A glorious band the chosen few,
On whom the Spirit came,

Twelve valiant saints, the truth they knew,
And braved the cross and flame:

They met the tyrant's brandish'd steel,
The lion's gory mane;

They bowed their necks the death to feel:
Who follows in their train?

A noble army, men and boys,
The matron and the maid,

Around their Saviour's throne rejoice,
In robes of light array'd;

They climb'd the dizzy steep of heaven,
Through peril, toil, and pain:

O God, to us may grace be given
To follow in their train ?

THE SWORD.

HEBER.

The sword is the most early weapon mentioned in Scripture; and we may conclude, from hence, that it is the most ancient of all the weapons which men have devised for the purpose of defending themselves, or attacking others. Of Esau it was said, by the patriarch Isaac, in his prophetic blessing, that he should live by the sword, Gen. xxvii. 40. It was also with the sword that Simeon and Levi did such terrible execution on the Shechemites, in revenge of their sister's wrongs, Gen. xxxiv. 25. And Jacob mentions the sword as one of those weapons with which he had defeated the Amorites, Gen. xlviii. 22. Thus we see that the art of working metal was known in those early ages of the world, a circumstance which

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indicates, that a very considerable advance in civilization had been made.

The swords of the ancients were generally made of brass or copper. This may appear strange, but it is certain that copper was wrought long before iron; and it is also certain that it was applied to every use, whether domestic, operative, or warlike. We learn this from Homer, who applies brass, or copper, in the Iliad, to almost every use, and who describes the sword of Achilles as wrought out of that metal.

The forms of the sword, in ancient times and different nations, are too numerous to mention. It may be said of them generally, that those of civilized nations were straight; and those of barbarous nations, curved; but we would only refer to those which it is supposed that the Hebrews used in different ages. As the ancient forms of the most common articles are still retained in the East, the Arabian dagger, which is the most ancient of all modern oriental swords, has been pointed out as the probable form of those used in the patriarchal times. Then, again, those which the Israelites are thought to have used in the wilderness may have been such as we find represented on Egyptian paintings, one of which very much resembled the sickle, and the other, a broad-bladed, curved knife. Moreover, those which the Hebrews are supposed to have used, after their settlement in the land of Canaan, may have been of all the different kinds used by the modern Orientals, and such as were dug up at Cannæ, where the Romans, their

near neighbours, sustained their great overthrow by the Carthaginian armies. These latter are straight and tapering, with two edges and a sharp point, and are therefore adapted for cutting and thrusting. Their breadth is somewhat contracted towards the haft. Specimens of swords like these have been found in Ireland and Cornwall. It is very probable that the latter sword was used by the Israelites; for we gather from Scripture, that some which they used had two edges: see Psa. cxlix. 6.

The manner of wearing the sword, by the ancient Persians and Romans, was to suspend it from a belt on the right side. The Israelites, on some occasions, if not always, appear to have worn it girded on the thigh. It is thus that the psalmist speaks of it, in his description of the Messiah; "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty," Psa. xlv. 3. It is thus spoken of also in the Song of Solomon; "Every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night," Cant. iii. 8. This may be illustrated from the practice in the East at the present day. Chardin says, "The

Eastern people wear their swords hanging down at length, and the Turks wear their swords on horseback under their thigh;" thus apparently retaining the ancient usage.

But the girding of the sword on the thigh of the Messiah, which is spoken of in a metaphor, seems to convey the idea, that such was a custom on particular occasions. And so, in truth, it was; and it may also

be illustrated from existing customs in the East. When an Ottoman prince ascends the throne, he girds on his sabre. Morier, in his "Second Journey through Persia," says, "In a few days, Mahomed Jaffer was proclaimed by the khan, governor pro tempore, till the arrival of his brother, and was invested in this dignity by the girding of a sword on his thigh, an honour which he accepted with a reluctance perhaps not wholly feigned." This makes the allusion of the psalmist appear peculiarly emphatic.

The sword is introduced into Scripture in many interesting figures of speech. Thus, in the blessing which Moses bequeaths to the Hebrews, in the prospect of death, he represents the Almighty as the sword of their excellency; which intimates that they were protected by, and obtained victory over their foes, through him. "Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency!" Deut. xxxiii. 29. The word of God is also represented as a sword. And such is the sword to which the psalmist alludes in the passage we have quoted, and of which St. John speaks, when describing the power and majesty of Christ; he says, "Out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword," Rev. i. 16. To the powerful and soul-subduing influence of this word, St. Paul, who calls it "the sword of the Spirit," Eph. vi. 17, bears witness; "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder

of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," Heb. iv. 12.

The dividing asunder, in this passage, is supposed to have reference to the dividing the victims in the Jewish sacrifices, the process of which has been thus described in the Mishna: "When the lamb for the daily sacrifice was slain, the priest hung it up by the foot, and flayed it. And, when he had flayed it down to the breast, he cut off the head; after which he finished the skinning. He next divided the heart, and cleared out the blood; then he cut off the shoulders; and, when he came to the right leg, he cut it off. Lastly, he cut the carcase down through the chine bone, and thus all its parts were manifest before him."

Another figure, in which the sword is introduced, makes it represent the tongue of the wicked: "I lie even among the sons of men," said the psalmist, "whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword," Psa. lvii. 4. And again, in praying for deliverance from them, he says, Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: that they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not," Psa. lxiv. 2-4. On which passage the pious Bishop Horne makes the annexed interesting remarks: "In personal scoffings and revilings, the tongue