his goods, and the other was to be consecrated to Ceres; and whoever put away his wife, was to make an atonement to the gods of the earth."-PLUT. Rom. c. 22. Notwithstanding this law, it is worthy of remark that no instance of divorce was known at Rome until B.C. 234, when Spurius Carvilius Ruga put away his wife on the ground of barrenness, and was much censured for doing so. But towards the latter part of the Republic divorces became very common. DEUTERONOMY XXV. 4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. "Ceres was the first who introduced oxen to tread out the corn.” CALLIM. H. in Cerer. v. 21. This appears to have been the most ancient mode of threshing out the larger grains of wheat, barley, and rye. Homer compares the slaughter made by the horses and chariot of Achilles to the beating out of grain by the trampling of oxen. "As with autumnal harvests covered o'er, And thick bestrown, lies Ceres' sacred floor; Tread down whole ranks, and crush out heroes' souls." HOм. I. 1. xx. v. 495. Horses were generally preferred for this work by other nations. "Let the mares labour when the threshing floor resounds with the treading of the corn, and the empty chaff flies before the wind."-VIRG. Georg. 1. III. v. 133. 4. DEUTERONOMY XXVIII. 3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5. 6. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Ulysses thus describes the happiness of a godly people under a pious ruler :"Consummate pattern of imperial sway, Whose pious rule our warlike race obey! In wavy gold thy summer vales are dress'd, Their affluent joys the grateful realms confess, HOм. Odyss. 1. xix. v. 109. 40. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Anointing the body or head with oil was a common practice with the Jews, as with other oriental nations. Abstinence from it was a sign of mourning. (2 Sam. XIV. 2. Dan. x. 3.) It was not only invigorating and refreshing in itself, but was sometimes a mark of respect paid by a host to his guests (Matt. XXVI. 7; Luke vII. 46), and was the ancient Egyptian custom at feasts (Micah vI. 15.) "Now from nocturnal sweat and sanguine stain They cleanse their bodies in the neighb'ring main; They sit rejoicing in her aid divine, And the crown'd goblet foams with floods of wine." HOм. Il. 1. x. v. 574. "The Scythian women bruise under a stone some wood of the cypress, cedar, and frankincense. On this they pour a quantity of water till it becomes of a certain consistency, with which they anoint the body and the face. This at the same time imparts an agreeable odour, and when removed on the following day gives the skin a soft and beautiful appearance."-HDT. 1. Iv. c. 75. "Plant olives round about your whole estate, so that you and I may anoint ourselves from them at the new moons."-ARISTOPH. Acharn. v. 998. "Oil was distributed to every company of Hannibal's soldiers, to lubricate their joints.”—Liv. l. xxi. c. 55. "The stranger besprinkled his limbs with oil, according to the custom of the Olympic exercises."-Luc. Phars. 1. iv. v. 612. 4. DEUTERONOMY XXXII. He is the Rock, his work is perfect for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. God is never in any respect unjust, but as just as possible; and there is nothing that resembles Him more than the man amongst us who has likewise become as just as possible."-PLAT. Theatet. c. 85. See Ps. XCVII. 2. 5. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children they are a perverse and crooked generation. "O souls bowed down to earth, and void of aught celestial. (O curvæ in terras animæ !")-PERS. Sat. II. v. 61. "You are not inexperienced in detecting crooked morals. (Curvos deprendere mores.")-IBID. Sat. III. v. 52. 11. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12. So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. "As the bold bird her helpless young attends, For thankless Greece such hardships have I braved, And sweat laborious days in dust and blood."-Hoм. Il. 1. IX. v. 323. 15. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. "Man is as changeful as his bliss or woe, Too high when prosperous, when distress'd too low. HOм. Odyss. 1. XVIII. v. 138. "Fulness breeds insolence, whensoever wealth attends a mean man, and one whose mind is not sound."-THEOGN. v. 153. "They, prudent Themis' golden train, And foul-mouth'd insolence restrain, Which breeds satiety of soul."-PINDAR. Olymp. XIII. v. 9. It is the usual effect of prosperity, especially when felt on a sudden and beyond their hope, to puff up a people into insolence of manners. Men are much more expert at repelling adversity than preserving prosperity."-THUCYD. 1. III. c. 39. "Nothing is harder to govern than man when fortune smiles, nor anything more tractable than he when calamity lays her hands upon him.”—PLUT. Lucull. c. 2. Juvenal imputes the vices which prevailed at Rome to the wantonness which accompanies prosperity. "Whence shall these prodigies of vice be traced? Since Poverty, our better Genius fled, Vice, like a deluge, o'er the state has spread." 15. Thou art waxen fat. Juv. Sat. 1. vi. v. 285. "The fat (that is the wealthy) among the Chalcidians. (o maɣées.)" 23. I will spend my arrows upon them. HDT. 1. v. c. 77. The judgments of God are frequently represented as arrows discharged by Him to punish an offending people. (Job vi. 4; Ps. xxxvIII. 2, &c.) The same figure occurs in the heathen poets. Homer thus describes the beginning of a pestilence : "Apollo twanged his deadly bow, And hissing fly the feather'd fates below; On mules and dogs the infection first began, And last the vengeful arrows fix'd in man."-Hoм. Il. 1. 1. v. 48. 29. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! "The knowledge of the end is of great consequence in the conduct of life, as archers having fixed their aim are more likely to attain their purpose." ARISTOT. Eth. 1. 1. c. 2. "What is there in life so necessary to be enquired after as what is the end, the last and chief thing, to which all the counsels of a good life and just actions are to be referred."-Cic. de fin. 1. 1. c. 4. We "Let us so compose the mind, that whatever exigence happens we may meet it willingly; and especially let us think on our latter end without regret or sorrow. must provide for death rather than for life."-SENEC. ep. 61. "We are often guilty of error because we deliberate upon the parts of life without taking in and reflecting upon the whole. The man who lets fly an arrow to any purpose, must first know the mark he aims at, and guide it with a skilful hand."-IBID. ep. 71. 34. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed among my treasures? It was the custom with the ancients to secure their store houses and treasuries by sealing them, for which purpose they usually wore engraved seal rings upon their fingers. See notes on Num. XXXI. 50. Dan. vi. 17, and Matt. xxvII. 66. "Nothing is so well sealed up in my house that ye may not break the sealing-wax and take it away."--ARISTOPH. Lysist. v. 1197. 66 They now put seals and bolts upon the apartments of the women, in order to guard us."-IBID. Thesmoph. v. 414. "Tiberius put his own seal upon the doors of the temple of Saturn, that the Questors might neither bring anything into the treasury, nor take anything out." PLUT. Tib. Gracch. c. 10. "You ask me to sign papers. That may be done to-morrow; to-night my seal is wanted for the bottle."-MART. 1. IX. epigr. 87. 40. I live for ever. "The Deity is distinguished by three things-immortality, power, and virtue ; and of these virtue is the most excellent and divine."-PLUT. Arist. c. 6. See Exod. III. 14. "As the bold bird her helpless young attends, And sweat laborious days in dust and blood."-HOм. I. 1. IX. v. 323. 15. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. "Fulness breeds insolence, whensoever wealth attends a mean man, and one whose mind is not sound."-THEOGN. v. 153. "They, prudent Themis' golden train, And foul-mouth'd insolence restrain, Which breeds satiety of soul."-PINDAR. Olymp. XIII. v. 9. It is the usual effect of prosperity, especially when felt on a sudden and beyond their hope, to puff up a people into insolence of manners. Men are much more expert at repelling adversity than preserving prosperity."-THUCYD. 1. III. c. 39. "Nothing is harder to govern than man when fortune smiles, nor anything more tractable than he when calamity lays her hands upon him."-PLUT. Lucull. c. 2. Juvenal imputes the vices which prevailed at Rome to the wantonness which accompanies prosperity. "Whence shall these prodigies of vice be traced? Since Poverty, our better Genius fled, Vice, like a deluge, o'er the state has spread." 15. Thou art waxen fat. Juv. Sat. 1. vi. v. 285. "The fat (that is the wealthy) among the Chalcidians. (o axées.)" 23. I will spend my arrows upon them. HDT. 1. v. c. 77. The judgments of God are frequently represented as arrows discharged by Him to punish an offending people. (Job vi. 4; Ps. xxxvIII. 2, &c.) The same figure occurs in the heathen poets. Homer thus describes the beginning of a pestilence : "Apollo . . . twanged his deadly bow, And hissing fly the feather'd fates below; On mules and dogs the infection first began, And last the vengeful arrows fix'd in man."-HOм. Il. l. I. v. 48. 29. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! "The knowledge of the end is of great consequence in the conduct of life, as archers having fixed their aim are more likely to attain their purpose." ARISTOT. Eth. 1. 1. c. 2. |