as an offering to the Lord, the priests having no lands or harvests of their own. The fortieth or sixtieth portion of the dough kneaded at the time was reserved for this purpose. And then, again, the first-fruits of every private harvest, not only of the grain, but of the fruits also, were offered at the temple with a solemn and very touching ceremony. The time for this private observance, and the amount offered, were left to the judgment of each individual. For this purpose, the Jews, at the conclusion of their harvests, used to collect in little parties from the same neighborhood, four to twenty persons together. They were preceded by an ox appointed for sacrifice, with a crown of olives on his head, and his horns gilded, with a player on the flute before him; and thus they walked in company to Jerusalem. The offerings were carried in baskets, and consisted of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, apricots, olives, and dates. From the fortieth to the sixtieth of the crop was offered. Each one bore his own basket; those of the rich were made of gold, those of the poor of wicker-work. When they arrived at Jerusalem, their friends came out to meet them. On reaching the temple, every man, the king himself, if he were there, took his basket on his shoulder and carried it into the court, where the Levites received the party, singing the xxx. Psalm: “I will extol Thee, O Lord,” &c., &c. After this, the form and ceremony enjoined in Deuteronomy were complied with:
“And it shall be, when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and
