them and so baked them thoroughly. They were very good to eat, and very savoury."

"The food of the Jews was generally very simple. It consisted chiefly of vegetables, milk, honey, rice,

and bread."

"Sometimes the corn was parched, or roasted, and then eaten without any other addition, as appears evident from many passages of Scripture," Levit. xxiii. 14. 2 Sam. xvii. 28.

"In addition to honey, John the Baptist is said to have fed on locusts."

"Canaan, you know, father, was a land 'flowing with milk and honey.""

"It was; though meat was eaten occasionally; principally at the time of their national festivals, or provided to honour some superior guest. Thus Abra

Levit. xxiii. 14. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the self same day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

2 Sam. xvii. 28. They brought beds and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn and beans and lentiles, and parched pulse.

What was the food of the Jews? What appears from passages of Scripture ? Repeat the verses from Levit. and Sam. On what did John the Baptist feed? What is said of Canaan? When was meat eaten?

ham, Gideon, and Manoah prepared a calf or a kid for their angelic visitants. When Samuel expected a visit from Saul, he procured for him a joint of meat," 1 Sam. ix. 24.

"But they were not permitted to eat every kind of meat ?"

"They were not. Yet what was denied them, was chiefly such as was unfriendly to health, and unsuitable to the climate. Their common drink was water, though they sometimes took wine, especially at their feasts. Much appears to have been drank at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, where the Lord turned the water into wine."

"In those hot and dry countries water is of very great value. Hence, when Caleb gave his daughter a portion, springs of water are very particularly mentioned, Judges i. 15. Thus our Saviour intreated wa

1 Sam. ix. 24. And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee and eat for unto this time hath it been kept for thee, since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.

Judges 1. 15. And she said unto him, Give me a blessing.

What did Abraham, Gideon, and Manoah prepare,? Repeat the verse from Samuel. What meat was denied to the Jews? What was their common drink? When was wine much drank? Where is water of much value? Repeat the verse from Judges?

ter of the woman of Samaria; and the most desirable blessings are represented in the Scriptures by a figurative allusion to water, Psalm lxiii. 1. John vii. 37. Isaiah xii. 3. xliv. 3. Jer. ii. 13. Zech. xiii. 1. 1 Cor. x. 4.

for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

Psalms lxiii. 1. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.

John vii. 37. In the last day that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Isaiah xii. 3. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Jer. ii. 13. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Zech. xiii. 1. In that day, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness.

Cor. x. 4. And they did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Of whom did our Saviour ask water? Repeat the verses from Scripture alluding to water.

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 get up?"

"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 suffi

ciently 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."

What is said of frogs in the Scriptures? Why have wicked men sneered ? How are ovens made in the East?

"This makes the meaning clear."

"But the methods of baking their bread in the East are various. Dr. Shaw says, that '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 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."

How is bread baked in the East? How do the Arabs bake bread?