the blossoms of the apricot and peach, shed their last fragrance around. The groves of terebinth, the olive-yards and vineyards stood before them in their lively green: the corn, swollen by the rain, was ripening fast for the harvest, and the fields of barley were already yellow. The wide meadows, covered with grass for the cattle, the alternation of hill and valley, the rocks hewn out in terraces, and filled with earth and planted, offered a constant variety of delightful views. You might see that this was a land, the dew of which Jehovah had blessed, in which the prayer of Isaac over Jacob had been fulfilled, when the patriarch said, " God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine."* Helon drank of the clear mountain stream, whose sparkling reflection seemed to him like a smile from a parent's eyes on a returning wanderer, and thought the sweet water of the Nile, so praised by the Egyptians, could bear no comparison with it. Elisama reminded him of the words of the psalm; Thou lookest down upon our land and waterest it, And makes it full of sheaves. The river of God is full of water. Thou preparest corn and tillest the land, Thou waterest its furrows and softenest its clods; Thou moistenest it with showers, thou blessest its springing, And thy footsteps drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, And the hills are encompassed with rejoicing. The pastures are clothed with flocks, All shout for joy and sing."- Ps. lxv. "This," exclaimed both together, "is indeed the Land of Promise;" and Helon called to mind the words of the prophet Ezekiel, "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I lifted up my hand to bring them out of Egypt into a land which I had Gen. xxvii. 28. promised for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land that is the glory of all lands.”* These words Helon repeated incessantly as he proceedcd. The pure mountain air, which he had never drawn before, inspired the body, as the feeling of home refreshed the mind. This moment, and that in which he had returned to the law, moments of deep and indelible interest, seemed to rise like lofty summits, far above the ordinary level of the events of life. When he thought on the narrative of his uncle, he was inclined to compare the former of these events with the terrific annunciation of the law from Sinai - the latter, with the joy of Israel, when, under the command of Joshua, they crossed the Jordan, and first set their feet on the Promised Land. During the whole of this journey to Hebron, external impressions seemed to have no other power over him, than to awaken trains of thought, connected with the subject by which his whole soul was occupied. When Elisama pointed out to him Minois and Gerar, which lay far to the south; and reminded him that Gerar was the place where Abraham had involved himself in difficulties by the concealment of the truth from Abimelech ;† and where the pious Asa had defeated the Ethiopians; these hints were sufficient for his imagination to cover the plains with the flocks of the patriarch, and the hosts of the virtuous king of Judah. They passed near Beersheba, which had given rise to the expression so common in scripture history, "from Dan to Beersheba," to denote the whole extent of the Holy Land, from north to south. Beersheba was the frontier town on the south, distant from Dan a hundred and sixty sabbathdays' journeys, or fiftythree leagues. Elisama related how Abraham and Isaac had dug a well here, and called it Beersheba, in memory of the oaths exchanged between them and Abimelech ;§ how Jehovah had here appeared to Jacob, and permitted him to go down to Egypt to his beloved Joseph ;||| * Ezek. xx. 6. † Gen. xxv. +2 Chron. xiv. 13. 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. AT 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 hiin; 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 foliowed, 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 psalin: How am I glad when they say unto me, I will go up to the house of Jehovah ! My foot hath stood already in thy gates, O Jerusalein' Jerusalem, thou beautifully built; 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. |