pocket a small volume which he had brought up for the occasion, and remarking that he was going to read something written on that very spot by an American Biblical scholar, read the following: 20. "In the village below, the Saviour of the world had passed his childhood; and although we have few particulars of his life during those early years, yet there are certain features of nature which meet our eyes now, just as they once met his. He must often have visited the fountain near which we had pitched our tent; his feet must frequently have wandered over the adjacent hills; and his eyes had, doubtless, gazed upon the splendid prospect from this very spot. 21. "Here the Prince of Peace looked down upon the great plain, where the din of battles so oft had rolled, and the garments of the warrior been dyed in blood; and he looked out, too, upon that sea, over which the swift ships were to bear the tidings of salvation to nations and to continents then unknown. 22. "How has the moral aspect of things been changed! Battles and bloodshed, indeed, have not ceased to desolate this unhappy country, and gross darkness now covers the people; but from this region a light went forth which has enlightened the world and unveiled new climes; and now the rays of that light begin to be reflected back from distant isles and continents, to illuminate anew the darkened land where it first sprang up."—Robinson. 23. On our way eastward to strike the valley of the Jordan again, as we were winding around the craggy heights of Mount Tabor, which was sprinkled with old oaks to the very summit, we had a beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee, with the desolate hills of the Gadarenes on its eastern shore, when Prof. Howard, pointing to the mountains beyond, repeated the following lines: "Beyond are Bethulia's" mountains of green, And I pause on the goat-crags of Tabor to see The gleam of thy waters, O dark Galilee."- Whittier. 24. "Let us rest here for a while," said the Professor, "and enjoy the beauties of the scene." So we alighted, and sat down on the rocks around him, feeling assured that he would have something to say about a locality so renowned in history. 25. He pointed out to us, in the Old Testament, where this mountain is several times mentioned there; and said it was probably on the very heights where we were then resting that Deborah and Barak assembled the warriors of Israel previous to the battle with Sisera, and that in the plain of Esdrae'lon below, or valley of Jezreel as it is called in Bible history, which we were looking down upon, the hosts of Sisera were discomfited.' The Greek and Latin monks believe this mountain to have been the scene of the Transfiguration, and, in a small chapel at its base, the monks of Nazareth annually celebrate that event. 26. The Professor said there was one scene of exceeding interest in more modern history, connected with this locality, to which he must call our attention, and that was the battle between the small body of French troops and the Turkish hosts, fought in the plain below, a little westward of Nain and Shunem, on the 16th of April, 1799, during Napoleon's invasion of the country. Then, opening his Hand-book,-which he always carried with him, and which was full of interesting incidents and descriptions connected with our route of travel,—he read the following thrilling account of the battle : a Bethulia was about twelve miles north of Samaria (now Sebaste), and twenty miles south of Nazareth. The city guarded one of the mountain passes in the range which runs from Carmel south-east to the Jordan. b Judges iv. 4-16. II.-Mount Tabor to Jerusalem. BATTLE OF MOUNT TABOR. 1. "From Nazareth, where the Saviour once trod, the French general, Kleber, had marched forth into the plain, with three thousand soldiers, when lo! in the valley overlooked by Mount Tabor, he saw the whole Turkish army drawn up in order of battle. Fifteen thousand infantry and twelve thousand splendid cavalry moved down in majestic strength on this band of three thousand French. Kleber had scarcely time to throw his handful of men into squares, with the cannon at the angles, before those twelve thousand horse, making the earth smoke and tremble as they came, burst in a headlong gallop upon them. 2. "But round those steady squares rolled a fierce devouring fire, emptying the saddles of those wild horsemen with frightful rapidity, and strewing the earth with the bodies of riders and steeds together. Again and again did those splendid squadrons wheel, re-form, and charge with deafening shouts, while their uplifted and flashing scimitars. gleamed like a forest of steel through the smoke of battle; but that same wasting fire received them, till those squares seemed bound by a girdle of flame, so rapid and constant were the discharges. 3. "Before their certain and deadly aim, as they stood fighting for existence, the charging squadrons fell so fast that a rampart of dead bodies was soon formed around the French squares. Behind this embankment of dead men and horses, this band of warriors fought for six dreadful hours, and was still steadily thinning the ranks of the enemy, when Napoleon, marching from the French camp before Acre, debouched with a single division on Mount Tabor and turned his eye below. 4. "What a scene met his gaze! The whole plain was filled with marching columns and charging squadrons of wildly galloping steeds, while the thunder of cannon and fierce rattle of musketry—amid which were now and then heard the blast of thousands of trumpets and strains of martial music-filled the air. The smoke of battle was rolling furiously over the hosts, and all was confusion and chaos in his sight. 5. "Amid the twenty-seven thousand Turks that crowded the plain, and enveloped their enemy like a cloud, and amid the incessant discharge of artillery and musketry, Napoleon could tell where his own troops were struggling only by the steady, simultaneous volleys which showed how discipline was contending with the wild valor of overpowering numbers. The constant flashes from behind that rampart of dead bodies were like spots of flame on the tumultuous and chaotic field. 6. "Napoleon descended from Mount Tabor with his little band, while a single twelve-pounder, fired from the heights, told the wearied Kleber that he was rushing to the rescue. Then for the first time Kleber took the offensive, and, pouring his enthusiastic followers on the foe, carried death and terror over the field. Thrown into confusion and trampled under foot, the mighty Moslem army turbulently rolled back toward the Jordan, where Murat was anxiously waiting to mingle in the fight. 7. "Dashing with his cavalry among the disordered ranks, he sabred them down without mercy, and raged like a lion amid the prey. This chivalric and romantic warrior declared that the remembrance of the scenes that once transpired on Mount Tabor, and on these thrice-consecrated spots, came to him in the hottest of the fight, and nerved him with tenfold courage. 8. "As the sun went down over the plains of Palestine, and twilight shed its dim ray over the rent, and trodden, and dead-covered field, a sulphurous cloud hung around the summit of Mount Tabor. The smoke of battle had settled there where once the cloud of glory rested, while groans, and shrieks, and cries, rent the air. Nazareth, Jordan, and Mount Tabor! what spots for battle-fields!" J. T. Headley. 9. After passing around the eastern extremity of Mount Tabor, we turned southward, and at a distance of eight or nine miles found ourselves at Endor,-now a small village on the northern slope of "Little Hermon,"-noted as the scene of the battle with Sisera's host," and the place to which Saul was lured on his visit to the witch. Then we went on to Shunem, on the southern slope of the same mountain, the Philistines' place of encampment before the battle of Mount Gilboa.c b 10. A little beyond Shunem we could see-down the valley, only sixteen miles away-the eastern extremity of Mount Carmel, where Elijah called down fire from heaven. upon the altar; and somewhere in the plain, as Prof. Howard told us, at the brook Kishon, one of the many feeders of the river of that name, Elijah caused the priests of Baal to be slain." 11. Four miles south of Shunem, on the north-western spur of Mount Gilboa, we came to the lofty and admirable site of Jezreel, now a village of a few miserable huts; here was once wicked King Ahab's summer palace, the supposed ruins of which the inhabitants of the village still point out. A little way down the mountain was Naboth's vineyard. Here, too, on the heights, Saul's army was posted before that last and fatal battle in which he and his sons were slain." 12. From Jezreel, which commands a grand view of the valley of that name, we passed eastward around Mount a Judges iv. 7, 13; v. 19, 21;-Psalm lxxxiii. 9. 1st Sam. xxviii. 7. d 1st Kings xviii. 38-40. c 1st Sam. xxviii. 4. e 1st Sam. xxix.; xxxi. The Valley of Jezreel, or Plain of Esdrae'lon, the same as the |