In another article speaking of the same Raschidi, but a little varying the manner of spelling his name, he describes him as living in the court of Atsiz, another Eastern prince he tells us, this prince was often wont to assemble an academy of men of genius, in order to hold conferences on matters of learning, and on the belles lettres.

These eleven eminent personages, mentioned under the article Amac, and particularly Amac and Raschidi, might very properly be called in the Eastern style masters, or rather lords of assemblies, as the word, strictly taken, signifies in Eccles. xii. 11, that is, persons that distinguished themselves by the superiority of their composition, on whom the eyes of all that heard them were attentively fixed, and who conveyed exquisite instruction and pleasure to the mind by their words. Agreeably to this we find Joseph called the master, or lord of dreams, in the Hebrew, Gen. xxxvii. 19; so Exod. xxiv. 14, what is expressed in our translation, a man that has matters to do, is in the original 53 baal debareem, a lord of words; so a bird is called a lord of the wing, Prov. i. 17. The collections of d'Herbelot prove, that the like form of speech still prevails in those countries; for he tells us the word saheb signifies the master, author, or possessor of a thing. saheb al Sihah means the lord or author of Sihah, the name of an Arabic dictionary; and saheb al Camous, the master or lord of Camous, the

Reschidi, p. 715.

So

f

the name of another dictionary in that language. So saheb Asea, or saheb al Assa, the master or lord of the Rod, is the title the Mussulmen commonly give to Moses; as to Jonah, saheb al Noun, the lord or man of the Fish."

Traces of such assemblies, of the occasional kind, in the time of Solomon, seem to appear, I think, in the Old Testament. Solomon's wisdom excclled the wisdom of all the children of the East-country, and all the wisdom of Egypt: for he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all nations round about. 1 Kings iv. 30, 31. Now if we consider the scarceness of books, and trouble of copying them out, on one hand, and on the other, the management of the queen of Sheba, who did not content herself with reading the writings of Solomon, but came from a great distance, to converse personally with him, and to prove him with hard questions, 1 Kings x. 1, 3, 4, 8; it is most natural to suppose, the wisdom of the East-country, and of Egypt, was rather known by their discourses and conversation in assemblies of people occasionally drawn together, at which strangers, those more especially who travelled professedly in quest of wisdom, attended from time to time, who might also in some cases apply alone, without any concern of the natives, to celebrate personages to hear their discourses as the queen of Sheba did.

Such an explanation, I think, best suits the nature of this philosophical discourse of Solomon's, which, perhaps, would not have been very proper in a Jewish synagogue, if we could suppose Solomon to have officiated as a common teacher here. The assemblies there seem to have been more like the princely conventions d'Herbelot mentions, in which the speakers sought out acceptable words, and examined different schemes of philosophy. If so, the word shepherd, which is sometimes equivalent to that of teacher," in which sense it is to be understood here, means GOD, the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift; not Moses, as some have understood that clause, for the books of Moses are not cited in all this disquisition of Solomon.*

h So it is said Jer. iii. 25, And I will give you pastors, another word for shepherds, according to mine own heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Assemblies of this kind are still common in the East, but they are chiefly confined to the reciting of tales, stories, &c. one man entertaining the rest with wonderful relations, such as those in the Arabian Nights. The Odes of Hafez are often recited at such meetings. A similar practice obtains among the oboriginal inhabitants of Ireland. whole families meet frequently during the winter at each other's houses, and listen to the Tales of other times, which many of the old people relate with admirable address and effect. Tales similar to those in Ossian, are often the subjects of entertainment on these occasions. EDIT.

OBSERVATIONS

CHAP. IX.

RELATING TO THE NATURAL,

CIVIL AND MILITARY STATE OF JUDEA.

OBSERVATION I.

Of Water Spouts on the Syrian and Jewish Coasts.

ATURAL philosophers often make men

NAT

tion of water-spouts, which are most surprising appearances; but hardly any of the commentators, that I have observed, speak of them, though our translators have used the term, Ps. xlii. 7, and the Psalmist seems to be. directly describing those phænomena, and painting a storm at sea. And none of them, I think, take notice of the frequency of water-spouts on the Jewish coasts, and consequently that it was natural for a Jewish poet to mention them, in the description of a violent and dangerous

storm.

That this however is the fact, we learn from Dr. Shaw, who tells us, that water-spouts are more frequent near the Capes of Latikea, Greego, and Carmel, than in any other part of the Mediterranean. These are all places on the coast of Syria, and the last of them every body

• P. 333.

knows in Judea, it being a place rendered famous by the prayers of the Prophet Elijah. The Jews then could not be ignorant of what frequently happened on their coasts, and David must have known of these dangers of the sea, if he had not actually seen some of them, as Dr. Shaw did. Strange then! since this is the case, that commentators 'should speak of these waterspouts as only meaning vehement rains; or that any should imagine that he compares his afflictions to the pouring of water through the spouts of a house, as Bythner seems to do in his Lyra, when they have nothing to do with a storm at sea, which the Psalmist is evidently describing.

Others have remarked that these spouts are often seen in the Mediterranean, but I do not remember to have seen it any where remarked, before I read Dr. Shaw, that they are more frequent on the Syrian and Jewish coasts, than any other part of this sea; and as the Doctor has not applied the observation to the explaining any part of Scripture, I thought it was right to take notice of it in these papers, and as it belongs to the natural history of Judea, it comes into this chapter.

Vide Poli Syn. in loc.