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Greek writers themselves, that they knew but little on any good foundation when they fet to write, but rather wrote their hiftories from their own conjectures? Accordingly, they confute one another in their own books to purpose, and are not alhamed to give us the most contradictory accounts of the fame things; And I thould spend my time to little purpole, if I fhould pretend to teach the Greeks that which they know better than I already, what a great difagreement there is between Hellanicus and Acufilaus about their genealogies; in how many cafes Acufilaus corrects Hefiod; or after what manner Ephorus demonftrates Hellanicus to have told lies in the greateft part of his hiftory; as does Timeus in like manner as to Ephorus, and the fucceeding writers do to Temeus, and all the later writers do to Herodotus*; nor could Temeus agree with Antiochus and Philiftius, or with Callias, about the Sicilian history, no more than do the feveral writers of the Athidæ follow one another about the Athenian affairs; nor do the hiftorians the like, that wrote the Argolics, about the affairs of the Argives, And now what need I fay any more about particular cities and Imaller places, while in the moft approved writers of the expedition of the Perfians, and of the actions which were therein performed, there are lo great differences? Nay, Thucydides himself is accused of fome as writing what is falfe, although he feems to have given us the exacteft history of the affairs of his own time.

4. As for the occafions of fo great disagreement of theirs, there may be affigned many that are very probable, it any have a mind to make an inquiry about them; but 1 afcribe thefe contradictions chiefly to two caufes which I will now mention, and fill think what I fhall mention in the first place, to be the principal of all, For it we remember, that in the beginning the Greeks had taken no care to have public records of their several tranfactions preferved, this must for certain have afforded thofe, that would afterward write about those ancient tranfactions, the opportunity of making mistakes, and the power of making lies allo; for this original record* It well deferves to be confidered, that Jofephus here fays, how all the followAng Greek hiftorians looked on Herodotus as a fabulous author, and presently, § 14, how Manetho, that most authentic writer of the Egyptian hiftory, greatly complains of his mistakes in the Egyptian affairs; as also that Strabo, B. XI. p 507. th .the moft accurate geographer and historian, efteemed him fuch; that Xenophon, the much more accurate hiftorian in the affairs of Cyrus, implies, that Herodotus's accounts of that great man are almost entirely romantic. See the note on Antiq B. XI. ch ii. § 1. Vol. I. and Hutchifon's Prolegomena to his edition of Xenophon's Kopul aid, that we have already feen the note on Antiq. B, VIII. ch. x. fect. how very little Heradotus knew about the Jewith affairs and country, and that The greatly affected what we call the marvellous, as Monsieur Rollin has lately and juffly determined: Whence we are not always to depend on the authority of Herodotus, where it is unfupported by other evidence, but ought to compare the other evidence with his, and, if it preponderate, to prefer it before his I do not mean by this, that Herodotus wilfully related what he believed to be falle, (as Ctehas feems to have done), but that he often wanted evidence, and fometimes preferred what was marvellous to what was beft attefted as really true,

ing of fuch ancient tranfaftions hath not only been neglected by the other ftates of Greece, but even among the Athenians themselves alfo, who pretend to be aborigines, and to have applied themselves to learning, there are no fuch records extant; nay, they fay themfelves, that the laws of Draco concerning murders, which are now extant in writing, are the most ancient of their public records; which Draco yet lived but a little before the tyrant Pififtratus.* For as to the Arcadians, who make fuch boafts of their antiquity, what need I speak of them in particular, fince it was flill later before they got their letters, and learned them, and that with difficulty allo?

5. There must therefore naturally arife great differences among writers, when they had no original records to lay for their foundation, which might at once inform thole who had an inclination to learn, and contradi&t thofe that would tell lies. However, we are to fuppofe a fecond occafion befides the former of these contradictions; it is this: That thofe who were the most zealous to write history were not folicitous for the difcovery of truth,+ although it was very eafy for them always to make fuch a profeffion; but their business was to demonftrate that they could write well, and make an impreffion upon mankind thereby; and in what manner of writing they thought they were able to exceed others, to that did they apply themselves. Some of them betook themselves to the writing of fabulous narrations; fome of them endeavoured to pleate the cities or their kings, by writing in their commendation; others of them fell to finding faults with tranfactions or with the writers of fuch tranfactions, and thought to make a great figure by fo doing. And indeed thefe do what is of all things the most contrary to true hiftory; for it is the great character of true hiftory, that all concerned therein both speak and write the fame things; while thele men, by writing dit ferently about the fame things, think they fhall be believed to write with the greatest regard to truth. We therefore [who are Jews muft yield to the Grecian writers as to language

About the days of Cyrus and Daniel.

+ It is here well worth our obfervation, what the reasons are that fuch ancient authors as Herodotus, Jofephus and others, have been read to fo little purpose by many learned critics; viz. that their main aim has not been chonology or hiftory, but philology, to know words, and not things, they not much entering oftentimes into the real contents of their authors, and judging which were the most accurate discoverers of truth, and most to be depended on in their feveral histories, but rather inquiring who wrote the fineft ftyle, and had the greatest elegance in their expressions; which are things of fmall confequence in comparison of the other. Thus you will fometimes find great debates among the learned, whether Herodo tus or Thucydides were the finest hiftorians in the Tonic and Attic ways of writing; which fignify little, as to the real value of each of their hiftories; while it would be of much moment to let the reader know, that as the confequence of Herodotus's hiftory, which begins fo much earlier, and reaches fo much wider than that of Thucydides, is therefore vaftly greater; fo is the most part of Thucydides, which belongs to his own times, and fell under his own obfervation, much the most certain.

and eloquence of compofition; but then we shall give them. no fuch preference as to the verity of ancient hiftory, and least of all as to that part which concerns the affairs of our own feveral countries.

6. As to the care of writing down the records from the earlieft antiquity among the Egyptians and Babylonians; that the priests were intrufted therewith, and employed a philofophical concern about it; that they were the Chaldean priests that did fo among the Babylonians, and that the Phenicians, who were mingled among the Greeks, did especially make ufe of their letters, both for the common affairs of life, and for the delivering down the hiftory of common tranfactions, I think I may omit any proof, because all men allow it fo to be. But now as to our forefathers, that they took no lefs care about writing fuch records (for I will not fay they took greater care than the others I fpoke of) and that they committed that matter to their high-priefts and to their prophets, and that these records have been written all along down to our own times with the utmost accuracy; nay, if it be not too bold for me to fay it, our history will be fo written hereafter, I shall endeavour briefly to inform you.

7. For our forefathers did not only appoint the best of these priefts, and thofe that attended upon the divine worship, for that defign from the beginning, but made provifion that the flock of the priests fhould continue unmixed and pure; for he who is partaker of the priesthood muft propagate of a wife of the fame nation, without having any regard to money, or any other dignities; but he is to make a fcrutiny, and take his wife's genealogy from the ancient tables,* and procure many witnefles to it. And this is our practice not only in Judea, but wherefoever any body of men of our nation do live; and even there an exact catalogue of our priest's marriages are kept; I mean at Egypt and Babylon, or in any other place of the reft of the habitable earth, whitherfoever our priests are fcattered; for they fend to Jerufalem the ancient names of their parents in writing, as well as thofe of their remoter anceftors, and fignity who are the witneffes alfo. But if any war falls out, fuch as have fallen out a great many of them already, when Antiochus Epiphanes made an invafion upon our country, as alfo when Pompey the Great and Quintilius Varus did fo alfo, and principally in the wars that have happened in our own times; thofe priests that furvive them compofe new tables of genealogy out of the old records, and examine the circumftances of the women that remain; for ftill they do not admit of thofe that have been captives, as fufpetting that they had converfation with fome foreigners. But what is the

Of this accuracy of the Jews before, and in our Saviour's time, in carefully preferving their genealogies all along, particularly thofe of the priests, fee Jofephus's Life, 1. Vol. II. This accuracy feems to have ended at the deftruction of Jerufalem by Titus, or however at that by Adrian.

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and eloquence of compofition; but then we fhall give them no fuch preference as to the verity of ancient hiftory, and leaft of all as to that part which concerns the affairs of our own feveral countries.

6. As to the care of writing down the records from the earlieft antiquity among the Egyptians and Babylonians; that the priests were intrufted therewith, and employed a philofophical concern about it; that they were the Chaldean priests that did fo among the Babylonians, and that the Phenicians, who were mingled among the Greeks, did efpecially make ufe of their letters, both for the common affairs of life, and for the delivering down the hiftory of common tranfactions, I think I may omit any proof, because all men allow it fo to be. But now as to our forefathers, that they took no less care about writing fuch records (for I will not say they took greater care than the others I fpoke of) and that they committed that matter to their high-priefts and to their prophets, and that these records have been written all along down to our own times with the utmost accuracy; nay, it it be not too bold for me to fay it, our hiftory will be fo written hereafter, I shall endeavour briefly to inform you.

7. For our forefathers did not only appoint the best of these priefts, and thofe that attended upon the divine worship, for that defign from the beginning, but made provifion that the flock of the priests fhould continue unmixed and pure; for he who is partaker of the priesthood muft propagate of a wife of the fame nation, without having any regard to money, or any other dignities; but he is to make a fcrutiny, and take his wife's genealogy from the ancient tables,* and procure many witnefles to it. And this is our practice not only in Judea, but wherefoever any body of men of our nation do live; and even there an exact catalogue of our prieft's marriages are kept; I mean at Egypt and Babylon, or in any other place of the rest of the habitable earth, whitherfoever our priests are fcattered; for they fend to Jerufalem the ancient names of their parents in writing, as well as thofe of their remoter anceftors, and fignify who are the witneffes alfo. But if any war falls out, fuch as have fallen out a great many of them already, when Antiochus Epiphanes made an invafion upon our country, as alfo when Pompey the Great and Quintilius Varus did fo alfo, and principally in the wars that have happened in our own times; thofe priefts that furvive them compole new tables of genealogy out of the old records, and examine the circumftances of the women that remain; for ftill they do not admit of thofe that have been captives, as fufpefling th they had converfation with fome foreigners.

Of this accuracy of the Jews before, and in or preferving their genealogies all along, particularly tho Life, 1. Vol. II. This accuracy feems to have ende falem by Titus, or however at that by Adrian.

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