THE APOSTATE.

AND thou hast wander'd from the fold. of peace,
The flock forsaken, and the Shepherd's side;
Hast madly barter'd for illusive bliss

The better hopes which thee to heaven allied!

O strange delusion! folly, guilt extreme!
Thou that hast tasted of the Saviour's grace,
Sat 'neath the glory of his mercy's beam,

And gladly trod the paths of righteousness!

Hath heaven no claim upon thee? nought to win
Thy wayward spirit from unhallow'd strife?
Its fadeless joys, its glories yet unseen,

Say, wilt thou spurn them? scorn eternal life?
Hath hell no terrors? By its depths of gloom,
Its worm undying, ever quenchless flaine,
By thousand shrieks that wail a hopeless doom,
O turn thee from the paths of sin and shame!
Oft hast thou bent 'neath evening's rosy light,
A youthful suppliant at Mercy's throne;
And she who mark'd thy lispings with delight,
Hath mingled with thy prayer a mother's own.
That voice will meet thee on the mountain brow,
Its soft tones mingle with the sighing breeze;
By gushing fount, and streamlet's murmuring flow,
Rush o'er thy soul in wildering memories.

But 'twill not joy awaken: thou wilt feel,

Sad ingrate! that her God is thine no more:
That thou hast wounded beyond earth to heal,
The heart that ceaseless prayers for thee doth pour.

Yet still, O still, the promise of thy youth,

So bright, so beauteous, consecrate to Heaven,

May bear again the holy seal of truth,

And thou, even thou, again may'st be forgiven.

Then grasp no more time's blighted withering joys;
Earth hath but shadows of untainted bliss ;
To One return who bids the wanderer rise,
And find in Him thy soul's eternal peace.

Brigg, 1839.

ADELINE.

London: R. Needham, Printer, 1, Belle-Sauvage-Yard, Ludgate-Hill.

THE scene represented in the engraving is on the route from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. We have it recorded in the Scriptures, that Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God talked with him, on the occasion when the divine promise to make of his posterity a mighty nation was renewed to him, and his name was changed from Jacob to Israel; and that he called the name of the place Bethel. This place, which is afterwards described as " but a little way to Ephrath," has evidently given its name to that city; for the inspired writer, in again mentioning it, styles it "Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." It is called at this day in the modern Arabic and Turkish dialect, Beit-lehham.

The brief but affecting account of Rachel's death, as given in the sacred volume, although our readers are familiar with it, cannot be omitted in awakening their reminiscence to the interesting spot which is the subject of our illustration. "And they" (Jacob and his household) "journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, that when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died,) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel VOL. III. Second Series.

R

died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day."

The "Modern Traveller," in describing the route from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, has the following passage:-"The first part of the road possesses little interest. The ruined tower of Simeon, the Greek monastery of Elias,* and_the tomb of Rachel are pointed out by the guides: the last is a Turkish oratory with a rounded top, like the whitened sepulchre of an Arab Shiekh; and the Turks are said to have a superstitious regard for the spot as a burial-place." Vol. i., p. 173.

Although it is improbable that the present appearance of this tomb, from its Turkish guise, is precisely that of the original structure,—a pillar, yet there is no reason to doubt the identity of the site; and it is highly probable that the effects of time having reduced the upper part of the structure, (for its basement is evidently that of a square pillar or tower,) the Turks at an early date of their history erected on the remains of it the rounded top which now characterizes it.

The ancient date of the city near to which it stands, and the age in which it was built, (that which probably produced the pyramids of Egypt,) offer abundant ground in favour of, and none whatever to dispute, its durability. J. M'G.

THE KOORDS.

THE population of Koordistaun is nearly as follows:Koordistaun Proper, comprising the country lying between the degrees of northern latitude, 34° 30′ and 39°, and longitude, 41° and 45° 30′, 500,000; Ardelan, 300,000; Adiabene, 200,000. Of this population, four-fifths are Soonnite Koords: the remainder are composed of Chaldæan Christians, who are in alliance with the Koordish Chieftain Mustapha Khan. They are divided into four tribes, the

*Seen in the distance on the right hand of the engraving.