at the fame time the happieft explanation of the term ε718010, made ufe of in the prayer our Lord taught his difciples.

The learned know what tiresome, and, after all, unfatisfactory accounts have been given of this word, rendered by our tranflators daily, "Give us day by day our daily bread." The word has fometimes been tranflated by those great fwelling, and perhaps unmeaning, words of vanity, fuperfubftantial and fupereffential bread; but as 80a fignifies, in the New Teftament, what a man has to live upon, nothing can be more natural, than to underftand the compound word 87180105, of that additional fupply that was wanted, to complete the provifion neceffary for a day's eating, over and above what they had in their then poffeffion.

3

The apoftles lived at that time. very often on what, humanly fpeaking, were very precarious fupplies, derived from the liberality of thofe that received them from time to time, perhaps from day to day, into their houfes, fomewhat like the fituation of Dr. Shaw and his companions, when he travelled in Barbary: "Take," faid Jesus, “nothing for your journey, neither ftaves, nor fcrip, neither bread, neither money; neither "have two coats apiece. And whatsoever "houfe ye enter into there abide, and thence

depart. . . . And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel, "and healing every where," Luke ix. 3. Much the fame are the orders they received in the next chapter'; after which, in the 11th, follows St. Luke's account of that model of prayer our Lord taught his difciples, in which, as there are other claufes particularly fuiting their then circumftances, there is this also, "Give us day by day our daily bread," or that additional supply of bread wanted from time to time to make up, in conjunction with what they might at any time have in hand, a fufficiency of food for their returning wants : a very proper fupplication for their devotions in that very unfettled ftate, and agreeable to the modern cuftoms of the Eaft, which allow them not to difinifs a traveller, who goes without money, without a viaticum, or a quantity of provifions fufficient for prefent fupport.

The form given by St. Matthew agrees with that of St. Luke in fubftance, but has a few fmall variations. Among the reft, inftead of recommending to them to beg for the requifite addition to their food from day to day, he teaches them to pray for the additional bread they might want that very day, in which, it seems, they had not enough with them for the whole of it, cautioning them, in that early stage of their attendance

upon him, against an improper anxiousness for the morrow, ver. 25, and leading them, from the first, to depend on those unforeseen providential fupplies on which they fubfifted, after they, at the call of their Mafter, forfook their worldly occupations to be with him, as witnesses of what he faid and did. This is agreeable to what we find is practifed in Barbary, where they are wont to give ftrangers provifions, fufficient to fupport them the first part of the day on which they leave them, but no farther, referring it to others to supply the wants of the coming evening.

OBSERVATION LXII.

The demanding provifions with roughness and Severity by fuch as travel under the direction of government, or authorised by goverment to do it, is at this day fo practised in the East, as greatly to illustrate some other paffages of Scripture.

When the Baron de Tott was fent, in 1767, to the Cham of the Tartars, by the French ministry, as resident of France with that Tartar prince, he had a mikmandar, or conductor, given him by the pacha of Kotchim, upon his entering the Turkish territories, whofe business it was to precede and prepare the way for him, as is ufually done in those countries to ambassadors, and fuch as travel gratis, at the expence of the Port, or Turkish

court.

court'. This conductor, whose name, it feems, was Ali Aga, made great use of his whip, when he came among the poor Greeks of Moldavia, to induce them to furnish out that affistance, and those provisions he wanted for the Baron; for though it was represented as travelling at the expence of the Port, it was really at the expence of the inhabitants of those towns or villages to which he came. The Baron appears to have been greatly hurt by that mode of procedure, with those poor peasants, and would rather have procured what he wanted with his money, which he thought would be fufficiently efficacious, if the commands of the mikmandar fhould not be fufficient without the whip.

The Baron's account of the fuccefs of his efforts is a very droll one, which he has enlivened by throwing it into the form of dialogues between himself and the Greeks, and Ali Aga and those peasants, in which he has imitated the broken language the Greeks made use of, pretending not to understand Turkish, in order to make it more mirthful.

It would be much too long for thefe papers, and quite unneceffary for my design, to transcribe these dialogues; it is fufficient to fay, that after the jealoufy of the poor oppreffed Greeks of their being to be pillaged, or more heavily loaded with demands by the Turks, had prevented their voluntary supplying

Memoirs, vol 1, part 2, p. 10, &c. 2 P. 15, &c.

ST

the Baron for his money, Ali Aga undertook the business, and upon the Moldavian's pretending not to understand the Turkish language, he knocked him down with his fift, and kept kicking him while he was rifing. Which brought him to complain in good Turkish of his beating him fo, when he knew very well they were poor people, who were often in want of neceffaries, and whofe princes fcarcely left them the air they breathed. "Pfhaw! "thou art joking, friend," was the reply of Ali Aga, "thou art in want of nothing, ex

66

cept of being well bafted a little oftener; "but all in good time. Proceed we to bufi"nefs. I muft inftantly have two fheep, a "dozen of fowls, a dozen of pigeons, fifty

pounds of bread, four oques of butter, "with falt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, le

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mons, wines, falad, and good oil of olives, "all in great plenty." With tears the Moldavian replied, "I have already told you "that we are poor creatures, without fo "much as bread to eat. Where muft we

get cinnamon?" The whip, it feems, was taken from under his habit, and the Moldavian beaten till he could bear it no longer, but was forced to fly, finding Ali Aga inexorable, and that thefe provifions must be produced; and, in fact, we are told, the quarter of an hour was not expired, within which time Ali Aga required that these things fhould

A Turkish weight of about forty-two ounces.

be