man of God, and inquire. . . Shall I recover of this disease? So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden. . . . And Elisha answered" (Hazael), "The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria."-2 Kings viii. 7-13. (1 Kings xix. 15.)

"The king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin." (foretold Amos i. 5.) "And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it. . . and Urijah... built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus; so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus❞—read to verse 16.-2 Kings xvi. 9-11. (2 Chron. xxviii. 5, 23.)

"The head of Syria is Damascus."-Isa. vii. 8. "Damascus is waxed feeble..

I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad."-Jer. xlix. 24-27.

"Damascus was thy merchant."-Ezek. xxvii. 18.

"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven; and he fell to the earth: . . but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus ... And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias, and to him said the Lord in a vision . . . . Go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus."-Acts ix. 3, 4, 8, 10, 11. Read the whole chapter.

"In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me; and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands."-2 Cor. xi. 32, 33.

C

"No city in the East has maintained its ground as Damascus has done, from generation to generation, from age to age.

"The city is one of the most ancient in the world. The Syrians, of whom it was the capital, being not the least powerful enemies of the Israelites, are frequently mentioned in Scripture. David resisting them, on account of their succouring Hadadezer of Zobah, with whom he was at war, after a great slaughter, subdued them and made them tributaries.' They soon, however, regained their independence, and were more frequently the enemies than the allies of the Israelites.

"Damascus was taken by Tiglath Pileser, monarch of Assyria, and its inhabitants carried away captive and added to his kingdom, in the reign of Ahaz. It was then that, probably for a season, it was taken away from being a city, and became 'a ruinous heap.' In the

course of events it revived, and became subject successively to the four great empires of prophecy, the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman. It was under the

last of these governments that it became the scene of the conversion, and first labours, and trials of the Apostle Paul. It was long the glory in the East of the rulers of Byzantium. (The Arabian tribes took it by storm and capitulation, by the command of Abubekr, the successor of Muhammad.) For about a hundred and thirty years this city was the capital of the Saracenic world, till about the middle of the eighth century, when the khalifat was removed to Bagdad. Under the sway

of the khalifs at Bagdad, it occupied the second place in their kingdom. (Afterwards) it became subject to the Fatemites of Egypt. In the 12th century it was taken by the Turks. (Timour the Tartar entered it and reduced it to ashes in 1401.) (It speedily revived under the Turks, from whom it was taken for Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1832, and remained under his government till 1841."-See DR. WILSON's Lands of the Bible.

"Beyroot, August 26th, 1836.-I have just returned from a tour to Damascus. . . As we set out for (it) from Bru-ma-nah, on the mountain, we did not follow the usual road from Beyroot, but took a more direct route... When near the top of the last high range of hills, near Damascus, we had, on looking back, the most striking view of a naked and barren district that I ever saw A range of fifteen or twenty miles in diameter, perhaps much more . . . and, except the little green strip that at some points could be seen along the river Barada, there appeared to be neither tree, nor bush, nor any green thing. I called Mr. B's attention to it, and asked him if he could point out, with the exception just made, one green thing-tree or bush. He could not. As the river runs in a deep channel, and the trees along it are small, it was only at a few places that their tops could be seen. A more dry, parched, desolate landscape I never saw.

"Our approach to Damascus was from the north-west. The general course of the plain on which it stands is north-west and south-west. The northern part, near Damascus, is bounded by a high, steep, and precipitous mountain; the suburbs and gardens of the city extending close to its foot. It was not until we had reached the top of this range of mountains, from which the whole region we had passed over for the last five or six hours rose to view, that we saw on the other side, along the middle of a most noble plain, a wide district covered with verdure, fields, gardens, and a forest of trees, extending eastward as far as the eye could reach. the midst of this, encircled with gardens for miles around, rose the old, famous city of Damascus, with its many gilded domes glittering in the sun. The sight was most delightful and refreshing; and the more so from the absolute barrenness and desolation by which it was surrounded.

In

"Damascus is a walled town; but on some sides the town has spread far beyond the walls, and formed extensive suburbs. The walls have once been of great strength, and were defended in many parts, if not entirely around, by a deep foss and rows of towers. They are now much out of repair. The gates are falling to pieces, or approaching that state. The foss is much filled up at many places, and the towers have lost their beauty and strength, and possibly in great part their Sic transit gloria mundi.”—Paxton.

use.

Many of the lower portions of the walls of Damascus are considered to be of great antiquity, and their construction is certainly peculiar. Some of the blocks of stone are perfectly square, others are built in so that their height is greater than their breadth. These old stones are pointed out by the inhabitants as remnants of the walls of the city which existed in the patriarchal age."-ADDISON's Damascus and Palmyra.

It is interesting to observe houses built on parts of the walls at the present day, as was probably the

case when the disciples took Paul by night and let him down by the wall in a basket."-Lands of the Bible.

“The streets are narrow, crooked, and miserably dirty. But little effort is made to remove filth and produce cleanliness. In truth, throughout this whole Eastern world, the people appear to have very low ideas of neatness and cleanliness. While the city abounds with water, and a fountain of it is seen in most of the good houses, you meet with filth everywhere, and are often most grievously annoyed with the stench of dead animals in the roads and streets. Some of the streets are paved but in a very indifferent way; and, from the great accumulation of dust, they are not in a comfortable condition for passing over. Some allowances, however, must be made for this abundance of dust in streets, roads, and open places, and even in the houses. It is now nearly three months since I reached Beyroot, and not one drop of rain has fallen; the sun has not, with the exception of a few hours, been so covered with clouds as to be hid from sight; most of the days it has, without ceasing, poured its burning rays upon the earth.. What marvel if the earth be roasted, and, except where water abounds, be converted into dust? . . . Most of the houses, when seen from the street, have an old and very shabby appearance. Many of them are made up of patchwork -mud, wood and stone: the mud, however, as the cheapest article, is most abundant. Occasionally you may see the lower part of the building of good hewn marble, which soon gives place to a miserable patchwork kind of half stucco and half mortar. The door frames are very often formed of hewn stone, and sometimes arched, and this may be the only stone that you see in the building.

"There are, just outside the walls of Damascus, some mills, that looked better than any of the buildings of the sort I have seen in the East. They stand on the main channel of the river, and avail themselves of its