Genesis, xxix. 26. And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the first born.

The Cingalese, like the Hindoos, naturally enough start the same objection.-In Cingalese, some terms denoting kindred are singularly specific: sahodarayā, is brother; but aye-ya is an elder brother. Sahōdaree is sister; but akkā is an elder sister. Nagā is a younger sister; and malayā, a younger brother.

Genesis, xxxi. 19. And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.-Gen. xxxv. 2. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments. See Judges, xvii. 2-5.

Most houses inhabited by Budhuists are said to have images in them. Sometimes an image is placed in a sort of cupboard in a garden, and flowers are daily or frequently laid before it.-In books relating to idolatry, particular directions are given to wear clean garments; and when an offering is made near a person's house, a sort of tent is constructed for the purpose, and hung about with clean cloth.

Genesis, xxxi. 27. Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret and with harp?-Exodus, xv. 20. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels, and with dances. -1 Samuel, xviii. 6. And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.

In India, tong-tongs are beaten, and pipes are blown at some distance before the palanquin of a European of high rank, or of a native chief; while dancing boys, dressed like girls, and prettily decorated, keep time to the music. Palanquin bearers

on ordinary occasions, relieve the tediousness of a journey by chaunting songs in the responsive way.

Genesis, xli. 2. And behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favoured kine, and fat-fleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

What Mr. Jowett remarks on this passage, in his Travels in Egypt, may be daily observed in Ceylon. Companies of buffaloes may be seen cooling themselves in rivers, with only their head above water; while others are feeding in a contiguous meadow.

Genesis, xli. 5. And he slept, and dreamed the second time: and behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

A species of wheat in Egypt, when perfect, actually bears this number of ears.

Genesis, xliii. 34. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs.

The inhabitants of the East sit down to their mess as people in Europe do in a harvest field.

Genesis, xliv. 5. Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? [Margin, muketh trial.]

Joseph's cup, it should seem, had no connexion with divination-it was one, it is contended, by which he was distinguished-perhaps figured artificially and presented on the day of his marriage, or on some promotion. A peculiar cup as an appendage to office is usual in various parts of the East.

Genesis, xlv. 6. And yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

This earing unquestionably means plowing, as in various other places. The word wn earing, seems of the same origin with earth.

Genesis, xlvii. 23, 24. Then Joseph said unto all the people, Behold, I have bought you this day, and your land, for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass, in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

In Ceylon, are two descriptions of tax on the cultivation of grounds belonging to government--particularly as to paddy, or rice in the husk. Otoo means one-tenth; anda, one-half. Some grounds are let duty-free, and called ninday.

Genesis, xlix. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

By the sceptre of Judah, Bp. Horsley understands ecclesiastical sway. The civil was indeed a branch of and subordinate to the religious government of Judea. Hence, if the Bishop's opinion be wellfounded, it tends to clear the application of many prophecies relating to the extinction of the Jewish State.-Bp. Newton remarks on this prophecy :Would it not be better to substitute the word staff or ruler instead of sceptre, unless we restrain the meaning of sceptre to a rod or staff, of a tribe, which is all that is here intended? The staff or ruler shall not depart from Judah. The tribe-ship shall not depart from Judah. Such authority as Judah had then, was to remain with his posterity. It is not said or meant that he should not cease from being a king, or having a kingdom, for he was then no king, and had no kingdom; but only that he should not cease from being a tribe or body-politic,

having rulers and governors of his own till a certain period here foretold.

Exodus, i. 16. And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

It seems likely that the midwives were to destroy the children, when washing them in the trough soon after birth. Verse 19 is not inconsistent with their fear of God. The Hebrew women, on account of their daily drudgery, had comparatively easy births, so that generally all was over, and the child washed and set to rights before the arrival of the midwife.

Exodus, i. 21. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

It is probable, that Pharaoh finding the object of destroying the males could not be compassed by the instrumentality of the midwives, constructed houses for the Hebrews, so that his people might the more easily discover children newly born; and destroy them by drowning. The mother of Moses found herself on this account in continual danger.

Exodus, iii. 5. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Such of the Cingalese as wear sandals or slippers, leave them at the door in charge of their servants, on entering a house or temple. If Psalm 1x. 8, (over Edom will I cast out my shoe,) refer not to some ceremony of travelling over ground by way of asserting possession, as burial-grounds for example are set apart, I should suppose it means that Edom is reduced to slavery, abject as the condition of servants, who, accompanying their master, take

charge of his shoes slipped off on entering a door.

Exodus, iii. 22. But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians. See also Exodus, xi. 2, 3, and xii. 35, 36.

It seems generally admitted that the word translated borrow, denotes rather to ask, (and is so rendered Ps. ii. 8,) as a recompence for laborious and long-continued servitude.

Exodus, iv. 29. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

Though enslaved, the Hebrews were evidently governed subordinately by chiefs of their own nation and tribe-probably much as the people of India are, whose names and residences are all known to their headmen. Moses and Aaron secured the acknowledgment of their own authority before they approached the king; and were then treated with as authorized negociators.

Exodus, v. 3. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God.

Pilgrimages are not only made at this day for purposes of devotion, but have been made to certain famous cities, temples, and mountains, from time immemorial.

Exodus, xi. 5. And all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill.-Matthew, xxiv. 41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.