the Globe was again prepared for the uses of mankind, and its divisions marked for 
the future dwelling of nations ? No territory of the Earth ever accomplished objects 
of such holiness, might, and magnitude. It witnessed a succession of miracles, on 
the scale of a people, and with a duration of forty years; it trained the most memorable 
of all nations to Law, Government, and Religion. Its purpose was then done; Sinai 
became a wilderness once more: and it has never been repeopled, to this hour. Its 
purpose was fulfilled,— amply, once, and for ever! 
SCENE ON THE QUAY OF SUEZ. 
It may still be too early to predict the future importance of the comparatively quiet 
Quay of Suez; although the failure of the attempt to improve our intercourse with 
India by the navigation of the Euphrates has hitherto left the direct passage between 
Europe and Asia by the Red Sea without a rival. A point which unites two quarters of 
the globe, and by which two oceans have their nearest connexion, would naturally, 
with the increasing activity of commerce, increase in value; notwithstanding the want 
of fresh water, of every kind of verdure, and the utter absence of cultivation. The 
date of Suez does not go farther back than the earlier period of the sixteenth century, 
when it became the place of transit for Eastern merchandise, and even fitted out 
naval armaments. The discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope gradually 
reduced its value; and it existed only as a place for provisioning the caravans to 
Mecca; but now, the employment of steam navigation, and the British intercourse 
with the East, promise to remove the wretched establishments on the Quay of Suez. 
Yet, even this contingency depends on others. The shallowness of the Gulf at this 
part is already felt as a serious obstruction; and a Railway directed to any more 
favourable point of the shore would consign the Town to immediate decay. The 
project of a Ship Canal would be equally fatal; and although this has hitherto been 
only matter of theory, it would be difficult to limit the enterprise of a Government 
which in six months completed the Mahmoodieh Canal forty miles long! 
