inquires, as he saw, in vision, one coming toward him in triumph, from the south: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?" An answer returns: "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." The prophet again asks: "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat?" The reply comes: "I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." (Isa. Ixiii. 1-3.) The same figure is employed in the book of Revelation. (Rev. xiv. 18.) The wrath of God is compared also to a cup of strong wine, on account of its overwhelming effects. Such wine was deeply red; and oftentimes, to render it still more powerful, it was mixed with different spices. "In the hand of the Lord," says the Psalmist, "there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them." (Ps. lxxv. 8.)

Grapes were sometimes dried in the sun, and preserved in masses or cakes, like figs. These were the clusters, or bunches of raisins, which Abigail presented to David on one occasion, and Ziba on another. (1 Sam. xxv. 18, 2 Sam. xvi. 1.) The Jews were not allowed to gather the fruit of their vines, or of any other tree, until the fifth year after it began to bear. (Lev. xix. 23-25.)

CARE OF FRUIT TREES.

The Olive also yielded a rich reward to the husbandman's care. The fruit was sometimes beaten off the tree with a long stick or pole, and at other times shaken. It was not allowed to go over the boughs a second time; the few olives that still clung to the tree were to be left for the poor, as were the grapes that were passed over in the vintage. (Deut. xxiv. 20, 21.) The gleaning of olives and grapes is used to represent a sweeping judgment of God, that leaves scarcely any thing behind. (Isa. xvii. 6, xxiv. 13.) Olives were trodden in a press of a particular kind, as well as grapes. The word Gethsemane means an oil-press; no doubt, because such a press, and perhaps more than one, was much used there, for making oil from the fruit that grew so plentifully around, upon the Mount of Olives. The oil was very valuable; answering, in a great degree, among the Jews, the same purposes that butter does with

us, and, at the same time, supplying them with light in their lamps. Sometimes, the fruit was plucked before it was ripe, and instead of being cast into the press, was only beaten and squeezed. The oil obtained in this way was the best, and was called beaten oil; the sacred lamp in the Sanctuary was always fed with such. (Ex. xxvii. 20.) The best kind of oil was also mixed with spices and used for ointment; all the rest was employed, in various ways, for food, or for common lamps. To dip the foot in oil," is an expression that signifies to possess a rich and fruitful inheritance. (Deut. xxxiii. 24.) Oil, as has been already said, was a common emblem for gladness, and grace of every kind.

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Of other fruits, it is not necessary to speak particularly, though several of them were highly valuable. Their character and use have been already briefly noticed, in our account of trees. The Jews were very fond of gardens, and employed, frequently, a great deal of care, to make them not only profitable, but also beautiful and pleasant. In that warm country, it is peculiarly agreeable to have such retreats, provided with every thing that can gratify and refresh. Shadowy walks, overhung with fruits of richest fragrance; delightful arbours, deeply hid within the cool and silent bosom of some grove planted with fair and stately trees; streamlets of water, sent forth from a constant source, and winding their way in every direction over the whole scene of fruitfulness and beauty: these are luxuries so agreeable to eastern taste, that the rich cannot consent to be entirely without them, if they can be secured by any expense of labour or art. It was common, in ancient times, to build sepulchres in gardens, for the burial of the dead. Thus Manasseh, we are told, was buried in the garden of his own house. (2 Kings xxi. 18.) So also in the place where our Saviour was crucified, "there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre," in which his body was laid. (John xix. 41.)

HONEY.

Bees formed another object of care with the Jewish farmers They abounded in their country from the earliest times; so that it was called, by way of description, "a land flowing with milk and honey." These little animals often laid up their stores in hollow trees, or in the clefts of the rocks, (Ps. lxxxi. 16;) but more commonly, we may suppose, in hives, as with us. Honey was very much used at home, but made in such great quantities that it was also carried away to supply other countries, especially in traffic with the Tyrians. (Ezek. xxvii. 17.)

Butter or cream, and honey, were esteemed a great delicacy, and it was a sign of plenty in the land, when this kind of food abounded. Such seems to have been the meaning of that promise to Ahaz, that before the child that was soon to be born should be old enough to know good from evi', the country should be delivered from her enemies, and such prosperity restored, that butter and honey would be his common food. (Isa. vii. 15, 16.) The same taste still continues in eastern countries: cream and honey are accounted, especially among the Arabs, the richest luxury of the breakfast table. There was also a kind of wild honey, not uncommon in that region. It was not made by bees, but collected from other little insects upon the leaves of certain trees, so as to drop down quite plentifully; sometimes all over the ground. Such was the honey which Jonathan tasted in the wood; the honeycomb into which he is said to have dipped his rod, was merely a collection of this wild substance. (1 Sam. xiv. 25-27.) The honey which John the Baptist used for food in the wilderness, might have been, at least in part, of this sort; though it is probable he found there much honey of the common kind, as to this. day very considerable quantities are laid up among the rocks, through that same region of country: this might very properly be called wild honey, as well as the other. (Matt. iii. 4.)

SECTION III.

EMPLOYMENTS OF HANDICRAFT, TRADE, &c.

AGRICULTURE, as has been said, was the main business of the whole Jewish nation. It was rendered, by the very constitution of the state, the necessary occupation of the great mass of the people. Hence, there were not with them, as with us, large classes of men employed altogether in the different. mechanic arts, or in the business of commerce. Tradesmen and merchants, who make up so respectable a portion of the community in our country, were, for a long time, of almost no account in theirs; and, in fact, could not be said to have been known at all, as distinct, regular orders, in the system of society. This state of things underwent a little alteration, after the time of Solomon. Tradesmen grew more numerous, and began to form, in some measure, a separate class of citizens. Commerce also with foreign nations became, in some degree, and especially at two or three different periods, an object of attention. was not, however, until the time of the captivity, that the character of society was very materially changed. After that event, a great number of Jews became merchants, and travelled, for the purposes of traffic, into all countries. It grew colamon, also, to learn particular trades; and hence, we find them frequently mentioned in the New Testament.

It

It may be asked, how the inhabitants of the cities were employed in those times, when we suppose merchants and tradesmen to have been so few in the land. The answer is, that

cities then were generally very small, and pretty much filled with husbandmen. Their small farms lay scattered over the country round, and their chief care was to attend to thier cultivation. (Judg. xix. 15, 16.) Several of them belonged to the Levites, who had their particular employment in another way. Some of the larger ones, only, discovered something of the mercantile character; while a few artists might possibly be found in many, if not all. This, however, was not enough to give any importance to either kind of occupation, as forming a distinct profession in society.

Among the earlier Jews, a great many articles that we are in the habit of getting made for us by different tradesmen, were manufactured in every man's own family, as they were wanted. The women spun and wove, besides doing every sort of needle-work; thus clothing was made for the whole family. And as it was common to wear on the head only a mitre of

cloth, and on the feet only a pair of simple sandals, the whole dress could be very easily provided, without the smallest assistance from abroad. Thus nobody wanted a weaver, a tailor, a hatter, or a shoemaker. A good housewife, with us, will dispense with the services of a baker; but, among them, the very worst could look no further than her kitchen for a miller. The common tools, also, that were wanted in farming, and most of the common articles of furniture in their houses, were so simple, that a man of usual ingenuity would not often think of betaking himself to the skill of another to have them made. Still, there were always some things that needed more than common art; and, accordingly, the country was rever entirely without men who employed themselves in a few of the more difficult trades. There were carpenters, hewers of stone, and various workmen in gold, silver, brass, and iron The building of the tabernacle in the wilderness, needed som such artists of considerable skill. At that time, however, there was probably a greater proportion of them among the people than afterwards; as, no doubt, the service of many had been employed in this way in Egypt; which country had already made very great progress in the knowledge of various After their settlement in Canaan, there was comparatively little demand for superior skill. The artists, accordingly, seem to have held no very high character for ability in their several trades. Many of them, probably, only turned their attention occasionally to such business, while a great part of their time was spent in other pursuits. Hence, when the temple was to be built, it was thought necessary to procure masons and carpenters from Hiram, king of Tyre. (1 Chron. xiv. 1.)

arts.

During the captivity, many of the Jews found themselves, in a great measure shut out from their old manner of life, and so were compelled to apply themselves to arts and merchandise. And as, ever after, their condition was less settled than before, and very many of them were continually scattered among different nations, it became more and more fashionable to learn trades, as the best means of supporting themselves in all circumstances; so that, at last, it came to be a doctrine of their wise men, that all parents were bound to teach their children some kind of handicraft, whether they expected them ever to use it or not. Accordingly, we find in the New Testament, that Joseph was a carpenter, and that our Saviour worked at the same trade. So Paul, also, was by trade a tent-maker, though his birth and education were such that he did not probably suppose, when he learned the business, that he