rocks below the south-west brow of Zion. On the high | tain under the mosque of Omar, the waters of which ground of the north-west corner of the city, we dis- were used to supply a Turkish bath in the vicinity of the covered evident traces of what must have been the third, mosque. We went to the bath, and found two men or exterior wall, described by Josephus, in this quarter, drawing water from a deep well. They told us that the erected after the time of Christ. Here must have stood water flows into the well from a passage cut in the rock the tower Psephinos; and from this point we were able and leading under the mosque, where is a chamber and a to trace the foundation of the same ancient wall for a living fountain. In summer, when the water is so low considerable distance further in a north-east direction. as not to flow out into the well, they go down and bring "Of the second wall of Josephus, which at the time it out by hand. The taste of the water is precisely of the crucifixion was the exterior wall of the city on similar to that of the fountain in the valley below. We this side, we could find no remaining traces, unless it be made all our preparations to descend into the well and two square ancient towers, which we discovered con- examine the fountain; but were hindered at the time, nected with the wall inside the gate of Damascus, one and were unable afterwards to resume the investigation. on each side of the gate. These towers are built up of Is the water of this fountain brought down by a subterlarge stones, precisely like those mentioned above as raneous channel from some higher point? Is there a belonging to the ancient Temple walls. They have been connexion between this fountain under the mosque and much injured in building the modern wall of the city; that in the valley below; and is the irregular flow of the but are evidently ancient, and apparently older than latter in some way dependent on this circumstance? Hippicus. They were most probably the guard-houses These questions may not improbably at some future time of an ancient gate upon this spot, and this could well be answered in the affirmative." only have belonged to the said second wall. If this hypothesis be correct, it will go far to decide the question as to the site of the church of the Holy Sepulchre; which must then have fallen within this wall, and so within the ancient city. Indeed, the church stands upon the very ridge of the hill Akra, which, according to Josephus, and to every probability, must have formed part of the lower city, and been inclosed within the second wall. in the same manner. "Another object of our attention was the supply of water in and around the city. At the present day, Jerusalem is supplied almost wholly with rain-water, preserved in cisterns cut in the solid rock, on which the houses stand. Almost every house has one or more cisterns; that in which we resided had no less than four very large ones. The ancient city was probably supplied With a little attention, there can never be any want of water within the walls. The aqueduct, which comes from Solomon's pools, beyond Bethlehem, brings water only to the mosque of Omar. Outside of the city, besides the ancient reservoirs, there are wells in various places, some with water and some without. The brook Kedron, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, flows only when the rain-water descends into it from the adjacent hills. Fountains of running water exist only in this valley; and of these there are three, namely, (1,) the Fountain of the Virgin, or of Siloam, just south of the site of the Temple; (2,) the Pool of Siloam, just within the entrance of the Tyropoum; and (3,) the Well of Nehemiah, or of Job, opposite the entrance of the Vale of Hinnom. This last is a deep well of living water, which in the rainy season overflows; it is beyond doubt the En Rogel of Scripture. The Pool of Siloam is wholly artificial, and receives its waters from the Fountain of the Virgin, through a subterraneous channel cut through the solid rock. We crawled through this channel and measured it. From this pool the water flows down still a deep descent, and is lost among gardens. The Fountain of the Virgin is also evidently an artificial excavation in the rock; but whence the water is derived is a mystery. It has a sweetish and slightly brackish taste; and flows irregularly, or only at irregular intervals. We were witnesses of this irregular flow; and were told by the women who came for water, that sometimes during summer it ceases to flow for several weeks, when on a sudden the water comes gushing out again in abundance. "Ancient writers have spoken of a fountain of living water as existing under the Temple, though their assertions have in general obtained little credit. Soon after our arrival in Jerusalem we were told of a similar foun The public buildings of Jerusalem are not numerous, nor have they any pretensions to magnificence, except the mosque of Omar, and there are comparatively few mosques in proportion to the celebrity of the city, even in Mussulman estimation. The presumed site of the Temple is now inclosed by walls, and bears the name of Haram Schereeff, or the Noble Retirement for Devotion. It is a grassy flat, adorned with trees, and is about one thousand five hundred feet long by one thousand broad. It has numerous irregular entrances, and the greater part of the space is occupied by a splendid platform of marble raised about fourteen feet above the level of the grassplat, and sustaining two mosques. That at the southern extremity, called El Aksa, is a handsome edifice, which, during the existence of the Christian kingdom, bore the name of the Church of the Presentation, from a tradition that one of its aisles covers the site of that part of the Temple where the Virgin presented her Son. But both in beauty and sanctity it is surpassed by the Sakhara, which occupies the centre of the platform. Here the Holy House itself, as the Mohammedans term it, is seen rising in the silence and mystery of a temple, open only to the favoured worshippers of the supposed prophet. Octagonal in form, its summit is crowned with a lantern of the same shape, above which rises a noble pinnacle, surmounted by the crescent; the sides of the building, and the windows of the lantern, presenting to the eye of the beholder a contiuued series of bright arabesque paintings, and inscriptions from the Koran, in letters of gold. Chateaubriand says, that he was strongly tempted to find some mode of penetrating to the interior of the mosque, but was prevented by the fear that he might thereby involve the whole Christian population of Jerusalem in destruction. Dr. Richardson, however, a few years ago, succeeded in gratifying a similar curiosity, which he shared in common with a host of other travellers. Taking advantage of the circumstance of having cured a Mohammedan patient, he found means to pass the gate, so strictly guarded against foreign intrusion. "On our arrival at the door," says he, "a gentle knock brought up the sacristan, who, apprised of our intention, was within, waiting to receive us. He demanded, rather sternly, who we were, and was answered by my black conductor in tones no less consequential than his own. The door immediately edged up to prevent as much as possible the light from shining out, and we squeezed ourselves in with a gentle and noiseless step, although there was no person near who could be alarmed by the loudest sound of our bare feet upon the marble floor. The door was no sooner shut than the sacristan, taking a couple of candles in his hand, showed JERUSALEM. us all over the interior of the building; pointing, in the pride of his heart, to the elegant marble walls, the beautifully-gilded cieling, the well where the true worshippers drink and wash, with which we also blessed our palates and moistened our beards, the paltry readingdesk with the ancient Koran, the handsome columns, and the green stone with the wonderful nails. As soon as he had completed this circuit, pulling a key from his girdle, he unlocked the door of the railing that separates the outer from the inner part of the mosque, which, with an elevation of two or three steps, led us into the sacred recess! Here he pointed out the patches of mosaic in the floor, the round flat stone which the prophet carried on his arm in battle, directed us to introduce our hands through the hole in the wooden box, to feel the print of the prophet's foot, and through the posts of the wooden rail, to feel as well as to see the marks of the angel Gabriel's fingers in the sacred stone that occupies the centre of the mosque, and from which it derives the name of Sakhara, or Locked-up, and over which is suspended a fine cloth of green and red satin." When Dr. Richardson afterwards obtained permission to enter the mosque by day, he found its effect far more imposing than what it had been by the dim light of the candles. Splendid marble pillars, of great height, paintings of the most brilliant hues, and arches richly adorned with gilding and sculpture, served to fill his mind with the loftiest notions of the care and luxury with which the earlier followers of Mahomet provided for the celebration of their worship. Near the Jaffa gate is the castle already spoken of; it is formed of two strong towers, called the Castle of David, or the Tower of the Pisans, on which a few cannon are mounted; the castle is surrounded by a dry moat. The upper part is evidently of Saracen architecture, but the masonry of the lower is of higher antiquity. In the style of building and arrangement of the streets there is little to distinguish Jerusalem from other walled and stone-built Turkish towns. The attention of pilgrims and travellers is engaged chiefly by the sacred places concerning which numberless volumes have been written. Very ample accounts of all these spots may be found in the works of Cotovicus, Roger, Morison, Surius, Rochetta, and others. Maundrell likewise supplies a very explicit account, to which the principal additions have been made by Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke, Mr. Buckingham, and Dr. Richardson. The most valuable and trustworthy authority for the dimensions and plan of Jerusalem, is given in Niebuhr's Travels, Hamburgh, 1837, and also in the Reise den Morgenland, in 1836 and 1837, of Dr. Schubert. III. The Holy Places. It is hardly necessary to repeat that most of the holy places pointed out within and near Jerusalem, must be entirely suppositious, and originating in the fertile imaginations of the devotees in the dark ages, yet a survey of them is not without interest, as evincing a pruriency of fancy, resulting from deep religious feeling. North of the city, in the district called Acra, are the ruins of Herod's palace, and about three hundred yards to the south-east, near the reputed pool of Bethesda, is the residence of the mutzellim, or Turkish governor, supposed, though with little show of reason, to occupy the site of the prætorium of Pontius Pilate. It is a large straggling building, having a flat roof, which commands a complete view of the mosque of Omar; it stands in the principal street of the modern city, called by the Turks Harat-el-Allam, and by the Christians Via Dolorosa, the monks having fixed on it as the line of route along which Our Saviour was led from the hall of judgment to Calvary. The Jewish 679 quarter, Harat-el-Yahood, occupies the hollow between the hills of Zion and Moriah; it contains seven mean and small synagogues; and the numerous private dwellings, how comfortable soever inside, have uniformly mean and ill-built exteriors, owing, it is said, to the fear of exciting among the Mohammedans any suspicion of the wealth of the despised nation. The poorer Jews are supported by charitable contributions obtained from their fellow-countrymen in Europe, especially in Germany and Spain. The Turks reside on the east side of the city, all round the great inclosure of Mount Moriah. In the vicinity of the Bethlehem gate are pointed out the house of Uriah, the pool of Bathsheba, and the palace of David; and in a street beyond is shown the place where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, when he said to them, "All hail!" and they held him by the feet, and worshipped him! In a chapel belonging to the Armenians, three large stones are inclosed, which that brotherhood held to be of inestimable value. One of these is asserted to be that on which Moses broke the two tables of the law, the second was brought from that part of Jordan where Christ was baptized, and the third from the Mount of Transfiguration. Near this is the supposed house of Annas, the father-in-law of the high-priest Caiaphas. In the vicinity of the gate of Zion, but without the walls of the present city, is the house of Caiaphas, on a spot where a chapel of the Armenians stood in Maundrell's time. Here there is an altar under which is pointed out what is pretended to be the stone by which Joseph of Arimathea secured the door of Our Saviour's tomb; it is a block of coarse limestone, about seven feet in length and three in breadth. Adjoining this place is a small cell, in which Jesus is said to have been imprisoned for a short time before he was brought before Pilate. The house of the rich man, and also that of Lazarus, are shown, and the site of the house of Zebedee, where he sold his fish brought from Joppa, covered by a mosque which was formerly a Christian church; the churches of St. Mark and St. Thomas, on the sites of their dwellings; and the place where the proud Pharisee resided. A building called St. Peter's prison, from which he and St. Mark were delivered by an angel, stands near the Holy Sepulchre. At St. Mark's church the window is shown at which Rhoda appeared when St. Peter knocked at the door. The church of the Holy Sepulchre is supposed to cover Calvary, the scene of the Crucifixion; it is situated in the Latin quarter, called Harat-el-Nassara. The building is in the Byzantine style, erected by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, in the centre of a court or inclosure, filled at pilgrim time (Easter) with pedlars of every description, especially venders of relics and rosaries. The building resembles Roman Catholic churches in general, but is greatly inferior, notwithstanding its valuable marbles, to many of the sacred edifices in Rome. Immediately in front of the entrance, which is guarded by Moslem soldiers, (who levy a tax upon all the pilgrims,) is a slightly elevated marble slab, called the "stone of unction," on which, according to the monks, Our Lord's body was laid to be anointed by Joseph of Arimathea; and near it are seventeen steps, conducting to the supposed Mount Calvary, now a handsome domecovered apartment, several feet above the floor of the church, floored and lined with the richest Italian marbles; in the crypt beneath is a circular silver plate, with an aperture in the centre, through which the arm reaches the identical hole in which the cross was fixed. The great object of interest, however, is the Holy Sepulchre itself, an oblong structure, fifteen feet long by ten feet in breadth, roofed in, with a handsome cieling, corresponding to the richness of the silver, gold, and marble, decorating its interior; it stands directly under the great dome of the church, and is divided into chambers, the first containing the stone on which the angel sat when he addressed the affrighted women, "Why seek you the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen;" and the other being the sepulchre to which he pointed, saying, "Behold the place where they laid Him." The inner compartment, lined with verd antique, is only large enough to allow four persons to stand by the side of a plain white marble sarcophagus of the ordinary dimensions, over which hung seven large and forty-four smaller lamps, always kept burning. Around the large circular hall, which is surrounded by a gallery supported on pillars, and roofed by a vast dome, are oratories for the Syrians, Copts, Maronites, and other sects who have not, like the Greeks, Armenians, and Roman Catholics, chapels in the body of the church. The Greek chapel, at the east end of the hall, is parted off by a curtain, and is incomparably the most elegant and highly decorated; the Latin chapel closely resembles those seen in Italy, and has a gallery with a fine organ; that belonging to the Armenians is in the gallery. Various parts of the church are pointed out by the monks to the pilgrims as the scenes of certain events connected with the last sufferings of Christ; and to such an extent is superstition carried, that a stone is exhibited and gravely declared to be that on which Our Saviour was placed when put in the stocks. The faith, indeed, of intelligent men is severely tested during a visit to this church; though it probably includes the site of the crucifixion, (of which some travellers have, however, expressed grave doubts,) there seems to be- little ground for the assumption that the tomb and site of the cross were so near to each other as to be inclosed by the same building. In an antechamber near the entry are several relics, the most authentic, probably, of which, are the sword and spurs of Godfrey of Bouillon. The tombs of Godfrey and his brother Baldwin, two stone coffins supported on four pillars each, bearing Latin inscriptions in a rude Gothic character, formerly existed in the same place, but they were destroyed during a fire which took place in 1808, and have not been restored. The church also was much damaged, but it was repaired in 1817, in a style greatly inferior to the original, at the sole expense of the Greek church, it is said. The great annual "miracle" performed in this church JERUSALEM. by the Greek clergy has been already described; (see FLAME;) but the following incident connected with it, as detailed in Keightley's Crusaders, is too curious to be omitted. A Genoese fleet, having on board a number of pilgrims and a Papal legate, arrived at Laodicea, shortly after Baldwin's coronation, (A.D. 1100,) and, at the invitation of the king, they sailed for Jaffa, and thence proceeded to Jerusalem to participate in the solemnities of Easter. "On the eve of Easter," says Mr. Keightley, "the pilgrims of all nations were, according to custom, assembled in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in expectation of the usual miracle of the lighting of the lamp by fire from Heaven. From the third hour, the Greek and Latin clergy alternately performed the high mass; and at the ninth hour, when a Greek priest had thrice cried Kyrie Eleison, and all the people had responded, the patriarch drew forth the keys and opened the Holy Sepulchre, but the lamp within emitted no flame. In vain were supplications and prayers made to Heaven; the darkness still remained.. Some went to the Mount of Olives, where it sometimes happened that the miracle occurred instead of at the Sepulchre, but no light was there. The people retired, some filled with grief, others consoling themselves with the reflection that the miracle which had been necessary to sustain the hopes of the people while the Holy City was subject to the infidels, was now withdrawn, as no longer necessary. During the night the church remained in total darkness; the morning came, and still there was no appearance of the miracle. The patriarch, to console the people, assured them that if the miracle had ceased, it was for wise reasons, but advised a procession, as the means of obtaining its renewal. The patriarch and clergy, king and people, compassed with naked feet, and praying aloud, the Temple of the Lord, while the Greeks and Syrians tore their hair and gashed their cheeks, as they went round and round the Holy Sepulchre. As the Latins were returning, they all of a sudden beheld the windows of the church emitting a ruddy light. The patriarch opened the sepulchre, saw the miracle, and fell on his knees in prayer; then kindling a light at the holy lamp, he returned with it into the church, and the people, in a tumult of joy, pressed forward to light their tapers at the sacred flame. As the king and his nobles sat at meat in his dwelling, near the Temple, one brought word that two of the lamps of that sacred fane had been lighted from heaven, Some ran thither to view the wonder, and were witnesses to the lamps all becoming lighted in succession. The joy of the people now knew no bounds, for a superabundant portion of the Divine favour seemed thus to have been awarded to the faithful." Westward of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Harat el Nassara, or Christian's street, is the Franciscan convent of St. Salvador, called, by way of distinction, Il Convento della Terra Santa, a large stone building inclosed within a strong wall. Its funds are supplied by contributions sent from Rome and other Catholic countries, and the inmates comprise from sixty to eighty monks, chiefly Italian and Spanish, by whom European strangers, visiting the Holy City, are hospitably entertained. The church attached to the convent is gaudily furnished with candlesticks, images, &c., and has a good organ. East of the above stands the Greek monastery, a well-supported establishment, with a small subterranean church. Without the city, the places which tradition would render sacred are equally numerous. Close to the gate of Jaffa is the pool of Gihon, near which is a village of the same name, where "Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anointed Solomon king over Israel," (1 Kings 1. 34,) and at a later period, Hezekiah "stopped the 681 upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David." (2Chron. 32. 30.) South of Mount Zion is the valley of Hinnom, and the eastern boundary of Jerusalem is formed by the valley of Jehoshaphat, which divides the city from the Mount of Olives. Proceeding up this valley, which is traversed by the brook Kedron, the traveller soon arrives at Siloa's brook, that flow'd Fast by the oracle of God. The Kedron is now a mere rivulet, running in a valley so closely pent up as to deserve the name of a mountain gorge, especially at its northern extremity; on its eastern side are four sepulchres, constructed unlike most in Judæa, above ground, and designated the tombs of the patriarchs; one of them is alleged to be the burial-place of Zacharias, the son of Barachias. (Matt. 23. 29,35.) Further north-east, are the gardens of Gethsemane, inclosed by a wall, and still in a sort of rural cultivation, and the Mount of Olives, a hillock covered with stunted herbage, having here and there a few of the trees with which it was once abundantly clothed. Here every spot has its grotto and legend, and on the hill the precise place is pointed out where Our Saviour ascended to heaven. The empress Helena built on it a monastery, which the Turks have converted into a mosque; somewhat to the north of which is the Church of the Ascension, now in the hands of the Greek Christians. North of the bridge, over the brook Kedron, and about two hundred and fifty yards from St. Stephen's gate, is the reputed tomb of the Virgin Mary, comprising, besides several cenotaphs, a subterranean chapel, in which lamps are kept constantly burning, and services daily celebrated according to the rites of the Greek church. Passing thence up the bank of the Kedron, and crossing the hill Bezetha, the stranger is conducted to the excavations called "The Tombs of the Kings." The road down to them is cut in the rock, and a stone doorway leads to a kind of antechamber, now, at least, open at the top, and measuring fifty feet in length by forty feet in breadth. It is ornamented by a beautifully-carved cornice, and in the south-west corner a door, formed of a single stone slab, admirably adapted to its frame-work, and easily working on its hinges, leading into a series of chambers, round which are niches in the rock for the reception of the dead. It is very probable that these are the "royal caves," described by Josephus as situated close to the north boundary of the ancient city; but whether they contained the bones of the sons of David, (2Chron. 32. 33,) or those of Helena, queen of Adiabene, is a question respecting which no certain conclusions can be drawn. Such are some of the holy places within and near Jerusalem-a city which may well be designated the capital of Oriental superstition, as it once was of true religion. It is impossible to contemplate the Holy City with the same feelings as we would the ruins of Thebes, or Athens, or Rome, or any other city which the world ever saw. There is, it has been well remarked, in all the doings of the Jews-their virtues and their vices, their wisdom and their folly-a height and a depth, a breadth and a length, which angels cannot fathom, and their whole history is a history of miracles. The total number of inhabitants in Jerusalem is variously stated, and the results are drawn from very imperfect sources. The highest estimate makes the population amount to twenty thousand, but, according to the official report of Mr. Consul Moore, ten thousand, of whom about two-thirds are Mohammedans. The garrison consists of about one thousand men, horse and foot. The local government of Jerusalem is conducted by the mutzellim, or military governor; the mula-khadi, or chief of the police; the mufti, or chief judge; the capo verde, whole day without meeting with a human creature." The grossest ignorance, superstition, and fanaticism prevail. The sciences have entirely disappeared, and there are only a few schools where children learn to read and write the code of their respective religions. Mr. Jowett says that the number of ecclesiastics in the whole of the Greek patriarchate of Jerusalem was stated to him as amounting to two hundred, but they are little superior in intelligence to their flocks. A ray of light has, however, recently beamed upon the desolate city: a mission having been established in Jerusalem under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society, who have sent out, for that purpose, M. Pieritz, a converted Jew, and thus the beautiful Liturgy of our National Church is read every Lord's day in the Hebrew language within Prophecies. On the accomplishment of prophecy in the condition in which this celebrated city has continued for ages, Keith well remarks:-"It formed the theme of prophecy from the death-bed of Jacob; and as the seat of the government of the children of Judah, the sceptre departed not from it till the Messiah appeared, on the expiration of seventeen hundred years after the death of the patriarch, and till the period of its desolation prophesied of by Daniel had arrived. It was to be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the time of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. The time of the Gentiles is not yet fulfilled, and Jerusalem is still trodden down of the Gentiles. The Jews have often attempted to recover it; no distance of space or of time can separate it from their affections; they perform their devotions with their faces towards it, as if it were the object of their worship, as well as of their love; and although their desire to return be so strong, indelible, and innate, that every Jew, in every generation, counts himself an exile, yet they have never been able to rebuild their Temple, nor to recover Jerusalem from the hands of the Gentiles. At the festival of Easter, Jerusalem presents a spectacle nowhere else to be seen in the world. Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians, all perform their devotions within a short distance of each other, proudly believing that this city is holy and noble to themselves alone. The multitude of individuals of different religions treat each other as schismatics and infidels, and cherish a rooted antipathy towards each other. "The Jew," says Mr. Hardy, "despises alike the Mussulman and the Christian, and regards them both as intruders the walls of Jerusalem. upon the soil given to his own nation by God. The Mussulman, with a consciousness of greater political dignity, and with a supposed freedom from the degrading superstitions which the others practise, looks upon himself so far above the Israelite dog and the Nazarite kaffer, that he would not willingly allow them to tread the same earth, or breathe the same air. The Christian, with equal pride, curses the hand of the Islam oppressor, under which he constantly writhes, and turns from the child of Abraham as one who would defile his purity or steal his purse. Necessity obliges all to come, at times, in contact, but there is no common interest in which they have one heart and one wish." Jerusalem has no commerce, and, when the pilgrims are absent, little intercourse with other people, or cities. The only trade which seems to flourish is the making of crucifixes, chaplets, and relics, of which immense cargoes are shipped at Jaffa for Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The shells are of mother-of-pearl sculptured, and the beads are manufactured either from date-stones, or a hard kind of wood called Mecca fruit. Rosaries and amulets are also made of the black fetid limestone found on the shores of the Dead Sea, and are highly valued in the East, by Moslems as well as by Christians, as charms against the plague. The more ordinary trade seems to be quite insignificant: "The bazaar, or street of shops," says Mr. Robinson, "is arched over, dark, and gloomy; the shops are paltry, and the merchandise exposed for sale of an inferior description. This is the only part of Jerusalem where any signs of life are shown; and even here the pulsations of the expiring city are faint and almost imperceptible, its extremities being already cold and lifeless. In the other quarters of the town you may walk about a "But greater power than that of a proscribed and exiled race has been added to their own in attempting to frustrate the counsel that professed to be of God. Julian, the emperor of the Romans, not only permitted but invited the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and their Temple; and promised to re-establish them in their paternal city. By that single act, more than by all his writings, he might have destroyed the credibility of the Gospel, and restored his beloved but deserted paganism. The zeal of the Jews was equal to his own; and the work was begun by laying again the foundations of the |