A few years since, the second mission to Jerusalem was accomplished. On the Mount of Olives this time stood also a woman—to take part in the second consecration! A woman's inspired voice to swell the divine command for Israel to gather and become again the favored nation—the crown of empires.

The journal of Sister Eliza thus opens this episode of her life:

"On the 26th of October, 1872, I started on the mission to Palestine. When I realized that I was indeed going to Jerusalem, in fulfillment of a prediction of the prophet Joseph that I should visit that antique city, uttered nearly thirty years before, and which had not only fled my anticipations, but had, for years, gone from memory, I was filled with astonishment."

The Jerusalem missionaries were President Geo. A. Smith, Lorenzo Snow, his sister Eliza R. Snow, and Paul A. Schettler, their secretary, accompanied by several tourists. The following commission, given to President Smith, stamps the apostolic character of this peculiar mission, and connects it with the former one, sent by the prophet Joseph, in the person of Orson Hyde, thirty-two years before:

"SALT LAKE CITY, U. T.,

"October 15, 1872.

"PRESIDENT G. A. SMITH:

"Dear Brother: As you are about to start on an extensive tour through Europe and Asia Minor, where you will doubtless be brought in contact with men of position and influence in society, we desire that you closely observe what openings now exist, or where they may be effected, for the introduction of the gospel into the various countries you shall visit.

"When you go to the land of Palestine, we wish you to dedicate and consecrate that land to the Lord, that it may be blessed with fruitfulness preparatory to the return of the Jews in fulfillment of prophesy and the accomplishment of the purposes of our Heavenly Father.

"We pray that you may be preserved to travel in peace and safety; that you may be abundantly blessed with words of wisdom and free utterance in all your conversations pertaining to the holy gospel, dispelling prejudice and sowing seeds of righteousness among the people.

"BRIGHAM YOUNG,

"DANIEL H. WELLS."

Joseph had also predicted that, ere his mortal career closed, "George A." should see the Holy Land. In the fulfillment of this he may therefore be considered as the proxy of his great cousin; while Sister Eliza, who, it will be remembered, was declared by the prophet to be of the royal seed of Judah, may be considered as a high priestess officiating for her sacred race.

Away to the East—the cradle of empires—to bless the land where Judah shall become again a nation, clothed with more than the splendor of the days of Solomon.

Uniting at New York, the company, on the 6th of November, sailed on board the steamer Minnesota. Arriving in London, they visited some of the historic places of that great city, and then embarked for Holland. From place to place on the continent they went, visiting the famous cities, stopping a day to view the battle-field of Waterloo, then resting a day or two at Paris. At Versailles they were received with honor by President Theirs, in their peculiar character as missionaries to Jerusalem. Thence back to Paris; from Paris to Marseilles; then to Nice, where they ate Christmas dinner; thence to San Reno, Italy; to Genoa, Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome. At Rome Sister Eliza passed her seventieth birthday, visiting the famous places of that classic city. On the 6th of February, 1873, the apostolic tourists reached Alexandria, Egypt; and at length they approached Jerusalem—the monument of the past, the prophesy of the future! They encamped in the "Valley of Hinnom." Here Sister Eliza writes:

"Sunday morning, March 2d, President Smith made arrangements with out dragoman, and had a tent, table, seats, and carpet taken up on the Mount of Olives, to which all the brethren of the company and myself repaired on horseback. After dismounting on the summit, and committing our animals to the care of servants, we visited the Church of Ascension, a small cathedral, said to stand on the spot from which Jesus ascended. By this time the tent was prepared, which we entered, and after an opening prayer by Brother Carrington, we united in the order of the holy priesthood, President Smith leading in humble, fervent supplications, dedicating the land of Palestine for the gathering of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and returned heartfelt thanks and gratitude to God for the fullness of the gospel and the blessings bestowed on the Latter-day Saints. Other brethren led in turn, and we had a very interesting season; to me it seemed the crowning point of the whole tour, realizing as I did that we were worshipping on the summit of the sacred mount, once the frequent resort of the Prince of Life."

This the literal record; but what the symbolical?