In about two or three hours, I awoke in a state of utter weakness, and agony of mind, caused by the suffocating effects of the vapour, which had long filled the apartment. It was impossible to rise from the bed, and all consciousness being soon lost, my travels would have terminated, had not Michel happened to be awake in bed, with his candle burning in the adjoining cell, and hearing some faint cries, instantly run in, and carrying me into the air, by dashing torrents of cold water over me, brought life back again. Lives are frequently. lost, in the East, from the same cause. In the convent cells, above all places, if the fathers wished to have a rich devotee out of the way, they have only to put a pan of fresh charcoal beside him at night. In the church, a rich altar is erected on the spot where St. John was born, with an inscription over it. The next morning we visited the wilderness: it is narrow, partially cultivated, and sprinkled with trees; the hills rise rather steep on each side; from that on the right, a small stream flows into the ravine below. The whole appearance of the place is romantic, and the prophet might have resided here, while exercising his ministry, with very little hardship; the neighbourhood still, no doubt, produces excellent honey, which is to be had throughout Palestine. High up the rocky side of the hill on the left, amidst a profusion of trees, is the cave or grotto of St. John. A fountain gushes out, close by. When we talk of wildernesses, mountains, and plains in Palestine, it is to be understood that they seldom answer to the size of the same objects in more extensive countries; that they sometimes present but a beautiful miniature of them. It certainly deserved the term given by the Psalmist to the city, of being a "compact" country. The Baptist, in his wild garb, surrounded by an assemblage of various characters, warning them to repentance, in this wild spot, must have presented a fine subject for the painter. In wandering over the country, we feel persuaded that its very scenery lent wings to the poetical and figurative discourses of its prophets and seers. Sublime and diversified, it is yet so confined and minute as to admit the deepest seclusion in the midst of a numerous population. The monks in the convent are of the Catholic order, and have the advantage of all their brethren in point of situation and comfort; and yet nothing will induce these Franciscans to keep their habitations clean; the Greek and Armenian monasteries are palaces compared to them the fathers are in general a very ignorant race of men, chiefly from the lowest orders of society. Their tables, except during lent, are spread plentifully twice a day with several dishes of meat and wine; and so well do many of them thrive, that they would consider it banishment to be sent home to Europe to their friends. From the east end of the wilderness, you enter the famous valley of Elah, where Goliah was slain by the champion of Israel. It is a pretty and interesting looking spot; the bottom covered with olive-trees. Its present appearance answers exactly to the description given in Scripture; the two hills on which the armies stood, entirely confining it on the right and left. The valley is not above half a mile broad. Tradition was not required to identify this spot; Nature has stamped it with everlasting features of truth. The brook still flows through it in a winding course, from which David took the smooth stones; the hills are not precipitous, but slope gradually down; and the vale is varied with banks and undulations, and not a single habitation is visible in it. From the scenes of some of the battles and positions of armies in those times, it is difficult to account for the mighty numbers stated as having fought; where could they be drawn up? The numerous kings of the Canaanites, and other people, who dwelt in the mountains, the hills, and towns, and fought against Israel, answered, probably, in power and force, to the great sheiks of the Arabs of the present day, who dwell in and around Hebron, and to the south of it, and in the plains and mountains of Syria. The rich and beautiful plain of Esdralon, is the most spacious area in the country, and was the theatre of some battles; and the plain of Jericho is next in extent; but when we read that many hundreds of thousands of men fought around Mount Ephraim, and other scenes in this country, one is tempted to wonder, how the confined valleys and open places one traverses, could have contained them. The numbers given, as some commentators observe, must have been enormously enlarged in transcribing, or translating from the original. If such multitudes were gathered together, hills, vales, and streams would disappear beneath their feet, and who would be left to bury the hundreds of thousands of the slain? The hosts of the Midianites or Arabs might truly be termed "as the sands on the sea shore," as an Arab camp with its camels, tents, and horses, looks ten times as numerous as it really is; but the armies of Judea were all infantry, and villages, cottages, and towns must have been drawn into the vortex of battle, from the astonishing population of all parts of the land. It may be said, that their engagements were disorderly and without union, like those of other eastern nations; and being mostly undisciplined armies, called out en masse, from their labours and avocations, this was probably the case; but the most close, deadly, and sustained combat, can only account for the tremendous slaughter. On the same evening, we left St. John's, and returned to the city. One morning we had an audience of the governor: the apartments of the palace we entered, were not handsomely furnished. How inviting the area of the temple, with its palm-trees, looked!—it was just beneath the palace windows; women often walk there, and it meets the eye from every eminence, as if to tantalize the unfortunate Christians, to whom it is forbidden. While we were with the governor, an elderly welldressed Jew entered, and prostrated himself before the chief, touching the earth with his forehead, and presented him with a gold-flowered vase full of a rich sweetmeat; which his excellency commanded to be given to us to make use of. It was rather a degrading scene for the Jew. A loud noise being heard without, four or five soldiers entered, dragging in another, who was a Nubian, and had behaved ill and struggled violently. They held him by the arms and legs, while the governor seizing a kind of baton, with a knob of lead at the end of it, struck him eight or ten violent blows on the body, avoiding, however, the vital parts: the poor fellow cried out amaun in good earnest; it was not a very creditable exhibition. This governor is subject to the Pacha of Damascus, and scattered bodies of soldiers were arriving to join in the war. We had met a solitary Arab occasionally on horseback, with an immense lance, on his way to the city. At the south-east of Zion, in the vale of Jehoshaphat, they say the gardens of Solomon stood, and also on the sides of the hill adjoining that of Olivet. It was not a bad, though rather a confined site for them-the valley here is covered with a rich verdure, divided by hedges into a number of small gardens. A mean-looking, village stands on the rocky side of the hill above. Not a single palm-tree is to be seen in the whole territory around, where once every eminence was covered with them. The roads leading to the city are bad, except to the north, being the route to Damascus; but the supplies of wood and other articles for building the temple, must have come by another way than the near and direct one from Jaffa, which is impassable for burthens of a large size, from the defiles and rocks amidst which it is carried; the circuitous routes by land from Tyre or Acre were probably used. The Turk who is chief of the guard that keeps watch at the entrance of the sacred church, waited on us two or three times; he is a very fine and dignified looking man, and insured us entrance at all hours, which permission we availed ourselves of, to pass another night amidst its hallowed scenes, with interest and pleasure but little diminished. We chose a delightful morning for a walk to Bethany. The path leads up the side of Olivet, by the very way which our Saviour is said to have descended in his last entry into Jerusalem. At a short distance are the ruins of the village of Bethphage; and half a mile further, is Bethany. The distance is about two miles from the city. The village is beautifully situated; and the ruins of the house of Lazarus are still shewn, and do credit to the good father's taste. On the right of the road is the tomb of Lazarus, cut out of the rock. Carrying candles, we descended ten or twelve stone steps to the bottom of the cave; in the middle of the floor is the tomb, a few feet deep, and large enough to admit one body only. Several persons can stand conveniently in the cave around the tomb, so that Lazarus, when restored, did not, as some suppose, descend from a sepulchre cut out of the wall, but rose out of the grave, hewn in the floor of the grotto. The light that enters from above, does not find its way to the bottom; the fine painting in the Louvre of this resurrection was probably faithful in representing it by torch-light. Its identity cannot be doubted; the position of Bethany could never have been forgotten, and this is the only sepulchre in the whole neighbourhood. It is a delightful Sunday afternoon's walk to Bethany: after crossing the Mounts, the path passes along the side of a hill, that looks down into a wild and long valley, in which are a few scattered cottages. The view just above the village is very magnificent, as it embraces the Dead Sea, the valley and river of the Jordan, and its embouchure into the lake. On the descent of Olivet, is shewn the spot where Christ wept over Jerusalem: tradition could not have selected a more suitable spot. Up this ascent David went, when he fled from Absalom, weeping. And did a Jew wish to breathe his last where the glory of his land and fallen city should meet his departing gaze, he would desire to be laid on the summit of the Mount of Olives. The condition of the Jews in Palestine, is more insecure and exposed to insult and exaction than in Egypt and Syria, from the frequent lawless, and oppressive conduct of the governors and chiefs. These distant Pachalies are less under the control of the Porte; and in Egypt, the subjects of Mahmoud enjoy a more equitable and quiet government than in any other part of the empire. There is little national feeling or enthusiasm among them; though there are some exceptions, where these exist in an intense degree. In the city, they appear fearful and humbled, for the contempt in which they are held by the Turks is excessive, and they often go poorly clad to avoid exciting suspicion. Yet it is an interesting sight to meet with a Jew wandering with his staff in his hand, and a venerable beard sweeping his bosom, in the rich and silent plain of Jericho, on the sides of his native mountains, or on the banks of the ancient river Kishon, where the arm of the mighty was withered in the battle of the Lord. Did a spark of the love of his country warm his heart, his feelings must be exquisite: but his spirit is suited to his condition. PEGASUS IN HARNESS. From Schiller. A BARD, who 'gainst the world's neglect, At length, by many wants oppress'd, Forsook his pen, cast off his muse, All Smithfield was astound to see They gazed; but yet no one would buy: A carrier, from the crowd, at length, His wings are useless, that I own; But then, said he, I'll tie them down; He's sound and active, young and strong, And well can draw a cart along. Now was his noble head and chest And threw the cart, with all its load, Amidst a heap of dung. The carrier stared; at length he said, The horse is sure possest: He's strong as any two at least; Next day they tried another plan,— A steadier next the load; This seem'd, at first, well to succeed, But whilst his hoofs the pathway spurn'd, And dragg'd o'er hedge and ditch perforce, Useless alike were curb or rein, We'll try what starving him will do: And then I'll try him at the plough. And farther still to quell his pride, Confound the brute! the carrier said, And,-" oh!" he cried," my friend, forbear; Where wouldst thou drive so strange a pair? Now trust thy horse to me, I pray, But when, discumber'd from the pack, |