thrown, with which they so completely conceal their faces, as rarely to leave more than one eye visible."MACMICHEL.

This woman, who was a Christian, wore on her head a hollow silver horn, rearing itself upward obliquely from her forehead, being four or five inches in diameter at the root, and pointed at its extreme.--BUCKINGHAM.

About two years ago, some of our Indian ships brought over a number of Sepoys, who did duty as marines on the voyage; these were newly clothed in England, and presented to the king. Perhaps there were but few, possibly not one, who, having the opportunity of seeing these soldiers, made the same observations as the writer of this article, respecting the helmets worn on their heads. These helmets appeared to be made of stout leather, or other strong substance; they were oval and nearly flat, like the trencher caps worn at our universities: in the centre rose a headpiece, or crown, ornamented with feathers, &c. and on the front, directly over the forehead, was a steel HORN, rising as it were from a short stem, and then assuming the form of one of our extinguishers, used to extinguish the light of a candle.

It appeared, also, that the comparison of such a military horn to the horn of a reem, (the unicorn of our translators,) the rhinoceros, was extremely applicable: for having seen the great rhinoceros at the menagerie at Versailles, we recollected the resemblance perfectly. Whether we should be justified in referring this part of dress to the military only, may be questioned; because Hannah, for instance, says, "My horn is exalted." 1 Sam. ii. 1. But women, occasionally, might adopt, as parts of dress, ornaments not altogether unlike this horn, even if this form of speech were not derived originally from the soldiers' dress, and transferred to a notorious disposition of mind; or to other instances. This also diminishes the apparent strangeness of Zedekiah's conduct, 1 Kings xxii. 11, who made himself HORNS of iron, and said, "Thus saith the Lord, With these" military insignia, "shalt thou push the Syrians until thou hast consumed them." We are apt to conceive of these horns, as projecting, like bulls' horns, on each side of Zedekiah's head. How different from the real fact! Zedekiah, though he pretended to be a prophet, did not wish to be thought mad, to which imputation such an appearance would have subjected him: whereas, he only acted the hero, the hero returning in military triumph: it was little more than a flourish with a spontoon. In corroboration of this idea, let us hear Mr. Bruce, who first elucidated this subject by actual observation:

"One thing remarkable in this cavalcade, which I observed, was the headdress of the governors of provinces. A large broad fillet was bound upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In the middle of this was a HORN, or conical piece of silver, gilt, about four inches long, much in the shape of our common candle extinguishers. This is called kern (1) or horn, and is only worn in reviews, or parades after victory. This I apprehend, like all other of their usages, is taken from the Hebrews, and the several allusions made in scripture to it, arises from this practice: --I said to the wicked, Lift not up the horn,'up your horn on high; speak not with a stiff neck.'--'The horn of the righteous shall be exalted with honour?"-TAYLOR IN CALMET.

Lift not

wood and charcoal in their rooms, but heat their baths with cowdung, the parings of fruit, and other things of a similar kind, which they employ people to gather for that purpose. In Egypt, according to Pitts, the scarcity of wood is so great, that at Cairo they commonly heat their ovens with horse or cow dung, or dirt of the streets; what wood they have, being brought from the shores of the Black Sea, and sold by weight. Chardin attests the same fact: "The eastern people always used cowdung for baking, boiling a pot, and dressing all kinds of victuals that are easily cooked, especially in countries that have but little wood;" and Dr. Russel remarks, in a note, that "the Arabs carefully collect the dung of the sheep and camel, as well as that of the cow; and that the dung, offals, and other matters used in the bagnios, after having been new gathered in the streets, are carried out of the city, and laid in great heaps to dry, where they become very offensive. They are intolerably disagreeable, while drying, in the town adjoining to the bagnios; and are so at all times when it rains, though they be stacked, pressed hard together, and thatched at top." These statements exhibit, in a very strong light, the extreme misery of the Jews, who escaped from the devouring sword of Nebuchadnezzar: "They that fed delicately, are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet, embrace dunghills." To embrace dunghills, is a species of wretchedness, perhaps unknown to us in the history of modern warfare; but it presents a dreadful and appalling image, when the circumstances to which it alludes are recollected. What can be imagined more distressing to those who lived delicately, than to wander without food in the streets? What more disgusting and terrible to those who had been clothed in rich and splendid garments, than to be forced by the destruction of their palaces, to seek shelter among stacks of dung, the filth and stench of which it is almost impossible to endure. The dunghill, it appears from holy writ, is one of the common retreats of the mendicant, which imparts an exquisite force and beauty to a passage in the song of Hannah: "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." The change in the circumstances of that excellent woman, she reckoned as great, (and it was to her not less unexpected,) as the elevation of a poor despised beggar, from a nauseous and polluting dunghill, rendered ten times more foetid by the intense heat of an oriental sun, to one of the highest and most splendid stations on earth.-PAXTON.

Ver. 24. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear ye make the LORD's people to transgress.

This affectionate form of speech may be heard in the mouth of every father. Thus, it is not common to mention the name, but my eldest, my youngest son, (or some other epithet to designate the one he wants.) "My sons, listen to the voice of your father." In passing through a village, a man or woman may be heard in every corner bawling out, Maganea," i. e. O son, or " Magalea," O daughter, "come hither; I want you."-ROBERTS.

Ver. 31. Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.

People, in cursing each other, say, " In thy family may there never be an old man," meaning, may all die in youth. "Alas! alas! there has not been an old man in that family for many generations."-ROBERTS.

CHAPTER IV.

Ver. 12. And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day. with his clothes rent, and with earth his upon head.

He indulged his grief to a violent degree, beating his breast, and, among his other exclamations, frequently made use of one, very illustrative of that ancient act of grie

heaping ashes on the nead. He said, Ahr cheh hak be ser-emun amed, What earth has come on my head? repeating this with a constant intermixture of Ah wahi, which he would continue to repeat for above fifty times, in a whining piteous voice, lowering its tone till it became scarcely audible, and then continuing it, solo voce, until he broke out again into a new exclamation.-MORIER.

Ver. 13. And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

Sitting on a cushion is, with the Orientals, an expression of honour, and the preparing a seat for a person of distinction seems to mean, laying things of this kind on a place where such a one is to sit. "It is the custom of Asia," Sir J. Chardin informs us, "for persons in common not to go into the shops of that country, which are mostly small, but there are wooden seats, on the outside, where people sit down, and if it happens to be a man of quality, they lay a cushion there." He also informs us, "that people of quality cause carpets and cushions to be carried everywhere, that they like, in order to repose themselves upon them more agreeably." When Job speaks of his preparing his seat, ch. xxix. 7, it is extremely natural to understand him of his sending his servants, to lay a cushion and a carpet on one of the public seats there, or something of that sort, as Sir John supposes; but I do not imagine a seat in the street, means a seat by a shop. Job is speaking evidently of his sitting there as a ruler among his people. Eli's seat by the wayside, was a seat adorned, we may believe, after the same manner. He did not sit in a manner unbecoming so dignified a personage.-HARMER.

CHAPTER VI.

Ver. 4. Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5. Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. This animal (the mouse) is so very diminutive, that the Jewish naturalist places it among the reptiles, refusing it the honour of appearing among the quadrupeds. But, small and apparently insignificant as it is, in the oriental regions it often produces greater calamities than are experienced from all the beasts of prey with which they are infested. Formidable by its activity, its voraciousness, and its countless numbers, it lays waste the fields of Palestine and Syria, devours their harvests, and spreads famine and wretchedness among the helpless inhabitants. The extent and severity of the distress in which its ravages frequently involve the people of those countries, are sufficiently attested by the offering of five golden mice, from the lords of the Philistines, to appease the wrath of God, and avert the plague under which they had so greatly suffered. The account of this transaction is recorded in the first book of Samuel, and runs in these terms: "Then said they, what shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land." These words undoubtedly intimate, that Palestine was very often visited by this scourge, and that the sufferings of its inhabitants were very severe. The devastations of this little destructive creature were so frequent, so extensive, and followed by consequences so dreadful, that even the unenlightened Philis

tines considered them as an immediate judgment from God himself. But this terrible scourge was not peculiar to Palestine: Strabo mentions that so vast a multitude of mice sometimes invaded Spain, as to produce a destructive pestilence; and in Cantabria, the Romans, by setting a price on a certain measure of these animals, escaped with difficulty from the same calamity. In other parts of Italy, the number of field-mice was so great, that some of the inhabitants were forced to leave the country. In Thrace, the frogs and mice sometimes united their hordes, and compelled the inhabitants to seek new settlements. In modern About the beginning of the twelfth century, innumerable times, instances of the same calamity are not wanting. swarms of locusts and mice, during four successive years, so completely ravaged that country, as to produce almost a total failure of the necessaries of life. So great and general was the distress of the people, that a kind of penitential council was held at Naplouse, in the year 1120, for the reformation of manners, and to invoke the mercy of the Almighty, who had been provoked by their sins to inflict upon them such terrible judgments.-PAXTON.

Ver. 5. Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel.

This command was given by the heathen priests and diviners to the Philistines, who were smitten with emerods, and whose land was nearly destroyed by the mice. It is a remarkable fact, that when the Hindoos are afflicted in any particular member, (or in the person generally,) they make an image to represent the afflicted part, and send it to the temple of Kanda Swamy, the Scandan of Bengal, in order to get relieved from their trouble. The temple of Kattaragam (sacred to Scandan) is famous, in ALL parts of the East, for the cures which have been performed by the deity there. Hence may be seen pilgrims at its shrine, suffering under every kind of disease, who have walked, or have been carried, from an immense distance. The images presented are generally made of silver, and I have seven of them in my possession, which are offerings in the famous temple already mentioned. The first represents a boy with a very large belly, which has probably been pre(very common) complaint. The second is that of an insented by the parents for their child labouring under that fant, probably sent by a mother who had a sick infant, or who, being herself in a state of pregnancy, had some fears respecting the future. The third is, I suppose, intended to represent an old man, who may have made a vow in his sickness, that he would present an image of silver to the temple, should he recover.—ROBERTS. (See Engraving.)

CHAPTER VII.

Ver. 5. And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. Aware of the dangers and calamities of war, ancient Israel were accustomed to perform very solemn devotions before they took the field: and it would seem, they had certain places particularly appropriated to this purpose. Samuel convened the people to Mizpeh, in order to prepare, by a solemn address to the throne of Jehovah, for the war which they meditated against the Philistines. "And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord." At other times, they asked counsel of God by the Urim and Thummim, or by a prophet of the Lord. Such a custom was common in Egypt, when Pococke visited that country. Near Cairo, says that trayeller, beyond the mosque of Sheik Duisse, and in the neighbourhood of a burial-place of the sons of some pashas, on a hill, is a solid building of stone about three feet wide, built with ten steps, being at the top about three feet square, on which the sheik mounts to pray on an extraordinary occasion, as when all the people go out at the beginning of a war; and also when the Nile does not rise as they expect it should; and such a place, they have without all the towns of Turkey.-PAXTON.

Ver. 6. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the

unto thee, Set it by hire. 24. And the cook
took up
the shoud and that which was upon

it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said,
Behold that which is left! set it before thee,
and eat for unto this time hath it been kept
for thee, since I said, I have invited the people.
So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.

The shoulder of a lamb well roasted, and covered with butter and milk, is another delicacy, which the orientals greatly value. This explains the reason why Samuel ordered it to be set before his future sovereign, as well as what that was which was upon it, the butter and milk of which the sacred historian takes so particular notice.This was by no means a contemptible dish for a royal entertainment, as some have alleged; but on the contrary, one of the most delicious which could be set before the future anointed of Jehovah. It appears from the accounts of travellers, that lamb is, in those parts of the world, extremely delicate. One, says Chardin, must have eaten of it in several places of Persia, Media, and Mesopotamia, and of their kids, to form a conception of the moisture, taste, delicacy, and fat of this animal; and as the eastern people are no friends of game, nor of fish, nor fowls, their most delicate food is the lamb and the kid. It is therefore not without reason, the sacred writers often speak of the lamb and the kid, as the most agreeable food in those countries; and that the holy Psalmist celebrates the blessings of salvation, and particularly the spiritual comforts of the heaven-born soul, under the figure of "marrow and fatness."-PAXTON.

the mind to observe, that in the East they not only universally send before them a present, or carry one with them, especially when they visit superiors, either civil or ecclesiastical; but that this present is frequently a piece of money, and that of no very great value. So Dr. Pococke tells us, that he presented an Arab sheik of an illustrious descent, on whom he waited, and who attended him to the ancient Hierapolis, with a piece of money, which he was told he expected; and that in Egypt an aga being dissatisfied with the present he made him, he sent for the doctor's servant, and told him, that he ought to have given him a piece of cloth, and, if he had none, two sequins, worth about a guinea, must be brought to him, otherwise he should see him no more, with which demand he complied. In one case a piece of money was expected, in the other two sequins deimanded. A trifling present of money to a person of distinction among us would be an affront; it is not however, it seems, in the East. Agreeably to these accounts of Pococke, we are told in the travels of Egmont and Heyman, that the well of Joseph in the castle of Cairo is not to be seen without leave from the commandant; which having obtained, they, in return, presented him with a sequin. These instances are curious exemplifications of Mr. Maundrell's account of the nature of some of the eastern presents, and ought by no means to be omitted in collections of the kind I am now making. How much happier was the cultivation of Mr. Maundrell's genius than of St. Jerome's! Though this father lived so many years in the East, and might have advantageously applied the remains of their ancient customs to the elucidation of scripture, to which, if he was a stranger, he must have been an egregiously negligent observer; yet we find him, in his comment on Micah iii. 11, roundly declaring, that by a prophet's receiving money, his prophesying became divination. And when he afterward mentions this case of Saul's application to Samuel, as what he foresaw might be objected to him, he endeavours to avoid the difficulty, by saying, We do not find that Samuel accepted it, or that they even ventured to offer it; or if it must be supposed that he received it, that it was rather to be considered as money presented to the tabernacle, than the reward of prophesying. How embarrassed was the saint by a circumstance capable of the most clear explanation! Fond of allegorizing, he neglected the surest methods of interpretation, for which he had peculiar advantages; how different are the rewards of divination, which were to be earned, from the unconditional presents that were made to persons of figure upon being introduced into their presence! Before I quit this observation, I cannot forbear remarking, that there are other things presented in the East, besides money, which appear to us extremely low and mean, unworthy the quality of those that offer them, or of those to whom they are presented; and consequently that we must be extremely unqualified to judge of these oriental compliments. In what light might a European wit place the present of a governor of an Egyptian village, who sent to a British consul fifty eggs as a mark of respect, and that in a country where they are so cheap as to be sold at the rate of ten for a penny ?-HARMER.

A present always precedes the man who is to ask a favour. Those who come on a complimentary visit, or to ask a favour, always present a lime, or a nosegay, with a graceful bow, to propitiate their benefactor.-ROBERTS.

Ver. 13. Now the LORD had told Samuel in his

ear.

The priests have a remarkable custom of whispering .something in the ear of those who are to be initiated. When a boy has reached the age of eight, he is eligible to have the Ubatheasum whispered in his right ear. The communication is generally made in the Grandam language, which, of course, is not understood: they do, however, sometimes speak in familiar speech; but it will never be repeated, for the priest assures him, should he do this, his head will split in two. This ceremony is believed to have the power of a charm, and to possess talismanic influence. It is sometimes very expensive, but the benefits are believed to be so great as to warrant the expense.ROBERTS.

Ver. 23. And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said

Ver. 25. And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. 26. And they arose early: and it came to pass, about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. Egmont and Heyman tell us, that at Caipha, at the foot of Mount Carmel, "the houses are small and flat-roofed, where, during the summer, the inhabitants sleep in arbours made of the boughs of trees." They mention also tents of rushes on the flat roofs of the houses at Tiberias, which are doubtless for the same purpose, though they do not say so. Dr. Pococke in like manner tells us, "that when he was at Tiberias in Galilee, he was entertained by the sheik's steward, the sheik himself having much company with him, but sending him provisions from his own kitchen, and that they supped on the top of the house for coolness, according to their custom, and lodged there likewise, in a sort of closet, about eight feet square, of a wicker-work, plastered round towards the bottom, but without any door, each person having his cell." In Galilee then we find they lodged a stranger, whom they treated with respect, on the top of the house, and even caused him to sup there. This was the latter end of May. This writer is more distinct than the others on this point, and I have recited his account at large, because it may perhaps lead to the true explanation of 1 Sam. ix. 25, 26, which verses tell us, that after they descended from the high place, Samuel conversed with Saul (by al haggag) on the house-top; and that at the spring of the day Samuel called Saul to the housetop; or, as it may be equally well translated, on the housetop; that is, Samuel conversed with him for coolness on the housetop in the evening, and in the morning called Saul, who had lodged there all night, and was not got up, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. The Septuagint seem to have understood it very much in this light, for they thus translate the passage, And they spread a bed for Saul on the housetop, and he slept; which shows how suitable this explanation is to those that are acquainted with eastern customs. As it is represented in our translation, Samuel called Saul to the housetop in the morning; but no account for secrecy, for he did not anoint then, but after he had left can be easily given for this; it does not appear to have been Samuel's house, for which transaction the prophet ex

pressly required secrecy. "As they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us, and he passed on, but stand thou still awhile, that I may show thee the word of God." This sleeping on the terraces of their houses is only in summertime. By this then we may determine, in the general, that this secret inauguration of Saul was in that part of the year.

Dr. Shaw has cited this passage concerning Samuel and Saul, when mentioning the various uses to which the people of the East put the flat roofs of their houses, though without explaining it; but he has not mentioned, among the other scriptures, that relating to Nebuchadnezzar, who is described by the prophet as walking on the roof of his palace, and taking a view of Babylon, when he fell, upon surveying that mighty city, into that haughty_soliloquy which brought after it a dreadful humiliation. This is the more to be regretted, because though many have, all have not considered the passage in this light. Our own translation in particular has not, but renders the words, "He walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon," Dan. iv. 29, and has thrown the other reading upon the palace," into the margin, as less preferable. But to those that are acquainted with eastern customs, who recollect the passage, which Dr. Shaw, it seems, did not, there cannot be any doubt how it is to be understood. "Sur la terrasse," says Sir J. Chardin, in his MS. note on this place, "pour le plaisir de la vue, pour de lá considerer la ville, et pour prendre la frais, et c'est ce que prouve, le verset suivant." That is, he walked upon the terrace, for the pleasure of the prospect, to take a view of the city, and to enjoy the fresh air, which the following verse proves. Nothing can be more natural than this interpretation.-HARMER.

CHAPTER X.

Ver. 5. When thou art come hither to the city, thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp before them; and they shall prophesy.

The prophets in the ordinary modes of prophesying, were accustomed to compose their hymns to some musical instrument; and there could be but little difficulty in adapting their effusions to a measure which required, probably, no great restrictions in a language so free and uncontrolled as the Hebrew. The Jews conceived that music calmed the passions, and prepared the mind for the reception of the prophetic influence. It is probable, that the prophets on these occasions did not usually perform themselves on the musical instruments, but rather accompanied the strains of the minstrel with their voice.—(Lowth.) It has been the practice of all nations to adapt their religious worship to music, which the fabulous accounts of antiquity derived from heaven.-BURDER,

Ver. 27. But the children of Belial said, How

shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents: but he held his peace.

See on Ps. 76. 11.

CHAPTER XI.

Ver. 2. Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 2. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes.

This cruel practice was very common, formerly, in the East, and even yet prevails in some places. Mr. Hanway gives several instances of it. "Mohammed Khan, (not long after I left Persia,) his eyes were cut out." Page 224. "The close of this hideous scene of punishment, was an order to cut out the eyes of this unhappy man: the soldiers were dragging him to this execution, while he begged, with bitter cries, that he might rather suffer death." Page

203.

"Sadoc Aga had his beard cut off, his face was rubbed with dirt, and his eyes were cut out." Page 204. "As we approached Astrabad, we met several armed horsemen, carrying home the peasants whose eyes had been put out, the blood yet running down their faces." Page 201. Chardin relates an instance of a king of Imiretta, who lived in this condition. Page 160.-BURLER. Ver. 4. Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.

See on Jer. 6. 1.

CHAPTER XII.

Ver. 16. Now therefore stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. 17. Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

Though the summer in Syria is commonly dry, the heavens are sometimes overcast, and a smart thundershower suddenly rushes down to refresh the parched soil. One of these fell at Aleppo in the night between the first and second of July, 1743; but it was regarded as a very uncommon occurrence at that season. It is probably still more extraordinary at Jerusalem; for Jerome, who lived long in Palestine, denies, in his commentary on Amos, that he had ever seen rain in those provinces, and espe cially in Judea, in the end of June, or in the month of July. It may, however, occasionally fall, though Jerome had never seen it, as it did at Aleppo, while Dr. Russel resided in that city. But such an occurrence by no means invalidates the proof which the prophet Samuel gave of his divine mission, when he called for thunder and rain from heaven in the time of wheat-harvest; since a very rare and unusual event immediately happening without any preceding appearance of it, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving it as an attestation of his sustaining that character, is a sufficient proof that his affirmation is true, although a similar event has sometimes happened without any such declared interposition of God, and therefore universally understood to be casual and without design. Nor should it be forgotten, that this thunderstorm in the book of Samuel, seems to have happened in the daytime, while the people of Israel were celebrating the accession of Saul to the throne; a circumstance which, from its singularity, added considerable energy to this event, and, perhaps, was to them a sufficient proof of the miraculous interference of Jehovah. Dr. Russel informs us, that the rains in those countries usually fall in the night, as did those extraordinary thunderstorms

already mentioned, which happened in the month of July

-PAXTON.