captain, "I may mention, that this morning, as I was reading in one of Mrs Richardson's books, I found an allusion to this very people. The volume was by Dr Krummacher. Shall I read the passage?" They all gladly consented, and the captain read: "Not long since a missionary (Dr Wolf) is said to have found them (the Rechabites) in the heart of Asia, and has given the following account of the circumstance; 'One day he was met in the depths of a distant wilderness by a splendidly attired horseman, arrayed and armed after the Arabian manner, of martial bearing, who, on the missionary inquiring who he was, hastily and haughtily replied, "A son of Rechab." The missionary on this presented him with an Arabic Bible, printed parallel with the Hebrew text. On this the son of the desert turned to the prophecy of Jeremiah, and read in Hebrew the 35th chapter, which treated of his order. Being further interrogated by the stranger, as to his abode, and if there were many of his tribe, he invited him to visit them in their tents, which were near at hand, and to bring with him as many Bibles as he could spare. He then turned his horse about, gave him the spurs, and disappeared in the pathless desert. The missionary followed the direction which the son of Rechab had taken, and met, not far from Mecca, with the tribe which had been indicated to him. He found them dwelling in tents, as of old, and spread over three fruitful and verdant districts. amounted to several thousand. Their number They strictly adhered to Jonadab's rule, and to their forefather's manner of life. They built no houses, drank no wine, professed to belong, as far as they understood it, to the Jewish persuasion, and possessed a large portion of the Old Testament as the standard of their faith. They fought for their laws against Mohammed; and although conquered were not subdued. The other Asiatic Jews think highly of them, and believe that whenever they return to the promised land, the Rechabites will act an important part, and join them as valiant confederates."" Mrs Fraser had gone over the first part of the story of the Kenite in a succinct manner, with the captain and Mrs Richardson, before commencing the regular exercise of the afternoon, the substance of which we have just related. So now, at its close, they spent some time in talking over the wonderful narrative. The in cidental lessons they drew from it were the great advantage of total abstinence from everything that intoxicates; and the blessing that follows upon a strict and persistent obedience to the fifth commandment,—“Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." "But no doubt the chief lesson it was meant to teach," said Mrs Fraser, was God's faithfulness to His promise,—how it was kept to the very letter to Hobab and his descendants; and the other scarcely less important one, that these blessings all flowed to the Kenites from their attaching themselves to the people of God." |