MOUNTAINS OF MOAB. 97 mountains of Moab, and there form the high dam which shuts it in. The Mount of Olives being still your point of observation, looking east you have the valley of the Jordan; south-east, you catch a glimpse of the Dead Sea, and beyond it is a range of mountains rising peak above peak. These are the mountains of Abarim and of Moab. The highest of these peaks is pointed out as that to which "Moses went up from the plains of Moab, unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho." (Deut. xxxiv. 1.) The mountain region extends to the south of Jerusalem, and forms a portion of the "hill country of Judea." In this direction are Bethlehem about six miles distant, Hebron twenty, and Beersheba twenty more from the Holy City. To the west the same succession of hills and valleys stretches away towards the sea, until it ends upon a wide tract of level country. This beautiful and fertile plain extends along the Mediterranean, from the foot of Carmel on the north to Gaza on the south. It is broken occasionally by high grounds, and watered by several brooks, the chief of which is Sorek, in the valley where Samson found the false Delilah. From Gaza as far north as Joppa, lies "the pleasant land of the Philistines;" and here were their five cities, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Ekron, and Gath. From Joppa to the foot of Carmel, is the G 98 FERTILITY OF THE LAND. plain of Sharon, so famed for its beauty, that in the Song of Songs the royal poet compares his bride to the rose of Sharon; and so remarkable for its fertility, that when the prophet Isaiah sought a contrast to the wilderness and the desert, he chose "the glory of Lebanon, and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon." (Isaiah xxxv. 2.) We have thus taken a rapid view of the principal physical characteristics of the Land of Promise. We have seen how well it'accords with the description of Moses, that it is "aland of hills and valleys." It is not like Switzerland, a land of mountains, large portions of which are inaccessible and unfit for cultivation. There is perhaps no part of the globe of the same superficial extent, capable of yielding so large a return of so great a variety of products to the hand of cultivation. It must not escape our observation, however, that the actual surface of the Holy Land is far greater than the mere geographical estimate in square miles; for the constant succession of arable hills gives to the husbandman's care the two sides of the triangle instead of the base. Wherever this care has been exercised in even a moderate degree, the valleys repay it with an exuberant fertility. The hills too, with few exceptions, might now be cultivated to their very sunimits, were they laid out in terraces, as was probably the case in ancient times. For this arrangement they seem to be admirably FAVOURABLE CLIMATE. 99 9 adapted by their original structure. The rocky skeleton lies rib upon rib in horizontal strata, presenting at a distance the appearance of wavy lines of a dingy colour, running round from top to bottom, and alternating with strips of green. Now they are naked, and furnish only a thin pasturage for sheep and goats; but were the artificial walls and embankments restored, the soil, which has been washed away during ages of neglect, would soon accumulate, and give rich support to the vine, and the fig-tree, and the olive. Then once again "the little hills would rejoice on every side, and the valleys would stand so thick with corn that they would laugh and sing." The climate also of Palestine favours in a remarkable degree this great variety of vegetable productions. If its latitude is so far south as to bring it near to the influences of a tropical sun, its mountainous formation moderates this excessive heat, and a few leagues or even miles often cause a sensible change in the temperature of the air. Hence, within the compass of a small district you find in equal luxuriance the palm-tree, the orange, the fig, and the almond, with many productions that elsewhere grow only in more northern regions. The account, therefore, which Moses gave to the Israelites of the fertility of the Land of Promise, was not less accurate than his description of its general aspect: "For the Lord thy God bringeth 100 CAPACITY OF THE LAND. thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil-olive and honey." Such being its capabilities, were it now inhabited by a virtuous and industrious people, under a wise and paternal government, the inspired promise in relation to its inhabitants might still be fulfilled: "A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness: thou shalt not lack anything in it." The Past, the Present, and the Future OUR cold and accurate northern language can add nothing to the glowing Oriental images by which the Holy Scriptures delight to portray the beauty, fertility, and prosperity of ancient Palestine. That "pleasant land of the Philistines," if we may use this expression in its largest comprehension, is called by the prophet Ezekiel "the glory of all lands," and one which God himself had "espied" or chosen out of all countries for his own people. It has long been a household expression in Christendom, that it was a land "flowing with milk and honey." This is made yet more striking by a comparison with Egypt, which nevertheless was ANCIENT FRUITFULNESS. 101 famous for its fertility. And the children of Israel had been planted in the best of that good land, for Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "The land of Egypt is before thee: in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell." Yet God had said, "I will bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large." And before they had received the inheritance promised to Abraham, they were told that it nourished a mighty people: "Hear, O Israel: thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven: a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!" When, by the commandment of God, Moses sent a man from each of the tribes to " spy out the land," they were so astonished at its fruitfulness, that knowing their report would not be credited, they brought of the fruit of the land; for "they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff;" and their report was, "We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey;" and then pointing to the silent but eloquent witness of a single cluster of grapes which was a burden for two men, they exclaimed triumphantly, "This is |