IN JERUSALEM.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 3217, 20 November 1900, Page 7

IN JERUSALEM.

The view of Jerusalem as one approaohes it from the west is rather disappointing. On that side are the Russian Church aud hospice, the Consulate, and the huge new Lutheran ohurch in which the German Emperor has taken such an interest. There are some hideous hotels, and there is a long, dusty straggling Btreet, lined with half-European-ized shops leading from tbe station to the Tower of David, and the Yafa Gate by -which we enter the city. It is a strangely mingled crowd that passes to and fro under that gate— Jews in furred gaberdines and caps, some in what look like dressing-gowns, old felt hats and looks of hair dangling over their ears ; Bedouin shepherds from the deserts with their blask and white mantles, and the gay silk 'kafiheh* bound round their heads by a cord ; wild- looking Russian pilgrims ; Turkish officers, with their arrogant soldierly bearing and brilliant uniforms of red and gold ; and Greek and Armenian priests, black- robed, but easily distinguishable by their headgear. We are constantly reminded of the clash of creeds in Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulohre, parcelled on*; among the various divisions of Christendom, is in the heart of the Christian quarter, and the Armenian quarter lies south oi' ifc. Eastward is the Mahommedan part of the city, including the Haram enclosure, where once stood Solomon's Temple, the Bite of whioh is now occupied by the exquisitely beautiful shrine called the Mosque of Omar, or the Dome of the Rock. Entering the building, you perceive a huge flac rook jutting up through the floor and surrounded \>j a gilded railing. This is the Rock of Moriab, on which, according to ancient tradition, Abraham sacrificed his son, and on which stood the altar of sacrifice in the Jewish Temple. The Arabs believe that Mohammed ascended to heaven from this rock, which, they cay, waß flying up after him when Gabriel held it down with his hand— the impress of which iB shown to this day ! They believe that the rook is suspended in the air without support and that beneath it is the entrance to the world of spirits. At the corner of the Haram enclosure, where it joins the Jewish quarter, is still to be seen a fragment of the ancient Temple Wall. Here assemble, especially on Friday, hundreds of Jews of every rank and age, gathered from every land under the sun, to bewail the desolation of Zion. The sight is profoundly touching and impressive.