mise refreshing sleep. Captain Ryan, as he took him, turned to the stranger, and said, 'Moore, these are two Hebrew friends to whom I and mine are more indebted than I have words to tell.'

The Missionary, for such he was, though only at that time a temporary dweller in the Holy City, bowed low, and said that in truth and sincerity he should deem it an honour to receive them under his roof; only regretting that its limited space would not afford more than one apartment for the accommodation of his friends. To this Da Costa returned a courteous assurance that he and Alick were secure of good quarters; that he rejoiced in the more suitable lodging thus provided for Mrs. Ryan and her child; and that they would gladly avail themselves of his permission to look in on their friends after making some necessary arrangements. They then relinquished their horses to the guides, and struck off into another street.

'Now, Cohen,' said Da Costa, affectionately pressing the arm that was linked in his, 'You really must restrain yourself a little. This is not London.'

'I know that right well, Da Costa; every pulse in my heart, every sinew in my body, every breath of my life proclaims-This is Jerusalem! '

Softly!' returned the other, as he strove to moderate the pace of Alick's stride, 'You will attract attention, and be forced in the darkness of some prison cell to realize the galling fact, that here in our own glorious city, other lords beside the God of Israel have dominion over us.'

'Ay, Da Costa, but why should they? Are we not able to dispute possession of this place? Is it not

our own? and if so, could we not soon, very soon wrest it from the hands of ——.'

Da Costa interrupted him; 'The Lord our God hath not yet arisen for the scattering of his enemies. Of ourselves we can do nothing; or if we could, if even we at this hour held possession, as those scoundrels now do, of the city and the land, what would it avail us, so long as Israel's King acknowledged us not? Ah, Cohen, it was not in her towers and bulwarks that Zion gloried, but because God was known in her palaces as a sure refuge: it was not the flashing of the scymetar that bespoke her safely guarded, but the dazzling light of the Shechinah shining above the mercy-seat. It was not to the shout of armed men, that she owed her assurance of victory, but to the still small voice of divine inspiration, speaking to the soul, and again by the lip of her prophets. Would you care to dwell in the city of your fathers, unowned by the God of your fathers, Alick Cohen?'

'No; but why should we doubt his love to Israel, his readiness to receive again, and again to bless his own people?' said Alick.

'I cannot answer that question: but I am taking you to a scene that will, at any rate, impress you with present realities, combined with a heart-rending memorial of the past. We are now,' he added, 'treading on the verge of Zion. You know the ancient walls enclosed a much larger space than these do ; they comprehended the whole of Mount Zion; but of that only a portion is now included in the city. We press it at this moment: these are the stones, this the dust of Zion-the dust in which her glory and honour are laid!'

Alick stooped, and picked up a small stone, which he kissed, and holding it in his clasped hand said, 'I value it above all the gems in the regal crowns of all earth's monarchs.

'So do I; but now I have a different and a more deplorable ruin to point out to you: down yonder is the Jews' quarter.'

'There!

Are those filthy hovels the dwellings of

our people at Mount Zion?'

'Ay, and those more miserable poverty-stricken objects are the seed of Abraham, the children of the prophets, the people to whom God gave this land, and whom he made a terror to the whole earth. To this wretched corner are they restricted by the authority of those who rule the land; but I am not going to penetrate it now; come down this narrow lane; I will show you the highest privilege possessed by our nation, and for which they pay a heavy price to the domineering heathen.'

The road along which they passed was narrow, dirty, and obscure: it issued at last in an open space, where rose a high blank wall, of very ancient appearance. Here sat three or four men, chiefly aged, their apparel betokening their humiliation, their countenances worn with care and toil, and their voices joining in a low, tremulous chaunt, the sorrowful dirge-like tones of which were the most melancholy the young man had ever heard. Tears were rolling down their cheeks, and moistening the long beards of the old men; and something like fear was in the hasty glance with which they surveyed the approaching strangers. Go, and speak to them,' whispered Da Costa, in a voice of deep emotion, while he averted his face; 'speak in our own hallowed tongue.'

Alick approached; one old man held a worn and soiled book in his hand, which he saw was the Psalms of David in Hebrew. He stooped, and addressed them in the language of their prophet; "Ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the whole earth."

Gazing up in astonishment at the bright countenance of their young brother, the poor men seized his hands, and the skirts of his coat, kissed them, and with a fresh burst of tears replied in the words of their melancholy hymn, one saying, in slow recitative, and the others responded in the same tone,

"We sit alone and weep."

Alick was presently on the ground among them, asking questions with an eagerness that outran his acquaintance with the language, and required the frequent assistance of his friend. They told him that the wall under which they sat contained a fragment of the ancient masonry of their city, and bounded the space occupied by Solomon's temple: that they purchased from the Turkish governor permission to approach it once every week, and there they assembled, to weep over the past, and to pray for the future. It was late in the day; the greater number had returned home, but they could not leave the spot while the privileged time of remaining there was unexpired. In answer to Alick's earnest enquiry whether they did not expect to see Jerusalem delivered from all intruders, and the worship of the God of Israel reestablished, and the tribes restored, they answered, "Not in our day; not in our day."

"Why not? our prayers, and our hymns repeat

the supplication "In haste, in haste, in our day; speedily, speedily; Lord build, Lord build, build thy temple speedily!" When you ask, why don't you believe that you shall receive what you ask for? that is the way to get it.' Alick forgot he was quoting the New Testament.

'We have asked, and our fathers have asked, and our children shall ask; but the time is not come. We shall weep and wail in this holy place, as did our fathers, and as also shall our children. time is not yet.'

The

'How do you know that it is not yet? how do you know that you would fail, if, like Nehemiah, you should say, "The God of heaven he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build." The Jews shook their heads: one answered, 'Nehemiah had the king's licence and protection; and the proclamation had gone forth: but we, we have no king's hand stretched forth to our rescue, and the rescue of our city, and the rescue of our people;' and again he took up the strain,

"On account of the Temple which is destroyed,"

and the others answered,

"We sit alone and weep."

Da Costa now spoke, 'If a man of zeal and courage, having the fear of God and the love of Israel, having also the heart of David, and the sword of Gideon, were to arise, saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built, and to the Temple, thy foundation shall be laid, what if such a champion came forward, and called upon the holy people to aid him in the enterprise?'

'He would not succeed,' answered the old men,