The intense interest which has been associated with Jerusalem and the Holy Land by every class and every nation of Christians, has latterly been assisted by many concurrent circumstances. Steam has bridged the Mediterranean, and overcome the desert, effecting even the removal of Moslem prejudices hitherto insurmountable. The examination of the principal localities of Palestine, endeared to the pious of every nation, has aroused universal inquiry, and a visit to Jerusalem has superseded Italy, and even Greece and Egypt, in the “grand tour“ to which our own excursionists formerly limited their attention. A critical study of Biblical history has vindicated its proper place among the mere elegances and artistic delights of European travel, and the ground trodden by “the blessed feet” of the Messiah is now the beaten track of all the world, and the subject of nearly universal contemplation.