the art of taking portraits, which was one of their modes of specifying the individual man or woman they intended to represent. The features of several of the Pharaohs are well known, and easily recognised wherever they occur. So that it was not from any defect in the national taste or capacity that the productions of art in Egypt are inferior to those of Greece, but because of the very different purposes for which the arts were cultivated in the two countries.

"As exactitude rather than effect has generally been the primary object of the Egyptian artists, and as they stopped short even of this when their designs were sufficiently accurate to convey the idea intended, another peculiarity appears in their productions. They were entirely unacquainted with the arts of perspective in drawing, and of the application of light and shade in colouring; they evidently did not feel the necessity of acquiring them, as their designs were conventionally understood without such assistance. Much distortion, both in drawing their figures, and in arranging them, has arisen from these defects, which render Egyptian paintings and reliefs exceedingly difficult of comprehension to a modern and unpractised eye. A brief account of some of the more remarkable of these peculiarities may not be unacceptable.

"The human face is almost always designed in profile both on flat surfaces and in relief, but with the exception of the nose it is really half the full face. The figure which accompanies the face is also distorted; the body is represented in front, the legs and feet in profile. In the very few instances where a side view of the whole was intended, but one arm and one foot are visible and seem to be all of which the figure is possessed, because there is no attempt to foreshorten. For the same reason, goats or antelopes are often depicted with one horn only, and in these representations the fable of the unicorn probably originated. Regular and solid figures would evidently present formidable difficulties to artists who knew nothing either of perspective or of light and shade, and their designs of them are extremely difficult of comprehension. It was only after long familiarity that the Egyptian representations of troughs, blocks, tools, household furniture, and similar objects, were understood by those who have recently devoted themselves to the study of these antiquities. The pictures of houses, gardens, and granaries, are still nearly unintelligible, though every detail is drawn with the minutest accuracy. A full elucidation of them would be highly interesting and important. In large pictures or groups, figures on the same plan are denoted by being placed one above the other. But though thus indifferent to picturesque effect in the details of their designs, the Egyptians knew how to obtain it in a very high degree in the arrangement and harmony of the whole, of which they formed a part. The effect of the immense coloured reliefs which cover the walls of some of the caves and temples, is said far to surpass that of the most celebrated efforts of Grecian art, notwithstanding the uncouthness and clumsiness of the details."

Speaking of Egyptiam tombs, Sir John Gardner Wilkinson says, "In some instances, all the paintings of the tombs were finished, and even the small figures representing the future occupant were introduced, those only being left, which being of a large size required more accuracy in the features in order to give his real portrait; and sometimes even the large figures were completed before the tomb was sold, the only part left unfinished being the hieroglyphic legends containing his name and that of his wife. Indeed, the fact of their selling old mummy cases, and tombs belonging to other persons, shows that they were not over-scrupulous about

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the likeness of an individual, provided the hieroglyphics were altered and contained his real name.

"The upper apartments of the tombs were richly ornamented with painted sculptures, being rather a monument in honour of the deceased than the actual sepulchre; and they served for the reception of his friends, who frequently met there, and accompanied the priests when performing the services for the dead."

PALACE, ♫ beth hammalek. (1Kings 16. 18; 2Chron. 9. 11.) The ancient monarchs of the East were accustomed to seek for glory by building magnificent palaces and temples, by hewing sepulchres out of stone, by planting gardens, and building fortifications, which might strengthen and ornament their cities, especially the one which held the distinguished rank of a metropolis. Thus David made choice of "the strong hold of Zion" for the metropolis of his empire, from the advantages it offered in being inclosed on three sides by a natural fosse of ravines and deep valleys, and terminating in an eminence, which, while strong in its defences from without, commanded the town within. On Mount Zion he fixed his residence, and erected a palace of cedar, and other buildings, and it was on this account called "the city of David." This strong part of the whole metropolis continued to be ever afterwards what may be called the royal quarter of the town. Associations of dignity and worth were connected with the metropolis, so that a person was said "to ascend up into it," or "to descend from it," even though it were situated, as in the case of Babylon, upon a plain. (1 Kings 12. 28; 22. 2; Ezra 7. 6; Acts 8. 5,15; 15. 2.) The palace of the king, in the most ancient times, as well as in the present day, was sometimes termed "the gate." (2Sam. 15.2; Esth. 2. 19,21; 3. 2,3; Dan. 2. 49; comp. Matt. 16. 18.)

Solomon says, "I made me great works, I builded me houses, I planted me vineyards," (Eccl. 2.9;) we also read of " the house of the forest of Lebanon," and that he built a palace for himself and another for Pharaoh's daughter. It is not easy from the brief intimations which Scriptural history affords to form a clear or connected idea of these buildings. The description of Josephus, though more precise, does not supply the deficiency, but by its assistance we may make out that the two palaces, for the king and the princess of Egypt, were not separate buildings, but, as the existing arrangement in Oriental palaces would be, distinct parts or wings of the same building. An Oriental palace consists for the most part of a series of open quadrangles, with distinct. appropriations, and each surrounded with buildings suitable to its appropriation. In fact, they are distinct buildings, connected only by communicating doors, similar in their general plan to each other, but differing much in size and workmanship. The quadrangle into which the gate of entrance opens, usually contains the state apartments and offices, principally the hall in which the sovereign gives audience, sits in judgment, and transacts all public business. Hence the court is very often called "the gate," of which we have a modern instance in the Ottoman Porte, and which the preceding examples in the Scriptures, with reference to the courts of the Hebrew, Babylonian and Persian kings,

confirm.

From the description of Josephus it would seem that the palace, as a whole, consisted of three quadrangles, of which that in the centre contained the hall of audience and justice, and other state apartments, while that on the right hand formed the king's palace of residence, and that on the left was the palace of the

the northern frontier of Palestine, dividing it from Syria; consisting of two great parallel ranges, called Libanus and Anti-Libanus, running eastward from the neighbourhood of Sidon to that of Damascus. 'From Hor-ha-Hor ye shall point your border to the entrance of Hamath,' which Joshua, speaking of the yet unconquered land, describes, 'All Lebanon, towards the sun rising, from (the valley of) Baal Gad, under Mount Hermon, unto the entrance of Hamath.' (Josh. 13. 5.) This demonstrates that Hor-ha-Hor corresponded to all Lebanon, including Mount Hermon. 'From Hamath it shall go on to Zedad, and from thence to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar Enan,' near Damascus. (Ezek. 48. 1.) This shall be your north border.'

"And ye shall point out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shephan, and the coast shall go down to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, ('the fountain,' or springs of the river Jordan,) and the border shall descend and shall reach unto the (east) side of the sea of Chinnereth. And the border shall go down to Jordan on the east side, and the goings out of it shall be at the Salt Sea.' There it met the southern border, at the south-east corner of that

sea.

"This shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.'

"Such was the geographical chart of the Land of Promise, dictated to Moses by the God of Israel." (Ransom.) Authorities are not well agreed as to its length and breadth, but, according to the most accurate computation, it may be said to be about one hundred and eighty miles in length, and the breadth averaging about ninety miles. It was therefore not half as large as England, notwithstanding the immense number of its inhabitants, as recorded in numerous passages in Scripture.

"Of the extent of Palestine," says Dr. Russell, "statements widely different from each other have been made; their disagreement, however, is mainly attributable to the fact of the persons who have made them having formed their estimate of the country as it existed under different princes, when it did in reality differ in extent. "Confiding in the greater accuracy of Spanheim, Reland, and Lowman, we are inclined to compute the Hebrew territory at about fifteen millions of square acres; assuming, with these writers, that the true boundaries of the Promised Land were Mount Libanus on the north, the Wilderness of Arabia on the south, and the Syrian Desert on the east. On the west, some of the tribes extended their possessions to the very waters of the Great Sea, though, on other parts, they found their boundary restricted by the lands of the Philistines, whose rich domains comprehended the low lands and strong cities which stretched along the shore. It has been calculated by Spanheim, that the remotest points of the Holy Land, as possessed by King David, were situated at the distance of three degrees of latitude, and as many degrees of longitude, including in all about twenty-six thousand square miles.

"If this computation be correct, there was, in the possession of the Hebrew chiefs, land sufficient to allow to every Israelite capable of bearing arms, a lot of about twenty acres; reserving for public uses, as also for the cities of the Levites, about one-tenth of the whole. It is probable, however, that if we make a suitable allowance for lakes, mountains, and unproductive tracts of ground, the portion to every householder would not be so large as the estimate now stated. But within the limits of one half of this quantity of land, there were ample means for plenty and frugal enjoyment. The Roman people under Romulus, and long after, could afford only two acres to every legionary soldier; and in the most flourishing days of the Commonwealth, the

Hence the quatuor

allowance did not exceed four. jugera, or four acres, is an expression which proverbially indicated plebeian affluence and contentment, a full remuneration for the toils of war, and a sufficient inducement to take up arms in defence of the republic." "The extraordinary fertility of the country," Milman, "must be taken into the account; no part was waste; very little was occupied by unprofitable wood; the more fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces, others were hung with orchards of fruit-trees; the more rocky and barren districts were covered with vineyards. Even in the present day, the wars and misgovernment of ages have not exhausted the natural richness of the soil. 'Galilee,' says Malte Brun, 'would be a paradise, were it inhabited by an industrious people, under an enlightened government.' No land could be less dependant on foreign importation; it bore within itself everything that could be necessary for the subsistence and comfort of a simple agricultural people."

To the ancient fertility and beauty of the land appropriated to God's chosen people, the Scripture statements are direct and numerous; and the descriptions and delineations uttered before the Israelites had even seen or entered Canaan, are corroborated by subsequent testimonies. The Psalmist styles it the "pleasant land," (106. 24,) and Rabshakeh, the Assyrian general, describes it as resembling his own country, 66 a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards." (Isai. 36. 17.) "The seasons," says Josephus, seem to maintain a competition which shall be most productive." The fertility of the country was extolled in subsequent times by Julian the Apostate, the mortal enemy of both Jews and Christians, who frequently mentions in his epistles the excellence and great abundance of its fruits and produce. Palestine must have been anciently rich and fruitful in no ordinary degree, to have sustained its large population both before and after the conquest of the Israelites. Its temperature was such that it was never subject to excessive heats and colds; its seasons were regular, espe cially the former and latter rains; its soil required little or no manure, and it may be said to have rejoiced in fatness. Its vines yielded grapes of a large and delicious flavour; its honey was abundant, and its milk abounded on every side; it produced palm-trees and dates, citrons and oranges, and every variety of fruit; its balsam shrub furnished the celebrated balm of Gilead, and a neverdying verdure clothed its gardens and vineyards. Sugarcanes were cultivated with peculiar care, and cotton, hemp, and flax, were reared for the most part by the inhabitants on their own soil. Libanus afforded them an ample supply of stately cedars, cypresses, and other fragrant trees, the forests of which are celebrated in Sacred Writ as superior to all others. On each side of the Jordan were fertile grounds which fed large herds of cattle, and the hilly districts not only afforded a variety of pasture, but sent forth numerous springs and rivulets which descended into the plains and valleys. Fish of every variety were procured in abundance from the Mediterranean, the Sea of Tiberias, and the rivers; while the Lake Asphaltites, or Dead Sea, yielded salt, with which the fish were seasoned and preserved, and which Galen affirms to have been preferable to any other. Every circumstance proves the great fertility of Palestine in ancient times, and that it was literally a land flowing with milk and honey; nor were the inhabitants remiss in their endeavours to improve a country so highly favoured. They were a numerous and an industrious people, who in their zeal for the improvement of the soil, made even the most desert and barren places yield some kind of produce, and the very rocks which now appear bare and blighted were at one time covered by

corn, pulse, or pasture, for every hillock was then clothed with mould, which, through the indolence of succeeding generations, has been washed away. Such was Palestine, or the Promised Land, when the Israelites took possession of it, which exhibits a striking contrast to its present appearance, as if nature had rendered a great part of it incapable of cultivation-as if the Almighty had sent his withering blasts against it in his sore displeasure, and made that inheritance of his ancient people a wilderness, which formerly abounded in corn, wine, and oil. The pristine fertility of the Holy Land is, indeed, scarcely discernible in its present desolate condition. The cultivation of its fine plains has ceased, its springs are buried beneath heaps of rubbish, and the soil of its mountains, formerly kept up by terraces and covered with vines, is washed down to the valleys; and the eminences, once crowned with woods, are now stripped and parched into sterility. The wars of Titus Vespasian, the inroads of the northern barbarians and of the Saracens, the cruel devastations caused by the Crusades, and the oppression it now feels under the Mussulman domination, are causes more than sufficient to have reduced the whole country to a desert. Neither the climate nor the soil has deteriorated, but the inhabitants groan under despotic tyranny, and the fear of being plundered has restrained every desire to be industrious; this is the unanimous testimony of modern travellers.

"Under a wise and beneficent government," says Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke, "the produce of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial harvest, the salubrity of its air, its limpid springs, its rivers, lakes, and matchless plains, its hills and vales, all these, added to the serenity of its climate, prove this land to be indeed ‘a field which the Lord hath blessed;' (Gen. 27. 27,28;) God hath given it the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine.”

"Syria," says an eloquent writer, one of the countries that have been improved by the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the preference. The heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the sea and mountains, by plenty of wood and water, and the produce of a fertile soil affords the subsistence, and encourages the propagation of man and animals.”

"In extent," observes Rae Wilson, "Palestine may be calculated at one hundred and fifty miles in length and eighty in breadth. This sacred spot has emphatically been described in the sacred volume as a pastoral country, 'flowing with milk and honey.' If we look to its geographical boundaries, it appears to be protected on all sides by seas and deserts, so as to prevent its inhabitants falling an easy conquest to the great monarchies which were successively permitted to subjugate the civilized world. If we consider that the Hebrews, for great and mysterious purposes, were destined to be kept a peculiar people, the choice of this land for their residence was singularly marked by wisdom. The commerce of their shores was limited, and the mountainous surface of their country prevented them from congregating in large cities; their institutions were consequently less liable than those of regions more accessible to be corrupted by the example of strangers.

"Of all places on the face of the globe, this beautiful portion of Asia unquestionably claims a superiority in point of interest. It is eminently calculated to inspire the traveller with a rational curiosity, and with sentiments of a devotional nature. This spot is that 'glory of all lands,' in which the greatest scenes of antiquity were acted. Here was the site of the terrestrial paradise, in which the Creator placed the first of the race of mankind; here also the arts were invented, magnificent cities founded, laws established, and after the world had

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been destroyed by a general deluge, here the human race was again perpetuated. It was in this quarter that the Most High placed his once favoured people, the Jews, that revelations were delivered to the prophets, and those sublime oracles of truth communicated which shall endure for ever. Again, the most glorious and stupendous manifestation of Divine love was accomplished by the birth, life, doctrines, miracles, benevolence, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of the anointed Son of God; and finally, the very foundations of Christianity were laid here, and the first churches planted. Under these considerations, so important to the lovers of revelation, may we not with propriety exclaim, 'Wonder, O heaven! and be astonished, O earth!"

"The desire of visiting this holy ground has long been deemed, in some degree, of a religious nature; and during that period when military ardour was excited by pious zeal, it was courageously gratified in the face of danger. Had there existed nothing more remarkable in Palestine than the exploits of the Crusaders, these alone are, of themselves, calculated to render the country most interesting to every man who has, at any time, experienced the elevated impulse of devotional feelings. But it is. principally to those pious events by which the zeal of the Crusaders was awakened, that I would draw the attention of the reader. Casting my eyes towards the hills of this country, while I reviewed the transactions of which they have been the awful scenes, and reflecting on the abject condition of the descendants of the original inhabitants, for whom it is set apart by the Almighty, I was forced to acknowledge, with feelings of dread and devotion, that the words of eternal truth had, indeed,. been most strictly fulfilled. Numerous are the prophecies concerning them recorded in sacred writ, and though the most remarkable will be found in one particular part, (Numb. 23. 9,) yet in another, the language appears more striking. (Deut. 28. 37; Jerem. 24. 9; 25.9.)

"It was impossible to reflect on these, and other tremendous denunciations in the word of God, knowing how literally they have been verified, without feeling emotions of holy awe; especially when I further considered, that I was standing on the very soil which had been the abode of that scattered race, excommunicated by the religious horror of all nations against them, and still more by their own unconquerable attachment to the usages of their forefathers."

The enthusiastic Lamartine thus describes an extensive view of Palestine, as beheld from one of the first. hills on entering Galilee, in 1832:

"We first passed over a hill planted with olives and green oaks, dispersed in groups, or growing as underwood under the browsing teeth of the goats or camels. When we arrived at the other side of this hill, the Holy Land, the Land of Canaan, displayed its whole extent to our view. The impression was great, delightful, and profound. It was not a land naked, rocky, and barren, a mingled heap of low uncultivated mountains, as the Land of Promise had been painted to us, on the faith of some misguided writers, or a few travellers hastening with all speed to arrive at the Holy City, and return, and who had only seen, of the vast and varied domains of the twelve tribes, the rocky route which had led them, under a burning sun, from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Deceived by these writers, I only expected to find what they described-a country of trifling extent, without any extensive views, without valleys, without plains, without trees, and without water-a country clothed with gray white hillocks, where the Arab robber conceals himself in the shade of the ravines, to plunder the passenger. Such may, perhaps, be the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, but such is not Judæa, as we beheld it the first day from