And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Ver. 13. And cinnamon] Galen writes that in his time cinnamon was very rare, and hard to be found, except in the storehouses of great princes. And Pliny reports, that a pound of cinnamon was worth 1000 denarii, that is, 150 crowns of our money.
And chariots] Or sedans, a as we call them.
And slaves] Gr. σωματα, bodies, so slaves are called, because their master's commands reach only to their bodies, and not to their souls.
And the souls of men] Tecelius, the pope's pardon monger, persuaded the people in Germany, that whosoever would give ten shillings should at his pleasure deliver one soul out of the pains of purgatory; and as soon as the money rang in the basin, that soul was set at liberty. But if it were one jot less than ten shillings, it would profit them nothing. This gainful gullery Luther decried with all his might, and so marred the market. This gave occasion to that saying of Erasmus, whom when the Elector of Saxony asked, why Luther was so generally hated? He answered, For two faults especially; he hath been too busy with the pope's crown and the monks' paunches. (Scultet. Annal. dec. i.)
a A closed vehicle to seat one person, borne on two poles by two bearers, one in front and one behind. In fashionable use during the 17th, 18th, and early 19th cent. ŒD