The Works of Philo (complete)

And, above all, he exempts all those who are alarmed or cowardly, as they would be likely to be taken prisoners by reason of their innate effeminacy, and to cause fear to the rest who were fighting alongside of them ; for a man's neighbour is very apt to take the impression of any one of his faults, and especially this is the case since men's reason is confused at that time by reason of the disorder of the contest, and is unable to attain to an accurate notion of the real picture of aflaii-s ; for, at such a time, they are wont to call prudent caution timidity, and to look upon fear as a prudent knowledge of the future, and u|X)n a desire for safety as unmanly cowardice, invcstmg most shameful conduct with specious and dignified appellations.

In order, therefore, that the affairs of his own pei.plo may not be injured by the cowardice of those who go forth to baltlo. while the enemy obtains success and glory, slaying tlioso cx)wardly foes with great contempt, and beuig also aware that an inactive irresolute coward was of no use at al . but was army all those who were devoid of boldness, and those who imagine no general would compel men afflicted with any bodily infirmity to go forth to war, but would allow their weak health to plead their excuse. And cowardice is a disease, and a worse one, too, than any of those which affect the body, inasmuch as it destroys the faculties of the soul ; for diseases of the body, indeed, are at their height but for a short period, but cowardice is an evil which grows with the man in a greater degree, or, at all events, not less than the parts of the body which are united to it, cleaving to the soul from its earliest infancy to the very extremity of old age, unless God himself interpose to cure it ; for all things are possible to God.

And, moreover, the lawgiver does not summon even all the men of impetuous courage, not even although they are full of strength and energy, both in soul and body, and eager to be the foremost in the conflict and in the encountering of danger ; but, having praised them for tlieir good will, because they display' a disposition willing to share in the dangers of their countrymen, and eager, and void of fear, he proceeds to inquire whether they are entangled in any important circumstances which have a strong influential power of attraction. For, says he, " If any one has lately built a house, and has not as yet entered it to dwell in it ; or if any one has planted a newlyarranged vineyard, having himself planted the cuttings in the ground, but which has not yet arrived at the season of its bearing fruit ; or if any one has espoused a virgin and not consummated his marriage ; he shall be excused from all military service."

Humanity here finding an excuse for such exemption for two causes ; first of all, in order that, since the events of war are uncertain, others who have never laboured in the work may not reap the fruits of these men's toil ; for it appeared to be a hard thing for a man to be unable even to enjoy what really belonged to him, but for one man to build a house and another to dwell in it ; and for one man to plant a vineyard and for another, who never planted it, to enjoy the fruit thereof ; and for one man to espouse a wife, but for one who has not espoused her to complete the marriage ; as it was not expedient that those who had entertained good hopes respecting life to find them all baffled and vain. And, secondly, that men might not be warring with their bodies while their souls were far from the battle ; for it is impossible but that the minds of men in such a condition as has been described above must be held back and kept on the stretch, from a desire to enjoy the things from which they have been torn away.

For as men who are hungry or thirsty, if they only get a sight of anything to eat or to drink, pursue it and run after it without ever tumin'T aside in their eagerness to reach it, so also men who havo laboured to obtain a legitimate wife, or a house, or the possession of a farm, and who in their hopes believe that the time for their enjoyment of each of these objects is all but arrived. if they are then deprived of that enjoyment, resist, so that though they may be present in body elsewhere, they are not present with the better part of their soul, by which it is tliat men succeed or fail. VT.

Therefore our lawgiver does not think it proper to in- - .lude those men, or any in a similar condition, in the roll of his soldiers, but only such as have no domestic circumstances of such a nature to detain them, in order that with free and unembarrassed inclinations they may engage in the pursuit of <langer without shrinking ; for as a weak or crippled body derives no advantage from a panoply of armour, which it will rather discard as being unable to bear it, so, in tiie same manner, a vigorous body causes affliction to a diseased soul by not being in conformity with its existing circumstances.

And our lawgiver, having a regard to these facts, selects not only the captains, and the generals, and the other leaders of the army, but also picks out separately each individual soldier, examines in what state he is in respect of good condition of Ijody and firmness of mind, examining his body to see if it is uninjured in all its parts, and in sound health, and in all its joints and limbs well adapted for the positions and actions which may be required of it; examining the soul also, to see whether it is full of confidence and proper courage, whether it is intrepid, fearless, and inspired witli a noble spirit, whetlirr it is eager for honour and inclined to prefer death with glur)- to an inglorious life; for each one of these qualities and circumstances is individually a separate jiower, if one is to say the plain truth. And if they are all united together m one mdividual, then they do most abundantly exhibit a certain invincible and irresistible might, subduing all their enemies without loss.

And the sacred volumes contain the most undeniable proofs of what has been here stated. The most numerous of all nations is that of the Arabians, whose ancient name was the Madienseans. These people being inimicably disposed towards the Hebrews, for no other cause more than because they honour and worship the highest and mightiest Cause of all things, as being dedicated to the Creator and Father of the universe as his peculiar people, and having tried every imaginable device and exhausted every contrivance to cause them to abandon the worship of the one only true and living God, and to forsake holiness and adopt impiety, thought that if they could do so they should be easily able to get the better of them. But when, in spite of having both done and said innumerable things, they had failed in everything, like dj'ing people wlm now despair of their safety, they contrived a device of the following nature.

Having sent for the most beautiful of their women, they said to them, You see how invincible the multitude of the Hebrews is ; and a defence to them more formidable than even their number is their unanimity and agreement ; and the greatest and most powerful cause of this unanimity is the idea which they entertain of the one God, from which, as from a fountain, they derive a united and indissoluble affection for one another. But man may be caught by pleasure, and especially by such pleasure as proceeds from connections with wumen. And ye are very beautiful, and beauty is by nature a seductive thing ; and youth is a season of life veiy apt to fall into intemperance.

And do not be afraid of the names of concubinage or adultery, as if they would bring shame upon you, but set against the names the advantages which will ensue from the facts, by which you will change your evil reputation, which will endure only for a day, into a glory which will never grow old or die ; abandoning your bodies, indeed, as far as appearance goes, which, however, is only a desire and manoeuvre to defeat the enemy, and preserving still the virginity of your souls, on which you will for the future set the everlasting seal of purity. And this war will have a novel glory as having been brought to a successful issue by means of women, and not by means of men.

For we confess that our sex is in danger of being defeated, because our enemies are better provided with all the appliances of war and necessaries for battle ; but your sex is more completely armed, and you will gain the greatest of all advantages, namely the victory ; carrying off the prize without having to encounter any danger; for without anv loss or bloodshed or indeed, I may rather Bay, without even a stru""le you wilj overpower the enemy at the first sight of you, meTely bv beiuo beheld by him. ' " When they heard this, they ceased to think of or to pay the veiy slightest regard to their character for purity of life, being quite devoid of all proper education, and accordingly they con sented, though during all the rest of their lives tiuy had put on a hypocritical appearance of modesty, and so now tliev adorned themselves with costly garments, and necklaces, and all those other appendages with which women are accustomed to set themselves off, and they devoted all their attention to enhancing their natural beauty, and making it more brilliant (for the object of their pursuit was not an unimportant one, being the alluring of the young men who were well inclined to be seduced), and so they went forth into public.

And when they came near to them they put forth immodest wanton looks, and sought to entice them with caressing words, and dances, and lascivious movements ; and in this way they enticed the shallow-minded company of the young men, youths whose dispoistions had no ballast nor steadiness in them. And by the shame of their own bodies they captivated the souls of those who came to them, bringing them over to unholy sacrifices which ought not to have been sacrificed, and to libations which should never have been offered in honour of deities made with hands, and thus they alienated them from the worship of the one only and truly divine God. Ami when they had accomplished their purpose, they sent the glad tidings to the men of their nation ; and they would have been liltely to draw over others also of the firmer and strong.Tminded sort, if the bountiful and merciful God had not tiikon compassion upon their unhappy state, and by the prompt punishment of those who had gone astray and wrought lolly (and they were twenty-four thousand men), by which he admonished and checked by terror those others who were m danger of being carried away by the torrent.

But the ruler of the whole nation, infusing into the cars of his people doctrines of piety, and clmnnmg the souls ol his subjects with them, selected and picked out a thousand nn.n of each tribe, choosing them with regard to their excellence, and he bade them to inflict upon the enemy puin.hmcnt for tho treachery which they had contrived by means of the women, when they hoped to destroy the whole multitude by casting them dowu from the heights of their pure and sublime piety, though, in effect, they were only able to delude those whom I have enumerated.

These men, then, being arrayed against them, a small number against many myriads of men, and availing themselves of their skill, and exerting all their courage, as if each individual were himself a host, rushed upon the dense phalanxes in a contemptuous manner, and slaying all whom they met, they mowed down the thickly-packed battalions, and all the forces which were in reserve as a reinforcement to fill up the ranks where men were slain, so that they overthrew many myriads with their mere single shout, till not one of all the youth in the opposing army was left.

And they slew also all the women who had assented to the unholy devices of the men, taking the maidens alive, because of their compassion for their innocent age, and though they brought this terrible war to a successful termination, they lost not a single one of their own men ; but every man who went forth unto battle returned back again un wounded and unhurt, just as he entered the conflict, or rather, if one is to say the real truth, with redoubled vigour; for their joy at this victory made their strength not inferior to what it had been at first ; and the cause of this, was simply that they even courted danger in their anxiety to engage in the contest in the ciiuse of piety, in which God, that invincible ally, fights in front of them as their champion, inspiring their minds with wise counsels, and implanting the mightiest vigour in their bodies.

And there is evident proof that God was their ally, in the fact that many myriads of men were defeated by a few, and that not one man of the enemy escaped, and that not one of their own troops was slain, and that the army was not diminished in either number or power ; on which account iloses says in his exhortations to his people :* " If you practise justice, and holiness, and the other virtues, you shall enjoy a life untroubled by wars and invariably peaceful ; or if any war comes upon you, you shall with ease subdue your enemies, God being the leader of your host, although invisibly, who takes care to put forth his might to save the good. Therefore, if thy enemies come upon thee with many myriads of • Deuteronomy xxviii 15. meu, a liost both of infantrv, ami of cavalry, trusting iu the beauty of their armour ; and if they pre-occupy all th^e blrong and defensible places, and become masters of the countrv, and if they rejoice in unbounded supplies, still do nut you be alarmed and fear, even if you are destitute of the tilings of which they have plenty, such as allies, and arms, and shuitions, and good opportunities, and the supplies of war."

For very often a violent wind, falling upon them as upon a merchant vessel laden with all kinds of good things, lias at onc« overthrown and destroyed these things ; while upon those who have been imperfectly supplied, and who have been sorrowful, hanging down their heads like ears of corn withering under drought and disease, God has suddenly showered down and poured forth his saving powers, and has caused them to rise up and become prosperous and perfect. From which it is plain that he cleaves to what is holy and righteous ; for those whose ally is God are consummately happy, but those to whom he is an enemy are sunk in the lowest depths of misery. This appears sufficient to say on the present occasion on the sutgect of courage.

We must now proceed iu due order to consider that virtue which is more nearly related to piety, being as it were a sister, a twin sister, namely, humanity, which the father of our laws loved so much that I know not if any human being was ever more attached to it. For he knew that lliis was ju It were a plain and level road conducting to holiness; and, therefore, he trained and instructed all the pcple who were in subjection to himself in precepts of fellowship, the most e.Kcelleut of all lessons, exhibiting to them his own life as an archetvpal model for them to copy. Everr thing,' then, that was over done by bun from his earliest "infancy to old age in the way of taking care and providing for each separate individual and for all men in goncnil. has been already explained in the three b.-oks of lh.> ireatisc which I have set forth about the life of .Moses.

Hut jt is necessary also to make mention of one or two points which he set in order when at the point of death : f-.r tboy ar.. u.dica. tive of that continual and unintcmiptcd virtue which ho stamped upon his own soul, which was thus fa-sluoned aft^T the 4^-i PHILO JUDJEUS. divine model, in such a way that it should be free from all indistinctness and confusion. For when the appointed limit of human existence was on the point of being reached by him, and when by distinct intimation from God he became aware that he was about to depart from the world, he did not act like any other person, whether king or private individual, whose only anxiety and pi'ayer is to leave their inheritance to their children ; but although he had become the father of two sons, he was not so much under the influence of the natural affection and love for his offspring which he undoubtedly felt as to bequeath his authority to either of them. And yet, even he had some suspicion of the worth of his children; at all events, he had no lack of virtuous and pious nephews, who were, indeed, already invested with the high priesthood, as a reward of their virtue.

But, perhaps, he did not think fit to draw them away from the divine ministrations which belonged to their office, or, as was very likely, he considered that it would be impossible for them to attend to both matters, the priesthood and the royal authority, the one of which employments professes to be devoted to the worship of God, the other to the government of and to the care of providing for men. Perhaps, also, he did not think fit to become himself the judge in so important a matter, especially as it is an attribute of almost divine power to see thoroughly who is by nature well adapted for such authority, as it is the Deity alone to whom it is easy to see into the dispositions of men.

And the clearest proof of what I have said may be afforded by the following consideration. He had a friend and pupil, one who had been so almost from his very earliest youth, Joshua by name, whose friendship he had won, not by any of the arts which are commonly in use among other men, but by that heavenly and unmixed love from which all virtue is derived. This man lived under the same roof, and shared the same table with him, except when solitude was enjoined to him on occasions when he was inspired and instructed in divine oracles. He also performed other services for him in Aihich he was distinguished from the multitude, being almost his lieutenant, and regulating in conjunction with him the matters relating to his supreme authority.

But yet, though Moses had thus an accurate knowledge of him from his experience of him for a long time, and tliou"h he knew his excellence both in word and deed, and the greuiuess of his good will towards his nation, yet he did not think fit to leave him as his successor himself, fearing lest he might perchance be deceived in looking on that man as good wiio iu reality was not so, since the tests by which one can judge of human nature are in a great degree indistinct and unst'iille. On which account he did not trust to his own knowledge, but he supplicated and entreated God, who alone can behold the invisible soul, who sees accurately the mind of man, to choose and select the most suitable man for the supreme authoritv, one who would care for the people who were to be his subjects like a father. And stretching his pure, and, as one may say in a somewhat metaphorical manner, his virgin hands towards heaven, he said, "

Let the Lord God of spirits and of all flesh look out for himself a man to be over this multitude, to undertalie the care and superintendence of a shepherd, who shall lead them in a blameless manner, iu order that this nation may not become corrupt like a flock which is scattered abroad, as having no shepherd."* And yet who was there of all the men of that time who would not have been amazed if he had heard this prayer? Who was there who would not have said, " "What art tliou saying, master? hast not thou legitimate children? hast lliou not nephews ? Above all men, leave thy authority to thy children first, for they are thy natural heirs ; but if thou dis;ipprovest of them, at all events bequeath it to thy nepliews ; antl if tliou lookest upon them also as unlit, having a greater regard for the whole nation than for thy nearest and dearest relations, Btill thou hast an irreproachable friend who has given a jiroof of his perfect virtue to you who art all-wise and capable to judge of it.

Why, then, do thou not think fit to show your approbation of him, if thy object is not to sdect one on account of his family but on account of his virtue ?" But Moses would reply: "It is proper to make God the judge in everything, and most especially ni those things in which the acting well or ill brings innuni.Table mulliludes to happiness, or on the contrary to misery. And tlicre w nothing of greater importance than sovereign autlionty. to which all the affairs of cities, in war or peace, are commiltod. For as in order to make a successful voyage one has need of a pilot who is both virtuous and skilful, in the same manner there is need of a very wise governor, in order to secure the good goveiTiment of the subjects in every quarter. Moi-eover, wisdom is a thing not only more ancient than my own birth, but even than the creation of the universal world ; nor is it lawful uor possible for any one to decide in such a matter but God alone, and those who love wisdom with guilelessness, and sincerity and truth ; and I have learnt by myself not to approve of, as fit for dominion, any one of those men who appear to be suitable.

"I, indeed, myself, did neither undertake the charge of caring for and providing for the common prosperity of my own accord, nor because I was appointed to the office by any human being ; but I undertook to govern this people because God manifestly declared his will by visible oracles and distinct commandments, and commanded me to rule them ; and I, after having besought and supplicated him to excuse me, because I had a respect unto the greatness of the business, at last, after he had repeated his commandments many times, I with fear obeyed.

How, then, can it be any thing but absurd for me not now to follow in the same steps, and, after I myself, when about to assume the supreme authority, had had God for ray elector and approver, not now in my turn to refer to him alone the appointment of my successor, without calling in the assistance of any human wisdom which is likely to be akin in some degree to folly, especially as the government to be undertaken is not one over any ordinary nation, but one which is the most populous of all nations everywhere, and one which puts forth the most important of all professions, the worship of the one true and living God, who is the Creator and the father of the universe ? For whatever advantages are derived from the most approved philosophy to its students, full as great are derived by the Jews from their laws and customs, inasmuch as through them they have rejected all errors about gods who have been created themselves ; for there is no created being who is truly God, but such a one is so only in appearance and opinion, being destitute of that most indispensable quality in God, namely, eternity."

This, now, is the first and most conspicuous proof of his great humanity and good faith towards and affecON HUMANITY. 4-^7 tion for all those of his own people, and there is also another which is not inferior to that which 1 have alreadv mentioned.

For when Joshua, being his most excellent pupil and the imitator of his amiable and excellent disposition, had been approved of as the ruler of the people by the judgment of God, Moses was in no respect downcast as some other men might have been at the fact of its Tiot having been his own sons or nephews who were appointed ; but he was filled with unrestrained joy because there was secured to tlie nation a governor who was in all respects excellent (for lie was sure that the man who was pleasing to God must be virtuous and pious) ; and accordingly, taking him by the rigbt hand, he led him forth to the assembled multitude, not being at all alarmed at the idea of his own impending death, but feeling that he had received a new cause of joy in addition to lii.^ former reasons for cheerfulness, not only from the recollection of his former happiness, in which he had passed his life abundantly in every species of virtue, but from the hope also that he was now about to become immortal, changing from this corruptible to an incorruptible life ; and accordnigly, wiili a cheerful look proceeding from the joy which he felt in his soul, he spoke to them with joy and exultation in the following manner, and said.

" It is time for me now to be released from the life in tlic body; and my successor in the government of your nation i:» this man, having been appointed thereto by God." And then he proceeded to detail to them the oracular words of God which he had received as the proofs of this Ins successors appointment by God; and the people believed them. And then, looking upon Joshua, he exhorted him to approve bin. self a valiant man, and to be very strong in good and ^M^o counsel, and to show himself the interpreter o Ins counsels, and to accomplish all his purposes with unyielding nnd vigorous decision. And he said thus much to him though be was not perhaps in need of any reconmiendation, but because l.o would not conceal their mutual affection for one another and for the whole people, by which be wns spurred on as ,t were to lav bare before him what he thougbt would be mhanlagcons.

He had also received an oracular command to call his successor and to render him full of confidence and good courage to undertake the care of the nation, without being npprehcnsive of the great burden of the authority committed to him, in order that he might be a standard and rule for all governors who should come hereafter, and who should look upon Moses as their model ; so that none of them should ever grudge good advice to their successors, but should train, and exercise, and instnict their souls with their suggestions and counsels. For the advice of a good man is often able to raise up again those men whose minds are prostrate, and to elevate them again to a height, implanting in them a noble and intrepid spirit, which shall thus be established firmly above all circumstances and exigencies of time.

Accordingly, after ha\-ing held a discourse in which he uttered sentiments suited both to the people who had been committed to his care, and to those who were to be the inheritors of his authority, he begins to hymn the praises of God in a song, uttering the last psalra of thanksgiving in this life while still in the body, for all the kindnesses and mercies of extraordinary and unprecedented kinds, which he had received from his birth to this his old age ; and having collected a most divine assembly to hear these praises, namely, the elements of the universe, and the most comprehensive parts of the whole world, the earth and the heaven, one of which is the dwelling of mortals, and the other the home of the immortals, he saner his hymn of praise in the middle of them all, with every description of harmony and symphony which men and ministering angels hear; the one, as being pupils, in order to learn to display their own grateful dispositions in a similar manner, and the others as presiding over them, and as by their own experience being able to take care that no part of this hvmn shall be out of tune, and also as feeling some doubt whether any human being bound up in a mortal body could be able to attune his soul to music in the same manner as the sun, and the moon, and the rest of the company of the stars, having properly conformed himseh' to that divine instrument, the heaven, and to the universal world.

And the declarer of the will of God being thus placed amid the beings who form the host of heaven, mingled with his grateful hymns of praise to God proofs of his own genuine affection and good will towards his nation, while he reproved them for their previous sins, and gave them admonitions, and advice, and precepts for the present occasion, and exhortations for the future, inspiring ON HUMANITY. jgg them with favourable hopes, which it was inevitable that favourable events would of necessity follow.

And when he had finished his hvmn of melodious praise, which was thus in a manner woven "together and made up of piety and humanity, he began to be changed and to depart from mortal existence to immortal life, and gradually to feel a separation of the different parts of which he vas composed, namely of his body, which was now removed from him like a shell from a fish, from his soul which was thus laid bare and naked, and which desired its natural departure from hence. Then, having prepared all things for his departure, he did not approach the actual termination of his existence until he had shown respect to all the tribes of his nation by harmonious and consistent prayers in their behalf, honouring them all to the number of twelve by the recapitulation of the name of the patriarch of each tribe, all which prayers we must believe wil! certainly be accomplished, for the man who offered up the prayers was a devout senant of God, and God is merciful, and the persons on whose behalf the supplications were uttered were men of pure and noble birth, classed in the highest rank possible by the supreme leader of the people, the Creator and Father of the universe.

And the things which were entreated for in the petitions were real blessings, not only that such things might fall to their share in this mortal life, but still more so when the soul should be released from the bondage of the flesh : for Most>s alone, looking upon it as it should seem that his whole nation had from the veiy beginning the closest of all possible relationships to God, one much more genuine than tliat which consists of ties of blood, made it the inheritor of all the g>>ud things which the nature of mankind is capable of receiving, giving from his own store things which he had hinjs.lf. and entreating God to supply what he himself was not }>o^.s^ssed of, knowing that the fountains of his graces are everlasting, but yet that they are not dispensed to all men. but only to such as are suppliants for them: and suppliants arc th<>s« persons who love virtue and piety, and it is lawful Uj tlum to drink up those most sacred springs, inasmuch as ihcj are continually thir. ,ing for wisdom.

We have now, then, spoken of the proofs of the humauitj of the lawgiver, which he displayed by the admirable disposition of his own excellent nature, and also partly by the expositions which he has given in the sacred volumes. We must now proceed to speak of the precepts which he left behind him, commanding that they should be observed by future ages, and we must enumerate, if not all (for that would not be easy), at all events^ the principal topics which are most closely connected with and most nearly resembling his counsels ; for, according to him, gentleness and humanity have not their habitation only in the communion of society which takes place among men, but also of his great liberality and bounty he diffuses it exceedingly, and extends it even to the ii'rational animals, and to the different species of wholesome trees. And what ordinances he established with respect to each of these things we must proceed to enumerate separately, making our beginning with men.

Therefore Moses forbids a man to lend on usury to his brother,* meaning by the term brother not only him who is born of the same parents as one's self, but every one who is a fellow citizen or a fellow countiyman, since it is not just to exact offspring from money, as a farmer does from his cattle. And he enjoins his subjects not to hang back on that account, and to be more slow to contribute to the necessities of others, but rather with open hands and willing minds very cheerfully to give to those who have need, considering that gratitude may in some degree be looked upon as interest repaid at a more favourable season for what was lent in an hour of necessity, being repaid by the voluntary inclination of the receiver of the kindness. And if a person be not willing wholly to give, still at all events let him lend, so as to give the temporary use of what is wanted freely and cheerfully, without expecting to receive anything beyond the principal. For in this way the poor will not become poorer, by being compelled to restore more than they received ; nor will they who lent be doing iniquity if they only I'eceive back what they lent.

And yet they will not receive nothing more, for with the principal, instead of the interest which they have not demanded to receive, they will gain the best and most honourable of all human things, as they will have displayed kindness and magnanimity, and will have earned a faiiPVeputation and goodwill. And what acquisition is there which is equal to this? for indeed the mightiest monarch appears poor and helpless if he is put in comparison with one single virtue, for he has only inanimate riches buried in his treasuries or in the recesses of the earth, but the wealth of virtue is stored up in the dominant part of the soul ; and that purest of all essences, heaven, claims itself a share in that, as likewise does tho Creator and Father of the universe, God. Therefore we must look upon and denominate the opulence of money-changers and usurers as poverty, though they appear to themselves to be mighty kings, while they have never beheld that wealth which is really endowed with sight, no not even in their dreams. And these men run into such extravugances of wickedness, that if they have not money, they make usurious advances even of food, lending it on condition of receiving back again more than they lent.

Accordingly, sufh men will speedily afford a contribution to those who ask for one, preparing famine and scarcity against a time of plenty and abundance, and making a revenue of the hunger of tho bellies of miserable men, weighing out the food as it were in a scale, and taking care not to give overweight. Therefore ho necessarily commands those who live under his sacre.l constitution to avoid every description of revenues of this kind, tor all such pursuits were the sign of a thoroughly slavisli and illiberal mind, which must be changed into savagencss and into the resemblance of brute beasts, before it could adopt them.

Again, among the different commands which conduce to the extension of humanity, there is this one also estal.bshcd.* that every employer is to pay the wages of tho poor man tho same day that they are earned, not only because, smce he lias fulfilled the purpose for which he wits hired, it is just that ho should without any delay receive the reward of us servire. I.ul also because, as some persons have said, snice the luuHlnmltsman or burden-carrier is only a dnily servant and short live.l. suffering hardships with his whole body hko «">' conui.oM beast of burden, he fi.xes all his hopes upon Ins wug.-s. wlnrl if he receives at once, he is rejoiced, being ...th glad nmv. un.i ready to work twice as hurd to-morrow with all cheerfulness but if he does not get his wages, then, besides being exceedingly » Leviticus xix. 13. disappointed, he is weakened in his nerves and sinews through sorrow, and becomes faint, so that he is unable to move himself to the performance of his ordinary tasks.

Again, the lawgiver says, let no one who lends on usury enter the house of his debtors to take by force any security or pledge for his debt,* but let him stand without in the outer court, and wait there entreating his debtor quietly to bring him a pledge ; and if he have a pledge to give, let him not evade giving it, since it is fitting that the creditor should not by reason of his power behave in an arrogant manner, so as to insult those who have borrowed of him ; and that the debtor also should out of his recollection of the loan of another person's property which he has received, not refuse to give an adequate security.

And who is there who can avoid admiring the proclamation or commandment about reapers and gatherers of the fruit of the vineyard ?t For Moses commands that at the time of harvest the farmer shall not gather up the corn which falls from the sheaves, and that he shall not cut down all the crop, but that he shall leave a portion of the field unreaped, by this law rendering the rich magnanimous and communicative of their wealth, from being compelled thus to neglect some portion of their own lawful property, and not to be eager to save it all, nor to collect it all together, not to bring it all home and lay it up in store, and making the poor at the same time more cheerful and contented. For as the poor have no property of their own, he allows them to go into the fields of their fellow countrymen, and to reap of what they have left as if it were their own. And at the season of autumn he again enjoins the possessors of the land, when they are gathering their fruits, not to pick up those fruits which fall to the gi'ound, nor to glean the vineyards a second time. And he also gives the same command to those who are gathering olives.

J Like a most affectionate father, whose children are not all in the enjoyment of equal good fortune, since some of them live in abundance, while others are reduced to the very extremity of poverty ; but he, commiserating and pitying them, summons them to partake of the possessions of their brethren, using what thus belongs to others as it were their own, not in so doing inviting them to any action of • Deut. xxiv. 10. t Deut. xxiv. 19. J Deut. xxiv. 20. lOWshfimeless wrong, Lut supplying their real necessities, allc. ing them a participation, not in the crops alone, but even in the lands themselves hkewise, as far as appearance is con. cerned.

But there are men who are so sordid in their minds, hting wholly devoted to the acquisition of money and labouring' to the death for every description of gain, without paying any attention to the source from which it is derived, that tfiey glean their vineyards again after they have gathered the fruit, and beat their olive branches a second time, and reap the whole of the land which bears barley and the whole of the land whicli bears wheat, convicting themselves of an illiberal and slavi.sh littleness of soul, and also displaying their impiety; for they themselves have contributed but a small part of what was necessary for the cultivation of their lands, but the greater number and the most important of the means to render tlio laud fertile and productive have been supplied by nature, buch as seasonable rains, a proper temperature of the atmosphere, those nurses of the seeds sown and springing up — heavy and continual dews, vivifying breezes, the beneficial bestowal of tiie seasons of the year, so that the summer shall not scorch the crops nor the frost chill them, nor the revolutions of sjiring and autumn deteriorate or diminish what is produced.

And though these men know and actually see that nature is continually perfecting her work by these means, and is enriching them with her abundant bounties, nevertheless they endeavour to appropriate the whole of her liberality to tbeinselvo«, and, as if they themselves were the causes of eventliing. they give no share of any of their wealth to any one. showing at one and the same time their inhumanity and tbcir impiety. These men accordingly, since tliey have not lal-ound in the cause of virtue of their own free will, lie reproves and cliasiine* against their will by liis sacred laws, which the virtuous man obeys voluntarily, and the wicked man unwillingly.

The laws command* that the people should offer to the priests first fruits of corn, and wine, and oil. and of tlicir domestic flocks, and of wools, lint that of the crops which arc produced in the fields, and of the fruits of tho trees thoy should bring in full baskets in proportion to the extent uf their lands; with hymns made in praise of (Jod, wlucb the »acrcd » Deuteronomy xxiv. 4. volumes preserve recorded in writing. And, moreover, they were not to reckon the first-born of the oxen, and sheep, and goats in their herds and tiocks as if they were their own, but were to look upon these also as first-fruits, in order that, being thus trained partly to honour God, and partly also not to seek for every possible gain, they might be adorned with those chief virtues, piety and humanity. Again. The law says,* if you see the beast of any one of your relations or friends, or, in short, of any man whatever whom you know, wandering in the wilderness, bring him back and restore him to him ; and, if the master be a long way ofT, then keep the animal with your own until he returns, and then he shall receive back the deposit which he has not entrusted to you, but which you, having found, spontaneously restore to him from your own natural feelings of fellowship.

Again. Are not all the enactments about the seventh year so formally established, enjoining the people to leave all the land that year fallow and uncultivated, and allowing the poor to go with impunity over the fields of the rich to gather the fruits which that year grow spontaneously as the gift of nature, most merciful and humane ordinances? The law says,t " Six years let the inhabitants of the land enjoy the fruits as a reward for the acquisitions which they have made and for the labours which they have undergone in cultivating the land ; but for one year, namely, the seventh, let the poor and needy enjoy it, as no work pertaining to agriculture has been done in tliat year." For, if any work had been done, it would have been absurd for one man to labour and for another to reap the fruit of his labours. But this ordinance was given in order that, the lands being left this year in some manner without any owners, no cultivation of the land contributing to its fertility, the produce, although full and complete, might be seen to proceed wholly from the bounty of God, coming forth as it were to meet and relieve the necessitous. Again.

What are we to say of the commandments given relating to the fiftieth year? J Do not they go to the very furthest extent of humanity ? And, indeed, who would deny it, unless he had only tasted of this sacred code of laws with anytliing more than the edges of his lips, and had not feasted and revelled in its most sweet and beautiful doctrines? For, in this fiftieth year, all the ordinances which are given relatin" to the seventh year are repeated, and some of f;reater nia'^'iiitude are likewise added, for instance, a resumption of a niaii's own possessions which he may have yielded up to others through unexpected necessity ; for the law does not permit any one permanently to retain possession of the property of others, but blockades and stops up the roads to covetousness for the sake of checking desire, that treacherous passion, that cause of all evils; and, therefore, it has not permitted that the owners should be for ever deprived of their original property, as that would be punishing them for their poverty, for which we ought not to be punished, but undoubtedly to be pitied.

There is also an innumerable host of other special ordinances relating to one's fellow countrj-men of great humanity and beauty ; but, as I have mentioned them at suflicientlen;.'th in my former treatises, I shall be satisfied with wiiat I have said on those subjects, which I then put forth seasonably as a kind of specimen of the whole. J I. Moreover, after the lawgiver has established comnmndmenis respecting one's fellow countrymen, he proceeds to show that he looks upon strangers also as wortliy of having their interests attended to by his laws, since they have foi-sakm their natural relations by blood, and their native laud and tlu-ir national customs, and the sacred temples of their gods, und the worship and honour which they had been wont to pa\ to them, and have migrated with a holy migration, changing tli.'ir abode of fabulous inventions for that of the certanity an.i Hnirness of truth, and of the worship of the one true and living God.

Accordingly, he commands the men of Ins nation to love the strangers, not only as they love their friends and relations, but even as they love themselves, .b.ing tbnn a 1 Die good possible both in body and soul ; and, as to ihnr leolings. sympathising with them both in sorrow and in joy. so as to appear all one creature, though the parts am d.vid.d : nmtnn fellowship uniting the whole and rendering it canpa.-t nn.l coherent. , . , .1 There is no need of my saying anything ab,n, m.at.. am drinks, and garments, and all the other matters wh..h rda . o the usual way of living and to the nceessary requirement, of • Deuteronomy x. 19. life, which the law enjoins that the foreigners shall receive from the natives of the land ; for all these things follow the one general law of benevolence, which enjoins every man to love and cherish a stranger in the same degree with himself.

Moreover, extending and carrying further that humanity which is naturally so attractive, he also gives commandments respecting sojourners, thinking it fitting that those persons who, through any temporary distresses, "have been driven from their homes should requite tnose who have received them with a certain degree of honour, with all imaginable respect, if they have done good to them and have treated them with friendliness and hospitality, and with a moderate degree of respect if they have done nothing more than merely receiving them into the land ; for to be allowed to abide in a city with which one is wholly unconnected, or, I might even say, to be allowed only to tread on the soil which belongs to another, is in itself a bounty of sufficient magnitude for those persons who are unable to dwell in their own land. But the lawgiver here, going beyond all the ordinary boundaries of humanity, thinks it fitting and ordains that such sojourners shall bear no ill-will even to those men who, after having received them in the land, may have ill-treated them, since, though their actions may not have been kind, their name at least resembles the characteristics of humanity. Therefore he says, in express terms, "

Thou shalt not curse the Egyptian, because thou wast a sojourner in the land of Egypt."* And yet what evil did the Egyptians ever omit to inflict upon this nation, being continually adding new devices of cruelty to the old ones, and proceeding by all sorts of fresh contrivances to heap inhumanity on inhumanity? But, nevertheless, be(!ause originally they received them in the land, not shutting their cities against them, and not making their country inaccessible to them when they first came, the lawgiver says, " Let them, as a reward for their friendly reception of you, have a treaty of peace with you. And if any of them should be willing to forsake their old ways and to come over to the customs and constitutions of the Jews, they are not to be rejected and treated with hostiUty as the children of enemies, but to be received in such a manner that in the third genei'ation they may he admitted into the assembly, and may I have a share of the divine words read to them, being instrnctod in tlie will of God equally with the natives of the land, the descendants of God's chosen people.

These, then, are the ordinances which he enacts for the sojourners in respect of those who have received them into their land, and he also establishes other merciful laws, full of gentleness and humanity, on behalf even of enemies ;"* for he thinks it right with respect to them, even if they are at the gates, and standing under the very walls ready to attack them in their complete armour, and raising their warlike engines against them, that they shall, nevertheless, not be accounted enemies until the citizens have sent heralds to them and invited them to peace, that so, if they will yield, they may find that greatest of all blessings, namely, friendship ; but if they are uncomplying and refuse, then the citizens, having also gained the alliance and co-operation of justice, might go to repel them with a good hope of victory.

Moreover, if, after having taken prisoners in a sally, you should entertain a desire for a beautiful woman amongst thcm,| do not satiate your passion, treating her as a captive, but act with gentleness, and pity her change of fortune, and alleviate her calamity, regulating everything for the best; and you will alleviate her sufferings if you cut the hair of her head, and trim her nails, and take off from her the garment which she wore when she was taken prisoner, and leave her alone for thirty days, during which period you shall permit her witli impunity to mourn and bewail her father and her mother, and her other relations, from whom she has been separated liy their death, or by their being subjected to the calamity of slavery which is worse than death. And, after that period, you shall cohabit with her as with a legitimate wedded wife ; for it is right that one who is about to ascend the bed of her liusband. not for hire, like a harlot who makes a traffic of the llowor of her beauty, but either out of love for him who has espoused her, or for the sake of the procreation of cliiMren. sIkuiM bo thougnt worthy of the ordinances which belong to a Icgitimato marriage.

On which account the lawgiver has giv..'ii all Ins laws with great beauty. For, in the first place, he had not pcrnuttrd appetite o proceed onwards in its unbridled course, with stilT-nocked obstinacy, but he has checked its vehement impetuosity, compelling it to rest for thirty days. And in the second place he has tested love, trying whether it is a frantic passion, easily satisfied, and, in fact, wholly originating in desire, or whether it has any share in tliat most pure essence of well-tempered reason, for reason will bridle the desire, not allowing it to proceed to any acts of insolence, but compelling it to abide the appointed period of a month of probation. And, in the third place, he shows his compassion for the captive, if she is a virgin, because it is not her parents who are now giving her in marriage, arranging for her a most desirable connection ; and if she is a widow, because she, being deprived of her first husband, is about now to make e.xperiment of another, and this too while he still holds over her the power of a master, even though he studies to exhibit equality ; for that which is subject to a master must always be apprebensive of his power, even though he may be very merciful.

But if any one, being filled with desire, and being afterAvards sated with enjoyment, no longer chooses to continue his cohabitation with his captive, then the lawgiver does not so much punish him as admonish him and correct him, with a view to the improvement of his disposition, for he commands him in such a case not to sell her,* nor to retain her any longer as a slave, but to give her liberty freely, and to allow her to depart from his house with impunity, in order that she may not be exposed to some intolerable suffering N\hen any other woman is introduced into the house, b}' their both quarI'elling, as is often the case, out of jealousy, the master being at the same time brought into subjection to more recent charms, and despising those by which he was previously allured.

And thus the lawgiver pouring precept after precept into ready and obedient ears, enjoins humanity.f Moreover, even if any beasts of burden belonging to the enemy while bearing burdens are oppressed by the weight, and fall down beneath them, he commands that the people should not pass them by, but that they should lighten their burdens and raise them up, teaching them thus by remote examples not to be dehghted at the unexpected misfortunes even of those who hate them, knowing that to rejoice in the disasters of others is a malignant and odious passion, loth akin to and contrary to envy ; akin to it, because each of these feelings proceeds from passion, and because they approach near to, and one may almost say reciprocate, one another; but contrary, because the one feeling causes grief at the good fortune of another, and the other excites joy at the misfortunes of one's neighbour. Also the law proceeds to say.

If you see the beast of one Nvho is thy enemy* wandering about, leave the excitenienis to quarrelling to more perverse dispositions, and lead the unimal back and restore him to his owner ; for so you will not be benefiting him more than yourself; since he v.iJl by this means save only an irrational beast which is perhaps of no value, but you will get the greatest and most valualde of all things in nature, namely, excellence. And there will follow of necessity, as sure as shadow follows a body, the dissolution of you; enmity ; for the man who has received a benefit is willinglj induced to make peace for the future as being enslaved, by the kindness shown to him ; and he who lias couferred the benefit, having his own good action for a counsellor, is already almost prepared in his mind for a conii>lele rccouciliatiui.

And this is an object which the most holy prophet is eideavouring to bring to pass throughout the whole of his code cf laws, studying to create unanimity, iuid fellowship, and ag^jement, and that due admixture of ditVerent dispositions hr which houses, and cities, and altai-s, and nations, and couitries, and the whole human race muy be conducted to the v«y highest happiness. But up to thepresent time these are only wishes: but they will be hereaftei as I at least persuade myself, most leal facts, since God \ill give a plentiful harvest of virtue. a.s ho does give the harvst of the fruits of the seasons ; whieh we shall never fail to ttain to if we eheri>h u desire for th. ni from our earliest infjucy.

The ordinaces, then, which he liiid down for the observance of free-bon men are these and others like tbeiu. And as it seems he alo has e^tabli^lled other rrgulntions consistent with them rejecting slaves; all of which tend la tiigender gentleness ari humanity, of whicli he gives u share even to slaves. Accord.igly| he thinks it (it that tlios«. who. because of tlieir need of necessary sustenance, have devoted themselves to the service of others, ought not to be compelled to endure any thing unworthy of a liberal freedom of birth ; advising those who have the advantage of their ministrations to have a i-egard to the unexpected misfortunes which have befallen their servants, and to feel respect for their change of condition. And he does not allow those who become debtors for daily loans, and who, by a parabolical and metaphorical expression, have received both the name and unbappy condition of ephemeral animals, or those who through some even still more urgent necessity have become slaves from having been free men, to suffer misery for ever, but he gives tbem entire deliverance in the seventh year.

For, says he, a period of six yeai's for servitude is sufScicnt for those debtors who cannot repay the loans to the lender, or who for any other reason have become slaves after having been free. And those who were not naturally slaves are not to be deprived of all happiness and liberty for ever, but are again to return to their former state of freedom, of which they were deprivcii through some unforeseen calamities. "

And if," the lawgiver proceeds to say, " one wlo has been a slave of another for three generations, from iear of the threats of his master, or from a consciousness of having committed some offence, or, if he has committed nooffence at all but has a savage and inhuman master, flees for jfefuge to some one else, in the hope to obtain assistance frort him, do not reject him ; for it is not consistent with holin&s to abandon a suppliant, and even a slave is a suppliant, inai<nuch as he has taken refuge on thy hearth, where it is fittin,' that he sliould find an asylum, especially if without any guiS he has come to offer honest service. And if he cannot obtdn this protection, at all events let him be sold to some one e*e ; for it is uncertain what may be the effect of his changeof raastei-s, and an uncertain evil is easier to bear than a conessed one."

These, then, are the ordinances which he appoints to be observed concerning one's own reltions, and strangers, and friends, and enemies, and slaves, ^nd free men, and in short respecting the whole of the huma* I'^c^e. And moreover, he extends his principles of humanity 'Hd compassion even to the race of irrational animals, allowing them always to share of these benefits as of a jdeasant fountain ; for in the case of domestic animals, with reference to Hocks of sheep, and of goats, and herds of oxen, he commands the people to abstain from using of those animals which are just born, or frmn taking them either for food or under jiret.ence of sacriliciiig them. For he looked upon it as a proof of a cruel disposition to plot against such creatures the moment they are born, so as \o cause an immediate separation between the offspring and the mother, for the sake of the pleasures of the belly, or rather on account of some absurd and preposterous unpleasantness which the soul fancies. Therefore, he says to the man who is about to live in accordance with his most sacred constitution, "

My good man, there is a great abundance of things of wliich you are permitted the enjoyment, to which there is no blame attached ; for, perhaps, it would have been pardonable if it were not so, since want and scarcity compel men to do many things which otherwise they would not intend. But you ought to be pre-emintiit in temperance and the practice of all virtues ; being reckoned in the most admirable of all classifications and enrolled in obedience to a most excellent captain, the right reason of nature, by all which considerations you ought to be rendered humane, avoiding receiving in your mind any thing which is wrong. And why in addition to the pains which the animal buai-s in I'arturition, should you also inflict other pains from external causes, by the immediate separation of the mother from licr oftsprin"?

For it is inevitable that she will resist nii.l be indignant when they are thus parted, by reason of the affectiorl implanted bv nature in every mother towards her offspring, and especially at the time of th.-ir birth : since at this time the breasts are full of milk-like springs, and then it through want of the child which is to snck them the llow ol mUk receives a check, they become hard.-n-d by .nng distended by the weight of the milk, and the wonwn tlu-msrlvrt are overwhelmed with pain. .i . ;f Therefore, says the law, give her oflspnng t.) 'Inmoth.T not for the whole time, still at all evnts U.r llu; t.rjt s. -u days, to rear on her milk, and render not unpn.t. able I »«« fountains of milk which nature has bestmv.-d upon h.r ».r. a.t.^ destroving that second bounty of hers which she has prti-arU Avith great prudence, perceiving from a distance by her everlasting and perfect wisdom what will hereafter happen.

For her first bounty was the birth by means of which that which had no existence was brought into being ; the second bounteous gift was the flow of milk, the most tender and seasonable food for a tender creature, which, though it is only one thing, is at the same time both meat and drink. For inasmuch as part of the milk is of a watery nature, it is drink ; and inasmuch as part of it is of a somewhat solid nature, it is meat ; and it is endowed with these characteristics from a prudent foresight to prevent the lately born offspring from suffering disaster, through want lying in wait for it at different times, taking care thus that, by the one and the same application of each kind of food, it may escape those cruel mistresses, hunger and thirst. Do you then, you excellent and most admirable parents, read this law and hide your faces, you who are continually plotting the deaths of your children, you who entertain cruel designs against your offspring, so as to expose them the moment that they are born, you irreconcileable enemies of the whole race of mankind ; for who is there to whom you ever entertain good will, when you are the murderers of your own children ?

You who, as far as lies in your power, make cities desolate, beginning with the destruction of youi' nearest relations ; you who overturn all the laws of nature, and pull down all that she builds up ; you who are savage and untameable in the barbarity of your souls, raising up destruction against birth, and death against life ? Do not you see, that it has been a care to that all-wise and all-good lawgiver, that not even in the case of brute beasts shall the offspring be separated from the mother until it has been nourished by her milk? And this is ordained principally for your sake, you noble persons, that if you have it not by nature, you may at least learn proper affection for your kindred by instruction, and having regard to the examples of lambs and kids, who are not hindered from revelling in the most abundant jiossible supply of necessary food, which nature itself prepares for them in the most convenient places, by which easy enjoyment of food is granted to those that stand in need of it the lawgiver providing, with great zeal and care, that no one shall intercept the bountiful and savhig gifts of God.

And beiug desirous to implant the seeds of gentleness and humanity in the minds of men, by every kind uf expedient imaginable, he adds also another injunction akm to the preceding one, forbidding any one to safrilioe the mother and the offspring on the same day, for even if they are both to be sacrificed, still it must be at diflferent times, for it is the greatest extravagance of barbarity to slay in one day the animal which has been born and her who is the cause of ils birth. And for what object is this done ? one is slain on pretence of sacrifice, the other for the gi'atihcation of tlie belly. If then it is ou pretence of offering them in sacrifice, then the very name is given with falsehood; for animals taken fur such purpose are victims, not sacrifices.* And what altar of God would ever receive such unholy sacrifices'? And as for the fire, would it not of its own accord divide itself in two parts and stand asunder, avoiding all the conUnnination which might arise from any contact with such a profane thing ?

I imagine that it would not have remained, no, not for even the briefest time, but would have been immediately extinguished, out of a watchful care that the air, and the must huly nature of the Spirit, should not be polluted by the abcending tlaines. And if they are not taken to be offered in sacrifice, liut with a view to feast on them, then who can there be who would nut loathe and reject all these new and uni)recedented kinds of preposterous gluttony? for such men are, indeed, pni-Mung pleasures which are out of all reason.

And what pleasure can it be to men who are eating meat, to devour, on the hamo occasion, the flesh of the mothers and of their (.ff>pnng? .And if anv one were to desire to mangle the lnnl>s of the two animals together, and to run them in a spit and to roast t leui, and so to devour them, I do believe that the very hn.bs themselves would not remain (luiet, but would be filled willi ludiguation and would utter speech, tiiruugh their lurjut tho extraordinary character of the unprecedented injury done to them, and would revile, with innumerable rei-roaehes for their gluttony, those men who had tlms prepared this unmeutionable banquet. , , But the law banishes to a distance from tW /«'^red pr^ cincts all animals which are pregnant no. i;;'-"';"";^;''^" ^"^ be sacrificed until they have brought forth, looking on the 44.4 piiiLO JUD.EUS. animals wbich are still in the womb as equal to what has just been born ; not because those which have never yet come to light are really looked upon as of equal importance with living creatures, but this ordinance is given to banish to a distance the rashness of those persons who are in the habit of confound ing everything; for if animals, which grow and increase like plants, and which are considered to be as it were parts of the mothers whicb have conceived them, being still united to them, and being destined hereafter, after an appointed period of months, to be separated from the close connection to which they are at present attached, are, because of the hope that at some future time they may become living creatures, preserved at present by the safety thus guaranteed to their mothers, in order that the aforesaid pollution may not come to pass ; how can it be that the animals, when brought forth, shall not be preserved in a still greater degree, which in their own proper persons have received the gift of life and body ? for it is the most impious of all customs, to slay both offspring and mother at one time and on one day.

And it appears to me that some lawgivers, having started from this point, have also promulgated the law about condemned women, which commands that pregnant women, if they have committed any offence worthy of death, shall nevertheless not be executed until they have brought forth, in order that the ci'eature in their womb may not be slain with them when they are put to death. But these men have established these enactments with reference to human beings, but this lawgiver of ours, going beyond them all, extends his humanity even to brute beasts, in order that we being accustomed to practise all the things ordained in his laws, may display an excessive degree of humanity, abstaining from pursuing any one, or even from annoying them in retaliation for any annoyance which we have received at their hands, and that we may not store up in secret our own good things, so as to keep them to ourselves, but may bring them into the middle, and offer them freely to all men everywhere, as if they were our kinsmen and our natural brothers.

Moreover, let wicked sycophants calumniate the whole nation as one given to inhumanity, and our laws as enjoining unsociable and inhuman observances, while the laws do thus openly show compassion on even the herds of cattle, and ^'-^j^e the whole nation from its earliest youth is, as far as the diaohedient nature of their souls will admit of, brouglit over by the honest admonitions of the law to a peaceable disposition. And our lawgiver endeavours to surpass even hiruself, being a man of every kind of resource which can tend to virtue, and having a certain natural aptitude for virtuous recommendations ; for he commands that one shall not take an animal from the mother, whether it be a lamb, or a kid, or any oilier creature belonging to the flocks or herds, before it is weaned. And having also given a command that no one sliall sacrifice the mother and the offspring on the same day, he goes furtlier, and is quite prodigal on the particularity of his injunctions, adding this also, "

Thou shalt not seethe a lamb in his mother's milk."* For he looked upon it as a veiy terrible thing for the nourishment of the living to be the seasoning and sauce of tlie dead animal, and when provident nature had, as it were, siiowered forth milk to support the living creature, which it had ordained to be conveyed through the breast? of the mother, as if tliruugli a regular channel, that the unbridled licentiousness of men should go to such a height that they should slay both tlie author of the existence of the other, and make use of it in order to consume the body of the other. And if any one should desire to dress flesh villi milk, let him do so without incurring the double reproach of inbninanity and impiety.

There are innumerable herds of cattle in <\vry direction, and some are every day milked by tlio cowlierds, or goatherds, or shepherds, since, indeed, the milk is tlie preate>t source of profit to all breeders of stx)ck, being jiartly u>ed in a liquid state and partly allowed to coagulate and solidify, so aa to make cheese. So that, as there is the greatest abundance of lambs, and kids, and all other kinds of animals, tlie man who seethes the flesh of any one of thera in the milk of lU owu mother is exhibiting a terrible pervci-sity of di.spu.Mtinn. and e.xhibits himself as wholly destitute of that feelmg wlmb of all others, is the most indispensable to. and nio«t nearly ukm to, a rational soul, namely, compassion.

I also greatly admire that law which, like a singer m a well-trained chorus, is perfectly in accord with those winch have gone before itr^nd which forbi.ls a man to " m«z/do iho ox wliicli treadeth out the corn."* For it is he who, before the sowiug was performed, cut the furrows through the deepsoiled plahi, and prepared the field for the operations of heaven and for the labours of the husbandman ; for the latter, so that he might sow it at a seasonable time, and for the other, that the deep bosom of the earth might receive its bounty displayed in gentle showers, and in consequence might treasure up ricli nutriment for the seed and dispense it to it gradually until it should swell into the full ear and bring its annual fruit to perfection. And, after the corn is brought to perfection, then again the ox is necessary for another service, namely, for the purification of the sheaves, and the sepai'ation of the chaff from the genuine useful grain.

And since I have explained this distinct and humane command respecting the oxen which tread out the corn, I will now proceed to speak of that one which relates to the animals which plough, which is also of the same family ; for the lawgiver also forbids the husbandman to yoke the ox and the ass together in the same plough for ploughing,t considering in this not only the difference of nature between the two animals, because the one is clean, while the ass is one of the unclean beasts, and it is not becoming to bring together animals which are so utterly alienated, but also because they are unequal in point of strength, he takes caro of that which is the weaker, in order that it may not be oppressed and worn out by the greater power of the other. And, indeed, the ass, which is the weaker animal, is driven outside of the sacred precincts ; but the more vigorous beast, namely, the ox, is offered up as a victim in tlie most perfect sacrifices.

But, nevertheless, the lawgiver nisither neglected the safety of the unclean animals, nor did he permit those which were clean to use their strength in disregard of justice, crying out and declaring loudly in e.xpress words, if one may say so, to those persons who have ears in their soul, not to injure any one of a different nation, unless they have some grounds for bringing accusations against tliem beyond the fact of their being of another nation, which is no ♦ round of blame ; for those things which are not wickedness, iind which do not proceed from wickedness, are fi"ee from all leproach. '^'-

And, being full of mercy in every part, be again displays it in an abundant and exceeding degree, crossing over from the beings endo\Yed with reason to the brute beasts, and from the brute beasts to plants, concerning which we must now proceed immediately to speak, since we have spoken sufficiently already about men, and about all animals which are endowed witli life. He has forbidden in express -words * to cut down for timber any trees which bear eatable fruit, and to ravage a plain liraring corn before its proper season for the purpose of destroying It, and, in short, to destroy any kind of crop in any manner, in order that the race of mankind may enjoy an abundance of nourishment without any limitation, and may have a sulliciency not only of necessary food, but also of such as conduce to making life luxurious. For the crop of wheat and com is necessary, as being set apart for the actual daily food of man : but the innumerable varieties of the fruits which grow on trees are given to make his life luxurious ; and very often, in times of scarcity, even these become a secondary food.

And, going beyond all other lawgivers in humanity, ho does not allow his people even to ravage the country of thejt enemies, but he commands thera to abstain from cutting down the trees, thinking it unjust that the anger wliich is excited against men should wreak itself on things which are umoccnt of all evil. And, besides this, by this commandment he pnnit.s out that it is right not to look only at the present, but also l.y the acuteness of the reasoning powers to survey the future afar off as from a watch-tower, since nothing remams lon^t m tlio same condition, but everything is sulject to altornat.ons and variations; so that it is natural that those who have for a while been enemies, when they have sent herald., and m-..U. overtures towards reconciliation, should agan. ''.•'';^^";'\;^"''" ' in the bonds of peace. And it would he a waked th.nR o deprive one's friends of necessary food, who have pr^.U . y stored up nothing which can be of use to them becaus.. of the uncertainty of the future. ^ , • i „ :„ v.«timi For this was an admirable saying + winch was ni >.>gue ; ?S^Sr il "s^e.ly rcproUte.1 ;., rV... H^An.. ,.i.

"We .hall be able to -rive nt .„o, her .ou_n^^ ^^ ^^J^ when we buve first mentioned whnt aupio wa» ucc among the ancients, that one must enter into friendships without at the same time being blind to the possibility that it may be turned into enmity, and that one must repel an enemy as if he may hereafter become a friend, in order that each man might, through this consideration, lay up something in his own soul which might conduce to his safety, and migjit not, being laid completely bare and defenceless, in word and in deed repent of his too great facility of temper, blaming himself when there is no need of any such thing. And cities also should act upon this principle, providing in peace the things which will be necessary in time of war, and in time of war the things which will be desirable in peace, and abstaining from placing such implicit, boundless confidence iu their allies, as if they could never possibly change so as to become their enemies ; nor, on the other hand, exhibiting such distance towards their enemies as if they would never be able to bring them over to reconciliation and peace.

Moreover, if nothing is to be done in favour of one's enemies because of any hope of reconciliation, still, at all events, no plant is an enemy, but all plants are at peace with and useful to one. And those which produce eatable fruit are exceedingly necessary, as their fruit is either actual food or equivalent to food. And why should men be excited to enmity against things which are not hostile, cutting them down, or burning them, or tearing them up' by the roots ; things which nature herself has brought to perfection by streams of water, and by the admirable temperature of the summer, so that they contribute annual revenues to mankind as subjects to their kings? Moses, therefore, as a good superintendant, exerted all care to implant, not only in animals, but also in plants, invincible strength and vigour, and especially in such as produce eatable fruit, since they are worthy of more care, and are not of equal with great indignation.

He used to say that no sentence more hostile to friendship, or more at variance with every con-ect notion of it, could possibly be found, than that one of the man who said that it became a man always to form a friendship with the idea that he might some day or other hate his friend. And he said that he could never be induced to believe that this, as some people fimcied, had been said by Bias, who was accounted one of the seven wise men, but he looked upon it .13 the saving of some profligate or ambitious man, or of some one who referred everything to the preservation of his own powers."

I size ana vigour with the wild trees of the forest, since they stand ill need of the skill of the husbandman to endow thfiti with greater vigour; for he commands the young plants to be nursed carefully for the space of three years, while the luisliandraan prunes away the superfluous off-shoots, in order that the trees may not be weighed down and .exhausted by them, in which case the fruit borne by them would become sinal'l and weak through insufficiency of nourishment, and he nuist also dig round it and clear the ground, in order that no injn- )ious plant may grow near it, so as to hinder its growth. And he does not allow the fruit to be gathered out of season at any one's pleasure, not only because, if that were done, it would bo imperfect and produced from imperfect trees (for so also animals which are not perfect themselves cannot produce a perfect offspring), but also because the young plants themselves would be injured, and would in a manner be bowed down and kept as creepers on the earth, by being prevented from sliooting up into straight and stout trunks.

Accordingly, many husbandmen at the commencement of the spring watch their young trees, in order at once to destroy whatever fruit they show before it gets to any growth or comes to any size, from fear lest, if it be suffered to remain on, it may bring weakness to the parent tree. For it might happen, if some one did not take care beforehand, when the tree ought to bring fruit to perfection, that it will either bear none at all. or not be able to ripen any, being completely weakened by iiaving Iteen allowed to satiate itself with bearing before its projKjr time, just as old vine-stems when weiglied down, are exhausted both in root and trunk.

But after three years, when the roots have got some depth and have taken a firmer hold of the soil, and when the trunk. being supported as it were on a firm unbending foun.b.tion. gn.ws up with vigour, it is then in the fourth year able to boar fruit in perfection and in proper quantity : an<l in the fourth ynir he permits the fruit to be gathered, not for the cn.ioyimM.t and use of man, but that the whole crop may be dedu-atod to (.od as the first-fruits, partly as a thank-offering for morcrs nlr.-ady received, and partly from hoi-e of good crops for the h.t.w. iind of a revenue to be derived from the tree hereafter.

You see, therefore, what great humanitv and con.,vi> . u our lawgiver displays, and how he diffuses his k.ndue«. user every species of man, even if they are foreigners, or even enemies ; and secondly, how he extends it also to brute beasts, even though they be not clean, and in fact to every thing, to sown crops, and to trees. For the man who has learnt the principles of humanity with respect to those natures which are devoid of sense, is never likely to err with respect to those Avhich are endowed' with life ; and he who never attempts to act with severity towards creatures which have only life, is tausht a long way otf to take great care of those which are also blessed with reason.

Having, then, by such precepts as these, civilised and made gentle the minds of those who live under the constitution of his laws, he has separated them from haughtiness and arrogance, those most grievous and burdensome of evils, which men in general cling to as the greatest of goods, and especially when riches, or glory, or authority supply tliem with unlimited abundance ; for arrogance is very often engendered in men of no reputation or character, just as any other of the passions, or diseases, or inlirniities of the soul, but it does not receive any growth or increase in such men, but, like lii'e. it is extinguished for want of fuel. But in great men it is very conspicuous, since they, as 1 said before, have food for this evil in riches, and glory, and authority, witli wliioh tlio men are entirely filled, and like those who have drunk great quantities of strong wine become intoxicated, and in tlieir drunkenness they attack slaves and free men all alike, and at times even whole cities ; for satiety produces insolence, as the proverb of the ancients tells us.* On which account Moses, when declaring the will of God, enjoins men to abstain from every description of offence, and, above all, from arrogance.

And afterwards he reminds them of the things which are wont to kindle passion, such as abundance of immoderate eating, and extravagant wealth in houses, and lands, and cattle ; for when they possess these things, they presently become unable to restrain themselves, being distended with pride and puffed up ; and the only hope that remains of such men being cured, consists in preventing them from forgetting God. TiKTu rot Kopog ti/Sptr, orav kokiJ] uXj-ioQ «7r?;rnt 'Ai/diiunrtj) (cai ori^j fi}) roog lior.of y. — xvi. 7. For as when the sun arises, the darkness disappears and all lilaces are filled with light, so in the same manner when God, that sun appreciable only hy the intellect, arises and illuminates the soul, the whole darkness of vices and passions i^ dissipated, and the pure and lovely appearance of bright and radiant virtue is displayed to the world.

And still more does he seek to check and eradicate haughtiness, choosing to collect together the causes on account of which he enjoins men to erect in their souls an undying recollection of God ; " For God," says Moses, " gives strength to get power,"* speaking in this veiy instructively: lur the man who has been accurately and thoroughly taught that he has received an endowment of great strength and vigour from God, will take into consideration the weakness ^vhich belonged to him before he received this great gift, and will consequently repel all haughty, and arrogant, and overhearing thoughts, and will give thanks to him who has beeu the cause of this change for the better. And arrogance is in consistent with a grateful soul, as ou the contrary ingratitude is nearly akin to haughtiness. Are your affairs prosperous and flourishing^ then, receiving and increasing that strength of body which jierhaps you did not expect, get power ; and what is meant by this e.\pres-,i.)n must be accurately investigated by those who do not very clearly see what is implied in it.

Many persons endeavour to bring upon others, what is exactly contrary to the benefits which they have lhemselve.s received ; for either, having themselves become rich, they jirepare poverty for others, or having arrived at a liigh degrofl of honour and reputation, they become to others the cau>.s of dishonour and infamy : but it is right rather that the wme and prudent man should, to the best of his power, endeavour to bring his neighbours also into the same conduion ; and tlmt the temperate man should seek to make otliew tempomte. the brave man to make others courageous, the nghte.K.s m.um to make others iust, and in short every good man .mglit to try to make evervone else good , for these quuht.es are o-s it swmH powers, which the virtuous man will cling to as lus own ; bat infirmity and weakness, on the contrary, arc inconsistent w.lU a virtuous character. • Deuteronomy viii. 18. U G ^ And in another place also the lawgiver gives this precept, ■which is most becoming and suitable to a rational nature, that men should imitate God to the best of their power, omitting nothing which can possibly contribute to such a similarity as the case admits of.

Since then you have received strength from a being who is more powerful than you, give others a share of that strengtli, distributing among them the benefits which you have received yourself, in order that you may imitate God by bestowing gifts like his ; for all the gifts of the supreme Ruler are of common advantage to all men ; and he gives them to some individuals, not in order that they when they have received them may hide them out of sight, or employ them to the injury of others, but in order that they may bring them into the common stock, and invite all those whom they can find to use and enjoy them with them.

We say therefore, that the men possessed of great riches, and of high renown, and of great strength of body, and of great learning, ought to endeavour to make everyone with whom they meet, rich, and strong, and learned, and in short good, and that they ought not to prefer envy and jealousy to virtue, so as to oppose those who might otherwise attain to prosperity ; and the law has very beautifully brought those who are inflated by arrogance, and are altogether possessed by incurable pride, not before the tribunal of men, but before the judgment seat of God, to which alone it has assigned the office of judging them ; for it says, " Whosoever attempts to do anything in a haughty arrogant manner, makes God angry."* Why so, because in the first place, haughty arrogance is a vice of tlie soul ; but the soul is invisible to any one but God.

And anyone who punishes, if he does so blindly, is blameable, as ignoi-ance is his accuser : but if he does so with his eyes open, he is to be praised as doing everything with knowledge ; and secondly, because every haughty arrogant man is full of vain groundless pride, looks upon himself as neither man nor demigod, but rather as an actual deity, as Pindar says,t thinkf Pindar says nothing of the sort. The passage which Philo appears to allude to is the beginning of the second Olympic Ode : 'Av<i^i<p6pi^uyy(Q Vfivoi riva titov rit'' I'lpwa I iiig himself worthy to overstep all the boundaries of human nature.

And as the soul of such a man is blameable, so also is his body in all its positions and motions, for lie walks on tip-tops, iuid lifts his head on hic^h, strutting and giving liimself airs, and he is elated and puffed up beyond his nature, and though he does see yet it is only with distorted optics, and though lie hears he hears amiss ; and he treats his servants as though they were cattle, and free men as though they were his slaves, and his kinsmen as strangers, and his friends as tlattercrs. and citizens as foreigners ; and he looks upon himself as the most wealthy, the most distinguished, the most beautiful, tbe strongest, the wisest, the most prudent, the most righteous the most rational, and the most learned of all men : and then lie looks upon all the rest of mankind as poor, of m reputation, dishonoured, foolish, unjust, ignorant, mere dregs of mankind, tnititled to no consideration. Very naturally then such a man will be likely to meet, as the interpreter of the will of God tells us, with God himself as his adversary and chastiser.

The most holy Moses, being a lover of virtue, and ..f honour, and, above all things, of the human race, exjvcts all men everywhere to show themselves admirers of piety and of justice, proposing to them, as to conqueroi-s. great rewards if thev repent, namely, a participation in liie l)cst ol all cnsmutions, and an enjoyment of all things, whether great or small. which are to be found in it. • . „ ;.. Now those blessings which are of the greatest iniporta..co m the body are good health, without disease; and u. a ma o o navigation, a successful voyage, without danger ; and m t b. 80ul, an undying recollection of all things worthy t.. l>o remembered. , , . . ,..i,;..i, ,.,,„. And tlie blessings of the second class are tho^. >.lu h .... sistof re-establishment, such as a recovery fron. d.vLs,,. riva ^ avS(>a «Xnfli/<iofiu', which Horace has transhited, Od. Ixii. 1. Quem virun., nut hen.a. Ijt'.. vol ncn Tibiit Bumes oelobrare, (-li«>.' . Quem Dcum ?

Cujus rccinet J.h:o,<i long wished for escape from and safety after great dangers encountered in a voyage, and a recollection which ensues after forgetfulness ; the brother and closest relation of which is repentance, which is not indeed ranked in the first and highest class of blessings, but which has the principal in the class next to the first. For absolutely never to do anything wrong at all is a peculiar attribute of God, and perhaps one may also say of a God-like man. But when one has erred, then to change so as to adopt a blameless course of life for the future is the part of a wise man, and of one who is not altogether ignorant of what is expedient.

On which account he calls to hira all persons of such a disposition as this, and initiates them in his laws, holding out to them admonitions full of reconciliation and friendship, which exhort men to practise sincerity and to reject pride, and to cling to truth and simplicity, those most necessary virtues which, above all others, contribute to happiness ; forsaking all the fabulous inventions of foolish men, which their parents, and nurses, and instructors, and innumerable other persons with whom they have been associated, have from their earhest infancy impressed upon their tender souls, implanting in them inextricable errors concerning the knowledge of the most excellent of all things. And what can this best of all things he except God ? whose honours those men have attributed to beings which are not gods, honouring them beyond all reason and moderation, and, like empty minded people that they are, wholly forgetting him.

All those men therefore who, although they did not originally cl;oose to honour the Creator and Father of the universe, have yet changed and done so afterwards, having learnt to prefer to honour a single monarch rather than a number of rulers, we must look upon as our friends and kinsmen, since they display that greatest of all bonds with which to cement friendship and kindred, namely, a pious and God-loving dis])osition. and we ought to sympathise in joy with and to congratulate them, since even if they were blind previously they have now received their sight, beholding the most brilliant of all lights instead of the most profound darkness. TI. We have now then described the first and most important of the considerations which belong to repentance.

And let a man repent, not only of the errors by which he was for a long time deceived, when he honoured the creature in jireference to that uncreated hehig who was himself the Creator ol" all things, hut also in respect of the other necessary and ordinary pursuits and aflfairs of life, forsaking as it were that very worst of all evil constitutions, the sovereignty of the mob, and adopting that best of all constitutions, a well-ordered democracy ; that is to say, crossing over from ignorance to a knowledge of tliose things to be ignorant of which is shameful ; from folly to wisdom, from intemperance to temperance, from injustice to righteousness, from cowardice to confident courage. For it is a very excellent and expedient thing to go over to virtue without ever looking back again, forsaking that treacherous mistress, vice.

And at the same time it is necessary that, as in the sun shadow follows the body, so also a participation in all otiicr virtues must inevitably' follow the giving due honour to the living God ; for those who come over to this worship become at once prudent, and temperate, and modest, and gentle, mid merciful, and humane, and venerable, and just, and mugnammous, and lovers of truth, and superior to all considerations of money or pleasure ; just as. on the contrary, one may see that those' who forsake the lioly laws of God arc intemperntc. shameless, unjust, disreputable, weak-mmded, quarrrlsonio. companions of falsehood and pcijury, wdhng to sell tlwir liberty for luxurious eating, for strong wme, tor sweetmonm. and for beautv, for pleasures of the belly and ot the parts bcjuw the belly ; the miserable end of all which enjoyments is nun lu both body and soul. , ... , _^ -^^^ Moreover, Moses delivers to us very beautiful oxhortnt on, to repentance, by which he teaches us to alt.T our -^-^^' changing from an irregular and disorderly coun^e ">'«; ' "^J line of conduct; for he says that tins task ,s ""^ on o « .> excessive difficulty, nor one removed far ou of ou p a h. b », neither above us in the air nor on the 7.';-";; 'l'^ " ;"„ " sea, so that we are unable to take hold of U ^ ^" ^^ ^ ^, /, ;• abiding, in fact, - three port.^ 0 -.>>;u.cl n ^ and our hearts and «- h-; -^^^'^^ '^: \,, n,..,„h .i .ho our words, and counsels, ami aciioii!> . svmbol of speech, and the heart of counsoK ' ^ ' ..^ actions, and in these happiness consists. 1 or ^^Ucu words are, sucli also is the mind ; and when such as the counsels are, such likewise are the actions ; then life is praiseworthy and perfect.

But when these things are all at variance with one another life is imperfect and hlameable, unless some one who is at the same time a lover of God and beloved by God takes it in hand and produces this harmony. For which reason this oracular declaration was given with great propriety, and in perfect accordance with what has been said above,* " Thou hast this day chosen the Lord to be thy God, and the Lord has this day chosen thee to be his people." It is a very beautiful exchange and recompense for this choice on the part of man thus displaying anxiety to serve God, when God thus without any delay takes the suppliant to himself as his own, and goes forth to meet the intentions of the man who, in a genuine and sincere spirit of piety and truth, hastens to do him service. But the true servant and suppliant of God, even if by himself he be reckoned and classed as a man, still in power, as has been said in another place, is the whole people, inasmuch as he is equal in va'lue to a whole people.