the court and army upon the plain; fire arms are discharged, drums and trumpets sound, and the king, amidst these acclamations and rejoicings, advances to the foot of the stairs of the church, where he dismounts, and there sits down upon a stone, which, by its remains, apparently was an altar of Anubis, or the dog-star. At his fect there is a large slab of free-stone, on which is an inscription.

"The king is first anointed, then crowned, and is accompanied half way up the steps by the singing priests, called dipteras, chaunting psalms and hymns: here he stops at a hole made for the purpose in one of the steps, and is thus fumigated with incense and myrrh, aloes and cassia. Divine service is then celebrated, and after receiving the sacrament, he returns to the camp, where fourteen days should regularly be spent in feasting, and all manner of rejoicing, and military exercise." (Travels, vol. ii. p. 278.) This extract affords some illustration of Psalms xxiv, and xlv.

No. 463.-ii. 8. The governor of the feast.] The master or intendant of a marriage feast, apXIтpinλivos, was the husband's friend, and charged with the order of the feast. He gave directions to the servants, had an eye over every thing, commanded the tables to be covered, or to be cleared of the dishes, as he thought proper; from whence he had his name as regulator of the triclinium or festive board. He tasted the wine and distributed it to the guests. The author of Ecclesiasticus (cap. xxxii. ver. 1.) thus describes the office of master of the feast. "If thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one of the rest; take diligent care of them, and so sit down. And when thou hast done all thine office, take thy place, that thou mayest be merry with them, and receive a crown for the well ordering of the feast."

On this passage of St. John, Theophylact remarks, that no one might suspect that their taste was vitiated by having drank to excess, so as not to know water from wine, our Saviour orders it to be first carried to the governor of the feast, who certainly was sober; for those who on such occasions are intrusted with this office observe the strictest sobriety, that they may be able properly to regulate the whole.

No. 464.—ii. 10. Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine.] The Abbé Mariti, speaking of the age of the wines of Cyprus, says, "the oldest wines used in commerce do not exceed eight or ten years. It is not true, as has been reported, that there is some of it an hundred years old; but it is certain that at the birth of a son or a daughter, the father causes a jar filled with wine to be buried in the earth, having first taken the precaution to seal it hermetically; in this manner it may be kept till these children marry. It is then placed on the table before the bride and bridegroom, and is distributed among their relations, and the other guests invited to the wedding." (Travels in Cyprus, vol. i. p. 229.) If such a custom prevailed formerly, it throws great significancy into the assertion of good wine being first brought out upon such an occasion; and if this supposition is admitted, tends to increase the greatness of the miracle, that notwithstanding what had been drank at first was peculiarly excellent, yet that which Christ by his divine power produced as an after supply, was found to be of a superior quality.

No. 465.-iii. 3. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.] The mode of expression adopted in these words is not unknown in the East. The author of the Institutes of Menu, who flourished 1280 years before Christ, uses the following remarkable

language. "Of him who gives natural birth, and him who gives knowledge of the whole veda, the giver of sacred knowledge is the more venerable father; since the second or divine birth insures life to the twice born, both in this life and hereafter eternally. Let a man consider that as a mere human birth, which his parents gave him for their mutual gratification, and which he receives after lying in the womb; but that birth, which his principal acharya, who knows the whole veda, procures for him by his divine mother, the gayatri, is a true birth; that birth is exempt from age and from death.” (cap. ii. 146.) The difference between the goodness of the actions performed by the ordinary man, and by him who has been twice born, is in another part of this work ascribed very justly to the motive. A deep sense of the corruption of human nature produced the same doctrine among other ancient nations, as well as the Indians. "They had sacrifices denominated those of regeneration, and these sacrifices were always profusely stained with blood. The taurobolium, a ceremony in which the high priest of Cybele was consecrated, was a ceremony of this kind, and might be called a baptism of blood, which they conceived imparted a spiritual new birth to the liberated spirit, nor were these baptisms confined to the priests alone; for persons not invested with a sacred function were sometimes initiated by the ceremony of the taurobolium; and one invariable rule in these initiations was to wear the stained garments as long as possible, in token of their having been thus regenerated."

MAURICE'S Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 957.

No. 466.-iii. 29. The friend of the bridegroom.] Among the Jews, in their rites of espousals, there is frequent mention of a place where, under a covering, it was usual for the bridegroom to discourse familiarly

but privately with his spouse, whereby their affections might be more knit to one another in order to marriage, which however were not supposed to be so till the bridegroom came cheerfully out of the chuppah, or covered place. To this David refers (Psalm xix. 5.) when he speaks of the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. It is affirmed that this custom is still observed among the Jews in Germany, either before the synagogues in a square place covered over, or, where there is no synagogue, they throw a garment over the bridegroom and the bride for that purpose. Whilst this intercourse is carrying on, the friend of the bridegroom stands at the door to hearken; and when he hears the bridegroom speak joyfully, (which is an intimation that all is well) he rejoices himself, and communicates the intelligence to the people assembled, for their satisfaction.

HAMMOND, in loc.

No. 467.-iv. 11. The well is deep.] That it was Jacob's well is not said in the Old Testament, unless alluded to Gen. xlix. 22. MAUNDRELL (Journey, p. 62.) describes the well shewn as such, and over which the empress Helena built a church, now destroyed, at about a mile from Sichem. It is covered by a stone vault, and is thirty-five feet deep, five of them water. He supposes that the walls of the ancient city might have extended nearer the place. The fruitfulness, (if not figurative) he rather thinks was caused by a stream which waters the plain near Sichem. Rauwolff (p. 312.) speaking of the well at Bethlehem, says, "the people that go to dip water are provided with small leathern buckets and a line, as is usual in these countries; and so the merchants that go in caravans through great deserts into far countries, provide themselves also with these, because in these countries you find more cisterns

or wells than springs that lie high." In how easy a light does this place the Samaritan woman's talking of the depth of Jacob's well, and her remarking that she did not observe our Lord had any thing to draw with, though he spoke of presenting her with water!

No. 468.-v. 10. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the sabbath-day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.] The sabbath was originally instituted as a day of sacred rest, and was to be employed in the service of God. Of this latter circumstance the Jews had so far lost sight, that they substituted their own superstitious rites in the place of divine ordinances, and thus exchanged a spiritual for a merely ceremonious observance of the day. Concerning some of the superstitions which prevailed amongst this people, M. Basnage thus speaks: "In the places where they had liberty, in Maimonides's time, they sounded the trumpet six times, to give notice that the sabbath was beginning. At the first sound the countryman left his plough, at the second they shut up their shops, at the third they covered the pits. They lighted candles, and drew the bread out of the oven; but this last article deserves to be insisted upon, because of the different cases of conscience, about which the masters are divided. When the sound of the sixth trumpet surprised those that had not as yet drawn their bread, what was to be done? To fast the next day was disturbing the feast; to draw their bread at the beginning of the sabbath was to violate it. The perplexity is great; some have not ventured to decide it, others have given leave to draw out what was necessary for the three meals of the sabbath. But this permission has caused abuses; for a multitude of people meet, who under pretence of drawing out the quantity of bread they have need of for their three meals, take out all that might be spoiled. The difficulty is increased if any one