aspect, in the midst of its surrounding hills and valleys. That of the Kidron, or Jehosaphat, is on the right-that of Hinnom on the left. In the distance is the high plain where Titus encamped-Olivet in the foreground. Thus it might have been descried by Jesus and the tempter described by Milton, in his "Paradise Regained," as passing through The air sublime, Over the wilderness, and o'er the plain, Let us, before we pass on to describe its destruction, sum up for a moment the New Testament associations connected with our view. We have before us the theatre of the principal events of the life of Christ, while at Jerusalem. From the brow of the sacred hill, then covered thickly with the tree which has given it its eternal name, Jesus looked over the magnificent city, to which his disciples, in their pride, called his attention, and wept over its approaching ruin. Over the slope of Olivet he had approached the city, and passing into the depth of the valley of the Kidron, ascended to the temple, amidst the loud hosannas of the multitude. He must have either entered it directly by the Golden Gate, conspicuous in the tem ple wall, or by one to the right, which led into the city, (as we suppose,) and thence into the court of the temple. The outer court is that from whence he expelled the money-changers, and here, and in the inner court he taught daily to the people. The deep groves through which he passed on the slope, and at the base of Olivet, are those to which he was accustomed to retire with his disciples, and to traverse on his way to Bethany. Tradition has given the name of the Garden of Gethsemane to a group of ancient olives, in the depth of the glen, (see view of them) and has pretended to identify the scene of the ascension, and of the prophecy of the ruin of Jerusalem, with others. The general character of the locality is beyond dispute. It was most probably in Fort Antonia that Jesus was brought before Pilate, and on the swell of Acra beyond the second wall, the crucifixion took place. The reader may easily figure to himself the mournful procession ascending the hill-side, through the crowded streetsthe scoffs and insults of some, the tears of othersthe meek sufferer bearing his cross up the steep ascent; till passing beyond the wall, and reaching Golgotha, the fatal cross was reared; the dim vision of the expiring sufferer resting upon the beloved, the ungrateful city; his soul parting from his exhausted body in a last prayer for her forgiveness. But a few years after this event Jerusalem was encom passed by the Roman legions. We will briefly trace the sad progress of its destruction, to assist the reader in understanding (in connexion with our views) the detailed history of Josephus, or the admirably condensed and роеtical abstract of it, in Milman's "History of the Jews." Long before the Romans appeared before Jerusalem, its devoted inhabitants had become the prey of civil discord. Eleazer, the head of the party called Zealots, from their determination to reject all compromise with the Romans, was opposed by the moderate party, who sought peace, from a conviction (but too well founded) of the hopelessness of resistance. While the most bitter animosity existed between these parties, a third element of mischief, the subtle and unscrupulous John of Gischala, entered the city on his retreat from Galilee. At first his artful policy induced him to affect a neutrality; but when the people, led on by Ananus, the highpriest, and goaded to madness by the crimes and oppressions of the Zealots, in a moment of resistless fury drove them into the temple,-where they remained shut up,—then, by representing himself the friend of the popular party, he obtained the office of mediator. Once among the Zealots in the temple, he threw off the mask, declared himself their partisan, and advised them to send privately for assistance to the Idumeans. A messenger stole forth, and in a short time a host of these fierce tributaries arrived before the walls. Ananus harangued and endeavoured to disperse them; but possessed, as they were, by a conviction that the Zealots were the friends of liberty, it proved in vain. While they remained excluded from the city a terrible storm arose, and profiting by the noise and confusion it occasioned, the Zealots sawed open the temple gate, stole past their enemies, and opened the city gates to their infuriated allies. Ascending into the city they overpowered the guards; taken by surprise, a fearful slaughter of the people took place. Ananus, the only hope of the city, was put to death, and the wretched people were hopelessly given up to all the violence and rapine of the contending factions. Eleazar and John, partners in oppression, were soon at deadly feud between themselves. The former seized the inner, while the latter possessed the outer court of the temple, where a constant conflict was kept up, and the stores wasted in reckless and drunken extravagance. Such was the misery of the people that they willingly admitted a third party into the city, to check the others; a man who, like John, had gathered together a band of robber associates, and wasted the surrounding country. This was Simon, the son of Gioras, who occupying the upper part of the city, directed thence his attacks against the Zealots in the temple. We have briefly sketched the position of the factions, that the reader may, by referring to the view of the city, trace, step by step, the events of the siege. While they fatally wasted the resources of the city in civil dissension, Titus advanced with the Roman army, and took up his position along the north-west wall, judging it impracticable to force the city in any other direction. The position of his camp is indicated in the view, occupying the high ground, extending from the head of the Valley of Hinnom to that of Jehoshaphat. A legion, as shown in the view, was also encamped at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The factions within the city were now compelled to unite for its common defence; and whatever may have been the cruelty of their conduct to the herd of defenceless and famishing inhabitants, (and it should not be forgotten that this is narrated by Josephus, their bitter enemy,) we cannot refuse them the meed of praise for daring and determined valour: step by step they defended what was to them the city of God, as well as of their fathers; sustained in their heroic endeavours, we cannot doubt, by the belief that, in their darkest hour, he would appear gloriously for the deliverance of his chosen people, and the confusion of her pagan oppressors. After a narrow escape, while reconnoitring from a desperate sally of the Jews, Titus proceeded to level the plain, pitching his tent, as a central position, near the tower Psephinos, and approaching his engines to the wall, in spite of every opposition from the |