"At first, transported with the pleasing sight, Each Christian bosom glowed with full delight; But deep contrition soon their joy suppressed, And holy sorrow saddened every breast; Scarce dare their eyes the city walls survey, Where clothed in flesh their dear Redeemer lay, Whose sacred earth did once their Lord enclose, And when triumphant from the grave he rose! "Each faltering tongue imperfect speech supplies; Each labouring bosom heaves with frequent sighs. Each took the example as their chieftains led, With naked feet the hallowed soil they tread. Each throws his martial ornaments aside, The crested helmets with their plumy pride; To humble thoughts their lofty hearts they bend, And down their cheeks the pious tears descend."[74] No city assuredly presents a more striking example of the vicissitude of human affairs than the capital of the Jews. When we behold its walls levelled, its ditches filled up, and all its buildings embarrassed with ruins, we scarcely can believe we view that celebrated metropolis which formerly withstood the efforts of the most powerful empires, and for a time resisted the arms of Rome itself; though, by a whimsical change of fortune, its mouldering edifices now receive her homage and reverence. "In a word," says Volney, "we with difficulty recognize Jerusalem." Still more are we astonished at its ancient greatness, when we consider its situation, amid a rugged soil, destitute of water, and surrounded by the dry channels of torrents and steep hills. Remote from every great road, it seems not to have been calculated either for a considerable mart of commerce, or for the centre of a great consumption. It overcame, however, every obstacle, and may be adduced as a proof of what patriotism and religion may effect in the hands of a good government, or when favoured by happy circumstances from without. The same principles, in some degree modified, still preserve to this city its feeble existence. The renown of its miracles, perpetuated in the East, invites and retains a considerable number of inhabitants within its walls.[75]