THE TOMB OF HELENA. mechanism by which the entrance was closed or opened-a huge stone being rolled to or from the mouth of the entrance. It thus affords an interesting contemporary illustration of the words of the evangelists, "Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked they saw the stone rolled away, for it was very great.' But it would be impossible, with the space at our disposal, to describe, however briefly, all the objects of interest in and around Jerusalem. Whole volumes have been devoted to the subject without exhausting it. This brief and inadequate sketch may be brought to a close by recalling to memory a Sabbath morning service in Christ Church on Mount Zion, as the Protestant church, recently erected there, is called. The liturgy had gained a deeper significance and impressiveness from the associations of the place. The sermon had set forth Christ crucified as the hope alike of Jew and Gentile. 1 Mark xvi. 3, 4. Luke xxiv. 2. brought tears to many eyes; solemn penitential Not a few of the congregation, overcome by And the concluding hymn FR ROM Jerusalem northward as far as Bethel, a distance of ten or twelve miles, we pass through the territory of Benjamin. The topography of the district illustrates the prophecies of Jacob and Moses as to the destinies of this small but warlike tribe, and explains the peculiar position which it held in the Jewish commonwealth. From the central plateau, which runs north and south, a succession of rugged and difficult passes lead east and west, debouching on the fertile Philistine plain on the one side, and on the yet more fertile valley of Jericho on the other. Its barren rocky soil, ill-adapted for agriculture, gave birth to a race of hardy warriors, whose military prowess was often called into exercise in protecting Jerusalem against invaders from the north, in guarding their own mountain fastnesses, or in making forays upon the territories of their eastern or western neighbours. Almost every hill-side has been the scene of a battle; almost every mound of ruins marks the site of some ancient village memorable for the heroic deeds there enacted. "Benjamin shall ravin like a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil." "And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord (Jerusalem) shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders:" a prophecy fulfilled when centuries afterwards the Lord took up His earthly abode among MOSQUE OF DAVID. |