a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." Deut. viii. 7, 10,

The Holy Land is now uncultivated, and those who were formerly its inhabitants, are a despised race, "scattered among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other.". Deut. xxviii. 64. But the records of prophecy assure us that they shall return, aud again possess their once highly favoured land, after their acknowledgment of that Messiah whom they yet despise and reject. Then shall they be delivered from all the bondage of superstitious scepticism: then shall they feel the unparalleled superiority of the meek and holy Jesus. They will find free pardon for their sins; every unhallowed passion will be hushed into silence; the spirit of peace shall reign throughout the earth, and all nations (if not in letter yet in spirit) shall worship toward Jerusalem."

They who pierced him shall look upon him, that people who buffeted him shall weep; they who madly joined in the exclamation "crucify him crucify him!" shall behold him with love and gratitude; those who platted the crown of thorns shall be the crown of his rejoicing;

"there shall be one fold and one shepherd." May we not indulge the idea that not only the moral character of the Jews, but also the physical aspect of the Holy Land will be changed. When every nation and every clime shall throw down their idols, "the work of their own hands;" when the genial rays of the Christian religion shall warm the cold and unenlightened shores of Russia, and. the despised inhabitants of Afric's burning shores shall be numbered as a portion of the flock of Christ; when the star of Bethlehem shall again shed its benign radiance over the east, and when Gentile and Jew shall own the sway of the Redeemer; then the traveller when returning to his own country will describe the land of Jewry as 66 the land which the Lord delighteth in, the land which He has blessed." He will rejoice to see the marks of the curse removed. Its fields will again assume their fruitfulness, and the little hills be embosomed in fertility, will (as in the days of Solomon) rejoice on every side. The river Jordan, no longer stagnant and sluggish, will hasten along to gladden scenes of renovated beauty. That ancient river, Kishon," will again flow with its

"the river

wonted

rapidity, as in the days of old, when it swept away the retreating army of Sisera. Siloa's stream will flow softly as before, "hard by the oracle of God." The mount of Lebanon will again be covered with cedars young and verdant, and the savage lions and eagles which formerly had their residence in its almost impassable haunts, will exchange their ferocity for the tame gentleness of the lamb,—and the young lion and the kid shall lie down together."

"They shall build their own walls, repair the former desolations, repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." (Isa. lxi. 4.) The present state of the country is very aptly and poetically described by the Psalmist in the following accurate sentences. "He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." (Psalm cvii. 33.)

Having thus attempted a brief sketch of the geography of the Holy Land, what interesting reflections suggest themselves, when we contemplate the country which God chose to be the immediate seat of his worship. It was in this delightful Canaan, a land (which in the

figurative language of Scripture is described as) Howing with milk and honey," the children of Israel rested after the toils and horrors of a desert. While travelling through this dreary waste, they beheld by a visible token the protecting and guiding hand of God ever stretched out for their good. He even condescended to honour the weary wilderness with his presence; he arrayed himself in all the terrors of his majesty on Mount Sinai, and gave to the rebellious children of Israel those commands, obedience to which secured his perpetual residence amongst them, and disobedience was to be accompanied with the forfeiture of his favour and ejectment from the Holy Land. It was here that the prophets beheld, in the vision of faith, the advent of the Messiah, and in this land they delivered their warnings, and their inspired commands. But brighter glories still have been shed around this hallowed spot. Here indeed was Mamre, beneath whose oak sat the father of the faithful, when he entertained angels; and the wilderness of Judah which had echoed to the harp of David, "the sweet singer of Israel.” Here was that Jerusalem which shone with such unequalled splendour and magnificence during

the reign of Solomon. These, and such as these, are the least of her glories: "a greater than Solomon," and all the prophets, has been แ here." It was the scene hallowed by the birth of our Saviour. It was over Bethlehem, in the Land of Judea, that that star arose which announced his birth, while the chorus of heaven proclaimed to earth the descent of the incarnate Redeemer. In this land, the only begotten of the Father commenced the work he had given him to do. From its mountains his voice ascended from sinless and guileless lips to him whose bosom he had just left, or descended to multitudes seated below, and taught them how to follow him, and one of them witnessed his glories, "the glory of the only bogotten of the father. Its cities and villages were the scene of his mild and gracious miracles, and its inland seas, in their wildest fury, were hushed to peace by a voice which said "Peace, be still, and immediately there was a great calm." It was here that he healed the sick, and made the dumb to speak, and cast out devils,-the power of death shrank before the majesty of his arm. But the peculiar attraction of this hallowed land is derived from the death of the incar