many of the churches and convents now standing over the supposed sacred sites.

14. The Ottoman, or Turkish power regained the country in 1264, and held possession until 1832; it then came with the rest of Syria into the hands of Mohammed Ali, pacha of Egypt. Of late the sultan, or Turkish emperor, with the assistance of European powers, has driven the Egyptian pacha from his Syrian possessions but as the contest is not yet ended, we can form but a poor conjecture what will at length be the fate of this interesting and suffering land. In reference to Jerusalem, prophecy has been too forcibly fulfilled; she has indeed been "trodden down of the Gentiles."

15. The city presents now but a squalid and mean appearance, compared with its former grandeur. It forms an irregular square of about two miles in circumference, not entirely situated upon the site of the ancient city. Mount Zion, where was David's palace, is now covered with a convent, a Christian burying-place, and a cultivated field, thus literally fulfilling prophecy: "Therefore shall Zion, for your sakes, be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be come heaps." Micah iii, 12.

16. Mount Moriah, where stood the temple of God, is now covered with the Mohammedan mosque Omar. “The glory of Jerusalem,” says Dr. Robinson in his closing reflections upon this city, "has indeed departed. From her ancient high estate, as the splendid metropolis of the Jewish commonwealth, and of the whole

Christian world, the beloved of nations and the 'joy of the whole earth,' she has sunk into the neglected capital of a petty Turkish province; and where of old many hundreds of thousands thronged her streets and temple, we now find a population of scarcely as many single thousands dwelling sparsely within her walls. The cup of wrath and desolation from the Almighty has been poured out upon her to the dregs; and she sits sad and solitary in darkness and in the dust. The Saviour' beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine "That which our Lord wept over in prospect we now see in terrible reality. Long since have the days come when her enemies cast a trench about her, and compassed her round, and kept her in on every side, and have laid her even with the ground, and her children within her; and have not left in her one stone upon another!'

eyes!'

*

17. The present population of Jerusalem is about twelve thousand, of which number three thousand are Jews. They have come up from various countries to the land of their fathers to spend their remaining days, and be buried in the shadow of Mount Zion.

CHAPTER V.

GENERAL DIVISIONS OF PALESTINE.

1. JUST before the birth of Christ, Palestine naving been subjugated by the Romans, was divided into five provinces-Galilee, Samaria, Judea, Perea, and Idumea.

2. The most northern of these provinces was Galilee; it comprised the country occupied by the tribes of Issachar, Naphtali, and Asher, and a part of the tribe of Dan. It is naturally one of the most fertile and beautiful countries in the world. "Vine stocks are to be seen here a foot and a half in diameter, forming by their twining branches vast arches and extensive ceilings of verdure."

3. Nothing but a good government and an industrious people are wanted to make Galilee a paradise. It was formerly divided into Up

per

and Lower Galilee.

4. Upper Galilee embraced the northern and more mountainous portion, and from its proximity to the Gentiles, inhabiting Tyre and Sidon, is called Galilee of the nations, or of the Gentiles, and also the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

5. Of this region the principal city was Cæsarea Philippi. This city was situated at the foot of Mount Hermon, near the source of the Jordan, about fifty miles from Damascus and thirty from Tyre. Its former name was Paneas but Philip, the youngest son of Herod the Grea

made it the capital of his tetrarchy, enlarged and embellished it, and called it after his own name, Cæsarea Philippi, to distinguish it from Cæsarea, the seaport on the coast of the Mediterranean. Our Saviour visited and taught ir this place; here he healed one possessed of an evil spirit, and administered his memorable rebuke to Peter. Mark viii.

6. Lower Galilee lay between the Mediterranean and Sea of Galilee. It was a rich, fertile, and populous plain, containing, according to Josephus, two hundred cities and towns, and it remains to this day the richest and best-cultivated portion of the Holy Land. This province was honored most of all with the presence of the Saviour when upon earth its vast population offering numerous opportunities for manifesting his tender compassion as he went about doing good; and it being beyond the malicious. power of the priests of Jerusalem, it was preferred by our Lord as his abode. Here his parents resided, hither he returned after his baptism and temptation, and hence he was called in derision a Galilean.

7. The principal cities and towns in this province visited by the Saviour, are Tiberias, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Nazareth, Cana, Caper. naum, Nain, Cæsarea.

8. Tiberias, situated on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, called also, from itself, the Sea of Tiberias, was founded by Herod Antipas, and called Tiberias, after the Roman emperor. Inhabitants were collected from all

quarters by Herod, and the city soon became the capital of Galilee.

9. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the sanhedrim was removed to this city, and in the second century one of the most celebrated rabbinical schools was at the height of its renown Gore. One of the teachers in this school colected the traditions of the Jewish elders in a work called the Mishna, and another afterward wrote a commentary upon it called the Gemara, usually known as the Jerusalem Talmud. These books are held by the modern Jews in higher estimation even than the ScripThis city is now a mass of ruins, having been almost entirely overthrown by an earthquake a few years since.

tures.

10. Chorazin and Bethsaida were also situated near the Sea of Galilee. The latter was the residence of Andrew, Peter, and Philip It was beautified by Herod and called Julias, in compliment to the daughter of Augustus. At the present time, however, no traces remain to point out the line of its walls or the foundation of its palaces. Every relict of both these cities is passed away. How much meaning was con veyed in the words of the Saviour, "Wo unt thee, Chorazin! Wo unto thee, Bethsaida!"

11. Nazareth was the city of Christ's earl residence, and belonged to the tribe of Zebu ion, and was of little repute among the other cities of Palestine. Hence he was called in derision "a Nazarene." Here our Lord passed his youth, and in its synagogue preached his