I, however, incline to prefer the last, because it plainly connects the Essenes with an ancient Jewish brotherhood called Chassidim ‏חסידים‎ the pious, who preceded the Essenes, and from whom the latter took their rise. Those who wish to trace this connection, will find an article on the Chassidim in Dr. Alexander’s edition of Kitto’s Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature. II. I shall now give in chronological order the description of the Essenes found in the writings of Philo, Pliny, Josephus, Solinus, Porphyry, Eusebius and Epiphanius, and subjoin such notes as will explain the difficulties, and show the historical value of the respective documents. As Philo is the oldest in point of time, we will begin with him. The exact date of the birth of this celebrated Jewish-Alexandrian philosopher is not known. It is, however, generally agreed that he was born in Alexandria between the years 20 and 1 B.C., and died about 60 A.D. Having resided all his lifetime in Alexandria, his information about the Essenes, who lived in Palestine, was derived from hearsay. This will account for some of the inaccuracies in his description of this remarkable brotherhood. He has given us two accounts of them, one in his treatise, entitled Every Virtuous Man is Free, and the other in his treatise, called Apology for the Jews. The latter is no longer extant, but Eusebius has preserved the fragments which speak of the Essenes in his work, entitled Præparatio Evangelica viii. 11. The description of the so-called contemplative Essenes, or Therapeutæ, which is generally appealed to as illustrating the doctrines and practices of the brotherhood in question, has nothing whatever to do with the real Palestinian Essenes; and it is almost certain that it is one of the many apocryphal productions fathered upon Philo, as may be seen from Graetz’s elaborate and masterly analysis of it. [19] Philo’s first account is contained in his treatise entitled Every Virtuous Man is Free, and is as follows: [20]