rial. The carver in wood and the sculptor of marble would find great difficulty in replacing any portion of their work, which might have been removed by want of caution; but the plastic nature of clay would enable the potter to retouch his work by the addition of fresh material, until his eye was satisfied with the correctness of its form. Although these remains of antiquity are in general formed of clay, it must be understood that this is far from being constantly the case. They were often made of different kinds of metal, or sculptured in stone, or fashioned in a substance between glass and porcelain. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson says, "When the body of a person of quality among the Egyptians was embalmed, the intestines were deposited in four vases of alabaster, or other costly materials, according to the expense which the friends of the deceased chose to incur. Some were contented with those of cheaper materials, as limestone, painted wood, or pottery. These were after

wards placed in the tomb with the coffin, and were supposed to belong to the four genii of Amenti, whose heads and names they bore. They differed in size and the materials of which they were made. The most costly were of oriental alabaster, from ten to twenty inches high, and about one-third of that in diameter."

Pottery was an art in which the Egyptians acquired great perfection; and from its frequent occurrence on the monuments it would appear that the Egyptians, like the Hebrew prophets, discovered a moral signification in the motion of the rapid wheel; thus the formation of a beautiful vessel from the lump of clay naturally became a symbol of creation. The Prophet Isaiah says, "O Lord thou art our Father, and we all are the work of thy hand." (ch. 64. 8.) The lesson of our dependence on our Creator is also inculcated by a reference to the same imagery, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?" (Isai. 45. 9.) The same image is still more forcibly used by the Prophet Jeremiah, to symbolize the power of God in arranging the destinies of nations according to his good pleasure. (Jerem. 18. 1-6.) In making the pottery, some of the vessels were unavoidably broken in their passage to and from the furnace; and such as were unsound would crack when exposed to the fierce heat; hence, heaps of potsherds were accumulated in the neighbourhood of furnaces, which in Eastern countries afforded shelter to snakes, lizards, and other reptiles. To lie among the pots is still an Oriental proverb, to denote the lowest state of human degradation.

The Prophet Jeremiah (18. 3) says, "Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold he wrought a work on the wheels;" the original word means stones, rather than wheels. Dr. Blayney, in a note on this passage, says, "The appellation will appear very proper, if we consider this machine as consisting of a pair of circular stones, placed one upon another, like millstones, of which the lower was immovable, but the upper one turned upon the foot of a spindle or axis, and had motion communicated to it by the feet of the potter sitting at his work, as may be learned from Ecclesiasticus 38. 29. Upon the top of this upper stone, which was flat, the clay was placed, which the potter, having given the stone the due velocity, formed into shape with his hands."

Captain Basil Hall, in his Fragments of Voyages, remarks, "I hardly ever passed a Hindoo's hut, before which a swarthy turbaned inhabitant of the East was whirling round the potter's wheel, without having my thoughts carried back to some of those beautiful narrations of Scripture which fasten themselves so early and so firmly on our minds. I had once the good fortune,

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as I must ever consider it, to see a workman actually break the pot, which had cost him no small trouble to fashion. He immediately collected the fragments, dabbed the clay together again, and with the industry of an ant, set about the reconstruction of his vessel. As the whole process recalled an illustration I remembered to have seen used somewhere in the Old Testament, I set about turning for the passage, and was delighted to find what I had just witnessed described in Jeremiah, ch. 18."

Sir John Gardner Wilkinson, in his instructive and valuable work on the Manners and Customs of the

Ancient Egyptians, affords us some particulars of this art, as practised in very early times. Many of the cups discovered at Thebes present a tasteful arrangement of varied hues, and evince the great skill of the Egyptians in the manufacture of porcelain; and no one can examine similar specimens without feeling convinced of the great experience they possessed in this branch of art. The manner in which the colours are blended and arranged; the minuteness of the lines, frequently tapering off to an almost imperceptible fineness; and the varied directions and tortuous curves traversing the substance, but strictly conforming to the pattern designed by the artist, display no ordinary skill, and show that they were perfect masters of the means employed to produce the effect proposed.

"The Egyptian porcelain should perhaps be denominated glass porcelain, as partaking of the quality of the two, and not being altogether unlike the porcelain glass invented by the celebrated Reaumur, who discovered, during his curious experiments on different qualities of porcelain, the method of converting glass into a substance very similar to chinaware. The ground of Egyptian porcelain is generally of an homogeneous quality and hue, either blue or green, traversed in every direction by lines or devices of other colours, red, white, yellow, black, light or dark blue, and green, or whatever the artist chose to introduce; and these are not always confined to the surface, but frequently penetrate considerably into the ground, sometimes having passed half, at others entirely through the fused substance; in which respect they differ from the porcelain of China, where the flowers or patterns are applied to the surface, and perhaps justify the use of the term glass-porcelain, which I have adopted. In some instances the yellows were put on after the other colours upon the surface of the vase, which was then again subjected to a proper degree of heat; and after this, the handles, the rim, and the base, were added and fixed by a repetition of the same process. It was not without considerable risk that these additions were made, and many vases were broken during the operation, to which Martial alludes in an epigram on the glass cups of the Egyptians.

"That the Egyptians possessed considerable knowledge of chemistry, and the use of metallic oxides, is evident from the nature of the colours applied to their glass and porcelain; and they were even acquainted with the influence of acids upon colour, being able, in the process

of dyeing or staining cloth, to bring about certain changes in the hues, by the same process as that adopted in our cotton works."

Some of the Egyptian vases seem as if they had been polished by means of some instrument similar to a lathe, but no representation of machinery has been found on the monuments more complicated than the primitive wheel. When the vessels were formed by the potter they were burned or baked in a kiln. There are in the British Museum several specimens of Egyptian pottery, of extremely elegant form, which would not discredit the manufactory of Wedgwood.

More coarse and ordinary vessels, as jars for wine, are frequently represented on the Egyptian Monuments, as in the following engraving:

Egyptian Wine-jars. From the Monuments. From the remains of the pottery of the Greeks and Romans which have been preserved to the present time, it appears that they had made great progress in the art of manufacturing it, as far as regards elegance of form and taste in the ornamental parts of the work. The annexed engraving contains a representation of several ancient Etruscan vases, as they have been called, from Etruria, the portion of the Roman empire in which they were discovered. These vases are all of red clay, and generally covered with ornaments on a black ground.

Vases of this description have also been found in Sicily, and among the ruins of ancient cities in Greece; and as the paintings with which they are adorned relate to the customs or mythology of the latter country, some authors have been inclined to give them the name of Grecian vases, for though some of the most elegant spe

converted into praise; till then, Christians must live by prayer. God alone is able to supply their wants. The revelation which He has given of his goodness lays a foundation for our asking with confidence the blessings we need, and his ability encourages us to hope for their bestowment: "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." (Psalm 65. 2.) Prayer is a spiritual exercise, and can only be performed acceptably by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, (Rom. 8. 26:) "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight." The Holy Spirit is the great agent in the world of grace, and without his special influence there is no acceptable prayer. Hence he is called the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication; for he it is that enables us to draw nigh unto God, filling our mouth with arguments, and teaching us to order our cause before him. (Zech. 12. 10.)

All acceptable prayer must be offered in faith, or a believing frame of mind: "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for let not the wavering man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." (James 1. 5-7.) "He that cometh unto God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11. 6.) It must be offered in the name of Christ, believing in Him as revealed in the word of God, placing in Him all our hope of acceptance, and exercising unfeigned confidence in his atoning sacrifice and prevalent intercession.

Prayer is to be offered for things "agreeable to the will of God." So the Apostle says, "This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us, and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desired of him." (1John 5. 14,15.) Our prayers must therefore be regulated by the revealed will of God, and come within the compass of the promises. These are to be the matter and ground of our supplications. What God has not particularly promised, He may nevertheless possibly bestow; but what He has promised He will assuredly perform. Of the good things promised to Israel of old, not one failed, but all came to pass; and in due time the same shall be said of all the

rest.

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Prayer must be accompanied with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of God's mercies. There are two necessary ingredients in acceptable prayer. "I prayed," says the Prophet Daniel, "and made confession." Sin is a burden of which confession unloads the soul. “Father," said the returning prodigal, "I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight." Thanksgiving is also as necessary as confession; by the one we take shame to ourselves; by the other we give glory to God. By the one we abase the creature; by the other we exalt the Creator. In petitioning for favours from God, we act like dependent creatures; in confession, like sinners; and in thanksgiving, like angels.

Among the Jews, prayers were either public or private, or stated, that is, performed at a particular time. The stated hours were at the time of offering the morning and evening sacrifice, or at the third and ninth hours, (Acts 2. 15, and 3. 1;) although it was the custom of the more devout Jews, as David, (Psalm 55. 17,) and Daniel, (6. 10,) to pray three times a day, and Peter went upon the house-top to pray about the sixth hour. (Acts 10. 9.) Previous to offering up their supplications they washed their hands, to signify that they had put away sin, and purposed to live a holy life. As the Jewish prayers were long, and the canonical or stated hours obliged them to repeat these prayers wherever

they happened to be, the vainglorious Pharisees contrived to be overtaken in the streets at such seasons, in order that they might be observed by the people and be applauded for their piety. Against this formal spirit Our Lord cautions his disciples, in Matthew 6. 5.

When at a distance from the Temple the more devout Jews turned themselves towards it when they prayed. We have an instance of this in the conduct of Daniel. (Dan. 6. 10.)

Public prayers were offered at first in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple and synagogues, by the minister appointed for that purpose, the people answering (in the synagogues) only at the conclusion, with a loud Amen. (Nehem. 8. 6.) Private prayers were offered by individuals, in a low tone of voice, with the head covered, either standing or kneeling, sometimes bowing the head towards the earth, and at others with the whole body prostrate on the ground. Sometimes they smote upon the breast, in token of their deep humiliation and penitence, or spread forth their hands, or lifted them up to heaven. Of these various postures in prayer, many instances occur in the sacred writers. Thus Hannah, in her affliction, spoke in her heart; her lips only moved, but her voice was not heard; (1Sam. 1. 13;) and the proud Pharisee stood and prayed with [within] himself. (Luke 18. 11.) David says, "I stretch forth my hands unto thee;" (Psalm 143. 6;) and Solomon kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven. (2Chron. 6. 13.) Ezra fell upon his knees, and spread out his hands to the Lord his God; (Ezra 10. 5;) Our Saviour, in the garden of Gethsemane, fell on his face [prostrated himself to the ground]; (Matt. 26. 39;) and Stephen the protomartyr kneeled down and prayed for his murderers. (Acts 7. 60.) Moses, when interceding for the ungrateful Israelites, bowed his head to the earth and worshipped; (Exod. 34. 8, comp. Exod. 9. 29;) the humble and contrite publican, standing afar off, smote on his breast, and supplicated Divine mercy. (Luke 18. 13.)

is

The Prophet Isaiah, when reproving the hypocritical Jews, denounces that Jehovah would hide his eyes from them when they spread forth their hands; (Isai. 1. 15;) and the lifting up of the hands to heaven, in prayer, expressly noted by the Psalmist, (141. 2,) and by the Prophet Jeremiah. (Lament. 3. 41.) This practice of standing with the hands spread out towards heaven, was adopted by the primitive Christians; they stood up, says Tertullian, and directed their eyes towards heaven with expanded hands. A similar testimony is rendered by Clement of Alexandria: “We lift up our head and elevate our hands towards heaven." So also St. Paul, when exhorting Christians to pray for all classes of persons, describes the gesture then used in prayer: "Wherefore lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting." (1Tim. 2. 8.)

Forms of prayer were in constant and ordinary use among the Jews, as we see from the Scriptures, from the earliest period of their existence as a nation. The first instance of solemn worship recorded in the Scriptures, is a hymn of praise composed by Moses, on occasion of the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians, which was sung by all the congregation alternately; by Moses and the men first, and afterwards by Miriam and the women, (Exod. 15. 1,20,21,) which could not have been done unless it had been a precomposed set form. In the expiation of an uncertain murder, the elders of the city which lay nearest to the party that was slain, were expressly commanded to join in the form of prayer appointed by God himself, in Deuteronomy 21. 7.8. In Numbers 6. 23-26; 10. 35,36; Deuteronomy 26.

3,5-11, and 13-15, there are several other divinelyappointed forms of prayer, prescribed by Moses. On the establishment of the monarchy, David appointed the Levites to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even, (1Chron. 23. 30,) which rule was afterwards observed in the temple erected by Solomon, and restored at the building of the second temple after the captivity; (Nehem. 12. 24;) and the whole Book of Psalms is in fact a collection of forms of prayer and praise, for the use of the whole congregation, as is evident from the title of several of those divinely-inspired compositions, as well as from other passages of Scripture. What were the stated prayers in the time of Our Saviour, it is now impossible exactly to ascertain; it is, however, probable that many of the eighteen prayers which are said to have been collected by Rabbi Gamaliel the elder, the master of St. Paul, were then in use; and as all persons were not able to commit them to memory, it is also probable that a summary of them was drawn up. But we know that it was the practice of the more eminent doctors of the Jews to compose forms of short prayer, which they delivered to their scholars. Thus John the Baptist gave his disciples such a form; and Our Lord, at the request of his disciples, gave them that most perfect model emphatically termed the Lord's Prayer, which Drusius and other eminent critics supposed was collected out of the Jewish euchologies; but this hypothesis has been refuted by Professor Tholuck, in his Exposition of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. The modern Jews, according to the statement of one of their number, (Hyams, Ceremonies of the Modern Jews,) have liturgies, in which are all the prescribed forms of their synagogue worship; and those who have not time to go to the synagogue must say numerous prayers at home, three times every day, that is, in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night; prayers, however, abounding in "vain repetitions," and only obtaining notice here from their probably being in many respects the same as those employed in the time of Our Lord.

"The most solemn parts of these prayers are those which are called Kiriath Shema, and Shemonah Efreh. The one consists in reading the three following portions of Scripture: the first, from the beginning of the fourth verse of the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy to the end of the ninth verse; the second, from the begining of the thirteenth verse of the eleventh chapter of Deuteronomy to the end of the twenty-first verse; and the third, from the beginning of the thirty-seventh verse of the fifteenth chapter of Numbers to the end of the chapter. As the first of these portions in the Hebrew Bible begins with the word Shema, 'hear,' all the three portions put together are called the Shema, and the reading of them Kiriath Shema, that is, the reading of the Shema. The reading of the Shema twice a day, that is, morning and night, is what they are expressly bound to do, because of the words of the Law in Deuteronomy 6. 7, and 11. 19: 'And thou shalt talk of them, when thou liest down and when thou risest up.' The reading or repeating of this Shema is considered of great moment for the preservation of true religion among them, for herein do they twice a day make confession of the unity of God and of the duties which they owe to Him.

"The other is called Shemonah Efreh, or the eighteen prayers. These it is said were composed and instituted by Ezra and the men of the great synagogue. But in the days of Rabbi Gamaliel, (who lived a little before the destruction of the second temple,) heretics and apostates having increased and become very troublesome, the Rabbi and his Sanhedrin unanimously agreed to

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compose another prayer, which should contain a request to the Almighty to annihilate the heretics, and placed it among the eighteen prayers above-mentioned; so that there are now nineteen. These prayers are enjoined to be said by all that are of age, of what sex or condition soever, either in public at the synagogue, or in private at their own dwellings, three times every day, that is, in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. The reading of the Shema, and also the repeating of the nineteen prayers, they are expressly bound to do, as their morning devotions; the former being expressly commanded in the Law, and the latter are in such esteem, that they allow the name of prayer to be only proper to the saying of them. They regard them by way of eminence as superior to any of the rest; inasmuch as they contain the very essence of prayer. The three first are praises to the Almighty; the three last are thanksgivings; and the thirteen intermediate ones, contain requests of every principal thing essential to the welfare of mankind, either individually or collectively; and therefore they are offered up in the most solemn manner in all their synagogues. The congregation first say them in a low voice, after which the reader of the synagogue repeats them aloud, the congregation all the while paying the utmost attention. As soon as the reader in one of the prayers makes mention of the name of the Lord, they instantly say, 'Blessed is He, and blessed is his name!' and when he has concluded the prayer, they say 'Amen;' and so on, till he has concluded the whole of the nineteen prayers. In addition to these prayers and the reading of the Shema, there are several other prayers in the morning service, some going before, others interspersed between them, and others following after; but the above-named are the principal part used by them.

"The proper time of the morning prayer is from the sun rising till the third hour of the day. When they say their prayers in the morning they make use of the garments with the fringes and also the phylacteries." See FRINGES; PHYLACTERIES.

"The afternoon prayers were instituted for evening sacrifice, and as that was to be continually offered at half past three, it was therefore instituted that the time of the afternoon prayers should begin at that hour, which is called Minchah Kytone, or Little Minchah. But as it sometimes happened that the fourteenth day of the month Nisan fell on the Friday, in that case, the daily evening sacrifice was slain at half-past twelve; and of course it was allowed, that the afternoon prayers might be said after that time; and this is called Minchah Gedoulah, or the Great Minchah; the time of which is from half-past twelve till half-past three. The time of the Little Minchah is from half-past three till after the sun is gone down. It is a prevalent opinion among the Jewish commentators, that this is the proper time for the afternoon prayers; for they say it was not only instituted in lieu of the evening sacrifice, but also of the incense, which was to be offered at even, after the daily sacrifice; alluding to that passage of the Psalmist: Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.' (Psalm 141. 2.)

"The form of the afternoon prayers is this:-They begin at the last verse of the 144th Psalm, saying before it this short ejaculation: Happy are they that dwell in thy house continually praising thee. Selah. Happy is that people whose case is such; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord! They then say the whole of the 145th Psalm, and then the nineteen prayers as before-mentioned, the reader repeating them aloud, after the congregation have said them, the same as at morning

prayers.