cepting the representative, and not a creed which it has
not acknowledged, excepting the Protestant. Yet, deprived of the only
rule and the only religion that are right, it is still justly described
by the Arabian poets as a pearl surrounded by emeralds.

Yes, the rivers of Damascus still run and revel within and without the
walls, of which the steward of Sheikh Abraham was a citizen. They have
encompassed them with gardens, and filled them with fountains. They
gleam amid their groves of fruit, wind through their vivid meads,
sparkle-among perpetual flowers, gush from the walls, bubble in the
courtyards, dance and carol in the streets: everywhere their joyous
voices, everywhere their glancing forms, filling the whole world around
with freshness, and brilliancy, and fragrance, and life. One might
fancy, as we track them in their dazzling course, or suddenly making
their appearance in every spot and in every scene, that they were
the guardian spirits of the city. You have explained them, says the
utilitarian, the age and flourishing fortunes of Damascus: they arise
from its advantageous situation; it is well supplied with water.

Is it better supplied than the ruins of contiguous regions? Did the Nile
save Thebes? Did the Tigris preserve Nineveh? Did the Euphrates secure
Babylon?

Our scene lies in a chamber vast and gorgeous. The reader must imagine a
hall, its form that of a rather long square, but perfectly proportioned.
Its coved roof, glowing with golden and scarlet tints, is highly carved
in the manner of the Saracens, such as we may observe in the palaces
of Moorish Spain and in the Necropolis of the Mamlouk Sultans at Cairo,
deep recesses of honeycomb work, with every now and then pendants of
daring grace hanging like stalactites from some sparry cavern. This roof
is supported by columns of white marble, fashioned in the shape of palm
trees, the work of Italian artists, and which forms arcades around the
chamber. Beneath these arcades runs a noble divan of green and silver
silk, and the silken panels of the arabesque walls have been covered
with subjects of human interest by the finest artists of Munich. The
marble floor, with its rich mosaics, was also the contribution of
Italian genius, though it was difficult at the present moment to trace
its varied, graceful, and brilliant designs, so many were the sumptuous
carpets, the couches, sofas, and cushions that were spread about it.
There were indeed throughout th