OVENS. "You know, father, it is said that the frogs, which were one of the plagues of Egypt, got into the ovens. How could they "I am not surprised at your question, Harry. Wicked men have sneered at the Scriptures on this very account. This, however, is only a proof of their ignorance. In various parts of the East, instead of what we call ovens, they dig a hole in the ground, in which they insert an earthen pot, which having sufficiently heated, they stick their cakes. to the inside, and, when baked, remove them, and supply their places with others, and so on. Frogs, Harry could easily get into such ovens as these." This makes the meaning clear." "But the methods of baking their bread in the East are various. Dr. Shaw says, that 6 in cities and villages, where there are public ovens, the bread is usually leavened; but in other parts, as soon as the dough is kneaded, it is made into thin cakes, which are either immediately baked upon the coals, or in a shallow earthen vessel like a frying-pan.' Another traveller informs us, that the Arabs about Mount Carmel make a fire in a great stone pitcher, and when it is heated, mix meal and water, which they put on the outside of the pitcher, and this soft paste, spreading itself upon it, is baked in an instant, and the bread comes off as thin as our wafers.' "There is no part of the world in which the people have bread superior to our own; and there are but few places in which it is equally 6 good. God is perpetually feeding us, as He fed his ancient people with the finest of the wheat.' His abounding goodness should awaken our liveliest gratitude." ORNAMENTS. "THE prophet Isaiah gives a curious account, in his third chapter, of the dress of the Jewish women; I wish you would tell me all about it, as some part of what he says appears very strange." "I cannot promise, Harry, to tell you all about it; but perhaps if we talk over the subject, and refer to those who have travelled in the East, we shall understand the account better. What do you refer to particularly?" |