not only the Gentiles and the Notorious Sinners but all those that exercised odious Professions In short all their Devotion was only Pride and Interest They seduced Ignorant People by their fine Discourses and bigotted Women who threw away their Estates to enrich them and under the Pretence they were the People of God and the Depositors of his Law they despised the Greeks and Romans and all the Nations of the Earth In the Jewish Books we see still those Traditions of the Pharisees whereof they made then so horrible a Mystery and which were written about an Hundred years after the Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST 'T is impossible for those that have been brought up in other Maxims to imagine the frivolous and impertinent Questions wherewith those Books are stuffed viz. Whether it be permitted on the Sabbath day to mount on an Ass to carry him to Water or whether you must hold him by the Neck whether one might walk the same day Lands newly sowed since he runs a hazard of carrying away some Grains with his feet and consequently of sowing them Concerning the Purification of old Leven before the Passeover whether it be necessary to renew the purifying of an House when you have seen a Mouse pass in it with a Crum of Bread whether it be Lawful to keep pasted Paper or a Plaister wherein there is any Flower whether after the old Leaven is burnt it be permitted to eat what has been baked with the coals which remains thereof And a million of other cases of Conscience of the like force which the Talmud is full of with it's Commentaries Thus the Jews forgot the noble Grandeur of the Law of God to apply themselves to low and pitiful things And they were found very gross and very ignorant in Comparison of the Greeks who in their Schools treated of more useful and more elevated Questions or in Physicks or Morality and who had at least a sweet Politeness if they had not Vertue Not but that there were alway some Jews more curious than others to speak Greek well who read the Books of the Grecians and imbibed their Learning in Grammer Rhetorick and Philosophy Such was Aristobulus a Peripatetick Philosopher and Preceptor of Ptolomee Philometor Such were Eupolemus Demetrius and the two Philo's There were Historians also who wrote in Greek and after the Grecian manner as Jason the Cyrenean and the Authour of the Second Book of Maccabees who has abridg'd it and as Josephus It was at Alexandria where most of those Jews were who Studied the learning of the Greeks The other Jews contented themselves with speaking Greek to be understood that is grosly and keeping the natural turn of their own Tongue And 't is in that Barbarous Greek the New Testament is written The Apostles and Evangelists contented themselves with a clearness and brevity of Style despising all the Ornaments of Language and making use of what words were the most proper to be understood by the Common People of their nation Insomuch as for the well apprehending their Greek 't is requisite to know Hebrew and Syriack The Jews of these latter times were much exercis'd in reading of the Law and the holy Scripture They thought it not enough to explain it literally They found out therein several figurative senses by Allegories and divers Appropriations We see it not only in the new Testament and the Writings of the most Ancient Fathers who have disputed against them but in the Talmud and the oldest Hebrew Commentaries on the Law which they call the great Genesis the great Exodus and so of others Those Figurative senses they held by Traditions from their Fathers But in short the Manners of those Jews were very bad and very much corrupted They were sillily proud of being of the Race of Abraham pufft up with the promises of the Messias his Reign which they knew to be at hand and which they formed to themselves all full of Vanquishments and Temporal Prosperity They were interessed avaricious and sordid especially the Pharisees the greatest Hypocrites They were unfaithful and inconstant always ready for Sedition and Revolt under pretence of casting off the Yoak of the Gentiles In a word they were violent Boysterous and cruel as we see by what they made JESUS CHRIST and his Apostles suffer and by the unheard of Mischiefs they did to one another both during all the Civil Wars and the last Siege of Jerusalem CAP. XXXIII The true Israelites IT was however among that People the Tradition of vertue as well as that of Doctrine and Religion was preserved In those later times they had still very rare Examples of Godliness Zacharias old Simeon the Learned Gamaliel and many others set down in the History of the New Testament All those holy Personages and generally all Spiritual Jews circumcised in Heart as well as Body were Children of Abraham much rather by imitation of his Faith than by their own Extraction With a most steady Faith they believed in the Prophesies and Promises of God They waited impatienly for the Redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messias after which they long'd and sighed But they were sensible that it behoov'd them not to confine their Hopes to this life they belived the Resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven So that the Blessing of the Gospel coming upon such holy Dispositions it was easy to make perfect Christians of those true Israelites FINIS Some Books Printed for and Sold by W. Freeman over against the Devil-Tavern by Temple-Bar in Fleet-street SCarrons Novels viz. The Fruitless Precaution The Hyâ—ocrites The Innocent Adultery The Judge in his own Cause The â—â—ival Brothers The Invisible â—â—istriss The Chastisement of â—â—varice The unexspected Choice â—â—endred into English with some â—dditions By John Davis of Kidâ—elly In Oct. 1683. The Clarks Manual or an Exact Collection of the most approved Forms of Declarations Pleas general Issues Judgments Demurrers and most kind of Writs now used in the Court of Kings Bench. With necessary Instructions to all Clerks Attornies and Sollicitors in the use of the same The second Edition in Octav. 1682. An Infallible way to Contentment in the midst of Publick or Personal Calamities Together with the Christians Courage and Encouragement against evil Tidings and the fear of Death In 12. The Court of the Gentiles Part 4 of Reform'd Philosophy Book 3 of Divine predetermination wherein the nature of Divine Predetermination is fully Explicated and Demonstrated both in the general as also more Particularly as to the substrate matter or Entitative Act of Sin With a Vindication of Calvinists and others from that Blasphemous Imputation of making God the Author of Sin By Theophilus Gale in Quartâ— 1682. The Design of this Treatise Gen. 5. 7. 11. 8. 13. 6. 15. 4. 22. Gen. 12. 8. 13. 18. 28. 18. 31. 48. 26. 18. c. Family Gen. 26. 28. Gen. 136. 32. 14. c. Gen. 14. 14. 13. 2. 24. 22 16. 27. 27. Gen. 4. 17. 10. 10.
THE MANNERS OF THE Israelites IN THREE PARTS 1 Of the Patriarchs 2. Of the Israelites after their coming out of Egypt until the Captivity of Babylon 3 Of the Jews after their Return from the Captivity until the Preaching of the Gospel SHEWING Their Customs Secular and Religious their Generous Contempt of Earthly Grandeur And the great Benefit and Advantage of a plain Laborious Frugal and Contented Life I am a Stranger with thee and a Sojourner as all my Fathers were Psal 39. 12. London Printed for William Freeman over against the Devil-Tavern near Temple Bar in Fleet-street 1683. THE INTRODUCTION THe People whom God chose to preserve the true Religion until the preaching of the Gospel may serve for an Excellent Model of a Man's Life most conformable to Nature We see in their manners the most Rational ways of Subsisting of employing our time and of living in Society and we are capable of Learning from 'em not only Morality but also Oeconomy and Policy Yet those manners are so different from ours that they offend us at the first blush We see among the Israelites neither those Titles of Nobility nor that Multitude of Oâ—â—ices nor that Diversity of Conditions which is found among us There are none amongst them but Labourers and Husbandmen all working with their Hands all married and counting the multitude of Children for a great Happiness The Distinction of Meats and living Creatures Clean and Unclean their frequent Purifications seem to us odd and Capricious Ceremonies and their bloody Sacrifices give us a disgust Moreover we see that this People were very Inclinable to Idolatry that the Scripture upon that account ofteâ— reproaches them with their Indociliâ—ty and hardness of Heart and thaâ— the Fathers treat them as Gross and Carnal All this joyned to a Confused Prepossession that what is most Ancient is always most Imperfect does easily perswade us that those men were brutal and ignorant and that their Mannerâ— rather deserv'd contempt thaâ— Admiration From whence it proceeds iâ— part that the Holy Scriptures especially those of the old Testaâ—ment are so little read or witâ— so little Profit The good Christian who has not yet rid himself of those Prepossessions is disgusted with is Scene of strange Manners He attributes all without Distinction to the Imperfection of the old Law or believes that under that veil are concealed Mysteries which he does not understand Those who have not sufficient faith and uprightness of Heart are tempted upon these appearances to despise Scripture it self which seems to 'em filled with low things or from thence to draw such ill consequences as may in some measure Authorise their vices But when we compare the manners of the Israelites with those of the Romans Grecians Egyptians and other People of antiquity whom we most esteem those Prejudices immediately vanish Visible it is that there was in them a noble simplicity better than all the Refinements in the world that the Israelites had all that was good in the manners of the other People of their time that they were exempt from most of their Defects and that they had beyond others the incomparable advantage of Knowing whither was to be referred all the Conduct of Life since they were acquainted with the true Religion which is the foundation of Morality We learn then to distinguish amidst what their manners have of Offensive and That which is Really blameable That which proceeds only from the distance of Times and Places being of it self indifferent and that which being good in it self displeases us solely through the corruption of our Manners For a great part of the difference between them and us does not proceed from our being more enlightned by Christianity but the reason is we are less Rational 'T is not Christianity has introduced that great inequality of conditions that contempt of Labour that love of Sports that Authority of women and young Persons that aversion of a plain and frugal Life which renders us so different from the Ancients Those shepherds and Plough-men whom we meet withal in their Histories and amongst whom money was of so little use and great Fortunes so rare might more easily have been made good Christians than our Courtiers Lawyers Trades-men and many People who spend their lives in an idle inglorious and uneasy Poverty For the rest I do not pretend here to make a Panegyrick but a very plain Relation such as those of Treavellers who have seen very distant Countries I shall set down for good what is good for Evil what is Evil for Indifferent what is Indifferent I only demand that the Reader may lay aside all manner of Prepossessions that he may judge of these manners only by right reason and good sense I desire him to quit the Particular Ideas of his Country and his Age to consider the Israelites in the times and places wherein they lived to compare 'em with the adjacent Nations and by those means to understand their ways and Maxims For 't is to be altogether Ignorant of History not to see the great difference which the Distance of Times and Places produce in manners The French inhabit the same Country that was Inhabited by the Galls and afterwards by the Romans How far are the French now from either of their ways of Living and how different from their own Country-men who lived three or four hundred years ago And in this very age what coherence is there between our manners and those of the Turks Indians or Chineses So that if we joyn those two kinds of distanceâ— we shall not need to wonder that the men who lived in Palestine had manners different from ours we shall rather admire at what we find conformable We must not however Imagine that those changes are Regular and always go in an equal Progress Oftentimes very neighbouring Countries are very different through the Diversity of Religions and Governments as at present Spain and Africa which under the Roman empire were much united On the contrary a near Relation there is between Spain and Germany which had none in the time of the Romans 'T is the same thing by Proportion in the difference of times Those who know not History having heard say that the men of former ages were more plain than us suppose the World to refine dayly more and more and that the farther we look back into Antiquity the more gross and Ignorant we shall find the Wretches to have been Yet it is not so in those Countries that have been inhabited successively by divers Nations The Revolutions there happening have from time to time brought Misery and Ignorance into them after Prosperity and Politeness Thus Italy is in a much better condition than it was eight Hundred years ago but eight hundred years before under the first Caesars it was more happy and more magnificent than it is now And truly to mount up eight hundred years higher towards the time of the foundation of Rome we shall find the same Italy
concession of his Brother At that age began he to entertain thoughts of Marrying He courted Rachel but could not obtain her till after Seven years Service Thus was he at length marryed at Fourscore and four years old Leah is given him against his will Her he kept that he might not leave her dishonoured But as there was no law which prohibited the having of several wives or the marrying of two Sisters he likewise took her whom he had promised to marry As she was found to be barren She presented her Husband with a Slave that he might have Children This was a kind of Adoption practised in those days and her Sister did the same for the encrease of their family From all which St. Augustin draws this Inference We do not read that Jacob demanded more than one Wife or that he made use of several but as he kept exactly the laws of Câ—njugal Fidelity and we must not think he had any other wife before for why should only the last be madâ— mention of Notwithstanding which I do noâ— pretend to justify all the Patriarchâ— in this matter The History oâ— Judah and of his Sons affords buâ— too many examples to the Contrary I aimed only at shewing thaâ— we ought not to accuse those oâ— Lewdness and Incontinencie whom the Scripture points out as Thâ— Friends of God For in short sure I am that men were very much corrupted about that time Such was then in general the first Estate of the People of God Aâ—â— immense Liberty without other Government than that of a Father who exercised an Absolute Monarchy in his Family a Life very natural and very commodious in a great abundance of necessary and a greaâ— contempt of superfluous things and an honest labour attended with care and industry without disquiet and without Ambition Proceed we now to the Second Estate which is that of the Israelites after their coming out of Egypt until the Cap-Captivity of Babylon It lasted above nine hundred years and the greatest part of the Holy Scriptures do refer thereto PART II. Of the Israelites CAP. I. Their Nobility THo the People was already numerous yet still were they called the Children of Israel as being still but one Family And the same was said of the Children of Edom the Children of Moab and so of others And indeed all that people was not yet mingled every one knew his Original and took a pride to preserve the name of his Author From whence it comeâ— the name of Children was taken a-among the Ancients for a Nation or a certain kind of People Hâ—mer very often says the Children oâ— the Greeks and the Children of thâ— Trojans The Grecians would say the Children of Physicians and Grammarians Among the Hebrews thâ— Children of the East were the Eastern People the Children of Beliâ—â— were the wicked And in the Gospel we frequently find the Childreâ— of the Bridegroom meaning thosâ— who are invited to the Nuptials and the Children of Darkness and 〈◊〉 Light The Children of Israel were divided into twelve Tribes In like manner were there twelve Tribes of thâ— Ismaelites and of the Persians For Tribes at first comprehended all thâ— Inhabitants of Athens Who weâ—â— afterwards divided into ten 〈◊〉 whom were given the names of 〈◊〉 ten Heroes who were for that reâ—â—son styled the Eponymi and whoâ— Statues were erected in the publiâ—â— Market place The People 〈◊〉 Rome was likewise distributed at 〈◊〉 into three or four Tribes 〈◊〉 these were in process of ti meaâ—â— augmented to the number of thirty five whose names we are now acquainted withal But those tribes of Athens and Rome were composed of Families gathered together to keep good order in Assemblies and in suffrages whereas those of the Israelites were distinguished Naturally and were but twelve Families descended from twelve Brethren that is to say Relatives according to the Language of the Eastern People and truly noble if ever any men upon Earth were noble They had preserved in it's purity the nobless of the Patriarchs the Law having renewed the Prohibition of Marrying Strangers And if in some encounter this was not observ'd they took care to mark out those Marriages as Irregular which we may see in the Genealogy of JESUS CHRIST Their families were very setled and bound by the law to certain Lands where they of necessity remain'd during the nine hundred years we speak of Now we should methinks Esteem a Family very noble that could shew so long a Train of Generations with-without mis-allyance and without change of abode Few great men there are in Europe who can prove so much That which deceives us is we do not see among the Israelites Titles like to those of our Nobility Each man was called plainly by his own name But their names signified great things as well as those of the Patriarchs They often added the name of the Father either to make distinction or for Honor's sake to shew that the Father was a man of Reputation We see in Homer the Grecians took it likewise for a mark of honor Sometimes they gave for Surname the name of the mother as when the Father had sundry wives or when the mother was more illustrious Thus Joab and his Brethren are ever called the Children of Zerviah who was David's Sister They also distinguished ' emselves sometimes by the top of their Particular Branch by their City or their Country or by their Nation if they were Originallâ— Strangers as Vriah the Hittite and Ornan the Jebusite Neither had the Greeks any other Surnames than those they drew from their Father or their Country The Romans had Family-names to which they only added the marks of some great Office or of some Illustrious Victory But in the Publique acts they evermore put their Fathers name Several Nations of Europe still do the same And a great part of our Surnames come from the proper names of Fathers which have continued to the Children As for Titles of Lordships they are but of about seven hundred years Antiquity as well as the Lordships themselves We must not then wonder to see in the Scripture David the son of Jess and Solomon the son of David no more than to see Alexander the son of Philip and Ptolomy the son of Lagus in Greek or Latin Authors The principal distinction which Birth made among the Israelites was that of the Priests and Levites All the tribe of Levi was consecrated to God and had no other share than the Tenths and the first fruits which it received from the other Tribes Amongst all the Levites none but the Descendants of Aaron were Priests or Sacrificers the rest who were only Levites were employed in the other Functions of Religion in the Singing of Psalms in looking to the Tabernacle or the Temple and in instructing of the People The most illustrious was always that of Judah and it was the most numerous of all too and from thence Kings and the Messiah
War and Peace and likewise with true Policy But from whence comes this Contempt 'T is requisite to discover it's true source It only proceeds from the Customes and ancient Manners of our Nation The Franks and other German People lived in Countries covered with Woods where they had neither Corn nor Wine nor good Fruits Thus they were forc'd to live on Hunting as the Salvages of the Northern parts of America do at this Day But having passed the Rhine and setled themselves in better Territories they were willing to take advantage of the conveniencies of Agriculture Arts and Commerce but they were loath to take the pains necessary thereunto They left those Occupations to the Romans whom they for their own parts had subdued and remained in their primitive Ignorance which at length they took a pride in and fixed to it an Idea of Nobility which we can hardly rid our selves of But as much as they debased Agriculture so much they extoll'd Hunting which the Ancients had a much less Value for They have made a great Art of it and improv'd it with all manner of artifice they have neither spared pains nor Cost in it and have made it one of the most general Professions of their Nobility Yet to consider things in themselves The labour which tends to the Cultivating of Lands and to the breeding of Domestique Animals is assuredly as much to be valued as that which only makes to the taking of wild Beasts of ten times at the expence of cultivated Lands The moderate exercise of a man who looks to a great Farm is without question as beneficial as the violent and uneven exercise of the Hunter and Oxen and Sheep are Creatures at least as useful to life as Dogs and Horses So that we may doubt if our manners be more Rational in this point than those of the Ancients Besides not only the Greeks and Romans honoured Agriculture as well as the Hebrews The Carthaginians too Phenicians originally made a mighty study of it as appears by the Eight and twenty Books which Magon wrote upon that Argument The Egyptians honour'd it to that degree as to adore those living Creatures which were made use of in the Management of this Affair In the greatest Power of the Persians they had in each province Superintendants to look to the Tillage of Lands and Cyrus the younger took delight to planting and cultivating a Garden with his own hands As for the Chaldeans we cannot doubt but they were great Husband-men if we consider the fertility of the Plains of Babylon which brought forth two or three hundred Grains for one In Short the History of China tells us that Agriculture was there likewise very much in vogue in their best and most Ancient times It was only the Conquests of the Northern People which have caused the Country Labourer to be slighted through the whole World Let us then lay aside those low and scurvy Ideas which we have taken up from our Infancy Instead of our Villages where we see on one side Halls and Houses of Pleasure and on the other Miserable Cottages let us figure to our selves those great Farms which the Romans called Villas that comprehended the Masters house the outward Court the Barns the Stables and the Lodgings for Slaves all these in symmetry well built well lookt after and very neat Descriptions hereof may be seen in Varro and Columella Those Slaves were for the most part much more happy than our Peasants well fed well cloath'd without any care of their Wives and Children The Masters notwithstanding they were Farmers Lived more at their ease than our Gentlemen In Xenophon you see a Citizen of Athens early in the Morning a walking in his Lands and visiting his workmen Labouring the same time for his health by the Exercise of his Body and for the encrease of his Estate by his Industry in it's improvement Insomuch as he was rich enough to contribute to his Religion to the Service of the State and to his Friends Cicero speaks of Several Husbandmen in Sicily so rich and so Magnificent that their Houses were adorned with Statues of great price and they made use of Vessels of Silver and Gold curiously wrought Finally we must acknowledge that as long as the most rich of each Country have not disdained this Profession which of all is the most Ancient their lives were much more happy because they were more Natural They lived much Longer and in better Health they had Bodies more adapted to the Fatigues of War and of Voyages and their Wits were more solid and more serious Being less idle the time was less irksome to 'em and they did not make it so much their cue to tast of Pleasures Labour rendring them sensible of the least divertisement They thought less of what is evil and had less Interest to do it For their plain and frugal life gave no occasion for great Expences or great Debts And consequently there were not so many Law suits nor Destructions of Families not so many frauds and violences nor so much of every Crime that imaginary or real Beggary causes those to commit who neither can nor will Work The worst is the Examples of the Rich and Noble hurries away all others and is the occasion that all those who fancy ' emselves situated above the dregs of the People are asham'd to work especially in Lands This is the cause of so many efforts to subsist by industry this is what makes us daily invent new artifices for the passage of money from one Purse to another How innocent all these same forced ways of Living are God knows For the most part they are at least very brittle and uncertain whereas the Earth will ever nourish those who cultivate it if others deprive them not of what it bestows The Israelites only sought their subsistance in the most natural Goods Lands and Cattle from whence all must necessarily be drawn that makes men rich by the Manufactures of Merchandise the Rents or Commerce of money CAP. III. The quality of the Holy Land and it's Fruitfulness THeir Land was that Land promised to the Patriarchs whereof the Scripture so often say's that it Flowed with Milk and Hony to denote it's great Fertility This Country which is so hot in comparison of ours is very far in the Temperate Zone between the 31 and the 33 degree of Latitude It is bounded on the South by great Mountains which put a stop to the burning air of the Desarts of Arabia and they continue very far to the East as well as those Desarts The Mediterranean Sea which bounds it on the West sends thither refreshing breezes And mount Libanus seems to have been plac'd more towards the North to make the Colder blasts keep their due distance The Midland Sea it is what the Scripture usually calls the great Sea for the Hebrews were little acquainted with the Ocean and so they gave the name of Sea to Lakes and to
any large conflux of waters The Inner part of the Country is diversifyed with Mountains and Hills advantageous for Vines Fruit-trees and small Cattle And the frequent Valleys gave way to a number of Torrents very necessary to water the Country which had no other River besides Jordan The Rains there fall very seldom but are very Regular coming in the Spring and Autumn which the Scripture calls the Rain of the Morning and the Evening considering the year as a Day In Summer the abundant dews supply the rarity of the Showers There are Plains proper for Husbandry and Pasture and that variety of the Earth in a little space does form Landskips very agreeable to the View especially when a Country is well inhabited and well cultivated For we must not judge of the Holy Land by the State we see it in at this Day Since the time oâ— the Croisadoes it was ravaged by continual Wars untill it fell under the Dominion of the Turks Thus it is almost desert nothing to be seen but baleful Villages ruines unmanur'd and abandon'd Lands The Turks neglect it aâ— they neglect all their Provinces and several families of Arabia Bedovins may encamp and pillagâ— there with impunity Whereforâ— to know what it was formerly 't is necessary to consult ancient Authors as Strabo Pliny Josephus and above all the Holy Scripture See but the relation thâ— Spyes of Moses gave thereof and the prodigious cluster of Grapes which they brought Which thaâ— you may not wonder at compaâ—â— the Grapes of France with those oâ— Italy which is a cold Country iâ— proportion to Palestine 'T is thâ— same thing with most of our European Fruits The greatest part oâ— their Names still shew that they camâ— to us from Asia and Africa but witâ— their names they have not conserved their bigness and natural savour The Israelites gathered a great quantity of Wheat and Barly and the pure Bread-corn is counted for the chief Merchandise which they carried to Tyre Oyl they had and honey in abundance The Mountains of Juda and of Ephraim were places of great Vineyards Round about Jericho there were Palme-trees of vast Revenue through their suddain springing up after they were lopp'd or fell'd and it was the only part of the World where true Balm was to be found This Fruitfulness of the Country and the care which they took to cultivate it may make us conceive how that being so little it could nourish so great a number of men For it will at first require Faith to believe all that the Scripture says in this case When the People entred first into that Country there were above six hundred thousand men bearing arms from twenty years old to Sixty In the War of Gibeah the only Tribe of Benjamin the least of all had an Army of twenty six thousand men And that of the rest of the People mounted to four hundred thousand Saul had two hundred and ten thousand men against the Amalekites when he extirpated them David kept continually on foot twelve Bodies of twenty four thousand apiece who served by months which was in all two hundred and Fourscore thousand men And in the Numbring of the People which brought the anger of God upon him there were found thirteen hundred thousand able men Jehoshaphat went much farther in proportion for albeit he had but little more than the third part of David's Kingdome he had several Bodies of very good Troops which altogether made up Eleven hundred and Sixty thousand men effectively all under his hand without reckoning the Garrisons of his Holds In all this there is nothing incredible We see the like examples in Profane Histories The great Thebes of Egypt furnished Seven hundred thousand brave Soldiers of it 's own Inhabitants alone At Rome in the first year of Servins Tullus being the hundred and eighty eight of it's Foundation there were counted Fourscore thousand Citizens capable of bearing Arms. Yet they could only subsist by the lands in the Vicinage of Rome and whereof the most part is now barren and uninhabited For their Domination extended no farther than eight or ten Leagues Herein the Ancients lay'd the principal foundation of their Policy They relyed much less upon Cunning than upon downright force Instead of applying themselves to maintain correspondence among their Neighbours Instead of fomenting Divisions amongst them and Procuring to ' emselves a Reputation by false reports they endeavoured to people and manure their Country and to improve it as much as they could whether it was little or great They studyed to render Marriages happy and life easy to procure Health and Abundance and to draw from their Land all that it could produce They exercised their Citizens by labour inspired them with a love of their Country of union between themselves and submission to the Laws This is what they called Policy These Maxims perchance some one will say are very pretty But let us come to particulars and shew how 't is possible so small a Country as Palestin should nourish so great a number of men Which to make appear we must have the Patience to calculate and undertake the work by Retail Tho it may seem a low thing and be offensive to nice Readers An Acre of good Land bringsâ—forth un muid de bled mesure dâ— Paris which would easily nourish four men For a man consume but un minot a month giving him two pound and six ounces oâ— Bread every Day This is the but three Septiers a year But aâ— our Israelites were great Eaters will allow them double the nourishment that is to say four pounâ— twelve ounces of Bread a day Thus an Acre will be sufficient 〈◊〉 feed two men and by this accountâ— we shall have land still remaining For a League square makes fiâ— thousand six hundred and twenty five Acres by reckoning 3000 Geometrical Paces in a League five Foot in a Pace twenty Feet in a Rod and a hundred Roods in an Acre The Kingdome of Judea was at least thirty Leagues in length above twenty in breadth counting the length from East to West which was six hundred Leagues and by consequence three Millions three hundred and sixty five thousand Acres which according to my Calculation might nourish twice as many men that is six millions Seven hundred and Fifty thousand But half of the Lands I deduct for those that may prove barren for the Rocks Sands and little Deserts here and there intermingled for Yineyards and Pastures and for the repose which the Land requires at least every Seventh year There remains enough to nourish a number of men equal to the Sum total of the Acres that is to say three millions three hundred threescore five thousand So it was easy to Appoint twelve hundred thousand Sword-men in a Country Country where all people bore arms and still to have Corn to sell to Strangers towards the purchase of Cattle For we may doubt if the