INTRODUCTION. 31 



to arts and refinement, as between the civilized kingdoms of modern. 

 Europe and tne Indians of America, or the Negroes on the coast 

 of Africa. Noah was undoubtedly acquainted with all the science 

 and ans of the antediluvian world : these he would communicate to 

 his children, and they again would hand them down to their pos- 

 terity. Tnose-nations, therefore, who settled nearest the original 

 seat of mankind, and who had the best opportunities to avail them- 

 selves of the knowledge which their great ancestor was possessed 

 of, early formed themselves into regular societies, and made con- 

 siderable improvements in the arts which are most subservient to 

 human life. Agriculture appears to have been known in the first 

 ages of the world. Noah cultivated the vine ; in the time of 

 Jacob the fig-tree and the almond were well known in the land of 

 Canaan ; and the instruments of husbandry, long before the dis- 

 covery of them in Greece, are often mentioned in the sacred writ- 

 ings. It is scarcely to be supposed that the ancient cities, both in 

 Asia and Egypt (whose foundation, as we have already mentioned, 

 ascends to the remotest antiquity) could have been built, unless the 

 culture of the ground had been practised at that time. Nations 

 who live by hunting or pasturage only, lead a wandering life, and 

 seldom fix their residence in cities. Commerce naturally follows 

 agriculture : and though we cannot trace the steps by which it was 

 introduced among the ancient nations, we may, from detached pas- 

 sages in sacred writ, ascertain the progress which had been mad-e 

 in it during the patriarchal times. We know, from the history of 

 civil society, that the commercial intercourse between men must be 

 pretty considerable, before the metals come to be considered as the 

 medium of trade ; and yet this was the case even in the days of 

 Abraham. It appears, however, from the relations which establish 

 this fact, that the use of money had not been of ancient date ; it had 

 no mark to ascertain its weight or fineness ; and in a contract for 

 a burying-place, in exchange for which Abraham gave silver, the 

 metal was weighed in the presence of all the people. As com- 

 merce improved, and bargains of this sort became more common, 

 this practice was laid aside, and the quantity of silver was ascertain- 

 ed by a particular mark, which saved the trouble of weighing it. 

 But this does not appear to have taken place till the time of Jacob, 

 grandson of Abraham. The refdah, of which we read in his time, 

 was a piece of money, stamped with the figure of a lamb, and of a 

 precise and stated value. The history of Joseph shows that com- 

 merce between different nations was then regularly carried on. 

 The Ishmaelites and Midianites, who bought him of his brethren, 

 were travelling merchants, resembling the modern caravans, who 

 carried spices, perfumes, and other rich commodities, from their 

 own country into Egypt. Job, who, according to the best writers, 

 was a native of Arabia Felix, and also a contemporary with Jacob t 

 speaks of the roads of Thema and Saba, i. e. of the caravans which 

 set out from those cities of Arabia. If we reflect that the com- 

 modities of that country were rather the luxuries than the neces» 

 saries of life, we shall have reason to conclude that the countries 

 into which they were sent for sale, and particularly Egypt, were 

 considerably improved in arts and refinement. ' 



That branch of the posterity of Noah who settled on the coasts of 

 Palestine, were the first people of the world among whom navigation 

 was made subservient to commerce : they were distinguished by a 



