HERE we have a beautiful picture of this celebrated mount. It was the southernmost of the hills on which Jerusalem was built, having the Valley of Kedron on the east, and the Valley of Hinnom or Gehenna south and west, Acra to the north, and Moriah north-east. On this eminence Solomon built his magnificent palace. The Temple and its courts were built on that part of Zion called Moriah. Chateau brind says: "From the top of the hill you see to the south the Valley of Benhinnom; beyond this the field of blood, purchased with the thirty pieces of silver given to Judas; the hill of evil counsel, the tomb of the judges, and the whole desert towards Hebron and Bethlehem; to the north the wall of Jerusalem, which passes over the top of

Zion, intercepts the view of the city, the site of which gradually slopes from this place towards the valley of Jehoshaphat." That building you see on the top is not Solomon's temple; that has long since passed away. It is a dingy-looking Turkish mosque, and is built in the middle of the hill, and is called the mosque of David. It is said it is built over the tomb of the great Israelitish king, and both the Moslems and Jews hold it in great veneration. Part of this building was the church of the Conaculum, and it is said that on this spot the Saviour ate the Last Supper with his disciples. The guides show you a niche in which they say Christ sat at this celebrated repast. They also show a stone which they affirm was the identical stone which was placed on the sepulchre of the Saviour of the world. The pilgrims, believing the story, kiss and caress this relic. Many other wonders are associated with this spot; the place where the Virgin expired is pointed out, and also where the cock crew which reproved Peter.

The following is Dr. Richardson's account of this place: "At the time when I visited this sacred ground, one part of it supported a crop of barley, another was undergoing the labour of the plough, and the soil turned up consisted of stone and lime, mixed with earth, such as is mostly met with in the foundations of ruined cities. It is nearly a mile in circumference, is highest on the left side, and towards the east falls down in broad terraces on the upper part of the mountain, and narrow ones on the side, as it slopes down towards the brook Kidron. Each terrace is divided from the one above it by a low wall, built of the ruins of this celebrated spot. The terraces near the bottom of the hill are still used as gardens, and are watered by the pool of Siloam."

"The glory is departed. Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps." Micah iii. 12. It was customary for conquerors to pass a plough over a conquered and ruined city, to signify that it should be no more built, but the ground be devoted

to the purposes of agriculture. Horace mentions it as a Roman custom :

"From hence proud cities date their overthrow,
When insolent in ruin, o'er their walls

The wrathful soldier draws the hostile plough,
That haughty mark of total overthrow."

This Turnus Rufus did, by order of the Emperor, along the slopes of Zion; and to this day the prophesy is fulfilled. See the narrative of Dr. Richardson above.

Two rabbis, approaching Jerusalem, observed a fox running upon the hill of Zion, and Rabbi Joshua wept, and Rabbi Eliezar laughed. "Wherefore dost though laugh ?" said he who wept; "Nay, wherefore dost though weep?" demanded Eliezar. "I weep,” replied the Rabbi Joshua, "because I see what is written in the Lamentations fulfilled: 'Because of the mount of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk on it;' and therefore," said Rabbi Eliezar," doI laugh ; for when I see with my own eyes that God has fulfilled his threatenings to the very letter I have thereby a pledge that not one of his promises shall fail, for he is ever more ready to show mercy than judgment." Will the hope of Eliezar ever be realised? Will those acres, on which traversed those blessed feet that were nailed to the tree, be one day rescued from the Moslem? and will the crescent on those beautiful regions wane before the cross? and will the scattered children of Abraham be gathered around this glorious ensign which they now despise ? Prophesy points in this direction: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." Zechariah xii. 10. "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Romans xi. 26.

MERCY HEATH.

In the days of the Saxon kings in England, one of them (never mind his name) had ceased to be a heathen, and had made profession of the Christian faith. And many of the people of his kingdom also had cast away their idols and followed the king's good example. Good laws were also instituted in accordance with Christian truth, and the king favoured and succoured by his royal authority the spread of the Gospel faith in his kingdom. In those days there was a man named Gurth, a chief man, whom many obeyed as their captain; a pagan heathen, himself the son of a pagan priest. He refused to agree to the king's proceedings, and vowed he would die upon the altar of his god rather than become a Christian. Gurth also raised a rebellion against the king. But the king was a good and wise man, and his government so generally promoted the happiness of his people, that the rebellion of Gurth failed to extend, and instead of succeeding, his followers deserted him; but being of angry and stern temper he refused to surrender, determining, though alone, still to rebel. Proclamation had been made of free and instant pardon to all rebels if they by a certain day submitted. The day had passed, Gurth had forfeited the privilege of grace and life. Deserted and

outlawed, he lurked in woods and on wild heaths, where badgers, wild hogs, and wolves had their dens.

He was

weak through long fasting, for he could only get wild berries and roots to eat, which he sought under shade of night, when one evening he timidly crept out of his hiding place, and oh! dreadful! a large and hungry wolf sprang upon him. Had he been in his former strength he would have mastered the wolf, but now the wolf had mastered him, and was fastening his keen fangs in his breast. Soon Gurth would have been killed and eaten by the savage wolf, but a man, and a stranger too in that lonely heath-a

man equipped with weapons is come unexpectedly to the rescue; he draws off the wolf from Gurth, and with his strong arm encounters him. The struggle is long and the stranger is wounded, but just now the wolf is slain. Gurth, prostrate, weak, and bleeding, could only be a spectator of the exciting scene; his deliverer came and raised him up, and with his own hands, still reeking with his own blood, bound up the wounds in Gurth's breast; he also removed from his back the coarse and dirty ragged covering of Gurth, and put around him his own warm mantle. But wretched Gurth morosely said, "You would not have helped me if you had not known me-I am only preserved from the wolf to die here of hunger, or to be put to death by the king's command-for me there is no hope left." "Say not so," said his deliverer, "think you that after I have done and suffered so much for you, that I could be willing to leave you to perish."

The stranger then opened his wallet, and therefrom spread before Gurth an ample supply of food, of which they both partook. O how eagerly did the famished Gurth eat, and how willingly did his friend serve him. "I cannot leave you here," said his deliverer to Gurth, "I would not save and then desert you! Quit this desert, where if you remain you must perish; come with me and submit to the king." "I dare not go,” said Gurth, "I have never seen the king, was brought up in a distant part of his country; I have heard of him that he is terribly just. I have rebelled against him, and am now condemed to death as a rebel; I dare not see his face." "Come with me, I will plead for you," replied his strange deliverer, "I will describe the misery in which I found you, I will mention what I have suffered foryou, and ask, for my sake, pardon for you." Thus reassured Gurth ventured with his friend, who courteously and kindly helped his feeble steps as they together walked. The tramp of feet is heard advancing; Gurth starts with terror; the cold thrill ripples o'er his nerves; he in intense alarm clings to his companion. It is