(General Character of the Entrance to Saracen Cities. DAMASCUS. BY J. S. BUCKINGHAM. This city of Damascus was built, peopled, and numbered among the first civilized settlements of the world, soon after the epoch of the deluge, the earliest period of which we possess any history, and at least 3000 years before London existed as a city, or even England was known, but as an island inhabited by barbarians. The distance between these cities is now, however, immense; London being as much above Damascus in whatever can indicate superior knowledge, superior comfort, and all that can endear and embellish life, as Damascus is to the meanest kraal or village of the African Hottentots. Yet the natural situation of the latter has greater advantages than that of the former; its climate, soil, and water are favourable to the richest productions of the earth; and even in a commercial point of view, its central situation in the heart of Syria, with India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Arabia, all accessible by land, and the whole range of the Mediterranean open to any L. 38. 1. B of the ports within less than a hundred miles on the coast, would be a source of great wealth to an active and enterpris ing people. What, then, has been the leading causes of the immense difference between the wealth and intelligence of London and those of Damascus ? is a question that naturally forces itself on an inquiring mind; and the answer neces sarily is "Education and Freedom," the two main springs of good government. During an evening party I was intreated, by several of the individuals composing it, for written charms against poverty, sickness, danger, &c. At first I endeavoured to persuade the applicants that no human being possessed the power to compose such charms, however impostors may pretend, from interested motives, to propagate a belief in their efficacy; ard that a very strong proof in support of their being false and delusive was to be gathered from the fact, that the venders of such charms, to save others from misfortune, were not able to protect themselves from the evils inseparable from humanity, but were equally liable, with all other men, to sickness, misfortune, and death. This argument, however, convincing as it would have been to most minds, had no effect whatever on theirs, and I was somewhat surprised to find it combated by an example from sacred history; one of the parties observing that the same objection had been raised, but without foundation, against the divinity of Christ, when those who mocked him exclaimed, "He saved others: himself he cannot save." It was vain to attempt conviction on minds entrenched behind such a position; and, therefore, to satisfy the increasing importunity of those who now believed, from my very scruples and reluctance, that I really had the power, but was indisposed to exercise it for their benefit, I wrote on slips of paper various unmeaning characters, which were taken as favours, and construed into talismans of a general, rather than a particular nature, from my declining to assign to them any specific virtue. The occurrence of such a scene as this among the Mahommedans of the Nile, or the barbarians of Nubia, or the savages of Africa, would not have been surprising; but here, as I had been forced, by what I had seen, to estimate the state of civilization among the Arab Christians of these parts, I had not before supposed it to be so low as this incident evidently showed it to be. 3 THE TROUBADOUR. AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. The cloudless splendour of the setting sun shone broadly and brightly upon the dark blue waters of the Rhine, and fell in shadowy beams of gold upon the romantic objects that diversify the banks of that majestic river. Volumes might be written in praise of the enchanting sublimity of these favoured spots, but to attempt the description of one feature only is all that now falls to our share. Seated upon the brow of a stupendous cliff, whose jutting sides, clothed with verdant foliage, rose proudly from the foaming waves beneath, was the castle of a feudal fortress, which, erected as a stronghold in the earlier periods of history, bore the venerable traces of decay, mingled with the more ruthless violence of warfare. Partially surrounded by a high and massy wall, flanked by enormous bastions, and protected by a fosse of considerable depth, the building, boldly defined upon the horizon, reared its lone towers above the vine clad steeps around it, and grey and time-worn as the rock upon which it stood, appeared like a monument of forgotten days, to challenge the admiration of every passing eye. A serpentine path, entangled with luxuriant eglantine, hawthorn, and hazel, and, in many places, overhung with moss-crowned cliffs of lime-stone, wound its way from the portcullis to the rugged base of the ascent, where a variety of fragrant shrubs and blossoms bloomed upon the hoary crag, and scattered sweetness upon the alr. Bosky glades and dells, interspersed with corn-fields and vineyards, groves and bowers, beautiful as the fabled regions of fairy-land, and apparently crowding together as they receded from view, and faded into the delicious azure and amethyst of the distance, assist the outlines of our sketch; while here and there an ivied tower, or mouldering hermitage, a lowly roof, or convent spire, invest the whole with the winning and hallowed attributes of social and religious existence. And now to paint the animated portion of the picture. Leaning against a projecting eminence, so situated as to command a perfect view of the castle, was an individual habited in 'minstrel's attire. With a countenance full of fire and sweetness, yet strongly tinctured with melancholy, an eye irradiated with the light of genius, and a lip that might have been aptly presumed to breathe forth the witchery of song, he possessed a figure of slender and elegant proportion, not unbecomingly displayed by the picturesque character of his garb. A broad hat, somewhat resembling that of the palmer, defended his head, and was slouched over a forehead the natural freshness of which, somewhat tarnished by the sun, was furthermore shaded by a profusion of ebon tresses; a dark-green cloak, furred round the neck with the skin of the grey squirrel, and fastened by a silver clasp, hung carelessly from his shoulders, and, opening in front, showed the close body dress which completed his costume. The appearance and attitude of the stranger testified travel and fatigue; but in the deep and earnest expression of his face-in the rapid changes of his colour, the quick curving of his mouth, and the penetrating glance of his falcon eye, as he fixed his gaze upon the fortress, and beheld battlement and barbacan blazing in the beams of the sun, much of lofty enterprise and restlessness of spirit might be discerned. In good sooth it is a fair and lovely land," soliloquized the minstrel, casting his eyes over the scenery around him ; and, methinks, it were no trying matter to muse away life in a solitude like this, and happily too. Grand, and wild, and beautiful--what more could poet's heart desire? and what more than the breath of the blue heavens, the swelling of the pure waters, and the fair fruit and foliage of the glad earth, with the pleasant song of birds, and the still sweeter voice of kindred-what more than these should man seek after? And yet," continued he, breaking into a new strain, and speaking with a prouder tone, "there is something more that is dear to the soul of man. Ambition with its brilliant dreams-conquest with its bewildering charms — glory, immortal glory, preparing the path of the hero, and wreathing his faulchion with unfading laurels-a far-stretched sovereignty -a crown and sceptre, or-" and his brow deepened, and his voice fell-chains, a prisou, and a stranger's grave." With these words he remained for a few seconds as if absorbed in reflection, then springing hastily from bis passive posture, he snatched up the harp that lay beside him, |