veil, and turban on the ground, dishevelled her braided hair, rent her garments from the top of the neck to the breast, and bound a strip of bark about her, in place of a girdle, saying, “Thou hast forsaken the manner of the daughters of Israel, who cover their heads, and hast followed the manners of the heathen, who go with their heads uncovered."

Then the men spat on the ground, and the women uttered cries of abhorrence. The husband gave the priest the “offering of jealousy, the tenth part of an ephah of barley-meal, with no oil or frankincense poured thereon." Then the priest filled an earthen vessel with holy water from the laver beside the altar, and put into it dust from the floor of the tabernacle. With an elevated and solemn voice he said, "If thou art innocent, be thou free from the curse of this bitter water; but if thou art guilty, may Jehovah make thee a curse among thy people, and bring on thee all the curses written in his law."

If the woman answered, expressing her willingness to submit to the ordeal, the priest waved the "offering of jealousy" before Jehovah, and mixing the meal with salt, he burned it in the fire. Then the curses of the law were written on a roll, and washed off in the vessel of water wherein dust had been mingled. The woman drank the water of cursing, with her eyes lifted toward the holy of holies.

If, after a long pause, she was perceived to be unharmed, a shout of joy burst from the multitude, and hallelujah resounded from the temple through the streets of the city. Her parents and husband

congratulated her on this proof of innocence, her hair was braided anew, her jewels and veil restored, and she was conducted home in triumph.

There was such a firm belief that any guilty person who drank the "water of cursing" would be immediately swollen with painful and loathsome disease, that few would have ventured to abide by the ordeal, unless they were conscious of innocence; and if any one had been sufficiently daring to run the supposed risk, the priests would not have been easily deceived by a bold woman, who tried to imitate the quiet fearlessness of virtue.

By the Mosaic law, an unfaithful wife was stoned to death, and the partner of her guilt shared the same fate.

Among the customs of Jewish women, it is mentioned that "the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in the year." It is well known, from Scripture history, that Jephthah's daughter went out with timbrels and dances to meet her father, when he returned victorious over his enemies; and that she cheerfully consented to be sacrificed, in order to fulfil a vow he had made unto the Lord.

It is not recorded what ceremonies were observed in commemoration of her death; but it was probably done after the manner in which they were accustomed to bewail women who died unmarried. The procession were clothed in mourning garments, with dishevelled hair, and ashes upon their heads, and as they moved, they wrung their hands and uttered loud

lamentations. It was not allowable to bathe, or anoint, during the days appointed for mourning. Jewish widows mourned for their husbands at least for the space of ten months, and it was deemed extremely indecorous for them to marry again in that time.

Children mourn a year for their parents. They do not put on black, but wear the same clothes they had on at the death of their father, however tattered and dirty they may be. Mourning for children, uncles, and aunts, lasts one month, during which period they do not cut their nails. When a husband returns from the funeral of his wife, he washes his hands, uncovers his feet, seats himself on the ground, and remains in the same posture, groaning and weeping, until the seventh day.

The custom of hired mourners to weep at funerals, and excite others to tears, was common with the Jews, and other ancient nations. Jeremiah says, "Call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women that they may come; and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with water."

Women while in captivity wore their hair shaven, and nails cut close, in token of grief. A new-born Hebrew infant was washed and rubbed with salt. When it was forty days old, the father offered a lamb of the first year and a turtle-dove, the first as a burnt-offering and the latter as a sin-offering for the mother. She prayed while the victims were

slain by the priest, who afterwards sprinkled her with the blood. At the feast of Pentecost an infant child was solemnly presented by its parents before Jehovah, in the temple.

There was a Jewish sect called Essenes, who were similar to the Pythagoreans, and in many points resembled the Shakers of modern times. Their name was derived from a Persian word signifying resemblance to a hive of bees. There was an entire community of goods among them, and very strict subordination to their elders. The tendency of their doctrines was to keep the body in complete subjection to the soul, which they believed to be immortal. They lived in seclusion, never mixed with the world, drank only water, ate only bread and hyssop, and had great contempt for women. They always wore white garments, and spat behind them, in token of abhorrence to the world they had left. Marriage was entirely forbidden among the higher class of this sect, and among the inferior classes it was allowed only with very strict limitations and severe restraints. This society was kept up by people who, from various motives, left the world to join them, or saw fit to intrust them with the education of their children.

None of the priests of Israel were allowed to marry a widow, or a divorced woman, or one whose character was not irreproachable.

The Jews are now scattered all over the earth; but they everywhere adhere to their ancient faith and usages; even in the United States, where every thing

is in the most direct opposition to the old Hebrew spirit of regulating, defining, bounding, and limiting.

This singular people are very numerous in Poland, where they have erected stately synagogues and academies. The city of Hamburgh has been called the “lesser Jerusalem," on account of the number of Jews who reside there. They are numerous in Turkey, and have colonies in India.

A German traveller gives the following enthusiastic description of the Jewesses in Poland: “I may here say a few words about the fair daughters of Israel, whom I saw at Kalish, decked in ornaments and rich apparel, in honor of the Sabbath. The pearl bands, worn as head ornaments by the Polish Jewesses, are so peculiar, that it is almost impossible to convey a correct idea of them by mere description. These bands are seen only in Poland, and their form obviously denotes their ancient and oriental origin. They consist of strings of pearls intermingled with gold, forming altogether an elaborate piece of architecture, whose construction it is not easy to describe.

"A Jewess of the higher class, adorned with her pearl hair-band and gold neck-chain, from which is frequently suspended an ancient gold coin, is an object of no common interest, especially if she be as beautiful as I have often seen Jewesses in Poland. The events of thousands of years seem to be recorded in their soul-beaming countenances. They deserve to be stored in the memory, as a portion of the vure, beautiful, and sublime of this world. Dignity,