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Jerufalem the fingers went before, (conjuncti pfallentibus, reads the Ethiopic verfion,) the players on inftruments followed after; (that is, with steps modulated to the mufic of those inftruments ;) among them were the damfels playing with timbrels. Pfalm lxviii. 25. David seems from his youth to have been devoted to mufic, and greatly multiplied the muficians and fingers employed in religious fervice. Most of thofe beautiful and pathetic compofitions, which we call the Pfalms, were the productions of that monarch's genius and piety united. The titles prefixed to them fhew them to be addreffed to the different presidents of the bands of musicians, to be fet to the different inftruments of which they refpectively had the charge; and thofe bands, we are told, amounted to twenty-four in number. When Solomon erected his most magnificent temple, the pomp and splendour of the public worship at Jerufalem were vaftly increased, and the musical establishments inftituted by David were confiderably enlarged. There were, on the whole, no less than fourand-twenty thousand Levites, who had,offices affigned them in that fuperb temple. Four thousand of these were appointed to the function of public fingers, who, aiding with their Nnn 4

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numerous voices the loud JUBAL, or great Hebrew trumpet, and the folemn HASUR, or inftrument of ten ftrings, contributed on grand occafions to fwell the pomp of the Hebrew devotion, and raise it to a point of exaltation and distinction among the nations, in fome degree correfpondent to the fuperior majefty and purity of the God they adored. Hence, when that temple was destroyed, and the Jewish nation carried away captive to Babylon, originated those repeated taunts thrown out by their infulting victors, Sing us one of the fongs of Zion! Pfalm cxxxvii. 3.. The defponding fons of Judah, however, are beautifully described in the pfalm just cited, as having hung the neglected KINNOR, or harp of Palestine, on the willows that grow plentifully on the banks of the Euphrates, and as pathetically exclaiming, How can we fing the Jong of Jehovah in the land of strangers? Even when groaning under the chains of their captivity, they feem not to have entirely neglected that fascinating fcience which David had fo zealously promoted among them, and Solomon had fo confiderably improved; for, in the lift which is given by Ezra of thofe who returned with him from Babylon, there are numbered two bundred finging-men and finging-women. Ezra, ii.

6.5.

65. The principal difference between the Jewish dancing women, and those employed in the Affyrian, Egyptian, and Indian, temples, confifts, as has been intimated before, in the immaculate and virgin purity of the former, and the licentious, and even libidinous, character of the latter. That difference is to be explained by an investigation into the nature and attributes of the deities respectively adored in those countries. The gods of the latter were grofs physical deities, nature and its various powers perfonified. The fublime object of the adoration of the Hebrews was THE GOD OF NATURE HIMSELF.

The account which a recent traveller, M. Savary, gives of the prefent Almai, or dancing-girls of Egypt, is very curious, and highly deferving attention, because in manners and habits they exacly correfpond with those of India. It is in the fourteenth letter of his first volume on Egypt, and I shall trouble the reader with a pretty confiderable extract from it.

"The Almai, fays M. Savary, form a class very famous in this country, to be admitted into which it is neceffary to poffefs beauty, a fine voice, eloquence, and be able to compose and fing extempore verfes,

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adapted to the occafion. The Almai know all new fongs by rote, their memory is stored with the best funeral and love fongs, they are prefent at all festivals, and are the chief ornament of banquets. They place them in a raised or- · cheftra, or pulpit, where they fing during the feast after which they descend, and form dances, which no way resemble ours. They are pantomimes that represent the common inci- . dents of life, Love is their usual subject. The fuppleness of thefe dancers bodies is inconceivable, and the flexibility of their features, which take impreffions characteristic of the parts they play at will, aftonishing. The indecency however of their attitudes is often excesfive; each look, each gefture, fpeaks, and in a manner fo forcible as not poffibly to be misunderstood. They throw afide modesty with When they begin to dance, a long and very light filk robe floats on the. ground, negligently girded by a fash; long black hair perfumed, and in treffes, defcends over their shoulders; the shift, transparent as gauze, fcarcely conceals the fkin; as the action proceeds, the various forms and contours the body can affume feem progreffive; the found of the flute, the caftanets, the tambour de bafque, and cymbals, regulate, increase,

their veils.

or

or flacken, their steps. Words, adapted to fuch like scenes, inflame them more, till they appear intoxicated, and become frantic Bacchantes. Forgetting all referve, they then wholly abandon themselves to the diforder of their fenfes, while an indelicate people, who with nothing should be left to the imagination, redouble their applause.

"These Almai are admitted into all harams; they teach the women the new airs, recount amorous tales, and recite poems, in their prefence, which are interesting, by being pictures of their own manners. They teach them the mysteries of their art, and instruct them in lafcivious dances. The minds of these women are cultivated, their converfation agreeable, they speak their language with purity, and, habitually addicting themselves to poetry, learn the most winning and sonorous modes of expreffion. Their recital is very graceful: when they fing, nature is their only guide: fome of the airs I have heard from them were gay, and in a light and lively meafure, like fome of ours; but their excellence is most seen in the pathetic. When they rehearse a moal, in the manner of the ancient tragic ballad, by dwelling upon affecting and plaintive tones, they infpire melancholy,

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