Note 69 — THE ESSENES.

“In the interior of Judea, towards the west, are the Essenes, who differ from the usages of all other nations in their marvellous constitutions, and who, according to my opinion, have been appointed by divine providence for this mode of life. No woman is to be found there; connubial pleasures they have entirely renounced; money they know not, and palm-berries are their food.69 Not a single birth takes place there, and yet there is no want of population. The place itself is devoted to modesty. Although a very large number of persons run to it from all quarters, yet none is admitted who is not thought to possess purity, fidelity and innocence; for, if one has been guilty of the slightest misdemeanour, though he endeavour to obtain admission by offering never so large a fortune, he is excluded by a divine decree. Thus it is that through an immense space of ages (per immensum spatium saeculorum), incredible to relate,70 this society is perpetuated though no child is born among them.”