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Being desirous of effecting a wide distribution of this valuable work, I will send TEN Copies FREE, Prepaid, to any one who will judiciously distribute them in their locality. Address FREDK. W. HALE, 61, CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. DEAFNESS Book sent 2 stamps. 17, St. Bride Street, London. Just published, in tinted wrapper, price 6d., post free. CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE MOORS. A GHOST STORY. BY NAUTICUS. ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C. order to keep them alive, and in Ispahan, as is said, men have "Life's road from youth had lain through grief and gloom, and every milestone was a loved one's tomb."-Household Words. CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH. a De. xxviii. 4. which 1-4. (1, 2) not.. wife, marriage was regarded as a duty by the Jews, and the blessings of the Mosaic law rested upon b"By those many fruitfulness. In commanding Jer. not to take a wife God in- maladies follow in the timated that during the impending calamities it would be track of war and impossible to bring up families: they would only increase the famine."-Spk. anxieties of siege and famine times. this place, the land of Com. Judæa. (3) mothers.. fathers, who are so deeply affected "Though bachewhen calamities come upon their children. (4) grievous deaths, by disease, famine, and sword. Deaths having most distressful features for parents. lamented, with the usual wailings for the dead. Marrying unbelievers.-The Rev. S. Kilpin, of Exeter, had witnessed the awful consequences produced in the Church of Christ, and in families, from those who professed to be the disciY ples of Jesus, forming marriages contrary to the command, Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers," "only in the Lord," etc. As he never shunned to declare the whole counsel of God, this subject was presented to his congregation. The next day, gentleman, whose name or residence he never knew, called to thank him for the discourse, adding, that his state of mind when he entered Exeter was most distressing, as he was on the very point of complying with a dreadful temptation, which would have embittered his future life. He had been a disciple of Christ, was anxious to consecrate his life to the service of his adorable Master, and had sought a helpmate to strengthen his hands in serving God. A lady, whom he deemed pious, had accepted his addresses; but when every customary arrangement was made, she had dishonourably discarded him. His mind was so exceedingly wounded and disgusted, that he had determined to choose a wife who made no profession of religion, and had fixed on another object for his addresses, with every prospect of success, although he had not as yet mentioned his intention to her. He added, "But the providence of God led me, an entire stranger in this city, to your meeting-house. You may suppose that your subject arrested my attention. You appeared to be acquainted with every feeling of my soul. I saw my danger, and perceived the temptation, and the certain ruin of my peace, if the dreadful snare had not been broken. You, sir, under God, have been my deliverer. By the next Sabbath I should have been bound in honour to an enemy of that Jesus whom I adore ; for although she is moral and externally correct, yet she knows the Saviour only in name. I could not leave the city in peace until I had sought to make this communication." They unitedly addressed Him who can deliver, and does deliver His people. VOL. IX. O.T. E be the lors strongest stakes, married men are the best binders, in the hedge of the commonwealth. It is the policy of the Londoners, when they send a ship or Mediterranean Sea, to make every ma into the Levant riner therein a merchant, each seaman venturing somewhat of his own, which will make him more wary to avoid, and more un valiant to dergo dangers. Thus married men, especially if having posterity, deeper sharers in that State wherein they live, which engageth their affections to the greater loyalty." -Fuller. are the The Cherokee mony is very expressive. The man and woman marriage-cere join hands over running water to indicate that their lives are thenceforth to flow on in one stream. c Cheever. him how to demean Thus, while part of his congregation thought it an unfit subject for the pulpit, at least one person received it as a message from God, by whom it was no doubt sent. b a "God here an5-8. (5) house of mourning, as if you were going to a ticipates the fulfilment of Jere- mourning feast. Intimating that the general distress would miah's prophe- permit no such feasts as were usual at funerals. (6) cut cies, and tells themselves, etc., Le. xix. 28; De. xiv. 1. This was a heathen cushimself tom, wh. it seems the Jews had adopted with their idolatry. make. . bald, shave a bare patch on the front of the head. (7) tear themselves, marg. "break bread for them" see v. 5. cup of consolation, it was the custom to force food and drink upon mourners, who, in their first grief, often fasted from all food. (8) house of feasting, v. 5. when they should have been accom plished."-Words worth. b"Among the Greeks, who anciently, as now, wore their hair, the custom of tearing, cutting off, or shaving the hair, was at least as common as among the Jews. With them the hair, thus separated from the head, was sometimes laid upon the corpse as a tribute of affection and regret; sometimes it was cast upon the funeral pile, to be consumed with the remains of the deceased; and on other occasions it was laid upon the grave."-Kitto. c Am. viii. 10; Mi. i. 16. v. 5. J. C. Dieteric, Ant. 610. d Bryant. a Je. vii. 34, xxv. 10; Eze. xxvi. 13. Ki. ix. 8, 9. Blessing in mourning.— Deem not that they are blest alone Nor let the good man's trust depart, For God has mark'd each sorrowing day, And heaven's eternal bliss shall pay For all His children suffer here." 9-13. (9) voice, etc., including all private and public seasons of rejoicing." (10) wherefore, etc., ch. v. 19, xiii. 22. (11) because, of rebellion and idolatry persisted in through b De. xxix. 24; 1 generation after generation. (12) worse, etc., ch. vii. 26; 1 Ki. xiv. 9. (13) imagination, better, stubbornness; perversity. (13) these, in the captive land ye may do your own will. The sentence is ironical. not. . favour, i.e. understand that you cannot have liberty to serve idols and My favour. That is conditioned by your obedience. c"There among idolaters you may indulge your evil propensities to the full; you may practise your idolatries without intermission."-Rosen a" The Salutariness of mourning. How wretched is the man who never mourn'd suffer- 14, 15. (14) therefore, or "yet surely." days come, ch. ings of Judah in xxiii. 7, 8. (15) land of the north, the usual appellation of captivity will be Chaldæa, wh. was north to Judæa. the Babylonish Ground of confidence.-There is a story of a young man who was at sea in a raging tempest, and, when all the passengers were at their wits'-end for fear, he only was merry; and when he was asked the reason of his mirth, he answered that the pilot of the ship was his father, and he knew his father would have a care of him. The great and wise God, He is our pilot; He sits at the stern; and though the ship of the Church or State be in a sinking condition, yet be of good comfort, our Pilot will have a care of us.-Three epochs of confidence.-People have generally three epochs in their confidence in man. In the first they believe him to be everything that is good, and they are lavish with their friendship and confidence. In the next, they have kad experience, which has smitten down their confidence, and they then have to be careful not to mistrust every one, and to put the worst construction upon everything. Later in life, they learn that the greater number of men have much more good in them than bad, and that, even when there is cause to blame. there is more reason to pity than condemn; and then a spirit of confidence again awakens within them.- Christian confidence.A soldier lay dying in the hospital, in terrible agony. A visitor asked him, "What Church are you of?" "Of the Church of Christ," he replied. "I mean of what persuasion are you? Persuasion," said the dying man, as his eyes looked heavenward, beaming with love to the Savour, "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ."-What do you do without a mother to tell your troubles to?" said a child who had a mother to one whose mother was dead. "Mother told me whom to go to before she died," answered the little orphan. "I go to the Lord Jesus. He was mother's friend, and He is mine." The other replied, "Jesus Christ is up in the sky; He is far away, and has a great many things to attend in heaven. It is not likely He can stop to mind you. "I do not know about that," said the orphan; all I know is, He says He will; and that is enough for me." The orphan was right. God's ear is open to babes and sucklings as to young men and fathers. 16-18. (16) fishers. . hunters, a reference in these figures is to the coming judgments, by the Chaldæans, who would hunt out the people from their hiding-places, and accomplish a general destruction. (17) eyes.. ways, Job xxxiv. 21; Pr. v. 21. The judgment is one decided on after complete inquiry and perfect knowledge. (18) first, i.e. before accomplishing the return promised in v. 15. double, i.e. in proportion to God's usual severity in punishing men's sins. Double is used as a fig. meaning fully, amply. carcases, so in contempt the offering of animals in their idol sacrifices is called." Divine comfort.-When a man walketh in the sun, if his face be towards it, he hath nothing before him but bright shining light and comfortable heat; but let him once turn his back to the sun, what hath he before him but a shadow? And what is a shadow, but the privation of light, and heat of the sun? Yea, it is but to behold his own shadow, defrauding himself of the other. Thus there is no true wisdom, no true happiness, no real comfort but in beholding the countenance of God; look so great, that the them will be more joyous than even their exodus from Egypt.”Wordsworth. deliverance from v. 14, 15. Abp. the polestar, yet the needle of the compass which him which way points to it tells he sails; thus the heart that is touched with the loadstone of Di vine love, trembling with godly fear, and yet still looking towards God by fixed believing, inter prets the fear by the love in the fear, and tells the soul that its course is heavenward, towards eternal rest."Leighton. the haven of a The metal sty lus for writing on clay tablets, the point of wh. was made of some hard substance, such as a diamond. from that and we lose these blessings; and what shall we gain? a shadow, an empty image; instead of a substantial, to gain an empty image of ourselves, and lose the solid image of God. Yet this is the common folly of the world; men prefer this shadow before that substance, whereas there is not the least appearance of any true comfort but in God only. 19-21. (19) fortress, or place of defence. Gentiles, in their readiness to give up their idolatry shall reproach the hesitating Jews by their forwardness." (20) make gods, an inconceivable absurdity in the very statement. (21) this once, i.c. in this overwhelming judgment. the Lord, better Jehovah, the covenant name of God. Worldly comforts.-The comforts of this world are but like the treasures of snow; do but take a handful of snow, and crush it in your hands, it will melt away presently; but if you let it lie on the ground, it will continue for some time and so it is with the things of this world; if you take the comforts of this life in your hands, and lay them too near your hearts in affection and love to them, they will quickly melt and vanish away from you; but if you leave them in their proper place, and do not set an inordinate affection upon them, they will continue the longer with you; as if you should line a garment with linen, it would do very well, but if you line it with pitch or glue, that will stick fast to the body, and in all likelihood soil both garment and the man that wears it; so when the world is glued to our hearts, it spoils the comforts of all the mercies that we enjoy ; and so it may be said that the otherwise lawful use of them is abused, when they are either used too affectionately in making gods of them, or being too eagerly bent in the gaining of them. CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH. 1-4. (1) pen of iron, Job xix. 24. An iron chisel suitable for cutting inscriptions on stones; or engraving on metal. point.. diamond, or finger nail. Such a pen made indelible marks, and so did the sin of Judah. altars, plural. God's altar was one, Baal's altars were many. Possibly the names of the idols to whose service the altar was devoted were put upon the horns. (2) children, whose lives might be sacrificed in b"On Assyrian the Moloch rites. Or indicating that the children are trained up in the fathers' bad example. (3) mountain.. field, fig. witnesses who for Zion. Field means "open country," the whole country of possess a seal im- Judæa. high places, 1 Sa. ix. 12. for sin, or because of pressed a nail thy sin. (4) discontinue, cease to possess: or cease to till, so mark. From that the land shall have rest. for ever, i.e. until its consuming these nail-marks the word trans- work is done. lated point has been derived."Bib. Things, etc. contract tablets were too poor to e Is. xi. 9, lvi. 7, lvii. 13. See C. J. Hoare, "All Israel Sa ved," Lect. 117. The handwriting of great authors.-An old compositor who worked upon Punch many years ago tells us that of all the able contributors to that witty periodical, the manuscripts of Douglas Jerrold and Gilbert A'Beckett were the most peculiar. Jerrold's was written in almost microscopic characters with a fine gold pen, and so close that one of the sides of the small foolscap octavo paper he used would nearly fill a solid brevier column of Punch. Mr. A'Beckett's was altogether the reverse, being written very wide apart and on post octavo paper. It had a very curious |