stood, the date of the building of the various walls, and the names of the engineers who planned and built them. Indeed, such a mine of information was he on this subject, and with so much zest did he throw himself into the narration, that while I remained in the City of Refuge I took many opportunities of conversing with him, and spent many a bright afternoon and calm golden evening in sauntering round the town, and exploring every trench and bastion under the guidance of such an efficient cicerone. He had now for some time taught as one of the Professors in the military college. The old gentleman, indeed, was somewhat garrulous, as is the wont of old military men, and he had, as I thought, one failing (for even Immanuel's servants are not free from such)—viz., that he was more conversant with the battles of his youth, and even with the wars of ancient times, than with the conflict which was being waged at the very time of my visit in various parts of Immanuel's vast Empire, and that he did not duly appreciate either the valour or stragetic skill of the military heroes of the present day, but often hinted that the former days were better than these.* I may just say, in a word, that under his guidance I received a pretty full history of the ancient wars waged against Immanuel and His army by the armies of the aliens, Jews and Heathen, Arians and Pelagians, Papists and Imperialists, and many others with outlandish names, and that he delighted to descant upon the warlike feats of Immanuel's generals, and the buttresses raised by the great engineers in * Eccles. vii. 10.

His army. The roll of these distinguished

men who have lived since Immanuel returned to His Father's Court seems to be long and illustrious, and among others, my friend delighted to enlarge upon the histories and works of Justin Martyr, Origen, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Augustine, Wycliffe, Huss, Savonarola, Luther, Calvin, Knox, and many others, of whom it is impossible now to speak particularly. These great men, natives of far separated provinces, and of far separated ages, had not only, he said, left enduring evidences of their skill in this city, but also in the fortifications of many others of the fortresses of Immanuel. They were all, so he stated, now resting from their labours in the Celestial Court, but had left their work behind them as a monument more enduring than any brazen tablet. Finally, my instructor showed me that the lower and most ancient courses of all the walls had been laid by the Apostles and prophets, that their successors had built upon their foundation, and that the basement course was let down into the living rock, which is named the Rock of Ages,† and that of this rock Immanuel had declared that He would build His Church upon it, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it.‡

I should wish to tell something of the surrounding country as well as of the chief city, but what I have to say must be reserved to another occasion.

(To be continued.)

+ 1 Cor. iii. 10, 11; Eph. ii. 20. Matt. xvi. 18; Is. xxvi. 4 (margin).

HE large map of Western Palestine, in which are embodied the results of the survey recently completed by the Palestine Fund, has been already noticed in our pages. Three volumes have just been issued, containing further collateral information on the topography, archæology, and nomenclature of the country, as well as a collection of special papers relating to the exploration of Bible lands.

By the method adopted in the 'Memoirs,' the chapters follow the arrangement of the map into sheets for convenience of reference, and are further subdivided into sections which treat of the orography, hydrography, topography, and archæology of the districts

under consideration. The first volume con tains sheets I. to VI., and comprises all the details necessary for illustrating the regions of Tyre and Galilee-the one intimately connected with the most important portion of the history of the remote past, the other possessing an even greater interest as the scene of the life and ministry of the Founder of Christianity. The ancient sites are pointed out and, in most instances, identified; where this cannot be done with certainty, the various identifications which have been proposed are given and the reasons for each stated. In order to increase the value of the work, the editors have supplemented the accounts given by the officers of the Fund by a careful digest of all the additional information which could be

collected from the pages of Renan, Guérin, Sepp, and other eminent Continental explorers and archeologists. These passages are distinguished from the rest of the matter by being printed in smaller type, and form a complete abstract of Palestine bibliography.

The survey was commenced on the 25th of November 1871, and was completed on the 27th of September 1877; it covers 6040 square miles of country, and extends from the river Câsimiyeh, immediately north of Tyre, to Beersheba, on the south, the eastern and western boundaries being the Jordan Valley and the Mediterranean Sea respectively, thus taking in the whole of Western Palestine proper. Tyre, with which the first sheet is chiefly occupied, was one of the most important cities of antiquity, and the details given of its history and of the ruins which are found in and around the site are deeply interesting. Tyre was founded, as the priests of Melcarth told Herodotus, 2300 years before his visiti.e., about 2750 B.C. The relations of Hiram, King of Tyre, with David and Solomon afford evidence of the flourishing condition of a city whose ruler supplied Solomon with cedar wood, precious metals, and workmen for the building of the Temple, and even furnished him with sailors for his expeditions to Ophir. In 721 B.C. the city was attacked by the Assyrians under Shalmaneser; the water supply was cut off outside the city, but, wells being dug within the walls, it was enabled to hold out for five years. The prosperity which it enjoyed for 150 years after the siege is described with remarkable detail by Ezekiel, The later siege by Nebuchadnezzar lasted nineteen years. In the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, the Tyrians sent a contingent of ships. In 332 B.C. the most terrible disaster of all overtook the city in its conquest by Alexander the Great. The siege lasted seven months, and the city was at length taken by the union of the island upon which it stood with the mainland. It continued, however, to flourish up to comparatively modern times, and its ruins yet show vestiges of its former greatness. The shell-fish from which the famed Tyrian purple was manufactured is still found along the coast, although no use is now made of it. Among the curiosities of the neighbourhood noticed by the Palestine Fund surveyors is a small Muhammedan shrine dedicated to the prophet Mashûk. Professor Palmer, in the volume which contains his interpretation of the Arabic name lists, shows that the word Mashûk, which means beloved,' is probably a survival of the ancient title of Baal Moloch or Melcarth, the Tyrian Hercules, who was worshipped by the Egyptians under the name of Mi-amun, or Memnon, 'the beloved of Ammon,' to whom, as Lucian distinctly tells us, an Egyptian temple existed at Tyre. The name may be compared with that of Abraham, who is designated by Muhammedans Khalil Allah, 'the friend of God.' The supposed tomb of a Moslem saint, then, is all that remains of the once famous Temple of Melcarth which

Herodotus visited. The cathedral at Tyre has been recently excavated by the German Government, in the hope of discovering the remains, or, at least, the resting-place, of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, around whose name a legend has grown similar to that which attaches to our own King Arthur-that he is not dead, but sleeps in all his majesty in some mysterious cave until the time shall come for him to lead the nation on to victory

once more.

One of the most remarkable objects at Tyre is the so-called Kabr Hiram, the reputed tomb of the famous King who supplied Solomon with the wood used in building the Temple at Jerusalem. Doubts have been thrown upon the authenticity of the tradition, which does not exist among the peasantry, but the monument itself is of high antiquity, and may, as M. Renan suggests, belong even to the old Canaanite period. The history of the Crusades receives great light from the facts collected and contained in these memoirs; plans of the crusading castles of Hunin, Banias, Belfort, Toron, Safed, &c., being given, together with interesting archæological details relating to them, the whole reviving with remarkable vividness that eventful period of history to which belong the exploits of Richard Coeur de Lion and his chivalrous foe, Saladin. In sheet II. the most interesting site described is Banias, the ancient Panium, or Cæsarea Philippi. On the hills above the village-once a magnificent town and the Royal residence of Herod and Agrippastands a grand old crusading castle; some distance below it there rushes out of the living rock a foaming torrent-the principal source of the Jordan. This is Tell-el-Kady, 'The Judge's Mound,' the site of Dan, or, as it was more anciently called, Laish. The Arabic word kady is identical in signification with the Hebrew dan, and is a curious instance of the manner in which the ancient nomenclature is preserved in the country.

First in importance among the towns which figure on sheet III. is St Jean d'Acre, the Accho of the Old Testament and the Ptolemais of Josephus and later historians. Sheets IV. and V. contain, also, some interesting spots, among which may be mentioned the 'Rock of Achabara,' which was fortified by Josephus during the insurrection of the Jews, and is still found with its old name, as Akbara, almost unchanged; Kades, the Kadesh mentioned with other Galilean towns by Thothmes III., under the name of Kedishu; El Jish, the Giscala of Josephus, and, according to tradition, the birthplace of the parents of St Paul; to say nothing of Nazareth, Carmel, and several places which have less known names, but in which are to be found some splendid specimens of ancient Jewish synagogues, many of which must have been standing in the time of our Lord.

Sheet VI. includes the Sea of Galilee, with all the sacred memories which cluster around its shores. Here, amid the prosaic details of

a topographical survey, one meets with names of the most thrilling interest Chorazin (Kerâzeh), Tell Hum (Capernaum), Tubarîyeh (Tiberias), Mount Tabor, and other places intimately connected with the Gospel narrative. The very fact that these sites are described with such technical and professional accuracy constitutes the great charm of the work, for it gives a living and lasting interest to scenes which too many are accustomed to look upon as vague and almost unreal.

6

The volume of Special Papers' is not only a valuable contribution to Palestine archæology, but an interesting record of the experiences and researches of individual members of the 'Fund.' It contains an account of Professor Palmer's exploration of the Tih, or 'Wilderness of the Wandering,' the first and only complete account of the Desert to the south of Palestine, together with a number of other monographs upon the topography and archæology of the Bible. The most important of these are, perhaps, the account of the now famous Moabite Stone and Sir Charles Wilson's description of the synagogues of Galilee. The remaining contents of the book are as varied as they are interesting.

The last of the three volumes before us is taken up with the Arabic and English name lists collected during the survey. The native names are given in Arabic characters, with the English transliteration, and so far as can be ascertained, a definition of their meaning and etymology. This part is from the pen of Professor Palmer, and may at first sight appear somewhat too technical and recondite for the ordinary reader; those, however, who care to dip into it will find a vast mass of material for the elucidation and identification of Scriptural names, and not a few curious incidental historical facts.

The map and the volumes we have noticed have done for the land of the Bible what Ordnance Survey maps and official statistics have done for our country. Instead of the vague and often incorrect information with which even the best Biblical commentaries abound, it is now in the power of every one who has access to the work to obtain a complete and accurate account of any portion of the Holy Land. It would be superfluous to point out the immense aid which this affords to all engaged in Scriptural studies, especially to clergymen; and it is not too much to say that it is an indispensable work of reference to every library, whether public or private.

The Memoirs' were originally published only for subscribers, but the great importance of the information contained in them and its unusual and general interest have induced the Palestine Fund to issue a further limited edition, with a special view to the requirements of libraries and other institutions. As an aid to Scriptural instruction and Biblical exegesis, the Survey of Western Palestine' is of inestimable and unique value; while to the mere archæologist and geographer, it will

prove an inexhaustible mine of information. The Palestine Exploration Fund are now occupied in making a survey on a similar scale of the country east of the Jordan, from which equally interesting results may be expected. This district has been much less subject to invasions in ancient times, and is scarcely known to modern travellers; we may, therefore, look for a larger find of inscriptions, and for even more striking illustrations of the preservation of ancient customs and traditions than Western Palestine affords. The final completion of the work will be eagerly waited for by students of theology and ancient history. In the meantime, the volumes before us are the most important contribution to the study of the Bible which has been made in modern times. The remaining volumes of the series are, we understand, on the eve of publication. -The Times.

THE IDEAL SABBATH.

THE ideal Sabbath is the Sabbath at home, when the head of the household-farmer or mechanic, merchant or lawyer, capitalist or operative-enjoys the weekly rest among those for whom the six days of labour have been spent. Whether the Sabbatic institution was or was not created by the fourth commandment, there seems to be in those words, 'Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant,' a glimpse of the restful enjoyment which the day of rest, in the primitive conception of it, would bring to the families that keep it. The day of rest, being rest and not revelry or dissipation, and being therefore a day of home enjoyment, brings with it opportunity for sober thoughts and conference. A Sabbath-keeping people will become a thoughtful people, and such thoughtfulness is manliness. All men, and especially the busy millions in an advanced civilisation like our own, need for the mind's sake, not less than for the sake of wearied nerves and muscles, the seventh-day intermission of their ordinary work. A true Sabbath is something far more restful than a day of noisy jollity. In its calm air the mind rests by thought, not thoughtlessness; by quiet musing, by conscious or unconscious retrospection; perhaps by consideration of what might have been, perhaps by thinking what may yet be, perhaps by aspiration and resolve toward something in the future, that shall be better than what has been in the past. The home in which Sunday is a day of rest and home enjoyment is hallowed by the Sabbaths which it hallows. In the Sabbathkeeping village, life is less frivolous, and at the same time industry is more productive, for the weekly rest. A Sabbath-keeping nation is greater in peace and in war for the character which its tranquil and thoughtful Sabbaths have impressed upon it.-Rev. Dr Bacon.

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Fadeless flowers of beauty there,
Trees of life with foliage rare,
Fruits the most inviting grow,
There is where I want to go.
Hark! I hear the angels sing;
Heavenly harpers, on the wing,
Throng the ear, and bid me rise
To the music of the skies.

Soon from earth I'll soar a-way
To the realms of endless day;
Soon I'll join the ransom'd throng,
And sing with them redemption's song.

Pearly gates stand open wide,
Just beyond death's chilling tide;
There my mansion bright I see;
There the angels wait for me.
Earthly homes, adien, adieu!
Earthly friends, farewell to you!
Softly breathe your last good-bye!
Jesus calls me, let me die:
Hallelujah! Christ has come!
Hallelujah! I'm near home:

Friends and loved ones, weep no more"Meet me on the other shore."

H

GROUP of boys stood on the corner of Pine and Prospect Streets, just opposite the Park, in the busy borough of Bright River, choosing sides for a game of ball.

There comes Harry Bedford!' said Frank Wood, looking up the street. 'He's got a new ball that goes ahead of anything in this village. I saw it, and tried it this morning.'

'Where did he get it?' asked Tom Crossman (who was so ill-natured and arrogant, the boys often called him 'Tom Crossgrained'), speaking up quickly.

"His grandmother made it for him," replied Frank. 'It is a yarn ball, with rubber in the middle. It is just large enough, and just heavy enough, and just hard enough.

'Hulloo, Harry?" as a short, stoutly-built, neatly-dressed lad came within hailing distance, 'have you got your ball with you?'

For answer, the approaching lad thrust his hand into the right-side pocket of his jacket, checked his easy run, took a step or two back, threw out his arm, and dexterously sent the ball spinning through the air toward the outstretched hand of his friend George Snow.

'Hurrah for Harry! Three cheers for Harry!' shouted the boys, as Frank deftly caught the flying red prize with one hand, and, with an assuring nod, as much as to say, 'Didn't I tell you so?' held it for an instant, and then tossed it over Tom Crossman's head into the extended hand of Johnny Harlem.

When Harry came up, his playfellows were all grouped together examining and knowingly criticising the new treasure.

'What will you take for it, Harry?' asked Tom Crossman, tossing the ball from one hand to the other to test its weight and hardness.

I don't wish to sell it,' replied Harry. 'It was a present from my grandmother, who is old and very feeble. It took her a long time to wind it and to cover it with this pretty red leather. I don't suppose she will ever be able to make me another ball, or to do much more work of any kind. So, of course, you all see that I couldn't think of selling it. But we can all play with it, and it makes little difference which of us it really belongs to.'

'That's so,' spoke up Walter Davis. 'Come on, boys! Hurry up, Jimmy Taylor,' to a tall boy who was just then climbing the hill. Now, Clarence Stedman, let's see who has the first inning!' and he threw up his neat, shapely bat for the other boy to catch.

The game of four-old-cat' was an exciting one, and the 'sides' were kept about even for nearly an hour. Then the boys gathered in a little knot to settle this important matter: whether Clarence had put out' George fairly, which depended upon the decision whether

his foot was upon the 'bound' before the ball hit him.

Tom Crossman stood a little apart tossing and toying the bright new ball with envious eyes, and presently he called out

This is the best ball I ever played with, and I mean to have it for my own. Say, Harry, how much will you take for it?' at the same time significantly patting his pocket, in which he carried a portmonnaie usually too well filled for a boy of his age.

'He told you all about it,' spoke up Frank Wood, quickly, 'and he isn't the kind of boy to change his mind about such a matter, nor to sell a present; and you ought not to ask him again, Tom Crossman.'

'I guess he would have to sell it to me, even if he isn't that kind of a boy,' retorted Tom, if my father should speak to his father about it, and should tell him he would turn him off if he didn't make Harry sell the ball to me. Of course I am willing to pay him a good big price for it, and I should think he would be glad to get a little pocket-money for once,' and Tom turned about and looked proudly down upon the broad roofs and tall chimneys of his father's great factories that stood just below, on the grassy-banked stream.

'Your father would not think of stooping to such mean business as to meddle about that ball, and he would not wish to deprive himself of Mr Bedford's services as bookkeeper; neither would your father approve of his only son making such speeches,' said Tom Crossman's Cousin Grace, who, with her friend and schoolmate, Mary Dickinson, had just turned the corner of Prospect Street, and heard the last remark.

The girls paused for a moment to chat with the lads, who were in the same class at school. Grace took the pretty new ball in her hand, and heard its history, while admiring its even, close stitches. She had brothers who often called upon her for some little service about their playthings, and she liked to be able to help them.

Just then the clock in the tower of the church, which crowned the hill directly above them, struck six, and Harry said quickly— 'I must go home now.'

'Oh no, no, Harry! stay for one more game,' they all shouted.

'Can't, possibly,' replied Harry. My mother told me to come home at six o'clock sharp, and I must be off;' and touching his cap gallantly, he held out his hand to Miss Grace for the ball which she still held.

Before she could hand it to him, however, her Cousin Tom snatched it from her, saying to Harry, in a commanding way

'Hurry along, then, but leave your ball with us for another game. Some of the boys will give it back to you in the morning. It makes no difference, you know, who owns the ball