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when the ripening spirit of the church may yet succeed in explaining the relation of the divine and human activity, more satisfactorily than has yet been done by most symbols, by whose premature determinations one or the other side is always made to suffer.

It is precisely this remarkable union of two apparently conflicting tendencies which forms the ground of the peculiar greatness of Augustine, and of that widely extended influence he still continues to exercise over the whole Christian world. Both tendencies, the churchly, sacramental, objective, or in one word catholic, and the evangelical, spiritualistic, subjective, in one word protestant, have in themselves deep truth and immense living force, as is shown conclusively by all church history. But both have also their peculiar dangers. The first, one-sidedly carried out, conducts to Romanism, with all its errors; the second, developed in opposition to the church, runs over easily, through the medium of abstract supernaturalism, into absolute rationalism; and these two extremes then, as usual, again meet each other. The church without Christianity is a body without a soul; Christianity without the church is a soul without the body. The conception of man, however, includes one as well as the other, contents and form together; the two sides can stand also, only so far as each, though it may be unwillingly, has part in the other. The truth holds in the organic and indissoluble union of both; and now to accomplish this, and so, in the spirit of Augustine, to transcend his own still defective system, yea, to surmount the whole antipodal development thus far of Catholicism and Protestantism, by the exclusion of their respective errors and a living, inward reconciliation of their truth-this, we say, appears to be the grand task and mission for the church of the present and the future.

ARTICLE II.

TOUR FROM BEIRÛT TO ALEPPO IN 1845.

By Rev. W. M. Thomson, Missionary at Beirut. [Concluded from No. 17, p. 23.]

Oct. 25th. About 2 o'clock last night we were waked up by some horsemen sent by the governor of Sâfetâ to demand who we were, and what was our business. They at first talked loud and impudently,wondered how we dared to enter their country without permission, etc.

After holding a private conference with our horseman from Abood Beg, they came and apologized for their insolence-said they were not sent to look after us, but, as howalies upon the Sheikh. They however left us before morning, and were no doubt sent by the governor as spies upon our proceedings. The people throughout these regions are remarkably suspicious, and will never give an answer to the simplest question if they can avoid it. Perhaps the utter secrecy of their religion develops into universal reserve. I suspect however that it is more a result of general insecurity and universal oppression, under which they have groaned for ages. If these poor wretches see us take notes, they make off as fast as possible. When we arrive at a village we are assured, with an infinite profusion of oaths, that the people have nothing either to eat or to sell-have neither bread, eggs, chickens, barley, straw, nor anything else. But by little and little, confidence is established, and diplomatic relations settled on an amicable basis-eggs and all other eatables for man and beast are discovered and brought out with surprising effrontery, and being actually paid for, the owners appear to be as much puzzled as delighted. This state of things speaks of enormous oppression and robbery on the part of the rulers, and the testimony is corroborated by a thousand other wit

nesses.

It was well we did not attempt to reach Sâfetâ last night. By daylight, with the castle in full view, we could not find the way without a guide. We have again come upon trap, and the traveller from the south finds himself involved in a labyrinth of impracticable gorges, and passes that are impassable. As on the south of N. Kebeer, the rents and seams made in the strata by the obtrusion of trap dykes appear in general to run east and west, and hence it is difficult to get across the country from south to north.

Sâfetâ is a considerable village-better built than usual, and has 101 taxable Greeks and 58 Moslems. The district is large and populous. There are 332 villages containing 310 taxable Moslems, 5820 Ansairiyeh, 815 Greeks, 81 Maronites; which multiplied by 5 gives 35,075 as the entire population. The Burj, which we have had in view for two days, occupies the top of a conical trap hill which it entirely covers. The sides of this hill are built up by heavy masonry of Roman work to the height of about forty feet. This was done to enlarge the top and give symmetry to the castle, which assumes the shape of an oblong octagon, 172 paces from east to west and 140 from north to south at their greatest diameters. The circumference of the whole is 564 paces. The outer wall inclines inward at an angle of about 75° until near the top, whence it is carried up perpendicularly,

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and was originally finished with projecting parapets. It was protected by a walled ditch thirty-five feet wide. Between the great wall and the trap rock, which receded in the inside, vaults were constructed extending nearly, if not quite round the castle. The upper surface was levelled off, making a splendid terrace. Upon this terrace, and nearest the east end, stands the Burj or tower. It is 101 feet 10 inches long from east to west, and 59 feet 3 inches wide, and its present height is 82 feet. This lofty building is constructed of large smooth cut stone. The stones of the uppermost course on the battlements, are ten feet long by two square, and some in the lower part of the Burj are much larger. The walls at the base are twelve feet thick, solid, and at the top eight feet six inches. The Burj is divided into two stories. The lower one is a church bearing the name of Mar Mekhial. The lofty vault is supported by two massy square, or clustered columns, with half pillars in the angles. The entire east end is one grand circular nave, simple, bold and quite impressive. The only entrance to the Burj is the low door of this church, at the west end, and it is lighted by tall lancet windows. The ascent to the second story is by an admirably vaulted stairway in the southern wall. This is also one large room, whose vault is supported by three clustered columns with half columns in the angles, as below. The work here however is more elaborate, and is adorned with pedestals and cornice. This was evidently designed as a place of refuge and defence, in times of danger; a church militant fitted not merely for spiritual contests, but also to sustain the rude encounters of a grosser warfare.

Near the door of the church is a cistern hewn in the solid rock sixty feet long, thirty wide, and thirty deep. A flight of steps conducts to the bottom. It is now dry and the reverberation of the slightest noise is long in subsiding, and a pistol fired off is rather a dangerous experiment upon the strength of one's tympanum.

The part of these remains most interesting to the antiquary, is on the east end of the octagon, but outside of it. Here are very heavy foundations and some high walls of the pure old Jewish and Phenician bevel, identical in size and style with the foundations of the temple at Jerusalem. A portion of these works has the name Kusr Bint el-Melek. These foundations appear never to have been disturbed from their first position in a remote antiquity. There are several remarkable windows now walled up. They are narrow, tall, and the arch running to a point as though the value and power of the keystone had not been understood. Above these foundations a more modern building once stood, the remnants of whose elegantly turned arches

are seen from the east side of the ruins. If I ventured to speculate on such subjects I would suggest, that at the Kusr we have a specimen of ancient Phenician work, built probably by the Arvadites, whose island and city are directly below it. This castle commands the pass and road from Arvad and Tortosa over the mountain to Hamah. The great octagon is a splendid example of Roman work. Their object in keeping up and strengthening the fortifications of this pass is sufficiently obvious. The Burj, half church, half castle, was probably erected (out of Roman wrought stone found on the premises) about the troublous times which succeeded the early Moslem invasions; that is, about the middle of the seventh century. It is barely possible that it may have been erected by the crusaders who possessed Tortosa, as a frontier church and castle. The Arabic works found on and about the castle do not merit any particular notice.

The rock used in building the Burj is white limestone, semi-crystalline and highly fossiliferous-pectens, cones, venuses and other existing shells abound in it. The view from the top is vast, varied, and magnificent over plains and hills, over mountains and valleys east, west, north, south; and far across the dark blue sea to Cyprus. We took many bearings, but only a few of them appear to be of importance. Tripoli Point, 39. Ras es-Shukah, 42. Highest point of Lebanon, 3. Kulaet Husn, 120. To Kulaet Husn is 5 hours, to Tortosa 6, Arca 7, Tripoli 12. Burj Husn Solyman is out of sight to the north-east about six hours. The people urged us to visit this castle. Many of the stones are thirty feet long by ten wide, and there are long Greek inscriptions. Whether these reports are all true or not the castle is well worth visiting, but our time was too limited.

Scattered over the hills around Sâfetâ are a great number of castles and towers, most of them ancient and in ruins; and nearly every conspicuous point is covered by a white tomb of an Ansairiyeh saint. These are all places of pilgrimage and prayer. So far from having no places for devotion, these poor people have more than any other sect in the country.

We reached Tortosa in 5 hours 15 minutes' rapid riding. The road is a continued descent along the bed of the N. Gumkeh, which rises to the north-east of Sâfetâ and falls into the sea a mile to the south of Tortosa near a large artificial mound. There are but few villages on this road, owing to scarcity of water in the dry season. Ain el-Kesm is an hour and ten minutes from Sâfetâ. Ain es-Sifsâfeh 24 hours. The ruins of Rehaneah are 2 from Sâfetâ. There appears to have been a temple with columns at this place; its history

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is unknown. The hills in this neighborhood are beautifully rounded off as if by art, and well wooded. The rock is limestone with occasional localities of pudding-stone and argilaceous schist. In the valley of the Gumkeh there is an immense quantity of chert, quartz, chalcedony, and jasper geodes and pebbles, some of them very pretty, but I had no time to gather, and no means to carry them.

Tortosa or Tartoos.

Oct. 26. This is generally supposed to be the Arethusa or Orthosia of Strabo and the Itineraries. Strabo however appears to place it south of the river Eleutherus, but I heard of no ruins near that river bearing this or any kindred name. There is some confusion in the order in which the cities on this part of the coast are mentioned by ancient authors, as we shall see hereafter.

Though once a large city, Tortosa is now a mean village of 241 taxable Moslems and 44 Greeks. The district of Tortosa or Tartoos, as it is called by the Arabs, is small, containing only four villages with a population of 439 Moslems and 116 Christians, making an aggregate of 2775. The inhabitants of Tortosa live mostly within the castle or strong hold of the city, which was defended by a double wall with salient towers, and was further protected by a double ditch cut in the rock. The width of the ditch between the two walls was 63 feet; outside the outer wall it is 40 wide and 12 deep. Both the walls were built of heavy beveled stones which still rest on their original foundations of solid rock. The outer wall is at one place more than sixty feet high at the present time, and was higher-the most imposing specimen of Phenician fortification in Syria. The side towards the sea had but one wall, still in good preservation. The base has been strengthened, probably by the Romans, by a heavy wall of smooth cut stones, built against it at an angle of about 60°. In other parts this more modern work has been built into the ancient, so that the latter appears to rest upon the former, which would confuse the chronology of the place. A careful examination detects the mistake. I regard the ruins of Tortosa with peculiar interest, as they appear to me to decide the question as to which style of architecture is most ancient. The Greek or Roman, and the more modern works are here manifestly built upon the heavy beveled walls, which are believed to

'So Maundrell and others, but incorrectly. The ancient name of the city was Antaradus. This Arabic geographers write Antartûs and Antarsùs; whence the common Arabic name Tartús, in Italian Tortosa. The ancient Orthosia was twelve Roman miles from Tripoli, probably at the Nahr Bârid.-EDS.