A Catechism of Familiar Things Part 35

CHAPTER XVI.

BRICKS, MORTAR, GRANITE, SLATE, LIMESTONE, OR CALCAREOUS ROCKS, STEEL, EARTHS, VOLCANOES, AND EARTHQUAKES.

Of what are Bricks composed?

Of clay, dried by the heat of the sun, or burnt in kilns; their color varies with the different degrees of heat to which they are subjected in burning. In the East, bricks were baked in the sun; the Romans used them crude, only laying them to dry in the air for a long s.p.a.ce of time.

_Crude_, in the rough, unbaked state, just as they were formed.

How long have Bricks been in use for building?

Bricks appear to have been in use at a very remote period of antiquity, both from the account of them in the Holy Scriptures, and from the remains of them which have been found; the Tower of Babel and the walls of Babylon were built of them. They were in early use among the Egyptians, as appears from the history of the Jews before their deliverance by Moses. In the book of Exodus, we are told that this captive people were compelled to make bricks for that nation. The Romans, under their first kings, built with ma.s.sive square stones; but towards the end of the Republic they began to use brick, borrowing the practice from the Greeks; and the greatest and most durable buildings of the succeeding Emperors were composed of them, as the Pantheon, &c.

_Ma.s.sive_, bulky and heavy.

By whom was the Tower of Babel erected, and why?

By the descendants of Noe's three sons, Sem, Cham, and j.a.pheth; they were extremely numerous, and dwelt in the land of Sennaar; becoming ambitious of distinguis.h.i.+ng themselves, they set about building a tower whose summit might reach to heaven. Sennaar was the original name of the country about Babylon.

_Descendants_, those descended from a particular person or family.

What remarkable event followed their foolish pride?

The Almighty suddenly frustrated their purpose by confusing their language and causing them all to express their words by different sounds; hence arose the numbers of different languages spoken by the nations of the earth; and thus what they imagined would be a monument of glory, was made an awful memento of their pride and folly.

_Frustrated_, prevented.

_Monument_, anything by which the memory of persons or things is preserved.

_Memento_, a hint to awaken the memory of anything; that which reminds.

What good effect did this event produce?

G.o.d, who at all times can bring good out of evil, by this means caused the other parts of the earth to be peopled; for this visitation having effectually broken up their scheme, they emigrated in parties, and dispersed themselves over different parts of the world.

_Scheme_, plan, intention.

_Emigrated_, removed from one country to another.

_Dispersed_, separated.

Where was Babylon?

This celebrated city, so often mentioned in Holy Writ, (and remarkable for the minuteness with which its destruction was foretold by the Prophets,) was the capital of the a.s.syrian Empire, and situated on the river Euphrates. After the destruction of Nineve, the ancient capital of this empire, Babylon became the most famous city of the East.

_Minuteness_, particularity.

What is meant by the a.s.syrian Empire?

The country of a.s.syria, in Asia.

For what was this city particularly celebrated?

For its hanging gardens, palaces, temples, and walls, the latter of which are said to have been three hundred and fifty feet high, and so broad that six chariots could go abreast upon them. The city was so strongly fortified, both by nature and art, as to be thought impregnable.

_Fortified_, defended.

_Impregnable_, incapable of being taken or destroyed by an enemy.

By whom was it destroyed, and when?

By Cyrus, 538 years before the birth of Christ, just fifty years after Nabuchodonosor had destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its temple.

Who was Cyrus?

The founder of the Persian Empire.

Who was Nabuchodonosor?

The King of Babylon.

What was the Pantheon?

A temple of a circular form which was dedicated to all the G.o.ds, or all the Saints. That of all others the most celebrated, is the Pantheon of ancient Rome, and its remains are the most perfect amongst the wonders of that city at the present day.

_Circular_, having the form of a circle, round.

By whom was it built?

By Agrippa, the Consul of Rome, twenty-five years before Christ; it was dedicated by him to Jupiter: the name Pantheon was given on account of the great number of statues of the G.o.ds ranged in niches all round it; and because it was built in a circular form to represent heaven, the residence of the G.o.ds. It was afterwards converted into a church by Pope Boniface IV, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and all the Martyrs, under the t.i.tle of "Our Lady of the Rotunda." Agrippa likewise built the Pantheon at Athens, which was but little inferior to that of Rome. The Greek Christians afterwards converted it into a church, dedicating it to the Blessed Virgin; but the Turks, when they subdued Greece, changed it into a mosque.

_Dedicated_, appropriated to a particular person, or to a sacred use.

_Residence_, dwelling, habitation.