IN NAZARETH.

If ever folly urged my tongue in vain

To take thy sacred name, thy wrath forego:
If ever madness worked upon my brain,

To doubt thy holy word, thy pity show.

Here, gracious Lord, where thou didst humbly wear
The garb of poor humanity, and pass'd

The dawn of mortal life, vouchsafe to hear
The voice whose homage turns to thee at last.

Here was that vast beneficence design'd

Which e'en embraced the universe, and bless'd;
Which made "a chosen people" of mankind,
Of earth a Zion, spread from east to west.

Here was that fine morality matured

Which all philosophy doth far exceed;
Which in the wreck of systems hath endured,
And still endures, a never ending creed.

Here is the spot where thou didst condescend,
Subject to earthly parents, to remain ;
Whereon thy infant wisdom did attend
Thy virgin mother, wondering at the strain.

Here were thy sayings treasured in her heart,
All worldly words and wisdom far above,
Tidings of peace on earth did they impart,

Good will towards man, and never ending love.

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However infelicitous the mode of conveying my impressions, I trust to your indulgence for their reception. After sojourning five days in

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CUSTOMARY PRESENT.

the most interesting part of Palestine, I bid adieu to my worthy host Heremia, to whose hospitality I cordially recommend all travellers. The customary present at departure all over Syria for a gentleman and his servant is a dollar and a half per day. He bestowed his benediction on me as I passed his threshold for the last time; and in the perilous excursion I was undertaking to the Jordan I thought the prayers of a good man, whatever was his creed, could do me no harm.

I am, my dear Madam,

Yours very truly,

R. R. M.

LETTER XXXVIII.

TO THE REV. H. CAMBELL.

MY DEAR SIR,

Alexandria, Oct. 20, 1827.

I SET out from Nazareth to visit the Jordan, a journey of twelve hours across a wild country, as usual, accompanied by a single attendant, and so attired as to avoid exciting the cupidity of the Bedouins. About seven miles from Nazareth, we halted at the foot of Mount Tabor; the heat was insupportable, the thermometer in the shade stood at 102, and even my Bedouin guide complained of the excessive warmth.

Mount Tabor is a small isolated mountain of a conical form, commanding a splendid view of the plain of Esdrælon, which extends about four and twenty miles in length, its breadth is from ten to twelve. In the scriptures this magnificent plain is sometimes called the Valley of Jezreel.

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CANA OF GALILEE.

It was here "the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host with the edge of the sword, before Barak;" and in latter times, it was here that Kleber with one thousand five hundred men sustained the attack of twenty-five thousand Syrians; and where Napoleon with a reinforcement of six hundred men routed the whole Syrian army.

The next place worthy of note where we stopped, was "Cana of Galilee," where the miracle of changing the water into wine was performed at the marriage feast; there is a small chapel here in which they show a large stone water vase, which they assured me was the identical one in which the miraculous change took place.

I saw in this neighbourhood the Persian manna plant, which Dr. Clarke calls Hedysarum Alhagi; it is a thorny plant, but altogether different from the tarfa or tamarisk manna plant, which I saw on the shores of the Red Sea. Leaving Tiberias and the Mount of Beatitude on our left, we proceeded for five hours along a country, in some parts cultivated, in others mountainous and barren. In the evening we arrived at the head of the Jordan, or about two hours' journey below that

THE RIVER JORDAN.

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part of the lake where the Jordan rises. When we came down on the river, there were the ruined buttresses of an old Roman bridge, and close to them a bridge of a comparatively modern date, probably of Saracen construction, which goes by the name of Jacob's Bridge.

While I was bathing in the Jordan, I was not well pleased to observe a party of Bedouins approach the river, and still less content to see one of these marauders very tranquilly take possession of my carpet which was spread on the beach. I judged it best to let my Arab manage with the fellows, and shortly after I saw him drag the carpet from the robber, and on coming nearer, heard him swearing by his beard, that I was a Moslem, and a servant of Abdallah Pacha of Acre. If there were any of them acquainted with Turkish, I should probably have got knocked in the head; but luckily not one of them knew a word of any language but Arabic, and in this I gave them the Salaam Aleikoum with great confidence, and had the gratification to see them walk off. The khan on the Bridge of Jacob separates the pachaliks of Acre and Damascus. The Jordan, or El Gor, is in this place about sixty feet wide;