We now visit the village of Battle, near Hastings, and find local traditions handed down in connection with an old abbey still remaining and built upon the spot where Harold fell. Arrow-heads and fragments of battle-axes are found and are shown to us; the former are found scattered over the hills only on one side. This corroborates another statement, that theNormans used bows and arrows, while the Anglo-Saxons used only battle-axes.
All these discoveries strengthen the links in the chain of evidences between facts and their history, until all doubts are cleared away and even the “validity of doubt itself is doubtful.”
14. Just such a course of research, of discovery, and of success in final vindication has attended almost every historical announcement in Scripture.
15. At the close of the Canonical period, whatever books made up the Canon were so rigidly guarded ever afterwards in every way, by memorizing, by commentary and paraphrase, by increasing the copies in manuscripts, and by numbering letters and words, that it is impossible that any material difference exists between them and the books which make up the Old Testament of the present day. These books have not been changed in any important respect during the 2,200 years which have transpired since the close of the Canon.
16. But now the chief discussion is upon the question, Did the books, at the close of the Canonical period, fairly represent those books which the original authors wrote before the Canon was closed? In other words, have we a true copy of the books of Moses and true copies of those who wrote after him? The second question is, Were those ancient books trustworthy—were they truly historical? Did Ezra and the others wisely and truly use the old manuscripts, and were those manuscripts trustworthy?
17. Now it will be perceived that we occupy the position of those who undertook to corroborate the history of the battle of Hastings. We shall proceed somewhat as we did then.
From the repeated and varied discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, and Palestine we have a repetition of the names of kings and of cities never known before the present century except as they were mentioned in Scripture. They have been recently found recorded upon the monuments which had been buried centuries before the captivity, and brought to light only in the present century. Inscriptions have been discovered which repeated historical statements of early Scripture books, some of which statements had either been omitted entirely by every Greek historian or had been contradicted by them, but which, when the hieroglyphic and cuneiform languages could be read, were proved to be accurate statements—thus giving testimony to the fact that the Scripture accounts were more ancient and more accurate than any of the Greek or other histories.
18. Again: peculiar terms of art occur in the Scriptures, with official titles, trade names, allusions to customs, and forms of expression, the origins of which have been found only among the nations where, or about which, these particular books of Scripture purport to have been written; and they could be recognized only after the hieroglyphic histories of these ancient nations could be read.
The inferences from all these parallelisms are apparent: these Scripture books are truly historical, they contain the records of facts and are trustworthy.
At what time all these histories were committed to writing, or who were the writers, we are not in all cases able to show; but inability in this respect does not disprove the fact of authenticity.