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could be filled with water from the Euphrates, as occasion required.

Over the gate in these walls there was, and is now, a room in which watchmen are stationed, which strikingly illustrates the circumstance of David's retiring to the "chamber over the gate," to mourn for his son Absalom; see 2 Sam. xviii. 24-33.

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Belonging to some of the towns mentioned in the Bible, such as Babylon, Jerusalem, Penuel, Shechem, Thebez, and others, there appears to have been strong towers, to which the inhabitants resorted in times of danger, as a last resource. These were, most probably,

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such round castles as we have described; and, in fortified towns, they would answer to the keep of our own castles. Sometimes these towers were erected within the town or fortress, and sometimes they formed one of the towers of the wall, larger and stronger than the others, and placed usually at the angle of the wall, as are many of our own old castles, and as they are erected at the present day in the East.

Besides such towers as these, the Scriptures intimate, by the variety of words used for towers, that many kinds were erected by the Orientals in ancient times. These we have but imperfect means of discriminating, and therefore we would only advert to one, by way of illustrating the fact advanced. It is said, Gen. xi. 4, "Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven." The Hebrew word here is migdol; and the sense in which it is introduced, both in this passage and in others, would intimate that the migdol was distinguished by its elevation and it has been said, "From its frequent (but not exclusive) connexion with towns, we may presume that it belongs to that class of elevated structures which have been applied to use and ornament in towns, in all times and countries." Sometimes the migdol was connected with the royal residence. Such was the noted tower in Jezreel, mentioned 2 Kings ix. 17, which the text indicates was used as a watch tower.

It is not possible to say what form towers bore which ornamented Hebrew towns. All the informa

tion which we can collect from Scripture on this point is, that they were round. For instance, it is said, in the Song of Solomon, "Thy neck is like the tower of David," Cant. iv. 4; and, again, "Thy neck is as a tower of ivory," Cant. vii. 4; both which phrases have a reference to roundness of form. Taking this fact into consideration, it is possible that the towers now found in Jerusalem, Constantinople, and other important oriental cities, the leading idea of which is that of a round shaft, variously crowned, and always surrounded, at various elevations, by one or more galleries, may illustrate such towers as the migdol, the mizpeh, the tirah, and the tzariah, mentioned in the Scriptures.

For the security which the tower of defence afforded to those who took refuge therein, David chose it to symbolize his security in God. "And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour," 2 Sam. xxii. 2, 3. The wise man, speaking of the safety of the righteous, notwithstanding he may be assaulted by adversity and foes, which beset him in his pilgrimage on earth, uses also a similar figure: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe;" or, as it is in the margin, "is set aloft;" alike beyond the reach of the power of adversity, or adversaries, Prov. xviii. 10; see also Psa. xviii. 2; xxvii. 1; and cxliv. 2.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

THE CORNET.

THE cornet, properly so called, is a shrill wind instrument formed of wood. It appears to have been known from the earliest times, and to have continued in use till the latter part of the seventeenth century, when it was laid aside for the oboe. The instrument was blown by a mouth-piece; and there were treble, tenor, and bass cornets. The compass of the first was A, the second staff in the treble to E in alt; the third was bent in a serpentine form, and, being nearly five feet in length, was consequently of a deep

tone.

The cornet is mentioned several times in the Bible; but as the Hebrew word shophar is usually translated 66 trumpet," it is supposed that in no passage is the cornet referred to, except Dan. iii. 7, 10, where the original, which is keren or karnah, most probably refers to that instrument: if so, it was known to the Babylonians.

CYMBALS.

Cymbals are metallic musical instruments of percussion, the use of which may be traced to the remotest ages of antiquity. They are always in pairs, are made of brass, and, according to Greek sculpture, anciently took, as their name imports, a more cup-like shape

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