ADDRESS. 



By ALONZO gray, A.M 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Society. 



The statute of the Hebrew Commonwealth which 

 required all the people to assemble triennially at Jerusa- 

 lem, and present themselves before the Lord, was not 

 more a dictate of piety than of sound, practical wisdom. 

 It led them to cherish a friendly regard for each other, 

 and it kept alive a spirit of obedience to their divine 

 lawgiver. It furnished the best opportunities to pay 

 their tithes; to present the best of their flocks and fat- 

 lings, the first fruits of the field and of the vine, the 

 honey and the oil, with the sacred garments and orna- 

 ments for the divine service. 



The feast of the harvest, especially, must have pre- 

 sented an imposing spectacle. The immense multitude 

 of people, the numerous flocks and caravans which 

 blocked up the ways and covered the hills around the 

 sacred city. The display of their merchandise, their 

 offerings for the service of the temple, towards which all 

 eyes were directed and at the sight of which all Israel 

 bov/ed to the earth, in silent adoration of Him who 

 made it the place of his peculiar presence. The pillar 

 of smoke which ascended to heaven from the altar of 

 burnt sacrifice completed the ])icture; and then it was 

 at Jerusalem, the city of the great King, the place where 

 he unveiled his awful majesty, while all around w^as 

 calculated to inspire the pious sentiment of the Psalmist, 

 "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof," the 



