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334 AEOTJND THE WORLD.
building of beautiful proportions, having fifty doors, six
hundred marble pillars, fifteen domes, four minarets, and
three hundred and eighty-five chains, sustaining five thousand
lamps. Not until 1856 were Jews and Christians
allowed to enter this mosque. Mohammedans believe that
angels keep nightly watch about the lofty dome, bringing
with them, to breathe, the air of Paradise.
THE jews' WAILING-PLACE.
Admitting, which seems reasonable, that the present
western wall, and a portion of the northern wall circling Jerusalem,
occupy the very line of the ancient first wall, it is perfectly
natural that Eastern Jews should meet at the base
of the wall upon the west side to weep and wail over
stones there placed before Herod's time. Though there are
some present each day, Friday is the great wailing-day.
Assembled, —
The rabbi begins, " On account of the Temple which
has been destroyed, and the glory which has departed" —
" We sit here and weep^
" Because our prophets and holy men have been slain,
because Jerusalem is a desolation, —
and because our Messiah
long promised has not come "
" We sit here lonely weeping and praying.''''
Both 'sexes were present. The aged women, bowing,
sighed and wept ;
young maidens bathed the hallowed walls
in their tears ; old men tottered up to the stones, prayers
trembling on their lips ;
while others wailed aloud as though
their hearts would break. Seeing them made my soul sad.
And oh ! how I wanted to tell them, Messiah has already
come. Your Messiah, like the kingdom of God, is within
you ; while the Christ-spirit has been coming during all the
cycling ages I This localitj'- along the outer wall may well
be termed " the Jews' wailing-place."