The Karen dress is decidedly that of the ancient Hebrews. Yahn says of the dress worn by the Hebrews, "The tunic, which at first only covered the body, was afterwards extended round the neck, and supplied with short sleeves. At first it set close to the body, but was afterwards made loose and flowing." This is precisely the garment of the Karen men at present, but bears no resemblance to the dress of the nations around them. "The upper garment," continues Yahn, "was a piece of cloth of different sizes, five or six cubits long, and five or six feet broad, and was wrapped round the body. When the weather was warm, it was more conveniently worn over the shoulders than by being wrapped round the body. Frequently this garment was hung over the left shoulder, where it accordingly hung lengthwise, partly over the back and partly over the breast, and was fastened by the two corners under the right cheek. While it answered the purpose of a cloak, it was so large, that burdens if necessary might be carried in it. The poor wrapped themselves wholly in this garment at night." This is a literal description of the upper garment worn by the Karens, the uses to which it is applied, and the manner in which it is worn, except that the Karen garment lies crossed under the right cheek and rests on the right shoulder, without being fastened.

"As far back as the time of Moses, we find that clothes were embroidered, sometimes with coloured thread of cotton and linen." In this way the tunic of the Karen men is embroidered in weaving, and that of the women with a needle.

The evidence, however, on which their identity with the ancient Israelites must rest, is found in their religion.

1.-They worship the Eternal God.

This is manifest from the following fragment of their traditional poetry.

"God is unchangeable, eternal,

He was in the beginning of the world;

God is endless, eternal,

He existed in the beginning of the world:

God is truly unchangeable and eternal,

He existed in ancient time at the beginning of the world.

The life of God is endless,

A succession of worlds does not measure his existence,

Two successions of worlds does not measure his existence.

God is perfect in every meritorious attribute,

And dies not in succession on succession of worlds."

2.-They worship Jehovah.

God is denominated the great Ku-tsa, or the great Lord; the great Pu, or great ancestor from Pu a grandfather :-but his proper name is Yu-wah, and there can scarcely be a rational doubt but the Yu-wah of the Karens, is the Jehovah of the Hebrews.

It is conceded that the true pronunciation of the name of Jehovah is unknown, but that it varied widely from the manner in which it is read at present is manifest from the way the name is represented by Greek writers, who wrote the word IA. With the present Masoritic pointing the word is read Ye-ho-wah, and dropping the middle syllable, which Bishops Hare and Lowth both do, we have Yu-wah, at once.

If the identity of the names needs further confirmation, we have it in the corresponding custom of the Jews and the Karens in not pronouncing the name. It is well known that the Jews had a superstitious notion that it was sinful to pronounce the proper name of Jehovah, which corresponds precisely with Karen ideas in relation to calling God Yu-wah.

"O my children and grandchildren! call not God Yu-wah ; by calling him Yu-wah he will never return to us."

"God created us in ancient time,

And has a perfect knowledge of all things;

Call him not Yu-wah, but call him great ancestor :

When persons call his name he hears."

3.-They have traditions of Old Testament Scripture Facts.

The following are not all, but are some of the most striking specimens that the writer has been able to obtain.

Formation of the Woman.

The Karens believe that woman was originally made from one of man's ribs, and have the popular idea among them, that man has one rib less on one side than on the other.

"O children and grandchildren! woman at first was a rib of man, therefore woman ought to obey man in all things."

Satan.

Satan is known by several names, among which the most common are Ku-plaw, the deceiver, from his deceiving the first man and woman, and Yaw-kaw, the neck trodden, from the belief that man will ultimately tread on his neck or overcome him. The Karens believe that he was formerly a holy being in heaven, but that he disobeyed God and was driven from heaven.

"Satan in ancient times was righteous,

But he transgressed the commands of God.
Satan in ancient times was holy,

But he departed from the law of God;

And God drove him away.

He deceived the daughter and son of God.

God drove you away,

For you deceived the daughter and son of God."

"O children and grandchildren! though we were to kill Satan he would not die; but when the time of our salvation comes, God will kill him. Because that time has not yet arrived, he still

exists."

Fall of Man.

"O children and grandchildren! in the beginning, God, to try man whether he would or would not observe his commands, created the tree of death and the tree of life, saying concerning the tree of death, "eat not of it." But he disobeyed and ate fruit from the tree of death, and the tree of life God hid. Because the tree of life has been hidden, since that time men die as they do."

"Temptation, temptation, the fruit of temptation,
The fruit of temptation dropped ripe:

The fruit of temptation was bad,

It poisoned to death our mother.

The fruit of temptation, ' Do thou eat it not.'

In the beginning it poisoned to death our mother and father.
The tree of death came by woman,

The tree of life by man.'

"Two persons, our father and mother,
Disobeyed the commands of God.

In ancient times our father and mother

Transgressed the commands of God.

This transgressing the commands of God

Descends to their children, who are evil-doers.

Unto breaking the commands of God

Satan destroyed them;

They broke the commands of God,

Satan destroying them."

Dispersion at Babel.

"Men were all brethren.

They had all the language of God,

But they disbelieved the language of God,

And became enemies to each other.

Because they disbelieved God,

Their language divided.

God gave them commands,

But they did not believe him, and divisions ensued."

4.-They possess the Morality of the Scriptures.

Love to God.

"O children and grandchildren! love God, and never so much as mention his name, for by speaking his name, he goes farther and farther from us."

"O children and

day and by night."

Prayer.

grandchildren! pray to God constantly by

Repentance and Salvation.

"O children and grandchildren! if we repent of our sins, and cease to do evil, restraining our passions, and pray to God, he will have mercy upon us again. If God does not have mercy on us, there is no other one that can.

God."

He who saves us is the only one

Against Idolatry.

"O children and grandchildren! do not worship idols or priests. If you worship them, you derive no advantage thereby, while you increase your sins exceedingly."

Honor to Parents.

"O children and grandchildren! respect and reverence your mother and father, for when you were small, they did not suffer so much as a musquitoe to bite you. To sin against your parents is a heinous crime."

Love to Others.

"O children and grandchildren! love each other, and be merciful to each other as brethren. Quarrel not, for you are all friends and relations, descended from the same race. Let there be no envyings or divisions among you, for you are of one stream, and one country, therefore let all enmity be done away from among you."

"O children and grandchildren! live in peace with each other. God from heaven observes us, and we are manifest to him. If we do not love each other, God will not love us; but if we love one another, God will look down upon you with joy."

Against Murder.

"O children and grandchildren! do not take the life of man. If you kill you must bear your sin. In the next world you will be killed in return."

Against Theft.

"O children and grandchildren! do not steal the ther, for the owner worked for them until he sweat. have to repay."

Against Adultery and Fornication.

goods of anoThieves will

"O children and grandchildren! do not commit adultery or fornication with the child or wife of another, female or male; for the Righteous One looks down from above, and these things are exposed to him. Those that do thus will go to hell."

Against Lying and Deception.

"O children and grandchildren! do not speak falsehood. What you do not know do not speak. Liars shall have their tongues

cut out."

"O children and grandchildren! do not use deceitful language, but speak the words of truth only. The Righteous One in heaven knows every thing that is said."

Against Covetousness.

"O children and grandchildren! do not covet the things of others, nor desire to accumulate property, but work according to your ability and covet not."

Rewards and Punishments.

"Righteous persons, the righteous
Arrive at heaven;

5.-They are

wanderers, and consider themselves cursed by God for their disobedience; but were anciently his most favoured people, as they believe they are destined to be again.

"O children and grandchildren! formerly God loved the Karen nation above all others, but they transgresssed his commands, and in consequence of their transgressions, we suffer as at present. Because God cursed us, we are in our present afflicted state, and have no books. But God will again have mercy on us, and again he will love us above all others. God will yet save us again; it is on account of our listening to the language of Satan that we thus suffer."

"The Karens were created by God,

And God gave them commands;

The Karens were cursed by God,

And they have no happiness to the present time;

When God went away he gave commands*,

But not an individual obeyed them."

"The men of ancient times had perverse ears,

And thereby we have to suffer;

The men of ancient times had ears of barbarians,
And we have suffering thereby."

6.-No King.

It is said of the dispersed Israelites in Hosea, chap. x. 3, "They shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord." And strikingly in accordance with this prophecy, the Karens say, "O children and grandchildren! because the Karens transgressed the commands of God they have no king."

7.—They have been preserved from Idolatry, though residing among idolatrous nations, and subject to persecution.

It is said of the Israelites in Hosea iii. 4, "They shall abide without an image and without teraphim." The proof that the Karens have been preserved from idolatry is found in their present state, and in the remains of their traditional poetry.

Confidence in God amid Persecution.

In the following fragment, striking the ornament worn in the lobes of the ear, is a figurative mode of expressing the persecutions to which the disciples of Jehovah were subjected.

Where God says,

*This is very much in accordance with Hosea v. 15. "I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face."