37^ [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



In the scant leisure of busy lives the study of some particular 

 branch of natural science, archaeology, or kindred subject has 

 the greatest charm for thoughful minds, in that for the time 

 being it lures the attention from the cares and worries and the 

 events of everyday life ; and more than this, it is a delightful 

 relaxation to an active mind, and lays the foundation of enduring 

 pleasures of a refined and elevating kind. Such study may be 

 likened in the words of the Psalmist to "the green vales of 

 the desert where water springs,'' the kind resting-places in 

 " life's dreary round," the oasis in which toil may be relaxed, 

 and the weary spirit may recover its tone and resume its 

 strength and its hopes. " Blessed are they who going through 

 the vale of misery use it for a well, and the pools are filled with 

 water." 



From the earliest ages of the world's history, arbitrary signs 

 and symbols have been used to represent ideas, or persons, or 

 abstract qualities. The figurative language of the East, so 

 generally employed by Hebrew writers, full of grand and 

 beautiful imagery, strikes deep into the heart and conscience. 

 Not only do we find constant reference in the Scriptures to the 

 natural qualities of men and animals, and to many terrestrial 

 and celestial objects, by way of simile and illustration, but 

 throughout the entire East such has invariably been the 

 practice at all times. In the ancient Book of Job (who, 

 according to Hales, was contemporary with Nahor, the grand- 

 father of Abraham) the swiftness of time was symbolised by a 

 weaver's shuttle, and the hypocrite's hope by a spider's web. 

 The knowledge of the Deity is described as being " high as the 

 heavens, deeper than hell, longer than the earth, broader than 

 the sea." Man is symbolised as a flower of the field, prosperity 

 by a lighted candle, and adversity by a candle extinguished. 

 The dying Jacob, when blessing his children, used a series of 

 significant emblems to express the character and fortunes of 

 their respective descendants, which were treasured up in their 

 memories and used as the insignia of the tribes in their advance 

 into and occupation of the Promised Land. Expressive sym- 



