similar instances of rejoicing: for when Judith slew Holofernes, she and all the people of Israel praised the Lord for their unexpected deliverance. When Phasaelus, the eldest son of Hyrcanus, the high-priest, had freed his country from a nest of robbers, the Syrians celebrated his praises in their villages and cities. And when Herod the Great accomplished a similar service, he had the same honours paid him by the Jews. But in recounting these public expressions of joy, it would be wrong to overlook the Song of Moses, in Exodus xv. 1-21, which is the most ancient lyric poem in the world. The Israelites had seen the overthrow of the Egyptians, in a miraculous manner, and felt the full impulse of gratitude to the Almighty. The males, therefore, of Israel sang the song which Moses had composed, and his sister Miriam, with all the women, joined in the chorus, with timbrels and dances. These public expressions of gratitude for mercies received were natural and impressive: they indicated religious feeling, were a pleasing tribute of gratitude to the deliverers of their country, and a powerful stimulus to make others excel.

After the return of the Jewish armies to their several homes, the military character was laid aside: the militia, which had been raised for the occasion, was disbanded; their warlike instruments, unless those of them that were private property, were delivered up as the property of the state, till some future war should call them forth :" and themselves returned, like Cincinnatus, to the plough, and the other avocations of private life. It is to this suspending of their arms in some public armory that the prophet alludes, when he says, that "they of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, and of Arvad, were in the

Tyrian army, as men of war, and hung up their shields upon its walls round about:" and to this that the bride

b

groom refers, when he compares the neck of the spouse, ornamented with jewels, to the tower of David for an armory, whereon were hung a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. We hear nothing among the Jews of votive tablets being hung around the tabernacle or walls of the temple, like those which the heathens suspended, as marks of gratitude for signal deliverances, in the temples of their gods; but there is every reason to suppose that, after a victory, pious kings would offer sacrifices, and pious individuals would express their obligations to the Divine Being, for their deliverance, by free-will offerings.

Nothing has hitherto been said of the grief which the nation felt for a fallen chief: but every one will recollect the pathetic lamentation of David for Saul and Jonathan, and for Abner ; and it is probable that, in later times, the mourning which the Jews at Jerusalem made for Josephus, when they thought him dead, after the glorious defence he had made at Jotapata, against the army of Vespasian, was the ordinary way in which they lamented the persons who had distinguished themselves in the service of their country. "In every house, and among all to whom any of the slain were allied, there was a lamentation for them; but the mourning for the commander was a public one. All mourned for Josephus insomuch, that the lamentation did not cease in the city before the thirtieth day; and a great many persons hired mourners, with their pipes, to begin the melancholy songs for them."

noticed before we leave the military affairs of the Jews.The first is the effect of their barbarous method of making war on the male part of the population of Judea: it destroyed the balance between the sexes, and prevented the increase of children, the desire for which was a prominent feature in the female character of that nation. Isaiah notices this, and places it in a very impressive light, in the following passage: "Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground. And in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel (dispensing thus with the ordinary provision given to wives,) only let us be called by thyname, to take away our reproach." The second observation respects the frequent mention of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, as being commonly linked together: for it should be remembered, that whilst the sword destroyed multitudes, it naturally occasioned famine, by the neglect of tillage, the destruction of provisions by the owners in order to prevent them from falling into the enemy's hands, or the destruction of them by the enemy, to force the owners to surrender at discretion : whilst pestilence as naturally followed famine as famine did the sword; for when a scarcity of food was occasioned, all the diseases attendant on the sudden change from plenty to want, were quickly experienced. The only other observation to be made is, the improvement which Christianity has made in the art of war, in those parts of the world where it prevails; by the restraints it hath laid on princes; the sentiments of honour it hath introduced among contending armies; and the generosity it hath inspired towards captives. Let us

Is. iii. 25, 26. iv. 1.

hope for the time, when the peaceful genius of the gos pel shall so far prevail, as to expel the dæmon of war from the earth.

SECT. XIII.

Diseases in Judea.

History of Jewish medicine. Leprosy; its symptoms in Leviticus, by Dr. Cullen, Wallis, and Maundrell: elephantiasis, the disease with which Job is thought to have been afflicted: consumption, and burning ague: fever; the botch of Egypt; emerods; scab; itch; madness and blindness. Bowel complaints; menorrhagia; the plague; Hezekiah's boil; stroke of the sun; lunacy; anointing with oil; James v. 14 explained. A catalogue of diseases given by Josephus, the Talmud, and Buxtorff. Demoniacal possession; reason of its frequency in our Saviour's days; advantage of christianity to surgery and physic.

THE most ancient account of physic is that of Egypt, when the physicians embalmed the patriarch Jacob, at the request of Joseph; and of which embalming we shall give an account, when treating of the manner in which the Jews disposed of their dead. Moses styles these physicians servants to Joseph, whence we are certain that they were not priests, as the first physicians are generally supposed to have been: for in that age the Egyptian priests were in such high favour, that they retained their liberty, when, through a public calamity, all the rest of the people became slaves to the king. It is probable, therefore, that among the Egyptians, religion and medicine were not originally conjoined. That the Jewish physicians were absolutely distinct from their priests is very certain: for, when Asa was diseased in his feet," he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians." Hence it is clear that, among the Jews, the medicinal art was considered as a mere human invention, and it was thought that the Deity never cured diseases, by making people acquainted with the virtues of any par

ticular herb, but only by his miraculous power. That the same opinion prevailed among the heathens who resided near the Jews, is also probable, from what is recorded of Ahaziah king of Judah, who, having sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, concerning his disease, he did not desire any remedy from him or from his priests, but only to know whether he should recover. It is therefore probable, that religion and medicine came to be conjoined only in consequence of that degeneracy into ignorance and superstition which took place among all nations. We have very few intimations of the state of physic in the Scriptures, but it may be proper to collect what we have, and to compare them with the additional light which travellers and others have thrown on the subject.

The first disease mentioned in Scripture is the Leprosy (Lepra,) whose symptoms are thus described in the 13th and 14th chapters of Leviticus: 1st, It sometimes appeared on the arms, body, or feet, as a rising or pimple, a scab, or a bright spot, which in sight appeared deeper than the skin, the hair whereof turned white; and as the disease increased, quick raw flesh appeared in the rising, and when the person became completely leprous, the skin became white and dry. 2dly, A leprosy in the head or beard was distinguished by being in sight deeper than the skin, and the hair of the place became thin and yellow. 3dly, A leprosy in the bald part of the head appeared by a rising sore of a reddish white colour. When garments of linen, wool, or skin, were infected with it, the part appeared of a greenish or reddish colour; according, perhaps, to the colour or nature of the ingredients used in preparing them: for acids convert blue vegetable colours into red, and alkalies change

Perth. Encycl. art. Medicine.