HISTORIC SKETCHES. 







; 



2. T?iere iroman's roice /ow forth in song, 

 Or childish tale is told, 

 Or lips move tunefully along 

 Some glorious page of old. 



S. The blessed homes of England, 

 How softly on their bowers 

 Js laid the holy quietness, 

 Tliat breathes from Sabbath hours. 



4. The cottage homes of England, 

 By thousands in her plains, 

 Are smiling o'er the silvery brooks. 

 And round the hamlet fanes. 



5. Oh ! green for ever be the groves, 

 And bright the flow'ry sod, 

 Where first the cliild'* glad spirit loves 

 His country and his God. 



Another admirable illustration of the peculiar effect of RAT The " rousing " effect of this note, in the second strain, cannot 

 will be observed by the careful student in the above exercise, fail .to be noticed. 



HISTORIC SKETCHES. XXXIL 



THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, 



" JERUSALEM, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and 

 stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have 

 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 

 chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold, your 

 house is left unto you desolate." 



So said the Redeemer of the world as he sat upon the Mount 

 of Olives, and looked down upon the city which was soon to bo 

 the scene of his mortal sufferings. The remarkable utterances 

 he had made touching the Temple that seemingly indestructible 

 fortress, church, and treasury, which his disciples in common 

 with other Jews regarded with something like superstitious 

 reverence had aroused the awful curiosity of his auditory, and 

 they inquired of him privately when it should come to pass that 

 "there shall not bo left hero one stone upon another that shall not 

 be thrown down." The Lord's answer is well known, but can. 

 not bo too often repeated. Hero it is purposely quoted in order 

 to contrast the words of his prophecy with what actually came 

 to pass. He warned his followers against the false Christs and 

 false prophets that should arise, and then went on to describe 



in exact terms what happened to the city of David at the hands 

 of Titus. He told how that Jerusalem should be encompasa^ 

 with armies ; that the abomination of desolation spoken of by 

 the prophet Daniel should stand in the holy place, " and where it 

 ought not," and that " there will bo great distress in the land, 

 and wrath upon the people ; and they shall fall by the edge of 

 the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations. There 

 shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning 

 of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be ; and Jerusalem 

 shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the 

 Gentiles bo fulfilled. This generation shall not pass away till 

 all these things be done." 



These words were spoken to the apostles with pain and 

 grief. On yet another occasion the most awful possible did 

 the Lord announce, with like feelings of sympathy and distress, 

 the "days of vengeance" which were coming upon the land. 

 As he was led forth from Jerusalem to execution upon Calvary, 

 a number of women followed, weeping. He turned to them, 

 and said, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me. but weep 



