is attested by Homer, who has been followed in this particular by all the writers of antiquity who give an account of those times. In the Iliad, the battle axe was made of brass, and highly polished; the arrow was headed with brass; the coat of mail was composed of brass; the spear was made of brass;i in fine, the warrior is represented as sheathed in dazzling brass. Plutarch states, that when Cimon the son of Miltiades, conveyed the bones of Theseus from the isle of Scyros to Athens, he found interred with him, a sword of brass, and a spear with a head of the same metal. But it is unnecessary to multiply examples, since we are expressly told by Hesiod, that in those ages, iron was unknown; but their arms, all sorts of instruments, and their very houses were made of brass: Τοις δ' ην χαλκεα μεν τευχη, χαλκεοι δε τέ οίκοι ; Σαλκω δ' ειργάζοντο, μελας δ' εκ εσκε σιδηρος.

In Virgil, the whole field of battle gleamed with brass :

"ac late fluctuat omnis

Aere renidenti tellus."

Geor. ii, 1. 280.

The armour of the Asiatic nations was made of this metal, or profusely adorned with it, and polished into dazzling brightness, to strike their enemies with terror." The gigantic champion of the Philistines had an helmet of brass upon his head; and was armed with a coat of mail of the same metal: "The weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass; and he had greaves of brass upon his

h Lib. i, 1. 371. i Lib. iii, 1. 470, 482. Langhorne's Plut. vol. i, p. 39, 40. Scutum Herculis, 1, 221.

A

Opera et Dies. 1. 150, 255. The Massagetæ, a people on the confines of India, if not in reality Indians, had their axes, hatchets, spears, and even their horse-accoutrements, of the same metal. Herodotus, lib. i, p. 215. See also Maurice's Indian Antiq, vol. vii, p. 678–680,

legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders." But in those early times, the arts were more advanced in Canaan and other nations of Asia than in Greece, as they had discovered the method of smelting iron, and begun to employ it in the fabrication of arms in the time of Goliath, for his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron."

The arms of the Hebrew soldiers are distinguished into two sorts; some of them being contrived for their own defence, others to annoy their enemies. On this subject Dr. Potter remarks; "The primitive Grecians, we are told, were better furnished with the former, whereas the barbarians were more industrious in providing the latter; the generals of these being most concerned how to destroy their enemies, while the Grecians thought it more agreeable to the dictates of human nature, to study how to preserve their friends; for which reason, Homer always takes care to introduce his brave and valiant heroes well armed into the battle, and the Grecian lawgivers decreed punishments for those that threw away their shields, but excused those that lost their swords or spears; intimating hereby, that their soldiers ought to be more careful to defend themselves, than to offend their enemies." These sentiments, however, were not, as this learned author supposes, peculiar to the Greeks; they seem, in reality, to have been derived from the oriental nations, for Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, was covered with defensive armour, while he had only two offensive weapons, a sword by his side, and a spear in his hand; and not satisfied with what he carried himself, he had one bearing a shield who

a 1 Sam. xvii, 7.-Often adorned with brass. Opera et Dies. 1. 423.– Sometimes their arms were made of gold, or richly ornamented with that metal. Ibid. 1. 182. Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. ii, p. 23.

went before him. The Hebrews were not less attentive to the personal safety of their warriors, for when Saul accepted of David's generous offer, to enter the lists with the formidable Philistine, he clothed him " with his armour; and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also, he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go." And although no censure was pronounced, and no punishment decreed in the law of Moses, against those warriors that threw away their shields, yet, the loss of them was lamented by the Hebrew bard as a public dishonour.

The first piece of defensive armour entitled to our notice, is the helmet, which protected the head. This has been used from the remotest ages by almost every nation of a martial spirit. The champion of the Philistines had a helmet of brass upon his head, as had also the king of Israel, who commanded the armies of the living God. This martial cap was also worn by the Persians and Ethiopians in the day of battle. The Grecian helmets were very often made of the skins of beasts ; but the helmet of the Jewish warrior seems to have been uniformly made of brass or iron; and to this sort of casque only, the sacred writer seems to refer. In allusion to this piece of defensive armour, Paul directs the believer to put on for an helmet the hope of salvation, which secures the head in every contest, till, through him that loved him, he gain a complete victory over all his enemies. That well-grounded hope of eternal life which is attended with ineffable satisfaction, and never disappoints the soul; like an helmet of brass, shall guard it against fear and danger, enable it pa

P 1 Sam. xviii, 38.

Eph. vi, 17; and 1 Thes. v, 8. Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. ii, p. 23. Adam's Rom. Antiq. p. 367.

tiently to endure every hardship, and fortify it against the most furious and threatening attacks of Satan and all his confederates. Such adversaries, this solid hope is not less calculated to strike with dismay, than was the helmet of an ancient warrior in the day of battle his mortal foes, by its dazzling brightness, its horrific devices of Gorgons and Chimæras, and its nodding plumes which overlooked the dreadful cone.P

Another piece of defensive armour used in those early times, was the breastplate or corslet : with this Goliath was accoutred; but in our version the original term is rendered a coat of mail; and in the inspired account of the Jewish armour, it is translated habergeon. It was between the joints of this harness (for so we render it in that passage) that Ahab received his mortal wound by an arrow shot at a venture. To this species of armour the prophet Isaiah alludes, where the same Hebrew word is used as in the preceding texts, but is here rendered breastplate; and in the prophecies of Jeremiah it is translated brigandine. From the use of these various terms, in translating the Hebrew term (1) shirion, it seems to have covered both the back and breast of the warrior, but was probably intended chiefly for the defence of the latter, and, by consequence, took its name from that circum

stance.

The corslet was made of flax or of wool woven very thick; of ox hide, of brass, or of iron. The metallic corslet consisted not of one solid piece, but of scales, hooks, or rings, connected like the links of a chain, that the warrior might move in it with greater ease.

The sides of it

were coupled together with a sort of buttons, in the same manner as the Roman lorica, which it nearly resembled." This piece of defensive armour Saul wore for the security of his person in the day of battle; but it was not proof against the missile weapons of his enemies, for in his last engagement with the Philistines, he fell pierced by their arrows, through the rings of which his coat of mail was composed.

The breastplate is frequently mentioned in the sacred volume. It was properly a half corslet, defending the breast, as its name imports, but leaving the back exposed to the enemy. Breastplates were not always formed of the same materials; some were made of line or hemp twisted into small cords, and close set together; but these were more frequently used in hunting than in war. The most approved breastplates were made of brass, iron, or other metals, which were sometimes so admirably hardened as to resist the greatest force. Plutarch reports, that Zoilus, an artificer, having made a present of two iron brigandines to Demetrius Poliorcetes, for an experiment of their hardness, caused an arrow to be shot out of an engine called catapulta, placed about twenty-six paces off, which was so far from piercing the iron, that it scarcely rased or made the least impression upon it. These facts may serve to display the inestimable value of " the breastplate of righteousness," which the apostle recommends to the hearers of the gospel; a piece of spiritual armour which the fiery darts of the devil cannot pierce. The scales of brass, which composed the breastplate of the ancient warrior, often reflected the light so as to dazzle the eyes of his antagonist, and strike him with terror.

"Adam's Rom. Antiq. p. 368.

V

▾ Langhorne's Plut. vol. v, p. 352.