Bethel-Golgotha.

BETHEL-GOLGOTHA .

TIIE next step in architectural progression—man having propitiated the divine wrath by sacrifice—would appear to liave been the erection of some tent or house , within which the remains of sacred offerings mig ht be stored away or lodged in the custody of the first fathers of religion . But this protection must have been altogether temporary ; for , as

the inhabitants of the earth increased and these necessities became multiplied , they were obliged to go from place to place ; and this nomadic existence soon orig inated a practice which had obtained universality at a very early period in the history of the human race , viz . —that of transporting from lace to place the gods of the tribe or the nationso that

p , worship might be performed at any suitable spot , or on any suitable occasion that might offer . It may not here be out of place to remark that , first and most universal in the early annals of religious worship , was that spirit of reproduction which was observable alike to the first hunter , and shepherd , and tiller of the soil . Hindoos , Egyptians , Greeks and

Romans , in turn , had their deities personating tlie various functions of nature , of which this power of reproduction was considered first in importance . The command , " to go forth and multiply" given to man , as recorded in holy writ , would seem to indicate that this power was regarded as the most essential by the great leader and lawgiver of Israel , to whom the authorship of the book of Genesis is doubtless justly attributed .

But the emotion next m ajstbetical import , if nofc coincident with the first observations of men , was that cold horror , that mysterious dread of destruction and its consequence , which the sight of death is calculated to excite in untutored natures . The first homicide and tlie first sacrifice on record were contemporaneous . When the first murderer beheld tho SIOAV outpouring of life in mortal agonythe gradual

, deepening and shortening of the draught AA'hich sustains it , the SIOAV closing- and glazing of the eye , the clammy coldness that crept over the body , " ho went forth from the presence of tlie Lord , " but tlie consuming fire of remorse went with him , " an impenetrable darkness every day . " The altar Avas , upon this occasion , by the express command of heaven , both

tomb and sanctuary ; for the criminal received assurance , not by a mark set upon him , which is a false translation , but by a sign or token—which was to be understood as a proof that lie should not perish by the hand of another . It is not therefore difficult to trace IIOAV an air of sanctity came to be shed about the ancient pillar of testimony ; IIOAV it came to be the depository of sacred records ; how it became

amongst some people the seat of judgment . Contracts we have seen were ratified by the imposition of hands upon an altar , even as late as the Crusades . Altars were subsequently erected in houses , in gardens , and on the banks of rivers . They were carried in front of hostile hosts , and thc gods were alleged to fight on behalf of their favourite peoples , but they also became the tombs of

mortuary chapels , upon which . sacrifices were also offered up . It is worthy of remark , that the temple which David desired to erect for the tabernacle , lint against which the prophet Nathan advised because of his haying shed much blood , was tho very spot where the destroying angel stood in the pestilence inflicted upon the

hosts of Israel on account of David ' s ambition . A yet more remarkable tradition , as illustrating the tendency in the human mind to consecrate the abodes of thc dead , is that the Golgotha of redemption , otherwise Calvary , was said to have been so called from thc circumstance that the first of thc human race was buried beneath it , and it was only meet that upon the grave of him who had broug ht sin into the world mankind should be redeemed .

The great , however , in course of time were not content with the estates whicli a few feet of earth Avould limit . The ancient sarcophagi were inscribed with the omnipotence of dead kings and the sanctity of defunct priests— -were

deposited in the pyramid , in whose chambers were celebrated the infatuating mysteries of a gross and declining philosophy . Some tribes cast mountains of earth upon their deceased chieftains , and thereupon raised pillars . In the valley of Jehosaphat are the tombs of some of the great ones of Judea , and near to it the Aceldama , the field purchased with

tinprice , since restored , which Judas received for betraying tho Redeemer . There the Jews bury their dead when the night has fallen upon the earth ; and Rabbis from lands of exile , still faithful to tho hope of their nation , come to lay their bones , and take oue last look of the fragments ofthe temple of Mount Zion whicli lie scattered about the standing portion

of the ruin , looking down from the sacred hill upon monuments of priest and prophet , lawgiver and king . But here in Aceldama sleeps the stranger . Some felloiv wayfarer from Mecca or the west may have woven or brought a chaplet , which he lays upon the stone at the head of the sleeper , and thus purchases one moment's respite from eternal

oblivion . Beyond are " the tombs of kings . " Here is the sepulchre of Helena of Adiabene , who became , according to Josephus , convert to Judaism , and claimed , by her piety , to be laid at death at the foot of Zion . This royal cemetery reminds one of the tombs of Thebes ; its portal is delicately sculpturedand it is hewn out of solid limestone . Four large

, apartments are shown , a vestibule to which is formed by a spacious and splendid portico ; of these four three have in their sides recesses to receive the dead . Fragments of the great sarcophagi , their tenants passed through nature ' s bankruptcy , are scattered on every side , and green among the ruinblushing in the very caverns of the deaddepend clusters

, , of grapes peeping through luxuriant foliage , festoons of bright convolvulus of every tint and shade . A group of turtle doves , in which Palestine abounds , pour forth their soft but here peculiarly melancholy cooing morning and

evening . The outer court of the ancient temple is barely traceable . This was not the temple of Moriah which Solomon built , but that of Zerubbabel , the son of Salathiel , who led the first colony of the Jeivs from their captivity in Babylon . There was , indeed , here no ark of the covenant , no TJrim and Thummimbetween which was set the unalterable

tetragram-, maton , no teraphim , no holy fire , no cloud nor pillar of flame . It was rebuilt by Herod , only twunty years before thc Christian era . The monarch proceeded by surrounding Mount Moriah with four Avails , and directed each to a point of the compass . These walls were each a stadium in length , the enclosure embracing about a half a Roman mile . Around

were buildings raised in terraces , each court thus elevated above the other , the sanctuary or temple in its now narrower sense being highest of all , so that it could be seen in almost every part ofthe city . "Its front , " says Josephus , " was covered all over with metal plates of great weight , which , under the rays of the sun , reflected back a glowing splendour

dazzling to the eyes . To persons at a distance the temp le appeared like a mountain covered with SHOAV , for the parts which were not gilded were exceedingly white from the marble . " Somewhat like this was the appearance which , the camp of Israel presented from the top of Mount Peor , when Balaam exclaimed ( Numb . xxiv . 2 , et seq . ) : —

" How beautiful are thy tents , O Jacob , And thy tabernacles , 0 Israel ! xAs the valleys are they spread forth , As gardens by the river ' s side , As ling aloes Avhich Jehovah had planted , As ceclars beside the waters . " Rows of marble illars supported chambers roofed with cedar

p ( Acts hi ., 2-10 ) , inside the court ofthe Gentiles , near which were on sale , oxen , sheep , doves , meal , and salt , and the tables of the moneychangers . Fourteen steps upward were inscriptions forbidding a Gentile , on pain of death , to proceed further , and within this was the women ' s court . Through the Beautiful gate you pass into the court of priests and Israelites , , where