PALESTINE.

No. III.

ISAIAH LX. 8.

WHO are these, like doves when flying
To the places of their rest?

On the Saviour's grace relying,
Sorely tempted and opprest :-
These, O Sion ;

:

Are thy numerous converts blest.

These, from every Isle repairing,
Flock thy hallowed courts around;
These, the robes of sorrow wearing,
Wait, in Jesus to be found;
Grace imploring,

While they bow on Sion's ground.

Therefore, shall the gates of gladness
Open thrown by night and day,
Still receive these sons of sadness,
Here to learn the living way.
Gentile Nations

In thy favoured courts shall stay.

Grace in thee shall reign victorious,

All who seek shall surely find:
God will make His Sion glorious,
Refuge meet for all mankind:
Jesu's mercy

Here shall triumph unconfined.

Extract of a Letter from the Bishop of Jerusalem:

Jerusalem, Jan. 25.

"On Friday Evening we arrived in safety in the city of our forefathers; under circumstances of peculiar respect and honour. I can only wish half England to have witnessed our movement from Ramleh to Jerusalem, on the last day of our journey to the Holy City. A day never to be forgotten. Never were the goodness and preserving love of God more manifest than in the circumstance, that our whole party should have got over that day's journey, without the hairs of any of our heads being hurt. It is impossible for me to describe the awfully dangerous state of the road * * *. But independently of the danger, it was a most interesting day. The weather was most extraordinarily in our favour. The rain, though apparently ready to burst forth upon us in torrents, as is the case in this country, which would have drenched us all, as we had no covering, was restrained till after our arrival, when it did come down in torrents. The clouds hid the sun, which, even at this season, is powerful enough here to have added greatly to the discomfort of our journey; But our God is faithful, and he made us realize the ninety-first Psalm."

THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM.

Sweet is his blest retreat and sure,
Who makes the Lord his trust:
JEHOVAH'S Word shall still endure,
When man is turned to dust!

No hidden snares shall overthrow
The Saints of GOD MOST HIGH:
And pestilential breezes blow,
To fan, and pass them by !

Because the LORD'S Almighty wing
Defends thee as a shield:

That, which to others sorrows bring,
To thee shall comfort yield.

Thousands may fall at thy right hand,

By pestilence or war;

While thou shalt but admiring stand, And view with holy awe.

Ungodly men shall surely fall,

While righteous men are blest; The God on whom His servants call, Will give His servants rest.

Because they make JEHOVAH God,
Their Refuge and their Guide;
Their dwelling shall escape the rod,
When all are scourged beside.

"Because on me they set their love,"

Saith God, "I will defend :
Their Saviour to the utmost prove,
Their everlasting FRIEND."

The Bishop resumes, "We formed quite a large body ** and entered through the Jaffa gate, under the firing of salutes, &c., into Jerusalem, and were conducted to Mr. Nicolayson's house, where we were most kindly and respectably received, and all felt overwhelmed with gratitude and adoration, which is most justly due to Him who has hitherto proved himself better to us than all our fears.

*

"We had service in the temporary Chapel on Sunday last. I preached my first sermon from Isaiah lx. 15. Mr. Williams preached in the afternoon, and Mr. Nicolayson conducted a German Service in the evening. We had a very good congregation,—all our friends, the Consul-General, Captain Gordon, and the Officers being present. Our feelings on the occasion can be better imagined than expressed, as you may easily suppose. We also had the Sacrament, and it will be pleasing to the ladies of Reading to know, that the handsome Communion-Service which they presented to the Church, was made use of for the first time by the Bishop of Jerusalem.”

FEMALE BIOGRAPHY OF SCRIPTURE.

MANOAH'S WIFE.

No. I.

PERHAPS there are few persons, who have not, in times of affliction or other mental excitement, experienced the soothing effect which is produced upon the heart, by the sights and sounds of the natural world. Sorrow as well as sickness, find a balm in the fresh pure air, and the sweet influences of nature. And not by day only, are we the subjects of these mysterious impressions. What mind, at all imbued with the knowledge of God, would not, even under strong emotion, be suddenly calmed, by coming into contact with the still, starry heavens, telling their wondrous tale of law illimitable; of order unvarying; and of change which alters but to retrace anew the duteous cycles of a never-varying course? The very contrast between our own restlessness and the order and repose of nature, heightens the impression which they produce upon our minds. By one impulse, the myriad majestic suns, with their attendant orbs, were propelled forward in the sphere assigned to each: and, loyal to the hand that sent them forth, age after age they fulfil their destiny: "the heavens declare the glory of God." True to that impulse, they continue to this day: changing, they change