teresting and hallowed of all gardens, are not known, nor is it necessary to know them; but as we read that "Christ went forth with his disciples over the brook of Cedron, where there was a garden" (John, xviii., 1), and that this garden was on the Mount of Olives, "we felt satisfied," says Mr. Robinson, "that we stood on the ground whereon the Saviour had stood before; and that the aged trees which now afforded us shade were the lineal descendants of those under which he often reposed, but more particularly on the night of his ascent. The grot to which he retired on this occasion, and where, falling down to the ground' in the agony of his soul, and sweating,' as it were, 'great drops of blood,' he was comforted by an angel (Luke, xxii., 43, 44), is still shown, and venerated as such. It is excavated in the solid rock, and the descent to it is by a flight of rudely-cut steps; the form of the interior is circular, about fifteen feet in diameter, and the roof, which is supported by pilasters, perforated in the middle to admit light: there are some remains of sepulchres in the sides."

The cave of Gethsemane is in the Valley of Jehoshaphat: "It was to this cavern," says La Martine, "at the foot of the Mount of Olives, that Christ retired, according to tradition, to escape sometimes from the persecutions of his enemies and the importunities of his disciples; it was here he communed with his own divine reflections, and that he implored his Father that the bitter cup that he had filled for himself, and which we fill for ourselves, should pass from his lips. It was here that he enjoined his three disciples to watch and pray, the evening before his death, and not to sleep; and that three times he returned and awakened them, so prone is human zeal and charity to slumber. It was here he passed the terrible hours of his agony-the ineffable struggle between life and death-between instinct and willbetween the soul that wishes to be free, and matter

which resists because of its blindness. It was here he sweated blood and water, and that, weary of combating with himself, without obtaining that victory of his intellect which would give peace to his thoughts, he uttered those words which sum up all human godliness-those words which are become the wisdom of the wise, and which ought to be the epitaph of every life, and the sole aspiration of every created being- My father, not my will, but thine, be done!'"

The Valley of Jehoshaphat was deep and narrow, enclosed on the north by barren heights which contained the sepulchres of kings, shaded on the west by the gigantic walls of a pre-existing city, overlooked on the east by the summit of the Mount of Olives, and crossed by a torrent which rolled over it its bitter and yellow waters. At some paces distant, a black and bare rock detaches itself like a promontory from the base of the mountain, and, suspended over Cedron and Jehoshaphat, bears several old tombs of kings and patriarchs of gigantic and singular architecture, striking the beholder like the bridge of death over the valley of lamentations.

The fountain of Siloam rises about half way up Mount Sion, and gushes from beneath a little arch, nearly ten feet below the surface, into a small pool about two feet deep; this is quite open, and the rocky sides of the spot are cut smooth. On the south side a flight of steps leads down to it: the water is clear and cold, and flows down the mount into the valley beneath to a considerable distance. To this stream the women of the city generally come to wash their linen; and its banks are in some parts shaded with trees.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has the external appearance of a Roman Catholic church. Over the door is a bas-relief, executed in a style of sculpture which, at first sight, implies an antiquity higher than that of any Christian place of worship; but, upon a nearer view, it is recognised as representing

the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem. Dr. Clarke is therefore disposed to think that it presents an example of the first work in which pagan sculptors undertook to avail themselves of a Christian theme. The interior of this fabric is divided into two parts; and in the ante-chapel is shown the mouth of what is called the sepulchre, and the stone whereon the angel sat, which is a block of white marble.

The Stone of Unction is covered by a slab of polished marble in the floor of the entrance hall of the Holy Sepulchre. On this, it is said, the body of Christ was washed, anointed, and prepared for the tomb. (St. John, xix., 39.) It is surrounded by a low rail, and several rich lamps are hung suspended over it. Advancing a few paces to the left, we come into that part of the church properly denominated the nave. It is an open space in the form of a circle, about thirty-five paces in diameter, and surrounded by sixteen pillars, supporting galleries, and covered in by a dome, not unlike that of the Pantheon at Rome. In the centre of this area, and immediately under the aperture through which the light is admitted, rises a small oblong building of marble, twenty feet in length by ten in breadth, and about fifteen in height, surmounted by a small cupola standing upon columns: this covers the supposed site of the Saviour's tomb. It is approached by steps leading into an anteroom or chapel.

The following description is given by Dr. Richardson: "Having passed within these sacred walls, the attention is first directed to a large flat stone in the floor, a little within the door; it is surrounded by a rail, and several lamps hang suspended over it. The pilgrims approach it on their knees, touch and kiss it, and, prostrating themselves before it, offer up their prayers in holy adoration. This is the stone, it is said, on which the body of our Lord was washed and anointed, and prepared for the tomb. Turning to the left, and proceeding a little forward, we

came into a round space immediately under the dome, surrounded with sixteen large columns which support the gallery above. In the centre of this space stands the Holy Sepulchre; it is enclosed in an oblong house, rounded at one end, with small arcades or chapels for prayer on the outside of it. These are for the Copts, the Abyssinians, the Syrian Maronites, and other Christians, who are not, like the Roman Catholics, the Greeks, and Armenians, provided with large chapels in the body of the church. At the other end it is squared off, and furnished with a platform in front, which is ascended by a flight of steps, having a small parapet wall of marble on each hand, and being floored with the same material. In the middle of this small platform stands a block of polished marble about a foot and a half square; on this stone, it is said, sat the angel who announced the blessed tidings of the resurrection to Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. Advancing, and taking off our shoes and turbans at the desire of the keeper, he drew aside the curtain, and stooping down, and bending almost to the ground, we entered by a low, narrow door into this mansion of victory, where Christ triumphed over the grave, and disarmed Death of all its terrors. Here the mind looks on Him, who, though he knew no sin, yet entered the mansion of the dead to redeem us from death, and the prayers of a grateful heart ascend with a risen Saviour to the presence of God in Heaven."

Christians," says Mons. Chateaubriand, “ will inquire, perhaps, what my feelings were on entering this holy place? I really cannot tell. So many reflections rushed at once into my mind, that I was unable to dwell upon any particular idea. I continued nearly half an hour upon my knees, in the little chamber of the Holy Sepulchre, with my eyes riveted upon the stone, from which I had not the power to turn them. One of the two monks who accom

panied me remained prostrate on the marble by my side; while the other, with the Testament in his hand, read to me, by the light of the lamps, the passages relating to the sacred tomb. All I can say is, that when I beheld this triumphant sepulchre, I felt nothing but my own weakness; and that, when my guide exclaimed with St. Paul, ' O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?' I listened as if Death were about to reply that he was conquered and enchained in this monument.”

LACEDÆMON OR SPARTA.

LELIA, the first king of Laconia, began his reign about 1516 years before the Christian era. Tyndarus, the ninth king of Lacedæmon, had, by Leda, Castor and Pollux, who were twins, besides Helena, and Clytemnestra the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycena. Having survived his son, he began to think of choosing a successor, by looking out for a husband for his daughter Helena. All the suiters to this princess bound themselves by oath to abide by, and entirely submit to, the choice which the lady herself should make, who determined in favour of Menelaus. She had not lived above three years with her husband before she was carried off by Paris, son of Priam, king of the Trojans, which abduction was the cause of the Trojan war. The Greeks took Troy after a siege of ten years, about the year of the world 2820, and 1184 before Christ.

Eighty years after the taking of this city, the Heraclidæ re-entered the Peloponnesus and seized upon Lacedæmon; when two brothers, Eurysthenes and Procles, sons of Aristodemus, began to reign together, and from their time the sceptre always continued jointly in the hands of the descendants of those two families.