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of Bethlehem came with little articles which they had made. But he
would not buy them, because they were images of the Virgin Mary and
her holy child, and little white crosses of mother-of-pearl. They were
very pretty: but they were idols, and God hates idols.
JERUSALEM.
Here our Lord was crucified.
Is there any child who does not wish to hear about it?
The children of Jerusalem once loved the Lord, and sang his praises in
the temple. Their young voices pleased their Saviour, though not half
so sweet as angels' songs.
Which is the place where the temple stood?
It is Mount Moriah. There is a splendid building there now.
Is it the temple? O no, that was burned many hundreds of years ago. It
is the Mosque of Omar that you see; it is the most magnificent mosque
in all the world. How sad to think that Mahomedans should worship
now in the very spot where once the Son of God taught the people. No
Jew, no Christian may go into that mosque. The Turks stand near the
gate to keep off both Jews and Christians.
Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this

mosque. There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they
are part of their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their
Sabbath (which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the
stones. There they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in
the dust, and repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old
stones: because they think that all prayers whispered between the
cracks and crevices of these stones will be heard by God. Some
Jewesses come, wrapped from head to foot in long white veils, and they
gently moan and softly sigh over Jerusalem in ruins.
What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the
sight of it makes the Jews weep.
But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is
Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of
images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there--and Greeks too:
and they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce
quarrels.
That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre." It is
pretended that Christ's tomb or sepulchre is in it. Turks stand at the
door and make Christians pay money before they will let them in.
When they enter, what do they see?
In one corner a stone seat. "There," say the monks, "Jesus sat when He
was crowned with thorns." In another part there is a stone pillar.
"There," say the monks, "He was scourged." There is a high place in
the middle of the church with stairs leading up to it. When you stand
there the monks say, "This is the top of Calvary, where the cross
stood." But we know that the monks do not speak the truth, for the
Romans destroyed Jerusalem soon after Christ's crucifixion, and no one
knows the very place where He suffered.
On Good Friday the monks carry all round the church an image of the
Saviour as large as life, and they fasten it upon a cross, and take it
down again, and put it in the sepulchre, and they take it out again on

Easter Sunday. How foolish and how wrong are these customs! It was
not in this way the apostles showed their love to Christ, but by
preaching his word.
Mount Zion is the place where David brought the ark with songs and
music. There is a church where the Gospel is preached and prayers are
offered up in Hebrew, (the Jew's language.) The minister is called the
Bishop of Jerusalem. He is a Protestant. A few Jews come to the church
at Mount Zion, and some have believed in the Lord Jesus.
And there is a school there where little Jews and Jewesses and little
Mahomedans sit side by side while a Christian lady teaches them about
Jesus. In the evening, after school, she takes them out to play on the
green grass near the city. A little Jewess once much pleased this kind
teacher as she was sitting on a stone looking at the children playing.
Little Esther repeated the verse--
Glory, honor, praise and power Be unto the Lamb forever; Jesus Christ
is our Redeemer, Hallelujah, praise the Lord!
and then she said very earnestly, "O, ma'am, how sweet to think that
Jesus is our Redeemer. No man can redeem his brother: no money--no
money can do it--only the precious blood of Jesus Christ." Little Esther
seemed as if