'Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof: mark ye well her bulwarks, that ye may tell it to the generation following.'

Such was the injunction of the sweet Psalmist of Israel,' and though ages have lapsed since his pen indited that sacred verse, though the city once lauded as 'the joy of the whole earth' and the excellency of our God,' is now accursed and prostrate before the Divine vengeance, yet who can contemplate its site and plan, its present degradation as contrasted with its ancient dignity, without the mingled emotions of rapture and melancholy? What numberless reminiscences crowd around that sacred city! Its gates, its walls, yea, its very stones, not to speak of the holy and beautiful sanctuary, once its crowning glory, have a charm and a distinction, denied to every other place upon earth.

But not to detain the attention of the reader, or to lengthen this paper beyond our prescribed limits, we proceed at once to describe the Map before us. It delineates the topography of Jerusalem as It Was.' By the inspired writers it is named 'The city of David,' 2 Sam. v. 7, 'The city of God,' Ps. xlvi. 3, 'The holy city,' Dan. ix. 24; this last title is engraven on the coins of the Maccabæan age, and distinguishes it throughout the East among the disciples of Mohammed, even to the present day.

By inspecting the map of Palestine, we shall discover the locality of its metropolis to be on the southern boundary of the tribe of Benjamin, thirty-s y-seven miles from the shores of the Mediterranean, twenty-three from the banks of the Jordan, Josh. xv. 8.

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From traditional information we gather that it was founded in the year of the world 2023, under the name of Salem or Peace, by Melchizedec, who became its renowned King. Gen. xiv. 18. At that early period it only occupied the hills of Acra and Moriah. Subsequently it was besieged and conquered by the Jebusites, who erected a fortress on Mount Zion under the name of Jebus or Jebusi, which in the course of time was used synonymously with Jerusalem to denote the entire city. Josh. xviii. 28; 1 Chron. xi. 4. By them that citadel was retained for more than 400 years, when it was captured by King David, who repaired and beautified the old city, and built a new one on the site of the fort Jebus, within which he fixed his royal residence. This circumstance originated the name for Jerusalem, 'The city of David.' 1 Chron. xi. 4-7.

To simplify the description, it may be stated that Jerusalem, from its peculiar position, is divided into the Upper city and the Lower city. Its situation is remarkably imposing; it stands on three eminences of unequal heights, some parts of which slope gradually, on others the sides are abrupt and precipitous.

The first is Mount Zion in the south, on which the city of David was built. By the Psalmist it is frequently spoken of as 'the Holy Hill,' as the ark of God was deposited within its walls. By a deep and narrow ravine it was separated from the other hills.

The second is Mount Moriah, which rises on the east side of the city, celebrated as the height, whither Abraham was divinely ordered to go and offer up his only son, Gen. xxii. 2, and more latterly, as the ground-plot on which Solomon erected a splendid temple, in honour of the one living and true God, to the use of which his father David, prevented by Providence from executing the long cherished project of his heart, bequeathed a quantity of gold amounting to £21,600,000 sterling, besides £3,150,000 in silver.

The third hill was of less elevation than either of those described, situated to the north and dissected from Moriah and Zion by a valley. It has been named in modern times Acra.

Within the city walls, which were raised during the reign of Solomon, 1 Kings ix. 15, there are several edifices, which command our notice. In the lower city is David's house, 2 Sam. xi. 3, xx. 3. Solomon's house,-a palace, which the Hebrew monarch built for himself on the completion of the temple. Its erection engaged him for thirteen years.

POPULAR ASTRONOMY.

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In it was a large hall for the transaction of public business, 175 feet long, 50 feet high, supported on huge and beautifully carved pillars of cedar, and emblazoned with targets and shields of beaten gold. 1 Kings x. 16, 17. Hence it was denominated The House of the Forest of Lebanon.' 1 Kings vii. 2. Besides this hall, there were two others of smaller dimensions called porches, in one of which was placed the throne of justice. Within the precincts of the royal residence were the home assigned to Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had married, 1 Kings vii. 8; and a prison for the confinement of state prisoners. Not far removed from it were two erections by the same prince. The first was the public senate house, called Millo, 1 Kings ix. 24, which was also used as an armoury and a fortress, 2 Chron. xxxii. 5, and the second a causeway or terrace, thrown over the deep ravine already mentioned as lying between Zion and Moriah, in order to facilitate transit from his palace to the temple.

(To be concluded next month.)

Popular Astronomy for Sunday Scholars.

No. VII.

ADDENDUM TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE MOON.

BY THOMAS DICK, ESQ., L.L.D.

Your correspondent in Weymouth requests the solution of the peculiar phenomenon perceived on the eve of the 31st of May last, the moon not having been completely eclipsed by the earth coming in conjunction with it and the sun, but retaining, during the total eclipse, a dingy pale red colour.

In reply to this it may be remarked, that in almost all cases, the moon, when totally eclipsed, is never altogether invisible if she be above the horizon and the atmosphere clear, but appears of a dusky reddish colour, somewhat like tarnished copper, especially towards the edges, being generally more dark about the middle of the earth's sha dow. Some have supposed this to arise from the moon's native light, but the true cause of her being visible is the scattered beams of the sun bent into the earth's shadow by passing through its atmosphere. The moon is not eclipsed by the shadow of the earth alone. The atmosphere, by refracting some of the rays of the sun, and reflecting others,