WINE. claim to royal authority that they offered him vinegar, or wine in a state of strong acidity, instead of the grateful and generous sweet wines which were presented on the table of kings and princes. Luke testifies, in express terms, that this was done in mockery. His words are, 'And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar.' Medicated wine was given to Jewish criminals before their execution, to stupefy them, and diminish the sense of pain; but vinegar was offered to Jesus, in order to quicken his painful feelings, and at the same time, in derision of his kingly power. "Red wines were most esteemed in the East. So much was the red colour admired, that when it was too white they gave it a deeper tinge by mixing it with saffron or Brazil wood. By extracting the colouring matter of such ingredients, the wine may be said to make itself redder; a circumstance which, in Mr. Harmer's opinion, Solomon means to express in that proverb, 'Look not on the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.' (Prov. 23. 31.) The verb is in the Hebrew Middle Voice, or Hithpael form, which denotes an action that turns upon the agent itself, and in this instance imparts great energy to the warning. "Artificial liquors, or mixed wines, were very common in ancient Italy, and the Levant. The Romans lined their vessels with odorous gums, to give their wines a warm bitter flavour; and it is said that several nations of modern times communicate to their wines a favourite relish by similar means. In Greece, this is accomplished by infusing the cones of the pine in the wine-vats. Hasselquist says they use the sweet-scented violet in their sherbet, which they make of violet sugar dissolved in water; the grandees sometimes add ambergris, as the highest luxury and indulgence of their appetite. The prophet Isaiah mentions a mixture of wine and water; but it is evident from the context, that he means to express, by that phrase, the degenerate state of his nation; and, consequently, we cannot infer from it, the use of diluted wine in those countries. It is observed by Thevenot, that the people of the Levant never mingle water with their wine at meals, but drink by itself, what water they think proper, for abating the strength of the wine. While the Greeks and Romans by mixed wine, always understood wine diluted and lowered with water, the Hebrews, on the contrary, meant by it wine made stronger, and more inebriating, by the addition of powerful ingredients, as honey, spices, defrutum, or wine inspissated, by boiling it down to twothirds or one-half of the quantity, myrrh, opiates, and other strong drugs. The Greeks were no strangers to perfumed and medicated wine; for in Homer, the farfamed Helen mixed a number of stupefying ingredients in the bowl, to exhilarate the spirits of her guests that were oppressed with grief; the composition of which, the poet says, she learnt in Egypt. Of the same kind was the spiced wine mentioned in the Song of Solomon; and to this day, such wines are eagerly sought by the people of Syria and Palestine. The drunkards in Israel preferred these medicated wines to all others:- Who hath wo? said the wise man, who hath contentions? who hath sorrow? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.' (Prov. 23. 29,30.) Nor were the manners of that people more correct in the days of Isaiah; for he was directed to pronounce a < wo unto them that rose up early in the morning, that they might follow strong drink; that continued until night, till wine inflamed them,' (Isai. 51. 17;) and such also is the habit of Oriental bons vivans; for when the Persians commit a | 1371 debauch, they rise early, and esteem the morning the best time for beginning to drink wine, as they could carry on their excess till night. This ancient custom furnished the holy Psalmist with a highly poetical and sublime image of divine wrath:- For in the hand of the Lord a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture. (Psalm 75.8.) The prophet Isaiah uses the same figure in one of his exhortations:-' Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord, the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.' (Isai. 51. 17.) The worshippers of the beast and his image are threatened with the same fearful punishment:-The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.' (Rev. 14. 10.) The Jews sometimes acidulated their wine with the juice of the pomegranate; a custom to which the spouse thus alludes:- I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate;' or of wine mixed with the juice of that fruit. (Song 8. 2.) Prepared in this way, it proves a cooling and refreshing draught in the heat of summer, and, by consequence, highly acceptable to an Oriental. "The natives of the East keep their wine in earthen jars, from which they have no method of drawing it off pure; and for this reason, it is commonly in a thick and turbid state, by the lees with which it is mixed. To remedy this inconvenience, they filtrate or strain it through a cloth; and to this practice the prophet Isaiah plainly alludes:-' And on this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.' The same allusion occurs in Our Lord's declaration to the Pharisees:'Ye strain at (out) a gnat, and swallow a camel.' (Matt. 23. 24.) Maimonides, in his treatise of forbidden meats, affords a remarkable illustration of Our Saviour's proverbial expression:-'He who strains wine, or vinegar, or strong drink, and eats the gnats, or flies, or worms, which he hath strained off, is whipped.' In these hot countries, gnats were apt to fall into wine if it were not carefully covered; and passing the liquor through a strainer, that no gnat or part of one might remain, grew into a proverb for exactness about little matters. "The Abbé Mariti informs us, that it is a common practice in Cyprus, to change the vessels in which their wine is kept. This is done to improve it; and he says, nothing tends more to bring it to perfection, than to draw it off into another vessel, provided this is not done until a year after it is put into the casks. Chardin observes, they frequently pour wine from vessel to vessel in the East; for when they begin one, they are obliged immediately to empty it into smaller vessels, or into bottles, or it would grow sour.' The prophet Jeremiah alludes to this custom in the case of Moab, who had become exceedingly corrupt during a long course of prosperity:- Moab had been at ease from his youth, and had settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.' The term which in our translation is rendered lees, properly means preservers, because they preserve the strength and flavour of the wine. recent wines, after their fermentation has ceased, must be kept on their lees for a certain time, to increase their strength and flavour. When the first fermentation is deficient, they retain a richer and sweeter taste than is natural to them in a true vinous state; and unless further fermentation is promoted, by continuing them All longer on their own lees, they never attain a proper degree of maturity, but run into repeated and ineffectual fermentations, and soon degenerate into a sour liquor. Moab, in like manner, had been as a nation fully matured, had risen to a high degree of prosperity, and had not suffered the severe trials and calamitous revolutions, which the people of Israel had experienced; he had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, had not gone into captivity, nor seen his dominions rent into rival kingdoms, but preserved their integrity, their population, and their resources undiminished, or in the figurative language of the prophet, 'his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. (Jerem. 48. 11.) "The custom of cooling wines with snow was usual among the Eastern nations; and was derived from the Asiatics and Greeks by the Romans. The snow of Lebanon was celebrated in the time of Vitriaco, for its refrigerating power in tempering their wine:- All summer, and especially in the sultry dog-days, and the month of August, snow of an extremely cold nature, is carried from Mount Libanus, two or three days' journey, that being mixed with wine, it may make it cold ice. The snow is kept from melting by the heat of the sun, or the warmth of the air, by being covered up with straw. "To this custom, the wise man seems to allude in that proverb: As the cold of snow in the time of harvest; so is a faithful servant to them that send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.' (Prov. 25. 13.) The royal preacher could not speak of a fall of snow in the time of harvest, as pleasant and refreshing: it must, on the contrary, have been very incommoding, as we actually find it in this country; he must therefore be understood to mean liquids cooled by snow. The sense then will be:-'As the mixing of snow with wine, in the sultry time of harvest, is pleasing and refreshing; so a successful messenger revives the spirit of his master who sent him, and who was greatly depressed from an apprehension of his failure.' Jeremiah also refers to the same custom: Will a man leave the snows of Lebanon? or shall the flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? because my people have forsaken me. (18.14.)" WINE-PRESS. In VINE, VINEYARD, VINTAGE, we have given an engraving and description of a winepress; to that article we refer our readers, and will merely observe, that after the grapes had been subjected to the treading process, another operation was necessary to render what juice remained in the trodden pulp available. To effect this, a bag made of flags or rushes Egyptian Wine-press. was provided, in which the pulp was placed, and compressed by twisting the ends of the bag with staves and hand-spikes. Even after it had undergone this process, the pulp was deemed too valuable to be thrown away, and the pressure on the bag was increased, as we see in the accompanying engraving, until every drop of fluid was pressed out. A. 66 WING, WINGS. Wings, in a figurative and metaphorical sense, mean protection or defence. God says in Exodus 19. 4, that "IIe bare his people on the wings of eagles," that is, that He had brought them safely out of Egypt as an eagle carries its young under its wings. David begs of God to "hide him under the shadow of his wings." (Psalm 17. 8.) And in Psalm 36. 7, he says, that "the children of men put their trust under the shadow of his wings." The touching image made use of by Our Saviour in Matthew 23. 37, "How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" is peculiarly applicable to the East, where the hawks, kites, and other birds of prey are continually on the wing; hence it is difficult to rear chickens, because at every moment they are in danger of being pounced upon and carried off. For this reason the eye of the mother is continually looking up to watch the foes, and no sooner does she see them skimming along, than she gives a scream, and the brood for protection run under her wings. The name of wings is given to the sun-beams. Malachi (4.2,) promises that "the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings." This being applied to Christ, denotes that he should appear in the flesh, and by his doctrine, merit, and spirit, should bring a remedy for all spiritual sicknesses and diseases. Some have observed, that by the word wings may be insinuated the healing virtue that went forth from Christ, to such as by faith did but touch the hem of his garment. (Matt. 9. 20; 21. 22.) In illustration of this text, we quote the following remarkable passage, which we find in Burder's Oriental Customs. The late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, called upon a friend just as he had received a letter from his son who was surgeon on board a vessel then lying off Smyrna. The son mentioned to his father that every morning about sun-rise a fresh gale of air blew from the sea across the land, and from its wholesomeness and utility in clearing the infected air, this wind is always called the doctor. "Now," says Mr. Robinson, "it strikes me that the prophet Malachi, who lived in that quarter of the world, might allude to this circumstance, when he says, that the sun of righteousness shall arise with 'healing in his wings. The Psalmist mentions the 'wings of the wind,' and it appears to me that this salubrious breeze which attends the rising of the sun, may properly enough be considered as the wings of the sun, which contains such healing influences, rather than the beams of the sun, as the passage has been commonly understood." To ascribe "wings to the wind," (Psalm 18. 10,) is a striking but very obvious metaphor. It occurs in the heathen poets. They are also represented as winged on ancient monuments. On the Tower of Winds at Athens, the eight principal winds are exhibited like young men with wings. Virgil ascribes wings to the lightning also. (Eneid, v. 319.) The winged sun was the emblem of the superintendence of Divine Providence among the ancient Egyptians, and as such we find it introduced on the monuments. By the word "wing" the Hebrews understood not only the wings of birds, but divers other things which had some real or fancied resemblance to wings, as the lappet or skirt of a garment. (Ruth 3. 9,) "Spread thy skirt over thy handmaid," in Hebrew, thy wing. WINGS And in Jeremiah 2. 34, “In thy skirts (Heb. wings,) is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents." Also the wings of an army: Isaiah speaking of the army of the king of Assyria, that was coming into the land of Judah, says, "The stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel." (Isai. 8. 8; see also Jerem. 48. 40.) Wing is also used as expressing the extremity or utmost part of a country. (Job 38. 13,) "That it might take hold of the ends of the earth;" in Hebrew, the wings of the earth; so in Isaiah 24. 16, "From the uttermost parts of the earth have we heard songs:" the Hebrew says, from the wing of the earth. Wings are also used for the sails of a ship. (Isai. 18. 1,) "Woe to the land shadowing with wings:" meaning Egypt, which abounded with ships whose sails shadow the sea. In illustration of the verse in Proverbs 23. 5, “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as an eagle towards heaven," Roberts says, "A husband who complains of the extravagance of his family, says, 'How is it that wings grow on all my property? not many days ago, I purchased a large quantity of paddy, but it has taken wing and flown away. The next time I buy any thing I will look well after the wings. You ask me to give you money, and I would if I possessed any.' "Possessed any? why! have wings grown on your silver and gold?' 'Alas! alas! I no sooner get things into the house than wings grow on them and they fly away. Last week, I began to clip wings, but they have soon grown again.”” A. WINNOWING. The process by which the grain is separated from the chaff. (See art. AGRICULTURE.) A. WINTER. See PALESTINE and SEASON. WISDOM, a comprehensive knowledge of things in their proper nature and relations, together with the power of combining them in the most useful manner. In a moral sense, it signifies much the same as prudence, or that knowledge by which we connect the best means with the best ends. Some, however, distinguish wisdom from prudence thus: wisdom leads us to speak and act what is most proper; prudence prevents our speaking or acting improperly. A wise man employs the most proper means for success; a prudent man the safest means for not being brought into danger. Both are united in being wise unto salvation. (2Tim. 3. 15.) Spiritual wisdom consists in the knowledge and fear of God. It is beautifully described by St. James as "first pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3. 7.) A. WISDOM OF GOD, is that grand attribute of his nature by which He knows and orders all things for the promotion of his glory, and the good of his creatures. This appears in all the works of his hands, (Psalm 104. 24;) in the dispensations of his providence, (Psalm 67. 12;) in the work of redemption, (Eph. 3. 10;) in the government and preservation of his Church in all (Psalm 107. 7.) This doctrine should teach us admiration, (Rev. 15. 3,4,) trust and confidence, (Psalm 9. 10,) prayer, (Prov. 3. 5,6,) submission, (Heb. 12. 9,) praise, (Psalm 103. 1-4.) (See May's Wisdom of God in Creation; Paley's Natural Theology, &c. &c.) A. ages. WISDOM. The Wisdom of Solomon is an apocryphal book, greatly reverenced by the ancient Fathers, though they recognised its inferiority to the canonical Scriptures. It was probably written by an Hellenistic Jew, but whether before or after Christ has been disputed. Grotius is of opinion that it was originally written in Hebrew by a Jew who lived at some intermediate time between Ezra and Simeon the Just, and that it was translated by a Christian with some freedom, and some additions of evangelical doctrine. But the style, as St. Jerome has observed, indicates rather the artificial contexture of Grecian eloquence than the terseness and comprehensive simplicity of the Hebrew language. The book is also replete with allusions to Greek mythology, and with imitations of Grecian writers, with whose works, and especially with those of Plato, the author appears to have been intimately acquainted. Upon the whole, there is reason to believe that the work was written previously to the birth of Christ. It is probable that since it professes to be the production of Solomon, it was published under the Jewish dispensation, as, indeed, by the generality of writers it was thought to be. And the supposed resemblances between passages in this book and others in the New Testament, may be thought on examination to be either imitations of similar passages in the sacred books of the Old Testament, or such casual coincidences of sentiments or expressions as may be found between all books treating of the same subject. A. WITCH. The popular belief in witchcraft, such as it existed under the Stuarts in England, and still lingers among the vulgar and ignorant in remote parts of the country, is utterly without warrant or authority in Scripture. There is no mention in the Bible of persons having entered into a compact with evil spirits to obtain supernatural power, no hint of persons having sold themselves to Satan in order to obtain means of inflicting injury on their neighbours; and no account of pretended bewitchings similar to those which two centuries ago frightened the isle from its propriety. In our translation of the Bible, three different terms have been usually rendered "witch," or an appellation of similar import; it will, therefore, be necessary to examine the In Exodus 18. 22, we meaning of the original terms. read, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The Hebrew word is mekashephah, which comes from kashaph, "to pray," and, in Hebrew, its use is restricted to idolatrous services; the Septuagint render the verb and its derivatives by the derivatives of papμakov, pharmakon, "a drug," and, according to them, the passage in Exodus should be rendered, "Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live." Poisoning and sorcery were usually united in the ancient heathen nations, because it was believed by the ignorant that magical spells added efficacy to the drugs. noop quosemeth, from DP quasam, “to predict,” signifies simply "a diviner, or fortune-teller," and is usually, but not always, taken in a bad sense. Nya baalath-aub, rendered in our version, "one that hath a familiar spirit," signifies literally, “a mistress of inflation or swelling;" the pretenders to prophecy among the heathen asserted that a spirit of divination entered into them, and caused their person to swell out to an unusual size. Virgil has described an inflated prophetess of this kind : The virgin cries, The god! behold the god! Larger she seems, her voice no mortal sound, As the inspiring god, near and more near, Seizes her soul.-Eneid, vi. This 28 aub, or preternatural inflation, was called by the Greeks πνευμα πυθωνος, pneuma puthonos, and was supposed to have been produced by the absorption of some spiritual essence into the body; in fact, it was believed to be a case of demoniacal possession. The wizards and witches of Canaan pretended to have the power of filling themselves with the N aub, whenever they pleased, and they even pretended that they could introduce into their own bodies as "spirits of divination," the departed souls of former prophets and diviners. In the history of Saul and the witch of Endor, we find the woman, asking the monarch "whom should she bring up?" meaning thereby from what 18 aub, or spirit of divination, he would wish to have a response. Her terror on the unexpected appearance of Samuel in his proper person, shows that she was neither able, nor did she desire to raise a ghost, but that she merely intended, like the Pythoness, to exhibit herself inflated and inspired by Samuel's spirit of divination, but God interfered by a sudden miracle, and presented to her astonished view Samuel himself. It is not necessary to inquire whether this woman really possessed any supernatural powers or not; there is nothing in the sacred narrative to determine the question one way or the other, for the appearance of Samuel was no result of her enchantments; on the contrary, it filled her with equal astonishment and alarm. Neither, indeed, is there anything in Scripture which positively asserts the reality of witchcraft; magical arts are always classed with idolatrous practices, and seem to have been borrowed in all cases by the Jews from their pagan neighbours. The mekashephah, or "poisoner," which, as we have before said, is rendered "witch" in the authorized version of the Scriptures, is described by some of the Rabbins as a trafficker in drugs to produce abortion," and it is singular that this was notoriously a trade amongst those who were reputed witches in England in former times, and is still practised by persons of the same description in various countries. C. WITHS, yether. In Hebrew, the word translated with, is generally used to imply ropes or cord of any kind. In Judges 16. 8, we read that Delilah bound Samson with seven green withs which had not been dried." "Green ropes," as distinguished from " dry ropes," is the proper meaning, the peculiarity being in the greenness, not in the material. It may imply any kind of crude vegetable, commonly used for ropes, without restricting it to withs, or tough and pliable rods, twisted into a rope. Such ropes are used in the East, and while they remain green are stronger than any other. In India the legs of wild elephants and buffaloes newly caught are commonly bound with ropes of this sort. Josephus says that the ropes which bound Samson were made with the tendrils of the vine. At the present day ropes in the East are rarely made of hemp or flax. Except some that are made with hair or leather, they are generally formed with the tough fibres of trees (particularly the palm-tree), and roots, with grasses, and with reeds and rushes. These ropes are, in general, tolerably strong; but are in no degree comparable to our hempen ropes. They are very light in comparison, and wanting compactness, in most cases they are also rough and coarse to the eye. The praises which travellers bestow on ropes of this kind must not be understood as putting them in comparison with those in use among ourselves, but with the bands of hay which our peasants twist, and with reference to the simple and crude materials of which they are composed. A. WITNESS. See TRIAL. WIZARD. See WITCH. WOE. "Woe to such an one!" is, in our language, a threat or imprecation, which comprises a wish for some calamity, natural or judicial, to befall a person but this is not always the meaning of the word in Scripture. We have the expression, "Woe is me!" that is, Alas! for my sufferings; and "Woe to the women with child, and those who give suck!" that is, Alas! for their redoubled sufferings in times of distress! It is also more agreeable to the gentle character of the compassionate Jesus to consider him as lamenting the sufferings of any, whether person or city, than as imprecating, or even as denouncing them; since his character of Judge formed no part of his mission. If, then, we should read, "Alas for thee, Chorazin! alas for thee, Bethsaida!" we should do no injustice to the general sentiments of the place, or to the character of the person speaking. This, however, is not the sense in which woe is always to be taken, as when we read, "Woe to those who build houses by unrighteousness, and cities by blood;" "Woe to those who are rebellious against God," &c., in numerous passages, especially in the Old Testament. The import of this word, then, is in some degree qualified by the application of it: where it is directed against transgression, crime, or any enormity, it may be taken as a threatening, a malediction; but in the words of Our Lord, and where the subject is suffering under misfortunes, though not extremely wicked, a kind of lamentatory application of it should seem to be most proper. (See Campbell's Dissertations.) A. WOLF, 8 zeeb, Xuños, lukos. The wolf has grown familiar to our minds as a ravenous beast, and the enemy of the fold. The sacred text intimates that the habits of the wolf are not only carnivorous, but that his delight and constant exercise from morning till night, and from night till morning, are to surprise the unprotected, and to tear the weak to pieces. This account of his habits coincides with the observation of travellers, The Wolf. who concur in representing the wolf as continually on the prowl with an unsated appetite, and seizing every opportunity of doing harm, where its fears are not strong enough to overcome its thirst of blood. Indeed this animal is fierce without cause, kills without remorse, and, by its indiscriminate slaughter, seems to satisfy its malignity rather than its hunger. T WOLF- -WOMAN. The wolf is weaker than the lion or bear, and less courageous than the leopard; but he scarcely yields to them in cruelty and rapaciousness. His ravenous temper prompts him to destructive and sanguinary depredations; and these are perpetrated principally in the night. This circumstance is expressly mentioned in several passages of Scripture. "The great men," said Jeremiah, (5.6,) "have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds; wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them." The rapacious and cruel conduct of the princes of Israel is compared by Ezekiel, (22. 27,) to the mischievous inroads of the same animal: "Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy lives, to get dishonest gain." And Zephaniah, (3.3,) says, "Her princes within her are roaring lions, her judges are evening wolves, they gnaw not the bones till the morrow." The disposition of the wolf to attack the weaker animals, especially those which are under the protection of man, is alluded to by Our Saviour in the parable of the hireling shepherd (Matt. 7. 15), "The wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the flock.' And the Apostle Paul, in his address to the elders of Ephesus, gives the name of this insidious and cruel animal to the false teachers, who disturbed the peace and perverted the faith of their people: "I know this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." (Acts 20. 29.) Jacob's prediction that "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf," is supposed by commentators to refer to the fierce and unjust contest in which that tribe engaged with the other tribes (Judges chapters 19 and 20), and in which, after gaining two victories, they were almost exterminated. In times of great famine, when they can get no prey, wolves are said to destroy one another; for when they meet together, bemoaning themselves, as if by general consent, they run round in a circle, and the first which through giddiness falls to the ground is devoured by the rest. They are frightened at the throwing of stones, at the sound of bells, and at the singing of men or women. When they prowl after sheep, they choose a cloudy and dark day, that they may escape the more safely, and go against the wind to prevent the dogs smelling them. Externally and internally the dog and wolf so nearly resemble each other that they almost seem modelled alike, and yet they have a perfect antipathy to one another. In the sacred writings the wolf is everywhere opposed to the sheep and goats, as if his cruelty and rage were reserved especially for these creatures. See Luke 10.3; Matt. 7. 15; 10. 16; Isai. 11.6; 45.25. A. WOMAN, 'N' ishah, yvvŋ, gyne, was created as a companion and assistant to man; equal to him in authority and jurisdiction over the animals; but, after the fall, God subjected her to the government of man. (Gen. 3. 16,) "Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." From the very moment of their birth the social inferiority of women in the East is marked. It is difficult to convey to the mind of a European an idea of the lively sensations of grief or joy which are experienced by people in the East on the birth of their children, according as these prove to be male or female. With us the style of manners, or rather the salutary influence of the Christian faith, has placed both sexes on an equal footing in society; and accordingly, except in some few instances where the inheritance of property, or other 1375 circumstances, makes the birth of a son an object of desire, and a matter of importance, parents receive with equal thankfulness, and are ready to provide for the wants of, and bestow undistinguishing marks of affection on, their progeny of either description. But it is dif ferent in the East, where from the influence, in some places, of a cruel and debasing superstition, in others of licentious customs, the one class is the lord and tyrant of the other; the one has honour and dignity written on their forehead, while that of the other is branded with the indelible stigma of degradation; the one composes all the society that is known, while the other is either strangled as soon as born, or is shut up an exile for life the slave of her master's will and pleasures. The difference in the respective destinies of the sexes has interwoven itself with the opinions and feelings of the natives, and whether it be from prejudice associating whatever is honourable with the name of man, or from the secret impulses of nature shrinking from the prospect of adding one more to a race of whom servitude is the hereditary portion, the birth of a son is universally hailed with unbounded demonstrations of delight; whereas that of a daughter, like an insupportable calamity, seals up the lips in the silence of grief. "Among the Mussulmans of India," says Mrs. Meer, "the birth of a boy is greeted by the warmest ebullitions of unaffected joy in the houses both of the parents and their relations. It is immediately announced by a discharge of artillery, where cannons are kept, or by musketry in the lower grades of the native population, even to the meanest peasant, with whom a single matchlock proclaims the honour as effectually as the volley of his superiors." Among the Arabs a similar custom prevails, for in whatever house a son is born, one of the domestics, after announcing it hastily to the family, runs to the door, which she beats with all her might to attract notice, exclaiming all the while, "A male child! a male child is born!" The Persians, too, who participate in the notions of their Eastern neighbours, observe the greatest ceremony in announcing such an event to the father. "Some confidential servant," says Morier, "is usually the first to get the information, when he runs in great haste to his master, and says, 'Mujdeh,' or, good news, by which he secures to himself a gift, which generally follows the intelligence." Among the common people, the man who brings the news frequently seizes the cap or shawl of the father as a security for the reward to which he holds himself entitled. The reverse of all this, however, takes place on the birth of a daughter. There are no expressions of joy; the servants and other members of the household.. meet and pass each other with downcast looks, and in profound silence; and instead of showing any eagerness to communicate the intelligence to the father, every one strives to avoid his presence, and keep out of his way. In the land of Cutch and Cattawar, when a person asks a father whether a wife has a son or a daughter, if the latter, he answers "Nothing," and this expression, in the idiom of that country, is horribly significant. "In every part of the East," says Mr. Ward, "a female is despised as soon as she is born, she comes into the world amidst the frowns of her parents and friends, disappointed that the child is not a boy. Every mother among the tribe of Rajpoots puts her female child to death the moment it is born. While I was in Bengal, I was informed of the case of a Rajpoot who had spared one of his daughters, and she lived till she attained the age when Indian girls are marriageable. A girl in the house of a Rajpoot was, however, so extraordinary a circumstance that no parent chose to permit his son to |