1. "The land shadowing with wings." In Eastern language the SHADOW of a person means his PROTECTION, and the comFORT derived from such a situation, and this is the meaning of the following passages:-"The children of men put their trust under the SHADOW of thy wings." "In the SHADOW of thy wings will I rejoice." "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the SHADOW of the Almighty." "To trust in the SHADOW of Egypt." "Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the SHADOW of Egypt your confusion." Also in Judges ix. 15. Ps. xvii. 8. Cant. ii. 3. Isa. xxv. 4.; xlix. 2. Lam. iv. 20. Ezek. xxxi. 6. 12. 17. the word SHADOW has a kindred meaning. In conformity with the above idea the figure may be heard daily. Listen to that destitute man; he goes to his superior, and says, "My lord, look upon a miserable creature; have pity on me, and allow me to come under your SHADOW." "Ah! could I but get under the SHADOW of the king, then should I be at rest.” "How is Mutto getting on in these days?"-"Getting on? have you not heard he is under the SHADOW of the Modeliar?"

Whatever land, therefore, may be meant, it points at some country which affected to be its own PROTECTION (and probably that of others) by its SHADOWING WINGS, and may mean "the SHADOW of Egypt.'

2.- 66 Go, ye swift

peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down."

2. To whom were the messengers to go? to a terrible people. What was to be their condition? they were to be were to be routed; dispersed, put to confusion. Thus Moses: "Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be SCATTERED, and let them that hate thee flee before thee."

SCATTERED

See Belzoni's Plates, by Mr. Murray, Albemarle Street, where the wings, the protecting emblems, may be seen in every temple and cave.

E E

Thou hast SCATTERED us among the heathen." "Ye shall be SCATTERED through the countries."

"Scandan was the hero of the gods; he SCATTERED all the Assurs." "The king has SCATTERED all his foes." "The British troops have SCATTERED the Birmese." The terrible people, therefore, were to be SCATTERED, dispersed, routed; to be put to utter confusion.

3. They were also to be "PEELED;" i. e. to be SHAVED. The original 1 MURUTH is by some rendered "MADE BALD"-by others "peeled or shaved." Parkhurst says, under

, III. "To make smooth, as the head stripped of its hair, occurs (Ezra ix. 3.) literally, And I made my head smooth from hair. Isa. 1. 6. I gave my cheeks to those who made them smooth; namely, by plucking off the hair, which according to the Eastern notion was, and still is, an indignity of the highest kind." The learned Lexicographer thinks the passage in Isaiah translated "peeled" refers to the same thing. Dr. A. Clarke says C6 PEELED—SMOOTHED—either relating to the practice of the Egyptian priests, who made their bodies smooth by SHAVING off their hair, or rather to the country's being made smooth, perfectly plain, and level, by the overflowing of the Nile."

The Tamul translation has, instead of "peeled," "shaved;" which I believe to be the true meaning. Parkhurst is right in saying to pluck off the hair (or shave), is a great indignity in the East. To say the king has SIRITU, or SAVARITU, i. e. SHAVED his enemies, shows at once they have been completely in his power. "The boasting foe says he will SHAVE us all but let him take care of his own hair." "Yes, wretch, I will shave thee." (See PARTICULARLY on Isa. vii. 20.) “In the same day shall the Lord SHAVE with a razor that is hired,” &c. (Also on Deut. xxi. 12, 13., and 2 Chronicles xvi. 14.) 4." Meted out." "I will mete out the valley of Succoth." Dr. A. Clarke: -" Dividing and METING out signify possession." The definition of the learned Doctor is in exact accordance with the Eastern notion: thus the British

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have ALLATU, i. e. MEASURED India, means they have subdued, portioned out, taken possession of it. The idea seems to be taken from the practice of dividing the land of a conquered foe, and giving it out for the possession and enjoyment of strangers; or even to those whose real property it

was.

5. "Trodden down." Joshua called the captains of his army, and said, "Come near; put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them." Look, also, at the exciting language of the great deliverer (chap. lxiii. 3.):-" I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury." (Ps. cxix. 118. Isa. xiv. 19.; xxv. 10.; xxviii. 3. and 18. Lam. i. 15. Dan. viii. 13. Mic. vii. 10. Luke xxi. 24. Heb. x. 29.)

In the wars of the gods and giants, frequent mention is made of the savage triumph of the conquerors, who trampled on the bodies of the vanquished. Thus Vishnoo stood on the body of the demon he had conquered; and thus do those who overcome others at this day. "Get out of my way, contemptible fellow, or I will TREAD upon thee." "My feet shall soon press thy neck." "Thou art not good enough for me to tread upon.”

"Trodden down."

7. In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of Hosts of a people scattered and

peeled."

6. This completes the degradation of the vanquished. They were now to be presented as SLAVES to the conqueror; alluding to the custom of presenting prisoners of war as slaves to the victors. See, then, the gradation of their misery; they were, 1. To be SCATTERED, i. e. conquered, dispersed; 2. Were to be SHAVED, as a token of their captivity; 3. They and their lands were to be meted out, divided, and taken possession of; 4. Were to be TRODDEN under foot, to denote their misery; and, 5. To complete the picture, were to be presented as SLAVES to the conquerors.

XXI. 5. "Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield."

(Hab. i. 16. "They sacrifice unto their net, and

burn incense unto their drag.")

Strange as it may appear, the Hindoos make offerings to their weapons of war, and to those used in hunting. Fishermen offer incense to the bag in which they carry their fish, and also to the net; thus, whilst the incense is burning, they hold the different implements in the smoke. They also, when able, sacrifice a sheep or a fowl, which is said to make the ceremony more acceptable to Varuna, the god of the sea. Should the tackle thus consecrated not prove successful, they conclude some part of the ceremony has not been properly performed, and therefore must be repeated. But, in addition to this, they often call for their magicians to bless the waters, and to intercede for prosperity. Nor is this sacrificing to implements and weapons confined to fishermen, hunters, and warriors; for even artisans do the same thing to their tools; as also do students and scholars to their books. Thus at the feast called nava-rātere, i. e. the nine nights, carpenters, masons, goldsmiths, weavers, and all other tradesmen may be seen offering to their tools. Ask them a reason, and they say the incense and ceremonies are acceptable to Sarusa-pathi, the beautiful goddess of Brahma.*

8." And he cried, A lion: my lord." The margin has

this, cried "As a lion."

The Tamul translation also has this, as a lion; and nothing can be more common than to say of a man who has a loud voice, or of one who makes a great noise, orou, singam, pole, sattam, pannu-kerār, i. e. he makes a noise like a lion.

Tyerman and Bennet, in their travels in a more remote province of India, met with a similar usage: they say, " This is the day on which the Hindoos pay divine honours to the implements of their various trades, the files and hammers of the smiths, the chisels and saws of the carpenters, the diamond of the glazier, the crucible of the goldsmith. Thus do they resemble those of old, who sacrificed to their net, and burnt incense to their drag."

Thus did the man in the watchtower cry aloud like a lion.

9." Babylon is fallen, is fallen."

This is a prophecy, and yet speaks as if the event to which it relates had been already accomplished. In Jeremiah, also, li. 8., it is said, "Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed." David says, "Thou hast smitten all mine enemies." Dr. A. Clarke says, "That is, thou wilt smite!" He speaks in full confidence of God's interference, and knows that he shall as surely have the victory as if he had it already. In these selections the PAST tense is used instead of the FUTURE. He who came from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah, is made to say, "I will stain all my raiment." Dr. A. Clarke has, "And I have stained." In this instance, therefore, the FUTURE is used for the PAST. (Ps. lxix.): —"Let their table become a snare before them; and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents." Dr. Boothroyd renders these imprecations in the future, because he believes the whole to refer to judgments that SHOULD fall on the enemy. Dr. A. Clarke says, "The execrations here, and in the following verses, should be read in the FUTURE tense, because they are PREDICTIVE, and not in the IMPERATIVE mood, as if they were the offspring of the Psalmist's resentment."

It is common in Eastern speech, in order to show the CERTAINTY of any thing which SHALL be done, to speak of it as having been ALREADY accomplished. Thus the Psalmist, in speaking of the iniquities of bad men as having already received their reward, evidently alludes to the CERTAINTY of future punishment. It is therefore of the first importance to know in what tense the verb is meant, as that alone will give a true view of the intention of the writer.