only dwelt there by permission. Hence, when Abraham sojourned at Gerar, the king of the country was particularly courteous, and offered him any part of his demesnes to dwell in. 9 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee; dwell where it pleaseth thee. And when the Patriarch afterwards, being aggrieved, retired to Beersheba, the king thought proper to go to him, attended with Phichol, his chief captain, who was probably one of the Anakim, and insisted upon a covenant and promise, which was to be in force for future generations. 10 Now therefore swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, AND TO THE LAND, wherein thou hast sojourned. Many years afterwards the same thing happened to Isaac. He had resided at Gerar, and was obliged to retire to Beersheba, where he pitched his tent. The herdsmen of the king had used him ill; and the prince of the country made a point to be reconciled to him, and set out with his chief captain, and in the same state as his

9 Genesis. c. 20. v. 15.

1 Ibid. c. 21. v. 23.

predecessor. 12 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me ?-And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee; and let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt. What hurt could be feared, either to them, or to their country, from an old man of above an hundred years, who with his whole retinue had been put to flight by some herdsmen? or what harm could be dreaded from Abraham, who was equally advanced in years, or from his attendants? Yet a covenant was desired: and nothing can more effectually shew the reputed sanctity of these Patriarchs, and the dignity of their character, than the reverential regard which was paid to them. Weak to appearance, and unsettled, without the least portion of land which they could call their own, they are solicited by the princes of the country, who cannot think themselves secure without their benediction and

"It was undoubtedly a different king of the country. Abimelech was not a proper name, but an hereditary title. Phichol signifies the mouth of all; or the person who gives out orders: in other words, the commander in chief. The meeting of Isaac and Abimelech was above an hundred years after the interview with Abraham.

13

favour. And the covenant sued for by these persons is not merely sued for their own time, but to extend to their sons, and sons sons, and to the land in which they dwelt. Accordingly, when Joshua conquered the kingdoms of Canaan, we find no mention made of the Philistines being engaged in those wars, nor of their having entered into any confederacy with the kings of the country. And though their cities were adjudged to the tribe of Judah, yet they were not " subdued; and seem to have enjoyed a term of rest for above forty years. No mention is made of any hostilities during the life of Joshua; which, considering their situation, is hard to be accounted for, except upon the principles upon which I have proceeded. It is probable that they afterwards forgot the covenant which had been formerly made, and would not acknowledge any right of property or jurisdiction in the Israelites: upon which they were invaded by the sons of Judah, and some of their cities taken. These hostilities commenced in the time of Caleb, above forty years after the Israelites had been in Canaan.

The other tribes of the Mizraïm sent out colonies to the west, and occupied many regions in

3 Joshua. c. 13. v. 2.

Africa, to which part of the world they seem to have confined themselves. The children also of Phut, the third of the sons of Ham, passed very deep to the southward; and many of the black nations are descended from them, more, I believe, than from any other family. We are informed by 14 Josephus, that Phut was the founder of the nations in Libya; and that the people were from him called Douro, Phuti. By Libya he understands, as the Greeks did, Africa in general: for the country called Libya Proper was peopled by the Lubim, or Lehabim, one of the branches from Mizraim. Λαβιειμ, εξ ου Λίβυες. From Lehabim came the Libyes, says the author of the Chronicon Paschale. The sons of Phut settled in Mauritania; where was a region called Phutia, as we learn from Jerom; and a river of the like denomination. 16 Moritaniæ fluvius usque ad præsens tempus Phut dicitur: omnisque circa eum regio Phutensis. "7 Josephus also mentions in this country a river so called. Some of this family settled above Egypt, near Ethiopia, and were styled Troglodytæ, as we learn from Syncellus.

15

14

Antiq. 1. 1. c. 7. See Bochart. Phaleg. p. 295.

15 Chron. Pasch. p. 29.

16 Traditiones Hebr.

37 Antiq. 1. 1. c. 7.

.

18

Φουδ, εξ ου Τρωγλοδύται. Many of them passed inland, and peopled the mediterranean country. In process of time, the sons of Chus, after their expulsion from Babylonia and Egypt, made settlements upon the sea-coast of Africa, and came into Mauritania. We accordingly find traces of them in the names which they bequeathed to places; such as Chuzis, Chusarez, upon the coast; and a city Cotta, with a promontory Cotis, in Mauritania. Flumen Cosenum also is mentioned by 19 Pliny. By their coming into these parts, the memorials of the Phuteans were in some degree, obscured. They are, however, to be found lower down; and the country upon one side of the river Gambia is at this day called Phuta. Of this Bluet gives an account in his history of Moses Ben Solomon. It is not possible at this æra to discriminate the several casts among the black nations. Many have thought, that all those who had woolly hair, were of the Ethiopian or Cuthite breed: but nothing can be inferred from this difference of hair, for many of the Ethiopic race had strait hair, as we learn from 20 Herodotus: and we are told by Marcellinus, that some of the