"Yon proud City! As on our Olive-crowned hill we stand, Where Kidron at our feet its scanty waters Distills from stone to stone with gentle motion, As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace, How boldly doth it front us! How majestically! Like as a luxurious vineyard, the hillside Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line, Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer To the blue Heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces, With cool and verdant gardens interspersed; Here towers of war that frown in massy strength; While over all hangs the rich purple eve, As conscious of its being her last farewell Of light and glory to the fated city. And as our clouds of battle, dust and smoke Are melted into air, behold the Temple In undisturbed and lone serenity, Finding itself a solemn sanctuary In the profound of Heaven! It stands before us A mount of snow, fettered with golden pinnacles! The very sun, as though he worshiped there, Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs; And down the long and branching porticoes, On every flowery, sculptured capital, Glitters the homage of His parting beams. .... The sight might almost win The offended majesty of Rome to mercy." But Roman majesty was not to be won to mercy. To the Twelve, Christ had foretold the destruction of the city. And now when the four were alone with Him, they "asked Him privately, tell us when shall these things be." For wise reasons Jesus did not tell. But one of them at least would learn both when and what these things would be. This was John. His tender and loving heart was to bleed with the horrible story of the fall of Jerusalem. There hunger and famine would be so dire that mothers would slay and devour their own children. Multitudes would die of disease and pestilence. Rage and madness would make the city like a cage of wild beasts. Thousands would be carried away into captivity. The most beautiful youths would be kept to show the triumph of their conqueror. Some of them would be doomed to work in chains in Egyptian mines. Young boys and girls would be sold as slaves. Many would be slain by wild beasts and gladiators. Saddest of all would be the Temple scenes. Though Titus command its preservation his infuriated soldiery will not spare it. On its altar there would be no sacrifice because no priest to offer it. That altar would be heaped with the slain. Streams of blood would flow through the temple courts, and thousands of women perish in its blazing corridors. The time was to come when John, recalling his question on Olivet and his Lord's prophecy concerning Jerusalem, could say, "All is o'er, Her grandeur and her guilt."