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
any large conflux of waters The Inner part of the Country is diversifyed with Mountains and Hills advantageous for Vines Fruit-trees and small Cattle And the frequent Valleys gave way to a number of Torrents very necessary to water the Country which had no other River besides Jordan The Rains there fall very seldom but are very Regular coming in the Spring and Autumn which the Scripture calls the Rain of the Morning and the Evening considering the year as a Day In Summer the abundant dews supply the rarity of the Showers There are Plains proper for Husbandry and Pasture and that variety of the Earth in a little space does form Landskips very agreeable to the View especially when a Country is well inhabited and well cultivated For we must not judge of the Holy Land by the State we see it in at this Day Since the time oâ— the Croisadoes it was ravaged by continual Wars untill it fell under the Dominion of the Turks Thus it is almost desert nothing to be seen but baleful Villages ruines unmanur'd and abandon'd Lands The Turks neglect it aâ— they neglect all their Provinces and several families of Arabia Bedovins may encamp and pillagâ— there with impunity Whereforâ— to know what it was formerly 't is necessary to consult ancient Authors as Strabo Pliny Josephus and above all the Holy Scripture See but the relation thâ— Spyes of Moses gave thereof and the prodigious cluster of Grapes which they brought Which thaâ— you may not wonder at compaâ—â— the Grapes of France with those oâ— Italy which is a cold Country iâ— proportion to Palestine 'T is thâ— same thing with most of our European Fruits The greatest part oâ— their Names still shew that they camâ— to us from Asia and Africa but witâ— their names they have not conserved their bigness and natural savour The Israelites gathered a great quantity of Wheat and Barly and the pure Bread-corn is counted for the chief Merchandise which they carried to Tyre Oyl they had and honey in abundance The Mountains of Juda and of Ephraim were places of great Vineyards Round about Jericho there were Palme-trees of vast Revenue through their suddain springing up after they were lopp'd or fell'd and it was the only part of the World where true Balm was to be found This Fruitfulness of the Country and the care which they took to cultivate it may make us conceive how that being so little it could nourish so great a number of men For it will at first require Faith to believe all that the Scripture says in this case When the People entred first into that Country there were above six hundred thousand men bearing arms from twenty years old to Sixty In the War of Gibeah the only Tribe of Benjamin the least of all had an Army of twenty six thousand men And that of the rest of the People mounted to four hundred thousand Saul had two hundred and ten thousand men against the Amalekites when he extirpated them David kept continually on foot twelve Bodies of twenty four thousand apiece who served by months which was in all two hundred and Fourscore thousand men And in the Numbring of the People which brought the anger of God upon him there were found thirteen hundred thousand able men Jehoshaphat went much farther in proportion for albeit he had but little more than the third part of David's Kingdome he had several Bodies of very good Troops which altogether made up Eleven hundred and Sixty thousand men effectively all under his hand without reckoning the Garrisons of his Holds In all this there is nothing incredible We see the like examples in Profane Histories The great Thebes of Egypt furnished Seven hundred thousand brave Soldiers of it 's own Inhabitants alone At Rome in the first year of Servins Tullus being the hundred and eighty eight of it's Foundation there were counted Fourscore thousand Citizens capable of bearing Arms. Yet they could only subsist by the lands in the Vicinage of Rome and whereof the most part is now barren and uninhabited For their Domination extended no farther than eight or ten Leagues Herein the Ancients lay'd the principal foundation of their Policy They relyed much less upon Cunning than upon downright force Instead of applying themselves to maintain correspondence among their Neighbours Instead of fomenting Divisions amongst them and Procuring to ' emselves a Reputation by false reports they endeavoured to people and manure their Country and to improve it as much as they could whether it was little or great They studyed to render Marriages happy and life easy to procure Health and Abundance and to draw from their Land all that it could produce They exercised their Citizens by labour inspired them with a love of their Country of union between themselves and submission to the Laws This is what they called Policy These Maxims perchance some one will say are very pretty But let us come to particulars and shew how 't is possible so small a Country as Palestin should nourish so great a number of men Which to make appear we must have the Patience to calculate and undertake the work by Retail Tho it may seem a low thing and be offensive to nice Readers An Acre of good Land bringsâ—forth un muid de bled mesure dâ— Paris which would easily nourish four men For a man consume but un minot a month giving him two pound and six ounces oâ— Bread every Day This is the but three Septiers a year But aâ— our Israelites were great Eaters will allow them double the nourishment that is to say four pounâ— twelve ounces of Bread a day Thus an Acre will be sufficient 〈◊〉 feed two men and by this accountâ— we shall have land still remaining For a League square makes fiâ— thousand six hundred and twenty five Acres by reckoning 3000 Geometrical Paces in a League five Foot in a Pace twenty Feet in a Rod and a hundred Roods in an Acre The Kingdome of Judea was at least thirty Leagues in length above twenty in breadth counting the length from East to West which was six hundred Leagues and by consequence three Millions three hundred and sixty five thousand Acres which according to my Calculation might nourish twice as many men that is six millions Seven hundred and Fifty thousand But half of the Lands I deduct for those that may prove barren for the Rocks Sands and little Deserts here and there intermingled for Yineyards and Pastures and for the repose which the Land requires at least every Seventh year There remains enough to nourish a number of men equal to the Sum total of the Acres that is to say three millions three hundred threescore five thousand So it was easy to Appoint twelve hundred thousand Sword-men in a Country Country where all people bore arms and still to have Corn to sell to Strangers towards the purchase of Cattle For we may doubt if the
time of their Kiugs there were a midst the Israelites any Artificers by Profession who wrought for the Publick When Solomon undertook the building of the Temple he demanded workmen of the King of Tyre You know said he to him that I have no body amongst my people who knows how to work in wood like the Sydonians and he sent for an excellent founder of Mettals Hiram by name to make the sacred Vessals In the beginning of Sauls Reign 't is shown that there was not any workman who knew how to forge Iron through all the Land of Israel and that they were forced to go down to the Philistins to refit their instruments of Husbandry The truth is this was an effect of the Philistins oppression to hinder them from making of arms But several years after David was constrained in his flight to take Goliah's sword which must have been somewhat heavy for him and that out of the Tabernacle of the Lord where it was hung up as an eternal Monument of his Victory This makes me believe there were no Arms to be bought It is also probable that they sold no Bread since on the same occasion the Priest Abimelech was reduced to give David of the hallowed Bread Which also shews they kept little bread in their Houses peradventure by reason of the violent heat of the Country In like manner the Witch whom Saul addressed himself to made Bread on purpose to give him to eat that she might recover him from his weakness At Rome there were no Bakers till the year five hundred and eighty of it's Foundation Entring into the particulars of Trades we should know that most were of no use at all to them Their plain way of Living and the sweetness of their Climate exempted them from that great train of Conveniences which we believe we cannot well be without and wherewith our womanish vanities rather than any real Hardstraits do trouble and perplex us And as to things in their own nature necessary there were very few but which they knew how to make ' emselves Whatsoever served for nourishment was prepared in their houses The women made and prepared Bread to eat they Spun they made Stuffs and Cloaths The men did the rest Homer describes the good man Eumeus amaking his own shooes and says he had built for his Herds very gallant and magnificent Stables Vlysses himself built his own house and made that bed with great art the structure whereof served to make him known to his Lady When he departed from Calypso's house it was he alone that built and rigged out his own ship By which we may see the wit humou of those ancient times 'T was an honour for every one to know how to do every thing himself that was useful to life and not to depend on another And this is what Homer mostly calls Knowledge and wisdom Now the Authority of Homer seems to me very great in all this He lived in the time of the Prophet Elias towards the coast of Asia minor And what ever he sets down of the Principles and Manners of the Greeks and Trojans has a marvellous coherence with what the Scripture tells us of the Hebrews and other Oriental nations were it not that the Grecians being of a later date were likewise less Polite After Solomon and the division of the Kingdoms when Luxury was patroniz'd and encreased very credible it is that there were then more Artificers And indeed mention is sometimes made of them in those latter times I see in the Genealogy of the Tribe of Judah a place called the Valley of Craftsmen because saies the Scripture Serviah begat Joab the father of the valley of Carasim for they were Crafâ—s-men I see there a Family of workmen of fine linnen and another of Potters who wrought for the King and dwelt in his Garden All this shows the honour that was paid to arts and the care which was taken to preserve the memory of such Persons who applyed themselves that way The Prophet Isaiah in his menaces against Jerusalem foretells that God would take away her Artificers And when that City was taken 't is said several times that the Enemy carryed away all the Craftsmen But for a proof that they had never any great Manufactures is that of the Prophet Ezechiel who describing the affluence of the Merchandises which came to Tyre makes nothing to be brought thither from the Land of Judah and Israel than pure Wheat Oyl Grapes and Balm all Merchandises which the Earth it self produces Such were the Occupations of the Israelites and their Manner of Subsistance Let us now go on to something more particular and describe as far as possible their Habits their Lodgings their Moveables their Food and all their way of Living They rose betimes in the morning as the Scripture shows in an infinite number of Places that is to say as often as mention is made of any important action From whence it proceeds that in it's style To rise betimes signifies to do a thing with care and with affection And thus it says frequently that God rose betimes to send Prophets to his People to exhort them unto Repentance This is a consequence of a Country life and the Greeks and Romans followed the same custome They rose early and Laboured till the Evening About five aclock they bathed went afterwards to Supper and then betimes to bed CAP. IX Their Apparel AS to the Habits of the Israelites we cannot know exactly the form of them They made no figures and we cannot be well instructed of such things but only by the eyes But we may guess at them by the Images we have left us of the Greeks and other Ancients As for the modern Pictures most of them serve only to give us false IIdeas I do not only speak of those Gothick Pictures wherein all persons of what time and Country soever are cloathed like those whom the Painter was used to see that is French and Almains two or three hundred years ago I speak of the works of the greatest Painters except Rafael Poussin with some few others who have studyed Antiquity and the manners of all ages The rest of the Painters understood no other Artifice than just to paint the Levantines such as they saw them at Venice and other Ports of Italy and the Histories of the Jews in the new Testament in the garb of their own Country However as most part of the figures of the holy History are copyed from these kinds of originals they have filled us with impressions from our infancy and we are accustomed to represent the Patriarchs to our selves with Turbants and Beards down to their girdle and the Pharisees in the Gospel with Bonnets and Pouches In all this there 's no great harm to be mistaken but 't is much better not to be deceived The Ancients usually wore long habits as most people in the world do still
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