about two furlongs from the temple in the valley of Jehoshaphat.'

But I will now proceed with my narrative. The next morning after their visit to Bethesda, the little boys were up early, vigorous, and. refreshed by the cool and clear atmosphere of the roof on which they had slept. Having spent a little season in the Oleah, or little private upper room, which in pious families was devoted to the purposes of devotion, and having sought the blessing of Jehovah on their parents, their teacher, and friends, and asked their Saviour's presence and protection through the day, they spent the half hour, which remained before breakfast, in reading in a parchment copy of Matthew's gospel, which Selumiel had given them. Selumiel had pointed out to them the twenty-sixth chapter, from the thirty-sixth to the fifty-sixth verse, which contains a description of the interesting scene which occurred at the place they were about to visit.

Soon after a frugal breakfast (for the days of unleavened bread were not yet finished), they set out upon their walk. The smoke of the morning sacrifice was just ascending from

Mount Moriah as they passed it in their way to the valley of Jehoshaphat. The shops in the streets were already open, and the artisans had renewed their daily tasks. The sun, newly risen, was just visible through the tall olive-trees on the mountains east of Jerusalem. A short walk brought them upon the banks of the Kidron.

"See," said Simon," how red the water is, uncle! it looks like blood; what makes it look so ?"

Selumiel pointed to the mouth of a drain which opened a little above them, and was now discharging the blood and other filth from the temple.

"

It was a covered drain, built for the purpose of carrying off the offscourings" from the temple. The immense quantity of filth and offal which was discharged by it into the Kidron, was such as to tinge the waters for a great distance below, and the sight of it forcibly brought to their minds the vast expense and burden of the Mosaic ritual.

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Why, uncle," said Simon, "did God lay so heavy a burden on our fathers, and require so many sacrifices ?"

"Not because he delights in sacrifices as such," said Selumiel; "for he says in one of the psalms,

"I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goat out of thy folds;

For every beast of the forest is mine,

The cattle upon a thousand hills:

I know every bird of the mountains,
And the wild beast of the field is mine,
If I were hungry I would not tell thee

For the earth is mine, and the fulness of it.

Will I eat the flesh of bulls ?

Or drink the blood of he-goats?"-Ps. 1. 9-13.

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"It is not then because God desireth sacrifice,' or delighteth in burnt-offering,' that he required of our fathers the first and the best' of their herds, and their flocks, and of the fruits of their land, but that they might cherish in their hearts that grateful remembrance of their dependence on him, and keep alive the expectation of the better sacrifice which he was to make, who said, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me; in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Lo! I come to do thy will, O God.'”

In such discourse they had now come up

to the mouth of the drain, which was now discharging the filth that was every morning poured into it, and was so abundantly accumulated at the season of the passover. The Levites were charged with the nightly sanctification (purification) of the temple during the annual feasts.

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"This," said Selumiel, pointing to the discharge, "brings vividly to mind a remarkable expression which I remember to have heard with much interest. Speaking of the trials and difficulties which Paul and his companions in suffering had to encounter, he said in allusion to this, we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day;' a most expressive image to indicate the contempt and ignominy cast upon the followers of Christ. We have known something of it, my dear boys, even at Joppa; but what we have suffered is nothing to that which our brethren here at Jerusalem have sometimes endured."

"Or Jesus himself," said Jonathan, unwilling that the sufferings of apostles and martyrs should be named without also alluding to the infinitely greater sufferings of their Lord.

They had now reached the wooden bridge which was thrown over the Kidron, and crossing it, passed up the eastern bank of the stream. Here a fine grove of cedars received them from the sun, whose rays began now to pour down upon them with considerable power.

A green and shady walk stretched along the banks of the Kidron, and on either hand were seen the enclosures and gardens which the wealthier Jews had fitted up for summer dwellings. The scent of the various kinds of flowers with which they were adorned, the narcissus, the hyacinth, and other odoriferous plants, pleased their senses. The early song of the birds among the branches saluted their ears. It was such a scene as a poet and a lover of nature would delight to describe. The effect upon the little boys was exhilarating. Here and there, on either hand, amidst a grove of tufted vines or olive-trees, was to be seen a "white and garnished" sepulchre, carefully guarded by rails, to prevent the passers-by from contracting pollution by contact with a grave. Every year on the fifteenth of February, the Jews were accustomed to