The Cen Virgins.

BY HENRY D. MOORE.

An exposition of a Scripture passage is not intended in the following pages; nor will the beautiful and efficient appropriateness of the Parable of the Ten Virgins to the end contemplated by our Lord in his instructions to the people, on that particular occasion, be discussed. It will satisfy us merely to state here, what we have always observed with peculiar interest, that those higher ranges of truth which are appropriate to the capacities of our spiritual being, and which so forcibly confirm our destiny, were made plain to the commonest understandings, by illustrations drawn by the great Teacher, from nature and from those customs which were familiar things to, and household engagements with, those who were the immediate subjects of his instructions. The wisdom of the Divine Teacher discovered lessons of virtue and religion in the fowls of the air, and in the lilies of the field, which He could convey with irresistible force of truth to those minds under his influence. And in discoursing with one, reputed wise and great, He would

illustrate and confirm highest truth, truth for the mind, truth for the soul, and truth that brings joy to the spirit, by the wind blowing where it listeth, the sound of which is heard, and the effects of which are seen, but whose home none can tell, and whose wanderings none can detect. Shepherds, and householders and noblemen, and husbandmen and judges, and kings, with their varied pursuits, were brought forth to illustrate His teachings, and confirm their truth.

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, our Lord, by reference to the marriage custom, which the inhabitants of the East cherished and indulged, instructed the people in relation to the most important issues of His mission to the world. Our acquaintance with this custom is necessarily limited, and consequently our appreciation of the beauty and force of the instruction, is also limited. The truth of all ages, is intricately inwoven with the history of all ages, and the historical associations of the truth, render the Scriptures invulnerable to the attacks of infidelity. And that man is best able to judge of the importance of the truth, best prepared to love it, and be blest by it, who has, to the fullest possible extent, familiarized himself with the history of the world, and customs of ages. All history, though it is immediately and practically real, is ultimately symbolic. And the same may be said of all customs; they are eminently typical. They may be termed the life of the present, and the forms through which the life of the future is communicated. The Great Teacher, in the largeness of His wisdom, noticing the fitness of circumstances, and customs and history, to the efficient instruction of the Truth, invariably employs them

in illustrating and confirming His lessons of virtue and religion. So Christ employed the Parable of the Ten Virgins, boldly and beautifully introducing the marriage custom and ceremony of the East, with which His listeners were familiar, and, appreciating the force of the illustration, could the better appropriate the lesson which He would convey.

The Hebrews celebrated the marriage ceremony with pomp and magnificence. They wore crowns on their marriage day, and it seems that the bridegroom's was put on by his mother. The ceremonies continued three days for a widow, and seven days for a virgin. During this time the young men and young women attended the bridegroom and the bride in their respective apartments, and the former amused one another with riddles. A friend of the bridegroom's governed the feast, that no drunkenness or disorder might be committed. At the end of the feast, the parties were with lighted lamps conducted to the bridegroom's house. The bridegroom, leaving his apartment, called forth the bride and her attendants, who, it seems, were generally about ten persons. The modern Jews retain most of these ceremonies, only, since the ruin of their city and temple, the bridegrooms wear no crowns on the marriage day. They generally marry widows on Thursday, and virgins on Friday. On the evening before the marriage, the bride is led to the bath by her companions, making music with songs and instruments as they move along. On her return, her friends sing the marriage song at the door of her father's house. On the marriage day, the parties are dressed in all possible splendour. A number of

young men attend the and groom, young women the bride. They are generally married in the open air, on the bank of a river, or in a court or garden. The parties, each covered with a black veil; with another veil hanging over it, with four tufts on their head, are placed under a canopy. The Rabbi of the place, the chaunter of the synagogue, or the nearest friend of the bridegroom, taking a cup of wine, and having blessed it, and thanked God for the creation and marriage of the sexes, causes the parties to taste the wine. Next the bridegroom, by putting a golden ring on the hand of the bride, takes her to be his wife. The contract of marriage is then read, and the bridegroom delivers it into the hands of the bride's relations. Wine is then brought in a brittle vessel, and being six times blessed, the married couple drink thereof; and the rest of it, in token of joy, is cast on the ground; and the bridegroom, in memory of the ruin of their city, dashes to the earth and breaks in pieces the vessel. At the end of the marriage feast they prepare to come into the bridegroom's house; this may be at some distance. The procession generally sets off in the evening, with much ceremony and pomp. The bridegroom is richly clothed with a robe and crown, and the bride is covered with a veil from head to foot. The companions of each attend them with songs and the sound of instruments, the companies moving separately, while the virgins are all provided with veils, not indeed so large as that which hangs over the bride, yet sufficiently large to conceal their faces from all around. The way, as they go along, is brilliantly illuminated with numerous torches. In the meantime,