nd his Band in Sight of Jerusalem.

The men laid down their sacks, and stood for a long time, looking
at Jerusalem. Many were moved to tears, as they looked on the
stately beauty of the Holy City, and thought how low it had fallen;
with civil tumult within, and a terrible enemy approaching from
without. Even now, there is no fairer scene in the world than the
view of Jerusalem from the spot where they were standing--called
then, as now, the Mount of Olives--and it must have been superb,
indeed, in the days when the Temple stood intact, and the palaces
of Agrippa and Herod rose on the brow of Mount Zion.

After a long pause they resumed their way, crossed the upper end of
the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and established themselves for the night
in a grove of trees near the Grotto of Jeremiah; four chosen men at
once entering the city, by the Old Gate on the north side of the
city. The country here--and indeed, all the hills around
Jerusalem--were covered with the houses of the wealthy, surrounded
by gardens and orchards. They belonged not only to the Jews of the
city; but to those who dwelt in foreign countries, and who were
accustomed each year to come to Jerusalem for the Passover, and to
spend some time there before they returned to their distant homes.
Even now, undismayed by the dangers of the times, and the knowledge
that the Romans would shortly besiege the city, pilgrims were
arriving from all the cities of Asia Minor, Greece, and Egypt, for
the time of the Passover was close at hand.

At the foot of the walls, and on the slopes around, large numbers
of pilgrims were encamped--the rich in gorgeous tents, the poor in
shelters constructed of boughs or carpets. This overflow of people
was an occurrence which was witnessed every year, on the same
occasion; but its proportions were this time of greater magnitude
than usual, partly owing to the difficulty of procuring lodgings in
the town, owing to the crowds of fugitives there, partly because
many thought it safer to camp outside, and to enter the city only
to pay their devotions, and take part in the ceremonial, than to
put themselves wholly into the power of the ruffians of Simon and
John.

In the following morning the men returned, and reported that they
had found a spot in the inner lower town, between the Corner Gate
and the Gate of Ephraim in the second wall, where was a large
house, inhabited now but by two or three persons. Here a great
number of them could ta