was to the Israelites, Christ is really to us; what the scapegoat did typically for them, Christ has done for us. For "his own self bare our sins on his own body on the tree;" "and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." You must, individually, go to Christ; not to any earthly priest; nor to the Virgin Mary. You must not trust on rites or ceremonies; they are only shadows, playing on the walls, of false opinions and corrupt practices. These Jewish rites teach us some important, infallible, undeniable truths; teach us that God hates sin; that he has so loved us as to provide a real sacrifice, and that He will receive any dear child who comes to Him, repents of his sins, and relies upon the merits of Christ for salvation. Dear reader, thus act, then you may say— "Jesus, thou for me hath died, Of love, this shall be my plea : I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me." A. E. PORTNALL. BIBLICAL ALLUSIONS ILLUSTRATED BY EASTERN SCENES. WATER POTS. "And there were set there six waterpots of stone."-John ii. 6. "I PURSUED my way to the work," says Mr. W. R. Wilson in his book of Eastern travels, "went through some valleys, and in a couple of hours arrived at Cana, almost contiguous to the plain of Zebulon. Under an overpowering sun I stopped at a fountain near the entrance of this village to take refreshment, and, sitting down on the shattered wall which enclosed it, turned to that interesting passage of Scripture explanatory of the six waterpots of stone used at the marriage feast, where the modest 'water saw its God and blushed;' on which occasion a very striking fact occurred. Six women, having their faces veiled, came down to the well at this particular moment, each carrying on her head a pot for the purpose of being filled with water. These vessels were formed of stone, having great bodies and small necks, while some of them had handles attached to their sides. The vessels appeared to contain much the same quantity as those which the evangelist informs us had been employed on the occasion of the nuptial celebration. It is further a remarkable circumstance that, in the Holy Land, it rarely happens that men are employed for the purpose of drawing water; this duty devolves entirely upon females, and shows strongly that such a practice has been kept up from the earliest ages. One of the women lowered her pitcher into the well and voluntarily offered me water to drink; and, after all had filled their pitchers, they returned to the village with the vessels on their heads. BIRDS OF PREY. Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.-Matt. xxiv. 28. Several biblical scholars are of opinion that some species of the vulture is here intended, as they alone are distinguished for feeding upon bodies that have been dead for any length of time. The eagle only feeds on living victims, or those just dead. Mr. Lepsius, when travelling the Nubian desert, saw an illustration of these words of our Lord. He says: "On the eighth day we might have arrived at Alen Hammed late that evening, but determined to halt for the night one hour sooner that we might reach the Nile by daylight. The birds of prey increased in number as we approached the river: we frightened away about thirty vultures from the fresh carcase of a camel, and only the day before I had shot a white eagle in the desert, as well as some desert partridges that were in search of stray grains of durra on the caravan road. RED POTTAGE. "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint."-Gen. xxv. 30. "As it was Lent, the monks (of the Chaldean monastery of Rabban or St. Hormuzd) were unprovided with meat, but I received with much thankfulness a bowl of red lentiles made into pottage, and called ades. This is evidently the same with adesh of the Scriptures, the word used in the original Hebrew to signify the red pottage for which Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob. The ades in question was savoury in the extreme, and its odour very tempting to a hungry man. Its taste resembled exceedingly that well-known luxury of sailors-pea-soup.-Fletcher's "Nineveh." WHITE ASSES. "Speak, ye that ride on white asses."-Judges v. 10. "The white asses of Bagdad are much esteemed in the East," says Mr. Layard. "Some are of considerable size, and, when fancifully dyed with henna, their tails and ears bright red, and their bodies spotted like an heraldic talbot with the same colour, they bear the chief priests and the men of the law, as they appear to have done from the earliest times." The judges of England, before the time of Queen Mary, were accustomed, not to ride upon horses, but mules. Cardinal Wolsey rode a mule, as did also other dignified ecclesiastics of his age. Morley. FRIEND RIVERS. CHILD-SWEARING-WHAT IT DID. "I HAVE a mind to whip you till you cannot stand," said a wicked and profane man, rising from his seat and looking wrathfully at his son, a little boy just able to speak plainly. What had the child done to call for such severe punishment? He had used two oaths such as were constantly dropping from the lips of his father. But his own words from the mouth of one so young so shocked that parent that he thought he could not punish his child too severely for the offence. The little one looked the angry man full in the eye and quietly said, "Father, if you whip me, who will whip you ?" A thunder-bolt could not have startled him more. The question set his own sin and desert of punishment in the light of noonday. He turned away confused and ashamed, and said in his heart, "I will swear no more." He kept his word: from that day no oath escaped his lips. To-day-a wonder of Divine grace-that tongue that was employed in cursing is used to bless God and teach me His way. Communicated by JOHN BELL. ENIGMA XVIII. Say for what city of the plain "God once heard Abram plead in vain," Just Lot, who long had sojourn'd there. Conversing o'er the dire event Which late had fill'd their heart with fears, Say where the furious Saul was hasting, The church with persecution wasting, Bath. *Acts xi. 26. KEY TO ENIGMA No. 17. Socrates. U nca. N ero. The following correspondents have answered correctly: S. A Wagstaff, Chesterfield; H. R. Leech, Elmfield; J. Newton Derby; T. Fletcher, Elmfield Cottage. SCRIPTURE ACROSTICS. No. 4. 1. An officer in the court of Syria. The initials will give the name of a plant which is found in barren wastes. Plymouth. THOMAS HEATHI, jun. |