Proud of the treasure, marches with it down Our claim to feed upon immortal truth, To walk with God, to be divinely free, Yet few remember them. They lived unknown, And chased them up to Heaven. Their ashes flew Cowper, with whom this paper concludes, may be regarded as the grand connecting link between the poets of the past age and the present. Combining all the beauties with few of the defects of his predecessors, his poetry created a revolution in public taste which is felt down to the present moment. Glancing back, then, from this halting place, over our past labours, the only regret felt is, that so little space could be allotted to do any thing like justice to our sacred poets. The object of this hasty sketch was not to satisfy, but to create, a taste for our religious poetry, and if at all successful we are satisfied. No one can sit down to peruse the efforts of departed genius, without feeling, as he proceeds, that they come to him like voices from the grave, speaking in language the most exalted, of the perfections of the Deity, as seen in his works here below, or clothing in a more inviting garb those great truths so productive of happiness to man here, and so essential to the success of his prospects hereafter. In the closing papers of the series, many of the poets with whom the readers of the present work ought to be more immediately acquainted, will claim especial attention. THE CHRONOLOGY OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. (Continued from page 431.) THE Hebrews distinguished their years into the civil and sacred year, each of which had a different beginning. The civil year was the more ancient, and always began with the first appearance of the new moon that happened nearest, or upon, the autumnal equinox. The sacred or ecclesiastical year was instituted at the time of the exit from Egypt, in memory of that event, and always began with the first appearance of the new moon that happened nearest, or upon, the vernal equiNow, the new moon could not be seen until the evening of the day next after the change, consequently the first day of any month or year must have corresponded to the third day of the moon, reckoning from the change. Their common year consisted of twelve months, but their intercalary years consisted of thirteen. nox. Their rule for making the intercalation was whenever, according to the course of the common year, the fifteenth of Nisan happened to fall before the day of the vernal equinox, then they intercalated a month, and the fifteenth of Nisan was thereby carried a month nearer the autumnal equinox. Whereby it came to pass, that the first day of their year was always within fifteen days before or afteen days after the equinox, so that there never could be more than thirteen days that intervened between the day on which the equinox happened and the first day of the year. Now, the Jewish months, with the number of days in each, were as follow : Such was the order of the months, with the number of days in each; but here it must be observed, that one or other of these twenty-nine-day months was occasionally made to contain a day more, in order to make the months correspond with the synodical course of the moon. This addition of a day must have taken place about eleven times in the course of nineteen solar years, and, no doubt, more than the half of that number would fall on Adar or Veadar, and during that period there would be twelve common, and seven intercalary years. Such was the form of the year used by the ancient Hebrews, before and after their coming out of the land of Egypt. Dr Prideaux, however, supposes that the Jewish form of the year was not in use till some time after their departure from Egypt; but it will be easy to show the absurdity of that supposition; for Moses expressly refers to the Jewish form of the year when he says, "This day came ye out, in the month Abib." Exod. xiii. 4. Since, therefore, Moses addressed these words to the people on the very day that they left Egypt, they are a direct proof that the Jewish form of the year was then in use. But further, the four hundred and thirty years of their sojourning began and ended on the same day of the same month, namely, the fifteenth day of Abib, which was the first month of their sacred year, and the seventh of their civil. (Exod. xii. 40, 41, compared with Num. xxxiii. 3.) Hence we infer that the Jewish form was in use before that sojourning began. But further, it will be admitted by all, that Noah and his family must have been in possession of some form or other of the year when they entered the ark. That form of the year, whatever it was, must have continued to be the only form of the year for a considerable time after the flood, or during the lives of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. But Shem lived after the flood five hundred and two years, (Gen. xi. 10, 11,) or seventy-five years after the sojourning began; therefore, we may infer that the Jewish form of the year was in use even before the flood. Now, when we consider that the Jewish form of the year was in use about the time of Noah, and that he was only the tenth from Adam, we may fairly and reasonably conclude that the Jewish form of the year was the very same as that which was used by Adam, and was ordained by God himself on the fourth day of the creation, when it was said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years." Gen. i. 14. Now, this passage certainly refers to the Jewish form of the year, for in it the moon is ordained to rule or regulate the years, as well as the sun; hence we infer that the Jewish form of the year was ordained on the fourth day of the creation. But although the Jewish year was instituted on the fourth day of the creation, yet it could not com mence or be in operation before the creation of Adam; for the mensuration of time by the motions of the heavenly bodies is an art which belongs exclusively to man; therefore, the first day of Adam's life must have been also the first day of the Jewish year. I have al ready shown that, in the ancient Jewish year, the first day always coincided with the third day of the moon, reckoning from the change, or from the time of its con junction with the sun; therefore, since Friday was the first day of the Jewish year at the creation, the sun and moon must have been in conjunction on Wednes day, the day of their creation. The month Veadar is omitted in years of twelve months. We come now to consider that form of the year which was used by Moses in computing the time of the flood. And here it is natural and reasonable to suppose that Moses, in computing the time of any event, must have used either the Jewish or the Egyptian form of the year. Indeed, we cannot conceive of him using any other, seeing that he was an Hebrew, brought up at the court of Pharaoh, and "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." But we have already proved that the time of the flood was not computed by the Jewish year; therefore, it must have been computed by the Egyptian year, or, as it is in Josephus, according to the Egyptian division of the year. I have already observed that the Egyptian form of the year is found in no other part of Scripture but in the Book of Genesis. But this will not appear strange, if we consider that the Book of Genesis must have been written before Moses became the leader of the Hebrews, and also before he conformed to the customs and manners of that people. That he did not conform to these before he became their leader is, I think, evident from Exod. iv. 24-26, but after that we hear no more of his nonconformity. It may be disputed whether the Book of Genesis was written in Egypt or in the land of Midian; but it is sufficient for our purpose here to know that it was written before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. With regard to the length of the Egyptian year, it has been asserted by a great number of our modern writers on chronology (but upon what authority I know not) that the ancient Egyptian year consisted only of twelve thirty-day months, with an addition of five days after the last of them, so that in the space of fourteen hundred and sixty years its beginning was carried backwards through the whole solar year. These assertions, however, are contrary to the testimony of Josephus; for, according to that author, all the Egyptian years began about the time of the autumnal equinox, which could not be the case with a year consisting only of three hundred and sixtyfive days. Besides, it is very unlikely that the Egyptians, who were so famed in ancient times for their knowledge in astronomy, would have used a year so very defective as that which has been ascribed to them by our modern writers; nor can I believe that such a defective year would have been employed by the inspired writer in computing the time of the flood. Moreover, it is observed by Diodorus, and quoted by Rollin, that the Egyptian year, from the most remote antiquity, was composed of three hundred and sixty-five days six hours. This observation, too, is certainly supported by the well known fact, that the same length of the year was at first intimated to Julius Caesar, by Sosigenes, the Egyptian. He was a mathematician of Al-end for which they were intended. exandria, and assisted Cæsar in reforming the Roman calendar, forty-five years before the vulgar era of Christ's birth. Hence it appears that the ancient Egyptian year consisted of twelve thirty-day months, with an addition of five days after the last of them; but in every fourth year, the additional days were six instead of five, which made every fourth year a leap year, as in the Julian style. Having now ascertained the true length and form of the years mentioned in Scripture, we shall, in the next place, notice two very common objections against Scrip ture chronology. the Babylonish captivity. For example, Moses informs us that Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begat Seth. In this example we have a simple statement, plainly intimating that there were one hundred and thirty years between the creation of Adam and the birth of Seth; of course Seth must have been born in the hundred and thirty-first year of the world; for had Seth been born in the hundred and thirtieth, Moses could never have said that Adam lived one hundred and thirty years before he begat Seth; and just for this plain reason, because it would have been false, therefore Adam must have lived one hundred and thirty complete years before Seth was born. And in like manner we are told that Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begat Enos; and so on down to the time of Noah, all of which are clearly marked complete. But the time of the next event, namely, the time of the flood, is given according to the current year; for we are told, that the flood began in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month. But it is needless to multiply examples; for the very design of these chronological statements may convince us of their accuracy, for we cannot suppose that Moses had no other design by these statements than merely to let us know at what age the patriarchs begat their children: that, indeed, would seem to be a very poor design, and unworthy of the pen of Moses. For what would it signify to us, or even to the Hebrews themselves, whether Adam was one hundred and thirty or one hundred and thirty-one years when he begat Seth, or whether Seth was one hundred and five or one hundred and fifteen when he begat Enos, if these statements had no relation to other periods of time? These statements, therefore, must have relation to other periods; for their utility cannot be accounted for in any other way: and having relation to other periods, their design must be to mark out clearly and distinctly the exact number of years between the creation and any other event included in the Scripture account of time. Nay, the very particular men. tion of the year, month, and day, in which certain events took place, proves that the inspired writers intended, not only to show the exact number of years between the creation and these events, but even the exact number of days also. Had these writers, however, been so very inaccurate in their statements, as some have imagined, so as to make no distinction between years current and years complete, their own designs would have been frustrated. But their designs could not have been frustrated, for they were aided and guided in these designs by the Holy Spirit; therefore their statements must be correct, and every way calculated to obtain the The first objection is, that the Scriptures very seldom mark whether the years are current or complete; therefore, say they, it is impossible to compute Scripture events with any degree of certainty. Now, with regard to this objection, I have no hesitation in saying, that it rests entirely upon a false assumption; for the Scriptures every where sufficiently mark whether the years are current or complete. And to prove this, we need only to refer to any number of years assigned in the Scripture account of time between the creation and Rollin's Ancient History, Book i. chap. 4.j We come now to the second objection, which is, that it is impossible to ascertain the true date of the Mosaic creation, because the Hebrew and Samaritan texts of the Bible, and that of the Alexandrian version, all represent it differently. For an answer to this objection, we refer to the first volume of Stackhouse's History of the Bible, Book i. chap. v. p. 182, where the Hebrew text is fully proved to be the only authentic Scriptures of the Old Testament, and consequently the only standard and rule by which we can ascertain the true chronology of Scripture. The above extract is taken from a work of singular merit, entitled A Concise System of Scripture Chronology in Accordance with the Hebrew Text.', The Author, James Macfarlane, was a common weaver in Perth, and it is highly creditable to his talents and perseverance, that in the few hours of leisure which a laborious employment afforded him he should have produced a work so important to the student of Scripture History, and full of interesting and valuable information. MISCELLANEOUS. then, and not till then, that I fully knew of her perfect The comforts of Religion amid poverty and wretched- 6 CONTENTS.-The Great Design of Creation. By the late Rev. D. Armstrong.-Biographical Sketch. Mrs Margaret Wilson, late of the Scottish Mission, Bombay. Part IV.-Christian Philosophy. No. XIV. By Rev. J. Brodie.-A Discourse. By Rev. A. Milroy. A Glance at our Sacred Poets. By C. Moir, Esq. No. IV. The Chronology of Sacred Scripture. Concluded.-Miscellaneous. Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, 2, Hunter Square, Edinburgh; J. R. MACNAIR, & Co., 19, Glassford Street, Glasgow; JAMES NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS, & Co., and R. GROOMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junior, & Co., Dublin; and W. M'COMB, Belfast; and sold by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland. Subscribers in Town, will have their copies delivered at their own residences regularly, by leaving their addresses with the Publisher. Subscription (payable in advance) per quarter, of twelve weeks, Is. Cd., and the other periods in proportion. THE SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. " THE FEAR OF THE LORD, THAT IS WISDOM." SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1838. No. 125. THE GARDEN OF EDEN. BY THE LATE REV. JAMES Kidd, D. D., THE habitation originally provided for man by his gracious Creator is in general called Paradise. As to this terrestrial paradise there have been many theories formed in reference to its situation. It has been placed in the third heaven, in the orb of the moon, in the moon itself, in the middle region of the air, above the earth, under the earth, in the place possessed by the Caspian Sea, and under the arctic pole. The learned Huetius places it upon the river that is produced by the conjunction of the Tigris and Euphrates, now called the river of the Arabs, between this conjunction and the division made by the same river before it falls into the Persian sea. In this he is followed by Wells, who wrote the Geography of Scripture. Other geographers have placed it in Armenia, between the sources of the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Araxes, and the Phasis, which they suppose to be the four rivers described by Moses. But concerning the exact place, we must necessarily be very uncertain, if indeed it can be thought at all to exist at present, considering the many changes which have taken place on the surface of the earth since the creation. "Learned men," says Mr Milne, "have laboured to find out the situation of Paradise, which seems to be but a vague and uncertain inquiry; for the Mosaic description of it will not suit any place on the present globe. He mentions two rivers in its vicinity, the Pison and Gihon, of which no vestiges are now to be found; the other two still remain, viz., the Hiddekel, supposed to be the Tigris, and the Euphrates, whose streams unite together at a considerable distance above the Persian Gulph; in some part of which, it is highly probable, the happy garden once lay. But, even this must be hypothetical; for the flood must, in all likelihood, have deranged the rivers originally on the earth. This gulph is eastward both of the land of Midian and the wilderness of Sinai, in one of which places Moses wrote his history. But since the formation of this earth, it has undergone great changes from earthquakes, inundations, and VOL. III. PRICE 1d. many other causes. The garden, however, seems to have been a peninsula; for the way or entrance into it is afterwards mentioned. We are told that a river went out of it; which, according to some, should be rendered, ran on the outside of it, and thus gave it the form of a horse shoe; for had the Euphrates run through the middle of the garden, one half of it would have been useless to Adam without a bridge or boat wherewith to have crossed it." The learned authors of the Universal History, in their account of rarities natural and artificial in Syria, mention a spot which is still shown as the place where once stood the garden of Eden, or terrestrial Paradise. And indeed it is in all respects so beautiful and rich, and yields so delightful a prospect from the adjacent hills, that there is hardly another place in the world that has a fairer title to the name it bears. Its proximity to Damascus, the capital of Syria, near the fountainhead of the Jordan; its situation between the Tigris or Hiddekel, the Euphrates, the Phasis or Phason, the Araxes or Gihon, which last has three names derived from its vast rapidity above all other known rivers; its bordering upon the land of Chus, famed for its fine gold-all these, and many other marks specified by Moses, together with its charming and surprising fruitfulness, and constant verdure, have induced a great number of commentators to settle that celebrated and so much sought after spot here, and to deem it the most valuable of all the natural rarities of this country. The Hebrew word which designates this delightful spot signifies a garden inclosed with a fence, an inclosed garden. Gen. ii. 8, " And Jehovah planted a garden eastward in Eden;" surely not for the purpose of a mere Mahommedan paradise, but as a school of religious instruction to our first parents. 66 " and From the garden of Eden we have the true origin of sacred gardens among the idolaters. Thus God, in Isaiah lxv. 3, calleth the apostate Jews, a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens; chap. i. 29, the prophet had threatened them, "they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens which ye have chosen ;" and in Isaiah lxvi. 17, are mentioned not only those idolatrous gardens, but we find an allusion to the tree of life, or rather of knowledge, both of which were placed in the midst of the garden of Eden: "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord." savour of divine things gave indication that he had been on the mount of communion. 66 He looked upon his parish as his peculiar sphere of action and residence, of duty, enjoyment, and concern. As a scribe, instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works, he came The gardens of the Hesperides, of Adonis, of at all times before a public audience as a preacher of Flora, were famous among the Greeks and Ro- righteousness, peculiarly acceptable and estimable, mans. Mr Spence, speaking of the East, says, teaching as one having authority," and rightly divid"this garden of Flora I take to have been the ing the word and the bread of life. He was a workParadise in the Roman mythology;" and in a man who needed not to be ashamed-and he was not note upon the place, "these traditions and traces ashamed of the Gospel of Christ--nay, he gloried in the of Paradise among the ancients, must be expected cross. He felt, and believed, and declared "Christ crucito have grown fainter and fainter, in every trans-fied to be the power of God, and the wisdom of God." fusion from one people to another." His sermons were solid, substantial, and massy-the result of much and correct thought, as well as of practical and judicious observation, they were full, and faithful, and clear, and richly scriptural expositions of the truth. gar The Romans probably derived their notion of it from the Greeks, among whom this idea seems to have been shadowed out under the stories of the gardens of Alcinous. In Africa they had the dens of the Hesperides, and in the East those of Adonis, or the Horti Adonis, as Pliny calls them. The term Horti Adonidis was used by the ancients to signify gardens of pleasure, which answers strangely to the very name of Paradise, or the garden of Eden, as Horti Adonis does to the garden of the Lord. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. THE REV. WILLIAM FORBES, THE recent death of this eminent minister of Christ, "Affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well became His favourite, constant, delightful theme in preaching, To his pulpit preparation he attached a high and awful importance, and he sought so to lift up the Saviour, that all men might be drawn to him. Sabbath after Sabbath, as a "faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord had made ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season," he brought forth from the treasury of heavenly truth, things new and old, with a variety, an abundance, and a freshness -with a suitableness and application so seasonable and individual—and above all, with a holy earnestness and abiding unction, which told on a solemnized and enchained audience. He was a man of prayer, and his As compositions, they were remarked for neatness and point of expression-an accuracy of language almost precise—a method and arrangement perfectly logical and conclusive-and each and all of his positions were guarded, and rounded by apposite, striking, and felicitous Scripture quotation and sanction. Indeed, his pulpit exercises seemed like a well-jointed piece of mechanism, of the very best and most durable material, and in the polish and finish bearing traces of the master workman's hand. Though not an impassioned speaker, he was always impressive, animated, and interesting. Sometimes the kindling eye, and the faltering voice-the increasing earnestness, and spiritual energy of manner, gave evidence of the meltings within; and of the visions which opened on his view of the glory, majesty, beauty, and all-sufficiency of the divine Saviour and the fulness, freeness, and richness of Gospel-grace to the very chief of sinners. He was a good classical scholar. His taste was very correct, and his stores of information were considerable. His fund of innocent and humorous anecdote seemed exhaustless, and in moments of relaxation when with those he loved and trusted, it was opened and distributed with singularly happy and impartial effect. There was a playful juvenility of feeling about him, and at the same time a noble independence of mind, that greatly endeared him to his younger brethren when they learned to value him, and to them he was strongly and affectionately attached. Yet, he often felt and spoke as one of another race, and another age, and he longed to follow his beloved brethren who had gone home before him, that he might be with them and at Naturally of an ardent temperament-which is often the concomitant of much kindly and tender affection-if he allowed himself to be hurried away for a moment by warmth of feeling, when he came to himself he was humbled in the dust and ashes of selfabasement and contrition. rest. His views were changed and directed heavenward at an early stage of his studies for the ministry. In the intervals of his university attendance, he was employed as tutor to the only son of the late accomplished and literary Mrs Rose of Kilravock; and it was during his residence in the privileged society of the Castle that, under the occasional ministry of the eminent Dr Alexander Fraser of Kirkhill, his mind and heart were opened to receive and embrace savingly "the truth as it is |