respecting worldly amusements, it is by the state of the heart and affections, that the judgment will be mainly swayed on the subject. He who is of the world, will love the world and its pleasures, however stronglyconscience may remonstrate against them; while he who, like Mrs. Hoffman, feels himself a pilgrim and stranger upon earth, and whose affections are set upon things above, will need no arguments but those of his own instinctive feelings, to keep him far from the verge of temptation and pollution. To the Editor of the Christian Observer, MANY volumes of travels have been published, from which have been selected passages incidentally illustrative of the holy Scriptures. Biblical illustration was not indeed the professed object of the writers; but their observations on the places they visited, and the manners of their inhabitants, have, with great advantage to the cause of sacred literature, been applied for that purpose. Of late many of those persons who have travelled in Egypt, the Holy Land, and other parts of the East, have made it their business, after the excellent example of our Maundrels, Chardins, and other old writers, to compare the sacred writings with existing circumstances; and the result has been, that not only a striking coincidence has been found between them, but they have diffused light upon each other. Several valuable publications of this kind have lately appeared, among which J. Lewis Burckhardt's "Tra Island 6, Connecticut 45, New York 85, New Jersey 14, Pennsylvania 28, Delaware 3, Maryland 55, Virginia 28, North Carolina 9, South Carolina 26, Ohio 8, Georgia 3, Kentucky 4, Louisi ana 1, Missouri 1, Florida 1. The number of congregations of this denomination of Christians is nearly 600. In some instances, one clergyman has to perform public worship at three or four different places. vels in Syria and the Holy Land hold a distinguished place. Burckhardt has obviated various geographical doubts, and settled many hitherto questionable points. In the latter part of his volume he has furnished some curious and important information on the customs and habits of the people with whom he associated. These I have carefully selected and applied to those passages of Scripture to which they appear to belong. If you judge that the insertion of them in your miscellany will be acceptable to your readers, they are much at your service, and may hereafter be followed by others of a similar direct coincidences; but all, I think, nature. I do not offer them all as tural language or usages, and some more or less throw light on scripare perhaps as striking as any of the rier, Burckhardt, Belzoni, &c. which interesting illustrations from Mohave appeared in your pages. S. B. The famous cedars of Lebanon, as they now appear, are thus described by Mr. Burckhardt. "I left my guide on the small plain, and proceeded to the right towards the cedars, which are visible from the top of the mountain, standing half an hour from the direct line of the route to Bshirrai, at the foot of the steep declivities of the higher division of the mountain, They stand on uneven ground, and form a small wood. Of the oldest and best looking trees I counted eleven or twelve; twenty-five very size; and more than three hundred large ones; about fifty of middling smaller and young ones. The oldest trees are distinguished by having the foliage and small branches at the top only, and by four, five, and even seven trunks, springing from one base: the branches and foliage of the others were lower; but I saw none whose leaves touched the ground, like those in Kew gardens. The trunks of the old trees are covered with the names of travel " lers and other persons who have visited them: I saw a date of the seventeenth century. The trunks of the oldest trees seem to be quite dead: the wood is of a grey tint." (Burckhardt's Travels, p. 19.) Compare Psal. xcii. 12; Ezek. xxxi. 3; 1 Kings v. 6; 2 Chron. ii. 8; Ezra iii. 7. Many instances are recorded by our traveller of the free and generous hospitality so commonly practised in the East, and so often alluded to in Scripture. The following is an agreeable example. "The mountaineers, when upon a journey, never think of spending a para for their eating, drinking, or lodging. On arriving in the evening at a village, they alight at the house of some acquaintance, if they have any, which is generally the case, and say to the owner, I am your guest.' The host gives the traveller a supper, consisting of milk, bread, and borgul, and, if rich and liberal, feeds his mule or mare also. When the traveller has no acquaintance in the village, he alights at any house he pleases, ties up his beast, and smokes his pipe till he receives a welcome from the master of the house, who makes it a point of honour to receive him as a friend, and to give him a supper. In the morning he departs with a simple Good b'ye." (Ibid. p. 24.)-Again: "It is a point of honour with the host never to accept the smallest return from a guest. I only once ventured to give a few piastres to the child of a very poor family at Zahomet, by whom we had been most hospitably treated, and rode off without attending to the cries of the mother, who insisted upon my taking back the money." (p. 295.) Job (xxxi. 32) says, respecting his conduct, "The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveller." The Turks believe that all strangers, who inquire after inscriptions, are in search of treasure. "When questioned on this subject at Baalbec, I answered, The treasures of this country are not beneath the earth: they come from God, and are on the surface of the earth. Work your fields, and sow them, and you will find the greatest treasure in an abundant harvest. By your life (a common oath), truth comes from your lips,' was the reply." (Ibid. p. 40.) Agreeably to this mode of swearing, we find Joseph protesting, "by the life of Pharaoh," that his brethren should not depart without leaving Benjamin. (Gen. xlii. 15: see also 1 Sam. i. 26, and xvii. 55.), Protesting by a person's life is, however, a common mode of asseveration in most countries I believe; and no where more so than our own, at least in the first person. "All that a man hath will he give for his life;" and hence the expression, "Upon my life," bas become a sort of colloquial oath. The shrub which produces the balm of Mecca succeeds very well at Tabaria (Tiberias) and several people have it in their gardens. It was described to me," says Mr. Burckhardt, "as a low shrub, with leaves resembling those of the vine, the fruit about three inches long, and in the form of a cucumber, changing from green to a yellow colour when ripe. It is gathered in June: oil is then poured over it, and in this state it is exposed to the sun, after which the juice forming the balm is expressed from it." (Ibid. p. 324.)-This is very possibly the stacte mentioned in Exodus xxx. 34. The Jews observe a singular custom at Tabaria in praying. "While the rabin recites the Psalms of David, or the prayers extracted from them, the congregation frequently imitate by their voice, or gestures, the meaning of some remarkable passages. For example, when the rabbin pronounces the words, Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet, they imitate the sound of the trumpet through their clenched fists: when a horrible tempest occurs, they puff and blow, to repre sent a storm; or should he mention the cries of the righteous in distress, they all set up a loud screaming: and it not unfrequently happens, that while some are still blowing the storm, others have already begun the cries of the righteous; thus forming a concert which it is difficult for any but a zealous Hebrew to hear with gra-vity." (Ibid. p. 327.) Such passages as Psal. cl. 3, xi. 6, xxxiv. 17, probably receive this vocal illustration. "It is considered at Kereth an unpardonable meanness to sell but ter, or to exchange it for any necessary or convenience of life; so that, as the property of the people consists chiefly in cattle, and every family possesses large flocks of goats and sheep, which produce great quantities of butter, they supply this article very liberally to their guests. Besides other modes of consuming butter in their cookery, the most common dish at breakfast or dinner is Fetyte, a sort of pudding made with sour milk and a large quantity of butter. There are families who thus consume, in the course of a year, upwards of ten quintals of butter. If a man is known to have sold or exchanged this article, his daughters or sisters remain unmarried; for no one would dare to connect himfelf with the family of a baya el samin, or seller of butter, the most insulting epithet that can be applied to a mau of Kereth." (Ibid. p. 385.) See Gen. xviii. 8; Judges v. 25; 2 Sam, xvii. 29; Job. xx. 17; xxix. 6. "I endeavoured to bind him by the most solemn oath used by the Bedouins laying his hand upon the head of his little boy, and on the forefeet of his mare, he swore that he would for that sum (fifteen piastres) conduct me himself, or cause me to be conducted, to the Arabs, Howeytat, from whence I might hope to find a mode of pro.ceeding in safety to Egypt." (Ibid. p. 398.)-This extract not only illustrates the scriptural custom of laying the hand on the head of a child on solemn occasions, as when Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph (Gen. xlviii. 14); but, by shewing the respect felt for the animal enjoined in the ceremony, softens the apparent harshness of such a passage as Sol. Song, i. 9, on which the pious and judicious Mr. Scott observes, "The simile, as applied to a beautiful female, is not very apposite." Certainly not to an European reader; but the case is very different with an Oriental. "The Sheikh of the Towara Bedouins, an old man, seeing escape impossible, sat down by the fire, when the leader of the Maazy came up, and cried out to him to throw down his turban, and his life should be spared. The generous Sheikh, rather than do what, according to Bedouin notions, would have stained his reputation ever after, exclaimed, I shall not uncover my head before my enemies; and was immediately killed with the thrust of a lance." (Ibid. p. 471.) See Lev. xiii. 45; Ezek. xxix. 18; Amos. viii. 10. "From Ayoun Mousa to the well of Howara we had travelled fifteen hours and a quarter. Referring to this distance, it appears probable that this is the desert of three days mentioned in the Scriptures to have been crossed by the Israelites immediately after their passing the Red Sea, and at the end of which they arrived at Marah. In moving with a whole nation, the march may well be supposed to have occupied three days: and the bitter well at Marah, which was sweetened by Moses, corresponds exactly with that of Howara. This is the usual route to Mount Sinai, and was probably that which the Israelites took on their escape from Egypt, provided it be admitted, that they crossed the sea near Suez, as Niebuhr, with good reason, conjectures. There is no other road of three days' march in the way from Suez towards Sinai; nor is there any other well absolutely bitter on the whole of this coast, as far as Ras Mohammed. The complaints of the bitterness of the water by the children of Israel, who had been accustomed to the sweet water of the Nile, are such as may daily be heard from the Egyptian servants and peasants who travel in Arabia. Accustomed from their youth to the excellent water of the Nile, there is nothing which they so much regret in countries distant from Egypt: nor is there any eastern people who feel so keenly the want of good water as the present natives of Egypt. With respect to the means employed by Moses to render the waters of the well sweet, I have frequently inquired among the Bedouins in different parts of Arabia, whether they possessed any means of effecting such a change by throwing wood into it, or by any other process: but I never could learn that such an art was known." (Ibid. p. 472.) See Exodus xv. 23-25. : "I found the same custom to prevail here, which I observed in my journey through the northern parts of Arabia Petraea. When meat is served up, it is the duty of one of the guests to demand a portion for the women, by calling out Lahm el Ferash, that is, The meat for the apartment of the women : and a part of it is either then set aside, or he is answered that this has been already done." (Ibid. p. 484.) See Esther i. 9. "Before us lay a small bay, which we skirted: the sands on the shore every where bore the impression of the passage of serpents, crossing each other in many directions; and some of them appeared to be made by animals whose bodies could not be less than two inches in diameter. Ayd told me that serpents were very common in these parts; that the fishermen were much afraid of them, and extinguished their fires in the evening, before they went to sleep, because the light was known to attract them. As serpents are so numerous on this side, they are proba bly not deficient towards the head of the gulf on its opposite shore, where it appears that the Israelites passed, when they journeyed from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom, and when the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people." (Ibid. p. 499.)-The Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, has "serpents of burning bites," instead of fiery serpents." (Numb. xxi. 6.) "Ayd still expressed his certainty that somebody had approached us last night, so much confidence did he place in the barking of his dog: he therefore advised me to hasten my way back, as some Arabs might see our footsteps in the sand, and pursue us in quest of a booty. On departing, Ayd, who was barefooted, and whose feet had become sore with walking, took from under the date bush round which we had passed the night, a pair of leathern sandals, which he knew belonged to his Heywat friend, the fisherman, and which the latter had hidden here till his return. In order to inform the owner that it was be who had taken the sandals, he impressed his footstep in the sand just by, which he knew the other would immediately recognize, and he turned the toes towards the south, to indicate that he had proceeded with the sandals in that direction." (Ibid.p.513.)-If the footstep so clearly points out both the individual who impresses it on the sand, and the course he has taken, in how expressive a manner does Asaph represent the incomprehensibleness of the conduct of Jehovah, when he says, "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known!" (Psalm lxxvii. 19.) Manna.-" In the month of June it drops from the thorns of the tamarisk upon the fallen twigs, leaves, and thorns, which always cover the ground beneath that tree in the natural state. The manna is collected before sunrise, when it is coagulated; but it dissolves as soon : as the sun shines upon it. The Arabs clean away the leaves, dirt, &c. which adhere to it, boil it, strain it through a coarse piece of cloth, and put it into leathern skins in this way they preserve it till the following year, and use it as they do honey, to pour over their unleavened bread, or to dip their bread into. I could not learn that they ever make it into cakes or loaves. The manna is found only in years when copious rains have fallen: sometimes it is not produced at all, as will probably happen this year. I saw none of it among the Arabs; but I obtained a small piece of last year's produce in the convent, where having been kept in the cool shade, and moderate temperature of that place, it had become quite solid, and formed a small cake. It became soft when kept sometime in the hand; if placed in the sun for five minutes it dissolved: but when restored to a cool place it became solid again in a quarter of an hour. In the season at which the Arabs gather it, it never acquires that state of hardness which will allow of its being pounded, as the Israelites are said to have done. (Numbers xi. 8.) Its colour is a dirty yellow, and the piece which I saw was still mixed with bits of tamarisk leaves its taste is agreeable, somewhat aromatic, and as sweet as honey. If eaten in any considerable quantity, it is said to be slightly aperient." (Ibid. p. 600.) See Numbers xi. 7-9. "In the evening we continued our route in the valley Aleyat, in the direction N. W. To our right was a mountain, upon the top of which is the tomb of a sheikh, held in great veneration by the Bedouins, who frequently visit it, and there sacrifice sheep. It is called El Monadja. The custom among the Bedouins of burying their saints upon the summits of mountains, accords with a similar practice of the Israelites. There are very few Bedouin tribes who have not one or more tombs of protecting saints, in whose honour they offer sacrifices: the custom probably originated in their ancient idolatrous worship, and was in some measure retained by the sacrifices enjoined by Mohammed in the great festivals of the Islam." (Ibid. p. 612.) See Joshua xxiv. 30. FAMILY SERMONS.-No. CLXVI. Eph. ii. 4-7.-But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. THEApostle, in the foregoing verses, had described the fallen and wretched condition of mankind by nature. He had spoken of the Ephesian Christians, as "in time past dead in trespasses and sins, wherein they walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children/ of disobedience." And then, as if to shew that this corruption of nature and habit was not confined to the Ephesian converts, who had been heathens, degraded by superstition and idolatry, and immersed in gross vice and ignorance; he adds, " Among whom also," that is, among these unhappy slaves of sin and satan, "we all”—all mankind, the Jew as well as the Gentile, even the Apostle himself in the days of his unconversion," we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as others." Such was the universal condition of the world; we all like sheep had gone |