CH. III.-DRESS AND CLOTHING.

In the first ages dress was very simple. We read, Gen. iii. 21, that God clothed Adam and Eve in the skins of beasts. Skins have continued to be the dress of savage nations. In cold climates, as among the Esquimaux, they find them very warm and comfortable. After a time other articles were used for dress, made of wool or flax, see Lev. xiii. 47; Prov. xxxi. 13. At length garments of finer linen, and even of silk, were used by the rich, 2 Sam. i. 24 ; Prov. xxxi. 22; Luke xvi. 19. These were often dyed purple, or crimson, or scarlet. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colours, because he loved him more than his brethren, and it excited their envy, Gen. xxxvii. 3, 4. The daughters of kings wore vests or garments richly embroidered with needlework, see Psa. xlv. 13, 14; Judg. v. 30, also other texts. Such needlework still forms a principal part of the employment of females in the eastern nations.

Dr. Shaw has given a very particular account of the eastern dress, which, with what other travellers relate, explains many passages of Scripture. He says, the usal size of the hyke, (the upper garment commonly worn,) is six yards long, and five or six feet wide. It serves for dress by day, and to sleep in at night, as it did to the Israelites, Deut. xxiv. 13. A covering is necessary in those countries, as, although the heat by day is very great, the nights generally are cold. Such a garment was loose and troublesome to the wearer; he was obliged to tuck it up, and fold it round him. This made a girdle necessary whenever they were actively employed, and it explains the Scripture expression, "having our loins girded," when called upon to be active in performing any duty.

Ruth's veil, which held six measures of barley, Ruth iii. 15, was, most likely, a garment of this sort. The kneading troughs of the Israelites were bound up in their hykes, Exod. xii. 34. The plaid worn by the highlanders is much the same sort of garment; the principal article of dress worn in Java, and other parts of the east, is

similar; it is of many colours, like the Scottish plaid, and reminds us of Joseph's coat.

A wooden or metal pin was used to fasten the folds of this garment together at the shoulder. The outer fold served for an apron to carry any thing in, as the lap full of wild gourds, 2 Kings iv. 39. See also Ruth iii. 15; Prov. xvi. 33, and other texts.

of this sort.

The burnoose is a sort of cloak worn over the hyke. It has a cape or hood to cover the head, as a shelter from rain. Under the hyke is worn a close-bodied frock, or tunic. The coat of our Saviour, "woven without seam," was probably When persons thus clad are engaged in any employment, they usually throw off their burnooses and hykes, and remain in their tunics, which is what is meant by laying aside their garments. Thus, our Saviour laid aside his garment when he washed the disciples' feet; and when Saul, and David, and others, are spoken of as naked, it only means that they had put off their upper garments, and had upon them only their tunics. This also explains Mark xiv. 51. Garments like these would fit a number of persons, Gen. xxvii. 15; 1 Sam. xviii. 4; Luke xv. 22; they would not need altering, like our clothes, before they could be worn by others. These hykes, or upper garments, were spread in the way when our Saviour entered Jerusalem in triumph.

Loose trousers are worn both by men and women in the east. The picture, page 24, represents an Arab of rank at the present day, in his usual dress.

they

The law of Moses directed the Israelites, Numb. xv. 37-40, to put a fringe or tassel to each of the corners of their upper garments, that, when they saw them, " might remember all the commandments of the Lord to do them." Afterwards, they wrote passages from the law upon strips of parchment, called phylacteries, and fastened them on the borders of their garments, or round their wrists or foreheads. These were, by many ignorant persons, considered as a sort of charm to preserve the warriors from danger: hypocrites wore them, that they might be thought more holy than their neighbours, Matt. xxiii. 5.

The girdles were usually of worsted, sometimes richly

worked, Prov. xxxi. 24; they folded several times round the body, one end was sewn up, so as to make a purse or small pocket. Other things were often carried tucked into the girdle, see Ezek. ix. 2. The dress of females in

Arabia is represented in pp. 25 and 26. The extent to which the Jewish women went, as to their finery, appears from Isaiah iii. 18-23.

The Grecian and Roman women, and those of many other nations, in ancient times, all wore their hair long. They took a great deal of pains to plait and adorn it, and thus employed much time in a very vain and unprofitable manner. The apostles, Peter and Paul, blamed the custom, 1 Pet. iii. 3; 1 Tim. ii. 9. They forbade it as improper for those who profess to love Christ, and desired them not to seek to be admired for outward finery, but for the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price, or value.

There hardly is need to ask my readers, whether young or old, which of their companions they like best—those who are proud of wearing fine coats or frocks, and other finery? or those who are kind, and gentle, and affectionate, though they have neither necklace nor ear-rings; and, it may be, not even a smart riband to their bonnets, nor new coats?

The men always wore their hair short, except perhaps a few, who were something like the fops and dandies of our times, and this may explain 1 Cor. xi. 14, 15. The women in Judea and Greece, and some other countries, wore veils when they appeared in public. These were not loose like the veils now worn, but were wrapped closely round the face. See the pictures, page 27. The apostle Paul, in writing to the Christians at Corinth, a city of Greece, blames the women who appeared in the house of God with their heads uncovered, 1 Cor. xi. 5. In our times, females wear bonnets while at places of worship.

Absalom appears to have been vain of his beauty, and we read, 2 Sam. xiv. 25, 26, of his long hair And as God often is pleased to punish wicked men by those things which they have been most proud and fond of, so when he had rebelled against his father, and had been defeated in

battle, his long hair was caught by the boughs of a tree while riding away as fast as he could; thus he was overtaken and slain, 2 Sam. xviii. 9.

Plucking or pulling off the hair was not only very painful, but was thought a great disgrace among the Jews, as we read in several places in the Bible. They generally wore their beards very long, and were commanded not to cut them in a fanciful or ridiculous manner, Lev. xix. 27. This made the affront greater which Hanun offered to David's ambassadors, 2 Sam. x. 4.

The eastern nations, at the present day, wear their beards long; they consider it a mark of folly in Europeans to cut them short. They even go so far as to have a saying, which expresses, that a man with a long beard will not act dishonestly. They repeat this, though they continually find themselves mistaken. Our Saviour tells us, that all evil thoughts and bad actions proceed from the heart, Matt. xv. 19. Unless that is changed by Divine grace, there is nothing in dress or fashion which will make a bad man good. A person who is wicked in a ragged coat, would be the same in the finest new coat that could be made. When Martyn, the missionary, was in Persia, he allowed his beard to grow, and found that the natives respected him on that account.

Cutting off the beard, or wearing it in a rough disordered manner, was a mark of sorrow, 2 Sam. xix. 24; Ezra ix. 3; Job i. 20. It is so at the present day, in

eastern nations.

People did not wear stockings and shoes in former days, as we do now, but only a sandal, which is like the sole of a shoe, tied on the foot with a band, or other fastening. This was pulled off on entering a holy place, or on coming into the presence of a great person; see Exod. iii. 5; Josh. v. 15. The Mohammedans do so at the present day when they enter a mosque or place of worship, or come into a room where a great man is sitting.

As this was the only covering on the feet, it will easily be supposed that they would feel very uncomfortable from mud and dust, after walking any distance; so it was always the custom, when a guest arrived, that the servants should take off his sandals, and wash his feet, Gen.

xviii. 4; xix. 2; xxiv. 32; Luke vii. 44. This was in general done by the lowest servants, and was a mark of great humility on the part of the master of a family if he did it himself, as well as a great honour to the person whose feet he washed. This may explain what John the Baptist said, Luke iii. 16. It shows us still more the love of Christ to his disciples. My readers will recollect that our Lord rose from supper, laid aside his upper garment, tied a towel round him, and pouring water into a basin, washed his disciples' feet, John xiii. 4, 5. Now this may explain to us why the apostle Peter was so unwilling to let his Master do it for him.

It may also teach us two things:-1. If Christ, who is "God over all, blessed for ever," performed this mean and humble, though kind action to his disciples, how ready we ought to be, to do what is kind to each other!-2. If our Lord was so mindful of his disciples, as to do this act of kindness to them, which was in itself of so little importance, how sure we may be that those who love him now will not be forgotten in any of the events of their lives!

The ornaments worn, particularly by females, were very numerous. They are often mentioned, as rings, bracelets, chains, ear-rings, and others; these are noticed in so many places, that I hardly know which to refer to. The rings and chains in particular were given as marks of esteem and honour; see Esther iii. 10; viii. 2; Gen. xli. 42 ; Dan. v. 29, &c. Some of the rings were called signets. They were engraved with some characters, or devices, like our seals; and when kings or great men signed a decree, or written paper, they did so by inking the signet and stamping it on the paper. The ring given by Pharaoh to Joseph was of this sort. But the attention of my readers may be called to one ornament which would be thought very odd now in our country, though it was frequently worn in those times. I mean the ornament which hung on the forehead, and reached down to the nose; it was called the nose jewel, Isa. iii. 21. In many parts of the east, and in India, at the present day, this ornament is hung from the right or left side of the nose, which is pierced for the purpose. Some of these rings are very large, and richly ornamented with jewels. When the ring is not worn, a bit of stick is