.JERUSALEM. 
369 
ccived the gazettes of Europe, and had himself figured in the 
cabinets of its princes.* The approaching downfall of the 
Turkish empire is an event which of course every reflecting 
mind must contemplate with eager anticipation ; and every 
means conducive to this end is hailed as an instrument in the 
hand of God. Whether the armies of France or thb fleets of 
England occasion signs of its approximation, the universal 
church .of Syria, howsoever distributed and divided by sects— 
Armenians, Georgians, Greeks, Abyssinians, Copts, Nestoria ns* 
Catholics, Syrians, Druses, Maronites, together with all dis¬ 
tinctions of Jewish worshippers, Samaritans, Karaites, itab^ 
bioists—• are ready to bestow upon them their praises and their 
blessings. Thus, if a Frenchman arrive in Jerusalem, as in 
the recent instance of De Chateaubriand, they talk to him of 
the victories of Bounaparte, and the prowess of Frenchmen m 
the Holy Land, as if they were preaching for a new crusade. 
If an Englishman, they lavish commendations and benedictions 
upon the heroes of the British Navy; dwelling with enthusi¬ 
asm upon the exploits of Nelson at Aboukir; upon those of 
Sir Sidney Smith at Acre; and upon the glorious fate of the 
lamented Abercrombie. 
* A monk at the convent of St. Saba, near the Dead Sea, began to reveal to 
De Chateaubriand “ the'secrets of the court of Jfussldr* $ee Trjav. vol, 1. £>p. 4G3-r40f> 
'£qw1- 1311. 
