formably to the established laws of their country, the excellence of which the human mind can hardly comprehend without the inspiration of God."

"These laws they study at all times, but more especially on the Sabbath. Regarding the seventh day as holy, they abstain on it from all other works, and assemble in those sacred places which are called synagogues, arranging themselves according to their age, the younger below his senior, with a deportment grave, becoming, and attentive. Then one of them, taking the Bible, reads a portion of it, the obscure parts of which are explained by another more skilful person. For most of the scriptures they interpret in that symbolical sense, which they have zealously copied from the patriarchs: and the subjects of instruction are piety, holiness, righteousness; domestic and po litical economy; the knowledge of things really good, bad, and indifferent; what objects ought to be pursued, and what to be avoided. In discussing these topics, the ends which they have in view, and to which they refer as so many rules to guide them, are the love of God, the love of virtue, and the love of man. Of their love to God they give innumerable proofs by leading a life of continued purity, unstained by oaths and falsehoods, by regarding him as the author of every good, and the cause of no evil. They evince their attachment

to virtue, by their freedom from avarice, from ambition, from sensual pleasure; by their temperance and patience; by their frugality, simplicity, and contentment; by their humility, their regard to the laws, and other similar virtues. Their love to man is evinced by their benignity, their equity, and their liberality, of which it is not improper to give a short account, though no language can adequately describe it."

"In the first place, there exists among them no house, however private, which is not open to the reception of all the rest, and not only the members of the same society assemble under the same domestic roof, but even strangers of the same persuasion have free admission to join them. There is but one treasure, whence all derive subsistence; and not only their provisions, but their clothes are common property. Such mode of living under the same roof, and of dieting at the same table, cannot, in fact, be proved to have been adopted by any other description of men. And no wonder, since even the daily labourer keeps not for his own use the produce of his toil, but imparts it to the common stock, and thus furnishes each member with a right to use for himself the profits earned by others."

"The sick are not despised or neglected, because they are no longer capable of useful labour; but they live in ease and affluence, re

ceiving from the treasury whatever their disorder or their exigencies require. The aged too, among them, are loved, revered, and attended as parents by affectionate children; and a thousand hands and hearts prop their tottering years with comforts of every kind. Such are the champions of virtue, which philosophy, without the parade of Grecian oratory, produces, proposing, as the end of their institutions, the performance of those laudable actions which destroy slavery, and render freedom invincible."

"This effect is evinced by the many powerful men who rise against the Esseans in their own country, in consequence of differing from them in principles and sentiments. Some of these persecutors, being eager to surpass the fierceness of untamed beasts, omit no measure that may gratify their cruelty; and they cease not to sacrifice whole flocks of those within their power; or, like butchers, to tear their limbs in pieces, until themselves are brought to that justice, which superintends the affairs of men. Others of these persecutors cause their snarling fury to assume a different form. Indulging a spirit of unrelenting severity, they address their victims with gentleness, display their intolerant spirit in affected mildness of speech, thus resembling dogs when going to inflict an envenomed wound. By these means, they occasion irremediable evils, and leave

behind them throughout whole communities, monuments of their impiety and hatred to men, in the ever memorable calamities of the sufferers. Yet not one of these furious persecutors, whether open or disguised, have been able to substantiate any accusation against this band of holy men. On the other hand, all men, captivated by their integrity and honour, unite with them as those who truly enjoy the freedom and independence of nature, admiring their communion and liberality which language, cannot describe, and which is the surest pledge of a perfect and happy life."

Our author, having thus described the Esseans of Palestine and Syria, proceeds in a subsequent book, to give an account of those who flourished in Egypt, of whom he had a personal knowledge, having been educated for some time in their mo

nasteries.

"Having spoken of the Esseans who, as preferring practice, engage in the duties of life, and who, in all respects, or to use less invidious language, in most respects, surpass other men, I next advance, pursuant to the thread of my subject, to give a description of those who embrace a contemplative life. Not suffering the partialities of friendship to exaggerate their virtues, as is the practice with poets and historians, in the absence of fair and honourable deeds, but honestly adhering to the letter of the truth, which the most eloquent

in this instance can hardly hope adequately to delineate. I feel it, however, my duty to attempt the arduous task: for the superior excellence of these men ought not to be a cause of silence with those, who love to speak of what is fair and honourable in conduct."

"The object of these philosophers is manifest from the title which they assume. The men, and even the women, call themselves Therapeuta or healers, and this with propriety, either as professing a medical art, superior to that which is practised by men of the world: for the latter profess to heal only the bodies, while the former cure the souls of men, when seized by disorders fierce and scarcely remediable; when occupied by lusts and depraved indulgences; by ignorance, iniquity, and an innumerable multitude of other vices and bad passions; or they so designate themselves as having learnt from nature, and the holy laws of Moses, to worship that Great Being, who in regard to his nature is more simple and undivided than unity, and antecedent to the idea of unity itself."

"The persons who profess this art, embrace it not from education, nor yet merely from the persuasions of others, but are seized by the love of heaven, being filled, like the devotees of Bacchus or Cebele, with enthusiasm to see the supreme object of desire. Thinking themselves already