vellers left Cairo, to commence their journey through the desert to Jerusalem. The party at first consisted of Mr. Olin, Mr. and Mrs. Cooley, and Mr. Carrington, an English gentleman; and was ultimately increased by three Germans and an Englishman, at a few miles from Cairo. We pass the desert, its sands, morasses, Bedouins, until our travellers reach Suez, a spot likely to have local interests, shortly, of an extraordinary character, if this Isthmus as well as Panama is to be cut through. A long discussion on the point of transit by the Israelites over the Red Sea, when pursued by the Egyptians, follows. The suggestion of our author, that Moses was unacquainted with the cardinal points, in his description of the East wind, will not do; it only indicates gross ignorance of the high qualification of the Jewish chief, as well as a low sense of inspiration, not uncommon amid sectarian teachers. The wells of the desert, the waters of Mara, the everlasting fidelity of the descriptions of Moses, confirmed by every traveller, all point out the impossibility of this hypothesis. Sinai, Horeb, are long dwelt on by our author, but without any novelty of remark. Hor, Aaron's burial-place, and Mount Seir, follow. With an accurate description of the singular effect of Mount Hor, and its rich contrast of hues, the first volume closes. The noble ruins at Petra are well given in various points. Edom and Carmel are both slightly noticed by our author: the mosques of Hebron, the tombs of the patriarchs passed, the birthplace of our Lord, at Bethlehem, was next approached, with its churches built by the pious hand of the Empress Helena: the grotto of the Nativity, the spot of the sacrifice of the Innocents, all monastic traditions, were seen by them. From Bethlehem our travellers wend their way to Jerusalem itself. An accident confined Mr. Olin to his bed for some time after his arrival, and his fellow travellers, Mr. and Mrs. Cooley, left Jerusalem before his recovery. We shall pass our traveller's description, with whom we remain, of the Garden of Gethsemane, Mount Calvary, and the great and well known interesting places that occur to general notice; but we do both agree with our author in the beauty of the view of Jerusalem, from Mount Olivet, and also can recommend a very nice plate of the same to our readers: the coup d'œil is magnificent. The same may be said of the view of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, with its splendid ruins and deep defiles. The apocryphal character of the tombs of Jehoshaphat, Saint James, Zechariah, we need not dwell on ; but there yet remains to be found a Jewish antiquary who would fully investigate the numerous claims of this character; and if converted to Christianity, such a man, strong in the Ancient Scriptures, devotionally impressed with the New, might give an antiquarian and Christian digest such as has not yet been seen. Persons of small learning and poor acquirements in Oriental tongues and traditions, are ill calculated for such a quest. How singular does it seem that the Potter's Field, the grave of Judas, from its character, is easy of identification, but the sepulchre of Christ veiled from vision. Was it not to prevent the worship of the Tomb for Him entombed? From Jerusalem our traveller proceeded to Jericho. The assemblage of pilgrims encamped upon its plain was indeed striking: we extract the passage. "There was scarcely a people under heaven among whom Christianity is professed, without its representatives here. There were Copts, Greeks, Armenians, Catholics, Protestants, from Abyssinia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Poland, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, America, and I believe all, or nearly all other Christian lands. Cossacks were very numerous, and were distinguished for their equipages and personal bearing among a motley assemblage, which could hardly claim to be less than semi-barbarous. Greeks, chiefly from Syria and Asia Minor, constituted the most numerous class. Armenians were also very numerous, and they were by far the most respectable in their appearance of any portion of the company. Several of them were rich merchants from Constantinople and Smyrna. Here, as everywhere else, the Armenians are grave and decent in their deportment and general appearance, unostentatious, unobtrusive, and quiet. It is only in the performance of their religious ceremonies that they seem to be as frivolous and irreverent as the other Oriental Christians." The Dead Sea was next visited by our author, who tested the extraordinary density of its sluggish waters, and gives the following singular description of them : "We did not fail to bathe, for the double purpose of enjoying so great a luxury, especially grateful in this heated atmosphere, and of testing, by our own experience, the truth of the strange and rather discordant statements which have been put forth with regard to its buoyancy. I had always read the reports of travellers upon this subject with incredulity, ranking them with other fictions and legends with which all descriptions of this marvellous sea are rife; but the experiment satisfied me that, upon this point at least, there is no exaggeration. The water is shallow near the shore, and I waded perhaps one hundred and fifty yards before reaching a depth of seven or eight feet. I swam out into much deeper water, which I found to bear me upon its surface without any effort of the legs or arms. These, indeed, I raised quite out of the water, and still continued to float like a mass of wood. When I stood erect, with my feet placed together, and my hands and arms brought close to the sides, my shoulders still rose above the surface. I made many attempts to sink, but without success, and found swimming an awkward business, as it was quite impossible to keep both the arms and legs in the water at the same time. Some gentlemen of the party, who were unable to swim, waded in cautiously at first, but found themselves suddenly endowed with the capacity of floating upon the briny element." The specific gravity of the water is 12:11, and rain water only 10.00. Our traveller several times submerged his head in attempting to sink, and found that the hair had imbibed from the water a something little less adhesive than tar. He could with difficulty pass a comb through it, and only at the end of ten days or a fortnight got clear of the effects of a bath in the Dead Sea. The effects of the sea upon animal life are fabulous, as far as checking the flight of birds over the lake; but its desolate appearance and freedom from shells, save probably land ones, and fish,-our traveller found one only-but probably not indigenous, brought by birds of prey from some adjacent river, possibly, confirm the general detail of its lonely destitution of animal and vegetable life. Passing to the monastery of Saba, and following the channel of the Cedron, our traveller returned to Jerusalem. Mr. Olin then proceeds to investigate the claims of Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre to be the identical localities of the awful scenes which they commemorate. If much discredit is thrown on assigning these ancient localities to the events in question, and also on many others, it is unhappily owing to the debased state of monastic truth. Still, much may be underrated that is really deserving of credit, from the tissue of lies in which it is imbedded; and the Protestant inquirer may possibly, as Mr. Olin suggests, carry his inquiries too closely, and press for more proof than any ancient spot, however investigated, could yield. After a visit to Bethany and Bethphage, our traveller quitted Jerusalem for Beyrout. Mount Gerizim, and Ebal and Sichem, the spot of the Saviour's interview with the woman of Samaria, and Jacob's Well, yet extant, were next viewed. Maundrel gives the admeasurement of the well as three yards in diameter, 35 deep, five of which are full of water. It is cut in firm rock limestone. Our traveller found it yet containing water. The Samaritan synagogue was next visited, and a request made by them to the chief rabbi, to show them the celebrated Samaritan copy of the Law. To this he acceded conditionally, that they should uncover their feet, and leave a gratuity for the benefit of the synagogue. After some seeming attempt at imposing another MS. upon the travellers, the real one was produced, which, according to the assumed tradition and belief of these people, is in the handwriting of a grandson of Aaron, and is, they say, 3500 years old. There cannot be a doubt that it is of immense antiquity; the coins of the Maccabees are in the same character. The Samaritans in Nablous only amount to 130; their existence appears almost a miracle; the existence of their MS. may be considered equally providential. They maintain the Sabbath in greater strictness than the Jews, sacrifice sheep at the Passover, and celebrate the Jewish festivals in solemn procession to the summit of Gerizim. Passing in haste Tiberias, we come from the Holy Land to Tyre. Here 200 columns were counted, entire and mutilated, over the ancient site, by Mr. Olin; but the appearance of Sur is most desolate. Hence the travellers passed to Sidon, which is of far larger population than the desolated ancient naval queen. It has, however, made a nearer approach to its ancient character of Great Sidon in the time of Joshua, than its desolate rival. From hence they reached Beyrout. The homeward course of Mr. Olin is, of course, bereft of extrsordinary interest, and we here take our leave of him, merely stating that he arrived safe at Boston. His book has many good points, and we have to thank him for agreeable narration and clear description. He rarely tires his reader; and so great a number of objects of interest as his book presents, is seldom encountered by us in two not very large though closely printed octavo volumes. His kind and benevolent feeling and Christian spirit will be felt by all; and certainly his book is quite clear from the pretension to more than the writer can achieve, which marks so many of his countrymen. * This name is an Arab corruption of Neapolis, the name given by the Romans to Sichar in the first century. Naples, anciently Parthenope, is another of the old Greek word. 631 ART. XI.- Griselda. A Dramatic Poem. Translated from the German of Halm, by Q. E. D. Smith & Elder. 1844. A GENERAL acquaintance with the living languages has not kept pace with the rapid growth of literature, perhaps, in any part of Europe. In England, still less so than on the Continent, France only excepted. The love of locomotion, which Englishmen are supposed to possess in an extraordinary degree, has made it necessary for those who gratify it, to acquire at least such a smattering of French as will enable them to pay a postilion, or bargain for a pair of gloves; indeed, there is nothing more common than to hear it said, that French will carry a man all over the world. Such a notion, incorrect as it is, doubtless originated with, and is practically carried out by, Frenchmen, very few of whom comparatively give themselves the trouble of learning a foreign language. In some respects, however, it is true. The medium of communication in good society, all over Europe, is French; French is the language of diplomacy, and Mr. Canning failed in the attempt to substitute English for it. But a traveller, who is prevented by ignorance of their language from mixing with any other class, but the highest, in the countries he visits, loses the principal advantages of foreign travel, and can form no true estimate of the people among whom he is living. The travelled Englishman, consequently, returns home after a few weeks' sojourn in Germany or Italy, where he has perhaps learned the meaning of trinkgeld and per carità, as ignorant as he was before he set out, of the national customs, ideas, and feelings of strangers; and is very lucky if he has not acquired new prejudices, or strengthened old ones. Persons of this description can, of course, know nothing of foreign literature, in the original idiom; and hence it is that translators have become as necessary to those who would be au courant of modern literature, as critics are for the full appreciation of the plays of Eschylus and Sophocles. With all this, the public does not patronize those who cater for their wants, as it ought. Numerous as translators have been, from the days of Dryden to our own, and possessing, as we would fain flatter ourselves, some merit-certainly numbering among them many great names-little fame and less profit is the general lot. We know very well that "Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non Dii, non concessere columnæ," and that many of our poetical translators are blessed with but few and flitting sparks of the ethereal fire; yet those who are most competent to fulfil their task, and have succeeded the best, do not receive half the credit they are entitled to. There are two classes of persons who read translations: one consists of those who are acquainted with the original, and can appreciate the difficulties of transferring it into a different language-who are sufficiently good judges of poetry per se, and will take the trouble of com paring it in its old and new dress; the other, of those who know Primum ipsi tibi, tum tua me infortunia tangunt, The majority of English readers cannot understand, and therefore have little interest in, a drama like Faust, where the characters are superhuman, and their agencies beyond common comprehensionwhere the attention is continually kept on the stretch to guess at dark allegories, investigate hidden meanings, and keep up any connected idea of much that seems incoherent and irrelative to the plot of the play. This is true of many of the translations of the present day, and they lose their attraction from that circumstance. People must be taught to read them-they require notes, which, to be explanatory, should often be more voluminous than the text; and then they feel, that when they fancied they were going to read a poem, they have a prosy treatise inflicted on them, which is not at all to their taste. It is, therefore, no slight merit in the work, the title of which we have placed at the head of this article, that it embraces all the requisites for being popular-the subject-mode of treatment-feeling— and simple language. Added to which, it is short, and the interest never flags; so that we will venture to say no one ever began it without finishing it before he put it down. Popular, indeed, the subject has been for centuries, for no simple story like that of Griselda has ever appeared in so many shapes and forms, so many different languages, and at such distant periods of time. One of the first books that is put into a child's hand is "Patient Grissil," in her illus |