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hath his sword upon his thigh. King Solomon made himself a 

 chariot of the wood of Lebanon ; he made the pillars thereof of silver, 

 the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple; the midst 

 thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem." 

 The latter part seems to correspond more with the hackeree, or 

 Indian chariot, drawn by oxen, than the palanquin ; the former 

 having a canopy, or dome, covered with cloth or velvet, richly 

 embroidered and fringed, supported by pillars, ornamented with 

 silver and gold, often inlaid with sandal-wood and ivory; so is 

 the bottom of the vehicle, or frame-work, raised above the wheels, 

 which is here said to be paved with love. 



The sacred historian proceeds to observe, that " the guests of 

 Ahasuerus had their drink in vessels of gold, and royal wine in 

 abundance, according to the state of the king: the drinking was 

 according to law, none did compel; for so the king had appointed 

 to all the officers of his house, that they should do acording to 

 every man's pleasure. Also Vashti the queen made a feast for 

 the women in the royal house, which belonged to king Ahasu- 

 erus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was 

 merry with wine, he commanded the seven chamberlains that 

 served in his presence, to bring Vashti the queen before the king 

 with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her 

 beauty, for she was fair to look upon. But the queen Vashti 

 refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamber- 

 lains ; therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned 

 in him/' 



Here two circumstances are introduced very foreign to the 

 manners of India, although one is perhaps not uncommon in 



VOL. III. 2 c 



