tion adopted is most consistent with the apparent design of the sacred writers. The pine is a fine tall stately tree, and remarkable for the elasticity of its wood. It also, like the fir-tree, retains its verdure more or less throughout the year, and only sheds its old leaves when thrust off by the new buds.

Ebony.

Is an Indian wood of black colour, exceedingly hard and heavy, admitting a fine polish, and used in inlaid work with ivory, to which it formed a fine contrast; it is mentioned in scripture, Ezek. xxvii. 15. only.

The Willow.

This is a very common tree, growing in marshy places; there are several species well known in this, and probably in most other countries; they are easily propagated, and grow rapidly and abundantly. "The boughs of willows of the brook," were among those directed to be used in making the booths for the feast of tabernacles, Lev. xxiii. 40.

"By the rivers of Babylon," the Jews in their captivity "sat down and wept when they remembered Zion." They "hanged their harps on the willows, in the midst thereof," when those that wasted and persecuted them insultingly demanded of them mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How (they feelingly replied) can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?” A more beautiful and vivid picture of pious and patriotic grief was never presented, Psa. cxxxvii. 1-4.

Isa. xliv. 3, 4. 5. presents a most delightful series of promises to the church, predicting her perpetuity

and increase through all generations: "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring, and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." May every young reader of these lines be of the number of that seed whom the Lord hath thus blessed!

Juniper Tree.

This is thrice mentioned in the sacred book. 1. It is said, the prophet Elijah, when disheartened and weary of the persecutions of Jezebel, went and sat under a juniper-tree, 1 Kings xix. 4. Some have supposed that the genista, or Spanish broom, was intended; either of them, being only of the stature of a humble shrub, would afford the prophet but a poor shelter: however, he was in a gloomy and an irritable frame of mind; and when that is the case, persons seldom make the best of their circumstances, that they might do; and it is not impossible he threw himself down in a sort of despondency, when much more commodious shelter was at hand.

Job speaks of those, as having him in derision, who were once in circumstances so mean and impoverished, as to snatch a scanty subsistence from the mallows and juniper roots, Job xxx. 3, 4. It cau scarcely be supposed that the roots, either of the

broom or the juniper, could furnish a nutritive article of food; and it is not improbable that they were sought as firing wherewith to prepare their food, rather than to be eaten as food. This idea is somewhat strengthened by an allusion of the psalmist, where he refers to the coals of the juniper as affording the fiercest fire of any combustible matter found in the desert; and, as such, the fittest punishment for the malicious and deceitful tongue : "What shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper," Psa. cxx. 4. The wrath of God, like a keen and barbed arrow from the bow of the mighty, shall pierce the strongest armour, and strike into the hardest heart, and, like the fierce and protracted flame of the juniper, shall torment the liar with unutterable anguish.

The Algum, or Almug Tree.

The wood of this tree was brought in large quantities by the fleet of Solomon, from Ophir, 1 Kings x. 11, 12. Some critics suppose it to mean any gummy kind of wood; but others give an opposite meaning to the article, and take it rather to be wood that is gumless, or free from moisture, which they contend would be more suitable for the purposes to which it was applied; viz. for supporting the palace and temple, and making musical instruments. Some have supposed it to be the sandal-tree, which yields a light, white, and shining wood; others take t for the cypress, the wood of which is still used in Italy,

for violins, harpsichords, and other stringed instruments; while some again think that the species of wood is wholly unknown to us. Josephus describes it as resembling the wood of the fig-tree, but whiter and more shining. It should be added, that this is sometimes rendered ligna thyina, and is probably the wood referred to, Rev. xviii. 12. though that, in fact, will apply to any kind of wrought wood.

The Shittah Tree.

But

This tree is mentioned only in Isaiah xli. 19. among the beautiful trees with which Jehovah declares he will plant in the barren wilderness. the wood which it furnished is several times mentioned, especially as that of which several parts of the tabernacle and its sacred furniture were composed; viz. the ark of the covenant, Exod. xxv. 10. the table of shew-bread, (xxv. 23.) the bars and pillars of the tabernacle, (xxvi. 26, 32, 37.) the altar of burnt-offering, (xxviii. xxxviii.) and the altar of incense, (xxx. 1.)-It was evidently a light, solid, and incorruptible wood, but there is considerable difficulty in identifying it. The most probable conjecture is, that which fixes on the acanthus, or the acacia vera. This tree is about the size of a mulberry-tree-produces flowers and pods very like those of our liburnum :-its bark is smooth; its foliage scanty; its branches full of thorns; and its wood of a pale yellow colour.

Cinnamon.

The cinnamon-tree is mentioned among other aro

matics, Cant. iv. 14. It constituted one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil, (Exod. xxx. 23.) but whether it were the bark of the same tree, now so commonly used for its agreeable flavour, is not certain. The cinnamon in use with us, is the produce of a laurel which grows in the East Indies and China; it rises to about six feet in height, and its trunk is a foot and a half in diameter; it produces a fruit somewhat resembling an olive, and enclosing a large oblong nut. The part we use as cinnamon is the inner bark, but the whole of the tree is equally, though variously, useful; the leaves, the fruit, and the root, all yield oil of very different qualities, and of considerable value: from the leaves is produced the oil of cloves; from the fruit, a remarkably fragrant oil, of a thick consistence, and which, in Ceylon, is made into candles, for the sole use of the king. The bark of the root affords an essential aromatic oil, called oil of camphor, greatly esteemed for its medicinal use; also a species of camphor much purer and whiter than that commonly sold.

Cassia.

Cassia is the bark of a kind of bay-tree, which grows chiefly in the East Indies. It possesses agreeable aromatic properties, resembling, but inferior to those of cinnamon. It was used in the holy oil, Exod. xxx. 24. was one of the articles of merchandise in the markets of Tyre, Ezek. xxvii. 19. and was esteemed as a choice perfume, probably used in