town; on which occasions I found the weather as piercing cold as it was distressfully hot in the day time." Hence we may clearly see the force and propriety of Jacob's complaint.'

No. 59. NUMBERS, xi. 5. Onions.] "Whoever has tasted onions in Egypt must allow that none can be had better in any part of the universe. Here they are sweet, in other countries they are nauseous and strong; here they are soft, whereas in the north, and other parts, they are hard of digestion. Hence they cannot in any place be eaten with less prejudice and more satisfaction than in Egypt. They eat them roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted meat, which the Turks in Egypt call kebab, and with this dish they are so delighted, that I have heard them wish they might enjoy it in paradise. They likewise make soup of them in Egypt, cutting the onions in small pieces: this I think one of the best dishes I ever eat." HASSELQUIST's Voyages, p. 290.

'No. 65. -xi. 5. Me'ons.] By this we are probably to understand the water-melon, which, according to Fasselquist (Voyage, P. 255) "the Arabians call batech. It is cultivated on the banks of the Nile, in the rich clayey earth which subsides during the inun dation. This serves the Egyptians for meat, drink, and physic. It is eaten in abundance during the season, even by the richer sort of people; but the common people, on whom Providence has bestowed nothing but poverty and patience, scarcely eat any thing but these, and account this the best time of the year, as they are obliged to put up with worse fare at other seasons. This fruit likewise serves them for drink, the juice refreshing these poor creatures, and they have less occasion for water than if they were to live on more substantial food in this burning climate." This well explains the Israelites regretting the want of this fruit in the parched thirsty wilderness.'

We understand that our soldiers, who are returned from the late campaign in Egypt, have borne testimony to the superiority of these vegetables in that country. When the Israelites were deprived of these luxuries, they almost wished to return to slavery, in order to enjoy them.

No. 70. DEUT. Xxviii. 24. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust.] An extract from Sir T. Roe's Embassy, P. 373, will greatly illustrate this. "Sometimes there (in India) the wind blows very high in hot and dry seasons, raising up into the air, a very great height, thick clouds of dust and sand. These dry showers most grievously annoy all those among whom they fall; enough to smite them all with a present blindness; filling their eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouths too, if they be not well guarded; searching every place, as well within as without, so that there is not a little key-hole of any trunk or cabinet, if it be not covered, but receives some of the dust into it." If this was the judgment threatened, it must have been a calamity much to be deprecated.'

'No. 79. JUDGES, iii. 31. And after him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad.] Mr. MAUNDRELL, (Journey, April 15.) has an observation which at once explains this transaction, and removes every difficulty from

M 4

the

the passage. He says, "The country people were now every wherg at plough in the fields, in order to sow cotton. It was observable, that in ploughing they used goads of an extraordinary size; upon measuring of several, I found them about eight feet long, and at the bigger end six inches in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade, or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that encumbers it in working. May we not from hence conjecture, that it was with such a goad as one of these that Shamgar made that prodigious slaughter related of him, Judges, iii. 21. I am confident that whoever should see one of these instruments, would judge it to be a weapon not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for such an execution. Goads of this sort I saw always used hereabouts, and also in Syria; and the reason is, because the same single person both drives the oxen, and also holds and maDages the plough; which makes it necessary to use such a goad as is above described, to avoid the incumbrance of two instruments."

• No. 162. JOB, XXX. 22. Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.] Amongst other interpretations given of this passage, the editor of CALMET's Dictionary refers to a sand-storm, and justifies the application of such an idea by the following extract from Mr. Bruce: "On the 14th, at seven in the morning, we left Assa Hagga, our course being due north. At one o'clock we alighted among some acacia trees at Waadi el Halboub, having gone twenty-one miles. We were here at once sur prised and terrified by a sight surely one of the most magnificent in the world. In that vast expanse of desert, from W. and to N. W. of us, we saw a number of prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, at times moving with great celerity, at others stalking on with a majestic slowness; at intervals we thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm us; and small quantities of sand did actually more than once reach us. Again they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds; there the tops often separated from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and did not appear more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon shot. About noon they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon us, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them ranged along side of us about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to me, at that distance, as if it would measure ten feet. They retired from us with a wind at S. E. leaving an impression upon my mind to which I can give no name, though surely one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. It was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry us out of this danger, and the full persuasion of this rivetted me as if to the spot where I stood, and let the camels gain on me so much in my state of lameness, that it was with some difficulty I could overtake them." Travels, vol. iv. p.553.) If this quotation is allowed to explain the imagery used by Job, we see a magnificence in it not before apparent. "We see how Job's dignity might be exalted in the air, might rise to great grandeur, im

portanc

portance, and even terror, in the sight of beholders; might ride upon the wind, which bears it about, causing it to advance or to recede; and, after all, when the wind diminishes, might disperse this pillar of sand into the undistinguished level of the desert. This comparison seems to be precisely adapted to the mind of an Arab, who must have seen, or have been informed of, similar phenomena in the countries around him."

No. 333. DANIEL, V. 27. Thou art weighed in the balances.] From the following extract it will appear that there is an allusion in these words which will justify a literal interpretation of them. "The first of September (which was the late mogul's birth-day, he, retaining an ancient yearly custom, was in the presence of his chief grandces weighed in a balance: the ceremony was performed within his house, or tent, in a fair spacious room, whereinto none were admit ed but by special leave. The scales in which he was thus weighed were plated with gold; and so was the beam, on which they hung by great chains, made likewise of that most precious metal. The king, sitting in one of them, was weighed first against silver coin, which immedi ately afterwards was distributed among the poor; then was he weighed against gold; after that against jewels, (as they say,) but I observed, (being there present with my lord ambassador,) that he was weighed against three several things, laid in silken bags on the contrary scale. When I saw him in the balance, I thought on Belshazzar, who was found too light (Dan. v. 27.) By his weight (of which his physi cians yearly keep an exact account) they presume to guess of the present estate of his body, of which they speak flatteringly, however they think it to be." Sir THOMAS ROE's Voyage to India.

No 380. MATTH. vi. 5. Pray in the corners of the streets.] Such a practice as is here intimated by our Lord was probably common at that time with those who were fond of ostentation in their devotions, and who wished to engage the attention of others. It is evident that the practice was not confined to one place, since it may be traced in different nations. We have an instance of it related by AARON HILL (in his Travels, p. 52): "Such Turks as at the common hours of prayer are on the road, or so employed as not to find convenience to attend the mosques, are still obliged to execute that duty nor are they ever known to fail, whatever business they are then about, but pray immediately when the hour alarms them, in that very place they chance to stand on; insomuch that when a janissary, whom you have to guard you up and down the city, hears the notice which is given him from the steeples, he will turn about, stand stili, and beckon with his hand, to tell his charge he must have pati nce for a while; when, taking out his handkerchief, he spreads it on the ground, sits cross legged thereupon, and says his prayers, though in the open market; which having ended, he leaps briskly up, salutes the person whom he undertook to convey, and renews his journey with the mild expression of ghell johnnum ghell, or, come, dear, follow me." It may be proper to add, that such a practice as this is general throughout the East.'

No. 429. MARK ix. 41. Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, shall not lose his reward] To furnish travellers

with water is at this time thought a matter of such consideration, that many of the Eastern people have been at a considerable expence to procure passengers that refreshment. "The reader, as we pro. ceed," says Dr. CHANDLER, (Trav. in Asia Minor, p. 20.) "will find frequent mention of fountains. Their number is owing to the nature of the country and the climate. The soil, parched and thirsty, demands moisture to aid vegetation; and a cloudless sun, which iaflames the air, requires for the people the verdure, shade, and coolness, its agreeable attendants; hence they occur not only in the towns and villages, but in the fields and gardens, and by the sides of the Toads, and by the beaten tracks on the mountains. Many of them are the useful donations of humane persons while living, or have been bequeathed as legacies on their decease. The Turks esteem the erecting of them as meritorious, and seldom go away after performing their ablutions or drinking, without gratefully blessing the name and memory of the founder." Then, after observing that the method used by the ancients of obtaining the necessary supplies of water still prevails, which he describes as done by pipes, or paved channels, he adds, "when arrived at the destined spot, it is received by a cistern with a vent, and the waste current passes below from another cistern, often an ancient sarcophagus. It is common to find a cup of tin or iron hanging near by a chain, or a wooden scoop with an handle placed in a niche in the wall. The front is of stone, or marble, and in some, painted and decorated with gilding, and with an inscription in Turkish characters in relievo." The blessing of the name and memory of the builder of one of these fountains shews that a cup of water is in these countries by no means a despicable thing.

a very

hand.

Niebuhr tells us that, among the public buildings of Kahira, those houses ought to be reckoned where they daily give water gratis to all passengers that desire it. Some of these houses make some appearance; and those whose business it is to wait on passengers are to have some vessels of copper curiously tinned, and filled with water, always ready on the window next the street. (Voyage en drabie, tom. i. p. 97.)'

May not this custom also explain Isaiah, lv. 1 ?

No. 483. St. JOHN, xix. 29. Vessel full of vinegar.] It is wel known that vinegar and water which mixture was called posca) was the constant drink of the Roman soldiers; perhaps therefore this vinegar was set here for their use, or for that of the crucified persons, whose torture would naturally make them thirsty.'

No. 565. HAB. xii. 1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, ond the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.] Capellus thinks that the cloud of witnesses is an allusion to vast numbers of birds flying together like a cloud. (Isaiah, lx. 8.) The word witnesses certainly refers to the Olympic race, where persons were appointed to stand at the mark, to observe who first came thither, and give evidence in favour of the conqueror, upon whom a crown was bestowed according to their testimony.'

'No.

The stone here re

No. 584. REV. ii. 17. A white stone.] ferred to is such an one as was used in popular judicature, or in elections, the custom being to give the votes in either of these by such stones. These were either white or black; the white was a token of absolution or approbation, the black of condemnation or rejection. There were judges in the agonistical games, who awarded the prizes to the conqueror by the use of these stones, a white one, with the name of the person and the value of the prize, being given to such as were victorious.

Ovid expressly mentions, that black and white stones were used to absolve or condemn persons at Argos.

Mos crat antiquus, niveis atrisque lapillis,
His damnare reos, illis absolvere culpâ.

Metam. lib. xv. lin. 42.'

From these quotations, it will be evident that the work before us has not only been composed with considerable labour, but that this labour will be productive of much utility. Among a multitude of observations, however, it will not be expected that Mr. B. should be equally happy :-in some, perhaps, he may be credulous, or may have fallen inadvertently into error, or may have drawn conclusions not justified by the facts stated. We will not positively assert that he has placed too much confidence in the wonderful relations of Mr. Bruce, whatever may be our opinion; but we must confess that we smiled at his having seriously quoted Livy, in order to prove that there have been showers of stones which have continued two days together. His comment on Mark ix. 44. is not such as his system of interpretation requires; and the facts which explain the passage are omitted. The remark on the body of Lazarus, John, xi. 17. respecting a revolution of humours which occupies seventy-two hours in a corpse before it putrifies, has (we believe) as little support from philosophy, as the account, in P. 344, of Sardanapalus introducing the worship of Heliogabalus into Reme,' can derive from chronology.

We offer these strictures, not to detract from Mr. B.'s merit, nor to discourage him, but from the same motives which incited him to this undertaking.

The arrangement of the observations according to the order of Scripture, both in the Old and the New Testament, will render this work an acceptable book of reference to Divines and biblical Scholars. It is also enriched with two useful indexes; and we hope and expect that the author will meet with that encouragement, which will induce him to prepare a more correct and enlarged edition.

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