by the invitation of Captain Hall. We were most handsomely entertained at their mess-all English, and every article, except the meat, supplied from England.

We have been much pleased with Mrs. Moore, the consul's lady, who is very handsome. Mr. Moore wished me to engage to paint a portrait of her for him. This I could not do, but told him that if she had a native dress, I would be happy to make two drawings of her one for myself, as well as one for him. Accordingly, two drawings have been made of her, in the dress of a Bedouin lady; both are so much liked, that they scarcely know which to retain. Mrs. Moore and family lived on board Commodore Napier's ship during the bombardment of Beyrout. Many of the houses have been battered to pieces by shells and shot, and bricklayers and carpenters are now busy with reparations and rebuildings.

D. W.

TO THOMAS WILKIE.

Beyrout, 20th Feb. 1841.

We have been here twelve days, waiting with much impatience for a chance to Acre or Jaffa; and in that time have even lost one or two chances that would have served, partly through fastidiousness, and partly through the conviviality of friends. We have now, however, the prospect of a passage by a Corsican brig along the coast, freighted with stores for the Turkish government. We have also tried to get a firman from the Seraskier, through the influence of

Mr. Wood and the British Consul, to provide for horses and an escort from Jaffa to Jerusalem. As the weather is fine, we hope, without much difficulty, to reach the Holy City.

Mr. Young, the British Consul at Jerusalem, has left this; and we hope to find him and his lady in the Holy City. We have several letters, and have met friends who are gone before. Indeed we have seen several naval officers, who have, upon short leave, made the journey.

D. W.

JOURNAL, continued.

Feb. 20th. A curious question has arisen with the learned how the ancient Jews lived, whether like the Persians and Turks of our times, or like the Egyptians and Greeks of ancient times; whether they sat upon the floor, or upright upon seats and chairs? This is a question that involves many others, whether they ate when at meat from a stool or from a table, or whether they slept upon mats or upon bedsteads? Several texts may be given to show that the latter of these, rather than the former, was their habit; but, to settle the question, it has been suggested that the original Hebrew must be looked at. It is quite true, in early times, when the children of Israel dwelt in tents, they, and perhaps the Greeks and Egyptians, may have lived in the style of their eastern neighbours; but from the time of Solomon to that of the Messiah and Apostles, when granite columns and stately architecture adorned their tem

ples and palaces, it may fairly be urged, in absence of proof to the contrary, that they may have lived in similar habits with those of their neighbours, to whom they approached in their knowledge of civilisation and the arts.

22d. Passed in view of Sidon.

CHAPTER X.

WILKIE AT JAFFA AND JERUSALEM. JOURNAL

CONTINUED.

-

LETTERS TO MR. JOHN HARVEY, SIR ROBERT PEEL, MR. COLLINS, R. A., LORD LEVEN, AND PROFESSOR BUCKLAND.

WHEN Wilkie set foot on the Holy Land, it was with the spiritual feelings of one familiar with his Bible from his youth, one on the eve of realizing the pilgrim wish of a long life, and about to people the hills, and vales, and streams of Judea, with the fine creations of his own fancy, and the rich embodiments of scriptural story, as rendered in oil or fresco by the great masters of his art, from Giotto to Giorgione. "When I went," says his friend Collins, "to bid Sir David Wilkie farewell, a day or two before he left home for his last journey, I found him in high spirits, enlarging with all his early enthusiasm on the immense advantage he might derive from painting upon holy land, on the very ground on which the event he was to embody had actually occurred. To make a study at Bethlehem from some young female and child seemed to me one great incentive to his journey. I asked him if he had any guide-book; he said, Yes, and the very best,' and then unlocking his travelling box, he showed me a pocket Bible. I never saw him again; but the Bible throughout Judea was, I am assured, his best, and only handbook."

เ

TO MISS WILKIE.

Jaffa, 25th Feb. 1841.

From Beyrout we hired a passage on board a brig, the Candido, Captain Grimaldi, from Corsica. On getting on board, we found her anchored close to the great line of battle ship, the Benbow, and that our friend Captain Houstoun Stewart (brother to the late Sir Michael Shaw Stewart) had been giving an entertainment on board to the Turkish Seraskier of Syria. As the Benbow was then weighing anchor, I determined on sending a letter of good-by to her gallant captain. The letter I wrote our captain offered to take on board the Benbow in his own boat. Captain Stewart's answer was most kind.

66

Sunday.

My dear Sir David, "One hurried word of adieu, and thanks cordial for your kind note. Had I known you were so near, I should have sent and begged you to come and join the Turks. I wish I could have done any thing for you and Telemachus.* Perhaps I may get recalled. My ship at Malta is yours when you come. Adieu! Sincerely yours, with every good wish to Mr. Wood

burn.

(Signed)

"HOUSTOUN STEWART."

With this kind of stirrup-cup we weighed anchor, and stretched to the southward with light winds along the coast of the Holy Land. Mount Lebanon

*Mr. Woodburn.