where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal," Matt. vi. 19, 20. There is a beautiful propriety also in_the expression of a "bowing wall," which occurs Psa. lxii. 3; and the "swelling out in a high wall," Isa. xxx. 13: for, doubtless, both these have reference to walls built with mud, which, if they are not made of extraordinary thickness, often decline from the perpendicular, and bulge out in different parts in an unsightly manner.

But the most striking metaphor drawn from these frail dwellings, is that in which our Lord represents the foolish hearer of the word, or the man who does not practise what he hears, under the figure of a man which built his house upon the sand, and had it swept away by the rising flood; see Matt. vii. 26, 27. And this metaphor is the more striking, when we consider that such an event not unfrequently happens in the East. Belzoni, in his "Researches in Egypt," describes such a scene as he witnessed it, which forcibly illustrates this figure. He says, "I never saw any picture that could give a more correct idea of a deluge than the valley of the Nile in this season. The Arabs had expected an extraordinary inundation this year, in consequence of the scarcity of water the preceding season; but they did not apprehend it would rise to such a height. They generally erect fences of earth and reeds around their villages, to keep the water from their houses; but the force of this inundation baffled all their efforts. Their cottages, being built of earth,

could not stand one instant against the current; and no sooner did the water reach them, than it levelled them with the ground. The rapid stream carried off all that was before it; men, women, children, cattle, corn, every thing was washed away in an instant, and left the place where the village stood without any thing to indicate that there had ever been a house on the spot."

We see from this the danger of building a house upon the sand, and under that figure the danger of being a heedless hearer of the word of God. If we are wise, therefore, we shall imitate the example of another character, whom the Lord speaks of under a similar expressive figure, to show the security of those who build their hopes on Him, by practising what they hear by blending faith with good works. The figure runs thus: "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock," Matt. vii. 24, 25.

TENTS.

Men lived in houses before they lived in tents. This fact we learn from Scripture: Cain built a city, but dwelling in tents was not practised till the seventh generation from Adam. The use of tents, doubtless, arose out of the exigences of a pastoral life. Men

roving about from place to place, in search of pasture for their cattle, would necessarily require a portable

habitation. Hence we find the first mention of them in connexion with the keeping of cattle. Speaking of Jabal, the sacred historian, says, "He was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle," Gen. iv. 20. Dr. Shaw, after Sallust, describes the tents now in use in the East as being of an oblong figure, not unlike the bottom of a ship turned upside down. They vary in size according to the number of their occupants. The most usual size has nine poles,

three in the middle and three on each side. They are covered with hair cloth for the purpose of keeping out the wet, and are divided by a hanging carpet into several apartments. The whole is kept firm and steady by bracing, or stretching down their eaves with cords tied to hooked wooden pins, or stakes well pointed, which are driven into the ground; a circumstance to which there is an allusion in the prophecies of Isaiah. Predicting the spread of the gospel among the Gentiles, that evangelic prophet says, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes," Isa. liv. 2.

Some of the modern tents among the Orientals are very beautiful and costly. Thus Sir J. Chardin tells us, "that the late king of Persia caused a tent to be made which cost two millions. They called it the house of gold, because gold glittered every where about it." He adds, "that there was an inscription wrought upon the cornice of the antechamber, which gave it the appellation of the throne of the second Solomon, and at the same time marked out the of its construction." From this we discern the propriety of the psalmist's language, wherein he displays the decision of his piety, by asserting, "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the" [splendid] "tents of wickedness," Psa. lxxxiv. 10.

year

The covering of the tent among the Arabs is usually made of black goats' hair; hence the figure in