at least, would gain much from its immediate downfall, unless some European power is prepared with consent of the others to take the responsibility of guarding those holy places which have caused so much strife and bad feeling in Christendom.

power to hurt them; another was kneading the city from scenes of frightful bloodshed, some paste. The rest of the women and so that whatever may be the faults of Turkgirls came crowding round me caressingly ish rule, it does not appear that Jerusalem, and wonderingly. They stroked my face and hair, and especially marvelled at my closely fitting kid gloves, which I put off and on for their amusement. They exclaimed repeatedly, 'Oh, work of God!' One of the elder women said, Where are you going, O my daughter?' I answered, O my mother, I am going to "El Kuds" "The Holy" (that is, Jerusalem). Then she said, as if by way of explanation to the others,. They are pilgrims; God preserve them!'

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Want of space also forbids us to extract any of the accounts of Eastern marriages and funerals, at several of which Miss Rogers was present, listening to and giving us "In the mean time, the bread was being translations of a few of the chants of the made thus: in the open air, on a small cir-" singing women," and the "professional cular hearth, formed of smooth round stones, mourners," who continue to pursue their spread evenly and close together on the trade as in the reign of Solomon. ground, a brisk wood fire was kindled. Miss Bremer's work, although only bearWhen the stones of this primitive hearth ing the title of Travels in the Holy Land, were sufficiently heated, the embers were carefully removed, and the well-kneaded has in reality a much wider range, and is paste thrown on to the hot stones, and altogether of a more ambitious character quickly covered with the burning ashes. In than Miss Rogers' interesting volume. In this way several cakes of unleavened bread the course of an eight months' tour the auwere soon made ready. I returned to the thoress visited all the more interesting spots tent. Our canteen and provisions had been on the shore of the Levant, and beginning unpacked, much to the amusement of the men, who were especially pleased with the with a description of Etna and the towns of knives and forks and spoons. Wooden Sicily, bids adieu to her readers on the banks bowls of cream and milk were brought, and of the Golden Horn, after having conscienthe flat cakes of bread were served quite tiously gone over the sights of Constantihot. They had received the impression of nople. the pebbles of which the hearth was composed. This most likely was the same sort of bread which Sarah of old made for the strangers, in obedience to Abraham's desire, when he said, 'Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.'

It appears to us that a considerable portion of the first volume, though perhaps both new and interesting to the author's countrymen, might with advantage have been omitted in an English translation, as almost every one in this country is to a certain extent familiar with the topography of Malta and the The description of the wild rites and cere- history of the Knights of St. John, either monies performed in the church of the Holy from the works of previous travellers or from Sepulchre at Easter, the clumsy miracle of the excellent handbooks of Mr. Murray, so the "holy fire," and its distribution among justly dear to the heart of the British tourthe crowd of half-insane devotees who have ist. At Jerusalem Miss Bremer makes the come from all parts of the East to gratify at round of all the usual " lions," and again we once their love of spiritual excitement and feel that, however interesting the most mitheir hatred of the religionists whose dogmas nute details of excursions to oft-visited differ in any respect from their own-form scenes may be to the friends and acquaintone of the most amusing chapters of the ances of the writer, some discretion is necesbook; but it is impossible, without making sary in selecting intellectual food for the sated an extract of the whole, to give an idea of appetite of English readers. Her pilgrimage the prolonged and furious "faction fight" to Jericho is well described, though one canbetween the Greek and Armenian Chris- not help remarking that the following pretty tians, of which Miss Rogers was an unwill- piece of word-painting is somewhat marred ing spectator. It is worthy of remark, how-by the needless epithet applied to the Jorever, that upon this occasion the presence dan, which reminds one a little of the "disof a body of the Sultan's troops alone saved tinguished poet Shakspeare."

"One is still high amongst the mountains, | We are enlightened as to the opinion Miss but below them stretches, from north to Bremer holds on the philosophy of Confucius south, between the hills of Moab and Judea, and the religion of Buddha, and it will be an extent of verdant meadow-land several gratifying to our Hebrew fellow-citizens to English miles broad. In the middle of this learn that she entirely approves of the congreen flat is mapped out a softly waving gar- duct of their ancestors in exterminating the land-like line of bright green leafy wood, be- inhabitants of Canaan. After a short digresneath which flows, as yet invisible to the in- sion on miracles, and a long quotation from quiring gaze, the celebrated river of Jordan. the Erde und Völkerkunde of Carl Ritter, Far away to the north the banks seem to and the works of Zoroaster, the authoress elevate themselves till they become low hills takes the public completely into her confi-partly bare of wood. To the south the dence, and expatiates at some length upon Dead Sea shines out light-blue from its dark her own fervent, but as it appears to us rocky background. The lower we descend somewhat illogical piety. the more open becomes the view, the more beautiful and unusual the scene, above which the summer-blue sky expands itself loftily and full of light. But I could only imperfectly enjoy it, for the heat and the jolting of the horse down the hill, made me so weary, that with almost exclusive love and longing I gazed merely at one spot on the level below, where a crowd of white and blue-green tents shone forth brightly in the midday sunshine. It was the camp of the pilgrims in the Valley of Jericho; it was also the spot where our tents were to be pitched, and we were to rest. I longed inexpressibly to be there. We had been riding nearly seven hours in the heat of the

sun."

We do not much admire the taste which has led the authoress to dilate upon the physical inconvenience suffered by a young German matron, one of her companions in this excursion, on account of the absence of her infant, and the remedies it was found necessary to apply; such details of the nursery, although worthy the attention of the physiological student, being not in the slightest degree interesting to the world at large.

The account of the precipitous rock of Massada, on the shore of the Dead Sea, and of the winding road from the summit, which by a rather bold figure of speech is said to make "incessant circumlocutions," would be of more value had Miss Bremer actually visited the spot instead of describing it from hearsay.

Before leaving Jerusalem our authoress indulges in a long discussion upon all the subjects which have passed through her mind while there, but we fear the majority of readers will be inclined to skip this portion of the book, which is apropos de rien, and in some places unintelligible. It includes a quotation from Tacitus with regard to the marriages of the Ancient Germans, vague speculations as to the "significance of history," the "great world plan," and the physical geography of the Asiatic continent.

Embarking on board the Russian steamer at Jaffa she voyages northward, and pays a flying visit to the Druses of the Lebanon, upon whose faith and morals she is very severe, although candidly admitting that she derives her ideas chiefly from the gossip of the townspeople of Beirout. The Maronites, however, do not fare much better at her hands than do their enemies of the mountain, and before quitting the shores of Syria the authoress, in order to be perfectly impartial, criticises the Koran without finding much to admire, and makes a few remarks condemnatory of the private character of Mohammed."

At Smyrna she abandons her original intention of going to Athens, and secures a berth on board the Constantinople steamer, thus for the first time, as we are informed,

66

in a spiritual necessity." Miss Bremer conobeying an impulse which had not its root cludes a short treatise on the present condition of Turkey as follows:

"The great powers of Russia, England, and France see it, and-keep principally watch upon each other, in the fear that he who undertakes to help may himself also seize upon the country. Syria and Palestine stand, in the mean time, exposed to the storm, as now also in Jerusalem the temple of Christ, with its riven cupola and Holy Sepulchre, whilst the Latin and the Greek Church will neither allow the other to repair the damage, from the fear that whichever shall do so will then claim it as his own.

"Such a state of things is not admirable, nor worthy of Christian nations."

Perhaps not-but unless a practical solution of the difficulty can be discovered more likely to prove satisfactory to all parties concerned than would be either a partition of the Ottoman Empire or the handing it over to Russia (as the author's note in page 41 appears to recommend), the Eastern question must remain for an indefinite period in statu quo, a source of continual uneasiness to diplomatists, and a subject deserving the deepest consideration of thoughtful' politicians.

From The Press.

POEMS BY A PAINTER.* THE poetry of a painter will naturally be more minute in its descriptions, more delicate in its shades of color, more characteristic of a perceptive and observant eye, than that of a man who has never cultivated the sister art. The highest poetry is not minutely descriptive, but rather suggestive. The poet's eye sees the whole, but not all. The poet sees the great glory of a regal sunset, but does not try to detect and analyze every shade and tone of its color. He tells you, perhaps, that he has seen in the west the wings of an army of seraphim, and every man colors the accident for himself. Not so the painter. He must catch every tint, every shadow, every nuance. His eye must be microscopic. And thus, when he strives to paint in words, we expect from him greater delicacy and detail.

ultaneously discover a new science, or Leverrier and Adams a new planet, there is nothing remarkable if several men at the same moment attempt to give to poetry greater delicacy and polish. Moreover, Mr. Tennyson would scarcely have been what he is but for the influence of Shelley and Keats on the one hand, of Wordsworth and Coleridge on the other; and these very influences must have acted on other men. We do not imagine our author to have been influenced directly by Mr. Tennyson. 'Syrinx," the first poem in the volume, reminds us very much of Keats; but is simpler in style, and devoid of that luscious overgrowth of epithets which spoilt Keats' earlier writings. Through the Water" is very beautiful. Take its first stanza :—

"Lower and lower sinks the weary moon

Towards the vapory bar.

Higher and higher soars the morning star
Through the flushed heaven of June.
The east grows pale-it will be morning soon!
Up through the gusty sound,

Each with his glimmering foam-wreath
crowned,

The ocean waves come ramping, Ramping and rolling with haughty roar, Line after line, in the wan moonshine,

Like an army of heroes proudly tramping
To death on a hostile shore.

And ever the salt winds sob and sigh,
And the sheeted spindrift whistles by,
Like the voice and the tears of agony.
And cold as the breath

Some men, not painters, have written such poetry as we indicate. But this only shows that they might have been painters. The mere elements-the business of palette and brush-they have never learnt; and so there is a painter lost. Poetry has this advantage over the sister arts, that its practice is easily open to everybody. Everybody learns reading and writing, and (except Mr. Bright) English grammar. But mere drawing-mere fingering a piano-mere cutting stone with a chisel-are matters not to be acquired on the instant. Perhaps thiswhich is in one way an advantage to poetry —is in another way a disadvantage. For whereas we find a great many people writing intolerable books of verse, elementary difficulties render far less numerous the intolerable painters and sculptors and composers of music. And the transcendent genius may usually be trusted to conquer all ob- "The long weary wash of the salt, singing

stacles.

Of slander or death

The balmy midnight air has grown,
As I drive fast and free,

With the send of the sea,

With the long weary wash of the salt, singing

sea

The moon in my white sail, the foam-fire a-lee,
In the night of my sorrow, alone."
What can be finer than

sea"?

charming poem :—

'A purple splendor swathes the mountain

steeps;

Slowly night's cloudy cerements are with

The author of "Poems by a Painter" One other verse we must quote from this tells us that many of them were written in very early life. Although written, perhaps, before Mr. Tennyson's influence was as much felt as it has been for the last twenty years, several of the poems are unmistakably Tennysonian. This may easily be the case without imitation. The Laureate has influenced his age, but he is the product of his age; and if Leibnitz and Newton could sim

Poems by a Painter. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons.

drawn;

And, as a spirit from the charnel leaps,
Leaps up the east the glory of the dawn!
Eastward the strong wind bloweth,
Eastward the great sea floweth,
Eastward the wan haze traileth,
Eastward the sea-bird saileth,
Eastward the dark earth turneth,
Eastward my lone heart yearneth,

And eastward, eastward strain my yearning

eyes

To where beyond the veil of mist,
Stretched like a cloud of faintest amethyst,
Headland and valley, crag and shadowy

cove,

Athwart the track of morn the island lies:
The island that I love!

And there, ah! there

Peace, burning heart within thy crimson deeps;

Thy reign at last is o'er !Amid the halo of its golden hair The sweet face sleeps;

The pale, sweet face, that I shall see no more!'

These lines are extremely beautiful; instinct with a mystical music suggested by "the salt, singing sea." But perhaps the most exquisite gem among the "Painter's " poems is a brief lyric-"Under the Western Star," with which we conclude our notice :

"Under the western star,

Under the low gleams of the crescent moon,
I see his white sail gliding from afar,
In the warm wind of June.

"Blow wind of summer, blow!
Nor linger in the gardens of the west:
Blow, blow; thou bringest all too slow
The loved one to my breast.

"Too slow, my heart, too slow

For thy fond pulses, that tumultuous beat
As they would burst their bounds, and seaward
flow

To clasp him ere we meet.

"Fades the sweet evening light

But starlike in the glow of my delight
In purple splendors of the summer dark;
Glimmers his homeward bark.
"He comes! I hear his keel

Gride on the silver shingle of the shore;
Peace, foolish heart! nor all thy joy reveal
At meeting him once more."

"God, in his rage,

THE ASS AND THE LADDER.-In Biblia | a poor thatcher at Dorchester with his usual Sacra Hebraica (Bibliotheca Sussexiana, vol. i. rigor, the man exclaimed after his trialp. xi.) is the following expression, "May this book not be damaged, neither this day nor forever, until the ass ascends the ladder."Query, the legend? A. W. H.

་

Made a Judge Page."

Page was the judge who tried Savage for murder, whom he seemed anxious to condemn; in[The passage at the end of this manuscript deed, he owned that he had been particularly (Sec. xiii.) reads as follows: "I, Meyer, the severe against him. When decrepit from old son of Rabbi Jacob, the scribe, have finished age, as he passed along from court, a friend inthis book for Rabbi Abraham, the son of Rabbi quired particularly of the state of his health. Nathan, the 5052nd year (A.D. 1292); and he He replied, "My dear sir, you see I keep hanghas bequeathed it to his children and his chil-ing on, hanging on." He died on Dec. 18, 1741, dren's children forever. Amen. Amen. Amen. | aged eighty, at his seat at North Aston in OxSelah. Be strong and strengthened. May this fordshire.-Vide Noble's Biog. History of Engbook not be damaged, neither this day nor for- land, iii. 203.-Notes and Queries. ever, until the Ass ascends the Ladder. Like the Latin phrase of Petronius "asinus in tegulis" (an ass on the housetop), which is supposed to signify something impossible and incredible, the saying “until the ass ascends the ladder," is a proverbial expression among the Rabbins, for what will never take place; e.g., "Si ascenderit asinus per scalas, invenietur sci- held even almost to the famishment of many, "During the siege of this city (Leyden), which entia in mulieribus; "a proposition so uncom-they made money of paper, with these devices— plimentary to the superior sex, that we leave it in Buxtorf's Latin.-Notes and Queries.

PAPER MONEY AT LEYDEN.-Mr. Dineley, in his MS. account of the Low Countries, writ ten in 1674, describes the paper money made at the siege of Leyden in 1574, in these words:

Hac libertatis ergo; Pugno pro patriâ; Godt behoed Leyden. Some of their pieces remain to this day in the hands of the curious of the University. This siege began a little after Easter, and was raised, and ended the 3d of October, 1574."

Paper in this description must mean pasteboard, for pen-and-ink drawings of these coins are shown in Mr. Dineley's book, about the size of crown-pieces, with a lion crowned, and cross

SIR FRANCIS PAGE was the son of the Vicar of Bloxham in Oxfordshire. He assumed the coif Dec. 14, 1704; became king's sergeant Jan. 26, 1714-15; a baron of the Exchequer May 22, 1718; a justice of the Common Pleas Nov.keys as devices.

4, 1726, and a justice of the King's Bench Is there any instance of this kind of money in Sept. 27, 1727. He always felt a luxury in use in any other country than Holland? condemning a prisoner, which obtained for him THOS. E. WINNINGTON. the epithet of the hanging judge." Treating

-Notes and Queries.

McClellan, 88. Rainy Day in Camp,

PRETRY.-March, 66. Albert the Good, 66. 89. Donelson, 89. Lady Barbara, 112. Not Comfortless, 112.

Discoveries at Halicarnassus, 76. Farewell Address, 97. The Soul 106. Lyrical Compositions from

SHORT ARTICLES.- Horace and the Monitor, 76. Library at Brookline, Mass., 88. Anna Seward, 97. Made Visible, 103. Second Marriages in Ireland, Italian Poets, 106. Pronunciation of Proper Names, 106. The Railways or the World, 109. Peace Congress proposed in 1693, 109.

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