Clear, clear I see him spread afar, Lo! Jacob's tents how bright they shine; Things of dead wood, and lies, and dust, His God is with him; and a shout Yet these are triumphs short and small Tranced into distant times, I spy The long, deep, grand futurity; East, north, and south, forth-bursting bright; Great people! armed with righteousness: Bless'd is the man that blesseth thee, The son of Beor spoke; and high O son of Zippor! how can I THIS Savage animal is mentioned in many places in the Holy Writings. The Syrian bear will subsist on fruits or wild honey, but it has also a propensity for the flesh of animals. Its long claws enable it to climb rocks and trees in quest of food. Its sullen and ferocious disposition causes it to be regarded with dread and dislike; for its strength, when exerted, is immense, and its long hair and thick skin render it almost invulnerable. Hence it is a dangerous opponent, and David, the Bethlehem shepherd boy, ran great risk when he pursued the bear which invaded his flock, and took away one of his young lambs. How simple, yet striking, is the narrative of this encounter. "And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee." You know what was the result-that this valiant youth who slew the lion and the bear, slew also Goliath the giant. No doubt an unseen hand directed him to bring down the blaspheming Philistine who had defied and insulted the armies of the living God. But mark, this incident affords no encouragement to men calling themselves christians to engage in horrid war. What the Israelites then did was done at the express command of God, who had a right to punish those cruel and wicked idolaters in any way he pleased, either by war, pestilence, or famine. For their crimes, like those of Sodom and Gomorrah, had reached up unto Heaven, calling for Divine judgments upon their guilty heads. They were not only wicked, but they were cruel, sacrificing their own children to their foul idols. God had a right to put an end to this, that generations to come might be saved from such savage barbarities. But christianity has made all things new, and teaches us not to fight, but to love our enemies. Bears are not often met with in Syria now, but they are sometimes found in the elevated and woody regions of Lebanon. CUSTOMS OF THE HINDOOS. THE following gleanings are from an interesting volume by Mr. Joseph Roberts, on the Customs, Manners, Rites, &c., of the Hindoos as illustrative of the Scriptures The first illustration which we would select is an idiom in the Hebrew common to most of the nations of the East; and we do so, because it gives us the opportunity of remarking that the marginal readings in the Bible are usually the exact rendering of the Hebrew. For example, Gen. ii. 16. "Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat." "The margin reads eating thou shalt eat!' and this is truly oriental. Does a man who is under the care of a physician, feel doubtful whether or not he ought to eat some kind of food, which has been recommended to him; and does he ask, 'shall I partake of this? Should it be approved of by the physician, he will reply, fear not;' Posihavea posihalam,-eating you may eat." It is curious to find from the work before us, that in former times the serpent is supposed to have had the gift of speech, and that now a wicked man amongst the Hindoos is called the "seed of the serpent." This is curious, because temples are erected to the cobra capella, and no heathen would kill one of that description, though it had destroyed his own child. The extract which follows is remarkable :-"The heel in the East is that part which is said to be wounded when a treacherous person, under the guise of friendship, has inflicted an injury on another. And the man who has thus perfidiously conducted himself is called a kutha, vettu, kiraven, a heel cutter. He who supplants or betrays another is called by the same name. Should a man have gained a situation which another tried to get, the disappointed person will say, "Ah! I will yet cut his heel," i. e., I will by some stratagem have him turned out. It is worthy of observation that this title is only given to the man who has apparently been a friend." On Exod. iii. 5. "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place where thou standest is holy ground," it is observed that no heathen would presume to go on holy ground, or enter a temple, or any other sacred place, without first taking off his sandals; even native christians, on entering a church or chapel, generally do the same thing. On xii. 2. Thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand," it is said, that when the people take a journey, they have always their loins well "girded," as they believe they can walk much faster and to a greater distance. Before the palankeen bearers take up their load, they assist each other to make tight a part of the sali, or robe, round their loins. When men are about to enter on an arduous undertaking, bystanders say, "Tie your loins well up." (Luke xii. 35; Ephes. vi. 4: 1 Pet. i. 13.) These two accounts of the most common Oriental customs we have given in order to show how simple the illustrations of the book before us are, and how natural the language of the Bible must be to an Hindoo. The illustration following, of Num. xxxi. 50, will be read with painful interest:-"There is not a man in a thousand who does not wear an ear-ring or a finger-ring, for without such an ornament a person would be classed amongst the most unfortunate of his race. Some time ago a large sacrifice was made for the purpose of removing the cholera morbus, when vast numbers came together with their oblations. The people seemed to take the greatest pleasure in presenting their ear-rings, finger-rings, and bracelets, and other ornaments, because they were dearer to them than money, and consequently were believed to be more efficacious in appeasing the gods. When people are sick they vow to give a valuable jewel to their god on being restored." The following is a very apposite illustration of Ruth, iii. 9.—“ I am Ruth, thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid: ""I have been delighted," says Mr. Roberts," at the marriage ceremonies of the Hindoos, to see amongst them the same interesting custom. The bride is seated on a throne, surrounded by matrons, having on her veil, her gayest robes, and most valuable jewels. After the mali has been tied round her neck, the bridegroom approaches her with a silken skirt (purchased by himself), and folds it round her several times over the rest of her clothes. A common way of saying he has married her, is, he has given her the koori,' he has spread the skirt over her. There are, however, those who throw a long robe over the shoulders of the bride, instead of putting on the skirt. An angry husband sometimes says to his wife, 'give me back my skirt,' meaning he wishes to have the marriage compact dissolved. So the mother-in-law, should the daughter not treat her respectfully, says, 'My son gave this woman the koori, skirt, and has made her respectable, but she neglects me.' The saying of Ruth, therefore, amounted simply to a request that Boaz should marry her." The explanation of ch. iv. 7, is not less to the purpose :—“ A man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour; and this was a testimony in Israel: "- -"When Ramar had to go and reside in the desert for fourteen years, his brother Parathan was very unwilling |