should I, unless she has called you a good boy for giving so good attention to your lessons? And that I suspect is the thing, George, you seem so happy.”

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Oh, no, Mr. Anderson, my mother never calls me a good boy; but when I do well, she looks so pleasantly, I always know when I please her; and I had rather be punished any time, than see one of those sad faces which I sometimes see when I do wrong. But I will tell you, Mr. Anderson, what she said. I went home last week, and told mother and sister all about Selumiel and his scholars, and what you told us about the pilgrimage, and mother said she hoped you would make a little book about it and have it printed. She said it seemed a pity you should take so much pains just for the sake of us.'

Mr. Anderson. Well, George, you may tell your mother that I intend to make a little book of our conversations, and I shall endeavour to give them just as they have taken place.

William had now arrived, and as usual before proceeding to tell them about the temple and the passover, they kneeled down

together, and Mr. Anderson offered a short and fervent prayer. He prayed for himself, that he might be assisted in instructing his dear pupils; for his pupils, that they might become wise, virtuous, and pious; and that the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, who once dwelt between the cherubim, and loved the gates of Zion, would yet have mercy on his dejected and wandering people, and gather them with the "fulness of the Gentiles."

"Now," said Mr. Anderson, when his prayer was ended, "I am going to describe to you the most solemn feast of the ancient Jews. But I will first give you an account of the reception of Selumiel and the little boys at the house of Helah. At the season of the feasts no inhabitant of Jerusalem considered his house as his own. The city was the city of the whole people, not of the inhabitants alone, and every Jew had a claim upon his brethren in the city for the rites of hospitality during the festivals. The very names of the city, the Holy city, the city of the congregation of Israel, the gate of the people,—point it out as peculiarly the city of the nation.

Our pilgrims found Helah's house already

full of strangers, when they arrived. As soon as the wife of Helah knew that the children of her old friend Solomon had come, she rar to meet them, and clasping them in her arms and kissing them, wept for joy. "I did not think it possible that Solomon should have had boys so old. What fine healthy countenances! The very image of their mother! She was my dearest friend, the companion of my childhood. How time runs away.". "Are you not going to speak to me, Sarah ?" said Selumiel, who had stood by entirely unnoticed during this scene. "Welcome, welcome to Jerusalem, my old friend," said Sarah, recovering herself from the recollections which the sight of the children of Solomon had awakened; "we had almost began to despair of seeing you. But you must be weary and dusty," said she. pots," and she led the court, where were set water-pots ready filled, and servants were washing the feet of the newly come guests, which is the first duty of hospitality among the people of the east.

"Come to the waterway into the adjoining

Helah had already, on the tenth of the month, chosen a lamb without blemish for the

passover. The unleavened bread had been made ready, and all the preparations for the approaching feast had been made.*

"Come," said Helah to his guests, when the ceremony of washing was completed, "let us go and sup," and he led the way from the inner court up a flight of winding stairs to the terrace or flat roof of the house, where Helah was accustomed to entertain his guests, and where his wife and daughters had spread their hospitable meal.

"But are the houses all flat on the roof?" said William Appleton, interrupting Mr. Anderson.

"I am glad you have asked that question, • William," replied Mr. Anderson, "as I wish to describe to you the form of the Jewish houses. It will assist you to understand many things which are said of houses in the Bible. We know very certainly the manner in which the houses were built, for the same mode of building prevails now in those countries. And so I might say of other things. The manners, dress, style of building, modes of cooking, eating, &c., remain to this day very

* See Exodus xii. 1-20.

much the same as they were in the days of Christ. There are no changes of fashion among the people of the east. An eastern house is built with thick and gloomy walls of stone or unburnt brick or mud, with no windows towards the street, round an enclosure, or court in the centre, from which all the light is received. They are generally only one story high, though sometimes they are three or four. There is a large gate or door leading from the street into the court, which is surrounded with seats, and the houses of the rich have a fountain playing in the centre. The court is paved with marble, and is the usual place for receiving guests. There is generally, however, one latticed window or balcony which looks into the street. Around this court in the centre, there are spacious chambers; and when the house is of more than one story, there are galleries running round the outside of the court, with balustrades or railings, to prevent persons from falling down. into the court. In this cut you see the three sides of a house two stories high; all around the lower story are columns or pillars supporting the gallery, and the columns in the