THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.1

The cedars are not less remarkable for their position than for their age and size. The amphitheatre in which they are situated is of itself a great temple of nature, the most vast and magnificent of all the recesses of Lebanon. The lofty dorsal ridge of the mountain, as it approaches from the south, tends slightly towards the east for a time, and then, after resuming its former direction, throws off a spur of equal altitude towards the west, which sinks down gradually into the ridge terminating at Ehden. This ridge sweeps round so as to become nearly parallel with the main ridge, thus forming an immense recess or amphitheatre, approaching to the horse-shoe form, surrounded by the loftiest ridges of Lebanon, which rise still two or three thousand feet above it, and are partly covered with snows. In the midst of this amphitheatre stand the cedars, utterly alone, with not a tree besides, nor hardly a green thing in sight. The amphitheatre fronts towards the west, and, as seen from the cedars, the snows extend round from south to north. The extremities of the arc, in front, bear from the cedars southwest and northwest. High up in the recess, the deep, precipitous chasm of the Kadisha has its beginning-the wildest and grandest of all the gorges of Lebanon.

Besides the natural grace and beauty of the cedar of Lebanon, which still appear in the trees of middle age, though not in the more ancient patriarchs, there is associated with this grove a feeling of veneration, as the representative of those forests of Lebanon so celebrated in the Hebrew Scriptures. To the sacred writers, the cedar was the noblest of trees, the monarch of the vegetable kingdom. Solomon "spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." To the prophets it was the favorite emblem for greatness, splendor, and majesty; hence kings and nobles, the pillars of society, are everywhere cedars of Lebanon. Especially is this the case in the splendid descrip

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The elevation of the cedars above the sea is given by Russegger and Schubert at 6,000 Paris feet, equivalent to 6,400 English feet. The peaks of Lebanon above rise nearly 3,000 feet higher.

21 K. iv. 33; comp. Judg. ix. 15; 2 K. xiv. 9; Ps. xxix. 5; civ. 16.

Is. ii. 13; xiv. 8; xxxvii. 24; Jer. xxii. 23; Ez. xvii. 22; Zech. xi. 1, etc.

tion, by Ezekiel, of the Assyrian power and glory.1 Hence, too, in connection with its durability and fragrance, it was regarded as the most precious of all wood, and was employed in costly buildings, for ornament and luxury. In Solomon's temple, the beams of the roof, as also the boards and the ornamental work, were of the cedar of Lebanon; and it was likewise used in the later temple of Zerubbabel. David's palace was built with cedar; and so lavishly was this costly wood employed in one of Solomon's palaces, that it is called "the house of the forest of Lebanon."5 As a matter of luxury, also, the cedar was sometimes used for idols, and for the masts of ships. In like manner, the cedar was highly prized among heathen nations. It was employed in the construction of their temples, as at Tyre and Ephesus; and also in their palaces, as at Persepolis.

ENTERING JERUSALEM.

On entering the gates of Jerusalem, apart from the overpowering recollections which naturally rush upon the mind, I was in many respects agreeably disappointed. From the descriptions of Chateaubriand and other travellers, I had expected to find the houses of the city miserable, the streets filthy, and the population squalid. Yet the first impression made upon my mind was of a different character; nor did I afterwards see any reason to doubt the correctness of this first impression. The houses are, in general, better built, and the streets cleaner, than those of Alexandria, Smyrna, or even Constantinople. Indeed, of all the oriental cities which it was my lot to visit, Jerusalem, after Cairo, is the cleanest and most solidly built. The streets indeed are narrow, and very rudely paved, like those of all cities in the East. The houses are of hewn stone, often large, and furnished with the small domes upon the roofs, which have been already mentioned at Hebron, as perhaps peculiar to the district of Judea. These domes seem to be not merely

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Ez. xxvii. 5; where the description evidently refers to splendid pleasurevessels.

for ornament, but are intended, on account of the scarcity of timber, to aid in supporting and strengthening the otherwise flat roofs. There is usually one or more over each room in a house; and they serve also to give a greater elevation and an architectural effect to the ceiling of the room, which rises within them. The streets, and the population that throngs them, may also well bear comparison with those of any other oriental city, although if one seeks here, or elsewhere in the East, for the general cleanliness and thrift which characterize many cities of Europe and America, he will of course seek in vain.

LEAVING JERUSALEM.

The emotions which crowd upon the mind at such a moment I leave for the reader to conceive. The historical associations connected with the city and the various objects around cannot but be deeply interesting even to the infidel or the heathen; how much more to the heart of the believer! What a multitude of wonderful events have taken place upon that spot! What an influence has proceeded from it, affecting the opinions and destinies of individuals and the world, for time and for eternity!

If my feelings were strongly excited on first entering the Holy City, they were now hardly less so on leaving it for the last time. As we had formerly approached, repeating continually the salutation of the Psalmist, "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces," so now we could not but add, "For our brethren and companions' sakes we will now say, Peace be within thee!" Her palaces indeed are long since levelled to the ground; and the haughty Muslim now for ages treads her glory in the dust. Yet as we waited, and looked again from this high ground upon the city and the surrounding objects, I could not but exclaim, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the North, the city of the great King!" One long last look; and then, turning away, I bade those sacred hills farewell forever.

EDWARD EVERETT.

EDWARD EVERETT, the brother of Alexander Everett,' was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on the 11th of April, 1794. After the usual preparatory studies at Boston, and at Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, under that prince of schoolmasters, the venerable Dr. Abbott, he entered Harvard College at the early age of thirteen, and took his degree, in course, in 1811, with a high reputation as a scholar. The next year he was appointed a tutor in the College, and held the situation for two years, when he entered the theological school at Cambridge, and in 1814, when but twenty years of age, succeeded the pious and accomplished Buckminster as pastor of Brattle Street Church, Boston. He had not, however, been settled here a year, before he was invited to the new professorship of Greek Literature in Harvard College, with the privilege of further qualifying himself for its duties by a visit to Europe. He accepted the appointment,3 and immediately embarked for England, whence he went to Göttingen University, where he remained more than two years, devoting his time to Greek literature and the German language, and receiving the degree of P. D., or Doctor of Philosophy. After this, he visited several of the European countries, and returned home in 1819, and entered at once upon the duties of his professorship. In 1824, he became editor of the "North American Review," and infused new spirit into that journal, often writing two articles in the same number. The great object he had in view, in conducting this periodical, was to vindicate American literature from the aspersions of English writers, and nobly and successfully did he perform the work. In 1824, he delivered a very able oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, upon "The Circumstances favorable to the Progress of Literature in America," closing it with a beautiful apostrophe to General Lafayette, who was present on the occasion. In 1825, he took his seat in the House of Representatives of the United States, from Middlesex County, and kept the same for ten years, bearing a prominent part in many of the debates. In 1835, he retired

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Founded by Samuel Eliot, of Boston.

1 See page 295. Much to the vexation of the congregation of Brattle Street Church. I deeply regret that truth compels me to state, that in his first speech in Congress, delivered March 9, 1826, upon "The Amendment of the Constitution," he uttered these words: "Domestic slavery is not, sir, in my judgment, to be set down as an immoral and irreligious relation. I cannot admit that Religion has but one voice to the slave, and that this voice is,

from Congress, and for four years, successively, he was elected Governor of Massachusetts. In 1839, he lost his election by one single vote. In 1841, he was appointed Minister to England, for which post he was peculiarly well qualified by his learning, his elegance of manners, and his familiarity with most of the European languages. On his return home, in 1846, he was elected President of Harvard College, a position which he held till 1849. In November, 1852, he again entered political life, succeeding Daniel Webster as Secretary of State, under the administration of Millard Fillmore.

Mr. Everett now resides in Boston, enjoying the rich companionship of the authors of his extensive library. He has recently been delivering, in various parts of the country, an oration on the character of Washington-the proceeds of which he gives to the fund for raising a monument to the illustrious statesman, at his own Mount Vernon. His orations and speeches have been published in two large octavo volumes.'

'Rise against your masters.' No, sir; the New Testament says, 'Slaves, obey your master,'" &c. &c. He was immediately rebuked for these sentiments, with great power and sarcasm, by Hon. John Randolph, of Virginia; and, on the 30th of the same month, the Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth, N. H., to his eternal honor, thus replied to him: "If the language used by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Everett) was intended to vindicate the principle of slavery, and to say Christianity sanctions the practice, I cannot, sir, hesitate to dissent from its correctness, totally, unqualifiedly. It is not denied that service and servitude are implied in the very existence of all institutions, political, civil, religious; and we, here, are the SERVANTS of the people, but not their SLAVES! If, sir, the Christian religion sanctions slavery, then must I give up that faith in which I have been nurtured, relinquish its consolations in affliction, its promises of futurity-abandon, at once, that hope which

'Cheers us through life, nor leaves us when we die.'

For then, that religion is not mine! I am no Christian! But no, sir, it cannot be. No! there is no slavery in its great moral precept, how we should 'do unto others.'"-Gales and Seaton's Debates, vol. ii., 1581, and 1918.

"The variety of Mr. Everett's life and employments is but a type of the versatility of his powers, and the wide range of his cultivation. He is one of the most finished men of our time. His works consist mainly of occasional discourses, speeches, and of contributions to the North American Review,' the last of which are very numerous, and deal with a great diversity of subjects, including Greek and German literature, the fine arts, politics, political economy, history, and American literature. Whatsoever he does, is done well; and his brilliant natural powers have through life been trained and aided by those habits of vigorous industry which are falsely supposed, by many, to be found only in connection with dulness and mediocrity."-G. S. HILLARD.

At

"As a man of letters, in every branch of public service, and in society and private life, Mr. Everett has combined the useful with the ornamental, with a tact, a universality, and a faithfulness, almost unprecedented. Windsor Castle we find him fluently conversing with each member of the diplomatic corps in their vernacular tongue; in Florence, addressing the