When Mary, the mother of our Lord, came to the Temple to present her first-born Son, she offered "a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons;" which Sacrifice, being the least expen sive of all, was a proof of Joseph's poverty.

Times of Sacrifice. Every morning and evening the smoke from the Altar of Incense ascended in the name of the whole congregation.' A Daily Sacrifice was offered of a lamb without spot or blemish. And on the Sabbath two lambs were slain: this was the Weekly Sacrifice.

The Monthly Sacrifice was offered at the time of the new moon, and consisted of two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of a year old, a kid for a sin-offering, a bread and a drinkoffering.

The Yearly Sacrifices were the Paschal Lamb, slain at the Feast of the Passover, and the offerings which were made on the Great Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month.

The Day of Atonement was observed by the whole nation as a most strict fast, "afflicting their souls." On this day only, was the High Priest allowed to enter the holy of holies, and not even then without much preparation: then it was, that besides offering a bullock as a sinoffering for himself and his household, he presented two young goats before the Lord; one of which was offered as a sin-offering for the people, the other was allowed to depart alive into the wilderness, bearing away the sins of the congregation, the High Priest having laid his hands upon its head and confessed over it the transgressions of the people. These Sacrifices are manifestly typical of a Saviour.

Fourthly, of the FESTIVALS.-There were

three annual Festivals, at which it was expected that all the males above twelve years of age should attend ; not only whilst they were dwellers in the desert, with the Tabernacle in the midst of them, but also after they should have become inhabitants of the promised land. Yea, when settled in Canaan, they would have to go up to Jerusalem once a-year, leaving the frontiers of their country open to the inroads of enemies. But this danger was provided for according to the promise of God, who said, "I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy border; neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord three times in every year.

The first and greatest of these Festivals, the Passover, has been already mentioned in its sacrificial character. It was the commencement. of the religious year, the day of deliverance from Egypt. On the fiftieth day after it, the second Festival, the Pentecost, or national harvesthome, was celebrated. The harvest being gathered in, bread made of the new corn was to be offered as its first-fruits. At this feast they commemorated the giving of the law from Mount Sinai.

The third of these feasts, that of Tabernacles, was held at the end of Autumn. It lasted a week, during which time they dwelt in tents, to remind them of their life in the wilderness. These tents were pitched on the flat roofs of their houses. It was a joyous time, a time of music and dancing and feasting. They returned thanks to God for the fruits of the vine, bearing in their hands branches of palm-trees, olives, citrons, myrtles, and willows, singing "Hosannah! save, I be

seech thee;" in which words they prayed for the coming of the long looked-for Messiah.

One of the most significant ceremonies, performed in later times on the last day of this feast, was the libation or pouring out of water, drawn from the Fountain or Pool of Siloam, upon the altar at the evening sacrifice. During this solemn offering the people sang the twelfth chapter of Isaiah, particularly the third verse, "With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation.' This was done in commemoration of the miraculous supplies granted to their forefathers when they thirsted in the wilderness.

The typical nature of these festivals may be seen. Christ, our Passover, was shadowed forth in the Paschal Lamb. The Christian Church numbered its first-fruits on the Day of Pentecost. And the water poured forth on the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, was considered by the Jews themselves to be an emblem of the Holy Spirit; and it was so interpreted by our Lord in the seventh chapter of St. John's Gos pel, 37-39 verses.

There were other institutions peculiar to the Jews, ordained at this time: the Sabbatical Year, and the Year of Jubilee. The Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, "When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord."

Every seven years the ground was to lie fallow, and its spontaneous produce was not to be reaped by its owners, but left for the poor; for the hired servants, the wayfaring man, and strangers. Rich harvests were promised in the sixth year: "And ye shall sow the eighth year, and yet eat of old fruit until the ninth year;

until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store."

But every fiftieth year was to be celebrated as a "Year of Jubilee;" so called from a Hebrew word meaning "to recall," or "bring back;" for "in the year of this Jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession, and every man unto his family." "Ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed; for it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field." This festival was to begin in the evening of the Day of Atone ment. It was proclaimed throughout the land by the sound of a trumpet. All debts were cancelled, all slaves released. In this year all estates that had been sold, came back to their original proprietors, or to their families: thus no family estate could be alienated for more than fifty years. By this means the distinction of the tribes was preserved: it obliged them to keep genealogies of their families, and thus it was known with certainty from which tribe the Messiah came.

And now, God being wholly reconciled to his people, the Law fully ordained, and the presence of God having descended from the top of Sinaj to abide in the Tabernacle in the middle of the camp, the people are numbered according to their tribes; their different stations in the camp and on the march are appointed to them; their standards set up; and having kept the first Passover after their deliverance from Egypt, the cloud is taken up from the Tabernacle, and " " on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year" of their wanderings, "they take

their journey out of the wilderness of Sinai, the priests bearing the Ark before the congre gation."

And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward, that Moses said, "Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee." And when it rested, he said, "Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel."

THE BISHOP OF JERUSALEM.

ON Sunday, the 5th of July, the Rev. Samuel Gobat was consecrated, by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be the successor of the late Bishop Alexander. Mr. Gobat was for many years a missionary in Abyssinia, to which sphere of labour he had been appointed by the Church Missionary Society. There he had been preparing, by the influence which he obtained, the character which he had acquired, the languages which he was accustomed to speak, and the Christian and ministerial experience which he gained, for the high and important office which he is now called to fill. The friends of God's ancient people may rejoice in Mr. Gobat's ap. pointment, because he is anxious to promote the spiritual welfare of the Jews.

At the Anniversary Meeting of the Society in May, 1838, Mr. Gobat thus spoke of the Jews of Abyssinia:"I would most solemnly and ear+ nestly recommend the Jews of Abyssinia to your notice and sympathy. Until a century ago, when they were driven away by hostile tribes, they lived in great numbers in Abyssinia, and possessed the religion of their fathers; but now