to seek any. It deals not in compassion for the worshippers of false gods, but in scorn for their worship and hatred of themselves. The Latin the Jew calls an Edomite, the Armenian an Amalekite, the Moslem an Ishmaelite-pitying none of them, but despising them all; and sitting down in his haughty poverty to await the era of his expected supremacy and honour. Whether gazing up at the mosque of El-Khulil, which covers the cave of Machpelah, or wailing by the old temple wall, or standing on the spur of Zion, where the sepulchre of David is at once marked and defiled by the Moslem minaret, or wandering up the western slope of Olivet amid acres of tombstones, each with its Hebrew epitaph, he feels that he and his religion are isolations, and that even in the land of Abraham the Jew is the stranger and the Gentile the lord.

Every movement, great or small, which the East of late years has experienced, has come from the West, and has been but a vibration produced by some continental shock, a ripple from the overspent storms of Europe, an impulse communicated by English energy and enterprise. Nothing of internal, or at least innate life, yet appears in the East. It is all derived, and of course fitful, as well as unnatural and unhealthy. It is galvanism rather than vitality. We have been startled by the announcement, made to us once again of late years, that the Turkish Empire was willing to become enlightened, or rather, was actually becoming so; and we were cheered with the news that Moslemism was sloughing off its bigotry. One is slow of belief as to either of these pieces of intelligence. A Turkish village is perhaps some night awakened by a band of English travellers, who, with lanterns, fire-arms, noisy mirth, and the like, do make some stir and introduce some light. But by next evening all the illumination and activity are gone. Such we suspect to be the enlightenment of Turkey, an enlightenment which it could not help, which rather disturbed its rest, and which quickly passes off. Perhaps, however, it may be more permanent, and may lead to something higher. We shall see. As to Moslemism, there are few symptoms of liberality, either the true or the false. Religious fanaticism and savage intolerance are still the badge of the system. A slight leaven of infidelity has spread among the better educated, or among those who depend for their livelihood on European gold; a dragoman will drink brandy; an Arab Sheikh will neglect some of his five hours of prayer; Moslem law will wink at the use of bells in the convents or churches of Greeks and Latins; but, beyond these, not many steps have been taken in what is called liberality or tolerance.

The famous imperial firman, which has been celebrated as the magna charta of religious liberty to Turkey, can accomplish little,

at present beyond proclaiming the good intentions of the Sultan and his minister. The fanaticism of Moslem mobs is above all law, and makes light of imperial edicts; and that it is not on the wane is proved by the great increase of pilgrims to Mecca this year beyond many preceding years. Much was said of the facilities of late years in getting access to the Mosque of Omar, and it was supposed that the Crimean war and English gold had thrown open the gates of the Kubbet es-Sakhrah and of the El-Aksa to the Giaur. But the tide has ebbed, and the Nubian guards of the mosque have become as fiercely intolerant as ever. They who found their way into the Haram esh-Scherîf in 1855 and 1856, and got access to the old rock, the cave, the Bîr Aruach, the substructural arches, the subterraneous gateway, and the other marvellous antiquities of that venerable inclosure, may count themselves fortunate indeed. They have seen what may not be soon seen again. They have visited mysterious chambers, they have looked into the old temple wells, they have touched the old top of Moriah, they have walked round the massive monoliths of Jewish architecture, they have trod the bare limestone rock which Solomon levelled; and they may congratulate themselves on having something to tell for which future travellers will envy them.

Yet, though the doors that seemed to be opening are again barred, there is no longer the stagnation that prevailed some twenty years ago. Commerce is all astir in the Levant, though the propelling power is European, not Asiatic. Greece is bestirring herself, and Greek merchants are taking the lead in the busy stir. The old ports are no longer deserted, though some of them will not suit modern enterprise. Sidon might perhaps at some cost be shaped into a harbour, and represent Phoenicia once more; but Tyre will not so easily revive; its exposed and rocky coast rendering safe harbourage almost impracticable. But Beyroot is rising rapidly, and, sitting beneath the shadow of Lebanon, may yet come to represent the maritime power of the Phoenician coast. The splendid Bay of Acco, with a beaconlight on Carmel, might become a noble refuge as well as port, if only the Kishon would some day come down in sufficient force to sweep away the filthy village of Khaifa, so as to lead to the erection of a town and harbour worthy of such a bay. Jaffa, the chief port of Palestine, may yet rise in importance, were there any government that would lay out, say even twenty thousand pounds, upon its harbour.

In all this, however, the Jew, the original proprietors of the soil, has no part. The mercantile competition is among the merchants of the West. In their rush they tread down the ancient owners, nor think of asking them to share the spoil. That they will yet make something of these regions is by no

British Opportunities.

1751

means unlikely, for the native fertility of the land is great. With a handful of population here and there, and with no demand for produce, the soil has lain untilled, the terraces dilapidated, and the olive-yards neglected. But, with increasing demands from Europe, the tillage will return, the population will increase, and the land will reveal once more its long hidden fruitfulness.

Britain lost the opportunity of pre-eminence in the East when she consented to terminate the Crimean war ere any great result was achieved. She consulted the interests of France and Russia; but not her own. The continuance of that war for another year would have been almost nothing to her buoyant commerce, and it would so have raised her above every continental rival, that her sway in the East would have been paramount. The protectorate of the East would have fallen into her lap without further struggle. The Crusader's dream of a Western sceptre in Jerusalem might have been realised by her. Had her ambition been equal to her means, she might have sat down on the throne of Godfrey, and without resistance, claimed honours which her own Richard failed to obtain. Had Louis Napoleon's means been equal to his ambition, he would have been at this moment lord of the Holy City. Between want of ambition in England, and want of gold in France, Western influence lost the opportunity, thus within its reach, of obtaining the supremacy of the East. Whether such an opportunity may again occur, is a question beyond our power to answer; but if it were, we might venture to risk a guess, that the same abrupt and indeterminate result would recur.

Britain does not seem at all aware of what she might accomplish, without sword or cannon, simply by force of will. Such is her name, and such her acknowledged greatness, that a traveller passing through Eastern regions wonders why her supremacy is not more decided and overpowering. He soon learns the answer, that she does not make her will felt. Other nations, inferior in strength, put forth more will, and they shove her aside. She takes things easily; and unless some extraordinary brush occur, likely to make a noise in Parliament, allows others to take advantage of her. Fatal as this is to prestige and influence, she is not alive to the evil. She would let an empire drift away from her rather than be at the trouble of altering routine. Feebler empires risk collisions, and gain by their audacity or imprudence. The weak thus rules the strong. Rather than risk collisions, she will spend months in consulting crown lawyers, when one bold despatch, or bolder messenger, would settle the case in an hour. Weak states, like women, resent affronts even when they forgive injuries; strong empires are too apt to overlook both. Continental states, such as France, cherish resentments; nay, found their policy upon them. Britain for centuries.

has cherished none. A noble position certainly to be in; yet a perilous one ;-surrounded as she is with enemies whose envy is only surpassed by their hatred. In the East especially it becomes dangerous to be known as a nation either too weak or too strong to punish. Britain is alternately regarded as both. Nor does she take decided steps to undeceive foreign, especially Oriental powers. She allows the dragoman of one of her consulates to be imprisoned by one of her cowardly but aspiring rivals; she lets her representative be browbeaten by the same in the Pasha's court; she coolly receives petitions from insolent foreigners for the removal of her worthiest officers; and instead of backing her consular courts, she ties up their hands or cancels their judgments, at the bidding of a Prussian intermeddler.

She is entitled to hold bolder language than she does, and to occupy a more daring position. Much as she lost by the premature peace with Russia, she is still tacitly recognised as supreme; and would she but act upon her felt superiority, she might do great things for the East,-for law, for liberty, for religion. The only nation that at this moment has the means of going to war, or at least of sustaining war for a single year, without dread of self-exhaustion or social insurrection, she might sway the councils as well as wield the sword of the world. She might say to the Sultan, If you won't or can't protect Christians in your cities and villages, I will; and without doubt or delay, each pacha's or kadi's head would be made responsible for every one bearing the Christian name. She might say to the Pope, You shall grant to my subjects the right of worshipping in an honest church within the walls of Rome; and the demand would be conceded. She might say to the continental consuls of the East, Cease your efforts to elbow or bully me out of Palestine, and put a stop to the schemes of your ecclesiastical tools, or I shall take measures, ere another month pass over, to double my strength in the pashalics of Esh-Sham and El-Kuds; and she would be submitted to.

Britain has still a mighty name in the earth, and strength with which to maintain the honour of that name. Let her use it; for it is a sacred and noble trust; more sacred and noble than that of gold and silver. Neither East nor West can do without her. Did her statesmen but recognise her position, and consecrate her power as well as her resources to the living God, she might, without a crusade, do more for the East than the whole century of crusades achieved. Other statesmen, believing in a church, work out the interests of the church in which they believe; what might not her statesmen do, if believing, not in a church, but in a God, they were to dedicate their influence to the cause of living truth, and seek the promotion of interests wider and holier than those of any church or any nation upon earth?

ART. VIII.-1. Researches on Light in its Chemical Relations, embracing a consideration of all the Photographic Processes. By ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S. Second Edition. 1854.

2. Note relative á L'Influence de la Lumiere sur les Animaux. Par M. J. BECLARD. Comptes Rendus, etc., 1 Mars 1858, tom. xlvi., p. 441. Paris, 1858.

3. A Manual of Photography. By ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S. Fifth Edition, Revised. London and Glasgow, 1857.

4. The Practice of Photography. By ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S. London and Glasgow, 1857.

the

5. On the Action of Light upon Plants, and of Plants upon Atmosphere. By CHARLES DAUBENY, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry and Botany in the University of Oxford. Phil. Trans., 1836, pp. 149–163.

6. Researches on the Influence of Light on the Germination of Seeds, and the Growth of Plants. By Mr ROBERT HUNT, Secretary to the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. Reports of British Association, 1842, pp. 75-80.

7. Researches on the Influence of Light on the Germination of Seeds, and the Growth of Plants. By Mr ROBERT HUNT, Secretary to the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. Reports of British Association, 1844, pp. 29-32.

8. Researches on the Influence of the Solar Rays on the Growth of Plants. By the Same. Reports of British Association, 1847, pp. 17-30.

9. On the Influence of Physical Agents on Life. By W. F. EDWARDS, M.D., F.R.S., Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Paris. Translated from the French by Dr HODGKIN and Dr FISHER. Pp. 504. London, 1832. 10. The Stereoscope-its History, Theory, and Construction, with its Application to the Fine and Useful Arts, and to Education. By Sir D. BREWSTER. K.H., D.C.L., F.R.S. London, 1856. 11. The Photographic Art Journal, illustrated. Nos. I., II., III., and IV. February, March, April, and May 1858.

12. De L'Image Photochromatique du Spectre Solaire. Par M. E. BECQUEREL. Comptes Rendus, etc., tom. xxviii., p. 200. Feb. 1849.

13. Sur une Relation existant entre la Couleur des certaines Flammes Colorées, avec les Images Heliographiques Colorées par la Lumiere. Par M. NIEPCE DE ST VICTOR. Comptes Rendus, etc., tom. xxxii., p. 834. May 1851.

14. Second Memoire sur Heliochromie. Par M. NIEPCE DE ST VICTOR. Comptes Rendus, etc., tom. xxxiv., p. 215. 15. Troisieme Memoire sur Heliochromie. Par M. NIEPCE DE ST VICTOR. Comptes Rendus, etc., tom. xxxv., p. 696.Nov.1852. 16. Memoires sur une Nouvelle Action de la Lumiere. Par M. VOL. XXIX. NO. LVII.

M