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although now mostly desert, is still better watered, through these streams and by the many fountains, than any other district throughout the whole country."

Jerusalem has often been described by Christian travellers as a filthy city, with an inhospitable population. But the experience of our travellers left more favourable impressions. Christianity, however, as exhibited in the Roman Catholic religious services, was offensive. What we now quote relates to the Easter festival.

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"The different sects of Christians who have possession of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had of course been compelled to alternate in their occupancy of it, and in the performance of their religious ceremonies. On this last high day' of the festival, the Greeks held their grand mass at the sepulchre before break of day; and the Latins followed at nine o'clock. I looked in for a few moments, with my friend Mr. Homes, upon this latter ceremonial. Few persons were present except those engaged in the service. These few were all below in the body of the church; in the galleries there were no spectators. The reputed sepulchre, as is well known, stands in the middle of the spacious rotunda, directly beneath the centre of the great dome, which is open to the sky. The high altar was placed directly before the door of the sepulchre; so that we could not enter the latter. The ceremonies we saw consisted only in a procession of the monks and others marching around the sepulchre; stopping occasionally to read a portion of the Gospel; and then again advancing with chanting and singing. I was struck with the splendour of their robes, stiff with embroidery of silver and gold, the well-meant offerings probably of Catholics out of every country of Europe; but I was not less struck with the vulgar and unmeaning visages that peered out from these costly vestments. The wearers looked more like ordinary ruffians than like ministers of the cross of Christ. Indeed, there is reason to believe that the Latin monks in Palestine are actually, for the most part, ignorant and often illiterate men, chiefly from Spain, the refuse of her monks and clergy, who come or are sent hither as into a sort of exile, where they serve to excite the sympathies and the misplaced charities of the Catholics of Europe. There was hardly a face among all those before us that could be called intelligent. A few fine-looking French naval officers, and one or two Irish Catholics, had joined the procession, but seemed quite out of place, and as if ashamed of their companions."

We before spoke of Dr. Robinson's tolerant and charitable cast of sentiment, and deem it proper to quote the paragraph which immediately succeeds the account of Easter at Jerusalem, as a proof of his amiable liberality :

"I make these remarks merely as relating a matter of fact, and not, I trust, out of any spirit of prejudice against the Romish Church or her clergy. I had once spent the Holy Week in Rome itself; and there admired the intelligent and noble countenances of many of the clergy and monks congregated in that city. For this very reason, the present contrast struck

me the more forcibly and disagreeably. The whole scene indeed was, to a Protestant, painful and revolting. It might perhaps have been less so had there been manifested the slightest degree of faith in the genuineness of the surrounding objects; but even the monks themselves do not pretend that the present sepulchre is anything more than an imitation of the original. But to be in the ancient city of the Most High, and to see these venerated places, and the very name of our holy religion profaned by idle and lying mummeries, while the proud Mussulman looks on with haughty scorn-all this excited in my mind a feeling too painful to be borne, and I never visited the place again."

We must extract some other passages concerning the various efforts made in Jerusalem and Palestine by communions which differ from the Romish. With regard to the Protestants and their missions: :

"We now repaired to the house of Mr. Whiting, where, in a large upper room, our friends had long established regular Divine service in English every Sunday; in which they were assisted by Mr. Nicolayson, the able missionary of the English Church, sent out hither by the London Missionary Society for the Jews. We found a very respectable congregation, composed of all the missionary families, besides several European travellers of rank and name. It was, I presume, the largest Protestant congregation ever collected within the walls of the Holy City; and it was gratifying to to see Protestants of various names here laying aside all distinctions, and uniting with one heart to declare by their example, in Jerusalem itself, that 'God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.' The simplicity and spirituality of the Protestant worship was to me affecting and doubly pleasing, in contrast with the pageant of which we had just been spectators.

"Early in the afternoon, we were also present at the service in Arabic, which the same missionaries had established in the house of Mr. Lanneau, and which was then regularly attended by some twenty or thirty Arab Christians of the Greek rite. These were men of respectable appearance, merchants and others, and seemed to yield attention to the things which they heard.

"It may not be out of place here to remark, that the object of the American missions to Syria and other parts of the Levant is not to draw off members of the oriental churches to Protestantism, but to awaken them to a knowledge and belief of the Gospel-truth in the purity aud simplicity of its original Scriptural form. To this end all the efforts of the missionaries are directed, in the hope that individuals thus enlightened, and remaining, if they choose, within the pale of their own churches, may by degrees become instrumental in infusing into the latter life and vigour, and a love of the truth, before which the various forms of error and superstition will of themselves vanish away. The missionaries would seem thus to have taken the proper course, in going forward simply as preachers of the Gospel, and not as the direct assailants of specific errors; striving to overcome darkness by diffusing light, and not by denouncing it as gross

darkness. True, in this way they make less noise; for the mere presentation of truth excites less opposition than the calling in question of longcherished error; but, with the blessing of God, they are likely to reap a more abundant harvest, and exert a larger and more lasting influence in the moral regeneration of the East."

Dr. Robinson regrets, in a paper on the religious condition and countenance of the Protestants of Palestine and Syria, that the same protection is not extended to, nor secured for, them which is afforded to other churches; and therefore, he is of opinion, Protestanism has made little progress in these countries. He remarks upon English indifferentism in this respect, and even as deeply concerning her political relations. He observes

"That England, while she has so deep a political interest in all that concerns the Turkish empire, should remain indifferent to this state of things in Syria, is a matter of surprise. France has long been the acknowledged protector of the Roman Catholic religion, in the same empire; and the followers of that faith find in her a watchful and efficient patron: quite as efficient since the revolution of July as before. The consequence is, that wherever there are Roman Catholics, France has interested partisans; and were she to land troops in Syria to-morrow, every Roman Catholic would receive them with open arms, including the whole Maronite nation, now armed and powerful. In the members of the Greek church, still more numerous, but now armed, the Russians have even warmer partisans. In Syria, the famed power of Russia is their boast; and though this feeling is carefully concealed from the Muslims, and would not be expressed to an Englishman, it often amounts almost to enthusiasm. Hence, wherever Russia sends her agents, they find confidential friends and informants; and were she to invade the country, thousands would give her troops a hearty welcome. But where are England's partisans in any part of Turkey? Not a single sect, be it ever so small, looks to her as its natural guardian. Her wealth and her power are indeed admired; her citizens, wherever they travel, are respected; and the native Christians of every sect, when groaning under oppression, would welcome a government established by her, as a relief. Yet in this they would not be drawn by any positive attachment, but forced by a desire to escape from suffering. England has no party in Syria bound to her by any direct tie."

A few miscellaneous extracts, and pointing directly to existing or recent circumstances, shall now be presented. Arab guides:

"We found that our guides of to-day and yesterday, both old and young, knew very little of distant mountains and objects; while they were familiarly acquainted with those near at hand. It was only after long and repeated examination and cross-questioning, that my companion could be sure of any correctness as to more remote objects; since at first they often gave answers at random, which they afterwards modified or took back. The young man Sâlim was the most intelligent of the whole. After all

our pains, many of the names we obtained were different from those which Burckhardt heard; although his guides apparently were of the same tribe. A tolerably certain method of finding any place at will is to ask an Arab if its name exists. He is sure to answer yes, and to point out some spot at hand as its location. In this way, I have no doubt, we might have found Rephidim or Marah, or any other place we chose; and such is probably the mode in which many ancient names and places have been discovered by travellers, which no one has ever been able to find after them."

Frankness and friendly feeling towards Franks at Summeil:

"The people in general in this part of the country were ready to give us information, so far as they could, and seemed not to distrust us. Here too we found the same general impression, that our object was to collect information and survey the country, preparatory to the arrival of the Franks; and here too we were addressed in the usual phrase: 'Do not be long.' Indeed the inhabitants every where appeared, for the most part, to desire that the Franks should send a force among them. They were formerly tired of the Turks; they were now still more heartily tired of the Egyptians; and were ready to welcome any Frank nation which should come, not to subdue, (for that would not be necessary,) but to take possession of the land."

No wonder that they were tired of Egyptian rule, of Mohammed Ali's conscriptions; Palestine, as all know, being governed by that old sly fox when our travellers were describing the country. For example, we thus read:

"The army consists chiefly of levies torn from their families and homes by brutal force. We saw many gangs of these unfortunate recruits on the river and around Cairo, fastened by the neck to a long heavy chain which rested on their shoulders. Such is the horror of this service among the peasantry, and their dread of being thus seized, that children are often mutilated in their fingers, their teeth, or an eye, in order to protect them from it. Yet the country is now so drained of able-bodied men, that even these unfortunate beings are no longer spared. In the companies of recruits which were daily under drill around the Ezbekîyeh, we saw very many who had lost a finger, or their front teeth; so that an English resident proposed, in bitter irony, to recommend to the Pasha that his troops should appear only in gloves. Indeed, it is a notorious fact, that this drain of men for the army and navy has diminished and exhausted the population, until there are not labourers enough left to till the ground, so that in consequence, large tracts of fertile land are suffered to lie waste."

Here is a touching circumstance connected with the Egyptian Pacha's tyrannous mode of disarming refractory districts :

"When this process was going on at Bethlehem after the rebellion, an interesting circumstance took place, which serves to illustrate an ancient

custom. At that time, when some of the inhabitants were already imprisoned, and all were in deep distress, Mr. Farran, then English Consul at Damascus, was on a visit to Jerusalem, and had rode out with Mr. Nicolayson to Solomon's Pools. On their return, as they rose the ascent to enter Bethlehem, hundreds of the people, male and female, met them, imploring the Consul to interfere in their behalf, and afford them his protection; and all at onee, by a sort of simultaneous movement, 'they spread their garments in the way' before the horses. The Consul was affected unto tears; but had of course no power to interfere. This anecdote was related to me by Mr. Nicolayson; who however had never seen or heard of any thing else of the kind, during his residence in Palestine."

Arab salesmen, and Arab free-and-easy hospitality :

"The poor kid was now let loose, and ran bleating into our tent as if aware of its coming fate. All was activity and bustle to prepare the coming feast; the kid was killed and dressed with great dexterity and despatch; and its still quivering members were laid upon the fire, and began to emit savoury odours, particularly gratifying to Arab nostrils. But now a change come over the fair scene. The Arabs of whom we had bought the kid had in some way learned that we were to encamp near; and naturally enough concluding that the kid was bought in order to be eaten, they thought good to honour our Arabs with a visit, to the number of five or six persons. Now the stern law of Bedawîn hospitality demands, that whenever a guest is present at a meal, whether there be much or little, the first and best portion must be laid before the stranger. In this instance, the five or six guests attained their object, and had not only the selling of the kid, but also the eating of it; while our poor Arabs, whose mouths had long been watering with expectation, were forced to take up with the fragments. Beshârah, who played the host, fared worst of all; and came afterwards to beg for a biscuit, saying he had lost the whole of his dinner."

The religion of the Arabs is so accommodating that our travellers were told by the superior of a convent, in answer to the question, whether the Bedawi would feel any objection to professing Christianity?"None at all: they would do it to-morrow if they could get fed by it."

The following are additional particulars:—

"The Muhammedanism of all these sons of the desert sits very loosely upon them. They bear the name of followers of the False Prophet; and the few religious ideas which they possess are moulded after his precepts. Their nominal religion is a matter of habit, of inheritance, of national prescription; but they seemed to manifest little attachment to it in itself, and live in the habitual neglect of most of its external forms. We never saw any among them repeat the usual Muhammedan prayers, in which other Muslims are commonly so punctual; and were told, indeed, that many never attempt it, and that very few among them even know the proper words and forms of prayer. The men generally observe the fast of Ramadân, though some do not; nor do the females keep it. Nor is the duty of pilgrimage more

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