lxxv. 8, in Merrick's Annotations, refers to this and other passages in Proverbs, as well as to Isaiah v. 22, as showing that they seem to have mixed ingredients in their wine just before they drank it, to make it more agreeable, or perhaps more heady.' He adds further on: 'Probably they mixed several sorts of wine.'

That these things might not sometimes be done, and that they may not sometimes be indicated by the 'mingled wine' of Scripture, we shall neither deny nor affirm. But in Isaiah i. 22, 'wine mixed with water' is expressly mentioned; and this is what we believe to be intended in the present case, as well as in most, if not all, others in which the term occurs. This impression is confirmed to our mind by the distinct knowledge we possess that the ancients were greatly in the habit of mixing water with their wine, and that pure wine was seldom taken, except in the feasts of drunkenness, when it might even be mixed with stronger ingredients, as suggested. But under all ordinary circumstances, the wine was mixed with water, so as to form a table drink, refreshing, and but slightly exciting, unless taken in very large quantities. The quantity of water was usually proportioned to the strength of the wine; sometimes three, and at other times five, parts of water were added to one of wine. Pliny1 the elder speaks, after Homer, of certain wines which were only used mixed with five parts of water. The Scholiast in Aristophanes says, that the best way of mixing was to put three parts of water to two of wine. In general, it was regarded as a mark of intemperance to drink pure wine, and characteristic of the Scythians and other 'barbarians,' but unbecoming civilised men. An exception was made in behalf of the gods, the libations to whom were poured out in pure wine. In Aristophanes,3 Mercury is introduced as complaining that people put half water to his wine, whereas they offered pure wine to the other gods. These facts are important; for ancient usage must necessarily have much weight in determining the sense in which such allusions are to be taken. It is not to be supposed that the Hebrews, who were essentially a temperate 1 Hist. Nat. xiv. 4. 2 Scholiast in Equit. p. 356. 3 In Plut. v. 1.

2

people, had less restrained habits in this respect than the Greeks and Romans, who were by no means celebrated for temperance. We shall hardly venture to class the Jews with the Scythians and other barbarians,' who drank pure wine.

The clause which describes Wisdom as sending forth her maidens to invite people to her feast, is well worthy of our passing notice. At first view, it may seem to imply that female domestics were more numerous, proportionably to males, than is now the case in the East, and that they were employed in services scarcely consistent with modern Eastern notions. Both conclusions would be erroneous. Wisdom being represented as a female, it was necessary to represent her attendants as maidens, not as men; and their employment in calling the guests may receive some illustration from a custom which was noticed by Hasselquist in Egypt, and which appears to have been ancient in that country. That it has scarcely been noticed by other travellers, may arise from the fact, that although they may have seen the women on their way, they had no means of learning on what errand they were bound. Hasselquist says, that he saw a great number of women, who went about inviting people to a banquet 'in a singular, and no doubt very ancient, manner. There were about ten or twelve of them, covered with black veils, as is now customary in Egypt. They were preceded by four eunuchs; and after them were Moors, with their usual walking staves. As they walked along, they all joined in making a noise, which we were told signified their joy, but which we could not find resembled a joyful or pleasing sound.' The sound was so singular, that the traveller found himself at a loss to give an idea of it to those who had never heard it. 'It was shrill, but had a peculiar quivering, which they learned by long practice.' This female cry was doubtless the ziraleet1 which is heard on various occasions of rejoicing in Egypt and other eastern countries, and is produced by a sharp utterance of the voice, accompanied by a quick, tremulous motion of the tongue. The whole of this incident is curiously illustrative, especially as 1 See First Series: Tenth Week-Sixth Day.

it clearly shows that, through these her maidens, whom she sends forth, Wisdom 'crieth upon the highest places of the city.'

Tenth Week-Seventh Day.

CAROUSALS.-PROV. XIX. 24; XXIII. 30.

STILL seeking indications of usages and ideas connected with meals, we pause at the 24th verse of the nineteenth chapter, where we read, 'A slothful man hideth his hand in the dish, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.' In the authorized version it is 'bosom' instead of 'dish;' but this is an error, as the context alone would suffice to show. It is well known that the modern Orientals use neither knives, forks, nor

(except for liquids) spoons, in eating; and we know that this was the same in old times, not only from the indications in ancient literature, but from the representations of banquets, in all of which, whether Egyptian, Greek, Roman, or Syrian,

the persons are represented as taking their meat from the dish with their fingers. From this absence of instruments, it is necessary, in eating of certain dishes, such as rice or stews, not merely to pick up, or tear off a morsel, but to collect and detain it with the hand until it is conveyed to the mouth. He, however, is considered a coarse and vulgar feeder, who introduces much of his hand into the dish; the proper mode being to gather and take up the mouthful with three fingers only. With this explanation, we apprehend the present text to mean that the slothful man will be guilty of the gross indecorum of hiding his hand in the dish, for the purpose of taking up a large handful, rather than be at the trouble of repeating the action between the dish and the mouth so frequently as a becoming adherence to the rules of decorum would exact. For a man to hide his hand in the dish,' is among the Orientals nearly as gross an

impropriety, as it would be among ourselves for a man to put his hand into the dish at all.

But some will ask, 'If it be true that no knives were used in eating, what is the meaning of the passage in chap. xxiii. 2, where a knife is expressly named in connection with eating?' The passage is, 'When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee; and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite.' It is nevertheless certain that the ancient Hebrews did not use knives at their meals; and if this text be carefully regarded, it has no more to do with the use of the knife in eating than the sword of Damocles had. It appears to mean, that on the occasion indicated, a man should eat as guardedly and circumspectly as if a knife were at his throat to destroy him-partly, we may suppose, out of regard to the august and dangerous presence in which he sits, and partly from the peril of being seduced into intemperance by the unusual dainties to be found at such a table. We have, however, some suspicion that the real point of the intended allusion is lost to us, from its being founded upon some conventional use of terms, now forgotten, or upon some once well-known incident, the memory of which is lost.1

In the same chapter (xxiii. 30) there is a strong rebuke of those who 'tarry long at the wine :' another indication that, as Solomon himself says, 'there is nothing new under the sun,' for this is exactly what the Orientals are prone to do in their compotations. They have no notion of any enjoyment of wine apart from the exhilarating inebriety it produces; and hence when they do get drink, they usually indulge in it to the last degree of excess. Wine, as we all know, is forbidden to the Moslems, who now rule in Western Asia; but it is really much used, more or less secretly, by persons in easy circumstances. The consciousness of transgressing a law in even tasting wine may, in some degree, promote excess; as when they have, as they consider, incurred the sin by drinking at all, they are apt to argue, perversely, that they may as well have the pleasure of drinking much, on the principle indicated in the vulgar 1 See Third Week-Third Day.

adage, that it is as well to be hanged 'for a sheep as a lamb,' a principle which, in one application or another, has almost universal prevalence. So it is, however, that when a man wishes to entertain his friends with wine, they generally meet early, and continue at their work the whole day, or a day and night together, with intervals of eating, and with the accompaniment of songs, dances, and recitations. D'Arvieux relates that, during his sojourn among the Arabs, near Mount Carmel, a wreck took place on the coast, from which one of the emirs secured two large casks of wine, and thereupon sent to the neighbouring emirs, inviting them to come and help him to drink it. They gladly came, and continued drinking for two days and two nights, until not a drop of the wine was left. During this time they never quitted the table, except to rest in some corner of the tent, after which they resumed their places. When all was gone, they deliberated how to obtain a fresh supply of the pleasant bane; but seeing no prospect of success, they dispersed reluctantly to their several camps. This may remind us of the verse, 'When I shall awake, I will seek it yet again.

The curious old French traveller Tavernier relates that, when he was in Persia, the king sent for him early one morning to the palace, where, with other favoured persons, he was obliged to sit all the day, and till late at night, drinking wine with the Shah; but at last, he says, 'the king growing sleepy, gave us leave to depart, which we did very willingly, having had hard labour for seventeen hours together!

These are tolerably strong instances of 'tarrying long at the wine.' In the last, the summons 'early in the morning' is well worthy of notice, as corroborating a custom so adverse to European habits, to which there is a distinct allusion by the prophet Isaiah (v. 11): 'Woe to them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!' The instance we have quoted is not a solitary one, for the Persians habitually, when they have determined upon a debauch, as they too often do― though not now so often as formerly-commence early, re