was issued for the destruction of the pagan from personal motives of worldly adtemples, and by command of the emperor vantage. the profane chapel of Venus, the temple of The whole country was divided and torn Jupiter, and all the heathen altars and tem- by the discord and animosity of rival ples at Elia Capitolina, and throughout sects. Jerusalem was the constant theatre Palestine, were destroyed. The name of violence and bloodshed. All the worst Elia Capitolina was abandoned, and the ancient sacred name of Jerusalem restored and adopted by all Christians. The magnificent church of the holy sepulchre was erected, and by the piety of the emperor or his mother numerous christian churches were made to supplant the idolatrous temples of the pagans.

The situation of the small remnant of the Jews then existing in the province was in no respect bettered by this change. All the ancient persecution under which they had laboured was revived and put in force against them, and Hadrian's edict of exclusion from Ælia Capitolina was enforced with the greatest rigour by the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem. The small and scattered remnant of that unhappy people, who still clung with fondness to the "promised land," appear to have been a despised and abject race; they resided principally at Tiberias and the neighbouring towns, and their patriarch appears still to have exercised over them an uncertain and precarious jurisdiction.

vices and passions seem to have been unchained and allowed to run riot in the land, and horrible enormities were perpetrated by the pretended votaries of a God of peace. The city was at one time occupied by a whole army of monks, who pillaged, burnt, and murdered, in the name of Christianity. The altars in the church of the holy sepulchre were stained with blood, and the gates of the city were guarded by a rebellious troop of devotees against the soldiers of the empire. At a subsequent period it appears that "the Christians had insensibly relapsed into a semblance of paganism; their public and private vows were addressed to the relics and images that disgraced the temples of the East; the throne of the Almighty was darkened by a cloud of martyrs and saints and angels, the objects of popular veneration; and the Collyridian heretics invested the Virgin Mary with the name and honours of a goddess."*

In the reign of Justinian, the province of Samaria was disturbed by a sanguinary The adoption of the christian religion by and exterminating religious war, in which the emperors, although it undoubtedly one hundred and twenty thousand Roman caused a great increase to the number of subjects were slain, twenty thousand were persons professing Christianity, yet appears sold into slavery, and the once fruitful and to have had a most pernicious effect upon populous country was converted into a the purity and practice of the faith. In smoking wilderness. Besides the religious consequence of the mistaken zeal of the wars and dissensions, the land was ravaged emperors in holding out worldly honours by various wild robber tribes, who made and emoluments to those who became con- occasional incursions from the northward verts, the new faith was embraced by a of the Euphrates. Crossing that river, servile and corrupt crowd, to serve their these wild hordes repeatedly plundered and own temporal and selfish purposes. Dis- burnt the open towns and villages, and reputes and contentions arose, and abstruse tired with their booty, ere any regular force niceties of doctrine and creed were intro- could be got together for their destruction. duced, which led to endless schisms, and This distracted state of religion and deengendered a bitter spirit of rancour, in-rangement of public affairs gradually pavstead of that peace and charity which the ed the way for that extraordinary revoluGospel was intended to promote. The ecclesiastics displayed a lamentable ignorance of those divine precepts which they were appointed to inculcate. Pride and selfishness, and an inordinate love of wealth and lust of power, appear to have been the prominent features of their character. They went abroad, we are told, in their chariots and sedans in great state, they feasted sumptuously after the manner of princes, and supported their influence by bribery and largesses.*

The establishment of the christian religion in the Holy Land appears, therefore, to have been attended with few of those benign and humanising influences which have universally accompanied it where its principles and doctrines have been understood and followed from a sincere conviction of their truth and excellence, and not

* Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxvii.

tion which placed Palestine and the whole eastern world under the iron yoke of the Moslems, and swept away the blasphemous and idolatrous mockery which had been established as the religion of the Gospel.

The Roman power in this part of the East received its first great shock from the two fierce and successful invasions by the Persians under the first and second Chosroes. The ravages of the first invasion almost wholly fell upon Syria: Antioch was stormed and burnt; the principal cities were taken by assault, or redeemed their safety by a ransom of gold or silver, and twelve thousand captives were sent chained together into servitude in Persia. In the second great invasion the Roman troops were defeated, and slaughtered

almost to a man. Cæsarea, Antioch, and | been gross idolatry; an adoration of the Damascus, and all the chief cities, fell into stars, or the angels and intelligences which the hands of the Persians, and the inhabit-they supposed to reside in them,* an obants were seized as slaves.*

[servance of long fasts, of prostrations and In A.D. 614, Jerusalem was taken by as- prayers, sacrifices, and an abstaining from sault. The church of the holy sepulchre certain kinds of vegetables. By the apand the other churches and buildings of the pearance and exertions of the prophet city were injured by fire, and some totally Mahomet, they were reclaimed from the destroyed, and all the relics and devout idolatrous worship of the stars and inferior offerings were pillaged and carried off. A influences, to the knowledge and worship heavy tribute was imposed upon the city, of the one true God. Previous to that the property of the inhabitants was seized, period, the Arabs, although a bold and and, to crown all, the patriarch Zachariah warlike race, possessed but little influence, and the wood of the true cross† were trans-and attracted but little attention as a nation. ported, together with a vast number of They were divided into a variety of tribes captives, into Persia. under independent sheikhs, who were jealThe Persians retired only from Jerusalem ous of each other's power, and almost conto make way for the permanent occupation of Palestine by the Arabs.

orders from the Caliph Omar, who had just succeeded Abubekr, to march upon Jerusalem, and rescue the holy city from the hands of the infidel Christians ;" and in the year of our Lord 637, Yezid Ebn Abu Sophyan was sent forward from Damascus, with fifty thousand men, to invest the city.

The christian writers, in their account of this war, speak of the Arabs under the appellation of Saracens, a name derived probably from Shark, the East, where the descendants of Joctan, the Kahtân of the Arabs, are placed by Moses.

Yezid having summoned the city of Jerusalem, sat down before it, and every man at the house of prayer repeated this verse out of the Koran, "O people, enter ye into the Holy Land, which God hath decreed for you."

After ten days of skirmishing before the walls, Abu Obeidah, the general-in-chief, arrived with the main body of the Arabians, and immediately forwarded the following letter to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

"In the name of the most merciful God. From ABU OBEIDAH EBN ALJERAHH, to the chief commanders of the people of ELIA,* and the inhabitants thereof.

should be given up, on condition that the caliph himself should be present to accept the surrender, and that the inhabitants should receive the articles of their security and protection under the caliph's own hand and seal. The question was debated in the council of Medina; the great sanctity of the place was represented to Omar, and the advice of Ali persuaded him to gratify "the wishes of his soldiers and his enemies."

The modesty and simplicity of the journey of the caliph to Jerusalem are remarkable. He was mounted upon a red camel, with a couple of sacks, or saddle-bags, slung on either side of him. In one of these he carried aawîk, rice, or wheat sodden and unhusked; the other was full of fruits. Before him was his leathern water-bottle, and behind him a large wooden platter. Wherever he halted, the company without distinction was invited to partake of his homely fare, and the repast was consecrated by the prayer and exhortation of the commander of the faithful.

In this expedition his power was exercised in the administration of justice, in reforming the polygamy of the Arabs, and in relieving the tributaries from extortion and cruelty. Among the complaints which were brought under his notice, was a very grave one against an old man who had suffered a youth to go partners with him in his wife. The old man was very sharply reproved by the caliph for having done a thing so contrary to the law of God, and asked what excuse he had to make for his transgression.

"Health and happiness to every one that follows in the right way, and believes in God and the apostle. We require of you to testify that there is but ONE GOD, and that MAHOMET is his apostle-that there shall be a day of judgment, and that God shall raise the dead out of their sepulchres; and "My strength failed me," was the reply. when you have borne witness to this, it is "I had no son to look after my business; unlawful for us either to shed your blood, this youth has been long serviceable to me or meddle either with your substance or in watering and feeding my camels, and I children. If you refuse, consent to pay recompensed him in a way which I did not tribute, and be under us forthwith; other-know to be unlawful.” wise I shall bring men against you who love death better than you do the drinking of wine, or eating hog's flesh; nor will I ever stir from you, please God, till I have destroyed those that fight for you, and made slaves of your children.”†

The besieged, not agreeing to these terms, made a vigorous defence for four months, of which not one day passed, we are told, without fighting. At the expiration of that period, Sophronius, the bishop or patriarch, went to the wall and demanded a parley. He exhorted Abu Obeidah to give over the siege, as Jerusalem was a holy city, and whoever came into the Holy Land with hostile intent, would assuredly be obnoxious to the divine displeasure.

"For that very reason, (because it is holy,") remarked Abu Obeidah, "we are more worthy to possess it than you are; neither will we leave besieging it till God delivers it up to us, as he has done other places before it.”

It was at last determined that the city

"No one has anything to do with your wife but yourself," replied the caliph; and as for the young man, if I hear of his coming near the lady again, his head shall forthwith take leave of his shoulders."

On arriving at the Saracen camp before Jerusalem, the caliph was welcomed with great joy. He said morning prayers in the camp, and preached, says Alwakadi, an excellent sermon; taking as his text the sixteenth verse of the eighteenth chapter of the Koran :

"He whom God shall direct, is led in the right way; but thou shalt not find a friend to direct him aright, whom God shall lead into error."

We are told that a christian priest among the audience (hostilities having been long suspended) unseasonably interrupted the caliph by saying, "God leads no man into error;" and was immediately silenced by the convincing argument, that if he dared to say so again, his head should be struck off his shoulders.

On contemplating the city of Jerusalem, the caliph cried, "God is victorious; O Lord, give us an easy conquest;" and pitching his tent of coarse haircloth, he calmly seated himself on the ground..

On observing the inroads of luxury among tions within the christian sanctuary; he rethe Arabs, who had been of late accustomed tired with his attendants to the exterior of to the delicacies of Syria, he greatly reprov- the building, and offered up his prayers on ed them, and dragged them in their silks the steps before the door. through the dirt, and rent their clothes to pieces.

The following are the articles of capitulation drawn up by the caliph, and assented to by the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

"Had I prayed," said he to Sophronius, "within your church, the Moslems of a future age would have infringed the treaty under colour of imitating my example!".

From the period of this memorable conquest, the face of affairs in Syria and Palestine has been entirely changed. The whole land was colonised by Moslems, the ancient inhabitants were dispossessed of all their property in the open country, and were nearly annihilated, and an entirely new language, form of government, and civil polity, were shortly established.

The caliph Omar remained for ten days "The Christians shall build no new at Jerusalem, during which period he orderchurches, neither in the city nor in the ad-ed the site of Solomon's temple to be enclosed jacent territory; neither shall they refuse the and cleared of the ruins which encumbered Moslems entrance into their churches by it, and directed the erection of the great night or by day. They shall open the doors mosque bearing his name, which now crowns of them to all passengers and travellers. If with its dark and swelling dome the venerany Moslem shall be on a journey, they shall¦able eminence of Mount Moriah.* entertain him gratis for the space of three days. They shall not teach their children to revile the Alcoran, nor talk openly of their own religion, nor persuade any one to be of it; neither shall they hinder any of their relations from becoming Mahometans, if they have an inclination to do so. They shall respect the Moslems, and rise up to them. They shall not dress like the Moslems, nor wear such shoes, caps, nor turbans, nor part the hair, as they do, nor speak after the same manner, nor be called by the same name. They shall not ride upon saddles, nor bear any sort of arms, nor use the Arabic tongue in their inscriptions on their seals; nor sell any wine. They shall be obliged to wear the same habits wherever they go, with girdles round their waists. They shall set no crosses upon their churches, nor show their crosses nor their books openly in the streets of the Moslems. They shall not ring, but only toll their bells; nor take any servants that once belonged to the Moslems, nor overlook them in their houses."*

The Christians having submitted to these terms, the caliph gave them the following writing under his hand and seal :

"In the name of the most merciful God.

"From OMAR EBNO'L ALCHITAB to the inhabitants of ÆLIA. They shall be protected and secured both in their lives and fortunes, and their churches shall neither be pulled down, nor made use of by any but themselves."

PETRARCH. SONNET CCVII.

TWIN roses, fresh with the first dews of May,

Worthy of Paradise, and dropping o'er
To share with his soul's idol. 'Twas a prey
Measureless sweets, a well-tried lover bore
Of Love's devising, and they did display
In the partition on't, a countless store
Of sighs, sweet looks, and-Love's all-gen-
tie lore-

The language of the kind eyes' soften'd ray.
'Twas a fair sight to mark that youthful pair
Together breathing, speaking, smiling,
sighing,

Thus, my lov'd Laura, be it ours to share
Moving in equal steps as they were one.
Roses and words, that we, all grief defy-
ing,
(Delightful hour!) may make their joys

Jerusalem was then surrendered to the Moslems; and the caliph, without guards, and accompanied only by a few faithful friends, entered the city. He visited the church of the holy sepulchre, and conversed with the patriarch concerning the religious BY antiquities of Jerusalem. Sophronius bowed before his new master, and secretly muttered in the words of Daniel, “The abomination of desolation is in the holy place."t

At the hour of prayer the caliph and the patriarch stood together in the church of Constantine, but the commander of the faithful refrained, from an honourable and considerate motive, from performing his devo

our own.

THE BLIND REEFER ADRIFT.

EDWARD HOWARD, AUTHOR OF

RATTLIN THE

66 REEFER, THE OLD COMMODORE," &c. WAR has an appetite that is universal, and a_maw to which nothing comes amiss. "Food for powder," as honest Jack hath said, "food for powder," not only includes those ill-dressed wretches, with whom we would not willingly "march through Coventry," but too often, also, a part of the gentlest, and the best, and the most beautiful of the creation.

And, then, some of this food is so youngso tender! I do not now speak of those bar

* Seid Eben Batrik. Arab. Hist.

barian general massacres in which the devil |ple, was the link of communication between rides astride upon the human heart, and a the guardian and the ward; and he of the sort of rational madness mocks humanity, many years and musty deeds, although he at which after-thought sickens, notwithstand- saw Harry but seldom, fell under the influing every opiate that may be administered to ence of the boy's fascination of manner and the murderers, under the imposing titles of appearance. He loved him as a father the victims being termed the spawn of here- would have loved his only son. sy, rebels to their king, or a God-accursed race; when, with the aged, the women and the children at the breast are slain. I only speak of the young, sacrificed on the altar of legitimate warfare; the mere boy, who wonders while he fights, and is swept off in his fresh youth, even while he wonders. It is one of these tender specimens of "food for powder," of which I am about to speak, who escaped the smoky devourer, with the iron throat, only through a misfortune hardly less horrible than being made a mouthful for a long four-and-twenty pounder.

He thus lived, this Latimer, the centre of his circle, actually blessing and being blessed, until the age of fourteen, when the fiat came from Sir Charles Osborne, that Mr. Sotheby, the lawyer, was to fit him out for his Majesty's naval service, and that he was forthwith to join the Mohawk, a sixteen-gun brig, at that time cruising in the Channel. This news was less afflicting to Henry than to all those who knew him. His spirits were as buoyant as his face was beautiful—yet were those spirits borne down to very melancholy, and the beauty of that face not dimmed, but its character made the more touching by tears, on the morning of his departure from that school which had been to him almost the only home that he could remember.

Henry Latimer was an orphan; of father or mother he had no remembrance. At a very early age the cross and slatternly nurse was exchanged for the schoolmaster-though by no means so cross, yet almost as slatternly. But Harry had an elastic spirit-press His guardian had, in the promulgating of him to the earth one moment, and he seemed, his orders, condescended to acquaint him, like the fabled monster of antiquity, to gather for the first time, that he held in trust for strength from the contact, and to renew his him a little property in the funds of someenergies of life and soul and imagination. thing more than the annual value of two hundred pounds. He was told to draw to the amount of fifty pounds yearly on the good lawyer, until further instructions, and then, with a frigid "God speed him," he was consigned to the "multitudincus waters,' and the tender mercies of the naval commander of a fir-built brig of war.

And he was beautiful to look upon. How much I venerate the unstained beauty of the young! What is the sublimity of the mountain, the loveliness of the exquisitely chiselled Parian marble, or even the gorgeous magnificence of the monarch sun himself-what are the beauties of all these compared with those high revealings of the Divinity that mantle over the countenance, and flash forth from the eye of the young, who are really and truly imaged after their Maker!

Countenances such as these are rare, but they are less rare in England than in any other country that has yet been discovered. They appear now and then, to prove to us, that the impress of our first parents has not yet wholly disappeared; and they seem to me as a sort of pledge, that, when "we have shuffled off this mortal coil"-and some of us, it must be confessed, are mortally ugly, that our world-stamped, care-worn features shall lighten into comeliness, and that we then shall all possess a more genuine and a keener sense of the beautiful. This is a very pleasant speculation, for the ill-favoured especially; but as it has but little to do with my tale, we will take our leave of it.

The solicitor saw his charge not only down to Chatham, but also safely on board the Mohawk, burst into tears when he took leave of him, and immediately he went to town, the soft-hearted good old bachelor put him down in his will for a sum that I will not designate, lest those of the world should suppose him to be soft-headed also.

Well, for one pleasant year the blooming boy ran the same course of triumphant friendship that had made him so happy at school. The rough North-country skipper, who seemed to be made for hard fighting, loved and petted the lad; the two lieutenants petted him, and excused him from his duty when the wind was keen and the nights very dismal; the gunner petted him, and taught him all about windage of shot, despart sight, and point-blank firing; the boatswain petted him, and taught him to make Turks-heads, gammon, and drink grog Henry Latimer was one of those splendid the last with a reservation; the carpenter creations. Did he want a well-wisher, he had but to turn the radiance of his countenance upon the person nearest to him, and the ingenuousness of his smile caused friends to rise around him, in a manner almost as miraculous as flowers springing beneath the feet of a gentle spirit.

petted him, and taught him, among other accomplishments, how to shoot with the long bow; and his brother middies petted him more than all, for they took an especial care of his health, by drinking his allowance of wine and spirits, and exercised him in the virtues that made Martin a saint, for they Living in the far North, Henry had a proud, wore his clean shirts, parted his garments cold, and rich guardian, who had never seen among them, and wound up the climax of him. This guardian's man of business, a their benevolence by that most searching solicitor of King's Bench Walk, in the Tem-test of friendship-borrowing his money.