But among the Hunns and Troquois, the names of the boys are at present taken, as formerly among the Lycians, from the family of the mother only." JOHN, i. 42. Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas.] Names were frequently given to preserve the remembrance of particular circumstances. And, as will appear in the following extract, frequently as contrasts to the character and condition of those on whom they were imposed. Among the people of the house, who attended us here, was a hhabshi or Abyssinian slave; an old man, of hideous deformity, entitled Almas, or the diamond. And I observed that at Shiraz, Fassa, and other towns, the African slaves were distinguished by flowery names or epithets, in proportion to their natural ugliness or offensive smell. Thus, I have known Yasmin, the jessamine ; Sumbul, the hyacinth; Jauher, the jewel; and Makbul, the pleasing, or agreeable." Sir W. OUSELEY'S Travels in the East, vol. ii. p. 158. JOHN, xiv. 18. Comfortless.] Or destitute, like a helpless orphan. The orphan is destitute of joy and comfort, and often oppressed with grief and mourning ; a state which is both in the sacred and profane writers denoted by words expressive of darkness. HOMER (Il. xxii. v. 484, &c.) gives an exquisitely moving description of an orphan's condition. The following is Mr. CowPER's excellent translation of the passage: Thee lost, he loses all, of father, both, His father lost, must many a pang endure. "The soldiers of Nadir Shah are obliged to keep yetims at their own expense. Yetim signifies an orphan; but these are considered as servants, who, when their masters die or fall in battle, are ready to serve as soldiers." HANWAY's Travels in Persia, vol. i. p. 172. CHAP. IV. SERVANTS. GEN. xiv. 14. His trained servants, born in his own house.] Several advantages resulted from the means of defence described in the following extracts. The persons engaged may be supposed to have been influenced by a principle of common interest and of mutual attachment. Gratitude for the past, and expectation of future benefit, would likewise stimulate and render their exertions persevering. The practice, therefore, seems to have obtained an extensive prevalence, and to have been productive of important consequences. "In Persia slaves often become favourite and confidential servants; and their children, from being born in the house, are considered in a light hardly less respectable than the relations of the family. They are denominated Khanahzad, or house-born slaves." MALCOLM'S History of Persia, vol. i. p. 456. vol. ii. p. 286. "This Turk, accustomed to see me employed by the grand seignior, intrusted me with all his intended military operations, and made no doubt but I should exert myself in the reduction of the rebels of the Morea. The army he had collected, the command of which he designed for me, was only composed of volunteers: his domestics were of the number, and this body appeared more animated with the expectation of plunder, than the love of glory." Baron Du Torт, vol. ii. p. 152. part 4. "Since the death of Ali Bey, the beys and cachefs, who owed their promotion to his house, (that is to say, of whom he had been the patron: among the Mamlouks the freed-man is called the child of the house,) had repined in secret, at seeing all the authority passed into the hands of a new faction." VOLNEY's Travels, vol. i. p. 153. GEN. xxxix. 4. He made him overseer over his house.] Joseph, though in slavery, was now in a career which, with extraordinary abilities, and such favour from a powerful courtier, did not exclude him from the prospect of attaining high honours. For in the East, as in Greece during the heroic ages, most rapid changes of fortune were not uncommon. They were natural at a time when piracy, as well as war, exposed all men to the danger of falling into slavery; and a great difference was made between him who had in this manner lost the liberty in which he was born, and such as had been slaves from generation to generation. Even in our times, boys purchased abroad are brought to Egypt, nay, such exclusively, attain the highest power. They become the slaves of a Mameluke, who has been likewise sold to Egypt in his childhood. For no Mameluke marries; and the whole order, consisting of about 8000 combatants, is recruited by purchased boys. If the purchaser finds the boy possessed of the requisite abilities, he instructs him in all the accomplishments of the order, that is, to manage his horse in the Arabian fashion, to use the sword and the lance; he is then made free, raised into the order, whose members choose the twenty-four beys on whom the Turkish Pacha, in fact, though not in name, is entirely dependent, unless the Porte succeed in disuniting these twenty-four heads of the order, who, as often as they are united, defy the power of the Sultan ; and whether united or distinct, govern Egypt with unlimited despotism, that is, oppress and plunder it. STOLLBERG'S History of Religion, part i. p. 189. 1 CHRON. ii. 35. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife.] When the people of the East have no sons, they frequently marry their daughters to their slaves, and that even when they have much pro perty to bestow upon them. of Kamel his predecessor. 66 Hassan had been the slave But Kamel," according to the custom of the country, gave him one of his daughters in marriage, and left him at his death one part of the great riches he had amassed together in the course of a long and prosperous life." MAILLET, Lett. xi. p. 118. Among the attendants of the Cambay Nabob, as also at Surat, and other places, are several Abyssinian and Caffree slaves, called by way of courtesy seddees or master. They are often promoted to great honour, richly apparelled, and furnished with horses, arms, and servants. This is customary among the Moguls, Turks, Persians, and Arabians, and especially the Mamelukes in Egypt, most of whom have ascended to their eminence from such an origin, as the name, signifying purchased or property, implies. The slaves who conduct themselves well find their chains light, are treated like near relatives, and are admitted to great confidence. They often obtain their freedom, and marry their master's daughters." FORBES's Oriental Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 167. MALCOLM's History of Persia, vol. ii. p. 213. PSALM CXxiii. 2. As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters.] The servants or slaves in the East attend their masters or mistresses with the profoundest respect. MAUNDRELL (Journey at March, p. 13.) observes, that the servants in Turkey stand round their master and his guests with the profoundest respect, silence, and order imaginable. POCOCKE says, that at a visit in Egypt every thing is done with the greatest decency, and the most profound silence, the slaves or servants standing at the bottom of the room, with their hands joined before them, watching with the utmost attention every motion of their master, who commands them by signs, DE LA MOTRAYE (Travels, vol. i. p. 249.) says, that the eastern ladies are waited on even at the least wink of the eye, or motion of the fingers, and that in a manner not perceptible to strangers.' -The Baron Du Torr (vol. i. p. 30.) relates a remarkable instance of the authority attending this mode of commanding, 66 "The customary and of the use of significant motions. ceremonies on these occasions were over, and Racub (the new visir) continued to discourse familiarly with the ambassador, when the muzur-aga (or high provost) coming into the hall, and approaching the pacha, whispered something in his ear, and we observed that all the answer he received from him was a slight orizontal motion with his hand, after which the visir, instantly resuming an agreeable smile, continued the conversation for some time longer: we then left the ball of audience, and came to the foot of the great staircase where we remounted our horses: here, nine heads, cut off, and placed in a row on the outside of the first gate, completely explained the sign, which the visir had made use of in our presence." LUKE, xvi. 7. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.] Our Lord here probably alluded to a custom frequent in the Asiatic countries; it still prevails, as is evident from the following account taken from Captain HADLEY'S Hindostan Dialogues, p. 79. A person thus addresses the captain. "Your sirkar's deputy, whilst his master was gone to Calcutta, established a court of justice. Having searched for a good many debtors and their creditors, he learned the accounts of their bonds. "He then made an agreement with them to get the bonds out of the bondsmen's hand, for half the debt, if they would give him one fourth. Thus, every debtor for one hundred rupees, having given fifty to the creditor, and twenty-five to this knave, got his bond for seventy-five rupees. Having seized and flogged one hundred and twenty-five bondholders, he has in this manner determined their loans, and he has done this business in your name." |