SCRIPTURAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

GENESIS, XXIX. 25.

And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did I not serve with thee for Rachel? Wherefore, then, hast thou beguiled me? Ir appears almost impossible to Europeans, that a deception like that of Laban's could be practised. But the following extract, from a Journal which I kept at Smyrna, presents a parallel case.

"The Armenian Brides are veiled during the marriage ceremony; and hence deceptions have occurred, in regard to the person chosen for wife. I am informed, that, on one occasion, a young Armenian at Smyrna solicited in marriage a younger daughter, whom he admired. The parents of the girl consented to the request, and every previous arrangement was made. When the time for solemnizing the marriage arrived, the elder daughter, who was not so beautiful, was

conducted by the parents to the altar, and the young man was unconsciously married to her. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was the elder daughter. The deceit was not discovered, till it could not be rectified; and the manner in which the parents justified themselves was precisely that of Laban: It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born. It is really the rule amongst the Armenians, that neither a younger son nor daughter be married, till their elder brother or sister have preceded them.”

It was in conversation with an Armenian of Smyrna that this fact was related to me. I naturally exclaimed, “Why, that is just the deception which was practised upon Jacob !" "What deception?" he exclaimed.-As the Old Testament is not yet translated into any language with which the Armenians are familiar, he was ignorant of the story. Upon giving him a narration of Jacob's marriage, as it is related Gen. xxix., he assented to it at once, as a circumstance in no respect improbable.

I was once present at the solemnization of matrimony amongst the Armenians; and some recollections of it may tend to throw light on this and other passages of Scripture. The various

festivities attendant on these occasions continue for three days; and during the last night the marriage is celebrated. I was conducted to the house of the bride, where I found a very large assemblage of persons. The company was dispersed through various rooms; reminding me of the directions of our Saviour, in regard to the choice of the lowermost rooms at feasts. On the ground floor, I actually observed that the persons convened were of an inferior order of the community, whilst in the upper rooms were assembled those of higher rank.

The large number of young females who were present, naturally reminded me of the wise and foolish virgins in our Saviour's Parable. These being friends of the bride, the virgins, her companions (Ps. xlv. 14.), had come to meet the bridegroom.

It is usual for the bridegroom to come at midnight; so that, literally, at midnight the cry is made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him: (Matt. xxv. 6.) But, on this occasion, the bridegroom tarried: it was two o'clock before he arrived.

The whole party then proceeded to the Armenian Church, where the Bishop was waiting to receive them; and there the ceremony was completed.

GENESIS, XXXI. 34.

Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them.

Is not the camel's furniture the large seat, or pack-saddle, which we observe invariably upon the back of camels? When taken off, at the close of the journey, it would equally afford a place of concealment for the images, and a convenient seat for Rachel.

JUDGES, IX. 53.

And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his scull.

The fate of Pyrrhus was altogether similar. "The Argives did not receive Pyrrhus; but he fell before the wall; a certain old woman, as it seems, having thrown a tile, from above, on his head." (STRABO, lib. viii.)

JUDGES, XII. 6.

Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said, Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right.

The Greeks have not the sound sh in their language: hence they are liable to be detected, like the Ephraimites. I was struck with this circumstance, in learning Turkish from a Greek Tutor Pasha, he pronounced Pasa; shimdi, he called