frogs, it would indeed be but a trifling performance, for a juggler to make a number of frogs appear on a piece of ground cleared for that purpose, when there were abundance of those creatures already all round them. But why did not the magicians produce lice, (viii. 18,) or flies, (ver. 24,) or the plague amongst the Egyptian cattle, (ix. 3,) or the ulcers in man and in beast, (ver. 10,) or the grievous hail, (ver. 18,) or the locusts, (x. 13,) or the thick darkness? (ver. 22,) &c. The magicians themselves have answered the question, why they could not even imitate these things, when they said unto Pharoah, "THIS IS THE FINGER OF GOD!" viii. 19. See Witch. Miracles. Serpents.

MANKIND. The remarkable differences between the inhabitants of the various parts of the globe, have raised a doubt in the minds of some, as to the possibility of the human family having originally sprung from one pair, or rather from the sons of Noah. And others have used it as an argument against the authenticity of the Sacred Scriptures. But these differences, however great, even those existing between the whites and blacks, do not at all invalidate the Mosaic account: for it is now well known, that the influence of climate, customs, air, food, &c. are quite sufficient to account for these dissimilarities, not only in the human inhabitants of the different regions of the earth, but also in the brute creation! Who does not know the fact, that dogs, removed from the temperate, to the frigid zones, grow shaggy? And that sheep, transported to the torrid zone, exchange their wool for hair? If this be the case among the brutes, why not among men?

The testimony of M. de Pages, who himself experienced those changes in his travels round the world, in

the years 1767-1771, is worthy of attention. He says, when speaking of his passage over the Great Desert, "the tribes which frequent the middle of the desert, have locks somewhat crisped, extremely fine, and approaching the woolly hair of the negro. My own, during the short period of my travels in those regions, became more dry and delicate than usual, and receiving little nourishment from a checked perspiration, showed a disposition to assume the same frizzled and woolly appearance: an entire failure of moisture, and the excessive heat of climate, by which it was occasioned, seem to be the principal causes of those symptoms; my blood was become extremely dry, and my complexion at length differed little from that of a Hindoo or Arab."

The eminent naturalist Buffon says, "man though white in Europe, black in Africa, yellow in Asia, and red in America, is still the same animal tinged only with the colour of the climate. Where the heat is excessive, as in Guinea and Senegal, the people are perfectly black; where less excessive, as in Abyssinia, the people are less black; where it is more temperate, as in Barbary and Arabia, they are brown; and where mild, as in Europe and lesser Asia, they are fair." In further corroboration of the influence of climate on the human complexion, we may remark, that there is a colony of the Jews, who have been settled in Cochin on the Malabar coast from a very remote period, of which they have lost the memory. Though originally a fair people from Palestine, and from their customs preserving themselves unmixed, they are now become as black as the other Malabarians, who are scarcely a shade lighter than the negroes of Guinea, Benin, or Angola. At Ceylon, also, the Portuguese, who settled there only a few centuries ago, are become blacker ́ than the natives: and the Portuguese, who settled near the

Mundingoes, about three hundred years since, differ so little from them as to be called negroes, which they resent as a high indignity! (Horne.) The same celebrated philosopher (Buffon) comes to the following conclusion. "From every circumstance (says he) proof may be obtained, that mankind are not composed of species essentially different from each other; that, on the contrary, there was originally but one individual species of men, which, after being multiplied and diffused over the whole face of the earth, underwent various changes, from the influence of climate, from the difference of food and the mode of living, from epidemical disorders, as also from the intermixture, varied ad infinitum, of individuals more or less resembling each other; that these alterations were at-first less considerable, and confined to individuals; that afterwards, from the continued action of the above causes becoming more general, more sensible, and more fixed, they formed varieties of the species; and that these varieties have been, and still are perpetuated from generation to generation, in the same manner that certain disorders and certain maladies pass from parents to their children." Lastly, a late writer observes, "that black is not the colour of the negro when first born: the negro infant comes into the world WHITE, only with a yellowish tinge; but becomes progressively darker, until the tenth day, when it is perfectly black." Callié, Voyage a Tembuctoo, tom i. p. 65. Paris, 1830.

MAN. "Let us" (saith the Omnipotent One) "make man in our image, after our likeness." Gen. i. 26. In three respects, it may be considered, man was made in the likeness of his creator: 1st, As distinguished from all other animals, possessing an immortal soul, (which see.) 2dly, Perfectly free, a free agent in every sense of

the word; the masterpiece of God's works, which infinite power only could do. 3dly, God being of a triune nature-Father, Son, and Spirit-corresponding to infinite wisdom, holiness, and power; and man being composed of body, soul, and life, constitute another remarkable likeness or image. How preeminently distinguished for simplicity, dignity, and philosophy, is this description of the creation of man: and what a contrast it forms with the fabulous, absurd, and ridiculous accounts of man's creation as given by the heathen philosophers of antiquity: some of whom said, man sprung out of the earth! Others, that man was originally a cricket or a grasshopper! Others, that he came out of an oak tree! Others, that he came from a mushroom! And others, that he was formed from a dragon's tooth!

ΜΑΝΝΑ. The first and most ancient account we have of this substance in any work whatsoever, is in Exodus xvi. 14, 15, where it is said, "and when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness, a small round thing, small as the hoar frost on the ground." It was then an unknown substance: "they wist not what it was!" And that it was no natural production is evident, for "there was a pot of it laid up in the ark." (vers. 33.) It was, therefore, a miraculous production: made for this special occasion in the wilderness, where no such nourishing substances ever grew. How then was it formed? We might at

once answer, and say, by the authority of HIM, who, by his voice created all things! By Him, of whose power in the creation of the world, it is written, "He spake, and it was done, He commanded, and it stood fast."

The origin of the noun "manna" is remarkable: it

comes from two Hebrew words, "man hu," which lite rally signify "what is it?” And these are the two words improperly translated in the fifteenth verse “manna:" which ought to be rendered "what is it;" as the very next sentence proves, "they wist not what it was!" From the original words of "what is it" (man hu) this substance was called "manna!" We have every reason to believe that it was of a gelatinous nature: 1st, From its nutritious nature. 2dly, From its being melted by the sun, "for when the sun waxed hot, it was melted." (vers. 21.) 3dly, From its ready decomposition, for when "some of them left it until morning, it bred worms, and stank!" (vers. 20.) The elements of this substance were at hand-The dew (water) afforded the hydrogen, and oxygen, and the atmosphere the nitrogen, which, with carbon, are the four elements that enter into the formation of this gelatin production, called manna.

THE OMER. Verses 35, 36 were evidently written by some subsequent inspired writer in the margin of Moses's records; but afterwards brought into the body of the book. They relate the duration of this miraculous provision, and the nature of an omer. This proves to

demonstration, the antiquity of the book of Exodus; for if it were the production of any more modern writer than Moses, this kind of a parenthesis, this method of recording the length of time, or this explanation of an omer, would not have been necessary, would not have occurred. See Bible.

MARRIAGE. A contract between a man and woman, by which they become pledged to each other, to live together for life. In no one respect does the dignity of man, above the brute creation, appear more conspicuous, than in the institution of marriage: and in no respect