he will never leave us nor forsake us: to cast all our care upon Him who careth for us: to be willing to be what he pleases, and content with what he sends, and to feel rich beyond all imagination in the promise of an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that cannot fade away: these, surely, are blessings beyond all price, and they are the blessings which a contented spirit may enjoy. Only let us know that we are reconciled to him through Christ Jesus, and that we are in his hands for ever, and we may be content-content with what he appoints now; content with the fruit he gives to our labours, if those labours are faithful; more than content, indeed, because all these are the gifts of his mercy now, the fruits of his Divine purpose of love, and are preparing for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory hereafter. Then shall this be the song of our joyful meditation: 66 - 'Father, whate'er of earthly bliss Give me a calm, a thankful heart, And make me live to thee. Let the sweet hope that thou art mine My life and death attend, Thy presence through my journey shine, THE PROMISED LAND. MOSES and the other sacred writers frequently describe the land of Canaan as 66 99 66 a good land," a land flowing with milk and honey." This indicates, first, in the "milk," a country of rich pastures, and therefore favourable to the rearing of cattle, whence "milk" would be so abundantly produced, that the land might, by a very expressive poetical hyperbole, be described as "flowing" with it. " The same richness of vegetation is expressed by the mention of honey;" for the producers of honey draw their nutriment from flowers; and where flowers are scanty, bees are not. But the abundance of bees, in that of the honey they produced, is constantly manifested in Scripture. We, who make but little use of honey, are apt to under-rate the importance of this indication. But this will be at once recognised when it is remembered that the Israelites had no sugar; and that consequently, although fond of sweet things, as the Orientals always are, honey had to be employed by them for all sweetening purposes,being in fact their sugar. In what other respects Canaan was "a good land," is more fully shown by Moses not long before his death :"The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything." Deut. viii. 7—9. Now it happens remarkably that the enemies of revelation have drawn arguments from the present neglected state of some parts of the country, to invalidate the statements of the sacred historians, who represent it as one of the most fertile and delightful spots on the face of the earth. In this they have not only altogether failed, but have unwittingly been the cause of producing much confirmation and illustration of the sacred records in this respect; for scholars have thus been led to gather up the corroborative testimonies of ancient heathen writers; and travellers having been induced narrowly to observe the existing state of the country, have found traces in what it is, of what it once was, and is still capable of becoming. The land has suffered under the blighting dominion of Saracens, Turks, and Egyptians; and thus the population having become scanty, agriculture has been neglected, and an air of comparative desolation has crept over its once luxuriant hills and dales, although the traces of its former condition are far from being wholly obliterated. We shall produce the testimonies of some travellers, in corroboration of this statement,-being only a few of the number who have borne witness to the same effect. The Chevalier D'Arvieux, travelling through the land under peculiarly advantageous circumstances, towards the close of the seventeenth century, says, in one place :-" We left the road to avoid the Arabs, whom it was always disagreeable to meet with, and reached by a side path the summit of a mountain, where we found a beautiful plain. It must be confessed that if one could live secure in this country, it would be the most agreeable residence in the world; partly on account of the pleasing diversity of mountains and valleys; partly on account of the salubrious air which we breathe there, and which is at all times filled with balsamic odours from the wild-flowers of these valleys, [hence the bees and the honey,] and from the aromatic herbs of the hills. Most of the mountains are dry and arid, and exhibit more rock than mould adapted to cultivation; but the industry of the old inhabitants had triumphed over this defect of the soil. They had hewn the rocky hills from the foot to the summit into terraces; carried mould from below, as on the coast of Genoa, the Lebanon, and elsewhere; and then planted on them the fig, olive, and vine, and raised corn and all kinds of pulse, which, favoured by the usual spring and autumnal rains, by the dews which never fail, by the warmth of the sun, and the general mildness of the climate, produced the finest fruit and most excellent corn in the world." Dr. Clarke, speaking of the appearance of the country between Shechem and Jerusalem, says :- "A sight of this territory alone can convey an adequate idea of its surprising produce. It is truly the Eden of the East, rejoicing in the abundance of its wealth., The effect of this upon the people was strikingly portrayed in every countenance. Under a wise and beneficent government, the produce of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial harvests, the salubrity of its air, its limpid springs, its rivers, lakes, and matchless plains; its hills and valleys; all these, added to the serenity of the climate, prove this to be indeed a field which the Lord hath blessed; God hath given it of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine.'" These are glowing words, and would furnish a considerably exaggerated statement as applied to the country at large. But it is strictly correct in regard to the district he describes, especially in the parts nearest Shechem; and it is fair to take this as a specimen of what the land was once, and might yet become. In fact the hilly district around Shechem (now Nabulus) is perhaps the best culti vated portion of Palestine, though considerably inferior in natural fertility to some of the plains that lie towards the Mediterranean Sea. It is this which renders it a fit average specimen of what the whole land must have been when cultivated by an abundant and active population. In a matter like this, the opinion of a practical agri culturist would seem of more value than any other that could be obtained. We happen to possess this in the the testimony of Mr. Lowthian, a gentleman farmer, from the north of England, who, under some peculiar religious impressions, proceeded to Palestine, with the view of renting a farm, cultivating it after the English fashion, and teaching the natives to do the same. His experience was, that there was a deficiency of seasonable rain, which rendered cultivation precarious, and high cultivation impracticable. Looking into the Bible, he found that, in Deuteronomy xi. 13-15, the rain in its due season—that the Israelites might have their corn and their wine, and their oil, and that there might be grass in their fields for their cattle-was promised solely on the condition of their obedience to the laws of God. Accordingly, we read in Jeremiah iii. 3, and v. 24, 25, that because of their disobedience" the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain." The inference drawn therefrom is, that in consequence of the final great disobedience of the house of Israel, the latter rain has been withholden; and thus the soil, although rich and capable of being fertilized by timely rains, is left comparatively unproductive. There is hence a deficiency of the products, not only of tillage, but of pasturage. Mr. Lowthian states, that on his arrival at Jerusalem, and perceiving that all the milk that was brought into the city for one day did not exceed ten or twelve quarts, and this small quantity only goat's milk well watered; and that he could find no honey but a small piece which he had the pleasure of tasting while taking tea with the bishop's chaplain; he was led, he says, to exclaim to himself, 'How completely have God's judgments been executed on this devoted land!" And he adds,And he adds, "Most clearly did I perceive that the natural cause of all this evil was the absence of seasonable rain. Rain which waters the earth, and blesses it with fertility, God has withheld, and thus brought all these evils and many more upon the land which flowed with milk and honey." 66 Mr. Lowthian differs from those who determine the "former and the latter rains" of Scripture, with reference to the present condition of the country. The "former rain" he conceives to be that of winter. This does fall, but is so uncertain that it sometimes does not come till January; in consequence of which, water becomes so ex ceeding scarce and dear that the inhabitants are put to great inconvenience and loss. And as no agricultural operations can be proceeded with till this rain has made the earth soft, the harvest is thrown back; for it is mostly in March and April that the crop is gathered in. After that, as Mr. Lowthian believes, "the latter rain used to come; by which it is more than probable, nay, almost certain, that a second crop was produced: but this latter rain is now entirely withheld, and none is ever expected to fall during summer. On this account the best part of the year is lost, and no vegetable can grow or keep alive but those plants whose roots penetrate deep into the earth." An American traveller, the late Dr. Olin, gave much attention to this matter. He says, " It is quite certain, I think, that some portions of Palestine, once fertile, are now irreclaimable. The entire destruction of the wood that formerly covered the mountains, and the utter neglect of the terraces that supported the soil upon steep declivities, have given full scope to the rains, which have left many tracts of bare rock where formerly were vineyards and cornfields. It is likely, too, that the disappearance of trees from the higher grounds, where they invited and arrested the passing clouds, may have diminished the quantity of rain, and so have exposed the whole country, in a greater degree, to the evils of drought, and doomed some particular tracts to absolute sterility. Besides these, I do not recognise any permanent or invincible cause of barrenness, or any physical obstacles in the way of restoring this fine country to its pristine fertility. These causes are not peculiar to Palestine. They exist perhaps to a still greater extent in Greece, and the islands of the Archipelago, and in the mountainous regions of Asia Minor. The soil of the whole country has certainly deteriorated under bad husbandry, and the entire neglect of the means of improvement. But a small degree of skill and industry would generally be sufficient to reclaim it, as must be evident to every traveller who has observed the vineyards near Hebron and Bethlehem, and the gardens of the Nablous" [Shechem]. He adds afterwards :-"I put the question to almost every traveller I met with, in or from the Holy Land, What is your opinion of the natural fertility of the country, and of its ability to feed a large population? And in every instance the reply was in strong corroboration of the sentiments I have here advanced." |