And Solomon told out threescore and ten thou- | of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of sand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and twenty thousand baths of oil. six hundred to oversee them.

3 And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.

4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual show-bread, and for the burnt-offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

5 And the house which I build is great: for fgreat is our God above all gods.

6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?

7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill Sto grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

8 Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees and "algumtrees, out of Lebanon: (for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon;) and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,

9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be "wonderful great.

10 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures

a 1 Kings 5. 2, c. ⚫or, Hiram, 1 Kings 5. 1. 61 Chr. 14. 1. e Ex. 30. 7. ↑ incense of apices. d Ex 25. 30. Lev. 24. 5-9. e Num. 28. 3, &c. f Ps. 135, 5. 1 Tim. 6. 15. g 1s. 66. 1, 2. hath retained, or, obtained strength. h c. 6. 18. to grave gravings. i 1 Chr. 22. 15. or, almuggim, 1 Kings 10. 11. great (v. 1,) He determined to build, in the first place, a house for the name of the Lord. It is fit that he who is the first, should be first served; first a temple, and then a palace; a house not so much for himself and his own convenience and magnitude, as for the kingdom, for the honour of it among its neighbours, and for the decent reception of the people, whenever they had occasion to apply themselves to their prince; so that in both he aimed at the public good. Those are the wisest men that lay out themselves most for the honour of the name of the Lord, and the welfare of communities; we are not born for ourselves, but for God and our country.

II. His embassy to Huram, king of Tyre, to engage his as sistance in the prosecution of his designs; The purport of his errand to him is much the same here as we had it 1 Kings 5. 2, &c. only here it is more largely set forth.

1. The reasons why he makes this application to Huram, are here more fully represented, for information to Huram, as well as for inducement.

(1.) He pleads his father's interest in Huram, and the kindmess he had received from him; (v. 3,) As thou didst deal with David, so deal with me. As we must show kindness to, so we may expect kindness from, our father's friends; and with them should cultivate a correspondence.

(2.) He represents his design in building the temple: he intended it for a place of religious worship, (v. 4,) that all the offerings which God had appointed for the honour of his name, might be offered up there. The house was built that it might be dedicated to God, and used in his service; this we should aim at in all our business, that our havings and doings may be all to the glory of God. He mentions divers particular services that were there to be performed, for the instruction of Huram. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstition, coveted not concealment.

(3.) He endeavours to possess Huram with very great and high thoughts of the God of Israel, by expressing the mighty veneration he had for his holy name. Great is our God above all gods, above all idols, above all princes. Idols are nothing, princes are little, and both under the control of the God of Israel; and therefore, [1.] "The house must be great; not in proportion to the greatness of that God to whom it is to be dedicated, (for between finite and infinite there can be no proportion,) but in some proportion to the great value and esteem we have for this God." [2.]" Yet, be it never so great, it cannot be a habitation for the great God: let not Huram think that the God of Israel, like the gods of the nations, dwells in temples male with hands, (Acts 17. 24,) no, the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. It is intended only for the convenience of the priests and worshippers, that they may have a fit place wherein to burn sacrifice before him." [3.] He looked upon himself, though a mighty prince, as unworthy the honour of being employed in this great work; Who am I, that I should

|

11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king

over them.

12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven' and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, **endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.

13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,

14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

16 And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as't much as thou shalt need; and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to #Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

17 And "Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.

18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of and wonderful. * 1 Kings 10. 9. Ps. 72. 17. Ps. 33. 6. Jer. 10. 10, 11. Acts 14. 15. Rev. 10. 6. knowing. m 1 Kings 7. 13, 14. t according to all thy need. 1 Japho, Josh. 19. 46. Acts 9. 36. 1 Kfugs 9. 20. 21. c. b. 7, 8. $$ the men, the strangers. o 1 Chr. 22. 2.

build a house? It is part of the wisdom wherein we ought to walk toward them that are without, carefully to guard against all misapprehension, which any thing we say or do, may occasion, concerning God; so Solomon does here in his treaty with Huram.

2. The requests he makes to him, are more particularly set down here. (1.) He desires Huram would furnish him with a good hand to work, (v. 7,) Send me a man. He had cunning men with him in Jerusalem and Judah, whom David provided, 1 Chr. 22. 15. Let them not think but that the Jews had some among them that were artists; but send me a man to direct them. "There are ingenious men in Jerusalem, but not such engravers as are in Tyre; and therefore, since temple work must be the best in its kind, let me have the best workmen that can be got." (2.) With good materials to work on, (v. 8;) cedar, and other timber in abundance, (v. 8, 9 ;) for the house must be wonderful great, that is, very stately and magnificent, no cost must be spared, nor any contrivance wanting in it.

3. Here is Solomon's engagement to maintain the workmen, (v. 10,) to give them so much wheat and barley, so much wine and oil. He did not feed his workmen with bread and water, but with plenty, and every thing of the best. They that employ labourers, ought to take care they be not only well paid, but well provided for with sufficient of that which is wholesome and fit for them. Let the rich masters do for their poor workmen as they would be done by, if the tables were turned. V. 11-18. Here we have,

I. The return which Huram made to Solomon's embassy, in which he shows a great respect for Solomon, and a readiness to serve him. Lesser people may learn of those great ones to be neighbourly and complaisant.

1. He congratulates Israel, on having such a king as Solomon was; (v. 11,) Because the Lord loved his people, he has made thee king. Note, A wise and good government is a great blessing to a people, and may well be accounted a singular token of God's favour. He does not say, Because he loved thee, (though that was true, 2 Sam. 12. 24,) he made thee king, but because he loved his people. Princes must look upon themselves as preferred for the public good, not for their own personal satisfaction, and should rule so as to prove that they were given in love, and not in anger.

2. He blesses God for raising up such a successor to David, ບ. 12. It should seem that Huram was not only very well affected to the Jewish nation, and well pleased with their prosperity, but that he was proselyted to the Jewish religion, and worshipped Jehovah, the God of Israel, (who was not known by that name to the neighbouring nations,) as the God that made heaven and earth, and as the Fountain of power as well as being; for he sets up kings. Now that the people of Israel kept close to the law and worship of God, and so preserved their honour, the neighbouring nations were as willing to be instructed by

them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thou-
sand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thou-
sand and six hundred overseers to set the people a
work.
CHAPTER III.

It was a much larger and more particular account of the building of the temple,

which we had in the book of Kings, than is here in this book of Chronicles. In

this chapter, we have, I. The place and time of building the temple, v. 1.

H. The dimensions, and rich ornaments of it, v. 3-9. III. The cherubims in
the most holy place, v. 10-13. IV. The vail, v. 14. V The two pillars, v.
15-17. Of all which we have already had an account, I Kings 6. 7.

THE
HEN Solomon began to build the house of the
LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah," where
the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the
place that David had prepared in the thrashing-
floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

2 And he began to build in the second day of
the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3 Now these are the things wherein Solomon
was instructed for the building of the house of
God. The length by cubits, after the first measure
was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty
cubits.

4 And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth

a 1 Kings 6. 1, &c. b Gen. 22. 2, 14. ⚫or, which was seen of David his father. e 1 Chr. 21. 18. tor, Araunah, 2 Sam. 24. 18. 1 founded. di Chr. 28. 11. them in the true religion, as they had been, in the days of their apostacy, to be infected with the idolatries and superstitions of their neighbours. This made them high, that they lent to many nations and did not borrow, lent truth to them, and did not borrow error from them; as when they did the contrary, it was their shame.

3. He sent him a very ingenious curious workman, that would not fail to answer his expectations in every thing. One that had both Jewish and Gentile blood meeting in him; for his mother was an Israelite, (Huram thought she was of the tribe of Dan, and therefore says so here, v. 14, but, it seems she was of the tribe of Napthali, 1 Kings 7. 14,) his father was a Tyrian; a good omen of uniting Jew and Gentile in the Gospel temple; as it was afterward when the building of the second temple was greatly furthered by Darius, (Ezra 6.) who is supposed to have been the son of Esther, an Israelite by the mother's side.

4. He engaged for the timber, as much as he would have occasion for, and undertook to deliver it at Joppa; and, withal, signified his dependence upon Solomon for the maintenance of the workmen, as he had promised, v. 15, 16. This agreement we had, I Kings 5. 8, 9.

II. The orders which Solomon gave about the workmen. He would not employ the free-born Israelites in the drudgery work of the temple itself, not so much as to be overseers of it; in this, he employed the strangers who were proselyted to the Jewish religion, who had not lands of inheritance in Canaan, as the Israelites had, and therefore applied themselves to trades, and got their living by their ingenuity and industry: there was, at this time, a vast number of them in the land, (v. 17.) who, if they were of any of the devoted nations, perhaps fell within the case, and therefore fell under the law, of the Gibeonites, to be hewers of wood for the congregation; if not, yet, being, in many cases, well provided for by the law of Moses, and put upon an equal footing with the native Israelites, they were bound in gratitude to do what they could for the service of the temple; yet, no doubt they were well paid, in money, or money's worth; the law was, Thou shalt not oppress a stranger. The distribution of them we have here, (v. 2, and again, v. 18,) in all one hundred and fifty thousand. Canaan was a fruitful land, that found meat for so many mouths more than the numerous natives; and the temple, a vast building, that found work for so many hands. Mr. Fuller suggests that the expedient peculiar to this structure, of framing all beforehand, must needs increase the work; I think it rather left so much the more room for this vast multitude of hands to be employed in it; for in the forest of Lebanon they might all be at work together, without crowding one another, which they could not have been upon mount Zion. And if there had not been such vast numbers employed, so large and curious a fabric, which was begun and ended in seven years, might, for aught I know, have been as long in building as St. Paul's.

NOTES TO CHAPTER III

of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

5 And the greater house he ceiled with fir-tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm-trees and chains.

6 And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.

7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.

8 And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.

9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. 10 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty

e John 10. 23. Acts 3. 11. 5. 12. § covered. f 1 Chr. 29. 2, 8. Is. 54. 11, 12. Rev. 21. 18-21. g Heb. 9. 3-9. or, (as some think) of moveable work.

wise a type of him, built there. (3.) It must be where the Lord appeared to David, and answered him by fire, 1 Chr. 21. 18, 26. There atonement was made once; and therefore, in remembrance of that, there atonement must still be made. There where God has met with me, it is to be hoped that he will still. (4.) It must be in the place which David had prepared, not only which he had purchased with his money, but which he had pitched upon by divine direction. It was Solomon's wisdom not to inquire out a more convenient place, but to acquiesce in the appointment of God, whatever might be objected against it. (5.) It must be in the thrashing-floor of Ornan, which, if (as a Jebusite) it gives encouragement to the Gentiles, yet it obliges us to look upon temple work, as that which requires the labour of the mind, no less than thrashing work does that of the body.

2. The time when it was begun; not till the fourth year of Solomon's reign, v. 2. Not that the three first years were trifled away, or spent in deliberating whether they should build the temple or no; but they were employed in the necessary preparations for it, wherein three years would be soon gone, considering how many hands were to be got together, and set to work. Some conjecture that this was a sabbatical year, or year of release and rest to the land, when the people, being discharged from their husbandry, might more easily lend a hand to the beginning of this work; and then the year it was finished, would fall out to be another sabbatical year, when they would likewise have leisure to attend the solemnity of the dedication of it.

3. The dimensions of it; in which Solomon was instructed, (v. 3,) as he was in other things, by his father. This was the foundation (so it may be read) which Solomon laid for the building of the house. This was the rule he went by, so many cubits the length and breadth, after the first measure, that is, according to the measure first fixed, which there was no reason to make any alteration of, when the work came to be done: for the dimensions were given by divine wisdom; and what God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, or taken from it, Ec. 3. 14. His first measure will be the last. 4. The ornaments of the temple; the timber work was very fine, and yet, within, it was overlaid with pure gold, (v. 4,) with fine gold, (v. 5,) and that embossed with palm-trees and chains. It was of gold of Parvaim, (v. 6,) the best go'd. The beams and posts, the walls and doors, were overlaid with gold, v. 7. The most holy place, which was ten yards square, was all overlaid with fine gold, (v. 8;) even the upper chambers, or rather the upper floor or roof; top, bottom, and sides, were all overlaid with gold. Every nail, or screw, or pin, with which the golden plates were fastened to the walls that were overlaid with them, weighed fifty shekels, or was worth so much; workmanship and all. A great many precious stones were dedicated to God, (1 Chr. 29: 2, 8,) and these were set here and there, where they would show to the best advantage. The finest houses now pretend to no better garnishing than good paint on the roof and walls; but the ornaments of the temple were more substantially rich. It was set with precious stones, because it was a type of the new Jerusalem, which has therefore no temple in it, because it is all temple, the walls, gates, and foundations of which are said to be of precious stones and pearls, Rev. 21. 18, 19, 21.

V. 1-9. Here is, 1. The place where the temple was built. Solomon was neither at liberty to choose, nor at a loss to fix the place. It was before determined, (1 Chr. 22. 1,) which was an ease to his mind. (1.) It must be at Jerusalem; for that was the place where God had chosen to put his name there. The royal city must be the holy city; there must be the testimony of Israel; for there are set the thrones of judgment, Ps. 122. 4, 5. (2.) It must be on mount Moriah; which, some think, was that very place in the land of Moriah, where Abra-wings; those were small ones. Now that the most holy place ham offered Isaac, Gen. 22. 2. So the Targum says expressly, adding, But he was delivered by the word of the Lord, and a ram provided in his place. That was typical of Christ's sacrifice of himself; therefore fitly was the temple, which was likeVOL. I.-124

V. 10-17. Here is an account, 1. Of the two cherubims, which were set up in the holy of holies. There were two already over the ark, which covered the mercy-seat with their was enlarged, though those were continued, (being appurte nances to the ark, which was not to be made new, as all the other utensils of the tabernacle were,) yet those two large ones were added, doubtless, by divine appointment, to fill up the (985)

10 And he set the sea on the right side of the p east end, over against the south.

11 And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. And Huram finished the work

that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;

12 To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters, which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the pillars;

- 13 And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars.

14 He made also bases, and $lavers made he upon the bases;

15 One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

16 The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon, for the house of the LORD, of "bright brass.

CHAPTER V.

The temple being built and furnished for God, we have here, I. Possession given to him by bringing in the dedicated things, v. 1, but especially the ark, the token of his presence. v. 2-10. 11. Possession taken by him, in a cloud, v. 11-14. For if any man open the door of his heart to God, he will come in. Rev, 3. 20.

THUS all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion

3 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king, in the feast which was in the seventh month.

4 And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.

5 And they brought up the ark, and the taber17 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, innacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels the "clay-ground between Succoth and Zeredathah. that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and 18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great the Levites bring up. abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.

19 And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the show-bread was set;

20 Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner, before the oracle, of pure gold;

21 And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect** gold:

22 And the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

§ or,

⚫or, bowls. t finished to make. face of the. 1 Kings 7. 27, 43. caldrons. g1 Kings 7. 14, 45. I made bright, or, scoured. thicknessee of the ground. Ex. 25. 30. i Ex. 27. 20, 21. * Ex. 25. 31, &c. ** perfections of gold.

of that one which was in the tabernacle, v. 7. The written word is a lamp and a light, shining in a dark place. In Moses's time, they had but one candlestick, the Pentateuch; but the additions, which, in process of time, were to be made of other books of scripture, might be signified by this increase of the number of the candlesticks. Light was growing. The candlesticks are the churches, Rev. 1. 20. Moses set up but one, the church of the Jews; but, in the Gospel temple, not only be lievers, but churches, are multiplied.

2. There were ten golden tables, (v. 1;) tables whereon the show-bread was set, v. 19. Perhaps every one of the tables had twelve loaves of show-bread on it. As the house was enlarged, the housekeeping was. In my Father's house there is bread enough for the whole family. To those tables belonged a hundred golden basins, or dishes; for God's table is well furnished. 3. There was a golden altar, (v. 19,) on which they burned incense. It is probable that this was enlarged in proportion to the brazen altar. Christ, who, once for all, made atonement for sin, ever lives, making intercession, in virtue of that atone

ment.

6 Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:

8 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

9 And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle, but they were not seen without. And *there it is unto this day.

tt or, boula. a 1 Kings 7.51. b 1 Chr. 22. 14. e 1 Kings 8. 1, &c. d Num. 10. 33, 36. 2 Sam. 6. 12. f Ps. 2. 6. 87. 2. 132. 13-17. g c. 7:8-10. A Ps. 132 8. i Ex. 37. 7-9. Heb. 9. 4, 5, k Ex. 37. 3-5. or, they are there, a 1 Kings 8. 8.

not add to the holiness; for it was the temple that sanctified the gold, Matt. 23. 17. See how just Solomon was both to God and to his father. Whatever David had dedicated to God, however much he might have liked it himself, he would by no means alienate it, but put it among the treasures of the temple. Those children that would inherit their godly parents' blessing, must religiously pursue their pious intentions, and not defeat them. When Solomon had made all the vessels of the temple in abundance, (ch. 4. 18,) many of the materials were left, which he would not convert to any other use, but laid it up in the treasury for a time of need. Dedicated things must not be alienated. It is sacrilege to do it.

2. But it was fit that the ark should be brought in with great solemnity; and so it was. All the other vessels were made new, and larger, in proportion to the house, than they had been in the tabernacle; but the ark, the mercy-seat and the cherubims, was the same; for the presence and the grace of God are the same in little assemblies that they are in large ones, in the poor condition of the church, that they are in its prosperous estate; wherever two or three are gathered together in Christ's name, there is he as truly present with them, as if there were two or three thousand. The ark was brought in, attended by a very great assembly of the elders of Israel, who came to grace the solemnity; and a very sumptuous appearance, no doubt, they made, v. 2-4. It was carried by the priests, (v. 7,) brought into the most holy place, and put under the wings of the great cherubim which Solomon had set up there, v. 7, 8. There they are unto this day; not the day when this book was written after the captivity, but when that was written, out of which this story was transcribed. Or they were there (so it might better be read) unto this day, the day of Jerusalem's deChrist, and, as such, a token of the presence of God. That gracious promise, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, does, in effect, bring the ark into our religious assemblies, if we by faith and prayer, put that promise in suit; and this we should be most solicitous and earnest for; Lord, if thy presence go not up with us, wherefore should we go up? The temple itself, if Christ leave it, is a desolate place, Matt. 23. 38.

V. 11-22. We have here such a summary, both of the brass work and the gold work of the temple, as we had before, (1 Kings 7. 13, &c.) in which we have nothing more to observe, than, (1.) That Huram the workman was very punctual: he finished all that he was to make, (v. 11,) and left no part of his work undone. Huram his father, he is called, v. 16. Probably, it was a sort of a nickname by which he was commonly known, Father Huram; for the king of Tyre called him Huram Abi, my father; in compliance with whom Solomon called him his; he being a great artist, and father of the artificers in brass and iron. He acquitted himself well, both for ingenuity and industry. (2.) Solomon was very generous. He made all the ves-solations, that fatal day, Ps. 137. 7. The ark was a type of sels in great abundance, (v. 18,) many of a sort, that many hands might be employed, and so the work might go on with expedition; or that some might be laid up for use when others were worn out. Freely he has received, and he will freely give. When he had made vessels enough for the present, he would not convert the remainder of the brass to his own use; it is devoted to God, and it shall be used for him.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V.

V. 1-10. This agrees with what we had, 1 Kings 8, 2, &c. where an account was given of the solemn introducing of the ark into the new erected temple.

1. There needed no great solemnity for the bringing in of the dedicated things, v. 1. They added to the wealth, and perhaps were so disposed as to add to the beauty of it; but they could

3. With the ark they brought up the tabernacle, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, v. 5. They were not alienated, because they had been dedicated to God; not altered or melted down for the new work, because there was no need of them: but they were carefully laid up as monuments of antiquity; and, probably, as many of the vessels as were fit for use, were still used.