36 



CONSTANCE L. i^iAYNAED, ON THE 



Lastly, we have the history of Israel touching nation after 

 nation in turn, from burning Sodom, through Egypt, Assyria, 

 Persia, right down to the full power of Rome, as seen in the 

 Act^ of the Apostles. Under the Great Theocracy women fared 

 infinitely better than they did anywhere else in the world. In 

 all the lands we have passed in re^^ew, she was exploited by 

 pitiless man, either as temporary pla}'thing or permanent slave, 

 both being conditions where advance is impossible ; in Israel 

 alone she was honoured. All the nation in all its functions 

 was to be holy unto the Lord, and the maiden of the chosen people, 

 the faithful wife, the exultant mother, was held in high respect 

 all through their story. The time had not yet come for any- 

 thing but reserve and quiet, but that is necessary while the 

 beautiful fruit is maturing. The glimpses of evil and frivohty 

 we have recorded here and there seem to be entirely due to 

 contact with the tribes of Phenicia. Read Isaiah iii, 16-26, 

 and see the fashions of the day : every detail can, I believe, be 

 identified from the pictures at Gnossos. 



There is one most charming glimpse of the ordinary social life 

 of the Old Testament, and that, curiously enough, is not in the 

 Old Testament, but in the New. St. Luke has the spirit of the 

 true historian, and he opens his marvellous narrative with scenes 

 of Israel's normal and quiet life. We used to think that the 

 gap after Malachi was spiritually empty, but now we know it 

 was very full. Idolatry at last was banished, cured by the 

 Capti^dty ; the Synagogue, estabhshed by Ezra, taught the 

 mass of the people, the scribes multiphed copies of the Law and 

 the Prophets, and the result is seen in the Psalter, the very 

 crown and blossom of Israel's inner life, of which a large proportion 

 was written at this time. Old as David or even Moses, new as 

 the personal experience of men of that day, men we shall never 

 know, all are edited together in the splendid hymn-book of 

 Israel, the prayer-book and praise-book of the world. 



A conquered State, a decadent Church, and yet how beautiful 

 is the picture given ! We are accustomed to think of Pharisaism 

 as a malisfn influence, cramping and tyrannical as Rome before 

 the Reformation, but in both cases the wiitten Creed remained, 

 and obscure and devout souls could live out their hves in com- 

 munion with God and in great beauty of humihty. St. Luke 

 introduces us to six people living thus — Zacharias and Elizabeth, 

 Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, and all have the same 

 characteristics, just, devout, righteous, blameless, good ; of 



