eparated from it by the valley
of the Kidron. It is composed of a chalky limestone, the rocks
everywhere showing themselves. The olive trees that formerly covered it
and gave it its name are now represented by a few trees and clumps of
trees. There are three prominent summits on the ridge; of these, the
southernmost, which is lower than the other two, is now known as 'the
Mount of Offence,' originally 'the Mount of Corruption,' because Solomon
defiled it with idolatrous worship. Over this ridge passes the road to
Bethany, the most frequented route to Jericho and the Jordan. The side
of the Mount of Olives toward the west contains many tombs cut in the
rock. The central summit rises two hundred feet above Jerusalem and
presents a fine view of the city, and, indeed, of the whole region,
including the mountains of Ephraim on the north, the valley of the
Jordan on the east, a part of the Dead Sea on the south-east, and beyond
it Kerak, in the mountains of Moab. Perhaps no spot on earth unites so
fine a view with so many memorials of the most solemn and important
events. Over this hill the Saviour often climbed in his journeys to and
from the Holy City. Gethsemane lay at its foot on the west, and Bethany
on its eastern slope.'"

During the reading of this description of the Mount of Olives, Miss
Harson showed the children pictures of the different spots mentioned,
and thus they were not likely soon to forget what had been told them.

"Who can repeat some words from the New Testament about this mountain?"
asked Miss Harson.

"'Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives,'" said Clara, who had learned
this verse in her Sunday lesson, "and it is the first verse of the
eighth chapter of St. John."

"And the verse just before it, at the end of the seventh chapter,"
replied her governess, "says that 'every man went unto his own house,'
but 'Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.' In another place it is said
that 'at night he went out and abode in the Mount of Olives,' and in
still another that he 'continued all night in prayer to God,' probably
on the same mountain."

"And can people really go and see the very same Mount of Olives now?"
asked Malcolm, eagerly.

"The very same," was the reply, "except, as I just read to you, many of
the olive trees that gave it its name are no longer there. The Garden of
Gethsemane, too, the most sacred spot near the mountain, is much
changed, and a traveler who saw it lately says:

"'At the foot of