sprinkling it with odoriferous drugs, according to his quality.

They denied sepulture to none but such as were guilty of suicide, and even to these it was granted after sunset. The provident care of the patriarchs, respecting a sepulchre for their descendants, is a convincing proof that they accounted it a heavy calamity to be deprived of burial, and a blessing to be interred among their ancestors. They held it as a matter of indifference where their tombs were erected, whether in a field, an orchard, a mountain, or a garden, provided they could but secure the possession of the purchase they were however curious to have them, if possible, cut into a rock, which was no difficult matter in so mountainous a country. They had particular cemeteries for strangers, and for such persons as were put to death: for capital crimes.

With respect to their learning, it is certain they were extremely careful to cultivate the knowledge of theology among themselves, and had places of public instruction, called the schools of the prophets. Their changing the solar into the lunar year, and the complete month of thirty days into the irregular moons of twenty-nine and thirty; their division of the day into four parts, and the night into four watches, are however strong presumptions of their ignorance in the science of astronomy, even at a time when it was well known to the neighbouring nations; nor do they appear to have had any instruments to reckon time, except the sun-dial, or, as the original implies, the flight of steps of Ahaz.

Their language was the Hebrew; the genius

of

:

of which is pure, primitive, natural, and strictly conformable to the simplicity of the Jewish patriarchs and it is highly probable that not only they, but all their trading neighbours, had the art of writing very early; though it is im. possible to determine whether each nation had a peculiar character of their own, or the same in common to them all.

The materials upon which they wrote, and their instrument for writing, may, in some measure, be ascertained from certain passages of Scripture. It is plain that the Decalogue was written upon tables of stone; but Moses, in all probability, made use of a less cumbersome material to write the rest of his laws upon. The custom of writing upon tables was continued till the time of our Saviour: but mention is also made of their writing upon rolls, which are reasonably supposed to have been made of skins, or some other pliable substance.

It

The arts in which the Israelites seem to have made the greatest proficiency were those of war, husbandry, poetry, and music. The first was in a manner natural to them, ou account of the numerous enemies they had to vanquish prior to their possession of the Promised Land, and the various excursions which they were continually making under their kings or other leaders. cannot now be determined whether they acquired any military knowledge during their residence in Egypt; but whoever considers the excellent order of their encampments, combats, and occasional retreats, under the auspices of Moses, must allow them to have been as well trained as any of their neighbours.

The valiant deeds of their generals will ap

pear in their proper place in the sequel of this history. It is therefore only requisite to say that, as soon as the rulers had resolved upon a war, a summons was sent to every tribe; upon which all persons capable of bearing arms as. sembled at the place of rendezvous, and were drawn out according to the exigence of the state. No mention is made of regular troops before the time of David.

Their arms, like those of other ancient nations, were either offensive or defensive. The former consisted of broad crooked swords, jave. lins, slings, bows and arrows, and two-edged swords the latter were shields, helmets, coats of mail, breastplates, and targets. These arms were commonly made of brass, and sometimes of iron or steel.

The Israelitish army, in the day of battle, was drawn up in twelve separate bodies, according to the number of tribes; these were subdivided into legions, centuries, decuries, and single files, each under its respective leader; and they observed a regular system in all their military evolutions.

In the beginning of the Jewish monarchy their kings used to fight on foot; at least no mention is made of any chariots or cavalry among them, till a considerable time after their settlement. The officers of war under them consisted of the general of the army, the princes of each tribe, the commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens, and threes; the scribes or muster masters, and lastly, the soterim or inspectors.

Few trades or manufactures were carried on among the Jews before the reign of Solomon,

except such as were absolutely necessary. They built their own houses, and their wives and servants attended to all domestic avocations. The dress of the men consisted of linen drawers and tunics, over which they threw a loose garment of woollen cloth when they went abroad. The fashion of their head-dress is now unknown; neither is it easy to determine what sort of stockings they used; but instead of shoes they wore sandals fastened on the upper part of the foot. The beauty of their apparel consisted either in the fine texture of the cloth or the rich. ness of the dye, such as purple, scarlet, blue, and yellow.

The dress of the women, especially of the higher class, was more curious, as they bestowed more ornament upon it, chiefly of needle-work, which was within their own province. They also wore jewels of gold and silver, which were first brought from Egypt, and afterward augmented by the spoil of their enemies, and their commerce with Tyre. After Solomon's time pride and luxury increased so rapidly that the prophet Isaiah has spent almost a whole chapter in enumerating the costly ornaments, with which the female Israelites used to decorate their persons.

Before the time of David, a wonderful economy seems to have reigned in every family, under the men abroad, and the women at home. But that monarch, having conceived a strong desire to build a sumptuous temple, introduced a number of artificers into his dominions, such as masons, carpenters, founders, goldsmiths, and all manner of workmen in metals, wood, and stone; and these brought in many others, with

F 3.

out

out whom they could not subsist. His cele. brated successor built some stately palaces as well as the temple; and these occasions gave the people such a relish for elegance, that the number of workmen multiplied more and more.

Poetry is said to be the only art in which the Israelites excelled. It had this peculiar advantage, that the authors consecrated it entirely to the honour of God, and adapted it to the service of his temple. The poetical performances of monarchs, prophets, priests, and judges, were all inspired by the most laudable emotions; written with energy, zeal, and accuracy; and rehearsed with unfeigned warmth in the great congregation. The varied feelings of the human heart, with all the passions of love, grief, joy, anger, and unbounded gratitude, were painted in the most lively colours in these pro ductions; and whoever peruses the songs of Moses, the Psalms of David, the book of Job, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, with any degree of attention, must of necessity acknowledge that they abound with sublimity of senti ment, imagery, and expression.

There are, however, few points more warmly contested, or less possible to be satisfactorily decided, than the metre and cadence of the Hebrew poetry. To apologise for the uncertainty of the moderns, respecting these particulars, it is proper to remark that the true pronunciation of the Hebrew language has been lost ever since the captivity; in consequence of which it is now impossible to ascertain either the proper length of syllables, or the harmony of words and verses, in which a great part of poetic beauty consists. Some authors have attempted to give precise

accounts