N. B. As to the antiquity of these writings, Sir Wм. JONES says, p 340, "The laws ascribed to MENUH [and received orally from him, vol. ii. p. 114.] in whatever age they might have been first promulgated, could not have received their present form above three thousand years ago." The Brahmans attribute them to the first age of the world. From these Fragments may be seen, how unfounded are Ld. BOLINGBROKE'S cavilling remarks, on the prophetic curse of Noah ; and how erroneous is that opinion, which denies the universality of the Deluge, because of the supposed ignorance of that event in India.

No. XXI. OF JOSEPH'S CUP.

THERE has been a difficulty noticed in respect to JOSEPH'S Cup, which has seemed to some persons considerable, Gen. xliv. 5. In our translation, it is said, not only that Joseph" drank out of that cup," but also, "whereby indeed he divineth.” Now, as divination is by no means a study which reflects honour on the character of Joseph, but might well be spared, Mr. PARKHURST, and others, who are jealous of the patriarch's piety, give another rendering to the passage-" and for which he would search accurately." So, ver. 5, instead of "know you not that such a man as I can certainly divine ?" they render, "I would search carefully;" i. e. for the cup. Without intending the least reflection on these ideas, I humbly propose a different import of the passage.

Dining one day with a relation, I took particular notice of a SILVER CUP, used as a salt cellar, which was a present to her from a friend, who had received it from a gentleman, formerly governor of Madras. This cup is three inches long, and two inches and a third wide at the brim; which at bottom is diminished to an inch and three-quarters long, and an inch and one-third wide. It has two handles, one at each end; and is ornamented with compartments, filled with flowers, &c. in relief, on the sides. The centre compartments contain Arabic inscriptions, in relief also. It is an inch and a half in depth. It is cut off obliquely at the corners.

It was, and perhaps it still is, the custom for the town of Madras (probably not the European part of it) to make every new governor, as a token of respect, a present of a similar cup, out of which to drink his arrack after dinner. Apparently, the governor's name and titles, with those of the parties who presented it, compose the Arabic inscriptions on it. Such, in all probability, was Joseph's Cup: i. e. like this-small-fit for the hand to cover and slip away-(turned bottom upward, it exactly fills the hand) thereby rendering BENJAMIN's theft plausible;-it was a cup used at table, in the cheerful hours of drinking, after the meal was ended; so that BENJAMIN was charged with having abused the hospitality and confidence of JOSEPH;-it was a Cup of privilege, such as the town could not be supposed to furnish the fellow of, at any shop; so that BENJAMIN could not pretend he had bought it; but all the citizens must have been witnesses, that this was their present [properly inscribed?] to their governor, and must have been interested accordingly.

After these observations, let us inspect the history in Genesis; the word (n) NaCHеSH) signifies, to view, to eye, to observe attentively-in short, to DISTINGUISH one thing from another; which is the use, and result, of viewing and eyeing attentively: -what, therefore, prevents us from rendering the passage, "And distinguishing he is DISTINGUISHED by it?" i. e. he is EMINENTLY DISTINGUISHED by this Cup-this is his particular Cup: nobody else dare have such a one: it appertains, as a privilege, peculiarly to his office; and therefore he highly values it, and could not but miss it, instantly.' So in Joseph's reprimand, q. d. "what a sad set of country rustics you are! could you not perceive that this Cup formed one of the distinctions belonging to my station?" The other acceptations of the word nachesh, may all be resolved into the idea of distinguishing, as augury, &c. where they occur; as in the instance of Balaam.

This view of the matter absolves Joseph from the crime and folly of divination; and may justify the remark, that a knowledge of the customs and manners of antiquity in the East might assist our derivation of Hebrew words, or improve our knowledge of the signification of their roots. This Number cannot be better closed, than by an extract, which proves, that a particular Cup, annexed to his office by way of distinction, was neither peculiar to the ancient governor of the Egyptian metropolis, nor to the modern governor of Madras.

"One day, RAS MICHAEL, [who was governor of the province of Tigré, and prime minister of the kingdom] dining with Kasmati Gita, the queen's brother, who was governor of Samen, and drinking out of a common glass decanter, called Brulhé, when it is the PRIVILEGE and CUSTOM of the governor of Tigré to use a GOLD CUP, being asked why he did not claim his privilege? he said, "All the gold he had was in heaven;" alluding to the name of the mountain Samayat, where his gold was surrendered, which word signifies heaven. The king, who liked this kind of jests, of which MICHAEL was full, on hearing this, sent him a GOLD CUP, with a note written, and placed within it, "Happy are they who place their riches in heaven;" which MICHAEL directed to be engraved by one of the Greeks upon the cup itself. What became of it, I know not; I saw it the first day he dined after coming from council, at his return from Tigré, after the execution of Abba Salamana; but I never observed it at Serbraxos, nor since. I heard indeed a Greek say, he had sent it as a present to a church of St. Michael, in Tigré." BRUCE's Travels, vol. ii. 657. The reader will notice the engraving-the inscription-on this Cup of privilege.

No. XXII. OF THE ANGARII.

UNDER the article ANGARIARE in the Dictionary, are given several instances of the use of the word, and a general idea of its import may be gathered from them; but a yet more accurate conception may be formed, from the following portrait of one of these Angarii, as presented by Colonel CAMPBELL:

"As I became familiarized to my Tartar guide, I found his character disclose much better traits than his first appearance bespoke; I began insensibly to think him a very entertaining fellow. Perceiving that I was very low-spirited and thoughtful, he exhibited manifest tokens of compassion; and taking it into his head that I was actually removed for ever from my friends and my family, he spoke in a style of regret and feeling that did honour to his heart: and, to say the truth, he did every thing in his power to alleviate my feelings, conversing with me, either by means of the interpreter, or in broken lingua Franca; supplying all my wants cheerfully and abundantly, changing horses with me as often as I pleased, and going slow or galloping forward, just as best suited my inclination or humour.

"The first object he seemed to have in view on our journey, was to impress me with a notion of his consequence and authority, as a messenger belonging to the Sultan. As all those men are employed by the first magistrates in the country, and are, as it were, the links of communication between them, they think themselves of great importance to the state; while the great men, whose business they are employed in, make them feei the weight of their authority, and treat them with the greatest contempt: hence they become habitually servile to their superiors, and, by natural consequence, insolent and overbearing to their inferiors, or those who, being in their power, they conceive to be so. "As carriers of dispatches, their power and authority, wherever they go, are in some points undisputed; and they can COMPEL a supply of provisions, horses and attendants, wherever it suits their occasion; nor dare any man resist their right to take the horse from under him to proceed on the emperor's business, be the owner's occasion ever so pressing.

"As soon as he stopped at a Caravanserai, he immediately called lustily about him, in the name of the Sultan; demanding, in a meaning tone of voice, fresh horses, victuals, &c. on the instant. The terror of this great man operated like magic; nothing could exceed the activity of the men, the briskness of the women, and the terror of the children (for the Caravanserais are continually attended by numbers of the very lowest of the people): but no quickness of preparation, no effort could satisfy my gentleman; he would shew me his power in a still more striking point of view, and fell to belabouring them with his whip, and kicking them with all his might." CAMPBELL'S Travels, Part ii. pages 92, 94.

If such were the behaviour of this messenger, whose character opened so favourably, what may we suppose was the brutality of those who had not the same sensibility in their composition? and what shall we say to that meekness, which directed to go double what such a despot should require ?—" if he angaries thee to go a mile with him-go two." Matt. v. 41. Read the account of the posts, the original Angarii, &c. Esther viii. 14.

No. XXIII. OF CARAVANSERAIS, OR EASTERN INNS.

THE former article mentioned a Caravanserai ;-that kind of structure being expressed in our translation by the word inn, it may be proper to explain the nature and form of such buildings. But it must be premised, that all Caravanserais are not alike: some are simply places of rest, (by the side of a fountain, if possible) which being at proper distances on the road, are thus named, though they be mere naked walls: others have an attendant, who subsists either by some charitable donation, or the benevolence of passengers: and others are more considerable establishments, where families reside and take care of them, and furnish many, or most, necessaries, i. e. of provisions.

Conformably to these ideas, the Scripture uses at least two words to express a Caravanserai; though our translators have rendered both by the same term inn, Luke ii. 7. there was no room for them in the INN, (xaraλvuari) "the place of untying," of beasts, &c. for rest. Luke x. 34, the Good Samaritan brought him to the INN (Tavdoxtov) whose keeper is called in the next verse pandokeius; this word signifies a receptacle open to all comers. N. B. The same word in Hebrew seems to import both these kinds of places-Gen. xlii. 27, "when he gave his ass provender in the inn" ( Be MeLUN). It may reasonably be supposed, that a Caravanserai in a town should be better furnished than one in the country, in a retired place, and where few travellers pass: I rather, therefore, incline against Mr. HARMER, Obs. vol. iii. p. 248, to think that the inn, whereunto the good Samaritan is represented as conducting the wounded traveller, was intentionally described of an inferior kind; if so, we may reasonably take the other word, "the untying place," as denoting a larger edifice: and this accounts for the evangelist Luke's mention of there being no room (TOTOS) in it: q. d. "though it was large enough for such occasions as usually occurred in the town of Bethlehem, yet now every apartment in this receptacle was occupied: so that no privacy fit for a woman in the situation of MARY could be had :"-especially, as Col. CAMPBELL has informed us, they are continually attended by numbers of the very lowest of the people"-very unfit associates for MARY at any time, and certainly in her present condition!

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"Caravanserais were originally intended for, and are now pretty generally applied to the accommodation of strangers and travellers; though, like every other good

institution, sometimes perverted to the purposes of private emolument, or public job. They are built at proper distances through the roads of the Turkish dominions, and afford to the indigent or weary traveller an asylum from the inclemency of the weather; are in general built of the most solid and durable materials; have commonly one story above the ground floor, the lower of which is arched, and serves for warehouses to store goods, for lodgings, and for stables, while the upper is used merely for lodgings; besides which, they are always accommodated with a fountain, and have cooks' shops and other conveniences to supply the wants of lodgers. In Aleppo, the Caravanserais are almost exclusively occupied by merchants, to whom they are, like other houses, rented." CAMPBELL's Travels, Part ii. p. 8.

This favourable account of Caravanserais applies to those on the main roads only, where the Turkish government has established them: on roads less public, the accommodations are wretched enough.

The nearest construction among us, to a Caravanserai, as I conceive, appears in some of our old inns, where galleries, with lodging rooms in them, run round a court, or yard; but then, as travellers in the East always carry with them their own bedding, furniture, and kitchen utensils, it is evident our inns are better provided than the best Eastern Caravanserais. It is necessary to keep this in mind: because, we must not suppose that Joseph and Mary travelled without taking the necessary utensils with them; or that they could have procured in this inn, any thing beyond provisions and lodging. Perhaps, even they could not have procured provisions. But of the poverty of these Eastern inns, we shall obtain a pretty distinct idea from the following extract: "There are no inns any where; but the cities, and commonly the villages, have a large building called a Kan, or Kervanserai, which serves as an asylum for all travellers. These houses of reception are always built without the precincts of towns, and consist of four wings round a square court, which serves by way of enclosure for the beasts of burthen. The lodgings are cells, where you find nothing but bare walls, dust, and sometimes scorpions. The keeper of this Khan gives the traveller the key and a mat: and he provides himself the rest. He must, therefore, carry with him his bed, his kitchen utensils, and even his provisions; for frequently not even bread is to be found in the villages. On this account the Orientals contrive their equipage in the most simple and portable form. The baggage of a man who wishes to be completely provided, consists in a carpet, a mattress, a blanket, two saucepans with lids, contained within each other, two dishes, two plates, and a coffee pot, all of copper well tinned; a small wooden box, for salt and pepper; a round leathern table, which he suspends from the saddle of his horse; small leathern bottles or bags for oil, melted butter, water, and brandy (if the traveller be a Christian ;) a pipe, a tinder-box, a cup of cocoa nut, some rice, dried raisins, dates, Cyprus cheese, and above all, coffee-berries, with a roaster, and wooden mortar to pound them. I am thus particular, to prove that the Orientals are more advanced than we, in the art of dispensing with many things, an art which is not without its use. Our European merchants," says he, "are not contented with such simple accommodations." VOLNEY'S Travels, vol. ii. p. 419. Eng. Edit.

The reader will bear this account in mind: for we shall find that he is not a poor man in the East, who possesses this quantity of utensils. One would hope that at Bethlehem, "the house of bread," it was not difficult to procure that necessary of life. Travellers in the East use two words, kane and caravanserai, to denote these kinds of buildings is not kane the inferior building, answering to the pandokeion of Luke, chap. x. 34 See this subject resumed in No. CCLXI. with a Plate

A REMARKABLE expression of the psalmist David, Psalm cxli. 7. appears to have much poetical heightening in it, which even its author, in all probability, did not mean should be accepted literally; while, nevertheless, it might be susceptible of a literal acceptation, and is sometimes a fact.-The psalmist says, "Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth." This seems to be strong Eastern painting, and almost figurative language; but, that it may be strictly true, the following extract demonstrates:

"At five o'clock, we left Garigana, our journey being still to the eastward of north; and, at a quarter past six in the evening arrived at the village of that name, whose inhabitants had all perished with hunger the year before; their wretched bones being all unburied, and scattered upon the surface of the ground, where the village formerly stood. We We encamped among the bones of the dead; no space could be found free from them; and on the 23rd, at six in the morning, full of horror at this miserable spectacle, we set out for Teawa; this was the seventh day from Ras el Feel. After an hour's travelling, we came to a small river, which still had water standing in some considerable pools, although its banks were destitute of any kind of shade.” BRUCE'S Travels, vol. iv. p. 349.

The reading of this account thrills us with horror; what then must have been the sufferings of the ancient Jews at such a sight ?—when to have no burial, was reckoned among the greatest calamities; when their land was thought to be polluted, in which the dead (even criminals) were in any manner exposed to view; and to whom, the very touch of a dead body, or part of it, or of any thing that had touched a dead body, was esteemed a defilement, and required a ceremonial ablution?

No. XXV. OF THE EASTERN CHAMBERS FOR DWELLING.

"IN one of the halls of the Seraglio at Constantinople," says DE LA MOTRAYE, “the eunuch made us pass by several little chambers, with doors shut, like the cells of monks, or nuns, as far as I could judge by one that another eunuch opened, which was the only one I saw ; and by the outside of others."-" N. B. In comparing the chambers of the Grand Seignior's women, to the cells of nuns, we must except the richness of their furniture, their use," &c. Vol. ii. p. 170.

"Asan Firally Bachaw-being summoned by his friends-came out of a little house near the towers, where he had been long hidden in his Harem, which, had it been suspected by the Mufti, he had not denied his fetfa to the Emperor, for seizing his person, even there."-" The Harems are sanctuaries, as sacred and inviolable, for persons pursued by justice, for any crime, debt, &c. as the Roman catholic churches in Italy, Spain, Portugal, &c. Though the Grand Seignior's power over his creatures is such, that he may send some of his eunuchs even there, to apprehend those who resist his will." Vol. i. p. 242. Note.

"The Harems of the Greeks, are almost as sacred as those of the Turks; so that the officers of justice dare not enter, without being sure that a man is there, contrary to the law and if they should go in, and not find what they look for, the women may punish, and even kill them, without being molested for any infringement of the law: on the contrary, the relations would have a right to make reprisals, and demand satisfaction for such violence." DE LA MOTRAYE, vol. i. p. 340.