Page images
PDF
EPUB

holds. He accepted the appointment on condition that he might be permitted to earry out a plan previously formed, of visiting the lands of the Bible, in conjunction with his friend, Rev. Eli Smith, a missionary of the American Board. This be accomplished, and then repaired to Berlin, where he devoted himself for two years to the preparation of his Biblical Researches in Palestine. In 1840, he returned to New York, and his great work was published the next year in three volumes, at Boston, London, and Halle. It at once established his fame, and, for learning, unwearied investigation, and scrupulous fidelity, placed him in the. very front rank of travellers; and the Royal Geographical Society of London awarded to him one of their gold medals.

Notwithstanding his many official labors connected with the seminary, Dr. Robinson projected and established, in 1843, "The Bibliotheca Sacra," which, for eritical theological learning, has not its superior on either side of the Atlantic. He also published, in 1845, a Harmony of the Four Gospels in Greek, and the next year an English Harmony. In 1850 appeared a new edition of his Lexicon of the New Testament.

The next year he again set out for Palestine, to make new researches, as well as to go over some of the ground formerly explored. He returned in 1852, and made preparations for a new volume, which appeared in 1856, both in this country and England, and in the German language at Berlin. This great work is now the standard upon the geography of Palestine, and for accuracy and thoroughness leaves nothing more to be desired.'

PLAIN BEFORE SINAI.

As we advanced, the valley still opened wider and wider, with a gentle ascent, and became full of shrubs and tufts of herbs, shut in on each side by lofty granite ridges with rugged, shattered peaks a thousand feet high, while the face of Horeb rose directly before us. Both my companion and myself involuntarily exclaimed, "Here is room enough for a large encampment!" Reaching the top of the ascent, or water-shed, a fine broad plain lay before us, sloping down gently towards the S. S. E., enclosed by rugged and venerable mountains of dark granite, stern, naked, splintered peaks and ridges of indescribable grandeur, and terminated at the distance of more than a mile by the bold and awful

Palestine, Past and Present: with Biblical, Literary, and Scientific Notices: By Rev. Henry S. Osborn, A.M., Professor of Natural Science in Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia. This is a work of very great merit, recently published by James Challen & Son, Philadelphia,-a pleasant and animated book of travels, with personal reminiscences, descriptions of scenery, interspersed with occasional religious reflections and philosophical discussions; and all in a pure and lively style. It is illustrated by a series of original engravings from the pencil of the author, and by a new map of Palestine, and is altogether the most pleasant and readable work upon this land we have yet seen,-of no ephemeral interest, but of a living, permanent value.

front of Horeb, rising perpendicularly, in frowning majesty, from twelve to fifteen hundred feet in height. It was a scene of solemn grandeur, wholly unexpected, and such as we had never seen; and the associations which at the moment rushed upon our minds were almost overwhelming. As we went on, new points of interest were continually opening to our view. On the left of Horeb, a deep and narrow valley runs up S. S. E., between lofty walls of rock, as if in continuation of the S. E. corner of the plain. In this valley, at the distance of near a mile from the plain, stands the convent; and the deep verdure of its fruit-trees and cypresses is seen as the traveller approaches, an oasis of beauty amid scenes of the sternest desolation. Still advancing, the front of Horeb rose like a wall before us; and one can approach quite to the foot, and touch the mount. As we crossed the plain, our feelings were strongly affected at finding here, so unexpectedly, a spot so entirely adapted to the scriptural account of the giving of the law. No traveller has described this plain, nor even mentioned it, except in a slight and general manner, probably because the most have reached the convent by another route, without passing over it; and perhaps, too, because neither the highest point of Sinai, (now called Jebel Mûsa,) nor the still loftier summit of St. Catharine, is visible from any part of it.

THE TOP OF SINAI, (SUFSAFEH.)

The extreme difficulty and even danger of the ascent was well rewarded by the prospect that now opened before us. The whole plain er-Rahah lay spread out beneath our feet, with the adjacent wadys and mountains; while Wady esh-Sheikh on the right, and the recess on the left, both connected with and opening broadly from er-Râhah, presented an area which serves nearly to double that of the plain. Our conviction was strengthened that here, or on some one of the adjacent cliffs, was the spot where the Lord "descended in fire" and proclaimed the law. Here lay the plain where the whole congregation might be assembled; here was the mount that could be approached and touched, if not forbidden; and here the mountain brow, where alone the lightnings and the thick cloud would be visible, and the thunders and the voice of the trump be heard, when the Lord "came down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai." We gave ourselves up to the impressions of the awful scene, and read, with a feeling that will never be forgotten, the sublime account of the transaction and the commandments there promulgated, in the original words as recorded by the great Hebrew legislator.'

1 Exod. xix. 9-25; xx. 1--21.

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 horseshoe 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 description, by Ezekiel, of the Assyrian power and glory. 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

1 The elevation of the cedars above the sea is given by Russegger and Schubert at six thousand Paris feet,-equivalent to six thousand four hundred English feet. The peaks of Lebanon above rise nearly three thousand feet higher.

21 Kings iv. 33; comp. Judges ix. 15; 2 Kings xiv. 9; Ps. xxix. 5; civ. 16. 3 Isa. ii. 13; xiv. 8; xxxvii. 24; Jer. xxii. 23; Ezek. xvii. 22; Zech. xi. 1, &c. 4 Ezek. xxxi. 3-9.—5 1 Kings vi. 9, 10; comp. v. 6, 8, 10; 1 Chron. xxii. 4. Ezra iii. 7.

3

built with cedar;1 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." 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.

EDWARD EVERETT.

EDWARD EVERETT, the son of Rev. Oliver Everett, and a younger brother of Alexander H. Everett, was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on the 11th of April, 1794. After the usual preparatory studies at Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, under the venerable Dr. Abbot, 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 eloquent Buckminster as pastor of Brattle Street Church, Boston. The next year he was elected Professor of the Greek Language and Literature in Harvard College, with the privilege of further qualifying himself for its duties by a visit to Europe. He accepted the appointment, 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. He returned home in 1819, and entered at once upon the duties of his professorship. In 1820, he became editor of the "North American Review," infusing new spirit into that journal, to which in the next four years he contributed about fifty papers, and above sixty more subsequently, when the Review was edited by his brother Alexander, and those who succeeded him. In 1824, he delivered an 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.5 In 1835, he retired from Congress, and for four years successively he was elected Governor of Massachusetts; but in

12 Sam. v. 11; vii. 2; comp. Jer. xxii. 14, 15.-21 Kings vii. 2; x. 17.— 3 Isa. xliv. 14; Plin. H. N. xiii. 11.- Ezek. xxvii. 5; where the description evidently refers to splendid pleasure-vessels.

His Congressional career did not, I am sorry to say, add much to his reputation. In his maiden speech, March 9, 1826, he went out of his way to apologize for slavery and to defend it from the New Testament. For this he was rebuked with great force by Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, by Churchill C. Cambreleng, of New York, and with withering sarcasm by John Randolph, of Virginia.

1839, he lost his election by one single vote. In 1841, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James, for which post he was peculiarly well qualified by his great 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, and in 1853 he succeeded John Davis, of Massachusetts, in the United States Senate.1

Mr. Everett now resides in Boston, occupied, it is said, in the preparation of a systematic treatise on the modern Law of Nations. His published works are A Defence of Christianity, 1 vol.; Miscellaneous Writings, vols. 8vo; Orations end Speeches, 2 vols. 8vo. These four last volumes contain eighty-one articles on literature, science, the arts, political economy, education, including his various orations and addresses before literary, scientific, and agricultural societies.

THE PILGRIMS OF THE MAYFLOWER.

Methinks I see it now, that one solitary, adventurous vessel, the Mayflower, of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing, with a thousand misgivings, the uncertain, the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, and weeks and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, but brings them not the sight of the wished-for shore. I see them now, scantily supplied with provisions, crowded almost to suffocation in their ill-stored prison, delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route, and now driven in fury before the raging tempest, on the high and giddy waves. The awful voice of the storm howls through the rigging. The

On the 14th of March, 1854, in the United States Senate, he presented a huge petition, signed by three thousand and fifty clergymen of New England, against the "Nebraska Bill." The object of the petition was immediately attacked, and the petitioners themselves foully (though characteristically) assailed, by Senators Douglas, of Illinois, and Mason, of Virginia; while Senators Houston, of Texas, and Seward, of New York, warmly and eloquently defended both. Mr. Everett also spoke; but his remarks were so tame and apologetical, that it would have been better for the cause of freedom had he been silent.

2 "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. At Windsor Castle, we find him fluently conversing with each member of the diplomatic corps in their vernacular tongue; in Florence, addressing the Scientific Congress with characteristic grace and wisdom; in London, entertaining the most gifted and wisely-chosen party of artists, authors, and men of rank or state, in a manner which elicits their best social sentiments; at home, in the professor's chair, in the popular assembly, in the lyceum-hall, or to celebrate an historical occasion, giving expression to high sentiment, or memorable fact, with the finished style and thrilling emphasis of the accomplished orator."--Homes of American Authors.

« PreviousContinue »