Observations on the

GENESIS.

character of Moses;

cannot tell, as the work of Trogus is irrecoverably and PRESERVER of the world; and thus the history lost; but it is evident that the account was taken in the main from the Mosaic history, and it is written with as much candour as can be expected from a prejudiced and unprincipled heathen.

Minimus ætate inter fratres Joseph fuit, &c. "Joseph was the youngest of his brethren, who, being envious of his excellent endowments, stole him and privately sold him to a company of foreign merchants, by whom he was carried into Egypt; where, having diligently cultivated magic arts, he became, in a short time, a prime favourite with the king himself. For he was the most sagacious of men in explaining prodigies; and he was the first who constructed the science of interpreting dreams. Nor was there any thing relative to laws human or divine with which he seemed unacquainted; for he predicted a failure of the crops many years before it took place; and the inhabitants of Egypt must have been famished had not the king, through his counsel, made an edict to preserve the fruits for several years. And his experiments were so powerful, that the responses appear to have been given, not by man, but by God." Tantaque experimenta ejus fuerunt, ut non ab homine, sed a Deo, responsa dari viderentur. I believe Justin refers here, in the word experimenta, to his figment of magical incantations eliciting oracular answers. Others have translated the words: "So excellent were his regulations that they seemed rather to be oracular responses, not given by man, but by God."

I have already compared Joseph with his father Jacob, see chap. xlviii. 12, and shall make no apology for having given the latter a most decided superiority. Joseph was great; but his greatness came through the interposition of especial providences. Jacob was great, mentally and practically great, under the ordinary workings of Providence; and, towards the close of his life, not less distinguished for piety towards God than his son Joseph was in the holiest period of his life.

Thus terminates the Book of GENESIS, the most ancient record in the world; including the history of two grand subjects, CREATION and PROVIDENCE, of each of which it gives a summary, but astonishingly minute, and detailed account. From this book almost all the ancient philosophers, astronomers, chronologists, and historians have taken their respective data; and all the modern improvements and accurate discoveries in different arts and sciences have only served to confirm the facts detailed by Moses; and to show that all the ancient writers on these subjects have approached to or receded from TRUTH and the phenomena of nature, in proportion as they have followed the Mosaic history.

In this book the CREATIVE POWER and ENERGY of GOD are first introduced to the reader's notice, and the mind is overwhelmed with those grand creative acts by which the universe was brought into being. When this account is completed, and the introduction of SIN, and its awful consequences in the destruction of the earth by a flood, noticed, then the Almighty Creator is next introduced as the RESTORER

of Providence commences: a history in which the mind of man is alternately delighted and confounded with the infinitely varied plans of wisdom and mercy in preserving the human species, counteracting the evil propensities of men and devils by means of gracious influences conveyed through religious institutions, planting and watering the seeds of righteousness which himself had sowed in the hearts of men, and leading forward and maturing the grand purposes of his grace in the final salvation of the human race.

After giving a minutely detailed account of the peopling of the earth, ascertaining and settling the bounds of the different nations of mankind, the sacred writer proceeds with the history of one family only; but he chooses that one through which, as from an ever-during fountain, the streams of justice, grace, goodness, wisdom, and truth, should emanate. Here we see a pure well of living water, springing up unto eternal life, restrained in its particular influence to one people till, in the fulness of time, the fountain should be opened in the house of David for sin and for uncleanness in general, and the earth filled with the knowledge and salvation of God; thus by means of one family, as extensive a view of the economy of providence and grace is afforded as it is possible for the human mind to comprehend.

In this epitome how wonderful do the workings of Providence appear! An astonishing concatenated train of stupendous and minute events is laid before us; and every transaction is so distinctly marked, as every where to exhibit the finger, the hand, or the arm of God! But did God lavish his providential cares and attention on this one family, exclusive of the rest of his intelligent offspring? No: for the same superintendence, providential direction, and influence, would be equally seen in all the concerns of human life, in the preservation of individuals, the rise and fall of kingdoms and states, and in all the mighty REVOLUTIONS, natural, moral, and political, in the universe, were God, as in the preceding instances, to give us the detailed history; but what was done in the family of Abraham, was done in behalf of the whole human race. This specimen is intended to show us that God does work, and that against him and the operations of his hand no might, no counsel, no cunning of men or devils, can prevail; that he who walks uprightly walks securely; and that all things work together for good to them who love God; that none is so ignorant, low, or lost, that God cannot instruct, raise up, and save. In a word, he shows himself by this history to be the invariable friend of mankind, embracing every opportunity to do them good, and, to speak after the manner of men, rejoicing in the frequent recurrence of such opportunities; that every man, considering the subject, may be led to exclaim in behalf of all his fellows, BEHOLD HOW HE LOVETH THEM!

On the character of Moses as a HISTORIAN and PHILOSOPHER (for in his legislative character he does not yet appear) much might be said, did the nature of this work admit. But as brevity has been every where studied, and minute details rarely admitted,

and only where absolutely necessary, the candid reader will excuse any deficiencies of this kind which he may have already noticed.

Of the accuracy and impartiality of Moses as a historian, many examples are given in the course of the notes, with such observations and reflections as the subjects themselves suggested; and the succeeding books will afford many opportunities for farther remarks on these topics.

Mosaic history.

with such a variety of claims to be heard, read, and considered, as no other writer can pretend to. And as he departs from the universal custom of all writers on similar subjects, in assigning a comparatively recent date, not only to his own nation, but to the universe itself, he must have been actuated by motives essentially different from those which have governed all other ancient historians and chronologists.

The generally acknowledged extravagance and absurdity of all the chronological systems of ancient times, the great simplicity and harmony of that of Moses, its facts evidently borrowed by others, though disgraced by the fables they have intermixed with them, and the very late invention of arts and sciences, all tend to prove, at the very first view, that the Mosaic account, which assigns the shortest duration to the earth, is the most ancient and the most likely to be true. But all this reasoning has been supposed to be annihilated by an argument brought against the Mosaic account of the creation by Mr. Patrick Brydone, F. R. S., drawn from the evidence of different eruptions of Mount Etna. The reader may find this in his "Tour through Sicily and Malta," letter vii., where, speaking of his acquaintance with the Canonico Recupero at Catania, who was then employed on writing a natural history of Mount Etna, he says: "Near to a vault which is now thirty feet below ground, and has probably been a burying-place, there is a draw-well where there are several strata of lavas (i. e., the liquid matter formed of stones, &c., which is discharged from the mountain in its eruptions), with earth to a considerable thickness over each stratum. Recupero has made use of this as an argument to prove the great antiquity of the eruptions of this mountain. For if it requires two thousand years and upwards to form but a scanty soil on the surface of a lava, there must have been more than that space of time between each of the eruptions which have formed these strata. But what shall we say of a pit they sunk near to Jaci, of a great depth? They

The character of Moses as a philosopher and chronologist has undergone the severest scrutiny. A class of philosophers, professedly infidels, have assailed the Mosaic account of the formation of the universe, and that of the general deluge, with such repeated attacks as sufficiently proved that, in their apprehension, the pillars of their system must be shaken into ruin if those accounts could not be proved to be false. Traditions, supporting accounts different from those in the sacred history, have been borrowed from the most barbarous as well as the most civilized nations, in order to bear on this argument. These, backed by various geologic observations made in extensive travels, experiments on the formation of different strata or beds of earth, either by inundations or volcanic eruptions, have been all condensed into one apparently strong but strange argument, intended to overthrow the Mosaic account of the creation. The argument may be stated thus: "The account given by Moses of the time when God commenced his creative acts is too recent; for, according to his Genesis, six thousand years have not yet elapsed since the formation of the universe; whereas a variety of phenomena prove that the earth itself must have existed, if not from eternity, yet at least fourteen if not twenty thousand years." This I call a strange argument, because it is well known that all the ancient nations in the world, the Jews excepted, have, to secure their honour and respectability, assigned to themselves a duration of the most improbable length; and have multiplied months, weeks, and even days, into years, in order to support their pre-pierced through seven distinct lavas, one under the tensions to the most remote antiquity. The millions other, the surfaces of which were parallel, and most of years which have been assumed by the Chinese of them covered with a thick bed of rich earth. Now, and the Hindoos have been ridiculed for their mani- says he, the eruption which formed the lowest of fest absurdity, even by those philosophers who have these lavas, if we may be allowed to reason from brought the contrary charge against the Mosaic analogy, must have flowed from the mountain at least account! So notorious are the pretensions to remote fourteen thousand years ago! Recupero tells me, he ancestry and remote eras, in every false and fabricated is exceedingly embarrassed by these discoveries, in system of family pedigree and national antiquity, as writing the history of the mountain; that Moses to produce doubt at the very first view of their sub-hangs like a dead weight upon him and blunts all his jects, and to cause the impartial inquirer after truth | zeal for inquiry, for that he really has not the conto take every step with the extreme of caution, know-science to make his mountain so young as that prophet ing that in going over such accounts he every where makes the world. treads on a kind of enchanted ground.

When in the midst of these a writer is found who, without saying a word of the systems of other nations, professes to give a simple account of the creation and peopling of the earth, and to show the very conspicuous part that his own people acted among the various nations of the world, and who assigns to the earth and to its inhabitants a duration comparatively but as of yesterday, he comes forward

"The Bishop, who is strenuously orthodox (for it is an excellent see), has already warned him to be upon his guard; and not to pretend to be a better natural historian than Moses, nor to presume to urge any thing that may in the smallest degree be deemed contradictory to his sacred authority."

Though Mr. Brydone produces this as a sneer against revelation, bishops, and orthodoxy, yet the sequel will prove that it was good advice, and that

the Bishop was much better instructed than either Recupero or Brydone, and that it would have been much to their credit had they taken his advice.

Mosaic chronology answered.

lava or burnt matter with veins of good soil between them. You perceive, says the Bishop, "with what ease a little attention and increase of knowledge may remove a great difficulty; but had we been able to say nothing in explanation of this phenomenon, we should not have acted a very rational part in making our ignorance the foundation of our infidelity, or suffering a minute philosopher to rob us of our religion." In this as well as in all other cases, the foundation stands sure, being deeply and legibly impressed with God's seal. See also Dr. Greaves's Lectures on the Pentateuch.

I have given, however, this argument at length; and even in the insidious dress of Mr. Brydone, whose faith in divine revelation appears to have been upon a par with that of Signior Recupero, both being built nearly on the same foundation; to show from the answer how slight the strongest arguments are, produced from insulated facts by prejudice and partiality, when brought to the test of sober, candid, philosophical investigation, aided by an increased knowledge of the phenomena of nature. "In answer There is a very sensible paper written by Don to this argument," says Bishop Watson (Letters to Joseph Gioeni* on the eruption of Etna in 1781; in Gibbon), "it might be urged that the time necessary which, among many other valuable observations, I for converting lavas into fertile fields must be very find the following note: "I was obliged to traverse different, according to the different consistencies of the current of lava made by the eruption of 1766, the lavas, and their different situations with respect the most ancient of any that took this direction, viz., to elevation and depression, or their being exposed to Bronte. I saw several streams of lava which had winds, rains, and other circumstances; as for instance, crossed others, and which afforded me evident proofs the quantity of ashes deposited over them, after they of the fallacy of the conclusions of those who seek to had cooled, &c., &c., just as the time in which heaps estimate the period of the formation of the beds of of iron slag, which resembles lava, are covered with lava from the change they have undergone. Some verdure, is different at different furnaces, accordinglava of earlier date than others still resist the weather, to the nature of the slag and situation of the furnace; and something of this kind is deducible from the account of the Canon (Recupero) himself, since the crevices in the strata are often full of rich good soil, and have pretty large trees growing upon them. But should not all this be thought sufficient to remove the objection, I will produce the Canon an analogy in opposition to his analogy, and which is grounded on more certain facts.

"Etna and Vesuvius resemble each other in the causes which produce their eruptions, in the nature of their lavas, and in the time necessary to mellow them into soil fit for vegetation; or, if there be any slight difference in this respect, it is probably not greater than what subsists between different lavas of the same mountain. This being admitted, which no philosopher will deny, the Canon's (Recupero's) analogy will prove just nothing at all if we can produce an instance of seven different lavas, with interjacent strata of vegetable earth, which have flowed from Mount Vesuvius within the space, not of fourteen thousand, but of somewhat less than one thousand seven hundred years; for then, according to our analogy, a stratum of lava may be covered with vegetable soil in about two hundred and fifty years, instead of requiring two thousand for that purpose.

"The eruption of Vesuvius, which destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii, is rendered still more famous by the death of Pliny, recorded by his nephew in his letter to Tacitus. This event happened A. D. 79; but we are informed by unquestionable authority (Remarks on the nature of the soil of Naples and its vicinity, by Sir William Hamilton, Philos. Transact., vol. lxi., p. 7) that the matter which covers the ancient town of Herculaneum is not the produce of one eruption only, for there are evident marks that the matter of six eruptions has taken its course over that which lies immediately over the town, and was the cause of its destruction. These strata are either of

and present a vitreous and unaltered surface, while
the lava of later date already begin to be covered with
vegetation." See Pinkerton on Rock, vol. ii., p. 395.
On the geology and astronomy of the book of
Genesis, much has been written, both by the enemies
and friends of revelation; but as Moses has said but
very little on these subjects, and nothing in a system-
atic way, it is unfair to invent a system pretendedly
collected out of his words, and thus make him ac-
countable for what he never wrote.
There are sys-
tems of this kind, the preconceived fictions of their
authors, for which they have sought support and
credit by tortured meanings extracted from a few
Hebrew roots, and then dignified them with the title
of The Mosaic System of the Universe. This has af-
forded infidelity a handle which it has been careful
to turn to its own advantage. On the first chapter of
Genesis I have given a general view of the solar
system, without pretending that I had found it there.
I have also ventured to apply the comparatively
recent doctrine of caloric to the Mosaic account of
the creation of light previous to the formation of the
sun, and have supported it with such arguments as
appeared to me to render it at least probable: but I
have not pledged Moses to any of my explanations,
being fully convinced that it was necessarily foreign
from his design to enter into philosophic details of
any kind, as it was his grand object, as has been
already remarked, to give a history of CREATION and
PROVIDENCE in the most abridged form of which it was
capable. And who, in so few words, ever spoke so
much? By Creation I mean the production of every
being, animate and inanimate, material and intellec-
tual. And by Providence, not only the preservation
and government of all beings, but also the various
and extraordinary provisions made by divine justice

* The Chevalier Gioeni was an inhabitant of the first region of Etna.

CHAP. L.

Observations on the Jewish manner of dividing and words with which they commence; and are marked