might have known that the religion of the Jews did admit of divine honours to none but their own God. But ignorant, in a great meafure, of the nature of their religion, and not giving himself the trouble to examine whether the tumult that attended this, one of the fervices of it, was enjoined by the ritual, or fuperinduced by the fuperftition of its votaries, he rafhly concludes their Feaft of Tabernacles to have been inftituted and obferved in honour of Bacchus, from the resemblance which he imagined the one bore to the other, in the time and manner of their celebration.'

Confidering the fpirit of enquiry which was awakened and prevailed among many both of the Greeks and of the Romans, a reflecting mind is rather furprised, that the nature and principles of the Jewish religion fhould not have been more attentively examined and obferved, by the more learned and philofophical part of thofe people, than appears to have been the cafe by what can be gathered from their remaining writings. It feems wonderful, for inftance, that fuch a man as Cicero, who appears, occafionally at least, to have a mind defirous of and open to evidence and conviction, fhould not have been induced, even from curiofity, to have made fome fearch into the cuftoms and principles of a people fo remarkable: but, probably, the neglect or contempt with which the Jews were regarded, together with the pride and haughtiness which attended the reafonings and fophifms of the Gentile philofophy, may in a great degree account for this neglect. The Jewish ceconomy, however, was, without doubt, defigned, and had in itself a tendency to prepare the world for the reception of Chriftianity. Dr. Shaw adverts to this, and among other remarks on the time which elapfed from the ceafing of the prophetic fpirit to the advent of the Meffiab, and on the circumftances which were favourable to his manifeftation, we have the following:

-During this period it was, that firft the Grecian, and then the Roman empires farted up; and who, that knows the leaft of them, can be ignant of that extenfion of knowledge, that was the happy confequence of the extenfion of both, and of fome lucky events that fell out under them?-Alexander the Great, having in the courfe of his conquefts fubdued Egypt, built a city there, which he honoured with his own name,-fent many of the Jews from their own country to it, and to encourage their fettling in it, he, befides many other advantages, continued the free ufe of their own laws and religion.

Soon after Ptolemy Soter brought many more, and fettled them in Egypt and the adjacent countries. The Kings of Egypt, finding Alexandria, from its fituation and other circumstances, like to become a place of great importance, were willing to aggrandize it as much as they could. For this purpose, they thought it would be proper to make it a feat of learning, as well as a mart for trade and commerce. And accordingly Ptolemy Philadelphus laid the foundation of a Museum or Library, which afterwards became famous, all the world over, for the number and value of its books. Such an inftitution could not be fuppofed long to want a copy of that book

which

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which contained an account of the Jewish religion. A faithful copy of it was applied for, and obtained from the Jewish High Prieft. And that it might be the better understood, not only by the inhabitants of the country into which it was brought, but alfo by the Jews themfelves, who now, like the other inhabitants, fpoke the Greek, it was tranflated into that language.-This circumitance became of the greatest service, in making many acquainted with this religion, who would otherwife have remained ftrangers to it.

About the time that Alexandria was built, it deferves to be remarked, that the Egyptian papyrus began to be ufed for writing: and by this means many of the copies of the Sacred Books could be procured at an easy rate.'

These are some of our author's obfervations, which we have introduced merely on account of the reflections naturally fuggefted by the above quotation from Plutarch. We fhall just add his conclufion, that fuch facts as thofe which he has mentioned had not only a uniform tendency to fpread the knowlege of the Jewifh religion, and prepare the way for the Chriftian, but that they actually produced this effect: For,' fays he, "from the most authentic vouchers, we well know, that the great empires of the Affyrians, Medes, and Perfians, were early acquainted with the Jews. And the Evangelift Luke informs us, that there were dwelling in Jerufalem devout men of every nation under heaven, Parthians, Medes *, &c. Thus the fall of the Jews became the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles.

We shall conclude with juft mentioning the two corollaries with which the Doctor finishes his work. That the Jewish religion is worthy of God'-and farther, That a ferious review of the fubject will furnish a proof of the Divine origin both of the Jewish religion and of the Chriftian:' which conclufions he fupports with ftrength and vigour.

ART. III. Morfels of Criticism, tending to illuftrate fome few Paffages in the Holy Scriptures upon philofophical Principles and an enlarged View of Things. 4to. 11. 1s. Boards. Nichols. 1788.

THE

HE idea which appears to have given rife to this work is, that modern improvements in knowlege may be advantageously applied to the elucidation of the facred Scriptures. At the first view, this application may feem to promife much. And with refpect to thofe branches of knowlege, which may ferve to caft new light on ancient hiftory, geography, or chronology, or to improve the art of criticism, there can be no doubt, that they

*The author is Edward King, Efquire; a gentleman well known, and justly esteemed, in the learned world.

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are capable of being rendered fubfervient to biblical learning. Much has, of late years, been by thefe means actually done, to clear up the meaning of difficult paflages, and to explain the leading defign of particular books, with the connection of their feveral parts. But it may be queftioned, whether there is a probability of equal fuccefs, in attempting a fimilar application of modern improvements in natural philofophy. Those who are fenfible, how much the language of Scripture is adapted to po-. pular ideas, and who recollect the ftate of natural knowlege in the feveral periods when the Sacred Books were written, will not eafily be perfuaded to think, that they contain frequent allufions to the moft recondite doctrines of Chemical Philofophy. Such, however, is the opinion of Mr. Edward King, the learned author of the work before us.

It is evident, that, on this plan, there is, at least, fufficient fcope for fanciful conjectures. Whether our author has indulged his imagination in excurfions of this nature, or has confined himself to the strict rules of found fenfe and fober criticifm, will appear in the fequel.

The ufe which Mr. King makes of the modern doctrines of chemistry in the first fection of his work, is, to correct the common verfion of the Lord's Prayer, and other paffages of Scripture, in which the term heaven occurs. The fum of his criticifm is this:

It appears from the experiments of Sir Ifaac Newton, that the folar ray is compounded of different emanations of light, which form the feven primary colours; and that the different colours of bodies are owing to the different combination of the primary colours with the component parts of bodies. From modern experiments [feveral of which Mr. K. relates] it appears probable, that the heat produced by the rays of the fun, is. not in the rays themfelves, but in another diftinct fluid, upon which they act, which may be called the elementary fluid of heat; and that this fluid is even capable of being reduced to a fixed and folid ftate. From comparing thefe facts, it may be conjectured, that the fun is not a mafs of fire, according to the vulgar notion, but a glorious manfion, whofe furface is covered with a vaft variety of fplendid objects, of different colours, fhining and becoming visible by their own emitted light: whence it may feem reasonable to conclude, that the fun is an habitation of happy beings, and because of its connection with the earth, that it is our heaven. This conjecture may ferve to explain, and is at the fame time confirmed by, many paffages of Scripture. In the Lord's Prayer, there is a manifeft diftinction between the heavens and heaven. The former, in which God is faid to refide [Our Father, who art in the heavens], includes the numerous worlds in which he manifefts his glory; the latter [thy will

be done on earth as it is in heaven] denotes our peculiar heaven, the fun. In the precept, "I fay unto you, fwear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is a throne of God," the article before the word povos is carefully omitted, as peculiarly applicable to some one heaven, or manfion of blifs. The vifion of the glory of God which Mofes had, in the bush and on the mount, the vifions of Ezekiel, the appearance of the angel to Daniel, our Saviour's transfiguration, his appearance to John in the island of Patmos, the defcent of angels on various occafions, and the defcription of the holy city in the book of Revelation, all reprefent heavenly objects and beings as vifible from rays of emitted light, and refplendent with the most glorious emanations of colours. If we compare the account which is given in Scripture of the future ftate of good men, with the notions which philofophy leads us to entertain concerning the fun, it will appear exceedingly probable, that its inhabitants are angels and good men; and that they have fome kind of bodies, properly fo called, or which are a real fpecies of confolidation,' and that there is a provifion even of raiment, and of glorified adornments,' for thefe celeftial bodies. All this is confirmed by our Saviour's expreffion, Then fhall the righteous fhine forth like the fun, that is, to tranflate the words philofophically, fhall fhine forth upon identically the fame principles as the fun shineth.

What effect the above reafoning (which we have endeavoured to ftate fairly, though briefly) will have, toward producing conviction in the mind of the reader, 'we cannot tell: for our parts, we must own, that the argument appears to us to fall confiderably fhort of demonftration.

Whether Mr. King has fucceeded better, in his attempt to apply the doctrine of modern philofophy to the elucidation of the Mofaic account of the creation, we pretend not to determine; but the reader will be able to form fome judgment on this head, from the following paraphraftic verfion of the first fix verses of Genefis :

In the beginning (or originally) God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was no object of fight, and not yet built up into any beautiful form [or was without adornment], and darkness was upon the mafs that was fo without folid bottom [or foundation]. And the Spirit of God was borne [high] above the water. And God faid, let there be light [a fluid capable of communicating light and heat], and it was fo. And God faw this fluid of light [or this elementary fluid of fire] that it was good [or fufficient for the purpofe]: and God feparated [or made a divifion] through the midft of the light, and through the midst of [and between] the darkness. And God called the light [or the elementary fluid of heat and fire, when it produced the effect of making the rays of the fun vifible and ufeful on earth] day; and darknefs [where the fun did not fo act upon it] he called night: and there was an evening, and there was a morning

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& morning [making one day, or] the first day. And God faid, Let there be formed a STRENGTHENING [or CONSOLIDATING] SUBSTANCE, or atmospherical air, in the midst of the water: and let it be a means of feparating through the midft [or of dividing] between water and water. And it was fo.'

As a fpecimen of the mode of reafoning by which Mr. King fupports his explanation of this chapter, we fhall give the fol lowing extract from his note on the 6th verfe. After a fummary account of the principal difcoveries concerning fixed air, from the time of Dr. Stephen Hales, he adds:

It has been obferved, and clearly fhewn by M. Lavoisier *, that all combustible bodies whatever, do actually increase in weight whilft they are burning, and calcining; by means of the air which is, from the atmosphere, CONSOLIDATED, and fixed in them.

Iron, for instance, increafes its weight even one third + by calcination; fo much being added to the folid fubftance even of this hard body, from the air which is abforbed, and becomes fixed, and confolidated, by the operation. All other metals alfo increase in weight, by the fame operation, and the white afhes to which tin may be reduced by calcination are one quarter heavier than tin itfelf t.

And thofe fubftances which, on burning, are difperfed in air, have yet the fixed air which is let loofe, increafed in weight, by the abforption of common air.

And with regard to thofe fubftances which are not, at first, properly combustible; as for inftance, lime ftone. Yet even here, if they can once be made to become combustible, by calcination, (as is the cafe with all calcareous bodies,) there is afterwards an increase of weight. For limeftone, and fuch calcareous bodies by the operation of fire in the kiln, have the fixed air difcharged, and let loofe, and have the fluid of fire, at the fame time, fixed therein and the lime made, does by this means become lighter than the lime ftone §, or chalk, or marble (out of which it is produced). But as it is after that capable of being fet on fire; fo, if it be only expofed to the open air, it foon abforbs and fixes the air again; infomuch, that every ton of lime, will acquire about half a ton || of fixed air; which is nearly the weight it loft in the kiln. And at last, by long expofure to the air, it is perfectly recovered, and becomes limestone as it was at first q. In which cafe, like every other calcareous fubftance, about one half of its folid contents is mere fixed air **: or air truly confolidated; and confolidating the whole mafs as before.

Moreover, this increafe of folid fubftance, from the air, is extended even to the very foil of the earth, and to the ground on which we tread. For lime will not only acquire, in the space of three quarters of a year, a great addition of weight from the air, in the proportion of half a ton, or even of three quarters of a ton, to every ton

* Memoires de l'Academie Royale, for 1783, p. 508, 512, 529. + Ibid. p. 509. Cronfledt's Mineralogy, p. 180. Watfon's Chemical Effays, vol. ii. p. 185. || Ibid. p. 210, Ibid. p. 248. **Ibid. p. 236.

218, 220.

Rev. Feb. 1789.

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