Sabbath, being, I gathered, in a mystic transport. It was
then Wednesday. Mine was not the only disappointment, for the door was
besieged by a curious rabble of pilgrims of both sexes, some come from
very far, some on foot and in rags, some in well-appointed equipages.
One of the latter--a beautiful, richly dressed woman--by no means took
her exclusion with good grace, bidding her coachman knock again and
again at the door, and endeavoring to bribe the door-keeper with
grocery, wine, and finally gold; but all in vain. I entered into
conversation with members of the crowd, and discovered that some came
for cures, and some for charms, and some for divine interpositions in
their worldly affairs. One man, I found, desired that the price of
wheat might go up, and another that it might fall. Another desired a
husband for his elderly daughter, already nineteen. And an old couple
were in great distress at the robbery of their jewels, and were sure
the Saint would discover the thief and recover the booty. I found but
one, who, like me, came from a consuming desire to hear new doctrine
for the soul. And so I was to have the advantage of them, I learnt,
not without chuckling; for whereas I should receive my wish on the
Sabbath, being invited to attend "the Supper of the Holy Queen," these
worldly matters could not be attended to till the Sunday. I whiled
away the intervening days as patiently as I could, exploring the
beautiful environs beyond the Saint's house, further than which nobody
ever seemed to penetrate; and, indeed, it was but seldom that I had
heard of a Jew's making the blessing over lofty mountains or beautiful
trees. Perhaps because our country was for the most part only a great
swamp. But often had I occasion in these walks to say, "Blessed art
thou, O Lord our God, who hast such things in Thy world." I scarcely
ever saw a human creature, which somehow comforted and uplifted me.
Only once were my meditations interrupted, and that by a shout which
startled me, and just enabled me to get out of the way of an elegant,
glittering carriage drawn by two white horses, in which a
stout-looking man lolled luxuriously, smoking a hookah. My prayerful
mood was broken, and I fell upon worldly thoughts of riches and ease.

On Friday night I ate with an elder of the Chassidim, who heard of my
interest in his order, but whom I could not get to understand that I
was come to examine, not to accept unquestioningly. I plied him with
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