kuk says, "The sun and moon stood still in their habitation at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear, "Hab. iii. 11. Allusion to the terrible effect which attends the spear is made by the prophet Nahum, in similar language: "The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear;" or, as it is in the margin, "the flame of the sword, and the lightning of the spear;" "and there is a multitude of slain,' Nahum iii. 3. Allusion is also made in Scripture to the lightning-like effect of the javelin or spear. Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, in a chapter which Maimonides understands as the similitude of an adulterous woman, to point out the temptations arising from vice, says, at the conclusion, of the unhappy youth who is thus led astray, "He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; till a dart," or javelin, "strike through his liver" suddenly and fatally, Prov. vii. Saint Paul also, in his description of the complete armour of a Christian, alludes to the fatal effects of this weapon in warfare. "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," Eph. vi. 16: or, as it may be thus paraphrased: "Above all, taking the firm belief of the doctrines and promises of the gospel, wherewith he shall be able to repel all those furious suggestions and deadly temptations of the wicked one, which, like envenomed darts, kindle by the swiftness of their passage." In allusion to this 66 passage, an elegant writer has observed; "These fiery darts, whether as fire-bearing arrows or javelins," (for they were supposed to have reference to both,) were used both to distress and injure the persons of the enemy, or to set their tents and wooden buildings on fire. These missiles were, in their more simple form, twined round with tar and pitch, and discharged in a burning condition." But the more complete and injurious weapon is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as a hollowed reed, to the lower part of which, under the point or barb, was attached a round receptacle, made of iron, for combustible materials, so that such an arrow had much resemblance to a distaff. The reed was filled with burning naphtha; and when the arrow was discharged, if allowed to take full effect, it struck the enemies' ranks, or the object at which it was directed, and remained infixed, the flame consuming whatever it met with, and was of such a nature, that water had no effect upon it, but rather increased its violence; nor could it be extinguished, but by being smothered with earth. Arrian says, that the fiery darts," if arrows, or javelins in the proper sense of the word, were easily extinguished; and they certainly were so, if opposed by a metal-covered shield, for they must have some soft substance whereon to alight to have the desired effect. CHARIOTS OF IRON; OR, ARMED CHARIOTS. The origin of the idea of wheel carriages has been ingeniously traced, by Goguet, from sledges; a mode of travelling which it is easy to suppose must have been first invented. The use of rollers being discovered, the inventive faculties of man would naturally reflect, that if they could join the sledge to the roller, their labour would be greatly diminished, and so, by degrees, they would arrive at the knowledge of making wheels; first, rudely, and then advance, step by step, to perfection. And that they arrived at a perfect knowledge of the construction of the wheel at a very early date, appears both from ancient Egyptian and Persian paintings and sculpture, in which we see delineations of spoked wheels of chariots, similar to those now in use. That the former nation possessed chariots at a very early date, we gather also from the Bible. Pharaoh caused Joseph to ride in his second chariot through the land, when he interpreted his dreams of the seven fat and lean kine, and the seven full and blighted ears of corn, Gen. xli. 43. But it is not to define the origin of chariots that we introduce them under the head of armour and arms; it is rather to point out the use to which they were applied in war. The first intimation we receive in the Bible, of their being used for such a purpose, occurs Exod. xiv. 6, 7, where it is stated that Pharaoh made ready his own chariot, and caused "six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt," to accompany him in his pursuit of the Hebrews as they fled from their bondage. Now, although the text does not intimate it, we may with propriety imagine that some of these chariots were such as those which prevented the tribe of Judah from expelling the Canaanites from the valley, Judg. i. 19, and those which Sisera employed against the Hebrews, Judg. iv. 13, namely," chariots of iron." The same may be said of those which the Canaanites used at Merom, Josh. xi. 4; those which David took from Hadadezar, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates, 2 Sam. viii. 4; those belonging to the Philistines, 1 Sam. xiii. 5; and the Syrians, 2 Sam. x. 18; and those which we read of as being possessed by Solomon, 1 Kings x. 26. The explanation which most commentators and antiquarians give of the term "chariots of iron," is, that they were not made of that metal, but that they were armed with it; that is, they had iron scythes affixed to their poles, wheels, and axles, so that, when furiously driven by the charioteer, they mowed down every thing in their way; whence arose the difficulty which Judah felt in driving the Canaanites from the valley or plain. They could drive them from the mountains, where the chariots could not be used, but they could not stand against them on even ground. History informs us, that such chariots as these were used by the Persians in days of old, and that they constituted a remarkable feature in the armies of the ancient Britons. But there are some commentators who think, that because chariots armed with scythes do not appear on Egyptian sculpture, and are not mentioned by Homer in his Iliad, although the chariot so frequently occurs |