It is frequently the case that we see pictures and paintings of figures with palm branches in their hands. Palm branches, in processions and rejoicings for victory, were usually carried before conquerors; and are also emblematical of those who are conquerors by having suffered martyrdom. There is another very important service rendered by the palm-tree, which in a sultry climate must be highly valued. It points out where water may be obtained. Find a palmtree, and however dry and sterile the ground in which it grows may be, you will rarely fail to discover water at its

root.

In Exodus, it is said of Moses and the children of Israel, "And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters." (See Exodus xv. 16.)

Text-REVELATION Vii. 9, 10.

THE TEN LEPERS.

(Luke xvii. 12-18.)

THEY come afflicted and depressed,
Their heads with grief bow'd down;
Each friendly door is barr'd to them,
For "
they must dwell alone."

They come,-afar, apart they stand,
Yet raise one piteous cry,

For they have caught the gracious glance
Of that benignant eye.

The Saviour sees them—" Go," he says,
"The holy temple seek."
Enough-the fetters of disease

That instant round them break!

They go, and they are heal'd-but one
Extols the hand divine;

He bends in fervent thankfulness:
But "where are then the nine?

"Of all these sorrowing men, but one
Returns his debt to pay,

For life, for health, for joy, for hope:
His brethren, -where are they?"

O if that hallow'd voice, e'en now,
From heaven should ask again—
"Where are the thankless souls, redeem'd
From anguish, want and pain?"—

How must the man who round the world
Look'd with a Christian's eye,
Where'er he turn'd his anxious glance,
"Here, Lord," abas'd reply!

Yea, here, in every haunt of men,
How oft must feel it true,
That thankless hearts are every where;
The grateful-O how few!

The vows that oft upon the bed
Of sickness rose, the prayer
For life to serve the God of life-
Where are they?-tell us where?

They that from death's dark chambers rais'd,
Once more to life upspring,
Ah! who, of all those thousand heal'd,
Their grateful offerings bring?

For me, if ever smitten thus,

To heaven my prayers appeal;

First, Lord, vouchsafe a thankful heart,
Before thou deign to heal.

THE EAGLE.

THE eagle, among birds, sustains the same rank as the lion does among beasts. Its great strength, rapidity and elevation of flight, added to its natural ferocity and voracious disposition, have obtained for it the character of "king of birds," and confer upon it the power of inspiring terror into all its fellows of the air.

Of all known birds, the eagle not only flies the highest, but also with the greatest rapidity; and to this circumstance there are several striking allusions in the sacred volume. Among the evils threatened to the Israelites, in case of their disobedience, the prophet names one in the following terms: "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the

eagle flieth" (Deut. xxviii. 49). The march of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem is predicted in the same terms: "Behold he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles" (Jer. iv. 13); as is also his invasion of Moab: "For thus saith the Lord, Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab" (chap. xlviii. 40); that is, he shall settle down on the devoted country as an eagle over its prey.

Of all birds, the eagle has the quickest eye; but his sense of smelling is not so acute. He never pursues his prey, therefore, except when in sight; but having once obtained a view of it, such is the rapidity of his movement, that certain destruction ensues. To this Job alludes, in expressing the rapid flight of time: "My days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good. They are passed away as the swift ships; as the eagle that hasteth to the prey" (Job ix. 25, 26).

In general, these birds are found in mountains and illpeopled countries, and breed among the loftiest cliffs. Hence the sublime language of the prophet, in allusion to the pride and degradation of Moab: "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord" (Obad. v. 4); and also of Jeremiah, with reference to the neighbouring country of Edom: "Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart. O! thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord" (Jer. xlix. 16). Instead of the cleft of the rock, the eagle sometimes chooses the lofty cedar as the place of his residence, a circumstance not overlooked in the sacred volume. "A great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar" (Ezekiel xvii. 3).

The eagle, it is said, lives to a great age; and, like other birds of prey, sheds its feathers in the beginning of spring. After this season it appears with fresh strength and vigour, and assumes the appearance of youth. To this David alludes when gratefully reviewing the mercies of Jehovah : "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm ciii. 5); as does the prophet, also, when describing the renovating and

1

quickening influences of the Spirit of God: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah xl. 31).

It is particularly worthy of remark, the intimate acquaintance which the writer of the book of Job displays with many parts of animated nature; his account of the eagle is characterized by great accuracy and beauty: "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she." To the last line in this quotation our Saviour seems to allude in Matt. xxiv. 28: "Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together;" that is, wherever the Jewish people, who were morally and judicially dead, might be, there would the Roman armies-whose standard was an eagle, and whose strength and fierceness resembled that of the king of birds, in comparison with its fellows-pursue and devour them.

In Deuteronomy xxxii. 11, there is a beautiful comparison of the care and paternal affection of the Deity for his people, with the natural tenderness of the eagle for its young: "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him." The remarkable circumstance of bearing the young upon her wings, is alluded to in another part of Scripture (Exodus xix. 4); and many passages in the writings of ancient authors countenance the idea, that the eagle actually takes up her timid young ones, and bears them on her wings till they venture to fly. It is not to be supposed that she wafts her unfledged young through the voids of heaven, or to distant places; the meaning probably is, that she aids with her wings their feeble and imperfect attempts to fly till, emboldened by her example and their own success, they fearlessly commit themselves to the air. So did Jehovah, says Paxton, for his chosen people. When they were slumbering in Goshen, or groaning in despair of recovering their freedom, he sent his servant Moses to rouse them from their inglorious sloth, to assert their liberty, and to break their chains upon

the heads of their oppressors. He carried them out of Egypt, and led them through the wilderness into their promised inheritance. He taught them to know their strength; he instructed them in the art of war; he led them to battle; and by his almighty arm routed their enemies.

There are two other species of eagle placed by Moses in the list of unclean birds;-the ossifrage and the osprey; but they do not call for particular notice.

Text-DEUTERONOMY XXXii. 11, 12.

SELFISHNESS.

Or all the sins that curse our race
And mar God's world below,
None work such ill as selfishness,
Or causes man such woe.
Whatever be the various name
Of sin's detested fruit,

The source of all is yet the same-
Self is the bitter root.

Hence anger, avarice, pride, arise;
Here hate and strife begin;

Hence spring oppression, fraud and lies,
And every hateful sin.

But never can that breast have peace
Where self is unsubdued;

For he shall find his cares increase
Who makes self-love his God.

Then in ourselves and others too
Let us this sin reprove,
And live, as Jesus bade us do,
In self-denying love.

CHRISTIAN EMBLEMS.

SYMBOLS, or emblems, from such poetry as we have alluded to in the former lesson on the "Early Hymns of the Church," are of course numerous. Every parable which Jesus used regarding himself supplies them.

The Cross is drawn in every possible way.

Its resem