path. Pray to the Holy Spirit; that he may make you understand the Bible by his blessed teaching. The Jews with their traditions covered up the lamp; and sin and Satan blind the minds of little children. This is a nice prayer for you all, "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;" and may you indeed be enabled to walk in it. There is one other little prayer in the text, "I lift up my soul unto thee.” Will the Holy One let a little child lift up its soul to him? Oh, yes! There is not a child who lifts up its thoughts, but the Lord is ready to help that child. Not very long ago, a child was wandering on the sea shore looking for shells; and the tide came up before she was aware. She did not know what to do; on one side was the high cliff with holes in it in which animals lived, and on the other, the sea; I cannot get through the water, she thought, but the animals in the clefts of the rock have clambered up; and then she thought, if they could, she would also try; and lifting up her little soul to her Saviour, she safely reached the top. When asked by her friends, if she did not feel giddy, she answered "No," adding, " for I never looked down, but only up to the hill; and also to my Saviour." Now, this is what you should do, dear children, and say, "for I lift up my soul unto Thee." J. E. Bath. THE WHITE FEATHER. (From Montgomery's "Law of Kindness.") AN intelligent Quaker of Cincinnati, related to me the following circumstance, as evidence that the principle of nonresistance possesses great influence, even over the savage. During the last war, a Quaker lived among the inhabitants of a small settlement on our western frontier. When the savages commenced their desolating outbreaks, every inhabitant fled to the interior settlements, with the exception of the Quaker and his family. He determined to remain, and rely wholly upon the simple rule of disarming his enemies with entire confidence and kindness. One morning, he observed through his window a file of savages issuing from the forest in the direction of his house. He immediately went out and met them, and put out his hand to the leader of the party. But neither he nor the rest gave him any notice; they entered his house, and searched it for arms, and had they found any, most probably would have murdered every member of the family. There were none, however, and they quietly partook of the provisions which he placed before them, and left him in peace. At the entrance of the forest, he observed that they stopped and appeared to be holding a council. Soon one of their number left the rest, and came towards his dwelling on the leap. He reached the door, and fastened a simple white feather above it, and returned to his band, when they all disappeared. Ever after, that white feather saved him from the savages; for whenever a party came by and observed it, it was a sign of peace to them. In this instance we discover that the law of kindness disarmed even savage foes, whose white feather told their red brethren that the Quaker was a follower of Penn, and the friend of their race. EXALTING THE HORN. ALLUSIONS to the horn, as an instrument indicative of power or dignity, are numerous in Scripture; and much light has been thrown upon the subject by the writings of Bruce relative to Abyssinia; as well as by a reference to the well-known practice of the Druses. But it may be new to many, to learn that, in our own country, the use of horns, as an appendage to the female head-dress, prevailed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, having probably been brought from Palestine by the crusaders on their return home. This singular fashion was ridiculed by several writers of the day; one of them, as early as 1310. A French author of about the same period, thus denounces the custom, "I scarce can tell what terms 'tis best to use- Is not in heaven for wearing such array." ENGRAVED STONES OF MEMORIAL. HENGSTENBERG says, "Bezaleel is spoken of in Ex. xxxvi. and xxxvii. as distinguished among other things, for his skill in the preparation of stones for setting. Precious stones on which the names of the Israelites were engraven, in the character engraven on the signet-ring, were placed according to Exod. xxviii. 9-11, and 17, in golden encasements upon the [shoulders of the] ephod, and breast-plate of the high-priest. "The art of cutting precious stones, generally very early discovered, was practised in Egypt even in very ancient times. There are several necklaces of gold and cornelian in the new gallery of Egyptian antiquities opened at the British Museum, whose exquisite workmanship could scarcely be surpassed by modern artists, though, as we see from their engravings, the apparatus of the jeweller was as simple as could well be imagined. This is still the case in Hindostan, where the native jeweller, travelling from house to house with his little furnace and blowpipe, produces ornaments of considerable beauty. That the art of the engraver, was native to Egypt, is manifest from data, which Wilkinson has furnished with regard to the Egyptian signets; of many of these he has also engravings. There, for example, is described the signet yet preserved of one of the earliest of the Pharaohs. Upon one side of the plate the name of the king is engraved; upon the opposite, a lion with the motto, The Lord of Strength,' which is applied to the king; on one side is a scorpion, and on the other a crocodile. Various other inscriptions are found engraved on Egyptian rings."* Interesting as are all subjects connected with biblical illustration, it appears to us, with reference to this particular art, that the most important considerations are here overlooked, as they are also by every other commentator we have studied. It may be matter of satisfaction with some, to know that engraving on stones is of high antiquity, and to be able by an examination of Egyptian armlets or necklaces, critically to elucidate the exact import of the Scriptures where they speak of the “engravings of a signet," by shewing that such engravings were not in relief, but what is technically termed incuse, or cut into the stone; but a meaning of far more interesting character is brought to light, by * Egypt and the Books of Moses, ch. 5. § 2. p. 141. с considering the purport or reference of these graven inscriptions, as developed by works of the kind still extant among the nations of the East. The subjoined engraving gives, in enlarged fac-simile, one of a series of stones recently engraved for an Oriental necklace. Engraved Stone from an Oriental Necklace. Like the onyx-stones of the Jewish ephod, and the breast-plate of judgment, this necklace is inscribed with the proper names of individuals near and dear to the wearer, accompanied by a wish that they might be borne on his heart before God,—a sentiment beautifully illustrative of the spirit and principle observable in the Mosaic rite. The inscription, in the Ta' lik character, is to this effect ALLAH, MOHAMMED, FATIMAH, 'ALI, HASAN, HOSEIN, 'ALI, MOHAMMED, MUSA, MOHAMMED, HOSEIN, Prayers to God for them! Allusions to the custom of wearing about the person such stones of memorial are abundant in Scripture, and especially in the writings of Solomon, whose connection with a daughter of Pharaoh by marriage, necessarily brought him much into contact with Egyptian usages. This fact suggests a very probable clue to the easy interpretation of the hieroglyphics with which the necklaces referred to by Hengstenberg, are embellished. The principal references to this custom occur in Prov. iii. 3, and vi. 20. 21. "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thine heart. My son, keep thy father's commandments, and forsake not the law of thy mother; bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck." Other allusions occur in Deut. vi. 8. Prov.vii. 3. Cant. viii. 6. THE SUDDEN CALL. It was a chill November morning: a breeze ruffled the surface of the beautiful bay spread out before me, and dashed its waves in white spray upon the shore. A grey mist hung over the tops of the Argyle hills which bounded the view northward, and a few sea birds floated heavily between the water and the low-sailing clouds. Each moaning gust whirled off some of the few remaining leaves of the lilacs and poplars which bordered the little flower-plat before my windows, and sent a shower of faded leaflets from the rose trees. The roots of the dahlias had been removed; and their latest blossoms now adorned, not the garden, but the drawing-room. The only flowers that still lingered were the crimson fuschias, a few lilac primroses, and purple pansies; with here and there some summer blossom which the frost had not yet nipped. It was a time meet for reflection on the transitory nature of all earthly beauties and human joys. But we were seated at our snug breakfast table by a cheerful fire; and thought not of the lessons which the scene without might have conveyed. On a sudden, a servant opened the door, and with a look of horror conveyed the intelligence that the gentleman in the next house had just been found in bed, quite dead. I started from table, and hurrying to the house, found it a scene of trembling and tears. The gentleman, a fine looking elderly person, had been very slightly indisposed on the previous evening; but refusing to allow his medical attendant to be called for so trifling an ailment, he had gone to bed. In the morning it was thought that he slept unusually long, and a member of the family went to awake him; but she found that his waking had been in eternity. I did not know the old gentleman, nor was I aware whether or not he had possessed the "good hope through grace;" but the circumstance led me to think much of my own preparation for the world unseen. Yet it was no uncommon case; and like many other instances of sudden death, I fear that it passed before the minds of numbers of the inhabitants of our little town, prompting only a few common exclamations relative to the uncertainty of life; or some nervous and disagreeable emotions of fear, which were banished as speedily as possible. с? |