"That is a verse of Cowper's; very suitable and very true; for there is not an idea in the world, of God, or of divine things, at least, at all worthy of them, but it came from this hallowed source. This is evident; or how can it be accounted for, that the philosophers of Greece and Rome, many of them men of mighty minds, knew not God, but worshipped 'the creature ;' and gods of wood and of stone, more than the Creator, 'who is God over all, blessed for ever?" "But you have something else, have you not, Harry?"

"Yes; a microscope."

"That is a very pretty present; and it will furnish you with perpetual employment and gratification. You will indeed see, what I have so often told you, that God is as great and glorious in the minutest of His works as in the greatest. But you have been up some time, have you not Harry? What have you been doing?"

"I have been reading in my new Bible.' "What part have you been reading ?"

"About Jacob, and his sending a present into Egypt, though it was but a poor one; it was not worth so

What is the source of our knowledge of divine things? What will a person sce in the use of the telescope

much as my microscope and Bible. He said, Take now 'a present; a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds,' and 'go a gainto the man.' That was, to Joseph, who was in Egypt, though they did not know him.

"Travellers tell us, that even the poor in the East do not visit without a present; either a flower, a few radishes, or dates, or fruit of some kind. Thus the Queen of Sheba did not visit Solomon, without bringing with her costly presents.

"As soon as guests arrived, water was brought to wash their feet and their hands, Gen. xviii. 4; xix. 2. ; and it appears that they were not unfrequently anointed with fragrant oil, Psalm xxiii. 5. Hence Mary

Gen. xviii. 4. Let a little water I pray you be fetched, and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

Gen. xix. 2. And he said, Behold now my lords, turn in I pray you into your servants house and tarry all night and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early and go on your ways.

Psalm xxiii. 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

What present did Jacob send to Joseph ? What do the poor do in the East when they visit? What did the Queen of Sheba do when she visited Solomon ? What was done on the arrival of guests? Repeat some verses from Genesis. What was frequently done? Repeat a verse from Psalms.

Magdalen broke an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it on the head and feet of our Lord. Simon, the master of the house, seems not to have received him in the respectful manner he ought, and according to the usages then common in society. Hence the 'Redeemer said to him, 'Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman, since I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.'

"Presents ever were, and still are, very common in the East, when persons visit each other, especially when they have audience of those of quality. Hence many instances of this kind occur in Scripture. Thus it is said that 'the kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.""

"It does not say to whom, father."

"Yes, the Psalm does; to Messiah. Maundrell

What did Mary Magdalen do ? How did Simon receive our Lord? What did the Redeemer say to him? Are presents still common in the East? What does it say in a verse of Scripture ?

says 'After dinner we went to wait upon Ostan, the Basha of Tripoli; having first sent our present to procure a propitious reception. It is counted uncivil in this country to visit without an offering in the hand. All great men expect it, as due to their character and authority, and look on themselves as affronted, and indeed defrauded, when this compliment is omitted. Even in familiar visits amongst inferior people, you shall seldom have them come without bringing a flower, or an orange, or some other such token of their respect to the person visited.”

"I was reading, yesterday, in Rollin, father, of a singular sort of present which the Scythians sent to Darius; it was a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows. The Persian king thought, that by these emblems they meant to give up to him their country and their weapons of war."

"And was that their meaning.

"No; one of his grandees explained the present very differently. Know,' said he, 'that unless you can fly away in the air, like birds; or hide yourselves in the earth, like mice; or swim in the water, like

What present

What does Maundrell say of the custom of giving presents? did the Scythians send to Darius? What did the Persian king think of these presents? What was their meaning?

frogs; you shall in no wise be able to avoid the arrows of the Scythians.""

"Truly, this was a present of a very peculiar nature, and unlike the usual presents in the East. These were often very numerous. D'Herbelot tells us, that a poet of Cufah, in the ninth century, had so many presents made him in the course of his life, that at his death he was found possessed of a hundred complete suits of clothes, two hundred shirts, and five hundred turbans. We learn also, from Judges iii. 18, that there was often much parade and ostentation in bringing their presents. Through ostentation, they never fail to load upon four or five horses what might easily be carried by one. In like manner, as to jewels, trinkets, and other things of value, they place in fifteen dishes what a single plate would very well hold.""

"How many garments that poet had given to him, father!"

"He had; the presents in the East are often very valuable. This appears not only from the case of the poet which I have mentioned, but from the circumstance, that Naaman brought as a present to the proph

How many presents had a poet of Cufah in his possession at the time of his death? What do we learn from the 18th verse of Judges? Were the presents in the East valuable ?