cus. | general name of the country. It is called Bar Alsham,' or the country of Shem. This at once proves that it is named after the great patriarch Shem; and by this name it is called by the natives until this day. Syria, or Soria, is only a name given to the country by foreigners, on account of the enterprise of the Phoenicians, whose capital was "Soor," Tyre, ("Soor" is the Hebrew word for Tyre;) and the navigating and commercial and colonizing inhabitants had been called Soorians, after their capital, "Soor." I give this little explanation, for I think they have erred who suppose Sham was a name given by the Arabians for Shemal, left; for it is more likely that Sham is after Shem, the patriarch, than Sham after Shemal, "left" (that is, left of Arabia); and to prove my supposition, I have to appeal to the Holy Scriptures. The most ancient city on the face of the globe is Damascus; it existed before Abraham, whose steward was "Eliezer of DamasJerusalem from the time of Melchizedek till now bears the same name, till now with its additional titles, such as "Beït almookdes," the Holy House, and "Alkoodes," the Holy. The same might be said of Joppa, Nazareth, Cana of Galilee, Sidon, (bearing the name of the patriarch, its founder, till this day.) Antioch, where the believers have been called Christians, bears the same name till now. This will be more remarkable to us, when we find that places of great fame in Syria| have been called by almost all foreign authors by other names, yet in the country these names are unknown; for example, Tyre is the Greek name for "Soor;" Tyre is the word used almost in all translations of the Bible, except the original, and yet no one in Syria understands what Tyre is; and though the city has received its fate according to prophecy, its recollection is known according to the original "Soor." Again, Palmyra is the name given to "Tadmor." By the name Palmyra it is spoken of by all travellers, and ancient and modern authors; yet if you ask a Syrian anything about Palmyra, you might just as well ask the name of any place in the moon; but if you ask about "Tadmor," any one will tell you Tadmor is in the desert, built by Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. Again, in the same country there are places not mentioned in Scripture-their names are now changed; for example, Aleppo, for the ancient Eolea, etc. There are two principal rivers in Syria-Jordan and Orantes; Jordan has retained its name until now, whereas Orantes is now called "Assie," and no one amongst the natives knows it by its former name. These things will be more striking when we reflect that the country had had many conquerors and masters, with new languages, religions, and habits-the Greeks, the Persians, the Romans, the Saracens, the Crusaders, the Turks, etc.: yet in spite of all attempt to introduce fresh names, religions, and habits, the original names and customs have remained, and all modern vanished away. For example, all recollections about the stupendous expedition of the Crusades have no tradition in the country now, nor are they known by the natives; yet the bathing of Naaman the Syrian in the Jordan, and the cure of his leprosy, has its tradition. The birth of our blessed Lord in Bethlehem, the conversion of St. Paul near Damascus, are believed by the natives as facts; and the very street called Straight, and the remains of the house of Ananias, are till this day seen in Damascus. The preservation of the manners and customs is also very striking; and this will astonish us the more when we know that the inhabitants of the country have gone through all stages of prosperity and adversity, wealth and poverty, independence and dependence, learning and ignorance, and yet preserved the names, the manners, and customs unaltered. This must be all by an overruling Providence; otherwise, as they are human beings, there is no reason why they should not be the subject of mode and fashion, and no reason why they should not have adopted the religion and manners of their conquerors, who have offered them every earthly advantage, privilege, and liberty, if they would embrace a new religion; nevertheless, they preferred to be called Nazarenes and Christians to any honour they can have. They have kept up the custom of dressing their favourite children with coats" of many colours," after the one given by Jacob to Joseph. In the matches, the bridegroom sends to his bride the pair of bracelets and the earrings, as did Jacob to his beloved Rebecca. They keep up till this day the form of the writer's inkhorn by his side, mentioned by Ezekiel; until this very day, "the white asses are as favourite as in the days of the judges of old. Their teachers use the salutation of the blessed Lord, salam," or "peace." Until this very day the bridegroom comes at night, and a cry 66 always precedes his coming. Until this | fear that all is not right between the soul very day they speak by parables; until and God, concur in giving energy to this now the shepherds go before their sheep, exclamation. We believe it is often utand they know his voice, and they follow tered by multitudes who, nevertheless, no stranger's, and he calls them by their die in their sins! Nay, that it is earnames; until this day you see two women nestly uttered, that these parties really grinding on a mill. And when the Con- mean what they say, and that the blesssul-General Farren, of Great Britain, ing after which they aspire is prized for visited Bethlehem, the natives being very the moment, there cannot be a doubt; fond of him, and knowing his interest in and yet they pass away to darkness their welfare, came out to meet him. Did and death, without God, without Christ, they take off their turbans? did they sa- without hope, without salvation! This lute him with the shaking of hands? did is very melancholy; and were it not that they sing or beat the drum? No (I was the reasons of the non-attainment of the present); they threw off their garments object of their desire are discoverable for and cut branches from the trees to wel- the benefit of the living, we should turn come their favourite visitor, the same as away from it as from a gloomy mystery their ancestors did to the blessed Re- which only grows darker as the attempt deemer. In short, time and space will at investigation proceeds. But the fact allow me to say no more; what I have said is explicable. It is not mysterious. Its will suffice to any reasonable mind. These, causes are obvious. Let the living learn therefore, are the people whom Providence them! "O that they were wise, that has kept to illustrate his book; and if it they understood this, that they would had not been for them, lord Lindsay, consider their latter end!" "Hear Mons. De la Martines, lord and lady counsel, and receive instruction, that thou Ellesmere, and the rev. George Fisk, mayest be wise in thy latter end." When would have been disappointed in their Jesus came near Jerusalem, "He beheld visits, and could not have written on their the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou tours in favour of the truth. If Jerusalem hadst known, even thou, at least in this had been changed to Tautrum, Damascus thy day, the things which belong unto to Bawarta, Antioch to Zuk, and Lebanon thy peace! but now they are hid from to Marween, the traveller could not find thine eyes." On another occasion he them with ease; and the schoolmasters and said, doubtless with a throbbing heart at mistresses would be at a loss how to point the stubbornness of the people, "Ye will them out on the map to their youths. not come to me, that ye might have Neither should we have had a pictorial life." Bible, nor illustrated Biblical lessons at the Infant Colonial Schools.-Assaad Y Kayat. THE ASPIRATION. "LET me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" Such was the aspiration of Balaam, when he saw the unity, the happiness, and the safety of Israel. Multitudes who, like him, love the wages of unrighteousness, are brought by the providence of God amidst scenes and circumstances which compel them to utter a similar cry. Perhaps there lives not a man who, having heard of the alternatives of bliss or woe in eternity, has not at some period of his life expressed the wish that after death he might be happy. Every thing tends to create this wish. Dissatisfaction with the present, the consciousness of something wrong within, the undoubted certainty of death, and the Thus it still is. Men express the wish for future happness, but refuse to comply with God's mode of realizing their desire. They would die in peace, but neglect the atonement. They would enter heaven, but despise the road that leads to it. They would share in the future lot of the righteous, without assimilating to their faith and practice now. They would enter the city, but not through the gates. They would depart in the enjoyment of Christian privileges, but refuse to prize them in the day of health and activity. They would appear at the judgment as saints, but scorn the honourable name whilst travelling thither. They would be recognised among the redeemed in that day, but prefer sin to salvation in this. They would go in to the marriage supper of the Lamb, but refuse to put on the wedding garment in time. They would dwell among the ransomed for ever, but refuse to be redeemed with the blood of Christ whilst it is called to-day! Is their disappointment sur prising Where is the mystery of the fruitless aspiration? Vice, immorality, crime, sin, are rank enough in our world, notwithstanding all the genuine practical Christianity which is happily in it. But what would be the state of things, were the cry of every man for a happy death and immortality attended to by God without reference to justification, regeneration, conversion, and sanctification? Who would walk with God? who would love Jesus Christ? who would bring forth fruit to his glory? who would live in the Spirit? who would enter the strait gate, and keep the narrow path, and journey heavenward as children of light? who would deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow the Son of God? who would be witnesses to the truth, and condemners of the world, and preachers of righteousness?-Not one! A religion which promises safety in death is surpassingly valuable; but to know that the promise is no delusion by the influence which it exerts upon the living, the healthy, and the strong, is an additional element in its value, which no wise man will despise. Christianity is such a religion. It anticipates the cry of the aspirant for the blessings which it promises in death, by securing to every evangelical believer spiritual blessings in life. "Heaven begun below" is no poetic figure, but a real verity, in the possession of which tens of thousands daily rejoice. It is no embellishment of the fancy, but a treasured fact. The gospel system of redemption takes into account the whole man-the present and the future, the actual condition and the desired joy; and it freely provides for all. It renews now, that it may glorify then. It regenerates, that it may secure the appreciation of the glory to be revealed. It gives life now, that it may give it more abundantly hereafter. It guarantees the death of the righteous, to the man who counts all things but loss for the righteousness of Christ. Its plan is marked by wisdom and distinguished by order; and the character of its issues is in perfect harmony with that of its first operations. It has in one or two instances, as in the case of the thief on Calvary, leaped at one glorious bound with a soul from a life of sin to a glorious immortality; but this is not the law of its operation, nor a specimen of its usual procedure. He who trusts to this proves that his confidence is a thing of error. It is the presumption of ignorance, not the faith It It is assumed, in the aspiration, that all men die. It is the world's history. is the law. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." It is the proof of our fall. "Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." We have to do with a fact; and reason as we may about the origin of evil, the relation of the first man to the human family, and kindred questions, that fact looks us in the face: all die! But this is not the end of man. His being ceases not when God changes his colour and sends him away. After death there is "the judgment;" and He who loves the soul, and knows its value, has urgently cried, "Prepare to meet thy God!" The aspirant assumes that there are differences in death. It is not the same thing, either in its moral conditions, or in its issues, to all men. Some die the friends, and others the enemies of God. Some die in peace, and others striving with their Maker. Some die with a hope full of immortality, and others with the agonies of the lost. Some die longing to be with Christ, and others blaspheming his name. Some die joyfully anticipating a welcome to glory, and others are driven away in their wickedness. Some die exulting in the love of Jesus, and others cursing the day of their births. Some die like the "star which melts away into the light of heaven," and others seem to be engulfed in the black abyss. Whence this vast difference? "All have sinned;" why not all die alike? Is the happy portion thus distinguished, distinguished thus in consequence of any moral superiority by nature? Were they inherently "better" than the others? "No, in no wise." Whence then the marked superiority in their experience and prospects? Is it by grace? Entirely. Is it of God? Only. Is it through Christ? Exclusively. But mark the operation of this grace, and the proof of its vitality, upon the living man, and the connexion of such a life with such a desirable death will appear obvious. They were guilty; but there were repentance and pardon. They were depraved; but there was regeneration, evinced by their conversion, or turning to God. There was faith, shown by their application to Christ for salvation. There was a new heart, evidenced by a new life. There were new opinions, vouched for by a new practice. There was love to God, seen in the operation of love to the brethren. There was the reception of light, proved by walking in the light. There was submission to the righteousness of Christ, declared by renunciation of self-righteousness. There was appreciation of the gospel, manifested by attention to its ordinances. And there was the heart in heaven, significant of the treasure there. Shall such a man die the death of the righteous? Assuredly; for by walking before God in newness of life, he has given evangelical proof that he has passed from death unto life, and he cannot come into condemnation. The connexion between the life and the death is obvious. He dies in the faith, for he lived in it. He departs to be with Christ, for he loved him whilst living. He shall walk with his Saviour in light, for he followed him in the regeneration. Is there mystery here? No; for "them that honour me I will honour." But to desire "the death of the righteous" simply on account of its happiness is not religion, but self-seeking; not Christianity, but the dictate of fear; not honouring Jesus, but seeking personal repose. Personal repose however—a happy sabbatism—a glorious rest-will be granted to the man who dies the death of the righteous, after he has passed the time of his sojourning here in fear. Jesus forsakes not in the hour of extremity those whose great aim it is to live by faith upon him, to seek his honour, to magnify his mercy, and to illustrate by active piety the power of his glorious gospel. The secret of a safe death is a holy life; and the secret of a holy life is union to the Redeemer, who sends his Holy Spirit into the heart of the believer, to guide, purify, and bless. Whoever, then, may breathe a desire similar to that uttered by Balaam, may feel assured that the safe, scriptural, certain way to realize it is, not to delay attention to spiritual things until the last hour, when "heart and flesh fail," but to surrender the soul, body, and spirit into the omnipotent hands of the Divine Redeemer, and then learn to say with Paul, "I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and In order to form a correct idea of this affecting scene of the widow's son at Nain, we must recollect that the mode of burial among the Jews was not precisely the same as among ourselves. The dead were not shut out from sight, when they were carried to the tomb. Their bodies were carefully wrapped in linen, and then laid on an open bier. Thus after the resurrection of our Lord, we are told of the linen clothes and napkin that were left in his forsaken sepulchre, but not a word is said of any coffin. There was none. And it is of importance, in the instance before us, to bear this circumstance in mind. It proves this young man to be actually dead. The multitude saw him dead. His restoration to life was therefore a real, and not a pretended miracle. The Behold the Saviour then turning from the weeping mother to the corpse of her son. "He came and touched the bier." Awed by that countenance before which the earth and the heavens will one day flee away, "they that bare him stood still.” For a moment all is suspense and wonder; and then this compassionate Man takes on himself the majesty and authority of God. "By his word the heavens were made," and now by the breath of his mouth he controls the dead. silent multitude hear the command go forth, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise;" and before their wondering eyes, the dead obeys. Whence the spirit came, we know not; in a moment it was there, entering and animating its former clay. "He that was dead sat up, and began to speak." And what were his words? It is useless to ask. Let us rather inquire what ought to be our own. Are they not these, “Verily this man was the Son of God?" 1. We have before us a signal proof of the Redeemer's Godhead. Others have raised the dead; but they have done so by means which plainly declared that the power they exercised, was not their own. Elijah, we are told, “cried unto the Lord" at Zarephath. Elisha "prayed unto the Lord," when he restored to the Shunammite her son. Peter "kneeled down and prayed," before he said to Tabitha, "Arise.' Our Lord, on the contrary, acts like one who needs no assistance, who knows no limits to his power. He commands, and is obeyed; he speaks, and it is done. A word brings Lazarus from his sepulchre; a word raises this widow's son from his bier. Where is the mortal man who could thus perform such a work as this? Where is the angel who would dare attempt it? The power which accomplished it, is the same which breathed into man at first the breath of life. The Being who exercised it, is the mighty God. And what follows? 2. A second fact of which this miracle reminds us the ability of Christ to raise all the dead. Nothing but omnipotence could restore life to one dead body; omnipotence can quicken whom it will. He who raised one, can raise a thousand, can raise a world. He can raise us. Look forward. When a few more years are gone, we shall all be in the situation of this young man; we shall be dead. Not a man of us will breathe the air or see the sun. Our friends will carry us out of the houses we now inhabit. We shall be left alone in the ground. And what will become of us there? We shall see corruption. This breathing clay, these bodies which we love so well, will be as the clods which cover them, vile earth and dust. And what if it be so? He that said to a sorrowful mother, "Weep not," says to his dying saints, "Fear not :-I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." If, when we die, we "die in the Lord," this is the promise he gives us to take with us to our graves, "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. I will raise him up at the last day." The same voice that reached the widow's son on his bier, can reach us in our beds of dust. It will be as powerful around this church, as in the gate of Nain. We ourselves shall hear it. We shall come forth, and live. 3. We may discover also here the power of Christ over the human soul. When it has left the body, he can recall it at his will from its unknown abode. He can therefore reach it and control it while in the flesh. If he can by a word restore natural life, he can surely with as much ease restore spiritual life also. Our souls are dead, brethren. Their spiritual and better life is gone; they are "alienated from the life of God;" they are dead in trespasses and sins." The It Scripture tells us so. It discovers to us also the evil and danger of this state. assures us that before we can see God, we must be raised out of it; we must experience within us a change as real and great, as the reanimation of a corpse. And how is this great change to be accomplished? Only by "the working of that mighty power" which can raise the dead. If then any of you are mourning over your own dead souls, Christ is your life. Neither men nor angels can help you; but this is your consolation, that he who said to this young man, "Arise," can work in you "both to will and to do of his good pleasure." But you are mourning perhaps over the souls of others. While the sons and daughters of your neighbours go down to the grave, your own live before you, but they are not alive unto God. Their state is a grief and terror to you. Often does it force from you the cry of the supplicating patriarch, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" This miracle shows you in whom your hope lies. And in whom would you wish it to lie, rather than in him? Send your thoughts round all the beings you have ever seen or heard ofis there one among them all, of whom you would seek spiritual life for your child, rather than of this compassionate, this mighty Restorer of the dead? Invoke his aid. Expect it. Disquiet not yourselves because it is delayed. evening time it shall be light." In an unexpected hour the prodigal may come to himself. He may fill your house and your heart with joy. You may say concerning him, "It is meet that we should make merry and be glad : for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."-Bradley. "At OLD HUMPHREY ON MOOR AND LOCH SHOOTING. The grouse is eager in her flight, And the blackcock's wing is strong; THE morning after my arrival at King's House, I failed not to ramble up the hill on the road to Inveronan, that Ì might, in some degree, take a survey of the surrounding scene. The information I had obtained at King's House, my ponderings on the past, and, lastly, the |