mit of the entering in of three or more individuals; as when Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, entered into the tomb of Jesus, and found a third person sitting. And one of these gloomy apartments would form no unsuitable residence for the maniacs, whom the Saviour met 'coming out of the tombs,' in the country of the Gergesenes.

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The ranges, too, of depositories for the dust of the dead, explain the frequent phrase of one person being buried beside another in the same grave: as when the old Prophet, returning from entombing the man of God who came from Judah, charges his son, saying, ' When I am dead, then bury me in the Sepulchre where the man of God is buried, and let my bones rest beside his.' May not the external architectural embellishments of these excavations likewise serve to illustrate the words of Isaiah,' As he that heweth out a sepulchre on high, and graveth an habitation for himself in a rock.'

"On the way from the landing place to the Theatre, we passed some ancient walls of beautiful masonry, and near them, on a rising ground, the site of the ancient city-the Antiphellus of Strabo, and still called by the neighboring islanders Antiphilo. All around it the ground is partially levelled for the houses, and steps are cut from rock to rock, for the purpose of forming a mutual communication; similar to those of the Pynx at Athens."

"The theatre is constructed of stone from the spot, the back of the scena fronting the sea, and thus affording to the spectators a prospect of unrivalled magnificence. As usual with the Greeks, advantage has been taken of the rising ground to hollow out the retiring seats, and twenty-six of the twenty-seven rows of benches of which it originally consisted still exist almost uninjured; but the proscenium, and parts connected with the stage, have dissappeared; merely a few walls, probably part of a terrace, remaining towards the sea. The whole diameter of the theatre, fronting the scena, was 165 feet, and 36 feet 6 inches-that of the orchestra, from whence four passages to the summit of the edifice gave access to each row of seats

These, with the debris of some unknown building, a few reservoirs for water, and some crumbling walls, are all that have survived the decay of Antiphellus.

"A lofty pedestal rises in the midst of the ruins; but it bears neither effigy nor legend; and from its oblong shape alone we can conjecture that it once supported an equestrian figure; all besides is a blank, a waste, a wilderness. Her port and her harbor are desolate : the waves now dash unheeded over the barriers once raised to curb them. Her streets are abandoned to the fox, and her sepulchres are open to the winds. The voice of the multitude is mute: the ceaseless sea alone disturbs her silence; and so deep is the stillness of the scene, that the most trifling sound, the falling of a stone, or the scream of a restless sea-bird, re-echoes far along the solitary shore."

BEAUTIES OF HEBREW POETRY.

WHERE can another history be found like that contained in the Pentateuch of Moses-so sweetly unaffected, yet so full of dignity; so concise, and yet so comprehensive; so rich in poetry, yet so chaste and simple in its style; so affecting in its pathetic recitals, and so vivid and powerful in its solemn and terrific scenes; and presenting throughout a picture so graphic of the life and manners of the ancient Oriental world? The Pentateuch closes with the book of Deuteronomy, the last testimony of the Jewish legislator to his countrymen, containing a brief but vivid recapitulation of their past history, and a second concise declaration of the law. The nation had now gained a lasting experience of God's dealings with his people, and the generation had passed away on whose souls and bodies the blight of effeminacy and slavery had descended during their long residence in Egypt. Aaron had been gathered to his fathers, Moses was about to die, and the tribes were just upon the eve of a happy entrance into the long promised land of Canaan. Under these circumstances, the word of Moses must have carried a thrilling impression into the hearts of the Israelites. How power

fully does he appeal to their experience of the judg ments and mercies of Jehovah with what mingled encouragements and threatenings, what fearful curses on the disobedient, what tender admonitions, what eloquent intreaties! Nor is the voice of prophecy silent; it speaks plainly of the coming Messiah; it predicts their own defection and consequent wretchedness; it almost relates the destruction of Jerusalem. The eight closing chapters of the book of Deuteronomy are perhaps the most sublime portion of the Scripture. They contain the tremendous curses denounced against transgressors, and the unequalled blessings pronounced upon the obedient; the glowing historical song which Moses at the command of God, wrote for the people of Israel, to be for ever in their memories, a witness against them when they should turn from the Lord their God; the animated and prophetic blessing upon the twelve tribes, and the short but striking history of the death of Moses, when he had viewed from the top of Pisgah, with an eye which old age had not dimmed, the land "flowing with milk and honey," stretched out before him in all its compass and luxuriance.

Through all this short but perfect and comprehensive history-the storehouse of poetic imagery to the prophets and psalmists-where is the page that is not full of materials to arrest the eye, and excite the imagination of the poet? What books could be more crowded with energetic recollections, sublime and pic. turesque events, instructive and terrible warnings? From the first interposition of Jehovah, to the moment when His presence is revealed to Moses upon Nebo, His glorious agency is every where visible. It is He who accompanies the patriarchs in all their journeyings, and makes trial of their faith; it is He who gives wisdom to Joseph, and makes the children of Israel to increase in Egypt; it is He who brings them out with His mighty hand and His outstretched arm; who reveals His glories at the Red Sea, on Mount Sinai, and through the wilderness; who dwells between the cherubim, and leades His people like a flock. Throughout it is the purpose of the inspired historian to stamp upon

the minds of his countrymen the most impressive sense of their peculiar dependence upon God; he closes with the declaration, so literally fulfilled, that they shall be invincible and glorious, if obedient to their divine Sovereign, but cursed, rejected, and miserable, whenever they forsake Him.

THE ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY OF NATIONS.

OF THE GRECIAN STATES.

We have already seen in what manner Athens came under the dominion of Sparta, which was the next most renowned state of Greece, and was even prior to it in the date of its institution.

Sparta of Lacedæmon, as we have seen, was first governed by kings; it afterwards admitted, instead of one king, two to reign with equal authority; a mode of government which lasted several centuries, though the one was almost continually at variance with his associate on the throne. During this succession an attempt was made to impose a tribute upon the peasants, to which all acceded except the Helotes, who excited an insurrection, for the purpose of vindicating their rights; they were, however, subdued, and, with their posterity, condemned to perpetual slavery, and a decree was passed that all other slaves should go by the general name of Helotes.

There is nothing more remarkable in history, yet nothing better attested, than what relates to the laws and government instituted by Lycurgus in Lacedæmonia. In forming the constitution Lycurgus had as much respect to the business of war as he had to internal and political institutions. With this view he proscribed all kinds of luxury, all the arts of elegance, and, in short, every thing that tended to soften and debilitate the human mind. The Spartans were forbidden the use of money, they lived at public tables, and on the coarsest fare; the young people were taught to pay the utmost reverence to those who were more advanced in years; and all ranks capable of bearing

arms, were daily accustomed to the most painful exercises, so that, to the Spartans, the time of war was the period of relaxation. At that time many indulgences were allowed them, by which the camp might be regarded as a scene of ease and luxury.

He forbade the Spartans to surround their city with a wall, lest security should lead them to remit their vigilance in its defence: he enjoined them not to pursue a flying foe after battle: he made it shameful for them to turn their backs upon an enemy, however superior in force; so that, in battle, death or victory was the lot of every Lacedæmonion; or a fate worse than death, disgrace! an infamy that excluded them from all civil and military employments.

The minds of the Spartan youth were improved by a constant habit of reasoning in short pithy sentences, for which they were very celebrated. Thus, in modern times, a laconic sentence is one that is short but expressive.

Marriage, as at Athens, was esteemed honorable also in Sparta. After a certain age unmarried people were scarcely to be met with. A young man refused to rise up at the approach of an illustrious general, because he had never been married: "You have no children," said he, "who may show me the same respect, and rise up at my approach."

Besides the two kings whom Lycurgus continued at the head of the government, he instituted a senate, composed of twenty-eight members, whose policy chiefly consisted in siding with the kings, when the people was grasping at too much power; and, on the other hand, in espousing the interests of the people, whenever the kings attempted to carry their authority beyond the bounds assigned to the office. The senators were persons chosen on account of their great virtue; but none, however excellent in other respects, were eligible till sixty years of age. These formed. the supreme court of judicature; and though there lay

* From Laconia the general name [for the Lacedæmonian province.