events came to pass. But of this we are sure, that they were perfectly well known a very long time before their accomplishment.*

By the captive nation, the ascension of Cyrus must have been hailed with delight. Sadly had they counted the days and years of their banishment from their native country. The seventy years of their sentence were now numbered, and by a wonderful arrangement of that Providence, which still regarded them as the adopted children of the promise, at the same moment a prince, who had been named as their liberator, above an hundred years before his birth, ascends the conquered throne of their oppressors! His mild and lofty character, too, was an happy omen, that in Cyrus they indeed beheld the "Deliverer." The antitype of that elegant apostrophe of the prophet

"How beautiful appear on the mountains,

The feet of the joyful messenger; of him that announceth peace!

Of the joyful messenger of good tidings,

Of him that announceth salvation!

Of him that sayeth unto Zion, thy God reigneth!"+

* With respect to the particular prophecy, (Dan. xi.) relating to the kings of Syria and Egypt, which Porphyry affirmed was written after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, we may remark, that the book of Daniel was translated into the Greek language one hundred years before he lived; and that very translation was in the hands of the Egyptians, who did not cherish any great kindness towards the Jews and their religion: and those prophecies which foretold the successes of Alexander, (Dan. viii. 5. xi. 3.) were shown to him by the Jews, in consequence of which, he conferred upon them several privileges.-Horne's Introd. vol. 2, p. 299.

+ Lowth's Isaiah.

EZRA,

MRS. M. Beginning the computation of the seventy years' captivity, with our most esteemed chronologists, from the first taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, it was exactly concluded in the first year of the reign of Cyrus: and in strict accordance with the prophecy, in that very year we find the royal rescript for the release of the Jewish nation, with authority to rebuild their temple, and a recommendation to his subjects, to promote his beneficent intentions, by a contribution of whatsoever might be of use to the liberated people.

FANNY. The divine decrees being usually brought about by second causes, we may very naturally enquire into the motives which induced the king of Persia to repeople a city, whose rebellious disposition had been so troublesome to his predecessors.

MRS. M. Whilst the dispersion of the Jews was a chastisement for their sins-it was happily calculated to disseminate the knowledge of the true God, in opposition to the false deities of their conquerors. Their steady refusal to worship idols, and the miraculous preservation of individuals, in the persecutions to which that refusal had subjected them, had compelled the heathen monarchs to confess, that the God of Israel" did according to his will, in

the army of heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of the earth." By these means, the heart of Cyrus might be prepared to lend an obedient ear to his prophets. Nor could he read without emotion, that remarkable prediction in which he was pointed out by name, as "the Shepherd of the Lord, who should perform all his pleasure-who should subdue nations before him-who should build up His city, and let go His captives."* That he had seen the prediction, we are told by Josephus, a Jewish historian, and so it might be assumed, because the words of Isaiah are recited in the proclamation-and that they were shown to him by Daniel, who, as first minister of the empire, would have access to the king-and who was intent on the subject, is highly probable.

The order for their emancipation being published, the Jews were collected, to the number of nearly fifty thousand, from all parts of the empire, and set out joyfully for Jerusalem, with their camels, and other beasts of burthen, laden with the gifts of their brethren, who did not join them at this time. But the most precious articles which they carried, were the gold and silver vessels of the temple. Five thousand four hundred of these were brought forth from the house of Baal, and delivered to Zerubbabel, (or Sheshbazar, as he was called hy the Babylonians,) a grandson of Jehoiachin, and now, by Cyrus, appointed governor of Judea. (B. C. 536.)

The particular description of persons, which we have in the catalogue + of those who went up to Jerusalem, and their distribution into families and offices-as the princes

Isaiah, xliv. 28. and xlv. 13.

+ Ezra, chap. ii.

and the elders-the priests and the Levites-the porters and the singers attest the sacred care that was taken of the national records, amidst all their calamities; and also of the providential design, that the tribes should be kept separate until Shiloh should come." Thus the prophecy*

was progressively fulfilling. And by these public documents, their officers of every description could assume their constitutional places, and the families which had been torn from their country, were enabled to return, each to his patrimonial inheritance.

After a journey of four months, through a rough and sterile country, the exiles arrived safely at Jerusalem, their beloved city, in the month Nisan, the first month of their ecclesiastical year, exemplifying in their whole march, and its happy termination, the exulting anticipation of the prophet, two hundred years anterior to this period

"Depart, depart ye; go ye out from thence, touch no polluted thing:

Go ye out from the midst of her, be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah !

Verily not in haste shall ye go forth;

And not by flight shall ye march along:

For Jehovah shall march in your front;

And the God of Israel shall bring up your rear.

Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return, and come to Sion with loud acclamation.†

Immediately after their arrival at Jerusalem, the Jews rébuilt the altar for burnt offerings on the spot where it had formerly stood, in the inner court of the temple, and

* Gen. xliv. 10.

+ Lowth's Isaiah, c. li. 52.

restored the ceremonial rites of their religion: the morning and evening sacrifices were offered-and at the appointed seasons, the feast of trumpets, and the feasts of tabernacles, were celebrated, and the great day of expiation was religiously observed.

CATHERINE. Did not the Jews, in this return to their country, bring with them the superstitions of the heathens, as their ancestors had done, when they were delivered from Egyptian bondage?

In

MRS. M. They did not. Nor does it appear that they ever apostatized from their faith, during the whole time of their banishment; but rather, that this severe judgment was happily the cure of their propensity for idols. restoring their temple service, they adhered with tenacity to the Mosaic Law; permitting no one to approach the altar who could not prove his genealogy or descent from the tribe of Levi. Nay, so scrupulous were they now, that they refused the assistance of a neighbouring people, who desired to unite with them in rebuilding the temple, though they professed their devotion to the God of Israel.

FANNY. Was not that a dereliction of the charity and good will which they had been commanded to exercise towards strangers or proselytes ?

MRS. M. In the Jewish commonwealth, privileges were conferred upon proselytes in proportion to the degree in which they adopted the Mosaic ceremonies and faith. Nor are the laws of other nations less rigid in this respect than were those of this people. With them, the civil and religious polity was but one and the same institution. Jehovah was not less their king than their Deity-and the law of his religion was the civil law of his realm. The temple was the inheritance of the children of Abraham,