Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/151

TEMPLE. 119 TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM. to Westphalia on a secret mission to the Bishop of iliinster. On his return (1666) he was created a baronet, and appointed resident at the Court of Brussels. His most important diplo- matic success was the famous treaty of 1668, known as the Triple Alliance, by which Eng- land, Holland, and Sweden bound themselves to unite in curbing the ambition of France. Temple was long Ambassador at The Hague and helped to bring about the marriage of the Prince of Orange with the Princess Mary (1677). In 1679 Charles II. urged him to become his Secretary of State. Though Temple refused this post, he attempted to reform the government by estab- lisliing a privy council of thirty members, by whom the King promised to be guided in all public aflfairs, but this council proved an utter failure. Temple soon abandoned politics and retired, first to iSlieen, and then to Moor Park in Surrey, where for the last ten years of his life he de- voted himself to landscape gardening and to lit- erature. During this period he received into his household as amanuensis, and afterwards as secretary, Jonathan Swift (q.v. ), who ultimately became his literary executor. As a writer Temple is now known chiefly by his historical Memoirs (unauthorized ed. 1691; 1709) and his Miscellanea (1680; 1692). In the series of 1692 first appeared the famous essay on Ancient and Modern Learning, which deals with the comparative merits of ancient and modern literature. The outcome of the spirited controversy in England was Swift's BaUlc of the Books (1704). (See Battle of TiiK BooK.s.) Temple has been considered one of the reformers of English style. According to Dr. Johnson lie w^as "the first writer to give cadence to English prose." During the eight- eenth century Temple's essays were regarded as models; his English was particularly pleasing to Charles Lamb, who comments upon it in his "Essay on the Genteel Style." But the later tendency toward limpidity in prose writing leaves Temple's work with little more than an historical value. Consult his Vorhs ( London, 1S14I ; the Life, Works, and Correspondence, by Courtenay (ib., 1836) ; and Macaulay's article on this biography in the Edinburgh Review for October, 1S38 (reprinted in Essays) ; Dorothy Osborne's Letters, ed. by Parry (London, 18S8). TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM. Tlio central shrine of Judaism after the establishment of the Davidie monarchy, situated on Mount Mo- riah in Jerusalem. The first 'house of God' was the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting, described in E.xodus xxv.-xxvii.; but this was replaced during Solomon's reign (c. 977-937 B.C.) by a permanent structure of great magnificence. 'This is described in great detail in II. Chronicles iii.- iv. (more briefly in I. Kings vi.) ; but, although certain features of the design are clearly set forth, others are wholly passed over, so that efforts to restore it from these descriptions have produced an extraordinary variety of results. It is, however, evident from the descriptions that the Temple followed the general plan of the Tabernacle with its inclosures, but on double the scale. The arrangement of the Tabernacle, with its outer courts inner court, sanctuary or Holy Place, and Holy of Holies, resembled in its general scheme that of the Egyptian temples (see Egyptian Abt) ; but the Tent itself was of modest dimensions, the Holy of Holies forming a cube of 10 cubits or about 15 feet, and the sanctuary a double cube 10 by 10 by 20 cubits. The Temple proper of Solomon measured 60 cubits in length, the outer sanctuary or Holy Place being 20 by 40 cubits in size and the Holy of Holies 20 by 20 cubits; both were 20 cubits high. Within the latter was the Ark of Testimony under two cherubim with outsju'ead wings; in the Holy Place were the altar of in- cense, the show-bread table, the seven branched candlesticks, and ten smaller tables and candle- sticks. Both chambers were wainscoted w^ith cedar and wholly covered with gilding; they were separated by a 'veil' or fixed curtain fitted with an olive wood doorway and doors. It was tliis veil that was 'rent in twain' at the cruci- fixion (Matt, xxviii. 51; Mark xv. 38; Luke xxiii. 44). The golden candlestick carried by Titus to Rome in a.d. 70 is figured in a relief on the Arch of Titus. In front of the Temple porch were two columns of bronze, 'Jachin' and 'Boaz,' 23 cubits high ; and against its side and end walls w^re three stories of small chambers for Wie priests. The court immediately surrounding the Temple was reserved for the priests, and contained the brazen altar of burnt offering and the great bronze 'Sea,' or tank, borne on twelve bronze o.en; these, with the cherubim in the Holy of Holies, being the only examples of free sculpture in Jewish art. A second court was the place of general assembly for all Jewish worshipers; it preceded or surrounded the first; but whether built by Solomon or encircled at a later date is not certain. Solomon's palace and the 'House of the Cedars of Lebanon' adjoined the Temple court. Dependencies and outbuildings were add- ed at various times to the main group. Of the architectural style of the Temple there is little hint in Scripture; but we know that its builders were chiefly Phcenicians, and the combination of an Egyptian type of plan with such Assyrian decorative details as palms, cherubim, and 'knops and flowers' is quite in harmony with the mixed style of Phcenician work in general. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by Nebuchad- nezzar B.C. 586. Upon the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity by permission of Cyrus a new edifice was erected under the direc- tion of Zerubbabel and finished B.C. 516. The vision of this second temple given by Ezekiel (chapters xl.-xliii) is generally recognized as something more than a mere creation of fancy. Though vague in many points, it is consistent and detailed in others, representing a far more elaborate system of courts, inclosures, gates, ami porticoes than the first temple possessed. The temple proper was a reproduction of the original edifice, but far inferior to it in splendor of orna- ment and gilding. Both the first and second edifices were, however, surpassed in architectural splendor by the third temple, erected by Herod, B.C. 18. The area of the temple terrace was greatly enlarged by new substructures built with masonry of colossal magnitude, a section of which Jforms the present 'place of wailing' of the Jews. Marble was profusely tised for colon- nades, gates, and walls, and the magnificence of Pioman carved decoration and architectural de- tail was blended with the Oriental arrangement of the plan, which reproduced essentially the