THE PALM-TREE. THE Hebrew word signifying the palm or date tree is "tamar," the radical meaning of which is, straight, or upright. The stem of the palm-tree is erect and cylindrical; at its top crowned with a cluster of long and featherlike leaves. It is one of the noblest trees which adorn the solitary waste, and perhaps the most serviceable that man has converted to the purposes of nutriment and comfort. The uses to which this plant is applied are numerous: its fruit, the date, is an article of commerce, and its juice is known as palmwine. The presence of these trees in certain situations appears to have given their own name to towns and cities built in their neighbourhood. Thus the city which Solomon built in the desert, and which is mentioned in 1 Kings ix. 18, is called by the ancient name of Tadmor, the name by which the palm-tree is still known by the Arabs; and the name Palmyra, from palma, a palm, was doubtless applied to it by the Romans on the same account. These trees are characteristic of tropical climates; and should they survive their removal to a northern latitude, become diminutive in growth. One of the most remarkable peculiarities of the palm-tree is its indication of the vicinity of water even in the midst of a desert country; and this fact explains the joy with which this tree was beheld in a land where the supply of water might be scarce. The first mention of the palm-tree that we meet with in Scripture is to be found in Exod. xv. 27, where the Israelites, upon encamping at Elim, found twelve wells, and threescore and ten palm-trees. Jericho was called the City of Palm-Trees, doubtless on account of that locality being favourable to their growth. The tree was also considered characteristic of Judea, not so much probably because it was more abundant there than in other countries, but most likely because that land would be the first place where the Greeks and Romans would meet with it in their march of conquest southward. Hence the Roman conquerors had inscribed upon their coins the figure of a weeping female, sitting under a palm-tree, with the inscription, "Judæa capta." JUVENIS. BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIR OF MR. JOHN ARMITAGE, OF CLOUGHJORDAN. DIED, on the 25th of December, 1844, at Kilishinane, in the Cloughjordan Circuit, Ireland, Mr. John Armitage, in the seventy seventh year of his age. He had already passed his thirtieth birth-day, when he received an invitation to attend the Methodist chapel in Cloughjordan. With this invitation he complied, and went to the next Sabbath POETRY. evening service. During the prayer-meeting which followed the public worship, he experienced the blessing of the pardon of sin. He immediately joined the Methodist society, and continued till the close of his earthly pilgrimage an exemplary member of the same. About ten years after his conversion, Mr. Armitage was appointed the Leader of a class in the town of Shinrone; which place, as well as Cloughjordan, then belonged to the Roscrea Circuit. He fulfilled the duties of this arduous situation with great credit to himself, and much spiritual benefit to the members, for a period of twenty years; and although the place of meeting was situated upwards of three miles from his own dwelling, still he was but very seldom absent, until, on account of advancing age, he was unable to walk so far. He was then appointed the Leader of a class at Cloughjordan, of which he continued the director till the period of his last illness. Previous to his union with the Wesleyan Methodists, he had been a consistent member of the Established Church, and maintained the same position with regard to the Establishment to the end of his life; and although he was frequently 21 charged with inconsistency in professing attachment to the Church as well as Methodism, and attending the services of both, he still steadily pursued the same course. His last illness was very severe. His disorder, an affection of the lungs, prevented him from lying in bed; and his position was, therefore, constrained and uneasy. He often gathered his children around him, and addressed them sometimes separately, and at other times collectively, entreating them to comply with the offers of the Gospel, in order to their re-union in heaven. A few hours before his death, after his sight had failed, he was asked by a friend how he felt himself. His answer was, "I have nothing to complain of." These words were uttered at a time when he was suffering great pain; but such was his resignation to the divine will, that he had no disposition to complain. He was greatly beloved throughout his lifetime; and during his illness, he was visited by many, all of whom were deeply impressed with the peaceful, happy, and triumphant death of this servant of Christ, and glorified God in him. THOMAS BArber. POETRY. THE FADED HEATHER. [It is recorded of the Highland emigrants to Canada, that they wept because the heather would not grow on their newly-adopted soil.] THERE may be some too brave to weep A voice both eloquent and loud; He wept, that hardy mountaineer, When faded thus his loved heath-flower; Had wet his cheek until that hour. Rent by the winds which hurried past, It would not grow-the heather-flower- Which blew upon the Highland hill, And for the rocky heath it pined, It languish'd for its native land. O, if the heather had but grown Though a sad exile he had been! He thought that, like his mountain-flower, Wither'd beneath a foreign breath, He soon might meet his final hour, And die, a stranger and alone, Unwept, unpitied, and unknown! THE BEETLE. BY THOMAS CARLYLE. Poor hobbling beetle, need'st not haste; Should traveller traveller thus aların? Pursue thy journey through the waste, Not foot of mine shall work thee harm. Who knows what errand grave thou hast, "Small family," that have not dined? Lodged under pebble, there they fast, Till head of house have raised the wind Man's bread lies 'mong the feet of men: For cark and moil sufficient cause! Who cannot sow, would reap; and then In Beetledom are no poor-laws. And if thy wife and thou agree Thy fortune meriteth, poor beetle. To realms of night with heeltap send! Who judged thee worthy pains of death? On earth, save me, without a friend! Pass on, poor beetle! venerable Art thou, were wonders ne'er so rife; Thou hast what Bel to Tower of Babel Not gave: the chief of wonders-LIFE. Also of" ancient family," Though small in size, of feature dark! What Debrett's peer surpasseth thee? Thy ancestor was in Noah's ark. THE GRAVES OF A HOUSEHOLD. BY MRS. HEMANS. THEY grew in beauty, side by side, They fill'd one home with glee; The same fond mother bent at night She had each folded flower in sight: The sea, the blue lone sea, hath one; One sleeps where southern vines are dress'd He wrapp'd his colours round his breast And one,-o'er her the myrtle showers The last of that bright band. And, parted thus, they rest who play'd They that with smiles lit up the hall, And nought beyond, on earth! SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. TRIBUTE. A TAX which one Prince or state agrees or is compelled to pay to another, as the purchase of peace, or in token of depend ence. The Hebrews acknowledge no other Sovereign than God; and in Exodus xxx. 12, 15, we find they were required to pay tribute unto the Lord, to give an offering of half a shekel to "make an atonement for their souls." The native Kings and Judges of the Hebrews did not exact tribute. Solomon, indeed, at the beginning of his reign, levied tribute from the Canaanites and others who remained in the land, and were not of Israel, and compelled them to hard servitude; (1 Kings ix. 21-23; 2 Chron. viii. 7—9;) but the children of Israel were exempted from that impost, and employed in the more honourable departments and offices of his kingdom. Towards the end of his reign, however, he appears to have imposed tribute upon the Jews also, and to have compelled them to work upon the public buildings. (1 Kings v. 13, 14; ix. 15; xi. 27.) This had the effect of gradually alienating their minds, and of producing that discontent which afterwards resulted in open revolt under Jeroboam, son of Nebat. "Thy father made our yoke grievous," said the Israelites to Rehoboam; "now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee." (1 Kings xii. 4.) The Israelites were at various times subjected to heavy taxes and tributes by their foreign conquerors. After Judea was reduced to a Roman province, a new poll of the people, and an estimate of their substance, were taken by command of Augustus, in order that he might more correctly regulate the tribute to be enacted. This was a capitationtax, levied at so much a head, and imposed upon all males from fourteen, and all females from twelve, up to sixty-five years of age. To oppose the levying of this tribute, Judas the Gaulonite raised an insurrection of the Jews, asserting that it was not lawful to pay tribute to a foreigner, that it was a token of servitude, and that the Jews were not allowed to acknowledge any for their master who did not worship the Lord. They boasted of being a free nation, and of never having been in bondage to any man. (John viii. 33.) These sentiments were extensively promulgated; but all their efforts were of no avail in restraining or mitigating the exactions of their conquerors. SAMUEL ANOINTING DAVID. "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren."-1 Sam, xvi. 13. THE practice of anointing with perfumed oil for the purposes of consecration and inauguration, appears to have been very common among the ancient Israelites. It was usual among the Jews to anoint such as had been appointed to the dignity of High Priest or King, and this act appears to have been viewed as emblematical of a particular sanctification: of a designation to the service of God; and the King, as "the Lord's anointed," was undoubtedly invested with a sacred character. It is interesting to remark that the ceremony of anointing was not repeated upon every succession to the throne, the performance of the act upon the founder of a dynasty being considered efficient for its purpose, as long as the regular line of descent in that particular house remained undisturbed; except in the case of a King ascending the throne, in which there was danger of his right being forcibly disputed. Hence, we do not meet with this unction as a sign of elevation to the royal authority, except in the case of Saul, the first King of the Jews, and of David, the first of his line; and, subsequently, in those of Solomon and Joash. But the private anointing which was performed by the Prophets (1 Sam. x. 1; xvi. 13) was not understood to convey any abstract right to the crown; but was merely a symbolical intimation that the person thus anointed should eventually ascend the throne. It will be learned from the preceding chapter, that at the time when Saul was King over Israel, Samuel was the Prophet of the Most High. Samuel, by the command of God, orders Saul to make war upon the Amalekites, and utterly to destroy them; forbidding him to take any spoil of oxen or sheep. The King, however, was disobedient to the command of God, insomuch as he spared the King of the Amalekites, and carried away with him the best of the sheep and oxen. The Prophet is then sent to inform him that, as the just reward of such transgression, God has rejected him from being King, and cut off the entail of the government from his family. After these events, the word of the Lord came again to Samuel, commanding him to fill his horn with oil, and to go to Jesse the Bethlehemite, as God had chosen for himself a King from among his sons. The Prophet went, and the sons of Jesse passed in review before him. The eldest came, and being a goodly personage, tall, and majestic, Samuel was ready to conclude that this was God's elect; so much does a noble exterior prepossess us in a man's favour: but God informed him that he was mistaken. The Lord judgeth not as man, by outward qualifications, but by the heart, the dispositions of which he regards, and with the inmost thoughts of which he is acquainted. Six more of Jesse's sons appear, yet none of these does God choose. Whereupon Samuel asks Jesse if he has no other children; and receives for answer, that the youngest, the little one, was with the sheep. Instantly he is sent for: he appears in his shepherd's dress; the bloom of youth is on his ruddy cheek; his countenance is beautiful and animated, and his aspect and manners bespeak the more pleasing dispositions of his mind. This is he. God commands, and Samuel obeys; the horn of oil is poured upon him, in token of the divine designation; and in the midst of his brethren he is anointed King over Israel. He was then about fifteen years of age, and he reigned forty years over Israel. JUVENIS. MISCELLANY OF EXTRACTS AND CORRESPONDENCE. THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. BY ONE WHO HAS VISITED IT. THERE is much still remaining on the field of Waterloo to remind the stranger of deeds of other days. Even at this distance of time, the ground, on being ploughed, may be found partially covered with bones. It is true, that broken pieces of armoury are rarely or never met with; but this is owing to the strict attention with which they are picked up by those in the immediate neighbourhood, and retailed to strangers, accompanied by some tale of their fancied owner; yet if a memorial is wanted, there are thousands to be had upon the field. Human bones, together with those of animals, may be gathered from every furrow; and if the visiter is at all industrious, he may have a skull, or pieces of soldiers' belts, which, from their great plentifulness, appear not to be objects of request. There are many parts of this interesting scene deserving of particular attention. The immense plain of Waterloo was probably the best adapted spot in that neighbourhood for winding up the long series of campaigns that preceded it. On entering from the road that leads from Brussels into La Haye Sainte, you find yourself on the ground of the second desperate attack which took place during the heat of the battle; the walls of the houses are all marked with shot, and part of the doors, even inside the houses, are pierced with musket-balls, proving how inch by inch the chateau and every room in it must have been disputed. As you emerge hence into the field, the door is also an object of interest: although it has been repaired of late years, still it bears many proofs of the tragedy acted there. The field is now seen lying directly in front, and the ground upon which you stand is that upon which the last conflict between the Imperial Guards and the British took place. To the right, stretching among the trees, is the spot where the reserve of the British were stationed during the battle, and on the opposite ridges the position of the French. Nearly in the centre of the field is the farm of Hugomont, where the opposing troops raged in fiercest conflict: from first to last it was the rallyingpoint and scene of the most deadly contest. The walls present much the appearance of a man-of-war, being pierced with many holes through which the musketry sent their murderous fire. Again and again was it attacked; but the strong position was not to be lost, and although the French forced their entrance, yet the British were never driven out. It remains in nearly the same state as the day after the engagement. The garden is the most interesting part of the scene. How calm and serene it now looks in its desolated splendour, yet how well calculated to excite sad feelings! Its peculiar situation, and the singular appearance of the ruins, tell a tale that no pen can with justice describe. There is one solitary long black stone lying opposite one of the loop-holes in the wall, on which is inscribed, "To the memory of John Lucy Blackman, 1815;" and this is the only monument or apparent grave in the neighbourhood of the garden. Here it is customary for visiters to cut a walking-staff as a memorial, and then visit the huts and little chapel. They, too, are quiet and peaceful in their desolation, none living among them save the family who have the charge of the hamlet, and who for a few cents open the chapel-door and guide you through the ruins. Returning again, you come upon the immense mound of earth erected by the Dutch government in commemoration of the battle. frost had nearly broken up, and the ground had fallen; so that after attempting to ascend it in various places, we found it impossible, without walking up to the knees in soft mud: but the case had no choice, and after half an hour spent in toiling up the small distance of three or four hundred feet, we came to the summit, upon which is placed the Belgian lion. Here the view of the field repaid all our toil: in fact, this is the only place from which a proper view of it can be obtained. Immediately under us The |