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28. Having entered the city through the Damascus gate, we dismissed our Turkish escort, and the cavalcade of mules and their drivers that we had engaged at Beyrout. On arriving at our quarters we received our baggage, which had been sent us from Jaffa.

III.-In and Around Jerusalem.

1. I shall not attempt to describe to you the city of Jerusalem; but I send you a small map of it, from which you may gain some knowledge of its principal points of interest. The three months that we spent here were occupied in wandering over the city, surveying its monuments and ruins, visiting the tombs of departed greatness and glory, and in making short excursions into the country around; nor did I forget to gather numerous relics to add interest to our Lake-View Museum, and excite the wonder and admiration of Mr. Agnew's pupils. On these excursions we went on horseback, taking an extra mule or two for our tents and baggage.

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2. In one excursion northward, about five miles from Jerusalem, we passed over the rocky height of Mizpch,higher than Jerusalem itself,-where Samuel anointed Saul King of Israel. Two or three miles farther north, we came to the hill of Gibeon, where was once a great city, as one of the royal cities:" it is now an Arab village, with habitations made from the massive stone ruins. Then we passed on through the plain beyond: here occurred the battle against the five kings, and here Joshua, wanting more time to complete the slaughter of the enemy, called upon the Lord, and said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon;" and "the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel."

a Joshua x. 2.

Joshua x. 12-14.

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MAP OF JERUSALEM.-The principal hills within the city are known as Mts. Zion, Moriah, Acra, and Bezetha. The valley of the brook Kedron is also called the valley of Jehoshaphat. The "Har'am" is the Mohammedan sacred enclosure of Mt. Moriah.-References. 1. Armenian Quarter.-2. Christian Quarter.-3. Mohammedan Quarter.-4. Jewish Quarter.-5. Upper Pool of Gihon.-6. Lower Pool of Gihon.-7. Pool of Hezekiah.8. Zion's Gate.-9. Bethesda.-10. Mosque of Omar.-11. Golden Gate.-12. Tower of Antonia.-13. Church of Pater Noster.-14. Absalom's Tomb.-15. Aceldama.-16. Jews' Wailing-Place.

3. As we were talking about this wonderful event, Dr. Edson remarked, "It was a miracle for the sun to stand still." "But it is just as wonderful, when we think of it, that it should rise at all," replied Prof. Howard. "All we see is miracle,--only, these things have become so common, that we cease to regard them as such. I think

the poet was right when he said, 'All we behold is miracle.'"

4.

"Should God again,

As once in Gibeon, interrupt the race

Of the undeviating and punctual sun,

How would the world admire! But speaks it less

An agency divine, to make him know

His moment when to sink and when to rise,

Age after age, than to arrest his course?

All we behold is miracle: but seen

So duly, all is miracle in vain.".
."-Cowper.

5. We made a two days' excursion southward to Bethlehem, six miles from Jerusalem,-passing, on the way thither, through the valley of Hinnom, and along the plain of Re'phaim or Giants' valley. We saw numerous olive groves, and vineyards, and orchards of fig-trees, and fields of wheat and barley already harvested.

6. When we reached a point from which Bethlehem could be seen in the distance, across the valley, we alighted from our horses, which we gave into the care of our Arab attendants, and sat down upon a grassy knoll, beneath some palm-trees, to gaze upon the scene at our leisure. We sat there for some minutes, no one saying a word, when the Professor slowly and impressively repeated the following lines:

"Lo! Bethlehem's hill-site before me is seen,

With the mountains around and the valleys between;

There rested the shepherds of Judah, and there

The song of the angels rose sweet on the air."— Whittier.

7. "That, again, is from the sweetest of our American poets," said Dr. Edson.

a Joshua x. 12.

Then the Professor reminded us that probably in some part of this very plain of Bethlehem—and perhaps in some spot that we were looking down upon-the “shepherds watched their flocks by night," and heard "good tidings of great joy."

8. He spoke of the angel's appearing to the shepherds, as told in the second chapter of Luke,—and also of the "multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Then he repeated the following description of the heavenly host, as they were seen coming in the clouds, and singing their song of glory:

9.

"For see! along the deep-blue arch

A glory breaks; and now a throng,
From where the sparkling planets march,
Comes trooping down with shout and song;
And o'er those pastures, bathed in light,
The sacred legions stay their wing,

While on the wakeful ear of night

Steals the rich hymn that seraphs sing.

And sweetly thus the mellow accents ran,—
'Glory to God, Good Will and Peace to Man!'"

Tappan.

10. On reaching Bethlehem we found it a town on a rocky summit, full of chapels and other memorials of holy men; for Bethlehem was the birthplace and city of David, and not only the birthplace of Jesus, but also the scene of his ascension; and, far back in the history of Judah, it was the scene of the beautiful story of Ruth. Here, also, once stood the house of Simeon; and, a little north of the village, in a rocky hill-side, is what is known as the tomb of Rachel,—a small stone building surmounted by a plastered dome, with a room adjoining designed as a place of prayer.

11. On the outskirts of the present town, a splendid

church, erected more than fifteen centuries ago by the empress Helena, stands on the spot where, it is supposed, Jesus was born; and within the church is a marble manger which is said to have replaced the wooden one, long since decayed. We found that nearly all the inhabitants of Bethlehem are Christians, as they ever have been since the time of the Saviour; and they carry on quite a thriving business in carving beads, crucifixes, and models of the Holy Sepulchre, some of which we bought of them. I have a fine one for the Lake-View Muse'um.

12. We also went out to Bethany, the scene of many events of exceeding interest in the life of the Saviour. It is beyond the Mount of Olives, on the eastern slope, only two miles south-east from the walls of Jerusalem. It is now a poor little village, made up of houses of stone, built from the ancient ruins, and containing only about twenty families; but the palm-trees still grow in luxuriance around it, and even among the ruins of the ancient town. The monks showed us the supposed sites of the houses of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, Simon the leper, and Mary Magdalene. What tradition calls the tomb of Lazarus, hewn in the rock, was also pointed out.

13. As we were on the point of leaving the place, some one asked the Professor whether the poet Whittier had not written something about Bethany, also. The answer was given in the following lines:

“And Bethany's palm-trees in beauty still throw
Their shadows at noon on the ruins below;
But where are the sisters who hastened to greet

The lowly Redeemer, and sit at his feet?

I tread where the TWELVE in their wayfaring trod ;

I stand where they stood with the CHOSEN of God;

Where his blessing was heard, and his lessons were taught; Where the blind were restored, and the healing was wrought."

14. One day, as we were returning to our quarters after visiting the Mosque of Omar, we observed a number

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