words mean Light and Perfection, and were nothing more than the twelve bright and perfect stones set in the breast-plate, emblematic of the union and consent of the whole nation, without which the high priest might not presume to interrogate the oracle of God. If the oracle was given by the Urim and Thummim itself, it seems not improbable, that the stones appearing bright or clouded might signify the favour or disfavour of the Almighty; but it is more likely that the oracle was delivered by a voice from the sanctuary. It is a remarkable coincidence, that the Egyptian high priest, according to Diodorus and Ælian, wore round his neck, by a golden chain, a sapphire gem, with an image representing Truth. The head-dress of the priest was a rich turban of fine linen, on the front of which appeared a golden plate, inscribed "Holiness to the Lord."

Such were the first preparations for the religious ceremonial of the Jews. As this tall and sumptuous pavilion rose in the midst of the coarse and lowly tents of the people, their God seemed immediately to take possession of the structure raised to his honour. All the day the cloud, all the night the pillar of fire rested on the tabernacle. When the camp broke up, it rose and led the way, when the people came to their resting-place, it remained unmoved.

Thus the great Jehovah was formally and deliberately recognized by the people of Israel as their God-the sole object of their adoration. By the law, to which they gave their free and unconditional assent, he became their king, the head of their civil constitution, and the feudal lord of all their terri

tory, of whom they were to hold their lands on certain strict, but equitable terms of vassalage. Hence the Mosaic constitution, of which we proceed to give a brief outline, was in its origin and principles entirely different from every human polity. It was a federal compact, not between the people at large and certain members or classes of the community designated as the rulers, but between the Founder of the state, the proprietor of the land which they were to inhabit, and the Hebrew nation, selected from all the rest of the world for some great ulterior purpose. The Hebrews were not a free and inde→ pendent people entering into a primary contract in what manner their country was to be governed, they had neither independence nor country but as the free gift of their sovereign. The tenure by which they held all their present and future blessings, freedom from bondage, the inheritance of the land flowing with milk and honey, the promise of unexampled fertility, was their faithful discharge of their trust, the preservation of the great religious doctrine, the worship of the one great Creator. Hear, therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE Lord. Thus the rights of the sovereign, not merely as God, but as the head of the state, or theocracy, were anterior to the rights of the people-the wellbeing of the community, the ultimate end of human legislation, was subordinate and secondary to the great purpose for which the Jews existed as a separate community. Hence any advantage to be

derived from foreign commerce, or a larger intercourse with the neighbouring tribes, wealth, or the acquisition of useful arts, could not for an instant come into competition with the danger of relapsing into polytheism. This was the great national peril, as well as the great national crime. By this they annulled their compact with their sovereign, and forfeited their title to the promised land. Yet by what legal provisions was the happiness of any people, sua si bona norint, so bountifully secured as by the Jewish constitution? A country under a delicious climate, where the corn-fields, the pastures, the vineyards, and olive-grounds vied with each other in fertility; perfect freedom and equality; a mild and parental government, the administration of justice by local authorities according to a written law; national festivals tending to promote national union;-had the people duly appreciated the blessings attached to the strict and permanent observance of their constitution, poets might have found their golden age in the plains of Galilee and the vallies of Judæa.

The fundamental principle of the Jewish constitution, the purity of worship, was guarded by penal statutes; and by a religious ceremonial, admirably adapted to the age and to the genius of the people, and even accommodated, as far as possible, to their previous nomadic and Egyptian habits and feelings. The penal laws were stern and severe, for idolatry was two-fold treason-against the majesty of the sovereign, and the well-being of the state. The permanence of the national blessings depended on the integrity of the national faith. Apostasy in the single city, or the individual, brought, as far