April 1

Genesis xi. — 1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

4. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded.

6. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.

7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city.

The building of Babel was an act of impiety; an attempt, on the part of men with whom the flood was a yet recent tradition, to provide themselves a refuge and defence against further judgments of the Almighty, and especially to compact themselves together as a community, and to fortify their position, so as to defy the physical agencies of divine retribution. They would fain set up an organic unity of their own in place of that spiritual unity which should bind all men together as the children of God: they sought the consciousness of power by casting off their dependence upon their Maker.

The land of Shinar answers, in the main, to the Babylonia and Chaldea of later times, — the vast fertile plain between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Several of the huge mounds still to be seen in that region have been taken for the remains of the Tower of Babel, and have in turn received its name in the local traditions; and, though the exact site of Babel cannot be identified, these stupendous ruins serve to show upon what

9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Daniel iv. — 30. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?

31. While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar! to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee;

32. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar; and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

scale buildings were there projected, and this primitive tower may have been the pattern of the towers erected as temples of Belus. That of Hirs Nawad, for instance, was built in the form of an oblique pyramid, measuring two hundred and twenty-two feet square, and rising by receding platforms to the height of a hundred and fifty-six feet. Here was that great Babylon over which Nebuchadnezzar boasted himself, till, like the builders of the tower, he fell under the rebuke of the Almighty for his impious pride. The lines of race-migration converge toward this middle plateau of Western Asia as the primitive home of men; and the branches of language seem to have sprang from some common though yet undiscovered root in that same soil. Thus the traditions, the monuments, and the tongues of men all tend to confirm the Bible story. But that story, alas! is the repetition of the sad tale of apostasy from God, marring the beauty and unity of the Creator's plan.

APPROPRIATE ITEMS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 88, 137.

O Lord our Creator, who hast made of one blood all nations of men! we worship thee, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Thou puttest down one, and settest up another; and none can deliver out of thy hand. Thou hast set up thine own kingdom in this world, — a kingdom which shall never be moved. Oh! make us willing subjects of thy kingdom. Lord, put thy good Spirit within us, that we may keep thy judgments and do them. We are not our own: we are bought with a price, — even the blood of thy dear Son. Oh! let us not live to advance our own interests, or secure our own enjoyment, but to glorify him in our bodies and spirits, which are his. Deliver us from selfishness, and give us to feel the blessedness of submit-

ting our own wills to thine. May we never build in our own pride, nor trust in our own strength, nor lean to our own understanding!

Gracious Father, thou hast watched over us through another night, and renewed our life and health, and family comforts. Thankful for the past, we would be trustful for the future. Deliver us this day from all fretting cares. Keep us this day from all evil tempers: may we be forbearing and forgiving, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace! Prepare us for all unlooked-for events this day, whether of joy or sorrow; yea, Lord, prepare us for all which thou hast in store for us in life and for thy heavenly kingdom, through Jesus Christ. Amen.