which we cannot stop to say more than that they are generally interesting and readable. It would take a wretched writer, indeed, to make a dull book upon the Holy Land; the subject itself and the scenes enlist the attention at once. But the last pilgrim who has returned from that sacred city and emptied his wallet for our inspection, has produced a book not only valuable as an interesting account of travel, but useful as an excellent commentary upon the incidents of the Bible, and the life and work of Our Lord. There have been many reviews of this book as a book of travel, but it is in this higher light more particularly that we wish to examine Mr. Hepworth Dixon's two volumes on the Holy Land. From the very earliest times down to the present, Jaffa or Joppa seems to be the portal of Palestine to western travellers, who are, it appears, compelled to make their début in Palestine in no very dignified manner. The Water Gate of Jaffa, Mr. Dixon tells us, faces the sea, and is "no more than a slit or window in the wall about six feet square." Through this narrow opening all importations from the west must be hoisted from the canoes; "such articles as pashas, bitter beer, cotton cloth, negroes, antiquaries, dervishes, spurious coins and stones, monks, Muscovite bells, French clocks, English damsels and their hoops, Circassian slaves, converted Jews and Bashi Bazouks." Once safe through this slit in the wall, the stranger is ushered into a town whose scenes recall to his imagination the Arabian Nights of his childhood; so little has the Holy Land changed, the dress of the people and their customs being so little altered that Haroun, if he were allowed to take another midnight trip with his vizier, would be quite at home. Marvellous it is too that civilization has left another peculiarity untouched in Palestine. Mr. Dixon tells us, that after "three months of Syrian travel you will learn to treat a skeleton in the road with as much indifference as a gentleman in a turban and a lady in a veil." Whatever dies in the plain lies there asses, camels, or men. The travelling baggage of an Arab includes a winding sheet, in which he may be rolled by his companion, if he has one, and covered with sand; bodies are found, too, who, in the last gasp, had striven to cover their faces with the loose sand. There is no exaggeration in this statement, the Saxon Sewulf, who went there in the year 1102, nearly eight centuries ago, draws the same picture; he says,

journey, by a mountainous road, very rough and
dangerous on account of the Saracens, who lie
in wait for the Christians to rob and spoil them.
Numbers of human bodies lie by the wayside,
torn to pieces by wild beasts, many of whom
have been cut off by Saracens, some too have
and others from too much drinking.”
perished from heat, and thirst for want of water,

Travelling in the Holy Land is not mere sport; there are a myriad of dangers to be avoided and watched for, armed Bedaween are prowling about, bands of horsemen scour across the plain like clouds over the sky.

At dawn of day they arrive at the spot where once stood Modin, the birthplace of the Maccabees, now a den of robbers, called Latrun. This spot is a most interesting one, and Mr. Dixon rapidly sketches the results of the events which were transacted here, showing how from the Maccabæan revolt sprung the Great Separation, a new kind of priesthood, and also, for which the influence of the captivity had already prepared them, the ignoring of the written law of Moses, and the introduction and veneration of the oral law or tradition of the elders. The peculiar aspects of the Jews at the time of the Roman domination and the advent of Christ, their hopes and opinions may be traced back to the drama which was played out on this spot. We propose then to pause for a moment to sketch the history of that period, as it is the keystone to the whole fabric of Jewish degeneracy.

About half a century before the birth of Christ the Jews had fallen into the hands of the Romans, and in the writings of Tacitus we have a description of them, an attempt at investigation into their history, and a version of Roman opinion upon them, which is the more interesting as it affords an admirable corroboration of what is recorded in the Scriptures. Tacitus endeavours very ingeniously to make them come originally from Crete, on account of their name. "Went from Joppa to Jerusalem two days Idæos or Judæos, from Mount Ida, in Crete,

We must bear in mind that it is scarcely hopes. Let us review those circumstances, probable that Tacitus could have read for it is only by doing so we can properly Genesis. Then he mentions other theories understand how the Jews came to be so which were in vogue as to the origin of this persistent in their expectations of a great strange people, who were beginning to be omnipotent temporal sovereign. Antiochus very troublesome to the Romans. In the Epiphanes, upon the death of his brother, first theory we get a slight trace of the Seleucus Philopator, King of Syria, seized sacred tradition; certain people he says upon the vacant throne, although Demedeclare that a great multitude in the reign trius, the son of Seleucus, was alive at of Isis overflowed Egypt and discharged Rome, where he had been sent as a hostthemselves into the lands of Judea and the age. In Daniel xi. 21, we glean that he surrounding neighbourhood, some call them obtained the kingdom by flattery, which a race of Ethiops, others Assyrians; and we receives some support from what Livy says are told there were some even who claimed about his extravagant rewards (Livy xli. c. for them a far more renowned descent from 20), He had unkertaken several camthe Zovu mentioned by Homer, whence paigns against Egypt, and was on his rethey called their great city Hiero-Solyms. turn from one of these, with wasted army These theories are very ingenious, but they and exhausted treasury, when it occured to only serve to prove that the eye of the phil- him that if he could only plunder the Temosophical historian of the Romans had ple of the Jews, it would go far to recruit never rested on the Jewish records. Still his finances. He turned his army at once the character he gives of them is the one towards Jerusalem, marched upon it, and they have universally borne in the world; sacked it. An altar was raised, and sacrihe speaks also of " Moyses," who gave them fice made to Jupiter in the Holy place. a distinct legislation; he mentions "cir- Then he endeavoured to abolish the cerecumcision" and their abstinence from cer- monial, and to introduce pagan worship, tain kinds of meat; he records their national when the Jews, exasperated beyond endurexclusiveness, their immovable obstinacy, ance, were ripe all over the country for retheir notion of one God, so strange to a volt, but dared not rise. At this time, howpagan mind, and the Temple, without im- ever, there dwelt in a little village called ages, equally absurd. Modin, not far from Emmaus, a family who were called the Maccabees, for what reason it is now impossible to ascertain, but this family, who had lived there in the peaceable obscurity of village life, were destined to become heroic. It consisted of an aged father, Mattathias, and five sons. Antiochus Epiphanes had sent his officers to this village to erect an altar in the Jewish place of worship for sacrifice to the gods, when Mattathias boldly declared that he would resist it. The altar was set up, and one miserable renegade Jew was advancing towards it to make the pagan offering, when he was slain on the spot by Mattathias. The family then fled to the wilderness, and concealed themselves; they were soon joined by others; a band was formed, which gradually increased, until it became numerous enough to attack towns. Then Mattathias died, and his son, ever more memorable in the history of patriotism, came forward, and took the command of the gathering confederation, now a disciplined army. Apollonius was sent against him, whom Judas met boldly on the field of battle, and slew. The same success attended him in his encounter with the Syrian general, Seron. Antiochus now saw the necessity of vigorous measures to prevent the Jews from recovering their independence; he went to

Though the Romans treated the Jews, as indeed they did all the people they conquered, with great forbearance, still they had a sort of secret dislike for them, and in the end they served them as they served no other race of people subject to their power. And this feeling was reciprocated by the Jews, who now more than ever longed for the advent of the great Deliverer, whom they also more than ever felt must come in the shape of a warrior, with power and majesty to sweep these Romans out of the country, and restore Jerusalem to her former position of splendour and renown. There can be no question that the political circumstances in which the Jews were placed at the time of the coming of Christ, helped to unfit them for his reception, by fostering that idea of a great temporal sovereign which had been implanted in their bosoms. But this idea was of much older origin than their troubles with the Romans. It is an interesting fact that the Maccabean revolution, which restored the priesthood, may be looked upon as the event which first taught the Jews that fatal error. Before that time they had a more spiritual conception of the Messiah, but the events which followed in the wake of the heroism of Judas Maccabæus changed the whole character of their

Persia to recruit his treasures, whilst Ly- claim against Demetrius. By this time sias, the regent, sent an army to Judea of Jonathan's little body of troops had been 40,000 foot and 7,000 cavalry, which was augmented by continued reinforcements, reinforced by auxiliaries'from the provinces, and his position was such that to the conand even by Jews who were already becom- tending parties in Syria it became clear ing jealous of the fame of Judas. The Jewish hero pointed out to his followers the desperate odds against which they would have to contend, and resolved upon employing a stratagem. By a forced march he reached a portion of the ememy encamped at Emmaus, and surprised them, with complete success several portions of the army were put to flight, and a great booty secured. Another and more numerous army was sent against him, but with no success. At the head of 10,000 followers, fired by fanaticism, Judas put to flight the army of Lysias, 60,000 strong, and marched on Jerusalem to purify the Temple, and restore it to its glory. The Festival of Purification was then inaugurated. Day by day the successes of Judas increased, when Antiochus Eupator, who had succeeded Antiochus Epiphanes, invaded Judea, and only made peace with Judas in consequence of dissensions at home. He was murdered by his uncle Demetrius, who seized the kingdom and confirmed the peace with Judas, but took possession of the citadel of Jerusalem, placing his general, Nicanor, there with troops. Suspicions were then entertained that treachery was being plotted between Judas and this general; the matter was pressed, when Nicanor cleared himself, and Judas was obliged to flee. A battle took place, which he won, and another victory followed at Beth-horon, in which Nicanor fell. Reinforcements strengthened the enemy, and Judas was compelled to retire to Laish with 3,000 followers, where he was attacked at a disadvantage. Only 800 of his men remained faithful to him, but with these he boldly encountered the avenging hosts of Demetrius, and found a hero's death on the field. Though Judas was dead, yet the Maccabean spirit was not extinct. Simon and Jonathan, his brothers, rallied their companions, and took the lead, fortifying themselves in a strong position in the neighbourhood of Tekoa. Jonathan bid fair to equal Judas; he avoided an open engagement with the Syrians, but kept his position, and harassed the enemy for the space of two years, when events brought about what perhaps the slender force of his army would have never accomplished. A pretender to the throne of Syria sprung up in the person of Alexander Balas, the reputed natural son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and a party was soon found to promote his

that if either could win over this obstinate Jew to his cause it would decide the matter. Demetrius took the first step, by making him at once general of the forces in Judea and governer of Jerusalem, but Jonathan was in no hurry; he suspected the wily Demetrius, and having received overtures from Alexander Balas, that if he would espouse his cause, he would make him high priest when he was on the throne of Syria, he yielded. These overtures were accompanied by the present of a purple robe, and Jonathan, who, doubtless, saw in the dissensions of his enemies the oppor tunity for Jerusalem, accepted the proposition, joined Alexander, who slew Demetrius in battle, and ascended the throne of Syria. True to his engagement, he made Jonathan high priest, with the rank of prince, and did all he could to ensure his fidelity. Jonathan afterwards attended the marriage of Alexander with a daughter of the King of Egypt, at Ptolemais, where he received many marks of consideration from the Syrian and Egyptian monarchs. He ultimately fell, however, a victim to treachery, and was succeeded by his brother Simon, who confirmed the Jews in their independence in return, for which, in 131, B.C., they passed a decree, by which the dignity of high priest and prince of the Jews was made hereditary in the family of Simon. Thus was founded the long line of Asmonean priests, which remained unbroken down to about thirty-four years before Christ. The Mosaic principal was set aside, and from this time the changes came over the Jews and their institutions which are admirably sketched by Mr. Dixon in the two chapters on the Great Separation and the Oral Law, which we recommend to the careful perusal of any one who wishes to form a clear idea of the origin of the state of Judaism at the time of our Lord. He thus sums up in a sentence the results of the Maccabæan insurrection:

"The main issues then as regards the faith and policy in Israel of that glorious revolt of Modin, was the elevation of a fighting sect to power; the general adoption of separative principles; the substitution of an explanatory law for the Covenant; a change in the Divine succession of High Priests, and a lawless union of the spiritual and secular forces."

The Idyls of Bethlehem form a most in

teresting chapter-the death of Rachel, tion of the sceptic to the humble origin of the idyl of Ruth, the episode of Saul, the Jesus has been well answered: house of Chimham, the idyl of Jeremiah, and the birth of Our Saviour, are all sketched in a manner which tends to impress these well-known scenes upon the mind indelibly. A chapter on which throws much light upon the incident of the birth of Christ, we would like to extract did not the exigencies of space forbid. The reader will find in the chapters, "The Inn of Bethlehem," "The Province of Galilee," "Herod the Great,” “John the Baptist," and "Jewish Parties," an admirable introduction to those scenes of the life and wanderings of Our Blessed Lord, which are contained in the second part of the book, and to which we wish to devote the remainder of this paper.

"The princes of Turkey in Egypt are still instructed in the mechanical arts, one being made a brazier, another a carpenter, a third a Said Pasha was a "good weaver, and so on. Syrian Khans,'

When speaking of the early life of Jesus, Mr. Dixon takes up the question of the obscurity of his origin, that favourite point with the sceptics of all ages, from the "Is not this the carpenter's son" of the Jews, down to the puerile objections of the German Strauss. He has shown that it was the custom to teach the youth of all classes some useful art; and the best born and greatest men in Jewish history had been instructed in such trades as weaving, tentmaking, &c. Besides, certain trades were held in honour. We cannot understand this if we think of carpentering by the contemptuous estimate of modern life. That contempt for hand-labour was unknown in the early ages of Scripture history. Adam dressed the garden, Abel was a keeper of sheep, Cain a tiller of the ground, Tubal Cain a smith; and so, amongst the Jews, it was a reproach to any man if he had not been taught one of the useful mechanical arts. It was dignified by the Almighty himself, who, we are told

"Called by name Bezaleel, and he hath filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, and to devise curious works, to work in gold and in silver and in brass and in the cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put it in his heart that he may teach." Exod. xxxv. 30-34.

This reverence was cherished by the Jews; carpentering was always looked upon as a noble occupation; the fact that the carpenter might have to go into the Temple to labour would have rescued that occupation from contempt. This is a striking peculiarity of eastern life; and elsewhere the objec

good mechanic, Ishmael Pasha is not inferior to his brother. Much of the domestic life of Israel has been lost to us, but still we know something of the crafts in which many of the most famous Rabbis and doctors had been taught to excel. We know that Hillel practised a trade. St. Paul was a tent-maker, Rabbi Ishmael was a needle-maker, Rabbi Johnathan a cobbler, Rabbi Jose was a tanner, Rabbi Simon was a weaver. Among the Talmudists there was a celebrated Rabbi Joseph who was a carpenter. What then have been a man of low birth-not of the stock becomes of Strauss' inference that Joseph must

of David because he followed a mechanical

trade?"

Capernaum, Chorazin Magdala, Bethsaida, Dalmauutha Gerasa, preaching in the synagogues, visiting the fishing boats and threshing floors, healing the sick, and comforting the poor; gentle in his aspect and in his life; wise as a sage and simple as a child; winning people to his views by the charm of his manner and beauty of his sayings."

His first aim was to win the Jews from the Oral Law, to convince them of its emptiness; it is the key to the following scenes graphically depicted by Mr. Dixon. Christ had gone to Jerusalem for the Feast of Purim, and was walking by the Pool of Bethesda in the sheep market, a spot he had to pass daily. On the banks of this pool were crowds of sick, the halt, aged, and blind, a spectacle sure to attract the eye of Jesus: