No. 422.-xxvii. 29. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, Amongst other circumstances of suffering and ignominy, which accompanied the death of Christ, it is said that they plaited a crown of thorns, and put it upon his head. HASSELQUIST (Travels, p. 288.) says, "The naba or nabka of the Arabians is in all probability the tree which af forded the crown of thorns put on the head of Christ: it grows very commonly in the East. This plant was very fit for the purpose, for it has many small and sharp spines, which are well adapted to give pain; the crown might be easily made of these soft, round, and pliant branches; and what in my opinion seems to be the greatest proof is, that the leaves much resemble those of ivy, as they are of a very deep green. Perhaps the enemies of Christ would have a plant somewhat resembling that with which emperors and generals were used to be crowned, that there might be calumny even in the punishment." Other writers have advanced different opinions on this subject. Some have asserted that it was the acacia, or the white thorn, or the jun-, cus marinus; but after all, the matter must be left indeterminate. (See Bartholin. Dissert. de spineá Coroná.)

No. 423.-xxvii. 34. They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall.] Medicated wine, to deaden the sense of pain, was given to the Jewish criminals when about to be put to death; but they gave our Lord vinegar, and that in mockery, as they did other things, of his claim to royalty. But the force of this does not appear, if we do not recollect the quality of the wines drank anciently by princes, which it seems were of the

No. 424.-xxviii. 1. The end of the sabbath.] M. Basnage thus describes the manner in which the Jews conclude the sabbath. "In the evening they return to the synagogue, to prayer again. The law is taken from the ark a second time. Three persons sing the psalm of the sabbath, and read the section of the following week. They repeat the hundred and nineteenth psalm, and bring the perfume. According to Rabbam Simon, the son of Gamaliel, this was only a gum that distilled from a balsamic tree; but others maintain it was compounded of three hundred and sixty-eight pounds of different aromatic drugs, which the high priest pounded in a mortar. They find a mystery in this number, which they divide into two, and refer one of them to the days of the solar year. They think also, that this perfume is necessary to guard themselves from the ill odour that is exhaled from hell, the fire whereof begins to burn again when the sabbath ends. Lastly, the blessing is given as in the morning, and the sabbath concludes when they see three stars appear in the firmament." (History of the Jews, p. 442. § 16.)

No. 425.-ST. MARK i. 6.

He did eat locusts.

how

MUCH pains have been taken to prove that the locusts, which are said to have been a part of John the Baptist's food, were the fruit of a certain tree, and not the bodies of the insects so called; but a little enquiry after facts will fully clear up this matter, and shew that, ever disgustful the idea of such kind of food appears to us, the eastern nations have a very different opinion about it. Dampier informs us, (vol. i. p. 430.) that "the Indians of the Bashee islands eat the bodies of locusts:" and that he himself once tasted of this dish, and liked it very well. He also tells us (vol. ii. p. 27.) that the Tonquineze feed on locusts; that they eat them fresh, broiled on coals, or pickle them to keep; and that they are plump and fat, and are much esteemed by rich and poor, as good wholesome food, either fresh or pickled. Shaw observes (Travels, p. 188.) that the Jews were allowed to eat them; and that, when they are sprinkled with salt, they are not unlike in taste to our fresh-water cray-fish. IVES (Trav. p. 15.) informs us, that the inhabitants of Madagascar eat locusts, of which they have an innumerable quantity, and that they prefer them to the finest fish. (See also Herodotus, b. iv. s. 172.)

No. 426.-ii. 4. They uncovered the roof where he was.] The most satisfactory interpretation of this passage may be obtained from Dr. Shaw, who acquaints us, that "the houses throughout the East are low, hav

ing generally a ground floor only, or one upper story, and flat roofed, the roof being covered with a strong coat of plaster of terrace. They are built round a paved court, into which the entrance from the street is through a gateway or passage-room, furnished with benches, and sufficiently large to be used for receiving visits or transacting business. The stairs which lead to the roof are never placed on the outside of the house in the street, but usually in the gateway, or passageroom to the court, sometimes at the entrance within the court. This court is now called in Arabic, el woost, or the middle of the house; literally answering to 70 μLETOV of St. Luke v. 19. It is customary to fix cords from the parapet walls (Deut. xxii. 8.) of the flat roofs across this court, and upon them to expand a veil or covering, as a shelter from the heat. In this area probably our Saviour taught. The paralytic was brought on to the roof by making a way through the crowd to the stairs in the gateway, or by the terraces of the adjoining houses. They rolled back the veil, and let the sick man down over the parapet of the roof into the area or court of the house, before Jesus." (Trav. p. 277.)

No. 427. v. 38.

Wailed greatly.] The custom of employing mourning women by profession still prevails in the East. SHAW (Trav. p. 242.) speaking of the Moorish funerals, says, "there are several women hired to act on these lugubrious occasions, who, like the præficæ or mourning women of old, are skilful in lamentation, (Amos v. 16.) and great mistresses of these melancholy expressions, (that is, as he had before remarked, of squalling out several times together, loo, loo, loo, in a deep and hollow tone, with several ventriloquous sighs): and indeed they perform their part with such proper sounds, gestures, and commotions, that they rarely fail

to work up the assembly into some extraordinary pitch of thoughtfulness and sorrow. The British factory has often been very sensibly touched with these lamentations, whenever they were made in the neighbouring houses." So NIEBUHR, (Voyage en Arabie, tom. i. p. 150.) says, "the relations of a dead Mahometan's wife, not thinking themselves able to mourn for him sufficiently, or finding the task of continual lamentation too painful, commonly hire for this purpose some women who understand this trade, and who utter woeful cries from the moment of the death of the deceased until he is interred." (See Jer. ix. 17, 18.)

No. 428.-vii. 4. Except they wash they cat not.] Washings and purifications were carried to a most ceremonious excess by the pharisees, who thus abused what within proper bounds was expedient and commendable. Their conduct, however ridiculous, is paralleled by that of the Remmont, a sect of christians, of whom Mr. BRUCE (Travels, vol. iv. p. 275.) says, "their women pierce their ears, and apply weights to make them hang down and to enlarge the holes, into which they put earrings almost as big as shackles, in the same manner as do the Bedowise in Syria and Palestine. Their language is the same as that of the Falasha, with some small difference of idiom. They have great abhorrence of fish, which they not only refrain from eating, but cannot bear the sight of; and the reason they give for this is, that Jonah the prophet (from whom they boast they are descended) was swallowed by a whale, or some other such great fish. They are hewers of wood and carriers of water to Gondar, and are held in great detestation by the Abyssinians. They hold, that having been once baptized, and having once communicated, no sort of prayer or other attention to divine worship is necessary. They