Eighteen and a half centuries ago, and the land which now lies desolate--its bare, grey

hills looking into ill-tilled or neglected valleys, its timber cut down, its olive- and vine-

clad terraces crumbled into dust, its villages stricken with poverty and squalor, its

thoroughfares insecure and deserted, its native population well-nigh gone, and with

them its industry, wealth, and strength--presented a scene of beauty, richness, and

busy life almost unsurpassed in the then known world. The Rabbis never weary of its

praises, whether their theme be the physical or the moral pre -eminence of Palestine. It

happened, so writes one of the oldest Hebrew commentaries, that Rabbi Jonathan was

sitting under a fig -tree, surrounded by his students. Of a sudden he noticed how the

ripe fruit overhead, bursting for richness, dropped its luscious juice on the ground,

while at a little distance the distended udder of a she-goat was no longer able to hold

the milk. "Behold," exclaimed the Rabbi, as the two streams mingled, "the literal

fulfillment of the promise: 'a land flowing with milk and honey.'" "The land of Israel is

not lacking in any product whatever," argued Rabbi Meir, "as it is written (Deu 8:9):

'Thou shalt not lack anything in it.'" Nor were such statements unwarranted; for

Palestine combined every variety of climate, from the snows of Hermon and the cool of

Lebanon to the genial warmth of the Lake of Galilee and the tropical heat of the Jordan

valley. Accordingly not only the fruit trees, the grain, and garden produce known in our

colder latitudes were found in the land, along with those of sunnier climes, but also the

rare spices and perfumes of the hottest zones. Similarly, it is said, every kind of fish

teemed in its waters, while birds of most gorgeous plumage filled the air with their song.

Within such small compass the country must have been unequalled for charm and

variety. On the eastern side of Jordan stretched wide plains, upland valleys, park-like

forests, and almost boundless corn and pasture lands; on the western side were terraced

hills, covered with olives and vines, delicious glens, in which swe et springs murmured,

and fairy -like beauty and busy life, as around the Lake of Galilee. In the distance

stretched the wide sea, dotted with spreading sails; here was luxurious richness, as in

the ancient possessions of Issachar, Manasseh, and Ephraim; and there, beyond these

plains and valleys, the highland scenery of Judah, shelving down through the pasture

tracts of the Negev, or South country, into the great and terrible wilderness. And over

all, so long as God's blessing lasted, were peace and plenty. Far as the eye could reach,

browsed "the cattle on a thousand hills"; the pastures were "clothed with flocks, the

valleys also covered over with corn"; and the land, "greatly enriched with the river of

God," seemed to "shout for joy," and "also to sing." Such a possession, heaven-given

at the first and heaven-guarded throughout, might well kindle the deepest enthusiasm.

"We find," writes one of the most learned Rabbinical commentators, supporting each

assertion by a reference to Scripture (R. Bechai), "that thirteen things are in the sole

ownership of the Holy One, blessed be His Name! and these are they: the silver, the

gold, the priesthood, Israel, the first-born, the altar, the first-fruits, the anointing oil, the

tabernacle of meeting, the kingship of the house of David, the sacrifices, the land of

Israel, and the eldership." In truth, fair as the land was, its conjunction with higher

spiritual blessings gave it its real and highest value. "Only in Palestine does the

Shechinah manifest itself," taught the Rabbis. Outside its sacred boundaries no such

revelation was possible. It was there that rapt prophets had seen their visions, and

psalmists caught strains of heavenly hymns. Palestine was the land that had Jerusalem

for its capital, and on its highest hill that temple of snowy marble and glittering gold for

a sanctuary, around which clustered such precious memories, hallowed thoughts, and

glorious, wide-reaching hopes. There is no religion so strictly local as that of Israel.

Heathenism was indeed the worship of national deities, and Judaism that of Jehovah,

the God of heaven and earth. But the national deities of the heathen might be