her word to return him a positive answer in less than fifty years.

She had not been long among her own people in the valleys, when she received new overtures, and at the same time a most splendid visit from Mishpach, who was a mighty man of old, and had built a great city, which he called after his own name. Every house was made for at least a thousand years, nay, there were some that were leased out for three lives; so that the quantity of stone and timber consumed in this building is scarce to be imagined by those who live in 10 the present age of the world. This great man entertained her with the voice of musical instruments, which had been lately invented, and danced before her to the sound of the timbrel. He also presented her with several domestic utensils wrought in brass and iron, which had been newly found out for the convenience of life. In the meantime, Shalum grew very uneasy with himself, and was sorely displeased at Hilpa, for the reception which she had given to Mishpach, insomuch that he never wrote to her, or spoke of her, during a whole revolution of Saturn; but, finding that this inter- 20 course went no further than a visit, he again renewed his addresses to her, who, during his long silence, is said very often to have cast a wishing eye upon Mount Tirzah.

Her mind continued wavering about twenty years longer, between Shalum and Mishpach; for though her inclinations favoured the former, her interest pleaded very powerfully for the other. While her heart was in this unsettled condition, the following accident happened, which determined her choice. A high tower of wood that stood in the city of Mishpach, having caught fire by a flash of lightning, in a few days 30 reduced the whole town to ashes. Mishpach resolved to rebuild the place, whatever it should cost him; and, having already destroyed all the timber of the country he was forced to have recourse to Shalum, whose forests were now two hundred years old. He purchased these woods, with so many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and with such a vast

extent of fields and pastures, that Shalum was now grown more wealthy than Mishpach; and, therefore, appeared so charming in the eyes of Zilpah's daughter, that she no longer refused him in marriage. On the day in which he brought her up into the mountains, he raised a most prodigious pile of cedar, and of every sweet-smelling wood, which reached above 300 cubits in height : he also cast into the pile bundles of myrrh, and sheaves of spikenard, enriching it with every spicy shrub, and making it fat with the gums of his planta10 tions. This was the burnt offering which Shalum offered in the day of his espousals: the smoke of it ascended up to heaven, and filled the whole country with incense and perfume.

NOTES.

THE SPECTATOR'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. No. 1.

66

P. I, 1. 7. peruses, reads through, examines, surveys. 'A coined word; from Per- and Use. No other source can well be assigned; but it must be admitted to be a barbarous and illformed word, compounded of Latin and French, and by no means used in the true sense; since to per-use could only mean to use thoroughly. The sense of the word comes nearer to that of the F. revoir or E. 'survey' or 'examine'; cp. 'Myself I then perused,' i.e. surveyed, Milton, P. L. viii. 267; Who first with curious eye Perused him,' id. P. R. i. 320. The F. revoir and E. survey both point to the Lat. uidere, to see; ...there is a fair argument for the supposed barbarous coinage from per and use, in the fact that compounds with per were once far more common than they are now "...(Skeat, Ety. Dict.).

1. 8. black, dark; frequent in Shakespeare in this sense, e.g. T. G. v. 2. 12, "Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes.' P. 2, 1. 7. then depending, then in progress, not yet settled.

1. 8. a justice of the peace, a title given to persons of position and character who are appointed to keep the peace of the neighbourhood in which they dwell.

1. 9. presaged, indicated; Lat. præsagire, to feel or perceive beforehand, to have a presentiment of a thing.

1. 13. to favour, to give countenance to, to support.

1. 15. my rattle, a rattle and a coral are toys commonly given to infants, the former to amuse by its noise, the latter, which generally has little silver bells attached to it, to be sucked.

1. 20. nonage, minority, before one comes of age; Lat. non, not, and age. sullen, reserved, hard to draw out.

1. 22. my parts, my natural abilities. would wear well, would be lasting, would stand the wear and tear of time; not fail me as I grew older, like those of more precocious children; a metaphor from the wearing of clothes.

1. 25. the public exercises, the term formerly given to the scholastic disputations held in colleges or in the public schools of the University as a qualification for a degree; answering to the examinations of modern times.

11. 30, 1. the learned... tongues, used more especially of the classical languages of Greece and Rome.

1. 35. unaccountable, that no one could make out, understand. P. 3, 1. 5. Grand Cairo, in Egypt; Arabic al Kahira, the victorious city.

Il. 7, 8. returned... satisfaction, "A sarcasm on Mr. Greaves, and his book intitled Pyramidographia" (Ferguson).

1. 15. a round, a circle gathered round the fire: Will's, a coffeehouse in Russell Street, Covent Garden, patronized especially by literary men and famous as the constant resort of Dryden. The coffee-houses served most of the purposes of the modern clubs, though the favourite beverages were then tea, coffee, chocolate and cocoa.

1. 18. Child's, in St. Paul's Churchyard, a coffee-house especially affected by the clergy. the Post-Man, one of the papers of the day.

1. 20. St. James's, another coffee-house in St. James's Street. 1. 22. improve, neuter; to improve himself, his understanding, etc.

1. 23. the Grecian, in Devereux Court in the Strand, the oldest coffee-house in London, much frequented by the barristers of the Temple. the Cocoa-Tree, in St. James's Street, the resort of the Tories in Queen Anne's reign.

11. 24, 5. the theatres... Hay-Market, both still in existence and among the most important in London. Drury Lane Theatre was "opened in 1674 with an address by Dryden, who extolled the advantages of its then country situation over those of the 'Duke's Theatre' in Dorset Gardens: Our house relieves the ladies from the frights of ill-paved streets and long dark winter nights.' The burning of the theatre (Feb. 24, 1809) is rendered memorable by the publication of the 'Rejected Addresses,' the famous jeu d'esprit of James and Horace Smith [parodying the addresses for the opening of the new theatre supposed to have been sent into the Committee by various then living poets, etc.]" (Hare, Walks in London, i. 123). The Hay-Market, in a street of the same name between Pall Mall and Piccadilly, and parallel

2-5.] THE SPECTATOR'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. 147

to St. James's Street, so called because a market was held there for hay and straw from Elizabeth's time to the early years of the present century.

1. 25. the Exchange, see note on p. 35, 1. 2.

1. 27. Jonathan's, a coffee-house in Cornhill, where the Stock Exchange was originally held, and the great scene of action in the South Sea Bubble of 1720.

1. 32. a speculative statesman, a statesman in theory, though not one in practice; the adjective qualifies soldier, merchant, and artizan also.

1. 34. versed in... husband, acquainted with the duties and position of a husband.

1. 35. economy, management of a household.

P. 4, 1. 1. blots, mistakes; the common proverb is "Lookers on see most of the game."

1. 2. espoused, closely united myself with; literally to give or take as a spouse.

11. 4, 5. unless... side, unless the hostilities of either party should compel me to range myself on one side or the other.

1. 12. occasion, opportunity and propriety.

11. 16, 7. to print myself out, to put on paper all the reflections that have occurred to me, and the experience of the world that I have gained during my life.

1. 20. a sheet full, as much as is contained in a single sheet.

1. 27. spoken to, referred to, made mention of.

1. 32. to the embellishment of my paper, towards making my paper more attractive and interesting.

1. 36. civilities, acts of civility, polite attentions.

P. 5, 1. 4. complexion, here probably used, as nowadays, in the restricted sense of the colouring of the face, though formerly frequent in the wider sense of external appearance generally.

1. 5. make discoveries of, reveal; cp. p. 50, 1. 32, and p. 66, 1. 16. 1. 10. concerted, agreed upon together.

1. 12. to stand... front, to be their representative.

1. 14. Little Britain, so called from the mansion of John, Duke of Bretagne in the time of Edward the Second, a street running into Aldersgate Street, and in Addison's day the great quarter of the booksellers.