Acre, and the Pilgrims' Castle, a strong fort of the Templars. These were at length invested, and the grand master, William de Beaujeu, took the command of the garrison. The old and feeble were sent away to the island of Cyprus, then the seat of the Latin kingdom, and none remained in the devoted city of Acre, but such as were prepared to suffer martyrdom rather than yield to the infidels. Military engines of the most formidable construction were set in operation by the besiegers: six hundred instruments of destruction were directed against the fortifications, and the battering machines were of such immense size and weight, that a hundred wagons were required to trans- ` port the separate timbers of one of them. All the military contrivances which the skill of that age could produce, were employed to facilitate the assault. After thirty-three days of constant fighting, the great tower, or key of the fortifications, was thrown down. At length the double wall was forced, and a body of Mamlooks penetrated to the centre of the city. The knights drove them back with immense carnage, and precipitated their bodies from the walls. At length, the number of the Templars was reduced to three hundred, and these fought their way to the strong Temple at Acre, and shut themselves up. This little band was at length destroyed beneath the ruins of their Temple, which the Sultan had caused to be undermined. Thus fell the last stronghold of the Christians in Palestine, and with it every reasonable hope of recovering possession of the Holy City."

After that, the caliphs and the Turks each possessed the Holy Land. During the crusade, or holy war, it was retaken, but Saladin, the Saracen sultan of Egypt,

soon after called it his own. In 1516 it again came under the dominion of the Ottoman Turks, who have held possession to the present day. It was once famed for its holiness, it is now notorious for its depravity; once celebrated for its magnificence, it is now proverbial for its desolation.

Whilst glancing over the model of Palestine, the names which meet the eye gradually recall to the visitor's remembrance the various events recorded in Scripture; and, should his memory be defective, the Bible at the upper end of the model lies ready to assist him. Nearly four thousand years ago, "Abram took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came.'

It is more than three thousand years since Joshua, with all the children of Israel, passed over Jordan to possess the land; and eighteen hundred since the coming of our blessed Redeemer, according to the word of prophecy," And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."

It is almost impossible for one seriously disposed to regard an authenticated model setting forth the different places in the Holy Land, without feeling a desire for an increased knowledge of Scripture history. To read over more carefully the pages of Holy Writ has been, no doubt, the secret determination of many who have visited the exhibition. Cana of Galilee, and Mount Carmel, and Joppa, and Kadesh-Barnea, and

Tyre, and Sidon, all recall something to remembrance strikingly interesting.

an in

But there is another point of view in which the model of Palestine may be of some service. Exhibiting, as it does, that portion of the earth which was the earthly inheritance of the people of God, the glory of which is, at this day, corrupted, defiled, and faded, it may awaken in the mind a deeper concern for " heritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven." Though the land of Palestine, the earthly land of promise, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oliveoil and honey, is, for the sins of its inhabitants, become a land of desolation; yet is there a heavenly promised land whose beauty will never perish. Sin shall not there separate the people of God, the followers of the Redeemer, from their everlasting inheritance, nor cut them off from an abundant entrance into eternal life. It becomes us, then, to look more anxiously and more ardently than ever after our promised heavenly inheri tance. On what foundation does our hope stand? are we building on the shifting sands of human merit, or on the eternal Rock of ages? Are we looking to ourselves, or to the Lamb that was slain, for an abundant entrance into everlasting life? Again and again should these questions be put to our hearts; and again and again should these words tingle in our ears, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," Rom. iii. 23. We cannot be too much in earnest about this matter, nor too frequently repeat to ourselves the words,

"Fly to the Redeemer! for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," Acts iv. 12.

THE PANORAMAS

OF

MONT BLANC, LIMA, AND LAGO MAGGIORE.

As we are possessed of various dispositions, capacities, and degrees of information, we are variously affected by the works of nature and art; and it ought to be a cause of unfeigned thankfulness that so many sources of gratification and delight surround us. The unlettered spectator is not without his share of pleasure derived from natural objects; the naturalist, more highly gifted, sees a beauty in what others consider to be the deformed works of creation; and the Christian naturalist, rising still higher in his enjoyments, sees, throughout the whole creation, innumerable marks of Divine wisdom, power, and goodness.

The remarkable sights of the metropolis are often called "the lions of London;" now there are the lions of the different countries of the world, as well as of London, and one of these lions is Mont Blanc.

In Europe we have Stonehenge, and the lakes of Westmoreland; the Giant's Causeway, and the falls of the Clyde; the grotto of Antiparos, the Black Forest, and the Lago Maggiore; the boiling Geysers, burning Vesuvius, Herculaneum, the Maelstrom, and the

icebergs of the north. In Asia, Persepolis and the ruins of mighty Babylon; Jerusalem, the caves of Elephanta, and the wall of China. In Africa, Thebes, the Great Desert, and the Pyramids; and in America, Lake Superior, Cotopaxi, and the Falls of Niagara. These are some of the "lions" of the earth, and few persons have seen them all.

The highest mountain in Asia, and in the world, is Chamoulari; Geesh lifts its head above all others in Africa; Sorata is the loftiest summit in America ; and the highest in Europe is Mont Blanc in Switzerland.

I have indulged in these reflections while sitting on the circular bench, that my eye may get a little familiar with the wide-spread panoramic painting of Mont Blanc around me; but my vision, even now, is a little confused; the mountainous masses are too near me, I my abstractions.

must continue

Some of the favourite enterprises of mankind are clothed with additional interest by the dangers which surround them. There are three of these enterprises that appear to be just within the verge of practicability: they have long called forth the fearless intrepidity and enterprising perseverance of resolute and inquisitive men. The first is the enterprise of penetrating into the heart of Africa; the second, that of finding a northwest passage from the Frozen Ocean to the Great Pacific; and the third is, the ascent to the summit of Mont Blanc. The two former enterprises have not yet been attained; but the latter has, in several in stances, been successfully accomplished.

Paccard, Saussure, Beaufoy, Woodley, Forueret, and Door hasen, have gazed around from the summit. Ro