Mark, xiv. 51, 52. And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

In chill mornings, I have often seen natives with the cloth in which they slept, held by their two hands. over their shoulders, and flying behind.

Luke, i. 63. And he asked for a writing-table, and wrote, saying, His name is John.

The Moors have portions of the Koran written on boards painted white, some sizes larger than a slate of the largest size in English schools, and which serve for school books.

Luke, ii. 7. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

The swaddling-clothes of the Virgin were probably splendid and royal, denoting her descent; otherwise it is difficult to conceive, how they could serve to designate the birth of a Saviour in the city of David. Verse 12. and Job, xxxviii. 9,— most probably denote, being put up in ornamented cloth, woven, it should seem, by the mother in her virginity;-not slips of cloth like those by which the bodies of babes are tightened by European nurses. It is an ancient and highly probable opinion, that Christ was born in a cave or grotto, used occasionally by travellers in housing their cattle. A manger made of a log of wood, hollowed like a canoe, like those used in Ceylon and called eating canoes, would serve as a convenient cradle, easily rocked. None of the words rendered Inn, whereever they occur in the Scriptures should be so translated. Every European traveller knows, to his great inconvenience, there are no such places in the East. A cane, caravansera, choultry, or rest-house, consists of bare walls, set apart for the accommo

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dation of travellers; who must carry their bedding; kitchen utensils, and provisions along with them. Two friends of the writer, influenced by European usages, set out for Colombo from Point de Galle, as if going from London to York; and an unpleasant journey of it they had!-In this passage, xaraλvμa, denotes a place of untying-the burdens of the cavalcade for rest. Luke, x. 34, Tardoxelor, denotes a receptacle open to all comers. Both kinds of places seem imported by na, in Genesis, xlii. 27.

Luke, ii. 44. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

The crowds who at festivals, go to particular places of worship in Ceylon, are not to be compared for number, with those of Bengal; but a great many may be seen on the road together, at a distance from the place of resort, with their offerings, and cooking utensils. They return home in companies as they go.

Luke, iv. 17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias: and when he had opened the book

Unrolled the book, rather. Jeremiah, xxxvi. 2, 23 -for leaves, read columns. The books were doubtless scrolls of parchment, written like those used in the Jewish synagogues. The rendering of the Septuagint in Psalm, xl. 7, and the Greek of Hebrews, x. 7, mean the head of the book, probably a ticket fixed at the end of the scroll denoting its subject, as at the end of a rolled map, suppose ;answering the purpose of a label on a book bound in the European manner.-Job, xix. 23, 24.-Cingalese books in Kandy, have been written on thin plates of brass, much like copper-plate. I have seen one, consisting of about forty leaves,-each, say eighteen inches long, and two and a half broad.-Revelations,

v. 1, seems to denote a book consisting of leaves in themselves detached, but fastened at the back, or by a string run through a hole, as some books are prepared for the purpose of reference in conducting the service of the synagogue,--or as we string loose papers on a file.-A scroll agrees best with its being written within and on the backside, and with being sealed with seven seals; but not with the circumstance of a separate revelation, as the seals were in succession broke open, unless John observed and counted the seals as they were opened;-but I have met with no opinion altogether satisfactory.

Luke, vii. 44-46. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with oint

ment.

The Cingalese, several times a week, oil their hair, particularly after bathing. A composition, of which oil was a principal ingredient, was used for purposes of consecration, as every one knows;-and the usage was perhaps a refinement on the practice of moistening the hair with oil, in which the Jews evidently observed the quality of the person anointed. The passage above, is in several respects agreeable to the manners of the Ceylonese. Water is brought on the arrival of a visitor, to wash his feet,-friends on meeting, embrace each other, the stranger in dressing, is assisted in oiling his head,-(an office occasionally performed for a husband by his wife)—oil too, is sometimes rubbed on the joints and feet.-It does not appear, that the woman broke the alabaster box of very precious ointment to pieces, but, as we say, broke it open. The rendering, in our version, though somewhat obscure, shows the aim of the

translators to keep as close as possible to the original. To turn commentator for a moment :—A minister of Christ, on being received with inattentions as gross, and suspicions as groundless as those of Simon, should imitate his Master, by quietly letting things pass, till an opportunity offers of dealing out admonition in a manner so handsome.-Those who suppose a minister should be so devotional as to be perfectly insensible to the concerns of life,and likely to improve in Christian virtue by neglect, contempt, and bad usage, on the part of those who should esteem him very highly in love for his works' sake, may do well to consider the above-mentioned practices of Jews and Heathens.

Luke, viii. 44. And a woman ...... touched the border of his garment.

came behind him, and

"Border." Matthew, ix. 20, "hem." Campbell reads, tuft. At each corner of a Jewish mantle was a bunch of strings, designed to remind the wearer of his religious profession. Numbers, xv. 38; Deuteronomy, xxii. 12. It was doubtless one of these ornaments that the woman touched.

Luke, x. 4. Salute no man by the way.-Ezekiel, xxxiii. 30. Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee [margin, of thee] by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his 'brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.

The Arabs are inquisitive to strangers; so are the easterns, it should seem, in general, having much time for chit-chat. Many times on the passing of a palanquin before a company of loungers, have I heard the interrogation kowdah?-who? put to the bearers.-There seems an illusion to the general inquisitiveness, in John, xvi. 5. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me,

Whither goest thou? Our Lord prohibits the seventy from loitering and gossiping,-urging them to hasten on to the places with the good tidings.-The Cingalese have small houses, built of wood sometimes, and covered with tiles, having benches for travellers to rest themselves, and on which they sit and talk. The house consists but of a single room, without a door or window; and open all round, above breast high.

Luke, x. 42. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Evos de est Xeece: "This," says Doddridge, "is one of the gravest and most important apothegms that ever was uttered; and one can scarce pardon the frigid impertinence of Theophylact and Basil; who explain it as if he had said, one dish of meat is enough." "And yet, says Mr. Parkhurst, very conclusively, I cannot help thinking that those Greek expositors were in this instance, better critics than the English divine, whose judgment seems to have been warped by an early and long use of our common translation. But to the point: Evos is plainly opposed to the immediately preceding Toλa, and what can this word mean but many things to eat? about which, Martha's oλλn dianova, verse 40, had been employed? Evos therefore should mean one thing, or dish, to eat of. Again, the words Evos de Es Xpia are followed by Magia AE-BUT (not and, as in our version,)-Mary-which manner of expression most properly and generally marks a transition to a different subject."

Luke, xi. 7. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

"I and my children are in bed."-Campbell. The whole it seems, reposing in the same room,-not in the