^ B1 i«] Sketch of the present State of Palestine. 4SS 
slifning in the midst ofthedesert/^you may 
observe between Mount Sion and the tem¬ 
ple another spectacle of almost equal in- 
lerest. It is that of the remnant of ano¬ 
ther people, distinct from the rest of the 
inhabitants’a people, individually the 
objects of universal contempt;—who suf- 
ier the in')st wanton outraites without.a 
murmur;—-w ho eiidure blows and wounds 
without a sigh ;—W'ho, when the sacrifice 
of their life is demanded unhesitatingly 
stretch forth their necks to the sabre. 
If a member of thi-j community, thus 
cruelly proscribed and abused, happens 
to die, his companion buries him clan¬ 
destinely during the night, in the valley 
©f Josapbat, wittjin the purlieus of the 
temple of Solomon. Enter their habita¬ 
tion, and you find them in tlie most ab¬ 
ject, squalid misery; and for the most 
part occupied in reading a mysterious 
book to their chihhen, with whom again 
it becomes a manual for the instruction 
of tiie succeeding generation. Vv'liat 
these wretched outlaws from the justice 
and the compassion of the rest of man¬ 
kind did five thonsand years ago, they 
do still. Six tiines have tiiey witnessed 
the destructioli of Jerusalem and are not 
as yet discouraged: nothing can operate 
to divert their looks from Sion. We are 
surprised, no doubt, when we observe 
the Jews scattered over the face of the 
earth ; but to experience an astonishment 
much more lively, we have but to seek 
them in Jerusalem. The legitimate mas- 
ters of Judea should be seen as tliey are 
in their own land—slaves and strangers; 
they should he seen awaiting, under the 
most cruel and oppressive of all despo¬ 
tisms, a king wiu) is to work their deli¬ 
verance. Near the temple, (of which 
there does not remain “ one stone upon 
another,”) they still continue to dwell; 
and, witii the cross as it were plan.ted 
upon their heads, and bending them to 
the earth, still cling to their errors, and 
labour under the same deplorable infa¬ 
tuation. The Persian.s, the Greeks, and 
the Romans, has'e disappeaied from the 
face of the earth; and a suiall people, 
whose origin is anterior to that of these 
mighty nations, still survives amid the 
ruins of their country, with no alteration 
of manners and no mixture of foreign 
blood. If there be any thing among 
mankind wliich bears the stamp of a mi¬ 
racle, it is to I* found here most cer¬ 
tainly. What can he more marvellous 
or prodigious, even to the eye of a philo¬ 
sopher, than this approximation at th^ 
Moiv. Mag., Deg, 1; ISll, 
foot of Mount Calvary of the old and the 
new' Jerusalem, — the one deriving conso¬ 
lation from the aspect of that tomb from 
which all the miseries of the other appear 
to spring.? 
Next to the state of the Jew-s there is 
certainly no species of martyrdom worsa 
than that which is daily e.xpenenced by 
the monks of the holy land. Their situa¬ 
tion can only he compared to that of the 
inhabitants of France during the reign of 
terror. They labour under a constant 
apprehension of robbery or death, and 
enjoy not one raoinent of security. This 
will be more intelligible after we have 
drawn an outline of the government of 
Jerusalem. 
The holy city is attached to the pacha- 
ship of Damascus; and we can find no 
reason for this but in that system of op¬ 
pression which tlie Turks pursue, as it 
were instinctively. It is separated from 
Damascus by mountains; and the inter¬ 
course between them is still further im¬ 
peded by the Arabs who infest the de¬ 
serts. Consequently, w'hen the magis¬ 
trates or governors of Jerusalem act ty¬ 
rannically, it is almost impossible to 
transmit a complaint to the Pacha. It 
would have been mucti more easy and 
simple to annex Jerusalem to the govern¬ 
ment of Acre which is in the n'eighhour- 
hood. Tiie Latin fathers and the Franks 
could then claim protection from tha 
consuls who reside in the ports of Syria ; 
the Gree.ks and the Turks might make 
themselves heard. But this is exactly 
what their rulers wish to preclude: tliey 
want no impertinent rnurrnurers: it is 
their object to have dumb slaves. 
Jerusalem is, therefore, consigned 
over to a governor, who is almost en¬ 
tirely independent. He can commit 
with impuniry the most enormous ex¬ 
cesses, and has only to adjust his ac¬ 
counts with the Pacha afterw ards. Every 
magistrate in Turkey has a right to dele;-- 
gate his entire authority to a surrogate, 
and that authority, as is well known, 
extends over property and life. For a 
few purses of gold a janissary can be¬ 
come an aga, and such an aga as tnay, 
wiien he thinks fit, either deprive you of 
life or exact a ransom for it. These exe¬ 
cutioners are thus multiplied in every 
village of Judea. The only thing heard 
in tliat country (the only species of jus¬ 
tice administered,) Is tiiis—“ Let him 
pay ten, twenty, thirty, p<yses; give him 
five hundred strokes of the bastinado; 
cut ofi hijf hetul.” One outrage never 
a K faiU 
