meaning of this rite, Exod. xii. 26, “And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? Then ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." The master answered by repeating the hagadah, or "showing forth." "This is the bread of affliction, which our fathers ate in the land of affliction. Let him that is hungry come and eat the passover; let him that hath need come and eat the passsover; for this passover is our Saviour and our refuge." Or, he explained the symbolical meaning of the different dishes and observances, expounding from Deut. xxvi. 5, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father," etc. Then taking the cup, he first tasted it himself, and presented it to each, saying, "Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, King of the world, who has created the fruit of the vine!" This third cup was usually called the cup of blessing. The apostle refers to it, 1 Cor. x. 16, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" See also Psa. cxvi. 13. 4. The whole ended with taking a fourth cup of wine, and singing the 113th and five following psalms of praise and thanksgiving, of which the 118th, the last, is peculiarly significant of the coming of Christ. These were called the great Hallel, or Hallelujah.

The preceding particulars throw considerable light on the concise accounts of the evangelists. The events of the passover and last supper, blended together, may be considered to have occurred as follows:

When the paschal lamb was dressed, and all things were ready, Jesus reclined at table with the twelve, and according to Luke xxii. 15, he expressed that he had earnestly desired to eat this passover with them before he suffered. Taking a cup of wine, he blessed it, and told them to divide it among themselves. When the paschal supper, or what is called the first course, was ended, Jesus rose from table, and to set them an example of humility, washed their feet himself; he also exhorted them against seeking who should be the greatest. Our Lord then alluded to the traitor Judas, John xiii. 11, gave them the encouragement of a future glorious reward, Luke xxii. 28-30, and cautioned them all, especially warning Peter that Satan had desired to sift him.

Having replaced themselves at table to eat the second course, Christ testified more plainly than before, that one of them should betray him, and said that it was he who

dipped his hand in the dish with him. Judas asking, as well as the rest, "Is it I?" Jesus answered that it was, but unheard by the rest. Then John, instigated by Peter, inquired who was meant, and our Lord told the beloved disciple, who reclined next him, that it was the person to whom he should give a sop. After dipping the sop in the haroseth, or sauce, he gave it to Judas, who, finding himself detected, hastened from the place to put his treachery into execution.

Our Lord then took the bread which had been reserved, and blessed, and broke, and gave to the eleven disciples. Likewise he took the cup, and told them, "Drink ye all of it," Matt. xxvi. 27, showing by the words with which he accompanied these actions, that he instituted a solemn memorial of the sacrifice of his death. He concluded the whole by singing with his disciples a hymn, or the psalms already mentioned. Some principal commentators con

sider that the bread was distributed before Judas left the table, but they generally agree that he went out before the cup was given. That cup our Lord spoke of as typifying his blood, the blood of the new covenant-the grand plan of agreement or reconciliation God was establishing between Himself and mankind, by the passion, that is, the suffering and death of his Son, through whom alone men can draw nigh to God.

Learned men, who have closely examined the subject, have shown that the observances of the Jewish passover were directly opposed to several ceremonies common among heathen in their idolatrous feasts. And the passover had an especial typical reference to Christ in the circumstances attending it. It was, 1. Descriptive of his person; 2. Of his sufferings and death; 3. Of the fruits of these sufferings deliverance and freedom; and, 4. Of the manner in which believers are made partakers of the blessed fruits of the sacrifice of Christ; as it is by the precious blood of Christ shed for our sins, and by that alone, that sinful man is delivered from the wrath which his sins justly deserve. This subject is discussed in works which treat upon the types, and in commentaries on the Bible.

During the passover, the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was offered with a particular sacrifice, this is directed Lev. xxiii. 9-14. On the anniversary of this day our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead; the apostle Paul may have had this specially in view when speaking of Christ's resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 20, "He is become the firstfruits of them that slept."

The second great festival was the feast of PENTECOST, a Greek word, from the feast being kept on the fiftieth day

after the first day of unleavened bread. is spoken of under several names.

In the Bible it

The feast of weeks,

Exod. xxxiv. 22, Deut. xvi. 10-17; the feast of harvest, Exod. xxiii. 16; the day of firstfruits, Numb. xxviii. 26. It was celebrated during the seventh week, or a week of weeks after the first day of the passover, and because on this day the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were presented with thanksgiving to God for his bounties: see Exod. xxiii. 16; Lev. xxiii. 15-21; Numb. xxviii. 26-31. On this day also the giving the law from Mount Sinai was commemorated. The number of Jews who attended at the festival was very great; see Acts ii. 5-11. At this season the Holy Spirit came miraculously upon the apostles and the firstfruits of the Christian church, Acts ii. 4, 41.

THE FIRSTFRUITS CARRIED UP TO JERUSALEM.

On this occasion, the people went up to Jerusalem in solemn processions, carrying their offerings of firstfruits; many in baskets richly wrought, and ornamented with flowers, which were solemnly presented in the temple. The sacrifices at this festival were numerous, but we need not go minutely into the particulars. In Deut. xxvi. 5-10, is a beautiful form of thanksgiving to be used in presenting the firstfruits, which reminded the Jews of their origin from "a Syrian ready to perish," and recapitulated the Lord's merciful dealings towards them.

The feast of TABERNACLES continued for a week. It was to keep in the memory of the Israelites their dwelling in booths or tents in the desert, consequently of the days of their pilgrimage there; thus it was an emblem of the transitory nature of man's abode upon earth, Lev. xxiii. 34-43. It is also called the feast of ingatherings, Exod. xxiii. 16. At this time was the vintage, and the gathering of fruits. The sacrifices for this occasion are directed, Numb. xxix. They were numerous, but diminished each day the festival lasted. In the whole, seventy bullocks, fourteen rams, seven goats, and ninety-eight lambs were offered during the seven days. During this week, the people were to dwell in tents, or in arbours, of branches of trees,

BOOTHS AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

which latterly were made upon the flat roofs of their houses. They carried branches of palm and of other trees, singing, "Hosanna!" that is, "Save I beseech thee!" Lev. xxiiii. 40; Neh. viii. 15. This festival was celebrated with especial rejoicings. But the most remarkable of the later ceremonies was the pouring out water upon the altar. A golden pitcher was filled at the Pool of Siloam, and brought into the temple, through the water-gate, with