Travel
Diary of Mrs. R.P. Eaton:
Europe,
Egypt, and Palestine, ca. 1857
Hilly, rocky, and rough, all the way to Jerusalem.--
---We were now, on each successive mountaintop
hoping to catch a glimpse of the City of the Great King - the
city we had long desired to see. Crowning an eminence on
our left, we saw a white wely or tomb. It was Maizpheth,
and the tomb of Samuel. Near this is Ehenzen, where the
prophet placed the memorial stone, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”!
Anxious to get sight of the sacred city, I hastened on in advance, and
overtook another party of Americans and English just as we got a glimpse
of a hill whose slope was dotted with olive trees and whose summit
was crowned with a cluster of buildings, one of which looked like a
church with a spire. “The Mount of Olives!” we exclaimed, and
such it was. A moment after, as we advanced, we saw domes
and minarets intervening, and then the massive walls and gates
of a city not more than half a mile distant. O, sacred hour!
Moment never to be forgotten! A blessed memorial day! when
at half-past three o’clock in the afternoon, my eyes were actually
resting upon Jerusalem and Olives! What wonderful assertions
do these names and places awaken! And what powerful and tearful
emotions thrilled my heart as now they were really before me!
Such a moment, such soul thoughts and feelings, cannot be des-
cribed. I dismounted, sat down by an old wall, and with
these sacred objects before me, read from my pocket Bible por-
tion of the Psalms and of the New Testament, referring so hauti-
fully, tenderly, and gloriously to this city of Mount Zion and
of God. Our party came up and presently entering the Jaff-
a Bethlehem gate, we began to realize the fulfill-
ment of the beautiful passage we had so often repeated: “Our
feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!”
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