Their wisdom bursts into this sage reply, The language of the land she seeks inspires." What has been said, has not been said in anger, or in satire, or in ridicule; but in sorrow, and still more in the hope that our young friends will devise a more excellent way. (To be continued.) THE BENEVOLENCE OF CHRIST'S CHARACTER. BENEVOLENCE is the principle which harmonized in him the most contrasted qualities. In his mysterious person it had brought into union time and eternity, heaven and earth; and in his character it blended majesty such as God before had never displayed, with meekness such as man before had never shown. Dignity in him was not terror; for he clothed it with a condescension which had before been thought inconsistent with greatness. Temperance and self-denial with him were not darkened with austerity, but came softened and recommended by gentleness and suavity. In him were united an indignant sensibility to sin, with weeping compassion for the sinner; the splendours of more than an angelic nature with the humility of a little child; a resolved perseverance in the path of duty which no array of dangers could deter, with a heart so attuned to compassion, that the faintest appeal of misery arrested his progress as with the power of omnipotence, and made him stand still. While he seemed to do every thing for the future, he yet neglected nothing proper to the present; while he held himself ready to embrace the mightiest plans, and evinced a consciousness that he stood related to the whole species, he yet stooped, without trifling, to the smallest circumstance. Like the Almighty Father sustaining the worlds, yet stooping to succour the falling bird, he one moment conversed with celestial visitants, and the next he listened to the lispings of infant praise, or meekly bore the obtuseness of his disciples. He who received the homage of angels, and had all their legions at command, sees wealth in the tribute of a sinful woman's tears, and finds the sweetest music in the dying thanks of the guilty malefactor. Having driven demons from his presence with an awful rebuke, he takes up little children to his heart; and they feel in his looks the security of home, and in his tones an assurance of love which makes them reluctant to leave his arms, even for the welcome of a mother's bosom. Having portrayed the judgment of the last day, and clothed himself with thunder as the central object of the awful scene, he follows the first beck of misery, or turns aside to weep over the hardness of human hearts. Having proclaimed himself "the resurrection and the life," how easily does he descend from his dignity to mingle his tears with the bereaved mourners! Universal philanthropy did not impair his sensibility to the pleasures of private friendships and domestic intercourse; nor did the momentous interests which pressed on his soul in the crisis of the world's redemption, prevent him from thinking of his filial relation, and tenderly providing for a mother's comfort. Never was there a character at the same time so magnificent and unlaboured; so conscious of greatness, and so unostentatiously simple; so full of inspiration to the good, and so free from terror, so replete with encouragement, to the outcast penitent. In his character met the whole constellation of the virtues, each one made brighter by contrast: but one overpowering sentiment softened and subjected them all to itself; one all-pervading law gave unity and harmony to his most opposite actions; interpreting all his words and looks; preventing him, even in the most critical situations, from being at variance with himself, or falling below his professed object; and that sentiment, that law, was love.-Harris's "Great Teacher." ARABIA. I AROSE this morning at an early hour, and scrambled to the summit of one of the highest of the sand-hills, in order to take a view of the surrounding country. In the bleak and desolate expanse before me, I discerned as far as the eye could reach, nothing but hillocks of sand rolled in from the desert like waves of the sea, until their course had been arrested by the barrier on which I stood. Upon inquiry, I could not learn that this was progressing, and my own observation induced me to think that it was not; for, upon examination, I found that the hillocks which formed such an impediment to their encroachments were covered with rak, and other desert bushes, the roots of which sink deep into the sand, and there become matted, producing the same effect as the bent-star in England. A single bush, from this peculiarity, arrests the progress of the sand, and collects it into a mound: other bushes spring forth on its surface, and they thus continue receiving alternately separate layers of sand and vegetation, until they attain considerable magnitude. Was it not for this happy provision, a flood of sand must long ago have overwhelmed the country to the very base of the seaward range of mountains. As there is but little water beyond this barrier, the wells being many days apart, the Bedouins rarely venture to cross it; for the hillocks are said to alter their outline, and even shift their position, with every strong wind that blows: they consequently lose their marks, and very distressing accidents occur. Last night Hamed related to me that when a young man, he, his father, and about twenty of their tribe, encountered near this spot a party of Wahhábís, by whom they were defeated, and compelled to fly with their wives, who accompanied them. Several of their tribe had occasionally crossed the desert to some wells about three days' journey from the barrier, in the vicinity of which there was water and good pasturage. Here it was their intention to have remained till the hostile party had passed on, and left the road open for their return. But on the second day they were overtaken by a strong gale from the westward, which obliterated every trace of the path, and so filled the air with dust, that they were unable to discern objects beyond a few yards. In this emergency they crowded together near a tree, where they had no alternative but to remain until there should be a change for the better; but the gale continued unabated for three days. On the third day from their leaving the barrier, (their small stock of water being consumed on the first,) they killed the only two of the camels which could be spared; but the quantity of water thus obtained was soon consumed among so many; and on the fifth morning two of their females and a young man, Hamed's brother, died. On the sixth day they reached the wells; but their horror may be conceived when they found them filled nearly to the surface with sand.* "We knew of no other," *The supply of water is so plentiful in Oman, that we seldom had occasion to carry it with us: when we did, it was placed in skins called girbars, and all the hides of the sheep or goats killed during our journey were kept for this purpose: those of kids and lambs serve for milk, while the larger are used either for wine or water. They are tanned with the bark of the acacia; and the hairy part, which is left without, is generally, though not invariably, cleansed: the apertures through which the legs protruded are closed up, and the fluid within is discharged through the opening of the neck, which is gathered together, and fastened by a tongue or spout. They are slung alongside their camels, and a Bedouin when thirsty may frequently be seen drinking from them while in that position. They answer better than jars, because if the camel run against trees, or his fellow-beasts in the caravan, they are not likely to be broken; and from the evaporation constantly going on, the water is kept perfectly cool; but whilst new, sufficient attention is not paid to cleansing them, and their contents thus acquire a loathsome taste and smell. A disagreeable appearance is also imparted to the water, from grease, with which the Arabs lubricate the inner side to prevent it from oozing through. How immutable are eastern customs! These are the bottles so frequently alluded to in Scriptural narrative; and in the" Antiquities of Herculaneum," vol. vii., p. 197, will be seen the representation of a female pouring wine into a vessel from a skin precisely similar to what I have here described. VOL. III. Second Series. B said Hamed, "nearer than three days; but, being too weak to proceed further, we quietly laid ourselves down to die. I recollect nothing after that night, until I found myself lashed on a camel, and my father alongside of me driving it. From him I learnt that we were discovered on the following morning by another party of our own tribe, who had just filled their skins at a well not half a mile from us, and that we were now on our way with them to our own hamlet."-Wellsted's Travels in Arabia. TRUE GENTILITY. A CHRISTIAN is God Almighty's gentleman: a gentleman, in the vulgar superficial way of understanding the word, is the devil's Christian. But to throw aside these polished and too current counterfeits for something valuable and sterling, the real gentleman should be gentle in every thing, at least in every thing that depends on himself; in carriage, temper, constructions, aims, desires. He ought, therefore, to be mild, calm, quiet, even, temperate; not hasty in judgment, not exorbitant in ambition, not overbearing, not proud, not rapacious, not oppressive; for these things are contrary to gentleness. Many such gentlemen, I trust, are to be found; and many more would be, were the true meaning of the name borne in mind, and duly inculcated. But, alas, we are misled by etymology; and because a gentleman was originally homo gentilis, people seem to fancy they shall lose caste unless they act as Gentiles.-Guesses at Truth. MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS. LET the faults of others excite thy pity towards them; thy caution as to thyself; and thy thankfulness to God, if he hath hitherto preserved thee from the like. Beware of discovering (among grave men especially) any affectation of being pert or witty. They will think thy stock consists of all trifles and fool's baubles. |