who makes express mention of parchment. (2 Tim. iv. 13.) In Job xix. 24. and in Jer. xvii. 1. there is mention made of pens of iron, with which they probably made the letters, when they engraved on lead,1 stone, or other hard substances; but for softer materials they, in all probability, made use of quills or reeds; for we are told of some in the tribe of Zebulun who handled the pen of the writer. (Judg. v. 14.) David alludes to the pen of a ready writer (Psal. xlv. 1.), and Baruch, as we are told, wrote the words of Jereiniah with ink in a book. (Jer. xxxvi. 18.) It is highly probable that several of the prophets wrote upon tablets of wood, or some similar substance. (Compare Isa. xxx. 8. and Habakkuk ii. 2.)

in silk cloth, and bound round by a garter, in which the natives ingeniously contrive to weave the title of the book. (Asiatic Researches, vol. iv. p. 306. 8vo. edit.) The Ceylonese sometimes make use of the palm leaf, but generally prefer that of the Talipot-tree, on account of its superior breadth and thickness. From these leaves, which are of immense size, they cut out slips from a foot to a foot and a half long, and about two inches broad. These slips being smoothed and all excrescences pared off with the knife, they are ready for use without any other preparation: a fine-pointed steel pencil, like a bodkin, and set in a wooden or ivory handle ornamented according to the owner's taste, is employed to write or rather to engrave their characters on these talipot slips, which are very thick and tough. In order to render the characters more visible and distinct, they rub them over with oil mixed with pulverised charcoal, which process also renders them so permanent, that they never can be effaced. When one slip is insufficient to contain all that they intend to write on any particular subject, the Ceylonese string several toge ther by passing a piece of twine through them, and attach them to a board in the same way as we file newspapers. (Percival's Account of the Island of Ceylon, p. 205.) The Bramin manuscripts, in the Telinga language, sent to Oxford from Fort St. George, are written on the leaves of the Ampana, or Palma Malabarica. In the Maldive Islands, the natives are said to write on the leaves of the Macarciquean, which are a fathom and a half (nine feet!) long, and about a foot broad; and in other parts of the East Indies, the leaves of the plantain tree are employed for the same purpose.

1The eminent antiquary, Montfaucon, informs us that in 1699 he bought at Rome a book wholly composed of lead, about four inches in length, by three inches in width, and containing Egyptian Gnostic figures and unintelligible writing. Not only the two pieces which formed the cover, but also all the leaves, (six in number.) the stick inserted into the rings which held the leaves together, the hinges, and the nails were all of lead, without exception. Antiquité Expliquée, tom. ii. p. 378. It is not known what has become of this curious article.

2 "The most antient people, before the invention of books and before the use of sculpture upon stones, and other small fragments, represented things great and noble upon entire rocks and mountains: the custom was not laid aside for many ages. Semiramis, to perpetuate her memory, is reported to have cut a whole rock into the shape of herself. Hannibal, long after the invention of books, engraved characters upon the Alpine rocks, as a testimony of his passage over them; which characters were remaining about two centuries ago, according to Paulus Jovius. It appears particularly to have been the custom of the northern nations, from that remarkable inscription mentioned by Saxo, and several ages after him delineated and published by Olaus Wormius. It was inscribed by Harold Hyldeland, to the memory of his father, and was cut out in the side of a rock, in Runic characters, each letter of the inscription being a quarter of an ell long, and the length of the whole thirty-four ells. Wise's Letter to Dr. Mead, p. 25. The custom was eastern as well as northern, as appears from that remarkable instance which occurs in Captain Hamilton's Account of the East Indies, Voyage, vol. ii. p. 241. The author, after giving a short history of the successful attack which the Dutch made upon the island of Amoy in China, A. D. 1645, adds, "This history is written in large China characters on the face of a smooth rock, that faces the entrance of the harbour, and may be fairly seen as we pass out and into the harbour." Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. i. p. 535.

Such tablets, it is well known, were in use long before the time of Homer (who lived about one hundred and fifty years before the prophet Isaiah). Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, when required to name his son, asked for a writing-table (Luke i. 63.); and such tablets were also in use among the Romans and other antient nations, and were not finally disused until the fourteenth century of the Christian æra. They were in general covered with wax, and the writing was executed with styles or pens, made of gold, silver, brass, iron, copper, ivory or bone, which at one end were pointed for the purpose of inscribing the letters, and smooth at the other extremity for the purpose of erasing. In Barbary the children, who are sent to school, write on a smooth thin board slightly daubed over with whiting, which may be wiped off or renewed at pleasure. The Copts, who are employed by the great men of Egypt in keeping their accounts, &c. make use of a kind of pasteboard, from which the writing is occasionally wiped off with a wet sponge. To this mode of writing there is an allusion in Neh. xiii. 14., and especially in Numb. v. 23.; where in the case of the woman suspected of adultery who was to take an oath of cursing, it is said that the priest shall write the curses in a book, and blot them out with the bitter water. It appears that these maledictions were written with a kind of ink prepared for the purpose, without any calx of iron or other material that could make a permanent dye; and were then washed off the parchment into the water which the woman was obliged to drink: so that she drank the very words of the execration. The ink used in the East is almost all of this kind; a wet sponge will completely obliterate the finest of their writings.2

Epistles or Letters, which are included under the same Hebrew word with Books (viz., SePHER,) are very rarely mentioned in the earlier ages of antiquity. The first notice of an epistle in the sacred writings occurs in 2 Sam. xi. 14.: but afterwards they are more frequently mentioned. In the East, letters are to this day commonly sent unsealed: but, when they are sent to persons of distinction, they are placed in a valuable purse, which is tied, closed over with clay or wax, and then stamped with a signet. The same practice obtained in ancient times. See Isa. xxix. 11. (marginal rendering) Neh. vi. 5. Job xxxviii. 14. The most ancient epistles begin and end without either salutation or farewell; but under the Persian monarchy it was very prolix. It is given in an abridged form in Ezra iv. 7-10. and v. 7. The apostles, in their epistles, used the salutation customary among the Greeks, but they omitted the usual farewell (xage) at the close, and adopted a benediction more conformable to the spirit of the Gospel of Christ. When

1 On this subject and on the substances generally employed for writing, both in antient and modern times, see an Introduction to the Study of Bibliography, by the author of this work, vol. i. pp. 31-72.

2 Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. p. 127. Dr. A. Clarke on Numb. v. 23.

Paul dictated his letters (as he most frequently did), he wrote the benediction at the close, with his own hand. See an instance in 2 Thess. iii. 17.

Books being written on parchment and similar flexible materials, were rolled round a stick; and, if they were very long, round two, from the two extremities. The reader unrolled the book to the place which he wanted, avarugas so Bißov, and rolled it up again, when he had read it, rugas To Bov (Luke iv. 17-20.); whence the name, a volume, or thing rolled up. (Ps. xl. 7. Isa. xxxiv. 4. Ezek. ii. 9. 2 Kings xix. 14. Ezra vi. 2.) The leaves thus rolled round the stick, and bound with a string, could be easily sealed. (Isa. xxix. 11. Dan. xii. 4. Rev. v. 1. vi. 7.) Those books which were inscribed on tablets of wood, lead, brass, or ivory, were connected together by rings at the back, through which a rod was passed to carry them by.

V. Poetry had its origin in the first ages of the world, when undisciplined feelings and a lively imagination naturally supplied strong expressions, gave an expressive modulation to the voice and motion to the limbs. Hence poetry, music, and dancing, were in all probability contemporaneous in their origin. As the nature and genius of the poetry of the Hebrews has already been discussed at some length in the second volume of this work, it is sufficient here to remark, that the effusions of the inspired Hebrew muse infinitely surpass in grandeur, sublimity, beauty, and pathos, all the most celebrated productions of Greece and Rome. Not to repeat unnecessarily the observations already offered on this topic, we may here briefly remark, that the eucharistic song of Moses, composed on the deliverance of the Israelites and their miraculous passage of the Red Sea (Exod. xv. 1-19.), is an admirable hymn, full of strong and lively images. The song of Deborah and Barak (Judg. v.), and that of Hannah the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. ii. 1.), have many excellent flights, and some noble and sublime raptures. David's lamentation on the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 19.) is an incomparable elegy. The gratulatory hymn (Isa. xii.) and Hezekiah's song of praise (Isa. xxviii.) are worthy of every one's attention. The prayer of Habakkuk (iii.) contains a sublime description of the divine majesty. Besides these single hymns we have the book of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Lamentations; all of which are composed by different poets, according to the usage of those times. The Psalms are a great storehouse of heavenly devotion, full of affecting and sublime thoughts, and with a variety of expressions, admirably calculated to excite a thankful remembrance of God's mercies, and for moving the passions of joy and grief, indignation and hatred. They consist mostly of pious and affectionate prayers, holy meditations, and exalted strains of praise and thanksgiving. The allusions are beautiful, the expressions tender and moving, and the piety of the authors is singularly remarkable. The Proverbs of Solomon are a divine collection of many admirable sentences of morality, wonderfully

adapted to instruct us in our duty to God and man. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us, in a very lively manner, the insufficiency of all earthly enjoyments to make a man happy. The Canticles or Song of Solomon, under the parable of a man's affection to his spouse, in very tender yet elegant expressions, shows us the ardent love of Christ to his church and people; and the Lamentations of Jeremiah contain a very mournful account of the state of Jerusalem, as destroyed by the Chaldæans.

VI. Music was cultivated with great ardour by the Hebrews, who did not confine it to sacred purposes, but introduced it upon all special and solemn occasions, such as entertaining their friends, public festivals, and the like; thus Laban tells Jacob that if he had known of his leaving him, he would have sent him away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp. (Gen. xxxi. 27.) Isaiah says, that the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, are in their feasts (Isa. v. 12.); and, to express the cessation of these feasts, he says, the mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. (Isa. xxiv. 8.) It was also the custom at the coronation of kings. (2 Chron. xxiii. 13.) And it was the usual manner of expressing their mirth upon their receiving good tidings of victory, and upon the triumphal returns of their generals, as may be seen in Judg. xi. 34. and i Sam. xviii. 6. That music and dancing was used among the Jews at their feasts in latter ages, may be inferred from the parable of the prodigal son. (Luke xv. 25.) Besides their sacred music, the Hebrew monarchs had their private music. Asaph was master of David's royal band of musicians. It appears that in the temple-service female musicians were admitted, as well as males, and that in general they were the daughters of Levites. Heman had fourteen sons and three daughters, who were skilled in music: and Ezra, when enumerating those who returned with him from the Babylonish captivity, reckons two hundred singing men and singing women. The Chaldee paraphrast on Eccles. ii. 8., where Solomon says that he had men singers and women singers, understands it of singing women of the temple.

In the tabernacle and the temple, the Levites (both men and women) were the lawful musicians; but on other occasions the Jews were at liberty to use any musical instruments, with the exception of the silver trumpets which were to be sounded only by the priests, on certain solemn and public occasions. (Numb. x. 1—10.) In order to give the best effect to the music of the tabernacle, David divided the four thousand Levites into twenty-four classes, who sang psalms and accompanied them with music. Over each class was placed a leader; and they performed the duties which devolved upon them, each class a week at a time in succession. The classes collectively, as a united body, were superintended by three directors, among whom Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, are particularly mentioned. (1 Chron. xvi. 5. xxiii. 5. xxv. 1-31. and 2 Chron. v. 12, 13.) This arrangement was subsequently continued by Solomon after the erection of the temple, and conintued till the overthrow of Jerusalem. Sometimes, indeed, it was interrupted during the reign

of the idolatrous kings, but was restored by their pious successors (2 Chron. v. 12-14. xxix. 27. xxxv. 15.): and it was continued after the captivity, as appears from Ezra iii. 10. Neh. xii. 45-47. 1 Macc. iv. 54. xiii. 51.

The following are the principal musical instruments mentioned in the sacred writings. 1

1. Pulsatile Instruments.-These were three in number, viz. The tabret, the cymbal, and the sistrum.

(1.) The Tabret or Tabor,, (THEP), was composed of a circular hoop, either of wood or brass, which was covered with a piece of skin tensely drawn and hung round with small bells. It was held in the left hand and beaten to notes of music with the right: the ladies in the East to this day dance to the sound of this instrument. The earliest notice of the tabret occurs in Gen. xxxi. 27.

(2.) The Cymbal, y (TSELTSEL), Psal. cl. 5. consisted of two large and broad plates of brass, of a convex form; which being struck against each other, made a hollow ringing sound. They form, in our days, a part of every military band.

(3.) The Sistrum, y, (MENAаNOIM), which in our version of 2 Sam. vi. 5. is mis-rendered cornets, was a rod of iron bent into an oval or oblong shape, or square at two corners and curved at the others, and furnished with a number of moveable rings; so that, when shaken, or struck with another rod of iron, it emitted the sound desired.

2. Wind Instruments.-Six of these are mentioned in the Scriptures, viz. The organ, the flute and hautboy, dulcimer, horn, and trumpet.

(1.) The Organ, (OGEB), is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, and its invention is ascribed to Jubal in Gen. iv. 21.; but it cannot have been like our modern organs. From Ezek. xxxiii. 31. it seems rather to have been a kind of flute, at first composed of one or two, but afterwards of about seven pipes, made of reeds of unequal length and thickness, which were joined together. It corresponded most nearly to the dugry or pipe of Pan among the Greeks.

(2.) (3.) The (CHALIL), and the (NeKeB), which our translators have rendered pipes, are supposed to have been the flute and hautboy.

(4.) The (SUMPUNJAH), or dulcimer (Dan. iii. 5.), was a wind instrument made of reeds; by the Syrians called Sambonjah, by the Greeks Zap Buxn, and by the Italians Zampogna.

(5.) The Horn or Crooked Trumpet was a very antient instrument, made of the horns of oxen cut off at the smaller extremity. In

1 For some remarks on the titles of certain Psalms, which are supposed to have been derived either from musical instruments or the tunes to which they were sung. See Vol. IV. pp. 109, 110.

2 Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. vii. c. 12.