but to startle and search the conscience. Not only had a revival from the dead been granted to that man whom God had ordained, but a day had been appointed on which by Him the world must be judged in righteousness.

"Whatever may have been the immediate results of St. Paul's sojourn at Athens, its real fruits are those which remain to us still. That speech on the Areopagus is an imperishable monument of the first victory of Christianity over Paganism. To make a sacred application of the words used by the Athenian historian, it was 'no mere effort for the moment; but it is a 'perpetual possession,' wherein the Church finds ever fresh supplies of wisdom and guidance. It is in Athens we learn what is the highest point to which unassisted human nature can attain; and here we learn, also, the language which the Gospel addresses to man on his proudest eminence of unaided strength. God, in His providence, has preserved to us, in fullest profusion, the

literature which unfolds to us all the life of the Athenian people, in its glory and its shame; and He has ordained that one conspicuous passage in the Holy Volume should be the speech, in which His servant addressed that people as ignorant idolaters, called them to repentance, and warned them of judgment. And it can hardly be deemed profane, if we trace to the same divine providence the preservation of the very imagery which surrounded the speaker-not only the sea, and the mountains, and the sky, which change not with the decay of nationsbut even the very temples, which remain, after wars and revolutions, on their ancient pedestals in astonishing perfection. We are thus provided with a poetic, and yet a truthful commentary on the words that were spoken, once for all, at Athens; and art and nature have been commissioned from above to enframe the portrait of that apostle, who stands for ever on the Areopagus as the teacher of the Gentiles."

NOTES FROM MY JOURNAL.

Malaga Climate-Cathedral-Works of Art-The Alcazaba-Scenery-Granada-The PastThe Yankee Captain.

Having secured some letters of introduction to residents, we were soon put in the way of obtaining every information we desired.

Ir was a wild stormy night that in, consistent with their size and value. which I caught the last glance of the old warrior-rock as we voyaged towards Malaga. The clouds hung darkly on his lofty crest, as his grey rocky outline lay between us and the fiery glare of the setting sun, while the sullen cannon boomed from the rampart, and went sounding heavily far into the gathering gloom, to proclaim the beginning of the night-watch.

Ten hour's sail brought us to anchor, at an early hour of the morning, in the harbour of Malaga, in as calm and peaceful a scene as can be well pictured. The waves, unruffled by a breath, were already alive with the large shore boats, full of their noisy crews, plying between the shipping and the pier, while our deck was soon crowded by the officers of the "Dogana," all intent on what bribes they could by any arts extort. After breakfast I landed, along with some friends whose companionship I had been fortunate in obtaining, and proceeded to kill off our lions with as much expedition as was

The hotels were full of invalid English, seeking, in this delicious climate, that health which was denied them in their own; and certainly, if there be on earth a spot on which heaven looks with a favouring smile, and breathes her gentlest, it is this. Situated at the foot of a beauteous vale, whose sheltered windings steal away among the mountains; fanned by the soft sea breeze, which here seldom increases into the dreaded Levanter; and surrounded by the most luxuriant vegetation, Malaga may well be looked upon as combining many of the requisites for restoring the enfeebled energies. Death here, at least, comes with gentler tread, and the spirit seems with less pain to pass away from earth. The green sod of the English burying-ground covers the remains of many of our countrymen who have died either here or in some other

part of the south of Spain; for here, or in Cadiz and Madrid alone, will Catholic toleration allow a heretic's bones to rest in peace.

penny!

almonds, figs, grapes, and wines. The Muscatel grape, of world-wide fame, may here be had for a trifle, while oranges and figs of the most delicate flavour inMalaga, though still a considerable vite every passer-by. A million and a-half seaport, is nothing now to what it has of boxes of raisins are annually exported, been. Under the enlightened dominion chiefly to the United States,-the Valenof the Moorish Caliphs of Granada, it tian raisin being that mostly in demand was the entrepôt for the merchandise of in the English market. I was told by a the East. Galleys from every quarter of resident gentleman that I had been the then known world might, in her hey-grossly cheated in only obtaining six day, be seen at anchor in her harbour; oranges in an investment I made of a while the choice wares of every clime were sought for in her marts. Malaga But the pride of Malaga is the Alcawas then emphatically called, "the hand zaba, or ancient fortress-palace of the and mouth of Granada." Moorish kings, with the hoary castle The cathedral was, of course, first which overlooks it, both so closely convisited by us. The building itself is un- nected with some of the most stirring finished, and comparatively of recent con- scenes in the romantic history of the struction, so that it lacks that venerable Moors. We visited both with deep interaspect so essential to such a pile. Many est. The Alcazaba retains but few of the statues and paintings which adorn traces of its former splendour, as the the interior are quite new and glary, and hand of time, though laid with a gentle consequently disagreeably remind one of touch in these favoured climes, has, in the idolatrous uses which they subserve, the long lapse of ages, marred its glory. having none of the sanctity of age and Enough, however, yet remains to convey grandeur of design, which, at least, com- to one a faint conception of what its immands our respect, if they do not win our posing grandeur must have been, when admiration. If a painting or group of it formed one of the chief resorts of its statuary be the inspiration of some great eastern monarchs. The Gibralfaro, or mind, the product not merely of human castle, stands at a great height, comhands, but of human thought,-embody-manding all the town; and still exhibits, ing the exalted idea which such a genius in its mighty walls and pondrous butis capable of conceiving of some fact of resses, the invincible strength which religious belief, or, it may be, of some incident in the history of one whose holy life and active charity have gained him immortality, then, though we cannot submit to the teaching of that faith which encourages its votaries to prostrate themselves before the great work of art, yet we feel the subduing power of such a presence in our inmost soul, and forget the error of its worshippers. But when we behold the pliant crowd kneel before some senseless block or miserable daub, whose every line breathes of earth, our whole soul loathes the insult to taste, religion, and reason. Leal and Cano have, however, touched with their master hand some of the scenes depicted in this church.

Fruit is at present the great commodity of export from Malaga,-raisins,

enabled the unconquerable Gomeres, headed by the famous Moorish captain, Hamet el Zegri, to make such a memorable defence against the Christian army under Ferdinand. In looking from its massy ramparts, now crumbled by the breath of the sea-breeze, one passes in imagination back to olden times, when beneath these now rent and ruinous towers was spread the stately panoply of the Christian camp, covering the neighbouring eminences with its white tents; and when, under these very walls, the champions of two antagonistic faiths warred with all the inveterate hate religion-how falsely so called!-alone can inspire.

What a scene in its beauty-and, above all, in its soul-stirring memories-here met our gaze! On one side was the busy

splendour of the Halls of Abencerrages;
and of the Ambassadores, and of the re-
nowned Court of Lions, once perfumed
with all the incense of Yamen, the whole
canopied by a sky so serene, as to have
caused its inhabitants to think that para-
dise itself must lie embosomed in its blue
depths, came in saddening recollection
over my mind; for now
"The lonely spider's thin grey pall

Wares slowly widening o'er the wall;
The bat builds in the harem bower,
And in the fortress of his power
The owl usurps the beacon-tower;
The wild-dog howls o'er the fountain's brim
With baffled thirst and famine grim;

For the stream has shrunk from its marble
bed,

Where the weeds and the desolate dust are spread."

harbour, all life and hurry,-beyond, the | every enchantment which wood, water, waveless sea lay like a burnished mirror, and flower, could impart; of the magic undimmed, save where a fleecy cloud east its scarce darkening shade, or the trembling shadow of a calm-staid ship rested peacefully on its bosom; as it stretched away in shining splendour, till the broken outline of the mountains of Africa loomed through the golden haze. Below, the city, with its churches and convents, picturesque houses, and sunny gardens, gleamed gaily. Inland extended the fruitful Vega, with its luxuriant orchards, far back amidst the rugged mountains, displaying here and there its irrigating stream in silvery links amidst the foliage; while the whole landward was shut in by gigantic mountains, "rough with crags," towering upwards in serrated ridges to the clouds. In that very valley, now so peaceful, were fought some of the most sanguinary struggles of that desperate war which the fanatic spirit of the middle ages waged for the expulsion of the Moslem from his favourite land. Many a time and oft, in the narrow space left between these very rocks, has the chosen chivalry of Europe, aye, and the gleaming banner of St. George, been seen in deadly combat with the heroic Moor, whose valour, though exerted for his altars and hearth, was ever tempered by the most sensitive chivalry. These mountain windings, now undisturbed, save by the timid note of the solitary bird, have re-echoed to the fierce war-trump of contending hosts; and every pinnacle and crevice has blazed with the warning flame of the beacon-fire. But to me, the most deeply interesting object of all was the narrow white line that scaled the lofty crest of the distant mountain, and marked the road to Granada! The very name called up such a host of associations, which from childhood had captivated my mind. The accounts I had so often read of the Alhambra, likened by the Moors to "alated of any to develope the faculties and silver vase filled with emeralds and jacynths," with its airy halls, fairy fountains and portals,

"Sculptured deep

With imagery beautiful as a dream ;" of its hanging gardens, which presented

Yes! there lay Granada, whose meteorlike splendour shot across the murky darkness of the middle ages, lighting up, for a moment, with its evanescent glory, the universal gloom; and in whose shady retirement, science, philosophy, and poetry, found a congenial retreat to germinate in increasing splendour on the tardy return of a better age. Nay, behind that very jagged peak stood the so-oft wildly contested fortress of Alhama, the cradle of chivalry; and the dirge at the loss of which is yet one of Spain's most plaintive laments. Hardly beyond lay the mountain summit from which Boabdil, "the unfortunate," with his exiled nobles, turned in unspeakable anguish to gaze, for the last time, on their beloved city.

Rushing like a stemless torrent over conquered nations, receiving their polish, and engrafting their institutions on their own, the Moorish conquerors of Granada exhibited in their public establishments a completeness which has never since been equalled. Though debased by a religion which is perhaps the least calcu

promote the advancement of science, and which, in modern times, we have seen keep a great nation stagnant, even amidst the inspiration of the most classic region of the world, the Spanish Moors reached a very high standard of

literary culture, the fruits of which, unfortunately for humanity, have been lost to us by the vandalism of their conquerors, who, in their boasted enlightenment, us great amusement. In manner and destroyed the records of their literature. It was accounted a mark of commendable faith in Ferdinand "the Catholic," that he burned, in one great auto-da-fé, 15,000 Arab works on science! The government of the Moors, though despotic in the highest degree, presented the curious and unparalleled anomaly of a despotism weilding its absolutism to promote the cultivation and diffusion of letters. In short, the phantom-like existence of this people, with the splendid magnificence of their existing remains, impress the mind with a feeling of awe akin to fear; and his heart is indeed in keeping with the cold utilitarianism of our age, who can read the record of their conquest, mild and benignant sway, noonday glory, cruel persecution, chivalrous and heroic resistence, and final, fierce, unrelenting expulsion, without a tear, so true is it that "Men are we, and must grieve, when even the

we encountered a Yankee, whose acquaintance I had made on board of the steamer, and whose nationality afforded

shade

Of that which once was great has passed away."

Little more is to be found to interest one in Malaga. Manufactures have a feeble existence, languishing under the cutthroat policy of the Spanish government. So closely protected are the commodities of home produce, that the wholesome competition of foreign interference, so necessary to stimulate the phlegmatic Spaniard, is wanting in most things; and when permitted, the native producer has so little of the "go-a-head" in his composition, that he has no chance in the race. A small cotton manufactory, in which the workmen are mostly English, turns out the coarser class of goods, which, from the stringent regulations against English manufactures, gets immense sale; yet the want of enterprise, so conspicuous in Spain, confines most of the trade to one house, the well-known Larios Hermanos of Gibraltar. Two iron-smelting furnaces work, to a limited extent, the ore, which exist in perfect mountains in the neighbourhood.

On going down to the pier to embark,

sentiments he was as choice a specimen
of the Jonathan pure as could be found,
and in appearance no Apollo. His face
seemed to have been modelled so as to
suit his mouth; so completely was it the
leading feature, while his short stiff red
hair and ferret eyes by no means added
to the interesting cast of his physique.
He had attracted my attention the even-
ing before at supper by his replying, in
very curt English, to all observations ad-
dressed to him by his French and Spanish
neighbours, with the evident manner of
one who had not the most distant con-
ception of one word that was said to him,
accompanied by a certain contemptuous
expression, as if he had no great desire
to be better informed. I now found him
standing amidst a host of fruit boxes on
the quay, with both his boney hands
thrust into the unfathomable depths of
his breeches pockets, his hat well secured
on the back of his head, and the most
exaggerated expression of contempt on
his great mouth as he eyed the Spaniards
working round him. He was the master
of a ship lying in Gibraltar, and had come
round to Malaga to try and secure a
cargo. Not a word of any language but
his own nasal dialect of English did he
attempt, so that all his business had to
be transacted through the intervention
of his consul, for whose clerk he was wait-
ing when we met him. Every subject of
conversation was turned into the same
channel, as to how differently they man-
aged things from all the rest of the world;
and how far a-head they were in Ameriki.
Nothing could be suggested which escaped
being ultimately brought to the same
standard, and, of course, condemned if
not Yankee. "Oh! you know they don't
understand us wild Yankees, do these
Spaniards; they see us here one day and
there another, like wild things, not caring
a rush for this moustachoed puppy, and
that old granny; we go in slick, and don't
cringe; a true-blooded Yankee wont
cringe or bow; he wont; he demands, and
if he don't get his rights, why, he takes

I never smiled. "Steam! we are all steam; every man has a railroad to his door (!) every river is covered with steamboats, and the whole country is covered with stationary ingines. Do you think," said he, "that when I am in Boston, I remain on board my ship?-not I; I live forty miles up country with my family; I come down to my ship in the morning, go back to meals, attend to my loading in the day-time, and return to my family at night. Oh! we wild Yankees know how to do things, and so do you English,

them. He does; and no mistake anyhow. I would rather have my throat cut by a long hook than bow to any man! I say, respect age and virtue, and beyond that man is man, and all are alike, as two Johnny cakes!" "But," I said, "would you not also respect position in society?" -"Oh! yes," he replied, "I doff my hat to the President, because he is the head of the State. I did not approve of Jack the wild Yankee from Ohio, who pulled the President's nose, because he thought he had insulted him. Oh! no -not I; but, I say, cut my throat if you will, but no bowing or scraping to fellows with moustaches for me. I am a Yankee to the back-bone, a genu-ine downcaster, and hold all men to be alike." I suggested the anomaly of the existence of slavery in the United States with such Yankee sentiments; but his being a north-father an Englishman? and I guess there ern man, gave him the means of escaping from this difficulty. Knowing how proud the Yankees are of their steam, I asked him, with as much gravity as I could assume, if they had any steam in America. His very hat appeared to be elevated by the erection of his red bristles, and his eyes opened to an extent that, from their small size, was most surprising; but

you, too, go in and win; none of your creeping like these lubbers," looking at the Spaniards. He held on in the same strain for a long time, and ended by saying, “that 'e Yankees and English ought ever to be friends; ain't we one, and brothers ?-why, was not my own grand

is no nigger blood in me,"-a suspicion from which his fiery red hair and complexion certainly freed him.

As we sailed in the evening, the sun's latest rays were falling in lengthening shadows over the scene, and lighting up, in momentary flashes, the gray battlements of the giant fortress.

DISCOVERIES IN THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND BABYLON.*

a purely literary point of view, it evinces a marked superiority. We see evident marks of more care in the arrangement of his materials; while there is still the same enchanting and lifelike reality in his accounts of his travels, and of his intercourse with the various Bedouin tribes. The engravings, too, which are very numerous, are very interesting, while they are of immense service in elucidating the narrative.

THE publication of Mr. Layard's former work, Nineveh and its Remains, threw so much light on many of the obscurest passages of Scripture, and afforded so many corroborations, both direct and indirect, of the authenticity of the Bible, history, that the appearance of this volume, the result of his further researches among the ruins of Assyria, has, for some time, been expected with anxious interest. Nor will its perusal disappoint the reader, however high his Were it not that we feel constrained, expectations may have been raised. In- as it were, to confine ourselves chiefly to teresting and instructive as was his pre- those portions of Mr. Layard's volume vious work, this one is still more so. In which afford elucidation of the Scriptures, we might have said something of the difficulties under which he laboured in consequence of the parsimony of the British Government, which restricted and

* Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon; with Travels in Armenia, Kurdistan, and the Desert: Being the Result of a Second Expedition. By AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M.P. London: John Murray. 1853.