Phoenice, (mentioned Acts xi. 19, &c.) and of which the coasts of Tyre and Sidon were the southern part; so that by Syria, in the New Testament, is to be understood the country lying to the east and north-east of the Holy Land, between Phoenice and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and the river Euphrates to the east.'

Under all these circumstances, although there may be something more suited to existing prejudices in the use of the word PALESTINE', the Author conceives that he is accurate in thinking The Holy Land an appellation of more extensive, although not less definite, signification'. He also believes that he is the more justified in adopting this latter name, as distinguished from the former, because he thereby adheres to the clue afforded by the observations of Brocardus; an author held in the highest estimation, by men who have written most learnedly upon the country, to which these observations refer. Brocardus was doubly qualified, both by the evidences of ocular demonstration in that part of Asia, and a thorough knowledge of all that sacred or profane writers have said upon the subject, to ascertain its geography with ability and with precision:" Eum ferè semper secutus sum, quod persuasis

simum

(4)" Palæstinæ nomen, quod nobis præ reliquis placuit, quum huic operi titulum daremus," says Reland, with reference to his inestimable work, "Palæstina Illustrata.”

(5) Fuller, in his "Pisgah-Sight of Palestine," perhaps intending a sly satire upon the age, (for it was published in the beginning of the reign of Charles the Second) refrains from calling it the Holy Land, through fear of being thought superstitious: "Lest," as he quaintly expresseth it, "whilest I call the land HOLY, this age count me superstitious." See Book I. c. ii. p. 2. Lond. 1650.

simum haberem, non fuisse unquam, qui voluerit magis aut verò etiam potuerit melius, perfectam et simplicem quandam ad hujus rei cognitionem viam sternere'."

The boundaries of Palæstine are physically defined by the face of the country: the distinction is, to a certain extent, yet maintained among the inhabitants of Syria. Even at this hour, the vast plain which extends westward from the mountains of Judæa, and is bounded by the sea, bears the name of Phalastin". According to Volney', it " comprehends the whole country included between-the Mediterranean to the west; the chain of mountains to the east; and two lines, one drawn to the south by Kan Younes', and the other to the north, between Kaisaria and the rivulet of Yafa." The whole of antient Phoenice is thereby excluded from the boundaries of modern Palæstine, which is still a district independent of every Pachalic3. In the most antient periods of history, its boundaries were equally restricted; and if we examine those records wherein the name first occurs, we shall be able to define its limits with precision. The

(1) Adrichomii Eulog. in Brocard. Vid. Theat. Terr. Sanct. in Præfat. p. 3. Colon. 1628.

(2) "This is the plain, which, under the name of Falastin, or Palestine, terminates on this side the country of Syria." Volney's Travels, vol. II. p. 327. Lond. 1787. (3) Ibid. p. 328.

(4) See Volney's Map of Syria, as published in the English edition of his Travels, vol. I. p. 287. Lond. 1787.

(5) Ibid. p. 329.

(6) The word Palæstina signifies nothing more than Philistina. St. Jerom often, and Josephus always, calls the Philistines Palæstini. "Philistæos autem, ut supra diximus, Palæstinos significat." Hieronymi Comment. in Esa. xiv. 29.

The first mention of it is in Genesis", where it is stated that Isaac went unto Abimelech (Rex Palestinorum), king of the Philistines, unto Gerar; and he is told not to go into Egypt, but to sojourn in the land of the Philistines (Palæstine), and he dwelt in Gerar. Now Gerar was situated in the district afterwards occupied by the tribe of Judah, not far from Hebron, and between Hebron and Gaza. Afterwards, in the book of Joshua 10, where mention is made of the five cities of Palæstine, or of the Philistines, the following are enumerated: Gaza, Azotus, Ascalon, Geth or Gath, and Accaron: all of these were comprehended within that district, which has Joppa to the north, and Gaza to the south". Of the most antient Heathen writers,

(7) Gen. xxvi. 1.

(8) See the Latin Version by St. Jerom, as given in the London Polyglott Bible, Gen. xxvi. 1. where the Hebrew Philistiïm is translated Palæstinorum; only, in the copy referred to, this word is improperly written Palestinorum, and in some editions of the Vulgate, more erroneously, Palesthinorum. Reland (De Nomine Palæstina. Vid. Thesaur. Antiq. Sacrar. Ugolini, v. 6.) says, that the name occurs in the oldest Jewish writings, where it is written. This in the Greek is always Пaλaιotívy, and not Пaλerivη. The Romans, upon their medals, sometimes wrote this word PALESTINA instead of PALAESTINA, as they wrote JVDAEA instead of JVDAEA. See Medals of Vespasian, c.

(9) Gerar, or Gerara, is also mentioned in Genesis x. 19. but its situation is precisely stated in Genesis xx. 1. where Abraham, having "journeyed towards the south country," ‚” is said to have "sojourned in Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur." It formed with Gaza the southern frontier of Palæstine. The Desert of Cades belonged to Egypt, that of Sur to Arabia Petræa.

(10) Josh. xiii. 3. In 1 Samuel, vi. 17. they are thus enumerated: Azotus, Gaza, Ascalon, Gath, Accaron. See also Josephus, lib. vi. Antiq. c. 1.

(11) The boundaries of Philistea, or Palestine, are thus defined by Joshua, xiii. 3. "From Sihor, (the river; See Jeremiah ii. 18.) which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron (Accaron) northward."

writers, Herodotus expressly states that country to have been called Palestine, which extended from the boundaries of Egypt to those of Phoenice'. Thus, having summed all the evidence which can be adduced upon this point, it may be manifest, that the use of the term Palæstine, as applied to all that country originally called the Land of the Israelites, is a geographical error; that its application is most erroneous, when it is made to comprehend Phoenice'; and, further, that the proper general appellation is THE HOLY LAND-a name applied to it by Jewish, as well as by Christian writers'. Even Reland, who preferred the use of the word Palæstina as a more sounding appellation for the title of his book, says that TERRA SANCTA is a name doubly applicable to the region his work illustrates*. And surely, without imputation of superstition or of bigotry, so long as the blessings of Religion diffuse their consolatory balm of hope, and peace, and gladness, this land may be accounted holy

(1) Herodot, in Polyhymn. that is to say, from Egypt to Joppa. The whole country was maritime. "Situs regionis Philistææ est maritimus, ab Joppe ad Ægypti fines.” Cellar. lib. iii. cap. 13. tom. II. p. 595. Lips. 1706.

(2) The Greeks, after the time of Herodotus, on account of the great power of the Philistines, comprehended under the name Palæstine the four provinces of Idumæa, Judæa, Samaria, and Galilæa, although never Phoenicia, "quia sæpè regionibus tribuuntur nomina à parte aliquâ, quæ vicinas antecellit potentiâ." Quaresmii Elucid. Terr. Sanct. lib. i. c. 2. tom. I. p. 6. Antv. 1639.

(3) See "Exempla scriptorum Judaicorum et Christianorum qui hoc nomen usurpant," as they are given by Reland, in his chapter DE NOMINE TERRE SANCTE" Vid. Thesaurus Antiq. Sacrar. Ugolini, vol. VI. xvii, xviii.

(4) "Duplici ratione nomen Terræ Sanctæ huic regioni tribuitur, aliter a Judæis, aliter a Christianis." Ibid.

holy-holy, as consecrated by the residence of the Deity through all the ages of Jewish history-holy, as sanctified by the immediate presence, and by the blood of our Redeemer-holy, as the habitation of Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles-"QUAM TERRam, to use the energetic language of Urban the Second, in his eloquent address to the Council of Clermont, "MERITÒ SANCTAM DIXIMUS, IN QUA NON EST ETIAM PASSUS PEDIS, QUEM NON ILLUSTRAVERIT ET SANCTIFICAVERIT VEL CORPUS, VEL UMBRA SALVATORIS, VEL GLORIOSA PRÆSENTIA SANCTE DEI GENITRICIS, VEL AMPLECTENDUS APOSTOLORUM COMMEATUS, VEL MARTYRUM SANGUIS EFFusus.'

Yet, while the Author is ready to acknowledge the impression made upon his mind by the peculiar sanctity of this memorable region, he is far from being willing to enumerate, or to tolerate, the degrading superstitions, which, like noxious weeds, have long polluted that land of "milk and honey.” Those who have formed their notions of the Holy Land, and particularly of Jerusalem, from the observations of Adrichomius, Sandys, Doubdan, Maundrell, from the spurious work of Thevenot, or even from the writings of Pococke, and the recent entertaining pilgrimage of Mons. De Châteaubriand, will find

(5) "Quis enim non rapitur in admirationem et stuporem, qui Montem Oliviferum, Mare Tiberiadis, Jordanem, Hierosolymam, et alia loca, quæ Christum frequentâsse notum est, conspicit, et menti suæ præsentem sistit generis humani sospitatorem, illic ea operantem aut passum, quæ originem dedere sacris Christianorum ejus nomen confitentium!" Thesaur. Antiq. Sac. Ugolini, ibid.

(6) Published in London, October 1811, when this Volume was nearly completed. The Author has not yet seen the original French edition of Mons. De Châteaubriand's work.