When the Baron de Tott's wife and motherin-law were admitted to make a vifit to Ama Sultana, daughter of the emperor Achmet, and fifter of the then reigning prince, he tells us, that at the opening of the third gate of her palace, feveral black eunuchs prefented themfelves, who, with each a white staff in his hand, preceded the vifitors, leading them to a spacious apartment, called the Chamber of Strangers. At the clofe of the account of this vifit, he informs us, that "thefe beings are in Turkey only an article of luxury, and scarcely met with, but in the feraglio of the Grand Seignior, and thofe of the Sultanas. The pride of fome grandees has indeed gone fo "far as to make ufe of them, but with moderation, and the richest among them "have not more than one or two black eu"nuchs at most. . . . . The manners of "these are always harsh and brutal, and of"fended Nature feems continually to exprefs

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her anger at the injury fhe has received."

The very humane difpofition Ebed-melech expreffed towards the prophet Jeremiah, when thrown into a dungeon where he was ready to perifh, feems to entitle him to the honour of being an exception to this unamiable character, but which may be, very poffibly, moft agreeable to their tyrannizing mafters.

I

Memoirs, part 1, p. 71, &c.

OBSER

OBSERVATION LXXXIX.

Among other inftances of the extreme diftance, and profound awe, with which Eaftern majesty is treated, one that is mentioned by Sir John Chardin, in his account of Perfia, appears very strange to us; yet may afford a lively comment on a paffage of the prophet Ezekiel.

Sir John tells us, "It is a common cuf"tom in Perfia, that when a great man “has built a palace, he treats the king and "his grandees in it for feveral days. Then "the great gate of it is open; but when these "feftivities are over, they fhut it up never more to be opened." He adds, "I have "heard that the fame thing is practifed in Japan."

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It seems surprising to us, that great and magnificent houfes within fhould have only fmall entrances into them, which no one would fuppofe would lead you into fuch beautiful edifices; but fuch, he obferves, is the common cuftom there: making no magnificent entrance into their houses at all; or, if they do, fhutting them up after a little time, and making use of some small entrance near the great one, or, it may be, in fome very different part of the building.

1 Tome 3, p. 69.

་

This account, however, may serve as comment on that paffage of Ezekiel, "Then "faid the Lord unto me, This gate fhall be

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fout, it fhall not be opened, and no man "fhall enter in by it; because the Lord God "of Ifrael hath entered in by it, therefore "it fhall be fhut. It is for the prince." Ch. xliv. 2, 3.

Not fo however for the prince himself, as that he fhould pass through that gate; he was only to ftand, or fit in the entrance of it: while other perfons, if they worshipped at that gate, were to keep at a more awful diftance, ch. xlvi. 1-12. But this indulgence was only on feftival days-fabbaths and

new-moons.

OBSERVATION XC.

Deep as the reverence is with which the Orientals treat their princes, yet, in some cases, a mode of treatment occurs that we are furprised at, as feeming to us of the Weft too near an approach to that familiarity that takes place among equals: the taking a new elected prince by the hand, in token of acknowledging his princely character, may probably appear to us in this light.

D'Herbelot, in explaining an Eastern term', which he tells us fignifies the election or in

P. 204, art. Biat.

auguration

auguration of a Khalife, the fupreme head of the Mohammedans in civil and ecclefiaftical matters both, tells us, that "this ceremony "confifted in stretching forth a perfon's hand, "and taking that of him that they acknowledged for Khalife. This was a fort of

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performing homage, and fwearing fealty to "him." He adds, that " Khondemir (a "celebrated historian) fpeaking of the elec"tion of Othman, the third Khalife after

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Mahomet, fays, that Ali alone did not pre"fent his hand to him, and that upon that occafion Abdurahman, who had by compromife made the election, faid to him, O "Ali! he who violates his word is the first perfon that is injured by fo doing; upon hearing of which words, Ali ftretched out "his hand, and acknowledged Othman as "Khalife."

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How much lefs folemn and expreffive of reverence is this, than the manner of paying homage and fwearing fealty at the coronation of our princes; to fay nothing of the adoration that is practifed in the Romish church, upon the election of their greatest ecclefiaftic! It may however ferve to illuftrate what we read concerning Jehonadab', the head of an Arab tribe that lived in, and confequently was in some measure subject to, the kingdom of Ifrael. Jehonadab came to meet Jehu, and he faluted him; and Jehu faid to Jehonadab, Is

2 Kings 10. 15, 16,

3

thine

thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? and Jehonadab anfwered, It is. And he faid, If it be, give me thine hand: and be gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

This giving him the hand appears not to have been the expreffion of private friendship; but the folemn acknowledgment of him as king over Ifrael.

Our tranflators feem to have fuppofed, by their way of expreffing matters, that Jehu faluted, or bleffed Jehonadab, and Bishop Patrick thought it was plain that it ought fo to be understood; but I cannot but think it moft natural to understand the words as fignifying, that Jehonadab came to meet Jehu as then king of Ifrael, and compliment him on his being acknowledged king of the country in which he dwelt; not that this newly anointed prince firft faluted him. This would not have been in character. So when Jacob was introduced to Pharaoh, he is faid to have bleffed Pharaoh, not Pharaoh Jacob, Gen. xlvii. 7. The words therefore fhould have been tranflated, with a flight variation, after fome fuch manner as this, "He lighted on

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Jehonadab, the fon of Rechab, coming to "meet him, and he (Jehonadab) faluted him, " and be (Jehu) faid unto him, Is thine "heart, &c."

OBSER