thus she became clean. She had brought her first-born in her arm, and presented him before Jehovah; and her husband redeemed him, according to the law, by the payment of five shekels. For thus said Jehovah, “Behold I have taken the Levites unto myself among the children of Israel, instead of all the first-born; therefore the Levites shall be mine. For the first-born are mine, since the time when I slew all the first-born in Egypt: then did I set apart all the first-born in Israel, both of man and beast, that they should be mine. I am

Jehovah." +

When all these were ended, and the blessing given to the people in the name of Jehovah, Iddo, with the assistance of his own slaves and of Sallu, presented his own thank-offering. The wife of Abisuab, Sulamith, and the wife of Iddo, partook of the feast which the sacrifice furnished in one of the apartments of the temple, and in addition to them some priests and Levites who had been bidden. Helon,

*Numb. xviii. 15.

† Numb. iii. 12.

once more in the temple, in sight of the crowds of worshippers who poured in streams along its courts, within hearing of the solemn sound of the temple music, surrounded by all the circumstances which made this consecrated spot a little world within itself, and seated by his Sulamith, forgot his native country Egypt, his longing for his mother and his home, the factions of Pharisees and Sadducees; and nothing occupied his thoughts, but the wish to live in the Holy Land as a priest of Jehovah, and to endeavour to fulfil the law, with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength.

The Feast of Pentecost lasted only one day.

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.

THE JOURNEY TO DAN.

ON the day which followed the feast of Pentecost, Helon stood upon the highest of the three summits of the mount of Olives, and with a heavy heart and weeping eyes watched the train of the pilgrims from Jericho, as they disappeared among the groves and gardens of Bethany, and listened to their songs, in which the voice of Sulamith seemed to warble to him a farewell, full of affection and regret. It had cost him many a struggle, to resolve to undertake this journey to Dan-but Selumiel had determined to put his self-command to this proof, and Helon was forced to comply. There

VOL. II.

was a certain hardness in Selumiel's natural disposition, which the influence of an amiable wife had not entirely mollified; he had been compelled in his youth to practise much selfdenial and bear many mortifications, and he could not deny himself the pleasure of making even those he loved undergo a similar discipline, persuading himself perhaps that he was improving their tempers, while he was indulging his own. "The path of obedience is arduous and rough," said Helon with a sigh, as he turned from where the Jordan wound its way through the meadows of Jericho, to the northern hills of Ebal and Gerizim, over which his destined journey lay; "the path of obedience is rough, but it shall be trodden." He called to mind the first commandment with promise, and he thought that when he had made this sacrifice to the sense of duty, he should be able, without difficulty, to fulfil the rest of the commandments, and become a Chasidean. Ambition

came to the aid of virtue, and he returned towards the city, resolved, though not satisfied.

The

On the following morning he took his departure, in company with the Governor of Samaria, whom Hyrcanus had just appointed, and some Galilean Jews, who preferred returning into their own country by the nearer way. Iddo accompanied his friend as far as to the gate of Ephraim, not without a secret dissatisfaction at the ill-nature of his brother. travellers were mounted, and attended by such a train as became the rank of the principal person in the party. They entered the King's valley, and directed their course between Mizpa and Nob towards Geba, which lay not far from Rama, the city where Samuel judged,* called in latter times Arimathea. The road was stony; the conversation of the party turned wholly on worldly topics. This Geba is also called Geba of Benjamin, to distinguish it from another of the same name: it was celebrated for David's victory over the Philistines.† It lay on a rising ground, six sabbath-days' journies from Jerusalem, and was one of the

1 Sam. vii. 17.

+ 2 Sam. v. 25.