Respect From thence comes the infinite Multiplication of Little Families and of People who live alone or in Places where all are equally Masters Those young independent People if they be poor become Vagabonds and unaccomptable persons capable of all manner of Crimes if they be rich they plunge themselves into riotous vices and are ruin'd Besides the corruption of Manners this Independence may also cause great Mischiefs in the State It being much more difficult to govern such a multitude of Seperate and unruly men than a small number of Heads of Families each of whom did answer for a great Number of men and was usually an old man instructed in the Laws CAP. XXIII The Authority of the Old men NOt only the Fathers but all the old men had a great Authority among the Israelites and among all the People of Antiquity In every Country of the World they chose at first Judges for private Affairs and Councellours for the Publick from among the most aged men Hence came the names of Senate and Fathers at Rome and that great Respect for Elders which they had taken from the Lacedemonians Nothing is more conformable to nature Youth is only proper for Motion and Action Old age knows how to instruct counsel and command It rarely happens that in a Young man Study or force of Mind supplies Experience and an old man provided he has good natural Sense is knowing only by his Experience All Histories do bear that the best governed States have been those where old men have had the Principal Authority and that the Reigns of Princes too young have been the most unfortunate It is what the Wiseman say's Wo unto thee O Land when thy King is a Child and it is this Misfortune which God threatens the Jews withal when he lets 'em know by Isaiah that he will give them Children to be their Princes And indeed Youth has neither patience nor foresight 'T is an enemy to Rule and seeks only Pleasure and Change As soon as the Israelites began to form themselves into a People they were governed by Old men When Moses came into Egypt to promise them Liberty on God's behalf he assembled the Elders and in their presence did Miracles which were the proofs of his Mission All the Elders of Israel came to the Feast which he made for Jethro his Father in Law When God was pleased to appoint him a Council for the easing him in the management of that great People Choose out said he to him Seaventy men whom thou knowest to be the Elders of the People and Officers over them So that already they were in Authority before the Law was given or the State had received it's form In all the sequel of Scripture every time that mention is made of Assemblies and of Publick affairs the Elders are placed in the first rank and sometimes they only are named From whence the expression comes in the Psalm which exhorts to Praise God in the congregation of the People and in the Seats of the Elders that is in the Publick Council These two parts composed all the ancient Republicks The Assembly which the Greeks Styl'd Ecclesia and the Latins Conscio and the Senate The name of Elders did afterwards pass into Titles of dignity From the Greek word comes the name of Priest and from the Latin one by Contraction the name of Sir We may judge of the Age whereat the Hebrews thought fit to reckon a man in the number of those that were Aged by that passage in Scripture where those are termed Young men whose Councils Rehoboam followed For it is said they were brought up with him and we may conclude thence that they were about his age and he was then Fourty years old CAP. XXIV Administration of Justice JUstice was administred by two sorts of Officers Shophetim and Shoterim established in each City by the order which Moses had given at God's command 'T is certain the word Shophetim signifies Judges But Shoterim is variously translated in the Vulgar yet the Tradition of the Jews explains it of Ministers of Justice Door-keepers Serjeants Attendants to Courts and the like Those Offices were given to Levites of whom 6000 were that way employed in the time of David These Judges were the same whom Jehoshaphat reestablished in each City and to whom he gave such excellent Instructions The Scripture adds that at Jerusalem he established a company of Levites Priests and Heads of Families for the judging great Causes It is that Council of Seventy Elders erected in the days of Moses wherein the high-Priest presided and to which all questions were brought that were too difficult to be decided by the Judges of Lesser Cities The Tradition of the Jews is that these Judges of particular Cities were to the number of twenty three that they were all to be assembled in Capital Causes and that three were sufficient for Matters Pecuniary and for other Affairs of less Consequence The chief Judge was the King according to those words of the People to Samuel Give Give us a King to Judge us The place where those Judges kept their Court was the Gate of the City For as the Israelites were all Husbandmen who went out in the Morning to go to their Work the City-gate was the place where they most commonly met And we ought not to wonder that they Workt in the Fields and dwelt in Cities They were not such Cities as the Metropolises of our Countries that can hardly subsist upon what twenty or thirty Miles round about do furnish them withal They were Habitations for as many Labourers as were necessary to cultivate the Lands that lay nearest them from whence it came that the Country being well peopled those towns were very numerous The Tribe of Judah alone counted 115 for it's share when it entred into possession besides what was afterwards built and each one had Villages in it's dependence So that they must needs have been small and near one another like great Villages walled and well built having also what ever is to be had in the Country since in Jerusalem it self there were Barnes where Corn was thrashed as that of Ornan the Jebusite which David bought for the building of the Temple In like manner among the Greeks and Romans the Rendevous for all affairs was the Market-place by reason they were all Merchants In the time of the Ancient Francks the Vassals of each Lord assembled in the Court of his Castle and hence are derived the Courts of Princes In the Levant as the Princes live more Retired Affairs are dispatch'd at the Gate of their Seraglio And that Custome of making a Court at the Palace-gate was in use in the days of the Ancient Kings of Persia as we may see more than once in the Book of Esther The City-gate was the Place where all Publick and Private Business was canvass'd in the
upon their Thighs They likewise made use of Slings witness the Inhabitants of Gibeah in Benjamin who could even hit an Hair and those same Gibeonites would have equally fought with both Hands Saul held usually a Javelin in his hand as Homer makes his Heroes do and as the Romans dealt with Quirinus and the other Gods Besides they did not wear Arms but upon occasion no not so much as a Sword When Da-vid commanded his men to March against Nabal he bid them first to take their Swords tho they were in a State of continual Alarums The custome of wearing always a Sword by one's side was peculiar to the Gauls and Germans As for Defensive Arms they wore the Shield Buckler Headpiece and Cuirasses We view the Example of a compleat armour in that of Goliah But those Arms it seems were rare among the Israelites at that time in regard King Saul would have lent his to David They afterwards became very common and Vzziah had sufficient wherewith to arm all his forces that were above three hundred thousand men The same King set Engines on the Towers and Bulwarks of Jerusalem to shoot Arrows and great Stones withal and several Cities were fortifyed by him as well as most of the other Kings Thus War was made then much after the same manner as it was made until the latter times ere Fire-arms were found out The Israelites had none but Infantry as mostly the Inhabitants of hot Country have where they always March on dry foot Horses are of no use there particularly in Mountainous Countries They are rather necessary in cold ones to pass through bad ways and to make great Marches in barren and almost desolated Lands as in Poland and Tâ—rtary 'T is manifest the Israelites had no horses in David's time since Absolom having lost the battle wherein he perished mounted on a Mule to make his escape And indeed the Country did not produce them But Solomon who could furnish himself at great expence had 'em from Egypt and kept above fourty thousand with twelve thousand Chariots Those Chariots of War apparently resembled those of the Grecians that is they were small with two Wheels carrying a man or two standing or leaning forwards The subsequent Kings could not keep up to that high expence of Solomon but from time to time sent for Succours from Egypt And upon those occasions mention is evermore made of Horses The Scripture teaches us nothing particular touching the Evolutions and the form of Batalions and the general order of Battles But for the Art of encamping and Marching in due order the Journey through the Desert under the Conduct of Moses is a most glorious Example By exact rules they knew the number of that prodigious Army Each one was ranged in his Tribe in it's Quarter under one of the four Principals according to the Brithright of the Patriarchs and the Quality of their Mothers They Marched at the sound of Trumpets always following the same order and they had their Standerds in the same Situation round the Tabernacle of the Congregation which was the Center of the camp They provided for the neatness of their Tents which was so necessary in so hot a Country and so difficult in so great a Multitude In fine we see that the order of the Greeks and Romans Encampings was taken as well as all the rest from these ancient Models of the Orientals The Hebrews set a great value upon Spoils and Booty with the other Ancients they being marks of Honour From the time of Joshua unto the Kings the command of the Armies belonged to those whom the People elected or whom God raised up in an extraordinary way as Othoniel Barak Gideon But they were only obeyed by that part of the People who had chosen them or to whom God had given 'em for Deliverance The rest of the People abusing their Liberty were frequently expos'd to the Insults of their Enemies This made them desire a King not only to administer Justice but also to have the general conduct of their Armies and to wage War for them And truly from that time they were in greater security The King assembled the People when he judg'd fit and kept always on foot a certain number of troops 'T is set down in the beginning of Sauls reign he kept three thousand men David had twelve bodies consisting of four and twenty thousand who by months served all in their turns Jehosophat had but the third part of Davids kingdom and yet he had eleven hundred and sixty thousand mighty men of valour under his hand without reckoning his Garrisons CAP. XXVI Of Kings and their Power THe King had power of Life and Death and might put Criminals to Death without the formality of Justice David made use of that Right against the Person who had killed Saul and against them who had assassinated Ishbosbeth The Roman Emperours had also that power The power of the Israelitish Kings was in other cases very much limited They were oblig'd to observe the Law as much as Private Persons they could neither derogate from nor add to it And there is no example specifyed of any one of them that made a new Law Their Domestick life was very plain as we see in the Description that Samuel makes in the Manners of Kings lest they should disgust the People He allows them only Women to serve them and when Ishbosheth was Murdered there was none but a Maid to guard his Gate who was fallen asleep as she was winnowing Corn. Those Kings lived on Husbandry as well as private Persons All the difference is they had more Lands and more Herds In the account of David's Riches there are indeed reckoned Treasures of Gold and Silver but there are likewise reckon'd Tilled Lands and Vine-yards Magazines of Wine and Oyl Plats of Olive and Fig-trees Herds Oxen Camels Asses and Sheep 'T is in this way that Homer Characterizes the Wealth of Vlysses He gives on the Continent twelve great Droves of each kind of Cattle besides what he had in his Islands From this great Husbandry they had all that was necessary for House-keeping In the days of Solomon twelve Intendants were distributed into all the Coasts of Israel who sent by turns each during his Month Provision for thâ— Kings House-hold amounting 〈◊〉 one day to thirty three Measure of â—ine Flower thirty Beefs and an hundred sheep which is sufficient to feed at least five thousand men As this Maintenance was made in the kinds which the same Country afforded nothing needed to be bought and there was no occasion either for Purveyours or Treasurers or Comptrollers and that vast number of Officers which consume great Lord-ships Insomuch as Gold and Silver were kept in reserve or served to their most natural use either for Plate or Ornament From hence came the great Riches of David and Solomon
reception of his Father's Blessing With all these Riches very Laborious they were in their Husbandry They lodged always in the Field in Tents changing their abode according to the conveniency of their Pasturage And by consequence were frequently employed in Camping and decamping for they could make but small Days Journies with so great and combersome a Train Not but that they might have built houses as well as the other Inhabitants of the same Country but they preferred that manner of Life Which is undoubtedly the most Ancient since it is more easie to set up Tents than to build houses And has ever past for the most perfect as fixing men least to the Earth It does likewise better shew the state of the Patriarchs who only Inhabited that land as Travellers in expectation of God's Promises which were not to be fulfilled till after their Deaths The first Cities whereof mention is made were built by the most profligately wicked Cain and Nimrod They were the first who shut themselves up in walls and used fortifications to avoid the punishment of their crimes and to commit new ones with Impunity But the good and honest people lived openly and without any Fear The principal occupation of the Patriarchs was the care of their Herds and Flocks which is apparent through all their History and by the express Declaration the Children of Israel made thereof to the King of Egypt How innocent soever Agriculture may be the Pastoral life is the most perfect the first was the share of Cain and the other of Abel It has something more plain and more noble 'T is less painful tyes men less to the Earth and yet is the most profitable Old Cato plac'd the Breeding of Cattle before tilling of the ground which yet he preferred before the other ways of growing rich The just reproaches which Jacob makes to Laban shew that the Patriarchs took that Employment upon 'em and manag'd it with the greatest and most serious Industry and that they spared their pains on no occasions Thus was I in the day the draught consumed me and the Frost by Night and my sleep departed from mine eyes Thus have I been twenty years in thy house c. We may judge of the pains the men took by what the Women did Rebecca went a great way to fetch water and carryed it upon her Shoulders And Rachel her self kept her Fathers flock neither their Beauty nor their Nobility rendering them the more nice and delicate The Grecians whose politeness wâ— with so much reason Esteem diâ— for a long while retain that ancient Simplicity Whereof Homer furnishes us with examples on all occasions And upon this foundation it is that all Pastoral Poems are grounded And verily in Syria Greece and Sicily there was above Fifteen hundred years after the Patriarchs People of good quality who made it their business to breed Cattle and who in the greatest leisure of that kind of life and the fine humour which those Countries inspire made Songs mighty natural and pleasant CAP. III. Their Frugality AS for their food and the other necessaries of Life the Patriarchs were not at all nice The pottage which Jacob had prepared and which was so tempting to Esau may make us judge of their ordinary Diet But we have an Example of a magnificent Repast in that which Abraham made to the three Angels He set before them a Calf new cakes but baked upon the Hearth together with butter and milk They had it seems some kind of Ragousts by that which Rebecca made to Isaac but his great age may excuse that Delicacy This same toothsome and Savoury meat was composed of two Kidds and Abraham set before the Angels a whole Calf with a loaf of three measures of Meal which is more than two Bushels and near Fifty six pound in weight From whence we may conclude they were great eaters and indeed they used much exercise and were perhaps much taller and bigger than we are as well as longer lived The Greeks were of opinion that the men of the Heroical times were much greater and Homer makes 'em great Eaters When Eumaeus receives Vlysses he prepares a great Hog of five years old for five persons The Heroes of Homer serve themselves on the ordinary occasions of Life and we see the same done by the Patriarchs Abraham who had so many Menial Servants and who was near an hundred years old did himself fetch water to wash the feet of his Divine Guests goes and hastens his wife to make them Bread ran himself to fetch meat for 'em and return'd to serve them Standing I grant he might on such an occasion be animated through his zeal to exercise hospitality but all the rest of their lives were answerable to this Their Servants served to help 'em not to dispense them from Labour And truely what could oblige Jacob going into Mesopotamia to take a journey of above an hundred and Fifty Leagues alone on foot with a Staff in his hand were it not his Laudable Simplicity and love to Labour which made him likewise take a Lodging on the ground where the Night surprized him and put a stone under his head to supply the place of a Pillow Thus tho he had a tender love for Joseph yet he sent this favorite of his at the age of sixteen all alone from Hebron to seek out his Brethren in Sichem which was a long days journey and the young Stripling having not found 'em there continues his Journey a day longer as far as into Dothan I no less admire their moderation in regard of women when I consider their Liberty of having several and their desire of a numerous posterity Abraham to whom God had promised that he should be father of an innumerable progeny tho he had a barren wife yet entertained no thoughts of taking another and was resolutely bent to have left his Estate to the Principal of his Domesticks Only from the hand of his wife it was that he took a Second and that at the age of fourscore and six years We must not say he was still young in proportion to his life which was of an hundred and Seventy five years foâ— that thirteen years afterwards he and Sarah who was ten years younger are named Old and when God promised them a Son She laughed as at an Incredible Wonder How old soever Abraham was and how desirous soever he might be to seâ— the Children of Isaac yet he did not Marry him till he was forty years old And tho Rebecca was twenty years barren and then brought forth two Children at a Birth which were All She ever had yet Isaac never had any other wife True that Jacob had at the same time two Wives and two concubines but 't is fit we should see how He remained Seventy Seven years with his Father waiting for that blessing which was due to him by the Promise of God and by the
nourishment that Country produced did sufficiently furnish 'em with wool and eatables of Flesh Yet otherwise the Tributary Strangers brought them many Cattle Jehoshaphat beside the Tribute of Moneys which he exacted from the Philistins received from the Arabians seven thousand five hundred Rams and as many Goats and there are other examples of the like Tributes Add to this that the Israelites lived plainly and that all the good land they had was carefully cultivated since there were few woods they had neither Parks for hunting nor avenues nor bowling-greens and grass-plats We see by the Canticles of Solomon their Gardens were full of Fruit-trees and aromatick plants And they must needs be in less pain to provide Lodging than nourishment for as much as not only half an Acre of Land but a Quarter is more than sufficient to lodge at large not only a man but a whole Family CAP. VII The Estates of the Israelites THus each Israelite had his field to cultivate being the same that had been allotted to his Ancestors in the time of Josuah They could neither change Place nor ruine themselves nor grow too rich The Law of the Jubile had provided against such like encounters revoking every fifty years all such alienations and annulling all obligations By these means Disquiet and Ambition were retrenched Every individual person applyed himself with affection to the improvement of his Inheritance knowing it would never go out of his Family This Application was likewise a Religious Duty founded upon the Law of God And from hence came the generous Resistance of Naboth when King Ahab would have perswaded him to have sold the Inheritance of his Fathers Moreover the Law says that they were but the Vsufructuaries of their Lands God being the true Proprietor For this reason they were charged with no other payment than the tenths and first fruits Thus all the Israelites were almost equal in their estates as well as in Nobility And if the multiplying of a Family obliged 'em to share the Lands into more portions the Cattle might supply the want of Lands Thus Cattle and other moveables were that which mainly occasioned the inequality of estates That was all the substance of the Levites seeing they had no Lands and had preserved the Pastoral life so much esteemed of by the Patriarchs They bred the same kinds of animals and ever more Females than Males Other wise it would have redounded to their damage the Law prohibiting to cut them They had no horses neither are they of great use in mountainous places Their Kings were supplyed from Egypt when they had occasion for ' em Asses were most commonly used as they are still through all the Levant But they are there much finer and stronger than in our cold Countries To give a great Idea of Jair one of the Judges who ruled the People the Scripture says that he had thirty Sons mounted on thirty asses and they were Heads of thirty Cities 'T is said of Abdon another of the Judges that he had forty Sons and thirty Grand-sons mounted upon sixty and ten Asses It does not appear that they had any great number of Slaves Nor indeed had they any great occasion for them being themselves so laborious and so numerous in so small a Country They chose rather to set their Children to work whom they were obliged to maintain and they were the better served by them The Romans at length found themselves highly incommoded by that infinite multitude of Slaves of all Nations whom Luxury and effeminacy had brought amongst them And it was one of the pirncipal causes of that Empires ruine Ready money could not be very common among the Israelites it was of no great use in a Country where immoveable Goods could not be Alienated nor debts contracted but only for a time commonly very short and never longer than fifty years and where there was little Traffick Usury was forbidden amongst the Israelites but permitted with Strangers But according to the Law 't was not easy to have commerce with those without and there tarryed none in the Country but who were Proselytes that is to say Circumcised and incorporated with the People of God Thus their estates as I have said consisted chieâ—ly in Lands and in Cattle CAP. VIII Of the Arts and Trades of the Israelites I Know no people who addicted themselves more entirely to Agriculture than the Israelites The Egyptians and Syrians joyned Manufacture thereunto as also Navigation and commerce Especially the Phenicians who finding themselves too closely coopt up on the coasts since that the Israelites had drove them from the Inlands were forc'd to live by their industry and to be as the carryers and Factors of all other nations The Greeks imitated them and particularly excelled in Arts and Sciences On the contrary the Romans had these in no great value but addicted themselves very much to commerce As for the Israelites their Land was sufficient to nourish them and the sea-coasts were for the most part possessed by the Philistins and Canaanites who are the Phenicians There was only the Tribe of Zebulon whose share being upon the Sea invited 'em to traffick which methinks is shown in the blessings of Jacob and Moses Neither do I see that they applyed themselves to Manufacture Not but that those Arts were invented the greatest part of 'em being more ancient than the Deluge and it appearing also that the Israelites did not want excellent work men even in the time of Moses Besaleel and Oholiab who made the Tabernacle and all that was necessary for the service of God are an Illustrious example hereof 'T is astonishing how many very different and most difficult arts they understood They knew how to cast and work up mettals they knew how to cut and engrave precious Stones They were Joyners Embroyderers Tapestry-makers and Perfumers Among those Arts two there are which I principally admire The cutting of Stones and the casting of Figures such as were the CheCherubins of the Ark and the Golden Calf which was made much about the same time Those who have but the least knowledge in Arts know how much Artifice and how many Machines are required for works of that nature If from that time they were found out they had already very much refined them and such arts too as only serve for ornament and if they had some secret to do things more easily and with less clutter it was undoubtedly a great perfection Let this be said by the by for to show that Antiquity at so monstrous a distance was not gross and ignorant as some fondly imagine And truly the World was now above two thousand five hundred years old in the time of Moses But whether those two famous Workmen had been instructed by the Egyptians or their knowledge was miraculous and inspired by God as the Scripture seems to intimate it does not appear that they had Successours nor that even in the
Temple within the Veil but only to offer Incense and Loaves and to kindle the Lamps But none save the High-Priest entred into the most Holy Place and that too but once a year We are offended at the Bloudy Sacrifices which made the Temple a Slaugher-house and Kitchin But the same thing was done by all Nations Besides the proper functions of the Priests were only to sprinkle the Blood kindle the Fire and put those portions upon it which were to be offered up It was the parties that kill'd the Sacrifices who prepared them cut 'em to pieces and caused them to be broil'd Which we see in the Law and in the History of the Sons of Heli. However the Priests did the same functions at the publick Sacrifices that were offer'd for all the People Hence come those Figures which might seem to us low and mean in Jeremy and Ezechiel to whom God represents Jerusalem by the Image of a Pot. Those two Prophets were Priests and accustomed to see the Sanctify'd Meats made ready Now whatsoever served to the worship of God and the execution of his Law they esteemed great and noble And besides it was ordinary for the best sort of people to work with their own hands and for themselves to do as I have said the things necessary for life So in Homer the great King Agamemnon kill'd the Lambs himself the blood of which were the seal of the Treaty he made with the Trojans So King Nestor Sacrificing to Minerva his Sons killed the Victime cut it to pieces and broyl'd them Homer is full of the like examples Moreover all that is prescrib'd in the Law touching the quality and form of Sacrifices did tend more to hinder Superstition and reduce the Israelites to so small a number of Ceremonies than to introduce new ones The Idolaters Sacrific'd many more sorts of Living Creatures and in many more places since they had Temples and Altars every where and each Family had it's Domestick Gods and particular Superstitions Thus God a long while before-hand prepared his People to abolish those bloody Sacrifices often telling them at the same time by his Prophets that they were not necessary nor essential to Religion and that the worship most pleasing to him lay in praises and the conversion of the Hearts It was necessary that the Priests should be marryed if it were only upon this account since the Priest-hood was established in the Family of Aaron But they were parted from their Wives during the time of their Service We do not see that any function of civil life was interdicted them and they bore arms as well as others They performed the very Office of Trumpeters both in the Army and every where else For they made use of Silver Trumpets to give notice of the Feasts and to call the People to publick prayers And the name of Jubily comes from a Rams-horn which was sounded to make known the opening of that Feast The Ancient Monks of Egypt kept up this Custome of Sounding the Trumpet to shew the hours of Prayer For the use of Bells is of a later Date The Feasts of the Israelites were the Sabbath of each week the first day of each month call'd with us the Calends or Nehomenis because they reckoned their moneths at least in the later times from the day the Moon began to appear They had likewise three Solemn days the Passeover Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles established in memory of three great blessings which they had received from God their going forth out of Egypt the Publication of the Law and their establishment in the Land of promise The Sacrifices were multiplyed on Feast-days But they offered every day two Lambs for an Holocaust both Morning and Evening And this is what they called the perpeâ—ual Sacrifice Their year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each much like to ours It was thus regulated ever since Noah as appears by the dates of the Deluge but 't is credible that it then began at the Autumnal Equinox Moses was commanded to begin it in the Spring in the Month Abib which was that of the Passeover And with reference it is to that Month that the others are computed which are only named by their number They correspond much with our Roman Months the names whereof come from the Ancient year which began in the Month of March Thus the eight Month is October at least in part the ninth is November and so of others CAP. XIX Fast Vow THe Fasts of the Israelites were attended with all I have set down when I spoke of their Mourning for Fasting and Mourning were the same thing So that it did not consist in only eating later but in afflicting themselves all manner of ways The wholeday they spent without drinking or eating until night And this is not only still practis'd by the Jews but both they and the primitive CHRISTIANS have been imitated herein by the Mahometans They remain'd silent in Sack-cloath and asâ—es and did all the rest of what I have said about Mourning By sound of Trumpet the Publick Fasts as well as Feasts were proclaim'd All the People assembled in the Temple of Jerusalem at other Cities in the Publick place Lectures of the Law were held there and the most venerable Elders exhorted the People to confess their Sins and repent On those days were kept no Weddings and even Husbands abstained from their Wives The Law had commanded but one day alone for Fasting the Tenth of the seventh Month which was the Feast of Expiation But in and from the time of the Prophet Zechariah they reckon'd two others one in the fifth Month and the other in the Tenth They had several extraordinary ones some in the publick calamities as was the Famine Joel speaks of others in particular afflictions as the Fasts of David for the sickness of the Child that issue of his crime and for the Death of Abner and on many other occasions which he mentions in the Psalms In short there were Fasts that were kept out of meer Devotion for the performing of some Vow They were very Religious in observing their Vows and their Oaths As for their Vows the example of Jephta is but too strong and for their Oaths Joshua kept the promise he had made to the Gibconites tho it was founded upon a manifest deceit because he had Sworn to 'em in the name of the Lord. Saul would have put his Son Jonathan to death for having violated the prohibition he had made with an Oath tho Jonathan only sin'd out of Ignorance We find among them several other the like examples Very seriously they made those Solemn Promises and gave themselves no Liberty to interpret them To swear by the name of God was an act of Religion since that Oath distinguished the Israelites from those who swore by the name of false Gods
during all the time we speak of CAP. XXI Idolatry THis Crooked inclination to Idolatry appears to us very strange and very absurd in the Manners of the Israelites and it is that which does most of all perswade us they were a gross and brutish People We scarcely see now any Idolaters We only hear say that there remain some in the Indies and other far distant Countries But all the People who surround us Jews Mahometans Hereticks and Papists profess the Unity of an Almighty God The meanest sort of Women the most ignorant and heavy Louts know distinctly this truth so that we conclude those who believed several Gods and worshipped Stocks and Stones ought to be placed in the lowest form of the most ignorant dunsical and barbarous men Nevertheless Barbarous we cannot term the Romans Greeks Egyptians Syrians and the other people of Antiquity all whose Arts Sciences and Politeness are derived down to us and for which we are much beholden to them And we cannot deny but that Idolatry domineer'd among them with an absolute Empire at a time when as to other things they were most ingenious and polite Wherefore we must pawse a little here and dive into the Source and Fond of this Evil. The Wit of man is so much darkned since the Fall that he remains in the state of corrupted nature He does not apply himself to any Spiritual Idea He only thinks of Body and Matter and reckons all that does not fall under his senses for nothing Nought appears solid to him but what strikes his grossest Senses the Tast and Feeling We see it but too plainly in Children and men who follow their Passions They have no value but for what is Visible and Sensible All other things seem to 'em meer Castles in the Air. And yet these men are brought up in the true Religion in the knowledge of one God of the Souls Immortality and of a Future life What then could those Ancient Gentiles think who had never heard a Syllable of these things and to whom their great Sages only presented sensible and material Objects Read Homer as long as you please that great Divine and great Prophet of the Grecians and you will not find the least tittle therein to conjecture that he thought of any thing Spiritual or Incorporeal And truly all their Wisdom applyed it self to what concerns the body and the senses The Gymnastick exercises of the body which they made so much their business did only aim at preserving and augmenting Health Strength Dexterity and Beauty and they brought that Art to the highest pitch of Accomplishment Sculpture Painting and Architecture regard the pleasure of the Eye and such great Masters were they in those Arts that their Houses their Cities and all their Countries were full of agreeable Objects as we may see by the Descriptions of Pausanias They also excelled in Musick and tho Poetry seems to reach further than the Sences it is stinted to the Imagination which has the same Objects and produces the same Effects Their most Ancient Laws and their Rules of Morality do all likewise refer to bodily things that each particular Person should have wherewith to live handsomely that men should marry sound and fruitfull Women that the Children should be brought up to have stout Bodies and that chiefly for War that every one might be in security in respect of Strangers or Ill-Citizens They thought so little of the Soul and ' its Spiritual Goods that they did it a great deal of harm for the prefectionating of the Body It is evidently against modesty that the Young-men should appear all naked in publick to exercise themselves in the Eyes of all the World This was reputed nothing and the Women too in Lacedemon exercised themselves in that manner Very dangerous also it was to expose Statues and Pictures every where of all kind of Nudities even the most infamous and the danger was very great especially for Painters and Carvers who work to the Life However they were oblig'd to content the pleasure of the Sight Thus we know to what point of Dissoluteness and Lubricity the Greeks attained by those means Among them the most abominable Wantonness was not only in use but in Honour Musick and Poetry besides their fomenting of those Vices did likewise excite and maintain Jealousies and mortal hatred among the Poets the Actors and the Spectators And particular persons were often branded Lampoon'd and exposed by Forgeries and cruel Raileries But they were not much netled or scandaliz'd provided they had fine Songs and agreeable Sights It was the same as to their Religion It only consisted in sensible Ceremonies and was injurious instead of being advantageous to good manners And the source of all these mischiefs was that man had forgot himself and his immaterial substance There was kept up among all people a constant Tradition that there was a more excellent Being than man capable of doing him good or evil Knowing nothing but Body they would needs have that Being h. e. the Deity to be also Corporeal and by consequence that there were several Gods to the intent there might be some of them in each part of nature that each Nation each Town each Family might have their peculiar Deities They imagin'd them like immortal men and to make 'em happy they attributed to them all the pleasures without which they fancy'd no happiness and that even to the most shameful Debaucheries Which afterwards served to authorize their Passions by the example of their Gods It was not enough to imagine them either in Heaven or upon Earth they would see and touch them Wherefore they honour'd their Idols as the Gods themselves being perswaded they were thereto fixed and therein incorporated And they reverenc'd those Statues so much the more as they were more sine or more Ancient or had some other Singularity which made them the more Recommendable Their Worship was conformable to their Belief It wholly turned upon two Passions the Love of Pleasure and the fear of sensible Ill. Their Sacrifices were evermore followed by Feasts and accompanied with Musick and Dances Comedy and Tragedy began at their Rejoycings in the time of Vintage sacred to the honouâ— of Bacchus The Olympick Games and those other so much celebrated Combates were made in honour of the Gods in short all the Shews of Greece were Acts of Religion and according to them it was an high piece of Devotion to assist at the most Lewd Plays of Aristophanes And indeed their greatest business in time of Peace was to take care of sacred Combates and Stage-plays and frequently in time of War they applyed themselves more and were in greater expence for those things than for the War it self Thus their Religion was not a Doctrine of Morality as the true Religion was In case some Justice was observed Oaths Hospitality and Asyles were not violated In case men acquitted themselves faithfully of their vows and they were at expence for Sights and Sacrifices
time of the Patriarchs Abraham made the acquisition of his Sepulchre in the Presence of all those who enâ—tred into the Gate of the City of Hebron When Hamor and his Son Sichem who had carried away Dina proposed to make an Allyance with the Israelites it was at the City-gate they spoke thereof to the People The form of those Publick Acts we see well particulariz'd in the History of Ruth Boaz being desirous to Marry her caused her to be yeilded up to him by the Person who had a right to do so as her nearest Relation For that purpose he sat down at the Gate of Bethlehem and seeing that Kinsman pass by he stayed him Then he took ten of the Elders of the City and after they were all seated he expressed his Pretension and obtained of her Kinsman the Declaration he demanded in the form set down by the Law To which he took not only the Elders but all the People to witness which shows a great number of Spectatours were assembled 'T is also highly probable that Curiosity stopt all passengers They had seldome very pressing business they all knew one another and were all akin and they must needs have had an Interest in one anothers concerns Perhaps those Acts were reduced into Writing Scripture makes no mention of their being so but in Jeremiah a little before the Destruction of Jerusalem In Tobit we read of a promise for money lent of a Contract of Marriage and of a Donation in favour of the Match In Jeremiah 't is a Contract of Purchase Moses his Law only orders Writing in an act of Divorce But tho they should not have written imâ— the Primitive times their Contracts notwithstanding would have been very sure and steddy being made in so Publick a manner If the Relative of Boaz should have Gainsay'd the Concession which he had made all the Inhabitants of Bethlehem would have convicted him of Deceit Some had been there present and others had learnt it immediately The Romans were a long while writing the proceedings betwixt particular Persons as appears by the obligatorie force of Words which they called Stipulation They did not fear that an Act should want proof when they had uttered certain solemn Words in the Market-place in the midst of all the People and they had call'd some Citizens to witness in particular who were of an Honest i.e. honourable Condition and of an untainted Reputation Those Acts were also as publick as those which pass at present in private Houses before a Notary who often knows not the Persons or before a Justice of Peace with a couple of Knights o' the Post for Evidences We may say that among the Hebrews the Gate was the same thing with the Exchange or the Forum amongst the Romans The Market for Commodities was held at the City-Gate Which we see by the Prophecy of Elisha who soretold that on the Morrow Victuals should be at a low rate at the Gate of Samaria That Gate had a place which must have been spacious since King Ahaeh assembled there four hundred false Prophets I believe it was the same with orher Cities and those Gates had some building where were seats for the Judges and Elders For it is said that Boaz went up to the Gate and sat down there and when David had learnt the Death of Absolom he went up to the Chamber over the Gate to weep That Chamber might be the place of Privy Council and secret Deliberations After all these examples we need not wonder that the Scripture Idiome has the Gate so often for the Judgement-seat or the Publick Council of each City or for the City or State it self and that in the Gospel the Gates of Hell signifie the Kingdome or Power of the Devil As the Law of God regulated both Temporal and Religious Matters there was no distinction of Tribunals The same Judges decided cases of Conscience and determin'd Civil or Criminal Processes So that their Officers were few in comparison of those at this day in France where 't is a shameful thing to be a meer private Person and to have no other employ than of improving one's Estate and governing one's Family Every body would be in a Publick Capacity would have honours prerogatives and priviledges And Offices are considered either as Trades which maintain men or as Titles that distinguish them But if we would only eye what is Essential in 'em that is the Publick Functions real and necessary we should see they might be officiated by a small number of Persons leaving them also time to bestow on their Private Affairs This was the Practice of all People of Antiquity and Principally of the Hebrews among whom I find no other publick Officers than the Elders the Princes of Tribes the Heads of Families and the Judges and those that look't to the execution of Justice For as for the rulers of thousands rulers of hundreds rulers of fifties and rulers of tens whom Moses had establish'd by the Council of Jethro they only were in the Armies after the Journey through the Wilderness CAP. XXV War AFter the Administration of Justice we must speak of War no Israelite was there but bore Arms even to the Priests and Levites The Priest Benajah Son of Jehoiada was one of the most illustrious of David's valiant men Thus they reckoned for men of War all those who were at the age of bearing Arms and that age was fixed from twenty years old and upwards Being like the trained Bands of some Countries ever ready to assemble at the first order The difference is that among us the use of Weapons is forbidden to all such as are consecrated to God and that we have an infinite number of People useless for War Lawyers Physicians Citizens Merchants and Handicraftsmen Whereas they were all Husbandmen and Shepherds accustomed to Fatigue from their youth up It likewise appears they exercised themselves in handling their Arms atleast since the time of Solomon For he made no use of Israelites when he built those prodigious Structures whether for the Defence or the Ornament of his Kingdom He employ'd therein those Canaanites that were left whom he caused to pay him Tribute As for the Israelites they were men of war say's the Scripture Officers and Captains in his Troops So at Rome all the Citizens of such an age were obliged to serve a number of Campaignes when they were commanded Wherefore they did not say to raise Forces but to choose them because there were always many left behind It was no hard matter for the Israelites to procure subsistance for their Armies The Country was so small and the enemy so near that they often return'd to quarter in their own Houses or had but the March of a Day or two Their Arms were much the same with those of the Greeks and Romans Swords Bows and Arrows Darts and Lances Their Swords were of broad and short blades hanging
David prepared what ever was necessary for the Building of the Temple the Charges of which amounted to three thousand Millions of Gold Moreover he lay'd up great Treasures and caused much likewise to be shut up in his Sepulchre Solomon built several Palaces fortifyed diverse Cities and made a great number of Publick Works All his Vessels and the Moveables of his House of Lebanon were of pure Gold not to count his two hundred Targets of Gold six hundred shekels of Gold going to one Target His Revenues were likewise great Commerce and Traffick alone brought him every year six hundred sixty six Talents of Gold which make above Eleven Millions He made all Strangers under his Obedience to pay him Tribute the Hivites the Amorites and the other primitive Inhabitants of the Land of Israel the Idumeans a great part of Arabia and all Syria For his Empire extended from the entrance into Egypt as far as Euphrates And from all those Rich Countries they sent him every year Vessels of Gold and of Silver Stuffs Armes Perfumes Horses and Mules these Reflections may make us Comprehend from whence came the Riches of Cresus in a State much of the same extent with that of Solomon Gold and Silver were not yet so common in the World There was but little of those Metals in Greece none in Italy nor in the rest of Europe except in Spain where there were Mines 'T is fit we should spend a little time in considering this prosperity of Solomon the Survey whereof is extreamly delightful Let us peruse all Histories and we shall not find so perfect an Assembly of all the Blessings that can be enjoy'd on this side the Stars A Young Prince in the Flower of his Age of a God-like presence and most amiable in his Person of mighty Parts very Learned and very Active Master of great Dominions in a profound Peace of so great a Reputation that it caused a Queen to take a long and tedious Journey to come and see him inhabiting the finest Country in the World Magnificently Lodged well served crowned with Riches and Swimming in Pleasures respsing himself nothing as he himself confesses and applying all that great Wit to the contentment of his desires This is he whom we should call an Happy man according to our natural Ideas yet certain it is he was not so since he was not contented 'T is he himself that saies it Then I looked on all the works that my Hands had wrought and on the Labour that I had Laboured to do And behold all was vanity and vexation of Spirit and there was no profit under the Sun In this Prosperity of Solomon and of his People God has at the same time given to Man-kind two Important Instructions First he hath shewn his Veracity in accomplishing his promises so Liberally giving to the Israelites all the Blessings which he had promised to their Fore-fathers in the possession of that Land to the intent no body might thence-forward doubt of his well recompencing those who applyed themselves to him and observed his Commandments Men being entirely muâ—â—led up in the darkness of Sensible things had an hint from this Pledge to believe one day the Invisible favours and rewards of another life But moreover in granting to the Israelites the possession of those sensible goods and in profusely heaping upon them whatever might compose the felicity of this Life God has given to all mankind the means of being disabused and of conceiving much more Elevated hopes For who can pretend to be happy under the Sun if Solomon was not so Who can question but all that passes here is vanity after the Assertion he has made Does not this Example make us sufficiently see that Temporal goods are not only vain but dangerous not only unfit to fill the heart of man but proper to corrupt it What reason have we to flatter our selves that we shall make a better use of them than that People so cherished by God and so well instructed who seem to have more right to those kind of Blessings since they were proposed to 'em for a Reward What a madness would it be in us to believe our selves stronger than the wise Solomon He abandon'd himself so to the Love of Women that he had to the number of a Thousand contrary to the Prohibition of God's Law And the Complaisance he had for 'em carry'd him even to Idolatry His Subjects followed so great an Example and from this time the Manners of the Israelites fell more and more into Corruption The Division of the two Kingdomes of Israel and Judah did still Augment the Mischief The corruption was much greater in Israel where Idolatry reigned the source of all manner of Sins Revolts and Teasons were frequent there In Judah the Scepter departed not from the Family of David There were sundry pious Kings Priests and Levites who retired thither and kept up there the Observation of the Law much purer with the Tradition of the true Religion In those Later times when the Law was contemned Commerce and Intercourse with Strangers became very frequent and chiefly to procure Succours in War which is the foundation of the manifold Reproaches that the Prophets made 'em of the little Confidence they had in God The Strangers they most sought to were the Assyrians and the Egyptians two the most powerful Nations at that time And to please them they imitated their Manners and their Idolatry and the ruine of the Israelites followed the fortune of those Nations when Egypt fell and Assyria got the uppermost PART III. Captivity CAP. I. Of the Jews THis is what seemed to me most Remarkable in the Principles and Manners of the Israelites as long as they lived with full Liberty in their own Country without being mingled among Aliens or being the Subjects of Infidels Let us now take a prospect of their last estate from the Captivity of Babylon until their last Dispersion Tho they were still the same People and had still the same Maxims and Manners at the bottom yet we shall find considerable Differences And First they were only called Jews in those latter times for that indeed none but the Kingdom of Judah did then subsist Samaria was ruin'd and Salmanasser had carryed away the ten Tribes to whom was given the name of Israel above an Age before the Destruction of Jerusalem And altho the Kingdom of Judah did likewise include the entire Tribes of Benjamin and Levi with several particular Families of all the Rest whom Zeal for Religion had brought thither after the Schisme of Jeroboam all were jumblâ—d together and confounded in the name of Judea and the Jews After the death of Josias as that Kingdom did evidently tend to it's ruine a great number of the Jews dispersed â—â—emselves on all side and were harbour'd among the Ammonites the Moabites the Idumeans and other Neighbouring People Of them who stay'd at Jerusalem when it was taken the Chaldeans carryed the most
every one to live by his own Labour without Luxury and Ambition without being liable to be ruined and growing too Rich Counting Justice for the greatest good avoiding all change and novelty In the Persons of Moses David and Solomon we find examples of that Wise-man whom he wished for the Government of a State and the rendring it happy and whom he durst not hope for in the Train of all Ages In divers places he relates certain Traditions without supporting 'em with any proof the Authority of which he Reverences and which manifestly are parts of the true Doctrine touching the Judging of men after their Death and the State of another Life If Plato and the other Grecians had not learnt those great truths immediately from the Jews they had learnt them at least from the other Orientals who being much nearer the source of Mankind and having writings much more Ancient than the Greeks had preserved many Traditions more of the first men tho involved in many Fables CAP. III. The State of the Jews under the Macedonians THe Conquest of Alexander made the Jews much more known to the Greeks whose Subjects they became Josephus brings Proofs thereof from the Testimonies of Clearchus the Disciple of Aristotle and of Hecateus the Abderite They continued to live according to their Laws under the Protection of the Macedonian Princes as they had done under the Persian But as they were betwixt the Kings of Syria and of Egypt sometimes they obey'd the one and sometimes the otherâ— acording as those Kings were strongest They were well or ill used according to the humour or interest of the Kings and the credit of their Enemies Alexander the Great being satisfyed of their Affection and Fidelity gave them Samaria and exempted 'em from Tribute And when he built Alexandria he setled Jews there with the other Citizens insomuch as they went likewise under the name of Macedonians Indeed the first of the Ptolomys having taken Jerusalem by surprize carryed away a great number of the Jews Captive into Egypt and scattered them as far as into the Country of Cyrene But afterwards knowing how Religious and faithful they were to their Oaths he put 'em into his Garrisons and treated them so kindly that he engaged several others to come into his service His Son Philadelphus set all the Jews free who were Slaves in his Dominions and sent great Presents to Jerusalem in favour of the Translation which he caused to be made of their Law They were likewise favoured by several Kings of Syria Seleucus Nicanor gave them the right of Citizens in the Towns he built in the Lesser Asia and the lower Syria even in Antioch his Capital City with priviledges which were perpetuated under the Romans Antiochus the great having received many services from the Jews granted Immunities and a very gracious Charter to the City of Jerusalem And for to secure Lydia and Phrygia which were not firm enough in their Obedience to him there he establisht Colonies of Jews granting 'em places to build in and Lands to Cultivate The first Priviledge which the Jews ever craved on those occasions was the liberty of exercising their Religion and observing their Law But otherwise they could not exempt themselves from being much tainted with the Manners of the Greeks as they had been with those of the Chaldeans and others especially they were obliged to speak the Greek Tongue which then became the Vniversal one through the East and did always obtain as long as the Roman Empire subsisted there From whence it proceeds that several took Grecian names as Aristobulus Philo Andrew Philip or disguised with Greek the Hebrew names as Jason for Jesus Simon for Simeon Hierosolyma for Jerusalem I believe it was about that time that the Jews passed the Seas and setled in Europe For those who could speak Greek and were already accustom'd to live with the Grecians in Asia Syria and Egypt might easily dwell in all the Countries of the Grecian Empire even in Macedonia and Achaia according as they found most Convenience and liberty We see likewise that St. Paul met with a vast number in all the Cities of Grecce when he went to Preach the Gospel there near two hundred and fifty years after the time of Antiochus the Great These Half Grecian Jews were those whom the Orientals called Hellenists And to the Gentiles they applyed the name of Hellenes which properly signifies Grecians So that with St. Paul Greek and Gentile are the same things The Jews could not thus be intermixt with the Greeks but the Grecians being then very curious would pry into their Religion and their Laws and chiefly since the sacred Books were Translated The Sages and the true Philosophers admired them as we may judge by what Strabo has written thereof a longtime after But most of the Greks of that Age were uncapable of relishing the Manners and Maxims of the Jews These were too Grave and serious for them who were effeminated by the Asiatic Luxury and who no longer employed their time but in Gimcracks and trifles The truth is they had a vast Multitude of Philosophers but most of 'em contenâ—ed themselves with barely discouâ—sing of Virtue and heating themselves in Dispute All the Rest of the Grecians were taken up with the curiosity and love of fine Art and they had a peculiar Knacâ— that way Some set themselves to Rhetorick others to Poetry or Musick The Painters Engravers and Architects were thought very considerable and lofty People Others gave themselves wholly over to Gymnasticks for the forming their Bodies lest they should be worsted in wrastling Others pitcht upon Geometry Astronomy and natural Philosophy There were none but Scholars and fine Wits such as were curious and Idle of all sorts The Manners and Principles of the Romans were then much more solid They only applyed themselves to Agriculture to the Study of the Law and to Tacticks and willingly relinquish'd the Gloty of excelling in the Politer Arts and curious Sciences to the Grecians for to Govern Kingdoms and â—ut Chains on the necks of Conâ—â—er'd Nations making that as â—irgil saies their prime business The serious humour of the Jews proceeded much farther since they placed their Principal Study in Morality and in the service of God Whereof we have a rare example in the Book of Ecclesiasticus written at that time Yet it was for this very reason that the Greeks termed them Ignorant seeing they only aimed at the knowledge of their own Law They called them Barbarians a name which they gave to all those that were not Greeks and despis'd them more than other Strangers by reason of their Religion which seemed to them morose and absurd They saw the Jews abstain from Debauchery not out of Oeconomy and Policy but a Principle of Conscience To them this seemed too severe and above all they were offended at the repose of the Sabbath at their feasts and the distinction
of Meats Add to this that the horrour of Idolatry made the Jews reject Sculpture and Painting and kept them from listning to the Fable of the Poets and reading of their Writings What an indignation would it raise in a Grammarion or a Rapsodist to see a Jew trample upon Homer and term him a false Prophet and an Impostourâ— shew the Lewd and absurd things in the Genealogies of the Gods in their Metamorphoses their Amours How could it be endur'd that he should detest the Infamies of the Stage and the Abominations in the Ceremonies of Bacchus and Venus In short that he should maintain that there was no God but his who was the true God and that they were the only People upon Earth who knew the truth as to Religion and the conduct of Manners The Jews were so much the less hearkned to in that they were not skill'd in making excellent Harangues or in forming and Figuring of Arguments and that for a proof of those great truths they only alledged matters of Fact i.e. the mighty Miracles that God had done in the sight of their Forefathers Now the commonalty of the Greeks did not distinguish those Miracles from the Prodigies they also related in their Fables And the Philosophers believed them impossible because they did not argue but from the Rules and methods of nature which they held necessary of an absolute Necessity The Greeks being thus disposed very willingly open'd their Ears to the Calumnies of the Phenicians Egyptians and other Enemies of the Jews And from hence without question came those silly and impertinent Fables which Tacitus so seriously tells us when he would unfold the Origine of the Jews and act the learned Historian and which we likewise see in Justin who had been also doused in the same Spring But beside those lyes which might easily be slighted the Greeks went on to Violence and Persecution Thus Ptolomee Philopater after having lost the battle of Raphia discharged his choler against them and his Son Epiphanes irritated at his having been hindred from entring into the Sanctuary would needs expose them to Elephants Under Seleucus Philopater King of Syria Heliodorus came to pillage the sacred Treasures and was only lett from doing so by a Miracle In a word under Antiochus his Successours began the greatest Persecution they ever suffered which may at least be equall'd with any the Christians afterwards underwent And indeed among the Jews were the first Martyrs that we know of for the cause of God and his holy Law to Wit the three Companions of Daniel who were put into the Furnace and himself when exposed to the Lions had the merit of Martyrdome but God perform'd Miracles in their Preservation Eleazar the Seven Brethren and others whom the History of the Maccabees does mention gave up their Lives for God and for the Law of their Forefathers and 't is the first example that I meet withal in all Story of that kind of Vertue We can see no infidels before that time nor even Philosophers who chose rather to suffer Death by the most cruel Punishments than to violate their Religion and the Laws of their Country True there were Jews who gave way to the Persecution but such as had so intirely renounc'd their Religion and Laws as to make use of Artifices to hide their Circumcision so that they were no longer counted Jews And those who continued faithful were so Zealous for their Law and Liberty that at last they took up Arms to defend it against the Kings of Syria who openly violated all the Priviledges which the Persian Kings had granted them and which had been allowed 'em by Alexander and the other Macedonian Kings CAP. XXX The Reign of the Asmonians THus are we come to the time of the Maccabees when the Jewish nation did recover it self and appear with a new Lustre They were no longer those poor People who only thought of Living in peace under the conduct of their High-Priest and Elders very happy in having the Liberty to cultivate their Lands and serve the God of Heaven after their own Mode A State it was wholly Independent and supported it self by good Troops Strong Places and Allyances not only with the Neighbouring Princes but with far distant States and with Rome it self The Egyptian and Syriaâ— Kings who had treated 'em so illâ—were afterwards constrained to Court their Friendship The Jews made great Conquests John Hyrcan took Sichem and Gerizem and ruin'd the Temple of the Samaritans So absolute was he in all the Land of Israel He extended his Conquests into Syria where he took many Cities after the Death of Antiochus Sidetes and into Idumea which he so entirely subdued as to oblige the Idumeans to Circumcise themselves and to observe the Mosaical Law as being incorporated with the Nation of the Jews His Son Aristobulus added the marks of Royalty to the real Power taking the Diadem and the title of Kings and Alexander Jaddaeus made likewise sundry Conquests But this glory of the Jews was of a short continuance Whereas the weakning of the Kingdoms of Syria and Egypt had made very much for their Elevation the total ruine of those two Kingdomes drew theirs along with it through the immense increase of the Romans power And their Domestick divisions also much contribuâ—â—d thereto by the perpetual Misunderstanding of the two Sons of Aâ—â—xander Jannaeus Hyrcanus and Aristobulus In short they enjoy'd their Liberty but eighty years since Simon had been declared Head of the Nation after having cast off the Yoak of the Grecians untill that Pompey's being called in by Hircanus took Jerusalem entred into the Temple and made the Jews tributary They were afterwards above twenty years in a miserable condition divided by the Parties of the two Brothers and pillaged by the Romans who carryed away above 700 Millions at several times After the defeat of Brutus and Cassius the Parthians taking advantage of the weakness of Mark Anthony who governed the East rendred ' emselves Masters of Syria and Palestine and carryed way Hyrcanus In all that time of the Roman Civil Wars and the Odds which the Parthians got of them Palestine was exposed to great Desolations by the Passages of so many Armies of divers Nations anâ— by the Incursions of the Neighbouring People particularly of thâ— Arabians 'T is true it recruited it self little under Herod He brought thither Peace and Abundance He was Powerful Rich and Magnificent But we cannot say the Jews were a free People in his time He was not free himself but wholly depended on the Roman Emperours He was a Stranger Originally an Idumean He had no Religion and only kept up an outside of it as an Instrument of his Policy He utterly pull'd down the Succession of High-Priests making one Hananeel to come from Babylon a contemptible Wretch tho of the Sacerdotal Race Since which time there were no High-Priests but whom and as long as the