Expected Return of Messiah-Dr. Clarke's Topography-His Dis- coveries Position of Mount Sion-Objections of Mr. Buckingham -Their Fallacy-His Map-Refutation of Clarke's Objections-- Sepulchres of David-Proofs from the Book of Joshua-Clarke's Knowledge of the Holy City-Authority of the Apostles-Calvary -Vulgar Errors-Golgotha-Identity of the Holy Sepulchre- Grotto of Jeremiah-The Royal Sepulchres-Tombs of the Judges —Their Manner of Construction-The Valley of Jehosaphat— Tomb of the Virgin-Gethsemane-Mount of Olives-Sepulchres of the Patriarchs-Siloam-Valley of Hinnom-The Aceldama— The Jews-Their Character in Jerusalem-Number-Benjamin of Tudela-Means of Subsistence-Their Love for the City-Patri- otism-Transportation of their bones-Their Language-Syna- gogues-Ancient Customs-Present State and Prospects-A Touching Scene-Hope-Lepers-Houses-Female Inhabitants— Their Amusements-Missionaries-The English Church-The Dif- ferent Sects of Christians-The Latin Fathers-A Pharmacy- Greeks-Armenians-Their Convents-Door of the Holy Sepul- chre Copts-Their History and Customs-Effects of the Con- scription-An Arab's Love-Pool of Bethesda-Its Remarkable Masonry-Tomb of David-A Prussian Prince-A Navigator of the Dead Sea-Irishmen-Eastern Shepherds-Bethlehem-Its Beautiful Females-Convent-Place of the Nativity-Etham- Solomon's Cisterns-Aqueduct Visit to Bethany-Sepulchre of Society-King Otho-Bavarian Government-The New Palace— Its Cost The Greek Loan-Destruction of the Pentelic Quarries- Climate of Athens-Accommodation for Invalids-Means of Access -Visit to Marathon-Fossil Beds-Mr. Finlay-His Paper on that Subject-Arrow-heads-Their Similarity to Irish-Varna-Leoshea -Return to Athens-Easter-The Greek Church-Christian Sa- lutation-Romaic Dance-Missionaries-Schools-The English Church-Hospitals-Museums-Proceed to the Morea-Napoli di Romania Tyrus-Tomb of Agamemnon-Mycena-Its Lions— The present condition of Egypt and character of Mohammad Alee-Diversity of THE extraordinary diversity of opinions expressed in Egypt as well as in Europe, regarding the cha- racter and government of Mohammad Alee, and the present state of the country, is so remarkable as to demand an inquiry how those opinions have arisen, and how views so different have in their turn 2 DIVERSITY OF OPINIONS. formed and promulgated by the traveller, and these will be found to arise not so much from previously conceived ideas, as from the mode in which he views the country, and the reception he there meets with; circumstances which must, even to the mind least liable to be prejudiced, tend to bias the judgment. A few years ago Europe rung with the praises of this wonderful man, and vaunted the regeneration wrought in this ancient, highly-favoured, but long degraded land. It has now become the fashion to decry the character of the viceregal occupant of the throne of the Pharaohs. Let us see how these opinions are formed. A traveller arriving in Egypt, by way of the Red Sea, lands at Cosier, and reaches the Nile in the vicinity of the first cataract, for the purpose of examining the ruins of Thebes, Luxor, and Karnak, and the other antiquities of Upper Egypt. The impression there received of the former grandeur of this ancient people is brought into the strongest contrast with the present unutterable poverty and wretchedness of the natives, who are now, however, allowed, for the first time for ages, the privilege of living. Nay, the trivial circumstance of their inhabiting, in all the squalid misery of want, those mighty monuments of their bygone glory, affects the mind, and warps it from sober and impartial judgment. Unprovided, perhaps, with the magic signature of Mohammad Alee, obstacles present themselves to his antiquarian researches, and the very difficulty IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY. 3 of procuring boats to convey him down the Nile, (all the boats here belonging to the Basha,) prejudice him against the Fellaheen; to obtain redress of whom, for some fancied wrong, he applies to some ravenous sheyk, who, for a bribe of a few piasters, submits the unfortunate and ignorant accused to the agonies of the Koorbag. As he proceeds down the river against untoward winds, and suffering daily annoyances from want of the luxuries he has been accustomed to, he meets the conscription officer and tax-gatherer, in the full exercise of their hated and oppressive power; the former of whom, he sees dragging the peasant from his home, and followed to the water's edge by the curses of the infirm, and the wailings of the mother and the wife; while many of those who are left behind have purchased their exemption by the mutilation of their limbs, or the partial deprivation of their sight; and he beholds much of this fertile land waste for want of cultivation. Arrived at Cairo, disgusted with the country, and out of humour with himself, he looks with a jaundiced eye upon the modern manufactories, and other improvements made by the viceroy, whose reception of him may no doubt eradicate some of the impressions he had already received on his voyage down the Nile, but which may be shortly wiped away, perhaps, by the company he meets at his consul's, or the renegade European instructors he may find at his hotel, or in the billiard-room. |