And now, my friend, for to-day you must be content with these few lines. Thanks to Dr Macgowan's lancet, I am so far recovered that I was able this morning to take a walk. You will remember that the Damascus gate is but a few steps from my lodgings; thither, therefore, I directed my steps. I have already written you a few words about the direction of the Tyropeon valley, which Robinson and Ritter are of opinion extended from the Dung gate to the Jaffa gate. I am disposed to think, however, that this valley, which makes the separation between Zion and Moriah, begins at-or, to speak more correctly, outside of the Damascus gate, and not at the Jaffa gate. I took this walk in order to convince myself of it, and have besides taken a drawing of that part of the city, in order to give you a clear idea of the depression of the ground at the Damascus gate, and of the course of the Tyropeon valley. I must now get ready for spending the evening at Miss Hovenden's, a pious English lady, who takes an active part in the work of evangelisation, without, however, being directly a member of the London Mission for promoting Christianity among the Jews. It is the evening for the weekly Bible meeting, which otherwise takes place at the house of Bishop Gobat; but as that highly esteemed and much loved man left this on the 12th current, with his wife and children, for Europe, Miss H. requested that the meeting for this evening should be held at her house. 19th April. Early this morning I was cheered with your letter of the 3d of this month; and as some hours still remain before the departure of the post, I hasten to finish this letter. You suppose me to be at Jerusalem, and you guessed not much beside the mark. I am at Jerusalem, and will cheerfully comply with your desire to have a distinct sketch of the Mount of Olives. You say, "I have seen many prints of it, but methinks you might introduce something into it which I find wanting in them all. The clouds do not please me in such drawings. I would have you so draw the clouds as if they were already marshalling themselves together to form themselves into the shape of a throne; for it is there on the Mount of Olives that, according to Zechariah xiv. 4, He shall descend. Your eyes, it is true, will not behold that throne just now. Before that time arrive, you will, if God please, be back among us. But contemplate this Mount of Olives as an heir might be supposed to contemplate beforehand his inheritance which has been bequeathed to him by testament, Canaan-the chrysalis from which, at the magic stroke of God's almighty power, the beautiful butterfly will instantly emerge, glittering with gold and purple in the rays of the everlasting sun of salvation!" O We my dear friend, how must I disappoint you! The time of the Bridegroom's feast is not yet come. have first to raise the psalms of humiliation before we unite in the great choir to sing the praises of the King, as set forth in Psalm xlv. With Christ's people it is as with Christ himself; first down in the depth of the Cedron valley, then upward to the Mount of Olives. And between the bed of the valley and the top of the mount there are some hundred feet of a steep and toilsome ascent to be traversed. But why should we THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 201 fear, although the valley be deep, and the mount be steep and high? We know, if we but press onwards in the right path, we shall reach the top at last, and the most glorious prospect will abundantly reward our pains. But, to return to the realities, you must not look for any sketches of clouds on the Mount of Olives from me. I will try to give you a view of the hill as it is at present, of a pale light gray colour, with a few scanty olive-trees, terraces, footpaths, and a small cluster of houses on the middle and most elevated summit, crowned with a minaret, and thereby indicating that this place-Helena's Church of the Ascension —is now under the power of the Turks. In one of my walks outside of the city, on its north-west side, near the place where Golgotha must probably have stood, I saw the Mount of Olives to the greatest advantage. Jerusalem lay in the foreground, the blasphemous mosque of Omar rising in the middle ground; behind these the Mount of Olives, and far in the distance the peculiarly tinted mountains of Moab. The sky I will draw in my sketch such as it generally is at present, altogether blue, and particularly clear; then, at any rate, no clouds of my fancy will stand in the way of yours. Another drawing which I am owing you, in order to bring Jerusalem plainly before your mind, is the view of the city from the Mount of Olives. I have already begun it; but the extent of the subject, and the minute accuracy with which it requires to be treated, demand two more sittings. I have chosen a point about half-way up the mount, and somewhat more to the north than that from which the view of Jerusalem is generally taken. I found that from this point I could best 202 THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. distinguish the different buildings by their shades. While seated there I was perhaps two hundred yards, or thereabouts, distant from the spot where the Saviour sat when alone with the disciples,* and announcing to them the things that were to come upon Jerusalem, and the signs of His coming, and of the end of the world. Although I might not have sat upon the identical spot, it was quite evident to me why our Lord, after He had left the temple, and been shewn by the disciples its huge stones and splendid buildings, went to the Mount of Olives, in order to give them a deeper impression of the lot that awaited the proud city. With the magnificent panorama before them, Jerusalem with its surrounding hills and valleys, they must have well understood that saying: "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." And the disciples had need to be enlightened and fortified in the discernment of the signs of the times; therefore it was that He added, by way of explanation, a reference to the fig-tree, when its branches become tender, and when it puts forth its leaves; for the oppression in those days would be great: "For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to those that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until * Matt. xxiv. 3; Mark xiii. 3. + Luke xxi. 20. THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 203 the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." * In such straits many men's hearts would fail them for fear; Satan would do his utmost, so as, if possible, to seduce the very elect; and in order that His disciples—and all who should, through their word, become their followers-might be able to stand fast at so dreadful a time, the Lord made them comprehend the future lot of Jerusalem with the utmost clearness of graphic delineation. We may imagine to ourselves how the Redeemer pointed, as it were, with His finger to the approach of the Roman legions from yonder hills; and how the disciples must afterwards have recollected these words: "Behold, I have told you before!" "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door." + I have become quite fond of the Mount of Olives— one is so undisturbed there. Here and there the shade of a fig-tree or an olive-tree offers you a nice and quiet retreat, where you may sit down in silent meditation. The city, which, in a straight line, is only at about 400 yards distance, is of course quite different from the Jerusalem of the days of our Lord; but its position and leading features, the environing hills, the colouring, the bright blue sky, all this has remained the same, and one can thus tolerably well suppose himself transferred to the days of old. Jesus was probably often seated under such an olive-tree, either alone or with His disciples. With what a look of divine compassion must He have constantly contemplated hardened and blinded Jerusalem! How many prayers must He have sent up from this spot to His Father, when *Luke xxi. 22-24. † Matt. xxiv. 25–33. |