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acquiesce in their idea. The word rendered goodly, signifies majestic, noble, grand, magnificent; and the word rendered branches radically signifies to diverge, to spread forth. The whole passage, translated on these principles, will read thus,

Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty,

He shooteth forth noble branches [majestic antlers.]

N.B. The English word branches is applied to the stag, with exactly the same allusion as the Hebrew word: the French say bois, wood, for a stag's horns. To justify this version, observe, that the horns of a stag are annually shed, and annually reproduced; they are ample, according to the plenty and the nutritious quality of his pasturage, or are stinted in their growth, if his food has been sparing or deficient in nourishment. Buffon reasons at length on this subject, Art. Cerf. There is so intimate a relation between nutrition and the production of the antlers, &c. that we have formerly established its entire dependence on a superabundance of nourishment. In animals in general, and in the stag in particular, this superabundance shews itself by the most evident effects; it produces the horns, the swelling of the throat, the accretion of fat, &c. After the first year, in the month of May, the horns begin to shoot, and form two projections, which lengthen and harden, in proportion as the animal takes nourishment.... This effect [of nourishment] appears especially on the summit of the head, where it manifests itself more than every where else, by the production of the horns... Another proof that the production of the horns arises wholly from the superabundance of nourishment, is the difference which is found between the horns of stags of the same age, of which some are very thick and preading, while others are thin and slender, which depends absolutely on the quantity of nourishment; for a stag which inhabits a plentiful country, where he feeds at his will; where he is not molested by dogs, or by men; where, having eaten quietly, he may afterward ruminate at his ease, will always shew a head beautiful, high, and spreading; palms large and well furnished; the stem of his horns thick, well pearled, with numerous antlers, long and strong; whereas, he who inhabits a country where he has neither quiet nor nourishment sufficient, will shew but an impoverished head, few antlers, and feeble stems; insomuch, that it is always easy to determine, by examining the head of a stag, whether he inhabits a plentiful and quiet country, and whether he has been well or ill fed."

Now direct these remarks to the prediction of Jacob: "Naphtali shall inhabit a country so rich, so fertile, so quiet, so unmolested, that after having fed to the full, on the most nutritious pasturage, he shall shoot out branches, i.e. antlers, &c. of the most magnificent, and even majestic magnitude." Thus does the patriarch denote the happy lot of Naphtali;

not directly, but indirectly; not by energy of immediate description, but by inevitable inference, arising from observation of its effects. In fact, the lot of this tribe was rich in pasture, and "his soil," as CALMET observes, 66 was very fruitful in corn and oil." So that we have both correct verbal propriety, and subsequent fulfilment of the prophecy, in favour of our interpretation of this passage. In support of this opinion I shall add further,

That the residence of Naphtali was a beautiful woodland country, is generally understood: it extended to mount Lebanon, and produced fruits of every sort. Moses says, Deut. xxxiii. 23. Naphtali shall enjoy abundance of favour, and be filled with the blessings of the Lord. Josephus, de Bello, lib. iii. cap. 2. speaks highly of the fertility of Galilee, which comprised the lot of Naphtali, and, de Vita sua, p. 1017. he reckons two hundred and fourteen towns in this province.

We consider the source of the Jordan as rising in Naphtali; and from the name of the city near which it rose, Paneas, which is thought to originate from the deity Pan, we may perceive the nature of the country; for Pan, as the god of rural economics, delighted in woodlands, forests, groves, &c. Accordingly, William, archbishop of Tyre, in his History of the Holy Wars, lib. xviii. cap. 2. informs us, that there was around this city a vast forest, called in his time the forest of Paneades. It was adapted to feed and fatten flocks; and a prodigious number of Arabs and Turcomans, after a convention of peace with Godfrey of Boulogne, by permission of that hero, entered and resided in this forest, with their flocks and cattle; among which, says the historian, there was an infinite number of horses.

This forest extended even to mount Hermon, as the writer last quoted observes; and he supposes it to be a part or continuation of the famous forest of Lebanon. It needs little proof that a country, thus described, was likely to yield abundance of nourishment, adapted for deer, and even a superabundance, which might display its prolific effects in the growth and magnitude of the horns, and their branches: so that this country might literally fulfil the patriarch's blessing, which is not always to be expected in figurative and prophetic language.

It should not be forgot, that at about one mile distant from Paneas, stood Laish or Dan, of which it is expressly remarked, the inhabitants dwelt therein careless, quiet, and secure, Judg. xviii. 7. which implies a plentiful country, to say the least.

Of the adjacent district of Kesroan, which Volney tells us is similar to this side of mount Lebanon, Le Roque says, p. 220. Nothing equals the fertility of the lands in Kesroan: mulberry-trees for the silkworms; vineyards, whose wine is excellent; olivetrees, tall as oaks; meadows, pasturage, corn, and fruit of all kinds. Such are the riches of this agree

able country, which besides abounds in cattle, large and small, in birds of game, and in beasts of chase. So beautiful a country, situated in a climate which I think is the mildest and most temperate of Syria, seems to contribute, in some manner, to the kindness of disposition, to the gentle inclinations, and to the praise worthy manners of the inhabitants.

He proceeds to say yet stronger things of the inhabitants of that country, whereof he is particularly speaking; but I presume what has been offered to the reader is sufficient to justify the patriarch Jacob in allegorizing the character and the situation of Naphtali, under an allusion to a deer, rather than to any wild beast of a savage and ferocious nature, as he does some of his other children.

It is supposed, that, in the allegory, the branching horns of this deer denote fertility in children; and it is remarked, that though only four sons are reckoned to Naphtali, when he went down to Egypt, Gen. xlvi. 24. yet his tribe at the Exodus numbered above 50,000 men. I need not add any remarks on the maintenance, and even increase, of this population, when settled in a country such as is above described.

N.B. In Buffon, the reader may see the connection of this idea with those already suggested.

with an impossibility, and a contradiction; especially, while we have such evident marks of verisimility and propriety, in favour of the sentiment and translation we have proposed.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE.

A. Is the head of a hind, or female deer, which sex usually has no horns; though some have been found with small horns; probably from ample feeding. The attitude of this figure is listening, but braying at the same time.

B. Is a stag of four years old; at which period he is well able to seek his own provision, and to roam at large in the forest. The antlers, with which he is furnished, are now in fair condition, and not unequal to those of the generality of his age and species.

C. Is the head of a stag, which, from having fed at pleasure in one of the forests of Germany, has acquired very large antlers, very thick stems, very broad horns, and so spreading, that the points they form amount to no less a number than sixty-six. Let him, then, stand as a proof of the effects of liberty and plenty, like the son of Jacob, to whom he forms an object of comparison.

NAPHTALI IS A DEER ROAMING FREELY IN THE FERTILE FOREST;

SHOOTING OUT AMPLE ANTLERS!

I presume now to conclude, that we are under no necessity of recurring to the simile of a tree, in order And, by the effect of plentiful feeding, to reduce this passage to clear and simple meaning: still less are we obliged to retain the mistaken rendering of our public translation, which presents us

N.B. These figures are from Ridinger, a famous German painter of animals.

EMPLOYMENTS OF SLAVES IN THE EAST. EXODUS v.

THE Plate before us is copied from a design annexed to "A Voyage to Barbary, for the Redemption of Captives." It was drawn by capt. Henry Boyd, while in a state of slavery; and therefore may be considered as authentic: if it boast no great elegance as a design. I doubt, the captain found it too correct as a representation in point of fact.

It shews the employments, the treatment, and the condition, of those who have had the misfortune to fall into the state of slavery among the Moors, and is fairly applicable to the whole of Africa: I think it corresponds with the state to which the Israelites were reduced in Egypt, and as such I offer it to the reader. The employment of slaves, as appears by our Plate, is, building in its various branches; as, attending the furnace; which, I suppose, is for the burning of lime, in this delineation; sifting the materials for making mortar; which mortar is not of that kind to be laid between bricks in their courses, but of a mixture to be poured into frames, &c. there to set, and harden, and form the wall itself. After the ingredients of the mortar are sifted, they are well beaten to

gether, and intimately commixed, by constant exertion and labour, continued incessantly, during many hours.

This mixture is then carried in baskets, to those who pour it into the cases for its consolidation; these workmen beat it firmly into its place, and when it is hardened, they remove the boards from around it, and apply them elsewhere, as wanted in the continuation of the wall. Others of the workmen are employed in hewing stones, and preparing them for the stronger parts of the building: such as the corners, entrances, openings, &c.

A. The furnace. This is the only delineation of an Eastern furnace which I have yet met with. I suppose its construction is for the purpose of burning lime; because I do not see how it is applicable to the burning of brick.

We have in the Hebrew three words rendered by our translators "furnace."

1st, Cabashen, which is used where we read, Exod. ix. 8, 10. Moses took handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and sprinkled them up toward heaven.

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