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The stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul," Psa. cxxiv. 2-5.

of which tents are made, wool, Lev. xiii. 47-58, and canvass, ib. 48-59, and

And ought not the English Protestant leather, are particularized, as exhibiting

to respond?

"Blessed be THE LORD

Who hath NOT given us a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers:

each peculiar symptoms of the plague; and this being done, it was unnecessary to say any thing of a tent itself; but as the materials of a house were quite dif

The snare is broken, and we are escaped," ferent, and the appearances of infection

Psa. cxxiv. 6, 7.

UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES OF
SCRIPTURE.-No. IV.

THE general suitableness of manner, in the different books of the Jewish lawgiver, to the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed, seems to supply a proof of authenticity at once natural and convincing. But there are coincidences of a less obvious nature, more circuitous and indirect, which occur in the statement of particular facts, and deserve to be accurately attended to, as supplying still more decisive characters of truth and authenticity.

In delivering rules about the leprosy, it is said, Lev. xiv. 34, "When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession, ye shall do thus, and thus." I notice this instance, because that a house is spoken of, not at all with a design to mark the circumstance of their not yet being come into the land of their possession, but is of necessity introduced from the nature of the case. The subject here is the discovery and the purification of leprosy. As to this, particular directions are given with respect to a house, but nothing is said of a tent; whereas, with regard to the impurity contracted by the presence of a dead body, all the directions relate to a tent, and nothing is said of a house, Num. xix. 14; also compare 11 and 21, which prove the rules as to a dead body were of permanent obligation. Now this difference is, by a little attention, easily accounted for; the writer applies the rules about the purification from a dead body to the object then most familiar with him, a tent. And as its lying in a house would produce no effect different from its ly ing in a tent, and require no difference of purification, he says nothing about a house; but leaves the nature of the thing to suggest the regulation when it should become necessary. Whereas, in detailing the rules for discovering and purifying the leprosy, all the materials

in it peculiar, this required a particular specification. All this has the appearance of reality, and is exactly the way in which an eye witness would have spoken; but it is such a difference as a writer of fiction would scarcely have thought of.

A similar observation may be made, on the manner in which the service of the Levites, in taking care of the tabernacle, is described, Num. iii. and iv. We find the families of the Levites enumerated, the numbers of each, and the heads of them, and which were to be entrusted with the most holy things. If it should be conceived, that all this may have been inserted in a fictitious narrative, like the catalogues of Homer and Virgil, to preserve the semblance of probability, and compliment existing families, by representing their supposed ancestors in situations of peculiar dignity, yet how can we, on such a principle, account for the exact detail which is given, not only of the arrangement of these families round the tabernacle, but the particular parts of that structure, and the particular sacred vessels which each family was to carry on the the march, Num. iii. 25, 26. 31. 35, 36; iv. 15, 20; and still more, the minuter directions given, as to the mode of taking these different parts asunder, protecting them from the injuries of the weather during the march, carrying and setting them up? How unnatural and irrational would all this appear, in the remote compiler of a general history, who lived long after these marches had ceased, when all such directions were utterly superfluous. Surely we cannot suppose that such particulars as these should proceed from any writer but an eye-witness of the events; nor even from an eye-witness, except he had been engaged as Moses was, in originally directing and constantly superintending these operations.

Different circumstances occur in the detail of these directions, which seem to supply more decisive characters of truth and authenticity; because they display coincidences more minute, or

more circuitous and indirect. Thus it is mentioned, that Aaron, as high priest, and his family, had charge of the ark of the Lord, and the furniture of the holy of holies; but they were to be carried during the progress of each march, by an inferior family; and the writer remarks, these were not to approach them, until Aaron and his sons had made an end of covering them, at the commencement of the journey, Numb. iv. 15. What forger, or mere compiler, would have thought of such a circumstance?

A coincidence still more remarkable on this subject is the following. In the third and fourth chapter of Numbers, the parts of the tabernacle to be carried by each family of the Levites on the march are minutely specified. The fifth and sixth are taken up with a detail of laws entirely unconnected with this subject; the seventh begins with relating, that the different princes of Israel made an offering of six covered wagons and twelve oxen, which Moses employed to carry the tabernacle, and distributed to two families of the Levites, "according to their service," Numb. vii. 5—9; (for the third were to carry the part assigned to them, the furniture of the holy of holies, upon their shoulders ;) to one are assigned two, to another four wagons. The reason of this inequality is not specified; but on turning back, we find that the family to which the four wagons are assigned, had been appointed to carry the solid, and therefore heavy parts of the tabernacle, its boards, and bars, and pillars, (compare Numb. vii. 8, with iv. 31,) while that family to which the two wagons are assigned, was appointed to carry the lighter, (compare Numb. vii. 7, with iv. 25,) its curtains and coverings, its hangings and cords. Such a coincidence as this is extremely natural, if Moses, who directed this matter, recorded it; but is it not wholly improbable that a forger or compiler should think of detailing such minute particulars at all, or if he did, should detail them in such a manner as this? The more minute and apparently unimportant such coincidences as this are, the more unlikely is it they should arise from any thing but reality.

Another coincidence of somewhat a similar nature is the following. In the second chapter of the book of Numbers, the writer describes the division of the twelve tribes into four camps, the number of each tribe, and the total number

in each camp. He fixes the position each was to take round the tabernacle, and the order of their march: and he directs, that the tabernacle, with the camp of the Levites, should set forward between the second and third camps, Numb. ii. 17. But in the tenth chapter occurs what seems at first a direct contradiction to this; for it is said, that after the first camp had set forward, Numb. x. 17, "then the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward bearing the tabernacle, and afterwards the second camp, or standard of the children of Reuben." But this apparent contradiction is reconciled a few verses after, when we find, that, though the less sacred parts of the tabernacle, the outside tent and its apparatus, set out between the first and second camp; yet the sanctuary, or holy of holies, with its furniture, the ark and the altar, did not set out till after the second camp, as the direction required. And the reason of the separation is assigned, that those who bore the outside tabernacle might set it up, and thus prepare for the reception of the sanctuary against it came, Numb. x. 21. Would a forger, or compiler, who lived when these marches had wholly ceased, and the Israelites had fixed in the land of their inheritance, have thought of such a circumstance as this?

In comparing the direct narrative with the recapitulation in the last book of the Pentateuch, some differences occur well worth noticing. In the eighteenth chapter of Exodus, Moses, with singular impartiality, gives the credit of originating one of the most salutary and important parts of the Jewish civil government to his father-in-law, Jethro; who, observing the variety and weight of business which oppressed the legislator, from his acting as judge of every private litigation between the people, tells him, "The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens; and let them judge the people at all seasons.

If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. | And they judged the people at all seasons; the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves," Exod. xviii. 17—19. 21–26: | such is the direct narrative. In the very beginning of his address to the people, Moses is represented as alluding to this fact, but with this remarkable difference; that he not only says nothing of Jethro, but that instead of representing himself as the person who selected these magistrates, he states that he had appealed to the people, and desired they should elect them. "I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.-So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you. -And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it," Deut. i. 9—13. 15—18. There is a great and striking difference between these statements, but there is no contradiction: Jethro suggested to Moses the appointment; he probably, after consulting God, as Jethro intimates, "If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so," referred the matter to the people, and assigned the choice of the individuals to them; the persons thus selected, he admitted to share his autho

rity as subordinate judges. Thus the two statements are perfectly consistent: but this is not all; their difference is most natural. In first recording the event, it was natural Moses should dwell on the first cause which led to it, and pass by the appeal to the people, as a subordinate and less material part of the transaction; but in addressing the people, it was natural to notice the part they themselves had in the selection of those judges, in order to conciliate their regard and obedience. How naturally also does the pious legislator, in his public address, dwell on every circumstance which could improve his hearers in piety and virtue! The multitude of the people was the cause of the appointment of these judges. How beautifully is this increase of the nation turned to an argument of gratitude to God! How affectionate is the blessing with which the pious speaker interrupts the narrative, imploring God that the multitude of his people may increase a thousand fold! How admirably does he take occasion, from mentioning the judges, to inculcate the eternal principles of justice and piety, which should control their decisions! How remote is all this from art, forgery, and imposture! Surely here, if any where, we can trace the dictates of nature, truth, and piety.- Graves.

NOTES ON THE MONTH.

By a Naturalist.

JULY.

WITH light and heat refulgent, July opens upon us. Vegetation is in full luxuriance; myriads of insects are glancing in the sunbeams; butterflies, in rich attire, are fluttering over the fields, or hovering around the blossoms; the bees are all at work, collecting honey from the nectaries of the flowers, in the petals of which they bury themselves to obtain the liquid sweets within. It is amusing to watch these insects thus engaged, to see how they examine flower after flower, how quickly they leave those which have been already robbed; and how eagerly they extract the honey from such as afford a supply in this pursuit, they traverse the fields and gardens, and wander far from their home, returning when their honey bag is filled, and again going forth on the same errand.

On light gauze-like wings the dragon-fly is sweeping over the surface of the water from which he has recently emerged, for,

like the ephemera, the dragon-fly commences existence as an aquatic larva; and this larva is very remarkable for the mode in which it propels itself along, without the aid of its external members, which are six in number, and which enable it to creep up the stems of aquatic plants in search of prey; but the mode of progression through the water is a sort of swimming. Appended to the posterior extremity of the body are three or five leaflike appendages, and these the creature continually opens and closes, taking into a cavity at their base, which is furnished with strong muscular walls, a certain portion of water, and instantaneously rejecting it with considerable force. By this mechanical contrivance, the animal is propelled along, on the same principle as that by which a rocket rises in the air; and ingenious attempts have been made to apply this mode of propulsion to ships, by means of the force of steam acting on machinery, constructed so as to throw out a continued volume of water at the stern of the vessel, instead of being applied to paddle wheels; but, as in many other cases, art fails in her endeavours to imitate the mechanism of nature. The difference between the larva of the dragon fly (Libellula, order Neuroptera) is so great, that persons unacquainted with entomology would not readily believe the two beings to be identical. This difference is shown in the accompanying sketch, which repre

The gnat, (Culex,) of which myriads are dancing in clustered squadrons, at this season of the year, when the coolness of the evening tempts them from their leafy retreats, is also aquatic in its larva state, and abounds in stagnant waters, such as pools, ditches, or large water tubs, and may be easily examined in a watch glass of pure water, by a common magnifying lens. The gnat deposits her eggs in the water, but not singly; her object, so to speak, is to keep them from sinking: at the time of their exclusion, she therefore glues them together, by means of a viscid secretion; and thus joined side to side, their shape being a long oval, they form a little raft, which floats upon the surface. Each egg, at its inferior extremity, or that which is in immediate contact with the water, is constructed so as to form a lid, destined to give exit to the larva, when it leaves this primary habitation. The subjoined is a magnified representation of the egg raft of the gnat.

The figure of the larva is very curious; and its movements, with the head downwards, are singularly quick and active. Still, however, air is necessary for its existence; but the question is, how is it to be obtained? On looking at these larvæ in a quiescent state, we find them invariably at the surface of the water, with the head hanging down, and the tail above. Now, on examining one of them, we see it to be organized as in the accompanying magnified sketch. It con

[graphic][merged small][merged small]

apparatus d, the other, e, is the true caudal termination. To this is appended a circlet of moveable leaf-like processes, so arranged as to sustain the animal at the surface of the water, where they perform the office of a float. The respiratory tube d, which is connected with the internal trachea, or organs of aëration, is perforated at its extremity, and while the larva remains quietly suspended, is just raised above the surface, so as to take in the necessary supply of air. Thus is this little creature curiously and admirably adapted for the situation assigned to it by the great Creator. The segments of the body and the thorax are furnished with radiating pencils of fine hairs, and on the head are two ciliæ, by the movements of which food is brought to the mouth. It is by the vibratile movements of the body that the animal swims about, and the fine hairs with which it is furnished, seem to contribute to render it buoyant; for when its motions cease, it begins slowly to ascend to the surface without any visible effort.

Several times, before assuming the pupa state, this larva moults its skin, and when this state is attained, it would | hardly be recognized as the same creature; the thorax and head are no longer divided, but form one mass, beneath the membranous investment of which the outline of the perfect insect may be detected. The elongated tail-like body is still used as an organ of locomotion, and the pupa floats at the surface, but not in its former position. The creature now swins with the back of the thorax, and not the tail, nearest the surface; and therefore a remarkable modification of the respiratory apparatus now takes place; the caudal breathing-tube disappears, and in its place two tubes rise from the back of the thorax, so as to have their orifices just emerged from the

water.

escape

This change of position, and alteration of the breathing apparatus, are preparatory to the last change, the egress of the perfect insect from its pupa envelope, and for its prepare the way from its pristine element into the air. This it must accomplish without being wetted by the water, for which it is no longer adapted, and in which it would speedily perish; but how is its escape to be effected? Floating, as we have said, with the back of the thorax uppermost, as the important change draws near, the pupa becomes still more buoyant, till its back

emerges above the surface. The membranous integument now begins to dry, and soon to split longitudinally, and gradually to expand, forming a boat, in which rests unwetted and secure the perfect insect; it floats on a coracle of its own skin, which it leaves behind, and rises on fluttering wings, to begin a new existence. How simple, yet how perfect, are these operations of our Creator; and how forcibly do they appeal to the mind in proof of consummate wisdom, power, and goodness! How certain the principles on which they are conducted, how sure is the result! Here have we, in the history of an insignificant gnat, as the thoughtless would call it, a proof demonstrative, that all things are made in wisdom, and that in the meanest insect a lesson upon the attributes of the Creator may be learned. Can the changes in this little insect, which we have briefly detailed, its mode of being supplied with air, the preparatory steps to its last change, the surprising means by which this is safely accomplished, and its triumphal entrance into another element, be reflected upon by the Christian without a feeling of grateful adoration to that God, who thus manifests his care even for the meanest creatures which he has called into being, an assurance in itself, made a thousand fold more so by his word, that man, whom he created in his image, is the object of his especial regard and benevolence?

It may be asked, Is this the mode in which the metamorphosis of all aquatic larvæ is conducted ? It is not; that of the larva of the dragon-fly is effected in the following manner. It must be borne in mind, that the outer skin of the larva of insects, once formed, does not grow; it is in fact an extra-vascular cuticle; the true skin, from which it is secreted, is beneath it, and grows with the growing body it immediately envelopes: thus the encased animal, by reason of its growth, necessarily bursts this outer envelope, which is thrown off, a new one formed on the true skin then taking its place, to be broken and cast off in its turn. During this process, several times repeated, the insect is becoming more and more developed; and when the pupa state commences, (the last change excepting one,) the wings and general form of the imprisoned animal may be more or less plainly discriminated. In this condition, then, imagine the aquatic pupa of the dragonfly; the period of the last metamorphosis

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