the city alone exhibited. Instead of a wretched and ruined town, by some described as the desolated remnant of Jerusalem, we beheld, as it were, a flourishing and stately metropolis; presenting a magnificent assemblage of domes, towers, palaces, churches, and monasteries; all of which, glittering in the sun's rays, shone with inconceivable splendor. As we drew nearer, our whole attention was engaged by its noble and interesting appearance. The lofty hills whereby it is surrounded gives to the city itself an appearance of elevation inferior to that which it really possesses.'

But imposing as the appearance of Jerusalem is, when viewed from this quarter, and the Mount of Olives, the illusion vanishes, on a nearer approach. "On entering the town, says Mr. Joliffe, the magic of the name (Jerusalem.-The vision of peace, or the inheritance of perfection), and all an Englishman's earliest associations, would suffer a still greater violence, and expose him to still stronger disappointments. No "streets of palaces and walks of state," no high raised arches of triumph, no fountains to cool the air, or porticos to exclude the sun, no single vestige to announce its former military greatness, or commercial oppulence; but in the place of these, he would find himself encompassed on every side by walls of rude masonry, the dull uniformity of which is only broken by the occasional protrusion of a small grated window. Well might the Prophet Jeremiah exclaim: "From the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed:-Lam. i. 6." The finest section of the city is the southern, inhabited by the Armenians; in the other quarters, the streets are considerably narrower, being scarcely wide enough for three camels to stand a-breast. In the western quarter and in the centre of the city, towards Calvary, the low and ill-built houses stand very close together; but in the eastern part, along the brook Cedron, the eye perceives vacant spaces, and among the rest that which surrounds the mosque of Khalif Omar, A. D. 637, on the supposed site of the temple, and the nearly deserted spot where once stood the tower of Antonia and the second palace of Herod. The desolation which reigns in this part of the city, forcibly reminds the spectator of the fine lines of the poet :

Is this thy place, sad city, this thy throne?
Where the lone desert rears her craggy stone!
Where suns unblest their angry lustre fling,

And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring,

Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy view'd?
Where now thy power, which all those kings subdued?
No martial myriads muster in thy gates,

No suppliant nation at thy temple waits,

No prophet bard thy glittering courts among

Wakes the full lyre, and swells the tide of song;
But lawless Force, and meagre Want is there,
And the quick-darting eye of restless Fear;
While cold Oblivion, mid the ruins laid,
Holds his dark wing beneath the ivy shade.

HEBER.

[To be continued.]

Travels, Vol ii. pp. 524, 525.

Scripture Manual :

Noticing the PRINCIPAL CONTENTS of the Old and New Testament, in HISTORICAL order; accompanied with INCIDENTAL Illustrations, chiefly of a LITERARY and SCIENTIFIC cha

racter.

“I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scriptures of Truth.”

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS.

In explanation of the present undertaking, let the following considerations suffice to be noticed :

That the Holy Scriptures, as forming the book of Sacred History, must certainly be read, with the highest advantage, in regular chronological order;

That their interpretation should be left, as much as possible, to the unbiassed judgment of every reader;

That the English Version, in common use, though excellent in the general, contains numerous inaccuracies which ought to be rectified;

That the best plan of arrangement, both for understanding and for consistency, with the present state of Literature, would be into Periods, Chapters, Sections and Paragraphs;

That, as the Chronology usually given in our Bibles is far from being incontrovertibly established, other systems of computation likewise demand attention; And, finally, That an historical Directory or Manual, for Scripture reading seems desirable, comprising also occasional suggestions of verbal emendations, together with the notice of literary and scientific allusions.

GEN. I. 1.—The word 8 (eth) should be translated, the whole; and it seems to give the sense of but to the following in ver. 2: "But the earth, &c.;" that is till that period of which the history is about to treat; so observed the lamented, and late very learned Editor of Calmet. See also the notes of Dr. Adam Clarke; and vol. i. p. 25.

Verse 2.-The majority of critics appear to render the expression (ruach Elohim) by, a mighty wind. But see vol. i. pp. 26, 27.

Verse 3.-The sublime words 8(ychee or waychee or) are read, most consistently with their matchless simplicity and grandeur, " Light be! and light was!" See an interesting notice of this passage by Longinus wigi r↓ous, P.50. Pearce. See also vol. i. pp. 69, 70.

Verse 4.-This verse has been translated: " And God saw that the light was good; and God distinguished the light from the darkness." Geddes.

Verse 6-8.-Instead of firmament, yp (rakeea) should be read expanse ; denoting, not the atmosphere only, but the whole extended sphere of the planetary system.-Consult the Heb. Lex. of Stockius, p. 1039; and vol. i. pp. 70, 71.

Verse 11, 12-The three natural classes of Botany seem to be intimated by 'the terms: Kw (deshee) grass, clothing the earth with verdure: avy (aisev) herb, including shrubs in general: and ry (aitz), tree, of varied foliage and fruit. Gerard's Herbal.

Verse 14.-Worthy of notice are the offices of these luminaries; " To distinguish day from night," which is efficiently done by the sun, whose light constitutes day: "For signs," nnx (leothoth) for distinguishments, to form epochs for general reckoning: "for seasons,"↳ (laumaudim), for appointments, including the idea of fixed times for civil and economical business, or appointed meetings for religious purposes: " for days,"r, (layammim) more than a natural day, probably half-years (or else quarters,): " and for years," for the calculation of which the heavenly bodies are still used. What a decisive instance of the rudiments of the primitive chronology! Script. illustr. by Natural Science, pp. 8, 9. Verse 16.-The last clause-" and the stars," may be connected with the

first; or else with that immediately preceding, according to Nicholls, as cited in Stackhouse's Divinity, p. 183.

Verse 21. -The word in, (tanneenim) signifies all vastly great creatures, as well on earth, as in the water; and is commonly applied to all great fishes. Howel's Compl. Hist. of Bible, p. 3, note. 5th. ed. 1729. See also vol. i. p. 117.

24, 25.-Animals are divided by the sacred writer, into: nna (behaimah) cattle or great beasts: w (remes) creepers-animals of a smaller class: and (chayah) literally livelies-wild animals, savage. Script. Illust. p. 11. Verse 26-With this verse to the end of the chapter, read chap. ii. from verse 4 to the end. Lightfoot's Chron. p. 2.

GEN. II. 19, 20.-On the superior intelligence of Adam, and his being Divinely gifted with language; see some excellent citations from the writings of Leland, Ellis, Rowland, Johnson, &c. in Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. p. 655.

Verse 24.-That the Samar. reading □n' (shenaihem) "they two shall be, &c.") is genuine, is evident, both from the other versions, and the language of a reflection by the historian, but as Matt. xix. 5, 6. Christ. He cites these words, not as For he who made them, said, &c." spoken by Jehovah. Boothroyd, Heb. Bib. vol. i. p. 4.

Verse 25.-Hence Plato describes the first inhabitants of the world, as "naked and exposed, uncovered to the seasons"-for no storms were there! Encyclop. Metropol. on History, p. 4.

Verse 2.-The former part of this verse is thus read, " And the seventh day God had ended his works," intimating therefore, that there then remained nothing more to be made. Howel's Hist. of Bib. p. 4.

Verse 3.-Most obviously asserted is the divine institution of the Sabbath. See Usher's" Learned Letter" on this subject, appended to his life by Parr: pp. 500-505; likewise some very rational and devotional considerations by Winder, in his Hist. of Knowledge, &c. vol. i. p. 20-23.

Verse 8.-The opinion of Reland, who supposed the situation of Eden was in Armenia, near the sources of the great rivers Euphrates, Tigris, Phasis, and Araxes, is pronounced the most probable by Dr. A. Clarke.

Verse 12.-Many suppose that b2 (bedolach) is a mineral production; trans. lated by the Sept. avßgaxa a carbuncle; according to the Rabbis, who are followed by Reland, a chrystal; but Bochart says, a pearl; Calmet, the gum of a tree; and his late worthy Editor, mother of pearl. Scripture Illustr. &c. p. 14.

Then (shohem) has been called Onyx in Lat. and Eng. from the Gr. Ovž, a nail or hoof, which it resembles in colour and in being semipellucid. Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. p. 722.

Verse 9-17-myy (aitz haddaath) " a tree of appropriation." A tree placed for the purpose of discovering whether man would appropriate to himself good or evil. Fragments to Calmet, vol. iii. No. 308.

GEN. III. 1—13.-The history of the Fall, and the account of the garden of Eden, which precedes it, must be taken literally: there is no proof nor appearance of allegory; and that they were always so understood is sufficiently evident from the remains of the traditions of ancient nations. The reader may compare the

VOL. II.

C

authorities in Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry, with Allix's Reflect. on the books of Moses, particularly chap. x-xviii. Townsend's Arrang. of Old Test. i. p. 7.

Verse 21.-It is reasonably supposed that some beasts, sacrificed by divine appointment, furnished these "skins" for "clothing." Poole's Synopsis. Dr. Magee's well known Discourses and Dissertat. on Atonement and Sacrifice, &c. 2 vols. 12mo. afford the most satisfactory illustration.

Verse 24.-According to Michaelis, "this passage is poetical :" " He placed before the garden of Eden the Cherubim," (thundering horses) &c.: " in plain terms, the dread of the frequent tempests and daily thunders deterred men from the track of Paradise. Lowth's Sac. Poetry, i. p. 91, note.

GEN. IV. 1.-The pious and grateful exclamation of Eve is correctly: "I have obtained a man from Jehovah!" Smith's Script. Test. &c. i. p. 175.

Verse 3.- YPD (mikkaitz yammim) “ At the close of the appointed seasons." Kennicott. There is a reference to some solemn season of divine worship; but whether we are to apply it to the end of the month, or the year, it is now utterly impossible to decide. See Pilkington's Rem. p. 121. Verse 7.-"A sin offering lieth at the door." being brought to the door of the Tabernacle. Lightfoot, p. 3. Alluding to the sacrifices Verse 8.-The deficiency in the Heb. "Let us go into the field," is supplied by the Sam. Sept. Vulg. &c. Horne's Introd. ii. p. 338.

Verse 15.-The Sept. render it very well thus: "That God set a sign (or wonder) before Cain, and persuaded him, that whosoever should find him should not kill him." Similar is the language of Exod. x, 12, and Is. LXVI, 19. Howel. i, p. 15. The Vulg. has misled most modern translators: but m (oth) signifies a sign or token, never, a mark. Boothroyd's Heb. Bib. 3.

Verse 21, 22.-The attainments of the Antediluvians in the Arts appear to have been considerable. The smelting of metals is mentioned, and a sort of commu