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|Vo. 52 Vol. V.]
POLITICAL.
TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN
.The Intelligencer contains the following sum-
Aty statement of the provisions contained in the
recent Treaty with Great Britain, for the suppres
sion of the Slave Trade :
The Convention wai concluded and sign
ed, on the 13th March, between our Minis
ter, Richard Rush, on the part of the United
States, and, on the part of Great Britain, by
the Right Honourable Stratford Canning:
The Convention comprises ten articles.
Article Ist, authorizes commanders and
other commissioned officers of the two na
tions, duly authorized to cruise on the
Coasts of Africa, of America, and the West
Indies, for the suppression of the Slave
Trade, under conditions subsequently spe
cified, to search, detain, capture, and send
the proper country of the captured
vessel, any vessel, of either nation, concern
ed in unlawful traflkk in slaves—the ves
sels so carried in to be tried by the tribu
nals of the country to which they belong.
Article 2d, applies the same rule to ves
sels chartered by citizens of either nation,
though not bearing the Hag of that nation,
nor owned hy individuals belonging to it,
&c.
Article 3d requires, that, io all cases,
where any vessel 0 f either party shall be
boarded by any naval officer of the other
party, on suspicion of being concerned in
the Slave Trade, the officer shall deliver
to the Captain of the vessel so boarded, a
certificate in writing, signed by the naval
officer, specifying his rank, &c. and the ob
ject of his visit; and makes other provisions
for the delivery of ships’ papers, when cap
tured under this Convention.
Article 4, limits the right of search, re
cognized by this Convention, to such as
shall be necessary to the ascertainment of
the fact whether said vessel is, or is not,
engaged in the Slave Trade.
Article 5, makes it the duty of command
ers, of either nation, having captured a ves
sel of the other, under this Treaty, to re
ceive into his custody the vessel cap'ured,
and send or carry it into a port of the ves
sel’s proper country, &c. for adjudication,
if required ; in every which case triplicate
declarations p.re to be signed, &c.
Article 6, provides that, io cases of cap
ture by the officers of either party, under
this Convention, where no national vessel
of the nation ot the • tc tol XIIS -i
ing, the captor shall either send or carry
Jus prize to some convenient port of its own
country, or of its own dependencies, for ad
judication, &C.
Article 7, provides that the commanders
and crews of these captured vessels shall
be proceeded against in the countries into
which they are brought, as pirates, &c.
Article 8, confines the right of search,
under this Treaty, to such officers of both
parties, as are specially instructed to exe
cute the laws of their respective countries
in relation to the slave trade. For every
vexatious and abusive exercise of this right,
officers are to he personally liable, in cosls
and damages, &c. and prescribes other pro
ceedings to be had in such cases.
Article 3, provides that the Government
<sfeither nation will inquire into abuses of
Ibis Convention, and the laws of each coun
try, by the officers thereof respectively,
and inflict on the officers complained of, ad
equate punishment.
Article 10, declares, that the right, re
ciprocally conceded by this Treaty, is whol
ly and exclusively founded on the two na
tions’ having, by their laws, made the slave
trade piracy, and is not to be taken to af
fect, in any other way, the rights of the
parties, &c. and pogages that each power
shall use its influence with all civilized pow
ers, to procure from them the acknowledg
ment of the slave trade being piracy, under
the law of nations.
Article 11, provides that thp ratifications
of the Treaty shall be exchanged at Lon
don, within twelve months, or as much soon
I er thereafter as possible.
SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE DEADLY FIRF.Y WIND.
Numbers xi. 1. The. fire of the Pordburnt
among them. This is now gem-rally under
stood as referring to the deadly firey wind,
which sometimes appears in the eastern
deserts. Mailett mentions its being felt in
the desert between Egypt Mecca, io
part of which the Israelites wandered for
forty years. “If the North wind,” he ob
serves, “ happens to fail, and that from the
South comes in its place, then the whole
caravan is sickly and exhausted, and three
or four hundred persons are wont in com
mon to lose their lives ; even greater num
bers, as far as fifteen hundred,of whom the
greatest part are stifled on the spot, by the
lire and dust of which this fatal wind seems
to he composed.
J. E. Faber is likewise of tbe opinion that
by the fire of the Lord in the above passage
we are to understand the firey poisonous
wind described by Maillet.
Thevenot, who set out from Suez to Ka
bira, informs us that on the journey they
had for a whole day or more such a hot
wir-d, that thpy were obliged to turn their
backs U) it, and had their mouths filled with
THE missionary
sand whenever they opened them. The
water which the caravan had with it was
so heated by it, that it seemed as if it came
from the fire, so that they were not able to
, drink it. The camels were so affected by
this wind that they refused to eat. Its fu
ry, however, lasted only six hours; if it had
continued longer half the caravan must
have perished. The year before a similar
wind had destroyed two thousand persons
of the caravan going to Mecca.
7 iu lurcuß,
Niebuhr not only confirms these accounts
but adds some other particulars. “Itis in
the desert between Bassorah, Bagdat,Alep
po and Mecca, that we heard most of the
poisonous wind Samum. The Arabs in the
desert being accustomed to a pure air, are
said to be able to dicover its approach ;
and as it blows in a horizontal direction, and
consequently has not so great a force near
the surface of the earth, they throw them
selves on the ground while it is yet at a dis
tance. Nature also is said to have taught
animals to hold their heads close to the
ground when the wind approaches.” “ One
of my servants,” Mr. Niebuhr continues to
observe, “ who was with a caravan from
Bassorah to Aleppo, was overtaken by this
wind: some of the Arabs in the company
had called out in time, that they should
throw themselves on the ground; none of
(hose who d;cj this received any injury, but
some of the caravan, and among these a
French surgeon who wished to examine
this phenomenon accurately, had been too
secuie, and perished in consequence.
When a man is suffocated with this wind,
blood is said to flow from his nose and ears
two hours after bis death. The body is
said to remain long warm, to swell, to turn
blue and green, and if the arm or leg be
taken hold of to raise it up, the limb is said
to come off.”
CUSTOM OF MAKING PRESENTS.
1 Samuel ix. 7. “ Then said Saul to his
servant, But , behold, if se go, what shall we
bring the man? for the bread is spent in our
vessels , and there is not a present to bring to
the man of God: vphat have we?”
“ VY’e all dined at Consul [ladings’ house,
and after dinner went to wait upon Ostan.
the Bassa of Tripoli, having first sent our
present, as the manner is among the Turks,
to procure a propitious reception. It is
counted uncivil to visit in this country with
out an otiering in hand. All great men ex
character and authority, and look Ttpdn
themselves as affronted, and indeed de
frauded, when the compliment is omitted.
Even in familiar visits among inferiour peo
ple, you shall seldom have them come with
out bringing a flower, or an orange, or some
such token of their respect to the person
visited.” Mawdreu.
Bruce;, after noticing some insignificant
present which he had received from an in
dividual who wished to obtain a favour from
him, remarks, “ I mention this trifling cir
cumstnnce, to show how essential to civil
intercourse presents are considered to be
in the East: whether they be dates or
whether they be diamonds, they are so
much a part of their manners, that without
them an inferiour will never be at peace in
bis own mind, or think that he has hold of
his superiour for protection. But snperi
ours give no presents to their inferiours.”
THE FIGURATIVE STVLE OF SCRIPTURE.
Although sceptical readers of the Bible
may be disposed to ridicule some of those
figures which appear to them extravagant,
and even absurd ; yet any one who lends an
impartial attention to the subject, will clear
ly perceive that the occurrence of imagery
which would he frequently obscure, and
sometimes unintelligible to ns, wa to he
expected in any composition formed on the
models of our sacred writings.
1. The innovating hand of time has ren
dered many things obsolete; and, conse
quently, the allusions which in metaphori
cal language are made to those things must
be difficult, if not impossible, to be under
stood. And when we recollect that some
portions of the Scriptures were written
more than 3000 years ago, and that the la
test ofthem were written between 1700 and
1800 years ago, it would have been very
remarkable had we lost sight of none of
thoe customs and none of those events on
which the figures of Scripture are founded.
2. The difference between the scene
and climate in which the sacred writers liv
ed, and oor own, forms another barrier to
the right understanding of their figurative
terms. This prevents us often from per
ceiving the full force of a passage even
when its beauty, nevertheless, powerfully
affects the mind. Thus when the Psalmist
says, “As the hart panteth after the water
brooks , so panteth my soul after thee , O God,”
it is impossible not to be affected by the
combination of chaste elegance of expres
sion with vehement ardour of feeling.
Yet in our temperate clime, where water
is scarcely ever known to fail, where the
sun is scarcely ever known to pour his
sickening ray upon our beads, we are not
prepared to enter into all the beauty of the
figure, as ao inhabitant of Judea would have
done. Again, the hart is not with us a wild
animal, subject <o the various privations
which it was compelled to eodure in re
gions where the sun had burned up its food,
Os all the dispositions and Sdlo Ch ™‘-
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and dried the streams at which it was ac
customed to slake its thirst. It would be
£rr’. ,h, y’ however > for ai > Israelite
to See this inoffensive animal exhausted and
fatigued, and panting for a drop of water:
and, consequently, the application of the
figure to the Psalmist’s desire after God
would convey an impression far more forci
ble than can be produced hy it on our
minds.
Jeremiah 49, we have a figure still more
peculiar to the land of Judea. He shall
come up like a lion from the swelling of the
ordan against the habitation of the strong.
n this passage too, there is obvious beauty
and even sublimity of description; but it is
considerably more obscure to us than the
former. It would however be perfectly fa
miliar and intelligible to those for whom it
was first written. What we here know of
3 LT” ch,efl J description, and by the
.. . j nil u i#y me
exhibition of a few of these monarchs of
the four footed race encaged in caravans.
1 hese are comparatively small and feeble,
nnd at (he same time so tame through con
hnemeot and the discipline of keepers, that
ey show us nothing of the true character
of that unrivalled animal, who walks in con
scious superiority through the forest, or
bounds with resistless speed and violence
across the plain, and fills, by his tremen
dous roaring, a whole neighbourhood with
terror. The river Jordan, too, is so dis
similar to our rivers, as to increase the ob
scanty of the passage to those who are not
acquainted with the peculiarities of its
course. When the snows of Lebanon and
ot the neighbouring mountains began to
men, and when (he rainy §ea*oo commenc
ed, the mountain torrents rushed into the
vale below, and regularly caused Jordon to
overflow all its banks, and thus inundated
all the adjoining lowlands. The lion had
his abode among the lofty reeds which grew
on the hank of this river ; and when the
descending waters caused Jordon to swell
so as ro invade his resting place,he was dri
ven to madness by the intrusion of an ene
my whom he could not resist, and flew to
revenge himself against the inhabitants of
the adjoining cities. How striking a pic
ture of the rage and violence of an invading
army! 6
In the 2d verse of the 14th c. of Hosea,
the prayer of repenting Israel is, “ Take
away all iniquity , and receive us graciously,
so will we render the calves of our lips."—
ntig inTtitr expression, “ wr ernes oj our
lips," —and without a knowledge ofthe Jew
ish peculiarities, we shall not understand it.
But when we remember that calves were
among the best of the sacrifices which were
offered up to God, we gain at once a key to
the explanation, and a view of the beauty
of the figure. The passage io our language
means simply (his ; So will we render the
best sacrifice of praise from our lips.
3. The dross and manners of (he ancients
were exceedingly different from onrs.—
Their loose and flowing raiment formed a
perfect contrast to the tight and inelegant
garb of our own time and country. A know
ledge of this is necessary to explain many
passages of Scripture. The girding up of
the loins is frequently mentioned in places
which allude either to diligence in labour
or to swiftness in running the appointed
course. Now it is obvious, that a long
loose robe would be very inconvenient to
servants who required to have their hands
much at liberty,and to be able to stoop with
ease in the performance of their work; aod
also to those who had to move quickly, and
required that their steps should not be im
peded, nor their feet entangled by the
length of their garments. To remedy this,
they always had a girdle, by means of
which, when they had gathered up the
skirts of their garment, they fastened it
round their loins. To one who knew that
he could neither work nor run without hav
ing recourse to this measure, how forcible
would be such passages as these—“ Let
your loins be girded about, and your lights
burning, and ye yourselves like unto men
who wait for their Lord Gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and hope unto the
end,” 4*c.
It were easy to extend observations of
this kind, and to produce other causes of
obscurity in the various figures which are
employed in the page of inspiration. The
truth is, that similar difficulties present
themselves in all the classical productions
of antiquity ; and it would have been a
strong argument against the genuineness of
the Scriptures, bad they beep wanting in
that style of speaking and thinking which
were peculiar to the times in which they
were written.
There is only one more remark on this
subject to which the attention of the reader
is particularly requested ; and that is the
difficulty of conveying the true import of a
figure in a translation. Let the reader take
a French book, and regardless of the idiom
of the two languages, and of the different
class of figures employed by them, let him
translate literally, and bow much will he
lose of the beauty, and in many cases of the
seose of the original.
Now in the translation of the Bible there
is less liberty allowed to the imagination,
and even judgment of the translator, than
in any other book. His business is not to
embellish, and not even to give his own ex-
planation of passages, but to put his reader
P°*eßsion of the plain Word of God.—
ie must not sacrifice correctness to beauty,
he must not aim at what he thinks the spirit
ot the passage, while he neglects the letter
—because in so doing he may have missed
its true meaning; he may have mistaken
he nature of the allusion, and then he en
tails his owo mistake upon posterity. But if
he translates accurately, though the passage
may be obscure to himself and to his read
ers, yet perhaps the information brought
home by some traveller who has observed
the customs of eastern nations, or the dis
covery of some book of aniiquilv, may
brow light upon it, and enable us to per
ceive beauties which were before conceal
ed, and which would have remained in
darkness had the translator taken (be liber
ty which translators of other books are per
mitted to take with impunity.
Making then due allowance for these sev
eral circumstances, which hinder us from
perceiving many of the excellencies 0 f
- cripture, we are still constrained to ac
knowledge that there is no book that can
stand a comparison with the Bible—none
which labours under sucbgreat disadvanta
ges toi the developement of its peculiar
leauties of composition, and which yet rises
tar above them all, exhibiting those speci- j
mens of every style of writing and of think <
•ng which are above all imitation and all I
praise. |
A COMPEND OF
/£ WISH AATTIQ UITJES.
[Concluded.]
Q. What was the method of giving in
sfruclion in the synagogue ?
A. 1 By reading the scriptures. At
first, only the Law was read; but long be
fore the coming of Christ, the Prophets
were added. The book from which they
read in the synagogue, was a roll of Parch
ment or vellum neatly fastened to a stick.
As it was impossible to read over the whole
Law at once, it was divided into as maov
sections as there were Sabbaths in the year.
These sections were called Parasheuth, and
are marked in Hebrew Bibles by one or
more large P.'s or S.'s. | Q reading the
Law, they proceeded thus—On Monday
they began the section assigned for the
jnfm 6n B aanmiay, wirnrn wis inerts rftftSiiflP,
they react ro m™**. -o- ; -
arid this was done both in (he morning and
afternoon. On other days the Scriptures
were read only in the morning; but on the
Sabbath they were read both parts of the
day. They began to read the Law the
week after the Feast of Tabernacles Each
lesson was divided into seven portions, for
the reading of which they required seven
readers. The first who was called upon to
read, was usually a priest, the second a Le
vite, the third any other person of good
character, and so of the remainder; and
some of the old copies of the Law have the
minor sections marked agreeably to this
method of reading. The volume was
brought out by the Chasan, or deacon, with
much solemnity, and was unfolded by the
first reader; and after the reading was
ended, was restored by him to its place in
the chest. It was customary for the read
er to stand up, the audience sitting or stand
ing, as it pleased them. Women and slaves
were oot permitted to he readers io the
synagogue. On Monday and Thursday the
Law only was read; but on the Sabbath
the Prophets were also read io the morning
service. The Jews did not reckon the
Hagiographa among the prophetical books.
These were only read in the synagogue on
certain occasions. Eveo the book of Dan
iel was not classed amoDg the other pro
phets, for which Maimonides assigns a friv
olous reason. He says it was because he
received his revelations in the oight, aod io
dreams, and not when he was awake. Oth
ers of the Jews say, it was because he lived
the life of a courtier. 2. The people were
instructed by the expounding of the Law.
This was performed by aoy of the rulers of
the synagogue, by a Doctor or a Rabbi, or
by any competent person of good character,
at the request of the rnler of the syna
gogue. After the Hebrew language ceased
to be vernacular, an explanation was given
of the text in Cbaldaick. This was the
origin ot the Targums, or Chaldaick para
phrases, which at first were probably made
extempore, by a person skilled io both lan
guages, but afterwards committed to writ
ing. 3. The last method of instructing,
practised in the synagogue, was disputation
or conference , to which the Jews gave the
name of searching. This was not confined
to the synagogue, but was often practised
in private houses. 4. Preachiog, or exhor
tation, which was always after the prayers
were finished.
Q. What was the mode of worship in
the synagogue ?
A. The modern Jews have a liturgy, or
collection of prayers, which Dr. Prideanx
thinks existed io the time of our Saviour;
but of this there is no clear evidence.
There is indeed a remarkable similarity
between the prayer called Kadesli , and (he
Lord’s Prayer; but is it not more probable
that the author of this prayer borrowed
[Price $3 50 per atm.
some of his expressions from the Lord’s
Prayer, than that Christ should borrow from
the liturgy of the synagogue? But again,
some of the prayers of this liturgy contain
internal evidence that they were compos
ed after the destruction of the temple, to
which event they evidently allude.—Vide
No. 5,6, 7, 10, 11, &c. in Dr. Prideaux’s
Connexions. There were three services
m the synagogue every day; Monday,
Thursday, ao<J the Sabbath, were however
more solemn than the rest. On the Sab
bath it was customary to attend prayers
four limes in the day. A description of the
morning service may serve as a specimen
of the whole. Before the publick prayers
commenced, the people were employed in
repeating certain private prayers prepared
lor the purpose, which were nineteen in
number They did not all repeat the
whole of these, but each one such as he
chose; when these were ended, Ihe angel
of the Synagogue began the publick prayers,
he and the people standing, and occasional
y bending the knee and the body, having
their heads covered with a veil. The ser
vice began and ended with the prayer Ka
desh After the prayers, the volume of
the Law was brought out of the chest, on
which the people exhibited great ioy. A
great part of their prayers and praises were
selected from the Psalms of David. The
service was closed by a doxology, or by a
benediction of the priest. Sinking seems
to have been a part of the worship of the
OLnn/v.'nll., ’ . L .
• VlOflip 111 me
syoa|, , gue, especially in the evening, when
the 841 h and 145th Psalms were sung; dur
ing the singing the angel of the synagogue
stood up, and the people sat. 6
Q- What was the method of collecting
and disposing of the alms in the svnagogue?
A. Alms giving was ever rec'kooed by
the Jews an essential pari of religion;—
hence, probably, they called it righteous
ness. In every synagogue were placed
two treasury chests; the one intended for
poor strangers, the other for the poor of
the people. The alms thus collected were
immediately distributed among the poor,
to defray the expenses of the preceding
wee . But it was a custom among the
i e KE *° toUch ,he ®°oey on the
ahbath, which at least was as ancient as
Philos time. This may have given occa
sion to the direction of Paul to the Cprin
thians “ Upon the first day of the week,
messengcr Wlfo lWtt*hWuf€
the ark containing the Law, and repeated
the prayer Kadesh before and after the
reading of the Law. He was required to
be very eminent for learning and integrity,
and seems to have been the leader of the
worship of the synagogue. This office
corresponds with that of the bishops or
presiding elders of the Christian church,
who in the epistle to the Asiatick churches,
are called angels of (he churches. The next
officer of the synagogue was the minister
or deacoo, who sometimes read the Law,
and gave notice to the Levites when to
sound the trumpets, and performed other
subordinate parts of the service. A third
officer was the Chasan, (bat is, the guardi
an or keeper of the house and its furni
ture, who also performed the more menial
duties of the synagogue His office an
swered to the sexton in the Christian chur
ches.
Q. Whence arises the remarkable simi
larity between the government aod wor
ship of the Jewish synagogues aod the
Christian church in primitive times ?
A. It was doubtless owing to the circum
stance that the first Christian congrega
tions, being formed of Jews, naturally con
tinued (bat mode of external order and
worship, to which they had always been ac
customed. They would be the more dis
posed to this model, because our Lord him
self gave a sanction to it by attending on
the worship of the synagogues, and by offi
ciating as a publick instructer, agreeably to
the rules of the synagogue.
Q,. Were any duties of the ceremonial
law practised in the synagogue 1
A. None but circumcision, and this rite
might be performed in private houses.
Q. What were the Proseuchce of the
Jews, and were they different from the
synagogues ?
A. They were houses of prayer, of
which Philo and Josephus make frequent
mention; and some think they are mention
ed io the New Testament, as when oor Sa
viour went up into a mountain to pray,
(en le proseuchce tou Theou ,) in proseuchae
to God. Dr. Whitby translates it, in orato
ry to God. Certainly the phrase is not
wbat we should expect to signify, in prayer
to God. Again we read in Acts that Paul
and his companions at Philippi, went out on
the Sabbath by a river side, “ where pray
er was wont to be made,” as our translation
has it, but in (he Syriac Testament it is,
“ because they perceived there was a house
of prayer;” and in the Arabic, “to a cer
tain place which was supposed to be a
house of prayerwhich last ja the most
literal translation of the Greek in our tes
taments. Dr. J. Mode and Dr. Prideaux
think that the proseuchae differed from the
synagogues in their structure ; the former
beiog without a roof, aud the latter alwaye