horting the men to be steady and to reserve their fire. No English soldier pulled a trigger; with matchless endurance they sustained the trial. Not a company wavered: their arms shouldered, as if on parade, and motionless, save when they closed up the ghastly gaps, they waited the word of command. When the head of the French attack had reached within forty yards, Wolfe gave the order to fire. At once the long row of muskets was levelled, and a volley distinct as a single shot flashed from the British line. For a moment the advancing columns still pressed on, shivering like pennons in the fatal storm; but a few paces told how terrible had been the force of the long-suspended blow. Numbers of the French soldiers reeled and fell; some staggered on for a little, then dropped silently aside to die; others burst from the ranks shrieking in agony. The Brigadier de St. Ours was struck dead, and De Senezergues, the second in command, was left mortally wounded on the field. When the breeze carried away the dense clouds of smoke, the assailing battalions stood reduced to mere groups among the bodies of the slain. Never before or since has a deadlier volley burst from British infantry. Montcalm commanded the attack in person. Not fifteen minutes had elapsed since he had first moved on his line of battle, and already all was lost. The Canadian militia, with scarcely an exception, broke and fled. The right wing, which had recoiled before Townshend and Howe, was overpowered by a counter attack of the 58th and 78th: his veteran battalions of Berne and Guienne were shattered before his eyes under the British fire; on the left the royal Rousillon was shrunk to a mere skeleton, and deserted by their provincial allies, could hardly retain the semblance of a formation. But the gallant Frenchman, though ruined, was not dismayed: he rode through the broken ranks, cheered them with his voice, encouraged them by his dauntless bearing, and, aided by a small redoubt, succeeded in once again presenting a front to the enemy.

"Meanwhile Wolfe's troops had reloaded. He seized the opportunity of the hesitation in the hostile ranks, and ordered the whole British line to advance. At first they moved with majestic regularity, receiving and paying back with deadly interest the volleys of the French. But soon the ardour of the soldiers broke through the restraint of discipline, and they increased their pace to a run, rushing over the dying and the dead, and sweeping the living enemy off their path

Just now Wolfe was a second time wounded in the body, but he dissembled his sufferings, for his duty was not yet accomplished; again a ball from the redoubt struck him on the breast: he reeled on one side, but at the moment this was not generally observed. 'Support me,' said he to a grenadier officer close at hand, that my brave fellows may not see me fall.' In a few seconds, however, he sank, and was borne a little to the rear.”—vol. ii. p. 344.

But a sadder task remains to be performed-if indeed a death so heroic, so glorious as that of Wolfe can be deemed sad.

We

know of no subject more noble, and have never seen any more nobly treated.

"While the British troops were carrying all before them, their young general's life was ebbing fast away. When struck for the third time, he sank down; he then supported himself for a few minutes in a sitting posture, with the assistance of Lieutenant Brown, Mr. Henderson, a volunteer, and a private soldier, all of the grenadier company of the 22nd; Colonel Williamson of the Royal Artillery afterwards went to his aid. From time to time Wolfe tried with his faint hand to clear away the death-mist that gathered on his sight; but the effect seemed vain; for presently he lay back, and gave no signs of life beyond a heavy breathing and an occasional groan. Meantime the French had given way, and were flying in all directions. The grenadier officers, seeing this, called out to those around him, 'See, they run.' The words caught the ear of the dying man; he raised himself like one aroused from sleep, and asked, eagerly, Who runs?' 'The enemy, Sir,' answered the officer; they give way every where.' 'Go one of you to Colonel Burton,' said Wolfe, tell him to march Webbe's (the 48th) regiment with all speed down to the St. Charles River, to cut off the retreat.' His voice grew faint as he spoke, and he turned as if seeking an easier position on his side; when he had given this last order, he seemed to feel that he had done his duty, and added, feebly but distinctly,Now, God be praised, I die happy.' His eyes then closed; and, after a few convulsive movements, he became still. Despite the anguish of his wounds, he died happy, for, through the mortal shades that fell upon his soul, there rose over the unknown world's horizon the dawn of an eternal morning.

ART. IX.-The Holy City. Historical, Topographical, and Antiquarian Notices of Jerusalem. By GEORGE WILLIAMS, B.D., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. The Second Edition, with Additions, including an Architectural History of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. By the Rev. R. WILLIS, M.A., Jacksonian Professor in the University of Cambridge. 2 vols. London: J. W. Parker. 1849.

THE difficulty of comprehending much of the sacred narrative, owing to our very imperfect knowledge of the geography of the Holy Land, is notorious. And though the last few years have given birth to many attempts at removing this, their successit may be fearlessly asserted-has not been commensurate with either the efforts or the pretensions of their authors. It is pretty generally acknowledged by those acquainted with the subject, that too implicit a confidence has been reposed both in the Map of D'Anville and in the Travels of Dr. Clarke. More lately the Scotch Dr. Wilson and the American Dr. Robinson have laboured in the same field; but not with the success which could have been desired. Nor has the most interesting spot of the whole country, the Holy City, fared better than the rest of Palestine. Many have been the attempts to "restore" it,-to gather from its present chorographical aspect a consistent idea of the ancient city, and to mark the sites of those localities which must ever be invested, in the mind of the Christian, with awe and veneration. But, what with building upon insufficient data, or striving to support some pre-conceived theory, no writer that we have met with has succeeded in disentangling the many difficulties which have confessedly beset the subject, and in laying before the world an account consistent with history and probability.

In this we are much inclined to think that Mr. Williams has far outstripped all his competitors. Learned and intelligent, he has not wasted the time which he spent in this cradle of Christianity. His object appears to be a simple investigation of the truth; and to this he has applied himself, unencumbered by any previously contracted theories, and wise enough-circumstances compel us to add, bold enough-to reverence the ancient traditions of Jeru

salem. This, indeed, we will fairly acknowledge, appears to us to be the great folly, the threshold stumbling-block with many both of those who have laboured in this department, and of others who have criticized their works. If it be (and who can gainsay this?) an acknowledged principle, that local traditions are of prime service and of principal authority in every archæological investigation, why, in the name of common sense, are they to be ignored or scouted, when such investigation is applied to the spot in the whole earth, where traditions from the earliest date would be most likely to be preserved with pious care, and where (unless we be much mistaken) they do agree with remarkable uniformity? We do not, indeed, profess to declare the differences between Mr. Williams and other travellers, Dr. Robinson in particular, to be finally and satisfactorily adjusted; this would imply a minute and lengthy examination. But this much we hesitate not at once to avouch-a strong predilection in favour of inductions grounded upon, and in the main consentaneous with, traditions of a hoar antiquity, and the assertions of such men as Eusebius and Cyril; and we are so fully impressed with the value of this very interesting book, as a whole, that we cannot delay to call to it the attention of our readers.

The first volume contains what may be called the historical portion; the second treats of topographical and antiquarian matters. In the former we have a succinct history, chronologically arranged, after the system of Prideaux, of the Jewish nation from the supposed foundation of the Holy City by Melchizedec down to the death of Herod the Great; thence to the defeat of the Persians by Heraclius, A. D. 629; and then follow two chapters, the headings of which are, respectively, "Jerusalem under the Saracens," and, "From the Establishment of the Frank Kingdom to the Present Time." The rest of the volume, comprising in all 659 pages, is occupied with an Appendix of original documents, of which we shall have occasion to speak presently; and with a Supplement relating to a Plan of the City which accompanies the work.

In the second volume, the topography and site of the Holy Sepulchre is discussed, and the genuineness of the traditional site defended; its architectural history is elaborated by Professor Willis, in his peculiarly masterly style; and the antiquities without the walls are examined. The whole is wound up by a chapter on Modern Jerusalem and its Inhabitants.

Such are the contents of the work before us; and we shall probably best consult the taste of our readers, if we present them with a few extracts. It strikes us, that the historical sketch in

vol. i. is one of the "additions" which distinguish, and, we may say, improve the second edition. Perhaps it is owing to the peculiar biographical kind of style in which the Old Testament is composed, but readers of the Bible do not seem to have acquired generally that comprehension of the connected history of the Jewish people which they obtain of other nations, and without which the full force of many passages is lost. We would recommend to them this portion of Mr. Williams' book. It is necessarily sketchy, yet sufficiently full to make it interesting; while this very interest leaves on the mind a desire for a more minute account. At the same time, we think the compiler might have infused into his narrative a little_more_liveliness here and there with advantage. It is a little dry. It smacks of the archæologian.

At p. 8, in speaking of the Ark, it is stated, that it was deposited in the Tabernacle, when that was pitched at Shiloh; and that "there it remained until the time of Eli the priest, except that it was occasionally carried to the national assemblies of the children of Israel, to add solemnity to their meetings." In support of this assertion, we are referred to Josh. xxiv. 1. 25, 261, which passages appear to us by no means to prove the assertion in the text. There is no reference in them to the Ark, unless indeed (which is scarcely probable), Mr. W. sees the presence of the Ark implied in Joshua's making a covenant with the people. Covenants were confirmed by sacrifice; but we never heard that it was deemed necessary for the Ark to be present. It is an interesting fact, that which Mr. W. mentions, if it be true; but we should like to know his grounds for the assertion.

Several very interesting geographical and chronological questions are mooted in the course of the work, and divers conjectures are hazarded; some of them with an air of great probability: others we do not feel so well satisfied with; as, for instance, where he tells us that the message contained in the twentyseventh chapter of Jeremiah was spoken prophetically during the reign of Jehoiakim. This notion is supported solely by the first verse of the chapter. To us it appears much more probable that the word "Jehoiakim" there is a mistake of the scribe for "Zedekiah;" see the twelfth verse of the same chapter, and the first of the succeeding one. Since writing the above, we have referred to Blayney, who directly corroborates our view, both as his own opinion and Lowth's; and informs us that "Zedekiah”

1 In note (3) there is a typographical error of viii. 43, for viii. 33.