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MIRACLE OF THE WINE.

"Lorsque la mer est basse, un enfant la gourmande,

Mais tout homme est petit quand une epoque est grande."

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I would not, however, do injustice, either to the head or heart of the very accomplished composer of the "Voyage en Orient." One chapter in his book is likely to effect more good than all the learned dissertations on the East of that great constellation of philosophers which his country at one time produced; while the author of the "Ruins" would delight in pulling down the beautiful fabric of Chris. tianity, and revel amid the fallen grandeur of moral temples, compared with the sublimity of which, the more material wonders of his Tadmor and his Thebes are but as dust in the balance.

We did not proceed directly from Nazareth to this place, but made a long detour, in order to visit the Sea of Galilee, and the interesting places in its vicinity, as our proposed route hence will lead us far east of those places.

Two miles beyond Nazareth we came to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle, that of changing the water into wine, as stated in John ii., 1, 2.

The identical well or spring (for it is a spring, and a very copious one) out of which the water was taken still supplies the town and surrounding country. The fact that there is no other water in the neighbourhood, is conclusive evidence, independent of tradition, of this being the identical source whence came the supply for the marriage feast. A number of ancient tombs, still standing around the spring, attest the faith which some pious individuals have given to the fact. A number of women and girls belonging to the village were constantly coming to the spring to draw water, and large droves of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats, according to immemorial usage, were waiting their turn.

We partook freely of its delightful beverage, refilled our water-skins, and then corked up and sealed a quart bottle of it to send home. There is a monument existing at Cana,

which, at the time I viewed it, so fully impressed me with a belief of its identity and consequent sanctity, that I felt all the pleasurable emotions which you may imagine a true believer in the miracles of the Saviour could entertain in such a place. There is a church (now in ruins), built by Helena, over the very house in which the first miracle was performed. The emotions there enjoyed have been succeeded by others equally intense and interesting; and, since the first have passed away, I have, on reflection, been led to consider whether, in the first glow of enthusiasm, I had not been led to give credence to a monkish fable instead of a veracious tradition, handed down from generation to gener. ation, in the same family whose ancestors sat around the festive board and partook of the wine which the Saviour of mankind so miraculously provided for the occasion. The three hundred years which this important event had to depend upon tradition, from the time of its occurrence to that of Hel. ena's church, are but a small space here in the East, where the families of wandering Bedouins to this day show authen. tic records of the pedigree of a favourite horse for an equally long period. How much more dependance Helena could place in statements and records of the primitive Christian families who inhabited this spot, I leave you to judge. As for myself, I delight in having confirmed myself in my first belief by subsequent reasoning, analogous to that elicited by skeptical objections and arguments respecting many other sacred places.

The dwelling of St. Bartholomew, pointed out to us in Cana, I leave for the monks to speculate upon.

A mile or two farther on we came to a beautiful plain, covered with wheat and barley, which tradition lays down as the scene of the miracle of feeding the five thousand with the five barley-loaves and two fishes. Between this place and the Sea of Galilee is a mountain, known at present by the name of the Mount of Beatitudes, from which, it is said, Jesus

MOUNT OF THE SERMON.

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preached that ever-memorable sermon according to St. Mat. thew. It was about one mile from our path, and thither we went through the thorns and thistles, which reared their bristling heads up to our stirrups.

From the top of this mountain we had a magnificent view. Towards the south lay an extensive and well-cultivated plain. To the east was the Sea of Galilee, with its smooth blue surface imbosomed deep among its surrounding mount. ains. To the north, with its hoary head towering into the clouds, was Mount Hermon, and on the southwest was Mount Tabor.

This was truly a deeply interesting spot, and well suited for the pulpit of an incarnate God. We here made our noonday halt, and, as soon as we were out of our saddles, Mr. R. opened his Bible, the same that has been his constant companion by flood and field for twenty years, in almost every portion of the globe. From this favourite volume he read for us the whole of that memorable and beautiful discourse; and never did its great value and importance so much impress my mind before. Every line appeared to be fraught with the deepest instruction; its bold and majestic style seemed to add new interest to the sublime scene around us, though my thoughts were soon abstracted from terres. trial things, and from nature were directed up to nature's God.

Well might "the people" be "astonished" when "he taught them as one having authority," doctrines so dissim ilar to those of the persecuting and intolerant scribes, whose whole creed ran counter to every rule of action prescribed in the discourse of the divine preacher. Never before had they heard it said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good unto them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you;" "all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets."

On the summit of the hill are the ruined foundations of some ancient building, erected probably to commemorate the occasion when the "great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan," stood upon the gentle declivity of this hill, every eye upon the Son of God, while every ear was attentive to his divine instruction.

Descending from the mount, we pursued our way to Ti. berias (called by the Arabs Tabarea), on the borders of the lake. Here we found that our servants, who had preceded us with the baggage, had pitched our tent just outside of the walls, within a few yards of the lake.

The next morning I arose before a soul was stirring, and took a refreshing bath in the cool waters of Galilee, after which I gathered a few shells on the strand, as souvenirs of the interesting spot.

The Sea of Galilee appears to be about twelve miles long, by from three to five miles in width. Tiberias is a walled town, though not one of the most ancient; its predecessor, which is entirely destroyed, was near to it. We walked through the place, and found it principally inhabited by Jew. ish emigrant families from various parts of the world, prin. cipally from Poland and Germany, who had come hither to lay their bones among those of their ancestors in this, one of their five holy cities. They have a synagogue, in which, under sore oppressions, they pray, night and morning, to Jehovah, saying,

"Scatter'd and scorn'd as thy people may be,

Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee."

There being no object of interest to detain us longer in the degenerate city of Herod, we mounted our horses, and followed the southern shore of the lake to the ancient warm baths of Emmaus. While skirting the lake we came to a point where we obtained a view of the entire sheet of water, and, to our surprise, we did not see a boat of any kind on

THE SEA OF GALILEE.

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it, not even the bark of a fisherman, although it is said so to abound with fish, that, were some of our Atlantic coasters to make one of their broad sweeps, the present. indolent inhabitants of Galilee would be astonished at what they might suppose a miraculous draught. The surface of the water. was so calm and glassy, that one might almost be tempted to venture across it on a plank; yet, in another moment, we saw the almost every-day occurrence of a violent agita. tion of the waters, caused by the sudden irruption of a blast from the gorges of the mountains which surround the lake. The cause of the present tumult was a gale coming up the valley of the lower Jordan, and opposing its force to the current of the river, which flows through the centre of the lake (without mingling with its waters), and rolling it back in white-capped waves which no ordinary fishing bark could withstand.

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One of the earliest miracles of our Saviour was to rebuke and to calm the turbulent billows of this very sea, when his disciples, filled with alarm, cried out, " Master, master, we perish." It was also upon this very sea, and during a storm like the one I now beheld, that Jesus was seen walking upon the water, while the ship in which his disciples were, tossed by the waves." Many of the disciples chosen by Jesus to be witnesses of his heavenly mission, and on whom he conferred the supernatural power of working miracles, and whom he delegated to "go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," were simple fishermen from the borders of this same Sea of Galilee.

Some of the first ministerial labours of the Saviour of men were in this same vicinity, as St. Mark tells us he went about Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel. How could I, how could any one, gaze upon this hallowed spot without having the feelings deeply interested?

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