JERUSALEM.
It has been said, and truthfully, too, that Jerusalem has occupied a more prominent place in history than Athens, with all its arts, or Rome, with all its arms; than Nineveh, with all its overgrown power, or Babylon, with all its nameless abominations. Jerusalem has done more to mould the opinions, to animate the hopes, to decide the creeds, and to influence the destinies, of humanity than all other cities combined. Here Solomon reigned. Here David sang, and Isaiah prophesied. Here Christ the Lord lived, and taught us how to live. Here, too, he was nailed to the tree, there to die, “the Just for the unjust.”
Mrs. Watson, an earnest, devout, Christian lady from Detroit, is a member of our party. As we stand upon this hill and look upon Jerusalem for the first time, she is completely overcome. Her heart has melted within her, and is flowing freely through her eyes. She weeps like a child, and her tears do credit to her heart.
We camp in a beautiful olive grove on the north side of the city. Our mail is soon brought. After devouring letters, newspapers, and a hearty lunch, I say to the party: “‘Walk about Zion; go round about her; tell the towers thereof; mark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces,—that ye may tell it to’ your friends in America.” With Bible in hand, with prayer and praise in our heart, we are now ready to begin our “walk about Zion.” It takes four eyes or more to see the beauty of a picture, and four ears or more to extract the melody from music. I shall therefore ask the reader to join us in this walk about the “city of the great king.”
HILLS AND WALLS OF JERUSALEM.