"May God preserve your blessed Beard! May God pour out his blessings on your Beard!" And, in comparisons, "This is more valuable than one's Beard." Mours des Arabes, par M. D'Arvieux, chap. vii.

These accounts may contribute to illustrate several passages of Scripture.

The dishonour done by David to his beard, of letting his spittle fall on it (1 Sam. xxi. 13.), seems at once to have convinced Achish of his being distempered: q. d. "No man in good health, of body and mind, would thus defile what we esteem so honourable as his Beard." If the Beard be thus venerated, we perceive the import of Mephibosheth's neglect, in his not trimming it, 2 Sam. xix. 24.

We conceive, also, that after the information given us, as above, that men kiss one anothers' Beards, when they salute in the streets, or when one of them is lately come from a journey; we may discover traces of deeper dissimulation in the behaviour of Joab to Amasa (2 Sam. xx. 9.) than we have heretofore noticed: " And Joab held in his right hand the Beard of Amasa, that he might give it a kiss."--No wonder then, that while this act of friendship, of gratulation after long absence, occupied Amasa's attention, he did not perceive the sword that was in Joab's left hand. The action of Joab was, indeed, a high compliment, but neither suspicious, nor unusual; and to this compliment Amasa paying attention, and, no doubt, returning it with answerable politeness, he could little expect the fatal event that Joab's perfidy produced. See this perfidy of Joab farther exposed in No. ccxvIII.

Was the behaviour of Judas to Jesus something like this behaviour of Joab to Amasa?—a worthy example worthily imitated!-With this idea in our minds, let us hear the Evangelists relate the story; Matt. xxvi. 49, " And coming directly to Jesus, he said, Hail [joy to thee] Rabbi! and kissed him:" so says Mark, xiv. 45. But Luke seems to imply, that Judas observed a more respectful manner, in his salutation. Jesus, according to Matthew, before he received the kiss from Judas, had time to say, "Friend [in what manner] unto what purpose art thou come?" And while Judas was kissing him-suppose his Beard-Jesus might easily, and very aptly express himself, as Luke relates, "Ah! Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man by a kiss?"

The cutting off the Beard is mentioned (Isaiah xv. 2.) as a token of mourning; and as such it appears to be very expressive, Jer. xli. 5: "Fourscore men came from Samaria, having their Beards shaven, and their clothes rent."-See, also, chap. xlviii. 37. Is not this custom somewhat illustrated by the idea which the Arabs attached to the shaven servant of Niebuhr, i. e. as a kind of punishment suffered for guilt, expressed, or implied?

No. XCIV. EUNUCH, TITULAR AND PERSONAL.

IT is well known, that the word Eunuch signifies not only one who has suffered personal mutilation, but also an officer of state, having a certain charge in the palace of an Eastern monarch. This is necessary to be attended to; and, for want of such attention, among the Jewish Rabbins, some have considered Daniel as an Eunuchmutilated; and have refused him the title and authority of prophet; while others have maintained the contrary, and have cleared him from that imputation. In many other instances, Eunuch is, at least, as conveniently and probably, to be understood of an official, as of a personal Eunuch.

"The patron of Hassan Aga taking a liking to him, on account of his promising aspect, and uncommon vivacity, caused him to be castrated;-on that account, he was always called Aga, as are generally those demi-mates, though, as is well known, Aga has a quite different signification [commander, or colonel.] Every Eunuch is an Aga; though VOL. III. X

every Aga is not a Eunuch; like as all nobles are gentlemen, though all gentlemen are not nobles." Morgan's History of Algiers, p. 294.

On the same principle, all persons holding certain offices were Eunuchs by title; though all personal Eunuchs were not therefore capable of holding those offices.

No. XCV. FAVOURABLE ASPECTS OF SEPULCHRES.

JOB (chap. xxi. 32.) seems to suppose, that the person buried in a Grave may sympathize, in some respects, with the prosperous state of the Tomb which contains him :"He shall be brought to the Grave, and shall remain in the Tomb: the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him."-Some such idea seems to have been indulged by Sultan Amurath the Great, who died A. D. 1450, aged about 85.

"Presently after his death, Mahomet his sonne, for feare of some innouation to bee made at home, raised the siege and returned to Hadrianople: and afterward with great solemnitie buried his dead body at the west side of Prusa, in the suburbs of the citie, where he now lieth, in a chappell without any roofe, his Graue nothing differing from the manner of the common Turks: which (they say) he commanded to bee done in his last will; that the mercie and blessing of God (as he tearmed it) might come unto him by the shining of the sunne and moone, and falling of the raine and dew of heauen upon his Graue." Knolles' History of the Turks, p. 332.

That the Orientals generally, at least, regard the favourable situation of a Sepulchre as a kind of felicity, appears from many passages in books of travels; but whether with any such imagination Uzza had formed a Sepulchre in his garden, wherein Manasseh was buried, and Amon (2 Kings xxi. 18, 26,) is not certain: yet we find in later ages, that Joseph of Arimathea had constructed his Sepulchre in a garden (Matt. xxvii. 60; John xix. 41): so that the sentiment was both general and lasting.

No. XCVI. ARABIC PROVERBS.

IT was with much satisfaction, we found in a Hebrew Bible, then lately purchased, extracts of Arabic Proverbs, with the following Latin translations-they appear to be taken from the MSS. of Dr. Pococke, No. 337, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

No. I.

No. II.

No. III.

Edit elephantem, et suffocatur culice.

He ate [or swallowed ]the elephant, but was strangled by a flea.

Indices nostri in amore sunt oculorum nictus.

The winking of our eyes, are our signals in love matters.

A prudens signa quisquam intelligit.

A wink [or token] to the wise is enough.

No. IV. Palpebræ nostræ negotia inter nos transigunt.
Our eye-lids transact business between us.

Some of these are in Schultens. No. I. will strike the reader as perfectly parallel to that, Matt. xxiii. 24 : " Ye blind guides! who strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel.” The following Numbers illustrate passages in Scripture which allude to winking with the eye;-as, Prov. vi. 13, “ A wicked man-winketh with his eyes; he speaketh with his feet; he teacheth," he informs, by making signs "with his fingers." Prov. x. 10, "The winker with his eye causeth sorrow; and the fool shall be cast down [precipitated] by his lips :" e. gr. He who answers the signals of a prostitute by winking, shall be brought to sorrow for it ;-but if he transgress so far as to hold conversation with her,

his discourse shall be the casting of him down a precipice. Vide Job xxiv. 15; Prov. iv. 25; Eccles. xxvi. 9. xxvii. 22, "He that winketh with his eyes worketh evil."

We could have wished that the learned extractor of these notes, had marked the Scripture passages he designed to illustrate by them; it is possible they were different from what have occurred to us.

No. XCVII. DISTINCTION OF SALUTATIONS.

"WHEN the Arabs salute each other, it is usually in these terms: Salam aleikum ! 'Peace be with you!' in saying these words, they lay the right hand on the breast: the answer is, Aleikum essalam! With you be peace! Elderly persons freely add, 'And the mercy and blessing of God.' The Mahometans of Egypt and Syria never salute a Christian thus; they content themselves with saying, Sebach el chair, Good day; or Sahheb salamat? Friend, how dost thou?'

"One would not suspect, perhaps," adds Mr. Niebuhr, from whom the above is translated, "the existence of similar customs in Europe: but I am informed that the Roman Catholics in some provinces of Germany, never address to Protestants, who live among them, the Salutation Jesus Christ be praised! and, if by mistake that should happen, the Protestants would not return the civility, by the Catholic answer-To eternity, Amen!"

Mr. Townshend tells us, in his "Journey through Spain," that the high Catholic form of Salutation in some of the provinces, adopted by the Dominican party, is, Ave Maria purissima! the answer expected is, Sin peccata concebida. To withhold this response, exposes the traveller to the suspicion of being a Jew, or a Heretic: or, at least, one of the opposite party, who holds that the Virgin might be conceived in sin. Is not such a restriction of the most honourable Salutation hinted at, Matt. v. 47? The antiquity of the Salutation, "Peace be with you," and the understood conclusion, that if a person enjoy peace, all is well with him, appears from the earliest accounts we have of patriarchal behaviour: as Gen. xxix. 6, "Is there peace to him?" (Laban)— they answer, "Peace." So, Jacob directs Joseph, "Go, see the peace of thy brethren,' xxxvii. 14. So, the spies of Dan (Judges xviii. 15) "came and asked the Levite of peace:" and, even in the camp, David" asked his brethren of peace," 1 Sam. xvii. 22. The reader will recollect numerous instances of this phraseology, but none more memorable than our Lord's departing Salutation, as recorded by the evangelists: "Peace I leave with you; not as the world giveth," in their ordinary Salutations, "give I unto you;" but in a more direct, permanent, appropriate manner; on principles, and with authority, infinitely superior, I bless you with this heavenly gift.

No. XCVIII. DUES IN KIND TO GOVERNORS.

THE prophet Malachi (chap. i. 8,) rebukes Israel for offering sacrifices that were imperfect, "the blind and the lame," for the service of God's altar; adding, "offer it now to thy Governor, will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person ?" We are apt to conclude, that when presents are offered, whatever is proposed should be accepted; and, as dues to Governors are not paid in kind among us, the offering such payments seems rather odd; now when we find that not only the royal revenue, but the income of individuals was often paid in necessaries for subsistence, we may conclude that the reference made by the prophet was much more forcible to his auditory, to whom it was addressed, than it can be to us. This consideration strengthens the propriety of the expression used by Nehemiah: "I required not from my people the bread of the

Governor ;" the subsistence usually furnished to the ruler of a town, or province, by the community over which he presides.

"The present Governor of Dahalac's name, is Hagi Mahomet-Abd-el-Cader. The revenue of this Governor consists in a goat brought to him, monthly, by each of the twelve villages. Each vessel that puts in there, pays him also a pound of coffee, and every one from Arabia a dollar, or pataka." Bruce's Travels, vol. i. p. 353.

No. XCIX. SLEEPING ON HOUSE-TOPS.

WE have repeated intimations in Scripture, of a custom which would be extremely inconvenient in England ;-that of sleeping on the Top of the House, exposed to the open air, and sky: so we read, "Samuel came to call Saul about the spring of the day, not to-but on-the Top of the House; and communed with him on the House-Top.' So Solomon observes, "It is better to dwell in a corner on the House-Top, than with a brawling woman in a wide street." The same idea may be noticed elsewhere.

"It has ever been a custom with them, [the Arabs in the East] equally connected with health and pleasure, to pass the nights in summer upon the House-Tops, which for this very purpose are made flat, and divided from each other by walls. "We found this way of sleeping extremely agreeable; as we thereby enjoyed the cool air, above the reach of gnats and vapours, without any other covering than the canopy of the heavens, which unavoidably presents itself in different pleasing forms, upon every interruption of rest, when silence and solitude strongly dispose the mind to contemplation." Wood's Balbec, Introduction.

"I determined he should lodge in a kiosk, on the Top of my House, where I kept him till his exaltation to the patriarchate, which, after a long negociation, my wife's brother obtained, for a pretty large sum of money, to be paid in new sequins." Baron du Tott, vol. i. page 83.

The propriety of the Mosaic precept (Deut. xxii. 8,) which orders a kind of balustrade, or parapet, to surround the roof, lest any man should fall from thence, is strongly enforced by this relation; for, if we suppose a person to rise in the night, without being fully awake, he might easily kill himself by falling from the roof. Something of the kind appears in the history of Amaziah, 2 Kings i. 2.

In several places Scripture hints at grass growing on the House-Tops, but which comes to nothing. The following quotation will shew the nature of this: "In the morning the master of the house laid in a stock of earth; which was carried up, and spread evenly on the top of the house, which is flat. The whole roof is thus formed of mere earth, laid on, and rolled hard and flat. On the top of every house is a large stone roller, for the purpose of hardening and flattening this layer of made soil, so that the rain may not penetrate: but upon this surface, as may be supposed, grass and weeds grow freely. It is to such grass that the Psalmist alludes, as useless and bad." Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, p. 89. There is also mention of persons on the HouseTop hastily escaping from thence without entering the house to secure their property— as if hastily awaked out of sleep, or, &c. by the clamours of an invading enemy. Vide Dr. Shaw's Account, No. cCIV.

No. C. TOKENS OF SUBMISSION.

WE read in sundry passages of Scripture, of dust strewed on the head, as a token of mourning, Josh. vii. 6; Job ii. 12;-or earth, 2 Sam. i. 2 ;-or ropes carried on the head, to express submission, 1 Kings xx. 24, in coincidenc, at least, with the subjoined extract: "He then descended the mountain, carrying, as is the custom of the country for

vanquished rebels, a stone upon his head, as confessing himself guilty of a capital crime.” Bruce's Travels, vol. ii. page 650.

Was this stone understood as significative of the punishment he had deserved, and as ready for that purpose? Will it illustrate the expression Matt. xxi. 44. Luke xx. 18.?

No. CI. OF SPITTING, AND LOOSING THE SHOE.

IN NO. LXXVI. it has been questioned, on the authority of Michaelis, whether in the case of the husband's brother he were actually spit upon by the husband's widow? We are told, that "our translation affirms the fact;" it may be answered, that, beside what various English terms represent the Hebrew particle (1) beth, as in, to, towards, against, with, concerning of, according to, &c. it may be doubted,-whether, in this instance, the husband's brother was either spit upon, or even towards?-The following testimonies afford support to such doubts:

Tournefort says (vol. ii. p. 316.), "A woman may demand to be separated from her husband if he" decline her intimacy;-" if the woman turn her Slipper upside down in presence of the judge it is a sign," and is taken as evidence, against her husband. The judge sends to look for the husband, bastinades him, and dissolves the marriage." We have seen this ceremony related to this effect-that the wife who desires separation, for this cause, goes to the judge, turns up the sole of her Slipper in his presence, and retires to a corner; the judge exacts no other oath from her; but acts on this token. A more particular account of this ceremony is given by Aaron Hill, Travels, p. 104. "The third divorce practised by the Turks, is, when a man" withholds his personal intimacy from his wife " yet refuses to dismiss her: being summoned by her friends, before a judge, and forced to bring her with him to the same appearance, when the charge is read against him, she is asked if she will then affirm the truth of that accusation, hereupon SHE STOOPS, AND TAKING OFF HER SLIPPER, SPITS UPON THE SOLE; and strikes it on her husband's forehead. Modesty requires no farther confirmation from the female plaintiff; and sentence is immediately pronounced, in favour of the lady, who is thenceforth free to marry as she pleases; and is intitled, notwithstanding, to a large allowance from her former consort's yearly income."

This is set in a light, somewhat different, by Busbequius, Epist. p. 169. "Si mariti debitis eas alimentis fraudent; item si præter naturæ prescriptum, quod nefas Turcis familiare, eis abuti conentur. Tunc ad judicem profectæ se non posse diutius apud maritum manere testantur: judicem causam quærente, nihil respondent, sed EXUTUM PEDE CALCEUM INVERTUNT. Id judici abominandæ veneris indicium est."

With these ideas in our minds, let us now review and analyse the passage, Deut. xxv. 7. "If the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother-will not perform the duty of a husband's brother :"-then shall his brother's wife come unto him, in the presence of the elders, and loose his Shoe from off his foot; and spit in his face, and shall say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who hath had his Shoe loosed."

Remark (1) that the word rendered Shoe ( NOL) usually means Sandal, i. e. a mere sole held on the foot in a very simple manner; and is so understood by the Chaldee Targums; by the LXX. oavdádiov; and by the Vulgate, caliga, or calceamentum. (2) That the primary and radical meaning of the word rendered face (2 PENI) is surface, the superficies of any thing. We submit then, that the directions of the passage may to this purpose, the brother's wife-shall loose the Sandal from off the foot of her husband's brother—and shall spit upon its face, or surface [i. e. that of the Shoe] and shall say,

be