to which they were accustomed; that some things, which were for higher reasons essential in the Jewish economy, have an accidental coincidence with circumstances of the Egyptian customs. But disregarding outward and accidental things, let the spirit of the two systems be compared, and you will find that one is the spirit of God, and the other the spirit of the world. In our religion there is no worship of animals or of images, no polytheism, no secret doctrines of the priests. These are essential points, which show that the legislation of Moses must have had a higher origin, and was not learned by him from any other nation. Would it, besides, be surprising if, in giving a divine revelation to his people, Jehovah should have chosen a form for its communication, in which, as being familiar to them, they would more readily adopt it? Though this form was of human invention, it was purified and hallowed by God's adoption of it."

CHAPTER V.

THE HALT A T OSTRA CINE.

THE march began, as usual, about midnight, and terminated at Ostracine. They had not proceeded far from Casium, when they reached the lake Sirbonis, whose surface was so covered with the drifted sand, that they had difficulty in distinguishing it, in the darkness, from the surrounding wilderness. A few Sabbath-days' journeys further on, they came to a green, fertile and blooming vale, called Larish, in the midst of the desert, like a flower growing in the sand. A small brook discharges itself by this valley into the lake Sirbonis. In summer, it is commonly dry; now its clear waters were flowing, and the stars were reflected in them. Elisama checked his horse, as they were about to cross it, and called

to Helon, "Farewell to Egypt! this is the boundary; I cross the river of Egypt!"

There seemed to be something melancholy in his tone, as if the parting were painful, notwithstanding his approach to the Holy Land. The ominous anticipations of Helon's mother occurred to him, and though at Alexandria he had despised them as female weakness, he could not shake them off. Helon called aloud, with an animated voice, so that all before and behind might hear him, "Farewell, Egypt; I see thee not again or only as a new man!” He rode forward, giving himself up to the imaginations of his own mind, to which there was something of a fascinating interest in this nightly procession, amidst songs near and distant, the measured tinkling of the bells, beneath the glimmering light of the stars, and ruddy gleams of pitch-kettles, which deepened the surrounding shadows. He felt now more than ever that he had left Egypt behind, and was surprised at the almost poetical enthusiasm which began to be awakened within him.

Two hours after sunrise, they arrived at Ostracine. No one was wearied. The tent was pitched, and they laid themselves under it. Helon was full of the animating reflections which the journey in the night had excited in him; and Elisama still under the influence of the melancholy which had seized him at the river of Egypt. All emotions are durable in the mind of an oriental, and he does not quickly part either with his sorrow or his joy. Yet all were full of alacrity, and Myron, as usual, the first to speak, began thus: “I shall rejoice, Elisama, to hear the continuation of your narrative. I presume we would all rather speak and hear, than sleep."

“Listen, then,” said Elisama, "and perhaps the narrative may enable me to throw off the melancholy that weighs upon me. I related to you, at Casium, that Jehovah had given the law to our nation, in preference to every other, as their inheritance, and their treasure. But though given, much was yet necessary in order that the law should be obeyed. It was not in every land, nor under all circumstances, practicable to walk

blameless in all the commandments of the Lord. The whole legislation on mount Sinai had a reference to the future condition of Israel in Canaan, where those circumstances, under which alone the law could be fulfilled, either already existed, or were to be produced.

“First of all, it was necessary that the land of Canaan, which was still occupied by many native tribes, should be conquered. Moses, the man with whom Jehovah talked as a man talketh with a friend,'* was dead. But he had left his people the law, and an ardent longing for rest in the land of which he had presented so attractive a picture; and, besides all this, he had left them a valiant successor to himself, Joshua, the son of Nun, who, with Caleb, had alone been found worthy, among so many thousands, to enter into the promised land. Joshua was not a second Moses; for a prophet like him has not since arisen in Israel, who had known God face to face. But the Lord calls him a man in whom his spirit is, and commands Moses to lay his hands upon him, and present him to the priest Eleazar, and the whole congregation, and put his glory upon him, that all the children of Israel might obey him.'t This Moses had done, and when he died the Lord confirmed the appointment, and said to Joshua, 'Be strong, and of good courage, and thou shalt divide unto this people the land which I have sworn unto their father to give them.'

“By him, accordingly, the conquest of the land of promise was accomplished. The terror of the Lord went before him ; the swelling Jordan divided to let him and the people pass; Jericho and Ai fell before him, in a manner equally wonderful and terrific, and the march of the victorious ariny proceeded without a check to Sichem, which Jacob had given to Joseph. The craft of the Gibeonites and their neighbors saved their lives, but furnished Israel with the Nethinim, the hewers of wood and drawers of water. Thus he smote one and thirty kings, and divided the land among the tribes, estab

* Exod. xxxiii. 11,

Num. xxvii. 23.

Josh. ix.

lished cities of refuge, and built Timnath-Serah on the hills of Ephraim.* The tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, received their inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan; but, on condition that forty thousand men from among them should assist in the conquest of the country on the other side, and on their return should erect, near the Jordan, a monument of their having partaken in the war with their brethren. A short time before his death, he held a general assembly of the people, in which he made Israel renew the covenant with Jehovah. When he died, he bequeathed to fourteen judges, who ruled Israel in succession, the difficult duty of upholding what he had established. The people, not yet sufficiently confirmed in the law, since more was necessary for this purpose than the mere possession of the land, allowed themselves to be seduced into the idolatry of the Canaanites. From without, the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites of the north, Midianites, Amalekites, Amonites, and Philistines, harassed and subdued the yet unconsolidated nation. In this way nearly five hundred years elapsed, in which fourteen heroes and sages, whom we call Judges, arose, and each, in their time, employed their energies in opposing the universal corruption, or delivering the people from oppression. So much did it cost to secure the possession of the portion which Jehovah had given to his people! Samuel closes this list of heroes, a man on whom, in a peculiar manner, the spirit of the Lord rested, and who, under the influence of this spirit, established schools of the prophets, to perpetuate the knowledge of the law.

"Thus was the land acquired; but there was still wanting a civil constitution, and a vigorous executive government. Jehovah alone would be their king; but the people felt the necessity that this dignity should be embodied to them in the person of one from among themselves. Samuel disapproved this imitation of the customs of the heathens, but he was compelled to yield, and anointed first Saul, and then

*Josh. xix. 49.

+ Josh. xxiii. xxiv.

David, king. In the whole history of our nation, there is no character that takes a more powerful hold of human sympathies than David, from his youth and his friendship, his heroic spirit, his conquests and institutions, his weaknesses and his sufferings. Scripture calls him a man after God's own heart.' Under him the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled in a large sense, and from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, the whole country was subject to Israel. But he did still more. He became the central point to all the tribes who had hitherto lived in nominal federation and virtual independence. He united all the five millions of his subjects by a common bond, and made Jerusalem the capital. For the first time, under him, it was possible to observe the civil laws of Moses. Joshua had conquered a country for

the law, but David established a state for it.

"Still one thing was wanting, the temple, in which the glory of the Lord should dwell. David had already made preparations for the building of a temple, but it was not the pleasure of Jehovah that he should erect it. It was reserved for Solomon his son, to be the third, who, after Joshua and David, should furnish the last and most important of those means which were still wanting to make the external observance of the law practicable. And how did he perform this duty! In what strains do cur sacred books speak of his wisdom, of his riches and of the unparalleled splendor of his temple! Kings and queens came from afar to behold this wonder of the world.

"The reign of Solomon was the era in which all was fulfilled, which Israel could still desire; in which everything united to give external dignity to the worship of Jehovah, The country was tranquil within, and at peace with its neighbors, governed by its king with wisdom, and united by the temple, which served as a central point to the whole nation. This is the most splendid era of our history, and when an Israelite pictures to himself days of happiness and prosperity, it is under the image of the reign of Solomon.

"The Books of Kings relate, that at Solomon's entrance on