Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-12-11
THE H ely l. An -.
Cond usess gepert o laird Lecture by
Esey. II. T.. stuEgis.
[stenographically Reported and Revised. ]
THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.

4
| Canaan, before Jacob went down to Egypt,
or Moses was born. 1t antedates Athens
| and Rome by nearly 1900 years, and runs
| back with Damascus and Nineveh and
| Thebes almost to the dawn of time Jeru-
| salem is the hottest city earth, sacred to
| jew and Christian and Moslem alik e..
| Here center the most stupendous events in
| human, and, SO far as we know, in celestia
| history. Here the awful drama of Redemp-
| ton was O acted, and from Jerp allen
went forth the law and the Gospel, and
| from Zion the kingdom of rigbteous ness
| snd peace even unto the very ends of the
earth Here is Gethsemane and Olivet,
and Calvary and the Sepulchre. The Son
of Gcd was here crucifed, here he burst
| from neigh boring slope he assembled to
his Eternal Throne. Jerusalem is the City
| of the Great King, the Sweet Psalmist of
| Israel, and-ofz nnig hty princes and warriors,
| of patriarchs and seers, apostles and mar
tyra, and of the Sacred Temple.
No city on earth has been through such
| thrilling scenes, and no city can compare
with it for an instant in tragic history and
| immortal memories. 1t has experienced
about twenty sieges and distractions. Ii
has been despoiled and sacked and burnt
again and again. There are about forty
| Jerusalems on the same site-a Jerusalem
| of MelchisedecK, of the Jebusites, OF
| David and Solomon, of Ezra and Nathan
| iel, of the Ptolemies, of the Maecabees, OF
| Herod, of the Romans, of the Christian
| Emperors, of the Saraceps, of the Cru
saders, and last, to-day, of the Turks. Nc
| city has had so much of earth's magnif
cence and splendor, and beauty and fame,
and that has at times gone so far down into
| the valley Of shame and humiliation, sit
ting in sackcloth and ashes and tears.
/ We approached Jerusalem in kind o.
reverenee and awe, and some of US in
tears. We hardly spoke to each other
The memories and scenes of 4,C00 Yeas
came sweeping over us. We felt almost
! to take off the shoes from our feet for the
ground whereon we trod was holy, and to
enter the precincts of the City of David
4 with barred heads. Visitors to Niagara tell
Us that their first feeling is one of disap-
polntment. lt-ls certainly so with Jerusa-
lem. You are prepared to find city oil
considerable extent; It's exceedingly small.
You can not believe that q city that has
} so high an antiquity, and has figured SO
conspicuousiy in the political and religious
history of the world. can be all comprised
e within thefew acres which lie before you
You have read from childhood of the
mountains about Jerusalem; you find them
mere hills. You expected to find city
high on the SUBMITS, and visible from
afar; you find it to be apparently hid away
in valley. But the more you go about it
and realize the great and solemn event:
that happened there. and become filled
with its transc8ndent and precious memo
rles, the city grows on you marvellouslyD
And when you come to stand on OliVet
and take last view Of it from the Crown
of Scopus on the north, the city has
| sWelied cut Of its first narrow limits and is
indeed one of great and wide proportions.
Whoever approaches Jerusalem from the
west or south is sure to be disappointed.
You scarcely see the city till you are full
/ upon it. Only a grey wall rises before
you, for the city lies on the eastern shout
| der of ridge, sloping towards the valley.
| But viewed from the Mount of Olives, Je-
rusalem lies in full sight-inclines towards
| you-and presents a beautiful and impress
| sive appearance, and well deserves the
noble praises of pEalmists and historians.
As seen from that summit, can never for
| get Jerusalem: 1t stands out as clear and
| beautiful to-day in my memory and imAgi-
nation as when l last saw it, six years ago
| CAIN and peaceful, it lay spread out like q
map, rejecting from It's every wall and
roof and dome and minaret the soft and
glowing aight of the fast westerning sun.
Jerusalem is 80 miles in from the Med-
| iteraneAn, Is miles from the Jordan 1873
miles south of Demascus, and about $50
north of Egypt. 1t is situated about 2,600
| feet above the level of the sea, on the east
| ern slope Of a large plateau OF ills, on the
| mountains which run down through cen
| tral Palestine. The approach from the west
is nearly level, AID SO from the north. The
! Tdge OF several hills on which the city is
| built Are abrupt and steep on the east and
south. Mount Zion is in the south west,
MOriah south asst, Akra northwest, and
Bezetna northeast, and onothese, or sections
of these hills Jerusalem stands.
Across the north of the city from west
to east runs shallow valley, bending
around to the south, and as it descends
growing deeper and narrower. This is the
| Valley of Jehoshaphat, and through it
] runs the famous brook, Cedron. On the
east of the city this valley is in places 300
feet deep. La its, slopes is the Garden of
| Gethsomane.E Grain fields. olive trees md
vineyards abound throughout its entire
| length. This valley, so deep and gloomy
in parts, is the basis of the fgure-'the
valley of the shadow of death" From west
to east, below the city, runs second val
| ley-Hinnom. At first shallow it is 800
| feet deep just below Mt. Zion. rode down
| though it alone late ono afternoon, and it
was eagernous gorge, dark and gloomy.
| l do not wonder that Tophet or Gehenna
was located here. All the garbage and filth
and dead bodies of beasts and criminals of
| the city We're cast there. A vast and lurid
| fire burned here night and day. And from
| He'll, where the worm dieth not, and the
| fire is not quenched. Here was the image
of M0loch, with its unalterable horrors.
| lust to the south of this valley, on q rocky
hillside 40 Or so feet high, is Aceldama, or
the Potter's Field. thought to find a real
| cemetery. found long deep, wide
trench, cut out of the solid ledge, and en-
closed about and overhead with a stone
| house. The soil at the bottom is said to
consume the dead bodies thrown into it.
Earth from this Potter's Field, which Judes
bong ut with the betrayal money, is carried
/ away in quantities to Europe for burial
grounds.
The Mount of Olives rises triple-topped
out of the Valley of Jephoshaphat, east of
he city, to the height of nearly 800. feet
! On the west of the city is a magnificent
cluster Of modern buildings, 5uilt by the
Russian Emperor A church of the Holy
Trinity, convent, hospice for pilgrims
and q Consulate The whole establishment
is remarkably fine and expensive To the
north Of the city is Mount Scopus, where
| Titus gathered his forces for the destruc-
tiOn of the doomed city.
The whole aspect of Jerusalem is white.
| The mountains everywhere crop cut in
white layers, and the hillsides and
the valleys look as if a great limestone
quarry had existed for centuries in the air
over the city and all the chips and clip
plings had been scattered over the slopes
and fields. Mil ions Of white rock frag-
ments are sown like grain-have fallen
about the city like huge snow fakes.
Jerusalem has population variously es-
tinlated from 70, OG0 to &c. 0C0, of all nation
| alities-Moslems, jews, Arabs, Turks,
Syrians, Abyssinians, Armenians and
Copts. There are perhaps 5000 hi oham-
dan Hah