the close of the eleventh century, it was nearly destroyed by a Greek fleet under the command of John Ducas: the Emperor Comnetus subsequently restored it, but it again suffered very severely from a siege which it sustained against the forces of Tamerlane. Not long after this event it fell into the hands of the Turks, in whose possession it has remained ever since.

Modern Smyrna, by the Turks called Ismir, is beautifully situated at the foot of a lofty mountain, that stretches along the shore to a great extent, and has upon its summit the castellated building seen on the right of our engraving, which looks towards the bay. From this elevation the prospect is truly grand; and this is perhaps the finest port in Asia, as a large fleet might ride in it, and vessels receive and discharge their cargoes close to the shore. Upon this -mountain was founded one of those churches which became the peculiar care of the apostle John, who addressed to its angel (presiding minister or bishop) the solemn admonitions in Rev. ii. 8-11. This church is dedicated to Polycarp, the first bishop of Smyrna, who suffered martyrdom here A. D. 166, being committed to the flames. The population is commonly estimated at 100,000 or 110,000; but the Rev. John Hartley, who was here in the year 1825, is of opinion that it is greatly overcharged. He thinks that Smyrna does not contain many more than 75,000 inhabitants; of whom about 45,000 are Turks, 10,000 Greeks, 8000 Armenians, 8000 Jews, and less than 1000 Europeans of different nations. The English residents may be upwards of one hundred: they dwell in the British factory, which is very extensive, and is enclosed with gates. The streets are narrow, and many of the houses, which are built of clay, are low; most of them have roofs of pantiles, some of which are flat, while others are gaudily painted. There are twenty mosques: the Greeks have three churches; the Armenians, one; the Latins, two; and the Protestants, two: the Jews have eight synagogues. Frank street, where the Europeans reside, and in which many sign-boards are exhibited, is by far the best street in Smyrna: by the English it has been named Bond street; but the Turks call it Ghul Mabala, or the Rose Quarter.

Smyrna has been subject to several awful visitations. In 1743 it was destroyed by fire, and in 1750 by an earthquake; in 1752, 1758, and 1760, it was depopulated by plague; fire again consumed almost the whole of it in 1763, 1769, and 1778; and in 1814 there were 40,000 persons cut off by the plague. Earthquakes and the plague, indeed, are the great calamities of this place: the condition of the Christians residing here (which is not the most secure under the Turkish government) is said to be better than in that of any other of the sites of the seven churches mentioned in the Apocalypse, as if the promise was still in some measure made good to Smyrna :-" Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer... . . . Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev. ii. 10 HORNE. Ver. 12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.

Pergamos, or Pergamus, was the ancient metropolis of Mysia, and the residence of the Attalian kings, who collected here a noble library, containing two hundred thousand volumes, which was afterward transported to Egypt by Cleopatra, and added to the library at Alexandria. It is situated on the right bank of the river Caïcus, about sixty miles to the north of Smyrna.

Against the church at Pergamus was adduced the charge of partial instability; but to its wavering faith was promised the all-powerful protection of God. (Rev. ii. 12—17.) The errors of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans have been purged away; Pergamus has been preserved from the deand three thousand Christians, out of a populastroyer; tion of fourteen or fifteen thousand inhabitants, now cherish the rites of their holy religion in the same spot where it was planted by the Apostle Paul; though the poor Greeks are restricted to one small and mean church, under the Acropolis, or citadel of the ancient city, where the hymn of praise to their Redeemer is whispered, rather than sung, for fear of offending the fanatical Turks.

Numerous ancient ruins of a fortress, a theatre, and a naumachia, attest the magnificence of this once royal city. The modern town of Bergamo is seen through the mag

nificent arch on the right of our engraving. It. partly on the slope of the hill, and partly in the plain. On the summit of the hill, upon the left, is the Acropolis, on which is a castle nearly covering its whole summit, including about eight acres, together with some remains of a heathen temple. A neighbouring cemetery has, for ages, been supplied with marble embellishments from the theatre, which are collected in great profusion to ornament the graves, near to which, if not on that site itself, was once placed the celebrated temple of Æsculapius, which, among other privileges, had that of an asylum. Here also are massive ruins of the church of Agios Theologos, conjectured to be one of those which the Emperor Theodosius caused to be erected. There is another ancient church in the town, that of Saint Sophia, which, about thirty years since, was desecrated by being converted into a Turkish mosque. The scenery from the Acropolis is grand, bụt sad. The fine plain before Pergamus, which seems ready to start into fertility at a touch, is sparingly cultivated, except on the very edges of the town; but that touch is wanting. The unrestrained flood-courses of the Caicus and its tributary streams have cut the plain into broad sandy veins.

In 1828, when this place was visited by Mr. Macfarlane, a collection, in a Greek school, of about fifty volumes, in Romaic, or modern Greek, was called "the library," and represented the ancient store of two hundred thousand volumes, which had been formed by the munificent monarchs of Pergamus: and a dirty little Italian quack, ignorant and insolent, was head practitioner of medicine in the city which gave birth to Ġalen, and of which Esculapius was the tutelary divinity. The town was as dull as the grave, except during the night, when, as it happened to be the Ramazan of the Turks, there was some stir among the Mohammedan portion of the inhabitants.-HORNE.

Ver. 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.

It was a custom among the ancients to give their votes by white or black stones; with these they condemned the guilty, with those acquitted the innocent. In allusion to this ancient custom, our Lord promises to give the spiritual conqueror a white stone; and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it;" the white stone of absolution or approbation, and inseparably connected with it, a new name of dignity and honour, even that of a child of God and heir of glory, which is known only to himself, or the inhabitants of that world to which he shall be admitted, and who have already nounced, if the case was capital, the witnesses put their received it. When sentence of condemnation was prohands on the head of the criminal, and said, Thy blood be upon thine own head. To this custom the Jews alluded, when they cried out at the trial of Christ," His blood be on us, and on our children." Then was the malefactor led to execution, and none were allowed openly to lament his misfortune. His hands were secured with cords, and his feet with fetters; a custom which furnished David with an affecting allusion, in his lamentation over the dust of Abner: "Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put in fetters."— ΡΑΧΤΟΝ.

CHAPTER III.

Ver. 1. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead.

Sardis, or Sardes, the capital of the country of Lydia, in Asia, was a city of great antiquity, the founder of which is not certainly known. It was situated in a fertile plain, at the foot of the northern slope of Mount Tmolus; which rears its majestic head in the background of our engraving, and commands an extensive view over the circumjacent country. The river Pactolus, (now an insignificant brook,) which