buried;" also, in speaking of the place of our Saviour's birth, death, and resurrection, many, without investigating the subject, indulge in the expressions "purely fabulous, unmitigated fictions," "nothing but lying legends." And yet there never has been and never can be one sound argument offered against the verity of these places. Not only the Bible, but all history, sacred and profane, backed by the traditions of eighteen hundred years, and supported by all modern explorations and scientific researches, fixes the location of these events on, or very near, the precise spots where they are pointed out. The identity of the Coliseum at Rome, or of the Parthenon at Athens, cannot be more clearly established than that of the temple of Solomon, the inn of Bethlehem, or the tomb of Christ.

We greatly deplore that these holy places have fallen into the hands of ignorant, unprincipled priests and monks, who practice all kinds of deception on the credulous, and abuse their office by making merchandise of sacred things. Still, this does not affect the truth, and we are not to reject the real because superstition has invested it with ridiculous absurdities and falsehoods. Some argue that our Lord designedly blotted out every trace of his presence when on earth, and that the world was never to know

where the great events of his history transpired. But why? We see his foot-prints in creation, why not in redemption? Why tell us where he was born- all the circumstances of his life: the river in which he was baptized; the name of the city where he lived; the locality of the miracles he wrought; the garden in which he was betrayed; the palace of the high-priest before whom he was arraigned; the king before whom he was tried; the place where he was crucified, and all the particulars of his burial, resurrection, and ascension, if no trace of these events was ever afterward to be discovered?

Dr. Robinson, in his researches, established it as a rule, " that no traditional

information was of any authority." Yet many of these traditions are of undoubted antiquity, and must have originated in facts. And we hold that the identity of the places mentioned in the Scriptures constitutes a strong collateral argument in support of their authenticity; that the land should be in perfect harmony with the book-the one the exponent of the other.

The Bible gives an unvarnished statement of certain facts, covering a period of many centuries, and is particular in giving names, dates, locations, and all the details of the events as they transpired. Now, if these events actually occurred, there should be some traces of them left in the topography of the country, and in the language, manners, traditions, and social condition of the people; otherwise we would have reason to doubt the record, and every inquirer after truth visiting these localities should carefully weigh and examine for himself the external evidence they furnish in support of the facts.

What is the result of recent scientific investigation? I am happy to say that all researches in Palestine fully agree with the facts, and establish beyond doubt the inspired record; and, what is very remarkable, almost every place mentioned in the Bible where any great event transpired may still be identified by its old Hebrew name in the Arabic form-a most wonderful philological argument in support of the record. Lieutenant Lynch and Captain Warren, in their explorations, have brought to light arguments that must forever silence the objections of infidelity. The discovery of the Moabite stone in 1868—the oldest alphabetic inscription known—supplies a lost chapter in the history of our race, agreeing exactly with the word of God; and the late exploration of the Desert of Tih, or "Wilderness of the Wanderings," by Messrs. Palmer and Drake, has resulted not only in tracing out the route of the Israelites, but in locating many of their encampments in the desert. Even the old Pharaohs of Egypt are coming forth from their dusty tombs to bear testimony to the truth of what Moses wrote more than three thousand years ago. The Bible is every-where found-written on the very rocks, amid the ruins of the past, and in the language, customs, and present condition of the country. Such biblical names as Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Esau, and Joseph prevail all over the East; and there is scarcely a wild Bedouin of the desert but will correctly point out to the traveler Mount Nebo, Hor, Sinai, and the site of almost every city mentioned in the Bible, and relate the principal events connected therewith. Names and places rarely change in the Orient, and great events are never forgotten. True, the wars, storms, and earthquakes of two thousand years have

wrought many physical, moral, and political changes, but they have not destroyed the old landmarks. There is also much of the traditional and superstitious mingled with the real. Still, the mountains and valleys, lakes and rivers, birds and flowers, remain much the same, and the inquirer after truth will find the Scriptures every-where written on the very face of the Holy Land.

Facts are stubborn things to resist, and geographical facts most stubborn of all; but there is no conflict here with Revelation. The plains of Moreh and Mamre, where Abraham first pitched his tent and erected his altar in the land of Canaan, remain as they were four thousand years

ago.

The descendants of his son, Ishmael, are wild men still, as uncivilized to-day as they ever were. Machpelah, the resting-place of the patriarchs, has never been disturbed, and remains very much as when Abraham purchased it from Ephron the Hittite, and laid in its vault his beloved Sarah. Mount Zion, Hermon, and Moriah, Pisgah, Tabor, and Olivet still stand upon their firm foundations, beautiful symbols of God's unchanging love. Jerusalem, though frequently demolished, has never been entirely destroyed. Dig down anywhere within the old walls, and you will come upon streets beautifully paved, grand archways, deep cisterns, immense columns, secret stair-cases, and long galleries cut through the solid rock, connecting the temple inclosure with distant fountains, and the Tower of Antonia with the citadel on Mount Zion -really wonderful to behold.

and the Kedron, the Sea of So with the well of Jacob,

As to the identity of the valley of Hinnom Galilee and the Jordan, no question can be raised. the pool of Siloam, and the tomb of Rachel. Some doubts have been expressed as to the exact site of the Saviour's agony, death, and ascension; but you feel when visiting the places designated as such that you are not far from the precise localities.

Any one visiting the Valley of the Dead Sea-though he had never seen a Bible, never heard of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah-would be able to

read the whole account of God's terrible judgments which destroyed the cities of the plain, written upon the scathed rocks and desolate mountains which wall in that dismal gulf-fit emblem of the lake of fire.

And the stranger from afar who never heard of Solomon's gorgeous temple, standing on Moriah, seeing the massiveness and height of the walls inclosing the sacred rock, exploring the great sea and other subterranean cisterns and vaults that underlie the whole vast area, examining the numerous beautiful gate-ways, broken columns, and arches of a remote antiquity, and the grand system of aqueducts that supplied the place with pure water from mountain springs twenty and forty miles distant, would soon be persuaded that the high platform on which he stood must at one time have been the site of some grand temple of worship. And every reader of the Bible would be convinced that the rock beneath the dome of

the Mosque of Omar could be none other than "the threshingfloor of Araunah," where Abraham built his altar for the sacrifice of his son, and over which in after years the magnificent Temple of Solomon was erected.

The same is true of the Grotto of the Nativity at Bethlehem, the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and many other places hallowed by the presence of Jesus. They all agree with the accounts as given. by the evangelists, and no one, after carefully examining the localities, can question the fact that they are in exact accord with the Bible narrative.

Thus it will be seen that all explored and identified localities are in perfect harmony with the narrative of sacred history; and the imagery of the Bible also wonderfully corresponds with the natural features, productions, and customs of the country. The natives still plow, sow, and reap as of old; the soil still retains its fertility; the streams still swarm with fish; lilies still bloom in the valleys; birds still lodge in the branches of the mustard-tree; and every thing mentioned in the inspired volume agrees remarkably with the present state and condition of the land. There are no discrepancies between the geographical statements of the Bible and ex

isting facts, or the topography of the country. All discoveries and researches not only elucidate the Scriptures, but bear witness to the truth of Revelation.

Further investigations will, no doubt, establish the locality of other places, until all skepticism as to the verity of the Scriptures has been removed, and the truth of God's word is established forever.

Lost land of the minstrel! whose harp, in its sad- The bird of the wild keepeth watch on the tomb;

ness,
Brought music from heaven, to play to thy heart;
Whose spell of a moment came down on thy mad-
ness,

And bade, for an hour, thy dark angel depart;
Till the power of its warning expired, with its strain,
And the spirit of evil came o'er thee again!

And the soil of simoom awaits the far day,
When the rain shall return to the wilderness gray.

Pale daughter of Zion! all wasted with weeping,
Thy footstool the desert, its dust on thy head;
Thy long weary watch o'er the wilderness keeping,
And sitting in darkness, like them that be dead:
A veil like the widow's hath shadowed thy pride,

High home of the temple! whose worship did And a sorrow is thine like no sorrow beside! borrow

A voice from the thunder, a light from the sky!
Blest soil, whence the vine, that was planted in

sorrow,

And sadly thy son by each far foreign river.
Sits, as he sat in the Babel of old;
Lone 'mid the nations, all homeless forever,

Hath hung o'er the nations its branches on high; 'Mid homes full of children, and poor 'mid his gold ;