ing a cubit at half a yard, it would be one yard and a quarter long, three quarters of a yard broad, and three quarters of a yard high.

Johnnie. Was it made of wood ?

Grandfather. Yes, but it was overlaid with pure gold inside and outside, and it had two rings of gold on each side, and staves put through the rings to carry it by. Marianne. Was there anything kept in it?

Grandfather. There were the two tables of stone on which the ten commandments were written by the finger of God; there was a golden pot full of manna, kept as a remembrance of the way in which the Lord fed them in the wilderness; and there was Aaron's wonder-working rod; all these were kept in the ark of the covenant.

The priests, agreeably to the command given by Joshua, moved towards the river; they walked to its very edge; they stepped into it, and as soon as the feet of these priests touched the edge of the water, suddenly the channel of the river was dry, for the waters which were coming down from the sea of Galilee stood and rose up in a heap, so that there was none to flow into the Dead Sea; the space of sixteen or eighteen miles of the river was thus left dry. The priests walked into the middle of the Jordan; there they stood firm on dry ground till the whole of the people had passed over in safety. Then twelve stones were erected in Jordan, on the place where the priests had stood, and twelve stones were taken from that place and laid on the ground where the children of Israel encamped that night.

Marianne. What was the use of these stones, grandfather?

Grandfather. They were for a sign to keep in remembrance this great miracle.

Marianne. But surely they would never forget it?

Grandfather. They would remember it better if they saw something to remind them of it, and the stones would attract the attention of children in after times; they would ask the meaning of them, and the people would tell them of the wonderful works that God had wrought, that His great name might be glorified. This teaches us that when the God to whom we owe everything shews us a special favour, we ought to mark it in our memory and speak of it to others. Now, the wilderness where the Israelites wandered for forty years is a type of this world, for we are but strangers and sojourners here. The river Jordan is a type of death, the dark river through which we must pass before we reach the heavenly Canaan, our promised land of rest; and the ark is a type of our blessed Saviour. As it opened a passage for the chosen people through the river Jordan, so He has gone before us and prepared a way in which he leads his people through the dark valley of the shadow of death, as your hymn says, Johnnie,

"Jesus can make a dying bed

Feel soft as downy pillows are."

George. Does the Jordan overflow its banks still in the time of harvest?

Grandfather. Travellers who have been there at that season have seen no rise in the river, so it is supposed that it has not overflowed its banks for a considerable number of years; the cause of this is not known. That the river should be so much swollen at the time the Israelites entered Canaan, must have made the miracle wrought in their behalf the more striking, not only in their eyes, but also in the eyes of the heathen inhabitants of Jericho, who saw from their walls the dividing of the Jordan that their enemies might pass through.

Marianne. They must have been very much afraid. Grandfather. Doubtless they were; but their fear did them no good. If they had humbled themselves and besought pardon for their many offences, even then, at the eleventh hour, mercy might have been found for them. After the children of Israel entered Canaan, the manna that had fallen for so many years ceased to fall, and they ate of the corn of the land.

George. Grandfather, I am wearying to hear of the wonderful siege; will you soon come to it?

Grandfather. Immediately. Joshua stood beside Jericho, engaged probably in examining its walls and fortifications, considering where it would be best to begin the attack, when he saw standing opposite to him a man with a drawn sword in his hand. for us," the leader of the Israelites asked, enemies ?" 66 Nay," was the reply, of the host of the Lord am I now come."

"Art thou

66

or for our

"but as captain

Then Joshua

fell with his face to the earth and worshipped him, and said, "What saith my Lord unto his servant?" The Lord told Joshua to put off his shoes, for he stood on holy ground. Joshua obeyed. The Lord then gave

him instructions how he was to take the city. Joshua exactly followed them, so that Jericho fell into his hands.

George. How did he commence ?

Grandfather. He called the priests and the people, and directed them what they were to do. They walked round the city in this order: First armed men went to prepare the way for the ark; next seven priests, each having a trumpet of ram's horn; then the ark; and the rearward followed it. They marched round the city in silence, except that the priests blew the trumpets they carried in their hands. When they had compassed the city once, they returned to their camp. Early the next morning they rose and marched round the city in exactly the same order, with the same accompanying music, the priests blowing the trumpets. This they did six days. On the seventh they rose at dawn, and marched round as usual, not once only as on other days, but seven times. The seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua told the people to shout, for the Lord had given them the city. Jericho, he further told them, was accursed. Every person and every thing in it were to be destroyed, except Rahab and those who were with her. The gold and silver, the vessels of brass and iron, were consecrated

to the Lord; the people must take nothing for themselves. The priests blew the trumpets-the people shouted loudly—and the wall fell down flat.

Johnnie. What made the wall fall down, grandfather? Grandfather. The power of God, without whom no city can be fortified, and no city can be taken.

George. But why could they not have besieged Jericho, and taken it in the ordinary way?

Grandfather. That it was the will of God is sufficient for us to know, as it sufficed for Joshua and the Israelites. But we may see many reasons why it was an advantage for Jericho to be taken in a miraculous way. It would encourage the Israelites at their outset, and it would teach them to trust in God and look to Him for victory. It would shew before the heathen nations the power of the Almighty, and would render them more inexcusable if they persisted in resisting a power that was manifestly divine.

Marianne. Was Rahab saved alive?

Grandfather. Yes; Joshua sent the two spies to whom she had shewn kindness to bring her out of the city. They brought her and all her relations out to the camp. She was afterwards married to Salmon, a prince of the tribe of Judah, and is mentioned in the 1st chapter of St Matthew's gospel, as an ancestress of our Lord. All the other inhabitants of Jericho were put to death, men, women, and children, with their cattle and sheep; only the silver and gold, with the vessels of brass and iron remained, and they were put