lumns of granite, which have sustained the roof. The whole is in a state of dilapidation, without windows or doors. It is mantled with ivy, but is totally deserted, and the whole place is marked by silence and melancholy. I went forward to the village contiguous, called Aisaluck, consisting of a few miserable cabins, where there are the ruins of an extensive aqueduct. The inhabitants are in wretchedness and poverty, and, in fact, may be considered in a state of insensibility.

On proceeding about two miles further to the west, the ruins of Ephesus became conspicuous, and darting, as it were, in a moment to view. They stand in one of the most retired situations that can be conceived; and of all the scenes of desolation I ever visited none affected me in a greater degree. The enormous masses of ruins of so illus trious a city, excite, indeed, very distressing sensations. St. Paul visited the place, accompanied by Aquilla and Priscilla, with whom he had lodged at Corinth, and established his colleague Timothy, who is denominated his son in the faith, in the character of bishop. * As it at present exists it is scattered in terrible confusion, and at a short distance from the sea, in the direction of it, where there is a principal port.

At entering this once flourishing city, which is said to have occupied 200 years in building, and may be classed as the first of the seven Christian churches that have been established, there is to the north a circus, clear and distinct, with an amphitheatre, which, from its prodigious strength, we might be led to suppose never could be demolished but with the end of time. There are a few pedestals, on which lofty columns were once erected, which are still visible round the interior, although choked up with weeds and rubbish. From the view I took of a building of this magnitude, and the account transmitted to us in the gospel, I am disposed to entertain a decided opinion, that it must have been the edifice or "theatre" into which the blind Ephesians, headed by Demetrius, rushed, from the

*Acts xviii. 2-15.

indignation which was excited by his profession, in forming the silver ornaments*, to perpetuate the object of idolatry set up at Ephesus, being overturned by the heavenly and thundering eloquence uttered by this Apostle in preaching, during three years, the doctrines of Jesus Christ, on which occasion the whole city was thrown into a state of confusion and rage.

Notwithstanding, however, the many obstacles thrown in the way, and the great opposition shown by the people, yet it cannot fail to strike a contemplative mind, how mightily the word of God prospered, and ultimately prevailed: the name of Jesus Christ was glorified, and the proclamations issued in recommendation of their idolatrous and superstitious artifices were voluntarily surrendered, committed to the flames, and the Christian religion blazed forth † like a glorious luminary. Among others who used indefatigable efforts in the propagation of the doctrine of salvation through a crucified Redeemer, an Egyptian ‡, a native of Alexandria, yielded to none, from his distinguished powers and a knowledge of Revelation, who discovered an ardent zeal in the cause, by speaking boldly, proclaiming publicly, and teaching diligently, to the conviction of its deluded inhabitants who heard him, that Jesus was truly the Christ, and Son of the living God.

Near this theatre, and upon a considerable elevation, I observed a circular area, paved with stone, or rather the natural rock cut into this form, where fragments of a few crumbling pedestals may be traced, which formerly supported columns bearing evident marks of a rotunda or temple, which I am also inclined to think might have been the spot where the great object of idolatry had been set up. On surveying this spot, a circumstance was brought to my recollection which may be here noticed. When in Rome I was conducted over the apartments of Lucien Buonaparte by his priest, which are supposed to contain the most select collections of pictures and statues to be seen in all Italy, and having requested him to shew the statue con

*Acts xviii. 19.

+ Id. xix. 24-41.

+ Id. xviii. 24.

sidered to be most valuable, he pointed out the goddess Diana discovered at Ephesus. On my visit to Ephesus, I mentioned this to several of the oldest natives I could possibly discover, in order to learn if they knew or had heard any of their ancestors allude to the discovery of a statue of this goddess, or any representation of a human figure found in the place. They positively assured me that not a syllable of any such discoveries had reached their ears.

The soil about Ephesus, particularly the plain, is rich. The plough is drawn by oxen, and formed something after the one used in the Holy Land, excepting that the horizontal pole to which the cattle are attached is longer, with the view of keeping them at a greater distance from each other. The penetration of the plough into the earth is very shallow, and the furrows are long. This struck me as a commentary on one part of revealed truth.* The mode adopted to smooth the ground on being sown, to fix down the grain, instead of applying a roller to it, is by a plank of wood, near a foot in breadth, to which a pole, similar to that of a coach, is fixed, with a cross at the top to attach the oxen. The husbandman stands upon this plank, to keep it in some degree solid, moving the oxen forward at a slow pace, and by this means the grain is pressed down.

In proceeding through the town, about the distance of a quarter of a mile from the theatre, I came to awful piles of ruins, the result of the ravages of time, and the work of devastating barbarians, conveying abundant proofs of the former magnificence and extent of this renowned city. In stumbling among these wrecks, it was impossible not to contemplate with interest, not only the remarkable events which occurred in this corner of the earth, where the ingenuity of the architect and the power of the orator had been so eminently displayed. At the same time, however, that it exhibits on the one hand the wonderful productions of man, it shews on the other his frail and perishing nature. What Ephesus must have been anciently, the

* Psal. cxxix. 3.

imagination of a traveller will be able, even from its present fallen state, to form a correct opinion of. The gross idolatry of pagans was succeeded by the worship of the true God by the primitive Christians, and is now followed by that of the Mahommedan impostor. These will convey to his mind the truth of Scripture, namely, that the candlestick is removed out of its place *, and that city, which was once full of people, now literally sits solitary, and in a total state of desertion. The moping owl, it may be justly observed, complains to the moon on the ivy mantled ruins of its original glory and grandeur.

My curiosity in this very secluded spot having been satisfied, after indulging in mournful reflections, which the consideration of its original splendid architecture and consequence, lying in such woeful destruction was calenlated to inspire, I intended to have proceeded to Philadelphia, Laodicea, &c., which were also formerly favoured with the light of revelation, and where Christian churches were established; but to my mortification, after every possible enquiry made by my servant in different languages to the inhabitants, who appeared singularly ignorant, they could not point out the tract which I afterwards discovered at Smyrna had not been many miles distant.

Among the many coins presented to me here by a shepherd for sale, I was told that not a single one bearing the effigy of Diana, which I was so anxious to obtain, could be procured. I departed from Ephesus, and after taking another tract, said to be shorter in extent than that from Smyrna, and over the mountains, partly through a woody country where I often lost my way, and it was a miracle I had not been encountered by banditti, I returned in safety to Smyrna.

J

* Rev. ii. 5.

CHAP. XXXVI.

SMYRNA. PLAGUE.

-

DESCRIPTION. - CITY.

PORT. - POPULATION. BIBLE SOCIETY. BRITISH SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. BIRTH-DAY OF GEORGE THE THIRD. - ENGLISH CONSUL. CASINO. VILLAS. REMARKABLE FACT OF SACRIFICE OF A GREEK CHRISTIAN, DECAPITATION OF PA

STRATAGEM. REMARKS ON CAPITAL PUNISH

ON my arrival at Smyrna, it afforded me no ordinary gratification to find the horrors of the plague and apprehensions of its further ravages had considerably subsided, This enabled me to walk about the town in company with Mr. Williamson, under all the peculiar precaution which is observed by the Franks, even avoiding to tread on the smallest rag or any trifling article lying in the streets, from which infection might be dreaded, or touching any person in passing. Most of the shops, however, of the Europeans were still shut up, the principal families had fled to a distance, a dead silence, peculiarly affecting, reigned throughout the place, the tents under which those afflicted with the disease had been placed, were still pitched on the shores; and many had died since I departed for Ephesus. Every article received into the houses of the Franks was thrown into water before it was used, the gates leading to their houses were closed, no persons were permitted to pass without the strictest examination, and every letter was received between small tongs, and fumigated before it was touched and opened. Bread in a warm state from recent baking was avoided. The infection of this sore pestilence may be communicated by the smallest thread, but it is singular that it does not affect the feathered tribe, although their feathers communicate infection. I do not think any danger is to be apprehended from oxen or horses, although tra