chapter of the same prophet. Ecclesiasticus also speaks of five cities which were destroyed; Strabo, of thirteen, and Stephen of Byzantium, of eight. In Genesis, (19: 25,) we are expressly told, that "the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and all the plain; consequently the cities on it. Now on Prof. R.'s hypothesis, as the Dead Sea already occupied the greater portion of the plain, it is difficult to conceive how sufficient space could have been left for the building of these cities, if "the southern portion of the Dead Sea only occupies their places," especially as we find that the mountains now come nearly, if not quite close to the lake, on every side.* Again, on this hypothesis, we have no way of explaining the existence of the bank of fossil salt, for the conflagration of asphaltum pits, by lightning, could have no tendency to produce such a result; and if the salt existed previous to the catastrophe, it is difficult to account for the extraordi nary fertility of the plain, as represented in Scripture: "And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar:" Gen. 13: 10. It appears then highly probable, to say the least, that the Dead Sea was formed subsequent to the catastrophe, which swallowed up the cities of the plain, and that this was the result of causes which changed the face of the country to such a degree as to arrest the Jordan in its course to the Red Sea, and which, at the same time, produced those saline deposits, which have ever since rendered the neighborhood of this doomed region, the emblem of desolation and sterility. The only hypothesis, which, as it appears to me, can be reconciled with the known facts and appearances, is, that a volcanic eruption took place, an intimation, or forewarning of which, was given to Lot for the safety of himself and family, attended probably by an earthquake of great violence. The immediate theatre of the eruption was the plain of Siddim, on which the guilty cities were located, and over which were scattered petroleum ("slime") pits, and asphaltum beds, indicating the * Prof. R. states, .66 we found the sea here occupying the whole breadth of the great valley." Bib. Rep. p. 27. SECOND SERIES, VOL. III. NO. 11. 8 previous existence of subterranean fires, ready to be fanned into an out-bursting flame, by the avenging breath of the Almighty. In consequence of the internal combustion of the bituminous materials, the whole plain sunk, causing the Jordan, which previously rolled its sluggish waters into the Red Sea, with very slight declivity, to pour them into the volcanic crater, which had swallowed up the cities, and thus form a stagnant lake. Indeed, a very moderate subsidence in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea, must have arrested the Jordan, and produced, with the aid of the saline bed, the very appearances, which are actually presented.* The projection of a basaltic dyke, as suggested by M. Von Buch, would not seem to be necessary to produce the result, and it seems more philosophical, in the absence of any proof of the existence of such a dyke in the region supposed, to adopt an hypothesis, like the above, which is sufficient to account for the facts, and consonant with phenomena of a like character in different ages and countries. The deadly fumes which, for many years, would probably issue from the pestiferous lake, would easily give rise to the tradition that no bird could fly over it without falling down dead; a tradition to which Lucretius elegantly alludes in the following passage: Principio quod Averna vocantur, nomen id ab re, Lib. vi. It may perhaps be objected that this hypothesis cannot be reconciled with the account in Genesis that "the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." The word here translated brimstone may, according to Poole, mean pitch or bitumen; and according * Prof. Robinson states that the great valley as seen from Akabah, looking northwardly, appears to have only a slight declivity; the whole conformation of the valley presenting a much longer and greater descent towards the south, seems of itself to indicate that the Dead Sea must be considerably lower than the Gulf of Akabah." Bib. Rep. p. 27. to Dr. Adam Clarke, and other commentators, it is to be understood metaphorically, as expressing the utmost degrees of punishment executed on the most flagitious criminals. (Deut. 29: 23, Job 18: 15, Ps. 11: 6, Isa. 34: 9, Ezek. 38: 22.) The phrase "from heaven," Poole understands to be equivalent to "a seipso," ("pluit Dominus a Domino,") and is employed in other passages of the Old Testament, in a similar manner, to give force and energy to the expression. Says Poole, "sulphur peccati fætorem, ignis libidinis ardorem significat." But even were we compelled to take the passage in a literal sense, yet according to the principles of interpretation, which we have adopted, it would not militate in the least, with the hypothesis above advanced. The above considerations are offered in reply to the first inquiry of Prof. R. He next asks "whether it is allowable to suppose that, by a conflagration of the asphaltum in the pits, the soil of this plain, with the cities, might be destroyed and its level lowered; so that the waters of the lake would rush in, and thus form the southern bay?" Such a supposition can by no means be admitted, because it does not meet all the difficulties of the case. It takes for granted that the Dead Sea existed previously, which I have proved to have been very improbable, if not impossible, and a conflagration of the substratum of bitumen would not have sufficed for the destruction of the inhabitants. Indeed had Sodom and Gomorrah been built entirely of asphaltum, and the earth beneath been wholly composed of the same substance, and these been kindled by lightning, according to the opinion of Milman, Russel, Clark, and other writers, there would have been ample time for the inhabitants to have escaped by fleeing to the mountains, as the combustion beneath the earth must have gone on very slowly. Fortunately we have a striking instance in point, to serve by way of illustration. The lake Palius, or Paliorum Lacus, in the valley of Noto, in Sicily, is often covered with petroleum, and the mud at the bottom and on the bank, which has a black color, is tenacious, and smells like pitch. The whole soil of the small plain around it, consists of black, tough, resinous, inflammable earth. A few years ago, some straw huts in the neighborhood having been set on fire, the fire was communicated to the earth, which * History of the Jews, by H. Milman, Vol. I. burnt with a whitish dull flame, during several months,* and was finally extinguished with the greatest difficulty. We may form a pretty correct idea of the rapidity with which a mass of bitumen would burn beneath the surface, by the progress which combustion makes in coal beds, thus situated. In New Castle, Eng., a coal mine was burning for several years, yet it advanced but a few feet. In the year 1765, a bituminous coal bed took fire near Pittsburgh, which has continued burning until within a few years, if it is not yet; and still it did not extend but a few rods. Another coal hill on the Monongahela, Mr. Jefferson states, in his "Notes on Virginia," had then been burning ten years, and had burned away only about 20 yards. The most extensive combustion of coal, beneath the earth, which has perhaps ever occurred, took place some years ago at Benwell, about a quarter of a mile north of the river Tyne, Eng. This caught from a workman's candle, and continued burning about 20 years. After burning very slowly for several years, it at length acquired great strength, from the quantity of bitumen and sulphur which it met in its progress, and spreading in every direction, it, at last, extended more than a mile from the place of its first appearance, committing great ravages in its way, and was conspicuous only in the night by its columns of smoke and flame.§__ Several years ago, a fen near the village of Ostrovizza, Dalmatia, was struck with lightning, and its bottom being turf, it burned a long time under ground, though the fire was visible only in the night; after it was extinguished, the whole fen remained black, and the upper soil became barren. Now if we suppose asphaltum to be ten times more combustible than bituminous coal, we shall see that but little danger could arise to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah from its combustion beneath the earth. We may therefore safely dismiss the opinion, that these cities were destroyed by the combustion of asphaltum beds ignited by lightning from heaven. We read that "Lot's wife looked back from behind him, Organic Remains of a former world, by J. Parkinson, p. 41. † Campden. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, p. 43. The Natural History of Northumberland, Vol. I. p. 132. and she became a pillar of salt." (Gen. 19: 26.) We should have weighty authority on our side, were we to understand this passage metaphorically; as salt is figuratively used in Scripture as an emblem of incorruption, durability, etc. Hence a covenant of salt, Num. 18: 19, is a perpetual covenant, one that is never to be broken; and thus we may consider a "pillar of salt," equivalent to an everlasting monument against criminal curiosity and disobedience. (A. Clarke.) If we credit ancient writers, however, we must consider her as retaining her human shape, and proportion of parts, but changed into a mass of rock salt. Josephus says expressly that she was standing as a pillar of salt in his time, and that he had seen it!* St. Clement and Irenius also assert that she was remaining even in their time, as a pillar of salt. The ancient fathers have not only represented her standing on the plain in her complete human form, but also as possessing a continual miraculous energy, capable of reproducing and renovating any part which might be broken off. Thus Tertullian, in his poem, "De Sodoma," has the following fanciful passage: -et simul illic In fragilem mutatem salem, statit ipsa sepulchrum (Tertulliani, Opera V. II. p. 731, Ed. Oberthur.) But it is very evident that Lot's wife pèrished, and that Lot supposed she had been changed into salt, and that this tradition was handed down to the time of Moses. M. Von Buch well observes that "the fossil salt would not so have struck Lot as to make him imagine that his wife had been turned into salt, if its existence between the strata of the mountains had been known previous to the catastrophe." The most natural mode of accounting for her death, is to suppose that she lingered behind, out of a very natural femi * “Εις ζηλην αλων μετεσαλεν ιςορηκα δ' αυτήν ετι γαρ και τον dia μeve." (Ant. Lib. I. c. xi. 3, 4.) δια μενει.” |