by walls 40 feet high, of vast thickness, built of immense blocks of white marble. Internally the enclosure was surrounded by cloisters or porticos, intended not only for ornament, but also to give large spaces of shade from the heat and glare of the eastern sun. On three sides, viz. the west, norht, and east, these cloisters were formed of double rows of marble Corinthian columns 37 feet 6 inches high. The cloister on the south side was called the Royal Portico, because at its western end a bridge thrown across the Tyropean connected it with the ancient palace on the western hill. This royal entrance was enlarged into a vast hall consisting of a body and aisles 600 feet long and 100 feet wide, formed of four rows of polished white marble columns, forty in each row, each formed of a single stone 40 feet high, with gilded Corinthian capitals; the aisles were 40 feet high, and the centre 100 feet, ceiled with carved and gilded beams of cedar, the floor paved with coloured marbles. It may give a measure of this magnificent portico to say that it was 100 feet longer than York Minster, and rather wider than its nave and aisles. These cloisters as a

There are remains

whole were a magnificent work. of similar colonnades of the same style which may help us to realise the architectural effect. The double columns of the porticos of the Parthenon at Athens are but 34 feet in height, and may help us to

realise the grand height of the Temple cloisters; the broken lines of columns which still remain at Palmyra may help us to picture the effect of the long double colonnades of the vast quadrangle of the Temple.

Within this area was formed an inner court, situated centrally between the north and south sides, but a third nearer to the west than the east. This situation of the inner court was dictated by the natural formation of the hill, which here rose to its highest point, and this natural rise offered the opportunity to give to the inner court an increased dignity by constructing it on a platform elevated 22 feet 6 inches above the area round about it. The external appearance of the inner court was that of a strong building, about 500 feet square, enclosed by a high wall of white marble ornamented with sculptures on its external face. Three lofty gates of highly ornamental design gave entrance to it on the north and three on the south; the one eastern gate-the Beautiful Gatewas one of the most magnificent portions of the whole building, faced with Corinthian brass, the leaves of its great doors covered with thick plates of gold and silver. Broad stairs of white marble gave access from the outer court through these gates to the inner court. The level platform of the inner court was paved with marble, and surrounded with a cloister of single marble columns.

Towards the western side of the inner court the

apex of the hill afforded another platform elevated 9 feet above its marble pavement, for the basis of the central and most sacred portion of the Temple, viz., the roofed building which contained the Holy and Most Holy Places. The apartments themselves were of comparatively small dimensions, the outer holy place 60 feet by 30 feet, and the inner and most sacred place a cube of 30 feet by 30 feet, and 30 feet high; and both these chambers were lined with plates of gold. But according to the measurements given by Josephus, the external dimensions of this building had been increased by the addition of chambers at the sides, and a lofty façade 150 feet in width and height, ornamented with thick plates of gold. An arch 60 feet high occupied the centre, and formed the entrance, closed by its thick veil of blue and purple and fine linen and scarlet," and ascended by a flight of twelve broad marble steps.

In the middle of the inner court, in front of the entrance to the holy place, stood the altar of Burnt Sacrifice, a great structure of unhewn stones, 75 feet square, and 22 feet 6 inches high, whence the charcoal fire kept always burning sent up its thin blue wreath of smoke into the sky. A low marble wall 4 feet 6 inches high fenced in the portion of the court around the altar and the Temple to keep it clear for the ministering priests and Levites. The remainder of the inner court was the court of the Israelites; the women's court was

at the east end. A low wall surrounded the inner court a little way from the bottom of the stairs, and marked out the limits beyond which none but a son of Abraham might approach, but the remainder of the great outer court was open to Gentiles also.

The outer haram area has now,-and possibly the outer court of the Temple formerly had,—a profusion of trees, olive, acacia, and cypress, assuming the density of a grove under the eastern wall; and beneath their shade the people of modern Jerusalem delight

to rest. The contrast of the varied foliage with the stately white colonnades around the court, and the magnificent architectural group which rose in the midst, and the blue sky above, would add to the general beauty of the scene. If one of our cathedral closes with its ancient elms were surrounded by a vast cloister it might give us some idea of the combination. This grand group of buildings was seen to the greatest advantage when looked down upon from the opposite heights of Mount Olivet. Thence the site appeared no longer as a projecting neck of table-land, but as "Mount Moriah" rising with precipitous sides out of the depths of Kedron. The eye could

see over the outer wall into the court and catch glimpses of its cloister, could see the inner court on its raised platform, and the Temple itself rising out of the midst of the group and crowning the white marble substructures with its golden roofs and

gates. Josephus1 says "it appeared to strangers, when they were at a distance, like a mountain

covered with snow, for as to those parts of it that were not gilt they were exceeding white," while the plates of gold, which covered the whole vast front of the holy place and its roof," at the first rising of the sun reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it turn their eyes away, just as they would have done from the sun's own rays."

The Gospel history opens at the time of the evening sacrifice. The ritual of the evening worship consisted of three portions, the Burnt offering, the Vocal worship of the Levite choir, and the offering of the Incense in the Sanctuary. On the evening on which the history opens the Lamb had been slain, its blood. sprinkled upon the altar, and its members laid upon the fire upon the altar, while the priests sounded. the silver trumpets. The preparation for the offering of the incense had been made. The people had been as usual cleared away from between the porch and the brazen altar, and the Levites removed from between the altar and the holy place, so that all might see the subsequent ceremony. The Levite choir had formed into semi-choirs on

"Wars," book v., chap. 5.