of the gate. And such is the spot where these trophies are now placed. At the grand entrance of the sultan's palace at Constantinople, there are niches appropriated to this purpose; but when the number of the slain are numerous, they are heaped on each side of the gate. Such a barbarous usage prevails throughout Asia, but more especially in Persia. Very frequently, oriental conquerors form these heads into permanent monuments, in celebration of their achievements. This is usually done by erecting pillars, and inlaying them with the heads of the slain. Several of these pillars may be seen in Persia and Turkey; and there are two near the gates of Bagdad, which were erected within our own times, and which are inlaid with the heads of two hundred Khezail Arabs, which were captured by the pasha. We forbear, however, to enter into a detail of such trophies; for the bare idea of such is revolting to humanity. The frailty of human nature is discerned in them in the most legible characters; and the Christian who reads of them cannot forbear lifting up his heart to the great Father of mankind, and praying that he would hasten the day when every nation shall be knit together in the hallowed bonds of Christian love,when Christ shall reign in and over the hearts of every son and daughter of the human race.

MILITARY FORTIFICATIONS, ETC.

CASTLE.

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A CASTLE is a walled enclosure, with a tower or towers strongly constructed, and intended as a place of security from the assaults of foes. They appear to have been of early origin, for we find them mentioned, Gen. xxv. 16, in which verse it is intimated, that although the Ishmaelites were a wandering people, they nevertheless had their enclosures, or castles, wherein to remove their wives and children in times of war. The reader must not understand, however, that the castles noticed by the sacred writers were of such a structure as those with which we are acquainted, and which are partly of Norman, Saxon, and Roman architecture. The castles of the descendants of Ishmael were doubtless of rude construction; and, as the products of the skill of the Orientals are of an almost unchanging character, it is probable that those which are met with in the East at the present day, exhibit the form of those erected in the patriarchal ages, and those which are mentioned subsequently in the sacred history.

That the castles erected in those early ages were sufficient for the purpose for which they were designed, we learn from the fact, that they have furnished the sacred writers with one of their most emphatic figures. Expressing his confidence in the

protecting power of the Almighty, the psalmist says, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower," Psa. xviii. 2. And the prophet Nahum, when he would show forth the goodness of God to his afflicted people, does so under a similar figure: "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him," Nah. i. 7.

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towns with very high walls. Thus we read of the cities of the Canaanites, that they were 66 great and fenced up to heaven," Deut. ix. 1. This, of course, is a strong hyperbole; nevertheless, the walls that surrounded these cities were of no mean height, as those which are now erected by the Orientals indicate. "Few towns," says a recent traveller, "of the least consequence] in Western Asia are without walls, which, whatever be their character in other respects, are sure to be lofty."

These walls are generally built with large bricks dried in the sun, though sometimes of burnt bricks, and they are seldom less than thirty feet high. They are not so strong and thick in proportion to their height, but they are sometimes strengthened with round towers, or buttresses, placed equidistant from each other. But, if they are not so strong as those erected in European countries, they are effectual to protect their inhabitants from outward assailants. We read, indeed, of Asiatic conquerors being obliged, after making great efforts to obtain possession of walled towns, to give over the attempt. So little is the art of besieging known in the East, that when a town has a wall too high to be scaled, and too thick to be battered down, the inhabitants look upon the place as impregnable. All they fear is, lest the gates should be forced or betrayed, or they should be starved to surrender. This is the case now. We need not wonder, therefore, that the Hebrews, while in their nomade state, considered the walls of the city of Canaan

as great and insurmountable obstacles in the conquest of that country.

The towers which were built in the walls were generally round, and placed at regular intervals; those at the angles being generally the largest and strongest. The precise form of these towers, however, varied according to circumstances. In coins, discovered at Babylon, square towers are depicted, having as walls serrated battlements; and a Greek coin, found at Macedonia, exhibits round towers with similar battlements. The use of these projecting towers, was to enable the besieged to attack the enemy behind, when the wall was assaulted.

Sometimes the wall was double, or even triple, so that, should the enemy carry the outer wall, there was another opposed to their force. Such was the case at Jerusalem. Josephus says, "Of these three walls," (which were towards the north,) "the old one was hard to be taken, both by reason of the valleys and of that hill on which it was built, and which was above them. But besides that great advantage, as to the place where they were situate, it was also built very strong because David, and Solomon, and the following kings, were very zealous about this work."

It was customary with the ancients to surround the town, or fortress, with a deep ditch; and the advantage of such was not overlooked by the Hebrews, as many passages in the Bible intimate. They had not, however, such an advantage as the Babylonians in this respect; for the ditch which surrounded Babylon