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is this that prefumes to judge the ALMIGHTY, and darkens Counsel by Words without Knowledge?

Befides, as Man's falling into Sin brought Death into the World, it is evident that not Longevity, but Immortality had been the Portion of Man, if his Fall had not prevented it; and when he was fall'n, it had been no Reflection upon the Wildom of GOD îf he had died immediately, and the whole Race had been extinct, according to his Threatning: We know that he was driven out of Eden, and if GOD had had the fame regard for the rest of the Earth, I am apt to believe Pbilo-Hiftoricus had never lived in it. What then was the Defign of GoD in delaying to execute his jult deferved Sentence fo long? I believe that he fpared Man that he might have a fufficient Time to make his Peace with him, and lay hold upon that fecond Covenant which he had been graciously pleafed to make with him; and perhaps he fpared him fo long, that he might feel in his own Body the Miferies that his Sins had brought upon him; in both which we may behold the Goodness and Severity of GOD, in all whose Ways Wisdom fhines ineffably bright; but we, fort-fighted Mortals, who cannot comprehend the ALMIGHTY, nor his Works, ought not to fay, that this he did for this Reafon only, or he was not Wife.

But that Philo may fee his own Weakness, I would have him look into his own reasonable, moderate Arithmetical Progression, there he will find, if he ftrikes out the last 400 Years, and takes the Sum of all the Souls that might have been brought into the World before; I fay, there he will find, according to his own Computation, that there might be but 2,222,222 Souls in the World, A. M. 1200, even fuppofing that never a Soul had departed out of it. Now, was it confiftent with the Wisdom of God, that there might not be two Millions and a quarter of Souls in the World in the Year 1200, and yet is it inconfiftent with the fame Wisdom, that there fhould be no more than near fix times as many in but 456 Years after? Who but this Gentleman can think fo?

Your Correfpondent's Obfervation, what a prodigious Progeny Jacob might have feen, if he had lived 900 Years, is nothing at all to the Purpofe, becaufe Experience has affured us, that there is but about 30 Years, at a moderate Reckoning, between one Generation and another, in the Ages fince the Flood; and by comparing the feveral Inftances that Mofes gives us of the Times preceding it, we shall find that there was above 100 Years difference before: So that Jacob might have lived 900 Years before the Flood, and yet not have feen but 8 or 9 Generations; but if he had lived 900 Years after, he must have feen, at least, 30, in many particular Branches of his own Family.

He fays, The reafon of the great Increase of the Ifraelites, in Egypt, was their living in Peace and Quiet, and free from Wars and other Calamities. Yes, witnefs God himfelf, I have furely feen the Affliction of my People which aro in Egypt, and have heard their Cry, for I know their Sorrows. The Cry of the Children of Ifrael is come unto me, and I have aljo jeen the Oppreffions wherewith the Egyptians oppress them, Exodus iii. 7. 9. Witnefs likewife the Command of Pharaoh to the Hebrew Midwives, Kill every Son, Exod. i. 16. and to all his People, Caft every Son into the River, Exod. i. 22. If he fays that their great Multiplication was before this, let Mofes anfwer him; The more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew, Exodus i. 12.

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He that can contradict all this Evidence, will certainly carp at any thing.

He fays, the Reafon why the Children of Ifrael were decreased in the Wilderness was, because they were entered into a new fiate of Life, and were cut off by War and Famine, &c. Mofes, who gives us a particular Account of the Travels of the Ifraelites thro' the Defert, lets us know, that there were very few flain in War, and not one died by Famine: They were indeed destroyed by fundry Plagues, for their Rebellion against GOD; and yet if we confider, that there were but two Men in their Camp above 40 Years old, when they entered into Canaan, and that there were at least 100000 above that Age at their coming out of Egypt; I say, if we coufider this, we fhall find there had been a vaft Increase of Persons, under 40 Years of Age, in the Camp of Irael in the Wilderness.

As the Examples he talks of (p. 266. E.) are but Chimeras, fo his Obfervation from thence must needs be as Impertinent, and therefore not worth notice. But he has difcovered a great Miftake in me, in that I have faid, there was juft the fame Number of Generations from Adam to the Flood, as there was from Abraham to David: Where, fays he, 'tis evident he has not examined the Scriptures well; because the Generati uns from Adam to the Flood were but 10, and those from Abraham to Da vid 14. -One would have thought a Perfon, who had charged another with a Miftake, had taken fpecial Care not to be Mistaken himself in the very fame Article. But fo it is; for Noah was the tenth from Adam, and his Sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet, were born near 100 Years before the Flood, Gen. v. 32. and vii. 11. fo that there was in the Line of Noah eleven Generations before the Flood, and not ten as he fuppofes: And confidering that Noah had none of thefe Sons till he was 500 Years old, might not I very well, by comparing the feveral Inftances given by Mofes, and taking the mean length of the Antediluvian Generations I fay, might not I compute that there were three Generations between the Birth of Noah and his three Sons, and this would make juft 14 Generations; fo that, perhaps, fome People will think I had examined this Scripture better than Philo-Hiftoricus. And a Computation from Abraham to David is certainly the best way to find out what Number the Inhabitants before the Flood could not poffibly exceed; provided it be granted (which I am fure cannot reasonably be denied) that the Fathers before the Flood had not more Children than they have had fince. I don't know what the Gentleman means by faying, I am partial in my Calculation; I am fure it is wholly my own, and how a Man can properly be faid to be partial where no body is concerned but himself, is quite beyond my Comprehenfion.

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He fays, that the Generations before the Flood were not subject to be wafted and diminished by Wars, &c. like the Family of Abraham. But as Mofes has affured us, that the Earth was filled with Violence, and as there were then no Civil Magistrates ordained to punish Evil-doers, it is highly probable that the Giants did more Mischief in the World, till the Flood overwhelmed them, than all the Wars, &c. in which the Houfe of Abrabam had been concerned, till the Days of David.

After he had rambled away from his Subje&, to Egypt, Canaan, and I know not whither, he returns to it, and quotes Mr. Derham, in the fame manner as I fhould do a place of Scripture, without giving fo much as one

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Reafon for his Opinion; and indeed I think he ought to have chofen this Quotation for his Text, fince 'tis plain he has gathered his first Head from it, tho' I must confefs I can't but think him an indifferent

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Preacher. I have, by feveral Inftances from Scripture, fupported my Opinion, that the Fathers before the Flood had not more Children than Mankind have had fince: Of thefe your Correspondent has taken no notice, nor fhall I of his Obfervation, at what Age those fame Fathers begat their firft Children, because it is of no Service to his Caufe: Only feeing he tells us from Jofephus, that Lamech of the House of Cain had 77 Children, I'll tell him a ftranger Story: In Captain Gulliver's Travels 'tis reported, that there is a certain Inland called Lilliput, where the People are not fo big as his Thumb, and that there is another Country called Brobdingnag, where the Inhabitants are as tall as our Spire-Steeples, and that there is a flying Island called Laputa, &c. If he has not a weak Head, he will allow that the Authority of Dean Swift, is every whit as good as that of Jofephus, in the Inftance he has given us.

I now come to examine your Friend's reasonable, moderate, arithmetical Progreffion. It is founded on this Suppofition, viz. That the Fathers before the Flood had their firft Children at 65 or 70 Years of Age, and had afterwards one in feven Years, till they were 200, and confequently 20 Children apiece. It is evident therefore, that there was, according to this Suppofition, a fecond Generation begun in the eldest Children at the Year 65 or 70 of their Fathers Age; yet notwithstanding this, the Computation proceeds upon this Suppofition, viz. That there was 200 Years between one Generation and another, and confequently that all the 20 Children were born at a Slap at the End of 200 Years; then it allows 65 or 70 Years to the Birth of their first Children, and fo proceeds to contradict it felf as before. What can be gathered from fuch ftupid inconfiftent Stuff as this? I would have him to take notice, that there has lately appeared in the Magazine, a certain ingenious Gentleman who lives in Crown-Court, Long-Alley near Upper-Moorfields, to whom if he will please to refort, I make no doubt but he will foon put him into a better Method of Computing, before he attacks

Your bumble Servant

R. Y.

SIR,

Perceive your ingenious Correfpondent (p.28.) differs from me chiefly concerning Ofariphus, and the Destruction of Sennacherib's Army. Of these therefore in their Order.

He obferves, that one Hypothefis is as good as another, where no prevailing Reafons can be align'd to determine the Judgment either way. I agree with him, but then he is greatly mistaken, in thinking my chief Reajon for taking Afa for Ojarfiphus, is from the Similitude of the Names; if he will pleafe to turn to Gent. Mag. Vol. VII. p. 140, 141. he will find it proved (I think beyond Contradiction) that the Pofterity of Abraham were the Shepherds, and not the Canaanites and Philistines, as Sir I. N. had afferted. This being premifed, it will follow, that a King of these Shepherds

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Shepherds must be one of the Pofterity of Abraham; and feeing Ofarfiphus was Contemporary with Afa, who, we are fure, did, at that very Time, conquer Part of the lower Egypt, who fo likely to be Ofarfiphus as Afa himself, whofe Names (I faid) are as near as Sesoftris and Selac? Thus, Sir, I defend my Hypothefis, and, before your Friend can overturn it, he must prove (which I am fure he never can) that the Hebrews were not the Shepherds, but the Philistines and Canaanites.

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But how then can I clear up that of Manetho, who fays that Ofarfiphus was an Egyptian Priest. I hope your Friend will not infift on a clear Light in the midft of fo much Obfcurity; but seeing the Scripture has informed us that Afa entirely defeated the Ethiopians, that they could not recover themselves, and that he fmote all the Cities round about Gerar, 2 Chron, xiv. 13, 14. I take it for granted that Afa was the Conqueror of the Lower Egypt; and therefore, I think 'tis as clear as any thing of this nature can be, that Manetho has made Ofarfiphus an Egyptian Prieft, purely to hide the Difhonour of his Country, that it might not be thought that the Jezus fubdued it: So that I conclude ftill that Ofarfiphus must be Afa, or one of his Subjects, as his Vice-Roy: If it was one of his Subjects and Vice-Roy, then it might be the Sopher or Secretary who had this Honour conferred upon him; for the Sopher we find to be a Perfon of the highest Dignity in the Court of Jerufalem, and fuppofing fuch a Perfon fettled in Egypt, he must have been called by the Jews there, Saufipher, the Prince Secretary, and by the Egyptians, Ofarfipher, or farfiphus. Perhaps the Jews might fometimes call the fame honourable Perfon, The Sar, i. e. The Prince, or Prefident: And hence he might be called in the Greek Tongue Proteus, (for Proteus was in Egypt at the very fame time) and this might be the Reason why Proteus is faid so often to alter his Shape, because tho' the Perfons were often changed, yet the Name was the fame Perhaps too he might be faid to be of common Extraction, because Subjects were advanced to this Dignity. Be this Conjecture right or wrong, I think ftill that Ofarfiphus must be Afa, or one of his Subjects.

In oppofing my Account of the Philistine Army, your Friend feems to have made three or four Miftakes; he feems to have mistaken the Manner of raising their Armies in Palestine: Their Armies did not confist, like ours, of a few Men lifted, or preffed, into the Service; but every Man in the Kingdom, upward of 20 Years old, was reputed a Soldier. Hence it was that Abijab, King of Judah, was able to bring 500000 Men into the Field againit Jeroboam, King of Ifrael, who had an Army of 800000. Who then can think, that the Philistine Nation had not above 65000 Men in it able to bear Arms, when he reads that they were at War with Saul all his Reign, and afterwards fought out David three times to fight with him, tho' as often routed, and tho' they knew he was King of all Ifrael and a great Warrior? I think whoever confiders this muft conclude, that the Philistines were able to bring, at least, 4 or 500000 Men into the Field.

I think your Friend alfo mistakes with regard to the Midianites, whofe Army, he fays, did not confift of above 135000 Men. The grand Army to be fure did not; but who can think that the Midianites were all in one Body, when the Land was intirely fubdued by them? Or that an Army of

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135000 Men, living at Difcretion in the Enemy's Country, had not a good Number of Forces fent abroad to keep the Country in Subjection, and lay it under Contribution? Nay, the very Hiftory makes it plain, that befides this Army, the Midianites were spread all over the Kingdom; hence it was, that those who would fave any Thing from them were forced to hide it, Judg. vi. 11. hence it was, that those who dwelt in the remotelt Parts of the Kingdom, as in Aher and Napthali, when they heard of the Defeat by Gideon, purfu'd after the Midianites, Judg. vii. 23. which otherwife they could not poffibly have done: Nay, had it not been thus, it must have been quite too late for Gideon to have fent Meffengers all over Mount Ephraim; or for the Ephramites to have gather'd themselves into one Body, and then to have fmitten Oreb and Zeeb with their Armies: These therefore, could not poffibly be a Part of the Army purlued by Gideon. For my part I can't doubt but Gideon himself, with his Company, lay upon Jordan, for fome time after the grand Army of the Midianites was paffed over, to cut off fome of thole leffer Bodies that were fill behind; otherwife how could Zeba and Zalmunna have got beyond the Boder of Ifrael, before he crofs'd that River? Thefe Remarks are enough to fatisfy a Perfon of your Friend's Penetration, and Skill in Geography, that all the Midianites that were then in the Land of Frael were not in one Body. So that tho' the main Army under Zeba and Zalmunna did not exceed 135000, yet thofe under Oreb and Zeeb, and others, might amount to feveral Hundred Thousands more.

Your Friend alfo mistakes in faying, that all the Chariots of Ifrael, in the flourishing Reign of Solomon, did not exceed 1400. The Text fpeaks of Chariots that were the King's own Property, and not belonging to any of his Subjects; fo that he might as well affert, that becaufe the Scripture fays that Solomon had but 12000 Horfemen, therefore there were but 12000 Horfes in his Dominions. Whoever will but reflect upon the Grandeur of this Prince, and that but fome of the Nations over which he reigned, were able to fend to the Afliftance of the Amonites, against his Father, 32000 Chariots, 1 Chron. xix. 7. can't doubt but Solomon was able to raife as many more. What, was Hadarezer able to bring into the Field 40000 Horfemen, and could Salomos bring but 12000? The Thing fpeaks itself. Solomon was certainly a very great King, that could keep 1400 Chariots and 12000 Horfemen at his own Expence; but confidering the belt of Chariots were bought for the King at about 40 Pounds apiece of our Money, and Horfes at 10 Pounds, 2 Chron. i. 17. we can't doubt but great Numbers of the Ifraelites, in that flourishing Reign, when Silver and Gold was fo plentiful, would have them as well as he. And if they were called out to the Wars, and knew how to manage them, no doubt but they would bring them along with them.

Your Friend fays, That Amalek fighting with Urael for a whole Day, will do nothing to prove the Number of their Forces There might have been fomething in this, if Ifrael had fought out Amalek to fight with him; but feeing Amalek came up to fight againit Ifrael, when he might as well have avoided a Battle, can we think he would have been so foolhardy as to do it, if he had not thought himself able to cope with him? And how could he think himfelf able to cope with an Army of 600000 Men, unless his own Army was proportionable; and if proportionable, it must have at least

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