'"So far is the Chronicle of Master Ralph, etc."
'Or, "Explicit dominus Rogerus, incipit dominus Matthaeus, etc."
'"Here ends Master Rogers, of Wendover, and Master Matthew Paris begins." 'Even the supposition of these additions, made by later writers, goes far towards a concession of the fact, which I would establish—namely, that we have not the Hebrew writings in their original state; but that they are a compilation, put together after the nation had returned with fresh lights, and a fresh intellectual impetus from Babylon.'
Verse 33. Phineas was a Levite, and the Levites were forbidden to have any inheritance in the land; in what manner, therefore, did Phineas become entitled to this hill?
This Book of Joshua simply claims to be a relation of the adventures of the Jews under the leadership of Joshua. It has evidently been written very long after the occurrences it alleges to have taken place; and the writer must have either compiled from other writings, or from oral tradition; if from the latter, which is the more probable hypothesis, it will, perhaps, account for the anti-astronomical phenomenon, related in chapter x., and for the falling down of the walls of Jericho, and similar absurdities. By tradition, facts are exaggerated and distorted, especially where the people are uneducated ana superstitious. As a history it is of little value, as a romance it is of less; it affords but poor amusement, and nought of instruction to peruse the account of the wars of the Jews. A man of martial disposition may feel a degree of interest and pleasure in reading the accounts of the struggles for freedom of a Tell, a Washington, a Hampden, or even of the terrific battles under a Napoleon or a Wellington; but of these Jews, whose best fighting was but a sham, who were cowards at heart; who only fought well when the Lord had paralysed the arms of their enemies; who took credit for victories, which the 'hornet' had won for them; who were merciless scoundrels when victorious, and pitiable poltroons when defeated; who fought not in defence of their own land, but to rob their fellow men of their native homes; I say, reading of these, a true man feels disgust and sorrow; disgust at the horrible cruelties related; sorrow that men should have been so ignorant as to imagine that the butcheries took place under the supervision of a God of love.
Bishop Watson, in his fourth letter, in reply to Paine's remarks on Joshua, writes as follows:—
'You make yourself merry with what you call the tale of the sun standing still upon Mount Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon; and you say, that "the story detects itself; because there is not a nation in the world that knows anything about it." How can you expect that there should, when there is not a nation in the world whose annals reach this era by many hundred years? It happens, however, that you are probably mistaken as to the fact: a confused tradition concerning this miracle and a similar one in the time of Ahaz, when the sun went back ten degrees, had been preserved among one of the most ancient nations, as we are informed by one of the most ancient historians. Herodotus, in his Euterpe, speaking of the Egyptian priests, says:—"They told me, that the sun four times deviated from his course; having twice risen where he uniformly goes down, and twice gone down where he uniformly rises."' The Bishop is somewhat incorrect in his criticism. 'There is not (he says) a nation in the world whose annals reach this era by many hundred years.' This is simply untrue. The alleged date of this pretended miracle is variously stated; but it may be taken at the outside at about 3,500 years ago. The Hindus claim to carry their annals back millions of years, and Sir William Jones, after a fair criticism, confesses that he traces back the Indian monarchy to a period upwards of 3,800 years from the present time, and admits an age of 3,000 years for the Vedas, or sacred writings. The age of the xajur Veda, one of the sacred Hindu books, is carried to a period prior to the alleged date of the birth of Moses. The chronicles of Iran (Persia) claim at least an equal antiquity; in fact, the same learned and careful author, speaking on this subject, says:—'If we can rely on evidence, which appears unexceptionable, the Iranian monarchy must have been the oldest in the world.' The Tartar's 'genuine traditional history' commences 4,700 years ago. The Arabian monarchy is traceable back 3,600 years. We have a book of the Chinese, entitled 'Shuking,' containing the annals of that empire, commencing upwards of 4,100 years from this date. Foh, or Foni, is alleged to have given laws to the Chinese 4,300 years ago. We have their poetry admittedly 3,000 years of age, and professedly of a much more ancient date. A very learned member of the Asiatic Society, who investigated the astronomical computations of the Hindus, as given in an ancient treatise (the Surya Siddhanta), allows it to contain astronomical observations extending over 7,200 years, a period of upwards of 4,800 years of which has passed since the birth of one of their most famous astronomers. This will be sufficient to dispose of the Bishop's first assertion. His second, as to the quotation from Herodotus, fares no better. The four deviations spoken of, by the Egyptian priests, do not correspond to the two alleged miracles, and Paine's argument as quoted on page 100 of this work, remains unanswered.
BOOK VII. JUDGES
'The Book of Judges is anonymous on the face of it; and therefore, even the pretence is wanting to call it the word of God; it has not so much as a nominal voucher: it is altogether fatherless.