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5064. [Luke xvi. 12.] If a man have hired a person to conduct a trade for him, and no agreement be made in regard to wages, in that case, the person hired shall receive onetenth of the profit. Gentoo Laws, chap. ix.

It is a common custom with the merchants of Turkey when they hire a broker, book-keeper, or other confidential servant, to agree, that they 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 the settling of accounts with their respective masters, is properly their own. AARON HILL's Trav. p. 77.

5065. [13. Ye cannot serve God and mammon] The advice here given to these men is this: not to attempt, at the same time, to serve God and mammon; but, when they, by their iniquities, have lost all hopes of admission into the kingdom of light, to secure a reception in the kingdom of darkness, and to imitate the example of the unjust steward, in the parable which he had just before delivered to them, who, having abandoned all expectations of future support from his lord, on account of his misbehaviour, had endeayoured to conciliate to himself the goodness of his tenants, that when he was put out of the stewardship, they might receive him into their houses; for which artful precaution his lord commended him, because he had done WISELY, but totally rejected him because he had not done honestly. 1 Cor. iii. 19. SOAME JENYNS' Works,

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when they behold from a distance the blessedness of the good; yes, when they only think about it. See No. 1316, 1320.,

SWEDENBORG, Arcana, n. 1974.

austerities and abasement of a monk; not by the liberal, generous, and spirited conduct of a man.” A. SMITH.

See No. 1140, 1142, 1145.

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5076. [Luke xix. 4.] The Sycamore of Scripture is a huge tree, the stem being often fifty feet thick. Of this the antient Egyptians made coffins, wherein to lay their embalmed dead. The wood is very proper for this use, as it does not rot for several ages, and not until it is very old. The Mummies which I saw in Egypt, says HASSELQUIST, were all preserved in coffins made of this wood, which, as well as the corpse, had kept sound for 2000 years. This large and branchy tree, by spreading out its boughs, affords excellent shade, being of great use to people living in a scorching climate, and travelling through deserts, as they may frequently rest their wearied limbs and drooping bodies, under the shade of a sycamore. Travels to the East, p. 259.

5077. [ 8.] The Christian writers tell us, that the Turkish emperor Selim, during his illness, leaning his head one day on the lap of Piri Pashâ, whom he loved above all others, said, "O Piri, I see I must shortly die without remedy." The Pashâ, availing himself of so favourable an opportunity, told him he would do well to build a hospital for the relief of the poor, with the great wealth taken from the Persian merchants in several parts of his empire. The Sultan answered, "Wouldst thou have me, Piri, bestow other men's goods, injuriously taken from them, on works of charity, for my own vain glory? That I will never do: nay, rather see, that they be restored to the right owners” — Which was done accordingly. See Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xii. p. 267.

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that part which inclosed the western side of the city, was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind.

:

Ibid. b. vii. ch. i. § 'l.

We learn from JOSEPHUS, that not less than one million one hundred thousand men perished at the siege of Jerusalem and to obviate the objection, how could so many be assembled he adds, that at a former paschal solemnity, a census had been made by the high-priests at the desire of the pro-consul Cestius; and that the number of men present were 2,700,000, the unclean and strangers not included.

See Exod. xxxiv. 23. De Bell. Jud. lib. vi. c. 9. § 3.

5081. [Luke xx. 34. The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage] by adoption. Thus Sarah, Rachel, &c. gave their servants in marriage-adoption, in order that the children of those servants by their own proper husbands, might be heirs to the inheritance of their Master,

5082. [Luke xxi. 5.] Anathemata (Grk.) is here used for the gifts and ornaments of the temple: anathemata, on the contrary, denotes where it occurs, things accursed, or devoted to destruction.

SUICER. Thesaur. voce anathema.

5083. [ 11.] In the year of our Lord 1620, on the 28th of the Mahomedan month Rabio'lawel, there appeared in the heavens at Constantinople a crooked sword (a comet?), five times as long as a spear, and three feet broad. It always rose in one place, followed the apparent motion of the heavens from east to west, and for a whole month shone with great brightness, after sun-set. In the year following the Bosphorus was completely frozen over; so that the inhabitants of Constantinople could pass to Skatari on foot.

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Modern Univer. Hist. vol, xii. p. 450.

5084. [- 20.] In the year 72, by the severe famine daring the seige of Jerusalem, from April 14th to the calends of July, out of one gate were carried forth to burial 1,580,000. After this, the fugitives of distinction reported, that 600,000 carcases of the poor were thrown out at the gates, besides

those buried by relations. Such as had none to carry them out, were thrown into great houses and shut up of such multitudes no account was ever taken. BARONIUS.

5085. [Luke xxi. 21, 22.] Accordingly, when the Roman forces under Gratus did on a sudden, and without any manifest cause, withdraw from the siege of Jerusalem, the Christians there, as divinely admonished, made use of that opportunity, all of them, to quit the city and retire to Pella on the other side of Jordan. EUSEB. lib. 3. cap. 5.

5086. [—— 24. Ye shall be led away captive] When the Tartars possessed themselves of the Province of Nankin, they made all the women of the province prisoners, and exposed for sale in the market, all whom they did not keep for themselves (as slaves).

5087.

BRETON'S China, vol. iii. p. 6.

When the city Jerusalem was taken by force, Titus Cesar persuaded me frequently (says JOSEPHUS) to take whatsoever I would of the ruins of my country; and said that he gave me leave so to do. But when my country was destroyed, I thought nothing else to be of value, which I could take and keep as a comfort under my calamities; so I made this request to Titus, that my family might have their liberty I had also the holy books by Titus's concession. Nor was it long after that I asked of him the life of my brother, and of fifty friends with him, and was not denied. When I also went once to the temple, by the permission of Titus, where there were a great multitude of captive women and children, I got all those that I remembered as among my own friends and acquaintance to be set free, being in number about one hundred and ninety; and so I delivered them without their paying any price of redemption, and restored them to their former fortune. He also honoured me with the privilege of a Roman citizen, and gave me an annual pension; and continued to respect me to the end of his life, without any abatement of his kindness to me.

Works of Josephus, vol. iii. pp. 242, 243.

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5090. [ 27.] M. SAUSOURE, from his observatory on Mont Blanc, beheld the evening-vapor, like a light gas, temper the sun's brightness, and form the finest purple belt, which encircled all the western part of the horizon; whilst, to the east, the snows at the base of the mount, coloured by this light, presented the finest and most magnificent spectacle. In proportion as the vapor descended and became more dense, this belt became narrower, and of a deeper color; and appeared at last of a blood-red: at the same instant small clouds, which roved above this chain, darted a light of such brightness, that they resembled flaming stars or meteors. - In the morning, the vapors, less condensed, did not form in the horizon a cordon so distinct and highly coloured; but, in return, he observed a singular phenomenon. It was formed of rays of a fine purple, which parted from the horizon to the west, precisely opposite to the sun; they were not clouds, but a sort of thin vapory homogeneous substance: these rays to the number of six, had their centre a little below the horizon, and extended to ten or twelve degrees from this

centre.

Pinkerton's Coll. part xvii. pp. 681, 682.

5091. [ 32.] As we are informed by Matthew (i. 17) that the forty-third generation from Abraham com. menced with the birth of Christ, and as the Lord here predicts that this His generation should not pass before judgment should be executed on Jerusalem, we hence learn that a generation is exactly 70 years; for nothing is more certain than that, in 68 Vespasian waged war in Judea, in 69 was declared emperor there by his army, in 70 caused Jerusalem to be destroyed, and in 71 triumphed there with his son Titus.

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not appear that lamb was used) has been imitated in different ways by different sects of Christians. The Corinthians were reproached with so celebrating it, as to make it subservient to intemperate pleasures of the table: they thought a Lord's Supper could not be too frequent, or too hearty, or too jovial. Other sects have supposed, not that the supper, but that the returning thanks (eucharistia, Grk.) constitutes the essence of the rite; and that the psychological effects which Christians have derived from the death, and resurrection of Christ, are the fittest objects at that time of human gratitude. Such Christians naturally prefer the term eucha rist, as drawing attention to what they consider as the chief part of the ceremony. Others have supposed, that brotherly love is in all cases the purest motive for conviviality; aud was especially so in the incident related. They place in the common participation of Christian feelings the utility of the rite; they would object to a solitary celebration, and insist on the duty of communion. -Sacrament means an oath, and, in general, any religious pledge publicly given. The ceremony of marriage is a sacrament. Taking the oath of allegiance is a sacrament. Taking the test is a sacrament. The church of Rome has seven sacraments. Those, who call their peculiar imitation of the Lord's supper emphatically the sacrament, either regard that rite as the most important of the ceremonies enjoined by christianity; or allude to its local selection by the magistrate, as the test of allegiance. Athenæum, Dec. 1808, No. 24, թ. 496.

Verse 14.] See Exod. xii. 6.

5093. [Luke xxii. 15.] The verb phagein (Grk.) signifies to eat what is sacred; esthiein, to eat a common meal.

5094. [36.] Without Permissions, man cannot be led by the Lord from evils, nor consequently reformed and saved; for if evils were not permitted to break out, a man could not see and acknowledge them, nor be induced to resist them.

SWEDENBORG, on Divine Providence, n. 251.

5095. [ 44.] A neighbour of mine, says J. WHITEHEAD, has something in his constitution different from what I ever met with in any other man. When he works, he generally perspires on the right side; it just takes one half of his face and of his body, so that you may see the sweat pouring down in large drops on the right side, while the left is perfectly dry and, when he eats, the perspiration changes to the left side, with as great a profusion as before, while the right is dry. Thus it alternately changes, by working and eating, from right to left and left to right; but he never perspires all over the face and body at the same time.

Month, Mag. for Nov. 1814, p. 302.

5096. [Luke xxii. 48.] The Cuscuta, or Dodder, roots not in the earth, but ascends the vegetables in its neighbourhood, and ultimately destroys the plant on which it had grown to maturity.

SEWARD'S Life of Darwin, p. 343.

5097. [ 52. Ho Strategos tou Hierou (Grk.), The Captain of the Temple. This appears to have been not a Roman but a Jewish officer: And as the service of the Temple is in the Old Testament expressed by a military term, tseba (Hebr.), Num. viii. 24, 25, so the Captain of the Temple was the person who commanded in chief the numerous Priests and Levites who by turns attended there, and appointed to them their posts and offices. See Num. iii. 32, 1 Chron. ix. 11. JOSEPHUS mentions such an officer by the same title, Strategos, who was evidently a Jew, being the High Priest's son. See his Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 5. § 2. Comp. De Bel. lib. ii. cap. 12. § 6, and cap. 17. § 2.

In Luke xxii. 52 (compare verse 4), mention is made of the Strategoi, Captains of the Temple in the plural, who, no doubt, were the inferior Jewish officers commanding the several parties of Priests and Levites under THE Strategos, or Commander in Chief.

PARKHURST'S Greek Lex. p. 631.

5098. [60.] The Jews affirm, that all cocks were removed out of Jerusalem at the time of the passover. See Frag. to CALMET, No. cclxiii.

See No. 1086.

5099. [Luke xxiii.] The conspiracy of the Jews in this Chapter, evinces the justice of God in abolishing their perverted doctrine and worship, and in establishing the law and the Gospel among the Geutiles, who, so far as Pilate is conPilate was concerned, had no share in his crucifixion. strained to give him up to the fury of the Jews, otherwise they would have impeached him "Thou art not Cesar's friend."

5100. [11.] Was this gorgeous robe, which John (xix. 5) tells us was purple, put on Jesus purposely for his condemnation?—The punishment of death, among the Romans, was decreed against all but the Cesars, who should have the audacity to wear purple.

See BERTHOLLET's Dyeing, by Hamilton, vol. i, pp. xiii, xix.

As this robe is said by Matthew (xxvii. 24) to have been of scarlet, and by John (xix. 5) of purple hue; it probably

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