We pursued the winding course of a mountain stream, May 8, and had to ascend a considerable time before we could emerge from the defile we had entered. The scenery is grand, from the bold scale on which it is formed, and the dashing and foaming of the stream added to the general interest. A bridge bestrides the waters near the place where the mountains are at their highest elevation, and in the rocks near them are many excavations, in which the early Christians are said to have taken refuge in times of persecution. We soon afterwards entered a valley, or slip of table land, bounded on one side by Lebanon and on the other by Hermon. Both ranges had snow upon them, and the mountains of the latter are high and precipitate. I again heard the note of the cuckoo, and the voice seemed to come from the snow. This valley appears to have been the northern confine of the conquests of Joshua, as it is said that he took all that land.....even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon." Josh. xi. 17. We passed several villages, but were not disposed to make many observations, as it continued to rain during the whole of our progress through the valley. After travelling eight hours we arrived at the village of Soorkiye, and again remained with an Arab family. Being mountaineers, the females were not ashamed to show their faces, but sat round the fire, and entered into conversation without fear. My companion was dressed partly in European costume, and the dame of the house, who was as good tempered as we could wish, said she had never before seen so extraordinary a creature. They allowed us to watch them at their work. They were baking bread. The oven is formed of mortar, in a conical form, open at the top, and the fire is kindled inside, according to the literal expression of Scripture, "cast into the oven." The dough is worked by the hand into a thin cake, which is then thrown with a little violence against the side of the oven, and allowed to remain there until it is sufficiently baked. It is called hubs, and when I had become accustomed to the taste, I preferred it to coarse bread. When not otherwise engaged, they spin cotton, with a clumsy wheel, but on the same principle as our own. The men are employed out of doors. They cultivate corn for bread, and barley for their horses. They have also fruit-trees and vineyards. Being Mussulmans, they make no wine of their grapes, but form them into a substance that much resembles honey, called dibs, which can be preserved a long time, and is excellent when taken with bread. I had with me an Indian coverlid, under which I slept, which attracted the attention of the old lady, and I had many hints that a few inches cut from it would be an acceptable present. We slept round the fire-place with the family, but the younger females and children went to the house of a neighbor for the night. The road continued, May 9, to exhibit much of the same character as the day before, until we began to ascend a mountain at the end of the plain. We proceeded along the sides of elevated mountains, gradually descending until we came, in about five hours, to the great plain in which Baalbec is situated. We crossed two streams that appear at one time to have been deep rivers, and as we caught the first view of the ruins, rain came on, but not with violence. We applied for shelter to the superior of a small convent, but as he refused to take us in without the promise of an exorbitant present, we proceeded to the temple, and tried to accommodate ourselves as well as we were able in one of the best of the ruined apartments. The origin of the celebrated temple of Baalbec is lost in obscurity, but it is attributed by the people of the East to the genii under the direction of Solomon. From modern writers it has received a date in much later times, and is supposed by them to have been erected about the reign of Antoninus Pius, at which time the style here used was prevalent. From the almost universal adoration of the god Baal, or Bel, in these countries, the word is used in the composition of many of the names of places mentioned in the Scriptures. One of these cities at least, Baal-hermon, was in this neighborhood, and it has been supposed that the Birkath-Aven of the prophet Amos, chap. i. 5, refers to this identical city. The temple was dedicated to the sun, and by the Greeks was called Heliopolis. The ruins are surrounded by a moat. We first entered upon a court filled with large stones and broken columns. At one end, six columns are standing in a line, with part of their entablature, about 70 feet high, and each composed of three separate stones. The principal court is upwards of 300 feet long, and is surrounded by an arcade, with niches, recesses, and small apartments, all of elaborate sculpture. There is one temple nearly perfect in its outer walls, that has been surrounded by a portico and columns. Many of the columns are still standing, and the situation of all the others can be traced. They are of the Corinthian order, with an appropriate frieze, and the interior of the roof of the portico has been ornamented with heads in regular compartments, the features of which might still be traced on a near approach. The temple itself is roofless, and the moulding and other ornaments of one side are entirely eaten away, probably from their exposure to the stronger breeze, but the other parts are in good preservation. It is nearly 200 feet long, and about 100 feet broad. The centre stone over the entrance has slipped from its place, and hangs apparently without any support, as if to threaten with instant death the adventurous traveller who shall dare to enter this deserted sanctuary. It is ornamented with the figure of an eagle. Near this is a building that bears marks of Saracenic origin, and was perhaps built out of the ruins of the former erection. Some of the stones in the wall of the temple are 58 feet long, and there is one at the quarry not removed out of the place where it was cut from the rock, upwards of 60 feet long, and said to weigh more than a thousand tons. In the magnitude of these remains my expectations were more than realized, but I was disappointed in the effect. It was the first ruin of Grecian architecture I had ever visited, and having been accustomed from my earliest days to associate with this style all that is chaste and beautiful, I do confess that I expected the temple of Baalbec would have excited in me greater enthusiasm. I saw it in different lights, and from different situations, but the voice with which it spoke to me was always the same. The moss and ivy of the ruins in England give them an inexpressible charm, the massiness of the Egyptian structures strikes the mind with awe, and even the caves and temples of India have something about them that attracts and fixes the attention; but in looking at these immense stones and columns, the feeling was one of melancholy alone, that Time should have been so merciless in his devastations, without adding any of those telling touches that in other places make us almost forgive him for his deed. The simplicity of the Grecian architecture appears to me to be lost when exhibited in proportions so colossal. At a little distance is a small circular temple, of the same order of architecture, once used by the Greek Christians as a place of worship. The town itself is one mass of ruins, and there are very few of the houses that are tenantable. There are several mosques, one of which contains a great number of pillars and capitals, put together without order or taste, and in the court are some prostrate columns of very beautiful granite. We had intended from this place to visit the cedars of Lebanon, a few of which are still standing, of an immense size, but we were told that the road was impassable from snow. The mountains towards the west exhibited the coldest and most cheerless appearance I had seen for many years. None of the evil spirits visited us in our solitude, nor did any robber think it right to make an attack upon our little band. I had a large stone for my bed, and lay down with the intention of rising in the night, to enjoy by the light of the moon the power of our singularly awful situation, but I slept so long and so soundly, that the dawn had already commenced before I was roused from my slumber. Early in the morning, May 10, three men, armed, came to demand what they called the usual acknowledgment from travellers. I refused to give them any thing, saying that I had not yet done it in the whole of my journey, and upon this they made many pretensions that they were the governors of the place, amenable to no other power, and not like the other chiefs I had seen. As my young companion could speak Arabic well, we asked them if they had ever heard the name of Ibrahim Pacha, and they then lowered their tone, and merely requested a small present. I still refused to comply with their wishes. They swore by the holy prophet that we should not leave the place unless some present was given. I was the only person unarmed, and expected they would seize me, but I quietly mounted my horse, and when they saw that I was firm, they went away, muttering curses as they went. We were perhaps among the first travellers who had dared to resist their demands: no thanks to our courage, but to the vigor of Ibrahim's administration, who has declared that no European shall in this way be molested within the limits of his dominion. At some distance from the city we passed a tomb, built in the form of an octagon, with stones and granite pillars brought from the temple, but in very rude style. We rode along an extensive plain, about six or eight miles broad, extending as far as we could see. It is well cultivated, and contains many small villages. We had much trouble with our guide, who acted more foolishly than a child, and even shed tears if we did not do exactly as he required us. We were proceeding at little more than three miles an hour, the usual pace, when he seized the bridle of my servant's horse, and would allow him to go no further.We had a long altercation, in which we were assisted by some persons who were passing at the time with fuel, and in a few minutes afterwards the man struck up a merry tune, and during the rest of the journey rendered us every possible attention. In nine hours we arrived at Zahala, romantically situated in a glen, and surrounded on three sides by high mountains. It contains about 8000 inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Christians. 'There are several convents, the bells of which are rung without fear. The bazar is much resorted to by the mountaineers. An old priest visited us, and invited us to his convent, but we were too fatigued to accept his invitation. We rose soon after midnight, May 11, and after some delay in the bringing of the horses, we set off on our journey by moon-light. For some hours we had one continued ascent. When we had proceeded some distance, the bell of a distant convent sounded to matins, the effect of which was extremely pleasing at such a time and in such a place. I walked a-head of the party for a little change, and turning down a wrong path, had a good run over the rocks before I could rejoin my companions. At the summit of the pass we were surrounded by snow. We saw several caravans on their way to and from Damascus. From one point we had a view of the sea, and after descending some time, we passed on our right a very precipitate and romantic valley, with two villages in its bason. The earth was in some places red, and in others of varied colors. There were stunted trees upon the hills, the slopes were of different inclinations, the rocks were bold, and the mountains of majestic elevation, and the whole presented a scene of peculiar grandeur. I have often remarked how different are the feelings, when we look at mountain scenery from beneath, to what they are when we gaze upon the same objects from above. In the one case, we are awed into reverence by the proud bearing of the everlasting masses that seem as the old monarchs of creation: in the other, we feel as if we were spirits of power that wanted only some sudden impulse to enable us to flee away in a moment to one of the many resting-places beneath our feet. Lebanon is called in Scripture "a mountain upon a mountain," or a double mountain, and is divided into two ranges, distinguished by the names of Libanus and Anti-libanus in the writings of the ancient geographers. The valley between them is called Calo-Syria, or Hollow-Syria. The eastern ridge extends from near Antioch to the plain of Hauran, and as it approaches the latter place, it is called Djebel Sheikh, which is the ancient Hermon. The western ridge is less extensive, and runs almost parallel with the coast. The summits of Lebanon are much higher than any other part of Syria, and as they may be seen from a great distance, they add much to the interest of every extended prospect that is presented throughout the land. The basis of the mountain is limestone, and in several places, both at a little distance from the sea and at a great elevation, I picked up many impressions of shells of different species, formed in clay of a light color, relics of the antediluvian age. The sides present every variety of soil and climate, and some of the summits are said to be always covered with snow. The inhabitants of Lebanon have among them representatives of many different tribes, but the most numerous and the most remarkable are the Maronites and the Druses. There is much that is interesting relative to both these people, but as I was unable to gain any new information respecting them, from the rapidity of my passage through their country, I shall be brief in narrating their history. The Maronites are Christians, but we have no true account of their origin or conversion, and little authentic is known about the Maro, from whom they profess to derive their name. They have a form of worship peculiar to themselves, but have acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope since the 12th century. They have sheikhs of their own, who are independent in the internal regulation of state affairs; but an annual tribute has always been paid to the power in possession of Syria. The district they inhabit, called the Kesrouan, is only a few hours journey across, but it supports a population of upwards of 100,000 souls. The Druses reside more towards the south, and were formerly included in the pachalic of Acre. They derive their origin from Hakem, the third caliph of the Fatimite dynasty, who mounted the throne of Egypt in the year 996. He gave himself out to be an emanation from the Deity, and had many followers throughout the whole of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia; but they are now exclusively confined to mount Lebanon. They are divided into two parties. The rites of the first are secret, and are not to be divulged upon pain of death, but the other party is the more numerous. Their religion is a compound of Islamism and Christianity, partaking of both, and exactly agreeing with neither. The men have one wife, and are remarkable for their hospitality. The first mention of Lebanon is in the prayer of Moses, when he besought the Lord that he might see "that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." It was then inhabited by the Hivites. There is frequent reference to the fountains, wells, and streams of Lebanon, as well as to its vines, flowers, roots, fir-trees, box-trees, and cedars, and in one description of the latter-day glory, it is said that "the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon." The allusions of the prophets appear very striking to those acquainted with the circumstances of the place. We learn from Hosea that Israel shall one day be as "the vine of Lebanon," and its wine is still the most esteemed of any in the Levant. What could better display the folly of the man who had forsaken his God, than the reference of Jeremiah to the "cold flowing waters" from the ices of Lebanon, the bare mention of which must have brought the most delightful associations to the inhabitants of the parched plain? The Psalmist declares that "the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon ;" and a more sublime spectacle can scarcely be conceived than the thunder rolling among these enormous masses, and the lightning playing among the lofty cedars, wither ing their foliage, crashing the branches that had stood the storms of centuries, and with the utmost ease hurling the roots and trunks into the distant vale. But by Isaiah the mountain is compared to one vast altar, and its countless trees are the pile of wood, and the cattle upon its thousand hills the sacrifice; yet if a volcanic eruption were to burst forth from one of its summits, and in torrents of liquid fire to enkindle the whole at once, even this mighty holocaust would be insufficient to expiate one single crime, and the sinner is told that "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof for a burnt-offering." The trees of Lebanon are now comparatively few, and with them are gone the eagles and wild beasts to which they afforded shelter; and it is of its former state, and not of its present degradation, that we are to think, in reading the glowing descriptions of the prophets. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious." We halted about two hours at a khan, and when near the foot of the mountain had a fine view of the plain, town, and bay of Beirout. The road is in some places difficult, and in all unpleasant, as the people throw into it the stones they collect from the adjoining fields. It is singular that no attempt appears ever to have been made to repair it, though it must have been constantly frequented upwards of 3000 years. We had this day been on our horses at least 14 hours, and I have seldom felt more fatigued. The sun had set when we reached the gates of the mission-premises, and it was with feelings of sincere gratitude to Almighty God that I once more entered the house of my American friends, as I had departed from it with some fears that my journey would be attended with difficulties, and that my life might be exposed to danger. At an early period the Holy Land was peopled by the descendants of Canaan, who were separated into distinct nations. It was divided by Moses into twelve tribes, and after the death of Solomon they composed two rival sovereignties. The kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, which had Samaria for its capital, fell in the year 721 B. c. The kingdom of Judah, which included also the tribe of Benjamin, and had Jerusalem for its capital, was finally subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, in the year 588 B. C. From this period, Judea was subject in turn to the Chaldeans, Medians, Persians, and Greeks. The kings of Syria then obtained possession, till John Hyrcanus shook off their yoke, and it had a dynasty of native princes, who reigned amidst much opposition, until about the time of Christ, when it was subject to the Romans. At this time it was divided into five provinces, Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Perea, and Idumea. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, a. D. 71. It was taken from the emperors of the east by the Saracens in the 7th century, and from the Saracens by the crusaders in the 12th century. The Christian kingdom of Jerusalem existed about eighty years, and in 1187 Syria was conquered by Saladin; in 1317 it fell into the possession of the Turks; in 1831 it was taken from the Sultan by Ibrahim Pacha, and is now subject to Egypt, which, however, is itself nominally under tribute to the Sublime Porte. The whole of Syria is now included in one pachalic, the head of which is Damascus, and Jerusalem is governed by a moutsellim, an inferior chief. In all these changes, every ancient place mentioned in these notices has taken part, and this rapid historical sketch must be considered as applicable to almost every town and city throughout the country. man (and nearly all were of this occupation,) was his own; it had belonged to his family for centuries; he was surrounded by the homesteads of his immediate relatives; from father to son were transmitted a thousand little traditions which consecrated every stone and stream, and made every field and tree a part and parcel of his existence; and all that affection treasured up in the memory was more or less connected with the sphere of his daily occupations-which included as well the place of his birth, the spring at which he first drank, the tree that produced the fruit of which he first ate, the garden in which were cultivated the flowers he first admired, the altar where he first held communion with the Lord, and the hallowed nook that was the burial-place of his fathers, and where he hoped that Lis own grave would be dug when his form was to be again numbered with the clods of the valley. But there are also other associations besides those of birth and kin In the time of our Saviour the Holy Land was in circumstances somewhat different to all that preceded and to all that may follow. There was a pause in the course of events between the period of prophecy and the period of accomplishment, which was the fulness of the prophetical time, and the beginning of the kingdom of God. The æra was come when the polity of the Jews was to receive a mighty disruption, in which the tribes were to be blended into one undistinguishable mass, and the chosen of the Lord were to be-dred that the human mind has been formed to "an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead them." The tribes were then separate, but the people resided in what part they chose, and were only required to resort to their own cities on certain occasions connected with the affairs of government. Thus Joseph, the carpenter, of the tribe of Judah, resided at Nazareth, in the tribe of Zebulon, but resorted to Bethlehem to be enrolled at the general taxation. come cherish with gladness, and there will still be a void felt in the heart where the exercise of these is wanting, how sweet and lovely soever may be our proper home. When families have been located for ages in one particular place, and have little intercourse with the rest of their species, they become the slaves of habit, and are prejudiced against all that is exterior to their own narrow circle; change is considered as almost sinful; and all that is noble in charity becomes selfish in its tendency and circumscribed in its operation. The Israelites were happily preserved from these unfavorable consequences by the forms of their The country promised to the posterity of the patriarchs was to be "the glory of all lands," "a land flowing with milk and honey." Under the sway of the Canaanites, amidst all their wicked-religion. The priest and Levite, and often the ness, it brought forth in such abundance, that the prophet, itinerated from village to village, and spies sent forward by Moses were constrained at thus kept up an intercourse between the different their return to say concerning it, "It is a good families of the same tribe; and all the males were land which the Lord our God doth give us." In required to present themselves three times a year the time of David the population must have in the place of the Lord's presence, by which the amounted to several millions, as the men able to connection was kept up between tribe and tribe; bear arms were numbered, at the lowest computa- and the news they then heard, the incidents they tion, and after an imperfect census, at 1,300,000. then met with, the few luxuries they then purIn the time of Jehoshaphat the men of war, in chased, would furnish them with subjects of Judah alone, amounted to 1,060,000. That there thought and conversation, until the period again was no exaggeration in these statements we may came round for their pilgrimage, which was exinfer from the writings of Josephus, whence we pected with equal impatience, though from differlearn that in his time the cities of the land were ent motives, by the old and young, the female and numerous and extensive, and that at one celebra- the male. We confine ourselves now to what tion of the passover, in the reign of Nero, there might be denominated the civil advantages of the were present at Jerusalem 2,700,000 persons.—people, as we should be called upon to essay to Individuals among the Jews were extremely rich, whilst the condition of all appears to have been comfortable, as Nabal had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats, and David left towards the building of the temple £21,600,000 in gold, besides some millions in silver. Such men as Boaz the Bethlehemite, Araunah the Jebusite, and Naboth the Jezreelite, were an honor to a nation, men worthy to stand before the king. Wise men have struck out from the regions of fancy Utopian commonwealths; but in grave and authentic history we meet with no country so happy as the promised land in the more prosperous periods of its existence, and had the people been faithful to the commands of the Lord their God, there would have been realized amongst them all that the imagination has fabled of the golden age. ne spot cultivated by the husband ourselves a far loftier mood, were we to speak of their religion as a revelation from God, and as providing a priesthood and an altar, which could promise to the transgressor that his sacrifice should make "an atonement for the sin he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him." We may borrow the lyre of the Psalmist, and exclaim, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance: happy is the people that is in such a case, yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." In relative situation the Holy Land had many advantages, as it was at no great distance from any of the kingdoms most celebrated in ancient times, and yet not so necessarily connected with them as to make its position dangerous. It had enough of mountain, and stream, and lake, and sea, to render it complete in its own resources.It admitted of easy defence against invasion either by sea or land. Nor must it be forgotten, that its position, almost in the centre of the three great continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, was the most desirable that could have been chosen when the fulness of time was come, and the blessings of revelation and redemption were to be scattered among all the dwellers upon earth. and the apostles. There is no commerce, and Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." The sight of a lily carries the mind to the mount of the beatitudes, the expectant people, the disciples, and the preaching of him who "taught as one having authority;" the camels convey us to the times of the patriarchs; the vines remind us of one who has said, "I am the true vine," and of the precious blood of which its juice was chosen to be the sacramental emblem; the diminutive ants, as they move along in numerous armies, raise the thoughts to Solomon, the man of three thousand proverbs; the lamb speaks of the daily meekness of the Redeemer, when led to the slaughter, and wounded for our transgressions: and the eye can fix itself upon no spot that is not the talisman of thoughts too big for utterance. The relative appearance of the country has been most accurately described by Moses. "The land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; but the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven." Deut. xi. 10, 11. The outline of the hills is bold, and the valleys are strictly plains, presenting few of the undulations that give so much beauty to the scenes nearer home. The valleys are composed of a deep rich soil, free from stones. The rocks are principally of gray limestone, and they contributed greatly towards the sustenance of a large population, as they were terraced in all directions with embankments built up with loose stones, on which grew melons, cucumbers, and other creeping plants, as well as the vine, the fig, and the olive. In summer the heat is oppressive, more particularly in the plain of the Jordan, and in winter the snow lies some days upon the ground, both at Jerusalem and at places of much lower eleva-sacrifice, of the preaching of John, and of the tion, as the plain of Esdraelon. There are no rivers worthy of the name besides the Jordan. The towns are nearly all built upon the hills, partly for defence, and partly for the more convenient growth of the vegetables most used as food by the people. They are many of them walled, but none of them would be able to make a long defence against an European power. The plains are open, not separated by hedges or walls. The roads are carried through the corn-fields, and it may frequently happen that in the sowing of grain, different portions of the same handful may fall by the way-side, and upon stony places, and among thorns, and into good ground. There is scarcely a single tree throughout the whole land, except the fruit-trees cultivated near the houses of the inhabitants. I did not visit the tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan, though they are far less known to Europeans than the parts I have described: they have the pre-eminence in the splendor of their scenery and in the interest of their ancient remains, but they are much inferior in historical importance. The mountains of the Ammonites and Amorites present a singular character from the distant point at which I saw them, and reminded me of the sacred expression of mountains fleeing from the presence of the Lord: they have a larger superficies of table land, without so much as one solitary peak, and appear as if trying to compress themselves within the smallest possible compass. There is little in the present appearance of the people to put us in remembrance of those periods of Scripture history that are most dear to us, as the Bedouins can only represent the patriarchal age, though they do it to the life, and we look in vain for some one to remind us of the prophets Near every village there are caves, and cisterns, and sepulchres, cut in the rock, women grinding at the mill, oxen treading out the corn, groupes of females seated near the well, shepherds abiding in the field; the bottles of the people are made of leather; their beds are a simple mat or carpet, and even a child may take them up and walk; the grass is cast into the oven, people live in the tombs, there are lodges in the garden of cucumbers, grass grows upon the tops of the houses, and the inhabitants walk, and sleep, and meditate upon the roofs of their dwellings. These customs, and a multitude of others that might be named, still cling to the homes where some of them have been practised near four thousand years. There are the same fruits, flowers, trees, birds, and animals; and milk and honey are still a chief article of food among the people. It is man alone that seems out of his place; all other objects remind us of the Scriptures, and throw light upon some of its facts; we reverence the very pebbles: "And all, save the spirit of man, is divine." It would be wrong to argue the former capabilities of the Holy Land from its present appearance, as it is now under the curse of God, and its general barrenness is in full accordance with prophetic denunciation. The Israelite in our street, whose appearance was delineated with graphic precision by the legislator prophet, in the 15th century before Christ, is not a surer evidence of the inspiration of the holy volume, than the land |