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half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal;" and it was here that he renew. ed the covenant between the children of Israel and the Lord.

On the sides of these very hills, and in these valleys, the patriarchs fed their flocks, and they are appropriated to the same use at the present day. There was nothing of interest in the town itself, and we passed through it without dismounting, anxious to reach the Holy City the next day. To the east, and about half a mile from the town, the valley opens upon a small plain. This was "the parcel of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph," and it was in this ground that the bones of Joseph were buried, "which the children of Israel brought out of Egypt."

The natives pretend to show the very tomb (among sev eral others cut out of the rock in the side of the hill) in which the bones were laid.

But a much less uncertain monument exists near by. It is the well at which our Saviour held that remarkable conversation with the woman of Samaria. Of this curious well, and my reasons for believing it to be the identical one (for there is no other in the vicinity), I will take another opportunity to speak to you.

We extended our journey four hours farther, when we pitched our tent for the night, near the southeastern slope of Mount Gerizim, in a delightful valley. After this very interesting day, during which so many objects of intense interest had passed before my eyes, as soon as I dismounted, I strolled away from our noisy camp, in order to collect my thoughts and calm my excited feelings. The valley in which we were encamped terminated abruptly at this point, and a steep hill rose between us and the country towards Jerusalem, apparently impassable. On a close inspection, I observed a narrow zigzag horsepath deep worn in the rock, the only passage by which thousands have passed in all ages, in journeying to and from Jerusalem to Sychar, VOL. II.-F

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Samaria, and Nazareth. Seated on a rock where this path winds down to a very copious fountain, I could not but feel that this was truly holy ground. Here it was, on this very spot, that the weary wayfarers from Egypt rested the bones of Joseph, while they refreshed themselves at this fountain, and reposed under the shade of the mighty rock during the noontide heat. Here also, long previous, Abraham doubtless watered his flocks and encamped on his journey southward.

In later times, when our Lord was journeying from Jerusalem into Galilee, could it be otherwise than that this was the place of his repose at the end of his first day's journey? Some weary pilgrims who had left the Holy City in the morn. ing, had partaken of their frugal supper, and turned their jaded beasts out to pasture on the rich herbage of the valley, and themselves they had laid down on the bare ground, according to the custom of the country, to repose for the night. Did not Christ say that "the son of man hath not where to lay his head?" No well-appointed caravan, with commo. dious tent, carpets, and cushions, accompanied his humble progress through the land. Patience and self-denial were among the many virtues he preached and practised. His disciples were chosen from among the poorest in all the tribes; even that which they had, they left behind to follow their master. I turned again to cast a look upon the humble pilgrims reposing beside the fountain, and asked myself, how sweet must be the sleep, and what heavenly visions must they now be realizing, if they are conscious of pressing the same cold soil on which their Redeemer and his chosen few had so often rested their weary limbs. Were it as certain as it is highly probable, that our Saviour has more than once slept beside this fountain on the cold earth, would I not envy these poor wayfarers their present enjoy. ment; or offer in exchange for their grassy bed my soft couch, with all its commodious trappings in yonder luxuri.

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ous tent? Most assuredly I would! Smile not, dearest lady, at what you may be pleased to call my enthusiasm. These thoughts and these reflections are far from being original with me. How many pious pilgrims and holy palmers for ages past, while sitting round that crystal fountain, and par. taking of the frugal contents of their scantily furnished scrip, have confirmed each other in these same opinions, and reposed under their delightful influence ?

I will leave these reflections, and conclude my already. too-long epistle, without succeeding at this time in bringing you, as I anticipated, under the walls of Jerusalem. If the preceding sketch is as unsatisfactory to you as it appears imperfect to me, you must attribute the fault to its being writ ten under the influence of such emotions as you can readily imagine I must feel, when you recollect that we are now encamped close under the walls of the Holy City, through whose gates I have not yet passed. The reasons for the latter I will give you in my next. Until then, adieu.

LETTER XXVIII.

Site of Shiloh.-Capture of Shiloh's Daughters.-Beth-el.-Jacob's Vision. -First Sight of the Holy City.-Eligible Lodging-place.-The Holy City.-Present State of Jerusalem.-Poetic Travellers.-Jerusalem as it was.-The Hills of Jerusalem.

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THE concluding part of my last letter left you musing beside a beautiful fountain in Israel. I regret now that I did not then give you a farther supply of food for the imagination, derived from other associations arising from the same locality.

Near this celebrated fountain is the supposed site of the ancient Shiloh, and the supposition, after carefully examining and comparing the various points on each side of this

short and narrow valley, almost resolves itself into conclusive evidence in my mind that this was the fountain which supplied the town of Shiloh, situated on the side of the mountain near it. Were there several copious fountains, or even one other between this and those near Sychar, there might be some doubt; but we saw none, and our guide says that not one exists. It is fair, then, to presume that this is the identical spot where Joseph's tabernacle was set up; where "the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh ;" and where the lots were cast for the seven divisions of the conquered country.

After remaining here for a certain time, the tabernacle was taken again to Gilgal, near the Jordan. It was at Shiloh where resided the blind old prophet Ahijah.

It appears from sacred writ, that in the early settlement of the country by the chosen people, one of the tribes found itself in the same strait that the city of Romulus was driven into ages after, when her young men were at a loss for wives. They proclaimed a great festival, and from thence forcibly carried off the flower of the Sabine fair. In the brief and narrow valley, watered by the spring in question, there was held "a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly, in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem." It was commanded by the elders that the unfortunate widowers and bachelors of the tribe of Benjamin should "lie in wait in the vineyards;" and "if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin." The account of this wholesale kidnapping is contained in a few short lines of Scripture history; nor has the painter or sculptor since deigned to realize the scene on canvass or in marble, as we frequently see that of the plains of Latium, under the glow. ing tints of the Italian pencil, or the masterly touches of the Roman chisel.

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In the morning we struck our tents for the last time previous to arriving at Jerusalem. We wound up the side of the mountain barrier by an ancient horsepath, worn so deep that our feet touched the rock as we rode. From the summit we had a fine view of the valley, stretching away to the north towards Sychar. All was now silence, solitude, and desolation, save the small caravan of our neighbours, the home-bound pilgrims, winding their way northwardly along the base of Mount Gerizim. There were now neither "daughters of Shiloh" dancing "dances," nor "vineyards" for the young men to "lie in wait in." All the works of man here have passed away, and Nature has resumed her dominion. The fountain, and the greensward of the valley, and the stony sides of the mountain, are all that remain. Shiloh is no more.

After a few hours' ride we came to the site of the ancient Beth.el.

Numerous associations crowd upon the mind while on so interesting a spot as this. It was here that Jacob had the vision of the ladder which "reached to heaven." The tab. ernacle was here for a time, and here, also, Jeroboam set up the golden calves for the tribes of Israel to worship.

The next point of interest is Beer, to which Jotham fled "for fear of Abimilech his brother." The spot cannot be mistaken, for Beer signifies well or fountain, and there is one of extraordinary volume on this spot, which supplies the country round for some distance.

Beer is about ten miles from Jerusalem. We made but a short stay at its fountain; after our noon refreshment we dispensed with our usual siesta, so desirous were we of ob taining a sight of the holy city before nightfall. On our way thither we saw at a distance on our right hand a village, situated on the summit of a high conical mountain. This was Ramah, where the prophet Samuel was born. Neither village, house, nor cultivation of any sort is to be

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