them. We may now congratulate the British nation in being possessed of an entirely unique collection, the value of which is inestimable. The ornaments and sculptures on the vases denote a very advanced stage of civilization. Not the least curious of the discoveries are several hundred mother-o'-pearl studs, in form exactly resembling our shirt buttons."

But still more remarkable disclosures are since an nounced by Dr. Layard himself. Letters have been re ceived from him giving intelligence of new and important discoveries in the Nimroud mound. He has made fresh and extensive excavations in parts of the eminence not yet explored, and the result has been the finding of what is believed to be the throne upon which the Assyrian monarch, some three thousand years ago, sat in state, in the splendid palace whose ruined heaps are now being explored. It is composed of metal and of ivory, the metal being richly wrought and the ivory beautifully carved. It seems that the throne was separated from the state apartments by means of a large curtain, the rings by which it was drawn and undrawn having been preserved. No human remains have come to light, and everything indicates the destruction of the palace by fire. The throne has been partially fused by the heat; but it is thought it can be sufficiently preserved to exhibit to us so remarkable a relic of ancient art and royal pomp.

These can be regarded as only the first fruits of the harvest, and while it must be owned that the British government has more important duties to perform with its revenues than the search for Assyrian sculptures in the mounds of Koyunjik and Nimroud, it will be a just cause of regret, if, after an expedition has been sent out, it should be crippled, or rendered fruitless, from an illjudged economy.

CHAPTER VII.

JERUSALEM.

In ages past all glorious was the land,

And lovely were thy borders, Palestine

The heavens were wont to shed their influence bland
On all those mountains and those vales of thine,

But there survives a tinge of glory yet

O'er all thy pastures and thy heights of green,
Which, though the lustre of thy day hath set,
Tells of the joy and splendour that hath been.

NICHOLAS

AROUND the capital of Judah lingers an interest which the associations of no other scene can parallel. Amid the hills and valleys of the ancient land which the seed of Abraham inherited, the perverse and accursed seed of Canaan established their footing almost immediately after the abated flood had restored the world to the human race. The promised inheritors of the favoured land sojourned in Egypt for four hundred years, until the iniquity of the Amorites was full, and they were doomed to be extirpated, like the inhabitants of the plain, whose ranker crime had first ripened them for judgment. There, at the appointed time, entered the wanderers born in the wilderness, through the dried-up bed of the Jordan, into the inheritance of their fathers.

Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Tyre, Carthage, Rome, and other younger cities, claim indeed the world's notice by the large field they occupy, in some respects, in its elder history. Excepting during Solomon's glorious reign, Judah claims no part among the mighty nations of the earth, but she stands apart with a lasting glory, compared

with which all the associations of the "Eternal City" sink into utter insignificance.

The feelings with which we look upon this remarkable land have been expressed somewhat in these terms. Abstracting our thoughts from all the considerations of supernatural agency which are suggested by the inspired narrative, we still feel compelled to acknowledge that the course of events which constitutes the history of ancient Palestine has no parallel in any other part of the world. Fixing our eye on the small district of Judah, we call to mind that, eighteen hundred years ago, there dwelt in that little region a singular people, differing from all the rest of mankind in the very important circumstance of not being idolaters. Looking around upon every other country of the earth at the same era, we discover superstitions of the most hateful and degrading kind darkening all the prospects of man, and corrupting his moral nature in its very source. Some of these nations are seen to be far advanced in many intellectual accomplishments, yet, being unable to shake off the tremendous load of error by which they are pressed down, are equally irregular and capricious in the exercise of their reason and in the application of their affections. Yet this little spot called Palestine is seen to be despised and scorned by those proud kingdoms, whose wise men will not imagine that any specula. tion or tenet, arising from so ignoble a quarter, ought to have the slightest influence upon their belief, or could in any way affect the general character of their social institutions. But, behold, while we yet muse over this interesting scene, a Teacher springs up among this people, -himself not less contemned by his countrymen than they were by the warlike Romans and the philosophic Greeks, whose doctrines, notwithstanding, continued to gain ground on every hand, till at last the proud monuments of pagan superstition, consecrated by the worship of a thousand years, and supported by the authority of

a

the most powerful monarchies in the world, fall one after another, at the teaching of his disciples, and before the prevailing efficacy of the new faith. A little stone becomes a mountain, and fills the whole earth. Judea swells in its dimensions till it covers half of the globe, carrying captivity captive, not by force of arms, but by the progress of opinion and the power of truth. All the nations of Europe in successive ages,-Greek, Roman, Barbarian,-glory in the name of the humble Galilean; armies, greater than those which Babylon, in the pride of her ambition, led forth to conquest, are seen swarming into Asia, with the sole view of ejecting the maintainers of another creed, and getting possession of his supposed sepulchre.

The effects, too, produced on society, exceed all calculation. It is vain that we attempt to compare them to revolutions which have changed for a time the face of nations, or given a new dynasty to ancient empires. The impression made by such events soon passes away. The present condition of the world is not greatly different from what it might have been, though Alexander had never been born, and Julius Cæsar had perished in his cradle. But the occurrences that enter into the history of Palestine possess an influence on human affairs which has no other limits than the existence of the species. The greatest nations upon earth trace their happiness and civilization to the benign principles and lofty sanctions of the faith to which it gave birth. Science, freedom, and security, attend its progress among all conditions of men; raising the low, befriending the unfortunate, giving strength to justice, and breaking the rod of the

oppressor.

Nor is the subject of less interest to the pious Christian, who confines his thoughts to the momentous facts which illustrate the early annals of his religion. affections are bound to Palestine by the strongest associ

His

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ations; and every portion of its varied territory, its mountains, its lakes,—and even its deserts,—are consecrated in his eyes as the scene of some mighty occurrence. His fancy clothes with qualities almost celestial that holy land,

"Over whose acres walked those blessed feet,

Which eighteen hundred years ago were nail'd
For our advantage on the bitter cross."

These momentous associations serve to conceal from us the astonishing history of this most remarkable city, even since old Hebrew rites were brought to a close, and the sceptre finally departed from Judah. Yet what other city in the world can compare with it even in the later vicissitudes of its history; its siege by Titus; its rebuilding by the Romans; the attempted rebuilding of its temple, and the wondrous arrest of the impious attempt. The wars of the Saracens, Crusaders, and Mahomedans; the pilgrimages of medieval superstition, of Hebrew piety, and of Mahometant zeal, have all marked it out as the most remarkable of cities even in those later centuries of the world's history which belong to the Christian era.

The facilities of modern civilization have removed nearly every difficulty which once made pilgrimage to Jerusalem so formidable. Travellers can, in a few weeks, explore the whole of the antiquities of Syria and Palestine, and return to publish the narrative of their travels for the succeeding season's readers. Yet while such facilities have destroyed the novelty and lessened the romance of what was once a sacred pilgrimage, supposed to secure to him who accomplished it eternal rewards, while it gave to him special favour and distinction in the eyes of his less daring or less fortunate contemporaries; yet the destruction of the novelty of a visit to Jerusalem has in no degree impaired the wondrous interest which still clings to the hallowed scenes.

How memorable are the associations which rise to the