nifies a garden, implies, as Dr. Robinson suggests, that it led out of the city to some public gardens, or, at all events, into the country. Dr. Robinson believes its site to have been near to the tower of Hippicus, closely adjacent to the present Yâfa-gate. One very weighty reason amongst those he gives for this opinion is, that if the gate Gennath, at which the second wall began, was not near to Hippicus, all the extent of the upper city from Hippicus to the said gate must have been protected only by two walls, whereas we have Josephus's unquestionable authority that "the city was fortified by three walls wherever it was not encircled by impassable valleys." Of the second wall, Josephus says,"The second wall had its beginning from the gate called Gennath, belonging to the first wall, and, encircling only the tract on the north, it extended quite to Antonia."

It was, until recently, imagined that this wall had taken a straight course from near Hippicus to the fortress Antonia. In his former volume, Dr. Robinson endeavoured to shew the improbability of this supposition, and its manifest discrepancy with Josephus's expression of "encircling;" and since the discovery of the remains at the Damascus-gate it has been completely abandoned :

"The question at present," says our author, "may be divided into two parts, viz., first, the course of the second wall from its beginning to the Damascus-gate, and then its course from the Damascus-gate to Ántonia."

In his remarks upon the gate Gennath, Dr. Robinson has taken occasion to prove very satisfactorily, from incidental references in Josephus, that the second wall, beginning from a point near to Hippicus, must have run northwards near to the monument of John. Reverting, in the division of the section which treats particularly of its course, to the tolerable certainty existing as to its direction thus far, he goes on to say,

"And, again, we find traces of an ancient wall running from the Damascus-gate, which was in the second wall, to a point near the Latin convent. There can be little question but that these traces are those of the second wall. To fill up the interval between the monument of John and the Latin convent requires but a comparatively short reach of wall, and there is little room for theory or imagination. According to this general view, the course of the second wall followed nearly the street which leads northwards from the citadel to the Latin convent, deflecting perhaps a little on the east or on the west of that street, while from the convent to the Damascus-gate it lay along or near the course of the present city wall."

Such a course as this would answer, as Dr. Robinson proceeds to observe,

"To the description of Josephus, that it 'encircled only the tract on the north;' meaning, perhaps, the tract adjacent to Zion, in distinction from the much wider tract encompassed by the

third wall."-"We have thus also," he adds, "the required circuitous course."

The direction of the wall from the Damascus-gate has not been the theme of so many conjectures and discussions as its course to that spot. Dr. Robinson has come to no very decisive conclusion upon the subject:

"According to my present view," he says, "the wall probably ran from the Damascus-gate, as now, to the highest point of Bezetha, and thence southerly along the crown of the ridge to Antonia."

Last, though not least, amongst the matters of dispute respecting the topography of Jerusalem, comes the Holy Sepulchre. The whole of the evidence possessed upon the subject, Dr. Robinson maintains, militates against the authenticity of the site now assigned to this celebrated monument. He believes, and endeavours to shew, that there was no definite tradition even as to the precise spot, up to the time of Constantine, and that its discovery in the reign of that emperor was not pretended to have been the result of any previous knowledge, but of "supernatural intimation." We have no inclination to follow him into the details of this vexed question, but may state that Dr. Robinson sees no reason to doubt that the present site was really that upon which Constantine built his church; and, especially, cannot agree with the opinion advanced by the author of the "Essay on the Ancient Topography of Jerusalem," that the church originally erected by Constantine over the Saviour's tomb is no

other than the mosque of Omar. Upon this point he says:

"In the particular instance of the Holy Sepulchre, probably no one at the present day, except Mr. Fergusson and his followers, supposes there

him to some very angry remarks. In a letter, of the 10th of December, to the editor of the "Athenæum," he plainly aceuses Dr. Robinson of having garbled his quotation from the "Bourdeaux Pilgrim," and goes on to say,

"I defy Dr. Robinson or any one else to translate the passage fairly and make sense of it, unless he adopts literally and entirely the views I have promulgated."

"Who shall decide when doctors disagree ?"

It is time for us to have done, and yet we feel that we but ill perform our task in saying no more. Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin, Hasbeiya, Banias, Damascus, Ba'albek,-all these names, and many others, rise up before us in a sort of reproach as we close Dr. Robinson's volume; nevertheless, close it now we must.

Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England, from the earliest times till the Reign of George IV. By JOHN LORD CAMPBELL. (London: John Murray. Small 8vo. Vol. Ì. To be completed in ten monthly volumes.) A book that has reached the fourth edition, and the praise of which is in everybody's mouth, requires no commendation at our hands. But we gladly welcome the work in this new and popular form, and think the learned and noble Lord could hardly have bestowed a greater boon upon the profession of which he is so distinguished a member, than by placing so useful a book within the reach of all.

Lord Campbell informs us that he has carefully revised the work, and made it as perfect as he could hope such a work to be; and, finally, that the work is stereotyped. This we are sorry for, as we feel sure that the following note will at some future time be either modified or altogether withdrawn. It is dated September, 1856, and follows the sketch of the office and duties of LordChancellor :

"I am grieved to say, that since the year 1845, when the above sketch of the office of Lord-Chancellor was composed, it has been sadly shorn of its splendour :

'Stat nominis umbra.'

If the same course of proceedings to degrade the office should be much longer continued, instead of the Chancellor answering the description of John of Salisbury in the reign of Henry II.—

His est qui leges regni cancellat iniquas, Et mandata pii Principis æqua facit," he may return to what Gibbon declares to have been his original functions, as 'doorkeeper or usher of the court, who, by his

cancella or little bars, kept off the multitude from intruding into the recess or chancel in which he sat.'

"The real importance of the Chancellor did not arise from the seal and maces,' which still dance before him,' but-1. From his being a leading member of the cabinet, originating and controlling all the measures of the government connected with the administration of justice; 2. From his presiding in the Court of Chancery, and laying down doctrine to govern that allabsorbing department of our jurisprudence called EQUITY; and, 3. From his practically constituting in his own person the ultimate Court of Appeal for the United Kingdom, by giving judgment in the name of the House of Lords, according to his own notion of what was right.

"Such powers having belonged to a Hardwicke, were transmitted by him to a line of distinguished successors, and, having been exercised to the great contentment and advantage of the realm, gave a prestige to the office of Chancellor, which is already seriously diminished, and ere long may be destroyed. 1. No act of parliament has as yet touched the first source of cancellarian greatness: but I must here reiterate the complaint which I have already made in vain, both publicly in my place in parliament, and by earnest representation in private,-that the ancient subordination and co-operation of the legal functionaries under the Crown has ceased, and that nothing is now certain with respect to measures for the improvement of our juridical institutions, except that a bill passed at the recommendation of the government in one house of parliament will be lost in the other-by the resistance, active or passive, of the members of the same government. 2. The Stat. 14 & 15 Vic. c. 83, To improve the administration of justice in the Court of Chancery,' will soon banish the Lord Chancellor from his court, and the Lords-Justices will reign in his stead. By § 5, all the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery which is now possessed and exercised by the Lord-Chancellor, and all powers, authorities, and duties, as well ministerial as judicial, incident to such jurisdiction, now exercised and performed by the Lord-Chancellor, shall and may Lords-Justices.' The Lord-Chancellor, if be had, exercised, and performed by the his taste so incline, may sit along with them, or he may sit in a separate court concurrently with them. But he will then be acting as a volunteer judge; and, practically and substantially, the Lords-Justices must be looked up to as the supreme authority in Equity. In time to come, the visits of the Lord-Chancellor, 'few and far.

between,' will not, I am afraid, be regarded with the reverence generated by the unexpected appearance of an angel. 3. Recent events have been still more unfortunate for the office of Lord-Chancellor as connected with the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords. Without the slightest blame being imputable to the present excellent holder of the Great Seal, the judgments of the House of Lords in his time had not given entire satisfaction to the bar or to the public, and some change in the tribunal became necessary. The creation of a peerage for life was very inconsiderately resorted to. Hâc fonte derivata clades-.' The Lords, in the exercise of their undoubted privileges, having judicially determined that a peer for life cannot, as such, sit in parliament, a committee was appointed to consider what was fit to be done for improving the appellate jurisdiction of the House. This was eagerly embraced as an opportunity to bring forward charges which, though most offensive to former holders of the Great Seal, and, generally speaking, quite unfounded, were listened to without the smallest check by the committee. In consequence, a sudden belief arose in the public mind, that the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords, which for centuries had commanded more respect than the jurisdiction of any other tribunal in the kingdom, was usurped, and was liable to every charge which can be made against forensic proceedings, except that of pecuniary corruption. Some new measure was necessary to satisfy the nation; and, instead of recurring to expe dients which might have been rendered effective by their own authority, the Lords, following the unlucky advice of their leaders on both sides, preferred a scheme for which the sanction of the two Houses, as well as of the Crown, was necessary, viz., having a certain number of salaried peers for life, with the title of Deputy Speakers,' to assist the Lord-Chancellor. The Bill for this purpose being thrown out by the House of Commons, in what a state is the LordChancellor for the time being now left? 'Single-seated justice,' which was applaud. ed in the time of Lord Hardwicke and Lord Eldon, will no longer be endured, nor the divisum imperium of the LordChancellor and a retired Common-law Judge, however distinguished. The probable experiment will now be a JUDICIAL COMMITTEE, consisting of peers, and of judges and privy-councillors, summoned to advise the House. There the Chancellor will have no official ascendency, and a Vice-Chancellor, or a Puisne Judge, may be selected to declare the judgment of this tribunal, according to the applauded prac

tice in the Judicial Committee of the Privy-Council.

"I care little about the reduced salary of the Lord-Chancellor, although it is not now sufficient to enable him to keep a carriage, and to exercise becoming hospitality, much less to make any provision for his family. Against poverty a noble struggle may be made; but there seem to be causes in operation which, in spite of the most eminent learning and ability, must speedily reduce the office to insignificance and contempt. This is a sad prospect for the Biographer of the Chancellors.

'May I lie cold before that dreadful day,

Press'd with a load of monumental clay!' "And yet,' (in the beautiful language of my predecessor, Lord Chief Justice Crewe,) Time hath his revolutions; there must be a period and an end to all temporal things-finis rerum-an end of names and dignities, and whatever is terrene,for, where is BоHUN? Where is MowBRAY? Where is MORTIMER? Nay, which is more and most of all, Where is PLANTAGENET? They are entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality'!!!-And why not the MARBLE CHAIR ?"

This new edition is printed in good, readable type, uniform with Mr. Hallam's Historical Works.

Essays, Critical and Imaginative. By PROFESSOR WILSON. Vol. II. (Edinburgh: Blackwood and Sons.)-Another volume of Christopher North's delightful Essays! We do not know that we like these quite so well as their predecessors; but they are, nevertheless, in their own way, unrivalled. Wilson possessed, in writing, something of that rare gift which Sir Bulwer Lytton ascribes to the oratory of a well-known character of his like Harley L'Estrange, le "could have talked nonsense, and made it more effe tive than sense." This peculiar charm of his works seems to be made up of several elements: one of these is very possibly somewhat analogous to that which Bulwer gives as the secret of his fascinating hero's eloquence, for there is much of a kind of stage-play in Wilson's authorship; and another proceeds, doubtless, from that characteristic which Coleridge tells us belongs inherently to true genius, "the carrying on of the freshness and feelings of childhood into the powers of manhood;" but the most important one of all, we suspect, lay in the richness of the writer's own animal life,-that exuberant life which would force itself out, in spite of himself, through every sentence he ever penned.

This new volume cont T1

matter, several critical articles upon some of the modern poets, and a series of "flights" upon the Lakes of Westmoreland. The paper upon Tennyson is the identical one which raised the young poet's wrath so much, and provoked so memorable a retort. It would indeed have been a grave blunder in the Professor, had he failed to perceive the poet's promise; but that he did not so fail is clear enough: notwithstanding all his laughter, nothing can be more unmistakeable and decisive than his verdict that "Alfred Tennyson is a poet."

It may well be imagined how thoroughly at home the writer is with the "Lakes." For some time he himself had his home amongst them, and they held a place in his love only second to that of the lochs and tarns of his "dear native Scotland."

Our space will allow us but one extract, which we select from the first flight of "Christopher at the Lakes:"

"Each lake hath its promontories, that, every step you walk, every stroke you row, undergo remarkable metamorphoses, according to the 'change that comes o'er the spirit of your dream,' as your imagination glances again over the transfigured mountains. Each lake hath its bays of bliss, where might ride at her moorings, made of the stalks of water-lilies, the fairy bark of a spiritual life. Each lake hath its hanging terraces of immortal green, that along her shores run glimmering far down beneath the superficial sunshine, when the poet in his becalmed canoe among the lustre, could fondly swear, by all that is most beautiful on earth, in air, and in water, that these three are one, blended as they are by the interfusing spirit of heavenly peace. Each lake hath its enchantments, too, belonging to this our mortal, our human world, the dwelling-places, beautiful to see, of virtuous poverty, in contentment exceeding rich, whose low roofs are reached by roses, spontaneously springing from the same soil that yields to strenuous labour the sustenance of a simple life. Each lake hath its halls, as well as its huts,-its old hereditary halls, [Coniston-hall, Calgarth-hall,-seats of the Le Flemings and the Phillipsons,--in their baronial pride!] solemn now, and almost melancholy, among the changes that for centuries have been imperceptibly stealing upon the abodes of prosperous men; but merry of yore, at all seasons of the year, as groves in spring; nor ever barred your hospitable doors, that, in the flinging aside, grated no harsh thunder,' but, almost silent, smiled the stranger in, like an opening made by some gentle wind into the glad sky among a gloom of clouds."

Jessie Cameron: a Highland Story. By LADY RACHEL BUTLER. (Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons.)-"Jessie Cameron" is a story of Highland peasant-life. It is the old tale of woman's faith betrayed and woman's heroism triumphant. Jessie Cameron is betrothed to a handsome young man, in a somewhat superior rank of life to herself, whom she loves with the whole depth and ardour of her fine nature. Of this love, although he is really attached to her in return, her lover is incapable of understanding the full strength and value; and, led away by vanity, he deserts her to GENT. MAG. VOL. CCII.

marry some more fashionable Lowland lady. Too late he learns to know what he has slighted; and he seeks an interview with his old love, and makes a confession to her of his misery and remorse,-a confession which she receives with the gentle dignity which befits her character, not inflicting upon him any unnecessary wounds, but making him at the same time feel how vain such regrets are now, and how worse than useless it must ever be to force them upon her. Subsequently, in the inundation of an adjacent river, she is the means of saving him and his wife and child from destruction; and very soon after this event, the faithless lover finally quits a neighbourhood which is to him so fraught with pain and reproach. Meanwhile Jessie's many virtues have raised her into a sort of idol to all around her, and she does not want for eligible suitors; but, true to the memory of her first love, we are led to believe that she

"lived unmarried till her death," occupying herself in all holy and tender offices.

To the latter part of the story we are disposed to make exceptions. We think it would have certainly been an improvement if our fair author had made Mrs. Allister Stuart-who is a woman of delicate constitution, withal, rather sickly than otherwise amiably take a fever or consumption from her fright and exposure on the night of the inundation, and die; and Allister, thoroughly punished and purified by his trials, return to be at last united to his noble Jessie. Perhaps, however, we are wrong, and it is best as it is.

For so small a book, "Jessie Cameron" has a very large number of characters, which is a fault in one way, inasmuch as some of them are so prominent and so pleasant as to divide our interest with the heroine herself. Of such characters, pretty, little, bright, warm-hearted Bell McPherson, and manly John Cameron, Jessie's elder brother, take the first place, and the episode of their little April-day love-affair forms one of the happiest portions of the story.

Altogether, we do not quarrel with Lady Butler's book. Although we must confess that it has no very striking merits, it is equally innocent of offensive faults; and its design is so unostentatious, and its style so thoroughly unaffected, that it deserves, at least, respect.

Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece; with other Poems. By JOHN STUART BLACKIE, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh. (Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox.)-We hope that Pro

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