It is not without pleasure that the traveller contem plates these unaltered tokens of the simple life which prevailed in Palestine at the time when our Saviour abode in the house of Mary his mother; and more especially, as he cannot fail to contrast them with the pernicious muinmery which continues to disgrace the more artificial monuments of Christian antiquity. From the extravagances chargeable upon the priesthood at all the holy places in Canaan, there has resulted this melancho ly fact, that devout but weak men, unable to distinguish between monkish fraud and simple truth, have considered the whole series of topographical evidence as one tissue of imposture, and have left the Holy Land worse Christians than when they entered it. Credulity and skepticism are extremes too often found to approximate; and the man, accordingly, who suddenly relinquishes the one, is almost sure to adopt the other. Burckhardt remarks that the church of Nazareth, next to the one over the Holy Sepulchre, is the finest in Syria, and possesses two tolerably good organs. Within the walls of the convent are several gardens and a small burying-ground; the building is very strong, and serves occasionly as a fortress to all the Christians in the town. There are eleven friars on the establishment, the yearly expenses of which, amounting to about 9007., are defrayed by the rent of a few houses and the produce of a small portion of land, the property of the good fathers. Before quitting this interesting place, the scene where our Lord passed the days of his childhood and youth, we may observe, that there is a great variation in the accounts given by different travellers as to the number of its inhabitants. Dr. Richardson restricts it to six or seven hundred; Mr. Buckingham raises it to two thousand; while others assert that it does not fall short of half as many more. There are five hundred Turks, and the remainder are Christians,—the latter de.scribed as a civil and very industrious class of people. Its situation is very romantic; the population amount to about twelve hundred, who are mostly Christians. The Spanish Catholic convent, in which all travellers are accommodated, is a large and excellent mansion, though the number of monks is reduced to less then one half, on account of the poverty of the establishment, from the failure of remittances from Europe. The church of the convent is rich, and contains a fine organ. Of far higher interest than traditions and relics is the scenery around Nazareth: it is of the kind in which one would imagine the Saviour of mankind delighted to wander and to withdraw himself when meditating on his great mission-deep and secluded dells, covered with a wild verdure, silent and solemn paths where overhanging rocks shut out all intrusion. No one can walk around Nazareth without feeling thoughts like these enter his mind, while gazing often on many a sweet spot traced perhaps by the Redeemer's footsteps, and embalmed by his prayers. TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, NO. VII. CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. The Capitol of the United States is situated on an area enclosed by an iron railing, and including 22 1-2 acres the building stands on the Western portion of this plat, and commands, by the sudden declivity of the ground, a beautiful and extensive view of the city, of the surrounding heights of Georgetown, &c., and of the windings of the Potomac as far as Alexandria.-The dimensions of the building are as follows: East projection and steps, West do. do. 352 feet 4 inches. 121 do. 6 do. 65 do. 83 do. Covering 1 1-2 acre, and 1820 feet. Height of Wings to top of Balustrade, 70 feet. 170 do. The exterior exhibits a rusticated basement, of the height of the first story; the two other stories are comprised in a Corinthian elevation of pilasters and columns -the columns 30 feet in height, form a noble advancing Portico, on the East, 160 feet in extent-the centre span of which is crowned with a pediment of 80 feet a receding loggia, of 100 feet extent, distinguishes the centre of the West Front. : The building is surrcunded by a balustrade of stone 20 and covered with a lofty Dome in the centre, and a flat Dome on each wing. The Representatives' room is in the second story of the South wing-is semicircular, in the form of the Ancient Grecian Theatre-the chord of the longest dimension is 96 feet-the height to the highest point of the domical ceiling is 60 feet. This room is surrounded with 24 columns of variegated native marble, from the banks of the Potomac, with capitals of white Italian marble, carved after a specimen of the Corinthian order, still remaining among the ruins of Athens. co. The Senate Chamber in the North wing is of the same semi-circular form-75 feet in its greatest length and 45 high-a screen of Ionic columns, with capitals, after those of the Temple of Minerva Polias, support a gallery to the East, and form a loggia below-and a new gallery of iron pillars and railings of a light and elegant structure projects from the circular walls-the Dome ceiling is enriched with square caissons of StucThe Rotunda occupies the centre, and is 96 feet in diameter, and 96 high. This is the principal entrance from the East Portico and West stair, and leads to the legislative halls and library. This room is divided in its circuit into panels, by lofty Grecian pillasters or antoe, which support a bold entablature, ornamented with wreaths of olive-a hemispherical dome rises above, filled with large plain caissons, like those of the Pantheon at Rome. The panels of the circular walls are appropriated to painting and bas relievos of historical subjects. Passing from the Rotunda, westerly, along the gallery of the principal stairs, the Library room door presents itself. This room is 92 feet long, 34 wide, and 36 high; it is formed into recesses or alcoves for books on two sides, by pillasters, copied from the Portico of the Temple of the Winds at Athens-a light stair in each corner of the room leads to a second range of alcoves, and the whole is covered by a rich and beautiful stuccoed ceiling. This room has access to the western loggia, from which the view of the city and surrounding country appears to great advantage. Besides the principal rooms above mentioned, two others deserve notice, from the peculiarity of the architecture -the round apartment under the Rotunda, enclosing forty columns supporting round arches, which form the floor of the Rotunda. This room is similar to the substructions of European Cathedrals, and may take the name of Crypt from them; the other room is used by the Supreme Court of the United States-of the same style of Architecture, with a bold and curiously arched ceiling, the columns of these rooms are of a massy Doric imitated from the Temples of Paestum. Twenty-five other rooms, of various sizes are appropriated to the officers of the two houses of Congress and of the Supreme Court, and forty-five to the use of committees; they are all vaulted and floored with brick and stone.-Three principal stair cases are spacious and varied in their form; these with the vestibules and numerous corridors or passages, it would be difficult to describe intelligibly; we will only say, that they are in conformity to the dignity of the building and style of the parts already named. The view of Venice, at some little distance from the town, is mentioned by many travellers in terms of the highest admiration. It is said to be built in the sea, that is, it is built in the midst of shallows which stretch some miles from the shore, at the bottom of the Adriatic gulph. Though these shallows, being now all covered |