grant water, and clouds of incense: the Monks knelt round the stone, with large lighted candles in their hands; a Monk ascended an adjoining pulpit, and preached a Sermon in Arabic. The Procession then went forward to the Sepulchre, where the image was deposited, and a Sermon preached in Spanish. This concluded the Ceremony.

"On the Easter Day of the Latins, which is the Palm Sunday of the Greeks, Armenians, &c. I went to the Church carly, and found it excessively crowded. Most of the people had remained there all night. The Catholic, Greck, and Armenian Processions were long and splendid. In all the Processions to-day, except that of the Catholics, Palm Branches were carried, and also Banners with the various scenes of the Passion painted on them. The people were very eager to sanctify their Palms, by touching the Banners with them, as they passed.

"On the Greek Good Friday, I went to the Church, with the intention of spending the night there with the Pilgrims, and of viewing the Ceremonies. The Turkish guard at the gate was particularly strong; and they admitted none who did not chuse to pay twenty-five piastres (about 168. 8d.) The Firman which I obtained at Acre from the Pacha, who is Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre, saved myself and servant this expense. It is a general belief among the Greeks and Armenians, that, on Easter Eve, a Fire descends from heaven into the Sepulchre. The eagerness of the Greeks, Armenians, and others, to light their candles at this Holy Fire, carried an immense crowd to the Church, notwithstanding the sum which they were obliged to pay. About nine at night, I retired to rest, in a small apartment in the Church. A little before midnight, the servant roused me to see the Greek Procession. I hastened to the gallery of the Church. The scene was striking and brilliant. The Greek Chapel was splendidly illuminated. Five rows of lamps were suspended in the dome; and almost every individual of the immense multitude held a lighted candle in his hand. The Procession and subsequent service around the Sepulchre were long and splendid.

"I was awakened early in the following morning by the noise in the Church; and, on proceeding to my station in the gallery, I found the crowd below in a state of great confusion. Some were employed in carrying others on their backs, round the Sepulchre; others in dancing and clapping their hands, exclaiming in Arabic-This is the Tomb of our Lord! Somefines a man passed, standing upright on the shoulders of another; and I saw, more than once, FOUR carried along in this manner, a little boy, seated, forming the fourth, or topmost: others again were busy in chasing one another round the Tomb, and shouting like madmen. Whenever they saw in the crowd a man who they thought could pay them, they seized and forcibly carried him, in their arms, two or three times round the Church. The whole was a most lamentable profanation of the place! The same happens every year. The noise and confusion increased, as the moment appointed for the apparition of the Fire approached. At length, the Turks, who had not hitherto interfered, began to brandish their whips, and to still, in some measure, the tumult. About noon, the Governor of Jerusalem, with a part of his guard, entered the gallery. The eagerness and anxiety of the people were now excessive. They all pressed toward the Sepulchre, each person holding a bundle of tapers in his hand. The Chief Agent of the Greek Patriarch, and an Armenian Bishop, had entered the Sepulchre shortly before. All eyes were fixed on the gallery, watching for the Governor's signal. He made it, and the Fire appeared through one of the holes in the building that covers the Tomb! A man lighted his taper at the hallowed flame; and then pushed into the thickest of the crowd, and endeavoured to fight his way through. The tumult and clamour were great; and the man was nearly crushed to death, by the eagerness of the people to light their tapers at his flame In about twenty min utes, every one, both in the galleries and below, men, women, and children, had their candles lighted. Many of them put their lighted candles to their faces, imagining that the flame would not scorch them : I perceived, however,

by their grimaces, that they speedily discovered their mistake. They did not permit these tapers to burn long; reserving them for occasions of need. The power which they attribute to those candles that have been touched with the fire from heaven, is almost unbounded: they suppose, for instance, that if, overtaken by a storm at sea, they throw one of these candles into the waves, the tempest will immediately subside. They are chiefly valued, however, in consequence of the superstitious notion, that, if they are burned at the funeral of an individual, they will most assuredly save his soul from future punishment. To obtain these candles, and to undergo a second baptism in the waters of the Jordan, are the chief objects of the visit of the Greek Pilgrims to Jerusalem." (App. p. 433-437.)

The total number of Pilgrims, who visited Jerusalem in the year 1820, was 3131. Let us hope that the exertions of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the diffusion of the Scriptures, which the pilgrims will in future be enabled to purchase at the very gates of the sepulchre and carry home to their families and friends, will tend progressively to inspire a purer and more exalted spirit of devotion !

2. The Greeks constitute by far the largest body of Christians in the islands of the Mediterranean, as also throughout the east. Mr. Jowett had very considerable intercourse with the Greek bishops, and has communicated much curious and interesting information concerning the doctrine and discipline of the "Orthodox Church" as she styles herself.

The Greeks have three services in the day; one, about four o'clock in the morning, called "Oppos, or the early service; the second, a liturgy (which is the principal service), takes place about six or seven o'clock; and in the evening, vespers. Although these services are performed, generally, every day, they are but little attended, except on Sundays or the great festivals. They have three liturgies, composed by Chrysostom, Basil, and Gregoory; that of Chrysostom is used throughout the year, except during Lent, when the larger one, of Basil, is read; and, for a few days, that of Gregory. But that, which falls most heavily on our ears accustomed to the simple and devout liturgy of the English church, is the perpetual performance of divine worship in a language not understood by the people. It is surprising how, under such circumstances, their attention can be kept up. To diversify a long service, there is always something new bringing forward, such as changing the dresses and the readers. How short, in this country, does the time of public worship appear, when the understanding is informed by means of a known tongue, and the heart is interested by infinitely affecting truths!

Mr. Jowett visited Smyrna twice, in 1818, and in 1819. The population of this city is said to be 120,000; of whom 60,000 are

* Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, from 1815 to 1820. in furtherance of the objects of the Church Missionary Society. By the Rev. William Jowett, M. A. 8vo. (With two maps.) London, 1822,

Turks, 40,000 Greeks, 3000 Latins, 7000 Armenians, and 10,000 Jews. Of Protestants, there are very few. In consequence of the Turkish notion of predestination, not fewer than 30,000 persons died of the plague in 1814: though the Turks constitute numerically the largest portion of the inhabitants of Smyrna, they are gradually wasting away, through depopulating vices; while the Greeks, on the contrary, feeling it a duty to marry early, generally have large families, and are consequently upon the increase. In the college at Smyrna there are 250 or 300 pupils, who are under the care of nine masters. Its interest is supported by two brothers, of the name of Economus,-one a presbyter, the other a physician. During one of Mr. Jowett's visits here, he one day witnessed the funeral procession of a Greek of some consequence, over whom Economus, the presbyter, was to preach a funeral sermon in the adjoining Metropoli

tan church.

"I went with him," says Mr. Jowett. "It was very affecting, to see the corpse lying in an open coffin, with the ordinary dress of life; that is, the loose flowing Greek robes; on his head, the kalpac, a large and cumbrous headdress, commonly worn; and the face exposed. The sight made me shudder; and so did the indifference, which habit has produced on the minds of the byestanders.

He

"Economus preached a Sermon of twenty minutes' length. He spoke of the dead in an Attic style of compliment, under the title of o paxapios. concluded his Sermon, by breaking out into that awful Service which the Greek Church has for the dead, and in which the Congregation in a murmuring voice joined. It is an invitation to relatives and friends to bid their final adieu :

"Come, Brethren, and let us give the last embrace to the deceased, thanking God! He hath left his kindred-he is borne to the grave-no longer heeding the things of vanity, and of the burdensome flesh. Where now are kindred and friends? Now we are separated: Whom let us pray the Lord to take to His rest!

"What a separation, O Brethren! What woe, what wailing on the present change! Come then, let us embrace him who a little while ago was with us. He is consigned to the grave-he is covered with a stone-his abode is with darkness he is buried with the dead! Now we are separated: Whom let us pray the Lord to take to His rest!

"Now all the evil and vain festivity of life is dissolved: for the spirit hath left its tabernacle-the clay hath become black-the vessel is broken, speech. less, void of feeling, dead, motionless: Whom consigning to the grave, let us pray the Lord to give him rest for ever.

"Truly, like a flower, and as a vapour, and as morning dew, is our life. Come then, let us look down narrowly into the grave. Where is the comeliness of the body, and where is youth? Where are the eyes, and the beauty of the flesh? All are withered like grass-all are vanished. Come then, let us fall before Christ in tears.

"Looking upon the dead laid out, let us all take account of our last change; for this man is carried forth, as smoke from the earth-as a flower he is withered-as grass he is cut down-swathed in a winding-sheet-covered with earth: Whom, leaving, now to be no more seen, let us pray to Christ that He will grant to him eternal rest.

"Come hither ye descendants of Adam? Let us behold committed to the earth one who was of our likeness-all his comeliness cast away-dissolved in the grave-food for worms-in darkness-covered with earth!

"Come hither, Brethren, to the grave; and see the ashes and dust of which we were formed! Whither now go we? And what have we been?

What

is the poor, or the rich; or what is the master or the free? Are we not all ashes? The beauty of the countenance is wasted, and death hath utterly withered the flower of youth: &c. &c.

"The embracing of the dead, then, and during the reciting of this Service, takes place: for, as soon as the Priests departed, many ca e, and, laying their hands on the two sides of the open coffin, kissed the cheeks and forehead of the deceased, with much emotion. When a Bishop dies, and is laid out in this manner in the Church, all the Congregation throng to perform this ceremony.

"The corpse is now carried out into the Church-yard. A slab lifted up, discovered to our view that the whole Church yard is hollow under ground. The body was put into a meaner wooden coffin, and lowered into the grave. I did not observe that they sprinkled earth upon it, as we do; but, instead of this, a Priest concluded the ceremony by pouring a glass of water on the head of the corpse. I did not learn what this meant; but it brought to my mind that touching passage in 2 Sam. xiv. 14. For we must needs die; and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.” (P. 38— 40.)

Besides the principal college above noticed, there are six or eight Greek schools at Smyrna, each having about 25 or 30 scholars they give 60, 80, or 100 paras (from 15 to 25 pence) a month, according to the book they are reading; beginning the alphabet for 60, and being advanced to 100 when they arrive at the psalter.

During Mr. Jowett's residence at Smyrna in 1818, he visited what were, previously to the present commotions, two of the most celebrated Greek colleges, those of Haivali and Scio. As Haivali has since suffered from the brutal excesses of the Turks, we shall subjoin a few particulars relative to the college of Scio. The city of Scio was built by the Genoese, and is far superior to any in the Levant. The houses are of well-wrought stone, spacious and high, and the streets tolerably clean. There are five professors, and 14 masters. The number of students is between 5 and 600, about 100 of whom are foreigners. The Sciotes have sent three of their countrymen to study at foreign Universities, one to Paris, another to Vienna, and the third to Padua. The course of instruction embraces the subjects of Theology, grammar, Latin, French, Turkish, painting, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, moral philosophy, ancient history, mathematics, arithmetic, algebra, geography, mechanics, optics, experimental philosophy, and chemistry. The following is the method of classical instruction pursued at Scio.

"The Master first reads so much of the author in hand as he intends to explain. After the reading, he construes the passage aloud, making remarks of a critical nature on each word in the text. After this interpretation and these remarks, he goes again over the sense of the writer, in the way of paraphrase, using common Greek words, and modern synonymous phrases. He then draws three lots; and the Scholars, on whom the lots fall, repeat, one after another, the paraphrastic explanation which they heard from him; and, afterward, all in the class write it down. When they have all written this ex

planation, the Master draws a fourth lot, and corrects the written exercise of that Scholar on whom this lot falls, publicly noticing the errors and his correction of them; after which that Scholar reads aloud his corrected exercise by which all the rest correct their errors. After this correction, the Master adds further critical illustrations, which they write down and show to him on the following day." (P. 76, 77.)

It seems, therefore, from this statement that the study of the Greek classics was pursued at Scio, with some accuracy. The island of Scio contains 62 villages, with a population of about 130,000 persons; these villages produce almost as many sorts of wine, one of which, called Homer's wine, is peculiarly excellent. The common labouring people are stated to be very industrious. Leaving Scio, Mr. Jowett proceeded to Athens, and thence to the small island of Hydra, which at the present juncture has acquired peculiar importance. The character and circumstances of this island will appear from the following extract from his journal:

"Hydra, like many other towns built on the barren and mountainous parts of Islands of the Archipelago, glitters to the eye, at a considerable distance, with its white houses. On a nearer approach, this town discovers itself to be one of the newest and neatest in these parts. The state of the streets we had no opportunity of examining, as we were in quarantine; but the aspect of the town is very imposing. It is built on a steep ascent, and sweeps to the right, between an inner concave line of mountain, and a hill standing in the fore-ground.

"We spent rather less than an hour at the barrier, during which I collected a little information. There are about 3000 houses; and probably not less than 20,000 inhabitants, all Greeks. There were fourteen ships in harbour. It is said that the people have 200. They correspond, at present, chiefly with Malta, Leghorn, and Treiste. The Island is so entirely barren, that it is indebted to the Morea for vegetables and live-stock. It is in the Diocese of the Bishop of Damala. The harbour is deep water, but small; so that, in bad weather, they are sometimes obliged to run to the opposite coast. The town is built of substantial native stone. While we were there, they were giving notice by loud cries, that they were going to blow up some rock; and a minute or two after, we witnessed the explosion. The houses have generally two stories, and are very well built and white-washed, so as to have a handsome appearance; street rising, by a rapid ascent, above street. Our pilot says, that, sixteen years ago, there were not above 300 houses on the island. During the late war, the people rapidly rose, by carrying corn from Odessa to Spain for the use of the army. Some are very rich indeed. They build very fine vessels, and trade as far as the West Indies. They are attempting School." (P 83-85.)

a

The common people, in general, among the Greeks, understand much of the Gospels, when read, except that of St John, which, treating of "high matters," seems to be considered safe only in the hands of the learned. In the countries visited by Mr. Jowett, sermons are rarely delivered, and are harangues rather than discourses. Laymen are sometimes, though very rarely, permitted to preach to the people, and only on moral subjects, not on articles of faith.

"Many persons, respectable for their rank and station, do not well understand Ancient Greck. A Gentleman, who was showing me a Greek Psalter,