the Song of Solomon, "I am black as the tents of Kedar," Song of Sol. i. 5; which is the name of an Arabian nomade or Bedouin tribe frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. This tribe dwells in tents with a similar covering to the present day. D'Arvieux says of them, "The Bedouin Arabs have no other dwelling than their tents, which they call houses. They are entirely made of black goats' hair, which is an employment of the women. They spin and weave them they are strong, of a close texture, and so stretched that the longest and heaviest rain cannot penetrate."

The custom of abiding in tents, to which there is an allusion in the book of Ezra, viii. 15, still prevails in western Asia. Thus Sir R. Ker Porter describes an encampment which he saw, which is strikingly illustrative of that of Ezra, spoken of in the verse pointed out. He says, "The whole valley was covered with the tents of the pilgrims, whose several encampments, according to their towns or districts, were placed a little apart, each under its own especial standard. Their cattle were grazing about, and the people who attended them were in their primitive eastern garbs. Women appeared carrying in water from the brooks, and children were sporting at the doors. Towards evening, this pious multitude, to the number of eleven hundred at least, began their evening orisons, literally shouting their prayers, while the singing of the hymns, responded from the echoes of the mountains, was almost deafening."

Some of these encampments are very large, but none of which we read in profane history equals the size and the order of that which the Hebrews formed

EAST-FIRST DIVISION-CAMP OF JUDAH, 186,400.

59,300.

SIMEON

SOUTH-SECOND DIVISION-CAMP OF REUBEN, 151,450.

46,500.
REUBEN

45,650.
GAD

GERSHONITES

2,630.

BENJAMIN

35,400.

NORTH-FOURTH DIVISION-CAMP OF DAN, 157,600.

WEST-THIRD DIVISION-CAMP OF EPHRAIM, 108,100.

in various places, as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. How imposing this was we may learn from the rapturous exclamation of Balaam, who viewed it

from the hills. "How goodly are thy tents, ọ Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters," Numb. xxiv. 5, 6.

The diagram on page 249 will show, better than any verbal explanation, the beautiful order in which the Hebrews disposed their tents. We see here that the camp was formed of a quadrangle, having on each side three tribes under one general standard. In the centre of it, stood the tabernacle: the centre is the place of honour, which is still retained in oriental camps, and is usually occupied by the tent of a king or general. Jewish writers say that this entire encampment occupied a space of ground about twelve miles in circumference; and when we consider the vast extent of ground which must be required for the tents of two millions of people, and that there was a hollow square in the centre, the statement is not beyond belief.

A very beautiful metaphor, drawn from these frail tenements, is found in the epistles. The apostle Paul compares the human frame to a tabernacle or tent. "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,' 2 Cor. v. 1. This is a very striking metaphor, and compared with which the beautiful lines of one of our own admired poets sink into insignificance. These

are

The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed,
Lets in new lights through chinks that time has made.

WALLER.

In these lines we have, indeed, the ravages which time makes upon our mortal frame, pointed out in a very touching manner; but they do not carry us forward to eternity. The language of the apostle, on the contrary, emphatically contrasts this fragile tenement with the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." It transports our thoughts beyond the grave, and, if we are Christians indeed, gives us a glimpse of the glory that awaits us when we have done with things of time and sense. And it not only does this, but it lifts the soul beyond its present sorrows. The Christian who can adopt this language from the heart, cares little about the changes and the chances of this mortal life. His life is "hid with Christ in God," and he draws comforts from thence of so holy, so pure, so transporting a nature, that he is lifted up above earth's sorrows and earth's joys.

GOLDEN CALF.

THE golden calf is blended with an incident which shows, in a very striking light, the perverseness of the human heart. While yet Moses was in the Mount of Horeb with God, the Israelites acted with insolent contempt towards God and his prophet. Casting off

their authority, they requested Aaron to make them gods to go before them, alleging that they knew not what was become of Moses; and, in an evil hour, Aaron complied with their demands, without even urging a single remonstrance against it. He desired them to bring him their golden ornaments, out of which he made them a golden calf, which was a re

presentation of Apis, the common idol of Egypt. Before this calf he built an altar, and proclaimed a feast unto the Lord; and the people offered burnt sacrifice, and bringing peace-offerings, cried before it, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," Exod. xxxii. 8.

Of the idol it may be observed, that this is the