to which David withdrew to avoid the fury of Saul. (1 Sam xxii. 5.) To these, perhaps, may be added.~ nard (Mark xiv. 3. 5. Sol. Song i. 12.) the carob tree (parv, Luke xv. 6.), the spina Christi or thorn of Christ, the mansrake (a species of melon), (Gen. xxx. 14. Sol. Song vii. 13.), (5.) The THICKETS on the banks of the Jordan, in Zec. the myrtle (Isa. xli. 19. and lv. 13. Zech. i. 8.), and the xi. 3. termed the pride of Jordan, which anciently were the mustard tree (Matt. xiii. 31, 32.), may be distinctly no-coverts of wild beasts, and are to this day composed of oleanticed.4 ders, tamarisks, and other shrubs. Although modern travellers do not mention the existence of any woods or forests, or, indeed, any considerable number of trees, yet it appears that, anciently, the Holy Land was well covered with wood. We read of several FORESTS and WOODS in the Sacred Writings, particularly,― Among the trees, which adorn Palestine, the PALM TREE claims the precedence of notice, on account of its singular utility; it affords a grateful shelter, an agreeable fruit, and a most delicious wine. The finest palm trees grew in the vicinity of Jordan and Engeddi; and they still flourish in the (1.) The FOREST OF CEDARS on Mount Lebanon. See plain of Jericho, which city was anciently termed by way of 1 Kings vii. 2. 2 Kings xix. 23. Hos. xiv. 5, 6. These noble distinction the City of Palm Trees. In 1818, however, its and beautiful trees, which are unrivalled in grandeur and plantation of palm trees were reduced to about one dozen ;7 beauty in the vegetable kingdom, have furnished the inspired and, in 1825, the "City of Palms" could not boast of one of writers with numerous exquisite similitudes. "To break the these beautiful trees around it. The palm trees of Judæa cedars, and shake the enormous mass in which they grow, are celebrated by Strabo, and by Josephus,10 who has partioccur among the figures which David selects to express the cularly noticed the palm trees of Jericho. The palm tree power and majesty of Jehovah (Psal. xxix. 4, 5.), to the full was the common symbol of Palestine, many coins of Vespaunderstanding of which their countless number at one period, sian and other emperors" being extant, in which Judæa is and vast bulk, ought to be kept in view. By the planting of personified by a disconsolate woman sitting under a palm a cedar the prophet (Ezek. xvii. 22. 24.) has described the tree. A vignette of one of these is given in p. 91. supra. kingdom of Christ: the growth and extent of the New Tes- As the momentary prosperity of the wicked is frequently tament church, and the prodigious increase of her converts, compared to the transient verdure of grass; so the durable are also beautifully set forth by the Psalmist under this em- felicity of the righteous is in Psalm xcii. 12. likened to the blem. (Psal. xcii. 12.) Of this particular wood, we find lasting strength and beauty of the palm tree. "But chiefly that Solomon made himself a chariot. (Song iv. 11.)..... is the comparison applicable to that Just One, the King of The prosperity of the righteous is compared to the cedar; and Righteousness and Tree of Life; eminent and upright; ever it is further employed to denounce the judgments of God on verdant and fragrant; under the greatest pressure and weight men of proud and high minds. (Psal. xxix. 4.) The conver- of sufferings, still ascending towards Heaven; affording both sion of the Gentiles also to the worship of the true God is ex-fruit and protection; incorruptible and immortal."2 pressed in terms highly beautiful (Isa. xxix. 17. xxxii. 15.), as also the prosperity of the kingdom of Christ. (Isa. ii. 2.) Those who encompassed the priests at the altar are also compared to them, as also the glory of wisdom. (Ecclus. xxiv. 15.) It may be further added, that cedar trees, uniting so many qualities well adapted for building, afforded ample materials for the structure of the temple, and were sent by king Hiram to Solomon for that purpose. (1 Kings v. 10—15.)" | Every thing about the cedar tree has a strong balsamic odour: this probably is the smell of Lebanon, mentioned in Sol. Song iv. 11. and Hos. iv. 16. (2.) The FOREST OF OAKS on the mountains of Bashan (Zech. xi. 2.): we may judge of the high estimation in which these oaks were held, from an incidental expression of the prophet Ezekiel; who, speaking of the power and wealth of ancient Tyre, says,-Of the oaks of Bashan they have made thine oars. (Ezek. xxvii. 6.) Groves of oaks, it is well known, were the scenes of idolatry in those remote times, on account of the grateful shelter which they afforded to the deluded worshippers. The prophet Ezekiel expressly alludes to this practice. (Ezek. vi. 13.) 73.) The FOREST or WOOD of Ephraim, which the children of Ephraim began to cut down (Josh. xvii. 15.), was still standing in the time of David: here Absalom was suspended from an oak, and was slain. (2 Sam. xviii. 6. 8. 17.) The wood in the vicinity of Bethel mentioned in 2 Kings ii. 24. appears to have been part of the wood of Ephraim. (4.) The spacious FOREST of Hareth in the tribe of Judah, attention of his hearers to some object at hand; and as the fields of the Levant are overrun with the amaryllis lutea, whose golden liliaceous flowers, in autumn, afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature, the expression of Solomon in all his glory not being arrayed like one of these, is peculiarly appropriate. Should this conjecture prove cor. rect, we learn a chronological fact. respecting the season of the year when "The modern Greeks still call this fruit by the same name, xxx, and sell them in the markets. They are given to swine, but not rejected as food even by man." (Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 241.) the Serinon on the Mount was delivered. This shrub is supposed, and not without reason, to be the plant which supplied the crown of thorns, with which mockery decked the Saviour's brow before his crucifixion. For this purpose it must have been very fit; as its thorns, which are an inch in length, are very strong and sharp. It is not unlike a willow in growth and flexibility; and as the leaves greatly re semble those of the ivy, it is not inprobable that the enemies of Christ chose it, on account of its similarity to the plant with which it was usual to crown emperors and generals: so that calumny, insult, and derision might be meditated in the very act of punishment. Hasselquist's Voyages in the Levant, p. 288. Three Weeks in Palestine, p. 83. From the passage above referred to, it should seem that the myrtle tree attained a considerable size. In the Morea, an intelligent traveller (Mr. Emerson) states that he travelled for hours through an uncultivated track, while the groves of myrtle formed an almost continuous arbour overhead, "covered here and there with its delicate white flowers, and exhaling at every motion the most delicious perfume, whilst its dark polished leaves combined coolness with beauty." Letters from the Egean, vol. i. p. 113. For copious accounts of these and other vegetables, as well as of the ani. inal and mineral productions mentioned in the Scriptures (many of which it falls not within the limits of this work to notice), the reader is referred 20 Dr. Harris's Natural History of the Bible. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. ii. p. 105. 3d edition. Besides the palm trees, Jericho was celebrated for its fragrant balsam, mentioned in the Scriptures under the name of the BALM OF GILEAD. (Jer. viii. 22. xlvi. 11. li. 8.) This balsam, which exudes from the opobalsamum or balsam tree, was mentioned by Strabo;13 and two plantations of it existed during the last war of the Jews with the Romans, for which both parties fought desperately, the Jews, that they might destroy them;-the Romans, that they might prevent them from destruction. Since the country has been under the government of the Turks, the balm of Gilead has ceased to be cultivated in Palestine, though it is found in different parts of Arabia and Egypt. At present, it is collected chiefly in Arabia, between Mecca and Medina, and is therefore sometimes called the balm of Mecca. Its odour is exquisitely fragrant and pungent. It is very costly, and is still in the highest esteem among the Turks and other oriental nations, both as a cosmetic and as a medicine for the cure of external wounds. OLIVE TREES are now, as anciently, abundant and fruitful; and the culture of them continues to form a particular object of attention. The expression-Oil out of the flinty rock (Deut. xxxii. 13.) plainly denotes, that it was not in rich land only that this most valuable tree should grow; but that even the tops of the rocks would afford sufficient support for olive trees, from which they should extract abundance of oil. Accordingly we are informed that, although the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem is rugged and uncompromising, yet even there the olive and vine might flourish under proper culture. 14 Various similitudes are derived from the olive tree by the inspired writers; as well as from the vine, which affords a triple produce in each year. POMEGRANATE and APPLE TREES were likewise cultivated to a considerable extent (Num. xiii. 23. Deut. viii. 8. Joel. i. 12.), as also was the almond tree, whose fruit is ripe and fit to gather about the middle of April. The citron tree was in great request for its fragrant and refreshing shade, as well as for its delicious fruit. (Sol. Song ii. 3. where it is mistranslated apple tree.) FIG TREES are very common in Palestine, and flourish in a dry and sandy soil: although in our climate they are little more than shrubs, yet in the East they attain a considerable height, and some of them are capable of affording shelter to a large number of horsemen. The shade of the fig tree is very pleasant; and to sit under it is an emblem of security and peace. (Mic. iv. 4.) Fig trees begin to sprout at the time of the vernal equinox. (Luke xxi. 29, 30. Matt. xxiv. 32.) On the various products of the palm tree, see Kæmpfer's Amœnitates Lib. xvi. vol. ii. p. 1085. Oxon. 1807. folio. 10 De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 6. § 6. lib. iv. c. 8. §3. " Dr. Shaw has enumerated them. Travels, vol. ii. p. 151. 19 Bp. Horne's Commentary on Psal. xcii. 12. (Works, vol. ii. p. 145.) 18 Lib. xvi. vol. ii. p. 1085. 14 Jowett's Researches in Syria, p. 305. Dr. A. Clarke on Deut. xxxii. 13. The fruit makes its appearance before the leaves and flowers, and the foliage expands about the end of March. The fig trees of Palestine are of three kinds :-1. The Untimely fig, which puts forth at the vernal equinox, and before it is ripe is called the green fig, but when it is ripe the untimely fig. (Sol. Song ii. 13. Jer. xxiv. 2. Hos. ix. 3.) It comes to maturity towards the end of June (Matt. xxi. 19. Mark xi. 13.), and in flavour surpasses the other kinds.-2. The Summer or dry fig: it appears about the middle of June, and is ripe in August.-3. The Winter fig, which germinates in August, and does not ripen until about the end of November: it is longer and of a browner colour than the others. All figs, when ripe, but especially the untimely, fall spontaneously. (Nahum iii. 12.) The early figs are eaten, but some are dried in the sun, and preserved in masses, which are called cakes of figs in 1 Sam. xxv. 18. xxx. 12. 1 Chron. xii. 40. It is well known that the fruit of these prolific trees always precedes the leaves: consequently, when Jesus Christ saw one of them in full vigour having leaves (Mark xi. 13.), he might, according to the common course of nature, very justly look for fruit, and haply find some boccores or early figs, if not some winter figs likewise upon it. The parable in Luke xiii. 6-9. is founded on the oriental mode of gardening: and the method of improving the palm (whose bareness may be remedied in the way there mentioned) is transferred to the fig tree. carried to Jerusalem, and, according to Jerome, one of the gates of that city was from this circumstance denominated the Fish-gate. The Dead Sea furnished abundance of salt for curing their fish, for which purpose it was said to be superio to every other kind of salt. 3. Although we have no evidence that the Jews wrought any MINES of iron or copper; yet the researches of modern travellers have ascertained that the mountains of Palestine contain iron, particularly those whose summits and sides are occupied by the industrious Druses. A vein of coal has alsc been discovered: but there is no one to sink a mine. Report says, that there was anciently a copper-mine at Aleppo, which (M. Volney is of opinion) must have long since been abandoned. These facts, however, substantiate the accuracy of Moses in his description of the Promised Land,-as a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou mayest dig copper (Deut. viii. 9.), as the Hebrew ought to be rendered, there being no such thing in nature as a brass mine. III. In perusing the Scripture accounts of this highlyfavoured country it ought to be considered that it was then inhabited by an industrious people, who knew how to improve every inch of their land, and by their good husbandry had made even the most desert and barren places to yield some kind of production; so that the very rocks, which now appear quite naked, then yielded either corn, pulse, or pasture. Every man had his own land to improve; and when, in addition to these facts, it is considered that a warm country will support more people than a cold one, the people in southern that the dominions of David and Solomon comprised a greater extent of territory than many apprehend; we can be at no loss to account for the vast multitude of inhabitants,3 which the Scriptures assert that Palestine anciently supported, espe cially when their statements of its fertility and population are confirmed by the testimonies of profane historians. The SYCAMORE TREE flourished in Palestine as well as in Egypt: its leaves are like those of the mulberry tree; and its sweetish, watery, but somewhat aromatic and not disagreeable fruit, comes to maturity several times in the year, with-climates being satisfied with less food than in northern; and out observing any certain seasons. It resembles that of the fig tree in appearance, but differs from it in having no seeds within. This tree does not grow from the seed, but is propagated by the branch: it produces abundance of fruit, which grows in a peculiar manner,-not on the extremities of the boughs as in other trees, but near the trunk. It is a large tree, attaining a considerable height, which circumstance will account for Zacchæus's climbing up into a sycamore tree in order that he might see Jesus. Its timber appears to have been anciently used in building. (Isa. ix. 10.) It affords a very grateful shade. From its fruit the Arabs extract an oil, which they sell to travellers, who keep it among their other holy things, and pretend that it possesses a singular virtue in curing wounds, for which reason they call it the oil of Zacchæus, attributing its virtue to the stay which Zaccheus made upon the tree! (Luke xix. 4.) The PRICKLY PEAR, which most probably is the thorns mentioned in Hos. ii. 6., is a cumbrous shrub, which grows to a prodigious size, and affords one of the firmest and most secure fences imaginable.' lee, of Peræa and Samaria, he speaks of their fertility and produce in the following terms: Thus, Tacitus describes the climate as dry and sultry; the natives as strong and patient of labour; the soil as fruitful, exuberant in its produce, like that of Italy, and yielding the palm and balm tree. Libanus or Lebanon is stated to be the loftiest mountain in the country, and to rise to a great height, affording a grateful shade under its verdant groves, and even in the ardent heat of that sultry region as being covered at the top with perpetual snow. Justin confirms the account of Tacitus, respecting the exuberant produce of Palestine, its beautiful climate, its palm and fragrant balsam trees. The palms of Judæa are celebrated by the elder Pliny ;" and Ammianus Marcellinus commends the beauty of the country, and its large and handsome cities. But the most memorable testimony is that of Josephus the Jewish historian, which 2. But the Holy Land was eminently distinguished for its appears in various parts of his writings. Not to multiply abundance of CATTLE, to the management and rearing of unnecessary examples, we may state briefly, that after describwhich the inhabitants chiefly applied themselves.2 The hillying the boundaries of the regions of Upper and Lower Galicountry not only afforded them variety and plenty of pasture, but also of water, which, descending thence, carried fertility into the low lands and valleys. The most celebrated pasture The two Galilees have always been able to make a strong grounds were on each side of the river Jordan, besides those resistance on all occasions of war: for the Galileans are of Sharon, the plains of Lydda, Jamnia, and some others of inured to war from their infancy, and have always been very less note. The breed of cattle reared in Bashan, and on the numerous. Their soil is universally rich, and fruitful, and mountains of Gilead and Carmel, were remarkable for their full of plantations of all sorts of trees; so that its fertility insize, their strength, and fatness, to which there are frequent vites the most slothful to take pains in its cultivation. Ac allusions in the Scriptures. The cattle of the Israelites com- cordingly the whole of it is cultivated by its inhabitants, and prised every sort of animal that afforded either food or cloth- no part of it lies idle. Although the greater part of Peræa, ing, or was applicable to other useful purposes, as sheep, he continues, is desert and rough, and much less disposed for oxen, goats, camels, and asses. The last-mentioned animals the production of the milder sorts of fruits, yet in other parts were of a more handsome form than are seen in our colder it has a moist soil, and produces all kinds of fruits. Its plains climate; hence they were chiefly used in travelling in this hilly country, even by persons of rank. Horses do not appear to have been in use, until after the establishment of the monarchy. The various rivers, especially the Jordan, the Lake of Tiberias, and the Mediterranean Sea, afforded great variety and plenty of FISH, vast quantities of which were Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. i. p. 177. 3d edition. For a particular account of the vegetable productions of the Holy Land, the reader is referred to the Hiero-Botanicon of Celsius (Upsala, 1745-1747, in two parts or vols. 8vo.); and for its zoology to the Hierozoicon of Bochart (folio, Lug. Bat. 1714, or in three vols. 4to. Lipsiæ, 1793, and following years.) The reader who may not be able to consult these elaborate works, will find much useful information concerning the plants and animals of the Holy Land, in Professor Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture, part ii. vol. i pp. 297-567. vol. ii. pp. 1-359.; and particularly in Dr. Harris's Natural History of the Bible, already referred to. 2 "The whole of the scenery (says Dr. Richardson), since we entered Palestine, amply confirms the language of Scripture, that this is a land flow. ing with milk and honey,-a land for flocks, and herds, and bees, and fitted for the residence of men, whose trade, like the patriarchs of old, was in cattle." Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. vol. ii. p. 374. are planted with trees of all sorts; the olive tree, the vine, and the palm trees are principally cultivated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents, that issue from the mountains, and with springs which never fail to run, even when the torrents fail them, as they do in the dog-days. Samaria is entirely of the same nature with Judæa. Both countries are composed of hills and valleys; they are moist enough for agriculture, and are very fertile. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, both of that which grows wild, and also of that which is the effect of cultivation. They are not naturally watered by many rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain water, of which they have no want. The waters of such rivers as they have, are exceed On the population of the Holy Land, see Michaelis's Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, vol. i. pp. 98-110. • Taciti Historia, lib. v. c. 6. Justin. Hist. Philipp. lib. xxxvi. c. 3. • Hist. Nat. lib. xiii. c 6 ingly sweet; and in consequence of the excellence of their for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. (Psal. cvii. 34.) the cattle reared in these countries yield more milk"But it has been through the instrumentality of this very grass, than do those of other places. wickedness, the increasing wickedness of the inhabitants, that the awful change has been effected. Were good government, good faith, and good manners to flourish in this fand for half a century, it would literally become again a land flowing with milk and honey: the proper fruits of the mountains, honey and wax, would be collected by the industrious bee from myriads of fragrant plants: the plains, the valleys, and the upland slopes, would yield corn for man, and pasturage for innumerable flocks and herds. Such a stupendous and delightful change might well gladden not only every child of Israel, but the heart of every Christian." IV. Yet lovely as Palestine confessedly was, its beauty and the comforts it afforded were not unalloyed: among the CALAMITIES of various kinds, which at different times visited the inhabitants, the pestilence, earthquakes, whirlwinds, the devastations of locusts, famines, and the pestilential Simoom, demand to be distinctly noticed. 1. Palestine is now, as it anciently was, often afflicted with the PLAGUE; which makes its entrance from Egypt and the neighbouring countries. This tremendous scourge is frequently mentioned in the Sacred Writings. From the insidious manner in which it is first introduced into a country, it is, perhaps, termed the pestilence that walketh in darkness. (Psal. xci. 6.) On the division of the land of Canaan, we are informed (Josh. xv. 20-62.) that not fewer than one hundred and twelve walled cities fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah. Many centuries afterwards, Josephus states that the regions of Samaria and Judæa were very full of people, which he notices as the greatest sign of their excellency; that in the two Galilees the villages were extremely numerous and thickly inhabited; and that there also were great numbers of the larger cities, the smallest of which contained a population of fifteen thousand souls.3 From the two small provinces of Upper and Lower Galilee alone, Josephus collected an army of more than one hundred thousand men.4 These statements abundantly confirm the narratives of the sacred historian relative to the fertility and vast population of the Holy Land. Compare Num. xi. 21. Judg. xx. 17. 1 Sam. xv. 4. 1 Chron. xxvii. 4-15. 2 Sam. xxiv. 9. and 2 Chron. xvii. 14-19. Nor are the testimonies less satisfactory, which have been given by Maundrell, Shaw, Hasselquist, and other modern travellers, who have visited this country, and especially by Dr. Clarke," who thus describes its appearance between Napolose or Sichem and Jerusalem:The road," says he, "was mountainous, rocky, and full of loose stones; yet the cultivation was every where marvellous: it afforded one of the most striking pictures of human industry which it is pos- 2. This region, being mountainous and near the sea, is sible to behold. The limestone rocks and valleys of Judæa often shaken by EARTHQUAKES,10 from which, however, Jeruwere entirely covered with plantations of figs, vines, and olive salem seems to have suffered little if at all. (Psal. xlvi. 2— trees; not a single spot seemed to be neglected. The hills, 5.) Sometimes these earthquakes were accompanied by from their bases to their upmost summits, were entirely land-slips, in which pieces of ground, lying on a declivity, covered with gardens: all of these were free from weeds, and are removed from their place. To these (which occasionally in the highest state of agricultural perfection. Even the sides happen in the present day." and which are not uncommon in of the most barren mountains had been rendered fertile by Barbary)12 the Psalmist alludes when he speaks of the mounbeing divided into terraces, like steps rising one above an- tains being carried into the midst of the sea (Psal. xlvi. 2.), other, whereon soil had been accumulated with astonishing of their skipping like rams, and the little hills like young sheep labour. Under a wise and beneficial government, the produce (Ps. cxiv. 4. 6.); and also the prophet Isaiah (xxiv, 20.) of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial when he says that the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkharvest; the salubrity of its air; its limpid springs; its rivers, ard, and shall be removed like a cottage. These terrible conlakes, and matchless plains; its hills and vales: all these, cussions have supplied the sacred prophets and poets with added to the serenity of its climate, prove this land to be in-numerous figures, by which they have represented the condeed a field which the Lord hath blessed (Gen. xxvii. 27.): cussions and subversions of states and empires. See parGod hath given it of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the ticularly Isa. xxix. 6. liv. 10. Jer. iv. 24. Hag. ii. 6, 7. 22. earth, and plenty of corn and wine."7 Matt. xxiv. 7. Such being the state of the Holy Land, at least of that part of it which is properly cultivated, we can readily account for the vast population it anciently supported: and although this country, generally speaking, by no means corresponds with the statements we have of its former exuberant fertility and population, yet this is no contradiction to the narrative of the sacred writers. The devastations of the Holy Land by the Assyrians, Chaldees, Syrians, Romans, Saracens, the European crusaders, and Turks,-together with the oppressions of the inhabitants by the Turks in our own time (who not only do not encourage agricultural industry, but also extort to the uttermost from the husbandmen),8-to which are to be added the depredations of robbers, and the predatory incursions of the Arabs,—all concur satisfactorily to account for the present state of this country; and, so far is it from contradicting the assertions of the Sacred Writings, that it confirms their authority; for, in the event of the Israelites proving unfaithful to their covenant engagements with Jehovah, all these judgments were predicted and denounced against them (Lev. xxvi. 32. Deut. xxix. 22. et seq.); and the exact accomplishment of these prophecies affords a permanent comment on the declaration of the_royal_Psalmist, that a righteous God turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, 1 Josephus de Bell. Jud. lib. iii. c. 3. §§2, 3, 4. Ibid. lib. iii. c. 3. § 4. lbid. lib. ii. c. 20. § 6. Ibid. lib. iii. c. 3. § 2. The most important facts relative to the fertility of Palestine, recorded by Maundrell and Dr. Shaw, are collected by Dr. Macknight in discourses ví. and vii. prefixed to the first volume of his Harmony, and the testimonies of Hasselquist and others are collected by Mr. Harmer. (Observations, vol. . pp. 243-250.) Their accounts are corroborated by Mr. Buckingham, in "In the north of Palestine," says a recent traveller, "there are many beautiful and fertile spots, but not so in Judæa. The breath of Jehovah's wrath seems in a peculiar manner to have blasted and withered the territory of the daughter of Zion. What a change has been wrought in the land, once flowing with milk and honey!"-See the Journal of the Rev. J. Connor (who was in Palestine in the spring of the year 1820), in the Appendix to the Rev. Mr. Jowett's Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, p. 441. (London, 1822. 8vo.) Volney has given some painfully interesting details on the oppression of the agricultural inhabitants of Palestine, by their barbarous masters, the Turks. Travels in Egypt, &c. vol. ii. pp. 341-347 3. TORNADOES or WHIRLWINDS, followed by thunder, lightning, and rains, were also very frequent during the winter and cold seasons. Whirlwinds often preceded rain. In the figurative language of the Scriptures, these are termed the commandment and the word of God (Psal. cxlvii. 15, 18.);13 and, as they are sometimes fatal to travellers who are overwhelmed in the deserts, the rapidity of their advance is elegantly employed by Solomon to show the certainty as well as the suddenness of that destruction which will befall the impenitently wicked. (Prov. i. 27.) They are alluded to by Isaiah, as occurring in the deserts which border on the south of Judæa (Isa. xxi. 1.); and they appear to blow from various points of the compass. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of one that came from the north (Ezek. i. 4.); but more frequently it blows from the south (Job xxxvii. 9.), in which case it is generally attended with the most fatal consequences to the hapless traveller. Mr. Morier, describing the whirlwinds of Persia, says, that they swept along the country in different directions, in a manner truly terrific. "They carried away in their vortex sand, branches, and the stubble of the fields, and really appeared to make a communication between the earth and the clouds. The correctness of the imagery used by the prophet Isaiah, when he alludes to this phenomenon, is very striking. The whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. (Isa. xl. 24.) Chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. (Isa. xvii. 13.) In the Psalms (lxxxiii. 13.) we read, Make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. This is happily illustrated by the rotatory action of the whirlwind, which ⚫ Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, p. 309. 66 10 The coast in general, and indeed the whole of Asia Minor, is still subject to earthquakes. In 1759 there happened one, which caused the greatest ravages, destroying upwards of 20,000 persons in the valley of Balbec. For three months the shocks of it terrified the inhabitants of Lebanon so much, that they abandoned their houses and dwelt under tents. (Volney's Tra vels, vol. i. p. 283.) In the autumn of 1822 another tremendous earthquake, or rather a succession of earthquakes, desclated this region. See a description of one in the same work, vol. i. p. 278. 19 Shaw's Travels in Barbary, &c. vol. i. pp. 277, 278. 13 The Arabs, to this day, call them good news or messengers: and in the Koran they are termed the sent of God, c. 77. p. 477. of Sale's translation, 4to. edit. dreary plain on the coast of the East (or Dead) Sea, and others into the utmost (or Mediterranean) Sea. (Joel ii. 20.) These predatory locusts are larger than those which sometimes visit the southern parts of Europe, being five or six inches long, and as thick as a man's finger. From their heads being shaped like that of a horse, the prophet Joel says, that they have the appearance of horses; and on account of their celerity they are compared to horsemen on full gal lop (ii. 4.), and also to horses prepared for battle. (Rev. ix. 7. The focust has a large open mouth; and in its two jaws it has four incisive teeth, which traverse each other like scis sors, and from their mechanism are calculated to grasp and cut every thing of which they lay hold. These teeth are sc sharp and strong, that the prophet, by a bold figure, terms them the teeth of a great lion. (Joel i. 6.) In order to mark the certainty, variety, and extent of the depredations of the locusts, not fewer than eight or nine different appellations, expressive of their nature, are given to them in the Sacred Writings. frequently impels a bit of stubble over a waste, just like a wheel set in a rapid motion." From these phenomena, the sacred writers have borrowed many very expressive figures and allusions. Compare Psal. xviii. 8-15. xxix. 1-10. v. 8. lxxxiii. 15. Isa. v. 30. viii. 7, 8. xi. 15. xxviii. 2. xxix. 6. Jer. xxiii. 19. Matt. vii. 25. What tornadoes are on land water-spouts are at sea, the vacuum being filled with a column of water, instead of earth, sand, &c.-To this phenomenon the Psalmist refers. (xlii. 7.) 4. Frequently the country was laid waste by vast bodies of migrating LOCUSTS, whose depredations are one of the most terrible scourges with which mankind can be afflicted. By the prophet Joel (ii. 11.) they are termed the army of the Lord, from the military order which they appear to observe: disbanding themselves and encamping in the evening, and in the morning resuming their flight in the direction of the wind, unless they meet with food. (Nah. iii. 17. Prov. xxx. 27.) They fly in countless hosts (Jer. xlvi. 23. Judg. vi. 5.), so as to obscure the sun, and bring a temporary darkness upon the land. (Joel ii. 2. 10. Exod. x. 15.) The noise made by them is compared to the noise of chariots (Joel ii. 5.): and wherever they settle, they darken the land. (Exod. x. 15.) If the weather be cold, they encamp in the hedges, until the sun rises, when they resume their progress (Nah. iii. 17.), climbing or creeping in perfect order. Regardless of every obstacle, they mount the walls of cities and houses, and enter the very apartments. (Joel ii. 7-9.) They devour every green herb, and strip the bark off every tree (Exod. x. 12. 15. Joel i. 4. 7. 10. 12. 16. 18. 20.), so as to render the land, which before was as the garden of Eden, a desolate wilderness, as if it had been laid waste by fire. (Joel ii. 3.) The noise made by them, when committing their ravages, is compared to the crackling noise of fire among the dry stubble, or a mighty host set in battle array. (Ibid. 5.) So fearful are the effects of their devastations, that every one was filled with dismay (Ibid. 6.), and vainly attempted to prevent them from settling on their grounds by making loud shouts (Jer. li. 14.), as the inhabitants of Egypt, and the Nogai Tartars' do to this day. What aggravates this tremendous calamity is, that when one host is departed, it is succeeded by a second, and sometimes even by a third or a fourth, by which every thing that has escaped the ravages of the pre-imagine that fire had followed their progress. Fire itself, ceding is inevitably consumed by the last company. As Arabia is generally considered as the native country of these depredators, they were carried thence into Egypt by an east wind (Exod. x. 13.), and were removed by a westerly wind (19.) which blew from the Mediterranean Sea (that lay to the north-west of that country), and wafted them into the Red Sea, where they perished. On their departure from a country, they leave their fetid excrements behind them, which pollute the air, and myriads of their eggs deposited in the ground, whence issues in the following year a new and more numerous army. They are generally carried off by the wind into the sea, where they perish; and their dead bodies, putrefying on the shore, emit a most offensive, and (it is said) sometimes even fatal smell. The plague of locusts, predicted by Joel, entered Palestine from Hamath, one of the northern boundaries, whence they are called the northern army, and were carried away by the wind, some into the Morier's Second Journey, p. 202. Mr. Bruce, in his Travels to discover the source of the Nile, was surprised by a whirlwind in a plain near that river, which lifted up a camel and threw it to a considerable distance, with such violence as to break several of its ribs ; whirled himself and two of his servants off their feet, and threw them violently to the ground; and partly demolished a hut, the materials of which were dispersed all over the plain, leaving the other half standing. Mr. B. and his attendants were literally plastered with mud; if dust and sand had risen with the whirlwind in the same proportion, instead of mud, they would inevitably have been suffocated (Travels, vol. vi. p. 346.);-a disaster which the late enterprising traveller Mr. Park with difficulty escaped, when crossing the great desert of Sahara in his way to explore the sources of the Niger. Destitute of provisions and water, his throat pained with thirst, and his strength nearly exhausted, he heard a wind sounding from the east, and instinctively opened his parched mouth to receive the drops of rain which he confidently expected, but it was instantly filled with sand drifted from the desert. So immense was the quantity raised into the air and wafted upon the wings of the wind, and so great the velocity with which it flew, that he was compelled to turn his face to the west to prevent suffocation, and continued motion less till it had passed. Park's Travels, p. 178. 2 The Rev. Mr. Hartley, an English clergyman, who visited Thyatira in June, 1826, thus describes the ravages of these destructive insects:-"I am perfectly astonished at their multitudes. They are, indeed, as a strong people, set in battle array: they run like mighty men; they climb the walls tike men of war. I actually saw them run to and fro in the city of Thyatira; they ran upon the wall; they climbed up upon the houses; they entered into the windows like a thief. (Joel ii. 5. 7.9.) This is, however, by no means one of the most formidable armies of locusts which are known in these countries." Missionary Register, July, 1827, p. 328. Light's Travels, p. 56. Belzoni's Narrative, p. 197. Such are the Scripture accounts of this tremendous scourge, which are corroborated by every traveller who has visited the East. The quantity of these insects (to whose devastations Syria, Egypt, and Persia, together with the whole middle part of Asia, are subject) is incredible to any person who has not himself witnessed their astonishing numbers. Their numerous swarms, like a succession of clouds, sometimes extend a mile in length, and half as much in breadth, darken the horizon, and intercept the light of the sun. Should the wind blow briskly, so that the swarms are succeeded by others, they afford a lively idea of that similitude of the Psalmist (cix. 23.) of being tossed up and down as the locusts. Wherever they alight, the land is covered with them for the space of several leagues, and sometimes they form a bed six or seven inches thick. The noise which they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard at a great distance, and resembles that of an army foraging in secret, or the rattling of hail-stones: and, whilst employed in devouring the produce of the land, it has been observed, that they uniformly proceed one way, as regularly as a disciplined army upon its march. The Tartars themselves are a less destructive enemy than these little animals; one would indeed, consumes not so rapidly. Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure of the country disappears as if a covering had been removed; trees and plants, stripped of their leaves and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of winter to succeed, in an instant, to the rich scenery of the spring. They have a government among them, similar to that of the bees and ants; and, when their king or leader rises, the whole body follow him, not one solitary straggler being left behind to witness the devastation. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, to surmount any obstacle, or to traverse more rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured by them. In Persia, as soon as they appear, the gardeners and husbandmen make loud shouts, to prevent them from settling on their grounds. To this custom the prophet Jeremiah, perhaps, alludes, when he says,—Surely 1 will fill thee with MEN as with locusts, and THEY SHALL LIFT UP THEIR VOICE AGAINST THEE. (Jer. li. 14.) Should the inhabitants dig pits and trenches, and fill them with water, or kindle fires of stubble therein, to destroy them, rank presses on rank, fills up the trenches, and extinguishes the fires. Where these swarms are extremely numerous, they climb over every thing in their way, entering the inmost recesses of the houses, adhering to the very clothes of the inhabitants, and infesting their food. Pliny relates that, in some parts of Ethiopia, the inhabitants lived upon nothing but locusts salted, and dried in the smoke; and that the Parthians also accounted them a pleasant article of food. The modern Arabs catch great quantities of locusts, of which they prepare a dish by boiling them with salt, and mixing a little oil, butter, or fat; sometimes they toast them before a fire, or soak them in warm water, and without any other culinary process, devour almost every part except the wings. They are also said to be sometimes pickled in Volney's Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. i. p. 286. Harmer's Observa tions, vol. iii. p. 319. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. pp. 340-343. Morier's Second Journey, p. 100. Sir Wm. Ouseley's Travels in Persia from 1810 to 1812, vol. i. pp. 195-200. (4to. London, 1819.) Mr. Dodwell has given an interest ing account of the ravages of the locusts in Greece; where, however, they are smaller than those of the Levant. See his Classical and Topographical Tour, vol. i. pp. 214, 215. Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. vi. c. 30. and lib. x. c. 28. At Busheher [or Bushire] in Persia, Mr. Price saw "many Arab women Baron De Tott's Memoirs, extracted in Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. employed in filling bags with locusts, to be preserved and eaten like "Journal of the British Embassy to Persia, p. 6. London, 1825. fol. shrimps." p. 319. vinegar. The locusts which formed part of John the Baptist's | breadth, and twelve feet above the surface of the earth. food (Mark i. 6.) were these insects, and not the fruit of the locust tree.1 travellers in the desert, when they perceive its approach. throw themselves on the ground, with their faces close to 5. The devastations caused by the locusts, together with the burning sands, and wrap their heads in their robes, or in the absence of the former and latter rains, were generally a piece of carpet, till the wind has passed over them. The followed by a scarcity of provisions, and not unfrequently by least mischief which it produces is the drying up their skins absolute FAMINE, which also often prevailed in besieged of water, and thus exposing them to perish with thirst in the cities to such a degree, that the starving inhabitants have deserts. When this destructive wind advances, which it been reduced to the necessity of devouring not only unclean does with great rapidity, its approach is indicated by a redanimals, but also human flesh. Compare Deut. xxviii. 22-ness in the air; and, when sufficiently near to admit of being 42. 56, 57. 2 Sam. xxi. 1. 2 Kings vi. 25-28. xxv. 3. Jer. observed, it appears like a haze, in colour resembling the xiv. 15. xix. 9. xlii. 17. Lam. ii. 20. iv. 10. Ezek. v. 10-purple part of the rainbow, but not so compressed or thick. 12. 16. vi. 12. vii. 15. When travellers are exposed to a second or third attack of this terrible blast it produces a desperate kind of indifference for life, and an almost total prostration of strength. Camels and other animals instinctively perceive its approach, and bury their mouths and nostrils in the ground. The effects of this blast on the bodies of those whom it destroys are peculiar. At first view, its victims appear to be asleep: but if an arm or leg be smartly shaken or lifted up, it separates from the body, which soon after becomes black.2 In Persia, in the district of Dashtistan a sam or simoom blew during the summer months, which so totally burnt up all the corn (then near its maturity), that no animal would eat a blade of it, or touch any of its grain. The image of corn blasted before it be grown up, used by the sacred historian in 2 Kings xix. 26., was most probably taken from this or some similar cause. The Psalmist evidently alludes (Psal. ciii 15, 16.) to the desolating influence of the simoom. 6. But the greatest of all the calamities that ever visited this highly favoured country is the pestilential blast, by the Arabs termed the SAM wind, by the Persians, SAMOUN, by the Turks, SIMOOM or SAMIEL, and by the prophet Jeremiah, a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness. (Jer. iv. 11.) It blows in Persia, Arabia, and the deserts of Arabia, during the months of June, July, and August; in Nubia during March and April, and also in September, October, and November. It rarely lasts more than seven or eight minutes, but so poisonous are its effects, that it instantly suffocates those who are unfortunate enough to inhale it, particularly if it overtake them when standing upright. Thevenot mentions such a wind, which in 1658 suffocated twenty thousand men in one night; and another, which in 1655 suffocated four thousand persons. As the principal stream of this pestilential blast always moves in a line, about twenty yards in PART II POLITICAL ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS CHAPTER I. DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT, AND POLITICAL STATE OF THE HEBREWS, OR JEWS, FROM THE PATRIARCHAL TIMES TO THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. 1. Patriarchal Government.—II. Government under Moses—a Theocracy ;—its Nature and Design.-1. Notices of the Heads or Princes of Tribes and Families.-2. Of the Jethronian Prefects or Judges appointed by Moses.-3. Of the Senate or Council of Seventy Assessors.-4. Scribes.—III. Government of the Judges.-IV. Regal Government instituted ;-1. The Functions and Privileges of the Kings;—2. Inauguration of the Kings;-3. Chief Distinctions of Majesty ;-4. Scriptural Allusions to the Courts of Sovereigns and Princes explained.-V. Revenues of the Kings of Israel.-VI. Magistrates under the Monarchy.-VII. Officers of the Palace.-VIII. The royal Harem.-IX. Promulgation of Laws.-X. Schism between the twelve Tribes ;—its latent Causes ;-the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah founded;—their Duration and End. -XI. Reasons why the Kingdom of Judah subsisted longer than that of Israel.-XII. State of the Hebrews during the Babylonish Captivity. 1. Or the forms of government which obtained among mankind from the earliest ages to the time of Moses, we have but little information communicated in the Scriptures. The simplicity of manners which then prevailed would render any complicated form of government unnecessary; and accordingly we find that the PATRIARCHS, that is, the Heads or Founders of Families, exercised the chief power and command over their families, children, and domestics, without being responsible to any superior authority. Such was the government of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So long as they resided in the land of Canaan, they were subject to no foreign power, but tended their flocks and herds wherever they chose to go (Gen. xiii. 6-12.), and vindicated their wrongs by arms whensoever they had sustained any injury. (Gen. xiv.) They treated with the petty kings who reigned in different parts of Palestine as their equals in dignity, and concluded treaties with them in their own right. (Gen. xiv. 13. 18-24. xxi. 22-32. xxvi. 16. 27-33. xxxi. 44-54.) The patriarchal power was a sovereign dominion: so that parents may be considered as the first kings, and children the first subjects. They had the power of disinheriting their children (Gen. xlix. 3, 4. 1 Chron. v. 1.), and also of punishing them with death (Gen. xxxviii. 24.), or of dismissing them from home without assigning any reason. 1 Sir Wm. Ouseley's Travels, vol. i. p. 197 Dodwell's Tour, vol. i. p. 215. Dr. Della Cella's Travels from Barbary to the Western Frontier of Egypt, p. 78. Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, pp. 51-54. (Gen. xxi. 14.) Further, the patriarchs could pronounce a solemn blessing or curse upon their children, which at that time was regarded as a high privilege and of great consequence. Thus Noah cursed his son Canaan (Gen. ix. 25.); Isaac blessed Jacob (Gen. xxvii. 28, 29. 33.); and Jacob blessed his sons. (Gen. xlix.) On the decease of the father, the eldest son, by a natural right of succession, inherited the paternal power and dominion, which in those days was one of the rights of primogeniture. To this right the sacerdotal dignity, in the first ages, seems to have been annexed; so that the heads of families not only possessed a secular power, but also officiated as priests in the families to which they belonged. (Gen. viii. 20. xii. 7, 8. xxxv. 1-3.) Although the sons of Jacob exercised, each, the supreme power in his own family, during their father's life (Gen. xxxviii. 24.), yet the latter appears to have retained some authority over them. (Gen. xlii. 1-4. 37, 38. xliii. 1—13. 1. 15-17.) Afterwards, however, as the posterity of Jacob increased, in Egypt, it became necessary to have magistrates or governors, invested with more extensive authority; these are termed Elders (Exod. iii. 16.), being probably chosen on account of their age and wisdom. The Shoterim or "officers of the children of Israel" (Exod. v. 14, 15. 19.) have been Bruce's Travels, vol. vi. pp. 462, 463. 484. Harmer's Observations, vol. i. pp. 94-96. Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c. vol il p. 230. • Morier's Second Journey, p. 43. |