"We owe it, Esrom, to Sheshbazzar,” said Rachel, "to see him no more. He is too deeply committed by me, to reinstate his authority in the synagogue, without disowning me. I am expelled from the synagogue already, and I will not expose him to the painful necessity of confirming the sentence of the Elders. It is well that he had not to cast me out!' He must have done it, had he been at home: but, although he would have done it, gently as the Angel of the Lord drove out our first parents from Paradise, I am glad, for his sake and my own, that it is not to do! And, as he can never own me again, I will never render it necessary for him to disown me.”

"It never will be necessary to disown you, Rachel!" Esrom replied. "Sheshbazzar will

soon have the pleasure to write your name anew, amongst the daughters of the Covenant in Beersheba, and even to enroll it amongst the

living in Jerusalem; for already the plague has

ceased to spread on you, and I have caught no

infection.

It is no longer a fretting leprosy.' He who wounded you, has begun to heal you; and, as in the case of Miriam, God will perfect that which concerneth you, and restore to you the timbrel of his praise, at the tabernacle of his presence. Be of good cheer: He is healing our backslidings, and He will blot out our iniquities, for his own Name's sake. I feel warranted, already, by His faithfulness as the Hearer of prayer, to provide the ' two living birds, the cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop,' for the day of your purification in the temple." Having said this, Esrom led her to the door of the tent, and left her for the day without fear; being well aware that neither the shepherds nor the hunters in the wilderness, would venture near the tent of leprosy. He returned to Beersheba to guide his affairs with discretion;

and, that his kinsmen, and neighbours, and his men-servants and maid-servants, might see that he had not tempted the Holy One of Israel, by waiting on Rachel. He calculated the effect of appearing on his farm, and in the streets, humbled, but unhurt. The bloom of health was on his cheek, and the simple majesty of the palm-tree in his form. He was grave, but not sad; perfectly composed, but perfectly natural. No one could suspect him of acting a part. His object was to moderate the clamour of the rash, and to enable the prudent to suspend their judgment: but he employed no stratagem. He left his appearance and spirit to make their own impression. And many were silenced, and not a few softened. Some indeed said, that "the thin yellow hair” (Lev. 13) of a fretting leprosy would soon be visible on his brow or his beard. Others affirmed that the rose on his cheek, was "a whiteish

L

red," already. But all wondered after him ; and some prayed for him, that "the desire of his eyes" might not be "taken away" by the stroke of judgment.

During seven days Esrom went and returned thus, between Beersheba, and the tent in the wilderness; his step still firm, and his countenance unchanged. Every evening he reported to Rachel, the progress of public opinion in Beersheba; and every morning he gave directions to his ploughmen and vine-dressers, to his masons and carpenters, to his hewers of wood and drawers of water, just as he was wont to do when he began to manage his farm, and to rebuild the house of his fathers. All his conduct and spirit indicated a humble, but lively, hope of Rachel's recovery. Thus, although he said nothing to the people, he compelled them to think much.

This course, Esrom pursued for Sheshbazzar's sake; that no burst of mockery or upbraiding

might meet him, on his return from Jerusalem. He had planned, also, to meet the good old man by the way; deeming that the sight of Rachel would shock him less, than the clamours of the people. He intended also to detain him a day and a night in the wilderness, that by special and united prayer, the Eagle and the eaglets of Beersheba might fully renew their youth, before resuming the nest of their youth. It was, therefore, with joy unspeakable he heard Sheshbazzar say at once, on seeing Rachel, "There is hope in Israel concerning this leprosy :" for any salutation less cordial or prompt, would not have silenced the clamour of the Pilgrims, nor revived her spirit. Her heart was too "sick" with suspense to endure "hope deferred." Had Sheshbazzar been silent at first, or but slow to speak, or had he spoken with less confidence or tenderness than Esrom, her heart would have broke. He knew this;