midst of all the apparent harmony and union which we have seen during the feast, there exists, among the chief men and rulers of the people, the bitterest enmity; and you know what Jesus said, 'a house divided against itself will be brought to desolation.""

The sun was now beginning to decline. The shadows of the lofty pinnacles of the temple began to extend themselves into the valley of the Kidron. The immense crowd, that a few hours before had thronged the courts of the temple and every avenue leading to it, had retired from the hot and dusty streets to the cool shades and fountains of the courts within their houses. All Jerusalem, which but a short time before seemed bustle and animation, was now hushed and desolate. As Selumiel gazed on the now empty courts, he thought of the time when the "Lord should bring a nation against his people from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as an eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue they should not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which should not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young; which should besiege Jerusalem in all her gates, until her

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high and fenced walls come down;" until the anguish and distress of the inhabitants should .exceed all that the world had ever seen, or should see. His heart ached within him, and he was ready to exclaim, by anticipation, in the words of the pathetic prophet, "O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people." Jonathan and Simon both perceived the sorrowful countenance and trickling tears of Selumiel, nor was it difficult for them, who had so often wept with him over the blindness and perverseness of Israel, to conjecture the cause. Casting a last look at the lovely temple, so soon to be laid low, they dropped a silent tear, and followed Selumiel as he descended from the battlement. A hasty walk, through the same passages and courts by which they had ascended, brought them to the house of Helah, whose wife had taken care to provide an elegant though frugal meal. The unleavened bread, dates, honey, and various other fruits in abundance covered the table. For seven days, no other than unleavened bread was allowed to be eaten through

out all the families of Israel. The afternoon

was spent in various discourse upon the ceremonies and occurrences of the morning. "Uncle Selumiel," said Jonathan, "when Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light,' did he not mean to compare what he required with the sacrifices and ceremonies of the law? It seems to me that it is a great burden to be obliged to come up to Jerusalem every year, and offer so many sacrifices."

"Your question is natural," said Selumiel, "and I have often thought, too, that Christ did have some reference to this very thing. At least, it is true that the yoke of Christ is easy compared with that of the law. The time is at hand when these sacrifices will all be abolished; many things seem to indicate that it is drawing near. A new dispensation has commenced. The forms and shadows are to be succeeded by the substance. A pure spiritual worship is to take the place of the rites and ceremonies of Judaism. The middle wall of partition between Jews and gentiles is to be broken down. All distinctions, except those which true piety create,

are to be done away. In every nation, he that feareth God and doeth righteousness will be accepted of him, without respect of name. There is to be one fold and one shepherd. All are to be one in Christ, whether Jew or gentile, bond or free. All are to drink into one spirit. How blessed the day, when from the east and the west, the north and the south, the redeemed of the Lord shall return to our spiritual Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. My soul exults in prospect of the glorious things which are written of Zion. I see now their spiritual meaning. I begin to apprehend the feelings of our sublime prophet, when in view of the glories of Emmanuel's kingdom, he exclaimed, Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.""

Here Selumiel repeated nearly the whole of that sublime prophecy in the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, chanting it in the manner of the Jews, which is a kind of recitative, half-way between reading and singing. When he had done, Helah expressed his admiration of it, and thought that it had never before seemed

half so beautiful.

"I used to apply it all,"

said he, "to the enlargement and prosperity of Israel. I looked upon the gentiles as an abhorred and rejected race, and thought they were to be exterminated and subdued before the people of Jehovah. narrow were my views!

But how low and

Now I see that all

are not Israel who are of Israel, neither is that true circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. I now see a glory in the calling of the gentiles, which I never saw before. The designs of God are enlarging on every hand. The days of ignorance and prejudice are coming to an end. The mountain of the Lord's house is soon to be established in the tops of the mountains, and ail nations are to flow unto it. Christ (once despised and persecuted name) is to gather the outcasts, and unite in him all nations of men that dwell upon the earth. Father Abraham rejoiced to see this day, and he saw it in prophetic vision and was glad.

Jesus