BY THE REV. D. R. LOUSON, A. M.

'The customs of this people are still vain.' More than two thousand years have passed away since the ancient temples of Egypt, of vast extent, of stupendous magnificence, raised by an incredible amount of labour, for the vainest of all vain purposes were overthrown, and their cities, once thronged with a population of millions, made desolate without an inhabitant. For more than two thousand years this people have been oppressed, trodden down, and trampled under foot, by Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Arabians, Mamelukes, and Turks in succession, till their race has almost become extinct. And still, in this land of Egypt, they are wearying themselves for very vanity,'-with vain rites, vain fasts, vain repetitions, and vain formalities, in the service cf an impostor and vain deceiver.

Our cut is a representation of one of these temples of

mosque

modern Egypt. The temples or churches of Mahomet, the false prophet, are called mosques. The present is the great of the Sultan Hassan, in Grand Cairo, the metropolis of Egypt. This city, seven miles in circumference, and containing two hundred thousand inhabitants, is beautifully situated on the banks of the Nile. Near to this city lies the land of Goshen, where Israel dwelt in the days of the Pharaohs. On the island of Rhoda, opposite the city, is shown the spot where Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe and found the infant Moses. Within the city itself are the great granaries which bear the name of Joseph, and the cave where tradition says that Mary and the infant Saviour found refuge when in Egypt. There are four hundred of these mosques-great and small-in the city of Grand Cairo alone. Spacious and magnificent many of these are, and when seen from a distance they give an imposing aspect to the city, with their vast cupolas and their tall slim minarets or towers with gilded domes rising from amidst dark cypress trees high into the sky. The cut represents what is properly speaking the mosque or place of worship. It is a square building crowned with a cupola or dome covered with lead, the exterior walls are painted of a delicate blue colour; from each of the four corners of the mosque, there, generally speaking, rises a tall minaret or tower of stone, as slim sometimes as the mast of a vessel, and of elegant workmanship; two of these are represented here. Round the minaret there run two projecting galleries with balconies of stone; from these galleries the muezzin or public crier proclaims the stated hours of prayer as they use no bells. More than a thousand of these minarets rise in the city of Cairo, and from these eight hundred voices are often heard at once, proclaiming the hour of prayer. Each of these mosques has before it large cluster of buildings forming a square court, with cloisters running all round, where are their schools and the residences of their priests and other officials. We may form an idea of the magnitude of some of them when we mention that from one of the mosques in the city five thousand persons receive daily their subsistence, and that two thousand lie in it every night Round about each mosque, and in the centre of the buildings, there are cypresses planted; tall sombre looking trees, which contrast finely with the delicate blue colour of the exterior walls. These cypresses are very carefully cherished, and many of them are centuries old.

Our next engraving represents the interior of one of these mosques. It is death for a Christian to enter there. The disciple of Jesus if found within the precincts would be literally torn to pieces by the fanatical population. The only way by which he could possibly save himself would be by renouncing Christianity and turning Mahometan. A few, however, have been bold enough to venture in very close disguise, and through them we have been made acquainted with the inside. The interior of a mosque presents a large open space, very bare; there are no pews, no images, no paintings, no decorations of any kind unless it may be an ornamental frieze inscribed with verses from the Koran. There is a large wooden pulpit, generally fixed to one of the pillars supporting the dome, from which the Koran is read and sermons are preached. Near the entrance there is a covered tank of water for the performance of the ceremonial ablutions. This tank appears in the back ground of the engraving, surmounted by the crescent or increasing moon, the symbol of Mahonietanism, as the cross is of Christianity. Each worshipper as he enters, puts off his shoes, either leaving them with the door-keeper or carrying them in his left hand to that part of the mosque where he is to spread his prayer carpet. You observe these prayer carpets in the engraving. They are either plain mats of rush or pieces of rich carpeting according to the taste or the luxury of the worshipper. The prayer consists

mainly of mere repetitions of certain prescribed expressions, such as God is great accompanied with certain prescribed postures of the body. All these are made with the face looking in the direction of the sacred city of Mecca, where the tomb of the prophet is. This point is always marked upon the wall of the mosque.

Our engraving represents six of the different postures which Mahometans assume in their acts of adoration and worship; there are nine of these altogether. There is one point in which these postures are interesting to us. Though used in the Mahometan worship, they are not exclusively Mahometan, they prevail all over the East, and are of great antiquity; nor are they confined to acts of worship alone, but they are likewise used as the marks of respect in ordinary life. In this point of view, they serve to illustrate some of those gestures of worship and respect, which we so often read of in the Scriptures.

1. You observe the foremost central figure of the cut is represented as standing at prayer, standing with uplifted hands. The figure behind is standing with folded hands. The third of these is standing with hands depressed by the sides. Standing at public prayer was used in the temple and in the synagogue, and is still the practice among the Jews. From the synagogue it was adopted by the primitive Christians. 1 Kings viii. 22. 'And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven; and said, &c., &c.' St. Luke xviii. 11. ‘The Pharisee stood and prayed.' Jer. vii. 11. Will ye come and stand before me in this house.' Four out of the nine postures which we have spoken of are standing postures; two of those represented here show the proper reverential posture assumed in the presence of Kings and great men spoken of in Scripture as standing before kings.' Prov. xxii. 29.

2. The figure on the right hand of the central figure of the cut is represented as bowing, with the hands upon the knees. This posture is often spoken of in the Scriptures. Gen. xxiv. 26. And the man bowed his head, and worshipped the Lord.' Ex. iv. 31, 'The people bowed their heads and worshipped.' This also is an act of respect. Gen. xliii. 20, Joseph's brethren bowed down their heads and made obeisance.'

3. The figure on the left hand of the central figure of the cut represents the act of prostration to the ground. This is often referred to in Scripture. 1 Sam. xxv. 24. ‘Abi

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gail fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground and fell at his feet.' 2 Kings iv. 37. 'The Shunamite went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground.' John xi. 32. Mary fell down at Jes is' feet,' and many others. This posture always betokened intense humiliation. When in this posture they often cist dust upon their heads. Among the Romans it was not used as a mark of respect to men, but only in the act of adoration to the gods. On this account, when Cornelius fell at Peter's feet he bade him stand up, for he was only a man.

4. Behind this figure, in the act of prostration, there is a figure represented as kneeling and sitting back upon the heels. To the posture of kneeling, we have many references in Scripture, which we need not cite. To this peculiar posture of sitting at prayer, we have one reference in 1 Chron. xvii. 16. 'And David the king came and sat before the Lord and said.' The figure before us, exactly represents this Eastern form of sitting at prayer, which is considered as highly reverential.

These postures are all rigidly prescribed in the Mahometan services. So much importance is attached to them, that much of the efficacy of prayer, is considered to depend upon the strict punctilio, with which they are performed. But however proper and becoming, they may be in themselves, and in their own place, they are vain and futile as things to prevail with God. The formalities even of a true religion will not avail us with him, far less then will the formalities of a religion which is false, for God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him not only in spirit but they must worship him in truth.'

MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION.

It may be interesting to show, by the following returns, the comparative improvement in public education. During a period of six years (from 1807 to 1812,) there were married in the Collegiate Church of Manchester 7,505 couples. Out of the 15,010 persons married, 5,254 signed their names, and 9,756 their marks, the excess of marks amounting to 30 per cent. In the same church, during the two years in which the Registration Act has been in operation, the signatures are as 55 to 45, showing an increase of signatures over marks of 20 per cent.