PALESTINE.

A PRIZE-POEM.

BY MR. REGINALD HEBER,

OF BRAZEN-NOSE COLLEGE.

RECITED IN THE THEATRE, OXFORD, JUNE 15, 1803.

SYNOPSIS.

Lamentation over the miseries of Palestine-The Guardian Angels of the land invoked-Subject proposed-Present appearance of the country, with its present inhabitants geographically described, beginning from the north-The Druses, from their situation and importance, first noticed-Contrast between the inhabitants of mountain and plain-Saracens and Bedouins (Nebaioth and Kedar) -Modern Jews-their degraded state of banishment-Appeal to the Almighty in their behalf, founded upon his miraculous interpositions of old-Their former greatness-David-SolomonHis splendour-Popular superstitions respecting him-Improved state of the Arts among the Jews-Their Temple-Firmness of the Jews under misfortunes-derived principally from their hopes of the MessiahHis Advent-Miracles-Crucifixion-Consequent punishment of the Jews, in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and total desolation of the country-Scenes of Christ's sufferings, however, continued to be venerated-PilgrimagesHoly Sepulchre-Empress Helena-Crusades-Nations. which embarked in them described-English heroism-Edward the First-Richard Cœur de Lion-Palestine still the scene of British valour-Acre-Conclusion.

REFT of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn,
Mourn, widow'd queen, forgotten Sion, mourn!
Is this thy place, sad City, this thy throne,
Where the wild desert rears it's craggy stone?

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While suns unblest their angry lustre fling,
And way-worn pilgrims seek the scanty spring?
Where now thy pomp, which kings with envy view'd?
Where now thy might, which all those kings subdue'd?
No martial myriads muster in thy gate;
No suppliant nations in thy Temple wait;
No prophet bards, thy glittering courts among,
Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song:
But lawless Force, and meagre Want is there,
And the quick-darting eye of restless Fear;
While cold Oblivion, 'mid thy ruins laid,
Folds his dank wing beneath the ivy shade *.

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Ye Guardian Saints! ye warrior sons of heaven †, To whose high care Judæa's state was given ! O wont of old your nightly watch to keep, A host of gods, on Sion's towery steep ! If e'er your secret footsteps linger still By Siloa's fount, or Tabor's echoing hill, If e'er your song on Salem's glories dwell, And mourn the captive land you lov'd so well; (For, oft, 'tis said, in Kedron's palmy vale, Mysterious harpings swell the midnight gale §, And, blest as balmy dews that Hermon cheer, Melt in soft cadence on the pilgrim's ear ;)

Alluding to the usual manner in which Sleep is represented in ancient statues. See also Pindar, Pyth. L. v. 16, 17. σε αγνώσσων Ὑδρὸν νῶτον ἀιωρεί.

+ Authorities for these celestial warriors may be found, Josh. v. 13. 2 Kings vi. 2. 2 Macc. v. 3. Ibid. xi. Joseph. Ed. Huds. vi. P. 1282. et alibi passim.

It is scarcely necessary to mention the lofty site of Jerusalem. "The hill of God is a high hill, even a high hill as the hill of Bashan."

See Sandys, and other travellers into Asia.

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Forgive, blest spirits, if a theme so high
Mock the weak notes of mortal minstrelsy!
Yet, might your aid this anxious breast inspire
With one faint spark of Milton's seraph fire,
Then should my Muse ascend with bolder flight *,
And wave her eagle-plumes exulting in the light.
O happy once in heaven's peculiar love,
Delight of men below, and saints above!
Though, Salem, now the spoiler's ruffian hand
Has loos'd his hell-hounds o'er thy wasted land;
Though weak, and whelm'd beneath the storms of fate,
Thy house is left unto thee desolate † ;
Though thy proud stones in cumbrous ruin fall,
And seas of sand o'ertop thy mouldering wall;
Yet shall the Muse to Fancy's ardent view
Each shadowy trace of faded pomp renew:
And as the Seer on Pisgah's topmost brow
With glistening eye beheld the plain below,
With prescient ardour drank the scented gale,
And bade the opening glades of Canaan hail;
Her eagle eye shall scan the prospect wide,
From Carmel's cliffs to Almotana's tide §;
The flinty waste, the cedar-tufted hill,
The liquid health of smooth Ardeni's rill;

The grot, where, by the watch-fire's evening blaze ||,
The robber riots, or the hermit prays;

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* Common practice, and the authority of Milton, seem sufficient to justify using this term as a personification of poetry.

+ St. Matthew's Gospel, xxiv. 38.

Mofes.

Almotana is the oriental name for the Dead Sea, as Ardeni is for Jordan.

The mountains of Palestine are full of caverns, which are generally occupied in one or other of the methods here mentioned. Vide Sandys, Maundrell, and Calmet, passim.

Or, where the tempest rives the hoary stone,
The wintry top of giant Lebanon.

Fierce, hardy, proud, in conscious freedom bold,
Those stormy seats the warrior Druses hold *;
From Norman blood their lofty line they trace,
Their lion courage proves their generous race.
They, only they, while all around them kneel
In sullen homage to the Thracian steel,
Teach their pale despot's waning moon to fear ↑
The patriot terrors of the mountain spear.

Yes, valorous chiefs, while yet your sabres shine, The native guard of feeble Palestine,

O ever thus, by no vain boast dismay'd,
Defend the birthright of the cedar shade!
What though no more for you the' obedient gale
Swells the white bosom of the Tyrian sail;
Though now no more your glittering marts unfold
Sidonian dyes and Lusitanian gold ;
Though not for you the pale and sickly slave
Forgets the light in Ophir's wealthy cave;
Yet your's the lot, in proud contentment blest,
Where cheerful labour leads to tranquil rest.
No robber rage the ripening harvest knows §;
And unrestrain'd the generous vintage flows:

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*The untameable spirit, feodal customs, and affection for Europeans, which distinguish this extraordinary race, who boast themselves to be a remnant of the Crusaders, are well described in Pagés. The account of their celebrated Emir, Facciardini, in Sandys, is also very interesting. Puget de S. Pierre, compiled a small volume on their history; Paris, 1763. 12mo.

"The Turkish Sultans, whose moon seems fast approaching to it's wane." Sir W. Jones's 1st. Discourse to the Asiatic Society. The gold of the Tyrians chiefly came from Portugal, which was probably their Tarshish.

In the southern parts of Palestine the inhabitants reap their

Nor less your sons to manliest deeds aspire,
And Asia's mountains glow with Spartan fire.

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So when, deep sinking in the rosy main, The western Sun forsakes the Syrian plain, His watery rays refracted lustre shed, And pour their latest light on Carmel's head. Yet shines your praise, amid surrounding gloom, As the lone lamp that trembles in the tomb : For, few the souls that spurn a tyrant's chain, And small the bounds of freedom's scanty reign. As the poor outcast on the cheerless wild *, Arabia's parent, clasp'd her fainting child, And wander'd near the roof no more her home, Forbid to linger, yet afraid to roam: My sorrowing Fancy quits the happier height, And southward throws her half-averted sight. For, sad the scenes Judæa's plains disclose, A dreary waste of undistinguish'd woes : See War untir'd his crimson pinions spread, And foul Revenge, that tramples on the dead! Lo, where from far the guarded fountains shine †, Thy tents, Nebaioth, rise, and Kedar, thine ! 100 'Tis your's the boast to mark the stranger's way, And spur your headlong chargers on the prey, Or rouse your nightly numbers from afar, And on the hamlet pour the waste of war;

corn green, as they are not sure that it will ever be allowed to come to maturity. The oppression to which the cultivators of vineyards are subject throughout the Ottoman empire is well known.

* Hagar.

+ The watering places are generally beset with Arabs, who exact toll from all comers. See Harmer and Pagés.

See Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xiv. p. 43. Ed. Vales,