a secret and solemn sense to the obvious meaning of their compositions, and of looking through the medium of human affairs to those which are celestial and divine. The subject of the Canticles appears to be the marriage-feast of Solomon (who was, both in name and in reality, the Prince of Peace); his bride is also called Solomitis,* the same name with a feminine termination; though the latter Jews have strangely disguised and obscured it by a vicious pronunciation; for Solomon and Solomitis have evidently the same relation to each other as the Latin names Caius and Caia. This circumstance of the names was not to be disregarded, since they seem to have a very strict connexion, and to afford a very distinct intimation of the latent meaning: for, to what purpose innovate the usual practice of the Hebrews, by assigning to the wife of Solomon the same name, unless from a regard to the force and meaning of the word? unless it was meant to indicate, that the name of Solomon himself was not without importance, not without some further aim than merely the distinction of the person? Who this wife of Solomon was, is not clearly ascertained; but some of the learned have conjectured, with an appearance of probability, that she was the daughter of Pharaoh, to whom Solomon was known to be particularly attached. May we not, therefore, with some shadow of reason, suspect, that, under the allegory of Solomon choosing a wife from the Egyptians, might be darkly typified that other Prince of Peace, who was to espouse a church chosen from among the Gentiles?+. Concerning the explanation of this allegory I will only add, that, in the first place, we ought to be cautious of carrying the figurative application too far, and of entering into a precise explication of every particular; as these minute πριν πολυ ; which may be expressed in Greek Σολομων, Σωλομιτις. Cant. viii. 1.

†This very nice and remote allusion to Christ is totally destroyed by an unlucky observation of Dr Hodgson, who very properly remarks, that the Bride, who is the subject of this poem, could not be the daughter of Pharaoh, for in the third chapter, ver. 4. she expressly says,

"I would not let him go,

Till I had led him into the house of my mother."

"If, therefore," says the Doctor, "she had been the daughter of Pharaoh, her mother's house would have been in Egypt, whereas the scene of this poem evidently lies at Jerusalem." See Dr Hodgson's Version of this Poem, Notes on chap. iii.

The quotations from the Canticles in this and the last Lecture are chiefly taken from the above elegant publication.-T.

investigations are seldom conducted with sufficient prudence not to offend the serious part of mankind, learned as well as unlearned. Again, I would advise that this production be treated according to the established rules of this kind of allegory, fully and expressly delivered in the sacred writings, and that the author be permitted to be his own interpreter. In this respect the errors of critics and divines* have been as numerous as they have been pernicious. Not to mention other absurdities, they have taken the allegory not as denoting the universal state of the church, but the spiritual state of individuals; than which nothing can be more inconsistent with the very nature and groundwork of the allegory itself, as well as with the general practice of the Hebrew poets on these occasions.

It remains to offer a few remarks upon the style of this poem. I formerly intimated that it was of the pastoral kind; since the two principal personages are represented in the character of shepherds. This circumstance is by no means incongruous to the manners of the Hebrews, whose principal occupation consisted in the care of cattle; § nor did they consider this employment as beneath the dignity of the highest characters. Least of all could it be supposed inconsistent with the character of Solomon, whose father was raised from the sheepfold to the throne of Israel. The pastoral life is not only most delightful in itself, but, from the particular circumstances and manners of the Hebrews, is possessed of a kind of dignity. In this poem it is adorned with all the choicest colouring of language, with all the elegance and variety of the most select imagery. "Every part of the Canticles," says a modern writer," abounds in poetical beauties: the objects which present themselves on every side are, the choicest plants, the most beautiful flowers, the most delicious fruits, the bloom and vigour of spring, the sweet verdure of the fields, flourishing and well-watered gardens, pleasant streams, and perennial fountains. The other senses are represented as regaled with the most precious odours, natural and artificial; with the sweet singing of birds, and the soft voice of the turtle; with milk and honey, and the choicest of wine. To these enchantments are added all that * Bernard, Durham, Sanctius, Bossuet, &c. See chap. i. 7, 8. $ See Gen. xlvi. 32-34.

Though not inconsistent with Solomon, yet exceedingly so in respect to his supposed Egyptian bride, as shepherds were held in abomination by the Egyptians. This confirms Dr Hodgson's idea in the last note.-S. HI,

is beautiful and graceful in the human form; the endearments, the caresses, the delicacy of love: if any object be introduced which seems not to harmonize with this delightful scene, such as the awful prospect of tremendous precipices, the wildness of the mountains, or the haunts of the lions; its effect is only to heighten by the contrast the beauty of the other objects, and to add the charms of variety to those of grace and elegance."* In the following passage the force and splendour of description is united with all the softness and tenderness of passion:

"Get thee up, my companion,

My lovely one, come away:
For, lo! the winter is past,
The rain is over, is gone:

The flowers are seen on the earth;

The season of the song is come,

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land:

The fig-tree puts forth its green figs,

And the vine's tender grapes yield a fragrance:
Arise, my companion, my fair one, and come."†

The following comparisons abound in sweetness and delicacy:
"How sweet is thy love, O my sister, O spouse;
How much better than wine is thy love,
And the odour of thy perfumes than all spices!
Thy lips, O spouse, distil honey from the comb,
Honey and milk are under thy tongue,

And the scent of thy garments is like the fragrance of
Lebanon."

There are some others which demand a more accurate investigation:

"Thy hair is like a flock of goats

That browse upon Mount Gilead."§

Chap. iv. 10, 11.

Bossuet, Pref. to the Cant. † Chap. ii. 10-13. § Chap. iv. 1-5. “It is by no means an easy matter to produce any other explanation of this and the following words than that which had long since been received by the old translators. The word which is here rendered browse denotes in the Arabic to ascend, or to pass from a lower to a higher situation; and I scarcely see how this sense can be admitted in this place. The LXX have it απεκαλύφθησαν, and in chap. vi. 4. ανεφάνησαν, they appear. But the word to shine will perhaps agree better both in this passage and wherever this word occurs. But if the verb wh】 be taken in this passage in the sense of ascending, we must take the whole as it is above expressed; namely, as descriptive of a flock of goats covering the side of the mountain from the bottom to the top." -H.

Galash does not mean to browse or to appear, but to ascend, whether we follow the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Vulgate, or the Arabic copy. The use of the latter word in this place is not indeed very easy to conceive, as "to

The hair of the goats was soft, smooth, of a yellow cast, like that of the bride;* her beautiful tresses are compared with the numerous flocks of goats which covered this flourishing mountain from the top to the bottom.

"Thy teeth are like the shorn flock+

Which have come up from the washing place,
All of which have twins,

And none among them is bereaved."

The evenness, whiteness, and unbroken order of the teeth is admirably expressed.

"Like the twice-dyed thread of crimson are thy lips,

And thy language is sweet."

That is, thin and ruby-coloured, such as add peculiar graces to the sweetness of the voice.

"Like the slice of a pomegranate

Are thy cheeks amidst thy tresses."S

ascend from Mount Gilead" appears an odd phrase. Possibly the passage ought to be construed, "Thy locks are as a flock of goats ascending, which are seen from Mount Gilead."-M.

Thy hair is like a herd of goats

That go down from Mount Gilead [in the morning to the watering]: deriving wha from an Arabic word, which Schultens explains to go to be watered in the morning.

Those who

That browse, is a sense obtained from the Syriac and Chaldee. render the word shine are indebted to a transposition of letters in abw, snow, for this signification.-S. H.

* See chap. vii. 5. and compare 1 Sam. xix. 13. 16. with xvi. 12. Consult Bochart, Hieroz. part i. lib. ii. 51.

The verb Katzab means to cut off or cut down; the interpretation, therefore, of the word ketzubot, shorn, which many have adopted, and which is confirmed by all the old translations, appears to me the most probable. From the same verb, I think, may be deduced the signification precisely equal, inti(See mating that the sheep were all exactly shorn to one standard as it were. Bochart, Hieroz. part i. lib. ii. 45.) Will not this sense better suit the connexion? Is not the whiteness and purity of sheep (and so of teeth) expressed in these two lines, rather than their evenness, which seems to be included in those that follow?"-H.

+ "The Arabic verb D

denotes not only to bring forth twins, but also to have a companion: whence Dxin, joined, or connected in a series; and , says Golius, is a pearl, from the link or order of the pearls. Nothing can be more expressive than this image of the beautiful regularity and The learned Michaelis prefers twins, referring perhaps equality of the teeth.

to the counterpart in the next member."-H.

§ Behind thy veil, says Michaelis, from the Arabic DY, to fasten together; and the well-known N, Giggeius, to have a stipated head; placed within a small integument."-H.

Partly obscured, as it were, by her hair, and exhibiting a gentle blush of red from beneath the delicate shade, as the seeds of the pomegranate (the colour of which is white tinged with red) surrounded by the rind.

"Thy neck is like the tower of David
Built for an armoury ;*

A thousand shields are hung up against it,
All bucklers for the mighty."

The neck is described as long, erect, slender, according to the nicest proportion; decorated with gold, gems, and large pearls. It is compared with some turret of the citadel of Sion, more lofty than the rest, remarkable for its elegance, and not less illustrious for its architecture than for the trophies with which it was adorned, being hung round with shields and other implements of war.

"Thy two breasts are like two young kids,

Twins of the gazal, that browse among the lilies."+ Delicate and smooth, standing equally prominent from the ivory bosom. The animal with which they are compared is

"As the opening blossom of the pomegranate are thy cheeks,

Simon accurately interprets by the bursting forth of a flower, and Guarini by balaustium, a word which Pliny will enable us to explain. He observes, that the embryo of the pomegranate, which has its origin in the flower, is called by the Greeks citynus; and adds, that the young blossom which breaks forth before the fruit becomes visible, is distinguished by the name balaustium. Dioscorides, however, has remarked, that balaustium is the blossom of the wild, and citynus of the cultivated pomegranate. [See Notes on Vathek, p. 309, &c.]-, here translated locks in a figurative sense, is properly that radiated down which grows round the blossom of the pomegranate, and partially shades it, as the hair does the cheeks.-S. H.

• "The word nn, which may be numbered among those that occur but once, certain critics, says R. L. B. Gershom, derive from , to sus

אלף and תלה of a sword; others from חרבות,that is פיות pend, and

1000, suppose of swords: thus, in the following sentence, bn jann bæ will afford an etymological explication of this word.”—H.

The points of similitude between the objects here compared, I apprehend to consist,

1. In the colour of these young animals, which in the original is called DV, while deepening into red, (from an Arabic word of this import), whence their name is derived.

2. In their relative height, as just rising above the growth of lilies they being compared to "paps that never gave suck,”