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looked it. Two sides were fortified by three strong walls; but the other two, being encompassed with deep precipitate valleys, were guarded by only one wall. The grounds beyond the fortifications were laid out into beautiful parks and pleasure gardens. With one of these last we are all familiar, for it was the garden of Gethsemane. Even at this late day, the traveler is shown an old olive tree, which, beaten with the storms of nearly two thousand years, is said to have stood in that sad place when visited by the Redeemer. Beyond the gloomy valley of Jehoshaphat, rose mount Olivet. From its green summit, the traveler could look down upon Jerusalem and the whole of the neighboring country.

incredible size. Some were thirty feet long, nine feet wide, and seven feet thick. All were chiseled and finished off in an elegant manner, and built up with the same care displayed in erecting the costly palaces of the Kings. Very often no cement was used, the size and weight of the stones rendering that unnecessary. Think of two hundred towers built in this way, built of stones thirty feet long, and nine feet wide, and seven feet thick! Hurled against such obstructions, one would suppose that all the battering-rams in the world, would produce no more disastrous effect than the pelting of so many drops of water. From these defences, with plentiful supplies of provisions, and with water in such quantities as to be almost if not altogether inexhaustible, the soldiers could maintain a successful resistance for almost any length of time.

The sight was inspiring. Turrets and towers, walls and battlements, side by side and one above another, rose in seeming confusion, imparting the aspect But, while the fortifications in genof an immense fortress to the city. Con- eral were of this formidable nature, spicuous among all, stood the grand and there were a number of towers which in glorious Temple; and rising above it as every respect far surpassed them. Three if to shield it from harm, was the im- of these, it was said, were "for largepregnable tower of Antonia. The Tem-ness, beauty, and strength beyond all ple was built of white marble, and was of such majestic proportions that it is said to have appeared at a distance like a mountain of snow. Warlike as was the aspect of Jerusalem, it was not without signs of peace. The massive fortifications were relieved by trees planted for shade and ornament, while here and there, gleamed the musical waters of the sparkling fountain, or yet, the eye rested for a moment upon the quiet waves of some placid pool.

that were in the habitable earth." We will describe one. It was built of white marble. Each stone was thirty feet long, fifteen feet wide, and seven and a half feet thick. These were polished and finished off in the most elaborate manner. The joints were so close, as to be invisible at a short distance, so that the whole appeared as if cut from a single rock. The first part was sixty feet high and sixty feet wide, and was solid throughout. Above this foundaTo speak of the city, however, in this tion it was divided into rooms, which general way would give a very in- were adorned and furnished in a manner adequate conception of it. We must adapted to the fastidious tastes of a fasten the attention upon some particu- nobleman. It was provided also with lar object, which, being closely ex- great cisterns. Of their size we can amined, will not only speak for itself, but form some conception when informed enable us to form a judgment concern- that one was thirty feet deep. The ing much besides. First, the walls. whole was crowned with battlements and They were strengthened by two hundred turrets, and ornamented with marble towers. Each was of massive propor- pillars. It was one hundred and forty tions and appeared like a fortress com- feet high, and its height was magnified plete in itself. Each was about thirty by its situation; for it stood upon the feet square at the base, and built of loftiest eminence of the city. He who solid stone for the same distance up-climbed to its top over the winding ward. Above this solid altitude were magnificent rooms, and over them, other apartments, with cisterns to receive rainwater. Many of the stones used in the construction of these buildings, were of

stairway, could survey the world for miles and miles around. Lifted almost into the clouds, he could look down upon every part of the city, and, at times, even catch a glimpse of the blue waters

of the Mediterranean, nearly thirty miles off. When the sun rose, his golden beams shone upon its snowy head long before the shadows were dissipated from the narrow streets of Jerusalem; and when day declined, the flush of evening lingered still upon it when the world beneath was clothed in darkness. The great size of the stones used in these buildings is astounding to us. But those I have named do not compare with others employed in the construction of the Temple. There great masses of solid marble could be seen, which were forty, fifty, and sixty feet long, and of corresponding width and thickness. They were, moreover, not brought from quarries near at hand, but from others situated many miles away; and the roads over which they were conveyed, were very hilly indeed. How such heavy weights were moved, we have no means of knowing. No record nor drawing of any machine which seems adapted to such work, is left us. It would puzzle us with all our mechanical contrivances-it would puzzle, if not defy the skill of the very best engineers of the country, even to lift such a stone as that into its place.

In those days, however, when kings ruled with almost absolute sway, it was possible to gather together such armies of laborers as are never seen with us. Thus we find that when Solomon began to build the Temple, he assembled together the incredible number of 153600 men. Of these, 70,000 were engaged in transporting material, 80,000 were sent to the mountains of Lebanon, to hew timber, and 3,600 were appointed as overseers. In addition to these, he raised a levy of 30,000 others, who were sent to work in Lebanon by relays of 10,000; each relay serving for one month and returning home for two. Yet so great was the task, that over seven and a half years were occupied in the actual building of the Temple, after the material had all been prepared. This fact finds a counterpart in the great pyramids of Egypt. Of one of these it is said, 100,000 men were engaged for ten years in quarrying the stone, and then kept hard at work for twenty years more in erecting the building.

Of the skill of the ancients one fact alone speaks in most emphatic terms. It was this; every piece of timber, every

stone, and every ornament, and all else needed for the Temple, was so exactly cut, and fitted, and prepared, that, when it came to the building of the edifice, neither axe nor hammer was required to be used during its whole erection. With so many hands to work, and so great skill to direct them, we might feel only a moderate degree of surprise in learning that one of the very mountains of Lebanon had been moved to Jerusalem.

But connected with these towers of which I have been speaking, king Herod had a palace which was so superb as to baffle the power of the historian to describe. No money had been spared in its construction; the most costly material had been used; the most skilful artists had been employed. It stood a wonder in every respect. Walls, towers, battlements, porticoes, pillars, rose to a great height. The mind was bewildered in following the intricacies of the carvings which adorned the columns. Gold, and silver, and precious stones were so lavishly expended, and appeared in such profusion as to make one think they had become very common indeed. Elegant statuary adorned each room; the furniture was luxurious; and the greatest part of the vessels and dishes were silver and gold. The number of rooms was immense, and many of the bed-chambers were so large as to accommodate one hundred guests apiece. The Palace was surrounded by groves of trees. There were vast gardens filled with rich exotic plants. There was the giant palm, lifting its graceful head to the tops of the towers. There were trees loaded with purple figs. Between the green leaves of others gleamed the scarlet pomegranate. All varieties of trees and shrubbery remarkable for either foliage or blossom, mingled their leaves in rich profusion. Long walks wound through the groves. From brazen statues spouted floods of cool water. The air was burdened with perfume from flowers, that grew in marble vases, or more lowly beds on the ground. This was the home of Herod, a man famous for his magnificence, and one who seemed to be inspired with the desire of rivaling the glory of Solomon.

But had you visited Jerusalem in the days when this despot oppressed Israel, you would no doubt have turned your steps in the direction of the Temple

before devoting time to anything else. It was built of white marble, and from a long distance could be plainly seen. It was the chief object beheld upon approaching the city, and it was the most wonderful to examine after reaching that place. We cannot begin to give a complete description of it, but must content ourselves with speaking of a few particular points of interest. The whole edifice was encompassed on every side by the most magnificent colonade the world ever saw. Here one could walk over marble floors between double rows of exquisitely finished Corinthian columns until the very distance forced one to rest. Before the visitor, stretching far away, extended the grand colonade, the columns lessening in appearance as the distance grew. Sunlight and shadow intermingling there a delightful twilight over all. The roof was made of the expensive and fragrant wood of the cedar, and finished off with carvings and gildings peculiar to Jewish architecture. The columns were nearly forty feet high and were cut from a single rock. They were not made of several stones joined together, but each one from top to bottom was composed of a single solid shaft of pure white marble. I have seen a number of buildings called grand now; and I remember being once called to admire the two handsome columns supporting the front of a Cathedral in Philadelphia. They were of brown sandstone, and were considered very fine indeed. They were perhaps six feet in diameter and fifty or sixty feet high. But instead of being cut from a single stone, they were made of a number of blocks placed one upon another, and that too in such an inartistic way as to allow the broad seams of the joints to be plainly apparent for a considerable distance. These were termed magnificent columns. What then can be said of the one hundred and sixty-two solid marble pillars, which stood in one grand colonade on one side alone of the Temple? Here the Jews assembled at all hours of the day. And it is not to be wondered at,-when walking on and on beneath this splendid cedar roof, over a smooth marble pavement, with all these signs of elegance, and wealth and power about them, that their feelings were exalted, and they felt that God had indeed chosen them to be

the one chief nation upon the face of the earth. No wonder that with all this magnificence about them, they grew proud and looked down with contempt upon the hated Gentiles, who knew nothing of the great covenant established by Jehovah with Abraham. No wonder it was hard for them to turn away from all this grandeur, and beauty, to the humble simplicity of Christ. In Him they beheld nothing but the most positive contradiction to all the aspirations, and all the teachings of their whole lives.

But, passing through this outer enclosure and ascending a broad flight of steps, the visitor found himself in an extensive open court; and, looking across its smooth pavement, he beheld the great gates which opened the way into what is known as the Sanctuary. These entrances were ten in number, of which that known as the "Beautiful Gate," far exceeded in splendor all the others. Yet the others were by no means contemptible. Every one had two doors forty-five feet high and twenty feet wide, which were completely overlaid, both outside and inside with heavy plates of solid gold. They were supported on either side by high, and massive columns and towers, strongly fortified and ornamented with great elaboration. The space between these golden portals was occupied by lofty cloisters, and these in turn were adorned with superb porticoes, whose cedar roofs were held aloft by double rows of marble columns corresponding in beauty and appearance, to those of which I have previously spoken. Viewing this part of the Temple from the open court, it must have appeared a harmonious combination of massive and warlike towers, golden gates, and airy shafts of marble columns.

And now it seems as if all I have told you must sink into comparative nothingness, when placed in contrast with that which is to come. No sooner did the visitor ascend the flight of steps which led to the "Beautiful Gate," than there burst upon the view a scene SO brilliant that for a moment the eye felt pain, as when suddenly turned upon a glowing flame. Immediately before him, lifting its mighty front to the giddy height of one hundred and fifty feet, stood what was properly called the

Temple. It was as broad as it was high, but broad and high as it was, the whole of its great face was covered completely with thick plates of burnished gold, which beneath the steady light of the sun, blazed and flashed with a glory indescribably brilliant. There it stood, the Jewish Temple! The colonade, the golden gates, these all encircled it as if with their magnificence to prepare the mind for what was so much superior. Above the immense door which opened the way into it, gigantic grape vines of gold wound and twisted themselves into every conceivable form of beauty, their immense leaves and thick stems, and heavy clusters of grapes six feet long serving to relieve the monotony of the broad front. And there were also curiously graven in the precious plating, tall and stately palm trees that drooped their graceful branches low to the ground, with outstretched wings of cherubim, and wild seraphic faces that spoke of joy ineffable, and lilies, emblems of purity, opened their wide petals side by side upon the gold. And thus both inside and outside the Holy Place was elaborately ornamented. Then looking in through the wide open door, the eye gazed into a splendid apartment where the walls, and the ceiling and the floor were sheets of the same precious material that was so lavishly used all over the building. At the farthest end of this apartment, covering nearly the whole face of it, and, with the brilliancy of its colorings contrasting finely with the golden floor and ceiling, was an exquisitely wrought Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple. Behind this curtain no eyes but those of the priests could look, and no feet but theirs could tread, for here was the Holy and the Most Holy Place.

In front of the Temple stood the great altar; around the altar officiated a crowd of priests; upon it lay the slaughtered lamb, and on either side of it, drawn up in double rows, were the musicians arrayed in the sacred uniform and bearing in their hands every kind of musical instrument known; pipes, horns, trumpets, cymbals, tabrets, harps, organs, and others of various kinds. And just when the glowing sun was about to descend behind the far away hills of the West, and the sky was all

aglow with the glories of his decline, and the light fell with soft and subduing shadows upon the pillars, columns, towers, and high walls of the Temple, or shone with ten-fold lustre upon the golden front of the Sanctuary, when all around about the altar stood multitudes of devout worshippers, the wood of the sacrifice was kindled, and as the bright tongues of fire leapt into the air, and the black smoke ascended to heaven, with one accord the musicians and singers all united in praising God. Hundreds of instruments, and thousands of voices trained to greatest harmony, united in one song. The horns blew, the trumpets sounded, the cymbals clashed, the harps twanged, the tabrets rang, and the voices of the singers rose high to heaven. As the flames grew brighter, and the smoke grew denser and rolled higher, the voices of the singers swelled grander, and fuller, and louder, and the head of every worshipper was bowed lower, and all adored the Lord. Yet wilder clashed the cymbals, and louder blew the trumpets, and sweeter and fuller joined in the pipes and flutes, until the sacred music, floating through the quiet air, pervaded every silent nook and corner of the vast edifice. Through the long, and now darkened and deserted corridors, round about the lofty columns, over the warlike battlements, through the golden portals out upon the city, rolled the full tones of the glorious strain, till penetrating the dark and silent sepulchre, it must have sounded o'er the motionless forms of Israel's dead kings.

And to-day, as regularly as the Sabbath comes, the Jews living in Jerusalem go to the place where once their magnificent Temple stood. And where a part of the old foundations are still standing, they gather themselves together to mourn over the loss of their beautiful house. Old men and women with heads all gray with years, lay their trembling hands upon the stones as if caressing something that was inexpressibly dear to them. They bow their heads against them, cover them with kisses, and wash them with their tears. Thus they mourn and weep, calling upon God in tones of pathetic entreaty to remember the covenant established with His people. This is one of the saddest things that I have ever heard. We

know that the Temple will never be rebuilt, but this poor people cling with unwavering faith to the hope that God will raise it up from its ashes more beautiful than ever before.

After Christmas.

BY A PASTOR'S DAUGHTER.

Sitting in the firelight, Bess and I, talking quietly, while the little ones sat on the moss under the Christmas tree, hugging their knees, and with eager faces discussing the sweet impossibilities of Kriss Kindel's journeyings. Said Bess, "The pine is falling fast, and I fear we shall soon have nothing left but brown stems; suppose we take the tree and evergreen down?" "True," said I," and beside Epiphany is past," as the star on the topmost bough glittered a moment. The children were sorry, but willing, if they could only have a farewell to it, and we promised that for the next evening.

Meanwhile the hearth-light was making pretty changes in the home picture, and the old-fashioned parlor wore more than its usual gentle grace. The reverence lent it from the faces on the walls, portraits of Christian ancestors who had left us in that blessed hope which made the whole life here a long Advent lesson, seemed always deeper at Christmastide, so full of precious memories and hopes; these with the pictures of the present were garlanded with evergreens and sprigs of ivy and myrtle; the few statuettes with delicate wreathing of ferns; from vase and candelabra swept trailing mosses, while many a cluster of bright autumn leaves and shadowy grasses lent a grace here and there to

stand or sheaf.

For the deeper joy of the Christmastide there were the shields above doorways and windows, bearing "Glad Tidings," "Child Jesus," "Peace on earth," with a star and cross of frosted autumn leaves. This the firelight showed in fitful turns, and the shadows of the Christmas boughs came and went with the leaping flames, like the dreams and recollections in our hearts.

But a dazzling radiance some way seemed appropriated by the tree itself, standing near the corner, with graceful

branches and steady stem holding and bending with the fantastic freight of fruit. O the mysteries of that laden tree! Budding, blossoming and bearing its harvest all at once! How the gay horns of plenty swayed the dainty branches, linked by chains of silvery bells, behind whose mystic windings glittering fruits hung tremulous with. fairy faces, and miniature groups shining within them! The marvellous golden egg swung from a tiny twig reflecting all the firelight and more beside; silent drums hung stickless beside gilded fishes that unhesitatingly were upward bound; tiny flags waving out the inno

cent cause of endless enthusiasm in their fluttering red, white and blue; gay balloons tempted by the tiny Vanity Fair, lost ambition, and rested midway transfixed; curious fruitage of yellow and red hung from sprays that held fringed balls and glistening nothings; banners with devices of peace and joy fluttered above sweet cherub faces flying with shiny wings from the tips of boughs, like an echo from the choir that startled the shepherds that starlit night on Judea's hills; tiniest bird-cages with canaries resting from song and step, swung beside clusters of silvery grapes that hung high enough to be sour, while from innermost branches shone divers colors from tangible bubbles. Suspended from many a fair twig hung the seeds. of Utopia's gardens; transparent nuts with, O wonder to tree! golden leaves! Birdlings of gray and gorgeous plumage nestled amid the evergreen branches; crimped oranges, yellow and splendid among the fir; gay tulips and white lilies blooming on the ends of boughs that bore fruits which never grew in the fairest of earthly Edens, shining white and pink under a covert of silvery foliage.

In quiet content, from dizzy heights swung strapped papoose guarded by as gorgeous a group of clouds as ever gathered around the hills when the sun goes down, from whose tossings a full orb with dazzling rays shot forth, ever shining, never gone from among the leafage of that Christmas tree. Glimmering scales betray the dolphin on his slow sail through the tempestuous sea of fir; fluted shells, dainty enough for the tiniest naiad to float in, lay stranded on the greenest of shores, under the

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