THE HOLLY. 



197 



lect that of the three great Jewish festivals, — ^.namely, the 

 Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, — the two 

 former were undoubtedly tyi^ieal of the Christian festivals 

 Easter and Whitsuntide, and were, if I may be allowed 

 the expression, merged in them, may we not infer that the 

 early Christians adopted the custom of decking their 

 churches and dwellings with green boughs to show the 

 connexion between the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles and 

 the festival at which they commemorated the fact that 



noLLV BERRIES— WINTER OF 1S45-6. 



" the Word was made flesh and dwelt," or, as it may be 

 more correctly rendered, " tabernacled among us V In the 

 absence of all evidence, this conjecture appears to be quite 

 as consistent with reason as any of the others which have 

 been made, and certainly more in accordance "with the 

 piety of the early Christians. In some rural districts, the 

 thorny leaves of the Holly, and its scarlet berries, like 



