useful. As it is the avowed intention of each article to explain some passage, it is proper that it should be inserted at length, and in a manner so conspicuous as at once to attract the attention of the reader.

To the materials collected from Mr. Harmer have been added some very important remarks from Shaw, Pococke, Russell, Bruce, and other eminent writers. It is admitted that many of these things have repeatedly passed through the press; but as the valuable ob servations which have been made by travellers and critics lie interspersed in separate and expensive publications, a compendious seleetion of them appeared very desirable, and is here accomplished.

But many of the following observations are original: they are not, however, particularly distinguished from the rest. I must here avail myself of an opportunity to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. Gillingwater, of Harleston in Norfolk, for the very liberal manner in which he favoured me with the use of his manuscript papers. They consist of additions to, and corrections of, Mr. Harmer's Observations, and were communicated to that gentleman with a view to assist him in the farther prosecution of his work; but it was too late, as the fourth and last volume was then nearly completed at the press, and in a single instance only, towards the close of it, was any use made of these materials. From this collection I have made many extracts, and have enriched this volume with several new articles on subjects which 'had not before been discussed. In the progress of my work, I have also derived very considerable assistance from many valuable books furnished by James Brown, Esq. of St. Albans; for which I acknowledge myself greatly obliged, and especially for his very careful correction of the manuscript before it went to the press.'

Instead of selecting from Harmer, it might have been preferable if Mr, Burder had given a Supplement, or Continuation; but, conceiving that the style of Mr. H. was difficult and prolix, that some of the subjects which he has discussed might be omitted, and that his work is too copious for the general reader, Mr. B. has been induced to abridge and classify it, and to interweave additional observations. He proceeds regularly through the O. and N. T., from Genesis to Revelation; and the merit of his illustrations will appear from the following specimens:

6 No. 22. GEN. xxxi. 40, In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night. "In Europe the days and nights resemble each other with respect to the qualities of heat and cold; but it is quite otherwise in the East. In the Lower Asia in particular, the day is always hot; and as soon as the sun is fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt in the depth of winter itself. On the contrary, in the height of summer the nights are as cold as at Paris in the month of March. It is for this reason that in Persia and Turkey they always make use of furred habits in the country, such only being sufficient to resist the cold of the nights." (Chardin in Harmer, vol. i. p. 74.) Campbell (Travels, part ii. p. ico.) says, sometimes we lay at night out in the open air, rather than enter a

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 cat them roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted meat, which the Turks in Egypt call kobub, 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. Melons.] By this we are probably to understand the water-melon, which, according to Hasselquist (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

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the passage. He says, "The country people were now every where 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 i 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 manages 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 surprised 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 mẹ 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.

portance

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 grandees weighed in a balance: the ceremony was performed within his house, or tent, in a fair spacious room, whereinto none were admit ed but The scales in which he was thus weighed were by special leave. 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 immediately 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 of the found too light (Dan. v, 27.) By his weight (of which his physicians yearly keep an exact account) they presume to guess present estate of his body, of which they speak flatteringly, however they think it to be." Sir THOMAS ROE's Voyage to India.'

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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 We have an instance of it related by be traced in different nations. 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 still, and beckon with his hand, to tell his charge he must have pati nee 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.'

Whosoever shall give you a cup of water No. 429. MARK ix. 41. with tę 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 inflames 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 roads, 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 perform ing 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.

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 a very handsome 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 Arabie, 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 well 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. HEв. xii. 1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and 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.