Upon the whole, Ctefias's Catalogue of the fift Affyrian Kings feems a very confiftent and well grounded Correction of Herodotus's Hearfay and imperfect Relation of their Antiquities, and as fuch it has been received by Diodorus Siculus, by Cephaleon and Caftor, by Trogus Pompeius, and Velleius Paterculus, and afterwards by Africanus, Eufebius, and Syncellus. Sir John Marsham raised the firft Doubts about it (a); but I can't but think, that the Accounts which he endeavours to give of the Original of the Affyrians, will be always reckoned amongst the Peculiarities of that learned Gentleman. There are fome fmall Differences amongst the Writers that have copied from Ctefias, about the true Number of Kings from Ninus to Sardanapalus, as well as about the fum of the Duration of their Reigns; but if what I have offered in Defence of Ctefias himself may be admitted, the Miftakes of thofe that have copied from him will eafily be corrected in their proper Places. (a) Marth. Can. Chron. p. 485. Speaking of Ctefias's Catalogue, I jays, De cujus Veritate, cum nemo adhuc fit qui dubitaverit, &c. I hope I hope the Digreffions in this Work will not be thought too many, or too tedious; they were occafioned by the Circumftances of the Times I treat of. I have not made it my Bufinefs to write at large upon any of them, but I thought a few general Hints of what might be offered upon them, would be both acceptable to the Reader, and not foreign to the Purpose I have in hand, all of them, if duly confidered, tending very evidently to the illustrating the Sacred Hiftory. There are two Subjects which the Reader might expect at the Beginning of this Work; one of them is the Account of the Creation of the World, the other is the State of Adam and Eve in Paradife, their Fall, and their Lofs of it. Of the Former of these I would give fome Account in this Place; the latter, I think, may be treated with greater Clearness when I come hereafter to fpeak of Mofes and his Writings. I. The Account which Mofes gives of the Creation, is to this Purpose: In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth, The Earth after it was created was for fome time a confused and indigested Mass of Matter, a dark and unformed Chaos; but God in fix Days reduced it into a World in the following manner: First, The Spirit of God moved upon the fluid Matter, and feparated the Parts it confifted of, from one another; fome of them shined like the Light of the Day, others were opaque like the Darkness of the Night; God feparated them one from the other; and this was the first Step taken in the Formation of the World. Secondly, God thought it proper to have an (a) Expansion between the Earth and Heaven, capable of fupporting Clouds of Water; the appointing this Expansion, and fufpending the Waters in it, was the Work of the fecond Day. Thirdly, After this, God caufed the War ters of the Earth to be drawn off, fo as to drain the Ground, and thus were the Seas gathered together, and the dry Land appeared, and then God produced from the (a) Rachiang properly fignifies an Expanfion, and not what is imly'd by the Greek Word sepewa, or our English Word Firmament. Earth Earth all manner of Trees, and Grafs, and Herbs, and Fruits. 1 On the Fourth Day God made the Lights of Heaven capable of being ferviceable to the World in feveral Refpects, fitted to distribute Light and Heat, to divide Day and Night, and to mark out Time, Seafons, and Years; two of them were more efpecially remarkable, the Sun and the Moon: The Sun he made to fhine in the Day, the Moon in the Night, and he gave the Stars their proper Places. Fifthly, Out of the Waters God created all the Fishes of the Sea, and the Fowls of the Air. ว On the Sixth Day, out of the Earth God made all the other living Creatures, Beasts, and Cattle, and every thing that creepeth upon the Earth; and last of all he made Man, a more noble Creature than any of the rest: He made his Body of the Duft of the Earth, and afterwards animated him with a living Soul. And out of the Man he made the Woman. This is the Substance of the Account which Mofes has given of the Creation of the World. Mofes did not write 'till above 2 2300 Years b 4 after after the Creation, but we have nothing extant lo ancient as this Account. 11 .26W II. We have feveral Heathen Fragments, which exprefs many of the Sentie ments of Mofes about the Creation. The Scene of Learning, in the first Ages, lay in India, in the Countries near to Babylon, in Egypt, and in time it spread into Greece. The Indians have been much famed for their ancient Learning. Megafthenesis cited by Clemens Alexandrinus (a), repre fenting the Indians and the Jews as the great Masters of the Learning, which afterwards the Greeks were famous for; but the Antiquities of these Nations have either been but little known, or their ans cient Learning is by fome Accident loft, for our beft late Enquirers can now meet no Remains of it. Strabo and Clemens Alexandrinus give Hints of feveral Notions amongst them, which would argue them to have been a very learned People; but the only confiderable Specimen we now have of their Literature, is the Writings of Confucius; their prefent Notions of Philofophy are mean and vul(a) Strom. Lib. 1. p. 360. Edit. Oxon, gar, |