the quick sympathy of Jesus enabled Him to divine; and
His compassion gushed forth towards those who were to be the chief
sufferers. Women and children--how irreverently they have been thought
of, how callously and brutally treated, since history began! Yet they
are always the majority of the human race. Praise be to Him who lifted
them, and is still lifting them, out of the dust of degradation and
ill-usage, and who put in on their behalf the plea of justice and mercy!

Finally, there was in the words addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem
an exhortation to repentance. When Jesus said, "Weep for yourselves
and for your children," He was referring not merely to the approaching
calamities of the city, but to its guilt. This was indicated most
clearly in the closing words of His address to them--"For if they do
these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"

He could speak of Himself as a green tree. He was young and He was
innocent; to this the tears of the women testified; there was no reason
why He should die; yet God permitted all these things to happen to Him.
The Jewish nation ought also to have been a green tree. God had
planted and tended it; it had enjoyed every advantage; but, when He
came seeking fruit on it, He found none. It was withered; the sap of
virtue and godliness had gone out of it; it was dry and ready for the
burning; and, when the enemy came to apply the firebrand, why should
God interpose? Thus did Jesus attempt once more to awaken repentance.
He wished to thrust the impressions of the daughters of Jerusalem down
from the region of feeling into a deeper place. They had given Him
tears of emotion; He desired, besides these, tears of contrition; for
in religion nothing is accomplished till impression touches the
conscience.

Whether any of them responded in earnest we cannot tell. Not many, it
is to be feared. Nor can we tell whether by repentance the destruction
of the Jewish state might still have been averted. At all events, the
fire of invasion soon fell on the dry tree, and it was burnt up. And
since then those who would not weep for their sins before the stroke of
punishment fell have had to weep without ceasing. Visitors to
Jerusalem at the present day are conducted to a spot called the Place
of Wailing, where every Friday representatives of the race weep for the
destruction of their city and temple.[4] This has gone on for
centuries; and it is only a symbol