CHAPTER XVI. VERSE 12.

ASA'S DISEASE.

AND Asa was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great.

The diseases mentioned in Scripture are described by so few symptoms, that modern physicians hardly know how to determine them. Such is the case in this instance of Asa: which commentators usually call the gout; of which it is characteristic, that it seizes rather the rich than the poor. The original says, hyny od lemoleh, which the LXX render śws σpodgα, ews avw, proceeding upward, proceeding to the superior parts. If this disease then was the gout, it first attacked his feet, and afterward rose to his stomach, &c. Scheuzer, however, inclines to that kind of swelling of the feet and legs which is called adematous; which, gradually rising higher in the body, degenerates into the dropsy. Either of these notions of this disorder differs from that suggested in our translation.

And Uzziah prepared throughout all the host, 1st, shields; 2dly, spears; 3dly, helmets; 4thly, habergeons; 5thly, bows; 6thly, slings to cast stones; and he made in Jerusalem, 7thly, engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and on the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones.

It deserves notice that this is the earliest mention of a magazine of military stores. It consists of,

1st, Shields, meganim. There is no difficulty in this word.

2dly, Spears, remachim. This is a thrusting weapon of war; a spear, lance, or pike.

3dly, Helmets, cuboim. Defenders, protectors, for the head.

4thly, Habergeons, sherinuth. The habergeon is a kind of coat of mail; a defensive armour for the body.

5thly, Bows, keshetuth. This is the regular and constant rendering of the word.

6thly, Slings to cast stones, labeni kalsim. Whether these slings were to be used by one person only, or whether they were of a more powerful nature, does not appear. One might be led to think that slings of the simpler kind needed little storing; but instruments to throw many stones at once, might be considerable pieces of artillery. This cannot be the meaning of the following instrument, for that is expressly said to throw great, not many, stones.

7thly, Engines, chashebenuth. This is the earliest account we have on record of military devises devised by devisers, for the defence of fortified towns. It appears, that of these, some were to shoot arrows, and others to cast great stones. We can only refer on this subject to the balista and catapultœ of the Romans: and of these our knowledge is but imperfect. We might, indeed, if it were applicable, collect much from the histories of the attacks and defences of castles, &c. in former days, in our own country; but, as what we could offer must be attended with great uncertainty, we think it better to pass this article, with such a reference: for, after all our researches, the machines employed by Uzziah might be totally unlike whatever we could set before the reader.

This passage is favourable to those who attribute rather to the Orientals, than to the Greeks or Romans, the invention of arts, especially of military arts and machines. The various names given to such engines would little edify the reader. Their powers are described as very great. Nonnius speaks of baliste of 100, or 120 pounds; meaning, instruments which threw stones of that weight. Diodorus, lib. xx. mentions a machine which threw stones of thrice six-score pounds; the distance to which they threw is also surprising, since they reached to three stadia, [perhaps even to a mile distant ;] they could throw in one night 500 stones, and by day 1,000. They were employed also in battle. Tacitus, Hist. iii. mentions a battalion of the enemy overthrown by a volley of great stones. These machines had no need of stores of iron, powder, sulphur, pitch, &c. but for the most part, could find much usable ammunition wherever a fort was to be attacked, or a city to be besieged in which, if not in other respects, they had the advantage of our cannon, which now have entirely superseded them.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 69.

THEY gave... threescore and one thousand drams of gold. These drams being mentioned together with 5,000 pound of silver, in our version, seem to convey the idea of weight; whereas, in fact, these daraconim, drams, were a Median coin, struck by one of the elder Darius's and named after him durics. The Scholiast on Aristophanes says, Eccles. p. 741. "The stateras of gold are the darics, so called, not from Darius, father of Xerxes, but from a more ancient king." This agrees with the older account, 1 Chron. xxix. 7. "the princes of Israel gave... ten thousand drams of gold." These then were golden darics, obtained from Persia by commerce. A pretty strong hint from what part of the world gold was obtained in the days of David.

[The word rendered pound of silver, is mina: worth 60 shekels; Ezek. xlv. 12. about 71.]

CHAPTER VIII. VERSE 27.

Tmo vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. The LXX, Vulgate, Castalio, and the Arabic, render, "vases of shining brass;" the Syriac reads, "vases of Corinthian brass." It is more probable, however, that this brass was not from Corinth, but from Persia, or India, which Aristotle, de Mirabilibus, describes in these terms: "It is said that there is in India, a brass so shining, so pure, so free from tarnish, that its colour differs nothing from that of gold. It is even said, that among the vases of Darius, there were some, respecting which the sense of smelling might determine, whether they were gold or brass." Bochart, Hier. part. ii. lib. iv. cap. 16. is of opinion, that this brass is the chasmal of Ezek. i. 27. and the fine brass of the Revelations, i. 15; ii. 18. the electrum of the ancients.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 6.

"AND the king said to me, the queen also sitting by him." The reader will see on Esther, our difficulties on the admission of Haman, as a man, into the haram of Ahasuerus: yet here we find Nehemiah admitted as cup bearer, while the king and his consort; for the queen, according to our idea of that dignity, is unknown in the East; were together and they were banqueting also, as it should appear, and reclining on a duan, or sopha; so that Nehemiah seems to have taken his opportunity, when the king was in good humour, to prefer his request: like lord Burleigh, who never solicited a favour from queen Elizabeth, till after she had dined. Now if Nehemiah, though a man, was admitted to such familiarity with the king and his consort, it abates the singularity of Haman's making one at Esther's banquet: perhaps there was some peculiarity in this respect at the Persian court: certain days, or festivals, &c. when this took place. Vide on Esth. ad. fin.

CHAPTER VIII. VERSE 15. Fetch olive branches, pine branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths.

Josephus calls the feast of tabernacles "the most holy of all." In Levit. xxiii. 40. are mentioned, goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, boughs of thick trees, willows of the brook. We see, by comparing these passages, that though the general purport of them is the same, yet the particulars differ. Nehemiah was more attentive to the spirit and the meaning of the precept than to its strict verbal construction.

1st, Olive branches; this has no difficulty.

2dly, Pine branches, literally branches of oily, or gummy, plants. The LXX say cypress. Scheuzer says, "the Turks call the cypress zemim. I should prefer the whole species called jasmin, on account of its verdure, its fragrance, and its flowers, which are highly esteemed. The word jasmin, and the jasemin of the Turks, resembles strongly the shemen of the Hebrew original here. The Persians also name this plant semen and simsyk."

3dly, Myrlle branches. 4thly, Palm branches.

5thly, Branches of THICK TREES. These words seem to include all handsome looking trees capable of forming a cool recess, or of casting a salutary and grateful shadow.

In Leviticus, the institutory passage, we read:

1st, Boughs, a different word from branches here, of goodly trees, hedar; literally, fruit of the beautiful trees. The Targum says, the citron, lemon, or orange-tree the Jews still use the fruit of this tree in their public services on the feast of tabernacles, as well as at home.

2dly, Boughs, the proper word for boughs, of palm

trees.

3dly, Branches of trees which intertwine each other. But I rather think a specific kind of tree is intended. The Targum says, myrtle, which answers to the hadas myrtle of Nehemiah.

4th, Willows of the brook. From this plant the Rabbins name this festival the feast of the willow : probably, because this kind of tree was procured in the greatest abundance at this season.

THE book of Esther affords little for the remarks of a naturalist. On the subject of manners and customs, it is indeed very interesting, and very capable of elucidation; but that is not our immediate object. For the description of the palace of Ahasuerus, chap. i. verses 6, &c. vide the hints annexed to the plate.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 11.

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her. The reader, no doubt, has often perceived, that the anxiety of Mordecai for Esther was extreme; but we cannot fully enter into the circumstance of his walking day after day, for a long period of time, probably upward of a year, without recollecting the extreme vigilance with which the harams of the East are guarded. On this subject let Chardin speak: "The place where the women are shut up is sacred, especially among persons of condition; and it is a crime for any person whatever to be inquiring what passes within those walls. The husband has there an absolute authority, without being obliged to give any account of his actions. And it is said, that there are most bloody doings in those places sometimes, and that poison despatches a world of people, which are thought to die a natural death," p. 332.

"I could not learn what was done more the rest of the night; for I have already informed you how difficult it is to be informed of the transactions in those habitations that seem to be regions of another world. There are none but women that can approach within a league of it, or some black eunuchs, with whom a man may as well converse with so many drag ons that can discover those secrets, and you may as well tear out their hearts as a syllable upon that text. You must use a great deal of art to make them speak; just as we tame serpents in the Indies, till they make them hiss and dance when they please," p. 54. Cor. Solyman.

"And here we must observe, that Habas the Second left behind him two sons; or, at least, I never heard that he left any more, nor is it known whether

he left any daughters or no. For what is done in the women's apartment is a mystery concealed even from the grandees and prime ministers. Or, if they know any thing, it is merely upon the account of some particular relation or dependence which the secret has to some peculiar affair, which, of necessity, must be imparted to their knowledge. For my part, I have spared neither pains nor cost to sift out the truth, but I could never discover any more; only that they believed he never left any daughter behind him that lived. A man may walk an hundred days one after another by the house where the women are, and yet know no more what is done therein, than at the further end of Tartary," p. 6.

We learn from these extracts, 1st, that to inquire what passes in the haram, is a crime; 2dly, that it is possible, "by a great deal of art," and weighly reasons, no doubt, to make the black eunuchs "speak," on some occasions; 3dly, that a man may walk an hundred days one after another, yet obtain no intelligence from thence; 4thly, that "bloody doings" are occasionally transacted there.

I think these hints account for the conduct of Mordecai, who, 1st, walked every day before the court of the women's house, to pick up any intelligence that might chance to be dropped respecting his niece. An English reader is apt to say, "why did not he visit her at once?" or, "to be sure, when he walked before the court, he inquired of the servants, and they told him, as a matter of course;" no such thing; he walked, day after day, if perchance he might make some of these "dragons," in any degree, tractable. In like manner, the English reader supposes, that, chap. ii. 22. when "Mordecai told Esther the queen," of the treason of the king's chamberlains, that he spoke to her personally: no such thing; he sent her the intelligence by intervening agents. And when Mordecai, in the utmost distress, wished to communicate with Esther, chap. iv. 2. "he cried with a loud and bitter cry, even before the king's gate," which was the only mean left him of gaining attention from the attendants of the palace: some of whom, coming out to him, returned and told Esther, who was too far off to hear him. Esther sent her own

chamberlain, Hatach, to inquire from Mordecai himself the cause of his lamentation and by means of Hatach, messages passed between them; which agrees with what Chardin says, that it is possible on urgent occasions to make these officers "speak." We learn also, that there are "bloody doings" in the haram; this agrees with the remark of Mordecai, chap. iv. 13. "think not that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews." He certainly means that Haman would procure her death, even in the ha

ram.

I would further query, whether the whole of the transactions related in the book of Esther did not pass within the royal precincts? For though we read of the city, so we do of the city of David, which certainly was part of David's palace, vide FRAGMENT, No. 140; also on Cant. No. 349; and if this may be admitted, we have mentioned, 1st, the interior pavilion, or residence of the king; the inner court, chap. iv. 11. also, 2dly, the haram, or women's apartment, in the interior of the palace; also, 3dly, the royal palace itself, chap. ii. 8. also, 4thly, the exterior part of the palace," the king's gate," where his officers assembled; also, 5thly, the city, or exterior streets of buildings outside the royal palace, but distinct from the metropolis, and certainly surrounded by a wall, which included the palace, garden, &c.

The consideration of the extent of the royal district, the power of the king in this his privacy, the caprices which some kings have practised, of which we have many instances in Eastern travels, and not a few in Persia, the correspondence of this history to the modes of modern times, and the ease which attends it, on this supposition, all these contribute to tolerate the query. The difficulty is, how Haman, a man, though a prime minister, was admitted into the haram? It is a singularity, to which I have hitherto

met with no parallel: nothing but the desperation of Esther, chap. v. 1. renders it credible: every thing was to be risked on an occasion like this, to set aside the unchangeable edict of the Persian monarch!

The reader, however, has seen what we have said on the freedom enjoyed by Nehemiah: and we are assured by Herodotus of two things: 1st, that the Persians were great drinkers of wine, vol. i. p. 137. Beloe's Translation, and that when filled with wine, they deliberated on the most important affairs of state, which is what we find practised by Ahasuerus and Haman, in respect to the discussion of the question respecting the extermination of the Jews, chap. iii. 8, 15. so, when the king had enjoyed his wine, Nehemiah presented his request. 2dly, That the Persians did, on festival occasions, produce their women in public; for Herodotus relates a story of seven Persians being sent to Amyntas, a Grecian prince, who received them hospitably, and gave them a splendid entertainment: "when after the entertainment they began to drink, one of the Persians thus addressed Amyntas: Prince of Macedonia, it is a custom with us Persians, whenever we have a public entertainment, to introduce our concubines and young wives," vol. ii. p. 382. On this principle Ahasuerus gave command to bring his queen Vashti into the public assembly: and, whether a people who had such a custom among them, though only practised occasionally, might not also occasionally admit their confidential servants, though men, into those apartments where their wives banquetted with them, which might be sufficiently distant and distinct from the haram itself, though included in the same pile of buildings, deserves inquiry. Customs of countries differ; and customs of the same country differ at different periods of time.

WE are now proceeding to a division of the sacred books, which differs by strong distinctions from those we have hitherto been considering. The former were historical, narrative, matter of fact relations, the following are poetical, figurative, sublime, and not to be always strictly taken as simply accurate.

Poesy, though in one sense it may be said to be true, as founded on actual events, and attentive to the qualities and properties of natural objects, yet, in another sense, may be said to be false, as it does not confine itself to the mere representation of verity, when addressing its readers, but enlarges, augments, magnifies its subjects, solicits the aid of imagination, presses possibilities and impossibilities into its service, and thunders into the minds of those who peruse it, such representations of actions, persons, and things, as common speech would merely whisper; the whisper of common speech would, however, have the advantage of correctness, though it might scarce move the mind of a hearer; whereas, the thunder of poesy rouses the imagination, stimulates the attention, heats the fancy and conception, and while it produces this effect, which is its object, it little cares by what expressions, metaphors, or "glowing words," it accomplishes its purpose.

We observed somewhat of this, at the close of our remarks on Deuteronomy; and we shall find repeated occasion to warn the reader, not to forget the admitted privileges of a poet: such an one gives voice to things which have no voice; sensibility, to things which are insensible; intelligence to matters incapable of receiving ideas; and purpose, design, and meaning, to what is in its nature at the furthest distance from mental intention or thought.

When the poet says, the sea saw, the waters heard, the hills leaped, we know the sea has no eyes, the waters no ears, the hills neither legs nor feet. When the poet exalts the grave to a person, and describes its actions; when he says, destruction laughs at those it ruins, or hisses at those it vanquishes, we know that destruction is incapable of the actions attributed to it. While we perceive the poet's meaning, and even admire the vigour of his imagination, and the energy of his language, we withhold entire credence, and we abate in our judgment nearly as much as we suppose the writer has added; endeavouring to approach

the truth, whether by diminishing the amplitude of his descriptions, or by employing a kind of mental counterpoise, which may effect a tolerable equilibrium between exaggerated fancy and naked fact.

These ideas, and others connected with them, must be kept in mind no less while reading the poesy of Scripture, than any other: whoever takes literally what the author did not mean should be literally taken, can hardly be said to do his author justice; or to receive the proper advantage, which, no doubt, he seeks, and which, perhaps, is not difficult to be found and enjoyed by a more considerate mind.

The general conduct of the book of Job, as a poem, is of the most interesting kind: it opens with a preface, which describes the person and advantageous situation of a most worthy and excellent man; then it narrates by what means he was deprived of these blessings, and reduced to distress proportionate to his former prosperity; it describes certain of his former friends as visiting him, and endeavouring to excite his repentance for some secret sins, as they suppose, committed by him; while he protests his innocency from any such guilt. innocency from any such guilt. A person younger than those friends who had already spoken, then assumes the discourse, and gradually prepares the reader for an appearance of Deity himself, who reasons on the various works of his hand, and the various course of his providence in respect to them; all of which exceed the ability, conception, or direction of the human mind: leaving the inference, that he who thus wisely, though diversely, directs the course of nature, does equally wisely, though equally diversely, direct the ways of good men, who trust in him. I am afraid to conjecture whether there be not a dislocation in the latter part of the speech of the Deity; whether Deity ought to pause in speaking, or to continue speaking till it thinks proper to close entirely. That might be a proper inquiry for a version; the present is only an index.

The book of Job is so abundant in natural history, that to notice every instance fully, would require a volume. We have, as we hope, steered a middle course between wholly omitting, and enlarging too considerably. Those who are acquainted with literature know, that to refrain from enlargement on a subject is often more embarrassing to a writer, than to