student, and therefore deserve to be rectified, as well for the credit of the Scriptures, as for general edification and improvement. Who would not wish to become acquainted with the various events, and other important information recorded in his Bible, in the order according to which it may be presumed they actually occurred and were delivered, and thus to imbibe the same regular knowledge of the Divine History, as he obtains from perusing the accounts of human transactions? We are not aware of any similar design having been executed on the Continent: but the first person amongst our countrymen who conceived the idea of methodizing the Old Testament, was the ever memorable John Lightfoot, who in the reign of Charles I. published that invaluable tract, which be denominated "A Chronicle of the times and the order of the texts of the Old Testament, wherein the Books, Chapters, Psalms, Stories, Prophecies, &c. are reduced into their proper order, and taken up in the proper places, in which the natural method and genuine series of the Chronology requireth them to be taken in. With reasons given of dislocations where they come, &c. &c." This divine was so eminent, that Bishop Walton consulted him both in the Polyglott Bible, and the Samaritan Pentateuch. The most learned foreigners came to England to visit him: and in the Presbyterian assembly of Divines at Westminster, he was the most distinguished for his learning and ability. But his work appeared during the bitter contests between the king and the parliament, and attracted none of that attention which it so richly deserved. The value, however, of the undertaking was duly appreciated by another divine, Samuel Torshell, tutor to the royal children, who only one year before the death of his unfortunate master, published a tract, entitled, "A design about disposing the Bible into an harmony; in an Essay concerning the transposing the order of books and chapters of the Holy Scriptures, for the reducing of all into a continued history, &c," and addressed it at once, not to His fallen Majesty, but to the Right Honourable Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament. But no attention was granted to it, and the design of harmonizing the Bible has, until the present attempt, been totally abandoned. Dr. Hales, the learned and laborious author of the Analysis of Sacred Chronology, is the last writer by whom the design of Torshell has been brought before the public. "We have still," he observes, " to search in vain for a competent history of the Bible; a history which shall be plain and clear even to the unlearned, and yet concise, correct, and critical: competent 1st, to arrange all the scattered events of Scripture in a regular and lucid chronological and geographical order; 2nd, to trace the connexion between the Old and New Testament throughout, so as to render the whole, one uniform and consistent narrative; 3rd, to expound the mysteries, doctrines, and precepts of both intelligibly, rationally, and faithfully, &c.; 4th, to unfold and interpret the whole grand and comprehensive scheme of the prophetic argument from Genesis to Revelations, gradually revealed to mankind during the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations, as they were able to bear it; 5th, to solve real difficulties, and reconcile apparent dissonances; 6th, to silence sceptics and heretics, infidels and scoffers, &c.; 7th, to defend the institutions of the primitive Church against schismatics and levellers; and in fine, 8th, to copy as closely as possible the brevity and conciseness, yet simplicity and plainness of the Gospel style." Such a history of the Bible he describes as altogether a desideratum in the annals of sacred literature. It is apparently with a view to accomplish and combine the several purposes of these excellent persons, that Mr. Townsend has undertaken his present laborious task, taking for its basis the Chronicle of Lightfoot, but introducing collaterally a great store of information collected from the various sources that have sprung up since the time of that learned commentator. "The miscellaneous form," he observes, "of the Sacred Books, has been often considered by pious and learned men as one principal cause of those difficulties which have given rise to so many commentaries. The great majority of the readers of Scripture are either unable or unwilling to undergo the delightful labour of arranging the scattered events in their unbroken and historical order. Much error has arisen from this neglect. The Scripture is too generally perused in detached passages and chapters only. It is but too frequently considered as a collection of unconnected narratives, promises, warnings, prophecies, and miscellaneous remarks on important and interesting subjects. Hence, the most opposite doctrines have been taught, and the most inconsistent inferences drawn; and the Christian world, which ought to profess one faith, is divided into every possible gradation of opinion, each of which is defended by its advocates from detached and misapplied texts of Scripture." "Let not the pious Christian," he proceeds, "feel any conscientious scruples against altering the disposition of the Sacred text, as contained in our common Bibles; or suppose that this arrangement is intended to supersede the authorized version. The four Gospels, which are equally entitled to our veneration with the Old Testament, have been repeatedly arranged in their supposed historical order, in the form of diatessarons and harmonies; and no opposition has ever yet been made on the part of the English Church to the labours of its exemplary divines, who engaged in these useful works. Neither the Jewish Church before the Advent of Christ, nor the Christian Church after it, has pronounced the order of these books to be canonical, and their collocation is different in the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin versions." Even the copies of the Vulgate differ from each other. In some MSS. the Book of Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles, are placed after Malachi. The catalogues of Origen and Jerome, the former of whom made the Scriptures the study of his life, and whose arrangement of these compositions is very different from that in our Bibles, are, most probably, the nearest to that of Esdras or Ezra, yet even these vary from each other; and as the precise order has in no church been prescribed and insisted on, it may be concluded that no reasonable objection can be made to a connected arrangement of the Sacred Volume. Mr. T. however has not servilely followed his prototype Lightfoot. He has adopted one material variation from his great original. On Lightfoot's plan, the Old Testament would have been read as one unbroken history, without any division into chapters, or any of those breaks, which are so well calculated to re lieve attention. To obviate this objection, Mr. T. has divided his arrangement into periods, chapters, and sections, with the view of rendering his work more useful and interesting to that large class of readers who have neither abundance of time for perusing books, nor talent for investigation, and who may therefore take up and lay down the Old Testament at their leisure, as they would any other history or narrative. The number of his periods is eight, each of which is subdivided into chapters. into chapters. His First Period contains the history of the world from the Creation to the Deluge, and includes the first nine chapters of Genesis. As the object of Moses in writing the Pentateuch was the preservation of the Israelites from the contagion of the surrounding idolatry, in the notes are pointed out the several reasons of those peculiar phrases, which are supposed to be directed against the prevailing superstitions of his day. Of this First Period, the titles of the chapters are, I. The Creation: II. The Institution of the Sabbath, and the Fall of Man: III. The History of Adam, and his Descendants till the Deluge: IV. The Genealogy of the Patriarchs: V. The State of the World immediately preceding the Deluge: VI. The Deluge: VII. The Covenant with Noah: VIII. Noah prophesies the Fate of his Sons. The Second Period comprizes the history of the time between the Dispersion, and the birth of Moses, and includes the remainder of Genesis, the book of Job, and the first chapter of Exodus. The chapters are I. The Confusion of Tongues and Dispersion of Mankind: II. The Life of Job: III. The Life of Abraham; IV. From the Death of Abraham to the selling of Joseph: V. The History of Joseph and his Family in Egypt: VI. The Death of Jacob and the Patriarchs. The Third Period extends from the Birth to the Death of Moses, and comprizes the remainder of Ex odus to the conclusion of the Pentateuch, and its chapters are I. The Birth and early life of Moses: II. The Legation of Moses: III. From the Legation of Moses to the Inflic. tion of the Plagues of Egypt: IV. The Infliction of the eight first Plagues: V. The Institution of the Passover: VI. The Conclusion of the Ten Plagues : VII. The Exodus: VIII. The Wandering in the Wilderness. The Fourth Period comprizes the events from the entrance of the Israelites into the Holy Land, to the death of David. It includes the books of Judges, Joshua, Ruth, the first and second of Samuel, the first book of Chronicles, with the exception of the first nine chapters (which are placed in the last section of the last period) and the two first chapters of the first book of Kings. It comprizes all those psalms which were probably written by David, and which are inserted in their supposed places, according to the events to which they are believed to refer. The chapters of this period are I. The Conquest of Canaan: II. The General Division of the Country: III. The last Exhor. tation, and the Death of Joshua: IV. The Interregnum after the Death of Joshua: V. The Government of the Judges: VI. The Reign of Saul VII. The Reign of David. The Fifth Period comprizes the Reign of Solomon, including the first chapters in the first book of Kings which relate his life; the nine first chapters of the second book of Chronicles, which are harmonized with those from the book of Kings; the Psalms, supposed to have been sung or written at the dedication of the Temple; and the Books of Canticles, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Its chapters are I. The Reign of Solomon before the Dedication of the Temple: II. The Building of the Temple: III. The Dedication of the Temple: IV. Other Buildings and Magnificence of Solomon: V. The Greatness of Solomon-The Visit of the Queen of Sheba: VI. The Wisdom of Solomon-The Book of Proverbs: VII. The Offence of So. lomon-The Book of Ecclesiastes : VIII. The Death of Solomon. The Sixth Period comprizes the time from the accession of Rehoboam to the commencement of the Babylonish captivity. It includes the greater part of the books of Chronicles and Kings, which are harmonized throughout, with some of the Psalms, and the prophecies of Joel, Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Obadiah, Nahum, Habak. kuk, Zephaniah, part of Jeremiah, and part of the first chapter of Daniel. The several predictions, or distinct discourses contained in the respective books of the prophets, are given in their historical places : and notes are appended to each, explaining the reasons for the dislocation. The chapters of this Period are eighteen, and are severally devoted to the history of the reigns of the eighteen kings of Judah, beginning with the elevation of Rehoboam, to the conclusion of the reign of Jehoiakim, the last sovereign, in whose fourth year, Daniel was taken captive; and from which event are computed the seventy years of the captivity. The Seventh Period comprizes the history of the Babylonish captivity: No historical book in the Old Testament contains a complete narrative of the transactions of the seventy years: they are related in various parts of the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and in the latter passages of the books of Kings and Chronicles. The chapters under this period are, I. Events at Jerusalem, from the Commencement of the Captivity to the Burning of the Temple: II. Contemporary Events at Babylon, during the same Period: III. The History of that Portion of the Jewish nation which was not carried captive to Babylon, after the Burning of the Temple, and the Destruction of Jerusalem: IV. Events at Babylon between the Destruction of the Temple, and the Return of the Jews from their Captivity, on the decree of Cyrus, The Eighth and last Period comprizes the events from the termination of the captivity to the probable, close of the canon. It includes, besides several of the Psalms, the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, and the prophecies of Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. The arrangement of the events of this period is made chiefly on the authority of Dean Prideaux; whose history is advocated and adopted by Dr. Hales, the present Bishop of Winchester, and many other learned and pious authors. The very close connection which subsisted between the Holy Land and Persia, after the restoration of the Jews from their captivity; and the manner in which their adversity and prosperity were af fected by the politics of the court of Persia, rendered it impossible to separate the accounts of the two countries: they are incorporated therefore into one history, and the prophecies are placed in their respective situations. The chapters which compose this period are, I. From the Decree of Cyrus to the Dedication of the Second Temple: From this Dedication to the Death of Haman; and III. The Re- Such is the brief outline of the present arrangement of the contents of the Old Testament; and it is but justice to Mr. T. to present his own views of the advantages which may be expected to result from it. "It may be justly said that every class and description of the admirers and readers of Scripture, are interested in an arrangement of its sacred contents. The unlearned will be more able to comprehend those difficulties of Scripture, which origi nate in an ignorance of the occasion on which a Psalm or Prophecy was written, contradict each other, will, by harmonizing The passages which seem at first sight to the several accounts, be clear and consistent. Those innumerable false interpretations of single texts, (the chief source perhaps of popular misapprehension) will be obviated by fixing that primary meaning which was originally intended. "The learned will find their labours les sened in tracing the meaning of peculiar words, the object of obscure expressions, or the intention and scope of passages, which require more particular attention. As the meaning of a sentence is better and sooner apprehended, when the preceding and subsequent passages of the context are evident, so also will the mean ing of the obscurer difficulties be more easily discoverable, if the preceding and subsequent events of the connected history are known. "The clergyman will of all others be most interested in a work of this nature. In expounding the Scripture, the primary meaning of a passage is of the utmost imPortance. As the books of Scripture were all, in some measure, originally designed to accomplish some temporary object before they were committed as a lasting testimony to the Church of God, the spiritual application of every part of the Old Testament to Christians of the present day will be immediately perceived, when the original application to the circumstances of the ancient Church has been satisfactorily ascertained. The lessons appointed for every day in the year will become more interesting, in proportion as they are better understood. The beauty and sublimity of many passages the dispensatious of Providence to which will be made evident, when that part of they refer, is thus more fully developed. "The attendant on public worship, who has but little time, except on the Sunday, for studying the Scriptures, will find an arrangement of the text of the Old Testament solve many difficulties, and supply the place of a more extensive commentary. “The pious master of a family, who is anxious to lay the foundation of Christian morality upon Christian principles, will be more able to interest them in the finest volume of ail antiquity. Many of the most important parts of the Old Testament are with the utmost difficulty made pleas ing to children. While their attention is arrested by the beautiful narratives of the Sacred Volume, they are too often embarrassed and confused by the attempts of the anxious parent to explain the connection between the parts of that variety of interesting matter, which makes the Scriptare so attractive and so useful. By such an arrangement, therefore, the labour of the parent is lessened, and the child at once interested and improved. "The students of history, it may be justly supposed, will be particularly interested in an arrangement of the Bible. Without this inestimable collection of records, there would be no foundation for the ancient history of the world: we should be in utter darkness with respect to the most important questions: we should know nothing of the origin of nations, or by what means the world was overspread: we should be still ignorant of the condition of society in the patriarchal ages, before the corruptions of the post-diluvians had in troduced or perfected the incongruous and detestable system of idolatry, which characterized Egypt, and Greece, and Rome, and the whole Pagan world, and which now disgraces the nations of the East in general; and particularly Hindostan.Events which are only hinted at, or referred to in Scripture, are related at length in history. In an arrangement of the narrative of Scripture, the student may read the prophecies that foretold events, and in the events recorded in his tory, he will read the accomplishment of those prophecies. History will thus be the commentary on Scripture and ou pro phecy; and the influence of religion will be confirmed, while the knowledge of the inquirer is increased. Nor will an arrangement of the Bible be less useful to the general reader, or the lover of literature, as it is certain that the literary beauties of the Scriptures, considered only as specimens of composition, are conceived and expressed in language which neither the epic nor dramatic power of Greece itself has either surpassed REMEMBRANCER, No. 39. or equalled, and are superior to all that can be selected from the tenderest, the sublimest, the most admired efforts of human genius. By such arrangement, he will be more able to appreciate those invaluable compositions. The jewels of the temple will be set, the apples of gold will be inclosed in the net-work of silver; the man most indifferent to their spiritual value, will learn to admire the harmony and simplicity of the narrative, and the magnificence of the poetry. "The infidel and the sceptic, who have thoughtlessly or wilfully rejected Revelation, may perceive in an arrangement of the Old Testament, the most incontrovertible demonstration of the Bible's authenticity, its genuineness and inspiration; and all the absurdities of the Deistical creed are made more glaring by perusing the Scripture narrative thus methodized. "The pious and humble Christian, by perusing the sacred history in its historical form, will be able more clearly to perceive the developement of the plans of Providence. He will there discover in what manner, events apparently unconnected, all tend, in a greater or less degree, to the fulfilment of some wonderful events foretold, but which, at the time of prediction, appeared impossible to be brought about; he will perceive that all the circumstances recorded in the Scripture tend to one end, with as much regularity as the incidents in a regular drama bring about the catastrophe; he will see them combine in one purpose, prove one point, develope one mighty scheme, which was planned in the councils of Omnipotence, gradually revealed to mankind, and still in progress; and will perceive that the scheme of prophecy has been in great measure surely accomplished, and will be more and more convinced that the remaining prophecies shall all be fulfilled." The notes which Mr. T. has affixed to his text are not numerous, but copious and valuable; they are selected from the best authorities, ancient as well as modern, and comprehend the observations of travellers even to the recent discoveries of Belzoni, who actually saw the circumstances of the captivity of Josiah, king of Judah, depicted on the walls of the chief temples in Egypt. [Vol. II. p. 642, note.] To the work are appended no fewer than six Indexes. The first Z |