being erected into an archbishopric, and the firft archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerfualem, having fourteen bishops under its primacy; and in this ftate it continued feveral years. V. But after all the city fhould be totally deftroyed, and become a place only for fifhers to fpread their nets upon. When the prophets denounced the deftruction of a city or country, it was not intended that fuch denunciation should take effect immediately. The fentence of condemnation (as I may fay) was then paffed upon it, but the execution might be refpited for fome time. When it was threatened that Babylon fhould become a defolation without an inhabitant, there were yet many ages before it was reduced to that condition; it decayed by degrees, till at laft it came to nothing; and now the place is fo little known, that you may look for Babylon in the midft of Babylon. In like manner Tyre was not to be ruined and defolated all at once. Other things were to happen firft. It was to be reftored after 70 years; it was to be destroyed and reftored again, in order to its being adopted into the church. Thefe events were to take place, before Ezekiel's prophecies could be fully accomplished; (XXVI. 3, 4, 5.) Thus faith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will caufe many nations to come up against thee, as the fea caufeth his waves to come up: And they shall deftroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will alfo fcrape her duft from her, and make her like the top of a rock: It shall be a place for the fpreading of nets in the midft of the fea: for I have Spoken it, faith the Lord God. He repeats it to fhew the certainty of it, (ver. 14.) I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, faith the Lord God: and again (ver. 21.) I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; tho' thou be fought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, faith the Lord God. These prophecies, like moft others, were to receive their completion by degrees. Nebuchadnezzar, as we have feen deftroyed the old city; and Alexander employed the ruins and rubbish in making his caufey from the continent to the island, which henceforwards were joined together. "It is no wonder therefore," as Bithip (8) Pococke obferves, "that there are no figns of "the ancient city; and as it is a fandy fhore, the face of every thing is altered, and the great aqueduct in many "parts is almoft buried in the fand." So that as to this part of the city, the prophecy hath littérally been fulfilled, Thou shalt be built no more; tho' thou be fought for, yet fhalt thou never be found again. It may be queftioned whether the new city ever after that arofe to that highth of power, wealth, and greatnefs, to which it was elevated in the times of Ifaiah and Ezekiel. It received a great blow from Alexander, not only by his taking and burning the city, but much more by his building of Alexandria in Egypt, which in time deprived it of much of its trade, and thereby contributed more effectually to its ruin. It had the misfortune afterwards of changing its mafters often, being fometimes in the hands of the Ptolemies kings of Egypt, and fometimes of the Seleucide kings of Syria, till at length it fell under the dominion of the Romans. It was taken by the (9) Saracens about the year of Chrift 639 in the reign of Omar their third emperor. It was retaken by the (1) Chriftians during the time of the holy war in the year 1124, Baldwin the second of that name being then king of Jerufalem, and affifted by a fleet of the Venetians. From the Chriftians it was (2) taken again in the year 1289 by the Mamalucs of Egypt, under their Sultan Alphix,. who facked and rafed this and Sidon and other ftrong towns, that they might not ever again afford any harbour or thelter to the Chriftians. From the Mamalucs it was (3) again taken in the year 1516 by Selim, the ninth emperor of the Turks; and under their dominion it coutinues at prefent. But alas, how fallen, how changed from what it was formerly! For from being the center of trade, frequented by all the merchant fhips of the east (8) Pococke's Defcript. of the Faft, Vol. 2. B. i. Chap. 29. p. 81, 82. (9) Ockley's Hift. of the Saracens, Vol. 1. p. 340. (1) Abul-Pharajii Hist. Dyn. 9. p. 250. Vers. Pocockii. Savage's Abridg. ment of Knolles and Rycaut. Vol. 1, P. 26. (2) Savage's Abridgment. Vol. 1. p. 95. Pocock. Defcrip. of the East, Vol. 2. B. 1. Chap. 20. p. 83. (3) Savage's Abridgment. Vol. 1. p. 241. and and weft, it is now become a heap of ruins, vifited only by the boats of a few poor fishermen. So that as to this part likewife of the city, the prophecy hath literally been fulfilled, I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou fhalt be a place to fpread nets upon. The famous (4) Huetius knew one Hadrianus Parvillerius, a Jefuit, a very candid man and a mafter of Arabic, who refided ten years in Syria; and he remembers to have heard him fometimes fay, that when he approached the ruins of Tyre, and beheld the rocks ftretched forth to the fea, and the great ftones fcattered up and down on the fhore, made clean and smooth by the fun and waves and winds, and ufeful only for the drying of fishermen's nets, many of which happened at that time to be spread thereon, it brought to his memory this prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Tyre; (XXVI. 5, 14.) I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, faith the Lord God. Dr. (5) Shaw in his account of Tyre thus expreffeth himself, I vifited feveral creeks and inlets in order to "difcover what provifion there might have been for merly made for the fecurity of their veffels. Yet not"withstanding that Tyre was the chief maritime power "of this country, I could not obferve the leaft token of "either cothon or harbour that could have been of any "extraordinary capacity. The coafting fhips indeed, ftill find a tolerable good fhelter from the northern "winds under the fouthern fhore, but were obliged im"mediately to retire, when the winds change to the "weft or fouth: fo that there must have been fome "better station than this for their fecurity and reception. (4) Hadrianum Parvellerium, e focietate Jefu, virum candidiffimum et Arabice doctiffimum, qui decem annos in Syria egit, memini me audire aliquando cum diceret, fibi olim ad collapfas Tyri ruinas accedenti, et rupes mari prætentas, ac disjectos paffim in littore lapides procul fpectanti, fole, fluctibus, et auris deterfos ac levigatos, et ficcandis folum pif catorum retibus, quæ tum forte plu "In the N. N. E. part likewife of the city, we fee the "traces of a fafe and commodious bafon, lying within "the walls: but which at the fame time is very finall, fcarce forty yards in diameter. Neither could it ever ર have enjoyed a larger area, unless the buildings, which now circumfcribe it, were encroachments upon its oriσε ginal dimenfions. Yet even this port, fmall as it is at prefent, is notwithstanding so choaked up with fand "and rubbish, that the boats of thofe poor fishermen, "who now and then vifit this once renowned emporium, "can with great difficulty only be admitted." But the fulleft for our purpose is Mr. Maundrell, whom it is a pleasure to quote as well as to read, and whofe journal of his journey from Aleppo to Jerufalem, though a little book, is yet worth a folio, being fo accurately and ingeniously written, that it might serve as a model for all writers of travels. "This city, (6) faith he, ftanding in the fea upon a peninfula, promises at "a diftance fomething very magnificent. But when "you come to it, you find no fimilitude of that glory, "for which it was fo renowned in ancient times, and "which the prophet Ezekiel defcribes Chap. 26, 27, 28. "On the north fide it has an old Turkish ungarrifoned "caftle; befides which you fee nothing here, but a meer "Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c. there being not fo much as one entire houfe left; its prefent "inhabitants are only a few poor wretches harbouring themfelves in the vaults, and fubfifting chiefly upon fishing, who feem to be preferved in this place by "divine providence, as a vifible argument, how God "has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, viz. that it Should be as the top of a rock, a place for fifhers to dry "their nets on.' Such hath been the fate of this city, once the most famous in the world for trade and commerce. But trade is a fluctuating thing: it paffed from Tyre to Alexandria, from Alexandria to Venice, from Venice to Antwerp, from Antwerp to Amfterdam and London, the English rivalling the Dutch, as the French are now (6) Maundrell, p. 48, 49. 5th Edit. rivalling rivalling both. All nations almoft are wifely applying. themselves to trade; and it behoves thofe who are in poffeffion of it, to take the greatest care that they do not lofe it. It is a plant of tender growth, and requires fun, and foil, and fine feafons, to make it thrive and florish. It will not grow like the palm-tree, which with the more weight and preffure rifes the more. Liberty is a friend to that, as that is a friend to liberty. But the greatest enemy to both is licentioufnefs, which tramples upon all law and lawful authority, encourages riots and tumults, promotes drunkennefs and debauchery, sticks at nothing to fupply its extravagance, practises every art of illicit gain, ruins credit, ruins trade, and will in the end ruin liberty itfelf. Neither kingdoms nor commonwealths, neither public companies nor private perfons, can long carry on a beneficial florifhing trade without virtue, and what virtue teacheth, fobriety, industry, frugality, modefty, honefty, punctuality, humanity, charity, the love of our country, and the fear of God. The prophets will inform us how the Tyrians loft it; and the like caufes will always produce the like effects. (IL. XXIII. 8, 9.) Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whofe merchants are princes, whofe traf fickers are the honourable of the earth? The Lord of hofts hath purpofed it, to ftain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. (Ezek. XXVII. 3, 4.) Thus faith the Lord God, O Tyrus, thou haft faid, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midft of the feas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. (XXVIII. 5, &c.) By thy great wisdom, and by thy traffick haft thou increafed thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midft of thee with violence, and thou haft finned; therefore will I caft thee as profane out of the mountain of God. Thine heart was lifted up becaufe of thy beauty, thou haft corrupted thy wisdom by reafon of thy brightness. Thou haft defiled thy fanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall decour thee, and I will bring thee to afhes upon the earth, in the fight of all them that |