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tion in a corporeal sense. Amours of lainy, also enters into their character. this kind are upon record concerning A certain knight had left 100 marks very extensive powers of absolution (by will) to a certain house, and lay for certain vices, which the nuns there sick; upon getting well, the found to be like St. John's book, monks, that they might not loose the sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the money, plotted his death by poison belly; writing love-letters; revivals or suffocation. The monasteries of of Pyramis and Thisbe at grated win-Wales,' says the same writer, 'are dows, and employing smiths to re-deprived of their parishioners by move the bars, as well as holy contem-them both living and dead;' and he plations in the church at night between two lovers." p. 201, 202.

Volume II. commences with Part 3, and contains an account of the duties of monks, nuns, friars, hermits, novices, lay-brothers, lay-sisters, and

servants.

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also adds, instances of a small house of nuns being oppressed by them, and of an archbishop cheated out of his books which he had collected from his juvenile years. Barclay reproaches their avarice for begging alms over the country, though wealthy; and After stating the prescribed duties Nigel Weriker says of the Cisterof monks and nuns, the Author ob- tians, who are elsewhere censured for serves, "Monachism was an institu- singularity, avarice, and little commution founded upon the first principles nication with the world, that they of religious virtue, wrongly under- wished their neighbours to have landstood and wrongly directed. Super- marks, and none themselves. Nor stition has its basis in the will, and from this avarice can it excite wonder, therefore monachism never succeeded that, says an ancient poet, they nei but when it was an act of volition. Asther loved, nor were beloved by any soon as its duties became mechanical one'." p. 19. operations, the work was performed and the principle disregarded, while the heart, left open to the world, was constantly prompting those aberrations which naturally result from the opposition of sentiment to duty. Shame is of no avail, where security is to be gained from coparceny, evasion, or secresy. Hence the vices of the monks: gluttony, their grand crime, is the natural pleasure of those who are debarred from other enjoyments, whether by physical or moral causes. What their crimes were, in the greater part the inquirenda circa Conventum of Henry's visitors will shew." vol. ii. p. 8.

"Their gluttony was excessive. Who does not know the noble institution of monks? says an old poet; the fame of them has pervaded the whole world; they consume all things, and yet they are not satisfied with the birds of Heaven, and the fishes of the sea; they seek many dishes, and a long time in eating them: another adds, Feed but well, they care for nothing else. Nigel de Wireker charges them with hiding many things, and pocketing provisions to eat on fast days; and one of their own body says, All fowlowe our owne sensyalitye and pleser, and thys religion, as I suppose, ys alle in vayne 'glory." p. 16.

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Avarice, accompanied with vil

"They were flatterers of the rich, and gallant to the ladies. Sometimes so much so, that, says Giraldus, the townsmen of Lannaneveri, on account of their wives and daughters, which the monks every where and openly abused, prepared themselves for leav ing the place entirely, and departing to England." p. 21.

Concerning nuns it is observed, "A visitor at a convent of Gilbertine nuns near Litchfield, found two of the said nunnes; one of them im'pregnant (supprior domus). Anothyr a yonge mayd. Also at another, 'called Harwolde, wherein was iiii or v nunnes with the prioress, one of 'them had two faire children, another one, and no mo.' It is well known that the bishop of Lincoln, about 1251, in his visitations, ordered the nipples of the nuns to be squeezed, that he might have physical proofs of their chastity. Various amulets for pregnant women were common in nunneries: thus the nuns of Grace Dieu had part of St. Francis's coat, deemed beneficial to lying-in women. Nuns of St. Mary, of Derby, had part of the shirt of St. Thomas, in veneration apud multoties pregnantes. Those of Wrelsa, apud Mewse, had the girdle of Bernard, prægnantibus aliquando

vestitum, (sometimes worn by breeding women). The nuns of Yorkshire took potacions ad prolem conceptum

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than any curate; instead of weeping and prayers, by way of penance, he prescribed money to the 'poor freres;' could sing and play well; knew the taverns, hostelers, and tapsters, in every town, but shunned the beg gars; courteous and lowly of service when any thing was to be got; gave a certain farm for his grant; could toy like a whelp; lisped somewhat for wantonness, to make his English sweet upon his tongue; when begging at the bed of a sick man, he asks him for his money to make their cloister, and pretends that they had fared a long while upon muscles and oysters to raise money for it; that they owed forty pounds, and if they could not get wherewith to pay it, must sell their books; that the friars were the sun of the world, which must go to destruction but for their preaching, and that Elisha and Elias were friars; at last he pretends that they had prayed in their chapter day and night for his health, and adds, that a trifle is nothing parted among twelve." p. 42,

43.

Part IV. Monastic Offices. In the description of the refectory is an account of the mode of living, and "Giraldus Cambrensis on dining with the prior of Canterbury, noted sixteen dishes besides intermeals; a superfluous use of signs; much sending of dishes from the prior to the attending monks, and from them to the lower tables, with much ridiculous gesticulation in returning thanks, and much whispering, loose, idle, and licentious discourse; herbs brought in, but not tasted; numerous kinds of fish roasted, boiled, stuffed, fried; eggs; dishes exquisitely cooked with spices; salt meats to provoke appetite; wines of various kinds, piment, claret, mead, and others. Respecting these Ber nard says, it was not unusual to see a vessel brought half full, to try the goodness and flavour of the wine, after proving which, the monks decided in favour of the strongest."

"It seems that it was not lawful to eat the flesh of any animal nourished

And how the fryers followed folke that

was ryche, And folke that was pore at litle price they

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on the earth, because this had been edd 10-Urchauns.-Elys y rostydd. cursed by God; but this curse not-Leche Lumbard"-Grete crabbys. extending to the air and water, birds -A cold bakemeate." were permitted, as created of the same element as fish. Hence the prohibition of quadrupeds. But notwithstand ing this, it was found both impossible and impracticable for inland monasteries to have fish enough, and to eat flesh became unavoidable; medical considerations and the augmentations of alms by this means interfered. However, to the great rule all their articles of food bore relation, which were bread, beer, soup, beans for soup all Lent; oats for gruel Thursday and Saturday in that season; flour for pottage every day in the same season; fried dishes, wastels, or fine bread for dinner and supper on certain feasts; flathos or cakes in Easter; formica, or fine flour cakes, in Advent, Christmas, against Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and certain feasts; fat things were frequent with Præmonstratensians; black beans and salt with the Clugniacs; general bad fare with the Cistertians." p. 125-127.

This work contains extensive accounts of monkish manners, but as they appear to us to be uninteresting to the generality of our readers, we think the above will give a sufficient specimen of the work.

Here follows a bill of fare of one of their fish feasts.

"FIRST COURSE.

"Elys in sorry1.-Blamanger-Bakoun Herryng.-Mulwyl tayles.— Lenge taylys.-Jollys of Salmon. Merlyng sope-Pyke.-Grete Plays. -Leche burry'.-Crustade ryal,

"SECOND COURSE.

"Maramer

enye6.-Crem of Alemaundys-Codlyng.-Haddock.- Fresh Hake-Solys y sope.-Gurned broylid with a syruppe-Brem de mere. -Roche. Perche. - Memise fry

1 Were eels and parsley boiled in water,
to which were added wine, spicery, sage,
grated bread, broth of the eel, ginger.
MS. Bodl. Hearne 197.

Melwell is asellus, a cod.
Whiting.

Leche is gelatina, jelly.
5 Crustade (singly) chekyns, pejons,
small briddes in a brothe, with poudur of
pepur, clowes, verjouce, saffron, make cof-
fyns (pies) with rasynges of corance, and
ginger, and canell, and raw eggs.

Vernage wine, almonds, ginger, &c. boiled up in ale.

A compound of them with thick milk, water, salt, and sugar, a favourite dish.

• Hakot is Lucius Piscis.

9

Hyeca, see Johnson and Stevens's Shakspear, v. 390.

VOL. I.

LXXVI. JOURNEY from INDIA towards ENGLAND, in the Year 1797, by a Route, commonly called Over-land, through Countries not much frequented, and many of them hitherto unknown to Europeans, particularly between the rivers EUPHRATES and TIGRIS, through Curdistan, Diarbek, Armenia, and Natolia, in Asia; and through Romalia, Bulgaria, Wallachia, Transylvania, &c. in Europe. Illustrated by a Map and other Engravings. By JOHN JACKSON, ESQ.

HE map prefixed to this 8vo. vo

TH

Bussora to Hermanstad. The work lume is a sketch of the route from is also embellished with five plates, which will be noticed with the sub

jects they illustrate.

From the preface we learn that this journey was undertaken to gratify Curiosity; and the author mentions the routes adopted by former journalists, each recommending his own, and all being unanimous in declaring the route taken by Mr. Jackson to be perfectly impracticable in the months from April to September. The Author

says,

"The following sheets will serve to prove, that it is practicable at all seasons. If the traveller pass through Arabia in winter, when it is temperate, he will find it excessively cold among the high mountains in Armenia. If he suffer a little from the excessive heat of the summer in Arabia, which may be justly said to be the hottest place in the world, he will find the rest of his journey temperate and pleasant, which may be said to be in some measure a recompence. When the Author was in Arabia, at Midsummer, the fruits were in full season,

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and they continued in that state all the way he came to Vienna; and fruits are in those climes a very great luxury." Pref. p. viii.

The preface concludes with hints of instruction to any who may adopt the same route as the author.

On the 4th of May, 1797, at eight P. M. Mr. Jackson left Bombay, and embarked on board the country ship Pearl, R. Spence, master, bound to Bussora, having in company James Stevens, Esquire, in the civil service, Captain John Reid, late commander of the Princess Royal Indiaman, and Mr. James Morley, and on the 18th of June arrived at Bussora, from whence, after describing the place, they depart, June 25th. Their arrangement for their journey was as follows:

"Every thing having been prepared, under the direction of Mr. MANERTY, for our departure for BAGDAD, an Arab Sheik, named ABDALLAH TEEF, a very respectable man, engaged to conduct us safely thither; for which we paid him 1300 piastres. This sum, it is to be observed, was only for three boats and guards, having ourselves provided a good stock of provisions of all sorts, with culinary utensils, cooks, and other servants, which cost us 500 piastres more.

"Our boats being brought up to MARGILL, at five o'clock we took leave of Mr. MANERTY, and embarked; two of the boats containing the passengers, the other boat our additional guards: immediately after embarking we were dressed so as to resemble the Arabs in our appearance; and our mustaches were now grown pretty long, having never shaved since we left INDIA.

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"Every attention was paid to our personal safety, the Sheik being always in one of our boats, and his brother, AHMOOD SOLLAY, in the other. "As these boats were admirably calculated for their intended purpose, the following account of them may not be unacceptable.

"Description of the boat generally called a Donck, but sometimes a Kiraffe, used by the Arabs upon the rivers Eu PHRATES and TIGRIS.

"The extreme breadth is seven feet nine inches. The length fortytwo feet. It is built of strong rough timbers, at eighteen inches distance,

connected by small rough pieces of board, and covered with a coat of bitumen, about half an inch thick on the outside, which, in case of a leak, is very easily repaired. The inside is lined with the same kind of rough boards, none above three feet long, and of very unequal breadths, the lining is of course full of holes. Some of these boats, instead of boards, are covered with basket-work, having a coat of bitumen upon it. They are very sharp at each end, and sail fast. Their oars are rough poles, having a piece of board tied on with a cord. They have besides strong timbers, which go down to the keel, and are about three feet above the gunwale; these are full of notches, to which they fasten their oars with strong kya rope, and by these they either raise or lower the oar, as is most convenient. They have no tiller, but are enabled to steer with great accuracy by means of a strong kya rope fastened to both sides of the rudder; and they very seldom use more than five oars at a time." This description is accompanied by a plate.

"We had part of the boat abaft the mast covered with mats, to defend us from the sun, which we found of great service.

"In the fore-part was a place built with brick and clay for the purpose of dressing our victuals; and this convenience we found of great use, as it enabled us to provide every thing necessary without frequent landings." p. 37-41.

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Noticing CORNY, at the conflux of the rivers EUPHRATES and TIGRIS, which, the author observes, is supposed by some learned men to have been the scite of the garden of Eden. Its present wretched appearance, however, gives it no pretensions to the name of the Terrestrial Paradise, as described by MILTON. It is a small village surrounded by a mud wall, containing few inhabitants, with very little cultivation. p. 43, 44.

Passing several Arab encampments with abundance of cattle, they arrived the right bank of the river, where, at SUKE-SHUE, a very large town on says the author, "we were treated by

our Sheik with a dinner in the Arab fashion. It consisted of a dozen and a half of fish, about the size of mackarel, fried in ghie; a dozen boiled fowls; and cakes made of barley flour, fresh baked, with plenty of milk. We

sat upon the ground, agreeable to the custom of the country, in a garden adjoining the river, under the shade of a grove of date and fig-trees. The fish, fowls, and bread, were very sweet and good, but the milk was Sour, and not very palatable to an European We did not make use of knives and forks, as in Europe, but ate with our fingers, as the Arabs do, tearing the fowls and fish in pieces; and the Sheik seemed highly pleased by our compliance with their cus

toms.

"I was much amused by observing the dexterity of the Arab women in baking their bread. They have a small place built with clay, between two and three feet high, having a hole at the bottom for the convenience of drawing out the ashes, something similar to that of a lime kiln. The oven (which I think is the most proper name for this place) is usually about fifteen inches wide at top, and gradually grows wider to the bottom. It is heated with wood, and when sufficiently hot and perfectly clear from smoke, having nothing but clear embers at bottom (which continue to reflect great heat), they prepare the dough in a large bowl, and mould the cakes to the desired size on a board or stone placed near the oven. After they have kneaded the cake to a proper consistence they pat it a little, then toss it about with great dexterity in one hand till it is as thin as they choose to make it; they then wet one side of it with water, at the same time wetting the hand and arm with which they put it into the oven. The wet side of the cake adheres fast to the side of the oven till it is sufficiently baked, when, if not paid proper attention to, it would fall down among the embers. If they were not exceedingly quick at this work, the heat of the oven would burn the skin from off their hands and arms; but with such amazing dexterity do they perform it, that one woman will continue keeping three or four cakes at a time in the oven till she has done baking. This mode, let me add, does not require half the fuel that is made use of in EUROPE." p. 49-51.

While here a principal" Sheik paid the travellers a visit, and brought his daughter with him. She was about twelve years of age, and every person was obliged to stand in his presence,

except ourselves and our Sheik. I had here an opportunity of observing the respect which the Arabs pay their chiefs. An Arab of distinction, having a letter of some consequence for the Sheik, presented it on his knees and received it back again in the same posture, the secretary hav ing, after reading the letter, put the Sheik's seal on the back of it.

"The Sheiks and principal people wear on the left hand a neat silver or gold ring, in which a square stone is set, with their names engraved on it at full length. On this ring they lay a thick ink, till it will make a fair impression, then stamp it on the letter, and this serves for their signature. Some of the stones are red, and some white cornelians.

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"We were much pestered here by number of people having different disorders; for they imagine that an European can cure all complaints, and implicitly adopt whatever is prescribed for them." p. 53-55.

On leaving the river EUPHRATES the author says, "I cannot quit the EUPHRATES without taking notice of its salubrious water, which is by much the most pleasant that I ever tasted. Though very muddy when it is first taken up, it soon becomes perfectly clear; and while I could get this water, I had not the least desire for either wine or spirits." p. 57.

Having now entered those places in which travellers are in constant danger from the disposition of the inhabitants, the author says, " Our Sheik represented to us, that this was a very dangerous situation, and recommended us to keep our arms in case of an attack. We had each a gun, a brace of pistols, and a sabre; and our Sheik, his brother, and all the guards, remained under arms during the night. They placed some centinels at a distance from the tents for fear of a surprise, and passed the watch-word from one to another the night through. We were not, however, molested,

"To be obliged to have weapons by my side, while lying down on the bare earth to take a little rest, was what I had never before experienced. Whoever travels through these countries ought not to put so much value on his life as conceive Europeans in general do, where they are per

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