We have been in this country now for months. We have been many weeks on horseback. We have made more than six hundred miles in the saddle through Palestine and Syria, and yet it has not become monotonous. Indeed, it grows on us; there is a fascination about it. Each day is different from the day before. The roads are different, the people are different, the scenery is not the same. New historical interests, new biblical characters and sacred associations are hourly coming up for conversation and thought. Josephus is no longer dry and prosy. You read “Ben Hur,” and “The Prince of the House of David,” with more interest than ever before; last, and greatest, the Bible—the Bible becomes a new book to you. Its pages are brighter, its truths simpler, and its Christ is more personal and real to you, than before you came here. Palestine is a relief map of the Bible. In our western world, a man may be honestly skeptical; but, if he comes to Palestine as an earnest seeker after truth, he will soon dismiss all doubt, and, like Thomas of old, cry out: “My Lord, and my God!” CHAPTER XXXIX. JERUSALEM. Approaching Jerusalem—Coming Events—Dreams—Light Breaks In—Serenade—Zion, the City of God—Prayers Answered—Gratitude—A Vision of Peace—Blighted Fig-Tree—Still a Holy City—Prominence of Jerusalem—Its Influence among the Nations—A Melted Heart—Tents Pitched—Walk About Zion—Situation of the City—Its Walls—Its Gates—Afraid of Christ—Crossing the Kedron—Tomb of Virgin Mary—Gethsemane—What it Means, What it Is, and How it Looks—Superstitious Monks—Jerusalem Viewed from the Mount of Olives—Architecture of the City—Prominent Objects—Entering the City—Its Streets—Its Population—Jewish Theologues—Remaining Portion of Solomon’s Temple—“Wailing Place” of the Jews—Kissing the Wall—Weeping Aloud—Fulfillment of Prophecy—Only One Conclusion. TO-MORROW the equestrian pilgrims will pitch their tents on the holy hill of Zion. It will be a time of rejoicing. I think that each one of the party will put down in his diary. “This is the happiest day of my life.” The nearer we come to our journey’s end, the more intense becomes the excitement. The night before reaching the city, our tents are pitched in a valley. “Coming events” have already begun to “cast their shadows before them.” Each one of the company is excited; each one filled with life, hope, and anticipation. We all sing: “I’m a pilgrim; I’m a stranger; this world is not my home,” “I seek a city whose builder and maker is God,” and “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, my happy, happy home.” At length, “weariness spreads her ever welcome couch,” and we fall asleep. Some of us dream that Jerusalem is a “golden city.” The leaden-footed hours of the night pass by. About five o’clock in the morning, “Light breaks in upon my brain. ’Tis the carol of a bird— The sweetest song ear ever heard. And mine are so thankful That my eyes run over with glad surprise.”