places of sacred association.

The church is large,

and itschapel rich and gaudy. In it are shown twenty marble columns, used in the construction of Solomon's Temple.

Bidding adieu to the hallowed scenes of Bethlehem, a place rendered forever illustrious and sacred to all christendom as being the place where the infant Savior first saw the light, we returned to Jerusalem; passing on the way the wells of Jacob and the tomb of Rachel, and reached the gate of Zion just as the great round moon was peering up from behind the distant peaks of Pisgah, clothing the towers of Jerusalem and her sacred hills in a mantle of soft silvery light. Already a solemn stillness prevailed, disturbed only by the shrill cry of the night bird in a neighboring cliff, and the bay of the wild dogs in the Valley of Hinnom.

In revisiting the different places of interest in Jerusalem, we found none more impressive than that called the Place of Wailing, which is that portion of the foundation wall of Solomon's Temple that still stands. There the descendants of Israel still meet to mourn their fallen destiny, and with

profound reverence kiss the rocks, and stand with their foreheads against them, uttering the most piteous wails and cries of, "How long, Oh, Lord! yet how long!" While standing looking and listening to their earnest mournful lamentations, I was reminded of the force and truth of Byron's sketch of the desolation of the Jews:

"Oh! weep for those that wept by Babel's stream, Whose shrines are desolate,-whose land a dream ; Weep for the harp of Judah's broken shell,

Mourn, where their God hath dwelt, the godless dwell!

And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet?
And when shall Zion's songs again seem sweet?
And Judah's melody once more rejoice

The hearts that leaped before its heavenly voice?

Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast,
How shall ye flee away and be at rest?
The wild dove hath her nest-the fox its cave-
Mankind their country-Israel but the grave!

On the Sabbath we attended divine service on Mount Zion, at the English Church, and heard a fine sermon in our own language, on the spot where the Gospel was first preached, that is to be preached in all the world, beginning at Jerusalem.

After having concluded our visit, and having seen all that is most interesting in the Holy Land, we took our departure by the Joppa gate, ascended to the top of the Hill, and turned to take a last, lingering look at the city so renowned in± the history of the world-so conspicuously associated with the destiny of the Jewish nation-so immortalized in sacred song, as beautiful for situation and eternal excellence, "the joy of many generations," but now so mournfully sad to contemplate under the shadow of departed glories! Her present condition is aptly described by Heber:

"Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn,

Mourn, widowed Queen; forgotten Zion, mourn!
Is this the place, sad city, this the throne,
Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone?
Where suns unblest, their angry lustre fling,
The way-worn pilgrim seeks the scanty spring;

Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy viewed?
Where now thy might, which all those kings subdued?
No martial myriads muster in thy gates,

No suppliant nation in thy temple waits

No prophet bards, thy glittering courts among,
Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song.
But lawless force and meager want are there,
And the quick darting eye of watchful fear;
While cold oblivion, amid the ruins laid,
Folds her dark wings beneath the ivy shades."

Taking ship at Joppa, in two days we reached the African coast, and landed at Alexandria, the ancient Ptolemian capital of Egypt, and proceeded directly by railroad to this place, reserving the sights of Alexandria until our return. We were convinced, however, by passing observations, that Alexandria is the great commercial emporium of the East; the large number of ships in her harbor, the activity displayed in her marts of trade and business, and the many fine substantial buildings going up, were all indications of her resuscitation and rising prosperity. In passing through the suburbs of the city, we saw for the first time the perfection of the palm. The large groves of the date-palm, with their tall stately trunks, and fine golden clusters of ripe fruit, hanging among their long feathery foilage, added a charm to the scenery of Alexandria. Beyond and above them rose in majestic proportions Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's Needles, the chief and venerable relics of a fallen empire,-the enduring sentinels of a bygone age.

The Egyptian railroad is a substantial and fine The bridges over the Nile are constructed

one.

of stone and iron, and are admirable specimens of architecture. The delta of the Nile, through which the railroad runs from Alexandria to Cairo, one hundred and twenty miles, for beauty and fertility surpasses any thing I have seen; and there being no freehold landed estate in Egypt, the land all belongs to the Pasha. He lets it out in small quantities to his oppressed subjects, who cultivate it all, like a garden, in order to obtain a scanty subsistence from the small quantity of their products, allowed them by their tyranical landlord.

We arrived here in the night, and surrounded by Egyptian darkness, were driven to Shepard's Hotel, in a strangely constructed vehicle, conducted by a swarthy Egyptian, running before, bearing an iron basket of blazing fire upon the end of a pole. I was awakened my first morning in Cairo by a confusion of sounds, new and strange. I approached the window of my room, opening upon a public square, and the oriental scene, there presented, gave me my first true realization that I was in the land of mystery-Mysterious Egypt. The trees, shrubs and flowers were of a new type;