had risen beside their own,* and the conflict was to be 2 52 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I maintained nearly on the same level. Josephus, though the task was apparently impracticable, ordered the city walls to be raised much higher. For this purpose all the stakes were fixed on the top of the wall, on which were hung hides of oxen newly killed ; so that the stones and other missiles glided off, and the moisture even quenched the fire-darts. After strenuous and continued labour, the wall was raised thirty -five feet ; a number of towers erected on it, and the whole further defended by a strong battlement. The Romans were astonished at the skill and resolution of the besieged, and Vespasian was con- founded by the subtlety of Josephus. The Jews again sallied out in small parties, exhibiting equal fierce- ness and cunning, until Vespasian resolved to turn the siege into a blockade, and kept his men within their quarters. The besieged had a sufficiency of grain and other necessaries, excepting salt ; but little water ; for as there was no spring, they depended on rain-water alone, of which but little fell in summer, the time of the siege. The water was husbanded as carefully as possible, and Josephus restricted them to the lowest possible allow- ance. As they went with their pitchers to the place of distribution, the Romans, who had pointed their engines to that quarter, struck many down. On this, Josephus had recourse to a strange proceeding to deceive the enemy : he ordered a great number of steeped clothes to be hung over the ramparts, till the moisture ran down the walls. This expenditure of what they had supposed extremely scarce, had its eff'ect on Vespasian, who, con- ceiving that they must have a large reservoir, resolved to change the blockade into an assault the very object of the Jews, who preferred death by the sword, to the lingering agony of thirst and famine. Josephus also secured the means of obtaining intelligence, and such small articles as he needed, by means of a narrow and rugged path the dry bed of a torrent the apparent impractibility of which for a long time caused the Ro- mans to leave it unguarded. The messengers were ac- TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 53 customed to creep on all fours, covered with skins, that they might be taken at a distance for dogs. Josephus and some of the leaders, wished now to escape the coming misery ; the entreaties of the citizens, and the dread of their using force, made him determine to remain ; he improved the moment of excitement to lead them into a fierce attack. ' If then,' he exclaimed, ' there is no hope of safety, let us die nobly, and leave a glorious example to posterity.' He was followed by a frenzied crowd, part of whom made a sudden sally, drove in the Roman outposts, and even penetrated into the camp, tore up the hides which covered the works, and set fire to the lines in many parts. The as- saults were continued on the two following days ; and kept the Romans in a state of continual alarm and anxiety. The ponderous bulk of heavy-armed legion- aries, was no match in a skirmish with the light and agile Jews : Vespasian therefore left the resistance of these attacks solely to the distant, but sure aim of the Arabian archers, and Syrian slingers ; while the en- gines maintained their perpetual showers of bolts and stones ; still the Jews, getting within the range of these, would pour in multitudes upon the legionaries, to a reckless sacrifice of life ; one disorderly array being no sooner prostrated, than another succeeded. Vespasian now plied the wall with the formidable battering-ram, which generally crumbled into dust the defences of the strongest cities. * As the heavy ram slowly advanced towards the walls, covered with a pent-house of wattles and hides, both for the protection of the engine and of the men who were to work it, the catapults and other engines, with the archers and slingers, were commanded to play with increasing activity, to sweep the walls, and distract the besieged. The battlements were entirely cleared of the defenders, who lay crouching below, not knowing what was about to happen. At the first blow of the ram, the wall shook as with an earthquake, and a wild cry arose from the besieged, as if the city were already taken.' Already the walls were tottering with 54 THE LAND OF ISBAEL 1 the continual concussions, when Joseplius ordered sacks filled with straw to be let down to deaden the strokes ; but the Romans fastened scythe-blades to the end of long poles, and cut the ropes. Again the engine resumed its destructive work ; when suddenly a multitude of Jews, in three parties, carrying lighted combustibles in their hands, sallied forth ; the Romans, taken suddenly, and blinded by the smoke, wavered ; the embankment in cementing the timbers of which, bitumen, pitch, and sulphur had been used, was in a blaze ; and in one hour the work of many days was destroyed. They hastened to cover with earth the destroyed works. But at evening the ram was again set up, and plied against the same part of the wall as before. A slight wound which Vespasian received in the heel from a spent javelin, aggravated the fury of the legionaries ; the army rushed to the wall with a shout of vengeance, and a dreadful conflict w^as kept up during all that night. Many of the Jews were slaughtered ; for though the deadly engines swept the walls, and the missiles rattled around like a hail- storm, they would not desert their post, but kept up an increasing discharge of huge stones and combustibles, on the cover which protected those who worked the ram. In the morning, after allowing his troops a brief space for refreshment, Vespasian made his arrangements for driving the Jews from the breach which the ram had now made : his bravest horsemen dismounted, were divided into three parties, ready to charge with long pikes, im- mediately after the machines were fixed for scaling the breach. Behind these were the flower of the legionaries, while the remainder of the cavalry were posted all over the mountains around the town, that not a fugitive might escape ; behind were placed the archers, slingers, and engineers ; and the bearers of scaling-ladders, which were to be reared against the uninjured parts of the wall, to draw off the attention of the Jews from the breach. Josephus seeing this, selected for these parts the old, fatigued, and wounded. His bravest followers TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 55 were to be stationed at the post of peril : the first line consisted of six champions, including Josephus himself ; who advised his followers to kneel down, with their bucklers over their heads, till the quivers of the archers were emptied ; and when the Romans had fixed the mounting-machines, to leap down and fight upon them : remembering they could now scarcely be thought to fight for safety, for of that they had no hope, but for a brave revenge. From the walls of Jotapata the afirighted populace, for even the women and children had in this excitement left their homes, saw the triple lines glittering with the arms of the sentinels, who were not withdrawn, the attacking force mustering with drawn swords before the breach, the helmets and banners of the cavalry gleaming on the amphitheatre of hills ; the levelled bows of the Arab archers ; they raised one shrill and agonized shriek which reverberated wildly through the city, as if the stern legionaries were already bursting into the streets. The women were now ordered by Josephus to be con- fined within the houses, lest their cries and gestures should dispirit the warriors. Josephus then went to his station at the breach. The trumpets blew, and one terrific shout, ^the first burst of the storm, was raised by the Roman army. Instantly the air was darkened with the clouds of arrows : the Jews closing their ears against the noise, and covering their heads with their shields. As soon as the Romans prepared to mount, the Jews rushed forward, and fought hand to hand ; till the Romans, constantly pouring fresh troops upon them, while they themselves were exhausted, compelled them to recede, and were already within the walls. Josephus had now recourse to a last expedient. He had made ready an immense quantity of boiling oil, which at a given signal was dashed upon the ascending Romans. * The ranks were broken, and the men rolled down, writhing with agony ; for the boiling oil, which kindles easily and cools slowly, trickled within their armour. They had not time to tear off their breastplates and 56 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : ]mcklers, before it had penetrated to the skin ; but they leaped about and writhed in anguish, or plunged headlong from the bridges ; or, if they attempted to fly, were pierced through their backs, the only part which was without defensive armour.' The Romans however pressed steadily onwards, regardless of those who fell in their ranks. But the resources of Jewish subtlety were not j^et exhausted. Having poured a boiling mixture upon the planks by which the Romans mounted the breach, they made them so slippery, that secure footing was impossible. The besiegers gave up the attempt, after maintaining the combat till evening, and sustaining a considerable loss. The defenders had three hundred wounded, but only six killed. Vespasian now saw the necessity of using greater caution, lest from the desperation of the Jews, the city might prove a dear prize. The embankment was con- siderably increased in height ; and fifty towers, strength- ened b}'^ iron bands, were raised upon it ; these were manned by the archers and slingers, and contained the lighter military engines. The Jews were now placed at a great disadvantage, for they could not avoid the flight of darts and arrows which rained down from foes whom they could not reach, since the towers were fire- proof, and so high that their arrows could not touch the occupants. Their only resource was entirely to give up the line of defence, watch for the approach of the Romans, and then beat them off by a vigorous attack. The fall of the neighbouring town of Joppa, now in- timated to the defenders of Jotapata their doom. Its outer wall was taken by Trajan, who slew 12,000 Jews ; then Titus completed the conquest of the inner wall, when 15,000 more were slain, and 2000 made prisoners, so that none were left but women and children, who w^ere sold for slaves. The Samaritans, who had assem- bled on Mount Gerizim, were also surrounded by Cerealis with 1000 foot and sixty horse ; when a part of them perished with thirst on the first day, and others submitted to the Romans. On the 27th of June, I TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 57 Cerealis ascended the mountain, and put 11,600 men to the sword. The people of Jotapata had now for forty-seven days defied the bravery and experience of the Roman army ; the protracted defence of desperate heroism and artful stratagem was now nearly closed. Their ranks were thinned, their hopes cast down, their bodies emaciated by suffering, watching and wounds. Vespasian ordered his troops to prepare for a general assault ; and amid the obscurity of a thick morning mist, the stern pha- lanx of the legionaries drew near the oft-contested wall : which was first mounted by Titus, with a tribune and some soldiers of the fifteenth legion. The besieged were involved in the * heavy sleep of fatigue,' the sentinels were surprised and slain, the Roman army was soon within the gates, the citadel was surprised, and a dread- ful slaughter was commenced by the soldiery, inflamed by the remembrance of past defeat, and resolved to reap a stern harvest of revenge. They charged furiously from the citadel, hewing their way through the multi- tude, who, unable to defend themselves, stumbled, and even crushed in the uneven ways ; or were suffocated in the narrow lanes, or rolled headlong down the preci- pices. Nothing was to be seen but slaughter ; nothing heard but the shrieks of the dying, and the shouts of the conquerors. During the siege 40,000 Jews had fallen, and 1200 were taken. The city was burnt and com- pletely razed in the twelfth year of Nero's reign, on the 1st of July, A.T). 67. Josephus, with forty others, had taken refuge in a cavern ; but a woman who had been taken prisoner, betrayed their lurking-place. The Romans exhorted the Jewish leader to surrender, promising that his life should be spared ; but this offer his companions would not suffer him to accept ; they expressed their readiness to assist his failing patriotism, and testified their zeal , for his unsullied fame, by closing around him with drawn swords, and threatened to murder him rather than that he should accept the offer of the Romans. 68 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : But Joseplius suggested that they should destroy one another by lot ; the lots were so managed that after the rest had fallen, himself and a single other Jew remained ; and these both surrendered to the Romans. Josephus was thrown into chains ; but having afterwards ex- pressed his conviction that Vespasian would speedily arrive at the imperial dignity, he acquired the reputa- tion of a prophet, and was treated with great respect, especially after the verification of this prediction. Vespasian returned to Ptolemais four days after Jotapata fell, and then marched to Caesarea on the sea. This was one of the largest cities in Palestine. Here two of the legions were left in winter quarters, while two others were sent to Scythopolis ; and soon after some troops were dispatched to Joppa, the ruins of which had been re-built by some fugitives, who sup- ported themselves by piracy. The Romans entered the city without resistance, for the pirates had taken refuge in their ships. But a storm arose early on the follow- ing morning, and 4200 Jewish corpses were strewed along the shore. The new-built city was destroyed, and a garrison established on its site, for the purpose of ravaging the cities and villages in the neighbourhood. Vespasian and his army were magnificently enter- tained for twenty days by Agrippa, at Caesarea Philippi. On hearing of the disturbances at Tiberias, he marched to Scythopolis ; while Titus led the two legions from Cassarea on the sea, to the great city of Decapolis, and thence to Senabris, thirty stadia from Tiberias. The city was spared, but the rebels having fled to Tarichaea, that place was taken by Titus, and the troops followed so hard on those who fled from it, particularly on those who took the direction of the sea, that 8000 Jews were either drowned or slain. The hand of the destroyer had now laid waste the once smiling shores of Gennesareth, which were then covered w^ith flourishing towns, surrounded by luxuriant groves and orchards. The solitude of this lake, hallowed to the Christian mind by the mira- cles and teaching of our Lord, was now fearfully broken ; TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 59 * its blue and quiet waters were peopled with other barks than those of the humble fishermen who spread their nets upon its surface ; and reflected, instead of the multitudes who listened to the peaceful teacher, the armour of embattled squadrons, and the glittering pride of the Roman eagles.' ' A merciless soldiery lined the shores, and chased the fugitives into every inlet and creek. Some were speared from the high decks of the vessels, the boats of others were crushed or swamped, and the people drowned. The blue waters of the whole lake were tinged with blood, and its clear surface ex- haled for several days a fetid steam. The shores were strewn with wrecks of boats, and swollen bodies that lay rotting in the sun, and infected the air, till the con- querors themselves shrunk from the effects of their own barbarities.' Though Titus had promised mercy to all who sur- rendered, either his promise was a deception, or his idea of mercy was indeed strange, for 2200 aged individuals and children, the relatives of those who had revolted, were put to death in the gymnasium, and 6000 able-bodied men, whose lives were spared, were sent to Nero to assist in that tyrant's chimerical plan of digging a canal through the Isthmus of Corinth. The remaining 80,400, chiefly citizens of Trachonitis, Gaulanitis, Hippo, and Gadara, were sold as slaves, and a similar fate was met by those prisoners who were delivered to Agrippa by This terrible example secured the submission of the whole of Galilee, with the exception of Gamala, Gis- chala, and Ilabyrium, the town fortified by Josephus on Mount Tabor. The city of Gamala was situated on the lake of Gennesareth, near the frontier of Agrippa's dominions ; its citizens relied upon their inaccessible situation, for it was built upon the top of a high moun- tain in the form of a camel, and could be approached but by one passage, intersected by a deep ditch. Agrippa had laid siege to it for seven months before Vespasian advanced. He encamped on the most accessible side, 60 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : and prepared to assault it, when Agrippa, who had summoned the inhabitants to lay down their arms, was driven back and wounded by a slinger. The Romans having made a breach in the walls, began the assault ; the Jews made a desperate resistance, and drove back the enemy with great loss, Vespasian being himself sur- rounded, and making his escape with difficulty. The courage of the defenders was raised for a brief space by this gleam of success ; but the provisions were very scarce, and some had already perished of hunger ; so that while the Romans were planning another assault, numbers escaped from the city, by clambering down the face of the precipice, or creeping through the sewers or passages conducting to the ravines, where no guard had been placed. feut at length one of the towers fell, having been secretly undermined during the night by three soldiers. On the following day (the 23rd of October) the Romans forced an entrance into the city, driving the Jews before them into the citadel, which was too high to be com- manded by the Roman arrows. A violent storm, which blew in the faces of the Jews, assisted the Romans, for their enemies could neither keep their footing on the points of the rock, nor perceive the legionaries scaling the crag. Of the Jews, 4000 were slain, while 5000 destroyed themselves by leaping over the ramparts and precipices into the deep abyss beneath. Only two wo- men, who had hid themselves during the conflict, escaped alive ; all the other inhabitants, women and children included, were butchered, or cast over the rocks, and the city was completely destroyed. Meanwhile, Placidus, with 600 horse, had advanced to Mount Tabor. On the first summons many of the garrison had descended with the intention of surprising the Romans ; who, as the steepness of the mountain precluded the ascent of cavalry, penetrated their design, and sufl^ered them to advance unopposed, that they might be drawn out upon the plain. The Jews pro- ceeded to the attack ; the Romans feigned a flight, to I TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 61 draw them to a greater distance from the mountain ; then, making a sudden turn, a great number of the pursuers were slain, the retreat of many cut off, and the re- mainder obliged to flee in the direction of Jerusalem. The want of water now compelled the defenders of the mountain to surrender. Vespasian afterwards despatched one legion to Scytho- polis, and with two others directed his course to Caesarea, that his soldiers might be refreshed by a brief period of repose. Titus was sent with 1000 cavalry to lay siege to Gischala. The citizens desired to capitulate ; but John, the son of Levi, the chief of a band of marauders, had taken possession of it. Titus might easily have taken the city by assault, but wishing to avoid unne- cessary bloodshed, and probably aware of the disposi- tion of the people, he opened a negotiation which John and his followers took care should be conducted by themselves alone. John's reply was couched in tem- perate and moderate terms, and he alleged that as the day was the Sabbath it must be kept sacred, and conse- quently no active steps could be taken. But he fled during the night, accompanied by his own party and several other Jews, the weaker of whom, with the vromen and children, he forsook before he had advanced twenty-five stadia on the way. Titus entered the city, and sent a troop of horsemen after the fugitives, who slew 6000 women and children, and brought back 3000 ; but John escaped to Jerusalem. Titus ordered part of the walls of Gischala to be overthrown, and left a garrison in the city ; but otherwise his treatment of the inhabitants was Comparatively mild. All resistance in Galilee was now at an end. Titus went from Gischala to Caesarea, where Vespasian, who had reduced Jamna and Azotus, arrived at the same time with a multitude of captive Jews. Though John of Gischala had, after his arrival at Jerusalem, endeavoured to conceal as much as possible the desperate state of affairs, the spirits of the people were depressed by past reverses and the apprehension of 62 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : # coming calamity. ' In every city/ says Professor Jahn, in his valuable history of the Hebrew Common- wealth, * those who were disposed to peace were in arms against the rebels ; families were divided, and party ranged against party. The young and rash, however, gained the superiority over the older and more prudent ; they collected into bands, roved through the land, and plundered and murdered their countrymen with so much cruelty that they chose rather to perish by the Roman sword, than to fall into the hands of the Jews. After the robbers had thus ravaged the country, they returned to Jerusalem, and were there joined by other robbers from the neighbouring territories. They now commenced the same depredations in the city, and robbed and murdered, not only secretly and in the night, but openly and by day. They seized and im- prisoned the three royal princes, Antipas, Levias, and Sephias, with several other noblemen ; and finally put them to death under pretence that they designed to deliver up the city to the Romans. * When the robbers perceived that the people were awed by these violent measures, they became still more daring. They now entirely disregarded the hereditary rights of the high-priests, and disposed of the high- priesthood by lot among the meanest of the priests, whom they kept entirely under their own influence. In this manner they made Phannias, the son of Samuel, high priest ; a man who had been bred to labour in the field, and was taken directly from the plough, who knew nothing of the duties of his office, and served only to bring it into contempt. They endeavoured to excite dissensions among the noblemen, and by these means to find opportunities for perpetrating new crimes. When the people were at last excited by the persuasions of Ananus, the oldest of the high-priests, to rise against these outlaw^s, they withdrew to the temple, and made it the citadel and refuge of their tyranny. Ananus, Gorion the son of Joseph, Simon the son of Gamaliel, and some others of the chief priests, at length succeeded TO THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. 63 in persuading the people to take arms against their seditious countrymen, who gave themselves the deno- mination of Zealots. But, while Ananus was arrang- ing his forces, the Zealots rushed out of the temple and massacred all who fell in their way. The army of Ananus, though then hut scantily supplied with arms, maintained their ground, and an obstinate battle was fought, in which many were killed and wounded on both sides. Such conflicts were afterwards frequent, and the Zealots were generally victorious ; till at last, on one occasion, Ananus with his party pressed on so closely after the retreating zealots, that he rushed with them into the temple, when they withdrew to the inner court and closed the gates, and Ananus, out of reve- rence for the sacred place, declined to pursue his advan- tage any further. He, however, left a garrison of 6000 men in the outer court, who were relieved by others at regular intervals.' Though John of Gischala, subtle and ambitious, pro- fessedly supported Ananus, he yet had secret intercourse with the Zealots ; his treachery was suspected, but having cleared himself by a solemn oath, he was re- garded as innocent, and sent to negotiate peace with the Zealots, whom he advised to seek the aid of the Idumeans, of whom 2000 speedily appeared before the gates of Jerusalem. These were a fierce and intractable tribe, warlike, and fond of adventure. Ananus would not suff^er this combined force to enter, and in vain used earnest entreaties to dissuade them from their pur- pose. They encamped before the city walls, in the midst of a violent tempest of wind, rain, and lightning. The Zealots taking advantage of this turmoil of the elements, unheard by the garrison of the outer court, sawed off the bars which fastened the gates of the tem- ple, opened unperceived the city-gates, and the Idumeans made their way to the temple, and were met by their friends from the inner courts. With their united strength they now attacked the garrison in the outer court, who at first made a brave defence ; but on per- 64 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : ceiving the terrible Idumeans among them, threw down their weapons, and raised a cry of despair. It was a fearful scene. Many ran with wild shrieks through the city, announcing the dismal calamity, while screams and cries, and the shrill wailing of women, answered from the houses. The Zealots and Idumeans also yelled, the blasts of wind howled above all, and peals of thun- der reverberated from the black and flashing sky. None of the inhabitants were courageous enough to aid the guard, many of whom were cut to pieces, while others threw themselves from the porticoes of the temple into the city. The Idumeans rushed through the streets, slaying every one whom they met, and seeking for the chief priests. Ananus was among those who thus perished : Josephus informs us that, had his life been spared, he would have restored peace with the Romans, and had already made considerable progress in sup- pressing the violence of sedition. But the death of their leading opponents did not appease the rancour of the Zealots, who, Josephus says, massacred the pepple like a herd of unclean animals. The bodies of the slain were cast unburied into the streets, and no man might dare to lament their fate. Others were scourged and tortured to compel them to join their party ; the price of refusal was death. These w^ere seized by day, and murdered by night ; their corpses being thrown, out, to make room for other prisoners. Zacharias, the son of Baruch, w^as accused before an assembly of seventy judges, of a plan to betray the city to the Romans ; when he opened his defence, and proceeded to show the falseness of his accusation, he was put down by clamour. The judges, convinced of his inno- cence, unanimously acquitted him, declaring that they would rather die than condemn him ; for this act of justice, they were forthwith driven by blows from their seats, and Zacharias was murdered in the temple-court by two Zealots, who shouted, ' This is our verdict, this is our more summary acquittal : ' they then dragged the body along the pavement, and cast it over the walls. TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 65 The Idumeans at last began to repent of their bloody- work ; even their fierce nature was disgusted by the violence of the Zealots, and the barbarous crimes of which they were guilty ; accordingly, they released 2000 prisoners and departed homewards. The Zealots, nevertheless, under the pretext of punish- ing treason, persevered in their atrocious course ; the only difference was, that they now slew without con- trol ; while the Romans witnessed with pleasure the suicidal conduct of their enemies. Each day new vic- tims fell by rapid and summary proceedings ; among whom were Gorion, a man of high birth, and Niger, one of their bravest commanders, who, while dragged to death along the streets, in vain bared his bosom, covered with scars, received in the cause of his ungrate- ful country ; calling upon the Romans to avenge his death, and imprecating famine, pestilence, and civil massacre upon the accursed city. The avenues from Jerusalem were closely guarded, and those detected in flight were slain without mercy ; with the exception of such as had money enough to satisfy the demands of the rapacious sentinels. No man ventui'ed to inter the dead bodies which polluted the streets, lest he himself should be treated as a traitor. The laws of man were trampled under foot, the laws of God mocked and des- pised. It seemed impossible for any to escape the ven- geance of the Zealots. He who paid them no court was stigmatized as haughty ; he who spoke boldly, as one who despised them ; he who merely flattered them, as a traitor ; they had but one punishment for great or small offences death ; none but the very meanest in rank or fortune escaped their hands. The wretched survivors sighed for death for then " the wicked would cease from troubling ; " those tortured in prison prayed for the executioner's sword. Religion seemed utterly abolished : the law was scorned, the oracles of the pro- phets were treated with ridicule, as the tricks of impos- tors. Yet by these men (says Josephus), * the ancient prediction seemed rapidly drawing to its fulfilment ; F 66 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : that when civil war should break out in the city, and the temple be profaned by the hands of native Jews, the city would be taken, and the temple burned with fire/ During this scene of confusion, John of Gischala still pursued the path of his reckless ambition ; sagacious and talented, but utterly destitute of principle, he began to assume absolute authority, and strove to become sole master of the city. His pretensions were not unopposed ; and the citizens now became divided into two factions, fiercely zealous of each other's claims, and frequently coming into bloody collision. Through- out the country the robbers and Sicarii increased in force and boldness. Those of Massada, from plunderers for subsistence, became plunderers for gain. The town of Engaddi was assaulted by them in the feast of the passover, the inhabitants driven from their homes, more than 700 women and children murdered, the town pillaged, and the spoil carried off to their stronghold. Soon the whole region was laid waste by them, and similar ravages were committed in other places, the booty being taken to the deserts. It was necessary that the Romans should secure the country in their rear : they therefore marched to Gadara ; an event longed for by the chief inhabitants ; but the robbers put those to death and then fled. The others opened their gates to Vespasian, and spontane- ously destroyed their walls. Placidus, with 500 horse and 300 foot, followed the fugitives, who took refuge in the village of Bethennabris, where the youth of the place took arms and marched against the enemy. The Romans at first gave way, to draw the Jews farther from their walls ; then surrounded them, and slew many. But the Jews broke through the enclosing cir- cle, and fled to the town, which Placidus immediately assaulted, cut down all who resisted, and plundered and , burnt the houses. The Jews were again pursued oi their retreat to Jericho, and being attacked on th< banks of the Jordan, many being slain, and moi TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 67 driven into the river. In this last manner an immense number perished ; not only the Jordan but the Dead Sea appearing to be choked with the slain, whose bodies lay floating on its dark and heavy waters. 15,000 were slain, 2500 made prisoners, and an immense spoil of cattle were driven off. Abila, Julias, and all the other towns to the Dead Sea were then taken ; and the Romans slew in their boats all those who had embarked for safety. From Perea, as far as to Macheus, all was now in the power of the conquerors. The state of the Roman empire now impelled Vespa- sian to bring the Jewish war as speedily as possible to a termination. The winter was spent by him in activity. He rebuilt many of the places which had been destroyed, and for their security left garrisons in the cities, under the command of centurions, and in the villages under the command of decurions. In the spring, he subdued Antipatris and Thamnitis ; but Lydda and Janmia surrendered without resistance. He cut off the commu- nication between Emmaus and Jerusalem, by a line of entrenchments, in which he left one legion ; and with the remainder of his army he laid waste the territory of Bethlepteron. He then fortified some castles on the borders of Idumea, and took Betharis and Caphartoba, two villages in the heart of the country, where he put more than 10,000 men to the sword, and made more than 1000 prisoners. He here left a strong garrison, which made hostile excursions into the mountains. He then returned to Emmaus, and marched through Sama- ria by the way of Neapolis or Mabortha to Corea, where he encamped on the 2nd of June ; and two days after proceeded to Jericho, where he was joined by Trajan with the troops from Perea. The inhabitants of Jericho had mostly fled to the mountains, which lie between the city and Jerusalem ; but those who remained were all put to the sword. Several fortifications were now erected in the neigh- bourhood of Jericho and Abida, and provided with gar- risons, in order to cut off" all communication with Jeru- F 2 68 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I salem. Meanwhile, Vespasian sent a body of troops to Gerasa, under the command of Lucius Annius, who took the city by assault, slew about 1000 young men, took the remainder prisoners, with the women, children, and aged people, gave the city up to pillage, and laid it in ashes. In the same manner, he destroyed all the cities in that vicinity. The whole region about Jerusalem was now in the hands of the Romans, so that those in the country who favoured the Jews, could not reach them in the city ; while those in the city who favoured the Romans, were prevented by the Zealots from joining their party. Vespasian's preparations for marching in full force on the capital were now completed. The surrounding territory had been cleared, that his onset might be unbroken ; the whole vast surge of his crushing force was now ready to break upon Jerusalem th^ only re- sisting point ; this would be the consummation of ven- geance ; the last hope of the children of Israel would be extinguished, and the sun of their national independence set mournfully behind the ruins of their temple. A brief respite, however, interposed, before the closing horrors ; Vespasian gave up the design of personally prosecuting the enterprise, when he heard that by the death of Nero the imperial throne was vacant ; the voice of his soldiery called him to assume the purple, and set- ting sail for Italy, he left his son Titus to conclude the war. Though the sword of the avenger was stayed for a time, though the Roman appeared not at the gate, nor his arms and eagles glittering beneath the wall, another element of dissension was added to increase the sum of Jewish misery. Simon, the son of Gioras, a man of less bravery, yet of more cunning than John, now headed a party. After having been expelled by Ananus from the district of Acrabatene, he joined the robbers at Mas- sada, and acquired confidence by the success of his dar- ing exploits. Having withdrawn to the mountains, he increased his party b}^ promising freedom to such slaves as might join him. After plundering the mountain- TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 69 villages, he descended to lay waste the plains. The cities dreaded him, and some nobles joined his band. He car- ried his devastations into Idumea, fortified the village of Nain, and stored up booty in the caves in the valley of Pharan, under the guard of a large body of his follow- ers. "With 20,000 men, he engaged a superior force of the Idumeans, and the contest continued all day without any decided result. Having encamped with 40,000 men at Thecoa, he became master of Idumea, and desolated the whole country with fire and sword. The Zealots, fearing to encounter him, were compelled to restore his wife, and many of his adherents, who had fallen into their hands by a stratagem ; for he led his army to Je- rusalem, slew many who came out of the city, cut off the hands of others, and sent them back with the threat, that he would treat in a similar manner, every Jew whom he captured, unless his demands were complied with. Simon now returned to Idumea, and renewed his depre- dations. The natives attempted to escape to Jerusalem ; but he followed them to the walls, and having sur- rounded the city, slew all who went out, or returned from the fields. Things wore as dreadful an aspect within the city. Ferocious civil contests raged, and the streets flowed with the blood of the inhabitants ; so far from preparing to meet the common enemy, each of the three factions was at fierce and implacable hostility with the others. Eleazar, the son of Simon, the origi- nator of the war, who had persuaded the people to reject the offers of the Roman emperors, entertained the most jealous feelings against John. Pretending indignation at his bloodthirstiness, he, with several other influential men, seceded from the Zealots, and occupied the inner courts of the temple. That holy site was now profaned by the blood-stained arms resting on its gates and walls ; within its precincts arose the ribald song and the blas- phemous execration ; the melody of sacred instruments was changed into the savage shout of vengeance ; the victims were still sacrificed at the altar, around which 70 THE LAND OF ISRAEL*. lay unhappy wretches gasping in agony, pierced by the arrows of those without. Eleazar's followers used the stores of the temple for support. But they were few in number, and could only maintain a defensive posture ; though this was less felt in consequence of the superior height of their position to that of John, whose followers, however, maintained a constant discharge of missiles. Simon, son of Gioras, being master of the upper city, and likewise possessing an advantageous eminence, at- tacked John's divided forces ; but his constant assaults were repelled by the Zealots. Against Eleazer's party they turned their engines, the scorpions, catapults, and balistas, with which they slew not a few of their enemies in the upper court, and some who came to sacrifice. Not only the pious inhabitants of Jerusalem constantly entreated and obtained permission to offer up their gifts and prayers before the altar of Jehovah, but even strangers from distant parts would still arrive, and passing over the pavement, slippery with human blood, make their way to the temple of their fathers, where they fondly thought the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, still retained his peculiar dwelling within the Holy of Holies. Free ingress and egress were granted ; the native Jews were strictly searched, the strangers were admitted with less difficulty ; but often in the very act of prayer or sacrifice the arrows would come whiz- zing in, or the heavy stone come thundering on their lieads ; and they would pay with their lives for the pri- lege of kneeling and worshipping in the sacred place. The plentiful resources of the temple stimulated Eleazer's few followers to indulge in excesses, when they would make occasional sallies against John. Assuming a defensive attitude, John repelled Simon from the outer porticoes, and discharged voUies from his engines upon Eleazer. When the frantic energies of Eleazer's drunken troops were exhausted, he sallied against Simon, and was driven back in his turn. Ruin and desolation now reigned around the temple ; in these mad encounters, the stores of corn, which if carefully TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 71 protected and husbanded, might have maintained the city for years, were wantonly wasted or burnt by Simon, to place them beyond the power of John. The advance of the Romans was longed for by the great proportion of the inhabitants, as a speedy deliverance from the terrible evils under which they laboured. In- deed the siege itself scarcely exceeded the horror of these daily encounters. Death had now become so common, that it was viewed with apathy. The misery of the people was deep and silent ; they dared not utter their griefs, and stifled them within their hearts. Des- peration had produced callousness ; men trampled on dead bodies as on the common pavement ; they were familiarized to the most dreadful sights and sounds. Some portion of their religious prejudices alone re- mained : John might murder and plunder without moving them ; but a thrill of horror seemed to pervade their minds, when he took some timbers of great size and beauty, which Agrippa had brought from Lebanon to repair the temple, for the purpose of erecting military towers, to promote his hostile operations against Eleazer. Of the three parties, Eleazer, in the temple had 2400 men ; John 6000 ; Simon 10,000, together with 5000 Idumeans. About the beginning of April of the year 70, the tide of war rolled to the gates of Jerusalem. The army of Titus, increased by an additional legion, and the contingents of the Syrian kings, advanced from Csesarea through Samaria, and encamped under the walls. The contending chiefs, when too late, entered into negocia- tions for a union of the general force against the Romans. But they did not lay aside their mutual ani- mosity, or repose confidence in each other, though they fought against the Romans with the valour of despera- tion. The first encampment of the Romans was in the Valley of Thorns, near a village named Gabeth Saul, (the Hill of Saul) about three miles and three quarters from the city. Titus proceeded to reconnoitre with 600 horse ; as he approached the walls, Jerusalem 72 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! seemed in a state of profound peace ^the gates closed ; and not a soldier on the ramparts. Scarcely had he l^assed the tower of Psephinus, than a vast multitude of the Jews rushed out of the gate by the Women's Tower, separated Titus from the main body of his party, and surrounded him and a few horsemen, who still kept close to their general. He could not proceed on account of the ditches and garden -walls. A large body of Jews cut off his retreat. Titus saw his imminent danger : wheeling his horse around, he called to his men to follow him, and charged fiercely through, amidst a shower of darts and javelins. Expecting no encounter, he had neither helmet nor breast-plate ; but he hewed a way with his sword, and trampling down the Jews with the hoofs of his fierce charger, cleared his pas- sage through the dense masses, and escaped in safety. Soon after, the Romans took up ground, two legions in front, the fifteenth two stadia behind, and the tenth legion at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Between the army and the wall lay a level plain. A line of cir- cumvallation was commenced. The three chiefs in Jerusalem, from their separate watch-towers, beheld three camps forming beneath the ramparts. A sense of the necessity of concord now animated them ; they rushed armed along the valley of Jehoshaphat, and fell impetuously upon the tenth legion at the Mount of Olives. The legionaries were at work in the trenches, and many of them unarmed ; the sudden onset staggered them, and many fell before they could snatch up their arms. Crowds upon crowds of Jews swarmed from the gates. The disciplined Romans were unaccustomed to this wild and desultory species of en- counter ; the Jews hazarded their persons with blind fury ; the Romans, pressed by numbers, were already giving way, when Titus with a select band, attacked the Jews in flank, and drove them up the valley with great slaughter. The battle lasted all day. Titus planted the fresh troops in fi-ont, across the valley, and sent the rest to occupy and fortify the upper part of the TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 73 hill. The Jews supposing that this was a retreat, the watchmen on the walls shook their garments as a sig- nal ; the whole city seemed to pour forth its crowds, * roaring and raging like w^ld beasts.' The Romans were driven up the mountains, and Titus left on the declivity, with only a few around him. With the ad- vantage of the ground, he defended himself resolutely, and at first drove his adversaries down ; but like waves broken by a promontory, they went rushing up on both sides, pursuing the other fugitives, or turning his pai-ty in both flanks. The Romans on the mount gave way before the ascending crowd, till a few, horror-struck at their commander's danger, and reproaching themselves with basely deserting Caesar, roused their energies, col- lected their dispersed force, and drove the Jews down the hill, who were repulsed, after obstinately contending for every foot of ground ; when Titus, having set up a strong line of out-posts, suffered his exhausted soldiery to resume their works. Never was Jerusalem so crowded as at this time, for it was the Passover ; when, according to the Mosaic law, the people used to throng with joy to the city and the temple, to offer their oblations, and when every door was thrown open to the strangers. At this awful time the festival had not lost its value ; multitudes of Jews from every quarter, met to sacrifice their last Passover. This increased the dreadful situation of those within the walls ; the stores were consuming, and general famine approaching. John of Gischala, availed himself of the day of sacrifice for a deed of treachery and blood. When Eleazer opened the gates of the inner temple, John sent some of his adherents with swords concealed beneath their garments. The Zealots fled to the subterranean courts of the temple : but many of the multitude were slain or trampled to death. The Zealots were prevailed upon to quit their places of concealment and dismissed uninjured. John was now in possession of the entire temple ; and the parties of Simon and of John alone re- mained at Jerusalem. 74 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! Titus was now cautiously advancing his army to the walls. He levelled the plain between Scopus and the outward wall. * The blooming gardens, with their bubbling fountains, and cool water-courses, in which the inhabitants of Jerusalem had enjoyed sweet hours of delight and recreation, were suddenly swept away. The trees, now in their spring blossoming, fell before the axe, the landmarks were thrown down, the water- courses destroyed ; and even the deep and shady glens were levelled and filled up with the masses of rugged and picturesque rocks that used to overshadow them.' While this work was in progress, Titus unsuccessfully summoned the city to surrender. On the following day the Jews by a stratagem, made a somewhat successful sally upon the Romans. The ground was completely levelled four days afterwards. Titus then stationed a body of his bravest troops on the west side of the city, to prevent the assaults of the Jews ; thus protected, he transferred his camp from Scopus to a position within two stadia of Jerusalem ; it was so arranged that in part it was opposite to the octangular tower of Psephi- nus, 70 cubits high, on the north-west corner of the wall, and the other part opposite to the quadrangular tower of Hippicus, 80 cubits high, on the north-east corner. The camp on the Mount of Olives was un- changed. Thus the cit}'' was under a close blockade. Of the appearance and situation of the city, the follow- ing description gives a clear idea : ' Jerusalem at this period was fortified by three walls, in all those parts where it was not surrounded by ab- rupt and precipitous ravines ; there it had but one. Not that these walls stood one within the other, each in a narrower circle running round the whole city ; but each of the inner walls defended one of the quarters into which the city was divided, or it might be almost said, one of the separate cities. Since the days in which David had built his capital on the rugged heights of Sion, great alterations had taken place in Jerusalem. That emi- nence was still occupied by the upper city ; but, in TO THE J-ALL OF JERUSALEM. 75 addition, first the hill of Moriah had been taken in, on which the temple stood : then Acra, which was origi- nally, although a part of the same ridge, separated by a deep chasm from Moriah. This chasm was almost entirely filled up, and the top of Acra levelled by the Asmonean princes, so that Acra and Moriah were united, though on the side of Acra the temple presented a formidable front, connected by several bridges or causeways with the lower city. To the south the height of Sion, the upper city, was separated from the lower by a ravine, which ran right through Jerusalem, called the Tyropoeon, or the valley of the cheesemongers ; at the edge of this ravine, on both sides, the streets sud- denly broke off, though the walls in some places must have crossed it, and it was bridged in more than one part. To the north extended a considerable suburb called Bezetha, or the new city.' The first or outer wall, which girded Bezetha, Agrip- pa had intended to be of immense strength ; had his plan been followed, Josephus supposes that the city would have been impregnable. It began on the north side, at the tow^er Hippicus, whence it extended to the place called the Histus, and to the council-house, ending at the western cloister of the temple. But, proceeding westward, in a contrary direction, we are told by the historian, that it stretched through a place called Bethso, to the valley of the Essenes, then, turning southwards, reached the place called Ophlas, where it was joined to the eastern cloister of the temple. The stones of this wall were 35 feet long, so solid as not to be easily dis- placed by engines, or undermined. Tt was seventeen and a half feet broad ; the Jews had raised it to thirty- five feet ; the battlements on its top were three and a half feet, the pinnacles five and three-quarters, the whole forty-five feet high. The second wall commenced at the gate Gennath, and encompassed only the northern part of the city, as far as the tower Antonia, which stood at the north-west angle of the temple, and was separated from Bezetha by a deep ditch. The third 76 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I wall commenced at the tower Hippicus, and reaching to the north quarter of the city, passed the tower Psephinus, reaching to the monument of Helena, queen of Adiabene. It then passed by the sepulchres of the kings, and turning by the south-west corner, passed the fuller's monument, meeting the old wall at the valley of Kedron. At the time of the siege this wall was twenty cubits high, with battlements and turrets which increased it five cubits more. Towers of solid masonry were erected at certain distances ; there were 90 in the third wall, 40 in the middle, and 60 in the old wall. Each tower was 38 feet broad, and 85 high ; above this height were lofty chambers, and over these again upper rooms, with large tanks to receive the rain-water ; the ascent to these was by broad flights of steps ; and the towers stood at intervals of about 850 feet. Those of Hippicus, Phaselus, and Mariamne, erected by Herod the Great in memory of his friend, his brother, and his wife, were distinguished by their height, by their mas- sive architecture, their beauty and convenience. Of these Phaseleus was more richly decorated than the others with battlements and pinnacles ; ' it looked from a distance like the tall pharos of Alexandria ; ' and rose above 167 feet. The apparent height of these last-men- tioned towers was increased by their position, for they crowned the old wall, which crested the steep brow of Sion. They were built of white marble blocks each thirty-five feet long, seventeen and a half wide, eight and a quarter high, fitted together as if each edifice had been hewn whole out of the quarry. Such was the strong and magnificent city on which Titus gazed with mingled awe and admiration. Within its circling towers rose the lofty and splendid palace of the kings, girt by a wall 85 feet high, adorned by towers at regular distances, and paved with rare and variegated marble ; its roofs supported by timbers of extraordinary length and elaborate workmanship. * The chambers were countless, adorned with all kinds of figures, the richest furniture, and vessels of gold and silver. There TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 77 were numerous cloisters, with columns of different orders, the squares within of beautiful verdure ; around were groves and avenues, with fountains and tanks, and bronze statues pouring out the water.' Now, however much of this splendour was abated, and its beautiful retreats had run to waste during the conflicts. The gardens had been spoiled, the chambers rifled, and a fire having broken out in the Antonia, had injured a part of the palace, and damaged the roofs of the three towers. On a precipitous rock, 90 feet high, at the north-west corner of the temple, rose the fortress of Antonia also a work of Herod, who had caused its interior to com- bine the convenience of a magnificent palace, with large accommodation for troops ; indeed, during the Roman government, one legion was always quartered in this citadel. The face of the rock on which it stood was fronted with smooth stone for ornament, and to make ascent almost impossible. The citadel itself rose 70 feet in height, in the form of a vast square tower, with four other towers, one at each corner ; three of which were about 85 feet high ; the fourth, in the angle next the temple, more than 120. From it the v/hole temple was invisible ; and a communication was opened with the north and west porticoes of the temple by broad flights of stairs. High over the whole city rose the temple at once a magnificent fane and a strong citadel. It still contained things sacred in the eye of the Jew, treasures repeatedly plundered, but constantly replaced. * Within, the golden candlestick spread out its flowing branches ; the golden table supported the shew-bread, and the altar of incense flamed with its costly perfume.' The gates were still sheeted with gold, the roof covered with gold spikes, literally ' a mount of snow fretted with golden pinnacles.' It was a splendid sight to the Roman, what was it to the Jew ? It was the holy spot where the God of Israel had dwelt with visible majesty ; consecrated by the remembrance of the great day of atonement, when the High Priest entered within the 78 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : veil to intercede for the care-struck and silent multi- tude by all its solemn services and significant ritual the blast of silver trumpets, and the pomp of a splendid hierarchy. As the sun shone upon its magnificent walls, even a Roman and a Stoic like Titus could not conceal his emotions. Yet this city was soon to be a heap of ruins, her embers quenched only by the blood of her sons ; and the temple was to verify the prophecy of the rejected and crucified Messiah, that *' not one stone of it should be left upon another/' A sacred poet of our own day has supposed Titus, standing on the Mount of Olives, and contemplating the whole scene, to have thus expressed his feelings : * It must be And yet it moves me, Romans, it confounds The counsels of my firm philosophy. That ruin's merciless plough-share must pass o'er. And barren salt be sown on yon proud city. As on our olive-crowned hill we stand. Where Kedron at our feet its scanty waters Distils from stone to stone with gentle motion. As through a valley sacred to sweet peace. How boldly doth it front us ! how majestically ! Like a luxurious vineyard, the hill-side Is hung with marble-fabrics, line on-line. Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer To the blue heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces. With cool and verdant gardens interspersed ; Here towers of war that frown in massy strength, While over all hangs the rich purple eve. As conscious of its being her last farewell. Of light and glory to that fated city. And as our clouds of battle-dust, and smoke. Are melted into air, behold the temple. In undisturbed and lone serenity, Finding itself a solemn sanctuary. In the profound of heaven ! It stands before us A mount of snow fretted with golden pinnacles ! The very sun, as though he worshipped there, Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs; And down the long and branching porticos, On every flowery-sculptured capital. Glitters the homage of his parting beams. By Hercules ! the sight might almost win The offended majesty of Rome to mercy.' Milmam. After Titus had blockaded the city, he resolved to TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 79 assault it near the monument of the High Priest John ; the 'outer wall was there the lowest, and unconnected with the second, and presented the easiest passage to the third wall. Josephu^, with a few Romans, ap- proached the wall to summon his countrymen to sur- render ; their only reply was a shower of arrows, by which Nicomar, an intimate friend Ojf the emperor, was wounded in the shoulder. Titus ordered the suburbs to be set on fire, and the trees to be cut down for his em- J)ankments ; the soldiers soon accomplished this : their engines protecting them from the assaults of the Jews, though the latter endeavoured to impede the work by every means in their power. Simon having mounted on the walls the military engines taken from Cestius, began to put them in vigorous operation ; but the un- skilfulness of his men prevented them from doing much damage. On the other hand the powerful engines of the tenth legion discharged stones, a talent in weight, two furlongs distance upon the walls. These huge frag- ments of rock came thundering down upon the de- fenders, who placed watchmen to give notice of them : at night they were distinguishable by their white- ness, when the centinel shouted, ' The bolt is coming ! ' on which all bent their heads to avoid it ; at length the Romans blackened the stones, so that, descending una- wares, they prostrated not only individuals but whole ranks. The sallies of the Jews were unsuccessful. When the banks were raised, three moveable towers were constructed on them, and the battering-rams brought to bear on the walls in three different places : the noise and destruction caused by these raised a cry of terror throughout the city. One of these engines was called Nico, the victorious, because it bore down every thing before it ; it was worked incessantly, and the wall already shook. The towers also wrought destruc- tion upon the Jews. They were out of the range of arrows from their height : they could not be overthrown from their weight ; they were fire-proof, having iron plates : the missiles hurled from their tops permitted 80 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the rams to work unimpeded. At length the wall gave way. The Romans rushed in through the . breach, opened the gates, and took possession of the new city, on the fourteenth day of the siege, being the 7th of June. A great part of the outer wall was demolished, and the Jews retreated behind the second wall into the inner city. The Jews having in five days retreated from the second wall, Titus, with 1000 chosen men, entered within it. But as he still wished to spare the city, his troops did not throw down any portion of the second wall, which nearly produced fatal results ; for the gar- rison, threatening with death any of the citizens who expressed a wish to surrender, made a furious attack upon the Romans. The conflict was maintained from the houses, the walls, and along the narrow streets ; while some of the Jews, sallying from the upper gates, attacked the camp in the rear. A scene of confusion ensued. Such of the Romans as had reached the wall were surrounded, in vain looking for aid to their comrades without, who with difficulty maintained their post. Swarms of Jews rushed forth from every lane and alley on every side ; while the narrow breach allowed the Romans to retreat but slowly ; and they would have been overpowered, had not Titus retarded the Jews by posting archers at the end of the lanes and streets, and thus brought off a greater part of his troops. This transient gleam of success invigorated the Jews ; they manned the breach, and maintained their ground for three days, before they could be driven back. The Romans now gained this portion of the cit}^, and de- molished a great part of the wall. Still the steep height of Sion, the almost impregna- ble Antonia, and the lofty temple, defied the Romans. Titus suspended his operations for two days, during which the Jews, dismayed by his previous advantages, might reflect upon the expediency of capitulation, and their strength and courage be undermined by the slow working of famine. * He employed the time in a mag- TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 81 nificent review of his troops, who were to receive their pay in view of the whole city. The legions defiled slowly in their best attire, with their arms taken out of their cases, and their breast-plates on ; the cavalry leading their horses accoutred in the most splendid trappings. The whole suburbs gleamed with gold and silver. The Romans beheld the spectacle with pride, the Jews with consternation. The whole length of the old wall, the northern cloisters of the temple, every window, every roof, was crowded with heads, looking down, some with stern and scowling expressions of hate and defi^ ance, others in undisguised terror, some emaciated with famine, others heated with intemperance. The sight might have appalled the boldest ; but the insurgents knew that they had offended too deeply to trust to Roman mercy, and that nothing remained but still to contend, with the stubborn obstinacy of desperation.' The procession defiled beneath the walls during the four days ; on the fifth the siege was renewed. The Jews had now learned how to ply their engines with effect ; they had three hundred scorpions for discharg- ing darts, and forty balistas which hurled huge stones. The more obstinate their resistance grew, the more closely Titus pressed the siege, wishing to preserve the city and temple from total destruction. He again sent Josephus to persuade them to capitulate ; the orator with difficulty found a place where he could be audible, and at the same time out of the reach of missiles ; the only answer he received was ridicule and insult. The famine now increased, and with it the despera- tion of the insurgents. No grain was exposed for sale ; the houses were broken open and searched ; if any was found, the owners were tortured for concealing it ; if undiscovered, they were tortured for concealing it so carefully. They judged from the looks of the people, whether any had a secret store ; only the pale and emaciated, whose faces told a tale of agony, escaped. * The wealthy secretly sold their whole property for a measure ofwheat, the poorer for one of barley, and G S2 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : shrouding themselves in the darkest recesses of their houses, devoured it unseen ; others made bread, snatched it half baked from the embers, and tore it with their teeth. The strong wasted plentiful stores, the weak lay down to die. The strongest ties of veneration and affec- tion were torn asunder. The description of Josephus is enough to freeze the blood. 'The famine was too hard for all other passions, and was destructive to nothing so much as to modesty ; for what was other- wise worthy of reverence was in this case despised ; in- somuch that children pulled the very morsels which their fathers were eating out of their mouths, and what was still more to be pitied, so did the mothers do to their infants ; and when those who were most dear were perishing under their eyes, they were not ashamed to take from the very least drops that might preserve their lives : and while they eat after this manner, yet were they not concealed in so doing ; but the seditious everywhere came upon them immediately, and snatched away from them what they had gotten from others ; for when they saw any house shut up, this was to them a signal that the people within had gotten some food ; whereupon they broke open the doors, and ran in, and took pieces of what they were eating up almost out of their very throats, and this by force : the old men, who held their food very fast, were beaten, and if the women hid what they had in their hands, their hair was torn for so doing ; nor was there any commisera- tion shown either to the aged or to the infants, but they lifted up children from the ground, as they hung upon the morsels they had gotten, and dashed them upon the floor. But still were they more barbarously cruel to those who had prevented their coming in, and had ac- tually swallowed down what they were going to seize upon, as if they had been unjustly defrauded of their right. They also invented terrible methods to discover where any food was, and a man was forced to bear what it is even terrible to hear, in order to make him confess that he had but one loaf of bread, or that he TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 83 might discover a handful of barley-meal that was con- cealed : and this even when these tormentors were not themselves hungry ; for the thing had been less bar- barous had necessity forced them to it, but this was done to keep their madness in exercise, and as making provision for themselves for the following days. These men went also to meet those that had crept out of the city by night, as far as the Roman guards, to gather some plants and herbs that grew wild ; and when those people thought they had got clear of the enemy, they snatched from them what they had brought with them, even while they had frequently entreated them, and that by calling on the tremendous name of God, to give them back some part of what they had brought ; though these would not give them the least crumb, and they were told to be well contented that they were only spoiled, and not slain at the same time.' Such were the miseries of Jerusalem when its people, in the words of scripture, saw their enemies " casting a trench around about them, and compassing them round, and keeping them in on every side." No description indeed can come up to the horrors of the scene. Titus ordered such as ventured out of the city to gather herbs to be put to death, to strike terror into the Jews. Those I found with arms were crucified, sometimes to the num- ber of 500 in a day ; the soldiers exposed them in mockery to those upon the walls, nailed in different |)08tures, till wood was wanting for the bodies, and room on which to erect the crosses. Within the wall the state of things was frightful. Whole families perished ; the houses were full of dead women and children, the streets of aged men. The young had not strength to bury the dead : many died while striving to perform the last office to others, many went to the tombs to wait for death. ' There were no more tears seen, nor cries heard. They sat with dry eyes, and mouths drawn up into a bitter smile. A deep silence was spread over the city, forming a horrible kind of night. The only noise was from those who were engaged in the G 2 84 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : work of plunder, whose mirth it was to try their swords upon the bodies of the dead ; but if any one begged them to put an end to their misery, they would not kill them. The dying turned their eyes to the temple, as if to complain to God that these wicked men were suffered to live. Everything was eaten ; their girdles, the straps of their sandals, the remains of old hay, the refuse of the dunghill.' As the bodies of the slain and the dying became more numerous, they were cast over the walls into the ravines beneath. Titus cut off the hands of some of the prisoners, and sent them back into the city to tell their countrymen that no deserters would be punished, but such only as were made prisoners of war. He warned Simon and John not to compel him to lay the city in ruins ; but by yet surrendering to save their own lives, their country, and their temple ; but the Jews, from the walls, ridiculed his admonitions, saying that they despised death, and cared not for their country ; that the world was God's temple, and a far more magnificent one than that which the Romans threatened to destroy. Titus continued to prepare for the assault of the tower Antonia ; and was at this time joined by Antio- chus Epiphanes, king of Comagene, with a body of auxiliaries armed in the Macedonian fashion. These were almost entirely cut off in an assault which they soon after made. In seventeen days four banks were completed for the assault on the tower ; the first, oppo- site the middle of the pool of Struthia ; the second at twenty cubits distance from the first ; the third, farther east, near the pool of Amygdalon ; the fourth, thirty cubits from the third, near the monument of John. Meantime John of Gischala dug a mine from the tower of Antonia, by which one of the banks was destroyed. Two days afterwards, Simon assaulted the other banks, in which the moveable towers had been placed and the battering rams put in operation, and succeeded in set- ting fire to the machines. Only the covering of the rams was burnt, but the flames spread so rapidly over the banks, that the Romans were driven to their encamp- TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 85 ments ; where an obstinate conflict ensued, before the Jews, who had pursued them, could be driven back. As Titus found it impossible to procure materials for the construction of new banks, he built a wall round the whole circumference of the city, in order to hem the Jews in more closely, so as to compel them to surrender by famine, or that, weakened by long abstinence, they might be unable to offer vigorous resistance. This wall was thirty-nine stadia in circumference, and was fur- nished with thirteen castles, each ten stadia in circum- ference, designed as stations for the guards. The sol- diers completed their arduous task in ten days. The officers were on duty by turns every night, to promote the vigilance of the sentinels, and prevent any Jew from finding egress from the city. Within the^ ramparts, the horrors above described were still raging. As Titus went his rounds, and beheld the dead bodies in a state of putrefaction, and the ground reeking with gore, he lifted up his hands to hea- ven and groaned, calling God to witness that this was not his work. The famine had now extended to the soldiers, robbers, and zealots ; they were so much weakened by it, as to be unable to assault the Romans ; such was their misery, that Titus, still anxious to save the remainder of the people, again constructed banks opposite the tower Antonia, though he had to procure wood from the distance of ninety stadia. Meantime Simon's tyranny was unabated. He slew Matthias, the high-priest, with his three sons, the high- priest Ananias, the son of Marambal, and fifteen other men of eminence. The atrocious murder of the high- priest and sanhedrim caused an attempt to shake off his tyrannical yoke. Judas, with ten others, conspired to open the gates to the Romans. While the Romans, having so often suffered from Jewish cunning, hesitated to avail themselves of the offer, the vigilance of Simon detected the plot ; the conspirators were slain in the sight of the Romans, and their bodies thrown from the battlements. Many, desperate with their sufferings, 86 THE LAND OP ISRAEL : now leaped over the walls ; others, pretending an assault, went out and joined the Romans. Many of these perished miserably ; when they obtained food, tliey devoured it so greedily that their enfeebled frames could not bear the revulsion, and many died. To add to these horrors, the Arab and Syrian allies cut open the living bodies of 2000 deserters in one night, in search of money and jewels. Though Titus prohibited, under pain of death, this inhuman crime, it was still secretly practised, though but little gold was found in the bodies of the miserable victims. Here Josephus remarks, that ' It was God who condemned the whole nation, and turned every course that was taken for their preservation, to their destruction.' As the citizens were now entirely stripped, John seized and melted the sacred vessels, and consecrated gifts of the temple ; declaring, that those who fought for God, had a right to the things dedicated for God's service. He distributed to his followers the sacred wine and oil, which were consumed with eagerness. In re- lating this, Josephus uses the strongest language of horror and detestation : * For such abominations, even if the Romans had stood aloof, the city would have been swallowed by an earthquake, or swept away by a de- luge, or would have perished, like Sodom, in a tempest of fire and brimstone.' Soon after, Manneus, the son of Lazarus, deserted to the Romans, and acknowledged to Titus, that, from the 14th of April to the 1st of July, 115,880 dead bodies had been carried through that gate of the city at which he was stationed, besides those whom their own rela- tives had buried. Some deserters stated the number of bodies carried through the gates at 600,000 ; nor could the number of those otherwise disposed of be reckoned up, for the corpses were so numerous, that they could not be carried out, but were thrown on each other in heaps. Though the famished defenders of the wall had to climb their way to the ramparts over moulder- ing carcases, wliich emitted an insupportable stench. TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 87 they still fought with the wild desperation of men who have grown familiar with death. All this time the Romans were incessantly occupied with their military engines. Timber had become scarce, not a tree being left standing within more than a ten miles' circuit of the city ; all around was a disfigured and frightful solitude. The tall and fearful engines again threatened the walls ; the moveable towers pushed forwards, and the battering rams commenced repeating their thundering blows. Even the Romans were grow- ing weary with constant watching and work. The Jews had attempted to burn the engines, but they ad- vanced, in spite of stone and fire ; the Romans who worked, though sometimes crushed by the heavy stones, locked their shields over their heads, and working with their hands and crow-bars, succeeded before night in dislodging four large stones. Next morning, that part of the wall from which John had dug the mine to the Roman banks, fell with a tremendous crash. The Romans rushed on : John, however, had constructed a second wall within ; but it seemed easily accessible over the ruins of that which had fallen. The Romans made an unsuccessful attack upon it on the Srd of July. But two days afterwards, the guards of the banks having silently marched up to the tower at the ninth hour of the night (three o'clock) slew the Jewish sentinels, and blew their trumpets ; when the Jews at the place fled, supposing that the whole Roman army was bear- ing down upon them. Titus lost no time in bringing up his main body, and pursued the Jews into the Temple. Simon and John combined their forces : and a fierce battle with spears and javelins ensued, both parties in- volved in confusion, and scrambling to attack each other over piles of dead, and heaps of armour. This combat continued for ten hours ; the Romans being compelled to withdraw, contented themselves with the possession of the Tower of Antonia, which Titus ordered to be de- molished, to open for his army a more easy passage to the Temple. When he heard that the daily sacrifice 88 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : had ceased, he ordered Josephus to communicate with John, and inform him that he might draw forth, un- molested, all his army to battle ; that the city and temple might not be destroyed, nor the sacred ceremo- nies discontinued. Josephus's message was contemptu- ously treated, the Jews imprecating curses on the head of the renegade, and declaring that the city of God could never be destroyed. Many Jews fled to the Romans, after entreating their countrymen to surrender, or at least to leave the temple, which Titus expressed an anxious wish to preserve. But all was in vain. * The sacred gates were blocked up with balistas and cata- pults ; the peaceful temple, with its marble courts and gilded pinnacles, assumed the appearance of a warlike citadel. Its courts were strewn with the dead men with swords reeking with the blood of the enemy, or of their own countrymen, rushed to and fro along the holy place, or even the Holy of Holies * a profanation which horrified even the Roman soldiers, and against which Titus inveighed in striking terms. The leaders of the Jews refused to give up the Temple, and, perhaps, ex- pected that when the foe should pollute its precincts, a Divine interposition would yet be made on their behalf. Titus determined upon a night attack ; and as the narrowness of the trenches precluded the approach of his whole army, thirty men were selected from each century, tribunes appointed to command every thousand, and Cerealis to lead the whole ; while the General would himself take his station on a watch-tower of the An- tonia, to behold the conduct of the attack, and notice each act of bravery. The attack began at three o'clock in the morning. The Jews were prepared ; but the Romans, moving in small compact bodies, had at first the advantage ; during the darkness of the night, the combat turned into a confused melee, and many of the Jews fell by the swords of their friends. The battle lasted eight hours, without the Romans having gained an inch of ground ; when both parties, as if by mutual consent, drew off their forces. The Romans having TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 89 levelled part of the Antonia, had cut a broad way, by which their engines might bear on the temple ; and they had reared embankments opposite four parts of the outer court. The Jews gave incessant annoyance ; no sooner did the cavalry turn their horses to forage, than the Jews rushed out in squadrons ; and on one occasion, a desperate attack upon the outposts at the Mount of Olives, would have forced the wall, but for a charge of cavalry on their flank. A Roman horse- man caught up a Jew with his armour on, dragged him along, and cast him before the feet of Titus, who praised the gallantry of the trooper, and ordered the Jew to execution. The Roman banks being now nearly finished, the Jews themselves 'set fire to the northern cloister of the temple, which they fronted ; and two days afterwards, on the 4th of July, the adjoining cloister was burned by the Romans. The flame spread till the whole space between the Antonia and the tem- ple was vacant. The Jews in their desperation, now fought like wild animals at bay ; their temple might fall, but its ruin should not be unavenged. Josephus relates a singular stratagem to which they had recourse. They filled that part of the western cloister which was between the beams and the roof under them, with dry materials, sulphur and bitumen, and then feigned to retire ; though many of the Romans suspected an am- buscade, the more ran eagerly forward. The train was instantly fired ; the assailants were enveloped in the rushing and roaring flames. ' Some flung them- selves headlong into the city, others among the enemy ; there they lay bruised to death, or with broken limbs ; many were burnt alive, others fell on their own swords.' A few died fighting bravely. A young warrior named Longinus, was off'ered his life by the Jews, if he would surrender ; but his brother Cornelius from beneath having exhorted him to die a Roman death, he stabbed himself to the heart. Another Roman, Artorius, of- fered his comrade all his property, if he would catch him in his fall ; he escaped by jumping down, but the ^0 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : other was crushed to death under his weight. The greater part of the western cloister, to the north-east corner, near Cedron was burnt. A shocking incident here illustrates the internal horrors of the siege. The predictions of Moses were accomplished to the very letter : " The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil towards her hus- band, towards her son, and towards her daughter, and towards her young one that cometh from between her feet, and towards the children that she shall bear ; for she shall eat them for want of all things, secretly in the siege, and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall dis- tress thee within thy gates.'' A woman named Mary, of a distinguished family in Perea, who had frequently been deprived of all her treasures, and of every morsel of food, maddened with wrong, and exhausted by famine, took the infant who was vainly endeavouring to derive nourishment from her dried-up bosom, roasted it, ate one half, and concealed the rest. The robbers rushed in, attracted by the smoke and the smell of food, and with fearful imprecations commanded her to give up the food ; she with appalling indifference replied, * That she had saved a very fine portion of it for them,' and uncovered the remains of her murdered child. Even the plunderers stood aghast in their horror, and could not utter a word ; when she shrilly cried out like a demoniac, ' Eat, for I have eaten, be ye not more delicate than a woman, more tender-hearted than a mother, or if ye are too religious to touch such food, I have eaten half already, leave me the rest.' They retired pale and trembling : the transaction soon became known through the city, and reached the Roman camp ; when Titus again protested that he was not the cause of these dreadful miseries, having frequently offered peace to the Jews. Two embankments were completed on the 8th of August, and the battering-rams worked for six days J TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 91 without any result ; and at the same time the Romans were compelled to desist from a vain attempt to under- mine the northern gate of the temple. They then mounted the cloisters by scaling-ladders ; which the Jews repeatedly overturned, loaded with soldiers, who were dashed to pieces on the pavement. The Romans were at length beaten off and some eagles taken from them. Eleazar the son of Simon perished on this occasion ; the Romans lost many brave warriors. Titus ordered the gates to be set on hre. Immediately on the application of the torch, the silver plates heated, the wood caught, and the flames spread rapidly to the cloisters. * Like wild beasts environed in a burning forest, the Jews saw the awful circle of fire hem them in on every side : their courage sank, they stood gasping, motionless or help- less ; not a hand endeavoured to quench the flames, or stop the silent progress of the conflagration. Yet still fierce thoughts of desperate vengeance was brooding in their hearts. ' The fire raged during the whole day and night. Next day Titus ordered his soldiers to quench the fire, and open a way for the assault of the temple. He then held a council of war, to determine whether the temple should be destroyed or preserved. Though many thought that if not entirely demolished, it would still be a rallying-post to the Jews, Titus determined to preserve so magnificent a building as an ornament to the Roman empire. But heaven had decreed its des- truction, and man's council came to nought. Next day the Jews in great force, made two determined sallies from the eastern gate, but were driven back to the inner court. On the 10th of August, the day on which the Baby- lonians had destroyed the former temple, the awful catastrophe took place. Titus had retired to the An- tonia, arranging his plans for a general assault next morning. It was a quiet summer evening : * the setting sun shone for the last time on the snow-white walls, and glistening pinnacles of the temple roof.' Suddenly there was a wild and fearful cry, a man rushed in to tell, that the temple was on fire. The Jews had at- 92 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : tacked the men employed in extinguishing the flames in the cloisters ; the Romans drove them back, and forced their way to the door of the temple. A Roman soldier seized a fire-brand, and mounting the back of one of his comrades, cast it through a small gilded door communicating with the apartments on the north side of the sanctuary. The flames immediately burst out. A shriek of despair was raised by the Jews, it was the destruction of their last hope ; and they grasped their swords, resolved to die in defence of their temple. Titus rushed down with the utmost haste, shouting and making signs to his soldiers to desist ; but those who were fighting with the Jews attended not to his com- mands, and rushed on, in eager haste, over the crum- bling ruins. Each hurled his blazing brand, then rushed into the heart of the combat. The whole space round the altar was covered with dead bodies, and sheets of blood flowed down the stairs into the outer court. Titus, entering the temple, proceeded with his gene- rals to the sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies, ere the conflagration of the adjacent apartments had reached the interior ; he was struck with amazement at the beauty and splendour around. He made a last effbrt to save the holy place ; his prayers and entreaties were vain, and the authority of his officers disregarded : res- pect for Caesar gave way to fierce excitement, and the burning thirst for vengeance. ' The soldiers saw every thing around them radiant with gold, which shone dazzingly in the wild light of the flames ; they sup- posed that incalculable treasures were laid up in the sanctuary.' A soldier, unnoticed, thrusted his lighted torch between the hinges of the door, and the whole was in flames. The officers were forced to retreat from the raging furnace. It was an emblem of the fiery ruin which scathed the Jews ; the horrors of that night denoted the fearful vengeance of heaven. An eloquent historian thus describes it in his vivid narrative : ' The whole summit of the hill which commanded the city, blazed like a volcano. One after another the buildings TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 93 fell in with a tremendous crash, and were swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of cedar were like sheets of flame : the gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of red light : the gate-towers sent up tall columns of flame and smoke. The neighbouring hills were lighted up ; and dark groups of people were seen watching in hor- rible anxiety the progress of the destruction : the walls and heights of the upper city were crowded with faces, some pale with the agony of despair, others scowling unavailing vengeance. The shout of the Roman sol- diery, as they ran to and fro, and the howling of the insurgents who were perishing in the flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and the thundering sound of falling timbers. The echoes of the mountains repeated or brought back the shrieks of the people on the heights : all along the walls resounded screams and wailing : men who were expiring with famine, rallied their remaining strength to utter a cry of anguish and desolation.' A dreadful slaughter raged within the flaming walls. Men and women, old and young, the robber and the priest, the combatant and those who cried for mercy, were swept away in the indiscriminate and unsparing vengeance of the Roman sword. The number of the slain was greater than that of those who deprived them of life ; and the legionaries in their work of carnage, had to climb over piles of corpses. John cut his way with some troops to the upper city. Some priests upon the roof wrenched off" the gilded spikes with their leaden sockets, and hurled them at the heads of the Romans : then fled to a part of the wall, fourteen feet wide ; they were called on to surrender, but two leaped into the flaming gulf. The Romans carried their standards round the burn- ing temple, and set them up before the eastern gate, where they off^ered sacrifices and saluted Titus by the title of Imperator. They had a store of rich plunder, having rifled the treasuries of all their money, jewels, and costly robes which the flames had spared. Such 94 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : was the richness of the spoil, that gold fell in Syria to half its former value. Only the outer cloister remained, in which were a defenceless multitude of 6000, with woraen and children, whom a false prophet had led up to the temple, as the place where God would interpose for the remnant of Israel : it was set on fire, and not one escaped. During the whole siege false prophets kept the people in a constant state of excitement, so that even in the darkness of their misery they trusted in the appearance of that Messiah, who they fondly but erroneously hoped, would reigi^-^s a temporal king, and deliver his people from the power of their enemies. To the last they cherished the hope of his advent, and even in the last hour trusted that He who would redeem Israel would manifest his strength and go forth to conquer, by one word destroy the whole army of Rome, and sit enthroned upon Sion as a universal king. The excitement was increased by the appearance of wonderful signs before the commencement of the siege, the fiery sword glaring in the heavens, the armed hosts contending in the air ; the opening of the great gate, and the terrible sound echoing through the deserted sanctuary, * Let us depart ; ' the calamitous cry of Jesus, son of Ananias, who strode about the city like an evil angel, ever exclaiming, ' Woe, woe to the city ! ' till he suddenly stopped, and shrieking, * Woe to myself,' fell dead by a stone, from one of the Roman engines. On the following day, after a vain attempt of the robbers and zealots to obtain terms, the lower city was given up to be plundered and burnt. Several prisoners of note surrendered, whose lives were spared, but they were put under guard, and sent as hostages to Rome. The Romans drove out such of the Jews as had taken refuge in the royal castle, slew 8400, and seized their effects. Next day the robbers and zealots were com- pelled to retreat to the upper city. Josephus again ex- horted them to surrender ; they received him with re- viling, and boasted that having rifled the whole city. i. TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 95 ere was nothing left for Titus to seize. They were now about to be visited for their crimes : they were closely besieged, and could neither cope with the Ro- mans nor yet escape ; their leaders watched every one who seemed disposed to desert, and slew him without mercy. Their chiefs crept into the subterraneous vaults, where they hoped to lurk till the departure of the enemy. Faithful to their vocation they plundered and set fire to several parts of the city, and even contended respecting the division of the spoil. Titus commenced the raising of embankments against the upper city on the 18th of August. Four legions were stationed on the west side, opposite the royal tower. On the east side were the auxiliaries, opposite the gymnasium, the bridge, and the tower which Simon had built. Meantime many desertions took place : the Romans sold a great number of deserters for a trifling sum, and 40,000 captives of low rank, for whom no pur- chaser could be found, were dismissed. Jesus, the son of Thebuthus, having received a pledge of safety, brought to Titus, from the sacred treasury, two candle- sticks like those in the temple, with tables, cups, and other vessels, all of solid and massive gold ; with the sacred veils, the high priest's robes decorated with jewels, and many of the sacred utensils. Phineas, the treasurer of the temple, who was made prisoner, de- livered to Titus the pontifical robes and girdles, much purple and scarlet used for the veils : with cinnamon, cassia, and other sweet spices, of which the incense was composed. After eighteen days' labour, the banks were completed on the 7th of September, and the machines brought against the walls. Some of the rebels fled to the vaults, others withdrew to the castle, and but a few, who made a feeble resistance, attempted to defend the walls ; they fled as soon as the Romans had made a breach. The chiefs indeed made an effbrt to drive the enemy back, or to cut their way through ; but when their adherents were dispersed, and some fugitives informed them that 96 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the western wall was destroyed, and the legionaries rushing in, they were thrown into confusion, and fled. The Romans found an easy and bloodless triumph, they planted their standards on the towers, and plundered and burnt on their march through the streets. They expected to find rich plunder, but saw in man}'- houses only piles of decaying bodies, families which had perished in the famine, and retreated from the dismal sight and the overpowering stench. They massacred every Jew whom they found in the streets, and set fire to the houses in which they took refuge ; the progress of the flames was retarded by the streams of gore, and night alone closed the carnage ; then the conflagration became general. When Titus saw the massy towers and fortifications, he acknowledged the hand of God in his victory ; saying, ' It was surely God himself who expelled the Jews from these fortifications, from which man could never have driven them.' He ordered that none should be put to death but such as had been taken in arms ; but the old and weak escaped not the fury of his troops, who drove the young and strong to the tem- ple, where they were confined in the court of the women, and strongly guarded. Fronto, who was appointed to pass sentence on the prisoners, condemned the robbers and insurgents to death, selecting such as were of hand- somest form to grace the triumph of Titus, while the re- mainder, above seventeen years of age, were sent to la- bour in the Egyptian mines. Titus distributed many among the provinces, to be exhibited as gladiators in the public theatres, and to combat with wild beasts. Twelve thousand, partly from neglect, and partly from refusing to take nourishment, perished of hunger. The number killed during the siege amounted to 1,000,000 ; the prisoners to 97,000 ; for the sudden encompassing of Jerusalem by the Romans had cooped up the popula- tion not only of the city, and of the surrounding dis- tricts, who had there taken refuge, but also those who had assembled for the feast of unleavened bread, when Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims who flocked from all TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 97 parts of Judea. On searching the subterranean vaults, the Romans found the bodies of more than 2000, who had committed suicide, or perished from famine ; with many prisoners whom the chiefs had confined there. John, nearly exhausted with hunger, submitted to the mercy of the conquerors, and his life was spared, though he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. Much treasure was also found in the vaults, which reeked with pestilential effluvia. From Caesarea on the sea, Titus went to Csesarea Philippi, where games were celebrated, during which many of the Jews were cast to wild beasts, and others compelled to engage in gladiatorial combats. In the midst of these, intelligence came that Simon had been captured among the ruins of Jerusalem. He and some others had leaped into a subterranean vault, with a party of miners, hewers of stone, and iron- workers, in- tending to dig an underground passage and escape ; he had made* little progress before his stock of provisions was exhausted, when he rose from the earth like a spectre, disclosed his name, and demanded to speak with the commander of the garrison. He was sent to Caesarea in chains and afterwards to Rome, to form a principal ornament of the triumph. To Terentius Rufus, the work of completely desola- ting the ruins was assigned. Nought was left of the once stately capital of Judea, its streets once teeming with busy multitudes, splendid palaces of kings, the towering fortresses of its warriors, the pillared majesty of its temple, but the towers Phasaelis, Mariamne, and Hippicus, with part of the western wall as a defence of the Roman camp. Titus distributed rewards to his bravest soldiers, and offering a thanksgiving service to the gods ; in his train crowds of wretched captives were dragged, to gratify the victor's insolent pride, and delight his eyes with their sufferings. To the people of Antioch alone was some mercy vouchsafed : when intreated to expel the Jews from that city, he answered in these affecting words : * The country of the Jews is destroyed, 98 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : thither they cannot return : it would be hard to allow them no home to which they can retreat leave them in peace/ During the war of Vespasian and Titus, the number of Jews killed is said by Josephus to have amounted to 1,356,460 ; of prisoners, to 101,700, exclusive of those who fell in various skirmishes and battles, of whom no record is preserved, and of the immense number who perished by massacre, famine, and pestilence. The triumph of Titus was distinguished by more than usual splendour ; besides the customary display of captured treasures, and of all that was most valuable and rare in a conquered country, there were extraor- dinary pageants displaying all the melancholy and pe- culiar features of the war ; with the spoils of the tem- ple, including the golden table, the seven-branched candlestick, and the book of the law. As the proces- sion reached the capital, Simon, the great Jewish chief, was put to death. In the forum of Rome, among the defaced and mouldering relics of the Arch of Titus, the antiquary can still trace the symbols illustrative of his conquest, the spoils of Mount Sion, and the mournful train of Jewish captives. Though it might have been considered probable that, after the destruction of the temple, the crushed spirit of Judaism would no longer have attempted to re- sist the power of Rome, and that after so great misery and carnage, the remnant of the people would have sub- mitted to the conqueror, yet Lucius Bassus, the com- mander of the Roman army, found the gates of three strong fortresses still shut Herodion, Massada, and J Machaerus. Of these the first forthwith capitulated, as 1 also did the thirdj after some show of resistance ; the garrison was spared, but the lower town still holding out, 1700 of the defenders were slain. Bassus died, and Flavins Silva proceeded to the attack of Massada. This- was a place of commanding strength, on the south- | western shore of the Dead Sea, built on a high rock, surrounded with precipitous chasms, and accessible only TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 99 by two narrow and extremely difficult paths ; the eas- tern one winding from the shore of the Dead Sea, along a series of frightful precipices, and called the serpent from its circuitous'course, after pursuing which for four miles, Massada was seen in the midst of a small, but extremely beautiful and fertile plain. It was surrounded by a wall, about a mile in circuit ; twenty-two feet high, four- teen broad, and having thirty-seven high towers. It had also a strong and splendid palace, with sixty towers, the work of Herod, on the western cliff, with a connection between it and the citadel, by an underground passage. An impregnable tower commanded the narrowest part of the western assent. Massada had large reservoirs of water, and a plentiful supply of provisions, which only a lengthened period could exhaust. Silva erected an embankment two hundred cubits high, on the west side of the fortress, and above it a stone platform fifty cubits high, surmounted by a moveable tower of sixty cubits. The Romans having with difficulty made a breach in the wall, found that a second breastwork had been constructed within. But this being chiefly composed of timber, was soon burnt ; when the Jews had recourse to the last sad refuge of despair. At Simon's suggestion, each man undertook on the following night, to put to death all the members of his own family ; and previously the treasures were collected in a heap, and destroyed. Then ten of the strongest men were selected to kill the rest ; this done, one of these ten having been chosen by lot to kill the nine, slew them, set fire to the royal castle, and then killed himself. The date of this occurrence was in April, of the year 73, a.c. ; the number of slain, including women and children, amounted to 960. "When the Romans entered the city in the morning, in close array and cautiously, they found it silent as the grave. No human being could be seen, and they were astonished at the vestiges of fire around them. They shouted to startle the Jews from their hiding-places ; only two women and five children, who had taken refuge in a 100 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : cavern, crept out. The resistance of the Jews was now ended, and the last act of the melancholy drama peiformed. The lands of the territory were put up to sale, and the proceeds drafted into the imperial treasury. The annual capitulation tax of two drachms exacted from the Jews in every part of the empire, was trans- ferred to the funds for the rebuilding of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Some embers of the war still burned in Egypt and Cyrene, but these were speedily extinguished in blood. The whole history of the Jews is a verification of prophecy, and a most important argument for the truth of Christianity, having in it the significance and force of a perpetual miracle. We can only glance at the subject ; but cannot fail to remark, that every pre- diction concerning them contained both in the Old and New Testament, has been fulfilled to the very letter. The founder of their government predicted its over- throw ; while the Jews still wandered without a home in the wilderness, he pointed out to them as the penalty of disobedience, the destruction of their cities, the deso- lation of their country. Ere yet they had entered on the goodly land promised to their fathers, when in the flush of victory and triumph they were about to pos- sess it, their Roman enemies the instruments of their chastisement were indicated, " A nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young." " They shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high fenced walls come down wherein thou trustest, through- out all thy land.'' Here are particularized the slavery of the people, the ravages of famine, the might of the enemy's sword, the destruction of the city and the turning of the fruitful land into a wilderness, the desolation of the high places, the scattering of the bones of the people around their altars, the besieging of Jerusalem, the raising efforts against it, the fear- ful sights and signs from heaven, Jerusalem compassed. TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 101 with armies, and the desolation of abomination within the holy place, the unequalled distress and extremity of earthly woe and taxing, to the uttermost of human endurance, till Jerusalem became heaps, and the moun- tain of the House as the high places of the forest ; all came to pass which the Son of God had foretold, as he stood mournfully contemplating the proud city, and foretold the coming ruin of those who had shed the righteous blood of the prophets, and were to consummate their wickedness by crucifying the Lord of glory. Not only so, but the ruined fortunes of the forlorn people were foretold in Scripture with unexampled precision and force, in such graphic colours, that the application is made in a moment, and their tale of horror traced in the darkest hues. Their scattering in every land through all the countries of the earth, as citizens of the world without a home, their wanderings terminated by no boundaries of mountain, or river, desert, or ocean, amid the snows of Siberia and the sands of the burning desert, among the farthest tribes of savage men, persecuted and despised, cut down in multitudes, but still surviving in scorn and contempt, " tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast," spoiled of that treasure on which their hearts are set, suffering the deepest wrongs on account of it, yet clinging to it as the only solace of their woes ; everywhere a distinct people ; their countenance, like the former greatness of their nation, having the lingering traces of past glory, yet debased by a sense of humiliation : these circum- stances thus minutely pointed out, proclaim that their fortunes are no work of chance, but a visible display of the power and prescience of an omnipotent God. CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF PALESTINE, FROM THE FALL OF JERU- SALEM TO THE PRESENT TIME. After the reduction of Judea by the Romans, they divided the country on this side of Jordan into the three tetrarchies of Judea Proper,' Samaria, and Galilee ; the first comprising the territories of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and Simeon ; the second, those of Ephraim, Issachar and part of Manasseh ; and the last, those of Zebulon, Asher, and Naphtali. The region eastward of Jordan was divided into the smaller districts of Peraea, Decapo- lis, Gaulonitis, Batanea, and Auranitis. The whole of the tribes had not been dispersed by the war, which had left uninjured many parts of Palestine, and in these the inhabitants enjoyed a considerable measure of prosperity under the Roman dominion. The coast-towns in general had submitted without resistance, while the provinces beyond Jordan, Agrippa's kingdom, had pre- served their allegiance unbroken, and thus the main pressure of suffering and ruin had rested on the inherit- ance of Judah and Benjamin. To prevent all attempts at rebuilding Jerusalem, Vespasian had posted a garrison of 800 men on Mount Zion ; strict orders were also given to make search for any who might claim descent from the house of David, that the Jews might be cut off from all hopes of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, and might no longer cherish the expectation of their Messiah. The same jealousy, manifested in like manner during the FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 103 following reign, strongly illustrates the spirit of hope that animated the Jews, and the real cause of their succes- sive revolts. In Egypt and in Palestine they rebelled against the Roman authority, listening eagerly to the tale of every impostor who appeared among them ; thus bringing down the vengeance of the conquerors, and hastening their own total expulsion from their land. We shall notice the great revolt under Bar- cochebas, and the sufferings of the Jews down to the present day, in a future chapter ; at present we will confine our attention to the history of the country under its subsequent masters. Adrian, to annihilate for ever, the hopes of the Jews, founded a new city on the ruins of Jerusalem, to be in- habited by a foreign colony. The town was called Mlia Capitolina, in allusion to ^lius, the pre-nomen of the emperor, and to Jupiter Capitolinus, the pre- siding divinity of Rome. The Jews were now pro- hibited from entering the city, or even from beholding it afar off, but the Christians were permitted to reside there. The very name of Jerusalem was lost in that of ^lia ; so that in the reign of Maximim, the Roman governor Firmilianus enquired of a martyr at Caesarea what that city was, and where it lay ? Little change took place in the condition of Palestine till the accession of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Twenty-three successive bishops, from Mar- cus to Macarius, ruled the Christian community in iElia, composed partly of Gentile converts. Constan- tine permitted the Jews to enter their holy city once a year, and built splendid structures over many places supposed to be the scenes of our Saviour's history. Helena, the emperor's mother, travelled to Palestine, and believed that she discovered the true cross, and the sacred sepulchre. Gradually, the land was overspread with memorials of Christianity ; chapels, altars, and houses of prayer marked out places considered to be the sites of holy buildings, or the scenes of our Lord's ministry md sufferings. The indignation of the 104 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I Jews was aroused by the erection of these monuments within Jerusalem ; for they cherished equal enmity against the Christian worship and the Pagan idolatry. But it was no longer in their power to act with union or vigour, scattered, as they were, in distant parts. Yet so fondly did they cling to their ancient rites, that the faintest hope of success would still have rallied them around the banner of their fathers' faith. But their power was paralysed, and they could no longer assem- ble in Judea as a nation. Jerusalem was filled with the emblems of a new faith, and was frequented by crowds of pilgrims from distant lands. The clergy of the place, prompted by zeal, and probably by avarice also, encouraged these visits, and fixed the scene of each memorable event, gratifying the ignorant piety of the traveller with a sight of the cross, nails, and lance, the crown of thorns, and the pillar of scourg- ing, * To these deceptions was added, a list of pretended miracles, by which the ignorant were duped and robbed of their money ; and in the meantime, amid all this pretended sanctity, Jerusalem presented the grossest scenes of immorality and vice. This veneration evinced by strangers for the holy city, does not seem to have influenced the lives or practices of those votaries of in- dolence or pleasure, the relics in their possession being valued merely as a source of gain, and the means of worldly indulgence.' When Julian ascended the throne, the Jews expected that his declared hostility to Christianity, would lead him to regard favourably their own faith. His policy countenanced this belief when, by issuing orders to re- build the temple of Jerusalem, he proclaimed his inten^ tion of striving to cast discredit upon those prophecies which foretold its perpetual desolation. The command- ing eminence of Mount Moriah was selected for a new and splendid structure, and he resolved to establish a Jewish order of priests, who should revive the observ- ance of the Mosaic rites, and to collect within Jerusa- lem a numerous colony of Jews. The Jews flocked from FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 105 all quarters to the spot, and exulted in insolent triumph over the Christian inhabitants. Each hastened to con- tribute to the rebuilding of the fallen fane. Those who could not come in person, envied the good fortune of their brethren, and waited in anxious expectation for tidings of the progress of the work. Their hoards of money were brought out, and poured forth in lavish pro- fusion ; the men surrendered their hard- won treasures of their avarice ; the women the ornaments of their vanity* The very tools, as if consecrated by the service, were of costly materials ; some had shovels, mallets, and baskets of silver ; women carried rubbish in robes and mantles of silk. Heaps of timber, stones, lime, burnt bricks, and clay were collected. The Jews were boundless in their triumph and confidence. But as the workmen were engaged in digging the foundation of the new Temple, flames of fire burst forth from the ground, accompanied with terrific explosions. An enterprise which appeared stamped with the an ger of heaven was prosecuted no further ; it was relinquished as at once hopeless and impious. About the commencement of the seventh century, the peace of Judea was interrupted by the Persian invasion. The Greeks and Persians had for a long time contended for the dominion of the east ; and Chosroes, the grand- son of Nushirvan, in the course of his invasion of the Roman empire, took by storm, and plundered, Antioch and Csesarea. From Syria, the flood of invasion rolled upon Palestine, and 24,000 Jews, burning with the de- sire of independence, joined his army. A deep and lengthened course of injury had mutually inflamed the Christians and Jews ; the latter within the walls had been mercilessly massacred by the Christians, and the Jews on the outside were eager for vengeance. The combined army of Jews and Persians stormed Jerusa- lem, and the Jews reaped an ample harvest of revenge in the blood of the Nazarenes. The Christians neither asked nor found mercy, and 90,000 perished. The city was sacked, and the magnificent monuments of the 106 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Christian faith consumed by fire. In the words of Gibbon, the holy sepulchre, and the stately churches of Helena and Constantine, rifled, in one sacrilegious day of the devout offerings of three hundred years, were abandoned to the flames. But the fierce joy of the Jews was of brief duration. Heraclius, roused by the tri- umph of the Persians, and the approach of their con- quering army to Constantinople, at length assembled his veteran troops, and defeated Chosroes ; a few successful campaigns sufficed to recover the provinces of which he had been deprived. Soon after, he visited Jerusalem in the habit of a pilgrim, bearing the recovered cross on his shoulder, and completed the Christian triumph by re- building in all their splendour the destroyed churches. The Jews were persecuted, Adrian's law which pro- hibited their approach within three miles of Jerusalem being revived. Palestine remained subject to Grecian authority till the rise of the Mahommedan power in the east. The followers of the false prophet, extending their doctrines and dominions by fire and sword, conquered successively the provinces of Arabia, Syria, and Egypt ; and in 686, the caliph Omar's troops marched to Jerusalem. The customary summons was addressed to the chief com- manders and people of the city. * Health and happi- ness to every one that follows the right way ! We re- quire of you to testify that there is but one God, and that Mahomet is his apostle. If you refuse this, consent to pay tribute, and be under us forthwith. Otherwise I shall bring men against you who love death better than 3^ou do the drinking of wine or eating hog's flesh. Nor will I ever stir from you, if it please God, till I have destroyed those that fight for you, and made slaves of your children.' But the city was defended round about by deep vallies and steep ascents ; its walls and towers had been repaired since the Persian invasion ; many fu- gitives had found refuge in it ; the same enthusiasm which glowed in the bosoms of the Saracens animated the defenders of the holy sepulchre. The siege continued FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 107 for four months, during which each day was marked by some sally or assault ; the engines of war continually played from the ramparts ; and the inclement winter caused severe loss to the Arabs. At length the Chris- tians yielded. ' The patriarch Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of an interpreter, demanded a conference. After a vain attempt to dissuade the lieutenant of the caliph from his impious enterprise, he proposed, in the name of the people, a fair capitulation, with this extraordinary clause, that the articles of se- curity should be ratified by the authority and presence of Omar himself. The question was debated in the council of Medina ; the sanctity of the place, and the advice of Ali, persuaded the caliph to gratify the wishes of his soldiers and enemies. The conqueror of Persia and Syria was mounted on a red camel, which carried, besides his person, a bag of corn, a bag of dates, a wooden dish, and a leather bottle of water. Wherever he halted, the company, without distinction, was invited to par- take of his homely fare, and the repast was consecrated by the prayer and exhortation of the commander of the faithful. When he came within sight of Jerusalem, the caliph cried with a loud voice, * God is victorious. O Lord, give us an easy conquest ; ' and pitching his tent of coarse hair, calmly seated himself on the ground. After signing the capitulation, he entered the city with- out fear or precaution ; and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities. At the hour of prayer they stood together in the church of the Resurrection ; but the caliph refused to perform his devotions, and contented himself with praying on the steps of the church of Constantine. By his command the ground of the temple of Solomon was prepared for the foundation of a mosque. Omar was assassinated in Jerusalem in 648, after which, the east was for two hundred years distracted by the bloody wars between the Ommiades, the Abbassides, and the Fatimite caliphs ; during which Palestine, a mutual object of contention, was subjected to devastation and trouble. Achmet, a 108 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Turk, conquered it in 868 ; but the caliphs of Bagdad re-took it in 906. The Turks and Arabs successively conquered the hapless city, and the Fatimites held it when the crusades advanced into the Holy Land to res- cue it from the hands of the infidels. Jerusalem was still revered as a holy city both by Christians and Jews, and pilgrims flocked from every quarter, among others Peter the hermit, a native of Amiens. He brought back a melancholy tale of the wrongs and insults suffered by the Christian pilgrims from the infidels who held the city ; the deepest sym- pathy was excited by his representations among the princes and nations of Christendom. Councils were summoned, which were attended by the bishops, a large body of ecclesiastical dignitaries, and crowds of the laity. Four thousand mitred prelates attended at the council of Trent alone. The excited multitude were addressed by the zealous enthusiasts of the sacred cause ; the sufferings of their brethren in the Holy Land were de- picted in striking colours ; the flame spread from breast to breast ; and the bold champions of the cross, the flower of European chivalry, assembled in martial array, to fight the enemies of the faith. To raise money for the war, princes laid aside their provinces, nobles mort- gaged their castles and estates, peasants parted with their cattle and agricultural instruments, and a vast host was mustered. * Peter the hermit,' says Dr. Ro- bertson, ' ran from province to province with a crucifix in his hand, exciting princes and people to this holy war, and wherever he came, kindled the same enthusi- astic ardour for it with which he himself was animated. The council of Placentia, where upwards of 80,000 per- sons were assembled, pronounced the scheme to have been suggested by the immediate inspiration of heaven. In the council of Clermont, still more numerous, as soon as the measure was proposed, all cried out with one voice, * It is the will of God ! ' Persons of all ranks caught the contagion ; not only the gallant nobles of that age, with their martial followers, whom we may FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 109 suppose apt to be allured by the boldness of a romantic enterprise, but men in the more humble and pacific stations of life, ecclesiastics of every order, and even wo- men and children, engaged with emulation in an under- taking which was deemed sacred and meritorious. If we may believe the concurring testimonies of contem- porary authors, six millions of persons assumed the cross, which was the badge that distinguished such as devoted themselves to this holy warfare. ' All Europe,' says the Princess Anna Comnena, * torn up from the foundation, seemed ready to precipitate itself in one united body on Asia.' Nor did the fumes of this en- thusiastic zeal evaporate at once ; the frenzy was as lasting as it was extravagant. During two centuries, Europe seems to have had no object but to recover or keep possession of the Holy Land, and from that period vast armies continued to march thither. To the war- like ardour of the age was superadded religious con- siderations ; for Pope Urban the Second encouraged them to attack the enemies of God, and in that sacred expedition to earn the brilliant reward promised to the faithful servants of the Redeemer. Strange that even in that dark period men should think they were thus acting up to the spirit of the gospel of peace ! The most distinguished leaders of the host were God- frey, Duke of Brabant and Bouillon ; Robert of France, the brother of King Philip ; and Robert, Duke of Nor- mandy, the King of England's son ; with Bohemond, chief of the Apulian Normans, and Raymond, Count of Toulouse, Tancred, and other renowned commanders. The vast armies conducted by these chieftains reached Constantinople by various routes ; after having lost a great proportion of their numbers in the march through unknown countries, by famine, disease, and the assaults of the inhabitants. After reposing for some time in Constantinople, they crossed to the Asiatic shore. An- tioch was besieged by Bohemond in 1097 ; two years afterwards Jerusalem was taken by assault, and the garrison mercilessly slaughtered. On the site of the 110 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : temple 10,000 Mohammedans were slain, and more were thrown from the roofs of the houses. For two months the siege had been continued with various success and much loss, which probably excited the rage of the victors to ferocity. The assailants having suffered not only from the enemy, but from thirst, be- took themselves to religious exercises. The soldiery, in full armour, marched in procession round the be- leaguered city ; the clergy preceded them with naked feet, and bearing crucifixes. The air was rent by the old cry, * It is the will of God ! ' and instead of the martial clamour of drums and trumpets, they raised the solemn music of hymns and psalms. They knelt in prayer for aid in the combat on Mounts Olivet and Zion ; regardless of the mockery of the Saracens on the ramparts, who cast mud upon crosses erected for the purpose ; the crusaders only raised shouts of sacred joy. All things being prepared for the battle of the morning, both besiegers and besieged watched in arms during the night. The battle which began at day-break, at first seemed to incline in favour of the Moslems ; the war- riors of the cross feared defeat, and began to despair of their cause. But suddenly a knight was seen waving his glittering shield upon Mount Olivet, as a signal for them to renew the charge. Godfrey and Eustace cried out that St. George had come to aid them. Their fail- ing enthusiasm was now as vigorous as ever ; fatigue and wounds were forgotten ; the princes led their ranks of warriors to the breach, and even the women pressed on to take part in the sacred combat. In an hour the barbican was broken down, and Godfrey's banner rested upon the inner wall. To encourage the men, the Duke of Lorraine fought like a private soldier, discharging arrows with unerring aim upon the enemy, well seconded by Eustace and Baldwin, * like two lions be- side another lion ; ' and at three o'clock, the hour of the passion, Godfrey of Bouillon stood victorious on the walls of Jerusalem. The holy city was rescued from the Mahometan yoke, and the banner of the cross floated FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. Ill on its walls. The Mussulmans still resisted for a time, but fled to the temples, and there bowed their necks to the sword. In the pillage, the conquerors had agreed to respect Jhe exclusive property of the first occupant; and the spoils of the great mosque, seventy lamps and massy vases of gold and silver, rewarded the diligence of Tancred. The victors boasted that in pursuing the fugitives to the mosque of Omar, they rode lij) to their horses' knees in Saracen blood. The bravery of the crusaders was stained by the most flagrant cruelty ; women, infants at the breast, and children were dragged forth, and slain without mercy ; dead bodies and man- gled limbs covered the streets. Their garments and weapons yet dripping with blood, the crusaders pro- ceeded to offer their devotions at the sacred shrine which they had rescued ; bareheaded and barefooted, they ascended the hill of Calvary, amid the loud anthems of the clergy, kissed the stone of the Saviour's tomb, and bedewed with tears of joy and penitence the monu- ments of their redemption. Attempts have been made to vindicate the policy, or palliate the guilt of the crusaders against the Mahome- tans, but the most severe censure may justly be bestowed on their cruelty. It is remarked by Mr. Mill, that the * massacre of the Saracens, on the capture of the holy city, did not proceed alone from the inflamed passions of victorious soldiers, but from remorseless fanaticism. Benevolence to Turks, Jews, infidels, and heretics, formed no part of Christian ethics in those rude times ; and, as the Moslems believed it was the will of heaven that the religion of their prophet should be propagated by the sword, so their antagonists laboured under a similar delusion, that they themselves were the minis- ters of God's wrath upon a disobedient and stiffs-necked people ! ' No pity was shown, from the fear lest the Mahometans, in conjunction with the Egyptian Sara- cens, might again take Jerusalem. Vast crowds of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were accordingly slaughtered like cattle, in the public squares. An order having been 112 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I issued for the cleansing of the stones of the city, the task was exacted of Moslem slaves. The Count of Tou- louse was much blamed for accepting a ransom for some prisoners whom, among other horrors, he had sent to Ascalon. Many synagogues were set on fire, and num- bers of Jews perished in the flames. Eight days after the capture of Jerusalem, the Latin chiefs proceeded to choose a king, who should sway the sceptre of Palestine. Godfrey of Bouillon was elected to this high office, which was dangerous as well as honourable ; he had not worn the crown two weeks, when he had to take the field in defence of his capital against the Sultan of Egypt, at the head of a strong army. The Egyptians were defeated in the battle of Ascalon, and Godfrey was enabled to add widely to the restricted boundaries of his infant kingdom, which had embraced only Jerusalem and Jaffa, with twenty adja- cent towns and villages. He reduced the fortified castles, to which the Moslems had retreated ; took the maritime cities of Laodicea, Tripoli, Tyre, and Ascalon ; so that the Christian kingdom reached along the sea-coast from Scanderoon to the borders of Egypt. * If the province of Antioch had disdained his supremacy, the courts of Edessa and Tripoli owned themselves the vassals of the king of Jerusalem ; the Latins reigned beyond the Eu- phrates ; and the four cities of Hems, Hannah, Damas- cus, and Aleppo, were the only relics of the Mahomme- dan conquest in Syria. The feudal institutions of Eu- rope were introduced into this kingdom in all their pu- rity ; and a code of laws, called the assize of Jerusalem, was drawn up, which was attested by the seals of the king, the patriarch, and the viscount of Jerusalem, and deposited in the sepulchre of the Saviour as an unerring guide in all doubtful questions that might be brought before the tribunals of the holy city.' Godfrey was not only a brave warrior, but entertained deep respect for the authority of the Church. His companions would have rewarded his services with a precious diadem, but he declared that he would never wear a crown of gold FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 113 in that city where Christ had borne a crown of thorns ; nor would he consent to assume the title of king, but only styled himself Defender and Baron of the Holy Sepulchre. Having died at Jaffa, he was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who conducted the government with vigour and success ; and his nephew Baldwin, who maintained upon the whole the honour of the family, was the third Defender of the Sepulchre. Foulkes, of Anjou, having married his daughter Melisandra, was next sovereign ; but was killed by a fall from his horse, after enjoying the dignity for twelve years. His son, Baldwin III., ruled for twenty years in Jerusalem ; his reign is me- morable as the era of the second crusade, and of the rise of various orders of knighthood the hospitallers, tem- plars, and cavaliers. But the first crusaders, their numbers and strength, much reduced by battles and fatigue, could no longer maintain their ground against the Turkish and Sarace- nic hosts. At first, indeed, their victories spread wide the terror of their arms ; but when the alarm subsided, the Moslem chiefs having raised large armies, com- menced a series of attacks upon the European posts, which were scattered over a wide extent of country, and inadequately defended. The intelligence, that the crusaders had sustained reverses, and were losing ground, excited the sympathy of the European Chris- tians in behalf of their suffering brethren. A new coa- lition was formed to aid them ; and the second crusade was organized, forty-eight years after the deliverance of the holy sepulchre. Its chief promoter was St. Bernard, who found a ready access to the troubled conscience of Louis VII., king of France. St. Bernard possessed supe- rior qualifications for an apostle of the crusades : he was of noble birth, nearly as learned as his great contempo- rary Abelard, and master of a lofty eloquence beyond any man of his age. Louis's powerful and splendid army was joined by the equally-numerous and well-appointed troops of Conrade the third emperor of Germany. Their 114 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I progress was marked by disaster ; for, in the course of the protracted march of Conrade's troops through an unhealthy and hostile country, more than half of the army perished, and scarcely a tenth ever reached the shores of Syria. By combats with the Saracens they were reduced to a miserable remnant ; and they were met on their return by the army of Louis, in a state almost equally forlorn. An innumerable host of Turks fell upon the French as they were rashly penetrating into the heart of the country ; Louis, with his nobles and knights, found it difficult to escape, and making all haste to embark, abandoned the infantry to the fury of the victorious Moslems. An unsuccessful attempt upon Damascus finished the disasters of the second crusade. The Christian cause in the Holy Land, and the foun- dations of the Latin throne at Jerusalem, were much weakened by the defeat and dispersion of these armies. Baldwin III., however, for a long time, defended his precarious crown against infidels ; he was succeeded by his brother, who transmitted the kingdom to his son, Baldwin IV., whose mental and physical strength were impaired by leprosy. His natural heiress was his sister, Sybilla, the mother of Baldwin, who bestowed, by marriage, the crown of Jerusalem on Guy of Lusignon, a man of handsome person, but of depraved character ; a choice which gave rise to much dissatisfaction, and to the hatred of Count Raymond, whose exclusion from the succession, and enmity against the king, seduced him into a treasonable correspondence with the sultan. Such was the discontent also of the barons, that many refused the oath of allegiance. While these dissensions raged, the Latin kingdom was assailed by the Sultan Saladin, a new and formidable enemy, whose humanity and chivalrous feeling shed lustre upon his valour, po- licy, and military skill. Saladin had risen from obscu- rity to the sovereignty of Egypt, and his influence and dominions had been annually increasing. His character is remarkable. He wore coarse woollen garments ; he only drank water ; he emulated the temperance, and FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 115 surpassed the chastity of the Arabian prophet. He was a rigid Mussuhnan, both in faith and practice ; longed for a cessation of arms to enable him to make the pil- grimage to Mecca ; prayed statedly, five times each day ; scrupulously repaid his involuntary omission of fasting ; and studied the Koran on horseback between the contending armies. He was contented with the fables and lying vanities of that book, and found enough in its pages to console him for the want of all other knowledge ; the poet's numbers flowed in vain for him ; profane science was his utter aversion ; and a philoso- pher who had dared to utter some speculative novelties, was seized and strangled by order of this Moslem saint. His divan was open to the meanest suitor ; and, though the descendants of Seljuk and Zenghi held his stirrup and smoothed his garments, his humblest servant found him affable and patient. Boundless in his liberality, he distributed 12,000 horses at the siege of Acre ; at his death his treasury contained no more than forty-seven drachms of silver, and a single gold coin. * In a mar- tial reign, the tributes were diminished, and the wealthy citizens enjoyed, without fear or danger, the fruits of their industry. Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, were adorned by the royal foundations of hospitals, colleges, and mosques, and Cairo was fortified with a wall and citadel ; but his works were consecrated to public use ; nor did the Sultan indulge himself in a garden or palace of pri- vate luxury. In a fanatic age, himself a fanatic, the genuine virtues of Saladin commanded the esteem of the Christians ; the emperor of Germany gloried in his friendship ; the Greek emperor solicited his alliance ; and the conquest of Jerusalem difiused, and perhaps magnified, his fame both in the east and west.' His hostility had the following origin. Reginald de Chatillon, a soldier of fortune, had seized a fortress on the edge of the desert, whence he pillaged caravans, in- sulted Mahommedans, and even threatened the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Saladin 's complaints of these injuries being disregarded, he invaded the Holy I 2 116 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Land with 80,000 horse and foot. He advanced and laid siege to Tiberias ; in defence of which, the king of Jerusalem hazarded a decisive battle. The armies en- countered on the plain of Tiberias, a spot destitute of water, to which the perfidious Raymond, (who fled at the first onset, amid the reproaches of both armies,) had betrayed them. After two days fighting, the Christians were totally defeated, losing 80,000 men, and a sacred relic, the wood of the true cross, to which the priests had recourse to revive the fainting courage of the troops. The king, the Marquis of Montserrat, the Master of the Templars, and many of their followers, were taken. The royal captive was led to the tent of Saladin, overcome with thirst and terror ; the victor presented him with a cup of sherbet, cooled in snow, but suffered not his com- panion Reginald de Chatillon, to partake of the pledge of hospitality. * The person and dignity of a king,' said the Sultan, ' are sacred ; but this impious robber must instantly acknowledge the prophet, whom he has blas- phemed, or meet the death he has deserved.' Upon the Christian warrior's refusal, Saladin smote him on the head with his scymetar, and gave him up to be de- spatched by the guards. The Sultan's victory was stained by the execution of 230 Knights of the Hospi- tal. The battle placed the whole country at the disposal of the conqueror. The kingdom was left without a head ; and of the two Grand Masters of the military orders, the one was slain, the other a captive. The fate of the kingdom had been perilled on a single cast ; to fight on this fatal field the garrisons had been withdrawn both from the sea-coast and inland towns ; Tyre and Tripoli alone escaped the rapid advance of the Sultan ; and in three months he appeared before the gates of Jerusalem, in 1187. That city was ill-prepared for a protracted siege ; it was crowded with fugitives, who had sought within it a temporary asylum ; there were few soldiers within its walls, but it was encumbered by a disorderly throng of 100,000 persons ; the queen trembled for her husband' FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 117 fate, and the government was weak and indecisive. Some feeble and hasty efforts were made for its defence ; but, in fourteen days, the enemy repulsed the sallies of the besieged, made a breach fifteen cubits broad, placed the scaling-ladders, and erected twelve banners of the prophet and the Sultan. An appeal was made to Sala- din's clemency. It was stipulated, that the soldiers and nobles should be escorted to Tyre, and the inhabitants enslaved, unless ransomed at certain rates fixed by the Sultan. It ought to be remarked, that the people of Jerusalem had rejected the ojffer of much more favour- able terms at the commencement of the siege. In the words of the historian of the crusades, ' after four days had been consumed by the miserable inhabitants, in weeping over, and embracing the holy sepulchre, and other sacred places, the Latins left the city, and passed through the enemy's camp. Children of all ages clung round their mothers, and the strength of their fathers was used in bearing away some little part of their household furniture. In solemn procession, the clergy, the queen, and her retinue of ladies followed. Saladin advanced to meet them, and his heart melted with com- passion when he saw them approach in the attitude of suppliants.' Some expressions of commiseration fell from his lips ; his tenderness encouraged the distressed females to declare, that one word uttered by him might assuage their grief. * Our fortunes and possessions,' said they, 'you may freely enjoy ; but restore to us our fathers, our husbands, and our brothers. With these dear objects we cannot be* entirely miserable. They will take care of us ; and that God whom we reverence, and who provides for the birds of the air, will not forget our children.' Saladin, with courteous generosity, released such prisoners as they requested, and loaded them with presents. Nor did this action result from a transient glow of humanity ; for when he heard of the tender care exercised by the military friars of St. John towards their sick countrymen, he allowed ten of their number to remain in the hospital, that their work of charity 118 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I might be completed : he also distributed liberal alms among the widows and orphans of the slain. After the strangers had quitted Jerusalem, Saladin made his tri- umphal entry into the city, with his banners waving in the wind, and amid the harmony of martial music. The great mosque of Omar, which had been converted into a church, was restored to the service of Mahomet ; its walls and pavement were purified by sprinkling of rose-water ; and a pulpit, the work of Noureddin, was erected in the sanctuary. When the golden cross, that glittered on its dome, was cast down, and dragged through the mire of the streets, the Christians raised a sorrowful groan, to which the joyful shouts of the Mos- lems responded. The patriarch had collected the crosses, images, vases, and consecrated relics in four chests of ivory ; these Saladin seized, with the intention of pre- senting them to the Caliph as trophies. But he was prevailed upon to intrust them to the patriarch and prince of Antioch, and the piety of Richard of England redeemed them at the price of 52,000 golden byzants. The deepest sorrow being felt in Europe on account of the capture of Jerusalem, and the decline of the Christian cause in the Holy Land, the decaying zeal of the princes was stimulated to fit out new expeditions to recover the holy city. Though Ascalon, Laodicea, Gabala, Sidon, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, had opened their gates to Saladin ; yet the town of Tyre, garrisoned by a body of soldiers under the brave Conrade, success- fully resisted him ; all the inhabitants sharing the la- bour and danger of the defence, even the women dis- charging arrows from the ramparts, and contributing their aid to repair the walls. After casting immense stones into the place, and bringing every engine in their power to bear upon it, the reluctant Saracens were obliged to relinquish their attempt. This shed a gleam of sunshine on the Christian cause ; and the clergy again, preached to all classes the honour and duty of assuming . the badge of the cross, and pointed in glowing coloui the bliss to be enjoyed by all those who should thi FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 119 fall in the cause of the Redeemer. But much of the enthusiasm of the eleventh century had passed away ; almost every family of note lamented the loss of kin- dred in the battle-field, or in the bonds of hopeless cap- tivity ; and few, either in France or England, desired to join the ranks of Godfrey or Conrade. But at length, about the year 1190, Philip Augustus of France, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Ger- many, and Richard of England, succeeded in raising forces for the rescue of the Holy Land ; Philip receiving the staff and scrip at St. Denys, and Richard at Tours. They joined forces, to the amount of 100,000 men, at Vezelay, and marched to Lyons in company. There they separated, the former taking the road to Genoa, the latter of Marseilles, Sicily being fixed upon as a rendezvous. The Italians who had joined the crusade, first embarked at Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, and were followed by the most eager pilgrims of France, Nor- mandy, and the Western Isles ; the forces of Flanders, Frise, and Denmark filled nearly 100 vessels ; and the northern warriors were distinguished by their lofty stature and ponderous battle-axes. The first armaments landed at Tyre, the sole remaining inlet of the Chris- tians into Palestine. The siege of Acre was immedi- ately begun ; it was maintained with an enthusiasm which scorned danger, and valorous feats that excited the wonder even of that romantic age. The siege lasted for two years, and was attended with immense loss ; for while the besieged held out with enduring firmness, the crusaders were wasted by famine, hardship, and the climate. * At the sound of the holy trumpet,' says Gib- bon, * the Moslems of Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and the oriental provinces, assembled under the servant of the prophet ; his camp was pitched and removed within a few miles of Acre, and he laboured night and day for the relief of his brethren, and the annoyance of the Franks. Nine battles, not unworthy of the name, were fought in the neighbourhood of Mount Carmel, with such vicissitude of fortune, that in one attack the Sultan 120 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : forced his way into the city ; while in one sally the Christians penetrated to the royal tent. By the means of divers and pigeons, a regular correspondence was maintained with the besieged ; and as often as the sea was left open, the exhausted garrison was withdrawn, and a fresh supply poured into the place. The Latin camp was thinned by famine, the sword, and the cli- mate ; but the tents of the dead were refilled with new pilgrims who exaggerated the strength and speed of their approaching countrymen. The vulgar was astonished by the report, that the pope himself, with an innume- rable crusade, had advanced as far as Constantinople. The march of the emperor filled the east with more serious alarms ; the obstacles which he encountered in Asia, and perhaps in Greece, were raised by the policy of Saladin ; his joy on the death of Barbarossa was measured by his esteem, and the Christians were rather dismayed than encouraged by the sight of the Duke of Suabia and his way-worn remnant of five thousand Germans. At length, in the spring of the second year, the royal fleets of France and England cast anchor in the bay of Acre, and the siege was more vigorously pro- secuted by the youthful emulation of the two kings, Philip Augustus and Richard Plantagenet. After every resource had been tried, and every hope was exhausted, the defenders of Acre submitted to their fate ; a capitu- lation was granted, but their lives and liberties were taxed at the hard conditions of a ransom of two hun- dred thousand pieces of gold, the deliverance of one hundred nobles, and fifteen hundred inferior captives, and the restoration of the wood of the holy cross. Some doubts in the agreement, and some delay in the execu- tion, rekindled the fury of the Franks, and three thou- sand Moslems, almost in the Sultan's view, were beheaded by the command of the sanguinary Richard. By the conquest of Acre, the Latin powers acquired a strong town and a convenient harbour, but the advan- tage was dearly purchased. The minister and historian of Saladin computes, from the report of the enemy, that FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 121 their losses at different periods, amounted to nearly six hundred thousand men ; that more than one hundred thousand Christians were slain ; that a far greater number was lost by disease or shipwreck ; and that a small portion of this mighty host could return in safety to their native countries.' The fall of Acre had been retarded by the jealousy which arose between the kings of England and France, whereby the crusaders became divided into two great parties ; nor did they consent to unite their forces for a general attack, till each had been foiled in a separate assault ; but it was at length agreed, that while one attacked the walls, the other should guard the camp from the approach of Saladin. * Philip was brave, but the statesman predominated in his character ; he was soon weary of sacrificing his health and interest on a barren coast ; the surrender of Acre became the signal of his departure ; nor could he justify this unpopular desertion, by leaving the Duke of Burgundy, with five hundred knights, and one hundred thousand foot, to continue the siege.* Richard, though of inferior dignity, surpassed Philip in wealth and military repu- tation, he occupies a high place among the heroes of that age. The memory of Cceur de Lion the Lion- hearted was long dear and glorious to his English sub- jects ; sixty years after he had disappeared from the scene of action it was proverbially used by the grand- sons of those who had fought in the Turkish and Sara- cenic armies ; the Syrian mother invoked the dreaded name to quiet their noisy infants : if a horse started from the way, his rider would exclaim, " Dost thou think that King Richard is in that bush ? " ' The capture of Acre was only the prelude to further operations. Richard laid siege to Ascalon, about one hundred miles distant ; but his march was a continual battle of eleven days. Saladin opposed him with an army of three hundred thousand men ; in a battle which ensued, Saladin lost forty thousand. Richard gained Ascalon and other towns of Judea. His farther 122 THE LAND OF ISRAEL*. course was hindred by the severity of the winter. No sooner had spring begun, than Richard issued from his quarters and advanced to Jerusalem, the great object of the expedition, intercept on the way a caravan of seven thousand camels. Saladin's quarters were at Jerusalem, where universal consternation was excited by the sudden appearance of the Christian host ; it was relieved, however, by the hasty retreat of Richard, who was discouraged by the difficulty of the enterprise and the murmurs of his troops. Meantime Saladin, with a large force, had laid siege to Jaffa, which he had nearly reduced, when Richard hastening to relieve it, encountered and drove back the Saracens and Turks, whose number amounted to sixty thousand men. But Richard's ambitious views were now obstructed by the pressure of a protracted war, and the discontent of his soldiers. Various attempts at negociation took place ; the views of both parties varying with the fortunes of war. At length Richard and Saladin both of whom felt their health declining, now desired to close the contest. Richard at first demanded that Jerusalem, Palestine, and the true cross should be restored ; but Saladin would not part with Palestine, nor dismember his dominions ; a truce, however, was concluded for three years, it being stipulated that the Latin Chris- tians should be allowed to visit it without paying any tribute ; that Ascalon should be dismantled ; and that the Europeans should get possession of Jaffa and Tyre, with the intermediate territory. Richard soon after embarked for Europe, to suffer a long captivity, and fill a premature grave : he was followed in a few months by Saladin, his great rival, who died at Damascus in 1198. Before he expired he gave orders, that his winding- sheet should be carried on the point of a spear through every street of the city, a crier preceding it and pro- claiming with a loud voice, ' This is all that remains of the mighty Saladin, the conqueror of the East.* lie was succeeded by his brother Saphadin, a wise and valiant prince. FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 123 Pope Celestine III. instigated the fourth crusade, which was directed successfully against the Greek em- pire. The power of the crusaders was now on the de- cline in the Holy Land. A six years' truce had been concluded with Saphadin. Both Christians and Sara- cens, exhausted by war and famine, were weary of hostilities ; but on the arrival of the new crusaders at Acre, all remonstrances against fresh aggression were disregarded. Saphadin, who watched their motions, anticipated them in the field, and before they could advance to Jaffa, destroyed the fortifications and put thousands of the inhabitants to the sword ; and though in a general action, the strength and discipline of the Germans secured the victory ; the crusaders did not improve their success, but spent their strength upon the insignificant fortress of Thoron, where they en- countered a serious repulse. Their councils were now disturbed by faction, their army paralyzed by vice and insubordination ; and their fears were raised by the intelligence that the Egyptian and Syrian sultans, were collecting troops to attack them. The Germans were so alarmed that they broke up their camp during the night, and fled to Tyre ; the road was filled with dis- orderly soldiers, and strewed with baggage and aban- doned arms. Though the crusaders were again successful in another battle fought in the neighbourhood of Jaffa, their measures were disconcerted by the emperor's death. Many returned to Europe to be present at the election of his successor ; the rest of the army, elated by the victory into a fatal confidence, were cut off by a body of Turkish auxiliaries, in the midst of the revelry with which they were commemorating St. Mar- tin. Isabella, daughter of Baldwin and sister of Sybilla, now attained the diminished sovereignty of Palestine. Her third husband, Henry, Count of Champagne, was acknowledged as king ; on whose death she was united, with the consent of the clergy and barons, to Almeric of Lusignan ; and the marriage having been performed at Acre,they were styled sovereigns of Cyprus and Jerusalem . 124 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! The repeated failure of the crusaders induced the people of Europe to believe, either that the difficulties of the enterprise were almost insuperable, or that the time appointed by heaven for the deliverance of the Holy Land, had not yet arrived. Accordingly they dis- regarded all the authority of the Church, and all the power of eloquence, with the pretended performance of numerous miracles to arouse the slumbering zeal of the wealthy or the warlike. Fulk, a preacher who equalled Peter the Hermit in ardour, and Bernard in oratorical power, with the aid of Pope Innocent III., succeeded however at length, in convincing many of the propriety of combining in a fifth effort for the expulsion of the in- fidel. A large force mustered in France and the Low countries, obedient to what they deemed the voice of religion. But the efforts of this army were mainly directed, not against the Saracens, but the people of the Grecian empire. In April, 1204, Constantinople was taken, the inhabitants being most severely treated. The remains of the fine arts, which the eastern Church had carefully preserved, were demolished. The cru- saders elected a sovereign, and formed an administra- tion, which lasted for fifty-seven years, when Manuel Paleologus succeeded in driving them from Constanti- nople. An indirect influence alone was exercised by the fifth crusade, upon Palestine ; it alarmed the Mos- lems, and induced Saphadin to conclude a truce for six years. This tranquillity was soon interrupted. Upon the death of Almeric and his wife, Mary, daughter of Isabella by Conrade of Tyre, became Queen of Jeru- salem ; and Hugh de Lusignan was proclaimed king of Cyprus. Palestine had now no efficient Governor. Philip Augustus being asked to provide a husband for the queen of Jerusalem, fixed upon John de Brienne, whom all knights of Europe regarded as equally wise in council, and accomplished in war. Trusting to an increase of strength from this union, the Christians refused to prolong the truce with the sultan, who conducted an army to the neighbourhood FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 125 of Tripoli. In the conflicts which followed, the new monarch of Jerusalem displayed ability fully justifying his appointment ; and though his success did not cor- respond to his wishes or hopes, he made a successful defence, and warded off^ for a time the inroads of the enemy. But he dreaded the approaching ruin of the cause ; he saw that while the Saracens were continually acquiring fresh advantages, the Latin barons were tak- ing every opportunity to return to Europe. He wrote a letter to the pope, stating that his kingdom consisted of but two or three towns, and that its fate was only averted by the civil wars which distracted Saladin's sons and successors. This remonstrance had due eff^ect upon the occupant of St. Peter's chair. He addressed a circular letter to the European sovereigns, reminding them that the time had come to make a successful effoi-t to relieve Palestine, and so merit well in the ser- vice of God ; and threats of everlasting punishment were denounced upon all who refused their aid. In 1216, a large force, chiefly Hungarians and Germans, landed at Acre. The sons of Saphadin, now the rulers of Syria, collected forces to oppose this formidable body. The councils of the crusaders were divided, and their enterprise rashly conducted ; their provisions failed, and their ranks were thinned by famine and disease ; their commander, the King of Hungary, resolved to abandon a country where he found only hardship and danger, unattended by glory. The weakened and dis- couraged force remained inactive, till their spirits were revived by the arrival on the coast, in the following spring, of a fleet of three hundred vessels, which had sailed from the Rhine. This powerful reinforcement enabled them to make some successful efforts in the field ; but for reasons not clearly known, they retired from Palestine, and having carried their operations into Egypt, stormed Damietta, to the signal consternation of the enemy, who offered very favourable articles of pacification. After the crusaders had wasted their strength on the banks of the Nile, they were compelled 126 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : to petition for leave to return to Palestine, at the sacri- iice of their Egyptian conquests. Frederick II.. Barbarossa's grandson, was the leader of the next crusade, in which he undertook to execute a long-delayed vow, his dilatoriness in fulfilling which had drawn down upon him the excommunication of Gregory IX. The marriage with Violante, John de Brienne's daughter, rendered it more incumbent upon him to vindicate his claim to the crown of Jerusalem, which he had received as his wife's dowry. After many delays, he set sail with a fleet of two hundred vessels, and an army of forty thousand men, and arrived at Acre in 1228. This expedition was more successful, and attended by less loss than the previous ones. Jeru- salem was entered in triumph without a battle, for the Saracens were weakened by divisions, and the Sultan had a precarious hold upon the throne, owing to the suspected treachery of some of his kindred, and was accordingly desirous of a truce. A treaty was signed, providing that Christians and Moslems should live on a footing of brotherhood, and that Jerusalem, Jaffa, Beth- lehem, Naz2reth, and their dependencies should be restored, with the possession of the Holy Sepulchre ; and that each of the contending parties should be suff- ered to offer up their devotions, the one in the temple of Solomon, the other in the mosque of Omar. Frederick's policy promoted the cause more than the heroic daring of Cour-de-Lion ; the disasters consequent upon the battle of Tiberias had been repaired, and it appeared to be possible for Europe to effect a permanent settlement in Asia. Frederick performed all these services while yet under the ban of excommunication ; hence the pa- triarchs, on his entry into Jerusalem, refused to place the crown on his head, or to countenance the ceremo- nial : Frederick performed that office for himself, by lifting the crown from the altar in the presence of his courtiers. After giving directions for the repair of the fortifications, he w^ent to Acre, and thence sailed for Europe. FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 127 The Christians in the Holy Land still suffered under the oppression of the Saracens, and both parties violated the articles of the compact. Again the Christians in Europe had recourse to arms ; levies were raised at the direction of the council of Spoleto. Many of the English nobility, desirous of military distinction, assumed the cross, under the standard of the Earl of Chester, and of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of King Henry III. Many of the French nobility also took part in the enter- prise. This force landed in Syria in 1289. In the battle which followed, the Saracens had the advantage ; the French suffered severe loss, and were obliged to pur- chase peace by ceding nearly all their Syrian conquests. The Earl of Cornwall, who arrived with the English army, was much surprised to find that most of the French leaders had already left Syria, that the knights of the two great orders had been compelled to negotia- tions, and that the crusaders had lost nearly all their former conquests, and remained in possession of only a few fortresses, and a strip of territory along the coast. He marched to Jaffa, but finding that the Sultan of Egypt, being engaged in hostilities with Damascus, was not indisposed for terms ; he shewed on his part an equal readiness to acquiesce. It was agreed that in return for the withdrawal of the English troops, the Moslems should relinquish Jerusalem, Beritus, Naza- reth, Bethlehem, Mount Tabor, and a large part of Palestine. But the peace thus obtained, was broken by a calamity from a new and unexpected source. In the interior of Asia, the vigour and bravery of Gengis Khan had wrought vast revolutions, and he drove before his conquering sword the barbarous hordes of the desert, who in their turn rushed on other nations with the wild fury of a torrent. The Karismians descended upon Syria, scattering the combined opposition of the Christian and Saracenic powers. A great battle of two days duration ensued ; the Christian host was defeated, and the grand masters of two orders, and most of the knights, fell. The invaders spared neither age nor sexy 128 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : and revelled in the sack and pillage of Jerusalem in 1244 : and it was only in 1247 that the Syrians and Mamelukes defeated them near Damascus, and drove them back to their old settlements on the Caspian Sea. The intelligence of these disasters did not fail to excite the compassion and resentment of the Christians of Europe. Innocent IV. endeavoured to organize a new crusade, and solicited the aid of Henry III. of England. The chivalrous piety so conspicuou-^ in France in the reign of Louis IX., procured him more willing auditors in that country. Louis himself had vowed, during a severe illness, to travel to the Holy Land after his recovery. He was attended by his three brothers, the Counts of Artois, Poictiers, and Anjou, by the Duke of Burgundy, the Countess of Flanders, and her two sons, with many noble and gallant knights. The armament consisted of eighteen hundred sail, on board of which were embarked fifty thousand men. For the history of this crusade, we shall have recourse to the animated and correct narrative of the historian of the Roman Empire. * In complete armour, the oriflamme waving before him, Louis leapt foremost on the breach, and the strong city of Damietta, which had cost his predecessors a siege of sixteen months, was abandoned on the first assault by the trembling Mos- lems. But Damietta was the first and last of his con- quests ; and in the fifth and sixth crusades the same causes, almost on the same ground, were productive of similar calamities. After a ruinous delay, which intro- duced into the camp the seeds of an epidemical disease, the Franks advanced from the sea-coast towards the capital of Egypt, and strove to surmount the unseason- able inundation of the Nile, which opposed their pro- gress. Under the eye of their intrepid monarch, the barons and knights of France displayed their invincible contempt of danger and discipline ; liis brother the Count of Artois, stormed with inconsiderate valour the town of Massoura ; and the carrier-pigeons announced FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 129 to the inhabitants of Cairo, that all was lost. But a soldier, who afterwards usurped the sceptre, rallied the flying troops ; the main body of the Christians was far behind their vanguard, and Artois was overpowered and slain. A shower of Greek fire was incessantly poured on the invaders ; the Nile was commanded by the Egyptian gallies, the open country by the Arabs ; all provisions were intercepted ; each day aggravated the sickness and famine ; and about the same time a retreat was found to be both necessary and impracticable. The oriental writers confess, that Louis might have es- caped if he would have deserted his subjects ; he was made prisoner, with the greater part of his nobles ; all who could not redeem their lives by service or ransom, were inhumanly massacred ; and the walls of Cairo were decorated with a circle of Christian heads. The king of France was loaded with chains ; but the generous victor, (a great-grandson of the brother of Saladin,) sent a robe of honour to his royal captive ; and his deliverance with that of his soldiers, was obtained by the restitution of Damietta, and the payment of 400,000 pieces of gold. In a soft and luxurious climate, the degenerate children of Noureddin and Saladin were incapable of resisting the flower of Eu ropean chivalry : they triumphed by the arms of their slaves or Mamelukes, the hardy na- tives of Tartary, who, at a tender age, had been pur- chased by the Syrian merchants, and were educated in. the camp and palace of the Sultan. But Egypt soon afforded a new example of the danger of praetorian bands ; and the rage of those ferocious animals, who had been let loose on the strangers, was provoked to de- vour their benefactor. In the pride of conquest, Touran Shaw, the last of his race, was murdered by his Mame- lukes ; and the most daring of the assassins entered the chamber of the captive king, with drawn scymetars, and their hands imbrued in the blood of their Sultan. The firmness of Louis commanded their respect ; their avarice prevailed over cruelty and zeal ; the treaty was accomplished ; and the king of France, with the relics K 130 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: of his armj, was permitted to embark for Palestine. He wasted four years within the walls of Acre, unable to visit Jerusalem, and unwilling to return without glory to his native country.' He took advantage of the death of Blanche, the queen-mother, (and Regent of France during his absence,) to return home. The patriarchs and barons of the Holy Land tendered to him their thanks for the honour he had reflected on their cause, and the benefits they had sustained from his interfer- ence ; but Louis, painfully sensible that he had gained no laurels on the sacred soil, and that things were in a worse state than they were on his arrival, listened to them with mingled shame and regret, and prepared in sadness for his voyage. So ended an enterprise, which a French historian says, filled all Christendom with joy, and then threw it into mourning. Louis arrived at Vin- cennes on the 5th of September, 1254, where a great multitude waited to receive him. Their silence regard- ing his unhappy reverses, brought sadly before his thoughts the brave companions whom he had left behind on the soil of Egypt or the sands of Palestine ; the me- lanchol}'- expression of his countenance contrasted with the joyful acclamations of his subjects. * His first care was to go to St. Denis, to prostrate himself at the feet of the apostles of France ; the next day he made his entrance into the capital, preceded by the clergy, the nobility, and the people. He still wore the cross on his shoulders ; the sight of which, by recalling the motives of his long absence, inspired the fear that he had not abandoned the enterprise of the crusade.' The power of the Christians in the Holy Land, already sapped by internal dissensions, had been vigo- rously assailed by Sultan Bibars, the Mameluke poten- tate of Egypt ; who, at the head of a large army, in- vaded Palestine, advanced to Acre, and taking the towns of Sephani and Azotus, enslaved, or put to death, great numbers of the Christians. He carried the city of An- tioch by assault, slew 40,000 of the inhabitants, and re- duced 100,000 into captivity. FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 131 Either the report of these calamities, or the remem- brance of his former defeat, excited Louis, after sixteen years' repose, to undertake the seventh and last crusade. During the happy interval, his finances had been re- stored, and his kingdom enlarged ; a new generation of warriors, eager for distinction, had arisen ; and he em- barked with a force of 6000 horse and 44,000 foot. He was joined by Edward, son of Henry III. of England, with the Earls of Pembroke and Warwick. The expe- dition sailed in the spring of 1270. Instead of directing his course immediately for Palestine, he landed in Africa, and succeeded in taking Carthage. But a pes- tilential disease proved fatal to many of his troops, and Louis himself perished miserably on the burning sands of Africa. Prince Edward, after wintering in Sicily, sailed for Acre, landing with only 1000 men ; but his high mili- tary reputation encouraged large reinforcements of Latin troops to flock to his standard. After reducing Naza- reth, he soon after surprised and cut to pieces a body of Turkish soldiers. Though a skilful warrior, he was cruel and unsparing of human blood, and the horrors of the first crusade were exhibited on a reduced scale at Nazareth. He secured a ten years' peace ; but received a dangerous wound from the poisoned dagger of an as- sassin, the venom of which was extracted by his devoted wife Eleonora. The remnant of Europeans in Palestine were now confined within the walls of Acre, their last stronghold. It was besieged by a Mameluke host from Egypt of 200,000 men. The defenders displayed the courage of heroes, and the devotion of martyrs in a holy cause ; but they were overborne by the overwhelming numbers, and incessant attacks of a well-disciplined enemy. * Whatever,' says Gibbon, * might be the vices of the Franks, their courage was rekindled by enthusiasm and despair ; but they were torn by the discord of seventeen ciiiefs, and overwhelmed on all sides by the power of the Sultan. After a siege of thirty-three days, the double K 2 132 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : wall was forced by the Moslems ; the principal towers yielded to their engines ; the Mamelukes made a general assault ; the city was stormed ; and death or slavery was the lot of 30,000 Christians. The convent, or rather fortress of the Templars, resisted three days longer ; but the grand master was pierced with an arrow, and, of 500 knights, only ten were left alive, less happy than the victims of the sword, since they had to suffer on the scaffold in the unjust and cruel proscription of the whole order. The king of Jerusalem, the patriarch, and the great master of the hospital, effected their re- treat to the shore ; but the sea was rough, the vessels were insufficient, and great numbers of the fugitives were drowned before they could reach the isle of Cy- prus. By the command of the Sultan, the churches and fortifications of the Latin cities were demolished ; a motive of avarice or fear still opened the holy sepulchre to some devout and defenceless pilgrims ; and a mourn- ful and solitary silence prevailed along the coast, which had so long resounded with the world's debate.' So ended all the proud visions of glory and conquest which had led the mail-clad princes and barons of Europe with their retainers, to the Holy Land ; which had drenched every road of the country with blood, and scattered along its dreary tracts the skeletons and wrecks of na- tions. Absurd as these romantic exhibitions may appear to those who live in an age of widely-different charac- ter, and under a pure system of religion ; unquestionably in the history of the middle ages the most imposing spectacle is that of the expeditions undertaken to reco- ver the Holy Land from the infidels. For we have pre- sented to us the picture of the inhabitants of Europe and Asia marshalled against each other, the professors of two religions conflicting for the mastery. The European nations, forgetting their individual inte- ests, their mutual jealousies, and their ancient feuds, uniting in the common object of planting the banner of the cross upon the towers of Jerusalem, the mosque, and the minaret, and fixing upon one coun- FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 133 try as the sole worthy object of human interest and ambition. After this period, the pilgrims to the Holy Land were exposed both to insult and danger, and only purchased safety by large contributions. Palestine was ruled by the Mameluke Sultans till 1882, when a barbarous tribe from the interior of Asia overran the country. The Egyptian potentates resumed the sway on their expul- sion, till the formidable irruption of Tamerlane again compelled them to yield. At his death, Jerusalem re- verted to Egypt, till its final subjection to the Turks under Selim I. in 1517. The country was divided into provinces, each ruled by a Pasha with despotic and un- questioned authority. No incident of general interest occurs in its history, till the invasion of Egypt by the French under Bonaparte in 1799. This extraordinary being, the demi-god of an age of excitement and revolutionary violence, who united the profoundest calculation and forethought with the loftiest soarings of imagination, which his genius and vigour almost enabled him to realize restricted only in his views of dominion by the boundaries of the civilized world conceived that by conquering Egypt and Syria, he should make his way to the remotest parts of the continent of Asia, and even establish his power on the banks of the Ganges. Hearing that preparations had been made against him in the pachalic of Acre, he crossed, with 10,000 men, the desert which separates Egypt from Palestine. El Arish surrendered, and its garrison were permitted to retire, after pledging them- selves not to take up arms during the remainder of the war ; the example was followed by Gaza. The defen- ders of Jaffa were overpowered, after a vigorous resist- ance ; the city was given up to pillage ; and outraging every feeling of humanity, presenting a feature unknown in civilized war, 4000 prisoners were massacred in cold blood, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. To justify himself. Napoleon pretended that those thus butchered were the same who, having given their parole 134 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I at El Arish, had now violated their faith ; but not a shadow of proof was ever brought forward in support of this wretched plea, and the dreadful affair remains a dark blot upon his character, which can be never re- moved by the casuistry of his admirers, nor by consi- derations of expediency. Acre, the last scene of conflict between the Christians and the infidels of former days, was now destined to be- come the scene of events which recalled the memory of chivalrous times. Achmet Djezzar, the Pasha, had occupied the fortress with a considerable body of men, prepared to hold out to the last extremity. Bonaparte, after a vain attempt to bribe him, prepared zealously for the attack ; being desirous of capturing the place before the arrival of certain supplies of provision and military stores, which the besieged expected from the Turkish government. But a British squadron, under Sir Sidney Smith, not only prevented this, but having captured a convoy of batteries, guns, and stores, for- warded from Egypt, turned them against the French, by erecting batteries on the shore. Notwithstanding this misfortune, Bonaparte opened his trenches on the 18th of March, convinced that this furious onset, and the skill of his engineers, would soon silence the defen- ders of Acre. * On that little town,' said NajDoleon to one of his generals, as they stood on an eminence, still called by the name of Cceur de Lion, * depends the fate of the East. Behold the key of Constantinople or of India !' In ten days a breach was effected, and a desperate assault took place, conducted by the French, with such firmness and spirit, that the garrison appeared over- powered, and the town lost. But the Pasha, whose personal courage was very great, threw himself into the thickest body of the combatants, and by his strong arm and heroic example, rallied his men, and drove the French from the walls. The loss of the French was very great, and their leader was much chagrined, when he saw the English seaman and undisciplined Turks FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 135 driving their finest troops bacli to their lines, and even proceeding to destroy the entrenchments. Bourrienne says, that the assault of the 8th of May enabled more than 200 men to penetrate into the city. The French conceived themselves victorious ; but the flank of the trench being occupied by the Turks, they could not enter with sufficient speed, and the detachment was un- supported. The inhabitants barricaded the streets ; the women ran about, throwing dust into the air, and exciting the defenders by cries and howling ; and but few of the little band found their way back. Still Buonaparte persevered in his assaults, the deficiency of his battering- train causing him to depend more on the bayonet than the mortar. ^ At length the ditch was filled with dead and wounded soldiers ; and the grena- diers felt greater horror at walking over the bodies of their comrades, than at encountering the tremendous discharges of large and small shot to- which they had fallen victims.' But employing to the uttermost the heavy artillery of which he had now gained possession, Buonaparte, in spite of bloody and obstinate opposition, forced his way to the tower, and made a lodgment in the second story. This however afforded no access to the town ; the troops remained there as in a cul-de-sac, and the lodgment was covered from the fire of the British and Turks by a work constructed partly of packs of cotton, and of dead bodies built up along with them. But now a fleet came in sight, having on board Turkish troops under Hassan Bey, with a fresh supply of stores. Yet Acre was in imminent danger of being taken, before a landing could be effected ; to prevent which, Sir Sidney Smith in person marched to the dis- puted tower, at the head of a body of British seamen, armed with pikes ; and aided by a corps of brave Turks, who defended the breach with scarcely any other weapons than heavy stones. The heap of ruins which divided the contending parties served as a breast-work to both. The muzzles of the muskets touched each other, and the spear-heads of the standards were locked 186 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I together. But a sortie was made upon the French by a Turkish regiment, which had now landed ; they were driven back, but the besiegers lost possession of the tower. Buonaparte now turned his efforts to a breach which had been made in the curtain, which promised easier access. The French found it too easy ; the}'' suffered severely under a change of Djezzar's tactics. Confiding in his superior numbers, he allowed the French under the intrepid General Lannes to mount the breach un- opposed, and to penetrate the body of the place. They had no sooner entered, than a crowd of Turks mingled among them with loud shouts ; discipline was vain in such close fighting, wherein strength and agility are the main requisites. The Turks wielding the sabre in one hand and the poinard in the other, cut to pieces almost every Frenchman. Rambaud lay a headless corpse in the breach. Lannes was with difficulty brought off severely wounded. No quarter was given ; the Turks, cutting off the heads of all whom they slew, brought them to the Pasha, wlio sat in public distribut- ing money to those who carried in these bloody trophies, which now lay piled in heaps around him. So ended the sixth assault on these tottering and blood-stained ramparts. ' Victory,' said Napoleon, * is to the most persevering ; ' he determined on another desperate at- tack, contrary to Kleber's advice. This final effort was made on f he 21st of May. The morning attack failed, and it was repeated at mid -day by Colonel Veneux, who, on setting out, said to his commander, ' Be assured, Acre shall be yours to-night, or Veneux will die on the breach : ' His death proved his sincerity. General Bon, whose division had been the executioners of the prisoners taken at Jaffa, also fell. The despairing and dispiriting French were com- pelled to retreat. The combat had been maintained at half-musket- shot distance ; dead corpses lay around, putrifying under the burning sun, and spreading dis- ease. The siege of Acre, which lasted sixty days, cost FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, 187 the French 3000 men. In after days, Buonaparte fre- quently remarked of it, that * the fate of the East was in that place.' Had the troops of Djezzar fallen be- neath its ruins, there was reason to expect that the whole of the Syrian provinces would have submitted to the French ; that the Druses, the warlike and semi-bar- barous tribes in the valleys of Libanus, would have given them a cordial reception : and that even the Jews, whose attention is aroused by the rise of every commotion in their own unhappy land, might have been instrumental in the establishment of a power, which might have facilitated his ulterior views of conquest in the East. During the siege, a Mussulman force in the adjoining mountains had caused much trouble to the detachments of the French army stationed in Galilee. Junot, but for Buonaparte's timely assistance, would have been cut to pieces by the Mameluke cavalry near Nazareth, Kleber, with a small body, had to contend with a cloud of horsemen, by whom he had been attacked near Mount Tabor : on this occasion also. Napoleon's arrival scattered the enemy. The French suffered much in their tedious retreat across the burning desert. It is thus described by Bourrienne : * A fearful journey was before us. Some of the wounded were carried on litters, and the rest on camels and mules. A devouring thirst, a total want of water, an excessive heat, a fatiguing march among scorching sand-hills, demoralized the men. A most cruel selfishness, the most unfeeling in- difference, took the place of every generous or humane sentiment. I have seen thrown from the litters, offi- cers with amputated limbs, whose conveyance had been ordered, and who had themselves given money as a recompence for the fatigue. I have beheld, abandoned among the wheat-fields, soldiers who had lost their legs or arms, wounded men, and patients supposed to be afflicted with the plague. Our march was lighted up by torches, kindled for the purpose of setting on fire towns, hamlets, and the rich crops with which the 138 THE LAND OF ISRAEL '. earth was covered. The whole country Avas in flames. It seemed as if we found a solace in this extent of mis- chief for our own reverses and sufferings. We were surrounded only by the dying, by plunderers, by incen- diaries. Wretched beings at the point of death, thrown by the way-side, continued to call with feeble voice, ' I have not the plague, I am but wounded ; ' and to convince those that passed, they might be seen tearing open their real wounds, or inflicting new ones. No- body believed them. It was the interest of all not to believe. Comrades would say, ' He is done for now ; his march is over ; ' then pass on, look to themselves, and feel satisfied. The sun, in all his splendour under that beautiful sky, was obscured by the smoke of con- tinual conflagrations. We had the sea on our right : on our left and behind us lay the desert which we had made ; before were the sufferings and privations which awaited us.' During some following years, the history of Pales- tine presents no feature of interest. The resumed sway of the Moslems was exercised as before ; though, in time, the influence of European ascendancy checked their intolerance, and forced upon them a more liberal policy. The Latin and Greek Churches in Syria, though subjected to severe taxation, were unmolested in the performance of their worship ; property and per- son being safe, so long as the}'' remained contented with simple toleration. The government proceeded on no settled plan, owing to the undefined jurisdiction of the city magistrates, and the peculiar and various hereditary or assumed rights of the sheiks of difl^erent districts ; presenting, as in other countries under Turkish despo- tism, force pushed at times to an extreme limit, coun- teracted by the fraud of those whose condition permits not insurrection. Of late years matters have been much altered by the growth of a new Eastern power, the viceroy of Egypt, who having collected large treasures and a well-dis- ciplined army, threw off" his allegiance to the Sultan. FKOM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 180 In the war which followed, the hastily-collected Turkish levies were defeated by Ibrahim Pasha's veteran troops, in a series of brilliant successes, ending in a decisive battle on the 21st of December, 1832. Large districts of Syria and Palestine were conceded to the Egyptian power by the articles of pacification ; and the more liberal government of Cairo has shown much favour towards Europeans, whose learning and arts secure for them esteem. The depredations formerly so prevalent have been checked ; the civic authority is more mildly and wisely administered ; Christians enjoy full protec- tion ; and the Holy Land is open to the inquiring tourist, who can prosecute his researches in safety. The most striking military event that has lately occurred in the Holy Land, is the capture of Acre, Nov, 3, 1840, when that city, though well fortified and de- fended by Egyptian troops, under European officers, was taken by the combined fleets of England, Austria, and Turkey. This was effected almost unconsciously by the victors, as they only ceased firing at sunset, and were not aware that the place had yielded until the next morning, when a flag of surrender was seen waving over the ruined walls. During the siege, thirteen Brit- ish ships and four steamers were present, with three Austrian vessels, commanded by the Archduke, and the Turkish admiral's ship, under the command of Walker Bey, an Englishman by birth. About one p.m. the firing from the ships commenced, and at four o'clock a shell from one of the British [steamers struck the powder magazine, which exploded and destroyed a large portion of the town, together with three regiments of soldiers, in all 2400 men. The cavalry posted on the outside of the town moved off as soon as the action became general, and thus escaped, in number about 600. Very few escaped from the town itself, and the number of prisoners and deserters amounted to 3200. The total number of guns taken was 342. This bril- liant success, which proved a death-blow to the Egyp- tian power in that part of Palestine, was most honour- 140 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : able to the British commanders, Commodore Napier and Sir Robert Stopford, by whom the siege had been planned and directed, as well as to the skill and bra- very of those who executed the operations. But we must now turn to a very different subject, a triumph, not of the sword, but of the cross, in the estab- lishment of the Protestant Bishopric of Jerusalem, by the combined English and Prussian monarchies. This long-desired step was especially owing to the pious munificence of the present King of Prussia, Frederic William the Fourth, who subscribed, from his private treasury, one half of the sum required for the endow- ment of the See, 15,000., the whole amount being 80,000, and English liberality has followed but slowly the munificent example set by the Prussian sovereign. The individual chosen to be the first prelate of this ]nost interesting and important bishopric, was the Rev. Michael Solomon Alexander, a converted Jew, professor of Hebrew in King's College, Xondon. He has been w^ell described by one who enjoyed his friendship, and who witnessed his consecration, as * an Israelite indeed, a Jew by nature and descent, a Prussian by birth and education, an Englishman by adoption and naturaliza- tion, a regularly-ordained pastor of the Church of Eng- land, a professor of the Hebrew language in our metro- politan university ; a man, the praise of whose learning is in the [schools, as that of his piety is in all the churches ; one whose heart's desire and prayer for his brethren after the flesh, is that they may be saved ; and whose efforts for their conversion to the faith have been incessant from the period of his own.' He was set apart to his high office by the Archbishop of Canter- bury, at Lambeth, on the 7th November, 1841, and soon after sailed for the Mediterranean, with his family, chaplain, and missionaries. In the latter part of Jan. 1842, the party reached the Holy City, and the Bishop commenced his official labours, amid general courtesy and kindness, which have never been interrupted. Many reports were circulated in England, by persons inimical FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 141 to the establishment of the bishopric, stating that great discouragements and even insults had been offered to Dr. Alexander, and at one time it was stated that his life had been attempted ; but all these unfounded tales were disproved, and though serious illness had visited the Bishop and many members of his family, yet the general success of the mission has been great. Several baptisms of Jewish converts have taken place, two of them rabbis who had suffered bitter persecutions. The Christian Hebrew Church and Hospital are in course of progress, and a mission has lately been established at Safet, one of the holy cities of the Jews. CHAPTER V. DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. We shall now endeavour to describe the topographical appearance, and present state of the Holy Land, by tracing some of the principal routes to Jerusalem. Those most frequently followed are in coming from Egypt, by El Arish, up to Jaffa, and thence to Jerusalem ; in landing from Europe at Acre, by Nazareth, to Jerusa- lem ; in coming from Syria by Damascus to Jerusalem. In the present chapter we shall trace the road from Acre to Jaffa, that from El Arish to Jaffa, and thence to Jerusalem. Acre, or properl}^ Akka, the ancient Ptolemais, is situated at the north angle of the bay to which it gives its name, and which extends in a semi-circle of three leagues as far as the point of Carmel. It was several times besieged during the crusades. After the expul- sion of the knights of St. John it fell rapidly to decay, and was almost deserted till Sheikh Daher, and after him Djezzar Pasha, made it one of the best towns on the coast, by repairing the harbour and the houses. It has been celebrated more recently on account of the successful defence which, assisted by the British under Sir Sidney Smith, it made against the French under Bonaparte, and for the siege and capture in 1840. It is twenty -seven miles S. of Tyre, and about ninety-eight miles N. N. W. of Jerusalem ; of its former splendour few traces now remain. Dr. Clarke says that the ex- ternal view of Acre is the only prospect of it worth be- ACRE, OR PTOLEMAIS. 143 holding. Its interior resembled that of Constantinople and other Turkish cities ; narrow dirty lanes, with wretched shops, and as wretched inhabitants. Sandys noticed ' the ruins of a palace, which yet doth acknow- ledge King Richard for the founder, confirmed likewise by the passant lion.' Dr. Clarke found the remains of an edifice of considerable size corresponding to this account, conspicuous among the buildings on the left of the mosque towards the north part of the city. The gothic architecture probably led to the opinion of its having been * King Richard's palace ; ' but, at the period to which this tradition refers, the English could scarcely erect buildings of such a character, and its origin may with more probability be assigned to the industry of the Genoese, who assisted Baldwin in the capture of Acre in 1104 ; the lion being a symbol of Genoa. Other ruins of buildings, probably erected at the same date, are mentioned by Maundrell ; the church of St. John, the titular saint of the city in the time of the knights templars, who changed its name from Ptolemais to St. John d'Acre ; the convent of the knights hospitallers ; the palace of the grand master of that order, of which a large staircase was still stand- ing ; and many other ruins of churches, palaces, monas- teries, forts, &c. extending for more than half a mile in length. * The carcass,' says Sandys, * shews that the body hath been sturdy, doubly immured, fortified with bulwarks and towers, to each wall a ditch lined with stone, and under these divers secret posterns. You would think by the ruins, that the city rather consisted wholly of divers conjoining castles, than any way mixed with private dwellings, which witness a notable defence, and an unequal assault, or that the rage of the con- querors extended beyond conquest ; the huge walls and arches turned topsy-turvy, and lying like rocks upon the foundation.' The strength of the cit}'- was in part attributed to its advantageous position. When Dr. Clarke visited it, the i-uins, with the exception of the cathedral, the arsenal, the knights' college, and the grand 144 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : master's palace, were so intermingled with modern buildings, and in such an utter state of subversion, that it was very difficult to give any satisfactory description of them. He observed many superb remains in the Pasha's palace, the khan, the mosque, the public bath, the works, the fountains, and other parts of the town ; consisting of fragments of antique marble, the shafts and capitals of granite and marble pillars, masses of the verd antique breccia, of ancient serpentine, and of the agenite and trap of Egypt. In the garden of Djezzar's palace, leading to his summer apartment, he saw some pillars of yellow variegated marble, of extraordinary beauty ; but these were procured from the ruins of Caesarea, upon the coast between Acre and Jaffa. A beautiful fountain of white marble had also been con- structed with materials from these ruins. The bath was as fine and as well built as any in the Turkish em- pire. Every kind of antique marble, together with large pillars of Egyptian granite, might be observed among the materials used in its construction. Mr. Buckingham, who was at Acre in 1816, found that the Christian ruins were gone ; and that even the three gothic arches, called ' King Richard's palace,' had been razed to the ground.* The neighbourhood of Acre abounds in cattle, corn, olives, and linseed. In Djezzar's time, a great quantity of cotton was exported from it. The light sandy * In 1831, Acre was rebuilt by French workmen, and well-defended with cannon and bulwarks, by the orders of Ibraham Pasha. The- Scottish mission to the Jews in 1839, however states, that the fortifica- tions of Acre appeared ' by no means very formidable, although there were many strong forts and other buildings. No doubt, its walls and towers must have been much stronger in former days ; and its re- markable situation as the key of this part of the land, has ever made it a post defended and attacked with desperate obstinacy.' They speak of the town as crowded and lively, with a good bazaar and numerous garrison. The bombardment of Acre in November of the following year, described in a preceding chapter, has of ccurse altered and nearly destroyed the former appearance of the town. The bas- tions towards the sea were torn to pieces by shot and shells, and the awful explosion of the powder-magazine added to the general devas- tation. ACRE, OR PTOLEMAIS. 145 soil, which contains a mixture of vegetable earth, is favourable to the cultivation of water-melons, pumpkins, and also corn. Half a mile east of Acre, rises a small hill, improved by art, half a mile in length, and a quar- ter of a mile broad, very steep, excepting on the south- west side on this was probably the camp of the ancient besiegers. To the north of this is an irregular rising ground, where there are extensive ruins of vaults, some of them having been reservoirs. North-west of this, and about a mile north of Acre, is another elevation, sur- mounted with the ruins of a very strong square tower, a mosque, and other considerable buildings. There is a good well in the middle distance between this and Acre. Five miles to the north-east of the town, a narrow valley, watered by a rivulet, runs for some way between high hills ; at the end of it rises a hill, with a fortress which probably belonged to the knights of St. John : at the bottom is a large building of hewn stone. Turning from Acre to the south-east, the traveller crosses the river Belus, near its mouth, the stream being here so shallow that it may be easily forded on horseback ; it has its source in a plain six miles to the south-east. Pliny says, that glass was first made from its sand ; and so late as the middle of the seventeenth century, Italian vessels brought it to the glass-houses of Venice and Genoa. Further southward, towards the south-east corner of the bay, the pilgrim fords ' that ancient river, the river Kishon ' of larger volume than the Belus, and supposed to rise in the hills towards the east of the plain of Esdraelon, which it intersects. Increased by the addition of several rivulets, it flows between Mount Carmel and the northern hills, reaching the sea at this point. Mount Carmel extends from the sea eastward to the plain of Esdraelon, and southward to Caesarea. Turning the foot of the mountain to the west, Caypha is reached, supposed to be so named from the rocky ground on which it stands, out of which are cut many sepulchres, chiefly like single coffins, but still attached to the rock, and probably of Jewish origin ; it lies on L 146 THE LAND OF ISRAEL *. the south side of the bay, and fronting Acre. In an- cient times it was also called Porphureon, from the pur- ple fish on the coast, whence was obtained the ancient Syrian dye. It was a bishopric, and in Pococke's time there still existed a well-built old church, possibly the cathedral, * There are also,* he remarks, ' ruins of a large building, that seems to have been the castle ; and they have built two forts, as a defence against the cor- sairs ; for this in realit}^ is the port of Acre, where ships lie at anchor, it being a bad shore on the other side, where they cannot remain with safety, by reason of the shallowness of the water.' Modern travellers confirm this statement. Two routes may be followed from Acre to Jerusalem, that by Caesarea and Joppa, partly along the coast, was that taken by St. Paul when he returned from Macedo- nia ; the other is by Nazareth. We shall traverse the first, as far as Jaffa. Opposite Caypha, travellers ascend Mount Carmel to the convent, which is newly built and handsome. Towards the foot of the hill is a fine grotto : * It is like a grand saloon,' says Pococke, * and is about forty feet long, twenty wide, and fifteen high. It is cut out of the rock, and is now converted into a mosque. Over this convent are the ruins of the old monastery, where pro- bably the order of Carmelites was instituted : it might at first be inhabited by the Greek calogers of the order of St. Elias, who had possession of these parts before the Latins were established here. Near it is a chapel in a grot, where, they say, Elias sometimes lived, which is resorted to with great devotion even by the Turks, as well as by the Christians and Jews, on the festival of that saint. We stayed all night in the Latin convent, from which there is a very fine prospect. The next morning we descended the hill, and turning to the west side of it, went a little way to the south, and then to the east, into a narrow valley about a mile long, between the mountains, and came to the grotto where, they say, Elias usually lived. Near it is his fountain, cut out of MOUNT CARMEL. 147 the rock. Here are the ruins of a convent, which, they say, was built by Brocardus, the second general of the Latin Carmelites, who wrote an account of the Holy Land. Over this, on the top of the hill, is a spot of ground which they call Elias's garden, because they jfind many stones there, resembling pears, olives, and, as they imagine, water-melons ; the last, when broken, appear to be hollow, and the inside beautifully crys- tallized.' Carne, in more recent times, speaks of this cave of Elias as more resembling * a sepulchre than a place of abode and instruction.' * The walls are dry, the floor clean, and no bats dwell therein. . . Through its arched doorway comes the only light, which is in- sufficient for the spacious interior. . . In the evening, when the sun is going down in its eastern glory, and its red light falls through the portal, it is very impressive to be here.' Mount Carmel is described as a flattened cone, about 2000 feet (according to some 1500) in height, and very rocky. Its seaward termination forms the only very prominent headland offered by the generally low and even coast of Palestine. * This promontory incloses on the south the bay of Acre ; and its ridge then retires from the coast, south-eastward, to join the central chain, which is prolonged from Lebanon. Regarded in the re- verse direction, it is a branch of this chain, the promon- tory being then its termination. The connection may very clearly be traced ; but attention being restricted to the part more immediately connected with the pro- montory, and partaking in its sensible characteristics, it extends about seven leagues.' Though its elevation be comparatively moderate, it commands a very extensive prospect, and has been mentioned with great admiration from the days of Solomon to the present time. In front, the view reaches to the distant horizon, over the dark blue waters of the Mediterranean ; behind is the exten- sive plain of Esdraelon, the mountains of the Jordan and Judea ; on the right hand, the city of Acre dimi- nished to a speck ; in the far distance beyond, the eye 148 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : rests on the summit of Lebanon ; tracing the coast, the ruins of Caesarea the city of Herod and the Roman governors of Palestine is seen. Fogs often obscure the interior of Galilee and Samaria : but the heights of Carmel enjoy a pure and enlivening atmosphere. The whiteness of its calcareous rocks is almost hid by the continual verdure. The pine, oak, olive, laurel, with other trees (though of diminutive form) rise from a beautiful carpet of grass and wild flowers ; the nume- rous streams from the mountain extend to the plain around. Its forests and woods are of unfailing verdure, different kinds of shrubs and plants succeeding each other. Numerous wild animals frequent the thickets ; and many birds, attracted by the abundance of suitable food, and b}'' the streams which wind along the valleys, enliven this beautiful spot. * At that time, when those mountains of the Holy Land, with which any scriptural incidents could be connected, were crowded with persons who deemed it meritorious to withdraw from the turmoil of the world, the caves of this mountain were occupied by thousands of such persons, and its sides were covered with the chapels in which they worshipped, and the gardens which they cultivated. The grottoes still exist ; many ruins of the ecclesiastical erections of this time are dis- persed upon the mountain ; and some of its products seem to offer evidence of the cultivation to which it was then subject ; but now, after many ages, it may be sup- posed to have reverted to somewhat of that more natu- ral condition, in which it probably appeared, when it exhibited the excellency of Carmel.' Going along the coast, there appears a castle on a small rocky promontory, reaching about a quarter of a mile into the sea, and in breadth about a quarter of a mile, with a small bay to the south. It is called by the Franks, Castle Bellegrino, by the natives Athlete. ' There seems,' says Pococke, ' to have been a town to the east and south-east of the promontor}^, as appears from the walls, which are almost entire, and are built CESAREA. 149 of large hewn stone rusticated. The castle is so finely built, that it may he reckoned as one of the things that are best worth seeing in these parts. It is encompassed with two walls, fifteen feet thick ; the inner wall on the east side cannot be less than forty feet high, and within it there appear to have been some very grand apartments. The offices of the fortress seem to have been at the west end, where I saw an oven eighteen feet in diameter. In the castle there are remains of a fine lofty church often sides, built in a light Gothic taste ; three chapels are built to the three eastern sides, each of which consists of five sides, excepting the opening of the church ; in these, it is probable, the three chief altars stood. The castle seems to have been built by the Greek emperors, as a place for arms, at the time when they were apprehen- sive of the invasions of the Saracens.' Captains Irby and Mangles found a modern village, apparently con- structed from the ruins of the ancient city, founded on this promontory. 'It is of small extent, and would appear, from its elevated situation, and the old walls which surround it, to have been a citadel, as there are the ruins of two other walls without it. The outer one, which we may suppose to have included the remainder of the ancient town, incloses a considerable space of ground now uninhabited. The form of the church was originally a double hexagon. On the exterior, below the cornice, are sculptured the heads of men, and of animals (such as the lion, ram, and sheep), in alto-re- lievo. A double line of light and elegant Gothic arches appears on the outer walls. From the commodiousness of the bay, the extent of the neighbouring quarries, and the fine rich plains, though now little cultivated, near it, this place would appear to have been formerly of much importance, and that the neighbourhood, though now thinly peopled, was once the seat of a thriving population.' The Arabs call Csesarea, Kissary, though the site of Herod's proud city is now scarcely tenanted by a single inhabitant. 'Perhaps there has not been,' says Dr. ]50 THE LAND OF ISRAELI Clarke, * in the history of the world, an example of any- city that, in so short a space of time rose to such an ex- traordinary height of splendour, as did this of Caesarea, or that exhibits a more awful contrast to its former magnificence, by the present desolate appearance of its ruins. Its theatres, once resounding with the shouts of multitudes, echo no other sound than the nightly cries of animals roaming for their prey. Of its gorgeous pa- laces and temples, enriched with the choicest works of art, and decorated with the most precious marbles, scarcely a trace can be discerned. Within the space of ten years after laying the foundation, from an obscure fortress (called the tower of Strato, as it is said, from the Greek who founded it,) it became the most celebrated and flourishing city of all Syria.' It is thirty-six miles from Acre, thirty from Jaffa, and sixty-two from Jeru- salem. Though Caesarea was in a favourable situation for traffic, its harbour, till Herod expended much money upon its enlargement, was very incommodious. It is said that he carried out a mole 200 feet into the sea ; and travellers have noticed flat rocks about the port, which seem formerly to have been surmounted by works to keep the westerly winds from the vessels at anchor. To- pographical conjecture is futile, in consequence of mounds of undefinable form being alone discernible. The solitary relic of ancient magnificence are the aqueducts, running north and south. The town- walls, which are of small hewn stone, about a mile in circum- ference, and defended by a broad fosse, are reported to have been built by Louis IX. in the time of the crusades. On a point of land jutting out from their south-west corner, is a strong castle in ruins, to which a similar date has been assigned, and which Pococke says was full of fragments of very fine marble pillars, some of granite, and a beautiful grey alabaster. A later travel- ler concludes, from the foundation being of immense granite pillars, that it has been built from the ruins of a Roman temple. The ruins of Caesarea, when seen off" FROM CESAREA TO JOPPA. 151 the coast, still appear numerous and extensive, notwith- standing SO much of the material has been applied to the construction of modern edifices. Here St. Paul was long detained a captive ; here he delivered his eloquence defence before Agrippa and Felix. Here was the abode of Cornelius the centurion, the first-fruits of the Gen- tile harvest. Here the evangelist Philip dwelt ; and from this port the apostles often set sail for Greece. Oui* information concerning the road between Caesa- rea and Jaffna, is chiefly derived from Mr. Buckingham, who passed along it on his way to Jerusalem in 1816. * The road led along the shore for an hour and a'half, on a sandy beach, with occasionally beds of rock turning to the sea ; then leaving the sea-side, lay for nearly an equal time over desert ground, and then returned to the beach. Soon after a low point of land was crossed, where is a small bay, obstructed by broken masses of rock. It was said to be a scala, to which fruit is brought from the neighbouring country behind Jaffk, and to the north of it, and here shipped in boats, for the more northern parts of Syria. At half-an-hour's distance from this point, the road again leaves the sea, and again crosses a desert, covered with sand, long wild grass, and a few bushes.' He afterwards came in sight of a cultivated plain, with a long valley running east- ward, and on a hill the small village of Elsheikh Moosa, having a large building in its centre ; this valley was crossed, and after ascending a gentle hill, he came in sight of a more extensive and beautiful plain, covered with trees, and enlivened with verdure. The village of El Mukhalid was on the left ; it resembled an Egyptian settlement, from the form and construction of its huts. At the south-west corner of this village were found the ruins of a large building, fifty feet of the side w^all, and one perfect end wall still standing. It was built of hewn stones, regularly placed, and strongly cemented, and showed equally good masonry with that of the fort at Csesarea, the style of which it resembled. In one part of the side were seen narrow windows and loop-holes ; 152 THE LAND OF ISRAEL! but whether it was solely a military post, a private dwelling provided for its own defence, or the only re- maining building of some ancient town, we could not decide. The presence of broken pottery, and particu- larly of the ribbed kind, scattered about in great quan- tities around the village, inclined me to the latter opinion.' The travellers afterwards entered a sandy desert tract, producing only wild grass and a few bushes, and came to a narrow, fertile pass, on each side of which were caverns and grottoes, leading to an elevated plain where husbandmen were sowing, and thousands of starlings had alighted, feasting on the newly-dropped seed. After an hour's journey along this plain, they made a halt at Heram ; a village cresting a high promontory above the sea, with only about fifty houses, a mosque and mina- ret. Caverns were seen in this neighbourhood. Next morning they descended to the shore, and proceeding along the coast, under brown cliffs and hills, came in two hours to the Nahrel-Arsouf, which is so shallow as to be easily forded. No remains could be found of a castle, built here at the- time of the crusades. In half- an-hour the travellers reached a little domed fountain, on the brow of the cliff ; the beach beneath was covered with small shells, which lay to the depth of several feet. Jaffa w^as now soon in sight. Jaffa, or Yaffa, formerly called Joppa, is one of the most ancient of sea-ports. It is a place to which tra- dition points as the scene of many marvellous occur- rences. Pliny assigns it a date anterior to the deluge : in his time they professed to show the marks of the chain with which Andromeda was fastened to the rock ; and here Noah is said to have built the ark ! But cast- ing aside these idle traditions, we are informed in the Bible, that to this place Solomon gave directions for the materials for the temple to be brought by sea from Mount Libanus ; here Jonah embarked for Tarshish, 862 B. c. Here St. Peter re-called Tabitha to life. Jaffa is forty miles north west of Jerusalem ; its chief JAFFA, OR JOPPA. 153 importance was derived from its situation, as being the nearest port to the holy city. It is one of the worst stations for vessels in the Mediterranean ; and ships generally anchor a mile from the town, to avoid the shoals and rocks. Josephus mentions the insecurity of the harbour. He speaks of both Joppa and Dira, as * lesser maritime cities, not fit for havens, on account of the impetuous south winds that beat upon them ; which rolling the sands that come from the sea against the shores, do not admit of ships lying in their station : but the merchants are generally there forced to ride at their anchors in the sea itself. ' Herod attempted to im- prove the harbour by erecting similar works to those at Csesarea. A castle built on a rock protects the road, and on the shore are some store-houses and magazines. The town has an imposing aspect, and occupies an emi- nence, in form like a sugar-loaf, with a citadel on the top : the coast is low, little above the level of the sea. A wall about fourteen feet high and three feet thick, encircles the top of the hill. Before approaching Jaffa, the surface of the ground is undulating, the hills high and partially cultivated, but, according to Dr. Richard- son, the tracts of thistles are as numerous as the fields of grain. At the lowest part of the plain, the gardens of Jaffa commence on each side of the road ; they are extensive and beautiful, as a spot of cultivation is amid fields that run wild in a state of nature. The gardens are fenced with hedges of the prickly pear, and plentifully furnished with pomegranates, oranges, and fig- trees, and water-melons. The commerce of the town chiefly consists in the importation of grain, especially of Egyptian rice, and the export of cotton and soap. Jaffa offers no antiquities for the inspection of the traveller. The inhabitants are in number about 6000, chiefly Arabians and Turks ; the Christians are com- puted at 1800, consisting of Roman Catholics, Greeks, and Armenians. The Latins, Greeks, and Armenians, have each a small convent for the entertainment of pilgrims.' 154 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : The encampment of Ibrahim Pasha here, was the only military movement that enlivened this quiet city since the French army under Napoleon took up their position before it, and that ruthless despot butchered his 4000 Turkish prisoners. Carne describes it as a dull and gloomy place, with narrow steep streets, and a prison-like aspect. All remains of the ancient Joppa are entirely swept away, or covered by the modern town; and the only relic pretended to be shown, is some * remains of the house of Simon the Tanner, the dull and miserable fragment of some old dwelling of a few centuries back, at which many a pilgrim's eye has gazed in tears, and many a knee knelt fervently.' There are a few Jews residing here, but the latest account by the Bishop of Jerusalem's party, estimates their num- ber at only thirty-three ; some of whom appear favour- ably inclined to Christianity. At Jaffa the route from Egypt joins that to Jerusa- lem ; we shall therefore describe the road from El Arisch to Jaffa, before proceeding farther towards the Holy city. El Arisch, probably the ancient Rhinocola, on ac- count of its being the first town on the Syrian side of the desert of Suez, may be considered as the natural frontier of the Holy Land in that direction. It is founded on a low rock, and encompassed with drifting sands ; ' its substantial fortress, with the village hang- ing under its eastern front, has an imposing appearance. The rock is a shell limestone, with a greater proportion of chalk and shells than any of the Egyptian rocks. The castle was fortified by the French, and furnished with octagonal towers for artillery.' The district con- tains a population of about 2000. The water is slightly brackish. Cultivation begins almost immediately be- yond, but has to struggle with the sandy soil. For more than twenty miles the route is over an undulating surface, in which grass and sand struggle for the su- periority, to the ruined village of the Sheikh Juide, which is pleasantly placed at the upper end of a narrow GAZA. 155 valley. It is reported to have been burnt by the French on their way to Egypt, and has not been rebuilt ; the tomb of the venerable Sheikh who lent his name both to the premises and the valley, alone remains as a re- lic of the disaster. Next appears Rafah, on the top of the hill where still stand two columns of grey granite beside a small heap of rubbish. The name calls to re- membrance a great battle fought between Ptolemy IV. king of Egypt, and Ant'iochus the great, king of Syria. A little way down the hill is a deep well ; the sides of the shaft are regularly built up and covered at the top to exclude the sun ; it is surrounded with many scat- tered columns of granite, and contains tolerably good water. The aspect of the country here improves. In two hours more the traveller can pass Hanvonis, or Khamunes, a large village situated on an eminence on the south side of the valley. Dair, the next place, is in the pashalic of Acre. Here is plenty of good water, raised by a water-wheel, resembling the Persian wheels in Egypt and Nubia, and three beautiful marble columns laid together, form a trough from which the cattle drink. The aspect of the country is still the same ; beautifully undulating fields covered with flocks and herds, and crops of barley, wheat, lentils, and tobacco. The breed of black cattle however, is not so handsome as in Egypt. The traveller, descending a hill, crosses the bed of a river, about thirty yards in width, called El Wady Gaza. The route is through a fine alluvial plain, and ascends a hill, the track lying deep in sand. On the right are ploughed fields, with excellent crops. Dr. Richardson observes that the sheep here are exceedingly fine, black-faced and white-faced, many of them with a brown coloured fleece. The peasantry plough here with two oxen ; the plough is remarkably slight, and has only one handle, which the ploughman holds with one hand, and carries a long stick in the other ; the beam and yoke of the plough is so very short, that, without moving from his post, he can chastise the oxen, and make them quicken their pace at his pleasure. The 156 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I summit of the hill commands on the right a view of the whitened tomb of the Sheikh Ah Ali Montar, which crests the tall promontory of the mountains of Hebron ; the town and minarets of Gaza crown the summit of a mound in the plain, on the left. Gaza was one of the five satrapies of the Philistines, renowned from the time of Samson down to that of Richard Coeur de Lion. A hedge of Indian figs lines each side of the road, and a number of upright white marble tomb-stones mark the spot where the road turns to the left, and winds like a serpentine walk through pleasant gardens to the city gates. These gardens are enclosed with hedges of India fig ; and abound in small spreading sycamore -trees, which add much to the pic- turesque beauty of their appearance. The eminence, on which are the town and burying- ground, is about two miles in circumference from the base, and would appear to have been wholly inclosed within the ancient fortifi- cations, and to have been of commanding strength. For two months Alexander the 'Great, on his way to Egypt, failed to make an impression upon it. He was often repulsed, and frequently wounded, which he afterwards infamously avenged on the person of Betis, the gallant defender, whose ancles he bored while he was still alive, tied him to the wheels of his chariot, and dragged him round the walls, as Achilles had done with the corpse of Hector. No remarkable antiquities can be found here. In several places may be seen a few scattered columns of grey granite, probably of Roman workmanship, and part of the substructures and columns of a round edifice, near the Seraglio, which is a building in the Saracenic style, by no means remarkable for beauty. There is a number of mosques and some fine tombs ; and the peo- ple of the town whose number amounts to above 8000, are a mixture of Turks and Arabs, Fellahs, Bedoins, and other tribes, each wearing their particular costume. There appears to be a difference of opinion among modern travellers as to the position of ancient Gaza. The learned and accurate Robinson places it on the GAZA. 167 round hill whereon the modern town stands. He says, ' The ancient city of Gaza, renowned as " the strong," lay obviovisly chiefly on the hill. The present town has no gates, being like an open village ; yet the places of the former ones remain, and are pointed out around the hill.' The Scottish mission, on the contrary, say, * we were now prepared to verify Dr. Keith's conclusion . . . that these hills of sand,' half an hour from Gaza, * where we had pitched our tents, really cover the ruins of ancient Gaza. Each of us had found minute frag- ments of polished marble in the flat hollows between the sand-hills, the remains, no doubt, of the ' palaces of Gaza : ' and also masses of fused stones, proving that God had " sent a fire upon the wall of Gaza.'' Descend- ing from the height into the plain, the traveller for three quarters of an hour, passes through an olive-ground, the trees of which are old and large, and judiciously planted, * not crowded together in such impenetrable masses as in the Ionian isles, so as to prevent a free cir- culation of air, and infest the neighbourhood with a noisome damp ; but free and open, admitting of culti- vation, and the healthy growth of vegetables at their roots. The whole is like a well- arranged domain, formed equally for pleasure and utility.' A little beyond the small village of Bet Hanoon, the road crossed the deep bed of a winter torrent, supposed to be Escol. The village Beeresnait is on the right, Bedigga and Dea, in front, and on the left the village of Barbara. The ruins of Askelon lie about an hour's journey from this point of the route. This deserted town occu- pies a strong position, its walls are built on the top of a rocky ridge that winds in a semicircular direction, and terminates at each end in the sea. The foundations remain all the way round ; the walls are of great thick- ness, and in some places of considerable height, flanked with towers at diff'erent distances. Parts of the wall preserve their original elevation ; but in general it is ruined throughout, and the materials lie scattered around the foundation, or rolled down the hill on either ]o8 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : side. The ground falls within the walls in the same manner that it does without : the town was sit- uated in the hollow, so that no part of it was visible from the outside of the walls. About the centre of these remains, is a ruined temple or theatre, part of which was cleared out by the direction of the late Lady Hester Stanhope, who is said to have found there a beautiful marble statue. All that remains of this once extensive edifice is a few columns of grey granite, and one of red, with an unusually large proportion of felspar. Close by the sea in the highest part of the town, is a ruined Christian convent, beside which is a well of good water. The sea beats strongly against the bank, on which the convent stands, and six prostrate columns of grey granite, half covered by the waves, attest its en- croachments. There is neither bay nor shelter for shipping ; but a small harbour advancing a little way towards the eastern extremity of the town, seems to have accommodated such small craft as formerly came to the city. This was once one of the proudest satra- pies of the Philistine Lords ; it is now deserted, and the prophecy of Zechariah fulfilled, " the king shall perish from Gaza, and Askelon shall not be inhabited," a prediction uttered when both the cities flourished. Now Gaza has no sovereign, and Askelon 's lofty towers lie scattered and deserted, in ruins on the ground. Beyond the hill which is covered with grass and sand, lies Misdel, a village situated on a beautiful plain, and surrounded with small gardens, with hedges of the Indian fig-tree. Hamamah lies in an hour and a half farther on ; the environs are cultivated, and the crops abundant, but quite overgrown with thistles, extensive plantations of which line each side of the road. * At present,' says Dr. Richardson, * although our prospect is extensive, there is not a tree in sight ; yet the growth of spring clothes the undulating fields, and every thing is fresh and beautiful. It is not like the land of Egypt, but it is a thousand times more interesting. Having passed a large tumulus on the top of an adjoining hill. ( ASHDOD, OR AZOTUS. 159 the history of which we could not learn, we came in sight of Azotus, Ashdod, pronounced in the country Shdood. The ground around Ashdod is beautifully un- dulating, the pasture luxuriant, but not half stocked with cattle. The site of the town is on the summit of a grassy hill, and if we are to believe historians, was anciently as strong as it is beautiful. Herodotus states that Psammetichus, the king of Egypt, spent twenty- nine years in besieging it, and in the end was successful ; an event which is stated to have occurred 1124 years before Christ, about fifty years before the reign of David in Hebron. This was another of the five satrapies of the Philistines, who, when they had taken the ark of God in battle from the Israelites, brought it to Ash- dod, and carried it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon their god. We neither saw nor heard of any ruins here. Few travellers seem to visit this site. Dr. Robinson says merely, ' Esdod was pointed out to us, upon a low round eminence, with trees thick round it like a wood, probably olives.' From Ashdod to Jaffa is about twelve miles journey, over an undulating surface ; the high and partially cultivated hills are covered copiously with thistles. Cap- tains Irby and Mangles took a less direct route. They crossed the river El Rubin, close to the ruins of a Ro- man bridge, one great arch of which, and part of ano- ther were still standing, overgrown with bushes and w^eeds. It was in October, at which time the river above the bridge was nearly dry, filled with wild flowers and rushes. Below, it was * a handsome winding sheet of water, the banks of which were likewise covered with various water-flowers, and many black water- fowl were swimming on its surface : the water is bad, but not salt. On the opposite side of the river, on a small emi- nence, is Sheikh Rubin's tomb, surrounded by a square wall with some trees inclosed. There are in Syria and Egypt numbers of these tombs, which the Arabs erect to the memory of every man who, they think, has led a holy life ; giving the title of Sheikh, not only to 160 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : their chiefs but also to their saints. These tombs are generally placed in some conspicuous spot, frequently on the top of some mount. The sepulchre consists of a small apartment, with a cupola over it, whitewashed externally ; within are deposited a mat and a jar of water, for the ablutions of such as retire thither for de- votion. Sheikh Rubin, who lived many years ago, appears to have been much respected, and the people to this day go to pay vows at his shrine ; they also bring provisions, and make festivals there. The river, no doubt, receives its appellation from this Sheikh. The distance between Jaffa and Ramla is nine miles, along undulating ground of a wilder appearance than the country of the Philistines, partially cultivated and thinly inhabited. Though Jaffa is in a wooded part of the country ; the road would be altogether bare, but for a few olive-trees on some of the hills. The scene is changed at Ramla, which is adorned with many trees, including the lofty palm. Ramla (by some supposed to be Rama, and the Arimathea of the New Testament) is about thirty- seven miles distant from Jerusalem, and is situated in a fertile plain. There are a Greek, an Ar- menian, and also a Latin convent, the principal homes of Christian pilgrims in this quarter* Two churches are now used as mosques ; the larger was a Greek church. There is a high tower still in good preservation, and com- manding a splendid view of the surrounding country. It stands amid the ruins of a large building, which Robinson thinks was probably a Khan in former times. He says, * The streets of Ramlah are few ; the houses of stone, many of them large and well built, and there are many mosques.' About three miles to the north-east is Lydda, now Londd, where St. Peter cured ^neas of the palsy. Having been destroyed by Cestius at the commencement of the Jewish war, it was rebuilt under the name of Diopolis. There is now only a paltry village, some stones which have been employed in raising the modern buildings, testify its past importance. The traveller JERUSALEM. i'age 161. DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 161 may still behold the ruins of the handsome church of St. George, well and regularly built of stone. Some writers have attributed this edifice to Justinian, others to an English king. The west end is built into a mosque. All this country is described by travellers as very rich soil, throwing up a great quantity of herbage and flowers. A great variety of anemonies grow in the neighbourhood. ' I saw likewise/ says Pococke, * many tulips growing wild in the fields (in March) : and any one who considers how beautiful these flowers are to the eye, would be apt to conjecture that these are the lilies to which Solomon in all his glory was not to be com- pared.' But the lily to which our Lord thus referred, some writers conceive to have been the Amaryllis lutea, or autumnal narcissus, so common in the countries bordering on the Levant, which clothes the fields in autumn with a vivid golden brilliancy. For some miles beyond Lydda, the route lies over a level plain, but soon enters the hill-country, and passes the beautiful villages of Karich and Kalome, the latter being very near Jerusalem. The Scottish mission thus describe the approach to the Holy City : * We now ascended a much barer mountain, and by a path the steepest we had yet climbed. Arrived at the summit, it appeared as if we had left all cultivation behind us. A bare desert of sun-burnt rocks stretches to the right, as far as the eye can reach. We remembered the descrip- tions given by travellers of these mountains, and knew that we were near the Holy City. Every moment we expected to see Jerusalem.' They soon gained the point where the city of the Lord comes first in sight. ' Soon all of us were on the spot, silent, buried in thought, and wistfully gazing on the wondrous scene where God our Saviour died. The distant mountains beyond the city seemed so near, that at first sight, we mistook them for the mountains that enclose "the valley of vision," though they proved to be the mountains of Moab, on the east side of the Dead Sea. As yet we were not sufficiently accustomed to the pure, clear atmosphere, so 162 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! that distances were often very deceptive. As our camels slowly approached the city, its sombre walls rose before us, but in these there is nothing to attract or excite the feelings. . . . While passing along the pathway imme- diately under the western wall, from which no object of any interest can be seen, and entering the Jaffa gate, we could understand the exclamation, and were almost ready to use it as our own, " Is this the city which men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?" Its dark walls, and the glance we got of slippery narrow streets, with low, ill-built houses, and a poor ill-clad population, suggested no idea of the magnificence of former days.' Such were their first impressions ; but the city is not seen to the best advantage by the ap- proach from Jaffa. Dr. Clarke entered it by the Damascus gate, and describes the view, when first seen from the top of a hill, as very impressive. ' We had not been prepared,' he says, ' for the grandeur of the spectacle which the city alone exhibited. Instead of a wretched and ruined town, by some described as the desolated remnant of Jerusalem, we beheld, as it were, a flourishing and stately metropolis, presenting a mag- nificent assemblage of domes, towers, palaces, churches, and monasteries ; all of which, glittering in the sun's rays, shone with inconceivable splendour. As we drew nearer, our whole attention was engrossed by its noble and interesting appearance. The lofty hills surrounding it, gave the city itself an appearance of elevation less than it really was.' But not only did Dr. Clarke be- hold it under the brilliant illusion of evening sunshine, but his description is decidedly overcharged. Mr. Buck- ingham says, ' The appearance of this celebrated city, independent of the feelings and recollections which the approach to it cannot fail to awaken, was greatly in- ferior to my expectations, and had certainly nothing of grandeur or beauty, of stateliness or magnificence about it. It appeared like a walled town of the third or fourth class, having neither towers, nor domes, nor minarets within it, in sufficient numbers to give even DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 163 a character to its impressions on the beholder ; but shewing chiefly large flat-roofed buildings of the most unornamental kind, seated amid rugged hills, on a stony and forbidding soil, with scarcely a picturesque object in the whole compass of the surrounding view.' Nothing, in fact, is more striking than the diversity and apparent contradiction prevalent in the descriptions of Jerusalem, given by modern travellers. While some represent the magnificence of its buildings as equalling the most splendid edifices of modern times, others have seen only filth and ruins, surmounted by a gaudy mosque, and a few glittering minarets. It must be confessed that the greater number have drawn largely upon imagination, and clothed with illusory splendour the fallen metropolis of Judea, giving rather the im- pressions left upon their minds by the brilliant visions of poetry, than the results of minute personal inspec- tion. Chateaubriand is perhaps one of the most imagi- native of the class, and yet his descriptions are so graphic and poetical, that we cannot forbear extracting his sketch of Jerusalem. After quoting the language of the prophet Jeremiah, in his Lamentations i. 1 G ; ii. 1 9, 15, as accurately pourtraying the present state of the city, he proceeds : * When seen from the Mount of Olives, on the other side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, Jerusalem presents an inclined plane, descending from west to east. An embat- tled wall, fortified with towers and a Gothic castle, en- compasses the city all round ; excluding, however, part of Mount Sion, which it formerly enclosed. ' In the western quarter, and in the centre of the city towards Calvary, the houses stand very close ; but in the eastern part along the brook Cedron, you perceive vacant spaces ; among the rest, that which surrounds the mosque erected on the ruins of the temple, and the nearly deserted spot where once stood the Castle of An- tonia, and the second palace of Herod. ' The houses of Jerusalem are heavy square masses, very low, without chimneys or windows ; they have flat M 2 164 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I terraces or domes on the top, and look like prisons or sepulchres. The whole would appear to the eye one un- interrupted level, did not the steeples of the churches, the minarets of the mosques, the summits of the few cypresses, and the clumps of nopals, break the unifor- mity of the plan. On beholding these stone buildings, encompassed by a stony country, you are ready to in- quire, if they are not the confused monuments of a ce- metery in the midst of a desert. ' Enter the city, but nothing will you there find to make amends for the dulness of its exterior. You lose yourself among narrow unpaved streets, here going up hill, then down, from the inequality of the ground ; and you walk amongst clouds of dust or loose stones. Can- vas stretched from house to house increases the gloom of this labyrinth ; bazaars, roofed over, and fraught with infection, completely exclude the light from the desolate city. A few paltry shops expose nothing but wretched- ness to view, and even these are frequently shut from apprehension of the passage of a Cadi. Not a creature is to be seen in the streets, not a creature at the gates, except now and then a peasant gliding through the gloom, concealing under his garments the fruits of his labour, lest he should be robbed of his hard-earnings by the rapacious soldier. Aside, in a corner, the Arab butcher is slaughtering some animal, suspended by the legs from a wall in ruins : from his haggard and fero- cious look, and his bloody hands, you would rather suppose that he had been cutting the throat of a fellow- creature, than killing a lamb. The only noise heard from time to time in this deicide city, is the galloping of the steed of the desert : it is the janissary, who brings the head of the Bedouin, or returns from plundering the unhappy Fellah. ' Amid this extraordinary desolation, you must pause a moment to contemplate two circumstances still more extraordinary. Among the ruins of Jerusalem, two classes of independent people find in their religion suffi- cient fortitude to enable them to surmount such com- DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 165 plicated horrors and wretchedness. Here reside commu- nities of Christian monks, whom nothing can compel to forsake the tomb of Christ ; neither plunder, nor perso- nal ill-treatment, nor menaces of death itself. Night and day they chant their hymns around the holy sepul- chre. Stripped in the morning by a Turkish governor, they are found at night at the foot of Calvary in prayer, on the spot where Christ suffered for the salvation of mankind. Their brows are serene, their lips wear an incessant smile. They receive the stranger with joy. Without power, without soldiers, they protect whole villages against iniquity. Driven by the cudgel and the sabre, women, children, flocks and herds, seek refuge in the cloisters of these recluses. What prevents the armed oppressor from pursuing his prey, and overthrow- ing such feeble ramparts ? The charity of the monks : they deprive themselves of the last resources of life to ransom their supplicants. Turks, Arabs, Greeks, Christian schismatics, all throw themselves under the protection of a few indigent religious, who are incapable of defending themselves. Here we cannot forbear ac- knowledging with Bossuet, that * hands raised towards heaven disperse more battalions than hands armed with javelins.' * While the new Jerusalem thus rises from the desert resplendent in brightness, cast your eyes between the Temple and Mount Sion ; behold another petty tribe, cut off from the rest of the inhabitants of this city. The particular objects of every species of degradation, these people bow their heads without murmuring ; they en- dure every kind of insult without demanding justice ; they sink beneath repeated blows without sighing ; if their head be required, they present it to the scymetar. On the death of any member of this proscribed commu- nity, his companion goes at night and inters him by stealth in the valley of Jehoshaphat, in the shadow of Solomon's Temple. Enter the abodes of these people, you will find them amidst the most abject wretchednesss, instructing their children to read a mysterious book, 166 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : which they in their turn will teach their offspring to read. What they did five thousand years ago, these people still continue to do. Seventeen times have they witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, yet nothing can discourage them, nothing can prevent them from turn- ing their faces towards Sion. To see the Jews scattered over the whole world according to the word of God, must doubtless excite surprise, hut to be struck with supernatural astonishment, you must view them at Jerusalem. You must behold these rightful masters of Judea living as slaves and strangers in their own coun- try ; you must behold them expecting, under all op- pressions, a king who is to deliver them. Crushed by the cross that condemns them, and is planted on their heads, skulking near the Temple, of which not one stone is left upon another, they continue in their deplor- able infatuation. The Persians, the Greeks, the Ro- mans, are swept from the earth ; and a petty tribe, whose origin preceded that of those great nations, still exists unmixed among the ruins of its native land : if anything among nations wears the character of a miracle, that character, in my opinion, is here legibly impressed. What can appear more wonderful, even to the philoso- pher,'^than this spectacle of ancient and modern Jerusa- lem at the foot of Calvary ? the former overwhelmed with affliction at the sight of the sepulchre of the risen Jesus ; the latter exulting before the only tomb which will have no deposit to render up at the consummation of ages.' Lamartine gives the following general description of Jerusalem : ' This city is not, as it has been represented, an un- shapely and confused mass of ruins and ashes, over which a few Arab cottages are thrown, or a few Bedouin tents pitched ; neither is it like Athens, a chaos of dust and crumbling walls, where the traveller seeks in vain the shadow of edifices, the trace of streets, the phantom of a city ; but it is a city shining in light and colour, presenting nobly to view her intact and battlemented DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 167 walls, her blue mosque, with her white colonnades, hex- thousand resplendent domes, from which the rays of the autumnal sun are reflected in a dazzing vapour ; the fa9ades of her houses, tinted by time and heat, of the yellow and golden hue of the edifices of Paestum or of Rome ; her old towers, the guardians of her walls, to which neither one stone, one loop-hole, nor one battle- ment is wanting, and, above all, amidst that ocean of houses, that cloud of little domes which cover them, is a dark elliptical dome, larger than the others, overlooked by another and a white one. These are the churches of the Holy Sepulchre, and of Calvary ; from hence they are confounded, and appear drowned in the immense labyrinth of domes, edifices, and streets which encom- pass them : and one finds it difficult to credit such a situation for Calvary and the Sepulchre, which, accord- ing to the ideas we derive from the Gospel history, should be placed on a separate hill without the walls, and not in the centre of Jerusalem. The city, confined on the side of Mount Sion, has no doubt enlarged her- self on the north to embrace within her circuit those two sites which make her shame and glory, that of the murder of the Lord, and the resurrection of the incar- nate deity. * Such is the city from the height of the Mount of Olives. She has no horizon behind her to the west, nor to the north. The line of her walls and her towers, the points of her numerous minarets, the arches of her shining domes, stand out in bold relief against the deep blue of an orient sky ; and the town thus exhibited on its broad and elevated platform, seems again to shine in all the antique splendour of its prophecies, or to be only waiting the word to rise in dazzling glory from its seventeen successive ruins, and to be transformed into that new Jerusalem which is to come out of the bosom of the desert, radiant with brightness. * The view is the most splendid that can be presented to the eye of a city that is no more, for she still seems to exist as one full of life and youth ; but on contem- 168 TJIE LAND OF ISRAEL I plating the scene with more attention, we feel that it is really no more than a fair vision of the city of David and Solomon, No noise arises from her squares and streets no roads leads to her gates from the east, or from the west, from the north, or from the south, except a few paths winding among the rocks, on which you may meet only half-naked Arabs, some camel-drivers from Damascus, or women from Bethlehem or Jericho, car- rying on their heads a basket of raisins from Engaddi, or a cargo of doves to be sold on the morrow under the trebinthuses beyond the city gates. No one passing in or out ; no mendicant even was seated against the curb- stones ; no sentinel showed himself at her threshold ; we saw, indeed, no living object, heard no living sound ; we found the same void, the same silence, at the en- trance of a city containing 80,000 souls, during the twelve hours of the day, as we should expect before the gates of Pompeii or Herculaneum. ' We saw nothing pass the gate of Damascus, except four funeral processions, silently winding their way along the walls to the Turkish cemetery ; nor the gate of Sion, till we were within view, except the funeral of a poor Christian, who had died in the morning of the plague, and was carried by four grave-diggers to the Grecian burial-place. They passed close by us, stretched the infectious corpse upon the ground, wrapped in its own garments, and in silence commenced digging its last bed under our horses* feet. The earth all around the city was freshly disturbed by similar sepultures, which the plague multiplied daily, and the only sensible noise outside the walls of Jerusalem was the monotonous plaints of the Turkish women bewail- ing their dead. I know not whether the plague was the only cause of the emptiness of the roads, and the pro- found silence that reigned within and around Jerusa- lem, but I think not ; for the Turks and Arabs turn not away from the inflictions of Omnipotence, which they are convinced may everywhere reach them, and from which that there is no road of escajje ; a sublime DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAXD. 169 idea, but which often leads to the most fatal con- clusions. * To the left of the platform, the temple ; and the walls of Jerusalem, the hill which supports the city suddenly sinks, stretches itself, and descends in gentle slopes, sometimes broken by terraces of falling stones. On its summit, at some hundred paces from Jerusalem, stand a mosque, and a group of Turkish edifices, not unlike a European hamlet, crowned with its church and steeple. This is Sion, the palace, the tomb of David ; the seat of his inspiration and of his joys, of his life, and his repose. A spot doubly sacred to me, who have so often felt my heart touched, and my thoughts rapt by the sweet singer of Israel the first poet of sentiment, the king of lyrics. Never have human fibres vibrated to harmonies so deep, so penetrating, so solemn. Never has the ima- gination of poet been set so high, never has its expres- sion been so true. Never has the soul of man expanded itself before man and before God, in tones and senti- ments so tender, so sympathetic, and so heartfelt. All the most secret murmurs of the human heart found their voice and their note on the lips and the harp of this minstrel. And if we revert to the remote period when such chaunts were first echoed on the earth ; if we con- sider that, at the same period, the lyric poetry of the most cultivated nations sang only of wine, love, war, and victories of the muses, or the coursers at the Eleian games ; we dwell with profound astonishment on the mystic accents of the prophet king, who addresses God the Creator as friend talks to friend ; comprehends and adores His wonders, admires His judgments, implores His mercies, and seems to be an anticipatory echo of the evangelic poetry, repeating the mild accents of Christ before they had been heard. Prophet or not, as he is contemplated by the philosopher or the Christian, neither of them can deny the poet-king an inspiration, bestowed on no other man. Read Horace or Pindar after a psalm! For my part I cannot. * I, the feeble poet of an age of silence and decay. 170 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: were I domesticated at Jerusalem, should have selected for my residence and abiding-place, precisely the spot which David chose for his at Sion. Here is the most beautiful view in all Judea, Palestine, or Galilee, To the left lies Jerusalem with its temples and edifices, over which the eyes of the king or of the poet might rove at large, without his being seen from thence. Before him fertile gardens descending in steep declivities, lead to the bed of that torrent, in the roar and foam of which he delights. Lower down, that valley opens and extends itself ; fig-trees, pomegranates, and olives, over- shadowing it. On one of these rocks, suspended over the rolling tide, in one of the sonorous grottos refreshed by the breeze, and by the murmur of the waters, or at the foot of a trebinthus, ancestor of that which sheltered me, the divine poet doubtless awaited those inspirations which he so melodiously poured forth. And why will they not here also visit me, that I might recount in songs the griefs of my heart, and of the hearts of all men, in these days of perplexity, even as he sang of their hopes in an era of youth and of faith ? Song, alas, no longer survives in the heart of man, for despair sings not. And until some new beam shall descend upon the obscurity of our times, terrestrial lyres will remain mute, and mankind will pass in silence from one abyss of doubt to another, having neither loved, nor prayed, nor sang. ' But to return to the palace of David.. Here the eye rests upon the once verdant and watered valley of Jehoshaphat ; a large opening in the eastern hills con- ducts it from steep to steep, from height to height, from undulation to undulation, even to the basin of the Dead Sea, which in the far distance reflects the evening sunbeams in its dull and heavy waters, giving, like the thick Venetian crystal, an unpolished and leaden tint to the light which gleams upon it. The sea is not, however, what the imagination may picture it, a petrified lake, amidst a dull and colourless horizon. It resembles one of the most beautiful lakes of Switzerland or Italy, as DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 171 it is seen from hence, reposing its tranquil waters be- neath the shadow of the lofty mountains of Arabia, (which stretch like the Alps as far as the eye can reach behind its waves,) and amidst the projecting pyramidi- cal, conical, unequal, jagged, and sparkling ridges of the most distant mountains of Judea. Such is the view from Sion. We will now proceed. * There is another feature in the landscape of Jerusa- lem, which I could wish to have indelibly engraven on my memory, although I neither draw nor paint. It is the Valley of Jehoshaphat. That valley celebrated in the traditions of three religions, in which Jews, Chris- tians, and Mahometans unite to place the terrible arena of supreme judgment. The valley which has already witnessed on its confines the grandest scene of the evan- gelical drama, the tears, the groans, and the death of Christ. That valley which all the prophets have suc- cessively visited, sending forth a cry of bitterness and horror with which it seems still to vibrate. That valley through which shall one day pour the awful sound of a torrent of souls, about to present themselves before their God for final judgment ! ' Perhaps the description of the cool and indefatigable Robinson, if combined with these floM^ery lays of Gallic writers, may serve to reduce the subject to a more real form in the minds of our readers. He says, ' I have already remarked, that as we crossed the Vale of Hinnom, I was particularly struck with its rapid des- cent, and the great depth of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, or the Kedron into which it opens. In the city itself, the steepness of the streets which lead to the east, was greater than I had anticipated. But on entering the gates of Jerusalem, apart from the overpowering recol- lections which naturally rush upon the mind, I was in many respects agreeably disappointed. From the des- criptions of Chateaubriand and other travellers, I had expected to find the houses of the city miserable, the streets filthy, and the population squalid. Yet the first impression made on my mind, was of a different 172 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : character ; nor did I afterwards see any reason to doubt the correctness of this first impression. The houses are in general better built, and the streets cleaner, than those of Alexandria, Smyrna, or even Constantinople. Indeed, of all the oriental cities which it was my lot to visit, Jerusalem, after Cairo, is the cleanest and most solidly built. The streets indeed are narrow, and very rudely paved, like those of all cities in the east. The houses are of hewn stone, often large, and furnished with the small domes on the roofs, which have been already mentioned at Hebron, as perhaps peculiar to the district of Judea. These domes seem to be not merely for ornament ; but are intended, on account of the scarcity of timber, to aid in supporting and strength- ening the otherwise flat roofs. There is usually one or more over each room in a house : and they serve also for elevation and an architectural effect to the ceiling of the room, which rises within them, The streets and the population that throngs them, may also well bear comparison with those of any other oriental city ; although if one seek here, or elsewhere in the East, for the general cleanliness and thrift which characterize many cities of Europe and America, he will of course seek in vain.' The Jerusalem of sacred history is now no more. Not a vestige of the capital of David and of Solomon now remains ; nor is there a single monument of Jewish times standing. The very course of the walls is changed, and the boundaries of the ancient city are become doubt- ful. Dr. Clarke was the first enlightened traveller who treated the preposterous legends and clumsy forgeries of the monks with proper contempt. He says * To men interested in tracing, within the walls, antiquities re- ferred to by the documents of ancient history, no spec- tacle can be more mortifying than the city in its present state. The mistaken piety of the early Christians, in attempting to preserve, has either confused or annihi- lated the memorials it was anxious to render conspicu- ous. Viewing the havoc thus made, it may now be re- DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 173 gretted that the Holy Land was ever rescued from the dominion of Saracens, who were far less barbarous than their conquerors. The absurdity, for example, of hew- ing the rocks of Judea into shrines and chapels, and of disguising the face of nature with painted domes and gilded marble coverings, by way of commemorating the scenes of our Saviour's life and death, is so evident and so lamentable, that even Sandys with all his cre- dulity, could not avoid a happy application of the re- proof conveyed by the Roman satirist against a similar violation.' The remarks of the lively Stephens on this subject are very natural. * The traveller is often astonished that with so little to guide her, Helena was so successful ; for she not only found all the holy places mentioned in the Bible, but many more ; it may be that the earnest piety of the empress sometimes deceived her ; but then she always covered a doubtful place with a handsomer monument. The worthy empress seemed to think that a little marble could not hurt a holy place, and a good deal might help to make holy what was not so without it ; and so think most of the Christian pilgrims, for I have observed that they always kiss with more devo- tion the polished marble than the rude stone. But the Christian who goes animated by the fresh, I may almost say virgin feeling, awakened by the perusal of his Bible, expecting to see in Bethlehem the stable in which our Saviour was born, and the manger in which he was cradled, or in Jerusalem the tomb hewn out of the rock wherein his crucified body was buried, will feel another added to the many grievous disappoint- ments of a traveller, when he finds these hallowed ob- jects, or at least what are pointed out as such, covered and enclosed with parti-coloured marble, and bedecked with gaudy and inappropriate ornaments, as if inten- tionally and impiously to destroy all resemblance to the descriptions given in the sacred book.' We must now give some account of the most remark- able of these spots ; as, though we may justly doubt 174 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : their identity with those mentioned in sacred writ, every reader must be anxious to know something of places deemed worthy of such veneration by the greater number of those who visit Jerusalem. The following is Lamartine's account of the holy sepulchre : ' After traversing some other streets similar to those which I have just described, we come upon a small square, looking to the north upon a corner of the hill of Olives. On our left, some steps of descent lead us to a court-yard, on which stands the front of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church of the Holy Sepul- chre has been so often and well described, that I will not describe it afresh. It is, especially on the exterior, a vast and splendid monument of the Byzantine era ; its architecture is solemn, imposing, and rich, for the period in which it was constructed ; it is a worthy memento raised by the piety of men over the tomb of the Son of Man. Comparing this church with any of the same epoch, we find it superior in every respect. St. Sophia, much more colossal, is also much more barbaric in its form ; it is but a mountain of stones flanked by hills of stones. St, Sepulchre, on the contrary, is an airy and chiselled cupola, in which the artistic and graceful work- manship of the doors, windows, capitals, and cornices, gives to the mass the inestimable value of skilful labour ; in which the stone has been carved to be rendered worthy of making part of a monument elevated to the grandest of human ideas ; in which the very belief that has reared it, is written in the details as well as in the entireness of the edifice. It is true, that the church of the Holy Sepulchre is not such at the present day, as St. Helena, mother of Constantine, constructed it ; the kings of Jerusalem retouched and embellished it with the ornaments of that architecture, half western, half Moorish, the taste and models for which they had picked up in the east. But such as it is now, in its exterior, with its Byzantine body, and Greek, Gothic, and Arabic decorations, with its very rents, the marks of time and DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY LAND. 175 barbarism remaining on its facade, it presents no re- pugnant contrast to the thoughts we bear to it, or to the thoughts which it expresses ; we do not experience on beholding it, tliat distressing impression of a grand conception ill executed, of a sublime recollection pro- faned by the hands of men. On the contrary, we ex- claim involuntarily, ' This is what I expected ! Man has done all he could. The monument is not worthy of the tomb, but it is worthy of the mortal race, anxious to do honour to the great sepulchre.' We enter the arched and sombre vestibule of the nave with this solemn feeling. * On entering the vestibule which opens directly on the court, we perceive to the left in the hollow of a wide deep niche, the divan which the Turks have there established ; they are the guardians of the holy sepul- chre, and they alone have the right of opening and shutting it. When I passed, five or six venerable Turks, with long white beards, were sitting cross-legged on this divan, covered with rich Aleppo carpets. Coffee- cups and pipes were beside them on the carpets ; they saluted us with dignity and grace, and gave orders to one of the watchers to accompany us into all the parts of the church. I saw nothing in their countenances, their words, or their gestures, of that irreverence with which they are accused. They do not enter the church, they remain at the door ; they speak to the Christians with the gravity and respect which the place and the object of the visit require. * At the bottom of the vestibule we found ourselves under the large cupola of the church. The centre of the cupola, which the local traditions assert is the centre of the world, is occupied by a small monument, as one precious stone is enchased in another. This in- terior monument is an oblong square adorned with pillars, a cornice, and cupola of marble, the whole in bad taste, and of a laboured fantastic design. It was reconstructed in 1817, by an European architect, at the expense of the Greek church, which now possesses it. 176 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I All around this interior erection, the great external cu- pola extends without obstruction. We make the cir- cuit freely, and find between the pillars large and deep chapels, which are each consecrated to one of the mys- teries of Christ's passion. They all contain some real or suppositious evidence of the scenes of the redemption. The part of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is not under the cupola, is exclusively reserved to the sects of the Greeks ; a separation of painted wood* covered with the pictures of the Greek worship, divides one nave from the other. Notwithstanding the absurd profusion of bad paintings, and of all sorts of ornaments with which the walls and the altars are surcharged, the whole has a solemn and religious effect ; we feel that adoration in various forms has possessed this sanctuary, and accumulated all that superstitious but fervent genera- tions have believed most precious before God. A staircase cut in the rock leads to the top of Calvary, where the three crosses were planted. Thus Calvary, the sepulchre, and several other sites of the action of the Redemption? are found gathered under the roof of one single edifice of moderate extent. This appears little conformable to the recitals of the evangelists, and we are very far from expecting to find the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea cut in the rock beyond the walls of Sion, fifty paces from Calvary, the place of execution, and contained within the inclosure of modern walls ; but such are the tra- ditions, and they have prevailed. The mind does not contest, on such a scene, a few paces of difference be- tween historical probabilities and traditions, nor whether it were here or there, since it is certainly not far from the positions pointed out. After a moment of profound and silent meditation in each of these sacred places, induced by the recollection which it individually recalled, we descended again to the enclosure of the churchj'and entered the interior monument, which serves as a stone curtain or covering to the sepulchre itself. It is divided into two small sanctuaries. In the first is the stone, on which the angels were seated when they DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 177 answered the holy women : " He is not here ; he is risen." The second and last sanctuary contains the sepulchre, yet covered with a sort of sarcophagus of white marble, which surrounds and entirely conceals from the eye the substance of the primitive rock, out of which the tomb was hollowed. Gold and silver lamps, kept perpetually burning, light this chapel, and frank- in sence is burned night and day. The air is warm and scented. "We entered it one by one, separately, without permitting any of the servants of the temple to follow us. We were separated by a curtain of crimson silk from the first sanctuary. We were unwilling that ob- servation should interrupt the solemnity of the place, or the intensity of the impressions which it might in- spire in each, according to his tone of mind, and accord- ing to the measure and nature of his belief in the great events which this tomb recals ; each of us remained in it a quarter of an hour, and no one came out with dry eyes. ' I entered in my turn and the last, into the holy sepulchre, my mind besieged by overwhelming ideas, my heart moved by such inward emotions as remain mysteries between man and his soul, between the re- flecting insect and the Creator. These emotions cannot be written down ; they exhale amidst the smoke of the consecrated lamps, amidst the perfume of the censers, amidst the vague murmur of sighs ; they fall with the tears which start to the eyes at the recollection of the first names we have lisped in our infancy, of the father and mother who taught us them, of the brothers, the sisters, and the friends with whom we hummed them. All the pious thoughts which have stirred the soul in all the epochs of life, all the prayers which have sprung from the heart and the lips, in the name of Him who teaches us to pray to His Father and ours, all the joys and afflictions of which these prayers were the ex- pression, re-awaken in the receptacles of the heart, and produce by their vibration and tumultuousness, that overpowering of the intellect, and that melting of 178 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the heart, which find no words, but are resolved into moistened eyes, a heaving chest, a forehead lowly bent, and a mouth which silently presses the sepulchral stone. I remained thus a long time, praying to heaven, to the Father, in the very place where the most divine of prayers mounted to heaven ; praying for my father here below, for my mother in another world, for all those who are or who are not with the invisible, links of that chain which has never been broken. The communion of love never dies, the names of all the beings whom I have known, loved, or by whom I have been loved, passed from my lips in the prayer at the holy sepulchre. Last of all, I prayed for myself ; my prayer was ardent and vigorous.' Mr. Carne thus describes the deportment of the devo- tees : * They entered, Armenians, Greeks, and Catho- lics, of both sexes, with the deepest awe and veneration, and instantly fell on their knees : some lifting their eyes to the paintings, burst into a flood of tears ; others pressed their hands with fervour on the tomb, and sought to embrace it ; while the sacred incense fell in showers, and was received with delight by all. It was impossi- ble for the look and gestures of repentance, griefj and adoration, to be apparently more heartfelt and sincere than on this occasion. Yet other feelings were admitted by some, who took advantage of the custom of placing beads and crosses on the tomb to be sanctified by the holy incense, to place a large heap on it of these arti- cles, which, being sprinkled and rendered inestimable, they afterwards carried to their native countries, and sold at a high price.' In a marble-paved apartment a little to the left, is shown the spot where Christ appeared to Mary in the garden. Near this begins what is called the ascent to Calvary eighteen very lofty stone steps ; the pilgrim then treads a floor of beautiful variegated marble, from the centre of which rise four slender white marble pillars, supporting the roof, and separating the Greek from the Popish part ; these pillars are draperied with rich silk hangings. Two small altars stand at the end ; DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 179 over the catholic one is a painting of the crucifixion ; over the Greek, of the taking down from the cross. Silver lamps ever burning cast over the whole scene their rich and softened light. The street leading to Cal- vary has a long and gradual ascent, the elevation of the stone steps is above twenty feet, and if it be sup- posed that the summit was removed to make room for the church, the ancient hill, though low, was sufficiently conspicuous. They show the very spot where the cross was fixed a hole in the rock surrounded by a silver rim, before which each pilgrim kneels, and kisses it with the greatest solemnity. * Its identity is probably as strong as that of the cross and crown of thorns, found a few feet below the surface ; but where is the scene, around or within the city, that is not defaced by the sad in- ventions of the fathers ? ' * Having resolved,' says Mr. Carne, * to pass the night in the church, we took possession, for a few hours, of a small apartment adjoining the gallery, that over- looked the crowded area beneath. As it drew near mid- night, we ascended again to the summit of Calvary. The pilgrims, one after another, had dropped off, till at last all had departed. No footsteps broke on the deep silence of the scene. At intervals, from the Catholic chapel below, was heard the melody of the organ, min- gled with the solemn chanting of the priests, who sang of the death and suff*erings of the Redeemer. This ser- vice, pausing at times, and again rising slowly on the ear, had an effect inexpressibly fine. The hour, the stillness, the softened light and sound, above all the belief of being where He who " so loved us," poured out his life, affected the heart and imagination in a manner difficult to be described. Hour after hour past away, and we descended to the chamber of the sepul- chre. How vivid the midnight lights streamed in every part ! the priest had quitted his charge, and the lately crowded scene was now lonely. This was the moment, above all others, to bend over the spot, where "the N 2 180 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : sting of death and the terrors of the grave," were taken away for ever.' The ceremonies which take place at this church dis- play inconceivable superstition and folly. The fathers of the Latin convent annually perform the crucifixion, on Good Friday, amid mummeries far exceeding in absurdity those which may be seen in practice every day at this spot. It would far exceed the limits of a work like the present, to describe the various ceremo- nies performed at this place, but we may extract a passage or two from modern travellers. Stephens speaks of the crowd of pilgrims assembled for the rites of the holy week, about twenty thousand from all parts of the world, and thronging the court, till none could move. He says, * As soon as the door was opened, a rush was made for entrance ; and as I Avas in the front rank, before the impetus ceased, amid a perfect storm of pushing, yelling, and shouting, I was carried almost headlong into the body. The press continued behind, hurrying me along, and kicking off my shoes ; and in a state of desperate excitement, both of mind and body, utterly uusuited to the place and time, I found myself standing over the so-called tomb of Christ ; where, to instance the incongruity of the scene, at the head of the sepulchre stood a long-bearded monk, with a plate in his hand, receiving the paras of the pilgrims. A warmer imagination than mine could perhaps have seen, in a white marble sarcophagus, the " sepulchre hewn out of a rock,'' and in the fierce struggling of these bare-footed pilgrims, the devotion of sincere and earnest piety, burning to do homage in the holiest of places; but I could not.' Within the church called the holy sepulchre, are contained, not only the white marble sarcophagus, but the stone of unction, which it is pretended freceived the body of the Saviour when anointed for burial ; * an iron circular railing, in the shape of a large parrot's cage, having within it a lamp, and marking the spot where the women sat while the body was anointed for the tomb ; * a host of chapels^ DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 181 for the worship of all creeds, the stone whereon the Sa- viour was placed when put in the stocks., ( ! ! ) the places where lots were cast for Christ's vesture, and where the soldier who pierced His side retired to weep over his sin ; Mount Calvary itself, the fissure in the rock, caused by the earthquake at the crucifixion, and the tomb of Adam himself. *The reader will probably think,' adds Stephens, * that all these things are enough to be comprised under one roof.' Travellers have dis- agreed as to the identity of this sepulchre with the spot where the body of the Lord was entombed, and much has been said on both sides ; but the recent researches of Professor Robinson seem to have clearly decided that the real tomb of Christ was very distant from this place. He visited the sepulchre at the Latin grand mass on Easter Sunday, and says, * Few persons were present, except those engaged in the service. Those few were all below, in the body of the church, in the galleries there were no spectators. The reputed sepul- chre, as is well known, stands in the middle of the spacious rotunda, directly beneath the centre of the great dome, which is open to the sky. The high altar was placed directly before the door of the sepulchre, so that we could not enter the latter. The ceremonies we saw consisted only in a procession of the monks and others marching round the sepulchre : stopping occa- sionally to read a portion of the gospel ; and then again advancing with chanting and singing. I was struck with the splendour of their robes, stiff with embroidery of silver and gold, the well-meant offerings probably of Catholics out of every country of Europe ; but I was not less struck with the vulgar and unmeaning visages that peered out from these costly vestments. The wearers looked more like ordinary ruffians than like ministers of the cross of Christ.' * The whole scene, indeed, was, to a Protestant, painfully revolting. It might have been less so, had there been manifested the slightest degree of faith in the genuineness of the sur- rounding objects ; but even the monks themselves do 182 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: not pretend that the present sepulchre is anything more than an imitation of the original. But to be in the an- cient city of the Most High, and to see these venerated places, and the very name of our holy religion, pro- faned by idle and lying mummeries ; while the proud Mussulman looks on with haughty scorn ; all this ex- cited in my mind a feeling too painful to be borne, and I never visited the place again.' Dr. Richardson, who witnessed the miserable exhibi- tion of the holy fire, estimates at a very low rate the dexterity of the performers, and considered that it would have been much improved by any London pyrotechnist. From the station which he occupied in the church, be- ing the organ-loft of the Roman Catholic division, he ' distinctly saw the flame issuing from a burning sub- stance placed within the tomb, and which was raised and lowered according to circumstances. The priests meant to be very artful, but were, in reality, very igno- rant. Like the Druids of old, no one, under the pain of excommunication, dared to light his torch at that of another ; every individual was bound to derive his flame from the miraculous spark that descended from above, and which could only be conveyed by the hands of the chief priest.' After perusing the account of these disgraceful decep- tions, the question will naturally present itself to the reader, What credit can be reposed in the historical statements and local descriptions given by the Christian tenants of Jerusalem ? The spots within its walls, be- held with such reverence, have they any claim upon our attention ? Reflection and historic information convince us of the falsity of many among the monkish traditions in Palestine, and can any of their statements be true ? Is the Mount Calvary in the holy city the actual place \Vhere our blessed Saviour expired on the Cross, for the sake of true believers in every age ? Is the sepulchre that of Joseph, where his body was laid ; whence, burst- ing the gates of death, and the barriers of the tomb, the Resurrection and the Life arose in majesty ? Or are DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 188 these merely suppositious spots, fixed upon by the blinded imagination, or sordid and mercenary spirit, of a crafty priesthood? It is of no consequence to the Christian religion whether or not they be really such ; for the Christian is required to know Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, and to follow Him ; but he is no where requii'ed to know Mount Calvary, the place of his suf- fering and death. He is required to know and believe in a risen Saviour, but not to know the locality of that tomb in which His humanity lay. The Christian's thoughts are unconnected with place ; he worships an everywhere present God and Saviour, to whom all places are the same, all the work of His Almighty hand, and watched over by His superintending Providence. The most splendid edifice which Jerusalem contains, is the mosque of Omar, the St. Peter's of Turkey. No Christian is allowed to enter it ; but Dr. Richardson, in consequence of the successful exercise of his medical skill, was permitted to visit it clandestinely. * On our arrival at the door, a gentle knock brought up the Sa- cristan, who, apprized of our intention, was within, waiting to receive us. He demanded rather sternly, who we were, and was answered by my black conductor in terms as consequential as his own. The door imme- diately edged up, to prevent as much as possible the light from shining out, and we squeezed ourselves in with a gentle and noiseless step, although there was no person near who could be alarmed by the loudest sound of our bare feet upon the marble floor. The door was no sooner shut, than the Sacristan, taking a couple of candles in his hands, showed us all over the interior of the building, pointing in his pride of heart, to the elegant marble w^alls, the beautiful gilded ceiling, the well where the true worshippers drink and wash, with which we also blessed our palates, and moistened our beards, the paltry reading-desk, with the ancient Koran, the hand- some columns, and the green stone with the wonderful nails : As soon as we had completed this circuit, pulling a key from his girdle, he unlocked the door of the railing 184 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : that separates the outer from the inner part of the mosque, which, with an elevation of two or three steps, led us into the sacred recess. Here he pointed out the patches of mosaic on the floor, the round flat stone which the prophet carried on his arm in battle ; directed us to introduce our hand through the holes in the wooden box, to feel the print of the prophet's foot, and through the posts of the wooden rail, to feel as well as to see the marks of the angel Gabriel's Angers (into which I care- fully put my own,) in the sacred stone that occupies the centre of the mosque, and from which it derives the name of Sakhara, or Locked- up, and over which is sus- pended a fine cloth of green and red satin. It was so covered with dust, that, but for the information of my guide, I should not have been able to tell the composing colours. Finally, he pointed to the door that leads into the small cavern below, of which he had not the key. ' I looked up to the interior of the dome ; but there being few lamps burning, the light was not sufficient to show me any of its beauty, farther than a general glance. The columns and curiosities were counted over again and again, the arches were specially examined and enumerated, to be sure that I had not missed nor forgotten any of them. Writing would have been an ungracious behaviour, calculated to excite a thousand suspicions, that next day would have gone to swell the current of the city gossip, to the prejudice both of my- self and my friend. Having examined the adytum, we once more touched the footsteps of the prophet, and the finger-prints of the angel Gabriel, and descended the step, over which the door was instantly secured.' Dr. Richardson having been allowed to revisit this splendid edifice in daylight, found that the dimensions of the inclosure in which it stands are 1500 feet in length, and 1000 in breadth. In this place the follow- ers of the prophet delight to saunter and repose ; and in the elevation of their devotions, and arrayed in the gorgeous costume of the east, add to the interest, beauty, and solemn stillness of the scene. The Sakhara itself is a DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 185 regular octagon of about sixty feet wide, and is entered by four spacious doors, each of which is adorned with a porch projecting from the line of the building, and rising considerably on the wall. All its sides are panelled. The centre-stone of one panel is square, of another oc- tagonal, and thus they alternate all round the sides of each, running down the angles like a plain pilaster, giving to the whole the appearance of being set in a frame. The marble is white, with a considerable tinge of blue ; square pieces of the latter colour being intro- duced in different places, so as to confer upon the exte- rior a very pleasing effect. The upper story is faced with small tiles, painted of different colours, and some of them are written over with sentences from the Koran. At this height there are seven elegant windows on each side, except where the porches interfere, where they di- minish the general appearance of the edifice. The interior fully corresponds in magnificence and beauty. There are twenty-four marble columns, placed parallel to the eight sides of the building ; three oppo- site to each side, so as still to preserve the octagonal form. Eight of them are large plain pillars, belonging to no particular order of architecture, and all standing opposite to the eight entering angles of the edifice, and deeply indented on the inner side ; so that they furnish an acute termination to the octagonal angles within. Between every two of the square columns, there are two of a round figure, well-proportioned, and resting on a base. They are from eighteen to twenty feet high, with a sort of Corinthian capital. A large square plinth of marble extends from the top of the one column to the other, and above it there is constructed a number of arches all round, which support the inner end of the roof or ceiling, the outer end resting upon the walls of the build- ing. This is composed of wood or plaster, highly orna- mented with a species of carving, and richly gilt. This splendid temple receives its name from a large oblong-shaped stone, which is in the centre of the build- ing. Like the Palladium of Troy, it is asserted that it 186 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : descended from heaven upon the identical spot on which it now stands ; it happened when prophecy began at Jerusalem, and was used by such as possessed the gift of vaticination. Like the stone in the fairy tale, which changed its hues with the fortunes of the possessor, this stone manifested sympathy in the fate of the prophets, when they were compelled to quit Jerusalem, and even indicated a desire to take part in their flights. But, by the interposition of the angel Gabriel, and the prophet Mahomet, it was found immediately in the place where it now stands, and around it the Caliph Omar reared his gorgeous temple ! In the interior of the rock on which stands the Sak- hara, is a cave into which Richardson could not gain admittance. It is a room forming an irregular square of about eighteen feet surface, and eight feet high in the middle. The roof is that of a natural vault, quite irre- gular. In descending the staircase, there is upon the right hand, near the bottom, a little tablet of marble, bearing the name of El Makam Souleman, the Place of Solomon. A similar one, upon the left, is named El Makam Daoud, the place of David. A cavity or niche on the south-west side of the rock, is called El Makam Djibrila, the Place of Gabriel, and a sort of stone table at the north-east angle is denominated El Makam El Hoder, the Place of Elias. In the roof of the apartment, exactly in the middle, there is an aperture almost cylin- drical, through the whole thickness of the rock, about three feet in diameter : this is the Place of the Prophet. The traveller, after crossing the small ravine which separates the modern city from Mount Zion, has his attention directed to three ancient monuments, or rather ruins, above which rise comparatively modern build- ings the house of Caiaphas, the scene of the last supper, and the tomb or palace of David. The first is now an Armenian church ; the second a mosque and Turkish hospital ; the third, a small vaulted chamber, only contains three sepulchres of dark-coloured stone. Here was David's city and royal dwelling ; here the DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 187 ark of the covenant remained for three months ; here our Lord instituted the sacrament commemorative of his death ; here he was seen of his disciples after rising from the dead ; here the Holy Ghost descended on the apostles. According to the early fathers, the place hallowed by the last supper was that on which was built the first Christian temple, where St. James the Less was consecrated the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and presided at the first ecclesiastical council. From this spot the apostles proceeded to the execution of their Master's last command, and departed to preach Christ crucified, in every part of the world. Leaving the city at St. Stephen's gate, the pilgrim is conducted to a nearly contiguous spot, where he is sup- posed to have been martyred. He is then shown the church of the sepulchre of the Virgin Mary, situated in the valley between the Mount of Olives and Jerusa- lem. This is a small square building- with a flat roof, and a door on the south side, whence a descent is made into the interior by steps, having on the right hand a small chapel, with the tomb of St. Ann, the mother of Mary. On the left is the sepulchre of Joseph, similar in appearance. It is remarked that although the au- thenticity of such assertions depends on the probabili- ties of tradition, yet the solemn stillness of the place, the sepulchral gloom, and above all, the associations that are calculated to aff'ect the mind in viewing every object around the city, combine to render a visit to this spot so deeply interesting, as never to be erased from the memory of any traveller of sensibility. The Garden of Gethsemane, of all gardens in the world the most hallowed and interesting, is at the foot of the Mount, and near the brook Kedron. It is now neglected and decayed, surrounded with a kind of low hedge, but the soil is bare : no verdure grows on it, save six fine venerable olive-trees, that have stood for many centuries. The spot is beautifully situated : you look up and down the romantic valley ; close behind rises the mountain : in front are the walls of the de- 188 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : voted city. 'While lingering here at evening, and solitary, for it is not often a footstep passes by, that night of sorrow and dismay rushes on the imagination, when the Redeemer was betrayed, and forsaken by all, even by the loved disciple. After leaving the Garden of Gethsemane, the traveller enters the valley of Jehoshaphat, towards the south, on the eastern side of it. Here is shown the spot where Isaiah is said to have been sawn asunder. A little farther oh the same side of the valley is the pool of Siloam, the water of which is of a brackish disagreeable taste, and flows several miles distant under the city of Jerusalem, and is emptied here by a sort of basin inclosed by a wall. At a short distance from and over against the pool is the mountain of offence, so called as the scene of Solomon's idolatry. Near the foot of it, the Field of Blood is shown, where Judas hanged himself ; and be- yond it, two massy pieces of anticjuitj^, one of which is named the tomb of Zechariah, and tlie other that of Absalom, formed in an extraordinar3'^ manner out of the natural rock, about eighteen feet in height, and or- namented with some columns of architecture after the Ionic order, hewn in the same entire stone, supporting a cornice, over which rises a pj'-ramidal roof. The lat- ter, since Absalom was not supposed to be buried in the valley, is conjectured to have been formed during the life of that prince. Such is the antipathy of the Jews to this monument, that it is their practice in pass- ing to throw stones against it, as a mark of their repro- bation of Absalom's unnatural rebellion. Near it is the sepulchre of Jehoshaphat, wOiich gives its name to the valley. This cavern is more frequently called the Grotto of the disciples, from an idea that they went frequently thither to receive their Master's instructions. The front of this excavation has two Doric pillars of small size, but of just proportion. In the interior are three chambers, all of which are of rude and irregular form ; in one of these are several grave -stones, probably re- moved from the open ground for greater security. Like DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 189 the others, they are long flat slabs, from three to six inches in thickness, cut out from the limestone rock of the adjoining hills. The Valley of Jehoshaphat was frequently called the King's dale, in reference to an event recorded in the history of Abraham, and afterwards received its present name, because a magnificent tomb was erected in it by Jehoshaphat. Chateaubriand thinks, that, except the Pool of Bethesda at Jerusalem, we have no remains of the primitive architecture of the inhabitants. The tombs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat display an alliance of Egyptian and Grecian taste, mixed with the pecu- liar style of the Hebrews. This narrow ravine seems to have always served as a burying-place for the in- habitants of the holy city ; there are seen monuments of the most remote ages, as well as of modern times ; thither the descendants of Jacob resort from the four quarters of the globe, to yield up tJieir last breath ; and a foreigner sells to them for its weight in gold, a scanty spot of earth to cover their remains in the coun- try of their former glory, ' Observing many Jews,* remarks Rae Wilson, * whom I could easily recognise by their yellow turbans, quick dark eyes, black eye- brows, and bushy beards, walking about the place, and reposing along the brook Kedron in a pensive mood, the pathetic language of the Psalmist occurred to me, " By the rivers we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion." Upon frequently inquiring the motive that prompted them in attempting to go to Je- rusalem, the answer was, " To die in the land of our fathers." ' The valley exhibits a very desolate appearance. On the western side is a high chalk cliff, supporting the walls of the city, above which is Jerusalem ; the eas- tern acclivity is formed by the Mounts of Olives and of Offence, two nearly naked hills, of a dull red colour ; their slopes displaying a few blank and parched vines, some groves of wild olive-trees, wastes covered with hyssop, chapels, oratories, and shattered mosques. At the 190 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I bottom of the valley, a bridge with one arch crosses tlie channel of the Brook Kedron. The stones of the Jewish cemetery appear like a heap of rubbish at the foot of the declivity, below the Arab village of Siloam, whose paltry houses can scarcely be distinguished from the neighbouring sepulchres. Chateaubriand thus des- cribes its present aspect : ' What with the sadness of Jerusalem, from which there ascends no smoke nor issues any sound, the solitude of the mountains, in which we perceive no living being, and the confusion of the tombs, all broken, shattered and half open, one would almost believe that the trump of doom had al- ready sounded, and that the dead had begun to rise in the valley of Jehoshaphat.* The streets of the modem city are regular and straight ; but narrow, dull, and almost all on a de- clivity. The fronts of the houses, which are generally two or three stories in height, are plain and unorna- mented ; a stranger walking past might imagine them the galleries of a vast prison, since the windows are few and very small, and the doors so low that it is impossi- ble to enter without bending nearly double. Gardens of moderate dimensions are possessed by some families ; but the ground enclosed within the walls is almost en- tirely filled up with buildings, with the exception of the large inclosures in which the mosques and churches stand. There is not in Jerusalem any public square ; the shops and markets being held in the open streets. Provisions are to be had of good quality. Rice, a chief article of food is imported from Egypt in return for oil, the staple commodity of Palestine. Water is suj)plied by the atmosphere, and preserved in capacious cisterns, and it is only after a long drought that it becomes ne- cessary to have recourse to the spring near the Kedron. The streets present a great diversity of costume : Arabs, Syrians, and Turks wearing their distinctive dresses ; the lower orders, like the inhabitants of the desert, generally wear a shirt fastened by a girdle round the waist ; the Christians and Jews wear a blue turban ; DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 191 the villagers and shepherds, white ones, or striped like those of the Mussulmans. Christian women have their faces uncovered. Ali Bey remarked that he saw very- few handsome females ; they had generally the bilious appearance so common in the east a pale citron colour, or a dead yellow like paper or plaster and as the white fillet was round their faces, they had often the appear- ance of walking corpses. Though the arts are cultivated to a certain extent, no trace of the sciences can be found. Formerly large schools existed in connection with the Harem ; there are now only a few small seminaries where children of all sects learn to read and write the code of their respec- tive religions. Even the higher orders are grossly igno- rant. The Arabic is the prevailing language, though many of the better ranks use the Turkish. ' The in- habitants are composed of people of different nations and creeds, who inwardly despise one another on account of their varying opinions ; but as the Christians are very numerous, there reigns among the whole no small degree of complaisance, as well as an unrestrained inter- course in matters of business, amusement, and even re- ligion.' The Mussulmans reside chiefly near the Ha- ram Schereef ; the Christians in the neighbourhood of their own convents. The Roman Catholics live near the convent of St. Salvadore, in the north-west corner of the city. Those of the Greek church reside lower down the hill towards the south-east, near the small and ruined convent of St. John, which is at present occupied by Syrian Christians. To the south, and nearly on the summit of Mount Zion, stands the Armenian convent of St. James, the most magnificent in Jerusalem ; having a spacious walled garden attached to it. The dresses of the Armenian clergy are sumptuous ; their church is large, richly furnished, and numerously at- tended. The Jews reside chiefly on the edge of Mount Zion, in the lower part of the city, near the shambles, which are very offensive in summer. Many of them are said to be in comfortable circumstances, possessing a 192 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : good deal of property ; but are careful to conceal their wealth, and even their comfort, from the jealous eye of the rulers, lest, by awakening their cupidity, some plot should be raised to their prejudice. * In going to visit a respectable Jew in the holy city, it is a common thing to pass to his house over a ruined foreground and up an awkward inside stair, constructed of rough unpolished stones, that totter under the foot ; but it improves as you ascend, and at the top has a respectable appearance, as it ends in an agreeable platform in front of the house. On entering the house itself, it is found to be clean and well furnished ; the sofas are covered with Persian car- pets, and the people seem happy to see you. The visitor is entertained with coffee and tobacco, as is the custom in the houses of the Turks and Christians.' Many of the Jews, however, are very poor. The Scottish mission state that at the time of their visit in 1889, there were * in Jerusalem 500 acknowledged pau- pers, and 500 more who receive charity in a quiet way. Many are so poor that if not relieved, they could not stand out the winter season. A few are shop-keepers, a few more are hawkers, and a very few are operatives. None of them are agriculturists not a single Jew cul- tivates the soil of his fathers. Among other peculiar causes of poverty, they are obliged to pay more rent than other people for their houses ; and their rabbies fre- quently oppress and over-reach those under their care.* According to Mr. Nicholayson, the number of Jews in the city is about 8000 ; and the entire population of Jerusalem has been variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty thousand, probably far above the real num- ber ; but in a city where pilgrims, Jews, and travellers resort so continually, it is very difficult to give any esti- mate which can be relied on. WALLS OF JERUSALEM. Pacfe 193. CHAPTER VI. THE MOUNT OF OLIVES BETHANY BETHLEHEM HEBRON. Having now traversed Jerusalem, we have yet to as- cend the Mount of Olives, the consecrated hill from which the Redeemer of the world looked down upon the guilty" city the scene of his passion and crucifixion and predicted the destruction of Jerusalem ; that hill from the summit of which, after accomplishing the work which his Father had given him to do, he was conveyed from the sight of his disciples, and ascended far above all heavens. ' Assuredly this mount yields not in in- terest to any of the scenes we have previously gone through. From the top of the Mount of Olives may be obtained a magnificent view both of the city, and of the wide-spreading tract watered by the Jordan. Even though this were not the case, it is of itself well worthy of the traveller's notice. As he leaves the eastern gate of the city, he sees the Garden of Gethsemane, the con- secrated place of the Saviour's agony, and the tomb called by the name of the Virgin. Various other grottos on the acclivity of the hill have received names to commemorate occurrences either mentioned in the gospel, or handed down by oral tradition. Thus, there is pointed out a place as the scene of the agony and bloody sweat ; another where St. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee were overcome with sleep, while Jesus re- tired to pray ; a third, where the Son of Man was be- trayed by the traitor-apostle with a kiss. Also the rock 194 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : where our Saviour stood as he gazed upon the unbeliev- ing city, and predicted its awful doom ; where, as his disciples viewed the majesty of the temple he predicted that not one stone of it should be left upon another. The credulity of the pilgrim is taxed to believe a cavern near this to be the place where the apostles were taught the Lord's prayer ; and another to be the spot where they met together to compose their creed. The Mount of Olives has three separate summits ; but on the principal top are a mosque and the remains of a church ; the former having a lofty minaret, commanding a wide view ; the latter asserted to contain a piece of rock imprinted with the mark of our Saviour's foot in the act of ascension* But there is something far more worthy of notice here than the exhibition of these ambiguous relics, or the tales of idle monks, or the vague traditions of super- stition, which must indeed shock the feelings, and in- terrupt distressingly the thoughts of the truly devout? wliile treading this hallowed ground. It is the view of Jerusalem ^that spot so full of interesting associations which the traveller may contemplate undisturbed beneath the shade of an olive-tree. The city occupies an irregular square of about two miles and a half in circumference. Its shortest apparent side, is that facing the east. The southern side is exceedingly irregular, taking quite a zig-zag direction ; the south-west ex- treme being terminated by a mosque built over the sup- posed sepulchre of David, on the summit of Mount Sion. The form and exact direction of the western and northern walls are not distinctly seen from hence ; but every part of them appears to be modern work, and ex- ecuted at the same time. The walls are flanked at irregular distances by square towers, and have battle- ments running all round on their summits, with loop- holes for arrows or musketry close to the top. The w^alls appear to be about fifty feet in height, but are not surrounded by a ditch. The northern wall runs over slightly declining ground ; the eastern runs straight along the brow of Mount Moriah, with the deep valley THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 195 of Jehoshaphat below ; the southern wall crosses over the summit of Mount Sion, with the vale of Hinnom at its feet ; and the western wall goes along more level ground, near the summit of the high and stony moun tains which terminate at the Jaffa gate. Of this interesting prospect we shall quote the beau- tiful description of the poetical traveller Lamartine, whose fancy clothes with lustre every object that comes under his view. * The Mount of Olives, on whose sum- mit I was seated, slopes suddenly and rapidly down to the abyss called Jehoshaphat, which separates it from Jerusalem. From the bottom of this sombre and nar- row valley, the barren side& of which are everywhere paved with black and white stones the funeral stones of death rises an immense hill, with so abrupt an ele- vation that it resembles a fallen rampart ; no tree here strikes its root, no moss can ever fix its filaments ; the slope is so steep that the earth and stones continually roll from it, and it presents to the eye only a surface of dry dust, as if powdered cinders had been thrown upon it from the heights of the city. Towards the middle of the hill or natural rampart, rise high and strong walls of large stones, not externally sawed by the mason, which conceal their Hebrew and Roman foundations beneath the same cinders, and are from 50 to 100, and further on from 200 to 300 feet in height. The walls are here separated by three city gates, two of which are fastened up, and the only one before us seems as void and as desolate as if it gave entrance only to an unin- habited town. The walls rising above these gates sustain a large and vast terrace, which runs along two-thirds of the length of Jerusalem on the eastern side, and judging by the eye, may be 1000 feet in length, and 500 or 600 in breadth. It is nearly level, except at its centre, where it sinks insensibly, as if to recal to the eye the valley which formerly separated the hill of Sion from the city of Jerusalem. This magnificent platform, prepared no doubt by nature, but evidently finished by the hand of man, was the sublime pedestal upon which arose the 2 196 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I temple of Solomon ; it now supports two Turkish mosques : the one, El Sakara, in the centre of the plat- form, on the very spot where the temple formerly stood ; the other is at the south-eastern extremity of the terrace adjoining the walls of the city. The mosque of Omar, or El Sakara, is a mass of stone and marble of immense dimensions, and of admirable Arab architecture ; it has eight fronts, each front ornamented by seven arcades terminating in Ogive ; above this first order is a ter- raced roof, whence ascends quite another order of ar- cades, more confined, finished by a graceful dome of copper, formerly gilt. The walls of the building, which are of blue enamel, terminate in light Moorish colonades, corresponding to the eight gates of the mosque. Beyond these arches, detached from any other edifice, the plat- forms are continued, one to the northern extremity of the city, and the other to the walls on the south side. Lofty cypresses, scattered as if by accident, some olive trees and green ornamental shrubs, growing here and there between the mosques, set off the elegant architec- ture and the brilliant colouring of the walls, by their pyramidal form and sombre verdure interposing be- tween the fa9ades of the temples and the domes of the city. Beyond the platform, the two mosques, and the site of the temple, the whole of Jerusalem is stretched before us, like the plan of a town in relief, spread by an artist upon a table, the eye loses not a roof nor a stone. The city is not as it has been represented, an unshapely and confused mass of ruins and ashes, or a few Bedouin tents pitched ; neither is it like Athens, a chaos of dust and crumbling walls, where the traveller seeks in vain the shadow of edifices, the traces of streets, the phantom of a city ; but it is a city shining in light and colour ! presenting nobly to view her intact and embattled walls, her blue mosque with its white colo- nades, her thousand resplendent domes, from which the rays of an autumnal sun are reflected in a dazzling va- pour ; the fa9ades of her houses, tinted by time and heat, of the yellow and golden hue of the edifices of BETHANY. 197 Poestum or of Rome, her old towers, the guardians of her walls, of which neither one stone, nor loophole, nor one battlement is wanting ; and above all, amidst that ocean of houses, that cloud of little domes which cover them, is a dark elliptical dome, larger than the others, overlooked by another and a white one. These are the churches of the Holy Sepulchre and of Calvary ; from hence they are confounded and appear drowned in the immense labyrinth of domes, edifices, and streets, which encompass them ; and therefore there is much trouble in giving an account of the site of Calvary and the Se- pulchre ; which according to the ideas we derive from the gospel history, should be placed on a separate hill without the walls, and not in the centre of Jerusalem. The city, confined on the side of Mount Sion, has no doubt enlarged herself on the north, to embrace within her circuit those two sites which redound to her shame and glory, that of the murder of the just man, and the resurrection of the incarnate Deity. * Such is the city seen from the height of the Mount of Olives ! She has no horizon behind her to the west nor to the north. The line of her walls and her towers, the points of her numerous minarets, the arches of her shining domes, stand out in bold relief against the deep blue of an orient sky ; and thus exhibited on her broad and elevated platform, seems to shine in all the antique splendour of her prophecies. ' Turning towards the east, the little village of Betha- ny, so often mentioned in the gospels, is seen at the foot of the hill ; at a greater distance stretches the mag- nificent scenery of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. Two roads lead from Jerusalem to Bethany, one over the Mount of Olives, and another, both shorter and easier, winding round its eastern side. The village is both small and poor, and the cultivation of the soil much neglected ; but it is a pleasant and even romantic spot, sheltered on the north by the Mount of Olives, and abounding with trees and long grass. It is inhabited by Arabs. Here are shown the ruins of a house, said 198 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : to have belonged to Lazarus ; in the neighbourhood is a grotto, which is much frequented by pilgrims, who are led to believe it the actual scene of the raising of Laza- rus to life. A small Turkish mosque surmounts the eminence above. The inhabitants, who prey on the credulity of the ignorant, point out the dwellings of Simon the leper, of Mary Magdalene, and the separate house of Martha ; also the identical spot where the barren fig-tree was withered by the curse of Christ, and the place where Judas, in the agony of despair and remorse, put an end to his existence. From the scene of our Lord's crucifixion and ascen- sion, the pilgrim proceeds to visit Bethlehem, the place of his nativity. The road lies over a barren and rocky piece of ground, which, in some cultivated patches, bears a scanty crop of grain, and in others a profusion of wild flowers and grass, with large sheets of uncovered and slippery rock. The general aspect is brown and heathy. As the first part of the journey to Bethle- hem possesses little interest, the mind conjures up its recollections of the illustrious names that have hal- lowed the scene, and while the vision is passing through the traveller's memory, his attention is called off^ by the guide to inspect the ruined tower of Simeon, the monas- tery of Elias, held by the Greeks, and further on the tomb of Rachel, rising in a rounded top like the whitened sepulchre of an Arab sheikh, and which is used as a Turkish oratory. To the west is the well of which David longed to drink, and of which a supply was procured for him by his mighty men, at the risk of their lives. Here the road winds round the top of the valley, where by night the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, announcing the blessed tidings that Christ the Lord was born in Bethlehem, ^that God, hiding his majesty in a veil of flesh, had appeared as a helpless infant, "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel," that the long-promised Mes- siah had appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. BETHLEHEM. Page 199. I BETHLEHEM. 199 Bethlahem (called in the New Testament, Bethlehem Ephrata, and Bethlehem of Judea, to distinguish it from Bethlehem of Zebulon,) is situated on a rising ground, not six miles from Jerusalem. The convent was erected by Helena, to mark the spot of the Re- deemer's birth, after the removal of the idolatrous structure said to have been built by Adrian, who was animated by a feeling of jealousy or contempt towards the Christians. At present it is divided among the Greek, Romish, and Armenian monks, each of whom have separate lodgings and places of worship assigned to them ; though on certain days they are allowed to celebrate their rites on common altars. There are two churches, an upper and lower, under the same roof; the only remarkable feature about the first is a star inlaid in the floor, supposed to be placed immediately under the spot in the heavens, where the supernatural sign became visible to the wise men, and directly over the place of the nativity in the church below. The lower church is an excavation in the rock, handsomely fitted up with a marble floor. The descent is by a flight of steps through a long narrow passage. A number of tombs are shown, among which is that of Eusebius of Caesarea, and one where the babes slaughtered in the Massacre of the Innocents are said to have been in- terred ; also the study of St. Jerome, where he con- structed that version of the bible which was adopted by the Roman Church, and called the Vulgate. Thence the pilgrim is conducted into a handsome chapel floored and lined with beautiful marble, provided on each side with five oratories, answering to the ten stalls supposed to have been contained in the stable where our Saviour was born. This sacred crypt is irregular in shape, oc- cupying the site of the stable and the manger. It is thirty-seven feet six inches long, eleven feet three inches broad, and nine feet in height. Being totally destitute of outward light, it is illumined by thirty-two lamps sent by different princes of Christendom ; the other embellishments are ascribed to the munificence of 200 THE LAND OF I&RAEL : Helena. At the further extremity is an altar placed in an arcade, and hollowed out below in the form of an arch to embrace the sacred spot where God, laying aside his glory, first appeared in the veil of mortality. A glory in the floor composed of marble and jasper, and encircled with silver, is supposed to denote the place of the auspicious birth, which is recorded in the fol- lowing inscription : Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est. Within two steps of the altar of the nativity is the manger wherein the child Jesus was laid. This also is of marble : it is raised about a foot and a half from the floor, and hollowed out like a manger, and the very spot is shewn on which the Saviour of mankind reposed. Be- fore it is the altar of the Magi, on which they presented their prayers and their adoration * The edifice is cer- tainly of high antiquity, and though often destroyed and as often repaired, it still retains marks of its Gre- cian origin. It is built in the form of a cross ; the nave being adorned with forty-eight columns of the Corinthian order in four rows, which are at least two feet six inches in diameter at the base, and eighteen feet high including the base and capital. As the roof of the nave is wanting, these pillars support nothing but a frieze of wood, which occupies the place of the architrave and of the whole entablature. The windows, which are large, were formerly adorned with Mosaic paintings, and passages from the Bible in Greek and Latin characters, the traces of which are still visible.' From the top of the church the surrounding country is seen, from Tekoa on the south to Engedi on the east. There is pointed out the grotto where David cut off the skirts of Saul's robe, the western tower at the cistern of David, the place where Jezebel was eaten of dogs, the convent of Saint Elias, in which there is a stone that still retains the impression of his body, and the grotto adjoining the convent of Bethlehem, where Jo- BETHLEHEM. 201 seph hid the Virgin Mary, and the infant Jesus, before they fled to Egypt. Dr. Clarke, who is not usually led into errors by ex- cessive credulity, remarks, that the tradition respecting the cave of the nativity seems so well authenticated, as hardly to admit of dispute. Having been always held in veneration, the oratory established there by the first Christians, attracted the notice and indignation of the heathens so early as the time of Adrian, who or- dered it to be demolished, and the place to be set apart for the rites of Adonis. This happened in the second century, and at a period in Adrian's life when the cave of the nativity was as well known in Betlilehem as the circumstances to which it owed its celebrity. In the fourth, or in the beginning of the fifth century, we ac- cordingly find this fact appealed to by St. Jerome as a notorious testimony by which the cave itself had been identified. Upon this subject there does not seem to be the slightest ground for suspicion, and the evidence affbrded by such a writer, respecting a locality where he himself resided, may be deemed sufficient authority for believing that the monastery erected over the spot does at this day point out the place of our Saviour's birth. Dr. Robinson remarks, * What a mighty influence for good has gone forth from this little spot upon the human race, both for time and for eternity I It is im- possible to approach the place without a feeling of deep emotion, springing out of these high and holy associa- tions. The legends and puerilities of monastic tradition may safely be disregarded ; it is enough to know that this is Bethlehem, where Jesus the Redeemer was born. Generation after generation has passed away, and their places now know them no more. For eighteen hun- dred seasons, the earth has renewed her carpet of ver- dure, and seen it again decay. Yet the skies and the fields, the rocks and the hills, and the vallies around, remain unchanged ; and are still the same as when the glory of the Lord shone round about the shepherds, 202 'the land of israel : and the song of the multitude of the heavenly host, resounded through the hills, proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will to- wards men ! " The village of Bethlehem contains about 800 inhabi- tants, the greater part of whom obtain a livelihood by the manufacture of beads, mother-of-pearl shells repre- senting sacred subjects, and likewise small tables and crucifixes, all of which pilgrims eagerly purchase. The monks of Bethlehem claim also the exclusive privilege of marking the limbs and bodies of the devo- tees with crosses, stars, and monograms, by means of gunpowder ; a practice borrowed from the customs of heathenism, and noticed by Virgil and Pomponius Mela. The neighbourhood of Bethlehem presents objects worthy of notice. The inquiring traveller moves over a rugged and disagreeable road, the rock being in many parts uncovered, and after an hour's travelling, arrives at Solomon's pools. These are three in number, in the shape of a long square, covered with a thick coat of plaister in the inside, and supported by abutments. The workmanship throughout. Dr. Richardson ob- serves, is like everything Jewish, more remarkable for strength than beauty. They are situated at the south extremity of a small valley, and from the slope of the ground, the one falls considerably below the level of the other. That on the west is nearest the source of the spring, and is the smallest, being about 380 feet long. The second is 423 feet ; and the third 582 feet long ; all three are nearly of the same breadth, about 250 feet. The fountains have a free mutual communi- cation ; and can discharge a great quantity of water, which was conducted to Jerusalem by a small aque- duct : these works are said to have been constructed by Solomon, an assertion corroborated by the antiquity of their appearance. They are all plaistered and lined with masonry. Much care seems to have been taken to secure the springs whence the pools are supplied ; BETHLEHEM. 203 * having no avenue to them but by a little hole like to the mouth of a narrow well. Through this hole you descend directly about four yards, when you come to a chamber forty-five feet long and twenty-four broad, ad- joining to which there is another apartment of the same kind, but not quite so large. Both of these rooms are neatly arched, and have an air of great antiquity. The water, which rises from four different sources, is partly conveyed by a subterranean passage into the ponds ; the remainder being received into an aqueduct of brick pipes, and carried by many turnings and wind- ings among the mountains to the walls of Jerusalem. Some vestiges of the aqueduct may still be seen in the intermediate space, and denote considerable acquaint- ance with the principles of hydraulics. It was con- structed all along upon the open surface of the ground, and framed of perforated stones let into one another, with a fillet round the cavity so contrived as to prevent leakage, and united together with so firm a cement that they wiU sometimes sooner break than endure a sepa- ration. These pipes were covered with an arch or layer of flags, strengthened by the application of a peculiarly strong mortar ; the whole being endued with such ab- solute firmness as if it had been designed for eternity. But the Turks have demonstrated in this instance that nothing can be so well wrought but they are able to destroy it. For, of this strong aqueduct, which was carried formerly five or six leagues, with so vast ex- pense and labour, j'-ou see now only here and there a fragment remaining.' Formerly a church and convent stood in the valley contiguous to Bethlehem. They were built by Helena over the place pointed out in the valley where the an- gels appeared to the shepherds. This also, in the usual blindness of monkish tradition, is said to have taken place in a grotto dug at the bottom of a valley. All is now ruins, and nothing can be seen excepting the sub- terranean chamber, where the interview with the celes- tial messengers is said to have occurred. 204 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! On returning to Jerusalem, the traveller is sometimes induced to deviate from the direct route, that he may- visit the convent of St. John in the Desert. As this monastery is supposed to have been built over the dwell- ing, where the Baptist was born ; accordingly, beneath the altar, a star of marble marks the place, and there is this inscription * Hie precursor Domini Christi natus est' Here the forerunner of Christ the Lord was born. To reach this place, Dr. Richardson took a different route from that usually pursued, going directly from Jerusalem. ' I went out by the gate of Bethlehem, and turning to the right, crossed the line of the ravine, and proceeded in a westerly direction. In about ten minutes we came to a cistern, with very little water, said to be the upper fountain of Gihon. It is dug in the rock, in the same manner as the pools of Solomon beyond Beth- lehem, plastered within, and supported by buttresses, and is not much inferior to the smaller of them in di- mensions. Here we are informed that Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anointed Solomon king of Is- rael. A small burial-ground lay down to the left, a flock of sheep were feeding around, their shepherd had taken his station on an elevated rock, encompassed with ruins, that rises on the right, to catch the beams of the morning sun, and with his almost tuneless reed, was toiling at a native air. It hardly required the vicinity of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, or a recollection of the wisest of men, to make this a most interesting scene. We proceeded over the hill, and in about twenty mi- nutes, arrived at the convent of the Holy Cross, which is pleasantly situated on the edge of a deep ravine, and there is a hole under the great altar in the church, where the tree grows, of which the true cross was made ! This convent, to the great annoyance of the Romish, is in possession of the Greek monks. We next passed the tombs of the illustrious Maccabees, situated on the sum- mit of a lofty hill on our right, and had a distant view of the interesting country of Samuel the Seer, and in an hour from our departure reached the convent of St. CAVE OF THE BAPTIST. 205 John.' We have already noticed the grand altar, with its inscription : on the right is the altar of Zacharias, and that of the Visitation. The church is well-propor- tioned, with handsome columns, some good mosaic in the floor, and a portrait of the Baptist on the wall ; but it has a poor and deserted look, as if its votaries were few, and nowise concerned to maintain its ancient dignity. Sandys, an old traveller, gives the following curious and quaint account of this locality. * Having travelled about a mile and a half farther, we come to the cave where the Baptist is said to have lived from the age of seven until such time as he went into the wilderness by Jordan ; sequestered from the abode of men, and feeding on such wild nourishment as those uninhabited places afforded. This cave is seated on the northern side of a desert mountain, only beholden to the locust-tree, hewn out of the precipitating rock, so as with difficulty to be ascended or descended to ; entered at the east corner, and receiving light from a window at the side. At the upper end, there is a bench of the selfsame, whereon, they say, he accustomed to sleep ; of which, who breaks a piece off, stands forthwith excommunicate. Over this, on a little flat, stand the ruins of a monastery, on the south side naturally walled with the steep of a mountain : from which there gusheth a living spring, which entereth the rock, and again bursteth forth be- neath the mouth of the cave, a place that would make solitariness delightful, and stand in comparison with the turbulent pomp of cities. This overlooketh a profound valley, on the far side, hemmed with aspiring mountains ; whereof some are cut (or naturally so) in degrees like alleys, which would be else inaccessibly fruitless ; whose levels yet bear the stumps of decayed vines, shadowed not rarely with olives and locusts. And surely I think that all, or most of these mountains, have been so husbanded, else could this little country have never sustained such a multitude of people. After we had fed of such provision as was brought us from 206 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I the city by other of the fraternity, that there met us, we turned towards Jerusalem, leaving the way of Beth- lehem on the right hand, and that of Emmaus on the left. The first place of note that we met with, was there, where once stood the dwelling of Zachary, seated on the side of a fruitful hill, well stored with olives and vine- yards. Hither came the blessed Virgin to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Here died Elizabeth, and here, in a grot on the side of a vault or chapel, lies buried ; over which a goodly church was erected, together with a mo- nastery, whereof now little standeth but a part of the walls, which offer to the view some fragments of paint- ing, which show that the rest have been exquisite. Be- yond and lower is Our Lady's Fountain (so called of the inhabitants), which maintaineth a little current through the neighbouring valley. Near this, in the bot- tom and uttermost extent thereof, there standeth a temple, once sumptuous, now desolate, built by Helena, and dedicated to St. John Baptist, in the place where Zachary had another house, possest as the rest by the beastly Arabians, who defile it with their cattle, and employ it to the basest of uses.' But its pleasing associations must not induce us to linger in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, and we shall now follow the route to the Dead Sea. The traveller's attention is directed to two objects of interest, Tekoa and Hebron. Tekoa, built by Rehoboam, and the birth- place of the prophet Amos, presents ruins of consider- able magnitude, and also some architectural remains. It was founded on a hill ; the ruins of a fortress are visible on the north-eastern corner, and at the middle of the ascent are the remains of a church. There is still ^preserved an octagonal font of rose-coloured limestone ; and fragments of pillars of the same material. Farther south are many indications of former civili- zation, marked by places of worship, and numerous strongholds. Pococke mentions a ruined castle, called Creightown, on the side of a precipitous hill, and a church dedicated to St. Pantaleone ; near which is a HEBRON. 207 grotto of great size, reported to have at one time held 30,000 men ; and supposed to have been one of the re- treats in the fastnesses of Engedi, whither David fled from Saul. Two miles farther on, in an easterly direc- tion, is a mount and village, thought to be the same with Beth-haccerem, and thus alluded to by Jeremiah : " ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem, for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruc- tion." The summit of this lofty hill has the appear- ance of a mount of artificial formation, and having a douhle line of ramparts and several towers, must, in ancient times, have been exceedingly strong. The re- mains of a splendid church, and of other buildings, are seen at the foot of a neighbouring eminence, in a nor- therly direction ; and on sloping ground farther west, is a cistern connected with a pond, * which appears to have had an island in it, and probably some structure, suited to the supply of water. These works were also encompassed with a double wall ; and it is said that two aqueducts may still be perceived, terminating in the basin, one from the sealed Fountain of Solomon, and another from the hilly district, which stretches between Bethlehem and Tekoa.' This place, there seems reason to conclude was Herodium, which Josephus says was distant sixty furlongs from the metropolis ; his description of the hill corresponds, and likewise his as- sertion, that water was conveyed to it at great expense. It is usually called the Frank Mountain by the Eu- ropean residents. Hebron, called by the Arabs II Hhalil, the Beloved, from Abraham the Friend of God, is de- scribed by Sandys as * utterly ruinated,' at the time of his travels. It is now, however, a neat and picturesque- looking town, with many cupolas, olive-gardens, and mosques. Extensive ruins lie above the modern build- ings, on the mountain side. The scenery around is very fertile and romantic, as described by the Scottish mission. ' Beauty lingers around Hebron still. God 208 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : blesses the spot where He used to meet with Abraham His friend.' Here are the tombs of Abraham and Sarah, within a mosque, which is assumed to cover the cave of Macpelah. It is the most sacred of all the Mussulman holy places in Palestine, and none but the faithful are permitted to cross the threshold. The mosque is a fine and lofty building, in the form of a pa- rallelogram, nearly two hundred feet long, as measured by Dr. Robinson. But this seems to be only an outer inclosure, the real place of worship is built within, and is said once to have been a Christian church. The only travellers who have entered are Ali Bey, and Finati, the servant of Mr. Bankes. The former saw the tombs of Isaac and Rebekah, of Joseph and his wife, and says they are guarded with iron gates, and covered with rich silken carpets, sent from Constantinople, Hebron contains eight hundred Arab families, and a number of Jews. It is situated on a mountain-side, has a strong castle, and is well supplied with provisions. Between Hebron and Tekoa, the land is better culti- vated than in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem ; the hill and sides, no longer bare and dreary, are clothed with the oak, the arbutus, the fir, and adorned with a variety of flowering shrubs. It is only a few years since, that travellers were en- abled to explore the desert country between this point and the Dead Sea. After three days journey to the south, Mr. Bankes, with Captains Irby and Mangles, and Mr. Leigh, were informed of the existence of extensive ruins at Abdi in the wilderness. The road was for some time through a country that presented no features of interest. The existence of some ancient town was indicated by a variety of ruins, with subterranean tombs ; but, after eight or nine miles further journey, the travellers found themselves on the edge of a wide desert, frequented only by the wandering Bedouin. At some distance from this halting-place, they fell in with a tribe of Jellaheen Arabs, who stated that, in years of scarcity, they retired into Egypt ; a custom which would seem to have been THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN. 209 handed down from the days of the patriarchs, or dic- tated by the same necessity which compelled the sons of Jacob to adopt a similar expedient. At eight hours march from Al-baid, in a deep barren valley, are the ruins of an old Turkish fort, situated on a solitary rock on the left of the track. Further on, the cliff is exca- vated, at a considerable height, into loop-holes, and the pass appears to have been a kind of barrier, where du- ties were probably levied on the traveller : the name of this place is El Zoar. Hence, a gravelly ravine, studded with acacias and other shrubs, leads to the great sandy plain at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. On the right is a continued hill, composed of salt and hard- ened sand ; and after a few miles distance, the plain opens to the south, bounded, at about eight miles dis- tance, by a sandy cliff, from sixty to eighty feet high, which traverses the valley of El Ghor, like a wall, form- ing a barrier to the waters of the lake when at their greatest height. The existence of that long valley, which under the names of El Ghor and El Araba, extends from the Dead Sea to the ^Elanitic Gulf, was first ascer- tained by the indefatigable Burkhardt. This prolonga- tion of the valley of the Jordan has been considered clearly to indicate that that river once discharged itself into the Red Sea ; thus * confirming the truth of that great volcanic convulsion described in Gen. xix., which interrupted the course of the river ; which converted into a lake the fertile plain occupied by the cities of Adam, Zeboim, Sodom, and Gomorrah, and which changed all the valley to the southward of that district into a sandy desert.' Probably the sandy cliff alluded to may have been thrown up at the time of that convulsion, or like the Egyptian sand-hills, may have been subsequently formed by accumulation. We shall now briefly notice a more common route to the northern extremity of the Dead Sea, near the mouth of the Jordan, and the site of Jericho, by the valley of Santa Saba. The traveller journeys eastward from the Church of the Nativity through a vale where Abraham 210 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I is said to have tended his flocks. Speedily, this pasto- ral district is exchanged for a range of bare hills, unco- vered even by a tuft of moss. Two lofty towers are there seen rising from a deep valley the convent of Santa Saba. It is in a dreary situation, in a ravine sinking several hundred feet in depth, where the brook Kedron has worn a channel, which is dry during the greater part of the year. The church is on a little eminence at the bottom of the dell ; whence the buildings of the monastery rise by an almost perpendicular flight of steps and passages hewn out of the rock, ascending thus to the top of the hill, where they terminate in the two square towers already mentioned. From this point you descry the sterile summits of the mountains, both to- wards the east and west, the course of the stream from Jerusalem, and the numerous grottos formerly occupied by Christian anchorites. The pilgrim still proceeds through a white and dusty country, beholding neither tree, herbage, nor moss. Gra- dually the road sinks lower, verging towards the rocky bor- der of the valley of the Jordan ; when, after a weary jour- ney of ten or twelve hours, he sees before him the Dead Sea, and the line of the river. The view is grand, but stern ; no corn-fields or rich pasture-grounds are seen from the hills. " Figure to yourself two long chains of mountains, running in a parallel direction from north to south, without breaks or undulations. The eastern or Arabian chain is the highest ; and when seen at the distance of eight or ten leagues, you would take it to be a prodigious perpendicular wall, resembling Mount Jura in its form and azure colour. Not one summit, not the smallest peak, can be discerned; you merely perceive slight inflections here and there, as if, as it has been expressed, the hand of the painter, who drew this horizontal line along the sky, had trembled in some places.' The traveller looks down on the Lake Asphal- tites from the mountains of Judea. It is not so high as the eastern chain, more unequal, and differing also in nature and composition ; * exhibiting heaps of chalk and THE DEAD SEA. 211 sand, whose form bears some resemblance to piles of arms, waving standards, or the tents of a camp pitched on the border of a plain.' On the Arabian side are seen only black precipitous rocks, casting their length- ened shadow over the Dead Sea. Not a blade of grass for the sustenance of the smallest bird can be found among these desolate crags. * The valley confined by these two chains of moun- tains, we learn from Chateaubriand, displays a soil re- sembling the bottom of a sea which has long retired from its bed, a beach covered with salt, dry mud, and moving sands, furrowed as if by the waves. Here and there stunted shrubs vegetate with difficulty in this inanimate track ; their leaves are covered with salt, and their bark has a smoky smell and taste. Instead of villages, you perceive the ruins of a few towers. In the middle of the plain flows a discoloured river, which reluctantly throws itself into the pestilential lake, by which it is engulfed. Its course amid the sands can be distin- guished only by the willows and reeds which border it ; among which the Arab lies in ambush to attack the traveller, and to murder the pilgrim. When you travel in Judea, the heart is at first filled with profound me- lancholy. But when, passing from solitude to solitude, boundless space opens before you, this feeling wears oflF by degrees, and you experience a secret awe, which, so far from depressing the soul, imparts life, and elevates the genius. Extraordinary appearances everywhere pro- claim a land teeming with miracles. The burning sun, the towering eagle, the barren fig-tree, all the poetry, all the pictures of Scripture are here. Every name commemorates a mystery every grotto announces a prediction every hill re-echoes the accents of a prophet. God himself has spoken in these regions, dried up rivers, rent the rocks, and opened the grave. The Desert still appears mute with terror ; and you would imagine, that it had never presumed to interrupt the silence since it heard the awful voice of the Eternal.' The Dead Sea, or Lake Asphaltites, which covers the P 2 212 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : site of the cities of the plain, is estimated by the mea- surements of Dr. Robinson at thirty-nine or forty miles in length, and nine in width, at En-gedi, now called Ain Tidy. Its waters are clear and limpid, but uncommonly salt, and even bitter : its specific gravity exceeds that of other known waters. The lake is slightly curved in the form of a bow, sunk between the two ranges of moun- tains, the barrenness of which, and the total absence of wood, give an aspect of dulness to the scenery ; and this impression is heightened by the dead calm and the silence which reign over the wide expanse of its waters, traversed by neither vessel nor boat. The surrounding scenery is represented as being very grand and awful ; and its desolate aspect is well adapted to the marvellous tales related of its malignant influence. The waters of the Dead Sea were formerly believed to be so destructive to animal life, that no fish could live in them ; that birds flying across were killed by the pestilential exhalations from its surface ; that heavy bodies were buoyed up by the specific gravity of its waters ; and that a singular species of fruit, called the apples of Sodom, was pro- duced on its shores a fruit beautiful to the eyes, but bitter to the taste, and within full of ashes and dust. Much of this mysterious and extravagant description has been removed by the research of modern travellers. It is asserted, that flocks of sea-gulls and swallows fre- quently skim along its surface ; that the absence of other birds arises from the want of vegetable food in the ad- jacent rocks and barren plains ; and that the m3''sterious fruit found on its shores is as natural as any other vege- table production. Various theories have prevailed con- cerning this fruit. Tacitus and Josephus are the first authors who mention its singular properties ; other authors, describing this fruit as an emblem of worldly pleasures, fair without, but full of rottenness within, gave a romantic and fabulous cast to the story ; so that subsequent travellers, such as Pococke and Shaw, doubted the existence of any such production. Hassel- quist, however, the botanist, described it as the fruit of THE DEAD SEA. 218 the SoJanum Melengena, found in abundance near the Dead Sea, of which the fruit, when attacked, turns to dust, the skin only remaining entire, and of a beautiful colour. M. Seetzen thought that he discovered the fruit called the apple of Sodom, which contained within a sort of cotton resembling silk ; while Chateaubriand describes it as growing on a shrub which he found every where within three leagues of the mouth of the Jordan. Before it is ripe, it is filled with a corrosive and saline juice ; and when dried, it contains a blackish seed, that may be compared to ashes, and which has the taste of a bitter powder. The specific gravity of the water of this lake is 1211, while that of fresh water is 1000. It is impregnated with a mixture of different saline sub- stances ; as magnesia, soda, sulphate of lime, &c. The earth surrounding it is deeply impregnated with the same saline qualities, too predominant to admit of vege- table life, even the air being saturated with them. The waters are clear and incorruptible, as if holding salt in solution, nor is the presence of this substance equivocal, for Stephens, as well as Pococke, says, that he found a thin crust of salt upon his face after bathing in it, and the shores which it occasionally overflows, are covered with a similar crust. There are mines of salt in the south-west bank, from which specimens have been brought to Europe ; some also exist in the declivities of the mountains, and have provided, from time immemo- rial, for the consumption of the Arabs, and the city of Jerusalem. Great quantities of asphaltum appear float- ing on the surface of the sea, and are driven by the winds to the east and west bank, where it remains fixed. We are told by ancient authors, that the neighbouring inhabitants were careful to collect it, and went out in boats, or used other expedients for this purpose. On the south-west bank are hot springs and deep gullies, dan- gerous to the traveller, were not their position indicated by small pyramidic edifices on the sides. Sulphur is likewise found on the edges of the Dead Sea, and a kind of stone or coal, called musca by the Arabs, which, on 214 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: attrition, exhales an intolerable odour, burns like bitu- men, and is susceptible of a fine polish, equalling black marble in lustre. We are told that the Dead Sea arose from the exercise of Divine wrath against Sodom and Gomorrah. Five cities, all governed by kings, were involved in the gene- ral destruction, overwhelming the fertile vale of Siddim, where they stood. Some writers suppose that these cities were destroyed by lightning, having set on fire the bituminous substances with which they suppose the place to have abounded ; or else by a volcanic eruption in the neighbourhood. This idea seems to have been adopted, without considering that the existence of these materials in the neighbourhood of the vale of Siddim, is incompatible with the description given in Scripture of the nature of the soil about these parts. Nothing is more certain, than that those places where brimstone and salt are found, are naturally most barren and un- fruitful ; and the sacred writers, to represent unfruitful and desolate places, describe them as abounding with these materials. But the vale of Siddim is represented as fruitful, everywhere well watered, and accordingly adapted to the pasturage of cattle ; wherefore Lot chose it in preference to any other part of the land ; whence it appears that the sulphur or brimstone, and the salt and saline matter, as well as the indications of subterra- neous fires, now visible about the Dead Sea, are not the natural productions of the place before the period of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, but the effects of the fiery destruction rained from heaven on the place where they stood. Lamartine thus describes the Dead Sea ; ' Its aspect is neither funereal nor gloomj^, except to the imagina- tion. To the eye it is a shining lake, whose immense and silvery surface reflect the rays of light like a mirror. The beautifully-shaped mountains throw their shadows on its borders. It is said that no fish exists in its waters, nor birds on its banks. I cannot decide this : I certainly neither saw petrels, sea-gulls, nor those beau- 1 THE DEAD SEA. 215 tiful white marine doves, that swim all the day on the waves of the Syrian Sea, and accompany the skiffs on the Bosphorus ; but, at some hundred yards distance from the Dead Sea, I shot at and killed some birds, re- sembling wild ducks, that rose from the swampy bor- ders of the Jordan. If the air had been really mortal to them, they would not thus have braved so near its mephitic vapours. The sheet of water presented every where the same appearance of silvery brightness and perfect stillness. Mankind has still preserved the faculty given to them by God in Genesis, of calling things by their proper names. This sea is splendid, it illuminates, not inundates, with the reflection of its waters, the im- mense desert which it covers : it attracts the eye, it in- terests the mind but it is dead! neither sound nor movement exists in it. Its surges, too heavy for the wind to act upon, do not roll in sonorous waves ; nor even does the white edge of its foam, break on the peb- bles of its sides. It is a sea that seems petrified.' Mr. Carne, in his interesting * Letters from the East,' gives the following description of the appearance of this celebrated sea. * On reaching the brink of the precipices which hang over it, the dawn was just appearing ; and, in the grey and cold light the lake was seen far beneath, stretched out to an interminable length, while the high mountains of Arabia Petraea opposite were shrouded in darkness. The descent of the heights was long and difficult ; and ere we reached the bottom, the ruddy glare of morning was on the precipices over our heads. The line of shore at the bottom was about two hundred yards wide, and we hastened to the edge of the lake ; but for several yards from it, the foot sunk in a black mud, and its surface was everywhere covered with a greyish scurf, which we were obliged to remove before tasting it. There was not a breath of wind, and the water lay like lead on the shore. Whoever has seen the Dead Sea, will ever after have its aspect impressed on his memory ; it is, in truth, a gloomy and fearful spec- tacle. The precipices, in general, descend abruptly into 216 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the lake, and on account of their height, it is seldom agitated by the winds. Its shores are not visited by any footsteps, save those of the wild Arab, and he holds it in superstitious dread. On some of the rocks there is a thick sulphureous incrustation, which appears foreign to their substance ; and in their steep descents there are several deep caverns, where the benighted Bedouin sometimes finds a home. No unpleasant effluvia are perceptible around it, and birds are occasionally seen flying across. For a considerable distance from the bank the water appeared very shallow ; this, with the soft slime of the bottom, and the fatigue we had under- gone, prevented our trying its buoyant properties by bathing. A few inches beneath the surface of the mud are found tlie black sulphureous stones out of which crosses are made and sold to the pilgrims. The water has an abominable taste, in which that of salt predomi- nates ; and we observed incrustations of salt on the sur- face of some of the rocks. ' The mountains of the Judsean side are lower than those of the Arabian, and also of a lighter colour. Bi- tumen abounds most on the opposite shore. There is no outlet to the lake, though the Jordan flows into it, as did formerly the Kedron, and the Arnon to the south. It is not known that there has ever been any visible in- crease or decrease of its waters. Some have supposed that it finds a subterraneous passage to the Mediterra- nean, or that there is a considerable suction in the plain which forms its western boundary. But this plain, con- fined by the opposite mountains, is partially cultivated, and produces trees, and a rude pasture used by the camels of the Bedouins, although in some parts sandy. The sun had now risen above the eastern barrier of mountains, and shone full in the bosom of the lake, which had the appearance of a plain of burnished gold. But the sadness of the grave was on it, and around it, and the silence also. However vivid the feelings are on arriving on its shores, they subside after a time into lan- guor and uneasiness, and you long, if it were possible, to I THE DEAD SEA. 217 see a tempest wake on its bosom, to give sound and life to the scene. The passage over the wilderness of Ziph had given us a more complete and intimate view of the lake than the usual route to Jericho, which conducts only to its commencement, at the embouchure of the Jordan. We had now to walk to its extremity along the shores, and over the plain to Jericho, in a sultry day ; and we took a last look of this famous spot, to which earth can furnish no parallel.' The only successful attempt to investigate the Dead Sea in the most rational manner, by traversing its sur- face, was made in 1835, by Mr. Costigan, an Irish tra- veller, of great enterprise and genius. But after eight days rowing on the lake, the heat and want of water threw him into a fever, and being carried to Jerusalem in a dying state, he expired in two or three days, leav- ing no narrative of his discoveries. His Maltese servant was found at Beyrout by Stephens, to whom he told some curious particulars of this highly romantic expedition ; that the soundings showed a most irregular bottom, and at one spot a depth which they could not fathom ; that they saw ruins under the water in four different places, and that Mr. Costigan pronounced one of these spots to be the site of Gomorrha. * He may have been deceived,' adds Mr. Stephens, * and probably was ; but it must have been the most intensely interesting illusion that ever any man had.' The following particulars concerning this extraordi- nary sea, are from Dr. Robinson : ' The phenomena around the Dead Sea are such as might naturally be expected from the character of its waters, and of the region round about a naked solitary desert. It lies in its deep cauldron, surrounded by lofty cliffs of naked limestone rock, and exposed for seven or eight months in the year to the unclouded beams of a burning sun. Nothing, therefore, but sterility and death- like solitude can be looked for upon its shores ; and nothing else also is actually found, except in those parts where there are fountains or streams of fresh water. The stories so long 218 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : current of the pestiferous nature of the Dead Sea and its waters, are a mere fable. We were for five days in the vicinity of its shores, and nowhere perceived either noi- some smell or noxious vapour arising from its bosom. Our Arabs too had never seen nor heard of any such appearance. The Egyptian heat of the climate, which is found throughout the whole Ghor, is, in itself, un- healthy, and, in connexion with the marshes, gives rise in summer to frequent intermittent fevers ; but this has no necessary connexion with the Dead Sea as such ; and the same phenomena might probably exist in at least an equal degree, were the waters of the lake fresh and limpid, or even were there here no lake at all. One of the most singular circumstances in the character of the Dead Sea, is the deep depression of its level below that of the Mediterranean.' This has been been vari- ously estimated at 500 English feet and 598.5 Paris feet. But the point cannot be accurately settled without a trigonometrical survey. By ascending the western shore, the point is reached, where the muddy waters of the Jordan are united with the lake. Here the soil is a greyish sandy clay, so loose that horses often sink up to the knees in it. The whole surface resembles the banks of the Nile, in being covered with salt, and it would probably be as productive were it carefully irrigated. The stones on the beach are quartz, of various colours ; some specimens of which, having a slaty structure, emit, on exposure to heat, a strong bituminous odour. Travellers differ much respecting the width of the Jordan. Stephens says thirty paces; Chateaubriand says, that the result of repeated measurements convinced him that it was about fifty feet broad, and six feet deep close to the shore. The swellings of Jordan, either from the current having deepened its channel, or from the climate being less moist than formerly are now seldom witnessed. Though Maundrell visited it in the month of March the season of the inundation ^the river was running at least two yards below the level of the banks. THE JORDAN. 219 But its margin is still closely shaded with a natural forest of tamarisk willows, oleanders, and similar trees, in which several kinds of wild beasts find a retreat. The scene is thus described by the glowing pencil of Lamar- tine. ' After five hours' march, during which the stream seemed to get further and further from us, we arrived at the last plain, at the foot of which we were to find it ; but though at a distance from it of two or three hun- dred paces, we saw nothing but the desert and the plain in front, without a single trace of valley or of stream. I imagine it is this illusion that has caused some travellers to say and believe, that the Jordan rolls its waters in a bed of pebbles between banks of sand in the desert of Jericho. Those travellers had not been able to attain the river ; and, seeing from a distance one vast heap of sand, they could not fancy that a cool, deep, shady, and delicious oasis was hollowed out between the platform of this monotonous desert, and invested the full waves and murmuring bed of Jordan with curtains of verdure that the Thames itself might envy. This is the truth, however. We were first confounded by it then charmed. When arrived on the edge of the last plat- form, which terminates very abruptly, we had before our eyes one of the loveliest valleys that ever was be- held. We rushed down into it at full gallop, attracted by the novelty of the spectacle, and by the moisture, coolness, and shade that reigned within it : it was one continued grass-plat of the brightest green : where here and there grew tufts of rushes in blossom, and bulbous plants, whose large and brilliant corollas enamelled the grass and foot of the trees with stars of every colour. There were groves of tall and slender shrubs, w^hose branches fell back like plumes over their numerous trunks ; lofty Persian poplars, with light foliage, not rising into pyramids like ours, but spreading their branches freely on every side, strong as the oak, and with bark which glittered smooth and white in the changing rays of the morning sun ; forests of willow of 220 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : every species ; and tall osiers, so thick, that it was im- possible to penetrate them, so closely were they inter- woven by innumerable liane-plants (a sort of convolvu- lus), which crept round their roots, and, twisting from stem to stem, formed an inextricable net-work between them. ' These forests extended, as far we could see, along the sides, and on both shores of the river. We were obliged to alight from our horses, and establish our camp in one of the glades of the forest, to penetrate on foot to the edge of the Jordan, which we did not yet see. We advanced with difficulty, sometimes in the thick brushwood, sometimes in the long grass, and sometimes through the tall stems of the rushes. At length we found a spot where grass alone bordered the edge of the water ; and here we dipped our hands and feet in the flood. It might be from a hundred to a hun- dred and twenty feet wide ; its depth appeared conside- rable, and its course as rapid as that of the Rhone at Geneva. Its waters are of a pale blue colour, slightly tinged by the mixture of grey earths which it flows over and undermines on the banks, great masses of which we heard give way from time to time, and fall into the stream. The banks are perpendicular, but filled with water up to the rushes and trees that cover them. These trees are continually undermined by the water, and their roots frequently hang naked over it ; they are, therefore, often uprooted, and wanting sufficient support for their weight in the earth, they lean over the stream with all their branches and their leaves ; which dip into it, and stretch, like ver- dant arches, from one side to the other. Occasionally one of these trees is carried away with a portion of soil that it grows on, and floats in full leaf down the stream ; its liane plants torn up and twisted among its branches, with its nests and its birds still perched upon its branches. We saw several of these trees pass during the few hours that we rested in this charming oasis. The forest follows all the sinuosities of the Jordan, and THE JORDAN. 221 weaves for it a perpetual garland of leaves and branches ; which dip in the water, and cause a light murmur on its waves. An innumerable quantity of birds inhabit these woods. Our Arabs warned us not to walk out without our arms, and to advance with precaution, because this coppice and thick underwood is often the haunt of a lion, a panther, or a tiger-cat. We saw none, however ; though we often heard, among the shady thickets, a noise like that of the howling of these mighty animals, made by them in piercing the depths of the woods. We walked for an hour or two on the most accessible banks.' A miserable village inhabited by half-naked Arabs, which only displays part of one tower, and a heap of rubbish which might represent the line of the walls, has been supposed to be the place where Jericho once stood. But Mr. Buckingham, with every appearance of probability, conceives that the true site of Jericho, according to the description of Josephus, was further from the Jordan than the village of Ribhah, which has before served as the representative of the City of Palms. Descending from the mountains, which bound the valley on the western side, we arrived at the ruins of a large settlement, where, though no one perfect building existed, enough remained to prove that it had been a place of consequence. Some of the most striking ob- jects among the ruins, were several large tumuli, evi- dently the works of art, and resembling, in size and shape, those of the Greek and Roman heroes on the plains of Ilium. Near to this was also a large square area, enclosed by long and regular mounds, uniform in their height, breadth, and angle of slope, and seemingly to mark the place of enclosing walls now worn to mounds. Besides these, the foundations of other walls in detached pieces, portions of ruined buildings of an indefinable nature, shafts of columns and a capital of the Corinthian order, were seen scattered about over the widely-extended heaps of this ruined city. In the history of the Jewish war, Josephus thus describes the 222 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: position of Jericho : "^ It is situate in a plain ; but a naked and barren mountain, of a very great length, hangs over it, which extends itself to the land about Scythopolis northward, but as far as the country of Sodom, and the utmost limit of the lake Asphaltites southward. This mountain is all of it very uneven, and uninhabited by reason of its barrenness. * In ano- ther place, the same writer adds, ' This place is 150 furlongs from Jerusalem, and sixty from Jordan. But that as far as the Lake Asphaltites lies low, though it be equally desert and barren.* This description applies in every respect to the supposed site of ancient Jericho. The spot lies at the very foot of the barren hills of Judea, which may be said literally to overhang it on he west ; and these mountains are still as barren, as rugged, and as destitute of inhabitants as formerly, throughout their whole range, from the Lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea. The distance, by the computation of time, amounted to about six hours, or nearly twenty miles ; and the spaces between the supposed site of Jericho and the Jordan was about a third of the amount, precisely that indicated by Josephus. The mountains on the eastern side of the Jordan are loftier than those on the verge of the Vale of Jericho, being 2000 feet in height. The traveller fails to recog- nize any towering peak for Mount Nebo, from which Moses was permitted to behold the promised inheritance expanded beneath stretching to the west, the south and the north, all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali,and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah to the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm- trees, unto Zoar. " And the Lord said unto him. This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed ; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of the Lwd, died there, in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley PLAIN OF JERICHO. 223 in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor ; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." Pro- bably it is too far among the mountains to be here seen. Many historical associations are connected with the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. As the traveller enters the mountains which shelter the western side of the plain, there is pointed out to him the fountain of Elisha, the waters of which were sweetened by the prophet; who was told by the men of Jericho that though the town was pleasant in situation, " the water was naught, and the ground barren. And he said. Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein ; and they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters ; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake." A basin about ten paces long and six broad, now receives its waters ; whence they issue in copious streams, branching into several small rills, and fertilizing the surrounding land. * Here the road from Jerusalem to the plain of Jeri- cho, after a few miles, leads to and traverses the sternest and most desolate mountain-wilderness in all Palestine. The ridge of mountains in this singular dis- trict which immediately faces the plain, forming part of the mountains which inclose the valley of the Jor- dan, is the highest in Judea. They bear the name of Quarantania, from an ancient opinion that the wilder- ness which they form was that in which Christ remained for forty days fasting, after he had been baptized in the river Jordan ; and that the highest summit of the ridge is that *' exceeding high mountain " from which the devil showed him " all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them." (Matt. iv. 8.) Speaking of this wild region, Morison says, *' I am persuaded that there are very few deserts in the world so frightful as this ; and I am compelled to acknowledge that, melancholy as are 224 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the vast solitudes of Arabia Petraea, which I traversed in my journey from Egypt to Sinai, they are altoge- ther pleasant in comparison to this." Maundrell bears similar testimony, calling it " A most miserable, dry, and barren place, consisting of high rocky mountains, so torn and disordered, as if the earth had suffered some great convulsion, in which its very bowels had been turned outward." * Of the mountain of Temptation, the ascent is so difficult and perilous, that many travellers of no ordi- nary enterprise have desisted from the attempt to reach its summit. Of this number was Hasselquist, who describes the mountain as * high and pointed ; and on our left as we ascended, towards which the rock was perpendicularly steep. It consists of a loose, white lime- stone, mixed with another that is grayish and harder. The way up to its highest point is dangerous beyond imagination. It is narrow, steep, full of rocks and stones, which obliged us frequently to creep over them before we could accomplish our design. The difficulty is increased by the valley on one side ; which, besides its terrible aspect, is most dangerous, as, in case any one should slip, his death would be certain. I went as far up this terrible mountain as prudence would per- mit, but ventured not to proceed to the summit.' We suppose he went up two-thirds of the mountain, the ascent of which is attended with more fatigue than danger ; but the remaining third is so formidable, that few even of the old pilgrims, though actuated by the fervour of religious zeal, ventured to the summit ; and those who did, described it as the most perilous under- taking of their lives. The view from the top, however, well repays the fatigue and danger of the enterprise : it embraces the whole extent of the Dead Sea, and beyond it the plains of Moab, and Mount Pisgah, whence Moses viewed the promised land ; while just under the eye are the plains of Jericho and the river Jordan. This moun- tain, like the others of the same ridge, is full of caves, of various form and size, which have alternately offered ROAD TO JERICHO. 226 secret retreats to fugitives, recluses, and robbers. Such caves are, indeed, most numerous among the steep and rugged mountains at the northern extremity of the Dead Sea on this side the Jordan ; which, except in being of much less elevation, offer the same essential characteristics as the mountains of Quarantania.' * The hills nearest to Jerusalem consist of a very hard limestone ; and different sorts of plants are found on them, particularly the myrtle, carof-tree, and turpen- tine-tree ; but towards Jericho, they are bare and bar- ren, the hard limestone changing to a looser kind, some- tihies white and sometimes grayish, with interjacent layers of a reddish micareous stone. The valleys, though now bare and uncultivated, and full of pebbles, contain good red mould, susceptible of advantageous cul- tivation. Sometimes the track leads along the edges of cliffs and precipices, where a single false step threatens destruction ; and at other times winds through craggy passes, overshadowed by projecting and perpendicular rocks. At one place, the road has been cut through the very apex of a hill, the rocks overhanging it on either side. Such is still the danger of those that "go down from Jerusalem to Jericho." Having taken a brief survey of the country south and east of Jerusalem, we must now direct the reader to some of the more prominent objects to the north of the holy city. We shall first follow the road to Nablous and Tiberias. For some hours after the traveller leaves Jerusalem, his northern route lies over a rugged and barbarous country, which, though susceptible of cultivation by terraces, is now frightfully sterile and naked. Ten miles journey over a rough and stony road brings him to Beer, so named from the well where the wayfaring Stephens says, ' Except in the wilderness of Sinai, and amid the waters of Idumea, I never travelled so dreary a road as going down to Jericho. Nowhere could a more forcible illustration be given of the heartlessness of the Priest and Levite, in " passing by on the othef side." ' 226 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I man stops to quench his thirst. Beside it are the moul- dering walls of a large Khan, and on the summit of the hill two large arches of a ruined convent. This is the Michmash of scripture, whither Jotham fled from the rage of his brother Abimelech. Four hours' journey along a stony path to the right, lead to Leban, the Le- bonah of the Bible, a village situated at the eastern ex- tremity of a delicious valley. The road is through a wild hilly country, without trees or other signs of cul- tivation, and through mismanagement wholly unpro- ductive. The ruins of a monastery appear in a narrow deU, formed by two precipices, near Bethel, where Jacob was favoured with the glorious vision of the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder between heaven and earth. The next object of interest is Jacob's well, the scene of the memorable conversation between our Saviour and the woman of Samaria. Over the place where this interview was supposed to have taken place, Helena erected a large church ; but * the voracity of time, aided by the Turks,' has only suffered a few ves- tiges of the foundation to appear. Maundrel found * the well covered with an old stone vault, into which you are let down through a very strait hole ; and then removing a broad flat stone you discover the mouth of the well itself. It is dug in a firm rock, and extends about three yards in diameter, thirty-five in depth : five of which we found full of water. This confutes a story, commonly told to travellers who do not take pains to examine the well, namely, that it is dry all the year round, except in the anniversary of that day on which our blessed Lord sat upon it ; but then bubbles up with abundance of water.' The traveller now enters the narrow valley of She- chem, or Sychar, on either side of which rise the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. Though these, as Josephus remarks, are the highest mountains in Sama- ria, they do not rise above 800 feet from the valley, although they are much more above the sea-level, the ground being here considerably elevated. The two MOUNTS GERIZIM AND EBAL. 227 mountains exhibit a remarkable analogy of size, figure, and height. Upon these all Israel was assembled, when they took possession of the promised land, to hear and respond to the curses of the law, declared from Mount Ebal, and to its blessings from Mount Gerizim. The blessings and curses still remain on them ; Gerizim is fertile and of pleasant aspect, Ebal completely barren. " And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh ? " The Samaritans, it is well known, have had since the captivity, their chief place of resi- dence at Shechem, and repair at certain seasons to per- form the rites of their religion at their place of worship on Mount Gerizim. * It was upon this hill, according to the reading in the Samaritan version of the Penta- teuch, that the Almighty commanded the children of Israel to set up great stones covered with plaster, on which to inscribe the body of the law ; to erect an altar ; to offer peace-offerings ; and to rejoice before the Lord their God. In the Hebrew of the same inspired books, Mount Ebal is selected as the scene of these pious services, a variation which the Samaritans openly as- cribe to the hatred and malignity of the Jews, who, they assert, have in this passage corrupted the sacred oracles.' Near the town is a small mosque, reported to have been built over the sepulchre of Joseph, and to be situated in the field which Jacob bought of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Dr. Clarke describes the road from Leban to Nablous as mountainous, rocky, and full of small stones : yet the cultivation is everywhere marvellous, affording a striking picture of human industry. The limestone rocks, and stony valleys of Judea were entirely covered with plantations of j&gs, vines, and olives ; not a single Q 2 228 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: spot seemed neglected. The hills, from their bases to their utmost summits, were overspread with gardens ; all of which were free from weeds, and in the highest state of cultivation. Even the sides of the most ste- rile mountains had been rendered fertile, by being divided into terraces, like steps rising one above another, upon which soil had been accumulated with great la- bour. A sight of this territory can alone convey anj adequate idea of its surprising produce ; it is truly the Eden of the east, rejoicing in the abundance of its wealth. The effect of this on the people was stri- kiugiy manifest in their countenances ; instead of the depressed and gloomy looks worn by the subjects of the Pacha of Damascus, health, hilarity, and peace were everywhere seen. Under a wise and beneficent govern- ment, the produce of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial harvest, the salubrity of its air, its limpid streams, its rivers, lakes, and matchless plains, its hills and vales ; all these added to the serenity of its climate, prove this land to be indeed " a field which the Lord hath blessed : God hath given it of tlie dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." There is nothing in the Holy Land finer than the view of the ancient Shechem, from the heights around it. As the traveller descends towards it from the hills, it appears luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers ; half concealed by rich gardens, and by groves of stately trees, all around the beautiful valley in which it stands. The chief trade of the in- habitants is in soap, but the manufactures of the town supply a widely-extended neighbourhood, and are carried to a great distance on camels. The resident population, about 8000 souls, is chiefly Mahommedan, the Greek Christians only amounting to five hundred. Though the commerce is considerable, there are very few Jews, owing perhaps to a religious prejudice against the place. Concerning the Samaritans, of whom a respect- able remnant existed here so late as the time of Maun- THE SAMARITANS. 229 drell's journey, about a century ago, tlie Rey. Mr. Con- nor, a recent traveller, gives the following account. *I immediately made inquiry about the Samaritans. My host stepped out and fetched their priest : he sat with me some time ; his name is Shalmor ben Tobiah ; he is a native of Napolose, and is about forty years of age. There are about forty Samaritans in Napolose. They have but one synagogue in the town, where they have service every Saturday. Four times a year they go in solemn procession to the old synagogue on Mount Gerizim ; and on these occasions, they go up before sun- rise, and read the law till noon. On one of these days the}'- kill six or seven rams. The Samaritans have one school in Napolose, where their language is taught. The head of the sect resides in Paris. " I accompanied the priest to his house, and sat a long time with him. There were several Jews present : they seem to live on friendly terms with the Samaritans here. The priest showed me part of the first volume of the English Polyglot, mentioned by Maundrell : it con- sisted of about a dozen tattered leaves. He shewed me also' a manuscript Samaritan Pentateuch, with an Arabic version at its side ; this version, however, is not used in the synagogue. He afterwards took me to see the syna- gogue, making me first take off my shoes. It is a small gloomy building. I observed a number of copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch, carefully enveloped in linen, and laid on a shelf in the synagogue. Expressing a wish to see the ancient manuscript, said by the Samaritans to be 8500 years old, the priest paused, and hesitated some time. I pressed him. Having laid aside his upper gar- ments, he at length entered the sanctuary, and pro- duced the venerated manuscript. It is well written in vellum, in the Samaritan character, and is preserved in a tin roller ; it bears the marks of age, and is rather tattered. The priest would not permit me, nor any one present to touch it. He was very inquisitive about the Samaritans who he had heard were in England. Dr. Robinson saw the same manuscript, in all proba- 230 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : bility, though they attempted first to palm off a more modern one upon him. The Scottish mission found the venerable roll in a velvet cover, with silver ornaments on the rollers, and had to promise a handsome payment for the sight. They were told that about forty persons attend the synagogue here, ' and about 150 souls alto- gether belong to their communion.' Within the town of Nablous are six mosques, five baths, one Christian church, an excellent covered bazaar for goods, and an open one for provisions, besides numerous cotton-cloth manufactories and shops of every description. To the tradition concerning the antiquities of She- chem, all writers bear testimony ; and even the sceptical Gibbon remarks that the Christians of Palestine ' fixed, by unquestionable tradition, the scene of each memor- able event.' But the history of Shechem, referring to events long prior to the Christian dispensation, directs us to antiquities which owe nothing of their celebrity to traditionary aid. The traveller directing his footsteps towards its ancient sepulchres, as everlasting as the rocks in which they are hewn, is permitted upon the authority of sacred and indisputable record, to contem- plate the spot where the remains of Joseph, of Eleazar, and of Joshua, were severally deposited. If any thing connected with the history of past" ages be calculated to awaken local enthusiasm, the land around this city is preeminently entitled to that distinction. The sacred story of events transacted in the fields of Sichem, is from our earliest years remembered with delight ; but having the territory actually before our eyes where those events took place, and beholding objects as they were described above three thousand years ago, the grateful impression kindles into ecstacy. * Along the valley,' says Dr. Clarke, * we beheld a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, as in the days of Reu- ben and Judah, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, who would gladly have purchased another Joseph of his brethren, and conveyed him, as a slave, to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills I SAMARIA. 231 around, flocks and herds were feeding, as of old : nor in the simple garb of the shepherds of Samaria was there any thing to contradict the notions of the appearance formerly exhibited by the sons of Jacob/ The same excellent writer also remarks that perhaps no Christian scholar ever attentively read the fourth chapter of St. John without being struck by the nu- merous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind, in its perusal. Within so small a compass it is impossible to find, in other writings, so many sources of reflection and interest. * Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with its singular illustration of the history of the Jews, and the geography of their country. All that can be col- lected upon these subjects from Josephus seems but a comment to this chapter. The journey of our Lord from Judea to Galilee ; the cause of it ; his passage through the territory of Samaria ; his approach to the metropolis of that country ; its name ; his arrival at the Amorite field which terminates the narrow valley of Sichem ; the ancient custom of halting at a well ; the female employment of drawing water ; the disciples sent into the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is so obviously implied ; the question of the; wo- man referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans ; the depth of the well ; the oriental allusion contained in the expression " living water ; " the history of the well, and the customs there- by illustrated ; the worship upon Mount Gerizim ; all these occur within the space of twenty verses : all these constitute an overwhelming array of evidence for the veracity and fidelity of the narrative.' Sebaste (now corrupted to Sebustich) is the name given by Herod to the ancient Samaria, the imperial city of the ten tribes, in honour of Augustus (Sebastos) Caesar, when he rebuilt and fortified it, converting the greater part of it into a citadel, and erecting a noble temple. It is about forty miles from Jerusalem. The 232 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : situation is beautiful, and of great natural strength. According to Dr. Richardson, it stands on a fine, large, insulated hill, compassed all around by a broad, deep valley ; and when fortified, as it is stated to have been by Herod, it would seem, according to the ancient sys- tem of warfare, to have been secure against attack, and only assailable by famine. The valley is surrounded by hills on every side, which are cultivated in terraces up to the summits, sown with grain, and planted like the valley, with figs and olives. The hill of Samaria likewise rises in terraces to a height equal to any of the adjoining mountains. The present village is small and poor, and the ascent to it after passing the valley, is very steep. Viewed from beneath, it has an interesting ap- pearance from its natural situation, and from the pictu- resque ruins on the summit of the hill. * Having passed the village,' says Dr. Richardson, * to- wards the middle of the first terrace, there is a number of columns still standing. I counted twelve in one row, besides several that stood apart, the brotherless remains of other rows. The situation is extremely delightful, and my guide informed me, that they belonged to the servi, or palace. On the next terrace there are no re- mains of solid building, but heaps of stone, lime, and rubbish, mixed with the soil in great profusion. As- cending to the third or highest terrace, the traces of former buildings were not so numerous, but we enjoyed a delightful view of the surrounding country. The eye passed over the deep valley that encompasses the hill of Sebaste, and rested on the mountains beyond, that retreated as they rose with a gentle slope, and met the view in every direction, like a book laid out for perusal on a reading-desk. This was the seat of the capital of the short-lived and wicked kingdom of Israel ; and on the face of these mountains the eye surveys the scene of many bloody conflicts and memorable events. Here those holy men of God, Elijah and Elisha, spoke their tremen- dous warnings in the ear of their incorrigible rulers, and wrought their miracles in the sight of all the people, SAMARIA. 283 * From this lofty eminence we descended to the south side of the hill, when we saw the remains of a stately colonnade, that stretches along this beautiful expanse from east to west. Sixty columns are still standing in one row, the shafts are plain, and fragments of Ionic volutes, that lie scattered about, testify the order to which they belonged. These are probably the relics of some of the magnificent structures with which Herod the Great adorned Samaria. None of the walls remain.' Of the the pillars, Mr. Buckingham counted eighty-three, and mentions a tradition current among the natives, that they formed part of Herod's palace. This account of Dr. Richardson is nearly the same as the reports of later travellers ; the number of columns only seems to differ. Stephens found * more than sixty.' Dr. Robinson saw about sixty, but says the capitals had all vanished, nor could he find any trace of them. The Scottish mission, still later, found only fifty-six columns, * all wanting the capital, many of them broken across, and some having only the base remaining.' They re- mark very strikingly upon the literal fulfilment of Micah's prediction (ch. i. v. 6), " I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard, and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof." The heaps of stones, gathered together, cleared off the ground to prepare it for the plough, ^the bare, desolate look of the site, like a newly-planted vineyard, the fragments of buildings rolled over the brow of the hill, and poured in ruinous heaps down to the valley beneath, the massy foundation-stones and bases of the columns, remaining on the hill-top,- all these peculiar circumstances are described with great force by this narrative. A church stands on the eastern side of the hill, which is said to be built over the burial-place of John the Baptist, and his tomb is shown in a little mosque within the enclosure of the church. The testimony of Josephus is, that John was beheaded at the castle of Machaerus, on the Dead Sea. However, the tradition of this place is of ancient 234 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. date, and numbers of pilgrims resort here, to worship at the tomb. Stephens, while standing by the columns, (said to be of Herod's palace,) asked an Arab, ploughing near him, what these ruins were : ' He told me they were the ruins of the palace of a king he believed, of the Christians ; and while pilgrims from every quarter of the world turn aside to do homage in the prison of his beheaded victim, the Arab, who was driving his plough among the columns of his palace, knew not the name of the haughty Herod.' Leaving the land of Ephraim, and entering into that possessed by the half-tribe of Manasseh, the traveller, pursuing his northward course, passing a small hamlet, at about four miles distance, reaches the village of Gibba, which overhangs a narrow valley, and is sur- rounded with olive -and pomegranate trees. He then comes to Sannour, a castle built on an insular hill. On the right is the village of Abati, encircled with fruit- trees ; and passing along the valley, and ascending a rising ground, he beholds the rich pasture of the plain of Esdraelon lying beneath him. The town of Jeunin, once famous in history, is situated on the slope of the hill, which forms the boundary of the southern extre- mity of the valley. Its ancient name was Ginoea, and it has at present a population of 2000. Its former im- portance is proved by the existence of the ruins of a palace and a mosque ; of marble pillars, fountains, and even piazzas, in a nearly perfect state. The country that lies beyond the Arabian mountains on the east of the valley of the Jordan, is a sort of table-land, though still diversified in surface : it is a beautiful region, differing totally in aspect from the bar- ren hills of Judea, rivalling in fertility and picturesque beauty the celebrated plains of Zabulon and Esdraelon in Galilee and Samaria. Mr. Buckingham dwells with delight and admiration on the varied beauties of this ro- mantic region, the Decapolis of the Romans, the seat of ten renowned cities, famed for wealth and refinement, now a scene of desolation, over which the wild Arab GERASA. 235 ranges with his flocks in quest of pasture or prey. The country is of extraordinary richness, abounding in de- lightful prospects, of thick forests, verdant slopes, and extensive plains, the landscape varying at every turn, and presenting new beauties. The general face of the region improves as advance is made farther into it ; each new direction of the path opens views which surprise and charm by their grandeur and beauty. Lofty moun- tains give an outline of the most magnificent character ; flowing lines of secondary hills soften the romantic wild- ness of the picture ; gentle slopes, clothed with wood, give a rich variety of tints almost beyond the imitation of the pencil ; deep valleys, filled with murmuring streams and verdant meadows, offer all the luxuriance of cultivation ; herds and flocks give life and animation to scenes as grand and beautiful as the genius or taste of a painter could invent or desire. The district of Bothin, the ancient Battanea, is re- markable for numerous caverns, hollowed out of the calcareous mountains, formerly the abode of the ancient inhabitants, now of the wandering Arab. In this dis- trict, Dr. Leitzen, in 1816, discovered the ruins of Dje- rash, the ancient Gerasa, whose temples, superb amphi- theatres of marble, and hundreds of columns, are still seen, among other splendid remains of vanished gran- deur. The finest object which meets the explorer's view, is a long street, bordered on each side with a row of Corinthian marble columns, terminating in a semi- circular open space, surrounded with sixty Ionic co- lumns. The city occupied a square about a mile in length, facing the four cardinal points, and stood on the slopes of two opposite hills. The whole surface of the western hill is covered with temples, theatres, colonnades, and ornamental architecture. Its plan was traced by Mr. Buckingham. The main street is intersected by two other streets at right angles, in which the Ionic and Corinthian orders prevail ; for a detailed description of the temple, the theatre, and other ornamental build- ings, which are seen at this place, and of which, though 236 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. ruined, a large proportion remains, we must refer to his work. The scenery continues as beautiful till the traveller reaches the Nahr el Zechah, or river Jabbok, the ancient boundary between the Amorites and the children of Ammon. The oleander and the plane-tree, the wild olive and almond, with many varied and elegant flower- ing shrubs, adorn its banks. The stream, which exceeds the Jordan in depth, is thirty feet broad, rapid, rushing down over a rocky channel. The kingdom of Bashan, renowned for its oaks, its cattle, and the bodily strength of its inhabitants, begins on the northern side ; its territories were guarded by a bold Alpine range of mountains. Six miles from Djerash stands the village of Seuf, on the face of a high hill, and having a deep ravine in flank. It was evidently in ancient times a place of con- siderable importance ; and into the modern buildings are wrought large blocks of stone, with mouldings and sculpture. In the neighbourhood are the ruined walls of a Roman edifice, and the ruins of two small Sara- cenic towers. The people are rigid Mahommedans. The traveller proceeds to the north-west, descending into a fine valley, and again rising on a gentle ascent, shaded beneath by evergreen oaks, and above by the pines on the ridge of the hill, in order that he may visit the ruins of Gamala. As he goes to Oin Reis, he perceives several obscure intimations of ancient buildings. Be- fore he reaches this town, he must traverse a bleak, mo- notonous, hilly district, strikingly contrasted with the rich and beautiful country of Bashan and Gilead. Gamala, now the name commonly given to the ruins of the Roman station near Lake Tiberias, probably oc- cupied a nearly square site ; it must have measured seventeen hundred short paces from east to west, and its breadth was one-fourth less. Part of the city must have stood on the top of a hill, fortified all around, since even in its steepest parts are seen indications of towers and other works of defence. The portals of the east GAMALA. 287 gate are still visible, whence a fine street seems to have extended the whole length of the city, lined by a noble colonnade of Corinthian and Ionic pillars. ' The pave- ment is formed of square blocks of volcanic stone, and is still so perfect, that the ruts of carriage-wheels are to be seen in it, of different breadths, and about an inch in depth, as at the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.' The first edifice which presents itself, on entering the eastern gate, is a theatre, the scene and front of which are completely destroyed, but its tiers of seats remain. Further on, are appearances of an Ionic temple, the co- lonnade of the street being continued ; and, at about the centre of its length, a range of Corinthian columns, on pedestals, mark the site of a grand edifice on the left. Not a column now remains erect, but the plan can be distinctly seen. This apparent temple is a hundred paces in depth from north to south, or from the street inward ; and its fa9ade, which fronted the street, and came in a line with the grand colonnade already noticed, was about seventy paces broad. The chief peculiarity of this edifice was, that it was built on a range of fine arches, so that its foundations were higher than the general level of the town, and the pedestals of its columns were ele- vated considerabl}'' above the level of the street, by which it must have been rendered most conspicuous. There are besides ruins of several other theatres, temples, &c., but now too indistinct to enable us to pronounce positively upon their nature. The prevalent orders of architecture are Ionic and Corinthian ; though a few Doric capitals may be seen. The stone used was sometimes the grey rock of the mountain, and sometimes the black volcanic stone, used in the tombs and sarcophagi, of which there were several shafts of pillars and other blocks of ma- sonry. Gamala, though situated in a barren district, unfavourable for agriculture, manufactures, and com- merce, presents indications of former wealth and luxury. Much money must have been expended on the erection of such splendid temples and colonnades, and the sup- port of two large theatres ; besides massive tombs, and 238 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Splendid sarcophagi. Its fortifications and buildings were levelled by the troops of Vespasian. As the traveller passes along the eastern border of the lake, and advances to its northern extremity, he sees the desert place where Christ fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes. On the west of the sea, is Talheurn, or Tel Hoorn, supposed by some to be the ancient Capernaum, situated about ten miles to the north-east of Tiberias. Though now only a Bedouin^ halting-place, it appears to have been the site of some considerable settlement, as ruined buildings, hewn stones, and broken pottery, are found scattered over a wide space. The foundations of a large and magnificent edifice may still be seen, but so much dilapidated, that it is impossible to determine whether it has been a pa- lace or a temple. Its northern end measures sixty-five paces in length ; and, as the foundation of the eastern wall appears to extend from this point doAvn to the sea, it must have been two hundred paces in extent. Within this space are seen large blocks of sculptured stone, in friezes, cornices, and mouldings ; there are also remains of various other buildings, and masses of white marble ; all having an air of great antiquity, both from its out- ward appearance and complete destruction, but the style of the architecture is plainly Roman. The Sea of Tiberias, which is said by some travellers almost to equal in the grandeur of its appearance the Lake of Geneva, is called indifferently the Lake of Gennesareth, the Lake of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, and the Sea of Cinneroth, from the adjacent country, or the principal towns upon its shores. Josephus and Pliny agree in stating it to be about sixteen miles in length, and about six in breadth. It is thus described by Mr. Buckingham : ' The waters of this lake lie in a deep basin, surrounded on all sides with lofty hills, excepting only the narrow entrance and outlet of the Jordan at each extreme, for which reason, long con- tinued tempests, from any one quarter, are here un- known ; and this lake, like the Dead Sea, with which J SEA OF TIBERIAS, 289 it communicates, is, for the same reason, never vio- lently agitated for any length of time. The same local features, however, render it occasionally subject to whirlwinds, squalls, and sudden gusts from the hollow of the mountains, which, as in any other similar basin, are of short duration ; and the most furious gust is succeeded by a perfect calm. A strong current marks the passage of the Jordan through the middle of the lake, in its way to the Dead Sea, where it empties it- self. The appearance of the sea from the town of Capernaum, which is situated near the upper end of the bank on the western side, is extremely grand ; its greatest length runs nearly north and south. The bar- ren aspect of the mountains on each side, and the total absence of wood, give, however, a cast of dulness to the picture ; and this is increased to melancholy by the dead calm of its waters, and the silence which reigns throughout its whole extent, where not a boat or vessel of any kind is to be found.' Dr. Robinson also speaks of it as a somewhat dreary scene, by no means equalling the Lake of Geneva, nor possessing * the softer beauty of the lakes of England and the United States.' Stephens says, ' At each end is the narrow valley of the Jordan ; on the east a range of mountains rising, not precipitously, but rolling back from the shore, green and verdant, but desti- tute of trees ; on the west are mountains, in two places coming down to the lake ; and the rest is a rich and beautiful, but wild uncultivated plain.' The feelings here excited are thus described by the enthusiastic Lamartine, * When young, I have passed many solitary and contemplative hours, seated beneath the olive-trees which shade the garden of Horace, in sight of the glittering cascades of the Tiber ; I have often seated myself in the evening, listening to the noise of the beautiful sea of Naples, below the spread- ing branches of the vine-trees, near the spot where Virgil wished his ashes to repose, because it was the loveliest and sweetest spot on which his eyes had ever 240 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I rested. But it was not a great man or a great poet whose favourite abode here below I was visiting, it was the Man of men, the incarnate Divinity, whose steps upon the very shores he pressed the most, upon the very waves which supported him, upon the hills where he seated himself, upon the stones on which he reposed his head, I had come to adore ! He had looked upon the sea, their waves, hills, and rocks ; or rather this sea, these hills and rocks had beheld him. He had trod a hundred times this road on which I was reveren- tially stepping ; his feet had raised the very dust which sprang from under mine. During the years of his divine mission, he went and came numberless times from Nazareth to Tiberias, and from Jerusalem to Ti- berias ; he moved in the barks of the fishers in the Sea of Galilee ; he calmed its tempests ; he stood upon the waves while stretching out his hand to the apostle of little faith like myself. Much of the grand and mys- terious scene of the Gospel passed upon this lake and its borders, and the mountains which surround and look upon it. There is Emmaus, where he chose his disciples amongst the lowliest of men, to testify that the power of his doctrine is in the doctrine itself, and not in its insufficient organs. There is Tiberias, where he appeared to St. Peter. There is Capernaum ; there is the mountain where he delivered the sublime sermon of the Mount ; there, that on which he exclaimed, " I have compassion upon the multitude," and multi- plied the loaves and fishes, as his word brings forth and multiplies life. Behold the gulf of the miraculous drawing of fishes ; in fine, behold the whole Gospel, with its aff^ecting parables, and its tender and delightful images, which appeared to us such as they appeared to the auditors of the Divine Master, when he showed them with his finger the lamb, the sheep-fold, the good shepherd, the lily of the valley 1 In a word, behold the country which Christ preferred on this earth, that which he selected to witness the first scenes of his mys- terious drama ; where during his obscure life of thirty TIBERIAS. 241 years, he had his parents and friends according to the flesh ; where that nature of which he possessed the key, seemed to him the fullest of charms ; and those moun- tains, where he saw, as we did, the sun rise and set, which was to measure his mortal days with such ra- pidity. There it was he came to be at rest, to meditate, to pray, and to exercise his love for man and God.' So completely has the denunciation uttered against the cities of Galilee been fulfilled, that all traces of many have vanished. Tiberias is the only place which retains any marks of ancient importance. Its modern name is Tabaria, or Tabbarseah. It was built by Herod the tetrarch, and named by him in honour of the em- peror Tiberias. Considerable privileges were granted to such as settled there, in order to overcome the preju- dice arising from the city having been built above the site of ancient sepulchres ; whence we may infer the existence of a former city in the vicinity, which is sup- posed to have been the ancient Cinnereth or Kinnereth. We learn from Josephus, that during a visit paid to the city by Herod Agrippa, the kings of Comagene, of Emessa, of the Lesser Armenia, of Pontus, and of Chalcis, met to do him honour, and were magnificently entertained. After the downfal of Jerusalem, it con- tinued till the fifth century, the residence of Jewish rabbles and learned men ; and was the seat of a patri- arch, who acted as the supreme judge between persons of his own nation : an office suppressed in 429. Pococke says that the Jewish rabbles lived here till the eleventh century, but that the Jews had left the place above eight hundred years. But it seems probable that they never wholly deserted it. Tiberias was an ancient seat of Jewish literature. A university was founded here by the patriarch, after the fall of Jerusalem ; and there is a college of Jews at Tabaria at the present time. Dr. Richardson found six rabbles studying Hebrew folios. They occupied two large rooms, which were surrounded with books, and said that they had spent all their time in studying the Scriptures and com- 242 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : mentaries upon them. This unhappy town was nearly- destroyed by the great earthquake of Jan. 1, 1837, and a large number of Jews perished in the ruins. But many still live here, it being a peculiarly holy city in their estimation. They have several synagogues and libraries. The road from Tiberias to Nazareth, is an almost uninterrupted ascent. After passing one or two villages, undistinguished by any very remarkable fea- tures, on the right hand of the traveller. Mount Tor or Tabor lifts its head in solitary majesty from the plain of Esdraelon. It is the highest mountain in Lower Galilee, and one of the most striking in the Holy Land. Though surrounded on almost all sides by chains of mountains, it stands entirely separate. It offers a very re- gular appearance ; its figure approaches to oval, especi- ally when viewed from the hills of Nazareth. It is sup- posed that its height does not exceed 1000 feet above the level of the plain ; but it has not been subjected to any regular measurement, nor have its dimensions been stated with reference to any other standard than that of time. * It appears to take three hours to travel round the base of the mountain ; an hour is generally required to reach the summit by a circuitous path, though the ascent may be accomplished in three quarters of an hour, or even half an hour by a forced exertion ; the plain on the top of the mountain is almost half an hour in circuit. ' The mountain is inaccessible except on the north, where the ascent offers so little difficulty that there are few parts which suggest to the traveller the prudence or necessity of dismounting from his horse. This re- markable mountain offers so rare a combination of the bold and beautiful, that pilgrims of all ages have expa- tiated upon its glories with untiring wonder and delight. The trees of various species, and the bushes alw^ays green, with which it is invested, and the small groves with which it is crowned, contribute no less than its figure to its perfect beauty. Ounces, wild boars, ga- zelles, and hares, are among the animals which find shelter in its more wooded parts ; , while the trees are MOUNT TABOR. 243 tenanted by "birds of every wing," whose warblings knd motions beguile the fatigue of the ascent. " The path/' says a late traveller, " wound around the moun- tain, and gave us a view from all its different sides, every step presenting something new, and more and more beautiful, until all was completely forgotten and lost in the exceeding loveliness of the view from the summit. Stripped of every association, and considered merely as an elevation commanding a view of unknown valleys and mountains, I never saw a mountain which, for beauty of scene,^better repaid the toil of ascending it." ' The objects which are embraced by " the view from the top," thus admiringly alluded to by Mr. Stephens, have been carefully enumerated by the Rev. C. B. Elliot, in a passage which we here introduce, as calculated to give a very useful idea of the relative bearing of diffe- rent mountains seen from this great central point. " The view it commands," he says, " is magnificent. To the north, in successive ranges, are the mountains of Galilee, backed by the mighty Lebanon ; and Safet, as always, stands out in prominent relief. To the north-east is the Mount of Beatitudes, with its peculiar outline and interesting associations ; behind which rise Great Hermon, and the whole chain of Anti-Lebanon. To the east are the hills of the Haouran, and the coun- try of the Gadarenes,. below which the eye catches a glimpse of the Lake or Tiberias, while to the south- east it crosses the valley of the Jordan, and rests on the high land of Bashan. Due south rise the moun- tains of Gilboa, and behind them those of Samaria, stretching far to the west. On the south-south-west, the villages of Endor and Nain are seen on the Little Her- mon. Mount Carmel and the Bay of Acre appear on the north-west [west by north ?] ; and towards them flows, through the fertile plains of Esdraelon, "that great river, the river Kishon," now dwindled into a little stream. Each feature in this prospect is beauti- ful : the eye and mind are delighted ; and, by a com- bination of objects and associations unusual to fallen R 2 244 THE LAND OF ISRAEL '. man, earthly scenes, which more than satisfy the exter- nal sense, elevate the soul to heavenly contemplations.'' * The beautiful upper plain is inclosed by a wall, probably the same which was built by Josephus, when governor of Galilee, and contains some ruins, which are probably those of the two monasteries which, ac- cording to William of Tyre, were built here by God- frey of Bouillon, in the place of others of earlier date which the Moslems had destroyed. The plain has at different times been under cultivation ; but when, from oppression or fear, abandoned by the cultivator, it be- comes a table of rich grass and wild flowers, which send forth a most refreshing and luxurious odour. In summer the dews fall copiously on Tabor, and a strong wind blows over it all day. Thick clouds rest upon its head every morning, and do not disappear till noon.' Dr. Clark remarks, that on the plain of Esdraelon, at the foot of Tabor, the most fertile part of Canaan (which, though a solitude, appears like one vast meadow, clothed with the richest pasture) the tribe of Issachar " rejoiced in their tents." Both in the early period of Jewish history, as well as during the supremacy of Rome, and the age of the crusades, it has been the scene of many a memorable contest. Here Barak descended with his ten thousand from Mount Tabor, discomfited Sisera, and " all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him," gathered " from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river of Kishon ; " when " all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword ; and there was not a man left ; " when the kings came and fought, the kings of Canaan in Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo. Here Josiah, king of Judah fought in disguise against Necho, king of Egypt, and fell by the arrows of his antagonist. So great were the lamentations for his death, that the mourning for Josiah became an ordinance in Israel. The *' great mourning in Jerusalem," which Zechariah foretold, is said to be as the lamentation in the plain of Esdraelon, or, in the prophet's language, " as the NAZARETH. Page 245 ESDRAELON. 245 mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley ofMegiddon." Josephus often mentions it as * The Great Plain/ The supplies that Vespasian sent to the people of Sephoris, are said to have been reviewed in the great plain, prior to their distribution into two divisions ; the infantry- being quartered within the city, and the cavalry en- camped on the plain. It is likewise alluded to by Eu- sebius and St. Jerome. It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in Palestine, from the days of Nebuchadonoser, king of Assyria, till the march of the French from Egypt to Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and Anti- christian Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors out of " every nation that is under heaven," have pitched their tents upon the plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the various ban- ners of their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and of Hermon. These facts summon up strange associations. This plain so peaceful in appearance has beheld the re- presentatives of the most varying conquering hosts has echoed with the clash of arms, and the pomp of military music. A French traveller, Doubdan, gives a lively picture of the various encampments he beheld from its summit. * We had the pleasure to view, from the top of that mountain, Arabs encamped by thousands ; tents and pavilions of all colours, green, red, and yellow ; with so great a number of horses and camels, that it seemed like a vast army, or city besieged ; and to the end that each party might recognize its peculiar banner and its tribe, the horses and camels were fastened round the tents, some in square battalions, others in circular troops, and others again in lines : not only were Arabs thus encamped, but also Turks and Druses, who main- tain abundance of horses, camels, mules, and asses, for the use of the caravans coming from or going to Da- mascus, Aleppo, Mecca, and Egypt.' A journey of about two hours from the foot of the mountain leads to Nazareth, the modern Naszera or * It seems,' says Dr. Richardson, * as if 246 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I fifteen mountains met to form an enclosure for this de- lightful spot ; they rise round it like the edge of a shell, to guard it from intrusion. It is a rich and beautiful field in the midst of barren mountains ; it abounds in fig-trees, small gardens, and hedges of the prickly pear ; and the dense rich grass affords an abundant pasture. The village stands on an elevated situation, on the west side of the valley. The convent stands at the east end of the village, on the high ground, just where the rocky surface joins the valley.' The church, which is cruci- form, stands in a cave supposed to be the place where the blessed Virgin received the joyful message of the angel, recorded in the first chapter of St. Luke. * That part of it which stands for the tree of the cross is four- teen paces long, and six broad, and runs directly into the grot, having no other arch over it at top but that of the natural rock. The transverse part is nine paces in length, and four in width, and is built athwart at the mouth of the cave. Just at the section of these two divisions are erected two granite pillars, two feet in di- ameter, at the distance of about three feet from each other. Those are supposed to mark the very places where the Angel and the Virgin stood at the time of the annunciation. The Latin convent at Nazareth is a very spacious and commodious building, repaired and en- larged in 1780. The remains of the most ancient edifice, renewed by the mother of Constantine, may be observed in the form of subverted columns, with fragments of capitals and bases of pillars, lying near the modern building. The church of Annunciation is within the con- vent, and contains the house of Joseph and Mary, which constitutes the chief part of it. The columns and in- terior present a rich appearance, being hung round with damask silk. Behind the great altar is a subterranean cavern, divided into small grottoes, said to have been the Virgin's habitation. Her kitchen, parlour, and bed- room are shewn, and likewise a narrow hole in the rock, in which the child Jesus once hid himself from his per- secutors. These holy places are continually enlarging. NAZARETH. 247 as pilgrims knock oflp large fragments from the rock. * Having entered the church/ says Dr. Clarke, ' the friars put burning wax tapers into our hands ; and, charging us on no account to touch anything, led the way, muttering their prayers. We descended to the cave by a flight of steps ; entering by means of a small door, behind an altar laden with pictures, wax candles, and all sorts of superstitious trumpery. As all such sanctified places in the Holy Land contain some sup- posed miracle for exhibition, the monks of Nazareth have taken care not to be without their share in super- natural rarities, accordingly, the first thing they shew to strangers on descending into this cave, are two stone pillars in the front of it ; one of which, separated from its base, is said to sustain its capital and a part of its shaft miraculously in the air. The fact is, that the capital and a piece of the shaft of a pillar of grey granite have been fastened on to the roof of the cave ; and so clumsily is the rest of the hocus pocus contrived, that what is shewn for the lower fragment of the same pillar resting on the earth, is not of the same substance, but of lipolino marble.' The monks tell a variety of ridiculous stories about this pillar ; for of what folly, of what wickedness, both worthy of the dark ages, are not the supporters of Romanism guilty ? Indeed almost every traveller in the Holy Land has expressed his de- testation at the manner in which the most sacred re- membrances have been desecrated by the professed fol- lowers of true religion ; at the gross fables, outraging all but pilgrim credulity, at the manifold contrivances for extorting superstitious reverence, at the system of low mercenary speculation and priestcraft which prevails throughout the country. As the traveller proceeds through Palestine, he is conducted from one convent to another, (each striving to outdo the former in the list of indulgences and of relics it has at its disposal) testifying to the wretched ignorance, and occasionally to the dis- orderly lives of a swarm of monks, by whom all the trumpery has been manufactured. Among the early 24S THE LAND OF ISRAEL I contributors to the system of abuses thus established, the empress Helena deserves a prominent place ; to whose charitable munificence these repositories of super- stition were so largely indebted. Dr. Clarke remarks, that * no one laboured more effectually to obliterate every trace of that which might have been regarded with reasonable reverence, than did this old lady, with the best possible intentions, whenever it was in her power. Had the sea of Tiberias been capable of annihilation by her means, it would have been desecrated, paved, covered with churches and altars, or converted into monasteries and markets of indulgences, until every feature of the original had disappeared ; and this by way of rendering it more particularly hoh/. To such a disposition may be attributed the sort of work exhibited in the church and convent of Nazareth, originally constructed under her auspices. Pococke has proved that the tradition concerning the dwelling-place of the parents of Christ existed at a very early period ; because the church, built over it, is mentioned by writers of the seventh century ; and in being conducted to a cave rudely fashioned in the natural rock, there is nothing repug- nant to the notions usually entertained either of the ancient customs of the country, or the history of the persons to whom allusion is made ; but when the sur- reptitious aid of architectural pillars, with all the gar- niture of a Roman Catholic church, above, below, and on every side of it, has disguised its original simplicity ; and when we finally call to mind the insane reverie concerning the transmigration of the said habitation, in a less substantial form of brick and mortar, across the Mediterranean, to Loretto in Italy, maintained upon authority very similar to that which identifies the au- thenticity of this relic ; a disbelief of the whole mummery seems best suited to the feelings of Protestants ; who, after all, are better occupied in meditating the purpose for which Jesus died, than in assisting by their pre- sence, to countenance a sale of indulgences in the place where Joseph is said to have resided,' NAZARETH. 249 The church at Nazareth is, next to that of the Holy- Sepulchre, the finest in Syria, and contains two tolera- able organs : its walls are hung with modern paintings, the execution of which is beneath mediocrity. Within the walls of the convent are two gardens, and a small burying ground ; the walls, which are very thick, serve occasionally as a fortress to all the Christians in the town. There are eleven friars in the establishment, the yearly expenses of which, amounting to about 900, are partly defrayed by the rent of a few houses in the town, and by the produce of some acres of corn-land, the rest being remitted from Jerusalem. The popula- tion of the town is estimated at 3000 ; 500 of whom are Turks, and the remainder Christians. The other antiquities shewn at Nazareth are the workshop of Joseph, near the convent, and formerly in- closed in it, but now a small modern whitewashed chapel ; a church, formerly the synagogue where Christ is said to have read the scriptures to the Jews ; and a precipice without the town, where the monks say he leaped down, to escape the rage of the Jews, after the offence occasioned by his declaration in the syna- gogue. (Luke iv. 28 30.) This last, called the Mount of Precipitation, is about two miles from the town, on account of the steep and rocky road nearly inaccessible. But the town could never, as the monks to favour their tradition maintain have been built upon this hill. Ascending the southern point of this hill, the traveller comes to an altar, in a recess hewn out of the rock ; this is held sacred, as being the spot where Jesus dined with his disciples. Close by this are two circular cis- terns for preserving rain-water, each well stuccoed in the inside ; and likewise several portions of buildings, all said to be the remains of a religious establishment founded there by Helena. Just above this spot, and on the edge of a precipice, about thirty feet high, are two large flat stones, set upon their edges, close to the brink. In the centre, and scattered over different parts of one of them, are several round marks, like the deep 250 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : imprint of fingers in wax, asserted to be the marks of our Saviour's grasp when he clung to the stone, lest the Jews should throw him down. This is perhaps one of the most impious and bungling of the absurd traditions recorded by the monks of Palestine. St. Luke repre- sents the Jews as thrusting Christ out of the synagogue in which he taught, and leading him to the brow of a hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong ; but by passing through the midst of them went his way. ' Nothing is more inconsistent, therefore, than to fix on this spot, as it is nearly two miles distant from the synagogue which they still show- in the present town, is almost inaccessible, from the steep and rocky nature of the road, and is decidedly not on a hill on which Nazareth could ever have been built ; nor is the statement of Christ's clinging to a stone for safety, more in harmony with the sentence which de- scribes his escape. But this variance with the very scriptures in which they profess to found all their faith, might easily pass among a people who seldom read them, were it not that the ten great marks reckoned up in the different parts of the stone as the impression of our Lord's fingers, are so disposed that they could not have been made at once by any possible position of the human hand, and are too clumsily executed and arranged to deceive even the most superficial observer.' Dr. Robinson remarks on this subject * Among all the legends that have been fastened on the Holy Land, I know of no one more clumsy than this ; which pre- supposes that in a popular and momentary tumult, they should have had the patience to lead off their victim to an hour's distance, to do which there was an equal facility for doing near at hand. . . . Indeed, such is the intrinsic absurdity of the legend, that the monks them- selves, now-a-days, in order to avoid it, make the an- cient Nazareth to have been near at hand on the same mountain.' There remains a celebrated relic, which though no allusion is made to it in the New Testament, is yet au- NAZARETH. 251 thenticated by the Pope, who has granted very plenary indulgence to such pilgrims as visit the place where it is exhibited. It is simply a large stone, on which it is affirmed that Christ ate with his disciples, both before and after his resurrection. A chapel has been built over it ; and upon the walls are several copies of the Latin certificate, of which the following is a translation ; * It is a continued and uninterrupted tradition among all the Eastern churches, that this stone, called the " Table of Christ," is that very one on which our Lord Jesus Christ ate with his disciples both before and after his resurrection from the dead. And the holy Roman Church hath granted an indulgence of seven years, and as man};- Lents, to all the faithful in Christ visiting this sacred place, upon reciting at least one Pater Noster and an Ave, provided they be in a state of grace." There is no object in Nazareth so much the resort of pilgrims as this' stone, to which Greeks, Catholics, Arabs, and even Turks flock ; the two former on ac- count of the indulgence of his Holiness, and the two latter from a belief that some virtue must reside in a stone before which almost all visitors are so eager to fall prostrate. Dr. Clarke, in his way to Nazareth, noticed an in- teresting illustration of Scripture. In the valley ap- peared one of those fountains which, from time imme- morial have been the halting-place of caravans, and sometimes the scene of confusion and bloodshed. The women of Nazareth were passing to and from the town, carrying pitchers on their heads. The party stopped to view the reposing group of camels and their drivers ; and, calling to mind the manners of the most remote ages, renewed the solicitation of Abraham's servant unto Rebecca, by the well of Nahor. This spring has been denominated the fountain of the Virgin Mary. Cer- tainly, if in any spot in Palestine her presence was familiar, we may believe that this was the place ; since the situation of a copious spring is not likely to change ; and since the custom of repairing thither to draw water 252 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! has been continued, among the females of Nazareth, from the earliest period of its history. The same traveller, after reaching the apartment prepared for his reception, on looking from the window into the court-yard belonging to the house, beheld *' two women grinding at the mill," in a manner most forcibly illustrating the saying of our Saviour, Matt. xxiv. 41. They were preparing flour to make bread, as is always customary in the country when strangers arrive. The two females, seated upon the ground, opposite to each other, held between them two round flat stones, such as are seen in Lapland, and are called in Scotland querns. These are the primeval mills of the world ; and are still found in all corn countries, where rude and ancient customs have not been subjected to the changes con- sequent upon refinement. In the centre of the upper stone was a cavity for pouring in the corn ; and, by the side of this, an upright wooden handle, for moving the stone. As the operation began, one of the women with her right hand, pushed this handle to the woman oppo- site, who again sent it to her companion thus commu- nicating a very rapid rotary motion to the upper stone ; all the while their left hands were busily engaged in pouring in fresh corn, as fast as the bran and flour es- caped from the sides of the machine. After proceeding for an hour and a half to the north- east, the traveller reaches Kefr Kenna, erroneously supposed to be Cana of Galilee, the scene of our Lord's first miracle. The real place of that event was found by Dr. Robinson, in a ruined site, called to this day Kana el Jelil, almost three hours distance from this village, which is situated on the slope of a hill. In a small Greek Church, they show what is said to have been one of the original vessels which held the water changed into wine : it is an old stone pot made of the common rock of the country. Dr. Clark observes, that walking among the ruins of the church erected over the spot where the marriage-feast of Cana is reported to have been celebrated, he saw large massy stone water- CANA OF GALILEE. 253 pots, answering to the descriptions given of the ancient vessels of the country ; not preserved nor exhibited as relics, but lying about, disregarded by the present in- habitants as antiquities with whose original use they were unacquainted. From their appearance and num- ber, it was evident that a practice of keeping water in large stone pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty- seven gallons, was once common in Judea. About a quarter of a mile, also, before he entered the village, we came to a spring of delicious limpid water, close to the road, whence the village is supplied. Of course pil- grims halt at this spring, as the supposed source of the water used by our Saviour, in the miracle. At such places it is usual to meet, either shepherds reposing with their flocks, or caravans halting to drink. A few olive-trees are near the spot, and travellers alight, spread their carpets beneath the shade, and having filled their pipes, generally smoke tobacco and take some coffee ; always preferring repose in these places, to the accommodations offered by the villagers. Such has been the immemorial custom of the country. The only place which demands our notice between the Alpine range of Hermon and the ruins of Capernaum, is Saphet, one of the four cities regarded with veneration by the Jews. It is built upon two lofty hills, and was a considerable place of perhaps 10,000 inhabitants before the awful earthquake of 1837, which laid nearly the whole town in ruins, and destroyed thousands of the unfortunate inhabitants. The castle, now a shape- less heap, is regarded by the Jews as having been erected in the reigns of some of their early kings. This town is still a school for the education of Jewish rabbies, of whom there are usually twenty or thirty collected from the different quarters of the globe. Various motives con- tribute to attract them hither especially the tradition that this will be the place of Messiah's reign for forty years before he proceeds to sway the sceptre at Jerusa- lem. 'Northward of the hill on which the castle stands are several wells, which, some authors maintain, were 254 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : dug by Isaac, and became the cause of contention between his herdsmen and those of Gezar ; but accord- ing to Pococke such writers have' mistaken the place, since the valley of Gezar was at a great distance on the other side of Jerusalem.* The position occupied by the town of Dan is sup- posed to have been the northern limit of the Israelitish kingdom. But we learn from the Old Testament, that "Joshua took all that land, from the Mount Halak which goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-Gad in the Valley of Lebanon, under Mount Hermon." In the first book of Kings, vii. 2 7, the following description is given of a magnificent structure erected by Solomon, called the house of the forest of Lebanon, one hundred cubits in length, fifty in breadth, and thirty in height, with a porch of pillars fifty cubits in length. Also among the cities mentioned in 2 Chron. viii., as the work of Solomon is Baalath in Lebanon, which may be the town where Joshua's conquests ended. It seems, accordingly, not improbable, that part of the ruins of Balbec may represent the grandeur of Solomon's bril- liant and prosperous reign. Josephus says that Baalath was one of those places built by Solomon within the Syrian border, because of the temperate climate, the fine fruits, and the excellent air and water. Solomon's house of the forest was reared of " costly stones, ac- cording to the measure of hewn stones, sawed with saws within and without, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside towards the great court, and the foundation was of costly stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits." Gesenius, and several other critics, suppose Balbec to have either been Baal-Gad, at the foot of Lebanon, or Baal-hamon, mentioned in the eighth chapter of the Song of Solo- mon. The original name would seem to have been Balbec, w^hich the Greeks, using a term of similar import, changed into Heliopolis, the City of the Sun. It is delightfully situated near the head of the Valley of Beka, and on its eastern side ; this valley conducts BALBEC. 255 by the south-west to Tyre, opening by a narrow defile upon the frontiers on the eastern side, having a com- munication with Tadmor, Hamath, and Mesopotamia ; and accordingly being the centre of extended commerce at the time when nearly all the trade of the world was monopolized by Babylon and Nineveh, Tyre and Sidon. Its ancient splendour and opulence are testified by its magnificent ruins, which are seen from a considerable distance emerging from the surrounding thicket of walnut and fruit-trees. A recent traveller says, ' The last rays of the setting sun ere he sunk in a flood of glory behind Lebanon, were gilding the upper portion of the temples and columns, while the gradually en- croaching shadows of the mountains had thrown the gigantic platform, on which they rested, into obscurity. The colossal magnitude of this enormous mass, the effect of which was heightened to sublimity by the un- certain light, filled the breast with the deepest impres- sions of awe. It appeared the work of some mightier being than man. The cyclopean remains of Italy dwindle to nothing in comparison ; while above, shoot- ing up into the twilight, rose the columns of a later age, so light, so beautiful, so exquisitely proportioned.' We shall give Lamartine's elaborate description at length. * We were seven hours in crossing obliquely the plain leading to Balbec. As we approached the Anti-Libanus, the plain became more dry and rocky. Anemonies and snow-drops were as numerous as the bubbles beneath our feet. We began to perceive an immense black mass, which detached itself from the white sides of the Anti- Libanus : this was Balbec. At length we reached the first ruin : this was a small octagonal temple, sup- ported on columns of Red Egyptian marble. Several of the most lofty of these columns have evidently been truncated, as some have a volute at the capital, and others have no trace of any volute. In my opinion, they have been transported hither and cut at a very re- cent period, for the purpose of supporting the cap of a Turkish mosque or the roof of a santon, probably in the 256 THE LAND OF ISRAELI time of Fakar-el-Din. The materials are fine, and the workmanship of the cornices and the roof bear some traces of skill in art ; but these materials are evidently fragments of ruins, restored by a comparatively feeble hand, by a taste already corrupt. * This temple is situated at a quarter of an hour's journey from Balbec. Impatient to gain sight of the grand and mysterious monuments bequeathed to us by the most remote antiquity, we urged on our horses, who were beginning to manifest symptoms of fatigue, and were stumbling here and there over blocks of mar- ble, shafts of columns and capitals. The boundary walls of all the fields surrounding Balbec are built of these ruins : antiquaries may here find an enigma in every stone. Some traces of cultivation began to reap- pear, and large walnut-trees, the first I had seen in Syria, rose between Balbec and us, and their branches still concealed from us the ruins of the temples. At length we discovered them. They were not, properly speaking, either temples or ruins. * We beheld before us a hill of architecture, which suddenly rose above the plain at some distance from the hills of the Anti-Libanus. We passed along one of the sides of this hill of ruins, upon which rises a forest of graceful columns. These were now gilded by the sett- ing sun, and presented the dead yellow tints of the marble of the Parthenon, or the tuft of the Coliseum at Rome. Among these columns there are some still retaining un- injured their richly-carved capitals and cornices : they are ranged in long and elegant files along the walls which inclose the sanctuaries. Some are reclining against the walls, and are supported by them, like trees whose roots are decayed whilst their trunks still remain sound and vigorous. Others, more numerous, are scattered here and there, forming immense masses of marble or stone on the slopes of the hill, in the deep hollows round it, and even in the bed of the river which flows at its feet. ' On the level summit of the mountain of stone, not far from the inferior temple, there rise six pillars of gi- BALBEC. 257 gantic dimensions, still adorned with their colossal cor- nices. We continued our course by the foot of the mountain, until the columns and architecture ended, and we saw only gigantic walls built of enormous stones, and almost all bearing traces of sculpture : these are the wrecks of another age, and were employed at a subse- quent but now remote period for the erection of the temples at present lying in ruins. ' We rose next morning with the sun, the first rays of which lighted the temples of Balbec, and gave to those mysterious ruins that appearance of eternal freshness which nature can, when she pleases, confer even on what time has destroyed. After a hasty breakfast, we set off to touch with our hands what we had as yet only touched with our eyes. We advanced to the artificial hill to examine the different masses of architecture of which it is composed. We soon reached it on the northern side, under the shade of the gigantic walls which in that di- rection envelope the ruins. A beautiful stream, over- flowing its bed of granite, ran beneath our feet, and formed here and there little lakes of limpid water, jurgling and foaming round the huge stones which had rallen from the walls, and the sculptures buried in the >ed of the stream. ' We crossed the torrent of Balbec by the aid of the bridges which time had thrown over it, and by a steep and narrow track we mounted to the terrace which runs round the walls. At every step we took, at every stone our hands touched and our eyes measured, we involun- tarily uttered exclamations of admiration and surprise. Every block of stone composing this boundary -wall is at least eight or ten feet in length, five or six in width, and the same in height. These blocks, of enormous weight to be lifted by men's hands, lie uncemented one upon another, and almost all bear traces of Indian or Egyp- tian sculpture. ' Several of the stones of the wall were twenty and thirty feet in length, and seven or eight in height. * On reaching the summit of the breach, we knew not s 258 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : where to fix our eyes. On every side we beheld marble doors of prodigious dimensions, windows and niches bor- dered with exquisite sculpture, richly ornamented arches, fragments of cornices, entablatures, and capitals. The master- works of art, the wrecks of ages, lay scat- tered as thickly as the grains of dust beneath our feet. Ail was mystery, confusion, and inexplicable wonder. ' We were still separated from the second scene of ruins by some internal structures which intercepted our view of the temples. The spot which we had now reached was to all appearance the abode of the priests, or the site of some private chapels. We passed these monumental buildings, which were much richer than the surrounding wall, and the second scene of the ruins unfolded itself to our eyes. This was much broader, much longer, much fuller of rich ornament than the first scene, which we had just quitted. It was a vast platform of an oblong form, whose level was frequently interrupted by fragments of more elevated pavements, which seemed to have belonged to temples entirely de- stroyed, or to temples without roofs, where the sun, which was worshipped at Balbec, might see his own altar. Round this platform is ranged a series of chapels, deco- rated with niches, admirably sculptured friezes, cor- nices, and vaulted arches, all displaying the most finished workmanship, but evidently belonging to a de- generate period of art, and distinguished by that exuber- ance of ornament which marked the decline of the Greeks and Romans. * About eight or ten of the chapels appear to be in a perfect state, for they bear no traces of dilapidation. They are open to the oblong platform, round the edge of which they stand, and where the mysteries of the wor- ship of Baal were probably performed in the open air. ' But all this was nothing compared with what we beheld shortly afterwards. By multiplying in imagi- nation the remains of the temples of Jupiter Stator at Rome, of the Coliseum, and of the Parthenon, some no- tion may be formed of this architectural scene : its won- BALBEC. 259 ders consisted in the prodigious accumulation of so many richly-executed monuments in a single spot, so that the eye could embrace them at a single glance, in 'the midst of a desert, and above the ruins of an almost unknown city. * We slowly turned from this spectacle, and journeyed towards the south, where the heads of the six gigantic columns I have already mentioned, rose like a pharos above the horizon of the ruins. To each of these co- lumns, we had once more to pass external boundar}^ walls, high terraces, pedestals, and foundations of altars. At length we arrived at the feet of the columns. Silence is the only language of man when what he feels out- strips the ordinary measure of his impressions. We stood in mute contemplation of these six columns, and scanning with our eyes their diameter, their elevation, and the admirable sculpture of their architraves and cor- nices, their diameter is six feet, and their height up- wards of seventy feet. They are formed out of only two or three blocks, which are so perfectly joined together that the junction lines are scarcely discernible. They are composed of a sort of light yellow stone, presenting la kind of medium between the polish of marble and ?the deadness of tuff. When we saw them, the sun flighted them only on one side ; and we sat down for a [few moments in their shade. Large birds like eagles, scared by the sound of our footsteps, fluttered above the capitals of the columns, where they have built their nests ; and returning, perched upon the acanthus of tlie cornices, striking them with their beaks, and flap- ping their wings like living ornaments amidst these in- animate wonders. These columns, which sorne travel- lers have supposed to be the remains of an avenue, 104 feet long, and 56 wide, formerly leading to a temple, have, I think, evidently been external monuments of the same temple. * On an attentive examination of the smaller temple, which still stands in a complete state at a little distance, it appears to have been built after the same desig^n. 260 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: ' Before us to the south, was another temple, standing on the edge of the platform, at the distance of about forty paces from us. This is the most perfect and most magnificent monument in Balbec, and, I may venture to add, in the whole world. If we could repair one or two columns of the peristyle, which have rolled down on the side of the platform, w^ith their heads still resting against the walls of the temple ; restore to their places some of the enormous vaulted arches which have fallen from the roof into the vestibule ; raise up one or two sculptured blocks of the inner door ; and if the altar, recomposed out of the fragments scattered over the ground, could resume its former place, we might recal the gods and the priests, and the people would behold their temple as complete and as brilliant as when it re- ceived its finishing touch from the hand of the architect. The proportions of this temple are smaller than those which are indicated by the six colossal columns. It is surrounded by a portico, supported by Corinthian columns, each of which is about five feet in diameter, and about forty-five in height. The columns are each composed of three blocks of stone ; they are nine feet apart from one another, and an equal distance from the interior wall of the temple. Above the capitals of these columns are a rich architrave and an admirably sculp- tured cornice. The roof of the peristyle is formed of large concave blocks of stone, cut with the chisel in vaulted arches, each of which is adorned with the figure of a god, a goddess, or a hero : among them we recognised a Ganymede carried off by the eagle of Jupiter. Some of these blocks have fallen to the ground, and are lying at the feet of the columns. We measured them, and they were sixteen feet wide, and nearly five feet thick. These may be called the tiles of the temple. The inner door of the temple, formed of equally large blocks of stone, is twenty-two feet wide. We could not mea- sure its height, because other blocks of stone had fallen near it and half covered it. The appearance of the sculptured stones which form the face of this, BALBEC. 261 and its disproportion to the other parts of the edi- fice, led me to suspect that it is the door of the ruined grand temple, and that it has been affixed to this. The sculptures which adorn it are, in my opinion, older than the age of Antoninus, and in a style infinitely less pure. An eagle holding a caduceus in his claws, spreads his wings over the opening ; from his beak escape festoons of ribbons and chains, which are supported at their ex- tremities by two figures of Fame. The interior of the monument is decorated with pillars and niches of the richest and most florid sculpture, some of the broken fragments of which we carried away. Several of the niches were quite perfect, and looked as though they had just received the finishing touch from the hand of the sculptor. * At a little distance from the entrance to the temple, we found some immense openings and subterranean staircases, which led us down to lower buildings, the des- tinations of which we were unable to guess. Here, too, all was on a vast and magnificent scale. They were pro- bably the abodes of the pontiffs, the colleges of the priests, the hall of initiation perhaps also royal dwell- ings. They were lighted from their roofs, or from the sides of the platform under which they were built. Fearing lest we might lose ourselves in these labyrinths, we entered only a small portion of them they seemed to extend over the wiiole of the hill. The temple I have just described stands at the south-western extremity of the hill of Balbec, and forms the angle of the platform. ' On leaving the peristyle, we found ourselves on the very edge of the precipice. We could measure the Cyclopean stones which form the pedestal of the group of monuments. This pedestal is thirty feet above the level of the plain of Balbec. It is built of stones of such prodigious dimensions, that if the descriptions of them were not given by travellers worthy of credit, they would be rejected as false and improbable. The Arabs, who are daily eye-witnesses to the existence of these wonders, attribute them, not to the power of man, but to that of 262 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : genii and other supernatural beings. When it is con- sidered that some of these blocks of hewn stone are twenty feet long, fifteen or sixteen wide, and of incon- ceivable thickness ; when it is borne in mind, that these huge masses are raised one above another to the height of twenty or thirty feet from the ground that they have been brought from distant quarries, and raised to so vast a height to form the pavements of the temples the mind is overwhelmed by such an example of human power. The science of modern times cannot help us to explain it, and we cannot be surprised that it is referred to the supernatural. ' These wonders are evidently not of the date of the temples they were mysteries to the ancients, as they are to us. They belong to an unknown age, and are perhaps antediluvian. It is possible that they may have supported many temples, consecrated to successive and various forms of religious worship. On the site of the ruins of Balbec, the eye at once recognises five or six generations of monuments, belonging to different ages. I am inclined to believe that these gigantic masses of stone were put together either by the early races of men who in all primitive histories are denominated giants, or by some race of men who lived before the deluge.' To admit this latter supposition of our enthusiastic author, we must admit two hypothesis ; first, that the present world is the same as the antediluvian one, which is contrary to scripture and scientific discovery ; and secondly, that buildings raised before the flood can have withstood a convulsion which destroyed mountains and submerged continents, which is contrary to common sense. We therefore receive these closing sentences of his glowing narrative as merely descriptive of the ex- treme antiquity evidenced by these massive remains. We cannot leave this neighbourhood, into which we have been attracted by the fame of king Solomon's buildings, without a glance at the mountains of Leba- non, so celebrated by prophet and by poet, with their lofty heights and their ancient cedars. LEBANON. 268 With Lebanon how many associations must be con- .nected in the mind of every reader. On leaving Bal- bec and approaching the higher grounds, the scene is enlivened by the groups of walnut trees, and the rich verdure caused by the numerous springs ; the view is bounded by cliffs covered with snow. The ascent begins at Deir el Akhmar, and winds through dwarf oaks, hawthorns, and a great variety of shrubs and flowers ; when the first ridge is passed, the traveller beholds the famous cedars. Seven of the most ancient, supposed to be coeval with Solomon, still remain ; near which rude altars have been erected, and an annual festival is cele- brated beneath their venerable branches. Dr. Clarke thus describes the view from a distance : * The culti- vated plains reaching to its borders, which we beheld at an amazing depth below our view, resembled, by the va- rious hues their different produce presented, the motley p attern of a vast carpet. To the north appeared snowy summits, towering beyond a series of intervening moun- tains, with unspeakable greatness. The summit of Libanus is so lofty, that the snow entirely covered the upper part of it : not lying in patches, as during sum- mer, upon the tops of some elevated mountains^ but in- vesting all the higher part with that perfect white and smooth velvet-like appearance which snow only exhibits when it is very deep : a striking spectacle in such a climate, where the beholder, seeking protection from a burning sun, almost believes the firmament to be on fire.' The following description is given by a recent traveller. Lord Lindsay : * Starting from Deir el Akhmar, at a quarter past four in the morning, and ascending through woods of prickly oak and valonidi, we reached, in three hours, the ruined village Ainnet, from which begin the steep ridges of Lebanon. All the trees ceased now, except a species of dwarf cedar, emitting a delicious fragrance, which replaced them, and continued, though diminish- ing in number, almost to the summit. The rocky slope of the mountain is covered with yellow, white, red, and 264 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I pink flowers, affording delicious food to the bees of Leba- non their honey is excellent. At eight, we came in sight of Lake Leman of the east, Yemouni, as every one pronounced it, lying to the south, embosomed between the upper and lower ridges. An hour afterwards we reached an immense wreath of snow, lying on the breast of the mountain, just below the summit ; and from that summit, five minutes afterwards, what a prospect opened before us ! Two vast ridges of Lebanon, curving west- ward from the central spot where we stood, like the horns of a bent bow, or the wings of a theatre, run down towards the sea, breaking their descent into a hundred minor hills, between which, unseen, unheard, and through as deep, and dark, and jagged a chasm as ever yawned, the Badisha, or sacred river of Lebanon, rushes down to the Mediterranean, the blue and bound- less Mediterranean, which, far on the western horizon, meets and mingles with the sky. ' Our eyes coming home again, after roving over this noble view, we had leisure to observe a small group of trees, not larger, apparently, than a clump in an English park, at the very foot of the northern wing or horn of this grand natural theatre ; these were the far-famed cedars. We were an hour and twenty minutes in reaching them, the descent being very [precipitous and difficult. As we entered the grove, the air was quite perfumed with the odour ; the " smell of Lebanon," so celebrated by the pen of inspiration. * We halted under one of the largest trees, inscribed with De la Borde's name on one side, and De la Mar- tine's on the other. But do not think that we w^ere sacrilegious enough to w^ound these glorious trees ; there are few English names comparatively, I am happy to say. I would as soon have cut my name on the wall of a church. ' Several generations of cedars, all growing promiscu- ously together, compose this beautiful grove. The younger are very numerous ; the second rate would form a noble wood of themselves, were even the patri- LEBANON. 265 archal dynasty quite extinct : one of them, by no means the largest, measures nineteen feet and a quarter in cir- cumference, and, in repeated instances, two, three, and four large trunks spring from a single root ! but they have all a fresher appearance than the patriarchs, and straighter stems, straight as young palm-trees. Of the giants there are seven standing, very near each other, all on the same hill ; three more a little further on, nearly on a line with them ; and in a second walk of discovery, after my companions had laid down to rest, I had the pleasure of detecting two others low down on the northern edge of the grove ; twelve, therefore, in all, of which the ninth from the south is the smallest, but even that bears tokens of antiquity coeval with its bre- thren. Pell and I measured several of them : De la Martine's tree is forty-nine feet in circumference, and the largest of my two, on the northern slope, sixty-three,-^ following the sinuosities of the bark, that is to say. * The stately bearing and graceful repose of th6 young cedars contrast singularly with the wild aspect and frantic attitude of the old ones, flinging abroad their knotted and muscular limbs like so many laocoons ; while others, broken off, lie rotting at their feet ; but life is strong in them all ; they look as if they had been struggling for existence with evil spirits, and God had interposed and forbidden the war, that the trees he had planted might remain living witnesses to faithless men of that ancient " glory of Lebanon." Lebanon, the em- blem of the righteous, which departed from her when Israel rejected Christ ; her vines drooping, her trees few, that a child may number them, she stands blighted, a ,type of the unbeliever ! And blighted she must remain |till her second spring, the day of renovation from the presence of the Lord, when, at the voice of God, Israel shall spring anew to life, and the cedar and the vine, the olive of Carmel, and the rose of Sharon, emblems of the moral graces of God reflected on his people, shall revive in the wilderness, to " beautify the place of his sanctu- ary, to make the place of his feet glorious," to swell 266 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : the chorus of universal nature to the praise of the living God.* The view from the summit of Lebanon is thus de- scribed by Volney. * Lebanon, which gives its name to the whole extensive chain of the Kesraoun and the country of the Druses, presents us everywhere with majestic mountains. At every step we meet with scenes in which nature displays either beauty or grandeur. When we land on the coast, the loftiness and steep as- cent of this mountainous ridge, which seems to enclose the country, those gigantic masses which shoot into the clouds, inspire astonishment and awe. Should the anxious traveller ever climb those summits which bounded his view, the wide-extended range which he discovers, becomes a fresh subject of admiration. But completely to enjoy this majestic scene, he must ascend to the very point of Lebanon. There, on every side, he will behold a horizon without bounds ; while, in clear weather the sight is lost over the desert which extends to the Persian Gulf, and over the sea which bathes the coasts of Europe. He seems to command the whole world, while the wandering eye, now ' surveying the successive chains of mountains, transports the ima- gination in an instant from Antioch to Jerusalem ; and now approaching the surrounding objects, ob- serves the distant profundity of the coast, till the attention, at length fixed by distincter objects, more minutely examines the rocks, woods, torrents, hill-sides, villages, and towns ; and the mind secretly exults at the diminution of things which formerly appeared so great. He contemplates the valley, obscured by stormy clouds, with a novel delight, and smiles at hearing the thunder, which had so often burst over his head, growling beneath his feet ; while the threatening summits of the mountain are diminished till they appear like the furrows of a ploughed field, or the steps of an amphitheatre ; and he feels himself flattered by an elevation above so many great objects, on which pride makes him look down with a secret satisfaction. LEBANON. 267 ' When the traveller visits the interior parts of these mountains, the ruggedness of the roads, the steepness of the descents, the height of the precipices, strike him at first with terror ; but the sagacity of his mule soon re- lieves him, and he examines at leisure those picturesque scenes which succeed each other to entertain him. There, as in the Alps, he travels whole days to such a place that was in sight at his departure : he winds, he descends, he skirts the hills, he climbs ; and in this perpetual change of position it seems as if some magic power va- ried for him at every step the decorations of the scenery. Sometimes he sees villages as if ready to glide from the steep declivities on which they are built, and so dis- posed, that the terraced roofs of one row of houses serve as a street to the row above them. Sometimes he sees a convent standing on a solitary eminence, like Mar Shaya, in the valley of the Tigris. Here is a rock per- forated by a torrent, and becoming a natural arch, like that of Nahr el Leben. There, another rock, worn per- pendicular, resembles a lofty wall. Frequently on the sides of hills he sees beds of stones stripped and detached by the waters, rising up like artificial ruins. In many places, the waters, meeting with inclined beds, have un- dermined the intermediate earth, and formed caverns, as at Nahr el Kelb, near Antoura ; in others are formed subterraneous channels, through which flow rivulets for a part of the year, as at Mar Elias el Roum and Mar Hanna, but these picturesque situations sometimes be- come tragical. From thaws and earthquakes, rocks have been known to lose their equilibrium, roll down upon the adjacent houses, and bury the inhabitants : such an accident happened about twenty years ago, and overwhelmed a whole village near Mar-djordjos, without leaving a" single trace to discover where it formerly stood. Still more lately, and near the same spot, a whole hill side, covered with mulberry-trees and vines, was de- tached by a sudden thaw, and sliding down the declivity of the rock, was launched altogether, like a ship from the stocks, into the valley. Hence arose a whimsical 268 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. but reasonable litigation, between the proprietor of the original ground and the owner of the emigrated land ; the cause was brought before the emir Yousef, who in- demnified both parties for their mutual losses. It might be expected that such accidents would disgust the inhabitants of those mountains ; but, besides that they are rare, they are compensated by an advantage which makes them prefer their habitations to the most fertile plains : I mean the security they enjoy from the op- pressions of the Turks. This security is esteemed so valuable a blessing by the inhabitants, that they have displayed an industry on those rocks which we may elsewhere look for in vain. By dint of art and labour they have compelled a rocky soil to become fertile. Sometimes, to profit by the water, they conduct it by a thousand windings along the declivities, or stop it by forming dams in the valleys ; while in other places they prop up ground, ready to crumble away, by walls and terraces. Almost all these mountains, thus laboured, pre- sent the appearance of a flight of stairs, each step of which is a row of vines or mulberry-trees. I have reckoned from 100 to 120 of these gradations in the same declivity, from the bottom of the valley to the top of the eminence/ CHAPTER VII. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HOLY LAND. It is by no means easy to form a clear idea of the geological structure and natural productions of Pales- tine, few travellers having bestowed great attention on the subject, or written clearly upon it. Palestine is bounded on the north by the mountains of Lebanon ; its southern border is lost in the desert between Egypt and Palestine, but may be drawn from the stream of El Arish eastward to a point, distant fi'om the Dead Sea about 25 geographical miles south, on the skirt of the valley between that sea and the Gulf of Akaba ; its northern boundary being the parallel of the stream flowing from Lebanon to the sea five miles north of Sidon : it is thus comprehended between 80 40', and 83 86' of northern latitude ; and a straight line drawn through the centre from north to south, will be equal to 180 miles. * Its eastern border is well de- fined, in nearly a straight line, by the river Jordan and its lakes ; but the opposite border, that of the sea- coast, spreads out to the south-south-west, whereby the width of this strip of country gradually increases southward, so that on arriving near the southermost border, the breadth of the land is found to be about thrice as great as in the uttermost north. The line of extreme breadth is embraced between 88 45', and 85 80' of eastern longitude, being in that latitude, 92 geo- graphical miles ; but the least breadth of this territory in the north does not exceed 20 miles, and the average 270 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: breadth cannot be overstated at about 50 miles.' Such is Palestine Proper. But adding to it the districts of Argob and Bashan, Gilead, and the country south to the Arnon, the river which formed the northern fron- tier of Moab, the average breadth is increased to nearly 65 miles : and its superficial extent may be calculated at about 11,000 geographical miles ; presenting lofty mountains, and stern rocky wildernesses, and verdant hills ; beautiful valleys, and wide plains, and elevated table-land ; a lengthened line of sea-coast, with har- bours, cliffs, promontories, and beaches on one side, the sandy waste of cheerless deserts on the other ; a main river and tributary streams, large inland lakes, hot springs, and other volcanic indications. To contemplate aright its geographical plan, the field of view must be considerably extended, taking in Coele-Syria and the region of Lebanon on the north ; the plains and hills of the Haouran and Moab and Ammon to the east ; Edom, the wilderness of Paran, and the peninsula of Sinai to the south. So that the field includes the part where ' Hoar Lebanon, majestic to the winds, Chief of a hundred hills, his summit rears Unshrouded ' And also ' By Jordan south, Whate'er the desert's yellow arms embrace; Rich Gilead, Idumea's palmy plain. And Judah's olive hills; thence onward there ClifF-guarded eyries, desert bound, whose height Mock'd the proud eagles of rapacious Rome, The famed Petraean citadels ; till last Rise the lone peaks, by heaven's own glory crown'd, Sinai on Horeb piled.' The mountains of Palestine form but a section of a great system of mountains, running into it on the north, and prolonged beyond its south. Volney gives the following view of the mountain frame-work of Syria : ' If we examine a map of Syria, we may ob- serve that this country is in some measure only a chain MOUNTAINS. 271 of mountains, which distribute themselves in various directions from one leading branch ; and such in fact is the appearance it presents, whether we approach it from the side of the sea, or by the immense plains of the desert. "We first discover at a great distance, a clouded ridge which runs north and south as far as the sight extends ; and as we advance, distinguish the sum- mits of mountains, which sometimes detached and sometimes united in chains, uniformly terminate in one principal line which overtops them all ; we may follow this line without interruption, from its entry by tlie north quite into Arabia. It first runs close to the sea, between Alexandretta and the Orontes, and, after open- ing a passage to that river, continues its course to the southward, quitting for a short distance the shore, and in a chain of continued summits stretches as far as the sources of the Jordan, where it separates into two branches, to enclose, as it were, in a basin, the river and its three lakes. In its course it detaches from the line, as from a main trunk, an infinity of ramifica- tions, some of which lose themselves in the desert, where they form various enclosed hollows, such as those of Damascus and Haouran, while others advance to- wards the sea, where they frequently end in steep de- clivities, such as Carmel, Nakoura, Cape Blanco, and in almost the whole country between Beyroot and Tri- poli of Syria ; but in general they gently terminate in plains, such as those of Antioch, Tyre, and Acre.' t; Malte Brun says ' The mountains are not all rami- l^fications of Mount Taurus. Mount Rossus, a prolonga- on of Emanus, terminates at the valley of the Orontes. ut the proper Syrian chain begins at the south of An- och, by the huge peak of Mount Cassius, which shoots p to the heavens its needle-like point, encircled with ,s.' These mountains continue southward till near e sources of the Jordan they divide into two branches, hiqh run in parallel lines to the Gulf of Akaba, and separating there, the one takes the eastern coast of that gulf, and opposes its terminating promontories to the 272 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! Red Sea, at the point where that gulf opens ; the other, passing along the western side of it, entering the penin- sula of Sinai, which separates the gulf from that of Suez ; so that the ' mountains of Anti-Lebanon, divid- ing in the north of Palestine, send forth two southward branches, which between them enclose not only the basin of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, but that of the broad valley which extends from that sea to the Atle- anitic gulf, and of the gulf itself the whole extent not being less than 840 geographical miles. The Syrian mountains vary alike in level, form, and appearance. In the northern portion, between Scande- roon and the valley of the Orontes, they are enlivened by firs, larches, oaks, box- trees, laurels, yews, and myrtles. A rugged path from the bosom of valleys to the hill-tops, often conducts the traveller to cottages situated on declivities, and surrounded with vineyards and fig-trees ; but the inferior branches, north of Aleppo, display only bare rocks, without earth or verdure. The part of the range from Mount Cassius southward to Lebanon, presents in its seaward slope, a soil capable of growing vines, olives, and tobacco ; on the eastern side, towards the desert, only white and barren rocks. The termination of the mountains of Lebanon forms the natural frontier of Palestine, enclosing between them a fertile valley, (the Coele Syria of the ancients,) of the average breadth of fifteen miles. The western- most range gradually slopes to the sea, and ends near Tyre ; the more inland range is that which, as already noticed, divides near the sources of the Jordan. Leba- non is the name given indifferently to either range in Scripture, and by the ancient orientals : the present inhabitants of the country distinguish the two ranges, giving the appellation of Anti-Libanus to the eastern mountain, and Libanus to the western. Of these Leba- non is the highest range. * The highest ridge of the western Lebanon is marked on both sides by a line, drawn at the distance of a two hour's journey from the summit, above which all is barren ; but the, slopes and I LEBANON. 273 valleys below this mark afford pasturage, and are capa- ble of cultivation, by virtue of the numerous springs which are met with in all directions. Cultivation is, however, chiefly found on the seaward slopes, where numerous villages flourish, and every inch of ground is turned to account by the industrious natives ; who, in the absence of natural levels, build terraces to level the ground, and to prevent the earth from being swept down by the winter rains, and at the same time to re- tain the water requisite for the irrigation of their crops. Here, amid the crags of the rocks, are also to be seen the supposed remains of the renowned cedars, but a much greater number of firs, oaks, brambles, mulberry- trees, figs, and vines.' Anti-Libanus is generally in- ferior in height to the western range ; although, near its southward termination, its ridge towers above all the other summits of Lebanon ; it has fewer inhabi- tants, and is diversified by very little cultivation ; its western declivities toward the great valley of Balbec, are barren ; the side of the ridge facing Damascus, however, has some parts affording good pasturage, and abounding in stunted oak-trees, not exceeding fifteen feet in height. The route from Balbec to Damascus across these mountains, at one time ascends into the regions of snow; at another, following the mountain-torrents, between lines of hills, beside aspens, oaks, and * willows by the water- courses.' The mountains of the branch which enters Palestine, are less high and rugged, better adapted for cultivation. To the south-east of Mount Carmel, they are beautiful and covered with woods ; but towards Judea, * they lose their verdure, the val- leys grow narrower, they become dry and stony, and form at the Dead Sea a pile of desolate rocks, full of caverns and precipices.' Judea itself is a country full of hills and valleys. * The hills are generally separated one from another, by valleys and torrents, and are for the most part of moderate height, uneven, and seldom of any regular figure. The rock of which they are T 274 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : composed, is easily converted into soil, which, being arrested by terraces, when washed down by the rains, renders its hills cultivatable in a series of long, narrow gardens, formed by these terraces, from the base up- wards. Thus the hills were cultivated in former times most abundantly, and were enriched and beautified with the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine ; and thus the limited cultivation which still subsists is carried on. But when the inhabitants were rooted out, and cultiva- tion abandoned, the terraces fell to decay, and the soil which had collected on them was washed down into the valleys, leaving only the arid rock, naked, and desolate. This is the general character ; but in some parts the hills are beautifully wooded, and in others the application of the ancient mode of cultivation, under which the valleys are covered with corn, while the ter- raced hills are clothed with fig-trees, olive-trees, or vines, suggests to the traveller how rich this country once was, and still might be, and how beautiful was the aspect which it offered.' That part of Judea, which was the portion of Benjamin, is peculiarly desolate : no cultivation gladdening its most favourably situated mountains. No other country exhibits such masses of rock, without a particle of soil. The road from Jeru- salem to the plain" of Jericho, is the sternest and most desolate mountain-wilderness in Palestine ; and the ridge facing the plain is the highest in Judea. The hills of the district of Lebanon are of a white colour, of a hard calcareous rock : and the masses around Jerusalem are of a similar character ; like all limestone strata, they abound in caves, to which, as places of retreat, we find frequent reference made in the Old Testament : one, near Damascus, is of great extent. Around the valley of the Dead Sea, are mountains of granite ; it is probable that this region, at a remote period, was the theatre of immense volcanoes, the effects of which may still be traced along the banks of the Lower Jordan, and more especially on the Lake itself. The warm baths at Tabaria show that the same cause still VOLCANIC APPEARANCES. 275 exists, although much restricted in its operations, an inference which is amply confirmed by the lavas, the bitumen, and the pumice, which continue to be thrown ashore by the waves.' Mr. Lyell remarks that Syria and Palestine abound in volcanic appearances, and that very extensive areas have at different times been con- vulsed, to the destruction of cities and lives. History frequently speaks of the effects of earthquakes in Cy- prus, Sidon, Tyre, Berytus, Laodicea, and Antioch. The neighbourhood of the Dead Sea is evidently vol- canic. An induction of particulars would apparently give some reason to suppose a periodical alternation of earthquakes in Syria and Southern Italy that both are not at the same time agitated in a similar manner. *It is not improbable that separate provinces of the same great range of volcanic fires may hold a relation to some deep-seated focus, analogous to that which the apertures of a small group bear to some more superficial rent or cavity. These may afford relief alternately to elastic fluids and lava that have been generated ; and Southern Italy and Syria may be connected at a much greater depth with a lower part of the very same sys- tem of fissures ; in which case any obstruction arising in one duct, may have the effect of causing almost all the vapours and melted matter to be forced up the other^ and if they cannot get vent, they may be the cause of violent earthquakes.' Dr. Clarke observed several basaltic appearances in the neighbourhood of Cana. * The extremities of columns,' he says, * prismatically formed, penetrated the surface of the soil so as to render our journey rough and unpleasant. These marks of regular or ir- regular crystalization generally denote the vicinity of a bed of water under their level. The traveller, passing over a series of successive plains, resembling in their gradation, the order of a staircase, observes, as he des- cends to the inferior stratum upon which the water rests, that, where rocks are disclosed, no appearance of crystalization has taken place ; and then the prismatic T 2 276 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! configuration is commonly denominated basaltic ; when the series of depressed surfaces occurs very frequently, and the prismatic form is very evident. The Swedes from the resemblance such rocks have to an artificial flight of stairs, call them trap. Nothing is more fre- quent in the vicinity of very ancient lakes, in the bed of considerable rivers, or by the borders of the ocean. Such an appearance therefore, in the approach to the Lake of Tiberias, is only a parallel to similar pheno- mena exliibited by rocks near the lakes of Locarno and Bolsenna in Italy ; by those of the Werner Lake in Sweden ; by the bed of the Rhine near Cologne in Ger- many ; by the valley of Ronca, in the territory of Verona ; by the Pont du Bridon in the state of Venice, and by numerous other examples in the same country ; not to enumerate instances which occur over all the islands between the north coast of Ireland and Iceland, as well as in Spain, Portugal, Arabia, and India. When these crystals have obtained a regularity of struc- ture, the form is often hexagonal, like that of Cannon Spar, or of the Asiatic and American emerald. It is hardly possible to have a more striking proof of coin- cidence, resulting from similarity of structure in two substances, otherwise remarkably distinguished from each other.' The rocks of the lower levels bear marks of their volcanic origin. Hasselquist says, that the hill of Tiberias, whence issues the fountain that supplies the baths, is composed of a black and brittle sulphurous stone, only appearing in that quarter in large masses, though seen in rolled specimens on the shores of the Dead Sea and other parts of the Valley of the Jordan. The water deposits a black sediment, of the consistency of paste, redolent of sulphur, covered with two skins or cuticles, the lower dark green, and the uppermost of a light rusty colour. ' At the mouth of the outlet, where the stream formed little cascades over the stones the first cuticle alone was found, and so much resem- bled a conferva, that one might have taken it for a VOLCANIC SUBSTANCES. 277 vegetable production ; but nearer the river, where the current became stagnant, both skins were visible, the yellow on the surface, and under it the green.' In the same quarter were found minute portions of quartz in- crusted with an impure salt, and very compact modules of clay. Considerable quantities of flinty slate were scattered on the sand toward the edge of the valley ; in the basis of the soil, (common clay,) were found per- pendicular layers of a lamellated brown argil, appa- rently assuming a slaty structure. Dr. Clarke found among the pebbles on the shore of the Lake of Tiberias, pieces of a porous rock, resembling the toad-stone of England : its cavities were filled with zeolite. Native gold was formerly found in this place. Among the substances used by the 'Armenians and Jews, for the manufacture of rosaries, and for amulets, Dr. Clarke found the black fetid limestone of the lake Asphaltites. He procured several specimens of the mineral in its natural state. It is worn in the east as a charm against the plague ; and that a similar super- stition existed with regard to the stone in very early ages, is evident from the circumstance, of amulets of the same substance having been found in the subter- raneous chambers below the pyramids of Sachara, in Upper Egypt. The cause of the fetid effluvia emitted from this stone, when partially decomposed by means of friction, is now known to be owing to the presence of sulphurated hydrogen. It is common in the sort of limestone called black marble in England, though not always its characteristic. The fragments obtained by Dr. Clarke from the Dead Sea had this property in a very remarkable degree ; and in general, the oriental specimens are more strongly impregnated with hydro- sulphuret than any found in Europe. The water of the Dead Sea has a similar odour. The monks of St. Salvador kept it in jars, along with the bitumen of the same lake, among the articles of their pharmacy, both being highly esteemed for their medicinal qualities. In many places along the coast of Syria^ including 278 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Palestine, rocks of a soft chalky substance, in which are imbedded many corals, shells, and other marine exuviae, cover the hard calcareous stone. Above Bei- rout, there is found a bed of whitish-coloured slate stone, in each flake of which are embedded a great number and variety of fishes ; which lie exceedingly flat and compressed, and are at the same time, in such a state of preservation, that the examiner can easily discern the smallest fibres and lineaments of their fins, scales, and other specific distinctions. Among these are specimensof the *^Mi7/a, which, though one of the ten- derestof thecrustaceous family, has sustained least injury from friction or pressure. Dr. Shaw observes, that the greater part of the mountains of Carmel, and those near Jerusalem and Bethlehem, afford similar chalky strata. In the chalky beds with which the summit of Carmel is partly surrounded, are found a great many hollow stones, lined in the inside with a variety of sparry matter which the natives, from some remote re- semblance, suppose to be petrified olives, melons, or peaches ; and which are bestowed upon pilgrims, both as curiosities, and as antidotes against certain distem- pers. Those which resemble the olive have received the name of lapides judaici ; and when dissolved in lemon-juice, are superstitiously regarded as a cure for the stone and gravel. Dr. Shaw states that these sup- posed petrified fruits are only so many diff^erent sizes of round hollow flint-stones, beautified within by a variety of sparry and stalagmitical knobs, which are made to pass for so many seeds and kernels. The shores of the Dead Sea and of the Mediterranean supply Palestine with abundance of salt. The intense saltness of the water of the Dead Sea has been sup- posed to proceed from strata or masses of rocksalt within its basin, a supposition favoured by indications on its shore. Several large fragments of rock-salt have been seen on the plain south of the lake ; and the hill to the right of the ravine which opens a descent to the shore, is composed of rock-salt, which in many places MINES. 279 hangs from the cliffs in clear perpendicular points, like icicles. During the rainy season, the torrents seem to bring down immense masses of the mineral. Strata of rock-salt are also found southward in the desert of El Tyh, and even in the valleys of Sinai, in several parts of the roads are seen holes out of which rock-salt has been dug. It is abundantly deposited by the waters of the Dead Sea, which encroach more or less on the shore according to the season, drying off into small shallows and pools, which in the end deposit a salt as fine and well-bleached as that of regular salt-pans ; and the solid saline surface is sometimes several inches thick. The supply of this article for the market is collected and carried off on asses. ' The briny waters of the lake leave a saline crust on whatever they receive or cover ; the drift-wood is so impregnated with salt that it can- not be made to burn ; the loose stones on the shore become covered, as in the salt-pans, with a calcareous and gypseous incrustation ; and the crumbly clay of the shore is also deeply impregnated with salt.' Sea salt may be also obtained, by the use of proper measures, from the Mediterranean shore a source of supply not neglected in ancient times. The condition of ignorance and neglect, into which Pa- lestine has fallen under Turkish rule, presents us with scarcely any information, as to the mineral stores of the country of which Moses said that it was " a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou may- est dig copper." Volney assumed the existence of iron in Judea, and knew that it abounded in Lebanon ; he says that is the only metal which occurs abundantly in these mountains. The mountains of Kesrouan and the Druses are full of it ; in his time, every summer, some mines, simply ochreous, were worked by the natives. Burckhardt speaks of the iron of Shonair in the Kes- rouan, and says, that as the place of the mines affords no fuel, the iron ore is carried on the backs of asses and mules, a day and a half's journey to the smelting fur- naces at Nabal el Monradj, mountains covered with oak.* 280 THE LAND OF ISRAEL '. There is no doubt that iron-works were anciently car- ried on in this quarter very much in the same fashion ; as large quantities of scoria are occasionally discovered at a distance from the mines, and generally near forests of evergreen oak, the wood of which was probably used for smelting. This is, probably, more from ignorance of the presence or use of coal, than from any preference of wood, although it is so well known that the ore pre- pared with wood is superior to that subjected to coal- fires, because the metal becomes partially carbonated, and is therefore with less difficulty converted into steel, a purer carbonate of iron. However, the recent disco- very of coal in Lebanon may be expected to operate importantly on the production of iron in Lebanon, if Syria remains under its present government. Iron is mentioned among the metals wrought by Tubal-cain, long before the Deluge, so that it must have been known at a very early period. In practical use, copper seems to have been the first metal employed, even for purposes (such as arms, tools, and instruments,) for which it is never thought of being used now. Gold and silver ap- pear also to have claimed the priority of use, metals which, with copper, are, as Dr. Robertson remarks in his ' History of America,' found in their perfect state in the clefts of rocks, in the sides of mountains, or the chan- nels of rivers. They were accordingly first known, and first applied to use. But iron, the most serviceable of all, and to which man is most indebted, is never disco- vered in its perfect form ; its gross and stubborn ore must feel twice the force of fire, and go through two laborious processes, before it becomes fit for use. Man was long- acquainted with the other metals before he acquired the art of fabricating iron, or attained such ingenuity as to perfect an invention to which he is indebted for those instruments wherewith he subdues the earth, and com- mands its inhabitants.* There is a vague report in the district of Aleppo, that a vein of copper existed in it ; but it must have been long since abandoned. A traveller also heard, when J METEOROLOGY. 281 among the Druses, that a mineral had been found, which produced both lead and silver ; but as this discovery would have brought ruin on the district by attracting the observation of the Turks, every vestige of it was carefully destroyed. The geological character of the Syrian mountains, gives reason to suppose, that Pales- tine possesses the topaz, the emerald, the chrysoberyl, several varieties of rock-crystal, and likewise of the finer jaspers ; but for a similar reason, no attention has been paid to them. We infer from the Bible that the Jews were acquainted with a considerable variety of ornamental stories. The Meteorology of Palestine presents several inter- esting features. Syria, it has been remarked, presents three climates. Thus, the snow-clad summits of Liba- nus diffuse through the interior a salubrious coolness ; but the flat situations, especially those along the coast- line, are constantly exposed both to heat and great hu- midity ; while a burning sun scorches the adjacent plains of the desert. A corresponding variation appears in the seasons and productions of the country. The mountain-parts coincide during the months of spring and summer with the south of Europe ; a sharp and rigorous winter lasts from November to March the snow frequently continuing for many weeks to cover the ground to the depth of several feet. During spring and autumn there is pleasant weather, and the heat of summer is not oppressive. It is different in the plains, when so soon as the sun passes the equator, an over- powering heat, which lasts till October, suddenly sets :in ; but the winter is so mild, that orange-trees, dates, [bananas, and other delicate fruits, flourish in the open jjfield. Accordingly, in Palestine, a few hour's journey carries the traveller through a succession of seasons, |and allows him a choice of climate ; varying from the ?mild temperature of France to the blood-heat of India, ior the pinching cold of Russia.' Professor Jahn gives the following account of the iclimate of Palestine : * The state of the atmosphere. 282 THE LAND OF ISRAEL t though different in different places, is not so changeable as in some parts of Europe. We shall state its varia- tions during the six divisions of the oriental year, men- tioned Gen. viii. 22, which have been perpetuated to this day among the Arabians. * During the first part of the year, called the harvest, from the middle of April to the middle of June, the sky is serene, the atmosphere in the latter part of April is warm. Sometimes oppressively so, excepting in the valleys, and on the shores of the sea, where it is tempe- rate. The heat continues to increase, and to become more unpleasant towards the latter part of this division of the season. * During the second part of the year, the time of fruits, or summer, from the middle of June to that of August, the heat is so severe, that the effect of it is felt through the night, and the inhabitants sleep under the open sky. * The third season, from the middle of August to the middle of October, is called the hot season ; because, in the commencement of it, the heat continues very se- vere, although it soon begins to abate. * From the time of harvest, or the middle of April to the middle of September, there is neither rain nor thun- der. Sometimes in the beginning of the harvest, or the latter half of April, a cloud is perceived in the morning, which, as the sun rises, gradually disappears. But in May, June, July, and August, not a cloud is seen, and the earth is not wet, except by the dew, which is therefore everywhere used as a symbol of the Divine benevolence. The dew, copious as it is, affords no support in the severe heat of summer, except to the stronger kind of herbs ; the smaller and less vigorous, unless Avatered from some rivulet, or by human art and labour, wither and die. If at this season of the year a spark or brand fall among the dry herbs and grass, a wide con- flagration commences, especially if brambles, shrubs, or a forest be near. The country generally presents a squalid appearance, for the fountains and brooks are THE SEASONS. 283 dried, and the ground is so hard that it splits open into fissures. These effects are accelerated if the east wind happens to blow a few days, which is not only destruc- tive to the vines and harvest-fields on land, but to the vessels at sea in the Mediterranean. Every wind is called by the orientals an east wind, which blows from any point of the compass between the east and north, and the east and south. The breeze which blows a few hours before the setting of the sun in that climate, is called by the Persians to this time the breeze of the day ; i. e. the cooling or refreshing breeze of the day. * During the fourth part of the year, called the seed- time from the middle of October to the middle of De- cember, the appearance of the sky is various, sometimes dark and cloudy, but calm, and sometimes rainy. In the latter part of October begin the first or autumnal rains, so necessary for the sower. The atmosphere still continues warm, and at times is very hot, but the weather gradually grows colder, and towards the end of this division of the seasons, the snows fall on the moun- tains. The brooks are still dry, and the water in the rivers is shallow. In the second half of November, the leaves fall from the trees. Some, who are less robust, find the need of a fire, which they continue almost till April ; others do without one the whole winter. ' The fifth part of the year, from the middle of De- cember till the middle of February, constitutes the winter. The snows, which are then not unfrequent, scarcely continue through the day, except on the moun- tains ; the ice is thin, and melts as soon as the sun as- cends to any considerable height. The north winds are chill, and the cold, particularly on the mountains, which are covered with snow, is intense. The roads are slippery, and travelling is both tedious and dangerous, particularly through the declivities of the mountains. When the sky is serene and tranquil, and the sun is unclouded, the heat in the valleys and plains is some- times great, as Josephus expressly testifies in regard to the plain of Cesarea, near the sea. Thunder, lightning. 284- THE LAND OF ISRAEL. and hail, are frequent ; the brooks are filled ; the rivers are swollen ; the fields are covered with flowers. As January departs, and February enters, the grain-fields flourish ; the trees put forth their foliage ; the amygda- lus, the earliest tree of the forest, is in bloom about the middle of February. * Finally, the sixth part of the year, from the middle of February to the middle of April, is called the coldy because, in the commencement of it, the weather is still cold, though it soon grows warm, and even hot. The rains still continue, but are diminished ; thunder, and lightning, and hail, are frequent, though they cease to- wards the end of this season. The rain during this season is called the latter rain. The first rain, or au- tumnal, and the latter or vernal, are necessary to the fertility of the earth, and greatly to be desired. Rains in these regions are cold, and are announced by previ- ous whirlwinds raising the dust, which are expressed by Arabic words, which mean messengers, and good messengers, or tidings. By the Hebrews they are some- times called the word or command of God. The north and west wind in particular indicate rain. If the even- ing be red, the morrow is expected to be serene ; if the morning be red, rain is expected.' * In Palestine, the thunder-storms generally take place in the morning or evening ; rarely at mid-day ; violent showers of rain attend them, and sometimes very large hail, which, covering the country with stagnant water, causes a copious evaporation. Volney says, that clouds are sometimes seen to dissolve and disperse like smoke ; while, on other occasions, they form in an instant, and increase from a small speck to a prodigious size, par- ticularly on the top of Lebanon, the appearance of which on this peak is an invariable presage of a wes- terly wind, one of the precursors of rain in this climate. Water-spouts are frequently seen along the Syrian shore, especially near Mount Carmel. * Those observed * Jahn's Biblical Antiquities. QUADRUPEDS. 285 by Dr. Shaw appeared to be so many cylinders of water falling down from the clouds ; though by the reflection, it might be, of these descending columns, or from the actual dropping of the fluid contained in them ; they would sometimes appear from a distance to be sucked up from the sea. The theory of water-spouts in the present day does, in fact, admit the supposition here referred to ; that the air, being rarified by peculiar causes, has its equilibrium restored by the elevation of the water, on the same principle that mercury rises in the barometer, or the contents of a well in a common pump.' We find in the sacred volu me, an enumeration of the animals which belong to Palestine ; but the particular animal to which the Hebrew name applies, is often a question among the learned. In the fourteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, we find a distinction drawn between the clean and unclean such as might or might not be eaten ; under the former class are enumerated the ox, the goat, the sheep, the hart, the roebuck, the fallow- deer, the wild-goat, the pygary, the wild-ox, and cha- mois. The three first being so well known, require no description ; the **hart" is also quite familiar though the Hebrew term Ail has such an uncertain meaning, that it has been supposed to denote a tree as well as a quadruped. Dr. Shaw considers the roebuck or tyebi of the He- brews to have been the gazelle or antelope a beautiful creature, very common in Syria, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Barbary. The Greek naturalists give it the name oidorcas, in allusion to its eyes, the brilliancy and liveliness of which are proverbial in the east. Its form is elegant, and its motions light and easy ; it runs swiftly, and without apparent eff"ort. When hunted, it uses the most subtle efibrts to elude its pursuers ; re- peatedly returning upon its former steps, till, by various windings, it has caused the scent to be lost ; when, suddenly springing, it bounds aside ; and lying close down, permits the dogs to pass by, without moving. It 286 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. is the smallest of horned animals ; and was anciently caught by a net or snare ; M^hen entangled in the toils, it used every effort to get loose before the pursuer came up. The eastern nations hold it in high esteem for food ; its flesh having a sweet musky taste, highly agreeable to their palates ; and therefore might well be received as one of the dainties at Solomon's table. The fallow-deer, or yachmur of the Bible, is properly the bubalus being so rendered by the Septuagint and Vulgate ; and Bochart has proved, that the word, as used by the ancient Greek writers, signifies an animal of the deer kind. Dr. Shaw supposes it to be the bekkar el wash, which it is almost of the same size with the red deer ; with which also agrees in colour. It is gregarious, like the antelope, and frequents the solitary parts of Judea and the surrounding countries. Its flesh is very sweet and nourishing much preferable to the red deer ; and was a frequent dish at royal tables. The natural history of the pygary is scarcely known. The word is taken from the Septuagint, and means white buttocks. Dr. Shaw, in his description of Barbary, says : ' Besides the common gazelle, or antelope, (which is well knovra in Europe) the country likewise pro- duces another species, of the same shape and colour, though of the bigness of our roebuck, and with horns sometimes two feet long. This the Africans call lidmic ; and it may, I presume, be the sfrepsichorus and addare of the ancients. Bochart, from the supposed whiteness of the buttocks, finds a great affinity between the addare I have mentioned, and the dison, which our translation renders * pygary,' after the Septuagint and Vulgate.' The Arabic translators suppose a kind of wild goat to have been meant. Gesenius considers that the word is derived from a verb, which means to spring or leap ; and conceives a species of gazelle or antelope to be re- ferred to. The ivild-ox or than is supposed to be a species of large stag, the oryx of the Greeks. The term oryx is used by Jerome ; and by a translation of Isaiah li. 20. where the QUADRUPEDS. 287 Hebrew word is thua, probably the same word altered by the transposition of the two last letters ; in our ver- sion of the passage it is rendered * wild-bull.' * This animal is admitted to be of the goat species, with the hair growing forward, or towards the head. It is fur- ther described to be of the size of a beeve, and to be likewise a fierce creature, contrary to what is observed of the deer or goat kind ; which unless they are irri- tated and highly provoked, are of a shy and timorous nature.' It would appear to be the buffalo, which so far resembles the goat-kind, that it has rough and wrinkled horns ; it is nearly the same with the common beeve ; is a sullen spiteful animal, often pursuing the unwary, and allured by scarlet clothes. The chamois, or zomer, has been regarded by various authors as the camelopard or giraffe. It has been ren- dered the * cameleopard ' by the Septuagint, St. Jerome, and Dr. Geddes ; but that animal is a native of the torrid zone, of Nubia and Abyssinia ; is scarcely ever seen even in Egypt, and if known in Palestine at all, could never have been there used as an article of food ; and therefore most unlikel}' to have been enumerated among animals sold for that purpose. Equally strong objec- tions may be urged against the rupicapea, or chamois the Alps, the Pyrenees, the mountains of Greece, and the islands of the Egean, being, according to BufFon, the only places where it can be found. They are not to be seen in Palestine nor the neighbouring countries. The zamer would appear to be an animal of the goat-kind, met with in the hill-country of Syria, and which was so called from its browsing on the shoots of trees and bushes. A similar diversity of opinion prevails respecting the unicorn, or ram mentioned in Job. Parkhurst con- ceives that the wild-bull, an horned animal of great strength, is meant. The same view is adopted by Mr. Scott ; who remarks that the bulls of Bashan described by the Psalmist, are also by him denominated rams. Others, with less apparent probability have supposed that the double-horned rhinorceros is meant. 288 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : The wild-ass, or para, is generally supposed to be the onager an animal to this time more highly prized for riding than the horse, by the natives of Persia and the deserts of Tartary. It is taller, and a much more dig- nified animal than the common or domestic ass ; its legs are more elegantly shaped, and it carries its head higher. It is peculiarly distinguished by a dusky woolly mane, long erect ears, and a highly-arched forehead. Its hair is generally of a silvery white : the upper part of the face, the sides of the neck, and the upper part of the thighs, are flaxen-coloured. The fore part of the body is divided from the flank by a white line. From the mane to the tail, there runs along the top of the back a stripe of waved, dark-brown, bushy hair, which is crosse d at the shoulders by another stripe of the same colour ; and two beautiful white lines, on both sides, bound the dorsal band and the mane. They are gregarious, and extremely wild and shy. Xenophon, in his Anabasis, describing the desert of Arabia, says : ' There in a plain level as the sea, and devoid of trees, but every- where fragrant with aromatic shrubs and reeds, he ob- served the wild asses which the horsemen were accus- tomed to chase, flying with unequal speed, so that the animals would often stop in their course, and when the horsemen approached, disappear; and they could not be taken, unless the horsemen, placing themselves in diff^erent parts, wearied them by delays in successive pursuits.' The " wild-goats of the roch^'' or iolim mentioned in Job, and other places, have been supposed by Bochart to be the ibex or bonquetin -an animal resembling the tame goat in appearance, but of a larger size. The head is small in proportion to the body, with the muzzle thick, compressed, and a little arched. The eyes are large, round, and have much fire and brilliancy. The horns are large, sometimes weighing nearly eighteen pounds when of a full size, flatted before, and rounded behind, towards the tip turning into knobs. The colour is dusky brown ; the beard long, tawny, or dusky. The THE CONEY, 289 legs slender, with hoofs short, hollow on the inside, and on the outside terminated by a salient border, like those of the chamois. It carries its head low, in a state of tranquillity ; but in running holds it high, even bend- ing it a little forward. It does not seem as if it found any footing on the rock, appearing to touch it merely that it may be repelled, like an elastic substance strik- ing a hard body. The ibices feed, during the night, in the highest woods ; but as soon as the sun begins to gild the summits, they quit the woody region and mount, feeding in their progress, till they have reached the most considerable heights. The female shows much attach- ment to her young, and defends it against eagles, wolves, and other enemies ; taking refuge in some cavern, she presents her head at the entrance of the hole, thus op - posing the enemy. The chase of the ibex is most arduous, and none but mountaineers engage in it ; it requires a head free from giddiness, able to look down fearlessly from the loftiest heights, address and sure-footedness in the most dangerous passes, and ability to support hunger, cold, and great fatigue. The saphan of the scriptures is generally translated coney. " The high hills are a refuge for the wild-goats, and the rocks for the conej^s." It is now supposed to be the ashkoko, the properties of which are much more accordant with the descriptions of the Bible, than those of the coney, hare, or rabbit. This curious animal is found in Ethiopia, and in great numbers on Mount Lebanon, &c. ' It does not burrow and make holes as the rat and rabbit, nature having interdicted it this practice, by furnishing it with feet which are round, and of a soft, pulpy, tender substance ; the fleshy part of the toes projects beyond the nails, which are rather broad than sharp, much similar to a man's nails ill- grown, and these appear rather given for defence of the toes, than for any active use in digging, to which they are by no means adapted. The total length of the animal, as it sits, is seventeen inches and a quarter. It has no tail ; it gives at first sight, the idea of a rat, rather than u 290 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: any other creature. The colour is grey, mixed with reddish brown, and the belly white. All over the body are scattered hairs, strong and polished like mustachios ; these are, for the most part, two inches and a quarter in length. The ears are round, not pointed. The upper jaw is longer than the other. It lives upon grain, fruits, and roots ; and certainly chews the cud.' Instead of holes, these animals seem to delight in more airy places, in the mouths of caves, or clefts in the rock. They are gregarious, and frequently several dozens sit upon the great stones at the mouths of caves, and warm them- selves in the sun, or come out and enjoy the freshness of the summer evening. They do not stand upright on their feet, but seem to steal along as in fear, advancing a few steps at a time, and then pausing. They have something very mild, feeble, and timid in their deport- ment ; are gentle and easily tamed, though, when roughly handled at the first, they bite very severely. * He is above all other animals so much attached to the rocks, that I never once,' says Mr. Bruce, * saw him on the ground, or from among stones in the mouth of caves, where is his constant residence. He lives in families or flocks. He is in Judea, Palestine, and Arabia, and consequently must have been familiar to Solomon. David describes him very pertinently, and joins him to other animals perfectly known : " the hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the saphan.'' And Solomon says, that " they are exceedingly wise ; " that they are " but a feeble flock, yet make their houses in the rocks." Now this, I think, very obviously fixes the ashkoko to be the saphan, for his weakness seems to allude to his feet, and how inadequate these are to dig holes in the rock, where yet, however, he lodges. From their tenderness, these are very likely to be excoriated or hurt ; notwithstanding which, they build houses in the rocks, more inaccessible than those of the rabbit, and in which they abide in greater safety, not by exer- tion of strength, for they have it not, but are truly, as Solomon says, a feeble flock, but by their own sagacity THE BITTERN. 291 and judgment, and are therefore justly described as wise. Lastly, what leaves the thing without doubt is, that some of the Arabs, particularly Damir, say that the saphan has no tail, that it is less than a cat, that it lives in houses or nests, which he builds of straw, in con- tradistinction to the rabbit and the rat, and those ani- mals that burrow in the ground.' Isaiah mentions among the idolatrous and profane habits of the Jews, the " eating of swines' flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse/' This is supposed to be the jerboa, an animal common in the east, about the size of a rat, and which only uses its hind-legs ; the supposition acquires strength from what Moses says, " whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you." According to Hasselquist, the jerboa (or leaping-rat) moves only by leaps and jumps. When he stops he brings his feet close under his belly, and rests on the juncture of his leg. When eating, he uses his fore- paws, like other animals of the same kind. He spends the day in sleep, and is in motion during the night : his food is corn and grains of sesamum. Though not avoiding man, he is difficult to tame ; and must be kept in a cage. In the denunciation against Babylon, " I will make Babylon a possession for the bittern, and pools of wa- ter " the bittern spoken of seems to be the porcupine, or kephod. Considerable difficulty, however, has been found in arriving at this conclusion, from the kephod having been associated with the pelican, the arden-ibis, and the oreb, or the raven-kind. Bochart has no hesi- tation in pronouncing that the porcupine was alluded to by Isaiah. Though a native of the hottest parts of Africa and India, it can exist in more temperate cli- mates ; being found in Spain and the Apennines near Rome. The Scottish mission took some pains to iden- tify the porcupine with the kephod, or kangfud of the Arabs, and completely succeeded. A Bedouin chief whom they met at Jerusalem, was asked by Dr. Keith u 2 292 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! * what the kangfad was, when he immediately imitated the cry it uttered, and on heing shown a porcupine quill, at once recognized it as belonging to the kangfud* In Mr. Rich's Memoir on Babylon, he states that he found near the spot great quantities of porcupine-quills ; and that numbers of bats and owls appeared in most of the cavities. These last are included among the un- clean animals prohibited to the Jews : " Every creep- ing thing that flieth shall be unclean to you ; they shall not be eaten." The bats' legs are directed and formed in a particular manner differing from all other ani- mals. ' In order to advance, he raises both his front- legs at once, and places them at a small distance for- ward ; at the same time the thumb of each foot points outward, and the creature catches with the claw at any thing which it can lay hold of ; then he stretches be- hind him his two hind legs, so that the five toes of each foot are also directed backward : he supports himself on the sole of his foot, and secures himself by means of the claws on his toes ; then he raises his body on the front legs, and throws himself by folding the upper arm on the fore-arm, which motion is assisted by the extension of the hind-legs, which also push the body forward. This gait, though heavy, because the body falls to the ground at every step, is yet sometimes pretty quick, when the feet can readily meet with good holding-places ; but when the claw of the front-foot meets with any thing loose, the exertion is inefficient.' Moses enumerates twenty birds, which he ranges most systematically, dividing them into three classes, those which occupy the air, the land, or the water. Those which we have reason to believe are correctly rendered, are distinguished by small capitals. Birds of the Air . English Trans. Eagle Ossifrage Osprey . Probable Species. Eagle. Black Eagle. Hawk. BIRDS OF SCRIPTURE. 293 English Trans. Probable Species. Vulture . 'Vulture. Kite Kite. Raven Raven. Birds of the Land. Owl Ostrich. Night Hawk . Night Owl. Cuckoo . Saf-Saf. Hawk . Ancient Ibis. Birds of the Water. Little Owl Sea-GuU. Cormorant Cormorant. Great Owl Ibis Arden. Swan Wild Goose. Pelican . Pelican. Gier Eagle Alcyone. Stork Stork. Heron Long Neck. Lapwing Hoopoe. We must consider these as the unclean birds, accord- ing to the arrangement of Moses, and the ideas of the English translators of the Bible. But the latter were not particularly accurate ornithologists, and have not always rendered in the same manner the same Hebrew terms in Leviticus and Deuteronomy ; for instance, in the one book they translate the same term by vulture which they do in the other by fflede ; which is only one out of many examples of similar variations throughout their version of the Old Testament. Considerable uncertainty rests upon the swan, or tinshemet of the Hebrews. The seventy render por- phyrion, or purple hen, which is a water-bird, well known in the east, deriving its name from its general colour. Dr. Geddes observes, that * the root signifies, to breathe out, or to respire. If etymology were our guide, it would point to a well-known quality in the 294 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I swan, that of being able to respire a long time with its bill and neck under water, and even plunged in the mud.' Parkhurst thinks the conjecture of Michaelis not improbable, * that it is the goose, which every one knows is remarkable for its manner of breathing out, or hissing, when provoked ; or even when under a small degree of apprehension, without being provoked/ Michaelis says, * What makes me observe this is, that the same Chaldee interpreters, who, in Leviticus, render obija, do not employ this word in Deuteronomy, but substitute the white hawk,' which, according to Buxtorf, denotes the goose. Perhaps Egypt has birds of the wild-goose kind ; one of which is here alluded to. Nor- den mentions * a goose of the Nile, whose plumage was extremely beautiful. It was of an exquisite aromatic taste, smelled of ginger, and had a great deal of fla- vour : * and may have been the Hebrew tinshemet the porphyrion of the Septuagint. Modern naturalists conceive that the heron should be included among storks, as bearing a close resem- blance to them. Commentators are quite at a loss on this subject, so that one translator retains the original word * araphas of every kind.' Dr. Shaw gives the fol- lowing description of a bird which is apparently re- ferred to by the sacred writer. * The boo-onk, or long- neck, is of the bittern kind, somewhat less than the lapwing. The neck, the breast, and the belly are of a light yellow ; but the back and upper part of the wings are of a jet black. The tail is short : the feathers of the neck are long, and streaked with white, or a light yellow. The bill, which is three inches long, is green, in fashion like the stork's ; and the legs, whichj are short and slender, are of the same colour. In walk- ing and searching for food, it throweth out its neckj seven or eight inches ; whence the Arabs call it boo-onk^ the long-neck, or the father of the neck.' Though this is rendered by Shaw among water-birds ; it seems to a smaller bird, but allied in form and manners to th( kinds under prohibition. THE STORK. 296 The lapwing, in Hebrew dukiphet, is a bird beautiful in appearance, but of very filthy habits. The Egyptian and Syrian names approach nearly to the sound of the Hebrew word. The name may have arisen from the noise or cry it makes, w^hich is very remarkable, and heard a long way oflF. It is about the size of a thrush ; its beak is long, black, thin, and a little hooked ; its legs grey and short. On its head is a tuft of feathers, of different colours, which it raises or lowers at plea- sure. Its neck and stomach are something reddish ; and its wings and tail black, with white streaks. As these birds are fish-eaters, no distinction could be draw^n from diversity of food ; but Moses begins with those, as the gannet and cormorant, the inhabitants of the sea and the cliffs by the shore ; then goes into the bitterns, the marsh-birds ; then the pelican, the king- fisher-birds of the river and lake ; the stork, a bird of passage, a liver on both land and water, feeding not only on fish, but also on insects and frogs ; the last item of the catalogue is probably also a bird of passage. Now the hoopoe is migratory, is less of a water-bird than the former, and less a feeder on fish. The word kesida, says Merrick, is variously ren- dered by the ancient interpreters ; but Bochart remarks, that the bird called by this name would appear from Scripture to be a bird of passage ; a circumstance ap- plicable to none of the birds supposed to be thus named in the ancient names, except the kite and stork. Michaelis says that the word is generally translated the stork ; he thinks that the text of the Psalms, " as for the stork, the fir-trees are her house," is against the stork ; since though this bird sometimes builds on trees, yet it generally prefers the tops of houses ; yet he pro- poses an inquiry, whether, as, in the eastern countries, the roofs of the houses are flat and inhabited, this cir- cumstance may not oblige them to build elsewhere. Dr. Shaw observes, * The storks breed plentifully in Barbary every summer. They make their nests with dry twigs of trees, w^hich they place upon the highest 296 THE LAND OF ISRAEL*. parts of old ruins or houses, in the canals of ancient aqueducts, and frequently (so familiar are they, by being never molested,) upon the very tops of their mosques and dwelling-houses. The fir and other trees, v^^hen these are vv^anting, are a dtvelling for the storkJ' Deubden tells us, that he saw storks resting on the trees between Cana and Nazareth. The bird in fact, would appear to be guided in its conduct by circum- stances ; choosing indifferently for its abode a ruin or a forest, and only solicitous to obtain security and rest. Of the ostrich, a bird almost peculiar to the deserts of Syria and Arabia, many accounts have been given our limits only admit a very general notice. It is the largest of birds, and the connecting link between quadru- peds and fowls. It is unsurpassed in swiftness ; its height is estimated at seven or eight feet ; and it is gre- garious, having been seen in large groups at a distance from any human habitation. It lays an o^^^ about three pounds in weight : this, though generally hatched by in- cubation in more temperate regions, is in the warmer countries of the East generally left to the unaided ac- tion of the solar rays. The properties of the pelican are also well known. The sacred writings occasionally refer to the solitary life of this bird in the wilderness. It is migratory, and would seem occasionally to be gregarious. It is a bird larger than the swan, which it somewhat resembles in shape and colour ; but distinguished from this and other birds by its enormous bill and extraordinary pouch. The pelicans, in their flight through the air resemble the course of the wild-geese, and form their van into an acute angle. In full age they weigh twenty-five pounds, and measure fifteen feet from wing to wing. The pelican, says Sabat, has strong wings furnished with thick plumage of an ash colour, as are the rest of the feathers over the whole body. Its eyes are very small when compared with the rest of its head ; there is a sadness in its countenance, and its whole air is REPTILES. 297 melancholy ; it is as dull and reluctant in its motions as the flamingo is sprightly and active. It is slow of flight, and rises to fly with difficulty and labour ; the necessity of procuring food alone inducing it to exer- tion. When they have raised themselves about thirty or forty feet above the surface of the sea, they turn their head with their eyes downwards, and continue to fly in that posture. As soon as they see a fish suffi- ciently near the surface, they swiftly dart upon it, seize it with certainty, and store it up in their pouch ; they then rise again with great labour, and continue hover- ing and fishing, with their head on one side as before. In feeding its young, the pelican squeezes the food de- posited in its bag, into their mouths, by strongly com- pressing it on its breast with the bill ; an action which probably originated the fable that, in feeding her young, this bird pierced her own breast, and nourished them with her blood. The upper mandible of the pelican is flat and broad, hooked at the end ; the lower mandible has appended to it a very dilatible bag, large enough to hold several quarts of water. In the foregoing brief remarks, we have omitted such birds as are common to Palestine, and the European countries. In advancing to the amphibia and reptiles of Pales- tine, the question occurs, what kind of creature is alluded to in Deuteronomy, when it is said, " Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps?" The gecko, an animal which naturalists ac- knowledge to contain a mortal poison, is supposed to be contemplated in this description. It is a deadly reptile of the lizard kind, resembling a chamelion, the head triangular and large, the eyes large, the tongue flat, rounded at the end, and covered with small scales, and the teeth so sharp as to make an impression on steel. It is of a green colour, spotted with brilliant red, and its bite kills in a few hours, if the part aff'ected be not cut away or burnt out. It inhabit^ damp places, and the crevices of half-rotten trees ; sometimes enters 298 THE LAND OP ISRAELI houses, causing great alarai by its presence, every ex- ertion being made to destroy it quickly. Calmet enumerates the following eleven species of serpents as know^n to the Jews : 1. Ephe, the viper. 7. Tzepho or Tzephini, a 2. Chephir, a kind of as- basilisk. pick. 8. Kippos, the acentias. 3. Acshub, the aspick. 9. Shephippon,the ceras- 4. Pethen, similar to the tes. aspick. 10. Shachal, the black ser- 5. Tzeboa, speckled ser- pent. pent. 11. Saraph, a flying ser- 6. Tzimmaon. pent. The ephe of the Hebrews is supposed to be the el effah of the Arabs. Jackson, in his account of Morrocco, says, * It is the name of a serpent remarkable for its quick and penetrating poison ; it is about two feet long, and as thick as a man's arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and brown, and sprinkled over with blackish specks, similar to the horn-nosed snake. They have a wide mouth, by which they inhale a great quantity of air, and when inflated therewith, they eject it with such force, as to be heard at a considerable distance. These mortal enemies of mankind are collected by the Aisaw^ie (serpent-conjurors,) in a desert of Suse, where their holes are so numerous, that it is difficult for a horse to pass over it without stumbling. The pethen is considered by Taylor as probably the baetaean of the Arabs, thus described by M. Forskale ; * Wholly spotted (in blotches) black and white. A foot in length ; nearly two inches thick ; oviparous. Its bite is instant death : the body of the wounded per- son swells greatly.' Forskale describes the shachal or black serpent as wholly of that colour, as thick as the finger, and a cubit in length. Though the wound swells greatly, the bite is not incuraj)le ; the venom may be prevented from spreading by the application of a ligature ; and SERPENTS. 299 certain plants, as the caper, have medicinal virtues which may be called into requisition. But Jackson describes a much more terrific species of this snake. * It is about seven or eight feet long, with a small head, which, when about to assail any object, it frequently expands to four times its ordinary size. It is the only one that will attack travellers ; in doing which it coils itself up and darts to a great distance by the elasticity of its body and tail. The wound inflicted by the bite is small, but the surrounding part immediately turns black, which colour soon pervades the whole body, and the sufferer expires.' We find Isaiah, in speaking of the happy times which shall come, using these words : " the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den." Taylor supposes that the naja, or cobra di capello, which possesses the most active poison, is here alluded to. It is about three palms in length, its wound incurable, and its power of devastation so great, that the Chaldeans called it hur- man, or the destroyer. It is averred that by its hissing, the basilisk puts all other serpents to flight ; and it is asserted that its breath is fatal to those animals which inhale it : its caustic power, which, several ancient authors say, extinguishes the plants, blasts the trees, and corrupts the air, has procured it the name of tseplia, from the Arabic verb, to scorch or burn. This dread- ful serpent does not seem to be a native of Canaan, but abounding in the miry fields of Egypt, must have been known to the early Jews from observation, and to their successors in their intercourse with the Egyptians after their settlement in Canaan. The eggs of the basilisk may be mistaken for those of birds, and unwarily used as wholesome food : the prophet observes that such would prove fatal, while those that were crushed would produce a serpent : a statement very descriptive of the nature of this reptile. Sabat says, he crushed some of the eggs of a large serpent, and found several young in each Q^g, which were no sooner freed from the shell 300 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I than they coiled themselves into attitudes of attack, and were ready to spring on whatever came in their way. Bartholin dissected serpent's eggs, which, he says, are only hatched in the open air, and fail in a place too close or too hot. If the eggs of serpents are broken, the little serpent is found coiled up in a spiral form. It appears motionless during some time ; but if the term of its exclusion be near, it opens its jaws, inhales, at several respirations, the air of the atmosphere, its lungs fill, it stretches itself, and moved by this impetus, be- gins to crawl. There is in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, a re- markable prediction uttered by Jacob in reference to Dan : " He shall be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels." The original term is shephiphan, which is understood by several writers to denote the cerastes, or horned viper, a very poisonous reptile, distinguished by two small horns, one under each eye. It lies in wait for passengers in the sand, or in the rut of the wheels on the high- way. From its lurking-place, it treacherously bites the horse- heels, so that the rider falls backward, in consequence of theanimal's hinder legs becoming almost immediately tor- pid by the dreadful activity of the poison. The cerastes is equally formidable to man and the lower animals ; and the more dangerous, since he is not easily distin- guished from the sand in which he lies. Bmce says, * He moves with great rapidity, and in all directions, backward, forward, and side-ways. When he inclines to surprise any one who is too far from him, he creeps with his side toward the person, and his eye averted, till, judging his distance, he turns round, springs upon him, and fastens upon the pai*t next to him ; for it is not true what is said, that the cerastes does not leap or spring. I saw one of them at Cairo, crawl up the side of a box, in which there were many, and then lie still as if hiding himself, till one of the people who brought them to us, came near him, and though in a very dis- advantageous posture, sticking, as it were, perpendicular SERPENTS. 301 to the side of the box, he leaped near the distance of three feet, and fastened between the man's forefinger and thumb, so as to bring the blood. The fellow showed no signs of either pain or fear ; and we kept him with us full four hours, without applying any sort of remedy, or his seeming inclined to do so. To make myself as- sured that the animal was in its perfect state, I made the man hold him by the neck, so as to force him to open his mouth, and lacerate the thigh of a pelican, a bird I had tamed, as big as a swan. The bird died in about thirteen minutes, though it was apparently af- fected in fifty seconds ; and we cannot think it was a fair trial, because a very few minutes before, it had bit, and so discharged a part of its virus, and it was made to scratch the pelican by force, without any irritation or action of its own.' To the biblical inquirer, the saraph, or fiery flying serpent, is one of the most interesting of the creatures that have fallen under our notice. We read, that these venomous creatures were employed by God to chastise the unbelieving and rebellious Israelites, in consequence whereof many of them died, the rest being saved, through the appointed medium of the brazen serpent, which Moses was commanded to raise upon a pole in the midst of the camp, and which was a striking type of the promised Saviour. A considerable difference of opinion prevails among naturalists as to the qualities of this creature. The name is derived from a root which signifies to burn, either on account of its fiery vivid colour, or of the heat and burning pain occasioned by its bite. Bochart supposes it to be the same as the hy- driis,. called by Cicero the serpent of the waters. In Isaiah, Egypt is called the region whence come the viper and flying saraph, or burning serpent, ^lian says, they come from the deserts of Libya and Arabia, to inhabit the streams of the Nile ; and that they have the form of the hydrus. Writers of modern times attest the existence of winged serpents. A kind of snake was discovered among the Pyrenees, from whose sides pro- 302 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : ceeded cartilages in the form of wings. Le Blanc, as quoted by Bochart, says, that at the head of the lake of Chinmay, are extensive woods and vast marshes, dangerous to approach, on account of their being in- fested by large serpents, which, raised from the ground on wings resembling those of bats, and leaning on the extremity of their tails, move very rapidly. But the original term does not always mean flying with wings ; but often a swinging backwards and forwards, tremu- lous motion, or fluttering ;< precisely the motion of a serpent, springing from one tree to another. Niebuhr thus mentions a species of serpents at Bussorah : ^ They commonly keep upon the date-trees ; and as it would be laborious for them to come down from a very high tree, in order to ascend another, they twist themselves by the tail to a branch of the former, which, making a spring by the motion they give it, throws them to the branches of the second. Hence the modern Arabs call them fly- ing serpents. Admiral Anson also speaks of the flying serpents, that he met with at the island of Quibo ; but which were ' without wings.^ * But the hydri are pro- duced and reared in marshy places ; not in burning and thirsty deserts, when the people of Israel murmured because they could find no water. But, although that people might find no water to drink, it will not follow, that the desert contained no marshy place, or muddy pool, where the hydri might lurk. Besides, it is well known, that when water fails, these serpents do not perish, but become chersydri, that is seraphim, or bur- ners. iElian says, they live a long time in the parched wilderness, and lie in wait for all kinds of animals. These chersydri, it is extremely probable, were the ser- pents which bit the rebellious Israelites : and in this state they were more terrible instruments of Divine ven- geance ; for, exasperated by the want of water, and the intense heat of the season, they injected a deadlier poi- son, and occasioned to the miserable sufferer more agon- izing torments. The time was probably about the end of August, when the hydri inflict the most cruel wounds. SERPENTS. 303 Nor is it a fact, that the frightful solitudes which Israel traversed, were wholly destitute of water, for in their fourth journey they came to the river Arnon ; in the fifth, to Beer, a well greatly celebrated in Scripture ; and soon after the death of Aaron, they arrived at a region watered by numerous streams. The words of Moses also seem to countenance the idea, that the hydri employed on this occasion were not generated on the spot, but sent from a distance : " And the Lord sent fiery serpents, or seraphim, among the people." From these words it is natural to conclude, that they came from that " land of rivers," through which the congre- gation had lately passed. Nor will this be reckoned too long a journey, when it is recollected that they travel from both the Libyan and Arabian deserts, to the streams of the Nile.' The locust is more frequently named in Scripture than any other insect, and its dreadful ravages are such, that we cannot wonder at its proverbial use for destroy- ers and desolating armies. Were it not for the Semer- mer, or locust-bird, which follows and destroys these insects in large quantities, the damage they occasion would be incalculable. Burning the grass and shrubs, in their probable track, seems the only method of effec- tually destroying them, but even this fails when they are in large swarms, as they fall into the fire in such clouds as to put it out, and the rest march on, over the corpses of their predecessors. Some tribes of Arabs eat these creatures, roasting them over a fire, and pulling off their legs and wings. The flavour is said to be un- pleasant, but any food must be acceptable to those whose little gardens and fields have been stripped bare by these voracious marauders. The scorpion is a frightful object, in appearance like a small lobster ; with head apparently joined and con- tinued to the breast ; it has two eyes in the middle of its head, and two towards the extremity, between which, come, as it were, two arms, divided into two parts, like the claws of a lobster. It has eight legs proceeding 304 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : from the breast, each of which is divided into six parts, covered with hair, and armed with talons or claws. The body is divided into seven rings, from the last of which the tail proceeds, which is divided into seven little heads, the last of them furnished with a sting. Some have six, and some eight eyes. The end of the tail has sometimes two stings, which are hollow, and filled with a cold poison, which is injected into the wound. Its colour is blackish, and it moves side-ways like a crab. Lucian says there are two kinds of scor- pions, one residing on the ground, large, having claws, and many articulations at the tail ; the other flies in the air, and has inferior wings, like locusts, beetles and bats. It reaches a foot in length in tropical climates. Darting with great violence at the object of its fury, it fixes violently with its snout, and by its feet, on the persons which it seizes, and cannot be disengaged without diffi- culty. Dr. Shaw tells us, that to the northward of Mount Atlas, the scorpion is not very hurtful, the sting being only attended with a slight fever, and the appli- cation of a little Venice treacle quickly assuaging the pain. But the scorpion of Getulia, and most other parts of the Sahara, as it is larger, and of a' darker complexion, is proportionably malignant, and frequently attended with death. ' Though not so deadly in Syria, it occasions much inconvenience and suffering to the inhabitants. Sudden vomitings frequently seize whole companies, and are supposed to arise from the poison- ous matter which exudes from the scorpion's skin, as it crawls over their kitchen utensils or provisions. Its activity renders it formidable ; being never at rest dur- ing the summer months, and of such a malicious dispo- sition, that it is seen constantl}^ flouncing its tail, and striking with its sting at every object within reach. No animal in the creation seems endued with so irascible a nature. When taken, they exert their utmost rage against the glass which contains them ; will attempt to sting a stick when put near them ; will sting animals confined with them, without provocation : are the crudest AMPHIBIA. SOS enemies to each other. Maupertius put a hundred to- gether in the same glass ; instantly they vented their rage in mutual destruction, universal carnage ! in a few days only fourteen remained, which had killed and devoured all the others. It is even asserted, that when in extre- mity or despair, the scorpion will destroy itself ; he stings himself on the hack of the head, and instantly expires.' It is said in the fourth chapter of Lamentations, that " even the sea-monsters draw out the breast ; they give suck to their young ones." The word in the original is tannin, which, though probably here used with refer- ence to the seal species, which suckle their young in the manner thus described seems applicable to those am- phibious animals that haunt the banks of rivers and the sea-shore. The epithet ' large ' is annexed to it in Ge- nesis, and our translators have rendered it " great whales." The conclusion may be hazarded, that the word tannin may comprehend the whole class of lizards, from the eft to the crocodile, provided they be amphi- bious ; also the seal, the manati, the morse, and even the whale, if he came ashore ; but as whales remain constantly in the deep, they seem to be more correctly ascribed to the class of fishes. Taylor remarks, that the Hebrew t abash may be considered as denoting a seal ; the class of amphibia are denoted by tannin. When Moses addressed the Israelites a short time ber fore his death, he characterized the promised land as a " good land a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills ;" and added, that it was " a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil-olive, and honey, whose stones were iron, and out of M^hose hills they might dig brass." And though the infidel, form- ing his notions from the state of Palestine under the Turkish government, has attempted to insinuate that it could never have been the lovely and fertile spot de- scribed in Scripture ; yet the verity of these descriptions is abundantly supported both by what the Bible tell& us S06 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : respecting its productions, and the attestations both of ancient profane writers, and of modern travellers. The Holy Land, in fact, is said, to have exceeded even the land of Egypt in the abundance of its productions. Many circumstances may be regarded as having contri- buted to this fertility ; the generally excellent tempera- ture of the air, not (except in the plain of Jericho), subjected to the extremes of heat or cold ; the regularity of the seasons, especially of the former and latter rain ; and the natural richness of the soil a fine mould with- out stones, and almost without pebbles. In fact, were the advantages of nature seconded by human skill in Syria, the vegetable riches of the most distant countries might be brought together within the space of twenty leagues. The fertile plains of Galilee and Samaria, and the valleys among the hills, bear abundant crops of grain ; wheat, rye, barley, Indian millet, also cotton, linseed, and tobacco ; plantations of the fig, the vine, and the olivie, clothe the limestone rocks and stony valleys ; pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons, are produced in abundance and perfection. The water-melons of Joppa are celebrated over the Levant. Orange-trees, dates, bananas, and other delicate fruits, also flourish. Sesa- mum yields oil. Doura is easily cultivated ; maize thrives in light soils, and rice on marshy grounds. Care and industry might improve much, the indigo which grows wild on the banks of the Jordan. The white mulberry-tree forms the riches of the mountain- country of the Druses, who obtain from it beautiful silks. Red and white wines, equal to those of France and Portugal, may be produced from the grapes on the mountains of Lebanon. Jafi'a possesses lemons and water-melons ; Gama the dates of Mecca and the pome- granates of Algiers ; Tripoli, oranges as good as those of Malta ; Beirout has excellent figs and bananas ; Aleppo unequalled pistachio nuts ; and upon the rocky soil of Damascus grow with equal facility apples, plums, and peaches. Sugar, cultivated in Syria, would succeed as well in the congenial soil of Palestine ; and the coffee I TREES AND PLANTS, S07" shrub from Arabia would probably be a safe experiment, The Holy Land is adorned with a variety of forest- trees. Mastics, palms, and prickly pears, line the shores ; on higher ground rises the sycamore, and natural groves of the oak, cypress, andrache, and turpentine-tree. The oaks of Bashan are still seen, nor have the stately ce-^ dars of Lebanon wholly disappeared. Shrubs and fra-*- grant flowers spring from the soil ; and Malte-Brun compares the mountain vegetation to that of Ida, in Crete. Even in the desert and on the rock are found stunted cypresses, aloe-bushes, and prickly pears, with other thorny shrubs. Though Palestine cannot boast of extensive woods, it is diversified by thickets of trees and of reeds. Between the Lake Samachonites and the sea of Tiberias, the course of the Jordan is concealed from view by shady trees ; and when the waters of the Jordan are low, the Lake Samochonites becomes a marsh, almost dry and overgrown with shrubs and weeds* Reeds also border the lake of Tiberias ; which, with planes, alders, poplars, and tamarisks, cover both banks of the river. There are thickets where the wild boar seeks shelter from the heat of the sun : large herds of them being sometimes seen on the banks, lying among the reeds, or feeding under the trees. We have already alluded to the cedar, in describing Le- banon. It is a large and noble evergreen-tree ; its lofty height, and widely-spreading branches afford spacious shel- ter and shade. The wood is very valuable ; of a reddish colour, and aromatic smell, and is supposed to be incor- ruptible, from its bitter taste, which worms cannot en- dure, and its resin, which preserves it from injuries of the weather. The ark of the covenant, much of Solo mon's temple, and that of Diana at Ephesus, were built of it. Scripture calls it " the glory of Lebanon ;" and on that mountain it must, in former times, have flourished most abundantly. Those that are left are of prodigious size, but are now so few, that in the words of Isaiah, "a child may number them." Maundrel, who measured one of the largest, found it to be twelve yards X 2 308 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: and six inches in girth, and yet sound ; its boughs spread thirty-seven yards. They are thus described by a Syrian Maronite traveller, who examined them : 'The cedar grows on the most elevated part of the mountain, is taller than the pine, and so thick, that five men together could scarcely fathom one. It shoots out its branches at ten or twelve feet from the ground. They are large and distant from each other, and are per- petually green. The wood is of a brown colour, very solid and incorruptible, if preserved from wet. The tree bears a small cone like that of the pine.' Lebanon is also adorned by many elegant plants. ' The astra- galus tragocanthoides displays its clusters of purple flowers ; and the primrose, the amaryllis, the white and the orange lily, mingle their brilliant hues with the verdure of the birch-leaved cherry. Even the snow of the highest peaks is skirted by shrubs possessing the most splendid colours.' The palm-tree, sometimes called the date-tree, the Hebrew tamar, is very common in the East. It rises to a great height. Its stalks are full of rugged knots, the vestiges of decayed leaves ; its trunk not being solid, hut the centre filled with pith, surrounded with a tough bark full of strong fibres when young, but which hard- ens and becomes ligneous, as the tree advances in age. To this bark the leaves are closely joined, which, in the centre, rise erect ; but after they have advanced above the vagin around, they expand very wide on every side of the stem, the stalk advancing in height, as the older leaves decay. When the palm has grown to a fruit- bearing size, the leaves are six or eight feet long, very broad when spread out, and are used for covering house tops, and other purposes. The fruit is called the date : it is of a sweet and agreeable taste, and grows in clus- ters below the leaves. ' The diligent natives,' says Gib- bon, ' celebrated either in verse or prose, the three hun- dred and sixty uses to which the trunk, the branches, the leaves, the juice, and the fruit were skilfully ap- plied.' Dr. Clarke says, that * the extensive importance THE PALM-TREE. 309 of the date-tree is one of the most curious subjects to which a traveller can direct his attention. A consider- able part of the inhabitants of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Persia, subsist almost entirely upon its fruit. They boast also of its medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the date-stone. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, bags, mats, and brushes; from the branches, cages for their poultry, and fences for their gardens ; from the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging ; from the sap is prepared a spirituous liquor ; and the body of the tree furnishes fuel : it is even said, that from one variety of the palm-tree, the phoenix fatinifera, meal has been extracted, which is found among the fibres of the trunk, and has been used for food.' The tree is crowned at top with a large tuft of leaves, about four feet long, which never fall off, but always continue flourishing and verdant. Dr. Shaw was informed that the tree was in its greatest vigour thirty years after it has been planted ; and continues in full vigour seventy years longer, bearing during this time, every year, about three or four hundred pounds weight of dates. The palm must have been at one time com- mon in Palestine, though not now conspicuous either on account of number nor beauty. Jericho, formerly called the * city of palm-trees,' can, from its sandy soil, warm climate, and supply of water, still boast a few of them ; but at Jerusalem, Shechem, and other places, scarcely two or three are found together ; their fruit rarely comes to maturity, and their only use is to shade the council of the sheiks, or supply the branches still, as formerly, required for religious processions. It was formerly so much esteemed and cultivated in Palestine, that it was regarded as an emblem of the country, as appears by the medal struck by Vespasian's orders, after the taking of Jerusalem : representing a captive woman sitting under a palm-tree, with this inscription, UDEA Capta. Also upon a Greek coin of Titus, there ras a shield suspended upon a palm-tree, with a figure )f Victory writing upon it. 310 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : The fig-tree is common throughout the East. The ancient Hebrews called it Thaena, the * tree of grief,* from the rough and prickly nature of its upper leaf. It flourishes with the greatest luxuriance in those stony and barren situations, where nothing else will grow. But although it thrives in a rocky and parched soil, it con- tains a milky liquor ; is very fruitful ; and in the islands of the Archipelago, a single tree often yields two hundred and eighty pounds of figs. There are two kinds of figs, the bocore and the kermonse. The black and white bocore, or early fig, is produced in June ! the kermonse, or fig properly so called, which is pre- served, and made up into cakes, is seldom ripe before August. Shaw mentions a long dark-coloured kermonse, which sometimes hangs upon the trees all the winter. The kermonse, in general, continue a long time upon the tree before they fall off ; while the bocores drop as soon as ripe, and according to the beautiful allusion in Nahum, " fall into the mouth of the eater" upon being shaken. It does not, properly speaking, blossom or send out flowers, but rather shoots out its fruit, ' which it does like so many buttons, with their flowers, small and imperfect as they are, inclosed within them.' Such was its value and high estimation, that to bark and kill it, is reckoned a very severe judgment of God on the Jews : " For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the cheek-teeth of a great lion : he has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree, ; he has made it clean bare, and cast it away ; the branches thereof are made white ;" alluding to the desolating progress of the locust, which devours the leaves and bark of every tree on which it alights, leaving not the smallest portion of rind on the slenderest twig, to con- vey the sap from the root, so that it remains white and withering in the sun. Of the olive-tree, Tournefort mentions eighteen kinds : we find allusion made in Scripture only to the culti- vated and the wild olive. The cultivated olive reaches THE OLIVE-TREE. Sll a moderate height, and thrives well in a sunny ajad warm soil. It has a knotty trunk ; the bark is smooth and of an ash colour ; the wood solid and yellowish ; the leaves oblong, resembling those of the willow, on the upper side dark green, and on the lower whitishj In June, the olive puts forth white flowers, growing in bunches. The fruit, which is oblong and plump, suc-^ ceeds the flower, and is first green, next pale, and when quite ripe, black ; enclosing within it a hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. The wild olive is of a smaller size. Though no longer cultivated in many parts of Palestine, it still, in some places, attests the accuracy of the de- scription of Judea, as a " land of oil-olive and honey .'^ Pomegranate and apple-trees were likewise cultivated to a considerable extent, with the almond, whose fruit is ripe and fit for gathering about the middle of April ; and the citron-tree is much esteemed for its fragrant and refreshing shade, and delicious fruit. The sycamore- tree flourished both in Egypt and Palestine. Its leaves resemble those of the mulberry ; its sweetish, watery, but somewhat aromatic fruit, observes no seasons, but comes to maturity several times in the year. This tree does not grow from the seed, but is propagated by the branch : it produces abundance of fruit, which grows not, as in other trees, on the extremities of the boughs, but near the trunk. It is a large tree of considerable height, aff"ording an agreeable shade, and its timber was antiently used in building. The wild-grapes mentioned by Isaiah are supposed to be the hoary night-shade, or solarium incanum, called by the Arabs wolf-grapes, from its stalk, somewhat resembling a vine ; but to which it has an extremely opposite character, being very hurt- ful to that plant, and requiring to be uprooted. There is still found in Palestine a thorn called spina Christi, or thorn of Christ, supposed to have afforded the crown of mockery placed around our Saviour's brows. It has many sharp prickles, well fitted to cause pain ; and some writers have observed that the resemblance of its leaves to ivy, used as a garland of victory by the Romans, 312 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I might be one reason of its selection to crown a prisoner, as adding derision to the insult. Tiie tree mentioned in the English Bible as the "ju- niper-tree ;" rothem, in Hebrew, is stated by Dr. Ro- binson to be the broom-plant, called by the Arabs re- tem at this day. He found it growing in. the same de- sert, where Elijah lay down and slept under its shade ; and the Arabs who accompanied the Professor always ' selected their place of encampment in a spot where it grew, in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind ; and during the day, when they often went on in advance of the camels, we found them not unfrequently sitting or sleeping under a bush of retem, to protect them from the sun.' He adds, that the bitter roots of this plant are regarded by the Arabs as yielding the best kind of charcoal, which explains the mention of " coals of juniper," in Job xxx. 4, and Psalm cxx. 4. The terebinth tree, sometimes rendered linden, teil, or oak, in the English Bible, is also described by Dr. Robin- son. The Arabs call it Butm. ' It is not an evergreen, as is often represented ; but its small feathered, lancet- shaped leaves fall in autumn, and are renewed in the spring. The flowers are small, and are followed by small oval berries, hanging in clusters from two to five inches long, resembling much the clusters of the vine, when the grapes are just set.' He speaks of one which he saw in a valley, at the intersection of the Gaza and Jerusalem roads, as being the largest he saw in Pales- tine, * spreading its boughs far and wide, like a noble oak under the shade of such a tree, Abraham might well have pitched his tent at Mamre.' We must not quit the botany of Palestine without a notice of the celebrated 'apples of Sodom,' said to be full of ashes, and to burst into smoke in the hands of those who gather them. Some have supposed a species of solanum to be this mysterious plant, but it does not seem to answer to the description. Dr. Robinson, with his usual precision, seems to have satisfactorily settled this point also. On his approach to the Dead Sea, a APPLES OF SODOM. 313 singular fruit-tree attracted his attention. It was called *'6sher by the Arabs, and is the asclepias gigantea of naturalists, which grows in Palestine only near the Dead Sea. The fruit looks like * a large apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three or four together, and when ripe is of a yellow colour. It was now fair and de- licious to the eye, and soft to the touch ; but on being pressed or struck, it explodes with a puff, like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hand only the shreds of the thin rind, and a few fibres. It is indeed filled chiefly with air, like a bladder, which gives it the round form ; while in the centre a small slender pod runs through it from the stem, and is connected by thin filaments with the rind.' He adds, ' It must be plucked and handled with great care, in order to preserve it from bursting. We attempted to carry some of the boughs and fruits with us to Jerusalem, but without success.' CHAPTER VIII. THE ANCIENT JEWS. The statement in scripture concerning the form of government under which the Hebrews were when they were placed in possession of Canaan, is brief : " It came to pass a long time after the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old, and was stricken in age ; and he called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers." No allusion was made to the form of government which they should adopt ; their leader, before he died, did not even direct their choice to a president in the council, or to a leader in the field ; his sole purpose was to impress upon them their religious obligations as Jehovah's peculiar people, and to animate them to the work of subduing the re- mainder of Canaan. Originally, it would appear that each tribe had the management of its own affairs, the head of each family having control over its members ; since before their deliverance from Egypt under Moses, the various messages were addressed to the patriarchal rulers, " Go gather the elders of Israel together." But in the wilderness, and approaching to Canaan, the ori- ginal family jurisdiction became subordinate to the au- thority of the inspired leader of Israel's host. During this time the princes of tribes and the heads of families appear as captains of thousands, of fifties, and of hun- dreds ; but when enough of Canaan had been con- quered to give a competent inheritance to the tribes on THE ANCIENT JEWS. 315 the western side of the Jordan, Joshua " sent the people away, and they departed," and the patriarchal rule was resumed. We have already noticed the probable extent of the Hebrew territory ; which Eleazar the high priest, Joshua as judge, and the twelve princes of Israel, were to divide equally among the tribes, according to their numbers. To each tribe was a separate province as- signed. ' Each tribe may be said to have lived together in one and the same county ; and each family in one and the same hundred ; so that each neighbourhood were relations to each other and of the same families, as well as inhabitants of the same place.' And the landed inheritance of each Israelite was inalienable ; for at the end of each fifty years at each jubilee-season, whatever obligations each had come under were can- celled ; the bondmen became free, and all forfeited lands were restored to their original owners. The same was the case with houses built in fields or villages ; though those in cities or large towns, if not reclaimed in one year, were alienated perpetually ; but from the operation of this the Levites were excepted, who could at any time redeem " the houses of the cities of their possession," and enjoyed the full advantage of every fiftieth year. The lands were subject to the condition of military service. Though the Hebrew tribes were twelve in number, descended from Jacob's twelve sons ; yet in consequence of Joseph's posterity being subdivided into the descend- ants of Ephraim and Manasseh, thirteen distinct genea- logies entered Canaan ; though viewed in reference to secular rites and duties, the Levites are not usually inr cluded in the computation ; and in consequence of their idolatrous propensities, the tribe of Dan was at a later period sometimes excluded. The numerical strength of the eleven tribes, according to the enrolment made on the plains of Moab, may be thus exhibited : Joseph, (including Ephraim and Manasseh) 85,200 Judah, 76,500 316 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Issachar, 64,300 Zebulon, 60,500 Asher, 53,400 Dan, 46,400 Benjamin, 45,600 Naphtali, 45,400 Reuben, 43,730 Gad, 40,500 Simeon, and to these may be added, . . 22,200 Levi, including " all males of a month up- ward." ....... 23,000 But the last " were not numbered among the rest, be- cause there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel." The total amount is six hundred and six thousand, seven hundred. (Numb. xxvi. 62.) In each tribe there was a chief, called the prince of the tribe, or the head of thousands ; under whom were the princes of families, or commanders of hundreds. Thus, in the muster of the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai, we find that Nahshon, the son of Aminadab, was prince of the tribe of Judah ; which tribe again was divided into several families, which word denoted not a mere household, but the lineage of a common ancestor, and composing one of the main branches of an original stock. Every chief ruler had a record of these families, of the households in each, and of the indi- viduals composing each household. The heads of families, at the time when the Israelites encamped on the eastern bank of Jordan, seem to have amounted to fifty-seven ; to which if the thirteen princes of tribes be added, the whole number will be seventy ; perhaps these constituted the council convoked by Moses in the wilderness, who from right of birth were regarded as having an hereditary authority over the several sections of the children of Israel. The first-born of the senior family of each tribe was probably regarded as the prince of the tribe, and the eldest son of each subordinate family succeeded to the honours and duties belonging to the rank of a patriarch. At the same time the welfare THE ANCIENT JEWS. 317* of the whole state was attended to, as one kingdom, under the special direction of Jehovah, so that on all great occasions they could unite their councils, and com- bine their strength. Even immediately on the settle- ment of the Israelites in Canaan, we find traces of this ; a national senate deciding important cases ; a judge whose authority made him chief magistrate of the com- monwealth ; the controlling voice of the congregation of Israel, whose concurrence seems to have been re- quired to give effect to the resolutions of their leaders ; to which must be added the oracle of Jehovah, as re- vealed by Urim and Thummim, without which neither Council nor judge could adopt any important measure. We must likewise remember that the privilege of making laws was at no time intrusted to any order of the Jewish state ; so long as they were under a theo- cracy, this was done by their divine head. " Now there- fore hearken, Israel, unto the statutes, and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the com- mandments of the Lord your God which I command you." It has been supposed by many learned men, that the council of seventy, established by Moses in the wilder- ness, ceased after the Israelites were established in Canaan ; and that the only trace of a national assembly to be afterwards discerned, is the occasional meeting of the princes of tribes and chiefs of families, to transact important public business, as in the case of the war. against Benjamin. At this period the supreme authority was occasionally exercised by judges, a peculiar order of magistrates, to which nothing similar can be found in any other country. They have been compared to the Roman dictator, whose appointment only took place in a season of peculiar emergency, whose authority was then unlimited, and who had uncontrolled jurisdiction 318 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : over life and property ; but the analogy fails in this, that at the expiration of the crisis, the dictator's office ended ; whereas the Hebrew judge retained his office for life. Dupin remarks that ' they were not ordinary magistrates, but men raised up by God, on whom the Israelites bestowed the chief government, either because they had delivered them from the oppressions to which they were subject, or because of their equity and pru- dence. They ruled according to the law of Jehovah, commanded their armies, made treaties with the neigh- bouring princes, declared war and peace, and adminis- tered justice. They differed from kings, in that they were not established either by election or succession, but were raised to power in an extraordinary manner ; in that they assumed not the royal title and quality ; levied no taxes on the people for the maintenance of government ; were not regal in their simple mode of living ; made no new laws, but governed by the Mosaic code ; had voluntary and spontaneous obedience paid to them, and resembled consuls and magistrates of free cities.' The following provision was made for the adminis- tration of justice throughout the land. ** Judges and officers shalt thou make in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee ; and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judg- ment ; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift ; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and per- vert the words of the righteous." Josephus tells us that Moses gave instructions to appoint seven judges in each city ; men of good conduct and impartiality. * Let those who judge,' says he, * be permitted to determine according as they shall think right, unless any one can shew that they have taken bribes to the perversion of justice, or can allege any other accusation against them.* Our information is imperfect as to the distinctions of the * judges,' and 'officers' thus appointed. According to Maimonides, a court of twenty-three judges, having both civil and criminal jurisdiction, existed in every city THE ANCIENT JEWS. 319 where the householders amounted to a hundred and twenty ; evidently referring to the same institution described by Josephus, in the fourth book of his An tiquities, as composed of seven judges with fourteen assistants, selected from among the Levites ; who with the president and his deputy, made up the number of twenty-three. In smaller towns the administration of justice was committed to three judges, by whose au- thority all questions respecting debt, theft, rights of in- heritance, restitution, and compensation, were deter- mined ; and who, though they could not inflict capital punishment, might, according to the nature of the offence, and the amount of injury, visit minor offences with scourging and fines. Of these judicial establishments, two were held at Jerusalem, even while the sanhedrin had uncontrolled authority over life and fortune ; one sat in the gate of Shushan, the other in that of Nicanor. Fleury remarks that the city gates were selected, since the Israelites being a nation of husbandmen, going out to their work in the morning, and not returning till evening, they most frequently met at the city-gate. The people, in fact, laboured in the fields and dwelt in the towns ; which did not resemble our provincial capitals, that re- quire for their subsistence, perhaps twenty or thirty leagues of the surrounding country ; but were habita- iions for as many labourers as were required for the cultivation of the nearest fields : hence, in consequence of the land being very populous, the towns were thickly scattered. Similarly, the Greeks and Romans, who were all merchants, had for the scene of all their busi- ness transactions, the agora, or forum. The Hebrew judges took their seats immediately after morning prayers, and remained till the end of the sixth hour, or twelve o'clock. The Hebrew government, apart from its theocratical features, is considered by competent writers, to have been of a mixed form, in some respects approaching to a democracy, in others assuming more of an aristocratical character. 320 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Peculiar laws fixed the duties and revenues of the tribe of Levi. The ministry of the tabernacle, or the services due to the priesthood, did not form their only- avocation ; for this sacred tribe supplied to the whole nation their judges, lawyers, scribes, teachers and phy- sicians ; these learned professions being hereditary in their families. They were exempted from warlike Ser- vice, and having no landed inheritance, received from their brethren in its stead a tenth part of the gross pro- duce of their fields and vineyards ; since their peculiar occupations were incompatible with agricultural pur- suits, and their whole attention was demanded by the service of the altar and the instruction of the people. Accordingly they did not reside in any particular dis- trict, but were distributed among the other tribes ac- cording to the extent of their territory and the amount of their population. A certain number of cities was set apart for them, with such a portion of land as was requisite for their comfort and more immediate wants. " Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites, of the inheritance of their possessions, cities to dwell in ; and ye shall give unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them. And ye shall measure from without the city, on the east side, two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits ; and the city shall be in the midst, this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities, so all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-and-eight cities : them shall ye give with their suburbs." These provisions were carried into efffect after the apportionment of Canaan, and the Levitical stations were thus distributed : Cities. In the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin . 13 In Ephraim, Dan, and the half tribe of Manasseh 10 In the other half-tribe of Manasseh, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali .13 In Zebulun, Reuben, and Gad . . . .12 48 THE ANCIENT JEWS. 321 Of these cities, six, viz. Hebron, Shechem, Ramoth, Bezer, Kedish, and Golan, having the special right of giving protection to a certain class of criminals, were called " Cities of refuge." The order of Levites occupied a conspicuous position in the Hebrew commonwealth, since learning and the several professions connected with it were almost ex- clusively confined to them. Each Levitical city was both a school and a seat of justice ; where the national language, traditions, history, and laws, were subjects of constant study, to the zealous and constant prosecu- tion of which they were impelled both by the feeling of a sacred obligation, and by the impulse of ardent patri- otism. It was their duty to multiply and preserve the copies of the religious, moral, and civil institutions with which they were entrusted. To them were com- mitted the genealogies of the tribes, in which the lineage of each family was accurately traced. From their or- der the courts were supplied with well-qualified magis- trates and scribes, being well versed in the law, and possessed of the complete annals of the nation ; so that they could not only administer justice, but regis- ter the decisions. At the time of David not less than 6000 of them appear to have occupied judicial and other legal stations. According to Michaelis, the Le- vitical order was, among the Hebrews, a species of literary noblesse ; possessing such wealth and con- sideration as enabled them to act as a counterpoise to the power of the aristocracy ; and likewise preventing the adoption of such hasty measures as might be appre- hended from the democratical nature of the general government. * They were not merely a spiritual bro- therhood, but professional members of all the different faculties ; and by birth obliged to devote themselves to those branches of study, for the cultivation of w*hich they were so liberally rewarded.' He supposes their inquiries to have extended to theology, philosophy, natural history, mathematics, jurisprudence, and even to medicine. In short we behold in it a conspicuous 522 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I display of that wisdom which was manifested in all the parts of the divinely-appointed Mosaic economy. When the Israelites had gained possession of the Holy Land, and distributed the territory among the tribes, the tabernacle or ambulatory temple was placed in Shiloh, a town belonging to Ephraim. To this sa- cred retreat they travelled at the three great festivals, to perform the service enjoined by the law. When Moses was directed to construct this taberna- cle, the whole nation contributed to its preparing and decoration. Offerings were brought in from all quar- ters ; brass, silver, gold, jewels, fine linen, embroidered stuffs of all colours, valuable skins, spices, oils, and incense in great quantities. ITie high district about Sinai was by no means unproductive, and abounded with dates and other trees, particularly with the black acacia, (the shittim.) These latter were quickly felled, all the artificers set to work, the women employed in weaving and spinning, and the whole camp assumed a busy appearance. The contruction of the tabernacle was entrusted to the superintendence of Bezaleel and Aholiab. The area or open space in which it stood, was an oblong square, 175 feet long, by 871 wide. The enclosure was made by twenty brazen pillars on the north and south sides, ten to the west, and six to the east, where stood the gate of entrance. The capi- tals of these pillars were of silver, as were the hooks and rods, from which the curtains hung. These cur- tains were of fine linen or cotton, woven in a kind of net- work ; the curtain before the entrance was of richer materials, and more brilliant colours blue, purple, and scarlet, supported by four pillars, which do not appear to have been different from the other six that formed the eastern line of the court. Within the court, before the tabernacle, stood a large laver of brass, for ablution, and the altar of burnt-offerings, measuring eight feet and three quarters each way, five feet and a quarter high. The altar was overlaid with brass, and had a brazen grate in the centre. It stood immediately in front of the tabernacle-gate. THE ANCIENT JEWS* 323 The tabernacle was fifty-two feet and a half long, seventeen feet and a half wide, and as many high : con-^ structed of planks of shittim-wood, skilfully fitted to- gether by poles, which ran the whole length through golden rings. The planks were overlaid with gold. To defend it from the weather, it was hung about with curtains of a species of canvas, made of goat's hair, and over the whole an awning of skins was thrown*, The interior of the tabernacle was hung with curtains of the finest linen and the richest colours, embroidered with the mysterious figures called cherubim. The tabernacle was divided into two unequal parts : the first or holy place was thirty-five feet long ; in this stood the golden can- dlestick, the golden altar of incense, and the table of shew-bread. The second, or Holy of Holies, was seventeen feet and a half in length, parted off by a veil of the same costly materials and splendid colours with the rest of the hangings, and suspended by golden hooks from four wooden pillars, likewise overlaid with gold. A solemn gloom, save when the veil was partially lifted, prevailed in the Holy of Holies ; in the holy place the altar was continually fed with costly incense, and the splendid chandelier, seven-branched, wrought with knorps and flowers, illuminated it. Within the most sacred precinct, entered by the high-priest alone, stood nothing but the ark or coffer of wood, plated all over with gold, and surmounted by two emblematic figures of cherubim, combining the forms of the man, the lion, the eagle, and the ox. They stood face to face, at each extremity of the ark ; their wings were spread to form a kind of seat, whence the lid was called the mercy-seat, and might be considered as a throne on which the Shekinah, or Divine presence, rested, while the ark itself formed as it were the footstool. In the ark were deposited the two tablets of stone, on which the law was written. The ministering priests of the tabernacle had also " holy garments for glory and for beauty." To this office, Aaron and his sons were set apart. The high Y 2 324 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : priest wore, first a tunic of fine linen, which fitted closely without a fold to his person ; over which a rohe of blue, woven in one piece without sleeves, with a hole through which the head passed, likewise fitting close round the neck, with a rich border, and reaching to the feet, where the lower rim was hung with pome- granates and small bells of gold, which sounded as he moved. Above this was the ephod, made of blue, pur- ple, and scarlet thread, twisted with threads of gold ; consisting of two pieces, one hanging behind, the other before. From the hinder one which hung much lower, came a rich girdle, passing under the arms, and fas- tened over the breast. It had two shoulder-pieces, in which were two large beryl stones set in gold, on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes. From these shoulder-pieces came two gold chains, which fas- tened the breast-plate ; a piece of cloth of gold, a span square, in which twelve precious stones were set, in twelve rows, each engraved with the name of one of the tribes. Two other chains from the lower] corners, fas- tened the breast-plate to the lower part of the ephod. Upon the breast-plate was placed the mysterious Urim and Thummim. The most precise laws regulated the performance of sacrifices. Our limits preclude us from entering into these minute particulars, or into the typical meaning of the sacrificial law. We shall only remark that the sacrifices were either national or individual. Each morning and evening the smoke ascended in the name of the whole people, from the great brazen altar of burnt-offerings ; and on the sabbath two animals were slain instead of one. There were two particular sacri- fices or offerings from which even the poorest individual was not excluded. There was a regular scale of obla- tions, and the humblest might offer his small measure of flour. The sacrifices were partly propitiatory, and partly eucharistic, or thank-offerings. Such were the first-fruits. The Israelite might not reap the abundant harvest, with which God blessed his fertile fields, or THE ANCIENT JEWS. 325 gather in the purple vintage from the hill-side, without acknowledging his gratitude to the bounteous Giver. And lastly, they were expiatory ; each sin, whether committed ignorantly or guiltily, having its appointed sacrifice. One day in the year, the tenth day of the seventh month, was set apart as the great day of national expiation. First, a bullock was slain, and the blood sprinkled, not only in the usual places, but also within the Holy of Holies. Then two goats were chosen, lots cast upon them, the one assigned to the Lord as a sacrifice ; the other, on whose head the sins of the whole people were confessed, was taken beyond the camp, and sent away into the wilderness. It is here proper to give a brief notice of the three great institutions at which all the males of the Hebrew nation were commanded to appear before Jehovah. The feast of the Passover, comprehending that of unleavened bread, and commemorating the deliverance of the Jews, was ordained to be observed on the fifteenth day of the month, to continue seven days, and like all the other festivals, to begin in the evening, or at the going down of the sun. Every ceremony of this festival recalled the awful season when the angel of death passed over the Egyptian dwellings. On the first evening they tasted the bitter herbs, emblematic of the bitterness of slavery ; they partook of the sacrifice, with their loins girded as ready for their flight ; they ate only un- leavened bread, the bread of slavery, prepared in the hurry and confusion of their departure. During the fifty days, which elapsed after the Passover, the harvest was gathered in, and the Pentecost, the national harvest- home, summoned the Jews to commemorate the de- livery of the law, and the formation of the covenant which placed them in possession of the riches of Pales- tine. The joy was to *be generally di^Fused : '* Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow.'* 326 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : The third feast, that of tabernacles, took place in au- tumn, at the end of the vintage : " On the fifteenth day of the month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days. And ye shall take unto you, on the first day, the boughs of a goodly tree, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees and willows of the brook ; and ye shall rejoice unto the Lord your God seven days. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days, that your genera- tions may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." This celebration was of the most lively description, accompanied with great joy of heart. * If more exquisite music and more graceful dances ac- companied the gathering-in of the grapes on the banks of the Cephesus, the tabret, the viol, and the harp, which sounded in the vineyards of Hesbon and Eleale, were not wanting in sweetness and gaiety ; and instead of the frantic riot of satyrs and bacchanals, the rejoicing was chastened by the solemn religious recollection with which it was associated, in a manner remarkably pleas- ing and picturesque. The branches of trees were woven together in rude imitation of the tents in which the Israelites dwelt in the desert, and within these green bowers the people spent the whole week in festivity. The Feast of Trumpets had reference to the ancient mode of announcing the commencement of seasons and epochs. The inhabitants of Jerusalem w^ere apprised of the commencement of each month by the sound of musical instruments. "Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast- day : for this was a statute of Israel, a law of the God of Jacob." And as the civil year commenced on the first day of the moon in September, this festival was then distinguished by greater solemnity. The trumpets gave forth a louder sound, and the proper officer an- nounced that the age of the world was increased by another year. " In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of THE ANCIENT JEWS. 327 blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein ; but ye shall offer an offer- ing made by fire unto the Lord." The Jubilee occurred periodically after the lapse of forty-nine years. " And thou shalt number seven sab' baths of years unto thee, seven times seven years ; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound, in the tenth day of the seventh month ; in the day of atonement shalt thou make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto the inhabitants thereof : it shall be a jubilee unto you ; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall re- turn every man unto his own family." It began on the first day of the civil year of the Hebrews, and the seventh of the ecclesiastical ^that is, about the end of September. The first nine days were devoted to festive rejoicings ; the tenth day to solemn fasting, being the great day of atonement. ' From the beginning of the year,' says Maimonides, ' down to the day of expiation, the bondsmen were not liberated, neither did they serve their masters, nor yet were the inheritances restored. What then was done during that interval ? The bonds- men ate and drank and were merry, and every one of them put a crown upon his head. At length when the day of expiation was come, the elders of the Sanhedrim blew with their trumpets ; and instantly the bondmen became free, and inheritances were restored to their proper owners.' Besides these divinely-appointed anniversaries, the later Hebrews observed several others commemorative of certain great events recorded in their history. Such was the feast of dedication mentioned by St. John, and supposed to refer to the purification of the altar by Judas Maccabaeus, after its profanation by Antiochus, king of Syria. The restoration of the heavenly fire in the temple, after the return from Babylon, was likewise annually commemorated : this sacred flame had been 328 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! revived on the altar the day that Nehemiah performed sacrifice in the new building. The young women also '' went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year. On the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar, the Jew was reminded of his ancestors' triumph over the perfidious and cruel Haman ; and we likewise find, in Zechariah, an allusion to the " fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth ; " days of humiliation which probably recalled certain national calamities, such as the era of the captivity, and the time when the city and temple were destroyed. Besides the tabernacle-services, it has been remarked that a more ordinary kind of religious duty was per- formed at certain stations within the several tribes, in the intervals between the regular national feasts, pro- bably referring to the periodical return of the sabbaths and new moons. ' For this purpose the people seem to have repaired to elevated grounds, where they might more readily perceive the lunar crescent, and utter their customary expressions of gratitude and joy. This kind of adoration was connived at rather than authorised by the priests and levites, who found it impossible to check completely the propensity of the multitude, to perform their worship on the high hills, and under the green trees. Samuel, the prophet and judge, was at one time induced to build an altar to Jehovah on Ramah, which is called the high place ; and the same practice con- tinued under Solomon, " because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days." We have no precise information as to the epoch when the Jews first formed those meetings or congregations which are called synagogues, a name afterwards more frequently given to the buildings in which they were convened. The first allusion made to them in scripture is in the seventy-fourth Psalm, in which, describing the havoc made by the Assyrians, it is said, " they have burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land ; " we may infer from this that such edifices were common be- I THE ANCIENT JEWS. 329 fore the captivity ; and St. James directly tells us that ** Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath-day." It does not appear from the New Testament, that the synagogues had any peculiar forai. The building o:^ them was regarded as an act of piety, and they were erected within or without the city, generally in an ele- vated place, and were distinguished from the proseuchcB or oratories, by having roofs. Each had an altar, or rather table, on which the book of the law was opened ; and on the east side, there was an ark or chest, in which the volume of the law was deposited. The seats were so arranged, that the people always sat with their faces towards the elders, and the place where the law was kept ; and the elders sat with their backs to the ark, and their faces to the people. The seats of the latter, as being placed nearer the ark, were accounted the more holy ; whence they are termed in the New Testament the chief seats in the synagogues, so coveted by the Pharisees. The women were separated from the men, and sat in a gallery inclosed with lattices, so that they could distinctly see and hear all that passed in the synagogue, without being themselves exposed to view. The synagogue was, as often as possible, accompanied with a school for children, a Beth Midrask, or divinity school, and a Beth Din, or hall of judgment. The officers of the synagogue were the rulers who directed the whole services, and were usually three in number ; the angel of the church, or minister, who laboured in word and doctrine, who appointed the rea- ders, and saw that they read aright ; the deacons who superintended the contributions for charitable purposes, and likewise took care of the building and its contents ; the interpreter, who stood by the reader, and translated the portion of scripture from the Hebrew into the lan- guage then used ; to which we may add, the doctor or lecturer of the divinity school, with his interpreter. The following was the routine of the service. The angel, or minister, ascended the raised platform or pul- 330 THE LAND OF ISRAEL! pit, the people all standing in a devotional manner. Tlie liturgies or prescribed forms were at first few, but gradually became so much enlarged, as to constitute an intricate and prolonged service. Eighteen were re- peated every day, to which many additions were made. The worshippers covered their heads while they prayed, thereby professing their reverence, and their unworthi- ness to appear before God. Then followed the reading of certain portions of scripture of the law and the prophets ; after which the expounding of the scriptures, and the preaching from them. We shall extract from Calmet the following descrip- tion of the temple itself : ' The place chosen for erecting this magnificent structure was Mount Moriah, the summit of which originally was unequal and its sides irregular ; but it was an object of ambition with the Jews to level and extend it. This they effected, and during the second temple, it formed a square of 500 cubits, or 300 yards on each side, allowing, as is commonly done, 21,888 inches to the cubit. Almost the whole of this space was arched under ground, to prevent the possibility of pollution from secret graves ; and it was surrounded by a wall of excellent stone, 25 cubits, or 47 feet 7 inches high ; without which lay a considerable extent of flat and gently-sloping ground, which was occupied by the build- ings of the tower of Antonia, gardens and public walks. ' The plan and whole model of this structure was laid by the same divine architect as that of the taber- nacle, viz. God himself, and it was built much in the same form as the tabernacle, but was of much larger dimensions. The utensils for the sacred service were also the same as those used in the tabernacle, only several of them were larger, in proportion to the more spacious edifice to which they belonged. The founda- tions of this magnificent edifice were laid by Solomon in the year of the world 2992, and it was finished a. m. 8000, having occupied seven years and six months in the building. It was dedicated a. m. 3001, with peculiar THE ANCIENT JEWS. 331 solemnity, to the worship of Jehovah, who condescended to make it a place for the special manifestation of his glory, 2 Chron. v, vi, vii. " Also king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not he told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cheru- bim." The front or entrance to the temple was on the eastern side, and consequently facing the Mount of Olives, which commanded a noble prospect of the build- ing : the holy of holies, therefore, stood towards the west. The temple itself, strictly so called, which com- prised the portico, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies, formed only a small part of the sacred edifice, these being surrounded by spacious courts, chambers, and other apartments ; which were much more extensive than the temple itself. ' From the descriptions which are handed down to us of the temple of Solomon, it is utterly impossible to obtain so accurate an idea of its relative parts and their respective proportions, as to furnish such an account as may be deemed satisfactory to the reader. Hence we find no two writers agreeing in their descriptions. The following account may be sufficient to give us a general idea of the building. * The temple itself was 70 cubits long, the porch being 10 cubits (1 Kings vi. 3.) " And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house ; and ten was the breadth thereof before the house." The holy place, forty cubits, (verse 17.) " And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long." And the most holy place, twenty cubits, 2 Chron. iii. 8. " Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and alg-um-trees, out of Lebanon ; (for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon ;) and behold my servants shall be with thy servants." " The width of the porch, holy 332 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : and most holy places, were twenty cubits ;" 2 Cliron. iii. 8. " Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits." And the height over the holy and most holy places was thirty cubits ; 1 Kings vi. 2. " And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits ;" but the height of the porch was much greater, being no less than one hundred and twenty cubits, 2 Chron. iii. 4. " And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty, and he overlaid it within with pure gold," or four times the height of the rest of the building. To the north and south sides, and the west end of the holy and most holy places, or all around the edifice, from the back of the porch on the one side to the back of the porch on the other side, certain buildings were attached. These were called side -chambers, and consisted of three stories, each five cubits high, 1 Kings vi. 10. " And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high ; and rested on the house with timber of cedar ;" and joined to the wall of the temple, without. But what may seem singular is, that the lowest of these stories was five cubits broad on the floor ; the second six cubits ; and the third seven cubits, and yet the outer wall of them all was upright, verse 6. " The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the mid- dle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad : for without in the wall of the house he made narrow^ed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened to the walls of the house." The reason of this was, that the wall of the temple against which they leaned, had always a scarcement of a cubit at the height of every five cubits, to prevent the joints of these side chambers from being fixed in it. Thus the three stories THE ANCIENT JEWS. 833 of side-chambers, when taken together, were fifteen cubits high, and consequently reached exactly half the height of the side walls, and end of the temple ; so that there was abundance of space, above these, for the win- dows which gave light to the temple, verse 4. " And for the house he made windows of narrow lights." Josephus differs very materially from this in his descrip- tion ; for which we know not how to account, but by supposing that he has confounded the scripture account of Solomon's temple, with that of the temple after the captivity and of Herod. * In noticing the several courts of the temple, we naturally begin with the outer one, which was called the court of the Gentiles, and into which persons of all nations were permitted to enter. The approach to this was by the east gate, which was the principal gate of the temple. It was by far the largest of all the courts pertaining to the sacred building, and comprised a space of 188,991 superficial cubits, or four- teen English acres, one rood, twenty-nine poles, and thir- teen yards ; of which two-thirds lay to the south of the temple. It was separated from the court of the women by a wall of three cubits high, of lattice-work, so that persons walking here might see through it, as well as over it. This wall, however, was not on the same level with the court of which we are speaking, but was cut out of the rock six cubits above it, the ascent to which was by twelve steps. On pillars placed at equal distances in this wall were inscriptions in Greek, and Latin, to warn strangers and such as were unclean, not to proceed further on pain of death. It was from this court that our Saviour drove the persons who had established a cattle-market, for the purpose of supply- ing those with sacrifices who came from a distance. Matt. xxi. 12, 18. " And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-chan- gers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written. My house shall be called the 334 THE LAND OF ISRAEL l house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves." We must not overlook the beautiful pavement of variegated marble, and the piazzas, or covered walks with which this court was surrounded. Those on the east, west, and north sides, were of the same dimen- sions : but that on the south was much larger ; the porch called Solomon's (John x. 23. " And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch." Acts iii. 11. " And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wonder- ing,") was on the east side or front of the temple, and so called because it was built by this prince, upon a high wall 400 cubits from the valley of Kedron. ' The Court of Women,* called in Scripture, " The new court," (2 Chron. xx. 5. " And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court." Ezek. xlvi. 21. " Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court, and behold in every corner of the court there was a court,") was so designated by the Jews, not because none but women were permitted to enter it, but because it was their appointed place of worship, beyond which they might not go, unless when they brought a sacri- fice, in which case they went forward to the court of Israel. The gate which led into this court, from that of the Gentiles, was the beautiful gate of the temple, mentioned in Acts iii. 2 ; " And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beauti- ful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple," and so called, because the folding-doors, lintel and side-posts, were all overlaid with Corinthian brass. The court itself was 185 cubits square, having four gates, one on each side, and on three of its sides were piazzas, with galleries above them, whence could be seen what was passing in the great court. It was in this court of the women, called the Treasury, that our Saviour deli- THE ANCIENT JEWS. 835 vered his striking discourse to the Jews, related in John viii. 1 20. It was into this court also that the Pharisee and publican went to pray. Luke xviii. 10 IS. " Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself ; God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner : " and into which the lame man followed Peter and John, after he was cured ; the court of the women being the ordinary place of worship for those who brought no sacrifice. Acts iii. 8 : " And he leaping up, stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God." From thence, after prayers, he went back with them through the beautiful gate of the tem- ple, where he had been lying, and through the sacred fence into the court of the Gentiles, where, under the eastern piazza, or Solomon's porch, Peter delivered that sermon which converted five thousand. It was in the same court of the women that the Jews laid hold of Paul, when they judged him a violater of the temple by taking Gentiles within the sacred fence. Acts xxi. 26 : " Then Paul took the men, and the next day puri- fying himself with them, entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an off'ering should be offered for every one of them," &c. In this court, the high-priest, at the fast of expiation, read a portion of the law. Here also the king, on the sabbatical year, did the same at the feast of Tabernacles. The court of Israel was separated from the court of the women by a wall, thirty-two cubits and a half high on that side, but on the other only twenty-five. The reason of which diff^erence was, that as the rock on which the temple stood always became higher on ad- 336 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : vancing westward, the several courts naturally became elevated in proportion. The descent into the court was by a flight of fifteen steps, of a semicircular form, on which it is, by some, thought, that the Levites stood and sung the * Psalms of degrees,' (120 136) at the feast of Tabernacles. This gate is spoken of under several appellations in the Old Testament, but in the time of our Saviour it was known as the gate of Nicanor. It was here the leper stood to have his atonement made, and his cleansing completed. It was here they tried the suspected wife, by making her drink the bitter water ; and it was here likewise that women appeared after childbirth for purification. The whole length of the court, from east to west, was 187 cubits, and the breadth, from north to south, 135 cubits. This was divided into two parts ; one of which was the court of the Israelites, and the other, the court of the priests. The former was a kind of piazza surrounding the latter, under which the Israelites stood, Avhile their sacrifices were burning in the court of the priests. It had thir- teen gates, with chambers above them, each of which had its particular name and use. The space which was comprised in the court of the priests, was 165 cubits long, and 119 cubits wide, and was raised two cubits and a half above the surrounding court, from which it was separated by the pillars which supported the piazza, and the railing which was placed between them. 2 Kings xi. 8, 10 ; "And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand : and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain ; and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in. And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that were in the temple of the Lord." Within this court stood the brazen altar, on which the sacrifices were consumed, the molten sea, in which the priests washed, and the ten brazen lavers for washing the sacrifices ; also the vari- ous utensils and instruments for sacrificing, which are enumerated in 2 Chron. iv. THE ANCIENT JEWSi 337 It is necessary to observe here, that although the court of the priests was not accessible to all Israelites as that of Israel was to all the priests, yet they might enter it on three several occasions ; viz. to lay their hands on the animals which they offered, or to kill them, or to wave some part of them. And then their entrance was not by the east gate, and through the place where the priests stood ; but ordinarily by the north or south sides of the altar. In general, it was a rule that they never returned from this court by the same door that they entered. (Exod. xlvi. 9.) From the court of the priests, the ascent to the temple was by a flight of twelve steps, each half a cubit in height, which led into the sacred porch. Of the dimensions of this, as also of the sanctuary and holy of holies, we have already spoken. We shall, therefore, only observe here, that it was within the door of the porch, and in the sight of those who stood in the courts immediately before it, that the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, were placed 2 Chron. iii. 17 ; Ezek. xl. 49. We shall also quote the account of Josephus, which is minute as to the construction of the building. ' Now the temple, as I have already said, was built upon a strong hill. At first the plain at the top was hardly sufficient for the holy house and the altar, for the ground about it was very uneven, and like a preci- pice. But when King Solomon, who was the person that built the temple, had built a wall to it on its east side, there was then added one cloister founded on a bank cast up for it, and on other parts the holy house stood naked. But in future ages the people added new banks, and the hill became a larger plain. They then broke down the wall on the north side, and took in as much as sufficed afterwards for the compass of the entire temple. And when they had built walls on three sides of the temple round about, from the bottom of the hill, and had performed a work that was greater than could be hoped for, (in which work long ages were spent by them, as well as all their sacred treasures were 838 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : exhausted which were still replenished by those tributes w^hich were sent to God from the whole habitable earth ;) they then encompassed their upper courts with cloisters as well as they (afterward) did the lowest (court of the) temple. The lowest part of this was erected to the height of three hundred cubits, and in some places more; yet did not the entire depth of the foundations appear, for they brought earth and filled up the valleys, as being desirous to make them on a level with the narrow streets of the city ; wherein they made use of stones of forty cubits in magnitude ; for the great plenty of money they then had, and the liberality of the people, made this attempt of their' s to succeed to an incredible de- gree. And what could not be so much as hoped for as ever to be accomplished, was, by perseverance and length of time, brought to perfection. * Now for the works that were above these founda- tions ; these were not unworthy of such foundations : for all the cloisters were double, and the pillars to them belonging were twenty-five cubits in height, and sup- ported the cloisters. These pillars were of one entire stone each of them, and that stone was white marble, and the roofs were adorned with cedar, curiously graven. The natural magnificence and excellent polish, and the hannony of the joints in these cloisters, afforded a prospect that was very remarkable ; nor was it on the outside, adorned with any work of the painter or en- graver. The cloisters (of the outmost court,) were in breadth thirty cubits, while the entire compass of it was by measure six furlongs, including the tower of Antonia ; those entire couiis that were exposed to the air, were laid with stones of all sorts. When you go through these (first) cloisters, unto the second (court of the) temple, there was a partition made of stone all round, w^hose height was three cubits, and its construc- tion was very elegant ; upon it stood pillars, at equal dis- tances from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek and some in Roman letters, that no foreigner should go within the sanctuary ; for the second THE ANCIENT JEWS. 339 (court of the) temple was called the sanctuary, and was ascended to by fourteen steps from the first court. The court was four-square, and had a wall about it peculiar to itself : the height of its buildings, although it were on the outside forty cubits, was hidden by the steps, and on the inside that height was but twenty-five cubits, for it being built over against a higher part of the hill with steps, it was no farther to be entirely discerned within, being covered by the hill itself. Beyond these fourteen steps there was the distance of ten cubits : this was all plain ; whence there were other steps, each five cubits, which led to the gates, which gates on ithe north and south sides were eight, on each of these sides four, and of necessity two on the east. For since there was a partition built for the women on that side, as the proper place wherein they were to worship, there was a necessity for a second gate for them : this gate was cut out of its wall over against the first gate. There was also on the other sides one southern and one northern gate, through which was a passage into the court of the women : for as to the other gates, the women were not allowed to pass through them : nor when they went through their own gate could they go beyond their own wall. This place was allotted to the women of our own country, and of other countries, provided they were of the same nation, and that equally ; the western side of this court had no gate at all, but the wall was built entire on that side. But then the cloisters which were betwixt the gates extended from the wall inward, be- fore the chambers : for they were supported by very fine and large pillars. These cloisters were single, and, excepting in their magnitude, were no way inferior to those of the lower court. ' Now nine of these gates were on every side covered over with gold and silver, as were the jambs of their doors and their lintels : but there was one gate that was without the (inward court of the) holy house, which was of Corinthian brass, and greatly excelled those that were only covered over with silver and gold. Each Z 2 340 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! gate had two doors whose height was severally thirty cubits, and their breadth fifteen. However, they had large spaces within of thirty cubits, and had on each side rooms, and those, both in breadth and length, built like towers, and their height was above forty cu- bits. Two pillars did also support these rooms, and were in circumference twelve cubits. Now the magni- tude of the other gates were equal one to another, but that over the Corinthian gate, which opened on the east over against the gate of the holy house itself, was much larger ; for its height was fifty cubits, and its doors were forty cubits ; and it was adorned after a most costly manner, as having much richer and thicker plates of silver and gold upon them than the other. These nine gates had the silver and gold poured upon them by Alexander, the father of Tiberias. Now there were fifteen steps, which led away from the wall of the court of the women, to the greater gate ; whereas those that led thither from the other gates, were five steps shorter. '* * As to the holy house itself, which was placed in the midst (of the inmost court) that most sacred place of the temple, it was descended by twelve steps ; and in front its height and its breadth were equal, and each an hundred cubits, though it was behind forty cubits nar- rower, for on its front it had what may be styled shoulders on each side, that passed twenty cubits far- ther. Its first gate was seventy cubits high, and twen- ty-five cubits broad : but this gate had no doors ; for it represented the universal visibility of heaven, and that it cannot be excluded from any place. Its front was covered with gold all over, and through it the first part of the house, that was more inward, did all of it ap- pear ; which, as it was very large, so did all the parts about the more inward gate appear to shine to those that saw them ; but then, as the entire house was divided into two parts within, it was only the first part of it that opened to our view. Its height extended aU along to ninety cubits in height, and its length was THE ANCIENT JEWS. 341 fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty. But that gate which was at this end of the first part of the house, was, as we have already observed, all covered with gold, as was its whole wall about it : it had also golden vines about it, from which clusters of grapes hung as tall as a man's height. But then this house as it was divided into two parts, the inner part was lower than the appearance of the outer, and had golden doors of fifty-five cubits altitude, and sixteen in breadth ; but before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, em- broidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of colours without its mystical interpretation, but was a kind of image of the universe ; for by the scarlet there seemed to be enigmatically sig- nified fire, by the fine flax the earth, by the blue the air, and by the purple the sea ; two of them having their colours the foundation of this resemblance ; but the fine flax and the purple have their own origin for that foundation, the earth producing one, and the sea the other. This curtain had also embroidered upon it all that was mystical in the heavens, excepting that of the (twelve) signs representing living creatures. * When any persons entered into the temple, its floor received them. This part of the temple, therefore, was in height sixty cubits, and its length the same ; where- as its breadth was but twenty cubits : but still that sixty cubits in length was divided again, and the first part of it was cut off at forty cubits, and had in it three things that were very wonderful and famous among all mankind, the candlestick, the table (of shew bread) and the altar of incense. ' Now the seven lamps signified the seven planets ; for so many there were springing out of the candle- stick. Now the twelve loaves that were upon the table signified the circle of the zodiac and the year ; but the altar of incense, by its thirteen kinds of sweet smelling spices, with which the sea replenished it, signified that 842 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : God is the possessor of all things that are both in the uninhabitable and habitable parts of the earth, and that they are all to be dedicated to his use. But the inmost part of the temple of all was of twenty cubits. Tliis was also separated from the outer part by a veil. In this there was nothing at all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to be seen by any ; and was called Holy of Holies. Now, about the sides of the lower part of the temple there were little houses, with passages out of one into another : there were a great many of them, and they were of three stories high ; there were also entrances on each side into them from the gate of the temple. But the superior part of the temple had no such little houses any farther, because the temple was there narrower, and forty cubits liigher, and of a smaller body than the lower parts of it. Thus we collect that, the whole height, including the sixty cubits from the floor, amounted to an hundred cubits. * Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men's minds or their eyes ; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight ; and at the first rising of the sun reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it, to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were coming to it, at a distance, like a moun- tain covered with snow ; for, as to those parts that were not gilt, they were exceeding white. On its top it had spikes, with sharp points to prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its stones some of them were forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth. Before this temple stood the altar ; fifteen cubits high, and equal both in length and breadth ; each of which dimensions was fifty cubits. The figure it was built in was a square, and it had corners like horns ; and the passage up to it was by an insensible acclivity. It was formed without any iron tool, nor did any such iron tool so much as touch it at any time. THE ANCIENT JEWS. 843 There was also a wall of partition about a cubit in height, made of fine stone, and so as to be grateful to the sight ; this encompassed the holy house, and the altar, and kept the people that were on the outside off from the priests.' The learning and schools of the Hebrews, previous to the Babylonish captivity, are, in many respects, in- volved in obscurity. The enjoined existence of Leviti- cal towns in every tribe, as before observed, secured a hereditary knowledge both of the civil and spiritual enactments of the law. From these seminaries flowed whatever literary acquirement was necessary either for private or professional life. The schools of the pro- phets were seminaries, where such young men as looked forward to certain offices now analogous to the clerical, received instruction ; maintained in part at the public expense, and superintended by properly qualified in- dividuals. Poetry and music seem to have been par- ticularly studied. We find in the book of Samuel those educated at such an establishment performing on psal- teries, tabrets, and harps ; and in the first book of Chronicles, that the sons of Asaph, Herman, and Jedu- thun, prophesied with harps, psalteries, and cymbals. In the language of pagan antiquity, a prophet and a poet were synonimous terms among the Jews ; the latter, besides engaging in praise and thanksgiving, also ex- pounded and enforced the principles of the Mosaic law, exhorting and entreating those to whom they addressed themselves. To be a prophet, therefore, as the expres- sion was employed by the Hebrews, it was not neces- sary, in every case, to be endowed with the power of predicting future events. Those holy men, through whom the Almighty was pleased to reveal his purposes concerning the church, were however usually selected from this order, though we find Daniel and Amos among the exceptions. The "false prophets" men- tioned are those who, without inspiration, ventured to foretel the supposed issue of events and to point out the fortunes of individuals and communities. Their 344 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! insidious advice often misled the people ; and some of tliem even arrogated the power of realizing the good and evil which they prognosticated. It may not be out of place for the instruction of young readers, to mention that of the sixteen inspired prophets, whose writings are contained in the Old Tes- tament, a division has been made into two classes, the greater and the minor, according to the extent of their works and the importance of their subjects. The for- mer are four in number : Isaiah, who prophesied under Uzziah, and till the first year of Manasseh ; Jeremiah, who flourished a short time before the captivity, and saw his predictions fulfilled ; Ezekiel, who had been carried into the Babylonish territory before the days of Zedekiah, and who began to discharge his office among the Jewish captives, in the fifth year after Jehoiakim was taken ; and Daniel, who, when only twelve years old, was reduced to a dependant situation at a foreign court. Of the twelve minor prophets, Jonah, Hosea, Amos, and Micah, preceded the ruin of the Israelitish state ; Nahum and Joel between that period, and the captivity of Judah ; Habakkuk, Obadiah, and Zephan- iah, while Jerusalem was taken, and during a portion of the captivity ; Haggai, Zecharias, and Malachi, after the return from Babylon. The early Hebrews, generally, do not seem to have been a learned people ; nor does the accomplishment of writing seem to have been common in the days of David and Solomon. Michaelis conjectures ' that Joab, the captain of the host, and sister's son of the inspired monarch himself, could not handle the pen ; else he would not for the purpose of concealing from the bearer the real object for which he was sent, have found it requisite to tax his ingenuity, by putting the detail of Uriah's death into the mouth of a messenger to be de- livered verbally to the king.' Physics, or Natural Philosophy has secured but littler j attention in the east ; but a knowledge of the animal,) vegetable, and mineral kingdoms was always an objectj THE ANCIENT JEWS. 345 of interest. The author of the book of Job was inti- mately acquainted with the works of nature ; to which study the agricultural and pastoral habits of the Jews were favourable ; and the writings of their sacred poets prove how much they loved to prosecute it. Solomon also " spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Leba- non, even to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, and also of beasts and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes." Astronomy, however, chiefly furnished a subject of delightful and pious meditations ; nor is it probable that the schools of the prophets were unac- quainted with those profound calculations which deter- mine the distance, magnitude, and periodical revolu- tions of the heavenly bodies. The primary application of this science, as to the division of time, is indicated by the movement of the heavenly bodies at definite periods. The Jews, in their calculations referred to the move- ments of the sun and moon, availing themselves of the natural measure which each supplied. Their year was lunisolar, consisting of twelve calendar months, with an intercalation to make the whole agree with the na- tural course of the sun. It was further distinguished as being either common or ecclesiastical ; the former beginning at the autumnal equinox, the season at which they supposed the world to have been created ; the lat- ter commenced six months earlier, the period of de- liverance from Egyptian bondage. Their months, which'commenced with the new moon, were, previous to the captivity, named according to their numerical order ; but the following terms were employed to denote them after their return from Babylon : Nisan, or Abib (a name descriptive of the state of vegetation, the corn being in ear and the fruit-trees blossoming) March, Zif, or lyar April. Sivan May. Tammuz ...... June. Ab . . . . . . . July. 846 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Elul August. Ethanim, or Tisri .... September. Bui, or Marchesvan .... October. Chisleu November. Tebeth December, Sebat ..*... January. Adar February. Half of tliese months included thirty days, the others twenty-nine, in all three hundred and fifty-four. Thus eleven days and six hours were wanting, to supply which an additional month of twenty-two days, was introduced every second year, and one of twenty-three days, every fourth year ; as near an approximation being thus made to the true estimate as was possible before the establishment of the Gregorian calendar. They divided the space between sun-rise and sun-set into twelve equal parts ; the same rule applied to the night ; so that the hours of both day and night varied in length according to the season of the year. After the spirit of prophecy had ceased, various re- ligious sects sprung up among the Jews. Of these the most important was the sect of the Pharisees, who dis- tinguished themselves by their zeal for the tradition of the elders, which they supposed was derived from the same fountain as the written word itself ; pretending that both were delivered to Moses from Mount Sinai, and were of equal authority. From their rigorous ob- servance of these traditions they counted themselves holier than other men ; and their name arose from their separating themselves from those whom they deemed sinners orjprofane, refusing to eat or drink with them. This sect, whose origin is uncertain, abounded in our Saviour's time, and were held by the common people in the greatest esteem and veneration. The grand repository of their traditions is the Talmud. In opposition to the Sadducees they held the resurrection of the dead, and the existence of angels and spirits ; though from the account given of them by Josephus, THE ANCIENT JEWS. 347 it would appear that their notion of the immortality of the soul was the Pythagorian metempychosis ; that the soul, after the dissolution of one body, winged its flight into another ; and that these removals were perpetuated and diversified through an infinite succession, the soul animating a sound and healthful body, or a diseased and deformed frame, according to its conduct in a prior state of existence. They interpreted most literally cer- tain of the Mosaic laws, and distorted their meaning so as to favour their own philosophical system. They placed all religion in ceremonial observances, without any regard to purity of heart ; they made outward and ostentatious show of piety and charity ; they made the law of God of none effect by their traditions. They were also distinguished by many peculiarities of dress. As one extreme commonly leads to the opposite, the Sadducees presented a remarkable contrast to the Pharisees. They are said to have derived their name from their founder Sadoc. The sect arose in the time of Antigonus, of Socho, president of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and teacher of the law in the chief divinity school. Antigonus having often inculcated in his lec- tures, that men ought not to obey God in a servile man- ner, but only out of filial love and fear, two of his scholars, Sadoc and Balthus, thence inferred that no rewards existed but in the present life ; and therefore, separating from the school of their master, they held that there was no resurrection nor future state, neither angel nor spirit, and that the soul of man perishes with the body. They denied an overruling providence, and held that God had made man absolutely master of all his actions, without assistance to good, or restraint from evil. They were as careless and profligate as the Pharisees were rigorous, in their outward conduct ; agreeing in many respects with the ancient Epicureans. Though inconsiderable in point of numbers, this de- ficiency was compensated by the dignity and eminence of those who embraced their tenets. Several of them held the high priest's office. 348 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. The Essenes differed in many particulars, both of doctrine, and practice from the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were divided into two classes : the practical, who mixed with society, and some of whom were married, dwelling in cities and their neighbourhoods, and occu- pied in husbandry and other innocent employments ; and the contemplative, also called Therapeutae or phy- sicians, from their application principally to the cure of diseases of the soul, were devoted wholly to meditation, and avoided living in great towns as unfavourable to a contemplative life. Both classes were exceedingly ab- stemious, exemplary in their moral deportment, averse from profane swearing, and rigid in their observance of the Sabbath. They held, among other tenets, the im- mortality of the soul, (but denied the resurrection of the body) the existence of angels, and a state of future rewards and punishments ; and believed every thing to be ordered by an eternal chain of causes. Some of them held the possibility of appeasing the deity by sacrifices, though different from that of the Jews ; others main- tained that no offering was acceptable to God, but that of a serene and composed mind, devoted to the con- templation of divine things. They regarded the law of Moses as an allegorical system of spiritual and myste- rious truths, and in its explicative renounced all regard to the outward meaning. At least such is the account given of them by Josephus ; we may perhaps doubt the accuracy of some of its particulars, especially if we agree with a talented divine of the present day, that under the name of Essenes, the early Christians are described ; an opinion supported by him in so erudite and acute a manner as to be well worthy the attention of all persons interested in this remarkable and myste- rious sect. CHAPTER IX. HISTORY OF THE JEWS, PROM THE FALL OF JERU- SALEM TO THE PRESENT TIME. The history of the Jews after the final destruction of Jerusalem, is an almost unbroken tale of misery ; the faint and temporary gleams of light resting upon the fortunes of the fallen race only adding to the predomi- nant gloom of the picture. Nor is it easy to arrange their subsequent history satisfactorily. Their political existence as a separate kingdom Was annihilated, Judea was the portion of strangers, the capital was destroyed, the royal race nearly extinct, the temple utterly de- molished, and the high priesthood buried beneath its ruins. The sole connecting link in the subsequent his- tory of the Jews, is their imperishable love to the re- ligion of their fathers. The historian must in fact col* lect from every country of the globe the traditions often incomplete and scanty which mark the exis- tence of the Jews in Asia, Africa, and Europe, where, still a separate and distinct race, refusing to mingle their blood with any other, they dwell in families and communities of their own ; the principle of national unity kept up, though broken into widely-separated parts. To the materials gathered concerning their varied fortunes, the ordinary rules of historic arrange- ment do not apply ; and to obtain a complete idea of the ever- varying fortunes of this wonderful people, not only in dififerent kingdoms, but in different parts of the 350 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : same kingdom at the same time, connected as they are with mutations of national policy, and local and tem- porary causes, would, in fact, require the study of uni- versal history. Almost all that we can propose within our narrow limits is to arrange the more important particulars of their destiny under a few general heads. The result of such an attempt would be to present us with a most interesting object of contemplation. A people in whose hearts the ordinary feelings of patriot- ism, so productive of good motives to action in the na- tives of each separate country, is supplied as a bond of connection by the want of any country under heaven which they can now call their own, and a passionate yearning after the land which their fathers possessed, and which, though now profaned by the spoilers of Judah, will, they conceive, yet once again be the theatre of marvellous transactions, when the Promised One will be revealed to gather his afflicted and scattered children, and to make Sion once more the praise and glory of the earth. A people who have clung to their faith with tenacity proportioned to the efforts made by others to compel them to renounce it, ' a tenacity which seems to have incorporated itself with the very essence of their being ; ' a people, who, wherever placed, in counte- nance, in mental character, in customs, laws, language, and literature, retain indelible marks of their origin ; whose every recollection of the past and hope of the future have but one centre ; who, while with marvellous pliancy accommodating themselves to the most diverse soils, climates, gradations of manners, civilization, and forms of government ; yet, ' with inflexible pertinacity, practise their ancient usages, such as circumcision, ab- stinence from unclean meats, eating no animal food which has not been killed by a Jew, &c. rarely inter- marrying with other nations, observe the fasts and fes- tivals of their law, and assemble, whenever they are numerous enough, or dare to do so, in their synagogues for public worship.' Generally strangers and sojour- ners, without the rights of citizenship, however long* FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 851 they may have been established in a land, dwelling apart, though in many of the aflfairs of life mingling with those around them ; adopting the language of each country ; yet still preserving the Hebrew as their na- tional, their sacred tongue, in which their services are conducted and their holy books read. As remarkable too, though their history be too often engraved in char- acters of blood, and their only sign of vitality the cry extorted by the barbarous cruelty of their oppressors^ though ' only appearing in the annals of the world to be oppressed, robbed, massacred, and plundered,' they still pursue a course of industry, traffic, and accumula- tion of gain, in barbarous times they were the sole me- dium of communication between distant countries, often plundered, yet gathering the ruins of their for- tune and increasing their stores again to present a mark for rapacity, they are everywhere seen ; and though slaughtered in multitudes, springing from an * undying stock,' the possessors of a * national immor- tality.' We have already alluded to the condition of the Jews in Palestine during the time immediately following the fall of their city. For forty years there is nothing of very prominent interest in their history. Vespasian and his successors, who seemed to have felt considerable jealousy, and under whom individuals were frequently subjected to indignity and hardship, imposed a tax on them. Considerable communities were suffered to settle in Palestine, though at a distance from Jerusalem ; and they seem on the whole to have enjoyed comparative security. But when Trajan's reign commenced, they appear, in every quarter, where they were settled, to have exhibited a restless and insubordinate spirit. Tak- ing advantage of the emperor's being engaged in a Par- thian war, the Jews of Egypt, Cyprus, and even of Me- sopotamia, took up arms ; in the war, the insurgents were defeated at every point ; and, according to their own computation, lost more than half a million of men mm on the field of battle, or in the sack of cities. By I' 352 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I Adrian's orders, they were expelled from Cyprus, with very great slaughter, and prohibited from ever again visiting that island. The accession of Adrian was attended by unfavour- able prospects for the Jews. His edicts against circum- cision, the reading of the law, and the observance of the Sabbath, and for establishing a Roman colony in Jeru- salem, were submitted to with ill-concealed reluctance ; and in 129, the whole of Judea arose in rebellion. The leader of the new revolt was Barcochab. It was an* nounced to the miserable Jews in the depth of their wretchedness, when stern and rigid penalties forbade the initiation of their children into the family of God ^when their race seemed in danger of extinction when the pagans were about to pollute Sion with a permanent residence ; in the midst of this woe in the darkest hour of the children of Abraham it was announced that the Messiah had appeared in their leader, had come in power and glory, his name, the " Son of the Star," announcing the fulfilment of Balaam's prophecy. Nor were the signs of his advent unworthy (it was said) of such an exalted personage ; for he breathed flames from his mouth, symbolical of that strength which would wither up the armies of their tyrants. Above all, the greatest of the Rabbins, the most profoundly learned of all Israel, an infallible depository of truth. Rabbi Akiba, of whom strange and wonderful tales are recorded, ac- knowledged the claim of Barcochab, and joining his fortunes, rejoiced in the dignity of being his standard- bearer. Barcochab, thus seconded, was soon at the head of a powerful army ; amounting according to the Jewish annalist, to more than 200,000 men. In the absence of the legions, he gained the capital ; and before the arrival of Julius Severus, with a sufficient force, he had seized fifty strong castles, and many unwalled towns. Severus found efficacious against the Jews the same desultory warfare which he had used against the barbarous inha- bitants of Britain ; taking their strongholds in detail, cutting ofi^ their supplies, attacking their posts with FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 363 overwhelming numbers, and without coming to a gene- ral engagement. Jerusalem was taken, after a hard contest, and every remaining building razed to the ground. At length, the strategic art of Severus, and the discipline of the Roman troops, brought the war to a close. The insurgents had now lost every city except Either, where Barcochab commanded in person.; it was stormed, many of both sides having fallen ; Barcochab was killed, and his head carried in triumph to the Ro- man camp. The Rabbins give a dreadful and exaggerated account of the ensuing carnage : * More are said to have fallen at Bither than escaped with Moses from Egypt. The horses waded up to their bits in carnage. Blood flowed so copiously, that the stream carried stones weighing four pounds into the sea, according to their account, forty miles distant. The dead covered eighteen square miles, and the inhabitants of the neighbouring region had no need to manure their ground for seven years.' The less imaginative and more trustworthy Dio Cassius, relates, that during the war, 580,000 fell by the sword alone, exclusive of those who perished by famine, dis- ease, and fire. Judea was laid waste ; wolves and hyenas ran howling through the desolate streets. A fair was held under a celebrated Terebinth, under which tradition reported that Abraham had pitched his tent : to this and other places the Jews were driven in droves of thousands, and sold as cheap as horses. A dreadful fate awaited Rabbi Akiba. He was conducted to be examined by the savage Turnus Rufus ; he recollected, amidst the questions proposed to him by the scowling Roman, that it was the hour of prayer ; regardless of the presence of the legionaries and their commander, of the life or death which the trial involved, he calmly knelt to his devotions, and offered them in the custo- mary manner. Though tormented by raging thirst, in the prison, the scanty supply of water was reserved for his ablutions. He was barbarously flayed alive, and then slain. No mercy was shown to the Rabbins, for 3 A 354 THE LAND OP ISRAEL ! whom, as the instigators of the revolt, search was made in every quarter. One who was found expounding the law was buried alive with his book. A prohibition, under penalty of death, had been issued against filling up the number of the great Synagogue, or Sanhedrim, but it was violated by Judah, the son of Barak, who Secretly nominated others in a mountain-glen, whither he had fled ; he was pierced in eveiy part by the spears of a party of soldiers sent to surprize him. Under Antoninus Pius we find the Jaws restored to nearly all their former privileges, subject only to the prohibition of proselytizing. While excluded from Je- rusalem, they were allowed to form and maintain con- siderable establishments, both in the provinces and Italy ; they enjoyed municipal honours in common with other Roman citizens, together with exemption from many burdensome and expensive offices. They were permitted to erect new synagogues in the chief cities, and the solemnization of their peculiar rites was undisturbed. To this period we must refer the division of the eastern and western Jews into two great spiritual monarchies, the patriarchates of Tiberias and Babylon. Considerable obscurity rests upon the origin of both these celebrated schools ; and of the mixed titles of the patriarch of Tiberias and Prince of the Captivity, ap- pointments which, for a lengthened period, constituted a spiritual and political bond of union among the Jews. ' In regard to the origin of the patriarchate of Tiberias, the tradition among the Jews themselves is, that the Sanhedrim, after moving from Jerusalem, settled at Jamnia, and finally fixed their abode upon the banks of the Lake Gennesareth, where their supremacy was acknowledged as of divine appointment, their chief or president exercising the authority of a spiritual head over the Jews in the provinces of the Roman empire. He was acknowledged as their patriarch or pontiff^. An annual contribution was raised for him by the dispersed brethren, and his legates or apostles visited every syna- gogue, bearing his mandates, and deciding in all ques- FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 865 tions that were brought before them. To this new form of government a legal sanction was given by the Roman emperors, and it continued in existence till near the beginning of the fifth century. As the law was still made to extend to every moment of time, and to every variety of thought and action, with a burthensome and perplexing minuteness, and no memory could retain the multitude of statutes which were prescribed, and difficulties were constantly arising as to the duty re- quired in new combinations of circumstances, the Jew- ish lawyers continued to possess an unbounded power over the consciences of the people. And as it was in- dispensable that all the Rabbins should agree in their decisions, reference was constantly necessary to the spi- ritual patriarch, so long as the traditionary law was not committed to writing, and was to be found only in the de- cisions of the patriarch and his senate. The publication of the Talmud, though it exalted the character of those patriarchs by whom the work was undertaken, was cal- culated to diminish the influence of the patriarchate, as it took away the necessity of appeal from the inferior courts, by affording every Rabbi the means of giving a just decision. This must be considered as the chief cause of the fall of the patriarchate at Tiberias, which took place about the beginning of the fifth century ; though other circumstances contributed. The exportation of the annual tribute from Rome was prohibited by the Emperor Honorius ; by a law of Theodosius, the title of prophet was taken from the patriarch Gamaliel ; and, upon the death of that individual, though the office was not abolished, its authority being destroyed, no succes- sor was found, and the power which had been exercised by the patriarchs, passed into the hands of the Rabbi- nical aristocracy.' This patriarchate was solely of a spiritual nature ; that of Babylon combined temporal authority with the spiritual, and presided over all the Babylonian Jews, or those between the Tigris and Euphrates ; a colony whose numbers were much augmented by the influx of fugi- 2 A 2 356 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I tives from the West during the Jewish commotions in the reign of Adrian. Till some time after the acquisi- tion of authority by the Rabbins, these colonists were less distinguished than their brethren in the West from the people among whom they dwelt ; for so long as the temple remained, they contributed to its support, pay- ing also an additional tax to the rulers of the country in which they resided. The management of this latter taxation was entrusted to one of their own chiefs, with the title of Resch Glutha, chief of the colonists, more commonly known by the title of Prince of the Capti- vity, whose authority was at first exclusively temporal, all matters of faith and worship being referred to the decision of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem. After the city was destroyed, the patriarch and his senate were en- gaged in a struggle to prevent the attempt to cast oflF dependence upon the schools of Palestine ; but gradu- ally the Resch Glutha established his independence, on account both of the inconvenience and delay attendant upon decisions sought in a distant country, and of the increasing fame of the schools of Nisibis and Napardea. The Prince of the Captivity organized a court resem- bling that of Tiberias ; and claiming to be the lineal descendent of David, exercised authority over religious as well as temporal matters, holding the rabbis in com- plete subjection. 'From our ignorance of the state of the East beyond Persia, the extent of his dominions cannot be ascertained. His subjects consisted of shep- herds and husbandmen, artisans, and merchants ; of thej latter many were wealthy. They do not seem to hav( been subjected to persecution, and, in the enjoyment of peace, the interests of learning flourished. Schools rose rapidly in different parts of his dominions ; and to one of these we are indebted for the Talmud of Jerusalei which has exercised such an influence on the Jewisl people in all succeeding times. The increasing numbei of the schools, and of the learned men proceeding froi them, gradually lessened the influence of the Rescl Glutha, though the office continued in existence till thi FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, 857 middle of the eleventh century, when it was suppressed by the tyranny of one of the caliphs.' Though a vassal of the King of Persia, the Prince of the Captivity maintained an almost regal state. The ceremony of his installation is thus described by the historian of the Jews, who has found in it a congenial theme, and whose eloquence and vivid descriptions have so much adorned his subject : ' The spiritual heads of the people, the masters of the learned schools, the elders, and the people, assembled in great multitudes within a stately chamber, adorned with rich curtains, in Babylon, where, during his days of splendour, the Resch Glutha fixed his residence. The prince was seated on a lofty throne. The heads of the schools of Surd and Pumbeditha were on his right hand and left. These chiefs of the learned men then delivered an ad- dress, exhorting the new monarch not to abuse his power ; he was called to slavery rather than to sove- reignty, being the prince of a captive people. On the next Thursday, he was inaugurated by the laying on of hands, and the sound of trumpets, and acclamations. He was escorted to his palace with great pomp, and re- ceived magnificent presents from all his subjects. On the Sabbath, all the principal people assembled before his house, he placed himself at their head, and, his face covered with a silken veil, proceeded to the Synagogue. Benedictions and hymns of thanksgiving announced his entrance. They then brought him the Book of the Law, out of which he read the first line, afterwards he addressed the assembly, with his eyes closed out of re- spect. He exhoi-ted them to charity, and set the exam- ple by offering liberal alms to the poor. The ceremony closed with acclamations, and prayers to God, that, under the new prince, he would be pleased to put an end to their calamities. The prince gave his blessing to the people, and prayed for each province, that it might be preserved from war and famine. He concluded his orisons in a low voice, lest his prayer should be re- peated to the jealous ears of the native monarch, as he 358 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : prayed for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, which could not rise but on the ruins of their empire. The prince returned to his palace, when he gave a splendid banquet to the chief persons of the community. After that day he lived in a sort of stately oriental seclusion, never quit- ting his palace, except to go to the schools of the learned, where, as he entered, the whole assembly rose and con- tinued standing, till he took his seat. He sometimes paid a visit to the native sovereign in Bagdad. This probably refers to a somewhat later period. On these great occasions his imperial host sent his own chariot for his guest ; but the Prince of the Captivity dared not accept the invidious distinction ; he walked in humble and submissive modesty behind the chariot. Yet his own state was by no means wanting in splendour : he was arrayed in cloth of gold ; fifty guards marched before him ; all the Jews, who met him on the way, paid their homage, and fell behind into his train. He was received by the eunuchs, who conducted him to the throne, while one of his officers, as he marched slowly along, distri- -^ buted gold and silver on all sides. As the Prince ap- ' proached the imperial throne, he prostrated himself on the ground, in token of vassalage. The eunuchs raised him, and placed him on the left hand of the sovereign, After the first salutation, the prince represented the grievances, or discussed the affairs of his people ! * The condition of the Jews was affected in a marked manner by the establishment of Christianity as the re- ligion of the empire, the irruption of the northern bar barians, and the rise and progress of Mahommedanism Some of the subjects of the first Christian emperora complained of the lenity and forbearance their sovereigns showed to the Jews. Their prejudices were offended by Constantine's sufi'ering them to hold the privileges of Roman citizenship, and by the Rabbis being put oa an equality with the Christian clergy, so far as regarded the exemption from civil and military offices. But ChriS' tians were prohibited from embracing Judaism, the con Yerts from which were sheltered from the resentment o: FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 359 their countrymen. The darkening of the spirit of the times was denoted by the new and more severe laws of Constantius ; a severity probably provoked by the in- temperate conduct of the Jews themselves ; for those of Alexandria had joined the Arians, and shared in their desperate excesses. Another pretext for exactions and oppression was aflForded by an insurrection in Judea, which ended in the destruction of Dio Caesareo. Heavy burdens and taxes were imposed upon them ; they were forbidden under pain of death, to possess Christian slaves, or to marry Christian women ; Adrian's inter- dict, prohibiting their approach to Jerusalem, was re- newed. We may infer from their heavy burdens, and their possession of Christian slaves, that they possessed considerable wealth, and the necessity of the enactment against their wedding Christian wives, shows, that, in some ranks, the animosity between the two religions had been considerably abated. The hatred of Julian against the Christian faith prompted him to look fa- vourably upon the Jews ; but his attempt to rebuild Jerusalem was unsuccessful. During the decline of the Roman empire, as Christi- anity acquired a more commanding influence, the Jews sometimes became a subject of contention between the Church and the throne. As useful and profitable sub- jects, favourable feelings were awakened in the sove- reign towards them, while the hate of a bigoted portion of the churchmen was gathering strength. Maximus had ordered a synagogue, wantonly burned at Rome, to be rebuilt at the public expense. A similar edict was issued by Theodosius the Great upon a like occasion ; he commanded the Bishop of Callinicum to superintend the carrying of this work into effect. On this, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, kindled into a flame of violent indig- nation. He addressed a letter to the emperor, proclaim- ing, that while he disapproved of such outrages as the burning of synagogues, inasmuch as priests ought to be promoters of peace, and discountenancers of disturb- ance ; yet, as a Christian bishop, he could not consci- 860 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : entiously assist in building a temple for the use of the circumcised. * Either the bishop will resist or comply ; he must be a sinner or a martyr. Perhaps he may be tempted, by the hopes of martj'^rdom, falsely to assert his concurrence in the destruction of the synagogue. Noble falsehood ; I, myself, would willingly assume the guilt, I, I say, have set this synagogue in flames, at least in so far that I have urged on all, that there should be noplace left where Christ is denied !' After designating the synagogue a dwelling of perfidy a house of impiety a receptacle of insanity he concluded with mingled ex- postulation and bitter invective, * This shall be the in- scription of the edifice " A Temple of Ungodliness, built from the plunder of the Christians." ' Theodosius was compelled to yield ; these and other ecclesiastical thun- ders shook his firmness ; but, on his death-bed, his bet- ter feelings so far revived, that he issued an edict for full toleration to the Jews, and condemned to severe punishment all who should burn or plunder their syna- gogues. Meanwhile, the power of the patriarchate manifested obvious symptoms of decline. Jews appealed to heathen tribunals, not only to decide their litigations against the Christians, but even an appeal against the unjust pro- cedures of their own judicial authorities. Those under sentence of excommunication had recourse to pagan judges, and even employed bribery to procure reinstate- ment in the rights of the synagogue. A law of Theo- dosius recognized the power of the patriarchs to visit with punishment the refractory members of their own community ; and the interference of the prefects was prohibited. The suUenness of the Jewish character was aggravated by the darkening clouds of ignorance and barbarism, which surrounded them ; the general standard of manners was sinking, and the Jews did not rise above it. The more intemperate and bigoted mem- bers of the synagogue, testified by insult or violence their sense of the depression and degradation brought upon them by the Church. About the commencement PROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. S61 of the fifth century great offence was taken at the man- ner in which the Jews celebrated the feast of Purim, and their deliverance under Esther. Not only did thej' beat the benches of the synagogue with stones and mallets, uttering hideous cries at the mention of the hated name of Haman, but they showed publicly their sense of the manner in which their enemies ought to be treated, by erecting a gibbet, upon which hung an effigy of Haman, which was treated with every kind of indignity. The Christians construed this into a pro- fane, though covert parody on the crucifixion : the gib- bet indeed was said to be sometimes made in the form of a cross, on which the body was suspended. The two parties came frequently into violent collision ; till these spectacles were prohibited by a law of Theodosius the Second. Violent tumults arose in many places, and synagogues were set on fire. The greatest dissensions arose at Inmestar, between Chalcis and Antioch, where some Jews, in the heat of intoxication, uttered blas- phemies and mockeries against the name of Christ ; and in the height of their frenzy, erected a cross, and fastened to it a Christian boy, whom they scourged so unmercifully, that he died. Though these offenders were visited with condign punishment, feelings of ha- tred and animosity rankled in the breasts of the Chris- tians. Some years afterwards, the inhabitants of An- tioch rose and plundered a synagogue ; but, by the in- terference of the Roman governor, and the intercession of Simon Stylites, the hermit of the pillar, the move- ment was put down. Some incidents which occurred at this period in the island of Minorca, present us with a curious picture of the times. The Christians of that place having burnt the synagogue, were anxious to compel the Jews to submit to baptism. The occurrence is related by the l^1l)ishop himself. ' The pious Severus was sorely grieved, that in an island where, though more useful ani- [inals abounded, wolves and foxes were not permitted L]to exist; where, though snakes and scorpions were 362 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I found, yet, miraculously he would suppose, they were deprived of their venom, the Jews should be so numer- ous and wealthy, in the two largest towns of the island, -^particularly in Magona, now Mahon. Long had he desired to engage in warfare against the unbelieving race. He was at length encouraged to hope for vic- tory by the arrival of the relics of the Martyr Stephen, which were left in the island by the celebrated Orosius.* In a short time the conflict began, and perpetual dispu- tations took place ; the Christians under the bishop, the Jews under Theodorus, a learned scholar in the rabbinnical lore. According to the bishop, while his followers thought only of persuasion, and the efficacy of St. Stephen's relics, the Jews stored up in their synagogue the carnal weapons of stones, clubs, arrows, and other implements of defence. Two visions en- couraged this man of episcopal authority to march with his flock to the place, where he issued a summons of defiance to the Jews, to encounter him in the church. The Jews would enter no unclean place on the sabbath ; the bishop off'ered to remove to the synagogue ; still the Jews declined, but flocked in crowds around the house in which the bishop was. He taxed them, though gently, with having concealed arms in the synagogue, which they denied, offering to prove their sincerity by an oath. 'No need of oaths,' said the bishop, 'let us satisfy our own eyes ; ' and forthwith proceeded thither wdth all his followers, singing from the ninth Psalm, " Their memory hath perished with a loud noise ; but the Lord endureth for ever : " a strain in which he was joined by the Jews, who attached to it their own meaning. Some Jewish women having thrown stones from the windows, a disturbance speedily arose ; the bishop's ardent followers would not be restrained. The only blood shed was that of a Christian who, endeavouring to purloin some valuable articles, had his head broken by a stone cast by his own friends ; but the Christians having set the synagogue and its furniture on fire, re- moved the books of the law and the silver vessels. The FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 863 plate was restored, but the Christians carried the books to the church, singing on the way psalms of thanks- giving. Three days afterwards, the Jews having met within the blackened walls of their synagogue, were joined by the Christians, and Theodorus commenced a most elaborate and able pleading for the law, piling ar- gument upon argument, and scattering objection after objection, till his opponents, by the bishop's confession, were almost discomfited, and only expected help from a miracle. They cried out with a united voice, ' The- odorus, believe in Christ ! ' The Jews, deceived by the words, which they thought an acclamation of triumph, * Theodorus believes in Christ ! ' dispersed on all sides, the women tearing their hair, and calling out in despair, * Oh, Theodorus, what hast thou done ! ' the men fly- ing to the rocks and woods, leaving Theodorus alone, who, thus deserted, lost his fortitude, and was con- vinced by the expedient reasoning of Reuben, a con- verted brother, who pointed out to him the temporal I'eward of a profession of the faith. This example was not lost upon his followers, many of whom agreed to receive baptism. A singular incident led to the profession of Christi- anity by many Cretan Jews, testifying to the wild fanaticism, which still lay deepest and nearest to their hearts. In that island the descendants of Israel were both numerous and wealthy. An impostor, either bear- ing or assuming the name of Moses, appeared, announced himself the great lawgiver's descendant, and pretend- ing extraordinary powers, spent a whole year in tra- versing the island, and endeavouring to persuade his countrymen to leave their farms and other possessions, and submit to his guidance. His repeated and earnest asseverations at length proved effectual ; their usual in- dustry was forgotten, and their labours given up, in the hope of speedily entering a more fertile land. At the appointed time, thousands obeyed the call of Moses ; who had said that as the children of Israel had of old passed rejoicing through the Red Sea, so now they 364 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : should pass on dry land the deep Mediterranean. They followed him at daybreak to the summit of a lofty promontory, when he commanded them to prove their faith by casting themselves down ; those on the front obeyed the supposed prophet, were dashed to pieces on the rocks beneath, or were drowned in the waters. Many met their death, and more would have perished, had not they been rescued by some iishing-craft and merchant-vessels of the Christians, w^ho actively en- deavoured to save them ; and held up the bodies of the drowned, to prevent others from following so fatal an example. The Jews turned about to rend the pseudo- prophet ; he was nowhere seen ; having fled, it has been presumed, with the fruits of his imposture. This happy deviation from the too common conduct of the Christians, towards the sons of Jacob, induced many to leave Judaism for Christianity. Gradually the condition of the Jews in the eastern empire became less favourable than that of those in the western. For a time indeed they were protected in the legal enjoyment of the rights of citizenship ; but by Justin I., they were regarded as labouring under the same disqualification as heretics, for holding civil and military offices ; while they wanted the rank, all the duties of citizenship were exacted from them by the imperial edicts. The children of mixed marriages were educated by the Christian parent alone ; the chil- dren after they had grown up, forfeited their inherit- ance, if unbelievers ; the testimony of an Israelite was inadmissible in a law-suit, unless both parties were Jews. Had another law been fully observed, serious consequences, would have resulted to Judaism : The primates or chief rabbis had, upon the suppression of the patriarchate, the spiritual power of that office dis- tributed among them. Their authority chiefly rested upon the high character of the Talmud, and their right of expounding the sacred volume. Their instructions were delivered in the ancient Chaldee ; this tongue was not understood by many of the audience, who used the FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 365 language of their adopted country, and a wish for a translation of the Scriptures was very generally ex- pressed. This concession the rabbis, apprehensive of diminished authority, steadily resisted : both parties appealed to the Christian emperor, whose decision co- incided with the popular demand ; an edict was issued authorizing the reading of the Scriptures in the ver- nacular tongue ; declaring the Mishna to be of human origin alone, tainted with error like all other works of men ; and expressing a hope that the proposed change might even so far enlighten the Jews as to open their eyes to Christianity. But this last intimation probably awakened Jewish suspicion, and the permission seems to have been scarcely valued or used. The Jews suffered less than their Christian neighbours from the irruption of the barbarous tribes of the north into the western empire. The whole framework of society was so completely disorganized, that the change in the possession of the soil, and of the social character of the various countries, must have powerfully affected even the humblest members of the community. The Jews were widely dispersed throughout the countries visited by the advancing storm throughout Belgium, along the course of the Rhine, in the civilized parts of Germany in Gaul, Italy, and Spain. Like the insig- nificant shrubs which bend their heads till the fury of the blast was passed by, and so escape, while the resist- ance of the lofty trees of the forest only causes their overthrow, the Jews sustained comparatively little in- jury from the successive inroads and conquests of the barbarians. They had no fixed residence, no ties unit- ing them to the laws and usages of the different pro- vinces ; landed property, or immovable effects encum- bered them but little, so that, ere the storm burst upon a district, they could gather the more valuable part of their property, and retreat to the secure and peaceful dwellings of their brethren. They changed their abodes with the composure of citizens of the world ; like prac- tised adventurers, the discovery of new channels of 366 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! traffic made up for the loss of the old ; the watchful Israelite, too often only fled that he might return, to triumph in the plunder of the uncircumcised. * Through hurning towns and ravaged fields he travelled, regard- less of the surrounding misery which enveloped those with whom he had no ties of attachment ; -if splendid cities became a prey to the flames, or magnificent churches lay in ashes, his meaner dwelling was aban- doned without much regret, and with no serious loss ; and even his synagogue might perish in the com- mon ruin, without either deeply wounding the religious feelings of the worshippers, who had no peculiar at- tachment to the spot, or inflicting any very grievous loss on a community who could re-establish at no great expense, their ruined edifice.' The losses of individuals were made up by the general harvest of gain, arising from the many lucrative opportunities aff'orded, in the general confusion of property. After battles, which left immense plunder in the hands of the ignorant in- vaders, the Jew was ever at hand, ready to drive a pro- fitable traffic either for the worthless and gaudy baubles which catch the rude fancy, or to barter the more use- ful, and comparatively cheap brass and iron instru- ments for more valuable wares, of which the other party were alike ignorant of the utility and price. These the Jews got transported into more peaceful quarters, where a market was still open for the com- modities of civilized life. The internal slave-trade of Europe was almost exclusively in their hands. * It is impossible to suppose but that this strange state of things must have inspired a sort of revengeful satisfac- tion into the mind of the zealous Israelite. While his former masters, or at least his rulers, the Christians, were wailing over their desolate fields, their ruined churches, their pillaged monasteries, their violated con- vents, he was growing rich amid the general ruin, and perhaps, either purchasing for his own domestic ser- vice, at the cheapest price, the fairest youths, and even high-born maidens, or even driving his own gang of slaves FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 567 to the different markets, where they still bore a price.' The Church protested warmly and repeatedly against this. It has been supposed that the rise of the Mahommedan power, proved on the whole, advantageous to the Jews. They had already suffered in the conflict between the Persian and Roman emperors ; though they had taken a bloody revenge in the massacre of many thousand Christians at Jerusalem, in the taking of that city by the Persian commander. But, in the deserts of Arabia a power was springing up, which was to erect its thronie on the ruins of both. Already had Mahomet proclaimed his doctrine, ' There is but one God and Mahomet is his prophet ; ' the valleys of Arabia had rung with the battle-cry of his followers * The koran, or death.' From all sides the roving Arabs had been allured to the standard of religion and plunder ; the enjoyment of wealth and beauty was a feeble type of the felicity of that sensual paradise promised to his warriors by the military apostle. * The sword,' said Mahomet, * is the key of heaven and hell : a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer : whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven : at the day of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermillion, and odiforous as musk ; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim.' The resistless flood of enthusiasts bore down every obstacle ; they did not fear death, to whom the thrust of the sword opened a supposed paradise replete with every enjoyment which the most profligate imagination can paint a contrast, indeed, to the pure and holy heaven of the Christian faith ; they were ready to brave danger and difficulty, whose immediate appetites were sure to be gratified by victory. The Jews are said once to have possessed a kingdom in the Arabian peninsula ; at this period they were still a numerous and powerful people there, forming separate tribes, each as jealous of inde- pendence as their Ishmaelitish neighbours. These tribes 868 THE LAND OF ISRAEL: Mahomet desired to enlist under his banner ; for though his creed declared implacable war against the worshippers of fire, it respected both the unorthodox professing Christians, and the Jews ; who claiming to be descendants of Abraham w^th the followers of Islam- ism, had so far a common cause against idolators, and the defenders of unmutilated Christian doctrine. Ma- homet told the Jews that he was a successor, of greater power, to the former delegates of heaven. The tradi- tions of the Arabian Jews found a place in the Koran ; Jerusalem was appointed the first kebla for prayer ; and in the nocturnal journey, in which the prophet as- serted that the winged horse, Borak, had borne him to Jerusalem, the steed was arrested in its course to pay homage to Mount Sinai and Bethlehem. In the first part of the Mahommedan creed, the Jew could join, ' There is but one God ; ' why should not enthusiasm, impatience, ambition, desire of plunder, make them also join in the latter part, * Mahomet is his prophet.' But none of these motives had effect on the Jews, who could not put faith in a Messiah sprung from Hagar the bondwoman. Mahomet had recourse to his favourite argument the sword. The Israelites were taunted with the obstinacy and rebellion of their forefathers. The Kainoka, a tribe who dwelt at Medina, received the first peremptory summons to embrace Islamism, * Lend to the Lord on good interest.' * Surely,' was the reply of Phineas, * the Lord must be poor to require a loan ! ' Abubeker struck him violently, and said that the treaty existing between the tribes alone prevented his losing his head. Open warfare arose soon after in consequence of an accidental disturbance, caused by a Jewish goldsmith who had insulted an Arabian maiden, being slain in reprisal. Mahomet now proposed to them the alternative, ' Islamism or war.' * Alas/ replied the trembling Jews, ' we are ignorant of the use of arms, but we persevere in the faith and worship of our fathers ; why wilt thou reduce us to the necessity of a just de- fence?' They retreated to a neighbouring citadel. FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 369 where, for fifteen days, they made a brave defence ; it was with extreme reluctance that Mahomet yielded to the importunity of his advisers, and consented to spare the lives of the captives. But the Mussulmans confiscated their wealth, and took away their arms ; a wretched colony of seven hundred exiles, with their wives and children, were driven to implore refuge on the coast of Syria. The Nadhirites provoked their fate by endeavouring to assassinate Mahomet at a banquet ; he besieged their castle three miles from Medina ; they were forced to capitulate after a resolute defence ; and the garrison was allowed to retreat with the honours of war, sounding their trumpets and beating their drums. The Jews had excited and joined the war of the Koraish ; whom Mahomet had no sooner subdued, than, without laying aside his armour, he marched to extir- pate the hostile race of the children of Koraidha. They surrendered at discretion, after a despairing resistance of twenty-five days, hoping for mercy through the in- tercession of their allies. Saad, the son of Moadh, who was sick and wounded, pronounced the sentence of their death. * Oh, Abu-Amru,' cried the Jews, ' have mercy upon us ! ' The judgment of Saad was solemn and awful, ' Let all the men be put to death, and the women and children be slaves.' ' A divine judgment,' said the relentless prophet, * a judgment from the highest of the seven heavens.' Seven hundred wretched Jews were dragged in chains to the market-place of Medina ; graves were dug, the victims stepped into them, the sword descended, and the earth was heaped above their remains ; while the pitiless Mahomet sur- veyed the bloody scene. The only remaining indepen- dent Jews were those of Kaibar, a district six days journey to the south-east of Medina, a fertile spot in the desert, abounding in palm-trees, fertile in pastures, and protected by eight castles, some of which were deemed of impregnable strength. Mahomet's forces consisted of 200 horse, and 1400 foot ; as he entered the territory he exclaimed to his troops, ' On with re- 2 B ) 870 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : doubled speed.' He then turned to prayer, * Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth, Lord of the daemons, and all that lead into evil, Lord of the winds, and all they that disperse and scatter, grant us the spoil of this city, and preserve us from evil ; ' then ' Forward I in the name of Allah !' The Jews were unprepared for so sudden an attack ; an assault speedily carried their first castle, but their second offered a more vigorous re- solute resistance. The Moslems were exposed to danger, fatigue, and hunger, in the succession of eight regular and painful sieges ; their most undaunted chiefs des- paired of the event. ' The apostle,' says Gibbon, * re- vived their faith and courage by the example of Ali, on whom he bestowed the surname of the Lion of God : perhaps we may believe that an Hebrew champion of gigantic stature was cloven to the chest by his irresist- ible scymitar : but we cannot praise the modesty of romance, which represents him as tearing from its hinges the gate of a fortress, and wielding the ponderous buckler in his left hand.' Natan was at length reduced, and the Moslems obtained an immense spoil in corn, dates, oil, honey, flocks of sheep, cattle, asses, and all sorts of armour ; according to one author, they brought to Mahomet, a camel-skin full of collars, bracelets, garters, ear-rings, and buckles, all of gold, with an immense number of precious stones. * After the reduc- tion of the castles, the town of Chaibar submitted to the yoke. The chief of the tribe was tortured, in the presence of Mahomet, to force a confession of his hidden treasure : the industry of the shepherds and husband- men was rewarded with a precarious toleration : they were permitted, so long as it should please the con- queror, to improve their patrimony, in equal shares, for his emolument and their own. Under the reign of Omar, the Jews of Chaibar were transplanted to Syria ; and the caliph alleged the injunction of his dying mas- ter, that one and the true religion should be professed in his native land of Arabia.' The slaughter of the Jews seems at this time to have FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 871 been confined to Arabia. The Israelites found their ad- vantage in the spread of Mahomedan conquest ; its wide extent, and the advance of victorious armies cre- ated new wants ; kingdoms now held intercourse whose interests were before widely separated, and new chan- nels of commercial enterprise were opened ; the eastern Jews, abandoning agriculture, to which numbers had devoted themselves, became merchants, who conducted the commerce between the east and the west. They ob- tained a secure footing at the court of the caliphs. * For centuries the whole management of the coinage was intrusted to them, from the superior accuracy and elegance with which they could execute it, and from their opportunities, by the extent and variety of their commercial relations, to give it the widest circulation, and at the same time to draw in the previous issues of other mints.' In addition to the walk of commercial enterprise, not a few obtained distinction in scientific and literary pursuits ; became eminent professors of astronomy, medicine, and the occult sciences ; and though directing their main strength to the elucidation of the Talmud and cognate works, also executed the chief translations which familiarized the Arabians with the discoveries and theories of Greece and Rome. Ju- daism obtained more favourable treatment than for- merly in North Africa, Egypt, and Persia. The Spanish Jews were almost on a level with the Moors themselves : ample toleration was secured to them, civilization and learning flourished, and they shared with their masters in those luxuries and arts which softened and embel- lished the barbaric civilization of southern Spain. At this period, according to tradition, a Jewish kingdom was established at Khazar, on the shores of the Cas- pian ; inhabited by Jews, Christians, and Moslems, who had been attracted by the favourable situation of the district for commercial enterprize. In 740, the king of this community was converted to Judaism, and the affairs of the kingdom are said for some length of time to have been governed by a Jewish prince, assisted 2 B 2 372 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : by a council composed of members of different religious persuasions. But in 150 years afterwards, though Jews still resided there in considerable numbers, the govern- ment passed from their control. The remaining favour shewn to Judaism may be briefly told. Charlemagne, who is said to have intimately cherished the acquaint- ance of a Jewish merchant, and whose correspondence with Haroun Alraschid was conducted by a Jew, pro- tected their interests ; and the example was not lost upon his more immediate successors. In France the Jews were rich merchants. They were in high repute as physicians ; and some obtained admission to offices of political trust and importance, by their activity and intelligence. But a time of change approaches, and a sadder spec- tacle is presented to us in the gradual decline of the Jewish character and condition. Once more they sank to their peculiar inheritance of hatred and contempt ; their rise elevated them only to be trampled down by the fiercer rancour of persecution and oppression. It would seem as if they had been allowed to gather wealth, only to be stripped of it ; and the world apparently conspired to pour out their blood like water, and to make them the monument of cruelty as relentless and protracted as the annals of the world record. The Jews of Palestine who still lingered in their native land, in poverty and meanness, are thus de- scribed by Benjamin of Tudela. At Tyre, he found 400 Jews, glass-blowers. The Samaritans still occupied Sichem ; but in Jerusalem were only 200 Jews, chiefly dyers of wool, who had bought a monopoly of that trade. There were 153 Jews in Ascalon. There w^ere but fifty in Tiberias, once the seat of learning and of the patriarchate. This account is confirmed by the unfrequent mention of the Jews by the crusaders, and may be ascribed to the devastation of the first of those desolating expeditions. Yet though the Holy Land was thus almost deserted, it is affecting to read the indica- tions of devoted attachment to its very air and soil. FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 373 which are found in the Jewish writings ; who say, that man is esteemed most blessed, who, even after death, shall reach Palestine and he interred in its sacred soil or even whose ashes shall he sprinkled with a handful of its dust. * The air of the land of Israel,' says one, * makes a man wise.' Another says, * He who walks four cubits in the land of Israel is sure of being a son of the life that is to come.' ' The great wise men are wont to kiss the borders of the Holy Land, to embrace its ruins, and roll themselves in its dust.' ' The sins of all those are forgiven who inhabit the land of Israel.' *He who is buried there is reconciled with God, as though he was buried under the altar. The dead buried in the land of Canaan come first to life in the days of the Messiah. He who dies out of the Holy Land dies a double death.' Rabbi Simeon says, * All those who are buried out of the land of Canaan, must perish ever- lastingly ; but for the just, God will make deep caverns beneath the earth, by which they will work their way, till they come to the land of Israel ; when they are there, God will breathe the breath of life into their nostrils, and they will rise again.' In Europe, while the powerful envied the Jew of his wealth, and sought a method of despoiling him of it, the superstitious abhorred him on account of his re- ligion ; he was treated with contempt and injustice, and accelerated his fate by his grovelling and cozening conduct to his oppressors. In many parts of Europe the possession of land was denied to him, and he was shut out from offices of trust and honour ; he was ex- cluded from all the paths which led to honourable dis- tinction ; all his efforts were accordingly turned to the accumulation of wealth ; and during the decay of commerce in the middle ages, his mind was further de- based by only the range of petty traffic being open to him. On money his hope and desire were fixed ; and as he could not lay out his gains in the purchase of land, he employed it profitably in lending it to the thoughtless and extravagant at usurious interest. The 874 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : depression of commerce, and even the prevailing feeling of contempt for it in that warlike and rude age, made the noble find the despised Jew necessary and conve- nient, and his hatred rose in proportion to the depth of his obligations. Society was at war with the Jew ; some sudden demand of tribute, or some lawless plun- derer would sweep away the accumulation of years of pain and toil ; the Jew found his revenge in slow and perpetual reprisals, and reimbursed himself for his losses from the violent, by his exactions from the needy. And to those who were deep in the Jews' books, the temptation to cancel the debt by violent measures was irresistible. Shakespeare's genius has only placed the fact vividly before us : the Christian would spit upon and spurn the Jew ; who, in his turn, if ever an oppor- tunity was afforded, would cut his pound of flesh from his bondsman's heart. The community, in their aver- sion, considered no crime too dreadful for a Jew to commit. Already ominous indications had flashed forth of that burning tempest which would burst on the for- lorn race ; the bloody scene which ensued was one wherein was displayed religious zeal inflamed into the blinded bigotry, and associated with the most malignant and unchristian passions. The Jews in the Germanic empire had been to a cer- tain extent protected in the rights which they had held under the ancient Roman law ; and though looked upon with increasing aversion by all classes, the imperial protection and the papal ordinances preserved them from general attack till the formation of the first cru- sade. They must have beheld with amazement the aiming of all classes, from the prince to the peasant, for the delivery of the sepulchre wherein He whom they deemed only the crucified Nazarene, had lain. Now was afforded to them an extensive field for traffic and usury, of which they availed themselves, to gather a golden harvest. For the soldier of the cross would part with every thing to promote his equipment the mer- chant or usurer could dictate his own prices to those FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 375 whose great demand was for arms and money. Little did the Jews anticipate the horrors with which they would be visited ; and that the fury of the armed host . would fall upon their numerous colonies throughout Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, and Franconia, with their numerous and wealthy memhers along the hanks of the Moselle and the Rhine. * When the first im- mense horde of undisciplined fanatics of the lowest order, under the command of Peter the Hermit, and Walter the penniless, and the guidance of a goose and goat, assembled near the city of Treves, a murmur rapidly spread through the camp, that, while they were advancing to recover the sepulchre of the Redeemer from the infidels, they were leaving behind worse un- believers, the murderers of their Lord. With one im- pulse the crusaders rushed to the city, pillaging, vio- lating, and murdering every Jew whom they could find. It was a day and scene of horror : men slew their own children to save them from the most inhuman usage ; women to escape forcible baptism and to preserve their honour, plunged from the bridge into the river with stones tied to their necks. The rest fled for safety to the citadel ; but the reply of the bishop, to whose protection they appealed, were : * Wretches ! your sins have come upon you ; ye who have blasphemed the Son of God, and calumniated his mother. This is the cause of your present miseries this, if ye persist in your obduracy, will destroy your body and soul for ever.' Their only condition of safety was conversion and baptism. Micha, one of the chief Jews, in a mild tone requested instruction in the Christian tenets ; the bishop repeated a short creed, to which many Jews, in the agony of their terror, assented. The same scenes took place in Mentz, Cologne, Worms, and the other cities along the Rhine. In Cologne two hundred' were Jaewn in pieces, after having been dragged from the river, in which they had sought death. At Worms they fled to the bishop's palace ; the mob besieged it, and the Jews slew each other. In short, the progress of the 376 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : armies to the plains of Hungary was marked with Jewish blood. It is calculated that 17,000 perished at this time. The survivors were filled with consterna- tion ; and their synagogues resounded with appeals to the God of their fathers, to look in mercy upon his suffering children. The greater part sought safety in flight, and founded large communities in Silesia, Mo- ravia, and Poland. A few still clung to the land of their birth ; the fugitives gradually returned, till in the course of half a century, the devoted race had multiplied, and amassed treasures enough to excite renewed pillage and massacre. A second storm gathered ; like a bird of evil omen, the harbinger of the tempest, the monk Rudolph preached in the cities of Germany the duty of taking vengeance on all the enemies of God. Through- out the cities of the Rhine echoed the terrible cry of ' Hep^ the signal for their slaughter, a contraction of * Hierosolyma est perdita Jerusalem is lost.' On this occasion many fled from the coming calamity, but the former scenes of havoc were repeated in various places. Forty years after, the clemency of Frederick affbrded shelter to his Jewish subjects during the passage of the third crusade. From this period the German Jews were in a precarious and degraded condition ; ever suffering from the rapacity of the princes, or from the assaults of their subjects. Their condition varied ; but each interference in their favour seemed but the precur- sor of fresh depression. They were entirely prohibited jfrom certain cities and states. In others, their residence was tolerated, and a certain quarter of the city specified as their abode. Even then they were frequently driven from those parts of cities to which they had acquired a legal right, and before they could return to their dwell- ings, heavy sums were extorted from them. The popular fury was ever ready to burst forth. When the cofffers of a prince were drained, or when his avarice thirsted for more gold, the extortion of contributions from the Jews under the threat of letting loose the populace upon them, was a favourite resource. At FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 877 other times they were heavily fined to avoid baptism. Exaggerated and often wholly unfounded rumours were circulated, and believed, to their disadvantage. * Stories were told of Christian children having been found mur- dered in the house of a Jew, or of their own children being prevented by cruel threats from adopting the Christian faith, or of their stealing the consecrated host to crucify afresh the Son of God.' Each wild rumour of this nature raised the fury of the mob, and caused their already scanty privileges to be still further re- duced, making them tremble almost every hour for their life and fortune. Enthusiasts pretended to special revelations from heaven to instigate the raising up of war against the miserable outcasts. Sir Walter Scott, in the historical romance of Ivan- hoe, has described with strict truth the persecutions to which the Jews were subjected in England. They are characterized as ' a race, which, during these dark ages, were alike detested by the credulous and prejudiced vulgar, and persecuted by the greedy and rapacious nobility.' ' Except perhaps the flying fish, there was no race existing on the earth, in the air, or the waters, who were the objects of such an unremitting, general, and relentless persecution as the Jews of this period. Upon the slightest and most unreasonable pretences, as well as upon accusations the most absurd and ground- less, their persons and property were exposed to every turn of popular fury ; for Norman, Saxon, Dane, and Briton, however adverse the races were to each other, contended which should look with the greatest detesta- tion upon a people whom i j was accounted a point of religion to hate, to revile, to despise, to plunder, and to persecute. The kings of the Norman race, and the in- dependent nobles, who followed their example in all acts of tyranny, maintained against this devoted people a persecution of a more regular, calculating, and self- interested kind. It is a well-known story of king John, that he confined a wealthy Jew in one of the royal castles, and daily caused one of his teeth to ba 878 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : torn out, until, when the jaw of the unhappy Israelite was half disfurnished, he consented to pay a large sum, which it was the tyrant's object to extort from him. The little ready money that was in the country was chiefly in the possession of this persecuted people, and the nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign, in wringing it from them by every species of oppression, and even personal torture.* In fact, Isaac of York, as depicted by this master of fiction, stands forth amidst a complete representative of the Jews of his time the portraiture being as true to history, as the rest of the work is to the spirit of poetry. In the thirteenth century, a nobleman named Rhind- fleish headed a multitude, who traversed the most populous towns of Germany, and destroyed whole Jewish communities ; in 1337, his example was fol- lowed by a peasant named Armleder, who w^as not put to death till after a prolonged course of atrocity. In the rising of the peasants they suff'ered much. In 1346, at Frankfort, the Flagellants rose up against them. A few years afterwards, Europe was visited by a pestilence, and in Germany it was believed that the Jews had thrown poison into the public wells. For this supposed crime popular fury took dreadful revenge. The Jews at Basle were shut up in a vessel on the Rhine, which was set on fire, their children being taken from them to be educated as Christians. In many provinces they were burned without distinction ; at one place in France a deep.ditch was dug, an enormous pile raised, and one hun- dred and sixty of both sexes burned together. We can- not give the harrowing recital of the various forms in which the Jews were put to death ; but from Switzer- land to Silesia the most horrible scenes took place, the interference of the emperor and the pope being scarcely of any avail. Charles IV. was, however, induced to answer the prayer of repeated and earnest petitions, by granting privileges to certain states and cities ; and in the golden bull, though the Jews were still in danger of individual ill-usage, they were protected from general FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 879 massacre. They were still permitted to remain in the German empire, and were allowed to possess in various parts considerable immunities. But they were ulti- mately banished from France, Britain, and Spain, after enduring a variety of outrages. The Jews had been numerous and wealthy in the north and south of France. In the north, though re- stricted, as in Paris, to a separate part of the city, they had spread over the country, were partially devoted to literary pursuits, and had sent forth some eminent writers from their academy at Troyes. They were still more flourishing in the south, where there was a less visible distinction between them and the people ; they were not wholly dispossessed of landed property, and even managed the finances of some of the great feuda- tories. Their state gradually became more precarious ; yet, though the public detestation was gathering strength, though from once having been an influential class of the community, they were sinking into a condition as grievous as that of slavery, yet all classes were in dif- ferent degrees dependent upon them, and had lodged in their hands articles in pawn. They suffered both from popular violence and the arbitrary procedure of princes. Their ow^n conduct, however, was in some degree the cause of this ; for the archives of the kingdom testify to the unreasonableness of their usurious exactions. Philip Augustus had no sooner ascended the throne, than he adopted a brief and violent method of relieving his people from these burdens ; by an edict, which confis- cated all debts due to the Jews, and commanded them to give up all their pledges among which were found a golden crucifix, and a Gospel adorned with precious stones. In February 1181, as the Jew^s were peaceably met in their synagogues, they were surrounded by troops, and dragged to prison, their houses being seized. In the following April, all their immoveable goods were confiscated, and they were ordered instantly to sell their moveables, and quit the kingdom. Throughout the royal domains the decree was rigidly executed, and the 380 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I Jews, after parting with their effects at the lowest price, departed with their destitute wives and children, amid the execrations of the populace ; but in the south of France, the great vassals paid less respect to the royal edict, and the Jews were still sometimes to be found in places of trust. Twenty years afterwards, they obtained readmission into the country, and struggled for their lost hold in the revenues. In another, an edict was issued regulating their usurious exactions, and the per- sons to whom it might be lawful to lend money. For some time afterwards, their condition varied according to the necessity, cruelty, or superstition of the sovereign. Louis VIII. annulled all interest on debts due to them. Louis IX., surnamed St. Louis, showed great aversion to them ; and, in his reign, enactments were passed, prohib- iting Jews from holding social intercourse with Chris- tians, and freeing from punishment any Christian who should put a Jew to death. Tales were spread of their sacrilege and cruelty, similar to those which had caused such general hatred against them in Germany, and something of awe mingled with the common feeling of detestation against the devoted race, who were supposed to be possessed of occult knowledge, of dealing with evil spirits, of possessing fearful secrets and cabalistic spells, and of holding correspondence with infidel kings. As the Talmud was supposed to be the source both of their blasphemies against Christianity, and of their danger- ous secrets, the copies of it were burned wherever found. The people were marked out by a particular dress, marked by a piece of blue cloth on the front and on the back of the garment. They were a proscribed race hunted down, slaughtered, burnt to death ; yet, perhaps because hopeless of a more secure asylum, they paid a price to live in the land where they met with such suf- ferings, and ' their revenge on their oppressors was to drain them of their gold.' But, in 1594, Charles VI. commanded them finally to quit the kingdom ; the un- happy wanderers were driven away, the greater part directing their course to Germany, Italy, and Poland. FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 381 We have no certain knowledge of the time when the Jews first came into England. The Norman invasion added to their numbers, and traces of them are disco- verable a considerable period before it. William Rufus alienated the affections of his subjects, by his intercourse with individuals, whom he found so useful, that he for- bade them to become converts to Christianity. During this reign, accordingly, the Jews were in a flourishing condition ; throughout various cities of the empire they increased in opulence and numbers, and are said to have possessed the greater part of Oxford. Their only bury- ing-place, however was in London, and it was not till the time of Henry II. that they were permitted to inter their dead in other places. Though for some time favoured by the monarch, public hatred was excited against them by the same causes which had led to such fatal results on the continent. The wealth which they had amassed both by traffic and by more questionable means, may be judged of from the fact, that, at a par- liament held at Northampton, to raise a tax for an ex- pedition to the Holy Land, the whole Christian popu- lation was assessed at 70,000 the Jews alone at 60,000. Upon Henry's death, an opportunity was offered for all the passions, so long brooding within the popular heart, to break forth into fierce open hostility. On the coronation day of Richard I. some Jews came, contrary to prohibition, to witness the ceremony ; those who had entered the abbey were detected, maltreated, and dragged forth, half-dead. The populace rose, broke open their houses, in which they found incalculable wealth concealed under a modest exterior, and pillaged and set fire on all sides. The tumult raged for two days, in spite of all Richard's endeavours to arrest it. The example of London was followed in other parts of the country ; the friars, who went about preaching the crusade, pointed at the Jews as fit objects of vengeance, and the soldiery of all classes, arming for the expedition, made proof of their untried valour upon this unhappy people. They were plundered, maltreated, and slain, at 382 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : Norwich, Edmondsbur}^, and Stamford. The knights robbed the Jews, to get money for their pilgrimage to Palestine ; those who owed money to the Jews, stirred up the mob against them, as the easiest mode of cancel- ling their debts. York was signalized by a scene of deep tragedy. The wife and children of a relapsed con- vert were murdered, and his house, in which many had taken refuge, burned to the ground. The wealthier Jews fled to the castle with their most valuable effects ; those whose flight was not sufficiently expeditious, were put to the sword, neither age nor sex being spared, save the few who submitted to baptism. The Jews within the castle, suspecting treachery from the governor, seized the opportunity of his absence to close the gates against him, and boldly manned the walls. The sheriff* of the county, with an armed force, happened to be in the town. The importunity of the governor and the populace prevailed upon him to give the signal for at- tack ; and he afterwards in vain attempted to revoke the fatal order. The clergy urged on the besiegers : a canon regular, standing in his surplice in the cen- tre of the ferocious multitude, shouting, ' Destroy the enemies of Christ ; destroy the enemies of Christ ;' every morning the fiery churchman took the sacrament, and then proceeded to his post, where he was at length crushed, a martyr to bigoted zeal, by the descent of a huge stone from the ramparts. A manful resistance but convinced the Jews of their hopeless situation. A council was summoned ; and their Rabbi celebrated for his profound knowledge of the Law rose up, and thus delivered his sentiments : * Men of Israel, the God of our fathers, to whom none can say, " What doest thou?" calls upon us to die for our Law. Death is inevitable ; but we may yet choose whether we will die speedily and nobly, or ignominiously, after horrible torments, and the most barbarous usage my advice is, that we voluntarily render up our souls to our Creator, and fall by our own hands. The deed is both reason- able, and according to the Law, and is sanctioned by the FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 383 example of our most illustrious ancestors/ The aged man sat down in tears : the assembly was divided, some declaring that he had spoken well, others that it was a hard fate. The Rabbi again rose and said, ' Let those who approve not of my proposal, depart in peace.' A few left ; the greater part kept their seats unmoved. They then arose, gathered their most precious effects, burned such as were combustible, and buried the rest ; after which they set fire to many parts of the castle, cut their wives and children's throats, and then their own ; till of the assembly the Rabbi and Joachim alone survived ; he first slew Joachim, then stabbed himself to the heart. * The next morning the populace rushed to the assault with their accustomed fury. They beheld flames bursting from every part of the castle ; and a few miserable wretches, with supplications and wild cries, running to and fro on the battlements, who re- lated the fate of their companions ; they entreated mercy ; they offered to submit to baptism. No sooner were the terms accepted, and the gates opened, than the fanatic multitude poured in, and put every living being to the sword. Not content with this triumph, they rushed to the cathedral, demanded all the bonds and obligations, which had been laid up there in the archives, and cast them all into an enormous bonfire. The history of England during the two succeeding reigns, affords many instances of the oppression of the Jews, and of the vast sums wrung from them by the cupidity of the court. Any occasional privileges were granted solely to secure a profitable return. John's tyrannical treatment of them is well known ; and, under Henry III. their condition was equally forlorn ; super- stition, and the necessities of the sovereign, subjecting them to every varied form of wrong and contumely. At last, Henry sold to his brother the disposal of the lives and property of all the English Jews for the sum of 5000 marks ; and during the reign of Edward I. an edict was issued, in 1290, for their total expulsion ; stripped of their possessions, they w^ere forced to jour- 384 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I ney to the sea-shore, amid the triumph and mocker}'- of the rabble, and were conveyed from the island. The number of those thus exiled is computed at either 15,000, or 16,000. The condition of the Jews in the Spanish peninsula forms an interesting portion of the nation's history. They held, in this part of the world a far higher sta- tion than in England, Germany, or France ; prosperous and wealthy, generally undebased by the sordid occu- pations and base traffics to which, in the former coun- tries, they were commonly reduced, they formed a distinct order in the state. They were at one time the most enlightened class in a kingdom, wherein the lower orders were in a state of degradation, and the nobles were engaged in almost constant war ; being cultivators and possessors of the soil, often ministers of finance ; having a high fame as physicians, from their access to valuable works on medicine, written in their own tongue, or the Arabic ; prosperous traders, from their industry and captivity ; a class who might be had re- course to for money with the certainty of success. In Spain, and in Portugal, their legal position varied at different periods and in different districts. When most favourably viewed, they were regarded as belonging directly to the king, and indirectly to his greater vas- sals ; they enjoyed the right of self-defence, and could claim the protection of their feudal superiors. Their separate courts of law exercised jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. Though, under certain restrictions, allowed to possess landed property, they were also ac- customed to lend money at a rate of interest fixed by laws, the provisions of which were not usually evaded. Their evidence was, in certain cases, admissible in judi- cial proceedings, and they were secured from imprison- ment for debt. In these circumstances they had leisure for the cultivation of literature. The treasures of the Arabic language were at their command ; they pro- duced distinguished grammarians, mathematicians, and naturalists ; their professors of astronomy had acquired FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 885 such fame, that some of them were employed by Al- phonso the Wise to aid in the construction of his Tables ; they prosecuted mental science, though both their metaphysical and natural inquiries were mixed up with their theology. Such were at one time the happy fortunes of the Spa- nish Jews : their decline commenced in the thirteenth century, under Alphonso X., when popular supersti- tion awakened against them violent feelings of hatred. Their privileges were constantly lessening during the succeeding reigns, the prevalent disposition being mani- fested by local outbreaks, which brought suffering both upon individuals and communities. To this disposition Alphonso XI. was compelled to succumb : they w^ere confined to particular streets, as far removed as possible from the churches, and in every city there was a " Jews' Quarter." Seville was the first place where the storm broke out : at the instigation of the Bishop of Niebla, the whole population rose, plundered the Jewish houses, and set the whole quarter in flames. Throughout Cor- dova, Toledo, Valencia, with other cities, and Majorca, plunder and massacre raged : the only method of escape being submission to baptism. The number of enforced converts is estimated at 200,000, The condition of these converts to fear, was deplorable. While the Christians viewed them with suspicion, those who still held fast their ancient creed cherished bitter hatred against them as apostates ; many found their situation so insupport- able, that they became voluntary exiles ; many also, returning to Judaism, preferred the horror of persecu- tion, to the odium of suspicion. Many thousand Jews were killed ; many fled to Italy, Turkey, and the Bar- bary states. But the sincerity of the Jewish converts the New Christians, as they were called was questioned. * The union of the two kingdoms in the persons of Ferdinand and Isabella, was the crisis of the fate both of the New Christians and of the unconverted Jews. Notwithstand- ing their apparent and recorded triumphs, the clergy had 2 C 386 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : long mistrusted their own success : not only in the con- formists themselves did there appear a secret inclination to their former religious usages, and a cold and con- strained obedience to the laws of the church, but from generation to generation the hereditary evil lurked in their veins. The new Christians formed a kind of dis- tinct and intermediate class of believers ; they attended the services, they followed the processions, they listened to the teaching of the Church, but it was too evident that their hearts were far away, joining in the simpler services of the synagogue of their fathers, and in their secret chambers the customs of the Law were observed with the fond stealth of old attachment. To discover how widely Jewish practices still prevailed, nothing was necessary but to ascend a hill on their Sabbath, and look down on the town or village below ; scarcely half the chimneys would be seen to smoke ; all that did not, were evidently those of the people who still feared to profane the holy day by lighting a fire.' The Spanish clergy now considered the honour of their church to be at stake, and succeeded in procuring the establishment of the Inquisition, w^hich had already shown its bloody zeal in the extermination of the Albigenses, and the de- solation of the beautiful province of Languedoc. In Sep- tember, 1480, Michael Morillo, and John de St. Martin, were named chief inquisitors. To quicken the activity of the holy office, a third of the property of condemned heretics was set apart for its use the two remaining portions being assigned, one to defray the expenses of the trial, the other to the crown. Seville had speedily more prisoners than inhabitants ; in one year, within that city and its suburbs, 2000 were put to death, seven- ty nine were condemned to confinement for life, and 17,000 subjected to corporal punishment. A spot of gi'ound was set apart as the Quemadero, or place of burning : in it were four statues, called the four pro- phets, to which the victims were bound. A large stone building was erected, capable of containing a vast num- ber of prisoners, combustible materials were piled around FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 387 the outside of its walls, and the wretched victims left to a death of lingering torment. Four subsidiary inquisi- torial tribunals were established in other quarters, and the strictest search enjoined for all who manifested the slightest disposition to Judaism. * The diagnostics of this fatal disease of new Christianity, were specified with nice minuteness. There were twenty- seven symp- toms of the disorder. Among these were the expecta- tion of the Messiah the hope of justification by the law of Moses reverence for the Sabbath, shown by wearing better clothes, or not lighting a fire observing any usage of their forefathers relating to meats honour- ing the national fasts or festivals rejoicing on the feast of Esther, or bewailing the fall of Jerusalem on the 9th of August singing psalms in Hebrew without the Gloria Patri using any of the rites, not merely of cir- cumcision, but those which accompanied it of mar- riage, or of burial even of interring the dead in the burying-place of their forefathers.' A Spanish historian, who considers the success of the measure, its justifica- tion, nevertheless characterizes it as ' a state of things, in the opinion of some, not less grievous than slavery or even than death.' When any one of the signs above mentioned was discernible, the individual was to be summoned before the tribunal. Confession of guilt, it was promised, would secure a free pardon, provided the sincerity of the repentance were shown by the discovery of all such as observed the like practices. The Rabbis were compelled upon oath to discover the names of such as secretly observed the Jewish ritual ; and death was the doom awarded to concealment. ' The fiercest civil war, the wildest incursion of barbarous hordes, could not have occasioned the death of so many innocent men, or annihilated so many sources of advantage to the kingdom.' The period of worst suff'ering for the unconverted Jews now arrived. Ferdinand and Isabella, having subdued Grenada, and freed the soil of Spain from the Moors, resolved that the Jews should not constitute an 2 c 2 388 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : exception to the rule, that none but the professors of the Catholic faith should breathe the air of their domi- nions. In 1492, the edict appeared commanding all the unbaptized Jews to qait the realm in four months. The impolicy of thus desolating the fairest provinces of the peninsula, by sweeping away its most industrious inha- bitants, was a fit sequel to preceding barbarities. The Jews, filled with astonishment and horror, raised aloud throughout all Spain the voice of lamentation. They made an effectual effort to avert their fate ; and Abar- banel, their most accomplished scholar, threw himself at the feet of the royal pair, offering, in the name of his nation, an immense sum to recruit the exhausted finances of the kingdom. The inquisitors trembled : the royal hearts, though steeled against mercy, might yield to this appeal to their interests. Thomas de Tor- quemada advanced into the royal presence, bearing a crucifix. 'Behold,' said he, * him whom Judas sold for thirty pieces of silver. Sell ye him now for a higher price, and render an account of your bargain before God 1 ' The appeal of the stern Dominican to their supersti- tion was triumphant ; the Jews had no alternative but baptism, or exile from a land wherein they had dwelt for three centuries which their industry had fertilized, their commerce enriched, and their learning adorned. Scarcely any w^ere diverted by weakness from the gene- ral resolve ; the race their numbers variously estimated at 800,000, 650,000, or 800,000 prepared to leave all, rather than desert the faith of their ancestors. The homes of their youth the scenes of young aff'ection the sacred graves of their fathers, and the recent tombs of their friends the synagogues where they had wor- shipped the schools where those wise men had taught, who had in the times of darkness cast glory on the Hebrew name : all these they prepared to abandon for an everlasting exile, death being the penalty of return. They might carry away their moveables, excepting gold and silver, for w^hich they might accept letters of ex- change, or any merchandize not prohibited. They FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 389 were allowed to sell their property, but the speedy glut of the market soon reduced its value almost to nothing. Jews were seen giving a house for an ass, or a vineyard for a small quantity of cloth or linen. Yet man}'- con- cealed gold and jewels in their garments and saddles ; some swallowed them, hoping thus to elude the scrutiny of the examining officers. They considered this to be as dreadful a calamity as the ruin of Jerusalem. On what inhospitable shore would they seek a retreat ? The sufferers endured dreadful hardships and miseries. Some found their way from Arragon into Navarre ; some to the seashore, hoisting their sails for Italy, or Morocco ; others crossed the Portuguese frontiers. * Many of the former were cast away, or sunk,' writes a Jew- ish author, 'like lead, into the ocean.* Many were passengers to Africa on board a ship, in which the plague broke out ; and the captain ascribing the infec- tion to the Jewish passengers, landed them on a desert coast, without provisions. ' They dispersed : one, a father, saw his beautiful wife perish before his eyes fainted himself with exhaustion and, waking, beheld his two children dead by his side. A few made their way to a settlement of the Jews. Some reached the coast of Genoa, but they bore famine with them ; they lay perishing on the shore, the clergy approached with the crucifix in the one hand, and provisions in the other, nature was too strong for faith they yielded, and were baptized.' Those who went to Italy experienced the hardest fate of all, the rejection of their own coun- trymen. Thousands lay perishing ; till even the pro- fligate heart of Alexander was moved to interfere by a sentence of banishment against the resident Jews, who bought the revocation of the edict by a considerable price. At Suez they were not permitted to enter the town, the king dreading lest a famine should be caused among his subjects. They were encamped on the sand, suffering all the miseries of hunger ; living on the roots they dug up, or the grass of the field, ' happy even if the grass had been plentiful ' even then grovelling on 390 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : their knees, and biting the grass with their teeth to avoid violating the Sabbath by plucking it with their hands. Worse than this, there was let loose upon them the wanton barbarity of savages. Many sold their children for bread. A Sallee pirate allured, by the pro- mise of food, 150 youths on board his vessel ; then set sail with his prey to a distant port, regardless of the shrieking parents on the shore. A savage sea-captain cast many naked and desolate on the African coast. The first who ascended a hill to survey the country, were devoured by wild beasts, who came howling down on the rest of the miserable crew. They plunged into the sea, and stood shivering in the water till the wild beasts retreated ; they then crept back to the beach. For five days they remained in this miserable plight, and were at length rescued by the humane activity of the captain of another vessel, who sent his boat to their relief.' Great also were the sufferings of the refugees in Por- tugal ; to the sovereign of which country they had offered a large sum of money for permission to enter his kingdom. The poverty of Joan II. overbore the into- lerance of his advisers ; the Jews paid eight crusadoes a head for permission merely to pass through on their way to Africa artificers in brass and iron were taxed at half-price, and had the option of remaining. But the Jews brought the plague with them, and many lay down on the roads to die. After the lapse of eight months, many still lingered in the country, either on account of poverty, or dreading the barbarity of the Moors. All these were enslaved, the youths baptized by force, and drafted to colonise the unhealthy island of St. Thomas. Manuel the First emancipated the slaves, and seemed disposed to treat favourably the resi- dent Jews ; but his disposition seemed totally changed after his marriage with a daughter of the Spanish sove- reign. All Jews were ordered to quit the kingdom by certain appointed ports on a fixed day. But previously the miserable Israelites were to be stripped of all their children under fourteen years of age, who were to be FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 391 dispersed throughout the country for baptism, and a Christian education. The Jews heard of the meditated deprivation, and lest the children should be concealed, the edict was instantly put into execution. Frantic mothers cast their children into the rivers and wells, to avoid what they deemed worse than death : the feelings even of the bigoted Portuguese were touched, and they assisted them to conceal their children. Suddenly, the order for their embarkation was revoked at two of the appointed ports ; and many being thrown back on Lisbon, became amenable to the law as slaves, the time having expired. Many also conformed to Christianity, for whom a dreadful fate was afterwards in store. Ten years afterwards, the popular fury was inflamed by discovering some of them in the act of celebrating the passover. While the public mind was in this state, it happened that a monk was displaying a crucifix to the wondering people, through a narrow aperture, in which a light streamed the light, it was declared, of the manifest Deity. One man was seen to smile amid the adoring multitude ; for he had seen a lamp behind the mysterious crucifix. * In a rash moment he dropped the incautious expression, that if God would manifest himself by water (the year had been unusually dry and sultry) rather than by fire, it would be for the public advantage. The scandalized multitude recognized in the infidel speaker a new Christian. They rushed upon him, dragged him by the hair into the market-place, and there murdered him. His brother stood wailing over the body : he instantly shared his fate. From every quarter the Dominicans rushed forth with crucifixes in their hands, crying out, * Revenge, revenge : down with the heretics ; root them out ; exterminate them !' A Jewish author says, that the remission of a hundred days of purgatory was promised to every one who should kill a Jew. The houses of the converts were assailed men, women, and children slain ; those who fled to the churches, and clung to the altars and crucifixes, were dragged forth and burned. 392 THE LAND OP ISRAEL : Though there were now no professed Jews in Spain, the forbidden faith still lurked in the depths of many hearts, defying even the jealous scrutiny of the inquisi- tion. Men who were Jews at heart rose to high offices both in church and state ; wore the monk's curl, or sate as judges at the tribunal of the faith. Orobio, the Jew- ish physician, states, that he knew many who had thus eluded the vigilance of the Holy Office. Great cruelty was, however, exercised upon others who were dis- covered, in the reigns of Charles V., and Philip I. and II. The Neapolitan government followed the Spanish in their policy towards the Jews, who were expelled by Charles V. This however, was the only part of Italy from which they were compelled to remove ; and in general, from the time of Charlemagne, they were on the same footing there as in Germany, being partly under the imperial and papal protection, to both of which powers they owed allegiance. They were chiefly engaged in money-lending and petty traffic, and though they had their head-quarters at Rome, were dispersed throughout the other cities in considerable numbers. Their treatment varied according to the character of the different popes ; they were first restricted to a particu- lar quarter of Rome, called the Ghetto, by Paul IV. Other popes compelled their attendance in various churches, at stated times, to hear sermons intended for their conversion. At length, however, Sextus V. annulled most of the vexatious restrictions of his pre- decessors, and conferred upon them considerable pri- vileges. The Jews were less affected than any other part of European society by the restoration of letters, and the changes which followed the Reformation. Some few individuals indeed distinguished themselves in the walks of literature and philosophy ; but the great mass of the people seem to have beheld with scarcely any interest the great moral revolution that took place ; or if their spirit was at all moved, their thoughts were concen- FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 893 trated upon their individual gains and national hopes ; the fluctuations around only causing them to cherish more stedfastly their peculiar system. At the same time the descendants of Israel were aff^ected by the re- mote consequences of the Reformation ; the disruption of spiritual tyranny sowing the seeds of a future growth of the principles of toleration, and of more enlightened sentiments. The bitterness of rancour formerly enter- tained against them was wearing away, and where more favourable circumstances gave scope for the im- provement of the Jewish character, the prejudices against the race were greatly softened. The revolt of the Netherlands induced many of the Portuguese or Spanish Jews to remove to that country ; and in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, their acquired commercial greatness induced a great number of their countrymen, from Poland and Germany, to join them ; others found a favourable reception in Denmark and Hamburg. Many also embarked for the Spanish and other colonies in America ; they settled in the Brazils and some of the West Indian islands, and ac- quired eminence by their regularity, industry, and wealth. Upon the recognition of the independence of the United States, their right to the free privileges of citizenship was established; though only generally acted upon throughout the states in 1822. The French revolution also gave them greater latitude, they were admitted to equal rights as citizens in 1791. A sanhe- drim was assembled by Buonaparte at Paris in 1806, and a plan formed for the organization of the Jews throughout the empire. But their abuse of privileges in several of the Rhenish provinces caused restrictions to be laid upon them. They were not interfered with on the restoration of the Bourbons ; and now, since the revolution of 1830, the liberalism of the French govern- ment confers upon their rabbies, in common with the leaders of other sects, a stipendiary allowance. The disabilities of the Dutch Jews have also been removed. In Germany the disabilities to which they had been 394 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : subjected were removed, and an edict of toleration pub- lished by Joseph II. civil privileges were granted to them ; the Israelitish consistory was established in Cassel, under the Westphalian government, for the im- provement of their worship and their schools. Improve- ments have also taken place in the Jewish schools in Austria, and there are academies for rabbles at Prague and Sembery ; there is a similar institution at Fiirth in Bavaria. In Prussia, they acquired civil rights in 1811. In Switzerland and Italy their condition is less favourable than formerly. At Rome they are again shut up in the Ghetto, and every sabbath three hundred are compelled to hear a sermon for their conversion. They are more numerous and strict in their adherence to the rabbinical system in the countries of ancient Poland than in any other part of Europe ; the Jews form the middle class between the nobles and serfs, oc- cupying all the common branches of traffic. The Jews regained an establishment in England in the time of Cromwell. A bill passed for their natural- ization in 1753, but was repealed in the following year. The propriety of granting political power and privileges to them has been repeatedly discussed in the British Parliament, but no measure of entire Jewish emancipa- tion has ever been passed. The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, however, altered the civil . condition of the Jews in a considerable degree, and they are now eligible to certain dignities in our corporations. We must not conclude the modern history of the Jewish people without noticing the renewed persecu- tions to which they, have lately been subjected. In 1840, the ancient city of Damascus became the scene of an outbreak against the house of Israel, such as it might have been supposed the dark ages only could have pro- duced. The Jews were falsely accused of murdering a Popish priest. Father Tomaso, and taking his blood to mingle with their unleavened bread at the passover. This atrocious charge was pressed against them by M. Ratti Menton, the French consul, and the most FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 395 barbarous reprisals were made on the helpless Jews. Numbers of their children were seized, imprisoned, and nearly starved to death ; and this heavy persecution was only discontinued when the governments of more enlightened nations interfered in their behalf. At Rhodes also they suffered at the same period. Sir Moses Montefiore, a British Jew, distinguished more by talent, devotion, and extensive influence, than even by his wealth, visited the East at that time for the ex- press purpose of protecting and consoling his distressed brethren. More recently, the barbarous spirit of persecution towards Israel again has appeared. In Moldavia, an obsolete law, limiting the yearly number of Jewish marriages, has been revived, and carried out as regards the marriages of past years ; by which means a large number of Jewish unions have been declared null, the children deprived of legitimacy, and their mothers treated as abandoned characters. The Russian govern- ment has also struck out a path of rigour and cruelty towards the unhappy Jews who reside on the Polish frontiers of that country. Five hundred thousand of this oppressed people have been commanded, by an im- perial ukase, to depart from their homes, and retire fifty miles within the Russian dominions. This ruth- less decree is founded on an accusation of extensive smuggling, carried on by these frontier Jews ; but a Christian journal published near the spot declares that ' of the 500,000 Jews involved by the ukase, there will be found, after all, hardly 500 engaged in the illicit trade.' This terrible punishment was immediately followed up by the papal authority, which put in force at An- cona a decree first issued by Leo XII. prohibiting Jews to reside or to possess property in any part of the terri- tory, excepting the close unhealthy quarter allotted to them, called the Ghetto ; forbidding also the employ- ment of Christian nurses or servants within these pre- cincts, and the association of Hebrews with Christians 396 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. either in public or private ; with other arbitrary and tyrannical provisions, worthy of the Romish inquisition, which has enforced them. While we write these words, however, the voice of public opinion has been heard in Europe, and this infamous decree is suspended. It is not, however, revoked ; and indeed, it appears that it has been * in existence for sixty-eight years ; to be evoked and enforced every now and then, at the caprice of some local functionary of that fearful institution, which the great bulk of the thinking public had vainly deemed long since extinct.' Voice of Jacob, Se^t. 29, 1843. The Russian ukase is also postponed for a space of five years. May we not hope that the day is at hand when every government in Europe will come forward to protect and honour the ancient people of God ? CHAPTER X. THE MODERN JEWS. We will now attempt to give some account of the re- ligious ceremonies and customs of the modern Jews. However singular they may seem, they cannot be un- interesting, as practised by that remarkable and sepa- rate nation. ' I look upon that people,' says Bishop Watson, * with astonishment and reverence ; they are living proofs of facts most ancient and most interesting to mankind. Wherever we have a Jew on the surface of the earth, there we have a man whose testimony and whose conduct connect the present time with the be- ginning of all time.' This sentiment should be shared by every Christian. For all the events of life, distinct ceremonies and prayers are appointed by the Jews. Previous to the birth of a child, the names of three angels are written on the mother's chamber-door, to prevent the intrusion of evil spirits ; and on every wall of the room are in- scribed, within a circle, the names of Adam, Eve, and Lilith. No Christian is allowed to be employed on this occasion, lest the infant should be maliciously injured. In some places, a rabbi reads from the book of Psalms the 20th, 88th, 92nd, and 102nd, and prays for all do- mestic blessings. The birth of a child is a season of great joy to the whole family ; and some hold a feast, called the safety of the son, on the evening of the next sabbath. 398 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I After eight days follows the feast of the circumcision, which is always as sumptuous as the circumstances of the family will allow, with abundance of dainties and the best wines. The guests invited must not be fewer than ten, and all must be above the age of thirteen. On the previous evening there is a feast held in the mother's chamber, often attended with but little so- briety. The circumcision usually takes place in the morning, to shew diligence in obeying the divine com- mands. The ceremony must not be performed by a Christian ; nor, unless in peculiar cases of necessity, by a woman ; but any man may circumcise his own child, if he be a Jew of experience, vigilance, and industry. Another Jew is also in attendance, called the Baal Be- rith, or Lord of the covenant ; he is a kind of master of the ceremonies, and directs the proceedings on this important occasion. An empty seat is left beside him, for the prophet Elijah, who is supposed to enter the room with the infant, and sit in the vacant place. The Jews think that he will not come, unless expressly bidden, and that he is dull of hearing, from his extreme old age ; they therefore shout loudly Baruch Habba, * Blessed is he that cometh.' Many songs, prayers, and benedictions are used during the ceremony ; and afterwards the Baal Berith takes a cup of red wine, which he consecrates and prays over ; it is then drunk by him and the boys who are in attendance, with many prayers for the child. At the birth of a girl no ceremonies are performed ; but on the mother's first appearance afterwards in the synagogue, the reader pronounces a benediction on the infant, and gives her the name desired by the parents. On the thirty-first day after the birth of a first boy, the ceremony called the redemption of the first-born takes place ; the redemption money being five shekels. From this all are exemj)ted who are regarded as descen- dants of Aaron ; and should a father die before the thirty-first day, the mother is not bound to redeem her son, but a piece of parchment or small plate of silver THE MODERN JEWS. 399 is hung round his neck, inscribed, * A first-born son not redeemed,' or '' A son of a priest ; ' this intimates that when he grows up, he belongs to the priest, and must redeem himself. Jewish children are supposed to receive great injury by being without their clothes, walking bare-foot, or leaving the house with their heads uncovered. Their education varies much according to the difference of country, and the parent's circumstances. The daugh- ters of those who are esteemed the best members of the community, are generally taught to read the Hebrew prayer-book, that is, merely to pronounce the words, but Avithout comprehending the meaning of any one sentence : generally the sum of their religious educa- tion. Their sons learn the Hebrew alphabet soon after they can speak ; and are taught at an early age to read the law, the mishna, the gemara, besides the prayer- book ; sometimes the commentary of R. Solomon Jar- chi and the Yad Hacharakah, or Abridgment of the Talmud by Maimonides : their chief attention being directed to the Talmud, which they reckon ' the foun- dation of all, and the best study.' Very few learn the language grammatically, but are instructed, according to the understanding of their teachers, in the sense of what they read ; all means are used to establish them in the precepts of Judaism, and in an aversion to Christianity. At thirteen years and one day, the Jewish youth is first called a son of the commandment ; when he is required to perform the six hundred and thirteen precepts, regarded by the rabbles as compre- hending their whole law and religion ; he is then liable to punishment for transgression of them ; whereas be- fore his sins were imputed to his father, who was liable to the punishment denounced against them. ' When a boy, therefore, attains this age, the father calls toge- gether ten Jews, and informs them, or he declares be- fore the congregation in the synagogue, that his son is of age ; that he has been instructed in the command- ' ments, has learned to read the Talmud, is fully ac- 400 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : quainted with the decisions and customs respecting the tsitseth and tephillin^ and is able to recite correctly the benedictions and daily prayers ; that therefore he is desirous to be no longer chargeable with the sins of his son, who, being now a son of the commandment, ought to bear his own sins from this time forward. The father then gives God special thanks that he is now re- lieved and freed from the punishments incurred by his son, and repeats prayers on his behalf, that he may live many years, and be eminent in good works. From this time the youth is considered as of full age, is ex- empt from the authority of parents and tutors, is his own master in all things both civil and religious, is deemed competent to manage business, and his con- tracts are esteemed valid.' Many directions are given by the rabbis concerning the materials, form, and colour of the garments to be used by the Jews. Few of their rules are now much prac- tised ; and in order to avoid ridicule and singularity, they generally adopt, at least outwardly, the garments worn by the people in whose country they reside. But they still deem it unlawful to wear any garment com- posed of linen and woollen woven together, or made of either of these materials, and sewed with the other. * Every male is required to have a quadrangular vest- ment, which they call talit/i, and which is constantly worn as an inner garment. It consists of two quadrangu- lar pieces, generally of woollen, sometimes of silk, joined together at the upper edge by two fillets, or broad straps, with a space left sufficient for the head to pass between them. These fillets rest on the shoulders, and the two square pieces hang down, one over the back, and the other over the breast. From each of the corners hangs a fringe or tassel, consisting of eight threads, and tied with five knots. From its having four corners, this vestment is called arba camphoth ; but its principal de- nomination, tatsth, it receives from the fringes on which all its sanctity is supposed to depend. They have likewise a larger talith, which they are required THE MODERN JEWS t 401 to put on during the daily morning prayers, and on some other occasions. This is a large piece of cloth, like a napkin, or rather resembling a shawl, made of white sheep or lamb's wool, sometimes of camel hair, and bordered with stripes of blue, with a fringe or tassel at each corner.' The large talleth, at the appointed seasons, is worn loosely over all the other garments ; sometimes passing across the top of the head and flowing down over the upper part of each arm and over the back, sometimes wrapped round the neck ; but more generally drawn together, and passing across the top of the head and down over the forepart of each shoulder, like a scarf ; the knots of each fringe answer- ing to the books of the law, being five in number, and the threads of which it is composed being eight, and the letters of the Hebrew word Tsitsith, as numerals, being six hundred, the total amount is six hundred and thirteen ; the exact number of all the precepts in the law.' These fringes are supposed to have the virtue of recalling the attention of their wearers to the divine commands, and of preserving them from the commis- sion of sins ; also of preserving from the injuries of evil spirits. The zephillin or phylacteries constitute other appen- dages to Jewish devotion. The word phylactery de- noted a slip of parchment, wherein was written some text of Scripture, particularly of the decalogue, which the more devout Jews wore on their forehead, the breast, or their neck, as a mark of their religion. The modern Jews use two kinds, for the head and for the arm. The portions of the Pentateuch for the phylactery of the head consist of Exodus xiii. 2 10, 11 16 ; Deut. vi. 49 ; xi. 18 21. These four portions contain thirty verses, which are written on four slips of vellum, separately rolled up, and placed in four compartments, and joined together in one small square piece of skin or leather. Upon this is written the letter shin. From the case proceed two thongs of leather, which are so arranged as to guard the head, leaving the square case 2 D 402 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. containing the passages of Scripture in the centre of the forehead. The thongs make a knot at the back of the head in the form of the letter daleth, and then come round again to the breast. The phylacteries for the head are called frontlets, and the use of them appears chiefly to rest upon two passages of Scripture, Exod. xiii. 9 and 16. These phylacteries are also called tepillin shel rosh, or the tephila of the head. The phylactery of the arm consists of a roll of vellum, containing the same passages of scripture as those for the head, and written in the same square character, and with the same ink, but arranged in four columns* It is rolled up to a point, and inclosed in a sort of case of the skin of a wild beast. A thong of leather is attached to this case, which is placed above the bending of the left arm, on the inside, that it may be near the heart, ac- cording to the command, Deut. vi. 6. After making the knot in the form of the letter jod, the thong is rolled seven times round the arm in a spiral form, and terminates by three times round the middle finger. These are called tephillin shel jad, or the tephila of the hand. A variety of minute and troublesome regulations, which it is not here necessary to relate, are given about the management, construction, and w^earing of these tephillin ; which are held in such high estimation by the rabbis, that they represent them as actually worn by God himself; they have a maxim *that the single precept of the tephillin is equivalent to all the com- mandments, because it is said, " And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes ; that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth." Exod. xiii. 9. Leo Modena says, ' The men ought continually to wear their frontlets, or tephillin for the head ; w^hich is commanded in Deut. vi. 6 8 ; xi. 18, 19.' Notwithstanding at present, partly to avoid the scoff's of the nations among whom they live, and also because they account them holy things, and such as ought to be used with great discretion, and not upon every trivial occasion, they put them on only in the time THE MODERN JEWS : 403 of prayer.' Their use is now generally restricted to the season of morning prayer. The use of mezuzoth, or schedules for door-posts, is founded on a literal interpretation of the same sections of the law, w^hich are considered as enjoining the tephillim. It is composed of a square piece of vellum, wi'itten like the former, and has the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th verses of the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy^ and the 13th verse of the eleventh chapter of the same book inscribed on it. The slip of vellum is enclosed in a reed or case, and in it is written the word shaddai, one of the names of God. The Jews affix these to the doors of their houses, chambers, and most frequented places. The Talmud describes the transcendant virtue of these appendages. " Whoever has the Tephillin bound to his head and arm, and the Tsitsith thrown over his garments, and the mezuza fixed to his door- post, is protected from sin ; for these are excellent memorials, and the angels rescue him from sin ; as it is written : "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Psalm xxiv. Marriage is regarded as the indispensable duty of every Jew. The age of eighteen is fixed by the rabbies as the proper time ; and those who remain in celibacy long after, are regarded as in a state of sin. When a marriage is agreed to, the promise is made before wit- nesses ; this is called the betrothing or espousing ; and the parties continue betrothed, sometimes six months, sometimes a year, or more. On the day appointed for the nuptials, the bride and bridegroom are conducted to the place where the ceremony is to be performed ; the bride escorted by women, the bridegroom by men ; the company is usually large, including their friends or acquaintances. If ten men be not present, the mar- riage is null and void. The chief rabbi and chassan of the synagogue form part of the company. A velvet canopy, extended on four long poles, is brought into the room. To their station under this the bride and 2 D 2 404 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : bridegroom are led, the former closely veiled, by two women, the latter by two men. These two men and two women are always the parents of the bride and bridegroom, if living ; otherwise their next of kin ; a man and his wife for the bride, and another married couple for the bridegroom ; the bridegroom being led by the men, the bride by the women. The parties are placed opposite to each other, and then * the person who performs the ceremony takes a glass of wine in his hand, and says, " Blessed art thou, Lord our God, king of the universe ! who createst the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast sanctified us with thy command- ments, and hast forbidden us fornication, and hast res- trained us from the betrothed, but hast permitted those who are married to us, by means of the canopy and wedlock. Blessed art thou, O Lord ; who sanctifiest Israel." The bride and the bridegroom then drink of the wine ; after which the bridegroom takes the ring, and puts it on the bride's finger, saying, " Behold thou art wedded to me with this ring, according to the law of Moses and Israel." ' Next is read the marriage contract, specifying that the bridegroom A. B. agrees to take the bride C. D. as his lawful wife, according to the law of Moses and Israel ; that he will keep, maintain, honour, and cherish her, according to the manner of the Jews, who honour, keep, maintain, and cherish their wives ; and that he will keep her in clothing decently, according to the custom of the w^orld. This instrument also specifies what sum he settles upon her in case of his death ; and he obliges his heirs and executors to pay it to her from the first produce of his effects. After this is read, the performer of the ceremony takes another glass of wine, and repeats seven benedictions. Then the bridegroom and bride drink the wine, after which the empty glass is laid on the floor, and the bridegroom stamping on it, breaks it to pieces. This part of the ceremony is said to indicate the frail tenure of life ; upon which all the THE MODERN JEWS. 405 company shout, Good luck to you. Then a contribution is made for the Jewish poor ; and the whole is con- cluded by as sumptuous a feast as the parties can afford, which continues seven days. Though a Jew can divorce his wife at any time, himself alone being the judge of the sufficiency of the cause ; yet the synagogue has ordained formalities which impede the design being effected at once, as the necessary formalities must pre- viously be gone through. Jews are often betrothed when very young. A girl under ten years of age betrothed to a man she dislikes, is entitled to a divorce any time before she is twelve years and a day old. She is only required to declare that she has a repugnance to be married to him, before two witnesses, who commit her declaration to writing, and deliver to her what is called a divorcement of dislike^ and she can then marry any one she pleases. To constitute a congregation for the performance of public worship, requires at least ten males above thir- teen years old. Wherever this or a larger number of Jews can be collected, a synagogue is formed ; and though a small congregation may be contented with a hired room, wherever they can, they erect a large and respectable building. For such an edifice they choose as high a situation as possible, and no Jew is permitted to build a dwelling-house of superior or equal height. The accommodations vary according to the resources of the worshippers. Each synagogue has a number of long forms or benches, generally backed ; there are also closets and presses for the preservation of books and cloaks ; lamps and chandeliers are suspended in various parts to illuminate the whole ; and little boxes, to receive offerings for the poor, are placed near the en- . trance. Wherever the Jew is, he turns in prayer to the land of Canaan ; the chief door of the synagogue faces this point. In general all structures erected for the purpose are built as nearly as possible east and west. * At the west end, opposite the entrance, is a closet or chest, which they call the ark, in allusion to the ark of 406 THE LAND OF ISRAEL '. the covenant in the ancient temple ; and in which they de- posit the book of the law, used in reading the lessons in the public service. Every copy of the Pentateuch for the use of a synagougue is required to be in manuscript. The rabbles have furnished their disciples with numerous rulesof transcription, which are required to be most accu- rately observed, and a failure in any of which frustrates all the labour. It is to be written with ink, made of certain prescribed ingredients, in the square character, without points. It is not to be in the form of modern books, but in a volume or roll, according to the custom of ancient times. The roll consists of long pieces of parchment, sewed together with thongs cut out of the skin of some clean animal ; and is rolled up from both ends, on two wooden staves. For its preservation it is cased with linen or silk ; another silk covering is added as an ornament. The ends of the staves are more or less ornamented, according to the ability of the owner : some are covered with silver in the shape of pomegra- nates ; some have at the top a coronet of silver, to which little bells are appended. To make such a transcript of the law and present it to a synagogue, is deemed a very meritorious service ; and the number of them varies, in different congregations, according to the number, wealth, generosity, and reputed sanctity of their mem- bers. Near the middle is a desk or altar, formed by a raised platform surrounded by a wooden rail, and gene- rally large enough to receive several persons, either standing or sitting. From this place the law is regu- larly read, and lectures or sermons are sometime de- livered. No benches or seats are admitted between the altar and the ark. The women are not allowed to mix with the men, but a separate part is allotted to them on the same floor ; or, where there is a gallery, it is exclu- sively appropriated to their use ; but whatever be their station, they are screened from the observation of the men by a wooden lattice.' * * Allen's Modern Judaism. THE MODERN JEWS. 407 Each synagogue has a Chasmn, or reader and chanter ; one or more clerks to manage pecuniary details ; and one or more persons to clean the place and keep it in order, trim the lamps, light the candles, act as door- keepers, and attend whenever the building is opened : all of whom have salaries paid from the common funds ; and there are also appointed a species of warders to superintend the financial and other congregational de- tails. Various Jews at different times are allowed to perform the other public services, such as folding and unfolding the law, carrying it in procession through the synagogue, and so elevating it on the altar, that it may be in sight of the whole congregation, reading the appointed lessons, &c. But as each of these perform- ances is accounted most honourable, it is obtained by the contribution of a sum of money, and generally sold to the highest bidder ; the synagogue-clerk acts as auctioneer, and the proceeds of the sale are added to the common stock.* The title of rabbi is conferred upon such as are well acquainted with the Talmud. This is little more than an honorary distinction. They are professedly religious teachers, and the more ignorant Jews conceive that they have the mastery over spirits. As an illustration of this we may quote the following anecdote, stated in a periodical. * It is not long since (we state the fact on the best authority,) that a Polish Jew hired his rabbi to send the angel of death to destroy a Polish nobleman, as his only means of escaping the detection of a heinous fraud. Soon after this the countess died, but her husband lived. The Jew went to upbraid his rabbi, who replied, that he sent the angel on his errand, who, not finding the count at home, did his best by slaying the lady : and this satisfied the complainant/ * In congregations where any of the members are wealthy, five, ten, fifteen, twenty pounds, are common prices on these occasions. ' I have been informed,' says Mr. Allen, ' that a few years ago, the pri- vilege of reading the book of Jonah on this day of atonement, in the principal German synagogue in London, was once purchased for two hundred pounds.' 408 THE LAND OF ISRAEL. In every country the Jews have a species of primate, called a chief rabbi, or a chacam. This authority is spiritual, and if the laws of the country permit, is conjoined with civil jurisdiction. The terror inspired by the ecclesiastical censures, excommunications and anathemas, which he can pronounce, ensure obedience to his decisions, and the effects of which are supposed even to extend beyond the present life. ' He takes cog- nizance of all cases of adultery, incest, violation of the sabbath, or of any of the fasts and festivals, and apos- tacy ; of marriages, divorces, and commercial contracts ; he hears and determines appeals against decisions of inferior rabbis within his district ; decides all difficult questions of the law, and preaches three or four sermons in a year.' To some of these cases fees are attached, and the office is accompanied with a considerable salary. There are two of these primates in England ; the chief rabbi of the German and Polish Jews, and the chacam of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews. Many directions have been issued by the Rabbies to secure due reverence in the conducting the worship of the synagogue, which they call their little sanctuary. Yet, however scrupulously they may practice certain insignificant ceremonies, the chief characteristic of Jewish worship is its utter want of reverence. This was the case a century and a half ago, in the German synagogues, the service of which was performed in a confused and indecent manner ; though greater decorum was maintained by the Portuguese and Italian Jews. Such is the case in the present day also : the worship- pers in the Portuguese synagogues maintain at least a show of sober attention to the service in which they are professedly engaged. A witness has thus described the deplorable scene exhibited in the German synagogues, * The fathers and princes of Israel, on their return from their captivity in Babylon, wept with a loud voice, when they compared the dwindled beauty of the second temple, with the glory and splendour of the first, which they had once seen in all its magnificence. What then THE MODERN JEWS. 409 would have been the grief and dismay of these holy- men, had they lived to enter a modern synagogue ! where, instead of the beauty of holiness, a magnificent service, and a temple filled with the presence of Jehovah, they should see a rabble transacting business, and walk- ing to and fro in the midst of public prayers ; children at their sports ; every countenance, with very few ex- ceptions, indicating the utmost irreverence and uncon- cern ; and their chief rabbi sitting by, and seeming to care for none of these things ; indeed to speak without any intentional exaggeration, the modern synagogue ex- hibits an appearance of very little more devotion than the Stock Exchange, or the public streets of the me- tropolis at noon day.' Numerous forms of prayer, all of which are in He- brew, are prescribed both for the synagogue-worship, and for domestic and private use* But many of the Jews not understanding this, jabber over the words without attaching any idea to the sounds they utter. It has of late years been attempted to remedy this evil, by printing the Hebrew prayers on one side, and a translation on the other. The Rabbis affirm that most of the prayers are of great antiquity : those which they deem most solemn and important are called Shemonek Esreh, or the eighteen prayers ; and they tell us that Ezra and the men of the great synagogue composed and instituted these prayers against heretics or apostates appellations given to Christians both of Jewish and Gentile race. The number is now nineteen ; but they are still called Shemoneh Esreh, and must be said by all Israelites who are of age, either at the synagogue, or in their own house, or wherever they may chance to be, three times a day ; after the example of David : " Evening and morning, and at noon will I pray ;" and of Daniel, who " kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God." The private devotions of the Jews commence with the morning prayers, which fill nearly fifty pages octavo, and occupy about an hour in their recital. Many of 410 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : these are exceedingly beautiful compositions. The morning prayers open with the following hymn by Maimonides : ' My God ! the soul which thou hast given unto me is pure : Thou hast created, formed, and breathed it into me : thou dost also carefully preserve it within me, and thou wilt hereafter take it from me, to restore it unto me in futurity. During the time that my soul continues within me, will I be making acknow- ledgment to thee, Lord my God ! and the God of my ancestors, sovereign of all creation, Lord of all souls ! Blessed art thou, Lord ! who restorest the souls unto the dead.' The following prayer is remarkable : * May it be thy will, Lord our God ! and the God of our fathers, to cause us to become habituated to thy law, and attached to thy precepts : lead us not into the power of sin, transgression or iniquity, temptation or contempt : suffer not evil imaginations to have do- minion over us, but place us at a distance from evil men and wicked associates ; cause us to become at- tached to good intentions and good works, and coerce our passions to be subservient unto thee. O grant us this day, and every day, grace, favour, and mercy, in thy sight, and in the sight of all who behold us ; and dispense kind favours upon us. Blessed art thou, O Lord ! who bestowest gracious favours on thy people Israel.' The following is a prayer for humility : * Sovereign of all worlds ! It is not on account of our righteousness that we presume to lay our supplications before thee, but on thy abundant mercies. What are we ? What our righteousness ? What is our help ? What our power? What shall we say in thy pre- sence, Lord our God ! and the God of our fathers ? Verily, the mightiest heroes are as nought before thee ; men of renown as though they had not existed ; wise men as without knowledge ; and the intelligent as void of understanding : for the majority of their actions is emptiness, the days of their life but vanity in thy pre- sence : even the preeminence of man over the brute is nought ; for all is vanity.' THE MODERN JEWS. 411 While the phylactery of the arm is put on, the fol- lowing is said in a low solemn voice : ' And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercy ; I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord. Blessed is he who but spake, and the world was called into existence : blessed is " he. Blessed is the primeval creator. Blessed is he who sayeth and per- formeth. Blessed is he who ordaineth and stablisheth. Blessed is he who hath compassion on the earth. Blessed is he who hath compassion over all creatures. Blessed is he who graciously rewardeth those who revere him. Blessed is he who liveth for ever, and existeth eternally. Blessed is he who redeemeth and delivereth. Blessed is his name.' Then follow portions of the Psalms in order, next the declaration of the unity, (Deut. vi. 4.) and the sacred prayer of the eighteen verses, during the recital of which it is not permitted to speak ; it must be said standing, and with the face towards the east. In the first verse of this prayer, God is blessed ; the second again avows the immortality of the soul ; third, know- ledge ; fourth, piety ; fifth, pardon, are prayed for ; sixth, temporal, and seventh, heavenly assistance, are prayed for ; eighth, blessings on the year ; ninth, free- dom ; tenth, the restoration of judges, and eleventh, destruction of tyrants, are entreated ; in the twelfth, the pious of all nations thus prayed for : * May thy tender mercies, Lord our God, be expanded over the just, the pious, and the elders of thy people, the house of Israel, the remnant of their scribes, and the virtuous strangers, as over us. bestow good rewards unto all who faithfully put their trust in thy name ; and grant that our portion be with them, that we never be put to shame, for we do trust in thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the supporter and the confidence of the just.' The thirteenth verse prays for God's presence in the holy city, its rebuilding, &c. ; the fourteenth, fifteenth. 412 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : and sixteenth, seek the exaltation of Israel, and pray for salvation ; the seventeenth contains acknowledg- ment of humilit}^, petitions for peace, and a blessing upon Israel ; the eighteenth is for preservation against sin, and deliverance from spiritual enemies. The tenth prayer is very remarkable : * sound the great trum- pet as a signal for our freedom, and lift up thine ensign to collect our captives, that we may all be speedily gathered together from the four corners of the earth unto our land* Blessed art thou, God, who gatherest together the outcasts of thy people Israel.' The eleventh, the fourteenth, and fifteenth, which tend to a similar point, are respectively as follows : ' O restore our judges as aforetime, and our counsellors as at the be- ginning ; remove from us sorrow and sighing ; and, O Lord, reign thou alone over us in mercy, righteousness, and justice. Blessed art thou, Lord, the King, who lovest righteousness and justice.' * O dwell in the midst of thy city of Jerusalem, as thou hast promised, and speedily establish the throne of David therein. build it speedily in our days, a structure of everlasting frame. Blessed art thou, Lord, who buildest Jerusa- lem.' ' cause the offspring of thy servant David speedily to flourish, and let his horn be exalted in thy salvation ; for we daily hope for thy salvation. Blessed art thou, Lord, who causest the horn of salvation to bud.' Another essential part of the daily service, and deemed of nearly equal solemnity and importance, is the read- ing of three portions of scripture* The first of these begins with the word SItema, the term is applied to aU the portions taken together, and the recital of them is called Kirinth Shemay the reading of the Shema. They maintain that the law enjoins the recital of these pas- sages twice every day ; since it is thus written" Thou shalt talk of them when thou liest down, and when thou risest up" which times they conceive to be night and morning. Women, servants, and children under twelve, are not under this obligation. There are THE MODERN JEWS. 413 several other prayers and recitals intermixed, or fol- lowing these prayers and parts of scripture. The Shema (Deut. vi. 49 ; Deut. xi. 1321 ; Numb.xv. 3741.) and repetition of the nineteen prayers, must never be omitted at the stated seasons. Every man is also ex- pected to repeat daily numerous other short prayers and benedictions. The rabbis have also appointed par- ticular ascriptions of praise to the Divine Being, not only in stated services, and for every benefit received, but also upon every event ' that occurs, and every action that is performed ; for every thing tasted, smelt, or seen : so that at least a hundred benedictions should be repeated each day by members of the synagogue. The prayers of the Hebrews deeply enter into the fallen state of their race, and are generally uttered with corresponding fervour. This characteristical feature is peculiarly manifested when a Hebrew pronounces the prayer of the declaration of the nature of the one true God, which is always done with closed eyes, [that the thoughts may be freed from the interruption of sur- rounding objects, and with an emphasis which inva- riably excites the surprise and interest of any strangers who may witness it. It is the first portion of the Shema. The fourth verse of the eleventh chapter of Deuteronomy is considered as the foundation-stone on which the structure of their religion rests ; to confirm this verse in its most literal meaning, to rescue it from all qualifications or reservation, the tenets and dis- cipline of modern Judaism are mainly directed. Chil- dren are early taught to repeat it. It forms part of the morning and evening service, and is included in the prayer said on retiring to rest. It is part of what is inclosed in the phylacteries, and hung up on the lintels. It is the consolatory prayer in the hour of peril, the prayer of friends around the death-bed ; it is the prayer of the dying and at that awful season to have con- sciousness sufficient to repeat this prayer, is regarded by the Jews as an enviable arid cheering circumstance. The afternoon and evening services are chiefly a re- 414 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : petition of the Shemaf and of the passage just noticed. The following is the prayer to be said on retiring to rest : * Blessed art thou, Lord our God, sovereign of the universe, who causest the bands of sleep to descend on my eyes, and slumber on mine eyelids. May it be thy pleasure, Lord my God, and the God of my fa- thers, that I lie down in peace, and rise up again in peace ; and that bad dreams, or evil imaginations, do not confound me ; but grant me an uninterrupted re*- pose in thy presence. enlighten my eyes again, lest I sleep in death. Blessed art thou, Lord, who en- lighteneth the whole universe with thy glory ! Lord our God, cause us to lie down in peace, and raise us up again, O our King, alive. O spread thy pavilion of peace over us, uphold us with thy good counsel, and help us for thy name's sake. Protect us, and remove away from us foes, pestilence, w^ar, famine, and grief. O remove the enticer from being about us, and cover us under the shadow of thy wings ; for thou, God, ai-t our keeper and deliverer. Thou Omnipotent, art a merciful and gracious King. preserve our going forth, and our coming in, to life and peace, for now and for evermore.' For thy salvation do I hope, Lord ; I hope, Lord, for thy salvation ; Lord, for thy sal- vation do I hope. Stand in awe, and sin not ; com- mune with your heart upon your bed, and be silent. Selah.' The following may serve as specimens of the inci- dental prayers of such frequent occurrence. On be- holding a rainbow : ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who art mindful of the cove- nant, faithful to thy covenant, and firm in thy promise.' On beholding the first budding of blossoms : ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who doth not suffer aught to fail in this world, but hath created thereon goodly creatures, and trees, for the en- joyment of mankind.' On hearing thunder : ' Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, whose power and might filleth the world.' On seeing light- THE MODERN JEWS. 415 ning : * Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, primeval Creator.' Wherever ten men can be constantly assembled, three services are publicly performed every day in the syna- gogue. The morning service commences at seven o'clock in summer, and eight in winter ; the evening service at different times, from half past three in the depth of winter to seven at midsummer. * The proper time for nocturnal prayer is said to be about nine o'clock ; but to avoid the inconvenience of assembling again in the synagogue at that hour, the rabbis have allowed those prayers to be said immediately after the evening prayer, with a short pause between the two services. The length of both services together is little more than a fifth of that appointed for the morning. The two former services are regarded as corresponding to the morning and evening sacrifices in the ancient temple, and the nocturnal prayers to the burning of the sacrifices upon the altar all nighf. In the morning and afternoon-service they read certain portions of the law, containing particular injunctions and descriptions of the daily sacrifices ; and these recitals, they persuade them- selves, are acceptable substitutes for the ancient obla- tions. The Jewish services are long and tedious, and the rubric by which they regulate them, is encumbered and perplexed with many ceremonial observances and superstitions. The manner in which the services are recited is also various. It may be described, generally, as chanting, rather than reading ; but the tones of the German and Polish Jews are higher and louder, and of the Italian Jews lower and softer, than those of the Spanish and Portuguese.' On certain days, Mondays and Thursdays, the law is taken out of the ark with great ceremony, and the first part of the section ap* pointed for the succeeding sabbath read. Some regard these days as fasts ; but they are generally looked upon merely as minor festivals, and the most fortunate days of the week for transacting business. As the Jews compute their day from sun-set on the 416 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : evening to sunset on the next, their sabbath commences at sun-set on Friday, and terminates at sun-set on Saturday. Nothing is undertaken on the Friday which cannot be concluded before evening, which they devote to washing and cleaning themselves, trimming their hair, and pairing their nails. 'They begin with the left hand, but deem it improper to cut the nails on two adjoining fingers in succession. The approved order is, ^for the left hand, first the fourth, next the fore finger, then the little, then the middle finger, and lastly the thumb ; ^for the right, first the fore-finger, next the fourth, then the thumb, then the middle, and lastly the little finger^ Care is to be taken to dispose properly of the parings ; for the Talmud pronounces : * He that throws them on the ground is an impious man ; he that buries them is a just man ; he that throws them into the fire is a pious and perfect man.' Every Jew, how- ever numerous his household may be, must contribute something towards the preparations of the sabbath. They spread a clean cloth on the table, and set on it two loaves which have been baked on the Friday; these are covered with a clean napkin. The table re- mains thus spread during the whole sabbath. All the food required must be made ready before its commence- ment, and the honour paid to the consecrated day is supposed to be proportioned to the delicacy and costli- ness of the entertainment. The lamps or candles must be lighted before sun-set ; in every house must be lighted at least one, having seven cotton wicks to cor- respond with the number of days in the week; this must be committed to a woman, who, when she has lighted one of the lamps, spreads out both her hands towards it and says : * Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast sanctified us with thy precepts, and commanded us to light the sabbath lamps.' A similar ceremony precedes the day appointed for any festival. The Talmud gives the most minute directions regarding the making of the wicks, and the oil to be employed. To receive the sabbath, THE MODEEN JEWS. 417 which they compare to a royal bride, they put on their best and gayest clothes, and hasten to the synagogue. The service commences a little before night. On their return from the synagogue in the evening, and also in the morning of the sabbath, parents bless their children, saying to each of their sons, * God make thee as Eph- raim and Manasseh ; ' and to each daughter, * God make thee as Sarah and Rebekah, Rachel and Leah.' Then the master of the house proceeds to what is called the sanctification of the sabbath. Seated at the head of his table, upon which bread, salt, and consecrated wine are conspicuously displayed, lighted candles ar- ranged ceremoniously on either side the bread, while the sabbath lamp is suspended from the ceiling, and surrounded by his attentive family, he commences in the following words : ' The evening and the morning were the sixth day, on which the heavens and the earth were formed, and all their host ; and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made ; thus he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanc- tified it ; because thereon did God rest from his works which he had created and made.' Then, pouring out the wine, he repeats * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe. Creator of the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who doth sanctify us with our command- ments, and hath delighted in us, and with love and fa vour hath entailed us with the holy sabbath, as a me- morial of the work of the creation ; for this day was the first of those called holy. It is a remembrance of the going forth of Egypt ; for thou hast chosen us, and sanctified us above all people, and with love and favour hast made us to inherit thy holy sabbath. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who sanctified the sabbath.' Then taking hold of the bread, he says * Blessed art thou, Lord, who bringeth forth bread from the earth.' He then divides the bread, handing a piece to each of those pre- sent, all of whom repeat the blessing. When finished, 2 418 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I the children, according to seniority, present themselves before their parents respectively, and saluting them with * Good sabbath,' crave their blessing. With both hands placed on the child's head, it is thus given by the parents : ' May the Lord bless and preserve thee ; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon thee, and be gra- cious unto thee ; the Lord lift up his countenance to- wards thee, and grant thee peace.' The Jews lie longer in bed on the morning of the sabbath than on any other day of the week : the syna- gogue service begins later, and is more protracted than on other days. The book of the law being taken out of the ark, is carried with much formality to the altar ; where it is elevated so that all may see the writing ; on which they shout ' And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. The law which Moses commanded us, is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. The way of God is perfect : the word of the Lord is tried ; he is a buckler to all those that trust in him/ The whole law is divided into fifty-four sections, and if, owing to the uncertain length of the Jewish year, there is not a sufficient number of sabbaths ; the portion for one sabbath may sometimes include two sections. The lesson for the sabbath is divided into seven parts, read by seven persons called up to the altar for this purpose. * The first is a Cohen, or one who is said to be a descendant of Aaron. The second is one who is supposed to be of the tribe of Levi. The third an Israelite of some other tribe. The same order is then repeated. The seventh may be of any tribe. Certain graces and responses are appointed to be said on this occasion by every person called to this honour, b}^ the reader, and by the whole congregation.' The lesson from the law is followed by one from the prophets a practice continued from before the destruction of the second temple : in the present Haphtoroth, or arrange- ment of passages from the prophets, there is an omis- sion of almost all the principal passages respecting the Messiah. THE MODERN JEWS. 419 The same ceremonies are observed at the Sabbath dinner as at the supper of the previous evening, after which they return to the synagogue for the afternoon- service : the law is again taken out, and part of the portion of next Sabbath read. After service, another meal is taken in honour of the day, they return a third time, for the concluding service ; ' in which some of the prayers are considerably protracted, being chanted in very long notes, to diminish the miseries of hell, which are supposed not to recommence till these prayers are finished. When they finally return, they light a wax candle, or a lamp with two wicks, which is usually held by a child ; and the head of the household, taking a glass of wine in his right hand, and a box holding some spices in his left, recites several passages of Scripture : ' Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and song ; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. Sal- vation belongeth unto the Lord ; thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. The Lord of hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. Thus may it also be unto us. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast created the fruit of the vine.' At these words he pours a little wine on the floor. Then taking the glass in his left hand, and the box of spices in his right, he says : 'Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe I who hast created divers spices.' On this he smells to the spices, and presents them to his family, that they may do the same. Then he stands near the candle or lamp, looks at it with great attention, and also at his finger nails, and says : ' Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast created the light of the fire.' Taking the wine again in his right hand : * Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the uni- verse ! who hast made a distinction between sacred and 2 E 2 420 THE LAND OF ISRAEL ! profane things ; between light and darkness ; between Israel and other nations ; between the seventh day, and the six days of labour. Blessed art thou, Lord our God, who hast made a distinction between things sacred and profane.' Having uttered this benediction, he tastes the wine, and hands it round to his household. This ceremony, which ends the performances of the Sabbath, is called Habdula, the distinction, or separation, as marking the difference between the Sabbath and other days. Sometimes the Chassan performs it in the syna- gogue, at the close of the last service. Those whose time does not permit them to perform this office, may supply its place, by privately ejaculating, at the end of the last service, this short benediction : * Blessed be he who hath made a distinction between things sacred and profane.' The Rabbis having given the most minute directions for the proper observance of the Sabbath ; the letter of the precepts is scrupulously adhered to, but their spirit forgotten. The most curious, absurd, and even disgusting questions have been raised, and cases pro- posed ; the solutions of rabbinical casuists, respecting which would fill a number of volumes. They have re- duced under thirty-nine heads all works forbidden on that day. These are : * ploughing sowing reaping bundling ^threshing winnowing sifting ^grinding boulting kneading cooking clipping washing- combing spinning winding, warping, or wearing- dyeing tying untying sewing breaking in pieces fastening with wedges or pins building demolish- ing striking with a hammer hunting fishing kill- ing flaying taking the hair off from hides cutting in pieces writing blotting out ruling paper kind- ling fire quenching it carrying anything out of doors into a street or other public place.' All other works unlawful to be done on the sabbath are classed as species under these general heads. Thus * filing ' is accounted a species of * grinding,' because one mass is divided into many parts ; and ' curdling ' milk is considered as a THE MODERN JEWS. 421 sort of * building,' which forms a whole, by the compo- sition of different bodies. Ploughing, includes digging, filling ditches or pits, delving in a garden, transplanting herbs, planting trees, cutting slips from vines, pruning, lopping off leaves, watering plants or trees, and other similar things. Water may be sprinkled in a house, to prevent the dust from rising : but because filling ditches is deemed unlawful, some Rabbis have forbidden the sweeping of a room on the sabbath, lest any furrow or chink in the floor should be filled by that operation. Walking over ground newly digged or ploughed is also prohibited, lest a pit or hole should be filled by treading on it.' We find prayers for the sick in the Jewish liturgy. When a person is thought seriously ill, it is usual to change his name, in the professed hope of evading or averting the sentence of death, which it is feared may have been issued against him in the court of heaven. On the death of a Jew, all the water in the same and the adjoining houses is immediately thrown away, and no priest must on any account remain in any of those houses till the corpse is removed after death ; the body is stripped and laid on the floor, with clean straw under it ; and it remains in that state, watched by a Jew, till the cere- mony of cleansing it with warm water has been per- formed ; part of which is, to hold the body erect, and pour over it three successive ablutions, accompanied by the recital of the passage of scripture : " Then will I sprinkle clean water over you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness." Meanwhile, some one places his hand on the mouth of the corpse, lest water should enter it. A lighted taper, a bason of water, and a clean towel, are placed beside the corpse, that the soul may cleanse it from the impurities sustained during its cor- poreal residence ; for which purpose it is supposed to return to the place every night for a month. These things are kept in the room for thirty days and nights, fresh water being deposited each morning. The Jews do not use close coffins, but usually four plain boards, 422 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : loosely joined together ; and the Rabbis assert, that the bottom should only consist of laths, that worms may the sooner destroy the body. When the corpse is laid in it, the Tallith, usually worn in the synagogue, is laid over the other sepulchral garments. When the body is carried to the place of interment, the coffin is opened ; and some earth, supposed to have been brought from Jerusalem, is placed under the head in a small bag, or strewed about the body, as a preservative. The relations and friends of the deceased then approach the corpse, one after another, holding one of his great toes in each hand, and imploring him to pardon all the offences they had committed against him in his lifetime, and not to report evil against them in the other world ; and the nearest relations have their garments rent. In some countries, the Jews are accustomed, after the nailing up of the coffin, to have ten men to walk round it seven times in solemn procession, repeating prayers for the soul of the deceased. When the coffin is placed in the ground, each of the relations throws some earth upon it ; and, as soon as the grave is filled, the persons who have conducted the interment, all run away as fast as possible, lest they should hear the knock of the angel, who is supposed to come and knock upon the coffin, saying in Hebrew, * Wicked ! wicked ! what is thy Pasuk ? ' To explain this, it is necessary to state, that every Jew is named after a fanciful allusion to some passage of Scripture, such as if a child is named Abraham, his Pasuk is " Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and brought- est him forth out of Uz of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham.' This Pasuk, in Hebrew, is taught him as soon as he can speak, and he is to repeat it every morning and evening, in order that he may be able to answer the angel when he comes to the grave. If he is not able to repeat his Pasuk, the angel, it is said, beats him with a hot iron, till he breaks his bones. When the relations return from the funeral, they all sit down upon the floor, and a chair is placed before them. THE MODERN JEWS. 423 with eggs boiled hard, a little salt, and a small loaf; a small portion of which is eaten, in order to break the fast which they profess to have kept from the moment of the decease : and ten Jews who have passed the age of thirteen, repeat prayers for the dead morning and evening ; and, at the close of these prayers, the sons of the deceased, or his nearest male relatives, repeat the Kodesh, a prayer which is considered as having potency enough to deliver the deceased from hell. The Jews desire, above all things, a burial in Pales- tine, to which country those in neighbouring lands often remove, that they may obtain so high a privilege, and escape the posthumous inconveniences which they other- wise dread. On this account, the Jews in Barbary imagine their condition to be much happier than those in northern countries, because they are nearer to Ca- naan, and therefore have a less way to be rolled under ground for the resurrection. The rending of the gar- ments is a mark of Jewish grief. * On the death of a brother, sister, wife, daughter, or son, they take a knife, and holding the blade downward, give the coat, or other upper garment a cut on the right side, and then rend it about a hand-breadth in length. On the decease of a father, or a mother, the rent is made in the same man- ner on the left side, in all the garments.* The mourn- ing lasts for seven days after the interment ; during which they neither quit the house, nor transact busi- ness, but receive the numerous visits of condolence paid by their brethren, access being allowed to every one, whether friend or stranger. Thirty days elapse before they are permitted to wash, cut their nails, or shave their beards. With respect to the numerous fasts and festivals, lield by the modern Jews, we shall only notice the mode in which they observe the Feast of the New Moon, the Feast of the Passover, the Festival of the New Year, the Fast of the Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Jews hold the Feast of the New Moon every month ; on the first or second days of the month. At 424 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : such times the women suspend all servile duties, though the men do not intermit their usual occupations. This festival is celebrated chiefly by good eating and drink- ing, the rehearsal of some psalms, and other portions of scripture, and the repetition of some additional prayers. ' At present,' says a Jewish writer, * not hav- ing the advantage of our temple service, instead of offer- ing up the sacrifices proper to this solemnity, we read those portions of Scripture which enjoin the observation of this fast ; which practice obtains in relation to all the rest of our Feasts and Fasts that were commanded to be solemnized by the offering of special sacrifices.' These they consider to be as acceptable to God as the due performance of the sacrifices could be. * On the first Saturday evening in the month, if the moon is then visible, or on the first evening after, when the sky is bright enough to have a clear view of her, the Jews as- semble in the open air, for what is called, ' the conse- cration of the new moon :' when some grave Rabbi pronounces the following benediction, in which he is joined by all the company. ' Blessed art thou, Lord, our God, king of the universe ! who with his word cre- ated the heavens, and all their host with the breath of his mouth. A decree and appointed time he gave them, that they should not deviate from their charge : they rejoice and are glad when performing the will of their Creator. Their Maker is true, and his works are ti-ue. He also ordained that the moon should monthly renew her crown of glory ; for those who have been tenderly carried from the womb, are also hereafter to be renewed like her, to glorify their Creator for the glorious name of his kingdom. Blessed art thou, Lord, who renew- est the months.' Then, addressing the moon, they say three times, ' Blessed be thy Former ! Blessed be thy Maker! Blessed be thy possessor ! Blessed be thy Creator ! ' Then they raise themselves up, and jump three times, and say, ' As I attempt to leap towards thee, but cannot touch thee, so may those who attempt to injure me be unable to reach me.' Then they say three times : ' May fear and dread THE MODERN JEWS. 425 fall upon them ; by the greatness of thine arm laay they be still as a stone. Still as a stone may they be, by the greatness of thine arm ; may fear and dread fall on them. David king of Israel liveth and existeth.' Then each says to the company : * Peace be to you,' They mutually answer : * Unto you be peace.' The Feast of the Passover begins on the fifteenth day on the month Nisan, and with the Jews residing in or near Jerusalem, continues seven days ; with all others, eight. The sabbath preceding it is called the Great Sabbath : when, in every synagogue, a lecture, contain- ing directions about the festival, is delivered by the Rabbi. All the time, they must eat no leavened bread, nor must any leaven be found in their dwellings ; and on the evening of the thirteenth day of the month, the master of each house searches every part of his house, to clear it of every particle of leaven, all of which thus found, is carefully collected and burnt with the vessel containing it, a little before noon of the following day. As the use of vessels which have had leaven in them is also prohibited, new vessels, or such as are used only at the season, are substituted for the usual kitchen-furni- ture ; and all the kitchen-tables, cupboards, and shelves, are purified, first wath hot, then with cold water. Then as many unleavened cakes as will be needed during the festival, are prepared. A Jew must have seen the meal boulted, nor is the dough to be left for a moment with- out working or kneading, lest fermentation should com- mence. The cakes ^generally made of flour and water only, which the wealthy Jews sometimes enrich with eggs and sugar are generally round, thin, and pierced full of little holes. No liquor made from grain, or that has been fermented, can be drunk ; they are contented either with w^ater, or raisin wine, of their own prepara- tion. The fourteenth of the month must be kept as a fast by the first-born son of each family, in remembrance of the guardianship exercised towards Israel's first-born, when God smote the Egyptians. On the evening of that day, the men meet in the synagogue, and usher in the 426 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : festival by offering up the prayers and other offices pre- scribed by their ritual. Meanwhile, the Jewish females decorate the house against their return for each Jew honours the occasion by displaying his best furniture. A clean linen cloth covers the table, on which several plates or dishes are placed. * On one is laid the shank bone of a shoulder of lamb, or kid, but generally lamb, and an egg ; on another three cakes, carefully wrapt in two napkins ; on a third, some lettuce, chervil, parslej^, and celery, wild succory or horseradish their bitter herbs, are placed. Near the salad is placed a cruet of vinegar, and some salt and water. They have also a dish representing the bricks required to be made by their forefathers in Egypt. This is a thick paste, com- posed of apples, almonds, nuts, and figs, dressed in wine, and seasoned with cinnamon. Every Jew who can afford wine, also provides some for this occasion. The family being seated, the master of the house pronounces a grace over the table in general, and the wine in parti- cular. Then, leaning in a stately manner on his left arm, as an indication of the liberty which the Israelites regained when they departed from Egypt, he drinks a glass of wine : in which he is followed by all the com- pany. Having emptied their glasses, they dip some of the herbs in vinegar, and eat them, while the master repeats another benediction. The master next unfolds the napkins, and taking the middle cake, breaks it in two, replaces one of the pieces between the two whole cakes, and conceals the other piece under his plate, or under the cushion on which he leans ; in professed allu- sion to the circumstance recorded by Moses, that " the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes." He removes the lamb and egg from the table. Then the plate containing the cakes, being lifted up by the hands of the whole company, they unite in rehearsing : ' This is the bread of poverty and affliction which our father's did eat in Egypt. Whosoever hungers, let him come and eat. Whosoever needs, let him come and eat of the THE MODERN JEWS. 427 paschal lamb. This year we are here ; the next, God willing, we shall be in the land of Canaan. This year we are servants : the next, if God will, we shall be free children of the family, and lords.' After replacing on the table the lamb and egg, they drink another glass of wine. The plate with the cakes is removed, that the children may be excited to inquire into the meaning of the festival. On the question being asked, an account of the circumstances which led to the institution of the festival, is given. Psalms and hymns are recited. The cakes being again placed before them, the company, in- stead of the paschal lamb, (this part of the ceremony being discontinued) eat this unleavened bread, with some of the bitter herbs, and part of the pudding commemo- rating the bricks. Then follows a plentiful supper, some more of the cakes, and two more glasses of wine each individual being required to drink four the last being accompanied by some passages of Scripture, threatening the divine vengeance on the heathens, and all the enemies of Israel. This ceremonial, which is also re- peated on the second night, the Jews profess to believe, * will be as acceptable in the presence of the Lord, as the actual offering of the Passover.' The first and last two days of this season are kept as days of high solemnity, and distinguished by extraordinary services in the syna- gogue, and a sabbatical abstinence from labour ; though fires may be lighted, meat cooked, and things carried from one place to another. The last day of the festival ends with the ceremony called Habdala, the spices being omitted. The Festival of the New Year, on the first and second days of Tisri, is marked by a cessation from all labour, which is not necessary for the preparation of food, and by long and repeated synagogue services. The Jews conceive, that, at this time, the world was created : and that God sits in judgment on the sins of mankind. * This day three books are opened ; of the righteous, who ob- serve the precepts ; of the middling ; and of the pre- sumptuously wicked. The righteous are instantly 428 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : wafted to everlasting life, and the wicked to the burn- ing fire ; but those whose works are equal, remain in suspense to the day of atonement. If they repent from their evil works, and are careful to reform their actions, then will their portion in life be with the righteous ; but if not, death is their destination/ It is said in re- ference to the judgments supposed to be recorded in these books, ' when they come out of the synagogue on the first night of the festival, they salute each other thus : To a good year shall ye he inscribed : to which they answer, Thou also.' To this many of their prayers are directed, and the Chassan is regarded as the deputy of those who, from inability, cannot pray for them- selves ; and this office-bearer, in the prayers he reads, describes himself as sent on a mission, and deputed by the congregation. Yet it is stated, * that those who wish to be exempted by the reader, must take particular care to attend to him, and not miss one word of what he says ; but this is almost impossible : because some of the poems are sung aloud in an audible voice by the reader, and others said in a low voice, so as not to be heard by the congregation, * Another name given to this festival, is the feast of trumpets. In the forenoon, at the synagogue, after the reading of the lessons from the Law and the prophets, a trumpet or cornet of ram's horn is blown, to record the ram substituted for Isaac on Mount Moriah an event to which frequent allusions are made in the prayers. A grace precedes the sounding of the trumpet ; after which the reader proclaims, " Happy is the people who know the joyful sound ; O Lord, in the light of thy countenance they shall walk." Many times after this is the trumpet sounded. Between the services of the second day, the Jews are accustomed to go to some river, or to the sea-side, and shake their garments over the water : a ceremony represented by some as the casting away of their sins, and fulfilment of the decla- ration ; "Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea ;" and by others it is thus said : ' It is customary to go to a river where there are fish, to put us in min(J THE MODERN JEWS. 429 that we are taken away suddenly, as a fish caught in a net ; we therefore ought to repent while it is in our power, and not leave that for to-morrow, which may as well be done to-day/ The fast of the atonement is on the tenth day of Tisri, the first ten days of which month are called days of penitence, various supplicatory confessions being added to the ordinary service. The sabbath preceding the fast is called the sabbath of penitence, when in each synagogue the rabbi delivers a discourse on repentance. The Jews believe that during all these days God con- tinues his scrutiny of mortal actions, but defers passing sentence till the tenth ; and that by the repentance and good works even of persons who on the first day are registered in the book of death, God may be induced on the day of atonement to transfer their names to the book of life. It is thus written in one of their prayers : * On the first day of the year it is inscribed, and on the fast-day of atonement it is sealed and determined, how many shall pass by and how many be born ; who shall live, and who die ; who shall finish his allotted time, and who not ; who is to perish by fire, who by water, who by the sword, and who by wild beasts ; who by hunger, or who by thirst ; who by an earth- quake, or who by the plague ; who by strangling, or who by lapidation ; who shall be at rest, and who shall be Meandering ; who shall remain tranquil, and who shall be disturbed ; who shall reap enjoyment, and who be painfully afflicted ; who shall grow rich, and who become poor ; who shall be cast down, and who exalted. But penitence, prayer, and charity, can avert the evil degree.' Among the Jews in many countries it has been cus- tomary on the ninth day, or vigil of the fast, after they return from the morning service of the synagogue to their respective habitations, to perform a ceremony which is evidently designed as a substitute for their ancient sacrifices. The master of each house, with a cock in his hands, stands up in the midst of his family. 430 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : and recites the tenth, fourteenth, seventeenth, and five following verses of the 107th Psalm ; to which he adds part of Elihu's speech to Job : ' If there he a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show unto man his uprightness : then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver from going down to the pit ; I have found a ransom.' Then he strikes his head with the bird three times ; saying at each stroke, * Let this cock be a commutation for me ; let him be sub- stituted in my place ; let him be an atonement for me ; let this cock be put to death ; but let a fortunate life be vouchsafed to me and to all Israel.' Having repeated this three times, for himself, for his family, and for the strangers who are with him, he proceeds to kill the bird ; which he strangles by compressing the neck with his hand ; at the same time reflecting that he himself deserves to be strangled. Then he cuts its throat with a knife ; reflecting during this operation, that he him- self deserves to fall by the sword. In the next place he dashes the bird to the ground, to signify that he himself deserves to be stoned. Lastly, he roasts the cock, as an acknowledgment of his own deserving to die by fire. The entrails are generally thrown upon the roof of the house. The cocks used on this occasion are, if possible, to be white ; but a red one is deemed altogether unfit for the purpose. After this ceremon}^ they repair to the burial-ground, where they recite con- fessions and prayers, and distribute the value of the expiatory birds, in alms to the poor. The cocks are dressed in the afternoon, and buried before sun-set. It is believed that this ceremony is now generally given up by the European Jews. Before the fast they endeavour to settle all the dis- putes, mutually tendering concessions andjrestitutions to those whom they have afli'onted or injured. Some prac- tice ablutions that they may be purified ; a few have been for the sake of penance induced to submit to the discipline of the scourge. They make a hearty meal in the afternoon in preparation for the approaching fast ; THE MODERN JEWS. 431 from sunset to sunset of the following day, they are forbidden to take any kind of sustenance, even a drop of water. Both male and female Israelites, even such as do not appear on any other day of the year, on this occasion frequent the synagogue, which is brightly illuminated with wax candles, which are kept burning night and day till the close of the fast. * On the ninth day at even, at nearly the same hour as the sabbath begins, after [having washed themselves and dressed in their best apparel in honour of the day, they go to the syna- gogue to the evening praj^ers of the fast ; where they remain, saying prayers and supplications, upwards of three hours.' Some remain in the synagogue all night. Those who come home after the evening service, assem- ble again at six next morning, and remain in the syna- gogue all day. Twelve whole hours are occupied by the lessons, confessions, and supplications. At the conclusion of the prayers, and the arrival of night, the sound of the cornet announces that the fast is ended. Then, according to some rabbles, they may congratu- late themselves on having performed the services with such precision and fervour, that Satan himself must applaud their piety. They leave the synagogue, confi- dent in the pardon of all their sins, wdshing each other a good year ; then bless the new moon ; and proceed to solace themselves after their fasting, with a plentiful meal. The Feast of Tabernacles (or tents) begins on the fifteen of Tisri ; and is now kept nine days, being, like the feasts of the Passover and Pentecost, extended a day beyond the original appointment. Every Jew who has a court or garden is required to erect a tabernacle on this occasion. " The intermediate days, between the day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles, are em- ployed in preparing the tabernacles, and ornamenting them in the most sumptuous manner that each indivi- dual can possibly afford. To every tabernacle there ought to be three good sides of wood, besides the side 432 THE LAND OF ISRAEL I on which the door-way is. It must be erected in the open air ; not within doors, or under the shadow of a tree. They must not be covered with hides, cloths, or vessels ; but must be covered with boughs, but so loose that the stars may be seen, and the rain descend through them. The tabernacles, during the festival, are to be accounted as their proper dwellings, and they are obliged to eat, drink, and sleep in them. But sick persons, or such whose health may be endangered by the cold, are exempted from the performance of this precept. Thus also if the rain proves so great that they cannot live dry in them, or the cold so intense as to en- danger their health, they may all return to their houses. Women and little children are also exempted from abiding in the tabernacles. Sleeping in the tabernacles is not commonly practised in northern countries ; al- though it is allowed to be extremely meritorious, if it can possibly be done without injury to health.' The first two days are distinguished by the conduct- ing the synagogue service with unusual pomp, and by as complete abstinence from servile labour, as during part of the passover ; particular prayers and lessons are also repeated ; but the remaining days are observed with less strictness. * Against this feast they provide themselves with branches or twigs of citron, palm, myr- tle, and willows of the brook ; some of which they take to the synagogue on each of the first seven days, except that which happens to be the sabbath, and hold in their hands during the recital of certain psalms ; the citron in the left hand, the other twigs in the right. With their hands thus adorned they march in procession round the altar, once on the first day, and once on the second. On each of the four succeeding days, they perform two of these circuits. The seventh day, which is honoured with considerable solemnity, is called Hosanna rahha : i.e.' assist with great succour : ' being a solemn acclamation used in the prayers of this day. They also on this day take forth seven copies of the law, from the ark, and carry them to the altar. They THE MODERN JEWS. 433 add branches of willow to their bundle of boughs, and with the reader at their head, go seven times round the altar in remembrance of the sabbatical years ; * as some say, but others aver that they do it to commemorate the circumambulation of the walls of Jericho. The whole is a season of great joy and festivity. We may learn from the following extract from the prayers, the high value set upon it by many members of the synagogue. * Let not the precept of tabernacles appear frivolous in thy sight ; for its statutes are equal to all the precepts of the law : it must be fenced and cleared of stones : it is a beautiful path to everlasting life, with its con- stitutions and accuracies ; for all those that observe it will never stumble ; and all those that slight it will hereafter become a curse ; and in the flame of the day that cometh, their shame will be visible ; but they who take refuge in it will incline to righteousness ; they will receive their recompense.' It is difficult to form an accurate estimate of the numbers of the Jewish nation throughout the world. In 1840, they were considered to amount to nearly four millions, while other authorities considered them to amount to five, or even six millions. The number in the Holy Land was estimated by the British consul at Jerusalem, during the visit of the Scottish mission, at about 10,000 ; but Mr. Nicolayson, the experienced missionary of the London Society, stated them at nearly 12,000. Owing to the great fluctuation of residents in the holy cities, it is extremely difficult to obtain an accurate statement on this subject. The state and prospects of the modern Jews present many most interesting features, among which their reviving hopes of a speedy restoration to their own land are highly important. The following hymn sung by the Caraite Jews at Jerusalem, may show the feelings which are widely spreading through the nation : * Canton On account of the palace which is laid waste : ' People. We sit down alone and weep. 484 ^ Cantor. troyed : ' People. * Cantor. down : ' People. * Cantor. ' People. * Cantor. THE LAND OF ISRAEL On account of the temple which is des- We sit down alone and weep. On account of the walls which are pulled We sit down alone and weep. On account of our majesty which is gone : We sit down alone and weep. On account of our great men who have been cast down : * People. We sit down alone and weep. * Cantor. On account of the precious stones which are burned : ' People. ' Cantor. bled: * People. ' Cantor. him : ' People. * Cantor. ' People. * Cantor. ' People. ' Cantor. * People. ' Cantor. * People. ' Cantor. over Sion. * People. * Cantor. * People. We sit down alone and weep. On account of the priests who have stum- We sit down alone and weep. On account of our kings who have despised We sit down alone and weep. We beseech thee, have mercy upon Sion. Gather the children of Jerusalem. Make haste, Redeemer of Sion. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem. May beauty and majesty surround Sion. And turn with thy mercy to Jerusalem. Remember the shame of Sion. Make new again the ruins of Jerusalem. May the royal government shine again Comfort those who mourn at Jerusalem. May joy and gladness be found upon Sion. A branch shall spring forth at Jerusalem. Christians now manifest a growing interest with re- gard to the Holy Land ; and avow their hope and belief that the time is not far distant when " the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the rem- nant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, THE MODERN JEWS. 485 and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea ; and shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah xi. 11.) Though this be no new sentiment among the children of the dispersion, the peculiarity of the present day consists not merely in the feeling, but in their ex- pression of this hope ; and in the approximation of spirit between Christians and Hebrews, to entertain the same belief of the future glories of Israel, to offer up the same prayer, and to anticipate the same consumma- tion. In most former periods a development of religious feeling has been followed by a persecution of the an- cient people of God ; from the days of Constantino to Leo XII. the disciples of Christ have been stimulated to the oppression of the children of Israel ; and no human mind can calculate what myriads of that suffering race fell beneath the swords of the crusaders, as they marched to recover the sepulchre of their Saviour from the hands of the infidels. But a mighty change has come over the hearts of the Gentiles ; they seek now the temporal and eternal peace of the Hebrew people ; societies are established in England and Germany to diffuse among them the light of the Gospel ; and the increasing interest excited by the parent institution in London attests the public estimation of its principles and services.' En- couraged by such proofs of better feeling towards them, by such prospects of a more favourable condition, the Israelites are now more open than formerly to Chris- tian intercourse and reciprocal inquiry. Both from themselves and their converted brethren we learn much of their doings, much of their hopes and fears, which a few years ago would have been concealed. One who lately, in the true spirit of Moses, went a journey into Poland " unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens," tells us that ' several thousand Jews of that country and of Russia have recently bound them- selves by an oath, that, as soon as the way is open 2 F 2 436 THE LAND OF ISRAEL t for them to go up to Jerusalem, they will immediately go thither, and there spend their time in fasting and prayer unto the Lord, until he shall send the Messiah. Although it was comparatively a short time since I had intercourse with my brethren according to the flesh, I found a mighty change in their minds and feelings in regard to the nearness of their deliverance. Some assigned one reason, and some another, for the opinion they entertained ; but all agreed in thinking that the time is at hand.' This impulse has been acted upon by large bodies of Jews. A very recent English traveller encountered many Jews on their route to Jerusalem, who gave to his queries the invariable answer, that they went thither " to die in the land of their fathers." For many years have the Hebrews felt this desire which old Sandys notices in his account of the Holy Land. In the present day this wish is amply gratified. * A variety of motives stimulate the desire t the devout seek to be interred in the soil that they love ; the super- stitious, to avoid the disagreeable alternative of being rolled under the earth's surface until they arrive in that land on the great morning of the resurrection. But whatever be the motives of a people now blinded by ignorance, who does not see in the fact a dark similitude of the faith which animated the death-beds of the pa- triarchs of Jacob, and of Joseph, who, " when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones." In every portion of the earth this extraordinary people, whose names and sufferings are in every nation under heaven, think and feel as one man on the subject of their restoration the utmost east and the utmost west, the north and the south, both small and large congre- gations, those who have frequent intercourse with their brethren, and those who have none, entertain alike the same hopes and fears. Dr. Wolff heard these senti- ments expressed in the remotest parts of Asia ; Buchanan asserts that wherever he went among the Indian Jews, he found memorials of their expulsion THE MODERN JEWS. 487 from Judea, of their belief in a return. * At Jerusalem they purchase, as it were, one day in the year of their Mussulman rulers ; and being assembled in the valley of Jehoshaphat, bewail the overthrow of their city and temple, and pray for a revival of its glory. Their prayer is now assuming a more penitential garb ; already, says Mr. M'Neile, in his Lectures on Jewish prophecy, as we have heard from an eye-witness of the interesting scene, some of them assemble themselves on the eve of their sabbath, under the walls of Jerusalem, where the abomination of desolation still standeth, and chant in mournful melody the lamentations of Jere- miah, or sing with something like a dawn of hope * Lord, build, Lord, build, Build thy house speedily ; In haste ! in haste ! even in our days. Build thy house apeedily.' In Poland, the great focus of the Jewish people, the sentiment is dearly cherished that the time for the end- ing of their captivity is nearly arrived. * They often assemble in their synagogues for humiliation and fast- ing ; and, like Daniel, falling on their knees, offer such beautiful and touching petitions as these : * We are more sinful than any other people ; we ought to be ashamed more than any nation ; the joy of the Lord is gone from us, our hearts are wounded. Why ? be- cause we have sinned against the Lord. The temple is destroyed : there is no Shechinah abiding among us ; we are despised and trodden down by all people. The words of the prophet are fulfilled, that Israel is burned on every side, yet layeth it not to heart. But now. Lord, look down from heaven, thy holy habitation, and cause the Messiah, son of David, speedily to appear. And, according to thine own promise, sprinkle clean water upon us, and cleanse us from all our filthiness and from aU our idols.' Is it not wonderful, that the despised and degraded Jew, in his suffering and abase- ment, should thus minutely observe the royal supplica- tion of Solomon when Jerusalem was in its pride. " If 488 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : thy people bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying. We have sinned, we have done amiss, we have dealt wickedly ; and pray towards the land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast cho- sen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name ; then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, their prayer and supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee." Though the Jews have seen their temple destroyed twice, and their city six times, their confidence is unabated ; without king, prophet, or priest, it has sustained them for 1800 years through insult, poverty, torture, and death ; and yet in this age of comparative enlightenment still more in the far greater diffusion of the word of God among both Chris- tians and Jews; on all sides is heard a harmonious assent to the concluding prayer of every Hebrew festi- val : * The year that approaches, bring us to Jeru- salem ! ' Nor has rabbinical bigotry raised or sustained this belief; for though a fraction of the modern Jews have excluded from their liturgy every petition for restoration, and even for the Messiah's coming it pre- vails, still more strongly among the converts to Chris- tianity. According to the altered sentiments of modern days, the H ebre ws may be regarded as divided, according to their own designation, into the two classes of old- fashioned and new-fashioned Jews. The new-fashioned are the liberals of Judaism, the old-fashioned are governed by the opposite principle. Those reforms which have so favourably exhibited their intellectual powers, have proved fatal to their sentiments of re- ligion ; disregarding or denying the truths on which even the Talmud rested as a basis, they have scorned to purge away its dross ; and having broken from the trammels of Rabbinism, strut about in the false free- dom of rationalism and infidelity. The leprosy has not THE MODERN JEWS. 489 yet spread itself over a large portion of the people ; the chief seat of the disease lies, of course, in Germany ; but many individuals have caught the contagion in Limherg, Brody, Warsaw, and other towns of Poland. In Germany they are engaged in the formation of literature of their own, and wield a portion of the daily and periodical press ; new modes of worship are in- troduced ; and the national expectation of a Messiah, being frittered away in the figurative applications, is debased, and yet satisfied, by their share in the revo- lutionary changes of the European states. In France, a kindred sentiment prevails ! they desire even to abandon the name of Jews, and assume the appellation of French- men. Israelites, or * adherents of the Mosaical religion :' having been emancipated, in the change of policy that followed the revolution in that country, from many burdensome and injurious restrictions, they hail in this ameliorated condition the advent of the Messiah. These principles are asserted in a journal entitled ' The Re- generation,' destined to the improvement, moral and religious, of the Israelitish people, and conducted by some of the most able and learned Jews of Paris, Brus- sels, and Frankfort. It is only within the last few^ years that the Jews, as a body, have been known beyond the circle of curious and abstruse readers. Their pur- suits and capacities, it was supposed, were limited to stock -jobbing, money-lending, and orange-stalls ; but few believed them to be a people of vigorous intellect, of unrivalled diligence in study, with a long list of an- cient and modern writers, whose works, though often- times mixed with error, containing much that is use- less, and much that is pernicious, and calculated far more to sharpen than to enrich the understanding, bespeak singular perseverance and ability. The eman- cipation of genius, which began under Moses Mendel- sohn, about the year 1754, brought them unlooked-for fame in the stage of profane literature ; the German, which had hitherto been regarded as an unholy lan- guage, became the favourite study of the liberalized 440 THE LAND OF ISRAELI Jews ; thence they passed to the pursuit of the various sciences, and of every language, whether living or dead ; their commentators and critics, philosophers and his- torians, condescended to a race with the secular Gen- tiles, and gave in their success, an earnest of the fruit that their native powers could reap from a wider field of mental exertion. But the new lights, which shone so brightly on the chiefs of the secession, have done but little to illuminate the body of their followers ; popular education, in the strict sense of the term, is still con- fined to the rabbinical Jews, who constitute the vast majority of the nation. This class of the rabbinists, notwithstanding the exclusiveness of their studies, must be considered as an educated people, perhaps more so than any other upon earth ; they can almost univer- sally read the sacred language, and partially under- stand it ; the zeal of individuals, even the poorest, prompts them to undertake the office of teachers ; and so content are they with small remuneration, that nearly a dozen Melamemedin might be maintained by the salary required for one English schoolmaster. Pa- rents and relations will endure the greatest privations to save a sufficient sum for the education of their chil- dren ; and oftentimes when the income of a single family is insufficient, five or six will make a common purse to provide the salary of a tutor. The evil is, that an excellent system and an admirable zeal are neu- tralized and perverted by rabbinism and superstition. ' If asked to give,* says Dr. M'Caul, * a concise yet adequate idea of this system, I should say it was Jewish popery ; just as popery may be defined to be Gentile rabbinism. Talmudieal learning, and the power of the rabbles, the depositories of it, are the ultimate object of Jewish discipline ; to increase the one and dignify the other, their writers have spared neither legend nor false- hood, in which blasphemy and absurdity strive for the pre-eminence ; meanwhile, the doctrine inculcated is bitter in its precepts, unscriptural in its views, and hostile to mankind ; and although amongst themselves THE MODERN JEWS. 441 they both teach and practise many social virtues, their state must be considered as exhibiting an awful picture of moral and religious destitution. That the Jews should be thus degraded and despised is a part of their chastisement, and the fulfilment of prophecy ; but, low and abhorred as they still are, we now hail for them the dawn of a better day, a day of regeneration and de- liverance, w^hich, raising them alike from neology and rabbinism, shall set them at large in the glorious liberty of the gospel.' Meanwhile the Societies for promoting Christianity among the Jews at Basle, Frankfort-on-the-Maine, Berlin, Posen, and Breslau, have been eminently pros- perous ; but the London Society, fiirst in date, is like- wise first in magnitude and success, the contributions of late having amounted to 25,000. per annum. During that year they circulated, besides tracts, Pen- tateuchs and other works in great number, nearly three thousand copies of the Old and New Testaments in Hebrew ; they have many stations in Europe and the East ; forty-nine missionaries and agents, twenty -four of whom are Jewish converts ; and ten schools, two in London, and eight in the duchy of Posen. Although the amount of conversions relatively to the actual num- bers of Israel, has not been large, the spies have brought back a good account of the land ; the sample of its fruit may rival the grapes of Eschol, and stimulate the Churches to rise and take possession. Some baptized Jews are to be found in almost every considerable town of Germany ; in Silesia, between 1820 and 1834, 455 were added to the Church ; during that period, 234 in East and West Prussia ; from 1830. to 1837, 826 in Berlin alone. In Poland, 158 have been baptized dur- ing the last twenty years. A great number are prose- Ij^tized by the Romanists, who hold out liberal offers of temporal advantage. At the Hebrew Episcopal Chapel in London, six adult converts and five children were bap- tized inl841,making a total thereby of 832 baptismsfrom the commencement ; and among the converts in Eng- 442 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : land may be reckoned four synagogue-readers, two of whom have been admitted to full orders in the Church of England. Very many Jews have been baptized in other parts of England. Mr. Joseph, himself a con- vert, has in the course of a few years baptized twenty individuals at Liverpool; baptisms have also taken place in Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Cheltenham, York, Hull, &c. The Church of Scotland has the honour of being the first, in a collective capacity, to take up the Jewish cause ; she lately sent forth a deputation to investigate the state of the scattered children of Israel. Various conversions have taken place in Edinburgh. Many of the conversions above alluded to have taken place among persons of cultivated understandings and literary attainments ; and Jewish converts, like St. Paul, brought up at the feet of their Gamaliels in all the learning and wisdom of the Hebrews, now " preach the faith which once they destroyed." On the conti- nent many converted Jews are to be found among the Lutheran and Reformed clergy ; they have also their physicians, lawyers, head and assistant masters of the German Gymnasia ; there are three professors and two lecturers, formerly Jews, in the University of Breslau ; five professors in Halle ; in Petersburg a pro- fessor of medicine ; in Warsaw, Dr. Leo, a convert, is one of the most celebrated physicians ; in Erlangen we find Dr. Stahl ; and in Berlin, Dr. Neander, the cele- brated Jewish historian, examples which sufficiently prove that poverty of intellect is by no means a charac- teristic of the modern Jews. Much good has already been wrought, directly and indirectly, by their missionary exertions. Even when the parties are still strangers to the belief and profession of the Gospel antipathies have been softened, and prejudices subdued : many who still hold the creed of their forefathers, have ceased to retain the Talmudical doctrine, that the Gentiles are beasts created to ad- minister to the necessities of Judaism. They respect the persons, and still more, the intellects of Christians ; THE MODERN JEWS. 443 many have manifested an ardent desire to hold conver- sation with the missionaries, who have been attended by crowds along the north coast of Africa, in Palestine and Poland ; and we trust that in many has been sown the good seed which shall hereafter bear its harvest to the praise and glory of God. In many parts, too, the Hebrews entertain kinder feelings towards a converted brother. A proselyte mentioned, that, within the last four or five years, he had witnessed his relations im- proved in this respect an assertion corroborated by Mr. Herschel. It is deeply to be regretted that to this treatment we are presented with many lamentable ex- ceptions ; for in many pai-ts of Europe there are Jews who, fearing domestic tyranny or public reproach, are compelled to repress their conviction that Christianity is true. The convert is almost in danger of martyrdom in Constantinople, Tunis, and Turkey generally, where the Jews have a police, and authority over their own body. Imprisonment and the bastinado are the doom of every Hebrew who is suspected of wavering in his rab- binnical allegiance ; in January 1839, a young Jew of Tunis, whose only crime was his inclination to the Christian faith, was so violently assaulted by his rela- tions, that he fainted on the spot, only lingered a few days, and died. In spite of formidable persecutions, the number of conversions is increasing the blood of martyrs being still the seed of the Church. An increasing desire is felt to obtain the word of God, and copies of the Old Testament in Hebrew are eagerly sought. In two years Mr. Stockfeldt sold 5400 copies in the Rhenish provinces ; Mr. Ewald several thousand on the African coast ; and in Konigsberg Mr. Berghfield sells copies to the annual value of above 100. The missionaries dispose of all that are sent to Poland and Jerusalem ; and it is asserted that a less additional number than 20,000 would be inadequate to supply the demands of the Israelites in all parts of the world. The translation in their vernacular dialects has also, and this well deserves notice excited the strongest interest 444 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : among tlie long-neglected Jewish females. All this in- dicates the beginning of a great change among the people ; hitherto they cared little except for the Tal- mudical legends and rabbinical parchments ; now they accept the Pentateuch printed and presented by Christian hands ! The main instrument, humanly speaking, in this change, has been the abundant diffu- sion of the Hebrew Bible. Mr. J. D. Marc thus writes from Ovensbach, stating ' the conviction that the Jews now have, that the Christians offer to them the genuine word of God, and even to the poor gratis, makes an unspeakable impression upon them, and begins visibly to melt their hearts,' it would appear that even in Poland, the stronghold of rabbinism, a door is now opened for the missionary, whose proclamation of the Gospel will secure a patient audience, provided he has a good knowledge of the word of God in its original tongue. These efforts are felt and estimated beyond the sphere of their first action ; they propagate a kindly sympathy through the most distant limbs of the Jewish body' the zeal and growing fervour of the Gentiles being discernible even in the remotest countries of the East. Dr. WolflF mentions that Hebrew Bibles and Testaments, which he had given from his own store at Jerusalem, were found at Ispahan and Cashan ; and that he heard of them in Balk, Bokhara, and Affgha- nistaun. In the Himalaya mountains, beyond the limits of British dominion, he discovered even a Brah- min, reading St. Luke's Gospel, in the Nagree character : a fact which, though not bearing on the present sub- ject may be regarded as illustrating the efficacy of asso- ciations for the diffusion of the Scriptures. We may trust that efforts like these will secure important results ; Israel's blindness being still caused, as in the Saviour's time, by ignorance of the word of God ; " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures." It is of the utmost importance that they should obtain a deeper knowledge of their own holy books, that facilities should be afforded for THE MODERN JEWS. 445 the widest possible circulation of these. * The wiser and more Scriptural method of argument now pursued by the missionaries will advance the work : laying aside their reasoning from the Talmud and the Mishna, and perceiving that, with the Jewish people, a right intel- ligence and belief of the Old Testament is the only foundation for the belief of the New, they have at last adopted toward their Hebrew disputants the method of the inspired Apostle ; for " Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures ; openly alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead ; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ." Hitherto the greatest obstacles to Jew^ish conversion have arisen from the conduct of Christians themselves. From nominal Christians, they have been subjected to insolence, plunder, and bloodshed. In professedly Christian states they have been accustomed to see the idolatry of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches, having lived chiefly in countries where a corrupted faith prevailed, their minds are shocked and averted by the mummeries of the ritual, and the hypocrisy of the precepts ; so that to them Christianity has been sy- nonymous with image-worship, and its doctrines with persecution. They are a people chastened, but not ut- terly cast off; so far from there being a Scripture warrant for their oppression, stern judgments are threatened against their persecutors. " I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, and I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease ; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction." The truth of this is attested by history, and nations have prospered as they have favoured the dispersed children of Jacob. We coincide in the following remarks : ' We cordially rejoice that we possess the favourable testimony of the children of Israel to the justice, respect, and kindness they enjoy in the land ; but our efforts should be stiU more directed 446 THE LAND OF ISRAEL : to promote their temporal and eternal welfare. * They forget,' says the good Archbishop Leighton, *a main point of the Church's glory, who pray not daily for the conversion of the Jews.' We must learn to behold this nation with the eyes of reverence and affection ; we must honour in them the remnant of a people which produced poets like Isaiah and Joel ; kings like David and * Josiah ; and ministers like Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah ; but above all, as that chosen race of whom the Saviour of the world came according to the flesh. Though a people deep in their sentiments of hatred, they are accessible, even when beguiled by neological delusions, to those who address them on their national glory ; and many persons living can attest the gratitude of the Hebrews, as of old, to those who seek the wel- fare of their nation. They are not less concerned than ourselves to observe the present religious aspect of Europe, and the awful advances of Popery. Doubtless the great and good prince, alike Christian and Protes- tant, who now sits on the throne of Prussia, will find that his affection and shelter for the Israelitish people, will procure him in the hour of conflict no insignificant or insincere allies, knowing as they do, that Protestan- tism, which delivered its followers from error, has de- livered also the Hebrews from insolence and oppression. Nor are our interests in less fearful jeopardy ; both as a Church and as a nation we have much to hope for in the welfare of the people of Israel ; and since pros- perity is to be the portion of those who pray for the peace of the holy city " Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest till he es- tablish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." * We cannot better conclude this deeply interesting subject, than in the words of an eminent poet of the * A part of these remarks on the present state and prospects of the Jews, is derived from an excellent article which appeared in the Quarterly Review early in 1840, generally attributed to the pen of Lord Ashley . THE MODERN JEWS. 447 present day ; who after describing the ancient Jeru- salem, bursts into a glowing strain of mingled lamenta- tion and prophecy. * Temple of beauty long that day is done ! Thine ark is dust, thy golden Cherubim, In the fierce triumphs of the foe is gone : The shades of ages on thine altars swim. Yet still a light is there, though wavering dim ! And has its holy lamp been watched in vain ? Or lives it not until the finished time. When He who fixed, shall break His people's chain, . And Sion be the loved, the crowned of God again 1 ' Rev. G. Croly. THE END. LEONARD SEELEY. THAMES DITTON, SURKEY. RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling '/^j(4) 642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renevy^als and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW OCT 8 1992 MnJltliCl Of MAY 14 1992 SqntaOwpJHw^