now operate in their fullest extent, were formerly
corrected by the labors of a numerous people, and the active protection
of a wise government. The hills were clothed with rich beds of
artificial mould, the rain was collected in vast cisterns, a supply of
fresh water was conveyed by pipes and aqueducts to the dry lands. The
breed of cattle was encouraged in those parts which were not adapted for
tillage, and almost every spot was compelled to yield some production
for the use of the inhabitants.

Pater ispe colendi Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque par artem
Movit agros; curis acuens mortalia corda, Nec torpere gravi passus sua
Regna veterno. Gibbon, Misc. Works, iv. 540.

But Gibbon has here eluded the question about the land "flowing with
milk and honey." He is describing Judaea only, without comprehending
Galilee, or the rich pastures beyond the Jordan, even now proverbial for
their flocks and herds. (See Burckhardt's Travels, and Hist of Jews,
i. 178.) The following is believed to be a fair statement: "The
extraordinary fertility of the whole country must be taken into the
account. No part was waste; very little was occupied by unprofitable
wood; the more fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces,
others were hung with orchards of fruit trees the more rocky and barren
districts were covered with vineyards." Even in the present day, the
wars and misgovernment of ages have not exhausted the natural richness
of the soil. "Galilee," says Malte Brun, "would be a paradise were it
inhabited by an industrious people under an enlightened government.
No land could be less dependent on foreign importation; it bore within
itself every thing that could be necessary for the subsistence and
comfort of a simple agricultural people. The climate was healthy, the
seasons regular; the former rains, which fell about October, after the
vintage, prepared the ground for the seed; that latter, which prevailed
during March and the beginning of April, made it grow rapidly. Directly
the rains ceased, the grain ripened with still greater rapidity, and was
gathered in before the end of May. The summer months were dry and very
hot, but the nights cool and refreshed by copious dews. In September,
the vintage was gathered. Grain of all kinds, wheat, barley, millet,
zea, and other sorts, grew in abundance; the wheat commonly yielded
thirty for one. Besides the vine and the olive, the almond, the date,
figs of many kinds, the ora