lamb, he went into the second; if a ram, into the third; if a calf, into the fourth; if a bullock, into the fifth; if an ox, into the sixth; but he only who offered his own son went into the seventh chapel; and kissed the idol Moloch, as it is written, Hos. xiii. 2. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. The child was placed before the idol, and a fire made under it till it became red-hot. Then the priest took the child, and put him into the glowing hands of Moloch; and lest the parents should hear his cries, they beat drums to drown the noise. Therefore the place was called Tophet, from Thoph, Thuppim, that signifies drums. It was also called Hinnom, because of the children's roaring, from the Hebrew word naham, to roar, or because the priests said to the parents, Jehenelah, It will be of advantage to you."

No. 713.-xix. 27. Ye shall not round the corners of your head.] The Hebrew word translated corners, signifies also the extremities of any thing: and the meaning is, they were not to cut their hair equal, behind and before; as the worshippers of the stars and the planets, particularly the Arabians, did. There are those however, who think it refers to a superstitious custom amongst the Gentiles, in their mourning for the dead. They cut off their hair, and that round about; and threw it into the sepulchre with the bodies of their relations and friends; and sometimes laid it upon the face or the breast of the dead, as an offering to the infernal gods, whereby they thought to appease them, and make them kind to the deceased. See Maimonides de Idol. c. xii. 1, 2. 5.

No. 714.-xix. 28. Nor print any marks upon you.] The painting of the bodies of eminent personages, or of others upon remarkable occasions, is known to have

obtained in countries very remote from each other. Our British ancestors were painted, and Dampier, the celebrated voyager, brought over an East Indian prince, whose skin was very curiously stained with various figures. The wild Arabs adorn themselves in this manner according to D'Arvieux, who tells us, among other things, in his description of the preparatives for an Arab wedding, that the women draw, with a certain kind of ink, the figures of flowers, fountains, houses, cypress-trees, antelopes, and other animals, upon all the parts of the bride's body. (Voy. dans la Pal. p. 223.) This the Israelites were forbidden to do.

No. 715.--xix. 32. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man.] The Jewish writers say that the rule was, to rise up to them when they were at the distance of four cubits; and as soon as they were gone by, to sit down again, that it might appear they rose up purely out of respect to them. Most civilized people have adopted the practice. Juvenal

says,

Credebant hoc grande nefas et morte piandum,

Si juvenis vetulo nor assurrexerat

Sat. xiii. v. 54.

The Lacedæmonians had a law, that aged persons should be reverenced like fathers. See also Homer, Il. xv. 204. et xxiii. 788. Odyss. xiii. 141.

No. 716.-xix. 36. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have.] Fraudulent practices were severely punished among the Egyptians, whether they were of a public or private wrong. Diodorus Siculus tells us, the law commands that both the hands should be cut off of those that adulterated money, or substituted new weights.

Jove sets the beam, in either scale he lays
The champion's fate, and each exactly weighs.

DRYDEN.

No, 717.-xxiii. 24. A memorial of blowing of trumpets.] Some commentators have conjectured, that this feast of trumpets was designed to preserve the memory of Isaac's deliverance by the substitution of a ram to be sacrificed in his stead: it has sometimes been called by the Jews, the binding of Isaac. But it is more probable that it derived its name from the kind of trumpets (ram's horns) then used, and that it was intended to solemnize the beginning of the new year, to remind them of the beginning of the world, and to excite their thankfulness for the fruits, benefits, and blessings of the preceding year. The extraordinary blowing of the trumpets by the priests at that time in all their cities, as well as at Jerusalem, where two silver trumpets were also used at the temple, as well as those of horn, when the Levites sung Psalm lxxxi, was well adapted to promote those important objects.

No. 718. xxiv. 11. And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name, and cursed.] The words, of the Lord, which immediately follow, blasphemed the name, being put in italics in our translation, shew that they form no part of the original text. Among the Palmyrenians it is a custom to inscribe on their marbles, "To the blessed name be fear for ever." "To the blessed name for ever good and merciful, be fear." This is exactly similar to the above cited passage, respecting the blasphemy of the Israelitish woman's son. FRAGMENTS, No. 490.

No. 719.-xxvii. 32. Whatsoever passeth under the rod.] This expresses the manner of the tithing, which according to the Jews was thus performed. The cattle were all brought into a sheep-cote, in which there was but one gate, and that so narrow as to suffer only one to come out at a time. The dams being placed without, and the gate opened, the young ones were invited by their bleating to press out to them. As they passed by, one by one, a man who stood at the gate with a rod coloured with ochre told them in order; and when the tenth came out, whether it were male or female, sound or not, he marked it with his rod, and said, Let this be holy in the name of the tenth. Bochart thinks that Moses does not here speak of the rod of the tithes, but of the shepherd's crook; for the flock passed under his rod as often as he numbered them, which was particularly done every evening. PATRICK, in loc,

No. 720.-NUMBERS i. 49.

Thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi.

FROM this example the heathen learned to exempt all those who ministered to their gods from all other services, especially from war. Strabo notes (Geograph. lib. ix.) this custom to have been as old as Homer's time; for in all his catalogue there is no mention of any ship that went against Troy from Alalcomenon, because that city was sacred to Minerva. Cæsar (lib. vi.) also observes, that the ancient Druids were exempt from war and from tribute.

No. 721. v. 17. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel.] Similar to this ordeal by the water of jealousy is the practice of some of the Africans, among whom Mr. Park travelled. He says, that "at Baniferile, one of our slatees (slave merchants) returning to his native town, as soon as he had seated himself on a mat by the threshold of his door, a young woman, his intended bride, brought a little water in a calabash, and kneeling down before him, desired him to wash his hands; when he had done this, the girl, with a tear of joy sparkling in her eyes, drank the water; this being considered as the greatest proof she could give him of her fidelity and attachment." Travels, p. 347,

"At Koolkorro my landlord brought out his writingboard or walha, that I might write him a saphie, to protect him from wicked men. I wrote the board full, from top to bottom, on both sides: and my landlord, to be certain of having the whole force of the charm, washed the writing from the board into a calabash with a little water; and having said a few prayers over it, drank this powerful draught: after which, lest a single