monuments of pagan times; 3. the Greek and Roman monuments of the Christian ages; 4. the Arabic or Moorish; 5. the, Gothic monuments under the French kings; 6. the Turkish monu

ments.

We will begin with the first. Of these no traces are now discoverable at Jerusalem, unless it be at the Pool of Bethesda; for I reckon the Sepulchres of the Kings, and the tombs of Absalom, Jehoshaphat, and Zachariah, among the Greek and Roman monuments erected by the Jews.

It is difficult to form any precise idea of the first or even of the second Temple, from the account given in the Old Testament, or the description of Josephus; but we may perceive two things; that the Jews had a taste for the sombre and the grand in their edifices, like the Egyptians; and that they were fond of minute details, and highly finished decorations, both in the engravings on stones, and in the ornaments of wood, bronze, and gold.

Of the first Temple Josephus speaks in the following terms: "The length of the Temple was sixty cubits, its height the same, and its breadth twenty cubits. Upon this edifice was erected another of the like dimensions, and thus the total height of the Temple was one hundred and twenty cubits. It faced the east, and its porch was of the same height of one hundred and twenty cubits, twenty long, and six broad. Round about the Temple were thirty chambers in the form of galleries, and these served

externally as buttresses to support it. You passed out of one into another, and each was twenty cubits in length, the same in breadth, and twenty in height. Above these apartments were two stories of others, similar in all respects to those beneath. Thus the height of the three stories together, amounting to sixty cubits, was exactly equal to the height of the lower edifice of the Temple just mentioned, and there was nothing above. All these apartments were covered with cedar, and each had a separate roof, in the manner of a pavilion: but they were connected by long and thick beams, to give them greater solidity; so that they formed altogether but one single body. Their ceilings were of cedar, highly polished, and enriched with gilded foliage, carved in the wood. The rest was likewise covered with cedar, so exquisitely wrought and gilded, that it was impossible to enter without being dazzled by its lustre. The whole of this magnificent edifice was of hewn stones, so smooth and so admirably fitted together, that the joinings could not be perceived; but it seemed as if nature had formed them thus of a single piece, without any assistance from art, or the instruments employed by skilful masters to embellish their works. In the body of the wall, on the east side, where there was no grand portal, but only two doors, Solomon caused a spiral staircase, of his own invention, to be constructed, for the purpose of ascending to the top of the Temple. Both within and without the building were

vast planks of cedar, fastened together with grea and strong chains, for the purpose of giving it the greater firmness and solidity.

"When the whole of this extensive structure was finished, Solomon caused it to be divided into two parts; one of these, denominated the Holy of Holies, or Sanctuary, was twenty cubits in length; it was consecrated, in an especial manner, to God; and no person was permitted to enter this place. The other division, being forty cubits long, was called the Holy Temple, and appropriated to the priests. These two parts were separated by large doors of cedar, of curious workmanship, and highly gilt, upon which hung veils of linen covered with various flowers of a purple, blue, and scarlet colour.

"Solomon employed in all that I have described an admirable workman, particularly skilful in works of gold, silver, and copper, named Chiram, whom he brought from Tyre. His father, of the name of Ur, though a native of Tyre, was of Israelitish extraction, and his mother was of the tribe of Napthali. This same man also made him two columns of brass, which were four inches thick, eighteen cubits high, and twelve in circumference, at the top of which were cornices of brass, in the form of lilies, five cubits in height. These lilies were covered with foliage of gold, which entwined the columns, and from which hung, in two rows, two hundred pomegranates, also of brass. These columns were placed at the entrance of the porch of the Temple; that on

the right hand being called Jachin, and the other on the left, Boaz.

"Out of this inclosure, Solomon built another kind of temple, of a quadrangular form; surrounded with large galleries, having four entrances, facing the east, west, north, and south, with great doors, gilt all over but only those who were purified according to the law, and were resolved to observe the commandments of God, had permission to enter. The construction of this other temple was a work so worthy of admiration, as to be a thing scarcely credible for in order to obtain a level of sufficient magnitude on the top of the hill on which the Temple is seated, it was necessary to fill up, to the height of four hundred cubits, a valley of such depth, that it could not be looked at without fear. He caused this temple to be encompassed with a gallery supported by a double range of stone columns, each of one single piece, and these galleries, all the doors of which were silver, had ceilings of cedar."

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From this description it is evident that the Hebrews, when they built the first temple, were unacquainted with the orders of architecture. The two columns of brass afford a sufficient proof of this; the capitals and the proportions of these columns have no resemblance to the early Doric, the only order, perhaps, at that time invented in Greece; but these same pillars, adorned with foliage, lilies, and pomegranates, remind you of the capricious decorations of the Egyptian column. Besides, the

apartments in the form of pavilions, the ceilings of cedar gilt, and all those details imperceptible in large masses, demonstrate the truth of my observations respecting the taste of the first Hebrews.

Solomon's Temple having been destroyed by the Syrians, the second temple, built by Herod the Ascalonite, belonged to the class of those half Jewish and half Grecian works, of which I shall presently speak.

We have, therefore, now nothing left of the pri mitive architecture of the Jews at Jerusalem, except the Pool of Bethesda. This is still to be seen near St. Stephen's Gate. It bounded the Temple on the north, and is a reservoir one hundred and fifty feet long, and forty wide. The sides are walled, and these walls are composed of a bed of large stones joined together by iron cramps; a wall of mixed materials run up on these large stones; a layer of flints stuck upon the surface of this wall; and a coating laid over these flints. The four beds are perpendicular to the bottom, and not horizontal; the coating was on the side next to the water, and the large stones rested, as they still do, against the ground.

This pool is now dry and half filled up. Here grow some pomegranate trees, and a species of wild tamarind of a bluish colour; the western angle is quite full of nopals. On the west side may also be seen two arches, which probably led to an aqueduct that carried the water into the interior of the Temple. Josephus calls this pool Stagnum Salomonis; in