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that make, says the matter of fact man; Satan too has a place there; true, but not a very enviable one.

So, also, the birds have their fashions, and renew them every spring., The same regard for variety and beauty is seen here, but they do not alter their fashions-only renew them. Here the old man thinks he has a decided advantage over the fashions of the age, and feels more assurance in sticking to his buttonless, roundcornered coat; but, Conservative says, the argument proves too much, and is not good, for Mr. Fogy might have the birds and flowers on his side in more respects than one, and he might insist on dismissing the preacher and the schoolmaster.

Many persons, in whose minds the distinction between the true and perverted fashion is not more clear than it ought to be, are forever decrying the fashions of the day, and yet following after at a distance, just far enongh to elude the search of Barnum in quest of specimens of antiquities. They don't like the fashions, yet with them the adage is fashionable, "better out of the world than out of fashion." Conservative does not indeed keep much closer, but says less. He thinks the present is the Shanghai period, and that the style last winter-broad sleeves, short mantles, and "tites," represented the idea pretty well; the fact that the tail has grown considerably, he regards as indicative of speed -a sort of rudder.

Not every thing that is fashionable is right, yet not all that is so, is wrong. The most fashionable are not always the proudest, nor is pride always absent in minds most abhorrent of fashion. "Pretty feathers make pretty birds," but intelligence and liberal mindedness need no external trappings to give a passport to honor and respectability; if these be present, the interior graces shine through them, and they constitute but the drapery of the image beneath them. "The fashion of this world passeth away," but there is something that will survive them all. That is the inner man; that may be either cursed or blest, according as the gifts of God are employed in this world.

It is often remarked, that what pleases one person displeases another, and, where tastes in this subjective view are so diversified, we seem willing to allow every man to his taste; but doubtless this diversity grows out of the disturbances in our own minds, so that the laws of beauty, inherent in its own constitution, are not apprehended alike by all. The same diversity, though perhaps not to the same extent, exists in respect to truth in other relations, so that scarcely two men agree in all things as touching the highest truths of religion. All these differences, then, are inward and not outward. Beauty and ugliness are not what men make them, but have a character of their own, and are controlled by laws which are above our thinking or willing. The appeal in all cases of disagreement is to these laws, and not to the caprice of the individual.

THE TREES OF THE BIBLE.

NO. II. THE PALM-TREE.

BY THX EDITOR.

THE Hebrew name of the Palm-tree is Tamar. In the Greek it is called Phoinix. It is sometimes called the Date, though this is properly the name of only its fruit.

The meaning of the word from which its name is derived is straight, or upright. This also is the character of the tree. It resembles a vast reed growing straight up towards heaven, sometimes to the height of one hundred feet. Like a reed, too, it is not solid wood within, but the heart of it is a kind of pith or marrow, round which grows a tough bark full of strong fibres when young, which, as the tree grows older, becomes hard like wood. The leaves, which are often from six to eight feet long, grow out of this bark; they seem indeed but a continuation of it. The leaves expand very wide on every side of the stem, and as the tree grows they fall off, leaving a kind of short rugged knots extending forth from the tree all around it. "These, whose stump or policies, in being thus gradually left upon the trunk, serve like so many rounds of a ladder, to climb up the tree." The tree is in reality without knots, for these projections are not properly knots, being, not the remains of limbs, but one of leaves.

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The straight upright nature of this beautiful tree is frequently alluded to in the sacred writings. In the Song of Solomon (vii: 7) the stature of the bride is compared to a palm-tree: "This thy stature is like to a palm-tree.' A somewhat tall, slender form was regarded as indicative of grace, gentleness, and dignity. Hence Tamar was a common name among the ladies of Palestine; it occurs a number of times in the Bible.

Palm-trees were anciently very common in Judea and surrounding regions. They flourished especially about Jericho, Eugeddi, Scythopolis, and along the banks of Jordan. Jericho was called "the city of Palm-trees," Deut. 34: 3. 2 Chron. 28: 15. Dr. Shaw says, "that although these trees are not now either plentiful or fruitful in other parts of the Holy Land, there are still some to be seen around Jericho." There is everything in that locality which they need, such as moisture, sandy soil, and a warm climate.

When we keep in mind the adaptation of a moist soil to the growth of the palm-tree, how natural is the allusion of Moses to these trees. Speaking of the journeyings of the children of Israel he says: "They came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and three-score and ten palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters." Ex. 15: 27. It is said that when, in

1801, the English army landed in Egypt to expel the French from that country, Sir Sidney Smith assured the troops that wherever date-trees grew there must be water near, and this, on digging, proved true, for they found water within such a distance that the roots of the tree could draw moisture from the water.

The fruit which, as already observed, is called date, grows in large rich clusters below the leaves. It is sweet, and very agreeable to the taste. A good tree yields yearly from fifteen to twenty clusters of dates, weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds each. When cultivated they bear earlier and better than when left to themselves. They are propagated chiefly by transplanting roots of full grown trees; these will yield the sixth or seventh year if well attended. They may also be raised from the kernels, but in that case scarcely yield fruit before about the sixteenth year. They reach the height of their vigor at about thirty years, and continue in that state until they are about one hundred years old, when they begin slowly to decline, but often live until late in the second century. The Psalmist alludes to this tree when he says of the righteous, "They shall flourish like a palm-tree-they shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Ps. 92.

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The palm is a highly useful tree even beyond the excellent fruit which it bears. "The diligent natives," says Mr. Gibbon, "celebrated either in verse or in prose, the three hundred and sixty uses to which the trunk, the branches, the leaves and the fruit were skillfully applied. The extensive importance of the datetree, says Dr. Clarke, is one of the most curious subjects to which a traveler can direct his attention. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Persia, subsist almost entirely on this fruit. They boast also of its medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the date stone. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, bags, mats, and brushes; from the branches, cages for their poultry, and fences for their gardens; from the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging; from the sap is prepared a spirituous liquor; and the body of the tree furnishes fuel it is even said, that from one variety of the palmtree, the 'phoenix farinifera' meal has been extracted, which is found among the fibres of the trunk, and has been used for food." The liquor, or honey of the palm-tree, is much used in the East among the higher classes on festive occasions, in the entertainment of guests. This," says Paxton, "they procure by cutting off the head or crown of one of the more vigorous plants, and scooping the top of the trunk into the shape of a basin, where the sap ascending lodges itself, at the rate of three or four quarts a day, during the first week or two; after which the quantity daily diminishes, and at the end of six weeks or two months the juices are entirely consumed, the tree becomes dry, and serves only for timber and fire-wood. This liquor, which has a more luscious

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sweetness than honey, is of the consistence of thin syrup, but quickly grows tart and ropy, acquiring an intoxicating quality."

It is a remarkable fact that these trees are male and female; though this is also the case with many other trees, as for instance, the mulberry and the locust. The dates are produced by the female; but the fruit is always dry and insipid when the tree stands alone at a distance from the other kind. This fact is carefully observed and considered by those who plant them for their fruit.

The palm-tree was always a great favorite in the Holy Land. It was worthy of it, being beautiful, evergreen, became venerable by age, and very extensively useful. It became in time the emblem of Judea. The Emperor Vispasian, upon the conquest of Judea, cast a medal with a palm-tree upon it, under which sits a solitary, disconsolate captive woman, and over which is the inscription, "JUDEA CAPTA." This lonely woman reminds us of Deborah the prophetess, who in sad times "dwelt under a palmtree between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim." Jud. 4: 5. The leaves of the palm-tree in their form resembles the solar rays, and hence it is a very proper emblem of natural and also of spiritual light. Hence these trees were among the carved work of the holy place of the ancient sanctuary. 1 Kings 6; Ezek. 41. Hence, also, they were used in the construction of booths, on the great Feast of Tabernacles. Lev. 23; Neh. 8.

Palm branches were emblems of victory and triumph, and hence were carried before conqueror's when returning crowned with success. This explains the conduct of the people when, on Christ's entry into Jerusalem, they "took branches of palm-trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna." John 12: 13. This explains, too, why those whom John saw before the throne and the Lamb in heaven, had "palms in their hands." Rev. 7: 9. They had overcome, were at home from the conflict, and celebrated their victory in joys and triumphs without end.

The Greek name of this tree, as we have already observed, signifies also that fabulous bird called Phoenix, of which the ancients speak. Some of the fathers, says one, have supposed that the Psalmist (92: 12) alludes to this bird, and hence have made the Phoenix an emblem of the resurrection. "Tertullian calls it a full and striking emblem of this hope." This is no doubt the reason why it has been cultivated in some burial places in the East. The circumstance that when the old trunk dies young shoots in great abundance succeed it, growing out of its roots, may have given rise to this fable of the Phoenix, "which perishes in a flame of its own kindling, while a young one springs from her ashes to continue the race."

It is certainly a very beautiful sight, that circle of scions which grow out and around the stumps of the aged tree while it is turn

ing to ashes in their midst, feeding the life of the young shoots by its own death, and they, standing as a guard around, as if to protect it, and then to take its place and perpetuate in themselves its own life! It will do as an emblem of the resurrection, but also equally well to illustrate the relation which children in a family sustain to their aged, fading, departing parents.

ONLY WAITING.

A very aged man in an alms-house was asked what he was doing now. He replied, "Only waiting."

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