The Press. — London, England, 1856-11-08 00:00:00

1072 n the circumstance of first stepping in. This, of course, a contrary to the analogy of all medical waters ; as is also he other circumstance, that the power extended to the healing of all kinds of diseases. In these particulars we have the unerring marks of a current popular belief; which the Evangelist has chosen to make the basis of his representation. The same was sometimes done by an authority higher than John. Those reflections are too loose and conjec tural. The author supplies a note to enforce his reference to the " higher authority than John": — See especially our Lord's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, founded on the Jewish popular belief as to Hades and the state of the dead.—Luke ]6, 19 sq. comp. Luke 23,39 sq. - True, but Our Lord was then speaking in a parable, whereas the statement about " the " angel troubling the waters " was a positive narrative. The phrase "which the Evangelist " chose to make the basis of his representa tion " will grate harshly upon some ears. But Dr. Robinson has dealt with so many hypotheses, that lie may be allowed to make some. The journal of his ascent to Lebanon forms one of the most interesting portions of his work. He thus describes the famous cedars : The ceders, which still bear their ancient name, stand mostly upon four small contiguous rocky knolls, within a compass of less than forty rods in diameter. They form a thick forest, without underbrush. The older trees have each several trunks, and thus spread themselves widely around ; but most of the others are cone like in form, and do not throw out their boughs laterally to any great extent. Some few trees stand alone on the outskirts of the grove; and thie especially, on the south, is large and very beautiful. With this exception none of the trees came up to my ideal of the graceful beauty of the cedar of Lebanon, such as I had formerly seen it in the Jardin des Plantes. Some of the older trees are already much broken, and will soon be wholly destroyed. The fashion is now coming into vogue to have articles made of this wood for sale to travellers, and it is alto burned as fuel by the few people that here pass the summer. These causes of destruction, though gradual in their operation, are nevertheless sure. Add to this the circumstance that travellers in former years (to say nothing of the present time) have been shameless enough to cause large spots to be hewn smooth on the trunks of some of the noblest trees in order to inscribe their names. The two earliest which I saw were Frenchmen ; one was dated in 1791. The wood of the cedar, Pines cedrus, is white, with a pleasant, but not strong odour ; and bears no comparison, in beauty or fragrance, with the common ted cedar of America, Juniperws Virginiana. I mats no attempt to count the trees. Probably no two persons would fully agree in respect to the old ones, or in the number of the whole. Yet I should be disposed to concur in the language of 13urckhardt, who says, " Of the oldest and best looking trees I counted eleven or twelve; twenty-five very large ones ; about fifty of middling size ; and more than three hundred smaller and young ones." Yet there is no room to doubt but that during the last three centuries the number of earlier trees has diminished by nearly or quite one-half: while the younger growth has in great part, if not wholly, sprung up during that interval. Busching enumerates by name no less than twenty-six travellers between A.D. 1550 and 17;i5, from P. Belon to Stephen Schulz, who had described and counted the trees ; and since that time the number of like descrip tions has probably been family less than twice as many. In the sixteenth century the number of old trees is variously given as from twenty-eight to twenty-three; in the seventeenth, from twenty-four to sixteen ; in the eighteenth, from twenty to fifteen. After the lapse of another century, the number of the oldest trees, as we have seen, is now reduced to about a dozen. All this marks a gradual process of decay, and it also marks the difficulty of exact enumeration. This is rightly ascribed by Furer, and also by Dandini, to the fact that many of the trees have two or more stems ; and were thus reckoned differently by different travellers, sometimes as one tree, and sometimes as two or more. All the travellers of the sixteenth century speak only of the old trees ; they nowhere mention any young ones. Rauwolf, himself a botanist, seems to say expressly that he sought for younger trees without being able to find any. If this be so, it would appear that, with the exception of the few remaining ancient trees, perhaps none of those which now make up the grove can be regarded as reaching back in age more than three hundred years. As a specimen of the way in which Dr. Robinson joins historical dissertation with geographical minuteness,we cite this passage : Besides the natural grace and beauty of the cedar of Lebanon, which still appear in the trees of middle age, though not in the more ancient patriarchs, there is asso ciated with this grove a feeling of veneration, as the repre sentative of those forests of Lebanon so celebrated in the Hebrew Scriptures. To the sacred waters the cedar was the noblest of trees, the monarch of the vegetable kingdom. Solomon " spake of trees from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." To the prophets it was the favorite em blem for greatness, splendour, and majesty : hence kings and nobles, the pillars of society, are everywhere cedars of Lebanon. Espezially is this the case in the splendid description by Ezekiel of the Assyrian power and glory. Hence, too, in connection with its durability and fragrance, it was regarded as the most precious of all wood, and was eMployed irt costly balk% for oruameut and luxury. THE PRESS. In Solomon's temple the beams of the roof, as also the boards and the ornamental work, were of the cedar of Lebanon; and it was likewise used in the later temple of Zerubbabel. David's palace was built with cedar; and so lavishly was this costly wood employed in one of Solo mon's palaces, that it is called " the house of the forest of Lebanon." As a matter of luxury also the cedar was sometimes used for idols, and for the masts of ships. In like manner, the cedar was highly prized among heathen nations. It was employed in the construction of their temples, as at Tyre and Ephesus ; and also in their palaces, as at Persepolis. In the two latter instances, however, Ephesus and Persepolis, it does not follow that the cedar came from Lebanon ; though that of Syria was among the most celebrated. It is also very possible that the name cedar was sometimes loosely applied to trees of another species. The frequent mention in Scripture of the cedar of Lebanon, and the uses to which it was applied, make it apparent that in ancient times large tracts of the mountain were covered with forests of this tree. Diodorus Siculus also relates that Lebanon was full of cedars and firs and cypresses of wonderful size and beauty. But the destruc tion of them for architectural uses was far more rapid than their growth; so that when Justinian in the sixth century erected the church of the Virgin (now el-Aksa) at Jeru salem, there was great difficulty in obtaining timber for the roof ; though after much search a spot was found full of cedar trees of great height. The destruction still went on, and it would appear that as late as the middle ages private houses in Sidon, and probably also in Tyre and other Pile nician cities, were celled and ornamented with the cedar of Lebanon. All these circumstances sufficiently account for the fact that in our day the " goodly mountain " appears almost de• nailed of those graceful forests which of old were its chief glory. The impression, however, has far outstripped the reality ; and the present grove has come to be regarded as the only representative of the ancient cedars. This impression has doubtless arisen from the circumstance thnt this grove only is adjacent to any of the great roads by which tra vellers have crossed over Lebanon. Other cedar groves there might be, in the northern and more inaccessible parts of the mountain, which have remained unvisited, and therefore unknown. Such, indeed, is truly the case, according to the testimony of Ehrenberg and others. That eminent naturalist spent a considerable time on Lebanon, and found, as he informed me, the cedar growing abundantly on those parts of the mountain lying north of the road between lia'albek and Tripoly. The trees are of all sizes, old and young ; but none so ancient and venera ble as those usually visited. Seetzen likewise, in 1805, speaks of having discovered two other groves of greater extent, but without specifying their location. It appears, however, that one of these was near el•Hadith, southwest of Ehden ; and the other in the district ed-I)ttnniyeh, south of 'Akkiir ; but neither of them was personally visited by Seetzen. He afterwards, however, was at Etnilb, north of Ehden, where the region is wooded ; and there he found cedars to the number of several thousands. In respect to the grove near el•Hadith, which the natives and others speak of as Ars (cedar), T was informed by Dr. Paulding of Damascus, that although the trees bear a genetal re semblance to the cedar, yet their leaves are altogether different, and mark them as a different kind of tree. This, however, does not conflict with the testimony of Ehren berg, since el-liadith is south of the chasm of the Kadisha. The careful spelling and accentuation of the names of all the places mentioned is not the least of the literary merits of this most able work, and those versed in Oriental orthcepy know that accuracy in such matters is as diffi cult as the scansion of some of the Greek choruses. As we have intimated, the general reader may be rather disappointed in not find ing the style plastic and animated, but arts of rhetoric are not to be sought for in a pro foundly didactic work. The volume records what we may call a transitional state of mind. It confirms the former biblical researches of Dr. Robinson and his friends, and it must also be read as preliminary to his future and more extensive work. It is an invaluable addi tion to the library of our English divinity, and the American Church has a just right to be proud of its author and his associates. Deverell. A Novel. Three Vols. London: Chapman and Hall. Kathie Brande. A Fireside History of a Quiet Life. By Holme Lee. Tw•o Vols. London : Smith and Elder. THESE fictions present some points of resem blance. Both are narratives of female expo• rience, a young lady in each case detailing the trials to which her early life was exposed. These trials, in both cases, result in family happiness,—in a loving husband, in a young fUmily, and in pious contentment. The story of "Deverell" concludes : In mutual confidence we steered quietly through the path of life, chastened and elevated by the sorrows we had endured and witnessed. Little children assembled round us ; all demanding our attention and love, and whom we endeavoured to train up as much as possible to subdue their wayward impulses into perfect harmony. After all I bad endured, it was a sweet consolation that I was SATURDAY, enabled to look back and acknowledge that God had wisely ordained all things for good. The ending of " Kathie Brand° " is not dis similar : And now my fate being rounded to the full accomplish- ment of all my dearest hopes, what does there remain to chronicle besides ? Fireside happiness calm, pure, equable—cannot much be dilated on. Our united loves have flowed smoothly and pleasantly, and 1 thfnk not that our long separation has been without its good for both. It is half a dream to look back upon now, and the shadows that haunt it wear the guise of Faith, and Patience, and Love, and have no frown of reproach to darken the time present. Our hearth is joyous with young faces—" trouble- some tykes," says Hannah; but "there's many a care comes saddled with a blessing," say I, quoting my old servant Ann, a homely truth which every mother's heart must echo. This beau ideal of womanly happiness is for. tuuately a standard not very difficult of attainment. A comfortable home, an attached husband, a group of children ! Imagination, it seems, can invent no better rewards to crown virtue than those homely joys which are almost universally diffused. In other respects these novels are sufficiently different. In " Deverell " the romantic element predominates,—the title of the tale being taken from a young lady, Miss St. George Deverell, whose strong passions lead her into error, without, however, wholly perverting her heart. The mystery which surrounds her career is one principal source of interest ; but her story is not the most attractive part of the book. The purely domestic scenes show the talent of the author—a lady, we presume—to most advantage. The character of lola is winning, and in connection with her fate are passages of pathos which must appeal to every heart. The pen of the author is a fresh one, and eloquent description flows from it natu rally We are inclined to regard " Deverell " as a first production ; and if so, some faults of exaggeration may be the move readily par doned. " Kathie Brande," by Mr. Lee, is written in the subdued style appropriate to the resigna tion of a tender, dutiful nature, which makes sacrifices, scarcely taking account of their number and magnitude It is one aim of the book to contrast the disinterested labours of a home-loving sister with the selfish exigencies of a wild, thoughtless brother. " Kathie "is a " Patient Grisell " of domestic life—a charac ter which modern writers seem fond of por traying, though the patience to our thinking is something overdone. There is a point at which self.sacrifice ceases to be virtue ; hu manity is then lost in caricature ; and most readers will think the point is reached when Kathie throws off her devoted lover that she may still endeavour to repair her brother's extravagance. There is some obscurity in this part of the narrative, and especially in Felix Mayne's sudden departure, as he could have had no reason to doubt Kathie's fidelity. The tale is written with even more than the author's usual prettiness of style. Every page bears evidence of careful finish, and the lead ing sentiment of the heroine's nature—devoted affection, combined with duteous resignation to adverse circumstances—is admirably sustained throughout. She is represented as a sweet flower crushed, yielding finer odour for the blow that prostrates it. The extract we sub join gives a fair idea of both the spirit of the narrative and the poetic grace of the author's style. Felix Mayne, a curate, who had long been regarded with reverential love by Kathie, has just asked her to become his bride:-- He drew me gently to the window, and for a little apace we were silent; but soon the spell was broken up, and we began to talk : not in a sage or edifying way at all, but as egotistically as people in such circumstances always do. Felix told me of some new dawning worldly hopes—ambi- tious msnhood's wild, high hopes ! What a discursive, subtle, wiling theme ! and I entered into it, every nerve of my heart thrilling as l felt that I was privileged to share those hopes; to give him the help of a loving faith ; to watch, to tremble, to exult with him. Oh, indeed Kathie Brande was a happy girl on that blessed day when Felix Mayne gathered her in his arms and said he loved her! He told me that in his eyes I had the best beauty,—youth, health, cheerfulness; and the best dower,—spirit, energy, and fortitude. Then he spoke of the time when I should be his wife • when we should live together in one home, and have but one interest ; of long summer rambles ; of winter nights by the fireside ; of all that gathered together under one roof, and bound by one tie, is carried in our memory as home. It all H.:l4m up before me so distinctly while I write : the darkening schoolroom, the yellow sunset, the rising moon, and the trees all black and elation , outside. 1 know nor,