  Sensation produced by the Delaware. Effect of this visit on the cause of Missions in Syria. Service on the Sabbath on board, and the crowds attending. Crowds attracted by this ship during her whole cruise. Appearance of the ship. Her effect on the visitors. Progress of free principles throughout the world. The cause of humanity secure. Our own Country, and its prosperity. Adieu to the reader. We found, that during our absence the ship, having taken in water, had changed her anchorage, and was now lying abreast of the city, and but a short distance off. A vessel of her class had never appeared along this part of the coast before; and on her arrival she immediately began to attract observation. A few of the citizens visited her, and found no difficulty in getting admittance on board: they carried news of this to the shore; other visitors came; her fame soon spread far and wide; and in a short time she was all the rage. Mr. Chassaud’s house was thronged by applicants for tickets of admission (the impression having gone abroad that they were useful), and the street to it was so crowded, that it was often difficult to get along. He computed the number who visited the ship here at 40,000; but, although this was perhaps above the reality, it was still prodigious. Some persons came I believe our visit has been beneficial to the interesting mission at this place. Mr. Bird, at my request, preached on board on the first Sunday of our stay here, and Mr. Smith on the second; and during the latter service, the visitors from shore were suffered to be present. Generally, visiting was not permitted on the Sabbath till public worship had been concluded; but on this occasion they were admitted, and allowed to stay; and when the crew were called up to worship, they came up also to witness the services. Our upper deck has a clear sweep of 225 feet in length: the whole is covered by an awning, elevated twelve or fifteen feet, with side pieces of canvass reaching down to the hammock-cloths, and thus forming a complete chamber. The poop-deck, on this occasion, is occupied chiefly by the band in their uniform: the officers stand by the capstan, and from this aft, on the starboard side: the larboard side is occupied, in front, by the ship’s boys, with prayer-books; then by the marines in Probably no ship has ever floated on the water that has attracted so much attention, or drawn so many visitors, as the Delaware during this cruise. The number of visitors, I think, may be safely estimated at about 200,000. At Naples, at Palermo, and at this place particularly, there was a constant throng from morning till night. No one was denied admittance; they were allowed to go freely through the ship, and, when the Commodore or Captain were absent, were admitted also into their cabins. At Naples the visitors were from all parts of Europe, a very large portion of them being from the interior of Germany. They saw a vessel, not only effective as regards her battery, but everywhere showing a neatness and a completeness of finish that must have astonished them. This ship, like some others of our seventy-four’s, has a deceptive appearance at a distance, seeming to be smaller than she is, and And to this noble and glorious cause of humanity we bid prosperity and success. Yes,—may Heaven sustain and bless it! I am not a politician, but I hope I am a philanthropist; and, next to religion, I love my country and its institutions, for I believe that in them is the regenerating principle that is going to awaken and vivify the world. These plains that we have just been passing over, abounding in a rich soil and under a prolific sky, why are they not cultivated? But they will be cultivated, and this people here will be intelligent and intellectual: the mind will rouse up, and claim its high pre-eminence; woman will be elevated to her proper, lofty sphere; brute force will yield to moral power; and smiling plenty, and security, and happiness, will prevail; and from our country will come the power that is to effect this mighty change. It is good sometimes to get far off from our land, so that, as from an elevated spot, we may look over the whole country; and, away from the influence of local prejudice, and interest, and alarms, may scrutinize our institutions, and examine into their permanency, and see what strengthening and what counteracting influences are at work to promise them security. For myself, I have no fear for them. It is good also, sometimes to get away, and to be able to compare our own country with others, and be able thus to calculate the amount of prosperity and happiness which we enjoy. In the clashings of enterprise and rivalship among us, angry feelings sometimes will arise. Europe is disgorging upon our land the inmates of her prisons, and there will be crime: the poor, the ignorant, and the oppressed of her population find refuge here, and abundance; and, in the wild joy at their newly-acquired comforts and their freedom, they may run into riots and disorders; but nowhere in the world is so much virtue to be found as amid our population; and virtue is happiness. We are a nation but of yesterday; and our railroads, and canals, and steam-boats, and commerce, are already a subject of astonishment; and what will they be a few years hence?—and a century after that?—and why may not the whole world be like it? There is nothing, surely, to prevent this, except Ignorance, and its twin-sister, Vice; but knowledge, and with it virtue, are gone forth conquering and to conquer, and their triumph will be complete. It is a glorious thing to live in such an age as this. And now, reader, I turn and offer you my hand, for the time when our companionship must cease has at length arrived. I hope that we have been friends during these journeyings, and that we part in kindness. May Heaven bless you! Adieu! THE END. [1] They were too sanguine. Soon after our visit the plague broke out at Alexandria, and raged with a violence that has scarcely ever had a parallel. In the town of Atfour on the Nile, which, when we passed it, had 40,000 inhabitants, in the course of a few months only 1500 remained. Some had fled, but far the greater part had been carried off by the disease. It swept quite through the land from the sea-coast to the interior, sparing neither city nor village, and was every where unusually fatal. [2] That this is not an overdrawn picture of Egyptian superstitions, see the proof in Herodotus, Euterpe. [3] Of this picture writing, there are several originals preserved; one at Vienna, three or four in the great library at Mexico, two in the Vatican at Rome, and one in the royal library at Paris. I was allowed to see that at Vienna. It is on deer-skin, and is about fifty feet in length by nine inches in width, folding like a Chinese book; the writing occupies both sides. The translation of it, which I have given here, is by Baron Humboldt. [4] At Benares is a Pyramid like those of Egypt, formed of earth, and covered with bricks. The Brahmins of India, when they heard the Egyptian Pyramids described by Mr. Wilford, declared at once that they were religious structures; and inquired whether they had not a subterraneous communication with the Nile. He described the well in that of Cheops to them, when they affirmed that it was for supplying the priests with water in their ceremonies, and that the sarcophagus in the great chamber was on such occasions filled with water and lotus-flowers. At Medun in Egypt is a Pyramid, with broad off-setts like those of Mexico; and similar ones are stated to exist on the banks of the Indus and Ganges. [5] A region embracing Cholula. Au. [6] The reader will notice the coincidence with the number of Noah’s family. Au. [7] Humboldt’s researches, English translation, v. 1. 95-6. [8] A peak of the Cordilleras of Mexico. [9] This picture represents a woman standing on the left; in front of her a serpent is erect, and looking towards her, with projecting tongue; beneath them, towards the right, are two figures struggling; and towards the left, two small objects, that may be vessels, though it is difficult exactly to determine their character. [10] Query, were not the “High Places,” mentioned in Scripture, also Pyramidal edifices. They were not natural hills, for the Hebrew term for the latter being ???? while for the high places the word ??? is universally employed. See 2 Kings xvi. 4., where the distinction is clearly made. They were in use among the Philistines, when the country was taken by the Hebrews. Numbers xxxiii. 51, 2. 2 Kings xvii. 9-11, and were, 1. Artificial structures. 1 Kings xiv. 23. 2 Kings xxi. 3. Ib. xi. 7. 2. Capable of being removed, but not so easily as the groves, altars, &c.—1 Kings xv. 14. 2 Kings xxiii. 13. 3. Were erected in their cities. 2 Chron. xxviii. 25. 2 Kings xvii. 29. 4. And in the country. 2 Chron. xxi. 11. 1 Kings xiv. 23. 5. Had small chapels on the summit. 2 Kings xvii. 29. 1 Kings xiii. 32. 6. And altars for offering sacrifice. 1 Kings iii. 4. Numbers xxii. 36, to end. 7. Also human victims probably. Jer. xix. 5. 8. Seem to have been connected with the worship of the sun. 2 Kings xxi. 3. 9. And with purification by fire. Jer. xxxii. 5. 10. Perhaps also used as places of burial. 2 Kings xxiii. 16. In Isaiah liii. 9. ??? is used to signify a grave. 11. Sometimes used as fortifications. Judges v. 18 and 19. 12. They appear sometimes to have been of earth or stone. 1 Kings xv. 14. 2 Kings xxiii. 8. 13. Sometimes of wood. 2 Kings xxii. 15. xxiii. 8. [11] For it is doubtful whether the Pyramids were ever completed. [12] The Caliph Melec-Alaziz-Othman-ben-Yusouf (quite worthy of his name) sent a large number of workmen here with orders to destroy the Pyramids. They spent eight months, with pickaxes, ropes, &c., and put him to an enormous expense; but after all were able only to disfigure one front of one, that of Mycerinus, the smallest one. Even Saladin bade his workmen consider Memphis and the Pyramids as quarries, from which to procure materials for building the walls and the citadel of Cairo. Recent accounts from Egypt state that Mohammed Ali is taking from the Pyramid of Mycerinus materials for his great work at the Barage. [13] A very large number of the seeds were sent home by us that autumn, and were planted by our friends last summer. They produced vines in abundance, and fruit; but I have heard of but one melon that came to maturity; this one was spoken of as very delicious. The failure of the others was perhaps owing to the shortness and coldness of the season. [14] See also Josephus, Bell. Jud., Lib. II. chap. xix. § 2 and 8. [15] I have been surprised as well as pleased to see the large number of copies of Josephus that are sold in this city [New-York.] I have attended the book auctions here quite frequently; and have observed that there is no book of its size that meets with such a ready sale, or brings so good a price. The work merits all this—Josephus has not received the praise from literary men that he deserves. [16] PLAN OF THE ANCIENT AND MODERN CITY OF JERUSALEM. The castellated lines represent the walls as they existed at the time of the crucifixion. The zigzag lines mark the supposed course of Agrippa’s wall, erected a few years after that event. The dotted lines, represent the walls of the present city of Jerusalem. The square figure represents the court of the ancient temple, with the temple in the centre. REFERENCES. ANCIENT CITY. 1. Castle of Hippicus. MODERN CITY. a. Jaffa Gate. [17] “El Devoto Peregrino, viage de tierra Santa, compuesto por el P. F. Antonio de Castillo, Predicador Apostolico Padre dela Provincia de S. Juan Baptiste y Comisario General de Jerusalem en los Reynos de Espana Guardian de Belem.” [18] Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. 4. §5. Also, Antiq. lib. xiv. cap. 4. §1. [19] Josephus, passim. [20] Jos. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 5. [21] Do. § 3. [22] These dimensions seem incredible; but this is a subject that will be noticed by and by. [23] Jos. Antiq. lib. viii. cap. 3. § 9. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 3. [24] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. § 8. [25] Antiq. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 4. [26] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1. [27] Ibid. [28] Tacitus Hist. Lib. v. cap. xi. [29] Ib. [30] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1. [31] Josephus informs us, that the Jews under Simon, “all set themselves to work and levelled this mountain; and in that work spent both day and night, without any intermission, which cost them three whole years before it was removed and brought to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city; after which the temple was the highest of all the buildings. Now the citadel, as well as the mountain on which it stood, was demolished.” Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. vi. § 7. By the words, “to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city,” he cannot mean to a level with the plain of Zion; for in another place (de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1.) he says that the upper city, or Zion, was much higher than this; we must understand him to say, that the peak was reduced to the general level of the rest of Acra. [32] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1. [33] Ibid. lib. vi. cap. vi. § 2, and cap. viii. § 2. [34] “For the city lay over against the Temple in the manner of a theatre, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter.” Antiq. lib. xv. cap. xi. § 5. [35] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2. [36] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2. [37] Ibid. Also cap. vi. § 1. [38] Ibid. lib. vi. cap. viii. § 1. [39] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 1. et passim. [40] Ibid. [41] ??????e??? is the word used by Josephus; Whiston has translated it “encompassed;” L’Estrange, I think, translates it “passes along;” it means simply making a curve, either inward or outward, and so I have used it. [42] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2. [43] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. vi. § 2. [44] In Antiq. lib. xix. cap. vii. § 2. is a short passage that seems to be opposed to this. It is probable that his predecessors contemplated such a wall, and made a commencement in one or two places; both Pompey (B. C. 63) and Herod (B. C. 37), when they came to attack Jerusalem, found this place quite naked, and made their assaults at once on the temple and the second wall at Acra. Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xii. has a passage bearing on this subject. “Moreover the covetous temper that prevailed under Claudius gave the Jews an opportunity of purchasing for money, leave to fortify Jerusalem; so they built walls in time of peace as if they were going to war, they being augmented in number by those rude multitudes of people that retired thither on the ruin of the other cities.” Claudius reigned from A. D. 41 to 54. [45] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iv. § 2. [46] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 6. § 2. [47] See Luke xxiii. 49. [48] Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3. [49] ??? Esther i. 5, &c. [50] Jos. de Bel. lib. 5. cap. 7. § 3. [51] All these dimensions, I wish the reader to understand, are not by actual measurement, but as nearly as I could judge by the eye; I think they are sufficiently accurate to serve as a guide in the present case, but I do not affirm them to be strictly accurate. [52] Such a custom still prevails in the east. In Turkish burying grounds, we frequently see bits of rags suspended about the tombs of the dead whom they regard with reverence. The monumental enclosures in Pere la Chaise, near Paris, are often rendered offensive by the heaps of decaying garlands within them, the offerings of friends. [53] Many parts of Jerusalem bore testimony to our itchings for such relics; fresh fractures were to be seen in a great many places on the walls and along the streets. [54] I paced the circuit of the city, taking notes and plans of the whole, and marking the towers; but the paper has been unfortunately lost. The following are the dimensions in detail, as furnished by Messrs. Fisk and King:
which, at their computation of five paces to a rod, makes the whole circuit two miles and seven tenths, or nearly two thirds of a mile; Sandys made it nearly the same, namely, two miles and a half. [55] In addition to the passage of Josephus just referred to, see also de Bel. lib. vi. cap. ix. § 1. [56] El Devoto Peregrino. [57] El Devoto Peregrino. [58] El Devoto Peregrino, p. 68. [59] See Josephus de Bel. lib. v. cap. 4. § 1. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 5. [60] Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11. § 3. [61] Compare this passage with Acts i. 12, where the ascension is also spoken of. There are two roads to Bethany; one around the southern end of the Mount of Olives, and one across its summit; the latter being considerably shorter but more difficult. It was probably on this latter road, in the descent to Bethany, that the Saviour was taken up from the Apostles. [62] Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 1. § 1. [63] El Devoto Peregrino, p. 105. [64] I trust that I shall be pardoned if I add that the Commodore and myself had some of it worked at Mahon into tables representing, in Mosaic work, the hills and valleys of Jerusalem, a plan of the city, and a view of the Mount of Olives, its buildings and roads. The workmanship was well executed, and they make handsome pictures. The ingenious workman, Juan Rivdavetz y Prieto, just before we left that city, contrived a method of staining on plain apple wood, pictures of fruit, &c., with a very rich back-ground, forming beautiful cabinet work. The Commodore offered him a passage in the Delaware to America; but the love of his native island prevailed, and he remained. [65] Jos. Ant. lib. viii. cap. 3. § 9. Ib. lib. xv. cap. 11. § 15. Ib. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. § 1. The height of these walls must strike the reader as almost beyond belief; and I confess that I hesitated about repeating them from the Jewish historian, till I came to reflect on the size of similar structures in other eastern cities. The walls of Nineveh are reported on good authority to have been 100 feet in height, and to have been strengthened by 1500 towers 200 feet in elevation. The height of the temple of Belus, at Babylon, formed altogether of bricks, is computed by Major Rennel at 500 feet, and by Prideaux at 600; its ruins still form a mound 200 feet in height. The royal palace in the same city was nearly as large as the temple; and the ruins of a castle are still seen 140 feet in height, and half a mile in circuit. The walls of this city were 34 miles in circuit—according to some writers 60; and were broad enough for six chariots to drive abreast upon them; and appear to have been originally 300, or 350 feet in height; having been reduced from this to 75 feet by Darius Hystaspes in order to check the rebellious spirit of the inhabitants. The Egyptian pyramids still afford us a proof of the colossal nature of such undertakings in ancient times. The largest two of these, as has been already stated in this work, being 470 and 456 feet high, by 704 and 654 on each side. When we reflect on the sacred character of Jerusalem in the eyes of all the Jews; how deeply the temple worship was wrought into all their systems, both civil and religious; how earnest their zeal, how entire their devotedness as regards this structure—we are prepared for something extraordinary. Josephus computes the number of “pure” persons who came up yearly to the feast of the Passover at about 3,000,000. (De Bel. lib. 11. cap. 14. § 3. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3.) The vanity of the historian may have led him to some exaggeration, but still the number was prodigiously great. Many of these brought rich presents to the temple, and all were ready to contribute their labor as well as means whenever called upon. Agrippa, at one time, had 18,000 men employed in repairing the Temple. (Jos. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. ix. § 7.) Solomon employed 80,000 men to cut stone; 70,000 to transport the materials, and 10,000 men constantly on Mount Lebanon to cut wood for the Temple, and was seven years in completing it. The space comprehended by these lofty walls was not entirely filled with earth, a large portion being occupied with vaults and subterranean passages. Their extent and the subsequent violence will account for the complete abrasion of this mountain. See Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iii. § 1. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. ii. § 7. [66] Thrice referred to in the New Testament, John x. 23. Acts iii. 11. and v. 12. [67] Acts iii. 2. [68] I have been unwilling to break the thread of description by references; but my authorities are in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11. lib. viii. cap. 3. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5. If the reader should think this account of the richness of the Temple incredible, he is requested to consult ancient authors about similar structures in other countries. The Parthenon at Athens cost sixty millions of dollars; the Propylaea, or entrance to the Acropolis, on which it stands, cost half as much; the statue of Minerva in the former was of ivory and gold; the gold alone cost more than half a million of dollars. The statue, decorations, and utensils in the Temple of Belus, according to Diodorus Siculus, were equal in value to more than 200 millions of our dollars. When Titus had taken Jerusalem, gold was so abundant among his soldiers, that in Syria a pound of it sold for half its former value. See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 6. § 1. [69] Stones are still to be seen at the Great Temple of Baalbec sixty-four feet in length. [70] See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. v. § 3. Ibid. cap. ix. § 3; and for the prodigies, see also Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xiii. [71] Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. xiii. § 2. and Ib. cap. iv. 2. [72] Dr. Dalton, from England. [73] 1 Kings, chap. xviii. [74] [The Earl of Chatham.—Author.] [75] A Turkish weapon, like a broad dagger, but usually about a foot in length. [76] Mohammed Ali got possession of Damascus without resistance, in June, 1832. [77] Or was intended to have, for it is doubtful whether this temple was ever finished. [78] “City of the Sun”—the Greek name of Balbec. Balbec is Syriac, and means the Vale of Baal. Balbeit signifies the House of Baal. [79] Vide “The Ruins of Balbec,” by Robert Wood. |
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