as shoeing a cat with walnut-shells'! I had, We all laughed heartily at this eloquence. titter. Mr. Benvolere now took the opportunity to explain to Mr. Quaintly the deafness of Mr. Pope; and the worthy, but somewhat obtuse, actor was pacified. He waved his hand towards the offender benignantly, and said, "To deafness most painful I once a victim, too, became." 'Wonderful!" said Mrs. Pope: "and how, if I may ask, sir, did you become cured ?” "Into a hackney coachman, madam, who his fare o'ercharged, I pitched-that is, I unto him a drubbing gave, and he upon my ears retaliated with a cuff. A noise that was rushing ensued, and henceforth as well as ever did I hear." "Terrible!" said Mrs. Pope. After that Mr. Quaintly grew less laconic over his brandy-and-water, and waxed loud on certain grievances connected, it appeared, with his profession, which he asserted had a tendency to keep true merit in the back-ground. "Stuff!" said the realist: "you acting fellows all think you are individually the great A's of the dramatic alphabet. You get hold of a part, and you spout and mouth, and a sweep in the shilling gallery, who knows nothing about the matter, says, 'Brayvo, Higgins'! and you wake up next morning and believe you're famous. Nothing of the sort: the public don't care for any one of you out of ten. You should just say to yourselves, I ain getting | my bread and cheese, or my mutton-chop, and half-and-half, by learning a quantity of rubbish, and mouthing it out to the British public every night, and must do it, or starve; and the quicker it is got over the better-and there's an end of it." Mr. Quaintly would not subscribe to this view of the case. He could personally instance how genius was kept back; for example, on an occasion when the great actor of the day was, from some occurrence not uncommon, unable to appear in his celebrated character of Richard, "And never will," interposed Mr. Benvolere. "Quaintly, you can play to the life one of Will Shakespere's fools: let that content you don't aspire to his heroes. When Nature denied you the heroic element, she made you able to inspire mirth. Thank her for the gift: it is no mean privilege to make dull men laugh!' “Of brandy-and-water that is warm I will take half a glass more," said Mr. Quaintly, suddenly changing the topic. And doubtless many of my readers will exclaim at my old master's devoting the Sabbath evenings to hospitality and social intercourse. I know not that he needs defence. Both he and his sister, with many of their friends, were of the Catholic religion, which holds that, when the duties of the day are over, there is no harm in thus spending its remainder. And Benvolere himself, though professing the tenets of the Romish Church, was truly catholic in spirit, and believed every good Christian of any creed as near to heaven as himself. He had no touch of asceticism in his ger.tle, joyous nature. Stung as he had been in early youth by a great sorrow, infirm and paralyzed as he was, he yet enjoyed life fully even to the endThe end-alas! LEFT HIS HOME. BY ADA TREVANION. When on the grey broke saffron streaks and white, Left the pink clover-blooms to dew and night, It I caught a voice betwixt the light and dark: told a tale of love and of despair; Of a short passionate strife with crushing fate; And then a hurried footstep trod the stair, I And some one pushed without the garden-gate. But in the hooded porch there lay a glove; The ground was white with jasmine-stars new And down the lane, and in the little grove, strown; The mocking echoes said-" Where is he gone?" And I had dreamed that night such happy dreams (Perhaps, dear love, you kissed me in my sleep), Now when the lake is lit by white moonbeams, And wind-swept shadows float, I watch and weep. They sought him in the wood, and on the wold, 'Neath the dread tarn where pale drowned forms have lain ; if the manager, instead of running to minor Oh! break, worn heart-life's weary hours be told houses after noodles, had in the dilemma ap- For he is gone-is gone-nor comes again! MY TOUR IN PALESTINE. BY A NAVAL CHAPLAIN. СНАР. І. JAFFA. The arrival of H.M.S.- -at Jaffa gave her officers an opportunity of visiting the Holy City, and the various localities of sacred interest by which it is surrounded. Before entering on a detailed account of the proceedings of the tourist party, of which the writer of this sketch made one, it may not be out of place to say a few words descriptive of Jaffa; or rather, to make some short account of its history, appearance, &c., serve as the first chapter of these personal recollections of localities, the interest in which seems to be almost as undying as the manners and customs of the inhabitants are unchanged. The town of Jaffa, or Yaffa, was anciently called Joppa, and of its antiquity there can be no doubt, seeing that it dates back to the distribution made by Joshua, when it was allotted to the tribe of Dan. The writer of the Maccabees, and later still Josephus, make mention of Joppa. The history of the Crusades-were there no other record extant-gives celebrity to a town then called Joppa. Modern history tells us that few places obtained a more enviable notoriety than this locality did, when, during the career of Napoleon, a garrison numbering twelve hundred Turks were put to death, on the pretext of having broken their parole. Here, too, the monster crime of poisoning the sick and wounded soldiers of the French army took place, under plea of its being feared they might fall into the hands of a barbarous enemy; although it seems difficult to imagine what worse fate could await them, even in the event of such contingency. It is not, however, with the Joppa of ancient times nor yet the Jaffa of later days this sketch has to do, but with the Jaffa of the year of grace 186—, and how it looked as starting point or departure stage of the writer's tour in Palestine. "All eastern towns are the same," some wiseacre may exclaim, and exclaim with some modicum of truth I admit; and yet Jaffa and every other eastern town possesses-notwithstanding a general resemblance to its neighbours-distinctive characteristics; and of the truth of this statement any objector would be convinced, on visiting the locality in question. Our party consisted of some ten or twelve officers of varying ages, and got up in all the endless variety of that costume designated by naval officers "plain clothes." As soon as we had mustered on deck we descended into the cutter that lay ready manned to take us on shore, and were soon rowed to the landing-place. The time required for the transit from our floating home to terra firma was barely sufficient to admit of our observing the commanding nature of the ground on which the town is built, and of speculating upon the extent of view attainable by an ascent of the tower which ornaments the eminence. Passing through a narrow channel we reached a pier built on wooden piles, and prepared to disembark-a proceeding in which our movements were accelerated by the assist ance of some two or three good-humoured hamauls or porters, who eagerly stretched forth a helping hand. The region in the immediate neighbourhood was sui generis, being a wide space opposite trading stores, and seemed equally to afford reposing ground to sleeping porters and weary donkeys, with here and there a camel couchant to diversify the foreground. A foreign vessel had just landed her cargo, but for which event the appearance of trade presented by the unhoused bales of merchandise would have been absent. Scarcely had we emerged from the port ere our arrival became kuown to the more ragged of the population; and shoals of beggars and other idlers congregated around us, the former whining out the oftrepeated solicitation "Howadgi, miskin !”—miskin, Howadgi !" which being interpreted means "Traveller, a poor creature!-a poor creature, traveller!" the poor creature meanwhile suggesting by look and tone of voice, as well as by the stretching forth of his leather-coloured palm, that the miskin expected the howadgi would bestow some alms upon the suppliant. It is to be feared that the benedictions with which we were at first welcomed by the Jaffa mendicants were slightly modified ere we succeeded in extricating ourselves from the circle they formed; but be this as it may, we soon got clear of them, and under the guidance of a small native boy wended our way to the house of Mr. Kayat, her Majesty's consul. Whilst the preliminaries as to hiring of horses and engaging a dragoman, for the expedition to Jerusalem were being conducted to a successful issue, the Consul's son kindly conducted us to the "House of Simon the Tanner." In order to reach this, the great show antiquity of the locality, we had to traverse countless steep rugged dirty streets. Turning at length into the doorway of a projecting arched court, we were told we had entered the House of Simon! Modern travellers are, I believe, agreed as to this being-if any is-the house of Simon the Tanner; it is, at all events, the one always shown as such, and presents more claim than any other, not the least part of which seems to be, that the Mahometans regard it as a sacred spot. The well, pointed out as the tan-pit, presents unmistakable evidence of great antiquity in the deep furrows in its stone coping, since ages must have elapsed ere the hempen or grass rope used to raise water from it could have left such traces of its friction. The tomb of Dorcas, which fairly vies with Simon's house as an object of interest to travellers, we did not visit; nor were we very much impressed with the importance of the question as to its being really such, or merely a tomb so called were the question of proof once mooted, it would be, we concluded, out of our power to establish either the affirmative or negative; and so we left it to future travellers to examine. On returning to the house of the Consul we found all the preliminaries of our expedition had been satisfactorily arranged; and, as it was now sufficiently late in the day for the contemplated start, we were soon on the saddle. To the Syrian saddles the preposition in could not with any truth be applied, seeing that what is designated a saddle possesses no resemblance to the European article; but is simply a rude framework of wood, not unlike in shape to the roof of a miniature house. The angles of the frame are softened by a padding of hay, a piece of carpet or woolly sheepskin being thrown over all. From this nondescript contrivance are suspended two flat iron pans to serve as stirrups; these are used both as resting-places for the feet and for striking against the horse's flanks, to urge him to greater speed. Thus mounted we made the start, and under guidance of a dragoman, who was to defray the whole expenses of the road at the rate of 20s. per diem from each officer of the party, we made our way through the narrow streets. The crowd of unwashed, that had assembled to see us set out, gradually fell off as we proceeded. The population of Jaffa is large in proportion to the size of the town, and amounts now to about 15,000, besides the constant tide of pilgrims which ebbs and flows during the whole of the summer. That the chief export trade of this place consists of fruit, silk, and corn, is evident to the most casual observer, and fruit was to be seen on all sides until we reached the gate of the city. We observed at the gate several solemn-looking turbaned figures, that reminded us, as they sat on stone benches, of the judges or elders who were wont to dispense justice of old. These ancients gazed solemnly but motionless upon us, who were only able to make this passing remark as, emerging from the town, we halted, to muster our party and see that none were absent, before resuming the order of our march from the city whither Jonah repaired to flee from the presence of the Lord, and thence took ship to Tarshish. CHAP. II. FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. A long sandy lane, fenced on either side by a hedge of prickly-pear, leads out from Jaffa to the open plain. The eastern sun was putting forth its strength in some force, late as the hour was, when we started; but the inconvenience of the heat was considerably lessened by the presence of a gentle breeze, that blew soft and lazily, as if burdened with the perfume from the orange groves, so numerous in the vicinity of the town. The fact that some of our party were midshipmen, and that a level road lay before them, was quite enough to suggest not the propriety, but the possibility of enjoying an equestrian race; and as if moved by instinct the juniors all scampered off simultaneously, leaving us "oldsters" to moralize upon the recollection that we were once young ourselves. The plain of Sharon now lay before us, in all its extent and beauty, and we began to feel that we had, at length, entered upon our tour in good earnest. We saw naught, however, of the herds that fed in Sharon, nor even of its roses. All around us lay this rich plain, cultivated in some parts, capable of cultivation in many more, and in all exhibiting great evidence of fertility. As the road, if road it could be called, was level and stretched forth as far as the eye could reach, a general move was observable amongst our miscellaneous steeds, and with little need of persuasion they quickened their pace into a canter. But oh, those Turkish saddles! What genius could ever have invented such instruments of torture? On such a saddle a little galloping goes a long way, and many of our number were soon glad to subside again into a walking pace. This transition was not arrived at, however, without considerable inconvenience to the riders, owing to the series of convulsive jumps through which the horses subsided into a walk. On recovering the dignity of slow progression, we had time to observe the magnificence of the scene presented to our view, by the plain through which we rode; on the one hand stood the town of Ludd, conspicuous from its position; and on the other, an unbroken expanse of level country, all being bounded by a range of lofty mountains whose tops shone golden in the rich warmth of an eastern sunset. Ludd, the ancient Lydda, the scene of Eneas' restoration to sight by St. Peter, now consists of a few houses and a mosque: the latter derives some interest from the current belief that it was once a Christian church, and dedicated to St. George. Admonished by the sunset that time was on the wing, we pushed on without delay, in order to reach Ramleh before night-fall. It had been already resolved to spend the night at Ramleh, where a Latin convent affords a hospitable shelter to all travellers; so a bright look-out was kept on the direction in which we hoped to descry it. Ere long the lofty tower, which with the general elevation gives to the town its| Sharon. The grey light of early morning imposing appearance, was sighted, and the sufficed us for mutual recognition as we rode cavalcade moved briskly on towards Ramleh, side by side, over the even ground for a mile or known in ancient times as Arimathea. The two after we had left Ramleh. monks, who had been apprised by a messenger of our intention of passing the night under their roof, came out to meet us, as soon as the noise of our horses' hoofs were heard on the pavement outside the convent. To enter the courtyard, dismount, and, committing the horses to the care of the dragoman and his attendants, to enter the hospitable doors of our entertainers, was but the work of a few minutes; and, as we were all as hungry as hunters, there was a general inquiry as to the hour at which dinner might be expected. A lay-brother soon appeared, and satisfied our anxious minds with the information that having expected our coming there would be no delay. The refectory for strangers, a large inner room, was meanwhile being made ready for our accommodation; and when ushered into it we beheld a long table covered with a coarse white cloth, at which we were desired to seat ourselves. The dinner led off with a thin white soup, followed by two courses, the former of which consisted of eggs served up in the shells, and the latter of meat: after these came cheese, followed by coffee and fruits. We remained much longer at table than at dinner, and at length, after reflecting upon the necessity of an early start on the morrow, were unanimous in determining to retire for the night. A laybrother, belonging to the monastery, now conducted us to our respective dormitories, and with the usual "buona notte" left us to pass the night, if not to sleep. To sleep, however, was out of the question, as we quickly discovered; the hum of the mosquito giving us fair notice of his presence in a bold declaration of war. Tired nature tried in vain to cast the dreammantle around us; and, though for a time the effort seemed a success, soon a stinging sensation on the neck or wrist of the slumberer awoke us to the realities of life, and the tantalizing consciousness that the enemy had betaken himself to flight by the time we had become aware of his assault. Tossing from side to side, we endured the long hours, snatching occasional respites, until daylight relieved us of a foe whose venom was so great, that, had his strength or size been at all proportioned to it, we must have been inevitably annihilated. Without waiting for breakfast we prepared to resume our journey as soon as morning had been duly announced to us by the dragoman. Before leaving the monastery, a donation was made to its funds by our attendant at the rate of a dollar for each of his party. This is not a fixed charge, nor is there, indeed, any demand made for renumeration; but the monks accept a pecuniary gift from travellers who can pay, to defray, it is said, the cost of entertaining poor pilgrims who cannot pay for their food or lodging. The sun had not arisen ere we were once more on the saddle and riding away from Ramleh, but still passing through the plain of The rising sun showed us a country the principal features of which closely resembled those of that through which we had ridden the day before. The early start, the desire of halt ing, and, above all, the sight of two baskets of provisions, which the dragoman had provided for breakfast by the way, created an unconquerable desire, especially on the part of the younger excursionists, to dismount and investigate the interior of the baskets in question. A level patch of ground protected by a rock, and further shaded by an overhanging fig-tree, made the question of breakfast irresistibly forcible; and so dismounting we fastened our horses, and prepared for the discussion of the viands that the dragoman was hastily spreading out on the grass. Talk of the glories of a déjeûner à la fourchette ! Ours was a déjeuner sans fourchette, and I have grave doubts as to whether any given number of fourchettes would have enhanced our enjoy. ment of it. All I can remember of that collation is that cold fowls, hard-boiled eggs, and coarse brown bread, formed the chief components, and that we summed up with a cup of coffee. The important business of breakfast being over, we again mounted our steeds and prepared to resume our line of march. The face of the country the worse; and the smooth sandy road of the began from this point to change very much for plain became rough and unpleasant. Soon all traces of any civilized life disappeared, and we began to ride over what appeared to be an old water course, or the dry bed of a river, and of huge stones, we concluded that it was in all judging from its uneven aspect and the presence probability the course by which mountain torrents descend in the winter. tive way for some time, we at length emerged After pursuing our journey by this unattrac from it, and were glad to find ourselves once more upon tolerably level ground. With the exception of an attempt made by a few halfclad Arabs to extort backsheesh, we did not meet with anything of the nature of an adventure by the way, but rode on calmly, till we came in sight of the Holy City. The first sight of Jerusalem, even though the city is not seen in its best point of view from the Ramleh side, is one that cannot fail to impress the beholder, however careless. Within those walls, and in the immediate outward vicinity of them, were enacted scenes so fraught with interest to the whole human race! The most thoughtless must pause, as the whole tide of early teaching--the lessons of childhood-crowd upon the memory. I remained uncovered as I gazed upon the city, until the approach of my companions broke my reverie; when we all rode briskly forward, and, entering by the Jaffa Gate, dis nounted on Mount Zion. CHAP. III. JERUSALEM AND ITS ENVIRONS. The Holy City has been so often and so well described, that it may savour somewhat of presumption to try to say anything new on the subject. Descriptions geographical, historical, and even semi-prophetical already exist; and with none of these do I purpose entering the list. The following description was not originally "written in my private journal, and subsequently published at the request of friends." Its publication is due to an altogether different cause. The materials from which it is compiled were hasty pencil-notes in my pocket-book, enlarged afterwards from memory; and its only claim on the attention of the reader is its originality. Thus prefaced, I must rush at once in medias res; and for that purpose transport the reader to Mount Zion. Here a spacious, but by no means ornamental structure stands, and is used for the accommodation of travellers, under the style and title of The Royal Navy Hotel; a name adopted by the proprietor in commemoration of the visit of Prince Alfred, who sojourned within its walls during his stay in Jerusalem. Our party had arrived-as narrated in the last chapter-in safety from Ramleh (sandy), and, after partaking of some refreshment, set itself resolutely to consider the future plan of action as to sight-seeing. The nearest object of interest was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; a good view of which we obtained from the terrace-like balcony under the windows of the Hotel. Thus viewed, the church seemed much nearer than it was in reality; and the cupola could not fail to be noticed as sadly needing repair. On inquiry we learned that the dilapidated state of the roof was owing to the feuds and mutual jealousy that existed between the Greek and Latin churches, neither being disposed to consent to its being repaired by the other, lest there might be hereafter some assertion of a prior right or superior possession deduced, on the ground of the claimant having repaired the roof of the church. The professors of the Greek faith, and also of the Latin (Roman Catholic), perform religious services under the same roof, and yet are allowing the roof to fall into decay between them. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as seen from the elevation on which we stood, presented the appearance of a huge bee-hive of masonwork; and was much more suggestive, as far as its shape was concerned, of its being a Turkish mosque, than a Christian church. To the right of this far-famed of the Holy Places, was the mosque of Omar, a splendid structure built on Mount Moriah. Farther still, and still to the right of the mosque, and of the town itself, lay the Mount of Olives, rendered especially conspicuous by the presence of the Church of the Ascension, as well as of a tall minaret, both of which are built upon its summit. The view above described showed us that whilst the Mount of Olives, and even the mosque, were too far off to allow of one visiting them that day, the hour being too far advanced to admit of any distant excursion, we might easily visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and satisfactorily inspect its interior, so as to see the localities of interest it professes to include within its walls. Availing ourselves of the assistance of a guide, whose local knowledge was found very useful, we left the hotel, and were soon after exploring the narrow crowded streets of that part of the city nearest to Mount Zion. The more crowded of these are called bazaars-designation due to the presence of the number of windowless shops by which either side of the way is lined. From the bazaars we turned into the Via Dolorosa, which without any question as to the identity of its geographical position with that of our Saviour's way, when he went bearing his cross, suffices by its name alone to fix the attention, if it be productive of no higher feeling. Fourteen resting-places (or stations as they are called by Roman Catholics), are here marked; but of their accuracy no one could be satisfied who reflects for a moment upon the vicissitudes through which this, as well as every other part of the city, has passed. To believe that the house pointed out as that of Pilate, or another to which attention is directed as the house of Caiaphas, is such in reality, required no little believing power. A further strain was subsequently put upon our credence, when the house of Dives was pointed out at no very great distance from that of Lazarus! Passing over the many other localities, to each of which some interest is ascribed or name given, we came in a short time to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On entering this spacious building, we found numbers of pilgrims of all nations there already, and conspicuous among these were Poles, Russians, and Wallachians; all of whom, to judge from their devoted appearance and reverent gestures and acts, were impressed with a thorough belief, not only in the identity of the sacred spot with that of Calvary, but an unquestioning acceptance of eyerything that was presented as an object of devotional interest. Pilgrims of the character here described invariably, we observed, stooped down, on entering the church, to kiss the broad marble slab, pointed out as the stone upon which the body of Christ was laid, to be annointed previous to its sepulture. On this stone we did not waste much time, but pressed forward, that we might see other and more reliable objects. Next in interest after the Sepulchre itself, and before it in the order of our progress, came | Calvary; for, although the whole site of the church is, properly speaking, so named, yet there is within the walls one elevated spot, said to be that on which the cross was actually erected, and more immediately designated Calvary in consequence. Here stands a high altar, or rather shrine, rich in gold and precious stones, offerings of kings and other devout worshippers. Conspicuous amongst these presentations is a picture mounted in gold, and richly studded with jewels of value, the gift either of the late Emperor of Russia, or of one of his predecessors. Three |