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the grapes are daintily enamelled; and if the males of the family be the greater number, the grapes are enamelled purple, with a little sun set on the top; if the females, then they are enamelled into a greenish yellow with a crescent on the top. The grapes are in number as many as there are descendants of the family. This golden cluster the herald delivereth also to the Tirsan, who presently delivereth it over to that son that he had formerly chosen, to be in house with him, who beareth it before his father as an ensign of honour when he goeth in public ever after, and is thereupon called the Son of the Vine. After this ceremony ended, the father or Tirsan retireth; and after some time cometh forth again to dinner, where he sitteth alone under the state as before; and none of his descendants sit with him, of what degree or dignity soever, except he hap to he of Salomon's House. He is served only by his own children, such as are male, who perform unto him all service of the table upon the knee; and the women only stand about him, leaning against the wall. The room below his half-pace hath tables on the sides for the guests that are bidden, who are served with great and comely order; and toward the end of dinner (which in the greatest feasts with them lasteth never above an hour and a half) there is an hymn sung, varied according to the invention of him that composed it (for they have excellent poesy). But the subject of it is always the praises of Adam, and Noah, and Abraham; whereof the former two peopled the world, and the last was the Father of the Faithful; concluding ever with a thanksgiving for the nativity of our Saviour, in whose birth the births of all are only blessed. Dinner being done, the Tirsan retireth again; and having withdrawn himself alone into a place, where he maketh some private prayers, he cometh forth the third time to give the blessing, with all his descendants, who stand about him as at the first. Then he calleth them forth by one and by one, by name, as he pleaseth, though seldom the order of age be inverted. The person that is called (the table being before removed) kneeleth down before the chair, and the father layeth his hand upon his head, or her head, and giveth the blessing in these words: "Son of Bensalem (or daughter of Bensalem), thy father saith it; the man by whom thou hast breath and life speaketh the word; the blessing of the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and the holy dove be upon thee, and make the days of thy pilgrimage good and many." This he saith to every of them; and that done, if there be any of his sons of eminent

merit and virtue (so they be not above two), he calleth for them again, and saith, laying his arm over their shoulders, they standing, "Sons, it is well you are born: give God the praise, and persevere to the end." And withal delivereth to either of them a jewel, made in the figure of an ear of wheat, which they ever after wear in the front of their turban or hat. This done they fall to music and dances and other recreations, after their manner, for the rest of the day. This is the full order of that feast.

By that time six or seven days were spent, I was fallen into straight acquaintance with a merchant of that city, whose name was Joabin. He was a Jew, and circumcised; for they have some few stirps of Jews yet remaining among them, whom they leave to their own religion; which they may the better do because they are of a far differing disposition from the Jews in other parts for whereas they hate the name of Christ, and have a secret inbred rancour against the people among whom they live; these, contrarywise, give unto our Saviour many high attributes, and love the nation of Bensalem extremely. Surely this man, of whom I speak, would ever acknowledge that Christ was born of a virgin, and that he was more than a man; and he would tell how God made him ruler of the seraphims which guard his throne; and they call him also the Milken Way, and the Eliab of the Messiah, and many other high names; which though they be inferior to his Divine Majesty, yet they are far from the language of other Jews. And for the country of Bensalem, this man would make no end of commending it, being desirous by tradition among the Jews there, to have it believed that the people thereof were of the generations of Abraham, by another son whom they call Nachoran; and that Moses, by a secret Cabala, ordained the laws of Bensalem which they now use; and that when the Messiah should come, and sit in his throne at Hierusalem, the king of Bensalem should sit at his feet, whereas other kings should keep a great distance. But yet setting aside these Jewish dreams, the man was a wise man and learned, and of great policy, and excellently seen in the laws and customs of that nation.

He afterwards questions the Jew on their laws and customs touching marriage; and, among other things, is told that they allow no polygamy, and that “ marriage without consent of parents they do not make void, but

they mulct it in the inheritors; for the children of such marriages are not admitted to inherit above a third part of their parents' inheritance." The narrative then pro

ceeds :

And as we were thus in conference there came cne that seemed to be a messenger, in a rich huke, that spake with the Jew, whereupon he turned to me, and said, "You will pardon me, for I am commanded away in haste." The next morning he came to me again joyful, as it seemed, and said, "There word come to the governor of the city that one of the fathers of Salomon's House will be here this day seven-night; we have seen none of them this dozen years; his coming is in state, but the cause of his coming is secret. I will provide you and your fellows of a good standing to see his entry." I thanked him, and told him I was most glad of the news. The day being come, he made his entry. He was a man of middle stature and age, comely of person, and had an aspect as if he pitied men. He was clothed in a robe of fine black cloth, with wide sleeves, and a cape; his under garment was of excellent white linen down to the foot, girt with a girdle of the same, and a sindon or tippet of the same about his neck; he had gloves that were curious and set with stone, and shoes of peachcoloured velvet; his neck was bare to the shoulders; his hat was like a helmet or Spanish montera, and his locks curled below it decently, they were of colour brown; his beard was cut round, and of the same colour with his hair, somewhat lighter. He was carried in a rich chariot, without wheels, litterwise, with two horses at either end richly trapped in blue velvet embroidered, and two footmen on each side in the like attire. The chariot was all of cedar, gilt and adorned with crystal; save that the fore end had pannels of sapphires, set in borders of gold, and the hinder end the like of emerauds of the Peru colour; there was also a sun of gold, radiant upon the top in the midst, and on the top before a small cherub of gold with wings displayed; the chariot was covered with cloth of gold tissued upon blue: he had before him fifty attendants, young men, all in white satin loose coats up to the mid-leg, and stockings of white silk, and shoes of blue velvet, and hats of blue velvet, with fine plumes of divers colours set round like hatbands. Next before the chariot went two men bareheaded, in linen garments down to the foot, girt, and shoes of blue velvet, who carried the one a crosier, the other a pastoral staff

like a sheephook, neither of them of metal, but the crosier of balm-wood, the pastoral staff of cedar. Horsemen he had

none, neither before nor behind his chariot, as it seemeth, to avoid all tumult and trouble; behind his chariot went all the officers and principals of the companies of the city; he sat alone upon cushions of a kind of excellent plush, blue; and under his foot curious carpets of silk of divers colours, like the Persian, but far fiuer; he held up his bare hand as he went, as blessing the people, but in silence. The street was wonderfully well kept, so that there was never any army had their men stand in better battle-array than the people stood; the windows likewise were not crowded, but every one stood in them as if they had been placed. When the show was past, the Jew said to me," I shall not be able to attend you as I would, in regard of some charge the city hath laid upon me for the entertaining of this great person." Three days after, the Jew came to me again, and said, "Ye are happy men: for the father of Salomon's House taketh knowledge of your being here, and commanded me to tell you that he will admit all your company to his presence, and have private conference with one of you that ye shall choose; and for this hath appointed the next day after to-morrow, and because he meaneth to give you his blessing he hath appointed it in the forenoon." We came at our day and hour, and I was chosen by my fellows for the private access. We found him in a fair chamber richly hanged, and carpeted under foot, without any degrees to the state; he was set upon a low throne richly adorned, and a rich cloth of state over his head, of blue satin embroidered. He was alone, save that he had two pages of honour, on eithe hand one, finely attired in white. His under-garments were the like that we saw him wear in the chariot, but instead of his gown he had on him a mantle with a cape, of the same fine black, fastened about him. When we came in, as we were taught, we bowed low at our first entrance; and when we were come near his chair he stood up, holding forth his hand un. gloved and in posture of blessing; and we every one of us stooped down and kissed the hem of his tippet; that done, the rest departed, and I remained.

The Father, then, having warned the pages forth of the room, and caused his visitor to sit down beside him, gives him the following account of Solomon's House:

The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes and

secret motions of things, and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire to the effecting of all things possible.

The preparations and instruments are these: we have large and deep caves of several depths; the deepest are sunk six hundred fathom, and some of them are digged and made under great hills and mountains; so, that if you reckon together the depth of the hill and the depth of the cave, they are some of them above three miles deep; for we find that the depth of an hill, and the depth of a cave from the flat, is the same thing, both remote alike from the sun and heaven's beams, and from the open air. These caves we call the lower region, and we use them for all coagulations, indurations, refrigerations, and conservations of bodies; we use them likewise for the imitation of natural mines, and the producing also of new artificial metals by compositions and materials, which we use and lay there for many years. We use them also sometimes (which may seem strange) for curing of some diseases, and for prolongation of life in some hermits that choose to live there, well accommodated of all things necessary, and indeed live very long, by whom also we learn many things.

We have burials in several earths, where we put divers cements, as the Chinese do their porcelain; but we have them in greater variety, and some of them more fine. We also have great variety of composts and soils for the making of the earth fruitful.

We have high towers; the highest about half-a-mile in height, and some of them likewise set upon high mountains; so that the vantage of the hill with the tower is, in the highest of them, three miles at least; and these places we call the upper region, accounting the air between the high places and the low as a middle region. We use these towers according to their several heights and situations, for insolation, refrigeration, conservation, and for the view of divers meteors, as winds, rain, snow, hail, and some of the fiery meteors also; and upon them, in some places, are dwellings of hermits, whom we visit sometimes and instruct what to observe.

We have great lakes both salt and fresh, whereof we have use for the fish and fowl; we use them also for burials of some natural bodies: for we find a difference in things buried in earth, or in air below the earth, and things buried in water. We have also pools, of which some do strain fresh water out of salt; and others, by art, do turn fresh water into salt. We have also some rocks in the midst of the sea, and some bays

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