toral, in the proper sense of these terms, but that it partakes of the characteristics of the two latter kinds of compositin in its substance, while its external form is dramatic; that is to say, that it is a pastoral-nuptial song, exhibited na dramatic form. "The principal characters are Solomon himself and his bride, who are represented speaking both in dialogue, and in soliloquy when accidentally separated. Virgins also, the companions of the bride, are introduced, who seem to be always present, and bear a part in the dialogue: mention is also made of young men, friends of the bridegroom, but they are mute persons." (Lowth's 'Lectures,' No. xxx.) The idea we have stated is not much opposed to that of Dr. J. M. Good, who, supported by the authority of Sir William Jones, regards the poem as a series of unconnected idyls on the same subject, which has already been defined. This, under the above view, becomes litte more than a question of division into parts, the form remaining dramatic, although the poem be not a drama. It is evident to the most cursory reader that there should be some division to mark the manifest transitions which occur in the progress of the poem; but that these should be considered perfectly to disconnect the poems, is not to make suffcient allowance for the bold and abrupt transitions which the genius of Oriental poetry allows.

The Song of Solomon has been conceived by most interpreters to bear an allegorical or mystical sense, in which describes the union between the Church and its Lord. On this point it is scarcely within our plan to express an upinion; but as such an opinion is usually expected, we shall not refrain from declaring our entire concurrence in the general impression. Unless we received such an opinion, it would be difficult to account for the existence of the book in the Sacred Scriptures; and such an opinion is also in the fullest conformity with other passages of Scripture in which the Lord permits the relation between Himself and the Church to be described by the most endearing of all relations-that between the husband and the wife, or the bridegroom and the bride; and from which results other figures drawn from the circumstances of the same condition: as, when the heart of the wedded Church becomes alienated, the Lord is described as jealous; and when she long persists in her evil way, he gives her a bill of divorcement. Other corroborations of the mystical meaning of the book may be derived from the existing poetry in the East. Thus the glowing poems of the most eminent Persian poets are most sincerely believed by the Soofees, and by many others, to have a mystical meaning, and are so explained and employed. "The Persians insist," says Major Scott Waring, that we should give them the merit of understanding their own language, that all the odes of their celebrated poets are mystical, and breathe a fervent spirit of adoration to the Supreme Being. They maintain that the Soofees profes eager desire with no carnal affection, and circulate the cup, but no material goblet, since all things are spiritual in their sect; all is mystery within mystery." And that such interpretation is not unwarranted by the intention of the authors, appears from various explicit avowals which might be cited from their works. We could cite numerous examples of this application, but shall be satisfied with adducing the unexceptionable testimony of Mr. Lane, in his recent work on the Modern Egyptians.' After mentioning that the odes sung by the Mohammedans at religious festivals were of a similar nature with the Song of Solomon, generally alluding to the Prophet as the object of love and praise, he gives a specimen of one of these hymns, which is too long for us to copy. He then proceeds: "I most translate a few more lines, to show more strongly the similarity of these songs to that of Solomon; and lest it should be thought that I have varied the expressions, I shall not attempt to render them into verse. In the small collection of poems sung at Zikrs, is one that begins with these lines:

6

In the first of these verses we have a comparison exactly agreeing with the concluding verse of Solomon's Song; fx the word which, in our Bible, is translated a "roe," is used in Arabic as synonymous with ghazál (or a gazelle); and the mountains El-Yemen are 'the mountains of spices.' This poem ends with the following lines:

Compare the above with the second and five following verses of the fifth chapter of Solomon's Song. Finding the songs of this description are exceedingly numerous, and almost the only poems sung at Zikrs; that they are compose for that purpose, and intended only to have a spiritual sense (though certainly not understood in that sense by the generality of the vulgar); I cannot entertain any doubt as to the design of Solomon's Song. The specimens which I have just given of the religious love-songs of the Mooslims have not been selected, in preference to others, as must agreeing with that of Solomon; but as being in frequent use." The passage here quoted certainly furnishes the most valuable single testimony to the mystical sense of Solomon's Song which has hitherto been afforded.

Verse 5. "As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon."-The form of this strongly-marked contrast would lead s to conclude that a magnificent state-tent belonging to Solomon is here intended by the word rendered "curtains ;* and opposed to the black goats'-hair tents of the Kedarene Arabs. The Oriental kings usually possess one or more rich tents, to be used when occasion requires. In the Arabian romance of Antar' there is a description of one, which the hero received as a present from the king of Persia, and which he caused to be pitched upon the occasion of his marriage with Ibla. "When spread out it occupied half the land of Shurebah, for it was the load of forty camels and there was an awning at the door of the pavilion, under which four thousand of the Arabian horse could skirmist It was embroidered with burnished gold, studded with precious stones and diamonds, interspersed with rubies and emeralds, set with rows of pearls; and there was painted thereon a specimen of every created thing-birds, and trees, and towns, and cities, and seas, and continents, and beasts, and reptiles: and whoever looked at it was confounded by the variety of the representations, and by the brilliancy of the silver and gold; and so magnificent was the whole. ! that when the pavilion was pitched the land of Shurebah and Mount Saadi were illuminated by its splendour.” (vol. iv. p. 375.) This is of course an exaggerated poetical description, particularly as to the size of the pavilion; but yet the exaggeration is not so great as might be imagined. Marco Polo describes Kublai Khan's tent as being so large that

ten thousand soldiers might be drawn up under it, without incommoding the nobles at the audience; and others are mentioned capable of holding two thousand persons. At the famous marriage-feast held by Timour Beg (Tamerlane) at Canighul, the royal tents were gilt, and adorned with precious stones. Each tent had twelve columns of silver, inlaid with gold; the outside was scarlet and seven other colours, and were lined with satin of all colours. Their curtains were of velvet, and their ropes of silk. At the encampment of the same conqueror, in the plain of Ourtoupa, the pavilions were richly ornamented, and hung with curtains of brocade covered with gold flowers. At other times we read of tents "covered with cloth of gold and tartaries full nobly ;" and at the grand encampment at Minecgheul, the tent of Timur was under a canopy supported by forty pillars, and was spacious as a palace; in the middle of it was a throne, so ornamented with precious stones that it resembled the sun (see Rankin's Historical Researches,' passim). More recently, Nadir Shah, the conqueror of India, had a superb tent, covered on the outside with scarlet cloth, and lined within with violet-coloured satin, ornamented with various figures of animals, flowers, &c., formed entirely of pearls and precious stones. The contrast between such tents and those of the Arabian shepherds is great indeed.

10. "Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels."-Instead of cheeks, it would be better to read "brows," as the original will very well allow. We may here intimate that we shall not in this book notice the various details of female 2 ornaments, as they are more fully enumerated in Isa. iii., where they will receive the requisite attention.

14. "Camphire.”—The Hebrew copher, answering to the Greek xurgos and the Latin cyprus, is now generally agreed to be the henna of the Arabians, being the Lawsonia alba of Linnæus, included under the specific appellation of alba, the inermis and the spinosa, since the shrub is unarmed in youth, but becomes thorny as its age advances. It belongs to the natural family of the Salicaria, and is hence allied to the Lythrum salicaria of the streams that meander through the parks in this country. It is a smooth-looking shrub: the deep colour of its bark constrasts well with the light green hue of the foliage; and, together with the softened mixture of white yellow, with the red tint of the ramifications which support them, presents a combination as agreeable to the eye as the odour is to the scent. The flowers grow in dense clusters-whence the cluster of camphire" in the text. The grateful fragrance of these clusters is as much appreciated now as in the time of Solomon. The clusters themselves serve as a popular and customary perfume. The women take great pleasure in them. They hold them in their hand, carry them in their bosom. and keep them in their apartments to perfume the air. An extract from them is used in religious ceremonies, and in visits of compliment and gratulation. The leaves of this plant are still more in request. When dried and powdered they furnish the famous dye with which the Orientals give a deep orange tincture to the nails of their hands and feet, to the soles of their feet and the palms of their hands, and sometimes to their hair. Some think that the use of this dye for the nails is indicated in Deut. xxi. 12: and it is not unlikely that the Hebrews had this custom, though it may be doubtful that there is an allusion to it in that text. (See the note there.)

CHAPTER II.

1 The mutual love of Christ and his church. 8 The hope, 10 and calling of the church. 14 Christ's care of the church. 16 The profession of the church, her faith and hope.

I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. 'I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my

taste.

4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 5 Stay me with flagons, 'comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

9 My beloved is like a roe or a young

hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall he looketh forth at the windows, 'shewing himself through the lattice.

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come

away.

Il For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

10

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his : he feedeth among the lilies.

17 "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains "of Bether.

$ Chap. 8. 3.
11 Chap. 4. 6.

Verse 1. "The rose of Sharon."-The Septuagint and Vulgate render the original an, chabatzeleth, by is and flos-a flower; and Sharon they do not give as a proper name, but give its meaning, translating, "a flower of the field." Bishop Percy, whose opinion has been taken by many later commentators, thinks that the bride is not praising herself, by reference to flowers famous for their beauty, but is speaking modestly and detractively of herself; and points this sense by translating, "I am a mere rose of the field, a lily of the valley." He justly understands that this gives a new force to the reply of the bridegroom in the next verse.

We believe there can be little doubt that the rose is really intended by the Hebrew word. Even if in the general sense it should mean but a flower, we should still infer that, when applied in a particular sense, it means a rose; for this would be according to the usage of the East. Thus the Persian word gul describes a flower in general, and the rose par excellence; and the Arabic term ward is employed in the same acceptations. This suffices to show the esti mation in which the rose is held in the East. It is the queen of flowers there, as in the West-and there perhaps more eminently. In the Persian language, particularly, there is perhaps no poem in which allusions to it, and com parions drawn from it, do not occur even to repletion, although diversified by reference to the various species and colours in which that renowned flower appears. The extreme fragrance and great beauty of the rose in some parts of western Asia, have attracted the notice of many travellers. It is also cultivated not merely as a garden plant for presure but in extensive fields, from the produce of which is prepared that valued and delicious perfume called rose-water.

The size of the rose-trees, and the number of the flowers on each, far exceeds, in the rose districts of Persia, anything we are accustomed to witness. In that country the most common sorts are the usual rose-colour, white, red, or deeper red, yellow, and mixed-that is, red on one side, and yellow or white on the other. Sometimes, also, on a rose-tree may be seen flowers of three colours-red, red and yellow, and red and white. How much the rose was esteemed by the classical ancients is well known. It particularly figured in festal chaplets: and so perhaps it did among the Jews; for in the apocryphal book of Wisdom, the sensualists are represented as saying, "Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of the spring pass by us: Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they are withered" (chap. ii. 7, 8). In another apocryphal book, "the rose-plants of Jericho" (Ecclus. xxiv. 14) are mentioned with praise.

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Lily."-The Hebrew word shoshanna, seems to indicate that the "lily of the valley" was one of those plants wherein the number six (W) predominates in the distribution of their parts, such as the crocus, asphodel, daffodil, lily, &c. We once felt inclined to think that a species of asphodel was the plant alluded to, since the Asphodelus ramosus covers immense tracts of land in the south, and is said to be good fodder for sheep; "he feedeth among the lilies." But in a matter of so much obscurity we prefer to concur with those who think that the Amaryllis lutea may be here intended. The Amaryllis lutea, or yellow amaryllis, bears some resemblance to our yellow crocus, but with a larger flower and broader leaves. The blossom emerges from an undivided spathe or sheath, and is of a bell-shaped contour, with six divisions, and sir stamens which are alternately shorter. The flower seldom rises above three or four inches above the soil, accompanied by a tuft of green leaves, which, after the flowering is passed, continue to wear their freshness through the winter. Many acres are often covered with this pretty flower, which is in its prime in September and October. It is a hardy plant, and was introduced into the English gardens by Gerarde, in 1596, where it is seen flowering nearly at the same time as the saffron crocus and the colchicum, with which it harmonizes greatly in its

3. "Apple-tree."-Instead of this, we have "citron-tree;" and, when the fruit alone is mentioned, "citron" instead fapple," in most modern versions. We do not hesitate to acquiesce in this conclusion, when we reflect that all the 11 usions to it in Scripture agree better with the citron than the apple. From the present text we learn that it was hought one of the noblest trees of the wood, and that its fruit was very pleasant: verse 5. seems to intimate that its ruit was proper for those to smell to who were ready to faint; ch. viii. 5, more explicitly expresses its fragrance; and Prov. xxv. 11, appears to say that it was of a golden colour. All this is true of the citron, but not so of the apple,

which does not attain much delicacy or perfection in Western Asia. The present writer nowhere, in that region, tasted an apple which an Englishman would praise, except at one place (Gumitch Khona, widely famed on that account) among the mountains south of the Black Sea, where they are very good and admit of a comparison with some of our best qualities. The name also, tapuach, signifying "to breathe," may be supposed to express the delightful and powerful fragrance which breathes from every part of the citron-tree. To which we may add that the fruit is much used by the Oriental ladies to smell to, for which purpose they often have it in their hands, or within reach, and as its fragrance is considered most reviving, it is employed for much the same purposes as a scent-bottle in this country. We consider this a good illustration of verse 5. The tree grows to a fine large size, and affords a pleasant shade, as the text intimates. It is green all the year, and in due season the snow-white blossoms and golden fruit may be observed at the same time upon the same tree. The foliage is studded with minute glands, which are the depositaries of the odorous juices to which the tree owes its fragrance. Many think that the word is to be understood in the large sense, as including the orange, lemon, and other species of the citrus; as, however, there is much uncertainty in this matter, and as the details seem more applicable to the citron than to any other single species, we have preferred to limit our statement, without being opposed to the larger interpretation.

The eye is

From the

4. "Banqueting house."-We have been desirous of presenting our readers, in p. 726, with a specimen of the style of interior architecture and ornament, exhibited in the more splendid royal halls of Eastern palaces. For this purpose we have been induced to select the very rich and characteristic Hall of Abencerrages, in the famous palace of the Alhambra, built by the Arabian kings of Granada. Its peculiarly Oriental character, its age, and the elaborate finish of all its parts, renders it by far the most eligible representation for our purpose that could be obtained. The pillars, the arches, the central fountain diffusing its cooling influence around, the division of the walls with their projections, recesses, and style of ornament;-are all in the most approved Oriental style, which probably existed in ages long anterior to the foundation of the Alhambra. The entrance to this hall is from the Court of the Lions, so called from the fountain which is seen in our engraving, and a larger view of which has been given under 1 Kings vii. 23. Murphy, from whose Moorish Antiquities of Spain,' the illustration is copied, thus speaks of a similar and corresponding apartment (the Hall of the Two Sisters), entered from the same court. lost in contemplating the rich assemblage of ornaments which appear in every part of this noble hall. pavement to the beginning of the arches, the walls are decorated with elegant mosaic; the pannels between the arches are filled with a very delicate ornament, which at a little distance has the appearance of a plain mass; and the ceiling is composed of stalactites in stucco, and is finished in a style of equal elegance. The distribution of the various parts of this noble apartment is truly enchanting. The balconies above were occupied by musicians; below sat the women; while a jet-d-eau in the centre diffused a refreshing coolness through the hall. The windows in the back ground are finished in a similar manner, and look into a little myrtle garden." Nothing can be better in the way of general illustration than what the same author in his History of the Mohammedan Empire in Spain' says on the general style of interior decoration which this palace exhibits:-The Arabesque paintings and Mosaics, which are finished with great care and accuracy, give a consequence and interest even to the smallest apartments. Instead of being papered and wainscoted, the walls are covered with Arabesques which had been cast in moulds in a peculiar manner, and afterwards joined together, although no separation appears. The receding ornaments are illuminated in just gradations with leaf gold, pink, light blue, and dusky purple: the first colour is the nearest, the last the most distant from the eye, but the general surface is white. A multitude of sculptures of unequal projection creates confusion: an error avoided in this place, where the ornaments are produced by incision, and their boundless number excites an artificial infinity. Externally, where projections are necessary, the line of continuity is uniformly preserved in every distinct series of parts. The domes and arcades are also formed of ornamented casts, which are almost as light as wood and as durable as marble: specimens of the composition of which they are formed, may be seen in the early works of the Arabs uninjured after the lapse of ten centuries. The lower parts of the walls. to the height of about four feet, is covered with porcelain mosaics of various figures and colours; and it appears from a few remaining specimens, that the floors and columns of some of the apartments were also covered with similar mosaics." Nearly all this applies with equal propriety to the modern palaces of Western Asia; the principal alteration being in the now frequent use of looking-glass in the interior decorations, and which seems in some sort to supply the place of the porcelain mosaic mentioned above, and which, like that, is employed sometimes to cover even the shafts of pillars, and with an effect which we should undervalue by comparing it with any use of the mirror known in this country. Upon the whole, however, as well as in the use of painted figures and devices, which sometimes occur instead of the rich panel-work, which is still, however, to a great extent retained, the Oriental taste seems to have considerably degenerated. In the East there is perhaps no palace equal to the Alhambra; and this is one reason for the preference we have given to it for the purpose of illustration. See also the notes on Ps. xlv. 8; and Isa. liv. 12.