"O," said he, "had Elisama but lived to see this day! He had always hoped that thou wouldest be one of us. Did I not too always predict, that if thou shouldest see Israel in all its glory in the Land of Promise, thou wouldest desire to become a partaker in their hopes ?” "The God who made heaven and earth hath done this," said Myron; "he has severely punished my folly, and in the midst of my chastisement made me to know your law and your hopes. I now understand why in every land I have found prophecies which pointed to Judea for their accomplishment."

"Praised be Jehovah,” exclaimed Iddo, “who increaseth his people Israel, and hath spoken by his prophet the word of which this day we behold the accomplishment, ‘Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of Jehovah riseth upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness thy people: but Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee, and the Gentiles shall come to thy light.'"*

Iddo and the priest with whom Myron had lodged endeavored to prevail on him, by submitting to circumcision, to become one of the family of Abraham and an heir of its promises, after which, on the offering of three turtle-doves, he would become a proselyte of righteousness, and be permitted to bring his sacrifice, like a native Jew, into the court of the priests. Myron was more inclined to become only a proselyte of the gate; and Helon took his part, and asked what more was necessary, since he could thus enjoy the benefits of the law, could partake in all the civil privileges of Israel, and dwell in their gates ?

On the following morning they conducted Myron before the tribunal which sat in the gate of Nicanor. In the presence of three witnesses, Helon, Selumiel, and the priest his host, he solemnly abjured idolatry, professed his belief in all the truths which are revealed in the law, and promised obedience to the seven Noachic precepts, as they were called; namely, to abstain from idolatry, to worship only the true

* Isaiah, lx. 1.

God, to avoid incest, not to commit theft, or robbery, or murder, to maintain judgment and justice, and to abstain from blood and all that contained blood, consequently from things strangled. He then presented his offering, but he was not allowed to come any further than to the enclosure between the court of the Gentiles and the court of Israel. From this time he bore the name of a devout man, one that feared God, a stranger or proselyte of the gate.

As Helon and Myron spent the last day but one of the feast in Iddo's tabernacle on the mount of Olives, Helon read to him the description which Nehemiah gives of the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the captivity.*

"Bless Jehovah," said Helon, "that thou hast returned at last to the true source; and pray to him that all the heathen may come to draw from it. The advent of the Messiah, who shall accomplish this, cannot be far distant. He shall be the light of the Gentiles and the consolation of Israel. The sceptre is already departed from Judahf and is in the hand of Levi; and the seventy weeks of Daniel are hastening to their close."

The friends embraced each other, and descending from the mount of Olives, Helon went up to the altar in the temple.

The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles was the most joyous of all. The drawing of the water, the Hosanna, the nightly illumination and dance had been repeated every day ; the seventh day was called the great Hosanna and the day of Willows. The altar of burnt-offering was decked with branches of willow, all bent inwards, as an emblem that earthly glory must bow before the majesty of God. Instead of once, the people went seven times around the altar with their branches and their citrons. The last meal was taken

*Neh. viii. 13.

Gen. xlix. 10.

It was on the eighth and great day of this feast, that Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink,-John vii. 37.

in the tabernacles, whose green decorations had already begun to fade; but to the freshness which had charmed the eye when the feast began, succeeded the mind's remembrance of seven happy days which had been passed in them. The father of the family pronounced the blessing over the last cup of wine which they were to drink here, and when it was emptied, gave his benediction to the company, who left the tabernacle with that melancholy with which we quit & spot where we have enjoyed inuch happiness. The women and children, and even Myron and Helon, carried away a citron, a pomegranate, a branch, or a leaf, as a memorial of the festival. In the evening the illumination and the dance as before described were repeated. This part of the festivities, as well as the drawing of the water, ceased on the eighth day, which was added as a special sabbath to the full week of the feast. On this day no circuit was made around the altar, and the offering consisted only of one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, as a burnt-offering, with their usual meat and drink offerings, and a goat for a sin-offering. Besides Azareth, Day of Convocation, it was called the Day of Rejoicing in the Law, because every year on this day the reading of the law and the prophets ended, and began afresh on the following sabbath. Thus what every one had begun in his own synagogue at home, he completed here in the midst of the assembled people. This took place on the twentysecond day of the month, in which, up to this point, there had been only four common days.

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE CONCLUSION.

THE tabernacles were broken up, and only the scattered leaves, flowers, and fillets testified that they had been. The pilgrims were preparing for their departure, and exchanging their farewell salutations. Many took leave of Jerusalem never to behold it again. The autumn wind blew chill, and where a solitary tabernacle still remained as a monument of the festival, its green was changed to an autumnal yellow. The circle of the Jewish feasts was closed, the half year of harvest was at an end, and the dark and rainy season o winter was fast approaching, when no pilgrim's song was heard on the roads to Jerusalem; a winter which to many would prove the winter of death.

The companies of travellers arranged themselves for their departure. Selumiel and his family, with Myron and Iddo, took the road by Bethany to Jericho. As they passed through the hollow between the southernmost and the middle summit of the mount of Olives, Helon thought of the tears which he had shed on that spot at Pentecost, when he exclaimed, "The path of obedience is difficult." Now returning a happy husband, with the peace of God in his heart, he was inclined to say, "Easy is the path of obedience to him who walks in it with faith." They halted at noon at the Oasis, beneath the palms, and arrived late in the evening at Jericho. On the following day the Galileans crossed the Jordan on their return home.

Helon, Sulamith, and Myron began to make preparations for their departure to Alexandria, from which they were to fetch the mother of Helon. When they were about to begin their journey symptoms of the plague showed themselves at Jericho. This is the most terrific of all diseases, as rapid in its operation as the leprosy is slow, and producing an equally

miserable death. Those who are seized with it are suddenly attacked by pains in the head and loins; the speech becomes inarticulate, and not unfrequently is lost altogether, as well as the sense of hearing. The eyes become dull and heavy; lethargy succeeds, the strength is prostrated, fever, delirium, ́and melancholy seize the sufferer, and he commonly dies on the third day, unless a plague-boil preserves him for a miserable existence. If the disease spreads, all intercourse is at an end. The streets, the fountains, and the houses are heaped with dead; infected persons are abandoned by their nearest relatives; and despair and licentiousness walk hand in hand. The people call the plague the arrows of God.

As the plague commonly rages most destructively on its first breaking out, Selumiel considered this circumstance as a divine warning to withdraw from Jericho with his whole family, and go into Egypt. Preparations were speedily made, friends and household were commended to Jehovah, and the city of palms abandoned as if a curse were upon it. They hastened by Bethel, Gibeon, and Lydda, to Joppa, where Helon's host was requested to procure for them, as speedily as possible, an opportunity of sailing to Alexandria in a Phoenician ship.

Helon looked from the heights of Joppa to the hills of Judah, and blessed the beloved land which had been to him not only a land of promise but a land of fulfilment. The image of his pious mother, all whose expectations he was about to accomplish and surpass, her joy at seeing him again, and the prospect of returning to the land of her fathers and visiting the grave of her husband, her blessing bestowed on him and Sulamith—all these things occupied his mind with delightful anticipations.

His host seemed uneasy. Helon supposed he might apprehend that they had brought infection with them, and might communicate it, and he hastened to set him at ease on this point. His host shook his head in answer to Helon's assurances, and looked sorrowfully at him. At length he