in-law is gone, but, by the grace of God, I am here in bis place; that is enough." I bowed and took my leave.

The Bey had spoken several times to his servant in Turkish ; but these interruptions are too common at such audiences to be taken notice of. I went out to the antichambers attended by five or six people, and then into another room, the door of which opened to the lobby where his soldiers or servants were. There was a slave very richly dressed, who had a small basket with oranges in his hand, who came out at another door, as if from the Bey, and said to me, "Here, Yagoube, here is some fruit for you.

In that country it is not the value of the present, but the character and power of the person that sends it, that creates the value. It is a mark of friendship and protection, and the best of all assurances. Well accustomed to ceremonies of this kind, I took a single orange, bowing low to the man that gave it me, who whispered me, "Put your hand to the bottom, the best fruit is there, the whole is for you, it is from the Bey.” A purse was exceedingly visible. It was a large crimson one wrought with gold, not netted or transparent as ours are, but liker a stocking. I lifted it out; there were a considerable number of sequins in it; I kissed it, in respect from whence it came, and said to the young man that held the basket, "This is, indeed, the best fruit, at least commonly thought so, but it is forbidden fruit for me. The Bey's protection and favour is more agreeable to me than a thousand such purses would be." The servant shewed a prodigious surprise. In short, nothing can be more incredible to a Turk, whatever his quality may be, than to think that any man can refuse money offered him. Although I expressed myself with the utmost gratitude and humility, finding it impossible to prevail upon me, the thing appeared so extraordinary, that a beggar in a barracan, dressed like those slaves who carry water, and wash the stairs, should refuse a purse of gold, he could no longer consent to my going away, but carried me back to where the Bey was still sitting. He was looking at a large piece of yellow sattin. He asked the usual question, "How, now? What is the matter?" To which his slave gave him a long answer in Turkish. He laid down the sattin, turned to me, and said, "Why, what is this? You must surely want money; that is not your usual dress? What does this proceed from your pride?"

"Sir, answered I, may I beg leave to say two words to you? There is not a man to whom you ever gave money more grateful, or more sensible of your generosity in offering it to me, than I am at this present. The reason of my waiting upon you in this dress was, because it is only a few hours ago since I left the

boat. I am not however a needy man, or one that is distressed for money; that being the case, and as you have already my prayers for your charity, I would not deprive you of those of the widow and the orphan, whom that money may very materially relieve. Julian and Rosa, the first house in Cairo, will furnish me with what money I require; besides, I am in the service of the greatest king in Europe, who would not fail to supply me abundantly if my necessities required it, as I am travelling for his service."

[In the subsequent conversation between the Bey and Mr. Bruce, he so far gained the esteem of that Prince, by his manly and generous behaviour, that he obtained a Firman, permitting the captains of English vessels belonging to Bombay and Bengal, to bring their ships and merchandise to Suez; a place far preferable, in all respects, to Jidda, to which they were formerly confined. Of this permission, which no European nation could ever before acquire, many English vessels have already availed themselves; and it has proved peculiarly useful both in public and private despatches. The Bey ordered Mr. Bruce to be clothed with a caftan, which is a loose garment like a night gown, and is a gift of ceremony, and a mark of favour. Upon withdrawing from the presence of the Bey, he was received with great respect by the bye-standers. He acknowledges, indeed, "That the man was the same, but it was the caftan that made the difference." The soldiers conducted him to his lodgings with great despatch, on a mule finely caparisoned, but free from the salutations of the quarter-staff. The scale of politeness was now turned in his favour, and to shew their respect, they knocked down every person they overtook in the streets, giving him first a blow with the quarter staff, and then asked, him, why he did not get out of the way? After some stay at Cairo, Mr. Bruce embarked at Alexandria, for Marseilles, where he happily arrived and which finishes the account of his travels.

OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.

An account of the Visit of the Queen of Sheba* to Jerusalem, and the consequences of that visit, v z. the foundation of an Ethiopian monarchy, and the continuation of the Sceptre in the Tribe of Judah, down to this day.

We are not to wonder, if the prodigious hurry and flow of business, and the immensely valuable transactions they had with each other, had greatly familiarised the Tyrians and Jews, with their correspondents the Cushites and Shepherds on the coast of Africa. This had gone so far, as very naturally to have created a desire in the queen of Sheba, the sovereign of that country, to go herself and see the application of such immense treasures that had been exported from her country for a series of

*It should properly be Saba, Azab, or Azaba, all signifying South.

years, and the prince who so magnificently employed them.There can be no doubt of this expedition, as Pagan, Arab, Moor, Abyssinian, and all the countries round, vouch it pretty much in the terms of scripture.

Many* have thought this queen was an Arab. But Saba was a separate state, and the Sabeans a distinct people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and have continued so till very lately.We know, from history, that it was a custom among these Sabeans, to have women for their sovereigns in preference to men, a custom which still subsists among their descendents.

Her name, the Arabs say, was Belkis; the Abyssinians, Maqueda. Our Saviour calls her Queen of the South, without mentioning any other name, but gives his sanction to the truth of the voyage. "The Queen of the South, shall rise up in the judg"ment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came "from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of "Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Matt. "xii. 42. Luke xi. 31. It is not probable our Saviour would say she came from the uttermost parts of the earth, if she had been an Arab, and had near fifty degrees of the continent behind her. The gold, the myrrh, cassia, and frankincense, were all the produce of her own country; and the many reasons Pinedat gives to shew she was an Arab, more than convince me that she was an Ethiopian or Cushite shepherd.

A strong objection to her being an Arab, is, that the Sabean Arabs, or Homerites, the people that lived opposite to Azab on the Arabian shore, had kings instead of queens, which latter the Shepherds had, and still have. Moreover, the kings of the Homerites were never seen abroad, and were stoned to death if they appeared in public; subjects of this stamp would not very readily suffer their queen to go to Jerusalem, even supposing they had a queen, which they had not.

Whether she was a Jewess or a Pagan is uncertain; Sabaism was the religion of all the East. It was the constant attendant and stumbling-block of the Jews; but considering the multitude of that people then trading from Jerusalem, and the long time it continued, it is not improbable she was a Jewess. "And when "the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning "the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions." Our Saviour, moreover, speaks of her with praise, pointing her out as an example to the Jews. And, in her thanksgiving before Solomon, she alludes to God's blessing on

* Such as Justin, Cyprian, Epiphanius, Cyril.

Pin. de reb Solomon, hb iv. cap. 14th.-Josephus thinks she was an Ethiopian, so do Origen, Augustin, and St. Anselmo

11 Kings x. 1. 2 Chron. ix. 1. Mattt. xii. 43. Luke xi. 31.

the seed of Israel for ever, which is by no means the language of a Pagan, but of a person skilled in the ancient history of the Jews.

She likewise appears to have been a person of learning, and that sort of learning which was then almost peculiar to Palestine, not to Ethiopia. For we see that one of the reasons of her coming, was to examine whether Solomon was really the learned man he was said to be. She came to try him in allegories, or parables, in which Nathan had instructed Solomon. The learning of the East, and of the neighbouring kings that corresponded with each other, especially in Palestine and Syria, consisted chiefly in these: "And Joash king of Israel sent to “Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the Cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give "thy daughter to my son to wife and there passed by 6C a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the this"tle."-"Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites, and "thine heart lifteth thee up to boast abide now at home, why "shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, “even thou, and Judah with thee ?" 2 Chron. xxv. 18. 19.

The annals of Abyssinia, being very full upon this point, have taken a middle opinion, and by no means an improbable one. They say she was a Pagan when she left Azab, but being full of admiration at the sight of Solomon's works, she was converted to Judaism in Jerusalem, and bore him a son, whom she called Menilek, and who was their first king. However strongly they assert this, and however dangerous it would be to doubt it in Abyssinia, I will not here aver it for truth, nor much less still will I positively contradict it, as scripture has said nothing about it.

To Saba, or Azab, then, she returned with her son Menilek, whom, after keeping him some years, she sent back to his father to be instructed. Solomon did not neglect his charge, and he was anointed and crowned king of Ethiopia, in the temple of Jerusalem, and at his inauguration took the name of David. After this he returned to Azab, and brought with him a colony of Jews, among whom were many doctors of the law of Moses, particularly one of each tribe, to make judges in his kingdom, from whom the present Umbares (or Supreme Judges, three of whom always attend the king) are said and believed to be descended. With these came also Azarias, the son of Zadok the priest, and brought with him a Hebrew transcript of the law, which was delivered into his custody, as he bore the title of Nebrit, or High Priest; and this charge, though the book itself

was burnt with the church of Axum in the Moorish war of Adel, is still continued, as it is said, in the lineage of Azarias, who are Nebrits, or keepers of the church of Axum, at this day. All Abyssinian was thereupon converted, and the government of the church and state modelled according to what was then in use at Jerusalem.

By the last act of the queen of Sheba's reign, she settled the mode of succession in her country for the future. First, she enacted, that the crown should be hereditary in the family of Solomon for ever. Secondly, that after her, no woman should be capable of wearing that crown or being queen, but that it should descend to the heir male, however distant, in exclusion of all heirs female whatever, however near; and that these two articles should be considered as the fundamental laws of the kingdom, never to be altered or abolished. And, lastly, That the heirs male of the royal house, should always be sent prisoners to a high mountain, where they were to continue till their death, or till the succession should open to them.

What was the reason of this last regulation is not known, it being peculiar to Abyssinia; but the custom of having women for sovereigns, which was a very old one, prevailed among the neighbouring shepherds in the last century, and, for what we know, prevails to this day. It obtained in Nubia till Augustus's time, when Petreius, his lieutenant in Egypt, subdued the country, and took the queen Candace prisoner. It endured also after Tiberius, as we learn from St. Philip's baptising the eunuch,* servant of queen Candace, who must have been successor to the former; for she when taken prisoner by Petreius, is represented as an infirm woman, having but one eye. Candace indeed was the name of all the sovereigns, in the same manner Cæsar was of the Roman emperors. As for the last severe part, the punishment of the princes, it was probably intended to prevent some disorders among the princes of her house, that she had observed frequently to happen in the house of David+ at Jerusalem.

The queen of Sheba having made these laws irrevocable to all her posterity, died, after a long reign of forty years, in 986 before Christ, placing her son Menilek upon the throne, whose posterity, the annals of Abyssinia would teach us to believe, have ever since reigned. So far we must indeed bear witness to them, that this is no new doctrine, but has been steadfastly and uniformly maintained from their earliest account of time; first, when Jews, then in later days after they had embraced christianity. We may further add, that the testimony of all the neigh