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ancient fountains, the present village contains no relics of antiquity.

The summit of the hill above Nazareth commands one of the finest views you can imagine, a view full of interest to the student of Scripture. From Mount Carmel and the hills of Samaria to the mountains east of the Jordan, from the rocky precipices round the Lake of Tiberias to the snow-clad top of Hermon, and thence round by the northern ridges of Galilee to the shores of the Mediterranean, the panorama embraces a wide stretch of land. -Van De Velde.

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Few words by dying Agnes to any one were spoken,

But she listened to the Gospel, and her looks were such a token, How she priz'd the love of Jesus, how she sought His cleansing blood, And the sin-forgiven beauty of that purifying flood.

In the deep and lonely midnight, when she

thought us fast asleep,

We heard her, like a watcher on some far angelic steep,

In heart-born whispers wrestling at the King Emmanuel's feet,

As pressing through some narrow gate to some celestial seat.

It came, it came, the hour of death, to us a dismal hour!

When our lily, snapp'd and wither'd, lay lifeless in our bower;

It was a July morning, and we knelt to weep

and pray, With our bosoms fill'd with sorrow around her death-cold clay.

But while within our weary walls were darkness and dismay, Without all nature bloom'd and sang as on a bridal day;

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THE JEWS IN MODERN JERUSALEM.

DECIDEDLY the most interesting population of Jerusalem is that of the Jews themselves. Here, as in all other Eastern towns, they are confined to a particular quarter. The part they occupy in Jerusalem is the hollow space lying between the site of the ancient temple, and that part of

Mount Zion which is included within the walls. It is called Harat-el-Yahoud. Their habitations have a mean appearance from without, being generally built of unpolished stones, hastily put together, without any attempt at architectural embellishment. This affected simplicity does not arise from poverty, for most of them are in easy circumstances, but entirely from prudential motives, it being found necessary not only to conceal their wealth, if they have any, from the jealous eye of their rulers, but even the appearance of comfort, which might lead to a suspicion of its possession. The interior distribution of these houses is nearly uniform throughout. A gateway opens into a quadrangular court, round which several distinct families often reside.

The approach to the several apartments, which are usually on the first floor, the

court being common to all, is by a stonestair running up the outside wall. In one of these we visited the Khakham, or chief rabbi. On entering a small low chamber, but neatly furnished, we found an aged patriarchal-looking gentleman, seated on a divan, surrounded by a family of several generations. As we advanced, he made an effort to rise up to salute us, which we prevented. His aged eye, nevertheless, glistened with pleasure, as he welcomed us to his house-a welcome that was immediately put in practice; for no sooner had he ceased speaking, than, making a sign to the younger females looking on, they retired, and in a few minutes afterwards returned with sweetmeats, rosolio, coffee, and pipes. Our conversation was necessarily restricted to trivial subjects, the more interesting topics, such as religion and politics, not being touched upon, out of respect for our host and the persons present. We all felt more or less embarrassment; but if all had dared to speak out what they felt, what an interesting revelation of feeling would have been here put forth!

Our party was composed of French and English, and they complimented us upon our nationality, in a way that made it evident, without saying it, that they looked upon us as the instruments, in God's hands, of their speedy deliverance from the yoke of their enemies. Would that it may be so! for there is something peculiarly affecting in the sight of this devoted race, living as strangers and slaves in the land of which they are the rightful owners; and he must have a cold heart, indeed, that can look on, and not sympathize with their sufferings. For my own part, I could not help, as I retired, uttering a prayer to the Almighty, that He would hasten the moment of reconcilation with His once chosen people, and remove the obstinacy that surrounds their hearts, by way of preparing them for its blessed results.

The well-known peculiarities of this people, for they have long ceased to form a distinct nation, are observable in the Jews residing at Jerusalem; but, in addition to these peculiarities, they have adopted others, belonging to the countries they respectively inhabited, previously to their coming to settle here. The more apparent feature contrasting with those of their

brethren of the Levant, is a certain freedom of manners between the sexes, particularly observable in social intercourse; nevertheless, their women go veiled when abroad, a practice universally followed by their sex in the East, females of loose morals alone forming the exception. It consists in a white piece of muslin thrown over the head, which falls over their shoulders, leaving the features, however, more exposed than is customary with Turkish women to do. The number of Jews resident in Jerusalem has been greatly exaggerated by some travellers. There being no trade or commerce whatever, they must necessarily be limited to the few families that are attracted here for devotional purposes. I do not think they exceed three thousand. Of this estimate a large proportion are females. The synagogues in Jerusalem are both poor and small, not owing to the poverty of the possessors, or the want of alms from abroad, but from the prudential motives mentioned above.

6

'Ye shall

I was moved almost to a tear, by seeing just outside the great mosque, which stands on the site of their ancient temple, four or five Jews, apparently rabbis, with books in their hands, in the attitude of prayer, and their faces directed towards the wall. I fancied I heard them saying, How long, O Lord, how long shall we be the objects of Thy just anger?' not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' In this part of the wall are several large stones, evidently hewn at a very remote period, being cut in a peculiar fashion. Some of them measure twelve or fifteen feet in length, by four or five in height. Can these be some of the stones about which the disciples inquired, 'Master, see what manner of stones are here??

Similar stones are worked into other parts of the modern walls, particularly at the south-east angle. They do not bear upon them any marks of the action of the fire that consumed the original temple, at the time of the destruction of the city by Titus; which has made some travellers suppose they formed part of the materials prepared by Julian for the rebuilding of the temple, in the course of which he was interrupted, it is said, by flames issuing from amongst the ruins.-Robinson.

PUBLIC DEVOTIONS;

OR,

regard Thee not only as the great King of the heavens and of the earth, but as the righteous and offended Judge of the moral

A SERIES OF PRESBYTERIAN PRAYERS universe. It is of Thy great mercy, O

AND SERVICES.

SECOND MONTH.

FORENOON PRAYER.

It is truly a good thing to give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High. Thou art greatly to be feared in the assembly of Thy saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Thee. Thou sittest alone in terrible majesty on the height of heaven, and exercisest dominion with an irrestible sway over the whole of nature. Clouds and darkness are round about Thee: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne. A purifying and consuming fire goeth before Thee: Thy lightnings enlighten all the ends of the earth; and Thou art mightier than the sound of many waters. At Thy presence, O Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole universe, the hills melt like wax, the earth sees and trembles, the heavens drop and are astonished; and even the seraphim cover their faces with their wings when they behold the eternal and almighty Jehovah seated upon His throne.

Almighty Lord, that we are not consumed, or driven for ever from Thy presence. Our safety we owe alone to Thy long-suffering patience and forbearing tenderness. It was Thy all-seeing eye that pitied us in our low and lost estate, and Thy Divine and outstretched arm that wrought our deliverance. The whole of our precious salvation we derive from Thy sovereign good-will, gratuitous bounty, and unmerited favour. O, incline us to admire, with all saints, the height and the depth, the breadth and the length of Thy redeeming love! The riches of Thy grace, O blessed God, are to us unsearchable, nor can even the angels penetrate the great mystery, into which they are so eager to look.

We confess, O righteous Father, with shame and confusion of face, that we have made a poor, ungrateful return to Thee for so much goodness; that we are still unworthy of the very least of all Thy mercies; and that if Thou shouldst call us at this moment to give an account of our sins, we could not answer Thee for one of a thousand. If we could feel for ourselves like the true disciples of Christ, we should never lose sight of the helpless and ruined state from which the Saviour has raised us, nor forget, amid the gladness which the Gospel promises shed over our hearts, that we are heavily laden with a burden of trespasses and sins. We acknowledge ourselves most deeply indebted to Thee for that covenant of reconciliation, which He has published in the name, and ratified by the blood, of Thy well-beloved Son. We are lost in wonder, gratitude, and praise, when we contemplate its divine provisions of mercy-provisions that so admirably reconcile the exercise of pardon with the honour of Thy law and the claims of justice. Truly we behold in this mystery mercy and truth meet together, righteous

While all the works of Thy hands, O God, are thus moved at the greatness of Thy majesty, we alone display a singular and cold indifference at the view of all the infinite attributes by which Thou art so gloriously distinguished. We can enter the courts of Thy sanctuary, where Thou art more peculiarly in the midst of us; but our minds shall not be impressed with a deep and solemn sense of Thy Divine presence. We can join in Thy worship, and lift up our voices in Thy praise; but our thoughts, all the while, shall be dwelling on the occupations and amusements of the week that is past, or anticipating those of the week that is begun. We can take Thy holy name into our polluted lips, in a moment of thoughtless gaiety or of sinfulness and peace embrace each other. Well passion. And yet surely, O God, we should approach Thee with the profoundest reverence and the lowest humility. The consciousness of guilt, which the angels do not feel, and which cannot belong to any of the lower creation, should depress our Grant, O heavenly Father, that the spirits with fear and shame, and make us | Saviour may not be offered to any of us

may we say, with the Psalmist of old,

Surely there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared: surely with our God there is mercy and plenteous redemption.'

in vain. May we come in haste to the banquet of love He has provided for our souls, and draw with joy the water of life from His wells of salvation. Open our eyes to see that we owe every temporal and spiritual blessing to the great Mediator, and open our hearts to feel all that fervour of devotional love and esteem, which the excellence of His nature and the amiableness of His character are so well fitted to inspire. Teach us, O merciful God, that it is exclusively through the merits of Christ that we can ever hope to receive Thy favour, and that, whether we are militant as pilgrims on the earth, or triumphant as saints in heaven, we are, in both states and in both places, equally the objects of Thy grace, and equally dependent for life and happiness on the perfect righteousness of Thy Son. May we feel these convictions at the present moment with peculiar liveliness and force, and may they lead us to ascribe unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost the highest and the warmest thanksgiving and praise, now and Amen.

ever.

AFTERNOON PRAYER.

WE desire, O Almighty and most gracious God, to present ourselves again before Thee in the multitude of Thy mercy, and to worship in fear towards Thy holy temple. We acknowledge it to be a high privilege, that we are permitted to raise our voices in Thy praise; and we feel it to be a sweet consolation, that we are invited to direct our prayers unto Thee. Bow the heavens, O Lord, and come down: spread out Thy tabernacle in the midst of us, and cause us to rejoice in Thy presence. Remember us with the favour which Thou bearest unto Thy people: O visit us with Thy salvation. Give us grace to behold Thy face in righteousness; and hide us, we entreat Thee, under the shadow of Thy wings.

Who, O Lord, can utter Thy mighty acts? or who can show forth all Thy praise? Thou art worthy to be adored by all the blessed of heaven, and by all the believers on earth. Thy manifold perfections are infinitely glorious; and Thou art still manifesting Thyself to the Church, as the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression,

and sin, and yet that will by no means clear the guilty. How exceedingly great and precious are the riches of felicity and peace, which Thou hast bestowed upon us in the arrangements of Providence and in the dispensations of grace! Thou makest all things work together for the temporal and spiritual benefit of Thy people; and it is out of our power to describe or even conceive the high, holy, and surpassing blessedness, which Thou hast provided in a future state for those who love and obey Thee.

Forbid it, O God of all grace, that we should ever refuse with ingratitude, or receive with indifference, or abuse with presumption, the privileges of our high vocation, and the promises of our holy faith. Dispose us to hear with joy, and to embrace with zeal, the salvation so freely offered and so earnestly pressed home to us in the Gospel of Thy Son. Teach us to perceive, on the one hand, the necessity, and on the other, the sufficiency of its various provisions of mercy. May we believe that it is the very thing we need, and that no other thing can supply our need. May we accept of it with eagerness and joy as the one thing needful, as a thing more necessary than all other things. May we consider it as the treasure hid in a field, or as the pearl of great price; and rather than lose it, may we go and sell all that we have, and buy it.

Hinder us, good Lord, from applying for salvation to any other than the one great Daysman between Thee and us; and assure us that there is no other name given under heaven among men by which we can be saved, but the name of Christ. And when we make application to Him, who alone is mighty to save, may we receive Him as our Saviour, in the fullest sense of the word-as our Saviour, not only from the punishment, but from the power of sin. Convince us deeply that we are all born in sin, and that if we continue to walk in it, we shall lose Thy favour, and perish everlastingly. Dissuade us from going on in sin, that grace may abound; but incline us rather to walk in newness of life, and to make ourselves perfect in every good work. Encourage us to resist, with persevering constancy, the power of Satan over our souls, and to fight the more vigorously against our evil nature, because we are not under the law, but under grace. While

we reckon ourselves dead unto the law, may we believe ourselves alive unto Thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. And grant, O heavenly Father, that, with the aid of Thy Spirit, and without a moment's delay, we may unite ourselves to the Saviour as the Lord of life; and that being baptized into His death, and dying daily unto sin, we may be planted in the likeness of His resurrection, and advanced from one degree of grace and goodness to another, till we all come, in the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the truth, to the full stature of perfect men in Christ Jesus, and at last obtain an abundant entrance into some of those everlasting mansions which He has gone to prepare for us in His Father's house.

We humbly acknowledge ourselves to be at the best weak, ignorant, and erring creatures; and, therefore, O God, we earnestly solicit the protection and guidance of Thy good providence during the remaining part of our pilgrimage here. Do Thou graciously perfect Thy strength in our weakness. May we ever look up to Thee, as our only stay, help, and hope, in the time of trouble. We can bear all things, and we can do all things, if we are supported by Thy grace. Teach us to pray for a daily supply of it, and when given, to improve and profit by it. Enable all of us to put our trust in Thy many great and precious promises, and to hold fast that form of sound words which we have received from Thee. O send forth Thy light and Thy truth, that they may ever compass us as with a shield, and ever lead us in the way everlasting. And grant, of Thine infinite mercy, that these the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, may be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

S. S. S.

THE OCEAN OF ETERNITY. SET sail, thou venturous rover, and let thy daring keel cut the dividing billow, and plough the briny deep. But whither art thou bound? To cruise on a tempestuous ocean, or dash against inhospitable shores. Well, my soul, remember that thou also hast set sail, and art rapidly carried down the stream of time, to the ocean of eternity. I should consider under what

latitude, and to what point I am steering; if under the latitude of the new birth, and a lively faith, I shall at last drop anchor at the haven of bliss; but if under the latitude of a natural state and unbelief, I shall be driven, by Divine indignation, on the rocks of everlasting ruin, and tossed, a deplorable wreck, on the floods of wrath.

How ignorant is the heathen world of a future state! But, since the Son of God is come, and has taught us all the mysteries of the spiritual navigation, we launch at once into the depth of ages, and, in our exalted views, leaving land on every side, we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Why should I fear, or be dismayed; for shall I not have a prosperous voyage, and a pleasant landing, since Christ is both my pilot and my pole? since his Spirit is promised to lead and guide me into all truth; since the Scriptures are my compass-a light to my feet, and a lamp to my path; since hope is my anchor cast within the vail; faith my telescope, that gives me views of the world to come; selfexamination my sounding-line, to know what depth of water I am in, to try myself, whether I be in the faith or not; and my log-book a Christian Diary, that I may tell them that fear God what He hath done for my soul; and since all the heavenly graces are like the extended sails, one sail being unfurled after another: first faith, which is to the soul as the mainsail to a ship, and, adding to faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly-kindness; and to brotherly-kindness, charity. Were I once in such a happy state, my next petition would be, Awake, O north wind! and blow, thou south;' fill my extended canvass, and carry me to glory.

THE CHURCHYARD.

WHEN brightly dawns the Sabbath morn,
And all is fair and gay,
And the sweet lark is seen on high
Humming his morning lay,

I love to view that lowly spot
Where lies the mould ring clay.

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