very imperfect shelter and shade. Besides this, moreover, it was a general belief among the ancients that its shade was noxious and hurtful to health. Thus Virgil

"Solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra;
Juniperi gravis umbra."

Grotius thinks that the prophet chose the shadow of this tree in a desperate and suicidal spirit, being weary of his life he cared not for his health, but courted death from the poisonous shadow of this tree. It is, however, now well known that this idea of death loitering under the juniper-tree is but an Eastern fancy; and besides this we are not warranted in attributing such a spirit to this firm and devoted prophet.

Another of the learned supposes just the opposite of this. He thinks the prophet sought the juniper-tree with the desire of the more effectually preserving his health; "the shade of it being, according to him, a protection from serpents; and alleges that it was the custom of the people in that part of the world, to guard themselves by such precautions against the bite of these venomous reptiles." This is equally visionary. It has been well remarked, that the glowing embers of juniper wood, and not the shade of the living tree, have the power of driving away serpents.

The true reason will very naturally suggest itself. The prophet was traveling, hungry and weak, in "the wilderness," the very place where the juniper loves to grow, and where few other trees are likely to be found; at length he is ready to fall from exhaustion, and being near one of these trees, which from its thick top affords a shelter from the rays of the piercing sun, he sinks under its branches, and soon slumbers in its cool and refreshing shade.

The scene is a touching one. Though in a wilderness, lonely and sad, in flight from the cruel wrath of those who sought his life, he finds shelter, repose, and refreshing sleep. He finds not only surcease from sorrow in sleep, but enjoys the visit of an angel, bringing him food, and drink, and words of encouragement and comfort. The desert is more friendly to him than is the face of man; and

"God is ever present, ever felt

In the void waste as in the city full;

And where HE vital breathes there must be joy."

The juniper-tree is also referred to in Job 30. He says that the poor in former time were driven into such extremes of distress by "want and famine," that "fleeing into the wilderness desolate and waste" they "cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper-roots for their meat.' It does not appear that the roots of this tree have any peculiar adaptation to being used as food. This tree is evidently only mentioned because it is the tree most commonly found in very waste and desolate places in the wilderness.

It has been no uncommon thing for persons, in extreme cases of famine and want, to subsist on the shoots, bark, leaves, buds, and roots of trees. "Thus, for instance, Herodotus informs us, that when the routed army of Xerxes was fleeing from Greece, such of them as could not meet with better provision, were compelled by hunger to eat the bark and leaves, which they stripped off all kinds of trees. The hungry Laplanders devour the tops and bark of the pine; and even in Sweden the poor in many places are obliged to grind the bark of birch-trees to mix with their corn, to make bread in unfavorable seasons.' It is well known, also, that hermits have, in a spirit of voluntary poverty, fled often into deep deserts, and lived, to a great extent, on roots, buds and wild vegetables. Such instances abundantly illustrate the allusion of Job to those "solitary" ones, who in the wilderness had only "juniperroots for their meat.'

The psalmist, speaking of the "false tongues" of his enemies, says they are like "sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper." Ps. 120. The appropriateness of this allusion will at once be understood, when we remember that juniper wood, like pine or cedar, abounds with oil or pitch, which causes a most vehement flame. In addition to this, we must also bear in mind, as has already been remarked, that the coals of juniper have the power of giving forth a great amount of heat, and also retain the fire for a very long time. How strikingly does all this set forth the tongue of slander. How fiercely it burns. How hot, keen, and burning is its breath! For what a length of time does it retain its fire!

The Apostle James uses a similar figure when he speaks of an evil tongue: "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. It setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell!" Not only in the hearts of the slanderous themselves, but also upon them that receive the wounds of its arrows, does malice burn like "coals of juniper!"

Let the juniper-tree remind the reader of God's kind protection of his forsaken and persecuted children, as it once threw its friendly shadow over the sad and dejected Elijah, and became to him the scene of the most blessed manifestations of heavenly care and love.

Let it bring to our mind also the sad condition of the poor; not forgetting, while we sit at loaded tables, that often have the children of want fed upon juniper-roots! May this thought make us thankful to God for our mercies, and more charitable to the poor whom "we have always with us."

Let us also learn from this tree the truly hellish nature of malice and slander. He who carries a fire of juniper coals in his bosom

cannot but be miserable, and he who builds such a fire upon the. heads of others must be a true child of Satan.

Learning these things, the tree shall not have grown in vain;" nor shall the Bible in vain have alluded to it; nor yet shall The Guardian in vain have directed the attention of its readers to this Tree of the Bible.

WHERE CORK COMES FROM.

CORK is nothing more or less than the bark of evergreen oak, growing principally in Spain, and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean; in English gardens it is only a curiosity. When the cork tree is about fifteen years old, the bark has attained a thickness and quality suitable for manufacturing purposes, and after stripping, a further growth of eight years produces a second crop; and so on at intervals, for even ten or twelve crops. The bark is stripped from the tree in pieces two inches in thickness, of considerable length, and of such width as to retain the curved form of the trunk when it has been stripped. The bark pealer or cutter makes a slit in the bark with a knife, perpendicularly from the top of the trunk to the bottom; he makes another incision parallel to it, and at some distance from the former, and two shorter horizontal cuts at the top and bottom. For stripping off the piece thus isolated, he uses a kind of knife with two handles and a curved blade. Sometimes, after the cuts have been made, he leaves the tree to throw off the bark by the spontaneous action of the vegetation within the trunk. The detached pieces are soaked in water and are placed over a fire when nearly dry; they are, in fact, scorched a little on both sides, and acquire a somewhat more compact texture by this scorching. In order to get rid of the curvature, and bring them flat, they are pressed down with weights while yet hot.

BE CONTENT.

THINGS are transient here below,
Joys incessant come and go,
Pleasures here are ALL, we know,
Mixed with wo.

Still each season kindly brings
With it bitter sweetest things,
Many a bird, with drooping wings,
Sweetly sings!

BY X. Y. Z.

Glad the limpid waters flow
In their channels meek and low,
Nor a plaintive feeling show
As they go.

So, too, speak in notes of love
Voices from the field and grove,
And the starry hosts above
As they rove.

INFLUENCE OF THE DEAD UPON THE LIVING.

BY THE EDITOR.

"He being dead yet speaketh."-HEB. XI. 4.

WHAT relation do the living sustain to the dead? This is no idle question; nor has the human mind been unconcerned in regard to it; nor yet has the sacred scripture left the question unnoticed.

Men have ever been prone to fall into two extremes of error on this point; they have either made too much or too little of the relation between the living and the dead.

Of old already God found it necessary to make a law against necromancy-the holding of forbidden communion with the dead -turning away from those revelations which He gave by inspiration of the living, to seek knowledge of future events from the spirits of the dead:

All acquainted with history know how extensively this forbidden wisdom has been sought after in all ages, and among all nations. It has of late been revived wonderfully in our own country. Sweedenborg, as is well known, professed familiar intercourse with the dead.

It is known also that in a portion of the Christian church in former ages, and perhaps it is so still, reverence was paid to the dead, and assistance sought and expected from them, to an extent not warranted by scripture.

On the other extreme men have erred by entirely sundering the living and the dead, and denying all fellowship and sympathy between them.

Some, like the Saducees, have denied the very existence of human spirits after this life. Others, though they have believed in the continued existence of the dead, have denied that their éxistence in any way concerns or influences us. They have thus supposed the dead and the living separated by a cold and impassable wall of partition, over which no cares, sympathies, interests, affections, or influences can pass.

These ideas are both false. They are also both evil in their tendency and influence. The first leads to superstition and idola

try; the second leads to unbelief.

The scriptures teach, and the church has always believed, that there is a very intimate and solemn relation existing between the living and the dead-especially between saints living and saints departed. This the church has embodied in the article of the Creed: "I believe in the communion of saints;" which article was always made to include the living and the dead.

The deep and extensive hold which this idea has had upon men is beautifully exhibited and preserved by many customs and usages.

It was this which led the Jews to embalm the bodies of their dead. It was this which led the early Christians to bury their dead around their churches, that they might still be with the congregation of the living, and that the voice of their prayers and songs might float, as a breath of life, and love, and hope, over their graves. It was this which led them to celebrate the holy communion of the Lord's supper, upon their graves on the anniversary of their death, in token of their firm faith in a continued communion with them. This feeling also it was that led to the planting of evergreens and flowers upon their graves-the evergreen was to show that the life beneath lived on through the winter of the grave-the flowers were to show that the fragrance of their love and goodness is still preserved.

In different ways, but still in the same spirit, do the living still show their belief in their continued union with the dead. Their deep sense that respect is due to the lifeless body; their desire to bestow affectionate attentions upon it; their pious preservation of various memorials of the departed; their desire to ornament the shroud, the coffin, and the grave; the lonely delight they find in visiting their resting-places alone; all this shows that we feel the dead still to be our dead. It is, at the same time, an evidence of the extent to which they still influence us. Being dead they still speak to us, still move us, influence us. They speak to us, though it be but as in a soft whisper, and that through our own instinctive feelings and affections. They hold a strong though silent power over us, which induces us to do many things on their account, for their sakes, and by their influence.

Following now this train of thought, I desire to speak of the influence of the dead upon the living. We say the influence of the dead upon us, not our influence upon them. Although the very idea of communion implies that it be mutual, yet their influence upon us is set forth more prominently than our influence upon them.

This may seem strange. They are the dead and we the livingso we say and think-and yet their influence upon us is to be greater than ours upon them.

But let us reflect. They are the living-they are in advance of us-they are the higher-they are nearer the seat of all power and grace. They have emphatically entered into life, while we are only struggling in the faint dawn.

As in the natural world heaven above is greater than the earth, so the higher world of spirits is the home of the greatest power, and of the most controling influence. It is, therefore, agreeable to the divine order that the higher and greater, shall be over the lower and lesser.

Let us direct our attention to the influence of the dead upon the living. We can see how largely the dead influence the living when we reflect that the effects of their acts are still working on in the