Bethel-Ebenezer.

BETHEL-EBENEZER .

LOXDOX , SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 2-1 , 1 S-50 .

A FEAV weeks since we found ourselves almost in the very midst of Salisbury Plain . The time was evening ; the twilight as it closed shed a purple li ght along the edge of the horizon—a crane pursued hev pensive and solitary flight above our heads—the lark had descended , ancl her yet tuneful twitter might be heard amongst the short grass—a patient

looking donkey regarded us with move than the usual curiosit y of that animal—and but for a few streaks -which seemed to scud along the extreme limit of vision , the sense of solitude ivould have been complete . Conspicuous however above all was that mysterious monument , altar , or tomb , whichever it may be , whose weird

looking components might well seem the watchers set by antiquity upon the doings of future time . As the shadows of evening deepened over Stonehenge , it looked in the distance like an Egyptian scarabaras , and might have been transported from a pyramid . The ni ght seemed gradually to draw it within its folds , and the imagination , affected to give to it a retiring motion , like the spirit of Hamlet ' s father when he seeks to impart to his- son the secrets of his prison house .

The question as to whether these stones are the altars of an extinct worship ov the memorials of an extinct race has heen much discussed , but the conclusions arrived at b y different antiquarians are conflicting . It by no means follows that they are not altars because human skeletons have been found under them , or that they are not tombs because ancient

vessels , supposed to have been employed in the uses of au ancient worship , are often found interspersed with other relics either near ov about those uninterpreted sanctuaries . In every age , and among every nation , places dedicated to reli gion have been coveted abodes of sepulture ; ancl even now , as in the beginning , to be buried immediately under the altar is

esteemed by many as a distinction only reserved for those who by good works ancl piety might earn it . One thing , however , is certain , that these ancient remains are consistent with either hypothesis , and probability points to the conclusion that they were used , although at different periods , alike for sacrificial purposes and for sepulture .

There is no doubt that tho date at which these structures were erected is lost to the chvoiiologisfc , and the means of investigation are wanting to the antiquarian . Owing to these deficiencies opinions have been promulgated , some , perhaps , rather fanciful , but others , again , if supported by a great deal of patient research , still unsatisfactory , from the very fact that

research cannot reach their ori gin . There is no anachronism m attributing them to a prehistoric period and the purposes of an ancient rite , nor to a custom then or later in existence of burying the dead in places esteemed holy by the people Avho congregated in these venerable tviliths . The very earliest record in existence—tho Bible—speaks of the

practice of raising stones for altars before temples were known , or even heard of . Thus the first act of Noah was to build an altar . Abraham built altars at various times and places . Isaac did the same : but those which Jacob built are described with more circumstantiality . When on his journey into Mesopotamia to seek a wife , he sought rest , the sun

having gone down , took a stone for his pillow , and dreamt that very remarkable dream the description of which is certainl y one of the most graphic passages in the sacred writings . We are told by the Septungint , "And Jacob awaked out of his sieq- ^ an ( j saiaj ti 10 LOTCI is in this place , and I knew it not ; how dreadful is this place ! And Jacob rose up inthe

« my . morning , and took the stone that he had put for Jus pillow , and set it up for a pillar , and poured oil upon the top of it . And ho called the name of that place Beth-el , the bouse of God . ( Gen . xxviii . 10-19 ) . It does also abunt " IV api ) eai' fl ' 0 lu val ' io « s passages in holy writ , and from ¦ locutions of early nations generally , that the custom was , in

performing any sacred act , to erect an altar , or heap , as it is called in the Bible . The pillars of witness in old Celtic ruins are confirmative of this view . When Laban came up with Jacob , ancl rebuked him for carrying off his daughter , and both entered into a covenant , Jacob took a stone , and set it up for a pillar . And Jacob said unto Ms brethren , gather

stones ; ancl they took stones , and made a heap , ancl Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha , the heap of testimony , but Jacob called it Galeed , the heap of witness . ( Gen . xxxi . 45-48 . ) The analogy between the name given b y Jacob to his altar and that employed by the authors of the Celtic cromlechs , is certainly remarkable . All those ancient altarssays

Val-, iancy , now distinguished b y the name of cromlechs , or sloping stones , were originally called Bothal , ov the House of God , and they seem to be of the same , specially as those mentioned in the sacred scri p tures , and called by Ihe Hebrews Beth-el . We again read that in the covenant at Seehem , Joshua took a stone and set it up there under an oakthat

, was by the sanctuary of the Lord . And Joshua said unto all the people , Behold , this stone shall be a witness unto us ; for it hath heard all tho words of the Lord . ( Josh . xxiv . 26 ) . After tho defeat of the Philistines it is related that Samuel took a- stone , and set it between Mizpeh and Shur , and called the name of it DbenesersayingHitherto hath

, , the Lord helped us . ^ - ( l . _ Sam . vii . 12 ) . These pillars were however more than testimonies to solemn acts , and it would seem suggested by the above passages that the situations in wliich they were erected were such as gave some solemnit y to the memorials . What for

instance can lie - more touching than those pillars set up on battle fields , such as that which marks the buried carnage of Waterloo , or that simple obelisk with its weeping angels that is seen by tho traveller amongst the cypresses of Scutari . But -with early people these monuments did not so much indicate the prowess by ' which a victory was achieved , as it

typified the divine aid which hacl been employed in their favour . There is hardly any record of ancient nations that does not furnish proof corroborative of such custom . The Greek sacrificed to Hercules or Apollo upon the field which he had won . The Eoman paid a like compliment to Jupiter or Mars . The existence of this custom amongst the Jewstho

, following passage leaves little room for doubt , for on the return of the ark from Philistia , after the plague of Ashdod , when tho idols of Dagon fell down bcfoi-e it and were mutilated , wo read that the kino drew the cart on which the ark : was placed into a field , " where there was a great stone , and the people clave the wood of the cart , and offered the kino for a burnt

offering to the Lord , having placed the ark upon a stone . " It would seem , too , that sacrificial altars or cromlechs were of three kinds—the single upright stone or pillar ; that

with a single stone placed crosswise upon it ; or two upright stones , with a third resting upon them , and called irilithon , from the number of blocks employed in its construction . The sacrificial stone or altar of Stonehenge is placed immediately before the great trilithon , which forms the end of tho liypaithral temple within the external poribolos j and that

temple would seem to bo something like tho one which Moses built at Sinai , and commanded the people to build when they should have arrived at the promised land , and which was accomplished under Joshua . And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord , and rose up early in the morning , and buildcd an altar under the hill , and twelve pillars ,

according to tho twelve tribes of Israel . And he sent young men of the children of Israel , which offered burnt offerings , and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord . And Moses took half of the blood , and put it in basons , and half of tho blood lie sprinkled on the altar . Ancl he took the book ofthe covenant , and read in the audience ofthe people . And Moses took tho blood , and sprinkled it on the people , and said , Behold the blood of tho covenant , which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words . ( Exod .