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THE 


JOURNAL 


OK 


SACEED   LITERATURE. 

Jlem  $txm. 


EDITED  BY  JOHN  KITTO,  D.D.,  P.S.A. 


VOLUME  IV. 


LONDON: 
ROBERT  B.  BLACKADER, 

ALDINE  CHAMBERS,  13,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
AND  SOLO  BT 

SAMUEL  BAGSTER  &  SONS,  16,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
EDINBURGH  :  W.  OLIPHANT  k  SONS.    DUBLIN  :  SAMUEL  B.  OLDHAM. 


1853. 


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Y^  /;(^^/- 


LOTTDOIt  :    PRINTED  BY  W.  CLOWES  AND  SONS,  STAMFORD  STREET. 


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THE 

JOURNAL 


OP 


SACRED    LITERATURE 

No.  VIL  — APEIL,  1853. 


THE  SCYTHIAN   DOMINION   IN  ASIA 

{Aa  recorded  hy  Herodotus) 

IN  ITS  CONKECTION  WITH  JOSIAH'B  BXEBCI8K*  OP  SOYSBRIOK  POWSR  IN  THK 
TERRITOBT  OP  THE  TEN  TRIBES. 

It  was  between  the  twelfth  (cir.  630  b.c.)  and  the  eighteenth 
(624  B.C.)  years  of  his  reign  that  Josiah  endeavoured  to  accom- 
plish a  thorough  reliffious  reformation,  not  only  in  Judea,  but  also 
in  Samaria.  It  had  oeen  long  before  announced  to  Jeroboam,  as 
he  stood  by  his  recently  erected  idolatrous  altar  at  Bethel,  to  bum 
incense,  tliat  *  a  child  should  be  bom  unto  the  house  of  David^ 
JOSIAH  by  name  ;  and  that  he  should  offer  upon  that  altar  the 
priests  of  the  hiffh  places  that  burned  incense  upon  it,  and  that 
men's  bones  should  be  bumed  upon  it '  (1  Kings  xiii.  2). 

The  son  of  Amon  did  not  confine  himself  to  the  letter  of  this 
remarkable  prediction  ;  but,  in  his  character  of  reliffious  reformer, 
he  seems  to  have  acted  as  one  of  the  royal  descendants  and  suc- 
cessors of  David,  with  full  and  indei)endent  sovereigntv  within  the 
limits  of  the  kingdom  of  his  illustrious  ancestor — at  least,  on  the 

*  The  excellent  commentator,  Thomas  Scott,  was  strock  with  Josiah's  extra- 
ordinary exercise  of  sovereign  power  in  Samaria.  With  his  usual  moderation,  he 
makes  the  following  remaik  upon  the  subiect :  *  Josiah  had  evidently  some  authority 
over  a  great  part  of  the  oountrj  which  the  ten  tribes  had  occupied  (2  Chron. 
xxxiv.  36) :  but  it  is  not  certain  whether  this  was  hp  grant  from  the  king  t^AMayriOt 
or  by  the  wiUing  subjection  of  the  inhabitants ;  the  former  however  appears  the 
more  probable.'    (Note,  2  Kings  xxiii.  15,  20.) 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  B^  J 

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2  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

western  side  of  the  river  Jordan.  For  he  resolutely  and  un- 
sparingly desecrated  and  destroyed  idolatry,  with  its  altars  and 
priesthood,  not  only  at  Bethel,  but  also  '  in  tne  cities  of  Manasseh^ 
Uphraim^  and  Simeon^  even  unto  NaphtaW  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  6). 
And  we  read  elsewhere,  that  '  he  took  away  all  the  ^  high  places 
in  the  cities  of  Samaria,  which  the  kings  of  Israel  had  made  to 
provoke  the  Lord  to  anger,  and  did  to  them  according  to  all  the 
acts  that  he  had  done  in  Bethel.  And  he  slew  {sacrificed,  marg.) 
all  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that  were  there  upon  tiie  altars, 
and  burned  men's  bones  upon  them,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem ' 
(2  Kings  xxiii.  19,  20). 

Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  the  tidings  of  such  a 
scornful  and  decisive  desecration  and  destruction  of  idolatrous 
places,  altars,  and  priests  in  his  province  of  Samaria,  would  highly 
exasperate  the  Assyrian  monarch  then  occupying  the  throne  of 
Nineveh,  if  he  were  actually ,  and  not  merely  nominally,  the  master 
of  Samaria  at  the  period  in  question.  He  could  not  but  regard 
this  violent  attack  upon  idols  and  altars  as  heinous  sacrilege,  and 
an  unpardonable  insult  to  his  own  authority  and  majesty.  And 
consequently  (speaking  after  the  manner  of  men)  the  throne  and 
personal  liberty  of  Josiah,  if  not  his  very  life,  would  have  been 
seriously  endangered. 

Now  it  is  here  that  a  question,  not  without  its  interest  and  im- 
portance, at  once  suggests  itself,  and  which  it  is  the  leading  object 
of  this  essay  to  discuss.  Are  we  to  believe  that  the  reigning 
monarch  in  Nineveh  was  actually  the  supreme  lord  of  Samaria  at 
the  time  of  Josiah's  memorable  desecration  of  idolatry  in  that 
province  ?    Or,  is  it  rather  to  be  inferred  that,  in  consequence  of 

^  No  mention  is  here  made  of  such  altars  as  may  have  been  erected  throughout 
Samaria,  by  the  GentUo  colonists  to  their  various  idols.  It  is  however  probable 
that  all  which  came  under  the  notice  of  the  king  would  be  destroyed.  The  zeal 
of  Josiah  was  doubtless  especially  directed  against  the  *  high  places'  made  by  the 
kings  of  Israel,  which  were  only  the  successive  developments  of  the  same  spirit  of 
guilty  disloyalty  to  Jehovah,  manifested  by  Jeroboam  at  Bethel,  and  also  at  Dan. 
But  the  establi^ment  of  the  golden  calf,  with  its  altar,  at  Bethel,  was  the  more 
fla^^'ant  outraee  of  the  two :  as  this  place  was  upon  the  borders  of  Jndah,  at 
no  very  great  distance  from  Jerusalem,  and  closely  associated  with  the  history  of 
the  patriarch  Jacob. 

It  is  not  credible  that  Josiah  was  ignorant  of  the  memorable  prediction  uttered 
three  centuries  previously  a^inst  that  guilty  spot.  And  he  would  naturally  feel 
that,  while  this  solemn  prediction  commanded  him  to  accomplish  its  literal  denun- 
ciation against  Bethel,  its  spirit  justified  hira  (perhaps  oallea  him  to  the  additional 
task)  in  overthrowing  the  idolatry  of  Israel  (should  circumstances  permit  it, 
without  detriment  to  the  sovereign  jurisdiction  of  the  Assyrian  monarch)  in  all 
the  other  high  places  and  altars  which  had  b6en  subsequently  erected  in  the  laud 
of  Jehovah,  in  imitation  of  the  parent  allar  at  Bethel.  It  is  also  not  improbable 
that  (as  happened  in  Hezekiah's  reformation)  the  Lord  inclined  the  hearts  of  the 
remnant  of  Israel  in  Samaria,  at  least  in  the  neighbouring  territory  of  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh,  to  encourage  Josiah,  and  co-operate  with  him. 


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1853.]  The  SejfthUm  Dammion  in  Asia.  8 

some  momdBtotts  vicissitudes  in  Assyrian  affiiirs,  the  remote  and 
oomparatively  obscure  district  of  Samaria  had  alroady,  through  the 
mysterious  dispensations  of  Divine  Providence,  reallv  passed  from 
tlie  hands  of  the  Assyrian  kin^?  And  that  the  Most  High  had 
virtually  resumed  (so  to  speak)  his  former  immediate  eovereignty 
and  government  of  the  land  of  the  ten  tribes—thus  bringing  it 
once  more  under  the  anti-idolatrous  denunciations  of  the  Mosaic 
law  ?  Nay,  that  he  had  virtually  again  given  it  (now  destitute  of 
any  earthlv  master)  to  be,  for  a  brief  space,  under  the  rule  of  the 
house  of  David,  to  which  it  had  ori^nally  belonged. 

Before  we  examine  the  page  of  secular  history,  let  us  inquire  to 
what  inference  upon  this  point  the  Hebrew  records  naturally  and 
obviously  conduct  us.  Surely,  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that 
Josiah,  after  his  apparentlv  presumptuous  and  unpardonable  dese- 
cration of  idolatrous  worsnip  in  Samaria,  suffered  no  mdestation 
during  the  renuuning  thirteen  years  of  his  reign  from  Nineveh 
(or  fi^  Babylon),  it  seems  almost  necessarv  to  conclude  that,  at 
the  time  in  questicm,  the  Assyrian  was  either  too  weak,  or  too 
much  engaged  with  more  important  events  at  home,  to  have  leisure 
and  ability  for  the  due  assertion  of  claims  of  sovereignty  over  the 
£ur  distant  land  of  the  ten  tribes,  against  the  earnest,  zealous,  and 
oomparatively  powerful  kin^  of  Judah.  And  this  conclusion 
derives  ftirther  confiimation  irom  the  fact  recorded  by  the  sacred 
historian,  that,  at  the  dose  of  Josiah's  reign,  Phantoh  Necho, 
king  of  Egypt,  so  little  feared  the  arms  of  Assyria  or  Babylon, 
that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  undertake  in  person  a  hostile  expemtion 
to  the  banks  of  the  distant  Euphrates,  when  Josiah  sought  to 
arrest  his  course,  and,  in  attem^dng  to  do  this,  was  mortally 
wounded  in  battle  at  Megiddo.  Doubtless  that  which  most  satis- 
factorily accounts  fer  Pharaoh's  venturing  upon  an  expedition  so 
rradote,  fiJso  best  explains  why  the  king  of  Judah  had  remained 
unmolested  during  the  preceding  thirteen  years,  viz.,  that  Assyria 
was  now  too  weak,  and  Babylon  not  yet  sufficientlv  strong,  to  be 
r^trded  as  fcHrmidaUe  on  the  western  side  of  the  Eujdurates. 

I  shall  now  endeavom-  to  confirm  frt>m  secular  history  this  con- 
dusbn  to  which  the  sacred  records  lead  us,  and  to  show  that 
at  the  time  when  the  zealous  and  pious  son  of  Amon  so  sternly 
and  scornfully  overthrew  idolatry  in  the  territory  of  the  ten  tribes, 
the  Scythian  invasion  cmd  dominion  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Em^ 
phnttee  and  Tigris^  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Median  Cyaxares, 
nad  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  sovereign  of  Nineveh  to  punish 
the  Jewish  king  for  thus  acting  as  the  independent  lord  of  Sa- 
maria, and  doing  in  the  most  public  manner  that  which  would 
certaiidy  be,  in  3ie  highest  degree,  offensive  and  insulting  to  a 
proud  and  idolatrous  Assyrian  monarch. 

n  2 

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4  The  Scythian  I>omnion  in  Asia,  [April, 

In  attempting  to  perfonn  this  task,  let  me  first  briefly  notice  the 
leading  circumstances  immediately  connected  with  the  Asiatic 
inroad  of  this  victorious  horde  of  barbarians.  Herodotus  tells  us 
that  a  band  of  Cimmerians,  having  been  expelled  from  Europe  by 
certain  Scythians,  gained  possession  (probably  by  surprise)  of  the 
Lydian  capital  Sardis,  witn  the  exception  of  the  citadel.  He  adds 
that  the  victorious  Scythians  afterwanls  followed  in  pursuit  of  these 
Cimmerians,  and,  deviating  frt>m  the  right  route,  encountered  and 
utterly  defeated  the  Median  king  Cyaxares.  They  marched  as 
conquerors  southward  (and  this  fiust  implies  their  successful  pro- 
gress through  a  considerable  portion  of  Mesopotamia,  during 
whidi  Babylon  also  might  learn  to  fear  their  power)  until  they  had 
passed  below  Ascalon,  and  had  therefore  approached  the  southern 
limits  of  Palestine.  Thev  would  there  find  themselves  on  the 
borders  of  the  desert  which  lies  between  Palestine  and  the  land  of 
the  Pharaohs.  Such  an  obstacle  was  calculated  to  check  and  dis- 
courage rude  barbarians,  unprovided  with  means  to  cross  the  sandy 
waste.  Accordingly,  we  are  not  to  wonder  that  the  Egyptian 
king  Psammitichus,  taking  advantage  of  this  circumstance,  met 
them  with  prayers  and  presents,  and  succeeded  in  dissuading  them 
frt>m  proceeding  further  in  that  direction. 

These  barbarians,  after  their  agreement  with  Psammitichus, 
returned  into  the  regions  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  without 
turning  aside  to  inflict  injury  upon  the  subjects  of  the  young  and 
pious  Josiah.  The  believer  in  Holy  Writ  can,  without  difficulty, 
understand  this.  Judea  was  at  the  time^  under  the  special  and 
covenant  protection  of  the  Most  High,  after  whom  her  youthful 
king  had  already  begun  to  seek,  and  in  whcmi,  as  the  God  of 
David  his  father,  he  had  placed  his  confidence  and  hope.  The 
Greek  historian  gives  the  following  account  of  the  duration  of  the 
power  of  the  Scythians,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  they  exercised 
it  after  their  return  into  Upper  Asia.*  *  For  twenty-eight  yearSy 
then,  the  Scythians  governed  Asia,  and  everything  was  overthrown 
by  their  licentiousness  and  neglect ;  for  besides  the  usual  tribute, 
they  exacted  from  each  what  they  chose  to  impose,  and,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  tribute,  they  rode  round  the  country,  and  phmdered 
them  of  all  their  possessions.'  As  a  barbarous  horde,  they  would 
be  ill  qualified  to  capture  fortified  cities,  although  supreme  in  the 
open  country.  And  it  would  seem  that,  to  ue  close  of  their 
twenty-eight  years  of  Asiatic  dominion,  they  were  too  powerful  to 

«  It  does  not  leera  possible  to  date  the  Scjthian  adrance  to  the  soath  of  Palestine 
earlier  than  oir.  684,  B.O.,  the  sixteenth  year  of  Josiah's  age.  And  the  sacred 
historian  tells  us  diat  '  tn  Me  eighth  vear  qf  hit  reigHf  while  he  aros  ffet  young,  he 
began  to  eeeh  qfter  the  God  ^  David  hu  father  J 

^  Herod,  i.  106. 

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1853.]  The  Scyihian  Dammicn  m  Atia,  5 

be  openly  attacked ;  as  it  was  only  by  inviting  their  chie&  to  a 
banquet,  and  treacherously  slaying  uiem  when  intoxicated,  that 
Cyaxares  and  the  Modes  succeeded  in  expelling  them  from  Asia. 
It  is  sufficiently  clear  from  this  sketch  of  the  insolence  and 
imnunity  of  these  barbarian  conquerors  that,  in  such  a  state  of 
widely-spread  disorder  and  oppression,  all  formal  and  real  political 
connection  between  the  land  of  the  ten  tribes  and  the  sovereign  of 
Nineveh  mtut  have  been  thor<mghli/  dissolved^  while  the  Scythian 
dominion  continued,  Nineveh,  deeply  humbled,  and  shorn  of  her 
imperial  greatness,  would  be  nothing  more  than  the  capital  of  the 
Assyrian  territory.  The  lieutenant  or  viceroy  in  Babylon*  would, 
at  the  commencement  of  this  barbarian  dominion,  be  intently 
occupied  in  watching  the  state  of  affiurs  in  his  own  vicinity,  not 
without  the  hope  of  ultimately  availing  himself  of  the  surrounding 
confusion  to  tlm>w  off  all  subjection  and  vassalage  to  Nineveh,  and 
declare  himself  an  independent  sovereign.  And  even  if  a  ruler  of 
Babylon,  revolting  frx)m  his  Asi^rrian  liege-lord,  had  attempted  to 
take  possession  of  Samaria,  Josiah  (as  me  descendant  of  David 
and  nghtfiil  occupant  of  his  throne)  might  well  have  deemed  him- 

*  It  U  the  object  of  this  paper  to  endeayoar  to  prove,  chiefly  on  the  aathority  of 
Herodotus,  the  contemporaneousDess  of  the  Scythian  dominion  in  Upper  Asia, 
with  Josiah's  religious  reformation  in  Samaria,  and  the  snbseqnent  thirteen  years 
of  his  reign.  From  other  sources,  however,  it  is  believed  that  Labynetas  declared 
himself  the  independent  sovereign  of  Babylon,  dr.  626  b.  c,  in  the  sixteenth  year 
of  Jo6iah*s  reign,  and  eight  years  after  the  last  ffreat  Assyrian  triumph  in  the 
defeat  and  death  of  the  Median  Phmortes.  Laoynetns  (who  is  the  same  as 
Nabopolasar,  the  father  of  Nebuchadnezzar)  would  scarcely  have  taken  this  deci- 
sive tiep  until  be  saw  that  it  could  be  done  with  probable  impunitr.  And  on  this 
ground  it  may  be  safely  believed  that  in  626  b.  c  (to  name  the  kUest  date),  Oful 
two  years  before  the  close  qfjosiah's  reltmous  reformation,  Nineveh  had,  from  some 
cause  or  other,  sunk  into  an  apparently  final  and  hopeless  loss  of  her  imperial 
power,  and  was  no  loager  able  to  control  Babylon,  mnch  less  to  exercise  sovereisn 
authority  in  such  remote  provinces  as  Svria  and  Samaria.  Let  this  point  be 
examined  a  little  more  closely.  The  defeat  and  death  of  Phraortes,  634  b.  c, 
would  undoubtedly  exercise  a  strong  moral  influence  over  the  snrrounding  states 
and  tribes  in  renewing  the  fear  of  Assyria.  And  even  the  subsequent  victory  of 
Cyaxares,  a  comparatively  untried  sovereign,,  who  had  recently  ascended  the 
tlirone,  and  his  commencement  of  the  sie^e  of  Nineveh,  would  scarcely  remove  all 
apprehension  that  the  Assyrian  might  a^am  regain  the  ascendancy— not  to  mention 
the  probability  that  Babylon  wonid  feel  a  secret  jealousy  of  the  rising  greatness  of 
the  ambitious  Mede.  When  therefore  the  Mede,  who  had  smitten  the  Assyrian, 
was  himself  smitten  by  the  Scythian  strangers,  and  these  seemed  to  have  established 
themselves  in  Asia,  it  may  be  reasonabhr  supposed  that  Babylon  watched  the 
course  of  events  during  perhaps  the  first  four  or  five  years  of  Scythian  dominion, 
and  seeing  Nineveh  am  Media  alike  humbled,  without  any  immediate  prospect  of 
recovering  what  they  had  lost,  ventured  to  declare  herself  independent.  This 
would  prevent  our  dating  the  Scythian  overthrow  of  Cjrazares  later  than  the 
twelfth  of  Josiah,  630  b.€.  ;  though  an  earlier  dale  may  be  very  well  admitted, 
even  on  this  view.  The  subtle  barbarians,  if  they  paid  any  attention  to  such 
events,  would  rejoice  in  the  independence  of  Babylon,  and  the  long  war  between 
the  Medes  and  Lydians.  Their  jpowerful  neighbours  would  thus  be  divided  and 
weakened,  and  their  own  security  mcreased. 

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6  The  SctftMan  Dominion  m  A$ia.  [April, 

self  justified  in  redsting  such  an  attempt  For  it  was  to  the 
Assyrian  monarch,  and  not  to  a  disloyal  vassal  in  Babylon,  that 
the  Most  High  had  given  the  kingdom  of  Samaria.  And  if  a 
conflict  had  ensued,  the  population  of  Judea,  recruited  by  many 
years  of  peace,  could  have  furnished  a  formidable  military  force, 
which,  at  that  early  stage,  the  Babylonian  might  have  been  un- 
willing, and  indeed  unaUe,  to  encounter. 

But  with  many  thou^htfiil  English  readers  even,  the  names  of 
Cimmerians  and  Scythians,  occurring  in  the  annals  of  this  com- 
paratively remote  period,  will  wear  a  susjHcious  appearance,  and 
seem  to  oelong  to  the  realms  of  legendary  tradition  rather  than  to 
those  of  authentic  history.  Hence,  while  trying  to  show  that  the 
Scjrthian  supremacy  in  Upper  Asia  was  contemporaneous  with 
Josiah's  overthrow  of  idolatry  in  Samaria,  it  may  be  proper,  or 
even  necessary,  to  otkr  reasonable  proof  that  Herodotus'  account 
of  the  Cimmerian  and  Scythian  invasions  is  not  a  legendary  exag- 
geration of  certain  obscure  barbarian  inroads,  bat  a  p(Htion  of 
sober  and  well-authenticated  history.  And  if  these  two  points  of 
authentidty  and  contemporaneousness  can  be  fiurly  and  reasonably 
established,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  Samaria  had,  at  the  time 
in  question,  so  completely  and  finally  passed  from  its  subjection  to 
(or  even  political  connection  with)  Nineveh,  that  the  pious  and 
zealous  king  of  Judah  was  guilty  of  no  real  infringement  upon  the 
riahts  of  the  Assyrian  mcnareh  in  taking  possession  of  the  territory 
of  the  ten  tribes,  and  exercising  sovereign  jurisdiction  there  as 
well  as  in  Judea. 

Let  us,  then,  here  inquire  into  the  authenticity  of  the  narrative 
before  us.  Should  it  be  asked  how  is  it  possible  to  ascertain  this? 
It  may  be  replied,  what  is  the  test  of^  the  authenticitv  of  the 
records  of  those  early  times,  as  given  by  Herodotus  himself? 
We  learn  it  distinctiy  from  the  well-known  passage  in  which  he 
tells  us  that  PsammitichuSy  on  becomim^  master  of  all  Egypt, 
settled  his  (Asiatic)  Greek  mercenaries  (to  whom  he  was  chiely 
indebted  for  his  success)  as  a  colony  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  in 
Lower  Egypt,  and  near  the  sea.  For  he  then  proceeds  to  make 
the  following  important  statement :  ^  From  the  time  of  the  settie- 
ment  of  these  people  in  Egypt,  we  Greeks  have  had  such  constant 
communication  with  them  tnat  we  are  accurately  informed  of  all 
that  has  happened  in  Egypt,  beginning  from  the  reign  of  Psam- 
mitichus  to  tnis  present  time.' 

Now  Psammitichus  became  sovereign  of  all  Egypt,  and  settled 
the  Greek  colony  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  dr.  670  b.c.  :  and  we 
thus  have  the  assurance  of  Herodotus  that,  from  this  early  date, 
all  the  great  public  transactions  occurring  in  Egyptian  nistory 
were  accurately  known  to  tiie  Greeks.    And  it  coiud  not  have 


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1853.]  The  Scythian  Dominicn  in  Asia.  7 

been  earlier  than  the  accession  of  Cyaxares  to  the  Median  throne 
— i.  eJ  cir.  G34  b.c. — that  the  Scythians  were  met  by  Psammitichus, 
and  prevailed  upon  to  desist  from  attempting  to  enter  Egypt ;  and 
such  an  event  would  be  thoroughly  known,  and  excite  the  liveliest 
interest  in  Lower  Egypt,  where  the  Asiatic  Greeks  had  been 
located.  Accordingly,  the  march  of  these  Scythians  to  the 
southern  limits  of  Pdestine  and  the  borders  of  the  Egyptian  desert 
as  conquerors  whose  name  and  power  were  univereally  dreaded, 
claims  to  be  received  as  historic  truth,  having  happened  nearly 
forty  years  after  the  commencement  of  accurate  and  authentic 
Egyptian  history  in  the  writings  of  the  Greek  historians  :  and  it 
is  obvious  that  this  greatly  assists  in  confirming  the  statements  of 
the  previous  victorious  career  of  these  barbarians  in  Assyria,  and 
in  showing  that  they  must  have  passed  through  Mesopotamia, 
without  encountering  any  successful  opposition. 

And  in  connection  with  this  part  of  our  subject  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  inroad  of  the  Scythians  is  very  closelv  con- 
nected by  Herodotus  with  that  of  the  Cimmerians,  the  former 
entering  Asia  in  pursuit  of  the  latter  ;  hence  the  confirmation  of 
either  portion  of  the  narrative  strongly  tends  also  to  confirm  the 
other.  Now  the  test  of  the  authenticity  of  the  historical  annals  of 
these  early  times  given  by  this  writer,  and  already  brought  for- 
ward— viz.,  that  wherever  the  Astatic  Greeks  possessed  the  means 
of  readily  obtaining  correct  information,  their  historical  records 
may  be  depended  upon  as  accurate — applies  vrith  even  greater 
force  to  the  Cimmerian  than  to  the  Scythian  part  of  Herodotus' 
narrative.  This  is  almost  self-evident :  for  the  kingdom  of  Lydia 
was  itself  m  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Asiatic  Greeks^  and 
the  Cimmerians  are  related  to  have  possessed  themselves  of  Sardis 
(the  metropolis  of  Lydia),  with  the  exception  of  the  citadel,  in  the 
reign  of  its  king  Ardys.  f    This  event,  as  will  presently  appear, 

'  This  date  of  Cjaxares'  accession  may  be  proved  fipom  Herodotus,  and  the 
calculations  of  modern  astronomy.  Dr.  Ludwig  Ideler  of  Berlin  has  calculated 
that  an  eclipse,  registered  in  the  ancient  tables,  as  having  occurred  in  the  seventh 
year  of  Uie  reign  of  Cambyses,  happened  on  the  16th  of  July,  523  b.c.  Hence 
Cyrus  was  still  living  on  that  day  of  tlie  month,  in  530  B.C.,  and  died  before  the 
16th  of  July  529  B.c.  We  therefore  approximate  to  the  truth,  within  six  months, 
if  we  name  530  b.c,  as  the  year  of  Cyrus*  death.  But  Herodotus  assures  us  that 
104  years  elapsed  between  the  accession  of  Cyaxares  and  the  death  of  Cyrus. 
Add  this  sum  to  530,  and  we  have  634  b.  c,  as  the  date  of  the  death  of  Phraortes, 
and  tiie  accession  of  Cyaxares ;  which  events  may  be  regarded  as  contemporary 
with  the  eighth  year  of  the  reign  of  Josiah. 

«  Ardys  reigned  49  years,  and  the  capture  of  Sardis  most  probably  occurred 
towards  the  close  of  his  reign.  But  we  read  that  his  predecessor,  Gyges,  invaded 
the  territories  of  Miletus  and  Smyrna,  and  took  the  city  of  Colophon ;  all  three 
places  belonging  to  the  Asiatic  Greeks.  Ardys  himself  gained  possession  of  Priene, 
and  invaded  Miletus.  It  is  possible  that  Ardys  may  have  been  absent  with  his 
army  in  the  territory  of  Miletus,  when  the  Cimmerians  surprised  Sardis ;  and  that 

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8  The  Scythian  Domirdon  in  Asia.  [April, 

cannot  well  be  dated  earlier  (if  indeed  so  early)  than  640  b.c., 
t. «.,  about  thirty  years  after  the  Greeks  had  obtained  access  to  the 
authentic  public  history  of  the  comparatively  remote  region  of 
Egypt.  And  these  Greeks  had  also  a  deep  personal  interest  in 
the  disasters  and  successes  of  their  powerful  neiffhboup ;  for  the 
Lydian  kings  had  already  commenced  a  system  of  hostile  aggres- 
sion against  the  Greek  states,  some  fifty  years  before  the  capture 
of  Siurdis.  These  various  republics  would  thus  watch  with  the 
suspicion  of  conscious  inferiority  and  danger,  whatever  materiaUy 
a£Pected  the  powerftd  and  ambitious  Lydian.  Hence  the  capture 
of  Sardis,  and  the  unexpected  and  menacing  proximity  of  a  horde 
of  barbarians,  who  might  speedily  attack  the  Greeks  also,  must 
very  soon  have  become  matter  of  notoriety  at  Smyrna,  one  of  the 
principal  cities  of  the  Ionian  confederacy,  less  than  forty  miles 
distant  from  Sardis,  and  whose  territory  had  been  invaded  by  the 
predecessor  of  Ardys.  The  important  tidings  would  spread 
rapidly,  and  become  well-known  through  all  the  other  Greek  com- 
monwealths in  Asia.  If,  therefore,  we  think  that  the  seemingly 
fair  and  reasonable  test  of  authenticity  so  decisively  proposed  by 
Herodotus  can  be  relied  on,  we  may  entertain  a  well-grounded 
confidence  that  all  the  great  public  events  in  Egyptian,  and  miu^h 
more  in  Lydian  history,  occurring  at  the  period  now  under  con- 
sideration, were  accurately  known  to  the  Asiatic  Greeks.  Conse- 
quentlv^  the  capture  of  Sardis  by  the  Cimmerians,  their  settlement 
near  the  Euxine  in  the  district  where  Sinope  was  afterwards  built, 
and  their  subsequent  expulsion  by  the  Lvdian  king  Alyattes,  as 
also  the  negodations  between  Psammitichus  and  the  victorious 
Scythians  on  the  southern  borders  of  Palestine,  and  their  expulsion 
from  Aria  twenty-eight  years  afterwards  by  Cyaxares — may  all  be 

the  barbariaos,  despairing  of  masterinff  the  dtadel.were  prevailed  upon  by  g^fts  to 
withdraw ;  or  they  may  have  retreated  at  the  return  of  Ardys. 

^  One  or  two  additional  ptnnts,  tending^  to  authenticate  the  Seytho-CiDimeriaii 
narrative  in  Herodotus,  are  better  added  m  a  note.  When  he  is  about  to  relate 
the  expedition  of  Darius  against  the  European  Scythians,  he  says—*  Darius  was 
desirous  of  revenging  himself  upon  the  Scjrthians,  because  thev  formerly,  having 
invaded  the  Median  territories,  were  the  first  beginners  of  violence.'  B.  iv.  c  1. 
Afliun,  in  describing  the  vast  preparation  of  Xerxes  to  invade  Greece,  he  adds — 
'  tnat  the  expedition  of  Darius  against  the  Scythians  appears  nothing  in  comparison 
with  this;  nor  that  of  the  Scythians,  when  in  pursuing  the  Cimmerians,  and 
invading  the  Medic  territory,  they  subdued  almost  all  the  upper  part  of  Asia^  on 
account  of  which  Darius  afterwards  attempted  to  inflict  vengeance  upon  them.' 
B.  vii.  c.  20.  And  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  Herodotus  elsewhere  writes  that 
Darius  was  about  twenty  years  old,  when  Cyrus  died,  530  b.  c  He  was  therefore 
bom  cir.  550  B.  c,  t.#.  about  eighty  years  after  the  Scythian  defeat  of  Cyaxares,  and 
scarcely  fifty-five  years  after  their  expulsion  from  Asia.  Again,  the  eclipse  which 
terminated  tiie  long  Lydo-Median  war,  happened  in  610  b.  c.  By  this  time  the 
Lydians,  and  throi^  them  the  Greeks,  would  be  fkmiliar  with  the  great  con- 
temporary political  transactions  in  Media.  And  it  was  not  until  after  the  close  of 
the  war,  that  Cyaxares  expeUed  the  Scythians. 


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1853.]  The  Scythian  DomimCn  in  Asia,  5 

fairly  ranked  among  the  best  avthenticated  historical  facts  of  those 
early  times. 

And  here  it  may  be  permitted  to  notice  a  further  appearance  of 
agreement  between  the  different  portions  of  the  S^ho-Cimmerian 
narrative.  Had  we  known  nothing  more  of  the  Cimmerians  than 
that  they  took  Sardis,  it  might  have  been  thought  possible  that 
they  were  only  a  small  and  daring  band  who  had  gained  their 
victory  under  peculiarly  favourable  circumstances.  But  when  we 
find  that,  after  such  an  insult  to  the'  Lydian  sovereign  and  capital, 
they  continued  to  reside  in  Asia,  and  were  not  expelled  until 
many  years  subsequently  by  the  powerftd  king  Alyatt^s,  it  may 
reasonably  be  inferred  that  the  Cimmerians  were  a  numerous  and 
formidable  host  Hence  the  Scythians,  before  whom  these  same 
Cimmerians  had  fled,  may  well  be  supposed  to  have  been  suffi- 
ciently numerous  and  strong  to  vanquish  the  Medes,  and  to  retain 
for  several  years  the  supremacy  in  Upper  Asia — especially  when 
it  is  considered  that  there  was  such  a  deadly  feud  between  the 
rival  kingdoms  of  Assyria  and  Media,  and  that  Babylon  would 
see  with  secret  satisfaction  the  humiliation  of  these  two  powerful 
monarchies. 

Having  thus  endeavoured,  it  is  hoped  not  unsuccessfully,  to 
furnish  reasonable  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Greek  histo- 
rian's Scytho-Cimmerian  narrative,  it  remains  to  state  the  grounds 
for  believing  that  the  Scythian  dominion  in  Upper  Asia  was  con- 
temporary with  the  great  national  religious  reformation  accom- 
plisned  by  Josiah  in  bamaria  as  well  as  in  Judea,  and  vrith  the 
subsequent  years  of  his  reign. 

This  part  of  the  subject  is  somewhat  more  complicated;  yet 
Herodotus  seems  to  afibrd  sufficient  data  to  assist  the  inquirer  in 
obtaining  satisfactory  information.  It  is  necessary  to  approximate 
as  closely  as  possible  to  the  dates,  first,  of  the  decease  of  Ardys, 
and,  secondly,  of  Cyaxares'  victory  over  the  Assyrians,  with  that 
of  his  own  defeat  by  the  Scythians,  who  thenceforward,  until  their 
expulsion,  were  supreme  in  Asia.  For  such  great  events  would, 
of  course,  effectually  terminate  all  political  subjection  on  the  part 
of  Samaria  to  the  distant  and  humbled  Assyrian,  and  would  leave 
it  open  to  Josiah  to  act  {without  any  real  vrrong  to  the  sovereign  of 
Nineveh)  as  a  kingly  descendant  of  David  in  Samaria. 

Now  it  is  plain  that,  as  the  Cimmerians  took  Sardis  before  the 
death  of  the  Lydian  king  Ardys,  if  the  year  of  his  decease  can  be 
ascertained,  we  shall  know  the  latest  possible  date  assignable  to 
the  expulsion  of  the  Cimmerians  by  the  Scythians.  The  probable 
conclusion  on  this  point  from  the  statements  of  Herodotus  wiU 
presentlv  appear  to  be  thdt  Ardys  died  cir.  636  or  637  b.c. — ^the 
latter  of  the  two  dates  being,  perhaps,  preferable  to  the  former. 

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10  Tlie  SeytUan  Ihmmibn  in  Asia.  [April, 

There  is  nothing,  however,  sufficiently  particular  in  Herodotus* 
account  of  Ardys  and  his  successor  oaayattes,  to  enable  us  to 
determine  the  jrear  in  question  from  this  part  of  his  history  ;  yet, 
as  Sadyattes  reigned  twelve  years,  if  it  can  be  discovered  when  his 
son  Alyattes  succeeded  to  the  throne,  we  shall  learn  that  which  we 
wish  to  know. 

Thus  the  important  point  which  it  is  requisite  to  ascertain  is  the 
year  in  which  Alyattes  became  sovereign  of  Lydia :  and  this  vrill  be 
test  accomplished  by  arguing  from  two  entirely  indqi)endent  dates : 
(1)  from  the  overthrow  of  Astyages  by  Cyrus,  cir.  559  b.c.,  and  (2) 
from  the  occurrence  of  the  great  solar  eclipse,  predicted  by  Thales, 
which  terminated  the  Lydo-Median  war  in  its  sixth  campaign. 

And,  first,  the  date  of  Astyages'  overthrow  (cir.  559  b.c.)  is  to 
he  noticed  in  order  to  approximate,  as  closely  as  may  be  possible, 
to  the  year  in  which  Cyrus  took  Sardiu,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
reign  of  Croesus,  and,  indeed,  to  the  Lydian  kingdom :  for,  as 
Croesus  reigned  fourteen,  and  his  fether  Alyattes  fifty-seven  years, 
it  will  follow  that  the  latter  succeeded  Sadyattes  seventy-one  years 
before  the  conquest  of  Lydia  by  Cyrus. 

He  who  reads  attentively  Herodotus'  brief  account  of  Croesus' 
achievements  after  his  accession  to  the  throne  (comprising,  among 
other  triumphs,  the  complete  subjugation  of  the  cities  of  the  Ionian, 
Dorian,  ana  Aeolian  confederacies)  will  not  be  unwilling  to  allow 
that,  although  his  wars  were  not  against  remote,  but  against 
neighbouring  states  and  nations — a  period  of  five  years  is  about 
as '  small  (perhaps  too  small)  a  space  of  time  as  can  fairly  be 
named  even  for  the  comparatively  speedy  achievement  of  such 
varied  and  extensive  success.  Less  than  two  years  cannot  well  be 
allotted  to  that  season  of  leidure  and  prosperity  which  intervened 
between  the  close  of  his  wars  and  the  unfortunate  death  of  his 
favourite  son,  during  which  Sardis  became  the  resort  of  learned 
and  inquisitive  foreigners.  The  historian  writes  that  Croesus 
continued  inconsolable  for  the  loss  of  this  son  two  yearSy  when  he 
was  aroused  frt)m  his  grief  by  the  tidings  of  the  defeat  and  de- 
thronement of  Astyages,  cir.  559  b.c.  As  Croesus  reigned  only 
fourteen  yearSy  and  nine  of  these  had  thus  probably  elapsed  at  the 
time  of  Cyrus'  great  victory  over  the  Medes,  it  will  follow  that 
cir.  554  b.c.  {five  years  subsequently)  is  about  the  latest  date — 

I  Alyattes,  after  the  Lydo-Median  var  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Cimmerians, 
appears  to  have  commenced  a  system  of  aggression  against  the  Asiatic  Greeks, 
vhich  Croesus  successfully  continued.  *  He  took  Smvma,  and  invaded  Clazomcnae. 
From  this  place  he  departed,  not  as  he  could  wish,  out  ngnally  defeated*  (B.  L  c. 
16.^  This  latter  clause,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  Lydians  had  waged  (parUy 
under  Sad^'attes,  and  partly  under  Alyattes)  an  unsuccessful  war  of  twelve  years 
against  Miletus,  would  make  it  probable  that  Croesus  experienced  much  resistance, 
not  only  from  Ephesus,  but  from  other  cities  of  the  Greeks  in  Asia. 

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1853.]  The  Scythian  Daminicn  m  Asia.  11 

(that  of  953  b.c.  seems  rather  possible  than  probable) — which  can 
be  assigned,  consistently  with  the  narrative  of  Herodotus,  to  the 
Persian  capture  of  Sarais,  and  the  consequent  destruction  of  the 
Lydian  monarchy.  It  appears,  indeed,  to  the  writer  that  fully 
ten  years  may  have  passed  from  the  accession  of  Croesus  to  the 
overthrow  of  Astyages,  and  that  the  reign  of  Croesus  may  have 
terminated  as  early  as  dr.  555  b.c. 

A  similar  dnronological  result  will  be  obtained  (in  connection 
with  this  date  of  A^a^es'  overthrow,  559  b.c.)  if  reference  be 
made  to  the  evasive  rejpy  which  the  Delphic  oracle  returned  to 
Croesus,  in  order  to  refute  the  charge  of  deception  and  ingratitude 
advanced  by  him  agaii^  its  fabulous  deity  Apollo.  The  excuse 
offered  by  the  oracle  was  to  this  effect,  *  that  the  capture  of  Sardis 
had  been  delayed  by  Apollo  for  the  space  of  three  years  ;  and  that 
Croesus  had  been  taken  prisoner  three  years  later  than  the  Fates 
had  ordained.'  It  has  been  argued  that  these  words  teach  that 
Sardis  was  taken  by  die  Persians  three  years  after  Croesus  had 
sent  his  first  embassy  to  Delphi.  And  the  selMefensive  reply  of 
the  oracle,  while  it^naturally  and  obviously  admits  this  exidanation, 
will  scarcely  allow  any  other :  for  as  Croesus,  and  not  Cfyrus,  was 
the  aggressor,  the  time  of  commencing  hostilities  rested  with  the 
former,  who  seems  to  have  determin^  to  make  war,  or  remain 
auiet,  according  as  the  response  of  the  oracle  should  encourage  (nt 
mrbid  the  hope  of  success.  And  on  the  occasion  of  his  very  first 
embassy,  the  priestess  of  Delphi  could  have  given  such  iattering 
and  ambiguous  assurances  as  might  lead  Croesus  to  hrmg  down 
upon  himself  the  early  and  immecUate  ruin  of  his  kingdom.  And 
wlien  the  oracle  afterwards  returned  the  well-known  response — *  If 
Croesus  attack  the  Persians,  he  will  destroy  a  mi^y  empire ' — it 
prorided  for  a  considerable  delay  l^  directing  him,  according  to 
the  dictates  of  human  policy,  to  form  an  alliance  with  the  most 
powerful  Grecian  state :  ana  even  this  latter  injunction,  as  the 
priestess  craftily  refrained  itom  naming  the  most  powerful  state, 
compelled  the  royal  inquirer  to  spend  some  time  in  ascertaining 
the  actual  state  and  comparative  power  of  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  Athenians  before  he  decided  upon  formii^  an  alliance  with 
the  former. 

Now  Herodotus  does  not  seem  to  say  that  the  Lydian  king, 
immediately  afler  the  arrival  of  the  tidings  of  the  rout  of  the 
Median  army,  ceased  at  once  from  his  grief,  and  sent,  without 
delay,  his  first  embas^  to  Delphi     Croesus  ^  appears  rather  to 

^  Herodotus  writes—'  The  oTerthrow  of  Astyages,  and  the  growing  power  of 
the  Persians,  put  an  end  to  the  grief  of  Croesus;  and  it  entered  into  his  thoughts 
whether  he  ootild  by  any  means  cheek  the  growing  power  of  the  PterBians,  before 
they  becam*  ibrmiciable.    After  be  had  formed  this  porpoee,  he  determined  to 

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12  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

have  hesitated  for  a  time,  until  thoroughly  convinced  of  the 
growing  power  and  dangerous  ambition  of  the  conqueror.  Hence, 
according  as  it  is  thought  that  the  first  Lydian  deputation  to 
Delphi  was  despatdied  in  the  firBt  or  second  year — (for  the  third 
seems  altogether  too  improbable  a  delay) — after  the  overthrow  of 
Astyages,  there  will  result  the  date  of  555  or  554  b.c.,  for  the 
close  of  the  reign  of  Croesus.  Thus  it  would  appear  to  be  equally 
established  both  fipom  the  history  of  Croesus  before  the  dethrone- 
ment of  Astyages,  and  from  the  self-justifying  reply  of  the  oracle 
to  Croesus  after  his  fall,  that  the  year  ™  554  b.c.  may,  with  great 
probability,  be  regarded  as  the  latest  date  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Lydian  monarchy,  and  that  even  the  earlier  date  of  555  b.c. 
seems,  upon  the  whole,  preferable  to  that  of  553  b.c. 

From  this  result  an  approximation  is  easily  made  to  the  year  of 
the  death  of  the  kinff  Ardys :  for  (as  already  mentioned)  Croesus 
reigned  fourteen,  and  his  father  Alyattes  fifty-seven  years ;  con- 
sequentiy,  seventy-one  years  before  the  destruction  of  Sardis,  or 
625  B.C.  (the  year  before  Josiah's  great  passover),  will  be  the 
latest  date  assignable  on  this  view  to  the  accession  of  Alyattes, 
and  the  death  of  his  &ther  Sadyattes.  But  as  the  latter,  who  was 
the  son  and  successor  of  Ardys,  reigned  twelve  years,  the  year 
637  B.C.  (the  fifth  of  Josiah's  reign)  will  be  about  the  latest  date 
furly  assignable  on  this  view  to  the  death  of  Ardys,  and  therefore 
to  the  entrance  of  the  Cimmerians  into  Asia, 

And  here  it  may  seem  unnecessary  to  endeavour  to  ascertain 
the  year  of  Ardys'  decease  from  any  other  established  date.  But 
as  it  has  been  supposed  that  there  is  a  disagreement  between  the 
Greek  and  Asiatic  chronology  of  Herodotus,  it  seems  requisite 
(by  reasoning  from  two  independent  dates)  to  show  the  striking 
accordance  between  the  venerable  historian's  Lydian  and  Median 
chronology  :  for  thus  it  will  be  rendered  highly  probable  that,  if 
a  discrepancy  can  be  proved  to  exist  between  nis  Asiatic  and 
Greek  dates,  the  latter  rather  than  the  former  are  to  be  regarded 
as  erroneous. 

With  this  view,  therefore,  I  proceed  to  argue  from  the  date  of 
the  solar  eclipse  which  terminated  the  war  between  Alyattes  and 
Cyaxares.  The  calculations  of  modem  astronomy  teach  us  that 
this  eclipse  occurred  in  the  month  of  September,"  610  b.c.    It  was 

make  trial,  as  weU  of  the  oracles  in  Greece^  as  of  that  in  Libya,  and  sent  to  Delphi,* 
&c     B.  i.  c.  46. 

■*  The  writer  of  theinterestine  *  Life  of  Cyrns/in  the  ReKgioos  Tract  SocieU'g 
monthly  series,  gives  the  date  of  546  n.  c,  fbr  the  Persian  capture  of  Sardis,  which 
appears  to  be  quite  inconsistent  with  Herodotus,  and  would  make  the  accession  of 
Alyattes  to  have  been  in  617  b.  c. 

"  The  establishment  of  this  date  (assuming  the  accuracy  of  the  calculation)  is 
important.    For  Volney,  from  conjecture,  places  this  eclipse  in  625  B.C,  and 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.J  The  Scythian  Dommion  in  Asia.  13 

in  this  same  year  (probably  in  the  spring  or  early  part  of  the 
summer)  that  Josiah  was  mortally  woimded  while  fightmg  against 
Pharaoh  Necho  at  Megiddo. 

In  reading  the  account  of  the  reign  of  Alyattes  we  learn  that 
he  carried  on  at  different  times  two  important  wars,  the  former 
against  Thrasybulus  of  Miletus,  and  the  latter  against  the  Median 
kinff  Cyaxares.  It  seems  evident  firom  the  narrative  that  he  was 
so  mlly  and  personally  occupied  with  each  of  these  wars,  that  they 
could  not  possibly  have  been  contemporary  mth  each  other  for  a 
single  campaign.  At  his  accession  to  the  Lydian  throne  Alyattes 
continued  to  carry  on  the  war  against  Miletus,  which  had  been 
waged  during  the  last  six  years  of  the  reign  of  his  father  Sady- 
attes.  This  war  extended  into  the  sixth  year  of  Alyattes'  reign. 
His  lengthened  illness,  after  his  return  to  Sardis  from  his  sixth 
campaign,  in  which  his  troops  had  accidentally  burned  a  temple  of 
Minerva— the  embassy  which  he  was  induced  to  send,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  sickness,  to  the  oracle  of  Delphi— his  subsequent 
negociations  with  Thrasybulus — his  arrangement  afterwards  for 
building  two  temples,  in  lieu  of  the  one  accidentally  burned,  to 
the^  Assesian  Minerva — all  these  events  combined  maxe  it  next  to 
impossible  that  the  second  or  Lydo-Median  war  could  have  com- 
menced earlier  than  the  eighth  year  of  Alyattes'  reign :  and  as 
Herodotus  appears  to  say  that  tnis  king  did  not  fully  regain  his 
health  until  tne  temples  were  built,  it  may  not  unfairly  be  thought 
that  Alyattes'  ntn^A,  or  even  tenth  year  (provided  the  known 
length  wd  circumstances  of  his  reign  permit  the  latter  number)  is 
a  yet  more  probable  date  than  his  eighth  for  the  commencement 
of  this  second  war. 

Nor  will  this  supposition  be  weakened  by  taking  into  account 
the  circumstances  which  brought  on  the  war  between  the  Lydians 
and  Medes.  Herodotus  writes  that  certain  nomade  Scythians 
having  risen  in  rebellion,  withdrew  into  Media,  where  they  met 

supposes  the  Scythian  irruption  to  have  occurred  immediately  afterwards,  in  the 
same  year.  The  ftict,  however  (without  regard  to  the  subsequent  astronomical 
calculation),  that,  according  to  Herodotus,  the  eclipse  in  qnestion  could  not  have 
occurred  ewrlier  than  the  twelfth  of  Alyattes,  should  have  forbidden  this  conjecture. 
The  same  fact  appears  to  be  fatal  to  the  hypothesis  which  gives  546  b.  c.  as  the 
date  of  the  overthrow,  by  Cyrus,  of  Sardis.  On  this  yiew,  Alyattes  must  have 
begun  to  reign  617  B.C.,  and  thus  the  solar  eclipse,  of  which  we  speak,  could  not 
be  dated  earlier  than  cir.  605  b.  c. 

^  Lareher,  the  French  translator  of  Herodotus,  has  the  following  note—  *  Assesos 
was  a  smaU  town  dependent  on  Miletus.  Minerva  had  here  a  temple,  and  hence 
took  the  name  of  the  Assesian  Mtnerva.  This  deity  was  then  called  the  Minerva  of 
Assesos,  as  we  say,  at  the  present  day,  the  Virgin  of  Loretto.'  The  English  trans- 
lator, Beloe,  thus  comments  on  these  remarks — '  The  Virgin,  in  the  Romish 
church,  certainly  resembles,  in  all  respects,  a  heathen  tutelary  divinity;  and 
aflbrds  one  of  those  instances  of  similarity  between  one  worship  and  the  other,  so 
well  illustrated  in  Middleton's  celebrated  letter  fh)m  Rome.' 

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14  The  Scythian  Dommum  m  Asia.  [April, 

with  a  friendly  reception  from  Cyaxares :  and,  as  the  king  en- 
trusted to  theur  care  certain  Median  youths,  not  only  to  learn  the 
use  of  the  bow  but  p  also  the  Scythian  Icmgiuxgey  it  seems  probable 
that  these  suppliants  did  not  belong  to  any  of  the  wandering 
hordes  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  but  were  members  of 
that  particular  tribe  of  the  victorious  Scythians  who  were  at  the 
time  supreme  in  Upper  Asia.  These  fugitives  having,  on  one 
occasion,  been  rebuked  in  very  opprobrious  language  by  Cyaxares 
for  their  want  of  success  in  a  hunting  excursion,  were  exceedingly 
enraged,  and,  having  taken  ferocious  revenge,  fled  to  the  court  of 
Alyattes.  He  refill  to  surrender  them,  wnen  called  xsfon  to  do 
so  by  the  indignant  Mede,  and  on  account  of  this  refusal  a  war 
arose  between  the  Lydians  and  Medes.  The  negociations  between 
the  two  kings  would  necessarily  occupy  some  little  time.  Hence, 
taking  into  consideration  all  that  has  been  just  advanced  on  this 
part  of  the  subject,  the  commencement  of  the  Lydo-Median  war 
cannot  well  be  dated  earlier  than  even  the  ninth  year  of  Alyatte& 
It  continued  into  its  sixth  year,  for  the  edipse  which  ei»ied  it 
occurred  in  its  sixth  campaign.  Thus  the  great  solar  eclipse  in 
610  B.C.  cannot  &irly  be  thought  to  have  occurred  earlier  than  the 
fourteenth  or  even  the  fifteenth  of  Alyattes ;  and  liierefore  a  later 
date  than  624  b.c.  cannot  well  be  assigned,  on  this  view,  to  his 
accession  and  the  death  of  his  father  Sadyattes.  It  may  be  alec 
added,  that  upon  these  data  (other  circumstances  permittiog)  even 
625  B.C.  would  be  preferable  to  623  b.c.  Accordingly,  as  Sady- 
attes reigned  twelve  years,  the  most  probable  date,  on  this  view 
also,  for  the  death  of  Ardys,  will  be  636  or  637  b.c. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  chronological  result  obtained  by 
arguing  fr^m  the  calculated  date  of  the  great  solar  eclipse,  and 
the  history  of  Alyattes'  wars,  is  similar  to  that  which  had  been 
already  reached,  from  considering  the  brief  account  of  the  earlier 
portion  of  Croesus'  reign,  the  date  of  Astyages'  overthrow  by 

^  There  seems  to  be  no  assignable  reason  why  C^razares  should  wish  anj  of  his 
subjects  to  understand  the  langua^  of  those  Scythian  tribes,  whose  residence  was 
in  the  comparatiyely  unknown  regions  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Median  and  Assy- 
rian territories.  Yet  motives  of  state  policy  might  render  him  desirous  of  having 
trusty  Median  interpreters  between  himself  and  the  victorious  horde,  from  whose 
prowess  he  had  suffered  so  severely,  aud  whose  expulsion  from  Asia  he  was 
desirous,  sooner  or  later,  to  accomplish.  In  the  instructiye  popular  ancient  History, 
published  by  the  Reli^ous  Tract  Society,  the  plain  account  of  Herodotus  b 
unnecessarily  changed  mto  the  following.  '  At  a  feast,  to  which  the  Scythians 
were  invited  by  the  Medes,  the  greater  part  were  cut  off  in  a  state  of  intoxication. 
The  Scythians,  who  were  not  at  the  feast,  having  heard  of  the  massacre  of  their 
countrymen,  fled  into  Lydia,  to  King  Alyattes,  who  seo^ived  them  with  humanity.' 
This  writer  also,  perhaps  following  Dr.  Hales,  makes  t)ie  Lydo-Median  war  com- 
mence G08  B.  c,  and  close  603  B.  c.  In  the  same  vpUme  the  Sargon  of  Isaiah  is 
identified  with  Esarhaddon.  Colonel  Bawlinson^s  discoveries  hare  shown  this 
hypothesis  to  be  untenable. 

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1853.]  The  ScytUM  D<minion  w  Asia.  15 

Cyrus,  and  the  self-defensive  reply  of  the  Delf^c  oracle  after  the 
defeat  of  Croesus:  and  it  may  perhaps  be  safely  said  that,  to 
assign  the  date  of  625  b.c.  to  the  accession  of  Alyattes,^  and  con- 
sequently that  of  637  b.c.  to  the  death  of  Ardys,  is  to  approximate 
(almost  certainly)  to  the  truth  within  the  limits  of  a  single 
year ;  and  thus,  while  the  M edo-Persian  portion  of  Herodotus' 
history  teaches  us  that  the  Cimmerians  must,  in  all  probability, 
haye  taken  Sardis  before  633  or  634  b.c.,  the  Lydian  chronology 
gives  637  b.c.  as  the  latest  date  reasonably  assignable  to  th£^ 
event 

The  writer  hopes  that  the  dose,  yet  unforced,  agreement  which 
is  thus  seen  to  exist  between  the  Lydian  and  Median  chronology 
of  Herodotus,  affords  strong  presumptive  evidence  of  the  correct- 
ness and  authenticity  of  the  historian's  Lydo-Median  narrative : 
indeed,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  Herodotus  obtained 
his  numerical  statements  of  the  lengths  of  the  reigns  of  the  dif- 
ferent sovereigns  of  Lydia  and  Media  from  credible  and  authentic 
sources.  The  visit  of  Solon  to  the  court  of  Croesus  may  be  a 
legendary  anachronism,  or  the  name  of  the  Athenian  may  have 
been  substituted  for  that  of  some  less  illustrious  sage,  with  suitable 
additions  to  the  narrative ;  tradition  may  have  given  conflicting 
accounts  of  the  place  and  manner  of  Cyrus'  death — but  the 
duration  of  the  length  of  the  reign  of  either  of  these  monarchs  is  a 
subject  very  far  less  likely  to  have  been  influenced  by  tradition. 
The  recent  excavations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Tigris  teach  us  with 
what  minuteness  the  annals  of  the  Assyrian  kings  were  recorded ; 
and  the  sacred  historian  (Esther  x.  2)  appeals  to  the  ^  Chronicles 
of  Media  and  Persia '  in  terms  which  not  only  assert  their  exist- 
ence, but  also  their  accuracy.  It  is  highly  probable  that  Hero- 
dotus, who  personally  visited  Babylon,  and  ascertained  the  manner 
of  the  destruction  of  Nineveh  (B.  i.  c.  106^),  was  able,  in  the  course 
of  his  travels  and  inquiries,  to  procure  tne  numerical  statements 
allnded  to  above  from  authentic  documents :  and  if  later  writers 
differ  from  him,  they  can  scarcely  claim  for  their  statements  the 


">  Herodotus  (B.  i.  c.  93),  says — *  Lydia  exhibits  one  work  the  greatest  of  all, 
ezeept  those  of  the  Egyptians  and  Babrloniaas.  There  is  there  a  monument  to 
Alyaltes,  fktber  of  Croesos,  the  basis  of  which  is  eooaposed  of  large  stones,  the 
rest  is  a  monnd  of  earth.  This  monament  is  six  stades  and  two  plethra  in  cir- 
camference,  and  in  breadth  thirteen  plethra ;  contiffoons  to  it  is  a  large  lake  which 
is  called  the  Gygean  lake.'  We  are  told  by  traTelTers,  that  this  mound  still  exists 
near  the  lake,  at  a  few  miles  distance  from  Sart,  the  ancient  Sardis.  '  Dr.  Chandler 
conceives  that  a  considerable  treasure  might  be  discovered  if  the  barrow  were 
opened.  Other  mounds  are  found  near  this,  of  various  sizes,  which  are  conceived 
to  have  been  raised  in  memory  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Lydia.'  If  the  Turks 
would  permit  these  mounds  to  be  opened,  considerable  light  might  be  thrown  not 
only  upon  Lydian,  but  also  upon  Etruscan  antiquities  and  history. 


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16  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

weight  of  authority  which '  seems  due  to  those  of  the  venerable 
father  of  history. 

Having  thus  far  attempted  to  ascertain  the  latest  assignable 
date  for  the  entrance  of  the  Cimmerians  into  Asia,  and  their 
capture  of  Sardis,  it  is  necessary  to  discover  the  earliest  year  that 
can  fairly  be  named  for  the  commencement  of  the  siege  of  Nineveh 
by  Cyaxares  after  his  decisive  victory  over  the  Assyrians. 

It  was  cir.  634  b.c.  that  Cyaxares  succeeded  his  father  Phra- 
ortes,  who  had  fallen  in  an  unsuccessful  battle  against  the  sove- 
reign of  Nineveh :  and  when  we  consider  the  long  military  ex- 
perience of  Phraortes  during  a  victorious  career  of  more  than 
twenty  vears,  and  the  imdouoted  valour  and  comparative  disci- 
pline 01  the  Median  portion  of  his  army,  it  may  be  easily  conceived 
that  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the  Medes  and  death  of  their  warlike 
king  must  be  attributed  to  the  self-confidence  of  Phraortes  rather 
than  to  any  considerable  superiorly  on  the  part  of  the  Ninevites 
sufficient  to  make  it  requisite  for  Uyaxares  to  delay  his  attenwt  to 
take  vengeance  upon  the  conquerors.     Indeed,  the  fact  that*  Fhra- 

'  It  may  be  permitted  me  to  add  here  an  apparently  striking  coincidence 
between  the  Medo-Pernan  chrcmology  of  Herodotus,  and  the  statements  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  (and,  to  a  certain  degree,  of  Berosus)  in  reference  to  the  career  of 
Sennacherib.  He  teaches  us  that  om  hundred  and  seventy-nine  years  elapsed  from 
the  foundation  of  the  Median  monarchy  by  Deioces,  unto  the  death  of  Cyrus,  cir. 
529  or  530  B.  c.  It  foUows,  therefore,  that  Deioces  became  the  independent  sove- 
reign of  the  Medes,  cir.  708  or  709,  B.  c.  And  what  event  so  likely  to  give  birth 
to  this  new  sovereignty,  as  the  miraculous  destruction  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
Assyrian  army  in  Judea,  and  Sennacherib's  assassination  by  his  two  sons,  not 
long  after,  at  Nineveh  ?  Scriptuml  chronolo^  is  believed  to  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  miraculous  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  host  (a  fiict  which  the  Egyptian 
legend  on  the  subject  of  Sennacherib's  discomfiture  strongly  tends  to  corroborate) 
and  the  disgrace&l  return  of  the  humbled  monarch  to  Nineveh,  occurred  cir.  710 
B.C.  And  Berosus  affirms,  what  the  Scriptures  intimate  (and  the  apocryphal 
legend  of  Tobit  asserts)  that  Sennacherib  was  murdered  by  his  two  sons  in  a 
temple,  shortly  after  his  return  from  Judea. 

With  regard  to  Deioces,  when  the  Greek  historian  tells  us  that  he  reigned  fifty- 
three  years,  this  may  be  received  as  an  accurate  numerical  statement  drawn  from 
authentic  sources.  While  much  that  he  relates  of  the  previous  life  of  Deioces 
may  be  considered  to  be  more  or  less  traditional. 

The  duration  generally  assigned  to  the  reign  of  Sennacherib  is  about  ei^ht  years. 
Some  writers  extend  his  reign  to  eighteen  years ;  but  Dr.  Hales  supposes  it  to  have 
continued  only  from  714  b.  c.  to  710  b.  c.  The  period  of  seven  years  would 
seem  to  be  confirmed,  in  some  measure,  by  the  recent  discoveries  of  Colonel  Raw* 
linson,  who  writes — *  The  only  copy  of  Sennacherib's  annals  which  has  yet  been 
found  at  Koyunjik,  is  very  imperfect,  and  extends  only  to  the  seventh  year.  The 
relic  known  as  Colonel  Taylers  cylinder,  dates  fh)m  one  year  later.' 

Colonel  Rawlinson  also  appears  to  have  satisfiustorily  ascertained  that  the 
Sargon  of  Isaiah  is  to  be  identified  neither  with  Sennacherib  nor  Esarfaaddon. 
He  considers  the  name  to  belong  to  Shalmaneser ;  but  Dr.  Hincks  would  identify 
Sargon  with  Tigkth-Pileser. 

*  According  to  Colonel  Rawlinson,  'many  of  the  drawings  and  inscriptions 
recently  brought  by  Dr.  Layard  firom  Nineveh,  refer  to  the  son  o^  Esarhaddon,  who 
warred  extensively  in  Susiana,  Babylonia,  and  Armenia — though,  as  his  arms  never 


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1853.]  The>  ScytMan  DomirUcn  in  Aifia.  17 

ortes  was  the  aggressor  in  inyadiiig  Assyria,  and  the  subsequent 
utter  rout  of  the  victorious  Ninevites  by  Cyaxares,  would  go  very 
far  to  favour  this  view :  and  Herodotus  says  that  the  Ninevites, 
although  at  the  time  of  Phraortes'  invasion,  ^  still  in  good  con- 
diticm,  yet  were  abandoned  by  their  confederates.' 

Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  can  the  Assyrians  be  thought  to  have 
obtained  so  great  a  triumph  over  their  brave  and  powerful  enemy 
without  having  also  themselves  suffered  such  severe  loss  as  would 
render  them  imwilling  or  unable  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  the 
mountainous  region  and  hardy  population  of  Media,  whose  energies 
would  be  directed  by  a  leader  so  formidable  as  Cyaxares :  and 
when  it  is  added  that  history  represents  the  son  and  successor  of 
Phraortes  to  have  been  of  great  ambition,  of  consummate  military 
skill  f(^  the  times,  and  of  an  impetuous  and  violent  temper,  it  may 
be  reasonably  presumed  that  he  would  delay  as  little  as  possible 
his  expedition  agdnst  the  victorious  enemy.  Revenge,  gnef,  and 
the  n^  of  mortified  pride,  do  not  calculate  the  numbers  and 
strengui  of  an  enemy  with  much  nicety;  and  accordingly  it  is 
probfla)le  that  Cyaxares,  in  his  eagerness  to  avenge  his  mther's 
death,  and  wipe  away  tlie  disgrace  of  defeat,  at  once  invaded  the 
Asi^n^an  territory.  He  would  thus  commence  the  siege  of  Nineveh 
in  the  first,  or,  at  the  latest,  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign,  in 
633  B.C.,  and  in  the  ninth  year  of  Josiah. 

It  is  not  easy  to  draw  any  other  conclusion  than  this  from  the 
simple  language  of  Herodotus :  *  When  Phraortes  was  dead, 
Cyaxares  ms  son  succeeded  him.     He  is  said  to  have  been  more 

warlike  than  his  ancestors He  assembled  the  farces  of  all 

hds  suJbjectSy  and  marched  agamst  Nineveh  to  avenge  his  father  and 
destroy  the  ciiy^  Such  language  greatly  supports  the  view  that 
Cyaxares,  exasperated  at  the  death  of  his  father  and  the  disgrace 
01  his  country,  hastily  assembled,  immediately  after  his  accession, 
the  whole  power  of  his  dominions  (the  popular  excitement  agree- 
ing with  his  own\  and  very  early  in  his  reign  successfully  encoun- 
tered those  who  had  defeated  and  slain  his  fether.  At  all  events, 
the  silence  of  Herodotus  on  the  subject  of  an  Assyrian  invasion  of 
Media  seems  fatal  to  the  assertion  in  the  apocryphal  book  of 
Judith,  that  the  victorious  Assjrrian  kuig  Nabuchoaonosor,  after 

penetrated  -westward,  he  has  been  unnoticed  in  Scripture  history.'  It  would  thus 
appear,  as  might  be  expected,  that  after  the  death  of  Elsarhaddon,  the  powerftil 
dependencies  of  Armenia  and  Babylonia  with  Susiana,  ajgain  struggled  to  throw  off 
the  yoke  of  Nineveh.  It  may  be  observed  that  these  discoveries  are  not  inconsis- 
tent with  Herodotus'  account  of  the  subsequent  victorious  career  of  Phraortes. 
For  as  Esarhaddon  died  cir.  669  b.  c,  and  Phraortes  succeeded  his  fiither,  Deioces, 
cir.  656  B.  c,  this  interval  of  thirteen  years  would  afibrd  sufficient  time  for  the 
wars  of  Esarhaddon's  son.  Indeed  these  very  wars  might  prevent  the  latter  fh>m 
attempting  to  check  Median  attempts  at  conquest  in  other  quarters. 
VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  C 

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18  The  Seythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

his  defeat  of  the  Median  Arphaxad  or  Phraortes  in  the  jJain  of 
Bagau,  ^  became  lord  of  Arphaxad's  cities,  and  came  into  Ecba- 
tane,  and  took  the  towers  thereof,  and  spoiled  the  streets,  and 
turned  the  beauty  thereof  into  shame.' 

The  writer  of  this  essay  is  inclined  to  regard  the  apocryphal 
book  of  Judith  as  a  mere  notion,  a  sort  of  historical  romance,  com- 
posed by  a  person  ill-aoouainted  with  the  true  history  of  the  times 
m  whicn  he  has  placed  nis  heroine.  If,  howeyer,  this  apparently 
improbable  legend  could  be  accepted  as  authentic  history,  and 
Ai7)haxad  be  identified  with  Phraortes,  it  would  greatly  tend  to 
confirm  the  yiew  of  the  early  adyance  of  CyaKares  against  Nine- 
yeh,  which  it  is  here  attempted  to  estabhsh :  for  tne  defeat  iA 
Arphaxad  or  Phraortes  in  the  plain  of  Ragau  must  haye  occurred 
cir.  634  b.c.  ;  and  in  the  following  year,  or  at  the  latest  in  632  B.C., 
Holofemes  (if  such  an  Assyrian  general  eyer  existed)  died  by  the 
hand  of  Judith,  and  his  panic-stricken  forces,  fleeing  in  terror  and 
confusion,  were  pursued  by  the  Israelites.  An  opportunity  too 
inyiting  to  be  slighted  would  thus  be  offered  to  the  exasperated 
Cyaxares  for  the  gratification  of  his  ambition  and  reyenge  as 
early,  at  least,  as  the  commencement  of  the  year  631  b.c.,  and  of 
which  it  can  scarcely  be  thought  that  he  did  not  at  once  avail 
himself. 

Nor  is  this  all.     If  the  book  ^  of  Judith  contain  authentic  his- 

*  The  book  of  Judith  eontains  an  account  of  the  panic  and  flight  from  Palestine 
of  a  powerful  Assyrian  armjr,  after  the  death  of  their  leader  Holofemes— the  name 
is  rather  Persian  than  Assyrian,  resembling,  in  its  termination,  such  Persian  names 
as  Tissa^hemes.  If  this  event  really  occurred,  it  must  have  happened  subsequently 
to  the  reign  of  Esarhaddon.  But  the  utter  silence  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  subject 
of  Assyrian  aggression  in  Palestine,  after  the  return  of  Manasseh  firom  his  captivity 
in  Babylon,  is  strong  presumptive  evidence  against  the  truth  of  the  narrative  of 
the  expedition  of  Holofemes.  It  is  also  stated  that  at  the  time  of  the  advance  of 
Holofemes, '  &e  children  of  Israel  that  dwelt  in  Jndea  were  exceedingly  afraid 
of  him,  (uid  were  troubled  for  Jerusalem,  and  for  the  temple  of  the  Lord  their  God: 
for  they  were  newly  returned  fh>m  the  captivity,  and  all  the  people  of  Judea  were 
lately  gathered  to^fether,  and  the  vessels,  and  the  altar,  and  the  house  were  «aiic- 
tified  after  the  prfanation*  This  seems  to  be  mere  trifling.  From  the  captivity 
of  Manasseh  to  the  victories  of  Nebuchadnezzar  there  did  not  occur,  so  &r  as  the 
Scriptures  teach  us,  any  important  invasion  of  Palestine,  ftova.  the  renons  of  the 
Euplirates  and  Tigris.  And  what  was  the  captivit^r  here  spoken  o^  Irom  whioh 
the  Jews  had  newly  returned  ?  Manasseh's  return  is  believed  to  have  happened 
about  forty  years  before  the  time  at  which  Holofemes  is  said  to  have  besieged 
Bethuiia,  and  terrified  Jerusalem.  And  if  we  follow  the  chronology  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  Herodotus,  while  we  identify  Arphaxad  with  Phraortes,  idl  this  panic  at 
Jerusalem  must  have  occurred  between  tlie  eighth  and  twelfth  years  of  Joeiahs  reign^ 

Again,  with  regard  to  Egypt.  At  the  time  in  question,  Psammitichus,  « 
powerful  king,  must  have  been  reigning  over  that  country,  at  least  thirty  years. 
Vet  we  are  told  that  the  sovereign,  then  on  the  throne  of  Nineveh,  sent,  as  a  liege- 
lord  to  vassals,  messengers  *  to  the  river  of  Egypt,  and  Taphnes,  and  Barneses, 
and  all  the  land  of  Gesem,  until  ye  come  beyond  Tanis  and  Memphis,  and  to  all 
the  inhabitants  of  £gyptf  until  ye  come  to  the  borders  of  Ethiopia.'  (ch.  L  ver. 
9,  10.)    Is  it  not  difficult  to  resist  the  conviction  that  the  writer  took  these  names 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Scj/tkum  Dominbm  in  Asia.  19 

toiy,  the  actual  dominion  of  Nineveh  oyer  any  portion  of  the  land 
of  the  ten  tribes  must  have  virtually  ceased  at  the  death  of  Holo- 
femes,  and  the  disord^ly  flight  of  his  terrified  host,  fully  two  year% 
before  the  beginning  of  Joaiah's  national  religious  reformation  in 
Judea  and  Samaria. 

It  may  be  presumed,  then,  with  very  high  probalnlity,  from  the 
language  of  Herodotus,  from  the  &ct  that  Nmeveh  had  been  for- 
saken at  the  time  by  her  confederates,  and  was  onl^  the  capital  of 
the  Assyrian  territory,  and  from  the  power,  ambition,  and  violent 
temper  of  Cyaxares,  and  the  martial  temper  and  long-cherished 
warlike  feelings  and  habits  of  his  Median  subjects,  that  this  prince 
did  not  defeat  the  Assyrians  later  than  633  or  632  b.c.  But  the 
twelfth  year  of  Josiah  partly  coincided  with  the  fifth  of  Cyaxares, 
and  it  is  scarcely  credible,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  uie  case, 
that  the  Mede  waited  so  long  before  he  marched  to  avenge  his 
fitther's  defeat  and  death :  and  it  is  not  likely  (though  perhaps 
possible)  that  the  Scythians  delayed  their  pursuit  of  £e  Cimme- 
rians to  the  seventh  or  eighlii  year  after  the  flight  of  the  latter  into 
Asia. 

And  here  it  may  be  permitted  to  notice  the  probable  length  of 
the  interval  between  the  flight  of  the  Cimmerians  and  their  pursuit 
by  the  Scythians.  As  the  former  cannot  well  be  supposed  to  have 
taken  Sarois  later  than  637  b.c.,  if  the  pursuit  had  been  imme- 
diate, the  priority  of  the  Scythian  invasion  to  the  commencement 
of  Josiah's  reformation  would,  of  course,  be  at  once  decisively 
established.  As,  however,  the  Scythians  cannot  have  defeated 
Cyaxares  earlier  than  634  b.c.,  an  interval  of  at  least  from  two  to 
tluree  years  must  be  thought  to  have  elapsed  between  the  flight  of 
the  Cimmerian  horde  from  Europe  and  the  advance  of  the  victors 
in  pursuit  of  them.     And  when  Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  Scy- 

of  places  at  randmn  from  the  Pentateuch,  and  the  predictions  of  Jeremiah  and 
Ezekiel  against  Egypt  ?  And  what  is  to  be  siud  of  the  idea  of  a  powerM  monarch. 
Eke  Psammitichus,  permitting  the  Ass^an  messengers  to  proceed,  apparently 
onmolested,  through  the  length  of  his  kingdom  to  the  borders  of  Ethiopia? 
Indeed,  the  writer  of  Jndith— the  name,  perhaps,  meaning  the  Jewess — would 
seem  to  have  incongruously  blended  together  certain  fiusts  and  characters  in  sacred 
and  secular  history : — ^the  death  of  Sisera  b  j  the  hand  of  Jael — the  flight  of  Senna* 
dierib — the  power  and  despotic  pride  of  Nebuchadnezzar — and  the  defeat  and 
death  of  the  Median  Phraortes.  And  iVom  such  materials  as  these,  the  romance 
of  Judith  seems  to  hare  been  constructed,  without  any  regard  to  historical 
probability. 

Again,  Diodati  remarks  that  the  names  of  the  following  places, — Esdradon, 
CheUns,  Cyamon,  ScythopoHs,  Bethulia,  and  others,  were  not  known  untU  after 
the  Babylonian  captivity. 

There  is  one  feet,  however,  which  (in  connection  with  the  silence  of  Scripture) 
should  at  once  decide  the  question.  Josephus,  the  weU  known  Jewish  historian, 
(who  would  have  been  too  happy  to  introduce  such  a  narrative,  if  true — or  at  least 
to  allude  to  it,  if  it  had  been  a  popular  tradition  of  long  standing)  is  utterly  silent 
as  to  the  Terr  names  of  Judith  and  Holofemes. 

c  2 


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20  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

thians,  on  reaching  the  territory  of  the  Cimmerians,  ^  took  pos- 
session of  the  deserted  country,'  he  appears  to  teach  us  that  a 
longer  space  than  that  of  a  few  weeks  or  months  occurred  before 
they  marched  into  Asia :  and  as  we  know  firom  another  part  of  his 
history  that  the  conquerors  were  accompanied  by  their  wives  and 
children,  it  seems  necessary  to  conclude  that  they  at  once  estab- 
lished themselves  in  their  newly-acquired  lands.  Nor  is  it,  indeed, 
likely  that  the  Scythians  would  ever  have  set  forth  in  pursuit  of 
the  fiiptives,  without  some  sufficient  motive  to  stimulate  their 
ferocity :  and  if  the  Cimmerians  had  withdrawn  into  some  &r- 
distant  part  of  Asia,  too  remote  for  the  tidings  of  their  locality  to 
have  reached  the  European  shores  of  the  Palus  Maeotis  and 
Euxine,  the  Scythians  would  scarcely  have  imdertaken  a  wild  and 
uncertain  enterprise  without  any  clue  to  guide  them  even  to  the 
probability  of  success,"  But  as  the  fugitives  settled  themselves 
upon  the  Asiatic  coasts  of  the  Euxine,  it  was  next  to  impossible 
that  in  process  of  time  tidings,  more  or  less  correct,  of  their  new 
locality  (and  even  vague  and  exaggerated  statements  of  their 
success  at  Sardis),  should  not  readi  the  Scythian  conquerors. 
These,  to  whom  their  recently-acquired  lands  would  begin  to  lose 
the  charm  of  novelty,  woidd  at  length  be  aroused,  in  the  natural 
restlessness  of  the  barbarian  character  and  habits,  and  excited  to 
attack  in  Asia  those  whom  they  had  driven  from  Europe :  and 
considering  the  comparative  difficulty  of  intercourse  in  those  coun- 
tries at  that  period,  and  other  circumstances,  a  space  of  from  two 
to  three  years  may  be  well  supposed  to  have  elapsed  between  the 
flight  of  the  Cimmerians  and  their  pursuit  by  the  Scythians — a 
much  longer  period  is  doubtless  possible.  Yet  it  is  not  well  to 
extend  this  interval  too  far ;  and  it  may  be  deemed  most  consistent 
with  all  the  circumstances  of  the  narrative  to  suppose  that  it  was 
towards  the  very  close  of  the  reign  of  Ardys  that  the  Cimmerians 
gained  possession  of  Sardis,  and  that  the  victory  of  the  Scythians 
over  the  Modes  occurred  very  early  in  the  reign  of  Cyaxares, 
shortly  after  his  accession. 

**  If  the  paranit  had  been  immediate,  the  Scythians  would  scarcely  have  loet, 
so  entirely,  the  traces  of  such  a  numerous  fugitive  horde.  Herodotus  writes — 
'  The  Cimmerians  evidently  appear  to  have  fled  from  the  Scythians  into  Asia,  and 
to  have  settled  in  the  peninsula  in  which  the  Grecian  city  of  Sinope  now  stands. 
And  it  is  evident  that  the  Scythians  pursuing  them  missed  their  way.  For  the 
Cimmerians  fled  constantly  by  the  sea-coast,  whereas  the  Scythians  pursued  (Book 
i.,  chap.  104),  keeping  Caucasus  on  the  right,  until  they  entered  the  Median  terri- 
tor}',  towards  the  midland.  This  account  is  given  in  common  both  b^  the  Greeks 
and  barbarians.'  (Book  iv.,  chap.  2.)  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  in  the  imme- 
diately preceding  chapter,  the  historian  says  that  the  Scythians  coming  up,  '  took 
possession  of  the  deserted  lands.'  If  the  Cimmerians  (as  may  not  nnfairiy  be 
inferred  from  the  statement,  '  that  they  fled  constantly  by  the  tea  coatt ')  settled 
themselves  in  the  peninsula,  before  they  entered  the  Lydian  territory,  they  may 
have  been  a  full  year,  or  even  more,  in  Asia,  before  they  surprised  Sardis. 

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1853.]  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia,  21 

There  are  yet  one  or  two  additional  considerations  which  should 
not  be  altogether  passed  over  in  silence. 

In  the  year  that  Josiah  was  mortally  wounded,  in  the  battle  at 
Megiddo  against  Pharaoh-Necho,  king  of  Egypt,*  the  great  solar 
eclipse  terminated  the  war  between  the  Lydian  and  Medes  in  its 
sixtn  campaign.  To  strengthen  the  aUiance  between  the  two 
nations,  Alyattes  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  Astyages  the 
son  of  Cyaxares.  As  the  Scythian  dominion  in  Upper  Asia  con- 
tinued twenty-eight  years,  and  did  not  beffin  earlier  than  634  b.c., 
it  is  certain  that  the  Scjrthians — ^and  it  is  nighly  probable  that  the 
Cimmerians  also — were  still  in  Asia.  Thus  the  humiliating  and 
annoying  proximity  of  these  barbarians  would  doubtless  form  an 
important  topic  of  conversation  between  the  two  kings — of  whom 
Alyattes  would  desire  to  revenge  himself  upon  the  Cimmerians 
for  their  capture  of  Sardis  in  the  reign  of  Ardys ;  and  the  fierce 
and  warlike  son  of  Phraortes  could  never  forget  that  he  had  been 
himself  vanquished,  and  Nineveh  and  imperiiu  supremacy  snatched 
from  his  grasp  by  the  sudden  advance  of  the  Scythian  invaders. 
Safe  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  Media  from  their  arms,  he 
could  not  expect  that  they  would  permit  him  to  descend  into  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Tigris,  and  undertake  the  siege  of  Nineveh, 
without  offering  serious  and  dangerous  resistance.  These  bar- 
barians were  now  the  only  obstacle  between  him  and  the  conquest 
of  that  ancient  city ;  and  the  ruling  and  craving  desire  of  his 
heart  would  be  to  remove  these  formidable  enemies  with  the  least 
possible  delay  consistent  with  his  own  safety.  The  tidings  of  the 
^byloiiians  (recently  the  vassals  of  Nineveh)  having  triumphed 
over  the  king  of  Egypt  at  Carchemish  607  b.c.  (as  recorded  by 
the  prophet  Jeremian)  would  stimulate  (or  rather  goad)  him  to 
the    speedy  accomplishment  of  his  pm^se.'    Accordingly,  his 

*  Here  we  see  the  indirect  bat  strong  agreement  between  the  Scriptures  and 
Herodotus.  In  the  former,  we  find  that  Pharaoh-Necho  did  not  fear  to  ven- 
ture upon  a  march  to  the  Euphrates ;  and  in  Herodotus  we  see  the  encourage- 
ment to  this  enterprise.  Nineveh  was  thoroughly  humbled  and  enfeebled  at  this 
time — the  Mede  was  entangled  in  a  tedious  ana  uncertun  war  with  the  Lydian — 
and  the  Babylonian  (yet  untried)  would  be  redded  by  Pharaoh  as  a  rebellions 
▼assal  of  Nineveh,  not  to  be  feared  by  a  kin^  of  Egypt.  Pharaoh  would  commence 
his  march  in  the  spring  of  610  b.c.;  and  it  was  not  tiU  the  30th  of  September 
in  that  year,  that  the  solar  eclipse  unexpectedly  terminated  the  Lydo-Median 
war. 

'  The  following  additional,  though  not  unimportant,  particulars,  are  better 
given  in  a  note.  It  is  generally  believed  that  Nabopolassar,  the  fiither  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, who  had  assisted  in  establishing  peace  between  Lydia  and  Media,  was 
present  with  Cyaxares  at  the  final  siege  and  capture  of  Nineveh.  On  this  view^ 
as  Nabopolassar  died  in  605  b.  c,  the  Scythian  dominion  must  have  terminated  in 
606  or  605  B.  c.  If  Nabopolassar  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Nineveh,  as  well 
as  at  the  commencement  of  the  investment  of  the  city,  the  siege  must  have  been 
speedily  terminated — a  consideration  which  indirectly  fkvours  the  prediction  of 
Nahum,  that  the  city  would  ftdl  through  some  unexpected  and  disastrous  occur* 


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22  The  Scythian  Domvnion  m  Ana.  [April, 

treacherous  banquet  to  the  Medes  may  be  reasonably  thought  to 
have  been  pven  very  early  after  this  firesh  excitement  to  his  am- 
bition and  emulation,  and  thus  605,  or  indeed  606  B.C.,  may  be 
about  the  latest  probable  date  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Scytmans 
from  Asia :  and  hence  633  b.c.  {the  ninth  year  of  Jasiah)  will  be 
the  latest  probable  date  for  the  victory  obtained  over  Cvaxares  by 
the  Scythians  after  he  had  commenced  the  sie^e  of  Nineveh. 
Upon  the  whole,  then,  it  would  seem  that  the  following  conclu- 
sions may  bejudged  to  rest  upon  very  strong  presumptive  evi- 
dence : — (1)  That  as  Nineveh  was  abandoned  by  her  confederates 
when  Phraortes  invaded  her  territory  in  the  eighth  year  of  Josiah's 
reign,  her  hold,  even  at  that  early  period,  could  be  uttie  more  than 
nominal  upon  such  distant  provinces  as  Syria  and  Samaria.  (2) 
That,  as  the  Assyrians  never  regained  their  power  and  empire 
after  their  defeat  by  Cyaxares,  3iis  event,  which  cannot  well  be 
dated  later  than  the  ninth  of  Jonahy  may  be  correctly  regarded  as 
the  virtual  and  final  dissolution  of  allpolitical  subjection  on  the 
part  of  Samaria  to  Nineveh.  (3)  That  a  later  date  than  the 
tenth  of  Josiah  cannot  reasonably  be  assigned  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Scythian  supremacy  of  twenty-eight  years  in  Upper 
Asia — ^a  supremacy  which  may  be  said  to  have  given  Samana  in 
sovereignty  to  Josiah,  and  to  nave  prepared  the  way  for  the  rise, 
development,  and  triumph  of  the  impenal  power  of  nabylon  under 
Nebucnadnezzar,  the  son  of  Labvnetus  or  Nabopolassar.  Hence 
fit>m  all  that  has  been  advanced  in  this  essay,  it  may  perhaps  be 
considered  almost  (if  not  altogether)  certain,  that  at  least  two 
years  before  the  commencement  of  Josiah's  great  religious  refor- 
mation Samaria  was  virtually  destitute  of  any  legitimate  earthly 
sovereign,  and  that  Josiah,  in  acting  with  (apparentiy)  sovereign 
jurisdiction  in  the  territory  of  the  ten  tribes,  was  guilty  of  no  real 

rence.  But,  according  to  Diodoros,  it  was  not  until  the  third  year  of  the 
siege,  that  the  Tigris,  overflowing  its  banks,  threw  down  twenty  stadia  of  the  city 
wall. 

We  may  fi^pose  that  Cyaxares  would,  immediately  after  the  destruction  of  the 
Scythian  chiere,  invade  A^yria.  At  all  events,  it  seems  to  be  almost  certain  tli%t 
he  revenged  his  father's  death  very  shortly  after  his  accession  to  the  throne,  and 
as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  assemble  the  forces  of  his  dominions.  And  this  highly 
probable  view  of  what  really  occurred,  leaves  no  space  whatever  for  the  expedition 
of  Holofemes  into  Palestine,  and  is  fittal  to  the  claims  of  the  legend  of  Judith. 
These  remarks,  and  those  in  a  former  note,  upon  the  utter  want  of  authenticity  on 
this  apocryphal  narrative,  may  not  be  altogether  out  of  place  here,  at  this  season 
of  Papal  aggression:  for,  as  Mr.  Hartwell  Home  correctly  observes — ^* These 
human  predictions  (the  Apocryphal  books)  were  first  enrolled  amouff  the  divinely 
inspired  writing^s  by  the  assembly  of  popish  prelates  and  others,  who  were  con- 
vened in  what  is  called  the  Council  of  Trent/  And  it  may  be  hoped,  that  a 
candid  and  inquiring  mind,  if  partially  ensnared  by  the  seductions  of  Romanism, 
may  pause  in  its  course,  on  leamiiu:  that  it  cannot  fully  submit  itself  to  the  Papacy, 
without  accepting  as  canonxccU  and  dimnely  ingpiredy  such  legendary  narratives  as 
those  of  *  Judith,^  *  Tobit,*  and  of  *  Bel  and  the  Dragon/ 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Scythian  Domiman  m  Asia,  23 

mfrinffement  upon  any  aetually  exUting  Assyrian  supremacy  and 
authority  there. 

Nor,  indeed,  may  we  suppose  that  the  Jewish  long  would  have, 
at  such  a  critical  period,  unwilling  subjects  in  Samaria.  As  the 
reigning  descendant  of  David,  and  bearing  the  divinely-predicted 
name  of  Josiah,  this  pious  servant  of  the  Most  High  could  appeal 
to  authentic  historical  documents  to  show  that  he  had  received 
authority  to  desecrate  and  destroy  the  altar  at  Bethel,  from  a 
mightier  sovereign  than  any  upon  earth :  and  what  view  of  the 
suQ'ect,  it  may  be  asked,  can  more  readily  commend  itself  to  the 
devout  and  thoughtful  reader  of  Holy  Writ  than  that  God  should 
incline  (as  was  the  case,  to  a  certain  ektent,  with  the  eminent 
reformers,  Asa  and  Hezekiah)  the  hearts  of  those  Israelites  who 
were  still  dwelling  in  the  land  of  their  f&thers,  to  submit  them- 
selves to  ttie  government  of  the  son  of  Amon  ?  Nay,  upon  learning 
his  divinelj-predicted  commission  against  idolatrous  Bethel,  and 
being  convinced  in  their  reason  and  conscience  that  all  the  other 
altars  and  high  places  were  but  the  development  of  the  same  spirit 
of  guilty  deparhire  from  the  God  of  Israel,  which,  be^ning  at 
Bemel,  ultimately  brought  upon  Ephraim  and  Ins  fellows  the 
Assyrian  oppressor — womd  they  not  invite  and  encourage  him  to 
carry  his  holy  anti-idolatrous  warfare  throughout  the  land,  and 
oordiallv  co-operate  with  him  in  his  glorious  work  ?  It  is  said  of 
Asa,  ^  that  he  gathered  aU  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  the  strangers 
with  them,  out  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  and  Simeon ;  for  they 
JM  to  him  out  of  Israel  in  abundcmcey  when  they  saw  that  the 
Lord  his  Ovd  was  with  him  (2  Chron.  xv.  9).  'Fhe  scanty  rem- 
nant of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  who,  with  the  descendants  of  the 
idolatrous  colonists,  formed  at  that  time  the  jpopulation  of  Samaria, 
could  not  but  see  and  feel  that  Josiah  was  owned  and  f&voured  of 
heaven:  and  He,  who  thus  exalted  and  protected  the  son  of 
Amon,  manifestly  appears  to  have  inclined  by  his  own  divine 
and  secret  influence  the  hearts  of  this  comparatively*  scanty 
remnant  to  the  house  of  David,  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  the 
Grod  of  their  &thers :  and  even  the  Gentile  colonists  (who,  through 
the  visitation  of  the  lions  sent  among  .their  idolatrous  forefSedliers, 
had  been  brought  to  an  imperfect,  but  decided,  acknowledgment 
of  Jehovah  as  the  Grod  of  tne  land)  would  not  be  indi^x)^  in 
times  of  general  confusion  and  disorder,  when  they  had  become 
Aoroughly  separated  from  Nineveh,  to  submit  themselves  to  the 

'  The  existence  of  snch  a  remnant  in  Samaria,  in  the  days  of  Josiah,  should  not 
excite  sarprise.  We  cannot  suppose  that  the  i^ssyrians  utteriy  emptied  the 
conquered  territory  of  its  Hebrew  population.  And,  perhaps,  not  an  inconsiderable 
number  of  Israelites  would  take  refuge  in  Judea  during  Shalmaneser^s  invasion, 
and  afterwards  return  into  Samaria. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


24  The  Scythian  J)ominian  in  Asia.  [April, 

rule  of  a  just  and  pious  king  like  Josiah,  whose  aneestors,  they 
would  be  aware,  had  once  been  the  sovereigns  of  Samaria,  as  well 
as  of  Judea.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  ScytUflU  dominion 
in  Asia  bears,  in  some  measure,  upon  the  disaatrom  defeat  of 
Josiah  at  Megiddo,  and  the  melancholy  close  of  his  life  and  reign. 
If  the  Scythians  had  not  vanauished  the  Mede,  and  establisb^ 
themselves  in  the  regions  of  tne  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  Pharaoh- 
Necho  might  not  have  ventured  to  undertake  an  expedition  to  the 
borders  of  Mesopotamia.  The  same  barbarian  triumph  and  do- 
minion invited  (or  perhaps  almost  constrained)  Josiah  to  assume 
the  sovereignty  of  Samana.  This  increase  of  power  and  dominion 
was  a  strong  temptation  to  lead  him  unconsciously  to  depart,  in 
some  measure,  from  the  devout  and  humble  fear  of  God  which  had 
previously  possessed  his  heart  He  appears,  from  the  comjdetion 
of  his  reformation  to  the  dose  of  his  reign,  to  have  been  virtually 
the  sovereign  of  Samaria  as  well  as  of  Judea.  And  when  Pha- 
raoh-Necho  was  marching,  on  his  way  to  the  Euphrates,  through  a 
portion  of  the  territory  of  the  ten  tribes,  Josiah,  in  addition  to 
other  motives,  would  naturally  resent  the  act  as  an  infringement 
upon  his  own  regal  rights  and  sovereignty,  and  would  resist  the 
Egyptian,  not  as  the  lord  of  the  two  tribes  of  Behoboam's  king- 
dom, but  as  reigning  over  the  dominions  of  his  ancestor  David : 
and,  through  an  umi^pily  blind  and  culpable  self-confidence  in 
consequence  of  the  gracious  promise  that  he  should  be  gathered 
to  his  grave  in  peace — a  promise  necessarily  conditional  upon  his 
obedience  to  the  Divine  will — he  appears  to  have  marched, 
without  duly  seeking  counsel  of  the  Lord,  to  the  plain  of  Me- 

Jiddo,  where  he  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  snortly  after  at 
erusalem.^ 

The  Scytho-Cimmerian  narrative  of  the  venerable  father  of 
history  will  suggest  more  than  one  important  reflection  to  the  mind 
of  the  Christian  reader. 

Should  we  not  adore  the  divine  wisdom  and  power  manifested 
in  the  unexpected  provision  made  for  the  accomplishment  of  pre- 
dictions uttered  many  years  previously  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  to 
the  king  Hezekiah?  ^  Behold,  the  days  come  that  all  that  is  in 
thine  house,  and  all  that  th]^  fathers  have  laid  up  in  store  for  thee 
until  this  day,  shall  be  carried  to  Babylon ;  notning  shall  be  left, 
saith  the  Lord ;  and  thy  sons  shall  be  eunuchs  in  the  palaee  of 
the  king  of  BahyUnC  (Isa.  xxxix.  7).     But  when  we  look  at  the 

*  This  promise  was,  howerer,  fblfilled  in  its  essential  features.  For  Josiah 
died  at  Jerusalem  in  the  midst  of  his  friends,  without  witnessing  anj  of  the  cala- 
mities which  afterwards  befel  his  devoted  country,  and  was  buried  in  the  sepulchre 
of  his  Ikthers.  It  is  said  of  another  illustrious  reformer,  Hezekiah,  that  *  God  left 
him,  to  try  him,  that  he  might  know  aU  that  was  in  his  heart.'    3  Chron.  xxxii. 

ai. 

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1853.]  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  A»ia.  25 

defeat  and  death  of  Phraortes,  the  power  of  Nineveh  seems  again 
to  reyiye,  and  the  term  of  Chaldean  subjection  and  inferiori^  to 
be  prolonged — nay,  when  Cyaxares  smites  the  Assyrian,  and  lays 
dege  to  his  metropolis,  all  hope  of  early  Babylonian  independence 
may  seem  to  have  vanished ;  for,  if  the  son  oi  Phraortes  had  suc- 
ceeded in  ffaining  possession  of  Nineveh,  Babylon  would  most 
likely  have  become  a  province  of  the  Median,  as  previously  of  the 
Assyrian  empire;  and  the  fierce  ambition,  power,  and  military 
skill  of  Cyaxares  would  have  effectually  overshadowed  Asia  during 
his  reign.  And  how  is  this  Median  triumph  to  be  prevented,  and 
Babylon  be  permitted  to  rise  into  independence  ?  A  horde  of  un- 
known ^  Scythian  barbarians,  under  the  overruling  guidance  of  an 
unseen  and  almighty  hand,  unwittingly  turns  aside  from  the  track 
of  those  whom  it  is  eagerly  seeking,  and  unexpectedly  encounters 
and  smites  the  Median  conquerors  occupied,  at  the  time,  in  the 
siege  of  Nineveh.  These  same  barbanans,  by  their  subsequent 
dominion  in  Asia  during  twenty-eight  years,  gave  to  Babylon  the 
opportunity  of  assuming  independent  royalty,  rising  into  imperial 
power  and  greatness,  and  fulfilling  the  predictions  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets.  It  was  their  victories  which  so  thoroughly  destroyed 
H)r  a  time  all  political  connection  between  Palestine  and  Nineveh 
aa  to  enable  Josiah  (without  wrong  to  the  Assyrian  monarch)  to 
accomplish  the  divinely-predicted  desecration  and  overthrow  of  the 
altar  at  Bethel,  and  also  to  exercise  a  sovereign  anti-idolatrous 
jurisdiction  to  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel,  not  only  in  Judea, 
out  also  in  the  land  of  the  ten  tribes  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Jordan. 

I  shall  now  dose  this  essay  with  a  brief  notice  of  the  prediction 
delivered  at  Bethel  before  the  first  king  of  the  ten  tribes :  ^  And, 
behdd,  there  came  a  man  of  God  out  of  Judah  by  the  word  of 
the  Lord  unto  Bethel,  and  Jeroboam  stood  by  the  altar  to  bum 
incense.  And  he  cried  against  the  altar  in  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
and  said,  O  altar,  altar,  thus  saith  the  Lord;  behold,  a  child 
shall  be  bom  unto  the  house  of  David,  Josiah  by  name,  and  upon 
thee  shall  he  offer  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that  bum  incense 
upon  thee,  and  men's  bones  shall  be  burnt  upon  thee '  (1  Kings 
xiii.  1).  If  the  Lord  had  announced  that  the  future  Josiah  was  to 
wage  a  triumphant  warfare  against  idolatrous  altars  and  hiffh 
places  throughout  the  land  of  Ephraim,  and  rule  as  a  kin^  in  the 
territory  of  3ie  ten  tribes,  some  royal  descendant  of  David  might 
have  been  tempted  to  anticipate  tne  divine  purpose  by  presump- 
tuously giving  the  predicted  name  to  his  son  and  heir.     But  the 

^  The  particular  Dame  of  the  tribe  is  onknown ;  that  of  the  Cimmeriaas  teems 
aUied  to  the  Gomer  of  prophecy. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


26  The  Scythian  D<minion  m  Agio.  [April, 

desolatioii  of  the  single  altar  at  Bethel,  on  the  very  confines  of 
Judea,  was  too  unimportant  (so  to  speak)  an  achieyement  to  excite 
the  attention  and  ambition  of  a  Jewish  king ;  and  the  prophetic 
annomicement  appears  to  have  slumbered  in  comparatiye  neglect 
and  obscurity.  And  as  Bethel  was  consecrated  in  Jewish  recol- 
lections as  the  place  where  their  illustrious  ancestor  Jacob  had 
received  the  typical  vision  of  the  ladder  which  reached  fix)m  earth 
to  heaven,  a  much  earlier  fulfilment  of  the  denunciation  might 
have  been  expected  than  that  which  took  place  three  centuries 
afterwards.  Vet  during  that  long  interval  no  Jewish  king  appears 
to  have  been  induced  to  bestow  the  name  of  Josiah  upon  his  first- 
bom  ;  nor,  perhaps,  can  one  be  mentioned  earUer  than  Manasseh 
who  was  likely  to  do  so  from  private  and  personal  motives,  without 
any  reference  whatever  to  the  prophetic  denunciation  of  which  we 
are  speaking.  But  the  Most  Hi^h  ever  chooses  his  own  times  and 
seasons,  without  consulting  the  judgment  of  man.  When,  how- 
ever, the  appointed  time  at  length  arrived,  it  is  very  possible  that 
neither  Manasseh  nor  Amon  was  aware  that  any  such  threat  had 
ever  been  uttered  against  Bethel :  indeed,  it  may  be  well  believed 
that  the  truly  penitent  and  humbled  Manasseh  would  have  shrunk 
from  the  presumption  of  giving  the  name,  had  he  been  aware  of 
the  prophecy.  And  we  may  readily  suppose  that  Manasseh  (un- 
consciously moved  by  a  divine  impulse),  without  one  thought  of 
Bethel  or  its  altar,  in  humble  and  adoring  gratitude  for  his  own 
twofold  merciful  deliverance  from  Babylonish  captivity  and  idola- 
trous apostasy,  proposed  that  the  name  Josiah  {Jehovah  heeds) 
should  DC  given  to  his  grandson — a  name  so  deeply  and  truly 
simiificant  of  the  goodness  and  forbearance  of  God  towards  him- 
sdf.  And  thus  would  the  Most  High,  by  the  most  simple  and 
natural  means,  provide  that  the  name  long  previously  predicted, 
should,  in  EQs  own  due  season,  be  given  to  him  who  was  destined 
to  desecrate  and  desolate  the  idolatrous  altar  and  high  places  at 
Bethel. ' 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  Th^  SeytMan  Dcminim  in  Ana.  27 


ADDENDA. 

It  has  been  recently  asserted  that  the  eclipse  which  occurred  on  the 
28th  May,  685  B.C.,  is  to  be  regarded  as  that  which  was  predicted  by 
Thales,  and  which  closed  the  Lydo-Median  war  in  its  sixth  campaign. 
The  following  are  some  of  the  lustorical  objections  to  thb  hypothesis. 

I.  (a.)  480  B.C.  is  now  g^erally  considered  as  the  ascertained  date 
of  the  battle  of  Salamis.  According  to  Herodotus,  the  Greeks  ob- 
tained this  victory  in  the  6th  or  7th  year  of  the  reign  of  Xerxes. 
Thus^  fifty  years  intervened  between  the  battle  of  Salamis  and  the  death 
of  Cyrus,  who  therefore  died  cir.  530  B.C.  (b.)  As  Cyrus  reigned  29 
years  and  Ast3rage8  35  years,  the  death  of  Cyrus  must  have  happened  64 
years  after  that  of  Cyaxares,  who  therefore  died  cir.  594  b.c.  (c.) 
Hence,  if  Cyaxares  (in  whose  reign  the  eclipse  of  Thales  closed  the 
Lyod-Median  war)  died  cir.  594,  it  follows  that  the  eclipse  in  question 
could  not  have  occurred  so  UUe  as  585  b.c. 

II.  If  we  admit  that  Herodotus  has  correctly  given  64  years  as  the 
amount  of  the  united  reig^  of  Cyrus  and  Astyages,  the  eclipse  of  585 
B.C.  cannot  be  received  as  that  predicted  by  Titles.  Two  questions, 
however,  will  here  naturally  suggest  themselves,  (d.)  May  we  not 
suppose  that  the  reign  of  Cyrus  really  commenced  in  Persia,  at  the 
death  of  his  father  Cambyses,  and  thus  its  earlier  portion  may  have 
synchronised  with  the  latter  part  of  the  reig^  of  A^styages,  in  which 
case  the  above  interval  of  64  years  may  be  sufficiently  shortened  for 
the  admission  of  the  585  hypothesis  ?  Herodotus  seems  positively  to 
forbid  any  such  supposition,  whatever  Xenophon,  in  his  (perhaps)  phi- 
losophical romance,  may  have  taught  to  the  contrary.  In  Herodotus, 
Cambyses  is  only  a  respectable  Persian  nobleman,  whose  comparative 
obscurity  reconmi^ided  him  to  Astyages  as  a  suitable  husband  for  his 
daughter  Mandane;  and  Cyrus  himself,  in  the  forced  letter  which, 
when  preparing  to  revolt,  he  read  to  the  assembly  of  his  countrymen, 
stated  ^  that  Astyages  had  made  him  general  of  the  Persians.'  Nor 
is  the  language  of  the  historian  less  decisive  on  this  point,  when, 
speaking  of  t^  defeat  of  Astyages,  he  says, '  Cyrus,  therefore,  having 
been  thus  bom  and  educated,  came  to  the  throne.*  B.  1,  c.  130. 

III.  We  come  now  to  the  second  question.  Is  it  at  all  improbable 
that  transcribers — even  if  Herodotus  wrote  his  numbers  fully  in  words^ 
and  not  in  any  abbreviated  form — may,  in  the  course  of  time,  have  in- 
advertently (lor  there  is  no  conceivable  motive  for  designed  change) 
altered  one  or  both  of  the  numbers  originally  assigned  by  Herodotus 
to  the  reigns  of  Cyrus  and  As^ages  ?  (e.)  The  length  of  the  reign  of 
Astyages.  Our  present  text  of  Herodotus  scarcely  permits  us  to  take 
a  single  year  from  the  thirty-five  of  this  king's  reign.  This  is  almost 
proved  by  the  foUowing  passage  from  B.  1,  c  130:  ^  Astyages,  after 

*  The  battle  of  Salamis  was  fought  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  of  Xerxes  (Book  7, 
chap.  SO).  Darius  reined  thirty-tix  year;  and  the  united  reigns  of  Cambyses  and 
Smerdis  amounted  to  eight  years ;  in  all  about  fifty  years. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


28  Tht  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

he  had  reigned  thirty-Jive  years,  was  thus  deposed ;  and  the  Medes 
bent  under  the  Persian  yoke,  after  they  had  ruled  over^  all  Asia  be- 
yond the  river  Halys,  for  the  space  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
years,  excepting  the  interval  of  the  Scythian  dominion.'  There  is 
here  a  slight  error  of  excess,  yet  not  such  as  to  afiect  the  argument. 
For  other  data  in  Herodotus*"  teach  us  that  the  united  reigns  of  the 
Median  kings  amounted  to  150  years;  and  if  from  this  number  we 
subtract  the  28  years  of  the  Scythian  rule,  we  have  122,  and  not  128 
years,  as  in  our  present  copies.  The  mistake,  however,  whether  it 
arose  from  the  inattention  of  the  historian  or  Ws  transcribers,  is  per- 
haps easily  explained  ;  for  as  the  duration  of  the  Scythian  domtnion 
(named  in  this  passage  in  such  close  connection  with  that  of  the  Median 
kingdom)  was  twenty -eight  years,  Herodotus  himself  may  (not  at  all 
improbably)  have  unconsciously  written  28  after  the  100,  instead  of 
the  correct  number  22.  At  all  events,  it  may  be  fairly  concluded  from 
this  passage  that,  in  the  original  text  of  Herodotus,  the  Median  king- 
dom was  stated  to  have  continued  more  than  120  years,  deducting  the 
28  years  of  the  Scythian  rule ;  and,  if  the  assigned  lengths  of  the 
reigns  of  the  preceding  Median  kings  are  correct,  this  could  not  be, 
unless  we  allow  Astyages  to  have  reigned  at  least  thirty-four  years. 
Thus  we  have  a  twofold  assertion  of  the  length  of  the  reign  of  Astyages 
— 1,  directly  and  in  express  terms;  2,  by  inference  from  the  whole 
duration  of  the  Median  kingdom.  It  is  therefore  improbable  that 
transcribers  should  have  changed  the  number  originally  assigned  by 
Herodotus  to  the  years  of  Astyages'  reign,  (f.)  The  following  con- 
sideration tends  still  further  to  show  this  improbability.  It  seems 
certain  from  Herodotus  that  Mandane  was  not  given  in  marriage  to 
Cambyses  until  at  least  three  or  four  years  after  the  accession  of  her 
&ther  Astyages  to  the  throne.  The  birth  of  Cyrus  cannot  therefore 
well  be  dated  earlier  than  the  fifth  year  of  Astyages  ;  and  even  if  we 
suppose  that  Cyrus  was  not  more  than  25  years  of  age  (he  was  perhaps 
nearer  30)  at  the  time  of  his  successful  revolt,  Astyages  must,  on 
this  view,  have  reigned  thirty  years  before  his  defeat  and  dethrone- 
ment. We  may  thus  feel  almost  assured  that  Herodotus  originaUy 
assigned  35  years  to  the  reig^  of  Astyages. 

IV.  The  length  of  the  reign  of  Cyrus. — As  Herodotus  does  not  give 
a  similar  twofold  statement  of  the  length  of  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  there 
b  room  for  the  supposition  of  error  here,  through  the  inattention  of 
transcribers.  If  the  eclipse  of  Thales  really  occurred  585  B.C.,  and  if 
we  assume  (jlhe  view  most  favourable  to  the  685  hypothesis)  that  Cyax- 
ares  died  in  the  foUowing  year  (584),  we  cannot,  for  the  reasons  given 
above,  weU  assign  an  earlier  date  than  cir.  579  B.C.  for  the  birth  of 

^  This  is  rather  looselv  expressed.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Median  do- 
minion extended  to  the  Halys  before  the  time  of  Cyaxares  (Book  1,  chap.  103). 
There  is  a  somewhat  similar  departure  ftx>m  strict  accuracy  in  Book  4,  cnap.  1 ; 
where  it  is  said  that  before  the  arrival  of  the  Scythians  *  the  Medes  niled  over 
Asia.' 

•  Deioces  reigned  68  years ;  Phraortes  22 ;  Cyaxares  40 ;  Astyages  35 ;  in  all 
150  years. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Ana.  29 

Cyrus,  who  would  thus  be  about*  fifty  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
cease in  630  B.C.  There  is  perhaps  nothing  in  Herodotus  positively 
inconsistent  with  this  view,  though  the  tenor  of  his  narrative  must  be 
r^arded  as  by  no  means  favourable  to  it.  Also,  if  we  consider  the 
dethronement  of  Astyages  to  have  taken  place  cir.  550  b.c.,  it  is  per- 
haps possible,  so  &r  as  Herodotus  is  concerned,  that  Cyrus  may  have 
conquered  Croesus,  and  subdued  the  eastern  Asiatic  nations  previous 
to  540  B.C.,  when  he  is  generally  believed  to  have  commenced  the 
81^^  of  Babylon :  but  all  this  is  possible  rather  than  probable. 

y.  What  has  been  advanced  in  the  last  paragraph  rests  upon  the 
supposition  that  Cyaxares  died  in  584  B.C.,  the  year  after  the  eclipse, 
on  the  585  hypothesis.  K,  however  (as  seems  almost  capable  of  de- 
monstration from  Herodotus),  the  Lydo-Median  war  was  terminated  by 
the  eclipse  of  Thales  before  the  expulsion  of  the  Scythians,  the  con- 
Quest  of  Nineveh,  and  the  reduction  of  Assyria,  it  would  seem  scarcely 
possible  to  date  the  death  of  Cyaxares  earlier  than  cir.  580  B.C.  Thus 
the  dethronement  of  Astyages  would  be  brought  down  to  cir.  546  B.C., 
the  reign  of  Cyrus  reduced  firom  29  to  16  years,  and  only  five  or  six 
years  would  be  left  for  the  conquest  of  Croesus  and  the  eastern  Asiatic 
nations,  if  the  siege  of  Babylon  was  commenced  cir.  540  B.C.* 

VI.  This  important  point  in  the  present  discussion  has  been  already 
touched  upon  in  the  preceding  essay,  but  it  deserves  further  notice, 
(g.)  The  reader  is  requested  to  consider  carefully  the  following  quo- 
tation. '  For  28  years  the  Scythians  governed  Asia.  Now  Cyaxares 
and  the  Medes  invited  the  greater  part  of  them  to  a  feast,  and  having 
made  them  drunk,  put  them  to  death,  and  so  the  Medes  recovered 
their  former  power,  and  took  Nineveh,  and  reduced  the  Assyrians  to 
subjection,  with  the  exception  of  the  Babylonian  district.  Having 
accomplished  these  things^  Cyaxares  died,  having  reigned  forty  years, 
including  the  time  of  the  Scythian  dominion.'  (Cary's  Herod.,  B.  1,  c. 
106.)  (h.)  Will  any  candid  inquirer  hesitate  to  admit  that  Herodotus 
is  here  relating  events  in  their  chronological  order  f  and  that  the  cap- 
ture of  Nineveh  was  certainly  subsequent  to  the  treacherous  expulsion 
of  the  Scythians  ?  (i.)  Look  at  the  words,  ^  having  accomplished  these 
things,  Cyaxares  died ;'  and  must  it  not  be  allowed  that  it  is  the  very 
character  of  the  quotation  to  set  forth  the  Jull  and  final  success  and 
triumph  of  Cyaxares  f    And  thus  we  seem  to  be  positively  forbidden 

^  Lucisn  makes  Cyrus  100  years  old  at  his  death,  which  is  absurd.  Dr. 
Prideanz,  who  follows  Xenophon  rather  than  Herodotus,  thinks  that  he  was  born 
dr.  599  B.  c,  and  that  he  died  at  the  age  of  70.  Xenophon  writes  that  at  the  age 
of  12  years  (587  B.C.)  Cyrus  visited  his  gnmdfather;  and  that  at  15  or  16 
years  of  age^  he  attended  Astyages  (584  b.  o.)  in  an  expedition  against  the  king 
of  Babylon.  All  this  is  plainly  inconsistent  with  the  idea  that  Cyaxares  was 
alive,  and  engaged  in  an  uncertain  war  with  the  Lydians  in  585  b.  c.  Xenophon's 
silence  on  tiie  subject  of  Nineveh  may  perhaps  show  that  he  believed  the  overthrow 
of  that  city  to  have  hi^^pened  before  the  birth  of  Cyrus. 

*  In  one  of  the  three  ancient  Canons,  Cjrms  is  said  to  have  reigned  tkirtif'one 
vears;  meaning,  of  course,  his  whole  reign.  In  each  of  the  other  two  Canons,  he 
18  said  to  have  reigned  nine  years,  t.  e.,  as  sovereign  of  Babylon.  So  &r  as  these 
Canons  are  trustworthy,  they  tend  to  prove  that  if  Cyrus  died  cir.  530-529  b.  c, 
Babylon  was  taken  cir.  538  b.  c. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


30  The  Scythian  Bammm  in  Axia.  [Aprils 

to  think  that  the  Lydo-Median  war — which  continued  into  its  sixth 
campaign,  ^  and  in  which  the  Medes  often  defeated  the  Lydians,  and 
often  the  Lydians  the  Medes' — occurred  after  the  capture  of  Nineveh 
and  the  reduction  of  Assyria,  (k.)  Again,  who  were  the  Scythian 
nomades  who  caused  the  Lydo-Median  war?  1.  They  are  called  the 
Scythian  nomades,  the  very  name  given  to  the  victorious  horde  (B.  1, 
c.  15).  2.  Herodotus  calls  the  Eastern  Asiatic  nomades  Sacae  and 
Caspians.  3.  He  several  times  uses  the  term  Scythian,  but  always  of 
European  Scythians.  4.  The  Scythian  refugees  were  directed  by 
Cyaxares  to  teach  certain  young  Medes  the  Scythian  language,  a 
direction  scarcely  intelligible  except  on  the  supposition  that  they  be- 
longed to  the  Scythian  conquerors,  and  that  these  were  still  in  Asia. 
5.  It  is  not  very  probable  that  any  nomades  would  put  th^nselves  in 
the  power  of  Cyaxares  after  his  treacherous  massacre  of  the  Scythian 
chiefe.  These  considerations  would  seem  of  themselves  sufficient  to 
prove  that,  so  far  as  Herodotus  is  concerned^  we  must  believe  the 
Lydo-Median  war  to  have  preceded  the  Scythian  expulsion  and  the 
conquest  of  Nineveh.' 

Yll.  It  has  perhaps  been  already  rendered  highly  probable,  1.  that 
we  are  not  at  liberty  to  shorten  the  duration  of  Ajstyages'  reign  of 
thirty-five  years ;  2.  and  that  the  Lydo-Median  war  preceded  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Scythians  and  the  conquest  of  Nineveh.  Let  now 
Herodotus'  Lydian  chronology  be  examined  in  connection  with  these 
two  points.  Astyages  (on  the  685  view)  was  deposed  cir.  545  B.C. 
Allowing  Cyrus  to  have  defeated  Croesus  four  or  five  years  after,  cir. 
546  B.C.,  we  have  the  following  result.     The  united  reigns  of  Croesus, 

'  The  following,  as  less  decisive,  though  not  unimportant,  is  added  in  a  note. 
It  is  obvious  to  conclude  from  Herodotus  account  of  the  reception  of  the  Scythian 
refugees  by  Cyaxares  (Book  1,  chap.  73)  that  Cyaxares  was  m  Media  when  Uiese 
suppliants  sought  his  protection,  and  that  he  remained  in  Media  during  their 
continuance  there.  It  does  not,  therefbre,  seem  too  much  to  say  that  berore  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  a^nst  the  Lydians,  there  was  a  ymst't  interval  cf 
peace,  at  the  least,  during  which  Cyaxares  was  engaged  in  no  important  war. 
But  the  Scythian  dominion  lasted  28  years ;  and  it  can  be  scarcely  thought  that 
they  defeated  the  Medes  near  Nineveh  later  than  the  close  of  the  second  year  of 
Cvaxares.  Let  us  suppose  the  Lydo-Median  war  not  to  have  conunenced  until 
aner  the  expulsion  of  the  Scvthians,  and  what  is  the  result?  We  have,  as  just 
stated,  31  years  of  Cyaxares  reign  previous  to  this  war— add  the  sir  years  of  the 
war,  and  we  find  that  37  years  had  elapsed  at  its  termination.  But  as  Cyaxarei 
reigned /or<y  years,  we  have  only  three  years  left  fbr  the  expulsion  of  the  barbarians, 
the  siege  and  capture  of  Nineveh,  and  the  reduction  of  Assyria.  Herodotus  has 
not  mentioned  the  length  of  the  siege  of  Nineveh,  but  must  have  known  it,  as  be 
promises  to  describe  how  this  city  was  taken.  The  statement  of  Diodoms  Sicnlos 
IS  probably  not  incorrect — that  Nineveh  was  taken  in  the  third  year  of  the  siege. 
Were  we  to  allow,  what  the  language  of  Herodotus  (who  seems  to  teach  us  that 
Astyages  ascended  the  throne  in  a  time  of  general  peace)  encourages  rather  tham 
forbids,  that  Cyaxares  completed  his  conquest  at  least  some  short  time  before  his 
death ;  we  shall  scarcely  nave  two  years  left  for  the  transactions  just  mentioned. 
It  is  idso  plain  from  Book  1,  chap.  106,  that  the  massacre  of  the  Scythian  chiefii 
was  an  introductory  measure  to  the  siege  of  Nineveh.  Cyaxares  feared  to  en- 
counter them  in  open  warfare^  and  durst  not  venture  upon  a  second  siege  of 
Nineveh,  while  they  remained  in  Asia  ready  to  assist  the  Assyrians  against  the 
Medes. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  SeytUan  D<ymmim  in  Asia.  31 

Alyattes,  and  Sadyattes  amount  to  eigfaty-three  years.  Hence,  if 
Croesus  was  dethroned  in  541  B.C.,  it  foUows  that  Sadyattes  succeeded 
Ardys  cir.  624  B.C. ;  and  thus  the  entrance  of  the  Cimmerians  into 
Asia  cannot  hiily  be  dated  later  than  626  B.C.  But,  on  the  585  hypo- 
thesisy  the  Scythian  expulsion  cannot  be  dated  earlier  than  584  b.c, 
or  their  etUrcmee  into  Asia  earlier  than  612.  There  is  thus  an  in- 
terval of  thirteen  years  between  the  flight  of  the  Cimmerians  and  their 
pursuit  by  the  Scythians,  which  is,  surely,  unreasonably  long.  Again, 
if  Cyaxares  died  cir.  580  b.c.,  he  ascended  the  throne  cir.  620,  and  the 
Scythians  entering  Asia  in  612,  commenced  their  rule  there  about 
the  eighth  year  of  Cyaxares*  reign.  This  would  seem  to  be  quite  in- 
consistent with  the  spirit  of  Herodotus'  narrative,  who  says,  '  Cyaxares 
assembled  the  forces  ofcMhis  suhjectSy  and  marched  against  Kineveh 
to  avenge  his  father  and  destroy  that  city,'  &c.  These  words  would 
lead  us  to  suppose  that  it  was  early  in  his  reign  that  Cyaxares  defeated 
the  Assyrians,  and  was  himself  defeated  by  the  Scythians. 

VIII.  Haxxiotus*  Babylonian  history. — 1.  He  writes  that  *the 
Queen  Nitocris,  when  she  saw  the  power  of  the  Medes'  growing  formi- 
dable and  restless,  and  that,  among  other  cities,  Nineveh  was  captured 
by  them,  took  every  possible  precaution  for  her  own  defence.'  This 
surely  refers  to  the  restless  ambition,  not  of  the  Median  Astyages,  but 
of  the  Medo-Persian  sovereign  Cyrus.  Thus,  afterwards,  Herodotus 
writes,  when  speaking  of  the  final  advance  of  the  Persians  against  the 
city  of  Babylon,  '  that  the  Babylonians  had  been  long  aware  of  the 
restless  spirit  of  Cyrus,  and  had  laid  up  provisions  for  many  years,  and 
were  under  no  apprehensions  for  a  siege.'  The  Babylonians  would 
scarcely  have  begun  to  provision  their  city  until  after  the  defeat  of 
Croesus.  But  if  Croesus  was  dethroned  cir.  541  b.c,  we  can  scarcely 
allow  less  than  three  or  four  years  for  the  precautionary  measures  of 
the  Babylonians,  or  indeed  less  than  five  or  six  years  for  the  conquest 
of  the  eastern  Asiatic  nations  by  Cyrus,  in  the  interval  between  the 
overthrow  of  Croesus  and  the  siege  of  Babylon.  2.  As  Herodotus 
appears  to  have  carefully  studied  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  history, 
we  may  consider  that  he  expresses  himself  accurately  :  hence,  I  think 
it  may  be  reasonably  inferred  from  the  following  passage,  ^  Cyaxares 
reduc^  the  Assyrians  into  subjection,  with  the  exception  of  the  Baby- 
lonian district  (B.  1,  c.  106),  that  Assyria  Proper  came  under  the 
power  of  the  Medes,  and  that,  at  the  time  in  question,  Labynetus  was 
much  inferior  in  dig^ty  and  power  to  Cyaxares.  It  would  thus  seem 
improbable  that  this  Labynetus^  is  to  be  identified  with  Nebuchad- 

*  Previous  to  the  defeat  of  Astyages,  the  Persians  were  an  obscure  people,  and 
Gyms,  though  a  Persian,  wonld  be  regarded  as  the  sovereign  of  Media ;  thos,  in 
Book  1,  du^.  206,  Tomyris,  Queen  of  the  Massagetae,  addresses  him  as,  <  King  of 
the  Medes.' 

^  Dr.  Prideaox  identifies  Labynetus  with  Nebuchadnezzar,  improbably,  as  ap- 
pears to  the  writer.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  allowed  that  such  identification  i» 
not  impomtihU,  even  on  the  585  hypothesis,  however  unlikely.  For  let  it  be  granted, 
that  Nebuchadnezzar  succeeded  his  fiOher  Nabopolassar  cir.  606  b.  c.  .^sephus 
(Apion,  Book  1,  $  21)  teaches  us  from  the  Phoenician  records,  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar besieged  Tyre  thirteen  years— from  the  seventh  to  the  twentieth  year  of 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


32  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April, 

nezzar,  but  rather  with  that  conqueror's  father,  Nkbopolassar.  On  this 
view,  if  the  eclipse  of  Thales  occurred  in  585  B.C.,  it  follows  that 
Nabopolassar  was  still  living  in  that  year,  and  that  he  assisted  Syennesis 

his  reign.  (This  was  probably,  at  least  in  the  latter  portion,*  a  blockade  rather 
than  a  regular  siege :  and  as  Tyre,  being  bailt  on  the  sea-coast,  would  require  a 
comparatively  small  force  against  it  for  the  purpose  of  blockade,  this  kind  of  war- 
fare might  be  partially  carried  on,  even  during  the  Chaldean  siege  of  Jerusalem.) 
After  ibis,  we  may  presume  that  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  on  hostilities  against 
Egypt;  and  thus,  having  been  occupied  previously  to  585,  in  the  direction  of 
Syria,  Phoenicia^  Palestine,  and  Egypt,  he  would  not  yet  have  come  into  any 
unfriendly  collision  with  the  Medes,  and  would  thus  be  at  liberty  to  assist  Syen- 
nesis in  mediating  between  Alyattes  and  Cyaxares.  But  it  is  cerudnly  difficult  to 
reconcile  this  with  Herodotus'  statement  of  the  comparative  inferioritv  of  the 
kingdom  of  Babylon  at  the  time  of  the  close  of  the  Ly do- Median  war.  And  here 
I  cannot  refrain  from  offering  a  few  remarks  bearing  upon  the  present  subject. 
If  Nebuchadnezzar  really  was  a  verv  renowned  conqueror,  and  also  the  creator  of 
the  metropolitan  grandeur  of  Babylon,  why  does  Herodotus  take  no  notice  of  his 
ffreatness  ?  Is  not  such  silence  &tal,  if  not  to  the  idea  of  his  existence,  jet  to 
Uiat  of  his  renown  ?  There  is  no  necessity  for  saying  that  Herodotus  was  silent, 
because  he  intended  to  speak  fully  in  his  Assyrian  history.  The  authenticity  of 
the  Scriptural  account  of  the  greatness  of  this  monarch  is  amply  vindicated  bj 
Colonel  Rawlinson,  who  thus  writes — *  With  regard  to  Babvlonia  Proper,  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact,  that  every  ruin  from  some  distance  north  of  Bagdad,  as  fir  south 
as  the  Birs  Nimrud,  is  of  the  age  qf  Nebuchadnezzar.  I  have  examined  the  bricks 
in  nlu,  belonging  perhaps  to  one  hundred  different  towns  and  cities  within  this 
area  of  about  one  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  thirty  or  forty  in  breadth,  and  I 
never  found  any  other  legend  than  that  of— Nebuchadnezzar,  son  of  Nahofidassor, 
king  of  Babvlon*  (Cuneiform  Incrip.,  p.  76.)  This  does  not  prove  the  faUier  to 
have  been  also  a  king.  In  another  passage,  however,  Col.  K.  informs  us  that,  in 
a  monumental  inscription  now  in  the  East  India  house,  Nabopolasar,  the  lather 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  is,  in  two  passages,  distinguished  as  bearing  the  title  of  king, 
(Ibid.,  p.  80.)  Another  remark  is  more  important,  as  it  tends,  if  correct,  to  show 
the  possibility  of  reconciling  the  Scriptural  narrative  with  that  of  Herodotus. 
Now  the  latter  writes  (1,  104),  Mhe  Medes  took  Nineveh  and  reduced  the 
Assyrians  into  subjection.'  Hence  at  that  time,  Cyaxares  must  have  become 'the 
sovereign  of  Assvria  as  well  as  Media.  But  we  find  that  afterwards  (1,  188), 
the  historian  sj^uks  of  the  then  king  of  Babylon,  in  a  manner  inconsistent  alike 
with  the  position  of  the  Labynetus,  who  was  contemporary  with  Cyaxares,  and 
with  the  sovereignty  of  the  latter  over  Assyria.  For  he  writes :  '  Cyrus  made  war 
agunst  the  son  of  this  queen  (of  Babylon,  Nitocris)  who  bore  the  name  of  hb 
lather,  LAb3metus,  and  had  the  entire  of  Assyria*  These  words,  in  connection 
with  the  previous  history  of  Nitocns,  would  certainly  seem  to  leach  us,  that  this 
king  inherited  this  empire  from  his  father.  Let  us  put  the  most  moderate  inter- 
pretation on  this  expression — *  the  empire  of  Assyria  —it  will  still  be  too  great  to 
be  applied  to  the  Labynetus,  who  was  the  friend  of  Cyaxares.  Accordingly,  we 
seem  constrained,  by  comparing  together  the  different  passages  in  Herodotus,  to 
believe  that,  between  this  Labjmetus  and  the  Babylonian  monarch  (of  the  same 
name)  whom  Cyrus  attacked,  a  warlike  (as  well  as  architectural)  king  must  have 
intervened^ 

*  This  was  probably  the  character  of  Shalmaneser's  investment  of  Tyre,  men- 
tioned by  Josephus,  from  the  Tyrian  archives  (Antiq.^  ix.  chap.  2).  A  venr  severe 
blow  would  be  inflicted  on  the  caravan-traffic  of  Tyre.  The  A6S3rrian  force  re- 
quired would  be  comparatively  small,  and  the  whole  transaction  too  unimportant 
to  be  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  monumental  records.  There  does  not,  therefore, 
appear  to  be  any  reasonable  ground  for  Colonel  Rawlinson's  doubts  on  this  point. 
'  Menander's  account  of  the  l<»ig  and  fruitless  siege  of  Tyre,  by  Shalmaneser, 
Colonel  Rawlinson  considers  to  be  apocryphal.' — Outline  of  Assyrian  History,  p.  1 7. 


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1853.]  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Ana.  33 

of  Cilicia  in  mediating  between  Cyaxares  and  Alyattes.  Let  it  be 
assumed  that  he  died  in  the  following  year,  584  B.C.  His  son  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, therefore,  who  reigned  forty-three  years,  died  cir.  541, 
about  one  year  (acooiding  to  the  generally  received  chronology)  before 
the  commencement  of  the  siege  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus. 

IX.  The  Egyptian  chronology. — It  is  to  be  remembered  that,  on 
the  585  hypothesis,  the  eclipse  of  Thales  closed  the  Lydo-Median  war 
in  its  sixth  campaign,  in  585  b.o.  Thus  this  war  commenced  in  590 
B.C. ;  but  Herodotus  writes  that  the  Scythians  entered  Asia  in  the 
reign  of  Psammitichus,  who  (according  to  the  generally  received 
^Egyptian  chronology)  died  cir.  617  b.c.  Hence  the  Scythian  rule  of 
28  years  cannot  have  commenced  kUer  than  cir.  618  B.C.,  nor  can  it 
have  ceased  later  tlian  590  b.c.  If,  therefore,  it  is  almost  certain  from 
Herodotus  that  the  massacre  of  the  Scythian  chie&  by  Cyaxares  oc- 
curred after  the  Lydo-Median  war,  that  war  must  have  been  brought  to 
a  conclusion  before  590  b.c.,  and,  therefore,  by  the  eclipse  in  610  3.a, 
as  we  are  compelled  to  choose  either  the  eclipse  of  585  or  that  of  610. 

X.  The  locality  of  the  last  battle  between  Cyaxares  and  Alyattes, — 
This  is  one  of  the  most  important  points  in  the  present  discussion.  In 
the  eclipse  of  585  B.C.,  the  longitude  and  latitude  of  the  central  line 
would  be,  shortly  before  sunset,  33°  30'  E.  long.,  and  37<^  46'  N.  lat. 
The  eclipse  was  tot€il  over  a  tract  of  country  extending  1°  lO'  N.  and 
S.  of  this  line.  It  is  of  course  assumed  that  the  spot  where  the  battle 
in  question  was  fought  was  within  the  limits  of  the  total  eclipse ;  but 
this  cannot  be  proved  from  Herodotus.  It  does  not  follow  that,  be- 
cause Syennesis  was  one  of  the  mediators,  the  armies  were  engaged 

intervened^  -who  raised  Babylon  to  the  pre-eminence  of  an  imperial  metropolis,  and 
the  kings  of  Babylon  into  the  powerfm  sovereigns  of  Assyria :  and  this  renowned 
warrior  could  have  been  no  other  than  Nebuchadnezzar.  Again,  while  Herodotos 
seems  certainly  to  teach  ns  that  a  powerful  and  warlike  king  of  Babylon  lived 
between  Cyaxares  and  Cyras,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  our  supposing  that  this 
kinff  was  succeeded  by  a  son  named  Labynetus  (the  husband  of  Nitocris)  identical 
with  the  Evil-Merodach  of  Soriptnre,  and,  thus,  that  the  Labynetus  conquered  by 
Cyrus,  was  the  Belshazsar  of  Holy  Writ,  the  grandson  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  This 
conclusion  may  be  rendered  yet  more  probable ;  for  Chaldean  tradidon  says,  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  constructed  the  &mous  gardens  to  gratify  his  Median  consort. 
These  hanging  gardens  were  made  (it  is  likely)  towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  and 
thus,  it  is  not  unprobable  that  the  Median  princess  was  queen  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  Now  the  language  of  Herodotus  (1,  185)  appears  deariy  to  indicate  that 
Nitocris  was  not  a  Median  princess.  He  mentions  an  Egyptian  queen  of  this 
name  (2,  100) ;  and  in  Book  3,  chap.  1,  he  speaks  of  Nitetis,  the  daughter  of 
Apries.  The  initial  syllable  {Nit)  may  be  identical  with  the  name  of  the  l^gyptian 
deity,  Neith,  Hence  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely,  that  the  Nitocris  in  question  was  an 
Egyptian,  and  not  the  wife  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  but  of  his  son  Labynetus  or  Evil- 
lii&rodach.  This,  by  implying  an  intercourse  at  that  time  between  Babylon  and 
Egypt,  indirectly  &vours  the  accounts  in  the  prophecies  of  Scripture,  and  the 
narrative  of  Berosus,  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  victories  over  the  Egyptians.  Accord* 
ing  to  generally  received  history  and  chronology,  (1)  Nebuchaonezzar  died  cir. 
563  B.  c.  (2)  Eyil-Merodach  was  slain  cir.  .560.  (3)  Astyages  was  deposed  cir. 
659.  Thus  Nitocris  might  be  queen-regent  of  Babylon  in  h^  son's  minority,  when 
Cyrus  became  kins.  She  may  also  have  been  the  queen  mentioned  in  Dan.  v.  10. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  Nebuchadnezzar  mav,  after  the  death  of  Cyaxares,  have 
wrested  much  of  Assyria  Proper  from  the  Medes. 

VOL.  IV.— NO.  VII.  D^  , 

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34  The  Scythian  Dominion  in  Asia.  [April. 

near  the  northern  boundaries  of  Cilida.  On  the  other  hand,  two  c<mi- 
«iderations  would  lead  to  the  supposition  that  the  contending  parties 
were  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Euxine.  1.  Before  and  after  the  war  with 
the  Medes  the  Lydians  were  engaged  in  hostilities  against  the  QretHu 
of  Western  Asia.  But  in  the  £oUowing  paantge,  which  apparently 
describes  events  in  chronological  order ^  it  is  said,  '  Alyattes  made  war 
upon  Cyaxares  and  the  Medes ;  he  drove  the  Cimmerians  out  of  Asia^ 
took  Smyrna,  and  invaded  Clazomenae'  (B.  1,  c.  16).  And  where 
were  these  Cimmerians  located  ?  Herodotus  tells  us,  ^  in  the  peninsula 
in  which  the  Grecian  city  Sinope  now  stands'  (B.  4,  c.  12).  And  what 
induced  Alyattes  to  engage  in  hostilities  so  &r  eastward  ?  May  it  not 
be  supposed  that  his  final  eneounter  with  the  Medes  took  place  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  above-mentioned  peninsula  ?  2.  Let  us  look  at  Hero- 
dotus' account  of  a  subsequent  war  between  Croesus  and  the  Medo- 
Persian  sovereign  Cyrus.  ^  Croesus  having  passed  the  river  (Halys) 
with  his  army,  came  to  a  place  called  Pteria  in  Cappadocia.  l^ow 
Pteria  is  situated  over  against  Sinope^  a  city  oft  the  Euxine  Sea. 
When  Cyrus  had  come  up,  they  made  trial  of  each  other's  strength  in 
the  plains  of  Pteria'  (B.  1,  c  76).  Croesus  and  Cyrus  appear  to  have 
engaged  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Halys^  as  Croesus  was  the  agg^resscMT ; 
and  as  Alyattes  seems  to  have  carried  on  a  defensive  war,  there  is  per- 
haps nothing  whatever  ta  forbid  (should  the  facts  cf  history  he  conclu- 
sive against  the  585  hypothesis)  the  idea  that  when  the  eclipse  of 
Thaks  occurred,  the  contending  armies  were  on  the  western  side  of  the 
river  Halys,  as  far  northward  as  40^  30,  t.  e.  1^  45'  to  the  north  of  the 
limit  of  the  totid  eclipse  of  585  b.c.  ;  whose  northem  limit  near  sunset, 
in  those  regions,  according  to  the  careful  calculations  of  Mr.  Hind, 
was  37°  46f  +  1^  10,  or  38°  56:  N.  lat. 

XI.  In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that  it  appears  to  me  unnecessary 
to  interpret  the  language  of  Herodotus  as  if  he  had  himself  been  an 
eye-witness  of  the  eclipse,  or  were  reporting  the  very  words  of  astro- 
nomers by  whom  it  had  been  observed.  In  days  when  the  use  of 
artillery  was  unknown,  a  degree  of  obscuration,  short  of  a  total  eclipse 
at  the  spot  where  the  armies  were  engaged  in  battle,  yet  producing 
sufficient  change  in  the  d^ee  of  light  to  arrest  the  curiosity  and 
attention  of  the  combatants  and  make  them  pause,  by  mutual  consent, 
in  expectation  of  the  approach  of  entire  darkness,  would  perhaps  be 
enough  to  excite  superstitious  feelings  and  the  anxiety  for  peace  of 
which  Herodotus  speaks  ;*  and  the  love  of  the  marvellous,  combined 
with  Oriental  exaggeration,  would  scarcely  fail  to  establish  the  tradition 
*  that  day  had  bemi  turned  into  night.'  q.^ 

^  The  Lydo-Mediin  war  had  its  origin  in  a  desire  of  revenffe,  and  not  of  con- 
quest. It  was  of  an  onoertain  character—'  the  Medes  often  defeating  the  Lydiaas, 
and  the  Lydians  often  the  Medes ' — it  had  already  extended  into  its  sixth  campaign, 
and  both  kings  were  probably  wear^  of  the  contest,  and  ready  to  avail  themselTes 
of  any  honooraUe  pretext  for  bringing  it  to  a  close. 


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1853.]  (    35    ) 


MODERN    CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    THE    STUDY   OF 
PROPHECY. 

1.  The  lA^ht  of  Prophecy  ;  being  an  attempt  to  trace  out  thereby^ 
the  commg  JvdgmemU^  and  the  promises  (^  Ghry.  By  Tho- 
mas LuMiSDEN  Strange.  London.  J.  El.  Campbell^  and 
James  Nisbet  and  Co.     1852. 

2.  Oiservaiims  oti  Mr.  JEUioU's  SortB  Apoealypticm ;  offered  to- 
wards r^tdatim^  cf  the  Historical  System  of  interpreting  the 
Apocalypse.  By  T.  L.  Stranqb.  London.  J.  K.  C8m(J[)ell, 
and  Nisbeto.     1852. 

S.  The  Second  Woe;  a  popular  JEapssiHen  of  the  10th  and  llth 
chapters  of  BeveUoioru  By  Rev.  R.  Caibns,  Minister  of  the 
Free  Qiurcfa,  Cupar,  Fife.  Edinbui^h.  Johnstone  and  Hun- 
ter.    1851. 

4.  Baticnale  Apooalypticwn ;  or  a  Systematic  JEscpositicn  cf  the 
Apocalypse,  with  Historical  Proqfs  and  lUmtraiticns.  To 
which  are  added  three  Appendices^.  By  the  Rev.  Alf&eb  Je- 
MOUB,  Author  of  a  new  Traaalation  and  Exposition  of  IsaJah. 
2yo1s.  8yo.    London.    Thomas  Hatcfaard.     1852. 

5.  Notes^  Explanatory  and  Practical,  ontheBookofBevelation. 
Bjr  Ref .  Albbrt  Barnbs,  with  Preface,  by  Rey.  £.  Hender- 
son, D.D.  London.  Printed  and  publisned  by  Kniffht  and 
Son.     1852. 

6.  Die  Offenhanxng  des  heiligen  Johannes,  Von  E.  W.  Hbnq- 
8TBNBERO.   2  yols.    Berlin.    1849,  1850,  and  1851. 

7.  Jtemarks  en  the  Prophetic  Visions  in  the  Book  of  Darnel.  A 
new  edition^  revised^  and  greatly  enU^ged;  with  Notes  en  Pro^ 
phetic  Interpretaticn^  in  connection  with  Popery ;  and  a  Defmce 
ef  the  AuUimtidty  qf  the  Booh  of  Daniel  By  S.  P.  Tre- 
OBLLBS,  LL.D.    London.    Bagster  and  Sons.     1852. 

6.  A  HandrBoohfor  the  Apocalypse ;  being  an  Utplanation  of  its 
Symbols,  deduced  excltisively  from  their  use  in  other  Scriptures. 
Designed  for  the  use  of  Bible  Classes  and  HxmiUes.  lAmdon. 
12mo.    James  Nisbet  and  Co.     1851. 

9.  The  MiUmarian  Inquirer.  Originally  published  under  the 
title  of  the  ChUiasL  By  RicflARp  Ball.  12mo.  London. 
James  Nisbet  and  Co.     1851. 

10.  Mw  View  of  the  Apooalypsej  or  the  Plagues  qf  Egypt  and  of 
JSurope  idenUcoL  nHh  a  new  Apocalyptic  Chart  and  Diar 
arams.  By  C.  E.  Eraser  Tytlbr,  H.E.I.C.  Civil  Servica 
Edinburgh.    Johnstone  and  Hunter.     1652. 

i>2 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


36  Modem  Cowtribivtiom  to  [April, 

11.  An  ExaTmnation  of  the  Sign  x?s-',  Rev.  xiii.  18.  By  M.  Cely 
Trevilian,  Esq.     Binns  and  Goodwin.     No  date. 

12.  The  World  to  Come;  or  the  Kingdom  of  God.  By  Rev. 
James  Cochrane,  A.M.,  one  of  the  Ministers  of  Cupar,  Fife. 
Second  Edition.     Edinburgh.     Paton  and  Ritchie.     1852. 

13.  Aids  to  Pn^hetic  Evumvry.  Ist  and  2nd  Series.  By  B.  W. 
Newton.    London.    Nisbet  and  Co.     1849  and  1850. 

14.  Prospects  of  the  Ten  Kingdom.  By  B.  W.  Newton.  Lon- 
don.   Nisbet  and  Co.     1849. 

The  con8ta:nt  publication  of  commentaries  on  prophecy — difiering 
greatly  in  then*  schemes  of  interpretation — is  to  us  a  convindng 

?roo^  that  the  Apocalypse  has  not  yet  be^i  properly  understood, 
t  is  of  the  nature  of  truth  to  comm^id  itself  at  once  to  the  mind ; 
and  as  each  of  these  various  expositions,  which  are  in  the  present 
day  rapidly  issuing  irom  the  press,  has  its  own  circle  of  admirers ; 
we  conclude  that  the  right  key  to  unlock  the  mysteries  of  pro- 
phetic truth  is  not  yet  found. 

Will  this  ignorance  remain  for  ever?  Will  the  sublime  and 
marvellous  visions  of  the  Apocalypse  continue  in  the  obscurity 
which  at  present  shrouds  them  ?  We  think  not.  If  there  be  any 
truth  in  tiie  word  of  God,  He  *•  to  whom  interpretations  belong,' 
will,  as  time  rolls  on,  remove  the  darkness  whicn  now  conceals  me 
meaning  of  prophecy  from  our  gaze  \  and  fulfil  by  the  teachins'  of 
his  Spirit  the  promise  lon^  since  given  to  Daniel,  '  the  wicked 
shall  not  understand ;  buttiie  wise  shall  understand.' 

The  author  of  *  The  Light  of  Prophecy/ — a  goodly  octavo  of 
400  pages — devotes  the  first  part  of  the  work  to  the  Prophecies 
of  the  destruction  of  Ancient  ^bylon  ;  which,  he  contends,  have 
nevCT  yet  received  their  accomplishment  He  of  course  admits, 
tiiat  the  city  has  be^n  totally  destroyed  ;  but  he  spedfies  several 
particulars,  in  the  predictions  of  its  overthrow,  which,  in  his 
opinion,  have  never  taken  place.  The  necessary  inference  then 
follows — tiiat  Babylon  will  yet  again  be  rebuilt,  in  all  its  ancient 
spJendour;  and  then,  suddenly,  ^be  utterly  burned  with  fire' 
(Key.  xvii.  8). 

Mr.  Strange's  mistake,  we  apprehend,  arises  from  overlooking' 
the  fetct  that  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  against  Babylon  have 
a  wider  si^fication  than  the  mere  uteral  city  of  that  name ;  and 
embrace,  m  their  full  and  final  accomplishment,  ^Babylon  the 
Great,  the  mother  of  harlots  and  abominations  of  the  earth.'  This 
is  evident,  we  think,  from  the  numerous  parallelisms  that  may  be 
traced  between  the  fiftieth  and  fifty-first  cnapters  of  Jeremiah  and 
the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Revelation.  Mr.  Strange  of  course 
denies  that  the  term  Babylon  can  mean  anything  but  the  actual 


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J853.]  the  StwSif  of  Pr&pUcjf^  ST 

dty  itself;  but,  with  all  who  view  the  term  as  significant  of  Papal 
Borne,  which  for  the  last  six  hundred  years  has  been  *  drunKen 
with  liie  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of 
Jesus '  (Rev.  xvii.  6) — witii  all  such,  we  say,  the  argumaits  of 
Mr.  Strange  possess  no  weight ;  for  in  her  destruction,  as  detailed 
in  tke  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  all  those  features  of 
the  Old  Testament  prophecies  agauist  her  will  receive  a  full  and 
final  accomplishment 

The  second  i»rt  of  Mr.  Strange's  work  is  entitled  *  The,  F&ur 
Great  Kings  of  Babylon'  (pp.  77-182).  In  this  chapter  the  author 
endeavours  to  prove,  that  iJ^ieFs  firar  beasts  (chap.  viL)  are  not,  as 
ooinmentat(H«  nave  universally  believed,  the  four  great  empires  of 
Babylon,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  but— /our  kings  of  Babylcnl 
His  language  is  this : — '  These  great  beasts,  it  is  said,  are  four 
kinffs.  Travel  out  of  the  number  of  the  kings j  and  we  travel  out 
of  ue  number  of  tiie  heaets.'  Accordingly  he  makes  out,  to  his 
own  satisfeution  at  least,  not  only  that  Cyrus  was  a  Babylonian 
king,  but  even  Alexander  the  Great,  although  the  latter  is  dis- 
tin^y  styled  in  Scripture  the  kin^  of  Greda.  The  other  fourth 
beast  is  also  to  be  a  Babylonian  km^ — the  future  Antichrist,  who 
will  reign  there  at  its  restoration.  We  think  one  verse  of  Scripture 
is  sufficient  to  overturn  this  strange  hypothesis.  In  the  twenty- 
third  verse  of  Daniel's  seventh  diapter  it  is  said — ^  The  fourth  beast 
is  the  fourth  kingdom  which  shall  arise.'  Now,  if  it  is  the  fourth 
kingdom  it  cannot  be  the  first ;  but  the  first  was  the  kingdom  of 
Babylon,  as  Mr.  Strange  allows,  hence  the  fourth  is  no^  t£e  king- 
dom of  Babylon,  but  some  different  power.  Again,  let  him  look 
at  Rev.  xvii.  9,  10 :  ^  And  the  seven  heads  are  seven  mountains, 
&C. ;  and  there  are  seven  kings,  five  are  fallen  and  one  is,  and  the 
other  is  not  yet  come.'  Here  the  angel,  interpreting  the  meaning 
of  the  vision,  distinctly  states  that  at  the  perira  of  their  discourse, 
five  of  these  kings  had  already  come  and  gone — ^  five  are  fallen,' 
and  another  then  made  his  aj^iearance;  but  according  to  Mr. 
Strange,  Daniel's  fourth  beast,  which  is  coeval,  he  says,  with  this 
beast,  has  not  yet  manifested  itsd£  The  hypothesis  is  evidentiy 
then  devoid  of  truth. 

In  the  course  of  this,  and  also  the  next  part,  *  The  return  of 
Jesus,  and  the  times  of  the  Antichrist,'  Mr.  Strange  informs  ua 
what  are  his  views  of  Apocaljrptic  interpretation.  From  his  re- 
marks it  is  evident  that — while  adopting  the  theory  that  the  visions 
of  that  mysterious  book  are  literal  in  their  si^ification,  and  future 
in  their  fulfilment — he  yet  differs  on  many  unportant  points  firom 
the  other  futurist  expositors. 

The  first  seal,  the  going  forth  of  the  rider  on  the  white  horse, 
according  to  Mr.  Strrage,  represents  the  advent  of  Christ  for  his 

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38  Modem  Contr3natom  to  [April) 

saints,  when  they  are  ^  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air ;' 
and  he  places,  rightly,  this  seal  before  all  the  rest  of  the  book  in 
point  oftime :  hence  the  people  of  God  enjoy  an  immunity  from 
all  the  fearfiil  evils  and  juogments  which  the  Apocalypse  contains^ 

But  if  this  be  true,  how  are  we  to  reconcile  the  tact  with  the 
sole  object  for  which  ^s  sacred  book  was  given —^  to  make  known 
unto  Uod's  servants  Ae  things  which  must  shortly  come  to 
pass '  (Rev.  i.  1)  ?  If  they  are  to  be  snatched  away  from  the 
scene  of  these  fearftd  plagues — ^if  they  will  have  done  for  ever 
with  the  present  state,  long  before  the  manifestation  of  the  Anti«> 
Christ,  and  the  infliction  of  the  terrific  judgments  whidii  are  to  cha-* 
racterise  the  last  days,  the  saints  have  no  personal  interest  in  the 
matter;  and  this  sublime  and  mysterious  book  is  given  them 
merely  to  gratify  an  idle  curiosity.  If  it  be  said,  that  the  Apoca- 
lypse was  given  for  the  benefit  of  certain  Jews  who  are  to  be  ocm- 
verted  in  these  latter  days,  we  reply,  that  this  notion  is  altogether 
opposed  to  the  plain  statement  of  Scripture,  in  whidi  the  general 
term  *  his  servamta  *  is  used : — *  TJie  Mwdatian  of  JemiM  ChrigL, 
which  Ghd  gave  unto  kim^  to  shew  unto  hi$  servcmta  things  which 
must  shortly  come  to  pcuss.^     (Rev.  i.  1.) 

Besides,  what  an  incongruous  rq)resentation  is  this  first  seal,  of 
a  personal  advent  of  the  Saviour  to  fetch  his  ransomed  people  ! — 
a  single  rider  on  a  white  horse,  with  simidy  a  crown  and  a.  bow  I 
Who  can  believe  that  we  have  here  a  prediction  of  CSirist's  second 
cominff  ?  Will  he  then  come  thus  alone,  and  unattended  ?  The 
Apostte  Paul,  speaking  of  this  very  advent,  says,  ^  The  Lord  him-> 
self  shall  descend  from  heaven,  with  a  dbiout,  with  the  voice  of 
the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God '  (1  Thees.  iv.  16). 
Will  this  second  coming  of  the  Lonl  to  fetch  hcnne  his  people  w 
less  glorious  than  what  Mr.  Strange  denominates  his  third  advent 
to  smite  the  nations  (Rev.  xix.  11^  ?  If  not,  where  in  this  vision 
are  the  armies  in  heaven  which  will  then  ^  follow  him  on  white 
horses '  ?  Where,  too,  are  the  *  mcmy  crowns '  which  will  th«i 
adorn  his  brow  (ver.  12)  ? 

Mr.  Strange  interprets  the  remaining  seals,  as  wdl  as  the 
trumpets,  as  so  many  inflictions  of  divine  judgment  on  a  guilty: 
worm.  Now  we  must  say  that  it  certainly  appears  to  us  most  im- 
probable, and  in  fact  contrary  to  die  general  course  of  the  divine 
procedure,  to  reveal  sudi  terrible  judgments  as  tibese  are  allowed 
to  be,  without  first  clearly  stating  the  sins  in  visitation  of  which 
they  are  sent.  Let  the  reieuier  just  reflect,  for  one  moment,  on  the- 
tremendous  and  unparalleled  plagues  whidi  are  involved,  according 
to  Mr.  Strange's  tneory,  in  the  last  six  seals  and  die  trumpets. 
First,  there  is  a  series  of  judgments  consisting  of  war  and  femine 
(second  and  third  seals);  then  we  read  of  one-feurth  of  the  human; 


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1853,]  th4  StiMlif  of  Prophecy.  3». 

race  bang  visited  with  sudden  destruction  by  means  of  the  swotd, 
peatil^ioe,  femine,  and  wild  beasts  (fourth  seied).  Soon  afterwards 
the  sixth  seal  op^os,  and  lo  I  im  earthquake  takes  place.  The 
stars  of  heaven  literally  fedl  to  the  earth ;  the  heavens  pass  away, 
and  every  mountain  and  island  are  moved  from  their  places.  The 
judgment  of  the  seventh  seal  then  follows^  and  is  succeeded  by  a 
frew  s^es  of  plaguesr-tiie  trumpeits.  Here  the  grass  and  trees 
of  the  earth  are  burnt  up ;  the  third  part  of  the  sea  oecomes  blood ; 
a  star  falls  from  heaven,  and  embitters  the  waters,  and  all  that 
drink  of  them  die ;  the  smi  and  moon  and  stairs  are  smitten,  so  as 
only  partially  to  shine ;  the  bottomless  pit  is  opened,  and  a  host 
of  furious  devik,  shaped  like  locusts,  torment  mankind  five  months, 
and  these  are  followed  by  a  host  of  still  more  dreadful  fiends  on 
hcNTses,  which  bekh  out  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone,  and  literally 
destrov  the  third  <tf  mankindl 

SimJi  are  the  terriUe  catalogue  of  plagues  which  are,  as  Mr. 
Strange  beUeves,  predicted  in  ue  sixth  and  three  following  chap- 
ters oi  the  Apocalypse,  without  one  word  being  said,  untu  all  is 
over,  of  the  nature  of  the  crimes  which  have  called  down  such 
heavy  judgments.  We  believe,  that  such  a  course  of  procedure 
is  altogether  unprecedented  in  Uie  Word  of  God.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  view  tne  second,  third,  and  fourth  seals  with  Vitringa, 
Woodhouse,  Cuningfaame,  and  others,  as  emblematical  of  so  many 
stages  in  that  corruption  of  Christianity  which  is  termed  Romanism, 
we  have  more  than  enough  to  account  for  all  the  woes  denounced 
by  the  trumpets ;  and  no  stronger  confirmation  of  this  view,  per* 
haps,  can  be  desired,  than  the  announcement  at  the  dose  of  the 
sixth  tnnnpet : — ^  And  the  rest  of  the  men  which  were  not  killed  by 
these  plagues  yet  repented  not  of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that 
they  shomd  not  worship  devils,  and  idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and 
Iwass,  and  stone,  and  of  wood :  whidi  neither  can  see,  nor  hear, 
nor  walk :  Neither  repented  they  of  their  murders,  nor  of  their 
sorceries,  nor  of  their  mmication,  nor  of  their  thefts '  (Rev.  ix.  20, 
21).  If  the  fourth  seal  be  interpreted,  with  the  above-named  ex* 
positors,  as  descriptive  of  the  isarfiil  wickedness  of  the  Papacy 
during  the  noontiae  of  its  power,  then  will  the  passage  just  dted 
fumi^  us  with  a  ^phic  portraiture  of  R<»nish  crime,  as  detailed 
in  eveiy  ecclesiastical  historian — demonolatry,  idol-worship,  mur- 
ders, sorceries,  fornication,  and  thefts  I 

Under  the  sixth  seal  we  have  a  vision  of  '  an  angel  ascending 
from  the  East,  baring  the  seal  of  the  living  God,'  with  which  he 
is  about  to  '  seal  the  9ervant%  of  Chd  m  their  foreheads '  TviL  3). 
Now  we  had  always  been  accustomed  to  view  this  appellation, 
*  <ervati^  of  Chd^  as  rignifying,  beyond  all  doubt,  those  wbo  know, 
love,  and  serve  God ;  and  the  being  *  9e<ded '  from  the  coming 

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40  Modem  OorUribtttians  to  [April, 

judgments,  we  in  our  simplidty  imagined  was  a  privilege  granted 
to  them  as  a  reward  for  being  his  servants ;  but  no  such  thing. 
Mr.  Strange's  theory  of  the  Ai^calypse  would  not  8(}uare  with  tms 
opinion.  All  the  people  of  God,  says  he,  have  previously  left  the 
earth — at  the  opening  of  the  first  seal — and  the  Jews  are  not  con- 
verted until  after  the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal.  Hence,  when 
this  eixth  seal  is  opened,  and  the  *  an^l  ascends  from  the  East ' 
to  ^  seal  the  servants  of  God  in  their  ^reheads,'  there  is  posUiveljf 
not  a  single  servant  of  God  to  seal.  It  will  naturally  be  asked. 
How,  then,  does  Mr.  Strange  explain  the  language?  He  con- 
siders the  designation,  '  servants  of  God,'  given  to  these  descend- 
ants of  Abraham  bt/  way  of  anticipatum  !  because  the  Most  High 
knew,  in  his  omniscience,  that  at  some  ftiture  time  these  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  thousand  Jews  would  be  converted  to  the  faith 
of  the  Gospel  I  If  this  is  the  way  in  which  we  are  to  treat  the 
language  of  prophecy,  it  may  indeed  be  made  to  mean  anything 
we  choose. 

Not  satisfied  with  thus  representing  the  avowed  enemies  of 
Christ  as  *  the  servants  of  God,'  Mr.  Strange,  a  few  pages  on- 
ward, wholly  nullifies  the  import  of  that  ^  se^dhig '  of  which  they 
are  the  subjects.  We  have  already  referred  to  the  passage  in 
which  the  ai^el  is  seen  ascending  worn  the  East,  having  the  seal 
of  the  living  God,  with  which  he  afterwards  proce^eds  to  seal  twelve 
thousand  out  of  every  tribe  of  Israel.     Whether  the  expression, 

*  tribes  of  Israel^^  be  hteral  or  figurative,  we  shall  not  now  stay  to 
inquire ;  but  all  will  agree  that  uie  import  of  this  act  is  to  signify 
that — as  in  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  (ix.  6)— the  sealed  ones  are 
to  be  kept  irom  coming  judgments.  *  Come  not  near  any  man 
upon  whom  is  the  mark.  Who  would  suspect,  then,  the  terrible 
fate  which  awaits  these  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  sealed 
ones  ?  According  to  Mr.  Strange,  they  wul  be  hidden  for  three 
and  a  half  years  in  the  wilderness,  and  then  be  all  slain  to  a  man 
by  the  Antichrist  I  Alas  I  if  this  be  the  issue  of  being  *  sealed ' 
with  *  the  seal  of  the  living  God,'  we  apprehend  that  most  of  his 

*  servants '  would  rather  be  without  the  nrivilege  I 

We  now  come  to  the  trumpets,  whicn  are  understood  by  Mr. 
Strange  in  their  literal  signification ;  but  it  appears  to  us  there 
are  one  or  two  considerations  which  render  it  most  improbable  that 
this  can  be  the  right  interpretation. 

First.  In  some  of  the  trumpets  the  instrumentality  employed  is 
not  of  a  kind  calculated  to  accomplish  the  effects  ascribed  to  it,  if 
literally  understood.  For  instance,  the  second  trumpet  sounds, 
and  a  mountain  *  burning  with  fire  is  cast  into  tiie  sea,'  upon  which 

*  the  third  part  of  the  sea  becomes  blood.'  Now  it  is  obvious,  that 
a  burning  mountain  is  in  no  degree  fitted  to  convert  water  into 


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185a]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  41 

bloocL  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  to  do  so.  It  is  ccmtraiy 
to  the  usual  course  of  the  Divine  procedure  to  accomplish  his  de- 
signs by  the  use  of  such  unnatural  means.  Again,  the  third 
trumpet  sounds,  and  *  a  star  burmn^^  as  a  lamp,  ftlls  upon  the  third 
part  of  the  rivers  and  upon  the  fountains  of  waters,'  and  *  they 
become  wormwood.'  Now,  that  a  star  should  fall  to  this  earth  is 
itself  most  incredible ;  that  it  should  &11  upon  '  the  third  part  of 
the  rivers  and  the  fountains  of  waters,'  may,  in  the  present  con- 
figuration of  the  earth,  be  pronounced  impossible ;  ana,  lastly,  that 
it  should  produce  the  eflfect  ascribed  to  it — change  water  into  worm- 
wood— is,  in  the  nature  of  things,  altogether  uiSikely.  Search  the 
whole  page  of  revelation  from  be^nning  to  end,  and  no  instance 
can  be  found— even  of  nUriicles  being  effected  by  the  use  of  such 
incongruous,  unnatural,  and  monstrous  agency  as  is  here  intro- 
duced, if  the  passage  be  literal  in  its  signification. 

Seeond.  The  marvellous  agencies  of  the  fifth  and  rixth  trumpets 
are  sudi  as  no  sane  person,  we  should  have  imagined,  could  ever 
have  tak^i  in  a  literal  sense.  To  begin  with  the  first  of  these 
woe-trumpets.  Who  can  believe  that,  in  a  few  years  hence, 
'  demoniacal  beings,'  as  Mr.  Stranee  calls  them,  like  locusts,  will 
issue  from  the  pit  of  hell,  shaped  lue  horses  for  battle,  with  faces 
as  of  men  and  hair  as  of  women,  and  golden  crowns  on  their 
beads?  Who  can  believe,  still  further,  that  these  infernal  spirits 
will  possess  stings  in  their  tails  to  torment  men,  as  scorpions  do, 
for  nve  months?  The  whole  is  so  utterly  absurd  and  monstrous 
that  nothing  could  induce  us  to  believe  that  the  all-wise  Grod  will 
ever  cause  such  a  scene  as  this  to  be  exhilnted  on  the  earth. 

The  sixth  trumpet  is  venr  similar.  According  to  Mr.  Strange, 
the  two  hundred  thousand  thousand  horsemen  of  this  trumpet,  with 
breastplates  of  fire,  of  jadnth,  and  of  brimstone,  the  heads  of  whose 
horses  are  as  the  heads  of  lions,  denote  ^  an  army  of  demoniacal 
bdi^ '  like  the  last,  sent  forth,  not  to  torment^  but  to  slay  the 
third  part  of  men  I  Only  imagine  two  hundred  thousand  devils, 
OQ  steeds  of  the  same  infinmal  origin  as  themselves,  let  loose  upon 
mankind,  belching  out  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone,  for  the 
destruction  of  the  third  part  of  the  species,  and  armed  with  *  tails 
like  serpents,  which  have  heads  and  do  hurt'!  Perhaps  no 
stronger  argument  can  be  adduced  against  the  literal-friturist 
adieme  of  prophecy  than  that  afforded  by  these  two  trumpets. 
The  argument  is  simply  this : — If  these  trumpets  are  literal  in 
their  meaning,  then  tne  contents  of  them  are  so  fimtastical,  so 
monstrous,  so  utterly  incredible,  that  no  sane  person,  uninfluenced 
by  a  blind  adherence  to  a  system,  can  ever  receive  the  passage  as 
a  revelation  firom  the  blessea  God.  If  they  are  emblematical^  then 
Uiere  is  no  assignable  reason  why  the  rest  of  the  Apocalypse  should 

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4i  Modem  Oontrilnitions  t$  [April," 

be  literalty  understood.  Hmce  we  find  that  Mr.  Burgb^  who  at 
first  pronounced  the  fifth  trumpet  symbolical,  has  in  his  fourth 
edition  retracted  this  opmion.  More  wary  than  Mr.  Stranffe,  how- 
ever, in  treating  of  the  sixth  trumpet  and  its  two  hundred  thousand 
thousand  horsemen,  he  prudently  dedines  *  speaking  decidedly ' 
of  its  import^ 

A  considerable  portion  of  Mr.  Strange's  exposition  of  the  Apo- 
calypse is  built  upon  one  of  the  strangest  notions  that  ever  entered 
the  wain  of  man,  although  it  is,  we  belieye,  common  to  all  the 
dass  of  commentators  to  which  he  belcm^.  The  idea  we  refer  to 
is  this :  viz.  that  at  present  the  devil  is  m  heaven,  and  his  angda 
too  I  that  he  ever  hi^  been  there,  and  will  continue  his  resid^ce 
in  that  world  of  bliss  and  glory  until  forcibly  expelled,  just  before 
the  coming  of  Antichrist  T  This  notion  is  got  chiefly  finom  the 
literal  interpretation  of  Rev.  xii. : — *  there  was  war  in  heaven : 
Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon ;  and  the  dragon 
fought  and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not ;  neither  waa  their  place 
found  any  more  in  heaven.  And  the  great  dragtm  was  cast  out, 
that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  which  deoeiveth  the 
whole  world :  he  was  cast  out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were 
cast  out  with  him '  (ver.  7,  8,  9).  Lite*ally  understood,  this  pas- 
sage undoubtedly  states  what  Mr.  Strange  and  other  fiituri^ 
maintain ;  but  who  can  seriously  believe  that  an  actual  battle  could 
possibly  take  place  between  angek  and  devils  in  the  very  presaice 
of  God  ?  The  devils  are  descaibed  by  the  Apostle  Peter  as  already 
'  cast  down  to  hell  {Totpraqelfffas\  and  delivered  into  ch^uns  of  dark- 
ness, to  be  reserved  unto  juc^ment '  (il  2,  4).  The  Apostle  Jude 
to  the  same  efiect  writes,  '  The  angels  which  kept  not  their  first 
estate,  but  left  their  own  habitation,  he  hath  reserved  in  ev^last^ 
ing  chains,  under  darkness,  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day ' 
(ver.  6).  How  then  can  they  be  in  heaven  still  ?  The  idea  that 
these  evil  spirits  are  not  identical  with  Satan  and  his  angels  is  a 
gratuitous  assumption.  The  Bible  nowhere  speaks  of  two  sets  of 
evil  spirits.  Besides,  if  this  ^  war  in  heaven  is  to  be  a  literal 
ccmflict  between  good  and  evil  angels,  it  is  not  possible  to  explain 
the  fact  that  the  overthrow  of  the  latter  is  ascnbed  to  the  offencj^ 
of  the  martyre.  ^  They  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
cmd  by  the  word  of  their  testimony  ;  and  they  loved  not  their  lives 
unto  the  death '  (Rev.  xii.  11).  Can  words  more  plainly  refer  to 
the  powerful  influence  exerted  by  the  patience  and  constancy  of  the 
martyrs  of  the  first  three  centuries,  in  the  overthrow  of  Paganism 
throughout  the  Roman  em]»re,  when  Satan  and  his  angels  were 
expelled  firom  the  symbolical  heaven,  or  place  of  power  ? 

*  Bttrgh's  Expofition  of  the  Rerelatioii,  4th  ed^on.  London.  1845,  p.  197« 

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1853.]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  43 

Another  SKMistTous  incongruity,  in  addition  to  those  already 
pointed  out,  occurs  in  Mr.  Strange's  exposition  of  the  Witnesses 
(Rey.  xi.^.  Faith&l  to  the  plan  with  which  he  set  out — that  of 
inter{N%ting  the  language  of  the  Apocalypse  literally,  our  author 
of  course  represents  the  witnesses  a3  two  actual  individuals,  who 
will  be  witnesses  for  God  during  the  times  of  die  Antidirist 
Since,  however,  according  to  the  theory  of  Mr.  Strange,  all  the 
saints  of  God  will  have  already  left  the  earth  when  the  witnesses 
commence  thdr  prophesying,  and  the  Jews  be  still  in  an  uncon- 
verted state,  he  was  m  a  most  awkward  predicament  where  to  get 
them  from.  In  this  emergency,  Mr.  Strange  represents  them  as 
angelic  beings ;  and  aldiou^  the  text  goes  on  to  describe  their 
death  and  want  of  sepulture,  nothing  daunted  by  this,  he 
gravely  says  these  '  heavenly  beings ' — who  have  hitnerto  been 
thought  immortal — ^  will  be  slain — ^yea,  slain  by  the  devil  I ' 

We  have  thus  pointed  out  some  of  the  many  inconsistencies 
and  absurdities  connected  with  the  novel  theory  of  the  Apocalypse 
propounded  by  Mr.  Strange.  And,  be  it  remembered,  our  re-> 
marks  do  not  affect  mere  secondary  points  in  the  interpretation 
of  the  {HX>]^etic  visions,  but  the  very  foundations  of  his  system. 
Yet,  after  all,  the  most  convincing  evidence  that  the  visions  of  the 
Revelation  are  emblematical  is  that  arising  from  the  monstrous, 
unparalleled,  and  incredible  assemblage  of  prodigies  which  the 
Uteral  interpretation  of  them — in  the  hands  of  this^  the  latest 
ezpositcH*  of  nis  dass — ^brings  upon  the  stage  of  the  world  towards 
its  dose. 

First,  there  is  the  descent  of  Christ  to  fetch  his  people  home, 
and  the  immediate  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  rapture  of  the 
Uving  saints.  Then  begins  a  series  of  judgments,  indudinff  war 
and  famine.  Scarcely  are  these  calamities  over  when  one-fourth 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  visited  with  sudden  destruction, 
by  tiie  sword,  famine,  pestilence,  and  wild  beasts  (fourth  seal). 
Soon  after,  at  the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  an  earthquake  occurs 
•^the  stars  of  heaven  literally  fall  to  the  earth,  and  the  heavens 
pass  away  like  a  scroll  I  Then,  some  fearftil  judgment  connected 
with  the  four  winds  overwhelms  mankind  (Rev.  vii.  1).  A  fi^sh 
series  of  plagues  is  now  inflicted  upon  men — under  the  Trumpets, 
One-third  of  the  grass  and  the  trees  are  burnt  up :  a  burning 
mountain  hurled  into  the  sea  turns  one-third  of  it  mto  blood :  a 
star  (alls  from  heaven,  and  poisons  one-third  of  the  rivers  and  the 
fountains  of  water:  one-third  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are 
smitten  with  darkness— after,  be  it  observed,  the  heavens  had 
passed  awayas  a  scroll :  and  then  the  three  woe-trumpets  begin 
to  sound.  The  first  of  these  summons  on  earth  a  host  of  in- 
furiated devils,  in  the  shape  of  locusts,  with  stings  like  scorpions* 

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H  Modem  Cmtributums  to  [April, 

The  second  sounds,  and,  lo  I  another  ^  army  of  demoniacal  brings' 
comes  forth  from  the  bottomless  pit,  momited  on  horses:  and 
from  the  description  of  this  infernal  cavalry,  we  need  not  wonder 
that,  under  the  combined  operation  of  the  fire  and  brimstone 
which  issued  from  their  horses'  mouths,  and  the  injuries  inflicted 
by  '  their  tails  which  have  heads  like  serpents,'  one-third  of  manr 
kind  are  slain  I 

Then  begins  the  final  manifestation  of  evil  during  the  last  seven 
years  of  the  world,  as  now  constituted.  First,  the  devil  and  his 
angels  have  a  fearful  conflict  with  Michael  and  his  hosts  in 
heaven.  The  former  are  cast  out  into  the  earth.  Satan  appears 
in  visible  form  to  mankind,  and  is  actually  worshipped  by  them  as 
their  God  I  Two  heavenly  beings  appear  in  Jerusalem  as  God's 
witnesses,  clothed  in  sackdoth :  they  speak,  and  the  clouds  with- 
hold all  rain  firom  the  earth  for  three  years  and  a  half:  they 
open  their  mouths,  and  fire  issues  forth,  and  devours  all  who  hurt 
them.  At  length  the  devil  kills  them ;  thev  lie  unburied  three 
days  and  a  half,  and  then,  revivified,  ascend  to  heaven,  whilst 
fearful  judgments  overwhelm  their  enemies. 

Now  begins,  at  last,  the  proper  kingdom  of  the  devil  on  earth. 
He  sets  up  the  man  of  sin,  Antichrist,  who  is  to  reign  in  Babylon, 
rebuilt  in  all  its  pristine  glory,  as  king  of  the  whole  world.  The 
fidse  prophet,  his  coadjutor,  springs  up  too  now,  and  these  three, 
the  devil,  the  man  of  sin,  and  the  miae  prophet  form  amongst 
themselves  an  earthly  Trinity  in  mockery  of  the  Triune  God 
One  of  the  first  acts  of  then*  joint  authority  is  the  slaughter  of 
the  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  Jews,  *  sealed  with,  the  seal  of 
the  living  GodP  Then  an  angel  comes  down  from  heaven,  and 
preaches  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  every  nation  and  kindred,  and 
people  and  tongue.  Two  other  angels  follow,  and  threaten  the 
wrath  of  God  against  the  followers  of  Antichrist  During  this 
period  the  false  prophet  causes  actual  fire  to  come  down  from 
neaven  in  the  signt  of  men.  He  makes  an  image  of  the  beast, 
too,  and  animates  it,  and  enables  it  to  speak,  and  to  cause  the 
destruction  of  all  who  refuse  to  bow  down  and  worship  it  I 

And  now  commence  the  seven  last  plagues.  First,  man- 
kind are  visited  with  a  noisome  and  grievous  sore:  then,  the 
whole  sea  becomes  blood,  and  all  living  creatures  therein  die : 
then,  the  rivers  and  fountains  of  water  become  blood ;  the  sun 
then  receives  power  to  scorch  men  with  fire,  and  they  blaspheme 
God  for  these  plagues :  a^ain,  the  kingdom  of  the  Deast,  which 
includes  the  whole  earth,  is  filled  with  darkness,  and  men  ffnaw 
their  tongues  for  pam.  And,  lastly,  foul  demons  out  of  the 
mouths  of  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet,  marshal 
the  armies  of  the  earth  to  battie  for  the  great  day  of  the  Lord 

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1853.]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  45 

God  Almiffhty.     Christ  in  person  visibly  descends  to  the  earth, 

*  followed  by  the  armies  of  heaven  on  white  horses.'  '  The  beast 
is  taken,  and  with  him  the  fedse  prophet,  and  cast  into  a  lake  of 
fire,  burning  with  brimstone.' 

Such  are  the  frightful  prodigies  which,  in  Mr.  Strange's 
opinion — and  he  does  not  differ  materially  firom  other  futurists — 
will  be  exhiUted  on  the  sti^  of  this  world  during  the  last  few 
years  of  its  duration.  Uow  any  sober-minded  persons  can 
adopt  a  theory  attended  with  such  monstrous  results,  we  are  at  a 
loss  to  imagine.  What  a  contrast  is  observable  between  the  sim- 
plicity of  agency  in  the  judgments  inflicted  upon  Egypt,  and  the 
vast  and  compbcated  and  incongruous  machinery  of  uie  Apoca- 
lypse upon  the  literal  hypothesis!  The  waters  are  turned  into 
blood  in  both  cases,  but  in  the  one  the  servant  of  God  merely 
smites  the  river  with  his  rod,  and  it  becomes  blood ;  in  the  other, 

*  as  it  were  a  great  mountain,  burning  with  fire,'  must  be  cast  into 
the  sea  before  such  a  result  takes  place.  Sudden  destruction 
overwhelms  vast  multitudes  in  both  instances ;  but,  in  the  one,  an 
aneel  at  midnight  smites  the  first-bom  of  Egypt,  and  they  die ; 
whdst  in  the  other,  two  hundred  thousand  thousand  devils  upon 
steeds  of  hell  are  called  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  to  breathe  forth 
fire  and  brimstone, '  to  slay  the  third  part  of  men.'  In  short, 
throughout  the  whole  book — viewed  in  the  light  of  a  future  and 
literd^  prophecy — there  is  such  a  heaping  together  of  horrid, 
monstrous,  and  unnatural  objects — such  an  unnecessary  and  pro- 
digious waste  of  supernatural  machinery,  and  such  a  crowoing 
together  of  scenes  of  harrowing  and  infernal  cruelty,  as  remind 
one  of  llie  romances  of  Mrs.  Iladcliffe,  the  stage  of  some  minor 
theatre,  or  the  chambers  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  rather  than  a 
page  of  the  revelation  of  Him  who  is  a  God  of  love. 

In  the  fourth  part  of  the  *  L^ht  of  Prophecy,'  Mr.  Strang 
advances  a  very  singular  proposition,  viz.,  that  m  the  millenial 
age  mankind  will  not  be  ^  under  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  Lord, 
but  the  Jews  alone  be  a  converted  people ;'  that  '  the  nations  of 
the  earth  will  submit  to  Christ  simply  through  fear y  and  not  love, 
and  their  very  worship  of  him  be  secured  under  coercion '  (pp. 
287—298). 

We  need  scarcely  say  that  this  doctrine  difiers  altogether  from 
that  usually  held  by  prophetical  expositors,  both  of  the  miUenarian 
and  anti-millenarian  school ;  and,  in  our  opinion,  the  Scrip- 
tures are  quite  decisive  in  asserting  that  there  is  a  period  coming 
when  Christianity  will  overspread  the  whole  world  during  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  '  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  turn  unto  God.  Isaiah 
says,  *'  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
as  Uie  waters  cover  the  sea '  (xi.  9) ;  and  the  *  knowledge  of  the 

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46  Modem  Cmtributmis  to  [April; 

Lord'  in  Scripture  denotes,  invariably,  savinff  knowledge. 
Again,  the  same  prophet  says,  '  in  this  mountain  snail  the  Lord 
of  hosts  make  unto  all  people  a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  fea^t  of 
wines  on  the  lees,'  &c.  (xxv.  6),  language  which  clearly  denotes 
the  blessinffs  of  salvation.  Many  passages,  too,  speak  of  the 
general  dif^ion  of  the  Spirit  of  Grod  under  the  emblem  of  numing 
waters.  ^  I  will  open  rivers  in  high  places,  and  fountains  in  the 
midst  of  the  valleys :'  ^  I  will  make  the  wilderness  a  pool  of 
water,  and  dry  land  spring  of  water : '  '  and  upon  every 
mountain  and  upon  every  hi^n  hill  shall  be  rivers  and  streams  of 
water '  (Isa.  xxx.  25).  Zephaniah,  too,  says,  '  Then  will  I  turn 
unto  the  people  a  pure  kmffuage^  that  they  may  all  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  to  serve  him  with  one  consent'  (ZejA.  lii.  9). 
And  again  Malachi,  <  For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the 
going  down  of  the  same  mv  name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  and  in  every  place  mcense  shall  be  offered  unto  my  name, 
and  a  pure  offering^  (Mai.  L  11).  Still  more  decisive  is  the 
apostle  rauVs  statement  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Romans, 
where,  speaking  of  the  future  restoration  of  the  Jews,  he  says, '  If 
the  fall  of  them  be  the  riches  of  the  world,  and  the  diminismng  of 
them  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  how  much  more  their  fulness  ?  For 
if  the  casting  away  of  them  be  the  reconciling  of  the  worid,  what 
i^all  the  receiving  of  them  be,  but  life  from  the  dead? '  (xii.  15). 

The  fifth  and  last  part  of  the  work  propounds  a  theory  as 
novel  as  it  is  strange  and  monstrous.  Its  title  is,  ^  Tlie  Brides  of 
the  Lamb  and  the  saved  of  the  nations ! '  It  has  been  hitherto 
supposed  that  Christ  has  but  am  bride,  vi2.,  the  Church,  the 
ffeneral  body  of  the  faithful ;  but  Mr.  Strange  has  discovered  that 
he  has  two^  the  second  bem^  the  Jewish  nation,  who  are  to  be 
converted  to  Christ  at  the  Millennium.  Jacob's  marriage  with 
Leah  and  Rachel  he  considers  a  type  of  this  two-fold  marriage  of 
Christ  wiA  the  CTiurch  and  with  Israel.  Not  satisfied  with  having 
thus  ^ven  two  brides  to  Christ,  Mr.  Strange  has  succeeded  in 
discovering  another  family  of  the  saved  in  addition  to  the  two 
just  specified.  This  is  '  the  saved  of  the  nations '  (Rev.  xxL  24). 
And  as  Leah  and  Rachel  typify  the  two  other  brides  of  the  Lamb, 
the  ofispring  of  their  handmaids,  Bilhah  and  Zilpah,  stand  as 
types  of  these  'saved  of  the  nations!'  (pp.  39^5 — 401V  To 
adduce  any  arguments  against  these  wild  chimeras,  the  reaaer  wiU 
consider  quite  needless. 

It  is  obrious  to  us,  that  Mr.  Strange's  wild  speculations  on  the 
Apocalypse,  as  well  as  those  of  many  other  miUenarian  writers, 
have  their  origin  to  a  great  extent  in  forgetfulness  of  that  great 
truth  of  the  New  Testament,  that  Jews  and  Gentiles,  by  the 
finished  work  of  Christ,  are  placed  on  a  level  of  perfect  tqualitf 

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1853.]  the  Study  of  Propheq/^  47 

before  God,  not  only  as  to  tiieir  acceptance  with  Him,  but  also  aa 
members  of  the  Church  Visible.  '  The  hour  cometh,'  saith  our 
Xxnrd  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  *'  whai  ye  shall  neither  in  this 
mountain  nor  yet  ai  Jeru&dem  worship  the  Father/  ^  Does  this 
mean,'  we  ask  with  Mr.  Brown,  ^  that  under  the  new  economy  the 
worslup  of  Gentiles  out  of  Jerusalem  would  be  as  acceptable  as 
the  worship  of  the  Jews  m  it — that  the  central  and  sacred  cha* 
racter  of  Jerusalem  would  continue  unchanged ;  but  that  beUeving 
Gentiles,  though  as  much  ^'  steungers  and  foreigners  "  as  erer,  as 
truly  aliens  mm  the  cammonwealw  of  Israel  as  ever,  in  respect 
of  ceremonies  and  church  officers  and  modes  of  wordxip,  would 
nevertheless  get  access  to  Christ  and  salyation  as  truly  as  the 
Jews  ?  Could  such  a  construction  by  possibility  be  put  upon  the 
Saviour's  language,  one  could  listen  to  the  arguments  for  a  mil- 
lenial  Judaism.  But  as,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  Saviour  meant  to 
amiounce  that  Jerusalem  was  going  to  lose  its  peculiar  character 
— that  it  would  cease  to  be,  even  to  the  Jews  themselves,  '^  the 
dty  of  their  solemnities,  whither  the  tribes  should  go  up  " — that, 
in  fact,  it  would  possess  not  a  whit  more  of  distinctive  religious 
character  than  the  mountiun  of  Samaria  about  which  the  woman 
consulted  him — I  cannot  but  wonder  that  Christian  men,  sitting 
at  the  Redeemer's  feet  to  receive  the  law  at  his  mouth,  should 
dream  of  a  revived  Judaism,  and  picture  to  themselves  believing 
nations  firequenting  the  restm^  temple,  in  ordar  to  get  under- 
standing in  the  types  and  shadows.'  ^ 

The  other  work  of  Mr.  Strange — *  Observations  on  Mr  Elliott's 
SoT(B  Apocalypticm' — is  certainly  worthy  of  perusal.  As  appears 
to  us,  he  has  here  successfully  assailed  that  celebrated  exposition 
of  the  Apocalypse  which  at  present  occupies  the  first  position 
amongst  works  of  its  class ;  and  on  this  ^ound  we  would  strongly 
recommend  it  to  the  admirers  of  Mr.  Elliott  Let  us  not,  however, 
be  misunderstood.  We  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  the  historic 
system  of  interpretation,  on  which  Mr.  Elliott's  work  is  based, 
is  at  all  affectea  by  the  ^  Observations '  of  Mr.  Strange.  But  the 
peculiar  views  of  tiie  autiior  of  tiie  *  Hone  Apocalypticse,'  those 
m  which  he  diflfers  from  previous  writers  on  the  subject,  are  com- 
pletely demolished.  For  instance,  his  interpretation  of  the  four 
first  seals — ^the  holding  the  four  winds — the  sealing  of  the  144 
thousand — the  vision  of  the  angel  with  the  rainbow — the  death 
and  resurrection  of  the  witnesses — the  birth  of  the  man-child  and 
its  rapture  to  the  throne  of  God — and  the  effusion  of  the  seven 
Vials  of  the  wrath  of  God, — in  all  of  tiiese,  at  least,  we  think 
Mr.  Strapge's  remarks  carry  the  judgment  of  the  reader  with  him. 

^  Clmt's  Second  Coming,  2nd  edition,  p.  370. 

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48  Modem  Contributions  to  [April, 

But  the  great  principle  of  higtoric  interpretation  remains  untouched 
by  Mr.  Strange's  strictures. 

The  unpretending  little  volume  of  Mr.  Cairns — one  of  the  mi- 
nisters of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland — is,  in  many  respects,  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  two  works  just  noticed.  It  is  called 
*  The  Second  Woe:  a  popular  Exposition  j^  the  IQth  and  11th 
(chapters  of  Eevelationf  showing  thai  the  Theory  of  the  Bev.  Mr. 
JEUiott  and  the  Author  of  the  ''Seventh  Vial,''  as  to  the  Death  and 
Mesurreetion  of  the  Witnesses^  is  inconsistent  both  with  Prophetie 
Scripture  and  Profane  History  J  We  have  read  it  with  the 
deepest  interest,  and  cannot  but  think  that  he  has  full^  succeeded 
in  proving  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  respectmg  the  war 
a^nainst,  defeat,  death,  and  resurrection  of  the  two  witnesses  of  God. 
We  wish  our  space  would  allow  of  our  quoting  his  remarks  on  this 
interesting  subject;  but  must  be  content  to  give  the  following 
striking  passage  on  the  necessity  that  wickedness  should  increase 
in  the  earth,  before  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  death  of 
the  witnesses  could  possibly  take  place : — 

'  But  there  is  another  feature  in  the  character  and  aspect  of  this  de- 
stroying beast,  as  here  portrayed,  which  seems  to  us  to  possess  very 
great  significancy.  In  the  9th  and  lOth  verses  we  are  informed  tliat 
the  death  of  the  witnesses  will  be  hailed  by  the  universal  approval  and 
delight  of  the  entire  European  community.  ''  And  they  that  dwell 
upon  the  earth  shall  rejoice  over  them,  and  make  merry,  and  shall  send 
gifts  one  to  another ;  because  these  two  prophets  tormented  them  that 
dwelt  on  the  earth."  This  surely  is  a  remarkable  prediction.  What 
is  the  extraordinary  reality  which  it  reveals  to  our  mental  view  ?  We 
see  the  bodies  of  the  slaughtered  witnesses  lying  where  they  fell  on  the 
broad  plateau  of  the  great  city — we  see  every  street  pouring  forth  its 
inhabitants,  a  gay  and  lauj^hing  throng,  to  feast  their  eyes  and  gratify 

their  passion  by  a  siglit  of  these  lifeless  bodies No  nation  is 

behind  another — the  different  kindred  forget  their  peculiarities  of 
race,  and  as  one  blood  celebrate  a  conunon  triumph,  &c. 

*'  Now  upon  this  prophetic  description  we  would  make  the  foUowiog 
remarks:  1.  The  international  rejoicing  and  congratulation,  here  so 
graphically  shadowed  forth,  hcut  never  yet  occurred^  nor  anything  in 
the  least  resembling  it,  either  in  the  experience  of  Eumpe,  or  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  It  is  simply  a  trifling  with  these  expressive 
words  of  inspiration  to  apply  them  to  any  supposed  triumph  celebrated 
by  the  Church  of  Rome  at  any  bygone  time.  When  we  are  told,  for 
example,  that  the  witnesses  were  killed  in  1514,  during  the  session  of 
the  Council  of  Lateran,  and  that  this  prediction  of  joy,  and  rejoicing, 
and  sending  of  presents,  &c.,  was  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter,  when  the 
prelates  and  princes  who  composed  that  council  complimented  each 
other  on  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church,  feted  each  other  by  a  suc- 
cession of  splendid  entertainments  and  banquets,  and  Pope  Leo  trans- 
mitted to  the  King  of  Portugal  the  golden  roecy  and  conferred  on  him 


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1853.]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  49 

the  sovereignty  of  half  the  eastern  world  (EUtoti,  ii.  400,  1),  we  can 
do  nothing  but  marvel  at  the  simplicity  which  proposes  so  trivial  an 
exposition,  and  at  the  still  greater  simplicity  that  accepts  it  as  suffi- 
cient    Such  a  combination  of  people  and  tongues  in  exterminating  the 

witnesses  of  Christ  has  never  yet  taken  place Indeed  we  make 

bold  to  say,  that  the  nations  of  £urope  have  never  to  this  day  been  so 
situated  in  their  relations  to  each  other  as  to  have  allowed  of  the 
realization  of  this  prophecy  as  sl  possible  event.  These  ten  kingdoms 
of  the  papal  earth  have  never  yet  been  in  circumstances  to  admit  of 
the  iiympathy  and  fellowship  here  so  broadly  sketched.  They  have 
never  been  so  united,  they  have  never  had  any  such  good  understand- 
ing or  friendly  correspondence  as  is  here  implied.  Nay,  not  one  of 
these  nations  has  ever  yet  been  in  such  a  condition  as  that  its  people 
could  have  performed  the  part  here  attributed  to  them  all.  Hitherto 
persecution  has  been  the  contrivance  of  priests  and  the  pastime  of 
grants.  But  the  people  at  large,  the  kindreds  of  the  earth,  have  not 
willingly  been  the  executioners  of  their  ruthless  schemes,  and  have 
always  expressed  more  pity  for  the  victim  than  concurrence  with  the 
oppressor.  But  a  melancholy  change  will  have  come  over  the  intel- 
lect and  heart  of  these  many  peoples  when  the  witnesses  are  slain,  and 
these  prefigured  circumstances  signalise  the  crime.  We  may  be  sure 
that  the  worid,  bad  as  it  is,  will  be  worse,  and  greatly  worse,  before 
this  enormous  sin  can  be  not  only  publicly  perpetrated,  but  made  the 
(xx^asion  of  such  conspicuous  and  universal  exultation.  There  must  be 
a  vast  increase  to  the  power  and  boldness  both  of  infidelity  and  of 
superstition ;  there  must  be  a  heartbreaking  decay  of  spiritual  light 
and  life  amongst  professing  Christians ;  there  must  be  a  more  intimate 
and  cordial  intercourse  amongst  various  branches  of  the  European  com- 
munity ;  they  must  come  to  be  more  like  one  &mily,  to  be  more  under 
one  system,  to  be  more  of  one  mind,  especially  on  the  subject  of  re- 
Iig^n ;  to  be  more  excited  against  the  truth  of  Christ,  more  imbued 
with  the  temper  of  the  Wicked  One,  and  more  subservient  to  his  wishes 
and  his  policy.  All  this  must  be  before  this  prophecy  can  be  fulfilled 
— before  this  &tal  atrocity  can  be  committed.  We  have  no  doubt  at 
all  that  this  crowning  enormity  is  reserved  for  those  evil  days  of  which 
the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly  by  the  apostle  in  the  4th  chapter  of 
1  Tun.'— pp.  118-22. 

We  tiiffer  from  Mr.  Cairns  in  lis  interpretation  of  the  two 
witnesses.  We  regard  them  as  the  Scriptiu'es  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments — ^which  appears  to  as  more  in  accordance  with  the 
emblematical  character  of  the  book  than  the  common  interpretation, 
that  they  are  the  people  of  God.  This  diflFerence  of  sentiment, 
however,  does  not  blind  us  to  the  exceeding  importance  of  this 
little  work,  which,  as  an  eloquent  and  practical  exposition  of  the 
signs  of  the  limes,  is  in  our  estimation  above  all  value.  We  cor- 
dially commend  it  to  our  readers. 

The  next  work  we  have  to  introduce  to  the  reader  is  a  beauti- 
fully printed  work  on  the  Apocalypse,  in  two  volumes  8vo.,  by  the 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  E  , 

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50  Modem  Cantrilmtums  to  [April, 

Eev.  A.  Jenour,  entitled  *  BatumcUe  Apocalt/pticum.'  This  work 
is  written  with  ability,  and  is  valuable  for  the  sketch  at  the  end 
of  the  second  volume  of  the  various  opinions  of  prophetical  writers, 
from  the  time  of  Mede  down  to  the  present  period.  But,  as  an 
exposition  of  the  Apocalypse,  we  regard  it  of  very  little  value. 
The  writer  adopts  the  historictd  scheme  of  interpretation ;  but  sub- 
stitutes for  the  established  interpretations  of  otner  commentators, 
in  veiy  many  cases,  what  we  cannot  but  designate  crude  and 
absurd  notions  of  his  own.  In  illustration  of  our  meaning  we 
would  refer  to  his  ridiculous  idea,  that  the  book  sealed  with  seven 
seals  is  '  the  book  of  the  everlasting  covenant ;'  his  interpretation 
of  the  first  four  seals  which  is  exceedingly  absmfd ;  and  his  remarks 
on  the  angel  in  the  10th  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse  bestriding  the 
earth  and  the  sea — whom  he  considers  to  represent  the  Pope ! 

Mr.  Jenour's  interpretation  of  the  two  witnesses  as  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  on  the  other  hand,  appears  to  us,  as  already 
observed,  to  suit  the  terms  of  the  prophecy  far  better  than  the 
current  view  which  makes  them  the  Church  of  God.  Tlchonius, 
in  the  fourth  century,  adopted  the  same  interpretation.  The  sub- 
ject is  of  great  importance  at  the  present  time,  approaching  as  we 
probably  are  to  the  period  of  their  death,  and  deserves  the  serious 
attention  of  all  students  of  the  prophetic  word. 

The  Commentary  of  Mr.  Barnes  will  add  but  little  to  the  re- 
putation whidii  the  author  has  already  acquired  as  an  expositor 
of  Scripture.  It  certainly  displays  sound  sense,  great  industry, 
and  research,  but  is  sadly  deficient  in  those  higher  Qualities  which 
we  naturally  look  fcr  in  a  work  of  this  kind.  The  book  is  rather 
a  compilation  from  Elliott  and  others  than  an  original  work.  As 
it  is  likely,  from  the  reputation  of  its  author,  to  obtain  an  extensive 
circulation,  we  rejoice  in  the  reflection  that  Mr.  Barnes  has  adopted 
the  historical  system  of  interpretation,  rather  than  that  followed 
by  writers  of  the  futurist  schooL  But  whilst,  like  all  the  other 
writings  of  the  author,  it  is  a  thoroughly  respectaUe  performance, 
we  must  express  our  fiill  conviction  that  it  has  contriouted  almost 
notliinc'  towards  the  eluddation  of  this  mysterious  volume.  For 
the  information  of  our  readers,  we  may  add  that  Mr.  Barnes  is 
(^posed  to  the  millenarian  interpretation  of  the.  contested  passage 
in  Kev.  xx.  4. 

The  author  of  the  next  Apocalyptic  exposition  is  well  known 
to  the  readers  of  this  Journal,  by  his  aole  and  learned  works 
OQ  Egypt,  on  the  Psalms,  and  on  the  PaitateucL  We  confess 
we  hearid  with  no  small  delight  the  announcement  of  a  com- 
mentary on  the  Revelation  from  his  pen,  and  perused  it  with  the 
CTeatest  avidity.  But  never  were  we  more  woefully  disappointed. 
If  we  except  the  preliminary  dissertation  of  Dr.  Hengstenberg, 

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1853.]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  51 

*  On  the  date  of  the  Apocalypse ' — which  is  a  really  valuable  con- 
tribution to  Biblical  criticism — the  work  may  be  pronounced  a 
piece  of  learned  trifling,  from  beginning'  to  end.  Instead  of  point- 
ing out  the  particular  events  which  have  already  fulfilled,  or  may 
be  expected  to  fulfil,  the  suUime  pre<Uctions  of  this  book — in  Dr. 
Hengstenberg's  exposition,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  event  at 
all.  We  meet  with  nothing  but  general  truths,  repeated  again 
and  again,  with  tedious  sameness.  Take  one  example  only  to 
illustrate  our  meaning,  that  of  the  trumpets.  The  first  trumpet, 
says  the  learned  author,  indicate  war — not  any  individual  war, 
but  war  in  general.  The  second  trumpet  is  precisely  the  same — 
war  in  general.  So  is  the  third,  so  is  the  rourth,  so  is  the  fifth, 
and  90  on.  All  these  trumpets  indicate  wars,  not  any  particular 
wars,  but  they  are  general  prophecies  of  alarming  wars  that  should 
at  some  period  or  other  come  to  pass  t  Now  we  do  hold,  that  if 
this  18  all  that  the  visions  of  the  Apocalypse  were  designed  to  teach 
the  Church,  we  might  as  well  have  been  without  the  book.  And 
still  dearer  is  it,  that  all  expositions  of  the  book  are  worse  than 
useless. 

The  learned  Commentary  orv  Daniel  by  Dr.  Tr^elles  is  written 
throughout,  on  the  futurist  principle  of  interpretation.  Hence  the 
author  contends,  that  the  tenfold  division  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
symbolized  by  the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast,  in  Dan.  vii.,  has 
not  yet  taken  place. 

In  suj^rt  of  this  assertion.  Dr.  Tr^elles  urses  that  the  parti- 
tion of  the  Roman  empire,  which  occurred  in  the  sixth  century, 
did  not  fulfil  the  terms  of  the  prediction.  Five  toes,  he  says,  were 
«een  on  each  foot  of  the  image.  We  have  no  right,  therefore,  to 
look  for  all  the  ten  kingdoms  in  the  western  division  of  the  empire, 
to  the  entire  exclusion  of  the  eastern,  which  continued  whole  for 
about  a  thousand  years  later.  On  this  we  would  observe,  that  it 
is  not  in  the  vision  of  the  imoffey  that  this  tenfold  division  of  the 
empire  m  predicted,  but  in  that  of  the  four  beasts.  Not  a  word  is 
said  about  the  partition  of  the  fourth  kingdom  in  the  first  vision. 
It  seems  Hierefore  that  we  are  scarcely  justified  in  founding  an 
argument  on  pcu*ticu]ars  in  the  vision  of  the  imaee,  which  we  do 
not  know  it  was  intended  to  teach.  The  similitude  must  not  be 
pressed  to  a  symbolic  meanii^  in  all  its  particulars.  The  same 
argument  which  Dr.  Tregelles  here  uses  in  reference  to  the  Roman, 
or  fourth  empire,  might  be  used  to  prove  that  the  second,  or 
Persian  empire,  was  to  be  divided  into  ten  kingdoms,  symbolized 
by  the  ten  finders  belonging  to  the  arms. 

Dr.  TreeeUes  objects  agidn  to  the  past  fulfilment  of  the  tenfold 
partition  of  the  empire,  that  it  *  could  never  be  definitely  pointed 
out,  whether  in  the  early  centuries  or  this.     The  lists  diner  ex- 

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52  Modern  Contributions  to  [April, 

ceedingly,  and  very  frequently  countries  wholly  disconnected  with 
the  Roman  empire  are  introduced,  simply  because,  in  later  days, 
they  have  been  upholders  of  the  Popedom.'  p.  75.  We  candidly 
own  that  we  agree  with  the  learned  author  here,  but  are  ourselves  of 
opinion  that  commentators  are  all  at  &ult  in  considering  the  word 
*  ten '  to  signify  literally  so  many,  neither  more  nor  less.  The  fact 
is,  the  number  ten  is  commonly  used  in  Scripture,  very  indefinitely, 
in  the  sense  of  several.  Many  instances  of  this  pecuhar  use  of  the 
term  might  be  adduced.  '  They  have  tempted  me  now  these  ten 
times.*  (Num.  xiv.  22.)  *  Then  Job  answered  and  said,  these  ten 
times  have  ye  reproached  me.'  (Job  xix.  3.)  In  the  prediction 
of  future  events,  it  is  used  similarly, '  And  when  I  have  broken  the 
staflP  of  your  bread,  ten  wom^en  shall  bake  your  bread  in  one  oven.' 
(Lev.  xxvi.  26.)  '  Ten  men  shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  him 
that  is  a  Jew,  saying.  We  will  go  with  you,'  &c.  (Zech.  viii.  23.) 
In  this  very  book  of  Daniel,  it  is  used  in  another  passage,  unques- 
tionably in  the  sense  we  attach  to  it  here.  '  He  found  them  ten 
times  tietter  than  all  the  magicians  and  astrologers  in  his  realm.' 
(Dan.  i.  20.)  Not  that  they  were  precisely  ten  times  as  good, 
neither  more  nor  less,  but  immensely  superior,  a  great  many  times 
better.  Similarly  in  the  prophecy  of  the  fourth  beast,  we  consider 
the  ten  hornsy  or  Tdngs^  denote  nof,  that  exactly  that  number  of 
states  should  arise  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  empire,  but  that 
a  great  many  independent  sovereigns  should  exercise  the  authority 
formerly  wielded  by  the  Roman  emperors,  of  which  sovereigns  we 
undoubtedly  consider  the  eastern  emperor  to  have  been  one^ 
until  the  sounding  of  the  sixth  trumpet,  and  fall  of  that  dominion. 

In  support  of  this  view,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  although 
three  ot  these  ten  horns  are  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn 
(Dan.  vii.  8),  the  horns  are  still  called  ten,  not  seven.  *  And  the 
ien  hon)8  which  thou  sawest  upon  the  beast,  these  shall  hate  the 
whore  and  shall  make  her  desolate  and  naked,  and  shall  eat  her 
flesh  and  bum  her  with  fire,'  &c.  (Rev.xvii.  IG.")  *And  this 
continues  even  to  the  end.'  *  And  the  ten  horns  whicn  thou  sawest, 
are  ten  kings ;  these  shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,'  &c.  (ver.  12, 
14.^  Now  we  ask  how  is  it  possible  that  these  ten  kings  can  be 
recKoned  ten^  after  three  of  them  have  fallen,  except  on  tne  above 
supposition  ?  If  they  are  called  ten  kings,  because  they  denote  a 
number  of  independent  states,  perhaps  varying  in  nurnber  as  the 
states  of  Europe  actually  have  done,  then  it  is  clear,  that  the  pro- 
priety of  the  appellation  '  ten  kings '  would  not  be  at  all  affected 
Dy  the  fact  of  three  having  fallen. 

Another  important  question  is  suggested  by  Dr.  Tregelles* 
Commentary.  Are  we  justified  in  assuming,  as  he  does,  the 
identity  of  the  two  little  horns  of  Daniel>  that  in  the  7th  and  that 


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1853.]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  5S 

in  the  8th  chapters  ?  We  have  been  of  opinion  that  they  are 
perfectly  distinct,  and  symbolize  differentpowers.  In  fact,  unless 
we  are  mistaken,  there  are  several  points  of  absolute  contrariety  in 
them.     For  instance — 

1.  The  first  (that  in  ch.  vii.)  is  always  a  little  horn.  Nothing 
is  said  to  intimate  that  it  becomes  great.  The  other  is  represented 
as  ^  waxing  exceeding  great j  toward  the  south,  and  toward  the  east, 
and  towaixl  the  pleasant  land.'     (viii.  9.) 

2.  The  second  is  espedally  characterized  by  carrying  on  de- 
structive wars,  making  great  conquests  &c.,  ^he  shaU  destroy 
wonderfully,  and  practise,  and  prosper,  and  in  prosperity  he  shall 
destroy  many.'  {viii.  25,  margin.)  The  other^  being  to  the  last  a 
little  horn,  has  no  power  to  effect  these  things :  it  is  only  said, 
therefore,  to  persecute  the  saints — *  the  same  horn  made  war  with 
the  saints.'     (vii.  21.) 

3.  The  one  accomplishes  what  he  does  by  words,  speeches — ^  a 
mouth  speaking  great  things '  (vii.  8) ;  *  because  of  the  voice  of  the 
great  ioordsj  &c  (ver.  11.)  The  other  possesses  actual  power 
and  strength :  *  his  power  shall  be  mighty^  (viii.  24)  ;  *  waxed  ex^ 
eeeding  great '  (ver.  9^. 

4.  rhe  first  horn  is  evidently  a  branch  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
It  springs  up  on  the  fourth  beast,  just  afl;er  the  rise  of  the  ten 
horns,  and  is  accordingly  destroyed  with  it,  as  one  of  its  component 
parts.  The  second  is  as  plainly  a  part  of  the  Grecian  Empire, 
springing  out  of  one  of  the  four  divisions,  into  which  that 
monarchy  branched  at  Alexander's  death,     (viii.  9.) 

5.  The  one  arises  ^  when  the  transgressors  are  come  to  the  full.' 
(viiL  23.)  The  other  leads  to  the  maturity  of  transgression  (vii. 
25,  compared  with  Rev.  xvii.  4,  5,  6,  &c.). 

6.  The  period  of  the  duration  of  the/r«^,  is  1260  days,  that  of 
the  other,  2300  days.    (vij.  25  ;  viii.  14.) 

Such  are  the  chief  points  of  contrast  between  the  two  *  little 
horns '  of  Daniel.  In  two  consecutive  chapters,  we  have  two  little 
boms  described  as  arising.  If  they  denoted  the  same  power,  we 
might  expect  to  find  some  unquestionable  marks  of  identity. 
Instead  oi  which,  we  have  at  least  six  points  of  marked  contrast. 
We  are  inclined  to  the  view  of  those  expositors  who  interpret  the 
little  horn  of  the  7th  chapter  as  the  Papal,  and  that  of  the  8th 
chapter  as  the  Mahomedan  yower. 

Vr.  Tregelles  has  one  chapter  on  *  Prophetic  interpretation  in 
connection  with  Popery,  and  the  corruption  of  ChrUftxardty,  in 
which  it  is  his  object  to  show  that  the  Papal  system  does  not  meet 
the  terms  of  the  predictions  of  the  Antichrist,  especially  as  to,  1. 
The  doom  of  those  who  own  the  Antichrist.  2.  The  extent  of  his 
influence  within  his  own  sphere.    Our  limits  wiU  not  allow  of  our 

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54  Modem  Contributums  to  [April, 

entering  upon  the  discussion  of  a  subject  so  large,  but  we  observe 
that  he  quotes  Scripture  denunciations  against  the  worshippers  of 
the  beast  (Bey.  xih.  8,  and  xiv.  9, 10),  as  referring  to  the  rapacy, 
whereas  the  most  recent  commentators,  Elliott,  Woodhouse,  and 
Cuninghame,  we  believe,  agree  in  considering  this  ten-homed  beast 
to  be  the  secular  Roman  Empire.  We  have  only  to  add  that 
Dr.  Tregelles  advocates  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  Apocalypse. 
His  views  do  not  materially  differ  from  those  of  Mr.  Strange. 

A  Handbook  to  the  Apocalypae  is  a  sn^U  shilling  puUication  of 
real  value  to  all  who  wish  for  a  concise  guide  to  the  import  of  the 
symbolic  language.  It  is  well  adapted  &r  Bible  oasses  and 
families. 

The  Millenarian  iTupdrer  of  Mr.  Ball  is  an  interesting  little 
volume  on  the  millenarian  side  of  the  question.  It  is  dividied  into 
six  parts.  1.  Elementary  Principles  of  Prophetic  Inteipretation. 
2.  The  Premillenial  Advent  3  and  4.  The  National  Covenant 
to  Abraham,  to  give  him  the  land,  and  the  Boyal  Covenant  to 
David  to  give  hun  the  throne  ;  both  meeting  in  Christ,  the  Son 
of  Abraham  and  the  Son  of  David.  5.  The  Restoration  of  Israel 
and  Judah  to  their  fatherland.  6.  The  New  Heavens  and  liie 
New  Earth.  All  these  important  topics  are  here  handled  with 
clearness  and  ability.  Mr.  JBall  is  evidently  one  who  thinks  for 
himself ;  and  differs  from  most  writers  on  prophecy  in  sobriety  of 
judgment  and  patient  research.  We  learn  that  a  new  and  revised 
edition  of  the  work  is  in  course  of  preparation,  whidi  we  rfiall  be 
pleased  to  see. 

The  two  next  wwks  on  our  list,  A  new  View  of  the  Apocalypse^ 
^c,y  bv  C.  E.  Eraser  Tvtler,  and  An  JExamination  of  the  gign 
X?s-,  Rev.  xiii.  18,  by  M.  Cely  Trevilian,  Esq.,  are  ontjr  so  much 
waste  paper. 

The  World  to  come  is  the  work  of  the  Rev.  James  Cochrane, 
A.M.,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Cupar,  Fife.  This  gentleman  has 
adopted  a  view  of  the  subject  of  his  book,  in  whidi  wepresume 
he  stands  apart  from  all  other  writers  on  prophecy.  We  shall 
leave  it  with  our  readers,  unaccompanied  with  any  comment,  this 
being  unnecessary.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  to  come  in  person  to  fetch 
his  saints,  and  overwhelm  his  enemies  with  destruction.  A  new 
dispensation  now  commences.  The  world  is  tenanted  by  Christ 
ana  His  redeemed  people — millions  upon  millions  of  glorified, 
holy,  and  happy  beings,  during  a  thousand  years.  This  mmennium 
is  in  a  great  measure  occupied  in  determining  the  precise  sentence 
or  desert  of  each  individual  of  tiie  wicked,  who  are  still  in  the 
regions  of  the  dead.  This  great  scrutiny  being  over,  and  the 
sentence  passed  on  each  individual  being '  ready  to  be  pnmounced,' 
the  resurrection  of  the  wicked  is  eflRscted.     The  dead,  small  and 

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1853.]  the  Study  of  Prophecy.  55 

great,  stand  before  God  ;  the  books  of  judgment  are  opened ;  and 
with  lightning  rapidity  and  distinctness  each  individual  knows 
his  doom.  It  would  appear  that  this  is  the  moment  at  which 
Satan  is  once  more  let  loose,  perhaps  to  receive  his  final  sentence. 
But  neither  he  nor  they,  even  at  wat  dread  hour,  abandon  their 
Satanic  nature.  No  sooner  are  the  wicked  raised  from  the  dead^ 
than  the  reminiseence  of  their  rnifvl  propermties  enables  Satan 
mice  m&re  to  deceive  them.  The  sight  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem 
fills  them  with  malignant  hatred.  In  the  desperation  of  the  moment 
they  will  make  one  effort  more.  *  And  they  went  up  on  the 
br^th  of  the  earth,  and  compassed  the  camp  of  the  saints  about, 
and  the  beloved  city :  and  fire  came  down  from  God  out  of  Heaven, 
and  devoured  them.  And  flie  devil  that  deceived  them  was  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire  emd  brimstone,  where  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  are^  and  shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  for  ever  and 
ever.'     (Rev.  xx.  9,  10.) 

Mr.  Newton's  works  on  Prophecy  will  require  but  litfle  notice — 
agreeing  as  they  do  in  so  many  particulars  with  Mr.  Strange's 
extraorcunary  production.  He  too  has  the  strange  theory  that  the 
devil  is  at  present  in  Heaven,  and  asks  triumphantly  how  else  it 
could  be  possible  for  him  to  accuse  the  brethren  before  God  (Gr. 
i>«v»iov,  in  the  presence  of)  unless  he  were  actually  in  Heaven  ? 
Did  Mr.  Newton  ever  read  Luke  i.  6,  in  which  it  is  said,  Zacha- 
rias  and  his  wife  *  were  righte&as  before  G-od  f  (Gr.  lv»»iov,  in  the 
mresenee  of.)  If  he  did,  let  him  say  whether  these  two  saints  of 
God  were  in  his  presence  at  the  time  of  which  the  evangelist 

riks.  So  the  Apostle  James  exhorts  us  to  '  humble  yourselves  m 
sight  of  (iveviriov)  the  Lord '  (iy.  10).  Are  we  to  enter  into  the 
Homediate  presence  of  Christ  m  order  to  obey  this  precept? 
Once  more — Paul  says,  in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians,  *  Now  the 
things  which  I  write  unto  you,  before  God  (Iv^iov),  I  lie  not  * 
(L  20).  Does  he  mean  to  say  that  he  does  not  speak  falsehood 
in  the  immediate  presence  of  God?  Assuredly  not.  The  plain 
meaning  of  the  word  in  all  these  {daces  is  clearly  *  in  the  view  of^ 
''in  the  estimation  of^'  and  this,  we  have  no  doubt,  is  its  import  in 
the  passage  in  question.  In  the  sight  of  Gi>d^  the  real  agent  in 
nil  the  informations  laid  against  the  Christians  under  the  heathen 
persecutions  was  the  devil  himself.  The  same  truth  is  taught  in 
nev.  ii.  10 :  *  Behdd  the  devil  shall  cast  some  of  you  into  prison/ 
&c  W.  E.  T. 


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56  Heaven  i  HelU  Sades;  [Aprils 


HEAVEN,    HELL,    HADES; 

OB  SLEEP  OF  THE  SOUL. 

For  the  purpose  of  opening  out  a  fiill  discussion  as  to  the  state 
of  the  soul  after  death,  we  have  chosen  to  enlarge  the  title  of  a 
paper  on  Hades  and  Heaven,  contained  in  the  October  number 
of  the  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature.  It  aj^)ears  therefore  to  be 
necessary,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  discussion  with  profit,  first 
of  all  very  carefully  to  survey  and  examine  our  field  of  inquiry, 
and  to  clear  the  ground  as  we  proceed.  In  discussions  of  this  kind 
writers  are  too  apt  to  ignore  lacts,  and  to  pass  over  arguments  of 
importance  when  seeking  to  establish  some  &vourite  theory.  They 
do  not  generally  contend  for  the  truth  with  the  truth ;  instead  of 
establi^nff  their  position  as  they  proceed,  they  deal  in  conjectures 
and  probabilities,  and  appeal  to  the  opinions  of  the  ancients  as 
well  as  to  texts  of  Scripture. 

The  object  of  the  true  Christian  philosopher  is  to  ascertain  the 
truth,  and  in  seeking  for  it,  to  go  on  from  step  to  step  regardless 
of  the  consequences,  if  only  he  can  feel  assured  that,  as  he  pro- 
gresses, he  is  treadling  on  safe  and  solid  ground.  If  he  has  an 
opponent  in  controversy,  he  will  hand  over  to  him  any  weapon  he 
himself  may  know  oi^  but  which  he  cannot  use  in  his  own  defence, 
and  cannot  prove  to  be  without  ed^e  and  useless.  He  seeks  for 
truth,  and  rejoices  when  he  is  convinced  by  any  means  that  he  has 
been  holding  erroneous  opinions  on  this  or  that  subject.  A  con- 
trary methcNi  to  that  just  described  is,  however,  pursued  by  too 
many,  and  the  conseauence  is  that  the  parties  themselves,  and  the 
spectators  also,  are  oiten  involved  in  doubt  and  confusion.  Let 
no  one  take  amiss  what  has  been  said :  the  only  desire  in  saying 
it,  is  to  cry  aloud  to  all  true  friends  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
beseech  them  to  conduct  all  their  inquiries  with  soberness,  and  in 
such  a  manner  that  truth  may  shine  forth  and  prevail,  and  the 
enemy  have  no  advantage  given  him. 

The  questions  propc^ed  for  consideration  are,  1st  Does  the 
soul  go  either  to  Heaven  or  Hell  immediately  on  quitting  the 
body,  to  be  joined  by  that  body  at  the  resurrection  ?  or,  2ndly. 
Does  it  then  go  to  Hiades,  to  remain  there  till  the  body  rises  again  ? 
or,  3rdly.  Does  the  soul  deep,  or  die  with  the  body  and  until  the 
bodv  rises  again? 

The  word  Heaven,  as  employed  in  the  first  question,  means  the 
place  where  the  soul  enjoys  nill  fruition  of  glory  and  happiness 
without  possibility  of  increase  thereof.     The  word  Hell,  as  em- 


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1853.]  or  Sleep  of  the  Soul.  57 

ployed  in  the  same  question^  means  the  place  where  the  sonl  ex- 
penences  the  fiill  measure  of  misery  ana  woe  without  possibility 
of  increase  thereof.  The  word  Hades,  as  employed  in  tne  second 
question,  means  the  place  where  souls  renudn  separate  from  the 
bodies  they  have  left  and  in  a  state  of  consciousness,  the  souls  of 
the  righteous  enjoying  some  portion  only  of  the  happiness  await- 
ing^ them,  and  the  soms  of  the  unregenerate  sufiering  some  portion 
omy  of  the  misery  awaiting  them.  The  words  us^  in  the  third 
question  need  no  definition  of  meaning. 

Now,  let  us  inqmre  where  the  materials  to  enable  us  to  answer 
these  questions  lie.  We  must  ^et  them  either  from  nature  or 
reyelation,  or  both.  By  revelation,  we  of  course  mean  the  word 
of  God.  To  the  decisions  of  that  word  we  must  bow,  and  we 
have  only  to  ascertain  what  it  decides  in  respect  to  the  Questions 
under  consideration.  We  must,  therefore,  make  use  of  revela- 
tion. Will  nature  then  assist  us,  we  mean  the  study  of  the 
nature  of  the  soul  and  the  laws  of  its  connection  with  tne  body  ? 
The  information  to  be  derived  from  this  study,  to  be  of  any  use  to 
us  in  our  present  inquiry,  must  teach  us  something  about  me  con- 
sciousness or  unconsciousness  of  the  soul  when  apart  from  the 
body,  either  whilst  the  body  is  alive,  or  whilst  it  is  dead.  Now, 
if  we  inquire  about  the  state  of  the  soul,  and  its  consciousness  or 
unconsciousness  after  the  body  is  dead,  we  shall  soon  get  to  talk 
of  ghosts,  apparitions,  and  such  like  things ;  and  as  we  have  no 
information  as  to  these,  such  as  it  is  presumed  any  one  would  use 
for  our  present  purpose,  and  can  have  none,  it  is  plain  we  can  get 
no  ftuther  in  tins  direction.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  we 
are  now  speaking  as  if  we  had  no  such  thing  as  Scripture  to  en- 
lighten us,  and  therefore  such  cases  as  that  of  Samuel's  appear- 
ance to  the  witch  of  Endor  cannot  be  in  place  here.  Scripture  is 
higher  than  nature,  and  the  greater  includes  the  less,  and  we 
sball  have  an  opportunity  of  considering  that  matter  in  its  proper 
place  when  we  come  to  direct  our  attention  to  revelation.  But  we 
are  on  safer  ground  when  we  are  inquiring  about  the  nature  of 
the  soul,  and  the  laws  of  its  connection  with  the  body  whilst  that 
body  is  alive.  We  have  the  means  of  observation  and  some  data 
to  proceed  upon,  some  grounds  upon  which  to  found  our  judg- 
ment It  will  perhaps  be  conceded,  that  if  we  have  positive  and 
demonstrable  proof  with  req)ect  to  this  branch  of  our  inquiry  in 
any  one  particular,  we  need  nothing  more.  11^  therefore,  any 
conclusion  we  may  come  to  is  true,  we  cannot  come  to  another 
true  conclusion  derived  from  the  same  materials,  which  shall  deny 
the  first,  or  be  opposed  to  it 

Now,  it  is  qmte  plain  that  the  soul,  whatever  it  is,  can  be,  with- 
out detriment  to  itself,  deprived  or  divested  of  all  consciousnessL 

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58  Seaven,  Hell,  ffades ;  [April, 

Eyery  man  must  be  aUe  to  see  the  truth  of  this  proposition  in  his 
own  experience.  Every  morning  he  awakes  to  find  that  his  soul 
has  beaii,  no  matter  for  how  short  a  time,  unconscious;  and  to 
find  aldo  tiiat  the  soul  has  not  thereby  suffered.  We  might  pro- 
ceed to  make  use  of  this  fieu* ;  but  if  we  enlarge  upon  the  general 
subject  now,  it  may  be  stamped  upon  the  mind  with  greater  force, 
and  will  be  of  more  service  m  another  part  of  this  paper. 

We  believe  that  the  soul  goes  to  sleep  after  the  body,  and 
wakens  up  after  it.  When  the  body  is  perfectly  awake,  the  soul 
is  kept  awake  by  it :  when  ihe  body  is  reagitated  in  its  nerves  and 
memoers  during  sleep,  in  some  such  manner  as  it  was  agitated 
when  awake,  the  soul  is  aroused  to  pay  attention  to  the  informa- 
tion the  body  has  to  impart  A  man  awakes  in  the  morning,  he 
finds  he  has  been  dreaming  during  the  night ;  but  the  dream  has 
made  littie  impression,  and  is  not  remembered.  Here  the  body 
has  been  only  slightly  agitated,  and  the  soul  has  been  aroused  in 

Eroportion.  On  another  morning  he  remembers  a  dream  whidi 
e  has  had  during  the  preceding  night ;  but  it  is  very  confiised  in 
the  events  pourtrayed  oy  it.  Here  the  body  has  been  more  agi- 
tated than  in  the  preceding  case,  and  the  mind  has  been  aroused 
to  better  attention.  Another  dream  which  he  has  had  is  remem- 
bered with  distinctness,  all  of  it  is  clear  and  well  connected.  Here 
the  body  has  been  almost  awake,  and  the  soul  has  been  aroused 
to  deep  attention.  We  believe  also  that  it  will  be  invariably 
found  Miat  the  dream  is  only  a  repetition  of  something  which  has 
been  acted,  experienced,  or  done  on  the  day  before  the  dream,  or 
at  some  time  previous.  We  have  a  scriptural  declaration  that 
a  dream  cometh  through  the  multitude  of  business ;  this  mu9t  be 
true,  and  the  only  question  is,  whether  the  soul  is  repeating,  inde^ 
pendentiy  of  the  body,  previous  events,  or  whether  it  is  l£e  body 
which  is  reagitated  in  its  nerves  and  members,  and  through  them 
arouses  the  soul  to  attention.  Now,  it  seems  quite  plain  that  the 
body  is  the  mover  and  promoter  of  dreams.  When  the  body  is  in  a 
state  of  health,  the  man  seldom  or  never  dreams,  and  the  more 
frightful  or  troublesome  dreams  attend  those  whose  bodies  are 
sici  or  diseased.  Now,  the  soul  is  not  always  sick  when  the  body 
is :  it  may  be  rejoicinff  and  in  a  state  of  happiness  and  composure, 
whilst  the  body  is  raxJed  with  pain  or  loaded  with  disease.  The 
frightful  dream,  therefore,  cannot  come  from  the  soul,  which  has 
experienced  no  sorrow  or  fflckness ;  it  must  come  from  the  body 
which  is  then  only  reagitated  in  its  nerves  and  members.  This 
appears  still  more  clearly,  when  we  consider  that  we  cannot,  even 
when  fully  awake,  recall  the  feeling  of  past  pain  ;  but  that,  when 
during  sleep,  the  nerves  and  members  of  the  body  are  suitably 
agitated,  the  body  arouses  the  soul,  and  the  soul  during  sleep 


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1853.]  ^  Sleep  of  the  Sml  69 

perceives  and  realizes  the  pain  of  the  bodily  members.  But  the 
soul  knows  nothing  by  its  own  immediate  perception,  all  its  know* 
led^e  is  derived  m>m  the  body ;  the  soul  acquires  no  information 
whust  the  body  is  asleep,  and  the  soul,  to  all  practical  intents  and 
purposes,  is  asleep  so  long  as  the  body  is.  The  soul  produces 
nothing  fresh,  and  experiences  noticing  without  the  participttion 
of  tbe  body.  Whatever  the  soul  is  engagied  in,  the  body  claims 
to  be  the  moving  cause  of  every  emotion :  every  passion,  every 
feeling,  and  everything  which  affects  the  soul,  must  come  to  it 
through  the  body.  Therefore,  the  soul  without  the  body  is  no- 
thing, and  knows  and  feels  nothing,  and  cannot  be  in  action  or 
passion.  Again,  let  us  consider  that  the  soul  of  a  child  is  young 
as  well  as  its  body,  and  that  the  soul  of  an  old  man  anks  into 
inactivity,  for  want  of  energy  cm  the  part  of  the  body  to  keep  it 
awake.  In&nts,  and  son^  old  ipeopfe,  sleep  awa^  the  greatest 
part  of  their  time,  and  the  soul  is  proportionably  inactive.  We 
read  that  God  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of  man  tne  breath  of  life, 
and  man  became  a  livii^  soul ;  but  we  do  not  read  of  a  soul  and 
a  body  being  separately  formed,  and  then  brought  together  to 
make  a  man ;  and  it  is  certain,  that  with  respect  to  every  man,  the 
soul  is  bom  at  the  same  time  as  the  body.  The  universe,  without  the 
laws  of  motion,  gravitation,  attraction,  and  such  like,  would  be  no 
universe,  but  a  oiaos ;  so  man,  without  what  we  call  a  soul,  would 
not  be  man,  but  a  mere  animal.  We  are  not  aware  that  Uie  soul 
can  be  proved  to  be  treated  of  in  Scripture  as  a  separate  existent 
being ;  nor  can  it  be  proved,  we  believe,  to  be  sudi  by  any  other 
means.  The  effects  ot  clairvoyance.  Mesmerism,  S(»nnambuli8m, 
Mid  such  like,  must  come  into  the  same  category  as  sleep  and 
dreams.  Whatever  is  told  of  these  effects,  is  told  of  them  as 
upon  a  soul  united  to  the  body,  and  the  phenomena  are  much  the 
same  in  all  of  these  cases.  An  operator  in  Mesmerism  or  dair- 
voyanoe  must,  we  feel  sure,  be  near  die  body  of  the  subject  of  the 
operation ;  we  do  not  believe  that  the  soul  alone  can  be  suliject  to 
his  arts.  Nothing  arises  in  such  cases  but  what  the  body  partid- 
pates,  or  has  participated  in.  The  soul  widiout  the  boay  is  no- 
thing. Now,  as  we  before  intimated,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary 
for  our  present  purpose  to  know  what  the  soul  is,  neither  is  it  ne- 
cessary to  compare  the  phenomena  of  sleep  and  dreams  in  human 
beings  with  phenomena  of  &e  same  dass  in  brutes,  whatever  any 
one  may  hda  as  to  the  true  distinction  between  soul,  life,  mind, 
and  body,  and  their  various  functions  and  offices :  opinions,  or 
even  proo&  on  those  points,  are  here  unimportant ;  and  whether 
every  one  may  acquiesce  in  all  that  has  been  said  concerning 
sleep,  dreams,  &c.,  or  not,  is  also  here  a  matter  of  no  consequence ; 
at  present  it  is  suffident  if  every  one  acknowledge  that  the  soul  may 
sleep,  and  may  be,  without  detriment  to  itself,  ^prived  or  divested 

Digitized  by  VJV/ v./ V  IV. 


60  Heaven^  Selly  ffades;  [April, 

of  all  conscnousness.  We  shall  insist  upon  the  rest  of  our  argu- 
ment in  another  place. 

Now,  can  we  acquire  any  further  information  from  Nature  ? 
We  think  not:  it  seems  simply  impossible  to  prove  from  that 
source  that  the  soul  can  exist  in  a  state  either  of  consdousnesB 
or  unconsciousness  independent  of  the  body,  and  we  have  proved 
that,  whilst  depending  upon  the  body,  it  can  subsist  both  in  a  state 
of  consciousness  and  also  in  a  state  deprived  or  divested  of  all 
consciousness.  There  is  ^therefore  nothing  left  to  be  inquired 
after. 

Let  us  now  applv  the  single  truth  we  have  found.     We  cannot 

f>rove  by  it  that  the  soul  cannot  go  to  heaven  or  hell  when  it 
eaves  tne  body,  that  body  remaimng  on  the  earth  dead.  We 
cannot  prove  tnat  it  cannot  go  to  Uades  under  similar  drcum- 
stances.  The  fact  acquired,  viz.,  that  the  soul  can,  whilst  de- 
pending upon  the  body,  exist  without  detriment  to  itself,  deprived 
or  divested  of  all  consciousness,  cannot  prove  that  the  soul  cannot 
also  exist  in  a  state  of  consdousness  apart  from  the  body.  The 
study  of  the  nature  of  the  soul  and  the  laws  of  its  connection 
with  the  body,  so  far  as  we  are  now  applying  the  fruits  of  it,  can, 
as  we  have  seen,  neither  prove  this  last  proposition  nor  deny  it — 
it  can  give  us  no  information  on  the  subject  It  is  plain  there- 
fore that  we  must  resort  to  Scripture  as  alone  able  to  furnish  us 
with  materials  wherewith  to  answer  the  questions  proposed,  except 
so  far  as  we  may  think  it  necessary  and  just  to  bring  in  the  re^ 
of  the  arguments  just  now  referred  to,  wmch,  however,  we  do  not 
insist  upcNQ  as  proofs  per  ae.  Let  us  therefore  have  no  more  con- 
jectures and  supiK>sitions  derived  from  or  suggested  by  the  study  of 
the  nature  of  the  soul  and  the  laws  of  its  connection  with  the  body. 
Before  we  proceed  with  the  examination  of  Scripture,  it  seems 
necessary  to  urge  upon  the  consideration  of  all  tnat  we  cannot 
have  anything  to  do  with  Fathers  and  the  ancient  Church  in  re- 
spect to  their  belief  on  these  points.  We  will  listen  to  them  at 
proper  times — non  ut  interpretes  sed  e  fontibus  eorum,  &c. — but 
then*  views  are  not  arguments,  still  less  are  they  proofs.  Only  in 
historical  questions  is  the  opinion  of  an  ancient  of  any  intrinsic 
worth,  and  the  only  reason  in  the  present  case  for  umng  the  ojm- 
nions  of  the  ancients  is,  that  they,  as  living  near  the  times  when 
the  New  Testament  was  written,  may  well  be  supposed  to  know 
the  opinions  and  belief  of  our  Lord,  or  at  least  of  apostolic  men  ; 
but  we  know  what  strange  vagaries  eminent  men  in  the.Churdi 
living  soon  after  our  Lord's  time  indulged  in,  and  how  soon  the 
truth  was  corrupted :  and  the  reason  supposed  is  therefore  with- 
out foundation.  Besides,  if  the  Scriptures  are  our  only  guide, 
and  contain  all  things  necessary  not  only  for  our  salvation  but 
for  our  instruction  too,  we  must  not  add  to  them  or  take  from 

■      Digitized  by  V3V/ v./ VIV. 


1853.]  or  Sleep  of  the  Saul  61 

them  by  introducing  the  opmions  and  belief  of  man  upon  any 
subject,  and  so  amalgamate  the  testimony  of  Scripture  and  the 
testimony  of  men.  Let  us  therefore  hear  no  more  of  the  opinions 
and  belief  of  the  ancients  on  this  subject  in  this  inquiry. 

Again,  before  proceeding  to  examine  Scripture,  let  us  lay  down 
this  canon  or  rule  for  our  guidance.  We  must  always  Imve  re- 
spect to  the  context  of  any  passage,  and  generally  we  must 
inquire  what  truth  or  doctrine  was  intended  to  be  established  by 
the  text  and  context,  or  rather  the  truth  and  doctrine  upon  what 
subject  All  obiter  dicta^  as  we  may,  without  any  irreverence 
and  without  denying  verbal  inspiration,  call  them,  all  dresangs  of 
the  text  and  context,  must  be  discarded  and  put  aside,  that  we 
may  find  the  truth  intended  to  be  taught  If  we  do  not  dili- 
gently and  strictly  observe  this  rule,  we  may  soon  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  because  our  Lord,  in  the  parable  of  the  virgins, 
said  that  five  were  wise  and  five  were  foolish,  therefore  hi&  of 
mankind  will  be  lost  and  half  saved ;  and  because  the  king  found 
at  his  supper  a  man  that  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment,  there- 
fore it  is  possible  that  some  of  the  wicked  may  by  stealth  or 
surprise  get  into  heaven,  and  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  discover 
them  and  cast  them  out  If  a  judge  in  pving  judCTient  men- 
tions in  the  course  of  it  some  points  of  law  upon  which  he  com- 
ments, but  which  do  not  belong  to  the  matter  m  hand,  or  only  so 
incidentally,  his  comments  are  never  considered  as  decisions, 
they  are  called  obiter  dicta^  things  spoken  of  by  the  way,  and 
the  burden  of  the  judgment  alone  is  attended  to.  It  may  there- 
fore be  sufficiently  plain  by  this  time  into  what  contradictions  and 
absurdities  we  shdl  run  if  we  do  not  take  great  care  and  exercise 
sound  judgment  in  interpreting  Scripture. 

We  are  now  ready  to  examine  the  texts  of  Scripture  which 
bear,  or  are  supposed  to  bear,  upon  the  whole  subject  in  hand. 
It  is  proposed  to  examine  them  in  the  following  order,  premising 
that  tnose  texts  which  have  a  strong  character  or  appear  likely  to 

S've  us  some  information  will  be  considered,  until  examined,  as 
^longing  to  the  class  to  which  they  are  allotted,  and  that 
although  every  text  bearing  upon  the  subject  in  hand  may  not  be 
examined,  it  is  because  those  which  are  examined  are  thought  to 
represent  the  others. 

Firstly.  Those  which  cannot  be  applied  to  illustrate  the  subject 
on  account  of  their  own  intrinsic  natmre.  The  cases  of  our  Lord's 
death  and  resurrection,  of  Enoch,  Elijah,  and  Moses,  come  within 
this  class. 

Secondly.  Those  which  may  be  proved  to  have  no  reference 
whatever  either  intrinsically  or  in  any  manner  to  the  subject  in 
hand.  We  shall  then  have  narrowed  our  field  of  examination, 
and  shall  be  left  engaged  with — 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


62  Seaven^  Sell,  ffades ;  [April, 

Thirdly.  Those  passages  only  which  have  some  truth  or  doc- 
trine in  respect  to  our  subject  contained  in  them. 

We  are  sensible  that  flbis  arrangement  is  imperfect,  and  that 
it  may  not  be  possible  to  adhere  strictly  to  it,  out  we  will  keep 
it  as  much  as  possible  in  view — ^it  will  be  at  least  an  Approxima- 
tion to  good  order. 

With  respect  to  tie  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  it  ap- 
pears plain  that  we  are  forbidden,  by  the  very  nature  of  our  Lord, 
to  proceed  with  any  consideration  of  those  events  in  order  to  in- 
stitute a  comparison  between  the  condition  of  our  Lord  during  the 
three  days,  and  what  man  may  experience  during  the  time  to 
elapse  between  his  death  and  resurrection.  Our  Lord's  death 
BxA  resurrection  are  subjects  for  our  meditation,  and  they  illus- 
trate and  enforce  the  truth  of  our  own  death  and  resurrection, 
and  of  blessed  conseqiienoes  to  ensue  upon  our  rising  again ;  but 
we  cannot,  we  must  not,  attempt  to  dwell  upon  the  condition  of 
our  Lord  during  the  three  days,  so  as  to  institute  any  comparison 
with  the  state  of  man  between  his  death  and  resurrection.  For 
whatever  man  is  compounded  of,  and  whatever  the  nature  or  the 
functions  of  his  component  parts,  there  was  in  our  Lord's  nature 
the  divinity  which  is  not  in  man.  Perfect  man  he  was,  as  well 
as  perfect  Grod ;  still  his  human  nature  was  at  least  without  sin, 
and  that  fact  idone  is  sufficient  to  warn  us  not  to  approach  too 
near  in  our  investigations  with  such  an  end  in  view  as  we  now 
have.     This  case,  then,  cannot  assist  us. 

As  to  the  eases  of  Enoch,  Elijah,  and  Moses,  the  reader  will 
readily  understand  why  Moses  is  classed  with  Enoch  and  Elijah  ; 
he  will  remember  that  it  was  never  known  what  became  of  his 
body,  except  that  we  are  told  that  Michael  and  Satan  contended 
which  should  have  it,  that  is,  no  doubt,  whether  it  should  be 
translated  or  should  see  corruption.  We  may  well  suppose  that 
Michael  prevailed,  but  as  this  is  only  a  supposition,  it  must  not 
be  insistea  upon  here ;  there  is  sufficient  otherwise  either  to  justify 
the  dasnfication  or  to  throw  the  case  aside  as  having  no  reference 
whatever  to  our  subject.  The  consideration  of  the  case  of  Enoch 
will  suffice  for  those  of  EHjah  and  Moses.  Where  is  Enoch's 
soul  ?  where  is  his  body  ?  May  we  stay  here  to  meditate  ?  Is 
there  anything  to  forbid  our  examination  of  the  matter  ?  Cer- 
tainly not,  so  far  as  the  person  or  the  nature  of  Enoch  is  con- 
cerned. There  are  no  obstacles  here  similar  to  those  in  the  case 
of  our  Lord.  Enoch  was  a  man,  and  only  a  man.  But  if  we  can 
succeed  in  answering  the  questions  where  is  Enoch's  soul  and 
where  is  his  body,  will  the  truth  as  to  these  points  assist  us  in  our 

? resent  inquiry  ?     We  shall  do  better  by  answering  this  question 
rst.     It  is  clear  that  Enoch's  soul  and  body  have  alwajrs  been 
united  and  still  are  so  and  ever  will  be.     Where  did  they  go? 

Digitized  by  V3V/V./V  IV. 


1853.]  (yr  Sleep  of  the  Saul.  63 

Eitiier  to  Heaven  or  to  Hades  is  the  answer,  for  it  is  said  he  did 
not  see  death,  and  could  not  therefore  enter  a  state  of  imcon- 
sdousness,  which  is  death  both  of  body  and  soul,  although  it  may 
only  be  temporal  in  duration  and  therefore  more  properly  called 
sleep.  Now,  if  the  soul  and  body  of  Enoch  so  renamed  in  union, 
it  is  plain  no  argument  can  be  derired  from  that  to  prove  either 
that  the  soul  can  exist  in  a  state  of  consciousness  when  separated 
from  the  body  or  that  it  ciuGinot  so  exist.  This  case  cannot  prove 
that  the  soul  at  the  death  of  the  body  goes  either  to  Heaven,  or 
Hell,  or  Hacks,  (»r  remains  in  an  unconscious  state  till  the  resur- 
rection, because  Enoch's  soul  never  left  his  body.  The  only  truth 
that  can  possibly  be  here  evinced  is,  that  when  the  body  is  made 
incorruptible,  the  soul  and  body  will  be  found  together  again,  and 
even  this  does  not  strictly  follow  from  the  facts  adduced.  The 
truth  seems  to  be  that,  with  respect  to  Enoch,  the  resurrection  is 
past ;  he  never  has  and  never  will  experience  an  intermediate  or 
any  other  state  or  conditicm  than  that  of  direct  translation  to 
eternal  glory.  As  our  Saviour  is  now  in  Heav^oi  with  Ins  glorified 
body,  so  Enoch  is  also  there  with  his  body  made  incorruptible. 
When  therefore  the  body  and  soul  of  Enoch  have  never  expe- 
rienced any  separation,  or  ever  been  the  subjects  of  any  effects  of 
tsach  a  separation,  we  cannot  argue  from  his  case  to  that  of  the 
souls  of  men  whose  bodies  are  mouldering  in  the  dust  We  need 
proceed  no  further  with  this  case,  it  cannot  assist  vs:  as  we 
showed  befcore,  the  cases  of  Elijah  and  Moses  are  therefore  also 
dii^osed  of^  they  cannot  assist  us. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  examine  those  texts  of  Scripture  which^ 
although  apparently  bearing  upon  the  subject  in  hand,  may  be 
poved  to  have  no  reference  whatever  to  it,  either  intrinsically  or 
m  any  other  maimer. 

With  respect  to  the  ca^e  of  Samuel  and  the  witch  of  Endor,  we 
do  not  read  that  it  was  Samuel's  spirit  which  appeared :  it  is  said 
that  the  witch  saw  SamusL  If  the  witch  had  power  to  raise 
Samuel  at  all,  we  are  as  much  entitled  to  believe  that  die  had 
newer  to  raise  his  body  as  that  she  had  power  to  raise  his  soul. 
What  is  to  limit  our  belief?  Nay,  it  is  mudi  eaaer  to  believe 
that  a  person  caxi  have  power  to  raise  the  body  of  another  than  to. 
believe  that  the  soul  can  be  brought  to  earth  again ;  for  if  the 
soul  is  gone  to  Heaven  or  Hell,  or  Hades,  by  wkoae  permission 
will  it  1^  temporarily  dismissed  so  as  to  enable  it  to  come  upjon 
earth?  WiU  God  work  by  witches?  And  if  the  soul  deeps  with 
the  bodv,  then  how  can  the  soul  be  brought  to  earth  again  without 
the  body  ?  The  mention  of  the  '  appearance  of  a  soul,'  as  the 
phrase  is,  but  we  conceive  erroneously,  in  the  shape  of  the  body 
and  with  voice,  would  rather  lead  cme  to  conclude  that  soul 
and  body  must  come  together.     There  can  be  no  objection  to 

Digitized  by  VJ^/VJV  IV. 


64  Heaven^  Sell,  ffades ;  [April, 

the  belief  that  the  body  of  Samuel  appeared,  derived  from  the 
account  itself;  nor  3retm>m  the  nature  ot  things :  the  doors  mi^t 
be  open,  or  opened  if  shut,  and  there  might  be  no  other  opposition 
to  a  solid  boay ;  and  the  Scripture  account  mentions  none,  nor  says 
anything  whateyer  to  lead  us  to  suppose  that  it  was  Samuel's  soul 
alone  that  appeared  to  the  witch ;  but  if  this  does  not  please,  then 
it  follows  that  the  whole  affair  could  only  be  a  mental  illusion. 
The  witch,  by  some  magic  incantations,  or  even  without,  might  see 
Samuel  in  her  mind's  eye,  and  the  Scripture  may  still  be  true.  If 
she  did  see  Samuel  by  her  mind's  eye,  that  womd  be  sufficient  to 
justify  the  account  ^ven  ;  and  Samuel's  speaking  mi^ht  easily  be 
performed  by  the  witch.  Whatever  view  we  take  of  the  matter, 
it  is  plain  that  we  have  nothing  taught  us  here  as  to  any  inter^ 
mediate  state. 

The  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  is  no  doubt  founded  upon  a 
Rabbinical  tale  or  legend.  Abraham  is  represented  sustaining 
such  a  character  as  it  is  utterly  impossible  he  can  sustain  in 
Heaven.  The  representation  as  to  him  is  however  in  keeping  with 
the  feelings  and  views  of  the  Jews  in  respect  to  him :  he  is  repre- 
sented in  the  character  of  a  father  or  chief.  Dives  address 
Abraham  as  if  he  had  power  to  extend  mercy  to  him,  and  to  send 
Lazarus  to  him,  and  to  send  some  one  to  his  brethren  to  convince 
them  of  their  sinful  lives,  and  our  Saviour  takes  no  pains  to  cor- 
rect the  idea ;  the  conversation  is  sustained  between  Dives  and 
Abraham,  and  although  Abraham  disclaims  the  power  to  send 
Lazarus  to  Dives,  he  does  not  so  in  respect  to  sending  a  mes- 
senger from  the  dead ;  and  our  Lord  makes  no  remark  whatever 
upon  the  conversation.  But  we  may  believe  that  Abraham's 
bosom  was  meant  by  our  Lord  to  represent  Heaven,  and  Abraham 
himself  to  represent  the  Father,  By  this  adaptation  of  the  tale, 
our  Lord  was  enabled  to  set  before  the  Jews,  in  strong  colours, 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked  represented  by  Dives,  and  the  re- 
compense for  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous  represented  by  Lazarus 
in  the  future  life ;  and  to  show  the  Jews,  who  sought  signs  fit)m 
our  Lord,  that  if  they  would  not  believe  the  evidences  they  already 
had,  they  would  not  believe  any  evidence.  And  let  it  be  noticed 
also  that  Dives  says,  ^  I  am  tormented  in  this  flame ;'  and  speaks 
of  Lazarus's  fin^r,  his  own  tongue,  and  cold  water.  It  is  im- 
possible to  conceive  of  a  soul  tormented  by  flames,  or  having  bodily 
members ;  and  the  body  of  Dives  was  buried,  and  on  earth.  The 
unavoidable  inference  is,  that  the  punishment  spoken  of  was  not 
bein^  endured  at  the  time  spoken  of;  and  if  not  at  that  time,  thai 
the  latter  part  of  the  parable,  as  to  the  brethren  of  Dives  being 
still  alive,  cannot  receive  a  literal  and  direct  interpretation. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  descriptions  are  only  in  accommo- 
dation to  the  imperfect  knowledge  of  men  as  to  future  things ; 

Digitized  by  VJIV/V./V  IV. 


1853.  J  or  Sleep  of  the  jSouI.  65 

but  if  this  be  so,  as  we  admit  it  is,  where  must  we  stop  in 
figurative  interpretation?  With  respect  to  the  parables  in 
particular,  a  great  deal  of  the  accompanying  matter  must  be 
put  aside  as  wholly  irrelevant  to  the  biurden  of  the  parable — the 
truth  or  doctrine  intended  to  be  set  fortL  We  may  say  that  the 
words  '  flames,'  '  ton^e/  and  '  water/  are  figurative ;  but  we  also 
say  that  the  idea  of  time  is  not  to  be  gathered  from  this  parable. 
If  so,  then,  to  say  the  least,  there  is  no  doctrine  here  of  a  Hades — 
no  definition  of  the  place— no  intimation  that  any  further  change 
awaits  either  Dives  or  Lazarus.  On  the  contrary,  the  unavoid- 
able and  direct  inference  is,  that  the  one  is  in  Hell,  the  other  in 
Heaven  ;  and  the  object  of  the  parable  is  merely  to  set  before  men 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked  and  the  reward  of  the  righteous  in 
the  next  life,  where  God  will  adjust  all  the  apparent  inconsistencies 
and  umustness  of  his  dealings  with  the  wicked  and  the  good  in 
this  life.  We  see  Dives  in  Hell,  and  Lazarus  in  Heaven,  but 
there  is  no  time  given ;  and  the  most  we  can  gather  fix)m  the 
parable  is  the  certainty  of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  that  we 
must  believe  the  evidences  given  to  us  of  the  truth  of  revelation. 
We  cannot  therefore  make  use  of  this  parable.  It  will  not  en- 
able us  to  answer  any  of  the  questions  proposed. 

There  is  a  text  which  says,  '  Who  knoweth  the  spirit  of  a  man 
which  goeth  upward,  and  the  spirit  of  a  beast  which  descendeth 
downward  to  the  earth  ?'  The  original  is  ^  the  spirit  of  the  sons 
of  man,'  not  '  the  spirits ;'  and  the  same  word,  translated  spirit, 
is  used  for  the  spirit  both  of  man  and  beast  It  is  not  expected 
that  any  one  will  contend  that  this  text  has  reference  to  the  soul 
of  man.  We  have  nevertheless  thought  it  better  to  produce  it 
It  is  either  only  a  question  upon  the  animal  nature  of  man  and 
beast,  or  it  has  reference  to  the  erect  countenance  of  man  and  the 
downward  look  of  brutes,  with  a  suggestive  question  as  to  the 
animal  nature  of  each.  Even  if  we  consider  *  spirit  of  the  sons  of 
man '  as  meaning  the  souls  of  all  men,  the  text  proves  nothing  but  an 
appearing  before  God  after  death.  It  proves  nothing  as  to  time — 
nothing  as  to  either  Heaven,  Hell,  Hades,  or  the  sleep  of  the  soul. 

Another  text  says,  '  Or  ever  the  silver  cord  be  loosed,  &c.,  then 
shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  shall 
return  to  God  who  gave  it'  Here  it  is  evident,  from  the  context, 
that  all  that  is  intended  to  be  enforced  is  the  certainty  and  solem- 
nity of  death.  There  is  no  allusion  to  any  intermediate  state,  only 
the  doctrine  that  man  shall  not  perish  as  do  the  brutes ;  that  there 
is  something  which  God  imparted  to  man  which  shall  return  to  him 
again,  and  shall  not  perish.  There  would  not  be  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt  about  this  if  the  words  '  or  ever  *  and  '  then '  were  not  found 
in  the  English  text,  but  these  are  not  in  the  original  Hebrew.  It 
will  be  found  that  the  plain   meaning  of  the  entire  passage  is 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  Digitized  bFVj^/v^/^  IV. 


66  Heavm^  HeUy  Hades ;  [April, 

this: — Remember  now  thy  Creator  m  the  days  of  thy  youth  or 
strength,  before  those  things  happen  which  are  here  particularised. 
These  are  the  things  xnentioned  in  the  first  seven  verses  of  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  Ecclesiastes ;  and  among  them  are  the  failing 
of  man's  body,  his  death,  and  appearing  before  Grod  after  death. 
*  Or  ever,'  in  the  sixth  verse,  should  be  '  before ;'  and  '  then,'  in 
the  seventh  verse,  shoidd  be  a  simple  *  and.'  The  word  trans- 
lated *  spirit '  is  the  same  as  that  used  in  the  last  text,  and  may 
well  be  taken  for  the  animal  spirits — the  breath  of  life ;  and  so 
the  text  may  simply  teach,  and  that  by  inference  only,  not  by  direct 
assertion,  that  the  body  returns  to  the  earth  ttom  wheo  ^  it  came, 
but  God  takes  possession  of,  in  order  to  preserve  that  part  or  prin- 
ciple which  makes  the  body  capable  of  rising  again,  fhe  passage 
proves  nothing  as  to  any  intermediate  state. 

In  Heb.  xii.  23,  mention  is  made  of  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  to  which  the  Hebrews  addressed  are  said  to  have 
come.  How  could  the  living  be  said  to  have  come  to  the  spuits 
of  just  men  made  perfect?  The  context  plainly  shows  that  Paul 
was  setting  before  his  readers  the  fact  that  the  old  dispensation, 
with  the  law  delivered  fix)m  the  mount  amidst  such  dreadftil  mani- 
festations of  divine  majestjr,  was  no  more,  and  that  the  Gospel 
dispensation  was  that  to  which  they  were  then  called ;  and  he  con- 
trasts the  forbidding  nature  of  the  one  with  the  glory  and  be- 
nignity of  the  other.  He  does  not  say  that  there  were  then  any 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  B^des,  and  what  is  more  to 
the  point,  we  must  allow  that  the  spirit  of  a  just  man  must  be  made 
perfect  before  death :  it  seems  highly  dangerous  to  suppose  that 
the  souls  of  the  just  are  perfected  after  death.  Indeed  it  has 
struck  us,  with  respect  to  several  separate  parts  of  the  argument, 
how  ea^  an  access  the  doctrine  of  Heaven  or  Hades,  in  the  terms 
of  our  first  and  second  questions,  opens,  in  unthinking  and  weak 
minds,  to  the  belief  in  Purgatory.  Tne  spirit  of  a  man  justified  by 
the  merits  of  Christ,  and  whose  enlvation  and  justification  is  per- 
fected by  faith  in  Christ's  atonement,  is  something  peculiarly 
belonging  to  the  Christian  Church ;  and  St  Paul  contrasts  this 
perfect  righteousness  through  the  blood  of  Christ  with  the  state  of 
things  under  the  law,  which  could  never  make  the  comers  thereunto 
perfect.  The  Christaans  were  odled  to  that  which  did  make  the 
comers  thereunto  perfect  Consider  the  words  *  comers  thereunto ' 
in  the  one  passage  referred  to,  and  *  ye  are  come  to '  in  the  other 
passage.  The  soul  must  be  as  n^ect,  in  this  sense,  immediately 
oefore  death  as  it  ever  will  be  ;  but  it  shall  hereafter  find  that  the 
body  has  been  changed  and  made  to  be  no  longer  capable  of  warring 
against  it  (See  Rom.  vii.  15,  16,  17 ;  Heb.  x.  14  ;  1  John  iii. 
9^  The  mention  of  the  epirite  of  just  men  is  full  of  meaning. 
Tnere  is  nothing  taught  as  to  any  intermediate  state. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


185a.]  or  Sleep  of  the  Soul.  67 

Heb.  vi.  12  proves  nothing  but  that  the  righteous  do  inherit 
the  promises — that  is,  that  happiness  is  the  future  lot  of  the  right- 
eous :  the  text  does  not  say,  *  who  do  now  inherit' 

A  cursory  fflance  at  Matt.  xxii.  30,  and  Luke  xx.  36,  will  show 
that  what  is  were  said  of  the  dead  is  said  of  them  after  they  shall 
have  attained  to  Heaven,  and  after  they  shall  have  been  accounted 
worthy  to  obtain  that  wwld,  and  the  resurrection  firom  the  dead. 
Nothing  is  said  as  to  any  intermediate  state. 

£ph.  iii.  5  has  an  appearance  in  favour  of  a  direct  translation 
of  the  souls  of  the  rigmeous  to  Heaven ;  but  the  words  are,  we 
think,  too '-lender  to  hold  by,  unless  greatly  strengthened  by  other 


*  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this  the  judgment.' 
There  is  to  oe  a  judgment  after  death,  but  when,  the  text  shows  not ; 
and  therefore  of  course  does  not  speak  of  any  intermediate  state. 

The  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  widow's  son,  and  others,  can  prove 
nothing  in  reference  to  our  subject,  nor  enable  us  to  answer,  witiii 
satisfactory  reasons,  the  questions  proposed.  From  the  drcum- 
stances  attending  these  events,  we  may  draw  some  very  probable 
conclusions,  but  they  are  not  in  place  here. 

Having  then  so  fer  narrowed  our  field  of  inquiry  as  to  leave 
only  texts  of  Scripture  which  do  or  do  appear  to  convey  some  in- 
struction, or  impart  some  doctrine  in  respect  to  the  matter  in 
hand,  let  us  proceed  to  examine  them ;  and  for  convenience  sake 
we  will  first  take  those  texts  of  Scripture  which  would  seem  to 
give  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  second  question. 

*  This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.'  In  this  text  it 
win  be  observed  there  are  two  declarations.  I  shall  to-day  be  in 
Paradise.  Thou  shalt  to-day  be  with  me  there.  Now  it  is  written 
in  the  Psafans,  *  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Hell,  neither  wilt 
thou  suffer  Thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption.'     And  we  are  told 

5'  Peter  that  this  was  said  of  Jesus,  *  that  His  soul  was  not  left  in 
ell,  neither  His  flesh  did  see  corruption/  In  the  Psahns,  the 
passage  translated  Hell  is  ^Ktr,  which  is  allowed  to  be  very  accu- 
rately translated  by  Hades,  and  Hades  is  the  word  used  in  the 
passage  in  the  Acts.  It  certainly  appears  to  follow  that  by  Para- 
dise om*  Saviour  meant  Hades.  Two  Scriptures  declare  that  he 
would  or  did  go  to  Hades,  and  our  Saviour  says  he  is  goingto  Para- 
dise, which  surely  must  be  only  another  name  for  Hades.  And  the 
rnyme  in  a  secondary  soise,  and  after  some  use,  might  seem  not 
jether  inappropriate.  The  general  primary  idea  conveyed  by 
the  word  Paradise,  as  gathered  from  the  use  of  it  by  Xenophon  and 
others,  is  a  place  for  uie  assembly  of  animals  of  various  kinds,  a 
general  gathering  place  for  animals  kept  and  reserved  there  for 
some  particular  purpose,  chiefly  perhaps  that  of  hunting.  Now  the 
words  hyw&  in  the  Hebrew,  and  Hades  in  the  Greek,  mean  strictly, 

D I  g  i^ec^y  V3  ^J  KJW  I  ^ 


68  Meavm^  Hdly  Hades ;  [April, 

as  applied  to  a  locality,  a  place  sought  for,  an  unknown,  unseen, 
place,  an  undefined  locality,  a  place  about  which  we  know  not 
anything  and  cannot  discourse  of  or  enlarge  upon  in  our  conversa- 
tion. The  rendering  is  not  a  place  in  which  we  seek  for  anything, 
but  a  place  of  the  very  nature  and  existence  of  which  we  have  no 
information.  In  truth  the  words  are  of  the  number  of  those  which 
are  negative  in  conveying  an  idea.  When,  therefore,  these  words 
are  applied  to  tlie  dead.  Hades  becomes,  as  ^ifc^j^  also  does,  a 
great  gathering  place  for  the  dead.  So  that  if  a  person  says  of 
one  deceased,  he  is  gone  to  Hades,  it  is  precisely  me  same  as  if 
he  had  said,  he  is  gone  I  know  not  whither,  he  is  out  of  life,  he  is 
gone  where  all  the  dead  go,  to  the  bourne  from  which  no  traveller 
returns.  Now,  therefore,  if  we  say  that  our  Lord  descended  into 
Hades,  we  say  that  the  thief  also  descended  there,  but  this  Hades 
is  not  the  Hades  mentioned  in  the  second  question,  the  assertion 
simply  means  that  our  Lord  and  the  thief  both  died,  and  the 
words  '  with  me '  might  contain  in  them  the  assurance  of  a  joyful 
resurrection  to  the  thief.  The  words  of  our  Lord  would  tnen 
mean: — This  day  thou  shalt  die  with  me;  but  as  I  shall  rise 
again,  so  shalt  thou  rise  again,  and  with  me  thou  shalt  live  in  my 
kingdom.  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee,  thou  art  now  one  with  me. 
We  think  what  we  have  advanced  is  positive  proof,  if  we  consider 
our  Lord's  human  nature  only,  but  if  we  interpret  the  text  as 
showing  that  our  Lord  in  His  Divine  nature  went  to  Paradise 
diu*lng  the  three  days,  the  case  assumes  another  aspect.  We  be- 
lieve we  shall  have  followers,  and  those  of  sober  and  discreet  minds, 
if  we  decline  proceeding  with  the  examination  of  the  text  until  we 
can  ascertain  something  more  definite  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
word  Paradise,  but  we  may  remark  that,  if  we  obtain  the  meaning 
of  that  word,  the  question  may  still  remain,  whether  our  Lord 
speaks  of  His  divine  or  of  his  human  nature :  if  of  His  human 
nature,  we  think  the  question  is  decided  as  above ;  if  of  His  divine 
nature,  the  question  is  open  for  reconsideration.  In  the  meantime, 
it  appears  certain  that  there  can  be  no  proof  of  the  existence  of 
the  Hades  of  our  second  question,  nor  of  any  intermediate  state 
whatever  derived  from  this  passage. 

Another  text  says, '  Death  and  Hell  shall  give  up  the  dead  which 
are  in  them.'  Death  is  used  here  for  the  power  or  grasp  of  death, 
and  Hell  or  Hades  is  synonymous  with  it.  We  cannot  long 
sustain  an  impersonation  of  death ;  if  we  could,  we  could  not  say 
death  sh^dl  give  up  the  dead  which  are  in  Him,  this  would  not  be 
intelligible,  there  would  be  nothing  but  a  string  of  words  without 
any  meaning  ;  so  if  Hades  is  a  place  for  living  souls,  and  no  one 
attempts  to  maintain  that  any  bodies  are  there,  it  would  be  too 
much  to  say  Hades  shall  give  up  the  dead  which  are  in  it. 

The  text,  and  '  Death  and  Ilell  (that  is  Hades)  were  cast  into 

Digitized  by  KJ^J^JWIK^ 


1853.]  or  Sleep  of  the  Said.  69 

the  lake  of  fire/  must  of  course  follow  the  interpretation  of  the  last 
text,  unless  it  contains  fresh  matter  for  investigation  which  it  does 
not  with  reference  to  our  present  subject.  But  let  us  view  it  as  if 
it  occurred  apart  from  the  other.  The  expression,  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire,  must  shew  that  if  there  is  such  a  place  as  the  Hades 
of  our  second  question,  it  must  all  descend  into  the  lake  of  fire, 
the  happy  division  along  with  the  other,  and  that  all  the  dead, 
^ood  and  bad,  must  go  into  this  lake.  This  is  impossible ;  and  as 
death  and  Hades  are  classed  together  as  before,  we  must  under- 
stand that  death,  and  the  unseen,  unknown,  condition  or  state  of 
the  dead,  were  now  no  more,  for  the  two  texts  must  go  together. 
They  however  prove  nothing  as  to  the  Hades  of  oiu*  second  ques- 
tion, nothing  as  to  any  intermediate  state. 

In  the  text,  '  And  his  name  that  sat  on  him  was  Death,  and 
Hell  followed  with  him,'  it  is  quite  evident  that  Death  and  Hell 
or  Hades,  mean  no  more  than  destruction  of  the  bodies  of  those 
who  should  be  slain ;  the  passage  is  highly  poetical.  How  can  we 
understand  Hades  following  after  Death,  who  here  for  the  time  is 
impersonated  and  represented  as  riding  on  a  horse.  The  only  sense 
in  which  it  is  possible  to  understand  it  is,  that  Death  went  on  in 
his  work  of  cutting  down  men,  and  as  each  man  was  slain  he  went 
to  Hades,  that  is,  was  cut  oflF  from  the  earth,  but  this  interpreta- 
tion will  only  more  strongly  prove  that  this  Hades  cannot  oe  the 
Hades  of  our  second  question,  because  Hades  does  not  go  about 
from  place  to  place  to  receive  souls. 

We  have  not  then  a  single  proof  of  such  a  j)lace  as  the  Hades 
of  our  second  question.  All  the  passages  examined  appear  rather 
to  disprove  it ;  and  if  enlarged  upon,  we  think  the  evidence  to  be 
derived  from  them  against  the  existence  of  such  a  place  might  prove 
anything  but  light,  but  we  forbear ;  we  shall  have  to  take  up  the 
subject  again  when  we  have  done  with  proofs  from  Scripture. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  texts  whicn  may  seem  to  favour  an 
answer  in  the  affirmative  to  the  first  question.  We  positively  are 
at  a  loss  here ;  we  have  the  greatest  difficulty  in  calling  to  mind 
any  passage  which,  honestly  speaking,  seems  to  favour  such  an 
answer.  The  case  of  St.  ram's  desiring  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,  and  his  discourse  upon  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle, 
and  that  house  which  is  in  or  from  Heaven,  and  the  case  of  the 
souls  under  the  altar  crjring  to  God  to  avenge  their  deaths,  will 
perhaps  suffice  for  all,  if  indeed  there  are  any  others. 

If  the  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  of  2  Corinthians  are  carefully 
read,  it  will  be  seen  that  St.  Paul,  from  the  tenth  verse  of  the 
fourth  chapter,  to  the  tenth  verse  of  the  fifth  chapter,  is  setting 
before  his  readers  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  He 
speaks  of  being  absent  from  this  earthly  body,  and  of  being  in 
Heaven  with  the  house  which  is  from  or  of  Heaven  that  is  incor- 

Digitized  by  KJKJKJWIK^ 


70  Heavm^  MeU,  Hades ;  [ApA, 

ruptible ;  but  he  says  we  are  confident  and  willing  rather  to  be 
absent  firom  the  body  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord.  Now  we 
cannot  be  present  with  the  Lord  in  our  house  or  body,  which  is 
from  or  of  Heaven,  so  long  as  our  earthly  body  is  in  the  grave. 
St.  Paul,  therefore,  when  using  the  words  *  present  with  the  Lord,' 
means  present  with  him  in  our  risen,  incorruptible,  bodies,  and 
this  of  course  cannot  be  until  the  resurrection.  He  says,  indeed, 
*  knowing  that  whilst  we  are  in  the  body  we  are  absent  from  the 
Lord,'  but  he  does  not  say  that  inmiediately  upon  leaving  the 
body,  or  being  absent  from  the  body,  we  pe  present  wiA  the 
Lord,  nor  does  he  say  that  he  is  wiUing  to  be  absent  from  the 
body  in  order  to  be,  immediately  after  quitting  it,  present  with  the 
Lord.  And  the  idea  of  the  last  day,  the  general  resurrection,  is 
still  kept  up,  for  he  afterwards  says  *  we  must  all  appear  before  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things 
done,  in  his  body  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be 
good  or  bad.'  We  shall  justii^  the  position  of  the  comma  after 
'  done '  when  we  make  use,  hereaner,  of  the  latter  part  of  this  passage. 
At  present  we  have  elicited  nothing  as  to  any  intermediate  state. 

Now,  as  to  the  souls  under  the  altar.  Occurring  as  the  passage 
does,  in  a  very  poetical  book,  where  the  ordinary  rules  of  language 
fail,  perhaps  more  than  in  respect  to  any  other  book  that  was  ever 
written,  we  might  beg  leave  to  pass  over  it,  satisfied  as  we  are 
that  we  can  get  no  information  from  it  for  our  present  purpose ; 
but  lest  this  liberty  may  not  be  conceded,  we  observe  that  it 
appears  to  mean  nothing  more  than  that  the  blood  of  those  slain 
for  the  sake  of  God  and  His  truth,  ever  cries  aloud  for  vengeance. 
The  giving  of  white  robes  to  the  souls,  has  no  meaning  in  refer- 
ence to  our  present  subject, — the  language  is  poetical.  How  could 
souls  have  robes  given  to  them  ?  It  may  be  said  that  the  word 
souls  must  be  taJcen  literally,  and  the  words  white  robes  figura- 
tively, but  we  protest  against  such  shifting  of  the  rules  of  inter- 
pretation. It  IS  better  to  treat  the  text  as  we  have  done,  and 
admit  its  high  poetical  colouring.  We  therefore  have  yet  no 
proof  or  intimation  of  any  intermediate  state. 

We  have  now  left  for  our  consideration  those  passages  which 
seem  to  favour  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  third  question,  and 
here  we  must  bring  in  probabilities,  not  for  the  mere  purposes  of 
this  third  question,  which  would  of  course  be  unfair,  but  to  wind 
up  the  whole  paper,  and  extract  what  we  can  from  our  labours, 
allotting  probabilities  without  partiality. 

In  the  cases  of  the  ruler's  daughter  (Matt.  ix.  24),  and  of 
Lazarus  (John  xi.  11 — 14),  it  is  remarkable  how  careful  our 
Saviour  appears  to  be  of  the  language  he  uses.  He  says  to  those 
waiting  about  the  young  girl,  *  The  maid  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth;'  and  the  bystanders,  knowing  certainly  that  she  was 

Digitized  by  VJV/V./V  IV. 


1853.]  (yr  Sleep  qf  the  JSaul.  71 

dead,  laughed  him  to  scorn.  He  said  on  the  other  occasion  to 
his  disciples,  '  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth ;  and  I  go  to  awake 
him  out  of  his  sleep/  The  disciples  acquiesced  in  aU  simpUcitv  ; 
and  Jesus,  seeing  nis  words  were  not  imderstood,  said  plainly, 

*  Lazarus  is  dead.'  Now  here  we  have  two  dead  subjects,  of  one 
of  which  Jesus  said,  '  She  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth,'  and  of  the 
other,  *  He  is  dead,'  after  having  first  made  trial  of  the  word 

*  sleepeth'  to  convey  his  meaning.  In  both  cases,  then,  he  desired 
to  teach  his  disciples  and  the  hearers  some  important  doctrine  or 
truth,  for  we  cannot  suppose  that  he  was  tantalizing  their  feelings 
or  jesting  or  sporting  with  them.  We  ask,  is  it  not  evident  that 
he  wished  to  lead  them  to  the  truth  of  a  glorious  resurrection,  as 
he  taught  it  to  Martha,  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  and  to  teach  that 
the  soul  sleeps  from  death  until  the  resurrection  ? 

Daniel  says,  '  and  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the 
earth  shall  awake^  some  to  everlasting  life  and  some  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt'  He  does  not  say,  many  of  the  bodies^ 
although  that  is  very  unimportant ;  the  text  certainly  gives  one 
the  idea  of  body  and  soul  awaking  together,  either  to  begin  the 
everlasting  life,  or  to  begin  to  endure  the  shame  and  contempt. 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  warnings  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles 
and  all  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  is  that  every  one  is  to 
receive  in  the  body  the  things  done,  accordinff  to  that  he  hath 
done,  whether  it  be  good  or  b^.  We  justify  tne  position  of  the 
comma  just  noticed  as  well  by  the  sense  of  the  passages  and  their 
interpretation,  taken  in  connection  with  other  Scripture,  as  by  the 
grammatical  construction  of  the  original  Greek  in  2  Cor.  v.  10, 
where,  we  are  inclined  to  think,  the  jpreposition  S*a  decides  the 
point  In  2  Cor.  v.  10,  '  done'  is  not  m  the  original.  We  read 
it,  receive  through  or  by  means  of,  or  in  the  body,  the  things, 
that  is,  the  fruit  of  the  things  done  in  the  bodv ;  and  this  meaning 
the  verb  translated  '  receive  helps  to  establish,  or  at  least  |^atiy 
favours.*  We,  therefore,  think  this  passage  excludes  the  idea  of 
the  soul  existing  in  any  state  of  consciousness  after  the  death  of 
the  body,  and  helps  to  prove  the  sleep  of  the  soul. 

Our  Saviour  speaks  of  men  being  either  cast  into  hell  or  ad- 
mitted to  heaven  with  the  body,  and  he  makes  use  of  the  words 
enter  into  life.  Now,  although  we  ftdly  admit  that  this  language 
is  highly  figurative,  yet  we  «3so  think  that  the  passage  at  least 
gives  us  the  impression  of  a  first  entering  into  a  happy  or  miser- 
able state  at  the  resiurection  of  the  body,  and  consequently  helps 
to  prove  the  sleep  of  the  soul. 

We  read  agam,  *  Yea,  saith  the  spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from 

*  See  the  last  number  of  this  Joonml,  ^.  396.  We  were  not  aware  that  we  had 
any  countenance  from  others,  for  our  mterpretation,  before  we  received  that 
number. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


72  Heavmy  Hdly  Hades ;  [April, 

their  labours.'  Does  it  seem  sufficient  to  interpret  this  of  the 
mere  earthy  substance  of  man  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  say  that  a  con- 
trary supposition  would  imply  that  the  righteous  lose  all  reward 
during  the  time  elapsing  between  their  death  and  resurrection  ? 
Surely  the  resurrection  to  life  at  all  is  a  rich  reward,  and  unless 
we  have  some  divine  instructions  upon  the  point,  we  must  not 
cavil  because  God  has  not  given  us  as  much  as  he  might  have 
done.  We  might  as  reasonably  complain  that  we  were  not  bom 
in  the  time  of  Abel,  and  saved,  that  we  might  not  have  lost  the 
years  of  enjoyment  from  his  time  to  our  resurrection.  The  text, 
we  are  induced  to  think,  helps  to  prove  the  sleep  of  the  soul. 

St.  Paul  says,  '  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me 
at  that  day,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love 
His  appearing.'^  How  striking  is  the  absence  of  all  allusion  to 
any  intermediate  state.  He  speaks  like  one  about  to  go  to  sleep, 
who  expects  to  awake  in  the  morning ;  he  says,  the  crown  shall  be 
given  at  that  day,  the  day  of  judgment,  and  it  is  to  be  ^ven  to  all 
who  love  the  appearing  of  Christ.  Everything  has  reference  to  this 
appearing;  and  the  text  strengthens  the  proof  of  the  sleep  of  the  soul. 

Again,  St.  Paul  said.  He  knew  his  Saviour  was  aole  to  keep 
that  which  he  had  committed  to  Him  against  that  day,  St.  Paul 
looked  forward  with  joy  as  the  primitive  Christians  ardently  and 
fondly  did  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  when  they  expected  the 
promised  glory  and  bUss.  The  thing  committed  by  Paul  to  his 
oaviour  was  his  body  and  whole  life  and  soul ;  that  day  was  the 
resurrection-day,  which  was  one  of  the  great  themes  of  the 
apostle's  teaching,  one  upon  which  he  delighted  to  dwell;  his 
whole  man  seems  to  thrill  with  joy  at  the  contemplation  of  it,  and 
why  should  he  think  so  much  of  it  if  he  knew  his  soul  would  quit 
his  body  at  death,  and  go  either  to  heaven  or  to  the  happy  portion 
of  Hades ;  and  why  should  he  lose  sight  of  the  soul  as  oistinct 
from  the  body,  and  spend  all  his  eloquence  and  warmth  upon  the 
body's  destination  ?  The  answer  seems  obrious — because  he  be- 
lieved, and  by  divine  inspiration  taught,  in  this  as  in  other  pas- 
sages, the  sleep  of  the  soul ;  for  it  must  be  observed  that  Paul, 
when  treating  of  the  resurrection,  does  not  bring  forward  with 
any  prominence  any  of  those  accompaniments  of  the  second 
appearing  of  Christ,  such  as  we  find,  or  think  we  find,  spoken  of 
in  the  Revelation.  What  he  says  has  reference  only,  or  at  least 
chiefly  and  beyond  comparison  to  his  own  individual  happiness, 
and  that  of  those  he  addresses,  at  that  glorious  period. 

It  does  appear  to  us  that,  unless  we  believe  m  the  doctrine  of 
the  sleep  or  the  soul,  we  cannot  account  for  so  much  feeling  ex- 

»»  Comp.  1  Thess.  ▼.  23. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  or  SUep  of  the  Saul.  73 

hiUted,  such  glowing  and  heart-stirring  language  used,  throughout 
the  New  Testament,  but  especially  by  St.  Paid,  in  reference  to  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  nor  for  the  entire  absence  of  any  mention 
of  the  soul  as  a  separate  existent  thing,  and  of  any  allusion  to 
any  intermediate  state. 

when  we  reflect  upon  the  proofe  and  reasoning  adduced  above, 
we  are  led  to  the  behef  that  the  body  and  soul  of  man  make  the 
man ;  that  they  never  were  and  never  will  be  disunited ;  that  the 
soul  shall  go  to  sleep  with  the  body  at  death ;  and  that,  when  the 
body  is  awakened  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  the  soul 
will  be  aroused,  and  rise  and  partake  of  the  glorious  renovation  of 
the  body.  And  when  we  call  to  mind  all  that  we  said  before  con- 
cerning sleep,  dreams,  &c.,  we  are  so  strengthened  in  our  belief 
that,  although  with  some  little  and  yet  very  littie  diffidence,  we 
submit  that  our  third  question  is  satisfoctorily  answered  in  the 
affirmative  to  the  negation  of  the  other  two. 

But  to  strenffthen  this  conclusion,  and  as  we  have  now  done  with 
regular  proof,  let  us  ofier  a  few  observations  upon  our  subject. 

How  IS  it  that  in  the  account  our  Lord  himself  eives  of  His 
coming  to  judge  the  world,  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  are  both 
represented  as  ignorant  of  the  sentence  to  be  pronounced  upon 
them  ?  It  is  hardly  possible  to  suppose  that,  if  their  souls  had 
been  conscious  in  any  intermediate  state,  they  coidd  answer  their 
Judge  as  thejr  are  said  to  do.  But  we  do  not  much  insist  upon 
this.  What  is  said  as  to  their  answers  may  only  be  intended  to 
show  the  humble  modesty  of  the  righteous,  and  the  still  bold 
wicked  assurance  of  the  bad  at  that  day.  Suppose  for  a  moment 
that  there  is  such  a  place  as  the  Hades  of  the  second  question, 
how  are  the  souls  oi  the  righteous  employed  there  ?  We  must 
remember  there  are  no  bodies  in  Hades ;  what  can  the  souls  be 
employed  in  ?  Can  we  come  to  any  other  conclusion  than  this, 
that  thev  will  pass  the  time,  say  some  of  them  six  thousand  years, 
in  nothing  else  than  constant  uninterrupted  unrelieved  thinking, 
either  of  the  joy  or  of  the  misery  awaitingthem ?  Do  you  say 
they  are  not  sensible  of  the  lapse  of  time  ?  They  must,  be  sensible 
of  it.  '  Time  is  that  which  we  now  use,  a  certain  portion  of 
eternity.' «  The  an^ls  must  be  sensible  of  the  lapse  of  time,  else 
they  cannot  be  sensible  of  anything.  Do  you  say  we  know  not 
what  happiness  God  may  give  to  the  souls  of  the  righteous,  nor 
what  misery  to  the  souls  of  the  wicked  in  Hades ?  We  answer, 
of  course  not;  we  know  nothing  about  it;  God  has  told  us 
nothing  about  it,  and  therefore  we  have  no  right  to  come  to  con- 
clusions about  it.  But  if  it  is  said  that  the  souls  in  Hades 
experience  more  positive  joy  and  misery  than  we  have  intimated, 

"  Cicero. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


74  Heaven,  Hell,  Hades ;  [April, 

we  ask  what  greater  happiness  or  misery  will  they  then  have  in 
Heaven  or  llell,  and  why  is  the  body  so  often  mentioned  in 
descriptions  of  or  discourses  upon  the  resurrection,  and  the  soul 
seldom  or  never  ?  and  if  it  is  admitted  that  they  experience  only 
the  happiness  or  misery  of  expecting  what  is  to  come,  then  we  say 
that  the  opinion  is  altogetno:  unworthy  of  Christians.  But, 
worthy  or  unworthy,  there  is  no  proof  of  such  a  place,  and  there- 
fore no  proof  of  any  division  of  it  into  a  happy  and  an  unhappy 
part :  all  is  the  merest  conjecture. 

We  have  seen  that  there  is  hardly  a  standing  place  for  inquiry 
as  to  the  first  question,  and  certaanly  nothing  to  enable  us  to 
answer  the  question  in  the  affirmative. 

If,  however,  we  review  all  the  texts  of  Scripting  brought  for- 
ward, we  think  it  will  be  plain  that  there  is  abimdant  proof,  not 
only  from  those  texts  which  we  have  produced  last,  but  from  those 
which  are  prima  facie  treated  as  affording  evidence  in  favour  of  a 
Heaven  or  Hell  or  Hades,  in  the  terms  of  the  first  and  second 
questions,  that  the  soul  sleeps  from  the  death  of  the  body  till  the 
resurrection  day. 

The  belief  in  Hades  appears  to  be  of  pagan  origin ;  the  body 
was  nothing  to  the  ancient  neathen :  all  their  thoughts  were  about 
the  soul.  The  contrary  is  the  case  with  Scripture  writers :  the 
body  is  never  lost  sight  of,  and  that  because  they  knew  that  the 
body  and  soul  made  the  man,  and  could  never  be  separated — 
that,  in  fact,  man  could  not  exist,  either  dead  or  alive,  without 
a  soul,  although  that  soul  might  sometimes  sleep,  whether  it 
were  during  each  returning  night,  or  during  the  time  to  elapse 
between  what  is  called  death,  but  which  our  Lord  calls  sleep,  and 
the  resurrection ;  and  because  in  the  sleep  of  the  body  was  recog- 
nised the  sleep  of  the  soul,  and  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
the  resurrection  of  the  soul.  As  to  the  belief  in  Hades,  sup- 
posing it  established,  supporting  a  beUef  in  Purgatory,  we  need 
not  say  much.  The  inference  would  be  unfounded,  that  is  plain ; 
but  when  we  remember  that  as  the  tree  falls,  so  it  lies,  let  us  also 
remember  that  the  earnest  desire  of  the  true  Christian  should  be 
to  be  conformed  to  his  Saviour  here,  to  hate  and  abhor  all  sin,  to 
groan  under  the  body  in  which  sin  still  exists,  and  that  he  will 
then  rejoice  and  be  comforted  in  the  expectation  of  that  day  when, 
after  having  slept  sweetly  in  Jesus,  his  body  shall  be  raised  in- 
corruptible, and  no  longer  liable  to  sin ;  and  his  soul  renewed  here, 
shall  then  have  nothing  to  hinder  the  attainment  and  possession 
of  that  perfect  purity,  that  oneness  with  God  which  ne  strove 
after  on  earth. 

We  forbear  entering  into  the  subject  of  the  attendant  circum- 
stances of  the  resurrection  supposea  to  be  disclosed  in  the  Reve- 
lation ;  we  feel  a  conviction,  however,  that  the  adoption  of  the 

Digitized  by  K^^J^JWIK^ 


1853.]  or  Sleep  of  the  Said.  75 

truth  which  we  think  we  have  in  this  paper  established,  will  remove 
a  host  of  difficulties  to  the  interpretation  of  that  book. 

We  had  finished  this  article  before  we  received  the  last 
number  of  the  '  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature.'  Several  matters 
in  that  number  seem  to  require  notice  here.  And  first  as  to  the 
text  Luke  xx.  27,  et  seq.  mentioned  in  the  letter  of  J.  E.  The 
Sadducees  asked  a  captious  question.  Our  Saviour  knew  that 
thev  asked  it  in  such  a  spirit  and  manner  as  made  it  equivalent  to 
theup  saying,  *  There  is  no  resurrection ;  for  how  can  seven  hus- 
bands hereafter  have  one  wife,  who  was  the  wife  of  each  of  them 
in  succession  upon  earth?'  Our  Saviour  in  reply  says,  'They 
who  have  risen  from  the  dead  neither  shall  marry  nor  be  given  in 
marriage.'  Now  this,  putting  out  of  view  our  Saviour's  divine 
authority  as  a  teacher,  was  a  mere  assertion,  without  proof.  If  it 
were  true,  the  objection  of  the  Saducees  woidd  necessarily  fall,  but 
our  Saviour  goes  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  proceeds  to  prove 
the  resiurection  of  the  dead  by  regular  process.  He  says,  *  God 
spake  of  Himself  to  Moses  as  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob.  Now,  if  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  dead,  that  is, 
according  to  your  belief,  annihilated,  God  could  not  have  thus 
spoken,  ror  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living,  for  all 
live  to  Him.  Therefore  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  not  anni- 
hilated, but  live  to  God,  as  do  all  men,  the  dead  included.  If, 
then,  the  so-called  dead  are  only  asleep,  they  shall  undoubtedly 
rise  again,  as  surely  as  you  each  morning  rise  from  your  sleep.' 
Our  Saviour  could  not  prove  that  the  dead  rise  again  by  proving 
that  the  dead  are  alive,  taking  these  words  in  their  ordinary  mean- 
ing. The  latter  term  involves  a  contradiction ;  but  even  taking 
the  words  *  All  live  to  him,'  that  is,  the  truth  deduced  from  the 
words  of  God  to  Moses,  as  proving  an  intermediate  waking  con- 
scious state,  our  Savioiu*  could  not  prove  from  this  the  resurrection 
of  the  body.  We  cannot  see  how  proof  that  the  soul  is  alive  or 
awake  after  death  can  show  that  the  body  will  live  again ;  but  we 
can  see  that  such  proof  would  afibrd  a  powerful  argiihient  that  the 
body  would  never  be  required  again,  inasmuch  as  the  soul  could 
subsist  and  experience  enjoyment  without  it.  We  mean  this  of 
course  apart  from  the  consideration  of  any  other  Scripture  decla- 
ration on  the  subject.  Then,  on  the  other  hand,  taking  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  as  firmly  established,  it  cannot  be  .proved  from 
that  that  the  soul  is  alive  or  awake.  Look  at  the  passage  as  we 
will,  we  can  find  in  it  no  proof  of  such  a  condition  of  the  soul. 
But  if,  as  we  maintain  is  plainly  the  case,  our  Saviour's  meaning 
was,  '  All  live  in  the  sight  of  Gfod ;  He  regards  the  dead  as  only 
sleeping,  and  therefore  speaks  of  Himself  as  their  God ;  the  prin- 

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76  Heaven^  Hell,  Hades ;  [April, 

ciple  of  life  is  preserved  by  him,'  then  the  truth  proved,  namely, 
that  the  dead  shall  arise  or  awake  to  renewed  life  at  the  resurrec- 
tion, is  plain,  easy,  and  natural. 

It  is  said,  that  to  speak  of  the  dead  as  beinff  alive  whilst  the 
soul  is  unconscious,  is  unmeaning, — that  life  is  life  only  when  there 
is  consciousness.  Now,  we  are  quite  willing  to  join  issue,  and 
take  our  stand  upon  this  proposition.  Let  us  see  what  it  leads  to. 
If  a  man  is  not  alive  except  during  the  time  he  is  in  a  state  of 
consciousness,  then  he  is  not  alive  during  common  sleep.  There 
must  be  no  doubt  about  that ;  and  this  is  just  what  we  are  inclined 
to  aflSrm.  With  respect  to  the  general  subject  in  hand,  we  say  a 
man  is  no  more  dead  during  so-(^ed  death  than  during  common 
sleep.  But  it  may  be  said  that  the  word  consciousness  in  the  pro- 
position is  not  used  in  the  same  sense  as  is  here  put  upon  it,  and 
that  during  common  sleep  a  man  is  conscious,  because,  for  instance, 
if  you  wound  his  flesh  it  feels  pain,  and  he  is  aroused,  whereas 
during  so-called  death  no  mortal  can  awake  him.  We  are  again 
willing  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  the  objector.  A  man,  then,  is 
conscious  during  common  sleep,  because  his  fellow  men  can  cause 
him  to  feel,  and  can  arouse  him.  Is  there  any  difference,  we  ask, 
when  he  is,  as  it  is  said,  dead,  and  the  Almighty  God  can  arouse 
him  and  cause  him  to  feel  ?  And  what  kind  of  consciousness  has 
a  man  who  has  been  stunned  by  a  blow,  or  has  fallen  down  in  a  fit, 
or  is  under  the  influence  of  chloroform  ?  In  all  these  cases  a  man 
is  as  much  alive  as  he  is  during  common  sleep,  and  yet,  although 
alive,  his  fellow  men  can  not  arouse  him  or  make  him  feel,  no  not 
even  when,  in  some  of  the  conditions  mentioned,  the  surgeon's  knife 
is  in  dreadful  operation.  What,  then,  becomes  of  the  supposed 
test  of  consciousness  ?  In  common  sleep ;  when  stunned ;  in  a  fit ; 
when  under  the  influence  of  chloroform ;  when,  as  it  is  said,  dead  ; 
man  has  the  same  kind  of  consciousness,  and  either  his  fellow  men 
or  God  can  arouse  him.  All  the  conditions  mentioned  are  in  the 
same  category,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  God  works  no  new 
creation  at  the  resurrection ;  although  greatly  changed,  it  is  the 
same  body  that  was  on  earth  which  is  then  called  to  life,  bone 
comes  to  bone,  and  flesh  to  flesh. 

A  grain  of  wheat  cannot  germinate  unless  it  die :  we  have  divine 
authority  for  this.  Now,  *  die '  here  cannot  mean  '  be  annihilated  ;' 
and,  accommodating  the  word  to  an  inanimate  thing,  we  say  that 
the  grain  of  wheat  has  the  same  kind  of  consciousness  as  the  body 
of  a  man  during  the  sleep  of  death.  If  we  look  upon  the  few 
remaining  bones  of  a  body  long  since  buried,  and  at  the  same 
time  look  upon  a  grain  of  wheat  after  it  has  lain  long  in  the 
ground,  we  may  say  of  each,  it  is  turned  to  corruption,  but  we 
must  also  say  ot  each,  it  is  conscious,  it  has  in  it  the  principles  of 

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1853.]  or  Sleep  of  the  SmL  77 

life  which  are  indestructible,  the  one  for  time,  the  other  for  eter- 
nity. Is  not  this  the  plain  teaching  of  St.  Paul  ?  He  says  the 
grain  of  wheat  must  die,  and  that  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die ;  but  he  says  also  that  the  grain  of  wneat  neicertheless  germi- 
nates, and  that  the  body  of  man  shall  reviye.  So  then  we  see, 
either  that  a  man  has  no  life  during  conunon  sleep  and  those  other 
conditions  we  have  mentioned,  and  during  so-called  death,  or  else 
he  is  always  alive,  both  during  sleep,  in  those  conditions,  and 
during  the  state  of  so-called  death.  We  need  hardly  say  that 
the  words  Ufe,  death,  &c.,  must  be  imderstood  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  accompanying  words,  and  in  harmony  with  the  fore- 
going remarks.  Our  Saviour  seems  to  have  taught  the  latter  of 
the  two  doctrines,  as  our  observations  on  the  cases  of  the  young  girl 
and  of  Lazarus  show.  And  in  the  text  now  imder  consideration 
he  teaches  the  same  thing.  '  All  live  to  God.  But  the  dead  sleep. 
They  shall  therefore  rise  again.'  What  J.  E.  considers  the  strongest 
and  plainest  text  in  the  New  Testament  in  favour  of  the  doctrine 
of  Heaven,  Hell,  or  Hades  as  places  of  intermediate  reception,  we 
consider  one  of  the  weakest ;  or  rather  we  think  it  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  subject. 

In  concluding  our  remarks  upon  this  text  we  wish  to  point  out 
a  feet  which  will  bear  some  thought,  namely,  that  with  respect  to 
this  text  the  question  was,  annihilation  or  non-annihilation,  resur- 
rection or  no  resurrection.  Our  Savioiu*  proved  non-annihilation 
and  a  resurrection,  by  proving  that  all  live  to  God :  we  have  shown 
that  if  the  passage  *  all  live  to  God  '  means  *  souls  are  in  an  inter- 
mediate, waking,  conscious  state,'  the  resurrection  and  non-anni- 
hilation is  not  proved,  because  the  body  is  not  considered  at  all, 
therefore  Mive'  must  have  the  meaning  we  have  pointed  out, 
namely,  that  the  dead  have  always  in  them  the  principle  of  life, 
and  therefore  should  be  rather  said  to  sleep.  We  must  therefore 
read  *  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  annihilated,  but  of  the  sleeping 
dead.'  Christ  is  God.  Christ  is  Lord  of  the  dead  and  living, 
rherefore  God  is  God  of  the  dead  (and  living).  Comp.  Luke  xx. 
38  ;  Rom.  xiv.  9.  The  two  texts  are  both  true ;  therefore  '  dead,' 
*  live,'  ^  living,'  cannot  have  the  same  meaning  in  both.  Read  the 
passages  according  to  our  view,  and  all  is  plain. 

And  here  we  would  suggest,  for  deep  consideration,  whether 
Death  is  not  said  to  be  a  conqueror,  the  last  enemy,  &c.,  because 
the  last  triumph  of  the  faith  of  a  Quistian  is  in  resigning  him- 
self thankfully  and  joyfiilly  to  a  death  or  sleep  which  involves  a 
temporary,  though  perhaps  long,  state  of  unconsciousness.  If  the 
soul  of  the  righteous  man  goes  immediately  after  death  to  Heaven 
or  Hades,  we  must  confess  we  cannot  see  how  death  can  be  consi- 
dered as  an  enemy  ;  and  this  was  always  a  difficulty  with  us,  before 

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78  Heaven^  Selly  Hades ;  [April, 

we  saw  the  doctrine  exhibited  by  us  in  its  fiill  bearing ;  but  if  the 
righteous  man  feels  compelled  to  say,  I  know  that  after  mv  skin 
worms  shall  destroy  my  body ;  if  he  knows  that  death  will  tnumph 
over  him  for  a  time,  his  faith  must  exert  her  noblest  powers  to 
make  him  look  over  and  beyond  that  long  sleep,  the  temporary 
and  qium  annihilation  of  his  whole  man,  to  that  day  when  the  last 
enemy  shall  be  destroyed,  and  death  and  Hades  be  no  more,  and 
to  say,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God.  St  Paul  bids  the  Thessa- 
lonians  not  to  sorrow  as  those  that  have  no  hope,  because  tJiem  that 
sleep  in  Jesus  God  will  bring  vnth  Mm.  He  does  not  say  their 
bodies,  but  *  them.^  And  what  need  of  sorrow,  what  cause  for 
it,  if  those  Christians  were  taught  and  knew  that  the  souls  of 
their  Mends  were  already  in  Heaven  or  the  happy  portion  of 
Hades? 

A  parting  word  to  all.  Lay  aside  all  prejudice  and  precon- 
ceived opinions.  If  we  ourselves  were  not  enabled  to  use  great 
restraint,  we  should  strive  against  our  convictions  and  the  proore  we 
have  adduced,  and  fail  back  upon  the  generally-receivea  opinion 
upon  this  subject.  And  why  r  Because  it  is  more  congenial  to 
oiu*  fallen  nature  and  pride,  and  calls  for  little  or  no  exercise  of 
faith.  Some  are  perhaps  afiraid  of  the  doctrine ;  we  have  just  said 
in  efifect  that  they  should  rather  be  afraid  of  the  other  doctrines ; 
but  first  find  the  truth  before  you  are  either  afraid  or  glad.  The 
writer  trusts  he  has  betrayed  no  haste  and  shown  no  desire  to  defend 
any  doctrine,  but  simply  to  search  out  the  truth.  Some  perhaps 
cling  with  fondness  to  a  few  afiecting  hymns  upon  the  subject. 
The  poetry,  however,  is  by  man ;  compare  it  with  the  word  of 
God,  and  then  retain  or  reject  it  as  you  may  be  convinced.  Some 
speak  of  the  doctrine  as  leading  to  materialism ;  we  cannot  see 
how  it  leads  to  materialism  more  than  the  doctrine  of  common 
sleep ;  but  let  us  not  mind  what  it  leads  to,  if  it  be  only  the  truth 
of  God.  Let  us  not  prejudge.  Let  us  examine  every  religious 
question  without  a  moment's  regard  to  feelings  or  consequences. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  we  do  not  dogmatically  assert  the 
doctrine  of  the  sleep  of  the  soul ;  we  do  however  say  that  the  evi- 
dence in  favour  of  that  doctrine  is  most  weighty,  and  that  we 
cannot  discover,  either  in  the  word  of  God  or  in  metaphysics,  any 
authority  whatever  for  a  contrary  doctrine.  Embracing  this  doc- 
trine we  can  understand  ourselves  and  our  nature,  and  read  and 
understand  our  Bible  as  we  never  could  before.  Dismissing  it  for 
a  moment,  as  untenable,  we  find  numberless  things  in  nature  and 
our  Bible  either  inexplicable  or  obscure. 

J.  E.  says  that  there  is  a  great  difierence  between  a  matta* 
above  our  reason  and  one  contrary  to  it ;  and  so  there  is ;  but  J.  E. 
goes  too  fast :  he  should  first  show  that  there  is  some  doctrine  to 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  or  Sleep  of  the  Soul.  79 

be  believed,  and  then,  if  one  refuses  to  believe  it  merely  because  it 
is  above  his  reason,  he  must  be  reproved. 

We  cordially  agree  with  J.  E.  when  he  says  that  if  it  is  shown 
that  any  ^ven  doctrine  is  posMky  that  is  qmte  enough ;  but  here 
again  he  nas  not  shown  us  that  the  Bible  enimciates  such  a  doc- 
trine as  that  which  he  defends. 

It  is  by  no  means  necessary  that  a  doctrine  should  be  set  forth 
in  so  many  words  in  the  Bible,  but  some  standing  place  must  be 
gained  before  such  arguments  as  J.  £.  has  used  can  have  any 
place. 

We  had,  as  we  before  said,  completed  this  article  before  we 
received  the  last  number  of  the  *  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature ;' 
it  was,  in  fact,  in  tjrpe,  and  we  were  therefore  the  more  glad 
to  find  how  entirely,  in  many  things,  the  writer  of  the  article 
*The  Resurrection  of  the  tiody'  agrees  with  us.  The  line 
of  argument  he  pursues  does  not  render  it  necessary  for  him  to 
take  much  notice  of  the  doctrine  now  under  consideration.  What 
he  says  of  it  he  seems  to  take  for  granted ;  but  we  refer  our 
readers  with  pleasiu*e  to  the  article  generally,  and  would  respect- 
fully beg  the  writer  of  it  to  consider  whether  his  own  arguments 
do  not  necessarily  lead  to  the  establishment  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
sleep  of  the  soul. 


*«*  It  18  scarcely  necessary  to  state  that  the  Jonma]  of  Sacred  Literature  is 
not  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  views  of  its  varioiu  contributors  and  corre- 
spondents on  this  subject.  Its  pages  are  still  open  to  the  statement  of  other  views 
different  from  those  which  have  been  advanced ;  but  not  after  the  next  number, 
as  it  18  judged  diat  the  readers  will  then  have  had  enough  of  this  discnssion. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


80  The  Nature  of  Sin,  [April, 


THE    NATURE    OF    SIN,   AND    ITS    EARLIEST 
DEVELOPMENTS. 

The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Sin^  exhibited  by  Dr.  Julius  Muller, 
Ordinary  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Halle. 
Wittenberg.  Translated  from  the  ori^nal  German  of  the 
third  improved  and  enlarged  edition  by  William  Pulsford. 
Edinburgh.    T.  &  T.  Clark.     1852. 

The  Church  before  the  Flood.  By  the  Rev.  John  Cummino,  D.D. 
London.     Arthur  Hall,  Virtue,  &  Co.     1853. 

In  all  accurate  investigations,  whether  of  moral  or  physical  phe- 
nomena, it  is  a  primary  necessity  to  isolate  as  much  as  possible 
the  matter  under  inquiry.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  it  is  often 
necessary  to  form  hypotheses  which  can  never  be  realized  in  prac- 
tice, just  as  in  chemistry  certain  combinations  are  referred  to  oases 
which  have  only  an  imaginary  existence  as  isolated  substances. 
The  questions  which  present  themselves  to  the  moral  philosopher 
are  more  complicated  than  those  which  belong  to  the  physical 
investigator,  as  physics  in  their  turn  are  more  involved  than 
geometry ;  but  whatever  be  the  inquiry,  it  is  well  to  reduce  it,  as 
lar  as  may  be,  to  a  fundamental  distinctness,  to  divest  it  of  all 
extraneous  complications,  and  for  this  pui^pose  to  train  the  mind 
to  an  analyzing  habit,  so  as  to  discern  intuitively  what  is  essential 
and  what  is  extraneous  to  the  matter  under  consideration.  Few 
subjects  can  present  themselves  to  the  mind  of  so  involved  a 
character  as  human  transgression.  The  inquiry  ramifies  in  a 
thousand  directions.  Sin  in  the  individual,  sin  in  the  species, 
transgression  against  God,  transgression  against  man,  the  viola- 
tion of  conscience,  the  violation  of  law,  departure  from  a  revealed 
standard  of  right,  departure  from  an  inherent  standard,  are  onlv 
a  few  of  the  varying  aspects  in  which  we  may  reflect  on  that  which 
we  call  sin.  We  have  to  remember  also,  that  each  individual 
exhibits  to  us  a  separate  organic  mechanism,  the  moving  power  of 
which  is  the  will  held  in  restraint  by  the  conscience,  and  swayed 
by  the  natural  emotions  and  impulses.  Each  individual  does,  in 
fact,  present  a  separate  study  of  the  whole  phenomenon,  and  as 
that  which  is  in  an  abnormal  condition  prescribes  new  laws  to  itself, 
so  that  we  cannot  trace  out  its  development  from  that  alone  which 
we  have  ascertained  of  its  original  state  whilst  yet  undisturbed,  so 
the  study  of  human  nature  reveals  all  the  capricious  results  which 
must  be  expect>ed  in  tracing  the  movements  of  that  which  has 
strayed  from  a  right  path. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  and  its  earliest  Developments.  81 

How  then  can  an  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  sin  he  disentangled  ? 
There  are  certain  considerations  which  help  to  do  this  at  the 
outset,  and  of  which  all  classes  of  theologians  habitually  avail 
themselves.  It  is  within  our  reach  to  determine  upon  a  funda- 
mental principle  or  norm  of  righteousness.  We  are  made  aware, 
not  only  that  Grod  is  himself  a  perfect  Being,  but  that  he  created 
man  originally  in  his  own  image  and  likeness.  We  learn,  also, 
that  to  man  thus  created  a  law  was  ^ven,  definite  in  its  terms,  and 
reduced  to  the  utmost  simplicity  in  its  requirements.  Consequently 
we  have  the  means  of  observing  how  a  rational  creature,  possessed 
of  undimmed  faculties,  with  a  will  free  to  choose  between  good  and 
evil,  and  placed  in  circumstances  which  were  most  favourable  for 
the  application  of  the  test,  acted  when  that  test  was  imposed.  In 
other  words,  an  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  sin  leads  us  at  the  outset 
to  a  conaderation  of  the  conduct  of  our  first  parents  in  the  garden 
of  Eden.  That  transaction  at  once  supplies  the  clearest  illustration 
of  some  of  the  deepest  principles  involved,  and  reveals  to  us  his- 
torically the  explanation  of  the  chief  mystery  of  the  subject.  We 
see  therein  that '  sin  entered  into  the  world  and  death  by  sin ;  and 
so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned.^ 

It  is  an  obvious  remark  that  the  early  chapters  in  Genesis  which 
terminate  with  the  account  of  the  flood,  reveal  to  us  but  little  of 
the  antediluvian  world.  That  world  cannot  have  been  devoid  of 
material  for  the  historian  ;  it  was,  probably,  not  without  its  litera- 
ture, its  brazen  tablets,  and  monumental  inscriptions,  but  these 
were  swept  away.  Nevertheless,  among  the  scattered  fragments 
which  have  been  permitted  to  survive,  we  have  a  very  large 
proportion  of  that  which  throws  light,  we  may  say  fearful  fight  on 
the  subject  of  our  present  inquiry.  Three  great  facts  stand  out  in 
marked  prominence :  the  sin  of  Adam,  the  sin  of  Cain,  and  the  sin 
of  Noah  s  contemporaries.  We  learn  how  the  simplest  law  was 
broken  by  the  fieither  of  the  race ;  how  his  first-bom  was  ere  long 
ffuilty  of  the  greatest  crime ;  and  how  the  evil  leaven  worked 
uiroughout  the  whole  family  so  as  to  bring  down  the  sorest  mani- 
festation of  God's  displeasure.  And,  as  a  happy  contrast  to  this 
short  but  sad  chronicle,  the  true  principle  of  righteousness  is  illus- 
trated in  the  career  of  that  patriarch  who  'walked  with  God.' 
Within  these  slender  narratives,  therefore,  lie  the  germs  of  all  that 
can  be  known  of  sin  and  righteousness,  of  the  principles  and 
motives  of  human  nature,  and  a  picture  of  that  nature  is  pre- 
sented both  in  its  ruined  and  restored  state.  To  contemplate  sin  as 
exhibited  in  the  old  world  is  the  most  instructive  course  that  can  be 
adopted  by  the  inquirer,  afibrding  as  it  does  the  clearest  illustrations, 
and  being  most  disentangled  of  all  extraneous  complications,  of  any 
of  the  narratives  which  have  been  placed  in  the  sacred  record. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  o 

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82  The  Nature  of  Sin,  [Apil, 

It  is  needful  to  attempt  a  defimtion  of  sin,  but  in  so  doing  the 
difficidty  is  greater  l^n  might  be  at  first  supposed.  Our  notions 
of  right  and  wrong  are  in  a  great  degree  intuitive,  and  intuition 
has  a  logic  altogether  of  its  own.  Sin  is  moral  ugliness,  and,  as 
such,  the  antith^  of  moral  beauty,  but  it  is  well  understood  that 
beauty  is  altogetber  a  relative  idea,  and  finds  a  separate  standard 
in  each  mind  that  imdertakes  the  discriminating  task.  Again,  sin 
is  a  departure  from  right  precedents,  and  the  sinful  man  stands 
in  contrast  with  the  just  and  upright  This  is  equivalent  to  saying 
that  sin  is  disease ;  but  physiologists  will  tell  us  that  a  standard  ^ 
health  is  only  one  degree  less  difficult  to  find  than  a  standard  of 
beauty.  If  it  required  the  combined  graces  of  Grecian  womanhood 
to  produce  the  pattern  from  which  the  sculptor  designed  his  mas* 
ter-piece,  no  less  must  the  anatomist  examine  a  multiplicity  of 
examples  in  order  to  form  a  conception  of  a  pa^ect  physical  con- 
dition. That  standards  of  comparison  exist,  and  have  existed  under 
all  circumstances,  is  evident  from  the  very  terms  which  are  habitu* 
ally  employed.  Where  is  the  nation,  however  barbarous,  where  is 
the  devotee  of  a  religion  however  &lse,  where  is  the  mind  however 
ill -instructed  or  distorted,  which  is  not  familiar  with  the  disdno- 
tion  of  right  and  wrong,  of  beauty  and  ugliness,  of  health  and 
disease  ?  The  standards  may  be  one  or  many,  may  be  conceived 
of  or  expressed,  but  standaroB  there  are,  and  by  them  the  ami- 
paring  process  is  continually  instituted.  To  the  standard  of  right 
and  wrong  we  may  assign  the  general  term  of  law  ;  and  of  sin  we 
shall  find  no  better  definition  than  that  of  St.  John  (1  John  iii.  4), 
*  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law  J 

An  inquiry,  therefore,  into  the  nature  of  sin  assumes  the  new  form 
of  an  investigation  of  law.  But  what  is  law  ?  Given  a  plain  com- 
mand which  may  be  obeyed  or  disobeyed,  and  we  have  a  particular 
example  of  sin,  but  onfy  a  particular  example.  Could  we  have  a 
command  or  system  of  commands,  which  should  be  capable  of 
ruling  the  conduct  of  an  individual  in  every  particular,  each  de- 
viation would  be  apparent,  and  sin  would  thereby  become  more 
distinctly  obvious.  J5ut  a  free  being  cannot  be  made  to  gravitate 
towards  a  central  body  by  any  law  so  severely  simple  as  that  which 
constrains  planets  in  tneir  paths.  It  is  not  a  mechanical  problem 
which  we  have  to  solve,  and  we  therefore  cannot  reduce  its  conditions 
to  those  simple  forms  which  the  exact  sciences  present  The  law 
which  regolates  human  conduct  may  be  from  within  or  from  with* 
out.  It  may  be  a  law  engraven  on  the  heart,  or,  as  we  may 
express  it  without  metaphor,  an  interior  principle  influencing  th« 
will ;  or  it  may  be  a  positive  command  stated  in  ordinary  language* 
suggesting  to  the  reason  and  Uie  understanding  that  by  whidi  uw 
wifi  may  be  guided.    The  latter  is  evidently  the  more  complex 

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1853.]  and  its  ea/rlieH  Developments.  98 

poceB&  We  do  not,  however,  expect  to  find  ^ther  of  these  ruling 
uifluences  existing  independently  of  the  oth^.  No  written  law 
can  suffice  as  an  entire  rule  of  conduct,  no  inward  rule  or  light  of 
conadence  is  left  without  the  influence  of  prescrihed  maxims  or 
authoritatiye  conimands.  TTie  nations  of  antiquity,  from  whom 
the  written  revelation  was  withheld,  had  formed  even  an  objective 
law  unto  themselves,*  and  whilst  they  spoke  of  the  good  man  as 
tenacem  proposith  they  defined  him  as  one  influenced  by  the  timor 
Deorumy  and  observing  leges  juraque. 

In  pursuing  our  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  sin  and  of  the  law  of 
which  it  is  the  transgression,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  Dr* 
Julius  Miiller's  wont,  one  that  has  been  recently  ^ven  to  us  in 
an  English  dress  by  Mr.  Pulsford,  who  by  his  labours  as  a  translar 
tor  has  deserved  the  thanks  of  the  Christian  public.  Dr.  Miiller's 
volumes  (one  of  which  is  now  in  print)  afibrd  an  admirable  example 
of  German  learning  and  patient  research,  enriched  by  that  depth 
of  thought  for  which  the  countrymen  of  Neander  and  Schleier- 
macher  are  justly  celebrated,  but  without  the  heterodoxy  into 
which  too  many  amongst  them  have  unhappily  plunged.  Hitherto 
the  Ei^lish  mind  has  shown  its  reverence  lor  authorized  stand- 
ards of  theology,  and  its  cautiousness  of  entering  uj^on  new 
fields  of  inauiry ;  the  German  mind  has  progressed,  but  m  direc- 
tions in  which  angels  might  fear  to  foQow,  so  that  with  many  in 
this  country  the  very  name  of  German  theology  is  identified  with 
all  that  is  reckless  in  speculation  and  unsound  in  belief.  Dr. 
Miiller,  we  hope,  may  be  excepted  from  this  swee^nng  condemna- 
tion, and  is  one  whose  writings  may  be  safely  consulted,  lliere 
is  about  his  language  and  general  mode  of  treating  a  subject 
much  that  is  novel,  if  not  repellent,  to  any  one  unaccustomed  to 
travel  beyond  the  pale  of  English  literature,  but  the  very  effort  to 
ascertain  the  meaning  of  this  profound  thinker  will  be  foimd  a 
useful  exercise,  and  wUl  doubtless  su£^st  much  valuable  reflection 
at  the  same  time.  We  have  alluded  to  the  difficulty  of  laying 
down  a  satisfactory  definition  of  sin  or  evil.  Of  the  existence  of 
evil  and  its  univei^  recognition  we  can  have  no  doubt 

<  This  element,*  says  Dr.  MtOleri  *  is  everywhere  to  he  seen,  when  the 
history  of  the  human  race,  the  course  of  its  developmeot  in  its  main 
features,  and  as  a  whole  passes  before  us ;  it  betrays  its  presence  too  in 
manifold  forms,  if  we  only  cast  a  glance  upon  the  nearest  relations  of 
human  society ;  and  its  existence  cannot  be  concealed  if  we  look  within 
our  own  bosoms.  It  is  a  nightly  shadow  which  darkens  every  drcle  of 
human  life,  and  which  we  ever  anew  behold  swallowing  up  its  fairest 
and  brightest  forms. 

*  '  Sunt  iDgeDils  nostrifl  semina  innata  Tirtatam,  qno)  si  adoletcere  Uceret,  ipea 
DOS  ad  beatam  yitam  aatura  perdaoeret'—CiCERO,  Tuscul,  Disp,,  1U>.  Hi. 

G    2 

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84  The  Nature  of  Sin^  [April, 

*  We  have,  in  common  with  the  whole  animal  creation,  the  susceptibility 
of  pain  and  physical  sufiering;  it  belongs  to  this  lower  sph^^  the 
natural  side  of  our  being,  and  the  victorious  power  of  the  spirit  in 
surmounting  the  disturbances  of  this  sphere  is  able  to  show  itself  doubly 
glorious.  But  in  distinction  from  aU  other  creatures,  man  b  the  sub- 
ject of  moral  evil,  of  wickedness,  it  has  taken  possession  of  his  spirit,  of 
his  very  will ;  if  then  this  disunity  has  so  penetrated  into  the  spirit,  as 
to  set  it  at  variance  with  itself,  what  has  man  greater  in  himself,  by 
which  he  may  surmount  this  internal  self-disjunction  ?  However,  this 
moral  evil  is  not  the  only  disturbing  cause  in  our  spiritual  life — and 
yet  in  the  manner  in  which  it  acts  upon  the  conscience,  it  stands 
absolutely  alone.** 

This  internal  self-disjunction,  to  which  the  learned  writer  makes 
reference,  may  be  conceived  to  be  a  matter  of  universal  conscious- 
ness, though,  of  course,  in  different  degrees  as  the  mind  is  taught 
to  exercise  a  habit  of  self  inspection. — We  may  regard  it  as  an 
ultimate  fact  in  our  nature  that  we  cannot  bebeve  evil  to  be  its 
necessary  adjunct.  Let  any  one  make  the  attempt  to  bring  a 
man  of  blunted  susceptibilities  to  a  knowledge  of  himself,  it  will  be 
premature  to  ask  for  an  acknowledgment  of  sin,  but  there  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  confession  of  misery.  The  man,  at 
least,  knows  that  he  is  capable  of  more  happiness,  and  the  very 
fact  that  he  lays  the  faults  of  bis  condition  on  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  is  placed,  will  pave  the  way  for  the  personal  thrust, 
that  he  has  acted  as  his  own  enemy,  and  that  ne  has  done  so 
contrary  to  the  dictates  of  the  more  rational  side  of  his  nature. 
Without  defining  what  was  the  *  law  of  the  mind '  in  the  case  of 
St.  Paul,  instructed  as  we  know  him  to  have  been,  even  in  his 
unconverted  state,  in  that  which  gives  a  *  knowledge  of  sin,'  and 
how  much  more  deeply,  when  he  placed  his  experience  on  record, 
we  may  apply  to  mankind  generally  his  remarkable  words,  as 
proving  that  sin  is  an  intrudmg  element, — '  I  see  another  law  in 
my  members  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me 
into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members.'  Horn, 
vii.  23.  This  consciousness  of  better  and  holier  possibilities  is 
universal,  and  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  ever  hoping,  ever  un- 
satisfied state  which  supplies  one  of  the  ffreat  h  priori  arguments 
for  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  A  notion  of  good  precedes  the 
reception  of  any  outward  law,  and,  indeed,  is  pre-supposed  in  the 
commandment  itself;  and  if  this  notion  is  so  deeply  interwoven 
with  the  consciousness,  does  it  not  imply  an  innate  oelief  of  the 
perfection  of  the  original  creation  ?«     It  is  matter  for  no  ordinary 

^  Christiaii  Doctrine  of  Sin,  p.  27. 

*  <  The  ffeneral  and  perpetual  voice  of  men  is  as  the  sentence  of  God  himself. 
For  that  which  all  men  have  at  all  times  learned,  Nature  herself  must  needs  have 
taught;  and  €rod  being  the  author  of  natnre,  her  Toice  is  but  his  instnunent. 


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1853.]  and  its  earliest  Developments.  85 

rejoidng  that  fallen  nature,  even  in  its  darkest  aspect,  bears  testi- 
mony to  the  brightness  of  its  origin,  furnishing  as  it  does  some 
foreshadowing  of  the  restoration  that  is  to  take  place.  We  may 
therefore  regard  human  nature,  as  prepared  by  its  own  constitu- 
tion, to  receive  a  law  for  its  guidance  in  an  objective  form.  Men 
no  sooner  associate,  either  in  families  or  communities,  than  the 
experience  of  injustice  or  wrong  shapes  itself  in  a  law  of  forbear- 
ance and  right.  A  partial  surrender  of  the  will  is  soon  found  to 
be  an  imposed  necessity,  and  when  a  definite  moral  law  is  pro- 
mulgated, in  which  the  hitherto  abstract  notions  of  right  and 
wrong  are  duly  embodied,  its  requirements  are  recognized  as 
based  on  the  primary  relations  of  mankind. 

The  promulgation  of  a  moral  law  is  the  first  and  most  obvious 
element  of  a  divine  revelation.  It  is  a  call  from  the  Almighty 
Creator  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  being  with  which  he  has  invested 
the  creature.  It  is  compressed  into  a  few  words  in  the  language 
by  which  Abraham  is  ad€u*essed :  '  I  am  the  Almighty  God ;  walk 
before  me  and  be  thou  perfect '  (Gen.  xvii.  1).  Passing,  there- 
fore, from  the  consideration  of  a  general  law  of  Reason  to  the 
revealed  law  of  God,  we  make  the  transition  from  that  which  is 
indistinct  and  imperfect  in  its  requirements  to  that  which  admits 
of  no  short  comings,  and  we  are  bound  to  regard  any  deviation 
whatever  from  this  more  exact  rule  of  conduct  as  '  transgression 
of  the  law,'  or,  in  a  single  word,  as  Sin.  '  Whosoever,'  says  St 
James,  *  shaD  keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  he 
is  guilty  of  all.'  Scilicet  ut  possint  curvo  diffnoscere  rectum  is  an 
aphorism  by  which  the  exact  requirements  of  revealed  law  may  be 
illustrated.  Straightness  does  not  admit  of  degrees;  a  line  is 
absolutely  straight  or  else  more  or  less  curvilinear. 

Dr.  Miiller  devotes  some  of  his  pages  to  a  successful  refutation 
of  Bellarmin  and  other  Romish  theologians  who  lower  the  de- 
mands of  the  divine  law  in  order  to  make  room  for  works  of 
supererogation. 

^  The  interest  which  the  Catholic  theologians,'  says  he,  '  take  in  the 
distinction  between  moral  perfection  and  freedom  from  evil,  rests 
chiefly  upon  the  endeavour  to  support  the  possibility  of  a  satisfying 

By  her  from  Him  we  receive  whatsoever  in  such  sort  we  learn.  Infinite  doties 
there  are,  the  goodness  whereof  is  by  this  rule  sufficiently  manifested,  although  we 
had  no  other  warrant  besides  to  approve  them.  The  apostle  St.  PauI,  Imving 
speech  concerning  the  heathen,  saith  of  them,  '*  They  are  a  law  unto  themselves. 
His  meaning  is,  that  bv  force  of  the  light  of  reason,  wherewith  God  iUumineth 
every  one  which  cometh  into  the  world,  men  being  enabled  to  know  truth  from 
jfalsehood,  and  good  from  evU,  do  thereby  learn  in  many  things  what  the  wiU  of 
God  is ;  which  will  himself  not  revealing  by  any  extraordinary  means  unto  them, 
but  they  by  natural  discourse  attaining  the  knowledge  thereof,  seem  the  makers  of 
those  laws  which  indeed  are  his,  and  they  but  only  the  finders  of  them  out.' — 
Hooker's  JSccles,  Fol.,  book  L  chap.  viii.  see.  liL 

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86  The  Nature  of  Sm^  [April, 

fulfilment  of  the  law,  and  the  acquiflition  of  merit  from  Grod.  Wher^ 
fore  Bellarmiii  makes  especial  use  of  the  above  distiiietion,  by  maiii«> 
taining  that  the  commaod  to  be  free  from  ctmeuspUcentia  only  belongs 
to  the  obligcUio  adjinem.  From  this  it  is  easy  to  be  understood  how 
the  Protestant  theolog^ians  mistrusted  a  distinction  which  appeared  to 
them  to  be  fabricated  merely  for  the  support  of  erroneous  doctrine ; 
still  more  so,  since  they  saw  their  opponents  immediately  deduce  from 
this  distinction,  assertions  so  destructive  as  the  Bellarminian,  namely, 
venial  sins  are  committed  not  so  much  contra  legem  as  much  rather 
prteter  legem,  and  are  not  sins  absolutely,  but  only  relatively ;  or  that  of 
Stapelton :  the  oonmiand  of  perfect  love  towards  God  is  not  obUga- 
torium,  but  only  doctrinale  et  informatorium. 

'  The  law,'  adds  Dr.  MQller,  ^  demands  monl  perfection ;  with  tlie 
consciousness  of  this  demand,  there  is  inseparably  united  an  impulse 
urging  to  its  fulfilment ;  if  now,  notwithstanding  this,  the  individual, 
once  awakf^ned  to  moral  consciousness,  should  in  any  way  come  short  of 
its  requirement,  in  what  else  can  this  short-coming  have  iti  g^und, 
than  in  a  tendency  of  mind  which  opposes  the  law  and  its  impulse  to 
obedience,  therefore  in  the  power  of  evil  V — p.  60. 

It  requires  but  little  investigation  of  divine  law,  in  reference  to 
its  demands  upon  man,  to  be  at  once  convinced  that  by  it '  every 
mouth  is  stopped,  and  all  the  world  proved  guilty  before  God.* 
Omne  minus  bonum  hixbet  rationem  mail  is  a  canon  that  at  once 
humbles  the  sinner,  and  declares  the  attainment  of  a  self-justifying 
righteousness  simply  impossible.  For  if  we  regard  the  divine  rule 
as  a  standard  of  ultimate  attainment,  and  strive  after  a  normal 
development,  we  must  not,  as  we  are  reminded  by  our  author, 
overlook  the  different  stages.  As  long  as  the  impulses  of  this 
development  lie  in  the  pressure  of  proffress  from  imperfection  to 
perfection,  so  long  has  it  a  teleologicdl  cnaracter.  Its  endeavour 
is  towards  a  prospective  end,  and  to  the  developing  subject  there 
is  no  satisfaction  till  it  is  reached.  There  lies  m  uie  very  idea  of 
a  teleological  development  the  supposition  that  at  every  step  of 


Srogress  short  of  the  end,  the  condition  of  the  subject  developing 
oes  not  yet  perfectly  correspond  to  the  idea  of  its  being.'  Or,  we 
may  transfer  this  truth  from  German  technicality  to  the  language 
of  Scripture,  by  quoting  the  saying  of  St.  Paul, — '  Not  as  though 
I  had  already  attained,  either  were  already  perfect ;  but  I  follow 
after y  if  that  I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  am  ap{Mre- 
hended  of  Christ  Jesus  (Phil.  iii.  12).  The  practical  use  of  a 
perfect  law  to  imperfect  creatures  is  the  indication  of  duty.  We 
accept  the  definition  of  duty,  that  it  is  the  determinate  moral  re- 
(^uirement  made  upon  a  given  individual  at  a  given  moment  \A 
time.  The  law,  therefore,  is  in  such  a  reference  brought  to  bear, 
not  with  a  view  to  final  perfection,  but  to  present  guidance,  though 
without  any  lowering  of  its  general  demands.     The  same  indi- 


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1858.]  and  its  earlier  DivelopmmU.  87 

vidual  may,  therefore,  ^  delight  in  the  law  of  God '  as  a  lamp  to 
bis  path,  who  fiilly  recognizes  the  hopelessness  of  a  perfect  fulfil- 
moit  of  its  claims. 

It  would  then  appear,  from  all  that  we  have  advanced,  that  sin 
is  the  liansCTession  of  law,  whether  we  regard  that  law  as^  the  in- 
ward law  of  our  being,  or  that  which  is  externally  imposed  on  us. 
A  deeper  view  of  the  nature  of  sin  would  reveal  it  as  alienation 
from,  ChcL  We  may,  however,  at  this  point  stay  to  ask  the  dis- 
tinction between  morality  and  religion,  if  indeed  any  true  distinc- 
tion exists.  If  morality  admits  of  definition,  we  should  style  it  a 
oonfinrmity  to  the  law  of  nature  and  reason.  Unauestionably,  as 
we  have  ah-eady  hinted,  there  is  in  man,  individually  and  socially, 
a  certain  normal  condition,  which,  if  not  discernible  amidst  the 
rain  and  disorganisation  which  prevail,  may  yet  be  inferred,  con- 
ceived o^  and  described.  Our  consciousness  of  evil  points  to  the 
^ood,  our  recognition  of  what  is  almormal  suggests  the  true  norm. 
Hence  it  is  that  right  and  wrong  have  an  existence  anterior  to 
law,  though  there  are  passages  of  Scripture  which  seem  to  deny 
tiiis.  TIhis  we  are  told,  *  T&  law  worketh  wrath  ;  for  where  no 
law  is,  there  is  no  transgression'  (Rom.  iv.  15) :  and  again,  *  sin 
is  not  imputed  where  there  is  no  law'  (Rom.  v.  13).  Now,  in  the 
fisice  of  such  unquestionable  truths,  we  assert  that  sin  may  exist 
before  the  law  has  measured  its  extent,  and  the  sinner  may  suffer 
before  the  law  has  prescribed  the  measure  of  his  punishment 
The  definition  of  sin,  its  imputation  and  its  punishment,  are  dis- 
tinct from  its  existence ;  but  in  a  broad  sense  it  may  be  stated 
that  all  OTganized  oustence  is  a  law  to  itself;  it  has  its  own  pecu- 
liar life,  and  every  deviation  tram  its  normal  condition,  every  in- 
trusion of  a  foreign  element,  is  transgression  of  that  law,  and  in 
fi^e  agents  becomes  sin.  It  is  possible  therefore  to  know  the  laws 
of  our  own  being,  as  we  may  discern  the  uniform  sequence  of 
cause  and  effect  in  nature  before  we  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of 
God ;  though  the  very  process  to  which  we  refer,  if  carried  on 
with  truth  and  nnoerity,  must  lead  to  a  discernment  of  that  Al- 
mighty Being,  the  Great  Author  of  life,  to  whom  we  owe  all  that 
we  have  and  all  that  we  are. 

*  In  the  deep  of  our  self -consciousness/  says  Dr.  Hfiller,  *  as  its  con- 
cealed hack-ground,  the  God-consciousness  reveals  itself  to  us;  the 
descent  into  our  own  inmost  is  at  the  same  time  an  ascent  to  God ; 
every  deq>  reflection  on  ourselves  breaks  through  the  cnist  of  the  mere 
world-consciousness,  whidi  separates  us  from  we  inmost  truth  of  our 
existeoce,  and  leads  us  up  to  Him  in  whom  we  live,  and  move,  and  are. 
We  know  nothing  of  any  finite  otject  in  an  absolutely  original  nuanner ; 
as  finite  d^ects  according  to  their  nature  are  derived,  our  knowledge  of 
them  also  must  be  derivative ;  in  an  absolutely  original  and  inunediate 
manner  we  are  only  conscious  of  God.' — p.  81 . 

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88  The  Nature  of  jSm,  [April, 

But  if  an  investigation  of  the  laws  of  our  being  is  to  stop  short 
of  an  acknowled^ent  of  the  source,  our  Great  Creator,  we  are 
guilty  of  that  which  evidently  implies  a  perverted  and  debased 
state  of  mind ;  and,  in  like  manner,  to  accept  a  morality  from 
which  the  notion  of  divine  authorship  is  eliminated,  is  to  make  an 
attempt  that  savours  of  atheism.  There  is  one  lawgiver,  says  St. 
James :  EI^  e<yriy  6  Tfo/xoOimf ;  and  we  may  regard  yopioQims  in 
no  restricted  sense,  but  as  implying  that  all  law  and  right  emanate 
from  Him  who  made  this  worldly  frame.  What  we  call  heathen 
morality,  or  the  principles  of  virtue  which  were  promulgated  with- 
out a  divine  revelation,  resulted  from  discoveiy,  but  not  fix)m  in- 
yention.  God  had  already  impressed  his  own  laws  on  the  consti* 
tution  of  things,  and  man,  by  an  empirical  process,  sometimes 
guessing,  sometimes  blundering,  deciphered  in  part  the  characters 
which  were  inscribed.  We  cannot  forbear,  in  this  connection, 
quoting  the  forcible  language  of  our  German  friend. 

'  Even  in  the  arrangements  of  civil  society,  every  true  law  originates 
with  Grod ;  and  as  such  is  to  be  honoured,  as  not  being  of  human  inven- 
tion, and  in  the  faithful  observance  of  which,  the  individual  neither 
subordinates  himself  to  himself,  nor  to  his  equab,  but  to  God  (Rom. 
xiii.  2).  On  this  account,  a  so  called  lawgiver  among  men  (properly 
a  Tiaw-proclaimer)  fulfils  his  function  so  much  the  more  perfectly,  the 
less  he,  in  this  capacity,  assumes  himself  arbitrarily  to  make,  or  invent 
anything,  and  feels  himself  everywhere  to  be  bound  by  a  higher 
necessity,  and  only  strives  to  be  the  purest  organ  possible,  through 
which  the  divine  world-arrangements  announce  themselves ;  and,  there- 
fore, the  more  solicitously  he  observes  and  allows  himself  to  be  guided 
by  the  real  revelation  of  the  thoughts  of  God,  in  the  eternal  moral  laws, 
in  the  peculiar  spirit  of  nations,  in  the  course  of  their  historical  develop- 
ment. Human  l^islation,  were  we  able  to  trace  back  its  acts  to  the 
beginnings,  which  coincide  with  the  formation  of  a  political  constitu- 
tion, can  never  have  the  task  of  making  the  right,  but  stands  itself 
under  higher  rules  of  right,  whether  they  be  eternal  and  immutable,  or 
historically  developing.' — p.  90. 

The  Christian  has  no  hesitation  in  attributing  to  God,  as  the 
Great  Disposer,  the  authorship  of  all  law  and  right.  Morality 
we  define  to  be  the  observance  of  that  primary  code  which  lies  in 
the  constitution  of  nature ;  and  as  God  is  the  Creator,  so  is  he 
the  Lawgiver.  Hence  God  is  the  ultimate  object  of  all  moral 
obedience,  and  morality  can  never  be  severed  fix)m  relirion  with- 
out destroying  the  very  foundations  on  which  it  rests.  JBut  there 
is  another  point  in  which  morality  and  religion  coalesce,  the  con- 
sideration of  which  renders  their  identity  yet  more  apparent. 
Morals,  as  all  will  admit,  are  founded  in  nature.  But  what  is 
nature  ?  Man  was  created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  as  every 
step  in  morality  is  confessedly  an  effort  to  realise  what  man  oti^ht 

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1853.]  cmd  iU  earliest  Developmentt.  89 

to  be,  it  aims  therefore  at  the  same  time  at  attaining  to  what  man 
originally  w(u^  in  other  words,  to  a  conformity  to  what  God  is. 
Spiritual  reli^on  has  for  its  object  the  communion  of  man,  as  a 
reconciled  and  restored  being,  with  his  Maker.  The  objects 
therefore  of  morality  and  religion  are  identical,  and  are  based 
upon  the  same  foundation.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  all  sin  is 
a  departure  from  the  mind  and  will  of  God,  and  has  its  rise  in 
that  alienation  of  the  heart  in  man,  which  causes  him  to  obey  the 
motions  of  his  own  selfishness.  It  is  with  this  deep  insight  into 
the  true  nature  of  sin  that  David,  in  lamenting  over  a  chme  that 
was  in  the  highest  degree  injurious  to  his  fellow  man,  involving  no 
less  than  the  murder  of  one  who  stood  in  the  way  of  his  sensual 
gratification,  addressed  the  Lord :  '  Against  thee  only  have  I 
sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight'  (Ps.  li.  4).  According  to 
the  usual  oriental  mode  of  comparison,  he  omits  the  less  in  order 
to  give  prominence  to  the  greater.  The  true  antithesis  of  sin  in 
its  deepest  significance  is  the  love  of  God.  As,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  knowledge  of  sin  is  by  the  law^  so  on  the  other  love  is  the  fid- 
filling  of  the  law.  Until  we  arrive  at  this  point  in  the  history  of 
the  mdividual  we  have  no  adequate  guarantee  of  the  realisation 
within  him  of  that  to  which  the  law  has  respect.  Law  in  itself  is 
an  indicator  of  sin  ;  it  is  something  which  assumes  an  antagonistic 
position  to  the  human  will ;  it  addresses  the  subject  in  uncon- 
ditional, uncompromising  language ;  Thou  shalt  and  Thou  shalt 
notj  and  in  so  doin^  arouses  the  corruptions  of  the  heart,  and 
*'  ffin  takes  occasion  W  the  commandment  and  works  all  manner 
of  concupiscence.'  The  law  in  itself  is  but  the  'letter  that 
kiUeth,'  and  addresses  itself  to  that  principle  in  man  to  whidi  it 
is  adverse ;  it  detects  the  '  carnal  mind,'  which  is  '  enmity  against 
God.'  But  we  look  around,  not  for  that  which  shall  reveal  the 
defects  of  the  spiritual  organisation,  but  which  shall  give  it  its 
right  form  and  prindple  of  action.     What  is  the  life-blood  of  the 

Spiritual  being  ?  Whence  shall  that  be  derived  which  shall  give 
oe  action  to  every  limb,  and  infuse  health  through  the  whole 
system  ;  which  shall  drive  away  by  its  inherent  energy  all  that  is 
abnormal,  and  present  man  to  view,  not  as  a  degraded  being,  sold 
under  sin,  led  away  by  divers  lusts,  but  as  exmbiting  in  himself 
the  unsullied  features  of  his  dirine  original  ?  Love,  is  the  reply, 
love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law ;  and  the  answer  is  still  nearer 
completeness  when  we  add,  '  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth.'  Love  is  that  peculiar 
attribute  which,  above  all  others,  supposes  actiri^,  and  tnat  not 
the  actirity  of  impulse  or  occasional  movement,  but  the  steady, 
ceaseless  systole  and  diastole  of  a  true  life-centre.  '  Love  never 
fSeuleth'  is  an  assertion  which  expresses  its  continuity  in  the  indi- 

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90  Ths  Hatur^  of  Smy  [Ajwil, 

vidual  a8  well  as  its  eternity  in  the  perfected  state.  It  moreorer 
does  not  concern  itself,  as  do  the  reason  and  the  und^'standing, 
with  statements  and  principles,  but  rises  to  an  entire  devotion  to 
that  which  is  its  object  ^  It  exists  in  a  being  whidi  might  be 
self-devoted,  and  yet  does  not  dioose  to  be  so ;  but  in  a  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  comes  out  of  itself,  to  live  in  and  for  another.  Hence 
love  can  only  be  realised  in  the  sphere  of  personal  beings,  which 
possess  in  themselves  a  centre  of  independent,  individual  existence, 
and  therefore  only  in  the  absolute  n^ation  of  an  absolute  sepa- 
rateness ;  and  just  because  this  becoming  oneness  of  personal 
beings  in  love  includes  the  most  distinct  and  perfect  individuality 
— ^the  antithesis  of  I  and  Thou— does  it  smw  itself  to  be  t&i 
highsnt  form  of  tmity.^  Let  this  principle  exist  in  the  mind  of 
man  towards  God,  and  we  realise  that  which  is,  according  to  the 
Scripture  in  its  universal  statements,  the  proper  essence  of  moral 
good.  We  discern  an  abiding  motive,  an  ever-constraining  prin* 
dple  of  right  in  its  highest  form :  and  all  graces  and  virtues  will 
as  naturally  proceed  finom  this  as  waters  from  the  feuntain.  Chris- 
tian ethics  are  brief,  almost  laconic,  in  statement,  for  the  very 
reason  that  where  love  is  present,  the  simplest  directions  will  suf- 
fice. The  bread  of  heaven  is  in  this  reelect  scanty  in  am>earaiM^ 
such  as  a  lad  may  carry  in  his  little  store,  but  a  power  is  present 
which  makes  it  adequate  to  the  thousands  of  hungering  soms,  and 
when  they  have  eaten,  twelve  baskets  are  alone  adequate  to  con- 
tain the  n*agments.  This  is  development  in  its  legitimate  sense, 
not  to  multiply  cases  of  casuistry  and  fill  large  folios  with  the 
ramifications  of  an  elaborate  system  of  ethics,  but  to  grow  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  and  advance  to  the  fulness  of  his  stature. 
We  therefore  measure  sin  by  this  standard,  as  alienation  firom 
Gody  and  as  a  departure  from  that  which  a  principle  of  divine 
love  would  suggest  as  consonant  to  His  holy  law.  If^  then,  it 
appears  from  a  rigorous  analysis  that  the  moral  perfection  of 
whidi  the  Saviour  has  given  the  only  example  is  the  true  ^  end  of 
the  law,'  it  would  follow,  by  reversing  the  mode  of  reasoning,  that 
the  standard  which  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  man  must  have  been 
the  basis  of  tiM±  moral  constitution  with  which  he  was  (»iginally 
endowed.  The  termmui  ad  quern  of  frJlen  humani^  must  be  the 
termmu9  h  quo  oi  humanity  in  its  primeval  state.  Man's  present 
state  is  a  dark  and  gloomy  chasm  between  two  hills.  What  he 
was  by  creation,  what  he  will  be  by  redemption,  are  the  eminenoes 
which  he  sees  on  either  hand  ;  and  as  he  surveys  the  configuration 
of  the  rocks,  he  recognizes  that  mutual  oorre^nd^iee  which  coiH 
firms  the  belief  that  the  chasm  had  once  no  existence,  that  a 
mighty  convulsion  had  separated  that  which  heretofore  was  in  im^ 
brdken  unity. 

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1853.]  and  its  earliest  JDevelapments.  91 

Oisr  inTeetigation  of  the  nature  of  sm,  so  far  as  we  have  pur* 
sued  it,  would  reveal  it  to  us,  in  its  primary  aspect,  as  a  disturtuug 
consdousuess  within  the  breast  ox  man  of  an  element  foreign  to 
man's  true  nature.  A  closer  in^)ection  shows  it  to  be  the  tran&- 
gresdon  of  law,  whether  the  law  be  the  ncmn  of  man's  condition, 
or  an  eziH^essed  rule  of  conduit  Law,  we  have  seen,  is  suggested 
by  the  necessities  of  man  in  a  social  state,  but  it  is  also  distinctly 
revealed  to  us  as  the  declaration  of  Grod's  will.  Hence  we  ad- 
vance to  a  higher  aqpect  of  sin,  distinguishing  it  as  a  moral 
alienation  from  God,  and  a  deviation  (torn  the  dictates  of  that 
love  whidi  is  the  ^  bond  of  perfectness.' 

We  cannot,  as  we  have  already  said,  have  a  more  instructive 
exemplification  of  the  nature  of  sin  than  is  presented  in  the  primeval 
history  of  man.  In  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  the  circumstances  attend- 
ing it,  we  have  a  particular  case  of  a  complex  problem,  in  whi(^ 
the  conditions  are  reduced  to  a  simplicity  eminently  &vourable  to 
accurate  inquiry.  The  subjective  law  is  in  this  instimce  the  un- 
sullied image  of  God,  the  objective  law  is  a  single  commandment ; 
tiie  sin  is  a  distinct  overt  act,  confessed  by  the  transgressors  them«< 
selves,  rebuked  and  punished  by  God,  marked  by  physical  and 
metaphysical  results  which  we  are  enabled  to  trace.  The  intar* 
ference  of  a  tempter  is  by  no  means  the  least  important  feature 
of  the  transaction,  revealing,  as  it  does,  a  wider  view  of  the  king- 
dom of  eviL  We  inquire,  tfierefore,  what  law  was  given  to 
Adam,  and  in  pursuing  this  inquiry  distinguish  between  thai 
which  was  alreaay  implanted  and  that  which  was  outwardly  pro- 
mulgated. The  image  of  God,  as  we  have  said,  constituted  the 
first,  and  it  must  be  evident  that  this  included  aU  that  was  essen- 
tial to  man's  nature  in  its  perfect  and  happy  state.  This  image 
and  likeness,  as  has  often  been  remarked,  could  not  be  corporeal, 
but  must  have  been  moral  and  spiritual ;  it  was  therefore  a  con- 
formitv  of  will  with  the  divine,  a  holy  delight  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  divine  attributes — in  one  word,  a  fitness  for  communion 
with  God.  The  primal  *  temple'  of  man's  body  was,  in  a  deep 
sense,  ^  a  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit ;'  and  though  that 
temple  lies  in  ruins,  though  the  architectural  structure  is  itself 
defaced  by  the  elements  of  death,  and  the  heavenly  inhabitant 
quits  his  original  abode,  we  have  the  means  of  inferring  from  the 
ruinous  fragments  what  were  the  proportions  and  ornaments  of 
the  edifice.  Hence  we  are  reminded  that  the  headien  themselves 
may  do  by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law.  Conscience, 
however  shattered  or  distorted,  is  nevertheless  a  mirror  which 
reflects  in  some  degree  the  light  of  heaven,  and  reveals  some 
features  of  the  divine  image.  But  what  this  inherent  law  was, 
may  be  better  apprehended  from  the  promises  given  of  man's 

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92  The  Nature  of  Sm^  [April, 

restored  state.  *  The  writing  of  the  law  in  the  heart'  is  an  evi- 
dent reference  to  that  writing  which  was  once  exhibited  in  bright 
characters  on  man's  original  nature ;  in  other  words,  the  law 
written  in  the  heart  is  nothing  less  than  the  implanted  *  likeness 
of  God.'  But  the  primal  state  of  our  parent  can  alone  adequately 
be  understood  by  a  comparison  with  Him  of  whom  he  was  the 
type.  So  far  as  the  perfection  of  humanity  was  concerned,  the 
one  may  be  compared  to  the  other ;  as  it  is  recorded  of  the  saints 
in  their  heavenly  state,  so  of  the  moral  work  as  it  came  from  the 
hands  of  the  CVeator  we  may  say,  we  know  that  he  was  '  like 
Him'  (1  John  iii.  2).  The  first  man,  Adam,  was  made  a  living 
80uly  and  in  him,  as  in  the  second,  the  divine  life  resided ;  the 
difference  lay  in  the  power  which  the  last  Adam  had  of  communz" 
eating  the  divine  life ;  he  '  was  made  a  quickening  spirit'  (1  Cor. 
XV.  45).  We  cannot  forbear  quoting  from  Dr.  Cumming's  vo- 
lume the  glowing  language  in  which  man  is  described  as  the 
climax  of  the  work  of  creation. 

*  After  God  had  made  the  earth,  and  formed  all  its  living  tenantry, 
it  seems  one  was  wanting  to  be  the  capital  and  the  crown,  the  ruler  and 
priest  of  all.  The  birds  were  in  the  air,  those  choristers  of  the  earth 
whose  song  is  the  anthem  of  the  sky,  the  fishes  in  the  streams,  the  cattle 
upon  a  thousand  hills ;  but  all  still  waited  for  him  who  is  pronounced 
by  St  Paul  to  have  been  "  the  figure  of  him  that  was  to  come."  With- 
out intelligence  inhabiting  the  ^rth,  without  an  eye  to  read  it,  or  an 
ear  to  hear  it,  it  would  have  been  after  all  a  very  uninteresting  orb, 
but  when  man  was  placed  upon  it  in  his  meridian  wisdom,  strength,  and 
health,  then  it  was  perfect;  it  was  pronounced  by  its  Maker  to  be 
"  very  good."  Man  was  the  eye  of  creation  to  see  the  hand  that  governs 
it,  the  ear  of  creation  to  hear  the  bidding  of  Him  who  made  it,  the 
head  of  creation  to  love  God — the  priest,  in  short,  of  creation  to  offer  up 
its  many-voiced  psalm  of  praise,  and  to  lift  up  its  incense,  perpetually 
to  minister  a  holy  Levite  in  creation,  and  before  creation's  God, 
giving  unto  him  that  made  it  all  the  glory,  and  the  honour,  and 
the  praise.  Man  therefore  was  the  last  and  the  noblest  of  creation's 
birth-week ;  his  appearance  crowned  it.  His  body  was  made  of  the 
dust,  but  it  was  the  efl3orescence  of  the  dust;  just  as  the  diamond 
is  made  of  charcoal,  but  is  yet  the  diamond.  His  soul  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  Deity,  immortal  as  God  was,  and  holy  as  God  is,  and  happy 
as  God  is.  He  had  in  that  garden  the  tree  of  life  to  shade  him,  the 
music  of  a  thousand  streams  to  delight  him,  the  very  branches  of  the 
trees  were  harp-strings  that  hymned  God's  praise,  and  it  required  his 
voice  only  to  mingle  in  the  universal  harmony  to  render  homage  to 
Him  who  governs  all,  and  would  preserve  all.' — p.  108. 

The  revealed  law  of  Paradise  was  an  imposed  limitation  to  the 
attributes  of  man,  which,  having  in  them  so  much  that  approx- 
imated to  those  of  Deity,  would  have  an  inherent  tendencv  to 
aspire  after  that  higher  condition  which  was  beyond  them.  Whilst 

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1853.J  omd  its  earliest  Developments.  93 

the  book  of  knowledge  lay  open  to  an  extent  which  is  bewildering 
to  our  crippled  powers  to  conceive  of,  there  was  yet  a  chapter 
held  in  reserve.  One  vista  among  the  thousands  of  Paradise  is 
barred,  and  in  this  one  direction  alone  is  liberty  felt  to  be  re- 
strained. Doubtless  it  was  a  restraint,  and  man  was  thus  early 
*  to  learn  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suffered.'  And  was 
not  the  second  Adam  kept  in  ignorance  on  <me  point  f  ^  Of  that 
day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man ;  no,  not  the  angels  which  are  in 
heaven,  neither  the  Son^  but  the  Father'  (Mark  xiii.  32).  But 
the  law  which  debarred  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  from 
Adam  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  inner  law  which  was 
written  in  the  heart.  It  was  no  arbitrary  statute,  no  mere  monu- 
ment of  divine  rule,  but  a  law  of  love  and  of  the  utmost  benevo- 
lence. Evil  could  only  be  known,  as  pitch  can  be  touched,  leaving 
the  defilement  behind.  Ignorance  of  evil  was  inexperience  of 
evil,  and  as  good  is  but  its  antithesis,  good  could  only  be  known 
83  such  when  its  opposite  was  revealed.  We  have  already  stated 
that  the  existence  of  good  and  evil  is  antecedent  to  law  which  de- 
fines the  idea.  Adam  might,  therefore,  as  consistently  have  asked 
for  a  knowledge  of  pain  without  expecting  the  physical  disorgan- 
isation which  could  occasion  it,  as  to  know  evil  without  becoming 
a  sinner.  And  yet  evil  had  come  into  existence.  Ere  this,  angels 
had  rebelled,  and  their  rebellion  was  known  to  those  who  had 
stood  in  their  fidelity.  The  '  elect '  angels  had  had  their  day  of 
probation,  their  merciful  deliverance ;  and  we  cannot  deny  tnat, 
in  their  degree,  they  had  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  Was 
the  forbidden  tree  an  obscure  memorial  of  this  mysterious  fact, 
mysterious  because  no  intellect  on  earth,  no  intellect  perhaps 
among  the  heavenly  host,  has  solved  the  dark  problem  how  the 
distumng  element  should  have  been  permitted  to  intrude  ?  The 
knowledge  of  evil  was  evidently  the  sharpest  thorn  in  the  Saviour's 
derisive  crown,  and  was,  throughout  his  career  of  humiliation,  the 
one  heavy  woe  that  bore  down  upon  his  oppressed  spirit.  It  would 
appear  to  have  been  an  unremedied  sore  up  to  the  moment  when, 
by  the  completion  of  his  atoning  work,  '  the  prince  of  this  world 
was  judged.'  Hence  we  may  understand  how  those  who  are 
spot  en  of  as  *  gods,'  namely,  the  various  orders  of  the  heavenly 
host,  had  known  *  good  and  evil.'  To  be  like  them,  even  in  this 
aspect,  was  the  senseless  ambition  of  our  first  parents. 

We  suggest  that  in  the  tree  of  knowledge  tnere  may  have  been 
an  obscure  reference  to  the  prior  rebellion  of  angels ;  but  in  the 
serpent  there  was  the  unquestionable  leader  of  that  rebellion.  Sin 
did  not  originate  in  Paradise.  This  is  a  most  important  truth, 
perhaps  even  consolatory.  The  enemy  of  God  and  man  was  pre- 
sent and  active,  and  in  his  person  he  manifested  the  connection  of 

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94  The  Nabwe  of  Sm,  [April, 

evil  in  the  present  and  past  dispensations  of  tlte  universe.  Sin 
was  thereby  shown  to  be  a  disease  of  the  dass  termed  zymotie  ;  it 
was  the  inmsed  virus  of  an  and^it  rebellion,  made  to  work  in  the 
veins  and  poison  the  energies  of  a  new  race.  A  deadly  yet  impo- 
tent blow  was  aimed  at  the  Most  High,  not  in  His  own  unassail- 
able person,  but  in  the  perfected  work  of  His  hands ;  and  if  that 
blow  was  successful,  if  the  moral  fabric  tottered,  it  was  not  by  its 
own  weight,  not  by  inherent  defects  of  construction,  but  b^  extra- 
neous influences  which  were  brought  to  bear.  Perhaps  this  would 
render  yet  more  obscure  the  question  of  the  origin  of  evil.  Let 
it  be  self-generative  in  every  free  agent — ^we  may  regard  it  as  a 
concomitant,  if  not  an  attribute,  of  freedom,  but  in  the  human 
race  it  has  not  been  so — what  then  is  the  inference  ?  Evil  is  not 
eternal ;  the  Manichean  hypothesis  is  not  for  a  moment  tenable ; 
but  was  the  Tempter  ever  the  tempted  (me?  Can  we  suppose 
the  links  of  an  ascending  series  ? 

We  a^  now.  What  was  the  temptation?  It  has  been  a 
favourite,  as  well  as  an  instructive  metnod,  to  trace  in  the  Satanic 
wiles  of  Eden  the  parallel  with  the  threefold  assault  upon  our 
L(M*d  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  division  is  found  accurately  to  cor- 
respond with  '  that  which  is  in  the  world,  the  lost  of  the  flesh,  tiie 
lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life.'  We  do  not  apprehend  that 
any  thoughtful  student  of  revelation  would  &il  to  see  in  the  sin  of 
our  first  parents  more  of  pride  and  unhallowed  ambition  than  of 
mere  desire  of  sensual  gratification.  But  it  would  appear  that  the 
fact  of  the  fruit  being  ^  pleasant  to  the  eyes  and  good  for  food,' 
though  mentioned  as  a  portion  of  the  allurement,  must  have  had 
weight  indefinitely  less  than  the  insight  which  it  promised  into  the 
mysteries  of  forbidden  knowledge.  It  is  a  common  speculation 
that  the  residence  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise  had  not  reached 
the  length  of  an  entire  day,  and,  if  so,  bodily  appetite  can  scarcely 
have  been  awakened.  But  assuming  that  the  time  had  been  more 
extended,  it  is  evident  that  the  ridiest  fruits  were  constantly  at 
hand  to  appease  the  calls  of  hunger  or  of  thirst, — 

After  no  more  toil, 
Of  their  sweet  gardening  labour,  than  sufficed 
To  recommend  cool  zephyr,  and  made  ease 
More  easy,  wholesome  thirst  and  appetite 
More  grateful,  to  their  8Upper*fruits  they  fell ; 
Nectarine  fruits,  which  the  compliant  boughs 
Yielded  them.** 

We  have  but  to  call  to  mind  how  the  ^  groans  of  creation '  are 
now  discernible  in  a  stunted  horticulture,  to  realize  that  Paradise 
must  have  abounded  in  fruits  of  an  excellence  beyond  our  imagi- 


*  Paradise  Lost,  book  iv. 

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185S.]  and  its  earliest  Developments.  95 

nations  to  conceive.  Now,  in  the  intellectual  man,  unreff^ierate 
though  he  be,  the  mere  appetite  for  food  is  the  least  vod^rous  of 
fleshly  lusts — how  much  more  subdued  in  the  man  whose  heavenly 
lums  teach  him  to  keep  under  his  body  and  bring  it  in  subjection  I 
and  when  we  consider  also  that  the  lower  desires  almost  cease 
when  the  means  of  indulgence  abound,  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion 
that  Eve  was  less  allured  b^  bodily  appetite  than  by  a  temptation 
of  a  deeper  nature.®  It  is  quite  possible  that  tne  fruit  being 
^  good  for  food '  was  an  argument  to  the  reason,  even  more  than 
an  incitement  to  the  appetite.  If  good  for  food,  then  was  it 
intended  to  be  eaten ;  an  implied  permission  is  therefore  to  be 
argued,  and  the  fruit  may  be  tak^i  without  sin.  The  lUUity  of 
the  vetUvm  et  nefas  has  in  all  a^  been  a  fsLvourite  salve  to  the 
conscience,  and  an  excuse  for  giving  to  sin  a  more  accommodating 
title.  In  Eve's  case  we  must  realise  what  was  alluring  to  her  as 
an  exalted  and  hitherto  sinless  being,  what  temptation  was  ade- 
quate to  break  down  the  barrier  by  which  evil  had  been  excluded 
mm  her  heart,  and  make  her  bold  to  venture,  without  rudder 
or  diart,  upon  the  trackless  and  unfathomable  ocean  of  untried 
knowledge.  The  soul  that  has  sinned  may  easily  and  without  a 
pang  repeat  the  sin,  but  the  spotless  soul,  the  soul  that  has  tasted 
the  heavenly  gift,  that  has  delighted  in  Divine  communion,  the 
soul  to  whicn  the  very  name  of  evil  is  shadowy  and  scarce  signifi- 
cant, how  shall  it  be  tempted  to  renounce  Divine  allegiance  and 
disregard  the  threat,  *  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt 
surely  die  ?'  The  most  subtie  temptation  which  the  sagacity  of 
the  Arch-fiend  ever  devised  was  the  offer  to  Jesus  of  those  king- 
doms which  he  had  come  to  redeem,  thereby  excluding  the  neces- 
sity of  the  cross  and  of  the  sepulchre,  and  substituting  an  act  of 
homage  to  the  prince  of  this  world.  And  what  is  remarkable  in 
this  effort  of  Satanic  intellect  is,  that  it  has  not  been  thrown  away, 
for  thou^  he  failed  with  Christ,  he  has  not  failed  with  Antichrist, 
and  the  true  church  of  God  has  ever  since  witnessed  the  spectacle 
of  the  self-strled  '  Prince  of  the  Kings  of  the  earth  '  ruling  the 
pretended  inheritance,  while  he  bends  the  knee  to  the  *  principali- 
ties and  powers '  of  which  he  is  the  vassal.  Of  not  less  real 
magnitude  was  the  allurement  set  before  Eve.  Or  we  may  call  to 
mind  a  temptation  from  which  the  most  eminent  of  the  saints  of 
God  was  delivered,  namely,  the  'exaltation  above  measure'  to 
which  St  Paul  was  liable  in  consequence  of  the  abundance  of  the 
revc^tions  made  to  hinu  The  thorn  in  the  fiesh  was  given  to 
buffet  him,  and  God's  grace  was  sufficient  for  him.  The  '  abun- 
danoe  of  revelations*  given  to  our  first  parents  evidently  paved 

•  The  SQggestion  to  turn  Ae  stones  into  bread  became  a  real  temptation  by  the 
forty  days  nst  by  which  Jesus  was  '  an  hungered.* 

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96  The  Nature  of  Sin,  [AprL, 

the  way  for  the  peculiar  assault  made  upon  them  by  tlie  enemj. 
There  was  a  consciousness  of  intellectual  strength,  there  was  that 
appetite  for  knowledge  which  grows  by  what  it  feeds  on ;  know- 
ledge was  to  them  power,  empnatically.  The  kingdoms  of  the 
earth  were  theirs  already ;  they  had  dominion  over  the  works  of 
God's  hands;  but  Satan  spread  before  their  gaze  the  celestial 
hierarchies  of  angels,  that  '  excel  in  strength,'  thrones  and  domi- 
nions, principalities  and  powers,  a  vision  transcending  even  the 
glories  of  Paradise.  Ye  shall  be  as  gods  I  This  was  the  tempt- 
ing offer;  this  was  the  dangerous  rock  on  which  they  made 
shipwreck. 

Without  referring  to  the  physical  results  of  the  fall,  we  may 
notice  the  expression  which  really  describes  the  moral  effect. 
*  The  eyes  of  them  both  were  opened.'  The  tree  of  knowledge  it 
proved  to  be,  but  precisely  of  that  knowledge  which  includes  a 
miserable  consciousness  of  estrangement  from  God.  On  this 
point  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  Dr.  Cumming's  judicious 
remarks : — 

*  They  saw  what  they  never  expected  to  see,  and  felt  within  them 
what  they  never  dreamt  of  feeling.  They  saw  a  blot  descend  upon  the 
earth,  barrenness  upon  all  the  parts  that  were  most  productive ;  cold 
and  storm,  disturbance,  disorganisation,  where  all  was  beauty,  harmony, 
and  peace  before.  And  they  felt  within  them,  a  new  and  disturbing 
element,  which  they  could  not  understand — that  sensation  which  we 
know,  and  which  we  have  all  felt,  called  remorse,  or  the  feeling  that 
succeeds  conscious  sin,  but  which  was  then  for  the  first  time  tasted  by 
Adam  and  Eve;  sin  now  shot  like  fire  through  every  vein,  and 
rushed,  a  corroding  poison,  through  every  artery,  till  their  once  bound- 
ing hearts  were  breaking,  and  their  happy  spiiits,  oppressed  by  a  crush- 
ing and  inexplicable  sense  of  misery,  yearned  and  groaned  for  a  deliverer. 
Is  it  not,  however,  so  still  ?  While  sin  tempts  the  young  man  by  its 
fascinations,  his  eyes  are  open  to  its  beauty  and  its  advantages,  but 
closed  to  its  issues.  After  he  has  been  conquered  by  the  temptation, 
and  has  yielded  to  the  sin,  then  the  process  is  reversed ;  his  eyes  are 
now  shut  to  its  charms,  and  open  only  to  its  poison  and  its  hatefulness ; 
and  what  approached  him  in  the  most  fascinating  garb,  is  now  seen  by 
him  to  be  the  most  revolting  and  repulsive  serpent ;  his  eyes  are  opened 
to  see  the  dissolving  chaim  that  fascinated  him  for  a  day,  merging  in 
the  avenging  curse  that  lies  upon  him  like  an  incubus,  till  it  be  for- 
given by  the  blood  of  Chiist.  Here  still  is  Satan's  policy:  when  he 
tempts  to  sin,  the  eye  that  sees  peril  is  blinded,  and  the  eye  only  that 
sees  beauty  is  open  ;  but  when  he  has  succeeded,  then  the  eye  that  saw 
the  beauty  is  closed,  and  the  eye  that  sees  peril  is  opened  :  all  was  pre- 
sumption, when  only  the  beautiful  and  the  advantageous  were  seen ; 
all  now  is  despair,  when  nothing  but  the  deadly  and  the  destructive 

'  Church  before  the  Flood,  p.  161. 

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1853.]  and  its  earliest  Developments,  97 

TRie  result  of  the  temptation  in  the  punishment  which  followed 
bears  cbselj  upon  our  present  inquiry.  Death  had  been  threatened 
in  the  event  ot  disobedience,  and  death  followed  accordingly.  But 
what  death?  It  is  very  evident  that,  to  understand  rightly  the 
force  of  this  expression  in  the  Old  Testament,  we  must  look  at  the 
various  meanings  of  the  antithetical  expression  in  the  New.  No 
idea  is  so  often  presented  in' paradox  as — *Life.'  'I  was  tlive 
without  the  law  once,  but  when  the  commandment  came^  sin 
revived,  and  I  died '  (Rom.  vii.  9).  '  I  am  crucified  with  Christ ; 
nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me '  (Gal.  ii. 
20).  *  Ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God ' 
(Col.  iii.  3).  We  are  therefore  prepared  to  understand  that  there 
was  no  contradiction  in  our  first  parents  surviving  their  transgres- 
sion. The  forbidden  tree  was  a  upas,  not  literally,  but  morally 
and  indirecthr.  Adam  lived  930  years  before  his  body  was  laid 
in  that  dust  n-om  which  he  had  been  taken.  Augustine  tells  us  of 
tiuree  kinds  of  death,  but  whidi  he  defines  in  each  instance  to  be 
the  loss  on  the  part  of  that  which  dies  of  a  constituent  element 
possessed  of  a  h^her  vitality.  The  body  dies  when  it  is  separated 
from  the  soul ;  the  soul  dies  when  it  is  separated  from  God ;  the 
entire  man  sufiers  death  when  the  soul,  after  reunion  with  the 
body,  is  banished  from  the  Divine  presence.^  This  is  the  consum- 
mation of  punishment ;  the  second  death,  the  destruction  of  body 
and  soul  in  hell.  The  immediate  efiect  was  that  form  of  death  in 
which  the  soul  is  withdrawn  or  alienated  from  God.  The  trees  of 
the  garden  became  a  spiritual  buryin^-place,  where  our  first  parents 
thought  to  cover  themselves  from  the  eye  of  Deity,  just  as  the 
body  that  is  dead  is  covered  from  human  sight  by  the  dust  under 
which  it  is  laid.  It  is  this  moral  alienation,  which  is  the  lasting 
effect  of  the  Fall,  extending  to  the  whole  human  race,  not  washea 
away  by  any  process  so  simple  as  the  application  of  baptismal 
wat^,  but  which  continues  to  work  in  every  unregenerate  soul, 
itself  a  form  of  death  unto  death,  as  might  be  expected,  bringing 

s  '  Cam  erffo  reqniritary  qaam  mortem  Dens  primis  hominibus  fuerit  commmatiu» 
n  ab  eo  mancuitam  transgrederentar  aoceptum,  nee  obedientiam  custodireiit ;  ntrom 
anims,  an  corporis,  an  totius  bominis,  an  iUam  qosB  appeUatar  secnnda ;  rospon- 
dendom  est,  omnes.  Prima  enim  ex  doaboa  constat ;  secunda  ex  omnibus  tota. 
SIcat  enim  nniyersa  terra  ex  mnltis  terris,  et  universa  Ek^^lesia  ex  moltis  constat 
Koclesiis ;  sic  nniversa  mors  ex  omnibus.  Quoniam  prima  constat  ex  duabus,  una 
animse,  altera  corporis ;  at  sit  prima  totius  hominis  mors,  cum  anima  sine  Deo  et 
sine  corpore  ad  tempos  pcsnas  liut ;  secunda  Tero,  ubi  anima  une  Deo  cum  corpore 
pcenfts  etemas  luit.  Quando  ergo  dixit  Deus  primo  illi  bomini,  quem  in  paradiso 
ooDStituerat,  de  cibo  vetito,  "Qoacanque  die  ederitis  ex  eo,  morU  monemini:" 
nan  tantum  primss  mortis  partem  priorem,  ubi  anima  privatur  Deo ;  nee  tantum 
posteriorem,  ubi  corpus  privator  anima ;  nee  solum  ipsam  totam  primam,  ubi  anima 
et  a  Deo  et  a  corpore  separata  panitur ;  sed  quicqmd  mortis  est  usque  ad  novis- 
nmam,  quse  secunda  dicitur  qua  est  nuna>  posterior,  comminatio  ilia  complexa  est.' 
— AuouBTXHOB,  De  Cvritaie  Deij  lib.  xiiL  <»p.  xii. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  H  ^  J 

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«8  The  Nature  of  Sm,  [April, 

&rth  iruit  unto  death.  It  k  this  primary  disorganization  of  the 
individual  which  baffles  all  merely  numan  ethical  systems,  render- 
ing strict  obedience  to  law  a  thing  impossible,  in  other  words,  for- 
bidding man  to  attempt  a  justifying  righteousness  of  his  own.  The 
contemplation  of  sin  does  indeed,  in  its  every  aspect,  deepen  tiie 

•conviction  that  a  remedial  religion  is  that  which  we  require.  The 
stem  demands  of  holiness  prostrate  the  sinner  in  the  dust,  and 
happy  is  he,  if  the  law  assumes  its  true  functions  as  the  tailnyatyfis 
us  A/pi(7Tov,  that  he  may  find  pardon  through  Him  who  was  made 
sin  fDO*  us,  though  he  knew  no  sin. 

Hie  disobedience  of  Adam  and  Eve  afibrds  us  the  illustration 
on  which  we  would  most  fully  depend  for  exhibiting  the  nature  of 
mn.  &iperficially  considered  it  would  seem  a  trivial  act;  more 
closelv  examined  it  was  the  unfurling  of  a  standard  of  rebellion ; 
and  m  so  styling  it,  the  very  metaphor  we  employ  peculiarly  de- 
scribes its  characteristic  features,  as  it  is  based  on  an  act  which, 
without  being  trivial,  is  in  the  highest  degree  symbolical  and  sig- 
nificant Adam's  disobedience,  moreover,  was  the  result  of  a 
probation  in  whidi  wnf  alien  beings  were  concerned ;  it  is  therefore 
to  be  expected  that  even  this  scanty  history  shall  tell  us  whether 
God's  lapsed  creatures  obeyed  or  disobeyed.     Dr.  Gumming,  in 

-his  chapter  headed  *The  Proto-martyr,'  referring  to  the  death  of 
Abel,  cUscusses  with  considerable  force  the  early  antagonism  of 
those  principles  which  have  in  all  ages  been  the  distinguishing 
marks  of  those  who  serve  God  and  those  who  serve  him  not  '  The 
first  evidence  of  Adam's  sin  after  the  &11,'  he  remarks,  *  was  the 
quarrel  of  two  brothers ;  its  first  direct  finiit  was  murder.'  This 
painful  truth  can  scarcely  fail  to  strike  even  the  more  sceptical  of 
those  who  peruse  the  brief  annals  of  primeval  humanity.  Eve  is 
not  portrayed  to  us  bowing  herself  over  the  lifeless  form  of  her  son 
Abel,  as  Kachel  wept  for  her  children  and  would  not  be  comforted ; 

.  but  it  was  a  bitter  page  in  that  book  she  had  so  &tally  coveted, 
and  one  to  be  read  so  soon — the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil. 

It  would  lead  us,  perhaps,  too  far  astray  from  our  path,  which 
we  are  compelled  to  straiten  in  an  investigation  of  so  wide  a  sub- 

.  ject  as  human  transgression,  were  we  to  particularize  sins,  or  even 
to  comment  on  that  *  sin  unto  death '  unbelief,  or  the  rejection  of 
a  remedy ;  but  we  cannot  omit  a  reference  to  a  valuable  sugges- 
tion of  l)r.  Cumming's,  that  ^  Cain  ignored  the  Fall.'  It  is,  we 
believe,  the  first  and  last  struggle  of  human  nature,  whether  to 
admit  or  to  reject  the  acknowledgment  of  the  in-working  of 
^  death.'  It  b  not  denied  that  God  alone  has  a  'qudckenin^' 
power,  and,  consequently,  that  if  man  be  *  dead,'  he  has  not  m 
nimself  the  remedy.  Let  evil  assume  a  less  desperate  form,  and 
human  effort  shall  suffice ;  but  if  that  which  is  ^ared  be  indeed 


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1853.]  oTid  iU  earliest  DevelapmenU.  99 

the  real  state  of  the  case,  man  has  but  one  resource.  On  this 
fundamental  controversy  depend  all  the  religions  in  the  world. 
But  we  will  see  how  Dr.  Gumming  develops  this  weighty  thought 
*  Cain  looked  upon  the  world,  as  if  the  Fall  had  never  been,  as  if 
ruin  had  never  smitten  it,  and  as  if  all  things  were,  in  his  day,  precisely 
as  they  were  whoi  Adam  and  Eve  walked  in  Paradise,  and  responded 
to  the  voice  of  their  Father,  whose  footsteps  they  heard  at  morning 
and  at  eventide.  We  not  onljr  gather  that  one  offered  by  faith  an 
acceptable  sacrifice,  and  the  other  through  want  of  &ith,  a  rejected 
sacrifice,  but  we  gather  this  £rom  the  very  nature  of  their  ofierings* 
Cain  took  of  the  firuits  and  flowers  of  the  ground,  and  offered  them 
unto  Grod.  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  was  one  of  Adam's  and  Eve's 
offerings  before  they  fell ;  and  Cain  continued  the  same  practice,  reject- 
ing the  iact  of  a  great  disruption,  treating  it  as  if  it  had  never  been ; 
and  therefore,  when  Cain  was  about  to  o^  to  God,  he  walked  forth  at 
the  sun-rising,  and  gathered  flowers,  not  yet  so  blasted  as  ours  are, 
because  sin  had  not  &n  made  such  inroads  into  creation  as  it  has  since 
made.  He  gathered  the  most  beautiful  flowers  that  still  grew  beneath 
the  cherubim  that  guarded  the  gates  of  Eden  from  access.  He  wove 
these  flowers  into  a  garland ;  he  laid  that  garland  upon  the  altar  of 
God,  and  stood  before  God,  and  said,  '^  O  God,  thy  smiles  gave  to  these 
flowers  their  exquisite  tints.  Thy  breath,  O  God,  gave  to  these  roses 
their  delicious  mgrance.  Thy  nngers,  and  thy  g^reat  wisdom  shaped 
every  petal,  and  trimmed  it  as  exquisitely  as  if  thy  wisdom  had  nothing 
else  to.  And  I  take  these  flowers.  Great  Creator,  Great  Preserver, 
and  I  lay  them  upon  thv  altar,  as  an  offering  expressive  of  my  belief 
in  thee  as  the  Creator  of  all,  and  of  my  trust  in  thee  as  the  Preserver 
of  all.  Amen.***    The  offering  was  rejected,  and  the  offerer  too.' — 

In  pursuing  our  investigation  of  the  nature  of  sin,  there  remains 
another  aspect  which  needs  illustration — its  power  of  spreading. 
And  tins  is  amply  supplied  in  the  history  of  the  antediluvian 
world.  We  have  endeavoured  to  keep  in  view  the  fundamental 
definition  that  sin  is  transgression  of  the  law.  The  case  of  Adam 
and  Eve  exhibits  the  struggle  of  law  and  human  will  in  unfallen 
beings ;  that  of  Cain  and  Abel  reveals  the  same  stru^le  in  those 
who  are  already  under  the  power  of  evil,  having  opposite  results  in 

^  The  author  does  not  stay  to  poitit  oat  the  modem  sentimeDtalisin  a^nst  which 
this  prajer,  pUced  in  Cain's  month  by  a  legitimate  exercise  of  fancy,  is  ironioaUy 
directed ;  bat  the  satire  is  not  the  less  trenchant.  The  most  dangerons  form  of 
infidelity,  with  which  we  have  to  combat  at  the  present  day,  k  that  which  affects 
the  language  ot  natural  religion,  rears  ctvstal-temples  in  which  to  offer  the  fhiils 
of  the  grooad  as  saerificee,  appropriates  the  Sabbath  as  the  best  day  for  this  Cain- 
worship,  engages  men  of  science  as  Priests  and  Levites,  and  for  prophets  has  no 
laek  of  newspaper  editon,  lecturers,  popular  orators,  et  hoc  genus  omne— nor  even  of 
politicians  and  statesmen.  One  single  Micaiah  were  worth  them  all.  We  wottld. 
gladly,  were  space  at  our  command,  auote  at  greater  length  firom  this  admirable 
Toiumie,  in  which  we  find  a  Tiffour  of  treatment,  an  extent  of  research,  and  an 
ekMuence  of  expression,  which  wiU  doubtless  enhance  the  reputaUon,  already 
high,  of  the  author. 

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IpO  ThA  Nature  of  Ski.  [April, 

the  two  individuals,  and  in  one  of  tbem  leading  to  the  commission 
.of  that  greatest  of  crimes,  a  *  brother's  murder.  In  the  multiply- 
ing progeny  of  Adam,  the  Spirit  of  God  continued  to  strive,  but  it 
is  very  evident  that  each  victory  of  sin,  whilst  it  strengthened  the 
lust,  diminished  the  resistance ;  that,  in  short,  the  letters  in  which 
the  law  was  engraven  ou  the  heart  gradually  became  less  plain, 
^nd  tended  to  entire  effacement  The  case  of  those  who  perished 
in  the  flood  exhibits  to  us  the  state  into  which  man  passes  when 
the  struggle  against  sin  is  reduced  to  the  feeblest  efibrts.  *  God 
looked  upon  the  earth,  and  behold  it  was  corrupt*  The  salt  had 
palpably  lost  its  savour.  The  immediate  cause  of  this  degeneracy 
IS  explained  to  us  by  the  marriages  of  the  sons  of  God  and  the 
daugliters  of  men,  by  which  is  generally  understood  the  inter- 
mingling of  those  who  adhered  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God 
with  those  who  were  alienated  from  it  It  is  a  forcible  illustration 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Truth  may  be 
inveated  and  captured.  Hence  the  corruption,  hence  the  judicial 
abandonment  to  a  reprobate  mind.  ^Deum,'  says  Augustine, 
*filii  Dei  neglexerunt,  et  filias  hominum" dilexerunt.'  'Because 
they  did  not  Kke  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge '  is  a  similar 
reason  assigned  to  similar  results  in  another  age.  It  is  evident 
therefore  that  the  only  true  moral  unity  in  man  is  based  upon  the 
knowledge  and  love  of  God.  Sin  is  a  centrifugal  power,  driving 
the  prodigal  farther  and  farther  from  his  home ;  sin  is  a  scattering 
and  violating  power,  placing  men  in  antagonism  to  each  other, 
and  leaving  them  to  the  rule  of  a  blinded  selfishness.  *  Corrup- 
tion,' therefore,  generates  'violence,'  and  in  the  antediluvian 
world,  where  the  tenfold  measure  of  human  life  gave  ampler  scope 
for  every  false  principle,  the  wickedness  of  man  reachea  a  fearml 
climax.     The  leaven  was  seen  to  leaven  the  lump. 

The  study  of  sin  and  its  nature  is  by  no  means  distasteful  to  the 
great  mass  of  mankind.  It  is  incidental  to  all  history  ;  it  is  the 
staple  of  dramatic  literature,  and  especially  of  satire ;  but  with  this 
insight  into  the  disease  they  stop.  The  true  object  of  the  inquiry 
with  every  serious  mind  is  to  find  a  remedy,  and  this  is  to  be 
sought  not  in  the  speculations  of  casuists  nor  in  the  schemes  of 
politidans,  but  in  that  Gospel  which  reveals  life  and  immortality, 
which  lifts  up  a  perfect  standard  of  righteousness  in  the  man  Christ 
Jesus ;  whicu  bnnffs  men  to  God  tlm)ugh  His  mediatorial  work, 
and  thus,  by  awakening  Divine  love  in  the  heart  through  the 
operation  of  the  Spirit,  creates  harmony  where  once  had  been 
hopeless  discord.  C.  D. 


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1853.]  The  Life  and  U^ks  of  St.  Paul.  .      101 


THE   LIFE  AND   EPISTLES  O^  ST.   PAUL. 

The  Life  and  JSmstles  of  St  Paul.  By  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Oonybeabe, 
M.A. ;  and  ttie  Rev.  J.  S.  Howson,  M.A.  2  vols.  4to.  1850- 
1852. 

We  are  not  sorry  to  perceive  the  successive  appearance  of  various 
works  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  within  the  last  two  or  three  years. 
The  subject  is  all  but  inexhaustible,  and  different  minds  will  neces- 
sarily look  at  it  in  different  lights.  The  advantages  of  manifold 
views  are  obvious.  We  may  hope  for  new  light  and  fresh  illustra- 
tions. It  is  not  our  intention  to  descant  on  the  greatness  of  the 
theme,  else  we  might  be  tempted  to  compose  an  elaborate  essai/y 
instead  of  a  rmew  properly  so  called.  The  character  and  life  of 
such  an  apostle  as  raul  have  been  often  described  in  glowing  lan- 
guage by  sermon  writers  and  essayists,  though  it  may  te  questioned 
whether  they  have  yet  been  adequately  treated  by  any  one  author. 
Indeed  no  common  mind  is  required  to  do  them  full  justice.  In- 
spiration itself  is  demanded  to  pourtray  the  grand  leatures  of  a 
soul  like  that  which  lodged  in  the  feeble  body  of  him  to  whom 
Christianity  owes  so  much. 

The  work  before  us  is  constructed  on  a  comprehensive  plan. 
There  is  no  other  on  the  same  subject  exactiy  similar  or  equally 
extensive. 

*  The  purport  of  this  work,*  it  is  stated,  *  is  to  give  a  living  picture 
of  St.  Paul  himself,  and  of  the  circumstances  by  which  he  was  sur- 
rounded. 

'  The  biography  of  the  Apostle  must  be  compiled  from  two  sources : 
first,  his  own  letters ;  and,  secondly,  the  narrative  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  The  latter,  after  a  slight  sketch  of  his  early  history,  supplies 
US  with  fuller  details  of  his  middle  life ;  and  his  Epistles  af^rd  much 
subsidiary  information  concerning  his  missionary  labours  during  the 
same  period.  The  light  concentrated  upon  this  portion  of*  his  course 
makes  darker,  by  contrast,  the  obscurity  which  rests  upon  the  remainder ; 
for  we  are  left  to  gain  what  knowledge  we  can  of  his  later  years  from 
scattered  hints  in  a  few  short  letters  of  his  own,  and  from  a  single  sen* 
tence  of  his  disciple  Clement. 

*  But  in  order  to  present  anything  like  a  living  picture  of  St.  Paul's 
career,  much  more  is  necessary  than  a  mere  transcript  of  the  Scriptural 
narrative,  even  where  it  is  fullest  Every  step  of  his  course  brings  us 
into  contact  with  some  new  phase  of  ancient  life  un&miliar  to  our 
modem  experience,  and  upon  which  we  must  throw  light  from  other 
sources,  if  we  wish  to  form  a  distinct  image  in  the  mind.  For  example, 
to  comprehend  the  influences  under  wMch  he  grew  to  manhood,  we 
must  rc^Jise  the  position  of  a  Jewish  &nily  in  Tarsus,  <^  the  chief  city 


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102  The  Life  and  EputUs  cf  St.  Paul.  [April, 

of  Cilicia  ;**  we  must  understand  the  kind  of  education  which  the  son  of 
such  a  family  would  receive  as  a  boy  in  his  Hebrew  home,  or  in  the 
schools  of  his  native  city,  and  in  his  riper  youth  "  at  the  feet  of  Ga- 
maliel "  in  Jerusalem ;  we  must  be  acquainted  with  the  profession  for 
which  he  was  to  be  prepared  by  this  training,  and  appreciate  the  station 
and  duties  of  an  expounder  of  the  law ;  and  that  we  may  be  fully  quali- 
fied to  do  all  this,  we  should  have  a  clear  view  of  the  state  of  the  Reman 
empire  at  the  time,  and  especially  of  its  system  in  the  provinces.  We 
should  also  understand  the  political  position  of  the  Jews  of  the  ^'  dis- 
persion ;"  we  should  be,  so  to  speak,  hearers  in  their  synagogues ;  we 
should  be  students  of  their  rabbinical  theology ;  and  in  like  manner,  as 
we  follow  the  Apostle  in  the  different  stages  of  his  varied  and  adven- 
turous career,  we  must  strive  continually  to  bring  out,  in  their  true 
brightness,  the  half-effaced  forms  and  colouring  of  the  scene  in  which 
he  acts ;  aiid  while  he  "  becomes  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might 
by  all  means  save  some,"  we  must  form  to  ourselves  a  living  likeness 
of  the  things  and  of  the  men  among  which  he  moved,  if  we  would 
rightly  estimate  his  work.  Thus  we  must  study  Christianity  rising  in 
the  midst  of  Judaism ;  we  must  realise  the  position  of  its  early  churcheB 
with  their  mixed  society,  to  which  Jews,  proselytes,  and  heathens  had 
each  contributed  a  characteristic  element;  we  must  qualify  ourselves 
to  be  umpires,  if  we  may  so  speak,  in  their  violent  internal  divisions ; 
we  must  listen  to  the  strife  of  their  schismatic  parties,  when  one  said, 
"  I  am  of  Paul,  and  another,  I  am  of  Apollos ;"  we  must  study  the 
true  character  of  those  early  heresies,  which  even  denied  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  advocated  impurity  and  lawlessness,  claiming  the  right  ^*  to 
sin  that  g^ce  might  abound,"  '* defiling  the  mind  and  conscience"  of 
their  followers,  and  making  them  '^  abominable  and  disobedient,  and  to 
every  good  work  reprobate ;"  we  roust  trace  the  extent  to  which  Gre^ 
philosophy,  Judaising  formalism,  and  Eastern  superstition,  blended  their 
tainting  influence  with  the  pure  fermentation  of  that  new  leaven  which 
was  at  last  to  leaven  the  whole  mass  of  civilized  society.  Again,  to 
understand  St.  Paul's  personal  history  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen, 
we  must  know  the  state  of  the  different  populations  which  he  visited ; 
the  charaeter  of  Greek  and  Roman  civilization  at  the  epoch ;  the  points 
of  intersection  between  the  political  history  of  the  world  and  the  Scrip- 
tural narrative ;  the  social  organization  and  gradation  of  ranks,  for  which 
he  enjoins  respect ;  the  position  of  women,  to  which  he  specially  refers 
in  many  of  ids  letters;  the  relations  between  parents  and  children, 
slaves  and  masters,  which  he  not  vainly  sought  to  imbue  with  the  loving 
spirit  of  the  Gospel ;  the  quality  and  influence,  under  the  early  empire, 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  religions,  whose  effete  corruptness  he  de- 
nounces with  such  indignant  scorn;  the  public  amusements  of  the 
people,  whence  he  draws  topics  of  warning  or  illustration ;  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Roman  law,  under  which  he  was  so  frequently  arraigned ; 
the  courts  in  which  he  was  tried,  and  the  magistrates  by  whose  sentence 
he  suffered ;  the  legionary  soldiers  who  acted  as  his  guards ;  the  roads 
by  which  he  traveUed,  whether  through  the  mountains  of  Lycaonia  or 
the  marshes  of  Latium ;  the  course  of  commerce  by  which  his  jouniey« 


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1853.]  The  Life  and  JBpiMsi  qf  St.  Pmd.  108 

were  so  often  regulated ;  and  the  character  of  that  imperfect  nayigatioo 
hj  which  his  life  was  so  many  times  endangered. 

<  While  thus  trying  to  live  in  the  life  of  a  bygone  age,  and  to  call 
up  the  figure  of  the  past  from  its  tomb,  duly  robed  in  all  its  former 
laiment,  every  help  is  welcome  which  enables  us  to  fill  up  the  dim  out-* 
line  in  any  part  of  its  reality.  Especially  we  delight  to  look  upon  the 
only  one  of  the  manifold  features  of  that  past  existence  which  is  still 
livuig.  We  remember  with  pleasure  that  the  earth,  the  sea,  and  the 
sky,  still  combine  for  us  in  the  same  landscapes  which  passed  before  the 
eyes  of  the  wayfaring  Apostle.  The  plain  of  Cilicia,  the  snowy  dis- 
tances of  Taurus,  the  cold  and'^rapid  stream  of  the  Cydnus,  the  broad 
Orontes,  under  the  shadow  of  its  steep  banks,  with  their  thickets  of  jas- 
mine and  oleander ;  the  hills  which  '^  stand  about  Jerusalem,"  the 
'*  arched  fountains  cold ''  in  the  ravines  below,  and  those  '*  flowery 
brooks  beneath  that  wash  their  hallowed  feet ;"  the  capes  and  islands 
of  the  Grecian  Sea,  the  craggy  summit  of  Areopagus,  the  land-locked 
harbour  of  Syracuse,  tlie  towering  cone  of  Etna,  the  voluptuous  loveli- 
neasof  the  Campanian  shore:  all  these  remain  to  us,  the  imperishable 
handiwork  of  nature.  We  can  still  loc^  upon  the  same  trees  and  flowers 
which  he  saw  clothing  the  mountains,  giving  colour  to  the  plains  or 
reflected  in  the  rivers;  we  may  think  of  Mm  among  the  palms  of 
Syria,  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  the  olives  of  Attica,  the  green  Isthmian 
pues  of  Corinth,  whose  leaves  wove  those  ^'  fading  garlands "  which 
he  contrasts  with  ^'the  incorruptible  crown,*'  the  prize  for  which  he 
fought  Nay,  we  can  even  still  look  upon  some  of  the  works  of  man 
which  filled  him  with  wonder  or  moved  him  to  indignation.  The 
*^  temples  made  with  hands  "  which  rose  before  him — the  very  apothe- 
osis of  idolatry — on  the  Acropolis,  still  stand  in  almost  undiminished 
majesty  and  beauty.  The  mole  on  which  he  landed  at  Puteoli  still 
stretches  its  ruins  into  the  blue  waters  of  the  bay.  The  remains  of 
the  Baian  villas,  whose  marble  porticoes  he  then  beheld  glittering  in 
the  sunset,  his  first  specimen  of  Italian  luxury,  still  are  seen  along  the 
shore.  We  may  still  enter  Rome  as  he  did  by  the  same  Appian  road, 
through  the  same  Capenian  gate,  and  wander  among  the  ruins  of 
*^  Caenur's  palace  **  on  the  Palatine,  while  our  eye  rests  upon  the  same 
aqueducts  radiating  over  the  Campagna  to  the  unchang^ing  hills.  Those 
who  have  visited  these  spots  must  often  have  felt  a  thnll  of  recollection 
as  they  trod  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Apostle :  they  must  have  been  con- 
scious how  much  the  identity  of  the  outward  scene  brought  them  into 
communion  with  him,  while  they  tried  to  image  to  themselves  the 
feelings  with  which  he  must  have  looked  upon  the  objects  before  them. 
They  who  have  experienced  this  will  feel  how  imperfect  a  biography 
of  SL  Paul  must  be  without  faithful  representations  of  the  places  which 
he  visited.  It  is  hoped  that  the  views  which  are  contained  in  the  pre- 
sent yrotky  and  which  have  been  drawn  for  this  special  object,  will 
supply  tbb  desideratum ;  and  it  is  evident  that,  for  the  purposes  of  such 
a  biography,  nothing  but  true  and  faithful  representations  of  the  real 
scenes  will  be  valuable :  these  are  what  is  wanted,  and  bot  ideal  repre- 
sentations, even  though  copied  from  the  works  of  the  greatest  masters ; 


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104  The  Life  and  JEpisOes  of  St.  PauL  [April, 

for,  as  it  has  been  well  said,  ^  nature  and  reality  painted  at  the  time, 
and  on  the  spot,  a  nobler  cartoon  of  St.  PauFs  preaching  at  Athens 
than  the  immortal  Bafiaelle  afterwards  has  done." 

^  For  a  similar  reason  maps  have  been  added,  exhibiting,  with  as 
much  accuracy  as  can  at  present  be  attained,  the  physical  features  of 
the  countries  visited,  and  some  of  the  ancient  routes  through  them ; 
together  with  plans  of  the  most  important  cities,  and  maritime  charts 
of  the  coasts  inhere  they  were  required. 

*  While  thus  endeavouring  to  represent  faithfully  the  natural  objects 
and  architectural  remains  connected  with  the  narrative,  it  has  likewise 
been  attempted  to  give  such  illustrations  as  were  needful  of  the  ndnor 
productions  of  human  art  as  they  exbted  in  the  first  century.  For  this 
purpose  engravings  of  coins  have  been  given  in  all  cases  where  they 
seemed  to  throw  light  on  the  circumstances  mentioned  in  the  history ; 
and  recourse  has  been  had  to  the  stores  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum, 
as  well  as  to  the  collection  of  the  Vatican  and  the  columns  of  Trajan 
and  Antoninus. 

^  But  after  all  this  is  done — ^after  we  have  endeavoured,  with  every 
help  we  can  command,  to  reproduce  the  picture  of  St  PauPs  deeds 
and  times — ^how  small  would  our  knowledge  of  himself  remain,  if  we  had 
no  other  record  of  him  left  us  but  the  story  of  his  adventures.  If  his 
letters  had  never  come  down  to  us,  we  should  have  known  indeed  what 
he  did  and  suffered,  but  we  should  have  had  v^  little  idea  of  what  he 
was.  Even  if  we  could  perfectly  succeed  in  restoring  the  image  of  the 
scenes  and  circumstances  in  which  he  moved — even  if  we  could,  as  in  a 
magic  mirror,  behold  him  speaking  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  with  his 
Ephesian  hearers  in  their  national  costume  aroimd  him — we  should 
still  see  very  little  of  Paul  of  Tarsus.  We  must  listen  to  his  words,  if 
we  would  learn  to  know  him.  If  &ncy  did  her  utmost,  she  could  g^re 
us  only  his  outward  not  his  inward  life.  '^  Hb  bodily  presence,^  so 
his  enemies  declared,  was  '^  weak  and  contemptible ;"  but  ^'  his  letters/' 
even  they  allowed,  '^  were  weighty  and  powerful."  Moreover,  an  effort 
of  imagination  and  memory  is  needed  to  recall  the  past,  but  in  his 
Epistles  St  Paul  is  present  with  us.  ^^  His  words  are  not  dead  words ; 
tl^y  are  living  creatures  with  hands  and  feet,"  touching,  in  a  thousand 
hearts  at  this  very  hour,  the  same  chord  of  feeling  which  vibra|^  to 
their  first  utterance.  We,  the  Christians  of  the  nineteenth  century,  can 
bear  witness  now,  as  fully  as  could  a  Byzantine  audience  fourteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  to  the  saying  of  Chrysostom,  that  "  Paul  by  his  letters 
still  lives  in  the  mouths  of  men  throughout  the  whole  worid ;  by  them, 
not  only  his  own  converts,  but  all  the  fedthful  even  unto  this  day,  yea 
and  all  the  saints  who  are  yet  to  be  bom,  until  Christ's  coming  again, 
both  have  been  and  shall  be  blessed.*'  His  Epistles  are  to  his  inward 
lifo  what  the  mountains  and  rivers  of  Asia  and  Greece  and  Italy  are 
to  his  outward  life—the  imperishable  part  which  still  remains  to  us, 
when  all  that  time  can  ruin  has  passed  away.' — Introduction^  vol.  L 
pp.  iii.-ix. 

In  conformity  with  this  purpose  a  minute  narrative  of  the 
Apostle's  life  is  presented,  extracted  from  his  letters  and  the  Acts 


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1853.]  The  Life  and  Epietles  of  St.  Paul  105 

of  the  ApoBtles.  All  his  journeys  are  traced ;  the  geography  and 
history  of  the  places  he  visited  or  touched  at  copiously  exnibited  ; 
the  seas  he  sailed,  the  roads  he  travelled,  the  scenery  he  moved 
amon^,  Ihe  customs  and  usages  alluded  to  in  his  epistles  or  life 
described ;  and  besides,  a  paraphrastic  translation  of  all  that  he 
Raid  or  wrote,  which  has  come  down  to  us,  is  carefully  set  forth. 
The  range  of  subjects  embraced  is  wide  and  far-reaching.  A  wealth 
of  illustrative  matter,  from  almost  every  available  source,  is  poured 
forth,  so  that  it  becomes  difficult  to  give  the  reader  who  has  not 
examined  the  work  for  himself,  a  true  idea  of  its  contents.  No 
greater  affluence  of  knowledge  than  is  applied  here  to  produce  a 
vivid  portraiture  of  the  Apostle  in  all  his  works  of  faith  and  labours 
of  love  has  ever  been  brought  together.  We  shall  first  endeavour 
to  make  our  readers  acquainted  with  the  leading  modes  of  illus- 
tration employed  by  the  writers,  and  afterwards  discuss  their  cha- 
racter and  value. 

Here  is  the  description  of  Galatia : — 

*  We  come  now  to  a  political  division  of  Asia  Minor,  which  demands 
a  more  careful  attention.  Its  sacred  interest  is  greater  than  that  of  all 
the  others,  and  its  history  is  more  peculiar.  The  Christians  of  Ga- 
latia were  they  who  received  the  Apostle  ^'  as  if  he  had  been  an  angel," 
who,  "  if  it  had  been  possible,  would  have  plucked  out  their  eyes  and 
given  them  to  him,"  and  then  were  "  so  soon  removed  "  by  new  teachers 
^'  from  him  that  csdled  them  to  another  gospel ;"  who  began  to  ^*  run 
well,"  and  then  were  hindered ;  who  were  "  bewitched  "  by  that  zeal 
which  compassed  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  were  as  ready, 
in  the  fervour  of  their  party  spirit,  to  "bite  and  devour  one  another" 
as  they  were  willing  to  change  their  teachers  and  their  gospels.  It  is 
no  mere  ^cy  which  discovers  in  these  expressions  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle 
indicati(ms  of  the  character  of  that  remarkable  race  of  mankind,  which 
all  writers,  from  Csesar  to  Thierry,  have  described  as  susceptible  of 
quick  impressions  and  sudden  changes,  with  a  fickleness  equal  to  their 
Ofmrage  and  enthusiasm,  and  a  constant  liability  to  that  disunion  which 
IS  the  fruit  of  excessive  vanity — that  race,  which  has  not  only  pro- 
duced one  of  the  greatest  nations  of  modem  times,  but  which,  long 
before  the  Christian  era,  wandering  forth  from  their  early  European 
seats,  burnt  Rome  and  pillaged  Delphi,  founded  an  empire  in  Northern 
Italy  more  than  co-extensive  with  Austrian  Lombardy,  and  another  in 
Asia  Minor  equal  in  importance  to  one  of  the  largest  pachalicks. 

*  For  the  "  Galatia"  of  the  New  Testament  was  really  the  "  Gaul" 
of  the  East.  The  "  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  "  would  more  literally  and 
more  correctly  be  called  the  "  Epistle  to  the  Gauls."  When  Livy,  in 
his  account  of  the  Roman  campaigns  in  Galatia,  speaks  of  its  inhabitants, 
he  always  calls  them  '^  Gauls."  When  the  Greek  historians  speak  of 
the  inhabitants  of  ancient  France,  the  word  they  use  is  ^<  Galatians." 
The  two  terms  are  merely  the  Greek  and  Latin  forms  of  the  same  '*  bar* 
barian  "  appellation. 

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106  The  Life  and  JEpktles  of  St.  Paul  [April, 

^That  emigration  of  the  Gauls,  which  ended  in  the  settlement  in 
Asia  Minor,  is  less  famous  than  those  which  led  to  the  disasters  in  Italj 
and  Greece;  but  it  b,  in  fact,  identical  with  the  latter  of  these  two 
emigrations,  and  its  results  were  more  permanent  The  warriors  who 
roamed  over  the  Cevennes,  or  by  the  banks  of  the  Garonne,  reappear 
on  the  Halys  and  at  the  base  of  Mount  Dindymus.  They  exchange  the 
superstitions  of  Druidism  for  the  ceremonies  of  the  worship  of  Cybele. 
The  very  name  of  the  chief  Galatian  tribe  is  one  with  which  we  are 
familiar  in  the  earliest  history  of  France ;  and  Jerome  says  that,  in  his 
own  day,  the  language  spoken  at  Ancyra  was  almost  identical  with  that 
of  Treves.  The  Galatians  were  a  stream  from  that  torrent  of  bar- 
barians which  poured  into  Greece  in  the  third  century  before  our  era, 
and  which  recoiled  in  confusion  from  the  difls  of  DelphL  Some  tribes 
had  previously  separated  from  the  main  army,  and  penetrated  into 
Thrace ;  here  they  were  joined  by  certain  of  the  fugitives,  and  together 
they  appeared  on  the  coasts,  which  are  separated  by  a  narrow  arm  of 
the  sea  from  the  rich  plains  and  valleys  of  Bithynia.  The  wars  with 
which  that  kingdom  was  harassed  made  their  presence  acceptable. 
Nicomedes  was  the  Vortigem  of  Asia  Minor ;  and  the  two  Gaulish 
chieftains,  Leonor  and  Lutar,  may  be  fitly  compared  to  the  two  legend- 
ary heroes  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion.  Some  difficulties  occurred  in 
the  passage  of  the  Bosphorus,  which  curiously  contrast  with  the  easy 
voyages  of  our  piratic  ancestors.  But,  once  established  in  Asia  Minor, 
the  Gauls  lost  no  time  in  spreading  over  the  whole  peninsula  with  their 
arms  and  devastation.  In  their  first  crossing  over  we  have  compared 
them  to  the  Saxons.  In  their  first  occupation  they  may  be  more  fitly 
compared  to  the  Danes ;  for  they  were  a  moveable  army  rather  than  a 
nation,  encamping,  marching,  and  plundering  at  will.  They  stationed 
themselves  on  the  site  of  ancient  Troy,  and  drove  their  chariots  in  the 
plain  of  the  Cayster.  They  divided  nearly  the  whole  peninsula  among 
their  three  trib^.  They  levied  tribute  on  cities,  and  even  on  kings. 
The  wars  of  the  East  found  them  various  occupations.  They  hired 
themselves  out  as  mercenary  soldiers.  They  were  the  royal  guards  of 
the  Kings  of  Syria,  and  the  Mamelukes  of  the  Ptolemies  in  Egypt. 

'The  surrounding  monarchs  gradually  curtailed  thdr  power,  and 
repressed  them  within  narrower  limits.  First  Antiochus  Soter  drove 
the  Tectosages,  and  then  Eumenes  drove  the  Trocmi  and  Tolistoboii 
into  the  central  district  which  afterwards  became  Galatia.  Their  ter- 
ritory was  definitely  marked  out  and  surrounded  by  the  other  states  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  they  retained  a  geographical  position  similar  to  that  of 
Hungary  in  the  midst  of  its  Sclavonic  neighbours.  By  deg^rees  they 
coalesced  into  a  number  of  small  confederate  states,  and  ultimately  into 
one  united  kingdom.  Successive  circumstances  brought  them  into  con- 
tact with  the  Homans  in  various  ways :  first,  by  a  religious  embassy 
sent  from  Rome  to  obtain  peaceful  possession  of  the  sacred  image  of 
Cybele ;  secondly,  by  the  campaign  of  Manlius,  who  reduced  th^ 
power  and  left  them  a  nominal  independence ;  and  then  through  the 
period  of  hazardous  alliance  with  the  rival  combatants  in  the  civil  wars. 
The  first  Deiotarus  was  made  king  by  Pompey,  fled  befoie  Cassar  at  the 


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185a]  The  Life  and  BpMes  of  St.  Paul:  107 

battle  of  Pharaalia,  and  was  defended  before  the  conqueror  by  Cicero, 
in  a  speech  which  still  remains  to  us.  The  second  Deiotarus,  like  his 
fiither,  was  Cicero's  friend,  and  took  charge  of  his  son  and  nephew 
during  the  Cilician  campaign.  Amyntas,  who  succeeded  him,  owed  his 
power  to  Antony,  but  prudently  went  over  to  Augustus  in  the  battle 
of  Aotiura.  At  the  death  of  Amyntas,  Aug^tus  made  some  modiii- 
catioDs  in  the  extent  of  Galatia,  and  placed  it  under  a  governor.  It 
was  now  a  province,  reaching  from  the  borders  of  Asia  and  Bithynia 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Derbe,  ^^  cities  of  Lya- 
oonia." 

*  Henceforward,  like  the  Western  Gaul,  this  territory  was  a  part  of 
the  Roman  empire,  though  retaining  the  traces  of  its  history  in  the  cha- 
racter and  language  of  its  principal  inhabitants.  There  was  this  dif- 
ference, however,  between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Graul,  that  the 
latter  was  more  rapidly  and  more  completely  assimilated  to  Italy.  It 
passed  from  its  barbarian  to  its  Roman  state,  without  being  subjected  to 
any  intermediate  civilization.  The  Gauls  of  the  East,  on  the  other  hand, 
bad  long  been  familiar  with  the  Greek  language  and  the  Greek  culture. 
St.  PauTs  Epistle  was  written  in  Greek.  The  contemporary  inscriptions 
of  the  province  are  usually  in  the  same  language.  The  Galatians 
themselves  are  frequently  called  Gallo-Grsecians ;  and  many  of  the 
inhalMtants  of  the  province  must  have  been  of  piue  Grecian  orig^. 
Another  section  of  the  population,  the  early  Phrygians,  were  probably 
numerous,  but  in  a  lower  and  more  degraded  position.  The  presence 
of  great  numbers  of  Jews  in  the  province  implies  that  it  was  in  some 
respects  favouraUe  for  traffic ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the  district  must 
have  been  constantly  intersected  by  the  course  of  caravans  from  Ar- 
menia, the  Hellespont,  and  the  South.  The  Roman  itineraries  inform 
us  of  the  lines  of  communication  between  the  gretX  towns  near  the ' 
Halys  and  the  other  parts  of  Asia  Minor.  These  circumstances  are 
closely  connected  with  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  and  we  shall  return  to 
them  again  when  we  describe  St.  Paul's  first  reception  in  Galatia.' — 
▼oL  i.  pp.  261-266. 

The  following  description  of  the  mode  of  teaching  amon^  the 
Jews,  and  the  places  wnere  instruction  was  communicated,  is  intro- 
duced after  a  notice  of  Gamaliel : — 

*  Until  the  formation  of  the  later  Rabbinical  colleges,  which  flou- 
rished after  the  Jews  were  driven  from  Jerusalem,  the  instruction  in 
the  divinity  schools  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  oral.  There  was  a 
prejudice  against  the  use  of  any  book  except  the  Sacred  Writings. 
The  system  was  one  of  Scriptural  exegesis.  Josephus  remarks,  at  the 
close  of  his  Antiquities,  that  the  one  thing  most  prized  by  his  country- 
men was  power  in  the  exposition  of  Scripture.  "  They  give  to  that 
man,"  he  says,  "the  testimony  of  being  a  wise  man,  who  is  fully 
acquainted  with  our  laws,  and  is  able  to  interpret  their  meaning."  So 
ftr  as  we  are  able  to  learn  from  our  sources  of  information,  the  method 
of  instruction  was  something  of  this  kind.  At  the  meetings  of  learned 
men,  some  passage  of  the  Old  Testament  was  taken  as  a  text,  or  some 


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108  27ie  Life  and  JSpistks  of  St.  Paul.  [April, 

topic  for  discussion  propounded  in  Hebrew,  translated  into  the  ver- 
nacular tongue  by  means  of  a  Chaldee  paraphrase,  and  made  the  subject 
of  commentary ;  various  interpretations  were  given,  aphorisms  were 
propounded,  allegories  suggested,  and  the  opinions  of  ancient  doctors 
quoted  and  discussed.  At  these  discussions  the  younger  students  were 
present,  to  listen  or  to  inquire,  or,  in  the  sacred  words  of  St  Luke, 
^'  both  hearing  them  and  asking  them  questions  ;*'  for  it  was  a  peculiarity 
of  the  Jewish  schools,  tiiat  the  pupil  was  encouraged  to  cateciiise  the 
teacher.  Contradictory  opinions  were  expressed  with  the  utmost  firee- 
dom.  This  is  evident  from  a  cursory  examination  of  the  Talmud,  which 
gives  us  the  best  notions  of  the  scholastic  disputes  of  the  Jews.  This 
remarkable  body  of  Rabbinical  jurisprudence  has  been  compared  to  the 
Roman  body  of  civil  law ;  but  in  one  respect  it  might  suggest  a  better 
c<Mnparison  with  our  own  English  common  law,  in  that  it  is  a  vast  accu- 
mulation of  various  and  oflen  inconsistent  precedents ;  the  arg^uments 
and  opinions  which  it  contains  show  very  plainly  that  the  Jewish  doctors 
must  oflen  have  been  occupied  with  the  most  frivolous  questions — that 
^'  the  mint,  anise,  and  cummin "  were  eagerly  discussed,  while  "  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law  "  were  neglected ;  but  we  should  not  be 
justified  in  passing  a  hasty  judgment  on  ancient  volimies,  which  are  full 
of  acknowledged  difficulties.  What  we  read  of  the  system  of  the 
Cabbala  has  oflen  the  appearance  of  an  unintelligible  jargon  ;  but  in  all 
ages  it  has  been  true  that  '^  the  words  of  the  wise  are  as  goads,  and  as 
nails  fastened  by  the  masters  of  assemblies."  If  we  could  look  back 
upon  the  assemblies  of  the  Rabbis  of  Jerusalem,  with  Gamaliel  in  the 
midst,  and  Saul  among  the  younger  speakers,  it  is  possible  that  the 
scene  would  be  as  strange  and  as  different  from  a  place  of  modem  educa- 
tion as  the  schools  now  seen  by  travellers  in  the  East  differ  from  contem- 
porary schools  in  England.  But  the  same  might  be  said  of  the  walks 
of  Plato  in  the  Academy,  or  the  lectures  of  Aristotle  in  the  Lyceum. 
It  is  certain  that  these  free  and  public  discussions  of  the  Jews  tended 
to  create  a  high  degree  of  general  intelligence  among  the  people ;  that 
the  students  were  trained  there  in  a  system  of  excellent  dialectics  ;  that 
they  learnt  to  express  themselves  in  a  rapid  and  sententious  style,  oflen 
with  much  poetical  feeling ;  and  acquired  an  admirable  acquaintance 
with  the  words  of  the  ancient  Scriptures. 

*  These  "  Assemblies  of  the  Wise  "  were  possibly  a  continuation  of 
the  "  Schools  of  the  Prophets,"  which  are  mentioned  in  the  historical 
books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Wherever  the  earlier  meetings  were  held, 
whether  at  the  gate  of  the  city  or  in  some  more  secluded  place,  we 
read  of  no  buildings  for  purposes  of  worship  or  instruction  before  the 
Captivity.  During  that  melancholy  period,  when  they  mourned  over 
their  separation  from  the  temple,  the  necessity  of  assemblies  must  have 
been  deeply  felt,  for  united  prayer  and  mutual  exhortation,  for  the 
singing  of  the  "  songs  of  Zion,"  and  for  remembering  the  "  Word  of  the 
Lord."  When  they  returned,  the  public  reading  of  the  law  became  a 
practice  of  universal  interest,  and  from  this  period  we  must  date  the 
erection  of  synagogfies  in  the  different  towns  of  Palestine.  So  that 
St.  James  could  say,  in  the  council  at  Jerusalem,  ^^  Moses  of  old  time 


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1853.]  The  Life  and  Epiailea  of  St.  Paul.  109 

hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach  him,  being  read  in  the  Syns^ogues 
every  Sabbath  day."  To  this  later  period  the  74th  Psalm  may  be 
referred,  which  laments  over  the  burning  of  "  all  the  synagogues  of  God 
in  the  land."  These  buildings  are  not  mentioned  by  Josephus  in  any 
of  the  earlier  passages  of  his  history ;  but  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles 
we  have  the  fullest  evidence  that  they  existed  in  all  the  small  towns  in 
Judaea,  and  in  all  the  principal  cities  where  the  Jews  Were  dispersed 
abroad.  It  seems  that  the  synagogues  often  consisted  of  two  apart- 
ments, one  for  prayer,  preaching,  and  the  offices  of  public  worship ;  the 
other  for  the  meetings  of  learned  men,  for  discussions  concerning  ques- 
tions of  religion  and  discipline,  and  for  purposes  of  education.  'Ihus 
the  tynagogues  and  the  schools  cannot  be  considered  as  two  separate 
subjects.  No  doubt  a  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  the  smaller 
schools  of  the  country  villages  and  the  great  divinity  schools  of  Jeru- 
alem.  The  synagogue  which  was  built  by  the  centurion  at  Capernaum 
was  no  doubt  a  faur  less  important  place  than  those  synagogues  in  the 
Holy  City,  where  ^^  the  Libertines,  and  Cyrenians,  and  Alexandrians, 
with  those  of  Asia  and  Cilicia,"  rose  up  as  one  man,  and  disputed 
against  St.  Stephen.  We  have  here  five  groups  of  foreign  Jews — two 
fitmi  Africa,  two  from  Western  Asia,  and  one  from  Europe ;  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  Israelites  of  Syria,  Babylonia,  and  the  East  were 
similarly  represented.  The  Rabbinical  writers  say  that  there  were  480 
synagogues  in  Jerusalem ;  and  though  this  must  be  an  exaggeration, 
yet  no  doubt  all  shades  of  Hellenistic  and  Aramaic  opinions  found  a 
home  in  the  conunon  metropolis.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  an  eager  and 
enthusiastic  student  could  have  had  no  lack  of  excitements  to  stimulate 
his  religious  and  intellectual  activity  if  he  spent  the  years  of  his  youth 
in  that  city,  «  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel."  '—vol.  i.  pp.  63-66. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  translation :— - 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS. 

Pauly  an  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ  by  the  will  of  God^  and  Timo^     1    s«iutaUoD. 
theus  the  brother^  to  the  holy  and  faithful  brethren  in  Christ     2 
who  are  at  Colossae, 

Grace  be  to  you,  and  peace  from  God  our  Father. 

I  give  continual  thanks  to  Grod  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus    3  Thanks- 
Christ  ;  in  my  prayers  for  you  (since  I  heard  of  your  faith  in     4  Sl£^c«mwr. 
Christ  Jesus,  and  your  love  to  all  His  people) ;  because  of  the     5   ■^• 
hope  laid  up  for  you  in  the  heavens,    whereof  you   heard  the 
promise  in  the  truthful  word  of  the  fflad  tidings ;  which  is  come     6 
to  you,  as  it  is  through  all  the  world,  where  it  bears  fruit  and 
gro¥^  as  it  does  also  among  you,  since  the  day  when  first  you 
heard  it,  and  learned  to  know  truly  the  grace  of  God.     And  thus    7 
you  were  taught  by  Epaphras  my  beloved  fellow-bondsman,  who  is 
a  &ithftil  servant  of  Christ  on  your  behalf.     And  it  is  he  who     8 
has  declared  to  me  your  love  for  me  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
Spirit. 

Wherefore  I  also^  since  the  day  when  fini  I  beard  it,  cease  not    J9 

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[April, 


Prayers  for 
their  perfec- 
tion. 


Atonement 
and  sove- 
reignty of 
Christ 


ITie  Colos- 
slans  bad 
been   called 
fh>m  hea- 
thenism, and 
recoodled  to 
OodbyCaurist. 


St  Paul's 

comralseion 

to  reveal  the 

Christian 

mystery  of 

univerad 

salvation. 


to  pray  for  you,  and  to  aak  of  God  that  you  may  fully  attain 
to  the  knowlege  of  His  will ;  that  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual 

10  understanding  you  may  walk  worthy  of  the  Lord,  to  please  Him 
in  all  things ;  that  you  may  bear  firuit  in  all  good  works,  and 

1 1  grow  continually  in  the  knowledge  of  God ;  that  you  may  be 
strengthened  to  the  uttermost  in  the  strength  of  His  glorious 
power,  to  bear  all  sufferings  with  steadfast  endurance  and  with 

12  joy,  giving  thanks  to  the  Father  who  has  enabled  us  to  share  the 
portion  of  His  people  in  the  light 

13  For  He  has  delivered  us  ^m  the  dominion  of  darkness,  and 

14  transplanted  us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  beloved  Son:  in  whom 

15  we  have  our  redemption,  the  forgiveness  of  our  nns.  Who  is  a 
visible  image  of  the  invisible  God,  the  first  bom  of  all  creation  ; 

16  for  in  Him  were  aU  things  created,  both  in  the  heavens  and  on  the 
earth,  both  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones,  or 
dominations,  or  principalities,  or  powers ;  by  Him  and  for  Him 

17  were  all  created.     And  He  is  he£iae  all  things,  and  in  Him  aU 

18  things  subsist.  And  He  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church ; 
whereof  He  is  the  beginning,  as  first-bom  from  the  dead ;  that  in 
all  things  His  place  might  be  the  first. 

19  For  He  willed   that  in  Himself  all  the  fulness  of  the  universe 

20  should  dwell ;  and  by  Himself  He  willed  to  reconcile  all  things  to 
Himself,  having  made  peace  by  the  blood  of  his  cross ;  by  Himself 
(I  say)  to  reconcile  all  that  exists,  whether  on  the  earth,  or  in  the 
heavens. 

21  And  you,  likewise,  who  once  were  estranged  from  Him,  and 
with  your  mind  at  war  with  Him,  when  you  lived  in  wickedness, 

22  yet  now  He  has  reconciled  in  the  body  of  his  fiesh  through  death, 
that  He  might  bring  you  to  His  presence  in  holiness,  without 

23  blemish  and  without  reproach;  if,  indeed,  you  be  steadfast  in 
your  faith,  with  your  foundation  firmly  grounded,  and  immovably 
fixed,  and  not  suffering  yourselves  to  h«  shifted  away  from  the 
hope  of  the  glad  tidings  which  first  you  heard,  which  has  been 
published  throughout  all  the  earth,  whereof  I,  Paul,  have  been 
made  a  ministering  servant 

24  And  even  now  I  rejoice  in  the  afflictions  which  I  bear  for  your 
sake,  and  I  fill  up  what  yet  is  lacking  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ 

25  in  my  fiesh,  on  behalf  of  His  body,  which  is  the  church ;  whereof 
I  was  made  a  servant,  to  minister  in  the  stewardship  which  God 
gave  me  for  you  [Gentiles],  that  I  might  fulfil  it  by  declaring 

26  the  word  of  God ;  the  mystery  which  has  been  hid  for  countless 
ages  and  generations,  but   has  now  been  shown  openly  to  His 

27  people ;  to  whom  God  willed  to  manifest  how  rich,  among  the 
Gentiles,  is  the  glory  of  this  mystery,  which  is  Christ  in  t/aUf  the 
hope  of  Glory, 

28  Him,  therefore,  I  proclaim,  warning  every  man,  and  teaching 
every  man,  in  all  wisdom ;  that  I  may  bring  every  man  into 

29  His  presence  full  grown  in  Christ.  And  to  this  end  I  labour  in 
earnest  conflict,  according  to  His  inward  working  which  woiks  in 
me  with  mighty  power.   VoL  ii.,  pp.  894-398, 

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1863.]  The  Life  and  I^istles  of  St.  Paul  111 

We  had  intended  to  have  presented  the  reader  with  the  descrip- 
tion of  Ephesus  (vol.  ii.  p.  66,  et  8eq,\  with  that  of  a  Roman  Coloma 
introduced  in  connection  witii  Philippi  (vol.  i.  p.  312,  et  seq.),  and 
witii  the  account  of  Poul's  route  from  Puteoli  to  Rome  (vol.  ii.  p. 
365,  et  8eq.)y  but  must  reluctantly  omit  them,  content  with  the 
extracts  given.  Let  it  be  observed,  also,  that  the  notes  and  re- 
ferences, which  are  both  numerous  and  valuable,  have  been  left 
out  of  the  extracted  specimens,  the  text  only  being  furnished.  In 
justice  to  the  writers  this  should  be  remembered  and  allowed  due 
w€dgfat  in  jud^ng  of  the  performance  as  a  whole. 

These  extracts  are  lonff,  but  they  are  necessary  to  present  a  fair 
and  full  picture  of  what  tne  book  mainly  contains.  Copious  how- 
ever as  they  are,  they  do  not  show  all  that  the  work  pves  in  the 
way  of  illustrating  tlie  life  of  the  Apostle ;  but  they  must  suffice. 

llie  first  thing  fliat  strikes  the  reader  of  these  costly  and  beautiful 
volumes  is  the  extent  of  information  brought  to  bear  upon  the  sub- 
ject. The  writers  are  unquestionaUy  accomplished  men — scholars 
of  no  limited  or  mean  attainments.  Their  reading  has  been  large 
and  varied.  ITiey  had  traversed  an  immense  field  of  inquiry  before 
commencing  the  task ;  not  entering  upon  it  rashly  or  hastily, 
furnished  with  a  scanty  apparatus,  and  ignorant  of  their  way,  but 
with  rich  stores  of  learning,  dasrical  and  sacred,  which  might 
be  fitly  applied  to  the  elucidation  of  their  theme ;  and  they  have 
completed  their  design  in  a  scholar-like  way.  The  book  is,  on 
the  whole,  a  valuable  one.  It  deserves  the  careful  perusal  of 
all  who  wish  to  become  better  acquainted  with  the  great  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles.  Whoever  neglects  it  will  certain^  lose  many 
points  of  intelligence,  unless  behave  made  the  topics  embraced  in 
it  the  study  of  years.  As  an  important  contribution  to  the  eluci- 
dation of  raid's  Epistles,  we  accept  the  work  with  gratitude  from 
the  hands  of  the  learned  writers,  believing  that  they  have  laboured 
successfully.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  wUl  take  a  prominent  place 
among  the  various  books  which  have  been  written  within  the  last 
thirty  years,  either  on  the  entire  New  Testament  or  the  Pauline 
Epistles.  We  are  inclined  to  assign  it  a  very  high  rank  in  some 
respects,  for  the  authors  are  generally  acquamted  with  the  litera- 
ture of  their  subject  and  the  latest  available  books  both  in  English 
and  German,  as  well  as  other  languages.  It  exhibits  the 
researches  of  learning,  the  fruits  of  antiquarian  lore,  the  con- 
clusions of  well-disciplined  minds  in  regard  to  such  an  one  as 
Paul,  amid  diversified  scenes  and  in  various  moods,  surrounded 
by  companions  or  solitary,  exposed  to  dangers  frx)m  without  and 
tram  within,  incessant  in  activity  by  day  and  by  night.  We  might 
easily  distinguish  the  portions  written  by  the  two  authcnrs  respec- 
ttvely,  and  ^w  the  great  superiority  oi  the  one  to  the  other,  but 


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112  The  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  [April, 

this  were  an  invidious  task ;  and  therefore  we  prefer  to  speak  of 
the  work  as  a  whole,  the  joint  composition  of  both.  Our  deliberate 
opinion,  formed  after  a  careful  perusal  of  every  part,  is,  that  it  is 
most  creditable  to  the  ability  and  piety  of  the  respected  men  whose 
names  appear  on  the  title-page.  In  these  days  of  trashy  publica- 
tions it  is  refreshing  to  meet  with  a  really  good  book — one  whidi 
will  amply  repay  perusal,  and  bear  to  be  consulted  again  and  again, 
for  instruction  in  the  highest  as  well  as  most  interesting  depart- 
ments of  knowledge. 

The  style  is  graphic  and  vivid.  In  this  respect  we  admire  the 
work  most  There  is  much  lofty  eloquence  in  the  narrative,  which 
leads  the  reader  along  enchained  in  pleasing  captivity.  It  has 
been  the  study  of  the  authors  to  make  a  picture,  as  far  as  they 
could,  by  means  of  the  description  given ;  and  they  have  been  suo 
cessfid.  We  may  refer  to  the  first  chapter  as  a  good  example  of 
the  style.  It  is  probably  the  best-written  piece  in  the  whole,  com- 
bining vigorous  thought  and  excellent  writing  in  beautiful  harmony. 
G)mpared  with  the  essay  in  the  Edinburgn  Review  for  January, 
1853,  where  it  is  reproduced  in  a  diluted  state,  it  is  immeasurably 
superior. 

But  while  the  work  has  many  excellencies,  it  is  not  free  from 
defects.  While  the  writers  have  been  generally  successful,  they 
have  not  been  always  so.  While  they  show  a  great  acquaintance 
with  sources  and  books  of  information,  they  have  lacked  the  know- 
ledge of  several  works  by  which  they  mignt  have  been  benefited, 
such  as  Osiander  on  the  Krst  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  Hiilippi's 
Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  Matthies  on  the  Jras- 
toral  Epistles,  Koehler  on  the  Chronology  of  the  Epistles,  Riickert's 
Magazm  (of  which  only  one  Band,  one  Lieferung,  appeared),  and 
Reuss's  Geschichte. 

We  do  not  share  in  the  opinion  of  the  authors  that  Paul's  career 
and  character  are  illustrated  by  many  things  here  introduced. 
Numerous  geographical  and  historical  descriptions  are  of  little  if 
any  use  for  that  purpose.  The  narrative  proper  of  the  Apostle's 
life  is  too  much  interrupted  by  what  has  the  appearance  of  digres- 
sions and  episodes.  The  reader's  attention  is  distracted ;  his  riew 
is  diverted  by  a  multitude  of  accessory  circumstances.  The  authors 
seem  to  have  over-estimated  the  value  of  materials  inserted  in  Uie 
book.  Indeed  the  plan  is  needlessly  extensive.  It  might  have 
been  abridged  with  profit.  In  pursuance  of  their  design,  and  in 
order  to  exhibit  good  historical  painting  as  they  go  along,  the 
authors  insert  a  number  of  useless  and  unnecessary  particulars. 
They  weave  a  web  out  of  little  or  no  materials ;  tedious  conjectures 
go  to  make  pieces  of  fine  writing ;  the  most  is  made  out  of  little. 
In  such  paragraphs  the  question  cm  bono  meets  with  no  good  re- 


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1853.]  The  Life  and  Epistles  of  St,  Paul  113 

sponse,  for  the  work  is  swelled  out,  when  even  in  other  respects  it 
lacks  condensation.  As  an  example  of  this,  we  refer  to  the  second 
clmpter,  especially  pages  45,  46,  47,  48,  52,  53,  &c.  &c.  till  58 
and  59,  Take  the  description  of  Antioch,  132-136  (vol.  i.),  and 
surely  it  is  unnecessary  for  the  illustration  of  anything  properly 
beloi^ng  to  the  Apostle.  It  is  true  that  he  was  there,  and  that 
it  was  the  scene  of  important  movements,  as  well  as  the  birthplace 
of  the  name  Christian ;  but  the  situation  and  appearance  of  the 
place  contribute  nothing  to  our  better  acquaintance  with  Paul  him- 
self. We  need  no  other  example  to  show  what  we  mean  by  saying 
that  the  writers  have  proceeded  on  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the 
value  of  their  plan,  in  like  manner,  surveys  of  coasts  and  accurate 
charts,  to  which  the  writers  attach  importance,  and  which  they  often 
give  in  their  volumes,  are  of  no  use  there.  Norie,  Purdy,  Beaufort, 
Graves,  &c.  are  brought  within  the  scope  of  the  writers'  design ; 
but  add  nothing  to  what  we  really  want  in  a  full  description  of  the 
life  and  labours  of  the  Gentile  Apostle. 

As  to  the  lists  of  plates  in  the  volumes,  some  of  them  are  useful, 
others  not  so.  About  one-half  of  them  might  be  dispensed  with, 
without  the  least  detriment.  We  do  not  want  views  of  the  modem 
Damascus,  Philippi,  Athens,  Jerusalem,  &c. :  they  are  absolutely 
worthless.  But  maps  illustrating  Paul's  routes  and  voyages,  maps 
of  countries  as  they  were  at  the  time  of  Christ,  &c.  are  appropriate. 
Of  the  latter  there  are  a  goodly  number,  and  it  was  unnecessary  to 
swell  out  the  work  with  the  former.  Among  the  numerous  en- 
gravings on  wood,  we  should  retain  most  of  (not  all)  the  coins,  dis- 
carding the  rest  In  the  event  of  another  edition,  this  illustrative 
department,  overcrowded  as  it  is  with  maps,  views,  plates,  numis- 
matic and  archaeological  illustrations,  should  be  unsparingly  cut 
down,  as  adding  to  me  expense  of  the  work  with  no  corresponding 
benefit 

There  are  also  specimens  of  preaching  in  the  volumes  which 
might  have  been  dispensed  with.  Doubtless  they  are  often  elo- 
quent and  effective,  but  they  only  add  to  the  diffuseness  of  the 
narrative.  Examples  may  be  found  in  503-505,  the  best  in  the 
work,  and  very  eloquent  withal ;  in  448,  449,  and  489,  490 
(vol.  ii.).  In  the  notes  there  are  useless  things,  besides 
quotations  from  modem  travellers  and  modem  writers  about  the 
m-esent  appearance  of  places.  Such  are  those  respecting  the  lato 
Drs.  Burton  and  Arnold,  as  to  what  they  might  and  would  have 
done  had  they  been  longer  spared.  Such  are  those  about  what 
captains  of  vessels  told  the  writer,  and  Neander's  handwriting. 
Looking  at  these  in  two  quarto  volumes,  we  feel  how  inappropriate 
they  are. 

A  more  serious  fault  is  the  occasional  dogmatism  or  the  cool 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  I 

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114  The  Life  and  Epi%tU$  of  St.  Paul.  [Apnl, 

and  confident  tone  assumed.  We  are  sorry  for  this,  as  the  scholar- 
ship of  the  authors  could  have  afibrded  to  dispense  with  it  in  every 
case.     Thus  we  find  it  stated : — 

*  This  third  letter  was  that  which  is  now  entitled  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  concerning  tlie  destination  of  which  (disputed  as  it  is)  the 
least  disputable  fact  is,  that  it  was  not  addressed  to  the  Church  of 
Ephesus. — vol.  ii.  p.  405. 

'  The  authorised  version  is  unquestionably  correct  in  translating  ha- 
6(iKri  testament  in  this  passage.  The  attempts  which  have  heen  made  to 
avoid  this  meaning  are  irreconcilable  with  any  natural  explanation  of 
^laOifuyoc,*  &c. — vol.  ii.  p.  533. 

'  *ky  ahrf  scilicet  Xpitrr^ ;  the  subject  is  6  9foc.' — vol.  ii.  p.  400. 

*  It  was  universally  believed  by  tlie  ancient  Church  that  St  Paul's 
appeal  to  Caesar  terminated  successfully ;  that  he  was  acquitted  of  the 
charges  laid  against  him ;  and  that  he  spent  some  years  in  freedom 
before  he  was  again  imprisoned  and  condemned.  The  evidence  on  this 
subject,  though  not  copious,  is  yet  conclusive  as  far  as  it  goes,  and  it  is 
all  one  way^ — vol.  ii.  p.  451. 

'  Unless  we  are  prepared  to  dispute  the  genuineness  of  the  pastoral 
epistles,  we  must  admit  not  only  that  St.  Paul  was  liberated  from  his 
Roman  imprisonment,  but  also  that  he  continued  his  apostolic  labours 
for  at  least  some  years  afterwards.' — vol.  ii.  p.  454. 

'  It  is  now  admitted  by  nearly  all  those  who  are  competent  to  decide 
on  such  a  question,'  &c. — vol.  ii.  p.  454. 

In  none  of  these  instances  is  such  language  justified,  for  in  some 
the  case  is  doubtful ;  in  others,  the  reverse  of  the  authors'  con- 
clusions is  more  accordant  with  truth. 

The  most  vulnerable  part  of  the  work  is  that  which  counts  of  the 
critical  notes  relating  to  the  text  The  textual  criticism  of  the  writers 
is  far  from  immaculate.  In  fact  it  is  the  worst  executed  part  of  the 
whole  performance.  Surely  it  would  have  been  better  to  have 
omitted  the  critical  notes  altogether,  which  indeed  are  often  unne- 
cessarily introduced,  rather  tnan  have  fallen  into  so  many  errors 
and  said  so  many  questionable  things.  Thus  the  best  ]Vl!SS.  are 
opposed,  as  at  Acts  xv.  24,  where  it  is  remarked  notwithstanding, 
^  although  the  best  MSS.  omit  the  words  frx)m  Xeyovrsf  to  voixov,  yet 
we  cannot  but  agree  with  Be  Wette  that  they  cannot  poetibly  be  an 
interpolation.'  So  the  best  MSS.  are  ignored  because  they  cannot 
have  the  true  reading.  This  is  strange  doctrine  in  the  department 
of  textual  criticism.  So  too  in  Ephes.  i.  18,  the  common  reading 
liavoioLs  is  followed,  instead  of  xa^^ias^  which  is  that  of  all  the  undiu 
MSS.,  though  the  note  says  that '  the  majority  of  MSS.  read  Kaq^ias.^ 
In  like  manner,  at  Phil.  iii.  3,  Osaiis  retained  instead  of  Ocot),  though 
there  is  no  question  of  the  latter  being  the  true  reading,  while  it  is 
admitted  in  a  note  that  fiew  is  supported  by  a  minority  of  MSS. 
The  reason  asfflgned  for  this  extraordinary  conclusion  is  the  analogy 


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1853.]  The  Ufe  and  EpistUt  of  St.  Foul  115 

of  Bom.  i.  9.  At  1  Tim.  iii.  16,  all  that  is  said  is,  '  we  retain 
the  received  text  here,  considering  the  divided  testimony  of  the 
MSS.'  ^  the  judgment  of  Griesbach,  Lachmann,  Tischendorf, 
Davidson,  and  others,  goes  for  nothing.  But  this  is  not  all :  in- 
correct statements  are  made  respecting  the  text  and  textual  critics. 
At  Bom.  viii.  11,  it  is  alleged  that  Tischendorf  prefers  S<a  ri  to 
Sia  rot),  on  the  principle  that  it  is  the  most  difficult  reading ;  but 
this  is  not  so,  for  he  reads  S*^  rot).  At  Acts  xxiii.  6,  it  is  asserted 
that  Lachmann  and  Teschendorf  read  ex^a^sy.  This  is  not  true  of 
Lachmann,  for  he  reads  sx^a^Ev.  At  Ephes.  v.  21,  it  is  said  that 
v^oTdaosijOs  is  omitted  by  the  best  MoS. ;  but  this  is  virtually  in- 
correct, for  vnoTocffMcuaotv  is  found  in  several  of  the  best  copies, 
and  is  edited  by  Lachmann.  At  Ephes.  v.  30,  the  writer  is  mis- 
taken in  saving  that  the  words  ^  and  of  his  bones '  are  an  interpo* 
lation  not  found  in  the  best  MSS.,  while  he  retains  the  preceding 
clause  *  of  his  flesh.'  Both  clauses  are  an  interpolation,  and  not 
merely  the  last  one.  In  Titus  ii.  11,  it  is  incorrect  to  say  that  the 
ri  before  (TA/rtJ^iof  is  omitted  by  the  best  MSS.  At  Heb.  v.  12,  it 
is  affirmed  that  Lachmann  reads  riya ;  but  this  is  not  so,  for  he 
has  riva. 

After  such  specimens  of  critical  inability,  we  need  not  be  sur- 
prised to  find  attempts  at  conjectural  criticism  in  the  New  Testa* 
menttext.  The  second  xal  vaktv^  in  Heb.  ii.  13,  is  left  out  in  the 
new  version,  because  *  it  may  well  be  suspected  that  it  has  been 
introduced  into  the  MSS.  by  an  error  of  transcription  from  the 
line  above.*  Again,  at  Heb.  xi.  37,  the  received  text  is  retained, 
but  under  protest :  '  there  can  scarcely  be  a  davit  that  the  reading 
should  be  either  IwqoLa^'ntsay  or  sw^afQfi^av.*  To  these  conjectures 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  no  editor  has  regarded  them  in  the 
absence  of  all  evidence;  and  it  does  not  enhance  the  reader's 
opinion  of  our  authors'  learning  to  see  them  alluded  to,  the  latter 
with  most  unwarrantable  confidence.  Far  better  would  it  have 
been  to  have  avoided  such  remarks,  and  inserted  really  useful  and 
correct  ones,  such  as  at  2  Tim.  iv.  14,  where  the  future^  not  the 
cjAative^  is  the  true  reading— a  fact  unnoticed  by  our  authors,  who 
retain  the  erroneous  rendering,  '  the  Lord  reward  him  according 
to  his  works.' 

The  examples  now  riven,  to  which  not  a  few  others  might  be 
added,  will  suffice  to  iSiow  how  little  confidence  can  be  pl^d  in 
the  critical  judgment  of  the  auth(nrs,  and  how  incorrect  their 
statements  often  are.  Doubtless  this  is  the  worst  portion  of  the 
whole  work. 

In  regard  to  the  translation,  we  should  always  remember  that  it 
is  between  the  literal  and  the  paraphrastic.  In  a  majority  of  cases 
it  gives  the  sense  much  better  than  our  English  version,  having  the 

I  2 

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116  The  Life  and  Upistles  of  St.  Paul  [April, 

advantage  of  it  in  point  of  freeness*  In  various  passages  of  great 
difficulty,  it  suggests  the  right  meaning,  and  shows  skill  in  ren- 
dering the  Greek.  Much  attention  has  been  ^ven  to  the  small 
words,  which  are  often  of  importance  in  showing  the  connection, 
though  overlooked  by  ordinary  translators.  But  tnough  great  pains 
have  been  taken  in  rendering  the  Epistles,  especially  those  to  the 
Romans  and  Corinthians,  we  cannot  aver  that  the  writers  have  been 
uniformly  successful.  There  are  not  a  few  instances  of  translation 
which  we  should  pronounce  bad,  or  of  very  doubtful  authority.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  itself,  evidently  the  most  laboured  of  all, 
the  authors  have  missed  the  sense  in  a  variety  of  instances.  This 
has  arisen  not  so  much  from  the  want  of  Greek  learning,  for  an 
acquaintance  with  the  Greek  language  is  apparent  throughout,  as 
fix)m  a  defective  theological  perception.  We  doubt  the  soundness 
and  scripturality  of  the  authors'  theology  on  various  important 
subjects.  Their  stand-point  is  not  the  best.  It  is  erident  that 
they  are  not  masters  of  systems  of  theology,  but  perhaps  that  is  of 
little  consequence.  Systems  of  theology  have  contributed  some- 
what to  retard  the  true  advancement  of  tne  science.  It  is  of  more 
moment  to  be  scriptural  than  metaphysically  systematic  in  creed. 

In  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  (v.  14),  the  translator 
begins  what  he  calls  *  the  postscript  addressed  to  the  presbyters,' 
understanding  the  paragraph  to  refer  to  the  duties  of  the  pres- 
byters ;  and  in  a  note  there  is  an  attempt  at  justifying  this  strange 
division.  This  note  we  give  as  a  specimen  of  most  illogical  rea- 
soning : — 

*  It  appears  evident  that  those  who  are  here  directed  vovOertire  are  the 
same  who  are  described  immediately  before  (ver.  12)  as  vovderovyrac. 
Also  they  are  very  solemnly  directed  (ver.  27)  to  see  that  the  letter  be 
read  to  all  the  Christians  in  Thessalonica,  which  implies  that  they  pre- 
sided over  the  Christian  assemblies.' — vol.  i.  p.  426. 

All  this  is  arbitrary  and  unfounded.  The  14th  verse  be^ns  with 
TraqaxaKovf^By  Ss  ufxas^  aJgXf  oi,  just  as  the  12th  verse  begins  with 
*E§a/Tft//x6v  Sg  vfjLaty  aSeX^oi.  The  aSfX^oi  in  the  two  verses  are 
the  same  persons  ;  and  yet,  in  the  face  of  this  plain  intimation  in 
the  context,  the  translator  makes  the  first  aSsX^l  mean  the  brethren 
generally,  the  latter  the  presbyters.  Besides,  it  is  well  known  that 
the  duty  of  exhortation  was  not  confined  to  the  presbyters  in  the 
apostolic  churches.     All  the  believers  freely  exhorted. 

In  2  Thess.  iii.  5,  there  is  an  instance  of  erroneous  rendering : — 
*  And  may  our  Lord  guide  your  hearts  to  the  love  of  God,  and  to 
the  patient  endurance  which  was  in  Christ,^  Our  received  version 
is  wrong  here,  but  this  is  equally  so.  De  Wette  ^ves  the  true 
sense. 

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1853.]  ne  Life  and  I!pistles  of  St.  Fend.  117 

In  Coloss.  i.  18,  occurs  another  incorrect  rendering : — *  And  he 
is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  Church ;  whereof  he  is  the  beginning,* ' 
&c.     It  is  evident  that  the  writer  has  not  seen  the  wide  reference 
of  d^x^  i^  tlus  place. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  common  translation  of  Phil.  ii.  6,  is 
retained — *  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God ' — though 
the  note  says  that  it  is  liable  to  the  charge  of  making  the  connec- 
tion less  natural.  In  truth  it  is  quite  opposed  to  the  connection, 
and  should  be  discarded. 

We  are  also  surprised  that  the  very  improbable  translation  of 
1  Tun.  iii.  15 — *as  a  pillar  and  mainstay  of  the  truth' — should 
be  adopted.  That  Timothy  himself  is  termed  the  pillar  few  will 
believe. 

As  to  incorrect  theology,  it  peeps  out  somewhat  indistinctly  and 
only  occasionally.  Thus  it  is  affirmed  that  '  the  early  Church,  and 
even  the  Apostles  themselves,  expected  their  Lord  to  come  again  in 
that  very  generation.  St.  Paul  himself  shared  in  that  expectation,' 
&c.  (vol.  1.  p.  431).  This  opinion  has  been  refuted  many  times, 
the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  themselves  showing  its  incorrect- 
ness. Here,  however,  it  comes  up  again  after  Paley.  It  is  surely 
time  that  such  a  libel  on  Paul  should  cease  to  be  advanced. 

It  is  also  bad  theology  to  say,  that  'all  who  make  an 
outward  profession  of  Christianity  are,  in  St.  Paul's  language, 
**the  called"  (jcXiotoi).  They  liave  received  a  message  from 
Grod,  which  has  callea  them  to  enter  into  His  church '  (vol.  ii.  p. 
28).  In  point  of  £act,  such  persons  are  never  called  xXioroi  in 
Paul's  epistles. 

In  like  manner  we  demur  to  the  assertion  that  the  sense 
of  iym  in  the  New  Testament  is  nearly  equivalent  to  the  modem 
'Christians.'  When  we  are  told  that  'the  objection  to  trans- 
lating it  "  saints  "  is,  that  the  idea  now  conveyed  by  that  term  is 
quite  different  from  the  meaning  of  oi  iym  as  used  by  St.  Paul,' 
we  feel  that  the  writer  has  no  proper  idea  of  the  true  meaning. 
This  is  apparent  from  occasional  remarks  respecting  the  consti- 
tution of  the  New  Testament  churches. 

Neither  do  we  agree  with  the  writer  of  note  2,  respecting  the 
interpretation  of  Romans  vii.  14-24  (vol.  ii.  p.  176),  as  far  as  we 
can  understand  its  piuport  But  its  theology  is  very  muddy. 
What  is  meant  by  '  Christians  are  (so  far  as  God  is  concerned) 
redeemed  already  from  this  state ;  but  in  themselves,  and  so  far  as 
they  live  to  themselves,  they  are  still  in  bondage,'  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  ascertain ;  for  the  term  Christians  appears  to  be  loosely 
used,  as  well  as  the  word  redeemed.  No  light  is  thrown  on  the 
purport  of  the  seventh  chapter. 

The  most  prominent  things  in  the  work  to  which  we  object  are 


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118  The  Life  and  EpUtleB  of  St.  Paul.  [April, 

— the  assumption  of  Paul's  second  imprisonment  at  Rome;  the 
arrangement  of  the  pastoral  epistles,  by  which  they  are  put  into 
this  period  of  captivity  ;  the  view  taken  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  by  which  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  circular  one ;  and  4e 
Barnabas  authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  connection 
with  its  being  addressed  to  the  Church  at  Alexandria.  In  addition 
to  these  particulars,  the  writers  have  not  shown  their  judgment  or 
discrimination  in  assuming  that  Paul  paid  a  short  visit  to  Corinth 
in  the  second  year  of  his  residence  at  Ephesus,  and  that  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians  was  written  a  few  months  after  that  to  the  Ronians, 
from  Corinth  likewise.  Most  unsatisfactory,  too,  or  rather  erro- 
neous, are  the  views  given  of  the  four  parties  in  the  Corinthian 
church,  the  origin  and  duties  of  the  Diaconate,  and  many  other 
topics  to  which  we  need  not  allude. 

In  regard  to  the  second  Roman  imprisonment,  there  is  a  tone  of 
confidence,  which  the  nature  of  the  subject  scarcely  warrants. 
The  writers  seem  to  think  that  all  who  are  competent  to  form  an 
opinion  can  arrive  at  but  one  conclusion,  which,  of  course,  is  their 
own.  Disputed  as  the  thinff  is,  and  very  perplexing,  it  would  have 
been  more  becoming  to  omit  references  to  '  competent  men,'  and 
the  like  expressions.  The  only  scholars  whom  they  are  pleased  to 
except  among  the  list  of  '  competent '  critics  who  have  arrived  at 
a  diflerent  result  from  theirs,  are  Wieseler  and  Davidson;  but 
others  are  not  wanting.  Schaff  is  one  of  them,  in  his  recently 
published  Geschickte  der  ehristlichen  Kirche^  Erster  Band,  S.  265, 
u.  s.  w.  Reuss  is  another  most  able  witness,  with  whom  our 
authors  appear  unacquainted.  So  is  Matthies,  equally  unknown  to 
them.  Winer  also  inclines  unmistakeably  to  one  captivitjr.  We 
have  read  over  the  arguments  adduced  in  favour  of  the  Apostie  s 
liberation,  but  find  nothing  new  in  them*  They  are  repeated  for 
the  hundredth  time.  It  is  surprising  that  any  weight  should  be 
attached  to  the  declamatory  passage  in  Clement's  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.  The  first,  and  indeed  the  only  witness,  Up  to  his  own 
day  who  speaks  distinctly  of  Paul's  liberation  is  Eusebius,  who 
calls  it  expressly  a  tradition  or  report  (Xoyos-  ex^i).  Tlie  external 
evidence  adduced  by  the  writers  is  arranged  in  a  one-sided  way. 
After  the  siftings  to  which  every  passage  has  been  subjected,  and 
the  great  uncertainty  of  the  interpretations  belonging  to  the  words 
of  Clement  and  the  Muratorian  fragment,  surely  feimess  should 
have  prompted  a  different  method  of  treatment.  Those  therefore 
who  look  simply  and  solely  to  what  is  here  given  as  evidence  for 
Paul's  liberation  will  have  a  most  inadequate  view  of  the  question. 
On  the  other  side,  the  reader  should  consult  the  elaborate  discus- 
sions of  Wieseler  and  Davidson — discussions  all  but  ignored  by 
the  writers  of  the  work  under  review. 

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1853.]  The  Life  and  Hpistles  of  St  Paul  119 

In  relation  to  the  internal  evidence  favourable  to  Paul's  libera- 
tion and  second  captivity,  it  is  asserted  that  ^  the  historical  facts 
mentioned  in  the  Episties  to  Hmotheus  and  'Iltus  cannot  be  placed 
in  any  portion  of  St.  Paul's  life  before  or  during  his  first  unpri- 
sonment  in  Borne.'  This  is  taking  high  ground.  But  the  many 
able  writers  who  ?iave  placed  those  episties  before  and  in  the  first 
captivity  furnish  a  practical  refutation  of  the  bold  assertion.  Nay, 
it  is  intimated  that,  imless  we  are  prepared  to  dispute  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  pastoral  episties,  we  must  admit  that  St.  Paul  was  liber- 
ated, and  laboiured  for  years  after.  But  their  genuineness  has  been 
maintained  as  firmly  by  those  who  hold  one  captivity  as  by  the 
writers  tiiemselves ;  and  it  has  not  yet  been  shown  that  the  former 
are  inconsistent  in  their  belief,  rerhaps  we  may  safely  say  it 
cannot  Eight  arguments  are  given  in  Appendix  I.  (vol.  ii.  p.  551, 
&c.),  which  tend  to  show  the  late  date  of  the  pastoral  epistles, 
bringing  them  down  to  a.d.  68.  The  second,  third,  seventh,  and 
eighth  may  be  dismissed  at  once  as  the  weakest  of  the  number. 
More  weight  attaches  to  the  remaining  ones,  and  we  should  sup- 
pose them  to  be  uppermost  and  diiei  in  the  estimation  of  our 
authors.  As  to  the  first,  which  deduces  the  contemporaneoumess 
of  the  three  pastoral  episties  from  their  resemblance  in  language, 
matter,  style  of  composition,  and  state  of  the  churches  they  describe, 
we  unhesitatingly  demur  to  its  conclusiveness.  When  a  charge  is 
here  made  against  Wieseler,  that  he  altogether  ignores  the  ques- 
tion of  internal  evidence  from  style  and  church  organization,  a  like 
charge  lies  against  our  authors,  who  ignore  the  similar  character 
of  the  persons  addressed  in  the  episties,  both  being  evangelists,  the 
similar  duties  they  were  charged  with,  and  the  similar  relations  in 
which  they  stood  to  the  Apostie.  Too  much  has  been  made  of  the 
language,  style,  and  matter  of  these  compositions  as  proving  con- 
tempOTaneous  composition ;  and  fistr  too  littie  of  the  common  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  must  have  originated.  To  argue  that 
they  were  written  about  tiie  same  time  because  their  language 
hem  a  considerable  resemblance,  and  their  matter  too,  is  to  reason 
most  illogically.  It  should  first  be  shown  that  other  circumstances 
are  whoUv  insufficient  to  account  for  the  phenomena  in  question. 
But  this  has  been  evaded.  Besides,  the  change  in  style  has  been 
exaggerated.  *  So  great  a  diange  in  style,'  we  are  tola,  *  from  the 
Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  which  was  the  last  written  during  the  first 
Koman  imprisonment,  must  require  an  interval  of  certainly  not 
less  than  four  or  five  years  to  account  for  it '  (vol.  ii.  p.  552).  We 
are  far  from  thinking  so,  unless  the  pastoral  episties  had  been 
addressed  to  churches  in  like  circumstances  as  that  at  Philippi. 
The  estimate  here  given  of  Paid  is  lowering,  and  certainly  unwar- 
ranted.    It  is  even  intimated  that  five  years  of  exhausting  labour, 

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120  The  Life  and  Epktlea  of  St.  Paul.  [April, 

great  physical  and  moral  sufiFerings,  and  bitter  experience  of  human 
nature,  deteriorated  and  diluted  the  style  as  seen  in  the  pastoral 
epistles. 

In  relation  to  the  church  organisation  pointing  to  the  late  date 
of  these  epistles,  we  have  often  wondered  why  writers  belonpng  to 
the  Church  of  England  urge  this  argument.  That  it  is  destitute 
of  all  force  requires  little  showing.  In  what  respect  does  the  con- 
stitution of  the  churches  spoken  of  in  the  pastoral  epistles  differ 
from  that  of  others?  In  vain  have  we  looked  for  an  answer  to 
this  Question.  Show  us  how  the  churches  superintended  by  Timothy 
and  Titus  differed  in  any  material  point  from  the  cnurches  of 
Corinth  or  Philippi?  Till  this  be  done,  we  must  abide  in  the 
belief  that  there  was  no  difference.  Do  the  detailed  rules  for  the 
choice  of  presbyters  and  deacons  imply  numerous  candidates  for 
these  offices  ?  So  say  Messrs.  Conybeare  and  Howson.  But  the 
inference  is  inconsequent.  The  exclusion  of  veo^tn-oi  from  the 
presbyterate,  and  'tne  regular  catalogue' (f)  of  church  widows 
afford  as  little  proof  of  late  date. 

The  argument  derived  from  the  heresies  condemned  in  the  three 
epistles  is  also  said  to  forbid  the  supposition  of  an  early  date.  But 
this  is  not  shown  in  any  tangible  mrm ;  and,  besides,  the  parts  of 
the  epistles  which  are  thought  to  contain  references  to  the  Gnostic 
and  other  heresies,  not  only  of  the  pastoral  epistles,  but  of  that 
addressed  to  the  Colossians,  as  well  as  second  Peter  and  Jude, 
are  by  no  means  well  explained.  The  influence  of  Dr.  Burton's 
work  on  the  present  writers  is  too  palpably  seen.  At  the 
end  of  our  first  volume  there  is  a  long  note  on  these  heresies, 
which,  taken  in  connection  with  a  variety  of  scattered  notices  and 
remarks  in  the  second  volume,  gives  an  insight  into  the  opinion  of 
the  writers  relative  to  early  Gnosticism  and  apostolic  allusions  to 
it.  The  note  is  good  enough  for  popular  purposes,  and  properly 
combats  Stanley's  view,  but  gives  no  profound,  philosophical,  or 
comprehensive  sketch.  Exact  accuracy  is  wanting  in  it  There 
is  a  leaning  to  the  one-sidedness  of  Burton,  who  makes  far  too 
much  of  ms  theme.  Had  Baur's  Ghwm  and  some  other  books 
been  studied,  better  views  might  have  been  exhibited.  On  the 
whole,  we  have  been  disappointed  with  the  portion  of  the  book 
before  us  which  treats  of  the  pastoral  epistles  and  Paul's  imaginary 
second  imprisonment.  The  writers  should  have  grappled  with  the 
arguments  of  those  who  have  recently  contended  against  Paul's 
liberation,  and  placed  the  Rrst  Epistle  to  Timothy  and  that  to 
Titus  at  some  period  prior  to  Paul's  arrival  at  Kome.  These 
writers  may  not  have  been  successful  in  putting  them  in  the  places 
where  they  have,  but  that  is  no  good  reason  against  those  letters 
belonging  to  the  anterior  part  of  Paul's  life,  except  absolute  im- 


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1853.]  The  Life  and  JEpistlee  of  St.  Foul  121 

possibility  of  insertion  could  be  proved.  Above  all,  they  should 
adopt  a  less  confident  tone  in  a  discussion  of  this  perplexing  ques- 
tion, avoiding  hints  about  persons  who  have  caremlly  studied  the 
epistles  not  arriving  at  any  other  conclusions  than  theirs.  We  are 
acquainted  with  some  who  have  studied  the  epistles  of  Paul  quite 
as  long  and  as  carefully  as  they,  who  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Roman  liberation  and  second  imprisonment  of  Paul  are 
ima^ary  ;  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy 
or  that  to  Titus  which  favours  the  liberation ;  and  that  one  or  two 
passages  in  2  Timothy  involve  far  less  difficulty  of  explanation  on 
the  angle-captivity  theory  than  the  great  similarity  of  circum- 
stances and  persons  in  the  case  of  both  imprisonments. 

Another  unsatis&ctorypart  of  the  book  is  that  which  treats  of 
the  Ephesian  Epistle.  The  writers  adopt  the  old  hypothesis  of 
Ussber,  viz.  that  the  letter  was  meant  to  he  a  circular  one,  and  that 
the  name  Ephesus  was  not  in  the  original  copy  emanating  from 
Paul.  The  usual  points  of  evidence,  both  internal  and  external, 
are  given,  followed  by  the  dogmatic  assertion,  *  the  above  argu- 
ments have  convinced  the  ablest  of  modem  critics  (who  is  he  ?)  toat 
this  Epistle  was  not  addressed  to  the  Ephesians '  (vol.  ii.  p.  406). 
But  there  are  many  able  critics  whom  these  arguments  nave  not 
convinced.  They  have  not  convinced  Meyer,  who  concludes  his 
EmUitung  to  the  Epistle  with  these  emphatic  words : — '  Glaube  ich 
dasB  kein  anderes  kritisches  Verfahren  bei  Ermittelung  der  Leser 
des  ^BnQh  im  rechte  sei,  als  das  von  den  meisten  neueren  aufgege- 
bene  conservative,  welches  auf  das  Resultat  zuriickkommt,  unser 
Brief  eeian  die  Epheser  gerichtet  und  cm  wetter  keine  Gfemeinde, 
u.  8.  w.'  *  TRiey  have  not  convinced  Rinck ;  they  have  not  con- 
vinced Dr.  Davidson,  whose  arguments  remain  in  all  their  force, 
ignored  by  these  writers.  Even  Conybeare  and  Howson's  enthusi- 
astic Edinburgh  reviewer  timidly  ventures  to  dissent  from  them 
here.  We  are  the  more  satisfied  of  the  unsoundness  of  the  hypo- 
thesis adopted,  when  the  authors  say  in  a  note  that  Paul  did  write 
an  Epistle  to  Ephesus  which  has  been  lost.  Rather  than  hold  that 
the  so-called  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  was  really  intended  for  them, 
they  assume  that  another,  mysteriously  lost,  was  written  and  ad- 
dressed to  the  important  Church  at  Ephesus ;  and  it  is  stated,  '  we 
cannot  doubt  that  St.  Paul  did  write  many  epistles  which  are  now 
lost.'  For  ourselves,  we  greatly  doubt  it.  It  is  most  arbitrary  to 
suppose  that  he  wrote  many  epistles  now  lost.  There  is  not  the 
least  hint  of  it.  It  is  quite  improbable.  A  few  such  he  may  have 
sent — certainly  one  to  the  Corinthians ;  but  to  multiply  one  or  two 
into  mani/  exceeds  our  power  of  belief. 

■  Der  Brief  an  die  Epheser,  Einleit.,  8.  14. 

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122  The  Life  and  JEpistles  of  St.  Paul  [April, 

The  third  prominently  unsatisfactory  part  of  the  work  is  that 
about  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  whose  authorship  is  assigned  to 
Barnabas,  and  whose  original  destination  is  characterised  to  be  for 
the  Church  at  Alexandria.  The  only  external  testimony  in  fistvoin* 
of  Barnabas  is  that  of  Tertullian;  and  as  to  the  internal  con- 
firmatory evidence  here  adduced,  it  is  of  the  most  meagre  and 
perfunctory  nature.  The  opinion  that  the  treatise  was  meant  for 
the  Churcn  at  Alexandria  is  evidently  taken  firom  Wieseler ;  but 
repeated  examination  of  the  epistle  has  convinced  us  that  the  tone 
and  particulars  of  the  epistle,  supposed  to  favour  it,  are  susceptible 
of  a  better  explanation.  The  Alexandrian  tone  of  thought  and 
reasoning  by  which  the  epistle  is  said  to  be  characterised  have  been 
unduly  magnified,  as  is  apparent  from  the  gradual  melting  away  of 
many  things  of  the  sort  insisted  on  by  Tholuck  in  the  older  editions 
of  his  Commentary  on  the  Hebrews,  out  quietly  dropped  in  the  last. 
The  arguments  aaduced  in  the  work  before  us  to  negative  the  idea 
that  the  epistle  was  addressed  to  a  church  in  Palestine  appear  to 
us  equally  invalid  with  those  in  fovour  of  the  Barnabas  authorship. 
Whatever  difficulties  be  involved  in  the  indirectly  Pauline  author- 
ship, and  the  orimnal  destination  of  the  treatise  for  a  Palestinian 
church,  they  are  far  less  formidable  than  such  as  lie  against  any 
other.  Barnabas  has  less  claim  to  the  authorship  than  ApoUos ; 
Alexandria  less  claim  to  the  honour  of  the  first  possession  of  the 
epistle  than  the  Church  at  Jerusalem.  Here  again  the  strongest 
arguments  on  the  ade  opposite  to  the  writers'  are  ignored.  Forster, 
Delitzsch,  and  Davidson,  are  not  answered — indeed  the  two  former 
are  never  mentioned,  while  the  last  writer's  elaborate  discussion 
of  the  authorship  goes  for  nothing  in  the  opinion  of  our  critics. 
This  is  neither  wise  nor  impartial. 

Among  other  things  in  the  work  to  which  we  object,  though 
they  are  not  of  such  extent  or  importance  as  the  preceding,  may  be 
mentioned  the  view  given  of  the  parties  in  the  Corinthian  ChimA. 
Here  the  treatment  is  most  scanty  and  unsatisfactory.  On  a  point 
which  has  called  forth  so  much  discussion  in  Germany,  more  ought 
to  have  been  said.  The  omission  of  greater  detail  here  is  quite 
unpardonable ;  but  it  is  apparent  that  tne  writers  had  no  adequate 
view  of  the  importance  or  difficulty  of  the  theme,  and  therefore 
they  content  themselves  with  a  very  few  remarks  that  throw  no 
light  on  the  state  of  parties.  Had  they  made  use  of  one  of  the 
latest  and  largest  commentaries  on  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, we  mean  that  of  Osiander,  they  must  have  had  other  views 
in  relation  to  the  point.  Our  disappointment  was  great  at  not 
finding  anything  worth  reading  on  the  four  parties. 

In  vol.  ii.  pp.  18,  19,  the  writers  argue,  raer  many  others,  that 
Paul,  before  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  had  visited  them  twice — 

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1853.]  The  Life  and  JSpigtles  cf  St.  Foul  123 

the  second  time  during  his  stay  at  Ephesus.  Since  the  time  Bleek 
wrote  an  essay  to  prove  two  visits,  in  the  Stvdien  und  Kritiken, 
this  view  has  heen  generally  adopted,  in  one  form  or  other ;  but  all 
that  has  been  written  in  fetyour  of  it  has  failed  to  convince  us  of  its 
truth.  Here  the  principal  arguments  for  it  are  briefly  given  again, 
not  by  any  means  in  the  strongest  or  most  convincing  form.  The 
common-sense  objection  to  the  supposed  second  visit  is,  that  the 
easier  passage  (vi2.  2  Cor.  i.  15,  16)  is  explained  by  the  more  dif- 
ficult ones,  «md  made  to  conform  to  them,  instead  of  the  reverse. 
Hence  we  agree  with  De  Wette  and  Davidson  in  rejecting  the 
imaginary  second  visit.  Hiose  who  wish  to  enter  into  tne  question 
should  read  Wieseler  and  Davidson,  who  discuss  the  point  very 
fully,  taking  opposite  sides.  The  latter's  arguments  are  not  touched 
by  our  authors.^ 

In  vol.  ii.  pp.  186,  137,  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  is  dated 
from  Corinth  during  the  Apostle's  second  (or,  as  the  writers  would 
say,  ikird)  visit  to  that  city,  and  a  long  note  exhibits  reasons  for 
the  view  in  question.  Our  present  space  will  not  allow  us  to 
combat  these,  but  they  do  not  at  all  strike  us  as  satisfactory. 
What  appears  to  have  led  to  the  date  assumed  is  the  similarity  of 
contents  between  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians,  whence 
it  is  inferred  that  the  latter  was  written  within  a  few  months  of  the 
former.  Such  reasoning  is  not  very  logical,  though,  to  judge  from 
the  arguments  in  favour  of  the  late  date  of  the  pastoral  epistles,  it 
seems  to  be  a  favourite  with  our  critics.  We  are  not  at  all  con- 
vinced that  the  right  date  is  here  assigned  to  the  Galatian  Epistle, 
and  should  readily  pve  a  better,  were  we  not  hastening  to  bring 
the  article  to  a  dose. 

•We  had  intended  alluding  to  what  is  said  about  infant  baptism 
in  vol.  i.  pp.  470,  471,  which  must  be  characterised  as  exceedingly 
feeble,  especially  when  looked  at  in  the  light  of  Bunsen's  remarks 
inserted  in  his  Hippolytus;  but  must  forbear.  We  difier  from 
many  things  advanced,  convinced  that  they  will  not  stand  the  test 
of  examination ;  but  that  few;t  does  not  blind  us  to  the  merit  be- 
longing to  the  volumes.  This  merit  we  freely  concede.  It  is 
very  considerable.  In  the  historical,  geographical,  and  archaeo- 
logical descriptions  it  shines  forth  most  conspicuously ;  and  there 
the  reader  may  safely  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  writers,  and  learn 
to  connect  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  with  the  many  places  he 

*»  The  enlogristic  reviewer  of  our  book  in  the  'Edinburgh  Review'  for  Janaar^, 
1853,  says,  in  reference  to  the  third  visit  to  Corinth,  and  those  who  deny  it, 
*  We  hope  an  age  of  biblical  exegesis  is  dawning,  when  we  shall  inquire  no  longer 
what  words  may  mean,  but  what  they  do  mean.'  Yes ;  and  we  hope  that  an  age  is 
dawning  when  true  scholars  shall  cease  to  impute  unworthy  motives  to  one  another, 
and  lay  aside  flippantly  offensive  expressions. 

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124  The  Life  and  JEpiMha  of  St.  Paul.  [April, 

looked  upon  or  trod.  The  task  which  Messrs.  Conybeare  and 
Howson  undertook  was  arduous,  and  they  have  done  it  weD. 
Cordially  therefore  do  we  thank  them  for  their  contribution  to 
New  Testament  introduction.  If  we  have  differed  from  them,  and 
criticised  their  performance,  they  will  allow  us  the  privilege  claimed 
by  every  scholar  of  thinking  for  himself.  It  would  have  been  easy 
to  write  an  undiscriminative  panegyric,  and  far  more  agreeable 
too ;  but  they  will  probably  be  more  grateful  for  the  honest  expres- 
gion  of  our  views  than  for  fulsome  praise.  All  sides  of  the  book 
have  been  held  up  to  the  reader^s  notice,  as  far  as  our  space  al- 
lowed, and  not  merely  one.  In  closing  the  volumes,  we  do  so  with 
high  respect  for  the  authors,  admiration  of  their  learning,  and  con- 
scious feeling  of  their  ability.  They  have  laboured  most  honour- 
ably in  a  noble  field,  approving  themselves  as  critics  imbued  with 
an  enlightened,  and  hberal  tneology,  refreshing  in  this  sectarian 
age.  Ineir  hearts  are  right ;  their  heads  clear  and  well-fiimished, 
their  style  scholarly,  eloquent,  impressive.  May  they  receive,  as 
they  deserve,  encouragement  from  the  sanctified  scholarship  of  the 
land. 


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1853.]  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament.  125 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

Sigtoire  de  VEsclavage  dans  VAjitiquiti.  Par  H.  Wallon. 
Paris,  1847. 

De  Tlniluence  du  Christianisme  sur  le  Droit  Civil  des  Romains. 
Par  M.  Troplonq.     Paris,  1843. 

De  Servis  et  eorum  apud  Antiquos  Ministeriis.  Auctore  L.  Pig- 
NORE.     Patay.  1694. 

De  Servis  et  Ancillis  Tractatus  cum  Versione  et  Nbtis  a  J.  C. 
Kall.    Auctore  Mose  Maimonide.     Hafii.  1744. 

Mosaisches  Becht  von  J.  D.  Michaelis.     Frankfort,  1775. 

Iitquiry  into  the  State  of  Slavery  ammtg  the  Romans,  By  Wil- 
liam Blair.     Edinburgh,  1833. 

GalluSy  oder  Rdmische  Scenen  aus  der  Zeit  Augusts^  von  W.  A, 
Becker.     Rein's  Edition.     Leipzig,  1849. 

Slatbry  is  that  condition  in  which  human  beings  are  regarded 
and  treated  as  things.  There  are  three  orders  of  existences — 
things,  animals,  men.  Men  have  rational  life,  animals  have  sen- 
tient life,  things  have  life  devoid  of  reason  and  devoid  of  sense. 
A  slave,  considered  as  a  slave,  has  not  rational  life,  for  he  has  no 
will  of  his  own.  A  slave,  considered  as  a  slave,  has  not  sentient 
life,  for  his  senses  are  the  property  of  his  owner.  He  is,  conse- 
quently, a  mere  thing.  He  is  a  possession,  like  a  piece  of  land  or 
a  piece  of  furniture.  He  belongs  to  the  goods  and  chattels  of  his 
master,  being,  like  them,  bought  and  sold,  inherited  and  bequeathed ; 
taken  hither,  sent  thither,  employed,  as  any  other  tool,  in  such  ser- 
vice as  his  owner  may  please. 

Such  is  slaveiy  in  its  essence.  And  it  is  thus  seen  that  slavery 
is  not  service.  Service  involves  an  act  of  the  will ;  in  slavery  the 
will  is  passive,  an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  a  master.  The 
highest  service  is  the  service  which  the  soul  pays  to  God.  The 
highest  service  is  the  most  spontaneous.  Aaoration  is  a  concen- 
tration on  God  of  all  our  higner  faculties  of  thought  and  emotion, 
through  an  intense  effort  of  the  will.  Nor  is  slavery  labour.  In 
labour  the  will  is  firee.  The  free  man  labours  because  he  wills  to 
labour ;  the  slave  labours  because  he  is  subject  to  his  owner's  will. 
Hence  slavery,  in  minimising  the  human  will,  minimises  labour ; 
and  when  the  will  is  most  intense,  then  is  labour  most  productive. 

The  essence,  then,  of  slavery  is  the  annihilation  of  the  himian 
will.  No  will,  no  freedom.  A  man  robbed  of  his  will  is  a  slave ; 
but  the  absolute  destruction  of  the  human  will  is  not  easy.  Rarely, 
in  the  lowest  condition,  has  the  will  of  man  been  wholly  blotted 


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J  26  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament,  [April, 

out.  It  is,  in  consequence,  necessary  somewhat  to  extend  the 
application  of  the  tenn.  And,  if  the  possession  of  your  own  will 
makes  you  a  freeman,  any  invasion  of  that  right  brings  you  toward 
the  condition  of  a  slave.  Hie  degree  of  your  approach  to  slavery 
is  determined  by  the  degree  of  usurpation  to  which  you  are  subject. 
There  are  cases  in  which  it  is  diflScult  to  say  where  slavery  begins 
and  where  freedom  ends ;  but,  in  general,  it  may  be  affirmed  that 
the  forcible  predqminance  of  the  will  of  another  over  my  will  is 
slavery.  He  is  a  slave,  whether  he  serves  or  not,  whether  he 
labours  or  not,  whether  he  is  rich  or  poor,  whether  he  holds  a  high 
station  or  a  low  station,  he  is  a  slave  who  is  compelled  to  obey 
another's  will. 

Consequently  servants  are  not  slaves.  On  an  act  of  their  own 
will  does  their  service  depend.  Domestic  servants  enter  a  femily 
by  their  own  will,  and  when  they  will  they  leave  the  family.  Other 
kmds  of  servants  of  their  own  will  form  the  contracts  under  which 
they  serve,  and  terminate  those  contracts  at  their  own  pleasure. 
It  is  true  they  are  subject  to  moral  restraint  arising  in  another's 
mind ;  but  such  moral  restraint  is  universal ;  such  moral  restraint 
is  a  necessary  element  in  human  society.  It  is,  more  or  less,  ex- 
erted by  every  man  over  every  other  man  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact.  The  lowest  slave  and  the  truest  freeman  is  liable  to  this 
moral  constraint.  By  the  very  £act  that  this  constraint  is  moral, 
it  is  exempted  from  the  compulsions  peculiar  to  slavery.  Slavery 
subjugates  the  will  hw  coercing  the  body.  Hence  slavery  implies 
the  use  of  force.  The  emp&yment  of  force,  whether  actual  or 
virtual,  to  over-rule  and  dir^t  the  will  of  another,  is  slavery. 

With  the  aid  of  this  definition  it  may  be  seen  that  there  are 
several  kinds  of  slavery.  There  is  first  public  or  political  slavery. 
Public  or  political  slavery  exists  when  a  people  is  subject  to  the 
will  of  one  man,  whether  called  general,  president,  king,  or  em- 
peror. There  is,  in  the  second  place,  domestic  davery.  Domestic 
slavery  exists  when  the  members  of  a  frunily  are  subject  to  the  will  of 
its  head,  whether  called  master  or  mistress.  These  are  the  two  chief 
species  of  slavery.    They  represent  slavery  in  its  normal  condition. 

Approximations  to  slavery  exist.  The  prisoner  is  a  slave,  so  iar 
as  his  power  of  locomotion,  and  perhaps  of  labour,  extends.  The 
soldier  is  a  slave,  so  far  as  his  service  is  compulsory,  and  the  result 
of  military  discipline.  The  serf  is  in  a  condition  ap[nx)adung  to 
slavery,  because  he  comes  and  goes  with  the  land  on  which  he  was 
bom,  in  all  purchases  and  sales  forming  a  part  of  the  valuaUes. 

K,  however,  the  serf  is  permitted  to  hold  property,  he  may,  in 
process  of  time,  rise  into  a  freeman.  And  so,  in  the  progress  of 
civilization,  it  has  happened  that  the  slave,  in  becoming  linked  to 
his  native  dod,  passes  into  a  serf,  and  the  serf,  by  acquiring  pro- 

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1853.]  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament.  127 

perty,  passes  into  the  freeman.  In  all  civilized  countries  the 
transition  may  be  seen  in  some  stage  from  its  commencement  to 
its  tennination ;  and  the  degree  of  advance  which  it  has  made  in 
any  country  is  not  a  bad  measure  of  the  amount  of  its  civilization. 
Barbarism  and  slavery  go  hand  in  hand. 

Our  definitions  enable  us  to  declare  the  origin,  and  describe 
the  character,  of  slavery.  Slavery  springs  from  force,  and  that 
fwce  arises  in  selfishness.  Cupidity  is  the  source  of  slavery,  and 
violence  is  its  instrument.  If  cupidity  and  violence  are  right, 
slavery  is  right ;  if  cupidity  and  violence  are  wrong,  slavery  is 
wrong.  Slavery  is  not  only  wrong,  but  it  is  the  greatest  of  wrongs, 
for,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  the  annihilation  of  the  human  will. 
The  gravest  injury  you  can  suffer  is  to  be  deprived  of  your  manhood, 
and  he  who  has  no  will  is  no  man. 

^very  is  coeval  with  human  history.  The  earliest  records  of 
our  race  bear  testimony  to  the  existence  of  slavery.  The  East, 
Ae  cradle  of  dvilization,  is  the  cradle  of  slavery.  Slavery  in  the 
East  was  universal.  All  the  great  states  of  antiquity  were  slave- 
states.  In  general  the  slaves  lar  outnumbered  the  freemen.  Free- 
dom was  limited  to  one  man,  or  to  a  few  men ;  slavery  was  the 
general  condition. 

Cast  your  eye  on  those  monumental  paintings  of  andent  Egyptian 
art*  Those  dark-coloured  men,  bound,  and  led  captive,  and  in 
torture,  are  slaves.  Africa  is  already  the  nurse  of  slaves.  So  early 
does  davery  go  back  in  Egypt,  and  so  thoroughly  did  it  enter  into 
die  heart  oi  E^ptian  society,  that  the  figure  of  a  slave  was  a  hiero- 
glyplric  in  the  Egyptian  alphabet.  Slavery  entered  into  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Assyrian  empire.  The  will  of  the  monarch  was  the 
only  law.  The  old  Assyrian  monarchy  and  the  new  were  alike  slave- 
states.  Savery  prevailed  in  the  Persian  empire.  Indeed,  all  the 
great  Oriental  monarchies  had  their  basis  in  slavery.  In  the  West, 
too,  slavery  was  a  political  or  a  domestic  institution.  From  the  straits 
of  Gibraltar  to  the  sea  of  China  slavery  extended  its  sway,  and  so 
covered  with  its  dark  lines  the  whole  belt  of  ancient  civilization. 

Iliroughout  this  lengthened  zone  of  the  globe  the  slave-trade 
was  in  great  activity.  Every  great  centre  of  dvilizalion  was  a 
centre  of  the  slave-trade.  To  each  of  these,  as  they  stretched 
(torn  East  to  West,  did  intervening  countries  send*  their  agents, 
either  to  effect  sales,  or  to  make  purchases  of  human  beings.  In 
the  West  there  were  two  great  emporiums  of  the  slave-trade :  the 
one  was  i^ypt,  the  other  was  Phoenicia.     Egypt,  as  bordering  on 

'  Consult  *  Manners  and  Costoms  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,'  by  Sir  J.  Gardner 
Wmdnson ;  *  Egypt,  her  Testimony,*  by  William  Osburn,  Jun. ;  *  Ancient  Egypt 
Qnder  the  Pharaohfe,'  by  the  Rev.  John  Kenrick,  M.A. ;  and  *  .£gypten's  Stelle  m 
der  Weltgeschichte,'  von  C.  C.  J.  Bunsen. 

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128  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament.  [April, 

the  slave-producing  lands,  grew  rich  by  the  traflBc  in  men ;  but 
Egypt  was  too  much  shut  up  within  its  own  limits  to  become  a 
general  slave-dealer.  Egypt  rather  received  than  exported  slaves. 
The  great  slave-mart  was  JPhcenicia.  Tyre,  connected  even  with 
the  remote  East  by  the  caravan  trade,  and  connected  with  the 
farther  West  by  its  ships  and  its  merchants,  was  the  slave-mart  of 
the  ancient  world.  Thither  slaves  were  brought  from  the  East  and 
from  the  South,  there  they  were  sold,  and  thence  they  were  sent 
down  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  West,  and  to  the  North.*> 

Slavery  is  found  in  the  first  chapters  of  the  Biblical  history. 
Had  we  no  other  evidence,  the  Scriptures  abundantly  show  that 
slavery  existed  long  before  the  days  of  Moses,  and  in  the  land  for 
which  he  prepared  a  great  people  and  a  noble  history.  And  the 
first  recoOTiition  of  slavery  in  the  Bible  is  the  recognition  of  it  as  a 
ciu'se.  An  accursed  thing  did  slavery  appear  in  the  eyes  of  Noah, 
the  second  father  of  human  kind.  '  Cursed,'  said  he,  *  be  Canaan,' 
a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren  (Gen.  ix.  26). 
The  first  war  recorded  in  the  Bible  was  a  war  which  ended  in 
slavery ;  the  princes  of  Mesopotamia  subjugated  and  enslaved  the 
princes  of  the  vale  of  the  Jordan  (Gen.  xiv.  1  seq,)  ;  and  the  first 
distinguished  act  in  the  history  of  Abraham  was  the  breaking  of 
that  yoke.  The  narrative  lets  us  know  that  Abraham  himself  was 
a  slave-owner.  The  chief  forces  he  employed  were  three  hundred 
and  eighteen  slaves  bom  in  his  own  house  (Gen.  xiv.  14).  The 
very  mention  of  such  slaves  is  a  proof  that  slavery  existed  long 
prior  to  this  event.  Before  there  can  be  slaves  bom  in  a  master's 
house,  there  must  have  been  slaves  bom  out  of  a  master's  house ; 
and  slaves  bom  out  of  a  master's  house  must  have  been  obtained 
bjr  purchase  or  by  capture,— most  probably  by  both.  The  expe- 
dition against  the  Mesopotamian  knigs  throws  light  on  capture  as 
a  means  of  obtaining  slaves.  Among  the  booty  which  Abraham 
made  on  the  occasion  was  a  number  of  captives,  who,  as  captives, 
were  reduced  to  slavery.  Thus  was  it  that,  when  the  patriarch,  on 
his  way  back,  paid  his  homage  to  the  king  of  Sodom,  the  latter 
said  to  the  former,  '  Give  me  the  persons,  and  take  the  goods  to 
thyself  (Gen.  xiv.  21).  Here,  then,  we  have  two  sources  of 
slavery,  war  and  birth :  persons  who  were  made  prisoners  in  war 
became  slaves,  and  the  ofispring  of  these  captives  were  slaves  by 
birth.  The  emphatic  mention  made  of  Abraham's  house-bom 
slaves,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  defeated  the  large  invading 
force,  indicate  the  superiority  of  that  class  of  slaves.  Such  supe- 
riority would   spring  from  the  proximity  in  which  such  slaves 

^  '  UntersuchuDgen  iiber  die  Religion  und  die  Gottheiten  der  Phonizier/  &c.^ 
Ton  Dr.  F.  C.  Movers.     Bonn,  1841-50. 

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1853.]  Slaoery  and  the  Old  Testament.  129 

lived  with  their  owner.  Even  afiection  and  trust  might,  to  some 
extent,  spring  up  between  a  master  and  his  slaves.  Accord- 
ingly a  house-bom  slave,  Eliezer,  held  the  high  and  confidential 
oflSce  of  house-steward  to  Abraham,  and,  had  the  patriarch  re- 
mained childless,  this  slave  would  have  been  Abraham's  heir 
(Exod.  XV.  3).  In  Abraham's  family  there  were  female  slaves. 
Hagar,  the  mother  of  Ishmael,  the  father  of  the  Arab  tribes, 
was  a  female  slave.  As  Hagar  was  an  Egyptian,  Africa 
seems  to  have  been  one  land  whence  the  patriarch. obtained  his 
slaves.  The  relations  which  existed  between  Abraham  and  his 
slaves  were  of  the  higher  kind.  Witness  the  superiority  of  his 
house-bom  slaves ;  witness  their  fidelity ;  witness  their  martial 
skill  and  prowess ;  witness  also  the  high  position  and  higher  expec- 
tations ot  Eliezer ;  witness  die  willingness  of  Sarah  to  account  as 
her  own  the  children  of  Hagar ;  but  chiefly  witness  the  fact,  that 
slaves,  whether  bought  with  money  or  bom  in  the  house,  were 
members  of  the  fiunily,  and  members  of  the  church,  for  they  were 
reckoned  in  the  generations,  and  they  were  circumcised  (Gen. 
xvii.  12,  13,  23  «ej.).  In  the  joumeyings  of  Abraham  we  find 
clear  traces  of  slavery.  In  the  south  of  Canaan  Kine  Abimelech, 
in  the  parting  present  which  he  made  to  his  visitor,  tne  patriarch, 
included  with  sheep  and  oxen,  men-servants  and  women-servants 
(Gen.  XX.  14 ;  comp.  xxi.  22  seq.).  In  Egypt,  too,  Abraham, 
among  other  wealth,  acquired,  through  fstvour  of  the  reigning 
Pharaoh,  both  male  and  female  slaves  (Gen.  xii.  16).  It  deserves 
notice,  that  in  the  social  condition  of  Abraham,  he  and  his  kindred 
are  the  only  firee  men.  The  circle  of  freedom  is  restricted  within 
Nahor  and  his  descendants.  Abraham,  Sarah,  and  their  slaves, 
would  be  a  correct  description  of  the  patriarch's  fiunily.  In  all 
probability  that  family  is  a  pattern  of  otner  families  of  the  age  and 
the  country.  Society,  in  consequence,  consisted  of  a  few  free  men, 
each  the  nead  of  a  fiimily,  and  that  family  consisted  of  slaves. 
But  the  slavery  was  of  the  mildest  kind.  In  spirit  die  head  of  the 
fiunily  was  not  only  its  master,  but  its  father. 

In  such  a  state  of  society  the  slave  might,  without  much  diflBculty, 
pa^  into  a  freeman.  The  elevation  was  facilitated  by  a  practice  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  in  the  parentage  oi  Ishmael.  In 
patriarchal  times,  if  the  wife  gave  her  lord  no  heir,  she  sought  to 
obtain  that  blessing  by  means  of  a  handmaid.  Thus  of  Efilhah, 
Rachel's  female  slave,  was  bom  first  Dan  and  then  Naphtali  (Gen. 
XXX.  6-8) ;  and  Zilpah,  Leah's  female  slave,  gave  Jacob  two  sons. 
Gad  and  Asher  (12,  13).  Accordingly  four  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel  sprang  on  the  mother's  side  from  slaves.  We  may  not  be 
wrong  if  we  designate  as  mulattoes  Dan,  Naphtali,  Gad  and  Asher, 
the  fathers  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  of  the  same  names. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  K 

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130  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament,  [April, 

Our  picture  of  slavery,  as  connected  with  the  patriarchs,  would 
be  incomplete,  were  we  to  pass  over  the  occasion  which  took  Jo- 
s^h  into  Egypt.  Sold  into  slavery  by  his  jealous  InrotherB,  that 
patriarch  was  conveyed  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  and 
there  disposed  of  with  other  merchandise.  He  was  purchased  by 
a  caravan  of  Ishmaehtes,  who  carried  on  the  slave-trade,  and 
trade  of  other  kind,  between  northern  Arabia  and  Egypt,  fonning 
a  branch  running  to  the  south-west  of  the  great  trunk  of  com- 
merce which  connected  the  Ganges  with  the  Mediterranean. 
Curious  is  it  to  behold  Ishmael  and  Joseph,  both  descendants  of 
Abraham,  united  in  the  unhappy  relation  of  slave  and  slave-dealer. 

In  Egypt  Joseph  found  a  species  of  slavery  in  existence  of 
which  he  had  no  knowledge  in  the  uplands  of  Fklestine.  There 
he  knew  only  domestic  slavery — in  Egypt  he  became  familiar  with 
public  or  political  slavery.  The  Pharaohs  were  despots, -their 
people  were  their  slaves.  Whatever  privileges  the  miUtary  or  the 
priestly  caste  might  possess,  however  high  the  position  any  one 
might  hold,  however  great  the  power  any  one  might  attain,  all 
were  slaves  as  much  as  ^  the  butler  of  the  king  of  Egypt  and  his 
baker'  (Gen.  xl.  1),  and  held  their  lives  and  properties  in  depen- 
dence on  the  will  of  the  one  sole  freeman,  the  royal  potentate,  in 
whose  veins,  as  was  believed,  ran  the  blood  of  men,  heroes  and 
gods  of  untold  generations.  In  broad  contrast  stand  the  slavery 
of  Egypt  and  the  slavery  of  Palestine.  It  was  in  the  ordinations 
of  Providence  that  the  latter  country  should  fall  under  the  yoke  of 
the  former  country.  The  descendants  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren 
experienced  the  niU  severities  of  Egyptian  slavery.  When  they 
entered  Egypt  the  twelve  tribes  had  slave  blood  in  their  veins. 
During  their  sojourn  there,  they  learned  to  pity  slaves  by  enduring 
the  inflictions  of  slavery. 

Such  was  the  people  and  such  was  the  state  of  society  for  which 
Moses  had  to  form  a  code.  Re^^arded  from  an  Egyptian  point  of 
view,  his  people  were  a  horde  of  fugitive  slaves.  Unquestionably 
they  were  outcasts  and  wanderers  during  the  whole  time  that  they 
were  under  the  care  of  Moses.  They  of  course  partook  the 
general  ideas  and  shared  in  the  general  observances  of  the  day ; 
consequently,  from  being  slaves,  they  were  desirous  of  becoming 
slave-owners :  and  in  their  joumevings  they  had  ample  opportu- 
nities to  gratify  their  desires.  War  and  purchase  would  supply 
them  with  slaves.  A  more  expeditious  means  was  men-steaUng. 
The  temptations  were  great.  The  descendants  of  Abraham  were 
a  fine  race.  Possessing  supericnr  endowments,  and  carrying  with 
them  the  practical  arts  of  Egypt,  the  Israelites,  with  their  great 
numbers,  easily  commanded  the  countries  through  which  they 
passed  and  in  which  they  tarried.     Nothing  more  easy  for  them 

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1863.]  Slavery  cmd  the  Old  Testament  131 

than  to  sweep  each  land  in  succession  of  its  population,  and  so  to 
engage  in  the  slave-trade  on  a  magnificent  scale  and  with  pecu- 
niary results  the  most  brilliant.  But  Moses  knew  the  moral  de- 
gradation that  would  ensue,  and  having  it  as  his  aim  to  build  up 
a  great  nation,  he  prohibited  the  slave-trade  under  the  severest 
penalty,  and  put  the  stealing  of  a  man  in  the  same  category  of 
crime  as  the  smiting  of  a  father  and  a  mother.  *  He  that  smiteth 
his  father  or  his  mother,  shall  be  surely  put  to  death :  and  he  that 
stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  he 
shall  surely  be  put  to  death.'    Exod.  xxi.  16,  17. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  a  lepslator  who  passed  such  a 
law  could  in  any  way  endure  slavery.  If  it  is  wrong  to  steal,  it  is 
wrong  to  receive  what  is  stolen ;  if  it  is  wrong  to  steal  a  man,  it  is 
wrong  to  purchase  a  man  that  has  been  stolen :  and  if  it  is  wrong 
to  purchase,  it  is  wrong  to  possess  a  man  that  has  been  purchased 
or  stolen.  This  enactment  therefore  seems  to  lay  the  axe  to  the 
root  of  slavery.  It  forbids  slavery  in  its  primary  source ;  and 
such  a  prohibition  pronounces  a  condemnation  on  slavery  in  all  its 
aspects.  Very  dear,  however,  it  is  that  Moses  regarded  slavery 
with  aver^n.  He  who  put  the  man-stealer  to  death  seems,  by 
.the  act,  to  declare  his  disapprobation  of  the  system  of  slavery. 
Hence  we  seem  justified  in  concluding  that  Moses  was  wholly  hos- 
tile to  slavery.  Apparenfly  he  made  an  efibrt  to  prevent  his 
people  firom  being  defiled  by  slavery.  Through  the  'hardness  of 
heart*  (Matt.  xix.  8)  on  the  part  of  the  people  with  whom  Moses 
had  to  do,  the  endeavour  proved  abortive.  Slavery,  like  the 
facility  of  divorce,  proved  too  strong  for  the  le^slator.  So  sure, 
so  ready,  so  rich,  and  so  common  a  mine  of  wealth  the  people 
would  not  renounce.  Nevertheless  Moses,  if  compelled  to  yield 
slavery,  would  not  permit  man-stealing ;  and  on  slavery  itself  he 
reserved  to  put  restrictions. 

In  order  to  form  a  just  view  of  the  position  which,  under  these 
circumstances,  Moses  took  in  regard  to  slavery,  we  must  view  the 
subject  in  relation  first  to  foreigners,  then  to  Hebrews,  and  then 
generally. 

It  was  with  intense  dislike  and  almost  abhorrence  that  a  faithful 
Helwrew,  deeply  and  cordially  attached  to  monotheism,  regarded 
foreign  nations,  who  were  without  exception  idolaters,  and,  as 
idolaters,  given  to  low,  brutal,  and  licentious  rites.  Actuated  by 
antipathies  so  strong,  the  wars  which  Israel  waged  against  its 
neighbours  were  wars  of  extermination ;  the  sword  devoured  a 
conquered  enemy:  only  a  few  captives  were  made,  and  conse- 
quently war,  the  chief  source  of  slavery  in  the  world  generally, 
brought  few  slaves  into  Canaan.  The  result  had  a  merciful  ten- 
dency ;  for  far  better  is  death  than  slavery. 

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132  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament  [April, 

The  less  disposed  was  the  Hebrew  law  to  enoourage  the  in- 
coming of  foreign  slaves,  because  of  the  moral  and  religious  cor- 
ruptions which  they  could  not  fail  to  introduce,  and  which,  if  freely 
tolerated,  would  certainly  lower  and  might  undermine  the  pure 
religion  of  Jehovah,  by  depraving  the  character  of  his  worshippers. 

Yet  were  Israelites  permitted  to  buy  bondmen  and  bondmaids 
of  the  heathen  around  them,  as  well  as  of  the  children  of  heathen 
parents  bom  in  the  land.  Such  slaves  were  by  law  a  p^manent 
possession  (Levit.  xxv.  44,  seq.). 

Strictly  speaking,  slaves  of  foreign  origin  were  the  only  slaves 
in  Israel,  for  they  only  remained  slaves  to  the  end  of  their  days. 
Certainly  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Hebrew  conmionwealth, 
when  taken  in  its  rigour,  was  incompatible  with  slavery.  Among 
heathen  nations  the  sovereign  was,  as  the  only  freeman,  so  the 
sole  proprietor — the  people  were  his  property,  feut  in  the  institu- 
tions of  Moses  the  nation  belonged  to  Jehovah,  and  to  Jehovah 
alone.  The  substitution  of  this  religious  relation  for  the  political 
relation  under  which  the  heathen  world  lived,  made  all  Israelites 
free  and  equal ;  nor,  without  an  infringement  of  the  great  funda- 
mental principle,  could  a  Hebrew  even  temporarily  become  the 
property  of  another  Hebrew.  The  Israelite,  now  poor,  how  weak 
soever,  was  God's  and  not  man's.  So  far,  then,  as  the  theocracy 
was  honoured  and  prevailed,  the  descendants  of  Abraham  could 
not  be  reduced  to  slavery  in  their  own  country.  Accordingly  the 
law  forbad  the  enslavement  of  a  Hebrew,  as  it  forbad  men-stealing. 
When  poverty  compelled  a  Hebrew  to  sell  his  liberty,  he  did  no 
more  than  enter  into  service  for  a  few  years.  Thus  runs  the  com- 
mand :  '  K  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor,  and  be  sold  unto  thee,  thou 
shalt  not  compel  him  to  serve  thee  as  a  bond  servant ;  but  as  an 
hired  servant  and  as  a  sojoimier  he  shall  be  with  thee'  f  Levit. 
xxv.  39).  Theft  also  was  punished  by  the  loss  of  freedom  ^Exod. 
xxii.  2),  and  fathers  were  permitted  to  sell  their  daughters  (Exod. 
xxi.  7).  But  if  the  service  was  in  these  cases  more  flian  a  species 
of  hired  labour  (Levit.  xxv.  53),  the  Hebrew  slave,  whether  sold 
to  a  brother  Hebrew  or  to  a  foreigner  resident  in  Palestine,  had 
the  right  of  self-redemption,  whether  out  of  his  own  resources  or 
out  of  the  resources  of  a  relative  (Levit.  xxv.  48).  Any  way,  He- 
brew slaves,  if  slaves  they  can  properly  be  called,  gained  their 
liberty  either  in  the  sabbatical  year  or  in  the  year  of  jubilee.  In 
no  case  could  their  service  last  more  than  six  years,  except  by 
their  own  voluntary  act  (Levit.  xxv.  41,  seq, ;  Exod.  xxi.  6  ;  Deut. 
XV.  12,  seq.).  When  the  limited  time  came,  the  servant  departed 
from  has  master,  '  both  he  and  his  children  with  him,  and  returned 
unto  his  own  family  and  unto  the  possession  of  his  fathers ;  for 
they  are  my  servants  which  I  brought  forth  out  of  the  land  of 


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1853.]  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament,  133 

Egypt ;  they  shall  not  be  sold  as  bondmen :  thou  shalt  not  rule 
over  him  with  rigour,  but  shalt  fear  thy  God'  (Levit  xxv.  41-3). 
Nor  was  the  servant  to  leave  his  master  empty  handed.  ^  And 
when  thou  sendest  him  out  free  from  thee  thou  shalt  furnish  him 
liberaUy  out  of  thy  flock,  and  out  of  thy  floor,  and  out  of  thy  wine- 
press :  of  that  wherewith  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee  thou 
shalt  give  unto  him,  and  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast  a 
bondman  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  Lord  tJiy  God  redeemed 
thee'  (Deut  xxvi.  12,  seq,).  This  consideration,  namely,  that 
Israel  had  been  in  bondage  and  had  been  redeemed  therefrom, 
exerted  a  beneficial  influence  on  the  whole  of  the  Mosaic  regula- 
tions in  regard  to  slavery.  In  the  eye  of  the  law  of  Moses  the 
slave,  whatever  his  country,  never  wholly  ceased  to  be  a  man. 
The  law  protected  his  person  against  injury ;  it  threw  its  shield 
before  his  life.  K  a  master  destroyed  an  eye  of  his  slave,  the 
slave  thereby  gained  his  freedom.  The  loss  of  a  tooth  was  com- 
pensated by  the  same  boon  (Exod.  xxi.  26,  27).  Punishment  was 
decreed  against  a  master  whose  hand  caused  the  death  of  a  slave 
(Exod.  xxi.  20).  One  day  in  every  seven  was  by  law  a  day  of 
rest  for  slaves  and  hired  servants,  and  they  too  were  to  share  in 
the  social  festivities  which  accompanied  the  public  sacrifices  (Deut. 
xii.  12-18 ;  xvi.  11-14). 

Hie  slavery,  then,  ctf  the  Mosaic  code  was  a  species  of  service 
scarcely  more,  if  at  all  more  rigorous  than  the  ordinarily  hired  ser- 
vice of  modem  times.  Certainly,  both  in  extent  and  in  severity,  it 
stands  in  broad  contrast  with  the  slavery  of  the  ancient  world. 
And  among  the  grounds  of  eulogy  toward  the  Mosaic  religion 
there  is  no  one  of  a  merely  social  nature  which  is  more  legi- 
timate than  the  aspect  which  it  bears  to  slavery.  Wonderful  is 
this  exception  to  the  general  treatment  of  slaves  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  history.  What  a  bright  spot  in  the  midst  of  sur- 
rounding darkness  1  Look  at  the  neighbouring  lands  of  Egypt 
and  Phoenicia ;  behold  the  numerous  gangs  of  slaves  there  em- 
ployed in  exhausting  and  unrequited  labours,  or  exposed  in  the 
slave-markets,  or  dragged  from  their  homes  to  distant  lands: 
and  revert  to  Canaan,  and  the  mild  spirit  of  its  slave  legislation : 
observe  there  even  the  slave  of  heathen  origin  at  rest  on  the 
universal  sabbath,  and  enjoying  the  &t  of  the  land  in  the  national 
banquets. 

Tne  Bible  has  been  cited  as  God's  testimony  in  favour  of  slavery. 
If  the  evidence  is  admissible,  for  what  does  it  bear  witness  ?  Of 
course  for  slavery  as  it  appears  in  its  pages.  Let  the  evidence  be 
admitted.  What  then?  Then  God's  word  sanctions,  and  as  it 
sanctions  so  it  requires,  a  system  as  mild  as  the  slavery  of  the 
Mosaic  code.     And  while  it  sanctions  and  requires  such  a  syster* 

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134  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament.  [April, 

so  by  inference  does  it  condemn  any  Bystem  of  a  seyerer  kind,  any 
system  devoid  of  its  mitigations  and  its  benefactions. 

The  Bible,  however,  gives  no  divine  testimony  in  favom*  of 
slavery.  The  Bible  is  the  historian,  not  the  apologist,  of  slavery. 
It  tells  what  was,  not  what  ought  to  be.  In  describing  a  past  and 
very  remote  state  of  society,  or  rather  in  describing  successiye 
states  of  the  ancient  world,  it  implies  or  declares  that  the  great 
ones  of  the  earth  possessed  slaves  as  they  possessed  flocks  and 
herds.  This  is  the  oflSce  of  the  Bible  generally  in  regard  to 
slavery.  In  giving  us  a  picture  of  society  some  four  thousand 
years  ago,  it  introduced  slaves,  because  slavery  was  then  universal. 
Thus  does  the  Bible  attest  its  own  authenticity,  and  gain  a  title  to 
our  respect  without  preferring  a  claim  on  our  obedience.  But 
Moses  enjoined  slavery.  Say  rather  that  Moses  endeavoured  to 
disallow  slavery,  and  when  unable  to  effect  his  righteous  purpose, 
he  did  his  utmost  to  qualify  its  injustice  and  to  abate  its  evils. 
Slavery  had  not  its  ori^n  with  Moses.  Before  his  time  it  pre- 
vailed and  flourished.  It  came  into  his  hands  as  an  existing  and 
long-established  observance ;  and,  like  a  strong  man,  he  moulded 
it  so  as  to  bring  it  into  some  resemblance  to  his  own  institutions. 

Whatever  slavery  was  in  the  Mosaic  code  and  in  the  Hebrew 
Commonwealth,  its  existence  then  is  no  justification  for  its 
existence  now.  Four  thousand  years  may  well  be  believed  to  have 
wrought  some  great  ordinal  changes  in  human  society.  In  those 
changes  lies  the  nullification  of  the  Mosaic  slave  code.  Providence 
in  enect  made  that  declaration  when  Titus  destroyed  Jerusalem 
together  with  its  temple,  and  scattered  the  Hebrew  people  all  over 
the  world.  Why  I  what  is  meant  when  the  law  of  Moses  b  put 
forward  as  a  witness  in  this  issue?  If  the  law  of  Moses  has 
validity  still  in  regard  to  slavery,  then  let  your  slavery  be  tiie 
slavery  of  the  law  of  Moses.  But  if  pleaded  in  this  case,  why  is  it 
neglected  in  other  matters?  K  good  for  slavery,  is  not  the 
Mosaic  code  good  for  circumcision  ?  And  if  good  for  circumcision, 
why  is  it  not  observed  in  its  requirement  of  sacrifices  ?  If  good 
for  one  of  its  dements,  it  is  good  for  all.  Why  then  are  not 
slavery  apologists  Hebrews,  rather  than  real  heathens  or  professed 
Christians? 

In  truth  the  Mosaic  law,  and  the  Mosaic  institutions  have  come 
to  an  end.  Good  for  their  time  and  for  their  work,  they  are  no 
longer  e;ood.  Their  inferior  light  is  lost  in  the  efildgence  of  the 
light  of  our  mid-day.  Alas!  tnat  men  who  say  they  hcmour  the 
Kble,  should  endeavour  to  cover  their  own  iniquities  with  its 
authority.  Not  even  thus  can  their  misdeeds  be  justified ;  man- 
stealing  will  still  remain  man  stealing ;  to  bold  property  in  human 
beings  will  still  be  a  sin  against  God,  and  a  cnme  done  to  man, 

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1853.]  Slavery  md  the  Old  Testament.  135 

whatever  fialse  pleas  may  be  fetched  from  antiquity.  But  while 
you  camiot  make  the  Bible  justify  your  slavery^  you  may  cause 
your  slavery  to  inflict  injury  on  the  Bible.  Most  detrimental  to 
the  Bible  and  to  the  rdigion  of  the  Bible,  is  it  that  even  its 
authorised  expounders  should  in  these  days  be  seen  and  heard 
to  adduce  its  supposed  authority  in  justification  of  slavery,  despot- 
ism, and  darkness.  May  God  rescue  the  Bible  from  the  hands  of 
its  mistaken  friends !  far  more  injurious  are  they,  far  more  injurious 
to  its  interests  than  its  worst  avowed  foes. 

We  have  thus  studied  the  position  in  which  slavery  stands  in  the 
older  Scriptures.  How  is  slavery  regarded  in  the  New  Testament  ? 
Before  the  question  can  receive  a  proper  answer,  we  must  know  what 
slavery  was  as  it  existed  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 

At  the  advent  of  Christ  the  world  had  but  one  master ;  all  lands 
wore  the  Roman  yoke.  From  the  Indus  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
from  Scandinavia  to  the  African  deserts,  the  banners  of  the  Roman 
£m|Hre  enforced  obedience  or  commanded  respect.  Then  for  the 
first,  and  then  for  the  last  time,  the  dream  so  often  dreamt  both 
before  and  since,  the  dream  of  a  universal  dominion,  was  a  proud 
reality.  A  imiversal  dominion  is  universal  slavery.  And  at  the 
advent  of  Christ,  slavery  was  universal.  Up  to  the  epoch  of  his 
birth,  slavery  had  grown  and  spread  until  m  the  combined  form 
of  public  and  private  slavery,  it  prevailed  throughout  the  Roman 
empire.  From  that  epoch,  slavery  has  gradually  declined,  sinking 
somewhat  every  passing  century,  until  now  it  is  driven  into  the 
darker  and  less  cultured  parts  of  the  earth,  and  being  put  on  its 
defence,  has  extreme  difficul^  to  protect  its  degraded  form,  and 
preserve- its  attenuated  life.  In  truth  the  world  has  been  emanci- 
pated by  the  Son,  and  if  the  Son  make  men  free,  then  are  they  free 
indeed,  for  this  is  a  manumission  of  individuals.  Whereas  Roman 
fireedom  was  but  slavery  under  another  name.  True  it  is  that 
every  Roman  &ther  of  the  aristocratic  class  was  free.  And  in  the 
earlier  periods  of  the  government  the  fi'eedom  was  a  reality.  But 
ever  did  there  exist  a  tendency  toward  despotism,  which  growing 
more  and  more  decided,  ended  at  last  by  concentrating  £ul  socisu 
and  civil  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man.  The  state  predominant 
from  the  first,  at  last  absolved  all  authority  and  all  dominion,  and 
in  giving  to  ihe  will  of  one  man  the  eflScacy  of  law,  suppressed  and 
annihilated  all  other  wills,  and  so  established  a  system  of  universal 
and  unqualified  slavery.  The  grounds  of  this  lamentable  result 
lay  in  the  domestic  relations.  The  family  is  the  germ  of  the 
Boman  civilisation.  And  in  a  Roman  family  there  was  but  one 
will.  The  father's  power  was  supreme.  Nay,  the  father  only 
possessed  power.  The  wife  was  little  else  than  an  upper  servant. 
The  children  were  wholly  at  the  father's  disposal ;  and  the  slaves 

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136  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament,  [April, 

were  his  property.  Absolute  power  of  life  and  death  was  in  the 
father's  hanos.  That  power,  if  somewhat  controlled  by  law,  wbs 
also  fiilly  recognized  by  law.  Hence  Roman  society  was  in  its 
essence  an  aggregation  of  despotisms,  and  what  easier  or  more 
natural  than  that  a  multitude  of  petty  tyrannies  should  issue  in  the 
domination  of  a  sovereign  lord  ? 

Every  tyrant  has  a  slave's  soul,  and  every  slave  is  a  tyrant  in 
the  making.  Hius  slavery  and  tyranny  presuppose  each  other, 
and  slavery  and  tyranny,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  have  followed  when 
they  have  not  involved  each  other.  Roman  despotism  then  may 
prepare  us  to  expect  a  kind  and  degree  of  servitude  in  Rome, 
marked  by  its  own  strong  and  repulsive  features.  Such  is  the  reality  ; 
no  tyranny  worse  than  Roman  tyranny,  and  no  slavery  worse  than 
Roman  slavery.  Hie  father,  who  was  a  despot  toward  his  own 
children,  could  be  nothing  else  than  a  tyrant  toward  his  slave. 

The  slave  and  the  son  however  did  not  stand  on  the  same  foot- 
ing. The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  a  reference  to  Roman  rather 
than  Hebrew  slavery,  has  marked  the  fundamental  distinction 
between  the  son  and  the  slave,  when  he  said,  '  the  slave  abideth 
not  in  the  house  for  ever,  but  the  son  abideth  ever '  (John  viii.  35). 
It  is  true  the  son  might  be  sold  by  the  father.  It  is  true  that  the 
son  might  by  adoption  pass  into  another  family.  Nevertheless  the 
bond  which  bound  him  to  his  home  was  not  broken.  If  he 
recovered  his  liberty,  he  again  fell  imder  his  father's  power,  and 
on  his  father's  death,  he,  as  a  matter  of  right,  took  possession  of 
the  family  property.  But  the  slave  once  sold,  beoune  another 
person's  property.  He  might  have  been  bom  in  the  house,  but  all 
his  ties  therewith  were  sundered.  His  master  had  parted  with 
him  as  he  would  dispose  of  an  ox  or  a  plough. 

The  reason  of  this  complete  separation  is  found  in  the  view 
taken  of  the  slave  by  the  law.  Before  the  Roman  law  a  slave  was 
a  thing.  Expressly  did  the  law  declare  that  a  slave  was  not  a 
person  ;•  and  with  that  logical  rigour,  and  legal  consistency  for 
which  the  Roman  law  is  celebrated,  it  carried  this  first  falsehood 
(vpo/Tov  Nj/6t/Xof )  into  all  its  determinations  bearing  on  the  condition 
of  slaves.  ITius  being  a  thing  and  not  a  person,  a  dave  could 
have  no  rights,  and,  as  having  no  rights,  he  could  hold  no  property. 
Instead  of  holding  property,  the  slave  was  property,  and  as  oeing 
property,  so  whatever  gathered  around  him,  wife,  children,  wealth, 
was  not  his  but  his  master's.  Special  care  was  taken  by  the 
Romans  to  reduce  slaved  into  the  condition  of  things.  This 
solicitude  is  seen  in  two  of  their^  slave  laws.  If  a  slave  belonged 
to  two  masters,  and  if  one  of  the  masters  renounced  his  claim,  the 

«  *  Quia  noUnm  caput  habet.*— /n#rtV.,  1.  xvi.  c  4. 

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1853.]  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament.  137 

slave  did  not  so  far  recover  his  liberty,  but  became,  like  any  mere 
thinff,  the  exclusive  property  of  the  other.^  If  a  Roman  citizen, 
overloaded  with  debte,  and  crushed  by  usury,  was  in  consequence 
claimed  as  their  slave  by  several  creditors,  the  law  regarding  the 
£dlen  man  as  a  piece  of  land,  or  any  other  divisible  thing,  com- 
manded in  express  terms,  *let  them  divide  him^^  and  with  a 
refinement  in  cruelty,  which  would  have  delighted  the  greedy 
heart  of  the  Jew  of  Venice,  decreed  that  no  reprisal  should  be 
taken,  whether  more  or  less  shotdd  in  the  division  be  cut  away. 
In  the  execution  of  the  law,  not  improbably  the  debtor  was  sold, 
and  the  sum  he  fetched  was  divided  among  the  claimants.  Not  the 
less  on  that  account  was  the  citizen  become  a  slave,  regarded  and 
treated  as  a  chattel.  As  a  thing  belon^g  to  his  master,  the 
Roman  slave  could  be  sold,  could  be  given  away,  could  be  hired 
out,  could  be  put  in  pledge,  could  be  seized  for  debt ;  could  be 
applied  to  any  purpose,  could  be  turned  to  any  account ;  could 
be  punished,  could  be  incarcerated,  could  be  put  to  death.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  a  thing  can  have  no  social  or  legal  position,  so 
the  Roman  slave  was  known  to  the  law  only  as  an  adjunct  to  his 
master,  like  his  dog,  his  cloak,  his  chariot.  Consequently  for  the 
slave  marriage  had  no  existence,  and  the  names  wife  and  husband, 
in  themselves  mere  accommodations,  denoted  nothing  more  than 
cohalntation,  tolerated  or  encouraged  for  the  sole  profit  of  the 
master.  As  there  was  no  marriage,  so  there  was  no  fornication, 
and  a  tie  which  the  master  allowed  for  his  own  purposes,  the  master 
might  violate  to  gratify  his  own  passions.  With  no  marriage 
there  could  be  no  paternity,  and  the  names  fether  and  mother  were 
mere  names.  Indeed,  before  the  law  the  slave  was  as  if  dead,'  and 
as  dead  he  could  lay  no  information,  mve  no  testimony,  receive  no 
legacy,  nor  perform  any  legal  act  whatever.  But  here  tyranny 
for  its  own  purposes  was  compelled  to  be  inconsistent.  Occasions 
there  were  when  a  slave's  evidence  was  wanted  with  a  view  to  his 
master's  crimination.  Then  to  his  words,  which  in  themselves 
were  worthless,  a  value  was  ^ven  by  the  torture  to  which  he  was 
subjected,  in  order  to  extort  from  him  a  criminatory  confession. 
But  how  did  injustice  riot  here  1  The  slave  was  put  to  the  torture 
not  as  a  witness,  but  as  an  accomplice.  H  the  charge  broke  down, 
reparation  was  made  not  to  the  simerer,  but  to  his  owner ;  and,  if 
the  sufferer  died  of  the  cruelties  he  was  subjected  to,  twice  his 
▼alue  was  paid  to  his  master ;  so  regardful  was  the  law  of  pro- 
perty, so  regardless  was  it  of  persons. 

<*  Paal,  Sentent.,  iv.  1,  and  Ulp.,  i.  18.    Compare  Dosith.  Fra^.  10. 

*  '  Secare  si  vellent  atque  partiri  corpus  addicti  sibi  hominis  permiserant.' 

Aulas  GeUius,  Nod,  Attic,  xx.  1. 

*Si  .  plus  .  minusve  .  secuerunt  .  se  .  frauds  .  esto.'— Ibid. 
'  Senritos  morti  adsimilatur.— L.  59  D.  xxxv.  1.  {^  ] 

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138  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament.  [April, 

But  while  the  Roman  slave  had  no  rights,  he  was  by  no  means 
free  from  duties.  Regarded  as  a  thing  to  his  own  disadvantage, 
he  was,  for  his  master  s  pleasure  and  ^ofit,  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
man.  Was  he  not  an  animated  bemg  ?  did  he  not  possess  the 
faculty  of  speech  ?  was  he  not  capable  of  improvement  ?  O  yes, 
far  more  valuable  was  he  than  a  chattel,  or  even  a  beast  of  burden. 
A  thing  ?  yes,  he  was  for  himself  a  thing ;  but  for  his  own^,  he 
was  an  active,  intelligent,  skilful  being.  And  as  power  brings 
obligation,  so  the  slave  was  bound  to  devote  all  his  faculties  to  his 
master's  service.  Accordingly,  he  will  think  or  not  think,  as  his 
master  pleases ;  he  will  speak  when  his  master  commands,  and  he 
will  toil  as  hajpd  and  as  long  as  his  master  directs.  Summum 
ju8y  summa  injuria.  Here  where  the  law  reaches  its  nicest  dis- 
tinction, does  the  grossness  of  its  injustice  come  into  relief.  This 
slave  is  a  thing,  or  he  is  not  a  thing.  This  slave  is  an  intelligent 
being,  or  he  is  not  an  intelligent  being.  Make  your  option. 
You  cannot  have  both  members  of  the  alternative.  You  cannot 
leap  from  one  to  the  other,  as  may  suit  your  logical  convaiience. 
K  the  slave  is  a  thing  for  himself,  he  is  a  thing  for  you.  If  the 
slave  is  intelligent  for  you,  and  moral  for  you,  he  is  intelligent  and 
moral  for  him^slf.     K  he  has  duties,  he  has  also  rights. 

The  Roman  citizen,  however,  found  the  slave  a  very  useful 
thing.  In  the  earlier  and  less  corrupt  periods  of  Roman  history, 
free  labour  discharged  a  large  share  of  the  duties  of  private  and 
social  life,  and  even  eminent  citizens  and  renowned  patriots 
thought  it  no  degradation  to  perform  offices  which  are  commonly 
called  humble.  JSut  as  conquest  brought  dominion,  and  dominion 
led  to  wealth,  and  wealth  introduced  luxury  and  corruption,  so  by 
degrees  slavery  grew  and  spread,  insinuating  itself  like  a  deadly 
poison  into  all  the  veins,  and  infecting  and  debilitating  the  nerves 
and  sinews  of  the  Republic,  until,  under  the  Imperial  rule,  the 
malady  reached  its  height,  and  but  for  the  streams  of  new  life 
supplied  by  the  Gospd,  would  very  speedily  have  brought  the 
Roman  state  and  people  to  a  painful,  miserable,  and  disgraceful 
end.  At  the  time  of  our  Lord's  advent,  slavery  pervaded  the 
entire  body  politic  of  the  Roman  empire.  Never  Wore,  never 
since,  did  ^very  so  embrace  and  permeate  any  social  condition. 
The  brand  was  upon  every  limb.  The  canker  was  at  the  heart 
Then  slavery  was  tried  and  judged.  If  slavery  is  a  good  Uiing, 
then  must  its  goodness  have  been  felt  and  seen.  If  slavery  is  an 
essential  condition  of  social  culture,  then  must  social  culture  have 
reached  its  height.  K  slavery  guarantees  female  delicacy  and 
refinement,  the  Roman  matrons  and  the  Roman  daughters  must 
have  been  paragons.  If  the  behests  of  revealed  religion  are 
obeyed,  honoured,  and  promoted  in  slavery,  then  in  imperial  Rome 
must  the  Gospel  have  had  and  have  recognized  one  of  its  most 

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1853.]  Sl<mry  and  the  Old  Testament  139 

signal  triumphs.  The  reverse  of  all  these  suppositions  is  true.  The 
age  of  Tibenus,  Caligula,  and  Nero,  is  an  age  first  to  be  ashamed  of, 
aod  then  to  be  wept  over.  Such  is  the  di^race,  and  such  the  pity, 
that  one  may  well  wish  it  blotted  out  of  the  annals  of  the  world. 
Yet  very  largely  was  that  age  what  slavery  made  it.  We  will 
endeavour  to  form  some — it  must  be  a  very  defective  and  very 
fidnt — ^picture  of  Roman  slavery  as  it  prevailed  in  social  and 
domestic  life  at  the  advent  of  Christ. 

It  would  give  only  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  extent  and  preva- 
lence of  Roman  slavery  to  say  that  all  the  oflSces  now  discharged 
by  free  labourers  were,  under  that  system,  performed  by  slaves, 
for  fiEictitious  wants  and  dissolute  luxu!*y  had  multiplied  servile 
duties,  and  called  into  operation  a  number  of  slaves,  which  in  these 
days  seems  almost  mcredible ;  equallv  did  the  overflowing  streams 
of  opulence  which  came  into  Italy  vrom  all  countries,  and  refine- 
ments in  gratification,  which  were  almost  as  endless  as  many  of 
them  were  unnatural,  necessitate  and  produce  a  minute  subdivision 
of  labour,  such  as  has  never  had  its  parallel.  The  consequence 
was  that  slaves  were  everywhere.  No  matter  at  what  point  you 
enter  Roman  society,  you  are  sure  to  meet  with  slaves.  No  matter 
whither  you  go,  when  within  that  artificial  world,  ever  do  you  find 
slaves  crowding  on  your  sight.  Stop,  if  you  will,  at  the  gate  of 
that  statelv  mansion,  and,  bv  the  power  of  that  imagination  which 
opens  all  doors  and  throws  down  all  barriers,  enter  a  palace,  where 
Augustus  himself  might  not  disdain  to  dwell.  The  door  you  find 
in  the  custody  of  a  slave.  Admitted  within,  you  are  received  by  a 
slave  in  the  hall.  He  transmits  you  to  another  slave,  by  whom 
you  are  introduced  into  a  saloon.  From  this  reception-room  you 
are  ushered  into  a  private  apartment  by  a  slave.  There  you  find 
the  master  of  the  establishment  attended  by  a  retinue  of  slaves. 
At  his  command  a  slave  conducts  you  to  your  chamber ;  another 
slave  aids  you  to  take  the  refreshment  of  the  bath ;  a  third  assists 
you  at  your  toilet ;  and  by  a  fourth  are  you  led  back  to  the  pre- 
sence' of  your  host.  After  a  slight  repast,  prepared  and  served  l;>y 
slaves,  you  accompany  your  entertainer  in  a  drive  through  the 
city,  ^aves  make  ready  the  chariot,  slaves  crowd  around  you  as 
you  quit  the  house ;  benMre  you  and  behhid  you,  as  you  proceed 
along,  slaves,  in  great  numbers  and  rich  attire,  attend  your  steps, 
and  make  the  passage  of  one  Roman  grandee  a  splendid  proces- 
fflon.  As  you  pass  mong,  every  object  you  behold  is  a  memento  of 
slavery.  The  tradesmen  are  all  slaves.  K  you  stop  to  purchase 
an  article  of  dress,  the  garment,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  a  product 
of  servile  hands.  If  enticed  by  gorgeous  Eastern  dies,  or  by  Gre- 
cian style  and  elegance,  or  by  Asiatic  richness,  you  resolve  to  carry 
back  a  present  to  the  lady  of  the  mansion,  you  deal  in  merchandize 
which  was  originally  produced  by  slaves,  which  has  been  brought 

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140  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament*  [April, 

from  afar  by  slaves,  which  slaves  have  purchased  in  Rome,  which 
slaves  now  sell  to  you,  which  slaves  will  convey  to  your  residence, 
and  which  slaves  will  offer  to  the  acceptance  of  your  hostess. 
Your  business  ended,  you  think  of  pleasure,  and  resolve  to  visit 
the  CSrcus.  Thither  are  myriads  crowding,  young  and  old,  and  of 
both  sexes.  Ten  thousand  slaves  ^  are  to  fight  in  the  arena.  For 
many  days  will  the  contest  last.  If  you  inquire  whence  they  are 
obtained,  the  answer  is,  *•  In  war ;'  they  are  captives  reserved  by 
the  conqueror  to  be  the  sport  of  the  Koman  populace.  You  turn 
away  in  disgust,  and  will  not  enter.  Praiseworthy  is  such  humanity, 
for  there  would  you  have  to  witness  the  most  shocking  scenes : 
men  matched  against  ra^ng  beasts ;  men  matched  against  men  in 
every  variety  of  conflict,  until  mutual  slaughter  has  covered  the 
arena  with  blood  and  gore,  with  the  dying  and  the  dead ;  when, 
disguised  as  divinities,  two  executioners  enter,  of  whom  one  ascer- 
tains, by  -a  burning  iron,  in  which  of  the  poor  wretches  life  yet 
lingers,  and  the  other  despatches  them  in  succession  with  a  blow 
from  his  heavy  mace.*»  What  is  that  edifice  not  far  from  the  Am- 
phitheatre ?  It  is  a  training  school.  There  men  are  made  into 
gladiators,  and  fattened  for  the  public  slaughter-house.  There  are 
several  in  Rome ;  and  in  every  considerable  city  of  the  empire^ 
Jerusalem,  *  the  city  of  God,'  not  excepted,  are  there  not  only 
stalls,  but  a  Qrcus,  where  human  beings,  reduced  to  slavery,  are 
first  prepared  for  butchery,  and  then  butchered.  But  let  us  hasten 
back. 

Those  are  the  children  of  your  entertainer.  By  a  slave's  hands 
were  they  received  into  existence ;  in  a  slave's  arms  were  they 
nursed  ;  from  a  slave's  bosom  they  drew  their  aliment ;  slaves  were 
their  playmates,  or,  rather,  their  sport ;  their  teachers  are  slaves  ; 
their  mother  is  now  under  the  care  of  a  medical  man,  who  is  a 

«  Such  was  the  number  sent  thither  by  Trajan. — Dion.»  Ixviii.  15. 
^  '  I  see  before  me  the  Gladiator  lie : 

He  leans  upon  his  hand — his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conqoers  agony» 
And  his  droop'd  head  sinks  graduaUy  low — 
And  through  his  side  the  last  drops,  ebbing  slow 
From  the  red  gash,  fall  heavy,  one  by  one; 
Like  the  first  of  a  thunder  shower  ^  and  now 
The  arena  swims  around  him — he  is  gone 
Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  hail'd  the  wretch  who  won. 
*  He  heard  It,  but  he  heeded  not — his  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  fiir  away : 
He  reck'd  not  of  the  life  he  lost,  nor  prize : 
But  where  his  rude  hut  by  the  Danube  lay, 
There  were  his  younp  barbarians  all  at  play, 
There  was  their  Dacian  mother — he,  their  sire 
Butcher'd  to  make  a  Roman  holiday — 
All  this  rush'd  with  his  blood : — Shall  he  expire, 
And  unavenged  ?  Arise,  ye  Goths  !  and  glut  your  ire.' 

Bybon,  Childe  Harold,  Canto  IV.,  cxl.,  cxli. 

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1853.]  Slavery  and  the  Old  Tedament.  141 

slaye ;  and  that  elegant  attire,  and  those  roseate  hues,*  in  which 
she  is  about  to  appear  at  the  dinner-table,  she  owes  to  the  hands 
of  slaves.  She,  as  well  as  her  husband,  has  a  slave  for  her  lacquey, 
a  slave  for  her  secretary,  a  slave  for  her  maid ;  and,  wishing  to  be 
accounted  literary  and  moral,  as  well  as  brilliant,  she  has,  at  great 
cost,  piu*chased  as  slaves  a  philosopher  and  a  wit,  who  coin  jokes 
on  her  account,  make  poems,  which  she  recites,  and  compose 
treatises,  which  she  patronizes.  You  wonder  that  so  fine  a  lady 
should  consent  to  shine  in  borrowed  colours :  then  know  that  ori- 
ginally she  and  her  lordly  spouse  are  themselves  slaves  by  birth, 
that  mey  both  passed  their  early  days  in  slavery,  and  that,  by  a 
traffic  in  slaves,  they  have  risen  to  this  social  altitude,  in  which 
they  slavishly  imitate  the  manners  and  sumptuousness  of  the  best 
Roman  famines. 

You  have  dined,  and  now  ask — ^Who  were  those  musicians  ?  who 
those  singers?  who  those  bearers  of  perfume?  They  were  all 
slaves ;  and  slaves  too  were  those  yoimg  girls  that  bore  the  chap- 
lets  ;  and  that  buffoon,  and  that  dwarf,  at  whose  expense  the  com- 
pany made  so  merry.  Whither  did  you  ask  that  slave,  who  in 
serving  stumbled  and  fell,  was  carried  ?  He  was  hurried  to  the 
domestic  prison,  for  this  mansion  has  a  prison,  and  every  house 
has  a  prison,  where  are  kept,  and  punished  by  slaves'  hands,  slaves 
who  have  displeased  their  owners.  The  prison  is  underground,  and 
has  little  light,  and  bad  air.  Similar  places  of  punishment,  some  on 
a  large  scale,  are  found  in  every  part  of  the  land.  Such  is  city 
slavery.  The  number  of  its  victims  it  is  not  easy  to  ascertain. 
Attica  is  said  to  have  numbered  400,000  slaves ;  the  city  of  Corinth 
alone  had  460,000  slaves ;  and  in  the  single  island  of  JEgina,  were 
470,000  slaves.  In  speaking  of  the  number  of  slaves  in  Home, 
ancient  authors*'  employ  the  terms  *  regiments'  (cohorts)  and 
*  legions.' "    Vettius,  an  ordinary  Roman  knight,  deeply  in  debt, 

i  Anteros,  Lmce  Colorator ;  Gori,  Colambarinm,  No.  84. 
^  Martial,  Sat,  1,  3,  11 ;  Juvenal,  xiv.  315;  Pliny,  xxxiii.  6,  9,  10. 
*"  Slaves,  it  has  been  compnted,  formed  one  half  of  the  population  of  Rome. 
According  to  Hock  {R&mische  Geschichte^  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  390)  the  following  -was 
the  proportion  between  the  firee  and  the  slave  population  of  Rome : — 

Senators  and  knights        •         .         •         •         .        10,000  souls. 

Their  slaves 100,000 

Foreigners 50,000 

Their  slaves     .         .    .     •         •         .         .       100,000 

Soldiers 15,000 

Their  slaves 15,000 

Plebeians 1,250,000 

Their  slaves 625,000 

Public  or  state  Slaves 100,000 

2,265,000 
Of  whom 940,000  were  slaves. 

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142  Slavery  <md  the  Old  Testament.  [Aiwril, 

armed  out  of  his  household  400  slaves  for  a  revolt  A  Soman 
lady,  by  name  Lepida,  was  punished  because  her  herds  of  ill-dis- 
ciplined slaves  in  Calabria  disturbed  the  peace  of  Italy.  Four  hun- 
dred slaves,  belonging  to  Pedanius  Secundus,  were  put  to  death  on 
suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  their  master'^  assassination.  Cra&- 
sus  kept  500  slaves  in  order  to  traffic  in  their  offspring.  While 
the  rich  and  the  great  possessed  large  bands  of  slaves  in  their  dty 
abodes  and  on  their  farms,  scarcely  was  any  one  so  poor  or  so  low 
as  not  to  have  one  slave  or  more,  and  daves  themselves  were  pro- 

Erietors  of  inferior  slaves.  The  whole  slave-population  made  up  a 
uge  aggregate,  which  stood  in  fearfiil  proportion  to  the  number 
of  free  citizens.  The  philosopher  Seneca,  a  contemporary  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  relates  that,  when  on  one  occasion  it  was  proposed 
in  the  Roman  Senate  to  give  a  distinctive  dress  to  the  slaves,  an 
adverse  decision  was  come  to,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  very 
dangerous  to  give  the  slaves  the  means  of  counting  the  freemen.** 

'Die  condition  of  slaves  in  the  Roman  empire  was  not  worse  than 
the  ordinary  condition  of  slaves.  A  slave,  as  a  piece  of  property, 
was  to  a  Roman  a  thing  of  value,  which  he  would  make  use  of 

Erudently  and  carefiilly,  as  he  would  employ  a  plough  or  work  a 
orse.  The  least  amount  of  food  and  clotning  compatible  with  the 
utmost  amount  of  labour  was  the  rule  and  the  guide  of  his  conduct 
But  slavery  in  itself  is  so  unnatural,  so  perverting,  so  degrading  a 
usage,  that  it  can  never  fail,  as  in  Rome  it  did  not  fail,  to  entail 
the  very  worst  evils  on  both  the  possessed  and  the  possessor.  Man 
is  not  a  being  to  be  entrusted  with  unlimited  power.  Cupidity, 
passion,  and  caprice,  the  lowest  desires  and  the  most  brutal  lust, 
gain  the  upper  hand,  and  bear  sway  wherever  slavery  prevails. 
The  good  man  would  shrink  from  encountering  its  t^ptations, 
and  the  bad  man  is  imfit  to  be  trusted  with  its  fearful  obogationB. 
The  condition  of  Roman  slaves,  though  it  had  little  of  an  unusual 
kind,  was  deplorably  bad.  This  is  the  description  of  it  put  into 
the  mouth  of  one  of  his  characters  by  Plautus  ^ — '  Blows  are  con- 
stantly falling  on  my  shoulders ;  the  whip  is  always  at  work  ;  I  am 
sent  into  the  country  to  slave  for  the  &mily  there;  when  my 
master  sups  abroad,  I  have  to  carry  a  torch  before  him ;  by  my 
labours  I  have  earned  a  right  to  freedom,  and  I  am  growing  grey 
in  slavery.'  Yes,  and  thou  must  die  a  slave,  for  the  very  thought 
of  flight  has  fettered  thee  to  the  spot.  A  frigitive  slave,  said  the 
Roman  law,  is  a  slave  who  has  had  an  idea  of  running  away. 
Thus  defining  the  crime  of  trying  to  gain  freedom,  the  Bcmian  law 
punished  the  thought,  in  order  the  more  effectually  to  prevent  the 
act.     Behold  that  heavy  chain  on  the  leg;   mark  that  massive 

■  Senec,  De  Clemen.,  i.  24.  *»  Plaut.,  Captiv.,  2,  1,  133. 

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1853.]  Skmerjf  and  the  Old  Testament  143 

cc^Uar  around  the  neck ;  see  the  brand  on  the  forehead ;  and  survey 
that  darky  narrow,  and  foul  place  of  detention.  And  if,  in  spite  of 
these  precautions,  the  unhappy  man  makes  his  escape,  a  hue  and 
cry  wul  be  raised,  placards  or  advertisements  will  be  issued,  and 
catchpoles  will  be  sent  to  run  him  down,  while  woe  to  those  by 
whom  he  is  harboured  or  aided  on  his  way. 

To  form  an  idea  of  what  Roman  slavery  was,  you  must  bear 
in  mind  that  it  entered,  as  an  ancillary  element,  in  all  the 
prodigality  and  vice  of  Roman  voluptuousness.  But  this  is  a 
topic  only  the  skirts  of  which  can  be  touched.  Terrible  is  the 
picture  painted  by  Seneca  of  the  grossness  of  those  guilty  pleasures 
and  the  foulness  of  those  bestial  lusts  in  which  the  Roman 
nobles  made  iheir  slaves  the  instruments.  Think  of  a  Roman 
senator  I"  killing  one  of  his  slaves  in  cH'der  to  afford  to  a  guest 
who  had  never  witnessed  the  sight,  the  gratification  of  seeing 
a  man  put  to  death.  Call  to  mind  that  Follio,  a  friend  of  the 
Emperor  Augustus,  furnished  his  fish-pond  with  food  in  the 
carcases  of  slaves  whom  he  slew  {or  the  purpose.  Look  at  that 
used-up  noWe  rake,  whom  Seneca  has  described  in  colours  too 
dark  and  too  disgusting  to  be  borrowed :  ^  though  without  appetite, 
he  reclines  on  his  downy  couch,  at  that  luxuriously  furnished  table, 
trying  to  cheat  his  stomach  into  the  pleasures  of  the  palate,  in  the 
midst  of  guests,  who,  like  himself,  would  give  half  their  fortune  for 
a  new  pleasure.  As  the  banquet  proce^,  what  revolting  offices 
have  the  slaves  in  attendance  to  pertorm ;  and  when  it  is  over,  they 
have  to  endure  a  still  deeper  degradation,  for  intoxication  ends  in 
the  foulest  impudicity.'  And  all  these  indignities,  down  to  the  very 
lowest  that  a  human  being  can  be  subject  to,  the  slaves  have  pas- 
sivdy  to  endure — ^without  a  murmur ;  nay,  an  involuntary  cough, 
or  the  slightest  noise,  is  punished  by  the  scourge. 

Well  may  Cato  have  declared,  *  Our  slaves  are  our  enemies.' 
A  current  proverb,  too,  asserted,  *  As  many  slaves,  so  many  foes.' 
Of  the  fact  take  Seneca's  words  as  an  illustration" — 'Recall  the 
examples  of  those  masters  who  have  perished  in  domestic  snares, 
either  by  treachery  or  force,  and  you  will  learn  that  the  vengeance 
of  slaves  numbers  not  fewer  victims  than  that  of  tyrants.'  *  Yes, 
slaves  are  enemies  within  the  house,  and  therefore  the  most  dan- 
gerous of  enemies.  At  Rome  they  had  for  their  weapons,  in  times 
of  social  trouble,  treason  ;  impeachment  in  times  of  tyranny  ;  and 
in  ordinary  times,  poison,  and  the  dagger.  The  state  of  feeling 
among  the  masters  is  seen  in  the  words  which  C.  Cassius,  in  the 
days  of  Nero,  addressed  to  the  Senate,  on  the  massacre  of  the 

p  Q.  Flaminiiis ;  Plutarch,  see  his  Life  by  Bodin»  p.  38.  "^  Letter  67. 

•"  *  In  cabicnlo  vir,  in  convivio  pner  est/ — Senec,  ibid, 

*  Senec.,  Epist  47.  *  Senec.,  Epist.,  iv.  6. 

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144  Slaver}/  and  the  Old  Testament.  [April, 

400  slaves  of  Pedanius,  already  alluded  to,  found  guilty  of  being 
under  the  same  roof  as  their  murdered  owner.  On  beholding  so 
many  innocent  victims  dragged  to  execution,  the  crowd  was  moved 
to  pity,  and  assumed  a  threatening  attitude.  The  sympathy  found 
a  voice  even  before  the  Senate,  in  these  terms — *  Our  ancestors 
distrusted  slaves,  even  when  they  were  born  on  the  same  land  or 
in  the  same  house,  and  when,  together  with  their  life,  they  received 
the  love  of  their  masters.  But  since  we  have  introducai  into  our 
families  foreign  slaves,  with  their  diverse  usages,  their  outlandish 
superstitions,  their  incredulity,  there  is  nothing  but  fear  that  can 
keep  under  control  that  impure  herd.' " 

Slavery  was  a  peril  not  only  in  the  family  but  also  to  the  state. 
As  early  as  the  year  499  before  Christ  the  Roman  slaves  formed  a 
plot  to  seize  the  Capitol  and  set  the  city  on  fire.  The  design  was 
discovered,  and  the  accomplices  were  crucified.  Not  the  less  was 
another  conspiracy  formed  the  next  year  in  union  with  the  common 
people,  who  had  found  that  the  expulsion  of  the  kings  was  not  the 
expulsion  of  tyranny.  The  attempt  failed,  and  the  leaders  were 
put  to  death.  A  little  after,  a  rising  of  the  slaves,  supported  by 
the  aid  of  exiles,  is  so  far  successful  that  the  citadel  is  seized,  and 
one  of  the  consuls  is  killed.  In  the  year  416  another  conspiracy 
broke  out  in  Rome,  which  had  widely  spread  ramifications  m  the 
rural  districts.  The  intention  was  to  bum  the  city  and  to  massacre 
the  masters.  In  the  Punic  wars  and  the  victories  of  Hannibal  the 
slaves  attempted  to  profit  by  the  necessities  and  weakness  of  their 
owners.  Indeed,  they  ever  watched  their  opportunity,  and  as  their 
numbers  increased,  their  temptations  as  well  as  their  chances  became 
greater.  At  length  the  flame  burst  forth.  A  civil  insurrection  in 
Sicily  having  ^ned  a  momentary  success,  the  torch  was  kindled 
at  Rome,  in  Greece,  and  in  the  great  slave-mart,  the  island  of 
Delos.  Taken  in  detail,  the  rising  was  speedily  suppressed  else- 
where, but  in  Sicily  the  resistance  was  long,  obstinate,  and  bloody. 
Fresh  movements,  however,  took  place  in  Italy.  Three  hundred 
slaves  conspire  at  Nuceria ;  two  hundred  at  Capua.  Then  followed 
an  attempt,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Vettius,  a  Roman  knight 
Gathering  around  him  four  thousand  men,  he  defeated  the  Roman 
general  Lucullus.  Scarcely  had  this  undertaking  been  put  down 
when  there  broke  out  what  in  Roman  history  is  called  the  Second 
Servile  War,  in  which  'the  eternal  city'  triumphed  only  after 
most  costly  efibrts.  Treachery  was  brought  to  the  aid  of  prowess. 
The  consul  Aquilius  had  removed  every  obstacle  except  a  thousand 
brave  men.  Them  he  induced  to  submit  by  promising  to  spare 
their  lives.    When  stript  of  their  arms,  they  learned  that,  as  slaves, 

"  Tacit.,  Ann.,  xiv.  42-44. 

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1853.]  Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament,  145 

they  were  to  be  sent  to  Rome  to  fight  in  the  gladiatorial  games. 
Indignant  at  the  deceit,  and  resolved  not  to  endure  the  infamy, 
they  all  slew  each  other ;  their  chief,  Satyrus,  presided  over  the 
sanguinary  rites,  and  then  caused  himself  to  be  slain  by  a  slave, 
who  immediately  after  put  himself  to  death.  How  can  there  fail 
to  be  danger  when  slavery  has  in  its  ranks  such  heroes  ?  Slavery, 
indeed,  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  destruction  of  the  Roman  Re- 
public and  of  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Was  it  possible 
^t  all  those  slaves  which  were  drawn  from  the  numerous  depen- 
dencies of  Rome,  including  the  stoutest,  the  bravest,  and  the  most 
skilful  nations  on  the  earth,  should  not,  in  their  reflex  action  on 
their  native  lands,  make  the  Roman  name  universally  hateful, 
enkindle  a  deep  and  ever  augmenting  thirst  for  revenge,  and  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  great  day  of  retribution,  when  the  rude 
strength  of  the  North  should  rush  on  the  effeminate  and  effete 
luxury  of  the  South,  and  trample  it  down  in  irretrievable  ruin  ? 
But  within  Italy,  and  within  signt  of  Italy,  slavery  grew  more  and 
more  perilous  and  baneful.  In  vain  the  laws  forbad  slaves  to  carry 
arms.  In  vain  the  laws  were  strained  to  punish  infr-actions  or 
apparent  infractions.^  Bands  of  fugitive  slaves  kept  up  a  constant 
warfro^  in  the  heart  of  Italy.  Outbreaks  continually  took  place. 
At  length  Spartacus,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  a  troop  of 
revolted  gladiators,  whom  he  raised  into  an  army  of  70,000  men, 
sustained  against  all  the  resources  of  Rome  a  war  of  three  years, 
and  was  not  subdued  until  he  had  several  times  defeated  the  best 
troops  and  the  highest  functionaries  of  the  Republic.  After  having 
occasioned  the  servile  wars,  slavery  supplied  abundant  fuel  to  the 
civil  wars  of  Rome ;  and,  combining  with  ambition  to  pave  the 
way  for  despotism,  it  combined  with  despotism  to  destroy  every 
verage  of  liberty,  to  undermine  the  stren^h  of  the  state,  and,  first 
giving  the  empire  as  a  prize  to  rival  factions,  at  last  left  it  a  prey 
to  rutiiless  barbarians. 

Then,  in  the  breaking  up  of  that  vast  social  system,  and  in 
the  complicated  misery  by  which  the  catastrophe  was  preceded, 
attended,  and  followed,  was  seen,  alas !  too  clearly,  how  ruinous  a 
thing  slavery  is,  and  how  certain  and  how  dreadful  are  the  Divine 
retributions.  That  lesson  ought  to  have  sufficed  for  all  future 
ages.  But  men  are  slow  to  learn ;  and  painful  is  the  possibility 
that  the  United  States  of  America  must  first  suffer  from  internal 
convulsions,  and  servile,  if  not  also  civil  wars,  ere  they  are  brought 
to  abolish  davery.y  O.  P. 

"  A  slave,  uDder  the  law  of  Domitius,  was  pat  to  death  because  he  had  employed 
a  spear  to  destroy  an  enormous  boar  which  ravaged  the  country.  Cicero,  lu 
Verrem,  Ix.  v.  3. 

7  Another  article,  showing  the  rebition  of  Slavery  to  Christianity  (or  the  New 
Testament),  wiU  complete  this  subject. 


VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII. 

Digitized  by 


tioogle 


140  Baikal  (Mti&im.  [April, 


BIBLICAL    CRITICISM. 

A  Treathe  on  Biblical  Critidem^  exhibiting  a  sffstematic  View  of 
that  Science.  By  Samuel  Davidson,  D.D.  of  the  Univeraity 
of  Halle,  and  LL.D.     2  vols.    Edinburgli :  Adam  and  Chaiies 

•  Black.     Longman  and  Co.,  London.     lo5^. 

When  a  document  profesfeing  to  be  testamentary  k  put  into  the 
hands  of  a  skilful  lawyer,  he  subjects  it  to  a  narrow  scrutiny  before 
he  will  admit  its  genuineness.  He  looks  to  the  dates,  to  the  paper* 
mark,  if  there  is  any,  and  to  the  colour  of  the  ink ;  he  searches  for 
erasures  and  interlineations ;  he  examines  the  signatures  of  the 
testator  and  of  the  witnesses.  In  short,  he  lets  nothing  escape 
which  might  indicate  fraud  or  surreptitiousness ;  and  in  the  exer- 
dse  of  this  suspicion,  acts  in  accordance  with  his  duty,  and  without 
the  necessary  possession  of  any  bad  feeling  or  undue  scepticism. 
On  the  Iruthfulness  of  the  document  may  depend  the  interests  of 
some  of  his  fellow-men ;  and  in  order  to  put  that  truth  on  a  firm 
basis,  he  must  show  the  non-existence  of  mlsehood. 

But,  supposing  the  document  in  question  is  found  not  to  be  the 
actual  will  which  the  testator  executed,  but  purports  to  be  only  a 
copy,  the  case  then  becomes  much  more  intricate  and  difficult, 
although  yet  capable  of  a  satis&ctory  adjustment  Witnesses  will 
then  have  to  be  examined ;  and  in  the  absence  of  more  complete, 
or  rather  more  tangible,  proof,  moral  probabilities  will  be  con- 
sidered. These,  when  taken  together  and  candidly  weighed,  will 
probably  produce  a  conviction,  that  although  the  autograph  has 

?^rishea,  the  copy  exactly  represents  the  will  of  the  deceased, 
here  may  be  a  verbal  omission  here  and  there,  or  a  word  may  be 
misspelt,  or  some  useless  repetition  may  exist,  all  of  which  may 
intimate  the  hand  of  a  copyist ;  but  these  accidental  circumstances 
will  not  be  construed  into  pmofe  of  fraud,  but  will  be  rather  taken 
as  indicating  that  the  document  is  a  copy  of  some  other  deed,  and 
not  a  forgery.  '  Gentlemeti)'  a  ideader  might  say  to  a  jury  aboitl 
to  decide  on  such  a  case,  '  we  admit  that  uie  original  will  is  not 
to  be  found,  indeed  we  concede  that  it  is  destroyed,  but  we  can 
sufficiently  account  for  its  having  perished.  We  produce  what 
|)rofe8ses  to  be  a  copy,  and  we  prove  it  to  be  so  by  many  credible 
witnesses.  All  the  circumstances  of  the  case  add  weight  to  the 
evidence ;  and,  when  duly  considered,  amount  to  a  moral  proof 
that  the  writing  in  question  represents  the  desires  of  the  testator. 
Little  discrepancies  will  be  shown  to  you,  but  they  are  aU  naturally 
accounted  for  by  the  process  of  transcription,  and  their  exisleno6 
only  confirms  the  authority  of  the  copy.' 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  BiUieal  Oritidm.  147 

Such,  mutatia  nmUmdis^  is,  m  part,  the  xiature  of  tha  argument 
with  which  Biblical  criticism  is  virtuallY  concenied,  and  the  t^aring^ 
of  which  are  treated  of  and  illustratea  in  the  two  large  and  beauti- 
fully printed  volumes  before  us.  It  may  be  thought  by  some  that 
such  a  task  is  superfluous ;  that  the  int^ity  of  the  Bible  is  suffi* 
dently  admitted ;  and  that  it  is  useless,  if  not  dangerous,  to  disturb 
a  satisfied  fisuth  by  the  suggestion  of  difliculties.  But  if  it  is  unsafe 
to  presume  on  the  genuineness  of  a  document  which  only  concerns 
the  disposal  or  transference  of  temporal  possessions,  it  cannot 
surely  be  right  to  take  for  granted  the  claims,  or  to  neglect  ^e 
textual  oomi)l6teness,  of  sucn  writings  as  the  Scriptures,  which 
have  to  do  with  the  highest  and  immortal  interests  of  men.  Faith 
in  their  sublime  and  all-important  statements  will  be  strong  and 
effectiye  in  proportion  as  it  is  based  upon  conviction-^upon  a  ra- 
tional deduction  from  premisses  that  we  have  in  our  baiids  sub* 
stantially  the  same  wntings  which  holy  men  of  old,  moved  by  th^ 
Holy  Ghost,  committed  to  the  frail  though  adequate  guardiitnship 
of  paper  and  ink. 

But  if  we  diould  admit  that  sincere  and  plain  Christians  need 
not  concern  themselves  about  various  readings,  historic  proofe,  or 
the  nature  of  probable  evidence,  there  is  the  large  class  of  unbe* 
lievers  and  opponents  who  must  be  combated  with  weapons  similar 
to  their  own,  if  the  citadel  of  truth  is  not  to  be  surrendered  tamely 
into  their  hands.  Se  that  believeth  heath  the  witness  in  himself^  ^t 
is  true ;  and  happy  is  the  man  whose  whole  moral  consciousness 
tells  him  that  the  Bible  is  of  God,  because  it  has  wrought  in  him 
flodlike  efiectsi  There  were  undoubtedly  simple  minds  in  the 
days  of  the  Apostle  St  Paul  which  received  his  epistles  without 
any  question,  from  the  harmony  of  their  doctrinal  and  practical 
utterances  with  the  voice  within,  but  all  were  not  of  that  cnaracter. 
Some  even  then  questioned  the  genuineness  of  his  letters,  and 
others  endeavoured  to  palm  upon  the  believers  documents  pur* 
portinc-  to  be  his,  when  they  were  not  so  in  reality.  On  this  ac- 
count St  Paul  gave  a  sign  by  which  his  epistles  could  be  discerned 
from  spurious  ones : — *  TTie  salvMion  of  Foul  with  mine  own 
hand,  which  is  the  token  in  every  epiMe ;  so  I  write.'  *  In  this  re* 
markable  passage  the  whole  principle  is  conceded  on  which  Biblical 
criticism  is  built-- the  possihlity  of  mistake  or  fraud,  of  surrepti- 
tiousness  or  interpolation,  and  the  necessity  of  guarding  agamst 
them. 

We  cannot  conceal  from  our  readers  the  conviction  we  feel  that 
in  too  many  cases,  indifference  about  the  evidence  for  the  correct* 
ness  of  the  text  of  Holy  Writ,  arises  from  indifference  as  to  the 


•  2  Thess.  iii.  17.    Compare  chap.  ii.  2. 

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148  Biblical  Criticism.  [April, 

truth  itself  which  it  conveys.  Men  take  up  with  a  conventional 
orthodoxy  which  it  is  not  convenient  for  them  to  have  disturbed. 
To  carry  about  with  them  a  *hook  which  contains  their  creed,  thdr 
religious  phrases,  the  texts  of  their  favourite  teachers,  every  letter 
of  which  is  divine,  is  a  most  convenient  mode  of  decidiuj?  contro- 
versies, and  keeping  them  in  undisturbed  possession  of  all  their 
long-cherished  prejudices.  The  man  who  only  admits  the  validity 
of  adult  baptism,  and  is  at  the  same  time  disposed  to  be  bigoted, 
does  not  like  a  science  which  teaches  him  that  the  proof  text  in 
Acts  viii.  37,  *  If  thou  believest  mth  all  thy  heart  vwu  mayest,' 
is  probably  spurious ;  nor  does  the  ignorant  advocate  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  feel  disposed  to  favour  that  which  robs  him  of 
the  disputed  clause  in  the  5th  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  of  St 
John.  Men  are  anxious  about  the  terms  of  a  will,  because  on 
them  depend  whether  they  shall  gain  or  lose  the  bequests  which 
they  involve :  so  they  ought  to  be  concerned  respecting  the  exact- 
ness of  the  records  on  which  depend  the  treasures  of  eternal  life. 
The  correctness  of  wording  in  a  legal  document  is  admitted  by 
them  to  be  important,  because  a  will  is  not  interpreted  in  the 
gross,  but  by  the  explicitness  of  individual  terms  and  expressions ; 
but  they  have  reversed  this  order  in  connection  with  their  use  of 
the  Scriptures.  Having  the  whole,  they  are  incUfferent  to  the 
evidence  for  the  truth  of  the  different  and  component  parts.  We 
speak  now  oisome  not  all  those  who  decry  Biblical  criticism.  Many 
who  do  so  are  as  sincerely  though  ignorantly  anxious  for  the  truA 
as  any  of  the  most  devoted  critics  can  be ;  but  we  are  sure  that 
others  are  more  concerned  for  their  own  Shibboleth  and  the  stability 
of  their  own  system. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  autographs  of  the  sacred 
writers  cannot  be  called  on  as  evidence,  and  are  as  useless  in  the 
settlement  of  Biblical  questions  as  though  their  destruction  could 
be  demonstrated.  We  believe  they  have  disappeared  from  the 
world  by  aome  of  the  thousand  possible  accidents  to  which  they 
were  subjected  during  the  eventful  ages  of  their  early  existence. 
We  have  no  expectation  that  it  will  ever  again  be  said  m  reference 
to  the  Book  of  the  Law  written  by  Moses,  as  was  once  done  by 
Hilkiah,  *  I  have  found  the  Book  of  the  Law ;'  ^  nor  do  we  enta*- 
tain  a  hope  that  from  some  obscure  recess  in  a  neglected  library, 
the  world  will  be  startled  by  the  appearance  of  the  handwriting  of 
St.  Paul  or  St.  John.  We  may  admit  the  possibility  of  such  a  dis- 
covery, but  that  is  all ;  and,  for  practical  purposes,  we  treat  those 
precious  documents  as  for  ever  fled  from  human  gaze.    All  we  now 

*»  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  15.     We  now  take  for  granted  one  hypothesis  respecting  this 
interesting  passage. 

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1853.]  Biblical  Criticism.  149 

have  are  but  copies  of  still  older  copies  of  those  autographs,  the 
youngest  of  which  would  now  be  nearly  eighteen  hundred  years 
old,  and  the  eldest  more  than  three  thousand. 

On  this  salient  fact,  that  the  actual  writings  of  inspired  men  are 
practically  non-existent,  Divine  Providence  bids  us  bmld  the  system 
of  Biblical  criticism ;  and  from  that  fact  proceeds,  step  by  step,  the 
science  which  Dr.  Davidson  treats  of  in  his  carefully  digested 
volumes.  He  properly  states,  in  the  introduction  to  the  first 
volume,  that  the  first  duty  in  relation  to  the  Bible  *  is  to  direct 
attention  to  the  true  and  proper  reading  of  the  original.  The 
words  first  written  ought  to  be  sought  out,  and  [if  possible]  dis- 
covered. We  must  judge,  in  the  first  place,  whether  an  alteration 
has  been  made  in  a  passage.  The  correctness  or  incorrectness  of 
a  text  must  be  considered.  If  it  have  undergone  change,  the 
nature  of  the  change  should  be  examined,  and  the  reading  or 
readings  restored,  into  whose  place  others  have  intruded.  After 
this  we  may  proceed  with  confidence  to  interpret  the  text.  Criti- 
cism is  followed  by  interpretation.' 

Dr.  Davidson  does  not,  at  least  formally,  ascend  quite  so  hi^h 
as  we  have  done,  in  his  estimate  of  the  proper  province  of  the 
criticism  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  would  confine  it  to  the  cor- 
rection of  the  text  by  existing  materials,  without  entering  on  the 
question  as  to  the  relation  which  those  materials  bear  to  the  ori- 
mnal  autographs.  This  subject  is  fully  and  adequately  discussed 
by  him  in  his  valuable  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  and  is 

Sinerally  treated  of  as  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the 
oly  Scriptures.  But  if  Biblical  criticism  is  the  examination  of 
the  text  of  the  Bible,  surely  the  science  should  embrace  the  proofe 
that  that  text  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  first  given  forth  by 
the  sacred  writers.  It  is  true  that  the  whole  system  is  intended  to 
ascertain,  as  nearly  as  possible,  what  those  holy  men  wrote ;  and 
therefore,  mrtuallt/,  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the  oldest  mss. 
and  vendons  to  the  original  documents  is  included  in  it ;  but  still 
no  prominence  is  given  to  this  topic,  which  we  venture  to  think  is 
the  first  to  be  considered  in  a  complete  scheme  of  Biblical  criticism. 
The  primal  records  are  not  to  be  found,  and  yet  we  have  in  our 
hands  certain  books  which  claim  to  be  copies  of  them.  Let  evi- 
d^ice  be  first  furnished  of  the  feict  that  the  oldest  existing  mss. 
and  various  do  contain  substantially,  and  in  the  midst  of  some 
variations,  the  inspired  records,  and  then  the  way  is  clear  for  the 
adjustment  of  discrepancies,  and  the  establishment,  as  far  as  pos*- 
sible,  of  a  correct  text  We  suggest  this  as  oiur  own  subjective 
idea  of  what  is  wanting  in  the  important  inquiry  as  to  what  Holy 
Scripture  is.  Let  us  have  a  comfortable,  because  rational,  con- 
viction that  God's  truth  resides  in  existing  mss.  and  translations, 

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160  Biblical  Oritieisin.  [April, 

and  we  may  calmly  proceed  to  polish  and  restore  that  whidi  time 
has,  in  some  minor  portions,  obscured  or  defaced. 

But  we  feel  tliis  is  only  a  question  as  to  what  constitutes  a  lueidus 
ordo  in  the  mode  of  treating  an  important  subject.  Dr.  Dayidson 
enters  at  once  on  the  consideration  of  the  materials  with  which  a 
critic  has  to  work  in  the  delicate  and  responsiUe  task  of  restoring 
the  Scriptures  to  their  original  purity.  These  are  classed  as  fol- 
lows, for  the  Old  Testament : — Ancient  versions,  parallels  or  re- 
peated passages,  quotations,  manuscripts,  critical  conjecture.  For 
the  New  Testament,  the  same  sources  of  criticism  are  mentioned, 
e:!^cept  parallels,  which  are  omitted,  although  it  is  difficult  to  see 
to  what  grounds.  Surely  various  readings  are  furnished  by  parallel 
passages  in  the  Gospels  as  much  as  by  those  found  in  the  Kings 
and  Chronicles.  The  ancient  versions  are  placed  first,  because 
they  contain  the  oldest  existing  representations  of  the  original 
documents ;  and  this  is  perhaps  the  most  convenient  arrangement, 
although  it  would  be  more  scientific  to  take  the  manuscripts 
first,  as  having  the  closest  relation  to  those  autographs.  It  is  in 
the  manuscripts,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  that  we 
find  what  all  admit  to  be  the  lineal  descendants,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  venerable  documents  in  which  the  truth  was  first  depoated ; 
and  it  is  their  correction  and  improvement  that  the  science  of  oriti- 
dsm  contemplates.  No  one  thinks  that  a  version  is  nearer  to  the 
original  writings  than  any  ancient  manuscript,  however  faulty, 
unless  indeed  we  admit  the  occasional  hallucination  of  some  teamed 
genius  who  may  think  that  the  Septua^nt  text  is  nearer  the  miiid 
of  the  Spirit  than  the  Hebrew,  or  that  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  a  translation  from  the  Latin. 

The  first  volume  is  occupied  with  the  Old  Testament,  and  is 
certainly  as  fiili  an  account  of  all  the  apparatus  required  by  the 
CTitic  as  can  well  be  wished  for  by  the  most  <iUligent  student  One 
hundred  and  sixty  pages  are  devoted  to  a  notice  of  the  nature  of 
the  Hebrew  language,  and  the  history  of  its  vowels,  the  Jei^risli 
divisions  of  the  text,  and  the  history  of  the  text,  both  manuscript 
and  printed.  The  Samaritan  copy  of  the  Pentateuch  is  particu- 
larly examined  in  this  portion.  At  the  dose  of  his  notice  of  printed 
Hebrew  Fibles,  Dr.  Davidson  calls  attention  to  one  of  the  pressing- 
wants  of  our  age  in  relation  to  Biblical  learning :  we  mean  a 
critical  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  This  subject  was  brought 
under  the  notice  of  our  readers  in  an  early  Tolume  of  the  Journal  ,•* 
and  it  is  eamestiy  to  be  wished  that  some  movement  were  made  m 
this  direction.  The  grand  impediment,  we  believe,  is  a  commCTciai 
one.     It  is  feated  such  a  work  would  not  pay,  and  ihereibre  no 

«  ^ggeetions  ifbr  a  Critical  ^Bdt^oti  of  tli«  Hebrew  Bibte.    V<A.  !K,  p,  15i. 

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1853.]  Biblieal  Oritieim.  IH 

boolueUer  would  undertake  it  p  but  we  will  ffive  what  Dr^  D^vidsQQ 
says  on  the  subject,  with  the  earnest  hope  that  his  wishes  could  be 
realised :' — 

*  A  critical  edition  of  the  Old  Testament,  like  tkose  of  Griesbach, 
Scholz,  Laehmann,  and  Tischendorf,  in  the  New,  hM  not  been  at- 
teioptei).  Contributio9«  hav^  been  nmde  towards  it,  but  they  have  not 
been  all  applied  to  the  acco^iplishment  of  the  work,  A  revised  text, 
founded  on  mss.,  versions,  and  qyptations,  has  not  been  published  * 
There  h  no  doubt  that  such  text  is  wa4ited.  It  is  far  ipore  necies^ry 
in  the  Old  Testament  than  in  the  New,  for  the  tei^t  of  tJie  latter  is  in  a 
much  better  state  than  that  of  the  former.  It  was  so  even  before  the 
labours  of  Griesbach  constituted  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
latter.  Doubtless  the  mss.  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  now  existing  are 
much  younger  than  those  of  the  Greek  Testament,  and  in  a  much  n>ore 
uniform  state  as  regards  their  text.  Doubtless  there  are  corruptions 
which  none  of  the  ancient  authorities  would  avail  to  remove.  The  ma- 
terials for  emendation  are  fewer  and  less  important  than  those  of  the 
New  Testament ;  but  these  and  other  drawbaci&s  should  not  deter  a 
right-hearted  critic  from  undertaking  the  preparation  of  a  good  critical 
edition  out  of  such  sources  as  are  available.  The  text  should  by  all 
means  be  brought  as  near  to  its  original  state  as  all  existing  means  for 
its  restoration  will  fairly  warrant  and  allow.  It  ought  to  be  purified. 
It  is  high  time  that  it  should  be  so.  A  good  stock  of  various  reading^ 
has  been  accumulated  for  this  purpose.  Jews  will  not  do  what  is 
needed.  The  Masorah  restrains  them.  They  have  too  much  attach- 
ment to  the  Masoretic  text ;  but  Christian  critics  need  have  no  such 
excessive  reverence  for  the  Masoretic  doctors.  Why  then  does  not  one 
and  another  attempt  to  supply  a  pressing  want  ?  Why  have  so  many 
scholars  turned  their  attention  to  the  New  Testament  text,  and  so  very 
few  to  the  Old?  It  b  a  reproach  to  criticism  in  the  present  day  that 
this  gpreat  field  has  been  neglected — a  field  in  which  there  is  ample  room 
for  many  labourers.  The  criticism  of  the  New  Testament  has  been  in 
its  manhood  for  many  years,  that  of  the  Old  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  We 
trust  some  well-furnishai  scholar  will  ere  long  appear  to  take  away  the 
reproach,  by  giving  to  the  world  a  new  critical  edition  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  resemtjing  that  of  Griesbach  for  the  New  Testament.  Whoever 
does  so  with  judgment,  ability,  and  sincerity  of  purpose,  will  deserve  and 
obtain  the  gratitude  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  advancement  of 
Biblical  knowledge."* — vol.  i.  p.  160. 

Anaong  the  v^eraicnas,  the  Septuagint  takes  the  first  place,  ac- 
cording to  its  age  and  the  authority  given  to  it  by  its  use  by  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament.  Our  oonvicticHi  is  that  the  latter 
drcametasce  has  been  overrated,  and  conolusionn  drawn  from  it 
which  the  premisses  will  scarcely  warrant.     We  are  too  apt  to 

*  The  Polyglott  Bible  by  Stier  and  Theile,  now  publisbing  at  Bielefeld,  comes 
nearer  what  is  wanting  than  anything  else  which  has  yet  appeared.  It  jgtves  the 
Tarkms  readiQgs  of  the  Heibrew»  witlKMit  altering  the  text. 


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152  Biblical  Criticism,  [April, 

attribute  our  own  subjective  notions  to  the  Apostles,  instead  of 
endeavouring  to  throw  ourselves  into  their  times,  and  to  enter  into 
their  mental  consciousness.  Certainly,  if  those  sacred  writers  who 
have  quoted  the  Septuagint  entertained  the  same  ideas  of  the  verbal 
importance  of  texts  of  Scripture  as  we  generally  do,  the  conclusion 
would  follow  that  the  Septuagint  is  more  correct  than  the  Hebrew, 
or  otherwise  it  would  not  have  been  quoted ;  but  it  appears  plain  to 
us  that  the  Apostles  gave  more  importance  to  the  suigtance  of 
Scripture  truth  than  to  the  letter  in  which  it  was  conveyed,  and 
consequently  do  not  vouch  for  the  literal  correctness  of  the  Septua- 
pnt  because  they  quote  it.  In  dealing  with  the  Hellenist  Jews, 
a  reference  to  the  Hebrew  text  would  have  been  out  of  place,  and 
ihey  used  the  Septuagint  as  they  found  it  The  opinions  expressed 
of  this  version  1^  Dr.  Davidson  will  probably  be  those  of  most  of 
his  readers : — 

^  But  though  the  Septuagint  b  by  no  means  a  faithful  or  literal  ver- 
sion, its  merits  are  considerable.  They  have  been  generally  acknow- 
ledged. It  helps  us  to  see  the  state  of  the  Hebrew  text  in  Egypt, 
perhaps  too  in  Asia  Minor,  at  the  time  it  was  made.  Much  more  does 
it  show  the  sense  attached  to  the  original  at  an  early  period.  Its  authors 
lived  nearer  the  time  when  Hebrew  was  a  living  tongue,  and  had 
better  opportunities  of  knowing  it.  Unhappily,  however,  what  the 
version  is  most  wanted  for — critical  use— it  fails  very  much  to  supply. 
It  shows  indeed  a  form  of  the  original  text,  but  we  hesitate  to  adopt  it, 
in  most  instances,  as  the  original  form,  where  it  differs  from  the  Maso- 
retic.  Its  value  therefore  is  least  where  it  is  most  required.  We  can 
understand  the  language  without  it,  especially  in  the  present  day ;  but 
it  does  not  help  towards  the  emendation  of  the  text  as  much  as  is  de- 
sirable. The  free  character  of  the  version,  and  the  liberties  which  the 
translators  took  with  the  text,  are  serious  deductions  from  its  critical 
importance.  Its  numerous  errors  and  imperfections  suggest  caution  in 
its  application  to  the  restoration  of  the  original  text.  Since  the  majo- 
rity of,  if  not  all  the  translators,  were  not  fully  competent  for  their  task, 
it  must  be  employed  with  discrimination.  Assistance  in  criticism  has 
doubtless  been  derived  from  it,  and  more  will  yet  be  rendered.  We  do 
not  think  that  its  internal  value  is  commensurate  with  the  reputation  it 
has  had.  The  extravagant  praises  pronounced  upon  it  will  be  lessened 
by  the  study  of  its  genius  and  character.  It  is  very  far  from  being  a 
aoodj  much  less  an  excellent  translation  ;  but  the  reading  of  it  cannot 
be  dispensed  with.  Its  position  in  the  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament 
is  conspicuous.  Its  text  must  be  studied  by  every  one  engaged  in 
Biblical  researches  connected  with  the  integrity  of  the  Hebrew  records. 
It  will  repay  that  study  by  opening  up  views,  and  suggesting  ideas  of 
the  state  in  which  those  records  were,  which  might  not  have  been  other- 
wise perceived.  It  will  contribute  to  the  restoration  of  the  undoubted 
Hebrew  originals,  though  it  will  not  contribute  as  much  as  we  think  it 
might  have  done.    Its  value  none  will  deny.    The  amount  of  that  value 


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1853.]  Biblical  Criticism.  153 

may  be  difierently  estimated.  It  must  be  taken  in  the  best  state  in 
wiuch  it  can  be  obtained,  and  freely  employed  9s  a  help  towards  the 
restoration  of  the  authentic  text' — vol.  i.  p.  193. 

Passing  orer  the  Targums  and  the  Samaritan  version,  we  come 
to  the  Syriac  version,  which  Dr.  Davidson  describes  as,  *  in  point 
of  fideli^,  the  best  of  all  the  ancient  versions ;'  yet  it  receives  a 
very  small  amount  of  attention,  compared  with  the  Septuagint, 
for,  while  the  latter  has  above  fifty  pages  devoted  to  it,  the  former 
has  but  twelve.  This  disproportion  is  not  p^uliar  to  Dr.  Davidson. 
It  appears  in  all  the  wor&s  on  Biblical  criticism  hitherto  published, 
and  is  a  fact  significant  of  the  want  of  attention  to  Oriental  lite- 
rature which  generally  prevails.  As  we  observed  just  now,  there 
are  some  special  points  of  interest  connected  with  the  Septuagint 
which  no  otner  version  possesses,  but  their  nature  is  more  historical 
and  theological  than  cntical ;  and  we  conceive  that  before  Biblical 
science  maKCS  its  full  growth,  this  disproportion  in  the  study  of  its 
materials  must  disappear.  The  notice  of  the  Vulgate  version  of 
the  Old  Testament  m  these  volumes  is  twice  the  length  of  that 
of  the  Syriac,  although  the  former  is  probably  of  more  recent  date, 
and  cannot  for  a  moment  be  compared  with  the  latter  in  the  value 
of  its  critical  materials. 

The  question  of  the  date  of  the  Peshito  version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  wra}^d  in  obscurity,  and,  for  au^ht  we  know  to  the  con-* 
traij,  it  may  have  been  made  before  uie  Christian  era.  The 
Syrians  attribute  to  it  a  very  high  antiquity ;  and  Dr.  Davidson, 
who  rejects  their  opinion  on  this  subject,  yet  concedes  that  it  had 
begun  to  grow  old  in  the  time  of  Ephraem,  who  may  have  written 
his  observations  on  its  text  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century. 
However,  vrithout  dogmatising  on  the  subject,  it  must  be  conceded 
that  the  version  was  m  existence  very  e€urly  in  the  Christian  era. 
Presuming  that  it  is  very  inferior  in  antiquity  to  the  Septuagint,  it 
must  yet  be  remembered  that  this  disadvantage  is  more  than  com- 
pensated for  by  its  being  written  in  a  dialect  of  the  Hebrew,  and 
that  consequently  the  translator  must  have  had  a  wonderful  advan- 
tage in  rendering  the  ancient  Scriptures  into  his  own  language. 
The  miserable  mistakes  into  which  the  Greek  translators  fell,  from 
their  ignorance  of  Hebrew,  are  well  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Davidson  ; 
but  no  such  charge  can  be  brought  against  the  author  or  authors 
of  the  Syriac  version.  It  is  evidentiy  the  work  of  those  who  knew 
both  the  language  they  transferred  and  that  into  which  they 
rendered  it.  This  alone  gives  the  version  a  strong  claim  on  the 
attention  of  ihe  Biblical  student,  and  makes  it  important  that  its 
I'esources  should  be  exhausted  in  the  emendation  oi  the  text  of  the 
CNd  Testament  But  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  this  rich 
mine  should  be  neglected^  since  its  existence  is  almost  ignored  in 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1^4  Bildieal  CritieknL  [April, 

our  sdioola  of  iearning.  Eren  Hebrew  u  sadly  thrown  into  tb^ 
■hade  by  Greek  literature  in  theological  education ;  but  it  has  its 
professorships,  and  at  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  Dublin,  the  study 
of  it  is  encouraged  by  many  suitohla  premiums ;  but  the  Syriac, 
which  contains  immense  stcM'es  of  treasures,  many  of  which  have 
scaroriy  been  opened,  is  left  to  the  accidental  tastes  and  pre- 
ferences of  its  self-taught  disciples. 

The  whole  sulyect  of  Hebrew  manuscripts  is  highly  unsatia^ 
factory  to  the  critic,  on  account  of  their  modern  date  when  com- 
pared with  the  great  antiquity  of  the  autograpba.  Thousands  of 
years  lie  between  the  writiuff  of  the  Pentateudli  by  Moses  and  the 
oldest  known  manuscript,  while  the  space  between  the  times  of  the 
Apostles  and  the  most  antique  transcript  of  their  productions  is 
measured  by  a  few  hundreds ;  yet  this  difference  is  somewhat  convp 
pensated  for  by  the  superstitious  oare  of  the  Jews  of  the  records 
of  their  futh,  even  from  the  earliest  timee^  which  gives  us  on  the 
whxAe  a  pleasioff  conTiotion  that  no  considerable  corruption  has 
taken  place  in  them.  This  oonoderation  gives  importance  to  de* 
tails  in  Dr.  Djavidson's  work#  which  would  otherwise  be  mere  old 
wires'  fisd)les  and  worthless  anilities.  Satire  could  not  wish  a 
better  subject  than  the  Jews  contemplating  the  skin  on  the  back 
of  the  living  ammal,  to  discover  whet&dr  it  might  possibly  be  pure 
enough  for  the  work  of  the  scribe,  their  siqierstitioiis  olia^nranees 
in  dressbg  it  when  its  destination  is  determined  upon,  and  their 
inane  mummeries  during  ik^  process  of  writing ;  but  these  little 
fdlies  may  be  turned  to  account,  and,  when  establishing  an  ancient 
and  lon^-continued  serupuiouaness  respecting  the  integrity  of  the 
letter  of  the  law,  they  are  really  valuable. 

But  the  topics  snggested  are  too  numerous  to  allow  us  to  dwell 
on  them,  ana  we  must  proceed  to  the  second  volume,  which  is  de- 
Toted  to  the  New  Testament ;  tjie  order  of  diseussicm,  as  observed 
above,  being  the  same  as  that  employed  upon  the  Old.  A  short, 
but  full  and  satisfEietory  la-eatise  on  uie  nature  of  the  New  Testa* 
ment  language,  pneoedes  the  history  of  Uie  text  To  this  history 
about  one  bundml  and  forty  pages  are  devoted ;  and  it  contains 
a  great  mass  of  Inghly  valuable  infensnation,  collected  and  con^ 
densed  with  the  care  which  rmrk^  the  whole  work.  On  the 
subject  of  reoensions  Dr.  Davidson  gives  a  syiM^ieis  of  what  has 
been  written  by  scholars  of  om)osuig  sentiments,  and,  in  allusion 
to  the  oaatempt  thrown  upon  toe  whole  doctrine  respecting  them 
by  Dr.  Lee  and  Matthaei,  thus  sums  im  the  evidence  osx  the  sub- 
ject We  give  the  passage  entire,  l)ecouse  it  is  intrinsftcally 
▼ahiable,  and  aa  fiirmuiii^  a  good  examjple  'of  Ae  cautious  treats 
ment  whi(A  die  writer  gives  to  a  doubtw  subject 

<  Wkh  the  laognagie  of  thssB  scholars  we  do  not  wholly  sympatbiset 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  BiNi(^  CrMeimL  15& 

We  are  not  yet  'prepared  to  set  aside  the  wbcile  matter  as  an  ingenious 
riddle.  Though  sereral  attempts  to  erect  recensioii  syst^ns  have  not 
been  satisfactory,  we  need  not  tiierefore  look  upon  ail  such  endeavours 
as  airy  and  unsubstantial,  or  as  t^minating  merely  in  fine-spun  theories 
and  webs  of  gossamer.  Intricacy  and  obscurity  must  rest  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  may  be  difficult  to  disentangle  classes  of  documents  &om  one 
another.  Averse  to  subtility  and  minuteness,  some  scholars  will  make 
this,  their  natural  aversion,  an  easy  transition  to  the  sentiment  that  the 
whole  is  futile ;  bat  in  an  undertaJdng  so  important  as  the  establish- 
ment of  a  pure  text,  it  fitciBtates  the  labour  of  a  critic  to  das^fy  mami- 
scripts,  versions,  and  citations,  so  that  he  may  be  helped  in  deciding  on 
the  claims  of  a  particular  readkig.  In  the  fonnation  of  a  standard  text, 
it  may  be  of  some  use  to  lay  such  a  foundation.  Henoe  we  do  not  feel 
ourselves  justified  in  rejecting  at  once  the  whc^e  system  of  classification 
as  visionary.  With  all  the  conjectures  which  have  been  indulged  in, 
and  the  intricacies  of  the  subject,  it  must  not  be  rudely  dismissed.  It 
may  be  that  historical  facts  are  scarcely  sufficient  to  furnish  data  ibr 
any  system  of  recensions,  properly  so  called.  It  may  be  that  coiyectures 
have  been  put  forth  too  liberally  regarding  revisions  of  the  text  in 
early  times,  and  the  nature  of  the  text  itself.  It  may  be  that  the 
speculations  of  German  critics  have  taken  too  wide  a  scope,  agreeably 
to  the  natural  tendency  of  the  nation's  mind.  It  is  quite  tme  tliat 
there  is  a  vagueness  and  an  indefimtenese  about  the  topic,  which  excite 
rather  than  gradfy  a  curiosity  to  know  it  thDiornghly.  We  admit  that 
it  IB  difficult  for  the  framers  of  the  recension  system  itself  to  distinguish 
tlie  dasi  to  which  a  particular  reading  belongs.  The  characteristics 
of  the  text  belonging  to  a  document  may  be  almost  equally  divided  into 
two  classes ;  or  they  may  be  indistinctly  indicated,  so  that  it  is  very 
difficult  to  discover  the  recension  with  which  it  should  be  assodated. 
The  marks  of  its  relationship  may  be  defined  so  obscurely  as  to  make 
the  question  of  determining  its  appropriate  class  a  delicate  one.  It  is 
also  heeij  admitted  that  no  one  document  exhibits  a  recension  in  its 
pure  or  primitive  state,  but  that  each  form  of  the  text  is  now  either 
more  or  less  corrupted.  StiU,  however,  with  all  these  drawbacks,  the 
whole  system  of  classfflcation  need  not  be  abaadoned  as  mionary. 
MeagTO  as  are  the  means  withki  <mr  reach  cf  obtaining  a  good  ac- 
quaintance with  the  eariy  treatment  of  the  New  Testameiit  text,  we 
need  not  despair  of  all  suooeas.  No  system  may  be  historically  sus- 
tained, because  hisftery  says  litde  or  nothing  on  the  subject ;  and  yet 
some  system  may  be  convenient.  We  may  arrive  at  a  well-founded 
classification  without  the  ability  to  shew,  from  early  history,  its  probable 
origin  and  existence.  As  long  as  the  existence  of  certain  characteristic  • 
readings,  belonging  to  various  memorials  of  the  text,  can  be  perceived, 
we  will  not  abandon  the  idea  of  recensions  or  families ;  and  we  believe 
that  classes,  in  the  whole  mass  of  materials,  may  be  dtstingiHshed  from 
one  another.  Their  number  here  is  of  no  moment — their  ^3oui$enoe  is 
aH  we  elidm ;  and  few  critics  will  hesitate  to  admit  tlie  latter  as  a  fiict, 
believing  that  tbe  critieal  doeumnts  of  the  New  Testament  text  sepa- 
rate thenelveB,  by  meaas  of  chamoteristicxeadiQfi^  into  eertain  claase&' 
— vol.  3i.  p.  86. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


156  Biblical  Oritimm,  [April, 

On  the  history  of  the  printed  text,  Dr.  Davidson  gives  aU 
attainable  information.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  how,  without 
any  great  critical  effort  on  the  part  of  learned  men,  and  indeed 
almost,  in  some  cases,  fortuitously,  the  early  printed  editions  of 
the  New  Testament  exhibited,  in  all  important  and  substantial 
matters,  tfie  text  of  criticism.  If  we  take  the  first  printed  copy, 
that  of  the  Complutensian  Polyfflott,  or  the  first  published  edition, 
that  of  Erasmus,  and  compare  tnem  with  the  text  of  Tischendor^ 
for  example — although  weir  discrepancies  are  ({uite  numerous 
enough  to  justify  all  the  labour  whicn  has  been  given  to  the  sub- 
ject, they  are  too  few  to  unsettle  our  faith  in  one  doctrine,  or  to 
weaken  in  the  slightest  degree  Christian  practice.  From  the 
recesses  of  learning,  earlv  in  the  sixteenth  century,  proceeded  a 
volume,  printed  from  a  few  mss.  which  happened  to  belong  to 
the  locality  of  its  editors.  Soon  after,  Erasmus  published  an 
edition,  formed  quite  independently  from  written  documents, 
which  Davidson  describes  as  *  modem  manuscripts,  and  those  very 
few,  as  well  as  of  little  value.'  From  that  time,  1616,  several 
other  editions  appeared  until  1633,  when  the  Tex^tus  Beceptus  was 
published ;  that  is  to  say,  the  text  which  has  ever  since  been  used 
m  Christendom,  and  has  been  the  basis  on  which  systems  of 
theology,  commentaries,  and  other  learned  works  have  been  built, 
and  from  which  modem  translations  into  many  languages  have 
been  made.  All  the  combined  efforts  and  researches  of  great  and 
pious  biblical  critics  have  been  made  to  bear  on  its  improvemeut, 
and  yet,  positively^  how  little  has  been  effected  1  The  wet  is,  that 
the  Vulgate  Greek  Testament  of  the  times  of  Erasmus,  as  it 
existed  m  manuscripts,  had,  by  the  providence  of  God,  a  very 
close  and  intimate  resemblance  to  the  very  oldest  documents 
which  have  since  been  brought  to  light ;  and  the  result  of  the 
whole  history  of  the  Greek  Testament,  firom  that  time  to  this,  is  a 
conviction  that  the  livelv  oracles  of  God  have  suffered  no  material 
injury  by  their  long  and  hazardous  transmission  from  ancient  times. 

It  may  be  thought  that  we  are  now  uttering  mere  truisms^  well 
known  and  therefore  not  necessary  to  be  repeated ;  but  we  entertain 
the  opinion  that  it  is  important  to  reiterate  on  all  fit  occasions  the 
interesting  fact,  that  biblical  criticism  only  contemplates  poUsh, 
not  organic  ehangey  and  that  all  it  can  do  is  to  clear  away  some 
spots  and  blemishes  which  time  and  human  carelessness  have 
caused  to  adhere  to  the  solid  and  fair  structure  of  immortal  truth. 
Plain  Christians  are  apt  to  mistake  our  labours  on  the  word  of 
God,  when  they  see  new  revisions  of  the  Bible  appearing  in  print, 
and  read  of  the  zealous  and  life-long  labours  of  the  learned  in 
adding  to,  or  taking  from,  the  received  and  veneraUe  text  to 
which  they  have  bcSn  accustomed.  But  they  shoidd  be  given 
clearly  to  understand  that  it  has  long  since  been  settled  that  no 

Digitized  by  V3V/V./V  IV. 


1853.]  Biblieal  Criticism.  157 

imjxniant  alteration  is  possible,  and  that  all  liiat  can  be  done  is 
to  exercise  a  jealous  care  to  firee  the  Scriptures  from  what  does 
not  properly  belong  to  them. 

Irobably  nothing  tends  more  to  perpetuate  a  prejudice  against 
Inblical  criticism  in  ordinary  minds,  than  the  stereotyped  form  of 
our  authorised  version,  which,  by  the  contrast  of  its  entire  literal 
sameness  from  age  to  age,  serves  as  a  foil  to  the  ever  varying 
texts  of  critical  editions  of  the  New  Testament.  The  margins  of 
commentaries  are  full  of  suggestions  of  change,  but  no  enange 
comes.  Imperceptibly,  English  readers  acquire  a  fixed  idea  that 
the  English  version  is  tJie  Bible ;  and  in  proportion  as  they  are 
accustomed  to  its  rigid  fixedness,  they  dislike  and  repudiate  the 
changes  of  the  critics.  Had  undoubted  errors  been  corrected 
when  the  whole  learning  of  the  world  agreed  on  their  existence, 
or  had  new  and  better  renderings  been  introduced  when  unanimity 
was  attained  as  to  their  expediency,  the  public  mind  would  have 
been  accustomed  to  changes  which  the  learned  and  competent 
apmx)ve  of,  but  which  confound  and  stagger  the  uninitiated. 

in  his  examination  of  the  versions,  Dr.  Davidson  does  greater 
justice  to  the  Syriac  than  he  did  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  the 
claims  of  the  Peshito  are  considered  in  above  thirty  pages,  while 
the  Philoxenian  and  other  Syriac  translations  occupy  twenty  more. 
Still,  all  his  valuable  remarks  only  tend  to  exhibit  the  very  back- 
ward state  of  this  venerable  literature,  compared  with  its  intrinsic 
importance.  In  reference  to  printed  editions,  both  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  in  Syriac,  there  is  a  deplorable  want  of  anything 
Hke  certainty  as  to  the  text,  which  it  is  hoped  may  be  removed  by 
the  aid  of  the  abundant  materials  now  treasured  up  in  our  libraries, 
especially  in  the  British  Museum,  to  say  nothing  of  the  immense 
stores  of  the  Vatican,  which  we  may  hope  will,  ere  long,  be  avail- 
able for  the  public  good.  The  editions  published  by  the  Bible 
Sodely  were  conceived  in  a  highly  benevolent  and  liberal  spirit, 
but  with  too  little  reference  to  a  scholarlike  criticism  ;  and  hence 
the  CTeat  outlay  of  money  upon  them  has  been  only  of  partial 
benefit  The  circumstance  of  the  Old  Testament  wanting  the 
Apocrypha,  alone  vitiates  the  edition  in  relation  to  the  biblical 
student.     In  the  language  of  Dr.  Davidson, — 

*  What  is  most  wanted  is  a  new  and  critical  edition  [of  the  whole 
Syriac  Scriptures]  from  many  more  mss.  than  have  been  yet  em- 
ployed or  collated.  There  are  very  old  and  important  copies  in  this 
country  brought  from  the  Nitrian  desert  These  are  sufficiently  nume- 
rous and  valuable  to  lay  at  the  basb  of  a  new  edition,  even  without  the 
asnstance  of  such  as  are  in  the  Vatican  and  other  libraries  of  Europe. 
Michaelis's  words  are  still  true,  that  ^'  in  using  this  version  we  must 
Bever  forget  that  our  present  editions  are  very  imperfect,  and  not  con- 
clude that  every  reading  of  the  Syriac  printed  text  was  the  reading  of 
the  Greek  mss."  when  the  version  was  made.'— vol.  ii.  p.  167.  i 


158  Biblical  OriUeism.  [April, 

Dr.  Davidaon  has  B<»ne  excellent  obeeirations  on  the  use  of  the 
Versions.  It  has  been  too  much  the  habit  to  consider  as  im* 
portant  cmy  translation  of  the  Bible  into  any  other  language  than 
the  original ;  and  hence  some  works  on  criticism  have  brought  in 
a  very  cumbrous  and  useless  apparatus.  Anv  yer^on  may  be 
useful  as  a  comment,  and  may  render  aid  in  Ilermeneutics,  when 
it  is  only  in  the  way  in  criticism.  As  a  general  prindple  a  verai<Hi 
should  be  at  least  as  old  as  the  oldest  class  of  mss.,  or  made 
from  another  version  as  old,  in  order  to  render  effi^tive  aid ;  and 
if  this  rule  is  applied,  the  labours  of  the  critic,  while  still  heavy 
enough,  will  be  greatly  reduced.  Dr.  Davidscm  mentions,  as 
usefiu  for  the  criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  the  Syriac,  Latin, 
Egyptian,  iEthiopic,  and  Gothic. 

5learl^  fifty  pages  are  devoted  to  a  description  of  the  Uncial 
manuscripts,  and  murteen  to  the  cursive.  The  author  estimates 
the  latter  but  lightly,  and  would  confine  the  labours  of  the  critic 
princinally  to  the  former.  He  says,  '  the  Uncial  mss.  ought  to 
be  well  known  and  fairly  aj^lied  to  the  purposes  of  criticism.  All 
the  rest,  or  the  great  mass  of  the  junior  ones,  may  be  dispensed 
with.  They  are  scarcely  needed^  because  the  Uncial  are  nume- 
rous. At  jn'esent  they  do  nothing  but  hinder  the  advancement  of 
critical  science,  by  drawing  off  to  them  time  and  attention  which 
might  be  better  devoted  to  older  documents.  A  line  should  be 
drawn  somewhere,  beyond  which  an  editor  should  not  go  in  citing 
codices.  Why  resort,  for  example,  to  copies  of  the  thirteenth  or 
fourteenth  centuries,  before  giving  the  readings  of  copies  belong* 
ing  to  the  fifth,  sixth,  seventn,  and  eighth  ?  By  aU  means  let  us 
have  the  latter  first ;  and  ^the  former  then  be  judged  necessary, 
they  may  be  produced.  The  attention  of  critical  editors  must 
therefore  be  more  concentrated.'  It  is  strange  that  any  other 
course  than  this  should  have  been  pursued ;  but  such  is  tne  &ct 
A  charm  seems  to  be  attached  in  some  minds  to  what  is  written 
by  the  hand,  apart  from  all  considerations  of  age  or  authority. 
The  object  is  to  get  at  the  state  of  the  text  in  the  earliest  ages,  or, 
in  other  words,  to  arrive  as  near  as  possible  to  the  autograpb 
originals.  Ancient  versions  and  Mse.  can  alone  assist  us  in  ws 
laudable  effort  To  consult  modem  documents  is  as  inapt  a  course 
as  it  would  be  for  men,  sent  to  analyse  the  source  of  a  stream,  to 
stop  some  hundred  miles  off,  and  take  their  q)edmai  for  experi- 
ment from  water  mixed  and  defiled  with  numerous  rivulets  it  had 
met  with  in  its  travels  from  the  fountain  head. 

Dr.  Davidson  sums  up  his  observations  on  the  whole  subject  of 
manuscripts  in  the  following  remark,  which  shows  the  great  men- 
tal qualities  demanded  in  a  competent  critic : — 

*  The  eyes  must  be  practised  in  the  various  forms  of  letters,  and  the 
mind   must  be  habituated  to  the  investigation  of  critical  questions. 

Digitized  by  V3V/V./V  IV. 


1853.]  BMcal  Critieim.  159 

General  observations  may  lead  the  novice  to  think  that  the  determina- 
tion of  the  right  reading  is  an  easy  matter  in  most  cases,  but  practice 
will  soon  show  the  reverse.  Though  mss.  are  the  most  important  class 
of  materials  for  bringing  back  the  New  Testament  text  to  its  pristine 
state,  even  they  are  not  so  definite  or  authoritative  as  we  could  wish. 
In  detecting  corruptions  their  g^reat  utility  is  unquestionable:  there 
they  are  of  primary  and  pre-eminent  value,  but  in  replacing  the  true 
readings  they  are  of  less  assistance  of  themselves;  yet  they  are  the 
most  credible  witnesses  for  the  express  words  of  the  original  writers, 
though  thev  do  not  satisfy  all  expectation ;  and  to  them  must  all  editors 
of  the  original  look  as  the  basis  of  that  text  which  came  fit>m  the  hands  of 
the  inspired  authors.  A  reading  which  occurs  in  no  ms.  must  be  power- 
fully attested  in  another  way  to  recommend  it  as  true.' — vol.  ii.  p.  334. 

But  we  have  said  enough  to  accomplish  our  object,  which  is  not 
to  give  an  epitome  of  these  volumes,  out  to  do  our  best  to  recom- 
mend them  to  our  readers.  They  admirablv  supplement  the  former 
productions  of  the  author ;  and  with  the  Introdicction  to  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Sacred  Jffermeneutici^  form  a  complete  library 
of  biblical  apparatus  of  the  highest  value.  The  latter  work  •  is 
often  referred  to  in  these  volumes,  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
all  who  wish  to  employ  them  to  the  greatest  advantage.  From 
Dr.  Davidson's  habits  of  independent  thought,  the  volume  (on 
Hermeneutics)  has  a  freshness  and  suggestive  character  highly 
valuable  to  the  student,  especially  young  men,  who  will  be  de- 
Kvered  from  many  prejudices  wnidi  stand  in  their  way  by  its 
careftd  perusal.  Its  treatment  of  the  subject  of  quotations  from 
the  Old  Testament  in  the  New,  is  as  full  as  can  be  desired,  and 
forms  a  prominent  feature  of  the  book.  We  cordially  congratulate 
the  author  on  the  completion  of  his  labours  in  this  mghly  valuable 
course  of  study  which  he  has  provided,  and  hope  that  he  will  be 
rewarded  ^as  well  as  in  other  ways)  by  seeing  a  more  enlarged 
attention  given  to  the  rational  and  only  correct  method  of  study- 
ing the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  is  perfectly  astonishing  how  much  m 
their  infancy  biblical  criticism  and  interpretation  are,  as  regards  the 
great  body  of  the  clergy  of  all  denominations,  to  say  nothing  of 
private  Chnstians.  From  the  great  numbers  we  meet  with,  who, 
although  pledged  to  do  all  they  can  to  become  scribes  well  in- 
strueted^  yet  care  for  none  of  these  things,  our  wonder  is  that  such 
works  as  those  before  us  get  patronised  as  much  as  they  do.  But 
the  goodly  remnant  is  no  doubt  becoming  greater  every  year ;  and 
ouor  prayer  is  that  it  may  soon  constitute  a  very  large  majority. 

H.  B. 

*  Sacred  Henneneutics  developed  and  applied ;  mcladiag  a  History  of  BiUieai 
iBterpretation  from  the  Earliest  of  the  Fathers  to  the  ReformatioD.  Ediubar£hz 
T.  and  T.  Oark. 


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160  The  Memphitk  New  Testament.  [April, 


THE    MEMPHITIC    NEW   TESTAMENT. 

Qnatuor  Evcmgelia  in  dialecto  ling\iae  Copticae  Memphitica,  per^ 
seripta  ad  Codd.  MS.  Copticorum  in  Begia  Bibliotheca  Bero- 
lineTtsi  adservatorum  necnon  libri  a  Wilkinsio  emiasi  fidem, 
Edidit,  emendavit,  adnotatonibus  Criticis  et  Grammaticis, 
variantibus  lectionibus  expositis  atque  textu  Coptico  cum  Graeco 
comparato  instnixit  M.  G.  Schwartze.  lipsiae.  (Matt,  et 
Mar.  1846.     Luc.  et  Job.  1847.)     4to. 

Acta  Apostolorum  Coptice  edidit  rAULUS  Boetticher,  Artium 
Magister,  etc     Halae,  1862.     8vo. 

Among  the  more  important  of  tbe  early  versions  of  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  we  must  rank  those  in  the  languages  or 
dialects  of  Egypt ;  their  great  and  acknowledged  antiqui^  would 
show  that  they  are  worthy  of  attention ;  and  when,  in  addition  to 
this,  their  internal  character  is  displayed,  they  are  found  to  be 
monuments  which  possess  an  especial  value  as  witnesses  to  the 
kind  of  Greek  text  which  passed  current  in  that  region,  and  at  the 
period  when  they  were  executed. 

These  veraons  have  been  popularly  known  by  the  names  of  the 
Coptic  and  Sahidic.  It  may  seem  to  be  but  a  vain  attempt  for 
any  to  try  to  displace  a  received  terminology,  but  in  the  case  of 
these  versions,  the  names  by  which  they  are  known  are  so  contra- 
dictory, that  we  have  for  some  time  sought  to  introduce  more 
correct  designations,  and  our  attempts  have  not  been  wholly  fruit- 
less, for  otoers  have  partially  rejected  the  names  which  might 
mislead. 

The  two  veraons  of  which  we  speak,  are  those  in  the  two 
dialects  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  The  name  Coptic^  as  applied 
to  a  language,  should  denote  that  of  the  country  of  Egypt  in 
general,  and  thus  it  should  be  generic,  and  not  merely  sigmncant 
of  a  local  dialect ;  for  any  such  peculiar  appropriation  is  incx)n- 
sistent  with  its  wideness  of  meaning.  And  farther,  as  the  name 
Coptic  is  derived  from  CoptoSy  an  ancient  city  of  Upper  Egypt, 
there  was  a  sinmdar  impropriety  in  applying  the  term  specifically 
to  the  dialect  of  Lower  Egypt. 

Although  the  name  Sahidic  does  not  involve  any  such  contra- 
diction, yet  it  is  not  very  suitable :  for  it  is  derived  from  JuSia  Saidy 
the  name  given  by  the  Arabs  to  Upper  Egypt;  its  use  there- 
fore involves  an  anachronism,  as  great  as  if  we  were  to  call  the 
language  of  the  ancient  Gauls  (whatever  that  might  be)  French^ 
dmply  because  France  is  the  modem  name  of  Gallia. 


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1853.]  The  Memphitic  New  TestamerU.  161 

The  U]^)er  Egj^itian  dialect  has  been  more  fitly  called  Copto 
Thebaic^  and  the  Lower  Egyptian  Oopto-AfmpAi^,  (or,  more 
briefly,  Thehaic  and  Memphitic^)  from  the  dties  of  Thebes  and 
Memphis,  which  were  respectiyely  the  capitals  of  the  two  divisions 


ofEfflrpt 
T^eeai 


earliest  printed  edition  of  the  Memphitic  New  Testament 
was  edited  in  1716,  by  David  Wilkjns  (W  oirth  a  Prussian),  and 
it  was  printed  and  puUished  at  C^ord.  Tnis  was  based  (as  stated 
in  tiie  title^  on  the  authori^  of  mss.  in  the  Bodleian  library 
compared  with  some  in  tiie  Vatican  and  some  at  Paris.  The  edition 
appears  to  have  comprised  but  a  very  limited  number  of  copies, 
and  of  these  by  ien  tiie  larger  part  appears  to  be  still  remaining  in 
stock  in  sheets,  in  the  warehouse  of  the  University  printing-o£Bce 
at  Oxford.  This  shows  that  Egyptian  learning  and  attention  to 
Biblical  critidsm  together  have  occasioned  but  a  small  demand  for 
the  work. 

Attention,  however,  had  been  paid  to  this  version  before  the 
labours  of  WiUdns ;  for  our  countryman  Thomas  Marshall  had 
even  prepared  the  four  Gospels  for  the  press — the  publication  of 
which  was  prevented  by  his  deatL  And  from  a  partial  collation 
of  the  MS6.  of  this  version  made  by  Marshall,  readings  communi- 
cated to  Mill  found  a  place  in  his  critical  apparatus :  such  read- 
ings have  been  perpetuated  in  other  critical  editions,  even  when 
they  diflfer  from  the  text  and  Latin  version  published  by  Wilkins, 
becmise  it  was  rightiy  judged  that  they  possessed  some  authority 
as  having  been  taken  from  biss.  by  an  Egyptian  scholar ;  while 
Wilkins  does  not  inform  his  readers  what  mss.  in  particular  he 
follows  in  the  different  readings  which  he  ^ves,  and  he  appends 
no  critical  apparatus,  and  maintains  a  lofty  silence  as  to  the 
various  readings  which  he  must  have  found  in  the  mss.  which  he 
consulted. 

There  were  those  who  at  once  severelv  castigated  Wilkins's 
edition ;  amongst  others.  La  Croze  and  Jablonsky,  both  ranking 
amongst  the  most  learned  Egyptian  scholars  of  their  day,  and 
either  of  them  apparently  competent  to  execute  such  a  work  as  had 
been  undertaken  by  Wilkins. 

As  far  as  the  application  of  the  Memphitic  New  Testament  to 
Biblical  criticism  was  concerned,  things  long  remmned  in  the  same 
state :  readinss  were  drawn  from  the  Latin  version  ffiven  by  Wil- 
kins, to  which  those  found  in  Mill  were  added :  mese  of  course 
were  enough  to  show  the  general  character  of  the  version,  and  to 
make  it  very  useful  as  a  critical  aid ;  but  stiU,  something  more 
was  needed,  when  minute  accuracy  was  desired.  Wilkins's  edi- 
torial competency  had  been  impugned,  first,  as  to  the  text  which 
he  published  without  naming  his  authorities,  for  it  clearly  contained 

VOL.  IV.— NO.  VII.  M 

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162  The  Memphkic  New  TeO^iment.  [April, 

conflate  readings, — sentences,  in  which  in  one  part  one  ms.  bad 
been  followed,  and  in  the  other  part  another,  so  that  the  members 
did  not  hang  together ;  and  secondly  as  to  his  Latin  version,  in 
which  great  inaccuracies  were  pointed  out,  sudi  as  were  utteriy 
confounding  to  a  critic  who  endeavoured  to  use  it,  unless  he  were 
himself  an  Egyptian  scholar. 

Meanwhile,  uie  critical  value  of  the  Mempbitic  version  became 
more  and  more  highly  estimated:  it  was  found  to  ccnncide  ao 
generally  with  the  oldest  Greek  mss.  and  with  the  citations  found 
in  the  writings  of  Origen,  that  it  was  rightly  judged  to  be  <md  of 
the  more  important  of  the  ancient  tranaiations. 

It  was  therefore  with  great  interest  that  Biblical  scholars  re- 
ceived the  announcement  that  Schwartze  had  undertaken  an 
edition  based  on  a  careful  examination  of  ms.  authorities ;  of  ibis 
the  first  part,  containing  the  goq>els  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  ap- 
peared in  1846. 

The  following  were  the  ms.  authorities  which  he  was  able  to 
use  for  the  revision  or  formadon  of  the  text. 

P.  I.  A  MS.  containing  only  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  except 
certain  ecclesiastical  lessons.  It  is  a  transcr^  made  by  Theodore 
Petraeos  in  1662. 

P.  II.  A  Bis.  of  the  Sunday  lessons  from  the  four  Gospels,  with 
those  of  ecclesiastical  festivals ;  also  a  transcript  made  by  Petrseus. 

P.  III.    A  MS.  of  St.  Mark,  copied  also  by  the  same  person. 

P.  IV.    A  similar  transcript  of  St.  Luke. 

P.  Y.  A  MS.  of  Petraeus,  containing  his  remarks  on  passages  in 
the  Memphitic  Gospels. 

Dz.  A  MS.  of  the  four  Gospels,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Diez, 
which  may  belong  to  the  fourteenth  century. 

It  will  thus  be  se^i  that  the  materials  in  the  hands  of  Schwartze 
were  not  great  in  quantity,  nor  yet  venerable  for  their  antiquity. 
In  fact  he  used  the  aids  \rith  which  B^lin  sup{died  him,  adding  to 
them  what  he  could  from  another  source;  that  is,  from  the 
printed  edition  of  Wilkins,  which,  wi^  all  its  faults,  at  least 
presented  readings  found  in  some  of  the  mss.  used  by  that  writo*. 

It  is  probable  that  there  is  no  record  what  the  Biss.  were  from 
which  Petraeus  copied ;  at  all  events,  as  things  now  are,  his  tran- 
scripts must  be  taJLen  in  the  place  of  the  unknown  originals ;  and, 
small  as  is  the  antiquity  ot  existing  Memphitic  mss.,  we  must 
take  them  as  they  are,  and  then  if  the  question  is  raised  as  to  the 
text  which  they  contain,  we  must  refer  to  the  fact  of  its  general 
agreement  with  what  we  know  to  have  been  current  in  Egypt  in 
the  third  century,  as  a  proof  that  it  is  substantially  void  ot  cor- 
ruption. Of  course  we  could  have  unshed  to  possess  this  ancient 
ver^on  in  andent  documents ;  but  we  must  be  thankfrd  for  what 

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1853.]  The  Mmphitic  New  Testament.  163 

we  haTe»  remembering  that  some  of  CScero's  works  have  only  been 
preserved  in  a  single  ms.  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

Schwartze  formed  his  text  from  his  copies,  with  the  aid  of 
Wilkins's  printed  edition.  He  was  able  to  avoid  many  ^rors  into 
which  his  predecessor  had  fallen  by  making  a  more  judicious  use 
of  bis  materials,  and  by  possessing  that  grammatical  knowledge 
which  prevented  him  from  oomlmun^  readings  taken  from  different 
MSB.  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  impossible  constructions.  He 
also  gave  the  various  readings  found  in  the  msb.  which  he  col- 
lated: Ibese,  however,  have  in  general  more  interest  for  the 
Egyptian  scholar  than  for  the  Bibhcal  critic ;  because  they  more 
often  relate  to  the  form  and  structure  of  sentences  than  to  the 
readings  which  may  have  existed  in  the  original  Greek. 

But  now  fiir  is  ochwartze's  work  availiS>le  for  critics  who  are 
unacquainted  with  the  M emphitic  language  ?  We  will  mention 
the  manner  in  which  he  proceeded  for  uieir  benefit :  whether  what 
be  did  is  sufficient,  and  whether  any  better  modes  could  be  adopted, 
are  questions  for  distinct  consideration. 

Scnwartze  was  utterly  dissatisfied  with  Wiikins's  Latin  version, 
many  errors  of  which  he  pointed  out  in  his  preface :  he  did  not, 
however,  wish  to  make  a  new  one^  partiv  because  the  general 
texture  of  that  of  Wilkins  was  sufficiently  correct,  and  partiy 
because  he  seemed  to  think  that  this  was  insufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose which  he  had  in  view :  be  therefore  gave  a  collation  of  the 
Cm^  ifersions  with  the  Greek  text:  we  say  with  Schwartze 
*  Coptic  tfersionSy  because  in  this  he  does  not  confine  himself  to  the 
Memphitic,  but  be  also  refers  to  the  readings  of  the  Hiebaic 
fragments,  {urepared  for  publication  by  Woide,  and  edited  in  1799 
b;^  rord  (under  the  name  of  Sahidic).  The  readings  of  these  he 
wished  to  exhibit  with  more  accuracy  than  had  been  done  by 
Woide  and  Ford,  whom  be  considered  not  very  compet^it  to  the 
task  wludi  they  had  undertaken. 

The  mamiOT  in  which  Sdiwartze,  then,  instructs  his  readars  in 
the  critical  use  of  the  Memphitic  version  is  this : — ^he  subjoins  at 
the  foot  of  every  ]^age  a  collation  of  its  text  (together  with  that  of 
the  Thebdc  version,  as  fiyr  as  it  has  been  puUished)  with  the 
Greek  Te^aments  of  Lachmann  (1842),  and  of  Hschendinf  (first 
edition,  1841).  There  is  also  a  collation  of  the  texts  with  that  of 
the  Codex  Ephraemi  (as  published  by  Teschendorf)  where  it  is  ex- 
tant In  this  part  also  there  are  frequent  allusions  to  Wilkins's 
Latin  version ;  indeed,  Schwartze  seems  to  have  thought  that  his 
readers  would  have  had  that  veraon  before  them  in  using  his 
edition ;  and  we  must  say  that  we  have  oftai  found  it  neednd  to 
refer  to  Wilkins  in  order  to  understand  predady  what  Schwartze 
states  the  Memphitic  readings  to  be. 

M  2 

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164  The  Memphitic  New  TeHdment.  [April, 

We  think  that  in  this  part  of  his  work  Schwartze  might  have 
more  fully  studied  perspicuity.  His  edition  would  have  be^ 
much  more  valuable  had  it  oeen  indepmdent — ^had  the  readings 
been  so  compared  with  the  Greek  as  not  to  necesatate  a  continued 
reference  to  other  books.  Also,  the  editor  seems  to  have  from 
time  to  time  forgotten  that  those  who  examined  his  edition  fw 
critical  purposes,  were  by  no  means  likely  to  possess  an  accurate 
acquaintance  with  the  Memphitic  tongue,  even  if  they  were  ac- 
quainted with  the  letters ;  at  least  we  do  not  know  of  any  critical 
editor  of  the  New  Testament  who  has  been  skilled  in  this  brandi 
of  learning.  And  thus  there  often  remains  a  doubt,  whether  tbis 
ancient  and  valuable  version  can  be  cited  as  an  authority  on  either 
side  in  cases  relating  to  tense,  construction,  order  of  substantives 
and  adjectives,  and  other  points,  as  to  which  die  ancient  Latin 
versions  (such  as  the  Codices  Vercellensis  and  Veronenas)  may  be 
freely  and  confidently  used. 

But  let  all  these  considerations  have  their  frill  weiriit;  still 
Schwartze*s  edition  of  the  Memphitic  Gospels  possesses  for  critical 
purposes  a  value  immeasurably  superior  to  mat  of  Wilkins ;  it 
enables  us  to  correct  former  mistakes,  to  speak  with  confidence  on 
points  previously  doubtfril,  and  to  make  such  a  use  of  this  version 
as  is  more  wortny  of  its  antiquity  and  internal  character. 

At  the  end  of  the  Preface  to  the  Gospels  of  Luke  and  John, 
published  in  1847,  Schwartze  speaks  of  his  intention  of  going  at 
once,  under  the  auspices  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  to  Enci^hnd  and 
France,  to  collate  the  Egyptian  mss.  preserved  in  die  libraries  of 
those  countries.  Hence  it  was  hoped  that  he  would  prepare  the 
text  of  the  remaining  part  of  the  New  Testament  with  still  greater 
exactitude,  fi*om  dius  possessing  the  aid  of  mss.  of  greater  antiquity 
and  value  than  the  Berlin  transcripts. 

These  hopes,  however,  were  frustrated.  After  his  return  fixmi 
his  critical  journey,  this  usefiil  labourer  in  the  critical  field  seems 
to  have  done  something  towards  the  arrangement  of  his  collations 
and  the  completion  oF  his  Coptic  Grammar  (since  publidied^ ; 
but  before  he  could  give  to  uie  world  any  more  of  the  results 
of  his  labours  he  was  removed  by  fifLUing  a  victim  to  the  cholera. 

It  was  hoped  that  Petermann  of  Barlin  would  have  continued 
the  work  of  Schwartze,  thus  interrupted.  Many  inquiries  were 
made  on  the  subject ;  but  at  length,  in  the  early  part  of  1852  the 
continuation  of  the  work  by  Paul  Boetticher  of  Halle  was  an- 
nounced. It  was  supposed  that  by  the  aid  of  Schwartze's  papers 
the  remaining  books  of  the  New  Testament  niigfat  be  edited  on  a 
plan,  which  would  be  at  least  as  convenient  to  Biblical  scholars  as 
that  followed  by  Schwartze. 

When  Boetticher's  Memphitic  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  an- 

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1853.]  The  MempkUic  New  Testament,  1^5 

nounced  as  published,  diese  expectations  experienced  a  rude  «hock. 
The  form  of  the  book,  octavo^  at  once  showed  tliat  it  was  not  in- 
tended as  a  continuation  of  Schwartze's  quarto  edition ;  and  on 
opening  the  book,  its  internal  appearance  was  still  more  surprising ; 
for  it  exhibited  a  Memphitic  text,  and  nothing  else,  except  a  few 
various  readings  at  tiie  root  of  some  off  &e  pages. 

The  Prefiace  tells  us  little  enough  ^  de  ratume  et  coneUio  Jn^tis 
editioms ;'  for  this  siud  preface  consists  of  twenty^cne  lines  only  ; 
and  all  the  information  wnich  it  gives  (most  meagrely  expressed) 
is  that  Schwartze  left  notiiing  behind  at  his  death  which  was  avail- 
able for  the  continuation  of  nis  Copto-Memphitic  New  Testament, 
except  a  collation  of  two  British  mss. — one  of  which  Boetticher 
calls  CuretaniamLs^  the  other  TattoMianue  (without  mentioning 
where  they  are  deposited,  or  giving  a  description  by  which  tiiey 
could  be  identified).  Boetticher  then^ays  that  he  used  this  colla- 
tion and  one  which  had  been  made  (by  himself  or  another  we  are 
not  informed)  of  two  Parisian  mss.  ;  which,  as  to  place  of  deposit, 
mark,  or  number,  are  equally  undescribed. 

Boetticher,  then,  very  unceremoniously  states  his  reason  for  noit 
^vins  a  collation  of  the  Memphitic  with  the  Greek  text :  ^  I  have  in 
this  pUce  abstained  from  a  verbal  comparison  with  the  Greek,  since  I 
am  soon  going  to  publish  my  own  book,  edited  on  the  authority 
of  the  oriental  versions.'  It  is  always  unsatisfSsictary  to  be  Te- 
ferred  for  information  which  we  want  to  some  bodk  yet  unpublished, 
eepecially  when  it  appears  as  if  its  preparation  would  be  a  work  of 
labour,  so  that  the  interval  before  its  appearance  may  be  great 
We  certainly  wish  that  Boetticher's  book  may  «oon  appear,  and 
that  it  may  be  satisfeu^tory  botii  as  to  its  plan  and  its  execution. 
Meanwhile  it  only  seems  as  though  tiie  right  opportunity  far  giving 
the  wanted  information  had  not  been  embraced^ 

At  the  end  of  the  book  Dr.  Boetticher  craves  the  reader^s  indul- 
gence for  the  errata  with  which  he  may  meet,  as  it  was  printed  at 
Vienna  while  he  remained  at  Halle. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  while  much  was  accomplished  by 
Schwartze  for  the  Memphitic  Gospels,  much  remains  to  %e  done. 
We  want — 

1st  An  accurate  list  and  description  of  the  Memphitic  mss., 
so  as  to  know  which  of  them  (from  their  antiquity  or  internal 
diaracter)  are  worthy  of  a  <;ollation  as  complete  as  that  of  the 
Berlin  mss.  made  by  Schwartze. 

2nd.  An  edition  containing  tiie  various  readings  of  diese  mss. 
subjoined  to  a  carefully  editdl  text,  together  wiu  references  to 
Greek  mss.  as  supporting  the  readings  of  tiie  Memphitic  ver- 
sion. 

Until  these  two  things  have  been  done  by  one  (if  such  there  be) 

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166  The  MmpkUAc  New  Tettament.  [April, 

who  is  a  sound  Biblical  critic,  and  a  competent  Egyptian  sdiolar, 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  make  jfW/  vse  of  this  yersion  as  an  import- 
ant witness  to  that  text  of  the  New  Testament  which  is  fomid  in 
the  most  andent  documents. 

Perhaps  at  some  future  time  we  may  possess  full  materials  for 
investigating  the  origin  of  this  yendon  in  all  its  parts ;  {at  with 
regard  to  these  ancient  translations  in  general,  it  is  an  interesting 
inquiry  whether  all  was  executed  at  the  same  time,  or  whether  the 
version  was  a  gradual  accretion  of  parts.  As  to  the  Memphitic  in 
particular,  we  should  be  glad  if  we  had  full  data  for  drawing  acer- 
tain  condusicm  whether  the  Apocalypse  belongs  to  the  same  age 
as  the  rest  of  the  version :  this  may  be  questioned,  1st,  on  the  in- 
ternal ground  of  some  of  its  readings;  and  2nd,  because  it  is 
doubtfiu  whether  the  influence  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  had  not 
been  sufficient  to  exclude  the  Revdiaticm  firom  Ecclesiastical  use 
in  Effypi  at  the  time  when  the  Menphitic  vmnion  was  executed. 

We  have  only  referred  incidentally  to  the  Thebaic  version. 
Woide's  collection  of  fragvoents  still  continues  to  be  the  place  in 
which  almost  all  that  has  been  printed  can  alone  be  found.  An 
industrious  collector,  who  is  himself  a  good  Egyptian  scholar,  still 
is  needed  to  search  out  other  portions  of  this  version  from  Ufararies 
in  which  they  lie  unused,  and  to  edit  them  accurately. 

We  ought  not  to  leave  this  subject  without  mentioning  that  a 
ma^ifioent  edition  of  the  Gospels  in  the  Memphitic  dialect  was 
puUished  some  years  affo  by  English  sodieties,  for  the  use  of  the 
Egyptian  Christtana.  In  this  nublicatiou  the  text  of  Wilkins  was 
not  followed,  but  the  editor,  Mr.  lieder,  followed  ms.  authorities. 
An  account  of  what  tiiese  mss,  were  would  be  valuable  and  im- 
portant. By  the  side  of  the  M^nphitic  text  there  is  an  Arabic 
column,  in  order  that  what  is  read  Ecclesiastically  may  not  be 
wholly  unintelligible  to  the  Copts  who  read.  The  rest  of  the  New 
Testament  on  a  similar  plan  has  recentiy  been  completed. 

L.M. 


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1853.]  Correspondence.  167 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


HADES  AND  HEAVEN. 

Siii^ — Though  I  am  unwilling  to  trespass  upon  tlie  very  valuable 
wpaee  in  your  Journal,  by  continuing  the  discuaeion  which  I  have  been 
instrumental  in  exciting  ;  there  is  one  point  in  the  letter  of  J.  E.,  in 
the  Journal  for  January,  on  which  I  should  like,  with  your  permiasion, 
to  say  a  lew  words. 

Amid  many  charges,  which  I  prefer  to  leave  as  they  are,  he  says 
that  I  have  '  <»nitted,  in  my  consideration  of  Scripture,  by  (at  the  most 
important  and  positive  passage  that  the  New  Testament  contains  on  the 
subject,  viz.,  Lidi^e  xx.  37,  38,  '^  Now  that  the  dead  are  raised," '  dbc.  I 
assure  you  that  the  omission  was  made  only  because  I  thought  that  the 
passage  in  question  could  not  by  any  one  be  held  as  teaching  the  ex- 
istence of  a  world  of  ghosts. 

For,  consider  what  was  the  occasion  for  this  memoral^e  decision  of 
our  blessed  Lord.  The  Sadducees  strove  to  embarrass  him  with  a  diffi- 
culty connected  with  the  fature  resurrection  of  certain  dead  people,  who 
had  held  the  relationship  of  marriage  together  before  they  died.  '  The 
woman  died  also :  therefore  in  the  resurrection,  whose  wife  shall  she 
be?"  Our  Saviour,  after  affirming  that  the  difficulty  was  of  their 
own  invention,  inasmuch  as  in  thisyt«/icre  resurrection  such  relationship, 
would  cease,  goes  on  to  refer  to  a  passage  in  Exodus,  in  order  to  prove 
that  the  Mosaic  law  implied  a  future  life.  Now,  if  the  passage  from 
Exodus  merely  declared  the  conscious  existence  of  the  three  patriarchs, 
while  the  Lord  was  speaking  to  Moses,  I  cannot  see  how  it  could  de- 
monstrate that  <  the  dead  are  raised.'  It  certainly  would  never  have 
done  so  with  a  pagan,  who  believed  that  'non  cum  corpore  extin- 
guuntur  magnse  animsB,'  but  who  scoffed  at  the  raising  of  the  dead  ;  and 
I  do  not  conceive  it  would  have  refuted  the  Sadducees. 

The  living  in  Hades  after  death  was  a  tenet  freely  discussed,  and  in 
general  acknowledged  in  the  Gentile  schools.  The  Epicureans  and 
Sieir  brethren  the  Sadducees  denied  it,  it  is  true,  but  neither  at  Athens 
nor  at  Jerusalem  could  they  have  treated  with  scorn  that  which  formed 
an  almost  necessary  scene  in  the  great  classical  Epos,  and  upon  which 
Socrates  had  discoursed  to  a  party  of  philosophic  friends.  But  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Scriptures,  which  moved  the  ridicule  of  the  sneering  philo- 
sopher, was  not  any  vague  and  comfortless,  but  scholastic,  immortality ; 
but  the  bright,  and  r^,  and  grand,  though  despised  iLvdaraait,  or 
resurrection,  not  the  continuous  life  of  that  which  never  died,  but  the 
re-living  of  what  had  perished ;  and  this  hopeful  doctrine  could  have 
been  in  no  way  affirmed,  though  it  were  true,  that  the  Lord  told  Moses 
of  the  continued  existenee  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


168  Corr^pondmee.  [April, 

But  is  it  80  certain  that  our  Redeemer  ever  intended  to  draw  sach 
an  inference  from  the  passage  in  Exodus  ?  I  confess  I  can  scarcely 
avoid  the  conclusion  that  some  worthy  commentators  may  have  been 
unconsciously  or  carelessly  misled  by  the  italics  in  which  the  word  am 
is  printed  in  our  English  Bibles  C'l  am  the  God  of  Abraham/'  &c.), 
making  it  an  important,  accented  word,  instead  of  one  not  at  all  found  in 
the  original.  At  any  rate,  the  whole  argument  to  prove  that  the  patri- 
archs were  conscious,  when  the  words  were  spoken,  clearly  supposes  that 
Giod  said,  '^  I  €tm  at  this  present  moment  their  God  !'  But,  indeed,  in  the 
Hebrew  of  Exodus  there  is  no  verb  whatev^,  and  no  word  to  denote 
time:  so  that  the  phrase  might  as  well  be, '  I  was  or  shall  be  their 
God/  In  St.  Mark's  and  St.  Luke's  Grospds,  likewise,  and  in  St. 
Stephen's  speech,  where  the  passage  is  quoted,  the  verb  to  be  is  wanting, 
and  though  in  the  Septuagint  of  Exodus,  and  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel, 
the  word  elfxi  occurs,  it  is  impossible  that  the  whole  stress  of  the  sen- 
tence depends  upon  this  word,  or  else,  surely,  it  could  never  have  been 
omitted  in  the  other  places. 

If  I  were  to  go  to  a  man  and  say,  ^  I  am  the  friend  of  your  father,' 
should  I  neceanrily  be  understood  to  assert  that  his  father  was  alive, 
even  though  I  were  to  speak  in  the  present  tense?  And  can  we  there- 
fi)re  beli&ve  that  the  Lord,  using  similar  language,  but  not  confined  to 
ite  present  tense,  necessarily  affirmed  the  living  of  the  three  patriarchs? 

J.  E.,  however,  makes  much  of  the  fact  that  Christ  added,  ^For  He 
is  not  the  G<xi  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living.'  He  would,  I  presume, 
conclude  that  as  Grod  was  the  God  of  Abrcdiam  and  not  of  the  dead, 
therefore  Abraham  was  not  dead.  But  surely,  in  some  sense  or  another, 
Abraham  was  dead ;  at  least  the  Bible  says  so.  If  Abraham  was  not 
dead,  what  has  his  case  to  do  with  the  raising  of  the  dead  ?  Indeed,  if 
Abraham  was  not  dead,  who  is  dead  ?  We  seem  on  the  brink  of  proving 
that  there  are  no  dead  people  at  all.  If  the  word  ^ti:^  means  uneon- 
idously  dead,  as  I  suppose  J.  E.  would  say  in  the  last-mentioned  pas- 
sage^ then  undoubtedly  there  are  plenty  df  declarations  that  men  are 
r€Kpo(,  or  nneonseiously  dead.  But  if  y€Kp6c  means  canscimuly  dead, 
what  is  intended  by  God  saying  He  was  not  the  Grod  of  such,  and 
therefore  (as  J.  E.  would  argue)  Abraham  was  not  such  ? 

Might  not  we  rather  argue  thus?  If  Abraham  was  always,  during 
consciousness,  God's  friend — if,  as  we  are  told,  Abraham  was  dead — 
if,  as  our  Redeemer  declares,  God  is  not  the  'Grod  of  the  dead — ^that 
dead  Abraham  was  not  conscious. 

The  proof  which  our  Saviour  resdly  intended  to  draw  from  this  pas- 
sage it  is  not  my  present  object  to  discuss.  I  would  refer  those  who 
are  anxious  to  follow  up  and  understand  that  proof,  to  Tholuck's  Intro- 
duction to  the  Hebrews,  ch.  vi.  I  have  done  what  I  proposed  d<nng, 
if  I  have  i^own  that  he  could  not  be  speaking  of  coniimums  life ;  and 
that,  whatever  his  meaning  was,  it  certainly  does  not  oppose  what  I 
originally  said. 

I  regret  that  the  attention  of  your  readers  has  been  so  singularly 
called  off  from  what  I  intended  to  be  the  chief  point  in  Hades  and 
Heaven,  viz.,  the  future  human  kingdom  of  Christ.    I  was  so  persuaded 


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18§3.]  Correspondence.  169 

of  the  importance  of  this  belief — so  corroborated  in  the  persuasion  by 
reading  Mr.  Heath's  very  interesting  and  candid  book,  tliat  I  felt  I  was 
doing  a  service  to  the  Christian  world  when  I  brought  this  book  under 
their  notice.  I  perceived,  however,  that  the  pagan  dream  of  Hades 
had  so  confused  this  grand  Christian  hope — the  hope  that  animated  the 
martyrs  of  old — that  no  one  could  acquiesce  in  a  revival  of  the  apos- 
tolical belief,  unless  he  were  prepared  to  hold  more  lightly  the  view  of 
a  conscious  Hades.  Under  this  impression,  I  endeavoured,  not  exactly 
to  €Usprove  the  existence  of  such  a  place,  but  to  show  that  neither 
Scripture  nor  reason  insist  upon  it  so  strongly  as  J.  £.  seems  to  suppose, 
and  so  strong  as  to  obscure  the  real  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament, 
that  the  dead  shall  be  raised  to  meet  their  Lord. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  period  between  death  and  resurrection  be  one 
of  absolute  unconsciousness,  then,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  the  moment 
of  resurrection  will  seem  to  succeed  immediately  to  that  of  dissolution ; 
and  I  can  resign  myself  to  the  temporary  sway  of  the  g^rim  enemy,  with 
hr  more  genuine  feelings  of  confidence  and  joyful  expectation,  than  if 
I  have  to  look  forward  to  an  indefinite  time  of  disembodied  conscious- 
ness, awaiting,  I  know  not  how  4ong,  the  advent  of  Jesus  to  give  me 
perfect  hairiness. 

I  am  persuaded  that  if  the  notion  of  Hades  be  consistently  followed 
up,  it  must  lead  to  a  system  of  continued  probcUion  in  the  nether  world ; 
and  I  presume  it  is  from  a  fear  of  such  a  result  that  the  passage  from 
St.  Peter^s  first  Epistle  (iii.  19,  20)  is  so  often  avoided  by  the  advocates 
of  the  immaterial  life  between  earth  and  heaven.  I  have  endeavoured 
to  weigh  the  entire  subject,  and  have  gladly  read  whatever  can  be  said 
on  all  sides.  The  best  book  by  &r  which  takes  the  opposite  views  to 
those  I  liave  defended  is  ^The  Revealed  Economy  of  Heaven  and 
Earth,'  where  the  author  does  certainly  draw  out  a  well-considered 
and  congruous  scheme  of  divinity,  founded  .upon  the  supposition  of 
Hades.  There  is  a  want  of  facts  for  proceeding  on ;  but  every  man 
who  desires  to  see  a  well-managed,  and  calmly-treated  system,  founded 
on  Hades,  ought  to  consult  this  book. 

I  could  say  a  great  deal  more.  Sir,  but  I  am  loth  to  encroach  upon 
the  patience  of  yourself  and  readers.  I  have  been  only  anxious  to 
have  the  matter  well  examined ;  and  I  would  rather  give  place  io 
others,  now  that  your  kindness  has  permitted  me  to  say  something. 

I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

March,  1863.  W.  H.  X 

JUDE,  verse  9. 

Sir, — Could  you  or  any  of  the  readers  of  your  valuable  Journal  sug- 
gest a  satis&ctory  explanation  of  Jude  9  ?  Is  it  known  to  what  cir- 
cumstance tlie  apostle  refers  when  he  speaks  of  Michael  contending  for 
the  body  of  Moses  ?  Is  there  not,  may  I  l&irther  ask,  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  Moses  was  raised  from  the  d^  previous  to  his  appearance  on 
the  moimt  of  transfiguration  ?  No  doubt  Elijah  was  present  in  the 
^y  with  which  he  asc^ded  into  heaven,  and  is  it  unscriptuial  to 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


170  Correspondence.  [April, 

maintain  that  Moses  was  bodily  present  likewise  ?  If  you  could  fumifih 
me  with  some  assistance  in  explaining  these  difficulties,  or  maition  what 
is  the  most  probable  opinion  concerning  them,  you  would  greatly  oblige. 

I  remain,  &c. 
March  n,  \S5S.  C.  H.  W. 

THE  ESSENES. 

Sib, — ^I  haTe  read  the  article  on  *  The  Essenes,'  in  your  October 
number,  by  your  learned  contributor  P.  S.,  with  unmixed  satis&ctioD ; 
and  take  leave  thoredbre  to  intrude  my  laical  contribution  among  your 
clerical  expositors,  not  in  controversion  of  that  gentleman's  arguments 
and  theories,  but  in  addition  to  them,  and  in  their  support,  against 
the  flights  of  the  quondam  opium*eater. 

My  reading,  since  my  first  travels  in  Germany  and  Denmark,  have 
led  me  to  many  considerations  of  the  origin  and  hktory  of  the  prin- 
cipal Jewish  sects,  particularly  the  Sadducees  and  Samaritans,  and 
more  especially  that  extraordinary  one,  the  Caraites;  and  also  the 
Essenes,  to  which  latter  society  1  shall  confine  this  communicatioo. 
Much  of  the  information  that  I  have  gained  has  been  collected  finom 
German  works,  and  personal  communication  with  Israelitish  friends  in 
Holstein,  one  of  whom,  the  learned,  pious,  and  lib^al  Frederick  War- 
burg, of  Ahona  and  Gliiokstadt,  now  sleeps  with  his  &thers.  Of  the 
works,  the  '  Geschichte,  Lehren,  und  Meinungen,  aller  religiosen 
Sekten  der  Juden,'  *  is  the  prindpal,  and  among  the  best  of  the  modem 
authorities. 

f  Before  ascending  to  the  opium-heaven  of  Mr.  de  Quincy,  or  into 
his  Nilotic  Hades,  as  described  by  himself  in  his  adnuiable  ^  Confes- 
sions,' I  would  begin  with  the  beginning,  the  etymology  of  the  word, 
which  denotes  that  sect,  and  refer  to  my  JSpiciieffium  for  that  purpose. 
Old  Dr.  Adam  Littleton — who  acknowledges  his  obligations  to  '  a  large 
MS.  in  three  folio  volumes,^  by  Mr.  John  Milton,  digested  into  alpha- 
betical order,'  and  we  all  know  our  illustrious  bard  of  Paradise's  inti- 
macy with  Biblical  and  Hebrew  lore — defines  the  Essenes  to  be  a  sect 
or  religious  order  among  the  Jews,  miich  like  the  Pythagoreans  among 
the  Greeks.  They  Hved  in  common,  dressed  in  white  vestments,  em- 
ployed themselves  in  labour  and  devotion,  studied  botanical  simples 
for  the  art  of  mediciBe,  used  a  plain  diet,  and  generally  lived  to  a 
ffreat  age.  They  are  cedled,  in  the  Latin  tongue,  'Esetei  vel  JEsseni^ 
Efftraiot  sive  'Eafftivol,  'lov^aioc  A^inyra),  Suid.  &ird  r^c  otnorriTOQf  Philo. 
a  K^Dn  unde  Gr.  Btriod  sanctus^  ob  instituti  et  vitse  sanctitatem.  Al. 
ab  K1DK  medicus,  qu6d  morbos  cum  corporis  tum  animi  sanarent,  quae 
eos  ^epavevrag  idem  Philo  voc.  Al.  a  riff^  quod  eBtfacere ;  q.  d.  ope- 
rarii,  manibus  enim  suis  operabantur,  ut  inde  viverent,  et  egenis  sub- 
venirent :  quarta  f^erunt  Judseomm  secta,  vit»  solitarice  amantes,  et 
vduti  monachi  Judseorum;  reliq.  sect,  fuere,  I.  Pharisasi,  sanctitatis 

*  History,  Doctrines,  and  Opinions  of  all  Religious  Sects  among  the  Jews, 
by  P.  Beer.    Brtinn.    1822. 
^  What  has  become  of  this  ms.  ?— J.  E. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  Oarreipandence.  171 

(at  loquuntur) :  2.  SaducsBi,  justitiae :  3.  Hanafobaptistaa,  Ceremonial 
rum  ma^tri.  Ort»  sunt  hse  sectse  tempore  Antiochi  die.  an.  mund. 
3850/    Herein,  however,  no  mention  is  made  of  the  Caraites. 

Herr  Beer  adds  bat  little  to  this  list  of  etymologies,  informing  us 
that  some  critics  deriye  it  from  the  Aramaic  M^DR*  a  physician,  either 
because  its  members  studied  medicine,  or  professed  to  heal  afflicted 
souls.  Others,  he  says,  derived  it  from  the  Greek  o^ioc,  holy  ;  others 
sought  it  in  the  Hebrew  word  iiDH  silent,  beea«Me  it  was  a  rule  in  their 
order,  to  speak  as  little  as  possible ;  and  others  again,  in  the  Hebrew 
word  TDHy  pious.  A  gr^t  number,  however,  are  of  opinion  that  the 
sect  derives  its  name  Irom  Hoaseus  or  Easeus,  its  presumed  founder. 
In  like  manner,  Maimonides,  with  others,  derives  the  schismatical 
sects  of  Sadducees  and  Baithosees,  from  their  presumed  founders, 
Zadok  and  Baithos,  two  refractory  disciples  of  Antiffonus  of  Socho. 

The  origin  of  the  sect  or  order  of  the  Essenes  has  been  as  fruitful 
of  controversy  as  its  etymon.  Some  authorities  conjecture  it  to  be 
derived  from  the  immediate  descendants  of  Op — Keni^  the  fiither-in-law, 
or  brother-in-law  of  Moses  i"  or  of  n3") — Eeckaby  a  descendant  of  Jethro, 
the  royal  priest  of  Midian,  who  commanded  them  neither  to  build 
houses,  nor  to  till  the  land,  nor  to  plant  vineyards,  nor  to  drink  wine ; 
and  to  dwell  always  in  tents.  These  commands  they  obeyed  till  the 
time  of  Jeremiah*'  and  the  destruction  of  the  first  temple.  When  the 
Babylonian  caj^vity  commenced,  the  Rechabites  fled  into  the  deserts, 
some  as  far  as  Egypt,  where  they  led  a  more  ascetic  life  than  before, 
and  formed  themselves  into  a  distinct  sect  or  order. 

How  &r  this  ancient  origin  of  the  Essenetic  order,  and  of  its  identity 
with  the  Rechabites  may  be  probable,  we  have  yet  to  see ;  but  it  proves 
enough  that  its  prindples  were  not  those  of  Christianity,  and  that  it 
was  an  ancient  association  in  the  time  of  our  blessed  l^viour  and  his 
apostles.  Furthermore,  the  orig^  of  this  sect  has  been  assigned  to 
the  school  of  the  prophets,  of  which  Samuel,  in  the  di^s  of  Eli,  was 
the  founder  and  principal,  in  Ramab,*  his  birth-place.  Similar  schools 
existed  at  Beth-El,'  Jericho,  and  <jrilga]. 

The  religion  and  morality  of  the  Jewish  people  and  {uiesthood  were  at 
a  very  low  ebb  in  the  pontificate  of  Eli,  and  the  administration  of  his  sons. 
When  Samuel  became  judge  of  Israel,— for,  be  it  remarked,  he  was  not 
the  Pontifex  MaximuSj  nor  of  the  order  Sacerdos^  no^  of  the  stock  of 
Aaron,  which  alone  could  entitle  him  to  officiate  as  a  priest,  as  M.  de 
Volney*  asserts ;  when  this  reformer  of  a  debased  priesthood  and  an 
unholy  self^Jalled  theocracy^  to  greater  purity.  Iris  mightiest  ^orts 
were  directed  towards  improving  the  morals  of  the  people,  and  of 
restoring  the  purity  of  God's  holy  religion,  which  the  weak-minded 
Eli  and  his.  profligate  sons  had^so  blotted  and  defiled^ 

May  we  not,  in  passings  find  some  parallel  to  this  passage  of  Jewish 
history  in  a  portion  of  that  called  Christian  ?  Are  not  the  HUde* 
brands,  and  the  Borg^,  and  the  tenth  Leo,  and  their  incestuous  and 

•  Jad^.  L  16.         <■  Jet,  zzzv.         •  1  Sam.  ziz.  18-24.         '  2Kin|;8  ii.  8-5. 
'  In  his  treatise  *  Samuel,  the  Inyentor  of  the  Sacred  Anointing  of  Kmgs.' 


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172  Correspondence.  [April, 

adulterous  children  typified  by  Eli  and  his  blasphemous  sons  ?  And 
is  not  the  monk  who  shook  the  world,  the  indomitable  Luther,  a 
shining  example  of  a  Christian  Samuel  ?     Poet,  prophet,  ruler ! 

To  forward  these  great  ends,  Samuel  is  said  to  have  established  schools ; 
not  schools  for  babes,  but  colleges  for  men,  ^*mi3  beni-kil,  sons  of 
strength ;  as  the  sacred  historian  records,^  that  some  of  their  disciples 
built  unto  themselves  a  house,  and  others  offered  to  make  a  journey  of 
discovery  in  search  of  Elijah,'  alter  his  miraculous  translation. 

The  principal  study  of  the  disciples  in  these  schools  was  the  law 
of  Moses  in  all  its  textual  purity,  apart  from  all  traditional  interpola- 
tions, and  oral  explanations.  That  is,  the  study  of  the  anDie^  pmn 
{torah  sebacteb)  written  law  in  preference  to  the  HB  ^B'  mm  (torah 
sdH)l  peh),  the  oral,  or  mouth-expounded  law,  which  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  niD^T  (halackoth),  decisions,  and  nnan  (hagadoth),  disser- 
tations, and  all  the  absurdities  of  the  mm  HiBID  {mishnah  torah),  the 
seconder  of  the  law,  the  l^ends  and  fictions  of  the  Talnrad,  and  the 
Rabbinical  doctors,  the  veritable  popery  of  Judaism.  In  addition  to 
this  theological  reform,  Samuel  is  also  held  to  have  successfully  re- 
formed the  morals  and  habits  of  the  people,  and  to  have  striven  to 
raise  them  from  that  mere  ritualism  into  which  they  had  already  sunL 
Do  we  not  herein,  again,  see  a  striking  type  of  the  g^reat  reformatioD, 
or  rather  tlie  restoration  of  the  Christian  church  from  the  haktchoth  and 
hagadothy  the  popish  Elis  and  Phineases,  by  the  Christian  Samuels  of 
the  Reformation  ?  The  pupils,  or,  as  they  were  called,  ^  sons  of  the  pro- 
phets,' were  taught  that  sacrifices  and  other  external  ceremonials  were 
not  essential  to  the  worship  of  God,  whose  service  was  truth  and  a  devout 
heart  In  accordance  with  this  doctrine,  Samuel,  the  supposed  founder 
of  these  schools,  said,^  *  hath  Jehovah  as  great  delight  in  burnt-offerings 
and  sacrifices,  as  in  obeying  his  voice  ?  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice ;' 
and  David,  who  had  perhaps  been  of  these  schools,  says,  in  a  similar 
spirit,  '  sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire ;  burnt  ofiering  and 
sin  offering  liast  thou  not  required ;' '  and  ^  thou  desirest  not  sacrifice ; 
else  would  I  give  it:  thou  delightest  not  in  burnt  offerings.  The 
sacrifices  of  God  are  a  brolten  spirits  a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart, 
0  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise  ;'  "*  so  also  Isaiah,  *  to  what  purpose  is 
^e  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me  ?  saith  Jehovah ;' "  and  Hosea, 
'  I  desired  meror  and  not  sacrifice ;  and  the  knowledge  of  Grod  more 
than  burnt  offerings.'  *"  These,  and  other  inspired  prophets,  probably 
proceed  from  these  schools,  and  taught  these  pure  and  spiritual  doc- 
trines, and  inculcated  a  knowledge  and  love  of  God,  and  benevol^ice  to 
men :  the  great  commandment,  ^  the  royal  Law,'  ^  delivered  by  Jehovah 
6irough  Moses,  and  confirmed  by  our  blessed  Saviour  *>  and  his  apostles,' 
Paul  and  James, '  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself:  I  am  the 
Lord.'* 

»»  2  ^ngs  vi.  11.             »  lb.  ii.  16.  *  1  Sam.  xv.  22,             >  Ps.  xL  6. 

»  Pb.  li.  16,  17.            ■  Chap.  1. 11.  •  Chap.  vi.  6.             ^  James  ii.  8. 

^  Matt.  T.  4a,  and  xxii.  39.  '  Rom.  xii.  9 ;  Gal.  v.  14  ;  James  iL  8. 
*  Lev.  xix.  48. 

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1853.]  OarresponSence.  173 

If  these  schools  of  the  prophets  were  not  strictly  the  founders  of 
the  Essene  sect,  or  the  sect  itself,  they  had  many  things  of  similarity. 
These  collegiate  scltools,  as  the  Scriptures  relate,  were  not  erected 
within  walleid  cities,  but  near  to  the  borders  of  fruitful  streams,  in 
solitary  places  suited  to  reflection  and  devotion,  and  the  disciples  dwelt 
in-  conununities.  So  fiur,  Mr.  de  Quincy  and  the  Romanists  might 
have  sought  the  origin  of  monastic  institutions  in  a  higher  and  purw 
source  than  the  later  Essenes. 

The  ancient  Essenes  carried  out  the  same  principles  to  the  extent  of 
abolishing  all  sacrifices  and  ceremonial  observances ;  and  cultivated  bro* 
therly  love,  frugality,  industry,  abstinence  frt)m  sensuality,  from  those 
*  fleshly  lusts  which  war  against  the  soul,'*  truth  and  sincerity  permitting 
no  deceit ;  reverence  to  age,  cleanliness,  making  often  ablutions  and 
purifyingB,  patience  and  fortitude  under  affliction,  unyielding  firmness 
in  maintaining  their  principles,  not  to  be  shaken  by  the  most  excru- 
ciating tortures,  and  similar  virtues. 

No  mention  b  made  of  the  Essenes  earlier  than  the  time  of  Jonathan  * 
the  Maocabee,  but  they  are  spoken  of  as  an  ancient  well-known  sect. 
Both  Josephus  and  Philo,  who  lived  before  and  afler  the  destruction 
of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  mention  this  sectj  and 
the  former  belonged  to  it'  for  a  time,  living  an  ascetic  life,  under 
the  instrucdons  [of  Banus,  an  hermit,  who  lived  in  the  desert,  wear- 
ing little  clothing,  fed  on  wild  fruits,  and  bathed  frequently  by 
n^t  as  well  as  day,  to  preserve  his  chastity.  Josephus  tried  the 
three  prevailing  sects,  and  selected  that  of  the  Pharisees,  which  he 
describes  as  of  kin  to  the  Stoics  among  the  Greeks.  Josephus,  both 
in  his  autobiography,  and  in  several  parts  of  his  ^Antiquities  of  the 
Jews,'  describes  the  study  of  philosophy  among  his  countrymen  to  be 
in  the  hands  of  three  sects :  the  Phanisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  the 
Essenes,  the  latter  of  which  aspired  to  superior  sanctity.  They  were 
Jews  by  birth,  but  distinguished  themselves,  he  says,  by  intense  bro- 
therly love,  by  abstinence  frt>m  sensual  indulgences,  which  they  consi- 
dered the  greatest  of  sins,  and  the  command  of  their  passions  and 
desires  as  the  root  of  all  virtue.  They  did  not  much  value  matrimony, 
which  gave  rise  to  the  observation  of  the  elder  Pliny,  quoted  by  your 
correspondent,  as  to  their  living  without  marriage,  and  without  the 
other  sex ;  but  adopted  the  children  of  other  men,  while  of  tender  age 
and  capable  of  receiving  first  impressions.  These  children  were  re- 
gmied  as  relations,  and  were  educated  by  them  in  their  own  principles* 
This  avoidance  of  matrimony  was  not  intended  by  them  to  abolish 
marriage  or  to  hinder  the  propagation  of  the  human  species,  in  contra- 
vention of  the  Divine  command,  ^  increase  and  multiply,'  but  to  secure 
themselves  against  the  imruly  passions  of  women,  of  whom  they  enter- 
tained the  opinion^  that  they  were  unable  to  fulfil  the  vow  of  conjugal 
fidelity. 

.    They  also  despised  riches,  and  had  a  community  ofproperty,  so  that 
no  member  of  the  society  was  richer  than  another.     Whenever  any  one 

•  1  Pet.  ii.  11.  ■  Josephus,  Antiq.,  xiii.  v.  9.  «  Life,  §  ii. 

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174  Corre9p(md€Me,  [April, 

desired  to  joiii  the  EaseiMB,  he  was  obliged,  bj  the  rales  of  the  order, 
to  resign  all  lus  property  into  the  general  fund,  so  that  neither  indi- 
vidual riches  nor  poverty  was  found  among  them.  Anointing  widi 
perfumes  or  aromatic  oils  was  denounced  as  an  impurity ;  and  if  any 
member  became  so,  accidentally,  he  was  to  undergo  a  regular  pnrifica- 
tt<m.  External  cleanliness  was  enjoined ;  they  therefore  covered  th^r 
labouring  habiliments,  when  not  at  woIi^  with  white  garments. 

Your  learned  correspondent,  in  reply  to  Neander's  objection  to  the 
existence  of  the  Easenes  in  tiie  time  of  Christ,  from  '  the  death-like 
silence  of  the  four  evangdists  and  all  the  apostles,'  says,  very  logically, 
that  he  does  not  see  bow  this  non-allusion  of  the  evangelists  and 
apostles  to  the  Essenes  is  a  proof  of  their  non-existence  as  a  Jewish 
sect :  and  fbllows  up  his  proposition  with  sound  ooodusions.  But  I 
humbly  ask,  whether,  in  reference  to  the  abovementioned  spotleas  white 
garments  covering  the  sordid  working  clothes  of  the  Essenes,  they  were 
not  among  the  hypocrites  alluded  to,  although  not  named,  by  our  blessed 
Saviour  when  he  denounces^  the  '  Scribes,  Pharisees,  hypocrites^  who 
make  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  flatter,  but  within  they 
are  full  of  extortion  and  exceaa,'  and  am  they  *'  are  like  unto  whited 
sepulchres,  wiiich  indeed  af^pear  beautiml  outward,  but  are  within  full 
of  dead  bones,  and  of  all  undeaaness  V  Two  of  the  other  evangelists, 
Mark  and  Luke,'  OMncide  in  this  denunciation  against  the  wearers 
of  long  robes  over  filthy  garments;  and  you.  Sir,  have  proved 
in  your  notes  to  Col.  iL  21,  Rom«  xiv.  2,  and  Gal.  v.  28,  that 
the  apostle  Paul,  himself  a  Pharisee  of  the  strictest  sect,  the  son  of 
a  Pharisee,  and  brought  up  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  addressed  a  sect 
of  similar  tenets  to  the  Essenes,  although  he  names  them  not;  for  they 
were  too  well  known  in  his  time,  as  Josephus,  PhUo  and  Pliny  testify, 
to  need  a  naming. 

Herr  Beer  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  residences  of  the 
Essenes,  which  were  dispersed  in  various  parts  of  Judea,  and  the 
manner  of  their  travelling  from  one  of  these  settlements  to  another. 
They  carry  nothing  with  them  but  arms  to  protect  them  against  rob- 
bers. Thn  precaution  would  seem  unneoeamry,  if  the  (pinion  of  the 
Boman  satirist*  holds  good, 

'  Camtabit  vmemu  eoram  Istroae  viator.' 
Carrying  neither  money,  nor  change  of  apparel,  they  were  provided  at 
their  several  stations  with  all  that  their  bundle  necessities  required. 
They  did  not  change  their  garments  or  sandals  till  worn  out,  but 
covered  them,  as  Christ  describes,  with  long  white  robes,  'whited 
sepulchres.' 

Their  sentiments  of  veneration  towards  the  Deity,  he  says,  were 
exemplary,  and  instances,  amon?  other  reasons,  that  before  the  rising 
of  the  sun  they  use  no  words  of  secular  import ;  but,  according  to  the 
custom  of  their  ancestors,  they  directed  certain  prayers  to  that  lumi- 
nary, as  if  they  meant  to  greet  its  rising.     If  this  custom  be  not  sun- 

y  Matt  xziii.  25,  26,'S7.  '  Bfark  xiL  40 ;  Luke  xz.  47. 

*  Javesel,  Sat  x.  var.  82. 


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1853.]  Corretpondence.  175 

wor^ip,  it  is  very  like  it,  and  they  have  been  changed  with  it  afi  idolaters ; 
bat  their  defenders  say,  the  charge  is  calumnious  and  untrue.  Their 
prayers,  say  they,  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  were  of  the  same  nature  as 
thoee  which  the  Jews,  on  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  address,  not 
to  the  moon,  as  s(Mne  enemies  of  the  Jewish  name  have  accused  them 
of  doing,  but  to  the  Creator  of  the  moon  and  of  the  universe.  As 
aasertion  is  not  proof  either  in  law  or  logic,  it  would  have  been  better 
had  the  learned  advocate  produced  copies  of  the  two  prayers,  and  we 
could  iiave  judged  lor  ourselves. 

After  the  offering  of  these  prayers,  the  eldera  dismissed  the  membero, 
who  departed  to  their  usual  occupations.  After  uninterrupted  labour 
till  the  fifth  hour  (11  a.m.)  they  again  assembled,  bathed  in  cold 
water,  and  wrapped  th^nselves  in  Hnen  garments.  After  this  purifica- 
tion they  met  in  the  house  of  assembly,  into  which  none  but  members 
were  achnitted,  and  the  whole  society,  headed  by  the  elders,  entered 
into  the  refectory  as  if  it  were  an  holy  temfde.  When  seated,  which 
was  dcme  in  silence  and  with  order,  the  baker  of  the  community  placed 
b^re  each  member  a  loaf,  to  which  the  cook  added  a  dish  of  various 
vegetables.  Before  and  after  their  frugal  meals,  they  adored  the  Deity 
as  the  great  dispenser  of  every  good.  When  coocluded,  they  laid 
aside  their  white  robes  and  departed  to  thdr  avocations  till  night-fall, 
when  they  assemble  togeth^  as  before,  and  sup  tcwether  in  the  same 
manner  as  they  had  taken  their  noon-tide  meal.  2umy  of  their  rules 
and  orders  as  to  charity,  alms-giving,  obedience  to  superiois,  dders, 
directors^  <&e.,  are  given  in  Herr  Be^s  book,  but  are  too  long  ior  my 
already  lengthy  communication ;  but  their  rules  Aht  the  admission  of 
new  membears  may  be  admitted. 

Admission  to  their  order  was  not  inunediately  granted.  The  Neophite 
underwent  a  year's  {Hrobation,  during  which  period  he  was  compelled  to 
observe  the  regulations  prescribed  to  candidates.  If  his  compliance 
with  the  rules  of  abstinence  ftx>m  things  forbidden  by  the  society  was 
satisfactory,  the  new  member  was  inaugurated  by  bathing  in  clear 
water,  and  in  token  of  his  admission  into  the  society,  he  was  presented 
with  a  small  hatchet,  an  apron  and  a  white  robe.  He  was  then  admitted 
to  the  house  of  assembly,  but  was  not  permitted  to  sit  at  the  board, 
nor  to  partake  of  the  general  meal,  till  a  further  probation  of  two 
years  had  expired;  when,  if  his  character  centinved  good,  and  his 
observance  of  the  niles  of  the  order  strictly  observed,  he  was  adnutted, 
after  taking  the  IbUowiog  obligations,  to  his  full  degree  of  member  of 
the  society,  and  to  take  his  seat  as  such  at  the  general  board: — 1. 
That  he  would  venerate  the  Deity,  act  justly  and  uprightly  to  every 
man,  and  never,  eith^  of  his  own  accord,  or  at  the  mstigaticm  or 
bidding  of  any  one,  do  wrong  or  injury  to  any  human  being.  2.  That 
he  would  shun  the  wicked  and  su|^rt  the  good,  act  with  sincerity  to 
every  man,  and  be  sted&st  in  his  sJlegiance  to  his  sovereign,  because 
crown  and  sceptre,  and  regal  power,  were  bestowed  on  no  man  but  by 
the  will  of  God.  3.  That  if  it  should  ever  be  his  fortune  to  attain  any 
eminence  in  rank  or  power,  he  was  not  to  become  arrogant,  nor  to 
afiect  any  distinction  mm  his  inferiors  either  by  the  splendour  of  his 

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176  Carretpcmdence,  [April, 

garments,  or  by  the  pride  of  his  demeanour.  4.  That  he  was  at  all 
times  to  keep  his  hands  from  theft,  his  lips  fix>m  lying,  and  his  heart 
from  evil  desires.  5.  That  he  would  never  conceal  any  thing  from  the 
elders  of  the  society ;  nor,  under  any  circumstances,  even  under  the 
most  excruciating  torments,  reveal  any  of  its  secrets,  nor  divulge  their 
doctrines  and  canonical  books,  or  the  names  of  the  angels. 

Herr  Beer  next  proceeds  to  the  correction,  punishment,  and  expul- 
sion of  offending  members,  which  he  says  is  dreadful  in  the  extreme, 
and  of  the  reception  of  them  when  truly  penitent  He  notes  their  addic- 
tion to  reflection  and  research,  and  their  laudable  endeavours  to  prevent 
litigation  and  to  ac^ust  disputes.  Next  to  the  Deity,  their  greatest 
veneration  was  for  their  lawgiver,  and  whoever  reviled  his  authority 
was  put  to  death.  Who  tliis  legislator  was,  our  learned  expositor  of 
the  Jewish  sects  does  not  say.  If  they  were  followers  of  the  school  of 
the  prophets,  mentioned  in  the  early  part  of  this  letter,  it  must  have 
been  Moses,  and  their  canonical  books  the  five  books  of  the  Torah ; 
but  if,  as  just  related,  they  were  bound  by  oath^  as  Josephus  says,  ot 
by  solemn  obligation,  according  to  Philo,  who  says  they  never  took 
oaths,  never  to  divulge  their  esoteric  doctrines  to  any  one,  this  leg^ 
lator,  doctrines  and  books,  were  known  only  to  themselves.  Although 
Josephus  informs  us,  in  his  auto-biography,  that  he  h|ui  invfstigated 
every  sect  of  the  Jews,  it  is  clear  from  liis  own  accoupt,  that  having 
devoted  but  three  years,  under  his  master  Banus,  to  the  whole,  he  was  not 
initiated  into  the  third  or  highest  degree  of  the  mysteries  of  the  I^ssenes, 
and  was  therefore  acquainted  with  their  dogmata  only  as  &r  as  was 
communicated  in  the  first  derree  or  year  of  probation.  '  As  a  proof  of 
their  obedience  to  the  law  of  Moses,  I  may  cite,  that  all  authorities 
allow  them  to  have  been  distinguished  above  all  other  Jews  by  their 
strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  not  only  in  its  religious  duties,  but  in 
abstaining  from  every  kind  of  labour  and  in  preparing  their  frugal 
meals  on  the  preceding  day.  In  the  wars  between  the  Romans  tuid 
the  Jews,  the  courage  and  the  constancy  of  this  sect  are  oflen  recorded, 
and  the  honours  paid  to  them  by  Herod  and  other  princes,  and  their 
skill  in  predicting  friture  events,  are  often  mentioned.  The  story  of 
the  prediction  to  Herod,  when  a  school-boy,  that  he  should  liecome  a 
king,  by  Menahem,  an  Essene ;  and  of  the  murder  of  Aristobjilus,  by 
his  brother,  predicted  by  Judas,  another  Essene,  recorded  by  Jpsephus, 
and  similar  events,  show  that  this  faculty  was  believed  in  the  time  of 
Josephus,  and  probably  by  the  great  Jewish  historian  himseli  Herr 
Beer  describes  another  class  of  Essenes,  who  differed  from  the  preced- 
ing, chiefly  in  allowing  and  conmiending  marriage ;  first  eausipg  their 
intended  wives  to  undergo  a  three  year^  probation  in  their  sept,  for- 
bidding mixed  marriages. 

Phih)  relates  that  the  leading  principle  of  the  Essenes  was,  that 
God  can  only  be  worshipped  in  the  Spirit  and  in  truth ;  by  inward 
virtue,  not  by  external  observances ;  and  that  virtue  consists  in  pure 
and  disinterested  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbours.  They  rejected 
sacrifices  and  all  ceremonial  rites ;  not  only,  he  afiHrms,  those  enjoined 
by  tradition,  or  the  oral  law ;  but  those  also  which  are  oommanded  by 

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1853.]  Correspondence.  177 

Moses  in  the  Torah,  or  written  law.  In  other  respects  he  agrees  with 
Josephus,  but  differs  as  to  oaths  and  asseverations,  which  he  says  were 
prohibited,  as  they  were  by  the  Pythagoreans,  because  they  considered 
it  derogatory  to  the  veneration  due  to  the  Supreme  Being  to  appeal  to 
him  as  a  witness  in  mundane  affairs ;  and  that  every  man  shoiild  con- 
duct himself  so,  that  his  simple  affirmation  should  be  held  worthy  of  all 
credence.  There  are  other  differences  between  the  accounts  of  this 
singular  sect  by  Josephus  and  Philo,  which  are  ably  stated  and  com- 
pared in  Herr  Beer's  history,  well  worth  referring  to. 

One  branch  of  the  Essenes  devoted  themselves  entirely  to  con- 
templation, and  were  called  by  the  Hellenic  Jews  Therapeutes. 
This  section  was  most  numerous  in  Egypt,  especially  in  and  about 
Alexandria,  where  they  were  distinguished  by  their  fondness  for  spe- 
culative studies.  They  avoided  society,  not  from  misanthropy,  but 
through  the  fear  of  worldly  contamination.  The  effects  of  these 
frequent  fastings,  combined  with  the  heat  of  the  climate,  were  a  con- 
tinued reverie,  with  frequent  convulsions ;  in  which  state  they  fancied 
they  beheld  visions,  and  were  translated  into  other  worlds,  much  after 
the  mode  described  by  Mr.  de  Quincy  in  his  ^  Confessions  of  an  Opium- 
eater,'  and  the  opiated  Orientals  of  the  present  day. 

On  the  sabbath  they  assembled  in  a  large  Monasterion,  in  which  the 
men  were  separated  from  the  women  by  a  partition.  The  chief  of  the 
elders  present  delivered  an  oration,  which  was  listened  to  with  the 
greatest  attention.  These  discourses  and  expositions  of  difficult  pas- 
sages in  holy  writ,  propounded  and  discussed  by  all  who  chose  to  join, 
after  dinner,  were  chiefly  allegorical,  for  they  believed  the  Scriptures, 
like  man,  were  composed  of  body  and  soul,  the  outward  letter  and  the 
inward  spirit.  The  meal  and  discussion  were  closed  harmoniously,  by 
the  presiding  elder  singing  an  hymn,  in  which  the  brethren  joined  in 
chorus,  and  the  male  and  female  singers,  each  under  their  own  leader, 
sang  alternately  verses  of  hymns  and  responses  in  songs  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving  to  the  Deity,  till  the  rising  of  the  sun,  when  every  one 
retired  to  his  cell  to  meditate  on  the  discourse  and  expositions  of  the 
preceding  day. 

After  the  days  of  Philo,  the  Essenes  are  but  little  mentioned. 
Epiphanius,  a  father  of  the  Christian  Church,  preserves  some  notices  of 
them,  which  are  rather  contradictory.  He  relates,  that  in  the  reign  of 
Hadrian,  a  teacher  named  Elksai  arose  among  them,  who  taught  the 
doctrine  of  expediency,  in  times  of  danger  and  persecution,  to  yield  to 
necessity  and  compulsion,  and  pay  external  adoration  to  idols,  provided 
the  inward  purpose  of  the  soul  was  directed  to  the  true  God,  the 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  Epiphanius  also  relates,  that  in  the  reign 
of  Constantine,  there  lived  two  sisters,  Martha  and  Marthona,  who. 
were  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  Essenes  of  that  period.  Their  touch, 
particularly  that  of  Martha,  was  considered  a  sovereign  remedy  against 
all  disease.  The  sect  continued,  with  manifold  innovations  of  doctrine 
and  practice,  till  the  reign  of  Justinian,  after  which  no  records  of  either 
the  Essenes  or  Therapeutes  are  to  be  found.  It  is  probable,  as 
many  have  thought,  that  during  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  under 

VOL.  IV.— NO.  VII.  K 


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178  Carrespandenee.  [Aprfl, 

that  emperor,  they  took  shelter  in  the  Christiaii  Chareh,  with  which 
their  doctrines  and  practice  more  agreed  than  with  those  of  the  trsMii- 
tional  Jews. 

This  sect  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Talmiid,  although  many  traces  of 
their  doctrines  are  found  in  tliat  voluminous  compilation.  This  silence 
probably  arose  from  the  Essenes  taking  no  part  in  public  life ;  and, 
like  the  Sadducees,  being  opposed  to  aU  the  oral  traditions  of  that  sect, 
which,  opposed  to  the  Textarians,  founded  the  school  of  Talmiidists, 
Mishnaists,  rabbinical  doctors,  and  other  perverters  of  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets.  Whatever  praise  may  be  due  to  the  Stoics  is  equally 
due  to  the  Essenes,  with  greater  virtue  and  morality,  and  a  greater 
knowledge  of  the  one  true  God. 

The  nuudms  and  esoteric  belief  of  both  these  eastern  and  western 
sects  were  inoontrovertibly  borrowed  £rom  the  books  of  Moses  and 
the  Prophets,  confirmed  and  supported  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 
with  a  purer  practice  and  more  spiritual  belief;  and  show  how  little 
teachers  of  morality  have  added  to  this  ancient  one,  true  religion, 
except  to  repeat  in  other  words  what  they  have  found  in  the  Bible. 

I  have  trespassed  far  beyond  the  bounds  in  which  I  restricted  myself^ 
when  I  began  this  epistle,  although  I  have  condensed  to  my  utmost, 
and  omitted  some  interesting  passages,  as  you  may  conceive;  but 
permit  me  to  ask  of  you,  or  of  your  excdlent  correspondent  P.  S^ 
whether  Juvenal  in  his  sixth  satire,  verse  542  et  seq.,  does  not  allude  to 
the  dreamy,  prophetic  oracular  Essenes,  in  speaking  of  the  Jews  and 
Chaldeans,  taking  a  part  for  the  whole  ?  It  is  true  he  alludes  to  the 
Jewkh  women,  but  may  he  not  do  so  by  a  synecdoche  ? 

*  Arcaoam  Judflse  tremeas  raendicat  in  aarem, 
InterprM  kgum  SolTmarum,  et  magna  saoerdot 
Arboris,  ac  gumma  nda  internuncia  coeli. 
Implet  et  ilia  manum,  sed  parciiis,  lere  minuto  ; 
Qoaliacnnque  voles  Judsi  somnia  vendunt. 
Spondet  amatorem  tenerom,  vel  difitis  orbi 
Testamentum  indent,  calido)  pulmone  columbe 
Tractato,  Armemua  vel  Comagenos  haruspex 
Pectora  pullorum  rimatar,  et  exta  catelli, 
Interdum  et  pueri.'    Faciet  anod  deferat  ipse. 
ChaldflRS  sed  major  erat  fidacia :  quicqaid 
Dixerit  Astrologus,  credent  k  lonte  relatum 
Ammonia ;  quoniara  Delphis  oraoula  o«ssant» 
Et  genos  humanum  damnat  caligo  futuri/ 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

Your  very  obedient  servant, 

Jamss  Elmbs. 
Oreenwiehj  March  UM,  1853. 

*  *  Tea,  they  sacrificed  their  sons  and  their  daughters  unto  devils.'— Ps.  cvi.  37. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1858.]  OinreyHmdenoi.  179* 

ON  MATTHEW  XIX.  12. 

DsAB  SiR)'— In  the  quotation  animaAlTeirted  upon  by  your  oorre' 
spondent  J.  O.  K.,  I  iind  he  has  only  g^ven  part  of  the  words  from 
Neander,  as  written  in  the  article  he  quotes  fronti— the  (xnitted  part  is 
as  follows : — '  This  deciaicm,  therefore,  was  of^posed  not  only  to  th^ 
old  Hebrew  notion  that  celibacy  was  per  se  ignominious ;  but  also  to 
the  ascetic  doctrine  which  made  it  per  se  a  superior  condition  <>f  life/ 
I  do  not  think  that,  in  giving  this  aexae  to  our  Lord's  words,  any  com* 
mentator  can  be  guilty  of  the  charge  of  interpolation.  Tour  corre* 
spondent,  however,  b  of  a  difkreat  opinion,  for  he  says,  ^Unless 
therefore  we  inierpokUe  our  Lord's  words,  he  neither  approves  nor 
condemns  the  eunuchism  of  which  he  is  speaking.'  He  then  proceeds 
to  affirm  that  the  Saviour's  concluding  wcnrds  *  appear  rather  to  approve 
of  such  an  eunuchism,'  viz.,  that  for  the  kingd6m  of  heaven's  sake^  ^  if 
circumstances  demand  it,  and  provided  a  man  be  capable  of  praotistng 
it.'  The  interpretation  Dr.  Macknight  g^ves  to  the  words  seems  to  h^ 
one  that  is  adapted  to  the  text ;  it  is  as  follows : — '  It  is  fiilse  to  f^Srm 
that  our  Lord  recommends  celibacy.  He  only  gives  permission  for  it 
as  a  thing  lawful,  telling  them,  that  if  they  were  able  to  live  conti- 
nently, they  would  not  sin  though  they  did  not  marry^  especially  as 
the  tnnes  they  lived  in  were  times  of  persecution.'  {^Harmony  of  ike 
Pour  Gospels*)  Certainly  those  who  can  refirain  from  marriage  are 
perfectly  capable  of  becoming  zealous  and  determined  missionaries; 
but  I  cannot  for  a  single  moment  think,  that  by  so  doing  they  can  (as 
your  correspondent  would  have  us  to  believe)  in  an^  way  be  more 
devoted  *  to  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven/  than  those  who 
have  not  renounced  that  companionship  which  the  poet  says,  ^  cheers 
Bfe's  latest  stage.'  If  celibacy  enables  Christians  '  to  devote  them-* 
selves  more  fnlly  to  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom  of  God,'  then  the 
apostles  and  disciples  are  no  longer  to  be  conndered,  as  they  generally 
are,  the  most  zealous  missionaries  that  ever  lived,  for  some  of  them 
did  not  ^  do  violence  to  one  of  the  strongest  of  human  passions.'  The 
instances  which  prove  this  assertion  are,  1st.  The  case  of  St.  Petes. 
That  he  was  a  married  man  is  evident  from  Matt.  viii.  14,  where  it  is 
stated  that  our  Lord  cured  his  wife's  mother  of  a  fever ;  yet  he  was  the 
means  of  converting  in  one  single  day  '  about  three  thousand  souls ' 
(Acts  ii.  41.),  and  according  to  an  ancient  tradition  he  'published 
the  gospel  to  the  Jews  scattered  through  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
Asia,  and  Bithynia '  (Neander's  Planting,  Ac,  vol.  i.  p.  378,  Bohn's 
edit.).  If  Peter  was  not  '  the  zealous  imd  determined  missionary,' 
then  such  an  individual  is  yet  to  appear  on  the  stage  of  human  life« 
2nd.  The  other  apostles  mentioned  as  being  married  men  by  the 
Apostle  Paul  in  1  Cor.  ix.  5.  *  Have  we  not  power  to  lead  about  a 
sister,  a  wife,  as  well  as  other  apostles,  and  as  the  brethren  of  the 
Lord,  and  Cephas  ?*  Surely  if  celibacy  gave  greater  liberty  to  pro- 
pagate the  gospel,  Paul  would  not  have  so  strongly  claimed  his  jost 
rights.  3rd.  The  case  mentioned  in  Acts  xxi.  8,  9.  In  these  verses  it 
is  stated,  that  Philip,  one  of  the  seven  deacons,  called  afterwards  an 

N  2 


Digitized  by  ^ 


lOOgle 


180  Correspondence.  [April, 

evangelist,  had  a  £unily  of  four  daughters ;  this  circumstance,  how- 
ever, did  not  hinder  him  from  being  ^  the  instrument  of  bringing  the 
first  seeds  of  the  gospel  into  Ethiopia,'  and  from  publishing  the  same 
gospel  <  in  the  dties  of  Palestine,  on  the  southern  and  northern  coasts 
of  the  Mediterranean'  (Neander's  Planting,  &c.,  vol.  i.  p.  64). 
Such  then  is  the  evidence  of  history  to  the  success  of  married  apostles 
in  their  missionary  labours ;  and  I  hesitate  not  to  say  that  such  success 
was  owing  greatly  to  their  being  allowed  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
marriage,  as  it  added  to  their  domestic  comfort,  and  no  doubt  consi- 
derably aided  in  introducing  the  gospel  into  quarters  where  it  was 
likely  never  to  be  received  through  the  instrumentality  of  men.  We 
have  more  instances  recorded  in  history,  proving  that  the  married  mis- 
sionaries are  far  more  zealous  and  successful  in  their  calling  than  those 
who  prefer  a  single  life.  But  your  correspondent  is  of  opinion  that 
our  Lord's  forerunners  are  referred  to  in  the  verse  under  consideration, 
because  some  of  them  lived  in  voluntary  celibacy.  Now  one  would 
think  that  those  who  try  to  obtain  the  probable  number  of  ^  the  dis- 
ciples of  our  Lord's  forerunner,  John  the  Baptist,  who  were  willing  to 
renounce  the  endearments  of  domestic  life,'  are  able  to  state  a  few 
recorded  instances  at  least  This,  however,  they  cannot  do,  and  until 
they  are  able  to  do  so,  we  must  consider  all  that  is  said  about  the  celi- 
bacy of  John's  disciples  as  having  no  foundation  in  &ct,  and  the  hypo- 
thesis as  one  of  the  most  untenable  that  ever  entered  into  a  critic's 
brain.  He  then  proceeds  to  find  fiiult  with  the  assertion  that  '  all  the 
best  commentators  are  of  opinion  that  the  contemplative  Essenes  are 
here  alluded  to,  simply  because  certain  commentators  named  by  him 
are  not  of  this  opinion.  If  I  had  said  '  all  the  best  conunentators 
without  exception,'  then  certainly  the  assertion  would  be  objectionable ; 
but  seeing  Uie  question,  who  are  to  be  considered  the  best  commen- 
tators, is  one  entirely  of  opinion,  I  do  not  think  those  of  your  readers, 
few  in  number  I  hope,  ^  who  are  unaccustomed,  or  unable  to  think  or 
to  examine  for  themselves,'  are  in  danger  of  being  misled.  Not  only 
is  the  opinion  maintained  by  Dr.  Clarke  and  Euthymius,  but  it  is  also 
that  of  Blomfield,  Home,  Barnes,  i&c.  I  cannot  understand  how  the 
hypothesis  which  J.  C.  K.  defends,  viz.,  that  those  who  despised  marriage 
and  <the  comforts  of  domestic  life  in  gaieral '  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's 
sake,  receives  '  honourable  recognition '  from  our  Saviour,  can  at  all 
^  satisfiu^rily  account  for  the  employment  of  the  figure.'  Jesus  Christ 
used  the  term  Eunuch,  simply  because  it  conveyed  hb  meaning,  seeing 
it  sig^nifies  the  supjn'ession  of  the  desire.  '  The  amputation  of  the 
desire,'  says  Macknight, '  not  the  manber,  is  meant  in  the  phrase  made 
themselves  eunuchs.  And  in  this  sense  it  is  used  by  rabbinical 
writers.  This  then  is  just  the  reason  why  Christ  used  the  figure,  and 
commentators  would  therefore  have  little  to  justify  them  in  asserting 
more  than  that,  'in  Matt  xix.  12,  the  term  '^ eunuch"  is  applied 
figuratively  to  persons  naturally  impotent."  If  the  hypothesis  so 
z^ously  mfuntained  by  J.  C.  K.  be  correct ;  if  Jesus  Christ  in  his 

*  Kitto's  Cyclopsedia,  art.  'Eunuch.' 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853-]  Correspondence.  181 

words  approve  (and  not,  as  I  still  maintain,  condemn)  of  ascetic  celi- 
bacy *  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake/  then  we  must  admire,  and  no 
longer  censure  him  ^  who  in  shirt  of  hair  and  weeds  of  canvass  dressed,* 
has  his  dwelling  in  a  recess  of  some  rude  rock  far  remote  from  the  ha- 
bitation of  man,  seeing  that  by  so  doing  he  thinks  he  has  purchased 
heaven  and  proved  his  title  good.  The  man  who  passed  his  whole  life 
in  one  of  the  monasteries  of  the  Levant,  and  who  never  saw  a  woman, 
nor  had  ^any  idea  what  sort  of  things  women  were,  or  what  they 
looked  like '  (Curzon's  Monasteries  of  the  Levant,  p.  427),  is  to  be 
considered  according  to  such  an  hypothesis  as  worthy  of  the  highest 
praise ;  and  living  in  voluntary  abstinence  '  for  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven's sake,'  he  of  all  men  is  capable  of  being  ^  the  zealous  and  deter- 
mined missionary!' 

Before  concluding  this  letter,  let  me  briefly  remark  that  your  corre- 
spondent J.  E.  is  fully  entitled  to  the  gratefiU  thanks  of  all  the  readers 
of  the  '  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature,'  for  having  so  completely  refuted 
the  dogmatic  assertions  of  the  writer  of  the  article  on  '  Hades  and 
Heaven,'  W.  H.  J. ;  and  I  have  only  to  add,  that  in  maintaining  the 
following  proposition, '  The  customary  phraseology  that  the  soul,  when 
it  quits  the  body,  goes  at  once  either  to  heaven  or  to  hell — seems  to  be 
modem  and  unscriptural,'  the  latter  writer  is  not  only  wrong,  but 
entirely  mistaken ;  and  I  hesitate  not  to  say  that  his  dictatorial  asser- 
tions can  only  be  defended  by  ignoring  historical  facts.  For  let  any 
of  your  readers  refer  to  '  The  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  of  Divines,'  approved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  in  its  Act  of  date  August  27,  1647  (206  years 
ago),  and  he  will  find  the  following  declaration  in  the  1st  Section  of 
the  32nd  Chapter : — '  The  bodies  of  men  after  death  return  to  dust, 
and  see  corruption  (Gen.  iii.  19;  Acts  xiii.  36) ;  but  their  souls  (which 
neither  die  nor  sleep),  having  an  immortal  subsistence,  immediately 
return  to  God  who  gave  them/  &c  (Luke  xxiii.  43 ;  Ecd.  xii.  7.) 
Few  of  your  readers,  not  excepting  J.  B.,  who  wishes  so  earnestly  to 
break  down  '  the  barriers  set  up  by  our  Grentile  Talmudism,'  will,  I 
am  sure,  suppose  that  such  men  as  Lightfoot,  Henderson,  BaUlie,  Ru- 
therford, Gillespie,  &c.,^  would  g^ve  their  sanction  to  the  above  propo- 
sition if  they  believed  it  to  be  unscriptural,  and  surely  what  those 
eminent  divines  declared  to  be  in  the  Word  of  God,  ought  not  to  be 
stigmatized  as  '  vulgar  phraseology.' 

February  4,  1853.  P.  S. 

*>  These  and  187  others  were  the  nmnber  of  divines  who  composed  the  West- 
minster Aasembly. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


183  0()rr€9p(md&noe,  [Ajnil^ 


LAW  OF  MARRIAGE, 

Sib, — Some  of  your  able  correspondents  or  contributors  would,  I 
venture  to  suggest,  be  doing  good  serrice  to  the  Christian  world,  by 
instituting  a  comprehensive  and  impartial  inquiry  into  the  limits  of 
the  scriptural  prohibitions  of  marriases  of  consanguinity  and  affinity. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  has  never  been  done.  No  trust- 
worthy exposition  of  this  subject  could  be  expected  from  those  who 
declared  the  marriage  of  priests  contrary  to  the  wUl  of  God,  and 
regarded  marriage  Itself  as  impure,  compared  with  celibacy.  Nor  can 
we  receive  the  diicta  of  those  who  invented  or  perpetuated  restrictions, 
in  order  that  the  fees  of  dispensation  might  swell  the  treasury  of  the 
church. 

Equally  unworthy  of  reliance  would  be  the  parasitical,  venal,  or 
compulsory  opinions  given  to  serve  the  purposes  of  princes,  or  patch  the 
pedigrees  of  nobles.  Before  mankind  can  obey  the  divine  will,  they 
must  know  clearly  what  it  is,  through  pure  channels  of  interpretation. 
What  is  required  is  a  candid  and  thorough  examination  of  this  whole 
subject,  not  to  establish  a  preconceived  opinion,  but  to  demonstrate  the 
truth,  without  consideration  of  consequences,  or  regard  to  party  inte- 
rests. The  fi)llowing  are  some  of  the  points  which  must  be  strictly 
investigated  in  the  course  of  this  inquiry. 

1.  The  true  scope  and  meaning  of  Leviticus  xviii.,  and  cognate 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  would  involve  evidences  of  the 
general  design  of  the  law  from  historical  illustration  of  the  '  doings  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,'  and  the  ^  doings  of  the  land  of  Canaan,'  denounced, 
compared  with  the  uncondemned  practice  of  the  patriarchs,  and  subse- 
quently of  the  Jews ;  the  critical  definition  of  the  terms  employed ;  the 
separate  consideration  of  each  prohibition,  whether  of  consanguinity  or 
affinity ;  exceptions  and  limitations,  with  their  probable  reasons ;  the 
authority  for  extending  the  prohibition  to  cases  not  expressed,  but  re- 
garded as  parallel ;  and  the  consideration  of  what  is  necessary  to  con- 
stitute cases  really  parallel ;  the  whole  results  exhibited  in  a  table  of 
the  marriages  r^anled  as  divinely  prohilnted  to  the  Jews. 

2.  The  inquiry  how  far  these  prohibitions  can  be  shown  to  be  bind- 
ing on  mankind  at  laree. 

3.  The  further  enquiry  whether  there  is  any  thin^  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment which  can  be  proved  to  have  the  effect  of  momfying  these  prohi- 
bitions. 

And  4.  Whether  there  is  any  thing  in  the  Scripture  restricting  the 
riffht  of  the  church  or  of  the  civil  government  to  interfere,  fiindamen- 
tiuly,  with  the  marriage  contract. 

I  hope  that  some  of  your  learned  contributors  may  be  induced  to 
devote  their  attention  to  this  matter.  The  question  is  effectually 
raised  in  the  public  mind,  not  only  in  this  countiy,  but  throughout  the 
world,  and  the  sooner  it  receives  a  satis&ctory  solution  the  better. 

J.  S. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  (J<]TTe9(p(mAm(».  188 


HIPPOLYTUS  AND  HIS  TIMES. 

Sib, — I  have  noticed  in  your  valuable  Journsd  for  January  a 
mistake,  which  (as  it  regards  a  matter  of  fact)  your  love  of  truthi\ilness 
will  I  trust  incline  you  to  correct  in  another  number.  In  the  review 
of  *  Hippolytus  and  his  Times,'  the  reviewer  says : — '  Baptism  of  chil- 
dren had  only  begun  to  be  practised  in  some  countries,  being  defended 
in  the  time  of  TertuUian  and  Hippolytus  merely  as  an  innovation ;  but 
infant  baptism  was  not  known.  On  this  interesting  point  we  refer  to 
the  third  volume,  where  the  subject  is  treated  more  correctly  than  in 
any  other  work.  Even  Neander  has  felled  to  perceive  the  true  sense  of 
certain  passages  in  Origen  and  TertuUian.  Here  fob  the  fibst 
TIME  THE  THING  IS  CLEARED  UF.  Tertulliau  speaks  of  the  baptism 
of  growing  children  (parvuli),  and  pleads  for  delay  till  they  be  able  to 
take  the  vo^s  upon  themselves,  &c.' 

It  would  appear  from  this  that  no  previous  writer  had  understood 
Tertullian's  objections  to  refer  to  children  of  a  few  years  old,  and  not 
to  unconscious  babes.  Yet  any  one  that  will  take  the  trouble  of  ex- 
amining Robert  Robinson's  'History  of  Baptism,'  published  about 
A.D.  1790,  may  see  that  this  is  precisely  the  sense  in  which  he  uuder- 
stands  the  matter.  In  chap.  21  of  the  abovementioned  history,  the 
first  words  are : — *  Few  writers  have  been  so  often  quoted  in  the  con- 
troversy concerning  infant  baptism  as  TertuUian,  and  yet  the  subject 
is  not  so  much  as  mentioned  by  this  father.  They  are  boys  and  not 
babes,  of  whose  baptism  he  writes.' 

The  subject  of  chap.  24  is, — *  The  Reduction  of  Baptism  in  the 
East,  fW>m  Men  to  Minors,  and  from  Minors  to  Babes.' 

Of  which  the  sections  are, — *  New  Testament  Baptism,  or  the  Bap* 
tism  of  Men  and  Women,  p.  222.  Egyptian  Baptism,  or  the  Baptism 
of  Minors,  p.  223.  Jerusalem  Baptism,  or  the  Baptism  of  Catechu- 
mens, p.  234.  Greek  Baptism,  or  the  Baptism  of  Little  Ones, 
p.  246.' 

Though  I  much  disapprove  of  some  things  in  *  Robinson's  History,*  yet 
as  a  work  of  laborious  research  it  is  not  unworthy  of  careful  perusal ; 
and  in  the  particular  instance  referred  to  by  the  reviewer,  the  English- 
man takes  precedence  of  the  German  by  sixty  years  at  least  I  have 
no  national  predilections  or  prejudices  to  cherish,  but  I  ask  that  justice 
may  be  done  to  the  small  as  well  as  to  the  great, — to  Robinson  as  well 
as  to  Niebuhr  or  Bunsen. 

O.  J.  H. 


Totm>  vp&roif  yivcitmovTSf  Sri  iraiaa  ir^o^rs/«  ypaprif  Ulaf  iiriXdaews 
od  y/ygrai.— 2  Pet.  i.  20. 

While  we  would  not  alter  or  misinterpret  one  word  of  the  Holy 
Scripture  for  the  sake  of  fevouring  or  opposing  any  existing  opinion,  it 
is  important  and  needful  that,  when  any  opinion  which  we  deem  a  per- 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


184  (Jorre9p(mdence.  [Ajwil, 

nicious  error  owes  its  existence  or  main  support  to  a  mistake  in  trans- 
lation, that  mistake  should,  if  possible,  be  clearly  pointed  out  and 
csorrected.  The  passage  cited  above  is  the  chief  argument  from  Scrip- 
ture used  by  the  Romanists  for  discouraging  the  indiscriminate  circula- 
tion of  the  Bible,  and  the  right  of  all  to  judge  of  the  meaning  of  its 
contents.  If  on  a  careful  and  candid  examination,  it  should  appear 
that  the  apostle  has  no  reference  whatever  to  that  subject  in  the  words 
of  this  verse,  the  enquiry  in  its  result  will  amply  repay  the  labour. 

The  radical  signification  of  ylvofiai,  is,  to  '  come  into  being  ;*  (See 
Passow  by  Lid.  and  Scott :  ich  entstehe,  Rest)  Conformably  to  this, 
the  present  tense  regularly  has  the  force  of  comes,  becomesy  occurs ; 
rather  than  of  denoting  merely  the  fact  of  existence,  like  the  verb  elfxL 
If  this  remark  is  correct,  we  must  keep  it  in  view  in  our  explanation  of 
the  passage.  No  prophecy,  <&c.,  comes  of  private  interpretation. 
That  an  interpretation  may  '  come '  of  a  prophecy  is  likely  enough ; 
but  that  a  prophecy  should  *  come '  of  an  interpretation,  strikes  one 
as  a  rather  singular  use  of  words.  But  is  the  word  l^ias  best  trans- 
lated by  ^private?*  and  does  'interpretation'  correctly  express  the 
meaning  of  iTnXvtreios?     The  adjective   ihiog   is  in  general  rendered 

*  own '  in  our  version  of  the  New  Testament,  and  we  think  that  word 
would  best  express  its  meaning  here.     Even  the  «:ar'  i^lay,  '  in  private,' 

*  apart,'  probably  originates  in  the  ellipsis  of  ohlayy  or  some  such  word, 
'  his  own  house.'  But  if  we  can  with  tolerable  certainty  discover  the 
real  force  of  intKvtncj  the  application  of  the  adjective  may  be  more 
easily  understood. 

The  radical  import  of  kviXvtng  is  manifestly  on-loosing,  disclosure, 
or,  as  we  say,  unloosing,  opening  up.*  'O  he  MaKpivoQ  «caO'  avror  ytvo- 
ufvoc,  rdc  Tt  SXXac  CTriXucrai  ifl-KrroXac*  ic.r.X.  (Herodian,  iv.  23.) 
Here  the  verb  is  used  for  the  opening  of  letters.  The  same  verb  occurs 
in  the  New  Testament,  Acts  xix.  39,  where  the  versions  generally  under- 
stand it  in  the  sense  of '  determined'  or  '  decided' :  ky  rjf  ivyofi^  iKKkritri^ 
EiriXvdiiaerai :  '  It  shall  be  determined  in  a  lawful  assembly.'  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  an  instance  of  the  use  of  either  the  noun  or  verb  in  the 
Septuagint,  though  Park  hurst  by  mistake  says  that  it  is  in  Gen.  xli.  12 ; 
but  that  is  probably  in  Aquila's  version,  not  the  Septuagint.  In  Mark 
iv.  34,  it  is  used  in  the  sense  of  *  explain '  or  *  expound,'  or  perhaps 

*  disclose ' :  '  He  disclosed  all  things,'  &c. 

The  Greek  versions  of  the  Old  Testament  by  Symmachus  and  Tbeo- 
dotion  do  however  make  use  of  the  noun  and  the  participle  as  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Hebrew  D^p'J^  (Biel,  Lex.  Sept  sub  voce) ;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  special  observation  that  in  the  same  verse  (Hos.  iii.  4)  the  Septuagint 
has  the  word  A^Xot,  which  is  likewise  used  in  that  translation  for  the 
Dn^K  and  D^©ri  (Num.  xxvii.  21 ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  8).  The  version  of 
Synmiachus  may  be  wrong  in  thus  rendering*  D^^^,  but  it  certainly 
suggests  that  he  used  eviXvaic  in  regard  to  that  which  is  supposed  to 
disclose  or  deliver  a  prophetic  communication.  In  one  line  of  jEschylus 
the  noun  occurs  twice :  iiriXvaiy  0o/3ii>v  htiXvtnv  hihov.    ('Eirra  evi  94/3<ic, 

'  Ck>mp•re^va'cu  tAj  fnppayHat,  Rev.  v.  2,  5. 

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1858.]  O&rrwpcndmce,  185 

1. 134,  edit  Abrams,  Oxon.,  a.d.  1844.)  Here  it  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
'  deliverance '  or  *  delivery.' 

Now  on  these  premises  I  submit  to  your  consideration,  and  that  of 
your  readers,  that  the  translation  of  this  verse  ought  to  be  :  ^  Knowing 
this  first  that  no  propheg'  of  the  Scripture  comes  of  (men's)  own  dis- 
closure/ or  '  delivery/  This  is  quite  in  harmony  with  the  train  of  the 
Apostle's  argument,  in  which  he  is  proving  what  he  had  just  affirmed, 
that  they  had  a  very  sure  word  of  prophecy,  and  well  adapted  to  pro- 
duce conviction  and  faith ;  since  in  the  outset  they  know  and  acknow- 
ledge that '  sure  word  *  to  have  been  delivered  not  by  human  invention, 
but  by  divine  inspiration. 

The  editor  of  the  <  Emphatic  New  Testament'  thinks  the  literal 
meaning  is,  that  no  prophecy  of  the  Scripture  is  of  peculiar  interpreta- 
tion— that  b,  peculiiau:  interpretation  separcUe  or  apart  from  that  of 
other  passages  of  Scripture :  all  must  be  consistent ;  and  no  text  of 
Scripture  rightly  understood  can  be  at  variance  with  any  other  text  of 
Scripture.'  (Introduction,  p.  56).  This  no  doubt  b  quite  true  in 
regard  to  every  part  of  the  Oracles  of  God,  whether  prophetical,  histori- 
cal, devotional,  or  didactic.  But  this  explanation  overlooks  the  proper 
force  of  yiveraiy  and  does  not  appear  to  me  so  consistent  with  the  con- 
text as  that  which  I  have  attempted  to  give.  Either  of  them,  however, 
sets  aside  the  notion  that  the  Apostle  Peter  intended  to  prohibit  the 
interpretation  of  the  Scripture  by  private  men. 

Oswaldtunstle,  Feb.  28,  1853.  J.  H. 


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186  N(f(ioe9  of  Boolu.  [April, 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS. 


The  PropkeU  and  Kmgs  <^ike  Old  Testament :  A  Series  of  Sermom 
preached  in  the  Chapel  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  By  Fbbdewck  Db- 
HJDBON  Maubice,  Chaplain  of  Liiiooln's  Inn,  and  Professor  of  Din- 
nity  in  King's  College,  London.  Cambridge:  Mac  Millan  and  CJa 
1853. 

It  is  not  easy  to  criticise  the  volxime  of  which  the  above  is  the  title. 
Regarded  as  a  collection  of  sennons,  it  would  awaken  the  inquiry  what 
a  sermon  strictly  is,  of  what  elements  a  congregation  is  composed,  what 
are  the  spiritual  wants  which  it  is  required  to  meet ;  and  in  so  doing, 
would  convince  us  that  as  such  they  are  scarcely  adapted  to  their  pur- 
pose. They  make  but  slight  profession  of  instructing  the  ignorant, 
arousing  the  careless,  or  showing  the  sinner  the  way  of  salvation. 
Neither  are  they  to  be  studied  as  a  manual  of  theology.  The  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament  did  assuredly  proclaim  the  entire  Gospel  to  the 
world,  and  however  obscurely  their  message  might  at  times  be  framed, 
it  contained  the  genu  at  least  of  all  truth.  The  kings,  too,  were  ex- 
amples of  the  working  of  truth  upon  human  hearts,  either  in  its  recep- 
tion or  rejection.  It  is  therefore  quite  possible  that  a  volume  professing 
to  take  for  its  basis  the  inspired  histories  and  prophecies  which  such  a 
title  implies,  might  be  made  a  vehicle  of  developing  the  whole  range  of 
inspired  truth.  But  we  do  not  demand  of  Professor  Maurice  more  than 
he  has  chosen  to  g^ve.  His  volume  is  one  that  ought  to  be  read  with- 
out prejudice  and  judged  alone  by  its  professions.  It  is  an  admirable 
critical  history  of  the  Hebrew  polity  during  the  period  in  which  it  pre- 
sented a  more  settled  aspect.  The  author  has  laboured  successfully  Iq 
working  out  a  great  thought  which  has  evidently  found  much  £ivour 
with  certain  of  his  own  friends  and  admirers,  whose  works  have  been 
noticed  in  this  Journal.  We  are  not  sure  that  we  fully  d^cribe  this 
thought  by  styling  it  the  identity  of  theocratic  government  in  all  dis- 
pensations. '  The  Lord  reigneth,'  says  the  Professor  in  almost  every 
page,  and  a  grand  and  precious  truth  is  this  to  every  Christian  mind. 
But  before  we  can  pronounce  the  complete  resemblance  of  circum- 
stances of  a  modem  potentate  with  those  of  a  Jewish  king,  we  must 
either  revive  the  divine-right  theories  in  £ivour  of  the  one,  or  strip  the 
other  of  certain  of  those  miraculous  appliances  with  which  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  invest  him.  The  latter  method  is  that  to  which  the 
mind  of  this  writer  has  a  tendency  more  or  less  avowed.  The  instances 
of  divine  interference  which  occur  so  often  in  the  narrative,  though  ad- 
mitted by  him  as  such,  are  nevertheless  somewhat  explained  away  as 
being  no  more  than  consistent  with  those  laws  by  which  the  framew(»k 
of  things  is  regulated.  The  covenant  existing  between  God  and  the 
chosen  nation,  sealed  as  it  was  with  the  appointed  rite  in  each  male 

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1858.]  NotieeB  of  Book$.  187 

individual,  pnnnulgated  in  the  first  instance  by  rairaeks,  wonders,  and 
signs,  its  divine  features  kept  in  remanbranee  by  temple  services,  its 
holy  sanctions  enforced  by  prophets  and  seers,  and  its  rupture  signally 
involving  the  whole  nation  in  punishment,  is  nevertheless  almost  iden- 
tified with  the  covenant  which  binds  a  modem  people  to  the  God  of 
heaven.  So  also  the  functions  of  the  prophet  are  set  before  us,  divested 
in  some  degree  of  that  preternatural  character  which  seems  to  belong 
to  them.  The  visions  of  the  Almighty  doubtless  worked  upon  their 
ima^nations,  and  the  divine  utterances  were  woven  in  the  very  fiibric 
of  their  minds :  there  were  schools  of  the  prophets  beyond  a  doubt,  and 
the  holy  men  themselves  associated  with  the  mass  of  the  people  and 
adopted  ordinary  modes  of  acquiring  knowledge ;  but  we  might  err  in 
la3ring  too  much  stress  on  the  power  of  the  intellect  and  the  play  of  the 
^mcy,  and  the  familiarity  with  public  events  by  which  they  were  cha- 
racterised, if  the  inspiration  with  which  they  were  confessedly  endowed 
is  thereby  to  be  withdrawn  in  any  measure  firom  the  view.  We  cannot 
approve  of  the  following  remarks  relating  to  this  subject : — 

'  Nor  did  the  prophet  seek  to  draw  any  special  wonder  to  himself  as  an  impro- 
riser,  though  he  might  be  called  upon  to  speak  out  at  once  on  ffreat  emergencies 
that  which  had  been  pat  into  his  neart.  But  the  sole  power  which  the  prophet 
pooflosoed  of  deolarmg  thai  uthioh  should  fr#,  arose  firom  his  knowledge  of  that  which  had 
been,  and  which  was.  He  meditated  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  in  that  law  did  he 
exerdaa  himself  day  and  night.' — P«  141. 

This  tendency  of  the  writer,  which  we  would  endeavour  impartially 
to  describe,  serves  as  a  caution  in  perusing  his  masterly  pages :  in  other 
respects  we  see  much  to  admire.  There  is  no  irreverence  in  the  style, 
but  everywhere  may  be  discerned  the  working  of  a  vigorous  intellect 
held  in  check  by  a  manly  piety,  and  putting  forth  solid  truth  in  a  tone 
of  practical  humility.  No  one  can  read  the  book  without  liking  the 
man.  His  position  is  oflen  aggressive,  and  it  devolves  upon  him  to 
clear  away  vast  accumulations  of  prejudice ;  but  there  is  a  gentleness 
in  the  treatment  which  disarms  hostility,  as  well  as  an  elaboration  of 
the  argument  which  renders  it  hard  to  find  the  fiaw.  The  errors  of  the 
work,  if  such  they  may  be  called,  are  negative  rather  than  positive,  and 
are  to  be  suspected  by  infierence  rather  than  indicated  by  direct  citation. 

The  volume  has  very  much  more  continuity  of  plan  than  is  oflen 
secured  in  collections  of  sermons,  however  closely  connected  they  may 
be.  This  is  owing  to  the  sequence  of  the  inspired  history  of  the  kings 
being  closely  adhered  to.  We  have  a  deeply  interesting  review  of  the 
events  of  their  reigns,  and  as  in  the  Jewish  dispensation,  when  the 
theocratic  element  entered  largely  into  the  national  polity,  the  prophets 
were  oentsal  lights,  the  author  of  this  volume  has  taken  occasion  to 
expound  with  a  pecuHar  clearness  the  connection  of  the  prophecies 
with  the  history.  This  is  a  task  that  has  not  often  been  attempted,  and 
even  if  it  could  be  proved  that  such  investigations  are  not  lacking  to 
cniT  Biblical  literature,  it  is  very  evident  that  they  have  not  hitherto 
taken  any  distinct  hoM  of  the  public  mind.  Most  persons  read  the 
writhigs  of  those  inc^red  men  of  GU)d  in  a  devotional,  a  poetical,  or  in 
an  evangelioid  aspect — how  fbw   examine    thdr  historical  bearing! 


Digitized  by 


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188  Notice  of  Books.  [AprU, 

Schleiennacher  ininself  speaks  of  the  Old  Testament  as  though  its  chief 
and  only  use  were  to  throw  light  upon  the  New,  implying  that  it  has 
small  value  as  an  independent  revelation.  There  are  many  whose  ac- 
quaintance with  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  historians  might  be 
measured  with  some  accuracy  by  the  references  in  the  margins  of  their 
New  Testaments.  We  sympathise  with  the  conviction  to  which  Mr. 
Maurice  refers  as  fixing  itself  deeply  in  his  own  mind,  ^  that  the  Old 
Testament  ought  to  be  read  much  more  simply  and  according  to  the 
letter  than  we  are  used  to  read  it ;  that  we  have  not  made  its  applica^ 
tion  to  our  individual  cases  more  clear  by  overlooking  its  envious 
national  characteristics ;  that  if  we  had  g^ven  heed  to  them  we  should 
have  found  an  interpretation  of  some  of  the  g^reatest  difficulties  in  his- 
tory and  in  the  condition  of  the  world  around  us.'  It  is  evident  to  the 
impartial  inquirer,  and  on  this  fact  the  preacher  has  laid  great  stress, 
that  even  the  prophecies  which  are  more  strictly  '  evangelical '  related 
to  the  times  then  present,  and  can  only  be  understood  by  examining  the 
sense  in  which  they  would  be  received  by  the  Jewish  minds  to  which 
they  were  addressed.  The  sign  given  to  Ahaz,  the  prophecy  '  Unto  us 
a  Son  is  bom,'  the  apostrophe,  ^  How  art  thou  fsdlen  from  heaven, 
Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning,'  the  promise,  '  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh,'  are  shown  in  the  volume  before  us  to  have  been  signi- 
ficant even  to  a  generation  which  could  never  have  witnessed  their 
complete  fulfilment.  The  g^eat  principles  of  which  the  Jewish  history 
afibnls  the  amplest  illustrations,  and  which  this  far-seeing  writer  has 
not  failed  to  place  in  marked  prominence,  are  the  theocratic  element  of 
all  earthly  government  and  the  perpetual  discrepancy  between  idolatry 
and  the  maintenance  of  a  divine  covenant.  These  may  be  traced,  as 
the  Professor  has  traced  them,  from  the  elevation  of  Saul  to  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity.  As  we  have  remarked  that  there  may  be  danger  of 
denying  that  which  was  miraculous  and  exceptional  to  natural  order  in 
the  history  of  the  Jewish  kings  and  prophets,  we  would  now  on  the 
other  hand  insist  upon  the  perpetuity  in  all  ages  of  what  many  would 
fail  to  recognise,  a  particular  providence  governing  human  afl^rs,  the 
divine  obligations  of  kings  and  peoples,  and  the  identity  with  idolatry 
of  the  sins  of  which  even  Christian  nations  are  guilty.  Though  fire 
does  not  descend  in  our  days  from  heaven  to  consume  the  transg^ressor, 
there  are  methods  in  which  the  holiness  of  divine  law  is  vindicated. 

*  Moral  laws,'  says  Mr.  Maurice,  '  though  they  are  as  powerfhl  defenders  of 
themselTes  as  natural  laws,  do  not  defend  themselTes  in  the  same  way.  Human 
beings,  voinntary  creatures,  are  the  instruments  of  carrying  out  the  one,  as  the 
hidden  powers  in  sea,  or  earth,  or  fire,  are  of  fulfilling  the  other.  A  personal 
God  dealing  with  men,  will  employ  men  as  the  agents  and  executors  of  his  pur- 
pose. The  man  least  likely  to  be  so  employed  may  reoeive  the  commission:  but 
m  general  we  look  for  some  circumstances  which  shall  manifestly  prqiare  and  de- 
note a  specific  person  for  the  task.'— P.  92. 

Such  is  one  of  a  series  of  remarks  by  which  the  author  ushers  in  the 
histoiT  of  the  rending  of  the  tribes,  the  great  schism  of  Jeroboam  the 
son  of  Nebat.  This  kui  been  predicted  some  time  previously  by  Aiujah 
the  Shilomite.  The  sins  of  Solomon  had  been  the  great  provocative. 
It  was  a  mysterious  feature  of  the  history,  and  one  which  has  fr^om  that 

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1853.]  Natiees  of  Books.  189 

day  till  now  impressed  an  ineffaceable  mark  on  the  posterity  of  Israel. 
Those  ten  trib^  are,  we  believe,  in  existence  and  yet  to  be  revealed ; 
but  they  are  hidden.  Now  the  rending  of  the  tribes  was  an  act  wrought 
by  human  wickedness,  though  ordained  by  God  as  a  special  punishment ; 
it  seemed  to  set  aside  the  divine  promise  and  cause  a  disruption  of  the 
divine  order  and  government,  and  yet  it  was  over-ruled  to  stil]  higher 
purposes,  and  formed  an  element  in  a  yet  loftier  plan  of  government. 
In  commenting  upon  those  complex  problems,  of  which  tins  is  a  notable 
example,  the  clearness  of  thought  of  this  valuable  writer  shines  out. 

'  Not  as  if  he  were  the  author  of  those  acts  which  have  their  source  in  the  evil 
will.  They  are  by  their  very  definition  and  nature  resistances  to  his  will,  rebel- 
lions against  it.  Sat  as  they  work  out  their  own  sentence  and  condemnation, 
they  become  the  reluctant  servants  of  Him  with  whom  they  are  fighting ;  they  are 
not  only  foils  to  His  righteousness,  they  actually  help,  as  Scripture  expresses  it, 
to  turn  righteousness  into  judgment,  to  make  the  truth  which  they  are  denying 
manifest  for  their  own  age  and  for  all  ages  to  come.  Deep  and  un&thomable 
mystery,  worthy  to  be  meditated  on  by  those  who  are  fighting  with  evil  upon 
eaxih,  and  by  those  who  have  won  the  victory ;  the  kev  to  all  the  puzzles  of  his- 
tory, the  comfort  and  consolation  amid  the  overwhelminff  evils  which  we  see 
around  us  and  feel  within  us;  the  deliverance  at  once  ftrom  the  debasing  Pantheism 
which  teaches  that  sin  is  only  another  form  of  righteousness — wrong^  only  an  as- 
pect of  right— and  from  the  Manichffiism  which  would  lead  us  to  think  that  evil 
may  at  la^  triumph,  or  hold  a  divided  empire  with  God.  The  wrath  of  man  has 
praised  Him  and  will  always  praise  Him ;  Sin  and  Death  and  Hell  must  do  Him 
continual  homage  now,  and  will  be  led  as  His  victims  and  ^ce  His  triumph  when 
His  glory  is  fuffy  revealed.  But  neither  now  nor  then  will  they  ever  blend  with 
His  works,  or  be  shown  to  have  their  origin  in  Him,  or  be  known  as  anything  but 
the  contradictions  of  His  nature.'— P.  97. 

The  universal  prevalence  of  idolatry  is  ably  demonstrated  in  the 
present  work.  What  idolatry  really  is,  what  are  the  temptations  to 
become  its  votaries,  are  points  on  which  too  many  are  apt  to  remain  in 
wilful  ignorance,  and  those  who  denounce  it  as  the  climax  of  sin  and 
folly  in  Hindoos  or  Romanists,  little  suspect  how  the  disease  has  assailed 
their  own  vitals.  It  is  in  truth  the  materialism  of  the  atheist,  the 
symbolized  abstraction  of  the  pantheist,  the  poetic  realisation  of  the 
sentimentalist ;  it  is  the  God-denying  sin  that  includes  within  its  folds 
all  that  is  false  in  the  principles  of  him  who  cares  only  for  self-indul- 
gence and  material  wealth,  all  that  is  corrupt  in  the  morals  of  him  who 
is  a  lover  of  pleasure  rather  than  a  lover  of  God,  all  that  is  superstitious 
in  the  creed  of  him  who  turns  from  a  God  of  love  to  prostrate  himself 
in  abject  fear  before  a  god  of  terror.  Idolatry  is  in  a  nation  the  exact 
antithesis  of  the  recognition  of  a  divine  covenant,  and  as  nations  dififer 
from  individuals  in  the  absence  of  immortality,  national  sins  are  visited 
at  once  with  temporal  punishments.  '  When  a  nation  has  become  in- 
capable of  counting  anything  as  real  that  was  not  visible,  it  has  passed 
into  an  utterly  idolatrous  condition  of  mind.'  The  idolatrous  indi- 
vidual may  spend  his  days  as  though  God  smiled  on  him,  but  there  is 
reserved  for  him  a  judgment  to  come :  the  idolatrous  nation  sins  out- 
wardly and  is  punished  summaiily.  Mr.  Maurice  rightly  argues  that 
*  the  natural  mischiefs  which  flow  from  a  certain  course  of  conduct  are 
witnesses  that  there  is  a  divine  law  with  which  men  are  intended  to  be 
in  conformity,  and  that  they  have  chosen  to  live  as  if  no  such  law  ex- 


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190  NMcee  of  Book$.  [April, 

isted ;  that  in  this  saise  the  natural  punishments  are  not  anahgous  to 
the  divine  punishments,  but  identical  with  them.' 

In  commenting  upon  the  denunciations  of  the  prophet  Hosea,  in  the 
twelfth  sermon  of  this  volume,  the  preacher  has  an  opportunity  of 
pointing  out  the  prevalent  unbelief  of  a  corrupt  nation,  which  he  does 
not  fail  to  exhibit  in  a  very  striking  manner.     We  subjoin  an  extract 

'  Can  yon  wonder  that  Hosea's  words,  jnst  beeanse  they  were  the  words  of  a 
sane,  tiionghtfol,  far-seeing  man,  should  have  seemed  to  those  who  heard  then 
like  the  ravings  of  a  madmian  ?  Men  who  have  ceased  to  believe  in  a  nation,  who 
do  not  feel  that  the  name  denotes  anything  substantial,  who  look  upon  it  merely 
as  a  collection  of  atoms,  who  have  lost  aU  sense  of  a  connection  between  pasL 
present,  and  future,  who  only  know  that  they  exist  in  the  passing  moment,  and 
suspect  that  a  chaos  lies  before  and  behind  them — such  men  must  mock  at  the  dis- 
courses of  a  prophet.  He  talks  of  a  natum*s  ruin,  a  nation's  dissolution ;  what  can 
that  signify  ?  That  which  he  dreads  as  the  most  fearful  of  all  consummations  has 
for  them  taken  place  already.  Relationships  have  become  to  them  nonentities — 
mere  creatures  of  the  imagmation.  What  if  they  should  perish  more  completely 
still?  Would  not  the  com  and  the  wine,  the  silver  and  the  gold,  still  remain? 
Might  not  those  who  have  these  possessions  still  enjoy  them,  and  perhaps  more 
abundantly  ? 

'  No  I  says  the  prophet,  this  is  part  of  the  woe  which  I  am  sent  to  pronounce 
upon  you ;  not  the  worst  part  assuredly,  but  a  part  which  you  can  understand,  and 
which  you  must  listen  to.  The  com  and  the  wine  and  the  oil,  the  silver  and  the 
gold,  wUl  not  continue.  Tou  do  not  know  that  the  unseen  God  has  given  you 
them ;  you  are  dedicating  them  to  Baal  i  you  are  wor^ipping  a  God  of  com  and 
wine  and  oil,  of  silver  and  gold;  a  Gotl  whose  main  characteristic  in  your  judg- 
ment is,  that  he  sends  these  things  or  withholds  them  according  to  no  rule  at  all, 
or  according  to  the  rules  which  you  follow  in  the  distribution  of  your  treasures ; 
whom  rich  men,  therefore,  by  a  profitable  outlay  of  a  portion  of  their  treasures  in 
his  service,  may  induce  to  favour  them  and  to  keep  them  superior  to  the  rest  of 
their  countrymen.  It  will  not  be,  cannot  be.  The  coming  and  goins  of  these 
gifts  which  you  count  so  precious  depend  upon  laws  which  you  hold  vile  and 
trample  upon.  These  outward  things  are  contingent  upon  the  moral  laws,  upon 
the  spiritual  relations  in  which  you  have  eeased  to  believe.  When  these  are 
utterly  set  at  nought  you  will  seek  in  vain  Ibr  the  others.  Yon  will  invoke  all 
your  gods  to  help  you ;  they  will  not  nerve  arms  which  indolence  and  despair  have 
palsi^ ;  they  will  not  enable  men  to  work  for  a  common  object  who  have  learned 
to  think  that  each  exists  only  for  himself—  P.  206. 

We  doubt  not  that  the  volume  will  find  many  eager  and  thoughtful 
readers.  We  could  desire  that  the  views  of  the  author  on  the  subject 
of  inspiration  were  more  nearly  coincident  with  our  own,  because  we 
believe  that  an  implicit  confidence  in  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  as  an 
immediate  revelation  from  heaven  is  essential  to  a  true  &dth,  and  is  the 
great  bulwark  against  error.  Mr.  Maurice,  however,  is  manifestly  a 
devout  man,  far  more  so  than  many  who  will  accept  his  peculiar  views 
and  pursue  them  to  their  own  injury.  He  is  a  thoughtM  and  earnest 
man,  one  who  sees  the  evil  that  is, in  the  world  and  mourns  over  it,  and 
finds  his  greatest  consolation  in  the  past  dealings  of  God  with  his  people 
Israel,  having  a  deep  conviction  of  the  uniformity  of  those  dealings  in 
all  ages,  and  in  our  own  dispensation  receiving  new  vigour  through  the 
personal  advent  of  Him  who  brings  life  and  immortality  to  light 


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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  191 


Sunday  and  the  Sabbath;  or^  The  Seasons  for  identifying  the  Lord*s 
Day  of  the  Apostles  with  the  Sabbath  of  Moses,  By  William 
Hjbnrt  Johnstone,  M.A.,  Chaplain  of  Addiscombe,  Author  of 
*  Israel  after  the  Flesh,'  an  *  Essay  on  the  Life  of  Jesus,'  &c.  Lon- 
don :  Wertheim  and  Macintosh.    1 853. 

The  Sabbath  question  is  one  of  the  leadine  controversies  of  the  present 
day,  and  much  is  written  and  spoken  on  all  sides ;  but  amid  all  that  is 
said  it  is  not  always  possible  to  meet  with  argument  which  is  really 
conclusive,  or  historiciJ  statement  which  is  complete  and  satisftctory. 
The  interest  which  is  excited  on  the  subject  is  intense,  because  persons 
are  individuaUy  afiected.  The  man  of  piety  values  the  day  which  is 
rescued  ^m  toil  and  devoted  to  the  refiresftunent  of  his  soul ;  he  is 
therefore  jealous  of  any  proposal  for  secularising  that  portion  of  time 
which  God  demands  to  be  holy  to  himself.  The  man  of  pleasure 
values  the  holiday,  but  regards  it  only  as  a  vehicle  of  self-indulgence ; 
he  is  anxious  therefore  to  set  aside  every  custom  which  would  dd^  his 
enjoyments,  and  would  wish  to  silence  the  voice  of  any  positive  com* 
mandment  by  which  the  claims  of  the  day  are  enforced.  The  Christian, 
in  sbortj  feels  the  day  to  be  a  privilege ;  the  worldly  man  feels  its  strict 
requirements  to  be  distastefol.  Those  who  feel^  however,  enthusiastically, 
though  it  be  OB  subjects  of  controversy,  are  not  the  best  able  to  balance 
the  arguments  which  relate  to  them.  On  both  sides  much  it  advanced 
concerning  the  Sabbath  which  only  helps  to  encumber  the  entire  question. 

Mr.  JoShnBtone,  we  think,  has  in  a  great  degree  helped  to  narrow  the 
point  at  issue.  He  has  investigated  the  relation  between  the  Jewish 
Sabbath  and  the  Christiaai  Sunday  with  great  care  and  much  acuteness. 
He  has  at  least  disposed  of  the  common  fallacy  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
was  a  ceremonial  law  abrogated  by  Christ,  showing  that  the  precept 
was  moral  rather  than  positive,  and  that  whatever  accusations  might  be 
brooglit  against  our  Lord  in  reference  to  his  mode  of  observing  the  day, 
he  was  content  that  his  own  conduct  should  be  tested  by  Jewish  law 
and  custom,  whilst  be  in  no  instance  evinced  his  lordship  over  the  Sab- 
bath by  lowering  its  acknowledged  claims. 

We  think  that  Mr.  Johnstone  has  fellen  short  of  a  ftill  statement  as 
to  what  the  Sabbath  was  to  the  Jew  when  he  declares  that  it  was  little 
more  than  a  prohibition  of  labour.  The  commandment,  says  he,  does 
not  enjoin  religious  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  scarcely  seems  even  to 
suppose  the  existence  of  such  services,  unlcM,  indeed,  the  holy  convo- 
cations (at  Levit.  xxiiL  3)  be  eonndered  as  imf^ing  them.  It  is,  we 
admit,  remarkable  that  but  slight  data  are  given  to  us  to  eoaUe  us  to 
form  an  idea  of  Jewish  Sabbath  worship ;  but  a  burnt-offering  of  two 
lambs  was  added  on  that  day  to  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifices 
(Num.  xxviii.  8),  and  the  shewbread  was  changed  (Levit.  xxiv.  8). 
Bendes,  the  ^  remembrance  to  keep  holy*  would  never  be  secured  b^ 
mere  inacdon.  The  word  ^holy'  must  mean  at  least  ^dedicated  to 
GMl ;'  and  if  the  sabbaths  were  a  ngn  to  the  Israelites  that  it  was  He 
who  smtut^fkd  them,  the  day  was  obviously  intended  for  religious  medi- 


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192  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

tatioD,  when  they  should  cease  to  do  their  own  ways,  or  think  their  own 
thoughts,  or  find  their  own  pleasure,  or  speak  their  own  words. 

The  argument,  we  repeat,  is  well  drawn  out,  and  we  hope  that  many 
will  avail  themselves  of  Mr.  Johnstone's  volume  for  obtaining  a  clearer 
view  of  a  question  which,  calmly  considered,  ought  to  present  no  diffi- 
culty. 

Pastoral  Theology ;  the  Theory  of  a  Gospel  Ministry,  By  A.  Vinet, 
Professor  of  Theology  at  Lausanne.  Translated  from  the  French. 
Edinburgh,  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1852. 

Thebe  might  appear  to  be  very  little  to  attract  general  attention  in  an 
essay  on  the  Christian  nunistry.  The  topic  is  old,  as  old  as  Christianity 
itself,  and  every  one  would  regard  hinaself  as  abundantly  qualified  to 
judge  of  the  requisites  of  a  minister  and  of  the  manner  in  which  his 
duties  ought  to  be  performed.  We  are  all  in  one  sense  sennon-critics; 
are  we  therefore  to  say  that  hints  on  sermon-criticism  are  superfluous? 
We  are  all  watching  the  conduct  and  sifting  the  labours  of  those  who 
are  appointed  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord ;  but  is  there  no  room  to  lay 
down  a  clearer  and  more  systematic  plan  of  the  ministerial  lifie?  We 
might  oiumerate  a  series  of  reasons  why  a  well-considered  theory  of 
the  pastoral  ofiSce  is  a  desideratum.  More  than  a  century  and  a  half 
ago  Bishop  Burnet  published  his  '  Pastoral  Care,'  a  work  of  which 
most  writers,  including  Yinet  of  Lausanne,  have  made  frequent  use. 
It  is  well  known  at  what  a  low  ebb  the  ministerial  ofifice  had  arrived 
in  the  days  of  the  profligate  Charles  and  the  Popish  James.  '  Our 
ember  weeks,'  exclaims  the  bishop,  '  are  the  burden  and  grief  of  my 
life.  The  much  greater  part  of  those  who  come  to  be  ordained  are 
ignorant  to  a  deg^ree  not  to  be  apprehended  by  those  who  are  not 
obliged  to  know  it.  The  easiest  part  of  knowledge  is  that  to  which 
they  are  the  greatest  strangers ;  I  mean,  the  plainest  fiicts  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  they  say,  in  excuse  of  their  ignorance,  that  their  tutors  in 
the  Universities  never  mention  the  reading  of  to  them,  so  that  they  can 
give  no  account,  or  at  least  a  very  imperfect  one,  of  the  contents  even 
of  the  Gospel.  The  ignorance  of  some  is  such,  that  in  a  well-regulated 
state  of  things  they  would  appear  not  knowing  enough  to  be  admitted 
to  the  holy  sacrament :  this  does  of^  tear  my  heart.'  Here  was  the 
bishop's  reason  for  calling  attention  to  the  subject,  and  this  reason  is 
not  without  force  as  applied  to  the  state  of  things  at  the  present  day. 
But  without  fixing  the  mind  on  those  dull  and  barren  chapters  of  a 
nation's  religious  history,  where  the  teachers  of  the  Gospel  were  so  in 
little  else  but  in  name,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  ofifice  itself  is 
the  most  exalted  to  which  a  man  can  aspire ;  that,  to  use  George  Her- 
bert's expression,  the  pastor  is  '  the  deputy  of  Christ  for  the  reducing 
of  man  to  the  obedience  of  God.'  If  then  the  standard  is  high,  there  is 
the  more  need  for  a  frequent  contemplation  of  it.  It  is  indeed  a  healthy 
sign  for  any  Christian  communion,  when  we  hear  the  voices  of  those 
who  take  the  lead  inviting  the  pastors  of  flocks  to  a  more  diligent 
survey  of  their  privileges  and  responsibilities,  and  this  can  only  be  done 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  193 

by  a  fidthful  exposition  of  their  duties  and  the  means  placed  at  their 
disposal.  Now  we  are  well  aware  that  the  portraiture  of  the  ministerial 
office  has  been  by  successive  hands  well  drawn,  and  these  not  confined 
to  any  one  church  or  country )  but  the  most  accurate  delineation  of 
that  which  might  be  termed  the  Scriptural  type  of  a  Christian  minister 
would  not  suffice.  If  such  were  the  case,  we  might  content  ourselves 
with  directing  every  candidate  for  the  sacred  office  to  the  study  of 
St  Paul's  character  and  work,  on  the  same  principle  that  we  might 
make  the  Bible  the  sole  manual  of  theology. 

The  most  common  vehicle  for  reflection  on  the  pastoral  office  is 
ministerial  biography.  The  life  of  every  successful  pastor  suggests 
valuable  hints  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  same  work ;  but  the 
best  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  afler  all  only  a  specific  example ;  he  does 
not  embrace  the  whole  sum  of  his  office.  Such  biography  may  be 
regarded  as  the  raw  material  from  which  a  complete  view  may  be 
framed,  and  this  is  a  work  that  at  various  junctures  in  the  history  of 
Christianity  requires  to  be  performed.  The  minister,  let  us  remember^ 
is  the  Christian  exemplar.  He  does  not  form  one  of  a  separate  caste 
from  which  the  main  body  of  the  faithful  is  dissevered,  but  rather  is 
he  one  with  the  flock,  the  earnest  sympathiser  in  all  their  struggles 
and  infirmities,  and  one  appointed  in  the  providence  of  God  to  bring  to 
bear  upon  their  minds  and  hearts  those  precious  truths  which  form  the 
substance  of  the  divine  revelation.  Hence,  so  far  as  Christian  truth 
admits  of  development,  the  minister  in  every  age  exhibits  the  phase  at 
which  it  has  arrived  :  so  far  as  the  human  mind  expands  with  the 
advance  of  material  and  speculative  knowledge,  he  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
in  the  van  of  this  advancement ;  he  does  not  lag  behind  in  the  career 
of  human  progress  as  the  mere  advocate  of  conventionalisms,  but 
exhibits  in  the  culture  of  his  own  soul  that  which  God  has  been 
pleased  to  make  manifest  to  him  for  the  edification  of  the  world.  And 
yet  he  will  most  commonly  appear  to  many  as  exercising  a  restraining, 
if  not  a  retarding  influence.  He  calls  men  back  to  the  eternal  truths 
from  which  they  are  too  prone  to  wander ;  he  separates  between  the 
precious  and  the  vile  in  the  maxims  of  his  age,  and  shows  how  greatly 
the  destructive  element  preponderates.  His  main  lesson,  after  all,  is 
that  men  must  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children  in  order  to 
enter  the  kingdom  of  God.  That  which  revelation  prescribes  for  man- 
kind, the  minister  enforces  by  word  and  by  example ;  first  embodying 
the  divine  principles  in  himself,  and  then  commending  them  to  his 
flock.  The  Chrbtian  ministry  therefore  is  no  priesthood,  no  mysterious 
depositary  of  unintelligible  oracles ;  but  appealing,  as  it  does,  to  the 
reason^  the  conscience,  and  the  heart  of  mankind,  it  subjects  itself  to  a 
tribunal  before  which  it  is  ever  on  its  trial.  If  the  preacher,  and  the 
word  which  he  preaches,  take  a  divergent  course,  the  anomaly  is  at 
once  discoverable.  But  not  only  before  man  does  the  pastor  labour ; 
he  is  in  the  presence  of  Him  who  seeth  the  heart.  There  are  then 
ample  reasons  why  he  should  exercise  much  self-scrutiny,  and,  what  is 
more,  he  may  be  thankful  for  the  well-digested  thoughts  which  gifled 
men  may  supply  from  their  own  experience.     Hence  we  are  glad  to 

VOL.  IV. NO.  VII.  o  , 

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194  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

recommend  a  work  of  which  we  now  wish  to  say  a  few  words — 
M.  Vinet's  '  Pastoral  Theology,'  a  work  with  which  our  literature  has 
in  the  strictest  sense  been  enriched  by  a  recent  translation.  We  are 
glad  in  every  way  to  recommend  it  to  a  wide  perusaL  M.  Vinet's' 
mind  is  singularly  well  balanced,  and  his  heart  profoundly  influenced 
by  the  grandeur  of  his  subject  He  appears  to  us  to  liave  brought  all 
the  keen  penetration,  that  power  of  discerning  liidden  rdations  and 
developing  them  with  an  intellectual  force,  which  is  seldom  in  our  own 
days  brought  to  bear  on  points  of  practical  theology.  We  are  not 
made  to  listen  to  the  merely  sparkling  orator,  nor  yet  to  the  dry 
essaybt,  nor  is  it  mere  extent  of  reading,  nor  the  bare  record  of  expe- 
rience, but  something  which  combines  every  excellence  and  avails  itself 
of  every  advantage.  This  is  just  one  of  the  books  that  is  issued  with 
an  unconsciousness  that  the  world  will  be  attracted  by  it,  and  yet  we 
hesitate  not  to  say  that  it  will  live.  Let  the  translators  hasten  to  iulfil 
their  promise  of  publishing  the  '  Uomiletics '  of  the  same  talented  and 
devout  author, — we  can  promise  them  a  welcome. 

The  work  before  us  has  a  decided  advantage  in  admitting  of  a  very 
clear  analysis.  After  defining  the  true  notion  of  a  Gospel  ministry,  he 
treats  the  subject  in  four  parts,  viewing  the  pastor  in  a  fourfold  rela- 
tion. He  discusses  his  individual  and  interior  life ;  then  his  relative  or 
social  life;  thirdly  his  pastoral  life,  and  lastly  his  administrative  or 
ofBcial  life,  the  third  part  necessarily  occupying  the  greater  share  of 
his  attention.  M.  Vinet,  in  defining  the  office  of  a  pastor  under  the 
Christian  dispensation,  is  led  to  draw  a  contrast  with  the  Jewish  priest- 
hood. His  remarks  on  this  point  are  worthy  of  attention,  and  may  be 
taken  as  characteristic  of  his  general  style. 

*  In  the  Old  Testament  the  office  of  priest  and  that  of  prophet  were  separated. 
The  distinction  belongs  to  the  Old  Testament,  the  identification  belonffs  to  the 
New.  The  two  systems  are  characterised  by  these  two  facts.  A  perfect  hannony 
between  the  form  and  the  idea  did  not  exist  and  could  not  amve  till  aft^r  the 
introduction  of  the  spiritual  law,  the  law  of  liberty.  In  these  two  features,  in 
these  two  distinct  plans,  are  exemplified  the  letter  which  kills  and  the  spirit 
which  gives  life.  The  economy  which  was  to  unite  these  into  one  whde  was  also 
to  unite  in  one  man  the  character  of  priest  and  that  of  prophet.'— p.  15. 

We  need  not  follow  the  Christian  professor  into  his  investigations 
of  the  institution  of  the  ministry  or  its  special  forms.  He  is  remarkably 
candid  on  these  points,  and  as  he  writes  from  a  distance,  from  among 
the  sequestered  valleys  and  the  pure  mountain  atmosphere  of  the 
Canton  de  Vaud,  his  views  upon  several  open  questions  are  divested 
of  those  specialties  that  mark  our  controversies  at  home.  We  like  the 
treatise  because  it  is  neither  English  nor  Scotch,'  and  though  it  may 

•  It  is  curious  to  observe  how  the  translator  reveals  his  own  locale  in  rendering 
the  pastor's  residence  by  the  word  manse  (p.  149).  It  is  true  he  substitutes  *  par- 
sonage '  occasionally.  He  has  probably  smiled  at  the  difficulty,  one  that  arises 
in  (Set  from  the  pioneering  and  missionary  character  of  the  church  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  involved  necessity  that  pastors  and  apostles  had  '  no  certain 
dwelling-place,'  or  at  best  *  a  hired  house,'  and  not  unfrequently  were  inmates  of 
a  prison,  so  that  there  is  no  scriptural  word  which  can  be  adopted  in  common  by 
Scotch,  English,  and  Swiss. 


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1853,]  Notioea  of  Books.  195 

be  Swiss,  yet  is  emphatically  Christian,  and  that  world-wide  view  is 
taken  of  the  pastoral  office  that  will  advance  its  efficacy  for  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 

No  denomination  of  Christians,  we  believe,  denies  the  necessity  of  a 
9oetUi(m  to  ike  ministry.  This  is  one  of  M.  Yinet's  great  topics.  In 
his  preliminary  sections  he  enlarges  upon  the  exalt^  nature  of  the 
chaige,  a  consideration  that  obviously  demands  of  every  candidate  for 
the  holy  office  a  sufficient  reason  for  taking  the  step. 

'  Religion,'  he  says,  *  which  is  the  most  excellent  and  comprehensive  thing  iu 
man,  is,  for  the  minister,  the  business  and  duty  of  every  day  and  of  every  hour ; 
that  -which  is  onl^  one  among  many  elements  in  the  life  of  other  men,  is  the 
atmosphere  in  which  he  breathes.  He  lives  surrounded  by  the  grandest  and 
loftiest  ideas,  and  his  employments  are  of  the  most  absolute  and  lasting  utility. 
He  is  not  called  upon  to  do  anything  but  what  is  reaUy  good ;  he  has  neither 
obligation  nor  inducement  to  the  performance  of  eviL  He  occupies  no  rank  in 
the  social  hierarchy,  belongs  to  no  class,  but  he  is  a  connecting  link  between  all, 
and,  in  his  own  person,  represents  better  than  any  one  else  the  ideal  unity  of 
society.* — p.  61. 

It  naturally  follows,  that  he  who  would  carry  out  the  obligations  of 
such  a  position  must  take  good  heed  to  himself  ere  he  enter  upon  it. 
With  Bishop  Burnet  we  may  remark,  *  that  to  be  tied  to  such  an  em- 
ployment, while  one  has  not  an  inward  conformity  to  it,  and  com- 
placence in  it,  is  both  the  most  unbecoming,  the  most  unpleasant,  and 
the  most  uncomfortable  state  of  life  imaginable.  Such  a  person  will 
be  exposed  to  all  men's  censures  and  reproaches,  who,  when  they  see 
things  amiss  in  his  conduct,  do  not  only  reproach  him,  but  the  whole 
church  and  body  to  which  he  belongs,  and,  which  is  more,  the  religion 
which  he  seems  to  recommend  by  his  discourses,  though  his  life  and 
actions,  which  will  always  pass  for  the  most  real  declaration  of  his 
inward  sentiments,  are  a  visible  and  continual  opposition  to  it.'  ^  It  is 
evident,  then,  that  the  man  who  would  teach  others  must  first  himself 
be  taught.  Ignorance  in  a  teacher  is  of  all  faults  the  most  inexcusable, 
whatever  be  the  subject  of  his  teaching ;  for  if  that  subject  be  furthest 
removed  from  what  is  moral  or  spiritual,  though  it  be  secular  or  trivial, 
there  is  an  inunoral  act  at  the  very  outset,  a  fraud  practised  upon  those 
who  cannot  well  repair  the  injury  inflicted  thereby.  What,  then,  is 
ignorance  in  a  teacher  of  religion  ?  and  what  is  indifference  and  cold- 
ness of  heart  in  one  whose  business  is  to  warn  sinners  and  edify  the 
saints  of  God  ?  To  be  a  true  Christian  is  therefore  the  most  obvious 
requisite  of  a  minister.  There  must  also  be  a  desire  to  teach.  It  is  a 
law  of  most  minds  to  communicate  freely  to  others  that  which  has 
taken  any  decided  hold  of  the  attention.  A  man  who  has  obtained  a 
mastery  over  a  subject  will  gladly  converse  upon  it,  even  though  he  do 
not  seek  a  vent  in  the  published  treatke.  Where,  however,  the  know- 
ledge acquired  is  secular,  this  is  not  a  necessary  consequence ;  but  it  is 
otherwise  with  moral  truth,  the  possession  of  which  involves  an  obliga- 
tion to  communicate  it  to  others.  The  man  who  learns  how  to  analyse 
the  atmosphere  may,  if  he  please,  reserve  the  discussion  of  the  process 
to  the  chosen  few  who  have  embraced  scientific  inquiry ;  but  if  his  dis- 

*•  Pastoral  Care,  chap.  vii. 

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196  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

covery  reveals  that  in  a  certain  locality  the  air  is  poisoned,  he  is  guilty 
before  God  and  man  if  he  do  not  warn  the  unconscious  residents  of 
their  danger.  This  illastration  will  serve  with  respect  to  Gospel  truth : 
the  man  who  has  experienced  it  cannot  but  desire  to  warn  those  who 
live  secure  in  sin,  and  to  urge  them  to  a  Saviour.  But  all  men  are  not 
equally  capable  of  teaching,  and  in  a  general  community  it  is  not 
desirable  that  the  less  prominent  paths  of  duty  should  be  abandoned : 
if  then  desire  be  added  to  conversion  as  requisite  in  a  minister,  aptness 
to  teach  must  give  effect  to  the  desire  which  prompts  to  the  effort. 

*  It  has  always  been  desirable/  says  M.  Vinet,  *  that  the  minister  should  be 
solidly  instructed ;  that  he  should  be  conversant  with  religion  as  doctrine ;  that 
he  should  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  world  and  of  man.  The  idea  that 
pastors  need  not  know  very  much,  is  a  very  unfortunate  misconception.  Their 
knowledge  ought  at  least  to  be  such  as  to  place  them  on  a  level  with  whatever 
may  be  presented  before  them.* 

He  then  proceeds  to  notice  that — 

'  The  ministry  does  not  presuppose  an  extraordinary  measure  of  talents ;  piety 
will,  up  to  a  certain  point,  supply  the  lack  of  them ;  piety  in  itself  is  a  great 
talent. 

*  But  if  piety  can  to  a  certain  extent/  he  continues, '  supply  the  lack  of  talent, 
talent  cannot  supply  the  lack  of  piety,  and  the  most  special  kind  of  talent  (elo- 
quence, knowledge  of  the  heart,  facility  in  gaining  access  to  and  governing  minds) 
cannot  constitute  a  vocation.  A  man  may  be  eminently  adapted  to  act  the  part  of 
a  minister  without  being  called  to  be  one.  Nor  can  talent  be  a  substitute  for 
culture.  There  is  no  more  dangerous  confidence  than  that  which  is  inspired  by  a 
consciousness  of  talent. '  No  one  can  avoid  decaying  in  power  unless  his  talents 
have  a  basis  that  he  has  himself  acquired.  Many  distinguished  talents  are  lost, 
whilst  moderate  talents  arrive,  through  application,  at  results  which  seem  reserved 
for  genius/ — p.  79. 

M.  Vinet's  chapters  on  the  pastor's  individual  and  interior  life  relate 
to  the  renewal  of  the  ministerial  vocation,  *  tlie  stirring  up  of  the  gift' 
by  means  of  solitude,  prayer,  and  study.  He  particularly  warns  the 
man  of  God  from  relapsing  into  mere  officialism.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  formalism  and  conventionalism  are  ever  the  dangerous  points  to 
which  the  human  mind  makes  retrogressive  movements.  They  are  the 
very  antithesis  of  mental  energy,  and  unhappily  there  are  too  many 
found  rea(iy  even  to  argue  in  their  favour,  as  though  they  would 
designedly  extinguish  spiritual  vitality,  and  fossilize  the  organisation  in 
which  it  had  resided.  Hence  the  hierarchical  conventionalisms  of  Egypt 
and  of  Greece ;  and  Christianity,  once  reduced  to  this  dead  state,  is 
scarcely  more  able  than  were  those  old  systems  to  throw  off  the 
encrusted  incumbrance.  It  is  essentially  the  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  enkindle  in  the  minds  of  ministers  or  private  Christians  a  holy 
fervour  and  a  vital  energy,  which  shall  obtain  the  mastery  over  every 
torpid  influence:  hence  the  need  of  prayer  and  of  heart-cultivation. 
Let  us  listen  for  a  moment  to  what  the  professor  says  upon  the  subject 
of  study : — 

*  Apart  from  practice,  thought  will  become  impoverished  without  study ;  the 
most  active  and  fertile  minds  have  perceived  this.  We  cannot  derive  all  the 
nourishment  we  need  from  ourselves ;  without  borrowing  we  cannot  create.  It  is 
true  that  there  are  other  methods  of  study  besides  reading.  When  we  have 
learned  anything  from  books,  and  in  the  best  of  books  as  well  as  in  others,  we 


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1853.]  Notum  of  Books.  197 

must  make  use  of  our  native  powers  in  order  to  assimilate  it,  as  also  we  assimilate 
nourishment  for  our  body.  But  when,  without  the  aid  of  books,  or  in  the  absence 
of  facts,  we  labour  in  solitude,  on  what  materials  shall  we  labour,  unless  it  be  on 
those  supplied  by  recollection?  Whence  do  our  thoughts  arise,  except  from 
facts,  or  from  books,  or  from  social  intercourse  ? — a  great  volume  which  also 
demands  our  careful  study.  We  must  therefore  study  in  order  to  excite  and  enrich 
oar  own  thoughts  by  means  of  the  thoughts  of  other  men.  Those  who  do  not 
study  will  see  their  talent  gradually  fading  away,  and  will  become  old  and  super- 
annuated in  mind  before  their  time.  Without  incessant  study,  a  preacher  may 
make  sermons,  and  even  good  sermons,  but  they  will  all  resemble  one  another,  and 
that  increasingly,  as  he  continues  the  experiment.  A  preacher,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  keeps  up  in  his  mind  a  constant  flow  of  substantial  ideas,  who  fortifies  and 
nourishes  his  mind  by  various  reading,  will  be  always  interesting.  He  who  is 
governed  by  one  pervading  idea  and  purpose  will  find  in  all  books,  even  in  those 
which  are  not  directly  connected  with  the  ministry,  something  that  he  may  adapt 
to  his  special  aim.* — p.  106. 

Would  that  these  remarks  could  find  their  way  to  many  of  our  own 
preachers !  There  are  excellent  men  who  deem  themselves  better  em- 
ployed in  the  routine  work  of  the  pastoral  office,  than  in  storing  their 
minds,  and  whose  conception  of  preaching  would  render  it  exhortation, 
and  little  more.  Such  men  become  blinded  to  the  need  of  research ; 
they  are  to  be  found  in  the  cottage  more  than  in  the  study,  and  the 
hours  spent  in  the  pulpit  bear  a  very  false  proportion  to  those  devoted 
to  preparation.  The  obvious  result  is  that  the  secular  press  gets  in 
advance  of  the  pulpit,  and  intelligent  men  are  led  to  associate  the 
exercise  of  mind  with  any  other  subject  rather  than  religion.  It  is 
true  that  ministers  may  succeed  too  well  in  introducing  the  fruits  of 
intellect  into  their  ministrations,  and  whilst  by  the  variety  of  their 
allusions  they  may  secularise  the  treatment  of  a  sacred  theme,  they 
may,  by  the  closeness  of  their  reasoning,  exclude  from  their  audience 
those  to  whom  more  especially  the  Gospel  is  intended  to  be  preached. 

The  third  port  of  M.  Vinet's  treatise,  we  have  already  said,  contains 
the  more  numerous  topics.  It  is  headed  Pastoral  Life,  and  includes 
the  three  divisions — Worship,  Teaching,  and  Care  of  Souls. 

In  the  present  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  world,  it  ought  to  be 
obvious  to  every  one  that  preaching  is  the  main  function  of  the 
Christian  minister.  He  has  to  deal  on  all  hands  with  the  ignorant, 
with  the  indifferent,  with  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  truth,  and  even 
amongst  the  sincere  followers  of  the  Saviour  he  finds  much  to  correct, 
and  much  more  to  strengthen.  ^  For  the  instruction  of  all  torts  of  men 
to  eternal  life,'  says  Richard  Hooker,  '  it  is  necessary  that  the  sacred 
and  saving  truth  of  God  be  openly  published  unto  them ;  which  open 
publication  of  heavenly  mysteries  is  by  an  excellency  termed  preach- 
ing.' ""  But  while  this  g^reat  divine  gives  an  admirable  definition,  it  is 
carious  to  observe  how  assiduously  he  labours  to  g^ve  to  sermons  only 
a  secondary  place.  There  are  many  who.<e  ideal  of  public  worship 
presupposes  a  gathering  of  the  regenerate,  and  assigns  to  the  minister 
the  sacerdotal  function  of  a  mediator  rather  than  the  less  mystical 
office  of  an  evangelist.  Such  persons  might  succeed,  though  not  with 
perfect  fiiimess,  in  making  Hooker  speak  their  views.     Bishop  Burnet 

<^  Eccles.  Pol.,  book  v.  chap,  xviii.  sec.  1 . 

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198  Niottces  of  Books.  [April, 

utters  the  language  of  common  sense  when  he  says,  ^  The  world 
naturally  runs  to  extremes  in  everything.  If  one  sect  or  body  of  men 
magnify  preaching  too  much,  another  carries  that  to  another  extreme 
of  decrying  it  as  much.  It  is  certainly  a  noble  and  a  profitable  exer- 
cise, if  rightly  gone  about ;  of  great  use  both  to  priest  and  people,  by 
obliging  the  one  to  much  study  and  labour,  and  by  setting  before  the 
other  mil  and  copious  discoveries  of  divine  matters,  opening  them 
clearly,  and  pressing  them  weightily  upon  them.*  ^  Now,  whatever  be 
the  relative  importance  of  preaching  as  compared  with  the  other  duties 
of  the  pastoral  oiHce,  it  is  evidently  that  which  is  most  difficult,  requires 
most  personal  endowment  and  application,  and  therefore  occupies  a 
prominent  chapter  in  any  treatise  on  Pastoral  Theology.  M.  Vinet 
does  not  disguise  its  importance. 

'  Let  us  see  what  place  God  himself  has  assigned  to  preaching  in  Christianity. 
It  occupies  a  higher  and  grander  position  in  the  Christian  than  m  anjr  other  reli- 
gion, not  even  excepting  Judaism.  Christianity  is  a  religion  which  is  intended  to 
be  a  subject  of  thought,  and  consequently  of  speech ;  it  is  represented,  manifested, 
and  propagated  by  means  of  speech.  The  Gospel  is  a  word.  Christ  himself  is 
the  Word  or  Reason  {\^os) ;  the  two  terms  are  in  this  connection  interchangeable, 
for  a  word  is  Reason  expressed,  and  Reason  is  an  unuttered  word.  The  Church 
itself  is  truth  as  it  exists  in  the  thoughts  of  the  community,  and  is  spoken  by  the 
community.  In  one  word,  religion  is  a  matter  of  ftdth  and  of  persuasion,  and 
therefore  of  speech.' — ^p.  171. 

We  may  readily  allow  the  force  of  the  objection  that  lies  against  the 
exaltation  of  the  preacher's  office,  firom  the  imperfections  of  the  preacher 
himself.  Inspired  men  they  were  to  whom  it  was  said,  ^  Take  no 
thought,  for  it  shall  be  given  you  what  ye  shall  speak ;'  and  from  their 
lips  the  word  could  be  received,  *  not  as  the  word  of  men,  but  of  God.* 
We  cannot  therefore  base  the  authority  of  the  ministry  in  general  on 
the  infallibility  of  the  teacher.  The  treasure  is  indeed  contained  in 
earthen  vessels — vessels  that  are,  even  in  the  world's  eye,  misshapen, 
ill-supplied,  and  imparting  to  the  contents  a  savour  altogether  ex- 
traneous. Rebuke  in  general  is  an  illustration  of  the  mechanical  prin- 
ciple which  says  that  action  and  re-action  are  equal  and  opposite — it  is 
a  blow  which  strikes  the  fist  of  the  smiter  with  the  self*same  fbroe  as 
that  assails  the  person  of  him  who  is  struck.  It  is  possible  that  the  fist 
in  question  may  receive  the  greater  injury,  specially  if  there  be  an 
antecedent  weakness.  Let  him  that  is  taithout  sin  cast  the  stone.  Why  ? 
Because  in  any  other  case  the  re-action  inflicts  the  greater  blow.  How 
then  can  any  man  reprove,  rebuke,  or  exhort  ?  The  minister,  in  the 
first  place,  takes  his  stand  on  the  written  word.  He  strikes,  but  it  is 
with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  His  ministry  too  is  one  of  reconciliation ; 
and  if  it  be  retorted  upon  him,  ^  Physician,  heal  thyself,'  he  can  appeal 
with  all  humility  to  his  own  trust  in  the  blood  of  sprinkling  which  he 
recommends  to  others.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  strength  of  the 
ministry  depends  much  on  the  holiness  of  the  minister,  and  still  more 
on  his  sincerity  and  earnestness. 

'  God  has  not  designed,'  says  M.  Vinet,  *  that  a  good  and  an  evil  instrument 
should  £^ye  forth  the  same  sounds,  and  accordingly  this  is  not  the  case.    I  allow 

*  Pastoral  Care,  chap.  ix. 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  199 

that  the  power  of  God  is  magnified  in  the  infirmity  of  man,  but  not  in  a  ▼olontary 
infirmity,  which  consists  in  diminishing  the  powers  which  He  has  given,  and 
casting  a  slight,  so  to  speak,  on  His  favours.  The  more  we  are  penetrated  with 
a  sense  of  the  seriousness,  the  responsibility,  the  danger  of  our  mission,  the  more 
shall  we  feel  constnuned  to  watch,  to  anticipate,  and  to  take  precautious :  our 
small  AanMA  proTidence  enters  into  the  scJieme  of  the  vast  providence  of  God.' 
—p.  176. 

The  chapter  on  the  Care  of  Souls  is  if  possible  of  more  value  than 
any  that  luive  gone  before,  giving  practical  hints  for  the  personal 
treatment  of  various  phases  of  character  and  of  religious  experience. 
The  professor  is  evidently  a  well*tried  Christian,  who  has  sounded  his 
own  heart,  and  has  been  thereby  enabled  to  make  an  accurate  survey 
of  human  nature  in  those  aspects  which  present  themselves  to  a  pastor's 
notice.  To  speak  pointedly  and  effectively  to  an  individual  is  neces- 
sarily more  difficult  than  to  address  an  audience.  The  arrow  is  not  to 
be  shot  at  a  venture,  but  with  all  coolness  and  steadiness  of  aim.  For 
this,  as  indeed  for  the  other  valuable  suggestions  in  these  well-digested 
lectures,  we  refer  our  readers  to  the  work  itself.  We  would  gladly 
give  lengthy  extracts,  but  we  trust  that  we  have  said  enough  to  recom- 
mend its  daims,  and  to  awaken  an  interest  in  what  is  really  a  valuable 
addition  to  a  somewhat  neglected  branch  of  sacred  inquiry. 


Parish  Sermons^  precu^hed  for  the  most  part  at  Trinity  Churchy 
Upper  Dicker  J  in  the  county  of  Stissex,  By  the  Bishof  of  Sierra 
Leons,  late  Incumbent  of  the  Dicker.  London  :  James  Darling, 
1852. 
Those  of  our  readers  who  may  have  resided  at  Cambridge  some  ten 
years  since  will  have  been  familiar  with  the  aspect  of  two  students  of 
St.  John's  College,  whose  close  resemblance  to  each  other  suggested 
that  they  were  twin-brothers,  and  whose  constant  appearance  together 
implied  an  affection  that  had  grown  £tom  the  cradle.  Further  inquiry 
would  have  revealed  that  their  private  life  developed  the  closest  union 
in  thought,  conversation,  and  study.  What  was  still  more  remarkable, 
the  CoUege  and  University  examinations  manifested  the  similarity  of 
their  attainments,  so  that,  though  they  competed  among  a  crowd  in  the 
literary  race,  their  names  were  bracketed  with  the  technical  addition 
<  ^quales,'  in  the  lists.  These  brothers  bore  the  name  of  Vidal. 
.  They  both  entered  ttie  ministry,  and,  whilst  they  laboured  in  adjacent 
parishes  in  Sussex,  the  same  fraternal  devotion  was  maintained.  One 
of  them,  Owen  Emeric,  ha^  been  recently  appointed  to  the  Bishopric 
of  Sierra  Leone ;  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  particular  mission  which  he 
is  about  to  superintend  the  present  volume  of  sermons  is  published.  We 
liad  almost  expected  to  find  a  notice  of  joint  authorship.  Sure  we  are 
that,  if  the  brother  also  presents  us  with  a  volume,  it  will  require  all 
our  powers  of  criticism  to  detect  any  difference  of  style  or  sentiment. 

The  collection  which  is  now  before  us  includes  twenty-four  discourses 
preached  at  various  dates.  To  one  our  attention  has  been  specially 
directed,  not  only  by  the  circumstance  of  its  having  been  preached  at 
Great  St.  Mary's,  Cambridge,  subsequently  to   his  elevation  to  the 


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200  Noti4XB  of  Books.  [April, 

episcopate,  but  by  the  transcendent  importance  and  interest  of  the  sub- 
ject— *The  image  of  the  Invisible  God,  the  first-born  of  every 
creature.'     (Col.  i.  15.) 

Dr.  Vidai  is  evidently  one  who  habituates  himself  to  close  and 
earnest  thought,  so  that  we  are  not  surprised,  in  taking  into  account  the 
learned  audience  to  which  this  Sermon  was  addressed,  and  the  difficulty 
of  the  subject,  that  his  language  is  occasionally  too  deep  for  ordinary 
comprehension  ;  but  when  he  is  explaining  the  immediate  relation 
which  any  part  of  his  subject  has  to  Christ,  it  becomes  at  once  forcible 
and  simple,  as  where  he  lays  down  the  general  view  of  his  text, 
'  Christ  bearing  a  certain  inherent  and  inseparable  relation  to  Grod,  and 
a  certain  inherent  and  inseparable  relation  to  all  that  is  not  God.'  He 
is  alike  clear  and  comprehensive  in  tracing  the  various  ways  in  which 
Christ,  as  the  Image,  or  Visible  Representative  of  the  Invisible  God, 
reveals  the  Deity  to  our  understandings  and  affections,  or  (to  use  the 
bishop's  expression)  to  the  eye  of  the  mind  and  the  eye  of  the  soul,  as 
he  did  when  on  earth  to  the  eye  of  the  body.  Herein  lay  the  essence 
of  his  mediatorial  work,  that  he  came  as  '  God  manifest  in  the  fiesh.' 

In  elucidating  the  text  the  bishop  finds  no  difficulty  in  the  first 
clause,  '  Christ,  the  Image  of  the  Invisible  God,'  inasmuch  as  the  mani- 
festation of  Deity  through  the  Logos  is  intelligibly  revealed,  and 
universally  by  all  orthodox  Christians  believed.  The  title,  *  first-bom 
of  every  creature,'  is  not  quite  so  easy.  Let  us  see  how  this  difficulty 
is  met.  Dr.  Vidal  discovers  a  link  between  the  two  clauses  in  a  con- 
venient generalisation,  which  he  terms  the  principle  of  representation. 
The  remark,  in  which  we  cordially  agree,  is  valuable : — 

*  It  pervades  the  whole  gospel,  whether  we  view  it  as  shadowed  forth  under  the 
law,  or  as  more  manifestly  revealed  under  the  second  dispensation.  From  first  to 
last,  we  find  every  important  event  in  the  history  of  mankind,  so  far  at  least  as 
man's  relation  to  God  is  concerned,  transacted  by  means  of  a  system  of  representa- 
tion; someone  acting  as  the  representative,  either  of  all  others,  or  of  a  certain  class, 
as  the  case  may  be.  And  a  clear  view  of  this  system  of  representation  will  make 
plain,  as  fiir  as  they  can  be  made  plain,  many  of  the  mysteries  of  Scripture.' — 
p.  320. 

As  the  image  of  the  Invisible  God,  Christ  is  undeniably  the  repre- 
tentative  of  God  to  the  creature.  Can  it  be  said  tliat,  as  '  the  first-born 
of  every  creature,'  he  is  the  representative  of  the  creature  to  God? 
To  answer  this,  we  must  inquire  the  meaning  and  force  of  the  term 
'  first-born  '  (irpwroroicoc).  The  two  interpretations  most  commonly 
received  of  this  obscure  title  are  those  which  would  represent  it  as  the 
rAty  among  created  beings,  and  as  the  author  of  created  beings.  With 
regard  to  the  latter  view,  it  is  discarded  by  accurate  critics  as  being 
inconsistent  with  the  ante-penultimate  accentuation,  and  would  be  a 
legitimate  rendering  only  of  the  word  Trp^iroroicoc.  If,  then,  the 
epithet  applies  to  a  created  being,  does  it  imply  priority  of  existence  in 
point  of  lime?  Such  is  undoubtedly  the  force  of  vpuroc,  as  used  by 
John  the  Baptist  (John  i.  15).  But  in  the  passage  we  now  cite  allu- 
sion is  made  to  the  divine  nature.  If,  then,  we  confine  the  epithet 
employed  by  St.  Paul  to  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  we  are  prevented 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  incarnation  from  including  in  it  priority  of 

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time.  Dr.  Vidal  takes  the  same  view  of  this  difficulty,  though  we 
cannot  agrree  with  him  that  *  first-bom  of  created  nature '  would  rather 
apply  to  light  as  the  first  of  all  created  things — '  offspring  of  Heaven 
firsst-born*  (p.  332).  The  first  verse  of  the  book  of  Genesis  would 
contradict  this  remark. 

Some  commentators  understand  the  '  eternal  generation '  in  the 
epithet ;  but  here,  again,  we  agree  with  the  bishop  that  such  a  declara- 
tion would  '  be  irrelevant  to  the  Apostle's  argument.'  It  would  appear 
tliat  the  literal  8euse  of  the  term  does  not  apply,  for  the  reasons  to 
which  we  have  alluded ;  but  the  preacher  relieves  us  by  the  recog- 
nition of  a  principle  which  we  think  of  great  importance  in  biblical 
exegesis. 

•  It  most  be  admitted  that  there  are  many  words  used  in  Scripture  in  what  may 
be  called  a  teckrUcal  sense,  so  as  to  convey  a  meaning  which,  apart  from  Scriptural 
ccmnection,  they  never  would  have  conveyed.  But  the  technicalities  to  which  I 
am  alluding  have  more  especially  arisen  from  the  typical  character  of  the  Old 
Testament  revelation,  which  is  such  that,  after  some  person  or  thing  has  once 
been  chosen  as  a  type  to  shadow  forth  some  spiritual  reality,  the  name  of  that 
person  or  thing  is  afterwards  constantly  employed,  by  metonymy,  to  denote  the 
character  it  assumed,  or  the  object  for  which  it  was  employed ;  and  then,  by  a 
second  metonymy,  is  applied  to  the  spiritual  antitype  which  it  was  chosen  to 
shadow  forth. —  p.  334. 

Admitting  this  principle,  we  have  to  ask,  what  is  the  technical  sense 
of  *  first-born  ?'  The  bishop  refers  to  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptian 
first-bom  by  tlie  destroying  angel,  and  the  subsequent  consecration  of 
the  Israelite  first-born  to  the  service  of  Jehovali,  and  argues  that  they 
were  in  each  case  '  representative '  of  their  nation  ;  moreover,  that,  as 
representing  respectively  a  cursed  and  a  blessed  nation,  they  were 
typical  of  the  lost  and  the  saved.  I'his  we  think  perfectly  admissible 
as  a  premiss,  but  we  deny  the  conclusion  that  '  first-born '  denotes 
'  representative.*  Neither  can  we,  with  the  bishop,  paraphrase  the 
passage,  '  Who  is  the  representative  of  God  to  all  creation,  and  the 
representative  of  all  creation  to  God.' 

We  are  inclined  to  think  that  the  first-bom  of  a  Jewish  family  was 
'  representative '  of  his  father  more  than  of  his  brothers.  Thus,  to 
select  one  of  the  pat^sages  in  which  the  word  occurs  translated  by  the 
LXX.  vpuToroKoc  :  *  Reuben,'  pays  dyin«^  Jacob,  *  thou  art  my  first- 
bom,  my  might,  and  the  beginning  of  my  strength,  the  excellency  of 
dignity,  and  the  excellency  of  power '  (Gen.  xlix.  3).  It  is  evident 
from  this  passage  that  the  technical  meaning  of  first-born  is  ^  pre- 
eminent ;'  and  tliis  appears  to  be  the  Apostle's  meaning  as  expressed 
by  St.  Paul  in  Col.  i.  18,  a  passage  which  has  two  remarkable  parallel- 
isms with  the  prophecy  of  Jacob  in  the  words  'first-born'  and 
'beginning' — 'who  is  the  beginning,  ihe  Jirst-bom  from  the  dead, 
that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  pbe-eminence.' 

But  we  obtain  a  yet  clearer  view  of  the  technical  meaning  of  the 
term  where  it  is  applied  to  persons  who  had  no  precedence  by  a  literal 
primogeniture.  We  have  an  example  where  Moses  is  instructed  to 
address  Pharaoh — '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Israel  is  my  son,  even  my 
first-bom.*     '  Pre-eminence '  applies  here,  but   not  '  representation.' 


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202  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

The  same  remark  may  be  made  on  Jeremiah  xxxi*  19,  ^  Ephraim,  my 
first-bom.'  In  the  latter  passage  we  are  reminded  that  Ephraim  was 
the  first-born  of  Joseph ;  and  it  is  opportune  to  remark,  by  way  of 
illustrating  our  point,  that  Joseph  was,  in  a  technical  soise,  though 
not  in  a  literal  one,  the  first-born  of  Jacob,  but  by  no  means  ^  r^re- 
sentative '  of  his  brethren,  though  eminently  typical  of  Him  who  is  the 
subject  of  the  bishop's  text.  Joseph  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of 
Israel's  old  age ;  and  that  on  this  account  his  £eitiier  gave  him  a  token 
of  pre-eminence,  a  coat  of  many  colours.  It  was  equally  evident  that 
such  was  the  meaning  attached  by  the  brothers  to  this  distinction,  a 
feeling  that  was  confirmed  by  the  dreams  of  the  eleven  sheaves  and  the 
eleven  stars,  which  respectively  did  obei^nce  to  the  one.  Jaoob  moet 
probably  regarded  him  as  his  adopted  iirst-bom,  and,  as  being  the 
eldest  son  of  Rachel,  the  first  object  of  his  choice,  preferred  him  to 
Benjamin,  who  was  still  more  ^  the  son  of  his  old  age,'  and  to  Reuben, 
the  first-bom  of  Leah,  as  well  as  to  his  other  sons.  On  this  p(Hnt  we 
may  refer  to  Lightfoot,  as  quoted  by  Poole  (Poli  Synopsis  in  loco) — 
'  Primogenituram  Reubeni  ademptam  confert  Jacobus  in  Josephum,  et 
in  ejus  signum  banc  tunicam  illi  dedit.  Hinc  in  ilium  odium  et  invidia 
fVatrum.  Cum  Liam  amplexatus  erat,  exbtimabat  se  habuisse  Rache- 
lem ;  et  sic  primogenitura  juxta  ipsius  mentem  et  cogitata  ad  Rachelis 
primogenitum  pertinebat.'  The  technical  sense  of  first-born,  we  con- 
clude, where  the  term  was  applied  to  those  who  were  not  so  according 
to  the  ordo  nature,  is  '  pre-^ninent/  Hence,  the  Messiah  is  spoken 
of  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  27) — *  I  will  make  him  my  first-bomy  higher  than  the 
kings  of  the  earth.' 

As  applied  to  the  saints,  the  word  includes  the  pre-eminence  that 
belonged  to  kings  and  priests.  It  is  true  that  the  priestly  tribe,  whksh 
was  substituted  for  the  first-born,  may  have  been  ^  representative '  of 
the  nation,  but  assuredly  in  a  sense  much  less  obvious  than  that  it  was 
spiritually  pre-eminent.  But  those  who  are  adopted  from  among  men 
as  God's  children  receive  their  exaltation  through  the  divine  mercy 
and  by  their  individual  faith.  Each  one,  moreover,  stands  alone ;  he 
represents  no  other,  and,  irrespectively  of  the  belief  or  unbelief  of  his 
fellow-man,  is  singled  out  for  a  heavenly  crown,  and  a  priestly  robe 
washed  and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  ^  Te  are  come,' 
says  the  Apostle,  '  to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  firsi- 
born^  which  are  written  in  Heaven '  (Heb.  xii.  23),  where  he  speaks 
of  the  company  of  the  redeemed  in  their  union  with  their*  glorified 
Head. 

We  gratefully  acknowledge  that  the  bishop  has  thrown  light  upon 
this  difficult  text,  though  we  think  he  has  generalised  too  hastily  in 
appl)  ing  his  ingenious  principle  of  ^  representation '  to  expkun  the 
latter  clause  of  the  verse.  Pre-eminence  over  the  entire  creation  is  the 
attribute  which  we  deduce  from  the  expression,  as  more  consonant  with 
the  scriptural  employment  of  the  word,  as  well  as  more  consistent  with 
the  argument  of  the  sacred  writer.  Dr.  Vidal  would  probably  recog- 
nise our  view  of  the  subject,  more  especially  as  it  virtually  inchides  his 
own  interpretation,  and  admits  of  a  similar  practical  application. 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Booka.  203 

If  there  existed  any  doubts  as  to  the  general  sentiments  of  the 
preacher,  they  would  be  dispelled  by  a  perusal  of  the  very  first  page  of 
the  sermon  which  we  have  singled  out,  in  which  he  sets  before  us,  as 
our  highest  happiness,  the  knowledge  of  Christ  attainable  by  prayerful 
study  of  His  ^vord.  We  are  made  to  discern  at  once  the  faithful  and 
enlightened  preacher  of  that  word.  It  is  true  that  we  do  not  class  him 
with  the  popular  men  of  our  day.  He  wants  the  brilliant  rhetoric  of 
Or.  Gumming,  the  majestic  oratory  of  Dr.  M'Neile,  and  the  rapt 
enthusiasm  of  Mr.  Stowell ;  yet  there  are  passages  of  great  fervour  and 
love  which  might  warm  the  coldest  heart,  and  make  the  soul  long  to 
be  drawn  upwards  with  that  happy  consciousness  of  its  union  with 
Christ  which  he  appears  so  fully  to  enjoy. 


Die  Heden  des  Herrn  Jesu  (The  Discourses  of  the  Lord  Jesus). 
By  Dr.  It.  Stibb.  Second  edidon,  revised  and  enlarged.  Vol.  I. 
Barmen,  1851.     8vo.  pp.  448. 

We  are  happy  to  welcome  the  appearance  of  the  first  volume  of  an 
improved  edition  of  Dr.  Stier's  excellent  work  upon  our  Lord's  Dis- 
courses. Many  of  our  readers  are  no  doubt  already  acquainted  with 
the  former  edition,  and  will  rejoice  in  the  publication  of  this  as  an 
indication  of  a  growing  sense  of  the  importance  attaching  to  the 
exposition  of  Scripture  in  a  practical  spirit  and  fbrm,  and  on  sound 
critical  principles. 

This  work  first  came  out  in  six  volumes,  from  1842-8.  Its  aim  is, 
in  the  spirit  of  reverence  and  faith  which  becomes  the  student  of  God's 
word,  to  present  for  our  meditation  the  very  life  and  depths  of  the 
8a3rings  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man  spake, — to  exhibit  the  eternal 
*  Word  made  flesh '  in  the  exercise  of  believing  love.  How  different 
from  the  views  of  those  who  r^fard  these  very  discourses  as  they  would 
some  anatomical  preparation  to  be  scrutinised  with  a  purely  pro- 
fessional eye,  and  who  look  upon  the  Saviour  with  as  little  feeling  as 
they  would  on  some  Plato  or  Aristotle  lecturing  on  the  science  of 
theology ! 

The  new  edition  is  to  consist  of  four  volumes.  Vol.  I.  includes  the 
preliminary  sayings  of  Christ,  and  the  discoursed  recorded  by  Matthew 
in  particular  from  ch.  iv.  to  xi.  Vol.  II.  will  give  us  those  contained 
in  Mark'and  Luke.  Vol.  III.  is  to  take  up  part  of  John ;  and  Vol.  IV. 
the  discourses  connected  with  His  sufferings,  death,  and  resurrection, 
as  given  by  all  the  Evangelists.  The  principal  improvements  are  to 
be  in  Void.  I.  and  II.,  and  the  author  avails  himself  of  the  latest 
investigations  of  German  and  English  writers. 

As  the  *  Neue  Bepertorium'  of  Drs.  Bruns  and  H&fner  says,  we  have 
here  treated  of  not  only  the  Lord's  lengthened  discourses,  but  every  one 
of  his  recorded  expressions,  not  in  dry  formal  notes,  but  in  a  compre- 
hensive and  connected  survey  of  the  scope  and  context,  with  the  appli- 
cation of  a  profound  and  penetrating  exegesis,  whicii  develops  their 
pre-eminently  practical  bewing.     Erroneous  opinions  are  glanced  at 

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204  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

and  refuted,  but  the  writer's  grand  aim  is  to  unfold  in  a  positive  form 
the  latent  spirit  and  life  of  the  Master^s  words.  Like  the  Repertorium 
fur  theoL  Lit,  of  Reuter,  '  we  earnestly  commend  the  work  to  all  pruc' 
iical  divines,  as  well  those  who  anticipate  the  sacred  office  as  those  who 
already  fill  it.  Dr.  S.  is  every  way  fitted  to  introduce  us  to  the  trea- 
sures of  wisdom  and  knowledge  which  lie  hidden  in  Christ  and  hts 
words.  And  so  admirably  is  the  intellectual  element  combined  and 
harmonised  with  the  spiritual  and  edifying,  that  the  practical  and 
devout  may  draw  hence  rich  materials  for  their  personal  use.*  2io 
wonder  that  this  work  is  established  without  rivalry  in  its  particular 
department — ^although  it  shrinks  from  no  difficulties,  and  is  as  manly 
and  independent  in  its  tone  as  it  is  reverential  and  religious  in  its 
spirit.  The  previous  edition  had  a  large  sale  in  Germany,  while  its 
circulation  extended  to  '  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Russia,  Switzer- 
land, Belgium,  France,  and  England,  and  even  to  America,  Africa, 
and  the  ]^t  Indies.' 

It  is  by  no  means  as  a  rival  to  Dr.  Brown,  nor  for  the  purpose  of 
comparison,  but  as  a  fellow-labourer  in  a  field  which  is  among  the 
most  fruit^  in  Christian  theology,  that  we  introduce  Dr.  Stier.  ^  It 
is  not  without  reason,'  says  Calvin,"  '  that  I  compare  the  evangelical 
history  recorded  by  the  four  witnesses  divinely  ordained  for  this,  to 
four  horses  accoupl^s :  for  it  seems  that  God  has  willed  by  this  har^ 
mony,  so  suitable  and  accordant,  expressly  to  prepare  and  equip  for  his 
Son  a  chariot  of  triumph  from  which  to  appear  in  magnificent  array  to 
all  believing  people,  and,  rapidly  borne  forward,  to  take  his  survey  of 
the  world.'  If  so,  the  words  and  sayings  of  our  Lord  are  the  very 
vital  principle  and  breath,  life-blood,  energy,  and  motive-power  of 
these  glorious  chargers;  and  sanctified  genius  cannot  be  better  em- 
ployed than  in  setting  them  forth  in  all  their  majesty  and  might.  Such 
is  the  undertaking  of  Dr.  Stier  in  the  work  before  us. 

This  voliune  consists  of  two  principal  divisions.  The  ^rst  includes 
the  sayings  recorded  in  Luke  ii.  49;  Matt.  iii.  15;  iv.  4-10;  John  L 
38-51 ;  ii.  4;  and  ii.  16-19:  the  second  includes  those  from  Matt.  iv. 
17  to  xi.  30.  The  principles  of  the  author  are  exhibited  in  an  intro- 
duction, and  to  these  principles  we  now  invite  attention. 

The  New  Testament  is  the  truest  exposition  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  Christ  is  the  truest  revelation  of  God ;  while  the  '  words  of  the 
Word '  are  the  truest  manifestations  of  himself  There  was  a  meaning 
in  all  Christ  did  as  well  as  in  what  he  said — his  whole  life  is  his  word 
to  us.  We  possess  his  sayings,  not  the  ipsissima  verba,  but  an  inspired 
account  of  them,  and  they  are  therefore  to  us  ipsissima  as  his  dis- 
courses. John  adheres  least  to  the  literal  and  actual  expression,  yet 
presents  us  with  the  most  transparent  spiritual  and  li>dng  report  of 
what  our  Lord  said.  Each  Evangelist  had  his  separate  gift,  position, 
and  aim,  bu^  one  Spirit  moved  in  them  all,  in  harmony  with  one 
glorious  plan.  Our  misfortune  is,  non  habemtis  aures  stent  Deus 
hahet  linguam :  O  that  we  could  but  read  and  hear ! 

•  Prefece  to  *  Comment,  sur  la  Concordance  ou  Harmonic/  &c.,  edit  15C3. 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  205 

As  men,  we  r^,  Christ  spoke,  and  the  Apostles  wrote.  The  Word 
must  first  become  flesh,  but  the  flesh  also  must  become  spirit.  This 
is  the  Word  to  the  world  now — the  Church  must  come  back  to  the 
Gospels;  for  were  it  swept  away,  and  a  single  conscientious  and 
upright  man  remained  to  read  a  single  Gospel — say  that  of  Mark — he 
must  and  would  from  that  time  live  again.  The  Gospel  is  to  the 
world  more  than  the  Church. 

The  harmony  of  the  Gospels  has  been  hitherto  sought  in  their  out- 
ward form  and  in  historical  tradition,  but  men  have  overlooked  that 
nearer  and  better  way  in  the  symphony  of  our  Lord's  discourses.  Here 
we  toucli  a  chord  which  sympathisingly  vibrates  through  them  all. 
False  critics  wrong  the  Gospeb  incessantly ;  and  the  poor  synoptista 
{die  armen  Synoptiker  /),  how  much  must  they  endure  for  the  honour 
of  John !  Bdieving  therefore  the  essential  inspiration  of  the  Gospels, 
and  that  a  historical  harmony  is  impracticable,  we  must  look  to  the 
words  of  the  Lord.  About  Him  the  world's  history  clusters,  past, 
present,  and  future.  In  Him  we  have  the  clue  to  the  world's  mysteries, 
and  the  solution  of  the  world's  enigmas.  Here  the  questions  and  inmost 
life  of  every  man  And  their  fulfilment  and  response.  In  this  there  is  a 
sweet  and  divine  simplicity,  dbplaying,  however,  the  highest  wisdom, 
to  receive  which  (resting  as  it  does  on  the  inunutable  basis  of  truth) 
by  the  obedience  of  faith,  is  to  secure  happiness  as  its  proper  reward. 
To  take  such  ground  b  to  insure  slander  At)m  foes  and  censure  from 
friends  now,  but  not  when  men  shall  read  the  Old  Testament  as  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  read  it — shall  take  God*s  word  as  it  is. 

Interpretation  must  not  ape  philosophy,  but  be  rational  and  natural. 
The  exegesis  adopted  must  not  follow  the  purely  intellectual,  or  the 
scientific  and  theoretical,  but  the  experimental  and  practical ;  we  must 
speak  only  while  and  as  we  believe,  according  to  the  word,  and  not 
after  any  school  or  system. 

The  paraenetic  element  pervades  the  word  of  God,  and  it  is  sad  to 
think  of  the  lifeless  and  dry  handling  of  it  which  does  not  speak  from 
the  heart  to  the  heart — the  *  purely  scientific,'  as  it  is  called  by 
themselves,  but  by  the  Apostle  ypiv^ wrvfio^  yvQtng.  The  Bible  was 
never  meant  only  to  furnish  materials  for  the  mere  theologist,  but  for 
actual  life. 

In  our  Lord's  discourses  all  the  rays  of  truth  in  humanity  are 
gathered  as  into  a  focus,  and  are  reflected  with  augmented  brightness 
intensity,  and  transparency.  All  races  of  men  here  recognise  the 
pulsations  of  human  nature  perfected  and  divine.  Here  the  true  phi- 
losophy, the  iravra  Biiu  ko.)  iLyOpviiriya  irayra  of  Hippocrates,  is  summed 
up  and  more  than  realised  in  the  God-man.  Here  is  the  centre,  basis 
and  root  of  the  Christian  system,  and  not  in  rabbinic  or  cabalistic 
phrases,  nor  in  the  triad  of  Plato  or  of  Philo. 

That  the  word  of  Christ  furnishes  its  own  solution  is  a  &ct  of  great 
moment;   but  there  must  be  light  given  us  from  above.     Here,  no 
doubt,  Jides  prcecedit  inteliectum,  we  must  believe  before  we  know 
and  every  thought  must  be  brought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of 
fliith. 

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206  Notices  qf  Books.  [April, 

Such  are  our  author's  principles ;  we  commend  them  to  every  one 
whose  high  office  it  is,  or  may  be,  to  expound  God's  word,  as  worthy 
of  serious  attention.  Happy  will  the  day  be  when  our  teachers  shall 
all  take  as  elevated  gpround,  and  set  before  themselves  an  equally  lofty 
aim! 

The  method  adopted  in  this  book  might  be  anticipated.  Each 
passage  has  been  subjected  to  a  searching  criticism,  but  the  process  is 
not  ostentatiously  displayed,  nor  are  we  presented  with  the  disjecta 
tnembra  of  passages  simply  dissected  sentence  by  sentence  and  wc»tl 
by  word.  Yet  the  portions  selected  are  not  texts  for  sermons,  laid 
down  methodically  and  arranged  artistically,  according  to  the  most 
approved  log^c  of  the  schools ;  still  less  are  they  the  ba^^  of  rhapsodies, 
such  as  we  have  read  ere  now :  but  each  saying  and  discourse  is  treated 
in  exiensOj  without  regard  to  its  length  or  the  number  of  pages  it 
requires.  Here  again  we  have  another  refreshing  deviation  from  the 
old  Procrustes  fashion  of  condensing  into  one  lecture,  or  cutting  up 
into  lengths,  the  living  words  of  Christ.  Still,  with  all  his  departures 
from  old  forms.  Dr.  Stier  reminds  us  of  some  of  the  better  homilists 
of  the  early  Church.  He  has  all  their  imagination,  though  more 
chastened;  all  their  feeing,  though  more  controlled;  and  all  their 
piety,  with  less  of  their  mysticism.  He  enjoys  the  light  of  modem 
theological  science,  and  the  stores  of  critical  a{^)aratus  which  we  now 
possess,  and  he  has  profited  by  them.  His  learning  is  as  unquestionable 
as  his  (ttety;  and  were  there  none  of  the  references  which  indicate 
research,  the  structure  of  his  book  would  prove  a  &miliar  aoq^intance 
with  and  habitual  appli<;ation  of  the  soundest  principles. 

The  main  tendency  of  this  work,  to  exhibit  the  words  of  our  Lord  as 
living  aiyl  life-giving,  we  must  dwell  upon  for  a  few  moments.  Dr.  Stier 
seeks  vividly  to  represent  them,  because  they  are  living  words, — not  as 
the  utterances  of  a  philosopher,  though  they  are  that ;  but  more,  the  out- 
gushings  of  a  heart  living,  loving,  and  human,  and  yet  divine.  The 
words  of  Christ  are  the  form  in  which  God's  mind  and  heart  reveal 
themselves.  They  are  spirit — the  expression  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah. 
They  are  life  and  spirit,  which  is  more  than  living  and  spiritual,  or 
than  can  be  conveyed  by  mortal  speech.  They  are  life-giving,  and 
this  power  they  derive  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  are  the  life  of  the 
Scriptures ;  they  give  life  to  the  dead  in  sins ;  they  are  the  vital  prin- 
ciple of  the  renewed  heart ;  they  expand,  and  spiritualize,  and  preserve 
this  same  {ninciple ;  and  they  point  to  life  in  heaven,  towards  which 
they  continually  lead  the  soul.  There  is  a  depth  and  a  power  in  the 
word)  of  Christ  upon  which  we  may  safely  expatiate ;  the  heart  loves 
to  brood  over  them  and  the  mind  to  ponder  them.  There  is  in  th«n  a 
beauty,  transparency,  brilliancy,  and  harmony  which  we  may  well 
admire,  for  it  is  unparalleled.  They  help  us  to  see  clearly  into  other 
parts  of  Scripture,  and  are  a  key  to  treasures  otherwise  inaccessible. 
But  they  stand  by  themselves  as  the  Master's  words.  The  more  we 
view  them  in  thdr  many-sidedness,  the  more  we  shall  know  their  worth. 
For  instance :  man  stands  in  need  of  the  par»netic  and  practical ;  for  he 
has  a  soul,  is  the  creature  of  action,  and  exposed  to  adverse  influences^. 

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1853.]  Notices  qf  Books.  207 

The  word  of  God  is  all  practical  in  spirit  when  not  in  letter,  but 
nowhere  more  so  than  in  our  Lord's  discourses.  The  expositor  will 
observe  and  imitate  this.  The  parsenetic  element  will  pervade  his  work 
like  a  leaven,  and  man's  yearning  and  heaving  heart  will  sympathise 
^th  it.  Let  the  life  of  the  Saviour^s  words  be  revealed  as  it  is  in  this 
book,  and  we  shall  see  blessed  results  ere  long.  '  The  Church  must 
come  back  to  the  Gospels* 

But  again,  there  is  symmetry  in  the  form  wherein  this  life  dwells — 
not  the  symmetry  of  human  art  or  science,  but  of  divine  skill.  We 
have  not  viewed  the  whole  which  God  has  given  us.  How  men  have 
rent  and  torn  away  its  members !  And  yet  it  is  visible  to  the  eye  of 
fiiith.  God  chose  it  should  be  what  it  is,  and  when  shall  we  cease 
attempting  to  improve  by  altering  his  work  ?  The  expositor  must  show 
men  the  word.  He  must  exhibit  its  relations  to  their  circumstances. 
Men  must  be  addressed  as  men  by  man,  or  rather  by  the  ^  word  made 
flesh.'  The  inspiration  of  the  word  must  never  be  forgotten.  Then 
the  truth  and  integrity  of  the  tout  ensemble  will  be  undeniable,  because 
visible,  and  it  will  be  owned  that  the  Gospels  must  not  be  altered, 
cannot  be  improved,  are  not  to  be  increased  nor  diminished,  for  they 
are  the  work  of  God. 

He  who  with  such  views  and  feelings  interprets  the  discourses  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  will  be  endued  with  a  vigour  and  animation  which  can  only 
attend  upon  sympathy,  on  the  one  hand  with  the  word,  and  on  the 
other  hand  with  humanity.  Hence  the  freshness  and  energy  of  the 
book  before  us  contrast  remarkably  with  the  frigid  temperament  and 
style  of  so  many.  We  rejoice  to  see  that  the  good  old  Christian  spirit 
of  the  Grerman  Fatherland — ^tlie  warmheartedness  and  cordiality  of  * 
religion  which  kindle  a  like  glow  in  other  bosoms — still  lingers 
there. 

Our  remarks  have  no  reference  to  the  exposition  here  adopted  in 
particular  instances,  though,  even  where  the  views  propounded  are 
questionable  to  us,  Dr.  Stier  generally  gives  reasons  for  his  0{Hnions : 
eg.  on  Matt.  x.  2^,  where  he  maintains  that  it  is  not  God,  but  Satan, 
who  can  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell  (pp.  376-380). 

It  will  hardly  be  needAil  for  us  to  give  quotations  after  what  has  been 
said-;  we  shall,  however,  select  a  specimen  of  the  author's  analyses, 
which  are  generally  carefully  elaborated.  The  passage  is  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  Matt,  v.-vii. ;  but  we  shall  somewhat  abridge  for  the 
sake  of  brevity : — 

The  Old  Testament  prononnced  a  curse;  the  New  Testament  begins  with  a 
blessing,  for  it  is  a  Gospd.  This  Sermon  is  no  second  law  :  He  who  yonder  on 
&nai  testified  by  storm  and  darkness,  here,  in  his  love  to  men,  sits  down  among 
them  that  they  may  sit  at  his  feet  and  hear  his  words  (Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  3).  It  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  one  unrepealed  law  which  grace  here  presents,  and  of  which 
it  demands  acceptance.  Thus  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Sermon  rests  on 
each  w(»tl  of  the  *  fulfilling  all  righteousness,'  and  on  the  first  claim  which  Christ 
urged, '  repent.'  We  might  say  uie  Sermon  teaches  us  wherein  that  repentance 
consists,  by  which  alone  man  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  A  threefold 
principle  pervades  all  right  preaching — the  conciliatory,  the  hortatory,  the  admo- 
nitory. Between  the  first  and  the  thml  lie  doctrine  and  instruction.  In  the  chap- 
ters before  us  this  principle  obtains. 


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208  Notices  of  Books,  [April, 

The  f\ilfilliDg  of  the  law  is  the  main  point.  Hence  we  have  set  forth  the 
perfect  righteousness  of  Christ's  disciples.  Heaven  is  promised  to  them,  but  they 
are  required  to  accept  and  retain  to  the  end  what  He  gives,  and  are  admonished 
how  fearful  will  be  the  consequences  of  neglect.  Corresponding  to  the  threefold 
life  of  the  disciple  in  its  inward  principle,  outward  manifestations,  and  the  pro- 
gress demanded,  there  are  three  leading  ideas  in  this  Sermon,  viz.  1.  Alluring 
promises ;  2.  A  preceptive  law ;  and  3.  Warning  rebuke.  It  starts  from  the 
assumption  that  righteousness  is  a  free  gift;  advances  through  its  expression  as 
evidence  of  its  acceptance;  and  comes  to  the  description  of  the  test  applied  to 
professed  disciples  at  the  end  of  the  course. 

I.  The  first  division  is  contained  in  ch.  v.  3-20.  Here  again  we  have  the  three- 
fold principle:  I.  The  leading  idea  of  promise  (ver.  3-12);  2.  The  manifestation 
of  grace  received  (ver.  13-16);  3.  The  admonitory  warning,  reminding  us  of  the 
final  test  (ver.  17-20). 

II.  This  division  is  introduced  by  ver.  20,  in  which  a  transition  is  effected. 
Here  in  the  form  of  a  spiritual  law  we  are  directed  to  the  expression  of  righteous- 
ness received  as  the  gift  of  grace  (v.  20  to  vii.  14).  This  is  preeminently  the 
leading  sentiment  of  the  discourse.  Three  striking  contrasts  serve  to  set  forth 
the  righteousness  of  Christ's  disciples. 

1.  Not  the  Pharisees — the  men  of  the  law  and  of  the  letter,  and  (even  to 
hypocrisy)  of  external  appearances.  This  point  is  most  fully  illustrated  (v.  21  to 
VI.  18),  and  is  the  basis  of  a  correct,  thorough,  and  spiritiud  understanding  of  the 
law. 

2.  The  second  contrast  well  harmonises  with  the  first,  for  John  the  Baptist 
placed  the  Judaism  of  the  Pharisees  on  a  par  witli  heathenism,  mt  as  the 
heathen — the  self-seeking  men  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  love  of  the  world.  In  the 
former  it  was  clearly  premised  that  the  Pharisees,  like  the  Publicans,  resembled 
the  heathen  (v.  46;  vi.  7);  here  it  is  plainly  declared,  and  therefore  we  can 
understand  *  heathen '  in  a  spiritual  sense  of  the  contrast  to  the  new,  true  Israel 
of  the  Messiah  (vi.  19-34).  This  records  the  progress  of  undivided  allegiance,  and 
hearty,  believing  endeavours  after  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness. 

3.  This  contrast  relates  to  true  discipleship.  It  can  be  no  other  than  that  of  the 
true  with  the  fiUse  disciple,  who  brings  along  with  him  his  pharismism,  while  he  pro- 
fesses to  follow  Christ.  Not  as  the  half-disciple  and  such  in  outward  appearance — 
the  man  of  censoriousness  and  the  injurious  profanation  of  what  is  holy  (vii.  1-14). 
Here  we  have  shown  us  the  perfection  of  love,  as  pure  and  humble  as  it  is  wise. 
Here  also  we  find  naturally  the  most  energetic  and  decided  utterances  of  Christ's 
love  for  his  people ;  and  then  it  is  the  transition  to  the  last  portion  of  the  Sermon, 
which  is  wholly  admonitory. 

When  the  spiritual  exposition  of  the  law  is  completed,  drawn  away  from  our 
natural  selfishness  by  spiritual  understanding,  we  are  shown  (vii.  12)  perfect  self- 
denial,  as  the  turning  of  nature  to  the  strait  gate,  in  order  to  do,  and  to  the 
narrow  way,  in  order  to  continuance  in  doing.  Upon  this  point  depends,  not  mani- 
festly, but  really, — 

III.  The  closing  division  of  tlie  Sermon.  Here,  with  earnest  solemnity,  a 
warning  is  erected,  giving  notice  of  each  *  by-path ;'  and  judgment  is  denounced, 
on  those  who  at  the  end  are  found  not  to  have  been  doers  of  the  word  of  grace. 
This  shows  us  the  proof  of  genuine  or  spurious  knowledge  and  profession.  Not 
every  one  that  says  Lord,  iJird,  &c.,  will  stand  in  judgment.    The  fruits  of  tbe 

Cice  so  fVeely  offered  at  the  outset  will  be  inexorably  demanded.  The  only 
wgiver,  who  requires  every  man  to  judge  himself,  and  that  for  his  salvation, 
appears  now  as  the  Condenmer  of  every  one  who  has  not  made  him  a  Saviour 
(Jas.  iv.  12).  But  here  also,  however  earnest  the  warning,  we  have  in  undertones 
the  promise^  in  the  planting  of  the  good  tree  for  the  good  fruit  (ver.  1 5-20).  Then 
again  the  law  of  the  divine  will  is  ratified  by  an  exhortation  (ver.  21-23),  and 
closes  with  a  simple  and  powerful  representation  of  the  at  all  events  impending 
trial;  and  the  great  fall  of  the  house  built  upon  the  sand  presents  a  striking 
contrast  with  the  invitation  at  the  beginning  (ver.  24-27). 

The  threefold  principle  thus  evolved  is  repeated  at  each  step  of  the  Sermon,  as 
will  appear  from  a  more  particular  investigation  of  it  fpp.  64*68). 


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1853.]  Notices  of  Books,  209 

With  this  condensed  View  of  a  plan  which  is  developed  in  the  expo- 
sition of  the  Sermon  (pp.  68-261)  we  must  close,  assuring  our  readei^ 
that  they  will  welcome  the  appearance  of  the  remaining  volumes  of  a 
work  which  in  its  present  form  will  obtain  a  still  wider  circulation  than 
did  the  former  edition. 


Der  GaUUerhrief,  ubersetzty  Sfc,  The  Epistle  to  the  Gaiatians, 
translated^  investigated  in  its  historical  Jtelations^  and  expounded^ 
with  Inquiries  into  the  Disputes  respecting  tlie  Time  of  observing 
the  Passover y  and  the  Chronology  of  the  Apostolic  Labours  ofPauL 
By  Dr.  A.  Hilgenfixd.     Leipsic,  1852.     8vo.  pp.  239. 

The  author  of  this  work  infcMrms  us  that  it  originated  in  the  attempt  to 
decide  with  the  utmost  accuracy  the  relation  of  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  to  the  other  Apostles,  and  to  the  origpinal  questions  of  dispute 
among  Christians.  The  inquiry  into  the  historical  place  assignable  to 
this  Epistle,  and  into  the  general  gpround  occupied  by  Paul,  revealed 
the  manifold  character  of  their  relations,  invited  to  further  researches, 
and  led  to  the  publication  of  the  results  in  the  form  before  us. 

The  translation  is  after  the  text  of  Tischendorf ;  it  involves  a  number 
of  verbal  differences  from  that  of  Luther,  whose  simplicity  we  often 
greatly  admire.  In  some  cases  there  is  a  real  difference,  however ;  as 
for  instance,  ch.  i.  10,  Luther  translated  TreiOo;  by  predige  ich  (do  I 
preach  ?) ;  but  Dr.  Hilgenfeld  adopts  the  more  common  idea.  Do  1  seek 
to  propiticUe  the  favour  of  men  or  God  V  Again,  ii.  12,  Luther  renders 
mit  den  Heiden  (with  the  Gentiles) ;  but  Dr.  Hilgenfeld,  mit  den 
Heidenchristen  (with  the  Gentile  Christians).  In  ver.  13  he  similarly 
translates  *i6vdalot  Judenchristen  (Jewish  Christians).  Again,  iii.  11, 
he  renders  the  citation  (Hab.  ii.  4),  der  aus  Glauben  gerechte  leben 
ttnrd  (He  that  is  justified  by  faith  shall  live),  which  we  greatly  prefer 
both  as  an  explanation  and  as  a  translation.  Ch.  v.  4  is  rendered  by 
Dr.  Hilgenfeld,  *  ye  are  excluded  from  the  fellowship  of  Christ ;'  a 
translation  which  conveys  the  meaning  of  the  original,  perhaps,  better 
than  the  version  of  Luther  or  our  own,  which  are,  however,  more 
literal. 

After  the  translation  comes  an  inquiry  into  the  '  hbtorical  position  * 
of  the  Epistle.  Under  this  head  the  author  treats  of  the  establishment 
of  the  churches  in  Galatia  by  the  labours  of  Paul,  and  of  his  second 
visit  to  them  (pp.  17-24)  ;  after  which  he  examines  what  is  called  the 
'  Gentile-Christian '  character  of  these  churches.  The  diflPerent  views 
held  on  these  points  are  clearly  stated,  and  the  opinions  of  Dr.  Hil- 
^nfeld  himself — that  most  of  the  persons  who  first  constituted  these 
churches  were  of  Gentile  origin — are  expounded  and  defended.  The 
third  inquiry  respects  the  judaizing  agitation  (pp.  39-49),  which  is 
believed  gradually  to  have  sprung  up  among  them  as  Jewish  converts 
increased  in  numbers,  and  as  the  Gentile  converts  yielded  to  them  more 
and  more,  until  with  their  Jewish  tendencies  they  sought  to  alienate 

'  See  J.  S.  L.  for  October,  1852,  p.  187,  &c. 
VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  P 

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210  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

the  Christian  mind  from  the  Pauline  views  of  the  Gospel,  and  intro- 
duce a  spurious  compound  of  Judaism  and  Christianity.  This  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  survey  of  the  historical  and  dogmatical  contents  of  the 
Epistle.  The  division  of  the  whole  is  into  three  parts,  which  are, 
however,  intimately  connected  with  each  other.  They  are,  ^r«/,  the 
personal  and  apologetic ;  secondly^  the  dogmatic ;  and  thirdly^  4he 
practical.  Of  these,  the  second  is  on  one  side  related  to  the  first,  and 
on  the  other  to  the  third.  Each  division  takes  up  two  chapters  of  the 
Epistle,  the  plan  of  which  is  thus  exhibited  (pp.  49-53) : — 

I.  Salutation  and  introduction  (i.  1-10)  ;  Paul  an  independently 
constituted  Apostle  (ver.  11, 12) ;  his  entrance  upon  hb  public  labours 
(ver.  13-17) ;  his  apostolic  labours  from  the  first  to  the  second  journey 
to  Jerusalem  (ver.  18-24) ;  his  second  journey  to  Jerusalem  (ii.  1-10)  ; 
Peter's  visit  to  Antioch  (ver.  11-21). 

II.  Introduction  (iii.  1-5) ;  justification  by  fciith  supported  by  proof 
from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  (ver.  6-18);  the  relation  of  pre- 
vious religions  to  Christianity  (iii.  19  to  iv.  11)  ;  apostrophe  or  direct 
address  to  the  readers  of  the  Epistle  (ver.  12-20)  ;  allegorical  exposition 
of  the  history  of  the  two  sons  of  Abraham,  &c.  (ver.  21-31).* 

III.  Admonition,  urging  to  permanent  continuance  in  the  fieedom 
of  the  Gospel  (v.  1-12) ;  the  living  power  and  practical  tendency  of  the 
Christian  morality  (ver.  1 3-25) ;  exhortation  to  consistency  of  life 
(v.  26  to  vi.  10)  ;  the  conclusion  of  the  Epistle  (ver.  11-18). 

The  point  next  examined  is  the  relation  in  which  Paul  stood  to  the 
original  Church  and  Apostles.  This  he  surmises  to  have  been  one  of 
comparative  independence.  And  here  we  record  our  decided  objection 
to  the  author's  assumption  of  a  wide  difference  between  the  principles 
and  form  of  Gospel  preached  by  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  and  those 
of  the  other  Apostles. 

A  further  question  here  considered  respects  the  primitive  religion 
of  the  world  {die  vorchristlicke  Religion)  ^  and  is  founded  upon  the 
aToc)(iia  rov  Kocrfxov  of  ch.  iv.  3,  and  similar  expressions  elsewhere 
(pp.  66-78).  Such  language,  it  is  maintained,  identifies  the  Jewish 
and  heathen  religions,  and  has  reference  to  the  honour  and  worship  of 
the  heavenly  bodies.  Dr.  Hilg^nfeld  amply  illustrates  the  acknowledged 
use  oi  the  word  (rroixtla  (elements)  to  denote  the  stars  in  general,  or 
the  planets,  or  the  zodiac.  The  discussion  of  this  question  is  curious ; 
but  the  sentiments  here  maintained  are  in  several  respects  anything  but 
satis&ctory,  as  we  would  show  if  space  permitted. 

K  Diagramma  propoaita  nmilitudinis, 

1.  Agar.  Lex  et  Jemsalem      1.  Sara.  Evangeliom  et  Je- 

terrena.  msalem  ocelcttis. 

2.  Ismael.  Justitiarii.  2.  Isaac.  Fideles. 

3-  Generatiosecun-  Justificatio  per  3.  Generatiosecun-  Justificatio  per 
dum  carnem.         opera.                               dum  spiritom.       fideni. 

4.  Ejectio  ex  fiuni-  EJectio  ex  familia  4.  Hssreditas  bono-  Htcreditas  vitse 

lia  Abrahse.  Dei.  rum  Abrahse.  iBterue. 

The  above  has  been  added  from  Piscator's  notes  on  the  Epistle  as  an  interesting 
specimen  of  a  mode  sometimes  adopted  to  exhibit  the  sense  of  a  passage  of  Scriptnre. 


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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  211 

The  inquiry  with  which  the  prolegomena  are  closed  respects  the 
judaizing  observance  of  times  and  seasons,  and  the  disputes  respecting 
the  time  of  observing  the  Passover,  a  rite  which  the  author  believes  was 
widely  diffused  among  the  early  Christians. 

After  the  expositk>n,  of  which  we  can  only  say  that  it  displays  much 
diligence  and  ability,  but  is  of  course  not  free  from  the  bias  of  Dr. 
Hilgenfeld's  peculiar  opinions,  there  comes  an  Appendix.  Here  the 
place  and  time  of  writing  are  first  considered.  The  result  of  thb  is 
thus  exhibited ; — *  Late  in  the  sununer  of  a.d.  55,  Paul  went  still  fur- 
ther from  Antioch  on  his  third  missionary  tour,  in  tlie  course  of  which 
he  again  visited  the  churches  of  Galatia,  and  in  this  year  it  would  seem 
that,  either  at  Ephesus  or  on  his  journey  thither,  he  wrote  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians '  (p.  216).  A  lengthened  discussion  of  the  chronology 
of  the  labours  of  Paul  is  introduced  by  the  learned  writer  in  connexion 
with  this  inquiry,  and  a  number  of  interesting  particulars  are  evolved. 

The  character  of  Marcion's  text  of  this  Epistle  is  then  investigated. 
The  testimony  of  TertuUian  {contra  Marc,  lib.  5)  and  Epiphanius 
{H(sr.  xHi.  9)  respecting  the  arrangement  of  Paul's  Epistles  by  Mar- 
cioQ  is  adduced,  and  sustained  by  other  proof.  The  deviations  of 
Marcion's  text  from  the  received  text  are  then  examined  and  specified 
in  accordance  with  the  same  testimonies.  The  conclusions  arrived  at 
are — 1.  That  some  of  Marcion's  omissions  were  accidental;  but  2. 
That  the  greater  part  of  them  were  voluntary,  and  these  proceeded  in 
some  cases  to  such  an  extent  as  wholly  to  distort  and  maim  the 
Epistle. 

The  book  closes  with  an  addendum^  containing  a  reference  to  a 
work  (published  at  Oxford  in  1851)  which  is  ascribed  to  Hippolytus, 
as  affording  confirmation  of  the  views  advocated  in  the  previous  pages, 
more  particularly  those  concerning  the  Passover  and  the  primary  re- 
ligion of  the  world. 

This  sketch  of  the  contents  of  the  work  of  Br.  Hilgenfeld  must 
suffice.  There  are  several  passages  which  we  had  intended  to  extract, 
but  in  the  case  of  such  a  book  we  could  not  quote  without  discussing 
those  points  from  which  we  see  reason  to  dissent.  And  then  some  of 
the  most  interesting  portions  of  this  work  are  so  closely  connected  with 
a  previous  or  following  train  of  argument  as  to  lose  half  their  interest 
if  transferred  from  their  own  place.  We  therefore  prefer  to  send  our 
readers  to  the  book  itself.  The  nature  of  its  contents  has  been  suffi- 
ciently indicated,  so  that  any  one  may  know  what  are  the  chief  points 
discuraed.  For  the  rest  a  few  words  will  be  enough.  The  author's 
manner  is  superior,  and  his  mind  clear  and  dispassionate ;  his  doctrinal 
tendencies  can  be  called  neither  evangelical  nor  orthodox.*  There  is 
of  course  but  little  enthusiasm,  and  the  exercise  of  religious  emotion  is 
not  called  forth  in  the  reader.  The  author  wrote  for  the  head,  and  not 
for  the  heart,  and  has  set  forth  his  principles  more  with  a  view  to 
theological  science  than  a  devout  life.  If  asked  to  characterise  the 
work,  we  should  say,  it  is  questions  upon  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 
proposed  and  answered. 


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212  Notices  of  Books.  [Aprils 

The  Bible,  the  Missal,  and  the  Breviary :  or  Ritualism  self-ilhiS' 
trated  in  the  Liturgical  Books  of  Rome,  By  the  Rev.  George 
Lewis.  Edinburgh :  T.  and  T.  Clark.  1853.  2  vols.  8vo. 
The  author  of  this  work  informs  us  that  its  object  is  not  to  present 
Romanism  as  an  ecclesisistical  system,  nor  yet  as  a  scheme  of  doctrine, 
but  as  a  system  of  ritualism,  a  devotional  and  religious  life.  '  This,' 
he  adds,  '  is  the  aspect  of  herself  Rome  loves  to  present  to  inquirers. 
It  is  her  fair  side,  which,  along  with  the  educational  emd  benevolent 
use  she  now  makes  of  her  monastic  orders  of  both  sexes,  has  done  most 
to  soften  antipathies  and  to  seduce  the  simple.'  In  thus  estimating  the 
religious  life  of  Rome  she  is  allowed  to  speak  for  herself,  and  to  tell 
her  own  way  and  manner  of  life.  The  author's  desire  has  been  '  to 
furnish  a  self-evidencing  book  in  which  any  plain  man  may  see  the 
Bible  and  the  Breviary,  Ritualism  and  Scriptural  Christianity  con- 
fronted.' To  accomplish  this  object  he  has  embodied  the  Missal,  which 
is  the  public  liturgy  of  Rome,  in  the  work,  being,  it  is  understood,  the 
first  time  it  has  appeared  in  English  in  an  unmutilated  form,  with  all 
its  rubrics  and  prefisices,  unshorn  of  any  of  their  peculiarities.  The 
Missal,  as  thus  given,  occupying  the  second  and  largest  volume  of  the 
two,  forms  the  text,  on  which  is  engrafted  as  notes  and  illustrations 
whatever  appears  most  interesting  and  characteristic  in  the  other  litur- 
gical books  of  Rome.  Of  these,  the  Breviary  furnishes  the  larger 
portion,  because  the  most  important  and  comprehensive  of  all  her 
church  books,  designed  to  be  at  once  the  Bible,  the  Bible  commentary, 
the  church  history,  and  the  prfvate  liturgy  of  all  her  religious,  to  form 
their  character  and  cherish  their  devotional  spirit. 

Such  b  the  character,  and  such  are  the  contents  of  the  second  volume. 
The^r^^  consists  of  preliminary  chapters,  in  which  the  author  gathers 
up  and  presents  in  a  consecutive  form,  those  results  of  which  the  body 
of  the  work  furnishes  the  proofs  in  detail.  By  this  statement  it  will 
appear  that  Mr.  Lewis  undertook  a  task  of  no  common  interest,  and  of 
proportionate  labour.  This  task  he  has  executed  exceedingly  well. 
The  liturgical  matter  has  been  fairly  and  adequately  translated ;  the 
appended  notes  are  full  of  curious  matter  ;  and  the  preliminary  chap- 
ters which  compose  the  first  volume,  combine  the  results  with  much 
clearness,  and  illustrate  them  by  many  remarkable  facts  and  interest- 
ing details,  most  of  which  will  be  new  to  those  not  well  versed  in 
Romish  church  literature.  Altogether,  materials  will  here  be  found 
for  forming  a  more  accurate  judgment  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  one 
of  her  many-sided  aspects,  than  have  hitherto  been  generally  accessible. 
Many  a  keen  weapon  for  the  conflict  with  Rome  may  be  drawn  from 
this  armoury.  The  tone  of  the  work  itself  is,  however,  not  belligerent. 
The  author  is  mainly  content  to  furnish  the  reader  with  the  materials 
for  forming  his  own  judgment.  He  denies  not  the  good  there  may  be 
in  Rome  any  more  than  he  extenuates  the  evil.  Speaking  of  the  prin- 
cipal works  of  the  Roman  ritual,  embodied  or  cited  in  the  work,  he  says 
truly  that 

*  Revised  and  reformed  as  no  other  Romish  thin^  have  ever  been,  they  are  t«  be 
regarded  as  the  ritualism  of  the  middle  ages,  purified  and  pruned  for  modem  use. 


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1853.J  Notices  of  Books.  213 

presenting  the  oldest,  and  yet  the  newest  and  best  face  and  fiishion  of  Bomanism, 
such  as  she  furnishes  for  the  use  of  her  more  favoured  children.  Along  with  the 
more  earthly  fascinations  of  ritualistic  worship,  we  may  expect  to  find  in  these 
books  whatever  in  matter  or  manner  is  fitted  to  attach  the  higher  and  better  order 
of  society — whatever  revives  or  maintains  their  spiritual  life — as  well  as  what  worics 

towards  corruption  and  spiritual  death Home  has  never  been  without  good 

as  well  as  able  men  in  her  pale ;  but  spiritual  life,  like  other  kinds  of  life,  is  not 
sustained  without  some  food  meet  for  it.  That  food  these  books  chiefly  supply ; 
the  provision  of  Divine  Providence,  laid  up  even  in  Rome  for  his  own  children, 
and  a  provision  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  sometimes  wonderfully  blessed  to  sustain 
life  in  the  days  of  famine  and  pestilence.  By  men  so  provided  and  so  blessed, 
Kome  has  often  been  preserved  from  that  overmuch  wickedness  that  had  proved 
her  ruin,  and  as  often  strongly  revived  in  faith  and  fervour  until  Grod's  time  shall 
come  when  this  church  of  darkness  and  light,  truth  and  lies,  shall  no  longer  be 
needed,  nor  longer  permitted  to  darken  counsel  and  perplex  the  hearts  of  men/ 


CyclopcBdia  of  Religious  Biography :  A  Series  of  Memoirs  of  the 
most  eminent  Religious  Characters  of  Modem  limes ;  intended  for 
Family  Reading.  By  the  Rev.  Robert  Jamieson,  D.D.  London : 
Griffin  and  Co.    1853. 

Books  for  *  Family  Reading,*  as  distinguished,  we  presume,  from 
library  reading,  now  form  a  class  by  themselves,  and  a  class  of  large 
extent  and  considerable  value.  This  is  a  useful  addition  to  the  num- 
ber. As  the  volume  is  not  large,  and  some  fulness  of  detail  is  neces- 
sary to  render  such  a  work  of  any  interest,  the  editor  was  necessarily 
limited  in  his  choice  of  subjects.  Here,  indeed,  must  have  lain  his 
great  difficulty ;  and  he  has  surmounted  it  with  a  fair  degree  of  success. 
But  as  no  two  persons  alive  would  agree  as  to  the  names  which  should 
be  introduced  into  such  a  selection,  it  is  enough  to  say  that,  although 
we  miss  some  names  we  expected  to  see,  and  find  some  we  did  not  ex- 
pect to  see,  the  selection  includes  most  of  the  persons  respecting  whom 
a  family  may  be  likely  to  need  information.  Indeed,  we  have  most  of 
'  the  Fathers,'  though  we  might  not  have  looked  for  them  among  *  the 
religious  characters  of  modern  times,'  Dr.  Jamieson's  name  is  a  suffi- 
cient guarantee  for  the  care  with  which  these  little  memoirs  have  been 
prepared.  We  do  not  complain,  as  some  will,  of  the  disproportionate 
dimensions  of  the  memoirs — some  really  eminent  persons  having  often 
very  short  notices,  while  some  of  comparatively  large  extent  are 
allowed  to  persons  of  little  note  ;  for  w^e  know  that  this  very  much  de- 
pends upon  the  paucity  or  abundance  of  materials,  and  feel  that  some 
scope  must  be  allowed  for  the  editor's  sense  of  fitness,  and  for  his 
national  or  denominational  predilections.  These  are  so  far  evinced  in 
the  work  before  us  as  to  show  that  it  is  essentially  a  Scottish  publication ; 
and  we  like  it  none  the  less  for  that,  as  we  are  thus  furnished  with  in- 
formation not  easily  obtained  in  England  respecting  various  Scottish 
divines  of  eminence.  Altogether,  Dr.  Jamieson  has  presented  in  this 
work  an  acceptable  offering  to  the  family  circle. 


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214  NatieeM  of  Books.  [April, 

Cyclopetdia  of  Religious  Denominations.  Containing  authentic  ac- 
counts of  the  different  Creeds  and  Systems  prevailing  throughout  the 
World,  written  by  Members  of  the  respective  Bodies.  London: 
Griffin  and  Co.     1853. 

This  is  a  sort  of  companion  volume  to  the  Cychpcedia  of  Modem  Re^ 
ligious  Biography.  Since  the  seventeenth  century  there  has  been  a 
constant  succession  of  works  of  this  kind  at  shorter  or  longer  intervals. 
We  are  old  enough  to  remember  the  immense  popularity  and  extensive 
circulation  of  Evans's  Sketch  of  the  Denominations  of  the  Christian 
World,  The  more  ambitious  and  costly  work  of  Adam,  first  intro- 
duced the  plan  of  getting  *  members  of  the  respective  bodies'  to  furnish 
the  accounts  of  their  own  denominations, — a  plan  not  without  its  dis- 
advantages, but  which  are  probably  partly  counterbalanced  by  the 
advantages.  The  same  course  was  followed  in  an  American  publica- 
tion of  the  same  sort,  Rupp's  Religious  Denominations  of  the  United 
States,  published  in  1 844,  and  to  which,  although  not  pamed  in  the 
present  work,  it  owes  a  considerable  proportion  of  its  best  materials 
— being  the  memoirs  on  the  Jews,  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Mo- 
ravians, the  Quakers,  the  Shakers,  the  Mormons  (by  Joe  Smith 
himself),  and  the  New  Jerusalem  Church,  being  one-third  of  the 
whole  number  here  g^ven.  The  preparation  of  the  original  memoirs 
has  for  the  most  part  been  committed  to  competent  hands  ^  and  the 
somewhat  copious  information  respecting  the  Scottish  denominations 
will  be  interesting  in  England.  The  merit  of  the  different  memoirs 
varies  considerably.  We  are  not  prepared  to  say  which  b  the  best  of 
them ;  but  we  can  easily  say  which  is  the  worst.  Nothing  more  bad, 
and  bitter,  and  insulting,  than  the  account  of  the  *  Scottish  (Episcopal) 
Church,'  did  we  ever  meet  with  in  the  present  age ;  and  if  the  Pres- 
byterians of  the  north  take  their  impressions  of  episcopacy  from  what 
this  paper  describes,  and  from  the  coarse  animosity  towards  themselves 
which  it  indicates,  they  are  fully  to  be  excused  for  the  remnants  of 
ancient  dislike  towards  it  which  may  still  at  times  be  traced  in  their 
publications.  We  trust  this  most  offensive  writer  misrepresents  his  own 
church,  which  according  to  hb  account  stands  much  nearer  to  Home 
than  does  the  strongest  *  Anglo-Catholicism'  to  be  found  in  this  part 
of  the  island ;  but  if  he  does  not,  we  may  venture  to  assure  them 
that  the  episcopal  Church  of  England  is  something  considerably  dif- 
ferent from  the  *  Scottish  (Episcopal)  Church.'  But  the  readers  can 
see  this  from  the  notice  of  the  Church  of  England  preceding  the  one 
which  has  thus  attracted  our  attention,  and  which  is  not  badly  done, 
though  it  might  have  been  done  better. 


The  Pentateuch  and  its  Assailants,  A  Refutation  of  the  Objections 
of  Modem  Scepticism  to  the  Pentateuch,  By  W.  T.  Hamilton, 
D.D.     Edinburgh :  T.  and  T.  Clark. 

This  is  a  reprint  of  an  American  work.     The  nature  of  the  work  is 
well  defined  by  its  title,  the  emphasis  being  laid  on  the  word  modern. 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  215 

Very  satisfactory  answers  to  the  successive  assailants  of  the  Pentateuch 
have  from  time  to  time  appeared  during  the  last  century  and  half,  and 
the  characterizing  feature  and  merit  of  the  work  before  us  is  that  it 
disposes  of  the  last  batch  of  them.  The  points  being  for  the  most 
part  the  same  that  have  often  been  assailed  and  often  defended,  the  well- 
read  theologian  may  fancy  on  opening  the  book  that  he  has  nothing 
to  learn  from  it.  In  fact,  a  good  deal  of  the  essential  matter  may  have 
been  met  with  dispersedly  in  books  and  reviews ;  but  it  is  good  to  have  - 
the  whole  presented  here,  wrought  up  with  the  results  of  the  writer's 
own  learning,  thought,  and  research.  Much  of  the  illustrative  matter  is, 
however,  new  to  this  class  of  books, — Dr.  Hamilton  having  a  keen  eye 
to  perceive,  and  an  eager  hand  to  take  hold  of,  any  passing  facts  or  inti- 
mations that  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  his  arguments.  The  inde- 
pendent exercise  of  a  vigorous  and  cultivate  intellect  imparts 
considerable  freshness  to  his  reasonings  and  conclusions,  by  preventing 
him  from  following  too  unreservedly  any  of  his  leaders. 

As  critical  ingenuity  questions  the  genuineness  of  the  books  of  the 
Pentateuch,  Dr,  Hamilton  therefore  gives  half  his  work  to  its  vindica- 
tion ;  and  as  scientific  discovery  is  arrayed  in  opposition  to  the  Bible- 
recorded  facts,  and  archaeolc^cal  research  is  assumed  to  permit  proof 
conclusive  that  the  early  history  of  the  Bible  is  radically  defective,  he 
applies  the  other  half  to  the  consideration  of  the  instances. 

One  of  the  most  original  conclusions  of  the  author,  and  the  one  the 
parentage  of  which  he  seenis  most  anxious  to  claim,  is,  that  seeing  the 
distinctive  races  of  men  existed  (as  evinced  by  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments) within  too  short  an  interval  after  the  Deluge  to  permit  us  to 
ascribe  the  diffidences  to  the  influence  of  climate,  the  miraculous  con- 
founding of  tongues  at  Babel  was  attended  by  such  modification  of 
man's  physical  constitution  as  to  ensure  the  production  of  those  changes 
necessary  to  adapt  the  several  divisions  of  man  to  the  climate  and 
locality  to  which  they  w&e  destined. 

To  the  Deluge  the  author  gives  much  attention,  and  the  conclusion 
in  which  he  rests  \s  that  the  Flood  was  indeed  universal,  and  was  pro- 
duced by  the  sea  and  dry  land  changing  places,  which  accounts  for  the 
entire  absence  of  antediluvian  remains  and  monuments.  This  seems  to 
us  a  very  unsatisfactory  explanation,  and  is  open  to  grave  objections, 
some  of  which  are  noticed  by  the  author,  but  not  answered  to  our 
satisfaction.  In  fact,  Dr.  Hamilton  is  more  successful  in  defending  the 
fortress  against  assailants,  than  in  strengthening  it  by  new  outworks. 

In  treating  of  the  early  population  of  the  world,  and  the  longevity 
of  the  antediluvians,  the  author  produces  this  curious  fact : — '  At  this 
very  moment  (January  1862),  when  the  descendants  of  President 
Edwards,  the  author  of  the  immortal  treatise  on  the  Freedom  of  the 
Willy  are  contemplating  a  general  family  meeting,  it  is  calculated  that 
the  descendants  of  the  illustrious  metaphysician  number  about  two 
thousand,  although  he  has  been  dead  hardly  a  century.' 


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216  Notices  of  Books.  [Apra, 

Modern  Bationalism,  and  the  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.     Two 
Lectures.     By  the  Rev.  T.  Bibks,  M.  A.     London :  Seeleys.  1853. 

Mr.  Birks  is  apprehensive  lest  our  alarm  at  the  ag^gressions  of  Popery, 
and  kindred  errors,  should  cause  us  to  overlook  the  dark  cloud 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  spiritual  horizon.  He  therefore  undertakes 
in  the  first  of  these  lectures  to  answer  the  grave  questions,  What  is  the 
nature  and  meaning  of  Rationalism?  What  are  the  principles  on 
which  it  rests,  its  chief  varieties,  and  the  best  antidotes  to  the  danger 
with  which  it  threatens  the  Christian  faith?  These  questions  are 
answered  with  remarkable  distinctness  and  effect  The  *  varieties '  of 
rationalism  are  defined  with  exact  discrimination,  which  will  render 
the  book  exceedingly  instructive  to  those  who  need  the  information, 
not  elsewhere  so  compendiously  exhibited ;  and  in  which  we  are  evi- 
dently presented  with  the  results  of  a  more  extensive  and  thoughtful 
study  of  the  varieties  of  misbelief  than  many  might  have  been  prepared 
to  expect  from  the  author.  It  reminds  us  of  the  case  of  a  physician 
conscientiously  studying  the  nature  of  various  poisons,  that  he  may 
know  how  to  administer  an  antidote  to  those  who  are  not  yet  affected 
by  them,  and  a  cure  to  those  who  are.  Mr.  Birks  conducts  his  inquiry 
with  the  calm  and  candid  spirit  of  one  who  has  mastered  the  subject, 
and  knows  what  he  is  doing ;  and  he  will  therefore  secure  more  atten- 
tion, and  make  a  more  decided  impression,  than  those  who  strive  to 
disguise  the  scantiness  of  their  information  by  the  convulsive  starts  and 
spasmodie  contortions  with  which  they  prate  of  the  unknown  horror. 

The  second  lecture,  on  the  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  is  more  con- 
nected with  the  other  than  might  at  first  view  appear,  seeing  that  most 
of  the  various  forms  of  misbelief  grow  out  of  diflferent  views  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  main  varieties  in  these  views  are  well  indicated  by  the 
author.  The  first  is,  that  they  are  merely  human  writings,  however 
rich  they  may  be  in  wisdom,  and  consequently  have  no  peculiar  claim 
to  divine  authority.  Inspiration,  in  terms,  may  still  be  allowed  them, 
is^  the  same  sense  in  which  it  belongs  to  Shakspeare's  plays,  to  Newton's 
Principia,  or  the  latest  patent  for  the  improvement  of  the  steam-eng^e. 
The  second  is,  that  the  Bible  is  not  the  word  of  God,  but  nevertheless 
does  contain  and  include  a  divine  revelation.  This  is  the  view  of  many 
of  the  most  eminent  German  divines,  who  liave  used  it  in  maintaining 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel  against  the  mythical  theorists  and  naturalists  of 
their  own  land^  and  which  has  made  some  progress  in  this  country, 
though  it  has  not  yet  made  any  strong  impression  as  against  the  ortho- 
dox view  still  current  among  British  Christians— that  the  Bible  itself, 
throughout,  is  truly  the  word  of  God,  so  that  the  whole  possesses  a 
divine  authority,  and  has  a  claim  on  the  faith  of  mankind,  in  contrast 
with  all  other  writings  of  good  and  wise  men.  This  view,  however, 
varies  from  the  hypothesis  of  an  immediate  and  mechanical  dictation  of 
every  part,  so  that  the  several  writers  are  only  pens  used  by  the  divine 
spirit,  to  an  admission  not  merely  of  man's  joint  agency,  but  of  human 
fallibility,  and  errors  in  the  minor  details,  by  which  it  becomes  barely 
distinguishable  from  the  previous  view. 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Books,  217 

These  views  are  successively  discussed  and  commented  on  by  Mr. 
Birks  with  an  earnestness,  clearness,  and  fulness  of  knowledge,  which 
will  render  this  lecture  very  interesting  and  serviceable  to  the  many  who 
are  continually  meeting  with  allusions  to  these  differences  of  opinion, 
without  any  distinct  conception  of  their  nature.  The  great  evil  of  the 
day  is  ignorance  in  one  class  of  society,  and  vagueness  of  knowledge 
(which  is,  indeed,  but  a  species  of  ignorance)  in  the  other.  For  the 
latter  form  of  this  evil,  upon  two  subjects  of  deep  interest,  the  book 
before  us  offers  an  excellent  remedy. 


A  New  Edition  of  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible,  in  which  it 
has  been  attempted  by  various  Helps  in  Arrangement  and  Printing, 
and  by  Notes,  to  put  the  English  Reader,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the 
position  of  one  who  is  well  acquainted  with,  and  enters  into  the  Spirit 
of,  the  Original  Scriptures.     London:  Robert  B.  Blackader.    1853. 

This  is  the  first  Part,  containing  the  Book  of  Genesis,  of  what  promises 
to  be  a  very  valuable  work — an  excellent  Bible  for  general  use,  and 
embodying  within  the  narrowest  possible  limits  a  large  amount  of  va- 
rious information,  which  cannot  fail  to  be  acceptable  to  every  intelligent 
reader  and  student  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Apart  from  this,  much  of 
the  merit  of  the  work  consists  in  its  typographical  arrangements,  which, 
without  any  alteration  of  the  text,  furnish  divers  nicely  contrived  aids 
for  the  more  advantageous  reading  and  better  understanding  of  the 
sacred  volume.  Some  of  these,  and  of  the  other  features  of  the  work, 
have  been  singly  exhibited  in  other  editions  of  the  Bible ;  but  in  this 
they  are  combined  with  the  new  contrivances  of  the  editor,  whose  evi- 
dent ingenuity,  industry,  and  care,  claim  great  commendation,  and 
entitle  him  to  vigorous  support  in  a  very  arduous  undertaking. 

The  portion  which  lies  before  us  exhibits  the  following  features. 
First  we  find  a  sensible  Preface  to  the  work  generally.  We  have  then 
a  Synoptical  Table  of  Sacred  Chronology,  following  the  dates  of  Bishop 
Russell,  which  are  substantially  those  of  Dr.  Hales,  after  the  larg^  com- 
putation of  the  Septuagint.  There  is  then  a  short  introduction  to  Ge- 
nesis; and  then  we  reach  the  text  itself.  This  is  exhibited  in  two 
columns,  with  ruled  marginal  side  columns,  in  a  conveniently  sized  page, 
at  the  top  of  which  are  the  dates  a.m.  and  B.C.,  and  a  note  of  the  extent 
of  text  contained  in  the  page.  The  text  is  judiciously  divided  into  sec- 
tions and  paragraphs ;  and  at  the  head  of  each  chapter  are  notes  of  time, 
place,  and  contents.  The  side  columns  are  filled  with  references,  with 
parallel  texts  printed  in  full,  with  the  marginal  readings,  and  with  illus- 
trative and  explanatory  notes.  To  these  side  notes  there  is  an  index  at 
the  end  of  the  book ;  and  the  part  closes  with  a  really  valuable  ap- 
pendix, comprising  the  most  im'portant  various  readings,  critical  notes 
from  the  best  sources.  Continental  and  British,  and  elucidations  from 
modem  discoveries  and  travels.  This  appendix  forms  a  very  important 
and  novel  feature  of  the  undertaking,  and  affords  manifest  traces  of  a 
learned  and  able  hand.     Upon  the  whole,  as  we  have  more  than  once 


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v^^gle 


218  Nx>tices  of  Book$.  [April, 

mentioned  the  design  of  this  work,  we  are  bound  to  say  that  the  result, 
as  exhibited  in  the  portion  presented  to  us,  does  not  in  any  way  fall 
short  of,  but  very  considerably  exceeds,  our  expectations. 


The  Unseen  Hand  ;  or,  EpUodee  in  cm  Eventful  Life.    By  the  Eev. 
Stopfokd  J.  Ram,  M.  A.     Bath :  Binns  and  Goodwin. 

This  is  a  very  good  specimen  of  a  class  of  books  generally  acceptable 
to  young  persons,  and  seldom  unacceptable  to  those  of  adult  years. 
Whatever  interest  belongs  to  it  will  doubtless  be  enhanced  by  the 
assurance  which  the  author  gives,  that  his  book  contains  '  simply  a  reci- 
tal of  occurrences  and  events  that  have  really  taken  place  within  the 
last  ten  years.'  These  chiefly  illustrate  the  influence  of  firm  Christitm 
principle  under  many  trying  circumstances,  on  the  one  haAd ;  and  of  the 
want  of  it,  on  the  other.  The  contrast  is  effective,  and  skilfully  though 
not  elaborately  wrought  out ;  it  furnishes  many  important  and  inter- 
esting precedents  for  the  application  of  real  religion  to  conduct  in  life ; 
and  the  author  brings  a  skilful  hand  and  sharp  instrument  to  the 
anatomy  of  many  social  errors  and  abuses.  The  religion  is  of  a  very 
earnest,  uncompromising,  and  wholesome  sort ;  and  the  writer  more 
than  once  shows  a  keen  eye  for  character,  and  evinces  considerable 
mastery  over  the  springs  of  emotion  in  the  human  heart.  The  name  of 
the  author  seems  to  be  new  in  this  branch  of  literature,  but  will  pro- 
bably become  better  known.  The  Unseen  Hand  is  witnessed  princi- 
pally in  the  chain  of  circumstances  which  led  the  hero  to  change  his 
purpose  of  going  to  America,  after  he  had  embarked,  and  in  the  im- 
portant consequences  to  him  which  resulted  therefrom.  The  descriptions 
of  the  interior  of  an  emigrant  ship,  of  University  life,  and  of  a  pastor's 
vififit  to  the  sick  and  dying  of  his  flock,  are  all  very  good,  and  would 
preserve  a  worse  book  than  this  from  perislung. 


Sufferings  and  Glories  of  the  Messiah,  An  Exposition  of  Psalm  xviii. 
and  Isaiah  Hi.  13,  liii.  12.  By  John  Brown,  D.D.  Edinbuigh: 
Oliphant  and  Sons.  1853. 

The  rich  tide  of  Dr.  Brown's  publications  still  flows  on,  and  will  not,  we 
trust,  soon  be  exhausted ;  for  the  Christian  Church  cannot  hope  often 
to  receive  from  a  single  hand  so  lavish  an  outpouring  of  flrst-class  theo- 
logical literature.  The  year  has  scarcely  b^un  and  we  have  before  us 
two  large  and  full  volumes  on  different  subjects  bearing  the  date  of  that 
year,  and  another  of  smaller  size  belonging  to  the  close  of  last  year.  Of 
these  we  have  as  yet  only  been  able  to  examine  properly  the  one  named 
at  the  head  of  this  notice.  The  present  volume  offers  admirable  exam- 
ples of  those  expository  lectm-es  which  Dr.  Brown  has  given  us  repeated 
occasion  to  commend.  The  reading  of  these  may  well  have  excited 
a  desire  to  know  how  he  would  be  likely  to  deal  with  the  g^reat 
Messianic  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  here  tliat  dee=ire  U 

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im.]  Notices  of  Book9.  219 

gratified  in  regard  to  the  most  important  of  them — thote  which  the  most 
plainly  set  forth  the  glories  and  sufferings  of  Christ  In  ^  expository' 
lectores  oratorical  displays  are  not  to  be  looked  for,  and  would  in  some 
measure  be  out  of  place ;  but  while  we  have  here  the  exhaustive  fulness 
and  the  depth  of  sound  theology  which  reminds  one  of  the  old  divines, 
the  lecturer  often  rises  to  animated  eloquence  in  contemplating  the 
glories  and  sufferings  of  the  Redeemer.  The  conviction  hais  been  re- 
peatedly expressed  in  this  Journal  that  there  is  no  department  of 
theology  more  important  or  more  essentially  useful  than  the  comparison 
of  the  Messianic  prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament  with  the  fulfilment 
in  the  New.  With  this  conviction  upon  our  minds  it  is  a  peculiar 
satisfaction  to  us  that  the  task  of  giving  the  results  of  such  a  compa- 
risoD,  as  far  as  regards  the  great  passages  indicated,  has  devolved  on 
one  so  competent  as  Dr.  Brown  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  so  grand  a 
theme.  The  work  will  henceforth  be  indispensable  to  that  study ;  and 
the  theological  public  has  much  reason  to  be  thankf\il  for  the  aid  to- 
wards it  which  is  here  Aimished.  We  possess  several  great  works  on 
the  subject  of  the  Messianic  predictions  as  a  whole ;  but  we  have  not 
heretofore— either  in  such  general  works  or  apart  fit>m  them— ^  had  any 
comparable  to  this,  upon  these  crowning  prophecies  of  David  and  of 
Isaiah. 


Dctily  Bible  lUusiraiions ;  being  Original  Readings  for  a  Year,  on 
Subjects  from  Sacred  History,  Biography,  Geography^  Antiquities, 
and  Theology,  Especially  designed  for  the  Family  Circle.  By 
John  Kitto,  D.D.,  F.S. A.  Evening  Series :  Life  and  Death  of 
our  Lord    Edinburgh  :  Oliphant  and  Sons.     1853. 

This  new  volume  of  the  '  Daily  Bible  Illustrations '  will  probably  be- 
come the  most  popular  of  the  series  to  which  it  belongs,  as  it  is  wholly 
devoted  to  the  history  of  the  Gospels,  and  therefore  virtually  forms  a 
Life  of  Christ,  the  portions  of  which  are  so  related  as  to  furnish  an  in- 
terpretation of  the  events  recorded.  The  successive  ^  Readings'  are 
more  connected  than  in  any  previous  volume,  seeing  that  the  necessity 
of  comprising  in  the  volume  every  circumstance  of  our  Saviour's  life 
precluded  that  selection  of  topics  which  has  been  more  or  less  exercised 
in  dealing  with  other  portions  of  Scripture.  But  although  such  a  selec- 
tion has  in  this  case  been  precluded,  some  circumstances  have  been  set 
forth  in  greater  fulness  than  others. 

The  tone  of  the  volume  is  not  in  any  way  polemical,  though  it  is 
plain  that  the  author  has,  as  he  states,  ^  often,  in  a  quiet  way,  endea- 
voured to  meet  various  exceptions  which  have  been  taken  to  particular 
points  in  the  g^pel  history  of  Christ.'  He  further  expresses  a  hope, 
*'  that  some  readers  may  receive  assistance  and  benefit,  for  the  better 
understanding  of  our  Lord's  history  as  a  whole,  from  the  solicitude 
with  which  the  writer  has  endeavoured  to  realise,  and  bring  continually 
into  view,  the  position  which  Jesus  seemed  to  occupy  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people — the  condition  of  the  country  and  the  state  of  Jewish  public  opi- 
nion at  the  time  he  appeared — the  fluctuations  of  that  opinion  in  regard 

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220  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

to  himself — and  tlie  cause  that  led  to,  or  the  effects  that  resulted  from, 
the  particular  circumstances  recorded ;  showing,  it  is  believed,  that  the 
Gospel  is  not  made  up  of  a  series  of  isolated  incidents  or  '^  anecdotes," 
but  that  all  its  parts  will  be  found,  by  those  who  examine  them  with 
attention,  not  only  to  manifest  purpose,  but  to  bear  a  close  relation  to 
each  other/ 

Of  the  manner  in  which  the  task  the  author  proposed  to  himself  in 
this  volume  has  been  executed,  no  judgment  can  here  be  given.  The 
volume  that  remains  due  will  comprise  the  history  of  the  Apostles,  as 
embodied  in  the  Acts,  and  illustrated  by  the  Epistles. 


Six  Lectures  on  Christian  Evidence.     By  John  Cook,  D.D.     Ed  in- 
burgh;  Paton  and  Ritchie.     1852. 

These  Lectures  were  addressed  to  students  attending  the  classes  of  Li- 
terature and  Philosophy,  in  the  united  Collies  of  St.  Salvator's,  St.  Leo- 
nard's, and  St.  Andrew's.  The  object  is  to  set  forth  the  grounds  on 
which  those  who  have  not  expressly  studied  the  matter  may  rest  fully 
persuaded  that  the  ministers  of  the  word  do  not  follow  cunningly  de- 
vised fables  in  making  known  to  them  the  power  and  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  are  many  considerations  which  in  the  pre- 
sent age  render  it  incumbent  upon  every  one,  to  the  extent  of  his  oppor- 
tunities, to  obtain  information  on  the  certainty  of  this  great  truth — that 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  from  heaven  and  not  from  men.  For, 
although  he  may  not  himself  have  any  doubts  on  the  subject,  he  may 
else  feel  troubled  and  embarrassed  at  the  cavils  of  gainsayers.  Dr.  Cook 
is  therefore  entitled  to  thanks  for  the  clear  and  vigorous  summary  of 
this  high  argument  which  he  has  g^ven  in  this  small  and  cheap,  yet  not 
meagre  work,  as  a  suitable  introduction  to,  or,  when  means  fail,  substi- 
tute for,  more  extended  inquiries. 


Lays  of  the  Future.     By  William  Leask.     London  :  Partridge  and 

Oakey.     1853. 

Mr.  Leask  is  the  author  of  that  fine  work  *  The  Beauties  of  the 
Bible,*  which  we,  not  long  ago,  mentioned  with  commendation.  This  is, 
we  believe,  his  first  public  appearance  as  a  poet ;  though  those  ac- 
quainted with  his  previous  '  prose '  works  would  predicate  that  he  was 
essentially  a  poet,  whether  he  ever  had  written  or  should  write  a  line 
of  verse  or  not ;  we  should  not  have  thought  otherwise,  had  he  foiled  to 
clothe  in  verse  his  poetical  conceptions.  But  here  he  has  attempted 
this,  and  has  not  failed ;  and  has  thus  established  his  claim  to  poetical 
honours,  in  the  only  form  in  Khich  that  claim  is  usually  recognized. 
The  author  is  one  of  the  now  numerous  body  of  believers  in  the  pre- 
millennial  advent — in  a  *  good  time  coming' — which  is,  he  says,  believed 
by  some,  rather  hoped  than  believed  by  others,  and  absolutely  despaired 
of  by  multitudes.  Those  who  only  hope,  and  even  those  who  despair, 
muiit  yet  admit  that  the  theme  supplies  congenial  themes  for  poesy. 


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1853.]  Notiees  of  Books.  221 

This  Mr.  Leask  has  seen;  and  his  treatment  of  them  offers  many 
high  and  tender  thoughts,  and  many  striking  and  beautifu]  pictures, 
presented  in  nervous  lines;  and  when  the  themes  rise  to  grandeur, 
the  writer's  muse  proves  equal  to  them.  The  pieces  are  mostly  in 
blank  verse,  but  there  are  a  few  in  rhyme.  The  book  seems  to  us 
entitled  to  attention ;  and  the  correct  taste  of  the  author  will  prevent 
offence  being  g^ven,  even  where  concurrence  is  not  obtained. 


The  Annotaled  Paragraph  Bible,     Part  III.     London:  Religious 
Tract  Society.     1853. 

This  third  portion  of  a  work  already  repeatedly  noticed  extends 
from  Job  to  Solomon's  Song,  inclusive ;  comprising  therefore  what  are 
called  the  Poetical  Books.  To  these  some  general  remarks  on  the 
Poetical  Books  and  on  Hebrew  poetry  are  prefixed ;  and  the  prefaces 
to  the  several  books  are  sensibly  and  carefully  written.  The  notes, 
though  as  usual  very  brief,  are  even  more  than  usually  good  in  this 
portion,  and  the  parallel  references  continue  to  be  copious  and  (as  far 
as  we  have  examined  them)  well  selected.  The  three  parts  have  just 
been  issued  in  a  handsome  volume,  and  we  presume  that  one  more  such 
volume  will  comprise  the  Prophets  and  the  New  Testament.  In  looking 
through  the  volume  as  a  whole,  we  perceive  that  the  Pictorial  Bible  and 
other  productions  of  Dr.  Kittohave  been  laid  under  liberal  contribution 
for  the  contents,  but  we  have  not  seen  that  his  name  occurs  once  in  any 
jKirt  of  the  work.  This  is,  however,  customary.  This  Annotated 
Bible  is  altogether  well  edited,  and  forms  a  very  valuable  addition  to 
the  publications  of  the  Society  which  issues  it. 


Cyclopcedia   Bibliographical  Nos.   4,   5,  and   6.     London :    James 
Darling.    1853. 

These  three  numbers  carry  the  alphabet  of  thi«  excellent  publication 
from  Bull  to  Druit,  and  from  pages  481  to  959.  At  this  rate  the 
extent  of  the  volume,  comparing  the  alphabetical  arrangement  of 
others,  promises  to  be  something  considerable ;  but  as  this  is  owing  to 
the  very  satisfactory  manner  in  which  not  merely  the  titles,  but  the 
contents  of  the  several  works  are  exhibited,  we  would  not  have  it  other- 
wise, for  it  is  this  which  renders  the  *  Cyclopaedia  Bibliographica '  of 
inestimable  value  to  students  and  others,  in  finding  the  works  and  the 
volumes  containing  the  information  they  require.  The  volume  will  not, 
however,  be  so  extensive  as  may  be  made  to  appear  by  arithmetical 
calculation.  It  is  easy  to  say  that,  if  four  letters  make  959  pages, 
twenty-four  will  make  5744  pages!  But  nothing  is  more  incorrect 
than  this  mode  of  calculation,  nor  more  discouraging  to  compilers  of 
cyclopaedias  and  catalogues,  who  know  experimentally  that  the  burden 
of  proper  names,  &c.,  fidls  upon  the  first  four  or  five  letters  of  the 
alphabet.  In  the  '  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature,'  in  two  volumes, 
the  first  volume  goes  no  further  than  II.    In  Smith's  '  Dictionary  of 

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222  Notices  of  Books.  [April, 

Greek  and  Roman  Biography,'  in  three  volumes,  the  first  goes  no 
further  than  D  ;  and  in  several  book  catalogues  we  have  just  examined - 
the  four  first  letters,  A — D,  always  occupy  one-third  of  the  catalogue. 
We  must  therefore  multiply  this  portion  of  Mr.  Darling's  catalogue  by 
three,  and  not  by  six,  in  estimating  its  probable  extent. 


Sunday  Beading  for  Christian  Families.    Conducted  by  John  Kitto, 
D.D.,  F.S.A.     Part  I.  April.     London  :  R.  Needham. 

Tifis  is  the  first  monthly  part  of  a  weekly  publication,  which  is 
designed  to  furnish  suitable  reading  to  Christian  families  during  the 
hours  not  engaged  in  the  public  worship.  There  are  probably  few 
families  in  which  the  want  of  something  of  this  sort  has  not  been  felt ; 
for  although  there  are  many  hooks  suitable  for  this  purpose,  they  are 
singly  expensive,  and,  unless  at  a  large  outlay  in  the  constant  purchase 
of  new  ones,  the  charm  and  attraction  is  wanting  of  that  freshness, 
and  that  variety  of  interesting  matter,  which  a  magazine  presents.  As 
most  of  the  readers  of  the  Journal  will  probably  become  acquainted  with 
this  publication,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  explain  to  them  its  nature  fur- 
ther. The  name  of  the  editor  will  prepare  them  to  expect  that  it  is  largely 
devoted  to  the  biblical  matters,  in  almost  every  variety  of  form,  which 
can  be  sui^)osed  acceptable  in  a  publication  intended  rather  for  &mily 
than  library  use, — interpretation,  illustration,  biography,  geography,  &c. 
Then  there  are  also  rebgious  biography,  sketches  of  religious  character 
and  incident,  essays  on  social  and  relative  duties,  poetry,  original  and 
select ;  at  the  close  of  all  a  closely-packed  page  of  bright  sentences, 
under  the  title  of  ^  Sparklets  and  Fearls,'  and  other  matters  suited  to 
make  up  an  agreeable  and  instructive  miscellany,  something  above  the 
common  run  of  weekly  publications,  for  Sunday  reading.  Though  the 
publication  furnishes  good  materials  that  might  be  used  in  sermons^ 
there  is  less  of  direct  sermon  matter  than  one  would  expect  at  first 
view ;  but  on  reference  to  the  prospectus  it  is  seen  that,  the  day  being 
Sunday,  it  is  thought  desirable  to  leave  this  part  of  the  day's  sacred  work 
to  the  minister.  *  Not  professing  to  supersede  the  preaclier,  but  to  follow 
him,  the  contents  will  not  be  largely  of  a  practical  character ;  but  no 
proper  opportunities  will  be  neglected  of  elucidating,  in  ^'a^ious  forms 
and  applications,  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  or  of  enforcing  the  religious, 
social,  and  moral  obligations  of  the  Christian  life.' 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  IntelUgmce.  i23 


INTELLIGENCE. 


BIBLICAL. 

At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  December  1 4th,  there  were  read  'Some  Inscrip- 
tions on  Bricks  from  Koyunjik "  by  Dr.  Grotefend,  transited  by  the  Rev.  6. 
Rfjiouard.  The  inscriptions  are  in  the  works  of  Mr.  Jiayard,  published  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.  Dr.  Grotefend  says,  that  those  who  refer  the 
original  inscriptions  to  Sennacherib  will  believe  that  by  Nergal  Sharczer,  his  mur- 
derer is  signified ;  but  seeing  that  in  the  word  Framatardkh,  a  Median  title  with  a 
Babylonian  formative  syllable  is  applied  to  him,  he  thinks  he  must  be  identified 
with  the  prophet  Daniel's  Darius  the  Mede. 

Miss  Fanny  Corbaux  exhibited  drawings  of  the  principal  figures  painted  on  the 
tombs  of  Seti  Menephtah  I.  and  Rameses  III.,  regarding  these  subjects  not  as  an 
ethnographical'  classification  of  the  human  race,  as  commonly  conjectured,  but  as 
strictly  commemorative,  like  the  historical  temple  sculptures.  The  various  people 
whom  the  Theban  king  claimed  as  vassals  are  tendering  their  homage  in  his  tomb. 
The  Egyptian  race  leads  the  procession  ;  the  nations  acauired  by  conquest  follow. 
The  latter  bear  descriptive  epithets.  I.  Nehasu,  or  rebelliout  race— the  aboriginal 
blacks  of  Gush:  II.  Temahu,  or  Northern  race — the  Bephaim ;  III.  Shemu,  or 
Shemite  race — the  Aramites,  among  whom  the  Edomite  colonists  of  the  Horite 
valley  are  also  included.  In  support  of  these  positions.  Miss  Corbaux  referred  to 
the  drawings,  shewing  the  costumes  of  the  two  latter  people  taken  from  the 
historical  sculptures,  where  the  names  of  their  lauds  are  given,  and  all  of  which 
she  had  identified.  She  concluded  by  suggesting  that  the  well-known  subject  on 
the  tombs  of  Beni  Hassan— an  embassy  of  37  foreifpers,  headed  by  their  hyk  or 
chief— which  was  once  thought  to  represent  the  arrival  of  the  Jews,  mi^t  present 
an  early  type  of  the  Rephaim  nations,  prior  to  their  establishment  in  Bgypt— prior, 
perhaps,  to  their  subdivisions  into  the  tribes  mentioned  in  Deut.  ii. — Athenaumf 
Dee.  25th. 

At  the  Asiatic  Society,  February  5th,  the  Assistant  Secretarr  read  extracts  of 
letters  received  from  Colonel  Rawlinson,  communicating  the  finding  of  a  large 
number  of  inscriptions  in  real  bond  fide  Scythian  languages. 

These  inscriptions  are  all  more  ancient  than  those  of  the  Achiemenian  kings. 
The  Colonel  is  satisfied  that  idl  the  Hamite  nations.  Gush,  Mizraim,  Nimrod,  and 
Canaan,  were  Scythian,  the  two  former,  perhaps,  mixed  up  with  races  of  Shemite 
origin.  We  believe  that,  at  the  period  when  these  inscriptions  were  first  written, 
that  is  to  say,  about  the  18th  century  B.C.,  the  Scythians  and  the  Sbemites  were 
so  completely  mineled  together  in  Syria  that  they  cannot  now  be  distinguished, 
but  that  the  Scyths  were  the  first  settiers,  followed  by  the  race  of  Shem  after  a 
long  interval.  This  clears  up  most  of  the  difficulties  in  the  patriarchal  genealogies^ 
and  accounts  for  the  confusion  of  Greek  tradition. 

The  Scythic  Gush  were  spread  over  N.  E.  Africa,  Arabia,  and  Susiana,  as  wer« 
the  Cephenes ;  and  hence  the  double  myth  regarding  Gepheus,  and  perhaps  th« 
Asiatic  and  Aif^ican  Memnon. 

The  importance  of  these  views,  and  their  bearing  on  the  world's  history,  at  th« 
period  relative  to  which  the  first  definite  notions  of  the  movements  and  distribution 
of  nations  have  been  handed  down  to  us,  cannot  be  too  highly  appredated.  In 
his  last  communication  the  Colonel  enclosed  a  drawing  of  a  bronze  lion,  which 
had  been  recenUy  dug  up  by  the  Turks  at  Nebi  Yunus,  very  similar  in  form  to 
one  of  black  marble  fouiul  some  weeks  ago  at  Baghdad.  ^  The  latter  had  a  car- 
touche on  the  breast,  containing  a  name  in  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  characters, 
which  has  not  yet  been  read;  but  the  bronze  figure  had  an  inscription  in  the 
Assyrian  character,  which  was  clearly  read, — Esar>haddon,  conqueror  of  Mizraim 
and  Gush.  This  was  strongly  confirmatory  of  the  announcement  he  had  made 
hst  year,  to  the  Society,  of  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  Esar-haddon. 


Digitized 


by  Google 


224l  InteUigence.  [April, 

Id  the  waj  of  geographical  discovery,  Colonel  Rawlinson  finds  that  Seppareh 
or  Sepharraim  was  the  same  place  as  Borsippa,  the  modem  Birs.  He  has  found 
in  the  Talmud  abundant  confirmation  of  the  Scythic  empire  of  Nimrod,  and  has 
ascertained  that  the  primeval  cities  were  situated  to  the  south,  as  he  haid  always 
suspected,  Erech  beins  Warka,  Accad  the  same  as  Akar,  near  Warsit,  and  Calneh 
Niffer.    He  is  still  inclined  to  see  Shinar  in  the  modem  Senkereh. 

Colonel  Sykes  read  a  paper  illustrating  some  miniature  figures  of  Buddhist 
chaityas  moulded  in  clay,  found  by  Major  Kittoe  in  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of 
Saroath,  near  Benares,  and  which  were  exact  representations  of  the  large  chaityas 
in  the  Indian  rock-cut  temples.  These  figures  contain  the  Buddhist  confession  of 
faith  stamped  in  relief  upon  a  separate  bit  of  clay,  which  must  have  been  imbedded 
while  the  fatter  was  still  soft,  because  the  relief  inscription  on  the  imbedded  bits 
of  clay  was,  in  all  cases,  visibly  impressed  on  the  side  of  the  hollow  from  which  it 
was  extracted.  Professor  Wilson,  in  his  *■  Arcana  Antiqua,'  has  given  a  drawing 
of  a  seal  bearing  the  same  dogma ;  and  Dr.  J.  Bird  discovered  it  engraven  on  a 
copper-plate  in  tne  excavations  which  he  made  at  the  Buddhist  rock-cut  temples 
of  Kenan. 

The  characters  of  the  various  inscriptions  indicate  that  the^  were  written 
between  the  seventh  and  tenth  centuries.  The  language  is  Sanscnt,  but  is  seldom 
accurate,  and  no  two  of  the  inscriptions  quite  agree,  but  the  sense  of  all  is  the 
same.  Mr.  Spence  Hardy,  in  his  '  Manual  of  ^  Buddhism/  states  the  do^ma  to  be 
contemporaneous  with  Buddha  himself,  but  it  b  somewhat  singular  that  it  has  not 
been  found  among  any  of  the  more  ancient  Buddhist  inscriptions.  Colonel  Sykes 
considers  these  chaityas  to  have  been  votive  oflFerin§|s.  The  discovery  of  this 
dogma  in  different  parts,  and  written  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  10th  century, 
proves  the  prevalence  of  Buddhism  up  to  that  period,  and  substantiates  the  accounts 
given  of  Buddhism  in  India,  by  the  Chinese  travellers  of  the  fifth  and  seventh 
centuries. — Literary  Gazette^  Feb.  26. 

The  investigations  set  on  foot  by  the  London  Jews'  Society  respecting  the 
remnant  of  Abraham's  seed  in  the  Chinese  empire  have  been  followed  up  by  a 
second  visit  to  Kae-fung-foo  of  the  two  natives  employed  on  the  first  occasion. 
They  purchased  fh>m  the  Jewish  community  in  that  place  six  of  the  twelve  rolls 
of  the  law  belonging  to  their  synagogue,  and  obtained  besides  about  40  smaller 
books,  which  may  possibly  contain  some  records  of  their  early  history  and  mi- 
srations  to  China.  Two  of  the  rolls  have  been  already  sent  to  this  country. 
The  Bishop  of  Victoria  writes,  August  22 : — *  The  last  important  circumstance  is 
the  arrival  of  two  native  Jews,  who  are  now  diligently  studvin^  Hebrew  under 
Dr.  Medhurst's  roof.  They  seem  alive  to  the  humiliation  of  navmg  lost  Hebrew 
from  among  them.' 

These  two  young  Chinese  Jews  subsequently  returned  to  Kae-fung-foo,  and  it 
is  expected  that  other  Jewish  youths  will  be  induced  to  come  to  Hong  Kong  for 
instruction. — Miuionary  Register^  Feb.  1853. 

At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  Jan.  11th,  a  description  was  read  of  a  cylinder 
which  is  considemi  by  Mr.  Abington,  as  well  as  by  Colonel  Rawlinson,  to  have 
been  a  public  signet.  On  this  cylinder  is  a  majestic  figure,  clothed  in  a  tunic  and 
robe,  richly  embroidered  and  fringed,  in  the  fashion  of  the  kings  of  Assyria.  The 
helmet  upon  his  head  is  decorated  with  one  pair  of  horns,  the  symbols  of  regal 
power.  His  body  is  fliraished  with  four  wings,  indicating  the  extent  of  dominion 
to  the  four  quarters  of  the  heavens.  Mr.  Sharpe  exhibited  lithographic  drawings 
of  the  inscriptions  on  the  great  sarcophagus  in  the  Louvre  in  Paris,  which  he  is 
about  to  publish  in  his  '  Egyptian  Inscriptions.'  He  pointed  out  the  conquest  of 
the  eternal  Serpent,  the  enemy  of  the  human  race ;  a  sacrifice  of  men  to  Osiris, 
who  sits  with  a  pair  of  scales  before  him  to  weigh  their  conduct.  The  sarco- 
phagus Mr.  Sharpe  considered  not  more  ancient  than  the  Ptolemies.  The  writing 
was  not,  as  in  the  ancient  inscriptions,  so  that  the  reader  met  the  points  of  the 
letters,  but,  as  in  other  alphabets,  he  follows  the  backs  of  the  characters. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Black  read  some  notes  on  the  '  Restoration  of  Fertility  to  the  Soil  of 
Palestine ;'  in  which  he  attributed  the  desert  appearance  of  the  land  in  general  to 
the  neglect  of  cultivation  for  many  ages,  and  not  to  natural  causes,  as  erroneously 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


185a.]  Intelligence,  226 

snppofled.  Mr.  Black  briefly  narrated  the  experiments  made  hj  M.  Meshullam 
of  Jenisalem,  and  the  American  Seventh-day  Baptists,  who  have  jointly  established 
a  small  agricultural  colony  at  Artos,  near  Bethlehem,  with  ftreat  success.  He 
also  read  several  extracts  from  their  correspondence,  and  confimied  the  fact  of  the 
testimony  of  individuals  who  have  recently  visited  that  interesting  settlement,  that 
within  the  past  year  they  have  raised  successive  crops  of  com  (the  wheat  growing 
as  high  as  a  tall  man),  besides  an  abundance  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  bow  native 
and  exotic  This  paper  was  followed  by  a  conversation,  in  which  the  possibility 
of  recovering  the  far-iamed  fertility  of  Palestine  was  confirmed  by  M.  Bonomi  and 
by  Bisk  Allah  Effendi,  fh)m  their  personal  knowledge  of  the  country. 

At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  March  8,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tumbull  read  a  paper 
'On  Damascus.'  The  extraordinary  antiquity  of  this  city,  combined  with  its 
peculiarly  beautiful  situation,  render  it  an  object  of  universal  interest.  It  is 
named  Gen.  xiv.  The  author  derived  the  name  fWmi  HDl  (Damah),  and  ilpfiS^ 
(Mashkah),  a  watered  plain.  Ui,  eldest  son  of  Aram,  was  probably  the  founder; 
his  brother  Hul  settling  on  the  streams  of  Hermon,  and  giving  his  name  to  the 
land  of  Huleh  to  this  day ;  Gether  or  Theger,  and  Masb,  the  other  sons  of  Aram, 
giving  their  names  to  the  Tigris  and  the  Masian  mountains.  The  city  is  in  length 
abont  two  and  a^half  miles,  and  in  breadth  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  beautifiUly 
situated  in  an  extensive  plain.  The  author  suggested  that  at  some  future  period 
the  foundations  of  Dunascus  might  afford  instructive  additions  to  the  ancient 
(  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon^ — Literaty  GoMStte,  March  19. 


LITERARY  AND  EDUCATIONAL. 

At  the  Asiatic  Society,  January  15th,  Professor  Wilson  delivered  a  lecture  <m 
theVedas. 

The  existence  of  these  books  became  known  to  Ehirope  about  the  middle  of  the 
last  century.  In  1789  a  copy  obtained  by  Colonel  Poller  firom  Jeyptfr  was  pre- 
sented to  the  British  Museum.  Of  the  four  Vedas,  the  texts  of  three  and  the 
translations  of  two  are  either  printed  or  in  the  course  of  publication.  The  Vedas 
consist  of  two  parts — the  Mantra  and  Brahmana,  or  the  practical  and  the  specu- 
lative,— ^tke  former  consisting  of  hymns,  and  the  latter  chiefly  of  directions  for  the 
applications  of  the  hymns  to  the  principal  reli^ous  ceremonies.  The  meta- 
physical treatises  called  Upanishads  are  included  m  the  Brahmanas.  The  whole 
of  the  hymns,  as  grouped  together,  form  what  is  called  the  Sanhita  of  the  Veda; 
that  of  the  Rigveda  contains  about  10,000  stanzas ;  and  the  shortest,  that  of  the 
Sama,  or  third  Veda,  about  1600.  Of  the  four  Vedas,  the  Rigveda  is  certainly  the 
most  ancient,  for  parts  of  that  are  found  in  each  of  the  others.  The  chief  value 
of  the  Vedas  depends  upon  their  high  antiquity,  the  Rigveda  being  probably 
compiled  about  the  14th  or  1 5th  century  B.C.  No  warrant  is  found  in  the  Vedas 
for  any  of  the  principal  dogmas  and  institutions  of  modem  Hindiiisih.  The  real 
character  of  their  sacred  writings  has  hitherto  been  hidden  from  the  Hindtis  by 
the  difiSculties  of  the  language  ;  but  through  the  English  language — a  medium  of 
which  multitudes  are  already  able  to  avail  themselves — the  Hindiis  will  become 
acquainted  with  these  works,  which  they  deem  the  basis  of  their  &ith,  and  will 
see  the  utter  hollowness  of  this  foundation. — AtheruBum,  Jan.  29th. 

Recent  letters  from  Egypt  report  the  discovery  in  that  country  of  a  buried  city. 
It  is  alleged  to  be  situated  alxmt  five  hours'  journey  fh>m  Cairo,  near  the  first 
cataract.  It  is  said  that  an  Arab,  having  observed  what  appeared  to  be  the  head 
of  a  sphinx  appearing  above  the  ground  near  this  spot,  drew  the  attention  of  a 
French  gentleman  to  the  circumstance,  who  commenced  excavating,  and  laid 
open  a  long-buried  street,  which  contained  38  granite  sarcophagi,  ea3i  of  which 
weighed  aoout  68  tons,  and  which  formerly  held  evidently  the  ashes  of  sacred 
animals.  The  French  gentleman,  it  is  added,  has  got  a  grant  of  the  spot  from 
the  Egyptian  Pasha,  and  has  exhumed  ^eat  quantities  of  curiosities, — some  of 
them  ancient  earthenware  vessels  of  a  diminutive  size.  This  street,  when  lighted 
VOL.  IV. — NO.  VII.  Q 

Digitized  by  V3^/V./V  IV. 


22G  Intelligmee.  [April, 

up  at  night,  forms  a  maffnificent  sight.  It  is  upwards  of  1600  yards  in  length. 
Many  of  the  curiosities  dug  out  have,  it  is  added,  to  be  kept  buried  in  sand  to 
preserve  them  from  perishing. — Athenaum,  Jan.  29th. 

At  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  February  5th,  the  Rev.  Churchill  Babington 
gave  an  interesting  account  of  the  orations  of  Hyperides,  which  he  has  been 
engaged  in  editing.  Mr.  Babinffton  stated  that  in  1847  Mr.  Harris  of  Alexandria 
discovered  at  Thebes,  in  Upper  Egypt,  three  ft-agments  of  a  Greek  papyrus  con- 
taining a  part  of  an  oration  of  Hypendes  against  Demosthenes,  charging  him  with 
having  accepted  a  bribe.  These  were  edited  first  in  Germany,  and  subsequently 
in  £ingland  by  Mr.  Babington,  the  editors  in  both  countries  agreeing  that  the 
fragments  were  parts  of  different  orations.  About  the  same  time  Mr.  Arden  was 
travelling  in'E^^l>t»  and  obtained  from  the  Arabs  another  papyrus,  which  has  been 
committed  to  Mr.  Babington's  care^  and  which  is  now  executed  in  fito-simile  and 
ready  to  be  published.  This  papyrus  contains  one  complete  oration  of  Hyperides, 
in  favour  of  Euxenippus,  and  fifteen  columns  of  another.  The  oration  in  fi&vour 
of  Euxenippus  is  interesting,  as  relating  to  a  dispute  about  some  lands  granted  by 
Philip  of  Macedon  to  the  Athenians  after  the  battle  of  Cheronea.  There  is  a  ^ood 
deal  of  historical  matter  in  it,  and  some  notice  of  the  silver-mines  of  Launum. 
The  stvle  is  perspicuous,  and  the  Greek  very  elegant,  and  there  are  some  words 
in  it  of  very  rare  occurrence. 

The  date  of  the  fragment  of  the  oration  ibr  Lycophron  is  ascertained  within  a 
short  period  by  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Dioxippus  the  pugilist,  who  contended 
in  the  presence  of  Alexander  the  Great  in  b.c.  326,  and  who  probably  left  Europe 
about  B.C.  334.  It  is  probable  that  the  date  of  this  oration  was  about  the  same 
time.  It  contains  some  interesting  notices  of  the  government  of  the  island  of 
Lemnos. — Literary  Gazette,  Feb.  19th. 

From  the  Bishop  of  Victoria's  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  it  appears 
that  the  new  buildings  at  St.  I'aul's  College,  Hong-  Kong  have  been  completed,  in 
which  the  Bishop  now  resides  as  Warden  of  the  college,  together  with  a  full  staff 
of  tutors  and  students. 

This  institution  was  founded  by  the-  Rev.  Vincent  Stanton,  by  whose  exertions 
an  Anglo-Chinese  school  was  opened  in  1849. 

By  a  munificent  private  donation  and  a  grant  of  20001.  tram  the  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge,  the  Bishop  of  Victoria  has  been  enabled  to 
complete  all  the  requisite  buildings  of  a  collegiate  establishment  The  senior  tutor 
is  the  Rev.  E.  T.  R.  Moncricff. —itftswoiwry  Register ^  Feb. 

The  Report  of  the  Rev.  E.  Jones,  Principal  of  the  Fousah-Bay  Institution, 
Sierra  Leonp,  presents  an  interesting  view  of  the  advancing  character  of  the  studies 
which  are  prosecuted  by  the  students,  who  are  negro  youths,  whose  Christian 
character  and  suitableness  in  other  respects  afford  tlie  promise  of  their  becoming 
suitable  teachers  amongst  their  countrymen.  The  following  is  the  amount  of  work 
which  the  first  class,  containing  four  pupils,  has  accomplished  in  four  years.  Com- 
mencing with  the  elements  of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  they  have  read  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament,  with  Arnold's  two  works  on  Greek  prose  composition.  They 
have  mastered  the  five  books  of  Euclid,  with  a  knowledge  of  quadratic  equations  in 
algebra.  Keightley's  Reformation,  Nicholls'  Help,  Home's  Introduction,  the  firet 
28  articles  in  Burnet,  English  Grammar,  Geography,  and  Composition,  Barth's 
Church  History,  and  Spanhcim's  Bk^Iesiastical  Annals  to  tlie  end  of  the  fiAh 
century  have  all  been  acquired.  In  Hebrew  they  have  read  the  whole  of  Genesis, 
94  Psalms,  and  50  chaptera  of  Isaiah,  and  are,  therefore,  prepared  to  pursue  the 
study  themselves.  The  progress  of  the  second  and  third  classes  is  equally  pleasing. 
The  total  number  of  students  is  17,  and  their  conduct  in  and  out  of  class  is  orderiy 
and  respectful.  The  expected  arrival  of  Bishop  Vida)  is  looked  forward  to  with 
joy  and  gratitude. — Mif,  Register,  Feb.  1853. 

At  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  Feb.,  Professor  Adolphus  L.  Koeppen  read 
a  paper  on  the  late  discoveries  in  archaeology  in  the  Piraeus  at  Athens.  Among 
the  most  interesting  of  the  exhumed  relics  is  a  series  of  marble  slabs,  36  in 
number,  giving  a  detailed  description  of  the  state  of  Athenian  shipping  in  the  time 


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1853.]  InteUigence.  227 

of  Demosthenes.  The  names  and  registers  of  372  ship  are  ^Ten,  and  the  most 
rapid  sailers  among  them  all,  are  indicated.  Several  interesting  fficts  were  cited 
by  Professor  Koeppen  to  prove  the  authenticity  of  the  speculations  arising  from 
the  results  of  the  late  investigations — Norton* g  Literary  Gazette, 

Just  above  the  square,  and  near  the  Greek  church,  at  Alexandria,  there  has  beem 
laid  open  very  recently,  the  foundation  of  what  is  believed  to  be  that  of  the  once 
famous  library  of  Alexandria,  destroyed  by  the  caliph  Omar.  The  ruins  dug 
from  this  spot,  which  consist  principally  of  bricks,  are  being  sold  for  ordinary 
purposes.  During  the  stay  of  the  mail  steamer  Kipon  at  Alexandria,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  month,  the  Admiralty  agent,  Lieut.  Newenham,  visited  this  spot: 
and  he  states  that  he  saw  there  large  quantities  of  calcined  earth  and  blackened 
bricks,  the  effect  of  fire.  Lieut.  Newennam  brought  awav  with  him,  and  has  now 
at  Southampton,  a  drawing  from  a  lurndsome  sculptured  blue  granite  stone,  found 
amongst  the  rubbish  on  this  spot.  The  drawing  represents  a  winded  sphere^ 
underneath  which  is  a  figure  like  a  baboon,  in  a  sittine  posture,  with  uplifted 
hands.  Below  this  are  the  fig^ures  of  what  are  believed  to  be  kings,  over  the  heads 
of  which  are  a  Quantity  of  hieroglyphics,  seemingly  a  record  of  their  names  and 
titles. — Daily  News, 

At  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  Dec.  18th,  extracts  were  read  from  a  paper  by 
J.  R.  Logan,  &q., '  On  the  traces  of  an  Ethnic  connexion  between  the  basm  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  Indian  Archipelago,  before  the  advance  of  the  Hindus  into  the 
former.*  A  considerable  portion  of  the  paper  comprised  a  statement  of  Mr.  Logan's 
views  on  the  transition  of  monosyllabic  to  dissyllabic  languages.  He  considers 
that,  although  monosyllabic  languages  may  be  rich  and  elaborate  in  forms  and 
powers,  and  the  people  who  speak  them  be  a  civilized  community,  they  must, 
from  the  tonic  impediment  to  tne  union  of  words,  continue  to  be  cumbrous  and 
crude,  and  incapable  of  expressing  the  more  subtle  and  complex  phenomena  of  the 
intellect. — Literary  Gazette,  Jan.  15th. 

At  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  Jan.  12th,  Mr.  Watkins  Lloyd  read  a  paper 
on  '  Some  Astronomical  Epochs  and  Phenomena,  in  connection  with  the  plan  or 
design  of  the  Pyramids,'  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  interest  which  had  been 
nbewn,  Arom  the  earliest  ages  to  the  present  time,  in  the  question  whether  the 
udes  of  the  pyramids  were  for  the  most  part  built  at  an  angle  of  inclination  with 
the  horizon,  to  which  it  was  possible  to  give  any  distinct  astronomical  meaning. 

Mr.  Lloyd  stated  that  it  was  natural  to  expect,  in  a  country  where  so  larse  a 
portion  of  the  ancient  religion  had  to  do  with  the  sun,  that  the  position  and  in- 
clination of  the  sides  of  the  pyramids  would  in  some  way  be  connected  with  that 


luminary  ;  and  that  this  presumpUon  is  borne  out  by  the  Sphinx,  which  was  con- 
nected architecturally  with  the  pyramids,  and,  like  them,  faces  due  east.  In  his 
belief,  the  intention  of  the  builders  of  these  vast  structures,  besides  their  primary 
object  as  tombs,  was  that  they  should  indicate  the  period  of  the  equinoxes  and 
solltices.  That,  even  now,  after  allowing  for  some  change  which  has  taken  place 
in  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  since  these  buildings  were  first  raised,  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  skies  of  the  great  pyramid,  does  this  appear  to  be  true  fh)m  the  cal- 
culations which  Mr.  Lloyd  furnished,  and  which  rendered  his  paper  a  valuable 
exponent  of  a  curious  and  hitherto  unsolved  problem.  ^XtVerary  Gazette^  Jan. 
15th. 

It  has  been  proposed  in  New  York  that  a  convention  of  librarians  should  be 
held  at  some  convenient  time  and  place  for  consultation  about  various  matters 
pertaining  to  '  the  craft.'  By  such  a  convention  the  experience  of  long-established 
institutions,  and  their  well-trained  conductors,  might  so  be  brought  out  as  to  inform 
and  benefit  the  more  recent  establishments  and  the  less  accomplished  librarians. 
Such  a  convention  would  be  useful  amongst  us  who  have  so  many  institutions  and 
printing  societies.  '  Among  experienced  librarians  there  are  numerous  questions  of 
doubt  and  difiS^ulty,  where  a  comparison  of  the  views  of  those  whose  practice  has  beoi 
different  would  be  of  the  greatest  advantage ; — the  preparation  of  catalogues  for 
the  use  of  the  library  officers  as  well  as  for  the  public ;  the  preservation  of  books 
from  worms,  mould,  fire,  and  decay ;  the  method  of  delivering  books,  the  manner 
of  changing  them,  and  the  imposing  of  fines ;  the  eonstmction  and  arrangement 

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i28  Intelligence.  [April, 

of  libranr  buildings ;  the  qualiflcatioiis  and  education  desirable  In  a  librarian ; 
and  the  formation  of  general  indexes  apon  particular  topics  of  inquiry  incidental!  j 
treated  in  different  works.' 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1849  the  British  Government  sent  to  Central 
Africa  a  second  expedition,  consisting  of  one  Englishman,  Dr.  James  Richardson, 
and  two  Germans,  Drs.  Barth  and  Overweg,  the  chief  object  of  which  was  to 
determine  the  boundaries  of  Lake  Tsad,  and  to  conclude  commercial  treaties  with 
the  natives.  Dr.  Richardson  fell  a  victim,  but  the  others  continued  their  route. 
They  determined  the  boundaries,  and  proved  the  dis-connection  between  the 
Tsad  and  the  river  Quorra  (Niger),  a  fact  previously  much  dbputed,  and  collected 
a  most  valuable  mass  of  geoWical,  philological,  historical,  and  other  scientific 
data.  They  have  sent  home  for  scientific  assistance,  and  Dr.  Edward  Vogel, 
F.R.A.S.,  accompanied  by  two  sappers  and  miners,  was  to  leave  on  the  1 5th  of 
February.  After  reaching  Lake  Tsad  the  expedition  will  go  eastward  in  search 
of  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  and  direct  their  steps  thence  to  the  south-east  towards 
Zansibar  and  the  Indian  Ocean.— Zi*«rary  Gazette^  Feb.  5th. 

In  the  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature  for  July,  1852,  we  informed  our  readers  of 
some  discoveries  made  Nov.  1 2th,  1851,  by  M.  Marietta,  on  the  mte  of  the 
Secapeum  near  Memphis.  At  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  Feb.  23rd,  the 
President  read  a  paper,  drawn  up  by  Colodel  Hamilton,  on  these  discoveries. 

M.  Mariette  had  the  kindness  to  light  up  these  sepulchral  vaults,  by  which  the 
English  traveller  had  an  admirable  view  of  these  remarkable  discoveries.  The 
entrance  is  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  as  are  also  the  galleries  and  the  lateral 
chambers,  the  principal  one  being  about  16  feet  broad  and  14  feet  high.  The 
whole  number  of  sarcophagi  are  31,  the  greater  part  of  which  are  of  dark  green 
granite.  Hieroriyphics  have  been  met  with  on  two  only.  They  are  all  of 
gigantic  proportions,  12  feet  6|  inches  to  12  feet  10  inches  long,  7  feet  7  inches 
broad,  and  7  feet  7  inches  hi^h,  exclusive  of  their  cover,  which  is  in  one  solid 
block,  not  less  than  3  f^t  3  mohes  thick.  They  are  all  in  a  pure  state  of  pre- 
servation, and  the  surfaces  retain  their  original  polish.  The  covers  have  all  beea 
removed  two  or  three  feet  from  their  original  position,  bein^  pushed  forward  so 
as  to  leave  room  for  any  one  to  descend  into  them  from  the  hinder  side. 
.  M.  Mariette  conjectures  that  this  must  have  been  done  by  CSambyses.  No 
vestiges  have  been  found  in  them  of  the  embalmed  sacred  bulls. 

At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  Feb.  8th,  a  paper  was  read  on  the  Zend-Avesta 
by  Dr.  W.  Cam{>s.  The  conclusion  at  which  the  writer  arrived  was,  that  the 
^nd  was  the  ancient  language  of  Media,  and  that  the  books  preserved  in  it  were 
the  genuine  works  of  Zerduscht  or  Zoroaster,  who  app^red  as  a  religious  reformer 
in  the  reign  of  Gushtap,  who  is  by  most  historians  identified  with  Darius  Hys- 
taspes. 

Mr.  Ainsworth  read  a  communication  on  the  discoveries  in  ancient  art  recorded 
in  Mr.  W.  B.  Barker's  work,  the  '  Lares  and  Penates  of  Cilida.' 

Dr.  Lee  communicated  a  paper  '  on  some  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  cylinders,*^ 
by  Professor  Grotefend  of  Hanover,  translated  by  Mr.  T.  L.  Wraxall.  Thi 
cylinders  bear  symbols  of  beast-tamers,  which  Dr.  Grotefend  thinks  have  a  re- 
ligious siRuification,  representing  a  battle  of  good  spirits  or  beings  against  sin. — 
JUterary  Gazette,  Feb.  26th. 

At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  March  8,  extracts  fh)m  a  letter  by  Mr.  H.  Ras- 
sam,  dated  Nimnfd,  Nov.  20,  1852,  were  read.  The  excavations  at  Nimrrfd  had 
been  re-opened,  and  a  fine  bas-relief,  with  Assyrian  warriors  hunting  a  lion,  had 
been  found.  It  is  so  well  preserved  as  to  look  like  the  work  of  yesterday.  Frag- 
ments of  other  bas-relieft  of  superior  workmanship  had  also  been  found.  Also 
several  ivory  beads  most  beautifully  cut,  one  of  them  gilt  over  with  thin  gold. 
Excavations  were  also  being  carried  on  at  Koynnjik  (Nineveh),  but  the  excavators 
were  only  rewarded  by  tablets  of  clay  covered  with  small  cuneiform  characters. 
The  French  are  very  zealous  in  their  researches.  They  believe  that  they  have 
found  at  Khorsabad  the  very  chariot  of  Asshur !  They  are  excavating  in  four  or 
five  different  mounds.    The  Turkish  Government  has  also,  strange  to  say,  turned 

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1^53,]  livteUigenoe. 

archtfolOffioal,  and  commenced  excavating  tbe  moands  called  Nebbi  Ynnn«,  or  (vf 
the  propbet  Jonah,  to  tbe  great  annoyance  of  tbe  more  devout  Mosselmans.-*- 
Alhenmum^  March  9. 

Remarkable  success  has  attended  the  introduction  of  a  syllabic  system  of  writine 
amongst  the  Cree  Indians  of  the  shores  of  St  James's  Bay,  Canada.  One  such 
syllabarium  had  arisen  among  the  Cherokees  in  1824,  and  remains  a  striking  phe- 
nomenon in  the  history  of  American  philology.  Mr.  Horden  arrived  at  Moose 
Factory  in  An^st,  1851,  and  has  already  been  successfbl  in  teaching  to  read  and 
write  in  the  syUabic  system.  The  next  ship  will  convey  to  Mr.  Horden  a  printing- 
press,  with  a  fount  of  syllabic  types.  The  svstem  appears  to  be  equally  adapted  to 
the  widely-spread  tribes  of  the  Eskimos,  wno  frinse  the  whole  circumpolar  sea, 
from  Behring's  Straits  to  Labrador. — Church  Missionary  Intelligence^  March. 

Among  the  subjects  of  research  and  investigation  proposed  to  members  of  the 
French  School  at  Athens^  was  the  following  for  1852 : — To  visit  the  Ule  of  Patmo«, 
principally  for  the  purpose  of  instituting  researches  in  the  library  of  the  mona»- 
tery,  and  completing  a  Catalogue,  with  an  exact  and  complete  description  of  the 
MSS.  contained  in  the  library,  accompanied  with  extracts. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS 

At  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Feb.  14th,  a  paper  was  read  by  Dr. 
Thompson,  Remarks  on  the  country  between  Seleucia,  the  Valley  of  the  Orontes, 
Antioch,  and  Apimea,  to  Belis  on  the  Euphrates.  This  paper  created  considerable 
interest.  The  importance  of  affording  facilities  of  intercourse  between  the  coast 
of  Syria  and  the  Persian  Gulf^  and  of  thus  developing  the  resources  of  thesa 
countries,  is  becoming  of  dail^  interest,  not  only  to  Turkey  itself,  but  to  Europe 
in  general.  Dr.  Thompson  thinks  that  these  objects  are  at  no  very  remote  period 
likely  to  be  put  in  operation.  '     ' 

The  opening  of  the  old  caravan  route  of  the  ISth  and  14th  centuries,  by  the 
Euphrates  valley,  must  in  itself  be  considered  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  that 
could  be  conferred,  not  only  upon  the  Ottoman  empire  at  large,  but  upon  the 
whole  of  the  eastern  world. 

The  many  associations  of  the  country  through  which  it  is  proposed  to  establish 
this  interesting  route,  are  too  fhmiliar  to  the  public  in  general,  to  rei|uire  feurther 
allusion.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  garden  of  Eden  and  cradle  of  Christianity  are 
sites  which  it  is  enough  to  name,  as  in  themselves  incentives  to  the  promotion  and 
fulfilment  of  this  apparently  feasible  and  important  route  to  the  East. 

A  member  of  the  civil  service  of  the  Hon.  East  India  Companjr  on  the  Ben^fal 
establishment  has  offered  the  sum  of  300/.  for  the  best  essay  in  the  English 
language  in  refutation  of  the  errors  of  Hindu  philosophy,  according  to  tbe  Ve- 
danta,  Nyaya,  and  Sankhya  systems.  The  competition  is  open  to  all  nations.  The 
adjudicators  of  the  prize  are  to  be  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Mill,  D.D.,  of  Cambridge,  the 
Rev.  Professor  Whewell,  and  Professor  H.  H.  Wilson,  of  Oxford.  The  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Oxford,  are  trustees  for  the  donor  of 
the  prise,  the  essays  in  competition  for  which  are  to  be  lodged,  before  the  close  of 
1854,  at  the  office  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts.— ZiVerary  Gazette^  Mar.  .'Sth. 

The  Independent  (American)  says,  that  amone  the  papers  and  unpublished 
writings  left  by  President  Jonathan  Edwards  at  his  deatn,  there  are — A  series  of 
sermons  on  the  Beatitudes ;  a  work  on  the  Apocalypse ;  a  large  commentary  on  the 
Bible,  containing  904  pages,  a  leaf  of  the  printed  Englbh  Bible  being  interposed 
between  every  two  sheets.  There  is  also  an  imperfect  Harmony  of  the  Genius, 
Spirit,  Doctrines,  and  Rules  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 

A  gentleman,  J.  Muir,  Eso.,  of  the  Bengal  Civil  Service,  by  his  generous  offer  of 
a  prize  to  tbe  University  of  Cambridge  for  the  best  refutation  of  Hinduism  and 
Statement  of  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  in  a  form  suited  to  the  Hindus,  ha* 


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230  IfUeUtgence.  [AprU, 

been  the  occasion  of  caUing  forth  from  the  Rev.  Bowland  WUlUms,  Vioe-Priii^i|nl 
ef  St  David's,  Lampeter,  a  preliminary  dissertation  on  the  principles  of  historical 
evidences,  as  applied  to  discriminate  between  the  authority  of  the  Christian  Scrip- 
tures, and  of  the  religious  books  of  the  Hindus,  which,  from  its  forcibleness  of 
argument  and  attractiveness  of  s^le,  is  likely  to  prove  of  great  service.  Within 
the  last  few  weeks  Mr.  Muir  has  offered  another  prize  of  300/.  for  the  best  Essay 
in  refutation  of  the  Hindu  System  of  Philosophy.  Mr.  Muir  has  himself  contri- 
buted to  the  repertory  of  Christian  ar^ment,  the  *  Examination  of  Keligions  in 
Sanskrit,'  together  with  valuable  remarks  on  the  training  of  Missionary  Agents  for 
India.  The  work  is  printed  at  Cape  Town.  At  present  we  have  but  the  first 
part  of  the  work  which  Mr.  Muir  projects.  His  line  of  argument  in  refuting 
Hinduism  is  to  take  certain  criteria  of  divine  inspiration  as  the  basbof  his  position; 
and  these  are  shewn  to  be  wanting  in  the  Vedas,  and  fulfilled  only  by  the  Chris- 
tian Scriptures.  Mr.  Muir  has  added  to  the-usefnlness  of  his  remaries  by  appending 
a  list  of  books  on  Hinduism  and  Mohammedanism  for  Missionai^  study,  and  for 
the  library  of  the  Mission  station.  One  hindrance,  probably,  to  Onental  studies  has 
t>een  ignorance  of  the  sources  of  information. — Colonial  Church  Chron%cl«^  Maroh. 

The  third  volume  of  Dr.  Beecher's  works  is  occupied  with  his  Views  of  Theo- 
logy, as  developed  in  three  sermons,  on  Dependence,  Free  Agency,  and  on  the 
Native  Character  of  Man,  together  with  the  author's  trial  for  heresy  before  the 
Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  in  18o.5.  By  the  side  of  this  volume,  which  supplies 
a  curious  historic  chapter  of  the  theological  controversies  of  New  England,  we 
have  a  new  edition  of  *  A  Presbyterian  Clergyman  looking  for  the  Church,*  the 
production  of  the  Rev.  F.  S.  Mines,  Hector  of  a  church  in  San  Francisco,  and  a 
couple  of  small  volumes.  Charity  cmd  the  Clergy ,  and  Hint§  to  a  Laifman,  volumes 
relative  to  a  certain  *  New  Themes '  controversy,  apparently  growing  out  of  the 
publication  in  Philadelphia  of  a  book  entitled,  *  New  Themes  for  the  Protestant 
Clergy.*    By  Stephen  ColwelL—A>«>  York  Lit.  World,  March  5. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Angus,  of  Stepney  College,  has  in  the  press  for  the  '  Educational 
Series*  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  a  work  called  *The  Bible  Hand-Book,'  of 
about  800  pages,  designed  to  give  a  somewhat  popular  view  of  Biblical  Critidsm, 
Interpretations,  Antiquities,  &c.,  with  Introductions  to  each  book  of  Scripture. 
From  a  specimen  we  have  seen  this  seems  to  be  a  well  arranged  and  carefully 
prepared  work,  likely  to  be  of  much  service  to  those  for  whose  use  it  is  designed. 

Dr.  Cox,  of  New  York,  has  a  new  work  nearly  ready,  beinf^  his  personal  literary 
reminiscences  of  distinguished  men.  It  will  contain  several  interesting  anecdotes, 
with  fragmentary  remains,  of  the  late  Dr.  Chalmers,  with  whom  the  author  was 
intimate. 

A  bookseller  at  Athens,  for  some  time  past,  has  been  publishing  translations  of 
Sanscrit  works  into  modem  Greek. 

A  new  weekly  periodical  has  appeared,  entitled  Sunday  Reading  for  Christian 
Families ;  conducted  by  Dr.  Kitto.  Each  number  contains  twenty-four  pages  of 
closely  arrangred  matter,  chiefly  original  aiticles  furnished  by  the  Editor,  and 
by  various  writers  of  ability  and  experience,  and  expressly  aoapted  for  Sunday 
reading. 

Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  is  preparing  a  new  and  abridged  edition  for  popular  cir- 
culation, with  illustrations,  in  2  volumes,  post  £vo.,  of  the  Private  Lifc«  MannerSt 
and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians. 

Mr.  Birch,  F.S.A.,  has  in  the  press  A  History  of  Ancient  Pottery;  Egyptian, 
Asiatic,  Greek,  Roman,  Etruscan,  and  Celtic,  in  8vo.,  with  illustrations. 

A  Supplement  to  the  Authorised  English  Version  of  the  New  Testament  ^  being 
a  Critical  lUustration  of  its  more  difllcult  Passages,  from  the  Syriac,  Latin,  and 
earlier  English  Versions,  with  an  Introduction  ^  the  Rev.  F.  H.  Scrivener,  M.A. 
Volume  Ist,  in  8vo. 

Notes  on  the  Four  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  With  Illustrations  of  the 
Doctrines,  Principles,  and  Practice  of  the  Church  of  England.  By  a  Bishop's 
Chaplain.     In  2  vols.  8yo. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  ItUeUiffence.  231, 

Sbbbath  Scripture  Readincs,  hy  Thomas  Chalmers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  in  2  toIs. 
They  begin  with  Genesis,  and  are  coutmued  down  to  the  second  book  of  Kings, 
and  embrace  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament.  The  Daily  Scripture  Readings  are 
also  in  2  vols.  They  begin  with  Genesis*  and  are  carried  down  to  the  end  of 
Jeremiah. 

Nearly  ready, — Pablic  Education,  as  afiected  by  the  Minutes  of  the  Committee 
of  the  Privy  Council  ft'om  1S46  to  1852;  with  suggestions  as  to  future  policy. 
By  Sir  J.  K.  Shuttleworth. 

Church  History  of  England  from  the  earliest  time  to  the  period  of  the  Re- 
formation. By  the  Rev.  Arthur  Martineau,  M.A.,  late  Fellow  of  Trini^  College, 
C^ambridge,  12ma 

Hebrew  Politics  in  the  Times  of  Sarson  and  Sennacherib :  an  inquiry  into  the 
Historical  Meaning  and  Purpose  of  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah  ;  with  some  notice  of 
their  bearings  on  the  social  and  political  life  of  England.    By  K.  Stracbey,  Esq. 

The  Fall  of  the  Roman  Republic :  a  short  history  of  the  last  century  of  the 
Commonwealth.    By  Charles  Merivale,  B.D. 

In  the  press,  with  map  and  plates,  post  8vo.,  A  Narrative  of  an  Explorer  in 
South  Africa.    !3y  Francis  Galton,  Esq. 

Narrative  of  the  lamented  Traveller,  James  Richardson,  Esq.,  conxprising  the 
details  of  his  Mission  into  Central  Africa  performed  in  1851-2. 

Shortly,— a  New  Latin-English  Dictionary.  By  Dr.  William  "Smith.  One 
large  volume,  8vo. 

In  the  press, — Tlie  Messianic  Prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament :  being  the 
Hebrew  text,  with  a  literal  translation  and  critical  exposition.  By  J.  Robert  Wolf. 

Shortly, — An  Onomasticon  Pentateuch!;  oc,  an  Etymological  and  Historical 
Dictionary  of  Hebrew  Proper  Names,  as  they  occur  in  the  rentotcuch.  ^  the 
Bev.  Alfred  Jones,  Theologic^d  Associate  of  King's  College,  Loudon. 

In  the  press, — Discourses  bearing  upon  some  of  the  Controversies  of  the  Day. 
By  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Hook,  Vicar  of  Leeds.     8vo. 

Silnria;  or.  Primeval  Life.  A  popular  View  of  the  Older  Sedimentary  Rocks, 
and  their  imbedded  Organic  Remains.  By  Sir  R.  L  Murchison,  F.G.S.  With 
plates  and  woodcuts,  8vo. 

The  Personal  Narrative  oi  an  Englishman  in  Abyssinia.  By  Mansfield  Pai'Kyns. 
With  map  and  illustrations,  2  vols.  8vo. 


FOREIGN  lOT'ELLIGENCE. 

(  To  iJiB  Editor  of  the  Journal  <f  Sacred  Literature.) 

Sir, — The  theological  world  of  Germany  has  by  no  means  as  yet  recovered  ?ts  tone. 
It  still  staggers  under  the  blow  it  received  in  the  year  1848.  The  pornici;l  outbreaks 
and  convulsions  of  that  period  were  the  culminating  point  and  the  inevitable  result 
of  a  mystic  rationalism,  which  had  its  root  in  a  pantheistic  theology,  and  its 
branches  and  fruit  in  a  communistic  theoi^'  of  political  life.  The  old  forms  of  re- 
publicanism no  longer  satisfied  the  demands  of  speculation ;  republicanism  was 
indeed  sought  after,  but  merely  as  a  sttpping-stone  to  Communism.  The  founda- 
tion of  the  whole  was  an  antipathy  to  any  form  of  positive  religion.  Misbelief  had 
ended  in  the  grossest  uubeliet  IIow  can  theology  flourish  in  such  a  soil  ?  So  long 
as  religion  retained  any  hold  on  men's  minds,  theology  did  not  die  out ;  nay,  con- 
nected with  it  were  great  theological  names ;  not  soon,  so  fer  as  industry  and 
learning  are  concerned,  will  Paulus,  Bretschneider,  and  De  Wette  be  surpassed. 
But  these  giants  have  left  no  successors.  A  religion  of  the  head  has  no  offspring. 
A  theology  of  words  perishes  of  its  own  aridity.  The  result  was  the  surer,  because 
the  antagonist  of  these  rationalist  theologians  dealt  in  words  too,  rather  than  in 
ideas,  putting  on  the  dress  of  positive  principles,  because  some  sort  of  orthodoxy 


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232  IrUelUgenee.  [April, 

foand  faToor  at  the  Prussian  court,  and  because  fashionable  in  good  society.  If 
Sohleierroaoher  may  be  charged  with  setting  an  example  to  the  PuitheistSY  Ne- 
ander  cannot  be  held  wholly  guiltless  of  encouraging  the  hypocrites.  The  former 
went  some  way  to  destroy  religion  by  excessive  rennements,  and  the  latter  threw 
around  the  truth  such  mists  as  could  not  fail  to  be  perilous  to  ordinary  wayfarers. 
The  influence  of  the  latter  still  operates  in  the  affectations  of  the  Berlin  school, 
who  look  one  way  and  go  another.  The  influence  of  the  former  has  issued  in  the 
ne^tions  of  Tubingen,  where  religion  is  resolved  into  mere  naturalism.  Hie  only 
beheving  element  (on  a  large  scale)  in  Germany  is  Romanism ;  alas !  that  we  must 
say  80.  We  do  not  affirm  that  the  belief  of  the  Romanists  is  well  grounded.  We 
deny  that  it  is  healthy ;  but  at  least  it  is  active  ;  it  is  even  nervously  active.  Re- 
ceiving impulse  and  direction  from  the  Jesuit  College  in  Rome,  Romanist  belief  in 
Germany  puts  forth  all  its  efforts,  strains  every  nerve,  and  has  wrought  itself  into 
the  fancy  that  it  is  on  the  eve  of  a  fresh,  if  not  a  universal  triumph.  Hence  the 
number  of  Romanist  publications.  Before  the  year  1848  Romanist  publications 
were  comparatively  few.  Now  they  far  outnumber  those  of  the  Protestant  Com- 
munions :  they  have  outnumbered  those  of  the  Protestant  communions  for  several 
years.  Nevertheless,  they  give  no  signs  of  the  revival  of  theology  in  Germany. 
Romanism  is  professedly  unsusceptible  of  improvement,  for  that  wmch  is  '  perfect, 
entire,  lacking  nothing,'  cannot  be  made  better.  Accordingly  theology  was  cul- 
tivated by  Romanism  only  as  a  necessary  antagonist  to  Protestant  theology.  Tlxat 
theology  has  now  sunk  into  quietude,  and  so  Romanism  does  little  else  thmn  put 
forth  books  of  devotion,  asceticism  and  propagandism.  Altogether  the  state  of 
theology  in  Germany  is  as  painful  as  it  is  unpromising.  One  Protestant  professor, 
Ewald,  continues  the  sacred  war,  but  is  too  remote  from  the  extremes  of  the  domi- 
nant parties,  to  enjoy  the  populari^  to  which,  on  various  grounds,  he  is  entitled. 

Ewald  is  the  President  of  the  Deutsche  Morgenlandischen  Gesellschaft  {Ger- 
man Oriental  Society),  which  has  rendered  great  services  to  Oriental  literatnre, 
both  ancient  and  modem.  In  an  excellent  address  read  at  the  opening  of  the  last 
session  of  the  Society,  held  at  Gottingen  in  September,  1852,  the  President  reviewed 
the  actual  state  of  Oriental  studies  in  an  instructive,  as  well  as  interesting  manner. 
Among  the  papers  read  on  the  occasion  was  one  which  gave  an  outline  of  the 
travels  in  Palestine  of  Dr.  Robinson,  to  whose  *  Biblical  Researches ' '  Uie  religions 
and  the  learned  world  are  so  deeply  indebted.  This,  his  second  journey,  has  been 
very  productive  of  fruit ;  and  we  look  with  earnest  anticipation  to  the  appearance 
of  the  narrative  in  which  Dr.  Robinson  will  lay  the  results  before  the  world. 

It  happened  that  in  the  month  of  September,  1802,  the  learned  Grotefend  laid 
before  Uie  German  Oriental  Society  his  first  specimen  of  the  decyphering  of  the 
arrow-headed  characters.  The  year  1852  was  therefore  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
that  event  Rightly  did  the  members  of  the  Society  judge  that  such  an  anniversary 
was  not  to  be  allowed  to  pass  as  an  ordinary  occasion.  Grotefend  had  led  the  way 
into  what,  fifty  years  ago,  was  a  tangled  labyrinth,  or  rather  a  dark  mystic  vault. 
Through  his  efl'orts,  and  encouraged  by  his  success,  learned  men  of  his  own 
country,  as  well  as  of  France  and  England,  applied  their  powers  to  the  task.  The 
consequence  has  been  a  degree  of  success,  which  promises  shortly  to  lay  open  a  new 
language,  and  a  new  source  of  historical,  ethnological,  and  antiquarian  information. 
In  acknowledgment  of  his  great  deserts,  the  Society  presented  a  simple,  but 
unavoidably  a  most  flattering  address  to  Grotefend,  in  commemoration  of  the 
jubilee.  Had  we  space  to  sketch  the  road  over  which  that  learned  man  and  bis 
coadjutors  have  been  led,  we  should  add  another  striking  instance  to  the  many 
that  already  exist,  of  the  value  of  steady  and  persevering  eflbrt,  and  the  merit  of 
deriving  encouragement  from  very  small  successes.  Without  fkith  and  hope  no 
man  ever  achieved  any  thing  ereat  in  letters  or  science,  any  more  than  in  morals. 

The  decline  of  theology  and  religion  in  Germany,  to  which  we  ha^e  alluded,  is 
illustrated  in  tables  which  we  transcribe.  The  ensuing  table  gives  what  may  be 
called  the  theological  statistics  of  the  Prussian  Church  in  the  several  years  here 
stated ;  the  first  number  denotes  the  divinity  students  who  completed  their  studies ; 
the  second,  the  divinity  students  who  actually  entered  the  ministry : — 

*  This  is  the  paper  which,  in  an  English  dress,  appears  in  the  present  Number 
of  the  Journal. 


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1853.] 


Intetti^fmee. 


23$ 


1840   • 

•   283 

202 

1846 

160 

199 

1841   • 

•   938 

192 

1847 

192 

198 

1848   • 

•   261 

169 

1848 

138 

179 

1848   • 

•   228 

158 

1849 

153 

174 

1844   . 

•   221 

178 

1850 

154 

185 

1845   . 

•   219 

198 

The  sum  total  of  the  finished  students  for  the  triennium  1840-3,  is  781 ;  whereas 
the  sum  total  for  that  ending  1850,  is  onl^  445.  Yet  were  there,  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1851,  in  the  Prussian  States  not  fewer  ^n  946  unplaced  ministers. 

Of  a  similar  tendency  is  the  following  table,  showine  the  students  in  the  facul- 
ties of  Protestant  Theology  in  the  undermentioned  German  universities  in  the 
given  years: — 

1839  1846  1849  1850 


Berlin  •  • 

.  333 

169 

142 

140 

Bonn  .  , 

.   41 

24 

29 

37 

Breslau   . 

•  124 

72 

60 

55 

Greiftwald 

.   24 

23 

30 

22 

HaUe  .  . 

.  324 

315 

348 

277 

Konigfberg 

,   116 

55 

45 

45 

962 


658 


654 


576 


The  oonditioii  of  German  theoloflksal  literature  is  spoken  of  fidthfuUy  by  Ewald, 
in  his  Jahrbflcher  der  Biblisehen  Wissenschaften  (^imiMii  of  Biblical  Seienee),  of' 
whioh  the  fourth  part  (1851-2)  recently  appeared,  and  in  which  the  indefati^iahle 
writer  has  passed  in  review  all  works  of  any  mark  whieh  have  bcra  published 
tinea  his  third  part  made  its  appearance.  To  the  student  of  theology  there  is  a 
very  great  advantage  in  thus  having  under  his  eves  the  deliberate  judgment  of  so 
oompetent  a  critic  on  all  the  productions  of  theology  during  the  year  immediatdy 
passed.  The  writings  actually  reviewed  by  Proressor  Ewald  are,  for  the  most 
part,  by  German  authors.  England  would  be  passed  almost  in  silence,  but  for  a 
Dotlee  of  three  essays  that  appeared  in  the  pages  of  this  Journal,  namely, — '  The . 
Rephaim,  and  their  Connexion  with  Egyptian  History'  (New  Series,  1851,  p. 
151-72,  &C.),  'The  Septenary  Arra^ement  of  Scripture'  (New  Series,  p.  134-150), 
and  *  A  New  Explanation  of  the  Taxing  in  Luke  ii.  1-5'  (New  Series,  1851,  p. 
1-39). 

In  France  the  Protestant  Church  is  by  no  means  at  its  ease  regarding  its  social 
eondition.  The  Emperor  has  contrived  to  get  the  whole  administratioii  into  his 
own  hands ;  and  evee.  and  anon  signs  appear  which  excite  foars  of  approaching 
persectition.  Meanwhile  Romanism  is  very  active,  veiy  soonifhl,  and  very  en- 
oroaehing.  No  longer  content  to  act  on  the  defenrive,  it  has  boldly  advanced 
into  the  arena,  and  thrown  down  the  gauntlet  This  Is  unwise,  as  conflict  must 
briD^  its  weakness  to  light.  A  notable  instance  hsts  josi  been  given.  A  retired 
hamster,  Augusts  Nicolas,  last  year  published  a  second  edition  of  his  Etudes  Phi- 
kMophiques  sur  le  ChristiaBisme  ( PhUos9pkicol  Stndin  om  Chri§titmiiy\  in  which 
be  paints  Protestantism  in  the  most  deceptive  colours.  Encouraffed  by  the  fiivour 
with  which  this  work  was  received  by  the  priests^  the  author  has  just  put  forth 
a  liitter  attack  on  Protestantism,  under  the  coaiprebensive  title  of,  *Du  Pro- 
tcstantisme  et  de  toutes  les  h^r^es  dans  leur  rapport  avec  le  Sodalisme,  precede 
de  I'examen  d'un  ^rit  de  M.  Guizot'  (Or  Proteitantism^  and  of  all  hermnes  in 
their  reltUiona  with  Socialism,  procetUd  hjf  «m  Eramnation  f^  an  Enay  bg  M, 
Gwizot).  The  ocearion  of  this  violent  accusation  is  an  offer  in  a  speech  by  M. 
Gniaot  of  a  union  of  all  Protestant  charges  against  Socialism.  Mr.  Nicolas 
replies,  *  Physician,  heal  thyself.  In  its  very  essence,  and  in  its  necessary  tenden- 
cies, and  in  its  inevitable  fruits,  Protestantism  is  Socialism.'  The  attack  shows  the 
will  rajther  than  the  power  to  ii^ict  a  blow.  Not  that  Augusts  Nicolas  is  without 
etther  talent  or  learmnff,  but  his  talent  is  not  equal  to  his  task;  and  his  learning  is  • 
that  of  the  general  scholar,  ftur  mors  than  that  of  the  theologian.  An  amusing 
proof  of  the  last  remark  is  found  in  the  numerous  errors  of  foct  that  the  assailant 
commits.    Ttke  as  an  instance  the  following  statement    '  As  early  as  1 735  Ger- 


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234  Intelligence^  [Aprils 

many  was  rayagcd  ^y  the  fright&il  impiety  of  the  school,  the  principal  chiefs  of 
-which  were  Kimtzea,  Edelmann,  Nicolai,  Wolfenbiittel,  Reimanis,  LessiDg,  and 
other  Protestant  theologians,  professors,  and  doctors/  Here  almost  every  im- 
portant word  is  an  error.  Kuntsen  was  not  Kunteen,  but  Knutzen.  Nicolii  was 
not  bom  until  the  year  1 733 ;  and  Nicolai  was  simply  a  deist.  Wolfenbiittel  is 
the  name  not  of  a  *  Protestant  theologian,  professor,  or  doctor^*  but  of  a  small  town 
in  Brunswick,  celebrated  for  its  library.  Of  that  establishment  Lessing  (who  was 
not  a  "*  Protestant  theolo^an,  professor,  or  doctor,'  but  a  deistical  man  of  letters), 
being  at  the  end  of  his  life  the  superintendent,  found  there  an  anonymous  manu- 
script, several  chapters  of  which  he  published  under  the  title  of  *  Wolfenbiittel 
Fragments.'  Reimarus,  a  physician  of  Hamburgh,  is  now  known  to  have  been  the 
author  of  that  attack  on  Christianity.  A  greater  number  of  patent  errors  was 
never  put  into  the  same  number  of  words.  The  len^  to  which  the  writer  goes  in 
his  imputations  against  Protestants  and  their  religion,  may  be  inferred  from 
these  his  words:  'He  who  does  not  regard  Mair  as  the  mother  of  God,  does  not 
believe  in  God — he  is  an  Atheist.*  Most  painful  and  revolting,  too,  are  the  doc- 
trines which,  in  this  volume,  as  well  as  in  his  *  Philosophical  Studies,'  Mr.  Nicolas 
advances  touching  tolerance  and  persecution.  According  to  his  open  and  express 
avowal,  the  GathoFic  Church,  and  the  Catholic  Church  only,  has  me  right  to  per- 
secute, is  under  a  solemn  obligation  to  persecute,  and  w^ould  neglect  a  most  sacred 
duty  if  it  did  not  persecute.  Those  who  wish  to  see  the  true  spirit  of  Komanism, 
as  it  shows  its  fiice  in  a  Romanist  country,  should  read  the  two  publications  of 
which  we  have  now  spoken. 

The  activity  of  Romanism  in  France  has  called  forth  a  counter  activity  on  the 
part  of  Protestants.  A  sodety  (^SocMte  de  THistoire  du  Protestantisme)  has  been 
founded  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  to  light  and  publishing  valuable  documents 
connected  with  the  noble  martyr  history  of  French  Protestants.  Connected  with 
the  Society  is  a  periodical  (Bulletin),  of  which  the  seventh  number  has  appeared. 
The  whole  effort  is  of  the  -most  promising  kind. 

In  Greneva,  too,  the  attacks  of  Komanism  have  combined  Protestants  into  a 
defensive  phsilanx.  Attacked  in  the  most  violent  manner  by  the  Catholic  Abbe 
Combalot,  the  national  Church  of  Geneva  has,  with  the -assistance  of  the  municipal 
authorities,  commenced  a  series  of  lectures  in  defence  of  the  religious  opinions 
which  it  represents. 

The  fifth  anniversary  of  the  emancipation  of  the  Vaudois,  or  Protestants  of 
Btedmont,  was  lately  celebrated  in  the  Valleys  and  at  Turin.  The  occasion  called 
forth  a  lively  enthusiasm  toward  the  present  monarch  and  his  fiither,  Charles 
Albert,  who,  on  the  l7Ui  of  February,  1848,  restored  to  his  Vaudois  subjects  all 
their  religious  and  civil  rights. 

Of  other  foreign  works  recently  published,  of  which  we  have  personal  know- 
ledge, we  may  report  as  foUows.  Reuss,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Protestant 
Seminary  at  Strasburg,  well  known  in  the  learned  world  on  the  continent  as  a 
sound  scholar,  has  published  in  two  volumes,  octavo,  a  *  Uistoire  de  la.  Theologie 
Chr^tienne  au  Steele  Apostolique '  {Uutcry  of  Christian  Theology  in  the  Apottoiie 
Age).  Drawing  his  materials  exclusive^  from  the  New  Testament,  and  viewii^ 
those  materials  m  the  light  thrown  on  them  by  an  exact  and  profound  acquaintance 
with  the  older  dispensation.  Professor  Reuss  makes  it  the  principle  of  his  work  to 
exhibit,  severally  and  s^>aFately,  the  theological  views  entertained  by  the  wrriters 
of  4he  New  Testament  documents,  in  order  that  in  what  the^  have  in  common  he 
may  be  led  to  see,  recognise,  and  set  f<uth  *  the  mind  of  Chnst,'  which  he  regards 
80  the  truth  of  Gk>d. 

The  same  author  Jias  also  published  the  first  volume  of  a  second  edition  of  *  Die 
Geschichte  der  Heiligen  Schriften  Neuen  Testaments*  {History  of  the  HUjf 
Seriptitres  ^of  the  New  Testament),  This  edition  is  in  German  ^  the  first  edition 
a{q>^u^  in  French.  By  patting  forth  his  work  in  German,  Professor  Reuss 
claims  as  his  readers  the  learned  world  of  Germany,  and  tacitly  intimates  that  he 
fears  not  the  criticism  of  so  severe  a  tribunal.  Nor  has  he  occasion  to  fear  that 
criticism.  Though  the  writer  avails  himself  of  the  numerous  and  fruitful  labours 
of  his  predecessors,  he  brings  to  his  task  an  independent,  powerful,  and  well 
furnished  mind;  and  so  treating  bis  subject  from  his  own  point  of  view,  and  in  his 
own  manner,  has  the  merit  of  lading  on  the  altar  a  contribution  of  his  own,  by  no 


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1853.]  IrUeUigenee.  235 

means  small  in  yalue.  The  work  may  be  adi^antageoa^y  studied,  at  least  as  a  sjs- 
tematie  and  clear  exhibition  of  the  results  of  theological  study  in  Grermany  on  the 
subject  of  the  New  Testament  writing 

Professor  Rnobel,  of  the  University  of  Giessen,  continues  the  *  Korzgefasstes 
exegetisches  Handbuch  zum  Alten  Testament'  {Oompendious  Exegetical  Manual 
oftiu  Old  Teatameni),  a  work  of  great  value  to  those  who  can  separate  the  tares 
£rom  the  wheat,  and  which  no  teacher  of  theology  can  safely  do  without.  By 
publishing  his  *Die  Genesis  Ek'klart'  {Genesis  hrplained),  iu  which,  in  a  very 
clear  manner,  and  with  a  de^p:«e  of  compression  of  which  English  writers  have  no 
idea,  he  expounds  his  own  views  of  the  book  of  Genesis  as  a  whole,  and  of  each 
particular  verse  and  word,  as  formed  uxkler  the  accumiUated  lights  of  German 
scholarship,  and  under  the  direction  of  a  point  of  view  more  -conservative  and 
religions  than  was  customary  among  men  of  his  class.  As  affording  materials  for 
reflection,  this  volume  and  the  rest  of  the  series  possess  a  high  value. 

Aliaost  of  equal  worth  as  a  repository  of  theological  facts  and  condunons,  and 
of  greater  worth  as  a  guide  of  opinion,  is  *  Christus,  oder  die  Lehre  des  Alten  und 
Neuen  Testaments  von  der  Person  des  Erlosers*  biblisch-dogmatiseh  entwickelt 
-von  Ad.  Schumann '  ( Christ,  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
respecting  the  Person  of  the  Redeemer,  set  forth  in  a  Biblical  and  DognuUical  point 
of  view,  by  Ad.  Schmnann),  The  author,  who  is  already  known  to  ihe  English 
public  by  an  admirable  summary  of  the  origin,  contents,  aim,  and  authenticity  of 
the  Bible,  translated  by  Dr.  Beard,  of  Manchester^  under  the  title  of  *  Introduction 
to  the  Books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament'  (1  vol.  8vo.,  1849),  has,  in  this  new 
w<M*k  (2  vols.  8vo.),  gathered  together  the  scattered  lights  of  the  Scripture,  as  re- 
cognised by  sound  scholarship,  which  lespect  the  great  theme  of  which  he  treats. 
Bqually  remote  from  the  ?anishing  views  of  the  Hegelian  philosophy,  and  the 
dead  forms  of  tradition,  llerr  Schumann  expounds  the  testimony  borne  by  pro- 
phets and  apostles  to  the  person  of  the  Redeemer,  from  a  .truly  religions  point  of 
view,  and  in  a  believing  and  reverend  spiriL 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Sacred  'Literature, 

Paris^  March,  1853. 
Sui, — You  idesire  a  quarterly  letter,  from  this  great  centre  of  all  inquiry,  to  keep 
your  readers  duly  up  to  the  active  progress  of  archaeology,  and  more  especially  in 
sach  discoveries  or  curious  fiicts  as  are  illustrative  of  Biblical  and  religious  history. 

I  comply  cheerfullv  with  your  request,  and  merely  premise  that  the  present 
letter  need  not  be  taken  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  future.  When  all  the  sources 
of  information,  so  various  here,  are  ascertained,  and  my  acquaintance  with  the 
wishes  of  your  public  is  more  precise,  they  and  you  may  look  for  something  more 
extended  and  elaborate.  It  is,  besides,  you  know,  a  precept  of  the  critical  Horace 
to  commence  nimbly — to  emerge  from  smoke  to  flame,  not  to  relapse  from  flame 
to  smoke. 

The  Union,  a  religious  journal,  reports  the  following  pious  purpose.  It  is  known 
that  the  foundation  and  the  erection  of  the  buildings  of  the  &mous  convent  of 
Mount  St.  Bernard  are  attributed  to  St.  Bernard  of  Menton,  an  ancient  canon  of 
Aosta,  who  died  abbot  of  the  convent  in  the  year  1008.  Everybody  is  acquainted 
with  the  service  so  often  rendered  at  this  retreat  by  the  resident  monks  for  a  suc- 
cession of  ages  back ;  jnany  thousand  bewildered  travellers  have  been  indebted  to 
tJiem  for  their  life.  Well,  in  just  commemoration  of  these  truly  Christian  ser- 
-vioes,  the  Strasburg  statua^,  Friederich,  has  just  conceived  the  happy  idea  of 
erecting,  at  his  own  expense,  and  quite  adjacent  to  the  convent,  a  statue  to  the 
supposed  founder  of  this  beneficent  establislunent.  The  figure  is  to  be  of  the  Fare 
stone  of  the  mountain.  This  Alpine  monument  of  St.  Bernard  of  Menton  will  be 
perhaps  the  loftiest  in  the  world ;  for  the  convent,  which  it  is  to  adjoin,  is  itself 
situated  at  the  height  of  7500  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

From  the  French  archaeological  explorations  iu  the  East  there  have  Decent ly 


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gle 


236  InteUiffence.  [April, 

arrived  dispatches  of  the  first  importance.  The  ditcoTerer  is  M.  Place,  and  th« 
site  is  BtiU  at  Mosul,  in  the  ancient  Assyrian  palace  of  Khorsahad.  The  MomiUmr, 
the  official  organ,  gives  the  following  intimations  in  advance  of  a  fall  disclosure  by 
the  goremment. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  first  Report  upon  the  aggregate  of  his  laboars, 
to  which  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles  Lettres  gave  a  high  reception, 
M.  Place  announced  the  discovery  of  a  double  colonnade  and  spacious  terraces 
paved  all  over  with  immense  flags.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  resume  his  explo- 
rations, he  opened  a  long  trench  to  the  rear  of  the  columns,  which  brought  him 
presentlv  to  a  most  curious  and  singular  discovery.  M.  Place  came  upon  a  wall 
of  five  feet  high  bv  twenty-one  long,  completely  fkced  with  burnt  and  painted 
bricks,  still  remaimng  in  the  finest  preservation,  and  representiug  men,  animals^ 
vegetables,  &o.  It  u  the  first  specimen  etUirf  amd  rmtaiumff  in  its  place  (m  WN) 
which  is  known  to  the  present  day  of  Assyrian  pamtmg.  It  shows  the  use  of  those 
enamelled  bricks  encountered  in  such  great  numbers  in  the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  but 
especially  those  of  Babylon.  It  verifies  the  description  given  by  Ctesias  and 
Diodoms  of  the  residences  of  the  monarchs  of  Assyria,  and  of  those  palaces  whose 
walls  were  covered  with  paintings  in  enamel,  representative  of  subjects  of  the  chase. 

To  tills  first  discovery  M.  Place  has  added  another  perhaps  still  more  interesting^^ 
and  which  must  reflect  a  new  light  upon  Assyrian  art.  At  one  of  the  extremities 
of  the  wall,  described  as  Hned  with  enamelled  bricks,  he  discovered  a  statue,  a 
verUtMe  statue^  as  he  says  nalfvely :  we  hasten  to  add,  the  first  Assyrian  statue 
known  to  this  day. 

The  figure,  admirably  preserved,  and  representing  a  personage  holding  a  bottle 
between  both  hands,  is  four  fiiet  and  a  half  high.  It  is  of  the  same  gypseous 
marUe  with  the  bas-relieft  already  found.  As  the  wall  of  enamelled  bricks  forms  a 
portion  of  a  passage  which  seems  to  lead  into  a  vast  apartment  or  hall,  M.  Place 
is  in  hopes  of  finding  the  companion  of  the  statue  at  the  opposite  extremity  of  th« 
passage. 

M.  Place  announces  several  other  and  scarce  less  interesting  discoveries,  which 
will  soon  be  made  known  to  us  in  full  by  the  Reports,  accompanied  with  numerous 
photographic  drawings  that  have  just  been  received  by  the  government.  He  be- 
lieves himself  at  present  in  a  condition  to  restore  ideally,  both  in  its  whole  and  in 
its  details,  the  Assyrian  palace  of  Rhorsabad. 

Thas  fiir  for  the  government  sketch,  and  it  makes  us  long  to  see  the  promised 
sequel.  Meanwhile  a  word  of  comment  on  the  principal  novelties  indicated.  Re- 
specting the  enamelled  bricks,  which  are  said  to  verify  the  account  of  Diodoms, 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  cite  the  words  of  the  historian.  Speaking  of  the  building 
of  Babylon  by  Semiramis,  and  especially  the  palace  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Euphrates,  he  describes  it  as  enclosed  by  '  walls  which  were  built  of  burnt  bricks, 
and  on  which  bricks,  before  beinff  put  in  the  fire,  were  stamped  the  figures  of 
various  animals,  represented  to  the  life  by  colours  laid  on  with  exquisite  fidelity.' 
Upon  the  tower  which  surmounted  the  palace  were  also  multitudes  of  wild  ani- 
mals depicted  perfectly  both  b^  colour  and  relief,  and  some  of  which  were  over 
four  cubits  in  height.   (Diod.  Sic.  lib.  ii.  8.) 

This  description  has  the  usual  defects  of  narrative  at  second  hand ;  it  lacks 
fulness,  distinctness,  and  precision :  for  it  was  borrowed,  the  reader  knows,  indeed 
avowedly  ftrom  Ctesias,  Diodoms  having  never  seen  Babylon,  which  was  a  pasture 
field  even  at  his  day.  He  leaves  us  to  infer,  for  instance,  that  the  colouring  and 
bas-relief  were  two  distinct,  instead  of  being  complementary,  operations :  for 
curving  was  then  the  hosts  of  painting.  It  may  be  dubious,  then,  how  this  de- 
scription could  be  verified  strictly  bv  the  late  discoveries,  and  more  especially  the 
part  referring  to  the  great  magmtude  of  some  of  the  figures ;  for  this  implies,  of 
course,  the  combination  of  a  certain  number  of  individual  bricks,  of  which  each 
was  stamped  with  a  diflerent  portion  of  the  object,  the  animal,  to  be  produced. 
Now  of  this  Diodoms  says  nothing,  and  M.  Place,  thus  far,  as  little.  But  the 
latter  should  be  done  the  justice  of  waiting  to  hear  his  own  report. 

The  same  condition  is  not  indispensable  to  some  remarks  upon  the  statue.  This 
statue  is  a  foot  of  great  importance  in  testhetical  history,  if  only  tnte.  Not,  of 
course,  that  M.  Place  has  not  discovered  a  human  figure,  carved  more  shapely  than 
the  rade  idols  found  in  even  savage  countries.    The  question  is,  has  he  discovered 

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1853.]  Intelligence,  237 

in  the  buried  rains  of  Khorsabad  a  marble  statue  approaehinff  the  classical  or 
modem  meaning  of  the  term  ?  For  mv  part  I  dare  to  doubt  it,  in  the  fiice  of 
proximate  confrontation.  And  this  doubt  would  be  confinned  bj  the  very  lan- 
guage of  the  discoverer,  irhich  the  Moniteur  considers  as  '  naire/  but  which  I 
regurd  as  quite  significant.  For  the  very  emphasis  with  which  he  aesignates  it  as 
ft  ^^eritabk  statue/  confesses  tacitlj  that  such  a  judgment  is  to  be  taken  with  large 
allowance,  and  that  it  only  is  intended  relatively  to  the  known  condition  of  Assy* 
rian  art 

But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  should  not  this  art  contain  a  model  statue,  and  why 
had  none  at  all  been  before  discovered  in  the  ruins  in  question,  although  f\jX\  of 
other  flffures,  as  well  animal  as  vegetable^  and  often  executed  with  the  utmost  per* 
fection? 

Here  was  an  anomaly  which  our  Assyrian  archseologists  must  have  all  encoun* 
tared  obviously,  and  should  have  tried,  one  would  think,  to  solve.  Yet  I  do  not 
remember  one  who  has  made  a  systematic  effort  Prom  mere  amateur  explorers, 
like  Mr.  lAyard  and  other  Englishmen,  of  course  no  general  examination  was  to 
be  looked  fbr.  But  not  even  the  profound  (Germans,  who  carry  philosophy  into 
sesthetics,  have  supplied,  as  for  as  I  know,  an  explanation.  This,  in  brief,  is  to 
be  found,  then,  in  the  high  complexity  of  the  human  figure.  In  the  physical  as  in 
the  moral,  man  is  now  recognised  by  science,  as  he  was  anciently  by  instinct,  to  be 
the  microcosm  of  the  great  world.  He  is  therefore  the  latest  object  to  be  con- 
ceived and  to  be  configured ;  for  the  progpness  in  both  Art  and  Science  is  from  the 
trmple  to  the  complex.  Hence  the  prevalence  of  mere  animal  and  vegetable 
statuary,  or  its  perfection,  would  not  by  any  means  imply  the  human.  They 
would  rather,  on  the  contrary,  evince  its  non-existence ;  ibr  when  this  stage  at- 
tains a  fair  development,  the  simpler  efibrts  of  the  art  decline.  Quite  accordingly 
hi  Greece,  where  numan  statuary  attoined  this  position,  we  find  the  animal  and 
plant  degrees  sink  into  accessories  of  architecture ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
these  lower  stages  hold  all  the  prominence  of  highest  vogue  in  the  infent  sculp- 
ture both  of  Egypt  and  Assyria.  So  well  does  history  attest  this  theory :  so  well 
the  theory  interprets  history. 

However,  let  us  wait  attentively  to  hear  what  the  connoisseurs  say  of  the  *  veri- 
table sutue*  of  M.  Place. 

Nearer  home  a  Toulouse  journal  reports  an  interesting  exploration.  In  a  small 
Tillage  in  the  environs  of  the  Pyrenees  lay  the  mouldering  ruins  of  a  mediaival 
eonvcnt  long  abandoned  to  decay.  For  ages  back  these  pious  rains  had  remained 
oitirely  uninhabited,  when  some  day^  ago  the  proprietor,  to  kill  the  tedium  of  an 
hour  of  leisure,  gave  directions  to  have  the  rabbish  cleared  away.  In  piercing  a 
ceiling  which  was  feund  surmounting  an  immense  subterranean  cavern,  an  issue 
was  soon  discovered  which  had  been  hitherto  unknown,  and  which  conducted  to 
ft  further  cellar  that  emitted  a  fetid  odour.  Some  of  the  workmen,  whom  the  ex* 
halation  had  taken  by  surprise,  fell  down  instantly  in  convulsions  and  apoplexy. 
The  requisite  remedies  were  administered,  and  as  soon  as  the  labourers'  were  re- 
suscitated they  advanced  to  the  orifice  of  the  cave,  and  after  having  buraed  several 
bundles  of  straw  to  purify  the  pent-up  air,  a  few  of  them  penetrated  into  its 
murky  recesses. 

What  was  their  surprise  to  see  arise  aloft  befbre  them  a  complete  pyramid  of 
fragmentary  fish-bones.  The  hand  of  man,  remarks  the  journal,  no  doubt  amassed 
in  Siis  special  coraer  all  the  relics  of  the  shells  and  fish-bones  which  the  hand  of 
time  had  turned  to  stone.  But  the  '  hand  of  man'  did  not  do  it  desiffnedly ;  it  was 
the  result  of  a  circumstance  which  has  a  serious  significance  in  this  connection. 
The  osseous  pyramid  was  much  more,  doubtlessly,  toe  mere  mechanical  effect  of 
having  dropped  for  ages  these  monkish  relics  of  the  table  through  a  trap-hole. 
This  vast  cavera  was  evidently  never  to  be  entered.  What  other  relics  might 
these  greedy  fish-devourers  (and  therefore  devotees  of  sea-bora  Venus)  have  had 
occasion  to  conceal  there  is  not  very  dubious.  Why  were  not  these  fossil  speci- 
mens examined  with  strict  minuteness  to  see  if,  possibly,  there  were  no  bones  to 
reveal  a  novel  sort  of  fish  ?  Ought  not  these  subterranean  caves,  which  are  a  com- 
mon appendage,  I  think,  to  monasteries,  be  examined  upon  such  occasions  with  a 
skilled  attention  ?  Not,  of  course,  for  the  petty  purpose  of  sectarian  recrimination, 
but  as  illustrative  historically  of  ^e  manners  of  the  times. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


238  Intelligence.  [April, 

We  are  not^  however,  done  as  vet  with  the  present  specimen.  The  propriet<v 
-went  on  to  order  this  bony  hillock  to  be  removed,  when  to  the  rear  of  it  gleamed 
out  a  mass  of  the  most  magnificent  stalactites.  One  of  the  workmen,  in  detach- 
ing some  of  these  stony  concretions,  broke  open  a  little  recess  in  the  wall,  in 
which  again  was  found  a  quantity  of  pieces  of  ancient  coin.  This  discovery  is  a 
confirmation,  instead  of  the  contrary,  as  it  might  ^pear,  of  the  above  interpret 
tation  of  the  cavern.  The  money  was  pUoed  were  by  the  builders,  as  we  do  still 
in  the  base  of  a  monument,  where  it  is  hoped  to  be  inaccessible  to  molestation  for 
an  eternity. 

It  is  not  this,  however,  which  has  thrown  the  French  numismatists  into  extasy ; 
it  is  not  the  import  of  the  cavemed  coin,  it  is  the  legends  and  antiquity.  Among 
the  pieces  are  found  several  Pertinaxes,  a  few  Trajans,  and  some  of  Severus,  afi 
in  excellent  preservation  and  of  rare  beauty.  But  what  a  comment  might  not 
this  series  of  accidental  revelations  afford,  moreover,  upon  the  general  march  of 
human  knowledge  I  The  ermui  of  the  proprietor  conducted  to  the  cave,  the  cave 
to  the  odour,  the  odour  to  the  fish-bones,  these  in  turn  to  the  stalactites,  and  the 
stalactites  to  the  coins ;  but  the  coins  may  serve  to  clear  some  dim  perplexity  of 
Roman  history,  which  would  of  course  react  again  upon  the  genend  progress  of 
social  science ;  so  that  these  monks  of  the  Pyrenees  mav  not  have  lived  merely 
to  eat  fish,  but  may  have  casually  been  not  useless  to  mankind  I 

M.  Woepcke  (of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres)  has  brought 
to  light  a  Greek  manuscript  of  which  the  existence  was  unknown  to  the  leaned. 
The  original  is  probably  lost,  but  an  Arabic  translation,  made  by  Abou  Othmao, 
the  Damascene^  has  just  turned  up  in  an  Arabic  MS.  in  the  Imperial  Library. 
The  work  is  a  commentary  on  the  ten  books  of  the  Elements  of  Eudid.  The 
author,  whose  name  is  Valens,  is  posterior  to  Ptolemy,  and  is  perhaps  the  same 
personage,  somewhat  famous  as  an  astrologer,  and  known  by  the  name  of  Vettiua 
Valens.  The  special  value  of  the  conunentarv  consists  in  its  copious  references 
to  the  best  works  of  the  great  geometer  Apollonius.  M.  Woepcke  has  made  an 
extract  of  all  the  passages  of  this  description,  and  purposes  a  conjectural  restitn- 
tion  of  the  writings  of  this  greatest,  except  Arclumedes,  of  the  ancient  mathe* 
maticians.  Apollonius,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  a  native  of  Pergamus  in  Pam- 
phylia,  and  flourished  towards  the  year  244  before  Christ. 

The  following  discoveries  have  also  been  just  reported  to  the  same  Academy,  I 
mean  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres.  The  conmiunication  was 
made  by  M.  Guigniaut  in  a  letter  from  M.  Leon  Renier,  who  has  been  sent  by  the 
government  on  an  archaeological  mission  to  Algeria. 

This  learned  traveller  writes  from  Th^bessa,  the  ancient  Thevesta.  This  an- 
tique locality  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  important  which  is  offered  to  the  explo- 
rations of  archsBologists  in  French  Africa.  The  Roman  magnificence  is  there 
contrasted  by  its  vestiges  in  all  their  ^p-andeur  with  the  hideous  misery  of  its 
present  state.  Frightful  masses  of  rubbish  cover  over  the  antique  monuments. 
The  world  is  act^uainted  with  its  temple  of  E^ulapius,  of  which  some  fragments  of 
the  walls  stand  still  some  thirteen  metres  high ;  its  triumphal  arch,  which  M.  Renier 
conceives  to  be  in  a  condition  of  less  perfect  preservation  than  was  reported ;  its 
square  house,  which  recalls  the  edifice  of  a  simiLBir  name  at  Nimes,  and  which  was, 
like  it,  placed  in  the  centre  of  a  vast  rectangular  court,  surrounded  by  a  portico 
existing  still  in  part.  The  French  traveller  has  sent  to  Paris  the  most  graphic 
views  of  these  two  last  monuments.  The  buildings  of  the  ancient  Thevesta  were 
of  proportions  so  gigantic  that  the  inscriptions  of  their  dedication  were  formed  of 
letters  over  a  foot  high.  On  all  sides  you  meet  immense  blocks  bearing  four  or 
five  of  these  letters.  The  wall,  constructed  by  Salomon,  the  successor  of  Beli- 
sarins,  is  in  an  admirable  state  of  preservation ;  and  this  is  to  be  re^tted,  for  in 
this  work  of  the  barbarians  are  embedded  certainly  the  greatest  portion  of  the  in- 
scriptions of  ancient  Thevesta. 

Previously,  M.  Renier  had  made  an  excursion  into  the  mountains  which  extend 
between  Th^bessa  and  Mdaourouch  (the  ancient  MedaurusV  This  was  not,  how- 
ever, the  beginning  of  the  able  epigraphist's  tour :  he  had  been  for  several  weeks 
back  already  exploring  Algeria.  He  went,  immediately  on  landing,  to  a  placQ 
some  thirty  leagues  to  the  south  of  Algiers,  about  half  way  between  M^6ah  and 
Boghar,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the  ruins  of  Bcrouaguia,  which  he  recognised 

Digitized  by  K^KJKJW  IK^ 


.1853.]  Intelligence.  239 

to  be  the  Tanaramusa  of  the  itineraries.  This  locality  vas  one  of  the  stations  on 
the  roate  from  Csesarea  (Cherchel)  to  Busucumim  (Dellis),  and  "which  had  been 
hitherto  looked  for  in  the  M^dja.  The  inscriptions  prove,  moreover,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Tanaramusa  had  not  yet,  in  the  reign  of  Goniian  III.,  either  the 
ri^ts  or  title  of  Roman  citiaens. 

In  another  report  which  M.  Renier  has  addressed  subsequently  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  vhich  was  also  by  the  same  gentleman  communicated  to  the  Academy 
in  its  sitting  of  the  28th  of  January,  the  learned  traveller  informs  us  that  a  cer- 
tain number  of  monuments  recorded  in  those  inscriptions  have  been  raised  by 
magistrates,  who  took  the  title  of  princeps.  Whence  this  able  epigraphist  con- 
cludes, with  probability,  that  this  district,  lying  on  the  confines  of  the  present 
Kabylia,  was  governed  bj  native  chiefs  who  held  under  Roman  authority,  without 
bein^  on  that  account  either  citizens  or  magistrates  of  the  empire.  The  Roman 
donunion  was  therefore  then  no  better  established  in  this  division  of  Africa  than  is 
the  French  at  the  present  day — a  conchision  corroborated  by  the  extreme  rarity  of 
Roman  mins  in  the  Great  Kabylia. 

M.  Renier,  in  the  next  place,  returned  to  Lambesc,  whieh  he  had  visited  with 
sach  happy  scientific  results  on  his  first  mission.  He  has  discovered  there  a 
goodly  number  of  new  Latin  inscriptions,  which  were  turned  up  in  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  Military  Penitentiary,  with  other  mouuments,  of  which  one  has 
been  transmitted  to  Paris  by  way  of  specimen.  It  ia  an  inscription  which  appears 
to  have  reference  to  the  worship  of  Esculapins,  and  which  informs  us  that  certain 
comictUarii  (subaltern  officers  of  the  3rd  legion),  and  other  inferior  grades  of  the 
army  (specuiatores  beneficiarti,  &c.),  had  consecrated  these  statues  or  statuettes  of 
^\A  {imagines  aureas).  This  epigraphic  monument  has  the  important  singularity  ot 
•lumishing  us  several  names  of  unknown  military  offices.  The  name  of  each 
legionary  subaltern  is  followed  by  that  of  his  place  of  birth ;  and  we  see  by  this 
means  that  the  drd  legion  was  raised  throughout  all  Roman  Africa,  at  the  same 
time  that  we  learn  also  many  names  of  places  before  unknown.  A  certain  C. 
Memmius  Victor  was  the  erector  of  this  ex  voto.  To  this  monument  M.  Renier 
has  ioined  another  no  less  curiosity.  It  is  an  altar  erected  in  honour  of  the  &mily 
of  the  three  Augustus,  Severus,  Caracalla,  and  Geta.  The  two  personages  who 
presiided  over  the  work  of  erection  are  L.  Caecilius  Urbinus,  who  is  titled  optio 
vaUtudinarii,  and  an  officer  of  armament  {armorum  custos).  The  title  of  optio  vale- 
tvdinarii,  that  is  to  say,  nurse-tender,  is  found  mentioned  in  Vegetius,  and  perhaps 
in  the  Digest. 

The  excavations  made  by  the  traveUer  at  Czentina  el  Kadima  (the  OM  Con- 
stantia),  situated  four  miles  to  the  north-west  of  the  new,  has  put  us  in  possession  of 
the  ancient  name  of  the  locality,,  which  is  Tiddis^  and  also  of  several  inscriptions  of 
extreme  interest.  Two  of  them  give  the  true  orthography  of  the  name  Collo 
(Minervia  chullu\  and  that  of  Milan  {Saru  Miiev).  Two  others  ftimish  sufficient 
data  to  establish  the  biography  of  one  of  the  most  important  personages  of  the  reign 
of  Antoninus  Pius,  namely,  Q.  LoHius^  sumsuned  Urbicus.  All  we  had  hitherto  known 
of  him  were  these  solitary  facts,  that  he  directed  the  construction  ofa  portion  of 
the  great  wall  which  bounded  to  the  north  the  Roman  possessions  in  Great  Britain, 
and  that  he  had  been  Prefect  of  Rome  at  an  epoch  which  Corsini  was  able  to  fix, 
but  with  a  loose  approximation.  M.  Renier  proposes  to  publish  a  complete  mono- 
graph of  this  personage. 


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OBITUARY. 

At  his  Episcopal  residence,  Dr.  John  Kaye,  Bishop  of  Lincoln.  The.  de- 
ceased prelate  was  as  eminent  for  his  accomplishments  and  learning,  as  he  was 
estimable  for  the  piety  and  moderation  of  his  character.  When  at  Cambridge  he 
had  the  rare  distinction  of  winning  the  doable  honour  of  senior  wrangler  and 
senior  medaUist.  Dr.  Kaye,  in  1814,  was  elected  Master  of  Christ's  College  ;  in 
1815  was  created  D.D.  by  royal  mandate;  and  in  1816,  on  the  death  of  Dr. 
Watson,  Bishop  of  Llandtdf,  he  was  appointed  his  successor  as  Regius  Professor 
of  Divinity.  Some  of  the  lectures  delivered  from  this  chair  have  been  published, 
under  the  title  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  as  illustrated  by  the  writings  of  TertuUiaa 
and  of  Justin  Martyr.  The  theological  works  by  which  Dr.  Kaye's  name  is  most 
generally  known,  relate  to  ecclesiastical  history,  which  was  his  favourite  study, 
and  few  bad  better  acquaintance  with  patristic  lore.  His  *  Account  of  the  Writing 
uid  Opinions  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,'  and  his  *  Athanasius  and  the  Coun^ 
of  Nice,'  attest  his  learning  and  research  <m  such  subjects. — Literary  Gaz§iU^ 
Feb.  26th. 

Of  his  anonymous  writings  two  at  least  are  pretty  well  known  to  controyersial 
readers, — ^the  *  Remarks  on  Dr.  Wiseman's  Lectures,'  and  the  *  Reply  to  the 
Travels  of  an  Irish  Gentleman.'  We  have  the  authority  of  the  Timtu  for  assigning 
these  works  to  the  late  prelate.-— ^tA^mncfn,  Feb.  26th. 

Jan.  26th,  at  Netting  Hill,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Spencer,  M.A.,  Secretary  to  the 
National  Temperance  Society. 

In  Oct.  1816  he  went  to  St.  John's  Collie,  Cambridge.  In  every  college 
examination  he  was  in  the  first  class.  In  the  Senate-House  he  took  his  degree  as 
mathematical  wrangler  in  1820,  and  soon  afterwards  obtained  the  prize  given  by 
his  coUege  to  the  bachelor  of  arts  who  passes  the  best  examination  in  moral 
philosophy.  Mr.  Spencer's  labours  were  chiefly  devoted  to  the  removal  of 
pauperism  and  intemperance,  and  to  the  elevation  of  the  labouring  classes,  in 
which  he  was  eminently  successful.  In  Sept.  1847  he  resigned  his  living  of 
Hinton  Charterhouse,  near  Bath,  resolving  to  seek  in  London  a  lai^r  sphere  of 
usefulness,  and  since  his  residence  in  London  he  chiefly  dedicated  himself  to  the 
pulpit  and  the  temperance  phitform.  He  was  one  of  Uie  most  earnest  friends  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty  and  of  social  reforms  which  this  age  has  produoed.—- 
Weekly  New, 

Oct.  16th,  at  Keyworth,  Leicestershire,  at  an  advanced  ajKe,  the  Rey.  Peter 
Lovett  Fraser.    Mr.  Fraser  was  formerly  a  Fellow  of  Christ's  College,  Cambridge. 

He  was  a  very  intimate  friend  of  the  late  Mr.  Walter,  and,  if  we  rightly  re- 
collect, was  of  material  assistance  to  him  in  establishing  the  printing-machine  of 
the  Timet,  He  has  bequeathed  his  library  to  his  college,  together  with  a  sum  of 
money  to  be  applied  for  its  arrangement  and  preservation. — Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine^ March. 

On  the  27th  of  Sept.  last,  near  Lake  Tsad,  Dr.  Overweg,  another  hearty  trayeller 
of  vigorous  enterprise,  fell  a  victim,  at  the  age  of  30,  to  the  service  of  African 
exploration.  Dr.  Overweg  was  by  profession  a  geologist,  and  had  already  made 
some  advancement  in  his  pursuits,  when  a  feeling  of  self-devotion  to  the  cause  of 
geographical  discovery  prompted  him  to  accompany  Dr.  Richardson,  as  naturalist, 
to  (Antral  Africa. 

He  was  a  man  of  kind  and  unassuming  manners,  and  his  official  despatches 
testify  of  a  mind  remarkably  clear  and  precise. — Literary  Gazette,  Feb.  26th. 

In  his  74th  year,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Gilbert,  Pastor  of'^the  Lidependent  Church 
in  Friar  Lane,  Nottingham. 

Mr.  Gilbert  studied  under  the  celebrated  Dr.  Edward  Williams  at  Rotherham. 
As  an  author  he  did  not  appear  so  f^requentiy  before  the  public  as,  with  his  fijie 
and  subtie  talents,  and  most  respectable  literary  attainments,  he  would  haye  been 
justified  in  doing.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  pamphlets,  or  single  discourses, 
and  occasional  contributions  to  the  pages  of  the  Sdectic  Review  and  other 
periodicals,  we  are  aware  of  but  two  principal  productions  of  his  pen,  yiz.  a 
*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Williams,'  and  the  '  Christian  Atonement,'  marked  by  a  similarity 
in  style  and  treatment  to  the  manner  of  that  profound  metaphysician. —  Gentleman' e 
Mdgazinef  Feb. 

At  Lyndon,  March  9,  after  a  short  illness,  the  Rev.  T.  K.  Arnold.    His  services 
to  the  cause  of  classical  education  were  of  considerable  value.    Under  his  super 
intendence  many  works  were  published,  by  which  important  researches  and  com' 
ments  of  continental  scholars  were  introduced  to  EngUsh  students. 

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SACRED    LITEEATFRE. 

No.  VIII.  — JULY,   1853. 

THE    RIVERS    OF    DAMASCUS/ 

^  Akb  not  Abana  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than 
all  the  waters  of  Israel?'  Such  was  the  indignant  reply  of 
Naaman  when  God's  prophet  told  him  to  wash  in  Jordan  thathe 
might  be  cleansed  from  his  leprosy.  Where  are  these  rivers?  now  ? 
Near  three  thousand  years  have  passed  since  the  words  were 
uttered.  Powerful  empires  have  been  established  and  have  passed 
Hway  during  the  interval ;  and  proud  cities  have  risen  to  fflory 
and  to  fame,  and  have  crumbled  a^ain  into  ruin.  But  the  lapse 
of  centuries,  which  changes  dynasties  and  prostrates  the  proudest 
tnonuments  of  man's  ^emus,  enects  but  little  change  in  the  features 
of  nature.  While  B  albek's  grandeur  is  faded,  and  Jerusalem's 
beauty  is  gone,  Lebanon  is  still  that  goodly  mountain  which  Moses 
saw  from  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  Hermon  raises  its  hoary  head  on 
high  as  when  the  Psalmist  celebrated  it  in  son^.  Though  so 
many  centuries  have  passed,  therefore,  since  the  Abana  and  Phar- 
par were  gpoken  of,  yet  we  may  look  for  them  to-day  with  as 
much  confidence  as  the  geographer  would  have  done  in  the  days 
of  Naaman. 

*  Ab  it  seems  desirable  that  an  article  of  this  nature  should  have  its  information 
authenticated  to  the  readers  of  the  Journal,  we  may  state  that  we  owe  it  to  the  pen 
of  the  Bev.  J.  L.  Porter,  M.A.»  who  has  been  for  some  years  a  missionary  at  Da- 
mascus and  has  travelled  much  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  Further  communications 
are  expected  from  the  same  hand. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  vm.  8 

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246  The  Riven  of  Danmeus.  [Joly, 

It  is  somewhat  strange,  that  while  scores  of  travellers  fmm 
yearly  through  Damascus,  these  liyers  have  hitherto  f^sceiyed, 
even  from  the  most  accurate  of  them,  but  a  uaaeiatg  and  indistinct 
notice.  Their  scenery  and  their  character  mpb  never  yet  been 
described,  their  sources  have  been  meptf  objects  of  coniecture, 
and  the  lakes  into  which  they  emftj  their  waters  ooniessedly 
unknown. 

There  are  just  two  rivef*  a(  any  note  or  importance  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Damascus.  These  are  the  Barada  and  the  '  Awaj ;  and 
the  careful  observer  cannot  resist  the  conclusion  that  these  are  the 
rivers  referred  tohf  Naaman.  They  are  both  within  the  territory 
which  was  ikm  called  by  the  name  of  the  City.  It  is  to  be  towh^- 
bered  alsD  that  it  is  rivers j  and  not  fountains,  that  are  Mentioned ; 
and  that  these  rivers  he  compares  with  another  river— die  Jordan. 
We  cannot  think,  as  some  would  have  it,  ^t  Naaman  would 
institute  a  comparison  between  a  fiMMtom  and  a  river,  or  Uiat 
he  would  ecdl  a  fountsun  a  nver,  or  a  fountain  and  a  river 
two  rivers. 

The  only  question,  then,  of  any  difficulty  is,  Which  is  Ae  Abana 
and  which  is  the  Pharpar  ?  Now  it  would  seem  natural  that  the 
more  important  stream  wovld  be  mentioned  first ;  and  it  would 
also  seem  natural  that  the  stream  with  which  an  inhabitant  of 
Damaseos  would  be  most  familiar  would  also  be  mentioned  first. 
A  Damascene  of  the  present  day  would  never  put  the  'Awaj  before 
(he  Barada  in  speaking  to  a  stranger.  The  latter  is  by  far  the 
most  important  river ;  and,  besides,  some  branch  of  it  meets  him 
in  every  quarter  of  the  city,  and  he  hears  the  murmurs  of  foun- 
tains supplied  by  it  in  every  dwelling.  Should  this  be  taken  for 
argument,  we  would  say  at  once  that  me  Abana  is  now  the  Barada* 
It,  and  it  alone,  flows  through  the  cityi  the  other  river  being  at 
the  distance  of  several  miles. 

But  there  are  other  arguments  more  convincing,  perhaps,  than 
these,  which  go  to  establish  the  same  opinion.  Tne  name  of  the 
first  river  rererred  to  by  Naaman  is,  in  the  sacred  text,  ra^H, 
Abana^  but  the  Qeri  reading,  which  it  is  well  known  the  Jews 
preferred  to  the  other,  is  n:)DM,  Arruma^ — the  meaning  of  this 
word  being  Hie  Perennial.  In  Cant.  iv.  8,  we  find  mention 
made  of  a  mountain  called  Amana^  and  spoken  of  in  connection 
with  Sbenir  and  Hermon.  Gresenius,  in  his  Hebrew  Lexicon, 
observing  the  similarity  in  name,  says,  under  the  word  Amana: 
*  N.  pr.  (the  proper  name)  fluvii  perennis  in  Antilibano  scaturientis 
et  Damascum  irrigantis,  2  Reg.  v.  12,  a  quo  ilia  ipsa  Libani  pars 
idem  nomen  adoptavit.'     In  the  ^Synopsis  Crit.  Sacr.,^^  it  is 

»•  Poll  Synop.  Crit.  Sac,  Cant.  iv. «: 

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1853.]  Tie  Ewers  if  Ikmascus.  247 

stated  that,  ^  Amanus,  which  is  also  called  Abanus,  is  a  mountain 
in  Syria  which  takes  its  name  from  a  river.*  The  similarihr  of 
name  suggests  a  similarity  of  locality,  but  I  do  not  know  that  there 
is  any  other  ground  for  tlie  opinions  above  stated.  I  am  inclined, 
however,  on  the  whole,  to  aoKAowledge  at  least  their  very  strong 
probability.  Now  the  mountain  Amana  is  distinguished  from 
Hermon  in  Cant.  iv.  8.  And,  admitting  the  above  reasoning,  the 
mountain  Amana  t^es  its  name  from  the  river ;  that  river,  there- 
fore, must  be  locally  connected  with  some  mountain  other  than 
Hermon.  But  the  river  '  Awaj  takes  its  rise  high  up  on  the 
eastern  side  of  Hermon,  and  we  consequently  infer  that  this  cannot 
be  the  Abana,  and  are  shut  in  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Abana  or 
Amana  and  Barada  are  identical,  it  having  its  source  in  Anti- 
lebanon,  a  day's  journey  norths  Hermon. 

This  opinion  is  not  new.  Munro  suggested  it  in  1833,  and 
said  that  the  'Awaj  was  the  ancient  Pharpar,  and  the  Barada  the 
Abana.  Dr.  Robinson,  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  adds  his  valu- 
able testimony,  and  gives  a  summary  of  the  ailments  in  ikvour 
<rf  it.«  The  Barada  was  called  the  Chrysorrhoas  by  the  Greeks, 
and  is  referred  to  by  Pliny  ^  and  Ptolemy,  ®  and  also,  I  think,  by 
Strabo. 

In  the  very  centre  of  the  great  diain.  of  Antilibanus  is  a  beau- 
tiful and  ferule  plain.  Its  northern  end  is  covered  with  the  dense 
foliage  of  the  gardens  and  orchards  that  surround  the  village  of 
Zebed&ny.  On  the  west  it  is  shut  in  by  dark  rugged  mountains 
with  rooky  sides  and  jagged  tops.  Along  its  eastern  ude  runs  a 
loftier  range.  On  the  south  the  ground  rises  gradually;  and 
beyond  this  is  a  confused  mass  of  mack  and  bare  mountain  sum- 
mits, overtopped  in  the  distance  by  the  »x)W-6apped  Hermon. 

The  plain  is  eight  miles  long,  and  its  greatest  breadth  three. 
At  the  loot  of  the  mountains  on  its  western  side,  about  half-way 
down  it,  is  a  little  lake  some  three  hundred  yards  long,  by  fifty 
broad.  Hiis  is  the  fountain  of  the  Barada.  The  river  flows  fitHu 
it  in  a  north-east  direction,  but  soon  sweeps  round  a  rising  ground, 
on  which  are  a  few  ruins,  and,  turning  southward,  continues  its 
course  to  the  end  of  the  plain.  Two  ver^  small  fountains,  higher 
up  in  the  plain,  empty  their  waters  into  it  in  a  littie  united  stream. 
The  river  of  Zebedany,  which  has  its  source  at  'Ain  Hawar,  two 
hours  farther  up,  &lls  into  the  Barada  only  in  winter ;  the  water 
being  exhausted  during  the  summer  in  the  irrigation  of  the 
northern  portion  of  the  plain.  Through  the  plain  l£e  Barada  has 
an  easy  current,  and  is  about  twenty  reet  in  width.  On  reaching 
the  extremity  of  the  plain,  it  makes  a  sharp  turn  to  the  left,  dashes 

"  Bibltotbeca  Baera,  vi.  p.  «71.  «>  PUn.  v.  18.  *  Ptol.  v.  15. 

s  2 

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248  The  Rivers  of  Damascus.  [Julyy 

over  a  cliff  some  thirty  feet  in  height,  and  enters  a  siiUime  gwgc 
which  here  divides  the  main  chain  of  Antilebanon.  Just  above 
the  waterfall  it  receives  a  winter  stream  from  the  south,  imme- 
diately below  which  it  was  once  spanned  by  a  Roman  bridge. 
An  aqueduct  was  also  conducted  in  ancient  times  along  its  ri^t 
bank,  and  carried  across  the  bed  of  the  winter  stream.  The  nuns 
of  these  works  may  still  be  seen. 

After  entering  the  gor^e,  the  river  da^es  onward,  a  foaming 
torrent,  struggling  with  fallen  rocks  and  projecting  i^ged  banks. 
The  ravine  mcreases  in  grandeur  as  you  proceed,  'rte  frowning 
difis  on  each  side  rise  higher  and  higher.  The  road  is  carried 
along  the  left  bank,  now  hewn  through  the  soft  rock,  and  now 
sweeping  round  a  projecting  cliff.  Cfe  the  left,  above  the  road, 
are  traces  of  an  aqueduct,  once  tunnelled  along  the  mountain  side, 
but  now  exposed  by  the  falling  of  the  rock.  In  passing  this  spot, 
the  traveller  can  see  no  outlet  for  the  torrent  that  madly  dashes 
from  rock  to  rock  at  his  feet.  Directly  in  front  rises  a  precipitous 
mountain-side  more  than  a  thousand  feet  in  height  On  each  side 
mountains  no  less  steep  and  lofty  shut  him  in.  But  advandng  a 
few  paces  through  an  excavation,  he  perceives  the  deep  gorge 
through  which  rushes  the  stream  aft;er  turning  a  shaip  an^e  to 
the  left.  And  here  a  view  opens  up  to  him  which  surpa^es  in 
grandeur  and  interest  that  wmch  he  has  lefL  The  river,  a  few 
minutes  below,  again  turns  to  the  right,  and  the  view  is  shut  in  as 
before.  But  now,  along  the  precipitous  mountain-side,  on  the  left 
bank,  he  sees  immense  excavations  for  roadways  and  aqueducts, 
with  here  and  there  the  sculptured  openinfis  to  sepulchral  caves,  to 
which  access  is  obtained  by  long  flights  of  steps  newn  in  the  rode. 
This  is  the  necropolis  of  the  ancient  AbUa. 

Crossing  the  nver  by  a  bridge,  and  pursuing  for  a  few  minutes 
a  naiTow  path  hewn  out  along  the  right  bank,  the  traveller  passes 
through  another  deep  cutting.  In  five  minutes  more  he  reaches 
the  little  village  of  Suk-W^y-Barada.  This  is  the  site  of  the 
ancient  city. 

The  history  of  this  place  is  involved  in  some  degree  of  obsco- 
ritv ;  and  from  arguments  drawn  fix)m  statements  of  Josephus  in 
reference  to  it,  dom)ts  have  been  cast  on  the  accuracy  of  tne  nar- 
rative given  by  the  evangelist  Luke.  I  wiU  endeavour  to  detiul 
briefly  all  that  history  tells  us  about  it  I  will  thus  have  an 
opportunity  of  showing  that  a  careftil  consideration  and  comparison 
of  the  various  references  made  to  Abila  by  Josephus  tends  to 
establish  the  truth  of  Luke's  words,  that  ^  Lysanias  was  tetrarcb 
of  Abilene.' 

About  sixty  years  before  the  Christian  era,  Ptolemy  the  son  of 
Menneus  was  king  or  governor  of  Chalds  and  the  district  attached 


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1853.]  The  Rivers  of  Damascus.  241 

to  it '  Chalcis  was  situated  in  the  great  plain  of  Coelosyria,  at 
the  foot  of  Antilebanon,  and  about  twenty  miles  south  of  B'albek 
or  Heliopolis. «  The  country  attached  to  it  comprised  the  whole 
southern  ridge  of  Antilebanon,  from  Coelosyria  to  the  plain  of 
Damascus,  and  included  Hermon  and  Paneas,  afterwards  Csesarea 
Philippi,  on  the  south ;  while  on  the  east  of  Hermon  it  perhaps 
extended  over  Batanea,  Auranitis,  and  Trachonitis.  ^  Ptolemy  is 
spoken  of  as  restless  and  turbulent,  and  for  this  reason  obnoxious 
to  the  people  of  Damascus,  who  sought  by  forei^  aid  to  drive 
him  from  ms  kingdom,  but  were  unsuccessfuL  His  position  was 
peculiarly  fitted  for  annoying  and  plundering  the  Damascenes, 
upon  whom  he  could  suddemy  descend  from  the  wild  defiles  of 
the  neighbouring  mountains. 

Upon  the  death  of  Ptolemy,  his  son  Lysanias  succeeded  him.  ^ 
He  is  said  to  have  removed  tne  seat  of  his  government  to  Abila, 
which  for  that  reason,  and  to  distinguish  it  from  other  Syrian 
cities  of  the  same  name,  was  called  the  AbUa  of  Lysanias.  This 
statement  is  made  in  the  ^  Synopsis  Crit.  Sac,'  under  Luke  iii.  1, 
and  Ptolemy  is  cited  as  authority.  I  have  now  no  means  of 
referring  to  Ptolemy,  and  cannot  therefore  either  assert  or  deny 
its  accuracy.  As  quoted  by  Reland,  however,  Ptolemy  simply 
says:  *Abila  cognomine  Lusanion,' "^  which  would  leave  the 
matter  as  it  is  in  Josephus.  In  accordance  with  the  common 
practice  of  that  period,  the  whole  province  over  which  Lysanias  ruled 
took  the  general  name  of  the  ?umse  or  kingdom  of  Lysanias. " 

Lysamas  having  been  murdered  through  the  artifices  of  Cleo- 

Satra  about  the  year  36  B.C.,  the  kingdom  remained  for  a  consi- 
erable  time  without  a  regular  governor ;  and  the  revenues  were 
drawn  for  a  few  years  by  the  cruel  and  voluptuous  queen.  After 
her  death  the  kingdom  was  hired  and  farmed  by  Zenodorus,  a 
celebrated  robber,  perhaps  the  same  spoken  of  by  btrabo.  Wish- 
ing, however,  to  augment  his  limited  revenues,  ne  allied  himself 
to  the  banditti  that  then  inhabited  the  strong  and  intricate  defiles 
of  Trachonitis.  His  territory  was,  in  consequence,  wrested  from 
him  by  Caesar,  and  given  to  Herod  the  Great,  about  20  b.c.  ^ 

Herod,  in  his  will,  which  was  ratified  by  the  Roman  emperor, 

bequeathed  the  districts  of  Gaulonitis,  Trachonitis,  and  Paneas  to 

his  son  Philip,  ^  b.c.  4.    Josephus  makes  no  mention  of  the  pro- 

'I  ■  • 

'  Josep.  Ant.  xiii.  6,  8;  zhr.  S,  3 1  and  cha]^  vii.  4,  and  xii.  1. 

s  The  site  of  Chalcis  is  now  identified.  It  is  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  road  from 
Beyrout  to  Damascus,  and  half  an  hoar  north-east  of  the  little  viUage  of  Mejdel 
'Anjar.  The  city  walls  and  the  foundations  of  some  large  structures  can  still  be 
traeed.   Near  the  ruins  is  a  fine  fountain,  one  of  the  sources  of  the  ancient  Leontes. 

^  Josep.  XV.  10,  1  and  3.  •  Josep.  Wars,  1,  13,  1. 

*  Reland,  Pales,  p.  340.  "»  Josep.  Ant.  xv.  10, 1. 

"  Josep.  Ant  xv,  10,  1.  "  Id.  xyii.  8,  1,  and  Luke  iii.  1. 


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250  The  Mivers  of  Damascus.  [July, 

vince  of  Abilene^  nor  does  he  tell  to  whom  it  was  giren,  though 
he  expressly  states  that  only  a  certain  part  of  the  house  of  Zeno- 
dorus  waa  subiect  to  Philip.  ^  Two  thisigs  are  especially  worthy 
of  notice  in  this  statement^  as  tending  to  confirm  and  illustrate  the 
words  of  the  sacred  historiaa.  First:  What  Josephns  formerly 
called  the  house  of  lofsamas^  from  its  then  late  ruler,  he  now 
calls  the  ?unise  of  Zenodorus^  after  its  last  goYcmor.  Second:  A 
certain  part  being  spoken  of  as  giren  to  Pmlip,  we  naturally  con- 
clude that  the  remaining  part,  namely  the  province  of  Abilene, 
passed  inta  the  hands  of  some  other  person;  and  this  person,. 
Luke  tells  us,  was  Lysanias.  And  hence,  likewise,  do  we  con- 
clude, that  when  Josephus  speaks  at  an  after  period,  not  of  the 
whole  house  of  Zenodorus^  but  of  the  district  of  Abilene  as  distin- 
guished from  the  other  parts  of  it,  and  says  that  it — this  district 
of  Abilene^ — '  had  been  tne  tetararchy  of  Lysanias,'  he  refers  not  to 
the  first  Lysaniasy  whose  name  he  liad  never  in  any  way  connected 
with  Abila,  but  to  the  Lysanias  mentioned  by  Luke.  And  the 
statement  of  Ptolemy,  above  referred  to^  even  if  correct,  cannot 
in  any  way  affect  our  argument ;  for  though  the  dty  of  Abila 
may  have  taken  the  name  of  the  first  Lysanias,  this  does  not 
warrant  us  in  stating  that  the  province  of  Abila,  as  contradistin- 
guished from  the  house  or  kingdom  of  Lysanias,  *  had  been  the 
tetrarcby  of  Lysanias.'  In  fact  the  narrative  of  Josephus  is 
involved  in  inextricable  confrisbn,  imless  we  regard  the  Lysanias 
^governor  of  Chaleis  and  the  Lysanias  tetrarch  of  Abilene  as  two 
distinct  persons. 

A  period  of  thirty  years  intervened  between  the  time  when 
Philip  became  tetrarch  and  the  time  when  he  is  referred  to  by 
Luke.  After  this  he  ruled  seven  years,  and  died  aj).  33.  The 
subsequent  histoiy  of  Lysanias  is  not  given ;  and  till  four  ^ears 
after  this  period  there  is  no  further  account  of  Abilene.  Cahgula 
then  gave  the  tetrardty  of  Lysanias  to  Agrippa  the  grandson  of 
Herod.  "^  Claudius,  scnne  vears  afterward,  confirmed  him  in  the 
government,  and  renewed  the  gift  of  the  Abila  of  Lysanias. '  On 
me  death  of  Agrippa,  a.b.  44,  Judea  was  made  a  Roman  pro- 
vince ;  but  to  his  youthful  son  Herod,  the  emperor  gave  a  few 
years  afterward  tl[e  kingdom  of  Chalcis.  *  Four  years  later^ 
Josephus  says  that,  'Claudius  bestowed  upon  Agrij^  the  tetrarchy 
of  Hiilip  and  Batanea,  and  added  to  it  Tradiomtis  with  Abila, 
which  last  had  been  the  tetrarchy  of  Lysanias ;  but  he  took  from 
him  Chalcis.'  * 

The  name  Abila  we  afterwards  find  on  somie  of  the  andent 
Itineraries  and  Geographical  Tables.  **     The  date  of  these,  how- 

p  Josep.  Ant.  xviL  11,  4.  '  Id.  ch.  vi.  10.  '  Id.  xix.  5,  1. 

*  Id.  XX.  5,  2.  «  Id.  clu  viL  1.  »  Rdand,  pp.  311  and  393. 


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18&3.]  The  Bhers  of  Damascus.  251 

ever,  is  acmieiHkat  imeefrtain,  and  I  do  not  therefore  refer  to  them 
kcare,  as  they  will  be  cited  below. 

Alnla  was  the  seat  of  a  Inshopric  daring  some  of  the  early 
centnrieB  of  the  Quistian  era.  It  was  ranked  nnder  the  Patriarch 
of  Antioch,  and  in  the  province  of  Phoenieia  €ff^  Lebimon,  The 
cities  of  this  province  are  thus  ranked  in  the  *Notiitia£cclesiastica' 
arrai^ed  and  pid>I]Bhed  by  Carolus  A.  S.  Paulo : — 

1.  EdesaM^sropolis. 

2.  Loadicea. 

3.  Heliopolis. 

4.  AbiUa. 

5.  Damascus;  &c.^ 

The  names  of  at  least  three  of  its  hisiKops  have  been  handed 
down  to  us  in  tiie  records  of  synods  and  oimncils.  Ii\  the  sixth 
act  of  the  Council  of  Cbaleedon,  which  met  in  the  year  a.i>.  451, 
is  ibund  the  name  JordcmeSy  Bishop  of  Abila.  ^  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  same  century,  Joanne%^  Bishop  of  Abila,  signed  the  synodi- 
cal  epistle  sent  to  the  emperor  Leo.  *  And  in  the  year  a.d.  518, 
another  bishop,  Alexander^  is  mentioned  under  the  reign  of  the 
emperor  Justin.  • 

In  the  year  of  the  Hejira  13  (a.d.  634),.  immediately  after  the 
taking  of  Damascus  by  the  Muslems,  some  of  the  Arabic  historians 
give  a  graphic  account  of  an  attack  then  made  on  the  Christians 
of  Abila  by  Abdullah  Ibn-Jafer,  aided  by  the  renowned  Khaled. 
There  then  lived  in  the  convent  of  that  city  a  priest  widely  cele- 
brated for  sanctity  and  learning.  An  annual  iair,  having  some- 
thing of  the  character  of  a  pilgrimage^  was  held  at  his  residence 
at  Easter.  This  was  the  great  mart  for  the  luxuries  of  Northern 
Syria.  Devout  Christians  from  far  and  near  regularly  assembled 
here  to  honour  the  saint,  obtain  his  blessing,  and  make  gain. 
The  pious  followers  of  the  Prophet  had  just  completed  the  plunder 
of  Damascus,  and  were  Iookii]g  round  the  neighbouring  aties  for 
a  ffidr  opportunity  to  extend  their  fiuth  and  gratify  their  passions. 
A  renegade  Christian  brought  the  joyful  inteUigence  of  the  assem- 
blage at  Abila.  Not  a  moment  was  lost.  Abdullah,  with  five 
hundred  veterans,  fell  suddenly  on  the  unofiSbnding  Christians* 
The  Moslems,  however,  well  nigh  paid  the  penalty  of  their  wan- 
ton attack.    The  daughter  of  the  Prefect  of  Tnpdi  had  come» 

'  Notltia  Bcf^eslastica  in  Geogmphia  Sae«  Aoc.  C.  A.  S.  ^anlo,  Amsterdam, 
1708,  p.  50. 

y  li  294.  ■  Id. 

•  BibL  Sac.  ▼.  85.  In  this  article  on  Abila,  Dr.  Robmson  treats  its  history  with 
Ms  nsoal  abiBty.  His  conclasions  agree  with  those  advanced  above ;  and  it  is  one 
of  the  best  guarantees  fbr  their  truth  when  one,  who  is  as  justly  celebrated  for  his 
acme  disoiinuDation  as  ft>r  his  profound  learning,  givM  Hkem  to  tha  pohlio. 


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lOOgle 


S52  The  Bivers  cf  IkfinaMU.  [Jviji 

with  a  gua]*d  of  five  thousand  horse,  to  obtain  the  biesainff  of  die 
saintly  priest  before  her  marriage.  Th^  attadc  of  the  Muslema 
was  resisted  by  her  guards,  and  uiefar  little  biuid  was  soon  hemmed 
in,  and  almost  reduced  to  despair.  But  when  hope  had  wdl  nigh 
gone,  Khaled's  Toice  was  heard  behind.  A  swift  messenger  had 
carried  to  hu[n  an  account  of  the  danger  of  Abdullah.  He  gal- 
loped with  a  chosen  band  to  the  rescue,  and  fell  with  his  accus- 
tomed fury  on  the  Christians,  whom  he  soon  routed  with  great 
slaughter.  The  followers  of  the  Prophet  returned  to  Damascus 
covered  with  glory  and  laden  with  spoil.  The  fair  bride,  after 
witnessing  the  death  of  her  father,  was  led  away  among  the  cap- 
tives, and  forced  to  exchange  a  Christian  for  a  Muslem  lord.  *> 
This  is  the  last  reference  I  find  to  Abila  in  andent  history. 

The  site  of  the  andent  dty  is  preciselv  fixed  bv  the  Itineraries 
of  Antonine,  and  of  the  '  Peutinger  Tables.'  ^  The  following  are* 
extracts  firom  these  invaluable  documents : — 

lUn.  Anton.  Peuting,  Tab. 

Hemesa.  Eliopoli. 

Laudicia,  M.  P.  xviii.  Abila,  M.  P.  xxxii. 

Lybo,  M.  P.  xxxii.  Damasco,  M.  P.  xviii. 

Heliopol],  M.  P.  xxxii. 
Abila,  M.  P.  xxxviii. 
Damasco,  M.  P.  xviiL 

The  position  of  the  dty  is  here  accurately  fixed  as  on  the  lead- 
ing road  between  Heliopolis  and  Damascus,  and  eighteen  Roman 
mSes  from  the  latter.  The  village  of  S<iJc-Wady-Barada  corre- 
sponds exactly  with  that  distance.  It  is  now  reckoned  five  hours* 
ordinary  travelling  from  Damascus.  The  andent  name,  too,  still 
lingers  about  this  spot.  On  the  summit  of  a  lof)^  liill  which  rises 
almost  perpendicularly  immediately  on  the  south  side  of  the  village, 
is  an  andent  ruin,  and  beside  it  a  gigantic  tomb  called  £abr 
McMl — the  Tomb  of  Abil.  The  ruin  is  now  almost  completely 
prostrate ;  but  the  nature  of  the  workmanship,  as  seen  m  the 
foundations,  and  large  hewn  stones  scattered  around,  show  that  it 
must  be  ascribed  to  the  Roman  age.  The  building  was  oblong, 
fourteen  yards  long  by  seven  wide.  At  the  east  end  was  the 
door,  and  before  it  a  small  portico,  the  columns  of  which  have 
fallen  and  rolled  down  the  precipice  to  the  river  side  below.  The 
character  of  the  whole  ruin,  ana  the  fact  that  the  door  was  in  the 
east  end,  show  that  it  was  originally  a  temple,  and  not  a  church 
as  Pocock  affirms.  No  inscription  is  now  visible,  but  the  stone, 
containing  it  may  have  frillen  down  the  mountain  side.  This  is 
still  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  Muslems.     In  andent  times  it  is 

i>  Ockley's  Hist,  of  the  Sanoens.  *"  Reland»  Pales,  pp.  311  and  393. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1858.]  The  Bdvers  of  DamascuB.  |53 

said  to  have  been  venerated  by  ChristianB  also.  From  the  summit 
there  is  a  commanding  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  The 
windings  of  the  Barada  can  be  traced  through  rent  mountains  till 
it  passes  the  last  raVine,  and  enters  the  plain  of  Damascus. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  Barada,  high  above  the  modem  bridge, 
are  two  of  the  most  interesting  remains  of  antiquity.  Having 
climbed  up  for  some  minutes  amon^  huge  masses  of  rock,  whi^ 
the  wear  of  centuries  has  separated  m>m  the  frowning  clifls  above, 
I  reached  a  spacious  road  hewn  in  the  solid  rock.  Its  breadth  is 
twelve  feet,  and  the  total  length  of  the  cutting  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards.  The  wall  of  rock  on  the  left  is  generally  of  great 
height;  but  on  the  right,  next  the  river,  there  are  lai^  open 
spaces  occasioned  by  tne  inequality  of  the  precipice.  The  road 
leads  to  the  edge  of  an  overhanging  cliff  some  thirty  feet  in  height. 
It  was  formerly^  no  doubt,  carried  along  on  arches  or  columns. 

On  the  north  wall  of  this  excavation  are  two  Latin  inscriptions* 
each  occurring  in  a  difierent  place.  These  inscriptions  have 
been  often  minted,  but,  so  far  as  I  know,  never  yet  with  perfect 
accuracy.  Two  versions  of  them  are  given  in  the  *Bibliotheca 
Sacra,'  and  these,  with  the  able  comment  of  President  Woolsey, 
enables  the  antiquarian  to  arrive  at  the  truth.  As  the  inscriptions 
are  important,  I  give  a  copy  which  I  took  with  great  care,  and 
believe  to  be  correct : — 

Isi.  2nd. 

PBOSALVTE  IMFCAESMAVBELANTONINVS 

IMPAVOANTONI  A V O A BM B N I AC VSET 

NIETVSBIMVO  I M PC AESL A V B ELY EBV S AY G A B 

LYSIY8   MAXIMYS  MENIACY8  YIAM   FLYMINI8 

^LEOXYIFF  YIABBYPTAM    INTEBCISO 

i^YIOPBBI   IN  MONTE   BESTITYEBYNT   PEB 

8TITYTVS  lYLYEBYMLEOPBPBPBOYINC 

STBETAMICYMSYYM 

INPENDIISABILENOBYM 

These  inscriptions  leave  no  doubt  of  the  proximity  of  the  city  of 
Abila. 

Immediately  below  the  road,  and  running  parallel  to  it,  is  an 
aqueduct  also  hewn  in  the  rock.  It  is  about  two  feet  and  a  half 
wide  by  four  high.  In  some  places  it  is  open  above,  the  cutting 
being  not  less  than  twelve  feet  deep.  Through  this  I  passed  to 
the  precipice-  at  the  termination  of  the  road.  Here  stood,  in 
MaundreU's  day,  some  heavy  pillars,  *^  the  fragments  of  which  are 
now  strewn  along  the  river  s  bank  below.  They  were  perhaps 
intended  to  support  the  roadway,  as  there  is  no  q)ace  for  even  a 

d  Maundrell,  p.  134. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


^54  The  Rivers  of  Damofcvs,  [July» 

small  btdlding.     Beside  these  fragments^  on  a  slab  whidi  once 
formed  the  door  of  a  tomb,  is  the  following  inscriptioii : — 
€AN-i:  OAOYKI 

M  HTPYT  O  C Yl OC 

H  C  eeM  K€N 

In  passing  along  fix)m  the  aqueduct,  I  observed  a  narrow  road 
on  the  left,  m  part  hewn  in  the  rock,  and  winding  up  a  wild  govwt 
by  a  series  of  steps  to  the  summit  of  the  cliff,  I  followed  its 
course,  and  in  alx)ut  ten  minutes  reached  extensive  quarries. 
Returning  by  the  same  way,  I  traced  the  ^reatroad  and  the  aque- 
duct as  they  wind  along  below  the  sepufehral  caves.  I  was  able 
to  trace  them  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  now  supported  by 
strong  mason-work)  and  now  tunnelled  and  hewn  in  the  rockL 
Where  they  appeared  to  have  terminated,  I  found  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city.  Fragments  of  columns, 
massive  foundations,  and  heaps  of  hewn  stones  are  scattered  along 
the  river  side,  half  buried  in  the  soil.  On  the  summit  of  a  little 
hill  considerably  farther  down,  are  the  ruins  of  a  small  village 
comparatively  modem,  but  built  out  of  the  materials  of  more 
ancient  and  imposing  structures.  The  ruins  extend  for  more  than 
a  mile  along  this  left  bank,  and  at  their  termination  near  the 
little  villa^  of  Kefr-el-'Awamid  (Kefr  of  the  Pillars),  are  the 
remains  of  a  temple  and  other  buildings.  The  principal  part  of 
Abila  seems  to  have  stood  on  this  side  of  the  river,  and  for  the  be- 
nefit of  those  dwelling  here  the  road  and  aqueduct  were  constructed. 
I  forded  the  river  with  much  difficulty  below  the  village  of  Sftk, 
and  proceeded  to  examine  the  right  bank  and  the  village  itself  for 
remains  of  antiquity.  I  found  many,,  but  chiefly  in  the  walls  and 
courts  of  the  modem  houses.  From  a  large  stone  in  the  wall  of  a 
mill,  which  stands  on  the  v^ry  brink  of  the  stream,.  I  copied  the 
following  fragment  of  an  inscription,  which  I  believe  has  never 
before  been  noticed.  A  few  lines  at  the  beginning  are  totally 
de&ced.  The  first  line  here  given  is  not  immediately  connected 
with  that  which  follows : — 

I  N  O  Yv  I  O  I  A  YVO 

P  KO  Y  P  I  O     M  AXX/ 

AO  Y€  Y€(?)€  B  U)  N  A  I 

P  O  N A A  P I  AN  TA 

I O YA N€e  K€«  N  YT 

T6€ AYTO Y  KAFY 

AIKOCKAIT6I     NOY 

TOY€(?)    rr*    AAICIOY 
On  another  stone  brought  from  near  this  spot  to  Damascus  by 
the  late  French  consul,  is  the  following  inscription,  which  is  import 
tant  as  containing  the  name  of  a  biaiop— t/oawwe« — perhaps  the 

Digitized  by  V3V/VJV  l^ 


1853.]  The  Bivers  of  Damascus.  255 

T^ry  sanbe  Joaimes  who  signed  the  synodical  epistle  referred  to 

above : — 

€niTO¥^nU)TAIOY 
lb>ANNO¥€niCK  /rv:/^ 
H  M  W  NTO¥l€  PAR  O  X 
0€MBOXOC€  nXAKW e 
€NMA€CIU}TO¥U}0€ 
€TO¥CINA9    rScPCi>A^ 

Such  is  the  post  history  and  present  state  of  the  Ahila  of  Ly- 
sanias.  Its  glory  and  its  name  are  gone.  The  most  conspicuous 
memorials  of  its  past  greatness — the  tombs  which  its  proua  inha- 
bitants hewed  out  for  themsehres  high  in  the  rock  • — even  these 
are  the  emblems  of  man's  mortality.  The  posilion  of  the  city  was 
one  of  great  natural  beauty.  Even  as  it  »  now,  I  have  seen  but 
few  spots  more  strikmgly  grand.  The  towering  difls  which  over- 
top, ahnost  overhang,  the  vale,  the  green  sloping  banks  terraced 
for  the  vine,  and  strewn  with  ruins,  and  the  foaming  river  dashing 
along  over  its  rocky  bed  below,  present  a  tout  ensemble  of  surpass- 
ing grandeur.  But  what  must  it  have  been'  when  Abila  was  in 
the  pride  of  its  prosperity,  when  every  hill  and  height  was  crowned 
with  its  temple,  and  when  the  sloping  banks  were  covered  with  the 
mansions  of  its  nobles  and  with  the  statues  of  its  gods  f 

From  Suk-Wady-Barada  ta  the  village  of  Deir  E^andu  the  rides 
of  the  valley  slope  gently  upward,  and  afford  a  Kght  soil  for  culti- 
vation. The  distance  between  these  villages  is  fifty  minutes.  On 
the  left  bank  of  the  stream,  ten  minutes  below  Suk,  is  the  small 
village  called  Berheleiya,  and  ten  minutes  farther  Kefr-el-'Awa- 
mid,  and  thirty-five  minutes  farther  Kefr-ez-Zeit.  On  the  right 
bank  there  are  but  two  small  villages — Huseiniyeh,  half  an  hour 
below  Sttk,  and  DeirKanou.  The  notes  of  Burckhardt,  and  of  the 
many  who  have  transcribed  firom  him,  on  this  part  are  very  incorrect. 
Tliere  is  no  village  called  Suk  but  the  one  already  described ;  and 
there  are  no  villages  or  ruins  here  except  those  referred  to. 

At  Deir  Eanou  the  course  of  the  river  turns  from  south  by  east 
to  nearly  north-east,  and  the  banks  become  loftier  and  ffraduallT 
predpitous.  A  pleasant  ride  of  twenty  minutes  from  Ken^ez-Zeit 
Drought  me  to  Deir  Mukurrin.  The  path  winds  along  the  left 
bank  by  the  side  of  lovely  gardens  abounding  with  the  walnut,^ 
apricot,  charrVf  and  pomegranate.  As  I  passed  along,  the 
branches  of  the  apricot,  laden  with  its  delicious  finiit,  shaded  the 
pathway  ;  whQe  here  and  there  luxuriant  vines  hung  in  festoons 
nrom  the  garden  walls  and  from  the  larger  trees.  The  rich  ^een 
of  this  line  of  verdure  contrasted  finely  with  the  blasted  desolation 


ha^xxii.  16. 


J  by  Google 


256  The  Biven  of  Damascus.  [July, 

of  the  mountain  sides  above,  and  with  the  wild  grandeur  of  the 
rugged  difls  in  front. 

The  banks  now  contract,  and  rise  abrupt  and  broken  from  the 
belt  of  verdure  along  the  stream.  But  the  path  becomes  so  narrow, 
and  the  descent  on  the  right  so  steep  and  threatening,  that  both 
mind  and  eye  are  instinctively  withdrawn  from  the  contemplation 
of  nature's  grandeur  bv  anxiety  for  self-preservation.  The  pro- 
jecting mountain  side  is  passed,  and  the  descent  nearly  accom- 
plished, ere  the  eye  is  raised  again  or  the  mind  fi'eed  fit)m  thought 
but  now  a  murmuring  sound,  as  of  &lling  waters,  strikes  the  ear. 
You  look  in  vain  for  the  cause  —a  dense  mass  of  foliage  is  all  that 
can  be  seen  below.  As  you  descend,  the  sound  becomes  more 
distinct.  The  descent  is  accomplished :  you  dismount  beneath  the 
shade  of  wide-spreading  walnuts :  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  temple 
are  beside  and  around  you.  But  still  that  mysterious  sound,  now 
increased  tenfold :  where  are  the  waters  which  cause  it  ?  Approach 
the  edge  of  the  Utile  terrace  ;  look  below,  and  there,  at  your  feet, 
are  the  boiling,  leaping  waters  bursting  from  the  restraining  grasp 
of  the  giant  mountain.  You  stand  over  one  of  the  most  magni- 
ficent fountains  in  Syria — 'Ain-Ftjeh. 

This  fountain  is  some  seventy  yards  from  the  bed  of  the  Barada 
on  the  left  bank.  The  great  body  of  water  rushes  out  from  a  cave 
beneath  an  ancient  buiming  which  Abulfeda '  says  was  a  church, 
but  which  was  more  probably  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  njrmph  or 
genius  of  the  fountain.  The  mouth  of  the  cave  was  once  confined 
by  strong  mason-work  to  an  opening  about  a  yard  sqj^uare,  but  this 
is  now  partly  ruinous.  On  each  side  of  this  opemng  the  water 
gushes  forth  with  great  force  fix)m  numerous  pores  in  the  earth 
and  fissures  in  the  rock.  The  volume  of  water  is  immense.  Some 
estimate  may  be  formed  of  it  when  it  is  stated  that,  a  few  yards 
below,  there  is  a  rapid-flowing  river,  at  least  thirty  feet  wide  by 
three  feet  deep.  So  rapid,  indeed,  is  the  current,  that,  though  on 
level  ground,  and  not  exceeding  the  depth  specified,  none  would 
venture  to  ford  it 

The  scenery  at  Fijeh,  and  for  half  an  hour  below,  is  truly 
sublime.  A  lofty  mountain  chain  has  been  rent,  by  some  wondrous 
power,  to  its  very  foundations,  and  the  pent-up  waters,  taking 
advantage  of  the  convulsions  of  nature,  have  rushed  through  the 
fissure.  The  once  regular  strata  have  been  tossed  into  countless 
forms.  The  banks  tower  aloft,  in  some  places  almost  perpendicu- 
larly, more  than  a  thousand  feet ;  while  on  the  north  side  the 
mountain  sununits  rise  abruptly  above  two  thousand  more.  No 
description  could  convey  a  just  impression  of  the  wild  grandeur  of 
this  scene. 

'  Abulfeda,  Tab.  Syr.  p.  15. 

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1863.]  The  Rivers  of  Damascus.  257 

Ten  mmiites  below  Fijeh  the  river  turns  abruptly  soutiiward  for 
fifteen  minutes,  and  then  resumes  its  former  course,  having  passed 
through  the  main  ridge.  In  this  bend,  on  the  left  bank,  are  traces 
of  an  ancient  road  hewn  in  the  rock,  and  above  it  is  an  aqueduct 
entirely  tunnelled  in  the  mountain  side. 

Having  thus  forced  its  way  through  the  loftiest  part  of  this 
mountain  chain,  the  river,  as  has  been  said,  turns  eastward  again, 
and  sweeps  for  ten  minutes  along  the  rugged  ^des  of  another,  but 
less  lofty,  ridge.  Then  again  it  turns  abruptly  due  south,  and 
passes  a  gorge  so  deep,  so  narrow,  and  so  predpitous,  that  no 
space  is  left  even  for  a  tootpath  along  its  banks.  The  road  strikes 
up  a  branch  valley  eastward  till  it  ^adually  surmounts  the  hills  at 
the  distance  of  some  two  miles.  The  aqueduct  is  here  also  tun- 
helled  through  the  mountain  near  the  ed^  of  the  diff,  and  it  now 
affords  a  paui  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  httle  village  of  Bessima  to 
pass  into  the  plain  below. 

Wonderful  tales  are  told  of  this  aqueduct.  Tradition  ascribes 
its  construction  to  Bint-es-Sultan  (the  daughter  of  the  l^tan),  who 
reimed  in  Tadmor,  and  who  thus  conducted  the  waters  of  Fijeh 
to  her  native  city.  A  writer  in  the  *  Bibliotheca  Sacra'  has  referired 
to  this  tradition,  and  has  annexed  to  it  the  statement  that  it  has 
been  traced  for  nine  hours  across  the  plain  towards  Palmyra,  and 
that  it  is  again  seen  near  that  city.  This  seems  very  plausible, 
and  is,  to  say  the  least,  very  striking.  But  there  are  a  few  points 
which  require  to  be  proved  ere  we  can  release  it  fipom  the  domain 
of  &ncy.  First,  it  will  be  necessary  to  establish  some  connection 
between  the  aqueduct  at  Bessima  and  that  on  the  plain.  This  has 
never  yet  been  done.  Between  the  place  where  the  one  ends,  or 
at  least  beyond  which  it  cannot  be  traced,  and  the  place  where  the 
other  begins,  is  just  twelve  miles.  Again,  the  aqueduct  on  the 
plain  is  of  quite  a  different  character  from  the  other,  being,  like 
numbers  in  the  same  district,  a  subterranean  canal  for  collecting 
water,  and  not  simply  for  conveying  it.  I  too  have  followed  that 
aqueduct  across  the  plain  to  its  termination — not  at  Tadmor,  how- 
ever, but  at  the  ruins  of  a  large  and  strong  city  situated  on  the 
borders  of  the  desert,  eight  hours  east  of  Damascus.  This  city 
has  never  been  noticed,  and  I  believe  never  visited  before.  And 
farther :  the  aqueduct  which  is  seen  at  Palmyra  flows  to  that  city 
from  the  loftv  mountains,  on  the  north-west,  called  Jebl-el-Abiad 
(the  White  Mountains^,  and  the  Arab  sheikh  who  accompanied 
me  on  my  journey  to  tnat  city  assured  me  that  he  knew  its  source. 
As  to  the  tradition,  I  presume  it  is  about  equally  well  founded 
with  one  related  to  me  at  the  fountains  of  Solomon  near  IVre. 
Standing  on  the  brink  of  one  of  those  wonderful  structures,  I  asked 
a  venerable  Arab,  who  stood  at  my  side :  '  From  whence  do  these 
waters  come,    O  my  father?'      *From  Baghdad,  O  my  lord,* 

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258  The  Biveru  of  Dcnmscus.  [July, 

was  the  grave  reply.  ^  And  who  brought  them  here?'  I  again 
inquired.  ^  Alexander,  by  the  help  of  a  «/ann,'  t  answered  the 
learned  antiquary. 

The  Barada  from  this  point  has  cut  a  de^  track  across  the 
desert  plain  of  Sahra  for  half  an  hour  to  Judeideh,  where  it 
reeeives  a  small  tributary  from  the  right.  After  a  winding  oourse 
of  three  quarters  of  an  hour  more,  during  which  it  receives  another 
little  tributary^'also  from  the  rigliJ;,  it  enters  the  yalleys  of  the  last 
ridge  of  Antdebanon.  The  scenery  is  here  no  less  beautiful,  if 
less  grand,  than  that  at  Ftjeh.  The  vale  through  which  the  rivar 
flows  is  at  first  of  considerable  width;  yerdant  meadows  and 
blooming  orchards  of  walnut  and  apricot  trees  spread  out  on  every 
side,  while  a  fringe  of  lofty  poplars  marks  the  river  s  dm>entine 
course.  The  whole  is  shut  in  by  groups  of  little  conical  hills,  with 
smooth  and  gently-sloping  ades,  and  ahnost  white  as  snow. 

The  vale  soon  contracts;  and  immediately  bdow  the  bridee 
which  spans  the  river  at  Dummar,  lofty  and  precipitous  banks 
again  shut  it  iii.  After  struggling  through  a  narrow  defile  for 
nearly  half*  an  hour,  it  emerges  mto  the  plain,  and  flows  in  a  quiet 
stream  toward  Damascus. 

The  road,  which  leaves  the  river  at  Dummar,  leads  over  the 
bare,  white,  chalky  hills  on  the  left  bank.     After  fifteen  minutes* 
scrambling  up  the  hill  side,  and  fifteen  more  across  its  rocky 
summit,  I  reached  a  qxit  on  the  eastern  brow  where  the  road 
passes  through  a  deep  cuttin^^.     On  the  brink  of  the  diff  on  my 
right  stood  a  ruined  wely.     I  ascended  to  it,  and  stood  beneath 
its  dome ;  and  then  a  scene  of  verdure  and  beauty  burst  on  my 
view,  for  which,  with  all  my  former  expectaticms,  I  was  yet  unpre- 
pared.    At  my  feet  lay  Damascus,  embowered  in  its  evergreen 
forests — as  the  Eastern  poet  describes  it — '  a  diamond  set  round 
with  emeralds.'     The  morning  sun  lighted  up  its  white  walls  and 
glanced  from  its  polished  domes  and  from  the  a^ded  crescents 
of  its  hundred  mmarets.      Gardens  and  orchard  teeming  with 
fruit-trees  of  almost  every  species  surround  the  city,  and  epread 
far  away  over  the  plain.     An  enchanting  variety,  too,  is  given  to 
this  panorama  of  verdure — the  foliage  of  these  plantations  exhi- 
biting every  tint  of  colour,  from  the  sombre  hue  of  the  olive  and 
the  deep  green  of  the  cypress  and  walnut,  to  the  auburn  of  the 
apricot  and  the  reddening  shade  of  the  pomegranate  and  the 
white  and  glistening  leaves  of  the  poplar.     And  we  view  is  exten- 
sive as  it  IS  beautiful.     Toward  the  west,  over  the  low  range 
which  bounds  the  plain,  towers  the  lofty  Hermon,  the  hoary-headed 

^  The  Janns  are  the  most  popular  spirits  among  the  Muslems.  They  are  aop- 
posed  to  possess  great  power  either  for  good  or  for  evil,  and  are  therefore  both 
feaved  aad  respected  by  the  people.  Allusion  is  made  to  them  in  several  places  in 
tlie  KvrSti^  and  therefore  aU  Uie  orthodox  believe  in  them. 


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1853.]  The  Eivers  of  Damoiem.  259 

chief  of  tihe  ^  Eastern  hills.'  An  undulating  country,  watered  hy 
the  Fharpar,  stretches  along  its  base.  Southward  the  low  chaiiji 
of  Jebl-d-Aswad  bounds  the  flam^  and  the  loftier  hills  of  M&iu'a 
rifie  bevond,  while  &t  away  in  the  distance  may  be  seen  the  blue 
and  dim  outline  of  Jebl  Hauran.  On  the  nmith  rait  these  is 
■othing  to  arrest  the  eye  save  the  da^  smi  qaiveiiug  haze  that 
hovers  over  the  hanb^  desert  Eastward  the  morning  sun  is 
reflaeted  fim  the  waters  of  the  Bahr-el-Merj,  and  beyond  it  is  a 
Aaap  of  hills  whose  graceful  oxiieal  summits  rise  up  with  dear 
outline  from  the  mists  that  veil  their  bases.  To  the  north-east 
runs  a  long  line  of  hills  toward  Tadmor  in  the  wilderness. 

The  fmiitj  and  beauty  of  this  vast  plain,,  and  the  v^  exis- 
tence of  the  city  itself^  depend  entirely  on  the  waters  of  the  ^arada. 
Before  altering  the  plain,  four  large  canals  are  led  off  from  it  at 
different  elevations.  These  are  carried  along  the  sides  of  the 
precipices  on  each  bank  of  the  stream,  and  are  often  hewn  out  and 
tmmelled  in  the  solid  rock.  Two  others  are  taken  from  the  river 
before  it  enters  the  city,  and  many  more  farther  down.  These 
spread  the  waters  over  the  plain  in  eveiy  direction.  Where  no 
water  can  be  had  for  irri^tion,  the  plain  is  a  desert 

The  river  itself  flows  m  a  winding  course  through  orchards  and 
meadows  till  it  enters  the  city.  Within  the  walls  the  banks  are 
shut  in  by  mason-work,  and  in  many  places  the  bed  of  the  river  is 
arched  over.  It  flows  along  the  walls  of  the  ancient  castie  within 
which  the  mortal  remains  oi  the  great  Saladin  were  first  committed 
to  the  tomh.^  It  thence  continues  its  course  along  the  ancient  city 
wall  to  the  *  gate  of  peace,'  where  it  emerges  from  the  more  modem 
suburb.  Thence  it  flows  through  gardens,  parallel  to  the  dty  wall, 
to  *  Thomas'  Gate,'  and  afterwards  runs  due  east  across  the  plain. 

Two  hours  and  a  half  eastward  fit>m  Damascus,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  ia  a  very  dngular  artificial  telly  or  mound,  called 
*Tell-es-Salahtyeh.'  It  is  of  an  oval  shape,  and  its  dimensions  I 
estimated  as  follows : — Greatest  diameter,  three  hundred  yards ; 
least  diameter,  one  hundred ;  height,  a  hundred  feet  The  whole 
smrfince  of  the  tell  is  covered  wim  the  debris  of  crumbled  brick, 
intermixed  with  broken  pottenr.  At  a  spot  on  the  southern  side, 
near  the  river,  where  a  part  oi  the  mound  has  been  cut  away,  the 
bee  of  the  cutting  is  entirely  composed  of  a  solid  mass  of  sunoumt 
brick  in  regular  layers.  It  seems  as  if  the  original  form  of  the 
structure  hiSl  been  a  large  platform  of  solid  brickwork  some  thirty 
feet  in  height ;  and  then  on  the  centre  of  this  was  erected  a  lofty 
building  wnich  in  time  has  crumbled  down,  and  the  ruins  of  which 
now  constitute  the  central  portion  of  the  tell.  May  it  not  have 
resembled  the  towers  of  Nineveh  or  Babylon  ? 

^  See  Life  of  Saladin  by  Boheddin. 

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860  The  JSivera  of  Damascus.  [July, 

A  large  slab  of  white  limestone  lies  beade  it.  On  this  is  a  piece 
of  rude  sculpture  resembling  in  form  and  dress  some  of  Uiose 
lately  brought  to  light  by  the  excavations  at  Nineveh.  The  figure 
is  that  of  a  priest  The  beard  is  long,  regular,  and  curled  at  the 
end  similar  to  those  found  on  Assyrian  sculptures.  The  head- 
dress is  broken  o9.  The  arm  is  bent  at  the  elbow,  and  the  hand, 
close  to  the  breast,  clasps  the  croix  anaSe — the  emblem  of  eternal 
life.  The  left  hand  is  extended  in  front,  grasping  a  long  staff. 
The  robe  or  coat  is  short,  but  encircles  the  whole  body. 

I  have  little  doubt  but  that  this  is  a  memorial  of  the  Assyrian 
dominion  in  Damascus. 

Two  hours  and  a  quarter  below  Salahiveh  the  river  Calls  into  a 
large  lake  called  M-Bahret  eh-Kihliyeh  (the  South  Lake).  TTiis 
lake  is  six  or  seven  hom^  in  circumference*  By  far  the  lai^er 
portion  of  it  becomes  marsh  during  summer,  but  it  never  become 
completely  dry,  and  the  river  flows  into  it  during  the  whole  year. 
North  of  this  is  another  lake  of  about  equal  dimensions,  or  a  little 
larger,  called  JEl^Bahret  esh-Shurkiyeh  rthe  East  Lake).  This 
also,  in  a  great  measiu^e,  becomes  marsh  m  summer.  It  is  sup- 
plied by  water  which  flows  into  it  from  the  former,  and  by  one  or 
two  small  streams,  branches  fi^m  the  Barada.  Between  the  two 
lakes  is  an  elevated  undulating  plain,  averaging  half  an  hour  in 
breadth,  in  part  covered  with  large  shrubs  of  the  tamarisk. 

It  has  generally  been  stated  that  there  is  but  one  lake  at  this 
place,  and  geographers  have  made  fancy  sketches  of  it  upon  their 
maps.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  these  are  altogether  incorrect 
In  fact  the  eastern  slopes  of  Antilebanon,  and  much  less  the  plain 
beyond,  have  never  been  laid  down  with  any  approach  to  accuracy 
on  any  map.  .1  have  examined  careftdly,  and  roughly  surveyed 
the  whole  region  to  the  borders  of  the  desert,  and  have  thus  been 
enabled,  from  my  own  observations,  to  construct  a  map  with  as 
near  an  approach  to  accuracy  as  can  be  obtained  without  a  regular 
trigonometrical  survey. 

1  have  now  sketched  the  Abana  from  its  source  to  its  termina- 
tion. I  must  reserve  the  Pharpar  for  another  paper.  I  had 
intended  to  give  a  short  account  of  Damascus,  and  likewise  of 
Helbon — Ezek.  xxvii.  18 — the  site  of  which  has  been  altogedier 
mistaken  by  geographers;  but  my  space  is  exhausted.  Before 
concluding  this  article,  I  desire  to  give  the  following  details  of  the 
statistics  and  physical  geography  of  this  region,  trusting  that  they 
may  not  be  altogether  umnteresting  to  the  scientific  r^der.  For 
the  statistics  I  have  been  principally  indebted  to  Antone  Bulad,  a 
learned  monk  of  the  Greek  Church  in  Damascus. '    He  had  access 

*  M.  Bul&d  has  speut  nearly  twenty^  years  in  coUecting  and  arraosing  &ct8 
relative  to  the  history,  topography  (ancient  and  modem),  antiquities,  and  statistics 
of  Damascos  and  iu  environs.   He  has  had  access  to  the  celebrated  bat  rare  history 

Digitized  by  VJiV/VJV  l\w 


185a]  The  Bivers  of  Damascus.  26i; 

to  the  census  taken  by  the  government  for  the  purposes  of  taxa- 
tion in  the  year  a.h.  1256  (a.d.  1840),  and  to  that  taken  in  a.h.  1264 
(a.d.  1848).  From  these  the  following  tables  have  been  compiled. 
As  the  goTemment  imposes  taxes  in  proportion  to  the  numbers 
returned,  it  is  the  interest  of  the  people  to  return  as  few  as  possible ; 
and  from  the  strict  privacy  of  houses  in  the  East,  it  is  impossible  to 
detect  frauds  in  this  respect  It  is  estimated  by  the  most  competent 
authorities  that  the  population  of  the  eit^/  as  given  below  is  about 
forty  per  cent  below  the  truth,  and  that  of  the  villages  twenty  per 
cent    The  other  statistics  are  from  personal  observation. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Barada,  fit)m  its  source  to  the  place  where 
it  enters  the  plain,  there  are  14  villages  with  an  aggregate  popu- 
lation of  about  3000  souls.  That  part  of  the  plain  which  is 
watared  by  the  Barada  is  divided  into  lour  sections :  the  north  and 
south  Q-hdtahf  and  the  north  and  south  Merj ;  and  embraces 
besides  a  portion  of  the  district  on  the  south  of  the  city  called 
Wady  eWAjam.  The  following  are  the  divisions,  with  the  num-» 
ber  of  their  villages  and  the  amount  of  the  population : — 

DhirioM. 

1.  North  Ghatah 

2.  South.  Ghatah 

3.  North  Merj 

4.  South  Merj 

5.  Part  of  Wady  el-'Ajam 

Total        ...        94  39,334 

The  following  is  the  population  of  Damascus,  including  the 
large  village  or  suburb  ol  Salahlyeh : — 

Sects.  Nnmben. 

Muslems  and  Druzes        ....  79,964 

Christians 13,985 

Jews 4,630 

Strangers,  soldiers,  and  slaves  (estimated) .  15,000 

Total 108,579 

The  total  population,  therefore,  which  resides  in  the  district 
rendered  habitable  by  tihe  waters  of  the  anciaot  Abana  is,  at  the 
lowest  estimate,  a  hundred  and  jifty  thottsand.  All  these,  how- 
ever, are  not  dependent  entirely  for  their  support  on  the  district 
in  which  they  reside.  The  great  granary  of  the  city  is  the  Hauran. 
More  than  flie  half  of  the  population,  1  believe,  are  supported  by 
this  noble  stream.  Well  might  the  proud  Syrian  boast  ot  it  before 
the  prophet  of  Israel  I 

of  Hm-ea-adker,  a  copy  of  which,  in  ninety  volume$t  i«  in  the  hands  of  a  Moslem  in 
Dainasciis.    His  work,  if  it  ever  be  publ»hed,  will  throw  neW  light  on  this  part  of 
Syria.    It  is  unfortunate  that  he  is  totaUy  unacquainted  with  European  languages. 
VOL.  IV. — NO.  Vlll.  T 

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VUli^e.. 

19 

16,806 

11 

2,370 

23 

4,176 

30 

6,170 

11 

9,812 

262  The  Bivers  of  Datnasetis.  [July> 

The  plain  of  Zebedany  is,  according  to  barometrical  measure- 
ment, 3343  feet  above  the  sea.  The  mountain  chain  on  the 
eastern  side  of  it,  which  is  the  main  ridge  of  Antilebanon,  has  an 
average  elevation  of  about  6000  feet  One  peal(  in  this  ridge, 
two  hours  north-east  of  the  fountain  of  the  Barada,  attains  an  alti- 
tude of  7000  feet,  and  is,  with  the  exception  of  Hermon,  the 
loftiest  mountain  in  the  whole  ran^  of  Antilebanon.  The  Barada 
falls  only  70  feet  from  the  fountain  to  the  ruined  Roman  bridges, 
where  it  enters  the  first  defile.  Between  this  point  and  the  modem 
bridge  at  Suk-wady-Barada  it  falls  251  feet  Between  the  bridge 
at  Suk  and  the  village  of  Judeideh,  on  the  plain  of  Sahra,  the 
fall  is  563  feet;  and  between  Judeideh  and  Damascus,  265  feet 
The  whole  fall,  therefore,  from  its  source  to  the  city,  is  1149  feet 
The  length  of  this  portion  of  the  Barada  is  about  23  Bchubb 
miles ;  and  thus  the  average  fall  is  very  nearly  50  feet  to  the  mile. 

The  extent  of  cultivated  land  watered  by  the  river  is  aboot 
as  follows : — From  the  fountain  to  the  plain,  22  miles,  with  an 
average  breadth  of  half  a  mile,  gives  11  square  miles.  From  the 
entrance  of  the  river  into  the  plain  to  the  lakes,  is  20  miles,  with 
an  average  breadth  of  15  ;  and  this  gives  300  squai^  miles.  Hie 
total  irrigated  land  is  thus  311  square  miles.  The  population,  at 
the  lowest  calculation,  being  150,000,  there  are  thus  482  persons 
on  an  average  to  each  square  mile. 

The  prevailing  rock  in  the  mountains  through  which  the  Barada 
flows,  is  limestone.  In  the  higher  re^ons  it  is  hard  and  compact, 
and  when  struck  has  a  metallic  sound.  Near  Damascus  it  is 
white,  soft,  and  chalky,  with  large  nodules  of  flint  intermixed. 
Fossil  shells  and  corals  in  great  variety  are  found  along  the  sum- 
mit of  the  great  central  chain  of  Antdebanon,  through  which  the 
river  first  cuts.  In  the  white  hills  near  Damascus  are  large  quan- 
tities of  ammonites.  At  Suk-wady-Barada  is  a  vast  bed  oi  organic 
remains,  not  less  than  a  mile  in  length,  and  in  some  places  exceed- 
ing a  hundred  feet  in  thickness.  IVunks  of  trees,  branches  d 
every  size  and  form,  and  even  the  delicate  tracery  of  the  leaves, 
may  be  seen  scattered  about  in  vast  masses.  There  are  in  several 
places  among  the  mountains  traces  of  volcanic  action.  On  a  lofty 
summit,  two  hours  north-east  of  S{lk,  is  what  appears  to  be  an 
extinct  cratar.  The  mountain  has  been  rent,  the  hmestone  strata 
thrown  back,  and  black  porous  trap-rock  fills  up  the  cavity.  Tlie 
^ain  of  Damascus  has  a  loamy  soil  intermixed  with  fine  sand. 
The  substratum  is  generally  conglomerate,  made  up  of  rounded, 
smooth  pebbles,  flint,  and  sand.  The  south-eastern  portion  of  the 
plain  is  entirely  volcanic. 


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1853.J  Armemcai  Tramlation  of  JEusebius.  263 


ARMENIAN   TRANSLATION   OF   EUSEBIUS. 

ON  THE  HISTOBICAL  ADVAKTAQE   TO   BE   DEBIVED  FROH  THE  ABHENIAN 
TBAKSLATIOH  OF  THE  CHRONICLE  OF  SU8EBIU8.* 

The  discovery  of  the  Chronide  of  Eusebiug  in  the  very  ancient 
Armenian  translation  is  an  important  event  for  literature.     A 
work  which,  for  many  centuries,  was  the  source  of  all  knowledge 
on  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats,  throughout  Greek,  Latin,  and 
Oriental  Christendom — which   was   everywhere  translated,  con- 
tinued, extracted  from — which  appears  again  and  a^n  as  the 
basis  of  the  most  various  works,  possesses  an  intrinsic  historical 
importance ;  and  if  it  has  been  lost  in  its  proper  form,  he  who 
restores  it  to  literature,  in  any  translation  whatsoever,  deserves 
OUT  praises  and  thanks.     This  value  the  discovery  of  the  Chro- 
nicle would  possess,  even  if  the  history  of  the  world  and  of  lite- 
rature had  gained  nothing  by  it ;  happily,  however,  this  is  not 
the  case.     It  is  true  that  the  only  manuscript  which,  at  least  up 
to  the  present  time,  appears  to  be  extant,  is  incomplete ;  but  some 
very  malignant  star  must  have  been  in  the  ascendant,  if  all  the 
hopes  had  been  disappomted,  which  the  rumour  of  its  discovery 
had  awakened.     If  not  one  new  chapter  had  come  to  light,  it 
would  have  been  of  inestimable  advantage  to  andent  history  to 
have  the  hiatuses  in  Casaubon's  Greek  Excerpts  supplied,  and  their 
corrupt  passages  restored.     Those  indeed  who  may  have  aban- 
donea  themselves  to  vague  dreams  of  the  inexhaustible  treasures 
which  they  suppose  the  work  of  Eusebius  to  have  contained,  will  be 
discontented  with  the  reality.    ITie  former  more  moderate  hopes — 
and  mine  never  went  faruier — are  fulfilled  and  exceeded ;  nay 
Fate  has  been  very  lenient  to  us,  for  all  the  defective  portions  of 
the  manuscript  occur  in  a  part  which  is  of  no  consequence ;  namely, 
the  history  of  the  Roman  emperors,  and  the  beginning  of  the 
second  book.     Now,  since  we  have  received  this  addition  to  our 
stores,  we  may  not  only  be  indiflFerent  to  the  result  of  the  contro- 
versy between  the  Venetian  Mechitarists  and  Zohrab,  about  the 
right  of  the  latter  to  publish  his  copy,  but  shall  accord  our  thanks 
to  this  priest  for  having  acted  on  his  own  responsibility.     What 
he  did,  could,  at  most,  have  been  unfair,  only  if  he  had  bound 
himself  by  spedal  conditions :    to  impose   such  would  be  very 
illiberal ;  ana  certainly  nothing  short  of  the  step  he  has  taken, 

■  Histcrigcher  Gewum  aw  der  armenischen  Uebersetzung  der  Chronik  des  Eia^nus, 
This  Essay  was  written  by  Niebuhr  in  1819,  but  is  taken  fromhis  Klewehistoritcha 
vnd  pMlologische  Schriften,  published  in  1828.— Tr. 

T   2 

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264  Armenian  Trcmdation  of  Eukbiut.  [July, 

which  touched  vanity  in  order  to  arouse  indolence,  woidd  have 
availed  to  induce  the  monks  of  the  Convent  of  St  Lazarus  to 
prepare  an  edition  which  is  absolutely  indispensable  for  the  por- 
tions recently  made  known,  and  for  the  passages  giving  a  difierent 
reading.^ 

The  highest  recompense  which  can  be  accorded  to  him  who  has 
undertaken  a  work  of  difficulty  and  magnitude  in  the  cause  of 
erudition,  is,  when  fortune,  after  he  has  extracted  all  that  he  can 
from  writings  that  are  extant  and  have  long  been  open  to  every 
reader,  allows  him  to  make  the  discovery  of  new  treasures  for  his 
work,  or  suffers  others  to  bring  them  to  light  in  his  days.  For- 
tune has  shown  herself  thus  propitious  in  several  instances,  and 
hence  I  think  I  may  be  permitted  to  recognize  in  her  dispensa- 
tions, the  same  Providence  which  watched  over  the  preservation 
of  the  whole  of  the  soiirces  whence  we  derive  our  knowledge  of 
antiquity.  And  the  complaints  about  the  insufficiency  of  tiiese 
sources  are  really  unreasonable  when  we  know  how  to  use  them  ; 
besides,  they  become  more  complete,  if  only  by  minute  deffrees, 
for  every  successive  ^neration.  Providence  has  shown  similar 
feivour  towards  histoncal  investigations  of  a  kind  considered  by 
many  very  trivial,  whose  object,  however — ^to  gain  a  distinct 
conception  of  the  events  and  vicissitudes  of  the  world*s  history — 
is,  in  truth,  not  trivial  Such  a  reward  was  granted  to  Scaliger, 
whose  labours  so  richly  deserved  it,  by  the  discovery  of  the  &- 
cerpts  made  by  a  Greek,  who  probably  knew  what  was  most  im- 
portant in  the  £usebian  Chronography,  though  unfortunately  the 
single  manuscript  containing  them  was  imperfect  How  happy 
would  he  have  esteemed  himself,  if  his  age  had  brought  the  Arme- 
nian translation  to  light  1  He,  who  knew  how  to  make  every 
language  his  own,  would  have  spared  no  pains  to  render  himself 
a  perfect  master  of  this  harsh  and  difficult  tongue  ;  and,  vivified 
by  his  touch,  the  work,  which  with  equal  boldness  and  learning  he 
had  ventured  to  restore  according  to  ms  own  conception  of  it,  would 
now  have  stood  before  us  for  two  centuries  in  its  true  shape,  and 
as  good  as  in  the  words  of  the  original. 

For  there  was  only  one  proper  plan  of  re-editing  it,  and  that 
could  as  littie  have  escaped  his  eye  as  his  immense  acquirements 
could  have  failed  in  the  execution  of  it ;  namely,  to  create  anew  a 
Greek  work.  With  the  second  book,  this  would  not  even  have 
been  a  difficult  task ;  for  this,  the  beginning  of  which  is  wanting 

^  This  edition  appeared  shortly  after  thu  Essay  was  finished,  and  by  it  the 
posubility  of  restonnff  the  Greek  fh>m  the  Armenian  work  is  guaranteed  to  anr 
one  who  may  be  capable  of  undertaking  this  meritorious  task.  To  others  it  is 
▼aluable,  inasmuch  as  it  agrees  with  and  confirms  the  hx  more  readable  Milanese 
tnui&lation. 

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1853.]  Ariimdan  Trandatian  of  MiseHus.  265 

in  the  Annenian,  contains  at  most  an  extremely  small  nmnber  of 
very  short  passages,  wliich  have  not  been  copied  from  the  Greek 
original  into  this  Chronicle,  as  is  demonstrated  by  the  parallel 
passages  from  the  Byzantine  chronographers,  contained  in  the 
notes  to  the  Milan  edition.  It  probably  diffbrs,  however,  here 
and  there  in  its  references  to  years,  from  the  translation  of  St. 
Jerome.  In  this  book,  therefore,  there  would  be  nothing  further 
to  do  than  to  restore  it  word  for  word  from  the  Byzantine  copies, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Armenian,  and  more  exactiy  than  could 
be  done  without  that  guidance,  though  Scaliger  effected  the  task 
so  fiur  as  it  was  possible  in  his  times ; — to  translate  and  insert  tbf 
additions  that  might  occur ;— and  to  notify  the  variations. 

The  task  would  certainly  not  have  been  so  easy  wil^  regard  to  the 
first  book  of  the  Chrcmography.  A  mere  dance,  indeed,  at  the 
Milanese  edition  shows  tibat  more  than  two-thirds  of  it  were  extant 
in  Greek,  and  with  these  portions  there  would  be  nothing  further 
to  do  than,  after  having  arranged  the  fra^ents,  to  have  recourse 
to  the  Armenian  translation  for  the  important  improvements 
and  completions  of  defective  passages  which  it  offers  in  numerous 
places.  But  many  fragments,  and  by  very  various  authors,  appear 
now  for  the  first  time ;  and  as  the  lan^ua^  of  Porphyry,  of 
Eusebius  himself,  and  especially  the  lomc  dialect  of  Abydenus, 
are  distinguished  from  each  other  by  certain  characteristic  dif- 
ferences, it  is  certainly  no  easy  thing  to  make  a  good  trandation 
in  thb  instance.  Still,  the  problem  admitted  of  a  solution,  and 
this  could  be  given  with  incomparably  the  greatest  ease  from  the 
Armenian.  The  most  profound  student  of  this  language.  La 
Croze,  remarks  in  a  letter  to  L'Enfant  (see  the  Whistons'  Preface 
to  Moses  Chorenensis,  p.  9),  that  it  is  superior  to  all  others  in  ad- 
mitting of  the  closest  rendering  from  tne  Greek,  so  that  in  the 
Armenian  Bible,  for  instance,  you  can  recognize  word  for  word 
the  Greek  text  which  is  its  basis.  Hence  also  it  was  that  the 
AMiistons  were  able,  as  is  known,  to  render  the  apocryphal  episties 
of  the  Corinthians  to  the  apostie  Paul,  and  of  Paid  to  the  Co- 
rinthians, back  again  into  the  Greek  literaUy  ;  and  who  that  did 
not  know  the  fact  would  recognize  them  for  a  translation  ?  What 
is  mentioned  of  the  Armenian  text  in  many  passages  of  Eusebius 
displays  the  same  literal  exactness ;  in  fact,  where  the  Greek  was 
enigmatical  to  the  very  unlearned  Oriental,  he  has  actually  trans- 
lated the  component  parts  of  the  compound  words,  so  that  it  reads 
very  oddly.  It  woula  therefore  be  perfectiy  practicable  to  express 
even  the  characteristic  peculiarities  of  each  of^the  different  authors, 
by  close  observation  of  their  style  in  the  Greek  fragments  of  them 
which  are  extant 

What  Scaliger  would  have  done,  even  if  he  had  be^a  obliged  to 

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266  Armeman  Tran$lation  of  Bkudnus.  [July, 

learn  Annenian  for  the  purpose,^'  La  Croze  (whom  Berlin  may 
reckon  among  her  greatest  philological  ornaments),  with  his  abmir 
dant  philological  knowledge,  would  have  done,  and  the  Whistons 
likewise,  if  a  codex  of  the  Chronicle  of  Eusebius  had  happily 
fJEillen  into  their  hands.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  philologist 
may  yet  perform  this  task  (since  it  has  not  been  done  in  either  of 
the  Italian  publications),  and  accompany  the  work  with  such 
critical  annotations  as  to  bring  it  to  perfection  at  once.  Mean- 
while, however,  it  will  be  in  any  case  advisable  as  a  preliminary 
step  to  print  the  new  chapters  oi  the  first  book  (which  are  all  that 
are  in  Question),  and  to  jassign  to  those  already  known  the  place 
which  tnev  ought  to  occupy,  on  the  one  hand  in  EuseUus,  and  on 
the  other  m  the  Thesaurus  of  Scaliger,  adding  the  various  readings 
which  result  from  a  comparison  of  the  two  editions.  This,  at  any 
rate,  ought  not  to  be  postponed.<^ 

The  historical  revision  of  the  contents  will  find  its  place  more 
suitably  in  special  histories  and  treatises  than  in  a  commentary ; 
for  the  errors  are  too  numerous,  especially  in  the  Canon,  to  make 
it  advisable  to  select  it  for  the  basis  of  a  synchronistic  historical 
survey.  On  the  other  hand,  it  were  much  to  be  wished  that  a 
work  should  be  prepared,  similar  in  kind  to  this  Eusebian  Canon, 
but  freed  frx)m  its  errors  and  of  greater  extent.  According  to 
Scaliger,  too,  there  is  still  much  to  oe  done  with  those  portions  of 
both  the  books  which  have  been  already  long  well  known  ;  but  I 
shall  scarcely,  if  at  all,  touch  upon  this  subject.  The  object  of 
this  essay  is  to  revise  the  newly  acquired  portion,  and  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  it  for  the  elucidation  and  determination  of  historical  dr- 

**  Scaliger  expresses  great  annoyance  at  the  spiteful  attacks  of  German  scholars, 
-who  charged  his  chronological  works  with  incompleteness,  because  additional 
matter  might  have  been  coUected  for  them.  This  passage,  which,  proceeding 
from  the  pen  of  an  extraordinary  man  who  had  sunk  into  peevishness  and  me- 
lancholy in  his  old  age,  excites  our  sorrow,  is  inserted  in  a  note  to  the  preface  of 
the  Milanese  edition.  It  is  not  clear  to  me  who  were  the  German  contemporaries 
that  sinned  agunst  the  great  Scaliger,  but  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  the  German 
philologists  of  our  day  would  joynilly  render  homage  to  a  foreign  colleague  of 
such  eminence,  and  would  indeed  be  more  ready  to  do  so  than  those  of  any  other 
nation. 

^  This  has  not  been  done,  however;  stiU  less  have  any  of  our  younger  philo- 
logers,  possessing  the  requisite  learning  to  handle  the  Greek  language  suitably, 
been  inclined  to  accede  to  my  wish,  and  seat  themselves  at  the  feet  of  St.  Martin. 
I  shall  now  take  charge  of  the  publication  of  this  work,  which  b  so  very  rare  in 
Germany,  according  to  a  modest  plan  such  as  circumstances  render  necessary. 
Syncellus  ought  not,  strictly  speaking,  to  be  reckoned  among  Uie  Byzantines ;  but 
as  the  Bonn  edition  must  not  omit  any  work  which  is  received  into  the  collection, 
he  must  remain  among  them,  and  will  appear  in  a  greatly  corrected  form.  Hence 
also  Eusebius  will  be  placed  before  him  in  this  e(ution :  with  the  portions  which 
can  be  given  in  Greek,  the  text  shall  appear  in  this  language ;  those  which  have 
only  been  preserved  in  the  Armenian,  m  the  Latin  transition.    (Added  in  1828.) 

This  note  refers  to  Niebuhr's  edition  of  the  Byzantine  historians.  See  '  Life 
and  Letters,'  vol.  ii.  p.  372.— TV. 

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1858.]  Armmim  Trandatim  of  EnMbius.  267 

cumstances  already  known ;  and  I  wish  that  it  may  Induce  any  of 
my  philological  fellow-students  of  ancient  history  to  imdertake 
inquiries,  which  are  in  general  far  too  much  despised  in  our  day, 
bat  whidi  cannot  be  neglected  without  essential  injury. 

I  grant  that  time  and  trouble  are  generally  wasted  in  an 
anxious  striying  after  nice  chronolo^cal  exactness ;  but  a  toler- 
able certainty  as  to  dates  facilitates  uie  knowledge  of  history  and 
roots  it  into  the  memory ;  and  without  a  vivid  realization  of  con- 
temporary events,  the  hudx>ry  of  single  States  and  peoples  is  but  a 
sorry  patchwoi4[. 

I.  The  Chronography  of  Eusebius  has  a  visible  similarity  in 
plan  to  the  Prcsparatio  of  the  same  author.  This  plan  was 
certainly  not  divined  by  Scaliger,  but  how  could  he  have  divined 
it  ?  And  hence  he  has  adopted  a  great  deal  from  Syncellus  which 
never  existed  in  Eusebius.  He  thought  that  this  Byzantine  chap- 
lain of  the  Patriarch  had  made  an  abstract  of  Eusebius,  whereas 
k  is  dear  now,  that  he  rather  followed  Africanus,  who  evidently 
combined  the  Chronography  and  the  Canon,  whidi  Eusebius  very 
properly  kept  apart  In  this  respect,  the  latter  is  greatly  the  su- 
perior :  for  the  rest,  the  plagiarism  which  he  has  practised  on 
Africanus  is  now  more  manifest  than  ever. 

n.  The  introduction  is  new,  and  so  are  likewise  about  dxteen 
or  eighteen  of  the  forty-eight  chapters.  Some  of  these  are  very 
brief  and  insignificant  Two  chapters  have  been  increased  by  very 
weighty,  several  by  unimportant  additions.  The  rest  had  been 
alr^idy  pubUshed  by  Scaliger,  partly  from  Casaubon's  Excerpts, 
partly  fron  Syncellus,  partly  frx>m  woncs  which  have  come  down  to 
us  complete,  such  as  the  earlier  books  of  Dionysius  of  Halicamas- 
sus  ana  Josephus. 

One  of  the  new  chapters,  the  forty-first,  g^ves  a  statement  of 
the  writings  from  which  the  excerpts  of  the  Chronography  are 
taken.  It  must  be  allowed  that  from  several  of  them  no  extracts 
occur  ;  and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Eusebius  did  not  in  figujt 
copy  tins  list  firom  Africanus,  the  extracts  from  whom  are  too  nu- 
merous to  leave  it  probable  that  fragments  from  the  authors  named 
were  inserted  in  the  lost  portion  of  the  book,  which  contained  the 
Roman  history.  This  conjecture  may  appear  uncharitable,  and 
yet  I  fear  that  it  is  correct,  for  the  last  portion  of  the  Roman  his- 
tory related  to  the  times  of  the  Emperors,  to  which  the  work  of 
ThaHus  did  not  come  down,  unless  the  number  of  Olympiads  which 
it  embraced  is  incorrectly  specified.  And  what  would  there  have 
been  to  collect  from  several  of  these  writers  respecting  such  a  well- 
attested  succession  of  events  ? 

Two  of  the  principal  works,  Berosus,  and  the  Chronide  of 
ApoUodorus,  were  only  accessible   to  the  Christian  chronogra- 

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868  Armenim  TranOetim  of  JEu^ebim.  {July; 

phers  through  Alexander  Polyhistor.  As  regards  the  first,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  neither  Tatianus  nor  Theophilus,  nor 
even  Clemens  had  consulted  him  directly,  espedaUy  as  it  is  always 
the  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar  for  which  they  cite  him,  which  tiiey 
could  have  ^t  from  Josephus  contra  Apionem,  without  even  haying 
recourse  to  rolyhistor. 

.  The  authors  and  works  stated  to  have  been  used  are  as  follows : 
Alexander  Polyhistor ; — ^Abydenus,*  author  of  a  history  of  Assyria 
and  Media,  whose  dubious  name  and  imoertain  date  are  not  deter- 
mined more  precisely ;  he  does  not  appear  to  me  at  all  ancient, 
and  his  lonism,  whicn  is  conspicuous  in  the  fragmaot  quoted  by 
Syncellus,  is  probably  a  mere  affectation,  like  that  of  many  othas, 
and  of  the  author  named  immediately  after  him,  Cephalion ; ' — Ma- 
netho's  three  books  of  Egyptian  Antiquities  (the  title  is  the  same 
in  both  the  translations); — Cephalion  s  Muses,  nine  books  (reject- 
ing him  see  Scaliger's  Thesaurua  Temp.  p.  416) ;« — Diodorus  lorty 
books  of  the  Kbliotheca ; — Cassius  Longinus,  who  treated  of  a 
period  embracing  228  Olympiads  in  eighteen  books  ;^ — the  fourteen 
IxK)ks  of  Phlegon,  the  freedman  of  Hadrian,  compriiung  229  CMym- 
piads;  Suidas  agrees  in  respect  to  the  interval,  but  gives  the 
number  of  books  as  sixteen ; — Castor's  work,  which  comprehended 
in  six  books  the  period  from  Ninus  to  the  ISlst  Olympad,  or, 
more  probably,  according  to  two  other  passages  where  (^istor's  own 
words  have  been  preserved  (29  and  48)  only  to  Olymp.  179,  3 
=(accordiiig  to  Cato)  a.  u.  c.  691,  the  Archonsnip  of  Theophemus. 
Neither  the  number  nor  the  period  comprised  in  the  books  of 
.Castor  (no  doubt  the  'xj^onxi  dyywiiJLara)  had  been  known  up  to 
this  time.  Both  were  also  unknown  with  regard  to  the  work  of 
Thallus.  Eusebius  tells  us  that  it  contained  m  three  books  the 
time  from  the  conquest  of  Troy  to  Olymp.  167  (641  a.  u.  c),  and 
as  this  Olympiad  coinddes  with  no  historical  epoch  in  any  country, 
we  may  infer  from  it  the  age  in  which  the  author  lived.  The  titile  of 
the  book  was  also  unknown ;  and  how  it  ran  in  Greek  we  can  hardly 
ascertain  with  precision  from  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Armenian 

Abydenns  or  Abydinus?   May  not  a  Semitic  name  be  concealed  here  which 
-     IHu 


began  with  Abd  or  Bbed  ?  Ebed  Htnnah  would  be  very  conceivable ;  and  the  i 

may,  I  think,  be  called  unheard  of  as  a  Greek  appeUation ;  for  Lakedamonios  of 
Athens  is  scarcely  in  point 

^  Physicians  wrote  m  Ionic,  because  the  writings  of  Hippocrates  were  eomposed 
in  that  dialect;  it  was  chosen  by  historians  of  the  early  periods  of  Upper  A«a  to 
remind  their  readers  of  Herodotus  and  Ctesias. 

s  Photius  calls  him  Cephalseon ;  in  Scaliger^s  '  Excerpts  *  his  name  is  written 
Cephallion,  which  brings  us  to  the  same  orUiography  again. 

^  This  work  is,  I  think,  never  mentioned  anvwhere  else ;  it  is  scarcely  likdy 
that  its  author  can  have  been  any  other  than  the  tutor  of  Porphyrins  (Suidas, 
«.  V.) ;  only  it  seems  strange  that  he  should  have  broken  off  such  a  work  a  hundred 
years  before  his  own  time. 

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J858.]  Armeniofa  TrcmslaHon  of  Misebius.  269 

♦<  menwriarum  libriy  May  it  be  an  awkward  rendering  of  v«o/a>i1- 
imra,  ?  Similar  instances  are  by  no  means  rare.  Lastly,  it  was 
equally  unknown  that  the  chronographical  work  of  the  philosopher 
Porphyrius,  from  which  the  most  important  chapters  are  taken, 
likewise  set  out  from  the  Trojan  age,  and  had  been  brou^t  down 
to  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  CHaudius  (that  is,  the  Gothic  Claudius, 
not  die  son  of  Drusus),  with  whose  reign  the  History  of  Dexippus 
likewise  concluded. 

-III.  The  incapacity  and  indedsion  of  the  Greek  authors,  who, 
during  the  period  when  their  nation  and  literature  had  simk  to 
the  lowest  point,  treated  in  universal  histories  of  the  primitive 
empires  of  Central  Asia,  particularly  the  thoroughly  unintel- 
lectual  Diodorus,  has  piost  unjustifiably  caused  us  irretrievable 
injury.  Under  the  Macedonian  dynasties,  not  a  few  Asiatics 
wrote  the  history  of  their  father-land  in  the  Greek  tongue,  as  Jo- 
aephus  did  tiiat  of  his  nation  in  a  later  age ;  and  while  we  have 
ncright  in  general  to  assume  that  they  neglected  their  native 
chronicles  and  historical  monuments,  which  ascended  far  beyond 
the  time  of  the  Greek  myths  and  traditions,  and  invented  fables 
in  thar  stead,  we  have  also  an  irrefragable  proof  of  the  trusts 
worthiness  of  Berosus  and  the  Phenician  histonans,  in  the  perfect 
harmony  with  the  Old  Testament,  of  the  only  accounts  preserved 
from  them,  relating  to  events  mentioned  likewise  in  the  nistorical 
books  of  the  latter.  But  instead  of  deriving  his  materials  from  such 
books,  IXodorus  has  built  upon  Ctesias^  and  other  Greeks  like 
him ;  and  as  later  authors  came  to  the  same  unhappy  decision, 
particularly  Africanus  and  Eusebius,  no  doubt  mainly  on  account 
of  the  assumed  synchronism  of  Ninus  and  Abraham,  it  has  come 
to  be  a  settled  point  in  the  Chronologies  that  the  Assyrian  mon- 
archy lasted  loOO  years  and  more ;  the  contradictory  statements 
scattered  through  the  profane  authors  are  little  regarded,  and  it 
has  been  attempted  to  reconcile  their  inconsistency  with  the  au- 
thentic Hebrew  nistory,  by  inventing  hypotheses. 

It  is,  therefOTe,  a  remarkably  interesting  fact,  that  in  two  of  the 
new  chapters,  the  4th  and  5th,  of  which  only  a  very  small  por- 
tion has  been  incorporated  by  Syncellus,  and  that  so  confusedly  as 
to  be  useless,  we  obtain  throuffh  Alexander  Polyhistor  some  idea 
at  least  of  Berosus'  account  oi  the  history  of  the  Babylonian  and 
Assyrian  eras. 

For  my  own  part,  I  regard  his  account,  however  remote  may  be 
the  periods  on  which  he  dwells,  as  truly  historical,  where  he  ceases 
to  nx  the  dates  according  to  astrononucal  periods ;  and  worthy  to 
be  conffidered  as  the  positive  and  original  history  of  those  primitive 
nations.  Those  who  may  judge  differently  will  not,  at  all  events, 
dispute  that  it  is  a  valuable  thing  to  be  acquainted  to  some  extent 

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270  Armenian  Translation  of  JBudebiua.  [July, 

with  the  native  accounts ;  and  that  these  desarve  more  attention 
than  those  of  the  less  pains-taking  Greeks,  among  whom  Herodo* 
tus  alone  forms  an  exception. 

Nay,  even  their  histories  of  the  earliest  periods  of  the  world, — 
in  which  we  find  an  attempt,  common  to  very  different  nations  of 
antiquity,  to  represent  the  idea  of  past  ages  of  the  world  in  astro- 
nomical periods,  each  of  which  is  divided  among  a  number  of 
kings, — ^by  no  means  deserve  to  be  passed  over  with  contempt ; 
l^ir  notions  on  these  subjects  are  a  very  important  relic  of  the 
sacred  literature  of  these  nations. 

Alexander  quotes  the  following  statement  from  Berosus :  after 
the  Rood,  Euexius  reigned  over  Babylon  four  Neri  (2400  years)  ; 
he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Chomasbdius,  who  reigned  four  Neri 
and  five  Sosi  (2700  years).^  We  find  the  duration  of  human  life 
comparatively  much  more  shortened  after  the  Deluffe,  in  the  Baby- 
lonian writers,  than  even  in  Gene^ ;  and  if  the  list  of  Borosus, 
who  mentions  these  and  all  the  following  kings  by  name,  had  been 
preserved,  with  the  number  of  years  that  each  reigned,  we  should 
probably  see  them  dwindle  rapidly  to  the  age  of  the  present  race 
of  mankind.  For  86  kings  are  reckoned  in  the  first  dynasty,  to 
which  a  duration  of  34,080  ^  years  is  ascribed,  of  wuich,  how- 
ever, nearly  a  sixth  part  belongs  to  the  two  first,  of  whom  alone 
the  name  and  time  have  been  preserved  in  £usebius.°^ 

At  the  end  of  this  period,  the  Medians  conquered  Babylon, 
and  eight  Median  tyrants  ruled  for  224  years  as  the  second  dy- 
nasty. 

'  The  Babylonian  chronology  occurs  so  seldom  that  it  will  not  be  superfluous  to 
remark  that  a  Sosus  contains  60  jears;  a  Nems  10  Sosi,  or  600  years;  a  Sams 
6  Neri,  or  3600  years;  and  that  the  Chaldeans  ascribed  a  duration  of  120  Sari»  or 
432,000  years,  to  the  world  before  the  Flood  of  Xisuthrus. 

^  This  is  the  calculation  given  us  by  Syncellus,  and  the  correctness  of  his  text 
is  evinced  by  his  adding,  they  made  9  Sari,  2  Neri,  8  Sosi.  The  Armenian 
transUtion  has  33,091  years,  a  number  which  is  at  once  seen  to  be  inadmissible. 


were  it  only  by  the  fact  that,  while  relating  to  a  mythical  age,  it  cannot  be 
distributed  into  cyclical  periods.  It  is  evident  that  here,  also,  the  Byzantine 
Syncellus  availed  himself  of  the  much  more  copious  account  of  AfHcanus.    It  is 


possible  that  Eusebius  may  have  understood  the  sum  of  the  cycles  as  referring^  to 
the  whole  period  before  the  Assyrians,  and  subtracted  from  it  the  collective 
duration  of  the  four  following  dynasties,  which  cannot  be  securely  ascertained  on 
account  of  the  corruptness  of  vie  text. 

"*  This  period  corresponds  to  that  of  the  patriarchs  after  the  Flood  in  Genesis, 
as  that  from  Alorus  to  Xisuthrus  does  to  the  age  fh>m  Adam  to  Noah.  In  another 
passage  in  Syncellus,  Euexius  and  Chomasoelus  occur  with  very  short  reigns 
(6  and  7  years),  and  only  five  successors ;  they  occur  immediately  before  the 
Arabian  dynasty  (p.  90,  and  in  Scaliger,  p.  14).  The  text  of  Syncellus  is,  however, 
inadmissible,  whether  through  the  errors  of  the  copyist  or  his  own  &ult,  we  do 
not  know ;  and  instead  of  dxh  54  roiurov  rov  xp^f^ou  r&y  tts  Z^^trtpw  fi^w  XaX8a/«r 
fiaaiAtvp  XmpJifffifriXov  ir^  9k  M^«y  ZtfpSarr^tv  ical,  &c.,  we  must  read :  Mr^pow 
flip  (namely  0ffioun\€VK4vai)  Xa\$aW  fiaai\4a  XuftAfffiriKoVf  %lf  8^  M^8a»v,  ttith  8^ 
ToiJrou  rod  ^p6vov  Zup6a<rrpiv  icalf  &c.  *AirA  to^ow,  instead  of  ^er^  toDto,  is  very 
common  wiUi  Syncellus. 


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1853.]  Armmicm  TrcmBlation  of  Dusebius.  271 

These  are  followed  by  the  third  d3niasty  of  eleven  kings,  of 
whom  it  is  not  specified  whether  they  were  native  or  foreign.  The 
number  of  their  years  is  left  open  in  the  text,  but  added  in  the 
margin  bv  the  emendator, — who  has  in  other  places  often  availed 
hiiiiself  of  a  better  ms. — without  doubt  incorrectly,  as  48  years. 

The  fourth  dynasty  of  49  Chaldean  kings  lasted  458  years. 

To  it  succeeded  the  fifth,  of  9  Arabian  kings,  who  governed  the 
em^mre  for  245  vears. 

This  extremely  important  pass^e  has  been  misunderstood  and 
abbreviated,  if  not  falsified,  by  Syncellus  (p.  78).  He  likewise 
reckons,  in  the  first  place,  86  kings  (those  of  the  first  mythical 
dynasty) ;  but  instead  of  regarding  them  as  native,  calls  them 
(Chaldeans  and  Medes ;  namely,  the  two  first,  Euexius  and  Cho- 
masbelus,  Chaldeans,  the  remaining  84,  Medes.  After  the  £all  of 
this  dynasty,  he  says,  Berosus  no  longer  reckons  hj  Sari,  Neri, 
and  Sosi,  but  by  solar  years ;  and  the  next  series  of  kmgs  is  Chal- 
dean, under  Zoroaster  and  seven  successors,  who  reigned  190 
years.  But  who  can  doubt  that  this  Zoroaster  is  no  other  than 
the  founder  of  the  Ma^an  religion,  therefore  a  Mede,  and  this 
dynasty,  the  second  (M^an)  dynasty  of  Berosus,  with  which  also 
the  number  of  the  eight  kings  agrees  ?  Syncellus  omits  the  third 
and  fourth  dynasties,  and  speaks  of  the  Median  as  immediately 
followed  by  the  Arabian  (the  fifth),  to  which  he  ascribes  215 
years,  instead  of  the  245  of  the  Armenian  translation;  and 
no  doubt  his  reading  deserves  the  preference,  as  the  individual 
kings,  and  the  years  that  each  reigned,  are  reckoned  up  in  another 
passage  of  hia  book,  and  the  same  number  of  years  results  as  the 
sum. 

After  these  five  dynasties  that  reigned  over  Babylon,  45  As- 
syrian kings,  whose  empire  lasted  520  years,  are  mentioned  as  the 
sixth,  and,  like  the  Medes  and  Arabians  who  preceded  them,  as 
conquerors  of  Chaldea.  Alexander,  following  Berosus,  had  also 
specified  these  by  name,  and  among  them  spoken  of  Semiramis. 
Now  could  a  doubt  have  arisen  whether  he  also,  in  agreement  with 
the  universal  tradition,  mentioned  Ninus  as  the  conqueror  of  Ba- 
bylon, the  mention  of  the  Assyrian  queen  would,  1  think,  be  a 
sufiicient  proof  that,  according  to  him,  the  empire  of  Nineveh  was 
much  younger  than  that  of  Babel.  So  too,  Syncellus,  in  the 
Tables  of  me  Babylonian  history,  states  that  41  Assyrian  kings 
succeeded  to  the  Arabians,  and  in  fact  places  the  King  of  kin^  at 
Nineveh  itself  from  Belus  to  Concolerus  fexc.  Scalig.  p.  14,  B.)  ; 
unmindful,  it  must  be  confessed,  how  many  ne  has  specified  by  name 
in  the  table  of  this  dynasty,  and  how  many  centuries  he  has  rec- 
koned for  their  monarchy.  He  does  not,  however,  appeal  to 
Polyhistor  as  his  authority,  but  to  Castor,  CephalaBon,  Thallus, 

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272  Armenian  Tr(mdation  of  EuMbim.  [July, 

Polybius  and  Diodorus ;  references  which  the  less  merit  our  coofi- 
dence,  as  Diodorus  says  nothing  at  all  of  the  kind. 

The  question  now  arises,  whether  the  duration  of  this  Assy- 
rian sovereignty  oyer  Babylon  is  to  be  understood  as  extend- 
ing up  to  t£e  destruction  of  Nineveh,  or  up  to  the  restoratioii 
of  a  Babylonian  State,  which  subsisted,  sometimes  independent 
of  the  Assyrian  kings,  sometimes  tributary  to  them,  with  veiy 
chequered  fortunes,  until  Nabopolassar  founded  tiie  migfa^ 
Babylonian  empire?  On  this  pK)int  the  excerpts  in  Eusebius 
leave  us  in  the  greatest  uncertainty ;  and  at  tne  first  moment 
their  silence  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  Alexander  had  reckoned 
the  duration  of  the  empire  of  Ninus  up  to  its  destruction  under 
Sardanapalus,  particularly  as  he  afterwards  mentions  Sennacherib 
and  his  successors,  with  the  nmnber  of  years  they  reigned.  But  1 
believe  there  is  a  much  greater  probability  for  the  second  opinion. 

In  the  first  place,  these  excerpts  have  been  so  carelessly  made, 
that  the  mere  fact  of  their  silence  on  any  point  proves  scarcely 
an^hing.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  deserves  our  attention  when 
it  IS  said  that  Pul  reigned  after  those  Assyrian  kings.  And  is  it 
conceivable  that  Berosus  should  not  have  begun  a  native  dynasty 
with  Nabonassar,  from  whose  era,  and  with  the  beginning  of 
whose  reign,  as  Vossius  has  shown  with  great  acuteness,  his  own 
annals  date  their  commencement?  Is  it  possible  that  the  Babylo- 
nian should  have  passed  over  the  native  kings,  who  reigned  at 
Babel,  if  not  uninterruptedly,  yet  before  the  time  of  Nabopolassar, 
and  merely  recounted  the  Assyrians,  wlio,  by  no  means  steadily, 
maintained  their  supremacy  ? 

While,  simply  on  these  grounds,  the  conjecture  gains  probability 
that  a  dynasty  has  been  omitted  through  the  &ult  of  the  EuselHan 
excerpts,  a  comparison  with  the  chronology  of  Herodotus  esta- 
blishes the  fact  that  it  can  be  no  other  than  that  of  Nabonassar 
and  his  successors,  and  that  it  must  have  lasted  103  years  up  to  the 
first  year  of  Nabopolassar,  as  it  is  stated  in  the  Canon  of  Syncellus.* 

For  as  Berosus  reckons  526  years  for  the  duration  of  the  Assy- 
rian dominion  over  Babylon,  so  does  Herodotus  reckon  520  years 
(i.  95)  for  the  duration  of  that  monarchy,  until  the  nations  of 
iJpper  Asia  shook  off  the  yoke  of  this,  still  in  other  respects, 
powerful  kingdom  (i.  102).     The  difference  here  between  a  round 

"  Niebuhr  appears  sabsequently  to  have  wavered  between  the  version  of  Sjn* 
cellus  adopted  in  the  text,  and  that  which  places  the  first  year  of  Nabopolassar  in 
the  123rd  year  of  the  Nabonassarian  era.  In  1826,  he  appears  to  have  adopted  the 
latter  version:  in  1828,  the  passage  of  his  lectures  where  he  is  treating  upon  this 
subject  agrees  with  this  Essay,  and  again,  at  the  close  of  the  same  lecture,  he 
identifies  the  first  year  of  Nabopolassar  with  the  1 23rd  of  the  Nabonassarian  en. 
See  Schmitz*s  *  Translation  of  Niebuhr's  Lectures  on  Ancient  History,*  toI.  I 
pp.  28, 39 ;  or  the  original,  *  Vorlesimgen  aber  Alte  Oeschichtr*  vol.  i.,  p.  S4,note.—Tr. 

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1853.]  Armenian  Trcmilaticn  of  Utisebius.  .  27S 

and  a  more  exact  number  is  quite  unimportant,  while  the  agreement 
clearly  proves  that  Herodotus  had  collected  his  historical  mate-* 
rials  respecting  those  States  at  Babylon  itself.  I  have  attempted, 
in  another  treatise,  to  discover  the  map  of  the  world  on  which  the 
separate  geographical  statements  of  Herodotus  are  based ;  in  a 
similar  way  he  arranged  his  ideas  of  history  according  to  a  chrono- 
logical survey  with  which  he  makes  his  separate  statements  agree. 
He  says  in  a  well-known  passage  (ii.  145),  that  irom  Heracles 
up  to  his  own  tunes,  about  900  years  had  elapsed.  On  what 
does  he  base  this  calculation  ?  Not  upon  the  genealogical  register 
of  the  Spartan  kings,  for  in  this,  only  21  ^nerations  were  reck- 
oned since  Herades,  consequendjjr,  according  to  his  own  rule, 
700  years.  But  with  him  the  families  of  the  Grecian  heroes  are 
not  tne  only  Heraclid^ ;  he  reffards  the  kines  of  the  Assyrians 
and  the  elder  dynasty  of  the  Lydians  (i.  7)  also  as  such  ;  for  we 
cannot  suppose  Belus  and  Ninus,  the  grandfather  and  father  of 
Agron,  to  be  different  personals  from  me  Assyrian  kings  of  the 
same  name.  Such  a  genealogical  table  only  indicates,  that  this 
dynasty  in  Lydia  had  come  from  Assyria. 

Now  these  Heraclidae  reigned  in  Lydia  505  years ;  after  them, 
the  Mermnadae — ^up  to  Olymp.  58,  1, — 170  years ;  from  this  date 
to  the  90th  Olympiad,  which  may  stand  for  about  the  date  which. 
Herodotus  assumes,  as  that  of  the  present  time  in  his  history  ,<^  are 
128  years,  and  three  generations  between  Heracles  and  Agron 
are  100  years ;  in  all  903  years. 

A  similar  result  must  be  obtained  for  the  Assyrian  history  by  a 
computation  of  its  periods : 

Two  generations  between  Heracles  and  Ninus   .     .      66  years. 
Dominion  of  the  Assyrians  over  Upper  Asia     .     .     520 
Interval  of  the  independence  of  the  Medes  without 

kings undecided. 

Four  Median  kings  (i.  130'') 150 

From  Cyrus  to  the  conquest  of  Babylon  .     .     .     •      20 
From  Olymp.  60,  1,  to  90,  1 120 

Total  number  of  years  from  Heracles  to  Herodotus, 

not  including  the  anarchy  in  Media      ....     876  years. 

**  I  adopt  this  date,  and  not  Olymp.  S4.  1,  irhen  Herodotus  is  said  to  have 
pobliely  read  his  work.  If  this  account  be  not  altogether  groundless,  it  can  only 
refer  to  a  first  recension  of  the  work ;  for  the  express  mention  of  incidents  oceur- 
ring  in  the  first  years  of  the  Peloponnerian  war,  and  very  intelligible  allusions  to 
the  sentiments  with  which  Athens  was  reprded  by  the  ungrateful  Greeks,  hay* 
been  written  much  later.  Further,  the  circumstance  of  two'  recendons  is  indi- 
cated by  the  yarious  readings  of  the  commencem<^  where  Aristotle  reads  'HpoHSrov 
ro¥  SovpUvy  whUe  all  our  mss.  read  'Hp.  rov  'AAucopn^ff^f . 

P  The  passage  in  Herodotus  (i.  130),  dp^mrrts  rUs  Ki^w — *Affhi$  ht^  irnt  r^tiitorra 
Ko)  kmwrhf  Zv^  Uorra,  wapk^  %  Icotf  0I  ^6$€u  ipxtn^^liM  yery  great  difficulties. 

Digitized  by  VJV/ v./ VI V. 


274  Armenian  Translation  of  IhisebiuB,  [July, 

According  to  this,  out  of  the  900  years,  24  would  be  left  for 
the  duration  of  this  interr^num. 

But,  from  Ninus  to  the  conquest  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  are  690 
years,  without  determining  the  duration  of  the  Median  anarchy. 

If,  however,  to  the  526  years  of  the  Niniads  as  pven  in  Be- 
rosus,  we  add  103  Nabonassarian  years  before  Nabopolassar, 
and  87  *i  from  the  bepnning  of  his  reign  to  the  conquest  of  Baby- 
lon, we  obtain  716  years  for  the  same  period,  but  including  the 
anarchy,  the  duration  of  which  would  thus  have  to  be  reckoned  as 
26  years.  And  this  agrees,  within  two  years,  with  the  calculation 
given  above  for  the  900  years  since  Heracles.     It  seems,  too,  that 

and  has  given  rise  to  very  various  explanations  by  Conring,  Hardain,  President 
Bouhier  and  Valckenaer,  which  may  be  found  in  Wesseling's  edition  of  Herodotus 
(ad  loc.).  For,  according  to  the  text  of  all  the  Mss.,  the  sum  of  the  vears  of  the 
K>ur  Median  kings  amounts  to  150,  and  moreover,  two  passages  found  in  all  the 
Mss.  of  both  recensions,  likewise  agree  in  giving  28  years  as  the  period  of  the 
Scythian  rule.  Valckenaer's  explanation  appears  to  us  the  least  successftil  of  all 
(I  hope  this  expression  wiU  not  be  understood  as  detracting  from  my  reverence  for 
this  excellent  man) :  his  opinion,  that  the  28  years  of  the  Scythians  were  not 
included  in  the  40  years  of  Cyaxares,  is  evidently  contrary  to  the  sense  of  Hero- 
dotus; and  although  he  is  right  when  he  says  that  under  Deioces  the  Medes 
certainly  did  not  as  yet  rule  over  Upper  Asia,  yet  the  arbitrary  manner  in  which 
he  places  the  commencement  of  their  rule  in  the  second  year  of  Phraortes,  in  order 
to  bring  out  the  100  years,  is  quite  indefensible.  Who  can  persuade  himself  that 
Herodotus  would  express  himself  in  this  manner,  when  he  wanted  to  say  that 
the  Medes  reigned  a  hundred  years  9  Where  has  he  ever  expressed  himself  so 
strangely  ?  I  believe,  with  Conring,  who  had  great  penetration  and  a  sound  and 
independent  judgment,  that,  if  the  passage  be  tmcormpted^  the  28  years  must  be 
added  to  the  128 ;  and  that  we  have  no  right  whatever  to  object,  that  Deioces  did 
not  as  yet  reign  over  tributary  peoples.  Whereabouts  should  we  have  to  fix  the 
epoch  at  which  this  suprenmcy  over  Asia  began  ?  Is  it  possible  to  find  the  year 
in  which  it  took  place  ?  It  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  the  Median  sway 
did  not  extend  to  the  Halys  before  the  conquest  of  Nineveh.  Now  whether  we, 
with  Conring,  assume  156  years,  or  take  the  150  years  of  the  four  kings,  it  comes 
to  the  same  thing,  and  the  difference  of  these  6  years  is  only  so  much  added  to  the 
anarchy  of  the  Medes.  The  essential  point,  and  a  very  essential  point,  is  that 
the  account  of  Herodotus  should  be  confirmed  by  its  harmony  with  the  Babylonian, 
and  that  the  accounts  at  variance  with  these  should  be  entirely  upset  as  fabulous, 
and  the  precision  and  accuracy  of  Herodotus  vindicated.  I  however  regard  the 
passage  as  corrupt,  of  which  tiie  very  numbers  28  and  128  (the  latter  of  which 
cannot  be  brouffht  into  connection  with  any  other  event)  excite  great  suspicion ; 
and  I  believe  tnat  the  passu^  ought  to  oe  restored  and  transposed  as  follows : 
ip^am-tsTTif — eLvof  'Afftris  ^ir*  Jrta  irtpriiKovra  Kcii  kxarhp^  *'<ip^(  ^  ^o*'  ol  'XkvOcu 
lipxovt  rpvfiKoyraBv^y  fiiorro.  I  have  adopted  this  calculation  above :  perhaps  some 
day  an  editor  will  have  courage  enough  to  adopt  the  emendation  into  the  text. 

^  Namely,  Josephus  contra  Ap.,  i.  p.  1045,  D.  ed.  Aur.  All.  1611,  the  Greek 
text  and  an  old  translation  (in  which  book  the  same  passage  of  Berosus  has  been 
made  use  of  respecting  the  successors  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  Polyhistor  has 
extracted,  which  Africanus  has  copied  or  abridge  from  the  latter,  and  which, 
finally,  Eusebius  has  so  hastily  epitomized  fW>m  Africanus),  allows  only  two  years 
to  the  ^vemment  of  Ejvil-merodach :  but  the  Armenian  Eusebius  (v.  S)  assigns 
12  to  his  reign.  In  the  astronomical  Canon  in  Syncellus,  likewise,  we  find  two 
years  assigned  to  him,  and  there  is  all  the  more  reason  to  accept  this  nimiber,  as 
Eusebius  takes  great  pains  to  bring  the  Babylonian  and  his  own  chronology  into 
harmony  with  each  other  by  a  calculation  which  is  altogether  very  forced. 


Dtgitized  by  V^V/VJ' 


gle 


1853.]  Armeman  Translation  cf  Misebius,  275- 

we  must  also  assume  a  short  interval — about  the  length  of  a 
generation,^ — for  the  interregnum  in  Media.' 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  ^ears  of  the  third  dynasty  are  specified  only 
in  a  margmal  emendation,  which  is  in  itself  more  than  suspicious, 
and  that  the  reading  is  not  quite  certain  respecting  the  finh  ;  for 
else  we  should  be  able  to  ascend  to  the  close  of  the  second  my- 
thical period  of  the  Babylonian  history  with  chronological  precision. 
As  it  is,  the  nmnber  of  1889  years,  from  the  conquest  of  Babylon 
l^  Alexander  (in  the  year  413  after  Nabonassar)  back  to  the 
beginning  of  the  second  (Median)  dynasty,  cannot  be  received  as 
accurate ;  meanwhile,  it  approximates  within  a  small  number  of 
years  to  that  which  Callisthenes  gives  as  the  age  of  some  ascer- 
tained astronomical  observations  of  the  Chaldeans,  previous  to  the 
time  of  Alexander.  It  is  merely  an  hypothesis,  but  the  example 
of  the  era  of  Nabonassar  ^ves  it  probaoility,  that  the  beginning 
of  this  list  of  observations  was  the  first  year  of  an  era,  in  the 
1905th  year  of  which,  Babylon  was  taken  by  Alexander.  If  this 
hypothesis  be  admissible,  this  sum  will  have  to  be  adopted  instead 
of  that  of  1889  years.  Zoroaster  might  ^ve  the  occasion  to  such 
an  era  as  being  the  founder  of  a  Median  dynasty,'  whose  kings, 
moreover,  mi^t  very  well  be  called  tyrants  if  they  introduced 
the  religion  of  the  Magians. 

With  regard  to  oriental  countries,  we  are  not  only  justified  in 
assuming  the  existence  of  tabular  Hsts  of  the  rulers,  and  annals, 
which  were  a  collection  of  notes  to  these,  but  also,  at  least  with 
respect  to  the  Chaldeans,  in  confidently  maintaining  their  credi- 
bihty,  on  account  of  the  astronomical  observations  which  rendered 
an  accurate  determination  of  time  necessary.  Such  observations 
as  those  which  Callisthenes  procured  are  not  conceivable  without 
chronological  tables,  and  hsts  of  the  kings  and  the  length  of  their 
reigns.  Impossible  as  it  was  really  to  preserve  the  history  of  the 
free  nations  of  the  West  by  tradition,  before  the  commencement  of 
contemporary  history,  which  was  of  late  origin  (though  even  here, 
dates  given  as  those  of  the  foundation  of  cities  are  credible)  ;  with 
r^ard  to  the  East,  there  is  absolutely  no  valid  ground  to  dispute 
the  application  of  the  art  of  writing,  which  existed  there  from 
very  remote  ages,  to  the  recording  of  the  simple  changes  that 

'  Compare  Schmitx's  *  Tr.  of  Lect.  on  Anc.  Hist./  vol.  i.,  p.  85,  note  (in  the 
original,  toI.  i.  p.  43). — Tr, 

*  The  age  of  Uie  Mafian  Zoroaster  is  perfectly  mythical,  and  the  widely  differing 
statements  respecting  it  are  not  of  a  nature  to  be  cleared  np  by  discussion.  Be- 
garded  as  the  rounder  of  the  Magjan  religion,  we  must  refer  him  to  a  yery  remote 
antiquity,  and  the  most  untenable  opinion  of  all  is  undoubtedly  that  whidi  places 
him  after  Cyrus,  because  Hystaspes  is  to  be  accounted  the  son  of  Darius  Hystaspis. 
Since  the  Magians  were  a  Median  race,  it  is  a  yery  suitable  way  of  denoting  the 
Median  conquest  to  call  him  the  first  Median  king  of  Babylon,  as  Syncellus  round 
it  stated  in  Africanus,  and  the  latter  therefore  had  no  doubt  found  it  in  Polyhistor. 

Digitized  by  VJV/VJ^lC 


376  Armenian  Trandaiimi  of  JEumbius.  I^uly* 

occur  in  great  despotic  empires*  Thus,  since  we  have  recoyered 
the  testimony  of  a  Babylonian  scholar,  I  hold  it  as  not  less  histo- 
rical than  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  the 
taking  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls,  that,  about  1900  years  before 
Alexander,  the  Medes  conquered  Babylon,  and  that  the  Ara- 
bians possessed  a  mighty  kingdom  before  the  Assyrians.  For  that 
the  Arabians  should  have  b^n  subject  to  the  Assyrians  for  many 
centuries  afterwards,  and  then  again  obtained  the  ascendancy,  is  a 
vicissitude  by  no  means  rare,  especially  in  Asia.  The  ^vemment 
of  Persia  by  the  Sassanids,  and  the  history  of  Russia  after  the 
fall  of  the  Mongolian  empire,  are  cases  in  point.  Meanwhile, 
that  empire  which  was  overthrown  by  the  Medes,  and  for  which 
Berosus  has  ^ven  mythical  periods,  we  may  call  the  empire  of 
Nimrod.  The  book  of  Genesis  also  recognizes  in  Babel  an  older 
emmre,  from  which  Assur  proceeds. 

The  later  Assyrian  kings,  and  some  Babylonian  monarchs  contem- 
porary with  them,  are  mentioned  by  Eusebius,  only  because  he  found 
Sennacherib  and  Merodach-Baladan  nam^  in  Polyhistor.  'In- 
different to  the  history  of  these  realms  on  their  own  account,  the 
excerpt  whidi  he  has  inserted  in  the  5th  chapter,  is,  from  the  very 
beginning,  fragmentarv  and  unintelligible.^  The  Armenian  trans- 
lator has  ^ven  a  conmsed  and  doubtful  rendering  of  what  he  did 
not  understand.  It  seems  to  result  from  the  passage,  that  a  bro- 
ther of  Sennacherib,  placed  on  the  throne  either  by  him  or  their 
father,  had  been  Ung  of  Babylon ;  and  that  this  brother  mi^ht 
even  be  the  Ha^sa  whom  Merodach-Baladan  slew  after  a  reign 
of  thirty  days.  The  embassy  of  Merodach-Baladan  to  Hezekiah 
(2  Kinffs  XX.  12  ;  Isa.  xxxix.  1)  exhibits  him  as  an  enemy  of  the 
king  of  Nineveh ;  and  certainly  he  who  had  slain  Sennacherib's 
brother  would  be  much  more  so,  than  he  who  had  killed  a  native 
usurper  of  the  throne  of  the  latter.^    Merodach-Baladan  was 

'  The  pftMage  reads  thus  in  the  Milanese  translation:  Postqnam  regno  de- 
fnnctos  est  Senecheribi  frater,  et  post  Ha^isae  in  Babylonios  dominationem,  qui 
qnidem  nondum  impleto  trigesimo  imperii  die  a  Manidacho  Baldane  interemptns 
est,  Mamdachns  ipse  Baldanes  tyrannidem  invasit.'  In  the  Venetian  as  follows : 
'  Postquam  regnasset  firater  Senecbaribi,  et  deinde  postqoam  Aoises  in  Babyloniot 
dominatos  esset,  et  neodum  triginta  qnidem  diebus  r^gnum  tenuisset,  a  Marodach 
Baladano  occisns  est.' 

In  the  ninth  chapter  is  preserved  an  excerjjt  from  Abydenus,  likewise  hitherto 
unknown,  respecting  the  history  of  Sennacherib  and  the  latest  Assyrian  kings  of 
Nineveh,  which  throws  light  upon  some  points  in  the  portion  taken  from  Polv- 
histor  that  have  been  miserably  distorted ;  but  in  general  this  excerpt,  like  all  the 
fragments  of  this  author,  can  sustain  no  comparison  with  the  portions  which 
Polyhistor  has  borrowed  from  Berosus. 

™  In  the  passage  of  the  history  of  Hesekiah,  which  has  been  doubly  preserved 
id  in  the  i 


in  Isaiah  and  in  the  second  book  of  Kings,  accordinff  to  the  order  of  the  narrative, 
Sennacherib's  death  isplaced  before  the  sickness  of  Hesekiah  and  the  embassy  of 
Merodach-Baladan.    The  account  of  Berosus  shows  that  no  exact  chronolo|^cal 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1^3.]  Armenian  Trandatim  of  Eusebius.  277 

ftaawanated,  after  a  reign  of  only  ax  months,  b^  an  insurgent  of 
the  name  of  Elibus,  in  the  third  year  of  whose  reign,  Sennacherib 
went  ap  against  Babylon  with  the  Assyrian  army,  defeated  the 
Babylonians,  took  their  king  captive,  carried  him  away  to  Assyria 
with  his  family,  and  appointed  his  own  son,  Esar-haddon  (Asor- 
danes^  king  over  Babel.  On  his  return  to  Nineveh,  he  learnt 
that  tne  Greeks  had  made  an  incursion  into  CiHcia  '^  he  contended 
with  them  and  gained  the  victory,  but  with  great  loss  to  his  own 
troops.  In  commemoration,  he  caused  his  statue  to  be  erected 
there,  and  the  memorial  of  his  deeds  to  be  engraven  on  it  in  Chal* 
dean  characters.^  At  this  time  he  built  Tarsus  after  the  model 
of  Babel,y  and  called  the  city  Tharsin.  After  Sennacherib  had 
reigned  eighteen  years  over  tiie  Assyrians,  he  was  slain  by  the 
treadieiy  of  his  son,  Ardumuzanes,*  and  Ins  son  became  king  in 
his  stead.  The  latter  is  not  named  in  the  excerpt ;  but  we  Imow 
from  the  Bible  that  he  was  the  same  Esar-haddon  who  has  been 
mentioned  before  as  the  prince  set  over  Babel.  Polyhistor  had 
written  still  more  about  Sennacherib,  which  Eusebius  has  unfortu- 
nately omitted  as  superfluous ;  meanwhile,  what  he  has  retained  is. 
very  important,  and  worthy  of  serious  reflection.  A  Greek  expe- 
dition to  Cilida,  in  which  Greeks  fought  against  the  great  king  of 
Nineveh,  is  an  occurrence  of  which  no  history  hitherto  known  to 
us  gives  the  slightest  hint.  The  state  of  Greece,  at  that  time 
(about  the  20th  Olympiad),  forbids  the  idea  of  a  combined  under- 
taking, such  as  the  Trojan  war  is  represented  to  have  been  ;  yet  it 
were  not  allowable  to  reject  the  statement  as  an  eastern  fable  ;  for 
it  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  that,  for  long  previous  to  the  age 
we  are  considering,  our  knowledge  of  oriental  afiairs  is  based  on 
the  authority  of  contemporary  annals.  If  we  should  imagine  the 
Aflsyrians  to  have  confounded  some  other  western  nation  with  the 
Greeks,  this  could  be  none  but  the  Lydians,  and  that  these  should 
have  spread  so  far  to  the  east  in  the  time  of  Gyges,  contradicts 

arranffement  is  intended  here,  but  merdy  the  representation  of  how  Sennacherib 
himself  fell  after  he  had  been  diastised  for  his  arrogance  by  the  defeat  of  his 
army. 

^  According  to  Abydenus  (c.  9),  a  Greek  fleet  had  appeared  there,  which  he  de- 
feated and  scattered. 

*  According  to  the  same  author  (c.  9),  he  erected  several  brazen  statues,  and 
built  the  temple  of  the  Athenians,  The  last  word  has  evidently  been  written  by 
the  Armenian  translator  by  mistake,  instead  of  Athene, 

^  That  is.  on  both  shores  of  the  Cydnus,  as  Babylon  was  built  on  both  shores  of 
the  Euphrates. 

'  As  we  know  from  the  Bible,  by  his  sons  Adramelech  and  Sharezer. 
Ab^denus  also  mentions  the  former  as  a  parricide  under  the  name  of  Adameles, 
which  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize,  but  calls  his  father  Nergilus,  the  successor  of 
Sennacherib.  This  Nergilus  we  must  reject  on  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
Old  Testament  and  Berosus.  No  doubt,  Esar-haddon  came  from  Babylon  to 
revenge  the  death  of  his  father. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  U 

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278  Armeman  Tran$lation  of  Husebiui.  [July, 

all  that  Herodotus  says  of  the  slow  extension  of  their  dominion  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Sardis.  But,  in  my  o{union,  the  legends  of 
Greek  settlements  in  Cilida  are  not  to  be  altogether  rejected,  eyen 
if  we  cannot  pcnnt  to  any  g^iuine  Greek  city  on  that  coast ;  and 
as,  in  after  times,  snuul  bands  of  well-triuned  and  well«anned 
Greeks  waged  war  with  countless  Asiatic  hosts,  it  is  perfectly  con- 
ceiyable  tlutt  the  attempt  of  Greek  colonists  to  effect  a  settlement 
there,  may  only  have  been  frustrated,  by  bringing  a  powerful  army 
into  the  field,  and  with  great  loss  on  the  part  of  uie  Assyrian  king. 
Further,  the  image  of  Sennacherib  is,  without  doubt,  the  same 
which  the  companions  of  Alexander  saw  at  Anchiale,  with  an 
Assyrian  inscription  on  it,  and  ascribed  to  Sardanapalus  as  the 
founder  of  Tarsus  and  Anchiale.^  The  testimony  of  the  Chaldean, 
that  Sennacherib  was  the  Assyrian  king  who  founded  Tarsus,  is 
certainly  to  be  accented. 

Eusemus  has  omitted  what  Polyhistor  relates  of  Esar-haddon  ;^ 
but,  in  the  9th  chapter,  some  particulars  respecting  him  have  been 

1)re0eryed  from  Abydenus.  He  is  stated  to  haye  been  Adramme- 
ech's  brother,  but  not  by  the  same  motiier ;  to  haye  subjugated 
Egypt  and  the  interior  of  Syria,  and  to  haye  marched  wim  an 
army  of  merc«[iaries  through  Anterior-Asia  as  &r  as  Byzantium. 
That  the  story  of  the  conquest  of  Egypt  is  false,  is  evident  from 
tiie  concurrent  accounts  of  Herodotus  and  the  Bible.  Perhaps^ 
however,  it  was  he  who  led  Manasseh  captive  to  Babylon ;  and  tne 
expedition  to  Asia  might  probably  have  been  occasioned  hj  an 
irruption  of  the  devastating  hordes  of  the  Treres  or  Cimmerians. 
For  it  is  true  that  Herodotus  places  the  taking  of  Sardis  under 
Ardys,  the  successor  of  Gyges,  and  contemporary  of  Esar-haddon  ; 
but  the  Treres  have  repeatedly  made  incursions  into  Anterior- Asia, 
and  ravaged  the  country.*^  It  is  very  singular,  that  Abydenus 
mentions  Pythagoras  as  haying  served  in  this  army  of  merce- 
naries ;  and  Polyhistor  also  speaks  of  him  as  a  contemporary  of 
the  Assyrian  king ;  still  here  also  he  has  probably  followed  Be- 
rosus.  This  account,  which  would  carry  his  age  back  to  the  20th 
Olympiad,  and  place  him  120  years  earlier  than  the  opinion 
adopted  by  the  later  Greeks,"^  womd  have  been  very  acceptable  to 
those  Roman  annalists  who  made  him  the  teacher  of  Noma,  but 
could  not  defend  themselves  from  a  chronological  reftitation. 


*  On  tbis  point  see  Nake's  '  Choerilus/  p.  198.  It  is  cheering  to  be  able  to 
refer  the  reader  to  a  book  like  this. 

*>  In  the  exoerpt  from  Polyhistor  the  name  is  entirely  wanting.  Ahydenns 
(c.  9)  calls  him  Axerdis. 

c  Strabo,  i.  p.  61,d. 

*i  Dionysios,  ii.  p.  121  a.  The  difference  woold  be  stiU  greater,  according  to 
others,  who  placed  his  age  after  the  60th  Olympiad.    Sylburg.  ad  loc. 


Digitized  byCjOOQlC 


1853.]  Armmixm  Tramlaticn  cf  EusebkM.  279 

EBar-haddon  reigned  8  years.  He  was  followed  by  Samughes, 
who  reigned  21  years ;  and  the  latter  was  sacceeded  hyhis brother 
Sardanapalus,  wno  mgned  an  equal  length  of  time.*  This  prince, 
on  learning  that  a  great  host  of  mixed  race  was  coming  up  against 
him  firom  the  sea,  appointed  Nabopolassar  to  be  viceroy  over 
Babylonia.  But  Nabopolassar  sent  an  embassy  to  Asdahages  the 
Mede,  to  conclude  an  alliance  with  him,  and  to  ask  his  daughter 
Amuhia  ia  marriage  for  his  son  Nabuchodrossor,'  after  which  he 
turned  his  arms  against  Nineveh,  and  besieged  the  city ;  and  the 
king  burnt  himself  and  his  whole  household. 

The  nation  that  threatened  the  Assyrians  was  probably  the  Scy- 
thians, whose  irruption  into  Aaa  Herodotus  places  under  the  same 
Median  king  who  took  and  destroyed  Nineveh.  Tliat  Nebuchad- 
nezzar was  the  Babylonian  king  who,  to  delight  his  consort  by  an 
image  of  the  Median  mountains,  laid  out  gardens  over  vaults,^ 
was  known  from  Berosus,  as  quoted  by  Josephus ;  it  might  long 
ago  have  been  inferred  that  she  was  the  Median  princess  whom 
S^ncellus  calls  Aroite ;  the  name  now  made  known  to  us,  Amuhia, 
is  more  authentic. 

Respecting  the  successors  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  history  gains  no- 
Uiing  from  the  Armenian  Eusebius,  as  the  extract  from  Berosus  in 
Josephus  contra  Ap.  is  probably  fiiller  than  that  which  Polyhistor 
may  have  borrowed  from  him.^ 

•  The  name  of  the  brother  and  successor  of  Samughes  is  not  found  in  the 
excerpt  from  Polyhistor,  r>,  §  2,  but  fVom  {  3.  it  is  clear  that  it  was  Sardanapalus. 
In  the  excerpt  nrom  Abydenus  (9,  §  l.\  Sardanapalus  is  the  successor  of  Esar- 
haddon,  and  Saracus  the  last  king  of  Nineveh ;  this  statement  can  scarcely  be 
ascribed  to  anything  but  an  error  of  the  translation.  The  story  of  the  defection 
of  Nabopolassar  (in  5)  is  quite  unintelligible  and  absurd ;  one  would  have  ex- 
pected that  the  editors  would  have  adduced  the  unambiguous  explanation  of  it 
rrom  Abydenus  9. 

'  His  name  is  not  only  constantly  thus  written  in  the  Armenian  translation, 
with  a  very  few  exceptions,  where  the  Auniliar  Biblical  appellation  has  fallen 
accidentally  firom  the  pen  of  the  copyist,  but  also  in  the  fragment  of  Aby- 
denus in  the  Proeparaiio  JCvftngelica,  The  roots  from  which  it  is  formed  appear 
also  in  the  name  Lab-rossoar-chod,  the  son  of  Neriglissor.  According  to  a  very 
remarkable  notice,  given  hj  the  Milanese  editors  from.  Moses  of  Chorene,  who 
cites  Armenian  songs  for  it,  Asdahag  may  probably  have  been  the  name  of  an 
ancient  Median  dynasty :  but  also  in  the  name  Cyaxares  (this  Median  king  is 
nnqaestionably  referred  to),  Kei-axar  and  Asdahag  are  identical,  like  'Apro^^r 
and  Arthachsastha. 

s  Diodorus  (ii.  10)  calls  this  queen  the  Persian  concubine  of  an  Assyrian  king. 

*»  It  will  be  permitted  me  to  occupy  the  space  of  a  note  with  some  remarks 
which  I  grant  overstep  the  limits  of  my  subject — the  newly -published  notices — 
respecting  a  history  which,  in  Our  days,  is  so  little  the  subject  of  investigation, 
and  which  I  shall  never  treat  of  in  a  separate  work.  Since  Shalmanezer  took 
Samaria  in  the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiah,  but  it  was  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  this 
king  that  Sennachenb  went  up  against  Jerusalem,  it  is  certain  that  Sennacherib 
had  ascended  the  throne  of  his  father  in  the  interval.  Hezekiah  reigned  29 
years — ^Sennacherib  18;  the  death  of  both  will  therefore  fall  about  the  same 
time.      If  we  reckon  up  the   years  of  the  five  successors  of  Hezekiah,  and 

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280  Armeman  Translatian  of  Misebius.  [July, 

Nabopolassar's  reyolt  from  Nineveh  occurs  in  Olymp.  38,  con- 
sequently the  overthrow  of  the  d^  and  the  empire  took  place  at 
that  time.  But,  from  the  fall  of  Sardanapalus  to  the  fiftn  CHym- 
piad,  Abydenus  reckoned  67  years  (c.  12),  Cephalseon  40  (c  15) ; 
the  former,  therefore,  219,  and  the  latter  192  years  too  mudu 
Both  followed  Ctesias,  or  some  other  Greek  unworthy  of  any  re- 
gard, both  in  the  too  small  number  of  the  Assyrian  kings,  and 
in  the  immense  exaggeration  of  the  duration  of  their  monarchy; 
it  is  certain  that  Castor  also  has  frJlen  into  the  latter  error.  Ahj- 
denus,  who  derived  his  information  respecting  Nebuchadnezzir 
from  Megasthenes,  has  probably  never  had  direct  recourse  to 
Berosus.  This  whole  dass  of  notices  respecting  the  Assyriao 
archaeology  is  altogether  to  be  rejected ;  to  attempt  to  reconcile 
them  wiw  the  authentic  oriental  accounts  would  be  alaboiioDS 
folly,  only  productive  of  error  and  endless  hypotheses. 

Meanwhile,  I  mention  the  mythical  genealogy  of  Ninus  found  in 
Abydenus  (vide  <mU\  because  it  may  have  been  derived  indirectly 
irom  native  sources:  Belus,  Babius,Anebus,Arbelus,Chaalus,  Ninus. 
In  the  interpretation  of  the  Chaldean  cosmogony  and  archaeologyi 
we  must  ffuard  against  a  confusion  of  Bel,  the  organizer  of  ue 
world,  with  Belus,  the  mythical  founder  of  the  empire  of  Assur. 

add  to  them  the  37  ^ears  of  the  captivity  of  Jehoiakin,  we  find  that,  according  to 
the  Dumben  giyen  in  oor  Biblical  text,  which  even  Joeepbos  had  in  his  haods, 
about  137  yean  elapsed  between  the  death  of  Heaekiah  and  the  first  jetf  of 
Evil-Merodach.  But,  accordinf  to  Berosus,  only  113  had  elapsed  ftt>m  the  death 
of  Sennacherib.  Such  chronological  deviations  were  formerly  always  decided 
against  the  profime  author,  which  is,  however,  a  Jewish  Masoretic  superstition. 
It  is  much  more  probable  that  there  is  an  error  in  the  number  of  years  anigiwd 
to  Manasseh ;  especially  on  account  of  the  youth  of  his  son  Anunon.  There  is 
perhaps  nothing  more  unexampled  in  Eastern  history,  than  that  a  king,  who  came 
to  the  throne  at  twelve  years  of  age,  should  attain  the  age  of  45,  before  an  beir 
to  the  crown  is  bom  to  nim. 

It  is  univerNtlly  recognized  that  the  Labyuetus  of  Herodotus  is  the  Nabonneditf 
of  Berosus ;  but  it  will  occasion  perplexity  to  any  one  who  attempts  to  arrange  the 
chronology  of  Herodotus  for  himself,  that  Labynetus  Uie  Babylonian  is  named  as 
bringing  about  the  peace  between  Alyattes  and  Cyaxares ;  for  their  war  is  older  than 
the  beginning  of  hb  reign.  Yet  Herodotus  (i.  1 88 )  says,  l^at  that  last  king  of  Babylon 
was  the  heir  of  the  name  and  the  kinedom  of  his  father,  and  consequently  this  earlier 
Labynetus  must  be  the  mediator.  Now,  however,  we  are  met  by  a  fresh  difficulty, 
for  no  Ibt  of  the  kinss  of  Babel  contains  such  a  king.  I  conjecture  that  Herodotas 
must  have  meant  Nebuchadnezzar  (the  similarity  between  the  names  is  not  to  be 
mistaken) ;  and  it  even  appears  to  me  that  Amuhia,  for  whose  sake  the  most  gigantie 
edifices  were  erected,  can  be  no  other  than  the  Nitocris,  to  whom  Herodotus  ascribef 
the  great  works  on  the  Euphrates.  This  would  certaonly  be  an  inaccuracy  such  as 
might  easily  be  occasioned  by  oral  relations  in  a  language  foreign  to  the  historian, 
respecting  incidents  occurring  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  before  his  time. 
According  to  the  Babylonian  accounts  wluch  have  been  preserved  to  us,  NabonuedBt 
was  certainly  not  the  heir  of  the  empire— nay,  perhaps  not  even  of  royal  descent 
Finally,  I  must  in  passing  remark  further,  that  the  identity  of  Kadytis  and  Jeru- 
salem, which  used  to  be  rejected  on  account  of  the  name,  seems  to  be  well  estab- 
lished. Foreigners  bestowed  names  on  the  E^ptian  cities  which  have  no  sii^- 
larity  whatever  with  the  native  ones ;  may  not  the  Egyptians  have  given  names 
equally  unlike  their  true  appellations  to  foreign  cities? 


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1863.]  Armenian  Trcmslation  of  Husebkis.  281 

The  editors  ouffht  to  have  appended  the  remark  to  Castor's 
fragment  (c.  13),  uiat  the  mention  of  Ogygus  amon^  tiie  kings  of 
the  Titans  determines  and  corrects  a  remarkable  passa^  of 
TliaUus,  occurring  in  Theophilus  ad  Autolyc.  iii.  19.  Both  pnnted 
editions  and  mss.  read  (respecting*  the  war  of  Belus  and  the  Titans 
against  the  gods)  : — svda  xai  h  Vvyos  irrv^^Bis  B^uy^Tt  eir  Tmpma^ 
<Tov'  TOT€  ptcv  T^f  yjupaf  SKsivrif  ^Axrrif  kkr^Betayifj  vwv  Se  ^Arrutins 

So^rayo^ivofxiynf  ^s  "ilyuyof  tot6  iql^iv.  Meursius  introduced  tiie 
tieration  o  Fi^^,  and  this  has  been  adopted  as  a  safe  emenda- 
tion ;  it  is  now  dear  that  "CLyuy^s  ought  to  be  the  reading ;  the 
name  of  that  mythical  king  of  Attica.  In  what  follows  tiiere  is  a 
chasm.  Thallus  explained  the  descent  of  the  Titans  into  Tartarus 
by  the  flight  of  then:  king  to  Tartessus ;  adducing  the  names  Acte 
and  Attica  as  instances  of  the  changes  in  the  names  of  countries 
efiected  by  the  lapse  of  time ;  he  was  led  to  the  choice  of  this  ex- 
ample by  the  mention  of  Ogyffus.  According  to  this,  the  passage 
ou^t  to  be  restored  somewhat  in  tiie  following  manner :  ^pvytn 

&  (fwep  *  Ax  w,  X.  T.  X.  Meursius  also  conjectured  the  ex- 
istence of  a  chasm ;  it  is  true,  on  very  difierent  grounds  from 
those  I  have  adduced. 

rV.  The  33rd  Chapter  contained  the  list  of  the  Stadionices, 
which  Eusebius  had  borrowed  from  Africanus,  who  had  taken  it 
from  Phlegon,  and  continued  it  up  to  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
his  own  work ;  and  the  Armenian  translation  supplies  many  littie 
omissions,  and  improves  not  a  few  readings  of  this  portion  which 
Scaliger  has  made  known  in  the  original.  It  is  owing,  however,  to 
a  misunderstanding,  that  Mai  rejoices  to  see  this  chapter  freed 
fix)m  the  suspicion  of  having  been  fabricated  by  Scaliger.  For,  as 
four-fifths  of  the  victors  are  only  known  from  this  catalogue,  fiibri- 
cation  was  not  conceivable,  and  has  never  in  fact  been  suspected. 
But  Scaliger  has  made  this  list  the  basis  of  his  lengthy  *OXc/Mvia- 
Scvv  dvxyoa^y  in  which  he  has  brought  together  a  multitude  of 
historical  events  according  to  the  years  of  the  Olympiads ;  a  work 
which  he  has  expressly  declared  to  be  his  own  production,  and  to 
which  he  continued  to  append  additional  remarks  up  to  tiie  time 
of  his  death ;  hence,  the  last  edition  contains  much  more  than  the 
first,  which  has  therefore  been  supposed  by  some  to  be  ancient, 
through  no  frtult  of  Scaliger's. 

This  list  certainly  possesses  no  historical  importance ;  but  the 
respect  with  which  an  Olympian  victor  was  regarded  by  the  Greeks 
maxes  us  rejoice  tiiat  a  monument  has  been  preserved,  in  which 
the  names,  at  least,  of  the  StacUonices  have  been  handed  down. 
It  appears  to  me,  that  reverence  for  the  memory  of  the  Greeks 
must  lead  us  to  regard  such  a  catalogue  with  their  feelings,  not 


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282  Armenian  Trcmslation  of  Husebius.  [July 

with  ours,  and  binds  us  to  watch  over  its  correctness  and  complete- 
ness ;  just  as  we  do  not  allow  ourselves  to  judge  of  or  contemn  the 
favourite  pursuits  of  one  whom  we  love  and  reverence,  according 
to  objective  rules.  I  wish,  therefore,  to  stir  up  some  philologist 
to  revise  this  chapter,  together  with  the  intrmuction,  in  which 
work  a  knowledge  of  the  Armenian  language  would  scarcely  be 
neceasaiy  in  order  to  make  use  of  the  tiremsmtion  for  the  cntical 
elucidation  of  the  Greek  text.  For  this  purpose,  I  have  collected 
all  the  additicms  and  the  important  new  readings  supplied  by  this 
dSrd  Chapter ;  a  slight  labour  which  I  thereby,  in  the  meanwhile, 
spare  to  the  possessors  of  Scaliger's  Eusebius.  Among  those  also 
which  I  have  passed  over  as  mere  errors  of  the  copyist,  a  little 
gleaning  of  useml  observations  might  probably  be  maae.  I  omit 
what  improvements  to  the  32nd  Chapter  I  have  collected  for  myself, 
as  the  few  improved  readings  are  such  as  either  readily  suggest 
themselves,  or  are  to  be  gathered  from  the  Fragment  of  Phlegon, 
or,  finally,  cannot  be  expressed  in  Greek  with  a  certainty  of  their 
accuracy. 

I  cannot  proceed  to  the  new  readings  without  noticing  a  phe- 
nomenon which  has  always  struck  me  in  looking  at  this  list :  namely, 
that  it  is  manifest  how,  from  Chaeronea  onwards,  the  importance 
and  the  extent  of  the  Greek  name  constancy  augmented.  FW,  Ma- 
cedonians also  appear  among  the  victors,  and  soon  after,  nations  of 
the  Macedonian  colonies  in  Egypt  and  the  Syrian  empire ;  then, 
individuab  from  all  the  peoples  ot  the  Roman  provinces  of  Asia 
and  Bithynia — who  likewise  numbered  themselves  among  tlie 
Greeks  in  Cicaro's  time,  and  were  called  Greeks  by  the  Romans — 
Lydians,  Mysians,  and  Carians.  At  last  people  m>m  all  the  pro- 
vinces are  welcome. 

A.  Additions  and  Restorations. 

Olymp.  1 ,  after  kyi}yiav :  ty\  Olmyp.  33,  after  Tpotreridrj  ical :  kIXtjC' 
Olymp.  67,  after  trpLaatvatv,  araZiov.  Olymp.  110,  ^AvtikX  »7c  ^ABtf 
valoQ.  Olymp.  120,  after  Mayi'iyc:  hvtt  Matay^pov.  Olymp.  129, 
Tpofferidri  irvi^oipcc  irw\t«i),  ical  iy'iKa  ^iXiffTtay^OQ  MaKehioVj 
leg.  ^iXiarlxri  Maicc^ic.'  Olymp.  131,  after  'AXelavdpevc :  frpotrcTidti 
fi6yiirwoc  wwXiicoc,  "^a*  ivlKa  'Ixiroicpariyc  BcrraXoc-^  Olymp. 
132,  after  AirwXoc:  ^£ 'A/i^/fftnyc."  Olymp.  144,  after  SaXa/i^vcoc  •• 
Ik  Kvirpov,     Olymp.  149,  after  ^^cXcvicevc :  ex  Uicp/ac-     Olymp.  153, 

I  Namely,  B^Xiarlxn  (Pausanias,  y.  p.  155,  ed.  Sylb.),  like  B/Xiwos,  instead 
of  *l\twiros.  Soaliger,  following  the  passage  in  Pansanias,  has  placed  this  circum- 
stance as  belonging  to  Olymp.  1 30.  Belistiche  is  no  doubt  the  concubine  of  the 
King,  Ptolemy  Phuadelphus  ( Athenseus,  xiii.  p.  576,  f.). 

^  This  is  -wanting  in  the  Milanese  translation. 

™  From  this  it  is  evident  that,  even  in  these  early  times,  after  the  middle  of  the 
reign  of  King  Antigonus  Gronatas,  the  Ozolian  Locrians,  who  entirely  vanish  fh>m 
history,  were  united  with  the  ^tolians. 

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1853.]  Armenian  Tran$lation  of  JSusebius.  283 

after  Aiff jScoc :  «h  'Ajrfirirjfc.  Olymp.  156,  'Apcorof^voc  'P<io«oc. 
Olymp.  172,  after  Mayi^c,  &iro  Matoi/Spov."  Olymp.  174,  Aiyi«o<r- 
rparoc  Aapcffo-aloc***  Olymp.  178:  There  is  the  following  additiou 
respecting  the  Stratonicus,  which  somids  &r  more  miintelligible  still  in 
the  Venetian  translation  :  '  Et  gymnica  certamina  sine  equo  peragens 
g^da  amicorum  vel  reg^mn  assecutus  est  ut  in  album  referretur,  quare 
nequeegisseputabatur.'>*  Olymp.  186, after 'AX^favSpcvc:  r^cTpwa^oc. 
Scaliger's  text  remarks  against  Olymp.  187,  2«nrarpoc  'Aycloc:  and  in 
the  following  (188)  the  name  of  the  victor  is  wanting.  The  translation 
gives  the  foDowing^ improvements  to  Olymp.  187 :  ^AfUariav  €avpioc 
/3.  188.  S^arpoc  Apyc7oc.  Olymp.  198,  after  Upovvaivc  •  irpoc 
*0\vfAWf.  Olymp.  204,  after  oyhooc  ^'  *HpoicXcovc :  according  to  the 
sense^  vvrtpov  hk  ohltlQ  roioyroc  d^'  'HpajcXeovc  l^f-XP^  iifi&w 
eyiyeroy  irapafip<i(3e{foyTidVy  <&c  (what  follows  has  been  misunder- 
stood by  the  translators).  And  then:  Fdcoc  'Piafialtav  kfiaalXtvt, 
Olymp.  222^  avivtvdri  rwy  iTrwbtv  bhpofiog.  Olymp.  230,  after  Aidvftoc  : 
*A\£^ayhp€vc»'^ 

B.  JReadtTigs  which  agree  with  Sealiger*s  emendations 
(in  the  addendis). 
Olymp.  7,  for  Oi/3oXac,  read  Oi/3oV«c.  Olymp.  14,  for  'Y?ri>coc, 
read  'Yxiyi'oc.  Olymp.  18,  for  Aa/ixiac,  read  Aa/jiwic>  Olym.  41,  for 
'S.vtcaptrriCy  read  2t;/3ap/ri7c.  Olymp.  64,  for  GcrraXcvc,  read  QerraXo^. 
Olymp.  65,  for  'HpajcXf/Siycj  read  'Hpauvc.  Olymp.  70,  for  ^ucaiara^y 
read  NcWac.  Olymp.  105,  for  Uavpoc,  read  Uwpoc,  Olymp.  113,  for 
'Apyct/f,  read  'Aycvc.     Olymp.  238,  for  'ATcy/ri/c,  read  Aiycv^rcc. 

C.  Readings  which,  although  corrupt,  confirm  Scaliger's 

emendations. 

Olymp.  8,  for  AiokX^c,  ^uipKkfiQ  (for  AoucX^c).    Olymp.  33,  for  JIpo£- 

cXXac,  KpaU\as  (foT  Kpav^idag),    Olymp.  116,  for  Atifto^iytiQy  AttfwaO, 

(for  ^lyotrdiytic),    Olymp.  142,  for  Kapoc,  Kaxoc  (instead  of  Kaxpoc). 

Olymp.  160,  for  'Ayw^oKoc,  read  'Ayo'^wpoc  (instead  of  Ato^wpoc). 

D.  Headings  which  must  be  accepted  fuUg  or  with  very  slight 
emendation, 
Olymp.  25,  for  GdXircoc,  read  OciXtic.  Olymp.  29,  for  To^y  Jjy  i/J, 
read  inixiiy  ?v  icjff.  Olymp.  33,  for  Tvyic,  read  nXcc.  Olymp.  80,  for 
Tvpvfifxat,  read  Topvfi/iac*  Olymp.  93,  for  £v«:aroc,  read  Ehp^fraa  (leg. 
Eir/3^ac,  as  in  Pausanias  El.  2,  p.  185,  d.).  Olymp.  150,  for  'Oyriffi- 
Koarocy  read  'Ovi^o'ticpcroc*  Olymp.  204,  for  Srparocs  read  HiKoarpaToc* 
Olymp.  211,  for  KrfpvKkfy  Ayw^a,  read  vro  KtipvKwy.     Olymp.  216,  for 

•  This  is  likewise  taken  from  the  Venetian  edition. 

^  According  to  the  Venetian  edition,  the  Milanese  has  Lariensis. 

p  As  all  are  mentioned  who  have  conquered  since  Hercules,  hoth  in  Pale  and 
Pancratium,  this  Stratonicus  is  probably  the  2rp^oty  Alyiths  ^  *AAc(ai^pc2rr  of 
Pausanias  ( Achaic,  p.  230,  a).  The  Armenian  translation  ffives  the  name  of  his 
&ther  as  K6paycs,  Oroa^us,  or  Corobaffius :  fftlsely,  for  this  Is  a  Macedonian  name 
luscording  to  Diod.  xvii.  100,  and  iEschines  adv.  Ctesiph.  52. 

**  According  to  the  Venetian  edition;  the  Milanese  nas  Clideus. 

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284  Armenian  TropMlaticn  of  Ihuebim.  [July, 

IlaTriK)  read  IIcitci;.  Olymp.  235,  for  'Eparcvc,  read  'EXar»c. 
Olymp.  240,  for  'Avoi/iSl,  read  'kyovtiiwy,  Olymp.  242,  for  Mdyrijc, 
read  Mnyyoc  At/3vc.     Olymp.  247,  for  SaropWXoc,  read  laropwi^. 

£.  Readings  which  at  least  deserve  examination, 
Olymp.  6,  for  Alffx^yrn,  read  A(<rx(<^i7C*  Olymp.  32,  for  rptroc 
ahXfiiy,  read  rptic  a^£X^vc«  Olymp.  35,  for  D^acpoi,  read  Z^ip^r, 
Olymp.  39,  for  *P«\//oXim)c,  which  can  scareely  be  correct,  substitute  the 
also  corrupt  reading  'Pcij^Xavoc.  Olymp.  46,  for  Xpvtra/iaSoc,  read 
Xpvaofia^oc ;  and  for  Tlokvfiyiiifrtap,  read  TloXvfiii<rf9ap.  Olymp.  57,  for 
Aa^pofiOQn  read  Aaypo/ioc*  Olymp.  65,  for  'AicoxfiCj  reid  'AmixP^. 
Olymp.  68,  for  'itrxpfrnxocy  Teaa  *I<7o/iaxoc*  Olymp.  87,  for  Swfpwr 
(which  we  also  find,  however,  in  Diodorus)  'E^pavopoc  (instead  of 
Bh^aywp).  Olymp.  96,  for  K/^dn^o  r^*^  "Aicporoc.  Olymp.  145,  for 
M6(r)(pc,  read  Topyoc,  Olymp.  147,  for  KXeoarpaTocj  read  KXxirooTfxiroc. 
Olymp.  152,  for  ArifioKpiroQ,  read  Aij/ioicpdnyc.  Olymp.  172,  for  IIpfcrTo- 
0dvi7C}  read  n^rro^dviyc*  Olymp.  176,  for  A/wv,  read  AiKiay.  Olymp.  182, 
for  \vre<rl(»ty,  read  Avditrriuty,  Olymp.  189,  for  Sc^wvioc,  read  Surwyioc 
(probably  luvwyiot;),  Olymp.  201,  for  Ao/ia<r(ac,  read  Lapai, 
Olymp.  226,  for  *0(ra/iev/ivc,  read  Zafifievc  Olymp.  229,  for  Evi^vpoC} 
read  Ehiri^avoc,     Olymp.  248,  for  TpuKTihifia^,  read  TptaaiiaftoC' 

V.  After  the  battle  of  C!hapronea,  the  writer  averts  his  eye  from 
unhappy  Greece,  and  only  returns  to  her  history  in  spealdng  of 
Qeomenes,  Aratus,  and  the  Achaean  League,  if  this  neglect  i^ 
owing  to  the  pain  excited  by  the  spectacle  of  departed  greatness, 
it  is  certainly  very  intelligible,  for  the  Greeks  were  in  general  sunk 
to  the  lowest  point  of  degradation ;  and  like  those  of  the  present 
day,  had  become  in  part  barbarous  and  ferocious  freemen,  m  part 
utterly  corrupt  slaves,  who,  however,  instead  of  being  ignorant  as 
at  present,  were  cultivated  and  ftJl  of  talent,  though  wiAout 
depth  of  intellect ;  at  the  same  time,  profoundly  unhappy,  and  a 
prey  to  the  outrages  of  the  neighbouring  warlike  States,  and  of  the 
darmg  and  lawless  freemen  mentioned  above.  Still,  it  seems  to 
me  to  be  an  over  refined  sensitiveness  which  shrinks  from  the 
painful  sight,  and  will  not,  even  for  the  sake  of  their  forefathers, 
linger  over  the  fortunes  of  their  fallen  descendants,  though  this 
history  deserves  study  and  reflection  on  its  own  account  It  is  a 
note-worthy  and  singular  history  which  records  how  the  most  intd- 
lectual  and  gifled  of  nations  was  dismembered  and  torn  by  dissen- 
sions ;  how  it  betrayed  itself  to  the  foreigner ;  how,  through  enYj 
and  treachery,  it  promoted  the  fall  of  its  fellow-countrymen,  who 
mi^ht  have  lent  it  stability,  energy,  and  protection,  and  shared 
their  disasters ;  how  the  existence  of  a  much  more  widely  diffused 
culture  them  in  earher  times,  and  of  great  activity  of  mind,  did  not 
prevent  the  total  extinction  of  that  genius  which  was  the  fje- 
eminent  national  characteristic  of  the  (jreeks ;  and  how  degradation 
and  despair  led  to  the  deepest  degeneracy. 

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1853.]  Armenian  ^anslatian  of  Eusebvus,  285 

From  the  time  of  Philip,  until  the  Romans  restricted  it  within  its 
own  boundaries,  Macedon  became  the  centre  around  which  every- 
thing groups  itself  in  the  historjr  of  Greece.  In  this  whole  interval, 
there  are  only  three  wars,  the  Gallic,  the  last  Amphictyonic  under 
Areus,  and  me  Acamanian,  in  which  Macedon  does  not  play  a 
principal  part,  either  from  the  conmiencement  or  within  a  very 
short  time  after.  Consequently,  he  who  would  deliver  the  later 
Greek  htstory  from  the  obscurity  in  which  it  is  shrouded  from  the 
battle  of  Ipsus  to  the  war  of  Geomenes,  must  clear  up  that  of  Ma- 
cedon ;  within  the  chrcumference  of  which  the  separate  groups  of 
Grecian  incidents  take  their  place.  This  is  no  slight  undertaking, 
for  all  connected  historical  books  have  been  lost  for  the  whole  of 
this  period,  and  the  single  notices  that  have  been  preserved,  for  the 
most  part  accidentally,  require  a  careful  comparison  and  investi- 
gation before  theur  chronological  place  can  be  assigned. 

The  Macedonian  history  is  also  in  itself  the  most  worthy  among 
those  of  all  the  monarchies  that  arose  out  of  Alexander's  Empire. 
A  warlike  people  who  always  remained  valiant,  under  kings,  who 
nearly  all  deserve  respect  at  least  as  generals ;  among  whom  free- 
dom and  national  dignity  were  never  entirely  lost,  and  oriental 
despotism  was  never  carried  to  its  height,  possesses  no  contemptible 
history.  At  Alexandria,  the  flourishing  state  of  the  sciences  and  the 
unbounded  wealth  and  maCTificence  of  the  earlier  Ptolemies,  only 
conceal  the  moral  and  poutical  vices  which  issued  in  the  unex- 
ampled turpitude  of  the  succeeding  tyrants  of  their  house,  of  the 
courtesans  and  minions  by  whom  some  of  them  were  ruled,  and 
the  ascendancy,  during  two  reigns,  of  ^  the  most  contemptible  class 
of  slaves,'  unparalleled  in  ancient  history.'    In  the  Syrian  empire 

'  E>rerY  one  remembers  the  despectissima  pars  servieniium  of  Tacitus.  But  after 
Joseph,  the  son  of  Tobias,  had  drained  all  the  resources  of  Coele-Syria  for  his 
patrons  at  the  Alexandrian  court,  and  remitted  the  property  of  the  beheaded 
enemies  of  the  Jews,  in  good  letters,  deducting  the  costs,  his  nation  gained  such 
a  footing,  that  even  Jewish  generals  were  to  m  seen  (it  must  be  allowed  that  the 
Eg3rptiau  armies  were  always  defeated),  one  of  whom  at  least  amused  the  poor 
exasperated  Alexandrians  by  his  name  Onias  (see  Josephos  contra  Ap.),  which 
to  them  had  the  signification  of  ass-man.  So,  too,  the  deeds  of  the  great  Jewish 
hero,  Asinaeus,  must  have  ndsed  a  smile  in  the  Roman  reader  of  Josephus.  Nay, 
the  court  lowered  itself  so  far  as  to  take  notice  of  the  squabbles  of  the  Jewish 
and  Samaritan  rabbis.  The  Jews  at  Alexandria  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  citisens, 
except  that  they  were  obliged  to  live  in  their  Ghetto,  compnsing  two  quarters  of 
the  ciW.  One  of  their  chief  privileges  was  that  the  Alexandrians  received  stripes 
with  the  flat  of  the  sword,  while  the  native  Egyptians  were  punished  with  the 
scourge,  the  well-known  symbol  of  the  authority  of  the  Pharaohs  on  the  Egyptian 
monuments.  Now,  little  as  one  can  sjonpathise  in  Philo's  party-prejudice  against 
the  governor  Flaccus, — it  would  have  been  happy  for  the  Roman  provinces  if  such 
eneraetio  and  upright  prefects  had  been  less  rare ! — still  the  senators  of  the  Jews 
at  Alexandria  had  undoubtedly  a  right  to  complain  of  a  violation  of  their  rights, 
be<»use  Flaccus  had  allowed  them  to  be  flogged  with  this  instrument;  had  it  been 
with  the  sword-flat,  says  Philo  himself,  there  would  have  been  nothing  to  say  against 
it  Notices  regarding  the  life  of  the  Jews  at  Alexandria  exist  in  abundance ;  they 


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286  Armenian  Translation  of  Misebius.  [«fuly 

there  subsisted  many  Maoedoman  colonies  forming  free  commu- 
nities internally,  composed  either  of  emigrants  from  Greece,  or  (^ 
Greek  races.  These  formed  the  strength  of  the  monarchy ;  but 
Oriental  despotism  became  prevalent  by  reason  of  the  large 
provinces  wluch  were  accustomed  only  to  that  form  of  govern- 
ment. The  fieimily  of  the  Seleucidap,  however,  whose  founder  him- 
self was  not  to  be  compared  to  those  of  the  two  other  dynasties, 
produced  no  great  and  many  miserable  princes,  and,  at  last,  a 
number  of  atrocious  monsters,  under  whose  weak,  yet  savage  rule, 
the  empire  fell  to  pieces  and  became  a  prey  to  foreigners. 

The  excerpt  from  Porphyry  which  Scaliger  nas  published 
among  the  Greek  extracts  from  the  Chronography  of  Eusebius,  is 
by  far  the  most  important,  indeed  an  invaluable  document  for  tbe 
arrangement  of  the  Macedonian  liistory.  This  forms  the  38th 
chapter  in  the  Armenian  Eusebius,  where  it  is  given  with  greater 
completeness  and  security  of  its  correctness  than  in  the  Greek 
text  For  Porphyry  had  added  to  his  statement  of  the  length 
of  each  reign,  the  date  of  its  commencement  and  termination  in 
Olympiads ;  but  the  Greek,  who  sagaciously  enough  extracted  all 
the  chapters  most  important  for  the  contemporary  western  history, 
or  a  copjrist  of  his,  grew  weary  after  the  few  first  kings,  and 
omitted  to  specify  the  Olympiads,  whereby  the  statement  of  the 
length  of  each  reign  lost  its  guarantee  against  the  errors  of  the 
transcriber.  This  is  probably  the  reason  why  this  fragment, 
which  of  its  kind  cannot  be  sufficiently  prized,  has  seldom  attracted 
attention  or  been  made  use  of;  and  that,  even  since  its  publication, 
the  statements  in  the  Canon  of  Eusebius,  according  to  the  transla- 
tion of  St.  Jerome,  have  so  completely  maintained  their  authority, 
that,  among  others,  the  truly  excellent  and  critical  writer  Eckhel, 
adopts  them  for  the  historical  notices  of  his  work,  without  doubt- 
ing of  their  correctness,  except  in  the  case  of  a  single  very  glaring 

illustrate  at  the  same  time  the  condition  of  the  city,  which  has  nerer  yet  been 
placed  in  so  clear  a  light  as  it  deserves,  and  would  richly  reward  the  labour  of  one 
who  should  undertake  a  careful  investigation.  For  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century,  interesting  contributions  to  it  are  afforded  by  an  epistle  of  Synesius,  which 
is  not  so  well  known  as  it  deserves  to  be,  although  it  must  be  allowed  that  it  is 
somewhat  Hellenic  and  unepiscopal  in  its  character.  In  this  letter,  he  describes 
his  passage  from  Alexandria  to  Cyrene  in  a  ship  commanded  by  a  Jewish  captain ; 
it  may  be  reconmiended  not  only  to  ail  friends  of  antiquities  and  Jewish  history, 
but  also  to  all  lovers  of  humorous  description ;  for  if  it  runs  into  caricature,  this 
is  not  unsuitable  to  its  style.  The  captam  would  not  steer  on  the  sabbath,  after 
sunset,  althouj^  a  storm  arose,  against  which  certainly  he  did  not  know  how  to 
manoeuvre.  The  stories  of  the  i&abian  recruits  on  board  the  ship,  &c.,  trans- 
ports us  into  a  world  of  which  we  know  nothing  from  other  sources — like  the 
incidents  in  the  Apology  of  Apuleius — and  lend  the  whole  a  peculiar  charm.  Did 
the  Jewish  statesmen  at  Alexandria  promulgate  decreed  and  write  despatdies  on 
the  Sabbath  ?  Against  the  storm  it  seems  that  they  also  did  not  know  how  to 
manGBuvre ;  at  all  events,  the  State  was  wrecked  while  they  were  at  the  helm. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.] 


Armenian  Translation  of  Misebius. 


287 


error.  The  Armenian  translation  shows  that  the  errors  are  not 
to  be  attributed  to  St.  Jerome,  but  to  Eusebius  himself.  As  the 
survey  in  the  text  of  Porphyry  is  inconyenient,  it  will  perhaps 
assist  the  general  acceptance  of  the  correct  dates  if  I  append  them 
in  a  tabular  form,  showing  the  differences  between  them  and  those 
of  the  Canon. 


DATES  GIVEN 

BT 

PORPHTBT. 


Olymp.  A.U.a* 


114  2 
116  I 

120  4 

121  4 
123  2 

123  2 

is  the  Mb 

124  4 


(125  1) 


126  1 
135  2 
137  4 
140  1 
150  3 
153  ] 
157  3 
157  4 


430 
437 
456 
460 
466 

466 
472 


(473) 


477 
514 
524 
533 
675 
585 
603 
604 


CANON  OF 
£U8KBIf78. 


Oiymp.  A.U.C.* 


114  1 

115  4 

120  3 

121  3 
123  1 

123  2 

124  3 


124  4 


125  2 
134  2 
136  4 
140  3 
151  1 
153  2 
157  1 


429 
436 
455 
459 
465 

465 
471 


472 


474 
510 
520 
535 
577 
586 
601 


Names  op  the  Kings. 


Philip  Arrhidseus     up  to  Olymp.  115  4 

Cassander „     120  3 

Philip,  Alexander,  Antipaterf  „     121  3 

Demetrius „     123  1 

Pyrrhus 

Lysimachus „     124  3 

(125  I 
Ptolemy  Ceraunus  t      .    .      »  ^•^^^ 

Meleager •  • 

Antipater •  •      •  • 

Sosthenes 

Anarchy  while  Antipater,  Ptolemy 

and  ArrhidflBus  were  contending 

for  the  crown  ( 
Autigonus  Gronatas  ...      „     135  1 

Demetrius „     137  3 

Antigonus „     139  4 

Philip ,,150  2 

Perseus „     152  4 

Autonomy •  •      •  • 

Pseudo-Philip 

Reduced  to  a  Roman  province 


5  6    0 
1  5    0 


*  According  to  Cato. 

-f-  In  the  Canon,  Antigonus  and  Alexander  ore  named.  In  the  39th  duster  four  months  are  ascribed 
io  FMlip,  2  years  and  6  months  to  each  of  hts  two  brothers. 

t  It  la  ahnply  owing  to  a  slip  of  the  pen  that  the  text  of  the  ArmenJan  Boaebins,  Immediately 
after  the  atatooaent  that  his  reign  laated  a  year  and  five  months,  makes  it  commence  in  Olymp.  124,  2. 

^  In  the  39th  chapter  (which  however  contidns  many  erroneous  nmnbers)  the  duration  of  this 
aoardiy  is  said  to  have  been  2  years  and  2  months. 


For  the  firrt  seven  reigns  indeed,  the  only  difference  between 
them  is,  that  while  the  Canon,  in  conformity  with  our  present  mode 
of  calculation,  reckons  the  year  in  which  a  king  mounted  the  throne 
as  the  first  year  of  his  reign  ;  Porphyry,  on  the  contrary,  follows 
the  usage  of  the  original  documents,  which,  as  no  continuous  era 
had  be^  introduced,  reckoned  according  to  the  years  of  the  reigns 
(as  in  republics  by  the  Archon,  Prytanis,  or  Stnitegus),  and  con- 
tinued this  up  to  the  end  of  the  year  in  which  the  monarch  died, 

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288  Armenian  Trcmslatian  of  Misebius.  [-Tuly, 

so  that  tiie  year,  at  the  commencement  of  which  a  certainpiince 
sat  on  the  throne,  is  reckoned  as  the  first  of  his  reign.  This  is 
clear  fipom  Porphyry's  chronology  of  the  Egyptian  kmgs,  and  on 
this  point  we  shall  certainly  iK)t  follow  his  example.  Afterwards, 
the  Canon  entirely  omits  the  anarchy  under  the  three  pretenders  to 
the  crown,  and  fipom  hence  onwards  all  is  a  series  of  errors  and 
confusion.  Porphyry  does  not  reckon  the  years  during  which 
Antigonus  Gonatas  reigned  over  Macedonia  separately ;  but  in- 
cludes the  whole  44  years  of  his  reign,  from  the  time  tnat  he  was 
proclaimed.  Both  the  Greek  and  the  Armenian  text  assert  that 
he  had  been  king  for  ten  years  already  before  he  took  possesion 
of  Macedonia  ;  and  the  Armenian  text  adds,  since  the  year  Olymp. 
123,  2.  Here  is  a  double  and  very  ancient  error,  which  must 
not  however  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  Porphyry,  but  of  his  careless 
transcriber.  Demetrius  died  Olymp.  124,  2,*  and  from  this  date 
to  Olymp.  135,  1,  including  the  year  in  which  Anti^nus  Gonatas 
died,  are  44  years.  Now  just  as  ^k^  must  be  read  mstead  of  ^xy', 
so  we  must  also  read  3.  f.  f '.  t^.  instead  of  SXo»  m<T^  l  »pyr6- 
pov, — Z.  instead  of  I.*  Unless  we  change  this  number,  wtnA 
contradicts  the  history,  we  must  ascribe  48  instead  of  44  years  to 
the  duration  of  his  reign.  But  it  has  been  quite  proved  that  the 
well-known  piety  of  Antis^nus  towards  his  father  did  not  sufier 
him,  even  during  the  captivity  of  the  latter,  which  cannot  have 
begun  before  Olymp.  123,  4,  to  assume  the  kingly  tide,  or  to 
reckon  the  year  otherwise  than  by  his  father's  reign.  In  Olymp. 
123,  2,  however,  Demetrius  still  swayed  the  sceptre,  if  no  longer 

*  He  liTed  54  yean  (PorphYiy,  o.  40,  in  the  newly-published  additions  which 
snpply  the  chasms  in  the  Greek  text) ;  and  as  he  must  haTe  been  bom  in  416  ▲.ux. 
or  Olymp.  110,  4  (because  he  was  22  years  old  in  439  or  Olymp.  116,  3,  according 
to  Diodorus,  xix.  69),  the  year  of  his  death  is  placed  beyond  a  doubt.  It  agrees 
with  this,  that  Plutarch  says  (Demetrius,  p.  915  a)  that  he  died  after  a  captivity 
of  three  years,  or  in  the  third  year  of  his  captivity ;  for  an  examination  of  all 
the  circumstances  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  end  of  his  unhappy  expedition  against 
Seleucus  is  to  be  placed  in  Olymp.  123,  4.  Traces  of  aU  these  numbers  in  the 
passage  cited  from  Porphyry  are  not  to  be  mistaken,  although  the  Armenian  text 
talks  nonsense,  as  is  shown  by  the  agreement  of  both  vereioas.  However  that 
may  read.  Porphyry  can  only  have  expressed  himself  somewhat  in  the  following 
manner :  ica2  $ioT  (the  word  which  Porphyry  especially  uses)  fUr  Hrri  if9\  fiao^lXwH 
Zh  Iny  1^,  fAoifos  /A^p  chro  rris  OX.  /mc',  frovs  a,  irwapiBfiwrat  df  o^^  6  XP^s  dvour 
4r&pf  h  av¥  T^  vmrpl  ifiaoriK€vv9v.  Kol  fiXm  ^6  SfXc^Mv  4p  KiAor^a  OA.  ptcf*  Ircc 
S',  ficurtXiK&s  r€  ^Xax^clr  r^  0  Ibtu  riis  pxV  OX.  dir^tfaycr.  In  both  translations, 
Olymp.  120,  the  year  after  the  death  of  Antigonus  the  One^yed,  is  mentioned  as 
that  in  which  Demetrius  assumed  the  royal  dignity,  which  he  sustained  for  two 
years  in  conmion  with  his  fkther,— Olymp.  120,  4,  as  the  year^f  his  captivity, 
and  124,  4,  as  that  of  his  death.  The  error  in  the  last  statement  would  be  ren- 
dered evident  simply  bjr  the  fact  that  Demetrius  was  dead  before  Seleucus  under- 
took the  expedition  against  Lysimachus. 

'  As  one  error  leads  to  another,  fh>m  this  one  it  is  to  be  explained,  that  in  the 
39th  chapter  the  duration  of  his  rule  over  Macedonia  is  stated  to  have  been  only 
31  years  and  2  months. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  Armeman  Tramlation  cf  Misebius.  289 

over  Macedonia,  yet  over  the  same  nations  who  were  afterwards 
subject  to  his  son  before  he  took  possession  of  Macedonia. 
Another  error  has  been  overlooked,  whose  existence  in  the  ori- 

S'nal  woi^  of  Eusebius  is  proved  by  the  harmony  of  Scaliger's 
reek  text  with  the  translation  from  the  Armenian.  It  respects 
the  age  attained  by  Anti^nus  Gonatas,  which  is  said  to  nave 
been  83  years.  But  that  is  impossible,  for  he  was  the  son  of 
Phila,  thiat  excellent  woman,  whose  wisdom,  goodness,  fidelity  of 
heart,  and  energy  of  feeling  in  the  wicked  affe  in  which  she  lived, 
merit  a  more  general  remembrance  in  after-times  than  she  enjoys, 
as  a  compensation  for  the  afflictions  of  her  noble  life.  Were  tiie 
number  correct,  he  must  have  been  bom  Olymp.  114,  2,  or  430 ; 
for  the  ancients,  in  computing  the  length  of  a  man's  life,  only  used 
to  reckon  the  years  that  had  been  com{>leted.  But  at  that  time, 
Craterus,  Ptuia's  first  husband,"  was  still  living,  for  it  was  in  the 

*  A  brother  of  Antigonof  named  Craterus,  who  is  twice  mentioned  as  snch 
(Phleffon  de  Mirabil.  c.  32,  and  Prologue  to  Trogus  Pompeius,  xxvi.),  can  ocly 
have  been  bom  of  this  marriage,  consequently  must  have  been  a  half-brother  of 
Antigouus.  Plutarch  does  not  name  him  among  the  children  of  Poliorcetes 
(p.  915  d),  and  had  he  belonged  to  them,  Phlegon  would  have  called  him  a  son 
of  the  king  Demetrius,  not  a  brother  of  Antigonus.  He  was  an  author  (Phlegon, 
lee  above),  and  is,  without  doubt,  the  very  Macedonian  Craterus  from  whom 
Plutarch  cites  a  legend,  about  a  last  misfortune  that  befel  Aristides  through  the 
injustice  of  the  people,  which  is  indeed  false,  though  Plutarch  at  the  same  time 
praises  his  care  in  the  use  of  documents  in  general.  He  lived  at  a  time  when,  as 
the  history  of  Athens  had  reached  its  dose,  men  wrote  a  diplomatic  history  of 
eariier  times  taken  from  laws  and  decrees  of  the  people,  and  in  chronoloffical 
order  (as  Philochoms,  Androtion,  Idomeneus,  whose  works  would  have  been 
mnduable  to  us),  and  his  work  on  the  Psephismata,  fhmi  which  Stephanus  the 
ethnologist  quotes  up  to  the  ninth  book,  appears  to  have  been  a  collection  of  such, 
dmved  from  the  innumerable  tables  ai  Athens.  A  taste  for  such  pursuits,  in  a 
Macedonian,  a  half-brother  of  that  king,  who  proved  himself  more  completely 
destitute  of  respect  for  Greek  fVeedom  and  the  old  nobility  of  the  nation  than 
any  other  prince,  wins  our  heart  for  Mm ;  and  as  his  merit  had  not  been  recog- 
niRd  even  by  Vossius  (whom  I  have  to  thank  for  the  passages  in  Stephanus), 
nor  by  the  Abbe  de  Lciiguerue,  who  in  his  valuable  notes  to  the  prologue  of 
Trogus  takes  no  notice  of  the  passage  where  he  is  mentioned,  I  have,  vaiSer  the 
influence  of  this  feeling,  rescued  him  from  oblivion,  though  there  was  no  imme- 
diate occasion  to  mention  him  here.  Further,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  was  the 
Ma<»f^Qnian  Craterus,  in  whose  praise  Alezinus  the  dialectician  had  composed  a 
Ptoan, — which  was  suns  at  Delphi — iw^xriiyaTo,  a  free  poetical  work  is  not  to  be 
expect  frt>m  this  subtle  artist  in  thought8---(Athenceus,  xv.  p.  696,  1) ;  for 
Alezinus  was  his  contemporarv,  and  probably  not  ^et  bom  when  Phila's  worthy 
oonsort,  the  noblest  of  Alexander's  companions,  fell  in  battle.  It  is  known  from 
Platardi  (Aratus,  p.  1034,  c.)  how  Antigonus  wrested  the  Acrocorinthus  from 
Nioiea,  the  widow  of  Alexander,  prince  of  Corinth.  Alexander  was  the  son  of 
this  Craterus  (Prologue  of  Trogus,  xxvi.),  and  Antigonus  carried  on  a  war  against 
him  after  the  death  of  Areus  (Olymp.  127,  4,  a.u.c.  484),  and  before  Aratus 
liberated  Sicyon  (Olymp.  133,  la:A.n.c.  501).  Alexander  did  not  die  till  after 
this  importap.t  event  (Plutarch,  see  above,  p.  1035,  a),  and  probabl3r  not  till  manv 
years  after,  so  that,  by  the  way,  Antigonus  cannot  have  held  possession  of  Corinth 
verv  long,  as  it  was  lost  to  the  Aoheans  Olymp.  134,  1=509. 

To  the  new  edition  (1S38)  I  now  add  the  followins  remarks :— Alexander,  the 
son  of  Craterus  and  the  hushind  of  Nicea,  is  called  king  of  Eubcsa,  'A\9^Mpov 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


290  Armenian  Translation  of  EuhUus.  [July, 

following  year,  that  he  fell  in  the  battle  against  Eumenes ;  accord- 
ing to  all  apnearance  she  was  married  in  Olymp.  114,  2,  to  Cra- 
terns,  and  Demetrius  was  then  only  14  years  old.  When  she 
gave  her  hand  to  the  latter  in  a  second  marriage  is  not  mentioned 
in  any  passage  preserved  from  ancient  writers,  and  it  is  on  this 
accomit  that  the  error  we  have  pointed  out,  failed  to  attract  atten- 
tion. She  was,  however,  already  married  to  him,  Olymp.  116,  2 
=«488  (Diodorus  xix.  59)  :  and  Demetrius  had  then  only  just 
attained  the  age  of  21  (Diod.  xix.  69).  If  we  may  thererore 
venture  on  an  emendation  which  is  certainly  rery  mild,  we  shall 
suppose  Antigonus  Gonatas  to  hare  died  at  the  age  of  73  in- 
stead of  83  years,  consequently  fix  his  Urth  in  the  year  Olymp. 
116,4==440. 

In  spite  of  the  authority  of  Porphyry,  we  must  reject  as  impos- 
sible the  supposition  that  this  kmg  received  his  surname  from 
having  been  bom  at  Gonni  in  Thessaly  (which  is  moreover 
written  with  a  double  v),  since  Demetrius  did  not  enter  Greece 
for  the  first  time  till  Olymp.  118,  2,  and  then  did  not  advance  so 
far  as  Thessaly  by  a  great  distance.  Neither  can  he  have  been 
educated  there  (ycvoptevw  re  xaJ  r^a(p^\s)  ;  he  was  a  youth  of  twenty 
when  Thessaly  came  under  the  dominion  of  his  father,  of  whom  it 
is  quite  inconceivable  that,  while  at  war  with  Cassander,  he  should 
have  left  his  heir  in  the  power  of  this  savage  enemy.  Gonatas  is 
probably  a  Macedonian  word,  whose  signification  was  not  ex- 
plained by  contemporaries,  and  has  been  sought  too  far  off  by  later 
writers.  For  as  the  foreign  portion  of  tne  modem  Greek  lan- 
guage is  probably  for  the  most  part  Macedonian,  this  surname 
may  have  been  nothing  else  than*  the  Romaic  word  yovaTar,  an 
iron  plate  which  protects  the  knee,  because  Antigonus  perhaps 
made  use  of  this  somewhat  uncommon  piece  of  armour. 

The  39th  chapter  treats  of  one  of  those  rare  changes  of  fortune 

rov  /3M-(A.ff^arror  E6jSo(at,  Suidas,  b.  o.  E{fif>opl»r.  This  island  must  have  been 
conquered  by  Antigonus  in  the  war  already  mentioned,  to  which  war  and  con- 
quest a  newl^-diseovered  passage  of  Polybins  must  be  referred  (Exc.  de  Sen- 
tentiis,  xxxyiii.  3,  p.  454,  ed.  Maii) ;  4ir4Bwro  XaXic<8«(f,  kcU  Kopl¥$tioi,  koX  ru^ts 
Mpai  ir6Ktis  itk  r^v  rmw  rAvmp  c6^tciy  rois  i¥  HoKt^otfl^  ficunkmai,  iceH  ^povpas 
€lxoif.  This  prince  did  not  therefore  inherit  those  cities;  but  after  they  had 
thrown  off  the  Macedonian  yoke,  the^  submitted  themselyes  to  him.  Neither 
Corinthians  nor  Chalcidians  took  part  in  the  Lamian  war^— in  all  Eubcea  only  the 
Carystsans. 

Antigonus  was  married  to  a  Phila ;  no  doubt  his  niece,  the  daughter  of  the 
younger  Craterus,  granddaughter  of  the  daughter  of  Antipater,  with  whom  she  is 
confounded,  as  is  the  case  with  so  many  women  among  the  Macedonian  royal 
families,  from  the  constant  repetition  of  the  same  names,  Suidas,  &  v.  "A^kitoi 
(wrote)  ««f  ^Uor  r^v  $vyarr4pa  * KmnJerpovt  yvyajKa  8i  *Amy6ifov ; — namely,  a  pane- 

f^ric.    We  learn  from  the  life  of  Aratus  that  he  arriyed  in  Macedon  with 
erssras  the  Stoic,  to  the  festivities  on  occasion  of  the  espousals  of  Antigonus  and 
PhiU. 

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1853.]  Armenian  Translation  of  JEusebius.  291 

whose  frequent  recurrence  distinguishes  the  history  of  that  period  ; 
but  an  error  of  the  author  or  the  copyist  renders  the  account  ob- 
scure. During  the  siege  of  Athens  by  Antigonus,  Alexander  of 
Epirus,  the  son  of  Pyrrhus,  undertook  an  attack  upon  Macedonia, 
in  order  to  revenge  the  death  of  his  father.  The  soldiers,  bound 
W  no  oaths  of  fidelity  to  the  king,  who  had  not  as  yet  firmly  esta- 
Inished  himself  in  his  new  realm,  went  over  to  Alexander,  and  he 
took  possession  of  the  country  without  resistance.  But  Demetrius, 
the  son  of  the  Macedonian  king  (according  to  Justin,  but  he  was 
probably  one  of  his  brothers  of  this  name),  raised  an  army,  and  ex- 
pelled the  conqueror,  not  only  from  Macedonia,  but  also  from  his 
paternal  kingdom  (Justinus,  xxvi.  2).  In  the  39th  chapter,  this 
story  is  related  of  Pyrrhus  instead  of  Alexander ;  but  we  learn 
that  the  decisive  battle,  all  the  more  worthy  of  note,  because  it  in 
fact  established  the  empire  of  the  Antigonidse  for  the  space  of 
Dearly  a  whole  century,  took  place  at  Deroium.  This  place  is  no- 
where else  named ;  indeed  the  topography  of  the  interior  of  Mar 
cedonia  is  almost  entirely  lost ;  but  that  it  is  correctly  written,  and 
not  to  be  changed  into  Dium,  is  rendered  pretty  probable  by  the 
Macedonian  name  Derdas. 

Demetrius  Poliorcetes  had  named  two  of  his  sons  after  himself, 
so  that  they  were  distinguished  by  surnames.  The  elder,  the  son 
of  an  Illyrian  mother,  was  called  the  Sickly ;  the  younger,  the  son 
of  Ptolemais,  daughter  of  Ptolemy  Soter  and  Eurydice,  was  sur- 
named  the  Beautiftil  (Plutarch,  Demetrius,  p.  915,  dX  The 
former  is  never  noticed ;  he  died  young  or  in  obscurity.  The  ex- 
traordinary beauty  of  the  younger,  which  won  for  him\the  affection 
of  the  philosopher  Arcesilaus  (Diogen.  Laert.  iv.  Arcesilaus,  p. 
280,  d,  ed.  Steph.),  and  of  which  he  himself  was  proud,  obtained 
him  a  kingdom ;  but  was  the  occasion  of  his  losing  both  throne 
and  life.  For  after  the  death  of  Magas,  who  had  made  himself 
independent  at  Cyrene,  Arsinoe,  his  widow,  invited  Demetrius  to 
revive  the  dominion  over  Cyrene  and  Libya,  together  with  the 
hand  of  her  daughter  Beremce.*     But  she  herself  fell  in  love  with 

'  Berenice  is  rendered  remarkable  by  the  circumstance  that  no  flattery  has 
endured  so  long,  nor  erer  wiU  endure  so  long,  many  as  may  be  attempted  by  the 
incorrigible  human  race,  as  that  of  the  astronomer  Conon,  who  raised  her  name 
to  the  starry  heavens,— a  privilege  which  did  not  compensate  her  for  a  cruel  and 
lamentable  death.  At  the  time  when  philologists  still  busied  themselves  with 
these  now  so  neglected  histories,  very  different  opinions  prevailed  respecting  the 
time  of  her  birth,  which  may  be  seen  by  consulting  Eckhel  (Doctr.  Num.  iv. 
p.  Id).  Meanwhile,  it  can  only  be  through  precipitation  that  any  one  should 
have  believed  her  to  be  the  daughter  of  Apame  and  granddaughter  of  Antiochus 
Soter :  for  Pausanias,  who  is  adduced  as  the  authority  for  this  statement,  simply 
says  that  the  marriage  of  this  Apame  with  Magas  was  the  cause  of  her  father's 
alliance  with  him,  and  war  with  Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  AmonR  all  these  Mace- 
donian princes,  polygamy  prevailed  at  this  time ;  a  custom  which  was  not  repng- 

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Armenian  Translation  of  JSusebius.  [July, 

the  handsome  man,  and  seduced  him  from  her  daughter,  who  re-« 
venged  herself  by  his  murder,  to  which  she  herself  conducted  the 
assassins —like  the  Cenci  ^Justin,  ad  he.).  Respecting  the  date 
of  this  event,  I  shall  speak  nereafter  in  treating  of  the  aulditions  to 
Porphyry  supplied  by  the  Armenian  Eusebius. 

In  the  chapter  taken  from  Porphyry,  Demetrius  the  Fair,  who 
reigned  for  a  time,  probably  not  long,  over  Libya,  is  confounded 
wim  his  nephew,  Demetrius  II.,  the  son  and  successor  of  Anti- 
gonus  Gonatas.  The  Greek  text  of  Eusebius  says  of  the  latter, 
that  he  took  possession  of  the  whole  of  Libya,  and  ruled  over  Gy- 
rene ;  the  Armenian  adds,  that  he  thus  founded  a  new  State.  Now 
the  sovereignty  of  the  uncle  at  Gyrene  is  a  known  fiujt,  and  it 
would  be  superfluous  to  heap  together  all  the  passages  in  which  it 
is  mentioned ;  but  not  a  single  author  says  what  Eusebius  repre- 
sents Porphyry  as  saying  respecting  the  nephew,  and  if  the  hyjx)- 
thesis  should  be  started  that  C^rene  might  have  voluntarily 
submitted  to  him  in  order  to  defend  itself  against  the  Alexandrian 
king,  and  the  miserable  scantiness  of  our  records  respecting  this 

Eenod  be  adduced  in  justification  of  it,  I  reply,  that  we  do  indeed 
now  very  little  of  the  history  of  Demetrius  11. ;  but  yet  enough 
to  see  that  no  other  king  of  his  dynasty  was  so  little  in  a 
condition  to  attempt  and  maintain  conquests  beyond  the  seas.^ 

nant  to  their  natioDal  feelings — indeed,  was  perhaps  a  native  usaffe.  Greater 
difficulty  is  presented  by  the  passages  in  Hyginus  ana  Catnllns,  or  ratner  Callima- 
chos,  in  which  she  is  called  the  sister  of  Eueif^tes.  We  may,  indeed,  at  once  reject 
the  statement  of  the  former,  that  she  was  the  child  of  Ptolemy  and  Arsinoe,  but 
perhaps  can  hardly  refuse  credence  to  the  contemporary  court  poet,  who  in  his  old 
age  took  Gonon's  flattery  as  the  subject  of  not  the  worst  of  his  poems.  Moreover, 
it  is  quite  possible  to  bring  the  statement  into  connection  with  other  historical 
circumstances;  by  the  help  of  an  hypothesb,  indeed;  but  in  a  history  so  miserably 
imperfect,  hypotheses  are  certainly  very  admissible.  It  is  not  known,  namely, 
who  Arsinoe,  the  widow  of  Magas,  was  by  descent.  I  believe  no  other  than 
Arsinoe,  daughter  of  Lysimachus,  whom  Philadelphus  put  away  in  order  to  marry 
in  her  stead  his  sister  of  the  same  name,  the  widow  of  Lysimachus.  That  first 
Arsinoe,  the  mother  of  Euergetes,  was  indeed  banished  after  thw  to  Upper  Egypt 
(.Schol.  Theocrit  ad  Idyll,  xvii.);  but  that  does  not  render  it  impossible  that  she 
may  have  escaped  to  Gyrene,  or  have  been  peaceably  dismissed  (for  it  b  proved 
by  the  coins  that  Magas  long  recognized  the  supremacy  of  his  step-^ther  and 
half-brother),  and  become  the  wife  of  the  prince.  In  this  case,  Euei^tes  and 
Berenice  would  be  certainly  brother  and  sister,  the  children  of  one  mother  by  two 
different  marriages. 

^  At  this  date,  Gyrene  had  certainly  been  free  for  a  time,  for  it  was  during  this 
period  that  Ecdamus  and  Demophantns  wrote  laws  for  the  G>'renians,  and  gua- 
ranteed their  freedom  (Polybius,  x.  35,  Plutarch,  Philopcemen,  p.  356,  e.),  namely, 
after  Aratus  had  freed  Sicyon,  Olymp.  132,  1=501  (Plutarch,  as  Quoted  above). 
The  State  was  a  prey  to  disorders,  which  indicates  a  condition  of  mdependence, 
though  the  kings  did  not  interfere  with  the  municipal  freedom  in  the  cities :  con- 
sequently, either  this  island  did  not  come  into  subjection  to  Egypt  immediately 
after  the  marriage  of  Berenice,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  it  threw  off  the  yoke 
again  for  a  time :  for  in  the  Adulitic  monument,  Euergetes  reckons  Libya  among 
his   hereditary  dominions;  but  revolts  fbroed  him  to  evacuate  Asia,  probably 


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1853.]  Armenian  Translation  of  EusehiuB.  ^93 

Under  his  sceptre,  the  power  of  Macedonia  sank  to  a  lower  ebb 
than  under  any  other  kmg,  and  the  ^tolians  and  Achaeans  rose 
to  eminence  just  at  this  epoch.  The  confusion  between  the  two  is 
very  explicable ;  only  to  whom  must  it  be  ascribed,  to  Porphyry, 
or  to  Eusebius,  who  very  boldly  introduced  alterations  into  the 
materials  he  compiled,  as  Syncellus  demonstrates  ?  I  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  lay  the  blame  upon  the  latter  ;  for  an  evident  falsification 
which  afiects  precisely  this  prince  will  immediately  come  under 
consideration. 

We  must  leave  the  question,  whether  Demetrius  II.  was  married 
to  Stratonice  of  Syria,  to  be  discussed  in  our  account  of  the  Seleu- 
cidaean  dynasty. 

His  successor,  the  guardian  of  his  son  Philip,  who  was  a  child 
when  he  died,  was  Antigonus,  known  by  the  surnames  of  Doson 
and  the  Guardian,  instead  of  which.  Porphyry  gives  him  the  name 
Phuscos.  This  is  again  unc^uestionably  a  IVfacedonian  word  of 
unknown  signification,  which  it  would  be  vain  to  attempt  to  guess. 
With  respect  to  his  descent,  it  was  till  now  only  known  from  the 
Excerpts  that  he  was  of  royal  race ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  all  data, 
it  was  no  contemptible  hypothesis  of  Reineccius  that  he  was  the 
son  of  Halcyoneus,  a  bastard  of  Antigonus  Gonatas  by  Demo  ■ 
( Athenapus,  xiii.  p.  578  a).  This  chasm  in  oiu*  historical  informa- 
tion is  supplied  by  the  39th  chapter  (the  Fasti  of  Thessaly),  where 
it  is  expressly  said  that  Antigonus  II.  was  the  son  of  Demetrius, 
who  made  an  expedition  to  Cyrene,  and  of  Olympias,  daughter  of 
Polydetus  of  Larissa.*    Porphyry  likewise  called  him  the  son  of 

risings  u»  Cyrene.  On  the  other  hand,  the  desperate  war  which  the  Cyrenians 
wag^  against  a  Ptolemy,  not  6i>ecified  more  particularly,  in  which  they  took  an 
^tolian  named  Lycopus  as  their  general,  who  afterwards  made  himself  tyrant 
there  (Polyaenus,  viii.  64),  can  scarcely  be  referred  to  this  period,  but  must  be 
thata^nst  Ptolemy  Phvskon  (Olymp.  154,  2=590);  and  Lycopus  was  very  likely 
the  same  whom  the  iEtolians  haid  sent  as  ambas^or  to  Rome  27  years  pre- 
viously. But  if  Cyrene  was  free  in  the  time  of  Demetrius,  it  could  not  hare  been 
subject  to  the  kings  of  Macedon  any  more  than  to  those  of  Egypt. 

'  No  doubt  Halcyoneus,  not,  as  it  is  everywhere  written  Alcyoneus.  The 
remembrance  of  his  dastardly  treatment  of  the  corpse  of  Pvrrhus  (Plutarch, 
Pyrrhus,  406,  a)  has  obscured  the  ikme  of  his  brilliant — nay,  fool-hardy  valour 
which  occasioned  his  death  in  battle,  though  not  so  soon  as  his  father  expected 
(Plutarch,  Consol.  ad  Apoll.  p.  119,  c).  U  is  but  fair,  however,  to  remember  that 
he  had  scarcely  passed  boyhood  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Argos.  Persseus  the 
Stoic  was  his  master  before  he  came  to  Zeno,  or  perhaps  acted  as  a  servant,  the 
guardian  of  his  childhood  (Dioe.  Laert.  vii.  Zeno,  p.  459,  a).  The  impetuous 
warrior  was  the  favourite  of  his  rather ;  tbe  money  which  the  latter  sent  to  Athens 
yearlj^  that  his  *  day '  (surely  his  birthday)  might  be  celebrated  (Diog.  Laert.  iv. 
Arcesilaus,  p.  281,  6)  was  probably  destined  for  the  celebration  of  a  commemorative 
solemnity  af^  his  death.  In  the  account  of  Heraclides  Lembus  (Athensus,  xiii. 
p.  578  a),  Antigonus  the  grandfather  seems  to  be  confounded  with  Antigonus  the 
grandson,  for  certainly  Demo  was  also  the  mistress  of  Demetrius.^ 

"  Respecting  the  brother  of  this  Antigonus,  Echecrates,  and  his  son  Antigonus, 
see  Livy  xL  54,  and  Drachenborch*s  note,  where,  further,  this  Echecrates  is 
Qonsidered  as  a  son  of  Halcyoneus.  His  name  is  a  common  one  amcMig  Uie  Thes- 
salians,  and  to  the  examples  adduced  by  Drachenborch,  we  can  now  add  the  father 

VOL.   IV.— NO.  VIIL  Digitized  b^-iV/VJg  IV. 


%di  Armenian  Tramlation  of  MMebnu.  L^^^J^ 

Demetrius  the  Fiur ; — ^for  the  alteration  made  by  the  hand  of  the 
reviser  in  tiie  margin  of  the  Armenian  m8.  deserres  to  be  preferred 
to  a  sense  that  is  nistorically  false,  and  destitute  of  all  connectioi]. 
This  is  the  state  of  the  case :  the  passage  refq)ecting  Antigonua 
Doson  is  in  the  Armenian  trandation  given  in  perfect  accordance 
with  the  Greek  text,  up  to  the  words :  r^v  otpx^^  9t\iwwa)  vapao-ti^ov^ 
^  lii  Kol  vapiianiiv  dvodvioHwy  (Seal.  p.  63,  I.  46).  The  Greek 
text  then  proceeds :  iirnpovsufjas  iabv  i%  ern  i/S'.  l^vi^as  Se  wolvtol 
f rv)  /M^/  0  OS  rov  ^vifA'nTpiov  ulof  Sv  ol  MocxeSoves*  xoXoy  EVoiyo^xa^ov, 
Xcjpis  rov  hfirpowou  ami  rrn  pi*!  'OXt/^»i«Xof  apyjkt^  ip^aro.  But 
the  Milanese  edition  is  much  fuller  still : — *  imperium  vita  excedens 
in  eum  (Philippum")  transtulit:  Demetrius  cognomento  pulcher 
mortuus  est  anno  altero  OL  cxxx.  Regnum  deinde  recidebat^in 
Philippum  cujug  curator  et  custos  prsedictus  Antigonus  erat,  qui 
quidem  Olympiadis  cxxxix.  anno  iv.  diem  supremum  obiit,  poet* 
quam  annis  xii.  curatorem  egerat,  et  vixerat  xlii.  Jam  vero  PhiHp- 
pUs  custode  remoto,'  &c.  At  tills  passage,  the  edit<»t(  remark  that, 
in  the  margin,  ^  Demetrii  filius '  is  marked  instead  of  Demetrius ; 
but  pay  no  mrther  attention  to  this  reading ;  because,  namely,  they 
must  have  believed  that  it  was  Demetrius  11.  who  was  in  question, 
the  year  of  whose  death  and  the  length  of  whose  reign.  Porphyry, 
contrary  to  his  usual  custom,  has  not  specified ;  and  for  the  same 
reason  they  alter  Olymp.  130,  2,  into  01.  136,  2,  without  even 
thinking  it  worth  a  note,  only  writing  the  interpolated  number  in 
a  different  type.  Here,  too,  we  must  regret  the  over-haste  of  the 
editors ;  for  a  little  attention  while  writmg  would  have  reminded 
them,  even  if  they  did  not  stumble  at  the  twelve  years  ascribed  to 
the  rei^  of  Antigonus,  that,  according  to  that,  Demetrius  must 
have  died  in  Olymp.  136,  4,  not  2.  If,  on  the  contrary,  we  accept 
the  marginal  emendation,  the  result  of  the  correction  and  restora- 
tion of  the  partly  deficient,  partly  corrupted  Greek  text,  will  read 
pretty  much  as  follows :  — TrapiicjKBif  dwoM^fKafv.  'wv  Sg  tou  Aio/u.io- 
Tpiov  t/iof  ov  ol  Maxadover  xaXov  flSvo/xa^ov,  05"  ireXsvTyidi  to)  /S*  frei 
J  ...  I  II. —       ■ '  — ■ — ■ — — ^— — — 

of  the  Thessalian  Strategos,  Pausanias.  It  is  not  improbable  that  Polycletns  of 
Larissa,  father  of  the  Strategns  Eunomus,  may  have  sprung  fVom  the  fiunily  of 
the  maternal  grand&ther  of  the  king  Antigonus.  As  the  prsetorship  of  Eunomua 
took  place  70  years  after  the  birth  of  the  son  of  the  daughter  of  this  Larissean, 
it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  there  should  be  any  fiirther  affinity  between  them 
than  the  similarity  of  their  name.  But  one  of  the  two  we  may  regard  with  the 
greatest  probabili^  as  the  historian  of  Alexander :  see  Vossius  de  Histor.  GrsDc. 
p.  402,  who  has,  however,  neglected  to  specify  the  subject  of  his  history.  The 
quotations  from  it  occurring  in  Strabo  and  Athensus  show  that  it  was  an  instructive 
work  by  an  able  man,  who  nad  seen  Asia  himself. 

The  Milanese  editors  have  confounded  the  two  Demetrii,  and  hence  they 
torment  themselves  with  needless  difficulties ;  how  Demetrius  could  have  had 
this  Olympias  to  wife,  seeing  that  Olympias  of  Epirus  had  given  him  her  daughter 
Phthia  in  marriage.  The  mention  of  this  error  will  render  it  needless  to  pomt 
out  the  rest  which  flow  from  the  same  source. 

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1853.]  Armrnkm  Trtmslaiicn  of  Mmbws.  295. 

netl  kvi/JLeKnTYis  o  wpoiipvifxivcs  ^Ayrtyovof  5»,  Sf  reXet/Tje  Jfrs*  J'  riir 
^Xd'  OXt//u.Xf«Soy,  iVirpowiViTas  piev  ««r*  Ith  d',  ^ri<ras  Jt  wavra  Ith 
MiS'.  Before  vindicating  the  emendation  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
passage,  I  must  make  a  few  more  remarks  on  the  date  of  the  death 
of  Demetrius  the  Fair. 

It  would  be  conTenient  if  we  could  adopt  the  date  given,  Olymp. 
130,  2=»494,  but  there  are  two  strong  reasons  against  it  r  irst, 
the  very  respectable  authority  of  Agatharchides,  who  (as  quoted 
by  Athenaeus,  xii.  p.  550  b)  related  that  Magas  (Ued  of  suffocation 
occasioned  bv  his  corpulence,  after  having  reigned  fifty  years  over 
Cyrene.  I  know  of  no  other  statement  from  which  it  can  have 
been  inferred  that  he  died  Olymp.  130,  4=.496  (Eckhel,  iv.  p.  124). 
Besides,  it  is  easy  to  guess  why  the  termination  of  a  fif^  years' 
reign  has  been  fixed  predsely  in  this  year.  Namely,  since  Ophelias, 
who  had  abused  the  power  committed  to  him,  and  made  himself 
independent,  perished  m  the  year  Olymp.  118,  1=445,  it  has  been 
thought  allowable  to  assume  that  Magas  was  despatched  to  Cyrene 
as  viceroy  in  the  following  year,  by  Ptolemy  Soter ;  but  &  very 
strong  though  negative  proof  to  the  contrary  is  furnished  by  the 
silence  of  Diodorus,  who  would  scarcely  have  passed  over  such  an 
important  occurrence  as  the  reunion  of  Libya  with  the  Egyptian 
empire,  in  his  very  circumstantial  history  o(  the  Diadochi.  In  the 
second  place,  however,  although  Callimachus,  as  a  poet,  was  not 
bound  to  use  expressions  in  their  strictest  sense,  and  Hy^nus  knew 
nothing  beyond  the  text  that  lay  before  him,  and  misunderstood 
that  whenever  it  was  possible,  yet  it  seems  to  admit  of  no  doubt, 
that  Ptolemy  Euergetes  had  not  long  been  married  to  Berenice 
when  he  set  out  on  his  expedition  to  ^ria.^  But  the  Syrian  war 
cannot  have  begun  before  Olymp.  133,  3,  a.u.o.  507  ;  and  as  the 
marriage  of  Berenice  must  unquestionably  have  followed  very  closely 
upon  the  murder  of  Demetrius,  and  this  occurred  soon  after  the 
death  of  Magas,  the  ten  years,  which  according  to  Eckhel,  or  the 
thirteen,  which  according  to  the  Armenian  Porphyry,  would  elapse 
between  the  two  events,  is  much  too  long  an  mterval.  I  do  not 
doubt  therefore  that  the  date  of  Demetrius's  death  is  incorrect— 
that  is,  at  least  in  the  number  of  the  Olympiads ;  and  that  the 

^  Catallufl,  de  Coma,  t.  U  ;  Hyginof ,  Astronom.  ii.  i4  (Leo),  p.  400  ed.  Mnnck. 
'  cam  Bepenioem  doziaset  nxorem  et  paucU  post  diebos  Afiam  oppngnatam  pro- 
fectus  esset.'  I  remark  in  passing  that  the  Mss.  of  the  books  of  both  languages 
generally  write  the  name  Berenice,  as  is  shown  by  the  passages  cited  by  Moncker. 
This  is  the  case  here,  and  is  no  error,  but  the  Macedonian  orthography,  like  the 
B  instead  of  ♦.  This  Beronice  is  Veronica ;  so  also  the  St.  Veronica  of  the  legend, 
who  is  said  to  have  received  the  countenance  of  the  Redeemer  on  her  handkerchief, 
is  identical  with  the  hcpoydai  ^  aiuaf^oovtra  of  the  elder  legend.  Thus,  too, 
Piolom»ias  is  not  a  new,  but  an  old  Alexandrian  vulgarity. 

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29&  Armemmi  Trmislatiati  of  HusMtii.  [July» 

sending  of  Maj^  to  Cyrene  occurred  during  the  pmod  for  which 
the  Annals  of  Diodorus  are  lost— namely,  after  Olymp.  119,  3. 
Further,  133  cannot  have  been  written ;  for  Ptolemy  Euergetes 
was  not  yet  king  when  he  married  (Ptolemaei  filius,  Justin.,  xxvi. 
3) :  his  father  was  already  master  of  Libya,  and  left  it  to  him. 
(See  the  inscription  on  tne  moniunent  of  Adulis.)  Assuming" 
therefore  that  the  number  of  the  years  in  the  Olympiad  is  ffiveii 
correctly,  we  shall  have  to  read  Olymp.  132,  2 :  so  that  Magas 
would  have  come  to  Cyrene  either  Olynm.  119,  4,  or  Olymp.  120, 
1, — that  is  in  452  or  453  a.u.c.  ;  and  if  there  should  be  any  error 
here,  it  can  only  be  very  slight. 

The  Armenian  translation  agrees  with  the  Greek  Excerpts  in 
the  absolutely  false  and  inadmissible  statement  that  Antigonus 
Doson  reigned  twelve  years ;  consequently  Eusebius  must  have  so 
written  ;  but  can  the  thoughtful,  learned,  careful  master  of  his 
subject,  Porphyry,  have  done  so  likewise  ?  Never  1  He,  whose 
computation  of  the  years  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  leaves  no  doubt 
that  he  had,  up  to  this  point,  verified  the  calculations  for  himself — 
who,  after  he  had  previously  and  subsequently  fixed  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  each  reign,  must  have  seen  that  the  first  year  of 
Philip's  reign,  which  he  correctly  places  in  Olymp.  140,  1,  would 
have  fallen  in  Olymp.  140,  4,  if  Antigonus  had  reigned  twelve 
years — he  could  never  have  committed  so  egre^ous  an  error. 

Neither  must  we  have  recourse  to  the  expedient  of  fixing  the 
death  of  Demetrius  11.  three  years  earlier  (namely,  Olymp.  136, 
4=520),  as  has  been  done  by  some  modem  chronologists  who 
have  not  tested  the  inaccuracy  of  the  dates  in  the  Eusebian  Canon, 
although  this  might  have  been  done  before  the  publication  of  the 
Armenian  work  as  well  as  now,  if  not  with  so  much  ease  and  cer- 
tainty ;  for  not  only  does  Porphyry  decidedly  place  the  death  of 
Antigonus  Gonatas  in  Olymp.  135,  1 — consequently  the  first  year 
of  Demetrius  in  Olymp.  135,  2— and  assigns  ten  years  to  his  rcign> 
but  Polybius  also  says  expressly  (ii.  44)  that  this  king  died  after 
a  reign  of  only  ten  years,  when  the  Romans,  for  the  first  time, 
crossed  over  to  Illyria  with  an  army  ;  but  this  took  place  in  Olymp. 
137,  3=523.  It  is  incomprehensible  how  a  scnolar  so  clear- 
sighted as  Schweighauser  often  proves  himself,  should  have  at- 
tempted to  force  a  strange  and  false  sense  upon  this  passage,  in 
order  to  save  a  corrupt  chronology.  It  is  true  that  explanatory 
observations  often  require  us  to  engage  in  very  tedious  researches 
upon  subjects  that  are  foreign  to  us,  for  the  sate  of  a  single  point ; 
but  he  who  has  not  leisure  and  patience  to  do  this,  had  better  not 
meddle  with  such  elucidations,  which  cannot  be  ^ven  at  less  cost. 

There  remain  then  firora  Olymp.  137,  4  to  Olymp.  139,  4  in- 
(^lusive,  nine  years ;  and  this  number  of  years  b  ajssigned  to  the 

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1853.]  Arrnenum  Trandation  of  Misebius,  297 

reign  of  Antigonus  in  so  many  words  by  the  ThessaUan  Fasti, 
which  first  named  his  parents. 

It  had  long  been  known  from  Syncellns,  that  IKodorus,  whose 
annals,  advancing  from  ^ear  to  year,  possess  some  authority  on  a 
point  of  this  kind,  likewise  agreed  in  not  ascribing  a  longer  reign 
to  this  king ;  and  a  German  philologer  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, who  had  few  equals,  at  least  among  his  contemporaries,  in 
his  impartiality  and  discernment  on  historical  points,  has  decided 
the  question  with  perfect  correctness ;  yet  his  verdict  has  not  ac- 
quired weight,  although  assented  to  by  some  able  men.*' 

But  again  from  Syncellus  we  also  know  that  Dexippus  assigned 
twelve  years  to  the  reign  of  Antigonus.  The  reason  is  easy  to 
divine :  he  had,  like  the  Canon,  overlooked  three  years  of  anarchy, 
in  the  period  between  the  death  of  Lysimachus  and  the  establisn- 
ment  of  the  dominion  of  Antigonus  over  Macedonia ;  and  when  he 
afterwards  came  upon  a  fixed  date  which  could  be  brought  into 
synchronistic  connection  with  universal  history — the  reign  of  the 
last  Philip — ^he  permitted  himself  to  fill  up  the  chasm,  instead  of 
exploring  the  origin  of  the  error. 

it  is  siur^nising  that  in  Porphyry  (in  both  the  Greek  and  Arme- 
nian texts),  the  date  of  the  accession  and  death  of  Demetrius  II., 
and  that  of  the  accession  of  Antigonus  Doson,  according  to  Olym- 
piads, are  wanting.  It  is  as  little  conceivable  that  he  should  have 
omitted  them  as  that  he  should  have  committed  the  above-men- 
tioned egregious  error.  Did  Eusebius  possess  a  carelessly  written 
and  incomplete  copy,  and  restore  a  passage  from  Dexippus  ?  This 
is  an  unlikely  circumstance  with  a  work  at  that  time  so  new.  Or, 
as  he  had  previously  in  the  account  of  Demetrius  II.  interpolated 
the  falsifying  additions,  did  he  change  the  passage  so  as  to  min^  it 
into  agreement  with  Dexippus,  and  strike  out  the  dates  which 
would  have  been  a  security  against  such  a  falsification,  in  order  to 
conceal  his  dishonesty  ? 

Livy  places  the  death  of  the  last  Philip  under  the  consuls  of  the 
year  57§,  or  Olymp.  150,  1.  As  he  may  very  easily  have  frdlen 
into  an  error  in  transferring  the  synchronistic  history  of  Polybius 
into  the  Roman  Annals,  we  need  hardly  scruple  to  prefer  the  date 
^ven  by  Porphyry, — Olymp.  150,  2=574.  This  was  guaranteed 
dready  by  the  Greek  text,  in  which  the  slip  of  the  transcriber's 
pen,  in  the  number  of  the  Olympiads — 159,  cannot  mislead  us, 
rhilip  died,  according  to  chapter  39,  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  month  of 
the  year ;  but  was  it  the  Macedonian  or  the  Olympic  year? 

o.  W. 

*"  Ropertus  to  Besoldus,  p.  250.  My  attention  was  directed  to  him  by 
WesseliDg,  who  adopts  the  same  view  in  his  Notes  to  the  Fragments  of  Diodorus, 
Fol.  X.  p.  381,  ed.  Bip, 

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S98  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July, 


ON  THE  SAMARITAN   PENTATEUCH. 

In  the  estimation  of  every  believer  in  Divine  Revelation,  the 
word  of  Grod  poeseeees  a  value  which  it  is  impoBsible  to  overrate. 
Lake  its  Great  Author,  ^  who  dwelleth  in  U^t  inaccessible,'  it  is 
placed  at  an  infinite  remove  from  all  that  is  human.  But,  of  all 
the  characteristics  bdonging  to  the  Scriptures,  that  which  gives 
them  their  highest  claim  to  man's  homage  and  regard  is  their 
perfect  and  a^lute  truth.  No  alloy  of  error — as  in  the  case  of 
mere  human  productions— dims  the  divine  brightness  of  this 
heavenly  lamp.  Whether  they  narrate  the  course  of  events  in  far 
distant  ages,  or  reveal  the  character  and  acts  of  the  Most  High,  or 
dictate  precepts  of  superhuman  wisdom,  or  utter  words  of  reproof, 
of  warmng  or  of  comfort,  or  open  to  our  view  the  w(H*ld  of  light 
and  ^lory — all  is  true — perfectly,  infeUibly  true.  And  it  is  its 
certain  truth  which  renders  the  word  of  God  the  most  precious 
possession  of  which  earth  can  boast 

If  the  Scriptures  of  truth  be  thus  of  inestimaUe  value,  if  their 
importance  to  man  be  thus  incalculably  great,  of  what  consequence 
must  it  be  to  restore  whatever  is  lost,  and  correct  whatever  is 
wrong  in  the  sacred  text  ?  Previous  to  the  invention  of  piinting, 
errors  and  deficiaocies  were  of  course  inevitable  in  all  books,  ex- 
cept the  autograph  copy  itself.  The  Bible,  though  given  by  God, 
has,  it  is  well  known,  m  no  respect  escaped  the  common  fete  of 
manuscript  books.  It  becomes  therefore  a  work  of  the  very 
highest  importance  to  attempt,  by  all  practicable  means,  to  restore 
the  sacred  text  wherever  it  has  become  corrupt  Every  sentence, 
every  word,  every  letter  of  the  word  of  God  is  of  unknown  value, 
and  should  be  sought  with  the  same  diligence  as  is  seen  in  the 
gold-seekers  of  Australia,  standing  as  they  do,  hour  after  hour, 
and  day  after  day,  paiientlv  washing  away  the  earth  which  con- 
ceals the  grains  of  pure  gold  from  their  view. 

One  of  the* most  important  sources  of  critical  emendation,  so  , 
fer  as  regards  the  books  of  Moses,  is,  in  our  judgment,  the  Sama^^ 
ritan  PentcAeiuch.  The  nature  of  this  ancient  document  may  be 
ex[dained,  to  any  of  our  readers  who  may  be  unacquainted  with 
it,  in  very  few  words.  It  is  not  a  version,  but  simply  a  femily  of 
manuscripts  of  the  Pentateuch,  written  in  the  ancient  Hemrew 
letter,  for  the  use  of  the  Samaritan  nation.  In  the  second  book 
of  Kings  we  read,  that  when  the  King  of  Assyria  carried  the  ten 
tribes  into  captivity  (b.c.  737),  he  sent  certain  of  his  own  subjects 
as  colonists  into  their  country*  (2  Kings  xvii.  24).    At  first,  these 

*  In  opposition  to  Heogsteubera's  idea  t^t  Uie  Samaritans  were  whoUif  of  heathen 
origin  the  reader  is  referred  to  T^yiMTs  Comm.  inkiti*  geutet  SamaritaiKt,  p.  1209. 

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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentatmieh.  299 

new  inhabitants  continued  the  practice  of  idolatry ;  but  having 
thus  incurred  the  displeasure  of  God,  a  Jewish  priest  was  sent 
anx>ng8t  them,  *to  teach  th«n  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  hind.' 
It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  this  priest  was  provided  with  a 
copy  of  the  Law,  or  five  books  of  Moses ;  for  otherwise  it  is  cGffi* 
cult  to  see,  how  he  could  execute  his  mission.  And  it  is  this  por* 
tion  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  it  has  descended  to  us  from  the 
Samaritans,  that  is  usually  termed  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch. 
The  very  high  antiquity  of  which  this  document  can  boast,  renders 
it  one  of  extreme  value  as  an  independent  witness  to  the  text  of 
the  books  of  MoaeB.  In  vain  bftve  certain  Grerman  critics  asserted 
the  recent  origin  of  tibe  Samaritan  copy.  The  character  in  which 
it  k  written — the  ancient  Jewi^  letter,  in  use  be&re  the  Baby* 
tonish  captivity — is  a  decisive  proof  of  its  antiauity :  in  addition 
to  which  it  is  jusdy  inferred  from  tl)e  contents  or  the  codex  that  it 
dates  fix>m  a  very  remote  age ;  for  if  the  Samaritans  had  derived 
their  sacred  books  from  the  Jews  after  the  captivity  in  Babylon, 
they  would  hardly  be  confined  to  die  first  five  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  Now  a  &mily  of  manuscripts  which  can  be  thus 
traced  back  to  the  year  7d7  b.c.,  supposing  them  to  be  written 
with  only  common  accuracy  and  care,  must  surely  be  of  ines- 
timaUe  value. 

Acoxtiing  to  the  testimony  of  those  scholars  who  have  iiiq)ected 
the  manuscripts  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  they  appear  to  be 
written,  in  some  reqpects,  more  carefully  than  the  Jewish  copies. 
*  The  Samaritans,'  says  the  learned  Walton,  ^  separate  each  word, 
not  merely  by  a  space,  but  also  by  a  point,  as  did  in  ancient  times 
the  Grreeks  and  Latins. They  distinguish  also  tiie  sec- 
tions with  two  or  three  points  accompanied  with  lines,  in  the 
following  manner  *.*  =,  sometimes  leaving  a  vacant  space  of  one 
line  be^een  two  sectbns.  They  c^n  place,  too,  a  line  over  a 
letter  when  a  word  is  not  to  be  taken  in  a  doubdiil  or  unusual 
sense.  Sometimes  the  same  line  points  out  that  some  letter  which 
should  be  there  is  wanting,  or  is  to  be  substituted  for  the  one 
present  At  other  times  a  double  line  is  found  above,  the  mean- 
ing of  which  Morinus  has  been  un^,ble  to  discover.  ....  At  the 
end  of  each  book  the  number  of  its  sections  is  appended ;  and,  in 
imitation  of  the  Jews,  the  total  amount  of  all  the  w(»t(s  of  Uie 
law  is  given.'* 

The  principal  variations  in  that  copy  of  the  books  of  Moses, 
which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  %  the  Samaritans,  are  con* 
tained  in  the  history  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  The  utterances  of 
God  to  Moses  are,  uniformly,  expressed  tunce  in  the  Samaritan 

■  Prolegom.  xi,  §  10. 

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300  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July» 

text ;  first,  when  delivered  by  the  Almighty  to  Moees,  and  then 
affain  when  repeated  in  the  presence  of  rharaoh.  In  our  preeent 
Hebrew  Bible,  on  the  contrary,  these  utterances  are  only  given 
once — generally  at  the  time  of  their  being  delivered  by  God — but 
in  some  instances  we  find  in  the  Hebrew  the  speech  of  Moses  to 
Piiaraoh,  denouncing  judgments  against  him,  without  having  pre- 
viously heard  thkt  God  had  commissioned  him  to  do  so.  It  is 
manifest  that  either  the  Samaritan  scribes  have  wilfully  inserted 
these  repetitions  in  the  text  which  they  received  fix)m  the  Jews,  or 
eke  the  Jews  have  omitted  them  as  unnecessary.  Let  us  endea- 
vour  to  ascertain  which  is  the  most  probable  conclusion. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  us  in  conadering  this  question  is, 
that,  as  has  been  remarked,  ^  transcribers  are  more  liaUe  to  omit 
than  to  add.'  In  every  investigation  therefore  of  disputed  pas- 
sages, as  well  in  versions  as  in  the  original  text,  other  things 
being  equal,  the  probability  is  always  in  &vour  of  the  missing 
clause.  In  the  present  instance  this  probability  is  greatly  strength- 
ened by  the  consideration  that  there  is  no  conceivable  reason  why 
the  Sainaritans  should  have  inserted  a  number  of  interpolations 
like  these  in  their  copy  of  the  PentateucL  Had  the  passages  in 
disi>ute  been  favouraole  to  the  pretensions  of  the  Samaritans 
against  the  Jews,  this  fact  would  have  afforded  a  strong  pre- 
sumptive evidence  against  their  authenticity.  They  have  not, 
however,  the  most  remote  connection  with  tne  points  in  dispute 
between  the  two  nations.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  by  no  means 
improbable  that  the  Jewish  transcribers  may  have  been  tempted 
to  omit  these  passages  for  the  sake  of  brevity.  It  should  be  re- 
membered that  it  is  not  two  or  three  passages  merely  that  are 
now  in  question,  but  several,  and  these  for  the  most  part  of  con- 
siderable length.  It  certainly  does  strike  us,  then,  as  far  from 
improbable  tbtt  the  Jewish  scribes,  observing  a  series  of  repetitions 
following  one  another  in  precisely  the  same  words,  at  length 
adopted  the  idea  of  omitting  them  for  the  sake  of  li^vity.  Of 
this  it  is  true  we  have  no  proof,  but  the  hci  is  that  we  are  ^ut  up 
to  one  of  these  two  conclusions,— either  that  the  Samaritan  scribes 
fraudulently  inserted  these  speeches  a  second  time  in  every  in- 
stance where  God  sends  Moses  to  Pharaoh,  there  being  no  con- 
ceivable motive  for  their  doing  so, — or  else  that  the  Jews  omitted 
one  speech  in  each  case  for  the  sake  of  greater  expedition,  under 
an  impression,  too,  that  its  repetition,  in  precisely  the  same  words, 
was  unnecessary. 

In  looking  at  the  manner  in  which  these  speeches  are  recorded 
in  the  present  Hebrew  text,  we  cannot  fail  being  struck  with  the 
irregularity  and  utter  want  of  order  displayed  throughout  the 
whole  series.     In  one  place  we  have  the  commission,  as  given  by 

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1863.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  301 

God  to  Moses ;  in  another  we  have  it  only  as  executed  in  the 
presence  of  Pharaoh,  without  any  reference  to  what  had  taken 
place  between  Jehovaii  and  his  servant  Then,  agsdn,  the  sacred 
writer  returns  to  his  first  plan,  and  gives  the  speech  as  addressed 
to  him  by  the  Almighty,  without  imorminff  us  of  its  subsequent 
delivery  to  the  Egyptian  monarch.  In  me  next  instance  this 
method  is  again  abwdoned,  and  we  have  the  speech  of  Moses  to 
Pharaoh,  threatening  a  further  infliction  of  divine  wrath,  without 
having  previously  heard  that  God  had  given  him  such  a  commis- 
sion. Surely  this  can  hardly  be  the  original  form  of  the  narrative 
as  it  proceeded  from  Moses  himself.  The  utter  disregard  of 
order  and  method  is  so  contrary  to  his  usual  manner ;  no  such 
irregularity  is  found  in  any  other  part  of  his  writings.  The  most 
natural  conclusion  therefore  at  which  we  can  arrive  in  reference 
to  these  passages  is,  that  the  Jewish  transcribers,  wishing  to  omit 
one  of  these  speeches  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  thought  it  quite  a 
matter  of  indifierence  which  was  to  be  retained.  It  has  thus 
happened  that  whilst  they  have  usually  expressed  them  as  origin- 
aUy  delivered  to  Moses,  they  have  in  some  places  given  them  only 
as  repeated  to  Pharaoh. 

But  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  the  authentidty  of  these 
omitted  passages,  which  has  occurred  to  us,  is  the  bungling  man- 
ner in  which  Uie  abridgment  has  been  made.  In  some  cases  the 
Samaritan  ad(Utions  appear  to  us  so  inseparably  connected  with  the 
sense,  that  their  absence  occasions  a  perceptible  void,  or  chasm,  in 
the  present  Hebrew  text  The  thread  or  the  narrative  is  all  at 
once  broken ;  and  the  abrupt  transition  from  one  thing  to  another 
makes  it  plain  to  all,  that  something  has  been  dropped  from  tb<^ 
original  history. 

For  example,  at  Exod.  vii.  14-18,  we  read — 

'  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Pharaoh's  heart  is  hardraed,  he 
refuseth  to  let  the  people  go.  15  Get  thee  unto  Pharaoh  in  the  mom- 
iDg ;  lo,  he  goeth  out  unto  the  water ;  and  thou  shah  stand  by  the  river's 
hi^k  against  he  come ;  and  the  rod  which  was  turned  to  a  serpent  shalt 
thou  take  in  thine  hand.  16  And  thou  shalt  say  unto  him,  The  Lord 
God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  sent  me  unto  thee,  saying,  Let  my  people  go, 
that  they  may  serve  me  in  the  wilderness :  and,  behold,  hitherto  thou 
wouldest  not  hear.  17  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  In  this  thou  shalt  know 
that  I  am  the  Lord :  behold,  I  will  smite  with  the  rod  that  is  in  mine 
hand  upon  the  waters  which  are  in  the  river,  and  they  shall  be  lumed  to 
blood.  18  And  the  fish  that  is  in  the  river  shall  die,  and  the  river  shall 
stink  ;  and  the  Egyptians  shall  loathe  to  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river.* 

After  reading  this  we  naturally  expect  to  find  that  Moses  pro- 
ceeds to  the  court  of  Pharaoh  and  executes  the  commission  whicn  he 
had  just  received.    But  the  present  Hebrew  text,  without  any  intima- 

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302  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateueh.  U^Jy 

tion  of  this,  without  even  stating  wfaeth^  Pharaoh  had  obeyed  or 
disobeyed  the  divine  mandate,  immediately  narrates  the  infliction 
of  the  first  plague,  ver.  19 — 

'  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  Say  unto  Aaron,  Take  thy  rod, 
and  stretch  out  thine  hand  upon  the  waters  of  Egypt,  upon  their  streams, 
upon  their  rivers,  and  upon  their  ponds,  and  upon  all  their  pools  of 
water,  that  they  may  become  hlood;  and  that  there  may  be  blood 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  in  vessels  of  wood,  and  in  voBBeb 
of  stone.  20  And  Moses  and  Aaron  did  so,  as  the  Lend  commanded ; 
and  he  lifted  up  the  rod,  and  smote  the  vraters  that  were  in  the  river,  in 
the  sight  ai  Pharaoh,  and  in  the  sight  of  his  servants ;  and  all  the  waters 
that  were  in  the  river  w&ce  turned  to  blood*' 

In  the  Samaritan  copy,  on  the  contrary,  all  is  smooth  and  con- 
sistent. First  we  have  the  commission  given  to  Moses — as  from 
verses  15  to  18  in  our  version — then  follows  the  execution  of 
this  commission : — 

'  And  Moses  and  Aaron  wait  unto  Pharaoh,  and  said  unto  him.  The 
Lord  Grod  of  the  Hebrews  hath  sent  us  unto  thee,  saying,  Let  my  people 
go,  that  they  may  serve  me  in  the  wilderness  ;  and  behold,  hitherto  thou 
wouldst  not  hear.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  In  this  shalt  thou  know,  that  I 
am  the  Lord,  behold,  I  will  smite  with  the  rod  that  is  in  mine  hand, 
upon  the  waters  that  are  in  the  river,  and  they  shall  be  turned  to  blood, 
&e.'     As  our  version  ver.  16-18. 

Precisely  the  same  remarks  apply  to  the  eighth  chapter,  v.  1-6, 
in  whidi  tne  plagne  of  frogs  is  threatened.  Also  to  the  aeoouot 
given  of  the  plague  of  flies,  v.  20-24 ;  and  to  the  descriptions  of 
the  murrain  upon  cattle,  ver.  1-7 ;  and  the  plague  of  hail,  ver. 
13-26.  In  all  these  instances  there  is  manifestly  an  omis»OD  in 
the  present  Hebrew  text,  as  the  mere  English  reader  cannot  fail 
to  perceive.  The  commission  ^ven  by  God  to  Moses,  conditian^ 
aUy  threatening  some  particular  judgment  against  the  king  of 
Egypt,  is  immediately  followed  by  the  infliction  of  that  judgnoent^ 
without  any  reference  to  the  fact  of  the  commission  being  executed, 
or  of  any  opportunity  being  affi>rded  to  Pharaoh  of  av^ling,  by 
repentance,  the  coming  6tiv>ke.  In  the  Samaritan  copy,  on  the 
otner  hand,  the  speedi  to  Moses  is  invariably  followed  by  the  repe- 
tition of  it  in  the  presence  of  Pharaoh.  After  whidi,  we  have, 
lastly,  the  ajctual  infliction  of  the  threatened  plague,  in  its  due 
place. 

In  narrating  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  plague  of 
locusts,  chap.  X.  ver.  1-6,  the  present  Hebrew  text  follows  a  dif- 
ferent course.  Moses  and  Aaron  are  represented  as  gcNng-  to 
Pharaoh,  and  threatening  this  judgment,  without  any  mention  of 
their  having  received  such  a  commission  from  God.    The  only 

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1853.]  On  the  Sanumtm  Pentaieuek.  303 

words  addressed  to  Moses,  according  to  our  Bible,  are  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

*  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses :  Gro  in  unto  Pharaoh,  for  I  have 
hardened  his  heart,  and  the  heart  of  his  servants,  that  I  might  shew  these 
my  signs  before  hhn.  And  that  thou  mayest  tell  in  the  ears  of  thy  son, 
and  of  thy  son's  son,  what  things  I  have  wrought  in  Egypt,  and  my  signs 
which  I  have  done  among  them ;  that  ye  may  know  how  that  I  am  the 
Lord.'  (Exod.  x.  1-2.) 

We  can  scarcely  acquit  the  Jewish  scribes  of  the  charge  of 
omitting  the  principal  part  of  this  speech,  as  originally  delivered 
by  God  to  Moses.  The  Samaritan  manuscripts,  as  usual,  give 
the  whole  speech  as  firom  God  in  the  first  instance ;  then,  shev 
mentioning  the  entry  of  Moses  and  Aaron  into  the  presence  of 
Pharaoh  they  repeat  it  again. 

Similar  remarKs,  are  applicable  to  the  last  nlague,  the  de(xth  of 
the  first-bom^  as  recorded  in  our  Bible.  Moses  is  most  incon- 
sistently represented  as  threatening  this  most  fearful  judgment, 
without  even  the  sliffhtest  intimation,  that  God  had  authorized 
him  to  proceed  to  su(£  an  extremity — whilst  the  Samaritan  text, 
as  elsewhere,  gives  the  commission  from  GoA  firnt ;  then  the  faith- 
ful execution  of  it  by  Moses,  before  Jehovah. 

The  Hebrew  text  is,  however,  still  further  objectionable  here ; 
in  fiact  it  is  one  mass  of  inconsistencies  and  blunders.  At  the  close 
of  the  previous  chapter,  we  read : — 

'  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Moses,  G«t  thee  from  me,  take  heed  to  thy* 
self,  see  my  face  no  more,  for  in  the  day  thou  seest  my  &ce  thou  shalt 
die.  And  Moses  said  thou  hast  spoken  well ;  I  will  see  thy  face,  again, 
no  nwwe.'  (Ex.  x.  ver.  28-29.) 

Such  being  the  case,  it  may  well  be  asked,  how  can  Moses  be 
mentioned  at  the  be^ning  of  the  very  next  chapter,  as  again 
speaking  to  Pharaoh,  if  that  monarch  haa  only  just  before  ordered 
him,  for  ever,  from  his  presence ;  and  Moses  had  in  reply  said,  "  I 
will  see  thy  £ace  again  no  more  I"  The  only  wa^  in  which  this 
flat  contradiction  can  be  removed,  as  appears  to  us,  is  by  supnosin^ 
tiiat  the  speech,  in  the  following  chi4}ier,  yet.  4-8,  was  deuvered 
in  the  presence  of  Pharaoh,  at  the  same  interview,  befmne  Moses 
had  lerL  This  solution  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  Samaritan 
reading,  but  is  altogether  at  variance  with  that  of  the  present  He- 
brew text.  Besides  this,  it  is  obvious  that,  in  our  present  Bible, 
there  is  no  kind  of  connection  between  the  7th  and  8th  verses.  In 
the  7th,  Moses  repeats  to  the  Israelites,  what  God  had  commanded 
him  to  tell  them.  In  the  8th  he  is  evidently  addressing  Pharaoh, 
altfa<mgh  there  is  no  mention  of  bis  going  to  him,  at  all ;  and  he 
had  just  be£)re  declared,  that  he  woiUd  see  his  face  no  more.   How 

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304  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  [Julyf 

manifest  is  it  that  the  whole  narrative,  here,  is  in  a  state  of  confu- 
sion and  disorder  I 

Not  so,  however,  the  Samaritan  text ;  here  all  is  plain  and  con- 
sistent, as  will  be  evident  to  the  reader  from  the  following  extract 
from  this  andent  document 

*  1  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Yet  will  I  bring  one  plague  more 
upon  Pharaoh,  and  upon  Egypt,  afterward  he  will  let  you  go  hence ; 
when  he  shall  let  you  go,  he  shall  surely  thrust  you  out  altogether. 
2  Speak  now  in  the  ears  of  the  people  and  let  every  man  borrow  (or 
ask)  of  his  neighbour,  and  every  woman  of  her  neighbour,  jewels  (or 
vessels)  of  silver  and  jewels  (or  vessels)  of  gold  and  raiment.  3  And 
I  will  give  the  people  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  Eg^tians,  so  that  they 
shall  give  them  what  they  ask.  4  For  about  midnight,  I  will  go  out 
into  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  5  And  every  first  bom  in  the  land 
of  Egypt  shall  die,  from  the  first  bom  of  Pharaoh  who  sitteth  upon  his 
throne,  unto  the  first  bom  of  the  servant  that  is  behind  the  mill,  and 
even  unto  the  first  bom  of  every  beast  6  And  there  shall  be  a  great 
cry  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  such  as  there  was  none  like  it, 
nor  shall  be  like  it  any  more.  7  But  s^ainst  any  of  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  not  a  dog  move  his  tongue,  against  man  nor  even  against 
beast;  that  thou  mayest  know,  that  the  Lord  doth  put  a  difiTerence 
between  the  Egyptians  and  Israel.  8  Moreover  the  man  Moses  was 
greatly  honour^  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh's  sei^ 
vants  and  in  the  sight  of  the  people.  9  Then  said  Moses  unto  Pharaoh, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Israel  is  my  son,  my  first  bom  ;  and  I  said  unto 
thee  Let  my  son  go  that  he  may  serve  me,  but  thou  hast  refiised  to  let 
him  go,  behold  therefore  the  Lord  slayeth  thy  son,  thy  first  bom.  10 
And  Moses  said,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  About  midnight  I  will  go  forth 
into  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  every  first  bora  in  the  land  of 
Eg^t  shall  die,  from  the  first  bom  of  Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon  his 
throne  unto  the  first  bom  of  the  maid  servant  that  is  behind  the  mill ; 
and  even  unto  the  first  bom  of  every  beast  And  there  shall  be  a  great 
cry  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  such  that  there  hath  been  none 
like  it,  nor  shall  be  like  it  any  more.  1 1  But  against  any  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  shall  not  a  dog  move  his  tongue,  against  man  nor  even 
against  beast,  that  thou  mayest  know  that  the  Lord  doth  put  a  difiTerence 
between  the  Egyptians  and  Israel.  12  And  all  these  thy  servants  shall 
come  down  to  me  and  bow  themselves  down  to  me,  saying,  Go  forth  thou 
and  all  the  people  that  follow  thee,  and  then  I  will  go  forth.  1 3  And 
he  went  out  from  before  Pharaoh  in  great  indignation.  14  And  the 
Lord  said  unto  Moses ;  Pharaoh  doth  not  hearken  unto  you  that  my 
wonders  may  be  multiplied  in  the  land  of  Egypt  1 5  And  Moses  and 
Aaron  performed  all  these  wonders  before  Pharaoh,  but  the  Lord  har- 
dened Pharaoh's  heart  so  that  he  would  not  let  the  children  of  Israel  go 
out  of  his  land.' 

Now,  we  must  confess,  with  every  desire  to  give  their  due  to  the 
Samaritans,  we  do  not  think  ourselves  justified  in  attribute  to 


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1853.]  On  t/ie  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  305 

them  the  critical  skill  and  sagacity  required,  on  the  supposition 
that  the  immensely  improved  readings  which  are  found  m  their 
text,  were  the  result  of  their  emendations.  The  idea  is  altoge- 
ther too  improbable  to  be  entertained.  We,  therefore,  conclude 
that  these  speeches  were  originally  expressed  twice  hy  Moses,  but 
that  the  Jewish  scribes,  thinking  a  series  of  long  repetitions,  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  words,  altogether  unnecessary,  at  length  omitted 
them.  If  this  was  really  the  case,  it  must  have  taken  place  some 
time  between  the  eighth  and  the  third  centuries  before  Christ,  as 
the  Septuagint,  which  was  executed  about  the  year,  278  B.C.,  agrees 
with  the  present  Hebrew  text  in  giving  the  speeches  in  question 
but  once. 

The  Samaritan  Pentateuch  contains  several  other  additions,  or 
repetitions  of  some  length.  With  the  exception  of  two  or  three  in- 
stances they  may  be  thus  described.  Whenever  Moses  relates,  in 
the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  any  discourse  held  with  God  or  the 
Israelites ;  or  details  any  transactions  which  had  occurred,  in  past 
time,  the  Samaritan  text  always  contains  such  discourses  or  events 
in  the  book  of  Exodus  or  Numbers,  under  the  period  when  they 
were  said  to  have  occurred,  as  well  as  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy. 
In  this  respect  the  Samaritan  text  differs  from  all  the  ancient  ver- 
sions. If  these  passages  have  been  omitted,  therefore,  from  the 
Jewish  copies,  the  fraud  must  have  taken  place  very  early. 

The  following  are  the  places  where  these  additions  are  found. 
In  Exod.  xviii.,  at  the  end  of  the  24th  verse,  which  mentions  the 
fact  that  "  Moses  did  what  his  father  in  law  said ;"  the  Samaritan 
text  gives  the  address  of  Moses  to  the  people,  almost  word  for 
word,  as  it  is  repeated  by  him  in  Deut.  i.  9-lo  : — 

^  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  I  am  not  able  alone  to  bear  you, 
the  Lord  your  God  hath  multiplied  you,  and  behold  ye  are,  this  day,  as 
the  stars  of  the  heaven  for  multitude.  The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers 
make  you  a  thousand  times  as  many  more  as  ye  are,  and  bless  you,  as 
he  hath  said  to  you.  ^  How  shall  I  alone  bear  yoiu*  cumbrance,  and  your 
burden  and  yoiu*  strife  ?  Take  out  of  you  men  wise  and  understanchng ; 
and  appoint  them  heads  over  you,  rulers  of  thousands,  and  rulers  of  hun- 
dreds, and  rulers  of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens ;  and  leaders  according  to 
your  tribes.  And  he  commanded  the  judges,  saying.  Hear  the  causes 
between  your  brethren ;  and  ye  shall  judge  righteously,  between  a  man 
and  his  brother,  and  the  stranger.  Ye  shall  not  respect  persons  in  judg- 
ment ;  ye  shall  hear  the  small  as  well  as  the  great ;  ye  shall  not  be 
afraid  of  the  face  of  man  ;  for  the  judgment  is-  the  Lord's.  And  the 
thing  which  is  too  hard  for  you,  ye  shall  bring  unto  me.' 

The  next  repetition  is  at  the  end  of  the  Decalogue,  Exod.  xx.  17  ; 
where  we  read  in  the  Samaritan  text  as  follows : — 

*  But  when  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  have  brought  thee  into  the  laiw* 

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306  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July, 

of  Canaan,  whither  thou  goest  to  poasess  it,  thou  ahalt  aet  thee  up  two 
great  stones,  and  shalt  plaster  them  with  plaster,  and  thou  shalt  write 
upon  those  stones  all  the  words  of  this  law.  Also,  after  thou  shalt 
have  passed  over  Jordan,  thou  shalt  set  up  those  stones  which  I  com- 
mand thee,  this  day,  in  Mount  Gerizim ;  and  thou  shalt  build  there  an 
altar  to  the  Lord  thy  God,  an  altar  of  stone.  Thou  shalt  not  lift  up  an 
iron  (tool)  upon  them.  Thou  shalt  build  that  altar  of  unhewn  stones, 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God ;  and  thou  shalt  offer  thereon  burnt  off^ ings 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God ;  and  thou  fStalt  sacrifice  peace  offerings,  and 
thou  shalt  eat  there,  and  thou  shalt  rejoice  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  in 
that  mountain ;  beyond  Jordan,  by  the  way  where  the  sun  goeth  down 
in  the  hmd  of  the  Canaanite,  that  dwells  in  the  plain  over  against 
Gilgal,  beside  the  oak  of  Mordi  towards  Schechem.'  (Compare  Deut. 
xxvii.  2-7.) 

This  very  important  addition  to  our  present  Hebrew  text 
possesses,  we  certainly  think,  very  strong  claims  to  be  received  as 
authentic  ;  since,  without  it,  strange  to  say,  we  are  quite  at  a  loss, 
as  to  what  the  Israelites  were  directed  to  engrave  on  stones,  in 
Deut  xxvii.  2-8.  The  words  there  are : — *  Thou  shalt  set  thee 
up  great  stones,  and  plaster  them  with  plaster ;  and  thou  shalt 
write  upon  them  all  the  words  of  this  law.'  The  context  con- 
tains nothing  to  which  the  words  this  law  can  refer.  The  twelve 
curses  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  cannot  surely  be  referred  to, 
since  they  constitute  sanctions  of  a  law  previously  given,  rather 
than  the  law  itself.  Nor  would  it  be  possible,  except  from  mere 
conjecture,  to  say  what  law  was  intended,  were  it  not  for  this 
important  and  valuable  passage  preserved  in  the  Samaritan  text, 
which  plainly  teaches  that  it  was  the  ten  commandments  that 
were  to  be  engraven  on  stones. 

A  strong  confirmation  of  the  opinion  that  this  passage  has  been 
by  some  means  omitted  in  the  Hebrew  text,  is  afforded  by  a  cir- 
cumstance mentioned  by  Kennicott  in  his  *  Second  IKssertation  on 
the  State  of  the  Hebrew  Text.'  ^  *  That  some  few  verses,'  he 
observes,  '  did  formerly  follow  after  the  tenth  commandment,  we 
have  the  authority  of  an  ancient  Syriac  manuscript,  which  contains  a 
version  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  is  catalogued  (in  the  Bodleian 
library)  No.  3130.  Li  this  ms.,  translated  from  an  ancient 
Hebrew  copy,  there  is  left  in  the  middle  of  the  page,  a  vacant 
space  just  equal  to  the  five  verses  expressed  in  toe  l^maritan ; 
and  no  siicn  vacant  space  is  left  any  where  else  through  the 
whole  Bifl. ;  excepting  a  space  somewhat  lar^r  in  the  27th  diapter 
of  Ecclesiasticus ;  and  one  somewhat  less  in  2  Mace.  chap.  viii. 
The  inference  fix)m  (Ms  very  remarkable  circumstance,  I  leave  to 
the  learned  reader.' 

At  the  19tb  verse  of  thie  same  chapter  (£xod*  zx.)  occurs 


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another  pasBBge  which  is  found  with  slight  yariatioDs  in  the 
Hebrew  text  of  Deut.  v.  4,  7,  and  xviii.  18-22. 

<  And  they  md  unto  Moses,  Behold  the  Lord  our  God  hath  shewed 
us  his  g^reat  glory,  and  we  have  heard  his  voice  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
fire ;  we  have  seen  this  day  that  God  hath  talked  with  man,  and  he  is 
alive.  Now,  therefore,  why  should  we  die  ?  for  this  great  fire  will 
consume  us.  If  we  hear  any  more  the  voice  of  the  Lord  our  God,  then 
we  shall  die.  For  who  (is  there)  of  all  flesh,  who  hath  heard  the  voice  of 
the  living  God  speaking  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  as  we  (have)  and 
hath  liv^?  Go  thou  near,  and  hear  all  things  which  the  Lord  our 
God  saith  \  and  thou  shalt  speak  unto  us  whatsoever  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  say  unto  thee,  and  we  will  hear  it  and  do  it.' 

This  chapter  contains  another  important  addition  in  the  Samari* 
tan  text,  at  the  dose  of  the  21  st  verse. 

^  And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses,  saying,  I  have  heard  the  voice  of 
the  words  of  this  people,  which  they  have  spoken  unto  thee ;  all  things 
are  good  which  they  have  spoken.  O  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in 
them,  that  they  might  fear  me,  and  observe  my  conunandments,  all 
their  days !  that  it  might  be  well  with  them,  and  with  their  children  for 
ever.  I  will  raise  up  a  prophet  to  them  out  of  the  midst  of  their 
brethr^i,  like  unto  thee ;  and  I  will  put  my  words  into  his  mouth ;  and 
he  shall  speak  unto  them  whatsoever  I  shall  conunand  him.  But  for 
the  man  that  shall  not  hearken  unto  the  words  which  he  shall  speak  in 
my  name,  I  will  require  it  of  him.  But  for  the  prophet  that  shall  deal 
proudly  in  speaking  words  in  my  name,  which  I  have  not  commanded 
liim  to  speak ;  and  who  shall  speak  in  the  name  of  strange  gods,  that 
Prophet  shall  die.  But  if  thou  shalt  say  in  thy  heart,  how  shall  we 
know  the  word  which  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken  ?  If  the  word  which 
that  prophet  speaketh,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  follow  not,  nor  come  to 
pass ;  this  is  the  word  which  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken ;  the  prophet 
hath  spoken  it  presumptuously  ;  thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  of  him.  Go 
thou,  say  unto  them.  Get  ye  into  your  tents  again ;  but  do  thou  stand 
here  by  me,  and  I  will  sp^  unto  thee  all  the  commandments,  and  the 
statutes  and  the  judgments,  which  thou  shalt  teach  them,  that  they  may 
do  them  in  the  land,  which  I  give  them  to  poness  it.'  (Compare  Deut. 
V.  28-31,  and  xviii.  18-24.) 

Another  addition  to  the  Hebrew  is  found  in  the  Samaritan 
text  of  Num.  xiii.  1.  Immediately  after  the  word  Paran^  we 
read: — 

^  And  Moses  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  are  come  unto  the 
mountain  of  the  Amorites,  which  the  Lord  our  God  hath  given  us. 
Behold  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  set  the  land  beibre  thee ;  go  up  and 
possess  t^,  as  the  Loid  God  of  thy  fathers  hath  said  unto  thee  $  fear  not, 
neither  be  discouraged.  And  they  came  near  unto  Moses  every  one  of 
them,  and  said.  We  will  send  men  before  us,  and  they  shall  search 
us  out  the  land,  and  bnng  us  word  again,  by  what  way  we  must 


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308  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July, 

up,  and  into  what  cities  we  shall  come.    And  the  saying  pleased 
OSes  well.* 

These  words  occur  in  the  Hebrew,  Deut.  i.  20-23. 

Another  addition  is  found  in  Num.  xx.  13 ;  after  the  words 
^  he  was  sanctified  in  them,'  the  Samaritan  mss.  read : — 

*  And  Moses  said,  O  Lord  Jehovah,  thou  hast  begun  to  shew  thy 
servant  thy  greatness,  and  thy  mighty  hand ;  for  what  God  is  there  in 
heaven  or  in  earth,  that  can  do  according  to  thy  works,  and  according  to 
thy  might  ?  I  pray  thee  let  me  go  over  and  see  the  good  land  that  is 
beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly  mountain,  and  Lebanon.  And  the  Lord 
said  unto  Moses ;  Let  it  sidiice  thee,  speak  no  more  unto  me  of  this 
matter.  Get  thee  up,  &c.,'  as  Deut.  iii.  27,  28,  except  that  Joshua  is 
called  in  the  Samaritan,  ^  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun.' 

Lnmediately  after  occurs  the  following  passa^,  which  agrees 
with  Deut.  ii.  2-6. 

^  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Ye  have  compassed  this 
mountain  long  enough,  turn  ye  northward  and  command  thou  the 
people,  saying,  Ye  are  to  pass  through  the  coast  of  your  brethren  the 
children  of  Esau,'  &c.,  ending  with  ^  that  ye  may  drink.' 

In  the  Samaritan  text  of  Num.  xiii.  34,  occurs  another  addition 
which  is  found  again  in  both  texts  of  Deut  i.  27-33 : — 

^  And  the  children  of  Israel  murmm*ed  in  their  tents,  and  said  because 
the  Lord  hated  us,  he  hath  brought  us  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
to  deliver  us  into  the  hand  of  the  Amorites  to  destroy  us.  Whither 
shall  we  go  up?  Even  our  brethren  have  discouraged  oiu*  hearts, 
saying  the  people  \b  greater  and  taller  than  we ;  the  cities  are  great 
and  walled  up  to  heaven ;  and  moreover,  we  have  seen  the  sons  of  the 
Anakim  there.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel : — Dread 
not,  neither  be  afraid  of  them,'  <&c.,  as  Deut.  i.  30,  33,  reading,  ^  do 
not  believe '  for  ^  did  not  believe,'  in  the  32nd  verse ;  and  '  goes '  for 
*  went,'  in  the  33rd  verse. 

A  brief  addition  occurs  also  in  the  xxi.  chap,  of  Num.,  between 
the  11th  and  12th  verses  of  our  present  text,  which  is  found  in 
Deut.  ii.  9  : — 

^  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Use  no  hostility  against  Moab,  and 
meddle  not  with  them ;  for  I  will  not  g^ve  thee  of  their  land  for  an 
inheritance,  because  I  have  given  Ar  unto  the  children  of  Ijot  for  an 
inheritance.' 

One  somewhat  longer  occiu^  between  the  12th  and  13th  verses 
of  the  same  chapter,  which  is  again  found  in  Deut  ii.  17-19  : — 

^  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Thou  art  to  pass  over  the 
border  of  Moab,  which  is  Ar,  and  thou  shalt  come  near  over  against 
the  children  of  Ammon.  Use  no  hostility  against  them,  nor  meddle 
with  them ;  for  I  will  not  give  thee  of  the  land  of  the  clnldren  of 

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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  309 

Ammon,  for  an  inheritance,  because  I  have  given  it  to  the  children  of 
Lot  for  an  inheritance.' 

Affain  we  meet  with  a  passage  at  the  end  of  the  20th  verse, 
which  occurs  also  in  Deut.  ii.  24,  25. 

*  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Rise  ye  up,  take  your  journey  and 
pass  over  the  river  Amon  ;  behold  I  have  given  unto  thy  hand,  Sihon, 
king  of  Heshbon,  the  Amorite,  and  his  land.  Beg^n  to  possess  it,  and 
contend  with  him  in  battle.  I  begin  this  day  to  put  the  dread  of  thee, 
and  the  fear  of  thee,  upon  the  nations  that  are  under  the  whole  heavens ; 
who  shall  hear  the  report  of  thee,  and  shall  tremble  and  be  in  anguish 
because  of  thee.' 

Once  more,  near  the  end  of  the  22nd  verse,  we  find,  almost  as 
in  Deut.  ii.  27-29  :— 

*  We  will  go  along  the  king's  highway  :  I  will  not  turn  to  the  right 
hand,  or  to  the  left ;  I  will  not  turn  into  field,  or  into  vineyard  ;  thou 
shalt  sell  me  meat  for  money,  that  I  may  eat ;  and  thou  shalt  give  me 
water  for  money,  that  I  may  drink.  Only  I  will  pass  through  on  my 
feet,  as  the  children  of  Esau,  that  dwelt  in  Seir,  and  the  Moabites,  that 
dwelt  in  Ar  did  to  me.' 

A  ^milar  variation  to  what  is  found  in  the  speeches  to  Pharaoh, 
occurs  in  the  Samaritan  text  of  Num.  xxxi.  The  address  of 
Eleazar  the  priest,  verse  21st,  is  first  given  as  delivered  to  him  by 
Moses ;  and  then  as  uttered  by  Eleazar  himself  to  the  Jewish 
warriors — the  want  of  the  one  speech  in  our  Hebrew  text,  owing 
either  to  the  same  cause  as  that  to  which  we  attributed  the  omission 
of  the  speeches  to  Pharoah — the  desire  of  brevity,  or  from  what  is 
termed  homoioteleutmi.  It  will  be  observed  that  both  speeches 
end  with  the  same  words,  *come  into  the  camp;'  so  that  a 
transcriber  having  not  written  these  words,  and  glancing  back  at 
his  MS.,  on  seeing  the  same  words  a  few  lines  below,  perhaps 
fiincied  that  it  was  there  he  had  left  off,  and  went  on  writing  the 
following  verse. 

Another  addition  occurs  in  Deut.  ii.  7,  which  is  also  found  in 
both  texts,  in  Num.  xx.  14,  17,  18 : — 

*•  And  I  sent  messengers  to  the  king  of  Edom,  saying,  I  will  pass 
through  thy  land ;  I  will  not  turn  into  thy  field,  neither  into  thy  vine- 
yard, neither  will  we  drink  the  waters  of  thy  wells.  We  will  go  by  the 
king^s  highway ;  we  will  not  turn  to  the  right  hand,  nor  to  the  left,  . 
until  we  have  passed  through  thy  borders.  And  he  said,  Thou  shalt 
not  pass  by  me,  lest  I  come  out  against  thee  with  the  sword.' 

In  the  fifth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  at  the  close  of  the  Deca- 
logue, the  additional  passage  already  given  as  occurring  in  Exod. 
XX.  17,  is  again  found  in  precisely  the  same  words.  It  is  there- 
fore unnecessary  to  repeat  it  here. 

VOL.  IV. NO.  VIII.  Y 

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310  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [JiJy> 

The  last  repetition  in  the  Sam.  Pentateuch  occurs  Deut.  x.  at 
the  6th  verse.     It  nearly  agrees  with  Num.  xxxiii.  30 : — 

<  And  the  children  of  Israel  took  their  journey  from  Moseroth,  and 
pitched  their  camp  in  Bene-Jaakan.  Thence  they  journeyed,  and  pitched 
their  camp  in  Jethabatha,  a  land  of  torrents  of  waters.  When  they 
were  gone  thence,  they  pitclied  their  camp  in  Abamea.  When  they 
were  gone  thence,  they  pitched  their  camp  in  Eziongaber.  When  they 
were  gone  thence,  they  pitched  their  camp  in  the  desert  of  Sin,  which 
is  Kadesh.  When  there  were  gone  thence,  they  pitched  their  camp  in 
Mount  Hor.* 

The  above  are,  we  believe,  all  the  repetitions  in  the  Samaritan 
Pentateuch,  not  occurring  in  the  modem  Jewish  text,  except  a  few 
very  brief  instances  which  wiU  afterwards  be  noticed.  The  authen- 
ticity of  these  passages  is  a  matter  of  real  importance  to  all  who 
entertain  suitable  reverence  for  the  word  of  God.  It  is  true  that 
the  same  passages  occur  substantially  elsewhere  in  the  Pentateuch, 
but  it  still  remains  a  serious  consideration  as  to  their  being 
repeated,  as  in  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  or  not  It  is  well 
known  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  New  Testament  consists 
entirely/  of  repetitions.  God  must  then  have  some  object  to  answer 
in  adopting  this  mode  of  writing ;  and  if  passages  which  God  did 
not  intend  to  be  repeated  are  given  twice,  or  if  passages  occur 
only  once  which  he  meant  to  be  repeated,  in  either  case  an  equal 
error  is  committed,  and  the  Bible  consequently  is  not  the  genuine 
and  complete  word  of  God. 

Modem  critics  have  generally  rejected  these  additions  to  the 
present  Hebrew  text  as  interpolations  of  the  Samaritan  scribes. 
Without  dogmatically  pronouncing  that  they  are  genuine,  it  cer- 
tainly does  appear  to  us  that  the  probability  is  in  favour  of  their 
authenticity.  The  judgment  of  the  learned  Walton  appears  to 
have  been  the  same,  although  he  hesitated  to  follow  it  *  As  to 
the  additions  or  repetitions,'  says  he,  *  which  are  found  in  the 
Samaritan  text,  not  in  the  Hebrew,  the  Samaritans  have  certiunly 
some  appearance  of  probability  in  favour  of  their  books ;  for  since 
in  many  places  certain  things  are  related  in  the  Hebrew  codices, 
which,  it  is  insinuated,  are  elsewhere  previously  written,  but  yet 
are  not  found  in  the  Hebrew  codices,  it  hence  seems  probable  to 
suppose  that  certain  things  are  wanting  in  the  Hebrew  codices. 
•  As  when  (Deut.  i.  1)  words  are  repeated  which  Moses  had  spoken 
with  the  fcraelites,  on  the  other  side  Jordan  in  the  desert,  which 
words,  as  though  repeated,  are  subjoined  in  the  following  verses, 
yet  such  words  spoken  by  Moses  are  nowhere  else  found  in  the 
Hebrew  codices,  out  are  contained  in  the  Samaritan  codex  (Num. 
X.  10 ;  Exod.  xviii.  24).  Still,  as  the  authority  of  the  Hebrew 
text  is  greater,  and  as  it  is  not  safe  to  depart  from  them  unless 


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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  311 

manifest  necessity"l'equires  it,  I  think  we  should  rather  say  that  the 
transcribers  of  certain  Samaritan  codices  suspected  that  these  things 
weredeficient  in  the  Hebrew,and  ought  to  be  supplied.'  (Proleg.yxi,) 

It  should  be  added,  that  it  is  a  stronj?  circumstance  in  favour  of 
these  passages  that  a  vast  number  of  smaller  additions  to  the 
Jewish  text  which  are  met  with  in  the  Samaritan  books  also  occur 
m  the  Septuagint.  We  suppose  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the 
authenticity  of  these,  since  they  must  have  existed  in  the  Hebrew 
codices  at  the  time  the  Greek  version  was  executed,  nearly  three 
hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era.  But  if  the  Jewish  scribes 
have  omitted  all  these  minor  passages,  through  negligence  or  design, 
it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  they  ^ve  omitted  the  longer 
repetitions  from  similar  causes.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  there 
are  still  extant  in  our  public  libraries  Hebrew  manuscripts  in  which 
omissions  of  equal  or  greater  length  have  been  discovered.  The 
lab(»*ious  Kennicott,  in  his  '  Dissertation  on  the  state  of  the  Hebrew 
Text^  mentions  the  following  instances : — In  the  Hebrew  manu- 
script numbered  11,  containmg  the  Pentateuch,  at  Exod.  xii.  15, 
no  less  than  153  words  are  omitted,  a  mistake  evidently  owing  to 
what  is  termed  homoiateleuton^  for  the  same  three  words  occur 
immediately  before  the  omitted  passage  and  at  the  very  close  of  it. 
In  MS.  No.  2  there  is  an  omission  of  61  words  in  Ezek.  vii.  4,  &c. 
In  the  first  Cambridge  ms.  23  words  are  omitted  at  2  KLings 
xvii.  25,  &c.  At  Jer.  xxix.  17,  &c.,  70  words  are  omitted.  At 
Ezek.  yii.  5,  &c.,  above  60  words  are  omitted.  In  the  second 
Cambridge  ms.  47  words  are  omitted  at  2  Kings  i.  11/  Dr. 
Kennicott  adds,  that  he  has  *  discovered  many  more  instances' 
during  his  *  short  acquaintance  with  mss.' 

We  must  confess  that,  all  things  being  considered,  it  does  appear 
to  us  more  probable  that  these  repetitions  are  genuine  portions  of 
the  word  of  Giod,  omitted  by  mistake  or  otherwise  by  the  Jewish 
scribes,  than  interpolations  taken  from  other  parts  ot  the  Penta- 
teuch by  the  Samaritans.  The  very  ancient  origin  of  this  family 
of  manuscripts  renders  it  a  priori  probable  that  some  nustakes  in 
the  Jewish  codices  do  not  exist  in  these,  and  vice  versa.  Since  the 
text  of  tibe  Kble  too  is  more  complete  according  to  the  Samaritan 
manuscripts,  and  since  there  is  reason  to  expect  that  in  a  book 
which  is  professedly  a  recapitulaticm  of  what  had  preceded,  the 
speeches  referred  to  as  being  spoken  should  be  found  in  some  pre* 
vious  part  of  the  Scriptures ;  since,  lastly,  there  is  no  adequate 
reason  why  the  Samantans  should  insert  these  passages,  whilst 
their  omission  by  the  Jews  might  have  occurred  through  the  mere 
negligence  of  transcribers  or  the  desire  of  brevity,  we  feel,  with 
many  ancient  and  modem  Biblical  scholars,  strongly  inclined  to 
admit  their  full  authenticity. 

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312  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July, 

Besides  these  repetitions  of  what  had  been  previously  stated, 
some  few  passages  occur  in  the  Samaritan  text  which  are  actual 
additions,  not  being  met  with  elsewhere.  Most  of  these  are  also 
found  in  the  Septuagint  version. 

In  the  tenth  chapter  of  Numbers,  ver.  10,  is  added  as  follows : — 

'  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  saying,  Ye  have  dwelt  long  enough 
in  this  mount,  turn  you  and  take  your  journey  and  go  to  the  mount  of 
the  Araorites,  and  to  all  the  places  nigh  thereto  in  the  plain,  in  the 
hilb,  and  in  the  vale ;  to  the  south,  and  to  the  sea  side,  the  land  of  the 
Canaanites  and  of  Lebanon,  unto  the  great  river,  the  river  Euphrates. 
Behold,  I  have  set  the  land  before  you,  go  in  and  possess  the  land,  m  hieh 
I  have  sworn  unto  your  fathers,  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  to 
give  to  their  seed  after  them.' 

This  passage  certainly  possesses  strong  claims  to  be  received  as 
authentic.  It  is  apparently  reouired  by  the  context  In  the  13th 
verse  it  is  expressly  said  that  tney  took  their  journey  according  to 
the  commandment  of  the  Lord  by  the  hand  of  Moses.  But  unless 
the  Samaritan  text  be  authentic,  where  have  we  any  mention  of  this 
*  commandment  of  the  Lord  by  the  hand  of  Moses  ?'  It  must  be 
admitted  then  that  strong  reason  exists  for  supposing  that  these 
verses  have  accidentally  dropped  from  the  Hebrew  codex. 

Another  instance  occurs  m  Lev.  xvii.  4,  which  reads  thus  in  the 
Samaritan  codices,  as  well  as  in  the  Septuagint  version  : — 

*  And  bringeth  it  not  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  witness,  that 
he  may  make  it  a  burnt  offering,  or  peace  offering  to  the  Lord,  as  an 
atonement  for  you  (LXX  acceptable),  for  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell : 
and  he  that  slays  it  without,  and  does  not  bring  it  to  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation  to  offer  it,  <&c' 

The  only  other  passage  we  shall  adduce  is  one  which  occurs 
Num.  iv.  14.  After  the  words  '  and  put  to  the  staves  of  it,'  we 
have  in  the  Samaritan,  '  and  they  shall  take  a  cloth  of  scarlet,  and 
they  shall  cover  the  laver  and  its  base ;  and  they  shall  put  it  for  a 
covering  of  badger's  skins,  and  they  shall  put  them  upon  the  staffl' 

These  are,  we  believe,  all  the  principal  variations  of  the  Sama- 
ritan Pentateuch.  But  besides  these  there  exist  a  vast  number  of 
minor  discrepancies  between  the  Samaritan  and  the  Hebrew  codices 
of  the  books  of  Moses.  In  more  than  a  thousand  instances,  as 
Gesenius  states,  the  ancient  Greek  version,  termed  the  Septuagint, 
agrees  with  these  Samaritan  readings,  in  opposition  to  that  of  the 
Hebrew,— a  strong  presumption  in  favour  of  their  authenticity. 

A  careful  investigation  of  the  discrepancies  referred  to  will 
enable  us  to  arrange  almost  all  of  them  under  certain  general 
classes,  according  to  the  particular  causes  which  have  probably 
occasioned  the  variations. 

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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  318 

First  A  vast  number  of  these  various  lections  consist  of  the  acci- 
dental substitution  of  one  Samaritan  letter  for  another  resembling 
it  in  form.  This  source  of  error  is  of  course  one  which  exists  in 
all  languages ;  but  the  great  similarity  of  certain  letters  in  the 
Samaritan  alphabet  has  exposed  the  manuscripts  written  in  that 
language  in  an  unusual  degree  to  mistakes.  The  following  cha- 
racters may  be  referred  to  in  illustration  of  our  remark : —  i  and  •) 
(a  and  «\),  K  and  n  (a^  and  a)»  T  and  -)  (<^  and  <\),  ^  and  y 
(or  and  it[)y  and  n  and  i  {%  and  t).  We  may  refer  to  the  fol- 
lowing as  instances  of  this  permutation  of  letters : —  n  and  •)  are 
confounded  Gen.  xiii.  8,  where  we  have  (MS.  Polyg.)  onnK  for 
DniK ;  also,  Gen.  xxv.  27,  npy>  for  apy^ ;  and,  Lev.  vi.  12,  api  for 
Tpa.  K  and  n  are  interchanged  Gen.  xix.  32,  where  we  find  iD>nn 
for  i3^nK.  1  and  n  are  changed  repeatedly,  n  and  i  are  con- 
founded, Gen.  i.  10,  where  we  find  nxn  for  riKl ;  also.  Gen.  xlvii.  6, 
C^n  for  B^v  In  many  instances,  too,  we  fiind  the  Vau  written  for 
He  the  article,  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  He  substituted  for  the 
Vau  canversivum  futuri.  See,  for  examples  of  the  first,  Gen, 
xxii.  9,  and  xxv.  13 ;  and,  for  the  second,  see  (jen.  vii.  12,  and 
xiv.  13.  *  and  y  are  interchanged.  Gen.  xxv.  29,  where  we  have 
ITVl  for  iT^I ;  also  Lev.  xiii.  34. 

Secandli/. — When  a  transcriber  wrote  from  the  dictation  of 
another,  the  similarity  in  sound  of  certain  letters  would  also 
occasion  mistakes ;  especially  when  they  happened  to  be  indis- 
tinctly pronounced.  The  gutturals,  for  example,  must  have 
sounded  very  nearly  alike.  Yod  and  vau  too,  being  probably 
somewhat  similar  in  pronunciation,  would  often  be  interchanged. 
After  the  Hebrew  ceased  to  be  a  vernacular  language,  this  last 
source  of  error,  similarity  of  sound,  must  have  operated  to  a 
greater  extent  than  ever. 

Thirdly. — It  needs  hardly  be  stated  that  the  Samaritan  Pen- 
tateuch must  necessarily  have  escaped  the  influence  exerted  by  the 
Masoretic  system  of  punctuation.  It  is  generally  considered, 
that  the  Hebrew  vowel-points  were  invented  somewhere  between 
the  fifth  and  the  tenth  centuries  after  Christ ;  and  as  they  came 
into  use,  they  gradually  supplanted  the  aheoi  letters,  which  before 
served  as  matres  lectionis.  In  proof  of  this  it  may  be  stated,  that 
the  ancient  manuscripts  have  these  letters  in  many  places  where  they 
are  wanting  in  all  the  later  codices.  '  The  old  mss.,'  says  Renni- 
cott,  '  are  very  valuable,  as  they  contain  many  of  the  ahevi  letters, 
called  the  matres  lectionis ;  which,  as  the  Rabbinical  punctuation 
began  more  and  more  to  obtain,  and,  at  last,  to  be  writ  at  the 
same  time  with  the  letters  of  the  text,  began  more  and  more  to  be 
omitted  for  expedition  in  writing,  and  to  be  supplied  with  their 
respective  points.'     Hence  it  is  obvious,  as  none  of  the  Samaritan 

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314  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  [J^y» 

M8S.  are  written  with  points,  we  may  expect  to  find  the  ahevi 
letters  >inK  expressed  in  many  places,  where  they  have  disappeared 
from  our  present  mss.  ;  and  still  more  from  our  printed  text. 
More  than  a  hundred  instances  of  omissions  of  this  kind  have 
fallen  under  our  own  notice ;  and  it  is  undoubtedly  the  most 
striking  characteristic  of  the  Samaritan  text. 

Fourthly, — The  last  source  of  variation  between  the  Samaritan 
and  Hebrew  mss.  of  the  Pentateuch  consists  of  those  which  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  striking  resemblance  between  certain  letters 
in  the  Hebrew  alphabet ;  especially  n  and  d,  a  and  3,  t  and  t,  ^ 
and  1,  n  and  n,  and,  as  formerly  written,  d  and  o.  TTiis  charac^ 
teristic  of  the  Hebrew  language  has  been  insisted  (m  by  all 
who  have  written  on  the  Biblical  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament, 
as  the  fruitful  source  of  many  of  the  errors  which  disfigure  the 
Jewish  MSS. 

To  the  combined  operation  of  these  causes,  are  attributable,  so 
far  as  we  can  judge,  nearly  all  the  numerous  verbal  diacrepancieB 
of  that  invaluable  document,  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  They 
appear  to  have  arisen,  with  some  exceptions,  altogether  from 
accident  or  negligence  rather  than  design;  and  can  be  easily 
traced  in  almost  every  instance  to  the  natural  influence  of  one  or 
the  other  of  the  above  named  sources  of  error. 

All  who  possess  any  knowledge  of  this  ancient  codex  must  be 
aware,  that  the  celebrated  Hebrew  Lexicographer  Gesenius,  pub- 
lished many  years  ago  an  Essay  on  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  in 
which  a  very  different  estimate  of  that  ancient  document  is  given. 
This  eminent  critic  considers  the  nature  of  the  Samaritan  read- 
ings to  be  such,  that  no  critical  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  them, 
and  represents  them  all,  or  very  nearly  all,  designed  corruptions^ 
arising  either  from  the  want  of  grammatical  or  exegetical  knowledge  ; 
or  from  conformity  to  the  Samaritan  dialect;  or  the  attempt  to 
remove  obscurities^ 

We  have  given  the  dissertation  of  Gesenius  the  most  careful 
examination,  and  are  enabled  to  say  that  his  statements  have 
proved  almost  entirely  destitute  of  any  solid  foundation.  The 
importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  reputation  which  the  Essay  of 
Gesenius  has  acquired,  render  it  necessary  here  to  enter  upon  a 
somewhat  fuU  investigation  of  the  book.  We  crave  the  reader's 
indulgence,  in  now  stating  with  as  much  brevity  as  possible  the 
arguments  of  that  distinguished  critic,  and  attempting  to  point  out 
the  obvious  fallacies  which  they  involve. 

After  stating  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  five  books  of  Moses  were 

t>  Gesenius,  Dt  PaUatewki  Samaritam  origine,  indole^  ti  OMCtaritaU,  Halae, 
1815,  4to. 

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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  315 

not  written  by  him,  but  were  composed  at  the  period  of  the 
Babylonish  captiyity ;  and  denying  the  antiquity  of  the  Samaritan 
characters — two  of  the  greatest  errors  which  a  critic  could  possibly 
commit,  and  the  latter  of  which  he  was  afterwards  obliged  to 
retract;  Gesenius  then  proceeds  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Samaritan  codex.  The  readings  in  which,  where  it  diflers  firom  the 
Hebrew  text,  are  distributed  by  him  into  eight  different  classes, — 
according  to  the  sources  to  wmch,  in  his  estimation,  they  should 
be  ascribed. 

I.  The  first  class  consists  of  such  as  have  been  altered  by  the 
Samaritan  transcribers,  in  order  to  comform  them  to  the  C(ymm,(m 
law  of  grammar. 

Now,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  we  must  protest  against 
this  uncalled  for,  and  most  improbable  assertion — ^mvolving,  as  it 
clearly  does,  a  complete  petitio  principii.  Where  two  mss.,  or 
two  recensions  of  a  ms.  lie  before  us,  one  disfigured  by  gramma- 
tical errata,  the  other  almost,  or  entirely  firee  fix)m  such  blemishes, 
who  could  ever  think  of  pronouncing  the  former  the  more  genuine 
of  the  two,  on  account  of  those  very  blunders!  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that,  in  numberless  cases,  errors  that  have  crept  into 
ancient  mss.  have  been  corrected  by  the  smbes ;  but  to  found  a 
charge  of  wilful  corruption  against  the  Samaritans,  on  the  ground 
that  their  mss.  are  comparatively  free  from  those  gross  gramma- 
tical blunders  which  disfigure  the  Jewish  codices,  is  contrary  to 
every  sound  and  enlightened  principle  of  criticism. 

But  the  variations  are  capable  of  ample  explanation  on  other 
grounds.  Almost  all  the  instances  adduced  by  Gesenius,  under 
this  head,  have  manifestly  arisen  from  the  operation  of  the 
Masoretic  system  of  vowel-points  already  referred  to,  in  having 
led  to  the  disappearance  ot  the  Ahevi  letters  (MnK)  from  the 
Hebrew  codices.  Of  the  few  remaining  examples,  some  consist  of 
instances  of  the  second  general  principle  to  which  we  have  adverted 
— the  substitution  of  one  guttural  for  another.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  too,  that  the  Rabbinical  notes  in  the  margin  of  our 
Hebrew  Bibles,  in  some  cases,  give  the  very  readmgs  which 
Gesenius  condemns  as  corruptions,  as  undoubtedly  the  original 
and  correct  one ! 

IL  The  second  class  of  Samaritan  lections  according  to  Gese- 
nius' division,  consists  of  such  as  have  sprung,  as  he  conceives, 
from  the  reception  of  some  marginal  gloss  into  the  text.  The 
charge  is  however  at  the  very  outset  virtually  nullified  by  the 
admission  that  at^onsiderable  part  of  these  supposed  glosses  are 
abo  found  in  the  Septuagint  Greek  version.  The  oSy  bond  of 
connection  between  tne  Septuagint  version  and  the  Samaritan 
codex,  tliat  has    ever  been  discovered,  is  the    Hebrew  itself 

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316  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July, 

Wherever  therefore  a  reading  is  common  to  both  those  docu- 
ments, the  inference  naturally  is,  that  at  the  time  of  their  origin 
the  Jewish  mss.  exhibited  the  same  lection. 

In  attempting  to  fix  the  charge  of  wilful  corruption  on  the  Sama- 
ritan scribes,  Gesenius  adduces,  under  this  class  of  variations,  alto- 
gether about  sixty  examples.  Some  few  of  these  do  really  seem  to 
be  glosses,  but  their  number  is  very  small,  scarcely  one-tenth  of 
the  whole.  Nor  is  it  quite  fair  to  attribute  the  alteration  of  the 
text,  even  in  these  cases,  to  design.  The  gloss  in  the  margin  of 
the  MS.  was  probably  at  some  time  mistaken  for  the  true  reading 
by  a  transcrioer,  and  thus  eventually  gained  admission  into  the  text. 

The  remaining  fifty-three,  whether  correct  or  not,  are  certainly 
not  to  be  ascribed  to  interpretations  of  the  Samaritan  scribes. 
Fourteen  of  them  are  confirmed  by  the  Septuagmt,  and  occa- 
sionally by  the  Syriac  and  other  versions,  and  may  therefore  be 
safely  considered  as  the  original  reading.  Eight  of  the  rest  consist 
in  merely  the  presence  of  the  Ahevi  letters.  Four  more  have,  in 
all  probability,  been  occasioned  by  transcribers  mistaking  one 
Ahevi  letter  for  another  resembling  it  in  sound.  In  two  other 
instances  the  Samaritan  mss.  vary.  The  remainder  are  obviously 
mere  various  readings^  such  as  are  met  with  in  every  book  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  Gesenius  does  not  pretend  that  they  are  Samari- 
tanisms,  nor  have  they  any  resemblance  to  glosses  or  inter- 
pretations. 

III.  The  next  class  of  various  readings  enumerated  by  Gesenius 
consists  of  those  in  which  the  vulgar  text  presents  some  difiiculty, 
real  or  apparent,  which  the  Samaritans  have,  as  he  thinks,  attempts 
to  remove  by  a  slight  change  of  letters. 

Under  this  head  we  have  thirty-nine  passages  brought  forward, 
of  which  number  about  one-half  are  found  in  the  Septuagint  pre- 
cisely as  in  the  Samaritan  mss.  Instead  of  inferring  fitmi  this 
circumstance  that  originally  the  Hebrew  codex  agreed  with  the 
Samaritan  in  these  passages,  strange  to  say,  Gesenius  sets  them 
all  down  as  alike  corruptions  intentionally  introduced  by  the 
Samaritan  scribes ! 

Besides  those  passages,  in  which  the  Septuagint  version  agrees 
with  the  Samaritan  mss.,  as  do  occasionally  the  other  ancient  ver- 
sions and  the  Chaldee  Targums,  there  are  two  instances  in  which 
certain  Hebrew  mss.  retain  the  reading  presented  in  the  Sama- 
ritan codices.  In  one  or  two  other  cases  it  is  only  some  of  the 
Samaritan  mss.  which  contain  the  various  lection,  the  remainder 
agreeing  with  the  present  Hebrew  text  Two  other  instances  con- 
sist of  the  presence  of  an  Ahevi  letter,  where  the  Maaorets  have 
dropped  it  since  the  prevalence  of  the  vowel-points.  The  remain- 
ing instances  are  nothing  but  various  readings  of  the  most  obvious 


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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  317 

cliaracter.  For  example,  the  third  instance  is  a  s  inserted  where 
the  Hebrew  has  1 ;  the  fifth  is  a  n  changed  into  a  n ;  the  sixth 
is  simply  \ih  for  ^ ;  the  tenth  and  thirteenth  are  both  instances  of 
the  omission  of  a  ^  The  twenty-fifth  is  a  n  and  j;  interchanged  ; 
the  twenty-seventh  is  the  substitution  of  a  letter  in  two  places  for 
another  very  similar,  n  forn ;  the  thirty-first  is  similarly  the  sub- 
stitution of  •)  for  n.  It  must  be  patent  to  every  reader  that  the 
extreme  similarity  of  the  letters  which  have  been  here  interchanged 
amply  accounts  for  these  variations  between  the  Hebrew  and  Sama- 
ritw  manuscripts.  Nor  do  we  think  that  the  learned  author  will 
be  found  to  have  added  to  his  reputation  by  bringing,  on  such 
puerile  ^unds,  a  charge  of  wilful  corruption  against  tiie  Sama- 
ritan scnbes. 

IV.  The  fourth  division  of  Gesenius  consists  of  those  variations 
in  which,  in  his  opinion,  th4i  Samaritan  copy  has  been  corrected  or 
supplied  from  parallel  places,  *  It  is  obvious,'  he  observes,  *  that 
the  Samaritan  critics  have  taken  care  that  nothing  should  be 
wanting  in  the  sacred  text  which  seemed  to  be  required  for  the 
full  enunciation  of  the  text'     (§  xii.  p.  45.) 

The  most  numerous  class  of  passages  under  this  division  is  that 
of  capital  names  of  persons  and  places,  which,  in  the  Samaritan 
aiss.,  are  uniformly  spelt  alike  wherever  they  occur.  For  instance, 
Jethro  is  always  Jethro^  instead  of  being  sometimes  Jethery  as  it  is 
in  the  Hebrew  of  Exod.  iv.  18.  Jo%hua  is  always  Jo%huay  instead 
of  being  occasionally  Hosea^  as  the  Hebrew  reads  in  Deut.  xxxii. 
44;  and  Jashub  is  always  Jashub^  instead  of  being  Job  occa- 
sionally, as  it  is  in  the  Hebrew  of  Gen.  xlvi.  13.  Tnat  this  fact 
should  be  adduced  by  Gesenius  as  a  proof  of  corruption  on  the  part 
of  the  Samaritans  is  really  inexplicable  to  us. 

One  of  the  instances  given  under  this  fourth  class  is  the  word 
ni30  for  njl9,  Exod.  xxi.  25.  This  is  certainly  an  error  of  the 
scribes,  but  whether  wilful  or  not  can  hardly  be  determined.  The 
next  is  i^JDKn  for  4^?^.%  Lev.  xi.  13,  evidently  an  error,  but  easily 
accounted  for  from  the  £gu^  that  the  word  i^3Kn  occurs  several 
times  in  the  previous  verses.  Another  instance  is  from  Lev.  xiv. 
44  and  48,  where  me  is  read  for  the  word  nij^,  through  the  negli- 
gence of  the  scribes.  Once  more,  the  words  *  and  put  it  on  her 
jace^  i.  e.,  the  necklace  or  jewel,  are  found  in  the  Samaritan  copy, 
where  Abram's  servant  meets  with  Rebekah.  These  words  are 
not  in  the  present  Hebrew  text,  nor  were  they  there  when  the 
Seventy  interpreters  executed  the  Greek  version  ;  but  how  can  we 
hence  infer  that  they  formed  no  part  of  the  original  text? 

With  the  exception  of  these  four  instances  all  the  passages 
adduced  by  the  learned  critic  under  this  division  as  proofs  that  the 
Samaritans  have  wilfully  corrupted  their  copy  of  the  Pentateuch, 

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318  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  [July, 

are  found  precisely  the  same  in  the  Septuagint, — a  version  made 
directly  from  the  Hebrew  text,  nearly  tnree  hundred  years  before 
the  Cmistian  era.  Some  of  these  variations  consist  of  long  clauses 
added  to  the  present  Hebrew,  yet  all  are  found  word  for  word  the 
same  in  both  these  ancient  documents, — the  one  dating  nearly  two 
thousand  six  hundred  years  ago,  the  other  more  than  two  thousand 
one  hundred  years  ago.  It  certainly  does  appear  to  us  incon- 
ceivable that  this  perfect  agreement  could  subsist  between  these 
different  copies  of  the  Pentateuch  if  the  Samaritans  had  altered 
their  text.  It  is  not  pretended  that  the  Seventy  used  a  Sama- 
ritan Mss.  in  translating  the  Pentateuch.  The  only  possible  way 
then  of  accoimting  for  this  remarkable  agreement  between  two 
separate  and  independent  witnesses  to  the  Hebrew  text  is,  that  the 
readings  in  question  were  found  in  the  Jewish  codices  previous  to 
the  Christian  era,  but  that  they  have  since,  from  accident  or 
design,  been  changed. 

V.  The  fifth  class  of  variations  enumerated  by  Gesenius  con- 
sists of  those  lengthened  additions  which  are  contained  in  the 
Samaritan  copy,  and  which  he  pronounces  as  unquestionably  inter- 
polations made  by  the  Samaritan  scribes. 

x\8  the  principal  of  these  additions  have  been  already  given  and 
commented  on  in  the  previous  pages,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  repeat 
them  here.  The  only  real  argument  which  Gesenius  has  brought 
against  these  passages,  is  one  derived  from  the  occurrence  of  the 
word  niB^,  '  women,  in  Gen.  xxviii.,  which,  he  says,  is  never  foiuid 
in  the  earlier  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  D^3  being  invariably 
used.  To  us  it  appears  so  improbable,  that  out  of  a  number  of 
long  passages,  amounting  altogether  to  several  chapters,  only  one 
questionable  word  should  be  found,  had  these  been,  indeed,  inter- 
polated by  the  Samaritans,  that  this  very  circumstance  appears  to 
be  rather  an  argument  in  favour  of  their  authenticity. 

VI.  The  next  class  of  various  readings,  according  to  the  division 
adopted  by  Gesenius,  consists  of  those  places  where  the  sense  of  the 
words  is  plain  and  perspicuous,  but  they  contained,  he  thinks,  some^ 
thing  objectionable  to  the  Samaritan  scribes,  which  led  them  to  alter 
the  text  according  to  their  prejudiced  views. 

Under  this  head  the  learned  critic  refers,  first,  to  the  variations 
which  occur  in  enumerating  the  ages  of  the  patriarchs.  It  is  well 
known  to  all  biblical  critics  that  considerable  disCTepancy  exists 
between  the  three  most  ancient  documents  which  contain  the  book 
of  Genesis,  the  Hebrew,  the  Samaritan,  and  the  Septuagint  version, 
as  to  the  ages  of  both  the  antediluvian  and  postdiluvian  fathers. 
It  would  be  quite  out  of  place,  towards  the  dose  of  this  article,  to 
enter  upon  a  disquisition  relative  to  sacred  chronology.  Let  it 
suffice  to  say,  that  if  the  Samaritan  figures  are  wrong,  me  Hebrew 


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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  319 

fimires  are  still  more  so,  if  any  dependence  is  to  be  placed  on  those 
who  have  made  the  subject  of  sacred  chronology  their  especial 
study.  It  is,  we  believe,  generally  admitted  that  the  Septuagint 
chroncJogy  is  far  more  trustworthy  than  either  the  Samaritan  or 
the  Hebrew  ;  and  we  need  scarcely  say,  that  the  Samaritan  text 
agrees  much  more  closely  with  the  Septuagint  than  does  the 
Hebrew.  In  the  present  day,  therefore,  this  variation  of  the  Sa- 
maritan from  the  Hebrew  text  is  an  argument  for,  rather  than 
against  it.  We  ought,  however,  to  be  very  cautious  how  we 
impute  any  difference  in  numbers,  as  Gesenius  does,  to  wilful  cor- 
ruption on  the  part  of  transcribers,  as  Jerome  declares  that  in 
ancient  times  they  were  denoted  by  letters,  and  those  written  ex- 
ceedingly minute.  Wherever  these  letters  happened  to  be  such  as 
resembled  others,  mistakes  were  almost  inevitable — ^not  from  de- 
sign, but  the  mere  imperfection  of  human  iaculties. 

In  all  the  other  instances  adduced  by  Gesenius  in  this  section, 
we  must  confess  that  the  Samaritan  readings  appear  to  be  correct, 
and  the  Hebrew  wrong.  Indeed,  the  testimonies  of  the  Septuar- 
gint  and  the  New  Testament  are  decidedly  in  favour  of  their 
authentidty. 

In  Exod.  xii.  40,  we  read — *  Now  the  sojourning  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  who  dwelt  in  Egjrpt,  teas  four  hundred  and  thirty  years.' 
Instead  of  which  the  Samaritan  has— *  The  sojourning  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  their  fathers  who  dwelt  in  the  land  of 
Canaan  and  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years.'  The  Septuagint  supports  the  Samaritan  text,  which  is 
confirmed  also  by  Josephus  (Antiq,,  lib.  ii,  ca^p.  15,  §  2).  '  They 
(the  Israelites)  left  Egypt  in  the  month  Xanthicus,  on  the  fifteenth 
day  in  the  430th  year  after  our  Father  Abraham  had  entered 
Canaan.'  (Compare  also  Gal.  iii.  17.)  We  think  with  every 
impartial  critic  tne  united  testimony  of  these  authorities  will  be 
considered  decisive  against  the  Hebrew  text  Our  learned  author, 
however,  true  to  his  resolve  to  convict  the  Samaritan  scribes  of 
corruption,  pronounces  the  Masoretic  text  correct,  and  the  Sama- 
ritan wrong. 

Three  other  passages  complete  the  list  under  this  head,  Gen. 
ii.  2 ;  xxix.  3  and  8 ;  and  Exod.  xxiv.  10.  The  first  is,  in  the 
Hebrew — '  And  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his  work  which  he 
had  made.'  The  Samaritan  reads  '  the  sixth  day '  instead  of  '  the 
seventlu'  So  does  the  Sq>tuagint  As  a  matter  of  fiiet  we  know 
that  God  finished  his  work  of  creation,  not  on  the  seventh,  but  on 
the  sixth  day.  For  after  enumerating  the  last  work  of  creative 
power  it  is  said — *  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  sixth 
day,'  Gen.  i.  31.  The  error  in  the  Hebrew  was  probably  occa- 
sioned by  the  words  '  seventh  day,'  in  the  next  line  catching  thp 

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320  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July^ 

eye  of  ttie  scribe.  This  is  far  more  likely  than  that  the  Samari- 
tans and  the  Seventy  should  both  agree  in  corrupting  the  same 
text 

In  the  next  passage  the  Hebrew  is  as  follows  (Gen.  xxix.  3,  8), 
*  Tliither  were  all  the  flocks  gathered,  and  they  rolled  the  stone 
from  the  well's  mouth,  and  watered  the  sheep,  and  put  the  stone 
again  upon  the  well's  mouth  '  (ver.  3).  But  at  the  8th  verse  we 
read — *  We  cannot  until  all  the  flocks  be  gathered  together,  and 
till  they  roll  the  stone  from  the  well's  mouth  ;  then  we  water  the 
sheep '  fver.  8).  Here  is  an  evident  contradiction.  In  the  third 
verse  it  is  said,  '  all  the  flocks  were  gathered  thither  ;'  and  in  the 
8th  it  is  by  implication  stated  that  thejiocks  were  not  gathered,  and 
on  this  account  the  sheep  were  not  yet  watered.  'Ine  Samaritan 
text  has  the  word  oyin,  shepherds,  for  the  word  Dn'iirn,^^fo,  in 
the  3rd  verse,  which  removes  all  difficulty.  The  two  words,  it  will 
be  observed,  are  so  similar  in  the  Hebrew,  that  a  mistake  might 
readily  be  made  by  the  Jewish  scribes.  The  lxx.  reads  *  shep- 
herds   for  *  flocks'  in  the  8th  verse. 

The  last  passage  in  this  division  is  Exod.  xxiv.  11.  The  varia- 
tion here  in  the  &maritan  is,  that  the  word  nriM^  is  substituted  for 
^TW,  i.  e.,  *•  they  remained  near  to  (God),'  instead  of  '  they  saw 
(God).'  The  lxx.  reads  difierently, — 'They  were  seen  in  the 
place  of  God.'  The  change,  consisting  as  it  does  in  simply  the 
presence  of  one  of  the  Afieviletters,  is  easily  accounted  for,  without 
charging  the  Samaritans  with  the  crime  of  corrupting  their  sacred 
bool^;  and  it  should  be  added  that  at  least  one  of  their  mss. 
reads  with  the  Hebrew  here. 

VII.  The  seventh  class  of  variations,  a  very  large  and  important 
one,  consists  of  those  passages  in  which  the  ancient  mire  Sebraism 
of  the  Pentateuch  has  been  conformed — as  Gesemus  alleges — to 
tJieir  ottm  idiom  by  the  Samaritan  scribes. 

1.  The  first  division  here  consists  of  instances  of  ^A^  permutation 
of  the  gutturals  and  Ahevi  letters.  We  are  disposed  to  think  there 
is  much  truth  in  this  allegation.  It  is  an  admitted  characteristic 
of  the  Samaritan  dialect,  that  the  gutturals  are  frequently  inter- 
changed. With  regard  to  the  remainder  of  this  long  section,  we 
cannot  but  think  it  a  signal  failure. 

2.  The  second  class  of  alleged  Samaritanisms  is  that  oi pronouns. 
The  first  example  here  adduced  is  that  of  ^k,  thou  (fem.),  found 
Gen.  xii.  12,  xiii.  24,  xlvii.  39.  But  who  does  not  know  that  this 
is  a  genuine  Hebrew  word,  only  more  andent  than  the  form  p^  ? 
Even  Gesenius  himself,  in  his  Manual  Lexicon,  where  he  had  pro- 
bably no  hypothesis  to  defend,  gives  just  the  opposite  account  of 
this  pronoun.  *  Non  dubitandum,'  says  he,  '  quin  genuina  sit, 
atque  adeo  primaria  et  antiquior  quam  postea  negligentior  vulgi 


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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  321 

proDunciatio  decurtavit  in  jnK.    Jod  in  fine  additum  sexus  muliebris 
nota  est'    {In  verb.  ^JjK.) 

The  plural  pronoun  pnK  which  is  found  Gen.  xxxi.  6,  is  styled 
a  Samaritanism  by  Gesenius  with  no  more  truth  than  the  last  It 
is  a  genuine  Hebrew  word.  The  suffix  ^k  for  ^  occurring  Gen. 
xxii.  2,  xii.  16,  is  also  objected  to,  on  the  same  ground.  &it  this 
is  not  a  Samaritan  suffix  at  all.  It  occurs  too  in  the  Hebrew  text 
(Hosea  iv.  6).  We  have  next  about  a  dozen  examples  of  the  oc- 
currence of  7  for  1-.  Here  we  find  simply  additional  instances 
of  the  Yod^  one  of  the  Ahevi  letters,  being  dropped  in  consequence 
of  the  introduction  of  the  Masoretic  system  of  vowel-points.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  the  following  examples  of  pretended  Sama- 
ritanisms ;  D^  for  Dr  5  ^ts^  ^^  \o-.  Lastly,  the  termination  na  for 
^3,  found  Deut  xxxii.  3,  and  Num.  xvi.  13  has  no  manner  of  con- 
nection with  the  Samaritan  language,  which  Srubstitutes  p  for  this 
ending.  It  is  impossible  that  Gesemus  could  be  ignorant  of  these 
things,  when  he  wrote  his  Essay,  and  it  appears  to  us  not  altogether 
fair  and  honest  to  sit  down  and  deliberately  pen  this  attack  upon 
the  Samaritan  scribes,  knowing  at  the  same  time  that  many  of  his 
statements  were  pure  fabrications. 

3.  The  next  class  of  variations  adduced  under  the  ffeneral  head  of 
Samaritanisms  are  those  which  are  adopted  in  declining  the  pre- 
terite. Here,  too,  all  the  instances  given  by  Gesenius,  with  the 
exception  of  four,  consist  simply  of  the  presence  of  a  Yod  ( ^ ),  where, 
in  ail  probability,  it  has  been  dropped  by  the  Masorets.  In  the 
remammg  four,  the  sole  variation  is  the  t<  substituted  for  another 
Ahevi  letter  the  n.  It  is  just  possible  that  this  change  may  be 
indeed  a  Samaritanism,  but  the  similar  pronunciation  of  the  two 
letters  t<  and  n  appears  to  us  quite  as  likely  to  have  occasioned  the 
discrepancy. 

It  is  then  stated,  that  verbs  of  the  form  'y  are  written  more  fully 
in  the  preterite  and  participle  of  the  conjugation  Kal^  than  in  the 
Hebrew  text  But  here  we  have  only  another  proof  of  the  exten- 
sive operation  of  the  principle  to  which  we  have  traced  so  many  of 
the  discrepancies  in  the  two  copies  of  the  Pentateuch.  The  letter 
K ,  one  of  the  matres  lectionia,  is  still  retained  in  the  Samaritan  copy, 
where  it  has  been  dropped  by  the  Masorets. 

The  principal  other  instances  mentioned  under  this  head  are 
those  of  verbs  of  the  form  n^  having  the  Yod  frequently  at  the  end 
of  the  infinitive,  future,  and  participle  instead  of  the  n.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  similarity  of  soimd  may  have  occasioned  this  permu- 
tation of  letters ;  but  as  the  Samaritan  mode  of  conjugating  verbs 
quiescent  in  the  third  radical  is  to  substitute  the  >  for  the  j<  or  n  in  * 
tne  Kal,  it  is  certainly  not  unlikely  that  these  variations  have  been 
insensibly  introduced  by  the  scribes  of  that  nation. 

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322  On  the  Samarium  PenMeuch.  [  [July, 

4.  The  laat  class  of  examples  under  this  head  is^  we  cannot  but 
think,  for  the  most  part  a  signal  failure.  It  includes,  1.  nouns  of 
the  form  ^jj  which  are  written  Snap.  2.  Adjectives  of  the  form 
h\t^  which  very  frequently  are  written  ^^op,  and  3.  Words  ending 
in  >-  which  are  sometimes  written  ^k.  Here  we  need  scarcely  re- 
mind the  reader,  that  the  operation  of  the  principles  already  laid 
down,  is  amply  sufficient  to  account  for  these  various  readings, 
most  of  them  being  the  retention  of  the  Ahevi  letters  (nriK)  after 
they  had  been  dropped  by  the  Masorets. 

The  remainder  of  this  section,  the  most  important  in  the  work, 
is  occupied  with  individual  examples  of  alleged  Samaritanisms. 
The  first  thirteen  are  simply  instances  of  the  presence  of  the  Yod  ^ 
where  it  has  disappearea  from  the  Hebrew  text  The  six  next 
variations  consist  of  the  n  substituted  for  the  n,  the  extreme  resem- 
blance of  these  two  letters  being  doubtless  the  sde  cause.  We 
have  then  several  instances  of  the  retention  of  one  of  the  Ahevi 
letters,  the  Vau,  afker  the  introduction  of  the  Masoretic  system  of 
punctuation.  Almost  all  the  remaining  examples  are  of  a  similar 
nature.  We  would  not  deny  but  that  some  of^them  may  be  oon^- 
dered  as  Samaritanisms ;  but  it  is  at  least  doubtful.  The  influence 
of  the  vowel-points  upon  the  Hebrew  mss.  is  quite  sufficient,  we 
think,  to  account  for  all  of  them. 

Vni.  The  eighth  and  concluding  dass  of  variations  comprises 
those  passages  which,  according  to  Gesenius,  have  been  conformed 
to  the  hermeneuties  and  domestic  worship  of  the  Samaritan  nation. 

He  here  refers,  first,  to  the  four  places  in  which  the  name  of  God, 
MohiMy  is  construed  with  a  singidar  verb,  although,  as  is  well 
known,  the  word  itself  is  plural.  The  passages  are  (?ew.  xx.  13, 
xxxi.  53,  xxxv.  7,  and  Exod.  xxii.  9. 

Here  we  find  Gesenius  again  assuming,  that  the  Hebrew  reading 
is  correct,  in  these  four  places,  and  then  founding  upon  this  assump- 
tion a  charge  of  corruption  against  the  Samaritan  copyists.  We 
would  ask,  how  is  it  possible  to  know  that  the  Jewisn  mss.  have 
here  retained  the  original  text  ?  As  matter  of  fact,  they  do  not 
all  agree  in  reading  the  plural  verb  here,  and  such  being  the  case, 
it  is  the  part  of  sound  and  enlightened  criticbm  to  sui^nd  our 
decision  until  further  evidence  is  found. 

Gesenius  next  expresses  his  conviction,  that  other  passages  have 
been  altered  by  the  Samaritans,  under  the  influence  of  extreme 
reverence  for  the  Patriarchs^  in  illustration  of  which  he  mentions 
Gen.  xlix.  7,  where -tt")^  is  changed  intoinw: — ^  great  is  their 
wrath,'  for  '  cursed  is  their  wrath.'  Here  is  evidentiy  a  mere  mistake 
of  some  copyist,  Samaritan  or  Jewish,  as  the  reader  will  at  once 
admit,  on  observing  the  extreme  resemblance,  in  both  languages, 
between  the  letters  which  have  been  interchanged,  especially  the 


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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  S23 

Daleth  and  Besh^  which  in  Hebrew  are  (n  and  n),  and  in  Samari- 
tan (<^  and  <\). 

The  learned  author  proceeds  to  notice,  next,  the  JEfuphemiems  of 
the  Samaritan  codex ;  that  is,  places  in  which  words  which  were 
considered  indelicate^  have  been  changed  into  others  less  objection- 
aUe.  It  is  not  unlikely,  we  think,  that  this  charge  is  founded  in 
truth.  But,  as  appears  to  us,  much  may  be  said  in  extenuation  of 
the  deed.  Nor  would  it  be  at  all  fair  or  just  to  infer  from  this 
admission  the  probaUlity  that  the  Samaritan  scribes  have  also  been 
ihe  authors  of  the  other  variations  which  exist  between  their  copy 
of  the  Pentateueh  and  that  of  the  Jews. 

The  last  particular  we  have  to  notice,  is  the  wdl  known  passage 
Deut.  xxviL  4,  in  which  it  is  alleged  the  Samaritans  have  sub- 
stituted *  Mount  Gerizim '  for  '  Mount  Ebal'  It  is  not  our 
intention  here  to  renew  the  protracted  discussion  which  has  taken 
place  on  this  text  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  numerous  arguments, 
which  are  at  least  plausible,  have  been  adduced  by  the  learned  in 
defence  of  the  Samaritan  reading.  If,  however,  we  decide,  that  the 
Hebrew  text  is  correct  here,  it  by  no  means  follows,  as  some  have 
maintained,  that  the  fact  of  the  Samaritans  having  altered  the 
text  herCy  proves  that  the  other  variations  in  their  c^ex  are  also 
wilful  corruptions.  Against  this  probable  corruption  on  the  part 
of  the  Samaritans,  should  be  set  the  equally  probable  corruption  of 
the  Hebrew  text  in  other  places  by  the  Jews  themselves.  (See 
No.  II.  of  this  Journal  p.  255.) 

We  have  thus  examined  at  some  length  the  whole  of  the  objec- 
tions brought  against  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  by,  undoubtedly, 
the  ablest,  and  most  learned  opponent,  that  ever  assailed  that 
venerable  document.  Without  pretending,  that  all  his  numerous 
charges  are  whoUy  destitute  oi  truth,  we  think  it  will  be  evident 
from  the  foregoing  pages,  that  this  celebrated  work  abounds  in 
rash  asBumptions  ana  unfair  accusations ;  and  that,  as  a  tohole^  it 
is  a  signal  failure. 

A  vast  number  cS  passages  adduced  by  Gresenius,  as  instances  of 
wilful  oMTuption  on  the  part  of  the  Samaritans,  are,  as  we  have 
seen,  dearl]^  assignable  to  the  mistakes  of  o^yists.  The  remaric- 
able  similarity  b^ween  several  letters  in  the  oamaritan,  as  well  as 
in  the  Hebrew  knguage,  is  such  that  no  human  care  could  possibly 
have  preserved  the  manuscripts  from  numerous  errors,  although 
this  curcumstance  is  never  once  referred  to  by  the  learned  author. 
Anodier  obvious  source  iA  many  variations  in  the  Samaritan  text 
is  likeness  of  wund^  which  occasioned  mistakes  in  hearing  when 
a  copyist  wrote  from  the  dictation  of  another.  This  cause,  it  is 
.well  known,  operates  more  powerfully  in  the  Hebrew  than  in 
almost  any  other  language,  on  account  of  the  ffutturals^  which  are 


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324  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [July, 

less  distinguishable  in  sound  than  any  other  class  of  letters.  About 
forty  instances  of  supposed  corruption,  adduced  by  Gesenius,  are 
probably  assignable  to  this  cause. 

But  by  far  the  principal  source  of  those  numerous  variations  in 
the  Samaritan  text  on  which  Gesenius  has  founded  his  charge  of 
wilM  corruption,  as  already  observed,  is  the  retention  of  the 
Ahevi  letters,  after  the  Masoretic  system  of  punctuation  had  led  to 
their  omission  in  the  Hebrew  mss.  Bishop  Marsh  has  given  a 
very  lucid  account  of  the  ^adual  introduction  of  this  practice : — 
*  There  is  a  source  of  various  readings,'  says  that  accomplished 
scholar,  '  in  the  Hebrew  mss.  which  appears  to  have  been  equally 
productive  with  all  the  other  sources  put  together,  namely,  the 
difference  in  the  mode  of  writing  certain  Hebrew  words.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  letters  Aleph,  Vau,  and  Yod,  are  denominated 
metres  leetianis  from  their  utility  in  instructing  the  reader  of  an 
unpointed  ms.  how  to  pronounce  the  words,  in  which  those  letters 
are  contained.  But  aner  the  introduction  of  the  vowel-points,  the 
letters  Vau  and  Yod  became  less  necessary,  and  they  were  con- 
sidered chiefly  as  props,  or  fulcra  (as  they  are  called)  to  those 
points,  with  which  they  are  usually  accompanied.  When  manu- 
scripts therefore  were  written  with  points,  those  letters  were  some- 
times inserted,  sometimes  omitted,  and  apparently  at  the  discretion 
of  the  copyist.  Where  they  are  inserted,  the  words  are  said  to  be 
plene  scripta ;  where  they  are  omitted,  the  words  are  said  to  be 
defective  scripta.  Now  variations  of  this  kind  are  only  various 
modes  of  writing  the  same  vjordy  and  seem  to  be  no  more  entitled  to 
a  place  amo^  various  readings^  than  the  orthographical  difier- 
ences  in  the  (S*eek  manuscripts,  which  neither  Walton,  nor  Mill, 
nor  Wetstein,  nor  Griesbach,  nave  thought  worthy  of  their  notice.'* 
Such  is  the  account  of  this  matter  given  by  this  learned  critic 
Will  it  be  believed  then,  that,  of  the  passages  brought  forward  by 
Gresenius,  as  so  many  undoubted  instances  of  designed  corruption 
on  the  part  of  the  Samaritan  scribes,  upwards  of  one  hundred 
consist  simply  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the  Ahevi  Utters^  where 
it  has  disappeared  from  the  Jewish  manuscripts  ?  Incredible  as  it 
mav  appear,  more  than  a  hundred  variations^  Vhich  are  ascribed 
witn  great  ostentation  by  this  celebrated  critic  to  all  ima^nable 
causes — at  one  time  to  Samaritamsms ;  at  another,  to  attempts 
to  remove  sdoecisms  of  speech^  or  obscurities  of  meaning ;  and  then 
again,  to  the  desire  to  conform  the  language  to  tfie  hermeneuties^ 
and  domestic  worship  of  the  Samaritan  nation  ;  when  examined  by 
this  simple  test,  all  resolve  themselves  into  ^various  modes  of 
fvriting  the  same  word  /  and,  so  far  are  they  from  being,  as  pre- 

•  Lectures  on  the  Criticism  of  the  Bible,  p.  192.    Cambridge.     182S. 

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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  FmtatmcL  325 

tended,  proofe  of  undoubted  corruption  on  the  part  of  the  Samaritan 
scribes,  that  they  '  are  no  mare  entitled  to  a  place  among  various 
readingsy  than  the  orthographical  differences  in  the  Chreek  manu- 
scripts,  which  neither  Walton,  nor  Mill,  nor  Wetstetn,  nor  Qriesbaeh 
have  thought  worthy  of  their  notice  /' 

It  only  remains  to  advert  to  one  other  argument  ah'eady  men- 
tioned, as  confirming  the  variations  of  the  Samaritan  text — the 
remarkable  agreement  between  its  readings,  and  the  Greek  Septua- 
pnt,  where  they  diflFer  from  the  Hebrew.  Gesenius  fully  admits 
this  important  lact,  and  makes  every  efibrt  to  account  for  it.  After 
enumerating  two  other  hypotheses,  the  difficulties  attending  which, 
in  his  opinion,  are  such  as  to  prevent  their  adoption,  he  propounds 
the  following  theory :  '  That  tne  Septuagint  version,  as  well  as  the 
Samaritan  text,  were  made  from  Hebrew  codices  like  themselves ; 
but  following  a  recension  of  the  Pentateuch  difierent  from  that 
which  afterwards  obtained  public  authority  in  Palestine ;  but  that 
the  Samaritan  copy  was  afterwards  greatly  corrupted  and  interpo- 
lated by  ignorant  men.'  (p.  14.)  Here,  it  will  be  observed,  all  is 
mere  conjecture,  and  that  of  the  most  improbable  kind,  unaccom- 
panied by  the  slightest  evidence.  The  origin  of  the  Samaritan 
JPentateuch,  it  is  now  agreed,  dates  from  the  captivity  of  the  ten 
tribes,  (Kitto,  Cyclop^  Art.  Sam^ritans,^  and  that  at  this  early 
period,  two  widely  different  editions  of  tne  books  of  Moses  could 
nave  existed  is  altogether  incredible.  Only  seven  hundred  years 
had  elapsed  from  the  death  of  the  great  lawgiver,  so  that  the  very 
copy  of  the  '  law '  written  '  by  the  hand  of  Moses '  himself,  in  all 
probability  still  remained.  The  theory  of  Gesenius,  therefore,  that 
two  such  very  opposite  recensions  of  the  Pentateuch — containing 
some  thousandsof  various  lections — existed  only  seven  centuries  after 
its  promulgation,  must,  we  think,  be  dismissed  as  altogether  unten- 
able. ^  We  are  thus  brought  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  Samaritan 
as  well  as  the  Jewish  copy  originally  flowed  from  the  autograph  of 
Moses.  The  two  constitute,  in  fact,  different  recensions  of  the  same 
work,  and  coalesce  in  point  of  antiquity.'  (Kitto,  Cyclop.) 

The  remarkable  agreement,  then,  between  the  Greex  version 
and  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  in  more  than  two  thousand  pas- 
sages, in  opposition  to  the  Hebrew  manuscripts,  is  a  circumstance 
that  merits  the  attention  of  every  sincere  student  of  the  Word  of 
God.  The  only  possible  way  of  accounting  for  it  is  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  these  ancient  documents  agreed  with  the  copies  of '  the 
law '  in  use  at  the  time  they  were  written,  and  that  the  Hebrew 
manuscripts  were  subsequentiy  altered,  either  from  mistake  or 
design.  And  none  can  fail,  we  think,  to  acknowledge  in  this 
agreement  between  two  perfectly  independent  and  most  ancient 
witnesses,  a  powerful  argument  in  favour  of  the  Samaritan  text. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  z 

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326  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  [J«ly> 

By  those  who  are  aware  of  the  influence  which  the  Essay  a£ 
Gesenius  has  exerted  on  the  opinions  of  the  learned,  the  foregoing 
attempt  to  expose  its  mistakes  will  not  be  considered  a  work  of 
supererogation.  To  any  who  may  be  unacquainted  with  the  views 
entertained  in  the  present  day  on  this  deeply  interesting  subject, 
we  ofler  the  following  brief  remarks,  by  two  of  the  most  eminent 
modem  critics — the  one,  alas !  just*  departed  to  his  final  rest — Dr. 
Davidson  and  Moses  Stuart  The  former  says : — *  On  the  whole, 
this  codex  used  by  the  Samaritans  cannot  for  a  moment  be  put  in 
comparison  with  the  Hebrew,  wor  U9ed  at  all  as  a  source  of  emen- 
dation.  Its  deviations  from  the  other  recension  of  the  Pentateuch 
have  so  much  the  appearance  of  design,  that  they  cannot  be  allowed 
to  modify  or  set  aside  the  readings  of  tiie  Jewish  codex.  In  gene- 
ral we  can  easily  trace  the  object  of  their  peculiarities,  and  the 
motives  to  whidi  they  owe  their  origin.'  And  again,  *  Gesenius 
has  shown  that  very  little  value  is  to  be  assigned  to  the  charao^ 
teristic  features  of  the  text  In  the  course  of  a  very  able  investi- 
^tion,  he  has  proved  that  no  critical  reliance  can  be  placed  upon 
tt,  .  .  .  In  consequence  of  this  masterly  dissertation,  few  will  be 
disposed  to  set  much  value  on  its  characteristic  readings.  Its 
credit  in  the  critical  world  is  now  destroyed'^  The  celebrated 
American  critic  uses  similar  language.  In  a  review  of  Gesenius's 
Essay,  inserted  in  the  Kblical  Repository,  he  says : — ^He  has  settled 
the  question  (it  would  seem,  for  ever  settled  it)  about  the  authority 
of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  compared  with  that  of  the  Hebrew ; 
or  rather  he  has  shown,  as  we  shall  see,  the  nature  of  the  various 
readings  exhibited  by  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  to  be  such,  that 
we  can  place  no  critical  reliance  upon  them.  .  .  .  The  result  of 
Gesenius's  labours  has  been,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  ruin  the  credit 
of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch^  as  an  authentic  source  of  correcting 
the  Hebrew  records  ;  a  result  of  no  small  importance,  considering 
the  thousands  of  places  in  which  it  differs  from  the  Hebrew,  and 
the  excessive  value  which  has  been  set  upon  it,  by  critics  of  great 
note,  in  difierent  parts  of  Europe.'* 

Such  are  the  sentiments  commonly  entertained,  in  the  present 
day,  with  reference  to  the  Samaritan  copy  of  the  Law.  But  if  we 
have  succeeded  in  defending  that  ancient  document  from  the  attacks 
of  Gesenius,  it  will  once  more,  we  trust,  resume  its  place  in  the 
estimation  of  the  learned  and  devout.  We  are  for  from  entertain- 
ing that  extravagant  idea  of  the  value  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch 
which  some  critics  have  professed.  Neither,  on  the  other  hand,  do  we 
consider  that  its  readings  are  necessarily  to  be  rejected  where  they 

«*  Davidson's  Lectures  on  Biblical  Criticism,  p.  107,  &c. 
"  Biblical  Repository,  Oct.  1832.     Vol.  ii. 

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1853.]  On  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch.  327 

differ  from  the  Hebrew  text.  The  truth,  as  usual,  lies  between  the 
two  extremes,  and  cannot,  perhaps,  be  better  expressed  than  in  the 
words  of  an  eminent  critic  already  quoted.  '  Upon  the  whole,' 
says  Kshop  Marsh,  '  the  two  Pentateuchs  are  more  nearly  equal 
£m*  purposes  of  criticism^  than  the  advocates  of  either  have  com- 
momv  supposed ;  and  wherever  their  readings  are  different,  the 
gemjiMie  reading  must  be  determined  by  other  arguments  than  those 
which  are  founded  on  a  supposed  intrinsic  superiority  of  one  to  the 
other.''  W.  K  T. 

f  LeeCures  on  ttie  Criticism  of  the  Bible,  p.  2S7.    Cambridge.     1826. 


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328  The  Sinaittc  Inscriptums.  [-Tuly, 


THE    SINAITIC    INSCRIPTIONS. 

The  task  we  propose  to  ourselves  in  the  present  paper  is  certainly 
an  ungracious  one.  There  is  something  very  alluring  to  the 
imagination  in  the  hypothesis  that  there  are  extant  in  the  present 
day  the  identical  writings  of  Moses  or  his  contemporaries,  and 
that  we  may  interpret  these  documents,  and  so  read  in  the  very 
handwritmg  of  the  ancient  people  of  God  the  record  of  their 
early  history  before  they  were  settled  in  the  promised  land.  En- 
thusiastic minds  seem  to  find  here  a  new  proof — an  ocular  de- 
monstration— of  the  genuineness  of  the  writings  of  Moses,  and 
we  can  easily  excuse  warmth  of  expression  on  the  part  of  those 
who  have  convinced  themselves  that  these  written  rocks  are 
irrefragable  monuments  of  the  truth  of  the  biblical  records.  Yet, 
after  all,  the  cause  of  truth  is  not  really  served  by  arguments 
which  will  not  stand  the  test  of  critical  examination,  and,  un- 
gracious as  our  task  is,  we  believe  it  is  a  useful  one.  It  is  well 
that  we  should  know,  if  indeed  the  fact  is  so,  that  this  supposed 
evidence  is  not  to  be  relied  on.  We  do  but  injure  the  cause  we 
wish  to  serve  if  we  attempt  to  uphold  it  by  feeble,  much  more  by 
false  arguments.  It  is  fipom  no  cursory  examination  of  the  copies 
of  these  inscriptions  and  of  their  literature  that  we  have  come  to 
the  decided  conviction  that  the  theory  propounded  by  Mr.  Forster, 
in  his  work  entitled**  The  Voice  of  Israel  from  the  luocks  of  Sinai/ 
is  utterly  untenable.  We  propose  in  this  paper  to  give  our  reasons 
for  this  assertion.  An  account  of  Mr.  Forster's  book  has  already 
appeared  in  this  Journal,  and  we  shall  endeavour,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, not  to  repeat  what  was  there  stated.  The  author  of  that 
paper,  however,  looks  more  favourably  on  Mr.  Forster's  theory 
than  the  present  writer  can  do ;  and  it  may  be  in  some  cases 
needful  to  repeat  statements  which  were  there  brought  forward, 
in  order  to  put  them  in  a  different  light. 

We  will  m  the  first  instance  examine  the  alleged  decyphering 
of  these  ancient  documents,  waiving  for  the  present  any  genersd 
or  historical  considerations  that  militate  against  the  theory.  And 
here  our  first  objection  is  to  the  alphabet.  Mr.  Forster  lays  down, 
'  as  the  only  soimd  and  safe  rule  of  experimental  decypherment, 
the  following  simple  canon :  that,  in  comparing  an  unknown  with 
known  alphabets,  letters  of  the  same  known  forms  be  assumed  to 
possess  the  same  known  powers'  (p.  45^.  Mr.  Forster  anticipates 
that  this  canon  would  be  objected  to  with  regard  to  Western  lan- 
uages,  but  thinks  that,  *  however  in  Greece  and  the  idioms  of  the 
'/est  this  rule  might  prove  uncertain,  there  was  in  the  nature  of  the 


« 


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1853.]  The  SinaUic  Inscriptions.  329 

case  a  moral  assurance  of  its  certainty  and  safety  in  the  opposite 
quarter,  arising  from  the  unchanging  character  of  all  things  m  the 
East.'  A  stnmge  ground  of  distinction  this  between  Eastern  and 
Western,  in  the  present  case  at  least,  inasmuch  as  these  very  Eastern 
letters  ha?e,  accordingto  his  own  showing,  changed  in  the  most  ex- 
traordinary fashion.  The  unchanging  character  of  all  things  in  the 
East  would  surely  warrant  the  expectation  that  some  resemblance 
might  be  traced  between  every  (or  nearly  every )  letter  of  the  Sinaitic 
alphabet,  and  same  one  of  these  unchangeable  ascertained  Eastern 
alphabets,  whichever  might  be  chosen.  Yet  we  find  Mr.  Forster 
in  the  verv  next  sentence  saying  that  he  has  ' accordingly'  treated 
some  of  the  Sinaitic  signs  as  Hebrew,  others  as  Greek,  others  as 
Arabic,  others  as  Ethiopic,  others  as  the  old  Svriac.  One  might 
have  supposed  from  the  remark  already  quoted  that  some  hesita- 
tion would  have  been  felt  as  to  the  applicability  of  the  Greek 
alphabet,  but  this  Mr.  Forster  justifies  on  the  ground  that  *  the 
Greek  alphabet,  formed  on  the  old  Cadmeian,  bemg  of  Phoenician 
origin,  its  characters  (excepting  the  few  whose  powers  have  been 
changed)  are  as  available  at  Sinai  as  the  Hebrew  or  Arabic' 
(p.  46).  He  even  finds  the  almost  exact  counterpart  of  the  cursive 
Greek  v,  which  undoubtedly  is  a  comparatively  modem  form. 
These  half-dozen  alphabets,  however,  which  thus  strangely  com- 
bine to  complete  the  Sinaitic  alphabet,  are,  after  all,  pressed  into 
the  service  only  in  default  of  the  Egyptian  characters  being  satis- 
fisujtorjr.  Mr.  Forster  has  given  side  by  side  with  what  he  terms  the 
*  Sinai  alphabet,'  the  '  Rosetta,'  and  the  '  Masara  Enchorial  alpha- 
bets,' which  certainly  do  exhibit  most  surprising  examples  of  simi- 
laritv,  not  to  say  identity  of  form.  This  *  harmony  of  the  two  alpha- 
bets has  been,  Mr.  Forster  informs  us, '  executed,  not  by  transcript, 
but  (to  insure  perfect  accuracy)  by  tracing '  (p.  43).  These  alpha- 
bets are  to  us,  we  must  confess,  a  perfect  mystery.  The  wonder  is 
that,  with  such  exact  accordance  it  should  be  necessary  to  refer  to 
so  many  other  alphabets.  Mr.  Forster  s  alphabet  of  the  Rosetta 
stone,  however,  seems  to  be  founded  on  a  principle  of  his  own, 
and,  as  far  as  we  can  discover,  scarcely  a  single  letter  is  given  by 
him  like  any  other  authority  to  which  we  have  access.  Part  of  a 
single  line  of  this  inscription,  for  instance,  is  given  by  Bunsen 
(*  Egypt's  Place,'  p.  594),  and  in  it  there  occurs  the  name  of 
Ptolemy.  The  same  signs  for  the  same  name  are  given  by  Dr. 
Young  (Mus.  Crit  vol.  ii.  p.  175),  and  Tattam  and  Young  (Egypt. 
Gram,  and  Diet.).  Let  any  one  endeavour  to  make  out  the  letters 
by  Mr.  Forster's  plate,  they  will  find  the  attempt  simply  impos- 
sible.*     As  to  the  Sinaitic  character,  assuredly  such  representa- 

■  Since  writing  the  above  we  have  seen  Mr.  Forster's  second  volume  on  *  The 
Monuments  of  Egypt,'  and  find  that  Mr.  F.  discards  the  enchorial  alphabets  of 


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330  The  SinaUic  Imeriptians.  [Jnly, 

tions  as  are  ^yen  in  this  alphabet  wre  not  the  common  forans  foond 
on  the  rocks ;  their  whole  aspect  is  completely  diflerent,  and  we 
do  not  believe  that  with  this  alphabet  any  one  conW  decypher 
half-dozen  consecutive  letters  of  any  one  of  the  inscriptioiB.  We 
cannot  ima^e  that  Mr.  Forster  intends  that  these  also  have  been 
executed  by  tracing.  There  certainly  is  no  such  distinction  of 
thick  and  thin  strokes  as  is  here  shown  in  any  copies  of  the  in- 
scriptions which  have  fallen  under  our  notice. 

Leaving,  however,  his  mode  of  obtaining  the  letters,  let  us  proceed 
to  decypbering  of  the  inscriptions  by  meaiffi  of  this  alphabet.  The 
first  inscription  on  which  mr.  Forster  tried  his  alphabet^  he  found 
to  consist  of  Arabic  words,  which  he  trandates  thus :  '  The  Pec^lc 
with  prone  mouth  drinketh  [at]  the  water-springs  The  People  at 
the  two  water-springs  kicketh  [like]  an  ass  smiting  with  the  bSranch 
of  a  tree  the  well  of  bitterness  he  heals.'  Now,  witn  regard,  first,  to 
the  decypbering  of  the  letters  of  the  inscription.     In  Mr.  Forstw's 

Arabic  rendering,  the  letter  Ain  (  f  )  occiu^  six  times ;  but  in 

the  inscription  the  forms  thus  represented  as  equivalent  with  ^ 

are  alike  in  only  two.  instances ;  in  the  other  four  they  diflFer  very 
materially  from  that  which  occurs  twice,  and  from  each  other. 
Thus,  in  an  inscription  consisting,  according  to  Mr.  Forster's  method 
of  decypbering,  of  five-and-thirty  letters,  five  difierent  forms  are 
used  for  one  letter.  Again,  the  Arabic  Me  (  .),  occurring  d^d 
times,  is  given  as  the  representative  of  three  difierent  signs  in  the 
inscription ;  the  Arabic  Nun  (  ^  )  is  in  one  instance  given  as  the 
representative  of  the  character  which,  m  two  other  words  of  this 
same  inscription,  is  rendered  by  the  Arabic  I>al  (*))•  In  the 
second  word  of  the  inscription  the  character  which  Mr.  Forster 
had  informed  us  only  two  pages  before  he  had  identified  with  the 
Hebrew  a,  is  given  as  D,  In  the  third  word  two  characters 
which,  aocording  to  Mr.  Forster's  alphabet  would  seem  to  be  ^^^ 
are  completely  overlooked. 

Thus  the  decypbering  of  the  letters  appears  to  be  suflBciently 
guess-work.  But  let  us  take  the  Arabic  as  it  is  given,  and  look 
at   the  translation  of   it.      The   third   word,   -j^:   {ddar),  Mr. 

other  writers,  and  has  invented  a  nev  alphabet  of  his  own,  founded  on  his  premos 
(so  called)  discoveries  in  decypherinji;  the  Hamyaritic  and  the  Sinahic  oharacters. 
These  discoveries  he  now  adduces  in  proof  of  the  powers  giren  by  him  to  the 
Egyptian  forms  of  letters.  It  was  hardly  fiiir  to  put  forward  a  new  alphabet  of  the 
Rosetta  stone  without  one  word  of  justification,  or  even  one  word  as  to  its  being 
new,  as  a  proof  of  the  correctness  of  his  Sinaitic  alphabet.  It  yet  remains,  howerer, 
to  be  shown  that  his  Rosetta  alphabet  is  correct.  Certainly,  the  appeal  to  this 
Sinai  alphabet  will  not  avail  much  for  this  purpose. 

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1853.]  The  Smaitic  Inscriptions.  331 

Forster  translates  *  (at)  the  water^springs,'  and  immediately  after, 
^^\jj^  {ddaren)   '  (at)   the   two   water-springs/      Now,    not   to 

insist  on  the  fact  that  the  first  word  ought  certainly  to  be  singular 
if  the  second  is  to  be  taken  as  dual,  there  is  no  proof  whatever  of 
this  Arabic  word  being  used  as  a  noun  in  the  sense  of  a  water- 
spring.  The  seventh  word,  which  Mr.  Forster  renders  '  kicketh 
(like)  an  ass,'  is,  according  to  the  inscription,  j^^Lcj  {rama7uim\ 
and  not  ^j  (ramdha)^  as  Mr.  Forster  gives  it  in  his  Arabic. 

The  final  m  is  explained  in  a  note  as  being  a  servile  letter,  and 
reference  is  made  to  Golius's  Lexicon  under  another  root,  in  proof 
of  such  a  servile  letter  being  sometimes  added.  This  reference 
in  no  way  serves  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  quoted,  inasmuch  as 
in  that  instance  an  adjective  is  formed  from  a  verb  by  the  addition 
of  this  servile  m,  whilst  here  the  word  with  the  additional  letter  is 
still  a  verb,  and  has  the  same  meaning  as  it  would  have  had  with- 
out it.  But,  besides  this,  the  verb  has  the  meaning  simply  of 
kicking,  and  the  word  ass  is  added  in  the  lexicons  only  to  explain 
in  what  connection  it  is  used.  Further,  there  is  no  more  reason 
for  inserting  this  word  than  the  word  *  horse'  or  *mule.'  All 
three  animals  are  mentioned  in  the  lexicons,  and  the  ass  not  first 
in  any  lexicon  we  have  secn.^  The  word  rendered  branch  of  a 
tree,  J  (nar)^  is  Persian,  not  Arabic.     It  is  in  this  word  that  the 

first  letter  seems  to  be  rather  a  d  than  an  n.  Besides  this,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Forster  himself,  it  means  ^  the  main  branch  of  a 
tree,' — not  a  very  convenient  instrument,  one  would  think,  with 
which  to  smite  the  fountain,  and  certainly  not  the  same  thing  as  a 
stafiT,  as  Mr.  Forster  calls  it  in  his  translation.  The  last  word 
<i.  (rq^a),  Mr.  Forster  seems  to  have  strangely  confounded 
with  the  Hebrew  Kan,  to  which  he  refers.  The  latter  word,  in 
Arabic,  Si.  (rafda),  is  found  in  both  languages,  and  in  both  has 

the  meaning  to  mend  (e.  ff.  a  torn  garment) ;  in  Hebrew  (not  in 
Arabic)  it  thence  gets  the  meaning  to  heal  (e.  g,  a  wound),  and 
thi6  is  figuratively  applied  to  making  sweet  (that  is  healing)  bitter 
water  (2  Kings  ii.  22).  But  this  is  not  the  word  which  Mr. 
Forster  professes  to  find  in  the  inscription,  nor  has  his  word  this 
meaning.**     Besides  this,  he   strangely  enough  looks  upon  the 

^  Golim:  Calcitnyit  tquu^  cuims,  multu.    Freytag:  Cakibus  oecidit  aliquem 
tfgiuif ,  annus^  multis,    Willniet :  Calcitravit  equus,  etc. 

*'  The  question  it  not  at  all  whether  ou  ^<^  Ut  ^^J  ^^^  ultimately  be  traced 

to  the  same  root.    In  the  Arabic,  as  it  exists,  they  are  different  roots,  and  have 

different  meanings.    Mr,  Forster  appeals  to  the  Arabic  oj,  and  to  its  meaning, 

curavit,  which  he  misonderetands.  He  has  no  right  to  join  with  it  the  Hebrew 
KD'>,  which  corresponds  not  with  that,  but  with  another  Arabic  word. 

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332  The  Sinaitic  IndcriptioM.  [July, 

Latin  curavit^  which  he  cites  as  the  meaning  of  «j^,   as  if  it 

were  used  in  its  technical  sense  of  curing  {i.  q.  sanavit)  instead  of 
tending  J  caring  for^  though  in  Golius  the  meaning  stands  thus : 
'  Conservavit,  tutatus  fuit,  curavit,  benefecit,  honoravit,' — all  plainly 
showing  that  no  notion  of  healing  was  intended  to  be  conveyed. 

Now  surely  all  this  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  want  of  care  and 
the  excess  of  confidence  with  which  if r.  Foreter  proceeded  in  his 
task.  Such  excessive  confidence,  when  indulged  m  often  enough, 
is  almost  sure  in  some  instance  to  meet  with  singular  confirma- 
tion. So  it  was  in  this  case.  Mr.  Forster  had,  as  we  have  seen 
in  regard  to  the  word  ^^^  {ramaha)^  fixed  on  the  ass  as  the 

kicking  animal,  though  the  word  merely  means  kicking,  and  has 
no  reference  whatever  to  the  ass  more  than  to  any  other  similar 
animal,  and  he  consequently  ventured  to  predict  that  the  Qua- 
druped, a  figure  of  which  was  stated  to  be  opposite  the  last  line 
but  one  of  the  inscription,  but  was  not  given  in  the  only  copy 
which  Mr.  Forster  had  then  seen,  would  turn  out  to  be  an  ass. 
A  day  or  two  afterwards  Professor  Beer's  book  came  into  his 
hands,  which  contains  two  other  copies  of  the  inscription,  accom- 
panied by  the  rude  outline  of  a  animal  which  appears  to  be  an  ass. 
This  is  certainly  a  striking  coincidence ;  but  what  does  it  prove  ? 
The  fact  seems  to  be  that  Mr.  Forster  was  influenced  in  his  trans- 
lation by  passages  to  which  he  himself  refers,  where  the  Israelites 
are  spoken  of  under  the  figure  of  a  wild  ass,  and  so  naturally 
looks  for  this  animal  rather  than  the  horse  or  the  mule  in  the 

Eictorial  illustration  as  he  deems  it.  But  surely  he  must  himself 
ave  felt  some  shade  of  disappointment,  even  amidst  the  satisfisuv 
tion  which  the  verification  ot  his  prediction  aflbrded  him,  to  find, 
instead  of  a  kicking  ass,  as  the  inscription  requires,  an  animal 
standing  as  quiet  as  any  costermonger's  donkey.  Mr.  Forster 
places  by  the  side  of  this  rude  outline  the  drawing  of  a  wild  ass 
m  order  to  show  the  resemblance  between  the  two,  and,  of  course, 
the  wild  ass  is  made  to  stand  still,  the  only  indication  of  its  wild- 
ness  being  ^ven  by  its  eye  and  a  vicious  twist  backwards  of  its 
ear;  but  unfortunately  the  Sinai  sketches  have  no  eye  and  the 
ears  point  the  other  way.  We  are  thus  particidar  in  respect  to 
what  after  all  is  a  coincidence  of  very  small  value,  however  sin- 
gular, because  our  author  places  very  great  stress  upon  it,  and 
declares  that  *  the  proof  of  the  correct  reading  and  rendering  of 
the  word  ramah  and  of  the  true  powers,  consequently,  of  the  three 
characters  which  compose  it,  was  now  placed  above  criticism* 
(p.  52).  Mr.  Forster  finds  in  the  inscription  itself  a  similar  con- 
firmation of  his  translation,  '  drinking  with  prone  mouth  at  the 
water-springs.'     It  happens  that  in  Mr.  Grey's  copy  of  the  in- 

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1853.]  The  Smaitic  ItiMcriptvm.  333 

scription  there  are  represented  two  jagged  curved  lines,  which  we 
take  to  indicate  faults  or  cracks  in  the  stone.  These  Mr.  Forster 
regards  as  outlines  of  the  *  two  water-springs ; '  and  one  of  these 
he  identifies,  on  the  authority  of  a  fellow  and  tutor  of  Cambridge 
who  had  passed  four  years  in  Palestine  and  Arabia  Petreea,  with 
the  fountain  of  Hawara — of  which  he  gives  a  plate — a  fountain 
*  about  five  feet  in  diameter,'  with  a  stream  runnmg  from  it.  The 
plate,  however,  does  but  very  imperfectly  represent  the  outline  on 
the  rock ;  according  to  the  latter  the  narrow  part,  which  should 
be  the  stream,  is  abruptly  terminated  by  a  line,  and  the  wider  part, 
which  should  represent  the  fountain,  is  without  any  boundary  on 
the  side  away  from  the  stream :  it  dearly  ought  to  be  the  other 
way.  We  proceed  to  tmalyse  one  other  of  Mr.  Forster's  *  decypher- 
ments,'  ana  introduce  it  by  quoting  at  length  the  whole  of  h}s  re* 
marks  upon  it. 

'  BATTLE  OF  REPHIDIM  :   FIGURE  OF  MOSES  WITH  UPLIFTED  HANDS. 
(Exod.  xvii.  8-16.) 

*  Th^significancy  of  the  rude  figures  and  outlines  in  the  Siiiaitic  in- 
scriptions, and  their  close  connection  with  the  sense,  had  been  sufliciently 
established  from  Mr.  Gray's  collection  before  I  had  seen  that  of  Pro- 
fessor Beer.  When,  accordingly,  in  his  "  Century,"  I  opened  upon  an 
inscription  upon  the  rock,  "  in  a  situation  now  inaccessible,"  which  had 
been  partially  given  only  by  Gray,  containing  above  a  single  line  in  the 
unknown  characters,'*  and  a  man  standing  over  it  with  uplifted  hands,* 
the  whole  inscribed  in  the  outline  of  a  great  stone,  I  felt  the  probability 
stood  high  that  the  inscription  contained  a  record  of  a  corresponding 
event  of  the  Exode.  The  attitude  of  the  fig^ure  pointed  towards  one 
event ;  but  the  inference  was  to  be  drawn,  not  from  the  figure,  but  from 
the  decypherment.  The  inscription  was  decyphered  by  the  alphabet 
previously  constructed  firom  experiments ;  and  proved  to  be  the  record 
of  the  battle  of  Rephidim,  with  the  figure  of  Moses  with  uplifted  hands,' 
and  the  names  of  Aaron  and  Hur,  his  supporters,  with  mention  of  the 
stone,  and  apparently  the  delineation  of  its  form.' — pp.  116,  117. 

Mr.  Forster  states  that  this  inscription  had  been  *  partially  given 
only  by  Gray.'     The  fact  is,  that  the  inscription  was  given  even 

<*  '  The  barbarous  Greek  scrawled  nndemeath  this  line,  is  so  obviously  a  super- 
fetation,  as  to  be  unworthy  of  note  or  comment.  The  Saracenic  name  OvfMpos, 
Omatf  is  an  exception,  because  it  indicates  a  post-Afahometan  date  for  these  super- 
additions.' 

*  '  This  pre-eminently  Mosaic  symbol  is  a  commonplace  at  Sinai :  **  Homimes — 
manus  ad  ccelum  tollentes."— Seer,  Introd.  p.  xii.  What  a  corroboration  of  the 
other  proofs  of  designed  allusion  here  to  Moses  at  Rephidim !' 

'  *  The  Sinsutic  inscriptions  once  proved  of  Israelitish  ori^,  it  is  obyious  that 
any  pictorial  representations  found  among  them,  agreeing  with  great  events  of  the 
Exode,  acquire  an  authority  as  designed  agreements,  which  otherwise  they  could 
not  possess.  They  become,  in  &ct,  aids  and  corroborations  of  decypherment, 
whenever  they  are  accompanied  by  inscriptions.' 


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334  The  SmaUic  Inseriptions.  [July, 

more  fully  by  Grey  than  afterwards  by  Lord  Prudhoe^  whose  copy 
Beer  givee  side  by  side  with  Grey's,  except  that  the  figure  of  uie 
man  with  uplifted  hands  at  the  top  was  only  mentiooed  not 
delineated.  We  may  safely  affirm  that  the  incompleteness  of  the 
inscription  was  not  tne  reason  why  Mr.  Forster  overlooked  it  in 
Grey  s  plates.  The  fact  is  that  the  inscription  con^sts  of  one  line 
of  the  unknown  characters  and  three  lines  in  Greek  characters, 
and,  consequently,  it  is  placed  by  Grey  amongst  the  Greek  in- 
scriptions as  an  Appendix  to  the  Sinaitio.  Tne  Greek  part,  it 
will  be  observed,  Mr.  Forster  dismisses  in  a  very  cavalier  fashion. 
It  would  have  been  only  fair,  however,  to  have  quoted  Mr.  (Jrey's 
own  account  of  it,  which  we  will  supply :  *  The  original  is  en- 
closed by  lines  drawn  as  seen  here;  it  is  on  the  rock,  in  a 
situation  now  inaccessible — ^appears  perfect,  and  is  not  cut,  but 
rather  dotted  out  with  a  pointed  instrument,  like  all  the  inscrip- 
tions of  the  unknown  character.  The  hand  also  of  all  the  part 
enclosed,  seems  to  be  the  same.  Over  the  first  line  is  the  figure 
of  a  man  with  uplifted  hands,  and  imder  the  Greek  a  horw^' « 

Mr.  Forster's  theory  obliges  him,  of  course,  to  reject  the  Greek 
— the  same  theory  leads  him  very  naturally  to  seek  to  find  some- 
thing in  the  words  that  will  relate  to  the  man  with  uplifted  hands, 
and  this  is  an  easy  task  for  ingenuity  such  as  Mr.  Forster's.  Hia 
interpretation  is,  '  Prayeth  unto  God  the  prophet  [up<m]  a  hard 
great  stone  [his]  hands  sustaining  Aaron  Hur.'  Now,  there 
exist  three  copies  of  this  inscription — the  two  already  mentioned 
by  Grey  and  Prudhoe,  and  a  third  by  Coutelle,  in  the  great 
French  work  on  Egypt.  All  of  them  are  given  in  one  plate  by 
Beer,  and  they  serve  to  correct  and  complete  each  other.  Mr. 
Forster  takes  no  notice  of  either  Grey's  or  Coutelle's  copies.  If  he 
did,  his  interpretation  would  fall  to  the  ground.  As  it  is,  the 
names  Aaron  and  Hur  seem  to  us  to  be  put  into,  rather  than  got 
out  of,  the  written  characters.  The  first  letter  of  both  names 
Mr,  Forster  interprets  as  the  Arabic  He  (jb).  Each  is  quite 
unlike  the  other,  and  unlike  any  other  form  to  which  this  value 
is  ffiven  by  Mr.  Forster  in  any  other  inscription.  Besides  this, 
neither  of  the  names  is  spelt  correctly.  The  name  Hur  in 
Hebrew  is  n^n,  but,  as  given  by  Mr.  Forster,  it  is  when  put 
in  Hebrew  characters  nn.  Aaron  is  in  Hebrew  pnK ;  Mr. 
Forster's  name  put  in  Hebrew  characters  is  pin.  These  names, 
then,  could  only  be  identified  by  finding  that  the  rest  of  the 
inscription  plainly  gave  such  a  meaning  as  would  be  evidence  for 
them.  They  cannot  be  admitted  as  substantiating  the  other  part 
of  the   record.     It  must  substantiate   them.     Again,   the  word 

8  Trans,  R.  S.  of  Lit.,^  vol.  u. 

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1853.]  Tie  SmaUic  Inderiptunu.  335 

which  he  translates  ^  smtaimng '  is  whoU j  conjectural.  Its  only 
rq)re8entative  in  the  inscription  is  a  single  sign,  which,  according 
to  Mr.  Forster,  has  the  power  of  2.  To  this  he  adds  a  letter  at 
the  banning  and  another  at  the  end  and  thus  gets  the  verb  ^cj^ 

Sxza\  which  he  translates  *  causing  to  lean,  propping  the  back.* 
is,  however,  is  not  a  lair  statement ;  the  verb  has  not  in  this 
form  the  meaning  assigned  to  it.  In  the  first  conjugation  it 
means  *  congregatus,  conglomeratus  fuit.'  In  the  fourth  con- 
jugation, where  the  form  of  it  will  be  ^cj^^  {awaza\  so  that  & 

fourth  letter  ought  to  be  added,  it  has  the  meaning  quoted  by 
Mr.  Forster.  But  what  is  this  meaning  ?  The  Latin  given  by 
Mr.  Forster  is  '  Inniti  fecit,  fidsit,  dorsum  mmmJ  The  notion  is 
of  a  man  supporting  hU  oton  back,  Mr.  Forstar  ^^plies  the  word 
to  persons  sustaining  the  hands  of  another.  This,  however,  is  not 
the  w<M^  We  have  mentioned  smaller  objections  first,  but  we 
must  now  call  attention  to  the  first  word  of  the  sentence.  All 
that  Mr.  Forster  has  in  the  inscription  for  the  whde  phrase 
'  prayeth  unto  God  the  preset,'  is  the  smgle  word  \^  (daa). 
Tie  meanings  of  this  word,  which  Mr.  Forster  selects  as  suitable 
to  his  purpose,  are  *Invocavit,  rogavit,  Deum.  Convocavit  ad 
Dtum  prtifkda^  which  he  translates,  *  Invokes,  supplicates  Qod. 
Calls  to  Ghd  the  prophet.*  These  meanings  agam  belong  to 
diflferent  conjugations  of  the  verb.  This,  however,  is  not  the  point 
to  which  we  wish  to  call  attention.  Mr.  Forster  translates  the 
word  prayeth  tmto  God  the  prophet^  but  he  has  no  word  here  for 
prophet  nor  for  God,  the  words  in  italics  being  of  course  added  in 
the  lexicons  only  to  indicate  the  connection  in  which  the  word  is 
used.  Besides,  lie  has  not  even  this  ground  to  authorise  his  puttino^ 
together  the  two  phrases,  ^prayeth  to  God '  and  '  the  ;propheP 
into  one  and  the  same  translation  of  the  word.  The  lexicons  do 
not  give  such  a  meaning,  as  any  one  who  knows  anything  of  Latin 
will  immediately  see.  The  first  meaning  quoted  is  indeed  that  of 
invoking  God,  or  raaying  to  God,  but  he^e  there  is  no  reference 
to  the  proj^t  The  second  meaning  does  refer  to  the  prophet, 
but  it  does  not  refer  to  prayer.  It  spades  of  the  prophet  convoking 
to  God — ^not  irwoking  Him.  Mr.  Forster  must  choose  one  of  the 
two :  he  camiot  take  parts  of  each — it  is  either  '  invokes  God,' 
or,  *th«  prophet  convokes  to  God.'  Was  it  fair,  then,  to 
translate  this  into  English  ambiguously,  *  calls  to  God  the 
prophet,'  as  if  these  woi^  did  really  mean  the  same  thing  with 
'prayeth  unto  God  the  projAet'  Does  not  this  lodt  too 
much  like  a  determination  to  make  out  a  case  per  fas  out  nefas  f 
On  the  whole,  let  us  see  what  Mr.  Forster's  decyphering  really 
gives  us.    Putting  aside  the  prc^r  names,  for  the  reasons  abeady 

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336  The  Smaitic  Inscriptiona.  [«f  uly, 

E'ven,  and  also  the  purely  conjectural  word,  what  have  we  left? 
.English  this — ^prayed,  ^eat  stone,  hard,  hand — an  indefinite 
sentence  enough.  Certain^,  if  we  add  to  diis — ^propped,  Aaron^ 
Hur,  truly — as  the  four  last  words  of  Mr.  Forsters  translation 
read,  it  becomes  more  definite ;  but,  as  we  have  said,  for  the  word 
*  propped'  there  is  no  evidence  at  all,  and  the  proof  that  the 
names  are  really  there  must  be  gained  from  the  significant  words 
of  the  sentence.  Now  in  these,  what  is  there  to  give  us  the  slightest 
intimation  of  the  sense  being  that  Aaron  and  Hur  supported 
the  hands  of  Moses  ?  Besides,  how  is  it  that  the  name  oi  Moses 
himself  is  not  mentioned  ?  Mr.  Forster,  by  his  interpretation, 
replies  that  ^  the  prophet '  is  mentioned.  This  we  affirm  is  fidse. 
There  is  no  word  signifying  prophet,  and  there  is  no  autliority 
whatever  for  regarding  the  term  prophet  as  included  in  the  verb 
at  all,  and  especially  when  it  has  the  sense  of  praying.  The  inter- 
pretation then  faUs  to  the  ground  of  itself,  so  far  as  the  words  are 
concerned.  But  there  is  the  figure  above  the  inscription  of  a  man 
with  outstretched  hands,  and  is  not  this  Moses  ?  \Ve  need  only 
remark,  that  the  man  is  standing ;  but,  according  to  Mr.  Forster  s 
own  interpretation,  the  inscription  refers  to  the  stone  on  which 
Moses  sat — nav,  the  line  round  is,  according  to  him,  an  outline  of 
that  stone.  The  fact  recorded  in  the  Bible  is,  that  Moses  sat  on 
a  stone,  and  that  his  hands  were  held  up  by  Aaron  and  Hur,  and 
are  we  to  believe  that  this  is  shown  by  a  figure  of  a  man  standing 
and  holding  uv  his  own  arms  without  the  assistance  of  any  one  ? 
But  enough  ot  this.  There  are  yet  other  objections  even  more 
weighty  to  this  interpretation. 

It  will  be  rememoered  that  in  Mr.  Forster's  remarks,  already 
quoted,  mention  is  made  of  certain  Greek  characters  which 
Mr.  F,  designates  as  *the  barbarous  Greek  scrawled  under- 
neath this  line.'  It  is  easy  to  sneer  at  a  stubborn  fitct,  and  then, 
presuming  on  the  ignorance  of  those  to  whom  the  argument  is 
addressed,  to  speak  of  it  ^as  unworthy  of  note  or  comment.' 
But  is  it  quite  fair  to  profess  to  give  a  copy  of  an  inscription,  and 
without  one  word  of  explanation,  to  leave  out  the  greater  portion 
of  that  which  primSi  jade  belongs  to  it  ?  Is  it  fair,  moreover,  to 
pass  by  the  statement  of  the  writer  from  whom  Mr.  Forster  would 
not  copy  the  inscription,  and  to  simulate  ignorance  of  the  fiust 
recorded  by  Mr.  Gray  and  repeated  by  Professor  Beer,  from  whom 
Mr.  Forster  does  copy  it,  that  ^  the  hand  of  all  the  part  enclosed 
seems  to  be  the  same  ? '  Is  it  fair,  by  leaving  out  tne  Greek,  to 
present  an  outline  enclosing  the  inscription  much  larger  than  is 
needful  for  this  purpose,  and  thereby  to  give  colour  to  the  as- 
sertion that  this  outline  is  'apparently  the  delineation'  of  the 
stone  on  which  Moses  sat,  when  the  unknown  characters  and  the 


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1853.]  The  Sinaitic  Inseriptian$.  337 

Greek  togettier  fill  up  the  whole  space  so  enclosed  ?  Is  it  fair  to 
omit  aD  reference  to  the  fact  tnat  the  inscription,  that  is,  of 
course,  the  whole  inscription,  including  the  GrecK,  is  described  as 
*  not  cut,  but  rather  dotted  out  with  a  pointed  instrument,  like  all 
the  inscriptions  of  the  unknown  character,'  a  fact  which  of  itself 
furnishes  the  strongest  evidence  that  the  two  are  contemporaneous  ? 
Is  it  fwr,  lastly,  with  Beer's  interpretation  before  him,  to  s^eak  of 
this  Greek  as  'obviously  a  superfetation,'  when,  accormng  to 
that  interpretation,  the  Greek  in  part  at  least  expresses  the 
same  meaning  as  the  Sinaitic  characters  ?  To  this  last  point  we 
shall  again  revert.  The  two  translations  which  we  have  thus 
discussed  at  length  may  be  taken  as  a  sample  of  the  whole.  We 
should  only  weary  our  readers  to  no  purpose  if  we  were  to  go 
further  with  an  examination  of  this  kind. 

We  proceed  now  to  notice  one  or  two  general  principles  assumed 
by  Mr.  Forster  in  his  translations,  which  seem  to  us  to  invalidate 
them  all.  It  will  have  been  noticed,  perhaps,  in  the  examples 
we  have  given,  and  it  is  abundantly  more  conspicuous  throughout 
Mr.  Forster's  book,  that  all  the  connecting  woixls  of  the  sentences 
are  supplied  by  Mr.  Forster  himself.  In  fact,  he  regards  the  lan- 
guage of  the  inscriptions  as  having  no  inflections,  no  conjunctions 
or  prepositions,  no  indications  of  government.  Besides  this,  he 
finds  tnat  the  Sinaitic  inscriptions  are  in  Arabic,  not  in  Hebrew. 
We  will  not  enter  on  the  discussion  of  the  first  of  these  points 
further  than  it  is  involved  in  the  second.  Mr.  Forster  feels  that 
some  reason  must  be  given  for  the  employment  of  the  Arabic 
language  in  decyphering  the  inscriptions.  The  objection  may  be 
thus  put,  How  is  it  to  be  accounted  for,  granting  that  these  in- 
scriptions are  the  work  of  the  Israelites  in  the  time  of  Moses,  that 
hid  language  in  the  Pentateuch  is  in  every  respect  so  different 
from  theirs?  Moses  writes  in  Hebrew — the  writers  of  the  in- 
scriptions use  Arabic.  Moses  employs  a  language  with  inflections 
of  verbs  and  noims,  and  in  which  particles  are  used  to  express 
relations — ^the  language  of  the  inscriptions  has  no  inflections,  no 
particles  of  relation.  Mr.  Forster  endeavours  to  meet  this  ob- 
jection, and  we  give  his  answer  to  it  at  length : — 

^  But  if  Israel  in  the  wilderness  still  used  the  language  of  Egypt, 
how,  it  may  be  asked,  are  we  to  account  for  the  rise  of  the  Scriptural 
Hebrew?  The  answer  seems  easy  and  natural.  The  Scriptural 
Hebrew  would  appear  to  have  been  first  imparted  to  Moses  by  Jehovah 
himself,  upon  the  two  tables  of  eommandments,  and  at  the  giving  of  the 
law  from  Mount  Sinai.  The  reason  for  such  a  provision  is  to  be  found 
in  the  nature  of  the  case.  It  was  clearly  the  design  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, from  the  first  hour  of  the  Exode,  on  the  one  hand  to  sever  the 
Israelites  from  all  contact  with  the  manners  and  idolatry  of  Egypt, 

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S38  The^  SmaUic  Inseriptians.  [July, 


whence  they  had  so  recently  departed ;  and,  on  the  otker  faaad,  to  ( 
them  amidst  the  idolatrous  nations  by  whom  they  were  to  be  surrounded 
in  the  land  of  promise.  But  no  efi^ual  sevenuent  or  isolation  could 
take  place  so  long  as  the  language  remained  the  same.  And  as,  at 
Babel,  Almighty  God  interposed  miraculously,  iy  diversity  of  languagey 
to  disperse  immkind ;  so,  by  strict  analogy,  after  the  Exode,  we  might 
again  expect  Him  to  interpose,  by  pectdiarity  of  language,  to  insulate 
his  people  Israel. 

'  This  natural  anticipation  appears  to  be  met  by  more  than  one  sig- 
nificant intimation  of  Scripture.  Thus  in  the  eighty-fiwt  Psalm,  which 
treats  especially  of  the  thunders  of  Sinai,  and  the  giving  of  the  com- 
mandments,  we  read  : — 

^  For  this  was  a  statute  lor  Israel, 

And  a  law  of  the  God  of  Jacob ; 

This  he  ordained  in  Joseph  for  a  testimony, 

When  he  went  out  through  the  land  of  Egypt : 

J  heard  a  language  I  understood  not," 

Of  the  several  interpiwtations  of  this  passage,  none  is  so  simple,  or  so 
clear^  as  that  which  refers  the  ^^  strange  language"  here  spoken  of,  to 
the  voice  of  Jehovah,  speaking  £rom  Sinai  to  Moses  and  the  people  in 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  to  them,  as  yet,  a  new  and  unknown  dialect.  In 
perfect  accordance  with  this  passage,  and  with  this  interpretation  of  it, 
are  the  words  of  Zephaniah :  ''  For  then  will  [  turn  to  the  people  a  pure 
language :  that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  serve 
Him  with  one  consentr  This  prophecy  may  most  justly  be  thus 
understood  and  applied :  "  As,  at  the  beginning  of  your  existence  as  a 
nation,  I  gave  you  ^  a  pure  language'  from  Mount  Sinai ;  so,  at  the  end, 
I  will  restore  you  *  a  pure  language,'  a  vehicle  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion meet  to  oeldbrate  my  praise,  and  in  which  to  call  upon  my  name." 
For  this  last  reason,  especially,  the  Hebrew  of  the  Pentateuch,  theoce- 
forward  to  become  the  language  of  the  whole  H^>rew  people,  may  be 
regarded  as  a  pure  language  or  idiom  revealed  from  heaven,  less  simple, 
b^use  more  regularly  constructed  than  any  of  the  primevid  tongues ; 
in  order  that  no  tongue  polluted  by  heathen  profligacy  or  idolatry 
might  profane,  by  becoming  their  receptacle,  the  uvely  oracles  of 
God,'  (pp.  76-78.) 

Is  this  answer  satis&ctory  ?  To  us  we  confess  it  is  not ;  for,  in  the 
first  place,  there  is  not  the  slightest  mention  of  or  allusion  to  any 
such  change  of  language  throughout  the  whole  of  the  writings  of 
Moses,  and  then  again,  there  is  no  such  tradition  mentioned  by 
any  subsequent  writer  in  any  part  of  the  Jewish  history.  Mr. 
Forster*s  only  Biblical  authorities  for  his  hypothesis  are  one  pas- 
sage in  the  Book  of  Psalms,  and  another  in  tfie  prophecy  of 
Zephaniah.  The  latter  has  plainly  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
the  question ;  it  is  a  prophecy  of  what  shall  be,  not  a  statement  of 
what  lias  been ;  and  in  the  paraphrase  of  the  passage  all  that  gives 
it  the  appearance  of  applicax)ility  is  inserted  by  Mr.  Forster.    The 


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1853.]  The  Sinaitie  IimriptimB.  339 

passage  in  the  Slst  Psalm  does  undoubtedly  refer  to  the  period  we 
are  considering ;  but,  even  if  we  allow  mx.  Forster's  translation, 
which  we  are  not  inclined  to  do,  it  proves  notiiing ;  for  surely  it 
must  haye  been,  not  the  dialect  in  wluch  God  spoke,  but  the  con- 
tents of  the  law  which  he  gave,  that  they  understood  not.  It  is 
scarcely  conceiyable  that  a  change  so  great  as  this,  a  miracle 
affecting  a  whole  nation,  should  have  so  utterly  faded  firom  the 
records  and  memory  of  the  people  that  no  single  trace  of  it  is  dis- 
coverable, not  only  in  the  writings  of  the  historian  contemporary 
with  the  event,  but  in  any  subsequent  jpart  of  the  history,  except 
one  expresdon,  which  may  obscurely  hmt  at  it,  in  a  sacred  song 
compel  some  five  hundred  years  lulerwards. 

But  let  it  be  remembered  that  if  this  point  is  not  proved,  the 
whole  proof  of  the  correctness  of  Mr.  F<MP8ter's  decyphering  is 
invalid,  for  it  must  be  based  on  this  hypothesis.  But  a^n,  Mr. 
Forster  regards  this  original  language,  that  of  the  inscription,  as 
the  one  primeval  language,  and  intimates  that  its  words  ai«  to  be 
almost  always  found  in  the  Arabic  Lexicons,  but  belong  to  that 
part  of  the  Arabic  language  which  at  present  has  fallen  out  of  use. 
It  is  manifest  then  that,  to  obtain  the  meaning  of  the  decyphered 
words,  the  radical  signification  of  the  Arabic  words,  and  not  their 
multiplied  derivative  meanings,  should  be  sought  It  is  on  these 
meanings,  if  any,  that,  according  to  Mr.  Forster's  own  principles, 
he  must  rely ;  for  the  radical  signification  is  surely  the  oldest  Yet 
the  fact  is,  that  there  is  throughout  the  book  no  trace  of  any  regard 
whatever  to  the  original  meaning  of  the  words.  That  meaning  is 
taken  which  happens  to  suit  the  purpose,  no  matter  how  palpably  a 
seoondarjr  one.  We  will  specif  one  instance,  because  there  can 
be  no  dispute  about  it ;  it  is  n'om  Mr.  Forster  himself  tiiat  we 

copy  it.      The  word  c   S  (hara&\  the   first  word  in  the  first 

inscription  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  is  twice  translated 
by  Mr.  Forster,  *  drinking  with  prone  mouth,'  and  in  each  case 
the  remark  of  Gesenius  on  the  Hebrew  word  jtd,  *  to  bend,'  is 
quoted  as  follows : — '  Apud  Arabes  significationis  primigenise  ves- 
tiffia  tantum  supersunt :  w^,  prono  ore  bibit,  pro  incurvavit  se  ad 
bibendum.'  Mr.  Forster  thus  acknowledges  that  here,  at  least, 
he  is  taking,  not  the  primitive,  but  the  secondary  meaning.  At 
least  his  quotation  from  Gesenius  declares  that  this  is  so.  But  we 
are  sadly  puzzled  to  know  why  this  quotation,  thus  proclaiming 
that  the  meaning  which  Mr.  Forster  affixes  to  the  won!  is  not  the 
one  which  the  conditions  of  the  question  required,  should  be  thus 
prominentiy,  and  twice  over,  put  before  his  readers.  Can  it  be 
that  he  has  misread  Gesenius? — that  he  has  really  taken  him  to 
mean  the  very  opposite  of  what  he  does  mean,  and  that  he  has 
thought  that  he  was  strengthening,  not  weakening  his  cause,  b 


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840  The  SinaUie  Inscriptions.  [ Jtfly, 

the  citation  ?  The  conjecture  does  indeed  seem  an  extrayagant 
one.  It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  any  one  acquainted  with 
Latin  should  interpret  Gesenius'  remark  as  meaning  that  amongst 
the  Arabs  only  were  there  any  vestiges  of  the  primitive  agnifi- 
cation  of  the  word,  instead  of  what  is  the  true  rendering,  that 
amongst  them  there  are  only  vestiges  of  this  signification ;  yet 
Mr.  Forster's  carelessness  of  translation  in  other  instances  does 
give  some  colour  to  an  explanation  which  would  otherwise  seem 
absurd. 

And  this  leads  us  directly  to  our  next  general  ground  of  objec- 
tion. Plainly  stated,  it  is  this, — we  feel  no  confidence  in  Mr. 
Forster  as  a  translator.  If  his  renderings  of  Latin  into  English 
cannot  be  depended  on,  what  confidence  can  we  place  on  his  trans- 
lations of  Arabic  ?  We  have  ahready  noticed  now  he  translates 
in  the  inscription  which  he  refers  to  the  praying  of  Moses,  the 
phrase  *  Convocat  ad  Deum  propheta,'  by  *  Pnayeth  unto  God  the 
prophet'  This,  if  it  is  not  sheer  carelessness,  is  what  we  know 
not  how  otherwise  to  designate  than  designed  fraud.  We  will 
refer  to  some  other  instances.  In  an  inscription  which  Mr.  Forster 
applies  to  the  fiery  flying  serpents,  he  gets  as  the  meaning  of  one 
of  the  words  *  Dedit  praestititve  jusjuranium^  which  he  translates 
*  Taking  or  tendering  <m  oath,  a  vow '  (p.  135).  Having  thus, 
without  any  authority  fix)m  the  Latin,  slipped  in  the  word  *  vow ' 
as  synonymous  with  oath  {which  it  is  7u>t%  he  proceeds  to  make 
use  of  that  word  only,  and  in  his  translation  of  the  inscription 
makes  the  word  mean  *  ofier  up  vows,'  a  meaning  which  certainly 
he  has  not  found  in  his  Arabic  lexicon.  Again,  in  another  in- 
scription, he  gets  from  GoUus,  as  one  meaning  of  the  Arabic  word 
t/Jjj(i  {dirwas)  the  phrase  *Camelus  talis  submissus  et  obse- 
q uens,'  the  plain  English  of  which,  we  take  to  be,  a  camel  kneeling 
(literally  let  down  on  its  pastern  joints)  and  obedient.  Mr.  Forster 
translates  it  *  A  camel  pliant  and  yielding  on  its  paatems '  (!)  and, 
moreover,  thinks  it  worth  while  to  quote,  in  confirmation,  a  phrase 
from  Silius  Italicus,  where  the  participles  have  not  the  same  con- 
struction, *  Cerberus  ore  submisso  obs^uens '  (p.  147). 

In  these  instances  the  Latin  is  the  translation  of  a  word  some- 
what refractory,  perhaps,  and  needing  a  littie  management  to 
make  it  fit  into  the  required  sentences.  We  are  most  of  all 
astonished  at  some  mistakes  which  occur  in  the  introductory  part, 
in  translating  Beer's  account  of  the  inscriptions.  Beer  remarks, 
that  those  who  have  copied  the  inscriptions  say,  that  it  is  not  un- 
frequentiy  diflficult  to  distinguish  the  figures  which  are  found  with 
the  inscriptions  from  letters,  and  then  adds,  'ITius  it  has  hap- 
pened that  they  [i.  e,  the  transcribers]  have  sometimes  ^ven  letters 
for  parts  of  figures,  and  vice  versdy  figures  for  a  combination  of 

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1853.]  The  Smaitic  Inscriptions.  341 

letters.'  Tliis  Mr.  Forster  translates,  'The  truth  is,  that  the 
original  writers  sometimes  employed  images  as  parts  of  letters^  and, 
vice  versa,  images  for  groups  of  letters*  (p.  11).  The  italics  are 
Mr.  Forster's,  and,  what  is  marvellous,  as  if  to  convict  himself,  he 
adds  the  Latin  in  a  note  as  we  also  do.^  The  mere  English  reader 
of  Mr.  Forster's  hook  would,  we  imagine,  he  puzzled  by  his  '  vice 
versa,'  Where  is  the  ccmtrast  thus  indicated?  It  is  only  fiur  to 
say  that  this  slip  is  shown  to  be  simply  a  careless  oversight ;  for 
when  Mr.  Forster  has  occasion  again  to  speak  of  this  remark, 
which  he  terms  a  canon,  well  laid  down  by  Professor  Beer,  he  gives 
it  thus, — '  that,  in  the  Sinaitic  inscriptions,  letters  frequently  form 
parts  of  figures  (of  men  or  animals),  and  that  figures  (of  men  or 
animals)  as  frequently  compose  groups  of  letters '  (v.  88).  We 
are  not  now  concemea  with  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  this  so-called 
canon.  We  are  merely  looking  at  Mr.  Forster's  translation  of 
what  Beer  has  written.  How  any  one  accustomed  to  read  Latin 
could  render  '  Ita  feurtum  est '  by  '  the  truth  is,'  passes  our  com- 

S prehension.  A  very  young  schoolboy  might  perhaps  be  pardoned 
or  thinking  that  the  Latin  words  stood  for  '  the  fact  is  so,'  which 
is  as  good  a  translation  as  Mr.  Forster's.  But,  as  if  to  show  how 
unconscious  he  is  of  any  error,  Mr.  Forster,  for  the  sake  of  clench* 
ing  his  argument,  without  hesitation,  inserts  the  words  '  the  original 
writers,'  which  not  only  are  not  in  Beer,  but  cannot  be  inserted 
without  a  false  translation. 

On  page  15  Mr.  Forster  makes  Professor  Beer  say  that  he  con- 
jectures *  the  date  of  the  inscriptions  to  be  very  little  prior  to  the 
age  of  Cosmas  himself.'  Instead  of  this,  what  he  does  say  is,  that 
he  conjectures  ^  that  the  age  of  the  inscriptions  is  earlier  than  the 
time  of  Cosmas  bg  no  verg  short  periodJ  And  here,  as  in  the 
former  case,  Mr.  Forster  himself  adds  the  ori^nal  iu  a  note.*  Let 
it  not  be  for  a  moment  supposed  that  we  are  charging  on  Mr. 
Forster  such  ignorance,  even  of  Latin,  as  these  mistakes  seem  to 
show.  Far  from  it.  Our  argument  is  this :  if,  in  a  lanmiage  with 
which  our  author  must  be  acquainted,  he,  through  cardessness  or 
impetuosity,  commits  such  gross  mistakes,  how  can  we  trust  him  in  in- 
terpreting an  unknown  tongue,  especially  when  his  renderings  of  this 
unknown  language  are  founded  upon  these  very  oversights.  We  have 
been  continually  reminded  whilst  making  these  remarks,  of  Virgil's 
phrase,  *  ftu^r  arma  ministrat.'  Certainly  Mr.  Forster  seizes  on  the 
first  weapon  that  comes  to  hand,  quite  unconscious  that  he  is  playing 

^  *  Quas  imagines  haud  ita  raro  difficile  a  litteris  discerni  dicuntqui  descripsenmt. 
Ita  factum  est  ut  litteras  pro  partibus  imaginum,  et  vice  yers&  imagines  pro  litte- 
ramm  symplegmate,  nonnunquam  dederiuu' — Beeb,  p.  xii. 
^ '  '  Unde  coiijicimus  letatem  harnm  inscriptionum  tempore  haud  ita  breri  supe- 
riorem  esse  avo  Cosmae'  (Beer,  p.  xv.).     Mr.  F.  omils  tbe  word  tempore, 
VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  ,  2    A 

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342  The  SinaUie  ImcriptioM.  [July, 

with  edged  tools,  which  may  possibly  be  turned  against  himself. 
We  will  give  one  more  example  as  a  remarkaUe  illustration  of 
this.  Mr.  Forster  professes,  with  no  small  exultation,  that  he  has 
on  his  side  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  the  first  known  .discoverer  of 
the  inscriptions.  ^  The  opinion  of  Cosmas,  then,'  he  exclaims, '  so 
long  and  so  unjustly  contemned,  is,  after  all,  the  right  and  true 
judgment,  namely,  that  the  Sinaitic  inscriptions  were  the  work  of 
the  ancient  Israelites,  during  their  forty  years'  wanderings  in  the 
wilderness '  (p.  74).  This  certainly  is  the  opmion  of  Cosmas,  but 
it  is  only  a  small  part  of  his  statement ;  and  what  is  the  evidence 
he  adduces  in  support  of  it  ?  The  faet^  according  to  his  account, 
that  ^  certain  Jews  read  these  inscriptions  and  interpreted  them  to 
us,  saying  that  it  was  written  thus, — the  departure  [?]  of  such  a 
one,  nrom  such  a  tribe,  in  such  a  year,  in  such  a  month.'  Now 
this  is  the  <mlyfa4A  (except  that  of  the  existence  of  the  inscriptions 
in  this  locality,  which  now  at  least  is  undisputed)  which  Cosmas 
brings  as  evidence  for  his  belief  that  the  inscriptions  were  the  work 
of  the  Israelites.  But  if  the  fact  stated  by  Cosmas  is  admitted, 
Mr.  Forster's  whole  scheme  is  upset  If  the  feict  is  denied,  the 
testimony  of  Cosmas  to  the  Israelitish  origin  of  the  inscriptions  falls 
to  the  ground  for  want  of  proof.  But  which  of  the  two  things  is 
most  worthy  of  credit,  Cosmas'  statement  of  his  o|nnion  (as  part  of 
a  theory  of  his  as  to  the  origin  of  written  languages),  thistt  the 
Israelites  wrote  these  inscriptions  as  a  sort  of  practice  in  the  new 
art  of  writing,  or  his  pomtive  affirmation  as  an  eyewitness  that 
oortain  Jews  did  read  and  interpret  to  him  these  writings  ?  With 
regard  to  the  latter  point  he  could  not  be  mistaken.  If  it  were  not 
so,  he  is  either  a  false  witness,  or  one  very  liable  to  be  imposed 
upon.     In  either  case  his  testimony  is  of  little  worth.^ 

We  have  not  hitherto  urged  the  objection  to  Mr.  Forster  s  hy- 
pothesis which  is  derived  from  the  actual  character  of  the  inscrip- 
tions themselves,  except  indeed  in  as  fiu*  as  may  be  gathered  from 
our  remarks  on  that  which  Mr.  Forster  refers  to  Moses  praying 
with  uplifted  hands.  We  must  now  draw  attention  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  inscriptions,  as  furnishing  a  strong  objection,  and  as 
we  think  a  fatal  one,  to  the  whole  hypothesis.  The  testimony  of 
all  more  recent  travellers  is  utterly  opposed  to  Mr.  Forster's  view. 
If  we  may  trust  the  accounts  of  those  who  have  visited  the  locality 
and  copied  the  inscriptions,  they  are  intermixed  with  contempo- 

^  It  18  remarkable  that  what  Cosmas  declares  these  Jews  told  him  was  the 
reading  of  the  inscriptions,  is  not  very  remote  from  what  Prof.  Beer  considers  to 
be  their  interpretation.  Not  that  Beer  finds  any  mention  of  the  Israelites  or  the 
tribes,  nor  does  he  discover  any  dates ;  but  he  finds  them  to  be  short  records  of 
names  of  pilgrims,  mentioned  as  the  sous  or  brothers  of  such  and  snch  persons, — a 
kind  of  interpretaiion  much  more  of  the  character  attributed  to  them  by  Co&mas 
than  any  of  Mr.  Forster's. 

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1853.]  The  Sinaidc  ImeripCims.  Hi 

raneous  writings  in  other  languages,  especially  Greek.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  that  the  characteristic  mark  of  these  inscriptions  is 
that  they  are  not  cut,  but  *  dotted  out '  or  pimched  in  the  stone  in 
a  series  of  holes.  Now. in  the  inscription  to  which  we  have  ah^ady 
referred,  the  Greek  characters  are  of  this  kind,  dotted  out,  and,  as 
Grey  affirms,  *  the  hand  of  all  the  part  enclosed  seems  to  be  the 
same.'  We  might  then  reasonably  expect  that  the  Greek,  if  not  a 
translation  of  the  Sinaitic,  would  certainly  correspond  with  it  Now, 
according  to  Beer's  translation,  this  is  the  case.  As  to  the  Greek, 
there  can  be  scarcely  a  doubt  that  the  reading  of  the  first  line  is 
fjLymdyi  Avaos  Eqaov,  which  Beer  translates  *  Menwria  causa  scripsit 
AttsusJUms  fferai,*  His  interpretation  of  the  unknown  characters 
corresponds  with  this,  and  put  in  Hebrew  letters  is  na  uyiK  TDTO 
vsnru  The  proper  names  are  the  same,  Ausus  son  of  Hersus :  the 
word  HOI  is  one  of  the  customary  terms  at  the  commencement  of 
the  inscriptions,  very  rarely,  however,  with  a  D  prefixed — in  mean- 
ing it  corresponds  with  the  Greek  /uivn^Sip.     The  root  is  found  in 

Syriac  {i-^i  meminit),  and  its  passive  participle  would  be  exactly 
the  same  with  the  word  usually  found  in  the  inscriptions,  viz. 
^-'^;.  In  each  case  then  the  first  word  has  the  meaning  'In 
remembrance  of.'  The  Greek  we  take  to  be  the  subjunctive  used 
as  imperative,  and  to  mean  literally, '  Let  there  be  remembered/ 
This  is  the  only  known  instance  of  a  proper  bilingual  inscription* 
But  there  are  several  other  cases  in  which  the  Greek  inscriptions 
and  the  Sinaitic  (if  Beer's  interpretation  of  the  latter  is  correct) 
refer  to  the  same  persons,  or  at  least  mention  the  same  names.  In 
one  instance  a  Sinaitic  inscription,  copied  by  Laborde,  is  found  to 
answer  to  a  Greek  inscription,  copied  by  the  same  traveller,  and 
from  the  same  locality.  The  l^naitic  characters  Beer  renders 
thus : — 

zD-hvt  -a  my  th^ 

The  Greek  is — 

M  N  H  C  eH 

AY A OC AA  M  O 

B A K  K€  P  O Y 

which  without  doubt  is  to  be  read  Mvntf^ip  AvSop  AXfxofiaxxepw* 
Our  translation  of  the  Sinaitic  would  be  *  Peace,  Audo,  son  of 

"  The  characters  which  Beer  omits  we  should  be  inclined  to  render  tnp* ;  the 
ineanine  of  which,  in  accordance  both  with  Arabic  and  Syriac,  we  look  upon  ai 
being  'honourable/  There  is  nothing  whatever  in  the  Greek  answering  either  to 
this  word,  or  the  final  word  which  is  the  customary  termination  of  the  Sinai 
inscriptions. 

2  A  2 


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844  The  Smaitic  Inscriptions.  [July, 

Al-mobakkero  [the  honourable],  a  pilgrhn.'**  The  Greek  clearly 
is,  'Let  there  be  remembered  Audos  [son]  of  Ahnobakkeros/ 
Thouffh  there  is  no  other  of  the  Greek  inscriptions  answering  to 
any  of  the  Sinaitic  which  have  hitherto  been  decyphered  according 
to  Beer's  alphabet,  yet  the  Greek  names  in  several  other  instances 
corres^nd  with  the  names  which,  according  to  his  reading,  are 
found  m  the  unknown  characters,  as  Beer  himself,  and  still  more 
Tuch,  have  remarked.  Thus  iwna  answers  to  Bo/^aior,  which 
occurs  in  a  Greek  inscription  (Grey,  pi.  xiii.  4),  n^D  =  XoX/Soi 
(Id.),  Moy  =  A/x/3po  (Grey,  pi.  xiii.  5).  From  all  this  it  at  least 
appears  Ihat  the  Greek  is  not  to  be  pushed  aside  with  the  sneer 
that  it  is  obviously  a  superfetation. 

This,  however,  is  not  all  the  evidence  we  have  to  oflfer.  The 
inscriptions  have,  during  the  last  few  years,  been  more  accurately 
exammed  and  more  extensively  copied,  especially  by  two  scientific 
travellers — Lottin  de  Laval,  and  Lepsius.  With  regard  to  the  re- 
searches of  the  former,  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  little  information 
hitherto.  The  account  of  the  personal  observations  of  the  latter 
has  been  published,  and  is  accessible  to  the  English  reader.  One 
fact,  which  Lepsius  states,  demolishes  at  a  stroke  Mr.  Forster's 
whole  theory — '  occasionaUi/  I  found  theni  graven  over  older  Greek 
names.^  The  only  resource  is  to  deny  the  fact ;  and  this  no  doubt 
Mr.  Forster  and  the  advocates  of  his  theory  will  do  without  hesi- 
tation. But  then,  which  of  the  two  are  we  to  believe — the  theorist 
who,  having  never  seen  the  inscriptions,  tinll  make  them  accord  with 
his  preconceived  notions  of  what  they  must  say,  or  the  actual  inves- 
tigator and  careful  copier  of  them,  who  has  looked  upon  them  with 
his  own  eyes, — the  foremost  palaeographer  moreover  in  Europe  ? 
For  our  own  part,  we  must  disbelieve  the  theory  and  receive  the 
fact.  That  Lepsius  has  carefully  examined  the  inscriptions  will, 
we  think,  be  apparent,  from  the  following  quotation :  — 

'  It  is  easy  to  see  that  it  is  those  rocks,  shaded  from  the  noon-day 
sun,  which  invited  the  travellers  passing  to  Firan  to  engp*ave  their 

■  The  word  which  Beer  renders  D/K',  *  hence,'  is  the  most  common  commence- 
ment  of  the  inscriptions.  Forster  takes  it  for  DP, 'the  people,'  and  complains 
loadly  that  Beer  makes  three  letters  out  of  two.  The  fact  is  that  in  by  far  the 
f^reater  number  of  instances  all  the  letters  are  joined ;  in  some  few,  seven  or  tight 
instances  in  Beer  all  are  separate ;  in  about  the  same  number  the  first  character  is 
separate  from  the  other  two,  and  in  about  as  many  as  both  of  these  cases  the  two 
£rst  characters  are  joined  and  the  last  separate.  It  is  to  be  noticed  also  that  the 
character  which  in  these  cases  Forster  renders  ]7  is  different  from  the  ordinary 
form  which  he  attributes  to  that  letter :  this  he  accounts  for  by  its  beine  an  initial. 
Yet  the  same  character  manv  times  occurs  when  the  letter  is  not  initial.  In 
at  least  seven  instances  out  of  thirty-eight  in  Forster's  own  book  this  character  is 
quite  separate  fW>m  the  following.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem, 
to  whom  Montague  showed  his  copies  of  the  inscriptions,  regarded  this  group  of 
characters  as  D^fiT.— See  Phil.  Trans,  for  1766,  vol.  Ivi.  p.  51. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Siimitic  Inscriptions.  345 

names  and  short  maxims  upon  the  soft  stone.  We  took  impressions  on 
paper  of  all  the  inscriptions  we  could  r^h,  or  copied  with  the  pen 
such  as  were  not  suited  for  impression.  We  found  these  inscriptions 
singly  at  the  most  various  and  often  very  far  distant  parts  in  the  penin- 
sula ;  and,  on  the  whole,  had  no  doubt  that  they  had  been  engraved  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  land  in  the  first  centuries  before  and  after  Christ. 
Occasionally  I  found  them  graven  over  older  Greek  names,  and  Chris- 
tian crosses  are  not  unfrequently  combined  with  them.  These  inscrip- 
tions are  usually  called  Sinaitic,  and  not  inaptly,  if  the  whole  of  the 
peninsula  of  Sinai  is  so  meant  as  the  place  where  they  are  found.  But 
it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  at  Gebel  Mdsa,  which  is  generally  con- 
sidered to  be  Mount  Sinai,  there  are  but  a  few  single  and  short  inscrip- 
tions of  this  kind,  in  the  same  manner  as  by  a  careful  survey  they 
might  be  found  in  any  of  these  places,  but  their  actual  centre  was 
rather  Pharan  at  the  foot  of  Serbai.'  "* 

Here  we  must  for  the  present  close  our  remarks,  though  our 
task  is  only  half  completed.  We  have  been  able  to  say  very 
little,  and  only  incidentally,  of  Beer's  method  of  decypnering. 
We  had  intended  to  enter  into  a  much  more  complete  account  of 
what  has  been  accomplished  by  him  and  Tuch.  It  is  not  very 
satisfactory  to  be  merely  told  what  is  not  true ;  and  our  readers 
will  naturally  ask  whether,  after  all  the  objections  raised  to  Mr. 
Forster's  hypothesis,  we  have  anything  truer  to  substitute  in  its 

Elace.  We  oelieve  that  we  have.  But  for  the  present  we  must 
e  satisfied  if  we  have  cleared  the  ground.  We  have  not  time  or 
space  to  reconstruct  on  it  a  more  durable  edifice.  We  are  the  less 
concerned,  however,  in  leaving  the  matter  now  where  it  is,  inas- 
much as  we  cannot  but  hope  that  the  publication  of  De  Laval's 
and  Lepsius's  copies  at  no  distant  period  will  put  us  in  a  far  better 
condition  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  true  interpretation.  But 
then,  alas  1  if  what  we  have  said  is  believed,  the  romance  of  the 
question  is  gone,  and  the  true  explanation  of  these  rock  writings 
will  interest  a  much  smaUer  circle  of  readers  whenever  we  may 
again  revert  to  the  subject.  F.  W.  G. 

<*  Discoveries  in  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  and  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai.    By  Dr,  R.  Lepsius. 
Translated  by  Mackenzie ;  pp.  344,  «')45. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


846  Oollatim  of  the  Ghspeh.  [July, 


COLLATION    OF    THE    GOSPELS. 

A  Full  and  Exact  Collation  of  about  Twenty  Cheek  Manuscripts 
of  the  Holy  Oospels  {hitherto  unexamined),  deposited  in  the 
British  Museum,  the  Archiepiscopal  Library  at  Lambeth,  tf-c. 
With  a  Critical  Introduction.  By  the  Rev.  Frederick  Henry 
Scrivener,  M.A.,  of  Trinity  College,  Perpetual  Curate  of 
Penwenis,  Cornwall,  and  HeiEul  Master  of  Falmouth  SchooL 
Cambridge,  1863.    8vo.  pp.  Ixxiv.  178. 

In  1845  Mr.  Scrivener  published  a  volume  entitled  *  A  Supple- 
ment to  the  Authorised  English  Version  of  the  New  Testament, 
being  a  Critical  Illustration  of  its  more  diflBcult  Passages  from  the 
Syriac,  Latin,  and  earlier  English  Versions ;  with  an  Introduction. 
Volume  I.'  This  contained  the  Introduction  (pages  1-127)  and 
the  remarks  on  St  Matthew's  Gospel  only.  The  work  was  not 
continued,  probably  from  the  learned  editor  finding  that  other 
critical  labours  which  he  undertook  sufficiently  occupied  his  atten- 
tion. For,  about  the  middle  of  the  same  year,  1845,  he  issued  a 
prospectus  of  an  edition  of  the  Greek  New  Testament,  which  was 
to  contain  the  readings  of  the  Greek  and  Syriac  mss.  which  are 
preserved  in  British  libraries ;  the  text  was  to  be  dmply  a  reprint 
of  the  Elzevir  (the  only  change  being  the  correction  of  errata) ; 
and  the  whole  was  to  oe  comprised  in  two  handsome  volumes,  the 
price  of  which  was  to  be  four  guineas.  This  prospectus  was  ac- 
companied by  the  names  of  subscribers  of  influence,  headed  by 
that  of  her  late  Majesty  the  Queen  Dowager. 

We  can  easily  suppose  that  Mr.  Scrivener's  plan  was  inter- 
rupted by  two  causes;  by  the  difficulty  of  t)btaining  sufficient 
patronage  for  so  large  and  expensive  a  work,  and  (possibly,  for 
on  this  Bead  we  have  some  doubts)  by  the  lengUi  of  time  and  con- 
tinuous and  eye-wearying  labour  required  in  making  a  complete 
collation  of  all  the  documents  to  which  he  referred. 

Often  have  we  wished  to  learn  what  progress,  if  any,  had  been 
made  by  this  industrious  scholar ;  and,  knowing  that  he  has  been 
for  some  years  located  far  from  libraries  and  seats  of  learning, 
we  had  feared  that  his  previous  preparations  had  been  fiwtless. 
We  were  therefore  glad,  in  the  early  part  of  this  year,  to  notice 
an  advertisement  of  the  work  which  we  now  have  under  examina- 
tion. It  appears  to  be  a  substitute  for  the  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament  which  Mr.  Scrivener  formerly  proposed ;  and,  as  far  as 
it  goes,  it  may  answer  the  editor's  purpose,  as  well  as  the  reader's 
convenience,  far  better.     The  price  of  this  volume  we  include  as 


Digitized  by 


Google 


1853.]  CoOatim  of  the  ChspeU.  847 

part  of  the  increased  convenience  to  the  reader ;  for  those  who  are 
at  all  devoted  to  critical  studies  are  rarely  possessed  of  too  abund- 
ant means  of  procuring  the  books  which  Uiey  need. 

We  speak  of  this  volume  ^  as  far  as  it  goes,'  for  it  does  not 

?-ofes3  to  give  the  collations  of  aU  the  Greek  mss.  of  the  New 
estament  contained  in  British  libraries,  and  it  is  confined  to  the 
four  Gospels,  whereas  the  intended  edition  was  to  have  given  the 
reading  of  all  the  mss.  in  our  country,  and  to  have  taken  in  the 
whole  New  Testament,  and  also  to  have  had  the  Syriac  collations 
added.  The  value  of  these  would  have  been  great,  since  the 
Syriac  stores  which  the  Nitrian  valleys  have  imparted  to  the  Bri- 
tish Museum  have  raised  our  national  library  to  the  first  place  in 
this  department  of  Oriental  works. 

Mr.  Scrivener  divides  his  Introduction  to  the  volume  before  us 
into  three  chapters.  ^  I.  On  the  existing  state  of  the  Greek  text 
of  the  New  Tedament.  II.  On  the  materials  employed  in  the 
present  volume.  III.  General  observations  upon  the  results  of 
this  collation.'  We  will  first  speak  of  the  second  of  these  chapters, 
for  the  reader  will  thus  see  what  the  documents  are  which  Mr. 
Scrivener  brings  before  our  attention. 

The  notation  adopted  is  that  of  the  Roman  alphabet  firom  a 
to  y.  The  mss.  are  principally  those  belonging  to  the  Archi- 
episcopal  Library  at  Lambeth,  and  to  that  of  me  British  Museum. 
They  were  collated,  Mr.  Scrivener  says,  not  on  any  principle  of 
selection,  not  to  support  any  particular  theory,  Imt  simply  as 
being  mss.  insufficiently  examined  or  wholly  uncollated ;  and  they 
were  ^  taken  up  almost  at  ^random,  as  they  happen  to  be  arranged 
in  the  catalogues '  of  the  libraries  in  which  they  are  found.  We 
shall  now  speak  of  these  mss.  themselves. 

a.  This  is  one  of  those  mss.  now  at  Lambeth  whidi  were 
brought  to  England  rather  more  than  half  a  century  ago  by  the 
Rev.  J.  D.  Carlyle,  Professor  of  Arabic  at  Cambridge.  It  was 
the  intention  of  that  scholar  to  use  the  materials  which  he  had 
collected  in  giving  to  the  public  a  critical  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament ;  but,  as  he  found  the  work  of  collation  too  wearisome 
and  engrossing  to  be  accomidished  by  his  own  unaided  efibrts,  he 
sent  ^  one  of  his  mss.  to  each  of  his  clerical  friends  who  might  be 
willing  to  undertake  the  task  of  collating  it'  The  result,  such  as 
.  it  was,  is  now  in  the  Lambeth  Library ;  and  although  Mr.  Scri- 
vener used  the  collations  so  made  as  a  check  on  his  own  accuracy^ 
yet  it  is  evident  from  his  account  that  Professor  Carlyle's  undisci- 
plined corps  of  volunteers  were  with  one  exception  very  inefficient 
This  MS.  *  a '  appears  to  be  of  about  the  eleventh  century. 

A.  Abo  one  of  Professor  Carlyle's  mss.  :  probably  of  about  the 
twelfth  century. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


348  Collation  of  the  Ghspeh.  ^July, 

c.  Another  of  Professor  Carlyle's  mss.  This  appears  to  be  more 
remarkable  in  its  readings  than  any  other  of  the  copies  collated  by 
Mr.  Scrivener.  It  is  badly  and  coarsely  written,  apparently  in  the 
twelfth  century.  It  accords,  Mr.  Scrivener  says,  more  than  any  of 
the  others  of  these  mss.  with  the  ancient  copies.  It  has  several 
defects,  and  it  must  have  required  no  small  a  measure  of  patience 
to  collate  it  fully  and  accurately. 

d.  This  remarkably  beautiful  ms.  belongs  apparently  to  the 
eleventh  century.     It  also  was  one  of  Professor  Carlyle's. 

e.  Another  of  the  Carlyle  mss.,  brought  fix)m  a  monastery  in  a 
small  Greek  island :  probably  also  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  has 
many  variations  from  the  common  text,  and  Mr,  Scrivwier  con- 
siders it  one  of  the  more  important  of  those  which  he  has  collated. 

/.  A  handsome  ms.  of  the  thirteenth  century,  brought  by  Pro- 
fessor Carlyle  from  Syria.  Mr.  Scrivener  considers  it  to  be  of  but 
little  critical  value. 

g.  This  MS.  has  long  been  known  to  critics  as  the  Codex  £phe- 
sius.  In  the  list  of  Wetstein  (whose  notation  was  adopted  by 
Griesbach  and  Scholz)  it  is  71  of  the  Gospels.  It  has  its  own 
date,  A.D.  1160.  Philip  Traheron,  by  whom  it  was  brought  to 
England  in  1675,  took  great  pains  in  making  an  accurate  col- 
lation of  its  various  readings.  Mr.  Scrivener,  however,  finding 
that  but  few  of  these  variations  had  been  inserted  by  Griesbach 
and  Scholz  (he  says  nothing  of  Wetstein),  recollated  the  ms.,  uang 
as  a  check  to  his  own  observations  the  collation  of  Traheron,  and 
he  has  here  printed  the  results.  Tischendorf  cites  *  71  *  fat  a 
reading  in  Matt.  i.  18,  which  is  worthy  of  some  attention.  That 
he  means  this  ms.  seems  certain,  although  (Proleg.  p.  Ixxv.)  be 
denotes  it  *  71  Cantabr,  s.  12  ;'  for  he  follows  Wetstein's  notation, 
and  in  this  description  he  seems  to  copy  from  Scholz,  who,  cori- 
ously  enough,  in  his  list  of  the  places  where  the  different  biss. 
exist,  under  '  Cantabri^ '  places  Codex  71,  and  ^ves  Lambeth 
as  the  library  at  Camhridge  where  it  is  kept"  Tischendorf  cites 
71  for  the  reading  roiJ  Je  X§«<ttoD  (instead  oi  to5J  5g  'Iti^oi;  X^i^ttoI/) 
in  Matt.  i.  18.  That  this  must  be  a  mistake  seems  dear  frtmi  the 
absolute  silence  of  Mr.  Scrivener  as  to  any  variation,  and  thus  we 
must  suppose  that  the  reading  adopted  by  Tischendorf  is  not  now 
found  in  any  known  and  collated  ms.  But  that  does  not  di^rove 
its  truth ;  for,  1st,  this  reading  was  considered  absolutely  true  and 
certain  in  the  second  century,  as  we  know  from  the  testimony  ol* 
Irenaeus,  who  says  that  'Ifiaov  was  not  in  the  passage ;  2nd,  the 
united  testimony  of  the  important  ancient  versions,  the  old  Latin, 
the  Vulgate,  and  the  Curetonian  Syriac — their  united  evidence  is 
very  strong ;  3rd,  although  no  Grreek  bis.  twu)  has  the  reading, 
yet  that  it  was  that  of  D  before  its  first  leaf  was  lost  may  be 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  Collation  of  the  Gospels.  349 

cansidered  as  certain^  from  its  being  the  reading  now  preserved 
in  the  Latin  page  which  is  yet  extant ;  4th,  the  position  of  *Iai<rou 
before  Xpi^rov  (lectio  viz  ferevida)  has  one  important  exception — 
the  Vatican  ms.,  in  which  the  order  is  changed :  this  subtracts 
mudi  from  the  weight  of  any  supposed  general  consent  of  mss. 
The  subject  of  this  reading  is  important  in  its  bearing  on  the 
balance  of  eyidence  between  ancient  testimonies  (even  though  few) 
and  the  mass  of  modem  mss. 

A.  A  MS.  in  the  Arundel  collection  in  the  British  Museum,  pro- 
bably of  the  eleventh  century. 

».  The  Cottonian  fragments  in  the  British  Museum.  Mr.  Scri- 
vener says,  '  This  document,  like  Codex  ^,  ought  not  to  have  been 

reserved  for  me One  would  have  imagined  that  so  precious 

a  record,  about  which  so  much  has  been  written,  would  have  been 
at  least  carefully  collated,  the  rather  as  it  consists  of  only  four 
leaves,'  etc.  To  this  the  following  foot-note  is  subjoined :  *  Since 
the  above  was  written  Tischendorf  has  published  this  ms.  in  his 
Monumenta  Sacra  Inedita.  He  refers  it  to  the  end  of  the  sixth 
century,  and  considers  it  a  fragment  of  the  same  book  as  F  of 
St.  MaUhew  in  the  Vatican  and  N  of  St  Luke  at  Vienna.' 

And  thus  the  ms.  was  not  after  all  reserved  for  Mr.  Scrivener. 
We  draw  attention  to  this  statement  because  it  shows  (although 
he  has  not  given  the  date)  how  very  long  ago  the  remark  was 
written;  for  Tischendorf 's  Monumenta  Sacra  appeared  in  the 
autumn  of  1846,  and  he  transcribed  these  valuable  framnents  in 
1843 :  so  that  ten  years  ago  they  were  fully  and  thoroughly 
examined,  and  since  then  other  hands  and  eyes  have  been  occu- 
pied with  them  and  their  readings.  No  critic  will,  however,  regret 
that  Mr.  Scrivener  has  not,  because  of  the  previously  publi^ed 
labours  of  another,  withheld  his  clear  and  accurate  description 
of  these  firagments.  He  says  truly,  ^  More  cannot  well  be  said  of 
so  few  leaves.'  We  only  add  that  we  hold  it  to  be  indubitable 
that  these  fragments  are,  as  Tischendorf  states,  parts  of  the  same 
MS.  of  the  Gospels  as  N  at  Vienna  and  T  in  the  Vatican,  and 
also  that  he  is  perfectly  riffht  in  the  date  which  he  assigns. 

k.  Lebanon.  A  ms.  in  the  British  Museum,  brought  from  the 
Library  of  the  Bishop  of  Caesarea  Philippi,  and  purchased  for  the 
place  in  which  it  is  now  preserved  in  1838.  One  point  as  to  this 
MS.  shall  be  stated  in  Mr.  Scrivener's  own  words : — *  One  pecu- 
liarity must  be  noticed  in  this  valuable  ms.  In  all  other  copies 
which  I  have  collated  the  demonstrative  pronoun  «^Tot;,  ajmj, 
avTCtiv  is  always  substituted  for  tne  reciprocal  aCrou^  av-msy  avron^^ 
even  when  the  sense  most  clearly  requires  the  latter.  I  say 
always^  for  the  few  instances  which  I  have  noted  to  the  contrary 
are  dearly  accidental :  e.g.  Matt  ii.  18,  a;  viii.  30,  av* avrwy^  f ; 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


350  CoUatim  cf  the  Gotpels.  [  Jdy, 

xxiii.  34 ;  xxiv.  29 ;  xxvii.  49,  e ;  Mark  xiii.  27,  b ;  John  vL  66 ; 
viL  10 ;  xxi.  24,  x.  Hence  Mr.  Field  (Chryaost  Horn,  in  Matth. 
torn.  iii.  p.  7)  undertakes  to  prore  ^pronomen  airw  redprocum  t 
saeri  N.  F,  Codice  pemtus  extirpandum  e$deJ  *  Now  it  is  per- 
petually found  in  the  Lebanon  ms.,  though  even  here  not  in  the 
earlier  pa^ :  the  first  example  I  believe  to  be  Matt  xyiii.  35, 
but  it  is  afterwards  read  full  one  hundred  times.' 

This  MS.  has  some  value  as  exhibiting  a  particular  stage  in  the 
history  of  the  text  of  the  Greek  Testament,  before  it  had  quite 
assumed  the  form  in  which  it  is  found  in  the  more  recait  copies. 

L  Codex  Wordsworth.  This  ms.  is  now  in  the  poesesrion  of  the 
Rev.  Christopher  Wordsworth,  D.D.,  Canon  of  Westminster,  who 
purchased  it  in  1837.  It  contains  all  the  books  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament except  the  Apocalypse,  and  it  appears  to  belong  to  the 
thirteenth  century.  It  adheres  closely  to  the  commcm  Greek 
Text 

m.  Butler,  2,  now  in  the  British  Museum.  This  is  one  of  the 
very  few  Greek  mss.  containing  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament 
It  was  written  a.d.  1357.  This  ms.  stands  in  the  lists  of  Griesbach 
and  Scholz,  but  for  all  practical  purposes  it  was  uncoUated.  It 
closely  accords  with  the  common  text 

n.  Bumey,  18,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  containing  the  four 
Gospels  and  two  leaves  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Uelnrews.  It  was 
written  in  the  year  1366.  The  text  as  well  as  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  this  MS.  closely  resemble  those  of  the  preceding  codex. 

0.  Bumey,  19,  now  also  in  the  British  Museum.  A  ms.  remark- 
able for  being  devoid  of  liturgical  notes,  &c  It  has  been  con- 
jectured that  it  belongs  to  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century. 

p>  Bumey,  20,  also  now  in  the  British  Museum.  A  ms.  written 
A.D.  1285.     It  has  many  variations  from  the  common  text 

q  and  r.  These  two  mss.  are  described  together  by  Mr.  Sai- 
vener,  as  they  were  written  by  the  same  copyist  q.  Codex 
Theodori,  was  formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Duke  of 
Sussex,  at  the  sale  of  whose  library  it  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Pickering,  the  publisher,  who,  with  his  usual  urbanity,  lent  it  to 
Mr.  Scrivener.  It  contains  all  the  New  Testament  except  the 
Apocalypse.  The  copvist  has  giv^i  his  name  Theod(H*us,  and  the 
date  A.D.  1295.^    A  later  hand  has  industriously  corrected  this 

■  If  farther  proof  of  this  were  needed,  it  wouid  be  found  in  the  fiict  that  orrt, 
<nro»  ctrt,  mcra,  /ctero,  when  apostrophised  before  owtop,  «am»f,  do  not  become  ttpit, 
aip\  €f\  Koifft  A*«^»  *>"'  *"^*  *•""*»  ***»  **"■*»  /**''■*• 

*»  He  calls  himself  0€o8c»poT  6  oywireTptTJis,  to  which  Mr.  Scrivener  subjoins  the 
following  foot  note : — 

*  Pettigrew,  in  his  description  of  the  MS.  Biblioiktca  Stigter^  toI.  i.  pt  i.  pp. 
xlii.-iT.,  reads  ay  my  irarpvnis,  **  the  feUow-couutryman  of  the  saints,"  quod  mirtris 
potius  quam  sequaris' 

This  is  not  the  onl  j  translation  of  Mr.  P^ttigrew's  which  is  remaHcable :  for 

Digitized  by  VJ^^V./V  IV. 


1853.]  CoUatian  of  tJie  Gospels.  351 

MS.,  SO  as  to  conform  its  readings  more  to  those  of  the  common 
text 

r,  which  contains  only  the  four  gospels,  is  one  of  the  Bumey 
ifss.  in  the  British  Museum ;  it  was  written  by  Theodorus  about 
three  years  before  he  transcribed  q,  Mr.  Scnyener  gives  a  list 
of  the  places  in  which  these  two  mss.  differ,  in  proof  that  there 
could  have  been  no  standard  text,  when  even  the  same  copyist 
was  not  altogether  consistent  with  himself.  The  places  of  dif- 
ference in  the  gospels  are  183  in  mmiber. 

8.  This  is  one  of  the  Bumey  mss.  in  the  British  Museum.  It 
belongs  to  the  twelfth  century,  and  contains  the  four  gospels; 
mutilated  at  the  end  (nearly  nine  chapters  being  lost),  and  having 
three  considerable  hiatus  in  St.  Luke's  gospel. 

Mr.  Saivener  says  that  the  defects  of  this  ms.  are  the  more  to 
be  deplored,  because  of  its  being  rich  in  what  have  been  termed 
Alexandrian  readings.  It  has,  however,  a  great  tendency  to 
receive  marginal  glosses  into  the  text. 

t,  A  MS.  of  St.  John's  gospel  in  the  Lambeth  Library  of  about  the 
fourteenth  centunr,  carelessly  written,  but  containing  (Mr.  Scrivener 
says)  better  readings  than  might  at  first  have  been  supposed. 

u  and  V.  These  are  two  mss.  which  once  formed  a  part  of  the 
Carlyle  collection,  but  were  reclaimed  by  the  Patriarcn  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  returned  to  him  in  1817.  ^  Tlie  portions  of  them  that 
happened  to  be  collated  before  their  return  are  all  I  am  able  to 
present  to  the  reader'  (p.  Ivii.). 

Of  M,  Mr.  Scrivener  was  able  to  find  no  dear  description ;  '  it 
contains  the  four  gospels,  but  St  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  alone 
were  collated  with  Mill's  Greek  Testament,  by  the  Rev.  Geo. 
Bennet,  the  very  worst  of  Carlyle's  coadjutors.  His  miserable 
incompetency  is  the  more  to  be  deplored,  since  it  is  now  past 
remedy.' 

V  had  been  described  before  it  was  sent  back  to  the  East  It 
appears  to  belong  to  the  fourteenth  century,  and  it  was  collated 
in  some  parts  by  Dr.  Bumey.  From  what  had  been  done  with 
regard  to  it,  Mr.  Scrivener  judges  that  it  was  one  of  the  most 
important  of  the  Carlyle  collection. 

instance;  in  describing  H.Stephens's  'PsalteriumQuincuplex :  Gallicum,  RonianoiB» 
Hebraicnm,  Veins,  Conciliatum/  he  says,  *  Of  the  versions  contained  in  this  Psalter, 
the  Koman  is  that  of  Jerome ;  the  Gallican  is  that  used  in  the  Cisalpine  Gallic  Church ; 
the  Hdtrtw  Uficm  a  copy  given  to  the  anceston  of  Sopbronivs  by  a  Latin  colony; 
the  Vetus  is  the  Italic ;  and  the  Conciliatum,  the  amended  Gallican.'  What  pos- 
sible meaninff  is  conveyed  by  the  words  wtiich  speak  of  some  mysterions  transaction 
between  Sophronius's  ancestors  and  some  Latin  colony,  it  is  hard  to  say ;  nor  should 
we  know  what  was  spoken  of,  unless  we  consulted  the  prerace  of  Jac.  Faber  Stapu- 
lensis  (the  editor),  whose  woI^ds  are,  *  Hebraicnm  vero:  q.  nulla  media  intercedente 
lingua  ex  hebrseo  ad  Sopbronii  preces  latina  illud  donarit  colonia.'  He  is  speaking 
of  Jerome. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


352  Collatimi  of  the  Gospels.  [JuJy, 

X  is  an  Evangelisterium  in  uncial  letters  (all  the  other  docu- 
ments, except  y,  are  cursive)  in  the  British  Museum.  In  many 
respects  its  readings  approach  pretty  closely  to  the  Elzevir  text, 
*On  the  whole,  I  r^rd  codex  x  as  perhaps  the  most  valuable 
manuscript  I  have  collated'  (p.  Ixi.). 

y  is  also  an  Evangelisterium,  which  is  said  in  a  subscription  to 
have  been  written  in  the  year  1319 ;  but  Mr.  Scrivener  doubts 
whether  this  note  proceeded  from  the  writer  of  the  ms.,  and  he 
says  that  it  looks  as  old  as  the  twelfth  century.  *This  copy  is 
more  full  of  various  readings  than  any  other  that  I  have  collated  ; 
so  fiiU,  indeed,  that  it  were  vain  to  produce  specimens  of  the 
peculiarities  and  lectiones  singularesj  which  cover  every  page ;  as 
m  the  case  of  codex  c,  I  content  myself  with  stating  the  fact 
once  for  all.  I  suppose  it  approaches  as  nearly  to  Codex  Bezae 
(D),  and  its  associates  L  Z,  as  any  volume  for  church  use  well  can 
do'  (p.  Ixii.). 

We  have  thus  briefly  noticed  what  the  mss.  are,  the  various 
readings  of  which  are  pven  by  Mr.  Scrivener ;  for  minute  par- 
ticulars as  to  each  ms.  we  must  refer  to  his  ample  description : 
he  gives  a  full  account  of  the  peculiarities  of  each  ms.  ;  he  men- 
tions all  their  hiatus,  •  and  notices  their  present  condition,  as  well 
as  describes  orthographic  and  other  points.  He  gives  a  careful 
statement  of  the  mode  which  he  has  adopted  in  presenting  the 
various  readings,  and  what  kinds  of  variations  he  has  omitted 
as  not  being  in  fact  lections  at  all.  Few  will,  we  think,  be  dis- 
posed to  blame  him  for  any  of  the  kind  of  variations  which  he 
nas  omitted.  AVe  may  now  speak  of  the  other  parts  of  the  Intro- 
duction ;  the  second  chapter  nas  been  considered  first,  as  bearing 
on  the  actual  subject  matter  of  the  volume. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  Introduction  Mr.  Scrivener  discusses 
various  theories  of  textual  criticism,  while  treating  as  his  definite 
subject  *the  existing  state  of  the  Greek  text  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament' 

After  speaking  of  the  little  attention  which  has  been  paid  to 
the  subject  *  amon^  the  countrymen  of  Bentley  and  Mill,'  he  gives 
a  citation  from  Scholz  to  show  how  small  a  part  of  the  materials 
have  been  as  yet  sufficiently  wrought.  *  Ut  enim  dicam  quod  res 
est,  ex  omnibus  oui  collati  sunt  comces,  soli  illi  Alexandrinus  [Al 
Ephraem  Syri  [C],  Cantabrigiensis  [D],  Dublinensis  [Z],  Sangal- 
lensis  [A],   et  Dresdensis  [G  Paul.],  ita  sunt  excussi,  ut  quid 

^  The  compositor  is  requested  to  print  this  irord  a*  it  stand*,  *  hiatos '  in  the 
plural,  and  not  to  correct  it  by  giviog  it  a  termination  which  to  an  Bhiglish  ear 
might  sound  more  like  a  plttraL  We  have  known  such  corrtctionM  made  after  a 
proof  sheet  has  finaUy  left  the  author's  eyes ;  who,  in  common  with  others,  has  been 
astonished  at  a  peculiar  form  of  declension.  Some  who  read  this  note  will  probably 
understand  its  purport  and  its  reference. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  CoHatim  of  the  Go%peU.  353 

scriptum  singulis  locis  teneant,  auid  non,  scias.*  This  remark  of 
Scholz's  was  made  in  1845 ;  and  to  it  Mr.  Scrivener  subjoins,  in 
a  foot-note,  '  Tischendbrf 's  zeal  has  very  recently  enabled  us  to 
add  a  few  items  to  this  meaffre  list.'  The  list  appears  to  be  of 
those  M88.  the  text  of  which  had  been  so  published  as  to  give  the 
readings  with  exactness.  But  if  the  actual  list  be  meagre,  it  is 
important  that  it  should  not  be  reduced  below  its  true  dimensions. 
Now  Scholz's  statement  in  1845  omits  several  items ;  and  those 
since  published  by  Tischendorf  (to  whom  critics  are  so  deeply 
indebted  for  the  text  of  C)  are  worthy  of  more  than  a  passmg 
mention  as  *  a  few  items.'  Thus  the  text  of  Codex  Laudianus  (E 
of  the  Acts)  was  printed  by  Heame  in  1715,  and  though  the 
edition  is  most  rare,  yet  it  is  accessible ;  so  that  we  have  it,  toge- 
ther with  all  the  other  published  texts,  before  us,  and  as  being 
our  own  property,  while  we  write.  The  valuable  Coislin  Frag- 
ments (HPaul)  were  published  by  Montfaucon  in  the  Bibliotheca 
Coisliniana.  The  firagments  of  the  two  Wolfenbuttel  Palimpsests 
(P  and  Q)  were  edited  by  Knittel.  The  Greek  and  Thebaic 
Borgian  fragments  of  St.  John's  gospel  (T)  were  published  by 
Giorgi.  These  then  were  Jive  codices  (to  say  nothing  of  certain 
single  leaves),  which  in  1845  ought  to  have  been  added  to  the 
list.  And  now  let  us  look  at  the  *  few  items'  which  TischendorTs 
zeal  has  since  added.  In  his  '  Monumenta  Sacra  Inedita,'  he 
published  the  text  of  L.  of  the  gospels ;  the  Basilian  ms.  of  the 
Apocalypse ;  the  fragments  I,  N,  and  F  (which  he  considers  to 
be  parts  of  the  same  ms.)  of  the  gospels ;  and  the  firagments  ©, 
W,  Y,  and  F*» ;  besides  a  few  single  leaves,  &c.,  published  in  a 
Vienna  quarterly  periodical.  More  recently,  also,  Tischendorf 
has  published  from  the  transcripts  and  collations  made  (sejparately) 
bv  himself  and  Tregelles,  the  Codex  Claromontanus  (D)  of  St. 
Paul's  epistles,  the  most  important  Greek  text  which  he  has 
edited,  except  C.  Thus  since  Scholz  made  his  statement,  Tis- 
chendorf has  far  more  than  equalled  the  list  which  ^e  then  brought 
forward. 

And  besides  this,  we  should  remember  the  character  of  the  mss. 
whose  texts  have  been  published.  For  (with  the  important  and 
lamented  exception  of  the  Codex  Vaticanus)  they  are  the  more 
valuable  and  ancient  of  the  copies  of  which  we  know  anything. 

Nor  are  we  always  in  uncertainty  as  to  the  readings  of  mss. 
which  have  been  merely  collated ;  the  readings  of  the  Codex 
Boreeli  (F  of  the  gospels),  now  at  Utrecht,  were  published  most 
satisfactorily  by  Vinke  and  Heringa  :  and  Matthsei  seems  to  have 
left  littk  (if  anything)  undone  as  to  the  Moscow  mss.  ;  *  two  of 

«*  To  the  apparent  accuracy  and  completeness  of  Matthtei's  collations  Mr.  Scri- 
vener pays  a  just  tribute  a  little  after. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


354  CoUatim  of  the  Qo^peU,  [Jolj^ 

which,  V  of  die  gospels  and  K  of  the  epistles,  are  documents 
written  in  uncial  letters. 

While  it  is  well  not  to  understate  what  has  been  already  done, 
it  must  be  fiilly  granted  that  Mr.  Scrivener  is  quite  right  in  his 
conclusion,  that  numerically  the  mass  of  copies  has  been  examined 
with  but  little  of  real  exactitude,  and  also,  we  may  say  (a  point  on 
which  he  scarcely  touches),  that  the  accurate  examination  of  all 
the  ancient  documents  was  mostly  left  to  two  still  living  collators. 
We  may  hesitate  before  we  style  the  sentence  recently  quoted 
'  the  calm  and  mature  judgment  of  Professor  Scholz,'  seeing  that, 
in  a  list  which  seems  to  possess  exactitude,  he  made  great  omis* 
sions ;  and  thus  we  cannot '  admit  its  literal  truth.' 

The  starting  point  of  an  estimate  of  this  kind  should  have  been 
' — the  publishea  texts  are  such  and  such;  the  exact  collations 
which  we  have  are  such ;  and  to  this  might  be  added,  that  we 
know  that,  with  one  exception,  all  the  uncial  documents  have  been 
collated  with  care,  independently^  and  that  such  collations  have 
been  compared  with  each  other,  and  means  have  been  used  for  re- 
examining the  points  of  difference  with  the  mss.  themselves.  And  as 
to  the  one  exception^  the  Vatican  ms.,  of  that  we  have  two  collations, 
not  as  exact  as  they  should  be,  and  also  the  result  of  Bartolocci's  par- 
tial examination ;  so  that  the  places  as  to  which  we  are  doubtful  are 
far  fewer  than  those  as  to  which  (from  the  united  testimonies)  we 
are  certain. 

An  estimate  thus  formed  would  be  very  different  from  that  of 
Mr.  Scrivener :  but  still  we  are  far  from  saying  that  enough  has 
been  done.  Our  points  of  difference  from  Mr.  Scrivener  are  two  : 
first,  that  his  list  is  defective  as  to  what  has  been  actually  accom- 

Slished ;  and  second,  that  we  do  not  give  the  importance  that  he 
oes  to  mere  numbers  of  mss.      Of  the  real  value  of  the  ancient 
copies,  as  such,  we  shall  speak  presently. 

Mr.  Scrivener's  estimate  of  what  renmins  to  be  done  is  thus 
given,  in  speaking  of  Scholz's  edition  of  the  Gospels : — 

*  To  the  286  Evangelia  and  57  Evatigelisteria  known  before  the 
publication  of  his  edition,  his  indefatigable  diligence  and  extensive 
travels  have  added  210  Evuugelia  and  121  Evangelisteria :  in  fact,  he 
has  nearly  doubled  the  list.  But  while  Dr.  Scholz  is  entitled  to  our 
g^titude  for  having  opened  to  us  so  many  veins  of  precious  ore,  it  must 
not  be  dissembled  that  he  has  in  a  great  measure  lefi  the  toil  of  working 
them  to  his  successors.  Of  the  331  documents  he  has  discovered  in  the 
libraries  of  the  East  and  West,  he  has  collated  entire  only  1 1,  in  greater 
part  16,  in  a  few  places  or  cursorily  222,  while  81  are  merely  inserted 
in  his  catalogue  without  remark.  Such  a  course  surely  could  do  little 
towards  advancing  a  strict,  accurate,  and  critical  acquaintance  with  the 
sacred  original. 

*  But  our  knowledge  even  of  those  MSS.  which  have  been  described 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  CoUatian  of  the  Go^h.  355 

the  oftenest,  and  iiupected  the  most  repeatedly,  is  more  loose  and  unsatis- 
&ctory  than  would  be  imagined  prior  to  investigation.  Three  of  the 
copies  I  iiave  collated  for  the  present  volume  are  found  in  Griesbach's 
list  (ff,j\  m) :  how  little  he  really  knew  of  their  contents  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  state  in  the  next  chapter/ 

To  these  mss.  we  have  already  referred ;  and  we  only  add  here, 
that  Griesbach  never  professed  to  have  collated  them  himself;  he 
selected  from  the  citations  which  others  had  made,  and  thus  he  is 
hardly  to  be  blamed  for  not  knowing  more  than  he  did.  As  to 
the  BIS.  which  Mr.  Scrivener  terms  m,  it  was  simply  referred  to  as 
to  the  passage  John  vii.  53— viii.  11. 

Mr.  Scrivener  continues : — 

*  I  am  sure  that  I  may  allege  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Tregelles  to  the 
same  effect,  since  he  has  been  compelled  to  examine  afresh  even  such 
principal  authorities  as  the  uncial  mss.  £GUX,  for  his  forthcoming 
edition  of  the  New  Testament.*  On  the  whole,  then,  I  conceive  the 
ease  to  be  simply  this:  while  every  reading  actually  cited  from  the 
mass  of  documents  by  Griesbach  and  Scholz,  may  be  relied  on  as 
genuine  with  tolerable  assurance,  very  seldom  will  the  readings  quoted 
amount  to  one  in  three,  oAen  not  to  one  in  ten,  of  those  \y  hich  each 
copy  contains ;  the  omissions  consisting  chiefly  of  such  rare  or 
singular,  or  minute  variations,  as  best  enable  us  to  determine  the 
genius  and  value  of  the  manuscript  which  exhibits  them,  and  are 
consequently  even  more  important  to  the  critic  than  those  that  are 
given.' 

This  estimate  of  Scholz's  accuracy  is  far  too  favourable.' 
Griesbach  professed  to  be  simply  a  collector  in  general  from  what 
others  hadf  done  (his  own  examinations  of  mss.  are  riven  in 
detail  in  his  '  Symbolae  Criticae') :  and  he  depends,  therefore, 
almost  entirely  on  the  accuracy  and  completeness  (or  the  con- 
trary) of  those  who  have  gone  before  him ;    but  as  to  Scholz's 

*  In  referring  to  Dr.  Tregelles  and  his  laboora  of  collation,  Mr.  Scrivener  is 
probably  ttnconscious  of  a  local  connection  between  the  position  -which  he  now  hoId8 
and  that  critic.  On  his  title-page  Mr.  S.  mentions  that  he  is  *  Head  Master  of  F^- 
mouth  Sehod/  the  place  at  which  (many  a  year  before  Mr.  Scrivener  was  connected 
with  it)  Dr.  Tregelles  was  a  popil. 

*  Dear  the  schoolboy  spot ; 

We  ne'er  forget,  though  there  we  are  forgot* 

It  seems,  however,  doubtful  whether  Mr.  Scrivener  derived  his  knowledge  of  Dr. 
T.'s  edition  from  his  Prospectus ;  for  he  speaks  of  EGUX  as  amongst  his  *  principal 
authorities,*  which  be  hardly  could  have  done  if  he  bad  seen  what  he  says  in  nis 
~^         ctus  of  a  Critical  Edition,'  &c.  (appended  to  *  The  Book  of  Kevelation  trans- 


lated from  the  ancient  Greek  Text'),  for,  p.  24,  he  says,  *B,  C,  A,  D,  Z,  are  the 
iandamental  authorities ;'  and  this  is  connected  with  remarks  on  the  comparatively 
little  Taloe  of  some  of  the  later  uncials. 

'  *  The  places  in  which  I  have  been  able  to  correct  previous  collations  have  been 
very  many  hundreds ;  in  all  these  cases  I  should  have  repeated  previous  mistakes 
had  I  not  recollated  the  MSS/— Tbbgelles's  ProKpectva,  p.  22. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


356  Collation  of  the  Chspeb.  [July, 

collations  a»  printed^  grievously  would  any  one  be  misled  who 
relied  *with  tolerable  assurance'  on  the  readings  cited  being 
^  genuine ;'  his  margin  is  to  be  blamed,  not  only  for  the  omissioitt 
of  readings,  but  also  for  the  insertion  of  readings  which  are  non- 
existent in  the  mss.  cited  in  their  favour. 

Thus  Mr.  Scrivener  would  look  on  the  textual  criticism  of  the 
New  Testament  as  only  dawning ;  and  this,  with  his  views  on  the 
subject,  must  be  all  the  more  discouraging ;  for  he  says  in  the 
opening  sentence  of  his  Introduction,  *  The  criticism  of  the  text 
of  Holy  Scripture,  though  confessedly  inferior  in  point  of  dignity 
and  importance  to  its  right  interpretation,  yet  takes  precedence  of 
it  in  order  of  time ;  for  how  can  we  consistently  proceed  to  in- 
vestigate the  sense  of  the  sacred  volume,  till  we  have  done  our 
utmost  to  ascertain  its  precise  words  ?'  While  there  is  a  certain 
measure  of  truth  in  this  remark,  it  goes  too  far  ;  for  as  to  textual 
criticism,  we  must  apply  the  same  principles  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  to  other  ancient  writings.  Where  a  reading  is  supposed 
to  be  doubtful,  we  ought  to  investigate  evidence,  and  we  should 
ever  be  cautious  in  quoting  a  text  in  proof  of  any  point,  to  the 
reading  of  which  exception  could  fairly  be  taken,  feut,  happily, 
by  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  sacred  volume  is  free  from  doubt 
as  to  the  readings ;  and  of  the  variations  existing  in  copies,  by  far 
the  larger  part  affect  the  sense  singularly  littie ;  so  that  we  are 
not  called  on  to  wait  an  indefinite  time  before  we  begin  to 
interpret  Holy  Scripture.  We  read  Greek  historians  in  the 
copies  that  have  come  down  to  us,  and  we  gather  information 
from  them  before  any  revision  of  the  text  has  taken  place  ;  though 
after  that  has  been  done,  we  are  able  to  do  this  with  more  exacti- 
tude. Just  so  as  to  the  New  Testament ;  we  are  not  to  put  off 
for  an  a^  or  two  all  ability  to  learn  from  its  inspired  pages ; 
most  copies  give  us  the  substance  of  Divine  truth,  on  which  the 
soul  of  the  Christian  may  feed ;  and  the  value  which  he  has  for 
it  mag  show  him  the  importance  of  attending  to  the  subject  of 
textual  criticism. 

Mr.  Scrivener  enters  into  an  inquin^  why  so  littie  has  been  done 
since  the  publication  of  Wetstein  s  Greek  Testament,  in  the  way 
of  exact  collation.  He  attributes  it  in  measure  to  a  ^premature 
devotion  to  theories  of  recensions.'  This  remark  has  especial 
reference  to  the  system  propounded  by  Griesbach.  But  did  that 
system  have  any  such  effect  ?  Within  few  years  after  that  critic 
stated  his  principles,  how  much  was  accomplished  by  Birch  and 
Matthaei, — the  former  of  whom  seems  to  have  valued  Griesbacb's 
researches,  while  the  latter  in  every  way  cast  contempt  upon 
them. .  But  collate  they  did ;  and  there  were  more  mss,  exa- 
mined with  some  accuracy  within  a  dozen  years  or  so,  than  have 

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1853.]  OoUation  of  tJie  Qospeh.  351 

ever  been  collated  in  the  same  space  of  time  until  we  come  to 
modern  days.^ 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Griesbach's  labours  exercised  an 
important  influence  on  criticism.  Many  who  hear  that  his  system 
of  recensions  has  been  thorouj^hly  aemolished,  cast  aside  all 
reference  to  his  labours,  as  being  now  unworthy  of  attention. 
This  is  most  ignorant  and  rash.  Facts  still  remain  factSj  even 
though  they  have  been  wrongly  accounted  for.  Astronomical 
observatbns  by  a  Ptolemaean  might  be  good  and  useful,  and  as 
such  be  highly  valued  by  one  who  knows  the  truth  of  the  Coper- 
nican  system.  Facts  in  chymistry  stand  good,  even  though  the 
first  observers  of  those  facts  explained  them  on  systems  now  obso^ 
lete  and  exploded-  We  must  thus  distinguish  between  lixe  facts 
to  which  Griesbach  gave  a  prominence,  and  the  theories  which  he 
•deduced  from  them. 

A  century  a^  Wetsteiji's  Greek  Testament  appeared,  in 
which  he  cast  discredit  on  all  the  most  ancient  Greek  documents, 
charing  them  with  having  been  altered  to  suit  the  Latin  version. 
It  is  marvellous  how  this  wide-spread  charge  was  credited  by  men 
of  learning  for  one  moment.  Still  it  was  believed ;  and  good 
service  was  done  by  Semler  and  Griesbach  in  discarding  such  a 
notion.  For  if  this  theory  had  been  true,  it  would  condemn  all 
the  ancient  documents  -  mss.  versions  and  early  citations — which 
accord  with  the  Latin  in  places  (whether  many  or  few)  in  which 
the  Latin  differs  from  the  later  mss.  How  could  it  be  supposed 
that  in  some  a^  (anterior  to  the  times  of  Irenseus  and  Origen) 
there  were  Latins  to  be  found  who  could  interpolate  Greek  mss., 
and  also  then,  or  at  some  later  time,  could  do  the  same  with 
versions  used  by  various  and  dispersed  nations  ? 

The  feet  is,  that  before  Wetstein's  labours  the  difference 
between  the  character  of  certain  ancient  documents  and  the. 
modern  copies  was  felt  and  perceived.  Ben^  drew  much  atten- 
tion to  this  fact,  and  before  him  B^itley  had  used  it  as  the  basis 
of  a  critical  theory  ;  indeed,  Wetstein,  thirty  years  before  he  pub- 
lished his  Greek  Testament,  had  belonged  to  the  critical  scnool 
of  those  who  most  highly  valued  the  mss.  which  he  afterwards 
condemned  as  ^  Latinizing.'     It  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  Wet- 

*  We  believe  that  in  this  countrv  bat  UtUe  was  done  in  tbe  vray  of  eollatioD, 
partly  from  the  time  and  labour  needed,  and  partly  from  Uie  apathy  as  to  Biblical 
subjects  in  general.  We  say  deliberately  that  this  apathy  has  been  the  source  of 
Tast  evil ;  for  it  has  led  the  way  to  that  exceeding  ignorance  on  the  part  of  many 
who  would  uphold  evangelical  truth ;  an  ignorance  which  in  part  causes  the  disso- 
ciation of  the  intelligence  and  knowledge  of  the  church  from  its  grace  and  spi- 
rituality. The  confined  view  taken  by  many  orthodox  Christians  tV  now  working 
extensive  harm.  This  is  shown  by  the  manner  in  which  they  deal  superficially 
with  important  questions. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  2   B 

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358  Collation  of  the  Goapels,  [J^Jy* 

stein  was  led  thus  to  repudiate  his  earlier  principles  of  criticism. 
He  utteriy  disliked  all  that  Bengel  was  doinff,  and  he  was  so  pos- 
sessed with  the  idea  that  the  labours  of  tnat  pious  and  pains- 
taking scholar  were  wrongly  directed,  that  he  could  hardly  taH  to 
be  biassed  against  the  authorities  which  he  prized  the  most 
highly.  The  early  connection  also  of  Wetstein  with  Bentley,  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  was  broken  oflF,  seem  to  have  tended  to 
confirm  him  in  his  change  of  sentiments. 

Thus  Griesbach's  critical  labours  began  at  a  time  when  the 
most  ancient  documents  then  known  were  undervalued, — when 
the  '  Codex  Ephraemi'  (C)  was  deemed  of  less  critical  weight  than 
the  Basle  ms.,  E  ;  and  when  every  document  which  accorded  with 
the  ancient  authorities  was  deemed  unworthy  of  a  voice  in  cri- 
ticism. 

Against  this  peremptory  and  arbitrary  procedure  Griesbach 
protested.  He  examined  the  Scripture  citations  found  in  the 
writings  of  Origen,  and  showed  that  they  present  a  general  agree-- 
ment  with  the  most  ancient  documents.  There  was  known  to  be 
a  marked  difference,  on  the  one  hand,  between  the  text  of  the 
*  Codex  Bezae'  and  the  Latin  versions,  and  that  of  the  'Codex 
Ephraemi'  and  others  of  the  same  kind,  with  the  Memphitic  ver- 
sion, &c.  on  the  other ;  and  this  difference  was  made  the  basis  of 
a  part  of  his  theory  of  recensions.  The  fact  remains  the  same, 
altnough  the  hypothesis  by  which  he  accounted  for  that  fact  is 
known  to  be  groundless.  A  pump  does  raise  water,  although  the 
mode  in  which  Des  Cartes  explained  that  fact^  has  been  utterly 
condemned.  It  may  perhap  be  hardly  too  much  to  say  that 
Griesbach  was  hindered  by  his  system  of  recensions  from  following 
ancient  authority  according  to  its  true  value. 

Within  few  years  after  Griesbach  endeavoured  to  vindicate  the 
character  of  the  most  ancient  mss.,  and  to  show  their  true  value, 
documents  were  collated  or  came  to  light  which  marvellously  con- 
firmed his  judgment.  A  collation  of  the  '  Codex  Vaticanus*  was 
published  for  the  first  time,  and  it  was  remarkable  to  find  that  it 
accorded  so  much  with  the  characteristics  of  the  class  of  mss. 
which  Griesbach  had  styled  Alexandrian ;  of  this  recension  his 
ancient  representatives  had  previously  been  C  and  L.  And 
when  the  Dublin  Palimpsest  of  St.  Matthew  came  to  light,  it  was 
a  text  just  of  the  same  character. 

We  are  not  ffoing  to  discuss  the  history  of  the  systems  of 
recensions  that  have  been  proposed  in  any  detail :  we  have 
already  shown  that  neglect  of  the  collation  of  ms.  did  not  arise 
from  such  theories  being  propounded,  and  we  wish  to  ^ve  equal 
prominence  to  the  fact,  that  the  relationships  of  certain  mss.  with 
each  other,  or  with  certain  versions,  and  the  general  character  of 


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1853.]  Collatmi  of  the  Oospds.  359 

the  quotations  in  certain  writers,  remain  unaffected  by  the  argu- 
ments which  disprove  recension  systems.  The  great  defect  of 
Griesbach's  system  was  his  endeavour  so  to  classify  what  he 
termed  his  Alexandrian  and  Western  documents,  as  to  present 
them  as  distinct  families :  in  appropriating  the  citations  of  Origen 
to  the  Alexandrian  family  he  was  wrong,  and  this  he  himself 
showed  in  the  last  work  that  he  lived  to  publish  fthe  second 
Tolume  of  his  *  Commentarius  Criticus,'  1811)  ;  and  his  own  dis- 
proof of  his  earlier  theory  has  fiimished  later  writers  (commonly 
without  any  acknowledmnent)  with  their  primary  arguments. 
His  disproof,  however,  of  this  point,  is  no  refutation  of  the  fact 
that  certain  most  ancient  mss.  are  confirmed  by  the  general  cha- 
racter of  the  earlier  citations,  and  by  the  most  genuine  and  incor- 
rupt of  the  ancient  versions.  It  is  an  utterly  mistaken  view  for 
any  to  take  who  suppose  that  there  are  no  such  known  facts ;  and 
these  facts  are  the  true  basis  on  which  we  may  rest  the  ancient 
text. 

Thus  it  is  that  one  of  the  most  important  questions  in  textual 
criticism  now  is,  whether  we  shall  defer  the  most  to  the  numler  of 
the  witnesses  for  a  reading,  or  the  importance  of  those  which 
attest  it  Mr.  Scrivener  does  not  hesitate  in  adhering  to  the 
numerical  prindple,  in  his  estimate  of  testimony  ;  and,  as  he  says 
f  p.  Ixxiii.)  ^  nine-tenths  at  least  of  our  materials  are  most  imper- 
lectly  known,'  we  are  left  in  a  state  of  almost  hopeless  perplexity 
as  to  whether  we  shall  ever  arrive  at  any  definite  results. 

He  uses  (p.  xv.)  the  passage,  Matt.  xix.  17,  as  an  illustration  of 
his  own  views,  and  his  condemnation  of  those  of  Griesbach  and 
others.  We  shall  cite  his  argument  from  his  *  Supplement  to  the 
Authorized  English  Version,  because  his  views  are  there  stated 
more  fiilly  and  completely  than  in  the  work  now  under  our  con- 
sideration.^ 

'  Matt.  xix.  17.  Griesbach  and  Lachmann  here  admit  into  the  text 
an  important  variation,  which,  both  from  its  extent  and  obvious  bear- 
ing, cannot  have  originated  in  accidental  causes.  Instead  of  tI  fie  Xiyecc 
hyaQov  ;  ohluQ  dyaOoc,  el  /ij)  cic  6  Ococ,  "Why  callest  thou  me  good? 
there  is  none  gotnl  but  one,  that  w  God,"  they  read,  H  /u€  ipwra^  Tipi 
Tov  ityadov;  tic  ifrriv  6  ciyaSoc,  **  Why  as^kest  thou  me  concerning 
what  is  good  ?  He  who  is  good  is  One.'*  1  fear  it  \s  but  too  evident 
that  thiB  text  was  mangled  by*  some  over*zealous  scribe,  who  was  die* 

^  In  any  of  the  citations  which  we  make  from  Mr.  Scrivener's  earUer  work,  w^ 
wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  we  do  not  now  hold  him  responsible  for 
any  sentiments  expressed  in  it  which  he  may  since  have  repudiated.  Eieht  years 
are  qnite  long  enough  to  work  many  changes  of  opinion.  We  are  not,  however, 
awart  of  any  alteration  in  Mr.  S.'s  judgment  on  criucal  points,  except  that  in  his 
volume  in  1845  he  seems  to  have  believed  in  a  tolerably  uniform  B}  zantiue/ami/jf 
of  MSS, ;  a  notion  which  experience  has  dispelled. 

2  B  2 


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860  Collation  of  the  Gospels.  [July^ 

pleased  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Sou's  inferiority,  which  seemed  to  be 
implied  in  it ;  and  who  did  not  perceive  that  His  subordination  to  the 
Father  in  the  economy  of  grace,  is  perfectly  consistent  with  His  equality 
in  respect  to  the  Divine  Nature  and  Essence.  The  received  text  is 
found  in  Mark  x.  18 ;  Luke  xviii.  19,  with  no  variety  in  the  manu- 
scripts worthy  of  notice ;  and  even  in  this  place  Griesbach's  reading  is 
contained  only  in  ^ve  copies  (BDL.  1.  22)  and  partially  in  a  gixtk 
(Matthsei's  x).  Now  all  these  documents  (except,  perhaps,  one) 
being  Alexandrine,  and  B  alone  being  of  first-rate  importance,  every 
rule  of  sober  criticism  calls  for  the  rejection  of  Griesbach's  correction, 
especially  since  it  is  clear  in  what  sources  of  mistaken  feeling  it  took 
its  rise.  It  is  supported,  however,  by  the  Italic,  Vulg.,  aiKl  the 
Coptic  versions  (with  the  slight  addition  of  Deus),  and  in  part  by  the 
Sahidio,  jEthiopic,  and  one  or  two  of  less  weight.  Syr.  agrees  ^th 
the  "  Textus  Keceptus,"  but  the  language  of  Origen  (Tom.  iii.  p.  664) 
may  show  at  how  early  a  period  Griesbach*s  variation  had  become 
current:  o  /ixsv  o5v  MarOaror  ais  iti^i  itya^oif  llqyou  Bqcum^eyros  Toi> 
acurripos  ev  tou  tI  Scya^ov  7roiri<T0^  ;  h  Se  Ma^xof  xal  AovKois  f  oktI  tov 
eotfrriqa  elpTiKeyoLi,  ri  pbs  "kky^is  uyaQoy  ;  oi;$S(c  dyaQo§  f i  fxi  tls  o  B^Of' 
The  process  whereby  Griesbach  and  Lachmann  persuaded  themselves 
of  the  genuineness  of  their  new  text,  is  visible  enough.  The  Codices 
B  D,  the  Italic,  Origen,  and  the  Vulgate,  constitute  a  clear  majority 
of  the  authorities  admitted  by  the  latter.  The  former  conceiving  that 
the  joint  evidence  of  Codices  B  L,  1 ,  Origen,  the  Sahidic,  and  Coptic, 
is  decisive  of  the  testimony  of  his  Egyptian  family ;  while  the  Codex 
D,  the  Italic,  and  Vulgate,  represent  that  of  the  Western  recension ; 
infers  that  their  joint  influence  will  mor^  than  counterbalance  Syr., 
Chrysostom,  and  the  whole  mass  of  corrupt  Byzantine  documents  of 
every  kind :  although  numerically  they  exceed,  in  the  proportion  of 
about  ninety  to  one,  the  vouchers  for  both  his  other  cla^^es  united. 
Thus  it  is  only  by  denying  the  premises  assumed  by  these  critics,  that 
we  can  avoid  subscribing  to  their  perilous  conclusions.' 

On  this  passage  we  willingly  join  issue  with  Mr.  Scrivener,  and 
we  do  it  all  the  more  cheerfully  because  we  know  that  we  are  dis- 
cussing the  question,  not  with  some  sciolist  who  thinks  that  he 
shows  nis  acuteness  in  argument,  but  with  a  scholar  who  maintains 
his  views  honestly  and  straightforwardly,  and  who  so  writes  that  we 
know  exactly  wHat  he  means,  whether  we  a^ree  with  him  or  not 

But  we  shall  not  only  join  issue  as  to  the  reading  of  this  one 
passage,  but  we  shall  use  it  as  an  argument  against  the  authcnit]^ 
of  the  mass  of  the  later  mss.,  and  In  £a,your  of  the  few  that  aie 
very  ancient.  We  must  previously  restate  the  evidence,  firsts 
because  the  vouchers  for  the  different  readings  of  the  two  purts  of 
the  sentence  are  not  precisely  the  same ;  and,  secondly,  oecause 
some  additions  may  be  made  to  those  stated  by  Mr.  Scnvener. 

1.  Ti  UL€  \syeif  ayadov ;  this  is  supported  by  the  greater  number 
of  Mss.,  and  by  the  Peshito  and  the  text  of  the  Harclean  Syriac, 

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1853.]  ColUxtim  of  the  Gospels,  361 

and  the  Thebaic  {cdias  Sahidic)  versions  (the  latter  as  found  in 
the  Oxford  fragments) ;  also  by  the  Q)dex  Brixianu^  one  of  the 
Latin  mss.  pubushed  by  Blanchini. 

T/  fjLs  ipojTxs  vepl  rov  ayadoD ;  BDL  1,  22,  Matthaei's  x,  in  addi- 
tion  to  the  other  reading ;  the  Vulgate,  all  the  old  Latin  copies 
except  Cod.  Brix.  The  Syriac  brought  into  notice  by  Mr.  Cure- 
ton  ;  the  Jerusalem  Syriac  (this  Lectionary  does  read  thus —the 
passage  was  imperfectly  examined  by  Adler) ;  the  mar^n  of  the 
Harclean  Syriac ;  the  Memphitic  (alias  Coptic) ;  the  Armenian 
and  the  i£thiopic. 

2.  ouSeU  dya^of,  el  ixi  At.  So  most  MSB.,  three  copies  of  the 
eld  Latin,  the  Peshito  and  Harclean  Syriac,  and  the  Thebaic. 

eTf  k<rtiv  0  av^Qw,  BDL,  1,  22,  the  Latin  Vulg.,  the  oldest  and 
best  copies  of  the  old  Latin,  the  Curetonian  Syriac,  and  the  Jeru- 
salem Syriac  Lecticfnary,  the  Memphitic,  the  Armenian,  and  the 
iEthiopic. 

h  flcor  is  then  added  by  most  mss.  ;  by  tlie  Vulg.,  and  most 
copies  of  the  old  Latin ;  the  Curetonian,  Peshito,  aiid  Harclean 
Syriac ;  the  Memphitic  and  the  Thebaic ;  while  it  is  not  inserted 
in  BDL,  1,  22,  the  Latin  Codices  Vercellensis  and  Sangerma- 
nensis  1,  the  Jerusalem  Syriac,  the  Armenian,  and  the  ^tmopic. 

We  do  not  uphold  Griesbach's  recensions,  nor  do  we  now  discuss 
Lachmann's  prmciples ;  but  here  we  have,  on  the  one  hand,  a 
reading  of  the  text  older  than  the  time  of  Origen,  and,  on  the 
other,  a  reading  of  a  diflFerent  complexion.  It  is  in  vain  to  speak 
of  the  text  having  been  mangled  by  an  over-zealous  scribe,  unless 
proof  presumptive  at  least  is  given ;  for  if  there  were  an  alteration 
firom  desiOT,  it  must  have  become  diflused  in  some  marvellous 
manner ;  for  the  reading  mentioned  by  Oriffen  is  that  not  only  in 
its  essential  features  of  the  Vulgate,  but  of  the  old  Latin  version 
in  all  copies  except  the  recast  Cod.  Brixianus,  and  of  all  the 
ancient  versions  except  the  Peshito  and  Harclean  Syriac,  and  the 
Thebaic  (as  found  in  the  Oxford  fragments);  this  reading  must 
thus  have  been  diflused  widely  in  all  the  regions  of  early  Chris- 
tianity. Mr.  Scrivener  does  indeed  (p.  xv.)  express  surprise  that 
Griesbach  '  infers  that  the  joint  influence '  of  the  mss.  and  ver- 
sions which  support  this  wide-spread  reading  'will  more  than 
counterbalance  the  venerable  Peshito  Syriac,*  and  the  whole  mass 
of  Byzantine  documents  of  every  kind ;'  we  should  have  thought 
that  no  such  importance  could  have  attached  to  the  Peshito  Synac. 

<  Bat  Mr.  Scrivener  sometimes  gives  but  little  weight  to  the  Peshito  Syriac. 
Thus  on  Matt  ix.  1 3,  in  his  note  on  th  fAtrdtfotouff  which  is  not  known  as  part  of 
the  text  by  the  ancient  witnesses,  he  remarks,  *The  accordance  of  the  Peshito  with 
the  Vulgate  and  earUer  Latin  versions  I  have  before  noticed  as  a  little  suspicious.' 
Thus  the  evidence  of  the  Peshito,  when  confirmed  by  other  versions  of  great  age 
and  excellent  character,  is  valued  leg$  than  if  it  stood  alone. 

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362  CoUatwn  of  the  Gatpeh.  [July,i 

as  to  outweigh  the  counter  testimony  of  so  many  other  yeraionB ; 
now,  however,  we  may  put  in  the  opposite  scale  the  Curetonian 
Syriac,  a  version  far  more  worthy  of  the  epithet  of  *  venerable' 
than  that  which  is  called  the  Peshito,  and  which  (as  might  have 
been  expected)  accords  with  the  other  most  ancient  witnesses  in 
upholding  the  wide-spread  reading.  Whether  *  every  rule  of 
sober  criticism'  will  require  us  to  discard  this  attested  reading 
must,  we  suppose,  depend  on  what  we  consider  such  rules  to  be ; 
might  we  not  well  ask  for  some  proof  that  the  other  reading 
existed  in  the  time  of  Origen  in  copies  of  St  Matthew's  Gospel  ? 

And  as  to  the  source  of  the  reading  found  in  the  mass  of  mss^ 
need  we  feel  any  difficulty  in  seeking  it  out  ?  For  it  is  that  which 
is  found  in  the  two  other  synoptical  Gospels ;  and  every  one  who 
knows  MS8.  minutely  must  be  aware  how  habitually  copyists  inserted 
in  one  Gospel  the  readings  of  another,  so  as  to  bring  them  (per- 
haps unconsciously)  into  closer  verbal  agreement  We  do  not 
know  of  a  single  hs.  or  version  that  has  not  suffered  more  or  less 
in  this  manner;^  we  have  to  make  the  same  complaint  as  was 
made  by  Jerome  well  nigh  fifteen  hundred  years  a^.  In  a  case 
like  this,  where  we  have  the  direct  testimony  of  Origen  confirmed 
by  good  MS.,  and  upheld  by  versions  widdy  difiused,  we  cannot 
hesitate  to  maintain  the  authority  of  that  reading^  which  is  not 
exactly  the  same  as  that  of  Mark  and  Luke.  How  naturaUy 
copyists  sought  verbal  conformity  may  be  seen  in  thb  passage ;  (or 
C  o3,  and  some  other  mss.  which  commonly  exhibit  the  same  class 
of  text  as  BL,  &c.,  here  accord  with  the  later  mss.  in  giving  the 
reading  rightly  found  in  Mark  and  Luke. 

Mr.  Scnvener  is  quite  right  in  saying  that  the  reading  of  BDL 
^  cannot  have  originated  in  accidental  causes ;'  the  rival  reading 
may^  however,  have  so  originated,  and  the  notion  that  it  did  so  is 
one  of  the  highest  probability.  Indeed  if  a  designed  alteration 
for  doctrinal  purposes  had  taken  place  in  Matthew,  how  could 
Mark  and  Luxe  escape  from  a  similar  injury  ? 

But  the  mass  of  tne  mss.,  ^  in  the  proportion  of  about  ninety  to 
one,'  oppose  what  we  have  proved  to  be  the  ancient  and  wide- 
spread reading  of  this  passage :  what  does  this  teach  ?  Why,  that 
the  mass  of  recent  documents  possess  no  determining  voice  in  a 
question  as  to  what  we  should  receive  as  genuine  reamngs.  We 
are  able  to  take  the  few  documents  whose  evidence  is  proved  to  be 
trustworthy,  and  safely  discard  from  present  consideration   the 

^  Some  people  rest  roach  on  some  one  incorrect  reading  of  a  MS.,  and  then 
express  a  great  deal  of  wonder  that  such  a  MS.  could  be  highly  valued  by  critics. 
We  can  well  leave  the  exposure  of  such  excessive  ijniorance  as  this  to  be  dealt 
with  by  one  who  knows  Greek  MSS.  as  well  as  Mr,  Scrivener.  This  ignorance  is 
Just  as  great  as  that  would  be  of  a  man  who  thought  that  all  copyists  and  com- 
positors ought  to  be  infallible. 

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1853.]  Collatum  of  the  Go9peU.  363 

eigfaty-nine  ninetieths,  or  whatever  else  their  numerical  proportion 
msLy  be. 

We  do  not  see  anything  '  perilous '  in  the  *  conclusions '  to 
which  such  a  passage  as  this  leads  us ;  on  the  contrary,  it  presents 
us  with  a  safe  line  of  evidence  connecting  our  good  Mse.  with  the 
former  part  of  the  third  century  of  our  era.  We  should  feel  that 
we  did  indeed  put  the  text  of  the  New  Testament  in  peril  if  we 
adopted  the  authority  of  the  mass  of  mss.,  which  we  prove  to  be  at 
variance  with  what  was  read  by  the  Christians  of  the  third  century 
at  least. 

It  appears  that  we  are  not  wrong  in  our  conclusion  that  Mr. 
Scrivener  does,  as  a  primary  principle  of  textual  criticism,  rest  on 
the  number  of  documents, — that  is  (we  should  say),  on  the  quan- 
tity of  the  evidence,  not  the  qualiti/.  Another  extract  from  the 
notes  in  his  *  Supplement  to  the  Authorized  Version '  fully  con- 
firms this  opinion. 

Matthew  xv.  8.  *  Griesbach,  Vater,  and  Lachmann  remove  from  the 
text  as  spurious  the  words  eyyil^H  ixoi  *  draweth  nigh  unto  me,'  and 
rw  ijTOfjLttrt  avrSy^  xai,  *  with  their  mouth  and.'  They  are  wanting 
in  Syr.  Vulg.  the  Italic,  ^thiopic,  and  Armenian  versions;  in 
Origen,  Chrysostom,  and  several  other  Fathei-s.  This  would  form  a 
strong  reason  for  questioning  their  authenticity,  were  they  not  found  in 
all  existing  manuscripts  except  ^re  (BDL.  33.  124),  all  of  which  are 
decidedly  Alexandrian.  Fully  admitting  the  weight  of  the  versions 
on  a  point  of  this  kind,  and  the  possibility  that  the  disputed  words  were 
inserted  from  the  lxx.  of  Isai.  xxix.  13  ;  I  still  thnik  it  unreasonable 
to  reject  the  reading  contained  in  so  immense  a  majority  of  the  manu- 
scripts of  every  age,  and  of  both  families."  Indeed  we  cannot  do  so 
without  unsettUng  the  first  principles  of  Scriptural  criticism.' 

Then,  if  so,  those  *  first  principles '  must  be  that  numbers  and 
numbers  only  shall  prove  a  point ;  for  here  we  have  versions  and 
fathers  rejecting  certain  words,  and  this  testimony  confirmed  by  a 
few  good  MS.  witnesses ;  but  because  ninety  mss.  to  one  can  be 
produced  on  the  other  side,  the  united  ancient  testimony  must  (we 
are  told)  be  rejected,  although  it  is  admitted  that  this  host  of  wit- 
nesses may  possibly  testify  to  what  they  got  from  Isaiah,  and  not 
from  St.  Matthew ;  we  should  say  that,  on  every  true  principle  of 
textual  criticism,  die  words  must  be  regarded  as  an  amplification 
borrowed  from  the  prophet.  This  naturally  explains  their  intro- 
duction ;  and  when  once  they  had  gained  a  footing  in  the  text,  it 
is  certain  that  they  would  be  multiplied  by  copyists,  who  almost 
always  preferred  to  make  passages  as  full  and  complete  as  possible. 

™  This  mention  of  '  both  families'  is  a  mode  of  speech  which  Mr.  Scriyener 
apparenUy  would  not  now  use,  as  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  system  of  recensions 
or  the  late  Prof.  Scholz. 


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364  VcUatkn  of  the  (}o$pels.  [July, 

To  the  evidence  for  Ihe  teftding  to  which  Mr.  Scrirencr  otjecte, 
as  stated  above,  some  items  must  be  added,  for  the  Memphitic 
version,  as  weD  as  the  Curetonian  Syriac,  agree  with  the  other 
ancient  translations;  so  that  (as  the  Thebaic  is  here  defective) 
the  whole  of  the  more  ancient  veraons  give  one  according  testi- 
mow,  which  Mr.  Scrivener  r^etSy  thinking  that  if  he  were  not  io 
do  tnis,  he  would  unsettle  the  first  principfes  of  Kblical  criticism. 
We  should  not  widi  to  adopt  principles  which  led  ta  such  eondu- 
sions.  It  is  right  to  add  the  Latin  Code&  Brixianus  does  contain 
the  words,  which  is  just  what  we  should  expect  irom  the  character 
of  the  BIS.  as  giving  a  remodelled  version." 

We  come  again  to  just  the  same  conclusiiHi  as  before,  that  the 
Biss.  which  are  entitled  to  a  primary  rank  as  witnesses  are  the  few 
and  not  the  many ;  the  few  whose  character  is  well  attested  and 
confirmed. 

Mr.  Scrivener  (although  he  sometimes  sneaks  in  mdk  terms  of 
the  Peshito  Syriac)  is  not  disposed  to  rank  the  evidenoe  of  ver- 
sions very  high,  as  we  have  just  seen:  the  foUovring  note  also 
shows  it : — 

Matt  XX.  22.  ^  Oriesbach  and  Lachmann  remove  from  the  text  xxl 
TO  /Sa»T»<TpwK,  0  lyof  Qa'irri^fxai  /3a»T»(yfl*ivai,  and  the  corresponding 
clause  in  the  next  verse.  Their  meagre  array  of  witnesses  is  of  the 
usual  character ;  six  decidecfly  Egyptian,**  mss.  in  v.  22,  (BDLZ.  L 
22,  see  note  on  chap.  xix.  17.)  Origen  and  Epiphanius  amongst  the 
Greeks ;  the  Sahi^iic,  Coptic,  -^thiopic,  Italic,  and  Vulg.,  with  their 
faithful  attendants  the  Latin  Fathers.  But  even  if  we  grant  that  the 
Latin  and  other  versions  are  more  trustworthy  in  their  omissions  than 
in  their  additions  to  the  text ;  or  coneede  to  Origen  the  possibility  that 
the  disputed  words  properly  belong  only  to  Mark  (ch.  x.  38,  S9) ;  still 
it  is  extrsvaaant  to  ckdm  fi>r  translations  so  high  authority,  that  they 
should  be  held  competent  to  overthrow  the  positive  testimony  of  Bias,  of 
the  original.' 

If  ancient  and  independent  versbns  agree  in  not  presenting  a 
certain  clause  or  expression,  then,  on  dll  true  principles  of  textual 
criticism,  such  omitted  words  are  ^u^piciaus ;  but  if  the  most 
ancient  biss.  agree  with  the  versions  in  their  rejection,  then  the 
case  is  greatly  strengthened ;  and  this  is  all  the  more  coftfirmed  if 
early  citations  accord.  The  case  would  be  more  correctly  stated 
if  it  were  claimed  that  the  united  testimony  of  versions,  fathers, 
and  the  oldest  mss.  shotdd  be  preferred  to  that  of  the  mass  of 


■  We  may  also  add,  on  the  other  side,  that  Codex  1  in  part  agrees  with  tie 
reading  of  BDL ;  it  transposes  iyylC*i  fMt,  and  rcjecU  the  other  words  mentiontd 
above. 

•  What  if  the  MS?,  be  Egyptian,  the  Latin  yetnons  are  not ;  and  thefefbre  the 
land  of  the  MSS.,  enn  if  it  be  Egypt,  proves  nothing  against  theitt. 


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1853.]  CoOatim  of  the,  Qospels.  365 

modem  copies ;  and,  farther,  that  the  character  of  the  few  ancient 
M88.  which  agree  with  versions  and  fathers,  must  be  such  (from 
that  very  eircumetanee)  as  to  make  their  general  evidence  the  more 
trustworthy. 

Thus  we  may  hideed  see  that  every  investigation,  even  though 
intended,  like  those  of  Mr.  Scrivener,  to  cast  discredit  on  Ae 
ancient  mss.  as  witnesses,  tells  on  the  opposite  side,  and  shows 
how  needful  it  is  to  trust  to  ancient  testimony  if  we  would  really 
use  tiie  ancient  text,  such  as  was  current  amongst  the  Christians 
of  the  first  three  centuries  after  the  New  Testament  was  written. 

This  recurrence  to  the  ancient  mss.  is  strenuously  opposed  by 
Mr.  Sorivener,  and  he  therefore  condemms  the  critical  editions  m 
Lachmann  ainl  Tischendorf.  He  seems^  in  common  with  many 
others,  to  have  but  an  indistinct  apprehension  of  what  Lachmann 
proposed :  this  is  partly  in  consequence  of  that  critic  having  ffiven 
his  views  more  definitely  in  German  periodicitls  than  elsewhere. 
Had  Mr.  Scrivener  e&amined  Lachmann's  own  published  papers^ 
or  the  German  biography  of  Lachmann  by  Martin  Hei-tz,  he 
would,  we  think,  have  more  clearly  understood  what  he  intended  to 
do  and  what  he  did.f' 

Lachmann  never  dreamed  of  having  done  more  than  present 
data  towards  the  obtaining  of  a  perfect  text :  his  Smaller  edition 
was  intended  to  present  the  result  of  the  collations  (as  fai*  as  then 
known^  of  the  older  Oriental  (by  which  he  meant  what  some  would 
call  Alexandrian)  mss.,  following  them  in  the  text  so  far  as  they 
agree,  and  in  cases  of  difference  seeking  western  aid.  His  larger 
edition  ia  based  on  the  united  testimony  of  the  older  authorities, 
whether  western  or  eastern  ;  and  as  to  versions,  it  includes  the  old 
Latin  only.  Lachmann  professes  to  give  what  (in  his  judgment) 
are  the  results  of  evidence  so  far^  fully  admitting  that  every  such 
result  mi^ht  be  modified  by  a  more  accurate  collation  of  the  mss., 
and  also  by  the  use  of  other  ancient  versions.*i 

'  Mr.  Scrivener  does  not  adve  any  proof  (so  far  as  we  remember)  of  his  being 
acqaainted  with  Lacbmann's  Getmun  expositaons  of  his  critical  principles }  hb  must, 
howeyeVf  know  of  their  existence,  as  Laehmann  himself  calls  attention  to  them  in 
his  smaller  Gr.  Test 

^  In  his  '  Supplement  to  the  Authorized  Knglish  Verdon/  Mr.  Scrltener  ftnd^ 
great  fault  with  Lachmann,  and  seems  not  to  understand  the  pleasantry  in  which 
that  (now  departed)  scholar  indulged— all  of  which  was  intelligible  enough  to  bir 
friends.  He  even  blames  him  for  not  choosing  to  call  the  old  Latin  by  the  nam^ 
of  Italic,  although  that  name  is  certainly  wholly  incorrect ;  for  the  Iiaiic  of  Au- 
gustine (the  only  writer  who  uses  the  name)  was  not  the  old  Latin,  but  a  reyision 
made  or  used  in  upper  Italy. 

In  a  note  (p.  24),  •Supplement,*  Mr.  Scrivener  says:  *  But  the  most  amusing 
case  of  all  is  Eh*.  Barrett  s,  who  was  guilty  of  editing  the  facsimile  of  the  Dublin 
palimpsest  of  St.  Matthew  (Z  of  Schola;.  After  duly  thanking  the  enyraver  for  his 
workmanlike  skUl,  Lachmann  kiudl]^  adds,  *'  Johannem  Barrettum,  qui  Dublin! 
edidit  anno  1801,   non  laudo ;  hominem  hnjus  artis,  ultra  quam  credi  potesti 

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36G  OoUation  of  the  Ghspeh.  [July* 

We  will  rive  Mr.  Scrivener'a  objections  to  the  paramount 
authority  of  tne  ancient  mss.  in  his  own  words : — 

'There  is  a  tone  and  manner  often  observable  when  mss.  of  the 
Greek  Testament  are  spoken  of,  as  if  it  were  taken  for  granted  that  their 
value  is  in  direct  proportion  to  their  date :  as  though  the  testimony  of  a 
document  of  the  twelfth  or  fourteenth  century  were,  of  necessity  and  aa 
a  matter  of  course,  far  inferior  in  weight  and  probability  to  that  of  an 
uncial  copy  some  five  hundred  years  older.  Now,  I  wish  not  to  deny 
the  existence  of  a  certain  amouut  of  presumption  in  favour  of  the  more 
ancient  authority ;  the  nearer  we  approach  the  apostolic  times  the  fewer 
stages  that  have  intervened  between  the  inspired  autog^phs  and  the 
manuscript  before  us,  the  less  chance  there  is  of  error  or  wilful  alteration 
on  the  part  of  copyists.  But  what  I  complain  of  is  this,  that  instead  of 
looking  upon  the  case  as  one  of  mere  presumption,  of  primd  facie 
likelihood,  such  as  other  circumstances  may  limit,  or  correct,  or  entirely 
remove,  it  is  regarded  from  the  first  as  a  settled  point,  that  unless  a 
monument  be  upwards  of  a  thousand  years  old,  it  is  hardly  worth  the 
trouble  of  collating.   ^^  Ante  omnia,"  says  Lachmann,  '^  antiquissimorum 

rationem  habebimus; fine  certo  constitute  recentiores,   item 

leves  et  comiptos,  recusabimus.'' '  {Prcsf,  p.  vi.) ' 

Mr.  Scrivener  concedes  a  ffreat  deal  when  he  admits  a  prima 
fade  case  in  favour  of  the  oldest  documents  ;  so  that,  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  uncertainty  which  he  considers  as  surrounding  textual 
criticism,  an  uncertamty  which  will  be  only  (he  thinks)  dispelled 
by  the  collation  of  all  known  mss.  (a  prospect  almost  hopeless),  we 
might,  as  a  provisional  measure,  concede  to  the  ancient  authorities 
the  rank  to  which  Lachmann,  Tregelles,  and  in  part  Tischendorf, 
contend  they  are  entitled. 

Mr.  Scrivener  then  asks : — 

'  And  to  what  cause  shall  we  attribute  it,  that  the  oldest  mss.  are 
necessarily  the  best,  while  the  more  recent  ought  to  be  despised  as 
''  corrupt  and  of  little  consequence  ?  "  Will  Lachmann  undertake  to 
assert  that  our  modem  Byzantine  documents  are  but  bad  copies  of 
the  Alexandrian,  the  Vatican,  or  Beza's  ms.  ?  Yet  no  supposition 
short  of  this  will  answer  the  purpose  of  his  argument.* 

We  know  of  no  argument  of  Lachman's  which  demands  any 
supposition  so  singular  to  support  it ;  and  thus  it  is  needless  to 
propose  questions  on  such  a  point  to  a  scholar  already  removed 

imperitam." '  Did  it  never  occur  to  Mr.  Scriyener  to  make  himself  acqaainted 
irith  Dr.  t^urett's  edition  of  Z  ?  Dr.  Davidson  thus  speaks  of  it  (  Biblical  Criticism, 
ii.  p.  311):  *  The  editor  gives  on  the  opposite  page  to  the  fecsimile  the  words  in 
the  usual  Greek  type,  irith  lines  corresponding,  ntre  his  accuracy  cannot  be  com» 
mended.  In  fact,  he  has  made  many  blunders*  Why,  then,  should  Lachmann  be 
blamed  for  gently  hinting  that  Dr.  Barrett  had  not  read  the  Greek  MS.  correcUy  ? 
Severe  as  Lachmann  was  on  the  pretensions  of  sciolists,  it  was  wot  his  practice  to 
make  assertions  or  to  throw  out  hints  without  having  good  grounds  for  what  be 
said. 
'  Introd.  p.  XX. 

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1853.]  CoUatum  of  the  aospeh.  867 

from  amongst  us.  But  Mr.  Scrivener  has  given  (Introduction, 
p.  Ixxii.)  a  solution  of  all  questions  as  to  the  relation  of  the 
modem  copies  to  the  most  ancient.  *  If  we  consider  the  Codex 
Beza  and  its  kindred  documents  on  the  one  side,  and  such  au- 
thorities as  our  Codices  /,  m,  n,  on  the  other,  the  line  of  distinction 
between  them  is  so  broad  and  unmistakeable,  that  if  all  other 
copies  of  the  Greek  Testament  had  perished,  we  should  have  felt 
no  hesitation  in  treating  them  as  separate  recensions,  differing  not 
a  little  in  character,  and  presenting  us  with  many  grave  deviations 
in  the  sense.  But  as  other  mss.  come  to  light,  the  subject  grows 
much  more  intricate.  One  after  the  other  they  take  each  its  proper 
place  in  the  void  between  the  two  extremes,  which  aeem  at  le/Cgth 
to  be  linked  by  a  contiTvuous  chain  of  authoritieH^^  &c.  This  com- 
pletely shows  the  gradual  divergence  of  the  text  of  the  New 
Testament ;  whether  the  primitive  text  be  more  in  accordance  with 
the  more  ancient  documents  that  have  come  down  to  us,  or  with 
the  more  numerous  and  modem,  is  the  question ;  on  this  we  shall 
have  a  few  words  to  say  presently.  Mr.  Scrivener  then  goes  on 
to  argue  that  the  modem  copies  may  be  transcripts  from  ancient 
MSS.,  older  than  any  which  now  exist.  Had  tnere  been  good 
reasons  for  this  we  might  have  asked  for  at  least  presumptive 
proof.*  Such  abstract  suppositions  remind  us  of  Cicero's  dictum, 
*  Est  ridicdlum,  ad  ea  qu^e  habemus,  nihil  dicere  :  qu^- 
RERE  QU^  HABERE  NON  PossuMUS.'  {Pvo  AvcMa,  iv.)  Granted 
that  there  was  no  physical  impossibility  in  Mr.  Scrivener's  suppo- 
sition, still  it  would  be  strange  that  the  oldest  mss.  which  we 
possess  should  hey  as  a  class^  so  different  from  the  modem 
multitude.  Then,  asain,  if  we  take  the  most  ancient  documents 
which  have  come  to  ught,  or  have  been  collated  since  Wetstein's 
days,  how  straiige  it  is  that  they  should  all  belong  to  the  same 
general  class.  The  collation  of  the  Vatican  ms.  (inoperfect  as  it 
is)  showed  to  what  other  documents  it  is  allied.  The  Borgian 
Augment  (T),  published  by  Giorgi,  was  of  the  same  kind  ;  and  so, 
too,  were  the  two  Wolfenbiittel  palimpsests  (P  and  Q^,  brought 
to  light  hw  Knittel ;  so  also  the  Dublin  palimpsest  (Z)  of  some 
parts  of  St.  Matthew.  This  would  be  puzzling  enou^  on  any 
supposition  except  that  the  ancient  mss.  do  actually  contain  the 
ancient  text.  In  fact,  how  could  readings  be  proved  to  be  ancient 
except  from  their  being  found  in  ancient  documents  ?     If  we  use 

'  The  qaestion  is  about  the  moM  of  the  carsive  MSS. ;  if  the  host  of  these  doca* 
meats  are  copied  from  a  primitive  text,  then  1,  S3,  69,  depart  from  that  text ;  but 
if  not,  then  the  few  cursive  codices  which  dififer  in  their  general  complexion  from 
the  mass,  and  which  accord  with  BDL,  are  really  copies,  direct  or  remote,  of  the 
older  form  of  text. 

If  we  have  no  data,  how  can  we  speculate  on  what  MSS.  might  have  existed 
anterior  to  any  that  we  now  possess,  or  what  readings  they  might  contain. 

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36S  Oollation  of  the  Qaspeb.  [Julyf 

authorities  which  ^ve  us  the  readings  of  the  fourth  century,  then 
fare  we  sure  that  we  adopt  what  was  used  and  known  as  the  New 
Testament  of  that  date.  Of  course,  our  oldest  Mss.  may  be  taken  as 
hit  samples  oif  the  text  of  the  time  when  they  were  copied ;  whether 
few  at  many,  their  claims  as  to  this  are  not  affected.  And  when 
we  find  a  general  agreement  between  the  oldest  mss.  and  the  oldest 
and  best  preserved  versions,  the  case  is  vastly  strengthened ;  and 
when,  in  addition,  the  older  citations  support  the  same  kindcftext^ 
there  is  a  threefold  cord  of  testimony,  which  we  do  well  not  to 
reject  lightly.  And  let  it  be  observed  that  every  fragment  of  a 
pi^impsest  which  confirms  the  older  text  as  far  as  U  goes^  confirms 
it  in  its  general  tone  and  textul^ :  tx  ungue  leanem.  There  are 
various  ways  of  showing  the  primA  facie  claims  of  Ate  ancient 
documents  as  exhibiting  the  ancient  text  Mr.  Scrivener  himself 
remarks  on  the  presumption  in  favour  of  the  biss.  themselves ;  but 
besides  this,  we  might  say  that  the  oldest  and  best  versions  difler 
much  from  the  common  printed  Greek,  tlien  we  might  show  that 
these  versions  have  a  remarkable  accordance  with  early  citations. 
IImis  we  mijriit  rightly  argue  that  any  mss.  (if  such  there  be)  wladi 
present  similar  features  must  be  of  primary  authority.  And  thus, 
if  BCDL  had  all  perished,  or  were  unknown,  we  might  dis* 
tinguish  such  mss.  as  1,  83,  69,  froiti  the  mass  of  documents,  atd 
say  that  they  are  witnesses  of  a  far  more  trustworthy  class :  we 
should  have  said  that  they  present  as  with  an  aineient  text,  not 
because  they  are  actually  very  ancient,  but  because  their  readings 
are  proved  to  be  such.  But  when  we  find  thitt  the  oldest  mss.  possess 
the  characteristics  which^  as  we  know  from  other  lines  of  proof, 
ought  to  mark  the  witnesses  of  the  ancient  text ;  then  the  whole 
line  of  demonstration  is  greatly  confirmed  and  strengthened. 

We  now  resume  the  quotation  from  Mr.  Scrivener,  to  the  former 
part  of  whidi  we  have  replied,  in  riiowing  that  it  is  unreasonable 
to  appeal  from  what  does  exist,  to  what  might  have  existed : — 

^  The  remark  is  so  trite  one  is  tired  of  repeating  it,*  that  many  codiced 
of  the  tctatk  and  following  centuries  were  very  prol^bly  "*  transcribed  from 
others  of  a  inOre  early  date  than  any  which  now  exi^ ;  the  inoespant 
wear  of  the  older  copies  in  the  services  of  the  church  rendering  a  fresh 
supply  indispensable.     In  what  way,  then,  does  he  [t.  e.  LachmaaD] 

'  We  do  Doi  wonder  that  it  it  wearying  to  repeat  such  a  remark ;  to  os  it  only 
^iow8  how  the  tame  thing  may  be  reiterated  as  if  it  were  convincing.  It  is  useless 
to  appeal  from  what  doet  exist  to  what  may  have  existed,  from  what  we  do  know 
to  that  which  we  ne^er  can  know. 

•  Not  a  very  probable  supposition.  The  book  manuftustories  of  the  Greek  mo- 
nasteries, etc,  were  not  the  places  in  which  antiquities  were  much  honoured  in 
those  days.  A  copyist  of  a  cnrsiye  MS.,  with  breathings  and  accents,  ^as  not  very 
likel^r  to  use  as  an  exemplar  a  very  early  uncial  document  destitute  of  these  marks; 
espeeially  as  the  copyists  were  in  general  mechanical  workmen,  whose  knowledge 
of  grammatical  forms,  etc.,  was  none  of  the  greatest. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  CoUatum  of  the  Go9pel$.  869 

meet  the  obvious  sug^^tioD,  that  our  present  cursive  M88.  are  but  the 
representatives  of  venerable  documents,  which  have  long  since  perished  ? 
He  grants  that  it  might  possibly  be  true,  but  declares  that  in  reality  it 
is  not  so.     '^  Since  the  oldest  icss.  still  extant  (says  he)  wonder^ly 

agree  with  the  citations  of  the  most  ancient  waiters; why 

should  we  think  that  IrensBus  and  Origen  used  more  corrupt  copies 
than  Erasmus  and  the  Complutensian  editors  ?  '' '  (Prcef.  p.  vii.) 

A  proof  that  Lachmann  is  right  in  denying  that  the  mass  of  the 
later  documents  are  copies  of  a  more  primitive  form  of  text,  is  ffiven 
(as  we  have  already  said)  by  the  comparison  of  readings  wi£  the 
best  versions  and  early  citations.  We  do  not  observe  that  Mr. 
Scrivener  anywhere  gives  its  weight  to  the  testimony  of  versions ; 
but  it  may  be  observed  that  when  the  general  character  of  a  GSreek 
document  is  thus  proved^  it  may  be  used  as  a  new  link  in  a  chain 
of  argument,  and  thus  other  mss.  which  hi^ve  an  ^nity  to  it, 
whether  very  old  or  more  recent,  are  demonstrated  as  being 
worthy  of  a  hearing  in  the  settlement  of  the  text 

Mr.  Scrivener  does  not  admit  Lachmann's  appeal  to  the  reader's 
understanding,  that  Origen  and  Irenaeus  are  not  Ukely  to  have 
used  more  corrupt  copies  than  £rasmus  and  tlie  Complutensian 
editors.     He  says  (what  we  could  not  have  expected)  : — 

*  With  LachmanrCs  last  statement  I  cheerfully  join  issue.  We  need 
only  refer  once  more  to  Archbishop  Laurence's  "  Remarks  "  (see  above, 
p.  xvi.),  to  prove  that  Origen  at  all  events  does  not  agree  with  his  fii- 
vourite  authorities  against  the  more  common  text/ 

A  summary  reference  to  Archbishop  Laurence's  successiiil 
attack  on  Gnesbach's  recension  system,  does  not  prove  that 
Origen,  and  such  mss.  as  6  D,  do  not  read  essentially  alike  iq 
opposition  to  the  common  text.  In  fact,  no  one  can  examine 
Lachmann's  larger  Greek  Testament  carefiJly  without  seeing  this 
to  be  pre-eminently  a  fad.  Archbishop  Laurence  does  show  that 
(Mgen  does  not  adhere  to  the  readings  of  B  in  vreference  to  those 
of  D  (and  this  Griesbaeh  himself  showed  in  his  last  work),  but  the 
fact  cannot  be  explained  away  that  the  leading  characteristic 
readings  of  that  early  writer  uphold  the  most  ancient  mss.  in 
opposition  to  the  common  text.     Mr.  Scrivener  continues : — 

'  If  the  small  portion  of  Irenseus's  works  yet  extant  tn  Oreehy  or  the 
surviving  writings  of  other  early  Greeh  fibers,  lend  their  exclusive 
countenance  to  any  class  or  &mily  of  recensions,  I  must  confess  my 
ignorance  of  the  &ct,  and  (in  the  absence  of  anything  approaching 
to  demonstration)  cannot  help  deeming  it  in  the  highest  degree  im- 
probable.' 

But  in  this  Mr.  Scrivener  seems  unconsciously  to  shift  the  terms 
of  the  question  on  which  he  joins  issue.  Lachmann  does  not 
appeal  to  the  parts  of  IrensBus  which  are  extant  in  Greek  merely, 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


370  Collation  of  the  Gospels.  [July, 

but  to  the  whole  ;  and  he  gives  in  his  own  edition  the  most  ample 

Sroof  that  this  appeal  was  well  grounded.  Farther,  Lachmann 
oes  not  speak  or  'recensions,'  and  therefore  their  introduction 
is  irrespective  of  the  argument  Besides,  Mr.  Scrivener,  by  in- 
troducing the  word  'exclusive,'  brings  in  a  new  concUtion — a 
condition,  however,  which  almost  requires  the  idea  of '  recensions.' 
Lachmann's  question  remains,  \Vny  should  we  suppose  that 
Irenaeus  and  Origen  used  more  corrupt  codices  than  Erasmus  and 
the  Complutensian  editors?  Will  Mr.  Scrivener  join  issue  in 
maintaining  that  they  did  ?  We  add  that  early  Greek  writers  do 
uphold  the  most  ancient  copies ;  in  proof  we  need  only  refer  the 
reader  to  Hippolytus  and  (before  the  middle  of  the  second 
century)  to  the  ivatToXix^  JiJat^xaX/a  (accompanying  Qem.  Alex.). 
Thus  it  is  a  fact,  '  that  the  oldest  mss.  extant  do  wonderfully  agree 
with  the  citations  of  the  most  ancient  writers.' 

Of  course  it  is  admitted  that  the  early  authorities  present  many 
shades  of  variation.  ^Vhat  we  maintain  is,  that  in  seeking  for  the 
well-attested  ancient  text,  we  must  not  go  beyond  the  limits  of 
t?iese  variations.  The  only  proof  that  a  reading  is  ancient  is  that 
it  has  some  ancient  voucher.  The  reason  that  the  mass  of  docu- 
ments may  be  left  out  of  consideration  as  witnesses,  is  that  they 
can  be  proved  not  to  present  an  ancient  text.  *Fortasse  de 
minuendis  potius  quam  ae  augendis  in  infinitum  criticorum  aux- 
iliorum  copiis  cogltandum  mox  erit,'  was  the  sentiment  of  Gries- 
bach  (Symb.  Crit.  Praef.),  expressed  nearly  seventy  years  ago. 
And  me  onward  course  of  criticism  (retarded  though  it  was  by 
Scholz,  whose  theories  found  such  favour  in  this  country)  has 
tended  to  the  principle  of  selection  from  amongst  the  apparent 
aids,  those  which  are  worthy  of  some  reliance.  And  thus  the 
mass  of  modern  copies  may  well  be  left  out  of  consideration  ;  so 
also  may  the  versions  later  than  the  sixth  or  seventh  century ;  and 
thus  the  critical  page  need  no  longer  be  encumbered  with  citations 
from  the  Arabic  versions,  the  Sclavonic  and  the  Persic,  by  none  of 
which  can  anything  be  proved. 

It  is  remarkable  how  confirmed  is  the  principle  of  appeal  to 
the  ancient  copies  by  what  we  find  in  the  Vulgate  and  the  LXX. 
In  the  Vulgate  we  find  the  mass  of  the  modem  mss.  utterly 
worthless  in  investigating  the  genuine  text ;  and  all  examination 
has  shewn  that  the  older  the  mss.  are,  the  more  closely  do  they 
approach  to  what  Jerome  executed;  and  this  holds  true  till  we 
reach  the  Codex  Amiatinus,  copied  one  hundred  and  twenty  years 
after  the  death  of  that  father,  the  noblest  monument  of  his  version. 

Which  is  preferable,  the  Aldine  LXX,  the  text  of  which  at  first 
obtained  a  wide-spread  currency,  proceeding  only  from  recent  mss., 
or  the  Roman  eaition  of  1586,  based  on  the  Codex  Vaticanus? 


Digitized 


byGoOgl 


1853.]  Collation  of  the  Gaepela.  871 

Or  why  did  the  latter  obtain  the  place  in  common  estimation 
which  it  has  held  for  two  centuries  and  a  half?  IMd  jPro- 
te^tants  concede  this  honour  because  it  came  out  under  Papal 
sanction  ?  It  gained  its  ground  and  kept  it  from  its  being  really 
an  ancient  text ;  such  in  its  general  complexion  as  was  read  by 
the  early  fathers,*  and  that  the  common  text  of  the  New  Testa^ 
ment  is  not.  The  Roman  LXX  following  (though  not  as  correctly 
as  it  ought)  one  most  ancient  ms.,  is  a  far  better  text  than  the 
New  Testament  in  common  use  from  the  days  of  Erasmus  to  this 
hour. 

A  few  years  ago  we  used  to  hear  much  of  the  general  agreement 
of  the  cursive  Greek  mss.,  and  this  was  used  as  an  argument  in 
favour  of  the  text  which  they  contained.  To  this  it  was  answered 
that  this  general  agreement  was  not  nearly  so  great  as  that  of  the 
more  recent  copies  of  the  Vulgate,  which  accord  in  the  most 
certain  corruptions.  Mr.  Scrivener,  however,  considers  that 
some  may  think  the  cursive  documents  are  of  little  value,  because 
of  their  supposed  uniformity  ;  he  is  therefore  earnest  in  impressing 
on  the  readers'  attention  that  this  uniformity  does  not  exists  and 
he  appeals  to  the  collations  now  published  m  complete  disproof. 
He  is  right  in  the  main,  although  there  are  many  of  the  later  mss. 
which  present  a  kind  of  mechanical  agreement.  This  book  serves 
to  take  away  for  ever  the  argument  of  those  who  perpetually  re- 
peated the  statement  that  there  was  a  sort  of  unilorm  Byzantine 
text,  proved  genuine  by  its  uniformity. 

But  modern  variations  need  not  trouble  us ;  for  the  limits  of 
proof  of  ancient  readings  are  learned  from  ancient  testimonies. 
Some  have  cast  a  reproach  on  such  mss.  as  B  C  D  that  they  have 
great  differences  amongst  themselves.  Granted ;  but  Mr.  Scri- 
vener proves  that  the  modem  copies  have  no  uniformity,  and 
therefore  this  supposed  argument  against  what  is  really  ancient 
falls  to  the  ground.  In  fact,  we  have  to  choose  whether  we  will 
bound  our  critical  horizon  by  modem  variations  or  by  ancient ;  if 
by  the  latter,  then  we  can  say  the  questions  of  reading  all  lie 
within  such  and  such  bounds. 

As,  then,  the  ancient  mss.  have  a  primd  facie  claim,  on  the 
ground  of  their  date  and  as  being  fair  specimens  of  the  text  of  the 

'  The  various  readings  to  the  LXX.,  as  collected  bj  Holmes,  and  edited  by 
himself  and  Parsons,  his  successor,  shoir  plainly  the  yalae  of  the  Vatican  readiufrs. 
Few  hare  stvdied  tl^  critical  apparatus  of  that  edition,  conftised  as  it  is  in  arrange- 
ment, and  repulsive  in  many  particulars ;  but  those  who  have  done  so  see  how 
every  thine  confirms  the  principle  of  recurrence  to  ancient  MSS.  as  an  authority 
for  the  ancient  text  We  can  say  this  conscientiously,  for  we  have  read  the  whole 
of  the  various  readings  of  Holmes  and  Parsons's  edition,  and  the  whole  illustrates 
the  principle  of  recurrence  to  the  ancient  MSS.  as  applied  to  the  text  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  modem  MSS.  of  the  LXX.  in  general  present  a  text  widely 
different  (in  various  ways)  from  that  read  by  the  early  fiitbers. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


372  OMatiati  of  the  Chospels,  [Jtdy, 

times  when  they  were  written,  to  be  considered  the  leading  au- 
thorities ;  and  as  the  early  versions  vindicate  this  daim,  as  well  as 
the  early  citations,  it  is  proved  that  the  *  tone  and  m^inner '  in 
which  these  most  ancient  mss.  are  spoken  of  are  fully  justified  by 
the  facts  of  the  case,  and  that  objections  to  the  claims  of  such  if  as. 
are  mere  opinions,  not  only  incapable  of  demonstiation,  but,  per 
te,  opposed  to  proved  fects. 

We  are  thus  able  to  escs^  from  the  '  existing  perplexity '  of 
which  Mr.  Scrivener  spe^,  p.  Ixxiii. ;  and  surely  uie  definite  con- 
clusions to  which  we  are  able  to  arrive  are  in  every  respect  nu»^ 
satisfactory  than  if  we  had  to  wait  til}  all  existing  Greek  copies 
should  be  accurately  collated.  Even  if  we  could  rorm  no  definite 
conclusion  as  to  the  true  reading  in  difficult  passages,  we  could 
always  say  that  all  dottit  is  confined  within  such  ^nd  such  limits^ 
and  thus  we  shall  be  hindered  from  going  very  far  astray. 

Mr.  Scrivener's  book  will,  we  doubt  not,  be  valued  as  an 
addition  to  all  critical  libraries.  To  show  the  true  character  and 
nature  of  the  readings  of  the  cursive  mss.,  by  taking  fair  samples, 
is  a  work  of  value,  and  this  Mr.  Scrivener  has  done.  We  (Ufier 
from  him  as  to  the  importance  of  the  results  of  his  labours ;  we 
difier  still  more  widely  as  to  critical  principles,  but  we  do  not  wish 
to  speak  at  all  disparagingly  of  the  pcdnstaking  scholarship  which 
he  has  displayed. 

It  is  pleasant,  if  the  views  which  we  hold  are  controverted,  that 
it  should  be  by  a  considerate  schoIar^--»one  whose  statements  we  can 
wei^h,  and  whose  arguments  we  can  discuss ;  and  as  to  this  Mr. 
Scnvener  has  our  thanks.  It  also  gives  us  pleasure  to  distinguish 
him  from  the  mere  contemner  of  the  most  ancient  mss.,  and  to  see 
that,  while  at  present  he  rests  principally  on  numerical  authority, 
he  does  not  reject  the  ancient  documents  as  such. 

Although  we  have  had  to  controvert  many  of  Mr.  Scrivener's 
views,  yet  we  can  heartily  commend  his  book  as  a  contribution  to 
our  more  complete  knowledge  of  Greek  mss.  and  their  pe- 
culiarities. 

L.  M. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Nestaricms.  373 


THE    NESTORIANS. 

[In  response  to  an  application  made  by  the  Editor,  at  the  elo«e  of 
1852,  to  the  Rev.  Judkins  Perkins,  D.D.,  the  senior  American  Mis- 
donary  to  the  Nestorians  in  Persia,  he  has  just  received  (under  date 
Oroomiah,  April  8,  1853)  two  papers  respecting  the  past  and  present 
condition  of  that  interesting  people,  which  together  form  the  present 
article.  One  is  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Perkins  himself,  and  the  other 
from  that  of  his  coadjutor,  the  Rev.  David  T.  Stoddard.  As  Mr. 
Stoddard's  paper  refers  chiefly  to  the  former  state  and  history  of  the 
Nestorians,  it  is  placed  first,  and  is  followed  by  that  of  Dr.  Perkins, 
which  has  more  reference  to  the  present  afikirs  of  the  Nestorians.  We 
retain  the  titles  which  the  authors  gave  to  their  communications,  and 
liave  added  a  general  title  to  cover  both.  Dr.  Perkins  writes :  '  With 
this  letter  I  send  a  brief  sketch  of  ^'  The  Modern  Nestorians  and  the 
Bible  among  them."  After  I  had  written  it  I  found  that  one  of  my 
associates,  the  Rev.  David  T.  Stoddard,  had  by  him  a  very  interesting 
historical  sketch  of  the  Nestorian  Christians.  I  have  solicited  him  to 
copy  and  forward  to  you  a  portion  of  that  article,  which  he  has  con- 
sented to  do;  and  that  also  will  be  sent  with  this  letter.  It  has  so 
little  in  common  with  the  matter  in  my  article,  though  some  of  the 
topics  are  the  same — his  contemplating  the  Nestorians  more  particularly 
as  they  were^  and  mine  as  they  are — that  both  may,  I  think,  be  pro- 
perly used  in  successive  numbers  of  your  periodical.  [We  prefer  to 
give  them  together.]  It  has  also  occurred  to  me,  since  penning  my 
article,  that  so  much  less  is  properly  known  of  the  Nestorians  in 
England  than  in  America,  that  something  like  Mr.  Stoddard's  article 
may  be  needed,  to  prepare  your  reaijers  to  appreciate  what  may  be  said 
of  that  people  as  they  now  are,' — Ed.  J.  S.  L.] 


THE  NESTORIAN  CHRISTIANS. 

In  the  north  of  Persia,  at  the  base  of  lofty  mountains  whose 
snows  glitter  in  the  sun,  is  a  plain  of  great  extent  and  uncommon 
beauty.  This  is  the  province  of  Oroomiah,  the  ancient  Atropa^ 
tene,  and  with  the  neighbouring  regions  of  Koordistan,  is  the 
home  of  the  Nestorian  Christians.  I^t  the  reader  stand  with  me 
for  a  moment  upon  the  flat-terraced  roof  of  our  mission  house  on 
Mount  Seir,  and  look  down  the  declivity  on  the  noble  landscape. 
We  are  elevated  more  than  a  mile  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
a  thousand  feet  above  the  adjoining  district     At  our   feet  the 

i)lain  of  Oroomiah  is  stretched  out  in  all  its  beauty,  forty  miles  in 
ength  and  twelve  or  fifteen  in  breadth,  rirt  about  with  rugged 
mountains,  dotted  over  with  hundreds  of  villages,  verdant  with 
innumerable  fruit-trees,  willows  and  sycamores,  and  rejoicing  in 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  2   c 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


374  The  Nestorians.  [Jidy, 

its  thousands  of  fields  of  solden  gram.  Here  the  peach,  the  nec- 
tarine, the  apricot,  the  quince,  the  cherry,  the  pear,  the  apple  and 
the  vine,  flourish  in  luxuriance,  and  make  some  portions  of  the 
plain  resemble  a  variegated  forest.  Beyond  the  plain  you  may 
see  the  lake  of  Oroomiah,  reflecting  the  purest  azure  and  studded 
over  with  numerous  islands;  while  farther  on  rise  distant  and 
lofty  mountains,  their  outlines  projected  on  the  cloudless  Italian 
sky,  and  forming  a  beautiful  contrast  with  the  plain  be£>re  us. 
The  city  of  Oroomiah,  about  six  miles  distant,  which  is  so 
embosomed  in  trees  as  almost  to  be  hidden  firom  view,  hi^  been 
asserted  to  be  the  birth-place  of  Zoroaster;  and  the  mounds 
which  are  so  con^cuous  in  difiSsrent  parts  of  the  plain,  and  which 
are  formed  entirely  of  ashes,  with  a  scanty  soil  upon  them,  have 
been  supposed  to  be  the  places  where  the  sacred  fire  was  ever  kept 
burning,  and  the  Parsee  priests  bowed  in  adoration  to  the  rising 
sun.  This  is  now  our  missionary  home — the  dwelling-place  for 
many  hundred  years  of  the  Nestorians  *  of  the  plain.' 

The  Nestorians  are  a  people  interesting  from  their  antiquity. 
They  trace  their  conversion  to  the  AposUe  Thomas,  who,  their 
traditions  affirm,  visited  them  on  his  way  to  India.  And,  as 
some  of  the  early  Fathers,  both  Greek  and  Syriac,  mention  the 
fact  that  this  Apostle  preached  the  Gos|)el  in  this  part  of  Asia, 
and  the  venerable  Nestorian  liturgy  contains  also  firequent  thanks- 
givings to  God  for  his  labours  among  their  ancestors,  we  may  con-> 
sider  their  uniform  opinion  on  this  subject  as  entitled  to  regard. 
At  least  they  have  a  claim  to  a  very  high  antiquity,  and  are 
without  doubt  the  oldest  of  Christian  sects.  In  the  second  cen- 
tury the  Scriptures  were  translated  into  their  language ;  and  in 
the  sixth  century,  their  biblical  interpreters  were  considered  to 
be  the  best  in  the  whole  Christian  cnurch.  Beautifully  written 
manuscripts  of  the  Bible  exist  among  them,  which  date  back 
more  than  600  years ;  and  we  occasionally  preach  in  Nestorian 
churches— relics  of  a  bygone  age — whose  massive  walls  more  than 
a  thousand  years  ago,  and  perhaps  even  when  our  ancestors  in 
Britain  were  engaged  in  idol-worship  and  oflPering  up  human 
sacrifices  to  Woden  and  Thor,  resounded  with  the  voice  of 
prayer  and  praise. 

The  Nestoriians  are  a  people  interesting  from  their  probable 
origin.  I  say  their  probable  origin,  for  the  subject  is  enveloped 
in  considerable  doubt  They,  however,  are  all  firm  in  the  belief 
of  their  Jewish  descent,  and  even  go  so  br — some  of  them — as  to 
trace  their  family  to  a  particular  tribe.  Condderations  may  be 
drawn  from  their  language,  their  religious  rites,  their  abhorrence 
of  image-worship,  and  their  manners  and  customs,  serving  to  con- 
firm, on  this  point,  their  own  tradition.     And  since  they  occupy 


Digitized  by 


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1858.]  The  Nestorims.  <  375 

tbe  general  region  to  which  the  Jews  were  carried  away  captive 
by  the  kings  of  Assyria,  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  the  opinion 
of  the  lamented  Dr.  Grant  may  be  correct,  and  that  in  the  Nes- 
torians  we  find  the  long-lost  trioes  of  Israel.*  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  that  argument,  which  has  been  controverted  by  some 
of  the  learned,  and  among  others  by  Dr.  Robinson,  I  regard  it  as 
probable  that  this  people  are  the  seed  of  Abraham,  '  to  whom 
pertaineth  the  adoption  and  the  glory  of  the  covenants,  and  the 
^vin^  of  the  law  and  the  service  of  God  and  the  promises,  whose 
are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom,  as  concerning  tne  flesh,  Christ 
came,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  for  ever.' 

The  Nestorians  are  a  people  interesting  from  their  language. 
It  is  the  Syriac,  closely  akin  to  the  Hebrew,  and  spoken  many 
centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Simple — even  childlike — in 
its  structure  and  modes  of  expression,  it  yet  possesses  uncommon 
dignity  and  force.  It  was  a  language  nearly  identical  with  this 
which  was  commonly  used  in  Palestine  in  the  days  of  our  Saviour, 
and  the  medium  through  which  he  conversed  with  his  disciples 
and  instructed  the  people.  And  it  was  in  this  same  language 
that  in  his  dying  agony  he  *  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  £loi, 
E3oi,  lama  sabacthani,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  My  God,  My 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?' 

The  Nestorians  are  a  people  interesting  from  their  earl^  his- 
tory. It  was  not  very  long  after  their  conversion  that  a  mission- 
ary spirit  began  to  develop  itself,  and  the  church  to  become 
aggressive  in  its  movements.  They  planted  themselves  in  the 
modem  kingdom  of  Persia.  They  spread  into  Armenia,  Meso- 
potamia, a^  Arabia.  They  sent  missionaries  as  far  as  Syria 
and  the  island  of  Cyprus  on  the  west,  and  throughout  the  regions 
of  Tartary  on  the  east.  China  itself  was  reached.  Scores  of 
missionaries  penetrated  that  empire  and  carried  the  Gospel  to  its 
crowded  population.  From  Bagdad— the  seat  of  the  Patriarch — 
radiated  light  far  and  wide.  Unfurling  the  banner  of  their 
great  Captain,  these  soldiers  of  the  cross  went  everywhere,  pro- 
claiming the  Gospel  and  winning  men  to  a  reception  of  the  truth. 
Undismayed  by  difficulties,  they  scaled  rugged  mountains,  they 
forded  dangerous  rivers,  they  penetrated  into  the  midst  of  savage 
tribes.  Onen  treacherously  assaulted  by  enemies,  and  almost 
borne  down  by  persecution,  they  still  breasted  the  tide  and 
pressed  onward  with  wonderful  zeal  and  energy  in  their  self- 
denying  work.  The  young  hastened  to  the  assistance  of  the 
exhausted  and  careworn,  and  to  fill  the  ranks  which  had  been 

*  It  should,  howeyer,  be  stated  that  it  is  difficult  for  most  persons  to  trace  in 
their  features  the  peculiar  physiognomy,  which  is  quite  marked  in  the  Jews  of 
Persia. 

2  c 


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376  The  NeHcmam.  [July, 

thinned  by  death.  Thus,  with  an  enterprize  which  has  never 
had  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  church  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years,  the  Nestorians  of  early  times  made  vigorous 
assaults  on  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  Whue  all  Europe  was  in  a 
profound  slumber,  and  Christianity  elsewhere  seemed  to  have  lost 
its  life-giving  power,  they  were  the  bearers  of  salvation  to  the 
vast  regions  of  Central,  &>uthem  and  Eastern  Asia.  From  the 
Mediterranean  sea  to  the  Pacific  Ocean — in  kingdoms  widely 
remote — among  the  luxurious  Persians  and  the  Barbarians  of 
Tartary,  in  the  dty  and  the  village,  on  the  plains  and  among  the 
snowy  Himalaya  mountains.  Christian  churches  were  everywhere 
erected,  monuments  to  their  zeal,  efficiencr^  and  success. 

But  a  change  came.  The  power  of  Mohammed  rose  into 
being,  and  before  the  victorious  armies  of  his  followers  the  Nes- 
torians were  hunted  down  like  defenceless  sheep.  Driven  from 
one  shelter  to  another,  their  churches  pillaged  and  burnt,  their 
dearest  rights  trampled  under  foot,  presented  with  the  dreadful 
alternative  of  the  Koran  or  the  sword,  they  soon  diminished  in 
number ;  their  spirit  was  broken,  and  they  melted  away  like  the 
jBnows  of  spring.  For  centuries  their  existence  has  hardly  been 
known  to  tbe  Christian  church  And  now  that  they  are  brought 
once  more  to  light — sunk,  it  is  true,  in  ignorance  and  superstition, 
but  Nestorians  still — what  an  interest  does  their  early  history 
throw  around  this  comparatively  small  remnant  of  a  once  zealous 
and  efficient  missionary  church  I 

The  Nestorians  are  a  people  interesting  from  their  natural 
traits  of  character.  They  are  men  of  vigorous  intellect  Place 
them  indeed  side  by  side  with  those  who  have  grown  up  in  a 
highly  civilized  and  Christian  community,  like  that  of  Great 
Britam,  and  they  suffer  in  the  comparison.  But  such  a  com* 
parison  is  manifestiy  unjust  There  a  thousand  influences  cluster 
around  men  from  their  cradle  to  make  them  what  they  are. 
Parental  guidance,  schools,  varied  stores  of  literature,  the  onward 
progress  of  society,  the  high  moral  tone  of  the  community,  which 
serves  more  than  anything  else  to  develope  and  strengthen  mind, 
— all  these  and  many  other  nameless  yet  powerful  agencies,  train 
up  Englishmen  and  Americans  to  vigorous  thought,  to  intellectual 
manhood.  But  in  Persia  these  influences  are  not  merely  wanting. 
Everything  serves  to  paralyze  mental  vigour.  And  yet  the  Nes- 
torians are  by  no  means  deficient  in  intellect  On  the  contrary, 
if  we  compare  them  with  the  nations  of  Asia,  or  with  any  people 
throughout  the  world  whom  we  are  labouring  to  Christianize  and 
save,  they  will  be  found  to  possess  superior  talents.  In  the  semi- 
nary with  which  I  have  for  years  been  connected  here,  I  am  often 
stimulated  to  renewed  exertion  on  witnessing  the  advance  of  my 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Nestoriane.  377 

pupils  in  their  studies.  And,  with  the  clearness  and  strength  of 
mind  which  the  Nestorians  possess,  there  is  no  obstacle  to  their 
rising  under  fiivouring  influences— even  in  the  coming  generation 
— to  great  respectability  among  the  nations. 

The  Nestonans  are  also  an  inquisitive  people.  Some  of  our 
pupils  never  weary  in  acquiring  knowledge,  and  all  of  them, 
<*«nadering  what  they  were  a  few  years  ago,  are  remarkably 
industrious  and  persevering.  Were  I  an  artist,  I  would  pourtray 
to  the  life  the  eager  group  of  young  men  who  crowd  around  me, 
while  I  endeavour  to  pour  light  on  their  darkness.  As  some 
truth,  to  us  familiar  perhaps  from  infancy,  is  presented,  their  faces 
are  animated  with  a  smile  of  intelligent  delight.  And  at  times, 
though  exhausted  and  almost  sick,  I  have  £us  been  drawn  on, 
even  for  hours  together,  by  their  anxiety  to  hear.  And  when  at 
last  the  exercise  was  closed,  '  We  thank  you,  sir,'  *  We  thank  you, 
sir,'  uttered  by  many  voices,  abundantly  repaid  me  for  the  eflFort. 

The  Nestorians  are,  moreover,  an  ardent  people.  This  may  be 
inferred  from  what  has  already  been  stated,  out  it  deserves  a 
distinct  notice.  Full  of  vivacity,  of  quick  imagination,  earnest 
and  oratorical  in  speech,  prompt  to  act,  affectionate  and  whole- 
hearted, they  possess  a  character  which,  when  they  are  fully 
pervadal  by  Bible  influences,  attaches  us  warmly  to  them,  and 
inspires  us  with  cheering  anticipations  for  the  future.  During  a 
recent  visit  in  America,  their  affectionate  letters  to  me,  and  their 
ofb-repeated  reouest  that  I  would  speedily  return  to  them,  filled 
my  heart  with  deep  emotion,  and  led  me  to  adopt  the  sentiment  of 
Dkvid  as  my  own,  *  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right 
hand  forget  her  cunning.^ 

Hie  Nestorians  are  also  a  people  interesting  to  us  in  con- 
seauence  of  their  sufferings.  TV>  tell  the  wrongs  which  have  been 
innicted  on  them  in  former  times  would  require  a  volume.  But 
within  a  few  years  past — ^is  it  not  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  many 
thousands  in  England? — ^they  have  a^n  experienced  the  most 
dreadful  cruelties  in  the  mountains  of  Koordistan.  That  robber- 
chieftain,  Badr  Kh&n  Beg,  stimulated  bv  hatred  to  the  Nestorians, 
bitterness  to  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  thirst  for  plunder,  having 

fathered  ten  years  ago  a  powerful  army,  swept  down  the  mountains 
ke  an  avalanche  on  these  defenceless  people,  bringing  everywhere 
devastation  in  his  track.  Villages  were  sacked  and  burned,  multi- 
tudes of  flocks  and  herds  carried  away :  families  scattered  like  chaff 
before  the  wind.  The  Patriarch,  Mar-Shimon,  was  driven  a  fugitive 
to  Mosul,  and  several  of  his  relatives  were  murdered.  No  pity  was 
shown  to  age  or  sex.  More  than  a  score  of  priests  perished  in  the 
district  of  Tiary  alone,  some  of  them  under  circumstances  of  great 
aggravation.  The  young  and  vigorous  were  dragged  into  captivity. 

Digitized  by  ^^JKJ^JWIK^ 


378  The  JSre^torians.  [July^ 

while  infants,  and  the  aged  and  infirm,  were  butchered  without 
remorse.  Children  toss^  into  the  air,  were  cut  in  two  while 
falling.  The  hearts  of  miserable  victims  were  torn  out  before  ihej 
had  ceased  to  beat.  Five  hundred  women,  surrounded  first,  were 
then  deliberately  burnt  In  short,  these  blood-thirsty  Koords 
practised  innumerable  cruelties,  from  which  we  recoil  with  horror. 
The  smiling  homes  of  the  mountain  Nestorians  became  a  deso- 
lation ;  and  those  who  survived  this  wholesale  massacre  were  made 
houseless,  half  naked,  starving  wanderers.  It  often  drew  tears 
from  our  eyes  to  see  these  unhappy  beings  flocking  down  to  us, 
and  to  their  more  favoured  brethren  on  the  plain  of  Oroomiah, 
pleading  for  a  morsel  of  bread,  and  a  shelter  m)m  the  storms  of 
the  approaching  winter. 

In  view  of  such  facts,  has  not  this  once  flourishing  and  misrion- 
ary  people  a  strong  claim  on  our  Christian  sympathies  ?  And  shall 
it  not  be  the  joy  of  Christians  in  the  West  to  pve  them  a^n  the 
pure  Gospel,  which  will  soothe  their  sorrows,  dry  up  their  tears, 
and  jpoint  them  to  a  better  land — to  a  home  in  glory  r 

The  Nestorians  are  a  people  interesting  from  the  comparative 
simplicity  of  their  faith  and  worship.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  that 
their  Church  is  free  from  error — far  from  it — or  that  they  ex- 
hibited, when  our  mission  was  established  among  them  twen^ 
years  ago,  the  living  power  of  the  Gospel  in  their  lives.  We  sbaU 
presentily  see,  in  their  deep  corruption,  a  picture  the  reverse  of  all 
this,  mt  I  mean  that,  compared  in  doctrine  with  the  Roman 
Catholic,  the  Greek,  or  the  Armenian  Churches,  they  are  fiur 
nearer  the  Bible  standard,  and  may  claim  the  title  of  a  Frotestant 
sect.  Image  worship  and  picture  worship  they  hold  in  abhorrence. 
Auricular  confession  and  absolution  by  the  pnest  they  afih-m  to  be 
blasphemy.  They  have  no  mass  nor  worship  of  the  host ;  they  do 
not  refuse  the  cup — the  emblem  of  our  Saviour's  blood — to  any 
communicant;  the  doctrine  of  bimtismal  regeneration,  of  pre- 
scribed penance,  and  of  souls  purified  and  mrae  meet  for  heaven 
in  tlie  fires  of  purgatory  they  reject  as  unscriptural  and  wrong. 
Through  the  influence  of  Roman  Catholics,  during  the  last  few 
centuries,  the  popular  belief  has,  indeed,  in  these  respects,  been 
somewhat  mooi^d;  but  they  still  regard  the  Bible  with  the 
greatest  reverence,  as  far  superior  to  the  trai]Utiom  of  men,  and  the 
true  standard  of  faith  and  practice.  Indeed,  I  have  never  seen  a 
Nestorian  who  ventured  to  deny  the  supreme  authority  of  God's 
word. 

They  are  also  liberal  in  their  feelings  towards  other  denomi- 
nations, saying  that  we  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  refusing 
fellowship  to  none  who  are  not  given  up  to  gross  error.  Our 
brethren,  who  first  came  among  Siem,  were  wdcomed  with  oprai 


Digitized  by  ^ 


lOOgle 


1853.]  The  Nestoriam.  379 

amis ;  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  their  eccledasdcs,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  hare  generally  favoured  our  labours,  and  granted 
their  churches  to  us  for  the  preaching  of  the  GospeL  Mr. 
Stocking,  one  of  our  number,  was  ordeuned  by  us  in  a  Nes- 
torian  <murch.  Their  own  organisation  is  Episcopal,  yet  bishops, 
priests^  and  deacons, — ^all  st^  by  and  witnessed  the  ceremony 
with  evident  gratification.  It  may  be  added  in  this  connection 
that,  during  our  long  residence  h^re,  we  have  laboured  with  the 
sole  object  of  spresMling  Biblical  truth,  and  bringing  the  people 
back  to  a  humble  holy  me,  and  have  skLdiously  avoided  any  mere 
sectarian  e£Ports. 

The  Nestorians  are,  moreover,  a  people  interesting  from  the 
great  moral  chan^  which  is  taking  place  among  them.  Notwith- 
standing thdr  eany  missionary  JEeaJ,  and  the  comparative  simplicity 
of  their  faith  and  worship.  Dr.  Perkins,  the  pioneer  of  our  mission, 
found  this  andent  church  prostrate  in  the  dust.  The  people  were 
grossly  ignorant:  they  had  no  schools,  and  not  half  a  dozen 
readers  in  a  whole  villa^.  Their  books  were  all  in  manuscript, 
and  of  course  scarce,  and  sold  at  a  high  price.  The  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  Syriac,  made  by  their  mthers,  was  still  in  existence  ; 
but,  the  language  dumping  in  the  course  of  a^es,  the  sacred  volume 
had  become  well  ni^  unintelli^ble  to  them,  as  much  so  aa 
Chaucer  to  the  English  peasant  at  this  day,  and  was  mouldering 
in  the  solitude  of  HSd  closet  Sometimes,  indeed,  brought  forward 
and  devoutiy  kissed,  it  was  still  a  sealed  book — a  li^t  under  a 
bushel.  It  revealed  to  them  nothing— its  majestic  voice  was 
unheard. 

The  ecclesiastics  were  littie  in  advance  of  the  masses.  As  with 
the  people,  so  with  tiie  priests ;  even  the  bishops  were,  according 
to  our  standard  of  judging,  sunk  low  in  ignorance,  and  among  the 
whole  body  of  the  Nestorians,  not  one  stood  up  an  intelligent, 
educated  man. 

As  a  natural  consequence  of  this,  their  morals  were  very  corrupt. 
Profaneness  was  fearfully  common,  and  people  of  all  classes  were 
heard  swearing  with  every  breath.  Of  course,  oaths  lost  their 
binding  power,  perjury  became  an  every-dav  crime,  and  justice 
was  fiB^n  in  the  streets.  The  violation  of  the  Sabbatii  was  also 
universal ;  and  though  most  of  them  avoided  servile  labour  that 
day,  it  was  only  to  desecrate  it  by  visiting,  feasting,  drinking, 
marketing  in  the  city,  wedding  festivals,  and  diverting  shows. 
Stealing  was  of  course  prevalent ;  and  cases  even  occurred  where 
priests  were  found  joining  hands  with  the  midnight  robber,  and 
sharing  the  wases  of  unrighteousness.  Lying  was  so  inwrought 
into  £01  their  nabits,  tiiat  they  seemed  to  {Hractise  it  without 
9hame  and  without  remorse.    And  often,  when  remonstrated  with 

Digitized  by  VJV/V./V  IV. 


380  The  Negtorums.  [Jaly» 

on  the  subject,  they  replied, '  We  all  lie  here,'  *  Do  you  tUnk  our 
bunness  will  prosper  and  we  not  lie  ? '  Intemperance,  moreover, 
was  doin^  great  injury  to  their  health  and  morals.  Wine  dr- 
culated  liie  water,  and  the  family,  the  social  meeting,  the  harvest- 
field,  the  threshing  floor— all  teemed  willi  the  intoxicatinj^  bowl. 

In  a  word,  if  we  except  licentiousness  and  violation  of  the  mar- 
riage covenant,  which,  to  their  honour  be  it  ^ken,  meet  with 
severe  rebuke  among  the  Nestoiians  of  the  pkun,  and,  indeed,  are 
crimes  somewhat  rare  in  their  occurrence,  vice  stalked  abroad  at 
noonday,  and  raised  aloft,  and  fearfully,  its  head. 

Religion  was  made  a  thing  of  form  and  outside  show.  Riari- 
saical  in  their  fasts,  and  prayers,  and  almsgiving,  to  holiness  of 
heart  and  purity  of  life  they  were  utter  strangers.  With  veneraUe 
churches,  a  copious  and  eloquent  litui^,  with  the  ordinances  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  with  many  features  of  orthodoxy, 
the  Bible  their  alleged  rule  of  faith,  and  tne  merits  of  Christ  their 
ground  of  hope,  the  darkness  of  midnight  and  the  chilliness  of 
winter  had  crept  over  them,  and  they  were  pressing  down  unblest 
to  death. 

But  the  day-spring  from  on  high  hath  visited  them.  Seventy 
village  schools,  many  of  them  established  for  years,  possessing  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  with  r^nectable  and,  in  some  cases,  pious 
teachers,  now  pour  light  on  this  Egyptian  darkness.  Two  semina- 
ries, of  a  much  higher  order  than  the  village  schools,  are  training' 
up  young  men  and  women,  to  go  forth  and  repair  the  wastes  of 
many  generations.  Again  the  sacred  fire  is  being  kindled  on  their 
venerable  altars ;  and  we  may  thus  cherish  the  hope  that  these  dry 
bones  will  live  and  stand  up  on  their  feet  a  great  army ;  and  not 
only  so,  but  that  this  army  will  be  filled  with  soldiers,  who  will 
fight  manfully  under  the  great  Captain,  and  again  cover  these 
regions  with  uie  trophies  of  his  victorious  grace. 


THE  MODERN  NE8TORIAN8,  AND  THE  BIBLE  AMONG  THEM. 

The  modem  remnant  of  the  ancient  and  venerable  Nestorian 
Church— the  oldest  of  Christian  sects— consists  of  about  one  hun- 
dred thousand  soub.  Nearly  half  of  this  number  are  found  on  the 
plains  that  skirt  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Oroomiah,  in  Azerbiian, 
the  north-western  province  of  Persia,  a  region  hardly  surpassed  in 
the  beauty  of  its  scenery  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil  in  tne  whole 
eastern  world.  The  rest  of  tins  people  are  sparsdy  scattered  over 
the  exceedingly  wild  and  rugged  ranges  of  the  Koordish  momi- 
tains,  which,  running  in  the  general  direction  of  north-west  and 
south-east,  enclose  those  Persian  plains  on  the  west,  and  extend 
from  them  variously  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  miles» 


Ulgitized 


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1853.]  The  Nedariani.  881 

*to  the  great  plains  of  AsByria  and  Mesopotamia.  The  eastern 
range  of  these  lofty  mountains  forms  the  boundary  between  Turkey 
and  Persia,  so  that  the  two  portions  of  the  Nestorians  which  I  have 
mentioned  are  also  poUtically  divided,  being  respectively  in  those 
two  Mohammedan  empires. 

Until  a  few  years  ago  Koordistan  had,  firom  time  immemorial, 
been  nearly  independent  of  the  Turkish  government,  beinff  ruled, 
so  far  as  it  was  ruled  at  all,  by  bloody,  ferocious  Koordish  chiefs. 
Two  clans  of  the  Nestorians,  inhabiting  Tekhoma  and  Tiary, 
which  are  two  of  the  wildest  valleys  of  central  Koordistan,  con- 
taining, perhaps,  fifteen  thousand  souls,  had,  for  a  long  period, 
maintained  a  kind  of  desperate  independence,  aided  by  the  lofty 
and  precipitous  rocky  ramparts  that  inclose  their  native  gorges, 
and  by  that  reckless,  daring  bravery,  not  to  say  ferocity,  which  the 
ruggedness  of  tiieir  country  and  the  proximity  of  their  savage 
Koordish  rulers  and  neighbours  imparted  to  their  character. 

The  difierence  in  the  character  of  the  Nestorians  of  the  moun- 
tains and  those  dwelUn^  in  the  plains  is  such  as  would  naturally 
result  firom  the  peculiarities  of  their  respective  location  and  circum- 
stances. The  mountaineers  are  a  hardy  wild  race,  impatient  of 
control,  and  independent  in  their  feelings,  following  exten^vely  a 
pastoral  life  in  summer ;  while  those' of  the  plains  are  Persian  sub- 
jects, engaged  in  the  quiet  pursuits  of  agriculture,  in  the  relation 
of  serfs  to  Mohammedan  masters,  and  much  depressed  under  the 
rigours  of  long  and  grinding  servitude. 

The  bloody  massacres,  committed,  about  ten  years  ago,  by  that 
tiger  in  human  shape,  Badr  Khan  Beg,  and  his  no  less  guilty 
instigator,  Noorullah  Beg,  long  the  famous  chief  of  Julameck,  have 
been  reported  to  the  wond.  From  five  to  eight  thousand  Nesto* 
rians,  men,  women,  and  children,  in  the  two  so-called  *  independent ' 
districts  of  Tekhoma  and  Tiary,  were  butchered  in  cold  blood,  by 
those  Koor^sh  monsters,  who,  as  their  only  punishment,  are  now 
pasnng  a  comfortable  exile  on  the  island  of  Crete,  well  salaried  by 
the  Turkish  Government 

The  Nestorians,  as  a  people,  still  possess  many  interesting  traits 
of  character.  They  are  more  open,  artiess,  and  manly,  than  most 
other  Orientals.  They  are  naturallv  athletic,  active,  brave,  and 
generous,  though  their  spirit  is  much  broken  by  civil  oppresaon, 
both  in  Turkey  and  Persia.  They  are  a  good-looxing  people,  of  the 
Shemitish^  stock,  generally  of  lighter  complexion  th^  the  Moham- 
medans of  Persia.  The  Nestorians  of  the  mountains  are,  for 
obvious  reasons,  much  lighter  than  those  in  the  much  wanner  cli- 
mate of  the  plains. 

The  language  of  the  Nestorians,  a  modem  dialect  of  the  Syriac, 

^  I  do  not  attach  lerioiu  importance  to  the  theory  of  their  UneUtish  origin. — J«  P. 

Digitized  by  VjOvjv  l^^ 


883  The  NegtariaM.  [July, 

is  deiiyed  aB  directly  from  that  yenerable  tongue  as  Ae  modarn 
Greek  from  the  anaent ;  it  is,  however,  much  corrapted,  hj  the 
introduction  of  numerous  Turkish,  Persian,  and  Koordish  words, 
from  the  languages  used  by  tiieir  Mohammedan  rulers  and  neigh- 
bours. It  is  also  oonmderably  changed  in  the  structure  and  inflex- 
ions. Th^re  is  a  large  variety  of  dialects  in  the  language  as  now 
spoken  by  different  dans.  In  general,  the  dialects  uwd  by  the 
mountain  Nestorians  are  less  corrupted  by  fordgn  words,  and  more 
nearly  resemble  the  ancient  Syriac  in  other  respects,  than  those  of 
the  plain,  firom  the  fact  that  Uie  mountaineers  nave  dwelt  in  their 
native  fastnesses  firom  age  to  age  in  comparative  sedusion. 

It  is,  of  course,  as  a  reliffiaus  sect  maiidy  that  the  Nestorians 
are  interesting  to  Protestant  Christendom.  They  have,  not  without 
reason,  been  denominated  *  The  Protestants  of  Asia.'     Their  reli- 

S'ous  belief  and  forms  are  much  more  ample  and  Scriptural  than 
ose  of  other  Oriental  sects  of  Christians.  They  have  always 
rejected  auricular  confession,  the  use  of  images  and  |nctures  m 
their  churches,  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  and  many  other  unscrip- 
tural  dogmas  and  practices  of  the  Papal,  Greek,  and  Armenian 
Churches.  They  also  recognise  the  Bible  as  the  only  authoritative 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  cherish  a  great  reverence  for  it. 
And,  as  a  people,  tney  have  itianfully  withstood  the  intrigues  and 
machinations  that  have  long  been  practised  upon  them  by  Papal 
emissaries,  to  conv^  them  to  the  Komish  faitn,  and  subject  them 
to  the  dominion  of  the  Pope. 

Witii  all  their  simplidty  of  reli^ous  doctrine  and  practice,  how- 
ever, in  their  depressed  political  condition  and  genmd  ignorance, 
their  Christianity  was  little  more  than  a  lifeless  form  when  we  com- 
menced our  missionary  labours,  and,  as  matter  of  course,  many  vices 
were  fearfully  prevalent  among  them.  The  Sabbath  was  generally 
desecrated,  not  by  labour,  but  by  business  and  amusement.  In- 
temperance was  very  common,  the  temptation  to  this  vice  bdng 
peculiarly  strong  on  these  Persian  plams,  where  the  grape  is  so 
abundant,  that  wine  is  almost  as  plenty  as  the  streams  of  water. 
Lying  was  also  nearly  universal — a  vice  for  which  they  often 
attempt  to  plead  an  excuse,  in  the  necessity  for  evasion,  under  the 
iron  rod  of  their  oppressors,  as  also  in  the  example  and  influence 
of  the  Mohammedans.  The  seventh  commandment  is  less  violated 
among  the  Nestorians  of  the  plains  than  among  any  other  Oriental 
people  with  whom  I  am  acquainted ;  while,  in  some  of  the  moun- 
tain dans,  its  sacredness  is  very  little  respected.  Intemperance  is 
less  prevalent  in  the  mountains  than  on  the  plains,  for  the  reason 
that  the  grape  is  not  much  cultivated  in  those  high  regions. 
,  The  mission  of  the  American '  Board  of  CommissionerB  kr 
Foreign  Missions  was  commenced  among  the  Nestwians  twenty 
years  ago.     Hitherto  our  labours  have  besn  conducted  witiun  the 

Digitized  by  KJ^jyJWlK^ 


1853.]  The  Negtoriam.  383 

NestoriaB  dburch,  to  which  we  have  been  cordially  welcomed,  with 
few  exceptions,  hy  both  ecclesiastics  and  people.  The  principal 
seat  of  our  operations  has  been  the  city  of  Oroomiah,  the  ancient 
TAebarmUj  which  is  about  twelve  miles  west  of  the  lake  of  Oroo- 
miah, and  within  two  miles  of  the  base  of  the  Eoordish  Mountains, 
on  one  of  tlie  loveliest  and  most  fruitful  plains  that  was  ever  the 
dwdling-place  of  man.  We  have  at  present  a  station  also  in 
Gawar,  which  is  a  large  and  beautiful  mountain  valley,  or  elevated 
plain,  surrounded  by  lofty  ranges  of  the  Koordish  Mountains, 
about  seventy  miles  west  of  Oroomiah. 

It  is  not  my  present  object  to  furnish  a  sketch  of  our  missionary 
labours,  much  beyond  the  single  branch  of  the  preparation  and 
publication  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  now  happily  OMnpleted  in  both 
the  ancient  and  modem  languages  of  the  Nestorians.  This  topic 
is  of  course  appropriate  to  your  periodical,  ^  The  Journal  of  Sacred 
Literature.' 

Giving  to  the  Nestorians  the  Bible,  has,  from  the  commence* 
ment,  b^n  a  prominent  branch  of  our  missionary  labours,  as  the 
most  hopeful  means  of  their  temporal  improvement  and  eternal 
salvation.  When  I  reached  them  in  1834,  I  found  most  of  the 
Scriptures  in  existence  among  them,  but  only  in  very  rare  manu* 
script  copies,  some  on  parchment  and  some  on  paper,  and  these  in 
an  unknown  tongue—  tne  ancient  Syriac  The  lamp  of  this  ancient 
church  was  indeed  flickering,  and  ready  to  expire.  It  is  now  a 
commcm  remark  among  the  people,  that  a  few  years  more  would 
have  obliterated  them  as  a  Christian  Church,  scorched  under  the 
triple  fires  of  dvil  oppression,  coercive  ccnvermon  to  Islamism  by 
their  Mohammedan  masters,  and  Papal  proselytism.  A  printed 
book  hardly  any  of  them  had  ever  seen.  The  entire  Bible  had,  not 
long  before,  been  printed  by  the  British  and  Fcnreign  Bible  Society 
in  tile  ancient  Synac,  but  only  the  four  Gospels  in  the  written  cha^ 
racter  of  the  Nestorians.  We  soon  intrcxluced  many  copies  of 
those  editions  of  tiie  Scriptures,  and  with  great  benefit  to  the 
people,  thou^  of  course  under  great  disadvantage,  in  an  ancient 
and  almost  unknown  tongue,  and  all  but  the  four  Gospels  in  a 
stranee  diaracter. 

Only  the  dergy  ever  learned  to  read  when  we  reached  the  field ; 
and  but  very  few  of  them  were  able  to  do  more  than  merely  chant 
their  devotions  in  their  ancient  tongue,  while  neither  they  ncnr  their 
hearers  knew  anything  of  the  meaning.  A  darkness  that  might  be 
felt  brooded  over  both  clergy  and  people,  which  was  not  strange  in 
their  great  ignorance  and  want  of  tne  Holy  Scriptures,  lliey  were, 
however,  entirely  accessible,  and  we  readily  collected  a  school.  As 
ihere  was  no  literary  matter  for  its  instruction  and  aliment,  except  in 
that  dead,  obsolete  language,  I  immediately  commenced  translating 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  with  the  aid  of  some  of  the  dergy.    We 

Digitized  by  V3^/VJV  l^ 


384  The  Nestorians.  [July, 

first  translated  the  Lord's  Prayer.  I  well  remember  my  emotions 
on  the  occasion.  It  seemed  like  the  first  handfid  of  com  to  be  cast 
hopefully  on  the  top  of  the  sterile  mountains — to  the  view  of  sight 
afiording  little  promise,  yet  to  the  eye  of  faith  destined  to  sme 
like  Letenon.  The  Nestorian  ecclesiastics  who  were  with  me  were 
interested  and  delighted  above  measure  at  the  sight  of  their  laur 
guage  in  a  written  form.  They  would  read  a  line,  and  then  laugh 
audibly  and  even  boisterously  ;  so  amused  were  they,  and  so  mar- 
vellous did  it  appear  to  them  to  hear  the  familiar  sounds  of  thdr 
own  language  read  as  well  as  ^ken.  We  copied  this  translatioD 
of  the  I^rd  s  Prayer  on  cards  tor  the  use  of  the  classes  in  our  first 
missionary  school.  We  hung  them  upon  the  wall  of  the  school- 
room ;  and  a  company  of  children  woiud  assemble  in  a  semidrde 
around  each  card  at  as  great  a  distance  firom  it  as  they  could  see 
to  distinguish  the  letters,  and  thus  they  learned  to  read  God's  word 
with  a  delight  and  satisfaction  equalled  only  by  the  novelty  of 
their  employment  We  translated  the  Beatitudes  and  copied  toem 
on  cards,  and  other  detached  portions  of  the  Hble,  and  thus  sop* 
plied  oiur  multiplying  schools  with  reading  matter  in  the  modem 
tongue,  using  the  editions  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society's 
editions  of  the  Scriptures,  in  the  ancient  language,  till  the  arri?al 
of  our  press  in  1840. 

The  coming  of  the  press  was  an  event  of  great  interest  and  joy 
to  the  Nestorians,  who  had  long  been  waiting  for  it  with  not  a 
litde  impatience,  that  they  might  be  furnished  with  the  pricdess 
boon  of  the  Bible  in  their  spoken  language,  in  their  own  written 
character.  As  I  carried  the  proof-sheet  of  our  first  small  book, 
composed  of  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  into  my  study  for  correc- 
tion, and  laid  it  upon  the  table  before  my  translators,  they  were 
struck  with  mute  astonishment  and  rapture  to  see  their  language 
in  print  And  as  soon  as  their  recovery  from  surprise  aUowed 
them  utterance,  ^  It  is  time  to  give  glory  to  God,'  was  their  mutual 
exclamation,  Hhat  we  behold  t£e  commencement  of  printing  bods 
for  our  people.' 

The  agency  of  the  press  in  furnishing  the  Scriptures  and  other 
religious  matter,  in  connection  with  Christian  missions,  is  so  mo- 
mentous, that  I  cannot  refridn  from  giving  it  my  passing  testi- 
monial. It  has  sometimes  been  called  the  modem  gift  of  tongves. 
It  is  so ;  but  it  is  also  much  more.  Instead  of  the  ephemeral 
unction  of  a  Pentecostal  occasion,  by  which  every  man  was  made  ifi 
hear  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God  in  his  own  language,  it  gires 
to  them  all  the  permanent  record  of  those  wonderful  works,  to  be 
read  and  re-read,  and  transmitted  to  successive  generations.  And, 
instead  of  being  limited  to  Jerusalem,  or  carried  to  their  respec- 
tive countries  by  the  living  voice  of  all  those  Parthians,  Medes, 
and  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  as  was  the  truth  of  God  thus  cod- 

Digitized  by  V3V7V./V  IV. 


1853.]  The  Neaarians.  385 

yeyed,  the  Presi  has  the  pov^r  of  ubiquity ;  the  same  organ  after 
proclaiming  the  truth,  not  in  one  country  nor  two,  but  in  many,  and 
that  too  simultaneously.  If  the  learned  German  lexicogn4)her 
never  prayed  without  thanking  God  for  dictionaries,  the  C&istian, 
as  he  loves  the  progress  of  Zion,  may,  with  infinitelv  more  reason, 
daily  thank  God  for  the  missionarv  agency  of  the  Press. 

Mighty  and  blessed  has  been  tne  agency  of  our  press  among 
the  Nestorians.  The  first  considerable  book  which  we  printed  was 
the  Psalms  in  the  ancient  Syriac,  in  a  form  adapted  to  the  service 
in  the  Nestorian  churches.  Our  type  we  had  purchased  of  the 
Britidi  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  It  was  of  the  same  fount 
which  that  Society  had  used  in  printing  the  four  Gospels  in  an- 
cient Syriac.  We  next  printed  tne  Epistles  and  smaller  portions 
of  the  New  Testament.  Our  talented  ininter,  Mr.  Edward 
Breath,  at  length  turned  his  skilful  hand  (before  unused  in  type- 
cutting)  to  the  construction  of  type,  in  which  he  has  been  very 
succe^fiil,  having  cut  and  cast  several  founts  far  more  beautiftil 
and  perfect  than  we  could  possibly  have  obtained  in  any  other 
way.  In  one  of  those  founts  we  printed  a  handsome  edition  of  the 
four  Gospels,  in  1845.  With  two  other  founts  we  printed,  in 
1846,  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  in  both  the  ancient  and 
modem  Syriac,  in  parallel  columns.  The  work  forms  a  large  and 
very  beautiful  quarto  volume,  of  more  than  eight  hundred  pages. 
The  modem  language,  which  is  more  difiuse  than  the  ancient, 
required  a  smaller  type  to  fill  an  equal  space  on  the  page.  The 
ancient  Syriac  of  this  edition  is  the  venerable  and  excellent 
Peechito  version,  and  our  copy  for  the  press  was  carefully  cor- 
rected by  comparison  with  the  venerable  parchment  copies  found 
in  the  Nestonan  churches,  some  of  them  650  years  old.  The 
translation  into  the  modem  Syriac  is  also  made  m)m  that  version, 
with  notes  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  marking  the  principal  dif- 
ferences between  the  Peschito  and  the  received  Greek. 

Every  Nestorian  church  was  immediately  supplied  with  copies 
of  this  New  Testament,  and  great  numbers  have  been  circulated 
amoi^  those  who  have  learned  to  read  in  our  schools  and  sabbath 
schools  among  the  people. 

In  1852  we  completed  the  publication  of  the  entire  Old  Tes- 
tament in  both  the  ancient  and  modem  Syriac,  in  paraUel  columns. 
Our  translation  is  made  from  the  Hebrew,  and  the  ancient  Syriac, 
as  in  our  New  Testament,  is  the  Peschito  version.  This  work 
forms  a  magnificent  volume  —  a  large  quarto  of  more  than  a 
tfiousand  pages — a  book  at  least  twice  the  size  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  bo£  languages.  The  type  used  in  printing  the  Old 
Testament  are  much  smaller  thcui  those  with  which  the  New 
Testament  was  printed,  otherwise  the  work  would  have  beea 
swelled  to  quite  an  unwieldy  size. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


386  The  Neitarians.  [July, 

The  whole  Bible  is  thus  at  last  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Nes- 
torian  Christians^  in  both  their  ancient  and  modem  languages,  by 
pecuniary  means  furnished  by  the  American  Bible  Sodety,  and  by 
the  agency  of  missionaries  from  the  distant  New  World.  I  hardly 
need  say  that  it  is  to  us  matter  of  sincere  and  dcTout  gratitude 
to  God  that  this  great  work  is  accomplished.  A  heavy  pressure 
of  other  missionary  labours  constantly  on  our  hands  caused  the 
work  of  translating  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  has  devolyed  prin^ 
cipally  on  me,  to  run  on  through  a  long  series  of  years,  but  it  also 
enabled  us  to  do  it  in  a  better  manner  than  we  could  have  ac- 
complished it  at  an  earlier  period,  by  giving  us  a  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  languages,  and  ample  opportunity  for  revision. 

We  contemplate  pubbshing  another  edition  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment ere  lonff,  in  the  modem  tongue,  for  common  use  among  the 
people,  who  Know  little  of  the  ancient  language ;  and  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  modem  language  only  wiU,  we  trust,  follow  the 
New  at  no  distant  period. 

The  influence  of  the  Holy  Scrintures  on  the  more  than  a 
thousand  pupils  in  our  village  schools— on  the  forty  pupils  in  our 
Male  Seminary,  and  the  mty  pupils  in  our  eaually  prosperous 
Female  Seminary — and  on  the  scores  and  hundreds  of  adult  Nesto- 
lians  who  are  learning  to  read  in  our  sabbath-schools  and  at  their 
humble  homes,  and,  urough  all  these  readers,  on  the  mass  of  the 
people,  is  alike  blessed  and  incalculable.  Many  scores,  under  the 
Divine  blessing  on  this  instrumentality,  and  the  preacliing  of  the 
truths  which  the  Bible  reveals  by  the  living  voice  of  the  missionary 
and  of  pious  Nestorian  evangelists,  have  been  made  wise  unto 
salvation.  The  moral  desert  in  this  dark  Mohammedan  land,  in 
Ae  interior  of  benighted  Asia,  has  thus  begun  to  bud  and  blossom 
as  the  rose. 

It  would  extend  this  article  to  an  immoderate  length  to  speak 
of  the  numerous  issues  of  our  mission  press,  both  religious  and 
educational  (the  former  through  means  furnished  by  the  American 
Tract  Sode^,  and  the  latter  by  funds  of  our  Missionary  Board), 
besides  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I  cannot,  however,  omit  to  mention 
our  humble  monthly  periodical,  which  is  published  in  the  modem 
Syriac  ^ThaRays  of  Light'  is  its  title,  and  its  motto,  ^Then 
shall  thy  light  breuL  forth  as  the  morning,'  Isaiah  IviiL  8.  Eadi 
number  of  sixteen  pages,  of  the  size  and  form  of  a  common  maga- 
zine, contiuns  short  artides  in  the  several  departments  ofBehgioHj 
Education^  Science^  Mimonary  InteUigenoej  Juvenile  MUceUany. 
The  poet  has  also  a  comer.  The  fourth  volume  is  now  in  progress. 
This  unpretending  misrionary  organ  is  an  important  auxiuary, 
as  used  m  our  seminaries  and  schools  and  circulated  among  the 
people.  The  '  Rays  of  Light '  penetrate  the  dark  minds  of  mul- 
titudes who  were  sitting  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death. 

Digitized  by  V3*^VJ^lC 


1853.]  The  NeHarians.  387 

I  Iia?e  mentioned  the  efforts  of  papal  emissaries  to  omvert  the 
Nestorian  Christians.  These  efforts  have  been  long  and  vigorously 
prosecuted  on  the  western  side  of  the  Koordish  mountains,  mainly 
Dv  French  Pi^ists  residing  at  Mosul,  and  their  agents  at  Uie  town 
01  Elkoosh,  forty  miles  north  of  Mosul,  and  at  the  celebrated  papal 
monastery  of  !l^bban  Hoomezd,  which  is  perched  on  the  abrupt 
face  of  a  lofty  diff,  two  miles  east  of  Elkoosb,  the  venerable  home 
of  the  prophet  Nahum.  Thousands  of  the  Nestorians,  on  that 
Assyrian  plain  and  the  adjacent  declivities  of  the  Koordish  moun- 
tains, have  thus  been  decoyed  firom  the  more  simple  and  Scriptural 
&ith  of  their  fathers  to  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  Rome. 

At  the  present  time  French  Lazarists  are  also  vigorously  at 
work  to  efiect  the  same  object  on  these  &ir  plains  of  rersia,  and 
with  a  measure  of  success.  The  noble  royal  edict  issued  by  the 
Shah  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  at  the  instance  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, abolishing  the  law  against  proselytism,  opens  a  wide  and 
unobstructed  door  before  these  emissaries  of  Rome,  who  are  en- 
tirely unscrupulous  in  regard  to  the  means  they  use — wine,  rum, 
bribefs  and  low  bullying  beinff  the  most  common — ^to  make  con- 
verts among  a  people,  many  m  whom  but  too  readily  yield  to  ^eir 
influence. 

Like  those  of  their  calling  in  Europe  and  America,  these  papal 
emissaries  practically  interpret  the  law  of  toleration  as  legitimately 
capable  of  but  one  application — as  intended  especially,  if  not  ex- 
clusively, for  the  advancement  of  Pof^.  It  is  but  a  short  time 
since  a  young  man  who  left  the  papal  conununion  and  entered  the 
service  of  our  misrion  was  decoyed  from  the  mission  premises,  on 
various  &}ae  pretexts,  to  the  nouse  of  a  French  Lazarist,  who 
ordered  one  ot  his  satellites  to  beat  him,  for  no  other  reason  than 
his  renunciation  of  Popery.  The  young  man  having  been  beaten, 
as  the  Frenchman  thought,  too  lightly^  we  reverend  father  himself 
fell  to  mauling  him  with  his  fists  most  violently,  and,  when  an 
explanation  was  demanded,  he  coollv  replied  that  he  was  only 
exercising  that  paternal  discijdme  which  he  was  bound  to  exercise 
toward  an  erring  son  of  holy  mother  Church! 

The  teadiing  and  the  influence  of  these  European  agents  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  among  an  immoral  Oriental  people  may 
be  further  illustrated  by  one  or  two  facts.  A  French  Laziuist  was 
one  dav  staggering  through  the  streets  of  a  Nestorian  village,  in  a 
state  of  intoxication,  and,  meeting  a  teacher  of  our  sdiool  in  that 
village,  he  thus  accosted  him,  *  Come  and  teach  for  me,  and  not 
teach  for  those  heretics.^  The  teacher,  in  reply,  alluded,  to  his 
intemperance,  to  which  the  Lazarist  answered,  *  As  God's  vice- 
gerent I  have  power  to  sanctify  wine,  so  that  getting  drunk  on  it 
IS  no  sin.' 

Another  Lazarist,  a  short  time  since,  visited  a  Nestorian  village, 

Digitized  by  V3V/V./V  IV. 


388  The  Neitarians.  [July, 

and  reared  a  confessional  in  a  house,  the  master  of  which,  with  his 
son,  he  had  recently  proselyted  by  the  use  of  bribes.  On  his 
requisition  that  all  the  members  of  the  household  should  go  to 
confession,  the  wife  of  the  young  man  refused,  and  perasted  in  her 
refusal  until  her  violent  husband,  under  the  direction  of  ihe  La- 
zarist,  took  his  gun  and  threatened  to  shoot  her,  on  which  ^e  fled 
for  her  life  to  the  house  of  her  father.  These  very  logical  prose- 
lyters  regard  such  outrageous  proceedings  to  advance  Romanism 
as  no  inmction  of  the  law  of  toleration. 

If  I  have  dwelt  too  long  on  this  topic,  my  apology  must  he 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  efforts  of  the  papal  agents  are  at  this 
hour  the  most  serious  obstacles  which  we  nave  to  encounter  in  our 
missionary  labours,  and  threaten  very  serious  consequences  to  die 
welfare  and  salvation  of  the  Nestorian  Christians.  The  Holy  Scrip- 
tures from  our  press  they  denounce  as  corrupt  Engli»h  booh,  and 
forbid  their  converts  to  read  them. 

I  cannot  close  this  article,  intended  for  a  British  periodical, 
without  alluding  to  the  generous  and  efficient  protection — ^die  en- 
couragement and  the  aid — ^which  our  mission  has  so  long  receiTcd 
from  noble-minded  representatives  of  England  in  Persia.  From 
the  day  of  my  first  arrival  in  this  distant  land  up  to  this  hour  our 
obligations  to  such  Englishmen  and  to  their  government  have  been 
constantly  increasing,  till  it  were  utterly  in  vain  to  attempt  ade- 
quately to  acknowledge  them.  Never  can  we,  nor  our  patrons  in 
America,  cease  to  cherish  the  warmest  gratitude  to  Sir  John  N.  R. 
Campbell,  the  Right  Honourable  H.  Eflis,  Sir  John  M'Neill,  and 
Lieut.*Col.  J.  Shiel,  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  ambassadors  at  the 
court  of  Persia ;  R  W.  Stevens,  Esq.,  the  present  British  consul  at 
Tabreez,  J.  P.  Riach,  Esq.,  A.  Nisbet,  Esq.,  and  others,  who  have, 
at  different  times  and  in  various  political  capacities,  resided  in 
Persia  during  this  period.  Nor  may  I  omit  to  mention,  in  dus 
connection,  Lieut.-Col.  W.  F.  Williams,  R.A.,  Her  Britannic  Ma- 
jesty's commis^oner  in  settling  the  Turco-Persian  boundary,  whose 
generous  efforts,  above  all  praise,  were  exerted  a  few  months  ago, 
in  Koordistan,  to  relieve  our  mis^onaries  there,  and  especially  to 
rescue  their  innocent  helpers  when  cruelly  imprisoned «  in  stock 
and  in  chains  by  the  persecuting  arm  of  the  Turkish  government, 
for  the  simple  crime  of  befriending  the  missionaries.  May  God 
bless  and  prosper  England,  our  glorious  fatherland,  so  noblv  re- 
presented oy  such  philanthropists,  scattered  over  the  face  of  the 
wide  world  f 

Oroomiahy  Persia^  April  8,  1853.  J.  Pbbkins. 

^  Deacon  Tamo,  a  pious,  excellent  Nestorian,  is  stiU  languishing  in  prisoo  it 
Vau,  'where  he  has  been  cruelly  confined  nine  months,  for  no  other  crime  thai 
allowing  the  missionaries  to  reside  in  bis  house. 


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1853.]  Syriao  Metrical  Literature.  389^ 


SYRIAC    METRICAL    LITERATURE. 

Select  Metrical  Hymns  and  Homilies  of  Mphraem  Syru%^  tram-- 
latedfrom  the  original  Syriac^  with  an  Introdtcetion,  and  his- 
torical  and  pMlological  Notes.  By  the  Rev.  Henry  Bubo  ess, 
Ph.  D.  of  Gottingen,  a  Presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England, 
Translator  of  the  Festal  Letters  of  Athanasius,  from  an  ancient 
Syriac  Version.     London :  Robert  B.  Blackader,  1853. 

This  volume  is  a  contribution  to  a  branch  of  sacred  literature 
scarcelv  known  in  this  country,  and  but  little  treated  of  anywhere 
else.'  It  occupies  ground  almost  imoccupied  by  the  active  labourers 
in  the  field  of  mind  and  its  |Nroductions  ;  and  in  this  point  of  view 
the  author  imd  translator  is  fortunate.  It  is  something  in  these 
days  to  find  a  treasure  which  has  not  previously  yielded  up  its 
stores  to  the  learned  inquirer ;  yet  such  is  the  case  with  the  work 
before  us.  Ephraem  was  known  to  have  composed  hymns,  and,  in 
Germany,  many  of  them  had  found  a  translator.  Occasional 
references  to  them  were  also  to  be  met  with  in  various  publications 
at  home  imd  abroad ;  but  the  existence  of  what  is  here  properly 
called  the  Syriac  Metrical  Literature^  was  scarcely  recognised. 
Apart,  then,  from  any  reference  to  the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  con- 
tents of  this  volume,  it  is  important  from  its  bearing  on  the  depart- 
ment of  learning  it  opens  up  and  illustrates.  We  shall  first  ^ive  a 
running  commentary  on  the  matter  here  furnished  to  us,  wiSi  the 
hope  of  exciting  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the  whole  subject, 
and  afterwards  say  something  of  the  way  in  which  Dr.  Burgess  has 
performed  his  interesting  task. 

The  Introduction  occupies  one-third  of  the  volume  in  bulk,  but 
about  one-half  of  it  in  actual  printed  matter.  On  this  account 
perhaps  a  better  title  might  have  been  chosen,  more  characteristic 
of  the  object  attained  by  the  author.  The  subject  of  the  work  is 
really  the  Syriac  Metrical  Literature^  its  origin,  its  laws,  and  its 
existing  monuments ;  and  the  poems  of  Ephraem  which  are  trans- 
lated are  tUvMtrations  of  what  is  advanced  on  this  theme.  But  we 
will  let  the  writer  explain  his  own  design,  and  himself  describe  the 
field  which  is  the  scene  of  his  labours. 

^  It  is  certain  that  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  Syrian  Mesopotamia 
a  peculiar  form  of  the  Aramaic  dialect  early  prevailed,  which  has  been 
properly  called  the  Ecclesiastical  Syriacy  the  same  in  substance  with 
that  before  existing,  yet  possessing  some  distinctive  features  derived 
from  the  introduction  of  Christian  ideas.  It  is  in  this  dialect  tfiat  the 
literature  exists  which  we  have  now  to  treat  of,  the  copiousness  and 
variety  of  which  have  been  always  known ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  from 
various  causes,  it  has  unfortunately  been  neglected. 

VOL.  IV. NO.  VIII.  2    P 

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390  Sjfriac  Metrical  Literature.  [J«Jy» 

'  When  the  student  comes  in  contact  with  this  Syrian  Church  lite- 
rature, either  in  manuscript  or  printed  books,  he  is  attracted  bj  the 
singular  &ct  that  much  of  it  is  in  a  metrical  form.  We  lay  stress  on 
the  word  studenty  because  a  superficial  investigation  will  leave  the 
phenomenon  unnoticed,  as  has  indeed  happened  to  men  of  learning. 
Both  in  manuscripts  and  printed  books  the  metrical  verses  of  this  lite- 
rature are  generally  written  as  prose,  only  a  point  indicating  the  close 
of  a  rhythm,  and  that  not  always ;  so  that  sudi  works  may  be  consulted 
occasionally  as  books  of  reference,  without  their  artificial  construction 
being  perceived.  But,  apart  from  all  marks  of  distinction,  as  soon  as 
these  compositions  are  resul  and  studied  in  their  individual  completeness, 
their  rhythmical  character  becomes  evident,  sometimes  from  the  poetical 
style  of  what  is  thus  circumscribed  by  these  prosodical  measures,  but 
always  finom  the  moulding  and  fashioning  which  the  language  has  to 
undergo  before  it  will  yield  up  its  freedom  to  the  fetters  of  verse.  This, 
then,  is  the  sphere  of  our  present  undertaking,  and  it  will  be  our  duty 
to  trace  up  this  metrical  literature  to  its  origin,  as  fiur  as  historical  light 
will  guide  us ; — to  say  something  on  the  laws  by  which  its  composition 
appears  to  be  regulated ;  to  glance  at  its  exbting  monuments ; — and 
then,  more  especially,  to  treat  of  the  works  of  Ephraem,  the  great 
master  of  this  literature,  a  few  of  whose  compositions  are  now  brought 
before  the  English  public' — Pp.  xxii.  xxiii. 

With  respect  to  the  origin  of  this  literature  the  question  is  a 
large  one,  oaving  to  do  with  the  general  subject  of  Christian 
hymnology,  on  wmch  great  obscuritv  rests.  Augustus  Hahn  (the 
only  writer  who  had  before  treated  oi  the  Syrian  metres,  and  whose 
aid  Dr.  Burgess  gratefully  acknowledges)  supposes  the  Syrians 
were  compelled  to  seek  variety  by  the  dullness  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Psauns.  He  says,  that '  a  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Psalter 
was  first  used,  and  that  in  Syria  the  want  of  rhythm  and  metre 
produced  a  monotony,  imd  an  absence  of  grace  and  sweetness,  by 
which  the  attention,  vivacity,  and  ioy  of  the  mind  were  dissipated ; 
and  tiiat,  in  consequence  of  this,  the  method  of  responave  chanting 
was  contrived  to  throw  life  into  the  song,'  and,  by  consequence, 
other  noyelties  of  metre,  &c.,  were  introduced.  On  this  Dr. 
Burgess  remarks, — 

'  This  is  an  account  sufilciently  probable  of  the  preference  generally 
given  to  variety  and  life  over  monotony  and  dullness,  and  may  be  the 
process  which  led  the  Syrian  Christians  to  leave  the  plain  Psalms  for 
compositions  more  congenial  with  their  tastes  and  habits.  But  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that,  on  the  whole  subject,  more  light  may  yet  be 
shown  by  future  researches,  and  that  it  will  probably  be  foima  that  in 
Syria,  as  elsewhere.  Christians  introduced  into  their  practice  whatever 
of  natipnal  customs,  in  relation  to  music,  they  found  ready  to  their 
hands.' — P.  xzviii. 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  an  historical  fact  that  in  the  second 
century  we  find  *  that  hannonious  composition,  of  whose  birth  we 


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1853.]  Syriac  Metrical  Literature,  391 

are  doubtful,  an  actual  living  instrument  of  thought,  powerful  both 
for  good  and  for  evil/  Tms  instrument  was  wielded  by  Barde- 
sanes,  a  Gnostic  Christian,  whose  works  have  perished,  except 
some  firaffments  preserved  by  Ephraem,  but,  concerning  whose 
share  in  the  metrical  compositions,  and  his  great  popularity  among 
the  people  of  Edessa,  there  is  expUcit  and  sufficient  testimony.  A 
century  later  Ephraem  found  the  poems  of  Bardesanes  in  common 
use,  and  exerting  great  influence  among  the  people ;  and  on  this 
account  he  applied  himself  diligently  to  the  art  of  metrical  compo- 
sition. Ephraem  thus  refers  to  this  great  heretic,  who,  although  so 
long  dead,  spoke  so  efficiently  in  his  writings,  that  the  venerable 
father  employed  all  his  energies  in  combating  his  sentiments. 
^  For  these  things  Bardesanes 

Uttered  in  his  writings. 

He  composed  odes, 

And  mingled  them  with  music ; 

He  harmonized  psalms 

And  introduced  measures. 

By  measures  and  balances 

He  divided  words. 

He  thus  Gonceal'd,  for  the  »mple, 

The  bitter  with  the  sweet. 

For  the  sickly  do  not  prefer 

Food  which  is  wholesome. 

He  sought  to  imitate  David, 

To  adorn  himself  with  his  beauty, 

So  that  he  might  be  praised  by  the  likeness. 

He  therefore  set  in  order 

Psalms  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

But  he  deserted  the  truth  of  David, 

And  only  imitated  his  numbers.' — P.  xxx. 

But  it  is  to  Ephraem  that  we  must  look  as  the  perfect  master 
and  voluminous  composer  of  the  *Chiu'ch  Metrical  Literature.' 
No  doubt  much  of  what  he  wrote  has  perished,  and  much  yet 
remains  unpublished  in  libraries ;  yet,  witn  these  deductions,  nis 
rhythmical  pieces  fill  a  folio  volume  and  a  half  of  his  printed 
works.  They  are  on  every  variety  of  subject,  and  in  all  the  metres 
and  strophical  forms  that  the  language  will  admit  of.  The  curious 
skin  manifested  in  the  construction  of  these  hymns  and  homilies  is 
one  of  their  very  interesting  features.  Dr.  Burgess  has  described 
five  difierent  metres,  and  many  peculiar  arrangements  of  the  verses 
and  stanzas  ;  but  he  confesses  that  he  has  by  no  means  exhausted 
the  materials  which  exist  for  a  complete  exposition  of  the  almost 
unknown  prosody  of  the  Syriac  language.    On  this  subject  he  says : 

*  It  would  be  highly  gratifying  to  the  writer  could  he  hope  to  furnish 
anything  like  a  correct  account  of  the  Syrian  Hymnology,  to  point  out 

2  D  2 

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392  Syriac  Metrical  Literature,  [July, 

its  laws,  and  illustrate  them  by  existing  monuments.  But  he  cannot 
deceive  his  readers  by  holding  out  such  an  expectation,  because  he  is 
conscious  that  this  peculiar  literature  must  be  studied  more  closely  and 
comprehensively  than  it  has  yet  been,  before  a  desirable  precision  and 
fulness  is  gained  in  its  exhibition.  Those  learned  men  who,  being 
Syrians  themselves,  might  be  expected  to  know  all  the  mysteries  of 
their  own  language,  we  mean  the  Assemani  and  Benedict,  speak  doubt- 
fully on  this  subject,  and  give  no  indication  that  they  knew  more  about 
it  than  that  the  metres  are  regulated  by  syllables,  and  sung  to  various 
tunes.  It  may  be  that  this  is  really  the  whole  of  the  matter,  but  we 
cannot  think  it  is,  from  the  limited  attention  we  have  been  able  to  give 
the  subject.  We  believe  that  much  more  is  to  be  known  than  is  yet 
discovered,  and  cannot  but  hope  that  the  rules  of  such  compositions 
may  be  yet  further  elucidated.  In  the  meanwhile  we  shall  only 
describe  the  results  of  our  own  experience  without  going  into  the 
attractive  paths  of  conjecture.* — P.  xlii. 

The  section  on  the  *  existing  monuments  of  Syrian  Metrical 
Literature '  gives  a  sketch  of  all  that  has  been  cataloged  or  pub- 
lished down  to  the  time  of  Bar  Hebraeus,  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. In  this  survey  the  far  greater  space  is  given  to  Ephraem  ; 
and  his  printed  metncal  works  in  the  Koman  edition  are  analysed 
and  described.  There  are  here  materials,  indeed,  for  the  patient 
research  of  scholars ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  specimens  furnished 
will  invite  many  an  aspirant  to  the  literary  California  thus  opened 
to  their  honourable  ambition.  Many  of  the  pieces  arepolemical, 
graphically  exhibiting  the  various  errors  to  which  the  Church  was 
exposed  in  the  fourth  century,  and  refuting  them  with  an  exuberance 
of  fancy  and  weight  of  reasoning  truly  wonderful.  Others  are  on 
more  tender  topics,  composed  for  the  dead,  whether  children, 
mothers  of  famiUes,  monks,  or  bishops.  Some  are  of  great  length, 
as  that  on  tiie  Bepentance  of  Nineveh.  Perhaps  we  cannot  do 
better  than  give  what  is  said  of  this  piece,  as  conveying  some  idea 
of  the  richness  of  the  treasures  which  wait  to  be  brought  into 
public  view. 

'  This  piece  is  in  Heptasyllabics,  and  extends  to  between  ^ve  and 
six  hundred  strophes,  of  four  verses  each.  It  is  a  complete  epic  poen), 
describing  with  great  power  and  variety  of  diction  the  repentance  of  the 
Ninevites  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah,  as  exhibited  in  every  imaginable 
form  of  misery  and  sorrow.  As  far  as  we  are  able  to  form  an  opinion 
this  is  the  best  sustained  of  any  of  Ephraem's  metrical  productions,  and 
deserves  to  be  introduced  to  English  readers.  We  have  never  seen  it 
noticed ;  even  Asseman  merely  catalogues  it ;  but  we  are  much  mis- 
taken if  it  has  not,  as  a  whole,  a  claim  to  be  ranked  among  the  produc- 
tions of  genuine  poetic  inspiration.  We  will  venture  on  a  translation  of 
a  few  verses,  to  give  some  idea  of  the  style  and  spirit,  only  premising 
that  our  rendering  is  not  intended  to  bear  a  critical  scrutiny. 

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1853.]  Syriac  Metrical  Literature^  393 

^  ^^  The  feast  of  the  king  ceased, 
And  the  banquets  of  the  princes. 
If  infants  fasted  from  their  milk, 
Who  would  prepare  to  sup  ? 
The  beasts  abstained  from  water. 
Who  then  would  drink  wine  ? 
If  the  king  put  on  sackcloth, 
Who  would  clothe  himself  in  soft  raiment  ? 
If  the  lascivious  became  pure, 
Who  would  contemplate  marriage  ? 
If  the  luxurious  were  full  of  terror, 
Who  would  indulge  laughter? 
If  those  who  were  merry  wept. 
To  whom  could  folly  be  pleasing  ? 
If  robbers  became  just, 
Who  would  defraud  his  fellow  ? 
If  the  city  trembled  at  its  dissolution. 
Who  would  care  for  his  own  home  ? 

Throw  away  the  gold, 

And  no  one  steals  it ; 

Lay  open  the  treasure. 

And  none  will  violently  enter  it. 

The  gay  ones  closed  their  eyes. 

That  they  might  not  gaze  on  women ; 

Women  laid  aside  their  ornaments. 

That  those  who  looked  at  them  might  not  sin. 

For  they  were  conscious  of  thisi 

That  the  ruin  was  a  common  one. 

For  if  through  them  others  fell. 

They  should  not  escape. 

The  beautiful  would  not  disturb 

The  penitence  of  the  men  of  the  city ; 

For  they  knew  that  on  their  account 

The  repentant  were  mourning !" 

'  Some  most  affecting  descriptions  are  then  g^ven  of  the  scenes  which 
took  place  in  families,  where  mothers  clasp  their  infants  to  their  bosoms 
in  hopeless  agony,  and  the  little  ones,  by  some  instinctive  sympathy, 
seek  dielter  in  their  parents'  arms.  At  length  a  ray  of  hope  is  derived 
by  the  king  reminding  his  subjects  of  some  former  instances  of  divine 
forgiveness  of  penitent  sinners ;  and,  ultimately,  by  an  ingenious 
poetical  fiction,  the  people  are  said  to  hear  the  conversation  between 
Jonah  and  the  Lord,  and  their  doleful  fears  are  turned  to  rapture.' — 
I^.  lxii.-lxiv. 

The  translated  Hymns  are  thirty-five  in  number,  the  Homilies 
nine.  The  subjects  are  very  various,  some  merely  descriptive, 
others  argumentative  and  polemical.  Of  the  Homines  the  trans- 
lator says,  ^  All  these  are  poetic  in  the  mode  of  treatment  as  well  as 


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Syriac  Metrical  Literature.  t'^uly* 

in  the  style,  and  are  wrought  up  with  an  artistic  power  which  b 
truly  wonderful.  We  admire  the  man  who  conceivecL  and  executed 
such  gem-like  productions.  Our  wonder  is  little  less  that  his  au- 
diences should  have  been  able  to  comprehend  and  enjoy  them/ 
This  last  circumstance  is  wonderful  indeed;  and  it  wakens  up 
trains  of  thought  which  we  cannot  now  indulge.  As  our  object  is 
to  give  a  e^eneral  idea  of  the  whole  book,  we  shall  extract  the  first 
homily.  We  must  not  forget  to  mention  that  the  translated  pieces 
are  all  accompanied  with  notes,  intended  to  eluddate  their  meaning, 
and  especially  to  bring  into  prominence  peculiarities  of  Syriac 
thought  and  expression. 

*  DESCRIPTION  OF  PARADISE. 

*  The  Revdatians  of  God  adapted  to  Man's  IrUdlect, 

'  The  air  of  Paradise 
Is  a  fountain  of  sweetness, 
From  which,  in  early  life, 
Adam  inhaled  nutriment ; 
And  the  inspiration  was  to  his  youth 
Like  the  ministering  breast  of  a  mother. 
He  was  young,  fair,  and  joyful : — 
But  having  spumed  the  commandment, 
He  became  unhappy,  old,  and  fading. 
Bearing  the  weight  of  years 
And  a  load  of  miseries  I 

No  blighting  frosts. 
No  withering  heats. 
Are  in  that  region 
Of  blessedness  and  joy. 
It  is  a  haven  of  gladness, 
A  home  of  delights, — 

Light  and  merriment  reside  within  it : — 
There  is  a  cong^r^^tion  of  harpers, 
A  society  of  players  on  the  lute, 
The  sound  of  Hosannahs, 
A  Church  of  Hallelujahs  I 

The  fence  which  surrounds  it. 

Is  the  safety  which  makes  all  tranquil ; 

Its  walb  and  its  precincts. 

Is  the  peace  which  unites  all  together  ; 

The  cherub  which  walks  around  it 

Is  gentle  to  those  within. 

But  threatening  to  those  without,  who  are  reprobate. 
Concerning  this  Paradise, 
Which  is  pure  and  holy, 
The  report  which  thou  hearest 
ts  true  and  spiritual. 

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1853.]  Syriac  Metrical  Literature.  395 

Let  not  its  nature  be  judged 

From  what  is  heard  of  it, 

For  its  descriptions  do  not  altogether 

Come  within  our  judgment ; 

For  although,  by  the  names  given  to  it, 

It  may  seem  to  be  earthly, 

In  reality  that  pure  place  is  spiritual : — 
For  even  the  names  of  spirits 
Are  common  to  both  kinds ; 
Yet  that  which  is  impure 
Is  fer  different  from  the  holy. 

For  in  no  other  manner 

Is  it  possible  for  a  speaker. 

But  by  the  names  of  things 

Which  are  well  known. 

To  form  descriptions 

Like  things  which  are  obscure ; 

For  if  He  who  is  the  Creator  of  the  Garden 
Had  not  shrouded  its  magnificence, 
In  words  which  are  vernacular  to  us. 
How  could  He  have  represented 
Hb  garden,  in  our  dark  speeches? 

For  if  among  the  names 

Which  are  borrowed  by  the  Divine  Majesty, 

A  man  should  wand^  and  be  ensnared, — 

He  pro&nes  and  injures  It, 

By  means  of  those  borrowed  tarns 

Which  It  put  on  for  his  benefit ; 

And  spurns  the  g^race  which  bowed  down 
Its  lofty  height  to  his  childish  stature. 
For  he  having  no  natural  affinity  with  It, 
It  clothed  Itself  with  things  like  to  him, 
To  cause  him  to  attain  to  Its  likeness. 

Let  not  then  thy  intellect 

Be  disturbed  by  these  accidental  names ; 

For  Paradise  is  represented 

In  terms  which  are  vernacular  to  thee ; 

It  is  not  indigent. 

Because  it  is  clothed  with  thii^  like  to  thee : — 

Thy  nature  rather  is  very  hnbecOe, 
Which  IS  not  able  to  attain  to  its  greatness. 
Insipid  would  be  its  beauties, 
Were  it  depicted  in  the  colours 
Which  are  natural  to  thee  I 


For  eyes  whidi  are  feeble 
Have  not  sufficient  power 


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396  Syriac  Metrical  Literature.  [July, 

To  contemplate  the  bright  rays 
Of  its  celestial  beauties. 
He  hath  clothed  its  trees 
With  the  names  of  our  trees, 

And  its  figs  are  called  by  the  names  of  our  figs  ; 
And  its  leaves,  which  are  spiritual, 
Are  realized  and  embodied  ; 
They  are  transformed,  that  their  vesture 
May  resemble  the  vesture  of  earthly  things. 

The  flowers  of  that  country 

Are  more  numerous  and  brilliant 

Than  the  starry  lights 

Of  this  visible  heaven ; 

And  a  fragrance  proceeds  from  it, 

Borne  along  in  its  gracious  influence. 

Like  a  physician  sent  to  the  maladies 
Of  a  land  which  b  cursed : — 
By  its  healing  odour 
Curing  the  distemper. 
Which  entered  by  the  serpent. 

By  the  gale  which  blows 

From  the  blessed  region  of  Paradise, 

Sweetness  is  communicated 

To  the  bitterness  of  this  region ; 

This  renders  inefiective 

The  curse  of  our  earth. 

The  Garden  is  thus  the  vital  breath 
Of  this  diseased  world ; 
And  dwelling  among  the  sickly. 
It  proclaims  that  a  living  balsam 
Is  sent  to  our  mortality. 

Thus  when  the  blessed  Apostles 

Were  assembled  together, 

The  place  was  moved, 

And  there  was  a  sweet  savour  of  Paradise ; 

Which  stirred  up  its  repositories. 

And  caused  its  perfumes  to  flow  forth : — 

It  difiused  its  odours  on  the  messengers, 
By  whom  men  were  to  be  made  disciples, 
Ajid  come  as  guests  to  the  feast 
Thus  it  seemed  good  to  the  high  Majesty 
Of  Him  who  loved  the  children  of  men.' 

To  this  piece  are  aj^nded  twenty-two  notes,  by  which  its  con- 
nection ana  meaning  are  greatly  illustrated. 

Dr.  Burgess  declares  his  object  to  have  been  to  introduce  a  fine 
and  interesting  writer  to  plain  EngUsh  people,  and  at  the  same 


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1853.]  Syriae  Metrical  Literature.  397 

time  to  make  the  volume  useful  to  the  scholar.  We  consider  that  he 
has  succeeded  admirably  in  both  these  objects.  The  Introduction 
and  the  Notes  evince  his  complete  mastery  of  the  subject,  and  will 
furnish  valuable  help  to  those  who  are  incUned  to  take  interest  in, 
and  engage  in  the  study  of  a  language  and  literature  which  has 
been  so  long  neglected,  but  is  now  beginning  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion to  which  it  is  entitled.  The  work  is  therefore  especially 
opportune  in  the  aid  it  offers  and  the  stimulus  it  suppUes ;  and  we 
doubt  not  that  it  will  decide  many  waverers  to  emoark  in  a  study 
which  they  will  riow  perceive  to  be  by  no  means  barren  of  intel- 
lectual gratification  or  religious  profit.  In  his  other  aim,  his  clear 
perception  of  the  duties  of  a  translator,  as  stated  in  his  Introduc- 
tion, and  the  poetical  taste  and  faculty  of  which  he  has  had  other 
opportunities  of  evincing  the  possession,  have  enabled  him  to  render 
these  fine  old  Eastern  hymns  with  a  spirit  and  vigour,  and  with  a 
felicitous  choice  of  phrase,  admirably  contrasting  with  the  baldness 
and  fatiguing  aridity  of  many  analogous  efforts  at  translation  from 
Oriental  poetry. 

To  do  well  the  work  which  Dr.  Burgess  undertook  reauired  a 
complete  mastery  of  the  language,  a  famiUarity  with  the  forms  of 
thought  and  expression  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  an  aptitude  in  the 
conception  and  utterance  of  poetical  ideas.  These  qualities  are 
not  easily  found  in  combination ;  and  it  is  to  the  fact  of  their 
union  in  him  that  we  ascribe  the  undoubted  success  of  Dr.  Bur- 
gess's present  achievement.  We  trust  the  result  may  be  such  as  to 
encourage  him  to  persist  in  cultivating  this '  almost  unknown  depart- 
ment of  Church  learning ;'  and  we  are  glad  to  learn  that  the  pro- 
bable result  of  such  encouragement  would  be  translation  and 
annotation,  by  the  same  hand,  of  Ephraem's  long,  practical  piece 
on  the  Repentance  of  Nineveh,  already  noticed,  wnich  Dr.  Bur- 
gess not  inaptly  designates  '  a  fine  epic  poem,'  and  which,  apart 
from  its  interest  for  general  readers,  must  be  presumed  to  be  of 
special  interest  to  students  of  Christian  Uterature  and  antiquities. 

The  volume  is  very  beautifully  and  most  correctly  printed ;  and 
those  who  have  had  reason  to  be  aware  of  the  difficulty  and  labour 
of  ensuring  accuracy  in  the  use  of  Oriental  ^npes,  will  nighly  value 
this  quality  of  the  work  before  us.  The  Syriae  type  is  mostly 
found  in  the  notes,  the  translator  having  been  deterred  by  the  ex- 
pense from  giving  the  original  text  of  the  poems  he  has  translated. 


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398  The  Meaning  of  Scripture  Siienoe.  [July, 

THE  MEANING  OF  SCRIPTURE  SILENCE; 

OR,  THE  NEGATIVE  INTEBNAL  BVIOENCS. 

*It  is  the  gloiT  of  God  to  conceal  a  matter.'  We  see  this 
plainly  enough  m  regard  to  the  enigmas  of  nnfiilfilled  prophecy, 
which  are  so  constructed  that  the  event  alone  resolves  them. 
Without  this,  they  might  have  fulfilled  themselves,  and  one  great 
purpose  of  God  been  frustrated  in  providing  a  continued  series  of 
prophecies,  within  the  volume  of  Scripture,  unfolding  themselTes  in 
nistory,  and  multiplying  to  the  end  of  time  the  evidences  of  the 
Divine  character  of  the  volume  containing  them. 

This  is  not,  however,  the  kind  of  Scripture  concealment  to  which 
we  now  advert.  The  concealments  we  propose  to  consider  are  more 
akin  to  that  recorded  in  Deut.  xxxiv.  5,  6 — *  And  he  buried  him 
in  a  valley  in  the  land  of  Moab,  over  against  Bethpeor,  but  no 
man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day,'— a  concealment 
which,  Jude  tells  us,  Satan  endeavoured  to  frustrate,  by  contending 
with  Michael  '  about  the  body  of  Moses,'  doubtless  tnat  he  might 
cast  it  before  Israel  as  a  stumbling-block,  in  the  hope  that  the 
dead  bones  of  the  Hebrew  lawgiver  might  more  powerfully  po^ 
suade  to  idolatry  than  his  living  voice  had  dissuadea  from  it  iTie 
purpose  of  this  concealment  is  quite  as  obvious  as  the  destruction^ 
m  wler  ages,  of  the  relic  of  the  brazen  serpent,  when  the  reforming 
Hezekiah,  in  spite  of  natural  feeling  in  its  favour,  broke  it  in 
pieces,  and  called  it  Nehvshtany  or  a  bit  of  brass.  Mere  religious 
sentiment,  or  what  has  been  called  *the  poetry  of  sacred  art,* 
would  have  pleaded  hard  for  the  preservation  of  the  rdic  and  the 
possession  of  the  Prophet's  tomb,  but  the  cause  of  truth  and  the 
abiding  interests  of  humanity  called  for  the  inexorable  destruction 
of  the  one  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  other  from  the  sight  of  an 
idol-loving  people. 

Scripture  contains  not  only  such  obviously  usefrd  concealments 
as  these,  but  many  less  obvious,  yet  not  less  remarkable,  proclaim- 
ing the  Divine  foresight  that  presided  over  the  formation  of  Scrip- 
ture, seeing  the  end  from  the  berinning,  and  acting  in  the  fn8 
knowledge  of  what  is  in  man,  and  what  would  come  out  of  him 
from  age  to  age.  These  Scripture  concealments  are  so  numerom 
as  to  form  a  species  of  internal  evidence,  which  may  be  derig- 
nated  'the  negative  internal  evidence,'  arising  not  from  any- 
thing the  Scripture  Has  said  or  instituted,  as  from  what  it  has  left 
unsaid  and  uninstitvted.  The  strength  of  this  evidence  arises 
from  the  greater  or  less  improbability  that  uninspired  and  sdf- 
guided  men  would  have  left  such  things  unsaid  or  unmstituUi^ 


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1853.]  The  Meaning  of  Scripture  Silence.  399 

Some  of  them  may  appear  less  strong  than  others,  and  some  by 
themselves  to  have  little  force,  yet  such  may  be  their  number  and 
such  their  character,  that  the  whole  may  together  form  an  important 
contribution  to  the  internal  evidence, — ^a  contribution  all  the  more 
impressive  that,  like  the  undesigned  coincidences  between  the  Acts 
and  Epistles,  brought  out  in  the  Horse  Paulinae  of  Paley,  it  must 
have  been  wholly  undesigned,  seeing  it  is  a  kind  of  evidence  that 
time  and  history  have  alone  disclosed,  and  will  continue  to  disclose 
until  the  termination  of  the  history  of  the  Church  on  earth :  for  ex- 
ample, what  so  natural  as  that  one  or  all  of  the  writers  of  the  Memoirs 
of  CJhrist  contained  in  the  four  Gospels,  should  have  ^ven  us  the 
precise  year  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  precise  day  of  his  birth  ? 
We  find  Moses  recording  the  Exodus,  the  great  fact  of  Judaism, 
with  the  utmost  precision,  Exod.  xii.  40,  41, — *  Now  the  sojourning 
of  the  children  of  Israel  who  dwelt  in  Egypt  was  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the  four  hundred 
and  thnrty  years,  even  the  selfeame  day  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  the 
hosts  of  the  Lord  went  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt'  An  annual 
festival  is  appointed  for  the  commemoration  of  that  great  event  to 
all  posterity,  and  the  greatest  care  is  l^aken  to  fix  its  place  in  the 
Jewish  calendar,  Exod.  xii.  1 — '  This  month  shall  be  unto  you  the 
beginning  of  months :  it  shall  be  the  first  month  of  the  year  to 
you.  Speak  ye  unto  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  saying, — In 
the  tenth  day  of  the  month  they  shall  take  to  them  every  man  a 
lamb,'  &c ;  and  again,  Exod.  xiii.  4 — '  This  day  came  ye  out  in 
the  month  Abib ;'  and  Lev.  xxiii.  4 — '  These  are  the  feasts  of  the 
Lord.  In  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month  is  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread.' 

Rutarch,  in  his  life  of  Alexander  the  Great,  records  both  the 
year  and  the  day  of  his  birth.  It  is  the  use  and  wont  of  all  histo- 
rians, ancient  as  well  as  modem,  to  do  so  whenever  they  have  it  in 
their  power,  and  just  in  proportion  as  the  event  is  important  to  the 
nation  or  to  the  world  at  large.  The  care  the  Jews  hAd  about 
their  genealogies,  and  the  careful  record  of  Christ's  by  two  of  the 
evangelists,  make  a  public  register  of  births  among  the  Jews  a 
matter  of  certainty ;  and  the  circumcision  of  the  child  on  the  eighth 
day  was  not  improbably  the  time,  as  baptism  is  with  us,  of  this 
registry.  Yet,  while  we  have  the  genealogy  of  Christ  carefiilly 
recorded  both  by  Mary  and  his  reputed  father,  there  is  nothing 
fixing  either  the  year  or  the  day  of  his  birth  in  the  four  Gospels. 
We  Know  indeed,  incidentally,  that  it  occurred  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus  the  Roman  Emperor,  and  aboutr  the  time  of  his  edict 
requiring  the  registration  of  all,  with  a  view  to  a  general  taxing 
(Ltike  u.  1),  but  so  little  definite  that  the  precise  year  is  a  matter 
of  controversy,  although  commencing  the  last  and  greatest  epoch 

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400  The  Meaning  of  Scripture  tSiletice.  [July? 

of  the  world.  As  to  the  *  birth-day ^^  says  Adam  Clarke,  *  it  has 
been  placed  by  Christian  sects  and  learned  men  in  every  month  of 
the  year.'  The  Latin  Church,  supreme  in  power,  placed  it  on 
the  25th  of  December,  a  period  of  the  year  when  the  sun  begins 
to  return  towards  the  northern  tropics,  ending  the  winter,  and 
introducing  spring,  supposed  therefore  to  be  a  natural  emblem  oi 
the  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  on  the  darkness  of 'the 
world.  The  day  thus  assigned  by  Pope  Julius  I.  has  been  since 
observed,  as  having  (^uite  as  much  probability  as  any  other. 

The  same  silence  is  observed  as  to  the  year  and  day  of  our 
Lord's  death — the  event  most  interesting  to  Christians  after  his 
birth— thus  leaving  the  Christian  Church  to  dispute  about  his 
death-day,  or  the  tune  of  Easter,  as  well  as  about  his  birth-day,  or 
the  time  of  Christmas. 

Was  this  silence  natural  and  spontaneous  ?  Was  it  not  some- 
thing out  of  the  usual  course, — an  enforced  silence,  imposed  on 
them  by  an  over-ruling  hand  ?  We  have  said  there  could  be  no 
want  of  knowledge  as  to  the  time  of  his  birth,  both  as  to  year  and 
day,  since  the  pubUc  registers  could  have  furnished  it,  and  Mary, 
the  mother  of  Jesus,  survived  for  some  years  after  his  ascension, 
and  dwelt  under  the  roof  of  one  of  the  Evangelists.  Neither  could 
this  omission  arise  from  any  want  of  attachment  to  their  Master, 
or  any  failure  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  event  and  desire 
to  transmit  it  to  perpetual  memory.  The  facts,  the  great  facts 
of  his  birth,  life,  and  death,  they  record  fully,  reiterating  each 
other's  statements,  yet  they  pass  in  silence,  as  if  by  common 
consent,  the  time  thereof. 

This  silence  about  Christian  times  and  seasons  stands  contrasted 
with  the  importance  attached  to  times  and  seasons  under  ecclesi- 
astical development.  First  arose  the  festival  of  Christmas,  or  of 
the  Nativibr,  which  required  the  dogmatic  settiement  of  a  question 
on  which  tne  New  Testament  is  aient.  Then  arose  the  festival 
of  Easter,  requiring  the  same  dogmatic  settlement  of  another  ques- 
tion of  Christian  chronology.  Had  Church  developments  stopped 
here  it  had  been  well,  Imt  the  festival-loving  spirit  grew  apace, 
until  we  find — 

In  honour  of  Christ 7 

In  honour  of  Mary 17 

In  commemoration  of  Scripture  incidents        .       6 
In  commemoration  of  Christianity  .         .         .11 

Miscellaneous 4 

In  honour  of  Ad.  and  Ev 14 

59 
Making,  with  new  festivals,  74  in  all. 

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1853.]  The  Meaning  of  Scripture  Silence,  401 

Does  not  this  ecclesiastical  development  interpret  the  Scripture 
Mence  f  If  they  wrote  under  the  control  of  Him  who  '  could  look 
into  the  seeds  of  time,  and  see  which  seed  would  grow  and  which 
would  not,'  we  see  Grod  withholding  all  positive  countenance  to,  or 
aid  from,  such  development,  leaving  it  without  the  shadow  of  a 
shade  of  Scripture  support  or  encouragement  The  festival-lovine 
spirit,  however  bom  and  nurtured,  hs^  found  no  help  in  the  Book 
of  God.  Self-ori^nated  and  self-cherished,  it  rose  and  prospered, 
until  it  became  an  intolerable  yoke  on  the  nedc  of  Christians ;  but 
a  yoke  self-imposed,  which,  when  the  dav  of  Uberation  came, 
every  Christian  might  contrast  with  this  projoimd  silence  of  God  in 
his  own  Word  about  times  and  seasons. 

We  observed  the  other  day  that  a  Scotch  gentleman,  at  the 
close  of  the  last  continental  war,  anxious  to  honour  the  birth-day 
of  the  late  Duke  of  Wellington,  wrote  to  the  mother  of  the  hero 
to  inquire  into  the  precise  day,  and  received  a  prompt  answer 
from  the  pleased  mother.  The  desire  was  natural,  and  the  inquiry 
was  natural,  and  the  response  was  as  natural.  But  those  who 
loved  Christ  best  and  knew  him  best  neither  institute  such  a 
birth-day  festival,  nor  pve  the  means  of  instituting  it.  They 
furnish  no  food  for  such  curiosity,  no  aids  to  such  festivals.  He 
who  reigns  above  leaves  us  to  dispute  all  in  the  dark  about  these 
matters,  and  occupies  our  attention  only  with  great  facts,  great 
truths,  great  duties,  and  great  hopes.  In  condescension  to  the 
circumstances  of  die  Jewish  era  of  ms  Church,  God  appoints  three 
great  and  two  minor  annual  religious  festivals,  and  the  Jewish 
Church  indulge  the  festival-loving  spirit  so  sparingly  as  to  deve- 
lope  these  in  fourteen  centuries  into  only  two  additional  ones,  the 
Feast  of  Purim  and  the  Feast  of  Dedication.  The  New  Testa- 
ment institutes  no  festivals  at  all,  and  only  commends  anew,  by 
Apostolic  example,  the  Festival  of  Creation,  the  one  day,  after 
every  sixy  of  holy  rest.  '  The  Lord's  day '  is  in  mbstance  the  same 
as  the  Sabbath  of  creation,  but  consecrated  by  new  memories  and 
new  obligations,  and  this  silence  of  Scripture  as  to  all  other  times 
and  seasons  has  been  as  plainly  the  means  of  preserving  to  Pro- 
testant countries  their  Sabbath,  as  these  numerous  festivals  of 
the  Church  institution  have  been  the  means  of  well  nigh  oblite- 
rating its  observance  in  countries  where  ecclesiastical  institutions 
prevail. 

The  infancy  of  Christ  and  the  yovth  of  Christ  furnish  an  illus- 
tration of  the  same  Divine  wisdom  in  Scripture  silence.  Who  has 
not  felt  a  desire  to  know  more  of  the  early  life  of  our  Lord,  from 
his  birth  '  to  the  time  of  his  showing  unto  Israel,'  a  period  of  not 
less  than  thirty  years?  We  persuade  ourselves  that  such  a  holy 
infancy,  such  a  youth  as  his,  could  not  but  be  as  full  of  instruction 

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402  The  Mecming  of  Scripture  8Umce,  [ July^ 

as  the  account  of  it  would  have  been  most  grateful  to  our  human  curi- 
osity. Yet  in  the  four  Gospels  we  have  only  one  anecdote  of  his 
youth,  when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  nothing  of  his  infancy  at 
all.  The  great  fact  that  he  became  an  infant  of  days,  and  passed 
through  each  sta^  of  life,  in  all  thin^  made  like  unto  us,  is  fully 
revealed,  but  all  mrther  curiosity  is  disappointed.  The  eagerness 
to  break  this  silence  has  led  men  to  invent  wliat  they  did  not  find, 
and  produced  such  miserable  forgeries  as  'The  Gospel  of  the 
Infancy,'  full  of  tales  as  unlike  those  of  the  four  Gospels  as  the  old 
nurseiT  tales  are  to  genuine  history. 

Had  the  Apostles  no  power  to  nave  gratified  this  most  natural 
curiosity  ?  lAike  has  given  us  one  anecdote.  John,  the  beloved 
disciple,  who  had  the  care  of  the  mother  of  our  Lord  in  her  old 
age,  had  the  best  possible  opportunities,  yet  he  adds  nothing  to 
Luke's  account,  and  in  his  Gospel  introduces  us  at  once  into  the 
public  life  and  ministry  of  Christ.  This  silence  appears  still  less 
natural  and  spontaneous  than  the  silence  as  to  the  year  or  day  of 
his  birth.  It  is  not  the  manner  of  loving  and  devoted  disdples 
looking  back  on  the  acts  and  sayings  of  their  absent  Lord,  and 
gathenng  them  up  for  the  benent  of  future  ages.  The  mysteiy 
of  this  silence  is  interpreted  when  we  visit  a  Roman  Catholic 
country,  and  see  everywnere  pictures  of  the  infant  Saviour  more 
numerous  than  those  of  the  man  Jesus.  '  Th^  Mother  and  Child ' 
are  the  most  frequent  and  £ELvourite  objects  of  Romish  devotion, — 
that  is,  of  the  devotions  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  world  calling 
itself  Christian.  If  the  worship  of  Chnst  '  after  the  flesh '  be  a 
dishonouring  of  Christ,  this  representation  of  the  God-man  to  our 
mind  in  the  pictures  of  his  intancy  has  a  still  greater  tendency  to 
a  worship  unworthy  of  our  Lord.  This  silence  as  to  almost  all 
but  the  met  of  his  infancy  withholds  all  Scripture  countenance  from 
such  a  mode  of  honouring  our  Saviour,  and  deprives  all  painters 
and  sculptors  of  all  aid  and  all  authority  in  their  productions,  and 
Christians  of  all  Scriptural  pretence  of  using  such  helps  in  their 
devotions. 

There  is  nothing  sweeter  than  the  remanbrance  of  that  holy 
infancy  and  youth  passed  in  doing  and  suffering  the  will  of  his 
heavenly  Fathar,  the  first  thirty  as  well  as  the  last  three  years 
forming  his  service  and  samfice  for  his  people :  but  while  the 
spiritual  contemplation  of  these  ^eat  facts  is  open  and  lawful,  nay, 
the  very  food  of  piety,  the  worship  of  Christ,  as  the  infant  Jesus, 
by  paintings  and  sculptures,  is  remsed  all  countenance  and  autho- 
rity. If  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  whilst  they  yet  ate  with  Him, 
walked  with  Him,  talked  with  Him,  could  seldom  rise  to  the 
conception  of  His  divine  nature,  until  he  was  taken  away  from 
their  Dodily  sight,  with  what  difficulty  could  our  minds  rise  to 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


1853.]  The  Meaning  of  Scripture  Silence,  408 

just  conceptions  of  the  God-man,  as  now  exalted  to  glory,  had 
they  been  pre-occupied  with  images  and  narratives  of  lus  infancy 
and  youth,  instead  of  the  discourses,  actions,  and  sufferings  of 
the  man  ? 

Of  the  same  character  and  more  remarkable  is  the  total  silence 
of  Scripture  respecting  ihepersonud  appearance  of  our  Saviour. 

The  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  Grod  is  the  appointed  means  of 
preserving  mankind  from  the  fictions  of  Polytheism  on  the  one 
nand,  and  the  speculations  of  a  bewildered  Pantheism  on  the 
other.  In  the  New  Testament  the  great  fact  and  the  great  doc- 
trine of  a  pergonal  Grod  is  set  before  us  in  the  only  practical  way  in 
which  all  men  can  take  it  up.  In  the  manifestation  of  the  Grod- 
man,  the  Father  of  all  has  gratified  the  craving  of  the  human  heart 
for  the  embodiment  and  humanizing  of  the  object  of  its  adoration. 
In  Christ,  the  world  beholds  what  it  needed  ;  what  it  sought  in  vain 
to  faishion  to  itself,  and  what  ought  to  satisfy  all  its  righteous  human 
longings.  Christ  is  the  image  of  the  Father,  '  the  express  image 
of  Us  person,  and  the  brightness  of  his  glory,'  before  whom  '  every 
knee  is  to  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess  that  he  is  God,  to  the 
^lory  of  God  the  Father.'  This  is  the  image^  to  adore  which  is  not 
idolatry,  but  dutv ;  yea,  the  first  duty  of  all  men  to  whom  he  is 
made  known :  *  for  he  that  honoureth  not  the  Son,  honoureth  not 
the  Father  that  sent  him.'  In  the  contemplation  of  this  image, 
human  nature  rises  superior  to  itself,  and  is  renewed  after  the 
likeness  of  Him  to  whom  he  looks  and  whom  he  loves.  So  far  as 
human  nature  could  receive  and  express  the  Divine,  Christ  in  His 
human  nature  was  its  expression,  disclosing  the  moral  grace  and 
loveliness  of  the  Deity,  his  heart  of  purity,  and  holiness  and  truth, 
vet  of  generous  compassion  to  our  fallen  race.  But  as  if  fearful 
lest  we  should  degrade  the  image  of  God,  again  assimilate  the 
Godhead  to  ourselves  and  worship  Him  after  a  bodily  manner,  it 
is  the  peculiarijhr  of  the  four  Gospels  that,  though  giving  us  four 
narratives  of  Cfhrist's  personal  history,  they  contain  no  notices 
whatever  of  the  personal  appearance  of  our  Lord,  not  even  in  that 
Gospel  written  by  the  beloved  disciple  that  leant  on  his  bosom, 
and  was  admitted  to  a  more  intimate  fellowship  with  his  Master. 
Those  that  knew  him  best  and  loved  him  most,  say  nothing  as  to 
his  stature,  person,  form,  complexion,  eyes,  hair,  features,  or  out- 
ward demeanour,  or  anything  whereby  imagination  might  be  aided 
in  calling  him  up  after  a  bodily  manner,  or  in  transferring  his 
image  to  the  canvass  or  the  marble.  The  only  notices  of  Christ's 
personal  appearance  occur  in  the  Old,  not  in  the  New  Testament, 
in  the  prophetical  and  not  in  the  historical  parts  of  Scripture  (Isa. 
lii.  14,  and  liii.  2),  which  describe  him  as  without  outward  beauty, 
*  more  marred '  in  visage  *  than  any  man,' — '  having  no  form  nor 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


404  The  Mecmmg  of  Scripture  Silence,  [July, 

comeliness' — passages  which,  however  interpreted,  do  anything 
but  encourage  the  worship  of  Christ  *  after  the  flesh.'  To  these 
prophetic  notices  the<Jospel  narratives  add  positively  nothing.  On 
all  those  matters  on  which  the  Christian  Church,  as  she  grew 
superstitious  ffrew  most  curious,  they  are  silent.  Was  not  this  a 
guarding  of  iSe  Divine  ima^e,  as  represented  in  Christ,  from  being 
degraded  into  the  man-worSup  of  (Jhrist  ?  For  the  awakening  of 
our  human  sympathies  and  affections  we  are  i)ermitted  the  ideal  oi 
His  humanit]^ ;  but  the  embodiment  thereof  in  painting  or  sculp- 
ture as  an  object  of  worship,  or  in  any  way  to  aid  our  devotions,  is 
rebuked.  Such  silence  significantly  says,  '  Tliou  shalt  not  make 
ufUo  thee  any  graven  inuige  F 

Awed  by  this  silence,  for  several  centuries  no  description  of 
Christ's  personal  appearance  seems  to  have  been  attempted.  The 
apostolic  fathers,  Clement,  Barnabas,  and  Ignatius,  are  as  silent  on 
tnis  head  as  the  aposties  themselves.  Either  the  Church  was  too 
spiritual  to  desire  such  descriptions,  or  its  leaders  were  too  faithful 
to  invent  them  if  desired.  Portraits  of  Christ  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  in  request  until  the  time  of  Constantine,  when  they 
were  made  for  the  churches  he  built  The  head  of  our  Saviour 
appears  on  some  of  the  coins  of  the  late  emperors ;  and  these 
images  of  Christ  were  multiplied  just  as  His  real  character  ceased 
to  be  understood.  Nicephorus,  a  compiler  of  history  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  is  the  first  Church  historian  that  Calmet,  a  learned 
divine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  anxious  to  justify  the  portraits  in 
use  by  his  Church,  can  find  to  have  given  any  description  of  our 
Saviour's  p^son. 

The  true  image  of  Christ  is  his  life  and  discourses  in  the  Gros- 
pels ;  an  image  not  to  be  understood  by  reading  alone,  far  less  by 
pizing  on  the  productions  of  human  art.  We  see  Christ  as  He 
IS,  only  as  we  become  like  to  what  He  is.  Our  first  sight  of 
Christ  is  in  the  simple,  truth-like  narratives  of  the  four  Gospels ; 
but  these  are  read  and  felt  aright  just  as  we  become  Christ-like. 
*  Beholding  as  in  a  glass  (the  glass  of  the  word)  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  we  are  turned  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  as 
by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord.'  It  has  been  proudly  said  of  writers  of 
genius,  that  they  create  the  taste  by  which  they  are  appreciated. 
This  is  only  the  simple  truth  regarding  the  character  ot  our  Lord. 
The  Holy  Spirit,  taking  of  the  mings  of  Christ  in  the  word,  creates 
the  spiritual  discernment  and  feeling  by  which  the  moral  loveli- 
ness of  Christ's  character  in  the  Gospels  is  apprehended.  Southey 
has  said  *  that  the  face  of  any  one  to  whom  we  are  strongly  and 
tenderly  attached,  that  which  is  enshrined  in  our  heart  of  hearts, 
and  which  comes  to  us  in  dreams  long  after  it  is  mouldered  in  the 
dust,  is  not  the  exact  mechanical  countenance  that  we  once  actually 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  The  Meaning  of  Scripture  SUence.  405 

beheld,  but  its  abstract,  its  idealisation,  or  rather  its  realisation, 
the  spirit  of  the  countenance,  its  essence  and  its  life ;  and  the  finer 
the  character  and  the  more  varied  the  intellectual  powers,  the 
more  must  this  true  %ilw\ov  differ  from  the  most  faithful  like- 
ness that  a  painter  or  sculptor  can  produce.'  The  same  thought 
had  been  more  sublimely  expressed  by  the  Psahnist,  'They 
limited  the  Holy  One  of  Israel'  As  every  image  of  Jehovah 
*  limits  him,'  though  that  ima^  were  the  sun  in  his  noonday 
splendour,  so  every  image  of  Christ  as  the  God-man  limits  him, 
even  though  it  reach  to  the  fiill  realisation  of  our  present  idealisa- 
tion of  Christ.  The  ideal  of  our  Saviour  grows  with  our  own 
Christian  character.  No  one  has  precisely  the  same  ideal  of 
Christ  that  he  had  ten  years  ago,  if  in  that  time  he  has  made  any 
advances  in  his  Christian  character.  The  history  of  the  ideals  of 
the  first  disciples  of  our  Lord  affords  a  beautiful  illustration  of  this 
ever-expanding  ideal  of  Christ ;  and  the  tendency  of  any  attempt 
to  fix  his  image  on  the  canvass  or  the  marble  is  to  limit  Christ, 
and  to  turn  our  Saviour  into  an  idol. 

While  our  Lord  was  present  with  his  disciples,  we  see  the  diffi- 
culty they  had  in  rising  above  what  they  actually  saw.     '  It  was 
expedient,  therefore,  that  He  should  go  away.'    From  the  hour  of 
his  going  away  their  thoughts  of  Him  continually  ex])and.     Sight 
no  longer  hinders  faith.    Full  of  recollections  of  his  mighty  works, 
of  bis  superhuman  wisdom,  purity,  and  goodness,  and  no  longer 
hamperea,  as  we  may  say,  with  ms  bodily  presence,  their  i&al 
bursts  all  the  bounds  of'^  his  sensible   humanity,  and  they  rise 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  full  apprehension  of  ms  true  character. 
Up  to  the  last  hour  of  their  earthly  existence  their  ideal  continued 
developing ;  and  the  more  they  mused,  the  more  the  fire  burned  and 
their  ideal  brightened  and  expanded.     It  has  been  remarked,  that 
Tvhilst  in  the  Gospel  narratives  they  speak  of  Him  under  the  name 
most  firequentiy  of  *  Jesus,'  or  of  *  Jesus  Christ,'  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  and  in  the  Episties  he  is  designated  ^  the  Son  of  God,' 
*  our  Lord,'  *  our  blessed  Lord,'  *  our  tjord  Jesus  Christ,'  *  our 
Xiord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,'  *  our  God  and  Saviour ; '  and  by 
•James  '  the  Lord  of  glory  ; '  and  John,  in  his  Apocalyptic  visions, 
lieholds  him  as  *  the  Andent  of  Days,'  '  the  First  ana  the  Last,' 
^  the  Almighty,'  before  whom  angels  and  archangels  cast  their 
orowns  and  bow  the  knee.     Absence  allowed  the  evidence  of  his 
Divine  character  to  exert  its  full  force,  unimpeded  by  the  earthly 
And  the  human.     The  human  no  longer  obscuring  the  Divme,  then 
softened  its  radiance,  and  added  the  tenderness  of  human  love  to 
t^lieir  profound  and  ever-growing  reverence  for  Him  who  was  so 
^preat,  yet  so  gentie  in  his  greatness. 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  2   E 

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406  The  Mea$mg  cf  Scripiure  Silence.  [July^ 

A  siinilitude  of  Christ  is  not,  indeed,  so  utterly  abhorrent  to  the 
sjurit  of  Christianity  as  a  similitude  of  Jehovah  is  to  Judaism, 
seeing  Ourist  was  a  man  like  us ;  but  we  may  be  assured  that  both 
are  repugnant  to  the  piupose  of  God-^botn  are  a  return  to  the 
*'  vanities '  from  which  both  Judaism  and  Christianity  seek  to  wean 
mankind,  and  both,  sooner  or  later,  turn  the  worship  of  Grod  into 
a  painted  or  sculptured  he. 

The  silence  of  Scripture  on  a  subject  of  such  natural  interest  and 
curiosity  is  on  all  other  grounds  unnatural  and  inexplicahle,  oppo- 
site to  all  the  ordinary  feelings  and  tendencies  oi  our  nature  ; 
but  read  by  the  light  of  Qiurdi  history,  it  receives  a  iofly  moral 
solution,  and  aSbnu  a  new  illustraticm  of  the  saying  of  Solomon — 
*  It  is  the  gbry  of  God  to  conceal  a  matter/ 

Other  illustrations  present  themselves,  but  we  must  for  the 
present  forbear.  G.  L. 


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1853,]  Onthe*JHunning'qfSi.Paul.  407 


ON    THE    'RUNNING'    OF    ST.    PAUL. 

A  CBinCISM. 


*  I  therefore  so  run,  noi  ob  umeertaudjf  *  (o8rw  rp4x9t,  At  ^ic  ii^\»s),—\  Cor.  iz.  26. 


D0G8  St  Paul,  in  thus  speaking  of  himself,  mean  thereby  to  repre- 
sent himself  as  so  running,  not  as  one  who  was  «n  chuit  as  to  the 
issue  of  his  running? — as  so  nmning,  as  one  who  felt  sure  that 
there  was  a  prixQ  to  be  obtained  and  that  he  should  obtain  it  ? — 
as  so  running,  as  one  who  (through  God's  help)  was  confident  of 
victory  ?  If  die  above,  the  common  translation,  be  correct,  this 
certainly  seems  to  be  the  most  obvious  meaning  of  the  words. 
But  this  intermretation,  we  conceive,  cannot  be  admitted.  He 
may  not  have  been  in  doubt — may  have  felt  sure — may  have  been 
oonfident  But  if  this  be  the  meaning  of  his  words,  the  declara- 
tion that  be,  in  this  sense,  ran  not  (u  uncertamly^  is  altogether 
at  varianee  with  the  context  with  which  it  stands  connected;  which 
exhorts  all  so  to  run  as  if  the  final  issue  of  their  running  was  (so 
far  at  least  as  concerned  their  own  knowledge  and  legitimate 
asaurance  of  the  same)  contingent  and  uncertain.  *  So  run,'  says 
the  context,  ^that  ye  may  obtain.'  And  then  again,  ^Att  our 
fatb^«  were  under  the  cloud ;  .  .  .  .  but  with  numy  of  them  God 
was  not  well  nleased ;  .  .  ,  .  wherefore  let  him  tluxt  thmketh  he 
9tandetK  take  need  lest  he  falV  The  Apostle  also  expressly  tells 
U8  that  he  thus  ran,  <  lest  that  by  any  means,  when  he  had  preached 
to  others,  he  himself  should  be  rejected.'  If  this  interpretation, 
therefiore,  were  admitted,  it  would  rejH'esent  the  Apostle  as  running, 
certam  of  obtaining,  lest  by  any  means  he  should /at7  to  obtain. 

The  correctness  of  the  common  translation  of  the  phrase  is, 
however,  extremely  questionable.  It  is  possible  indeed  that  in- 
stancy if  searched  fw,  might  perhaps  be  tound  (though  none  have 
ever  been  produced)  of  sS^Xo/f  being  sometimes  loosely  employed 
as  meaning  *  uneerUxifdyJ  Its  cognate  aSuXorvf ,  lor  instance,  is 
used  in  1  Tim.  vi.  17  in  the  sense  of  ^  %meert<dntyy  and  that  in  the 
strict  and  proper  sense  of  the  word  ^  uneertamty.^  But  whether 
instances  of  the  like  usage  of  aSriXm  can  or  can  not  be  found,  it 
may  be  safely  and  confidently  asserted  that  *•  uncertainly '  is  not  its 
jMX)per  and  customary  meaning,  and  that '  unmanifeetly '  is. 

^  Not  as  unmanifegtly^  may  indeed  be  a  somewhat  uncouth 
translation.     But  if  to  us  uncouth,  the  expression  is  strictly  in 

2  E  2 


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Google 


408  On  the  *  Sunnin^i '  of  St.  Paid.  [July, 

accordance  with  Greek  usage.  Thus  Plutarch  speaks  of  the 
Lacedemonians  as  ^  vexed  unmanifestly^  (aS^Xwr  x^^^^^'^o^^^^f 
i.  e.  as  dissembling  their  resentment,  in  reference  to  a  deceit  said 
to  have  been  practised  upon  them  by  Themistodes.*  Thucydides 
also,  in  relating  the  same  circumstance,  makes  use  of  a  similar 
expression — *  Tney  were,'  he  says,  *  unmanifestly  vexed '  (iSoix^s- 
9ixBQ)iri\  i.  e.y  vexed  without  showing  their  vexation.**  In  like 
manner,  the  soldiers  of  iEmilius  are  spoken  of  by  Plutarch  as 
*  unmanifestly  angry '  (orpy/^ovTo  fxhy  iSifiXwrV  in  consequence  of 
the  disappointment  of  certain  hopes  which  tne^  had  entertained 
with  reference  to  the  plunder  of  the  cities  of  Epirus.^  The  army 
of  Camillus,  Camillus  having  imdermined  the  approaches  to  the 
city  of  Veii,  is,  by  the  same  writer,  represented  as  *  passing 
through  the  mines  unmanifestly '  (iWXa^r  i5^owop6i;o/xsvoi),  and  so 
gaining  possession  of  the  place.^  Nicias,  made  aware  of  the 
designs  of  his  fellow-townsmen  against  his  safety,  is  spoken  of  in 
the  life  of  Marcellus,  as  conscious  that  he  was  '  unmanifegtly, 
i,  e.  secretly  watehed '  (9ra^«^t/XaTT*o/xevov  aSi{X<w$)  ;•  and  Nero, 
having  secretly  cut  off  Britannicus  by  poison,  is  said  by  Josephus 
to  have  *  unmanifestly '  killed  him  (ai-nKa/s  roXs  woWoTf  dyaipeT.y 

Thus  translated,  the  declaration  of  the  Apostle  that  he  *  so  ran 
not  as  unmcmifeMy^  must  be  regarded  as  equivalent  to  a  declaration 
that  seeking  help  of  God  to  discharge  every  known  duty,  to 
cherish  every  right  affection,  and  to  avoid  every  known  sin,  he  was 
enabled  so  to  run  as  to  make  his  running  manifest.  It  implies 
that  he  ran  not  carelessly,  not  without  effort,  not  without  labour. 
Treating  as  idle  the  expectation  of  approbation  and  reward,  if 
there  be  not  effort  and  earnestness,  and  decidedness  in  running, 
and  as  idle  the  expectation  of  fiitiu^  perseverance  and  acceptance, 
if  there  be  not  a  present  perseverance,  it  rebukes,  and  probably 
was  intended  to  reouke,  the  folly  of  those  whose  religion  consist- 
ing chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  in  the  correctness  of  their  theology,  or  in 
the  ardour  of  imf)assioned  feeling,  or  in  the  assurance  of  an  un- 
warranted persuasion,  was  unmarked  by  any  of  those  excellencies 
of  temper  and  of  character  which  characterize  him  whose  belief  is 
a  *  belief  unto  righteousness.'  If  this  translation  be  correct,  we 
cannot  doubt  therefore  that  it  was  with  a  view  to  stimulate  such, 
so  to  walk  even  as  he  walked,  so  to  run  even  as  he  ran,  that  he 
makes  this  declaration  of  himself.  For  whatever  may  have  been 
his  belief  or  his  hopes  as  to  the  reality  of  the  Christianity  of  the 
great  body  of  those  at  Corinth  to  whom  he  was  writing,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  there  were  individuals  among  them  respecting  whom  he 

'  Plut.  Themist.  Vit.,  c.  19.  »»  Hist.  i.  92.         •  ^mil.  Paul.  Vit,  c  30. 

«>  Vit.  Camill.,  c.  t.         *  Plut.  Vit.  Marcell.,  c.  20.         '  Ant.,  xx.  8.  2. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  On  the  '  Jhmmng '  of  St.  Paul.  409 

stood  in  doubt,  not  perceiving  in  them  those  manifest  tokens  of 
discipleship  which  he  was  solicitous  to  see— those  fruits  of  the 
Spint  which  would  prove  them  to  have  been  born  of  the  Spirit — 
that  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

Upon  these  grounds  we  cannot  but  think  that  the  Apostle  is  not 
speaking  at  all  of  the  certainty  with  which  he  contemplated  the 
issue  of  his  running,  but  that  his  design  is  simply  to  declare  that 
he  so  ran  as  to  make  his  running  mamfest;  and  that  the  uncouth- 
ness  of  the  translation  will  not  warrant  its  rejection.  It  is  strictly 
literal ;  it  is  consistent  with  the  context,  if  not  required  by  it ; 
and  though  somewhat  uncouth  perhaps,  it  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
warranted  by  Greek  usaf  e,  and  is,  moreover,  thoroughly  intelli- 
gible. For  it  is  undeniable  that  a  man  may  so  be,  or  so  do,  as 
to  seem  not  to  be,  or  not  to  do ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  so  be,  or 
so  do,  as  to  seem  to  be  or  to  do.  He  may  pursue  a  given  course 
so  coldly,  with  so  much  unwillingness,  and  with  so  much  reserva- 
tion, as  to  render  it  doubtful  whether  the  course  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  pursue  be  indeed  pursued  by  him ;  or,  on  the  6ther  hand, 
may  be  so  in  earnest,  so  decided,  so  consistent,  so  staunch  and 
steady  to  his  purpose,  so  determined  to  accomplish  a  proposed  end, 
may  so  avail  himself  of  every  means  fitted  to  promote  that  end, 
and  may  so  glory,  moreover,  in  the  avowal  ot  the  same,  that  it 
will  be  notorious  to  all  that  he  is  that  which  he  professes  to  be — 
that  he  does  that  which  he  professes  to  do.  '  Unmanifestly '  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  proceedings  of  the  one ;  ^not  aa  unmanife%tly^ 
the  characteristic  of  the  proceedii^  of  the  other. 

Now  in  the  Christianity  of  St.  raul  there  was  all  the  heartiness 
and  all  the  decidedness  of  one  who  was  deeply  convinced  of  the 
value  of  the  blessings  guaranteed  to  the  behever,  and  of  one  who 
was  firmly  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  secure  them.  He  was  too 
firmly  persuaded  of  the  importance  of  that  which  was  at  stake, 
too  much  in  earnest  about  making  sure  of  the  salvation  of  his  soul, 
to  be  content  with  half  measures,  or  with  anjrthing  short  of  a  full 
persuasion  and  proof  of  the  reality  of  his  discipleship.  If  others 
could  be  content  to  become  the  prey  of  doubts  and  fears  arising 
from  conscious  and  allowed  deficiency  and  half-heartedness,  he 
could  not.  He  knew  that  ^  without  holiness  no  man  could  see  the 
Lord,'  and  he  followed  after  holiness — that  '  if  any  man  had  not 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  he  was  none  of  his,'  and  he  sought  that  Spirit. 
Thus  acting,  the  reality  of  his  Christianity,  so  far  as  proof  to 
himself  or  to  others  was  concerned,  was  manifest  '  Ye  are  wit- 
nesses,' he  says  to  the  ITiessalonians  (1  Thess.  ii.  10), '  and  God 
also,  how  holily  and  justly  and  unblameably  we  behaved  ourselves 
among  you.'  Conscious  of  his  integrity,  and  well  knowing  also 
that  others  must  have  been  no  less  conscious  of  it,  he  scruples  not, 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


410  On  the  '  Etamkiff '  <>f  St.  Pmti.  [July, 

therefore,  to  |)^toke  to  emuktion  by  hig  own  ekAm^e  the  ak^- 
gishness  of  othetis.  ^  I,'  he  saye,  *  for  Christ  hftre  suffered  ue 
loss  of  all  thin^ ;'  *  I  am  ready,  nol  to  be  bound  only,  but  to  die 
for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;'  ^  I  have  leanied  in  whatsoever 
state  I  am  therewith  to  be  content ;'  *  Be  ye  fcllowars  of  me  even 
as  I  also  am  of  CImst ;'  *  I  have  lived  in  all  good  oonsdenee 
befcM-e  God  until  this  (ky ;'  *  I  die  daily ;'  *  Bi^hren,  I  beseech 
you^  be  as  I  am ;'  ^  Mark  them  which  wsSk  so  as  ye  have  us  for  an 
ensample.'  And  so  here, '  I  thefefore  so  run  not  a$  unnum^eaUy^ 
so  fight  I  not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air.'  These  and  other  the 
like  passages  prove  a  conscbusness  ttutt  lus  Christianity,  so  £eur  at 
least  as  its  outward  manifestation  was  ooncemed,  was  notorious, 
admitted,  manifest. 

Happy  is  he  who  in  these  respects  is  a  follower  of  St  Paul^^as 
he  was  of  Christ  Happy,  who  conscious  of  Ins  sincerity  and  of 
the  reality  of  his  discipleship,  can  say  with  the  like  confidence,  and 
at  the  same  time  with  the  nke  humility,  that  he  runs  ^  fwt  us  unr 
manifestly.^  For  there  can,  we  think,  be  no  question  but  that  the 
doubts  and  fears  of  not  a  few,  with  reference  to  the  reality  of  their 
discipleship,  arise  not  unfrequently  firom  an  inward  consciousnesB 
that  they  are  not  what  they  ou^  to  be^that  they  are  not  what 
they  might  be.  They  have  enough  of  religion,  of  religious  know- 
ledge at  least,  to  make  them  feai%d  and  unhappy,  but  not  enough 
of  determination  to  induce  them  to  renounce  a  cnerished  sin,  or  to 
enlist  them  in  a  course  of  univ«*sal  and  of  rasolute  obedience*  1(^ 
upon  certain  grounds,  they  have  reason  to  hope  wall  for  them- 
selves, upon  ouier  and  p^haps  stronger  grounds  they  find  cause 
for  apprehension.  They  are  conscious  to  Si^nselves  c^  a  divided 
heart — of  a  heading  bade — of  an  unwiUinffness  to  be  and  to  avow 
themselves  openly  and  in  all  things  the  followers  of  Christ  If 
they  run,  their  running  is  not  manifest  They  run  perhaps,  but 
they  run  otfiXo^.  They  fight,  but  their  fighting  is  but,  as  it  w»«, 
a  beating  of  the  air.  'I^ey  keep  not  under  their  body :  they 
bring  it  not  into  subjection ;  and  in  consequence  they  cannot  but 
be  tormented  with  the  fear  lest,  after  all,  their  religion  should 
prove  worthless,  and  they  themsehres  become  rejected,  i.  e.  castaways. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remark  that  he  whose  running  is 
most  ^  manifeBt,'  renders  most  manifest  the  proof  of  his  discqile- 
ship.  And  yet  perhaps  the  remark  is  called  for.  For  how  many 
there  are  who,  '  navinff  humbled  themselves  befone  the  cross  of 
Christ,  are  apt  thenceforth  to  conduct  themselves  as  if  they  oon- 
aidered  their  work  as  done ' ' — who,  forgetting  that  conversion  (in 
the  smptural  sense  at  the  word)  is  a  tummg  fran  a  state  of 

*  Wilherfotee,  Piactical  View,  chap,  vit  sect  SL 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1858.]  Onthe'Mmnmg'qfSt.F<ml.  411 

spiritiial  inactiyity  and  deadnees  to  a  state  of  aotivity  and  life, 
*•  satisfy  themselves,'  as  the  same  writer  observes,  ^  with  what  may 
be  termed  a  general  Christianity,  a  general  penitence  arising  from 
a  sense  of  their  sinfulness  in  general,  and  general  desires  of  uni- 
versal holiness ;  but  who  at  the  same  time  neglect  that  vigilant 
and  jealous  care  with  which  they  should  labour  to  extirpate  every 
particular  corruption,  and  acquire  and  improve  every  particular 
grace.'  ^  So  long,'  says  Edwards^  in  reference  to  such,  ^  as  they 
looked  upon  themselves  as  in  a  state  of  nature,  they  were  engaged 
in  seeking  after  God,  and  cried  eamestiy  for  ffrace,  and  strove  in 
the  use  of  means.  £kit  now  they  act  as  though  they  thouf^  that 
their  work  was  done ;  they  live  upon  their  first  work,  or  upon  some 
high  experiences  that  are  past ;  and  there  is  an  end  to  their  crying 
aiKl  stnring  after  God  and  grace Scripture,  however,  every- 
where represents  the  seeking,  striving,  and  labour  of  a  Christian 
as  being  chiefly  after  his  conversicm ;  and  his  conversion  as  being 
but  the  beginning  of  his  work.' 

Such  require  to  be  reminded  that  they  are  not  ^  running,'  or,  if 
they  run,  that  their  running  is  ^  unmanifest' 

So  long  as  we  make  our  amount  of  obedience  or  holiness  the 
criterion  of  our  condition,  there  must,  it  is  true,  be  almost  always 
a  decree  of  painful  apprehension  and  uncertainty — so  far  short  do 
we  all  fall  of  that  wmch  we  are  commanded  to  be,  and  which  we 
ought  to  be.  We  may  indeed  be  conscious  of  a  certain  amount, 
perhaps  of  a  comparatively  high  amount,  of  obedience  and  of 
Christian  earnestness ;  but  we  must  at  the  same  time  be  conscious 
of  a  vast  amount  of  disobedience  and  of  miserable  failure.  But  if 
faith  worketh  (Gal.  v.  6),  purifieth  the  heart  (Acts  xv.  9),  over- 
oometh  the  world  (1  John  v.  4),  and  the  like,  it  will  follow  as  a 
necessary  consequence  that  obedience  must,  after  all,  be  the  main 
test  of  our  discipieship.  Most  true  it  is  that  the  ground  of  the 
justification  of  the  believer  is  not  his  own  righteousness,  but  the 
fiiultiess  righteousness  of  Him  upon  whom  he  believes — that  it  is, 
by  or  through  faith,  and  not  by  or  through  any  works  that  may  be 
added  thereto,  or  that  may  spring  therefrom,  that  he  is  united  to 
Christ,  interested  in  his  ri^teousness,  and  accepted  in  him  ;  but 
not  a  whit  less  true  is  it  tnat  he  who  worketh  not  believeth  not. 
Faith,  if  it  be  genuine  and  saving,  is  a  principle  of  action — a  holy 
principle  ;  as  such,  then,  it  is  one  that  must  of  necessity  produce 
within  us,  to  a  certain  extent  at  least,  a  corresponding  ana  a  con- 
scious holiness  both  of  efibrt  and  of  life.  A  man  may  be  a 
Christian  man  indeed,  and  yet  not  so  run  as  Paul  ran.  Never- 
theless, it  is  strictiy  true,  and  this  is  all  that  is  contended  for,  or 

^  Religioos  Afiectioiif,  part  UL  sect.  11. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


412  On  the  'Jtmming*  of  St.  Pmd.  [July, 

that  is  implied  in  tlie  Apostle's  words,  that  he  whose  running  is 
most  manifest  is  he  who  most  folly  proTes  the  reality  of  his  dis- 
cipleship.  He  only  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous.  He 
that  runs  not  believes  not.  God  grant,  then,  that  our  running 
may  be  '  manifest' — ^manifest  to  ourselves — ^manifest  to  others. 

It  only  remains  to  be  added  that  tibe  interpretation  of  tlie  ex- 
pression ws  odx  diiikoff,  given  in  these  remarks,  is  substantially 
that  suggested  by  Grotius  and  by  Heinsius.*  As,  however,  not- 
withstanmng  the  much  that  may  be  said  in  its  defence,  it  is  not 
diat  which  more  modem  and  more  popular  commentators  are 
accustomed  to  propose,  it  is  hoped  that  the  present  attempt  to 
vindicate  it  will  not  be  altogetner  useless,  it  may  at  the  feast, 
with  all  its  imperfections,  provoke  a  re-examination  of  the  meaning 
of  the  phrase  considered — a  re-consideration  of  tlie  legitimacy  of 
the  more  modem  and  more  usual  interpretations.  A  trae  verdict, 
whether  that  verdict  be  for  us  or  against  us,  is  all  that  we  desire. 

Idingtcn,  J.  O.  K. 

*  '  Id  est,'  aaysGiotiiis,  in  hit  short  note  upon  the  ptssage,  'siccnrro  nt  ai^areat 
me  promovere ;  non  at  ille  de  quo  est  epignunma : — 

Th  ard^or  TltpucXiit  ffr'  tipa^v  efr*  ^icd^ro 

*  Stadium  Pericles  sive  cuireret  sive  sederet 

Nemo  novitomnino;  O  tarditas  r-^Comm.  m  he, 
'  Nesdo/  says  the  latter,  *  cor  tantopere  et  antiqaioribiis  et  reoentiori  illnd 
tn  incertum  placnerit.    Nam  i^Kus  rp^xovai  <}ni,  nt  loquitur  Comicus  (Terentius» 
Eun.  v.  3.  4.),  in  currendo  movent  potius  quam  promoveat : — 

**  C,  Move  vero  ocyus 
Te,  nutiiz.    S.  Moveo.    C.  Video,  sed  tiihil  promoves." 
Ait  Paulas  igitur  se  eurrere,  sed  o^  &^c»f ;  ac  ri  cum  profectu  ac  progressa 
dicas.'— JEjrerafot.  (1640),  p.  366. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  Oorrefpandenoe.  413 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


HADES  AND  HEAVEN. 

SiB, — With  your  permissiiMi  I  wUl  make  a  few  obeervatioiis  on  the 
letter  of  W.  H.  J.,  and  the  last  part  of  the  article  <  Heaven,  Hell,  Hados' 
that  refers  to  myself.  In  my  former  letter  I  expressed  surprise  that 
W.  H.  J.  should  have  omitted  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  one  of  the 
most  positive  passages  on  the  subject  of  the  sqiaiate  state  of  existence. 
In  reply  he  says:  'I  assure  you  that  the  omission  was  made  only 
because  I  thought  that  the  passage  in  question  could  not  by  any  one  be 
held  as  teaching  the  existence  of  a  worfd  of  ghosts.' 

This  admission  seems  to  imply  that  the  writer  is  not  very  extensively 
acquainted  with  Biblical  interpreters,  for  otherwise  he  must  have 
known  that  the  majority  regard  this  passage  as  teaching  the  existence 
of  a  world  of  conscious  spirits.  I  cannot  do  better  than  make  quota- 
tions from  a  few  of  a  large  number  of  conmientators  who  entertain  this 
opinion. 

Bishop  Hall  on  Matthew  xxii.  32,  says,  '  He  doth  not  say,  I  was  the 
Grod  of  Abraham,  and  Isaad,  and  Jacob ;  or,  I  am  the  God  ef  Abra- 
ham that  once  was;  but  as  implying  his  own  eternal  being,  and  the 
certain  being  of  tliose  Holy  Patriarchs,  he  saith,  I  am  the  '^  Grod  of 
Abraham,"  &c.  Now  God  is  not  the  Grod  of  those  that  are  not,  and 
have  no  existence  at  all,  but  of  those  that  have  a  being ;  so  as  ye  Sad- 
ducees  are  in  this  palpably  disproved,  while  ye  grossly  hold,  that  the 
soub  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  are  utterly  extinct  and  have 
ceased :  they  are ;  and  expect  the  full  accomplishment  of  that  happi- 
ness and  glory,  which  God,  by  virtue  of  his  covenant,  hath  assured  unto 
them.' 

Calvin  says  on  Luke  xx.  37,  38,  ^  How  comes  it  that  God  r^^ards 
the  dead  rather  than  the  living,  but  because  he  assigns  the  first  rank  of 
honour  to  the  fathers,  in  whose  hands  he  had  placed  his  covenant  ? 
And  in  what  respect  would  they  have  the  preference,  if  they  had  been 
extinguished  by  death  ?  This  is  clearly  expreteed  also  by  the  nature  of 
the  relation ;  for  as  no  man  can  be  a  father  without  children,  nor  a 
king  without  a  people,  so,  strictly  speaking,  ike  Lord  cannot  be  called 

the  God  of  aaj  hat  the  living Por  all  live  unto  him.    This 

mode  of  exin^ssion  is  employed  in  various  senses  in  Scripture ;  but 
here  it  means  that  believers,  after  that  they  have  died  in  this  world,- 
lead  a  heavenly  life  with  Grod ;  as  Paul  says  that  Christ,  after  having 
been  admitted  to  the  heavenly  glory,  liveih  to  God  (Bom.  vi.  10) 
because  he  b  freed  from  the  infirmities  and  afiiictions  of  this  passing 
life.' 

Bkxmifield  says  on  Matthew  xxii.  23,  ^There  is  little  doubt  but  that 
the  phrase  iLP&araaic  rdy  vexp^ry  or  hyAvraaic  simply,  denoted^  in. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


414  Chmtpandmce.  [July, 

common  parlance,  and  agreeably  to  the  general  doctrines  of  the  Phari- 
sees, the  resurrection  of  the  soul  as  well  as  of  the  body  (doctrines  which 
indeed  have  commonly  stood  or  fallen  together),  and  the  reunion  of  both 
in  a  future  state.  Though,  at  the  same  time,  the  ideas  of  the  Pharisees 
themselves  (and  still  more  the  people  at  laree)  as  to  the  tuUure  of  that 
future  life,  were  very  vag^e,  and  occasionally  founded  on  the  notions  of 
the  heathens.  So  that  our  Lord's  reply  was,  in  wisdom,  so  framed  as 
not  only  to  silence  the  Sadducean  doctrines,  but  to  ronove  the  miscon- 
ceptions of  the  Pharisees ;  and  thus  to  instruct  not  only  the  unbelievers 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  but  the  misbelievers.' 

And  again  on  vene  82nd,  <  The  argument  (as  stated  by  Mr.  Home) 
is  as  fiyllows :  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  had  been  loog  dead  when 
these  words  were  spoken,  wherein  God  says,  ^^  I  am  (not  I  was)  the 
God  of  Abraham,"  &c. ;  and  as  he  is  not  '*  the  God  of  the  dead,  bat  of 
the  livii^,"  these  Patriarchs  must  have  been  eadsting  in  some  aense 
when  this  declaration  was  made ;  for  it  implies  a  relationship  between 
God  and  them,  which  could  not  be  if  they  were  not  existing.  The 
Patriarchs,  therefore,  though  dead  to  us,  are  alive  to  God;  which 
proves  a  future  state.' 

Barnes  remarks  on  Matthew  xxii.  31,  32:  ^Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  had  been  long  dead  when  Moses  spake  thisi  Abraham  329 
years,  Isaac  224,  and  Jacob  198.  Tet  God  spake  then  as  being  still 
their  God.  Thev  must,  therefore,  be  still  somewhere  living ;  for  God 
is  not  the  God  c^the  d^  ;  %.e*  it  b  absuiti  to  ^ay  that  God  rules  over 
those  who  are  extinct  or  annihilated,  but  he  is  the  God  only  of  those 
who  have  an  existence.  Luke  adds,  alL  Uve  unto  kim.  That  is,  all  the 
righteous  dead ;  all  of  whom  he  can  be  properly  called  their  God,  live 
unto  his  glory.  This  passage  does  not  prove  directly  that  the  dead 
body  wovdd  be  raised,  but  only  by  consequence.  It  proves  that  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob  had  an  existence  then,  or  that  their  souls  were 
alive.  This  the  Sadducees  denied,  Acts  xxiiL  8.  And  this  was  the 
main  point  in  dispute.  If  this  was  admitted — if  there  was  a  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments — then  it  would  easily  follow  that  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  wouki  be  raised.' 

Olshausen  on  Matthew  xxiL  31,  32 1  <  The  New  Testament  descrip- 
tion of  the  state  after  death  is  only  true  in  relation  to  bdievers,  whose 
\lnrxfi  IB  illumined  by  the  irrci/ia  of  Christ,  and  prepared  to  be  reodved 
into  his  presence.  Even  in  the  case  of  believers,  however,  the  condition 
without  <nifM  is  still  only  a  state  of  transition  (although  relatively 
happy) ;  they  wait  for  the  &iroXvrp*iffcc  ro&  e^fAoro^.  It  may  there- 
fore be  said  that  not  merely  the  doctrine  of  the  state  after  d^Uh,  but 
the  staie  itself,  is  viewed  as  progressive ;  for  even  if  the  endurance  of 
the  sidf  stance  of  the  soul  is  iiie  same  in  all  the  steps  of  development,  yet 
the  degree  of  consciousness  in  that  endurance  is  modified  according  to 
the  degree  of  consciousness  in  general  that  has  been  attained ;  and  as  in 
the  individual  so  it  is  in  the  mass.' 

Again,  ^  Then  the  idea  added  by  Luke  (xx.  38)  is  strikingly  appro- 
priate, itkyras  yhp  avrf  (weiy.  f\>r  after  the  relation  of  God  to  the 
saints  has  be^  pointed  out — as  it  is  expressed  in  the  name — attention 

■  Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


18&S.]  Oom^mienee.  415 

k  direotod  iaveandy  to  ikeir  rdatkA  to  God  As  God  is  their  God 
(Heb.  xi«  16) — having  as  it  were  given  himmlf  to  them  as  a  holy  pOBse»- 
sioQ,  so  they  give  th^iselves  again  to  him  as  an  entire  ofibring.  Thus 
tiM  muimai  c^ieration  of  lore  is  the  peculiar  circumstance  of  the  eternal 
life.' 

I  wkh  to  call  special  attention  to  the  following  extracts  fW>m 
^  Campbell  on  the  Gkiqpds,'  as  they  meet  some  of  the  olojectioBS  of  W. 
H.  J.  as  set  forth  in  his  letter  i-^ 

Matthew  xxii.  28.  < ''  Who  say  that  there  is  no  fbture  lif^  oc  Xiyoprtt 
fiil  Jrai  iLy^fftatnr"  E,  T,  "  Which  say  that  there  is  no  resurrection." 
The  word  &v^#ra9tc,  or  rather  the  phrase  tivderaei^  nSy  vcicpMy,  is 
indeed  the  common  term  by  which  the  resmrtctUm,  properly  so  called, 
is  denominated  in  the  1^.  T*  Yet  this  is  neither  the  only,  nor  the 
primitive  import  of  ttie  wOrd  dt^^ra^c :  it  denotes  simply  being  raised 
from  inactivity  to  action)  or  from  obscurity  to  eminence,  or  a  return  to 
such  a  state  alter  an  interruption.  The  verb  hvivrriiit  has  the  like  lati- 
tude of  signification ;  and  both  words  are  used  in  this  extent  by  the 
writers  of  the  N.  T.,  as  well  as  by  the  Seventy.  Agreeably,  therelRM^ 
to  the  original  import,  rising  from  a  seat  is  properly  termed  dyoirrotftcy 
so  is  awidung  out  of  sleep,  or  promotion  irom  an  inferior  ocmdition. 
The  word  occurs  in  this  last  sense,  Luke  ii.  34^  In  this  view,  when 
api^ied  to  the  dead,  the  word  denotes  properly,  no  mc»e  than  a  renewal 
^Ufeio  than  in  whatever  manner  this  happen.  Nay,  that  the  Pfaari- 
sees  themselves  did  not  imiversally  mean  by  this  term,  the  reunion  of 
soul  and  body,  is  evid^it  from  the  account  which  the  Jewish  historian 
gives  of  thdr  doctrine,  as  well  as  from  some  passages  in  the  gospels ;  <^ 
both  which  I  had  occasion  to  take  notice  in  Diss.  vi.  Part  ii.  Sec  19. 
To  say  therefore  in  English,  in  giving  the  tenets  of  the  SadchiceeS)  that 
'^  they  deny  tiie  resarrection»"  is  at  least  to  give  a  very  didlBctive  account 
of  tiieir  sentiments  on  tins  very  topic  It  is  notorious,  not  only  from 
Joeephos,  and  other  Jewish  writers,  but  from  what  is  said  Acts  xxiii  8, 
that  they  denied  tlie  existence  of  angels,  and  all  separate  ^lirits.  In 
this  they  went  much  farther  than  the  Bagans,  who  did  indeed  deny 
what  Christians  call  '^  the  resurrection  of  the  body,"  but  acknowledged  a 
state  after  death,  wherein  the  souls  ci  the  departed  exist,  and  receive 
the  revard  or  the  punishment  of  the  actions  d<Nie  upon  the  earth.  But 
not  only  is  the  version  hem  given  a  juster  representation  of  the  Saddu- 
oean  hypothesis,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  entirely  conformable  to  the 
sense  of  the  word ;  but  it  is  the  only  version  that  makes  our  Lord's 
argument  appear  pertinent  and  levelled  against  the  doctrine  he  wanted 
to  refute.  In  the  eommon  version,  they  are  said  to  deny  the  resurrec- 
tion, that  is,  that  the  soul  and  body  shall  hereafter  be  reunited ;  and 
our  Lord  brings  an  argument  from  the  Pentateuch  to  prove — ^What  ? 
not  that  they  uiall  be  re-united  (to  this  it  has  not  even  the  most  distant 
relation),  but  that  the  soul  survives  the  body,  and  subsists  af)«r  the 
body  is  dissdved.  This  many  would  have  admitted  who  denied  the 
resurrection.  Yet  so  evidently  did  it  strike  at  the  root  of  the  scheme 
of  the  Sadducees,  ^at  they  were  silenced  by  it,  and,  to  the  <M>nviction 
.of  the  hearers,  re&ted.    }^ow  this,  I  will  .take  upon  me  to  say,  coul4 


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416  Ccrrwpcndmoe.  [July* 

Bot  have  happened  if  the  ftmdamental  error  of  the  Sadduoees  had  been 
barely  the  deoial  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  not  the  denial  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  rather  of  its  actual  subsistence  after 
death ;  for  I  speak  not  here  of  what  some  call  the  natural  inmiortality 
of  the  soul.  If  possible,  the  words  in  Luke  xx.  38,  ir^vrec  oin-f  (iSaiy^ 
make  it  still  more  evident,  that  our  Lord  considered  this  as  all  that  was 
incumbent  on  one  who  would  confute  the  Sadducees  to  prove,  namely, 
that  the  soul  continued  to  live  after  the  person's  natural  death.  Now, 
if  this  was  the  subversion  of  Sadduceeism,  Sadduceeism  must  have  con- 
sisted in  denying  that  thetsoul  continues  to  live  separated  from  the 
body,  or,  which  is  nearly  the  same,  in  affirming  that  the  dissolution  of 
the  union  is  the  destruction  of  the  living  principle.  It  may  be  objected 
that  in  verse  28,  there  is  a  clear  reference  to  what  is  specially  called 
the  resurrection^  which,  by  the  way,  is  still  clearer  from  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  expressed,  Mark  xii.  23,  ev  rp  oiy  avdirratnt  oray  iLvaaniai. 
This  mode  of  expression,  so  like  a  tautology,  appears  to  me  to  have 
been  adopted  by  that  Evangelist,  on  purpose  to  show  that  he  used  the 
word  6,ydffTafftQ  here  in  a  more  confined  sense  than  he  had  done  in  the 
preceding  part  of  the  story.' 

And  again  on  verse  32,  he  remarks : — '  God,'  says  our  Lord, '  when 
he  appeared  to  Moses  in  the  bush,  which  was  long  after  the  death  of 
the  Patriarchs,  said  to  him,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac, 
and  of  Jacob ;  now  God  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  of  those  who,  being 
destitute  of  life,  and  consequently  of  sensibility,  can  neither  know  nor 
honour  him  ;  he  is  the  Grod  of  those  only  who  love  and  adore  him,  and 
are,  by  consequence,  alive.  These  Patriarchs,  therefore,  though  dead, 
in  respect  of  us  who  enjoy  their  presence  here  no  longer,  are  alive  in 

respect  of  Grod,  whom  they  still  serve  and  worship 

Tius  is,  in  eflRect,  the  explanation  given  of  the  reasoning  in  this  pas- 
sage by  the  most  ancient  Greek  expositors,  Chr.  Euth.  and  The. 
I  know  it  is  urged,  on  the  other  side,  that  though  the  verb  el/u 
is  used  in  the  Greek  of  the  Evangelist,  and  in  the  Sep.,  there  is 
nothing  which  answers  to  it  in  the  Hebrew,  and  consequently  the 
words  of  Moses  might  as  well  have  been  rendered  /  uhu,  as  /  itm. 
But  this  consequence  is  not  just.  The  Hebrew  has  no  present  of 
the  indicative.  This  want,  in  active  verbs,  is  supplied  by  the  par- 
ticiple ;  in  the  substantive  verb,  by  the  juxtaposition  of  the  terms 
to  which  that  verb  in  other  lang^uages  serves  as  the  copula.  The 
absence  of  the  verb,  therefore,  is  as  much  evidence  in  Hebrew  that 
what  is  afiirmed  or  denied  is  meant  of  the  present  time,  as  the  form  of 
the  tense  is  in  Greek  or  Latin.  Wherever  either  the  past  or  the  future 
is  intended  by  the  speaker,  as  the  orientals  are  not  deficient  in  these 
tenses,  the  verb  is  not  left  to  be  supplied  by  the  hearer.  Thus  God 
says  to  Joshua  (chap.  i.  5,)  ^^  As  I  was  with  Moses,"  that  is,  when  he 
was  employed  in  conducting  the  sons  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  ^  so 
will  I  be  with  thee."  The  verb  is  expressed  in  both  clauses.  See  also 
verse  17,  and  1  Kings  viii.  67.  All  which  examples  are,  except  in  the 
sinffle  circumstance  of  time,  perfectly  similar  to  ^is  of  the  evangelist ; 
and  are  sufficient  evidence,  that,  where  the  substantive  verb  is  not 

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1853.]  Carrespandenee.  417 

expressed,  but  the  personal  pronoun  is  immediatelj  comoined  with  what 
is  affirmed,  the  sense  must,  in  other  lang^uages,  be  exhibited  by  the  pre- 
sent. What  seems  to  have  occasioned  the  many  unnatural  turns  that 
have  been  given  to  this  argument  by  later  commentators,  is  solely  the 
misunderstanding'  of  the  word  dvaoraflrcc,  through  not  attending  to  the 
latitude  of  signification  wherein  it  was  often  u^  in  the  days  of  the 
Apostles.  Nor  is  this  the  only  time  in  which  the  modem  use  does  not 
exactly  tally  with  the  ancient' 

From  the  foregoing  extracts  it  abundantly  appears  that  the  passage 
under  consideration  has  seemed  to  many  distinguished  expositors  to 
teach  the  doctrine  of  a  separate  state  of  existence  in  which  the  spirits  of 
men  are  conscious.  I  have  made  these  quotations  not  to  decide  the 
matter  by  the  force  of  authority,  but  simply  to  show  how  mistaken  W. 
H.  J.  was  when  he  declared  that  he  made  the  omission  because  he 
thought  that  the  passage  in  question  could  not  be  held  by  any  one  as 
teaching  the  existence  of  a  world  of  spirits.  The  chief  objection  which 
W.  H.  J.,  and  the  writer  of  the  article  *  Heaven,  Hell,  Hades,'  make  to 
the  interpretation  of  the  passage  which  I  have  given,  is  thus  expressed 
by  the  latter :— '  Our  Saviour  could  not  prove  that  the  dead  rise  again, 
by  proving  that  the  dead  are  alive,  taking  these  words  in  their  ordinary 
meaning.'  Now,  this  objection  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  the 
exclusive  design  of  our  Lord  in  this  argument  with  the  Sadducees  was 
to  prove  the  foct  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  We  think  that  the 
quotations  which  we  have  made  from  Campbell  clearly  show  tliat  such 
was  not  the  case.  The  obvious  demgn  of  Christ  was  to  prove  tlie 
general  doctrine  of  a  ftiture  life,  in  opposition  to  the  Sadduoeean  hypo- 
thesis of  a  non-existence  after  the  death  of  the  body.  This  he  did  by 
means  of  those  writings  which  the  Sadducees  received  as  authoritative. 
As  a  fact  is  the  most  convincing  thing  in  the  world,  our  Saviour  quoted 
a  passage  facam  the  Pentateuch  which  implied  that  the  spirits  of  the 
Patriaix;hs  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact ,  consciously  alive  long  after  the 
death  of  their  bodies ;  and  therefore  the  general  doctrine  of  a  future  life 
was  clearly  established.  The  separate  state  and  the  state  after  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  are  two  modes  of  the  general  future  life ;  and 
to  prove  the  one  is  substantially  to  prove  the  o&er.  At  all  events,  the 
proof  of  either  is  the  proof  of  a  future  life,  and,  therefore,  a  refutation 
of  Sadduceeism. 

The  term  ^  dead '  is  obviously  used  by  the  Sacred  writers  in  more 
senses  than  one.  It  is  applied  to  the  body  and  to  the  mind.  A  man 
may  therefore  be  said  to  be  dead  when  contemplated  from  one  point  of 
view,  and  alive  at  the  same  time ;  so  that  the  opposite  piedicates 
'  alive'  and  ^dead'  may  find  their  application  in  the  same  individual, 
arising  from  the  compound  elements  of  his  nature — body  and  mind. 
Just  as  the  attributes  of  the  perishable  creature,  and  those  of  the  essen- 
tially imperishable  God  meet  in  the  mysterious  person  of  the  Eedeemer. 
To  represent  living  men  rising  from  the  dead  as  a  contradiction  in 
terms,  as  W.  H.  J.  has  done,  is  to  confound  the  two  principles  in  the 
nature  of  man,  and  is  to  be  guilty  of  the  same  fallacy  as  that  which 
disproves  the  Deity  of  Christ  by  showing  that  he  has  human  attributes. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


418  dyrrefpcnience,  [July, 

The  phvAse  ^  all  Uve  to  Gkxl '  is  oomnonly  uaed  in  the  Scripturas  to 
deaole  living  to  the  glory  or  wrvioe  of  God.  It  thus  implies  ooDsdoiie 
activity  tenninating  on  a  definite  object.  It  is  used  in  this  sense  in 
ref<M-ence  to  Christ  after  liis  glorification,  Rom.  vi.  10,  ^  but  in  that  he 
liveth,  he  liveth  unto  6od,%— C$  rf  ^^#>  ^^  ^  reference  to  the 
Christian  in  Rom.  ziv.  7,  <  For  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself/ — Ov'^lc 
yc^p  iiiiQv  iavTf  (^  Gal.  ii.  19,  ^  For  I  through  the  law  am  dead  to 
the  law  that  I  might  live  unto  God,' — lya  Otf  (iiaia. 

Pasnges  might  be  taken  from  the  Classics  illustrative  of  the  same 
principle,  one  of  which  shall  sufiice :  Demosthenes :  ouSk  olaxvs^trat 
^iXtiTTf  (tUvTi^  they  are  not  ashamed  who  live  for  the  advantage  of 
Philip. 

These  instances  are  sufficient  to  show,  in  oi^)OBition  to  the  writer  of 
the  article  <  Heaven,  Hell,  Hades,'  that  the  phrase  in  Luke  xx.  38,  <  for 
all  live  unto  him '  proves  that  the  separate  state  is  one  of  consdous 
activity. 

We  do  not  deny  that  the  principU  of  life  may  exist  contemporane- 
ously with  a  temporary  suspension  of  consciousness,  according  to  certain 
laws  that  regulate  the  uni<m  of  body  and  soul  in  the  present  condition 
of  being,  but  we  do  pontively  affirm  that  the  whole  idea  of  ^  living ' 
and  *  living  unto  Gkxi  comprehend  conscious  activity.  We  never  say 
of  a  man  in  deep  that  he  lives  for  a  certain  purpose.  Though  lifo  is 
present  in  sleep,  yet  we  do  not  endow  that  state  with  the  attributes  of 
conscious  activity.  Sleep  is  occasioned  by  the  weariness  of  body  er 
nind,  or  both,  but  we  do  not  see  that  these  occasions  will  perpetually 
exist  in  the  separate  state.  The  theory  of  our  opponents  repreaonts  the 
aepaiate  state  as  beuur  worse  than  ueep;  for  in  common  sleep  lifo 
reveals  itself  in  many  forms.  The  blood  circulates,  the  lungs  breathe, 
and  i|ll  the  involuntary  manifestations  of  life  are  given.  But  aocoidiag 
to  W.  H.  J.,  the  soul  will  exist  from  death  till  the  resurrection  of  tlie 
body  without  showing  any  signs  of  life  at  all.  So  that,  in  his  view,  the 
soul  will  not  only  sleep,  but  will  be  dead  in  Hades.  He  should,  tb^e- 
f<M*e,  designate  Hades  by  death  rather  than  sleep. 

It  is  rather  extraordinary  that  W.  H.  J.  should  assert  that  he  did  not 
endeavour  exactly  to  dieprwe  die  existence  of  such  a  place  (as  a  con- 
scious Hades),  but  to  show  that  neither  Scripture  nor  reason  insist 
upon  it  so  strongly  as  J.  £.  seems  to  suppose,  and  yet  in  the  same 
paragraph  call  the  doctrine  of  a  conscious  Hades  a  pagan  dream.  If 
he  could  not  <  disprove '  the  doctrine,  modesty  should  have  led  him  not 
to  speak  so  dogmatically  on  the  subject.  It  is  no  valid  objection  to  the 
doctrine  that  it  was  contained  in  paganism.  The  old  saying  is  true : 
^  Nulla  falsa  doctrina  est,  quas  non  idiquid  veri  permisoeat.'  Hie  idea 
of  immortality — the  basis  of  the  doctnne  of  Hades  •>- is  probably  of  an 
k  priori  origin.  Many  religious  k  priori  cognitions  are  incorporated  in 
Revelation,  purified  from  the  dross  of  fiction  and  &ble.  A  special 
revelation  was  never  intended  to  falsify  the  legitimate  products  of 
human  reason,  but  to  purify  them  and  to  invest  them  with  greater  au- 
thoritv,  as  well  as  to  convey  new  truth  to  men.  Now  it  is  no  proof 
that  me  doctrine  of  a  *•  oonsoious  Hades  *  is  folse,  because  paganism 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1858.]  €brr€tp(mdmc$.  419 

contained  the  substance,  though  not  Oie  fonn,  of  the  same.  The  chief 
arguments  employed  in  the  article  ^  Heaven,  Hell,  Hades,'  were  eon*- 
sidered  in  my  former  letter,  and,  therefore,  it  would  only  be  a  waste  of 
time  and  space  to  go  over  them  again.  I  fully  agree  with  the  writer 
of  that  article  in  the  desirableness  of  lajring  aside  all  [^ejudioe,  and  I 
may  say  all  theories,  and  striving  to  arrive  at  the  pure  truth.  It  seems, 
however,  that  W.  Hi  J.  was  not  led  to  the  opinion  he  holds  by  an  ex- 
amination of  the  Scriptures  themselves,  but  by  the  neoessitiea  of  a 
theory  of  ^  the  future  human  kingdom  of  Christ'  He  says  ]  ^  I  per- 
ceived, however,  that  the  pagan  dream  of  Hades  had  so  confused  this 
grand  Christian  hope-^the  hope  that  animated  the  martyrs  of  old — ^that 
no  one  could  acquiesce  in  a  revival  of  the  apostolical  belief,  unless  he 
were  prepared  to  hold  more  lightly  the  view  of  a  conscious  Hades.' 

Proceeding  on  this  prindple  of  interpretation  others  might  say  that 
the  doctrine  of  '  the  future  human  kingdom  of  Christ '  has  confiisod 
men's  minds  so  much  that  they  cannot  receive  the  Divine  spirituality  of 
that  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  world,  nor  fiilly  realise  to  them- 
selves the  blessedness  of  a  purely  spiritual  state,  and  therefore  unless 
they  abandon  such  a  doctrine  they  will  not  be  able  to  attain  to  the 
truth  of  Christ's  kingdom.  In  this  way  each  individuil  will  niftke  his 
own  subjectivity  the  criterion  of  all  ol^eotive  truth. 

In  conclusion,  I  b^to  thank  you,  &r,  for  the  opportunity  which  you 
have  given  of  expressing  my  views  on  this  confessedly  difficult  subject, 
in  your  very  valuable  Journal.  I  only  regret  that  others  of  greater 
penetration  and  compreheoaioB  have  not  entered  the  field, 

N.  J.R 


Si]i,">-^As  the  writer  of  the  article  on  the  '  Resurrection  of  die  Body,' 
which  is  refened  to  at  p.  79  of  your  last  number,  will  you  fiivour  me 
with  sufficient  space  in  your  n^Lt  to  say,  that  I  cannot  accept  the  doc- 
trine so  earnestly  advocated  by  your  contributor,  and  to  explain  why  I 
cleave  to  the  more  usual  opinion  req>ecting  the  state  of  the  departed. 
J£  my  arguments  in  the  paper  on  the  Resurrection  raally  go  to  support 
the  views  of  your  contributor,  I  can  only  say  that  I  never  intended  it, 
and  have  iSuled  to  perceive  it. 

Not  to  confront  the  opinions  of  others,  but  to  state  my  own,  is  my 
fH^soit  object,  which  I  will  fulfil  as  briefly  as  possible.  ^Passing  over 
the  heathen,  who  tell  us, —  .  * 

'  Know  thoa,  of  souls  from  mortal  bondage  freod, 

Some  walk  this  esrth  affaia-;  but  others  lea4 

The  starry  choirs  in  eimless  harmony : 

A  blessed  host,— and  of  that  host  am  I.'  * 

Omitting  the  Jews,  who  affirm  ^  This  day  thou  shalt  lean  on  the  bosom 
of  Abra^m  :'  and  the  Fathers,  who  tell  us  that  it  is  ^  KaXor  to  hvyai 

*  See  Bland's  '  Collections  ftrom  the  Greek  Anthology/  p.  289,  and  the  exquisite 
piece  beginning, 

'  Thon  art  not  dead,  my  Rosa,  thongh  bo  more 
Inhabitant  of  this  tempestuous  shore,'  ^^^ Pf  296. 

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420  Correyxmdenoe.  [July^ 

iiTo  icSfffiov  rpoc  Btovj  %va  elc  avrov  iivaTtCKm :'  ^  I  shall  simply  coDsader 
two  or  three  passages  of  the  New  Testament  which  I  regard  as  teaching 
the  doctrine  I  hold. 

1.  The  terms  of  2  Cor.  v.  6-9,  especially  when  viewed  in  connectioQ 
with  the  entire  passage,  require  one  of  two  things : — Either,  firstly,  we 
must  ffive  up  our  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the  (same)  body  ;  or, 
seoonoQy,  we  must  believe  that  the  soul  can  and  will  have  a  coDdcioas 
existence  apart  from  the  body ;  whichever  we  choose,  the  idea  of  a 
sleep  is  untenable.  Now,  I  cannot  adopt  the  first ;  the  second  I  do. 
According  to  those  who  believe  in  the  intermediate  sleep,  the  soul  is 
never  absent  from  the  body,  but  the  Apostle  states  it  to  be  the  Chri»> 
tian's  joyful  hope,  that  he  shall  be  absent  from  the  body  and  present 
with  the  Lord: — tt^tififiaai  Ik  tov  avfiaroQ  jcat  ey^ti/irjffai  irpoc  ror 
Kvpiov,  which  is  rendered  by  the  Syriac,  Vulgate,  as  well  as  all  the 
modem  versions  I  know,  in  agreement  with  the  English  authorized 
version.  The  older  commentators,  Calvin,  Beza,  PLscator,  &c.,  and  the 
more  recent  ones,  are  all  but  unanimous  in  their  views,  and  when  Dr. 
Priestley  maintained  the  doctrine  that  the  soul  slept,  it  was  regarded  as 
an  exception  to  the  voice  of  all  Christendom. 

2.  Acts  vii.  59.  ^  They  stoned  Stephen,  invoking  and  saying,  Lord 
Jesus  receive  my  spirit,'  In  v.  56,  he  said,  ^  Behold,  I  see  the  heavens 
opened  and  the  Son  of  man  standing  on  the  rig^t  hand  of  €rod.'  And 
now,  clearly  believing  that  his  soul  would  '  be  absent  from  the  body,' 
he  offers  this  prayer,  that  it  may  <  be  present  with  the  Lord.'  The  pas- 
sage must  be  tortured  to  make  it  mean  anything  else.  '  Blessed  Jesus, 
I  see  thee  in  heaven,  receive  my  spirit  that  it  may  be  with  thya^  in 
heaven  !'  Such  I  hold  b  the  sense  of  this  prayer,  and  the  only  question 
is, — whether  his  hope  was  well  founded,  that  sudden  death  would  be 
sudden  glory  to  him.  Let  Phil.  i.  21-24 ;  2  Cor.  v.  6-9,  and  Joh. 
xiv.  3,  be  carefully  considered  in  confirmation  of  my  views,  as  well  as 

8.  Luke  xxiii.  42, 43.  This  text,  I  believe,  would  be  alone  sufificient  to 
prove  the  immediate  blessedness  of  the  saints,  and  henceforth  I  cannot 
but  think  that  they  are  ^  before  the  throne  of  God  and  serve  him  day 
and  night  in  his  temple,'  &e.     See  Rev.  vii.  14,  &c 

'  Lord  remember  me,'  Ac.  said  the  thief,  expecting  the  boon  at  some 
future  time,  and  the  Lord  answered,  '  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  to  da^ 
thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise ;'  t.  «.  so  &r  from  having  to  wait  till 
I  come  in  my  kingdom,**  I  will  at  once  grant  thy  request,  and  this  very 
day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  heavenly  glory. 

(1.)  Not  at  some  future  period,  but  to-day — inmiediately  after  death. 
To  suppose  the  word  oiifupoy  (to-day ;  Scotic^,  the  day)  means  <  on  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection,'  is  to  g^ve  it  a  sense  whidi  it  cannot  bear. 
The  only  idea  conveyed  by  the  word  is  that  of  the  present  time,  or  the 
present  day. 

(2.)  Not  in  a  state  of  unconsciousness,  but  of  life  and  enjoyment 
In  the  explanation  of  the  word  '  Paradise '  we  may  be  led  astray.     Its 

^  Ignat.  ad  Rom.  sec.  ii.  ed.  Hefele. 

•  rfv  if  fiwt\€(q,  ff&u^  i.  e.  •  til  r€gno  tuo,'  not  *  tJi  regnum  tuum,*    Cf .  Matt.  xri.  28. 


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1853.]  Oorrespmdmoe,  421 

synonyine  is  not  the  Hebrew  Sheol,  nor  the  Greek  Hades^  which  are 
equivalents.  It  is  not  in  any  case  tantamount  to  Gehenna^  which 
stands  in  the  same  relation  to  them  as  this  does.  Sheol  and  Hades  are 
interchangeable,  and  equivalent  to  our  phrase  ^  the  unseen  world.' 
Gehenna  and  Tartarus  are  specific  to  denote  the  unseen  world  of  woe : 
and  Paradise  and  Elysium  are  also  specific  to  denote  the  unseen  world 
of  bliss.  Hence  we  do  not  find  Paradise  as  a  translation  of  Sheol  in 
the  LXX,  but  we  find  it  applied  to  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  to  gardens 
and  grounds  for  pleasure  and  ornament.  Similar  is  the  use  of  the  word 
by  the  Hebrew  and  Rabbinical,  the  Greek,  Persian,  Arabic,  Syriac,  and 
other  writers.  In  the  New  Testament  the  word  only  occurs  three 
times,  viz.,  Luke  xxiii.  43 ;  1  Cor.  xii.  4;  and  Rev.  ii.  7  :  and  always 
in  the  sense  which  it  has  when  figurative,  t.  e.  of  heaven,  a  sense  which 
b  conveyed  by  it  in  other  languages.  Among  its  varied  applications  I 
cannot  find  one  in  which  it  relates  to  an  unconscious  state  of  the  dead,  or 
the  condition  of  the  dead  in  general.  Quotations  in  abundance  could 
be  given,  but  I  refrain.  I  think,  however,  that  the  usw  loquendi  of 
the  word  Paradise,  is  here  very  important.  For  let  us  remember  that 
this  word  was  doubtless  used  to  the  dying  man  in  whatever  language 
our  Lord  addressed  him,  and  He  knew  nothing  of  the  niceties  of  speech, 
he  spoke  the  lang^uage  of  common  life,  and  heard  with  every-day  ears ; 
nor  can  I  believe  the  Redeemer  willingly  deceived  him  by  using  a 
common  word  in  a  sense  which  it  nowhere  else  has.  Certainly  it  is  not 
so  used  in  2  Cor.  xii.  4 ;  where  the  Apostle  (whether  in  the  body,  or 
out  of  the  body  [a  separate  state  of  consciousness !])  was  caught  up  into 
Paradise,  and  heard  unspeakable  things,  <&c. ;  certainly  again  therefore, 
'  darkness,  death,  and  long  despair,'  do  not  ^  reign  in  unbroken  silence 
there.'  Lest  any  doubt  should  remain,  we  are  informed  in  v.  2,  that 
he  was  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven^  a  phrase  employed  commonly 
amongst  the  Jews  to  denote  the  highest  heaven,  or  that  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  senses ;  and  which  here  cannot  mean  any  place  but  that 
where  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  visibly  displayed.  I  think  I  may  say  we 
know  that  our  Saviour's  soul  left  his  bo^  (cJcTVfv^f v,  Lu.  xxiii.  46), 
and  where  but  in  the  third  heaven,  or  Paradise,  did  it  rest  from  the 
labours  of  earth  and  the  sufiPerings  of  the  Cross  ?  Wherever  it  was,  the 
male&ctor  entered  with  him.  Nor  can  I  think  that  the  unconscious 
sleep  of  the  grave  which  has  been  invented  for  the  dead,  would  be 
called  Paradise  with  more  propriety  than  it  would  the  third  heaven. 

There  is  one  other  passage  to  which  I  must  advert  (Rev.  ii.  7)  as 
illustrative  of  the  word  Paradise.  By  a  reference  to  ch.  xxii.  2,  the 
Paradise  of  Rev.  ii.  7,  is  identified  with  heaven,  and  therefore,  there 
cannot  remain  a  moment's  doubt  as  to  its  meaning  here.  Thus  we  have 
the  true  genes^  of  this  idea  of  the  word  in  question.  First,  it  denoted  a 
garden  or  ground  for  pleasure  or  ornament ;  then  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
as  the  Garden  oar  excellence^  and  then  the  heavenly  state  of  which 
Eden  was  the  liveliest  emblem.  By  sin  man  was  excluded  firom  Para- 
dise, by  salvation  he  hopes  to  be  restored  not  to  a  paradise  on  earth  but 
in  beaven.  The  expectation  of  Hades  as  such  was  never  the  expecta- 
tion of  Elysium  to  the  Greek,  and  the  expectation  of  Sheol  as  such  was 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  2    F 

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422  Cerrespondenee.  [J«ly» 

not  that  of  paradise  to  the  Jew,  any  more  than  the  expectation  of  the 
unseen  world  is  that  of  heaven  to  the  Christian.  Therefore  I  conclude 
that  when  the  Lord  answered  the  malefactor  'this  day  thou  shah 
be  with  me  in  Paradise/  he  meant  the  man  to  understand  him  to  say, 
'  To  day  shak  Ihou  be  with  me  in  lieaven.' 

Asldng  pardon  for  so  lengthy  a  communioation, 

'  I  remain,  Sir,  yours  Tcry  truly, 

£A>nden,  AprU  18,  1868.  C.  H.  B. 


Sir, — In  No.  VII.  of  your  valuable  Journal  is  an  article  entitled, 
*  Heaven,  Hell,  Hades,'  to  which  is  appended  a  notice,  that  the  discus- 
sion of  this  question  cannot  be  continued  after  your  next  number.  I 
have  ventured  to  draw  up  a  few  remarks  upon  the  essay  alluded  to,  and 
take  the  liberty  of  forwarding  them  to  you. 

Your  obedient  Servant,  S.  K.  X. 

1.'  In  page  73  your  correspondent  writes, — *  When  we  reflect  upon 
the  proo&  and  reasoning  adduced  above,  we  are  led  to  the  belief  that 
the  body  and  soul  of  man  make  the  man ;  that  they  never  were,  and 
^  never  will  be  disunited ;  that  the  soul  shall  go  to  sleep  with  the  body  at 
death ;  and  that,  when  the  body  is  awakened  on  the  morning  of  the  re- 
surrection, the  soul  will  be  aroused,  and  rise  and  partake  of  the  glorious 
renovation  of  the  body.'  (a)  This  passage  b  perhaps  scarcely  expressed 
with  sufficient  precision.  Instead  of  the  term  *  bodt/,*  which,  in  this 
quotation,  denotes  an  organised  material  substance^  capable  of  being, 
and  specially  designed  and  adapted  to  be,  the  habitation  of  a  soul^  the 
writer  should,  in  fairness,  have  used  the  word  *  dtist '  or  *  earth*  Now,  we 
can  understand  a  sleeping  body  to  be  the  dwelling  of  a  temporarily  un- 
conscious soul,  but  we  cannot,  without  g^reat  difficulty,  conceive  inani- 
nuUe  dust  or  earth  to  be  either  a  suitable,  or  even  a  possible,  tenement 
for  a  sleeping  or  torpid  soul.  And,  indeed,  when  all  union  ceases  in  the 
body  itself,  when  its  various  parts  no  longer  cohere,  but,  passing  into  a 
state  of  utter  disorganisation  and  separation,  crumble  and  moulder  into 
dust— t.  e,j  in  fact,  when  the  corporeal  frame,  returning  into  its  earthly 
elements,  altogether  ceases  to  be  a  hody^  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose 
(without  direct  and  positive  scriptural  assertion)  that  the  soul,  which  in 
thb  respect  has  no  sympathy  (so  to  speak)  with  the  body,  and  undergoes 
no  such  organic  decomposition  and  dissolution,  still  continues  united  in 

*  In  p.  67  it  is  stated  that, '  Ephes.  iii.  5,  has  an  appearance  in  fiiYoar  of  a  direot 
translation  of  the  souls  of  the  righteous  to  Heaven;  bat  the  words  are  too  slender 
to  hold  bjr,  unless  greatly  strengthened  by  other  pasaages/  The  Apostle's  words,  to 
which  this  reference  is  made,  are—*  which  (mystery)  in  other  agies  was  not  made 
known  unto  the  sons  of  men,  as  it  is  now  revealed  unto  his  holy  apostles  and  prophets 
by  the  Spirit.'  But  the  prophets  spoken  of  in  this  passage  are  doubtieaa  the  persons 
mentioned  afterwards  in  Ephes.  iv.  11.  'And  he  gave  some  apostles  and  some 
prophets,  and  some  evangelists/  &c.  In  Acts  xiii.  1,  Barnabas  and  Saul  are  called 
'prophets;' and  elsewhere  we  read  of  Agabus, 'a  prophet'  Hence.  Ephes.  iii.  5, 
does  not  seem  to  ikrour,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the  airect  tran^tion  of  the  souls 
oftherighteotis. 


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1863.]  OarreipondeTwe.  423 

aome  mysterious  and  inexplicable  maimer  to  the  inanimate  and  disorga- 
nised dust  or  earth,  into  which  that,  which  was  once  a  human  body,  has 
been  resolved  ? 

(6)  Is  not  the  following  &et,  making  every  allowance  for  rhetorical 
amplification,  almost  fatiu  to  the  hypothesis  '  that  the  body  and  soul 
never  were,  and  never  will  be  dUuniiedV  We  are  told  that,  in 
obedience  to  a  decree  of  the  Council  of  Constance,  certain  )>er8ons 
opened  the  grave  of  John  Wyclifie,  and  took  out  what  they  believed  to 
be  his  mortal  remains.  (It  is  immaterial  to  the  present  argument 
whether  these  were  the  bones  of  Wycliflfe  or  of  some  other  person.) 
They  burned  what  they  had  thus  removed  from  the  grave,  and  cast  the 
ashes  into  a  neighbouring  stream  called  the  Swift.  '  The  Swift  con- 
veyed them  into  the  Avon,  the  Avon  into  the  Severn,  the  Severn  into 
the  narrow  seas,  and  they  into  the  main  ocean  ;  and  thus  the  ashes  of 
Wydiffe  were  the  emblem  of  his  doctrine,  which  is  now  dispersed  all 
the  worid  over.'  It  is  in  no  mood  of  levity,  or  of  trifling  with  a  solemn 
theme,  that  I  adc,  did  they  disinter  the  sleeping  or  torpid  soul  with  the 
mortal  remains  of  what  had  once  been  a  human  body  ?  And  if  so,  with 
what  portion  of  the  dispersed  ashes  did  the  soul  remain  united  ?^ 

{c)  The  description  in  the  last  paragraph  nuiy  be  regarded  as  some- 
what rhetorical ;  and  it  may  at  least  admit  of  doubt  if  any  of  the  ashes 
in  question  ev^  reached  the  main  ocean.  The  following  supposition, 
however,  is  conceivably  possible,  and  appears  to  me  to  be  &tal  to  the 
sentiment  '  that  the  body  and  soul  never  were  and  never  will  be  dis' 
united.'  We  can  conceive  it  possible  to  remove  a  sick  person,  at  the 
hnok  of  dfiath,  into  some  surgical  dissecting-room,  and  that  he  dies 
there.  Immediately  after  death,  and  without  previously  depositing 
the  corpse  in  a  grave,  those  members  which  are  not  reckoned  among 
the  vital  parts  of  the  human  frame,  can  be  burned,  and  the  ashy 
residuum  cast  upon  running  waters,  or  to  the  winds  of  heaven.  It 
is  also  possible  to  divide  the  head  and  brain,  the  spinal  system  and 
heart  of  this  corpse  into  several  small  portions,  to  bum  each  of  these 
portions  separately,  and  to  have  the  scanty  and  scarcely  perceptible 
ashy  remnants  conveyed  severally,  by  different  persons,  into  remote 
spots  far  distant  from  each  other,  and  to  cast  them  upon  running  waters, 
or  to  the  winds  of  heaven.  Where,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  sleeping  or 
unconscious  soul,  when  thb  burning  and  dispersion  have  been  accom- 
plished P  This  supposition  does  not  immediately  touch  the  question,  is 
the  t»oul  in  a  state  of  consciousness  or  unconsciousness  between  death 
and  the  resurrection  ?  yet  it  would  seem  to  be  utterly  destructive  of  the 
hypothesb,  '  that  the  body  and  soul  never  were,  and  never  will  be  dis' 
united  J  And  if  we  thus  admit  a  real  local  separation  of  the  soul  from 
the  mortal  remains  of  the  body,  we  appear  to  render  reasonable  and 

^  I  believe  the  soul  to  be  so  thoroaghlv  distinct  in  its  nature  from  the  body, 
that  while  the  Utter  was  formed  of  earthly  elements,  the  former  was  immediately 
created  bj  Grod;  and  that  the  sool  is  as  immaterial  as  the  an^ic  intelli^nces 
who  are  the  Lord's  iuvi$ible  ministers  and  messengers.  The  existence  and  incal- 
culable number  of  these  ancrelic  spiritual  intelligences  are  placed  beyond  doubt  in 
Scripture.    (Matt.  iv.  11;  Matt.  xxvi.  53;  Heb.  i.  13,  14;  Heb.  zii.  22,  &c.) 

2  F  2 


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424  Correspondence.  [July, 

probable  the  idea  that  this  real  local  separation  takes  place  immediately 
at  death.* 

I  will  just  add  that,  when  I  compare  together  the  following  pas- 
sages of  the  New  Testament :— (1)  Christ's  promise  to  the  dying  thief, 

*  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in   paradise.'      (2)  Christ's  words, 

*  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit'   (3)  Stephen's  language, 

*  Lord'Jesus  receive  my  spirit'  (4)  Paul's  *  desire  to  depart  and  to  be 
with  Christ,'  where  he  adds,  *  to  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  for 
you ' — I  feel  it  to  be  very  difficult,  not  to  say  impossible,  to  believe  that 
the  disembodied  spirits  of  the  justified  do  not  enter  into  a  state  of  con- 
scious blessedness  immediately  after  death. 

2.  I  am,  of  course,  not  arguing  here  with  the  materialist  I 
assume  that  the  living  intellectual  soul,  although  united  with,  is  yet,  in 
its  nature,  essentially  distinct  from  the  material  and  earthly  body  ;  and, 
having  already  adduced,  by  way  of  illustration,  a  possible  met  in  nature, 
which  would  seem  to  conduct  us,  almost  inevitably,  to  the  inference 
that  this  intellectual  soul  is  actually  and  locally  separated  from  the  body 
at  the  moment  of  death,  I  proceed  to  inquire  how  far  the  Scriptures 
may  appear  to  confirm  this  theory — if,  indeed,  that  which  approaches 
(on  the  non-materialist  view)  so  nearly  to  demonstrable  feet,  is  yet  to  be 
called  a  theory. 

(a)  The  reader  is  requested  to  weigh  carefully  the  following  scriptural 
passage,  in  which  (that  no  undue  advantage  may  be  taken  in  regard  to 
the  mere  English  reader)  the  more  literal  version  of  Macknight  is  fol- 
lowed. *  Yea,  I  think  it  fit,  as  long  as  I  am  in  this**  tabernacle  (Iv  rouro) 
rS)  ffiinvcltfAaTi),  to  stir  you  up,  by  putting  you  in  remembrance. 
Knowing  that  the  putting  away  (aw^MgJir)  of  my  tabernacle  is  soon 
(rax^'^^)  ^  happen,  even  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  showed  me.' 
Now,  if  we  connect  together  the  two  clauses,  (1)  *  As  long  as  I  am  in 
this  tabernacle,'  (2)  *  The  near  approaching  (rap^iv^)  putting  away  of 

«  What  is  advanced  on  the  subject  of  dreams  in  p.  58  does  not,  as  a  theory 
(however  true  of  what  may  be  called  merely  human  dreams),  apply  to  such  oases 
as  those  of  Abraham,  Oen.  xv.  12 ;  Abimelech,  Gen.  xx.  3-8,  and  of  Jacob,  Gen. 
xxviii.  11-16. 

^  **  There  is,  at  present,  neither  space  nor  necessity  for  lengthened  philological 
discussion.  No  one  can  reasonably  doubt  that  by  the  term  (riciitmiuL,  the  Apostle 
here  means  his  own  mortal  body,  which  was  soon  to  undergo  what  we  call  death. 
And  the  manner  in  which  he  expresses  himself,  leads  (or  rather  comtrains)  us  to 
think  of  the  soul  as  existinff  before  death  in  the  body,  and  after  death  out  of  (and 
in  separation  from)  the  body.  These  words  of  the  Apostle  do  not,  of  course, 
prove  that  the  soul's  existence  out  of,  and  in  separation  from,  the  body,  will  be  a 
state  of  consciousness  between  death  and  the  resurrection.  Yet,  that  conscious- 
ness is  at  least  ^«t6/e  to  the  soul,  when  locally  separated  from  the  body,  will 
scarcely  be  denied  by  the  devout  reader  of  the  Apostle  Paul's  twice  uttered  words, 
— rfre  iv  iTi&fAaTif  ffre  ticrbs  rov  tr^fjuaroit  oIk  olda,  Ofds  oT8€v— *  whether  in  the  body 
or  out  qf  the  body  i  know  not  i  ood  knoweth/  2  Cor.  xii.  2-4.  Surely  the 
Apostle  could  not  have  used  (fourteen  years  after  the  occurrence  of  the  vision  or 
trance  of  which  he  is  speaking)  this  solemn  asseveration — ^almost  equivalent  to  an 
oath — if  he  had  been  aware  that  the  union  between  the  soul  and  its  mortal  body 
or  fftefifoffta,  was  essentially  permanent  and  indissoluble,  and,  therefore,  that  the 
soul's  exercise  of  consciousness,  €kt6s  rov  trt^fuiros,  was  in  the  very  nature  of  things 
impossible. 

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1853.]  Corre9p<nidence.  425 

my  tabernacle/  what  other  inference  can  a  plain  and  simple  inquirer 
draw  from  the  words  than  this,  viz.,  that  the  soul  of  the  Apostle  Peter 
was  to  be  actually  and  locally  separated  from  his  body  at  death  ;  and 
that  it  was  this  very  aorodejis,  which  was  to  be  regarded  (at  least  in  the 
Apostle's  particular  case)  as  really  constituting  his  death  ? 

But  let  the  passage  be  examined  a  little  more  closely.  Mark  the 
words,  ^  As  long  as  I  am  in  this  tabernacle '  (e^*  Za-ov  si/cx<  Iv  not/ro;  rS) 
OKfrtwfMLri) ;  and  b  there  not  as  clear  a  distinction  drawn  between  the 
'/'  and  ^  this  tahemacley  as  between  a  lodger  and  his  habitation? 
And  does  not  the  Apostle  here  speak  of  himself — of  his  higher  and  in- 
tellectual self— as  a  personal  agent  essentially  distinct  from  the  body, 
through  the  aid  of  whose  oigans  he  wai»  at  that  moment  holding  inter- 
course with,  and  teaching  his  fellow  men,  and  of  which  he  was  but  a 
tenant,  whose  term  of  occupation  was  about  to  expire  ?  Again,  con- 
sider the  other  clause,  '  the  near  approaching  putting  away  of  my  taber- 
nacle.' We  ask,  whose  tabernacle  r  Surely  the  tabernacle  or  dwelling 
of  the  speaker,  who  would  thus  seem  expressly  to  distinguish  the  Peter 
who  believed  in  Jesus^  loved  the  Father y  was  enlightened  by  the  Spirit, 
and  taught  the  Church,  from  that  earthy,  corporeal,  and  marvellously 
and  exquisitely  organised  framework  in  which  he  was  dwelling,  and  by 
means  of  which  he  was  serving  God  in  ministering  the  Gospel  to  hb 
fellow  men.  And,  doubtless,  if  we  believe  that  death  was,  in  Peter's 
case,  ^  the  putting  away  (avoBso-is)  of  the  mortal,  corporeal  frame,'  we 
shall  scarcely  find  it  possible  not  to  predicate  the  same  of  the  death  of 
all  those  at  least  ^who  believe  in  Jesus,  love  the  Father,  and  are 
enlightened  by  the  Spirit.'  We  seem  thus  to  be  plainly  taught  that  the 
permanent  and  indissoluble  union  of  sovl  and  body  did  not  take  place  at 
the  creation  of  Adam,  but  is  reserved  for  the  morning  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. I  confess  that  the  language  of  the  Apostle  in  this  important  pas- 
sage seems  to  be  altogether  inconsistent  with  the  concluding  portion  of 
the  following  sentence  : — *  The  Scripture  writers  never  lost  sight  of  the 
body,  because  they  knew  that  the  body  and  soul  made  the  man,  and 
could  not  be  separated.* — p.  74. 

(c)  In  the  quotation  in  the  last  paragraph,  from  the  great  Apostle  of 
the  Circumcision,  it  seems  to  be  established  that,  in  his  case  (and 
doubtless,  therefore,  in  that  of  the  other  Apostles),  the  mortal  body  was 
a  (jxmfffUMy  or  (temporary)  residence  to  the  immortal  spirit ;  and  also, 
that  there  Vould  be  at  death  (the  Lord  Jesus'  himself  teaching  the  doc- 
trine) a  putting  away  (a^rodgju)  of  this  (rxtivo/pwc,  a  real  local  separa- 
tion of  the  soul  or  spirit  from  the  corruptible  body.  And  if  this  be 
true  of  the  Apostles,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  receive  it  as  also  true  of 
all '  believers  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  St.  Peter  had  been  expressly  assured  by  the  Lord  after  the  resarrection  (John 
xxi.  18,  19),  that  'when  old'  he  should  *  glorify  God*  in  suffering  a  violent  death. 
Btot  the  comparatively  definite  term  {raxiv^^  employed  in  the  epistle  leads  us  to 
conclude  that  the  Apostle  is  there  speaking  of  a  special  and  recently  received  re- 
velation from  the  Lord. 

'  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  writer  thinks  that  this  separation  does  not 
take  place  at  death  in  the  case  of  the  impenitent  and  unbelieving. 


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426  Carreqxmdence.  [July, 

Now,  while  the  Apostle  Paul  appears,  in  more  than  one  place,  to 
confirm  these  two  important  revealed  facts,  that  the  corruptible  body  is 
the  <rxy)W/M,s  of  the  intellectual  and  immortal  soul,  and  that  at  death 
there  is  such  an  actual  putting  away  of  this  (tKira/fji^  as  amounts  to  a 
real  local  separation  of  the  soul  fh)m  the  body,  he  seems  also  to  have 
g^ven  to  the  Church  divinely  inspired  information  concerning  a  tkird 
point,  and  to  teach  us  that,  iminediaidy  after  death,  the  dviembodied 
soul  or  spirit  begins  to  be  with,  and  dwell  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 
In  order  to  show  this,  let  reference  be  made  to  certain  passages  in  St. 
Paul's  Epistles.  And  I  will  begin  by  traiMcribing  Macknight's  literal 
version  of  Phil.  L,  21-24,  '  For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die 
(d^oBavBiv)  gain.  Now,  if  I  live  in  the  flesh  this  is  the  fruit  of  my 
work.  Yet  what  I  should  choose  I  do  not  know.  For  I  am  straitened 
of  the  two,  having  a  stix>ng  desire  (evtBvfAiay)  to  depart  (anmXvc-ai)  and 
be  with  Christ,  because  that  is  by  much  far  better  (iroKkS)  /xaXXov 
HqsletToyy  Nevertheless,  to  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  for 
you.*« 

To  my  own  mind  this  passage  is  all  but  decisive  on  the  point  under 
discussion.  No  one  can  reasonably  deny  that  the  term  depart,  in  ver. 
23,  is  identical  in  signification  with  dvoOavsTv  in  ver.  21,  while  it  is 
opposed  to  '  the  living  in  the  flesh '  in  ver.  22,  and  to  '  the  abiding  in  the 
flesh '  of  ver.  24.  And  when  the  Apostle  says,.  *  to  me  to  die  is  gain,' 
he  must  be  understood  as  speaking  of  a  gain  and  an  advantage  which 
cotdd  only  be  obtained  by  '  departing,*  or  through  death.  His  ardent 
desire  was  to  be  with  Christ ;  and,  as  this  could  not  be  without  his  pre- 
viously dying,  he  longs,  in  thefuU  assurance  of  faith,  to  die  and  d^rart, 
since  death  was  the  necessary  means  to  that  blessed  end  to  which  his 
soul  was  earnestly  looking  forward.**  But  with  regard  to  death,  as  con- 
sidered in  itself,  he  was  very  far  from  desiring  it;  for  he  elsewhere 

'  In  this  passage  '  to  Hye '  and  '  to  die'  are  spoken  of  under  the  literal  terms  Qw 
and  dvo9w9iv\  but  the  former  is  also  styled  4infUvuy  i¥  rf  trttpitl,  and  the  latter 
oyaXvcroi.  And  these  expressions  'to  remain'  and  'to  depsurt,'  are  strikingly 
favourable  not  only  to  the  idea  of  the  soul's  separation  from  the  body  at  death, 
but  also  to  the  soul's  consciousness  after  the  death  of  the  body. 

^  The  Apostle  probably  ^rote  his  epistle  to  the  Philippians  during  his  first  im- 
prisonment at  Rome,  of  ^hich  period  ^e  have  this  brief  but  er&phic  sketch.  'And 
Paul  d^elt  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  Oiat  came  in 
unto  him,  preaching  ^e  kingdom  of  Grod,  and  teaching  those  things  wnich  couoem 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding  him.'  Acts  xxviiL 
30,  31 .  And  let  it  be  remembered  that  during  this  period  in  which  he  was  thus  at 
liberty  to  preach  the  gospel  at  Rome,  he  also  probably  wrote  the  epistles  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  Philippians,  and  Colossians.  Is  it  tnen  credible  that  nie  Apostle  rndly 
thought  the  soul's  torpid  inactivity  and  unconsciousness  in  ihe  gnLwe  to  be  better 
than  the  enjoying  spiritual  communion  with  the  Father,  serving  God  and  Christ  on 
earth,  proclainung  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  to  ignorant  and  inquiring  sinners, 
comforting  mourners,  and  edifying^  believers?  And  if  the  soul  sieept  between 
death  and  the  resurrection,  all  this  inward  spiritual  communion  with  the  Father, 
and  all  this  outward  spiritual  labour  for  Chnst  and  his  Church,  would  cease  at  the 
very  moment  of  that  *  departure '  for  which  the  Apostle  so  earnestly  longed,  and  to 
the  delay  of  which  nothing  could  reconcile  him  but  the  conviction  that  his  longer 
stay  on  earth  was  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  Philipj^  and  other  churches. 


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1853.]  Carre^cwuifinc^.  427 

writes^  ^  not  that  ve  vould  bo  luidothad,  but  clothed  upon,  that  mor- 
tality might  be  awallowed  up  of  life ;'  as  will  be  the  lot  of  those 
believers  who  shall  be  living  at  the  coming  of  the  liOrcU  And  if  we 
take  into  consideration  the  whole  of  this  important  dause,  ^  to  me  to  live 
is  Christy  and  to  die  gain/  are  we  not  called  upon  to  believe  that  St 
Paul  regarded  the  gain  (xipios)  which  was  to  accrue  to  him  through 
death,  and  after  death,  to  be  indeed  very  great,  since  it  was  to  bring 
him  into  a  state  of  existence  &r  preferable  to  that  in  which  he  tlien 
was,  and  of  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  ^0  me  to  litre  is 
Christ?* 

And  here  let  me  ask  a  question  not  unimportant  to  the  present 
inquiry.  On  the  supposition  that  the  soul  sleeps  between  death  and 
the  resurrection,  what  would  have  been  the  Apostle^s  gam  by  departing 
or  dying  f  He  could  no  longer  have  upon  his  mind  the  daily  burden 
of  the  care  of  all  the  Churches.  His  heart  could  be  no  longer  wounded 
by  divi^ons  in  the  Church,  or  by  the  inconsistencies  of  professors.  He 
would  have  done  for  ever  with  fastings,  watchings,  shipwrecks,  and 
would  never  again  be  scourged,  stoned,  imprisoned.  Timothy,  Titus, 
and  other  faithful  servants  of  the  Lord,  might  be  preaching,  travelling, 
toiling,  suffering,  and  contending  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel;  wolves 
might  be  entering  into  the  Churches,  and  harassing  the  flock;  and 
Satan  might  be  the  subtle  serpent  in  one  place,  and  the  roaring  lion  in 
another.  Buried  in  torpid  unconsciousness,  Patd  would  be  unmoved 
and  unafHscted  by  all  these  things,  sleeping  far  more  profoundly,  and 
fBLT  more  securely  housed,  than  the  dormouse  in  its  wintry  retreat.  And 
is  this  the  *  gain  *  (xip^o^)  which  Paul  desired^  nay,  longed  for?  Could 
this  be  the  object  of  the  ardent  desires  of  that  eminent  and  illustrious 
Apostle— of  that  fervent,  zealous,  devoted,  dauntless,  true-hearted, 
Christ- loving  herald,  stanckrd-bearer,  and  champion  of  the  Gospel  of 
Him  who  is  the  Son  of  God  and  Lamb  of  God  ?  Surely  it  is  only  doing 
bare  justice  to  the  well-known  character  of  this  Apostle  to  think  that, 
if  he  believed  in  the  soul's  sleep  between  death  and  the  resurrection,  his 
earnest  and  olt-repeated  prayer  would  rather  have  been  that  his  term  of 
spiritual  warfere,  of  doing  and  suffering  for  Christ  and  his  Church, 
might  be  prolonged,  and  the  commencement  of  his  soul's  death-like 
torpor  be  deferred  to  the  latest  possible  moment. 

But  this  part  of  our  subject  must  not  be  left  without  one  additional 
remark.  Jf,  at  the  time  when  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  was 
written,  Paul  had  been  confined  to  the  couch  of  wasting  pain  and  mortal 
and  hopeless  disease ;  or  if,  having  outlived  all  power  of  usefulness  to 
the  Church,  be  had  been  fast  sinking  in  mind  and  body,  under  the 
burden  of  increasing  years,  then,  indeed,  the  devoted  soldier  and  servant 
of  the  Incarnate  Word,  who  is  the  Light  and  Life,  might  have  ceased 
praying  to  be  kept  any  longer  from  the  ^lent  torpor,  death,  and  dark- 
ness of  the  grave.  But  what  is  the  fact?  At  the  very  moment  in 
which  he  describes  himself  as  preferring  ^  death  and  departure '  to  '  life 
and  continuance  in  the  body,'  he  assures  us  that  '  to  him  to  live  was 
Christ,' — that  '  his  bonds  in  Christ  were  becoming  manifest  in  all  the 
palace,  and  in  all  other  places,' — and  that  *  many  brethren  in  the  Lord, 

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428  Carreymidence.  [July, 

^waxing  confident  by  his  bonds,  were  much  more  bold  to  speak  the  word 
without  fear.'  And  is  it  credible,  or  even  conceivable,  that  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  should,  under  such  circumstances,  have  enter- 
tadned  a  strong  desire  to  die  and  depart, — nay,  that  he  should  have 
spoken  of  dea&  and  departure  as  being  very  far  better  (^oXX^  ptaXXov 
xpuacrov),  unless  he  had  vividly  and  fully  believed  that  his  conscious 
soul  would,  at  death,  pass,  at  once,  into  the  immediate  presence  of 
Christ  ?  Such  a  blessed  cbange  would  indeed  be  ^  gain ;'  a  departure 
and  immediate  entrance  into  such  blessedness  would  indeed  be  ^roXXo; 

{d)  Let  us  now  look  at  another  well-known  passage  in  St  Paul's 
writings,  viz.  2  Cor.  v.  6-8.  In  the  first  four  verses  of  this  chapter 
(which  are  intimately  connected  with  the  concluding  portion  of  the  pre- 
ceding) our  Apostle  may  be  regarded  as  writing  in  the  privileged  exer- 
cise of  that  'faith  which  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen.'  His  spiritual  vision  is  fixed  on  the  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  '  weight  of  glory,'  and  not  on  the  circumstances 
of  the  period  intervening  between  death  and  the  resurrection.  He 
groans  in  his  present  sublunary  condition,  in  the  earthy  ^x^vor  of  a 
mortal  and  corruptible  body  (^e  ^jT^aitivov  axsvot  of  the  7th  verse  of 
the  preceding  chapter).  He  earnestly  desires  (not  death,  but)  the  final 
deliverance  and  triumph  of  the  redeemed  Church,  when  '  the  corrupt- 
ible shall  put  on  incomiption,  and  mortality  shall  be  swallowed  up  of 
life.'  Yet,  surely,  when  St.  Paul  styles  the  mortal  body  oxSvos  and 
oarpscKifoy  a^eXfos,  he  makes  an  essential  distinction  between  the  soul 
and  the  body,  the  former  dwelling  in  the  latter ;  and  when  he  uses  such 
expressions  as  '  unclothed ' '  and  '  clothed  upon,'  he  appears  to  take  for 
granted,  as  unquestionable  truths,  the  local  separation  of  the  soul  from 
the  body  at  death,  and  also  the  soul's  consciousness  between  death  and 
the  resurrection ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  come  to  any  other  conclusion  with 
reference  to  the  Apostle's  belief  on  these  two  points. 

In  the  6th  and  following  verses  he  specially  sets  forth  his  actual  posi- 
tion and  circumstances  as  a  living,  conscious  human  being,  serving  God 
on  earth  and  in  the  flesh,  and  '  walking  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight.' 

I  Macknigbt  has  not  rendered  correctlj  the  Apostle's  words  in  this  passage. 
He  sees,  indeed,  that  the  mortal  body  is  called  tjicfivos  by  9t  Paul  (a  term  akin  to 
aK^iyufM),  and  departing  without  necessity  from  the  New  Testament  usage  in  re- 
gard to  the  middle  aorists  tMaaadat  and  tySi<raa-$eii,  he  translates  the  former, 
'  to  go  out/  and  the  latter,  *  to  go  in.*  It  is  true  that  in  2  Tim.  iii.  6,  we  have  the 
phrase  ol  M^orrts  elf  r&r  olKiaSf  but  this  is  no  sufficient  warrant  for  rendering 
T^  oitcrrrfiptop  tffi&y  4T€y96ira<r0cLS  by,  *  to  go  permanently  into,'  since  to  justify  this 
rendering,  not  only  should  the  verb  be  in  the  active  fbrm,  but  also  the  preposition 
4is  should  precede  rh  oucrrrfipiov.  Doubtless,  if  the  mortal  body  can  be  ngurativeljr 
styled  the  (najvos  (tent)  in  which  the  soul  can  cease  to  reside  without  losing  its 
consciousness,  it  can  also,  with  equal  propriejhr,  be  called  the  Mv/m  (garment) 
which  the  soul  can  lay  aside  for  a  time  and  still  retain  its  consciousness  in  the  dis- 
embodied state.  The  word  yvfiphs  is  rendered  by  Macknigbt,  'destitute.'  As  a 
ffinipos  or  tricfimfia  can  be  quitted,  and  an  iy^vfia  be  laid  aside,  such  names  will  not 
correctly  apply  to  the  resurrection-body,  which  will  be  permanently  and  indis- 
golubly  united  to  the  soul. 


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1853.]  Corre9pondence.  429 

He  tells  the  Corinthians,  '  Therefore  (having  received  the  earnest  of 
the  Spirit)  we  are  always  confident ;  knowing  that  while  we  are  dwell- 
ing in  {htvifjLovvriK  sv)  the  body,  we  are  absent  from  (fxJio/ixoD/xev  a^o) 
the  Lord.'  Certainly  St.  Paul  seems  here  to  describe  himself  by  his 
higher  and  nobler  part,  the  soul,  to  speak  of  this  as  only  a  dweller  in 
the  body,  and  to  teach  that,  when  his  soul  ceased  to  reside  in  the  body, 
it  would  cease  to  be  absent  ft'om  the  Lord ;  t. «.,  that  his  soul  wotdd,  at 
the  death  of  the  body,  pass  at  once  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  And 
bow  greatly  is  this  view  strengthened  when  we  read  the  immediately 
succeeding  verses, — '  For  we  walk  by  fidth,  and  not  by  sight ;  we  are 
confident,  and  willing  (euioKovfjLsi)  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  to  be  present  with  {hirm,rt<rai  vpos)  the  Lord.'  From  these  very 
important  verses,  written  by  the. Apostle  in  the  full  assurance  of  faith, 
we  learn  that  the  dwelling  in  the  mortal  and  corruptible  body  is,  even  to 
the  most  eminent  believer,  absence  from  the  Lord  ;  that  there  is  a  pre- 
sence with  the  Lord  which  is  absence  from  the  body,  and  that  it  is 
lawful  for  the  believer  to  prefer  and  desire  (in  submission  to  the  Hea- 
venly Father's  will)  to  dwell  away  from  the  body  in  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  t.  e.,  '  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ' 

But,  in  order  to  apprehend  more  clearly  the  Apostle's  meaning,  let 
us  (as  the  context  fully  warrants  us  to  do)  change  the  terms  '  to  be  pre- 
sent  toith  the  Lord'  into  the  somewhat  more  enlarged  form  ^  to  he  pre- 
sent  with  the  Lord  Jems  Christ,*  Now,  be  it  remembered,  the  Lord 
Jesus  is  the  Incarnate  Word,  the  Son  of  Man,  whose  real  (though  glo- 
rified) human  body  must  necessarily  occupy  some  specific  locality,  and 
of  this  locality  we  know  that  it  is  nowhere  on  this  earth,  upon  which 
*  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being.'  Hence,  literal  and  actual 
presence  with  the  Lord  (as  distinguished  from  literal  and  actual  absence 
from  him  in  these  our  mortal  bodies)  must,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
denote  a  real  and  actual  proximity  to  tnat  locality  where  the  Lord  Jesus 
is  himself  present  in  the  body,  and  a  real  removal  and  absence  from  this 
earth.  It  is,  then,  in  this  celestial  locality,  and  in  the  immediate  pre- 
sence of  the  glorified  humanity  of  Jesus,  that  the  Apostle  desires  to  be 
when  he  says,  *  We  are  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and 
to  be  present  (in  a  disembodied  state)  with  the  Lord  (Jesus).'  And  I 
would  venture  to  suggest  that  this  locality  may  be  yet  further  defined 
as  the  celestial  region  in  which  two  living  men,  Enoch  and  Elijah,  are 
at  this  moment  abiding.  And,  if  so,  is  it  not  all  but  impossible  to 
believe  that,  while  the  living  bodies  as  well  as  the  souls  of  these  two 
servants  of  God  are  dwelling  there,  the  souls  of  Christ's  apostles  and 
martyrs  should  be  slumbering  elsewhere  in  torpid  and  death-like  imcon- 
sciousness  ? 

(e)  I  must  here  be  permitted  to  advert  again  to  a  subject  already 
briefly  alluded  to  in  a  preceding  note, — the  Apostle's  striking  account 
of  the  wonderful  *  vision  and  revelation  of  the  Lord,'  vouchsafed  unto 
him  about  fourteen  years  before  the  writing  of  the  Second  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  in  which  he  speaks  of  himself  as  '  caught  up  to  the 
third  heaven,  caught  up  into  Paradise.'  Now  Paul  was  fully  aware 
that  he  was  on  the  earth,  and  in  the  body,  when  he  saw  the  glory,  and 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


430  Gofrre^ifoaadenee^  [J^y^ 

heard  the  voice  of  Jeius  near  Damaacus.  He  was  also  fiilly  aware  thai 
he  was  in  the  body,  and  in  the  Temple  at  JerusaJenv  when,  being  in  » 
trance  (sx<rra<ra,  Acts  xxii.  17-21),  he  hei^y  and  answered  the  XiOrd. 
Yet,  with  regard  to  the  wonderful  ^  vision  and  fevelatioa  of  the  Lord,' 
of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  wherein  he  waa  '  caught  up  into  the 
third  heaven  and  into  Paradkae^'  heard  ttungs  *■  which  it  b  not  lawful  or 
poflsibJe  for  a  man  to  utter,'  and  received  such  'a  transeendeuc^  of 
revelations '  {uvn^okin  a9rox4kX</>|rsa;v)  as  rendered  necessary  a  pamfid 
thorn  in  the  flesh  'lest  he  shoiidd  be  quilted  above  meas«ve,' — with 
legajrd,  I  say,  to  this  vision  and  revelation,  even  alter  the  long  interval 
of  fourteen  years,  dMsrin^  which  time  he  tnmsi  ha»e  been  growing  in 
cleamese  and  eoUeni  of  spiritual  light  and  kn&wUdg/By  he  still  continued 
in  absolute  uncertainty  whether  he  was  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body 
(fxTQf  roD  jcJ/AdcTQf)^  And  I  would  earnestly  entreat  the  reader  to 
consider  well  with  what  intense  emphasis  the  Apostle  twice  asserts  hia 
i^jsolute^  uncertainty, — <  whether  in  the  body  or  ou(t  of  the  body,  / 
hnow  not}  God  knowsth.'  May  we  not  reverently  ask  why  the 
inspired  Apostle  was  thus  permitted,  or  rather  directed,  to  reiterate  his 
solemn  assertion  of  uncertainty  a»  to  presence  in,  or  absence  from,  the 
body,  during  this  memorable  '  vision  and  revelation  of  the  Lord  ?'  Does 
not  this  remarkable  language  of  the  Apostle,  especially  when  taken  in 
connection  with  the  passages  already  brought  forward,  seem  to  be  almost 
equivalent  to  a  direct  and  designed  revelation  from  the  Lord  to  His 
Church,  teaching  her  that  the  relation  of  the  believer's  soul  to  his  mortal 
and  corruptible  body  is  that  of  the  conscious  dweller  in  a  temporary 
tent— of  the  conscious  wearer  of  a  temporary  garment — and  that,  when 
the  soul  or  spirit  quits  the  tent  or  lays  aside  the  garment,  it  will  still 
retain  its  personal  consciousness  and  be  with  the  Lord  ?  Indeed,  there 
b  nothing  unreasonable  or  unscriptural  in  the  idea  that  vivid  recollec- 
tions of  thb  '  vision  and  revelation  of  the  Lord,'  combined  with,  and  . 
strengthening  hb  persuasion  that  at  death  hb  soul  would  pass  at  once 

^  The  Apostle's  absolute  nnoertainty,  so  emphatically  expressed  and  reiterated} 
— 'whether  in  the  bodj  or  ont  of  the  body,  I  know  not;  God  knoweth' — must  ap- 
pear strange  and  nninteUigihle  to  those  who  hold  *  that  the  body  and  soul  never 
were  and  never  will  be  d^miled,'  and  that  *  the  Scripture  writers  knew  that  the 
body  and  soul  made  the  man,  and  never  could  ht  tepitraUd,*  Sorely  the  Apostle's 
case  directly  contradicts  this  statement,  for  if  he  had  kHown  that  the  body  and  soul 
never  could  be  separated  he  would  have  been  certain  that  he  was  not  out  of  the 
body  at  the  time  of  his  memorable  vision.  Yonr  correspondent  did  not,  of  course, 
mean  to  assert  that  omnipotence  is  unable  to  separate  the  soul  from  the  body,  but 
it  is,  perhaps,  doing  him  no  injustice  to  say  that  his  assertions  seem  to  amount  to 
this— that  the  Creator  having,  of  design  and  purpose,  so  permanently  and  indb- 
solublv  united  the  soul  and  body,  that  nothing  short  of  the  most  absolute  and 
special  exercise  of  omnipotence  can  separate  them  ;  it  is,  therefore,  nei^er  rea- 
sonable nor  scriptural  to  expect  such  special  exercise  of  omnipotence  in  any  case 
whatever,  Hb  arguo^nt  must  also  be  carried  a  little  further,  and  imply  that,  if 
this  almost  incredible  and  inconceivable  exercise  of  omnipotence  reUly  took  place 
at  the  time  of  Paul's  vision,  yet  at  the  close  of  the  special  omnipotent  interposi- 
tion the  Apostle's  soul  must  have  returned  into  its  proper,  permanent,  and  indb- 
soluble  umon  with  the  body.  Nevertheless,  at  least  fourteen  years  afterwards, 
we  find  the  Apostle  deliberately  speaking  of  hb  strong  desire  *  to  he  abaeet  from 
the  bodjf,  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord— to  depart  and  be  with  Christ.' 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


185S.]  Oarreiponcknce.  431 

horn  the  body  into  Paradise,  added  fervour  to  the  Apostle's  desire  *  to 
depart  and  be  with  Christ, — to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  present 
with  the  Lord.' 

(/)  The  'third  heaven  and  Paradise'  liad,  probably,  been  already 
revealed  to  another  living  man,  the  proto-martyr  Stephen.  We  read 
(in  Acts,  vii.  55)  that  Stephen,  at  the  close  of  his  glowing  testimony 
for  the  '  Just  One,'  before  the  high-priest  and  council,  '  being  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  looked  up  steadfastly  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory 
of  God,  and  Jesus  standing  at  the  riffht  hand  of  God.'  We  are  not  ex- 
plicitly told  if  the  heavens  continued  open  to  Stephen  while  his  enemies 
were  stoning  him.  But  what  are  we  to  understand  from  the  language 
of  his  prayer, '  '  Lord  Jesus  receive  (j^ii^on)  my  spirit  ?'  Will  any  one 
deny  that  the  spirit  is  here  distinguished  from  the  body?  Stephen 
Amew  that  his  body,  like  the  bodies  of  his  murderers,  would  become  the 
prey  of  worms  and  corruption,  and  that  the  grave  would  receive  (be  the 
home  and  dwelling-place  of)  his  body  until  the  resurrection.  He  asks, 
therefore,  for  his  spirit  that  which  he  does  not  ask  for  his  body, — that, 
as  the  g^ve  is  about  to  receive  his  mortal  remains,  so  Jesus  may  admit 
his  disembodied  spirit  into  the  heavenly  regions.  In  a  dying  hour, 
while  praying  to  the  Father,  or  to  His  Christ,  believers  use  words  in 
their  plain  ami  natural  meaning.  Christ  having  vouchsafed  a  real  and 
actual  revelation  of  Himself  and  his  heavenly  residence  to  Stephen,  the 
mar^  is  encouraged,  or  rather  constrained,  to  pray  for  the  real  and 
actual  reception  of  his  disembodied  spirit  into  those  heavenly  r^ons 
and  the  presence  of  his  Lord.  It  seems  almost  certain,  from  Stephen's 
history,  that  he  felt  assured  that  at  death  his  spirit  (which  was  at  tiiat 
moment  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost)  would  be  separated  from  the  body,  and 
that  the  blessing  which  he  sought  when  praying  to  the  Lord  Jesus  to 
receive  his  spirit  was  the  very  same  blessing  which  Paul  so  ardently 
desired,  *  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ, — to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  present  with  the  Lord,' — to  be  consciously  present  with  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ 

(ff)  We  now  come  to  the  history  of  our  Lord's  death  upon  the  cross. 
The  penitent  and  believing  malefactor  prayed,  *  Lord,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom,'  fully  believing  at  the  moment  that 
the  then  crucified  Jesus  would,  at  some  future  period  (sooner  or  later), 
certainly  appear  to  Israel  as  the  promised  King  Messiah.  Our  Loni 
graciously  and  solemnly  replies,  *  Verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  to-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.'  On  that  very  day,  therefore,  Jesus  and 
the  male&ctor  must  have  been  (whether  consciouslv  or  unconsciously) 
together  in  Paradise.     This  meeting  could  not  rerer  to  the  body,  for 

1  Who  osa  read  the  narrative  of  Stephen's  death  and  not  call  to  mind  our  Lord 
wheB  on  the  cross  ?  In  the  weakness  and  dependence  of  his  voluntarily  assumed 
position  of  a  human  servant  to  the  Father,  Jesus  prnjed  for  his  murderers, 
•  Father/forgive  them ;'  and  for  himself,  *  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit.*  As  if  especially  to  glorify  the  Son  to  the  Church,  Stephen  addressed  im- 
mediately to  Jetut  similar  petitions  for  himself  and  his  murderers.  Again;  Jesus 
prayed  thriet  to  the  Father  in  the  garden,  that,  if  possible,  the  cup  of  atoning 
0Kffering  might  pass  from  him;  and  Paul,  after  his  marvellous  visioii,  prayed 
thrice  to  the  Lord  Jesus  that  *  the  thorn  in  the  flesh  might  depart  lir<«i  him.' 


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432  Correspondence.  [July, 

that  of  Jesus  was  removed  from  the  cross,  and  conveyed  into  the  grave 
of  Joseph  of  Arimathea.  Hence  that  spirit  (^rvcD/bux)  which  Jesas 
^  commended  into  the  Father's  hand/  and  which  of  his  own  will  he 
yielded  up  (a^xs),  nmst  have  passed  into  Paradise,  and  thither  also,  to 
fulfil  the  promise  of  Jesus,  must  the  spirit  of  the  penitent  thief  have 
been  conveyed.  The  words  of  Christ's  promise  to  the  male&ctor  very 
strongly  imply,  even  if  they  do  not  absolutely  assert,  that  his  spirit  after 
death  should  be  cormciously  with  the  Lord  in  Paradise.  And  when  we 
compare  with  this  g^racious  promise  of  Jesus  the  passages  already 
brought  forward  from  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  we  seem  to  have  valid 
reasons  for  saying  that  the  Scriptures  unquestionably  teach  us  that  the 
human  spirit  of  Jesus,  and  the  disembodied  spirits  of  the  penitent  thief, 
Stephen  and  Paul,  were,  at  death,  separated  from  their  bodies,  and 
entered  at  once  into  Paradise,  the  appointed  abode  of  the  conscious  dis- 
embodied spirits  of  God's  justified  servants  between  death  and  the 
resurrection."- 


APOCALYPTIC  INTERPRETATION. 

Sir, — In  the  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature  for  April,  p.  54,  there 
occurs  the  following  sentence : — 

*  Dr.  Tr^elles  advocates  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  Apocalypse. 
His  views  do  not  materially  differ  from  those  of  Mr.  Strange.' 

On  this  statement  may  I  be  allowed  to  remark,  that  while  an  author 
has  no  fair  ground  of  objection  to  a  review  of  his  work,  so  long  as  it 
states  his  opinions  (even  when  condemning  them),  yet  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent when  a  writer  is  declared  to  hold  vi^ws  which  he  never  did  hold, 
and  which  are  not  set  forth  in  any  thing  which  he  has  published.  I 
wish,  therefore,  to  inform  your  readers  in  general,  and  W.  E.  T.,  the 
writer  of  the  review  in  question,  in  particular,  that  the  views  and  opin- 
ions which  are  g^ven  firom  p.  37  to  47,  are  such  as  I  never  imagined  or 
held,  and  which  are  not  conveyed  in  any  thing  which  I  ever  published 
on  the  subject  of  prophecy,  during  a  period  now  of  more  than  seventeen 
years.  I  think,  therefore,  that  W.  E.  T.  must  inadvertently  have  made 
some  mistake ;  otherwise  he  would  not  have  thought  that  I  maintain  the 
very  contrary  of  what  I  have  taught  for  all  these  years. 

It  is  right  for  me  to  say  that  my  only  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Strange's  publications  is  derived  from  W.  E.  T.'s  critique  upon  them ; 
but  taking  them  as  thus  analysed,  I  find  opinions  advanced  against 
which  I  have  argued  in  print  from  the  year  1835  (when  I  first  took  up 
the  subject)  to  the  present  time.  I  do  not  think  it  needful  to  state 
each  point  in  which  I  do  not  agree  with  Mr.  Strange,  but  I  may,  by 
way  of  protest,  specify  a  few. 

"  It  would  seem  to  follow  fh>in  our  idea  of  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  Incar- 
nation of  the  Eternal  Word,  that  the  law  of  death  to  other  believing  servants  of 
God,  as  Abraham,  Isaac,  &c.,  mast,  to  a  great  extent,  apply  to  the  human  body 
and  soul  of  Jesus— the  grave  for  the  body  and  Paradise  for  the  soul. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1858.]  Carreapandence.  433 

1st.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  Apocalypse  is  to  receive  its  fulfilment 
after  the  people  of  €rod  have  left  this  euth ;  for  I  know  that  the  Smp- 
ture  teaches  that  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  Saints,  and  their  rapture 
together  with  those  who  are  alive  and  remain,  takes  place  €U  the  Lord's 
second  advent,  a  manifest  and  not  a  secret  event 

2nd.  The  division  of  the  saved  into  classes,  so  that  any  could  put 
those  who  believe  in  Christ  during  his  millennial  reign  on  a  ground 
wholly  different  from  believers  now,  is  a  doctrine  to  which  I  object  as 
fully  as  W.  E.  T.  can  do. 

drd.  To  speak  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ  the  Lord  to  smite  the 
nations,  as  his  third  advent,  is  wholly  unscriptural ;  and  it  is  one  of 
the  results  of  the  opinion  against  which  I  have  so  long  protested  that 
there  can  be  (in  spite  of  our  Lord's  own  direct  statements  to  the  con- 
trary, Matt.  xxiv.  26^  27)  a  secret  second  advent  to  take  his  people 
away  from  this  earth. 

In  p.  55,  W.  E.  T.  says, — *  Mr.  Newton's  works  on  Prophecy  will 
require  but  little  notice,  agreeing  as  they  do  in  so  many  particulars 
with  Mr.  Strange's  extraonUnary  production.'  This  is  an  abrupt  mode 
of  dismissing  the  writings  of  an  author  who  has  published  much  on 
prophecy  for  more  than  twenty  years.  Let  me  add,  that  Mr.  B. 
W.  Newton  difiers  as  much  from  the  views  of  Mr.  Strang^  as  I  do. 
Had  W.  E.  T.  mentioned  what  are  the  *  so  many  particulars '  of  agree- 
ment between  Mr.  B.  W.  Newton  and  the  recent  writer  to  whom  he 
compares  him,  the  subject  would  be  capable  of  discussion.  In  &ct, 
they  differ  essentially  and  utterly ;  as  all  who  know  Mr.  Newton's  pub- 
lications, which  have  been  in  circulation  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
must  be  aware. 

Writing  as  I  now  do  away  from  my  home  and  my  books,  I  cannot 
verify  W.  E.  T.'s  reference  to  what  Mr.  B.  W.  Newton  has  said  (the 
work  and  page  are  not  stated),  on  the  subject  of  the  devil  accusing  the 
brethren  before  (*  Gr.  iy^irior,  in  the  presence  of ')  God.  The  argu- 
ment, however,  seems  to  turn  on  the  &ct  that  in  Rev.  xii.  10,  Satan 
accuses  them  before  God,  prior  to  his  being  finally  cast  down,  in  a 
manner  in  which  subsequently  he  cannot  do.  He  now  accuses  the 
brethren  iyiiwioy  in  the  presence  of  God  ;  the  force  of  the  Greek  word 
lies  in  the  connection  in  whiok  it  stands ;  if  the  theory  that  he  has 
access  there  for  that  purpose  is  a  strange  one,  W.  E.  T.  must  discuss 
the  point  with  the  Scripture  which  speaks  of  his  being  finaUy  cast  out 
of  heaven,  and  not  with  Mr.  B.  W.  Newton,  who  only,  as  to  this, 
repeats  the  words  of  the  inspired  volume.  In  ^t,  I  believe  that  W. 
E.  T.  had  he  seen  that  iyi^Ktpy  ^  in  the  presence  of  (not  '  in  the  esti- 
mation of  or  any  thing  of  the  sort)  has  to  do  with  the  accusation  at 
one  time,  and  not  after  Satan  is  '  cast  out  into  the  earth,'  he  would  not 
have  thought  a  Greek  criticism  needful. 

I  am  thus  able  to  assure  W.  E.  T.  that  I  agree  with  him  as  to  many 
points  on  which  he  thinks  that  we  differ ;  and  had  he  read  what  I  have 
published  from  time  to  time  he  would  have  known  my  sentiments. 

Ma?/  2,  1853.  I  remain,  yours  faithfiilly, 

S.  P.  Treqelles. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


4M  Ocrre^pondenee.  [Jufy* 


EUNUCHS  FOR  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN'S  SAKE. 

Dear  Sir, — 1  am  sony  that  your  correspondent  P.  S.  should  have 
written  in  reply  to  ray  remarks  upon  his  interpretation  of  the  phrase 
^  Eunuchs  for  the  hingdom  of  heaven* s  scJke,*  a  letter  such  as  that 
which  appears  with  his  signature  in  the  last  number  of  your  Journal — 
it  being  sitill  true  that  his  interpretation  of  this  phrase  (vtr.,  that  the 
parties  alluded  to  are  so  spoken  of  because  they  abstained  from  women 
in  order  to  be,  as  they  thought,  ^  heUer  fiited  for  heaven  *)  is  not  that  of 
'  all  the  best  commentators,  nor  of  almost  all,  nor  of  anything  like  all ; 
and  still  true,  that  he  so  quotes  from  Neander  '  as  to  beget  an  impres- 
aion  that  Neander  gave  to  the  phrase  the  interpretation  adopted  by 
himself/  His  reply,  in  point  of  fact,  is  no  reply  at  bXL  Mine  there- 
fore will  be  brief;  but  though  brief,  it  shall  be  courteous. 

As  in  my  ibrmer  oommunioation  I  suggested  an  excuse  in  palliadon 
of  his  iiiaccnracie!4 ;  observing,  that  ^  we  are  all  of  us,  at  times,  apt  to 
be  inacenmie  and  careless ;  that  writers  and  apeaken  horn  an  oveav 
anxiety  to  induce  others  to  adopt  the  opinion  which  they  themselves 
may  happen  to  entertain,  will  not  unfreqtiently  overstate  that  which 
they  wish  them  to  believe-^rr^resenting  that  aa  universal  which  is  only 
general,  or  general  which  is  only  frequent,  or  firequent  which  is  only 
occasional ;  and  that  this  unfortunately  may  often  be  done  ahnost  with*- 
out  a  consciovsness  that  such  statement  is  sot  thoroughly  correct  ;'*  (an 
exeuae  of  which  he  would,  I  think,  have  done  well  to  have  availed 
himsdf ;)  so,  being  iwwilUng  to  suppose  him  capable  of  anything  like 
designed  evasion,  or  unfairness,  I  am  compelled  to  suggest  another 
now*  ffe  musi  have  misunderstood  $ne.  Upon  no  other  supposition, 
consistently  with  Christian  charity,  can  I  aeeoust  for  the  irrelevancy 
of  his  re|>ly.  But  then  he  onght  not  to  have  done  so ;  for  though  he 
says  that  I  find  fault  with  his  assertion  that  all  the  best  commentators 
are  of  opinion  that  the  contsmj^tive  Essenes  are  here  alluded  to, 
simply  lo^use  certain  commentators  named  by  me  are  not  of  this  opi- 
nion,*' I  have  hitherto  found  &ult  with  that  assertion  not  at  all — ^not 
even  in  my  remarlLS  about  ^  our  Lord's  forerunners.'  For  it  was  not 
in  referenoe  to  his  ass»*tion  as  to  its  bdng  the  opinion  of  all  the  best 
eommenta^tors  that  the  E^weoes  were  alluded  to,  Iml  simply  in  reference 
to  his  interpretation  of  the  phrase  for  ^  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake,' 
that  I  said  '  such  is  not  the  interpretation  of  all  the  best,  nor  of  anything 
like  all.'  And  I  spoke  explicitly.  ^  Such,'  I  said,  <  is  not  the  interpre- 
tation ^  all  the  best,  nor  of  anything  like  all.  •  .  Even  Neander  does 
»ot  so  interpret  k.  .  .  It  may  be  the  interpretation  of  some  .  .  .  but 
the  common,  and,  as  I  believe,  the  more  correct  interpretation  is,  4bc."' 
His  remark,  therefore,  with  reference  to  '  Bloomfield,  Home,  Barnes, 
^c.,**^  is  most  unfortunate ;  since,  of  these  three,  Home  alone  gives  to 

•  Joanial,  Jap.  1853,  p.  431.  *>  lUd.,  April  1353,  p.  130. 

«  Ibid.,  Jan.  1853,  p.  480. 

^  See  Journal,  Apnl,  1853,  p.  180,  where  *  Blomfield'  (for  Bloomfldd?)  sppesn 
to  be  an  error  of  prew. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  Oarr€9pandeMe.  485 

the  phrase  m  question  the  interpretation  of  P.  8.  Whom  the  '  dsc/  may 
refer  to  (which  in  oontroversy  onght,  I  think,  ahmjs  to  be  avoided), 
I  cannot  tell ;  (but  the  interprotadion  given  by  the  other  two  is  pre- 
cisely that  which  I  liave  vepresented  as  the  <M>mmon  interpretation,  and 
that  also  for  whMi,  n  oppositioR  to  P.  S.,  I  harpe  myself  contended — 
Bloomfield's  interpretation  of  the  phrase  in  question,  as  given  in  his 
edition  ef  the  Gveek  Testament  to  wluoh  your  correspondent  appears 
to  refer,  being  that  o«r  Lord's  words  are  '  said  of  those  who  from  « 
desire  k)  further  the  interestgofreligioHj  live  in  eelibaoy ;'  and  Barnes's 
that  the  Teferenee  is  to  those  who  so  lived,  in  order  ^  that  thatf  might 
devote  themselves  io  the  proper  business  of  religion* 

Each  one  of  (them,  it  is  true,  supposes,  or  seems  to  suppose  the 
Eflsenes  to  be  the  parties  referred  to  ;*  bnt  the  opinion  that  there  is 
this  reference,  and  the  interpretation  of  the  phrase  itse^,  Bie  clearly 
distinct  points ;  and  ought  not  to  be  confomided. 

I  beg  to  add  that  in  saying  of  this  interpretation  ^that  it  is  not 
that  of  all  the  best,  I  mean  and  meant  much  more  than  that  there  are 
one,  or  two,  or  three  exceptions ;  I  meant,  and  wished  to  a&aveiy  the 
Mpprewion,  ihstt  those  who  so  interpret  the  phrase  in  question  are  a 
very,  very  small  minority.  No  less  irrelevant,  therefore,  are  his  re- 
marks that  *  the  question  who  ave  to  be  considered  the  best  commenta- 
tors is  one  entirely  of  opinion,'  and  that  he  did  not  say  that  all  the 
best  ooHunesitatorB  so  interpreted  it  ^  without  exception.' '  I  should  be 
aahtimed  to  have  been  so  captious  as  he  seems  to  suppose  me  to  have  been. 

But  though  I  did  not,  not  even  in  my  remarks  about  our  Lord's  fore^ 
nmneiB,  call  in  question  the  oorreotness  of  his  assertion,  that  it  is  the 
opinion  of  all  the  best  commentators  that  the  Essenes  are  here  alluded 
to  (for  the  opinion  that  they  are  perhaps  alluded  to  is  pretty  generally 
held,  though  not  by  any  means  so  generally  as  is  represented  by  P.  S.), 
I  did  and  do  call  in  question  the  probability  of  the  opinion  itself;  for, 
so  &r  as  I  can  discover,  the  only  ground  upon  which  the  opinion  is 
held  by  the  majority '  of  those  commentators  who  bdieve  or  suppose 
them  to  be  alluded  to,  is  the  simple  &ct  that  the  Essenes,  or  a  portion 
of  them,  perhaps  the  greater  portion,  were  accustomed  to  live  a  life  of 
celibacy ;  so  that  if  qmt  Lord's  reference  was  not  to  tfiem,  they  cannot 
think  or  coi^eotuie  to  whom  else  he  could  have  referred.  It  is  certain 
for  instance,  that  neither  Bloomfield  nor  Barnes  (respecting  whom  your 
correspondent  says  that  they  are  of  this  opinion)  are  of  this  opinion 
because  th^  give  to  the  phrase  the  interpretation  for  which  P.  S. 
contends.  Indeed,  so  ^  is  this  from  being  the  case,  th^  the  interpre- 
tation griven  by  them  is,  as  we  have  seen,  precisely  that  which  I  have 
represented  as  being  the  common  inteqiretation,  and  for  which,  in 
opposition  to  P.  S.,  I  have  myself  striven.     I  cannot  therefore  but 

*  '  Probably  with  allusion  to  the  Essenes,  who  did  not  marnr.'— Bloomftsld. 
*  Perkapg  he  refers  here  to  the  £s8enes.'^BABNE6.  '  Supponeixxy  be  tiie  contem- 
plative Essenes/— HoRNE. 

'  Journal,  April  1853,  p.  180. 

s  The  few  who  so  int^pret  the  {ddrase  as  P.S.  has  done  are,  /  belief^  the  only 
cvc^ptkxM. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


436  CarreyHmdmce.  ^      [Jiily» 

think  that  the  conjecture  given  by  me  in  the  January  number  of  your 
Journal  has,  at  the  least,  probability  to  recomm^id  it  It  is  obtain 
that  the  phrase,  '  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake,'  is  susceptible  of  the 
interpretation  given  to  it  by  Bloomfield,  by  Barnes,  by  myself,  and  bj 
commentators  generally ;  we  know  that  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's 
sake,  the  Baptist  lived  a  Ufe  of  great  self-denial  and  privation :  we  know 
also  that  his  followers,  like  their  Master,  were  an  austere,  self-denying- 
body  ;  we  know  that  John  preached  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was 
at  hand ;  and  we  know  that  others  like  him  (whoever  they  were)  had 
so  laboured  (John  iv.  38)  as  to  prepare  and  to  pioneer  the  way  of 
our  Lord  and  his  apostles.  What  then  so  probable  as  that  it  is  to 
these  our  Lord's  forerunners,  that  our  Lord  refers  in  the  verse  before 
us — honourably  speaking  of  them  as  men  who  had  made  themselves 
eunuchs  for  the  hingdom  ofheavevCs  sake^  not  because  they  were  really 
and  strictly  eunuchs,  but  because  for  the  hingdom  of  heaven* s  sake^ 
that  is,  that  they  might  more  wholly  give  themselves  up  to  the  preach- 
ing of  repentance  and  of  the  kingdom  of  Gknl,  they  were  content  to 
live  as  such  ? 

But  after  all,  it  is  of  comparatively  small  importance  whether  the 
interpretation  objected  to  by  me,  be  that  of  only  one  or  two,  or  of 
many,  or  of  all.  Its  probability  is  the  only  point  that  is  really  of  any 
consequence ;  and  this,  it  is  clear,  must  be  mainly  determined  by  our 
ascertaining  whether  3ta,  when  it  signifies /or  the  scthe  of  meaxiBjor  the 
$€Lke  of  in  the  sense  otfrom  regard  tOy  or  for  the  etike  ofva  the  doise 
of  in  order  to  obtain. 

In  support  of  my  own  and  the  common  interpretation,  which  r^;ards 
it  as  meaning  ybr  the  sake  ofm  the  former  of  these  senses,  I  subjoin 
from  the  New  Testament  a  few  instances  in  which  this  pre|>08ition, 
followed  by  an  accusative,  is  so  employed. 

Matt  X.  22.  Hated  of  all  men/or  my  name's  sake, 

xiv.    3.  And  he  pat  him  in  prwon  for  Herodia^  sake. 
9.  Nevertheless /or  the  oath's  sake. 
xxiv.  22.  For  the  elects  sake  those  days  shall  be  shortened. 
Mark  ii.  27.  The  sabbath  was  made  for  (i.e. /or  the  sake  ^)  man,  and  not 

man  for  (i.e./or  the  sake  of)  the  sabbath. 
John  xi.  1 5.  I  am  glad/or  your  sokes  that  I  was  not  ^ere. 

—  42.  Because  of  (i.e.  for  the  sake  of)  the  people  which  stand  by,  I 

said  it. 
xii.    9.  They  came  not  for  Jesu£  sake  only, 
xiv.  11.  Or  else  believe  me  for  the  very  work's  sake. 
Rom.  iT.  23.  Now,  it  was  not  written  ybr  his  sake  alone. 

xi.  28.  Enemies /or  yottr  sakes.^  Beloved  for  the  father's  sake. 
xiii.    5.  Not  only /or  wratK  but  also/or  conscience  sake. 
1  CJor.  iv.  10.  We  are  fools/or  Christ's  sake. 

vii.  11.  For  whom  (i.e./or  the  sake  of  whom)  Christ  died, 
ix.  10.  Saith  he  it  altogether /or  our  sakes, 

—  23.  And  this  I  do  fir  the  GotpeVs  sake. 

See  also  in  1  Cor.  x.  28 ;  xi.  9.  2  Cor.  ii.  10 ;  iv.  5,  11,  15.  PhiL  ii.  30  ;  iii.  7, 
8,  9.  CoL  iv.  3.  1  Thes.  i.  5  ;  iii.  9 ;  v.  13.  1  Tim.  v.  23.  2  Tim.  i.  12 ;  ii.  10. 
Philem.  9.     1  Pet.  i.  20  j  ii.  13,  19.     2  John  ii.    Rev.  i.  9;  vi.  9;  xx.  4. 

Now  can  P.  S.  produce  from  any  quarter  whatever,  as  many  une- 
quivocal instances  of  ^id  signifying  for  the  sake  of  in  the  sense  of  in 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  Corre9pondenee.  437 

order  to  obtain^  as  those  given  above,  from  one  source  only,  of  lid  sig^ 
nifying  ybr  the  sake  of  in  the  sense  of  from  regard  to.  I  do  not  believe 
that  he  can.  He  may  perhaps  find  one  or  two  questionable  instances  ; 
but  I  am  sure  that  he  cannot  produce  as  many  undoubted  instances  of 
ltd  used  in  the  sense  in  which  we  must  understand  it,  if  his  interpreta- 
tion be  correct,  as  I,  or  any  one  else  can,  of  ^t<!i  used  in  the  sense  in 
which,  in  the  verse  before  us,  it  is  more  commonly  understood.  I 
doubt  very  much  whether  he  can  find  as  many  as  even  one.  I  will  not 
undertake  to  say  that  the  words  of  the  phrase  before  us,  roughly  re* 
garded  and  loosely  interpreted,  are  altogether  unsusceptible  of  his 
interpretation ;  but  such  an  employment  of  ^la  as  that  interpretation 
demands,  if  to  be  found,  is,  I  am  quite  sure,  extremely  unusual.  If 
then  he  cannot  produce  at  least  one  indubitable  instance,  all  reply  to 
this  letter  will  be  irrelevant  and  useless. 

Had  the  meaning  of  the  expression  before  us  been  as  supposed  by. 
P.  S.,  one  would  rather,  I  imagine,  have  expected  x^P^^  ^^^  ^  geni- 
tive, or  lya  with  a  verb,  than  ha.  I  know  of  instances  in  which  for 
the  sake  of,  in  the  sense  of  in  order  to  obtain,  is  thus  expressed  ;  I  know 
of  none  in  which  I  can  feel  sure  that  hd  is  so  employed. 

Upon  these  gprounds  I  cannot  but  regard  the  interpretation  given 
by  P.  S.,  of  the  phrase  *  Eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake,* 
which  supposes  our  Lord  coolly,  and  without  the  least  hint  of  disap- 
proval, to  be  speaking  of  those  who  abstained  from  the  society  of 
women  in  order  to  be  (as  they  thought)  better  fitted  for  heaven,  to  be 
incorrect ;  and  am  compelled  to  adopt  that  which  supposes  the  refer- 
ence to  be  to  those  who  had  abstained  therefrom  from  a  regard  to  the 
interests  of  that  kingdom,  i.e.  in  order  that  they  might  thereby  be  more 
disencumbered  and  more  at  leisure  to  preach  and  to  teach  the  same. 

I  have  to  add,  with  reference  to  the  remark  with  which  your  corre- 
spondent P.  S.  conunences  his  reply,  as  though  I  had  unfairly  quoted 
him  (via.  *  In  the  quotation  animadverted  upon  by  your  correspondent 
J.  C.  K.,  I  find  he  has  only  given  part  of  the  words  from  Neander,  as 
written  in  the  article  he  quotes  from ;  the  omitted  part  is  as  follows : — 
This  decision,  therefore,  was  opposed  not  only  to  the  old  Hebrew 
notion  that  celibacy  was  per  se  ignominious,  but  also  to  the  ascetic 
doctrine  which  made  it  per  se  a  superior  condition  of  life  *) — that  it  is  a 
sufficient  reply  that  the  omitted  portion  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
point  in  question,  viz.  whether  P.  S.  did  or  did  not  so  quote  Neander 
as  to  beget  an  impression  that  Neander  gave  to  the  phrase  *  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven's  sake*  the  interpretation  adopted  by  P.  S.  I  quoted 
his  words  fairly ;  for  I  quoted  as  much  as  respected  the  point  before 
me.  Upon  the  decision  of  that  point,  that  which  is  spoken  of  as  *  the 
omitted  part '  had  no  bearing  whatever. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  another  remark.  It  is  this : — that  the 
hypothesis  so  zealously  maintained  by  me  is  not  that  our  Xiord's  words 
approve  of  ascetic  celibacy ; '  but  only  that  our  Lord  does  approve  not 
of  celibacy  only,  but  of  any  and  every  act  of  self-denial  for  the  gospel's 
sake,  *  if  circumstances  demand  it.*  ^     The  quotation,  therefore,  made 

I  Journal,  April  1853,  pp.  180,  181.  ^  Ibid..  Jan.  1853,  p.  479. 

VOL.  JV. — NO.  VIII.  2    G    ^  J 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


438  Correspondence,  [Jwly, 

by  P.  S.  from  Macknight,  commencing  with  the  very  «ngracioiifl 
words,  *  It  is  false  to  affirm  that  our  Lord  recommends  celibacy,*  to- 
gether with  the  whole  of  his  remarks  respecting  mere  celibacy,  i.e.  re- 
specting a  celibacy  not  *  demanded  by  circumstances,'  are,  so  ^  as  I 
am  concerned, 'as  irrelevant  as  any  other  portion  of  his  letter,  and,  being 
such,  require  no  reply. 

If  it  will  be  any  gratification  to  him,  I  may  remark,  in  concloding, 
that,  so  far  as  his  main  positions  in  reference  to  the  Easenes  are  con- 
cerned, there  is,  I  imagine,  little  need  that  he  should  be  able  to  vindi- 
cate the  interpretation  to  which  I  have  objected ;  that  those  positions 
are  complete,  and  in  my  humble  opinion  are  ably  sustained  without  it ; 
that,  over-anxious  to  establish  his  point,  he  seems  to  have  adopted 
incautiously  an  interpretation  which,  upon  reconsideration,  he  will,  I 
trust,  be  as  ready  to  repudiate  as  myself;  and  that  I  would  not  have 
attacked  that  interpretation,  but  that  I  believed  it  to  be  mischievous. 

J.  C.  K, 

JUDE,  VERSE  9. 

Sir, — Your  correspondent  C.  H.  W.  asks  for  an  explanation  of 
Jude  9.  May  I  beg  to  draw  lus  attention  to  Zech.  iii.,  from  the  2od 
verse  of  which  I  believe  Jude  to  have  quoted  the  words,  *  the  Lord  re- 
buke thee,*  when  writing  to  the  saints,  the  Body  of  Christ,  concerning 
certain  ungodly  men  who  would  make  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God  a  licence  for  sin — the  SocicUists  of  that  day. 

The  prophet  Zechariah  had  foretold  of  the  cleansing  away  of  the 
filth  of  the  House  of  Israel,  through  their  representative  the  high 
priest,  which  the  adversary  opposed.  The  expression  *the  Body  of 
Moses '  appears  symbolical  of  the  Jewish  people,  in  whose  fleshly  service 
dwelt  no  good  thing ;  and  as  there  was  no  forgiveness  for  those  who 
were  under  the  law,  a  change  of  raiment  became  necessary  under  the 
Christian  dispensation,  and  hence  the  apostle  Jude,  in  verse  23,  warns 
the  called  and  sanctified  ones  against '  the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh.' 
It  does  not  appear  that  this  passage  has  any  thing  to  do  with  the  his- 
torical statement  of  the  death  and  burial  of  the  man  Moses  (com- 
pare Deut.  xxxii.  44  with  Deut.  xxxiv.  5-6),  unless  we  may  suppose 
that  the  inspired  writers  understood  the  penal  death  of  Moses  as 
intended  to  teach  the  body  politic  that,  though  the  law  made  nothing 
perfect,  it  runs  not  against  the  promises  of  God. 

The  resurrection  of  Moses  and  Elias,  manifested  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration,  was  the  witness  of  the  Law  and  the  Prbphets,  in  the 
persons  of  their  respective  heads,  to  that  of  Jesus,  for  his  encourage- 
ment and  that  of  his  apostles,  and  as  ensamples  of  the  meetbg  of  the 
raised  and  living  saints  at  his  coming. 

J.  W.  H. 

BUNSEN*S  HIPPOLYTUS. 

Sir,— -In  your  article  on  Bunsen's  Hippolytus  you  mention  amongst 
other  things  the  statement  of  the  Chevalier,  that  the  passages  usmlly 

Digitized  by  VJV/VJV  IV^ 


1853.]  Carmpmdmce.  439 

cited  from  Ori^n  in  favour  of  Infant  Baptism  have  in  reality  no  bear^ 
ing  on  the  subject,  because  the  word  used  is  '  parvulus,'  which  rather 
means  a  growing  child  of  from  six  to  ten  years  of  age.  And  in  your 
last  number  appears  the  letter  of  a  correspondent,  who  is  anxious  to 
vindicate  the  honour  of  this  interpretation  for  a  previous  writer.  To 
whom  the  merit  may  be  due  of  first  suggesting  it  I  know  not ;  but  it 
appears  to  me  that  it  is  an  argument  of  more  ingenuity  than  soundness. 
I  send  herewith  the  context  of  one  of  the  principal  passages  cited  from 
Origen  on  the  subject,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  very  same  word 
*•  parvulus*  is  applied  to  the  newborn  Jewish  infant,  for  whom  the  pair 
of  turtle-doves  was  to  be  ofPered  as  a  sacrifice.  It  seems  to  me,  there- 
fore, difficult  to  conceive  that  a  few  lines  further  on  in  the  same  passage 
the  same  expression  should  be  used  in  a  sense  exclusive  of  infants.  But 
afler  all  we  must  remember  that  we  are  dealing  with  a  translation 
only.  I  should  conjecture  that  Origen  wrote  i^aihiovy  a  word  which  is 
rendered  by  parvulus  frequently  in  the  vulgate  {e.  gr.  Luke  xviiL  16). 
Yet  this  word  may  certainly  mean  an  infiEuit.  The  jraiZia  in  Luke 
xviii.  are  described  as  ppt^ri  in  the  15th  verse,  and  the  word  is  repeat- 
edly used  of  our  Lord  himself  when  an  infant,  in  connexion  with  the 
very  same  offering  of  which  Origen  speaks.  See  Luke  ii.  21,  27 ; 
Matt.  ii.  9,  13,  et  alibi. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant,  £• 

P.S.  The  scope  of  the  passage  seems  to  me  against  Bunsen's  view. 
It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  Origen  would  treat  it  as  clear  that  a  grow- 
ing child  from  six  to  ten  years  old  had  no  actual  sins  of  commission  to 
be  forgiven.    Yet  this  seems  presupposed. 

'  Corpus  ergo  peccati  est  corpas  nostrum ;  quia  nee  Adam  scribitur  coffnovisse 
Evam  uzorem  suam  et  genuisse  Cain,  nisi  post  peccatam.  Denique  et  in  lege  pro 
parvnlo  qui  natus  fuerit  jnbetur  offerri  hostia,  par  tnrturum,  aut  duo  pulli  <S)lum« 
bini ;  ex  <|aibus  nnus  pro  peccato,  et  alius  in  holocaustomate.  Pro  quo  peocato 
offertur  hic  pullus  unus  ?  Numquid  nuper  editus  parvulus  peccare  jam  potuit  ? 
Et  tamen  habet  peccatum  pro  quo  hostia  jnbetur  offerri  a  quo  mnndus  negatur 

2ais  esse,  nee  si  unius  diei  fuerit  vita  epns.  De  hoc  ergo  etiam  David  dixisse  cr«- 
endns  est  illnd  quod  supra  memoravimus :  quia  in  peceatis  concepit  me  mater 
mea.  Secundum  historiam  euim  nullum  matris  ejus  dedaratur  peccatum.  Pro 
hoc  et  £k)c]€sia  ab  Apostolis  traditiouem  suscepit  etiam  parvulis  baptismum  dare. 
Sciebant  euim  illi  quibus  mysteriorum  secreta  commissa  sunt  divinorum,  quid 
essent  in  omnibus  geuninsc  sonles  peccati,  qutt  per  a^uam  et  spiritam  ablui  de- 
berent,  propter  quas  etiam  corpus  ipsum  corpus  ^cati  nominatur,  non  (ut  putant 
aljqui  eomm  qui  animamm  transmij^tionem  in  varia  oorpom  introdncont)  pro 
Us  quft  in  alio  corpore  posita  anima  deli^uerit,  sed  pro  hoc  ipso  quid  in  corpora 
peocati  et  corpore  mortis  atque  humilitatis  effecto  sit;  et  sicut  ille  dixit,  quia  ^  hu- 
miliasti  in  pulTere  animam  nostram." ' — Orig.  Comment  in  Epist.  ad  Rom.  Hb.  ▼. 
Opera,  vol.  iv.  p.  565. 

MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS. 

Dear  Sib, — I  avail  myself  of  your  kind  permission  to  make  a  few 
obeenratioiis  upon  some  of  the  very  interesting  subjects  contained  in  the 
No.  of  the  *  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature '  for  October,  1852. 

1st.  The  very  excellent  article  on  '  Haderand  Heaven '  stands  first, 
and,  to  further  the  consideration  of  the  subject,  I  beg  to  send  you  a 

2  0  2 


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440  Oorresp&ndenee.  [July, 

tract,  either  for  your  review,  or  to  forward  to  the  writer  of  the  article, 
as  you  may  think  most  to  the  furtherance  of  truth.  The  m8.  on  the 
parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  whicli  I  have  already  sent,  contains  my 
own  view  of  the  light  in  which  as  a  parable  it  should  be  regarded.  11 
it  be  an  admitted  truth  that  ^  All  judgment  is  committed  to  the  Son  ' 
at  his  coming  J  and  that  the  Father  judgeth  no  man,  then  the  judgment 
of  Dives  must  be  '  at  his  coming,*  and  not  at  death.  *  After  death  («.  e. 
in  resurrection)  comes  judgment,'  not  during  deaths  which  is  the 
absence  of  life,  as  the  tracts  I  send  will  more  fully  explain. 

2nd.  '  The  Harmony  of  the  Grospels '  is  an  important  subject,  which  is 
only  now  beginning  to  be  understood,  and  Dr.  da  Costa's  work  will 
probably  be  found  truly  valuable  to  the  student.  If  yon  feel  disposed 
to  admit  a  few  pages  on  the  subject,  I  will  send  an  article  showing 
the  distinct  characters  in  which  the  Christ  is  set  forth  in  each  of  the  four 
gospels,  and  proving^  so  far  as  the  subject  is  capable  of  it,  that  the 
variations,  omissions,  repetitions,  &c,  are  in  strict  harmony  with  the 
intention  of  the  inspired  Apostle  in  bringing  that  particular  part  of  the 
Vhole  prominently  before  the  mind  of  the  reeuier. 

3rd.  I  would  next  say  a  word  '  on  the  forgiveness  of  sins.'  In  addition 
to  the  sound  explanations  given  by  two  of  your  correspondents,  it  should 
not  be  overlooked  that  the  *  forgiveness  of  sins '  is  the  peculiarity  of  this 
dispensation  as  contrasted  with  the  previous  judicial  legislation.  Moses 
could  not  forgive  sins,  the  law  only  made  '  a  remembrance  of  sin  ;'  but 
many  points  of  discipline  and  obedience,  which  up  to  the  Apostolic 
period  it  would  have  been  sin  to  have  omitted  or  committed,  the  Apos- 
tles had  authority  to  alter  to  suit  the  circumstances  and  genius  of  the 
Gospel  of  Grace  (see  Matt.  v.  48),  in  which  we  are  called  to  be  per^ 
feet;  for  example,  Rom.  xiv.  23,  where  the  distinctions  of  meats, 
hitherto  accounted  a  necessary  badge  of  discipleship,  are  remitted ;  while 
in  Acts  XV.  the  Gentiles  are  commanded  to  abstain,  and  the  command 
of  the  Apostles  was  binding  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  Your 
correspondents  have  noticed  the  other  points  connected  with  Church  dis- 
cipline, as  between  man  and  man.  But  the  rule  of  the  dispensation 
promulgated  by  the  inspired  and  authenticated  ambassadors  of  Christ  in 
their  written  word  is,  I  submit,  *  wide  as  the  poles  asunder '  from  the 
man-made  rubrics  of  any  national  or  congr^ational  church  (so  called) 
in  Christendom. 

I  beg  in  conclusion  to  say  that  the  Apostles  had  no  successors.  When 
the  Lord  cast  out  Judas  Iscariot,  he  did  not  leave  the  filling  up  of  their 
number  to  the  College;  the  choosing  of  Matthias  was  unauthorised  and 
unsanctioned,  and  therefore  Paul,  who  wa^  the  chosen  one,  insists  that 
his  call  was  not  of  men^  nor  by  men.  The  very  fact  of  the  Epistles  to 
Timothy  and  Titus  and  Gains  being  written  proves  that  they  were  a 
different  order  of  men,  and  in  no  authoritative  sense  the  inheritors  of 
Apostolic  powers. 

*   4th.  A  word  next  on  the  statanent,  *  Judicial  Astrology  based  on  the 
year-day  principle.* 

I  submit  that  it  is  not  at  all  a  necessary  consequence  that,  because 
the  calculations  of  actual  science  are  founded  on  '  the  year  day  prin* 


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1853.]  Correspondence^  441 

ciple,'  which  I  fully  admit  to  be  true,  tlierefore  the  word  of  God  is 
to  be  handled  in  the  same  or  a  similar  manner.  Astrologers  assume  to 
know  by  actual  practical  eaperience  that  their  mode  of  calculating 
human  events  is  correct,  but  where  is  the  authority  for  interpreting 
the  words  of  Scripture  by  the  same  rule  ?  In  two  passages  God  himself 
says,  *  I  give  a  day  for  a  year,'  Num.  xiv.  34  ;  £zek.  iv.  6 ;  but  apart 
from  these  special  cases,  every  attempt  to  accommodate  the  word  of 
prophecy  to  the  year-day  system  has  been,  and  will  always  be,  a  total 
£dlure.  The  advocates  oi  the  system  cannot  agree  among  themselvei 
as  to  the  when,  and  where,  and  how,  because  it  is  not  the  truth  of  God. 
All  the  works  of  €rod  are  perfect,  *  he  hath  made  everything  beau- 
tiful in  its  time,'  and  there  is  a  (set)  time  for  everything  under  the 
sun ;  but  He  who  uses  the  heavenly  orbs  to  execute  ministerially  his 
purposes  in  the  earth,  and  imparts  to  all  who  choose  to  look  at  them  the 
knowledge  of  the  movements  of  his  celestial  time-pieces,  has  also  given^ 
in  his  word,  plain  simple  warnings  of  things  to  come ;  and  however 
mystified  the  JSTos.  1260  or  1290  may  seem  to  this  generation,  time  will 
show  that  they  are  as  literal  expressions  as  the  notice  of  the  deluge  was 
to  Noah — the  darkness  of  tluree  days  in  Egypt — or  the  forty  days' 
warning  to  the  great  city  Nineveh.  If  astrologers  att^npt  to  bring 
their  line  and  plumb  to  measure  the  word  of  the  Lord,  they  will  only 
bring  their  own  science  into  disrepute,  and  shake  the  trust  which  should 
receive  simply 

« Thus  saith  the  Lord.' 
Waierford.  J.  W,  H. 

*«*  The  above  was  intended  Ibr  the  last  Nomber  of  this  Journal,  but  oonld  not 
then  be  inserted. 


'  CALLED  A  NAZARENE.' 

Sib, — May  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking,  through  the  medium  of  your 
Journal,  what  is  the  best  explanation  of  Matt.  ii.  23  ?  '  That  it  might 
be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets.  He  shall  be  called  a 
Nazarene.'  Is  it  a  probable  opinion,  maintained  by  some  expositors, 
that  it  has  reference  to  the  appellation  "l^J,  i.  e.  branchy  which  is  fre- 
quently applied  to  the  Messiah  in  the  prophetic  writings  ?  May  I  also 
ask,  whether  there  are  any  g^unds  for  rendering  the  word  avaroXti,  in 
Luke  i.  78,  '  branch,'  as  in  the  margin,  instead  of  the  authorised  trans- 
lation, '  dayspring  ? '  B«  A. 

March  7,  1853. 


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442  Naticu  of  Booki.  [July, 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS. 


Sacred  Symbology ;  or.  An  Inquiry  into  the  Principles  of  Interprda^ 
Hon  ^  the  Prophetic  Symbols.    With  Explanatory  Observations  on 

.  the  Symbolic  Figures  and  Exhibitions  of  the  Saer^  Scriptures  gene- 
redly.  By  John  Mllus.   Edinburgh :  Johnstone  and  Huntw,   1863. 

Many  of  the  most  important  prophecies  of  Scripture  are  symbolically 
expressed,  and  in  the  mere  literal  prophecies  symbolical  aesignations 
continually  occur.  These  symbols  form  a  language,  to  which  a  key  is 
necessary  to  enable  us  to  understand  aright— or  indeed  to  understand 
at  all — the  prophetic  utterances.  The  key  is  not  lost :  it  b  recover- 
able by  those  who  will  but  look  for  it,  and  it  may  be  used  by  all  who 
will  take  the  trouble.  But  nothing  is  more  distressing  to  witness  than 
the  general  indolence  of  the  readers  of  Scripture,  the  indisposition 
really  to  search  the  Scnptures,  to  take  the  means  and  institute  the 
comparisons  needful  to  master  the  full  meaning  of  its  deeply  important 
declarations.  The  vague  impressions,  the  dim  glimpses  of  meaning, 
with  which  so  many  are  content  to  leave  some  of  the  most  interesting 
parts  of  Scripture,  are  most  afflicting,  and  ought  no  longer  to  be  en- 
dured. There  is  ^11  reason  to  believe  the  time  is  near  when  much  of 
unfulfilled  prophecy  will  be  accomplished;  and  *if  the  writings  of 
God's  prophets  relating  to  the  present  age  may  be  neglected  with  im- 
punity, it  will  be  difficult  to  conceive  ue  sinfulness  of  the  people  of 
Israel  in  neglecting  the  living  voices  of  those  prophets.' 

The  author  of  the  present  work  has  left  such  neglect  without  excuse, 
by  supplying  all  needful  help  for  this  important  study,  in  so  far  as  the 
symboUod  language  of  the  prophets  is  concerned.  As  there  is  always 
a  reasonable  analogy  between  the  symbol  employed  by  the  sacred 
writers  and  the  thing  signified,  and  as  the  signification  of  many  of  the 
symbols  is  manifested  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  in  which  they 
occur,  it  becomes  quite  possible  to  affix  a  determinate  meaning  to  eaci 
of  them.  This  has  been  attempted  with  much  skill  and  judgment  by 
^e  present  author,  whose  work  forms  a  sort  of  grammar  and  lexicon 
to  the  symbolical  language  of  Scripture  prophecy.  It  is  altogether  a 
thorough  book,  and  ther^ore  one  of  those  which,  as  they  come  under 
oup  notice  from  time  to  time — and  certainly  not  too  often — we  feel  a 
special  interest  in  recommending  to  the  attention  of  our  readers. 

Under  ihe  impression  that  no  correct  idea  can  be  formed  of  the 
meaning  of  the  prophetic  symbols  so  long  as  there  exists  any  vagueness 
of  ideas  in  respect  to  the  siniification  of  the  terms  by  which  the  various 
forms  of  imagery  employea  in  the  Bible  should  be  defined,  the  author 
g^ives  an  entire  chapter  to  the  definition  and  distinction  of  terms.  Here 
the  concluding  and  most  ample  portion,  describing  the  difference  be- 


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1853.]  Notioe9  of  Books.  443 

tween  emblem^  symbol^  and  type^  b  entitled  to  particular  attention ;  for 
altliough  obvious  to  scholars,  those  essential  distinctions  are  mudi  over- 
looked by  general  readers.  Mr.  Mills  next  favours  us  with  some  ob- 
servations on  the  opinions  of  various  writers  respecting  the  interpretation 
of  prophetic  sjrmbols.  He  shows  how  little  they  are  agreed  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  symbols,  and  that  none  of  them  have  proposed  any 
systematic  method  for  their  interpretation,  so  that  there  is  a  want  of  a 
more  definite  mode  of  symbolic  exegesis  than  any  that  has  yet  been 
proposed.  We  next  come  to  the  author's  general  principles,  and  find 
that  he  produces  the  following  propositions  as  presenting  a  clear  exhi- 
bition of  the  subject : — 
'  1 .  The  same  principles  which  apply  to  the  interpretation  of  lanjraage  gene- 


rally are  also  applicable  to  the  interpretation  of  the  imagery  of  the  Bible.  In  the 
interpretation  of  language  it  is  generally  found  that  each  word,  in  any  given  period 
of  its  history,  has  usually  one  radical  or  leading  signification ;  and  while  such 
word  may  be  variously  applied,  its  leading  import  will  be  found  in  each  of  its  ac- 
ceptations, the  exact  meaning  being  determined  by  its  connexion. 

'  2.  As  every  word  has  one  leading  signification  which  may  be  variously  applied, 
so  a  figure  having  but  one  leading  signification  may  also  have  different  applica- 
tions, while  its  precise  import  will  be  determined  by  its  scope  and  connexion. 

'3.  As  a  symbolic  figure  may  sometimes  represent  more  than  one  quali^  at  the 
same  time,  the  specific  quality  or  qualities  intended  by  it  will  be  determmed  by 
the  general  design  and  purport  of  the  vision  or  prophecy  in  which  it  occurs. 

'  4.  When  appellative  terms,  or  names  of  objects  used  as  symbols,  are  used  meta- 
phorically, there  will  be  a  correspondence  of  meaning  between  such  metaphors 
and  the  symbols  of  which  they  are  the  names  or  denominative  terms.  As,  for 
example,  the  principal  qualities  of  a  lion  being  strength  and  resolution,  these 
qualities  are  alike  indicated  by  the  term  lion^  nsM  metaphorically,  and  by  a  sym- 
bolic figu>^  of  a  lion  likewise. 

'  5.  The  symbology  of  the  nations  of  antiquity,  being  subject  to  the  influence  - 
of  superstition  and  conjecture,  can  yield  no  certain  data  lor  interpreting  the  sym- 
bols of  the  Bible.  And  as  the  meaning  of  words  in  the  sacred  volume  are  deter- 
mined by  their  general  use  in  that  Umk,  so  will  the  meaning  of  the  figurative 
representations  be  more  clearly  seen  by  collating  them  in  their  several  classes,  as 
they  are  used  by  the  sacred  writers.' 

Aflier  this  Mr.  Mills  explains  with  great  distinctness,  and  illustrates 
with  much  efiTect,  the  various  kinds  of  symbolic  representations ;  and 
then  proceeds  to  discuss  the  analogies  between  the  symbol  and  the 
object  symbolized.  The  remainder  of  the  volume  (with  the  exception 
of  the  '  supplementary  explanations '  with  which  it  closes)  is  occupied 
by  a  summary,  alphabetically  exhibited,  of  the  principal  symbolical  and 
emblenoiatic  figures  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  This  is,  of  course,  the 
essential  portion  of  the  work,  and  furnishes  the  true  test  for  the  sound- 
ness of  the  principles  on  which  the  author  has  proceeded.  That  his 
explications  will  at  once  command  universal  assent  is  more  than  Mr. 
Mills  (whose  modesty  greatly  underrates  the  value  of  his  own  labours) 
will  expect,  nor  should  we  like  to  pledge  our  own  concurrence  with 
him  in  every  point  It  does  appear  to  us,  however,  that  his  interpreta- 
tioos  are  so  weU  grounded,  and  so  carefully  considered,  that  they  can  in 
very  few  instances  be  safely  impugned ;  and  we  are  sure  that  he 
will  have  realized  the  object  to  which  most  of  all  he  aspires — that  of 
furnishing  an  aid  in  and  stimulus  to  that  study  of  the  symbolical  lan- 
.guage  of  prophecy  which  has  not  hitherto  held  that  place  in  Biblical 


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444  Notices  of  Books.  [July, 

study  to  which  it  is  &irly  entitled,  and  without  which  no  theological 
education  can  be  regarded  as  complete. 

The  symbols  explained  by  the  author  are  about  one  hundred.  He, 
indeed,  professes  only  to  elucidate  the  *  principal  symbols;'  but  we 
would  suggest  that  in  any  future  edition  the  number  should  be  consider- 
ably enlarged.  Indeed,  to  render  the  work  complete,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  any  symbol  should  be  left  unexplained.  There  is  certainly 
room  for  much  more  work  in  this  respect,  if,  as  Dr.  Lord  reckons,  and 
indeed  shows,  in  his  Laws  of  Symbolic  Representation,  the  whole 
number  of  symbols  employed  in  the  Scriptures  is  four  hundred  and 
iifteen;  of  these  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  are  inteqNreted  in  the 
context ;  ninety-one  directly  and  explicitly ;  thirteen  indirectly  and 
partially ;  and  forty-four  directly  and  explicitly  as  to  acts  and  catas- 
trophes. With  such  materiab  for  interpretation  contained  in  the 
Sacred  Volume  itself,  the  laws  of  Sacred  Symbology  ought  by  this 
time  to  be  well  defined,  and  their  application  ascertained.  The  woHl 
before  us  is  an  important  contribution  towards  this  result,  for  which  its 
author  is  entitled  to  respect  and  g^titude. 

The  interpretations,  of  the  symbols  which  have  been  furnished  by 
different  writers  on  the  subject  might  be  easily  tabulated,  and  in  that 
form  would  be  an  interesting  and  satisfiELCtory  appendage  to  a  vroik  of 
this  nature. 


Anaiytical  InvestigcUions  concerning  the  Credibility  of  the  Scriptures^ 
and  of  the  Religio%u  System  inculcated  in  them ;  together  wilh  a 
Historical  Exhibition  of  Human  Conduct  during  the  several  Dis- 
pensations  under  which  Mankind  have  been  pUiced  by  their  Creator. 
By  J.  H.  McCuLLOH,  M.D.    2  vols.  8vo.     Baltimore,    1852. 

The  author  of  this  work  informs  us  that  he  had  the  advantage  of  being 
bom  of  religious  parents,  who  carefully  instructed  him,  with  few  sec- 
tarian prepossessions,  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion^  Ti^  although  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  abstract  ex- 
celleTj^^^^^Uie  Christian  system,  and  its  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  man, 
he  ^Crapprised  that  there  was  a  great  opposition  in  the  world  against 
its  Claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  system  of  divine  revelation.  It  therefore 
gradually  became  to  him  a  matter  of  deep  importance  as  he  advanced 
in  life  to  ascertain  the  fact  of  the  credibility  of  the  Scripture  writings 
as  being  the  foundation  of  Christianity ;  '  for  it  was  evidently  impos- 
sible for  one  to  repose  upon  a  system  involving  such  momentous  in* 
terests,  unless  the  inspired  origin  of  the  Scripture  writings  was  fully 
established.'  In  the  course  of  this  investigation  Dr.  McCulloh  gra- 
dually became  fully  convinced  of  the  credibility  of  the  Scriptures ;  '  but 
he  as  gradually  ascertained  that  some  of  the  most  important  arguments 
bearing  on  the  question  had  been  entirely  overlooked  by  those  persons 
who  had  previously  undertaken  such  investigation.' 

The  principal  of  the  arguments  of  which  the  author  thus  claims  to  be 
discoverer  is  so  familiar  to  us  that  it  must  be  less  new  than  he  thinks, 
though  no  one  has  perhaps  ever  worked  it  out  so  fully  as  he  has  done. 


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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  445 

It  18,  that  the  teachings  of  Scripture  are  so  adverse  to  all  schemes  and 
principles  of  ecclesiastical  aggrandisement  in  temporal  or  spiritual 
matters,  that  no  party  ever  existed  which  could  have  had  an  interest  in 
their  promulgation ;  and  this  feet,  taken  with  the  religious  and  moral 
excellence  of  the  system  Inculcated,  allows  no  other  conclusion  than 
that  the  Scriptures  *  proceed  from  a  Divine  source.'  The  sceptical  ob- 
jection that  the  Scriptures  were  the  fraudulent  invention  of  an  interested 
and  selfish  priesthood  was  thus  disposed  of;  but  the  objection  against 
the  Scriptures,  drawn  from  the  diversity  with  which  the  different  Chris- 
tian sects  interpret  its  requirements  respecting  doctrines,  institutions, 
and  practices,  perplexed  him  much  more.  But  gradually,  as  he  pro- 
ceeded through  his  other  task,  be  was  enabled  to  discern  that  the  matters 
on  which  Christians  differ  are  really  not  enjoined  in  Scripture,  and  that 
they  are  well  enough  agreed  on  the  leading  points  of  Scripture  teach- 
ing, differing  only  in  special  interpretations,  in  the  dogmas  they  seve- 
rally connect  with  them,  and  the  inferences  they  draw  from  them — all 
which  must  be  ascribed  to  the  systematising  tendency  of  the  hmnan  mind. 

This  is,  we  believe,  a  correct  statement  of  the  author's  arguments  and 
conclusions,  as  collected  from  the  somewhat  diffuse  account  g^ven  in  his 
preface.  In  illustration  of  them  we  have  two  closely-printed  octavo 
volumes.  The  author  succeeds  very  well  in  showing  the  insufficient 
and  unsatis&ctory  nature  of  the  best  results  to  which  Natural  Theology 
can  lead.  Further  instruction  being  therefore  needed,  the  claims  of  the 
revelation  actually  offered  miist  be  tested  by  the  credibility  of  the  writers, 
which  is  established  by  the  shown  impossibility  of  their  being  impos- 
tors and  knaves,  which  must  have  been  the  case  if  they  claimed  authority 
which  they  knew  they  did  not  possess,  or  taught  that  which  they  did  not 
know  to  be  true.  All  this  is  easy,  and  the  investigation  thus  far  is 
ingeniously  conducted,  and  will  be  of  considerable  use,  although  less  new 
to  the  theological  public  than  the  writer  supposes,  unless  in  the  mode 
of  treatment  and  the  character  of  the  £&cts  adduced.  But  when  he 
proceeds  to  expatiate  and  set  forth  anew  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  the 
well-instructed  reader  speedily  loses  confidence  in  hi*-  -i«tnde,  and  the 
uninstructed  one  gets  confused  and  unsettled.  The  atteiliol  a?  recon- 
struct the  Christian  system  in  the  nineteenth  century,  alone  b^cei^s  to 
evince  that  hardihood  and  self-confidence  which  is  so  oflen  fou»id  in 
half-instructed  minds,  and  which  seems  to  characterise  the  labours  of 
amateur  theologians  both  in  this  countrv  and  in  America.  The  sin- 
cerity of  the  author,  his  zeal  for  what  he  conceives  to  be  truth,  his 
undoubted  wish  to  do  good,  and  the  great  labour  he  has  bestowed  on 
his  undertaking,  entitle  him  to  respect ;  and  he  often  presents  materials 
worthy  the  consideration  of  thoughtful  minds;  but  he  has  evidently 
undertaken  a  task  for  which  he  is  unfit,  and  the  results  which  he  has 
reached  afford  him  a  very  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  scheme  of  Scripture 
doctrine,  being,  as  he  states,  all  that  is  positively  required  or  enjoined. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  points  which  we  have  noted  in  our 
progress  through  the  work. 

Inspiration  was  in  the  apostles  ^  a  supernatural  remembrance  of  what 
Christ  had  taught  them  during  his  personal  ministry,  by  which  they 


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446  Notices  of  Books.  [July, 

were  enabled  not  only  to  teach  the  truth,  but  to  avoid  any  preBump- 
tuous  teachings  on  subjects  concerning  winch  tliey  had  no  sup^natoral 
remembrance.  We  can  by  the  same  view  comprehend  the  inq^iratioa 
of  Moses  and  tlie  Old-Testament  Prophets.' — vol.  i.  p.  270. 

Original  Sin  is  a  doctrine  Dr.  McCulloh  cannot  see  in  Scripture, 
nor,  consequently,  that  any  total  and  absolute  depravation  of  man's 
nature  was  the  consequence  of  Adam's  transgression.  That  tnms- 
g^ression  consisted  in  the  choice  of  one  form  of  probation  for  another 
which  God  had  thought  best  fur  iuni,  and  involved  the  loss  of  certain 
privileges  only  suited  to  the  condition  relinquished,  but  entiuled  no 
disqualification  for  efficient  probation  under  the  inevitably  altered  cir- 
cumstances. In  &ct,  he  leaves  man  so  free  and  bis  will  so  efficient, 
that  he  finds  no  room  for  the  doctrines  of  grace,  and  rejects  them  with 
some  contumely.  Thus  also  he  is  manifestly  embarrassed  by  having 
thus  virtually  left  himself  without  neeti  for  the  'sacrificial  death  of 
Christ,'  which  he  sees  to  be  distinctly  declared  in  Scripture,  and  con- 
cerning which  his  views  are  very  obscurely  expressed.  However,  this 
obscurity  lie  assigns  to  the  Scripture  itselfl  He  declares  that  Jesus  is 
revealed  to  mankind  only  as  the  Messiah,  and  that  any  other  doctrine 
concerning  him  is  presumptuous. 

'  Whether  the  apostles  possessed  any  knowledge  coDceming  the  inherent  nature 
of  Jesus  Christ,  or  of  the  theory  by  which  the  salvatioo  of  mankind  was  accot 
plished,  I  alto^^ether  doubt ;  for  why  should  they  forbear  to  oommnoicate  it  when 
their  great  bosmess  was  to  conyinoe  and  convert  the  world  ?  or  if  they  were  Ibr- 
bidden  to  announce  it,  what  must  we  think  of  those  theologians  who  hiave  under- 
taken to  explain  these  subjects  as  essential  to  Christian  ftuth  ?' — voL  ii.  p.  43. 

And  again  :•» 

*  However  distinctly  the  Scriptures  inform  us  that  Jesus  of  Nasareth  ia  the 
Messiah,  they  give  us  no  formal  information  whatever  as  to  his  inherent  nature, 
nor  as  to  the  principle  on  which  his  Messiabship  was  founded.  AH  that  has  beeu 
distinctly  communicated  to  us  is,  that  in  virtue  of  his  humiliation,  personal  suf- 
fbring,  and  death,  he  became  the  author  and  basis  of  our  salvation,  and  everwore 
exists  as  our  Saviour,  Mediator,  or  High-priest  before  Jehovah,  through  wbona  w« 
can  only  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  everlasting  acceptance  hereafter  in  th« 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Seeing,  then,  that  the  Scriptures  have  revealed  nothing  to 
us  formally  concerning  the  mherent  nature  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  or  as  to  the  prin- 
ciple through  which  our  salvation  was  accomplished  by  him,  nothing  can  be  siore 
nnjustiiable  than  for  any  one  to  assume  any  particular  opinioii  on  those  onre- 
vealed  sul^ects,  and  then  to  insist  that  the  whole  scheme  of  Jehovah's  purposes 
with  mankmd  is  to  be  estimated  by  human  inferences  deduced  from  their  assump- 
tions respecting  the  inherent  nature  of  the  Messiah/ — vol.  i.  p.  d.')9. 

Now  here  the  author  clearly  assigns  to  the  sacred  writers  that  ob- 
scurity which  has  arisen  in  his  own  mind  from  his  rejection  of  thm 
doctrine  of  original  sin  and  the  corruption  of  man's  natiure  by  the  fidl 
of  Adam.  His  refusal  to  read  the  intimations  concerning  Christ  and 
his  offioe  by  the  light  of  this  doctrine,  leaves  no  proper  place  for  Chiiit 
in  the  system,  and  is  the  source  a£  all  that  inoomprehen^bilitj  which  he 
proclaims.  That  which  he  cannot  reoouoile  with  his  theory  of  human 
perfectibility,  he  declares  to  be  incomprehensible.  But  he,  as  a  j^y- 
sacian,  should  know  that  the  incapacity  of  seeing"  may  as  well  be  be- 
cause the  eye  is  blinded,  as  because  the  object  is  in  darkness. 


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1853,]  Nctiee^  of  Books.  447 

We  have  no  apeoe  for  further  details,  but  have  produced  enough  to 
subetantiate  the  character  we  have  given  of  this  curious  work,  which 
we  are  sorry  to  place  among  those  large  monuments  of  wasted  labour, 
of  which  too  many  have  of  late  passed  imder  our  notice. 


Christian  Sociology.  Jn  two  Parts.  By  the  B«v.  Jou^  P£Xi£n 
Bell,  Hamilton,  Adams,  and  Co.,  London;  George  and  Robert 
King,  Aberdeen. 

This  is  one  of  those  books  that  will  have  to  encounter  the  popular  ban 
as  being  too  high  to  be  understood  by  ordinary  readers.  We  should 
indeed  suppose  that  few  Of  this  class  will  be  enticed,  af^er  glancing  at 
the  synopsis,  to  read  the  book  ;  and  tho$e  who  set  themselves  to  do  so 
will,  in  all  likelihood,  after  labouring  through  a  few  chapters,  throw  it 
down  in  vexation,  quoting  the  dictum  of  the  popular  oracle,  ^He 
should  write  as  clear  as  that  every  one  could  understand  him.'  The 
utterances  of  popular  oracles,  however,  have  not  always  been  ♦  words 
of  truth  and  soberne8s,'-^at  all  events,  this  one  was  not  made  a  rule 
by  him  who  taught  and  'spake  as  never  man  spake.'  His  hearers 
often  misunderstood  him,  and  often  did  not  understand  him  at  all ;  even 
his  own  disciples,  again  and  again,  had  to  ask  him  to  explain  in  private 
what  he  had  taught  in  public ;  and  we  are  also  told  bv  the  Fellow  of 
the  Great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  that  Mn  all  his  qpistles  there  are 
some  things  hard  to  be  understood,'  and  the  experience  of  the  Christian 
Church  has  verified  the  truth  of  this,  for  these  epistles  have,  perhaps, 
been  made  more  the  ground  of  controversy  than  all  the  other  New 
Testament  writings  put  together.  Will  the  popular  dictum  just  quoted, 
apply  to  these  examples,  or  will  it  possess  authoritative  force  in  view 
of  the  fact-— that  there  is  no  book  at  once  so  plain  and  yet  so  ftill  of 
mystery  as  the  Bible  ? 

It  is  the  aim  of  Christianity  to  reveal,  not  only  the  '  g^race  of  God 
as  bringing  salvation  to  all  men,  and  teaching  them  to  deny  all  ungod- 
liness and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly ;' 
but  also  to  elevate  the  entire  nature  of  man,  and  restore  it  to  something 
of  its  primeval  condition,  in  which  it  bore  the  distinct  impress  of  the 
divine  image,  in  the  nobleness  of  its  faculties  and  the  holiness  of  ita 
character.  The  fall  not  only  perverted  the  moral — it  degraded  the  in- 
tellectual nature  of  man.  His  understanding  was  darkened,  his  imagi- 
nation became  vain,  and  Christianity,  as  a  restorative  means,  not  only 
aims  at  the  moral  renovation,  but  at  the  mental  elevation  of  the  race ; 
it  is  an  enemy  to  ignorance  as  well  as  to  vice.  It  commands  its  pro- 
fessors to  be,  '  not  children  in  understanding ;  but  in  understanding  to 
be  men.*  And  It  indicates  anything  but  piety  of  a  healthy  character, 
when  teaching  or  preaching  of  an  intellectual  kind  is  little  appreciated, 
or  when  the  exercise  of  the  imder^tanding  on  spiritual  things  is  r»r 
nrded  as  inimical  to  the  cherishing  of  devout  affection  ;  surely  such  a 
neling  savours  of  the  spirit  of  monasticism :  an  understanding  active, 
vigorous,  strong,  is  necessary  to  the  gp*owth  of  Christian  character. 
The  moral  nature  depends  very  much  for  what  nourishes  and  sustains 

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448  Notices  of  Books.  [July, 

its  life  OD  the  intellectual,  the  intellectual  nature  supplies  thought,  and 
it  is  thought  that  quick^is  and  nourishes  the  life  of  the  moral  being. 

But  *  Christian  Sociology '  is  a  work  that  will  be  specially  appre- 
ciated by  those  who  have  an  individual,  mental,  and  a  moral  life,  and 
who  require  fresh  supplies  of  thought  for  the  nourishment  of  that  life ; 
and  whether  it  be  read  '  and  inwardly  digested,'  or  tiirown  aside  with 
distaste  as  too  difficult  to  understand,  it  is  worthy  to  be  read ;  and 
if  not  read  by  the  present,  will  be  read  by  the  generation  to  come. 
We  do  not  say  that  it  is  a  work  without  fault.  We  do  not  say 
that  in  some  parts  the  style  is  not  unnecessarily  obscure, — that  it 
is  not  characterised  by  peculiar  collocations  and  uses  of  words  which 
often  render  it  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  to  apprehend  the  writer's 
meaning;  but  still  its  merits,  as  to  its  tone  and  spirit, — as  to  its 
original  and  ftesh  views  of  truth,  are  of  a  rare  order.  As  already  inti- 
mated, the  woric  is  divided  into  two  parts.  Part  First,  after  a  short 
introduction,  commences  by  enunciating,  as  a  fundamental  principle, 
that '  To  meet  another's  needs,  which  that  other  cannot  meet,  is  what 
begets  genuine  affection ;  and  affection  so  b^otten  is  a  power  that  dis- 
poses to  meet  all  real  need,  and  to  meet  need  is  God's  way,  and  must 
be  ours,  if  we  would  act  our  proper  part  and  reap  our  allotted  enjoy- 
ment.' This  proposition  is  illustrated  and  enforced  in  four  sections, 
and  still  moro  practically  developed  in  Part  Second,  whero  it  is  shown, 
that '  To  seek  that  our  needs  be  met  while  we  could  meet  our  own,  or 
irrespective  of  the  rights  and  needs  of  others,  is  against  all  that  is 
divine,  is  what  throws  all  into  disorder,  and  is  attended  personally  with 
great  moral  degpradation.'  We  extract  the  following  passage  on  idle- 
ness, as  giving  some  indication  of  the  tone  of  the  book : — 

'  As  one  is  usefully  employed,  his  labour  is  a  check  upon  and  a  measure  to  his 
desires;  and  has,  besides,  a  purifying  and  healthftil  influence  in  turning  all — even 
of  appetite — into  moral  powers  for  great  good.  It  also  connects  us,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  a  right  and  vital  manner  with  others,  or  with  each  other's  needs,  inte- 
rests, or  comforts.  There  can  be  nothing  of  all  such  connected  with  idleness — 
idlenem  U  %Ue]fa  FEvfor  the  growth  cfatl  that  U  noxioua. 

*  When  one  who  oould  be  usefbl  surrenders  himself  to  idleness,  he  abandons  the 
good,  and  throws  himself  under  the  power  of  evil.  Whatever  be  his  needs,  no 
gradtude  can  spring  from  havine  them  met,  as  he  cannot  have  the  consciousness 
of  inability.  His  mind  is  of  itself,  or  of  his  will,  under  the  power  of  a  felse  or  de- 
praving action.  Nor  can  he  possibly  have  any  of  the  influences  or  moral  impulses 
which  the  spirit  of  labour  helps  to  stir  and  mature. 

'  Idleness  is  void  of  all  such,  acts  reversely  in  regard  to  all  such,  is  truly  a  fen 
for  the  growth  of  the  noxious ;  and  when  oue  who  could  be  useful  abandons  him- 
self to  it,  the  very  strength  which  he  possesses  but  stimulates  the  ranker  and 
ffrosscr  produce.  As  he  has  strength,  so  he  is  driven  by  the  force  of  insatiable 
desires  and  appetencies  to  seek,  as  his  supreme  good,  what  will  gratify,  or  to  8e«^ 
not  How  but  W HEBE  his  wants  will  be  met;  and  we  know  the  downwu^  career — 
the  yawning  of  destruction  which  each,  so  driven,  becomes  to  himself' 

Moro  stril^ing  still,  however,  is  the  following  view  of  the  ^  rotation 
which  Labouk  has  hitherto  had  to.  large  sections  of  our  population  :'-— 

'The  relation  which  labour  has  hitherto  had  to  great  secticniB  of  our  popula- 
tion—as more  that  of  a  price  for  havinf  done  well — has  shut  out  from  weU-d(nng 
all  that  have  had  the  misfortune  to  do  01 ;  and  that  though  but  once. 

*  It  is  well  known,  even  as  matters  still  are,  that  many  of  our  criminal  classes 
would  be  glad  to  get  back  into  society  through  the  honourable  and  only  legitimate 

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means  of  honest  indnsiry ;  but  then,  as  they  have  lost  all  character,  so  there  is  no 
labour  for  them.  Labour  has  been,  and  still  to  an  extent  is,  so  much  of  the  nature 
of  K  prize  for  having  done  well— consequently  such  a  privilege  even  to  the  best — 
that  there  is  none  in  any  way  for  those  stained  with  guilt,  and  who  would  gladly 
wash  away,  by  honest  toil,  meir  hated  stigma  of  crime.  In  consequence  of  this 
we  may  almost  as  reasonably  expect  the  hunger-driven  tiger  to  abandon  its  ferocity, 
as  expect  those  to  become  reformed  b^  that  which  goa(&  them,  in  pressing  need, 
to  seize  what  is  not  their  own ;  or  which  removes  from  them  lUl  earthly  means  of 
tivinff  honestly  and  so  regaining  their  character. 

'  Tnus,  labour  as  a  prize  for  having  done  well — ^more  than  an  open  way  induc- 
ing all  to  do  well  ~  rather  tends  to  sink  still  more  those  who  are  once  sunk. 
Hence  those  once  injured  in  character  are,  as  at  once,  for  ever  deprived  of  it,  and 
incapacitated  for  ever  becoming  useful  and  req>ectable  in  society.  Any  sudi  rela- 
tion of  labour  to  those  who  depend  upon  it  is  what  leaves  no  hope  to  the  crimintd 
but  in  the  way  of  living  by  his  crime.  And  truly,  all  may  well  feel,  that,  but  for 
such  a  state  of  matters,  many  who  are  dragged  along  as  miserable  wretches,  and 
that  can  have  but  a  felon's  sad  doom,  might  have  &en  useful,  respectable,  and 
honourable  members  of  society.    They  are,  as  often,  the  ruined  victims  of  a 

Sublic  wrong,  as  inherently  more  vicious  than  others ;  and  how  different  it  might 
ave  been  with  them,  had  their  circumstances,  at  one  period,  been  but  slightly 
better  r 

We  take  leave  of  Mr.  Bell's  book,  recommeDding'  it  to  thoughtful 
readers,  as  a  work  rich  in  suggestive  matter,  and  pervaded  by  profound 
and  just  views  of  the  principles  of  Christian  and  social  morality. 


Religion  and  Business;  or  Spiritual  Life  in  one  of  its  Secular  Be- 
partments.     By  A.  J.  Morris.     London,     Ward,  1853. 

Though  it  is  impossible  by  mere  exhortation,  or  by  mere  argument, 
to  promote  right  doing,  or  to  generate  right  feeling  or  right  principles, 
it  is  no  less  true  that  they  never  are  promoted,  at  least  not  ordinarily, 
independently  thereof.  It  is  quite  true  that  it  is  the  Spirit  alone  that 
quickeneth  ;  but  it  is  to  the  full  as  true  that  he  quickeneth  not  but  in 
connexion  with  the  truth.  As  a  man,  therefore,  in  the  first  instance  is 
convinced  of  sin,  and  moved  to  repentance  and  to  faith,  not  by  the 
Spirit  alone,  but  through  the  instrumentality  of  doctrine  and  of  exhor- 
tation, as  a  means ;  so,  apart  from  the  like  means,  no  Christian  can 
reasonably  expect  the  promotion  of  that  after-growth  in  Christian 
grace  and  excellence,  which  he  is  bound  to  seek  after,  and  to  which, 
by  God's  help,  he  may  attain. 

*  It  is  not  enough,'  says  the  author  of  the  discourses  before  us,  in  vindication  of 
the  topics  discussed  therein,  *■  that  there  be  a  penerallv  correct  faith  in  the  Gospel, 
to  secure  universal  rightness  of  action.  It  will  not  do  for  a  man  to  say,  "  Oh  1  if 
a  man's  heart  is  changed,  he  will  have  a  knowledge  of  all  duties,  and  will  perform 
them ;  the  Christian  cannot  live  in  sin  ;  let  there  be  but  a  principle  of  true  grace 
and  all  dse  will  follow  ;  moralitv  aiid  godliness  will  always  go  together."  This 
is  true  to  a  certain  extent,  but  the  doctrine  requires  discrimination  and  limitation. 
A  man  may  be  godly  in  the  main,  and  yet  he  may  not  be  acquainted  with  all  his 
obfigations ;  or,  knowing  them,  may  not  discharge  them.  Universal  observation 
proves  the  possibilitv  ofmoral  ignorance  and  moral  weakness  being  allied  to  some 
measure  of  spirituality.  Men  have  lived  in  all  ages,  and  all  societies,  who  have 
had  the  fear  of  God  within  them,  and  have,  nevertheless,  not  detected  their  duty 
in  all  things,  nor  done  it— yea,  have  lived  in  the  constant  performance  pf  acts  con- 
tradicted by  the  spirit  and  letter  of  Christianity.  However  it  may  be  accounted 
for,  so  it  is.    The  judgment  is  unenlightencKl  or  the  will  is  feeble.    Men,  good 


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450  Notices  of  Boolu.  [ July» 

men,  iie«d  to  have  their  da^  pointed  ont;  general  principles  6iey  are  nnable  to 
apply ;  the^  need  to  haTe  their  duty  enforced ;  and  one  reason,  doubtless,  why  ao 
many  live  m  systematic  neglect  ot  Christian  moralities  is  to  be  found  in  the  ab- 
sence of  particular  instruction  in  them.  The  public  ministry  is  often  too  much 
confined  to  the  generalities  of  truth,  and  privilege,  and  law,  learing  a  larse  number 
of  minds  in  dankness  as  to  the  things  to  which  these  are  to  be  applied,  and  the 
manner  of  their  application.  It  is  possible  to  be  delighted  with  a  doctrine,  and 
yet  to  have  no  just  conception  of  its  practical  I)earing8 ;  to  revel  in  the  thought  of 
a  blesjsing.  and  yet  not  discern  its  exact  and  full  force  as  a  moral  motive ;  to  have 
an  intense  admiration  of  the  principles  of  equity  and  love,  and  yet  be  a  stranger  to 
both  the  theory  and  practice  of  them  in  the  varied  relations  of  life  and  the  world. 
The  illastration  of  the  Qospel  cannot  be  comfdete  unless  it  be  specific;  itt  enforce- 
ment mast  be  defective  if  it  be  not  particular.  This  is  my  reason  for  endeaTooring 
to  point  out  how  the  Christian  man  should  walk  so  as  to  please  God  in  connexion 
with  his  secular  pursuits.'  —Pp.  5,  6. 

There  is  we  believe  much  and  deep  truth  in  these  remarks.  We 
doubt  not  that  many  Christians  go  halting  all  their  days  mainly  be- 
cause their  attention  is  confined  too  exclusively  to  matters  of  mere 
doctrine.  For  it  is  only  by  the  harmonious  combination  of  doctrinal 
statement  with  practical  and  practicable  precept,  that  the  graces  of 
faith  and  love  towards  God  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  justice  and  bene- 
volence towards  men  on  the  other,  can  be  maintained.  We  may  easily 
perplex  ourselves  indeed  with  questions  connected  with  the  precise 
sphere  and  limit  of  human  and  of  divine  agency  in  the  production  or 
cultivation  within  us  of  that  which  is  good ;  but  Scripture  recoenises 
both  agencies.  He  who  looks  therefore  only  to  one,  whether  it  be  to 
the  Spirit  alone,  or  whether  to  exhortation  and  human  teaching  only, 
expects  g^ood  otherwise  than  as  the  word  of  God,  and  otherwise  than  as 
experience  warrants  us  to  expect  it. 

Without  further  remark  of  our  own,  as  to  the  advantage,  and  even 
necessity,  of  direct  and  of  frequent  exhortation  upon  points  no  less  of 
mordlity  and  of  practice,  than  of  doctrine,  we  most  heartily  conmiend 
our  author's  book  to  the  attention  of  our  readers.  They  will  find  in  it 
much,  which,  if  they  g^ve  good  heed  thereto,  may,  through  God's  bless- 
ing, become  to  them  a  means  of  growth  and  of  grace — much  wberebv 
they  may,  if  Christians,  stir  up  that  ^ft  that  is  within  them  to  fresh 
activity  and  life.  And,  as  the  Spirit  of  God  operates  upon  the  soul  in 
connexion  with  the  presentation  and  enforcement  of  the  truth,  it  is  our 
hope  no  less  than  our  prayer,  that,  in  connexion  with  the  truths  urged 
in  the  present  volume,  he  may  so  operate  upon  the  minds  of  not  a  few, 
as  to  give  the  writer  reason  to  rejoice  that  he  has  not  run  in  vain, 
neither  laboured  in  vain. 


The  American  Pfdpil.     Sermons   by  the  most  eminent  American 
Divmes.     T.  and  T.  Clark,  Edinburgh.     1862. 

This  collection  of  sermons  by  twelve  selected  American  preachers  will 
excite  much  interest,  not  only  for  their  own  intrinsic  merit,  which  is  of 
no  common  order,  but  for  the  opportunity  which  it  affords  to  English 
readers  of  judging  of  the  pulpit  efforts  of  our  Transatlantic  brethren. 
Some  of  the  names  are  alr^y  well  known ;  for  example,  Albert 
Barnes,  whose  Notes  on  the  New  Testament  are  so  deservedly  popular. 


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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  451 

The  sermon  on  ^  Missionary  Enterprise'  is  a  noble  production,  exhibiting 
what  true  religion  is,  and  to  what  exertions  it  must  give  life  and 
energy,  distinguishing  it  from  all  those  deceitful  forms  of  godliness, 
whether  intellectual,  ideal,  or  ritual,  by  which  the  *  broadway '  of  de- 
struction is  paved.  Dr.  Spring's  *  Alarming  Power  of  Sin  *  is  an 
earnest  appeal  to  the  conscience,  and  delineates  in  fearful  colours  the 
soul-destroying  tendency  of  those  evil  habits  which  have  spontaneous 
growth  in  the  unconverted  heart,  tending  as  they  do  to  make  religion 
more  difficult,  and  the  way  of  death  more  absolutely  inevitable.  In 
Dr.  Hodge's  sermon  on  '  Faith  in  Christ,*  we  have  the  well-digested 
composition  of  a  trained  theologian.  There  is  less  care  perhaps  for 
the  rhetorical  ornament  which  a  fertile  imagination  would  delight  in ; 
but  for  accuracy  of  expression,  clearness  of  doctrine,  and  fon;e  in  the 
treatment,  we  have  a  sermon  that  will  bear  comparison  with  the  highest 
class  of  discourses.  We  seem  to  trace  in  this  series  the  working  of 
American  manners  and  modes  of  thought.  In  many  respects  the 
divines  of  our  own  land  may  sit  at  their  feet.  Theology  has  been, 
perhaps,  more  deeply  cultivated  than  with  us,  and  the  metaphysical 
schools  of  Scotland  and  Germany  have  shed  on  it  a  legitimate  influence* 
At  the  same  time  there  is  the  practical  earnestness  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  an  obvious  determination  not  to  '  stand  all  the  day  idle,'  but  to 
exhibit  Christianity  as  life  and  action,  as  well  as  thought  and  feeling. 


The  ReveoUed  Economy  of  Heaven  €tnd  Earth,     London :  Bosworth, 

1852. 

This  book  describes  the  Economy  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  as  supposed 
by  the  writer,  rather  than  as  revealed,  so  at  least  we  imagine.  Yet  it  is 
the  ofi&pring  of  a  vigorous  mind,  and  one  which  is  devout  while  it  is 
eminently  speculative.  The  author  has  endeavoured  to  view  the  things 
which  he  treats,  as  the  astronomer  the  courses  and  phenomena  of  the 
stars — at  a  distance.  And  this  mode  is  recommended  to  others,  as  if 
man  could  or  ought  to  assimie  such  a  position.  Our  author  has  laboured 
to  exhibit  the  supernatural  history  of  man,  or  the  history  of  man  in  his 
relations  to  God,  in  accordance  with  certain  principles  which  he  believes 
to  be  fixed,  definite,  and  appreciable.  When  these  principles  are  appre- 
hended we  are  presumed  to  be  in  a  position  to  pursue  our  inquiries 
successfully.  These  principia  are  the  seeds  of  human  history.  As  their 
development  through  long  ages  makes  up  the  whole  round  of  human 
existence  and  experience ;  so  their  development  in  the  mind  makes  us 
conscious  of  that  whole  by  exhibiting  it  to  us  in  miniature^  an  Iliad 
in  a  nutshell.  Hence  each  man  n»y  have  in  his  personal  consciousness 
the  record  of  the  race  and  all  its  future  fortunes.  The  web  of  the 
world's  history  may  now  be  woven  by  every  man  for  himself,  and  out 
of  himself,  as  spiders  weave  their  webs  I  But  external  revelation  is  not 
dispensed  with.  We  are  tdd  that  'the  assertion  that  the  Christian 
facts,  because  introduced  into  the  world  by  a  fourth  and  superadded 
revelation,  must  therefore  stand  on  peculiar  ground  and  apart  from 
others  previously  known,  has  no  higher  authority  than  a  tague  impres- 


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452  Notices  of  Books.  [July, 

sion  of  the  mind.  Moreover,  besides  this,  it  implies  an  undue  dispa^ 
ragement  of  those  verities  which  the  three  earlier  revelations  of  con- 
sciousness, of  nature,  and  of  Providence  have  conveyed  to  us.  It  is 
freely  granted  that  these  are  not  more  authentic,  but  then  they  are  not 
less  so,  than  are  the  verities  which  the  Christian  religion  has  disclosed  ; 
nor  can  these  latter  claim  our  regard  on  any  ground  higher  than  that  on 
which  the  others  may  be  urged  on  us.  .  .  .  AH  these  natural  verities,  as 
they  are  called,  have  the  same  origin  and  the  same  authority  with  those 
which  are  exclusively  distinguished  as  Revealed.  They  cannot  there- 
fore stand  on  lower  ground  than  these,  or  occupy  a  position  of 
inferiority,'  Ac.  (Pre/,  pp.  27,  28.)  This  is  something  to  say  of  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God ;  and  certainly  suggests  the  absence 
of  the  consciousness  of  modesty  for  the  time  being.  It  will  be  expected 
that  the  views  given  of  the  past  and  the  future  of  man  are  not  exclu- 
sively limited  to  Scripture  representations.  But  the  author  should 
have  remembered  the  words  of  one  who  said,  *  Search  the  Scriptures,' 
<&c. ;  and  of  another  who  exhibited  the  same  Scripture  as  capable  of 
doing  for  man  what  neither  Nature  nor  Providence,  much  less  human 
consciousness,  could  effect  for  Mm.  (See  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17.)  We  are 
very  jealous  of  any  principle  which  either  lowers  the  authori^  of  Holy 
Scripture,  or  raises  other  to  a  level  with  it.  True,  our  author  has  read 
and  probably  studied  the  Bible,  but  he  has  attached  too  much  import- 
ance to  opinions  derived  from  other  sources.  Above  all,  the  writer 
overlooks  well-nigh  all  authority,  and  writes  down  as  fact  what  never 
occurred  except  in  his  own  beloved  consciousness,  and  as  future  what 
has  precisely  the  same  foundation.  Scripture  is  treated  with  a  vague- 
ness which  is  anything  but  pleasant.  Throughout  the  269  pages  there 
is  not  one  paissage  of  Scripture  formally  quoted,  and  but  three  or  four 
cited  incidentally.  Not  a  single  inspired  writer  is  named  as  such 
(though  Paul  and  Daniel  are  once  mentioned) ;  nor  is  any  book  of  the 
Sacred  Volume  designated.  We  do  not  remember  the  name  Jesus  or 
Christ  as  occurring  at  all,  although  many  times  He  is  mentioned  as 
the  Mediator.  Once  we  read  of  the  '  Holy  Spirit,'  and  once  of  the 
'  Paraclete  I '  Why  this  studious  avoidance  of  Scripture,  and  of  Scripture 
phraseology,  in  a  work  bearing  on  its  front  ^  The  RevecUed  Economy  of 
Heaven  and  Earth '  ?  Perhaps  it  may  be  urged  that  other  authorities 
have  fared  no  better.  This  is  partly  true.  There  are  probably  three  quo- 
tations marked  as  such,  only  one  of  which  is  acknowledged ;  it  is  at 
p.  215,  *  Physical  Theory  of  Another  Life,'  c.  15.  We  would  not  have 
references  to  authorities  dispensed  with :  Scripture  quotes  Scripture,  and 
even  inspired  writers  quote  uninspired  writings. 

Our  author  lays  it  down  as  an  ascertained  &ct  that  ^  the  great  purpose 
unto  which  God  has  made  all  things  within  our  view  instrumental  and 
subordinate '  is  '  the  welfiure  and  the  progressive  development,  through 
ascending  degrees  of  virtue  and  happiness,  of  that  moral  and  immortal 
being  which  is  kindred  with  his  own,'  p.  5.  From  this  starting-point 
he  proceeds  with  varied  success.  He  skilfully  describes  the  supposed 
original  constitution  of  man  in  innocence,  and  the  course  he  was  meant 
to  pursue.     The  apostaoy  is  viewed  partly  as  a  calamity,  and  we  are 

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1853.]  Notices  of  Boohs.  453 

gravely  told  that  man  '  had  not  in  &ct  incurred  the  penalty ^cfytn^ 
thou  shali  diey  because  he  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  a  voluntary 
transgressor ;'  but  in  this  sense  they  had  not  been  culpable/  p.  66  We 
should  rather  receive  the  old  theology,  ^  By  one  man  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  <Jbc/  (see  Rom.  v.  12-21.)  Still  he  admits  that  death  is 
penal  and  a  memorial  of  transgression,  and  says  '  it  symbolized  before 
them  the  extreme  infliction  with  which  they  would  have  been  visited 
had  theirs  been  self-originated  g^ilt,'  p.  92. 

We  are  informed  that  the  Mediator,  besides  modifying  the  original 
constitution  of  man,  added  ^a  new  provision  which  may  be  oalled 
supernatural  and  supplementary  to  the  original  constitution.'  ^  This 
new  provision  consisted  in  the  establishment  or  appointment  of  another 
world  or  region,  wherein,  during  the  period  intermediate  between  their 
dismissal  from  earth  and  the  close  of  this  remedial  dispensation,  all 
human  spirits  are  to  abide  under  the  supervision  of  the  Mediator. 
Its  establishment,  for  the  first  time,  at  this  period,  is  manifest  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  represented  as  the  Mediator's  realm,  where,  manifested  to 
all  its  occupants,  and  recognised  by  them  in  His  official  character,  He 
abides  presiding,  till  the  history  of  the  human  race,  as  such,  has  ended,' 
pp.  94,  95.  This  tertium  quid  is  a  &vourite  idea  with  our  author,  who 
repeatedly  and  at  length  recurs  to  it,  but  with  his  wonted  disregard  of 
proof.  In  the  place  just  quoted  the  Mediator  is  said  to  '  abide  pre- 
siding' in  this  intervening  region,  but  at  p.  Ill  we  read  of  'His 
removal  immediately  and  publicly  disclosed,  unto  that  superior  state 
which  other  mortal  probationers  may  not  occupy  until  after  they  have 
passed  through  an  intermediate  condition.'  The  intention  of  the 
^  intermediate  condition '  is  remedial,  a  sort  of  pupilage  for  the  superior 
glory  for  which  none  are  prepared  at  death !  Without  staying  to  prove 
the  non-existence  of  a  state  respecting  which  we  believe  *•  the  wish  was 
father  to  the  thought,'  we  ask  how  the  supposed  occupation  of  the 
Redeemer  in  it  agrees  with  tliose  statements  of  Holy  Writ  which  tell  us 
that  He  shares  the  throne  of  Jehovah  in  the  highest  glory  ? 

Another  view  to  which  we  except  is^  that  the  worship  of  the  true 
God  was  universal  in  the  old  world,  and  in  some  sense  still  is;  that 
special  revelations  were  given  from  heaven  to  the  old  heathen,  and  that 
they  were  subjects  of  sanctifying  g^race.  I  delators  are  sdd  to  have 
**  relapsed  into  inferior  rites  of  worship,'  p.  1 23.  How  different  all  this 
from  the  manly  and  outspoken  language  of  the  Bible !  But  a  mincing 
style  arrayed  in  studied  ambiguities,  and  abounding  in  circuitous  and 
periphrastic  euphemisms  gains  few  friends  and  conciliates  few  foes. 
There  seems  to  be  wanting  in  the  author  a  thorough  appreciation  of 
Scripture,  to  which  we  ascribe  his  lack  of  clear  and  defined  views  on 
many  points.  The  account  g^ven  of  the  divine  ordinance  which  sepa- 
rated the  Jews  from  all  other  nations  is  defective,  we  think  precisely  for 
the  reason  just  stated.  Already  we  have  referred  to  the  practical  dis- 
paragement of  the  written  word  which  we  observe ;  tins  especially 
applies  to  the  Old  Testament,  which  he  appears  to  treat  as  merely  a 
^  record '  of  man's  '  knowledge  of  the  Divine  relations '  '  authenticated ' 
by  Him  who  supplied  the  revelation  of  the  New  Testament,  which  ia 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  2    H 


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'  supplementary  to  those  of  nature,  of  consciousness,  and  of  ProTidoicey 
which  were  already  in  his  possession,'  p.  144. 

We  are  informed  at  p.  162,  163,  that  the  intermediate  state'  is  to 
continue  until  the  human  family  on  earth  attains  the  final  point  of 
elevation  *'  and  there  will  be  uniformity  of  knowledge  and  intellectual 
advancement  there  and  here.  Then  the  perceptions  of  all  human 
beings  will  be  identical.'  It  a]^f)eara,  then,  that  human  nature  will 
reach  its  level  universally  at  the  same  moment.  The  waters  of  hunuui 
progress  must  rise  more  rapidly  here,  or  slower  there,  if  this  is  to  be 
the  case,  for  they  are  very  low  among  men.  But  suppose  this  levd 
reached,  what  then  ?  ^  The  human  community  as  a  distinct  poriioii  of 
the  universal  family  of  souls,  will  be  absorbed  into  vaster  masses  of 
existence,'  n  e.  so  absorbed  as  to  cease  to  be  human.  Thus  saith  our 
oracle.  The  resurrection  and  the  grand  settlement  of  human  afiairs 
will  be  coetaneous.  Then  the  good  will  be  raised  to  the  next  degree  of 
happiness,  the  bad  depressed  to  the  next  degree  of  misery.  The  saved 
will  vastiy  outnumber  the  lost,  who  will  be  a  mere  fraction,  *•  only  a 
minority,  ar  comparatively  small  fragment ;'  '  a  small  minority  com- 
pared with  the  remainder  of  the  immortal  family,  and  may  be  regarded 
as  inconsiderable  fragments  which  have  been  struck  off  from  the  com- 
pacted mass  of  loyal,  orderly  existence.'  A  view  &r  more  cheering 
than  we  can  venture  to  take.  The  happy  will  be  eternally  so :  but 
the  author's  '  theory  of  another  life '  is  an  essentially  '  physical '  one* 
The  possible  termination  of  the  misery  of  the  reprobate,  and  the  pos- 
sible merging  of  heaven  itself  into  scmiething  higher  are  suggested. 
The  plurality  of  worlds,  and  perhaps  of  sinful  worlds,  finds  mvour. 
But  we  must  pause :  such  books  as  this  are  curiosities  of  literature^ 
abnormal  productions,  which  do  not  often  find  a  multitude  of  readers, 
but  which  have  considerable  influence  with  a  few.  There  is  that  here 
which  we  would  ever  treat  with  respect,  while  we  withhold  our  assent. 
There  is  no  bitterness,  but  throughout  the  writer  pronounces  ex  ccuhe^ 
drd  his  own  views,  scarcely  stopping  to  ask  what  those  of  oth^v  are, 
or  even  whether  they  have  any.  The  author  tells  us  on  what  authority 
he  has  mainly  relied  : — ^  Our  contemplations  have  been  dear,  and  we 
have  been  divinely  guided  in  pursuing  them.  .  .  .  We  have  passed 
onward through  the  guidance  of  a  firm  conviction  of  the  per- 
manence of  individual  consciousness,  and  of  moanl  character.  .  .  * 
Thus  our  path  though  widely  extended  has  throughout  been  sure.  We 
have  had  authentic  guidance  while  we  have  pursued  it,'  pp.  222,  223. 
But ^rm  conviction  is  not  always  divine  or  authentic  guidance :  and  so 
we  leave  this  work  to  its  experience,  whatever  that  may  be. 


The  Parables  Propheticedly  Explained,  Being  Lectures  delivered  at 
St.  George*s,  Bloomshury,  during  Lent^  1853.  By  twelve  Clergy- 
men of  the  Church  of  England,     London  :  J.  F.  Shaw.     1853.   * 

In  how  many  aspects  a  book  may  be  considered !  As  a  book — mere 
paper  and  type,  exhibiting  the  skill  and  taste  of  the  printer :  as  a 
literary  composition,  which  displays  the  artistic  ability  of  the  author. 

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1«53.]  Notices  of  B^oks.  455 

and  is  characterised  by  certain  peculiarities  of  style  and  expresnon :  or, 
we  may  inquire  into  the  disposition  of  mind  in  which  the  volume  has 
been  written — its  animus — the  spirit  of  the  author ;  or  the  purpose  to 
be  served, — why  the  book  was  published.  Or,  we  may  ask  what  need 
<Nr  room  there  is  for  such  a  work.  Nor  is  this  all :  we  may  estimate 
the  talent  and  tendencies  of  the  writer,  review  his  doctrines  and  princi- 
ples, test  their  accuracy  by  human  experience,  God's  Provxience, 
divine  revelation,  or  whatever  oth^  standard  they  can  be  judged  by, 
and  in  various  other  ways  form  an  opinion.  Thus  may  we  consider 
the  volume  before  us.  The  publbh^  has  performed  his  part  well,  and 
the  authors  have  produced  a  work  whose  style  is  always  transparent 
and  often  elegant  The  spirit  of  the  book  is  excellent,  and  charac- 
terised by  a  devout  earnestness  which  we  much  admire.  The  aim  is 
the  promulgation  more  especially  of  certain  opinions  which  are  gene- 
rally denominated  Millennariau,  and  the  book  owes  its  existence  to  its 
authors'  belief  that  their  opinions  are  of  great  importance,  and  that  the 
Second  Advent  of  the  Redeemer  is  at  hand.  The  ability  of  the  writers 
is  undeniable,  and  all  who  heard  or  have  read  these  Lectures  must 
regard  them  as  far  above  mediocrity.  The  doctrines  propounded  are 
those  of  a  section  of  the  Evangelical  Church,  though  not  those  of  a 
sect:  they  are  such  as  wise  men  have  long  debated;  many  have 
received  them,  more  have  not.  We  shall  not  profess  to  decide  dogmati- 
cally concerning  these,  but  a  survey  of  their  instory,  a  careful  examination 
of  Scripture,  and  other  inquiries,  have  not  produced  that  deep  impres- 
sion of  their  momentous  importance,  which  smne  have  received.  We 
cannot  see  that  the  parables  are  prophecies  in  any  proper  sense  of  the 
word :  they  contain  pnndfdes  rather  than  predictions ;  principles,  too, 
which  may  be  developed  in  any  ag&»  and  in  every  one.  The  parables 
■lay  be  germinant  histories  of  Chnst's  Church,  but  can  they  be  fostered 
or  forced  by  human  skill  so  as  to  give  us  prematurely  the  knowledge  of 
what  shall  be  in  its  season  ?  This  is  what  we  doubt.  We  think  these 
earnest  and  exc^ent.men  are  too  anxious  to  trace  analogies,  and 
collect  probabilities ;  and  too  sanguine  to  expect  others  to  imagine  that 
such  aiMdogies  and  probabilities,  firom  assumed  principles,  amount  to 
demonstration.  While  we  thus  speak,  we  cheerfully  achnit  that  a  large 
proportion  of  this  volume  has  been  perused  by  us  with  sincere  and 
cordial  assent ;  we  refer  especially  to  its  practical  lessons  and  tendency, 
which  are  beyond  all  praise.  Those  who  cannot  subscribe  to  its  pecu- 
liar doctrines  will  not  i^l  to  admire  the  excellent  and  earnest  tone  by 
which  it  is  characterised  throughout.  We  hope  all  who  feel  an  interest 
in  this  subject  will  read  and  judge  for  themselves. 


The  Lamp  and  the  LarUem ;  CTy  Light  fw  the  Tent  and  the  Traveller. 
By  J  AS.  HAMUiTON,  D.D.     Lcmdon:  Nisbett  and  Co.     1853. 

An  attractive  title,  and  such  a  name  as  that  of  the  excellent  and  gifted 
writer  of  thb  little  book,  would  alone  conmiand  attention.  But  in  this 
instance  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  work  ¥rill  ensure  for  it  a  wide  drcu- 
latkm,  and  win  for  it  a  distinguished  position  in  the  Family  Library  of 

2  H  2 

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45ft  Nuice%  of  BooJu,  [July^ 

the  Christian  household.  The  substance  of  the  first  three  chapters  has, 
it  sieems,  already  appeared,  and  part  been  reprinted  in  America.  The 
volume  consists  of  eight  chapters :  What  fifty  years  have  done  for  the 
Bible, — what  the  Bible  may  do  for  ourselves, — the  Bible  and  the 
Scholar,  the  Inquirer,  the  Christian,  and  the  Invalid, — Hints  to  the 
Bible  Student,— the  Illuminated  Bible  and  the  Living  Epistle ;  with  an 
appendix  of  Helps  to  the  Study  of  the  Bible.  This  will  show  what  the 
book  aims  to  be,  and  that  it  contains  a  word  for  all.  Any  one  who 
takes  it  up  will  find  in  it  that  which  will  both  interest  and  profit. 
There  is  a  novelty  and  freshness  in  the  style  of  this  author  which  keep 
alive  the  attention;  and  one  is  insensibly  drawn  along  without  the 
weariness  which  attends  the  perusal  of  many.  In  fact,  the  author's 
style  reminds  us  of  one  of  his  own  inimitable  comparisons  elsewhere — it 
is  like  the  swallciw's  flight.  Not  that  style  is  the  only  recommendation 
of  this  and  the  other  works  of  this  writer :  the  matter  is  good,  while 
the  manner  is  excellent.  Dainty  fare  for  the  intellectual  and  spiritual 
man  deserves  to  be  served  up  with  grace  and  elegance :  the  jewel 
should  be  in  keeping  with  its  casket.  All  the  charm,  however,  should 
not  be  of  circumstance.  Here  we  have  substance  as  well  as  circum- 
stance. A  kindly  glow  of  Christian  affection  vrarms  in  every  page ; 
a  vivadousness  and  ingenuity  of  thought,  as  well  as  of  expression,  con- 
tinually meet  us;  and  the  varied  and  extensive  information  of  the 
author  is  by  his  happy  genius  betrayed  rather  than  displayed.  Above 
all  and  in  all  tliere  is  the  thoroughly  devout  and  intelligent  and  manly 
appreciation  and  commendation  of  the  Bible ;  this  indeed  is  the  leading 
feature  of  the  work,  as  its  primary  aim  is  to  lead  to  the  same  sentiments 
in  others.  To  call  this  one  of  the  best  publications  which  we  know  to 
cherish  the  love  of  the  Bible  in  the  minds  of  the  young  especially,  is 
perhaps  not  to  give  it  the  praise  it  merits.  Such  a  book  is  calculated 
to  do  a  world  of  good  in  the  Jubilee  Year  of  the  Bible  Society,  and  is 
likely  to  have  a  larg^  share  of  attention  when  its  real  chajticter  is 
known.  Such  a  book,  moreover,  is  adapted  to  prove  that  the  Gospel  is 
ever  in  advance  of  the  age,  its  forerunner  and  not  its  follower ;  and 
that  it  is  the  parent  and  patron  of  all  that  is  excellent  in  man  and  good 
for  him.  We  earnestly  commend  this  graceful  tribute  to  the  Bible  to 
the  notice  of  our  readers. 


Water  from  the  IVellspringy  for  the  Sabbath  Hours  of  Afflicted 
Believers;  being  a  complete  Course  of  Morning  and  Mcening 
Meditations /or  every  Sunday  in  the  Year.  By  E.  H.  BiCKERSTETHy 
M.A.     Religious  Tract  Society. 

Though  grace  is  not  hereditary,  yet  instead  of  the  fathers  shall  rise  up 
the  children.  The  excellent  Bickersteth  is  gone,  but  his  children 
follow  in  his  steps,  and  go  on  with  his  work  for  the  edification  of  the 
Church.  This  volume  is  by  the  son  of  that  good  man.  It  was  sug« 
gested,  we  learn,  ^  by  the  seclusion  of  a  beloved  sister  in  the  chamber  of 
sufiering.'  The  devoted  brother  from  week  to  week  sent  her  a  few 
lines  for  her  Sabbath  meditations.     A  selection  from  these,  with  addi<» 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853J  Notices  of  Boohs,  457 

iional  musings,  and  a  few  poetical  pieces,  make  np  the  volume.  The 
meditatioiis  are  upon  some  of  the  sweetest  passages  of  the  Word  of 
God.  They  are  conceived  in  the  most  devout  spirit,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  name  anything  more  adapted  to  its  purpose.  One  great 
reason  for  this  is,  doubtless,  that  it  was  written  for  an  actual  sufferer, 
and  a  real  Christian.  We  venture  to  predict  for  this  small  volume 
considerable  popularity.  It  will  come  to  the  afflicted  as  a  welcome 
messenger,  bringing  words  of  grace  and  consolation  ;  it  will  remain  in 
the  chamber  of  suffering  as  a  grateful  visitor  bearing  refreshing  sup* 
plies  of  Living  Water  from  the  Well-spring  of  the  Word.  Books  for 
the  afflicted  abound,  but  there  is  room  for  such  as  this,  so  fragrant  with 
the  influences  which  cheer  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  in  his  trial.  By 
its  brevity  and  variety  it  is  adapted  to  those  who  have  little  time  an 
well  as  to  those  who  have  little  streng^th.  It  would  not  be  easy  where 
all  is  so  excellent  to  make  selections,  but  we  counsel  the  tried  and 
afflicted  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  it  The  poems  are  chaste 
and  devout.  That  '  On  the  Death  of  R.  B.'  is  peculiarly  natural  and 
pathetic^-especially  the  closing  stanza — 

*  **  U  this  the  happv  land,  mother  ? 
My  heart  is  almost  still." 
The  childless  mother  felt  her  hand 
All  in  a  moment  chill.' 


The  Way  to  God ;  or^  the  Doctrine  of  Christ's  Mediatorship  brie/fy 
expounded.  By  the  Rev.  T.  M^Lauchlan.  Edinburgh  :  JohnsUme 
and  Hunter.     1853. 

It  is  a  true  charge  against  Popery  that  it  multiplies  intercessors  ;  and, 
when  it  does  not  entirely  lose  sight  of  the  One  Intercessor  of  the  Bible, 
that  it  regards  Him  as  a  sort  of  primus  inter  pares.  But  we  fear  that 
it  is  sometimes  a  true  charge  against  Protestants,  that  in  our  anxiety  to 
avoid  one  extreme  we  have  gone  to  the  other;  not  doctrinally  but  prac- 
tically. Let  us  not  be  misunderstood,  every  orthodox  creed,  and  every 
evangelical  prayer,  recognises  the  doctrine.  But  do  not  the  great  mass 
of  bdievers  foil  to  appreciate  the  Mediatorship  as  a  whole  ?  The  me- 
diation of  merit  seems  better  understood  than  that  of  intercession. 
That  is  to  say,  men  realize  more  fully  their  obligations  to  Calvary, 
than  to  the  continued  occupation  of  Christ  on  their  behalf,  as  ever  living 
to  make  intercession.  Hence  how  the  expression  '  the  finished  work  of 
Christ '  is  misunderstood  ;  the  work  of  Christ  on  earth  is  finished,  but 
not  his  workybr  earth.  Christ  the  sacrifice  has  been  slain,  but  Christ 
the  priest  is  gone  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us.  We  attach 
immense  importance  to  comprehensive  views  of  doctiine,  and  esjpecially 
when  its  bearing  is  so  eminently  practical  as  in  the  present  instance. 
We  are  glad  to  see  a  portable  treatise  on  this  great  theme  of  the  Media- 
torial scheme.  On  a  subject  so  vast  and  occupying  so  central  a  position 
the  temptation  was  to  enlarge,  the  difficulty  to  condense ;  but  by  keep- 
ing in  view  the  practical  aspect  of  the  doctrine,  a  comprehensive  survey 
of  it  has  been  made  and  presented  in  a  compendious  form.     This  is  not 

Digitized  by  KJKJ^JWIK^ 


458  Notices  cf  Books.  [Juljf, 

therefore  another  chapter  added  to  the  pdemics  of  the  question.  The 
author's  stand-point  is  essentially  Scottish,  or  rather  presbyterian  ;  and, 
therefore,  his  book  will  hardly  be  so  attractiTe  on  this  side  the  Tweed 
as  on  the  other,  where  the  thedk)gy  of  Knox  and  the  Westminster 
Confession  is  so  much  more  prevalent.  At  the  same  time  our  anthor 
has  presented  us  with  mudi  that  is  seasonable  and  acceptable,  and 
nothing  which  is  not  propounded  earnestly  and  intelligaitly,  and,  we 
may  add,  devoutly  too.  We  are  sure  the  book  will  be  a  fiivourite  with 
many,  especially  such  as  believe  a  great  book  to  be  a  great  eviL  Our 
limits  will  not  allow  us  to  do  more  than  to  promise  those  who  read  this 
production,  that  they  will  find  in  it  much  to  instruct  and  edify,  and 
nothing  to  ofiend.  Where  it  does  not  satisfy  inquiry,  it  will  be  found 
to  encourage  and  assist  it  Its  tendency  is  to  lead  to  a  more  dilig^it 
searddnff  of  the  Scriptures  on  this  momentous  doctrine  of  the  way  of 
man's  suvation,  a  practical  acquaintance  with  which  is  essential  to  the 
eternal  happiness  of  every  man.  In  the  main  this  treatise  has  our 
cordial  approval  and  commendation. 


The  British  Jew$.     By  the  Rev.  John  Mijlls.     London :  Houlston 
and  Stononan. 

Thers  are  several  works  describing  the  ^  manners  and  customs,'  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Jews.  But  in  applying  to  any  practical 
literary  or  other  use  the  information  thus  supplied,  one  is  continually 
in  doubt  whether  the  particular  usage  which  attracts  attention  may  not 
at  this  day  be  obsolete,  or  whether,  although  subsisting  among  conti- 
nental Jews,  it  may  not  have  become  extinct  among  the  British  Jews, 
if  it  ever  existed  among  them.  The  value  of  the  work  before  us  is, 
that  it  removes  this  uncertainty  by  its  being  composed  of  information 
exclusively  referring  to  the  Jews  of  Great  Britain,  and  hj  being  derived 
not  from  books  (some  old,  and  some  continental)  but  firom  actual  ac- 
quaintance with  them,  and  from  information  furnished  by  themselves. 
The  work,  therefore,  supplies  what  has  been  felt  as  a  desideratum  by 
exact  inquirers,  and  relieves  them  from  the  danger  of  making  any 
mistakes  on  general  authorities  respecting  the  practices  of  the  Jewish 
portion  of  our  fellow  citizens.  We  remember  to  have  stated  in  a  work 
published  many  years  ago,  that  the  Jews,  on  account  of  the  sinew  that 
shrank  in  Jacob's  thigh,  and  from  the  supposed  necessity  of  its  extrac- 
tion from  the  joints  used  for  food,  did  not  eat  the  hind  quarters  of  i^iy 
animals.  For  this  we  were  called  to  account  by  a  Jewish  corre- 
spondent, and  felt  humbled  accordingly.  But  it  now  appears  Uutt  the 
statement  was  practically  correct ;  for  Mr.  Mills  states : — '  It  is  un- 
lawful to  eat  the  hind  quarters  of  any  animal,  unless  a  certain  number 
of  the  sinews  that  are  in  the  thigh  be  taken  out.  This  is  done  by  the 
Shomer  ;^  but  as  the  work  is  tedious,  and,  consequently,  an  extra 
charge  is  made,  these  quarters  are  not  generally  consumed  by  the 

•  The  Shomer,  or  watcKei\  is  a  person  appointed  to  see  that  all  the  rules  for 
slaughtering  animals  are  observed  by  tbs  bntcber,  and  to  affix  bii  seal  to  the  meat 
in  attesution  of  the  fact. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


185a]  N&tiee%  of  Book$.  459 

Jewish  eommunity/  Although  most  of  the  usages,  d^,  are  such  as 
are  described  in  other  works ;  and  one  main  advantage  here  is  in  learn- 
ing how  &r  they  are  practised  by  British  Jews,  there  remains  much 
information  and  suggestions  not  to  be  found  elsewhere.  We  never  met 
before  with  the  curious  superstition  given  in  the  chapter  which  the 
author  devotes  to  the  observances  concerning  the  dead.  '  Should  many 
burials  occur  quickly  after  each  other  in  the  same  fiunily,  the  nearest 
surviving  relative  takes  a  padlock  and  locks  it,  and  lets  it  down  with 
the  coffin  into  the  grave,  then  throws  the  key  to  another  part  of  the 
ground.     This  is  done  to  arrest  the  mortality  in  the  family.' 

The  third  part  of  the  book,  which  relates  to  ^  the  social  condition  of 
the  Jews,'  will  be  regarded  as  most  generally  interesting.  In  one  of 
the  chapters  of  this  portion  the  author  undertakes  the  somewhat  perilous 
task  of  giving  the  Jewish  '  National  Traits  of  Character ;'  according  to 
this  the  Jew  is — 1.  Industrious ;  2.  Abstinent ;  8.  Cleanly ;  4.  Decent ; 
5.  Hospitable ;  6.  Sabbath-keeping.  This  is  one  side  of  the  picture. 
On  the  other  they  are  distinguished  for — 1.  An  intense  love  of  amuse- 
ment; 2.  A  love  of  finery;  S.  Proud  and  self-approving;  4.  Pas- 
sionate and  intolerant  to  each  other ;  5.  Superstitious.  Their  observ- 
ance of  their  sabbath  is  explained,  however,  to  consist  in  a  rigid 
abstinence  from  work.  *  The  generality  of  the  Jewish  teachers  hold 
that  it  is  a  day  of  pleasure-seeking.  Whatever  may  gratify  the  indi- 
vidual, whether  reading,  visiting  friends  and  acquaintances,  resorting  to 
places  of  diversion,  or  any  other  entertainment,  is  lawful.  They  deny 
that  it  is  a  day  set  wholly  ^part  for  spiritual  edification.  Consequently, 
most  of  the  comparatively  few  who  attend  the  synagogue  in  the  morning, 
with  the  great  majority  of  those  who  entirely  neglect  it,  spend  the 
remainder  of  the  day  in  recreation  and  amusement  Others,  however, 
hold  that  the  words  of  the  Prophet  are  still  in  force,  calling  them  from 
doing  their  pleasure  on  the  holy  day ;  and  that  they  should  not  do  their 
own  works,  nor  find  their  own  pleasure,  nor  speak  their  own  words, 
Isai.  Iviii.  13.'  The  love  of  finery  among  the  Jews  must  have  been 
observed  by  every  one,  and  is,  probably,  as  Mr.  Mills  supposes, '  a  relic 
of  their  oriental  taste,'  which  seems  to  us  not  obscurely  indicated  in  the 
Scriptures.  Their  self-approving  pride  is  founded  on  their  national 
antiquity,  and  on  the  conviction  that  they  are  still  the  chosen  people  of 
Heaven.  These  feelings  are  fostered  by  the  exclu^ve  mode  of  life, 
turning  almost  entirely  within  the  circle  of  their  own  community, 
haying  little  intercourse  with  their  neighbours,  and,  consequently,  in 
gieat  ignorance  of  Gentile  and  Christian  society. 

In  reference  to  the  political  status  of  the  British  Jews,  the  author 
contends  that  they  are  an  eminently  loyal  people,  attached  to  this 
country  and  its  free  institutions.  '  There  are  thousands  of  their  com- 
munity who  are  proud  that  Great  Britain  is  their  native  land,  and  that 
they  have  the  right  to  be  called  English  Jews.'  Foreign  Jews  also 
look  with  regard  to  this  country,  and  ^vourably  contrast  their  position 
here  with  that  in  which  they  stand  elsewhere.  '  Almost  without  excep- 
tion foreign  Jews  designate  Great  Britain  by  the  appellation  of 
City  of  Refuge.' 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


460  NotieeB  of  Booh.  [July^ 

Mr.  Mills  is  at  some  pains  to  diow  by  extracts  from  tbeir  iiritiogs 
that  the  sentiments  of  intelligent  modem  Jews  are  far  from  hostile 
towards  Christianity  and  its  Founder.  According  to  these  extracts  it  ia 
admitted,  that  Jesus  was  no  impostor — that  he  was  a  great  teacher — 
and  that  he  was  unjustly  condemned  by  the  Sanhedrim  of  his  day.  It 
is  admitted,  also,  that  his  work  was  a  g^reat  and  noble  work,  in  turning 
tiie  nations  from  idolatry  to  what  th^  se^n  to  r^^d  as  a  species  of 
unritual  Judaism,  founded  on  their  own  Scriptures.  They  admit  thai 
Christianity  is  sufficient  for  salvation.  The  Jews  are  indeed  destined  to 
be  a  kingdom  of  priests ;  and  as  all  men  cannot  be  priests,  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary  or  desiraUe  that  all  should  be  Jews.  All  this,  how- 
ever, is  not  to  be  taken  for  more  than  it  is  worth.  The  real  essence  of 
Christianity  wholly  eludes  the  observation  of  these  ^  intelligent  Jews,* 
who  see  it  only  in  its  external  relations  and  influences,  and  have  little 
regard  for  it  as  a  -system  of  spiritual  life  founded  upon  the  atonement 
wrought  by  the  death  of  its  Divine  Founder. 


The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  in  Greeh  <ind  English,  with  an  Analysis 
and  Exegetical  Commentary.  By  Samuel  H.  Tubnbk,  D.D.  New 
York :  Stanford  and  Swords. 

pROFESSOB  Tubner  is  a  very  thorough  scholar,  but  not  a  very  popular 
writer.  He  has  produced  several  works  of  great  use  and  high  merit, 
but  scarcely  heard  of  in  this  country,  and,  we  apprehend,  not  largely 
circulated  in  his  own.  The  present  work  is  likely  to  force  itself  upon 
attention  by  its  usefulness,  presenting  in  a  compendious  shape  a  very 
complete  and  satisfactory  apparatus  for  the  interpretation  of  a  most 
important  epistle.  Dr.  Turner  always  evinces  a  complete  mast^y  of 
whatever  subject  he  undertakes  ;  and  this  is  not  more  distinctly  shown 
in  any  of  his  works  with  which  we  are  acquainted  than  in  the  one 
before  us. 

In  a  short  but  full  introduction  the  author  considers  the  questions — 
Is  the  work  properly  an  epistle  or  an  instructive  religious  discourse  ? 
-—To  whom  was  it  addressed?— In  what  language  was  it  written  ? — 
Who  was  its  author  ? — What  its  design  ?  On  these  points  we,  how- 
ever, discover  nothing  new ;  the  author  subscribing,  sometimes  with  a 
little  hesitation,  to  tiie  current  opinions.  We  have,  then,  af^er  the 
custom  of  this  author,  a  very  able  and  satisfactory  analysis  of  the  book, 
which  will  aflbrd  material  help  towards  the  apprehension  of  its  argu- 
ments. The  commentary  follows,  presenting  the  original  Greek  text 
and  the  authorised  vei*sion  in  parallel  columns,  with  the  commentary 
underneath  ;  the  latter  occupies  the  bulk  of  each  page.  It  is  highly 
critical ;  but  for  a  critical  commentary  is  remarkably  readable,  and,  at 
small  cost  of  labour,  will  put  the  ordinary  reader  in  possession  of  the 
results  of  all  the  erudition  involved  in  the  investigation  of  this  very 
difficult  epistle.  We  have  examined  with  attention  Dr.  Turner's 
remarks  on  those  texts  which  most  test  the  capacity,  and  bring  out 
the  views  of  a  writer ;  and  it  appears  to  us  that  he  has  shrunk  from  no 
difRculty,  and  has  honestly  striven  to  evolve  and  enforce  the  real  mean- 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1863.]  Notices  of  Books.  461 

ing  of  the  sacred  writer,  without  any  visible  influence  from  those  views 
which  might  be  supf)06ed  to  belong  to  his  position.  In  this,  which,  we 
must  confess,  is  more  than  we  ourselves  expected  from  him,  he  has,  we 
perceive,  incurred  some  gentle  animadversion  firom  one  of  the  chief 
oi^^ans  of  his  own  party. 

The  author  is  always  clear  and  generally  impartial  in  his  statements 
respecting  tho^  texts  regarding  which  different  views  have  been  enter- 
tained. We  should  like  to  furnish  examples  of  thb  and  other  good 
qualities  of  the  work,  but  no  extracts  can  give  any  notion  of  books  of 
this  class,  unless  more  extensive  and  various  than  our  limits  allow. 
We  observe  tliat  Dr.  Turner  supports  the  interpretation  that  the  word 
^taOriKii  must,  in  chap.  ix.  16,  17,  and  rendered  '  testament,'  have  there 
the  same  sense — that  of '  covenant ' — which  it  bears  everywhere  else  in 
the  epistle.  He  admits  that '  testament,'  a  will,  is  a  perfectly  legitimate 
sense,  and  agrees  with  all  the  circumstances,  the  passage  being  taken  by 
itself.  But  still,  seeing  that  both  before  and  after  the  word  is  taken  in 
the  sense  of  covenant,  a  natural  impression  is  felt,  that,  if  possible,  it 
should  be  taken  in  that  sense  here  also.  And  this  is  strengthened  when 
we  And  that  although  the  word  frequently  occurs  elsewhere  in  the  New 
Testament,  it  is  never  found  in  the  sense  of  will  or  testament ;  and,  more- 
over, that  in  the  Septuagint  it  is  employed  in  a  vast  number  of  places 
as  the  translation  of  the  Hebrew  herUhy  the  usual  word  for  covenant 
or  dispensation,  but  which  never  has  the  meaning  of  will.  The  author 
thinks,  we  apprehend  rightly,  that  the  text  does  not  necessitate  the 
sense  of  testament ;  and  if  we  admit  that  sense  we  cannot  exclude  that 
of  covenant,  and  shall  l)e  compelled  to  combine  both,  the  former  stand- 
ing as  an  isolate  statement,  and  the  latter  in  logical  ccmnexion  \i'ith 
the  argument.  But  although  it  is  possible  that  on  this  giound  an 
author  might  employ  the  woni  in  these  two  senses,  it  is  not  at  all  likely, 
and,  apart  from  the  claims  of  inspiration,  it  is  absolutely  incredible  thai 
so  learned,  and  accurate,  and  polished  a  writer  should  have  confounded 
in  his  mind  the  two  meanings,  and  here  unconsciously  have  employed 
the  word  in  another  sense  than  elsewhere.  To  show  that  the  ordinary 
sense  of  covenant  is  not  only  in  accordance  with  the  general  train  of 
thought,  but  required  by  the  logical  connexion.  Dr.  Turner  thus 
gives  the  purport  of  the  entire  passage  firom  verses  15  to  18  inclusive : 
*  1  be  atoning  death  of  Jesus  having  taken  place,  he  is  therefore  in  the 
Christian  covenant  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  and  thus  all 
sins  are  pardonable,  and  promise  is  given  of  everlasting  happiness. 
For  the  establishment  of  a  covenant  requires  the  death  of  that  which 
ratifies  it,  inasmuch  as  it  is  otherwise  imperfect  and  invalid  Hence  it 
is  tiiat  the  former  covenant,  the  Mosaic,  as  distinguished  from  the 
Christian,  was  not  established  \iithout  blood!'  Here,  of  course,  the 
allusion  is  to  the  ratification  of  covenants  by  the  sacrifice  of  victims, 
and  in  accordance  with  this  the  author  of  the  epistle  goes  on  to  speak, 
not  of  the  death  of  the  testator,  but  of  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  aa 
shed  by  Moses  in  latificatiou  of  the  Lord's  covenant  with  Isiael. 


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462  NnUenf  of  Book».  [July, 

Celebrated  Jesuits,      By  the  Rev.  William   H.   Rule.      London: 
Mason.     1863.     2  voLs.     12ma 

The  first  of  these  volumes  is  devoted  to  <a  Saint,  a  Doctor,  and  a 
Regicide,'  being  Xavier,  LAynez,  and  Garnet.  The  second  to  '  a  Car^ 
dinal,  a  Mandarin,  and  a  Hefugee,'  being  Bellarmine,  Adam  SchaU, 
and  Gmber.  This  mode  of  designation  savours  of  triviality.  But  this 
character  by  no  means  belongs  to  the  work  itself,  the  memoin  in  which 
are  far  above  ordinary  compilations,  having  been  mostly  prepared  with 
sidll  and  zealous  labour  from  original  materials.  Of  some  of  the  per- 
sonages named  no  lives  have  ever  been  written  in  any  language ;  and  of 
others,  mme  in  the  English  language.  The  two  volumes  contain  six 
Jesuit  portraits,  each  dilfering  from  the  other,  as  it  represents  a  distinct 
phase  of  character,  and  recalls  a  distinct  series  of  events.  The  author 
has  been,  as  he  explains,  careful  to  select  personages  not  very  ^uniliarly 
known  to  general  readers,  and  thus  to  occupy  ground  that  is  nearly,  hT 
not  entirely,  new.  We  can  readily  believe  that  to  do  this  as  Mr.  Rule 
has  done  it,  *  an  amount  of  research  is  necessary  that  would  have  been 
quite  equal  to  the  production  of  large  volumes.'  But,  he  adds,  *  I  bow 
to  the  popular  taste,  and  bring  very  copious  materials  into  the  smallest 
possible  dimensions.'  The  memoirs  are,  however,  tolerably  full,  the 
volumes  being  thick,  though  small.  As  nuiy  be  judged  from  the  mode 
of  preparation,  the  memoirs  are  of  very  solid  texture;  yet  they  are 
pleasantly  written,  and  are  interesting  from  incidents  and  character,  as 
well  as  from  the  novelty  of  the  suQects,  to  most  readers,  and  from 
the  information  furnished  respecting  the  operations  of  the  Jesuits  in 
different  ages  and  countries.  Of  the  three  founders  of  Jesuitism,  the 
names  and  histories  of  Loyola  and  Xavier  are  familiar  to  the  English 
reader,  while  Laynez  is  comparatively  unknown.  The  somewhat 
copious  memoir  of  that  remarkable  man,  which  Mr.  Rule  gives  in  his 
first  volume,  is  therefore  a  very  acceptable  addition  to  our  literature. 
For  a  memoir  of  Garnet  scarcely  any  materials  exist ;  our  author  has, 
therefore,  in  this  case,  departed  from  his  general  plan,  and  narrated  the 
progress  of  a  conspiracy  against  the  liberties  and  religion  of  England 
during  a  period  of  forty-five  years,  culminating,  not  ending,  in  'the 
gunpowder  treason.' 

The  memoir  of  John  Adam  Schall  will  constitute  to  most  readers 
the  charm  of  the  second  volume,  from  the  curious  information  it  affords 
respecting  China,  and  the  scientific  ability  by  which  the  Jesuits  gained 
a  footing  even  at  the  Celestial  court,  as  well  as  the  unscrupulous  arts 
and  degrading  compromises  by  which  thev  sought  to  introduce  Ro- 
manism into  that  country.  There  is  a  work  in  twelve  volumes  quarto, 
called  M^moires  sur  Us  Ckinois,  composed  of  very  able  papers  on  the 
history,  chronology,  sciences,  arb»,  laws,  religion,  Ac.,  of  the  Chinese, 
furnished  by  these  Jesuits.  The  possession  of  this  work  created  in  us 
a  strong  desire,  some  years  ago,  to  prepare  a  memoir  of  Schall,  per- 
ceiving that  it  might  be  rendered  instructive  and  interesting.  What 
we  then  contemplated,  but  were  deterred  from  attempting  by  the  pres- 
sure of  other  duties,  has  here  been  accomplished,  though  on  a  more 


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1853.]  Notice  of  Boohs.  4^ 

confined  scale  than  we  intended,  by  Mr.  Rule ;  and  it  is  a  gratification 
for  us  to  find  that  he  lias  shown  the  subject  to  be  quite  as  capable  of 
being  employed  for  the  impartation  of  useful  pleasure  as  we  at  one  time 
supposed*  The  strange  allusions  to  Christianity,  and  to  its  Divine 
author,  which  lately  astonished  the  public  in  the  proclamations  of  the 
leaders  of  the  rebellion  now  raging  in  China,  wiU  impart  to  this  memoir 
a  peculiar  interest  at  this  time ;  for  those  who  read  it  will  not  be  much 
at  a  loss  to  trace  the  infiuence  to  which  these  allusions  are  due,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  remembered  that  for  some  years  the  Jesuits  have  been 
very  actively  at  worit  in  China ;  and,  in  remembrance  of  their  previous 
doings  in  that  country,  it  is  much  more  obvious  to  ascribe  the  perplex- 
ing language  of  the  proclamations  to  their  influence  than  to  that  of  the 
American  missionaries,  which  has  in  some  quarters  been  indicated. 


Christ  our  Life :  in  its  Origin,  Law,  and  End,    By  John  Angus, 
D.D.     London  :  Nisbet  and  Co.     1853. 

We  are  informed  in  the  Preface  to  this  work  that  it  originated  in  the 
public  application  by  a  gentleman  in  the  civil  service  of  the  East  India 
Company  for  an  *  Essay  on  the  life  of  Christ,  adapted  to  missionary 
purposes,  and  suitable  for  translation  into  the  vernacular  languages  of 
India.'  When  the  attention  of  Dr.  Angus  was  called  to  this  announce- 
ment, the  condition  of  the  heathen  and  of  India  had  long  occupied  his 
thoughts ;  and  he  was  at  the  time  engaged  in  reading  the  life  of  our 
Lord  with  a  class  of  students  entrusted  to  hb  care.  He  was  hence  led 
to  undertake  the  subject ;  and  of  sixty-four  Essays  submitted  to  tlie 
Examiners,  this  one  was  declared  by  their  unanimous  decision  to  be  the 
best  adapted  to  the  object  in  view.  This  is  the  history  of  the  book — 
and  we  always  like  to  report  such  histories  when  they  are  given  to  us. 

Those  who  gave  this  award  were  in  every  way  competent  to  form  a 
right  judgment.  It  turned  upon  its  fitness  for  use  in  India,  which 
might  not  at  tlie  fiist  view  seem  to  promise  any  remarkable  fitness  for 
our  home  population.  But  it  is  a  beautiful  and  singular  characteristic  of 
Christianity — and  especially  as  set  forth  in  the  life  of  its  Divine  author 
— that  in  almost  any  form  in  which  it  can  be  presented,  it  is  intelligible 
and  impressive  to  the  analogous  classes  of  people  in  every  nation.  But 
Hot  some  incidental  allusions  the  special  object  of  this  Essay  would  not 
be  discerned ;  but  when  that  object  is  stated,  its  suitableness  for  it 
becomes  apparent.  The  life,  deeds,  and  death  of  our  Lord  are  well  and 
clearly,  and  somewhat  critically  stated  ;  and  with  the  facts  are  connected, 
with  much  skill  and  power,  the  doctrine  and  the  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness which  belongs  to  them,  or  may  be  deduced  from  them.  To  do 
this  in  8<Mne  way  might  be  very  easy,  but  to  do  it  in  this  masterly 
manner  is  only  possible  to  a  ready  hand  and  a  well-^rtiished  mind.  It 
seems  to  us  that,  for  general  and  popular  use,  this  form  of  conveying  a 
knowledge  of  Christian  doctrine  is  fiir  better,  because  more  impressive 
and  interesting  than  any  other — the  fatigue  which  the  nnstudious  mind 
soon  feels  in  the  contemplation  of  abstract  truths,  being  relieved  b^ 


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4G^  Notices  of  Books.  [July, 

personal  incidents,  by  general  information,  and  by  the  contemplation  of 
the  most  exalted  character  that  was  ever  seen  upon  the  earth. 

The  work  before  us  is  an  admirable  specimen  of  this  efficient  mode  of 
teaching ;  and  we  could  not  exactly  point  to  any  book  we  would  sooner 
put  into  the  hands  of  a  partially  instructed  person,  young  or  old,  whom 
we  might  desire  to  see  well  g^unded  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian 
verities.  The  simplicity  and  plainness  with  which  these  are  stated,  so 
as  to  become  distinct  to  the  apprehension  of  even  obtuse  intelligence, 
is  far  from  being  a  mark  of  superficialness.  It  b  rather  the  triumph 
and  perfection  of  close  study  and  laborious  thought. 


ne  Incarnate  Son  of  God;  or^  the  History  of  the  Life  and  Ministry 
of  the  Redeemer,  With  a  concise  View  of  the  MediatoruU  Economy. 
By  the  Rev.  Henry  W.  Williams.     London:  J.  Mason.     1853. 

The  general  object  of  the  present  work  is  so  similar  to  that  of  the  one 
last  noticed,  that  we  have  a  strong  impression  that  it  must  have  been 
written  under  the  same  influence.  This  is  not  stated,  but  it  is  not  the 
less  likely.  And  if  the  author  was  one  of  the  sixty-four  who  responded 
to  the  call  of  the  gentleman  in  the  civil  service  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, he  may  be  assured  that  the  success  of  another,  on  the  ground  of 
more  special  adaptedness  to  the  object  contemplated,  is  no  disrespect  to 
the  general  merits  of  his  own  Essay. 

Dr.  Angus  informs  us  in  the  Preface  to  his  book,  that  ^  the  subjects 
recommended  for  special  discussion  and  illustration  were :  the  original 
Deity  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  the  circumstances  of  His  life  and  death,  to 
as  to  show  the  wonders  of  Hb  love  in  the  work  of  redemption,  and  the 
sinfulness  of  sin  ;  the  glorious  exaltation  of  Ciirist  and  his  second 
coming:  the  whole  being  designed  to  exhibit  most  forcibly  to  the 
minds  of  intelligent  heathen  the  wonderful  character  of  the  Son  of  God.' 

Both  works  are  manifestly  written  to  this  measure,  with  siich  difer* 
ence  of  treatment  as  we  observe  when  men  of  different  training  and 
habits  of  thought  look  at  the  same  theme  from  the  same  points  of  view. 
Thus  Mr.  Williams  adopts  the  first  recommendation  distinctly  as  the 
theme  of  his  first  part,  '  The  Eternal  Deity  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
gradual  Development  of  the  Mediatorial  Scheme.'  But  Dr.  Angus 
works  out  this  theme  in  connection  with  the  second,  that  is,  in  his  survey 
of  our  Lord's  life,  which  part  is,  in  Mr.  Williams'  work,  more  of  a 
digested  paraphrase  and  exposition  of  the  sacred  narrative.  The  last- 
named  writer  says,  that  *  the  studies  of  many  years  have  produced  a 
deep  conviction  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  that  the  mysterious  dignity  of 
the  Redeemer's  person,  as  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God,  appears  in  all  His 
teaching  and  in  all  His  actions.  The  proof  of  this  great  doctrine  does 
not  rest  on  a  few  isolated  passages  of  the  Holy  Scripture :  it  is  fur- 
nished in  every  page  of  the  Evangelical  narratives'  This  is  shown 
very  clearly  in  his  introductory  portion  ;  but  having  been  proved  thCTe, 
it  is  less  prominently  brought  forward  in  the  histori^  narrative  than  bj 
Dr.  Angus,  who  reserves  his  forces  for  the  doctrinal  development  of  tti 


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1853.]  Notices  of  Books.  465 

narratiye  itselfl  Thus  Mr.  Williams'  proposition  in  the  passage  under* 
lined  is  more  effectually  enforced  by  Dr.  Ang^  than  by  Mr.  Williams. 
Both  modes  of  treatment  are  g^ood,  and  each  of  them  will  respectively 
be  most  acceptable  to  different  minds.  It  is  not  to  be  understood  that 
Mr.  Williams'  narrative  portion  does  not  go  into  doctrinal  matters. 
There  are,  indeed,  few  incidents  bearing  on  the  divine  character  of  the 
Redeemer,  which  pass  without  some  remark  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  con- 
sidered it  less  his  object  to  develope  the  whole  Christian  scheme  of  doc- 
trines in  connection  with  the  life  and  teaching  of  our  Ix>rd. 
.  The  title  of  the  first  part  of  Mr.  Williams'  work  we  have  already 
given.  It  is  in  the  first  chapter  of  that  part  that  he  treats  of  '  The 
Original  and  £temal  Glory  of  the  Son  of  God ;'  its  remaining  chapters 
are  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  '  The  Preparations  for  the  Manifesta- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God  on  Earth.'  This  is  an  able,  complete,  and 
satis&ctory  essay,  forming,  as  to  subject,  the  most  distinctive  feature  of 
the  volume ;  the  introductory  pag^  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Angus  being 
rather  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  the  progress  of  error  anterior  to 
our  Lord's  appearance. 

Upon  the  whole,  this  work  by  Mr.  Williams  is  a  good  and  useful 
book,  prepared  with  ability  and  pious  care ;  and  well  suited  to  realize 
the  aim  of  the  author,  who,  while  he  ^  trusts  that  his  work  will  be  inter- 
esting to  Christian  readers  generally,  cherishes  the  hope  that  those  who 
have  the  care  of  Bible  classis,  or  who  are  engaged  as  teachers  in 
Sunday-schools,  will  derive  from  it  considerable  aid  in  the  cUscharge  of 
their  duties.' 


Memorials  of  Early  Christianity.     By  James  G.  Miall.     London : 
Hall  and  Virtue.     1853. 

The  object  of  this  work  b  '  to  convey,  in  a  form  which  may  not  be 
unacceptable  to  the  general  reader,  the  important  facts  of  early  eccle- 
siastical history,  together  with  such  illustrations  as  modem  literature 
can  supply.'  The  plan  of  the  work  is  very  good  indeed, — the  best,  we 
think,  that  could  be  devised  for  conveying  in  an  agreeable  form  the 
information  afforded.  The  writer  takes  a  number  of  cities  eminent  in 
early  Christian  history,  and  gives  the  incidents,  commonly  in  connection 
with  the  name  of  some  principal  person  who  rendered  the  place  memo- 
rable by  his  labours,  as  Damascus  und  Paul,  Ephesus  and  John,  An* 
tioch  and  Ignatius,  &c.  Sometimes,  however,  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  a  personage  is  g^ven  without  a  place,  and  sometimes  a  place  without 
a  personage.  It  would  be  difficult  to  do  full  justice  to  a  plan  so  excel- 
lent. It  might  indeed  be  the  fit  setting  for  a  great  work,  and  one 
is  tempted  to  grudge  its  bestowal  upon  a  book  so  comparatively  unpre- 
tending as  this  of  Mr.  Miall's.  'i'be  author  has,  however,  fairly  done 
what  he  intended,  and  has  produced  an  agreeable  and  instructive  volume, 
well  suited  to  interest  '  the  general  rtader'  in  the  study  of  ecclesiastical 
history  and  antiquities. 

By  judiciously  abstaining  from  polemical  matter,  the  author  has 
secured  for  his  work  that  general  acceptance  at  which  he  aims.     His 


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466  NUkeB  qf  Booh.  [July, 

notices  come  down  to  tlie  accession  of  Constantine.  The  value  of  the 
work  is  enhanced  bj  a  considerable  number  of  woodcuts,  the  subjects  of 
which  are  well  chosen. 


The  Philosophy  of  Atheism  examined  and  compared  with  Christiamty. 
By  the  Rev.  B.  Godwin,  D.D.  London :  Hall,  Virtue,  and  Co. 
1853. 

This  book  is  composed  of  a  course  of  Popular  Lectures  delivered  by 
Dr.  Godwin  at  the  Mechanics'  Listitute,  Bradford,  on  Sunday  after- 
noons, in  the  winter  of  1852-3,  and  published  by  request.  The  atten- 
tion they  excited  is  evinced  by  the  &ct  that  1500  copies  were  sold  to 
working  men  within  a  few  hours,  on  the  24th  of  May,  being  offered  at 
the  mere  cost  of  paper  and  print.  The  author  informs  us  that  the 
lectures  are  substantially  the  same,  though  with  many  alterations  and 
additions,  that  he  delivered  at  the  same  place  nearly  twenty  years 
before,  and  afterwards  published  under  the  title  of  Lectures  on  the 
Atheistic  Controversy. 

That  it  should,  in  this  age  and  country,  be  deemed  needful  to  lecture 
against  Atheism,  is  a  lamentable  thing,  and  would  have  seened  to  us  a 
work  of  supererogation,  but  from  &cts  which  have  lately  ccnne  to  our 
knowledge,  and  which  have  painfully  convinced  us  that,  between  the 
practical  Atheism  of  brutal  indifference  among  the  lowest,  and  the  half- 
reasoning  Atheism  of  the  better  dass,  the  disbelief  in  even  the  being  of 
God  is  ^  more  prevalent  among  the  working-classes,  especially  in 
manufacturing  towns,  than  many  would  readily  believe.  When  this  b 
the  case,  lectures  such  as  these,  founded  in  natural  theol(^,  are  neces- 
sary and  important.  Dr.  Godwin  has  presented  the  most  convincing 
evidence  from  this  source  in  a  compendious  and  attractive  shape ;  and 
the  book  cannot  fail  to  be  useful  in  satisfying  many  whose  fistith  has  been 
shaken,  and  in  assisting  those  who  come  in  contact  with  sudi  pec^le  to 
grapple  with  such  arguments  as  they  are  able  to  produce.  Vhis  is  of 
very  great  importance,  for  the  Atheist  is  confirmed  in  his  unbelief  when 
he  finds  that  the  believer  is  unable  to  answer  him  adequately  ;  and  the 
sense  of  this  inability  is  calculated  to  depress,  if  not  to  shake,  the 
believer  himself. 

In  conducting  such  arguments  it  b  usually  judged  necessary  to  pro> 
ceed  on  gp^unds  apart  from  Christianity.  We  doubt  the  necessity  or 
fitness  of  thb.  Dr.  Godwin,  however,  conforms  to  thb  rule,  except  in 
the  two  last  lecture^*,  which  are  occupied  in  an  able  and  satisfying  con- 
trast between  Christianity  and  Atheism. 


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1853.]  InUUigmce.  467 


INTELLIGENCE. 


BIBLICAL. 

At  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  May  26th,  the  Vice-PresideDt  read  a  letter  from 
Professor  Willis,  giving  an  account  of  the  recent  survey,  by  the  Bev.  A.  Stanley, 
of  the  localities  of  Jerusalem,  the  result  of  which  elicits  the  important  fact  that 
the  tombs  of  Nicodemus  and  Joseph  are  real  rock  sepulchres. —  Literary  Gazette^ 
June  4th. 

The  Report  of  the  Council  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  May  21st,  announces  the  con- 
tinoed  efiorts  of  the  French  and  English  discoverers  in  Assyria  during  the  past 
year.  Vaulted  passages,  colonnades,  and  chambers  full  of  valuable  relics,  testify 
to  the  skill  and  energy  of  the  French  explorers,  and  a  large  collection  of  cylinders, 
tiles,  ornaments,  vessels  of  beautiful  workmanship  in  agate,  marble,  and  cornelian, 
Ibrm  the  nucleus  of  an  Assyrian  museum  at  Paris.  The  Utbours  of  our  country- 
men have  also  been  attended  with  great  success.  In  one  letter  Colonel  Rawlinson 
gives  an  account  of  a  bronze  lion  discovered  at  Nebbi  Yunus,  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, '  Esarhaddon,  King  of  Kings,  Conqueror  of  Misr  and  Cush :'— (Egypt  and 
Ethiopia.)  Colonel  Rawlinson  has  at  length  received  the  long-expected  cylinder 
from  Kila  Shergat ;  a  splendid  document  consisting  of  800  lines  of  writing,  which 
oontains  the  bulletins  of  Tiglatb-Pilesnr  1.,  and  is  at  least  200  years  older  than 
any  other  document  yet  discovered.  Having  fairly  entered  upon  a  period  anterior 
to  the  glories  of  Nineveh  and  Calah,  Colonel  Rawlinson  says  he  does  not  despair  of 
tsceiMhng  up  to  the  institution  of  the  monarchy.  The  writmg  of  this  inscription  of 
7*iglath-Pile8ur  is  better,  the  language  more  polished,  and  the  grammatiod  distinc- 
tions more  nicelv  marked,  than  in  the  later  legends.  The  capital  city,  Assur,  is 
of  course  the  Allassnr  of  Genesis,  of  which  Arioch  was  king,  and  the  Telassur  of 
the  Targums  which  is  used  for  the  Mosaic  Resen.  He  considers  the  site  of  Nine- 
veh to  ^  determinately  fixed  at  Nebbi  Yunus,  Calah  at  Nimrud,  and  Resen  at 
Kila  Shergat. 

A  slab  of  Sennacherib's  recently  found  at  Nebbi  Yunus  is  of  much  interest :  it 
contains  an  account  of  two  campaigns,  later,  apparently,  than  those  chronicled  in 
the  annals;  one  against  Merodach-Baladan,  and  the  other  against  the  confederated 
kings  of  the  E^t,  among  whom  is  a  king  of  the  Persians  whose  name  is  unfor- 
tunately lost.  Colonel  Rawlinson  expresses  himself  delighted  at  the  splendid  field 
now  opening  out  in  the  examination  of  the  d^ris  of  the  royal  library.  Here  he 
has  found  firagments  of  alphabets,  syllabaria,  and  explanations  of  ideographic 
signs,  also  a  tahle  of  notation  with  the  phonetic  reading  of  the  signs,  elaborate  dis- 
sections of  the  Pantheon,  geo^phical  dissertations  explaining  Uie  ideographs  for 
countries  and  cities,  designating  their  products,  descnbingtheir  positions.  The 
principal  Asiatic  rivers  and  mountains  are  also  given.  There  are  treatises  on 
weights  and  measures,  divisions  of  time,  points  of  the  compel  \  and  lists  of  stones, 
mettds,  and  trees ;  also  what  appear  to  be  veritable  grammars  and  dictionaries.  The 
whole  collection  nves  a  cunous  insight  into  the  state  of  Assyrian  science. — 
Literary  Gkuette,  June  4th. 

At  the  Royal  Society  of  literature,  April  13th,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hincks  read  a 
paper  '  On  certain  ancient  Arab  queens,'  m  which  he  questioned  the  truth  of  a 
discoreiT  lately  announced  by  (.!doneI  Rawlinson,  to  the  effect  that  the  queen  of 
Sheba  who  visited  Solomon  was  the  ruler  of  a  northern  district  of  Arabia,  at  no 
great  distance  fh>m  Palestine.  Dr.  Hincks  contended  that  we  had  the  best  au- 
thority for  believing  that,  as  '  Queen  of  the  South/  she  did  really  come  to  Solomon 
*from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,'  probably  firom  the  shores  of  the  Indian 
ocean.  Colonel  Rawlinson,  firom  the  fiict  that  he  has  found  on  one  of  the  Assyrian 
inscriptions  that  a  queen  of  Arabia  paid  tribute  to  the  king  Pul  in  his  eighth  year, 
infers  that  the  country  called  Sheba  in  the  Bible  must  be  Arabia.    Br.  HiLcks 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


468  Intelligence.  [July, 

tliinkB  that  there  is  do  doubt  that  there  were  many  qneens  of  Arabia  besides  the 
*  Chabiba,'  who  was  contemporary  with  Menahem,  and  that  many  such  are  men- 
tioned in  ancient  authors :  moreover,  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  themselves  notice 
a  second  Arab  queen  in  a  different  part  of  Arabia. 

Dr.  Hincks  stated  further  that  in  the  historical  inscription  of  Esarha4don,  on  a 
hexagonal  cylinder  in  the  British  Museuin,  he  is  mentioned  as  having  conquered 
Adttiui  (evidently  Edom),  a  city  of  Arabia,  which  of  course  lay  to  the  south  of 
Palestine.  Esarhaddon  there  states  that  his  father  Sennacherib  had  formerly 
taken  it,  and  concludes  by  saying,  that  he  made  Zabua,  one  of  his  concubines,  it3 
queen,  and  imposed  on  it  a  tribute  of  sixty  camels,  in  addition  to  the  tribute 
which  his  Either  had  exacted. 

Mr.  Vaux  read  a  paper  •  On  the  Original  Seat  of  the  Chaldees/  in  which  he  has 
pointed  out  all  that  was  known  concerning  them  from  the  eariiest  notices  in  the 
Bible,  and  showed  that,  on  the  whole,  the  statements  of  the  Greek  geographers, 
Strabo  and  Ptolemy,  coincided  remarkably  with  the  incidental  notices  in  the 
Bible.  Mr.  Vaux  then  examined  the  later  history  of  the  same  people  during  the 
period  in  which  the  Jewish  kingdom  was  in  most  direct  contact  with  Babylonia, 
and  duruig  the  time  when  a  Clmldean  ruler,  Nebuchadnezzar,  invaded  and  con- 
quered Judea.  In  opposition  to  the  theory  proposed  by  Professor  Hereen,  and 
still  retained  by  many  writers  on  the  continent,  Mr.  Vaux  expressed  his  belief  that 
the  Chaldean  empire  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was  not  the  result  of  an  immigi*ation  into 
Babylonia  of  a  conquering  tribe  from  the  northern  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  but 
the  gradual  growth  of  many  centuries,  during  which  period  the  Bible  and  profane 
authors  are  equally  silent  Mr.  Vaux  stated  that,  in  his  opinion,  this  immigration 
from  the  north  was  a  pure  conjecture,  un based  upon  any  historical  data,  and  at 
the  same  time  an  unsatisfactory  attempt  to  account  for  an  event  which  is  really 
explained  sufficiently  by  the  indications  of  the  earlier  history  of  this  people,  which 
may  be  found  in  the  Bible.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  paper  Dr.  Hincks  made  a 
few  remarks  in  support  of  the  view  taken  by  Mr.  Vaux,  and  stated  in  confirma- 
tion of  it  that  on  earlier  Assyrian  inscriptions  which  he  had  deciphered,  the  Chal- 
dees are  mentioned  by  name  as  a  people  living  on  the  northern  shores  of  the 
Persian  Gulf,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Mesopotamia. — Literarjf  Gazette, 
April  23rd. 

At  the  Asiatic  Society,  June  the  4th,  a  letter  from  Colonel  Rawlinson  was  read, 
containing  some  further  interpretations  of  the  interesting  monument  of  Tiglath- 
Pilesur  I.  He  encloses  a  list  of  the  genealogy  of  the  kins,  containing  twenty-five 
names,  of  which  the  obelisk  king,  the  contemporary  of  Jehu,  is  the  1 5th.  He 
expected  to  find  a  notice  of  the  building  of  Nineveh,  but  had  not  succeeded.  The 
capital  of  the  empire  appeared  to  t>e  Kila  Shergat,  to  which  the  names  of  Assur, 
Eilasar,  Tel-Aui  and  Kesen,  might  be  applied  indiscriminately.  The  Colonel 
will  continue  to  work  at  his  Scythic  memoirs,  though  he  has  been  drawn  off 
recently  by  the  Assyrian  discoveries. 

A  letter  from  Dr.  Hincks,  printed  in  the  Dublin  Society's  Transactions,  was 
laid  before  the  meeting,  containing  a  list  of  Assyrian  months,  cardinal  points,  aiid 
divisions  of  the  Assyrian  weights.  If  was  especially  interesting,  that  the  months 
and  their  succession  was,  with  some  slight  graphiciSil  changes  identical  with  one 
received  some  months  ago  from  Colonel  Rawlinson.— Xt(«rary  Gazette,  June  1 8th. 

At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  April  12,  the  Rev.  J.  Tumbull  read  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Grotofend,  in  which  he  says,  that  since  the  deciphering  of  the  inscriptions  of 
Behistun  (the  printing  of  which  may  be  expected  about  the  autumn),  he  has  de- 
ciphered some  transcriptions  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  one  of  which  contains  the  offer 
of  the  king  to  let  his  son  be  burnt  to  death,  in  order  to  ward  off  the  affliction  of 
Babylon,  something  similar  to  what  we  read  of  the  king  of  Moab,  2  Kings  iii.  27. 
A  second  transcription  tells  us  about  the  hanging  gardens  laid  out  for  his  consort. 
To  these  Dr.  Grotofend  added  some  other  descriptions  which  elucidate  the  l^by- 
lonian  custom  of  child  sacrifices,  as  illustrated  by  the  cylinders  published  by  the 
Syro-Eg^yptian  Society. 

A  notice  of  Baron  von  Wrede's  Travels  in  Hadramaut  and  other  parts  of  south- 
western Arabia  was  read. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


1853.]  Intelligence.  469 

Mr.  Ainsworth  read  a  notice  of  a  possible  outlet  to  Lake  Wan,  or  Van,  by  9 
subterraneous  stream,  which  has  long  been  known  to  geographers  (see  Rich's 
Travels,  Appendix  to  vol.  i.)»  but  has  been  first  visited  and  described  by  Layard 
*  as  one  of  the  principal  sources  of  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Tigris/  This  sub- 
terraneous outlet  is  below  the  level  of  Lake  Wan,  to  which  it  may  present  a 
natural  outlet  in  consonance  with  the  general  hydrqgpraphic  features  of  the  country. 

.  At  the  Syro-Egyptian  Society,  June  14th,  a  letter  was  read  from  Mr.  W.  Cox 
Dawtrey,  Wilts,  containing  a  suggestion,  with  illustrations,  of  a  certun  interpre- 
tation of  the  Scriptures  in  what  concerns  the  sites  of  the  Holy  Places. 

Mr.  Dawtrey's  idea  is, '  that  to  every  event  of  our  Saviour's  life  recorded  in  the 
Gospels,  a  key  will  be  found  in  the  histories  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  localities 
of  the  events  thereby  determined,  whether  told  us  or  not.  As  a  specimen,  take  that 
of  Christ's  turning  water  into  wine,  which  the  monks  have  placed  at  Kefr  Kenna, 
and  Dr.  Robinson  at  Cana-el-Galel.  But  from  the  remarkable  coincidences  to  be 
traced  in  the  history  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel,  it  seems,  however,  to  have  occurred  at ' 
Kanah  in  Asher ;  and  following  the  same  mode  of  reasoning,  the  birth  of  Christ 
probably  was  at  Khan  Chimham,  by  Bethlehem,  in  the  way  to  go  into  Egypt,  and 
80  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  town  to  where  they  shew  us ;  the  appearance  of  the 
angels  to  uie  shepherds  in  the  fields  of  Carmel,  in  Judah ;  the  wise  men  from 
Padan-aram,'  &c. 

Mr.  Bonomi  read  *  a  short  account  of  the  discovery  of  the  Greek  mss.  in  the 
possession  of  Joseph  Arden,  Esq.'  The  first  fragments,  of  which  Blr.  Bonomi  ex- 
tiibited  fac-similes,  were  purchased  by  Mr.  Harris,  at  Thebes,  in  1847  ;  the  second, 
belonging  to  Mr.  Arden,  was  subsequently  purchased  at  or  near  the  same  place, 
and  turned  out  to  be  the  complement  of  the  Oration  of  Hyperides,  for  Lycophron,  of 
which  Mr.  Harris's  mss.  were  the  exordium,  the  last  portion  of  the  ms.  being  the 
Oration  of  Hyperides  for  Euxenippus.  Mr.  Bonomi  accounted  for  the  discovery 
of  these  mss.  by  the  supposition  that  an  Alexandrian  scribe  had  died  there,  and  the 
usual  custom  of  burying  some  implement  of  use,  or  cherished  ornament,  with  the 
deceased,  having  been  observed  in  his  case,  the  mss.  were  discovered  in  one  of  the 
small  wooden  sepulchral  boxes  or  sarcophagi  so  frequently  found  in  the  tombs,  and 
which  Mr.  Bonomi  minutely  described,  illustrating  the  same  by  a  picture  taken  from 
the  wall  of  an  Egyptian  landowner,  which  represented  a  scribe  showing  a  herds- 
man a  papyrus,  containing,  probably,  a  list  of  the  cattle  entrusted  to  his  safe 
keeping.  In  another  drawing,  Mr.  Bonomi  exhibited  a  genuine  representation  of 
an  Egyptian  artist  of  that  class,  to  one  of  whom  he  has  attributed  the  possession  of 
the  volume  of  the  Orations  of  Hyperides  before  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the 
present  owner. 

Mr.  Thomas  Wright  read  a  notice  of  some  medieval  travellers  in  the  Holy  Land. 
Mr.  Wright  pointed  out  how  interesting  these  early  records  of  travel  are  when 
looked  upon  as  forming  a  long  chain  of  evidence  regarding  the  vexata  quattio  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  holy  sites;  remarking  the  real  diflficultv  of  tracing  the 
localities  from  the  times  of  the  apostles  to  that  of  the  Empress  Helena,  to  do  which 
we  have  no  documentary  evidence  whatever.  There  is  reason  for  looking  with 
sospicion  on  statements  which  were  just  made,  three  hundred  years  af)er  the  period 
to  which  they  referred,  when  the  occupation  of  shewing  the  holy  |>Iaces  to  pilgrims 
had  become  an  office  of  profit,  instead  of  one  subject  to  persecution. 

The  relations  published  during  the  middle  ages  enable  us  to  trace  the  continued 
or  varying  connexions,  as  it  may  be,  between  the  localities  and  the  names  and 
legends  attached  to  them,  and  how  both  continoally  increased. — Literury  Gazette, 
June  25th. 

The  Rev.  J.  Tumbull  read  a  paper  on  Hebron  and  the  Cave  of  Machpelah,  in 
which,  af^er  detailing  the  history  of  the  city  and  cave — the  name  of  the  first  of  which 
he  derived  from  '  friend,'  an  epithet  of  Abraham's  as  the  *  friend  of  God ' — he  pointed 
out  how  desirable  it  would  be  to  1)ehold  how  the  patriarch  and  his  sons  were  laid 
in  the  tomb  appointed  for  all  living.  Jacob's  body,  it  is  known,  was  embalmed 
after  the  royal  fashion  in  Egjpt ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  Hebrew  inscriptions 
or  symbols  would  be  found  in  the  coffin  or  mummy.  The  interest  of  such  a  dis- 
covery, as  well  as  of  that  of  the  sarcophagus  of  Joseph  himself,  can  scarcely  be 
exaggerated.    Some  enchorial  or  hieratic  characters  might  have  accompanied  the 

VOL.  IV,— NO.  VIII.  2    1 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


470  Intelligence.  [July* 

Hebrew,  and  illnBtratioiiB  might  be  obtained  both  of  the  Egyptian  and  of  the 
Hebrew  characters  and  ideas  of  the  period,  so  important  in  relation  to  modem 
discoTcries  in  Assyria  and  Egypt.  'Palestine,'  he  remarked,  *  alone  remains  now 
to  be  explored,  as  the  middle  link  of  this  great  archseological  chaiu.'^^MeffcrtuM, 
June  25th. 

Dr.  Perkins,  of  Oroomiah,  announces  the  complete  translation  of  'the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  into  both  ancient  and  modem  Syriac,  and  its  pubHcation  through 
means  which  were  fhmished  by  the  American  Bible  Society. — Norton's  Literary 
Gazette,  March,  1853. 

LITERARY  AND  EDUCATIONAL. 

At  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  May  1 1th,  Mr.  Vaux  read  a  paper  commu* 
nicated  by  K.  S.  Poole,  Esq.,  of  the  British  Museum,  *  On  a  Date  in  E^ptiaa 
Chronology  calculated  b^  M.  Biot.'  The  writer^s  object  was  to  institute  a  com- 
parison between  that  which  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  most  important 
of  M.  Biot's  dates ;  viz.,  B.C.  1444,  in  the  reign  of  Thothmes  II  I.,  and  the  chrono- 
logical systems  which  have  been  previously  put  forth.  ChampolUon  and  Rosellini 
placed  the  accession  of  this  king,  who  reigned  more  than  thirty  years,  about  three 
centuries,  and  Bunsen  and  Lepsius  about  one  century,  before  M.  Biot*s  date.  Sir 
Gardner  Wilkinson,  in  the  chronological  tables  of  his  '  Modem  i^pt  and  Thebes,' 
dates  the  reij^  of  Thothmes  III.  from  B.C.  1495  to  1157  inclusive  ;  and  since  this 
chronology  is  confessedly  approximative,  the  agreement  may  be  considered  as 
xemarkably  close  or  even  exact.  The  writer  observed  that,  the  only  system  of 
Eg3rptian  chronology  with  which  M.  Biot's  date  perfectly  tallies  is  his  own, 
according  to  which  Thothmes  III.  began  to  reign  not  later  than  b.c.  1445-1444. — 
Athenawn,  May  21st. 

At  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  May  28th,  M.  Simonides  was  introduced, 
and  exhibited  the  following  Greek  mss.  ;  viz.,  the  first  four  books  of  Homer's 
Iliad,  Arlstseus,  Hesiod,  and  Pythagoras'  *  Golden  Words.'  M.  Simonides  stated 
that  his  uncle  Benedictus,  was  guardian  of  the  Russian  convent  at  Mount  Athos ; 
that  there  he  found  a  catalogue  of  the  mss.  which  bad  been  formerly  in  those 
convents,  stating;  also  where  they  had  been  kept ;  that  following  this  indication, 
Benedictus  dug  into  the  mins  and  found  those  which  he  now  exhibited,  and  an 
Egyptian  hieroglyphical  dictionary,  containing  an  exegesis  of  Egyptian  hierogly- 
phics in  Greek.  Considerable  doubt  having  &en  expressed  wim  regard  to  ike 
genuineness  of  the  mss.  exhibited,  and  of  the  Egyptian  dictionary,  which  was 
not  exhibited,  it  was  finally  agreed  (with  the  consent  of  M.  Simonides)  that  two 
committees  should  be  appointed :  one,  to  receive  a  translation  of  a  few  lines  of  the 
sarcophagus  of  Alexander  in  the  British  Museum,  which  M.  Simonides  proposes 
to  read  according  to  the  method  which  he  has  obtained  from  the  dictionary  he 
has  discovered ;  the  other,  to  examine  and  report  upon  the  Greek  mss.  shewn  to 
the  society.  M.  Simonides  exhibited  also  a  hb.  professing  to  be  a  cuneiform 
inscription  with  an  interlinear  translation  in  Greek,  and  bearing  the  title  in  Greek 
*  The  Chronicles  of  the  Babylonians.' 

Mr.  Vaux  stated  that  whatever  might  be  the  case  with  rep^ard  to  the  Greek 
MSB.  previously  exhibited,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  this  document  was  a 
gross  imposition  ;  the  so-called  cuneiform  writing  on  it  belonging  to  none  of  the 
classes  yet  discovered,  either  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Median,  or  Persian,  while 
many  of  the  characters  were  badly  and  ignorantly  formed,  and  several  wedges 
inserted  in  a  manner  wholly  at  variance  with  any  such  writing  as  has  yet  been 
seen.  At  the  end  of  the  mss.  the  so-Ksalled  Greek  characters  were  observed  to 
resemble  very  much  carelessly-copied  Phcenician  letters. — Literary  Gazette, 
June  4th. 

Mr.  Samuel  Sharpe  read  a  paper  on  the  *  Histoiy  of  the  Edomites  and  the  City 
of  Petra,'  giving  a  detailed  account  of  what  is  known  of  the  country  and  its 
commercial  connections,  from  the  time  when  Petra  was  retaken  by  the  native 
Arabs  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Commodus.  The  reading  of  this  elaborate 
paper  was  followed  by  some  discussion  as  to  the  commerce  on  the  Erythrenn  sea 
and  the  site  of  Ophir. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  Intelligence.  471 

At  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  April  16th,  Dr.  Royle  delivered  a  lecture  on 
*  Indian  Prodocts  known  to  the  Ancients.'  He  shewed  that  the  productions  of 
India  were  well  known  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  in  early  times;  that  they 
formed  a  regular  staple  of  commerce ;  and  argued  that  their  uses  and  properties 
were  perfectly  well  known  to  the  Hindus.  He  shewed  that  they  were  brought  to 
the  mart  of  Tjrre  in  the  days  of  E^zekiel,  at  a  period  when  the  ancient  Assyrian 
empire  was  still  in  existence,  before  the  rise  of  Greece  and  Rome.  He  thought 
that  the  most  advisable  course  to  be  adopted  in  identifying  the  articles  as  now 
known  with  those  which  formed  the  staple  of  ancient  trade,  was  to  take  them  as 
we  see  them  and  then  to  trace  them  back  to  the  earliest  notices  of  them  to  be 
found.  In  this  course  the  Arabs  a£Ebrded  us  valuable  aid. — Literary  Gazette, 
April  SOth. 

The  Asiatic  Society  of  France  held  its  annual  meeting  a  few  days  ago  in  Paris. 
After  the  Report  two  pApers  were  read:  one,  an  extract  from  the  travels  of  Ibn- 
Batonta.  a  native  of  Taoffiers,  in  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  South  Russia,  Persia,  India, 
China,  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  amongst  the  Moors  in  Granada^  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  14th  century ;  ibe  other  paper,  a  learned  essay,  by  M.  Renau, 
ou  the  languages  spoken  by  the  descendants  of  Shem,  son  of  Noah,  that  is,  the 
Hebrew,  PhoBnician,  Syriac,  Chaldean,  Arabic,  and  Ethiopic. — Literary  Gazette, 
June  18th. 

It  is  contemplated  by  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  to  extend  their  mission 
at  Old  Calabar.  This  mission,  situated  about  100  miles  east  of  the  Delta  of  the 
Niger,  has  been  in  operation  seven  years.  It  consists  of  four  ordained  missionaries, 
seversil  European  teachers,  and  six  native  assistants.  The  places  occupied  are, 
Duke  Town,  Creek  Town,  and  Old  Town,  which  lie  on  the  Old  Calabar  river, 
about  seventy  miles  fVom  the  sea,  and  which  are  visited  by  ships  from  Liverpool 
which  carry  on  a  large  trade  in  piedm  oil.  At  Creek  Town  kins  Eyo  has  cordially 
befriended  the  missionaries.  He  is  to  be  seen  when  the  hymn  is  announced  to  be 
sung,  getting  on  his  spectacles  and  seeking  out  the  hymn.  The  missionaries 
address  the  people  in  their  own  tongue.  A  considerable  number  of  books  have 
been  prepared  in  Efik,  and  are  in  useful  operation.  Besides  catechisms  and  pri- 
mers there  are  a  system  of  geoffraphy,  a  book  of  Scripture  passages,  a  history  of 
Joseph,  and  a  New  Testament  history.  We  cannot  but  indulge  the  hope  that  the 
time  Ibr  fitvouring  km^negleeted  Africa  is  at  hand.  Various  things  seem  to 
indicate  this.  The  special  attention  which  has  of  late  been  given  to  African  geo- 
grai>hy  ;  the  expeditions  that  are  now  engaged  in  exploring  this  vast  continent ; 
Uie  important  discoveries  that  have  recently  been  made  in  ite  central,  eastern,  and 
southern  regions;  the  Ad  that  monthly  steamers  now  visit  the  chief  places  on  the 
western  coast ;  the  all  but  total  suppression  of  the  slave-trade,  that  horrid  thing 
which  has  devoured  for  ages,  and  the  impulse  which  is  about  to  be  given  to  the 
trade  in  palm-oil,  the  staple  commodity  of  western  Africa— all  seem  to  shew  that 
the  finger  of  God  is  pointing  attention  to  that  long-neglected  and  deeply-wronged 
land. — Missionary  Record  of  the  U.  P.  Church,  June. 

The  Dnyanodaya,  a  periodical  of  sixteen  pages,  large  8vo.,  is  issued  from  the 
American  mission  press  at  Bombay  once  a  fortnight.  A  portion  of  the  articles  are 
in  Ein^lish  as  well  as  in  Mahratta.  It  is  cx>nducted  with  much  ability.  The  re- 
ports m  it  of  the  lectures  given  in  Bombay  by  the  missionaries,  and  of  the  discus- 
sions between  them  and  those  who  bring  objections  to  their  doctrines,  are  models  in 
that  line.  The  course  of  the  argument  is  stated  very  briefly,  yet  clearly. — Journal 
of  Missions,  May,  1853. 

One  who  should  travel  a  hundred  miles  from  Mosul  would  need  to  use  four 
di&rent  languages :  out  of  the  cities  you  will  scarcely  meet  with  a  lad  in  his  teens 
who  is  not  famifiar  with  two.  A  company  of  five  breakfasting  together  at  Jesireh 
was  found  to  be  in  the  daily  use  of  nine  dialecu  of  five  different  languages. — Ibid, 

Mr.  Norris  has  completed  his  '  Memoir  on  the  Scy  thic  Inscription  at  Bisitun.' 
It  is  devoted  to  an  analysis  of  the  second  kind  of  cuneiform  wriung,  the  decipher- 
ment of  which  had  been  suecessfully  begun  by  Professor  Westergaard  under  the 
deugpation  of  Median.  The  language  of  this  inscription  is  believed  by  Mr. 
Norris  to  have  been  that  of  the  nomadic  tribes  of  the  Persian  Empire,  and  to  be 

2  I  2 


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472  Intdligenoe.  ^  [July, 

cognate  with  the  so-called  Scy thic  Tartar,  or  Ugrian  Umguages.  A  small  inscrip- 
tion by  Artaxerxes  Mnemon,  found  at  Snsa,  is  also  examined  in  the  Memoir,  and 
recent  researches  of  Colonel  Rawlinson  appear  to  shew  that  all  the  inscriptions  of 
that  part  of  the  empire,  older  than  the  epoch  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  were  written  in 
cognate  dialects. — Literary  Gazette,  June  4th. 

The  Atharvo  Veda,  which  hitherto  has  existed  in  manuscript  only,  is  preparing 
for  the  press  in  Germany  j  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Roth,  of  Tubingen.  It 
will  appear  probably  in  the  course  of  a  year.  Professor  Roth  has  associated  with 
him  in  his  labours  a  young  American  scholar,  Mr.  William  D.  Whitney.  The 
MSB.  of  this  Veda  in  the  Uermau  libraries  have  already  been  collated,  but  Mr. 
Whitney  is  about  to  make  further  researches  in  London,  Oxfoixl,  and  Paris. — 
Norton's  Literary  Gazette,  March,  1853. 

From  a  Cape  Town  paper  of  January  36th,  we  learn  that  a  party  consisting  of 
Messrs.  C.  and  F.  Green;  Wilson,  Edwards,  and  Campbell,  have  travelled  round 
the  Great  Lake  in  South  Africa.  They  find  the  extreme  length  to  be  sixty-five 
miles,  and  the  average  breadth  twelve.  Connected  with  this  inland  sea  there  is  at 
least  one  noble  river,  the  Teougha,  navisable  to  an  unknown  extent.  The  party 
endeavoured  to  reach  De  Babi,  the  chief  of  a  powerful  Macobo  tribe  Hying  on  the 
river,  but  were  unable  in  consequence  of  the  overflow  of  the  water  flooding  the 
country  for  many  miles  on  either  side  of  its  banks.  A  mountain  of  considerable 
height  points  out  his  residence.  This  mountain  is  reported  by  the  natives  to  be 
coyered  for  many  months  with  snow.  The  natives  of  that  country  carry  on  ja 
considerable  traffic  in  copper,  having  extensive  mines,  and  also  deal  largely  in 
slaves  with  the  Portuguese,  from  whom  they  get  in  return,  cloth,  guup,  powder, 
&c.,  &c.  Sebetuane  purchases  the  greater  part  of  his  copper  ornaments  from  this 
tribe, 

ANNOUNCEMENTS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS. 

We  have  had  much  pleasure  in  observing  the  advertisement  of  an  intended 
translation  of  Dr.  Davidson's  Introduction  into  the  French  language,  fiXMn  the 
house  of  M.  Beroud  of  Geneva.  This  is  in  many  respects  an  interesting  circnm- 
stance,  as  it  is  very  rarely  that  any  English  theological  work  is  translated  into 
French.  The  prospectus  of  this  enterprize  is  a  somewhat  remarkable  docament. 
It  states  that  for  several  years  the  need  had  been  experienced  of  enriching  the  the- 
ology of  the  French  language  with  scientific  works,  the  absence  of  which  had 
been  severely  felt.  In  delsult  of  original  works  it  had  been  thought  good  to 
miJce  translations  from  those  of  countries  whose  theological  literature  was  better 
provided  in  this  r^pect.  The  rich  productions  of  German  theological  science  lay 
ready  for  this  appropriation ;  but  an  unwillingness  to  Aimiliarize  the  public  mind 
with  the  darinff  mdependence  of  German  investigation,  prevented  this  resource 
fh>m  being  so  n-eely  used  as  might  haye  been  expected.  England,  and  particu- 
larly Scotland,  have  acted  differently  in  this  respect.  Many  works  of  a  high 
order  were  translated  from  the  German.  I'hese  found,  at  first,  only  prepossessed 
and  timid  readers ;  but  by  degrees  the  new  taste  was  formed,  and  for  tne  most  im- 
portant of  these  works  a  ready  circulation  is  now  expected  and  experienced.  The 
serious  studies  thus  received  a  new  impulse,  which,  after  having  contributed  to 
the  formation  of  good  scholars,  has  enaed  by  giving  place  to  remarkable  and  able 
men,  highly  appreciated  even  in  that  Germany  whi<3i  has  been  in  this  respect  as  a 
mother  to  them. 

This  new  theology,  although  the  offspring  of  German  theology,  has  always 
preserved  a  character  of  its  own,  impressed  upon  it  by  the  habits  and  traditions 
of  a  piety,  healthy  because  practical.  It  distinguishes  itself  by  a  strong  and 
sincere  acuesion  to  the  fundamentals  of  true  Christianity,  and  by  the  strictness  of 
its  orthodoxy.  It  distinguishes  itself,  above  all,  by  great  prudence  in  the  presence 
of  Uie  new  tendencies  which  moye  modem  thought. 

The  writer  then  enlarges  upon  the  duties  imposed  upon  the  theological  critic  by 
these  new  conditions;  shewing  that,  among  other  matters,  he  shomd  be  well  ac- 
quainted with  German  science  and  its  vast  resources  of  erudition,  in  order  to  resist 


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1853.]  Intelligence.  473 

its  •neroachments  with  equal  arms,  and  to  be  able  to  tani  against  it  the  weapons  it 
has  audaciously  directed  against  the  eternal  gospel.  It  was  then  necessary  to 
view  again  its  sources,  to  ezaaune  its  hypotheses,  to  verify  with  care  all  its  re- 
sults, to  gather  up,  to  select,  to  classify,  to  recapitulate— in  a  word,  it  was  necessary 
to  open,  with  a  circumsi>ect  but  firm  step,  a  new  road,  shunning  all  dangers  and 
surmounting  all  difficulties. 

The  writer  then  proceeds  to  state  how  happily  these  objects  have  been  fulfilled 
in  the  work  the  translation  of  which  is  undertaken  :  but  we  need  not  go  into  this, 
as  the  readers  of  the  Journal  are  already  acquainted  with  the  work  from  our  own 
review  of  it. 

We  have  seen  a  prospectus,  with  specimens,  of  a  work  on  the  Messianic  Pro- 
phecies of  the  Old  Testament,  by  J.  Robert  Wolf,  in  the  preparation  of  which  it 
18  stated  that  the  author  (a  Christian  Jew)  enjoys  the  valuable  assistance  of  Pro- 
fessor Eadie.  The  work  will  exhibit  Uie  Hebrew  text  with  a  literal  translation 
and  a  critical  exposition,  with  special  reference  to  the  Rabbinical  commentators 
and  German  critics,  and  will  include  a  vindication  of  their  genuineness  and  au- 
thenticity. From  the  expensive  nature  of  the  printing  ofthis work  the  author 
wishes  to  have  a  certain  number  of  subscribers  before  sending  it  to  press.  It  is  to 
be  published  by  Messrs.  Bagster  and  Son.  From  some  previous  knowledge  of  the 
author's  competency  for  the  work,  as  well  as  from  an  inspection  of  the  specimen, 
we  feel  justined  in  reporting  very  favourably  of  this  undertaking. 

We  are  informed  that  there  is  on  the  eve  of  publication  a  work  entitled  *  Hippo- 
lytus  and  the  Christian  Church  of  the  Third  Century  ;  with  an  analysis  of  the 
newly  discovered  Greek  Blanuscript,  and  a  Translation  of  all  its  important  parts;' 
by  W.  Elfe  Tayler,  author  of  *  Popery;  its  Character  and  Crimes.* 

Messrs.  Nisbet  and  Co.  have  in  the  press  a  *  History  of  the  Protestant  Church  in 
Hungary,'  compiletl  from  authentic  documents.  The  tone  and  spirit  of  the  work 
will  be  similar,  we  are  informed,  to  that  of  the  *  History  of  the  Reformation,'  by 
Dr.  Merle  D'Aubigne,  in  which  case  it  will  be  a  valuable  addition  to  a  highly 
interesting  branch  of  literature. 

A  specimen  of  the  edition  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  contemplated  by  the  Edin- 
burgh section  of  the  Evanffelical  Alliance  has  been  issned.  It  is  a  royal  4to., 
with  the  text  in  the  centre  of  the  page,  with  very  ample  marginal  references.  The 
left  baud  margin  contains  verbal  references,  or  all  instances  in  which  the  word  or 
phrase  illustrated  occurs  in  what  is  judged  to  be  its  sense  in  the  passage.  The 
right  band  contains  doctrinal  references.  When  the  meaning  of  a  word  or  phrase 
is  doubtful,  references  are  given  for  the  different  senses  in  which  it  may  be  taken. 
The  order  of  the  references,  both  verbal  and  doctrinal,  is  first  those  in  ihe  same 
chapter  and  book,  next  those  in  other  writings  of  the  same  author,  next  those  in 
other  books  of  the  New  Testament  in  order,  and  lastly,  those  in  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  order.  In  the  last  case,  when  the  verbal  reference  is  more 
pointed  to  anv  particular  version  of  the  Old  Testament  this  is  marked.  It  is  Uie 
intention  of  the  editors  to  commence  with  the  New  Testament. 

The  Church  Missionary  Record  for  June  announces  cheering  results  of  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade  at  Lagos  by  the  British.  Lagos  is  about  thirty-six 
miles  to  the  eastward  of  Badagry.  It  is  a  large  and  populous  town,  having  water 
communication  far  into  the  interior,  as  well  as  for  hundreds  of  miles  along  the 
coast  It  has  been  hitherto  a  great  centre  of  evil,  the  head-quarters  of  the  slave- 
trade  in  the  Bight  of  Benin,  from  whence  suffering  has  been  dealt  fbrth  with  an 
unsparing  hand  on  the  surroundine  nations.  Expelled  ftom  Lagos,  that  inhuman 
traffic,  under  which  Afirica  has  so  long  and  ^pievously  suffered,  is  extinct  along 
the  coast,  and  Lagos  is  now  a  missionary  station,  the  landing-place  of  our  mission- 
aries, and  our  door  of  access  into  the  interior.  The  taking  of  I^gos  by  the  arms 
of  England  is  a  circumstance  which  should  inspire  every  true  Christian,  and  parti- 
cularly every  friend  of  Africa,  with  heartfelt  gratitude  to  God. 

The  first  two  volumes  for  1853  of  Clark's  Foreign  Theological  Library  are  now 
ready ;  viz.,  Mnller  on  the  Doctrine  of  Sin.  Vol.  fl.  (completion),  and  Gieseler*! 
Compendium  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  Vol.  III. 


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474  Intelligence.  [July, 

Neariy  ready.  Infidelity;  its  Aspects,  Causes,  and  Agencies.  By  th«  Rev. 
Thomas  Pearson,  Eyemouth,  ScotJaiul.  8to.  This  essay  obtained  the  prise  of 
one  hundred  pounds  recently  offered  by  the  Council  of  the  British  Organization  of 
the  Evangelical  Alliance. 

Professor  Oliddon  is  said  to  be  engaged  at  New  Orleans  vith  Professor  Nott 
upon  an  Ethnological  work  of  considerable  importance,  to  be  entitled  *  Types  of 
Mankind.'  It  is  to  illustrate  the  ancient  history  of  the  race  by  reference  to  monu- 
ments, sculptures,  casts.  Sec,-— Norton's  Literary  Oazette,  Jan.  1853. 

It  is  to  be  based  upon  the  works,  correspondence,  and  inedited  memoirs  of  Dr. 
Morton.  Dr.  Nott  of  Mobile,  Ala.,  has  charge  of  the  physiological  and  anatomical 
departments  of  the  work,  and  Mr.  Gliddon  of  the  archteological  and  kindred  de- 
partments. It  is  to  be  in  4to.,  and  illustrated  by  200  cuts. — Norton's  Literary 
Gazette,  March,  1853. 

In  the  press.  Essays  on  some  of  the  Forms  of  Literature.  Fcp.  Bvo.  By 
Thomas  T.  Lynch. 

Just  Published.  A  New  Edition,  revised,  of  the  Martyrs,  Heroes,  and  Bards  of 
the  Scottish  Covenant.    By  the  Rev.  George  Gilfillan.    Fcp.  Bvo. 

Nearly  Ready.  A  Valedictory  Offering :  Five  Sermons  in  token  of  ChristiaB 
Love  and  Remembrance  towards  his  brethren  in  England.  By  C  P.  M*Ilvaine, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  Ohio.    Seeley. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Bosanquet  has  in  the  press, '  The  Fall  of  Nineveh,  and  the  Reign  of 
Sennacherib,  chronologically  considered,'  with  a  view  to  the  readjustment  of  sacred 
and  profkne  chronology. 

Messrs.  Seeleys,  have  ready  for  delivery  the  first  volume  of  their  *  Church  His- 
torians of  England,  from  Bede  to  Foxe.'  The  series  will  be  comprised  in  sixteen 
large  8vo.  volumes,  containing  all  the  English  writers  of  credit  on  Church  History, 
from  Gildas,  Nennius,  and  Bede,  down  to,  and  inclusive  of,  the  times  of  the 
Reformation.  The  Pre-Reformation  series,  being  one  half  of  the  whole,  will 
contain  the  writers  fW>m  the  Anglo-Saxon  times  down  to  Walsingham.  Each 
subscriber  of  80s.  per  annum  will  receive  in  return  three  volumes  medium  8vo  of 
400  pages  each. 

The  subject  of  the  Arnold  Prize,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  study  of  His- 
tory, Ancient  and  Modem,  for  the  year  1854,  is  the  *  Benefits  Resulting  from  the 
Union  of  England  and  Scotland  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.' 

Shortly  will  be  published,  bv  subscription  only,  in  the  usual  size,  music  folio, 
•  Sabbath  Songs.'  The  poetry  from  Cowper,  Watts,  and  other  standard  writers, 
set  to  original  hymn  tunes,  and  arranged  for  one,  two,  three,  or  four  voices,  with 
an  accompaniment  for  the  organ  or  pianoforte.    By  an  Amateur,  price  5s. 

Preparing  for  publication  by  subscription,  the  whole  Book  of  Conunon  Prayer : 
together  with  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  with  copious  Scripture  Proofs  and  Refer- 
ences in  parallel  columns  throughout. 

Now  ready.  The  English  Bible,  containing  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  accord- 
ing to  the  authorised  version ;  newly  divided  into  paragraphs,  with  concise  intro- 
ductions to  the  several  Books;  and  with  Maps  and  Notes  illustrative  of  the 
(;hronology.  History,  and  Geography  of  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  containing  also  the 
most  remarkable  variations  of  the  Ancient  Versions,  and  the  chief  results  of 
modem  criticism.  Part  I.  containing  the  whole  of  Genesis,  with  Indexes.  To  be 
completed  in  about  Twelve  Parts.    Blackader. 

The  Hon.  and  Rev.  Samuel  Waldegrave,  M.A.,  Rector  of  Barford,  St  Martin's, 
Wiltshire,  has  been  appointed  *  Bampton  Lecturer'  for  the  year  1854. 

Preparing  for  publication.  The  Ionian  Islands,  Past  and  Present,  with  nsmarks 
on  Greece  and  Turkey.    By  Geo.  F.  Bowen,  Esq.,  M.A. 

An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Old  Testament.  By  Alfred  Barry,  M.A., 
Sub-Wanien  of  Trinity  College,  Glenalmond.    Parker  and  Son. 

Phraseological  and  Explanatory  Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Book  of 
Genesis.    By  the  Rev.  T.  Preston,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 


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1853.]  IvteUigence.  Alb 

A  Commentary  upon  the  Greek  Text  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Pftul,  for  the  use  of 
Students,  conducted  by  several  Fellows  of  St.  John's  OUege,  Cambridge ;  to  be 
Ibllowed  by  a  Commentary  on  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament.  Parker 
and  Son. 

Twenty  Pictures  firom  Switzerland.    By  Dr.  Cesar  Malan.    Nisbet  and  Co. 

A  New  Edition  of  Archbishop  Liaurence's  Eight  Sermons,  preached  at  the  Bamp- 
ton  Lecture  in  1804,  being  an  attempt  to  illustrate  those  Articles  of  the  Church  of 
England  which  the  Calyinists  improperly  consider  as  Calvinistical.    8vo. 

In  the  press, — The  New  Testament,  according  to  the  Authorised  Version.  With 
a  Commentary  for  general  readers.    By  the  Rev.  Henry  Alford,  B.D. 

The  Third  and  concluding  Volume  of  the  Oreek  Testament ;  with  a  critically 
revised  text,  various  readings,  and  a  critical  and  exegetical  Commentary  in  English. 
By  the  Rev.  Henry  Alford,  B.D. 

Some  Account  of  the  Council  of  Niccea  in  connection  with  the  life  of  Athana- 
nua.    By  John  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 

A  Guide  to  the  profitable  use  of  the  English  Translation  of  the  Bible,  intended 
to  point  out  to  English  readers  who  understand  onlv  their  own  tongue,  the  best 
mode  of  judiciously  using  the  stores  of  Biblical  Literature.  By  the  Rev.  Henry 
Burgess,  Ph.  D.  of  Gottingen,  Curate  of  St.  Mary's,  Blackburn.     Blackader. 

The  Inspiration  of  Holy  Scripture,  its  Nature  and  its  Proof.  Eight  Lectures 
delivered  before  the  University  of  Dublin,  during  the  years  1852  and  1853.  By 
William  Lee,  M.A.    Rivington. 

The  Apocalypse  its  own  Interpreter,  by  the  application  of  a  sound  and  ancient 
rule  for  the  interpreting  of  Holy  Scriptures:  to  which  is  added  a  series  of 
dissertations  on  Symbolical  Prophecy.  By  the  Ven.  James  W.  Forster,  L.L.D. 
Limerick. 

The  H'lstory  of  Latin  Christianity,  flrom  the  Fifth  Century  down  to  the  Reforma- 
tion.    By  the  Very  Rev.  the  Dean  Milman. 

In  the  press,— A  Memoir  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Pye  Smith,  compiled  ftom  the 
Papers  in  the  possession  of  the  fiunily.    By  the  Rev.  J.  Medway. 

X  new  edition,  in  super  royal  8vo.,  of  the  Holy  Bible ;  translated  ftom.  corrected 
texts  of  the  original  tongues,  and  with  former  transUtioDB  diligently  compared, 
together  with  a  general  Introduction,  and  short  Explanatory  Notes.  By  B. 
Boothroyd,  D.D. 

'  The  Orations  of  Hyperides  for  Lycophron,  and  for  Euxenippns,'  obtained  at 
Western  Thebes  in  1847  {tee  Journal,  No.  VII.),  is  about  to  be  issued  fh>m  the 
Cambridge  University  Press.  It  is  printed  in  fac-simile  from  the  original  ms., 
with  an  account  of  its  discovery  by  Joseph  Arden,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  and  is  carefully 
edited  with  Notes  and  Illustrations  by  the  Rev.  C.  Babington. 

In  the  press,— History  and  Theology  of  the  Three  Creeds.  By  the  Rev.  W.  W. 
Harvey,  Rector  of  Buckland,  Herts. 

Theophylacti  Commentarii  in  Novum  Testamentnm,  Vol.  I.,  containing  the 
Commentary  on  St.  Matthew.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Humphry,  B.D.,  Vicar 
ofNortholt. 


FOREIGN  INTELLIGENCE. 

{To  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature,) 

Sib, — Events  move  rapidly  in  the  intellectual  world  of  Germany.  With  the 
•ober-minded  and  slow^^ing  people  of  Elogland,  Strauss  and  Rationalism  are  the 
latest  phase  of  theological  moustronsness.  Yet,  while  many  grave  divines  are 
somnolently  pondering  over  the  theory  of  the  former,  almost  hopeless  of  com- 
prehending it,  and  while  others  indignantly  admire  the  dexterity  with  which  the 


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476  Intelligence,  [July, 

latter  eriscerates  the  Gospel  narratives  of  the  miracolons,  and  fVom  a  liying  reality 
reduces  them  each  to  a  caput  mortmtm,  these  fearftil  names  have  in  the  land  of 
thtnr  birth  become  innocuous  shadows,  having  passed  from  the  pulpit  and  the 
professor's  chair  into  the  lumber  room  of  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  in  whose 
nortitg  siccvt  they  stand  arranged  and  ticketed  as  materials  toward  a  course  of 
lectures,  an  article  of  review,  or  an  evanescent  volume. 

In  God's  world  the  most  unsightly  things  have  their  use.  So  Rationalism 
came  not  uncalled  for,  nor  has  it  passed  away  without  fhiit.  Rationalism  was  the 
offiihoot  as  it  was  the  antagcmist  of  supematuralism.  The  miraculous  element 
of  Scripture  it  disowned,  and  disowned  it  with  all  the  earnestness  of  which  so 
frigid  a  thing  was  capable.  Pretending  to  find  religion,  as  well  as  all  other  things, 
in  Itself,  and  so  makmg  itself  ncf  only  the  source,  but  the  measure  and  the  test  of 
all  truth,  reason,  or  rather  ratiocination,  the  mother  and  the  nurse  of  Rationalism* 
boldly  declared  miracle  an  impossibility.  But,  miracles  are  recorded  in  the 
Gospels.  What  was  to  be  done  r  Notice  to  quit  was  served  on  the  Scriptural 
miracles,  and  all  the  resources  of  the  Court  of  critical  reason  were  forthwith  em- 
ployed in  order  to  effect  the  ejectment.  In  idea  the  Gospels  were  denuded  of 
miracle.  The  Bible  (a  copy  of  the  work  in  eight  bulky  octavo  volumes  stands  on 
our  shelves)  was  put  forth  shorn  of  its  beams  bv  professedly  friendly  hands,  every 
particle  of  miracle  being  neutralised  and  blotted  out  by  critical  solvents  of  different 
kinds.  I'he  dexterity  was  great,  and  begot  admiration.  A  shout  of  triumph  arose 
from  the  rationalist  camp,  which  at  the  moment  covered  nearly  the  whole  of 
Germany.  But  how  fallacious  are  human  hopes,  how  transient  the  glory  of  the 
world  I  At  this  nick  of  time  Strauss  appeared,  and  with  the  mist-clouds  of  hit 
mythical  theory  darkened  and  put  into  confusion  the  whole  rationalist  hemisphere. 
Not  that  he  appeared  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross.  He  did,  indeed,  hold  up  as 
his  symbol  that  light  of  the  world,  but  it  was  not  the  true  cross,  it  was  a  cross  of 
mere  wood,  fram^  by  human  hands,  such  as  Romanists  present  to  the  infatuated 
eyes  of  a  dying  convert.  A  new  and  most  deadly  element  did  Strauss  introduce 
into  the  controversy.  Breaking  Rationalism  in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel  is  crushed 
in  the  mill ;  scornfully  and  ignominiously  trampling  Rationalism  under  his  feet,  as 
a  strong  man  crushes  the  empty  shells  that  line  the  margin  of  the  sea ;  Strauss, 
averse  no  less  to  the  God  of  the  Bible  than  the  God  of  supematuralist  and  ration- 
alist theoloffians,  offered  as  *the  only  true  God '  the  unreal  fkncy,  the  mere  ab- 
straction, vie  nothing  with  the  name  of  something,  the  heap  of  mist,  which  is 
called  humanity,  considered  as  the  ideal  of  intelligence,  and  the  sole  reaUzation  and 
image  of  the  divine  mind. 

A  Gospel  without  miracle,  and  a  universe  without  God,  astounded  even  specula- 
tive theologians.  At  once  the  notes  of  triumph  sank.  Astonishment  succeeded ; 
then  came  fear.  At  last  men  began  to  look  again  into  the  old  book.  What  was 
their  wonder  when,  on  looking  and  reading  there,  they  felt  their  heart  bound  with 
joy.  Here  was  an  unexpected  evidence  of  its  divinity.  Yes,  it  gave  the  very  light 
which  they  had  so  long  sought  out  of  its  pages,  and  they  gladly  accepted  the  very 
light  which  a  little  before  they  had  done  their  best  to  extinguish.  Rationalism 
passed  away ;  leaving  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  cmaided  and 
uninjured,  to  confer  its  blessings  on  the  world.  Paulus,  the  Nestor  of  Rationalism, 
is  dead,  having  lived  long  enough  to  see  his  theory  quietly  entombed,  and  Strauss, 
the  hero  who  with  a  brand  of  myths  slew  the  earth-bom  giant,  has  in  a  very  firw 
years  outlived  his  speculation,  his  book,  and  his  &me. 

We  speak  of  general  results.  There  are  yet  rationalists  in  Germany,  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  The  mythical  theory  retains  advocates.  And  pantheism 
has,  alas!  a  vigorous  hold  of  life.  But  the  hi^h  imperial  powers  which  once 
divided  the  theological  world,  and  disturbed  society  with  their  conflicts,  are  no 
more.  In  departing,  what  have  they  left  behind  ?  No  powers  of  high  bearine 
and  wide  dominion  like  their  own  have  as  yet  appeared.  But  the  German  mind 
is  active  and  prolific  One  or  two  of  its  chief  manifestations  may  be  spoken  of 
hereafter. 

Meanwhile  the  productiveness  which  once  characterised  German  theology,  has 
by  no  means  yet  revived.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  human  mind  can  be  put  into 
ffenerative  vigour  only  by  impulses,  the  most  powerful  and  the  most  widely  spread. 
Unproductive  in  seasons  of  tranquillity,  it  starts  into  life  and  puts  forth  frail  when 

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1853.]  Intelligence.  477 

f  torms  rage  oyer  tbe  sar&ce,  and  desceud  into  the  depths  of  societ  j.  Within  the 
last  quarter,  therefore,  few  works  of  mark  and  compass  have  appeared.  The 
fountains  of  learning  are  low ;  some  are  wholly  dried  up.  Much  of  the  little  life 
that  remains  is  spent  in  very  needful  but  profitless  warfare  against  the  ceaseless 
aggressions  of  the  papacy,  which,  flattering  itself  that  it  is  on  the  point  of  ascending 
the  throne  of  univenal  empire,  daily  becomes  at  once  more  intolerant  and  more 
daring.  Another  channel  in  which  some  activity  prevails  is  that  of  ascetic  litera- 
ture, a  crop  of  which  has  lately  come  forth  to  meet  the  demand,  felt  and 
manifested  by  hearts  sick  and  weary  of  the  void  of  Rationalism,  and  the  husks  of 
supematuralism.  Amon^  the  woru  of  this  class  are  there :  De  Imitatione  Christi, 
Ubri  qnatuar,  4^.,  euravit  Joannes  Hrabieta,  1852;  and  an  edition  of  the  same 
in  German,  Thomas  von  Kempen  vier  BUcher,  ^c,  bv  Dr.  G.  Krehl ;  also  from  the 
Romanist  side  IHvi  Thoma  Aquinatit  Opuacula  de  duobus  prseceptis  charitatis  et 
decem  legis  prseceptis,  ejusdem  que  de  Venerabili  Sacramento  altaris,  recosnovit 
Conradus  Martin,  1852;  and  in  German  Ausgewdhlte  Schrijten  des  heiligen  TTiomas 
tfom  Ag»in  van  Conrad  Martin^  1852;  and  another  translation  into  German,  with 
comments  by  W.  Bendel,  fifth  edition,  1852.  We  may  add  Philothea,  oder  Anlei- 
tung  cum  gottlichen  Leben  von  dem  heiligen  Bischof  Franziscut  von  Sale,  by 
J.  Moorman,  1850. 

Among  the  prooft  that  Rationalism  is  not  quite  extinct  is  a  work  by  Wisliceni^, 
who,  at  the  tmie  when  Ronge  had  excited  an  interest  in  *  German  Catholicism,' 
published  a  work  which  had  no  small  vogue  entitled  *0b  Geist,  ob  Schrift?* 
wislicenus  belongs  to  the  once  active  body  who  called  themselves  lAch^rtunde, 
*  Friends  of  Light.'  His  present  publication,  *  Die  Bibel  im  Liehte  der  Bildung 
wigerer  Zeit^*  1853,  bears  the  red  flag  of  Rationalism.  Were  iu  professed  obJ<^t 
also  its  real  one,  namely  to  expound  the  Bible  in  the  best  lights  of  the  age,  the 
friends  of  the  Bible  would  have  reason  for  welcoming  a  fellow  labourer ;  but  in 
truth  the  author,  viewin^^  mattera  only  from  the  rationalistic  camp,  tries  to  reason 
out  of  the  Bible  every  thing  which  is  peculiar  to  it  and  most  precious  to  believers, 
while,  with  a  scoff  and  a  sneer,  he  onere  to  the  public  only  a  warmed-up  hash  of 
meatt  which  it  has  already  refused. 

Of  the  more  learned  and  valuable  works  we  may  direct  attention  to  the  follow- 
ing. Weizel,  of  Leipsic,  has  put  out  the  seoond  pairt  of  the  first  volume,  and  the 
second  part  of  the  second  volume  of  Professor  Stieren's  very  useful  edition  of 
Irenseus,  Iretuti  qua  supenunt  omnia ;  accedunt  apparatus  contmens  ex  lis  ^usd  ab 
aliis  editoribus  aut  de  Irensoo  ipso  aut  de  scriptis  ejus  sunt  disputata  meliora  et 
iteratione  hand  indigna,  &c.  And  Tauchnitz,  to  whom  learning  is  so  much 
indebted,  has  just  published  the  fourth  volume  of  his  stereotype  edition  of  Philo, 
PhiUmie  Jvdtti  opera  omnia.  There  has  also  appeared  ftrom  the  press  of  Vogel  of 
Leipsic,  Geaenii  G,  Theganrus,  philologicus  cnticut  lingua  Hebnete  et  CbudsMB 
Veteris  Testamenti ;  Tomi  iii.,  fasciculus  posterior,  quem  composuit  A,  Ruediger, 
editio  secunda.  In  January  last,  Henj^enberg  published  a  commentary  on  the 
Song  cf  Solomon,  Dae  Uohelied  Salamonie  aitaaeiegt,  8vo.,  Berlin.  The  very  useful 
and  very  neatly  and  accurately  printed  Pohfgloit  for  ordinary  use,  prepared  by  Stier 
and  Theile  is  rapidly  advancing  towards  completion ;  another  part  has  Just  appeared. 
This  work  ( Poluglotten  Bibel  zum  praktiachen  Handyehrattch)  may  be  confidently 
recommended  to  Biblical  students.  We  may  jxissibly  give  a  formal  review  of  it 
when  completed.  Hagenbach,  who  is  known  in  this  country  by  the  translation 
{Clark,  Edinbuigh)  of  his  'History  of  Christian  Doctrine,'  {Lehrbuch  der  Dog^ 
wtengeachichie,  of  which  a  third  edition  has  just  come  forth),  has  published  a  valu- 
able contribution  to  tbe  history  of  the  Church  in  Die  Chrietliche  Kirche  der  drei 
erslen  Yahrhunderte ;  8vo.,  Leipzig.  The  very  learned  uid  indefatigable  Ewald  of 
Gottingen  meets  with  deserved  success  in  the  acceptance  which  his  Geachichte  dee 
Volkee  Israel  has  secured  with  the  best  judges  in  tne  world  of  learning.  His  first 
volume  reached  a  second  edition  in  1851 ;  the  second  cape  into  our  hands  a  day  or 
two  since.  In  revising  his  labours,  the  author  finds  it  necessary  to  enlarge  the 
bounds  of  his  work,  already  not  inconsiderable.  This  is  the  only  History  of  the 
people  of  God  that  can  furnish  the  theological  student  with  the  materials  that  are 
now  requisite  for  a  thorough  investigation  and  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  very 
many  momentous  questions  opened  respecting  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  by 
the  learning  of  Germany.    Ewald's  work,  while  it  takes  a  position  in  the  vanguard 


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478  InteUigence,  [Jwly^ 

of  learning  and  thought,  is  written  in  a  reTerent  and  oonaenratiTe,  as  well  as 
thoroughly  searching  and  truth  loving  spirit. 

Statistical  Tables  recently  issued  by  authority  give  the  following  numbers  as  the 
relative  forces  of  the  Religious  Denominations  in  Prussia : — 


In  the  ClUes.           In  tbe  Country. 

Together. 

Protestants          3,129,677            6,857,600 

9,987,277 

Catholics              1,266,209             4,797,977 

6,063,186 

Mennonites                 2,476                  12,032 

14,508 

Greeks                     ..     ••                      1,269 

1,269 

Jews                        178,199                  45,674 

218,773 

Total  Sects    4,570,561           11,714,452 

16,285,013 

diibit  the  same  &cts  as  they  stand  per  centum. 

we  have — 

In  Citka.    In  the  Country. 

Together. 

Protestants            68-49            58-55 

61-32 

Catholics               27-68            40-95 

87-24 

Mennonites              0*05              0'  10 

0-09 

Greeks                    000              O-Ol 

0-01 

Jews                         3-78              0-39 

1-34 

The  population  of  Saxony  in  1851  amounted  to  1,894,431  souls,  of  whom 
^  1 ,855,242  belonging  to  the  Lutheran  branch  of  the  Protestant  Church,  inhabited 
140  cities,  21  towns,  and  3,666  villages,  having  1200  places  of  worship,  1107 
clergymen,  1877  schools,  and  2857  teachers.  The  members  of  the  other  branch 
of  the  German  Protestant  Church,  the  Reformist,  2581  in  number,  had  in  Dresden 
and  Leipic  2  churches  and  4  clergymen.  The  Roman  Catholics,  33,725  in  num- 
ber, with  31  churches  and  62  priests,  also  32  schools  and  49  teachers,  inhabited  2 
cities  and  62  villages  in  Lausitz.  In  Leipsic  there  were  89  Greek  Catholics  with 
one  priest.  The  German  Catholics,  in  number  1772,  had  4  preachers,  but  no 
church.  The  Jews,  in  number  1U22,  had  in  the  two  chief  cities,  2  sjmagogues, 
2  rabbis,  and  3  teachers.  There  were  also  in  the  country  1 1  Gynuiasia  or  high 
schools,  with  130  teachers,  and  9  normal  schools,  with  49  teachers. 

The  Teyler  Institution  of  Haarlem  has  proposed  as  the  subject  of  its  prixe  essay 
for  1853,  a  point  which  shows  that  its  conductors  are  aware  of  the  actual  condition  of 
a  ^reat  theological  question,  and  are  desirous  to  keep  pace  with,  as  well  as  do  some- 
thinff  to  guide  the  progress  of  religious  enquiry.  These  are  the  terms  which  they 
employ  and  which  we  publish,  the  rather  because  we  should  be  glad  to  find 
competitors  appear  in  England,  and  still  more  glad  to  know  that  the  laurel  had 
been  plucked  by^  an  English  hand. 

'  To  the  most  important  questions  which  in  the  last  few  years  have,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  been  much  discussed,  excited  great  interest,  occasioned  verv  different 
views,  and  produced  widely  distant  results  in  the  theological  worlo,  belongs 
undoubtedly  the  question  of  the  authority  of  the  apostolic  writings  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  are  the  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  Christianity.  The  theolo- 
gical section  of  the  Teyler  Institution  think  that  in  the  prevailing  divergency  of 
opinions  on  this  subject,  they  shall  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  day,  enrich  theolo- 
gical science,  and  promote  the  good  of  the  church,  if  they  endeavour  to  make  the 
matter  more  clear  and  more  definite.  They,  therefore,  propose  for  answer  the 
following  questions : — 

*  First— Have  we  grounds  for  regarding  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  as  in- 
spired in  the  sense  which  involves  the  infiJlibility  of  the  writers ;  and  dues  inspira- 
tion imply  infallibility  ? 

*■  Secondly. — What  does  history  teach  both  regarding  the  doctrine  of  the  in^iim- 
tion  of  the  New  Testament^  writings,  and  the  modifications  which  have  been  made 
in  that  doctrine  ?  and  what  inference  touching  the  essence  and  the  importance  of 
that  doctrine,  may  be  hence  deduced  ? 

*  Thirdly. — Does  Christian  faith  stand  in  indissoluble  connexion  with  the  belief 
in  the  infallibility  of  the  apostles  ?  or  have  we  other  and  sufficient  proofs  of  the 
authority  of  the  authors  of  the  New  Testament  writings,  on  which  that  fidth  is 
safely  grounded  ?' 


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1853.]  InteUigence.  479 

The  prize  is  a  gold  medal  worth  400  florins.  Further  particalars  may  be  ascer- 
tained by  application,  addressed  to  the  Trustees  of  P.  Teyler  Tan  der  Hulst,  at 
Haarlem.* 


To  the  Editor  qfthe  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature, 

Paris,  Aprilf  1853. 
The  Febmary  number  of  the  Journal  des  Savants  contains  an  article  on  the  rains 
of  Capna,  which  promises  eqnal  interest  and  importance.  The  author  is  the  cele- 
brated antiquary  Raoul-Rocnette.  The  special  subject  is  the  various  results  of  a 
recent  tour  of  exploration  which  he  has  made  to  this  most  remarkable  and  perhaps 
ancient  of  Italian  cities.  The  present  paper  is  a  critico-historical  sketch  of  that 
anti(|uity,  disputing  some  of  the  doctrines  of  Niebuhr,  Miiller,  and  others,  and  is 
preliminary  to  a  series  which  is  to  follow  in  the  same  journal,  and  to  fortify  those 
strictures  by  an  exposition  of  his  late  discoveries,  ceramai'cal,  numismatical, 
sculptural,  and  architectural.  The  substance  of  this  exposition,  at  once  historical 
and  antiquarian,  your  curious  readers  will  be  duly  furnished  with,  I  tmst,  authen- 
tically while  concisely. 

To  begin,  then,  with  the  ancient  Capua,  of  which  the  site  is  at  present  occupied 
by  a  little  village  called  Santa  Maria  di  Capua,  a  metamorphosis  like  that  of 
Magdalen,  from  a  life  of  luxury  and  dissipation  into  a  name  at  least  of  sanctity 
and  a  condition  of  humility;  for  Capua  was  once  the  rival  of  Corinth,  Carthage, 
and  Rome  itself,  from  which  it  failed,  in  fi&ct,  to  bear  away  the  metropolitan  pre- 
eminence but  b;^  taking  the  part  of  Hannibal  asainst  the  Romans.  In  its  history 
there  are  prominentlv  to  be  noted  three  periods,  by  reason  of  the  three  peoples 
who  had  possession  of  it  in  succession — the  Etruscan,  the  Samnite,  and  the  noman 
periods.  Each  of  these  is  indeed  attested  by  monuments  to  correspond.  But 
there  are  also,  says  the  writer,  many  monuments  of  Greek  art,  and  yet  the  pre- 
sence of  a  Greek  element  in  the  population  is  disregarded.  The  existence  of  this 
Greek  element  in  the  civilization  of  ancient  Capua  is  the  point  which  M.  Raoul- 
Rochette  is  then  to  vindicate  and  to  illustrate. 

He  agrees,  however,  that  the  city  had  been  fomided  by  the  Etroscaus,  that  is, 
the  Oscan  or  Opician  inhabitants  of  Campania;  that  this  took  place,  according 
to  Paterculus,  some  half  a  century  before  Rome,  or  about  eight  hundred  ^ears 
before  our  era,  and  that  its  primitive  name,  as  Livy  says,  was  Pultumumf  which  is 
Etruscan.  But  Livy  also  derives  the  name  Capua  from  that  of  Capys,  the  chief 
of  the  Samnites,  who  took  possession  of  the  city  in  the  year  of  Rome  332 ;  and 
herein  too  he  is  followed  by  Miiller  and  other  authorities.  From  this  alleged  late- 
ness of  the  name  the  French  antiquary  diflfers ;  and  as  it  militates  against  his 
other  supposition  of  a  Greek  plantation,  he  proceeds  to  prove  both  positions  by 
an  histoncal  induction,  in  advance  of  and  in  preparation  ror  his  monumental  wit* 
nesses. 

The  ancient  migration  into  the  district  which  has  been  subsequently  called 
Campania  of  a  Greek  colony  called  Pelasgi,  or  sometimes  Tyrrhenians,  is  not 
doubted.  To  this  origin  ancient  writers  ascribe  the  chief  cities  of  the  country, 
among  others  those  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  Dionysius  of  Halicamassus  in 
particular  says  expressly  that  this  region  was  inhabited  mostly  by  Pelas^  ;  and 
from  the  manner  of  his  designation,  M.  Raoul-Rochette  is  obli^  to  think  that 
Capua  was  among  the  number  of  Pelasgic  or  Greek  cities.  This  is  also  the  im- 
plied admission  of  Niebuhr,  and  will  be  found  confirmed  by  the  monuments. 

Such  is,  too,  the  true  origin,  the  writer  thinks,  of  the  name  Capua,  fh>m  Capj/s^ 
the  traditional  kinsman  of  Eneas;  for  the  Pelasgi,  who  came  from  Ionia,  would 
be  confounded  with  the  Trojan  wanderers,  from  whom  the  Romans  were  so  soli- 
citous to  trace  their  origin.  Furthermore  the  nam^  Capua  is  mentioned  by 
Hecataeus,  who  wrote  a  century  before  the  Samnite  invasion.  But  there  is  still  a 
more  striking  testimony  to  the  &ct.    Soon  before  the  death  of  Csesar  a  Roman 

*  The  Books  named  in  this  communication  are  all  obtainable  of  Mr.  David 
Nutt,  270,  Strand. 


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480  Intelligence.  [July, 

colony  was  sent  to  Capua,  for  whom  new  baikluigs  had  to  be  erected  on  a  large 
scale.  They  came,  in  digging  the  foundation,  upon  several  tombs  of  the  ancient 
city,  and  which  contained — in  the  expression  of  Suetonius,  who  transmits  the  fBct — 
a  multitude  of  '  yases  of  ancieitt  Greek  fitbric :'  but  among  the  tombs  then  rifled 
was  that  of  a  certain  Capv»,  the  reputed  founder  of  the  city,  and  wherein  was 
found  'a brazen  tablet  with  a  Greek  inscription  in  Greek  characters.'  Tabula 
in  monumento  in  quo  dicebatur  Capys,  condiior  Capiue,  sepultus,  inrenta 


est,  conscripta  literit  verintque  GretctM,  In  fine,  Capua  bears  an  evident  etymo- 
logical analogy  to  Caphya,  an  Arcadian  city— to  Cephy»us,  the  Attic  river — and 
several  other  Greek  appellatives  enumerated  by  the  author.  The  same  conclusion 
is  further  fortified  by  mythological  and  other  evidence,  which  may,  however,  be 
dispensed  with  for  our  purpose. 

The  general  result  is,  that  at  the  same  time  with  the  primitive  Etruscan  foun- 
ders, the  population  of  ancient  Capua  was  composed  lately  of  Pelasgic  Greeks. 
But  were  not  the  two  peoples  the  same  in  race,  if  not  in  reality  ?  and  the  Etrus- 
cans, too,  quite  diflerent  from  the  Opician  aborigines?  These  points  M.  Raoul- 
Rochette  does  not  discuss  or  well  distinguish. 

He  also  holds  the  name  Cktrnpaniot  which  was  assumed  by  the  surrounding 
country  at  a  date  posterior  to  the  Samnite  conquest,  to  be  Etruscan.  The  Sam- 
nites,  a  rude  race,  would  have  been  the  cultivators  of  the  fields,  and  would  thus 
be  styled  com/NXAt  by  the  refined  citizens.  Hut  on  the  other  hand  it  might  be  said 
that  the  Samnites,  beins  a  mountainous  race,  they  gave  the  subjacent  plains  this 
si^iificant  appellation,  from  the  contrast  with  the  hignland  regions  which  they  had 
left  Were  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland  not  first  so  cafled  by  the  Celtic  highlapders  ? 
Did  not  the  Netherlands  receive  this  name  from  a  similar  reference  to  hilly  Hel- 
vetia? And  these  NMker'{i.9.  Low)  landers,  when  driven  in  turn  to  people 
Holland,  and  feeling  conscious  that  the  term  lowlands  was  thus  preoccupied  in 
their  nomenclature,  do  we  not  find  them  proceed  exactly  upon  the  prindple  sug- 
gested, and  desi^ate  this  *  lower  deep*  by  the  name  of  Hol{low)  land  ?  In  short, 
are  not  the  emmenoes  the  exceptions,  the  sinp^arities,  the  first  in  all  thiuffs  to 
be  noted  and  named  ?  Why  do  mountains  retain  their  names  as  pertinaciouuy  as 
their  foundations,  but  because  centres  of  topographical  denomination?  And  to 
return  to  the  name  Cttmpania,  if  we  find  campus  in  the  Latin  tongue,  have  we  the 
proof  of  its  being  an  Etruscan,  not  a  Samnite  legacy  ? 

But  these  points  do  not  affect  the  main  position  of  M.  Raoul-Rochette,  and  of 
which  the  antiquarictn  evidence  may  be  expected  in  my  next  letter. 

There  has  just  appeared  a  new  d9brt.  to  interpret  the  mystic  monument  disco- 
vered in  Ne^>olitan  Italy  in  1846.  But  your  r»ulers  may  need  reminding  of  the 
history  of  this  discovery. 

It  was  made  in  the  vicinity  of  Crecchio.  The  flag  that  bears  the  inscription 
lay  horizontally  upon  a  basis  of  something  about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  height,  and 
to  which  it  was  affixed  by  a  soldering  of  lead.  An  arched  sepulchral  vault  and 
the  remnant  of  a  pavement  were  also  brought  to  light  in  the  same  spot.  M. 
Coruba,  an  inspector  of  the  explorations  at  Montenero,  was  the  person  who  made 
the  discovery.  He  lost  no  time  in  communicating  the  important  information  to 
certain  members  of  the  ArchfBological  Institute  or  Rome.  These  learned  epigra- 
phists  fiiiled,  however,  to  translate  the  inscription ;  but  they  could  see  that  it  was 
written  in  the  mode  the  ancients  called  boustroph^on,  that  is  to  say,  trom  right  to 
left  and  trom  left  to  right  by  alternation,  or  as  the  oxen  move  in  ploughing,  which 
ffave  its  origin  to  the  expression.  As  this  primitive  arrangement  was  always 
deemed  to  have  been  long  abuidoned  at  the  period  of  introducing  the  literal 
alphabet  into  Italy,  the  monument  in  <}uestion  could  not  be  well  Bupp<»ed  of  Greek 
origin,  as  most  of  the  Italian  antiquanes  have  decided,  but  would  refer  to  a  much 
more  ancient,  to  the  Asiatic  colonization.  Accordingly,  M.  Henzen,  one  of  the 
eavanis  above  alluded  to,  is  of  opinion,  from  the  circumstance  that  the  location 
where  the  stone  was  found  is  in  the  district  of  the  ancient  Frentani,  who,  accord- 
ing to  Strabo,  were  Samnites,  M.  Henzen,  I  say,  thinks  the  monument  and  the 
iuMription  to  be  Samnitish. 

Now  M.  Wolanski,  the  new  interpreter,  thinks  quite  otherwise.  A  Pole,  it  is 
not  wonderful  that  he  should  find  the  daric  inscription  to  bear  an  evident  relation 
to  the  Slavic  idioms.    But  what  will  probably  appear  more  startling  is,  that  by  the 


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1853.]  InUlligenee.  481 

aid  of  this  Dortbem  key  be  thonld  decipher  the  Trojan  name  of  Eneas ;  and  Air^ 
thermore,  tvota.  this  gleam,  condnde  the  monoment  of  Oecchio  to  be  no  other 
than  that  of  the  son  of  Anchises  I 

The  whole  inscription,  of  which  M.  Wolanski  jrives  a  literal  translation  in  Polish, 
in  Rcssian,  Bohemian,  Illjrrian,  &c.,  when  connonted  with  the  original  reduced 
into  the  Roman  character,  presents  undonbtedW  a  very  striking  resemblance.  Bat 
he  is  chareed  by  a  writer  in  the  Athenaum.  Franfais  with  disregarding  the  pono- 
tuation  and  interpolating  scTeral  words.  Here,  however,  the  dispnte  becomes  too 
technical  for  general  readers,  who  will  prefer  to  see  the  alleged  version  in  an 
English  dress.    It  mns  literally  and  paraffraphically  thus : — 

*  God  of  Heaven,  superior  to  Wima  and  to  Dima,  Esmenus  of  Rhossia,  protect 
my  house  and  my  chUdren,  most  beneficent  Esmenus ! 

'  The  empire  of  Hecate  is  fiur  off;  1  am  about  to  descend  into  the  infernal  re- 
gions ;  yes,  truly,  as  sure  as  I  am  Eneas,  of  kingly  birth. 

'Seated  by  the  side  of  Ladon  in  Elysium,  thou  drinkest  of  the  waters  of  Leth^ 
and  thou  for^ttest,  O  haughty  and  beloved  !' 

However  it  may  be  with  the  mere  material  similitude,  the  meaning  and  even 
style,  do  not  greatly  add  to  the  probability.  Who  or  what '  Esmenur  was,  Wo- 
lanski does  not  seem  to  sa^,  idthough  reminding  us  that  Lado  was  the  Slavonic 
ffod  of  war.  But  his  critic  of  the  AtheMonm  remarks  quite  shrewdly  that  a 
Beotian  river  was  called  by  both  the  names  of  Ladon  and  JsmenuM,  This  is  '  kill- 
ing two  birds  with  one  stone.'  It  gives  an  origin  to  the  latter  term,  and  an  im- 
port to  the  former  by  setting  it  in  iq>position  to  the  river  Leth€.  The  Grecian 
colonist  in  Italy,  expecting  his  tpirit  to  return  home,  might  hope  a  Lethe-like 
forgetfulness  from  quaffing  the  waters  of  his  native  river.  And  this  river  he 
would  moreover  invoke,  in  its  divine  capacity,  for  the  protection  of  his  house  and 
children  on  its  banks.    This,  however,  1  but  add  as  a  vague  conjecture. 

A  monument  of  no  less  interest,  though  not  of  like  antiquity,  has  Just  beeo 
offered  by  Colonel  Theubet  to  the  French  Government.  It  is  an  altar-piece  which 
was  presented  in  the  year  1019  to  the  cathedral  of  B&le  by  the  Emperor  Henry  II., 
who  obtained  (no  doubt  on  this  account)  the  immortality  of  saintship.  Of  the 
*  Golden  Table  of  Saint  Henry/  as  this  relic  is  denominated,  I  abridge  the  follow- 
ing sketch  from  the  French  Journal  already  named. 

This  table  was,  by  decision  of  the  chapter  of  the  cathedral,  placed  before  the 
main  altar  on  the  principal  festivals,  such  as  Christmas,  Easter,  the  feast  of  Saint 
Henriff  Pentecost,  sc.  The  Emperor,  it  may  be  added,  deserved  his  saintship  by 
other  presents,  to  wit,  a  crucifix,  a  throne  iucrusted  with  sold,  silver,  and  ivory, 
a  crown  of  gold,  and  a  ma^ificent  suit  of  vestments  with  the  imperial  mantle. 
Almost  all  these  sacred  articles  were  alienated  or  destroyed ;  the  golden  crown 
was  sent  to  the  melting-pot  (oh !  .profimation)  bv  the  very  bishop;  the  mantle,  put 
op  at  auction  in  1529,  was  purchased  by  the  Margrave  of  Baden.  Darins  the 
tumult  of  the  Reformation  the  crucifix  and  the  golden  table  were  secr^ed,  wad 
were  recovered  but  a  few  years  ago.  In  the  late  division  of  public  property  be- 
tween the  city  and  the  country  of  B41e,  the  golden  table,  fidling  to  the  latter,  was 
in  its  turn  put  up  at  auction  on  the  S3rd  of  Mav,  1836.  Purchased  first  by  M. 
Handmann,  it  after  passed  to  Colonel  Theubet,  who  has  vainly  been  proposing  it 
to  most  of  the  €U>vemments  of  Ehirope.  It  has  therefore,  no  doubt,  been  offered 
to  the  British  Cabinet  or  the  Museum,  and  many  of  your  readers  may  thus  already 
know  its  history.    However,  it  is  a  history  well  worth  pondering  a  second  time. 

As  an  object  of  archaeology  the  description  is  briefly  this.  The  table  presents 
tve  figures  in  relief,  namely,  Christ,  the  arehangelr Michael,  Gabriel,  and  Raphael, 
and  St.  Benedict.  This  singular  classification  of  the  saints  is  worth  explaining. 
It  is  because  the  imperial  donor  had  been  cured  miraculously  of  a  fit  of  the  gout 
by  the  intercession  of  the  Benedictine  abbot  of  Monte-Cassino.  The  figures  ai« 
surmounted  with  arches  in  relief,  and  the  names  are  inscribed  (Dutch-wise)  un- 
derneath. 

The  background  of  the  table  is  adorned  with  arabesques  and  with  medallions 
representing  the  fbnr  cardinal  virtues.  At  the  feet  of  Christ  droop  prostrate  the 
Emperor  Henry  and  his  wife<hmegunda.  On  the  frieze  and  at  the  bottom  runs 
a  polvglot  inscription,  made  up,  barbarously  or  pedantically,  at  once  of  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew. 


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482  Intelligence.  [J'Jy? 

At  a  late  letsUMi  of  the  Imperial  Society  if  Erenek  AnHquarin,  Bf.  LeDomairt 
read  a  paper  on  the  paintings  and  inacriptions  on  a  tombstone  in  the  eemetery  of 
Saint  Pancreas  at  Rome,  and  which  monuments  have  hitherto  defied  all  ^brts  to 
inteipret  them.  The  difficulty  turned  chiefly  on  the  question  of  aaeotaiBittg 
whether  the  tomb  had  been  erected  to  Pagans  or  to  Christiana.  Both  the  figiirei 
and  the  efntaph,  in  its  concise  and  amb&ious  terms,  answered  equally  to  either 
interpretation.  However,  M.  Lenormant  has  inclined  to  the  Christiaa  aide,  and 
his  arguments  for  this  opinion  are  reported  to  have  been  plausible. 

Some  of  your  readers  may  think  it  strange  that  there  should  possibly  be  found 
a  likeness  between  any  practices  of  creeds  esteemed  so  antagonistic  llie  leam«d 
antiquaiT  states,  however,  that  such  confusions  had  been  (|uite  common.  At  the 
epoch  of  this  inscription,  which  goes  back  to  the  beginmng  of  our  era,  F^gaa 
notions  were  often  blended,  he  says,  with  Christian.  In  the  strife  between  the 
two  religions  all  the  writers  of  the  latter  doctrine  were  wont  to  borrow  fma 
heathen  sources  their  metaphorical  vocabulary.  Accordingly,  on  the  perusal  of 
their  writings,  one  alwavs  asks  himself.  Were  these  men  really  Christians  or 
Pagans  ?  l^e  question,  he  adds,  is  often  quite  impossible  to  answer  ;  for  either 
disputant  may  back  his  position  by  proofs  apparently  irreftagable. 

This  explanation  is,  however,  but  a  general  statement  of  xh&fact.  Permit  me 
to  supply  his  silence  upon  the  principle — the  reason. 

The  cause  was  not,  as  he  insinuates,  that  the  apologists  of  Christianity  em- 
ployed the  language,  be  it  *  metaphorical'  or  not,  of  their  Pagan  adversaries. 
The  language  could  have  been  borrowed  but  because  it  fitted  what  they  bad  to 
signify,  and  its  adoption  must  be  thus  a  consequence  and  not  a  cause  of  the  cob- 
f^ision.  The  confusion,  in  fiust,  pre-existed  in  the  notions  of  the  two  rdigions— f 
mean,  of  course,  in  the  ooooeption  of  them  by  our  human  imperfectioo.  Men  caa 
never  break,  in  anything,  enturely  with  the  past,  and  less  than  ever  in  the  crasi 
condition  of  their  intellectual  barbarism.  Even  a  doctrine  revealed  from  heaven 
they  would  therefore  corrupt  necessarily,  in  order  to  link  it  on  to  their  preceding 
superstitions.  And  this  pnme  condition  of  being  enabled  to  attach  a  meaninff  to 
a  creed  at  all  would  be  accelerated  by  the  pious  artifices  of  its  teachers.  Now, 
Christianity  has  proved,  unfortunately,  no  exception  to  this  observation.  It  is  not 
only  in  the  language  of  its  primitive  ritual,  or  modes  of  burial,  that  it  appeal*  a  con- 
tinuation of  its  predecessor.  The  continuity  is  no  less  close  in  things  where  optioa 
must  be  still  more  voluntary,  and  the  horror  of  contamination  more  energetic. 
For  example,  the  very  sacraments  and  ceremonial  of  the  Roman  Church  (of  whose 
antiquity  this  fkct  is  a  sure  certificate),  nay,  even  the  material  implements  and 
edifices  of  this  worship,  were  not  merely  often  imitated,  but  identi^  with  those 
of  the  Pagan— identical  in  substance  or  in  situation. 

Thus,  for  instance,  the  baptismal  font  used  ^r  many  ages  in,  I  think,  St  Pe- 
ter^s  was  the  sarcophagus  of  a  Roman  prstor,  whtch  had  been  ventrated  bf 
the  heathen  multitude.  In  the  same  church  or  some  other  of  Rome  a  similar 
function  is  still  performed  by  the  carious  lid  of  the  funeral  urn  of  the  Empera' 
Hadrian.  The  cathedral  church  of  Paris,  the  celebrated  Notre  Dame,  naurped  the 
site,  to  succeed  to  the  patronage,  of  an  altar  devoted  to  Jupiter.  The  patron  saint 
of  the  same  city,  the  nunoos  *  Denis  the  Areopagyte,'  he  who,  first  consumed  at 
Athens,  arose  phcBnix-like  from  his  own  ashes;  who  was  after  beheaded  at  Paris, 
yet  walked  to  the  grave  with  his  head  in  his  hand,  and  who  had  s^  later  been 
shown  quite  whole,  both  head  and  body,  in  a  German  reliquary— this  pious  Proteos 
was  in  reality,  I  say,  no  other  than  the  Pagan  Bacchus,  who  not  only,  yea  know, 
went  also  by  the  same  name  of  Dionywine,  but  had  a  temple  on  the  very  ^oc,  then 
the  centre  of  a  vineyard,  where  the  Christians  built  their  church  to  the  imaginary 
saint  In  this  one  article  alone  of  churches  I  might  adduce,  in  this  sin^  dty, 
perhaps  half-a-doxen  other  instances  of  the  same  principle  of  transformation ;  but 
I  have  dwelt  upon  the  point  at  all  but  by  way  of  justifying  the  following  qnestioiis. 
Do  Protestants  not  act  preposterously  in  affeciioe  to  claim  an  origin  from  what 
they  style  the  'primitive  purity"  of  the  Church  ?  Is  not  this  purity  the  rdigions 
phase  of  the  old  illusion  of  the  *  golden  age,'  which  leads  you  Englishmoi  lo 
trace,  for  instance,  the  political  and  civil  liberties  which  in  reality  are  but  the 
fhiit  of  recent  science  and  civilisation,  to  a  like  perfection  in  the  savage  castoms 
of  your  Saxon  ancestry  ?    Were  early  Christian  history  less  full  or  Iklsified  npoa 


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1853.]  Intelligence.  483 

this  point,  should  not  the  principles  of  homan  natore  evince  the  contrary  a  priorif 
would  thej  not  demonstrate  the  gross  absurdity  of  our  supposing  the  word  of 
God  to  be  better  interpreted  by  the  barbarous  serfs  of  the  lioman  Empire,  who 
could  scarce  read  it,  than  by  the  civilized  and  cultivated  classes  of  actual  England? 
Is  not  this  the  very  difference  between  Romanism  and  Protestantism,  of  which 
the  one  holds  to  tradition,  that  is,  the  primitive  interpretation,  the  other  to  pri- 
vate judgment,  or  the  construction  of  enliffhtened  times?  And  to  this  double 
disregard  at  once  of  reason  and  of  historv,  oo  not  such  Protestants  moreover  add 
the  blunder  of  inconsistency  ?  For,  while  making  it  the  main  reproach  to  what 
they  call  the  papal  superstition,  to  rest  its  claims  to  exclusive  '  purity'  upon  tradi- 
tion, upon  antiquity,  do  they  not  strive  to  plunge  themselves  in  a  *  lower  deep'  of 
the  same  mire  ?  Accordingly  do  we  not  see,  mm  a  signal  instance  in  your  own 
city,  that  this  senile  yearning  for  the  days  of  childhood  is  but  the  sigu  of  a  re- 
lapse to  Rome  ? 

For  my  part,  I  should  therefore  think  that  the  Christian  religion  was  never  so 
pure,  since  it  left  the  li|»  of  its  divine  founder,  as  it  is  at  present.  But  for  the 
queries  and  the  conclusion  I  must  ask  the  pardon  of  your  clerical  readers  for 
having  ventured,  being  a  simple  layman,  to  intermeddle  in  their  august  contro- 
versies. 

The  French  Archaological  Mission  to  the  Ruins  of  Babylon  have  made  a  second 
Report,  of  which  a  summary  has  just  been  given  by  the  Grovemment  to  the  public. 
The  close  of  1852  is  the  date  of  the  explorations. 

M.  Fresnel  commenced  his  labours  with  the  effort  to  ascertain  the  exact  site  of 
the  principal  edifices  of  the  antique  city.  The  tumulus  of  Kasr  and  the  group  of 
Amran  were  first  opened.  The  result  was  a  quantity  of  small  objects,  including 
statuettes,  in  hard  stone  and  baked  clay,  and  of  a  workmanship  Greek  and  Par- 
thian, the  latter  of  a  style  ouite  barbarous. 

The  edifice,  the  site  of  which  he  songht  especially  to  fix,  was  the  palace-citadel 
of  the  kings  of  Babylon,  which  bore  the  famous  *  hanging  gardens ;'  and  he  seems 
to  have  succeeded  m  fully  establishinff  the  identity  of  the  tumulus  of  Kasr  with 
this  fairy  structure  of  Semiramis.  The  eminence  or  mound,  which  would  thus 
be  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  palace,  and  which  the  modem  Babylonians  call  mor/r/- 
jetibeh  (the  topsy  turvy),  presents  but  a  confused  heap  of  pulverulent  rubbish. 
M.  Fresnel  compares  this  hillock  to  an  immense  qnarrv  of  bncks,  which  has  been 
worked  since  the  days  of  Alexander,  and  from  which  have  issued  all  the  villages 
that  strew  the  plain  around.  This  irre^ar  mode  of  working  it  has  turned  the 
wreck  into  a  chaos.  The  consequence  is,  a  difficulty  to  make  other  than  vague 
conjectures  respecting  the  integral  state  of  the  vast  edifice.  At  the  same  time 
M.  Fresnel  has  recognised  that  the  Euphrates,  in  bearing  from  west  to  east,  as  is 
proved  by  corrosion  of  the  eastern  bank,  had  opened  its  new  channel  athwart  the 
groundworks  of  the  great  palace,  which  appear  to  extend  afkr  beneath  the  waters 
of  the  river. 

Might  not  this  be,  I  would  ask  in  passing,  rather  the  remains  of  the  great 
tunnel,  recorded  by  Ctesias  and  Diodonis  as  running  underneath  the  river  SLd 
connecting  the  two  palaces  on  either  bank?  For  Babylon,  you  know,  accom- 
plished, some  three  to  four  thousand  years  ago,  a  work  to  rival  the  very  boldest 
undertaking  of  your  own  great  city.  Or  wh^,  at  all  events,  do  not  explorers 
direct  their  searches  to  such  a  monument,  which,  besides  being  curious  in  itself 
and  of  more  definite  detectability,  would  give  a  clue  to  the  abutting  palaces  both 
at  once  ?  Of  its  identity  with  the  substructions  brought  to  light  by  M.  Fresnel, 
the  excavations  which  he  made  therein  might  appear  to  furnish  a  complete  dis- 
proof; but  some  of  the  results  might  be  regarded  as  confirmatory  on  the  contrai7. 

M.  Thomas,  the  architect  attached  to  the  expedition,  taking  advantage  of  a 
moment  when  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates  haa  subsided  below  their  ordinary 
level,  hastened  to  perforate  some  of  those  masses  of  mason- work,  and  found  in 
them  sarcophagi  of  baked  clay  of  extremely  rude  execution,  but  which,  by  the 
oddity  of  their  shape  and  the  exiguity  of  their  dimensions,  have  fixed  the  atten- 
tion of  the  members  of  the  expedition.  Their  length,  in  fact,  is  scarce  a  foot, 
their  breadth  a  little  more,  and  their  height  al^out  a  foot  and  a  half.  The  body 
placed  in  this  soit  of  urns  must  have  been  folded  upon  itself,  the  knees  touching 
the  chin,  the  arms  crossed  upon  the  breast,  and  the  thighs  forming  a  sort  of  enve- 


Ulgitized 


by  Google 


484  Intelliffence.  [July, 

lope  of  the  whole.  M.  Fresnel  is  of  opinion  that  these  sarcopha^  could  have 
Ix^n  destined  but  for  the  bodies  of  the  lowest  clcuses  in  thode  pnmitive  communi- 
ties. Although  these  coffins  hare  been  found  on  a  level  with  the  ancient  ground- 
works of  the  Babylonian  palace,  he  yet  regards  them  as  belongina  to  the  Parthians, 
Now,  take  together  the  originally  rude  construction  of  those  reUcs,  the  in&mous 
condition  of  Sie  supposed  inmates,  and  the  Ions  posteriority  of  the  poj^ulatiou  they 
are  thus  referred  to,  and  who  would  naturally  have  employed  the  ruined  recesses 
of  the  ancient  tunnel  as  a  receptacle  for  the  dead  bodies  of  their  conquered  slaves, 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  this  triple  circumstance,  supplied  unpurposelv  b^  the  de- 
scription, would  rather  favour  my  wild  conjecture  than  the  hypothesis  of  the 
explorers. 

In  the  preceding  Report,  M.  Fresnel  announced  the  finding  of  numerous  frag- 
ments of  enamelled  bnck,  covered  with  portions  of  the  figures  of  men  and  other 
animals,  and  with  cuneiform  inscriptions,  of  which  the  characters,  in  white  enamel, 
stood  out  upon  a  background  of  azure.  This  curious  collection  he  now  reports 
has  increased  largely.  He  still  is  of  the  opinion  that  these  fhiements  yield  proof 
irrefutable  of  the  identity  of  Kasr  with  the  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  was 
decorated  with  this  mosaic  in  enamelled  brick,  according  to  Diodorus.  The  frag- 
ments of  inscriptions  accompanying  these  paintings  have  also  been  augmented  by 
several  letters  or  syllabic  groups.  This  concurrence  with  the  record  of  ancient 
history  is  deemed  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  M.  Place  (as  I  reported  to  you  in 
my  last)  has  discovered  in  the  palace  of  the  sovereigns  of  Nineveh  a  like  mosaic 
work  in  enamel  still  adhering  to  walls. 

A  trench,  cut  to  the  depth  of  some  16  or  18  feet  through  the  rubbish  of  Kasr, 
has  beside  enabled  the  explorers  to  recognise  the  fact  that  the  foundations  of  Uie 
palace  had  been  undermined  in  all  directions  by  the  working  of  ancient  quarries 
or  sachara.  The  portions  still  cohering  resemble  immense  rocks,  and  seem  to 
threaten  with  certain  death  the  workmen  over  whom  they  hang  suspended.  These 
fragments,  composed  of  bricks  of  the  dimensions  of  a  foot  square,  and  bound  to- 
gether by  a  cement  of  lime,  are  huddled  in  such  confu^on  that  no  architect,  how- 
ever ingenious,  could  not  only  not  restore  the  plan,  but  even  prove  the  site,  of  the 
ancient  edifice. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  discoveries  made  by  the  French  ex^oration  are 
the  tombs  found  in  the  tumulus  of  Amran,  to  the  south  of  the  Kasr.  This  hillock, 
as  well  as  the  groups  of  Homayra  and  of  Babel,  formed  part  of  the  royal  palace 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Euphrates.  Some  trenches,  open  at  a  point  the  natives 
call  EU-Kabour  (the  tombs),  have  led  to  the  discovery  of  several  sarcophagi  con- 
taining skeletons  mailed  with  iron  and  wearing  crowns  of  gold.  The  skeletons, 
with  ue  exception  of  some  parts  of  the  cranium,  were  reduced  to  dust ;  but  the 
iron,  although  oxydised,  and  the  golden  crowns,  preserve  their  outlines.  M. 
Fresnel  reg^s  these  tombs  as  Macedonian,  and  refers  them  to  the  companions  of 
Alexander  or  of  Seleucus.  The  golden  crowns  are,  strictly  speaking,  nothing 
more  than  a  band  or  frontal,  surmounted  with  six  leaves  of  laurel  or  a  species  of 
indigenous  poplar,  three  on  the  ng^^  s*^^*  three  on  the  left,  with  the  points  con- 
verging towards  the  forehead.  The  chiselling  of  these  leaves  is  rather  delicate, 
and  the  veining  quite  distinctly  brought  out.  Below  the  Itandage  is  always  found 
a  certain  quantity  of  gold  leai,  of  which  the  use  was  probably  to  cover  the  eyes, 
or  which  served  instead  of  the  mask  of  gold  reserved  for  the  rich  in  other  coun- 
tries. The  quantity  of  iron  found  accompanying  some  of  those  bo^es  is  quite 
surprising :  one  of  them  was  wrapped  all  over  with  a  sheet  of  this  metal.  In  some 
of  the  tombs  were  also  found  ear-rings,  and  no  iron :  these  were  doubtless  the 
tombs  of  the  wives  of  the  warriors. 

The  structure  of  these  Grsco-Babylouian  sarcophagi  is  very  simple.  It  consists  of 
little  parallel  walls  of  a  foot  and  a  half  apart,  and  something  over  6  feet  in  leusth, 
constructed  of  bricks  with  a  cement  of  plaster.  The  lid  or  roof  is  also  formed  of 
bricks  placed  fifttly  side  by  side,  and  kept  together  by  a  lateral  pressure,  there 
being  no  arch.  The  like  materials  closed  exactly  the  two  extremities  of  the 
tomb.  There  was  also  found  at  a  short  distance  from  these  Macedonian  tombs  of 
Amran  another  female  tomb  of  an  identical  construction.  This  contained  several 
marble  or  alabaster  statuettes  representing  Venus,  Juno,  and  a  reclined  figure  in 
a  Phrygian  cap :  the  work  is  Greek,  and  of  fiur  execution.    The  same  tomb  con- 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


1853.]  Intelligence.  485 

talned  some  jewellery,  such  as  opals  set  in  rings,  ear-pendants  of  complex  work- 
manship, gold  buckles,  &c. ;  bat  the  skeleton  wore  no  golden  crown. 

M«  Fresnel  announces  farther  the  finding  of  a  large  quantity  of  statuettes,  or 
fiagments  of  sach,  of  medallions  in  baked  clay,  of  cylinders,  vases  or  vials  of 
gilt  glass,  Greek,  Persian,  or  Chaldean,  found  in  the  tombs,  as  also  some  domestic 
utensils ;  in  fine,  some  cakes  of  baked  earth,  of  which  one  contained  a  Babylonian 
contract.  After  all,  he  says,  the  chief  merit  of  these  results  of  the  exploration 
consists  in  (as  he  considers  it)  the  *  complete  certainty  of  their  origin.'  No  doubt 
they  were  obtained  on  the  true  site  of  the  ancient  city  ;  but  whether  also  on  the 
▼ery  spot  of  the  royal  palace,  as  he  pretends,  is  a  point  that  may  still  need  some 
confirmation. 

Nor  does  this  doubt  appear  uncountenanced  by  the  suggestion,  both  just  and 
valuable,  which  M.  Fresnel  alleges,  at  the  close,  in  explanation  of  tiie  striking 
circimistance,  that  no  such  evidences  of  identity,  no  such  relics  of  palatial  splen- 
dour, have  been  detected  as  were  discovered  in  the*  excavations  of  Nineveh.  He 
would  need,  he  says,  entire  years,  and  resources  fiir  more  ample  than  those  which 
had  been  placed  at  his  disposal  by  the  Government,  to  remove  the  millions  of 
cubic  metres  of  pulverised  brick  accumulated  in  the  course  of  ages  on  the  foun- 
dations of  the  palace — foundations  that  must  therefore  lie  at  a  depth  of  70  to  80 
feet  I  Now,  how  obtain,  by  mere  scraping|8  on  the  surface,  a  *  complete  certainty' 
of  the  locality  of  these  profundities,  if  this  supposition  be  near  the  truth  ?  And 
that  it  is,  wiU  be  comprehended  if  we  consider  that  here  in  Paris,  even  in  dis- 
tricts over  which  the  city  has  been  extended  scarce  a  thousand  years,  not  only 
have  foundations  and  buried  relics,  but  even  street  pavements,  been  dug  up  at  a 
depth  of  12  to  16  feet.  If  this  be  multiplied  by  the  vears  of  Babylon,  the  deficit 
will  not  be  large,  and  may  beside  be  amply  balanced  by  an  obvious  consideration. 
Paris  is  not  vet  in  rtitifs,  and  this  lar^e  accession  to  its  soil  must  for  the  most  part 
have  proceeded  fh)m  the  mass  of  animal  remains — fh>m  the  graveyards  and  gar- 
bage neaps  that  filled  the  primitive  fauhourg$^  and  had  been  drawn  back  m)m 
time  to  time  to  embank  the  river  and  fill  up  the  swamps,  according  to  the  progress 
of  popular  cleanliness  and  comfort  from  age  to  age.  If  to  this  were  super- 
added, as  in  case  of  Babvlou,  the  actual  mass  of  its  closely-studded  and  stately 
edifices  crushed  to  rubbish,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  elevation  lUready  gained 
would  thus  be  doubled,  and  this  while  Paris  was  scarce  a  third  of  the  extent  and 
age  of  the  Eastern  ruins. 

MM.  Fresnel  and  (^pert  were  preparing  to  try  Niphar,  and  purposed  after  to 
proceed  to  the  lower  Euphrates  to  explore  the  ruins  of  those  old  Biblical  cities 
mentioned  in  the  Talmud  or  by  Arabian  geographers,  and  perhaps  alluded  to  in 
Genesis,  but  of  which  history — profime  history — has  not  preserved  to  us  the  names. 
This  is  an  expedition  in  which  your  readers  must  take  special  interest.  I  shall 
be  careful  to  possess  them  at  the  earliest  moment  of  its  useful  results. 

A  recent  number  of  the  Bulletino  Arceologico  of  Naples  contains  the  narrative 
of  a  discovery  just  brought  to  light  from  the  ruins  at  Cuma,  which  has  astonished 
as  well  as  pi^ed  the  antiquaries.  The  singular  objects  were  found  on  openins 
certain  tombs  supposed  to  be  Roman.  The  chamber  of  the  tomb  was  vaulted,  and 
along  the  walls  ran  a  broad  bench  constructed  of  mason-work,  bearing  four 
skeletons  without  the  akuU.  The  two  skeletons  that  occupied  the  bench  on  the 
left  side  had  the  natural  head  replaced  by  headt  of  tror  with  glass  eyes.  These 
facts  have  been  examined  and  are  publicly  guaranteed  by  the  most  able  archffi* 
ologists  of  Naples.  Among  other  objects  found  in  the  same  tomb  was  a  coin  of 
Dioclesian,  which  would  go,  in  fkct,  to  show  the  stnicture  to  be  rather  recent  as 
well  as  Roman. 

These  fhcts  have  been  presented  by  M.  Raoul-Rochette  to  the  French  Academy 
of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres.  This  profound  antiquary  does  not  offer  for 
the  present  an  explanation,  but  invokes  the  close  attention  of  his  brother  antiqua- 
ries to  the  subject. 

One  of  these,  M.  Adrien  de  Longp^rier,  appears  less  cautious ;  for  he  proposes, 
in  the  Athenctum  Eranfais,  a  lame  solution.  This  he  finds  in  a  passage  of  Varro, 
which  makes  allusion  to  a  Roman  custom  of  dissevering  a  bone  firom  the  body 
before  the  process  of  incremation—auf  si  os  exce^um  est  mortxd  adfamiliam  pur^ 
gandam.    From  this  he  concludes  the  Romans  did  soipetimes  detach  the  skull  for 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII.  2   K 


Digitized  by  ^ 


lOOgle 


486  IwUUigmce.  [July^ 

the  purpose  of  purification,  *'  a  rite  that  may  have  luryiTed  homing.'  Hence  th^ 
absence  of  the  head  in  the  strange  skeletons  of  Coma ;  hence  the  presence  of  the 
head  a/one  in  an  exploration  of  his  own.  This  was  made,  it  seems,  in  1833,  in 
one  of  the  provinces,  where  he  foond  upon  examination  of  a  number  of  ancient 
tombs  that  the  skeletons  contained  in  some  of  them  were  headless,  but  one  in  par- 
ticular, of  smaller  dimensions,  contained  the  cranium  of  an  adult  man,  which  had 
been  evidently  placed  there  unaccompanied  by  other  booes,  as  the  tomb  was 
covered  carefully  with  plaster. 

Now,  admitting  both  the  instance  and  the  authority  adduced  to  be  quite  analo- 
gous to  the  phenomenon  of  Cuma,  thev  would  stIU  afford  but  a  re-statement,  not  a 
solution,  of  the  difficulty.  Moreover  Varro  speaks  of  the  excision  but  fiom  bodies 
that  were  burned— quum  Bomanus  combuituM  eet ;  which  would  preclude  the  intact 
skeletons  of  Cuma  from  the  usace.  In  fine,  this  writer  confounds  the  epochs  of 
purificati<m  and  incremation.  I  have  the  confidence  to  think  I  could  throw  some 
light  upon  the  question,  if  my  space  were  not  exhausted,  imd  perhaps  your  Jour- 
nal not  the  fittest  place.  I  can  therefore  but  add  a  reference  which  may  conduct, 
not  to  a  strict  sdution,  but  to  the  elements  of  a  solution,  a  mbd  of  ordinary  think* 
inff  fiBbCulty — I  mean  the  Veeii^  of  Civilizatiim,  part  ii.  eh.  8,  and  which  is  pub* 
lished  in  your  city  by  M.  Bailli^,  of  Begent  Street, 


Paris,  Mcuf,  1853. 
I  MENTioXED  in  a  previous  letter  the  late  discovery  b^  M.  Place  of  an  alleged 
statue — a  'real  statue'— of  Assyrian  fiibric    The  followmg  letter  on  the  sid>jeet 
from  that  gentleman  himself,  and  addressed  to  M.  de  Longp^rier,  has  just  i^ypeaied 
in  a  Paris  Journal : — 

'  This  time,  my  dear  Longp^rier,  it  is  no  less  than  an  Assyrian  statue,  of  which 
I  have  to  announce  to  you  the  discovery.  I  had  often  heard  disparaged  the 
aspect,  rather  aueer  no  doubt,  which  is  distinctive  of  the  Assyrian  bas*relie&.  It 
was  also  founa  a  pity  that  the  artists  of  those  times,  so  ancient,  had  made  no 
statues,  in  the  proper  sense,  or  of  the  complete  figure,  and  had  given,  in  the  sculp« 
ture  of  their  figures  of  high  relief,  so  strange  a  turn  to  the  legs  of  their  personages. 
At  present  all  doubts  are  removed,  and  we  are  certain  the  art  of  statuary  was 
passably  advanced.  The  despatch  which  I  have  sent  you  of  thi«e  photographic 
sketches,  presenting  my  statue  in  so  many  aspects,  will  be  better  than  a  dies^p. 
tion.  It  IS  some  four  and  a  half  feet  high,  induding  the  sonare  mass  which  it 
carries  on  the  head,  and  which  gives  it  the  appearance  of  a  canatid.  Between  the 
hands  it  holds  a  vessel  resembling  some  of  those  I  have  preserved  for  yoo.  These 
vases,  of  which  numerous  fragments  are  turned  up  in  the  excavations,  are  per- 
forated at  the  bottom  as  well  as  at  the  top.  This  is  perhaps  the  reason  why  one 
of  the  hands  of  the  statue  is  applied  to  the  under  extremity  of  the  vase.  The 
statue  has  been  found  to  the  rear  of  a  long  colonnade,  and  at  the  end  of  a  wall  of 
enamelled  bricks.  It  is  the  first  time  that  this  description  of  bricks  have  be^i 
found  tit  titu  ;  and  as  they  represent  a  series  of  personages,  animals,  and  trees,  of 
which  each  brick  offers  but  a  fra|pnent  or  portion,  we  may  heucefi)rth  comprehend 
what  must  have  been  the  destination  of  those  d€hrU  which  so  abound  in  the 
Oriental  ruins.  I  have  by  me  a  plank  of  them  of  about  sixteen  feet  long  by  four 
and  a  half  high ;  and  as  the  colours  are  veiy  beautiful,  and  the  picture  can  be 
easily  taken  asunder  and  put  together,  I  think  it  will  be  an  accession  to  your 
museum — that  is,  provided  the  enamel  shall  resist  the  transportation.  I  have, 
moreover,  found  a  cylinder  of  baked  clay  of  a  large  sixe,  and  b^uring  seventy  line* 
of  cuneiform  characters ;  and  a  large  piece  of  bronxe  which  seems  to  represent  a 
date-tree,  and  to  have  served  as  a  column  or  support.  I  have  besides  found  a 
gold  leaf,  sixteen  inches  long  by  five  broad,  whereon  are  seen  some  traces  of 
figures  in  projection  and  a  fine  of  cuneiform  characters  which  must  have  been 
struck  with  a  die— a  &ct  which  would  show  the  existence  of  isolated  characters, 
of  moveable  types,  like  our  present  printing  implements.' 

M.  Place  appears  to  me  to  pronounce  as  lootely  in  this  inference  as  he  does  ia 
the  exaltation  of  bis  statue.  The  latter,  it  is  true,  we  are  now  told,  with  a  rather 
ominous  reservation,  only  proves  that  Assyrian  statuary  had  been  ABgEztUfame^ 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


1853.]  InteUigence.  487 

Let  «8  wait  until  the  speeimen  is  set  before  Eoropean  criticism,  and  see  what  then 
to  think  of  the  conjecture  of  my  former  letter. 

To  the  foregoing,  which  is  dated  at  Rhorsabad,  30th  January,  the  writer  adds 
this  postscript  of  15th  February  following. 

'  The  second*  statue  has  been  found ;  the  head  is  broken  off,  but  the  body  is 
intact.  1  hare  also  to  apprize  you  of  the  despatch  to  your  address  of  a  case  con* 
taining  over  a  thousand  small  objects,  such  as  carved  stones,  cornelians,  agates, 
quartz,  and  others  of  great  variety  both  in  form  and  colour/  &c. 

Victor  Place. 

A  duly  intelligent  antiquary  would  have  spared  himself  this  trouble.  The 
evident  multitude  and  vogue  of  the  sort  of  objects  mentioned  are,  on  the  contrary, 
a  real  presumption  against  high  sculptural  proficiency.  The  barbarous  Mexicans 
abounded  in  things  of  this  kind  at  the  discovery,  and  of  such  workmanship  as  ta 
astonish  and  excel  European  artists ;  though  they  never  made,  or  tried  to  make  a 
real  statue.  It  is  that  the  latter  is  a  long  posterior  development  of  art  and  in- 
tellect. 

I  hftd  occasion,  in  my  last  letter,  to  discuss  a  case  of  the  confusion  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  cerem<mial  with  that  of  its  heathen  predecessor.  I  ventured  to 
exemplify  that  this  was  general  and  systematic—  systematic  from  a  pious  purpose 
and  the  necessity  of  the  expedient  to  reconcile  the  popular  prejudices  to  a  new 
doctrine  through  the  old  forms.  I  thence  concluded  that  the  Christian  doctrine 
must  have  attamed  its  purest  state,  not  (as  some  imaffine)  when  its  infancy  had  to 
be  wrapt  in  those  profiuie  swaddling  clothes ;  but  on  the  contrary,  when  its  develop- 
ment and  native  strength  had  come  to  burst  them  off.  The  manhood,  the  in£- 
▼iduality,  the  purity  of  the  Christian  principle  would  be  therefore  found  in  the 
various  Protestant  denominations  of  the  present  day,  in  just  proportion  to  their 
divergency  from  the  primordial  and  Papal /ormf. 

But  it  is  not  alone  the  forms,  the  ceremonial  of  the  primitive  Christians ;  but 
moreover  th^  most  special  doctrines  that  appear  obnoxious  to  this  confbsion. 
Such  at  least  is  the  position  of  a  work  just  published  in  this  city,  and  by  a  writer 
of  indubitable,  though  perhaps  dangerous  or  perverse  piety. 

The  object  of  this  learned  work,  of  which  the  title  is,  Saint  Paul  et  S^n^que,^ 
is  to  prove  the  philosopher  not  only  a  Christian,  but  to  have  been  made  so  by  the 
Apostle.  The  subject  tfa^n  is  antiquarian  as  well  as  also  theological,  and  apper- 
tams  by  a  double  title  to  the  special  province  of  this  correspondence.  For  Ar- 
chflBology  is  much  too  narrowed  when  we  confine  it  to  material  monuments ;  by 
&r  its  nurest  and  its  ^ture  field  lies  in  the  archeeologv  oflo&t  ideas.  It  was,  peiw 
haps  an  instinct  of  this  relation  that  led  the  author  of  the  book  in  question  to  have 
intended,  he  says,  originally  to  submit  the  substance  of  his  thesis  to  the  Academy 
of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres.  Why  this  design  has  not  been  accomplished 
may  be  possibly  conjectured  firom  the  following  syllabus,  however  succinct,  of  the 
execution. 

His  proofSi  for  the  alleged  orthodoxy  and  conversion  of  the  stoic  Seneca,  M. 
Flenry  be^ns  by  classing  under  four  heads :  '  Ist.  Literary  and  critical  sources ; 
2nd.  Traditional  sources ;  3rd.  Historical  inductions ;  4th.  Critical  philological 
examination  of  the  correspondence  attributed  to  Seneca  with  St  Paul  and  reci- 
procally.' Under  the  last  head  is  given  also  the  text  of  the  correspondence,  with 
notes  and  a  translation  in  French.  There  are  further  dissertations  upon  the  pro- 
bable influence  of  the  Christian  religion  upon  Aurelius,  Epictetus,  Arrian,  and 
also  upon  the  neo-Stoic  poets  Lucan,  Martial,  &c.  In  c^ort,  the  notes — which 
contain  all  this — are  throughout  the  work  a  set  of  bi(^raphie8,  extending  back  to 
some  of  the  personages  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  religious  interest,  there- 
fore, and  historical  value  of  this  erudite  treatise  cannot  be  doubted,  think  what  we 
may  as  to  its  probative  efficacy  for  the  author's  purpose. 

•  See  my  April  letter. 

^  Saint  Paul  et  S^n^ue.  IMcherches  sur  les  Rapports  du  Philosophe  avec 
TApdtre,  et  sur  I'infiltration  du  Christianism  naissant  k  travers  le  Paganism. 
2  vols.  8vo.  Par  Am^^e  Fleury.  Paris.  Librairie  Philosophique  de  La  Grange. 
Hector  Bossange,  85  Quai  Voltaire. 

2   K  2  J 

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488  Intelligence.  [July 

With  the  latter  is  alone,  however,  the  concern  of  the  critic.  And  in  this  respect  I 
will  begin  by  declaring  bluntly,  as  I  mast  be  brief,  that  the  proof  appears  to  me  a 
failure,  almost  a  futility.  The  few  examples  which  I  can  cite  will  be  the  strongest 
under  each  head. 

Under  the  first— entitled  *  Critical  and  Literary  Sources,'  and  consisting  of  a 
comparison  of  passages  from  the  works  of  Seneca,  with  extracts  from  the  Epistles 
of  Bt.  Paul  and  the  Gospels—I  select  the  supposed  imitations  in  the  points 
special  to  the  Christian  doctrine.  For  instance,  the  man  of  virtue  is  compared 
by  Seneca  to  the  *  Phcenix,  which  appears  but  at  the  intervals  of  every  600 
years.'  Now  this  image,  though  of  heathen  origin  and  almost  trivial  ancient  use. 
It  seems  he  stole  from  the  *  many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen'  of  the  Gospel 
(vol.  1.  p.  25).  Tlie  image  of  seed-sowing  and  of  harvest  is  a  common  one  in  the 
New  Testament.  But  Seneca  too,  says:  *the  divine  seeds  are  implanted  in  the 
bodies  of  men ;  if  properly  cultivated,  the  crop  will  correspond ;  if  not,  it  will  be 
tares  and  thorns:'  therefore  Seneca  has  plagiarized,  and  '  without  disguise,'  from  the 
New  Testament  (ibid.).  I  need  not  note  that  this  comparison — so  very  obvious  in 
all  ages — was  of  common  application  with  the  ancient  writers.  If  Seneca  applied 
it  to  morals,  it  is  that  morals  were  the  theme  of  Seneca.  Quinctilian,  his  contempo- 
rary, applies  it  to  rhetoric  for  the  like  reason.  And  Anaxagoras,  the  physicist,  to 
the  whole  material  universe.    But  let  us  not  get  serious. 

Another  of  the  revealed  dogmas  of  Christianity  is  this,  fh>m  Paul :  '  He  who 
serves  God  in  justice  and  peace  is  agreeable  to  QiA ;  be  ye  therefore  imitators  of 
God.'  We  read  in  Seneca :  *  Would  you  render  the  gods  propitious,  be  yourself 
good;  he  worships  them  best  who  imitates  nearest.*  This  is  'evidently'  taken, 
says  M.  Fleurv,  from  St.  Paul.  He  admits,  indeed,  the  patent  objection  that  the 
Boman  Stoic  does  but  slightly  modify  the  fundamental  sect  maxim  of  sequere  na- 
iuram.  He  also  owns  that  the  *  naturam'  was  a  transformation  of  an  older  form, 
which  said,  in  the  ages  of  Pythagoras,  with  Gospel  literalness :  tequere  Deuh. 
But  this  be  gets  over  by  imagining  that  the  Stoics  proper,  or  their  theological  pro- 
totypes, must  have  had  the  hint  from  the  passage  where  Moses  has  represented 
the  Divinity  as  directing  him  to  '  walk  in  his  presence  and  be  perfect  (p.  27). 
It  must  be  owned  that  the  resemblance  between  '  sequere  Deum*  or  *  naturam f*  and 
*  ambula  curam  me  et  eslo  perfectuM*  is  on  a  par  with  the  probable  knowledge  of  the 
Jewish  traditions  by  the  Greek  philosophers. 

Again,  the  precept:  Move  your  enemies'— 4iligite  inimicus  tuos,  which  is  justly 
deemed  to  be  pre-eminently  Christian,  our  author  finds  that  Seneca  has  plagiarized 
in  Baying; :  *  Be  jovial  with  jrour  friends,  be  gentle  and  easy  with  your  enemies :' 
Amicis  jucundttt,  inimicit  mttis  etfacilis.  The  latter  is,  however,  plainly  a  rule 
of  worldly  wisdom,  and  had  doubtless  its  equivalent  in  many  an  ancient  writer ; 
ibr  instance  in,  1  think,  Isocrates,  and  in  terms  much  nearer  to  those  of  the  Gospel. 
The  Christian  love  of  poverty  is  preached  by  the  Apostle,  in  denouncing  riches  as 
the  '  root  of  all  evil ' — radix  omnium  ma  forum.  Seneca  roust  then  have  copied  him, 
in  calling  them  *the  chief  material  of  all  the  afflictions  of  humanity' — maxima 
arumnarum  humanarum  materia.  But  Ovid  had  denounced  them  as  irritamentqt 
omnium  malorum — terms  much  nearer,  and  in  f^t  identical  with  those  of  the 
Apostle;  for,  whereas  Seneca's  'rorumnarum'  means  a  merely  woridly  and  con- 
crete fiselin^,  the  *  malorum'  of  the  saint  and  poet  is  essentially  different,  being 
abstract,  spiritual.  Did  Ovid,  therefore,  too  purloin  from  Paul  ?  Moreover,  did 
he  do  so  where  the  concurrence  should  appear  less  casual,  as  when  Ochirroe,  in 
the  Metamorphoses,  predicts  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  even  specifies  the 
most  peculiar  of  the  CJhristian  incidents  of  that  event?  As  M.  Fleurv  cannot  dare 
thus  broadly  upon  introverting  the  line^of  time,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  recalled 
those  passages,  or  several  other  antecedent  plagiaries,  which  might  retort  in  fhet 
his  charge  of  borrowing  upon  both  the  Apostle  and  the  entire  Gospel.  This  incon- 
venience he  is  able  in  the  case  of  Seneca  to  parry  plausibly,  by  the  concision  and 
the  contemporaneousness  of  the  epoch.  He  therefore  proceeds  naively  through  half 
his  work  on  the  assumption,  that  the  philosopher  and  not  the  Apostle  must  have 
been  the  copyist.  And  this,  while  the  internal  evidence  of  the  parallel  passages 
would  hint  the  contrary ;  those  from  Seneca  being  axiomatic,  and  the  language 
of  Paul  being  didactic  and  practical. 

But  the  pressure  also  of  external  evidence  and  of  historical  opinion  compels  him 


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185a.]  Intelligmce.  489 

finally  to  come  about  to  this  obyerse  aspect  of  his  argament.  The  result  is  too 
carious  not  to  be  submitted  in  his  own  words.  After  noticing  that,  among  others, 
the  theory  of  de  Lamennais  holds,  in  fact,  that  Christianity  has  nothing  peculiar 
in  its  moral  doctrines,  but  is  a  defalcated  summary  of  all  the  preceding  and 
heathen  systems,  M.  Fleury  proceeds  to  say :  *  We  freely  concede,  as  we  have 
done  already  in  the  notes,  that  particular  passages  of  Seneca,  hayiug  their  parallels 
in  St.  Paul  or  the  Gospel,  might  also  find  their  protot>|pes  in  the  oracles  of  the 
Academy  or  the  Portico.  Perhaps  even  if  there  remained  to  u»  more  of  the  monu- 
ments  of  Greek  philosophy^  and  especially  of  the  Stoic  system,  of  which  we  possess  hut 
a  few  mutilated  fragments,  it  may  be  that  certain  precepts  which  in  this  incomplete- 
ness of  our  information  we  consider  to  be  exclusively  Christian,  might  be  traceable  up 
to  Zeno,  Chrysippus,  or  Panatius.  But  these  cardinal  ideas,  which  we  will  sup- 
pose for  a  moment  to  be  of  Stoic  or  of  Platonic  origin,  if  they  be  not  allowed  pecu- 
liar to  Gospel,  how  does  it  happen  that  they  are  grouj)ed  with  prominence, 
exhibited  isolatedly,  and  as  if  in  a  new  light,  for  the  first  time  in  the  Evangelists 
and  the  Apostle,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  in  the  writings  of  the  iToman 
philosopher.  This  concurreuce  of  the  two  moralists,  Seneca  and  St.  Paul,  in 
bringing  forward  the  same  ideas,  in  planting  the  same  landmarks  of  doctrine, 
known  or  unknown  before  them,  remains,  whatever  may  be  said,  a  thin^  sur- 
prising and  inexplicable,  imless  by  an  express  understanding,  a  homogenuity  of 
views  between  the  two  propagatois  and  preachers  of  the  truth' (pp.  131-2). 

This,  it  must  be  owned  at  all  events,  is  to  present  the  question  candidly.  The 
author  had  avowed  already  (p.  24)  that  there  seemed  to  be  none  whatever  of  the 
truths  introduced  into  the  world  by  Revelation,  which  are  not  also  more  or  less 
expressly  to  be  found  in  Seneca.  He  now  admits  that  the  most  striking  of  those  doc- 
trines of  the  philosopher  are  to  be  found  in  what  remains  to  us  of  the  traditions  of 
his  sect.  He  even  adds,  with  a  laudable  equity,  that  if  the  writings  of  the  Stoic 
school  had  not  been  left  to  an  exceptional  completeness  of  annihilation,  they  might 
show  us  parallels  also  to  the  residue  of  the  Christian  morals.  But  after  all,  tbat 
the  Christian  founders  and  their  contemporary  Seneca,  should  have  concurred  in 
a  similar  summary  and  a  certain  selection  from  anterior  systems,  is  a  fact  which 
he  deems  inexplicable  save  by  intercommunication.  Such  is  then  his  argument, 
or  rather  his  objection,  to  prove  that  Seneca  has  been  the  borrower  from  St. 
Paul,  and  not  the  contrary.  But,  mark  his  terms  do  not  really  conclude  any  thing 
to  this  effect.  They  stop  expressly  with  supposing  a  communication  necessary, 
but  assume  tacitlv  that  it  proceeded  from  the  Gospel  to  the  Roman  moralist — 
which  was  just  tne  proposition  put  in  question.  M.  Fleury  not  merely  fails  to 
prove  the  question  he  begs  repeatedly ;  he  does  still  worse,  in  admitting  that 
Seneca  might  have  derived  his  moral  doctrines  (as  he  has  always  been  supposed 
to  do,  of  course)  from  his  predecessors  of  the  Stoic  sect ;  for  it  seems  as  natural 
that  he  should  turn  with  supreme  regard  to  this  brilliant  ancestry,  as  it  would  be 
monstrous  that  a  heathen  philosopher  should  take,  in  preference,  the  same  prin- 
ciples from  what  must  tnen  have  been  esteemed  the  ignorant  fanaticism  of  a  de- 
spised sect.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  a  sect  so  situated  would  be  equally  likely 
to  purloin  from  Seneca,  as  being  the  writer  most  in  vogue  among  the  Pagans  of 
the  time.  M.  Fleury,  therefore,  tends  effectually  to  prove  the  opposite  of  what  he 
affirms  to  have  been  the  order  of  derivation  as  between  Seneca  and  St.  Paul.  And, 
in  fine,  though  it  were  otherwise,  he  would  have  still  had  to  clear  the  Gospel  of 
having  plagiarized,  in  turn,  from  the  earlier  Stoics. 

The  author  then,  we  see,  is  doubly  in  what  the  Americans  call  a  *  fix.'  In  fjwrt 
his  book  is  throughout  a  blunder  in  this  respect ;  so  much  so  that  I  first  imagined 
it  a  covert  attack  upon  Revelation,  and  expected  momently  to  see  the  *  Franfais 
n^malin'  sneer  thfough  the  style.  But  no,  his  motives  are  so  stolidly  orthodox 
as  to  make  him  insensible  to  the  laws  of  logic.  This  honesty  of  his  purpose,  as 
well  as  the  value  of  his  vast  materials,  would  therefore  merit  a  short  solution  of 
his  chief  difficulty — to  wit ;  How  Seneca  and  the  Christian  moralitv  came  to  concur 
in  the  like  principles,  and  how  these  principles  should  seem  selected  from  the  Stoic 
schools  especially,  but  also  with  concurrent  innovations,  by  the  two  new  systems  f 

I  wish  I  had  the  space  of  but  ten  pages  at  my  disposal  to  evince  that  all  three 
questions  do  not  merely  imply  no  miracle,  but  are  susceptible  of  the  most  rigorous 
demonstration.    But,  for  want  of  this,  I  may  refer  to  an  exposition  on  the  subject, 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


490  Intelligence,  [July, 

m  a  work  to  which  I  late  appealed  for  a  different  solution.*'  The  answer,  thus 
prepared  will  have,  moreover,  the  advantage  of  having  been  framed  without 
possible  reference  to  the  present  case.  Evolving  a  theory  of  man's  progressively 
nistorical  development,  the  terms  of  the  exposition  are  indeed  extremely  abstract, 
and  the  quantity  of  Ulustration  as  compendious  as  the  little  volume.  (It  is  re- 
markable it  never  mentions  the  relevant  instance  of  the  writings  of  Seneca^  per- 
haps to  shun  the  imputation  which  makes  the  burthen  of  the  nook  before  us.) 
From  these  drawbacks,  the  application  of  the  theory  referred  to  to  the  problems 
of  M.  Fleury  may  need  some  care.  But  the  result  will,  I  guarantee,  be  to  give 
his  treatise  an  important  value,  and  in  a  manner  of  which  the  author  had  never 
dreamt.  It  will  confirm  the  conclusion  of  my  former  little  dissertation,  and  go  to 
show  that,  as  well  in  doctrine  as  in  discipline,  the  Protestant  creeds  possess  at 
present  the  least  Pagan,  and  therefore  purest  Christianit]r> 

M.  Prosper  M6rim^,  himself  a  wnter  of  much  distinction  on  the  subject  Of 
archseology  as  well  as  historv,  has  just  published  in  the  Momtettr  a  paper  com- 
municated to  him  by  a  fHend,  and  which  treats  a  theme  of  especial  interest  to 
British  readers — the  Druid  altars.  The  writer  is  no  less  an  authority  than 
M.  T.  A .  Worsaae,  inspector  of  historical  monuments  of  Denmark,  and  author  of 
an  esteemed  work  on  the  Antiquities  of  that  country.  I  shall  try  to  make  a  suc- 
cinct abstract  of  his  views  on  the  Druid  altars. 

These  so-called  Celtic  or  Druid  monuments  obtained  a  religions  destination,  but 
in  the  infancy  of  archeology  and  unsupported  by  historical  proof.  The  masses  of 
stones  which,  in  this  system,  were  considered  sacrificial  altars,  and  which  in 
France  are  termed  dolmens,  in  Britain  cromlechs,  or  by  a  more  general  denomina- 
tion Druid  altars,  are  a  sort  of  chambers  constructed  of  large  fiat  stones,  which  are 
surmoimted  affain  with  rocks  of  great  dimensions.  The  entrances,  when  there  are 
any,  are  corridors  of  the  like  construction,  covered  over  in  the  same  manner  and 
often  surrounded  with  circles  of  stone.  Tlie  quite  intact  or  better  preserved  of 
these  cromlechs  are  usually  situated  on  the  summit  of  little  tumnli  of  earth,  or 
iBometimes  in  the  interior  of  mounds  of  greatct  height.  In  their  construction,  it  is 
found  invariably  that  the  stones  which  form  the  walls  and  roof  present  their  even 
and  smooth  surrace  on  the  inside.  Now  this  circumstance  is  mr  tnxm  favouring 
the  supposition  that  they  were  altars ;  the  act  of  sacrifice  would,  on  the  contrary, 
require  or  render  the  outside  smooth. 

Again,  in  France,  these  pretended  altars  are  found  collected  in  groups,  and  espe- 
cially by  the  sea-coast,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  lar^  rivers.  It  is  the  same  with 
their  exact  analogues,  the  cromlechs  of  Great  Britain,  the  hUnengraeber  of  Germany, 
and  the  '  giants'  chambers'  {Tdettewtner)  of  Scandinavia.  In  Denmark  too,  which 
has  several  thousand,  they^  almost  all  lie  along  the  shore.  But  if  these  monuments 
were  altars,  how  came  their  crowding  along  ue  coast,  while  the  interior  was  left 
with  few  or  often  none? 

Passing  from  the  structure  and  the  situation  to  the  contents,  thtee  are  uniformly 
fiint-knives,  stone-hatchets,  arrow  or  spear-heads  of  bone  or  fiint — all  of  the  rudest 
fhbrication,  and  bespeaking  a  savage  people.  Nothing  ever  found  of  bronxe  or  any 
other  metal. 

The  human  bones  are  untouched  by  fire  and  plainly  testify  that  the  bodies  had 
been  deposited  in  either  a  sitting  or  crovching  posture  in  their  strong  chambers. 
So  in  the  Isle  of  Guernsey  and  other  islands  of  the  Channel,  in  Ireland,  in  Eng- 
land, in  Holland  and  Northern  Germany,  as  well  as  France,  Denmark,  and  Sweden. 
In  the  latter  country,  one  in  particular  has  a  number  of  square  compartments, 
devoted  each  to  a  single  corpse  and  where  the  skeleton  retained  this  position. 

These  analogies  of  contents  and  construction  between  monuments  dispersed  over 
distant  countries  denotes  a  common  destination ;  and  the  d^rist>f  human  boneS,  of 
which  the  presence  is  almost  constant,  proves  the  dolmens  to  be  not  altars,  but 
tombs. 

Furthermore,  the  rudeness  of  the  accompanying  utensils  shows  the  people  who 
built  the  tombs  to  have  been  still  in  the  savage  state— subsisting  by  hunting  and 
fishing,  and  ignorant  of  the  use  of  the  metals.  They  were  therefore  not  the  Celts, 
who  were  skilled  everywhere  in  bronze  fabric ;  they  must  have  been  the  aboriginal 

"  Vestiges  of  Civilization,  pp.  354-66. 

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1^53.] 


InteUigenee.  491 


inhabHaBts  of  Enrope.  This  is  backed  by  the  geographical  situation  of  the  crom- 
lechs, confined  exclusiTcly  to  the  most  western  and  maritime  countries — to  South- 
ern Sweden  and  Denmark,  to  Northern  Germany  and  Holland,  to  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  to  Western  France  and  Portugal,  to  Corsica  and  the  Crimea.  For 
men  keep,  in  the  infiaincy  of  civilization,  to  the  sea  shore,  or  along  the  banks  of  the 
large  rirers,  where  they  obtain  their  food  by  fishing  and  more  open  spaces  for 
communication  and  the  chase. 

Another  proof  of  the  priority  is  the  abruptness  of  the  passage  from  those  rude 
implements  and  unbumt  bones,  which  alone  are  found  in  the  cromlechs,  to  the  cal- 
cined skeletons,  the  funeral  urns  and  the  bronze  arms  which  adorn  the  tumuli^  and 
even  trinkets  of  the  same  metal,  and  sometimes  gold.  Were  the  Celts,  who  built 
the  latter,  the  founders  also  of  the  former,  there  would  be  a  gradation  of  transition; 
both  the  da^es  of  constructions  would  be  sometimes  mingled— which  they  never 
are.  Besides,  the  cromlechs  would  be  found  in  Southern  Germany  and  Central 
Europe,  which  the  Celts  had  long  inhabited  in  their  migration  fVom  Scandinavia. 

Again,  the  builders  of  the  *  Druid  altars'  have  left  alon^  the  shore  in  Denmark 
large  heaps  of  oyster  and  other  fish-shells,  with  the  usual  implements  of  flint  and 
bone.  But  precisely  the  same  relics,  in  the  same  commixture  and  situation,  are 
quite  fiimiliar  along  the  sea-board  of  North  America.  The  civilization,  then,  or 
rather  savagery,  was  analogue  on  the  two  continents. 

A  few  of  the  cromlechs^  it  is  true,  exhibit  traces  of  a  sort  of  sculpture,  which, 
however  rude,  might  suppose  the  use  of  metallic  implements.  Of  these  the  prin* 
cipal  are  found  in  Ireland,  and  the  most  celebrated  is  New  Grange,  which  is 
situated  with  another  almost  equal  in  the  county  Meath.  In  the  former  the  stones 
are  covered  with  a  multitude  of  ornaments,  among  others  spiral  lines  of  striking 
symmetry.  In  the  second,  are  found  crosses  circumscribed  with  a  circle  (which 
might  savour  of  a  subsequent  and  Christian  hand  ?).  Gavr'  Innis,  in  the  west  of 
France,  is  also  famous  for  the  like  workmanship ;  and  has  moreover  a  few  designs 
not  unlike  the  cuneiform  characters.  In  fine,  Stonehenge,  with  its  several  circles 
composed  of  rocks  which  appear  to  be  cut,  and  which  are  locked  into  each  other, 
at  the  junction  of  the  walls  and  roof,  by  a  set  of  mortises  and  tenons — which  give 
the  structure  its  appeUation.  Do  not  these  imply  the  builders  to  have  known  the 
use  of  metal  ? 

Tes,  undoubtedly ;  but  the  objection  is  thus  explained : — These  sculptured  q>e- 
cimens  are  found  exclusively  in  the  most  western  parts  of  Europe,  where  the  Ab- 
ori^nes  would  either  have  been  retruded  by  the  invaders,  or  be  left  latest  i^nen- 
countered  and  unsubdued.  They  would  therefore  have  more  time  for  their 
indigenous  development,  and  consequent  improvement  of  this  architecture.  And 
the  aid  of  metallic  implements  would  be  derived,  by  imitation  or  by  importation, 
from  the  conquering  occupants  of  the  interior,  much  more  civilized. 

This  much  less  savage  people  were  the  Celts.  The  Celts  are  known  accordingly, 
in  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  to  have  both  used  and  wrought  in  bronze,  a  compo- 
sition of  brass  and  tin.  The  implements  are  rudest,  in  ancient  Gaul,  both  in  shape 
and  ornament.  The  relics  found  in  England  and  Ireland  are  far  superior.  But 
Denmark  and  Scandinavia  excelled  all  others  in  this  manufacture,  at  the  same 
time  in  form,  temper,  variety  and  ornamentation.  In  fact,  some  metal  ingots  dis« 
covered  in  the  latter  country,  seem  to  attest  the  antique  existence  of  even  dJjimndry, 
And  Caesar's  observation,  in  remarking  that  the  Ancient  Britons  bad  no  iron,  but 
used  instead  imported  bronze  (are  auiem  utuntur  impobtato)  might  go  to  coun- 
tenance a  commerce  with  this  northern  emporium. 

From  this  pre-eminence  of  mere  degr^,  combined  with  also  the  main  coin- 
cidence among  the  implements  as  well  as  material,  in  the  various  countries  named, 
it  is  conjectured  that  the  populations  of  Scandinavia  must  have  been  Celts,  and 
that  the  race  has  passed  fh>m  thence  into  the  British  isles  and  Gaul.  Recent  his- 
torians, of  Norway  particularly,  esteem  the  inference  beyond  a  doubt.  M.  Wor- 
saae  does  not  appear,  however,  to  assent  The  greater  excellence  was  due,  he 
thinks,  to  prolongation  of  the  use  of  bronze ;  as  the  same  circumstance  gave  higher 
perfection  to  the  '  Druid  altars'  in  the  same  countries.  For  as  iron,  which  super- 
seded the  use  of  bronze,  came  throagh  the  Romans,  its  propapition  must  have 
proceeded  paripassu  with  their  dominion.  Thus  in  Gaul,  where  it  entered  earliest, 
ihe  swords  had  never  reached  1o  hilts  of  bronze,  but  were  rudely  rivetted  to  bone 


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492  InteUigenee.  [July, 

or  wooden  hafts  with  nails.  The  hilt  is  found  in  Britain  of  a  piece  indeed  with 
the  blade,  but  still  not  in  a  verv  finished  form.  This  perfection  was  attained  in 
Ireland,  and  especially  in  Scandinavia,  where  the  Romans  had  never  carried  their 
yoke  of  iron  in  any  sense,  and  whither  the  metal  took  some  centuries  later  to  find 
Its  way.  What  this,  then,  proves  is  unity  of  causation,  not  of  derivation.  And 
as  to  the  community  of  implements,  it  is  the  same;  though  M.  Worsaae  does  not 
appear  to  well  see  how. 

He  seems  determined  to  this  o|Mnion  by  the  convenience  of  his  theory,  which 
marks  the  stages  of  social  progress  by  an  age  of  sione,  of  bronze,  of  iron.  These, 
he  adds  naively,  without  perceiving  the  contradiction,  do  not  indicate  (as  sung 
Lucretius)  so  many  distinct  human  races,  but  only  so  many  grades  of  civilization. 
The  latter  is  true  in  fact ;  but  the  author's  argument  assumed  the  former. 

However,  the  foregoing,  though  but  a  brief  analysis  of  a  long  essay,  presents 
the  views,  if  I  mistake  not,  of  the  great  Danish  archsologist,  with  undiminished, 
jf  not  increased  clearness  and  coherence.  Their  merits  I  must  for  the  present, 
leave  uncommented  to  your  reading.  I  avow,  however,  my  assent  to  the  author's 
inference  respecting  the  Normans,  as  not  at  all  the  rude  barbarians  they  are  re- 
puted. That  people  and  their  country  await  a  philosophic  history.  Alas  I  what 
people  and  what  country  does  not  ? 


Ruins  of  aiioient  Ci^ma,  showing  the  Assyrian  orfffln  of  the  Etrascaos— BonomTs  errors  in  the 
application  of  Assyrian  statuary  to  Holy  Writ— Cotonel  Rawlinson's  late  deciphering  of  Cunetfonn 
Inscriptions  relative  to  the  Dynasties  and  Mytliology  of  the  Assvrians— Curious  discoveries  in 
several  mineral  lakes  and  springs  of  France  and  Italy— Account  of  the  Kurgdt  or  tamular  barrows 
of  ancient  Russia. 

Paris,  June,  1853. 
The  second  article  of  M.  Haoul-Rochette,  on  the  mins  of  ancient  Capua,  to  which 
1  alluded  in  a  former  letter,  has  appeared  iu  the  Journal  des  Savants  for  April. 
The  author  has  not  yet  arrived  at  the  description  of  the  ruins  proper,  from  which 
I  promised  you  some  information  of  great  importance.  Its  turn  will  have  come 
in  the  next  paper  of  the  series.  Meanwhile,  the  present  contains  some  facts  which 
may  be  interesting  to  your  readers. 

It  seems  that  Capua  had  its  Capitol,  like  ancient  Rome,  and  as  the  former  city 
was  Etrurian,  we  might  infer  that  this  famous  institute  was  also  due  to  Etrurian 
influence  in  the  latter :  and  this,  although  the  two  cities  were  founded  almost  at  the 
same  time.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  met  that  the  Capitoline  divinities  of  Capua 
were  composed,  like  those  of  Rome,  of  a  trinity  or  triad — of  whom  Jupiter  held 
the  place  of  honour,  and  was  supported  on  either  side  by  the  two  goddesses  Diana 
and  Minerva.  And  this  very  important  fact  is  thus  itself  sustained  by  M.  Raoul- 
Rochette.  A  bas-relief,  still  preserved  at  Capua,  was  discovered  in  1665,  at  a 
small  distance  from  the  ruins  of  the  Theatre,  and  which  contains  a  representatioa 
of  Jupiter  in  a  sitting  posture,  havins;  on  his  left  Diana  standing,  with  quiver  on 
shoulder  and  lance  in  hand,  and  on  his  right  Minerva,  likewise  standing,  the  head 
attired  with  a  military  cap,  the  breast  covered  with  the  degis,  and  her  hand  armed 
with  a  lance,  which  are  the  usual  attributes  of  the  goddess  of  war.  But  this  con- 
junction of  divinities,  wherein  Diana  holds  the  place  of  Juno  at  Rome,  can  repre- 
sent says  this  great  antiquary,  but  the  Capitoline  triad  of  Capua,  as  had  been  also 
recognized  already  by  Mazochi.  Moreover,  another  discovery  has  been  more 
recently  eflTected  in  the  Capuan  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  consist- 
ing of  a  fine  statue  of  Minerva,  now  at  Rome,  and  a  statue  of  Diana,  disinterred 
on  the  same  spot,  of  the  same  proportions  and  style,  but  decapitated,  and  which 
was  long  preserved  at  Naples.  Tnis  &ct  of  the  statue  of  Diana,  combined  with 
one  of  Minerva,  and  both  discovered  in  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Capitoline  Jupiter, 
leaves  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of  the  triad  at  Capua  as  well  as  at  Rome,  and 
in  both  places,  as  established  through  Etruscan  influence. 

This,  of  itself,  would  be  a  point  of  curiosity  as  well  as  consequence.  But  I  pre-> 
sent  it  to  your  readers  for  what,  in  turn,  it  is  made  to  infer,  by  the  ingenious  con- 
catenation of  the  writer.  He  concludes  from  it,  that  the  Tyrrhenian  immigration 
into  ancient  Italy  must  have  consisted  of  a  colony  of  Assyrians,  the  Capitoline 
triads  of  Etruria  being  a  tnut  of  the  religion  of  that  people.    The  highest  ezpres- 


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1853.]  InUlKgmee.  498 

noD  of  the  Assyrian  religion  was,  he  says,  the  great  triad,  which  was  personified 
in  three  divinities,  one  male,  and  the  other  Xyto  female^  and  whom  Ctesias,  who 
transmitted  the  fact,  compares  to  Jupiter,  Rhea,  and  Juno.  The  same  Ctesias,  still 
as  cited  hy  Diodorus,  says  that  golden  statues  of  the  three  divinities  were  set  upon 
Uie  summit  of  the  tower  or  pyramid  of  Belus  at  Babylon ;  an  altitude  of  position  of 
which  the  Capitol  would  be  an  imitation.  M.  Raoul-Rochette  attaches  great  con- 
clusiveness as  well  as  importance  to  this  analogy,  and  announces  a  set  treatise,  in 
which  it  is  to  be  developed  clearly,  on  the  great  Nature-goddem  (as  he  terms  it)  of 
Asia,  considered  in  the  divers  forms  wherein  he  thinks  her  to  have  been  the  foun- 
dation of  the  whole  mythologies  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  No  doubt  in  the 
world  that  such  a  work,  Anom  hands  so  learned,  will  be  full  of  interest,  not  only 
historical  and  archseological,  but  even  theological.  For  could  he  narrow  to  a 
single  source,  and  that  an  Eastern  one,  the  pagan  trinities,  it  would  relieve  the 
Christian  mystery  of  its  most  formidable  adversary.  But  for  my  part,  I  incline 
to  question  the  philosophy  of  such  a  project,  and  by  consequence,  the  force  of  his 
conclusion  from  the  anidogy.  The  fact  of  the  conclusion  I,  however,  deem  quite 
probable,  that  is  to  say,  the  Assyrian  origin  of  the  Etrurians.  And  the  proof  to 
me  is  in  their  high  relative  proficiency  in  the  arts ;  especially  their  works  in 
metal,  with  which  some  late  discoveries  at  Khorsabad  present  a  striking  corre- 
spondence of  development. 

Besides  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  there  were  also  several  others  in  the 
Etrurian  days  of  Capua,  of  which  the  writer  discusses  the  site,  and  traces  the 
ruins,  in  many  instances,  to  Christian  churches  still  subsisting  or  gone  in  turn  to 
decay.  Of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  itself,  some  fifty  beautiful  columns  were  trans- 
ferred in  the  middle  ages  to  the  church  of  *  Saint  Vincent  in  Voltumo.'  Another 
temple  of  Jupiter,  outside  the  city  of  Capua,  has  supplied  the  materials  for  the 
celebrated  Abbey  of  S.-PietrOf  which  exists  still  bat  in  a  dilapidated  state.  The 
Cathedral  Church  of  the  town  of  Casente,  which  now  occupies  itte  site  of  the 
temple,  has  been  also  built  and  ornamented  from  its  ruins ;  and  it  possessed,  it 
is  said,  as  late  as  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  a  chandelier  of  white  marble, 
wiUi  its  base  adorned  on  the  four  sides  by  representations  of  Venus  arising 
from  the  ocean;  a  magnificent  relic  of  the  decoration  of  the  same  temple  of 
Jupiter.  The  writer  wonders,  as  well  as  deplores,  that  this  noble  monument 
should  have  been  lost  in  the  full  noon-tide  of  an  age  of  light  and  civiliza- 
tion. Bnt  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  this  very  light  that  caused  most  probably  its 
destruction.  During  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages,  the  incongruity  of  the 
general  mixture  of  pa^^  monuments  with  Christian  worship  was  not  perceived ; 
It  was  in  consonance  with  the  reigning  chaos  of  the  human  intellect.  But  as  this 
intellect  began  to  clarify  itself  with  the  philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
thus  to  reason  upon  and  regulate  its  doctrines,  the  clergy  would,  to  prevent  scandal 
as  well  as  satisfy  their  private  scroples,  purge  the  churches  of  all  such  utensils 
and  decorations  of  pagan  origin,  as  were  not  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  edifice. 

To  the  same  religious  animosity,  awakened  to  logical  consistency,  is,  also,  due, 
no  doubt,  the  devastation,  in  anoUier  line,  which  the  author  mentions  as  having 
strangely  taken  place  within  the  same  period.  Of  the  myriad  tombs  of  the 
Roman  epoch  which  lined  on  either  side  the  Appian  Way,  fhmi  the  city  to  Ben- 
Tenuto  (ibr  Capua  too  had  its  Via  A]^pia\  and  which  not  greatly  over  a  century 
since  were  recognizable  at  least  in  rum,  there  now  exists  not  even  a  trace  of  more 
than  two.  One  of  these  noble  mausoleums,  which  is  called  in  the  neighbourhood 
Carceri  Vecchie  (Old  Prisons),  is  situated  near  Santa  Maria^  on  the  left  side  of  the 
Appian  Way.  Though  now  in  ruins,  it  was  less  than  a  century  since  described 
as  follows  by  an  eye-witness.  It  was  of  a  conical  fbrm,  of  which  the  summit  only 
had  then  been  lost.  The  altitude,  thus  diminished,  was  but  six  and  twenty  hands; 
the  circumference  was  one  hundred  and  fifty.  It  was  all  over  lined  with  marble 
panels,  arranged  in  the  best  Roman  taste.  The  entrance  was  by  a  small  door 
which  opened  on  the  south  side,  and  in  the  interior  was  a  stmrcase  by  which  was 
reached  the  summit.  There  remains  at  present,  of  this  grand  cone  of  several 
stories,  but  the  ^und-floor,  with  its  marole  wainscotting  and  numerous  niches 
which,  on  the  inside  as  well  as  the  out,  served  to  receive  the  funeral  urns,  busts, 
and  monuments  of  the  tombs. 

The  second  mansoleumi  which  10  on  the  right  side  of  the  Appian  Way,  a  short 


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494  Intelligence.  [July, 

dittaaoe  ttom  die  Tillage  of  Ctwrii,  bean  yalgarly  ^e  name  of  Canoechioj  which 
is  deriYed  from  its  lofty  conical  form.  It  is  a  tower  of  four  stories,  erect^  on  a 
square  base,  and  diminishing  in  breadth  at  each  stage,  so  as  to  bear  the  aspect  of  a 
fbneral  pyre  of  seTeral  retreating  platforms — a  sort  of  monument  which  recalls, 
says  our  antiquary,  the  Roman  traditions  of  Assyrian  art.  Its  height  is  still  one 
hundred  and  twenty-fire  hands,  bjr  a  diameter  of  fifty  for  the  first  story,  thirtj- 
siz  for  the  second,  thirty  for  the  tmrd,  and  a  smaller  breadth  for  the  fourth,  whidi 
bore  the  summit,  long  destroyed.  This  tomb  presents,  with  its  exterior  lining, 
with  its  columns,  cornices,  and  architectural  sculptures,  as  well  as  its  interior  cham> 
bers  at  each  story,  and  their  novel  and  singular  arrangement,  the  sole  subsisting  relic 
of  die  renowned  splendours  of  luxurious  Capua,  in  even  the  latest  of  its  three  epochs 
of  magnificence,  the  Roman,  and  transmits  evidently,  M.  Raoul-Rochette  insists, 
the  Asiatic  taste  of  the  two  preceding.  But  what  a  contrast  does  this  utter  obli- 
vion of  a  city  devoted  to  the  baser  passions,  ofier  with  the  glorious  fttte  of  Athens, 
the  ciiy  of  intellect  and  the  arts ;  in  which  every  spot  and  every  monument,  as 
well  as  the  men  who  immortalised  them,  are  almost  as  fomiliar  as  the  renowned 
<^racter8  and  the  localities  of  our  own  day ! 

fiat  the  preservation  of  this  sole  relic  is  due,  as  stated  on  an  inscription,  to  a 
restoration  of  the  monument  by  Ferdinand  I.  of  Naples.  In  the  absence  of  some 
like  protection,  a  small  temple  of  similar  style,  which  was  discovered  not  many  years 
ago,  IS  now  annihilated  to  the  last  vestige.  As,  however,  the  tombs  above  alluded 
to,  like  all  the  others  of  the  Roman  period,  had  been  erected  above  the  surfkce  of 
the  soil,  and  were  ooasequently  much  more  liable  to  entire  demolition,  we  might 
expect  (as  the  fiiots  have  justified)  to  find  the  mausoleums  of  the  anterior  epo<mi, 
remain,  though  older,  yet,  as  partly  sunk,  in  a  better  state  of  preservation.  It  is 
these  Samntte  and  Etrurian  tombs  with  their  lately  discovered  contents  that  M. 
RiM>ul^Rochette  is  to  describe  us  in  his  next  article. 

The  Alheiutum  Francis,  in  a  cold  criticism  of  Bonomi*s  book,  applying  the 
late  Aaiyrian  discoveries  to  the  elucidation  of  Holj  Writ,  has  the  following 
interesting  and  very  suggestive  observations.  The  writer  is  M.  ^e  Longp^rier, 
an  archaeologist  of  eminence,  and  connected  I  believe  with  the  administration  of 
the  Gallery  of  the  Louvre. 

Mr.  Bonomi,  after  having  described  the  great  winged  lions  with  human  heads, 
which  adorn  the  palace  gate  of  Nimroud,  remarks  justiy,  that  these  fign^es  accord 
completely  with  the  expressions  of  Daniel,  who,  in  his  vision,  says,  '  The  first  vras 
as  a  lion,  and  had  the  wings  of  an  eagle.'  But  tills  Asiatic  6}rmbol  represented  the 
empire  of  Assjrria.  The  vision  of  the  prophet  had  therefore  nothing  extraordi- 
nary, since  we  find  the  same  type  on  the  fa9ade  of  a  palace  erected  by  a  king  of 
Nineveh. 

In  general,  the  conceptions  of  the  Prophets  are  exfdained  admirably,  since  we 
have  come  to  know  a  portion  of  the  Chaldsean  monuments  among  which  thej 
lived.  It  is  known,  for  example,  that  Daniel  describes  a  symbolic  animal  with  teu 
horns.  European  artists  who  have  undertaken  to  represent  this  celebrated  vision, 
have  made  the  animal  a  horrible  and  ludicrous  monster.  And  yet  in  Assyrian 
sculpture  there  is  nothing  more  frequent  than  tiaras  ornamented  vrith  horns,  of 
which  the  number  varies  fhim  ten  to  twelve,  and  which  are  arranged  with  so  much 
art  and  regularity,  as  to  in  no  manner  shock  the  taste  of  the  most  severe.  Of 
this  we  may  be  convinced  easily  by  examining  the  sculptures  of  Khorsabad,  and 
those  which  were  sketched  at  MaalthaY  by  Simon  Rouet  These  horns  were  a 
symbol  of  strength,  of  power.  It  is  thus  tiiat,  in  her  sublime  canticle,  Hannah,  the 
mother  of  Samuel,  exclaims,  in  speaking  of  her  dearl^r-beloved  son :  Exaltaivm 
9st  cornu  nmnm  in  Deo.  Haimah  calls  Samuel  Aer  horn,  in  like  manner  as  an  Arab 
child  will  call  its  fsther  or  grandfather  the  crown  if  itg  head;  and  this  parity  of 
meaning  is  comprehensible  so  much  the  better  as  we  may  take  the  word  qouroum 
(horn)  as  tiie  prototype  of  icoptini  and  of  corona.  Nor  is  it  only  on  the  text  of 
Daniel  that  the  Assyrian  monuments  may  shed  new  light,  but  also  on  the 
books  of  Isaiah,  of  Ezduel,  of  Nathan,  of  Esdras,  and  a  part  of  the  books  of 
Kings  and  of  Chronicles.  Mr.  Bonomi  has  made  on  this  point  many  happy  appU- 
cations,  without  at  the  same  time  having  exhausted  the  subject.  Every  reader  of 
the  Bible  will  discover  some  new  relation.  It  is  as  much  to  be  desired  that  artists 
should  be  imbued  with  the  Assyrian  momimeDts  as  with  tiiose  of  Egypt^  of 


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1868.]  IfOdbgenw.  4d& 

PbcBBieSa,  of  BBbykm  wtA  Peraa,  ia  order  to  compote  new  BihHemt  Jttmitrmiimm : 
for  thoae  thmt  faaye  been  poblisbeid  hitherto  sre  for  the  most  put  deplorable,  ud 
fitted  to  ^ye  the  fidaeit  notions  of  the  history  of  the  people  of  God,  the  evtieflt 
whi^  is  impressed  upon  oar  inftnt  minds. 

When  to  the  verrioo  of  Issac  le  Bfsltre,  abridged  tad  fbll  of  interpolstioBS.  are 
moreoTer  ndd«l  images  that  do  not  ofler  a  sinsle  detail  saggesled  by  a  knowledge 
of  antiquity,  is  it  not  plain  that  the  first  'of  books  mnst,  when  disfigored  in  this 
manner,  lose  a  portion  not  inconsiderable  of  its  anthori^  ?  The  eagrnings  of 
Holbein,  of  Albert  Dilrer,  of  Bernard  Solomon,  of  Sebastian  Ledeno,  of  Beniard 
Pieart,  most  be  admired  as  prodnetions  of  art.  Bat  they  hsTe  really  nothing 
Biblieal,  and  beside,  the  second-rate  artists  who  have  copied  them  ha^e  fluled 
grossly,  while  preserring  their  defects,  to  tnoMcribe  the  merit  of  the  ezeention, 
which  was  alone  what  imide  them  precions.  Who  does  not  remember  from  child- 
hood  tlmt  strange  ftntastic  figure,  with  a  crowti  of  several  peaks  like  a  grand  Dnke 
of  Tuscany,  a  mantle  tacked  np  likethecnrtainsof  a  royal  bed  and  its  festoons,  and 
which  represents  one  after  another,  Pharaoh,  Saul,  David,  Solomon,  Jeho,  Ahasueiaa, 
and  Evil-meiiodach — a  figure  which  we  meet  again  nnder  the  name  of  Pharamond, 
of  Merovee,  or  Clovis,  m  the  history  of  France  of  Fi^ther  Daniel  and  of  M.  do 
Rigoir?  And  then,  those  temples,  those  palaces,  resembling  yersailles  and  the 
Vatican,  and  of  which  the  halls  are  ornamented  with  pilastere  of  the  Bmais9ince,9 
and  Anted  oolnmns  such  as  exist  only  in  the  Annnaiata  at  Genoa— is  it  believed  that 
they  give  anything  like  a  tolerably  just  idea  of  the  architecture  of  Memphis,  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  of  Babylon  ?  Atiemptii  have  been  made  of  late  times  to  introduce 
into  Biblical  works  some  ameTiorations  by  copying  the  costume  of  the  Arabs.  But 
if  die  appeal  of  the  Bedtmim  may  to  a  certain  point  be  applicable  to  the  nomads 
of  the  tmies  of  Abraham  and  Jacob,  it  cannot  answer  for  the  purpose  of  represent- 
ing the  city  inhabitants  at  the  epoch  of  the  Kings  of  Israel  and  of  Judah.  We 
insist  upon  this  matter,  because  we  believe  that  the  inexactness  of  such  representa- 
tions is  an  auxifiary  to  infidelity.  It  is  in  the  subject  of  arohsology  especially 
that  one  might  say  with  Bacon, '  That  a  half  learning  leads  to  doubt,  but  a  solid 
instruction  brings  back  to  fiiith.' 

The  same  intelligent  Journal  has  a  sharp  notice  of  the  late  discoveries,  or 
aHeged  discoveries,  of  Colonel  RawKnson,  in  his  construction  of  the  inscriptions 
which  Layard  has  gathered  at  Nineveh:  or  rather  the  notice  is  not  sharp 
in  the  proper  sense,  for  it  is  not  serious.  It  is  throughout  a  continuous  sneer, 
but  the  more  severe  for  iu  studied  civility:  and  to  say  truth,  the  publica- 
tion seems  to  merit  the  severest  treatment.  The  gallant  Colonel  procliums  his 
dUcnveries  in  the  right  soldierly  and  rather  Saxon  foshion  of  trenchant  asser- 
tion, not  of  close  discussion  and  careful  proof.  I  have  not  seen  his  book,  and 
speak  according  to  the  critic,  who,  however,  is  M.  de  Sauley,  a  member  of  the 
Institute,  a  man,  besides,  of  general  science,  an  extensive  traveller  in  tiie  East, 
and  a  r^  discoverer  himself  in  epigraphy.  This  antiquary,  in  a  previous  number, 
convicts  the  readin|;s  of  Colonel  Rawltnson,  revealing  us  the  lost  names  of  certain 
kings  of  the  Assyrian  dynasties,  of  being  left  destitute  of  proof,  of  being  impro- 
bable in  themsdves,  of  being  inconsistent  with  the  Scripture  record,  or  with  eveu 
each  other.  In  the  present  notice  he  substantiates  this  triple  charge  against  the 
Colonel's  pcmtheon^  taking  the  principal  divinities,  personage  by  personage,  to  the 
number  of  over  a  score.  In  conclusion,  however,  be  says,  with  sarcastic  deference, 
that  he  denies  nothing,  but  merely  waits  till  Colouel  Rawlinson  shall  give  eome 
proof  of  his  revelations:  and  this,  incumbent  in  even  religion,  is  indispensable  in 
all  science,  and  was  imperative  in  the  present  subject,  where  the  discoverer  pre- 
tends alone  to  have  the  key  to  the  exploration  of  the  cuneiform  writings.  It  is 
also  the  advice  I  would  convey  to  your  British  readers,  who,  indeed,  appear  th^- 
selves  to  have  tacitly  taken  a  similar  course,  if  <me  may  judge  Aom  the  little 
noise  they  make  about  so  startling  a  publication. 

At  a  late  session  of  the  '  Archsological  Institute'  of  Rome,  a  curious  book  has 
been  presented,  on  the  part  of  Father  Marchi,  in  relation  to  discoveries  made  last 
year  at  Vicareiio,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  lake  of  Bracciano.     It  is  known, 

^  We  should  nataralise  this  term,  like  so  many  othere,  from  the  French,  to 
denote  briefly  the  revival  of  arts  and  It ttera  in  modem  Europe. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


496  InteUigenoe.  [July; 

from  several  instanoes  bitm^t  to  li^t  within  a  few  years,  that  the  ancients  had 
the  custom  of  casting  into  the  mineral  springs  wherein  they  had  recovered  health 
a  triba!e  in  token  of  their  gratitude,  and  which  consisteid  the  most  usually  in 
pieces  of  money,  in  small  statues  of  bronze  representing  the  person  who  made  the 
offering,  sometimes  even  imitations  of  the  part  of  the  body  affected,  as  for  ex- 
ample, the  foot,  the  arm,  the  head,  limb,  &c.  In  1838,  .upon  the  drainage  of  a 
little  lake  which  was  situated  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain  of  Falterona,  one  of 
the  loftiest  of  the  Tuscan  Apennines,  and  at  the  foot  of  which  takes  rise  the  A  mo, 
there  were  collected  over  six  hundred  pieces  of  bronze,  in  statuettes  or  coins.  In 
France,  near  Aries,  in  the  mineral  si>rings  of  Amdlie-les-Bains,  there  were  also 
found  several  coins,  and  some  inscriptions  on  plates  of  lead.  In  fine,^  a  few 
months  ago,  the  steward  of  the  Roman  college  called  the  Crermanico-UngaricOf  and 
who  is  keeper  of  the  Vicarello,  having  or&red  Uie  cleansing  of  the  basin  where 
the  thermal  waters  are  collected  at  a  temperature  of  fifty  degrees  centigrade,  found 
a  great  quantity  of  bronze  coins  of  both  Republican  and  Imperial  Rome ;  also  a 
few  vases  of  copper  and  silver,  dedicated,  as  is  learned  fh>m  the  inscriptions  which 
adorn  them,  to  Apollo,  to  Sylvanus,  and  the  nymphs.  Finally,  three  silver  vases, 
which  seemed  to  constitute  a  sort  of  milestones,  and  engraven  with  a  full  itinerary 
of  all  the  stations  whidi  then  existed  on  the  route  from  the  Eternal  City  along  to 
Gade$.  These  are  the  curious  monuments  that  are  now  discussed  in  the  book  of 
Marchi,  and  of  which  a  copy  has  been  just  presented,  in  his  name,  to  the  Roman 
Institute. 

The  various  conclusions  of  the  learned  &ther  are  well  worth  seeking  in  the 
ori^al.  I  can  specify  but  the  important  one  concerning  the  miliary  vases,  and 
which  supply  most  precious  documents  to  geography.  Tney  form,  in  fiaict,  a  sort 
of  guide-book  composed  at  three  successive  epochs,  and  indicating  the  several 
modifications  of  the  gi^eat  route  which  conducted  from  the  capital  to  the  southern 
extremity  of  Spain  (tor  in  the  above  Gades  the  reader  will  recognise  Cadiz).  The 
vases  are,  all  three,  of  dates  anterior  to  the  itinerary  of  Antonine,  and  contain,  one 
104  stations,  another  105,  and  the  third  107.  The  last,  which  must  be  naturally 
taken  to  be  the  latest,  and  of  which  the  names  concur  the  nearest  with  those  of 
the  Antonine  itinerary,  contains  a  certain  number  which  do  not  exist  upon  the 
second  in  date ;  while  this  presents  in  turn  some  not  found  upon  the  first.  But 
from  this  discordance  between  both  the  number  and  identity  of  the  stations,  which 
conducted  to  a  point  so  distant  from  the  capital,  is  again  inferred  the  labours  that 
the  emperors  must  have  accomplished  in  straightening,  in  altering,  and  improving 
the  public  roads  which  at  that  time  radiated  in  all  directions  through  their  vast 
empire. 

It  is  thus  that  the  superstition  of  those  invalids  of  two  thousand  jears  ago  con- 
tributes to  the  science  of  the  present  day :  for  men  do  nothing  tn  vain,  though 
they  may  do  most  things  vainly ;  they  miss  their  foolish  aims,  but  the  ends  of 
nature  are  subserved  infallibly. 

A  German  periodical  {Archiv,  fur  wissemchqfiliche  Kunde  von  Rvsgland)  has  an 
article,  composed  chiefly  of  compilations  from  the  Russian  journals,  on  the  late 
discovery  of  numerous  Kurgdns,  that  is  to  say,  tumuli  or  barrows,  made  on  thia 
occasion  as  far  north  as  the  province  of  Novogorod.  I  translate  you  a  few  parti- 
culars on  this  very  curious  subject. 

In  the  government  of  Novogorod  the  Kuigftns  are  called  sopkas,  that  is  to  say, 
hill-tops,  which  is  a  term  of  Sie  local  dialect.  They  are  found  usuallv  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  villages,  along  the  hi^h  roads,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers 
Walchow,  Walohowitz,  &c.  You  meet  with,  also,  other  clay  hillocks  in  the  form 
of  entrenchments.  These  two  species  of  constructions  go  back  evidently  to  the 
pagan  times,  and  have  reference  conjointly  to  those  bloodv  wars  and  those  terrible 
plagues  which,  as  recorded  by  the  chroniclers,  formerly  desolated  Russia.  There 
are  many  popular  traditions  concerning  the  origin  of  these  rude  monuments.  The 
hillocks  are,  without  doubt,  the  remains  of  ramparts  raised  in  ancient  times  on  the 
field  of  battle  for  the  security  of  the  infantry :  subsequently  they  were  used  as  a 
place  for  planting  the  artillery.  As  to  the  KurgdM,  they  are  funereal  monuments 
elevated  upon  the  tombs  of  warrior  chiefs  or  of  princes.  If  tradition  is  to  be 
credited,  the  altitude  of  the  Kurgftn  depended  on  the  strange  circumstance  of  the 
number  of  persons  present  at  the  bnrial.    The  trigtu$t  or  funeral  feasts,  took  plac^ 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


jl853.]  Intdligmce.  49t 

hard  by  these  tombs ;  and  as  the  warriors  attended  in  arms,  the  ceremonial  ended 
habitually  in  scenes  of  slaughter.  It  is  thus  that  with  the  Scandinavians  of  the 
same  epoch  the  festiyals  celebrated  on  occasion  of  funerals  were  always  attended 
with  efiFusion  of  blood,  and  hence  their  well-known  usage  of  bringing  coflSns  to 
the  banquet,  in  order  to  bury  on  the  spot  those  who  should  perish  in  their  frequent 
quarrels.  These  were  sometimes  huddled  together  under  one  of  those  Kurgdns, 
which  on  other  occasions,  as  in  times  of  pestilence,  were  made  to  serve  as  a  com- 
mon trench.  Tradition  reports  also  that  these  fictitious  elevations  were  often 
utilized  in  times  of  war  as  military  observatories.  Many  of  the  Kurgdru  in  the 
province  of  Tenissei  were  erected  for  this  purpose  alone. 

Hitherto  these  tumular  monuments  of  the  province  of  Novogorod  have  not  re^ 
ceived  the  full  attention  which  they  certainly  deserve  in  an  historical  and  archmo- 
logical  respect.  In  general,  their  summit  is  capped  with  chapels,  crosses,  tomb- 
stones, and  fragments  of  mis-shapen  statues  called  '  the  women  of  stone.'  It 
seems  that  simiur  objects  are  found  in  the  provinces  of  Russia.  The  explorations 
that  have  been  made  in  Uiem  have  led  to  the  discovery  of  bones  of  men  and 
horses,  ancient  medals,  arms,  crosses,  necklaces,  fin^r-rin^,  ear-pendants,  and 
other  articles  in  metal.  The  peasants  are  in  the  habit  of  rifling  the  Kurg&ns  of 
these  objects,  and  also  transporting  the  stones  fW>m  off  the  summit  to  build  their 
dwellings.  The  government  has  of  late  put  a  stop  to  these  depredations,  is  pro- 
secuting the  exploration  of  these  monuments  itself,  and  promises  to  lay  the  results, 
in  the  course  of  the  year,  before  the  world. 

Meanwhile  a  special  notice  of  two  or  three  of  these  Kurgftns  in  particular  is 
well  worth  adding,  as  indicative  of  the  historical  importance  of  which,  as  well  as 
antiquarian  value,  those  simple  relics  may  be  made  susceptible. 

In  the  vicinity,  continues  the  Journal,  of  the  town  of  Bjelosersk  are  to  be 
found  two  Kur^s  apart  by  an  interval  of  60  toises.  The  first  has  an  oblong 
shape  of  50  toises  in  circumference ;  its  height  is  5  toises ;  on  its  summit  are  four 
ash- trees  in  vigorous  growth,  and  rotten  trunks  strewn  here  and  there  attest  that 
formerly  a  thick  ^ve  of  the  same  wood  must  have  arisen  upon  the  spot.  The 
second  Kur^n  is  half  destroyed,  and  by  the  hands  of  the  aforessdd  peasants,  so 
that  its  primitive  height  and  form  can  now  be  scarcely  recognised.  The  objects 
found  in  both  consist  of  nothing  more  than  bones  of  men,  horses,  and  other  animals. 

A  curious  tradition  is  current  in  the  country,  which  says  that  formerly  the  town 
of  Bjelosersk  was  situated  quite  adjacent  to  these  Kurg&ns,  from  which  it  is  at 
present  distant  four  werst  (or  some  fifteen  miles).  The  waters  of  the  White  Lake 
{Bieloge  osero)  would,  by  undermining  the  earth  around  it,  have  compelled  the 
inhabitants  to  shift  their  ground,  and  the  town  would  thus  have  three  timet 
changed  its  place.  The  inference  is,  that  the  popular  story  may  be  confirmed  by 
the  position  of  the  Kurgftns,  these  structures  being  usually  raised  but  on  the  con- 
■AneB  of  towns  or  villages,  and  the  present  specimens  bemg  deemed  to  mark  the  suc- 
cessive sites  of  the  city  in  question. 

There  is  another  Kurgftn  or  so]^ka  some  sixtjr  miles  ttom  the  same  town,  on  the 
summit  of  which  stands,  firom  time  immemorial,  a  chapel,  which  is  an  object  of 
popular  veneration,  and  decorated  with  the  images  of  the  Russian  princes  Boris 
and  Gleb.  This  tomb,  idiich  proceeds  Arom  the  oldest  times  of  paganism,  served 
formerly  as  a  pedestal  for  an  idol. 

Upon  the  foregoing,  which  is  better  fitted  to  excite  than  satisfy  cnriosity,  I 
shall  offer  for  the  present  but  two  remarks.  The  divers  uses  at  once  of  tombs, 
fortresses,  and  observatories,  attributed  to  those  primitive  structures  by  the  Rus- 
sian archseologists,  are  by  a  similar  conftision— tne  natural  consequence  of  a  like 
ignorance— ascribed  by  American  explorers  to  the  famous  *  mounds*  along  the 
Mississippi,  which  bear,  in  ikct,  a  close  analogy  to  the  Russian.  My  other  re- 
mark respects  the  Scandinavian  scuffles  at  the  funeral  festivals.  It  is  well  known 
that  in  Ireland,  too,  at  least  until  not  many  years  ago,  a  *  fight'  was  a  common 
accompaniment  to  a  fbneral.  Is  it  that  the  Irish  came  firom  Scandinavia,  and  the 
American  Indians  crossed  by  Behring's  Struts?  No,  but  that  primitive  men 
being  essentially  the  same  must  have  done  like  things  spontaneously  in  all  the 
regions  of  the  earth. 


Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


498  Li$t  af.  FubUeatians.  [July, 


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OBITUARY. 


April  30,  at  the  Deanery,  Peterborough,  in  his  79th  year,  the  Very  Bev.  George 
Batler,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Peterborough,  llie  deceased  was  head-master  of  Harrow 
Sdiool  fr(»B  1806  to  1829.  Few  could  compete  with  Dr.  Butler  in  versatility  of 
mind  and  in  the  variety  of  his  accomplishments.  Besides  hie  great  mathematical 
attainments  he  was  also  a  distingiushed  classical  scholar,  and  spoke  German, 
French,  and  Italian  with  correctness  and  fluency. 

April  4)  at  Hastings,  the  Ber.  James  Scholefield,  M.A.,  Begins  Professor  of 
Greek,  Cambridge,  Canon  of  Ely,  and  Incumbent  of  St.  MichaeFs*  Cambridge. 
For  thirty  years  with  unwearied  leal,  fidelity,  and  coaisistencyt  he  ezerdaed  a 
ministry,  the  results  of  which  are  felt  at  this  moment  in  many  a  distant  parish  of 
Bngland.  H»  energies  were  not  restricted  to  the  pulpit  or  his  parish.  Tne  dudea 
of  the  Greek  Professorship  were  not  neglected,  as  his  valuable  Hints  for  a  New 
Translation  of  the  New  Testament  bear  witness.  He  was  a  syndicate  of  the  Pitt 
Press,  and  Examiner  for  the  University  Prizes,  and  general  Editor  of  the  works 
issued  by  the  Parker  Society.  He  had  also  Friday  evening  Lectures  on  the  Greek 
Testament  fbr  the  benefit  of  the  Undergraduates^  There  was  not  an  institution 
in  Cambridge  having  for  its  object  the  Rlory  of  God  or  the  good  of  his  fellow-men 
which  had  not  in  measure  the  benefit  of  h»  support  and  presence.  From  Hastinsrs, 
whither  he  was  ordered  by  his  physicians,  his  widow  wrote  to  a  fnend,  that  she 
had  during  that  season  seen  more  of  her  beloved  husband  in  the  inner  man  than 
she  had  seen  in  the  whole  course  of  their  married  life^HB  Kld  Lrv&X>  loE 
OTHEBS.— Abridged  fh>m  the  OtntUmatCB  MagaztM,  June. 

Ikdbx. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


(    503    ) 


INDEX 

TO  THB 

FOURTH  VOLUME,  NEW  SERIES, 

.     OF 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  SACRED  LITERATURE. 


Abila,  site  of  the  ancient  city,  248,  252 ; 
its  history,  ib. ;  seat  of  an  early  bi- 
shopric, 251;  attacked  by  the  Mos- 
lems, ib.  ;  inscriptions,  253. 

Abmenian  translation  of  EDSEDins, 
263-297 :  yalue  of  the  discovery,  263: 
amplituae  of  materials  for  historical 
investigation,  264 ;  literal  correspond- 
ence of  the  Armenian  and  Greek, 
265 ;  chronography  of  Eosebios,  267 ; 
introduction,  ib, ;  sources  of  his  in- 
formation, 268 ;  incapacity  of  Greek 
authors,  Diodorus,  269  ^  credibility  of 
Berosus,  ib,;  Babylonian  dynasties, 
270;  Assyrian  sovereignty  in  Baby- 
lon, 272 ;  oriental  annals,  275 ;  Sena- 
cherib  and  Merodaeh  Baladan^  276; 
invasion  of  Cilicia  by  the  Greeks, 
277 ;  Esarhaddon,  Sardanapalus,  and 
Nebuchadnezzar,  279:  chronolo^cal 
deviations,  t6.  note ;  the  Stadionices, 
281 ;  additions,  restorations,  and  new 
readings  of  the  33rd  Chapter,  282; 
Greece  after  the  battie  of  Cheronsea, 
284 ;  Macedon,  285 ;  the  Jews  in  Alex- 
dria,  ib,  note ;  tables  of  the  reigns  of 
the  Macedonian  kings,  287 ;  Demetrius, 

288,  note  ;  Craterus,  the  son  of  Phila, 

289,  note;  Demetrius  the  fair,  291 ; 
his  death,  295 ;  length  of  the  reign  of 
Antigonus,  296. 


Babylon,  the  date  of  its  independence  of 
Assyria,  5. 
VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII. 


Barnabas  and  the  authorship  of  the 
Epistie  to  the  Hebrews,  122. 

Barnes,  Rev.  A.,  his  Commentary  on  the 
Revelations,  50. 

Biblical  Cbiticism,  146-159:  neces- 
sity of  critical  examination,  146 ;  con- 
ventional orthodoxy,  147;  no  auto- 
graphic proofs  renuuning,  148;  Dr. 
Davidsoir  s  plan,  1 50 ;  the  want  of  a 
critical  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, ib, ;  the  Septuagint,  151 ;  Svriac 
version,  153;  reshito,  ib,;  Hebrew 
manuscripts,  154;  New  Testament  re- 
censions, ib. ;  critical  accuracy  of  the 
Textue  Beceptus,  156;  the  work  of 
criticism,  ib,;  Syriac  New  Testament, 
157;  uncial  and  cursive  MS.,  158;  qua- 
lities demanded  in  criticism,  ib, 

Boetticher,  Paul,  his  continuation  of 
Schwartze's  Memphitic  New  Testa- 
ment incomplete  and  unsatis£ictory, 
164. 

Burgees,  Dr.,  his  work  on  Syriac  Me- 
tncal  Literature,  389,  et  eeq. 


c. 

Cairns,  Rev.  R.,  his  work  on  the  Apo- 
calypse commended,  48. 

Cimmerians,  their  flight  into  Asia,  7. 

Cochrane,  Rev.  J.,  his  work,  The  World 
to  Come,  54. 

Collation  of  the  Gospels,  346-372. 
Mr.  Scrivener's  labours.  346 ;  descrip- 
tion of  the  collated  MSS.,  347-352 ; 
^ucity  of  the  materials  used,  352; 
Tischendorf,  353 ;  character  of  the 
published    MSS.,  ih.t   Scholi,   354; 

2m 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


504 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  IV.,  NEW  SERIES. 


Tregelles,  355,  and  note;  position  of 
textual  criticigm,  356 ;  Griesboch,  357 ; 
Wetstein,  i6.;  on  the  authority  of 
numbers  or  importance  in  readii^ 
359;  illustration  from  Matthew  xix. 
19,  ib.;  XV.  8,  363;  xx.  22,  364; 
Lachmann,  365 ;  Dr.  Barrett  and  the 
Dublin  palimpsest  of  St.  Matthew,  ib,, 
note;  on  the  paramonnt  authority  of 
ancient  MSS.,  366;  mdual  diverg- 
ence, 367 ;  proofe  of  the  ancient  text, 
368 ;  are  the  later  MSS.  copied  from 
others  of  an  earlier  date  than  we  now 
possess?  ib.;  the  Vulgate  and  the 
Aldine  LXX.,  370 ;  non-agreement  of 
the  cursive  Greek  MS&,  371. 
Conybeare,  Rev.  W.  J.,  and  Rev.  J.  S. 
HowsoB,  examination  and  quotations 
from  their  Life  and  Episttu  of  St, 
Paul,  101,  etaeq. 

CORBESPONDENCE : — 

Hades  and  Heaven,  167,413,419,422. 

Jude  verse  9,  169,  438. 

TheEssenes,  170. 

On  Matthew  xix.  12,  179. 

Law  of  Marriage,  182. 

Hyppolitus  and  his  Times,  183. 

2  Peter  i.  20,  ib. 

Apocalyptic  interpretation,  432. 

Eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  Heaven's 
sake,  454. 

Bunsen's  Hyppolitus,  438. 

Miscellaneous  remarks,  439* 

**  Called  a  Nazarene,"  441. 
Creesus  and  the  Delphic  oracle,  11. 
Gumming,  Dr.,  his  work,  The  Church 

before  the  Flood,  extracts   from,   92 

etaeq, 

D. 

Damascus,  sec  Rivers  of  Damabcos. 

Davidson,  Dr.,  his  treatise  on  Biblical 
criticism,  149 ;  commendation  and  ex- 
tracts, 150  elseq, 

E. 

yptian  versions  of  the  New  Testament, 
heir  antiquity,  value,  and  incorrect 
desij^nation,  160. 
Eusebius,   discovery  of  his  Canon   in 
Armenian,  263;  analysis  and  exami- 
nation of  it,  267. 

F. 

Forster,  Rev.  Chas.,  his  work  on  the  Si- 
naitic  inscriptions,  328  et  $eq. 


G. 

Gesenius,  on  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch, 
his  errors  and  fallacies,  314 ;  influence 
of  his  essay  on  the  learned  men  of  the 
day,  326. 

Griesbach  and  his  labours,  357. 

H. 

Heaven,  Hell,  Hades,  56-79.  The 
question  stated,  56;  Revelation  the 
only  source  of  knowledge  on  the  sub- 
ject, 57;  influence  of  the  body  on  the 
soul,  68 ;  worth  of  the  oj^lnions  of  the 
ancients,  60 ;  rule  of  Scriptural  inter- 
pretation, 61 ;  exaninatton  of  its 
teachings,  ib,;  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  Christ  cannot  be  argued 
from,  62 ;  Enoch,  ib, ;  the  raising  of 
Samuel,  63 ;  Dives  and  Lasarus,  64 ; 
Ecclesiastes  xii.  6,  C5 ;  Hebrews  xii. 
23,  66 ;  other  texts,  67 ;  the  thief  on 
tiie  Cross,  ib.;  **DeaUi  and  HeU"  of 
the  Revelations,  68 ;  the  question.  Does 
the  soul  at  death  go  direct  to  Heaven 
or  Hell,  answered  negatively,  69  ;  the 
sleep  of  the  soul  taught  by  Christ^  70 ; 
inferred  fh>m  St.  Paul,  71 ;  argument 
fh>m  the  last  judgment,  73 ;  belief  in 
Hades  of  Pagan  origin,  74 ;  Luke  xx. 
27  et  8eq„  75. 

Hebrews,  the  Epistie  to,  its  authorship, 
122. 

Hengstenberg,  Dr.,  his  work  on  the  Re- 
velations, 50. 

Herodotus,  his  account  of  the  Cinmie- 
rian  and  Scythian  invauon  of  Upper 
Asia,  not  a  le^daiy  fiction,  6  ;  test 
of  his  authenticity,  ib.  ;  probable  that 
he  visited  Babylon,  15 ;  coincidence  of 
his  Medo-Persian  chronology  with  the 
statements  of  Scripture  16,  note;  21 , 
note. 


I. 


Intelligence,  Bielical,  223,  467. 
Literary  and  educational,  225,  470. 
Announcements    and    miscellaneous, 

229,  472. 
,  Foreign,  281,  475. 

J. 

Jenour,   Rev.  J.,  his  work,  Rationale 

Apocalypticim,  50. 
Josiah,  prediction  of  his  birth,  1  ;  Tir- 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  IV.,  NBW  SERIES. 


505 


tnally  the  sovereign  of  the  ten  tribes, 
623 ;  mortally  wounded  at  the  battle 
ofMegiddo,  21. 
Judith,  the  book  of,  a  mere  fiction,  18, 
and  notes  22,  nUe, 


Lachmann,  cridcal  labours  of,  365  et  9eq, 

Lirs  AND  Epistle  or  St.  Paul,  the, 
101-124;  the  work  of  the  Rev.  J. 
Conjbeare  and  Rev.  J.  S.  Howson, 
101 ;  different  aspects  of  the  study, 
ib.;  helps  from  remaining  associations, 
103;  identity  of  the  Galatians  with 
the  Gauls,  105:  their  settlement  in 
'Asia  Minor  and  final  absorption  in  the 
Roman  empire,  106;  modes  of  teach- 
ing amongst  the  Jews,  107;  sjrna- 
ffogues,  108 ;  translation  of  Colossians 
1.,  109;  commendation  of  the  work, 
111;  defects  of  the  |>Ian,  112;  critical 
errors,  114;  theological,  117;  theory 
of  St.  Paul's  second  Roman  imprison- 
ment, examined  and  rejected,  118; 
date  of  the  pastoral  epistles,  119;  the 
£^istle  to  the  Ephesians,  121 ;  author^ 
ship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
122 ;  parties  in  the  Ck>rinthian  Church, 
ib. ;  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  123. 

List  of  Publications,  English,  240, 
498;  Foreign,  243,  501. 

Lydia,  and  its  kings,  Ardys,  Alyattes, 
and  CrcDsus,  7  ei  seq» 

M. 

Meaning  of  Scbiptubb  silence,  the, 
398-406;  concealment  the  internal 
evidence,  398 ;  ignorance  of  the  date 
of  the  birth  and  death  of  Christ, 
400;  the  festival-loving  spirit,  ib,;  the 
Lord's  day,  401 ;  silence  of  the  Evan- 
gelists on  the  in&ncy  and  youth  of 
Jesus,  402 ;  the  great  lesson,  ib, ;  his 
personal  appearance,  403;  the  por- 
traits of  Christ,  404 ;  the  true  image, 
ib. ;  apostolic  development,  405. 

Medes,  the,  cause  of  the  war  between 
them  and  the  Lydians,  13 ;  concluded 
by  a  solar  eclipse,  14 ;  their  siege  of 
Nineveh,  f6. 

Memphitic  New  Testament,  the,  1 60- 
166 ;  early  versions  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  Egyptian  dialects,  160 ; 
earliest  printed  edition  by  Wilkins, 
161 ;  its  accuracy,  t6. ;  the  edition  of 
SohwartEe,  162;  its  plan,  163;  unfi- 


nished at  his  death,  164 ;  continuation 
by  Boetticher,  ib,;  meagre  and  in- 
complete, 165;  what  remains  to  be 
done,  ib. 

Modern  contributions  to  the  study 
OF  Prophecy,  36-55 ;  number  and  di- 
versity of  the  commentators  on  tl^ 
Apocalypse,  36;  Babylon  literal  and 
mystic,  ib.;  Mr.  Strange*s  theory  of 
the  seals,  38 ;  and  of  the  trumpets, 
40 ;  his  fundamental  error,  42 ;  ab- 
surdities and  inconsiatencies,  43 ;  the 
Millennial  ase,  45;  The  brides  of  the 
Lamb,  46;  Mr.  Strange  on  Mr.  El* 
Itotfs  Hor«  Apocaljipticet,  47;  Mr. 
Cums'  work,  48;  Jenour,  Barnes, 
and  Hengstenberg,  50 ;  Tregellcs  on 
Daniel,  51 ;  indefinite  use  of  the  num- 
ber ten,  52;  the  World  to  Come,  of 
Mr.  Cochrane,  54}  Mr.  Newton's 
works,  55. 

MtiUer,  Dr.  J.,  his  work  on  the  doctrine 
<^  Sin,  83 ;  extracts  from,  ib.  et  aeq* 


N. 

Nature  of  Sin  and  m  saelibstdb- 
YELOPMBNTS,  THE,  80-100;  difilculty 
of  the  investigation,  80;  paucity  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  antediluvian 
world,  81;  law,  82 1  Dr.  Mailer's 
work,  83;  on  the  existence  of  evil, 
84;  the  perfection  of  the  Law  does 
not  admit  works  of  Supereroffation,  85 ; 
morality  and  religion,  87 ;  sm,  aliena- 
tion fi^m  God,  91 ;  man's  original 
greatness,  92;  what  Adam  could  not 
know,  93 ;  the  tempter  and  the  temp- 
tation, 94;  the  fall  and  iu  results, 
96  ;  life  and  death,  97 ;  Cain  ignored 
the  fiOl,  98. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  his  greatness  proved 
by  the  ruins  of  Babyton,  32« 

Nestobians,  THE,  373-388;  editor's 
note,  373;  thb  Nestobian  Chris- 
tians, 373-380  ;  their  home,  373 :  an- 
tiquity and  probable  Jewish  origin, 
374 ;  language,  375-381 ;  early  mis- 
sionary spirit,  375;  unk  under  the 
power  of  Mohammed,  376 ;  character, 
lb. ;  inquisitive  and  ardent,  377 ; 
sufferings,  ib. ;  comparative  simplicity 
of  their  fidth  and  worship,  378-382; 
Catholicism,  ib. ;  great  moral  change 
in  them,  379;  the  modern  Nesto- 
bians AND  the  Bible  among  them, 
380-388;  number,  380;  the  moun- 
taineers and  the  Koordii^  rule,  381 ; 
the  American  missions,   382 ;  intro- 

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nfDEX  TO  VOL.  IV.,  NEW  SERIES. 


dnetion  of  the  goipels  m  the  nal&re 
tongue,  883 ;  first  translatioos,  384 ; 
the  power  and  ubiquitj  of  the  press, 
ib. ;  the  Bible  completed,  385 ;  its  in- 
floence,  386;  other  puUications,  t^.; 
papal  efforts,  387;  persecution  and 
immorality,  tb, ;  British  protection 
and  encouragement,  388. 
Newton,  Mr.,  his  work  on  prophecy,  55. 
Noncn  of  Books  : — 
The  Prophets  and  Kings  of  the  OM 

Testament.  By  F.  D.  Maurice,  186. 
Sunday  and  the  Sabbath.  BytheRer. 

W.U.Johnstone,  191. 
Pastoral  Theology.  By  A.  Vinet,  192. 
Pftrish  Sermons.    By  the  Bishop  of 

Sierra  Leone,  199. 
Die  Reden  des  Herm  Jesu.    By  Dr. 

R.  Steir,  203. 
Der  Galaterbrief;  iibersetzt,  &c    By 

Dr.  A.  Ililffenfeld,  209. 
The  Fible,  tibe  Blissal,  and  the  Bre- 
viary.   By  Rev.  6.  Lewis,  212. 
Cyclopedia  of  Religious  Biography. 

By  Rev.  R.  Jamiesou,  213. 
'  of  Religious    denomina- 

tions, 214. 
The   Pentateuch  and   its   assailants. 

By  W.  T.  HamUton,  D.D.,  t6. 
Modem    Rationalism.    By   Rev.    T. 

Birks,  M.A.,  216. 
A  new  edition  of  the  authorised  ver- . 

sion  of  the  Bible,  217. 
The  Unseen  Hand.     By  Rev.  S.  J. 

Ram,  M.A.,  218. 
Sufferings  and  Glories  of  the  Messiah. 

By  J.  Brown,  D.D.,  i6. 
Daily   Bible   Illustrations.     By   Dr. 

Kitto,  219. 
Six  Lectures  on  Christian  Evidence. 

By  J.  Co<dc,  D.D.  220. 
Lays  of  the  Future.    By  W.  Leask, 

tb. 
The  Annotated  Paragraph  Bible.  Part 

iii.,221. 
CyclopsBdia  Bibliographica,  Nos.  4,  5, 

6,i6. 
Sunday  Reading  for  Christian  Fami- 
lies, 222. 
Sacred  Symbolo^.    By  J.  Mills,  442* 
Analytical  investigation  concerning  the 

creidibility  of  the  Scriptures.    By 

J.  H.  McCulloh,  M.D.,  444. 
Christian  Sociology.    !^  Rev.  J.  P. 

BeU,  447. 
Religion   and   Business.     By   A.  J. 

Morris,  449. 
American  Pulpit,  450. 
The  Revealed  Economy  of  Heaven 

and  Earth,  451. 


The  Puables  prophetically  ezplained, 

454. 
The  Lamp  and  the  Lantern.    By  J. 

Hamilton,  D.D.,  455. 
Water   from  the  Well  Spring.     By 

E.  H.  Bickersteth,  M.A.,  456. 
The   Way  to   God.      By    Rev.    J. 

McLauchlan,  457. 
The  British  Jews.    By  Rev.  J.  BfiOs, 

458. 
The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  in  Gredc 

and  English.    By  S.  H.  Turner, 

D.D.,  460. 
Celebrated  Jesuits.    By  Rev.  W.  H. 

Rule,  462. 
Christ  our  life.    By  J.  Angus,  D  J>., 

463. 
The  Incarnate  Son  of  God.    By  Rev. 

H.  W.  Williams,  464. 
Memorials  of  Eariy  Christiaiuty.   By 

J.  G.  Miall,  465. 
Philosophy  of  Atheism.    By  Rev.  B. 

Godwin,  D.D.,  466. 


o. 

Obitcabt,  244 ;  502. 

On  the  runmino  of  St.  Paul,  407-412; 
the  correct  translation  of  iMiAms,  407 ; 
classical  use  of  the  word,  408;  his 
running  manifest,  ib.s  h^piness  of 
those  who  thus  run,  410 ;  the  proof  of 
discipleship,  ib,;  Grotius  upon  the 
passage,  412,  note. 


Peshito  version  of  the  Old  Testament, 
its  antiquity  and  value,  153. 


B. 

RrvEBs  OF  Damascus,  the,  245-262; 
natural  features  remain  unchanged, 
245 ;  only  two  rivers  in  the  district  of 
Damascus,  246;  identification,  ib,; 
etymology  of  Abana,  247 ;  the  foun- 
tam  of  the  Barada,  ib, ;  its  course, 
248,  256  ;  the  ancient  Abila,  and  ac- 
curacy of  Luke,  lb, ;  seat  of  a  bishopric 
early  in  the  Christian  era,  251;  at- 
tacked and  destroyed  by  the  Moslems, 
A.D.  634,  ib, ;  site  of  the  city,  252 ;  re- 
mains, 263 ;  inscriptions,  tb, ;  tombs, 
254;  former  grandeur,  255;  'Aln- 
Fijeh,  256;  aqueducts,  257;  beauty 
of  the  scenery,  258;   the  two  lakes, 


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INDEX  TO  VOL.  IV.,  NEW  SERIES. 


507 


260;  statisdcs  of  Damascus  and  its 
suburbs,  361 ;  physical  geography, 
262. 


Samaaitan  Pentateuch,  on  the,  298- 
327 ;  certain  truth  of  the  word  of  God, 
298  :  nature  of  the  Samaritan  Penta- 
teucn,  ib. ;  age,  299 ;  variations,  t6. ; 
omissions  of  the  Hebrew  text,  300; 
proofs  of  intentional  violation,  301; 
repetitions  in  the  Samaritan,  305 ;  con- 
firmed Exodus  XX.  17,  by  an  ancient 
Syriac  MS.,  306;  agreement  of  the 
smaller  repetitions  *with  the  Septua- 
gint,  311 :  probability  of  their  authen- 
ticity, ib. ;  actual  additions,  312  ; 
minor  discrepancies  with  the  Hebrew, 
ib. ;  causes  and  sources  of  variation, 
313;  the  essay  of  Gesenius,  814;  his 
assertions  and  explanations  examined 
and  refuted,  315-323;  Bishop  Marsh 
on  the  Ahevi  Letters,  324 ;  Gesenius 
on  its  agreement  with  the  Septnagint, 
325 ;  influence  of  his  opinion  on  the 
learned,  326. 

Schwarze,  his  e^tion  of  the  Memphitic 
gospels,  162;  authorities,  2*6.;  its  want 
of  independence  and  perspicuity,  163. 

Scriptures,  the,  agreement  between  them, 
and  the  Medo-Persian  chronology  of 
Herodotus,  16,  note;  21,  note. 

Scripture  Silence,  its  meaning,  398  et  seq. 

Scrivener,  Rev.  F.  H.,  his  collation  of 
Greek  MSS.  of  the  Gospels,  see  Coir 
ultion  of  the  Gospels. 

Scythian  dominion  in  Asia,  the,  1- 
34;  the  reformation  in  Judah  and 
Israel  under  Josiah,  1 ;  probable  con- 
temporary weakness  of  the  Assyrian 
monarchy,  2;  Scythian  invasion,  4; 
authenticity  of  Herodotus'  account,  6 ; 
confinnatory  points,  8,  note ;  the  lij^ht 
thrown  upon  the  Question  by  Lydian 
history,  9 ;  date  of  the  Solar  eclipse 
which  terminated  the  war  between 
Alyattes  and  Cyaxares,  12:  agree- 
ment between  the  Lydian  ana  Median 
chronolo^  of  Herodotus,  14 ;  the 
siege  of  Nineveh  by  the  Medes,  16; 
the  narrative  in  the  Book  of  Judith 

auite  fictitious,  17;  interval  between 
le  flight  of  the  Cimmerians  and  their 
pursuit  by  the  Scythians,  19 ;  and  20, 
note ;  peace  and  amity  between  Cya- 
xares and  Astyages,  21 ;  the  breaking 
up  of  Assyrian  power  in  Samaria 
early  in  Josiah's  reign,  22;  submis- 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  VIII. 


sion  to  him  of  the  remnant  of  the  ten 
tribes,  23^  r^eetions  suggested  bv 
the  narrative,  24;  Josiah  predicted, 
25  j  Adpenda,  27-34  ;  objections  to 
flixmg  the  date  of  the  eclipse  so  late  as 
585  B.C.,  27 ;  length  of  the  reign  of 
Cyrus,  28;  Babylonian  history,  31; 
Egyptian  chronology,  33 ;  locality  of 
the  last  battle  between  Cyaxares  and 
Alyattes,  t6. ;  identification  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar and  proofit  of  his  great- 
ness, 31,  nate^ 

Septuagint,  the,  its  place  among  the  ver- 
sions and  authority,  151 ;  its  additions 
to  the  Hebrew  text  agreeing  with  the 
Samaritan  Pentateuch,  311. 

SiNAiTic  Inscriptions,  the,  328-345; 
Mr.  Forster's  alphabet,  328;  decy- 
pherment  of  the  nrst  inscription,  330 ; 
the  Arabic  and  the  transmtion,  ib,; 
rashness  and  excessive  confidence  of 
Mr.  Forster,  332 ;  the  battle  of  Re- 
phidim,  333 ;  objections  to  the  theory 
of  decypherment,  336 ;  on  the  use  of 
Arabic  in  the  inscriptions,  and  the 
rise  of  the  Hebrew  language,  337; 
the  one  primeval  language,  339;  in- 
correctness of  Mr.  Forster's  transla- 
tions, 340;  his  misrepresentations  of 
Professor  Beer,  341 ;  Cosmas,  342 ; 
character  of  the  inscriptions,  ib. ;  re- 
searches of  Lepsius,  344. 

Slavery  and  the  Old  Testament, 
125-145;  slavery  in  its  essence,  125; 
kinds  of  slavery,  126;  the  greatest  of 
all  wrongs,  127  ;  slaverjr  in  the  great 
Oriental  empires,  ih.;  its  universal 
prevalence,  127 ;  the  slaves  of  the  pa- 
triarchs, 128;  their  condition,  129; 
slavery  in  Egypt,  130;  manstealing 
prohibited  by  Moses,  131;  also  the 
enslaving  of  their  Hebrew  brethren, 
132  ;  lenity  of  the  Mosaic  slave  code, 
133;  the  evidence  of  the  Bible,  134; 
no  justification  for  its  existence  now, 
ib. ;  davery  at  the  birth  of  Christ, 
135;  in  Itome,  ib.;  despotism  and 
slavery  inseparable,  136 ;  Roman  law, 
ib, ;  the  growth  of  slavery  in  the  re- 
public, 188;  and  its  universality  in 
the  empire,  139;  condition  of  the 
slaves,  142;  pmlous  to  families  and 
the  state,  143;  productive  of  conspi- 
racies and  rebellions,  144;  the  chief 
cause  of  the  downfiUl  of  the  empire, 
145. 

Solar  Eclipse,  the,  which  terminated  the 
war  between  Cyaxares  and  Alyattes, 
12. 

Strange,  Mr.  T.  L.,  his  work  The  Light 

2  M   3  J 

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INDEX  TO  VOL.  IV.,  NEW  SERIBB. 


of  Prophecy,  86;  his  theory  of  the 
apociilyptic  seate,  38 ;  and  the  trum- 
pets, 40  J  his  principal  error,  42;  in- 
congnuties  and  absurdities,  43;  the 
seven  last  plagues,  44 ;  millennial  theo- 
ries, 45 ;  his  observations  on  Mr.  El- 
liott's work,  47. 

Synagogues,  date  of  their  institution, 
108. 

Stbiac  Metrical  Liteeutitiie,  389- 
397  ;  introduction,  389 ;  origin,  390 ; 
use  of  by  Bardesanes  the  Gnostic, 
391 ;  the  works  of  Ephraem  Syrus, 
ift. ;  The  Repentance  of  Ninevehf  392 ; 
description  of  Paradise,  394;  com- 
mendation of  Dr.  Burgess's  transla- 
tion, 396. 


Syriac  version  of  the  Old  Testament,  its 
value,  153;  necessity  for  a  new  edi- 
tion, 157. 


Tre^lles,  Dr.,  his  conmientary  on  Da- 
niel, .51 ;  on  the  non-identity  of  the 
papal  system  with  Antichrist,  54. 


W. 

Wilkins,     David,    his   edition   of   the 
Memphitic  New  Testament,  161. 


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