be a curious blending of fact and fiction, of historical truth and exaggerated tradition; and, as such, is to be read as we should read "Robinson Crusoe" or "The Vicar of Wakefield," extracting from it all the good it contains, and throwing away the rest, as the shell out of which the kernel has been taken. Sydney Smith once said, that when a bishop got burnt in a railway train, the managers of railways would become more careful. It was necessary, perhaps-speaking humanly-that a bishop should be found amongst the infidel critics and philosophers of the present day, in order to awaken the Church to a sense of its duty, and to stimulate to worthy action such of those within its body as can use the sling with precision and effect against this giant of misbelief, to come out and meet his defiant challenge. At all events, the occurrence has answered this purpose. It may be safely said that Bishop Colenso, having gathered together and reproduced in the most plausible and imposing form all that the industry of the German neologists and the French and English deists and atheists had produced in hostility to the Bible, and given them to the world with the authority of his sacerdotal character, has been the occasion of evoking a spirit of inquiry and exciting an amount of learned industry in almost all the churches, which, in some three or four hundred books, furnishes a body of Biblical criticism which leaves no firm ground for infidelity to stand upon, and a mass of historical evidence and of logical reasoning which leaves nothing to be desired in defence of that Book which is to us a 66 sure testimony" to God's plan of salvation, and our precious storehouse of religious truth. It is thus that the Lord watches over and protects his Church. It is not freed from peril, but the peril to which it is exposed is made the means by which its progress is effected, its foundations strengthened, and its conquests over the world multiplied and enlarged. "All things work together for good to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose." "The wrath of man he restrains, and maketh the remainder thereof praise him." If we are not wanting to ourselves and negligent of our duty, we shall out of this "nettle danger pluck the flower safety," and find that "there is a soul of good" to be got out of "things evil." May we not, indeed, hope that the Church is doing so? A spirit of prayer appears to have been awakened in her, not in one church only, but in many, of which the recent united prayer meetings, everywhere, for the outpouring of the Spirit on all the churches is a blessed evidence. It is, surely, a proof that the Lord is especially amongst his people, and is moving them to something onward, in antagonism to the atheism and indifference of the age, when we find the asperities and strifes that have so long divided the Christian churches giving way, under the influence of that spirit of brotherly love which is the badge of the true Christian; that spirit which brings him into a closer conformity to the Redeemer, one of whose last prayers for his disciples was that they might be "one," so that the world might know that he was the Saviour, that God had sent him. And never let us forget that blessed utterance, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word." Let us watch and pray, that we enter not into the temptations of the prevalent philosophy, and be brought by, probably, an almost imperceptible declension in light and piety, to "deny the Lord that bought us." If the Christian Church—that is, Christians generally and individually, for we must not forget when we speak of the Church that we speak of the whole body of believers, ourselves included, and not of a mere abstraction-if the Christian Church, seeing in the godless philosophy of which we have been speaking, a thing which, while it dishonours God by robbing him of some of his most precious attributes-most precious when viewed in relation to his creatures, and as they are revealed in the Bible-deprives us of our chief source of comfort and consolation, the source whence we draw our strength in weakness, our light in darkness, our support in adversity, our resignation in affliction, our every aid in every time of need-if, seeing this, the Church is stimulated to look for more of God in the manifestations of his wisdom and power in what we call Nature; more of God in the wondrous and multifarious laws which govern the universe; more of God in His care and preservation and direction of individuals, especially of those who prayerfully and obediently seek him; more of God in the complicated and often perilous affairs of nations; in a word, more of God in all small as in all great things, in all things pertaining to man, whose life is as a weaver's shuttle, whose flesh is as grass, and whose goodliness is as the flower of the field, as well as in all things pertaining to the myriads of bright worlds which begem the heavens, and have been performing their nicely regulated revolutions through countless ages, remembering, as we should do, that "The very law that moulds a tear, And bids it trickle from its source, And guides the planets in their course" —a law which is nothing more nor less than the operation of God's never-ceasing power-if such become our convictions and our aspirations, then will the perils to which a false and godless philosophy exposes the Church of Christ be found the means of stimulating our pious activities and prayerful efforts to preserve ourselves uncorrupt, and to rebuke, in our several persons, the spirit of that philosophy which is converting God's best gifts into the instruments of atheism, and doing what it can to persuade us that we are "without God in the world." ANCIENT EGYPT. CHAPTER V. SOCIAL LIFE. THE Social life of almost all the nations of the world, during the times of Abraham and Joseph, was in but a low condition. In most countries the people had sunk to a state of barbarism. In Egypt, however, the usages of social and domestic life were of a character, and had long been of a character, which were not surpassed when she was in the midst of her most glorious career. The ordinary inhabitants had long ceased to wear arms, and even the national army only carried them when on service. This is a striking mark of the progress which had been made, and shows that the people had long lived under a strong and regular government. Women, too, were treated as they are never treated elsewhere, except amongst highly civilized nations. As a rule, the lower we go in barbarism the worse we find the condition of woman, and the higher we go in civilization the better we find her condition. Generally, though it may not hold in every individual case, the people who treat woman with the least consideration are nearest the state of brutes, while those who most honour her are nearest a perfect civilization. In this respect the Egyptians appear, at a very early period, to have been very far in advance even of the richest and most powerful peoples of their time. When the country fell, it fell in this respect, and to this day the gentler sex holds but a pitiable position, both socially and nationally. When the country was at the height of its greatness and glory, woman was treated much as she is at present in Europe. It has been said, indeed, that polygamy was allowed; but all the evidence of the monuments goes to prove that men had each but one wife. In his tomb each individual appears with but a single consort. The attitudes of endearment, and the expressions of mutual affection often observable in the paintings and sculptures, plainly point to the same conclusion, besides which Herodotus declares that each man took but one wife. To women was given the precedence over men on all occasions. Nor was it a mere influence they possessed, nor simply a political importance, but their position was recognized by the laws of the country, and was respected both in public and private life. The throne, even, was open to the wives and daughters of kings, and this at times brought on them the troubles of contests for the succession through foreign princes, who claimed their right to the throne through marriage with the daughters of the Pharaohs. The ancient Egyptians seem to have well understood that if their women had been degraded the whole people would have suffered both in their manners and morals. The private life of the people of Ancient Egypt is almost as well shown in the monuments as it would have been had it been written at length in Roman characters. Indeed, as to details, we know more of the private life of the ancient Egyptians than we do of most ancient peoples, whose histories have been penned by the professional historian. The poorer classes of ancient Egypt lived very much in the open air, and their dwellings were of a class corresponding to such habits. The well-to-do and the wealthy built superb mansions, in which the cooling breezes could very freely circulate. Currents of fresh air were carried throughout the buildings by means of courts and corridors, and fountains were often found playing in the open courts, in the centre of the structure. The entrance of a mansion was sometimes effected by a corridor, supported by pillars, which led to shady avenues and pleasant areas. Even commoner houses, in the centre, had open courts planted like a garden with different kinds of trees. On the roofs was a kind of wooden wind-sail, which acted as a ventilator, and carried the cooling north-westerly wind into the rooms below. The crude brick houses were mostly stuccoed and painted in brilliant colours, some being ornamented with various architectural details, and bearing an inscription of some kind over the door. A poor man's house had generally four simple walls, a flat roof covered in with palm-branches and mats, plastered over with mud. The small windows had wooden shutters, and the cottager was mostly content with one door. This building of the poor man was more a protection from the sun and a depository for goods than a house, according to modern ideas, for the occupiers mostly slept on the roofs. The priests and great men, and most of the wealthy, were not, however, content with what was just necessary; they had a decided taste for the comforts and luxuries of life. Besides, they knew how these things captivated the people. The priesthood did, however, in many things, practise abstinence, which improved their health, and they put their own construction on their own regulations, believing, or professing to believe, that what might do well for them might do very badly for others, and presuming that the people would do as they told them, and not as they did. The plans of their houses were mostly very simple, some consisting of rows of rooms-seldom more than twelve feet by ten feet-on either side a passage, and others of a number of rooms on three sides of an open court, which latter was mostly planted with palm or other trees. The entrance was in the front from the street. Some houses were similar to the Roman ones, the models of which the reader may see in the Crystal Palace, where the chambers are arranged round a central area. In some cases, steps from the street led to the front door. A number of small houses had often a single court, which was made common to them all. Few houses had more than three storeys; the ordinary houses had but one, and those which had two or three had the second or third only in one part of the building. Into these the ladies retired to sit and work, while the masters slept in them, or took their slumbers there during the heat of the day. Guests were generally accommodated on the first floor, where the receiving apartments were located. A wealthy man's mansion had often a porch, resting on a couple of pillars, before the door, but sometimes there was a large portico, with two rows of pillars, and statues between them. About the fronts of houses trees were frequently planted. The arrangement of the rooms was various as the tastes of builders, but mostly convenience and neatness were preserved, Few of the ancient houses now remain; but those at Thebes, and one or two other places, along with the sculptures, supply sufficient materials by which to form a very accurate idea of what they were. In the British Museum are several models of Egyptian mansions, which convey very accurate ideas of particular plans. The roofs of all houses were flat, and here the ladies, it is said, used to hold their gossiping parties. The doors of their houses were often stained to imitate scarce foreign woods, and they turned on metal pins, on the principle we now sometimes see in large iron gates, while they fastened by bars or bolts. The pins were attached to the doors by large-headed bronze nails. Folding-doors had bolts in the centre and bars right across, with a wooden lock at the meeting of the folds. There were also keys of bronze or iron, some of which resembled our modern keys, having wards. It will be remembered (Judges iii. 23-25) that Eglon's "servants took a key and opened" the doors of a "parlour," which is, we believe, the first mention of "keys" on record. The interior of the walls was often richly decorated; many were panelled, sometimes plain and sometimes recessed. Figures and scenes from domestic life, with rich borders and deep cornices of flowers, were amongst the rumerous decorations. Flowers were especial favourites as a means of ornamentation, and visitors, on entering a house, received, as a token of welcome, a bouquet of natural flowers. At a party-for they had them in Egypt-a guest was presented with a lotus, and had besides a chaplet of flowers placed round his head, and another about his neck. Flowers hung about the rooms in festoons; they were placed on the stands; they crowned the winebowls; and they decorated the servants who waited on the guests. Large villas, which were mostly very imposing buildings, had spacious gardens attached. These were watered by canals communicating with the Nile. In the gardens were considerable sheets of water kept for irrigation when the river was low, and on them pleasure boats plied, while fishing was practised both by the line and the spear. A villa was usually surrounded by a high wall, in the middle of which was the main frontage, carried up considerably higher. There was one central entrance and two gates on the sides, which latter led to an open walk shaded with rows of trees. Then came open courts again, planted with trees, running round the exterior of the inner apartments. There were numerous corridors, store, waiting, receiving, and other rooms, and a garden planted with flowers and trees, besides a summer-house, and another pond of water. In the centre were stables, coach-houses for chariots, and carts, and at some distance stood the farm-yard with its cattle. This, though within the great wall, was itself enclosed and supplied with water from the river by means of a canal. The cattle were mostly tied to small rings while they fed, and they often ate from the hand. To these great structures numerous granaries were attached, at some distance from the main building. These places were filled from the top through a small opening, and emptied from a door at the bottom. Stewards, as in the present day, managed all the business part of these establishments as to accounts, cattle and other stock, labour, &c. One steward overlooked the affairs of the house, another had the care of the granaries, vineyards, or the fields. These were the "rulers," "overseers," and "stewards" of the Bible, where we read of " the stewards of Joseph's house." (See Gen. xxxix. 5; xliii. 16, 19; and xliv. 1: also Matt. xx. 8.) In cases where the labourers in the fields grew lazy, the steward did not hesitate to measure a stout stick across his shoulders. The grounds in particular parts were commonly irrigated by means of an ordinary bucket attached to a long pole, but the yoke and strap were in common and daily use, both for carrying water, boxes, baskets, and other matters in connection with every trade of the country. The people were far from ignorant of the various uses to which the lever may be applied. The water-wheel was in use, but the bucket and long pole were most general. For keeping and |
