refer. I discerned this in my first voyage to the Indies: For I gradually found a greater sense and beauty in divers passages of Scripture than I had before, by having in my view the things, either natural or moral, which explained them to me; and in perusing the different translations which the greatest part of the translators of the Bible had made, I observed that every one of them (to render the Expositions, as they thought, more intelligible) used such expressions as would accommodate the phrase to the places where they writ; which did not only many times pervert the text, but often rendered the sense obscure, and sometimes absurd also. In fine, consulting the commentators upon such kind of passages, I found very strange mistakes in them, and that they had long guessed at the sense, and did but grope (as in the dark) in the search of it. And from these reflections, I took a resolution to make my remarks upon many passages of the Scripture; persuading myself that they would be equally agreeable and profitable for use. And the learned, to whom I communicated my design, encouraged me very much (by their commendations) to proceed in it: and more especially when I informed them, That it is not in Asia as in our Europe, where there are frequent changes, more or less, in the form of things, as the habits, buildings, gardens, and the like. IN THE EAST THEY ARE CONSTANT IN ALL THINGS; the habits are at this day in the same manner as in the precedent ages; so that one may reasonably believe, that in that part of the world, the exterior form of things (as their Manners and Customs) are the same now as they were two thousand years since; except in such changes as have been introduced by religion, which are, nevertheless, very inconsiderable." Preface to Sir John Chardin's Travels in Persia, p. vi.

We observe on this extract, (1.) That Sir John declined describing what he was not fully master of; and in this all respectable travellers have followed his example. (2.) That the more he knew of the Manners, &c. of Eastern countries the greater he found their importance, and the more direct their application, in illustrating Scripture. (3.) That he was the more sensible of the mistakes of very learned western commentators, through their ignorance of Eastern Usages; and (4.) that most, if not all, of ancient Oriental peculiarities, exist in those countries to this day, nearly or altogether in their original vigour. Neither are we left wholly to opinions formed at the present day; since many ancient authors have occasionally hinted at facts, which are completely justified by recent information. And when, in very many instances which heretofore appeared singular, not to say incredible, their relations are confirmed, beyond a possibility of doubt, by the actual existence of the same peculiarities in the same countries, we are led to conclude, that we risk little in admitting the conformity, not to say the identity, of other Usages of a similar nature, which, whether or not they have been noticed by ancient profane authors, yet are alluded to in Scrip

ture.

Under this conviction we have already solicited with success the public attention ; and we again respectfully solicit it, in order that, by guiding into a right direction that spirit of enquiry which is vigorously extending its influence among us, we may render those services to the important cause of genuine Truth and Piety, which the prejudices of the times, the incessant efforts of enemies to true religion, and the perplexing wiles of infidelity, have rendered especially necessary at the present period. Happy is that individual who, by whatever means, is persuaded into the path of rectitude, or kept in it! and happy shall we esteem ourselves if our labours may conduce to that desirable and important purpose.

[The editor takes this opportunity of professing great deference and respect for our public translation of the Bible; at the same time expressing his hope that he does

not incur the guilt of presumption, in saying, that some obscurities have been removed from it by his means, and that some passages have been placed in a clearer light than heretofore. To suppose that our translators might fail in some things, in a work so extensive, and of such a peculiar nature as a translation of the Bible, is not to impeach either their honesty or their judgment-humanum est errare. Modern times have furnished more accurate and more copious accounts of Eastern ideas and Eastern manners, than our translators were able to procure; can it be any reproach to their memory that we endeavour to improve these accounts? Would not those learned and worthy men have done the same, had they been favoured with equal opportunities?

No. CICCI. THE MIND CONSUMED BY ZEAL.

THE Psalmist uses a Phraseology in Psalm lxix. 9. which our translation_renders -"the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up :" the Septuagint render-“ hath melted me," that is, consumed me by fire: and this is a natural import of the Hebrew word (ACEL). It appears to be capable of illustration, by a custom still practised in the East.

"There lies no appeal beyond the grand Vizir, except to the person of the Grand Seignior, of which this is the manner: At certain hours of the day, when the gates of the Seraglio are set open for the admittance of citizens, &c.-persons who would complain of any grievous injury they have suffered, and which the injustice or connivance of the Vizir has refused to redress, enter hastily the outward court, and putting [having put] pots of fire on their heads, run swiftly forward; nor dare the greatest officer presume to stop them till they arrive at the presence of the Grand Seignior— whose justice they implore to redress their wrongs.' Hill's Travels, p. 9.

This custom is described differently, and more probably, but to the same effect, by Peysonnel, in his Remarks on Baron du Tott, p. 45. "Those who are aggrieved stand before the gate of the Seraglio," each carries on his head a kind of match, or wick, lighted, and smoking: which is considered as the allegorical emblem of the fire that consumes his soul." Our countryman Sandys says the same, "they will in troops attend the coming forth of the Emperor, and by burning straw on their heads-provoke his regard." Travels, page 62.

It is easy to perceive the reason of the bolder version of the LXX. who, being acquainted with this Eastern custom, knew that their rendering would be well understood by their readers; whereas our translators, aware that no such custom was extant among us, adopted a less decisive (and, with submission, it may be thought, an awkward) expression.

Is the conjecture improbable, that the very interesting passage, Isaiah xlii. 3: "The bruised reed my servant shall not break; the smoking flax he shall not quench; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth" (or, as the Evangelist quotes, Matt. xii. 20: “till he send forth judgment unto victory "): should allude to such a custom as that we are considering? May it bear this explanation?" Numerous suitors shall attend on my servant, with smoking flax on their heads, in token of internal grief :-not one of these shall go away without redress; he shall certainly remove the cause of their complaints, and render truth, equity, justice, completely victorious over oppression and tyranny: nor shall he suspend his exertions, till he have established judgment in the earth: and the very distant isles shall wait for his law [as we see the suitors wait for the emperor's coming out of his palace]; so great, so extensive, shall be his reputation for integrity, uprightness, and authority, in his decisions

2. May there be an allusion to some custom of this nature, in Proverbs xxv. 22: "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for thou shalt heap couls of fire on his head; and the Lord shall reward thee?" Meaning—to such a proportion as ()-in so far as—to the same degree as-thou dost him kindness, thou shalt melt him, as he is understood to be melted, who carries a lighted and smoking wick on his head: that is, the internal sentiment will take place, though not the outward emblematical sign. And this seems analogous to the explanation of the apostle, when he quotes this passage, Romans xii. 21: "Be not overcome by evil in your enemy's disposition, but overcome his evil by your goodness: "-melt-consume-his animosity, as he is understood to be consumed-melted-who carries burning coals on his head. [This is very contrary to the explanation of some commentators. Vide Whitby in loco.] "And this kindness of thine the Lord shall return thee," says the wise man; that is, he shall repay thee, according to thy benevolence: either by the conversion of thine enemy from his enmity-perhaps into a friend; or, at least, thy Father who seeth in secret" the motives of thy behaviour, "shall reward thee openly."

ON reading the Parable of the unjust Steward, who defrauds his principal by collusion with his debtors (Luke xvi.), we find it concluded by what seems to be a strange kind of expression (verse 12.): If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own ?" Now, certainly, that which is a man's own he may naturally expect should be given him; for who has a right to withhold it? The propriety of this phrase, and the inferential connection of this sentiment with the parable foregoing, is not clear to a general reader but the following custom of the Turks (as related by Aaron Hill, Travels, page 77.) may contribute to our better understanding the allusion:

"It is a common custom with the merchants of this country when they hire a broker, book-keeper, or other [confidential] servant, to agree, that he shall claim no wages; but, to make amends for that unprofitable disadvantage, they give them free and uncontrolled authority to cheat them every way they can, in managing their business; but with this proviso, that they must never exceed the privileged advantage of Ten per Cent. All under that, which they can fairly gain in settling of accounts with their respective masters, is properly THEIR OWN: and by their masters' will is confirmed to their possession."

...

He proceeds to say, "The servant, knowing he has nothing to depend on but these profits puts himself upon a wily method of over-reaching others, in the goods he buys by order of his master. His master, on the other hand, well knows that, unless he watches carefully his servant's management, he will probably go beyond the tolerated limits of Ten per Cent."

This kind of allowance, though appearing extremely singular to us, yet is both ancient and general in the East: it is found in the Gentoo Laws, chap. ix: "If a man has hired any person to conduct a trade for him, and no agreement is made in regard to wages, in that case, the person hired shall receive one-tenth of the profit.

"If the person be hired to attend cattle he shall receive one-tenth of the milk. If the person be hired for agriculture one-tenth of the crop. If he plough the ground, receiving victuals, one-fifth of the crop :-if he receive no victuals, one-third.` Halhed's Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 140.

We see, then, that Mr. Hill has been too severe in describing the taking of such

an allowance as a "cheating" of the principal, since he owns, it has that principal's permission and free-will; and is "a privileged advantage:" and we see, too, that the Gentoo laws admit a detention of one-third part, in certain cases, as payment for a servant's labour and attention.

The phrase which appears so offensive to us, now assumes its true import-" If you have not been found faithful in the administration of your principal's property, how can you expect to receive your share (as the word may signify), of that advantage which should reward your labours? If you have not been just towards him, why, or how, do you expect he should be just toward you?" May this principle set the conduct of the unjust steward in a different light from what it has hitherto appeared in? (1.) We see that this steward had a right to expect from his master the value of a share of this oil and wheat, as his due :-But, if his master had once got possession of this value, he might have seized it, in compensation for former deficiencies: the steward prevents this by negociating with the debtors themselves, before their accounts are inspected by his master. (2.) The steward had a right to a portion of the value, but he takes abundantly more than his due; and then carries in the mutilated account to his master, as if it were the produce of the whole, not accounting for the quantity reserved by him for his future dependance in the hands of those who, having had their share of the fraud, might return the advantage by receiving this unjust agent into their habitations. (3.) The steward's master commends him, as having adopted an expedient not easily to be detected; but, in fact, a cunning contrivance: being (1.) evidently founded in custom and equity, and (2.) readily enough to be represented as merely doing himself that justice which, he might say, his master denied him, and (3.) as to the quantity he withholds, he might plead somewhat analogous to what is provided for in the Gentoo laws; which we see in some cases allow of one-third as a compensation for extraordinary care and trouble.

May our Lord's inference be thus understood? "This steward could only expect that his friends would receive and maintain him, so long as what he could claim of this value, or stock, of oil, or of wheat, lasted: when that was exhausted they would desire his absence; but, contrary to this, I advise you, by your management of worldly riches, to make friends-friends who may receive you into, not temporary, but lasting residence; who may welcome your arrival, not into a mere transitory shelter, but into an ever-abiding felicity. I press this upon you, because riches are so slippery, so perverting, so delusive, that they may well be called DECEITFUL, and they but too often are allurements to unrighteousness-to unrighteous modes of acquiring them, and to unrighteous modes of disposing of them; but, if they be used with a disposition of mind contrary to that of this unjust steward, if, instead of being wickedly withheld, they be justly and liberally circulated, and, as it were, brought to account, the benevolence of true piety will direct them to such salutary purposes as may lay many worthy, but necessitous, persons under great obligations: and these, should you be involved in distress here below, will do their utmost to soothe and relieve you; or, they will hereafter congratulate your happy reception into never-ending beatitude and glory." But, Vide No. CCCCLXXXIX.

No. CCCIV. VALLEY OF BACA.

"I WAS extremely satisfied with our walk; which, besides, gave me an opportunity of admiring the most agreeable territory, and the best cultivated, perhaps, in all Syria, lying the length of the plain from north to south, to the mountains which separate it from that of Damascus. This plain, or more properly speaking, the whole territory of Baalbec, to the mountains, is named in Arabic, AL-BKAA, which we express by Bekaa.

It is watered by the river Letanus, and by many other streams; it is a delicious, I might say, an enchanted country, and in nothing inferior to the country of Damascus, which is so renowned among the Orientals. Beka produces, among other things, those beautiful and excellent grapes which are sent to various parts, under the name of grapes of Damascus." Translated from De la Roque, Voy. de Syrie, p. 116.

The foregoing extract shews how necessary it is to be acquainted with the geographical and natural circumstances of a country; it has, we believe, always been thought, that when the Psalmist mentions the valley of Bekaa, or Baca (Psalm lxxxiv. 6.), he alludes to it as a dreary, thirsty, undesirable place, the very reverse of what De la Roque describes it; whose remarks confirm the statement in No. CLXX. It seems to be the very same place meant by the Psalmist, and to have retained (or recovered, as many places have, under the present Arab government), its ancient appellation. It is among the mountains of Lebanon, north of Judea.

No. CCCV. BLACKNESS OF THE FACE.

WE have an expression, Joel ii. 6: "Before their approach [of the locusts] the people shall be much pained; all Faces shall gather Blackness: which is also adopted by the prophet Nahum, ii. 10: "the heart melteth, the knees smite together, much pain is in all loins, and the Faces of them all gather Blackness." This phrase, which sounds uncouth to an English ear, is elucidated by the following history, from Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens (vol. ii. p. 319.), which we the rather introduce, as Mr. Harmer has referred this Blackness to the effect of hunger and thirst; and Calmet, in the Dictionary, under the article OBSCURE, has referred it to a bedaubing of the face with soot, &c. a proceeding not very consistent with the hurry of flight, or the terror of distress.

"Kumeil, the son of Ziyad, was a man of fine wit. One day Hejage made him come before him, and reproached him, because in such a garden, and before such and such persons, whom he named to him, he had made a great many imprecations against him, saying the Lord blacken his Face, that is, fill him with shame and confusion; and wished that his neck was cut off, and his blood shed."

The reader will observe how perfectly this explanation agrees with the sense of the passages quoted above: to gather Blackness, then, is equivalent to suffering extreme confusion, and being overwhelmed with shame, or with terror and dismay.

In justice to Kumeil, we ought not to omit the ready turn of wit which saved his life. "It is true," said he, "I did say such words in such a garden; but then I was under a vine-arbour, and was looking on a bunch of grapes that was not yet ripe and I wished it might be turned Black soon; that they might be cut off, and be made wine of." We see, in this instance, as says the sagacious moralist, that "with the well-advised is wisdom" and "the tongue of the wise is health :" that is, preservation and safety.

No. CCCVI. NATURE AND REMEDY OF HEZEKIAH'S DISORDER. THOUGH it pleased God to favour Hezekiah with a miraculous sign of his approaching recovery, yet, we think, we are not led to conclude that the means employed for his recovery were miraculous also. What his Disorder really was, we can only conjecture; but, by combining circumstances, that conjecture may assume considerable probability.

We have seen reason to conclude, in FRAGMENTS, No. II. that a few hours was the proximate period of his life: that when the shadow on the dial of Ahaz had reached