ON THE PASSOVER.

"And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt." EXODUS xiii. 8.

HARRIETTE.

My eyes quite ache with reading so much of this small print. I have read from the sixth to the middle of the twelfth chapter of Exodus.

LYDIA.

You have then been reading an account of the Seven Plagues of Egypt.

HARRIETTE.

Yes, and the institution of the Passover, which God commanded the Israelites to observe for ever after, to put them in mind of their deliverance. After they were settled

in the promised land, they used to go up every year to Jerusalem, to keep the passover-did not they?

It is an account of a young Jew, who, with part of his family, went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover. There are many interesting descriptions of the Jewish customs in it. Among others, there is an account of the appearance of Jerusalem on the day of preparation for the passover, when the Jews who lived in the most distant parts of the country, had just arrived. Helon and his friends were sitting on the housetop, in the cool of the evening, which you know is the common custom in Eastern countries, where the roofs are flat. Shall I read you the description?

HARRIETTE.

Yes, pray do! At what time was Helon supposed to live?

LYDIA.

About one hundred and nine years before the birth of our Saviour. Here is the passage :

"The moon shone sweetly upon Jerusalem, and changed the night to a softer and cooler day than that which had been twelve hours before. A breeze from the Mount of Olives cooled the heated air. The neighbours had brought their guests to sup on the roofs of their houses, and as far as the eye could reach, on every side, feasting and illumination were seen. A busy hum ascended from the streets beneath, and the white tents glistened in the valley of Kedron.

"What a scene! The whole environs of Jerusalem were turned into an encampment; all the hills and vallies, all the streets and open places were covered with tents. It was impossible that the houses should contain all the strangers, notwithstanding the unbounded hospitality which was practised on these occasions, and hence it was necessary that a large proportion of them should remain in tents during the festival. In the pleasant season of the year at which the passover was held,

this had nothing inconvenient or disagreeable in it; it was the universal custom at the feast of tabernacles, and it reminded them of the patriarchal life, and the wandering in the desert. This gave to Jerusalem a singular but very interesting appearance. All was motion, life, and animation, and the thought of the purpose for which these myriads of men had come up from near or distant regions, filled the mind with solemn and elevated feeling. A million of human beings have frequently been assembled here on such an occasion, all for the purpose of appearing with prayer and praise before Jehovah."

HARRIETTE.

Thank you, Lydia. It must have been a beautiful sight indeed, looking down from the top of a house, to see a million of people assembled in tents pitched in the streets, and in the neighbouring country. Oh! don't put away the book. I should like to look into it, and see if I can find any thing more about the passover.-I have opened it at an account of the people on their way to Jerusalem, in the chapter before that which you have been

reading. It says "From all the cross roads, men, women, and children were streaming towards the highway to Jerusalem. They had scarcely proceeded a sabbath-day's journey" how much is that?

LYDIA.

Rather less than a mile. It was intended to be sufficient to enable the Jews to go from the most remote part of their camp to the tabernacle and back, and no farther.

HARRIETTE.

Well, "they had hardly 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 spreading branches." What comes next is about something else, so I shall not read it.

* *

"On this spot, the descendants of the patriarchs were now preparing to depart, on their

* Terebinth-this tree, from the great age it attains, was as much an object of reverence in the East, as the oak formerly was in Gaul and Britain.