398 
RURAL HOURS. 
as an offering to the Lord, the priests having no lands or harvests 
of their own. The fortieth or sixtieth portion of the dough knead- 
ed 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 Avith a solemn and 
very touching ceremony. The time for this private observance, 
and the amount offered, were left to the judgment of each indi- 
vidual. For this purpose, the Jews, at the conclusion of their 
harvests, used to collect in little parties from the same neighbor- 
hood, 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 oflfered. 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, 0 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 
