other elements. By variously combining these, we obtain the arguments of a number of tables, from which we take out equations or corrections to be applied to the mean longitude, and also the latitude and its equations. The tables are so constructed that this process, though laborious, presents no real difficulty; and the five elements being known, the moon's place as derived from them may be confidently relied on." Dr Hincks then enters into a brief but apparently well-argued mathematical statement, too long to be here transcribed, giving a clear explanation of his view; after which he proceeds as follows: "I have thought it necessary to give this explanation before I proceed to shew the fallacy-I may say the sophistry-of Mr Airy's view. I will begin by stating the points in which Mr A. agrees with his opponents. On the 15th August, 310 B.C. (civil reckoning), the fleet of Agathocles was passed by the moon's shadow, causing a total eclipse of the sun which made the stars visible. The fleet must have been in or about E. long. 15° 30', and N. lat. (geometric) about 37° 45'. According to Damoiseau's lunar tables, the moon's shadow could not have passed over this spot. A correction must, therefore, be applied to the moon's place as given by the tables; and a similar correction, but of increased magnitude, must be applied to the moon's tabular place in any ancient eclipse, such as that of the Lydian war. "So far all persons would agree; but now comes the difference. The moon's place as given by the tables may be corrected, so as to make the shadow pass over the required spot in an unlimited number of different ways, and Mr A. has selected that particular way, though, à priori, the most improbable of all, which would. suit the eclipse of May 585 B.C.;—an eclipse which, in defiance of chronology, he was predetermined to make the eclipse of the Lydian war. The moon's shadow might be made to pass over the fleet by giving a certain increase to the moon's latitude, leaving her longitude unchanged; by diminishing her longitude to a certain extent, leaving her latitude unchanged; by diminishing her longitude to a less extent than this, and increasing her latitude; again, by diminishing her longitude to a greater extent, and diminishing her latitude also." Dr H. adds that Mr A. has adopted the first of these corrections, and gives his reasons for considering this to be erroneous. He then goes on to say : 66 Supposing, however, that we corrected the moon's place in the eclipse of Agathocles by means of the secular equations, which would repuire that these equations should be diminished according to Mr Adams' view (and also, perhaps, by correcting the masses of Mercury and Venus), we should have to diminish these equations also in the eclipses of 585 B.C., 603 B.C., and 610 B.C. The diminution would be greater than in the eclipse of Agathocles, nearly in the ratio of 64 to 49. The effect of this would be to destroy all pretensions that the first-named of these three eclipses (585 B.C.) would have to be the eclipse of the Lydian war. On the contrary, the effect of the correction of the secular equations, such as would suit the eclipse of Agathocles, might bring the shadow of the moon over a possible field of battle in either 603 or 610. If certain values in these equations were settled by the consent of astronomers, we might be able to tell to which of these two the eclipse of Agathocles would point us. At present we cannot do so. I myself, however, entertain no doubt that the eclipse of 18th May 603 was that which terminated the Lydian war." I have transcribed the above, in which it were perhaps to be wished that Dr H. had omitted one or two strong expressions. While unwilling to differ from one so competent to decide as Dr. H., I am still inclined to think that the argument from chronology is most favourable to the eclipse of 610 B.C. To the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. SIR,―The following remarks form part of a notice of a work on Prophecy in one of our periodicals: "There is nothing that alarms us so much, in the interpretation of God's prophetic Word, as a lengthened statement of 'principles. We remember a remark of Coleridge's which has often struck us as most instructive-that men assume certain things to be 'contrary to reason,' whereas it is only to their particular reason, i.e. to the views which they have learned in their own school of philosophy.' When we looked into this volume, and found 200 pages of actual interpretation preceded by more than 300 pages of 'principles,' we were at once reminded of Coleridge's warning, and were not surprised to find that the interpretations' were a mere echo of the 'principles.' The writer is an able and learned theologian, and outside of this particular field he enlists our warmest sympathies. But a writer who, in the face of such facts as the separate existence of Israel without a country, and of Palestine as a country without a people, can calmly treat those Scriptures which speak of Israel's restoration as a mere spiritual myth, must excuse us if we decline the guidance of 'principles' which lead logically to a conclusion so palpably opposed to God's Word." A CONSTANT READER. To the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. MILFORD, LYMINGTON, HANTS, December 26, 1856. DEAR SIR, Having lately seen a copy of your review (July 1856) of my "Approximations of Prophecy," I trust you will accept from me a few remarks, which shall be as brief as I can make them; and the more so, as I would ask of you to do me the justice of allowing them to appear among your columns of correspondence. My real course of deduction, with reference to the word "Azal,” was as follows: I read in Zechariah xiv. of the Mount of Olives being " cleft in the midst toward the east and toward the west, a very great valley." And I read, "Ye shall flee the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal." Where was Azal? I looked into commentaries, they all spiritualised the passage-I looked into maps, they shewed it not. But I took a map out of the Eton Atlas, and with a ruler I divided the Mount of Olives as prescribed, in a line from east to west. I saw that the division immediately reached the Dead Sea on the east, and thence concluded that the very great valley, reaching unto some distant place, must stretch to the westward. And when I found that my line of division, stretching across Syria, reached to Ascalon, I saw at once the lawful metonym of Azalon, and the lawful abbreviation Azal. And when the flight from the valley of the mountain is described and given, because the valley shall reach unto Azal, I felt and feel assured that Ascalon is Azal, and good reason for fleeing from the valley of the mountains to avoid the inrush of the Mediterranean. The map in Rollin's "Ancient History," shewing Ascalon Azol, I merely quoted as shewing the corruptions yet approximations of literature, and I am quite satisfied with the deduction Ascalon, Azalon, Azal; when, as before shewn, I find Ascalon in the line which divides Mount Olivet to the east and west. This, however, would after all have been but a slight matter, had it not been supported by the considerations of the actual depression of the Dead Sea (1311 feet below the Great Sea) and the tenor of the prophecies concerning Jerusalem. But when these three considerations coincide to make the Jews possess the great watergate of the world ("Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies"), I frankly confess that I do rejoice in the interpretation of Azal, and give thanks for being enabled to raise my structure on such a foundation. Once again, and as regards En-gedi, my Eton Atlas may be wrong. De Saulcy places En-gedi nearly central on the west side of the Dead Sea. But my theory will still hold good, for I only used the text, "The fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even to En-eglaim," from north to south, as expressive of the distinct healing of the Dead Sea; and if the fishers shall not stand all along the shores of that sea, it is quite sufficient that they should stand landing their fish and drying their nets along that portion of the margin of the sea above which the holy oblation and the new city of Ezekiel will immediately stand. Thus I hope I have been enabled to meet your two sole adverse criticisms; and if I have met them justly, I feel assured that you are far too anxious to aid every attempt to throw light upon prophetic Scriptures to deny this letter an entrance amid the letters of your other correspondents. Where I may have somewhat failed is in my last general speculative chapter, in which I now think that I perceive I have made too much of Gog and Russia, and too little of France and Antichrist. Should I ever attain a second edition, the conclusions of that chapter shall be most carefully reconsidered. And in the meantime, conscious that if it has been given to me to aid the interpretation of prophecy, it has been so given for gracious purposes, which must have their due fulfilment, I rest, very faithfully yours, J. SCOTT PHILLIPS. To the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. BRIGHTON, January 15, 1857. SIR, -The object and design of The Journal of Prophecy are so nearly connected with the doctrine of the New Testament, "that all things were created by and for Jesus Christ," that I trust you will allow me, as the author of "The Christian Cosmos," to point out this connexion to the attention of your readers. As the progress and development of the prophecies are regulated by the Governor of the world, so the entire scheme and chart of prophecy must have been formed by Him who is the Alpha and Omega of our nature. But the fact that Christ is the revealed Creator has been much obscured in the later ages of the Christian Church. It is still a professed doctrine of orthodoxy, it is still maintained as the leading argument for our Lord's divinity, but it does not hold that fundamental position in the Christian system which its character demands. It is not regarded as the first step, the postulate, which conducts us to his offices as the Redeemer and Judge of man. Until we contemplate Christian theology in this orderly series, I apprehend that the history of this world and the history of prophecy can scarcely be brought into harmony and agreement. Though I have not adduced this argument in "The Cosmos," it has forcibly struck me as peculiarly adapted to the pages of The Journal of Prophecy. Whilst I do not profess to have deeply studied prophetic inquiries, or to have formed any definite opinion respecting their approaching fulfilment, I feel convinced that the attention of the Christian world can never be adequately drawn to the reign of the Messias as the millennian King, until he is publicly acknowledged "the revealed Creator."—I am, Sir, yours respectfully, THE AUTHOR OF "THE CHRISTIAN COSMOS." Poetry. FINISH THY WORK. FINISH thy work, the time is short, The night is coming down, till then Yes, finish all thy work, then rest; The rest prepared for thee by God Finish thy work, then wipe thy brow, Ungird thee from thy toil; Take breath, and from each weary limb Shake off the soil. Finish thy work, then sit thee down On some celestial hill, And of its strength-reviving air Take thou thy fill. Finish thy work, then go in peace, Life's battle fought and won; Hear from the throne the Master's voice, Finish thy work, then take thy harp, Give praise to God above; Sing a new song of mighty joy And endless love. Give thanks to Him who held thee up In all thy path below, Who made thee faithful to the death, NOTICE. All readers of the Journal are most earnestly besought to give it room in their prayers; that by means of it God may be honoured and his truth advanced; also, that it may be conducted in faith and love, with sobriety of judgment and discernment of the truth, in nothing carried away into error, or hasty speech, or sharp unbrotherly disputation. EDINBURGH PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF PROPHECY. JULY 1857. 66 ART. L-READINGS IN FIRST CHRONICLES. CHAPTER I. 27-54.—ABRAHAM AND THOSE OF HIS DESCENDANTS WHO DID NOT FOLLOW HIS STEPS. I KNOW of nothing more exciting or impressive" (says a recent traveller) "than the first sight of one of these great Chaldean piles looming in solitary grandeur from the surrounding plains and marshes. A thousand thoughts and surmises concerning its past eventful history and origin naturally present themselves to the mind of the spectator. The hazy atmosphere of early morning is peculiarly favourable to considerations and impressions of this character; and the gray mist which intervenes between the gazer and the object of his reflections imparts to it a dreamy existence. This fairy-like effect is further heightened by the image which so strangely and fantastically magnifies the form, elevates it from the ground, and causes it to dance and quiver in the rarefied air." What the traveller feels on the plains of Assyria, amid the mounds that have risen over cities that teemed with life, and at the sight of the remains of ancient piles of architecture, we cannot help comparing with what is felt by one who investigates these ancient records of men and nations. You are amid the mighty of earth's earliest days. The haze that envelopes their actions, as well as their abodes, has the effect of clothing their very names with something of reverence, while imagination also may be at work, like the mirage, in re-edifying their old dwellings, and restoring the structure of society as it then existed. We have now reached the days of Abraham. Let us look back, and present at a glance the interesting fact that very many of the progenitors of their race, through means of their long life, met with each other and conversed for years together, VOL. IX. |