April 8. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



329 



oil ; afterwards they consecrated others of that form, 

 and worshipped them; which false worship was per- 

 petuated even to the time of St. Austin." — See note 

 (n), Ant. U?iiv. Hist., vol. i. p. 310. 



Now if such stones -were an object of worship 

 among the Phoenicians, nothing is more probable 

 than that they should take such a stone along with 

 them in their migrations to new settlements ; and 

 it may therefore well be that the Phoenicians, 

 who first settled in Ireland, did bring such a 

 stone with them ; and hence possibly the tradition 

 in question may have originated. 



There is abundant evidence that the Phoenicians 

 fled from Palestine in very early times (Ant. Univ. 

 Hist., vol. iii. p. 479.), and probably some of the 

 Jews also about the time when Samaria was taken ; 

 and there can be no doubt that some Phoenicians, 

 if not some Jews, settled in these islands at a very 

 remote period ; and it is a very remarkable fact 

 that the Welsh spoken in North "Wales is said to 

 be nearer to the old Hebrew than any other ex- 

 isting language, and varying no more from it than 

 the great length of time which has passed would 

 lead any one to expect. (Ant. Univ. Hist., vol. vi. 

 p. 31. note.) 



It should seem that some at least of the bsetyli 

 were round, and of such a size that they might 

 be carried about by their votaries either by hang- 

 ing at the neck or in some other way (Ant. Univ. 

 Hist., vol. xvii. p. 287. x.). But probably they were 

 originally in the shape of a pillow. In Gen. xxviii. 

 18., it is said that Jacob "took the stone that 

 he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a 

 pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it ; " from 

 which it is plain that the stone was not a sphere, 

 but oblong and fiat at the top and bottom ; and 

 probably not with square edges, as that would be 

 most uncomfortable to lay the head upon.* 



S. G. C. 



Thirty years ago, the coronation stone in West- 

 minster Abbey stood under a very old chair ; and 

 was a bluish irregular block of stone, similar both 

 in colour and shape to stepping-stones in the shal- 

 low rivers of the north of England. It is now a 

 very nice hewn block, nicely fitted into the frame 

 under the seat of a renovated chair. It does not 

 look at all like the old stone of former days. Is 



* Query whether from these baDtyli our ancestors de- 

 rived the word beetle, which denotes a wooden maul or 

 hammer for driving wedges. Its head is about a foot 

 long, flat at each end, and the rest round ; so that it 

 nearly resembles a pillow in shape, and the head, to- 

 gether with its handle, would well resemble a stone of 

 similar shape suspended by a cord in the middle. 

 Bailey derives the word in this sense, and as denoting 

 the insect, from Sax. ByCel. If a handle was ever 

 put in a bastylus, which was of the form I have sug- 

 gested, it would form an excellent instrument for 

 driving wedges or the like. 



the geological formation of the present block very 

 difficult to ascertain ? H. R. nee F. 



POLTGAMT. 



(Vol. ix., p. 246.) 



In answer to the various Queries of Sty/utes I 

 have to observe : 



1. That the Jews do not at present, in any 

 country, practise polygamy, it being contrary, not 

 to the letter, but to the spirit of the law of Moses, 

 which nevertheless provides for cases where a 

 man has two wives at the same time ; the incon- 

 venience of which practice is several times pointed 

 out, and which was also inconsistent with the Le- 

 virate law. (See Jahn, §151.; and the Mishna, 

 D^J TTD, which designates more wives than one 

 finS, trouble, adversaries.) 



2. The practice was, however, allowed expressly 

 to the Jewish kings only, perhaps to the extent of 

 four wives, which is the Rabbinic exposition, and 

 coincides with the Koran. 



3. Marriage being a civil contract in most 

 heathen countries, as also amongst the Jews and 

 early Christians, polygamy is not forbidden or 

 allowed on religious grounds. Marriage was in- 

 cluded under the general head of covenants, 

 nnin3, in the Mishna. Barbarous nations ge- 

 nerally practised polygamy, according to Tacitus 

 (Germ. 18.); excepting the Germans, who, like 

 the Greeks and Romans, " were content with a 

 single wife," although some exceptions were found 

 in this respect, non libidine, sed ob nobilitatem. 



4. Polygamy was not practised amongst the 

 early Christians, who followed the Jews in this 

 matter. 



5. Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, lib. iii. 

 p. 461., edit. 1629) says: 



" 'AAA' 6 avrbs avrip Kal Kvpios, ira\ai& naivlfyv, oi 

 ToXvyafiiau en ffvyx^peV t6n yap &7r7jT€i d Qebs, Stc 

 av^dvecrdai na\ it\ii)Qvveiv eXPV 1 '' povoya/xiav 5e tlo-dyei, 

 5io iraib'oiroiiav, ical Op rod oXkov KTjSe/iioviaj', els %v £07;- 

 6b$ i56Brj 7] yvvi]." 



Whence it appears that to have progeny and a. 

 helpmate at home were the objects proposed in 

 matrimony, for which polygamy was unfavorable. 

 He then remarks on the privilege conceded to 

 some to form a second marriage, after the death 

 of the first wife, which St. Paul forbids to a 

 bishop, who was to be, in the modern sense of 

 the word, a monogamist. Two wives at the same 

 time were wholly repugnant to Jewish, as well 

 as Greek and Roman, sentiment. Ignatius (ad 

 Polyc. 5.) says it is proper (7rpeVei) for married 

 persons to unite under the bishop's advice, so that 

 the marriage may be Kara. ®ebv, and not ko.t iiri- 

 ev/xlav; whence it is inferred that a marriage was 



