THE TREES OF THE BIBLE. NO. XV. THE APPLE TREE. BY THE EDITOR. "Comfort me with apples."-SONGS OF SOLOMON. THE apple tree is rare in Canaan and the surrounding country; and the few that do grow bear very indifferent fruit, such as is scarcely fit for use. The finest apples are imported into Palestine and Egypt from Damascus and Rhodes, and are sold at high prices. From this fact, it has been supposed by some commentators, that the Hebrew TAPHUAH, translated apple-tree, must be some other kind of fruittree; some say the citron, others the orange, others the pomegranate, and some all kinds of luscious fruit trees. This, however, must be regarded as a conclusion that is not based upon proper consideration. The apple tree is spoken of as a very precious, desirable tree. It is, by Solomon, placed in contrast with "the trees of the wood," to show the great superiority of "the beloved" above all others among the sons of men. Its shadow and its fruit are said to be a great luxury. Songs of Solomon, 2. Its destruction is mourned over as an important loss. Joel 1: 12. All this agrees better with the fact of its being rare, than if it were abundant. Had it been common its enjoyment would not be so emphatically pronounced a luxury. Keeping in mind, however, the excellency of its fruit, and its extreme scarcity in the Holy Land, there is beauty and force in the passage: "As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons: I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples." Songs 2: 1-5. 8: 5. 7:8. Nor does the fact that the most excellent specimens of this fruit were of foreign trees militate against the position that the apple tree is intended. Having ourselves, for instance, tasted oranges or pine-apples from the south, we may with great propriety, speak of the superior excellence of one thing over another by saying as "an orange tree among the trees of the wood;" and we may also poetically speak of the luxury of sitting under the shadow of these trees as a great pleasure. Indeed it is this which gives true applicability to the allusion of the royal poet. The "beloved" who came from another, even a heavenly country, is so much more desirable than all the sons of men, as the apple tree is above the trees of the wood. Begone now, ye fastidious critics! A veritable pack of irreverent book-worms are ye all. When ye have differed from the common translation of the Bible, then ye go about differing among yourselves. To each one of you we say sharply, Go your way, agree in your wisdom quickly, or we will deliver you to the tormentors. When once you are at peace among yourselves, then come and offer your gifts of critical skill. For while one says it is a citron, another a pomegranate, another an orange, and still another all fruit in general, are ye not carnal? We are against all this "ungracious projeny" of over-wise critics. Long and hard have many of our critics labored to show us what is not in the Bible; and what is in it do they not touch with one of their fingers? We claim a place for the apple tree in the Bible. The editor of Calmet at least favors our way of thinking. He says: "The corresponding Arabic word tyffach signifies not only apples, but also generally all similar fruits, as oranges, lemons, quinces, peaches, apricots; and it is a common comparison to say of any thing, 'It is as fragrant as a tyffach.' The Hebrew word may, perhaps, have been used in the same general sense. There is, however, no need of such a supposition. Apple trees were not very common in Palestine, and their comparative rarity would naturally give them a poetical value." Thus naturally would they be referred to in the highly poetical style of the Song of Solomon. Let this most noble of trees, so delightfully familiar to our early life, and which lives so pleasantly in our memories and associations, remain in the Bible unless it is made absolutely certain that it has gained a place there by foul means. This last vice we are loath to attach to this kindest and most innocent of trees. Let us treat it as we would our best friend, against whom ungracious insinuations have been made— construe everything as far as possible in its favor. It is irreverent, and not pious, to endeavor to root out of the Bible a tree which has grown into christian affections there, even a longer time than it has grown in our father's orchard. This is not the charity which suffers long, is kind, believing and hoping all things, and is not easily provoked even against a sacred tree. Solomon says: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Prov. 25: 11. This somewhat obscure allusion is fully explained by Roberts. He remarks: "Some suppose this alludes to fruit served up in filigree-work; but I believe it does not refer to real fruit, but to representations and ornaments in solid gold. The Vulgate has, instead of pictures, in lectis argenteis,' 'in silver beds.' The Tamul translation has, in place of pictures of silver, velle-tattam—i. e., salvers or trays of silver. The Rev. T. H. Horne, 'Apples of gold in network of silver.' In the 6th and 7th verses, directions are given as to the way a person ought to conduct himself in the presence of a king: and words fitly spoken are compared, in their effect on the mind, to ap ples of gold in salvers of silver, when presented as tributes or presents to the mighty. When eastern princes visit each other, or when men of rank have to go into their presence, they often send silver trays, on which are gold ornaments, as presents to the king, to propitiate them in their favor. Thus, when the governor-general, and the native sovereigns, visit each other, it is said, they distributed many TRAYS of jewels or other articles of great value. Golden ornaments, whether in the shape of fruit or any other thing, when placed on highly-polished silver salvers, or in net-work of the same metal, have a very beautiful appearance to the eye, and are highly acceptable and gratifying to him who receives them. As, then, apples or jewels of gold are in 'salvers,' or 'beds,' or 'net-work' of silver, to the feelings of the receiver, so are words fitly spoken when addressed to the mind of him who is prepared to receive them. To confirm this explanation, the next verse is very apposite: As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of very fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.' The effect, then, of a wise reproof on an obedient ear, is equal to that produced by the presents of ear-rings of gold, or ornaments of fine gold." Who has not heard of the "apples of Sodom," which some think exist only poetically and in fable? These apples are supposed to grow along the Dead Sea, and are said to have the most inviting outward appearance, while, when the hungry traveler seizes them and begins to eat, he finds them within filled only with nauseous and bitter dust! In many a sermon have these apples been alluded to, to illustrate that the forbiden pleasures of sin, so inviting to the sense, present only emptiness and bitter disappointment. How true the fact! How striking the illustration of it by the apples of Sodom. Milton has used this truth or fable with much effect. His poetic eye saw, in the regions of the lost "A grove spring up, laden with fair fruit: -greedily they plucked The fruitage, fair to sight, like that which grew There is abundant evidence furnished by oriental travelers, that this matter of the apples of Sodom is not all fable. As the subject is interesting, we give some extracts. Seetzin, a German who traveled in the East from 1802 to 1810, remarks, in his letters to Baron Von Zach: "The information which I have been able to collect on the apples of Sodom is very contradictory and insufficient; I believe, however, that I can give a very natural explanation of the phenomenon, and that the following remark will lead to it. While I was at Karrak, at the house of a Greek curate of the town, I saw a sort of cotton, resembling silk, which he used as tinder for his match-lock, as it could not be employed im making cloth. He told me that it grew in the plains of el-Gor, to the east of the Dead Sea, on a tree like a fig tree, called Aoeschaer. The cotton is contained in a fruit resembling the pomegranate; and by making incisions at the root of the tree, a sort of milk is procured, which is called Lebbin Aoeschaer. It has struck me that these fruits being, as they are, without pulp, and which are unknown throughout the rest of Palestine, might be the famous apples of Sodom. I suppose, likewise, that the tree which produces it, is a sort of fromager, which can only flourish under the excessive heat of the Dead Sea, and in no other district of Palestine." On this passage the editor of Calmet remarks: "This curious subject is further explained in a note added by M. Seetzen's editor, who considers the tree to be a species of Asclepias, probably the Asclepias Gigantea. The remark of M. Seetzen is corroborated by a traveler who passed a long time in situations where this plant is very abundant. The same idea occurred to him when he first saw it in 1792, though he did not then know that it existed near the lake Asphaltites. The umbella, somewhat like a bladder, containing from half a pint to a pint, is of the same color with the leaves, a bright green, and may be mistaken for an inviting fruit, without much stretch of imagination. That, as well as the other parts, when green, being cut or pressed, yields a milky juice, of a very acrid taste; but in winter, when dry, it contains a yellowish dust, in appearance resembling certain fungi, common in South Britian; but of pungent quality, and said to be particularly injurious to the eyes. The whole so nearly corresponds with the description given by Solinus, (Polyhistor,) Josephus, and others, of the Poma Sodoma, allowance being made for their extravagant exaggerations, as to leave little doubt on the subject." Chateaubriand supposes the apples of Sodom to be the fruit of a shrub which grows two or three leagues from the mouth of the Jordan; it is thorny, with small taper leaves, and its fruit is exactly like the small Egyptian lemon in size and color. Before the fruit is ripe it is filled with a corrosive and saline juice; when dried it yields a blackish seed, which may be compared to ashes, and which in taste resembles bitter pepper. Mr. King found the same shrub and fruit near Jericho, and seems also inclined to regard it as the apple of Sodom. From facts like these we may easily account for all that is said of the apples of Sodom, without resorting to the supposition that it all originates in fable. TEARS FOR THE DEAD. BY LEIGH HUNT. IT is the nature of tears of this kind, however strongly they may gush forth, to run into quiet waters at last. We cannot easily, for the whole course of our lives, think with pain of any good and kind person whom we have lost. It is the divine nature of their qualities to conquer pain and even death itself; to turn the memory of them into pleasure; to survive with a placid aspect our imaginations. We are writing at this moment just opposite a spot which contains the grave of one inexpressibly dear to us. We see from our window the trees about it, and the church spire. The green fields lie around. The clouds are traveling overhead, alternately taking away the sunshine and restoring it. The vernal winds, piping of the flowery summer-time, are nevertheless calling to mind the far-distant and dangerous ocean, which the heart that lies in that grave had many reasons to think of. And yet the sight of this spot does not give me pain. So far from it, it is the existence of that grave which doubles every charm of the spot; which links the pleasures of childhood and manhood together; which puts a hushing tenderness in the winds, and a patient joy upon the landscape; which seems to unite heaven and earth, mortality and immortality, the grass of the tomb and the grass of the green field: and gives a more natural aspect to the whole kindness of nature. SHALL I BECOME A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL? BY A FRIEND OF THE GUARDIAN. You intend to choose your calling. As you profess to be a christian, you have made up your mind to be active. You certainly do not think of wasting the vigorous years of youth and of manhood in trifling; taking hold of this for a while, then of that, without fixing your energies on some specific end. A life without a plan-without a ruling idea-is a foolish life. A follower of Christ is not a fool. He is a wise man. He feels called to do something. Called to do something for whom? For yourself? For your parents? For literature or science? For the glory of your country? It is indeed better to select any one of these objects than to be a drone. Yet, does Christ call you to labor for any one of these things? I think not. He drew you out of the miry pit, and set your feet on a rock, and put a new song in your mouth-for what? That you may sustain a good reputation, live in your own house, read good books, help to feed the poor, go to church on Sunday morning nicely dressed, and have a sufficient income when you become old and gray-headed? Did Christ purchase you with his blood, that you might possess and enjoy all the temporal blessings of the gospel? I doubt it. You are not your own, but belong to your faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ. Your soul and body are his; your property and influence are his. It is a sin to select a calling in view merely of its connection with earthly comfort, with success in the race to win Mammon. They that are at ease in Zion did not come in the straight gate, but climbed over the wall. If you feel that you must do something, do it earnestly, and do it, too, for Christ, not for yourself nor for the world. Are you willing, young man, to ponder the question, "Shall I become a minister of the gospel?" One has already made up his mind to become a lawyer; another to became a physician; another to become a teacher or professor. The son of a farmer inclines to the pursuit of his father as a matter of course. He does not imagine himself to have any concern with so grave a question, particularly as the ministry affords but a poor prospect of making money. The son of a physician takes it for granted that medicine claims his first attention. The son of a mechanic believes himself set apart to manual labor. But what right has the son of a farmer or physician or mechanic, if he belong to Jesus Christ, to assume so readily that the ministry is a vocation with which he has nothing to do? The work of life is to be done but once. The choice of a vocation determines the bearing of that life. That life, you admit, with its powers and influences taking fast hold on eternity, belongs to Jesus Christ, to whom you are bound by ten thousand most sacred and solemn ties. You have, then, no right to dismiss this grave question with a wave of the hand. It is just as much your duty, whether you be poor and unlearned, or rich and intelligent, to let the question come directly to your heart and conscience, as it was the duty of your pastor, or of any man who is |