bestowed upon the illustrious conqueror, and upon every man who, acting worthy of the Roman name, had distinguished himself by his valour and his virtue - in allusion to this custom how beautiful and striking are those many passages of Sacred Scripture, which represent Jesus Christ, before angels and the whole assembled world, acknowledging and applauding distinguished piety, and publicly conferring crowns of immortal glory upon persevering and victorious holiness. Be thou faithful unto death: I will give thee a CROWN of life. (Rev. ii. 10.) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the CROWN of life (James i. 12.), which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a CROWN of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Pet. v. 4.) I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a CROWN of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day; and not to ME only, but unto ALL them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. iv. 8.)

IV. But the highest military honour that could be conferred in the Roman state was a triumph, or solemn procession, with which a victorious general and his army advanced through the city to the capitol; and which was the most grand and magnificent spectacle ever beheld in ancient times.

"After a decisive battle gained, and the complete conquest of a kingdom, the most illustrious captives in war, kings, princes, and nobles, with their wives and children, to the perpetual infamy of this people, were, with the last dishonour and ignominy, led in fetters before the general's chariot, through the public streets of Rome : scaffolds being every where erected, the streets and public places crowded, and this barbarous and uncivilised nation all the while in the highest excess of joy, and in the full fruition of a spectacle that was a reproach to humanity. Nor was only the sovereign of large and opulent kingdoms, the magnanimous hero2 who had fought valiantly for his country and her liberties, the weak and tender sex, born to a happier fate, and young children3 insensible of their wretched

Behind the children and their train walked Perseus himself [the captive king of Macedon], and wearing sandals of the fashion of his country. He had the appearance of a man overwhelmed with terror, and whose reason almost staggered under the load of his misfortunes. He was followed by a great number of friends and favourites, whose countenances were oppressed with sorrow; and who, by fixing their weeping eyes continually upon their prince, testified to the spectators that it was his lot which they lamented, and that they were regardless of their own. Plutarchi Vitæ, in Æmil. tom. ii. pp. 186, 187. edit. Briani.

2 Thus, at the conclusion of the second Punic war, the Numidian and Carthaginian captive generals were led in triumph. Appian, tom. i. p. 58. edit. Tollii. Amst. 1670. Several kings, princes, and generals were also led in Pompey's triumph. Appian, tom. i. p. 417.

3 Plutarch, in his account of the triumph of Æmilius at the conquest of Macedon, represents this tragical circumstance in a very affecting manner. The king's children were also led captive, and along with them a train of nurses, and tutors, and governors; all bathed in tears, stretching out their hands to the spectators, and teaching the children to entreat and supplicate their mercy. There were two boys and a girl, whose tender age rendered them insensible to the greatness of their calamity, and this their insensibility was the most affecting circumstance in their unhappy condition. Plutarch, Emil. tom. ii. p. 186. See also Appian, p. 417, edit. Amst. 1670.

condition, led in triumph; but vast numbers of waggons, full of rich furniture, statues, pictures, plate, vases, vests', of which they had stripped palaces and the houses of the great; and carts loaded with the arms they had taken from the enemy, and with the coin of the empires they had conquered, pillaged, and enslaved, preceded the triumphal car. On this most splendid occasion, imperial Rome was a scene of universal festivity: the temples were all thrown open, were adorned with garlands, and filled with clouds of incense and the richest perfumes3: the spectators were clothed in white garments: hecatombs of victims were slain", and the most sumptuous entertainments were given. The illustrious captives, after having been dragged through the city in this procession, and thus publicly exposed, were generally imprisoned, frequently strangled and despatched' in dungeons, or sold for slaves.8 To several of these well known circumstances attending a Roman triumph, the sacred writers evidently allude in the following passages. In the first of which Jesus Christ is represented as a great conqueror, who, after having totally vanquished and subjugated all the empires and kingdoms of false religion, and overturned the mighty establishment of Judaism and Paganism, supported by the great and powerful, celebrates a most magnificent TRIUMPH over them, leads them in procession, openly exposing them to the view of the WHOLE WORLD, as the captives of his omnipotence, and the trophies of his Gospel! Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them!?—The second passage, whose beautiful and striking imagery is taken from a Roman triumph, occurs in 2 Cor. ii. 14-16. Now thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are a savour of death unto death; and to the other, of life unto life. In this passage God Almighty, in very striking senti

• Κρατήρας ἀργύρους, καὶ κέρατα, καὶ φιάλας καὶ κύλικας. Plutarch, ibid. p. 497. Αἰχμαλώτοις ἀνδριάσι καὶ γραφαις καὶ κολοσσοῖς, κ. τ. λ. p. 496. See also Appian, tom. i. p. 58. and p. 417. Tollii.

2 ̓́Ανδρες ἐπεπορεύοντο τρισχίλιοι, νόμισμα φέροντες ἀργύρουν, κ. τ. λ. Εἶτα μετὰ τούτους οἱ Tò vóμiσμа péρovTes. Plutarch, tom. ii. p. 184. Appian, p. 417.

3 Πᾶς δὲ ναὸς ἀνεῶκτο, καὶ στεφάνων καὶ θυμιαμάτων ἦν πλήρης. Plutarch, tom. i. p. 496. Gr. 8vo.

Niveos ad fræna Quirites. Juvenal, Sat. x. ver. 45. Kalapaîs dobĥoi kekooμŋμévoL. Plutarch, p. 496. Steph.

5 Μετὰ τούτους ήγοντο χρυσοκερω τροφίαι βοῦς, ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, μίτραις ησκημένοι καὶ στέμ pao. After these were led one hundred and twenty fat oxen, which had their horns gilded, and which were adorned with ribands and garlands. Plutarch, ii. p. 885.

6

̓Αφικόμενος δὲ ἐς τὸ Καπιτώλιον ὁ Σκιπίων, τὴν μὲν πομπὴν κατέπαυσεν, εἰστια δὲ τοὺς φιλους, ὥσπερ ἔθος ἐστὶν, ἐς τὸ ἱερόν. Appian, tom. i. p. 59. edit. Amst. 1670.

* Παρελθὼν δ ̓ ἐς Καπιτώλιον, οὐδένα τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, ὡς ἕτεροι τῶν θριάμβοις παραγαγόντων [avelλero]. Appian, p. 418. For example, Aristobulus king of the Jews, after having been exposed, and dragged through the city in Pompey's triumph, was immediately, after the procession was concluded, put to death: Tigranes, some time afterwards, 'ApioTÓCOVλOS evoùs åvnpéon, κal Trypávns voтepov. Appian, de Bellis Mithrid. p. 419. Amst. 1670. See also p. 403.

Longe plurimos captivos ex Etruscis ante currum duxit, quibus sub hasta venumdatis. Livy, lib. vi. p. 409. edit. Elz. 1634.

Coloss. ii. 15. Opiaμsevσas avтOús, Leading them in triumph.

ments and language, is represented as leading the apostles in triumph1 through the world, showing them every where as the monuments of his grace and mercy, and by their means diffusing in every place the odour of the knowledge of God-in reference to a triumph, when all the temples were filled with fragrance, and the whole air breathed perfume; and the apostle, continuing the allusion, adds that this odour would prove the means of the salvation of some, and destruction of others—as in a triumph, after the pomp and procession was concluded, some of the captives were put to death, others saved alive."

"2

1 Opiaμbevоvтi nμâs, Causeth us to triumph; rather, Leadeth us about in triumph. 'Elρiaμbevon kaì àvnpèon, He was led in triumph and then put to death. Appian, p. 403. Amst. 1670. "The Greek word, Spiaμsevovτi, which we render causeth us to triumph, properly signifies to triumph over, or to lead in triumph, as our translators themselves have rightly rendered it in another place, Coloss. ii. 15. And so the Apostle's true meaning is plainly this: Now, thanks he to God, who always triumpheth over us in Christ: leading us about in triumph, as it were in solemn procession. This yields a most congruous and beautiful sense of his words. And in order to display the force of his fine sentiment, in its full compass and extent, let it be observed, that when St. Paul represents himself and others, as being led about in triumph, like so many captives by the prevailing power and efficacy of Gospel grace and truth, his words naturally imply and suggest three things worthy of particular notice and attention; namely, a contest, a victory, and an open show of his victory." (Brekell's Discourses, pp. 141, 142.) "While God was leading about such men in triumph, he made them very serviceable and successful in promoting Christian knowledge in every place wherever they came." (Ibid. p. 151.)

2 Harwood's Introduction to the New Testament, vol. ii. pp. 29-34. collated with Brunings's disquisition De Triumpho Romanorum in the Appendix to his Compendium Antiquitatum Græcarum (pp. 415-434.), which seems to have guided Dr. Harwood in his manner of illustrating a Roman triumph. He has, however, greatly improved upon Brunings's Dissertation.

255

PART III.

SACRED ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, AND OF OTHER NATIONS INCIDENTALLY MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES.

CHAPTER I.

OF SACRED PLACES.

THE whole world being the workmanship of God, there is no place in which men may not testify their reverence for His supreme Majesty. From the very beginning of time some place was always appropriated to the solemn duties of religious worship. Adam, even during his continuance in Paradise, had some place where to present himself before the Lord; and, after his expulsion thence, his sons in like manner had whither to bring their oblations and sacrifices. This, probably, was the reason why Cain did not immediately fall upon his brother, when his offering was refused, because perhaps the solemnity and religion of the place, and the sensible appearance of the divine Majesty there, struck him with a reverential awe that might cause him to defer his villanous design till he came into the field where he slew him.

The patriarchs, both before and after the flood, used altars and mountains and groves for the same purpose: thus we read of Noah's building an altar to the Lord, and offering burnt offerings upon it. (Gen. viii. 20.) Abraham, when he was called to the worship of the true God, erected altars wherever he pitched his tent (Gen. xii. 8. and xiii. 4.): he planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord (Gen. xxi. 33.): and it was upon a mountain that God ordered him to offer up his son Isaac. (Gen. xxii. 2.) Jacob in particular called a place by the name of God's House, where he vowed to pay the tithes of all that God should give him. (Gen. xxviii. 22.)

There were several public places appropriated to the religious worship of the Jews, viz. 1. The Tabernacle, which in time gave place to, 2. The Temple, both of which are oftentimes in Scripture called the Sanctuary; between which there was no other difference as to the principal design (though there was in beauty and workmanship) than that the tabernacle was a moveable temple, as the temple was an immoveable tabernacle; on which account the tabernacle is sometimes called the temple (1 Sam. i. 9. and iii. 3.), as the temple is sometimes called the tabernacle. (Jer. x. 20.; Lam. ii. 6.) 3. There were also places of worship called in Scripture High Places, used promiscuously during the times of both the tabernacle and temple

until the captivity; and, lastly, there were Synagogues among the Jews, and other places, used only for prayer, called Proseuche or Oratories, which chiefly obtained after the captivity; of these various structures some account will be found in the following sections.

SECT. I

OF THE TABERNACLE.

I. MENTION is made in the Old Testament of three different tabernacles previously to the erection of Solomon's temple. The first, which Moses erected, is called the Tabernacle of the Congregation (Exod. xxxiii. 7.); here he gave audience, heard causes, and inquired of Jehovah, and here also, at first, perhaps the public offices of religion were solemnised. The second tabernacle was that erected by Moses for Jehovah, and at his express command, partly to be a palace of his presence as the king of Israel (Exod. xl. 34, 35.), and partly to be the medium of the most solemn public worship, which the people were to pay to him. (26-29.) This tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month in the second year after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. The third public tabernacle was that erected by David in his own city, for the reception of the ark, when he received it from the house of Obed-Edom. (2 Sam. vi. 7.; 1 Chron. xvi. 1.) Of the second of these tabernacles we are now to treat, which was called THE TABERNACLE by way of distinction. It was a moveable chapel, so contrived as to be taken to pieces and put together again at pleasure, for the convenience of carrying it from place to place.

II. It has been imagined that this tabernacle, together with all its furniture and appurtenances, was of Egyptian origin: that Moses projected it after the fashion of some such structure which he had observed in Egypt, and which was in use among other nations; or that God directed it to be made with a view of indulging the Israelites in a compliance with their customs and modes of worship, so far as there was nothing in them directly sinful. The heathen nations, it is true, had such tabernacles or portable shrines as are alluded to by the prophet Amos (v. 26.), which might bear a great resemblance to that of the Jews; but it has neither been proved, nor is it probable, that they had them before the Jews, and that the Almighty so far condescended to indulge the Israelites, a wayward people, and prone to idolatry, as to introduce them into his own worship. It is far more likely that the heathens derived their tabernacles from that of the Jews, who had the whole of their religion immediately from God, than that the Jews, or rather that God, should take them from the heathens.1

'The hypothesis above noticed was advanced by Spencer in his learned, but in many respects fanciful, treatise, De Legibus Hebræorum, lib. iii. diss. i. c. 3. and diss. vi. c. 1. His arguments were examined and refuted by Buddeus in his Historia Ecclesiastica Veteris Testamenti, part i. pp. 310. 548.