No. 743.-DEUTERONOMY. vi. 7. And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house. AMONG the Chinese moral maxims are inculcated by the aged on the younger branches of the family: and plain sentences of morality are hung up in the common hall, where the male branches of the family assemble. This appears to be exactly the same method as was practised by the ancient Hebrews in the time of Moses. See MACARTNEY'S Embassy to China. No. 744.-vi. 9. Thoa thalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.] Leo of Modena (History of the Jews, p. i. c. 2.) says, that in his time the Jews continued this practice, writing on parchment certain passages of scripture, which they roll up, and inscribe with the name of Shaddai. This they put into a piece of cane, or other hollow wood, and fasten to the doors of their houses, and of each particular room in them; and as often as they go in and out, they make it a part of their devotion to touch this parchment and kiss it. According to Huetius (Demonstratio Evangelica, p. 58.) other nations used to write their laws upon their gates. No. 745.-vii. 15. The Lord will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt upon thee.] In that country they were subject to ulcers called Ægyptiaca and Syriaca, as Casaubon observes on Persius, sat. v. p. 467 With these the priests of Isis used to threaten and terrify poor people, if they did not worship her. In opposition to this Spencer (de Legibus Heb. 1. i. c. 3.) thinks that God made this special pro The large domain his greedy sons divide, No. 741.-xxxi. 23. It shall be p of separation.] The Jews have contin Moses particularly to observe such prec ten or traditional, as respect purific”* stances they have carried their regard to treme. Leo of Modena, (p. 8.) says, “ new vessel of glass, earth, or metal. thoroughly, plunging it under water, or bath." The rest No. 742.-xxxv. 21. the murderer when he meeteth him. ed a man to be unworthy to en that was murdered, if he negl son that killed him, in some Jewish law allowed, or rather that the next of kin should hands, if he met him. T (as Ritterhusius observes derer into the hand of PATRICK, in loc. The cer charged by the sta: lations of the deceas (Homer, li. ks of this ancie. 34. p. 669.) a: always in Greece. he law of several countries; where the subjects . nanded, on pain of death, to disclose conspiracies, they are not so much as even concerned. In here the laws subvert every idea of human reacrime of concealment is applied even to the most cases. A certain narrative (Collection of Voyages tributed to the Establishment of the East India Com123.) makes mention of two young ladies, who pt up for life in a box thick set with pointed nails, ne for having had a love intrigue, the other for not wing it. No 749.—xvi. 14. Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou y son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy ervant.] There was a law similar to this enacted athens by Cecrops, who ordained, that the master of y family should, after harvest, make a feast for his vants, and eat together with them, who had taken pains gether with him in tilling his ground-delectari enim de..a honore servorum, contemplatu laboris; for God delighted the honour done to servants, in consideration of their Labour. This law it is probable he borrowed from Moses, as he reigned much about the same time that Israel came out of Egypt. No. 750.-xvii. 18. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book.] Maimonides gives the following account of this circumstance. "The king was to write the book of the law for himself, besides the book that was left him by his father and if his father had left him none, or if that were lost, he was to write him two books of the law, the one he was to keep in his archives; the other was not to depart from him, unless when he went to his throne, 1 mise to his people, to preserve them from all such evil diseases, if they kept themselves pure from idolatry. If the worship of Isis, says Bp. Patrick, were as ancient as the days of Moses, this supposition is very ingenious. No. 746.-vii. 22. Lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.] That wild beasts are at present in that country in considerable numbers, and terrify strangers, appears in that passage of Haynes, where describing his arrival at Cana of Galilee, he says, (p. 118.) "the approaching to Cana, at the close of the day, as we did, is at once terrifying and dangerous. The surrounding country swarms with wild beasts, such as tigers, leopards, jackals, &c. whose cries and howling, I doubt not, as it did me, would strike the boldest traveller, who had not been frequently in a like situation, with the deepest sense of horror." See also Ezek. xxxiv. 25. 1 HARMER, vol. iv. p. 171. No. 747.-xii. 31. For even their sons and their daugh ters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.] This was notoriously practised by the Carthaginians, who, it is certain, derived it from the Phoenicians, the ancient inhabitants of this country. he Plato mentions it in Protagora, where 7 says, "the Athenian laws did not permit them to sacrifice men; but among the Carthaginians it was a holy rite; so that some of them permitted their sons to be offered to Saturn " This wicked custom at last overspread all nations, even the Greeks themselves. See more in Oriental Customs, No. 54. No. 748.-xiii. 8. Neither shalt thou conceal him.] This law, which requires that relations should both reveal and punish the wickedness of those who were the nearest in blood to them, though apparently severe, is actually the law of several countries; where the subjects are commanded, on pain of death, to disclose conspiracies, in which they are not so much as even concerned. In Japan, where the laws subvert every idea of human reason, the crime of concealment is applied even to the most ordinary cases. A certain narrative (Collection of Voyages which contributed to the Establishment of the East India Company, p. 423.) makes mention of two young ladies, who were shut up for life in a box thick set with pointed nails, the one for having had a love intrigue, the other for not disclosing it. No 749.-xvi. 14. Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant.] There was a law similar to this enacted at Athens by Cecrops, who ordained, that the master of every family should, after harvest, make a feast for his servants, and eat together with them, who had taken pains together with him in tilling his ground—delectari enim deum honore servorum, contemplatu laboris; for God delighted in the honour done to servants, in consideration of their labour. This law it is probable he borrowed from Moses, as he reigned much about the same time that Israel came out of Egypt. No. 750.-xvii. 18. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book.] Maimonides gives the following account of this circumstance. "The king was to write the book of the law for himself, besides the book that was left him by his father and if his father had left him none, or if that were lost, he was to write him two books of the law, the one he was to keep in his archives; the other was not to depart from him, unless when he went to his throne, |