ed one of another nation. They are long livers, so that many of them arrive to the age of one hundred years; which is to be ascribed to their simple and plain manner of feeding, and the temperance and good order which they observe in that and in all things else.

"They are contemners of adversity, and overcome all sufferings by the greatness of their mind; insomuch, that they esteem death itself, when it is to be undergone on an honourable account, better than immortality. Of the firmness of their mind in all cases, the war which we had with the Romans hath given sufficient proof; in which, though they were tortured, racked, burned, had their bones broken, and were made to undergo the sufferings of all the instruments of torments, that they might thereby be brought to speak ill of their lawgiver, and eat of those meats that are prohibited, yet they always stood firmly out to do neither of them; neither did they ever endeavour to mollify or appease the rage of their tormentors towards them, or shed one tear in their sufferings; but laughed while under their torments, and, mocking those who were the executioners of them, cheerfully yielding up their souls in death, as firmly believing, that after that they should live in them for ever.

"For this opinion is delivered among them, that the bodies of men are mortal, and that the substance of them is not permanent, but that their souls, being immortal, remain for ever; that, coming out of the subtilest and purest air, they are enveloped and bound up in their bodies, as in so many prisons, being attracted to them by certain natural allurements; but that, after they get out of those corporal bonds, being as it were freed from a long servitude, do rejoice thereon, and are carried aloft. And they affirm, agreeable to the opinion of the Greeks, that, for the souls of good men, there is ordained a state of life in a region beyond the ocean, which is never molested, either with showers, or snow, or raging heats, but is ever refreshed with gentle gales of wind constantly breathing from the ocean: but to the souls of the wicked they assign a dark and cold place for their abode, filled with punishments that will never cease. And it seems to be according to the same

notion that the Greeks assign to their valiant men, whom they call heroes and demigods, the fortunate island for their habitation; but to the souls of wicked men, the regions of the impious in hell. And hence it is, that they have devised their fables of several there punished, as Sisyphus, and Tantalus, and Ixion, and Tityus, laying down, in the first place, that the souls of men do live for ever, and next applying this doctrine for the encouragement of virtue and the discouragement of vice and wickedness. For good men are made better in their lives by the hopes of honour for the reward of it after death, and evil men are restrained from the impetuosity of their course in wickedness by fear, while they expect, that, though their evil deeds escape observation in this life, yet, after death they must undergo everlasting punishments for them. This is the divinity which the Essenes teach concerning the soul, proposing thereby a bait of inevitable allurement to all that have tasted of their doctrine.

"There are some of this sect who take upon them to foretel things to come, being bred up from their childhood in the study of their sacred books, and the sayings of the prophets, and also in the use of various purifications to qualify them for it; and it is very seldom found, that they fail in what they foretel.

"And there are another sort of Essenes, who, in their way of living, and in the usages and rules of their orders, exactly agree with the others, excepting only that they differ from them in their opinion about marriage. For they reckon, that those that do not marry cut off a great part from the number of the living, that is, out of the succession of the next generation, especially if all should be of their mind; for then the whole race of mankind would soon be extinguished. But, of those women whom they marry, they make trial for the term of three years before they contract with them; and if, through all that time, they find, by the constant regular order of their natural courses, that they are of health fit to bear children, they then marry them; but they never lie with them after they are found to be with child, shewing thereby, that they do not marry to gratify lust, but only for the sake of

having children. When their women go to wash themselves, they have the like linen garment to put about them, which is abovementioned, to be given to the men for the same purpose. And such are the usages and manners of this sect."

Thus far Josephus, in his book of the Wars of the Jews. In his book of their Antiquities, which he wrote some years after the former, he says further of them as followeth: "Among" the Jews there have been three sorts of sects from times of old; the Essenes, and the Sadducees, and the third sect, which are called Pharisees. The doctrine of the Essenes ascribes to God the ordering and governing of all things. They teach, that the souls of men are immortal. They hold, that the attainment of righteousness and justice is to be endeavoured after above all things. They send their gifts to the temple, but they offer no sacrifices there, by reason of the different rules of purity which they have instituted among themselves; and therefore, being excluded the common temple, they sacrifice apart by themselves; otherwise, they are, in their manners and course of life, the best of men. They employ themselves wholly in the labour of agriculture. Their righteousness is worthy of admiration above all others that pretend to virtue, in which they do by no means give place to any, whether Greeks or barbarians, no, not in the least; they have been long under engage ments never to be hindered by any thing in their diligent study and pursuit after it. Their goods are all in common, and he that is rich hath not the enjoyment of the things of his house any more than he that hath nothing at all. And they that live after this manner are in number about four thousand men. They neither marry wives, nor endeavour after the possession of servants; their opinion of the latter being, that it leads to injustice, by invading the common liberty of mankind, and of the other, that it gives matter for trouble and disturbance. Wherefore, living by themselves, they mutually make use of the service of each other. They choose good men out of the number of their priests to be the receivers of their incomes, and the Joseph. Antiq. lib. 18, c. 2.

managers of the fruits which their lands produce, for the providing of them with meat and drink."

There is also mention made of them by Josephus in another place, that is, in the ninth chapter of the thirteenth book of his Antiquities; but there he speaks only of their opinion about fate. His words in that place are: "That they hold, that fate governs all things, and that nothing happens to man but by its appointment."

Philo the Jew is the next, or indeed the first, that speaks of them. For he wrote before Josephus, being by much the older of the two. For Josephus was not born till the first year of the reign of Caligula, the Roman emperour, A. D. 37, whereas Philo was at that time advanced in years; for it was not much above two years after that Philo was sent as head of an embassy to that emperour from the Alexandrian Jews, as a person that, by his age and experience, was best qualified for that difficult undertaking. But Josephus being best acquainted with their sect, as having lived in Judea, and been there for some time conversant among them, and under their discipline, was best qualified to write a true and exact account of them; and therefore I have begun with that which he hath given us. For Philo, being a Jew of Alexandria, knew nothing of the Essenes of Judea but what he had by heresay; but with the Essenes of Egypt he was indeed much better acquainted. For, although the principal seat of them was in Judea, yet there were also of them in Egypt, and in all other places where the Jews were dispersed; and therefore Philo distinguished this sect into the Essenes of Judea and Syria, and the Essenes of Egypt and other parts. The first he called practical Essenes, and the other he calls therapeutic or contemplative; and of each he gives the accounts that follow.

"Among the Jews who inhabit Palestine and Syria, y there are some whom them call Essæans, being in number about four thousand men, according to my

x Josephus in Libro de Vita sua.

y Philo Judæus in libro cui titulus Omnis Probis Liber, p. 678. edit. col. z Josephus agrees with him in this number. See above.

This clause should have been connected with what follows.

13

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CONNEXION OF THE HISTORY OF [PART II. opinion. They have their name by reason of their piety, from the Greek word "Oos, which signifieth holy, though the derivation from thence be not made according to the exact rule of grammar. And, whereas they are most religious servers and worshippers of God, they do not sacrifice unto him any living creature, but rather choose to form their minds to be holy, thereby to make them a fit offering unto him. They chiefly live in country villages, avoiding cities, by reason of the vices that are familiar among citizens, being sensible, that, as the breathing in a corrupted air doth breed diseases, so the conversing with evil company often makes an incurable impression upon the souls of men.

"Some of them labour in husbandry; others follow trades of manufacture, confining themselves only to the making of such things as are the utensils of peace, endeavouring thereby to benefit both themselves and their neighbours. They do not treasure up either silver or gold, neither do they provide themselves with large portions of land out of a desire of plentiful revenues, but seek only after such things as are requisite for the supplying of the necessaries of life. They are in a manner the only persons of all mankind, who being without money, and without possessions (and this by their own choice rather than by the want of good fortune,) yet reckon themselves most rich, judging their needing little, and their being contented with any thing, to be (as it really is) a great abundance. You shall not find any among their handicraftsmen that ever put an hand to the making of arrows, or darts, or swords, or head-pieces, or corslets, or shields, neither do any among them make any armour, or engines, or any other instruments whatsoever that are made use of in war, nay, they will not make such utensils of peace as are apt to be employed to do mischief.

"Merchandising, trafficing, and navigation, they never so much as dream of, rejecting them utterly as incitements to covetousness. There is no such thing as a servant among them, but they all mutually help and serve each other. They condemn the domination of masters over servants, not only as unjust and prejudicial to holiness, but also as impious, and destructive