with palm-nut leaves. It was fixed upon two poles, and supported upon little arches of wood, very neatly covered; the use of the poles seemed to be to remove it from place to place, in the manner of our sedan chair. În one end of it was a square hole, in the middle of which was a ring touching the sides and leaving the angles open, so as to form a round hole within, a square one without. ...... The general resemblance," adds the writer, "between this repository and the ark of the Lord among the Jews, is remarkable: but it is still more remarkable, that, upon inquiring of the boy what it was called, he said, Ewharre no Etau, the 'house of God;' he could, however, give no account of its signification or use.'

But from the contemplation of this "mercy seat,' which was placed in the tabernacle and temple among the Jews, we, as Christians, may rise to one far more glorious. This mercy seat, indeed, only shadowed forth that which is represented to our view. It is Jesus Christ, from whom shines forth the glorious presence of God upon the soul of the believer. "He is the propitiation for our sins," and "God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." By the shedding of his own precious blood, he has obtained the favour of God for lost and sinful man, and if we look up to the throne of God for pardon through that atonement, we shall behold his smile, and be received into his favour; we shall taste that "the Lord is merciful and gracious."

ARMOUR AND ARMS.

THE SLING.

66

THE sling is an instrument of cords for throwing stones with great force. The first mention of it in Scripture occurs in the book of Judges. Of the Benjamites, it is said, that there were seven hundred men, who went out to war against the Israelites, so skilful in the use of it, that they could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss," Judg. xx. 16. The sling is, however, of much earlier origin than this, for the bow is mentioned as early as the days of Esau, and as stones were doubtless the first missiles used by man against man, a device for giving an increased force to them is more likely to have been invented at an earlier date, than one for increasing the impetus of an arrow. The sling is, moreover, mentioned in the book of Job, and that patriarch is supposed to have lived several hundred years before the event referred to, Job xli. 28.

The invention of the sling is generally ascribed to the Phenicians, who were neighbours of the Hebrews; a fact which goes far to prove that the Greeks and Romans derived this instrument from the East. The most famous among the ancients, in the art of using the sling, were the nations of the Belearic Islands, Majorca, and Minorca, which were Phenician colonies; and the Acheans, in Greece. The Balearians,

it is said, trained their children from their infancy to the use of this weapon. Some say, that they gave them no food, in the morning, till they hit a certain mark; and others, that their parents set their breakfast on a tree or pole, and compelled them to bring it down from thence with their slings, before they allowed them to eat it. By this means they became so famous in the art of slinging stones that they seldom missed their aim, and they could fling them with a force scarcely surpassed by the powerful engines of other nations. Metellus, when hostilely approaching their isles, ordered his ships to be covered with skins, to break the force of their stones; and helmets, shields, and other defensive armour of their opponents, were shattered in pieces by them. It is said, indeed, that the Balearic slingers contributed largely to the gaining of some of the victories, which history ascribes to the Carthagenians and Romans, in whose service they were employed.

The slings of the Balearians were made of rushes, and they were of different sizes and different lengths. The largest were used when the foe was at a distance, and the shortest when near to them. Some historians describe them as wearing their slings round their heads; but the most usual form, was to wear one round the head, another round their loins, and a third in their hands ready for use.

But, notwithstanding the great skill of the Balearians in the use of the sling, they were generally acknowledged to have been surpassed in the art by

the Acheans. These latter people were also trained to its use from their infancy, by slinging at a circular mark of moderate size; and they became so skilful, that they were not only sure to hit their opponents on the head, but they could strike what part of the face they chose. They could, moreover, throw to a greater distance than the Balearians, and could discharge not only stones, but plummets of lead, weighing a hundred drachms, twice the distance of stones, with greater force and equal precision. Thus we see that the sling, simple though the instrument be, may, in experienced hands, become a weapon of great power.

the

But we return to the mention made of the sling in Scripture. We not only learn there, that the Benjamites had a distinguished reputation as slingers, in the time of the Judges, but we read that, in the days of David, some of them could sling effectively with both hands. From the history of that monarch we gather, also, that it was a usual weapon among shepherds, as they watched their flocks, 1 Sam. xvii. 40. In that occupation he learned this art; and the effective use to which he applied it, in his combat with Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, who defied the whole armies of the God of Israel, may be taken as an evidence of his superior skill. But the skill of David had proved vain, unless strength and courage had been imparted to him from on high.

THE BOW.

The bow is an instrument of great antiquity. To this fact the Bible itself bears witness: Ishmael, when banished from his father Abraham's tents, "dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer," Gen. xxi. 20; and Esau, his nephew, employed the bow in his hunting. The aged patriarch Isaac, desiring to bequeath him his prophetical blessing, commanded him thus: "Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; and make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die," Gen. xxvii. 3, 4.

It is very probable that the bow originated in the desire to obtain a weapon for the attack of dangerous animals in the distance; but it soon became an instrument of cruelty in the hand of man against his fellow. To this fact we find allusions in the book of Genesis. Speaking of his much loved Joseph, the dying Israel said, "The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob," Gen. xlix. 23, 24. And, on a former occasion, the patriarch had told Joseph, that one portion which he had given him above his brethren, he had taken out of the hand of the Amorite with his sword, and with his bow, Gen. xlviii. 22.