Egypt. "The materials of idols and statues," says he, "are wood and stone, entirely rude and shapeless, till they were conveyed from their native place, and invested with form by the hands of the artist. Substances of the same quarry, or of the same stem, are often destined for less honourable services, being wrought into pots or tubs, or into such other still meaner vessels as are used in darkness more than in the light. The god of the Egyptians it is disgraceful even to name. These people have raised to divine honours not only brute animals that are tame, but the fiercest of every kind under heaven, which the earth, the sea, or the air can supply:-the lion, the crocodile, the hawk, and the ibis: they worship these creatures, though known to be produced, to stand in need of support, to be insatiable for food, to be full of excrements, to be prone to poison the blood and devour the flesh of man, and to be liable to perish by various diseases, death and violence. By such debasement the laws of reason and nature are inverted; for civilized and reasonable beings bow before fierce and irrational creatures:-they, who bear the image of God, prostrate before monsters which are not on a level with the beasts of the field; and animals which nature intended to fear and obey, receive homage and submission from their lords and masters."

Representations, eloquent, powerful, and unanswerable like these, must have produced very sensible effects even on the debased natives of Egypt; nor could the refractory by any means counteract them but by having recourse to force and persecution. The priest, the scribe, the artist, and the magistrate, when too much hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, to reform, too proud to learn, and

too worldly-minded to resign the love of gain, necessarily inflamed the populace against the authors of such reasoning, and instigated them to heap on the Jews the cruelties which Philo describes.

After the accession of Claudius, the Jews were again restored to their rights, and protected in the exercise of their religion; and an edict for this purpose was dispatched into Egypt and the other provinces by that emperor: and it is important to observe, that the edict sent to Alexandria contains a pointed allusion to the successful efforts made there by the advocates of the Gospel, to bring into contempt the pagan superstition. This document is preserved by Josephus, and is in part as follows: "I therefore think it proper, that the Jews under us, in all the world, should, without opposition, retain their paternal customs; and upon that people I enjoin to use with more moderation this my clemency in their behalf, and not bring into contempt the superstitions of other nations, but keep their own laws to themselves. It is my wish that governors of cities, of colonies, and of municipal towns, both within and without Italy; that also princes and men in power, should by their ministers transcribe this mandate, and have it so posted up as to be easily read from the ground." J. A. book xix. chap. 5, 3.

The Jews, when their houses were attacked, withdrew from the city, and sought in the wilderness, or in retired and solitary places, that peace and security which their enemies had denied them in the midst of society. The first Christians in Egypt and Palestine became monks and hermits from compulsion, and not from choice; and thus the gross superstition, which afterwards from this

source disgraced Christianity, originated in the violence and cruelties with which it was at first assailed. This is asserted in direct terms by Philo, and he calls their institutions by the very name of . monasteries.

The book of the Revelation, while in general it delineates the yet future state of the church, contains, in many parts, allusions to facts which had already come to pass. Of this kind is the following passage, the force of which will be immediately felt, when compared with the account which Philo gives of the Christians, and their escape to the wilderness to avoid persecution. "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandment of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." chap. xii. 13. The dragon or serpent, which pursued the woman, stands for the people who worshipped it, namely, the Egyptians. And the earth helped the woman, that is, the Christian church; and this not only because the believers found shelter in the wilderness, but as, being given to agriculture, they derived from the earth the means of subsistence,

The narrative of Philo illustrates in a remarkable manner this passage of the Revelation. The argument he uses, supposes that the men he was defending possessed very extraordinary fortitude and virtue; and he anticipates the question which the adversary might put: "Whether any men then existed, or ever had existed, that realized the character which he was delineating ?" The author answers, "I may well reply, that, in former times, certain men flourished, who, having God for their guide, excelled all their contemporaries in virtue; and who, living conformably to the divine law, which is also the law of reason and nature, not only be came themselves free, but filled all around them with the same manly freedom. And in our own days there are men, who, as images of the same high original, have copied the fair and honourable conduct of those wise patriarchs. For we are not to suppose that, because the souls of our adversaries are themselves destitute of spiritual freedom, as being the slaves of folly and bad passions, all men are incapable of the same elevated virtue. If such persons do not appear like flocks in vast numbers, it cannot be deemed strange: first, because great moral excellence, like every other excellence, is rare; and secondly, because they pursue truth in retirement, remote from vulgar eyes, wishing, if it be possible, to come forth and reform the world: for virtue by its very nature is disposed to benefit the community. But as they are not able to effect this laudable purpose, on account of the mad prejudices and vices which have overspread society, and which have been deeply rooted in the public mind, they have retired, and in solitude sought shelter from the persecution which with the violence of a

torrent threatened to sweep them away. And we, if we have any zeal for reformation, should pursue them to their retreat, and supplicate them to return, that their presence might prove instrumental in healing the monstrous disorders, which, like wild beasts, overrun the community, offering them peace and liberty, and other earthly blessings, instead of assailing them with war and slavery, and other innumerable evils." P. 874. Vol. ii. 455. This passage is taken from the book in which Philo speaks of the Esseans; and we here see the followers of Jesus placed in a very interesting point of light. The degree of virtue which they had attained appeared incredible to those who opposed and persecuted them. They were the reformers and benefactors of the world. They wished, if possible, to live in the midst of society, and diffuse over it by their example and instruction the blessings of peace, order, and virtue. But the enemies of truth and virtue assailed them with war and slavery, and other innumerable evils, and they were obliged to seek shelter in solitude, lest they should be swept away by persecution as by an irresistible torrent. This is the flood which the author of the Revelation, in figurative language, represents the serpent as casting after the Christian church, when flying into the wilderness, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Philo well knew the debased state of the heathen world, in regard to virtue and real knowledge, and especially that of the Egyptians, in the midst of whom he lived. He speaks of it as a savage state, overrun with monstrous disorders, as with wild beasts: and in another place he declares it impossible to reform men without the especial wisdom and assistance of God. He therefore supposes the holy men, of whom he speaks, to be pos