nor did her good disposition and good conduct go unrewarded; those camels shortly after bore her into the Land of Promise, to become the wife of Abraham's son, and one in the line of mothers from whom He should descend, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed. Gen. xxiv. 19—64.

9. The camel is prohibited for food as unclean, Lev. xi. 14. Deut. xiv. 7.

10. Camels are prophetically and figuratively mentioned in the Old Testament. Isaiah (xxi. 7,) predicts the march of Cyrus's army to the conquest and destruction of Babylon in the time of Belshazzar. Isaiah (xxx. 6,) alludes to the folly and presumption of the Israelites, or Jews, or both, who in the time of their trouble carried treasures on camels into Egypt, to purchase the assistance of that people, and acknowledged not the Lord their God, who alone could save and deliver them. Isa. lx. 6, is part of a most sublime prediction, figurative of the purity and enlargement of the church in the reign of the Messiah, when different nations shall with alacrity and zeal dedicate themselves and their substance to the service of God.

Jer. xlix. 29, 32, predicts the confusion and ruin that should befal Kedar and Hazor, enemies of Israel, upon God whom God would bring his judgments by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The fulfilment of this prediction took place during the captivity of the Jews, and would tend greatly to encourage their hopes that the promises of their deliverance and return should also in due time be accomplished. Very similar is the prediction, Ezek. xxv. 5, that Rabbah, the chief city of Ammon, should be taken as a stable for camels by the Chaldeans.

THE spirited picture of the war-horse in the book of Job is worthy of the pen of inspiration; but to appreciate its correctness, we must not look at him in the pasture or the stable, merely, to which he is consigned by man, but in those wild and extensive plains, where he has been originally produced, where he ranges without control, and riots in all the variety of luxurious nature-and also in the field of battle, where his native fire and energy are called forth, and excited into action, by the clang of arms, and the blasts of trumpets.

The horse is universally allowed to be the most beautiful of all the quadruped animals; the noble largeness of his form, the glossy smoothness of his skin, the graceful ease of his motions and the exact symmetry of his shape, have taught us to regard him as the first, and as the most perfectly formed; and yet what is extraordi.. nary enough, if we examine him internally, his structure will be found the most different from that of man of all other quadrupeds whatsoever. As the ape approaches us nearest in internal conformation, so the horse is the most remote ;-a striking proof that there may be oppositions of beauty, and that all grace is not to be referred to one standard.

It is not possible to determine the country from which the horse originally came: that it was from the East, however, seems highly probable, since the colder climates do not so well agree with his constitution, and also because the most beautiful, generous, swift, and persevering of all horses in the world, are found in Arabia and Persia.

The swiftness of these animals is incredible, and has given occasion to some very spirited figures in the sacred writings. Thus, Isaiah, describing the terrible devastation which the land of Judea was loomed to suffer by the Assyrian armies, whose horses were probably of the Persian breed, expresses the amazingly rapid movements of their chariots with much beauty and force: Their wheels shall be like a whirlwind,' (ch. v. 28.); as does Jeremiah, also: 'Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles,' ch. iv. 14. The prophet Habakkuk, in describing the same quality of the horse, uses a different figure, but one equally striking: 'Their horses are swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat,' ch. i. 8.

At a very early period of its history, Egpyt was famous for its breed of horses, as we learn from Exod. xiv. 9; and such appears to have been the excellency of the Egyptian horses in subsequent times, that the prophet Isaiah declares to the Israelites, who were disposed to put their confidence in the time of danger on the resources of Egypt, that 'the Egyptians were men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit,' chap. xxxi. 3.

In early ages, horses were rare among the Hebrews. The patriachs had none; and after the departure from Egypt, it was expressly forbidden to their ruler to procure them, Deut. xvii. 16. As horses appear to have been generally furnished by Egypt, God prohibited then, 1. Lest there should be such commerce with Egypt as might lead to idolatry. 2. Lest the people might depend on a well appointed cavalry, as a means of security, and so cease from trusting in the promised aid and protection of Jehovah. And, 3. That they might not be tempted to extend their dominion by means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding idolatrous nations, and thus cease, in process of time, to be that distinct and separate people which God intended they should be, and without which the prophecies relative to the Messiah could not be known to have their due and full accomplishment.

In the time of the Judges, there were horses and war chariots among the Canaanites, but the Israelites were without them; and hence they were generally too tinid to venture down into the plains, confining their conquests to the mountainous parts of the country. In the reign of Saul, horse breeding does not appear to have been introduced into Arabia, for, in a war with some of the Arabian nations, the Israelites sold plunder, in camels, sheep, and asses, but still no horses. Solomon was the first among the Hebrews who established a cavalry force, and compared to what is now usual, it was one of very considerable extent, 1 Kings, x. 23. He also carried on a trade in Egyptian horses for the benefit of the crown, 2 Chr. ix. 28.

It is evident from Judges, v. 2; Isa. v. 28; and Amos, vi. 12, that

it was not the practice among the ancients to shoe the horse, as is now done. For this reason, the strength and firmness, and solidity of its hoof were of much greater importance with them than with us, and were esteemed one of the first praises of a fine horse. The latter of the above cited passages may receive illustration from the following remark: The Arabs signify the soundess of the feet of grey horses, by an Arabian adage, which indicates that if a cavalcade be passing through a stony country, the grey horses will break the stones with their feet; this opinion appears founded on experience, for in the Atlas mountain, in some parts of Suse, and in all harsh stony districts, we find a much greater proportion of grey horses than of any other color; their feet are so hardy, that I have known them to travel two days' journey through the stony defiles of Atlas, without shoes, over roads full of loose broken stones, and basaltic rocks.'

We read, in Zech. vi. 1-3, of four chariots coming out from between two mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.' These four chariots have been interpreted to be the four great monarchies, Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman, which successively executed God's purposes of mercy and justice; and the various colors of the horses of the different complexions of those monarchies. But Mr. Greenfield, with more probability, understands them of angels; i. e. messengers or agents, called the chariots of the LORD, (Ps. lxviii. 17), by whom he executes his providential will on earth. The red horses denote war; the black horses famine and pestilence; the white horses the removal of judgments; and the grisled horses, a mingled dispensation of wrath and mercy. Comp. Rev. vi. 2-8.

It is well known that many heathen nations have consecrated horses to the sun or solar light, which deity was represented as riding in a chariot, drawn by the most beautiful and swiftest horses in the world, and performing every day his journey from east to west, to enlighten the earth.

This idolatrous practice had infected Judea, for we read (2 Kings, xxiii. 11,) of the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun or solar light.

Or this animal there are two varieties described by naturaliststhe wild and the domestic. The former we pass by for the present, and direct our attention to the latter. The usual appellation by which this beast is distinguished in scripture, is CHEMOR, from a word which signifies to disturb or disorder, and it is so called, probably, from its extraordinary turbulence when excited. The domestic ass being an animal so well known, renders it unnecessary that we should describe its form and appearance. But it must be noticed, that in eastern countries it is larger and much finer in every respect, and so highly is it valued, as to be preferred to the horse for many domestic purposes. Asses are enumerated as constituting part of the riches of Abraham, Jacob, and Job, (Gen. xii. 16; xxx. 43; Job xlii. 12.); and Anah, a Horite prince, did not consider it beneath the dignity of his character to feed the asses belonging to his father Zibeon, Gen, xxxvi. 24. In the reign of David, they were of so much importance that Jedheiah the Meronothite, a prince of Israel, was appointed to superintend the breed, 1 Chron. xxvii, 30. To ride upon an ass was, in the days of the Judges, a mark of distinction, to which it is probable, the vulgar might not presume to aspire. This is evident from the brief notices which the inspired historian gives of the greatness and riches of Jair, the Gileadite, one of the Judges; 'He had thirty sons who rode on thirty ass colts; and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-Jair unto this day,' Judges x. 3, 4. Abdon, the Pirathonite, another of the Judges, had forty sons and thirty nephews, who rode on threescore and ten ass colts,' ch. xii. 13, 14. In several of these passages, it should be observed, a particular kind of the domestic ass is spoken of the ATON-whose value, if we may judge from the circumstances in which we generally find it placed, by far exceeded that of the ordinary description,