two sources.-1. From the ancient writers of other nations who have described the customs of former times. Their works contain many passages which confirm the accounts given in the Bible, and nothing which really contradicts them, when carefully examined. Learned men have clearly proved this in many large volumes which they have written upon the subject, so that if my young readers ever should hear any ignorant or wicked people say, that other ancient books contradict the Bible, they may be assured that it is false, as they will find when they grow older, and can examine for themselves. And I may safely ask my older readers, whether they ever found any book which contained better advice, or more important truths than the Bible; especially as its contents, under the Divine blessing, are able to make men wise unto salvation. Nor should we forget, that a great part of the Old Testament was written many hundred years before any other book now in existence.-2. Much, also, may be learned from modern travellers, who have visited the places mentioned in the Bible, and other countries of the east. Their accounts are of the greatest use, as the customs of those lands have changed very little. People live there now very much in the same manner as they did in the times about which we read in the Bible, which were from two to six thousand years ago.

These things enable us, in some degree, to enter into the feelings with which the Jews of old read the Scriptures; they are described in books, most of which cost much money, and are very scarce, so that it is impossible for persons in general ever to get them, much less to read them. For this reason several smaller books have been written upon these subjects.

This book is one of them; and I hope that my readers, after perusing it, will be better able to understand many passages in the Bible; that they will take more interest in its contents; and also that they will be more anxious to read the Scriptures: for the Bible shows us the only way to be happy in this world, and in the life to come. And I would particularly recommend all who read this book to examine the various texts referred to.

CH. 1. ANCIENT HABITATIONS-TENTS AND HOUSES.

WHEN Adam and Eve were driven from paradise, they must have wanted some place to live in. Of course they did not find houses ready built; they would probably for a time take shelter in a cave. We read, however, very early of Cain building a city, Gen. iv. 17. The houses, no doubt, were different from ours, but they would be improved by degrees. We read also of tents: Jabal, the son of Lamech, is thought to have invented them. He is called "the father of such as dwell in tents," as you may read, Gen. iv. 20.

All these dwellings were destroyed by the flood.

After the earth was dried, and Noah came out of the ark, he seems, for some time at least, to have lived in a tent, Gen. ix. 21. This sort of dwelling would be the easiest to make. Even now, tents are very common in the east. But it was not long before men began again to build houses and cities, Gen. xi. 4, 5. We know, also, from other histories, that people often lived in caves.

They sometimes hollowed out rooms in the cliffs and rocks, as may be seen even in England, at Sneinton, near Nottingham, and in other places. Many of these caves and places are to be found in Egypt and the east. Some of them are very large, and have many rooms. In general, however, people lived either in tents or houses.

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The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lived in tents while in the land of Canaan, as we read in the book of Genesis. They are also spoken of, Heb. xi. 9, as dwelling in tabernacles," that is, tents. They had more than one tent, probably a considerable number, and the women lived separate, as is now the custom among the rich Arabs. Thus we read of Rebekah having Sarah's tent, Gen. xxiv. 67. The tents of Rachel, Leah, and Jacob also were separate, Gen. xxxi. 33.

The tents were generally put up under the shade of large trees. Abraham's tent was under a tree in the plains of Mamre, Gen. xviii. 1, 4; and Deborah the prophetess dwelt under a palm-tree in Mount Ephraim, Judg. iv. 5. In the east, the people like to have trees near their dwellings, both for shade and shelter. From 1 Kings iv. 25, we may conclude this was usual in the land of Judea, even when they lived in houses. The trees generally planted for this purpose were vines and figtrees, which would grow up against the walls and over the roof, as they now do about our cottages. These trees supplied grapes and figs, which were used for food, and the branches of the vine that did not bear fruit served for fuel to burn. This is referred to by Christ, John xv. 6, when he describes himself as the Vine, and his people the fruitful branches; and those who did not love him as the withered branches, which were cast into the fire.

The tents of the Arabs are black, or of a very dark colour, as we read in the Bible that the tents of Kedar were in former times, Sol. Song i. 5. The master of the family is often seen sitting in the door of the tent in the heat of the day, as is described Gen. xviii. 1. The tents are of all sorts, varying in size and shape according to the means of the owner, from a coarse cloth of goats' hair thrown over a few sticks, much worse than the gipsy tents

in England, to large habitations divided into several rooms, separated by fine curtains. The tents were fixed by stakes and cords, and could be easily enlarged by lengthening the cords, strengthening the stakes, and adding more coverings, Isa. liv. 2. When people travel, they always, if they can, fix their tents near some river, fountain, or well. See 1 Sam. xxix. 1; xxx. 21.

The Israelites, in the wilderness, lived in tents for forty years. Many of these were what we should call booths, made of the branches of trees. That they might remember this, the feast of tabernacles was to be kept. Read about it, Lev. xxiii. 39-42. Such a booth Jonah made when he went and sat on the east side of Nineveh, to sec what would happen to the city. Without some such shelter it is impossible to endure the hot mid-day sun of those countries. If travellers have no tents, they put some of their garments upon sticks and creep under them ; or get into the shade of a rock, or even pile up stones.

The houses of the rich were built with stone or bricks, but those of the poor were of wood, or more frequently of mud, as they are to this day in many parts of the east, and in some villages in our country. Houses built of mud were not well fitted to withstand the torrents, which at times flowed from the mountains of Palestine. This is alluded to by Christ, in Matt. vii. 26, 27. Thieves also could easily dig or break through mud walls, to which the Saviour refers, when he exhorts his disciples not to lay up treasures where thieves break through and steal. Such robberies are very frequent in the East Indies at the present day. The holes or cracks in these walls afford a harbour for serpents, see Amos v. 19.

The Egyptian bricks were made of mud, clay, and straw, mixed together, and generally baked in the sun, not burnt in kilns. These were the bricks the Israelites were employed in making; so we may understand why they needed the straw which Pharaoh forbade his officers to give them, Exod. v. 7. Bricks of this sort are found among the ruins in Egypt at the present day; in some places they still remain very hard, while, where less baked, they have mouldered away, and other houses have been

built upon the ruins of the first, which may explain Jer. xxx. 18, and illustrates Job iv. 19.

The rich people in the east build their houses very strong, particularly when they live in the country away from towns. This is necessary, that they may be safe from robbers. Thus their houses might often be called castles. It was the same in our own country, some hundred years ago, as may be seen in ruins which remain.

In the eastern cities, the larger houses are usually very similar in form, though different in size; the same manner of building seems to have been continued from very early times. Often several families inhabited the same houses. The streets are generally very narrow, the better to shade the inhabitants from the sun; so narrow, that in general two carriages cannot pass each other. Usually, only the door of the porch, and one latticed window or balcony, open upon the street. When any alarm takes place, or any remarkable spectacle is to be seen, the people hasten to the house tops, Isaiah xxii. 1. On entering a large house, you first pass through a porch, with benches on each side, where the master receives visitors, and transacts business ; for strangers are very seldom admitted further. The plan and view, page 11, may give some idea of an eastern house.

The court is open to the weather, and usually has galleries round it, like those which may be seen in old inns. When a number of persons meet at a house for a feast, or on a similar occasion, they usually assemble in the court, which is covered with mats and carpets; an awning is generally stretched over their heads, to screen them from the sun or the rain. It was in the courts of the houses that our Saviour and his apostles often instructed those who came to hear them. This will explain the meaning of the expression, "into the midst," Luke v. 19, where Christ was sitting when the man sick of the palsy was brought to him. The covering above-mentioned is what is meant by the roof which was removed, to let the sick man down from the top of the house; for the word translated tiling or roof, means also a covering such as is just described. Round the court are a number of rooms; the buildings