children hold by the head of him who carries them, whether he be on horseback, or on foot, and do not hinder him from walking, or doing what he pleases.”DANDINI.

The weaning of the child took place when the child was about two years old, and was celebrated by a feast: "Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned " (Gen. xxi. 8). Similarly "among the Persians, boys are weaned at two years and two months, girls at two years. On the day that the child is to be weaned, they carry it to the mosque (in the same manner, perhaps, that Hannah took Samuel to the house of the Lord-1 Sam. i. 24), and after having performed certain acts of devotion, they return home, and collecting their friends and relations, they give a feast, of which they make the child also partake." MORIER.

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In Egypt "the mother is prohibited," Lane tells us, 'by the Muslim law from weaning her child before the expiration of two years from the period of its birth, unless with the consent of her husband; which, I am told, is generally given after the first year or eighteen months."--Modern Egyptians, i. 83.

The early education of the children was carried on by the mothers. The girls remained under their charge throughout, but the boys were transferred either to their fathers, or, in the case of the wealthy, to tutors engaged for their education, who are entitled in our version "the bringers up of the children " (2 Kings x. 5), and who were the same persons as had the previous care of them as infants. In the Persian court we hear of an officer styled "the Melzar," whom the prince of the eunuchs "set over" Daniel and his brethren for their maintenance and education (Dan. i. 11). In the New Testament the child is described as being "under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father" (Gal. iv. 2.) There is a similar officer in the households of the modern

PRESENTING IN THE TEMPLE.

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Persians. "If a boy, the father appoints a steady man from the age of two years to be his laleh, who, I conjecture, must stand in the same capacity as the bringers up of children; but if it be a daughter,

she has a woman called gees sefeed, or white head, attached to her for the same purpose as the laleh."See MORIER'S Second Journey through Persia.

The child, as it grew up, retained a strong love for its mother, and no insult can exceed in the eyes of the Orientals that of any slur cast upon the mother's character. Hence the taunt of Saul against Jonathan :

In

"Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman. Similarly in the present day:-"When the Eastern people are angry with any one, they abuse and vilify his parents. Saul did not intend to reproach his wife personally, but to intimate his wrath against her son. This treatment is acutely felt by the children. every Eastern family, the great object of respect and devotion is the mother. Witness the familiar expression, ‘Pull my father's beard, but do not speak ill of my mother.' In Africa, maternal affection is always conspicuous, and creates a correspondent return of tenderness in the child.' 'Strike me,' said a traveller's servant to his master, but do not curse my mother."" -URQUHART'S Spirit of the East and Note on this passage in Treasury Bible.

:

When the child arrived at the age of twelve it was usual to present him in the Temple, just as we present our youth in confirmation. Thus we read of our Lord:

"When He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem" (Luke ii. 42). The Jews still retain the custom :- "The Jew boys, when they enter their thirteenth year, go through the following ceremony, the poorer classes in private, the richer Jews in the synagogue. I had the opportunity of witnessing one of these. The boy, who was the son of a rabbi, appeared in the synagogue, well dressed, with the ten commandments fastened on his forehead in a small

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PRESENTING CHILDREN IN THE SYNAGOGUE.

leathern bag, and the same also on his left arm.

The Morning Service was then read. After this, the lad advanced to the altar, and offered up a prayer to the Almighty, thanking Him for permitting him to attain that age, which is here considered as the commencement of manhood. A religious discourse was then delivered by him for nearly an hour."- Notes to BROOKE'S Travels in Spain and Morocco.

EASTERN MARRIAGES.-CHOICE OF A WIFE.-ESPOUSAL.-DOWRY. -FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM.-MARRIAGE CEREMONY.LAMPS. MUSIC.-BRIDAL ATTIRE.-ATTENDANTS.-PROCESSION. FEAST.-BRIDE VEILED.-MODERN JEWISH CEREMONIES. -MARRIAGE IN RUSSIA.

THE ceremonies preliminary to and attendant on an Eastern marriage differ in many respects from the usages with which we are familiar. We shall commence with the selection of the bride, an important office which a suitor does not undertake in his own person, but devolves on his parents or on a friend. Thus when Isaac arrived at the age of marriage, his father intrusts to Eliezer the duty of finding him a

R

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:

...

CHOOSING A WIFE.

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wife :- "And Abraham was old . . . and Abraham said unto his eldest servant . . . that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh; and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shall go . . . to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant . . . departed. (Gen. xxiv. 1-4). So again Shechem solicits the hand of Dinah through his father :- "Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife." (Gen. xxxiv. 4, 6, 8). So again we read of Samson, that he went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and mother, and said . . . Get her for me to wife" (Judg. xiv. 1, 2).

In illustration of this custom we adduce the follow

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ing passage: Among the Nestorians, no young man thinks of making a marriage contract for himself. In case the father is dead, the eldest brother takes the father's place. Where the intended bride lives at a distance, the matter is sometimes intrusted to some faithful servant or agent, as was done by Abraham in relation to his son Isaac. This event was remarkably illustrated by the history of a marriage that took place a short time since among the Nestorians in the mountains. Indeed, there was such a remarkable coincidence of names and circumstances, that it seemed like acting over again that most interesting part of sacred history. The Nestorian patriarch Abraham . . . who was in the place of a father to his younger brother Isaac, being desirous of procuring a wife for his foster-son, sent his most trusty steward to a distant part of the country to obtain one from among his own people."-GRANT'S Nestorians, p. 197.

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