Kings;" while it is further obvious how entirely suitable these sepulchres would be to the magnificent ideas of the great Herod, whose ambitious hope it was to be the founder of a dynasty of kings; and the style of the architecture would well agree with the period of his reign. If this view be correct, the monuments of queen Helena must have been West of the caves, between them and the tower of Psephinus, which occupied the North-west corner of the New City1. And there is an area of native rock immediately to the right of the road to Neby Samwil, where sepulchral excavations may be seen, among which I am disposed to think that her resting-place is to be sought2.

It

Before leaving the Tombs of the Kings, it may be well to mention another excavation immediately without the entrance to the court-yard of rock, through which they are approached. The cave in question, which is difficult of access, is seldom visited by travellers. is of irregular form, much larger than any of the chambers in the neighbouring tombs. The roof of rock is supported by an unshapen mass of the same, which has been left for the purpose; and the ground, which is covered with loose stones, descends rapidly within, i. e. towards the East. It occurred to me whether this cave might not be in some way connected with the

Serpents' Pool, which adjoined the monuments of Herod, and whether the upper outflow of the waters

Joseph. J. W. v. iv. 2, 3. Dr. Schultz makes these the royal caves of Josephus, Bell. Jud. v. iv. 2; and finds the grave of Helena near the Tombs of the Martyrs, and the Monuments of Herod at the west of the

Pool of Mamilla, (i. e. at the Charnelhouse of the Lion.) See his Plan, and Lecture, pp. 38, 62–65.

The Tomb is marked by the Officers in their Plan.

of Gihon might not have been stopped in this place. Perhaps, further investigation of this unexplored cavern may lead to more satisfactory results.

The rugged face of the Valley of Jehoshaphat from this point exhibits numerous sepulchral excavations; and it is not improbable that the general name of Royal Caves may have been assigned to them all, while those of Herod were distinguished by a specific designation. Among the most remarkable of these mansions of the dead, is a picturesque ruin reverenced by the Jews as the grave of Simon the Just, the son of Onias; and a well-preserved rock-grave, beautifully situated in a small ravine, overhung with olives and vines, which Dr. Schultz is disposed to identify with the Fuller's Monument, at the N. E. angle of the wall of Agrippa1, traces of which he thinks he has discovered above, on the brink of the valley. Other ruined graves and cisterns, strewn over the whole hill, still bear witness to the occupation of a suburban cemetery by the overflowing population of the old city, which led in time to the incorporation of Bezetha, whose limits on the North can be traced with considerable certainty, partly by remains of its wall, and partly by the tanks of the houses which it enclosed.

I have now passed in review all the localities of importance, whose memory is cherished by Christians for their connexion with the Gospel history, and have, I trust, made it to appear that these traditions are, on the whole, entitled to more respect than it is the custom of

3 Dr. Schultz's Jerusalem, p. 38. See Josephus as cited in Vol. 1.

p. 148.

> The former are carefully noted by

Dr. Schultz, pp. 62-65 (compare his Plan), and the latter are very accurately marked by Major Aldrich in the Ordnance Survey.

English and American travellers to attach to them', and that a distinction is to be drawn between those which are derived from a remote antiquity, and those which originated during the Frank domination. Full satisfaction on many of the points could only be obtained by very extensive excavations in and about the city. But although the Scripture interest of the questions involved would fully repay the trouble and expense of such undertakings, there is one great but perhaps not insurmountable obstacle: only a few months ago a learned friend, deeply interested in the archæology of the City of David, and every way qualified to carry on the investigation with success, thus writes: "The fanaticism of the Mohammedans, lately raised anew from its slumbers, prevents me from going freely about the interesting places of the city." But the same authority which opens the mosks of the Turkish capital to the curiosity of Franks, might remove the obstructions at Jerusalem; a firman from the Sultan might probably be procured, if applied for in a proper manner. His Majesty the King of Prussia has conferred an important benefit on one branch of history, by the expedition sent to Egypt under the direction of Dr. Lipsius, with full permission of the Pasha. Would not the antiquities of Jerusalem present a field equally worthy of royal munificence? or would the Ottoman Porte prove more im

1 An American Wesleyan traveller, who "has bestowed especial attention upon the very able and learned argument of Dr. Robinson (on the subject of the Holy Sepulchre), without, however, being able to adopt his conclusions," speaks of " English travellers"

as "certainly the most incredulous and anti-catholic in the world." Surely his American brother will be justly indignant at being robbed of the palm which he has done his best to merit. Travels in the Holy Land, by Dr. Olin, Vol. II. p. 277.

practicable than the Viceroy of Egypt? The area of the Mosk of Omar, of course, may not be violated; but much might be done without trenching on the sacred enclosure, as this and the preceding chapters will have proved. Meanwhile I trust that the reader will be able to rest in the conclusions which I have endeavoured to establish, and for which some ground of probability has been shewn; and because, on a subject so involved in obscurity, it must needs be that many errors will be committed before the whole truth is brought to light, I will add, not more or less for my own sake than for the sake of others who have gone before me, that such errors ought not to be visited severely, or to be deemed unpardonable, if they have arisen from no want of candour or of diligence, and if they are honestly acknowledged and corrected as soon as they are discovered.

MODERN JERUSALEM AND ITS INHABITANTS.

THE Christian pilgrim approaching Jerusalem for the first time will probably be disappointed to find that his emotions on the first sight of a city, associated in his mind from his earliest infancy with all that is most sacred, are so much less intense than he anticipated, and that he can look on Mount Olivet and Mount Sion with feelings, certainly not of indifference, but of much less painful interest than he imagined possible, when he thought on them at a distance. The truth is, the events transacted here are so great in every view, that the mind cannot at once grasp them; but is, as it were, stupified by the effort. It takes time to realize the truth