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me of the funeral oration of Mark Antony over the bleeding body of the murdered Cæsar; and the celebrated dagger scene of Burke in the English House of Commons; but as the subject was loftier, the speaker regarded as clothed with more sacred authority, and the auditors more unanimous in their feelings than could have been the case on either of these two occasions to which it bore a resemblance, the whole scene was more solemn and imposing. The church was at the same time suddenly filled with a corresponding gloom, by the closing up of some of the principal avenues through which it received the sun's rays from above; and a "dim religious light," which is so favourable to the indulgence of the kind of devotional ardour that it was the object of this combination to produce, reigned over all, and shut out the intrusive brilliance of the gaudy, blabbing, and remorseful day." This powerful appeal to the passions of love, pity, sorrow, and revenge (for the detestation inculcated toward the murderers of Jesus and the unbelievers who still resisted the Catholic interpretation of his faith, was not in the spirit of him who exclaimed, even on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,") was one of the most skilful efforts towards the union of fervid eloquence with theatric effect ; and such as in the early ages no doubt stimulated the enterprise of the crusaders to take vengeance on those infidels who insulted the religion of Christ in the very cradle of its birth, and violated the sanctuaries which they deemed it their highest glory to rescue and defend. It was followed up by fine peals of music from the organ, and the hymns of choristers, who were chiefly children, of both sexes, and who sang in response to each other in the Arabic tongue also, in a manner resembling the songs sung in response by the boatmen on the Nile.

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The service being at an end, I had soon an opportunity of discovering that the preacher had a sharp eye, as well as an eloquent tongue; and that the devotion among the audience was not so universal, as the sobs and tears of many at least that I myself heard and saw had led me to believe. In eastern churches the

women are generally separated from the men, and sit in a gallery enclosed with lattice work, to prevent the attention of the sexes being diverted from religious feelings to less holy passions; and this separation was observed here. It has often been remarked, and is no doubt true, that females are generally more ardent and more superstitious than males; and consequently their sex furnishes more frequent instances of exemplary piety and devotion than are to be found among our own. Notwithstanding this general truth, however, while all those who sat below exposed to public view had behaved during worship with the greatest decorum, a knot of merry and talkative women in the gallery above, whom the lattice work and "dim religious light" had concealed from all observation but that of the lynx-eyed preacher, had excited his extreme displeasure; and before they could disperse, he had quitted the pulpit, and was up among them, reproaching them in terms of unchristian bitterness for their levity and inattention. It was an illustration of the truth too frequently overlooked, that the best safeguard of decorum is publicity, and that nothing will so effectually secure an attention to propriety of action as the conviction that the eyes of the world are fixed on the actor to observe the minutest peculiarities. The decorum of our own public assemblies is chiefly preserved by this feeling; and the better half of the morality of mankind is maintained by no other cause. If any portion of an English congregation were rendered by any means invisible to the rest, their behaviour would be far less scrupulous than at present; and if any portion of mankind at large could effectually screen themselves from the prying eye of the world, and become invulnerable to the power of public opinion on their conduct, such portion could not fail in a short time to become more dissolute and abandoned than others. To increase the means, therefore, of securing such publicity, and to enforce on all classes the necessity of such responsibility, is to promote the cause of virtue by one of the most powerful of all human agents, the desire to live in the esteem of others.

When the president and the friars of the convent met together after service in the small room in which they generally assembled around their chief, their conversation was just as frivolous, and unconnected with the impressions by which they had been endeavouring to make others believe themselves affected during their hours of devotion, as is the conversation of our English clergy and the higher orders among their congregation when they meet to talk of news, fashions, and parties, in the church portico, and while waiting for their carriages indulge in satirical strictures on the dress, equipage, dinners, and even characters of those very persons whom they intend to visit, dine with, and flatter during the week.

soon.

MONDAY, April 2.- Although my mules and guide for the journey to Seyda had been engaged for several days, and I was impatient to proceed, I was still unable to do so, being to-day worse than yesterday, probably from my leaving my room too The fever under which I suffered so severely, was considered by Doctor Chaboçeau as the effect of my fatigue, and exposure to the sun by day and cold by night, in my late journey; and the black colour of my blood was by him attributed to the wretched food on which I had subsisted for so many days in succession. It is said, also, that the water in the city of Damascus very generally affects the health of strangers who drink freely of it, in an

unmixed state, of which I had done, as water was almost my only beverage. The water of the river Barrady is considered to be unwholesome, and that of the river Feejy pure and excellent. Those who are choice in their drink, send servants, therefore, to fetch water from the last-named stream, at some distance from the town, before it unites with the former; the water that supplies the gardens and most of the houses in town coming from these rivers after they have joined their streams in one. There are, however, several springs in the heart of the city which produce excellent water, but these are only accessible to a few. From one of the principal of these, appropriately called "The Fountain of Health," Dr. Chaboçeau was supplied with the only water that he drank, and sent me sufficient for my use; it was very superior to that in common use, and in its pure taste, dark hue, and crystalline transparency, resembled the fine water of Madras.

From some of the best informed residents here, I learnt today that Damascus is thought to contain about 100,000 Mohammedan inhabitants, of whom all are native Syrian Arabs, excepting about 10,000 Turks, who are continually replaced by new families and settlers from Constantinople and the towns of Asiatic Turkey. Out of these, about 1,000 are soldiers, horse and foot, but principally the former, and these, with little more than 100 Albanians or Arnaoots, form the military force of the city; the remaining 9,000 are persons in the various offices of government, and merchants and traders in the bazārs. Besides these, which include the Mohammedan part of the population only, there are considered to be about 15,000 Jews, and 25,000 Christians, of whom there are estimated to be 10,000 of the Roman Catholic faith ; 3,000 of the Schismatic Greek communion; and the rest are of the Syrian, Maronite, and Armenian churches. The mosques of the Mohammedans are exceedingly numerous, certainly not less than 100 at least, including large and small; the Jews have six synagogues; the Catholic Christians one convent, with a church included in it; the Greeks one place of worship, larger and richer