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and felt the presence of the God of Elijah beside the waters of the brook Cherith. An old monk has cut his cell high up in the rock, and dwelt there in imitation of the prophet. Ascending thence by an ancient paved road, we reach the mountain summit, and take our last view of the valley of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the mountains round about. On the way, the place is pointed out where 'a certain man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves; and the good Samaritan had compassion on him, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn.' The road here certainly appears as though it had always been infested with thieves and robbers, and on this account was doubtless selected as the scene of the parable. Four armed Bedouins now came suddenly upon us in the pass, and we at first feared the fate of the former traveller. We, however, made the salutation of friendship to them, and they immediately returned it and acted as our guard by the way. Thence we came to

Bethany, and crossing the Mount of Olives, entered once more within the Holy City."

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CHAPTER XVIII.

FROM JERUSALEM TO DAMASCUS.

MR RIGHTER left Jerusalem March 10, having on the same morning met a number of Christian friends at Bishop Gobat's study, and having persuaded them to form a committee of the Evangelical Alliance, with Bishop Gobat as chairman. He gives the following account of his journey to Damascus :

"BEYROUT, April 8, 1856.

"From Jerusalem we journeyed northward, and came to Bethel, or house of God, where Jacob saw in his dream ‘a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and beheld the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed . . . And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven . . . And he called the name of that place Bethel.'

"Passing by way of Shiloh, where the ark and tabernacle long continued, we next arrived at Nablous, the ancient Shechem. Near by is Jacob's well, where our Saviour sat wearied with His journey, and as the woman

GERIZIM AND EBAL.

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of Samaria came to draw water, He discoursed to her of the water of everlasting life. On the right rises Ebal, the Mount of Cursing, and on the left Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, whereon the Samaritans built a temple and worshipped God, in opposition to the Jews at Jerusalem. And here the small remnant that is left still go up four times a year to offer sacrifice and worship. They live entirely distinct; and, as of old, 'the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.'

"In the morning we ascended an eminence, and, looking to the east, saw Ramoth-gilead beyond Jordan, where Moses set before the Israelites 'a blessing and a curse,' and charged them to place the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal. 'Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites?' This Joshua afterwards did, when they entered in to possess the land, placing 'half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal,' as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded before. And he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. And all the people answered Amen.' It was most interesting to view and realise this whole scene, spread out like a picture before us.

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'We then journeyed on, and in half an hour came to the hill of Samaria. Here stood Herod's ivory palace, and this sensual monarch reigned in all his ambitious splendour. Here the daughter of Herodias, Herod's brother's wife, danced before him on his birthday, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised to give her whatsoever she would ask, even to the half of his king

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dom and at her request Herod sent, and beheaded John in prison, and his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel. More than sixty massive columns, that formed the long colonnade in front of Herod's palace, are still standing on the hillside of Samaria. Thence, crossing the great plain of Esdraelon, and ascending the steep hill side that bounds it on the north, we came to the town of Nazareth. It is beautifully situated in a basin, encompassed by hills that command a fine view of the country round. Here the angel Gabriel was sent from God to predict unto Mary the birth of an infant Saviour, 'who should be called great, the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.' The fountain is near by, where it is said the annunciation was made by the divine messenger. After the flight into Egypt, we read that Joseph, being warned of God in a dream that Herod was dead, 'arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.' Here our Saviour spent nearly thirty years of His life, and these scenes were all familiar to Him. To Nazareth also He first came after His baptism and temptation, and entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and from the book of the prophet Esaias preached the acceptable year of the Lord.

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There are two missionaries of the English Church Missionary Society established here. They have a school numbering forty-one children; of whom thirty are Protestants, six Greeks, four Latins, and one Armenian. The

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Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments are used as a text-book. During the last year fifteen Bibles in Arabic and six in Italian have been sold and distributed among the people. They have now decided, however, to confine themselves entirely to the sale of Scriptures, and no longer give them gratuitously as heretofore. Since, about twenty Arabic Bibles have recently been collected in the convent, and burned by the Catholic priests. As the leaves were crackling in the flames, they shouted, 'This is the voice. of the devil.' Notwithstanding, there is an increased desire for the Scriptures among all classes. Even the Catholics would have the Bible, but for the prohibition of the priests. Nazareth has a population of about 4350, as follows:-Moslems, 2300; Greeks, 1000; Latins, 500; Maronites, 200; Greek Catholics, 250; Protestants, 100.

"We set out on our journey the next day, crossing the summit of Mount Tabor, and in the evening arrived at Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee.

"This was, to me, one of the most interesting localities in the Holy Land. Around these shores the Saviour loved to dwell, and here most of His mighty works were done. Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, were fishermen of this sea, and were called thence by our Saviour to follow Him. On this lake He came walking to them on the water; and here, when the winds and waves arose, He stilled the tempest with His word, saying, 'Peace, be still;' and suddenly there was a great calm. On a mountain near by He miraculously fed the multitude of 4000 men with 'seven loaves and a few little fishes;' and upon another delivered His sermon on the mount to His disciples. Here stood Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida, whose terrible overthrow

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