WANDERINGS IN THE DESERT-DEATH OF AARON AND MOSES.

THE ceremonial law of the Jews was directly designed to preserve them as a peculiar people, dedicated to Jehovah their God and King. Their form of government was a Theocracy; the Almighty himself was their sovereign, and He made known his edicts by the authorized interpreters of his will. But it was necessary under such a constitution to take especial care that no pretender should mislead the multitude, as the High Priest delivered the responses from the oracular Urím and Thummím, by which all affairs, religious, civil, political, and military, were regulated; grave evils were likely to occur if there had been any room for doubt as to the person who should have the exclusive right to discharge such important functions. The priesthood was therefore rendered hereditary in the family of Aaron, and the performance of minor sacerdotal duties was restricted to the tribe of Levi. It is sufficiently obvious that the hereditary priesthood was not only an essential element of the Theocracy, but the very bond of union by which all the parts of that constitution were held together. Hence, as we have seen in the preceding article of this series, the revolt of Korah was severely punished, and the sacerdotal privilege of offering incense invested with singular importance. But another miracle was wrought to confirm the priesthood of Aaron, to which it is necessary to direct attention.

The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom and I will make to cease from me the mur

murings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. And Moses did so as the Lord commanded him, so did he. (Numbers xvii. 1—11.)

The memory of this signal miracle was perpetuated among the Jews not only by the preservation of the rod, but by their coins, for the most common im

pression on the shekels of Jerusalem was the almondflowers that budded on the rod of Aaron. From the monuments we see why this peculiar test was chosen; the wand or rod was the official ensign of dignity among the Egyptians like the sceptres of the Greeks, or the white staves used in most modern nations; the heads of the tribes therefore presented to the Lord the emblems of their station, and the singular miracle wrought in Aaron's favour was the strongest reproof of their rebellion and unbelief, and the most signal confirmation of Aaron and his family having been chosen to fill the place of God's ambassadors, and to

So familiar were the Israelites, during their residence in Egypt, with the notion that the rod was the emblem and cognizance of dignity, that they never afterwards disputed the title of Aaron to the High Priesthood. Soon afterwards they had another opportunity of seeing the efficacy which God had given to this ensign of dignity, when Moses, by striking the rock, produced springs of water at Meribah. But on this occasion Moses and Aaron showed a want of confidence in the power and promises of the Almighty, which was the more criminal on account of the mighty miracles that had been so recently wrought in their favour. They were punished by being excluded from the Promised Land, and condemned to die in the wilderness. As the congregation journeyed from Meribah, an unexpected obstacle was offered to their progress: the king of Edom refused to allow the Israelites a passage through his territories, and they were commanded by God not to force their way, but to take a circuitous route by the mountains on the frontiers. The country which they traversed has only been recently explored by the enterprise of European travellers, and though more than three thousand years have elapsed since the Exodus, the country through which they travelled bears many decisive proofs of the truth of the Scriptural narrative. The name of the desert, El Zih, or the wandering, is a testimony to the wanderings of the Israelites. Laborde, whose travels through that country abound in the strongest confirmations of the veracity of the Pentateuch, says, "The Bible is so concise, but at the same time marked by so much precision and truth, that it is only by close and fixed attention to every word of its statements, that its entire merits can be discovered." This is singularly verified by the existing monument confirmatory of the events recorded to have occurred at Mount Hor.

The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel,

The tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor is one of the most conspicuous objects in the land of Edom; after having remained unknown to Jews and Christians for so many centuries as have elapsed since the death of the first high priest of Israel, it has been discovered the first high priest of Israel, it has been discovered again within the last few years, situated in the midst

of a land whose inhabitants in ancient times were

among the most inveterate enemies of the Israelites, and whose present occupants are wild Arabs equally opposed to the Jewish and Christian faith.

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When the days of mourning for Aaron were passed, the Israelites went and encamped at Zalmona, which signifies the place of the image," a name which it received from the representation of a serpent erected by Moses. The rebellious Israelites once more gave vent to seditious murmurings, and The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers xxi. 6-9.)

This lively image of the deliverance of the whole human race from the power of "the old serpent," is a remarkable type of our Great Redeemer, and one to which He himself has distinctly referred.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever be lieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John iii. 14, 15.)

But this memorial of their wondrous deliverance subsequently became a snare to the idolatrous Jews; for the worship of the principle of evil, through fear, under the form of a serpent, was, as we have stated in the first paper of this series, one of the most comanon forms of idolatrous superstition, not only in

traces of which are found in the mythologies of all ancient nations. The Jews worshipped the brasen serpent when they sank into the idolatry which had already proved so fatal to their brethren, the ten tribes of Israel. From the general neglect of sacred things, it is probable that the bulk, both of the priests and the people, had forgotten the original purpose and signification of the consecrated image, and had eagerly seized the opportunity afforded by its preservation in the sanctuary, to indulge their insane love for adopting the superstitions of surrounding nations. Hence the brasen serpent was destroyed by the good king, Hezekiah, when he purified Judah from the idols which had been erected during the long period of corruption that preceded his accession to the throne of David.

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children

of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. (2 Kings xviii. 4.)

Nehushtan signifies "a piece of brass," and Hezekiah gave the idol that contemptuous name, in order to show that when the brasen serpent had fulfilled the purpose for which God caused it to be made, it possessed no more sanctity or importance than any other piece of metal. This was the more necessary, as nothing has more tended to extend the worship of images, than venerating the relics or memorials of providential events; a snare into which not only the Jews, but several Christian nations have unfortunately fallen.

After the Israelites had conquered the Amorites and several other warlike tribes, a terror fell upon the surrounding nations, and Balak, king of Moab, employed the Midianite prophet, Balaam, to curse them. But Balaam, constrained by Almighty power, was compelled to change his words of execration into benediction, and "bless the children of Israel altogether." The unworthy prophet, however, found more efficacious means to injure the chosen race; at his suggestion Balak directed his subjects to celebrate the festival of Baal-Peor, or the Idol of Lust, whose worship consisted in the most abominable and licentious ceremonies, but which, under various forms, was not only tolerated but encouraged by most of the ancient heathen nations, even when they had made a considerable advance in civilization. The Israelites

had probably been acquainted with this form of idolatry in Egypt, for the figure in the following engraving is believed to be one of the deities worshipped with obscene and execrable rites; they therefore yielded to the suggestions of the daughters of Moab, who had been sent to entice them.

And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. (Numbers XXV. 2, 3.)

The immediate chastisement of the worst offenders averted the vengeance of Jehovah; the false prophet, Balaam, was soon after slain, together with a multititude of the Midianites, who had joined in leading the Israelites into this grievous crime.

Soon after this defection Moses took an account of the people, and found that none were left alive of those who had come up out of Egypt, save himself, Joshua, and Caleb; he then made the necessary regulations for the distribution of Canaan between the

several tribes by lot, and having thus completed his legislation, he ascended Mount Nebo, one of the highest peaks in the chain of Abarim, whence he had a view of the promised land, which he was forbidden to enter. Instead of murmuring at this dispensation, Moses humbly sought directions as to the choice of his successor :

Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd. (Numbers xxvii. 15-17.)

Moses, having thus accomplished all the injunctions of Jehovah, addressed the children of Israel, in a most poetic and affectionate recapitulation of the blessings they had experienced, and of the duties they owed to their Benefactor. He died at the advanced age of one hundred and twenty; "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." sepulchre was carefully concealed, in order that it might not become an object of idolatrous veneration to the Israelites. It is to this that St. Jude alludes in the following passage, which refers to a tradition common among the Jews.

His

Yet Michael the archangel, when, contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 9.)

No doubt, a people that worshipped the brasen serpent, would have shown at least equal reverence for the body and tomb of their great legislator, had not both been concealed by the wise precautions of Providence.

Joshua was selected by God to lead the Israelites to the conquest of Canaan, and the directions given for his installation are, on many accounts, tco important to be omitted.

The Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. And Moses did as the Lord commanded him and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses. (Numbers xxvii. 18-23.)

In Deuteronomy, chap. xviii. 15, Moses declares, The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

The modern Jews affirm, that this prophecy was fulfilled by the appointment of Joshua as successor of Moses; but if we attentively consider the divine declaration, made at the time of his appointment, we shall see that Joshua was not only inferior to Moses, but to the generality of the prophets, since he was to have recourse to the urim and thummím in all emergencies, whereas the former spoke to God "face to face," and the latter were always ready to declare the mind of God to those that came to consult them. In fact, Joshua could not be at all called a prophet without a great abuse of terms, for he was himself subject to direction, and received all revelations of the Divine will through the intervention of the high priest,

SINGULAR MODE OF FISHING IN TYROL. WHILE travelling along the banks of a small branch of the Inn river, in the Tyrol, with my hammer in my hand, searching for specimens of the rocks and minerals which are found in its bed, my attention was suddenly attracted to the operations of a lad about sixteen years old, who was actively employed in examining the water-worn rocks that lay partly above water in the stream. Every few minutes he struck the rocks heavily with a large sledge-hammer, and then picked up something, and put it into a basket, which he carried at his side. He moved actively, jumping from rock to rock along the stream, and appeared to be very successful in his labour. As he was coming down the stream towards me, I seated myself on a rock, and observed attentively his movements. I supposed at first that he was a brother mineralogist, and as he approached me, I hailed him to learn what success he had in his researches, and what he was so eagerly collecting. To my great surprise I found his basket filled, not with curious minerals, but with small and delicate fishes, resembling in size our common smelt, but in shape and colour they looked more like anchovies. He informed me that they were esteemed a great luxury at Inspruck, and were the most delicate fish of Tyrol. His mode of taking them was the most successful, for he observed that they would not take the hook, and as they concealed themselves close to the sides of rocks, it was difficult to catch them with a net.

It will be easily understood, by any one conversant with natural philosophy, how the concussion given to a rock in the brook was communicated, either directly by the rock, or through the medium of the water, to the fish, whose delicate organization could not sustain its violence, and that they were in this manner stunned, and their sounds or airvessels being ruptured, they came to the surface, where they were easily taken. I often observed, when a boy, that if a smelt dropped from the hook, at a considerable height, into the water, it was stunned by the shock, and floated upon its back; also that when a fish was discovered close to the bottom, in shallow water, the surface of which was frozen, if a smart blow was struck upon the ice, immediately over the fish, it generally came up to the ice, floating upon its back and dead. We were in the habit of explaining the fact by saying that its air-bladder was broken.

Ir is not more evident that the body was made to be improved and strengthened, than that the mind was also made to be improved by knowledge; hence he who learns, if he learns well, not only finds learning easier the further he advances, but understands better what he learns. Science is not arbitrary, or composed of detached and isolated parts; it is one connected series of truths, centreing in the Deity. and embracing the largest and the smallest, the nearest and the most remote, portions of his universe. So he who which is, to become acquainted, as far as in his power, learns not, or ceases to learn, does not fulfil his destinywith all truth. He can know neither his Creator nor himself; although his greatest happiness depends upon this knowledge.-?

ON BELLOWS.

THE bellows is one of those domestic instruments which are so familiar to us that we are apt to forget that there was a time when it did not exist, and that it must have gone through several stages before it arrived at its present excellence. It may not be uninteresting to present to our readers a short account of the contrivances which preceded the use of, and were employed for the same purpose as, the modern bellows. The most simple bellows is undoubtedly the mouth; since the same mechanism which will direct a stream of air into a flute or trumpet, will, by a different arrangement of the lips and tongue, propel a blast of air into a newly-kindled fire; the object being to supply the fire with a larger amount of oxygen (contained in the atmospheric air,) than will reach it in the ordinary way But although the mouth may, as most persons have probably observed, act as a bellows, yet the fatiguing nature of the process must at an early period have induced a desire to construct a machine for effecting the same object. There are many remarks scattered among the works of the ancient writers which seem to imply that leathern bellows were known among them; but the information conveyed is not so definite as to deserve much reliance. It appears that in later times, when smelting-furnaces, used in manufacturing districts, had increased in number and importance, the heat of the furnaces was increased by the use of bellows, which seem to have consisted of leathern bags, with a hollow reed inserted at a small opening. After a time metal tubes were used instead of hollow reeds, and the leathern bags became superseded by wooden cases.

As we are accustomed, in the present day, to use bellows in which the edges of the boards are connected by strips of flexible leather, it may seem strange that bellows should have been used which were constructed entirely of wood, with the exception of the nozzle. Yet such was the case. In 1550 an organ-builder at Nuremburg, named Hans Lobsinger, announced the construction of bellows, in which the sides, as well as the top and bottom, were made of wood. No further details are, however, known respecting his bellows. But about 1630, two brothers, Martin and Nicholas Schelhorn, at Coburg, in Franconia, constructed wooden bellows, of which a clearer account has been transmitted. These brothers behaved as inventors are wont to do: they endeavoured to conceal the nature of their invention, until they had reaped an adequate profit by the manufacture.

About the same period, an individual named Louis Pfannenschmid came from Thuringia, and settled at Ostfeld in the Hartz Forest, where many furnaces were at work, and set up business as a wooden bellowsmaker. The makers of leather bellows, who previously lived in that place, conspired against him, and swore they would put him to death-a threat which would probably have been fulfilled, had not Pfannenschmid been formally protected by the government. The mode of making these wooden bellows was for a long series of years known only to the family of Pfannenschmid, who continued to make all those used in the Hartz Forest. From Germany these bellows gradually found their way into France.

These bellows consisted mainly of two boxes, or cases, made of fir wood, one of which was a little smaller than the other, so as to be able to be placed within it, and to enclose a body of air between them. At one end was situated a kind of hinge, on which the upper case turned, somewhat in the manner of the lid of a snuff-box. Beyond this hinge was a nozzle, through which a portion of air was forced out, at everv downward motion of the upper half of the case,

It is obvious that when the upper half of the case was raised by a handle at one end, the space between the two halves became enlarged, and a greater bulk of air could be contained therein. This air entered at a valve-hole in the lower half, as in the ordinary bellows. As it would have been impossible, however, to make the upper box fit on the lower one so closely as to be air-tight, much air would escape from between the two, instead of passing through the nozzle. To obviate this, moveable slips of wood were placed on the inner sides of the uppermost case, and were so acted on by metallic springs, that they became pressed against the sides of the lower case, so that no air could pass out between the edges of the two

cases.

These bellows were sometimes made of a large size, to be used in furnaces; and the end of the handle had facilities for fixing ropes, &c., so as to work the bellows by pulleys, or other similar means. Beckmann, who wrote in the last century, said that these wooden bellows, when well made, would last thirty or forty years, although used almost daily in furnaces. The bolt which acted as a hinge, and the outer side of the edge of the inner box required to be oiled and greased occasionally.

These wooden bellows are now superseded, for domestic use, by the modern bellows with leathern edges, which can be made and sold for a small price; while furnaces, forges, &c., are, generally speaking, furnished with large double bellows, the action of which, as instanced at a smith's forge, may be briefly described. The double bellows nearly resemble the single or domestic bellows in external appearance; but the interior cavity is divided into two parts or chambers by a middle board, similar to the lower board, and furnished also, like it, with an upwardopening valve: these three boards are connected at the edges by leather. The middle board is fixed horizontally; and the nozzle is in communication with the upper compartment, only at the time when air is about entering the lower compartment. This being the disposition of the parts, the action is as follows. When the lower board is raised by the handle, the air contained in the lower compartment is driven through the valve in the middle board, into the upper compartment. The quantity thus forced into this compartment is greater than can escape through the nozzle in the same time; the consequence of which is, that the upper board is pressed upwards, so as to enlarge the capacity of that chamber. Weights are placed upon the upper and lower boards, by which they are borne down, when the upward motion of the handle ceases. As the upper board descends, the air contained in the upper compartment closes the valve in the middle board, and is forced out through the nozzle. During this time, the lower compartment, by the descent of the lower board, obtains a new supply of air; which supply is, upon the lower board being again raised, partly propelled through the nozzle, and partly accumulated in the upper compartment, as before. By this ingenious arrangement, air is forced through the nozzle, both by the upward and downward motion of the handle; whereas in the common single bellows the downward motion is alone effective.

There is a useful form of domestic bellows, which has been lately invented, in which a continuous stream of air is obtained, by turning a handle connected with an ingenious contrivance in the interior.

is at best but a gross pleasure, too rough an entertainment RIDICULE, which chiefly arises from pride, a selfish passion, for those who are highly polished and refined.-LORD Kaimes,