beaux are composed of many pieces of old linen, squeezed hard against one another in a round figure, and thrust down into a mould of copper. The persons that hold them in one hand, have in the other a bottle of the same metal with the copper mould, which is full of oil, which they take care to pour out from time to time upon the linen, which otherwise gives no light. The Roman ladies also were led home to their husbands in the evening by the light of torches. A Jewish marriage seems to have been conducted in much the same way; for in that beautiful Psalm, where David describes the majesty of Christ's kingdom, we meet with this passage: "And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour. The king's daughter is all-glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework; the virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace."* In the parable of the ten virgins, the same circumstances are introduced: "They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried,” leading the procession through the streets of the city, the women and domestics that were appointed to wait his arrival at home, "all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out."

a Forbes's Orient. Mem. vol. ii, p. 417.

b Psa. xlv, 12, &c.

© Matth. XXV,

6.

But among the Jews, the bridegroom was not always permitted to accompany his bride from her father's house; an intimate friend was often sent to conduct her, while he remained at home to receive her in his apartment. Her female attendants had the honour to introduce her; and whenever they changed the bride's dress, which is often done, they presented her to the bridegroom. It is the custom, and belongs to their ideas of magnificence, frequently to dress and undress the bride; and to cause her to wear on that same day all the clothes made up for her nuptials. For the same reason the bridegroom's dress is less frequently changed. These circumstances discover the propriety and force of John's language, in his magnificent description of the Jewish church in her millenial state: "And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.d

Those that were invited to the marriage, were expected to appear in their best and gayest attire. If the bridegroom was in circumstances to afford it, wedding garments were prepared for all the guests, which were hung up in the antichamber for them to put on over the rest of their clothes, as they entered the apartments where the marriage-feast was prepared. To refuse, or even to neglect putting on the wedding garment, was reckoned an insult to the bridegroom, aggravated by the circumstance that it was provided by himself for the very purpose of being worn on that occasion, and was hung up in the way to the inner apartment, that the guests must have seen it, and recollected the design of its suspension. This accounts for the severity of the sentence pronounced by the king, who

c D'Arvieux Voy. dans la Palest. p. 225.

d Rev. xxi, 2.

came in to see the guests, and found among them one who had neglected to put it on: " And he saith unto him, friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless," because it was provided at the expense of the entertainer, and placed full in his view. "Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The arrival of the bride at the house of her husband, was followed by the marriage feast, at which they indulged in great mirth and hilarity. It was made entirely at the expense of the bridegroom; thus Homer sings:

Ειλαπιν ης γαμος, επει εκ έρανος ταδε γ' εςιν.

"A shot-free banquet, or a marriage feast,
Not such as is by contribution made."

From the parable of the marriage-feast, we have a right to conclude that such entertainments among the Jews were equally free. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding."

The marriage feast was of old, frequently protracted to the length of seven days; for so long Samson entertained his friends at Timnath. To this festival, Laban is thought by many divines to refer, in his answer to Jacob's complaint, that he had imposed Leah upon him instead of Rachel; "Fulfil the week of the marriage, and we will give thee this also." This feast was called the nuptial joy, with which no other was to be intermixed; all labour ceased while it continued, and no sign of mourn

f Matt. xxii, 11.

Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. ii, p. 288. VOL. III.

L

h Matt. xxii, 2.

i Judg. xiv, 1.

ing or sorrow was permitted to appear. It may be only further observed, that even in modern times, none but very poor people give a daughter in marriage without a female slave for a handmaid, as hired servants are scarcely known in the oriental regions. Hence Laban, who was a man of considerable property in Mesopotamia, "gave unto his daughter Leah, Zilpah his maid, for an handmaid ;? and to Rachel his daughter, Bilhah his handmaid, to be her maid." In Greece also, the marriage solemnity lasted several days. On the third day, the bride presented her bridegroom with a robe; gifts were likewise made to the bride and bridegroom, by the bride's father and friends these consisted of golden vessels, beds, couches, plates, and all sorts of necessaries for housekeeping, which were carried in great state to the house by women, preceded by a person carrying a basket, in the manner usual at processions, before whom went a boy in white vestments, with a torch in his hand. It was also customary for the bridegroom and his friends to give presents to the bride, after which, the bridegroom had leave to converse freely with her, and she was permitted to appear in public without her veil.1 The money, says Dr. Russel, which the bridegrooms of Aleppo pay for their brides, is laid out in furniture for a chamber, in clothes, jewels, or ornaments of gold, for the bride, whose father makes some addition, according to his circumstances which things are sent with great pomp to the bridegroom's house three days before the wedding.TM In Egypt, these gifts are carried on the

J Chardin's MS. note. Harmer's Observ. vol. iv, p. 294.

* Gen. xxix, 24, 29.

See also Odyss. lib. xxiii, 1. 27, 28.

1 Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. ii, p. 295.

m Hist. vol. i, p. 284, 285,

marriage day, immediately before the bride." To these circumstances the holy Psalmist certainly refers, in his magnificent description of Messiah's kingdom: "And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour" with gifts and offerings suited to their wealth and thy dignity.

The apartments of the women are counted sacred and inviolable, over all the east; it is even a crime to inquire what passes within the walls of the harem, or house of the women. Hence, it is extremely difficult to be informed of the transactions in those sequestered habitations; and a man, says Chardin, may walk an hundred days, one after another, by the house where the women are, and yet know no more what is done there than at the farther end of Tartary. This sufficiently explains the reason of Mordecai's conduct, who " walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her."P

The Arabs are not so scrupulous as the Turks about their women; and though they have their harem, or wo, men's apartment in the tent, they readily introduce their acquaintances into it, or those strangers whom they take under their special protection. Pococke's conductor, in his journey to Jerusalem, led him two or three miles to his tent, where he sat with his wife and others round a fire. The faithful Arab kept him there for greater se⇒ curity, the wife being always with him; no stranger ever daring to come into the women's apartment unless intro. duced. We discover in this custom, the reason of Jael's invitation to Sisera, when he was defeated by Barak: • Psa. xlv, 12.

"Maillet, Lett. x, p. 86.

P Esther ii, 11.