how Elijah the Tishbite had fled hither from the face of Ahab and Jezebel ;* how Samuel's sons had judged the people here; and how, in latter times, it had become a seat of idolatrous worship under Uzziah; in consequence of which Amos had given the warning," Pass not to Beersheba,”‡ and had denounced calamity on those who say, "The worship of Beersheba liveth."§ At the return from the captivity this was one of the first cities which the exiles repeopled. Notwithstanding the length of the journey, which they performed on foot, Elisama seemed to feel no fatigue; and every hill or valley, every town or village, which they passed, gave him fresh occasion to produce his inexhaustible store of historical recollections. Their road lay by Debir, called also sometimes Kiriath Sanna, sometimes Kiriath Sepher; and it reminded him of the heroic prize, the hand of his own daughter Achsah, which Caleb had proposed to the man who should conquer it.|| At length Hebron rose before them, and each approached it with characteristic feelings. Helon viewed it only as having been for seven years the city of David's residence ;** and could have imagined, that the tones of the sweet singer's harp still lingered about its walls. Elisama longed to see the friend of his youth, and to repose under his hospitable roof. There was an unusual commotion beneath the towering palms at the gate and in all the streets. It was evident that they were preparing to depart for Jerusalem on the morrow. They were received with the cordial welcome of early but long separated friends. Elisama had scarcely laid himself down, to have his feet washed, when the discourse between him and his host flowed as freely as if the old man had only walked a sabbath-day's journey. Helon observed, that here the ancient custom was preserved of crouching upon the carpet at meals; while in Alexandria they reclined on Grecian cushions. He fell asleep, and night prolonged the dreams of day. * 1 Kings xix. 3. +1 Sam. viii. 2. + Amos v. 5. Ar the first crowing of the cock, all was in motion; their host was making the last arrangements for his departure, the neighbors entered to announce that the march was about to begin. Refreshments were offered to the travellers, and especially to Elisama; but he declared with earnestness that even amidst the idolaters of Egypt, he had scarcely ever allowed himself to taste food early in a morning, and much less would he do so in Israel, and in the city of David, and on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The commotion in the street became greater and greater, and it was scarcely dawn, when they set forth. All the doors of the houses were open, all the roofs were covered with persons watching their departure. Helon, as he passed through the streets of Hebron in the ruddy light of the dawn, and by the palm trees at the gate, was reminded that Hebron was one of the oldest cities in the world, even older than Zoan in Egypt;* that it had been conquered by Joshua, and given as a portion to Caleb, the bravest and most faithful of the explorers of the land; that it had afterwards become a city of the priests, and had been for seven years the residence of David; that it had been taken by the Idumeans, and reconquered by the Maccabees, and once more incorporated with Judah. But when he had passed the gate, and gained a view of the lovely valley full of vineyards and corn-fields, and looked around on the region where patriarchs had tended their flocks and pitched their tents, and lived in friendly communion with Jehovah, all the high and enthusiastic feelings of the preceding day were renewed in his mind. From all the cross-roads, men, women, * Num. xiii. 22. + Josh. xiv. 14. 1 Mac. v. 65. and children were streaming towards the highway to Jerusalem. They had scarcely proceeded a sabbath-day's journey, when they saw the grove of terebinths; cymbals, flutes, and psalms resounded from the midst of it, and hundreds were standing under the turpentine-tree of Abraham, a tree of immense size and wide spreading branches. Helon entered the grove of Mamre with feelings of religious veneration. Here Abraham had dwelt, here the angels had appeared to him; beneath these trees Isaac had been promised, and the rite of circumcision instituted; here Ishmael had been born, and driven from his father's tent; and not far off was the cave of Macpelah, where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were buried.* And on this spot, consecrated by so many recollections, the children of these patriarchs were now preparing to depart, on their festal pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The occasion and the place seemed to banish from all hearts every other feeling but piety and good will; mutual greetings were exchanged; friends and relations sought each other out, and associated themselves for the journey, and all faces beamed with joy. "It is time to set out," said some of the elders to the judge of Hebron: "already has the priest asked the watchman on the temple, Does it begin to be light towards Hebron ?" The priests and elders led the procession; the people followed, and the slaves with the camels were placed in the midst of them, the Levites had distributed themselves with their instruments among the multitude, and as they set forward they sung this psalm: How am I glad when they say unto me, I will go up to the house of Jehovah! My foot bath stood already in thy gates, O Jerusalein' Chief city, where all unite together! Thither do the tribes go up, The tribes of Jehovah to the festival of remembrance, To praise the name of Jehovah. * Gen. xiii. 18; xviii. 1; xxiii. 17. There are the thrones of judgment, Prosperity in thy palaces! For my brethren and companions' sake, I wish thee peace! For the sake of the temple of our God, I bless thee with good.-Ps. cxxii. It is impossible to conceive of the soul-felt exultation with which this psalm was sung, and of its effect on old and young. Now the voices rose, like the notes of the mounting lark, on the summit of the hills, now sunk again in the depths of the valleys. How differently did it operate now upon the heart of Helon, and when he sung it before to his solitary harp on his roof in Alexandria! How did he bless the memory of Samuel, who had given his schools of the prophets the harp and the flute ;* and of David, who, bred up among them, did not forget them even when seated on his throne, but appointed Levites for the cultivation of music; and himself often laid down his sceptre, to assume the harp. It was on such a pilgrimage, with such accompaniments, that the sublimity and force of the psalms, and the superiority of Jewish poetry, inade itself fully felt. Helon was astonished at the effect they had upon himself and all around him. The youths and maidens bounded for joy, and tears of pleasure stood in the eyes of the aged. Those who were going up for the first time to the festival looked and listened to those who had already been there, as if to hear from them an explanation of the full meaning of what they sung. The old heard in these festive acclamations the echo of their own youthful joys, and while their hearts swelled with the remembrance of the feelings of their earliest pilgrimage, they beat yet higher with gratitude to Jehovah, who had permitted them, in their gray hairs, to behold such glorious * 1 Sam. x. 5. ; xix. 20. +2 Chron. vii. 6. days for Israel, the Syrian tyranny overthrown, and Hyrcanus seated on the throne. Sublime are the acclamations of a people freed from a foreign yoke! But here was more. It was the fraternal union of a whole people, in the holiest bond of a common faith, going up to appear before the altar of Jehovah, and to commemorate the wonders of love and mercy which he had manifested towards their forefathers. They seemed a band of brothers. "In Alexandria," said Helon, "Jew is against Jew, and family against family — but here is one holy people, loving each other as the children of one Israel, joint heirs of one great and blessed name." Every one had bidden adieu to to the occupations and the anxieties of ordinary life. They had come to give thanks and to pray, and no sounds but those of thankfulness and prayer were heard among them. The hostilities and alienations produced by self-love and the collision of interests appeared to have been left at home, and the general joy dispersed every melancholy feeling which an individual might have been disposed to indulge. On these pilgrimages they seemed as free from care as the people of old, when, rescued from Egyptian bondage, they were fed by manna from heaven, on their way to the land that flowed with milk and honey. Jehovah had promised to protect the whole country, so that no enemy should invade its borders, while the people went up thrice, in every year, to appear before him* — how much more confidently might each father of a family intrust his own household to his protection! Nothing was more remarkable than that the aged and the weakly were able to bear this journey of thirtysix sabbath-days' journeys, over hill and dale, without complaining of fatigue. It seemed as if the strong had given to the weaker a portion of their own vigor; or rather, as if Jehovah himself had strengthened the feeble knees for this journey. They expressed these sentiments, by singing, immediately after the former, the following psalm: Exod. xxxiv. 23. |