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 "BISHOP COLEISO" SLAII 
 
 WITH A SLING AND A STONE. 
 
 A COMPLETE REPUTATION 
 
 OF HIS " INFAMOUS " WORK 
 
 ON THE PEITATEUCHj 
 
 BY FIGUEES AND FACTS, 
 
 WITH PROOFS ALONE FROM THE BIBLE. 
 
 BY 
 
 .A. L^ISrGA^SHIII^E IL.A.ID i| 
 
 MANCHESTER : 
 
 M\"Q^ JOHN HEYWOOD, 143, DEANSGATE. ^., ,.,...^ 
 
 ®)f/l^^^ LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO. P^H\| (|j 
 
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 B5I225 
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 "BISHOP COLENSO" SLAII 
 
 WITH A SLING AND A STONE. 
 
 A COMPLETE EEEUTATION 
 
 OF HIS "infamous" WORK 
 
 ON THE PENTATEUCH, 
 
 BY FIGURES AND FACTS, ^ 
 
 WITH PROOFS ALONE FROM THE BIBLE. 
 
 BY 
 
 "Thow\A5 Dowden 
 
 MANCHESTER : 
 JOHN HEYWOOD, 143, DEANSGATE. 
 
 LONDON : BIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Having waited a long time ia feverisli impatience, looking througii the 
 advertizing columns of newspapers, in humble hope to see that some armed 
 theologian, had taken up the "gauntlet" Bishop Colenso has thrjwndown ; 
 hitherto, I have looked and waited in vain, with the exception of one small 
 pamphlet, the author of which contents himself with pointing out a mistake 
 or two, and going with him in his most egregious error, quietly retires. 
 Another gentleman, professing to be an oracle of truth, lately, in a lecture 
 on " The Sceptic Bishop," tries, for an hour and a half, to show his audience 
 that the Bishop was egregiously wrong, yet never attempted to confront his 
 " Statistics" by any proof, and at the close, desires his audience not to point 
 the finger of scorn at him, nor despise him, for he (the lecturer) assured them 
 this said " Sceptic Bishop" was a candid, manly, conscientious, and — in the 
 main — generous opponent. The man professing to be an under shepherd 
 over the flock of Christ, thus introducing a wolf into your fold as a " generous 
 opponent," richly deserves the same fate, whatever that may be. As well 
 tell his audience, and make them believe, " That it is better to shake hands 
 with the devil, than to oppose and resist him." We cannot mince matters iu 
 this way, for he that wisheth such a one " God speed," is partaker of his sin. 
 
 When we travel by railway wo follow the engine, willingly and com- 
 fortably, so long as he goeth at a rational speed and keepeth on the rails, 
 but when he goeth too fast and runneth off the rails, then are we alarmed, ' 
 and terrified lest we be overturned into the ditch, wounded, bruised, and it 
 may be, slain, so we can with pleasure follow comfortably and with delight, 
 the learned original theologian, so long as he goeth at a reasonable rate, and 
 keepeth on the rails, (or line of truth), but, when he runneth off, to the right 
 hand, or to the left, we then say " Good night to ye man," else we know, 
 where we shall soon land, wounded, bruised, and may be slain. When 
 Goliath of Gath, presented himself before the army of Israel, the strong men 
 and mighty wei"e afraid and fled. So it wovild appear in our day, to our 
 sorrow and confusion of ftice. The learned theologians are afraid at this 
 "Goliath of Rome," Bishop Colenso, and have hid themselves. Thus is 
 mine indignation aroused, and although I am no scribe, never having had 
 the assistance of a schoolmaster (but learning to read in childhood) yet will 
 I attempt with a sling and a stone, " in the name of the Lord," 'for his 
 honour, and the Bible-lovers of England, to wound the giant, at all events. 
 The reader must not look for fine flowery pages of literature, but for plain 
 clear facts, and correct figures. Truth is truth, whether it appear in a 
 polished or a rough uncultivated garb. 
 
 Let Briton's sons and daughters scan the earth's wide surface, see and 
 point out any kingdom, people, or nation enjoying ' true liberty,' peace and 
 prosperity, who hath contemned the Bible. Or let them look back to the 
 earth's first foundation, and say, Where hath the nation, people, or kingdom 
 been (the Jews not excepted) favom'cd, and blessed, and prospered like 
 Great Bricain. And why ? Because she hath cherished, loved, and held 
 in reverence ' The Bible' as an invaluable pearl spread over our land, as 
 though there had been a great shower of them ; so that one is within the 
 grasp of every child in the kingdom. Let us then hold fast that which wc 
 have, a precious gem, and suffer :■"> enemy to .ace or spoil -c hue. 
 
We know that the Pentateuch was not handed down to us as a mere 
 historical record, but as a true type of the redeemed church of Christ, in all 
 her stages ; oft times oppressed and anon enjoying liberty and blessings, but 
 when she grew slothful, waxed fat and kicked, she was brought low, under 
 Koman Emperors and Roman Pontiffs, the pure gold hath been again and 
 again separated from the dross, and at this day we fear she is in a cold 
 lukewarm and indifferent spirit, if so, another refining time will soon come 
 as tlie serpent beguiled Eve, so Bishop Colenso introduces himself thus:— 
 
 " His conflicts in mind, the recollection of the penalties he must pay, 
 the estrangement of friends, and, if need be, severance from the religious 
 communion with which his earliest and tenderest associations arc bound up, 
 and that all these he had weighed, yet, rather than be ' false* to his con- 
 science, he resolved to risk all." This, truly, is a pious way to the tender 
 feelings of the silly ones, but the man whose eyes are opened cannot thus be 
 lioodwinked. "False to his conscience" says the Bishop. What is con- 
 science? A monitor to the mind ! acting only according to the light that 
 mind enjoys. The Apostle says, conscience "aceuseth," or else " exeuseth;" 
 of what use is the most brilliant eye in the dark? so is conscience if the mind 
 be not lighted up. Wc see the Jew, the Mahometan, for their conscience 
 Hake, will not only sacrifice their worldly goods and prospects, but their souls 
 and bodies also, and those of their children to eternal damnation. We are, 
 therefore, not bound to give credit to all a man's conscience may dictate. 
 
 The Bishop would have us believe, that there is some little in the five 
 books of Moses, that he can find room for in his comprehension, and that he 
 only objects to the historical part ; that from his own knowledge of geology 
 and mathematics, he knows better than that, a deluge (such as recorded), took 
 place in Noah's days, as being impossible! Our Lord Jesus Christ testified 
 of the deluge as a "fact, so did the Apostle Paul, if he believes not the fact, 
 nor this testimony, certain we are, that he cannot be a believer in God : 
 ■when he states : 
 
 " Our belief in the living God remains as sure as ever, though not only 
 the Pentateuch but the whole Bible were removed, it is written in our 
 hearts by God's own finger ; as surely as by the hand of the apostle in the 
 Bible." 
 
 We have clear testimony that the finger of God never yet touched his 
 heart, for had it been so, his soul and conscience would have trembled in 
 amazement, at what he had penned. 
 
 Therefore he stands^ but as an ' heathen' man, and a publican to the 
 tnie Christian, as with 
 
 A Lancashire Lad 
 
THE SIEGE OF ROME. 
 
 ^Iv purpose in this refutation of Bishop Colenso's statementa 
 and objections to the facts recorded by Moses, is to copy section 
 by section, as he gives it unto the reader, inviting to close exa- 
 mination, and demanding answers to each section. 
 Wc will first take the Deluge. 
 
 He says : " While translating the story of the Flood I have 
 had a simple-minded, but intelligent native — one with the 
 docility of a child, but the reasoning powers of mature age, look 
 up and ask, ' Is all this true ? Do you believe that all this 
 happened thus : that all the beasts, and birds, and creeping 
 things upon the earth, large and small, from hot countries and 
 from cold, came thus by pairs, and entered into the Ark with 
 Noah ? And did Noah gather food for them all, for the beasts 
 and birds of prey, as well as the rest V My heart answered in 
 the words of the Prophet, ' Shall a man speak lies in the namo 
 of the Lord.' I dared not do so." 
 
 This all looks., very plausible under covert; as from a Chris- 
 tian nation, the Doctor might have answered, without lying, 
 "That God who made all the beasts, &c., at the Creation, 
 ' brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them, &c.' 
 Gen. ii. 19. ; where then the great difficulty in believing ' that 
 his hand was not shortened, when he brought them to the Ark, 
 unto Noah." 
 
 This Ark, from its dimensions given, must have been greater 
 than " The Great Eastern" steamship. And pray how was she 
 built, launched, and fitted out in a couple of years, and can be 
 now laden or uidaden in a few weeks. Wc ask : AYhat would 
 3,000 pairs of wild beasts, birds and creeping things, with 3,000 
 tons of provisions, be to her ? Just a fair ballast to keep her 
 steady at sea for " twelve months." Yet Noah, who like 
 Abraham, no doubt had hundreds of servants born in his own 
 liouse, took 120 years to build, fit up, and gather in food for all. 
 We must leave it to "theologians" to decide which is the 
 greatest " mortal sin," " telling Hes in the name of the Lord," 
 or telling "lies" in the service of the " devil." 
 
 But leaving these minor points, we shall proceed to examine 
 his mountains; which, if we are enabled to pull down and uproot, 
 the mole-hills will, of course, fall to the ground of themselves. 
 
6 
 
 What is related of the family of Juclah : 
 *' Judah was married at the ' age of twenty,' and was forty- 
 two years old when he went with Jacob into Egypt. That the 
 following events should have occurred in twenty-two years : he 
 has three sons, the eldest grows up, marries and dies; the second 
 comes to maturity (suppose in another year), marries his bro- 
 ther's widow, and dies. The third grows up to maturity, (suppose 
 in another year still) but refuses to marry ' his brother's widow.' 
 The widow deceives Judah, and bears him twins, Pharez and 
 Zarah: one of the twins grows to maturity, and has two sons, 
 Hezron and Hamul, born to him, who are declared in the text 
 to have gone down to Egypt with Jacob." 
 
 The text says: "but Er and Onan died in the land of 
 Canaan ; here is a full stop. Then follows : " And the sons of 
 Pharez ivere Hezron and Hamul." There is no intimation here 
 that these two were born in the land of Canaan ; if so, they 
 must also have come up with Moses out of Egypt ; for according 
 to the Bishop's testimony and belief, they were "the fourth 
 Generation" that went down, and which was to come up again 
 215 years after, as the Bishop would, with many learned men, 
 have us believe. But we shall show more of this afterwards. 
 
 In regard to Judah's being "forty-two" years old at the 
 time of going into Egypt, we cannot conceive from whence lie 
 gets his data. Joseph when he was called before Pharoah, Gen. 
 xli. 46, was " thirty years old." The seven years of plenty 
 passed away, and two years of the famine. Gen. xlv. G, before 
 Joseph made himself known unto his brother, he then must have 
 been 39 years of age. Another year his father cometh down to 
 him ; he then would be 40 years old. If we believe Dr. Coleuso's 
 statistics, " Judah was forty-two," although there were born 
 imto Jacob six sons and one daughter at different years, between 
 Joseph and Judah ; and from this view of it, Judah would have 
 been at least 52 years old on going into Egypt. 
 
 In regard to the sons of Pharez, "Hezron and Hamul," as 
 well the sons of Beriah, (son of Ashur), Heber and Malchiel the 
 enlightened mind can easily perceive that these are set down, 
 shewing the separate chronology of Jacob's wives, than that they 
 are, or could be named here, as going down to Egypt with 
 Jacob, it may then be asked how could the total be seventy souls. 
 Answer : in the summary. Gen. c. 46 v. 7 it reads " His sons and 
 his sons' sons with him. "His daughters," and his sons 
 daughters," there is only the name of one daughter of Jacob's 
 given, as also but one daughter of Ashur's, it is therefore evident 
 (as the plural daughters is distinctly made, that more females 
 than are named went down with Jacob which would make up the 
 seventy. 
 
 From ancient history we learn, that letters had been invented 
 and the Art of writing introduced in Egypt preyious to Joseph's 
 
time, no doubt but lie had learned this holding the high posi- 
 tion next to Pharoah ; we can easily conceive that before his 
 death, he would have instituted a regular register of his brethren, 
 which before, throughout all their line of descent, had been hand- 
 ed down from father to son verbally — with all particular events, 
 retaining these in their memory just as we can, the greater por- 
 tion of the History of England, without overstraining our reason- 
 ing powers — we can believe that Moses copied the names he 
 therein found, which would no doubt contain the names of Hezron 
 and Hamul, the sons of Pharez, saying nothing about when 
 they were born, also the sons of Beriah Ashur's son. 
 
 Dr Colenso's statements, regarding the Tabernacle come next 
 before us as follow : — 
 
 "In Leviticus c.viii.v. 4, Moses receives instructions to gather 
 the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle, of the 
 congregation, 'He did as commanded,' and the assembly was 
 gathered unto the door, and it appears to be certain that by the 
 expression, so often used here and elsewere, 'the assembly,' the 
 whole assembly, all the congregation is meant the whole body 
 of people, at all events the adult males in the prime of life, and 
 not merely the heads or elders of the people, &c. But the width 
 of the tabernacle was only 18 feet and allowing two feet to 
 each man, just nine men could have stood in front of it. Sup 
 posing then that all the adult males, numbering as we are told 
 600,000, had obeyed the Divine summons, and taken their place 
 side by side in front, not of the door merely, but of the whole 
 end of the tabernacle, they would have reached, allowing is' 
 inches between each rank, 100,000 feet, or nearly twenty miles. 
 The tabernacle stood inside the court, and the reason why the 
 congregation were summoned to the door of the tabernacle was, 
 that they might see the consecration of Aaron and his sons ; 
 * which was taking place inside,' &c." 
 
 We can hardly afford pity to a man, who professes to have 
 translated the Bible into other languages, or in his translation 
 did he leave out, or pass certain chapters or verses &c., in the 
 c. 29 Exodus V. 4 it is clearly stated, ' and Aaron and his sons 
 thou shalt bring unto -the door of the tabernacle of the congrega- 
 tion, and shalt wash them with water.' — And after the anointing 
 &c., V. 32 ' and Aaron and his sons shall eat flesh of the ram &c., 
 at the door,' of the tabernacle of the congregation. What then 
 becomes of the Bishop's assertion, or rather insinuation, that 
 the congregation might see what was passing inside the taber- 
 nacle, that is the consecration of Aaron and his sons; which is 
 declared to have taken place outside, in the court of the taber- 
 nacle. It is true the width of the tabernacle was only 21 feet, 
 (not 18 as he states), but we read that the court was 100 cubits 
 (or 175 feet) in length, and 50 cubits wide, (or 82^ feet), this 
 coart was enclosed by curtains, which could be opened, (drawn 
 
8 
 
 or raised up.) The altar of the burnt offerings, Ex. 40c. 6v. *ancl 
 thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering,' ' before the door,' of 
 the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation ; thus it is clear 
 the consecration of Aaron and his sons was outside, as ' the 
 altar,' the brazen laver and the ' table,' could not have had 
 sufficient space inside, by the dimension given, had the altar been 
 inside the very heat and blaze, would have set fire to the whole 
 in short. 
 
 " We look now at the Bishop's statement regarding the 
 ' bringing unto the door of the tabernacle." It don't read, ' that 
 all the congregation are to be brought and to stand right opposite 
 the door,' as he endeavours to show, in ranks of 9 for 20 miles ; 
 (this is a most effeminate idea for a Bishop and an insult to the 
 learned.) The passage he refers to says, ' unto the door,' which 
 means ' before the door,' or within sight of it, as set forth. Lev., 
 ix. 5., 'And they brought that which Moses commanded before 
 the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the congregation drew 
 near and stood before the Lord.' There is in this passage no 
 reference to 'the door.' 
 
 We assume that the door of the tabernacle was on the east 
 side, no mention being made of boarding for it. The Israelites 
 came here from the west, encamping before the Mount Sinai, 
 therefore, the " door of the tabernacle would be towards the 
 mount; the ground rising from before the door. Now, by 
 a little multiplication, we find, taking infants and children 
 in the arms, that the entire population of London could 
 stand comfortably within 720 yards square, gives us 518,400 
 square yards, allowing 2 adults and 2 children (in the arms or 
 otherwise; to the square yard ; the total is 2,073,600 persons. 
 Thus, on this rising ground, each one could distinctly see the 
 solemn act of consecrating Aaron and his sons. We admit that, 
 had that people only power of eyesight, dim as Bishop Colenso's 
 they might not have been able to see clearly, even across the 
 court of the tabernacle ; but their organs and nerves, were as 
 greatly superior to ours, as the natural strength of body must 
 have been, when at 80 years of age, they only came to maturity. 
 Moses died 120 years old, " his eye was not dim, nor his natural 
 force abated;" he could distinctly see the inheritance of the 
 different tribes, as they had been apportioned out, more than 50 
 miles off, yea, double, by natural sight. Cannot we then believe 
 those people, so much younger, could see clearly and distinct that 
 half- a-mile, which would be the outermost of the congregation — 
 but more of this afterwards. 
 
 The glorious scene to be witnessed, more especially, was the 
 Lord descending in the cloud and resting upon the tabernacle. 
 
 The Doctor's next bugbear is as follows : — 
 
 " There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which 
 Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the 
 
women and the little ones— in all about two millions. This is the 
 number at which they are usually estimatetl, so that, including 
 the ' mixed multitude,' the number of the Israelites would be 
 about equal to the population of London in 1851. How is it 
 conceivable," asks Dr. Colenso, "that a man should do what 
 Joshua is here said to have done, imless, indeed, the reading was 
 a mere dumb show ? No human voice could reach the ears of a 
 crowd as large as the population of London. The very crying of 
 the ' little ones,' who are expressly said to have been present, must 
 have sufficed to drown the sound at a few yards distance." 
 
 This last insinuation about the children is not any worse than 
 the " offering, of strange fire" by the sons of Aaron, as though 
 the " Almighty," who calms the raging tempest, could not on 
 such an occasion, or any other, have made silent as death those 
 infant cries. The learned may well blush at reading such serpent- 
 like trash. 
 
 In regard to Moses and Joshua's reading all the commands 
 unto the congregation. I have already shewn that the population 
 of London, great and small, could stand within a half-square 
 mile, within an amphitheatre, the ground rising gradually up 
 from the centre, why should not a man's voice be heard in a 
 calm pure air. We have often heard the voice of a ship-captain, 
 shouting to his men on board the ship at anchor, a mile from 
 the shore, the vessel lying in an arm of the sea between two 
 hills. We have also often hailed a ferry-boat, a mile and a half 
 across the water, so situated ; but what are our own puny voices in 
 this age, compared with such as the Israelites in the prime of 
 life at 80 years, and, if such men had strength of body to lay 
 hold upon, and slay a lion, rendering him like a kid, is it too 
 great a stretch of reasoning power, to believe if men had such 
 power of body, superior to a lion, that their lungs and power of 
 voice could be much weaker than the lion's, and that Avith a 
 round intonation, why should they not be heard at the distance 
 of a mile, it is set forth in scripture, of men speaking thus to 
 one another, from hillside to hillside, as did David to King Saul, 
 and " Jotham to the Shechemites;" even as we have heard the 
 distinct notes (or tune) of a pipe on a summer evening, across 
 the water, and across the valleys of Scotland. 
 
 The sizes of the camp, compared with the priest's duties, as 
 described in Leviticus c. iv., v. 11 & 12, is next discussed. We 
 shall take this most notorious of all Bishop Colenso's mountains, 
 (impassable) section by section, and answer each in the order he 
 gives them. 
 
 " From the outside of this great camp, wood and water 
 would have to be fetched, for all purposes, if, indeed, such supplies 
 of wood and water, for the wants of such a multitude as this, 
 could have been found at all in the wilderness, under Sinai, for 
 instance, where they arc said to haye encamped for nearly twelye 
 
10 
 
 months together. How much wood would remain, in such a 
 neighbourhood, after a month's consumption of the City of 
 London, even at midsummer." 
 
 Answer. Although the Israelites were in a wilderness, it was 
 not in a desert they ever encamped ; the trees, on and around 
 Mount Sinai, had been growing more than 2000 years. We 
 read that one board of the tabernacle was to be in length, 10 
 cubits, (17^ft.) and one cubit and a half the breadth, (Slfinch) 
 Exodus c. XXVI., 16 v.; " And the middle bar in the midst of 
 the boards shall reach from end to end, v, 28," this bar would 
 be 52|ft. in length. We have no hesitation in saying (from 
 experience) that such a tree, would serve for firing a whole year 
 fifty Scotch families, and if such trees, surely the grass must 
 have been abundant for the cattle : 
 
 Next objection : 
 
 " And the 'ashes' of the whole camp, with the rubbish and 
 filth of every kind, for a population like that of London, would 
 have to be carried out in like manner, through the midst of the 
 crowded mass of the people. They coiild not surely have all 
 gone outside the camp for the necessities of nature, as commanded, 
 Deut. c. xxiii., 12, 14, v. There were the aged, and women in 
 childbirth, sick persons, and young children who could not have 
 done this, and indeed, the command itself supposes the person 
 to have a ' paddle' upon his ' weapon' and therefore must be 
 understood to apply only to the males, or rather, only to the 
 600,000 warriors. But the very fact that this direction for 
 ensuring cleanliness ; for Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst 
 of thy camp ; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that he see no 
 unclean thing in thee ; and turn away from thee, would 
 have been so limited in the application, is itself a very 
 convincing proof of the unhistorical character of the whole 
 narrative. But how huge does this difficulty become, if, 
 instead of taking the excessively cramped area of 1,652 acres; 
 less than three square miles, for such a camp as this, we take 
 the more reasonable allowance of ' Scott, who says,' this 
 encampment is computed to have formed a movable city of 
 twelve miles. square ; that is about the size of London itself, as 
 it might well be, considering that the population was as large as 
 that of Loudon, and that in the Hebrew tents there were no first, 
 second, third and fourth stories, no crowded garrets and under- 
 ground cellars. In that case, the offals of these sacrifices would 
 have had to be carried by Aaron himself or one of tis sons, a 
 distance of six miles, and the same difficulty would have attended 
 each of the other transactions, in fact we have to imagine the 
 Priest having himself to carry on his back on foot, from St. 
 Paul's to the outskirts of the metropolis, the 'skin, flesh, head, 
 legs, inwards, and dung, even the whole bullock,' and the people 
 having to carry out their rubbish in like manner, and bring in 
 
11 
 
 their daily supplies of water and fuel, after first cutting down 
 the latter where they could find it. Further we have to imagine 
 half a million of men going out daily, the 22,000 Levites for a 
 distance of six miles, to the suburbs for the common necessities 
 of nature. The supposition involves of course an absurdity ; but 
 it is our duty to look plain facts in the face." 
 
 Here we are requested to look facts in the face ; so we will. 
 The devil, when quoting Scripture, " quotes it correctly." 
 Bishop Colenso is not quite so honest : he leaves out, or adds 
 to, just to serve his purpose. How^ any man, with the least 
 spark of integrity, would dare to state, that, Aaron or his sons 
 had to carry on his back, and on foot, the skin, &c., of the bul- 
 lock, in the face of the declaration given us in Num. vii. 1, 
 " And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up 
 the tabernacle," &c.; verse 3, " And they brought their offering 
 before the Lord," six covered waggons and twelve oxen, &c. ; 
 verse 4, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying;" verse 5, 
 " Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the 
 tabernacle of the congregation," e%c. The service of the taber- 
 nacle of the congregation, mark ! Not for the service of the 
 sanctuary. All that was to be carried upon the shoulders was 
 the " ark," the " table," and the " altar," by the Koathites, 
 when journeying. See Num. iv. 15, and vii. 9. Not by Aaron 
 and his sons : they were not to do any servile work, on going up 
 to the altar ; they were to put on the linen breeches, and take 
 away the ashes in the morning, delivering them to the sons of 
 Merari to carry outside the camp; for this purpose, and other 
 services, (viz., taking away all the skins, heads, dung, &c., of 
 the slain beast) the sons of Merari had four waggons and eight 
 oxen apportioned to them ; and the sons of Gershon, two wag- 
 gons and four oxen. 8,580 Levites, Aaron and his sous, had to 
 assist them to do the service of the tabernacle, as well when on 
 the march as when resting. And over all these Aaron and his 
 sons had the oversight. Num. iii. 32, " And Eleazar the son 
 of Aaron, the priest, shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, 
 and have the ' oversight' of them that keep the ' sanctuary.' " 
 Language could not speak plainer than this, and we may be 
 sure that these six waggons were not all the Israelites had; but 
 it is clearly evident, they had plenty to carry forth without the 
 camp all their rubbish, as well to bring in wood and water. 
 
 The ideas of Bishop Colenso are almost too dirty to follow ; 
 nevertheless, we will expose his sophistry a little further. He 
 sets forth " Scott" as his authority for the extent of the 
 Israelitish camp, comparing it to London, and as amoving city; 
 himself adding that it must be; considering the Israelites hav- 
 ing no " first, second, third and fourth stories, and no under- 
 ground cellars." Had the Doctor forgot that neither had the 
 Israelites any drawing or dining-rooms, no ball-rooms, bed- 
 
12 
 
 rooms, parlours, &.C.; no cliairs, tables, bedsteads, pianofortes, 
 book-cases, &c. ; no churclies, chapels, tlieaties, parks. See. ; no 
 miles of docks, wharfs, quays, foundries, &c. The London 
 docks, warehouses, &c., occupy quite as much space ; if we take 
 the square yards thereof, as would well have supplied room for 
 the Israelite's encampment. We have already shewn that such 
 a population could stand upon less than a " half square mile." 
 When on the march they journeyed in line, according to their 
 tribes, Num. x. IG. (The comparing of the Israelitish camp, to 
 the city of London, by Scott and Dr. Colenso, is most prepos- 
 terous ! We might have expected it from a child !) AlloAving 
 each tribe one mile in length, and a half mile in width ; this 
 would allow each man, woman, and child twenty-four times the 
 space they could stand on as a congregation. And when 
 encamped. Num. ii., three tribes on the east, three on the south, 
 three on the west, and three on the north side of the tabernacle, 
 a great way off, we presume they would have each tribe a mile 
 for encampment, a half-mile in width; so, lor the carrying out 
 of rubbish, bringing in woo<l and water, and for the males to go 
 outside the camp for the " necessities of nature," would not be 
 more than ten minutes Avalk, once or twice a day. And if Bishop 
 Colenso had ever resided in Edinburgh (the modern Athens), 
 or in Glasgow, in this refined age, and with so wise and great a 
 population, he would have experimentally had to practise what 
 he now scoffs at, regarding this custom of the Israelites. For, 
 from some parts of the old town of Edinburgh, he would have to 
 walk three-fourth's of a mile to the public place for " nature's 
 easement," and if he were a stranger, would likely have to pay 
 a porter sixpence to show him the place, and then, most likely 
 have to wait a quarter of an hour for a vacant open empty stall. 
 Here he would see noblemen, gentlemen, merchants, bankers, 
 porters, carters and sweeps, all sitting down together in open 
 court, and people laughing at some poor blushing, bashful. Eng- 
 lishman, looking so sheepish and wonderiied. It is the custom 
 of the place, and why should it not. The Bishop makes it a 
 marvel, that 22,000 Levites should have this little extra exercise 
 going outside the camp. 
 
 Now in the space we have given the Hebrew's camp, each 
 family, say six persons, would have for a tent, twelve feet square, 
 for ordinary purposes, cooking &c., and an inner place twelve feet 
 by six, leaving twelve feet by six fur lanes, passages, &c., between 
 the tents, a sh-eet four yards wide. It is recorded by modern 
 travellers that a dozen eat and sleep in tents of less size, at the 
 present time, sleeping on the ground, where they cook, eat, and 
 sleep with a rug about them and a stone for their pillow. 
 
 The Bishop's next " impossible" is — 
 
 " Every woman after childbirth was required to bring a lamb 
 for a burnt-offering, or a pigeon, or a turtle-dove, for a siu-oflfer- 
 
ing, and the priest is to officiate. Now the birtlis amoug 
 2,000,000 of people, may bo reckoned as, at least, 250 a day, 
 which would require 500 daily sacrifices, allowing lire minutes to 
 each sacrifice, these alone would require 2,500 minutes or nearly 
 42 hours, aud could not have been offered up in a single day of 
 12 hours, even if the three priests did nothing else." 
 
 We have not so much charity left as to say that the Dr. here 
 makes a little mistake, but a wilful omission of part of this 
 sacrifice, a verse or two below the above quotation, Lev. xii c, 8, 
 " And if she bo not able to bring a lamb, then she shall 
 bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons." It must be 
 inferred that the Israelites, after so great and sore bondage in 
 Egypt, must have been poor, at least, a great part of them, so 
 that if, instead of the 250 lambs, we say half of them 125 of those 
 who were able to offer. The altar was near 10 feet square, and, 
 instead of only one person's sacrifice at a time, we should say that 
 the parts to be ofTered or burnt on the altar, the fat, the rump, 
 the two kidneys, etc., were but a small portion of the lamb, for 
 part Aaron and his sons had, other parts were to be eaten by the 
 parties offering. Lev. vii c, 16. Also the party offering had to 
 play the lamb, takeoff the skin, cut it up, and present it to Aaron. 
 Therefore, if this " Altar," sufficiently large to hold upon the 
 "wood" twenty lambs at once, with pigeons &c., why should 
 not the parts of 125 lambs, with 250 pigeons, be consumed on 
 that altar, the fire of which " was never to go out," and how soon 
 would the fat of such animals consume, with all that was about 
 them ? We should say six hours quite sufficient instead of 42 
 hours, as the Bishop calculates. 
 
 We come now to the first passover, at which the Author is 
 so much staggered as with their Exodus, he states : — 
 
 That in the course of ' twelve hours,' explicit instructions 
 must have been given personally to the head of every family. 
 
 A slight mistake or oversight in our Author might be 
 excused, but when one makes a direct falsehood on the sacred 
 bock, he is utterly unworthy of notice, but we quote the text as it 
 is recorded, Ex. 12c 1-? " and the Lord said unto Moses and 
 Aaron speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel saying, in the 
 "tenth day of this month, thoy shall take to them every man a 
 lamb, Gv. and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the 
 game month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of 
 Isreal shall kill it in the evening. 
 
 This command must have been given in the first day or two 
 of the month, at all events, some days previous to the "tenth," 
 soon as Moses and Aaron had received the ^oarticular instructi(m 
 verse 21, "Then ]\Ioscs called for all the elders of Israel" and 
 gave them the instructions he had received, about preparing the 
 Lamb on the " tenth day," as also the command, 1 Ic. 2v., speak 
 now in the ears of all the people and let every man borrow of 
 
14 
 
 -his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of 
 silver, and jewels of gold, &c. 
 
 Yet in the face of this the Bishop states, that all this, had 
 to be done, within " twelve hours," viz : preparing the passover 
 eating it and spoiling the Egyptian, when they must have had 
 at least six or seven days for spoiling and borrowing. — 
 
 We can state one fact, that if news were to come that the 
 war in America were settled, and that plenty of cotton was on 
 the way, this news would be known in every corner of Manchester 
 and London, in one hour. 
 
 Now comes his quibble about the Lambs for the passover. 
 " Each household was to take a lamb kill it and eat it, if the 
 household were too small for onelamb, two households might join. 
 Josephus records ten persons on an average for each lamb. 
 Taking ten as the number 200,000 lambs would be required, 
 taking twenty persons 100,000 lambs, taking the mean 150,000, 
 in all 300,000. They were all to be male lambs of the first 
 year. There were therefore as many females, in all 300,000 
 lambs. But it is clear that all the male lambs of that year were 
 not killed, or there would have been no wethers left for the 
 increase of the flock, instead of 150,000 then, let us take 200,000 
 of each, male and female, total, 400,000 lambs of the first year. 
 
 A Natal sheepmaster informs the Bishop that the total 
 number of sheep, in an average flock of all ages, will be about 
 five times that of the increase in one season of lambing. Hence 
 the 400,000 lambs of the first year implies a flock of 2,000,000 
 sheep, the Israelites had also large herds; even very much 
 cattle, allowing five sheep to the acre, the Israelites would have 
 required 400,000 acres of grazing land — larger than the whole 
 of Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire, and more than twice the size 
 of Middlesex. The peoj)le therefore did not live in one city; 
 but then, the difficulty of informing such a population would be 
 enormously increased, as well as that of their borrowing; when 
 summoned in the dead of the night, to the extent implied in the 
 story. 
 
 The above paragraph throughout, is clearly one of specu- 
 lation. The Bishop, no doubt, conceived that Englishmen were 
 nearly as intelligent as his "intelligent native" of Natal, else 
 he would have shown us a little more respect. We don't 
 require the evidence of Josephus, in regard to how many persons 
 could cat a lamb. Certainly we cannot refrain a smile at the idea 
 of a man or woman eating " five pounds of mutton to 
 supper," but we cannot really swallow the suggestion of an infant 
 at the breast, or children from one to ten years of age, as well as 
 the sick and infirm women in childbirth, &c., eating quite so 
 much. Wo have seen, more than once, ten in a family making a 
 good dinner off a quarter of a lamb, leaving some. In these days 
 we find a quarter of a lamb weighing from 12 to 16 pounds, and 
 
15 
 
 we may assume, in those times, they were much larger, so that 
 with more truthfulness, we have calculated forty persons to alamb, 
 allowing one and a-half pounds to each infant, suckling, &c., 
 included, therefore, 50,000 lambs would suffice the whole con- 
 gregation ; we then multiply this number by '* five," according 
 to the " Natal" sheepmaster's statistics, we have then a breeding 
 stock of 250,000 ewes. It is rather an humbling matter for the 
 Church to which he belongs, to think of one of their " Learned 
 Heads" applying to a heathen sheepmaster for statistics to refute 
 the " Holy Bible." The Bishop don't inform us of all this 
 heathen sheepmaster taught him, but, by his statement, we are 
 left to assume that in Natal their sheep were married iu couples, 
 male and female ; he says that it would require for a flock 
 1,000,000 males to 1,000,000 ewes. It is not so done in our 
 country. But the Bishop did not think it worth his while to ask 
 an English sheepmaster such a question, but we know that a 
 shepherd retains but one ram or tup for every twenty or 25 ewes, 
 so that 250,000 ewes and 12,500males would amount to 262,500, 
 a more reasonable calculation than his 2,000,000. According to 
 the returns of the London Cattle Market, there are sold there 
 yearly, an average of 1,560,000 sheep, and 450,000 head of 
 cattle, yet the population of London is not scattered over the 
 counties of Herefordshire and Bedfordshire, and why not the 
 2,000,000 Israelites dwell in a far less compass than the Lon- 
 doners, when they had not so much furniture, very little more, 
 than they could carry on their backs ? But the learned Bishop 
 does this to enlarge his " mountain ;" that it were impossible to 
 inform such a number of people scattered as they must have 
 been over the l^ind of Goshen, " at the dead hour of the night, 
 ■ and as it was a matter of life and death, any one of the Israelites 
 to be out of doors, we could have afforded a smile if some little 
 girl, had propounded such a difficulty, but when we just look at 
 the 30th of the 12th chapter of Exodus, " At midnight there 
 was a ' great cry' in Egypt, yea in all the land of Egypt, in 
 every house one lay dead. A cry, we may presume, almost 
 to awaken the dead.'-' Pray what more piercing " signal" could 
 the Israelites have heard and every one just ready to march out. 
 
 We shall now •' strain at his next camel," and see if we don't 
 swallow a gnat. 
 
 " The numbers of the first-bora males, it is stated, Num. iii. 
 c. 43, to have been 22,273 If there were 600,000 males of 20 
 years and upwards, the whole number of males may be reckoned 
 at 900,000 which would give one first born to every 44 males, 
 that is, the number of males in each family must have been 44." 
 
 Referring to the explanations oftered by Kurtz, Di*. Colenso 
 says : — 
 
 " There is, indeed, one point, though he (Kurtz) has not 
 noticed it. In some famiUes the first-born may have died before 
 
IG 
 
 the numbei'ing, sonic, too, wlio were born about the time of the 
 birth of Moses, may have been killed by the order of Pharoah, 
 And if all those who may have thus died be reckoned witli the 
 22,273, the proportion of the remaining males, to be placed 
 under each of the first-born, will be somewhat altered. Still we 
 cannot suppose any unusual mortality of this kind without check- 
 ing in the same degree the increase of the people. Let us, how- 
 ever, reckon that one out of four first-borns died so that instead 
 of 44,5 K) first-born male and female there Avould have been, if 
 all had lived, about GO, 000. But even this number of first-borns 
 for a population of 1,800,000, would imply that each mother had, 
 on the average, thirty children, fifteen sons and fifteen daughters. 
 Besides which, the number of mothers must have been the same 
 as that of the first born male and female, including, also any 
 that had died. Hence there would have been only 60,000 child- 
 bearing women to GOO, 000 men, so that only one man in ten had 
 a wife and children. 
 
 To make out the above paragraph what an imposition, 
 Kurtz and Colenso must have practised on their own poor 
 minds. Colenso in his great researches, and a little affected 
 modesty, goes back to the time before Moses was born, to 
 conceive, how many " first-born" Pharoah had put to death. 
 We ask, pray what had this to do with the text he here quotes, 
 Num. c. iii., v. 43. The first born that was to be " redeemed." 
 Every Englishman knows that if he has nothing in "pawn" he 
 has nothing "to redeem ;" now what are the facts of the case. 
 When Israel went out of Egypt, Exodus, c. xiii., " That thou 
 shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix," all 
 the first-born " that shall open the matrix, not all that hath 
 opened the matrix, but for the future in all thy generations." On 
 the first day of the second month, in the second year after coming 
 out of Egypt," Num. c. i. 1 v. The Lord gave commandment that 
 he would take all the Levites instead of the first-born, the males, 
 the first child of its mother, which had been already dedicated to 
 him since they came out, there is not the least allusion to all, or 
 any that had been born before. This, the redemption price 
 testifies " five shekels ;" for if any had been above five years 
 old, the redemption price Avould have been " twenty shekels, or 
 fifty shekels if above twenty years of age. 8ee Lev. xxvii. 
 Wiaerein is given a scale of redemption monies. For anything 
 a man may have dedicated unto the Lord, by a singular vow, or 
 on any account, whether it were himself, his son, liis daughter, 
 ox or ass, house or lands, he was permitted to redeem them by 
 paying the certain sums appointed ; so, that none but those born 
 during the last fourteen months could be redeemed, for they had 
 never been dedicated (or as we may say), pawned or mortgaged. 
 
 Next, Bishop Colenso devotes three chapters to the increase 
 of the Israelites, and their number at the Exodus. And starts 
 
17 
 
 by shewing, '* As the clear meaning of the Pentateuch, that the 
 430 years mentioned as the period of the ' sojourning of the 
 children of Israel' must be reckoned from the time of Abraham's 
 arrival in the land of Canaan, to the departure of his descendants 
 out of Egypt. So St. Paul explains it, Gal. iii. 17. Hence the 
 period of their sojourn in Egypt was 215 years. At tha 
 commencement of this latter period they were seventy souls ; at 
 the end 2,000,000. This was physically impossible." 
 
 In assailing the above statements, we are quite aware that it 
 is like an individual soldier assaulting a well-fortified city. This 
 loop-hole for the sceptic to enlarge, and play upon the veracity 
 of Scripture, was not opened up by a bigoted priesthood in 
 ignorance, but opened by men celebrated for great knowledge. 
 Theologians, learned commentators, and last of all by a so-called 
 learned Bishop Colenso, of the Church of England. Ministers 
 of all denominations, and the laity of all classes, have bowed their 
 minds to accept this exposition, false as it is. What motive could 
 induce vain man, or what object he expected to obtain. Certainly 
 neither of them can be good or pure. And then endeavour 
 to pawn this explanation upon the Apostle Paul, we are quite 
 satisfied, that the apostle Paul would never have dared to, or 
 presumed to contradict and nullify the solemn declaration of 
 his maker, when he in solemn covenant with Abraham ; Gen. 
 15c. 13v. declared, 'and he said unto Abram, know of a 'surety,' 
 that thy seed shall be a 'stranger' in a land that is not their's, 
 and shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them ' four hundred 
 years.' Now we ask what feature is there developed in the above 
 declaration during the next 215 years. Abraham had before 
 this covenant been down to Egypt : but never after, that we 
 read of. Isaac was forbidden to go into Egypt at all ; and 
 Jacob did not, until 130 years of age, they all sojourned in a 
 land (Canaan J, that was their's, for God had given it unto 
 them; who afSicted them, in Cannaan? all the kings feared 
 and respected them, therefore the 400 years of service and 
 affliction, was, clearly to. the unbiased mind, beyond those 215 
 years. And then comes the testimony of God, by the mouth of 
 Moses, Exodus xii. 40, 41, 'now the sojourning of the children 
 of Israel, who < dwelt in Egypt,' was four hundred and thirty 
 years,' and it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and 
 thirty years, even the self same day, it came to pass that all the 
 hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. We have 
 also the testimony of the apostle Stephen, (a man full of the 
 Holy Ghost), who with his dying breath declared this fact. Acts 
 vii. 6, 'and God spake on this wise, 'that his s^ed should 
 sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into 
 bondage, and entreat them evil 400 years, this solemn declaration 
 
18 
 
 of the apostle Stephen's, be it remembered was 2000 years after 
 God had declared it unto Abraham. 
 
 But we will now come to the strong fortress of the learned 
 theologians and commentators, and we earnestly crave the 
 close attention and consideration of the reader, as we offer no 
 ai-gument or statement of our own, but, the simple plain testi- 
 mony of scripture; these wise men alledge that the sojourn of the 
 Israelites in Egypt, was only 215 years, as explained by apostle 
 Paul, in Gal. 3c. 17v., "and this I say, that the covenant, that 
 was confirmed before of God in Christ ; the law that was four 
 hundred aud thirty years after cannot disannul that it should 
 make "the promise" of none effect, now we cannot see in all this 
 the least testimony that the Israelites only sojourned in the land 
 of Egypt 215 years. 
 
 We will suggest three questions, what wasembodied in " the 
 Covenant," the Promise" and -with whom; and to whom, was 
 the Covenant and the Promise made, and at what time. In the 
 Covenant two great and glorious objects are promised, viz : the 
 Promised Land, and the Promised Seed; which is Christ, 
 (keeping this in view that the promise is one thing, the object 
 pi-omised another, as said by the previous verse to the text, viz. 
 16v. " the Promises)," now to Abraham and his seed were "the 
 promises made." The Promised Land had been enjoyed by 
 Israel more than thirteen hundred years, when the Apostle penned 
 the epistle to the Galations, therefore what he refers to is, wholly 
 in reference to the promis'd seed, which is " Christ," he questions 
 the foolish Galatians what had induced them to depart from the 
 "faith," and in this he, for brevity's sake mentions individually 
 the name of Abraham, in connection with the " promise," but 
 in this same chapter as elsewere, he boldly declares the real facts 
 as to whom the promise was made, as Acts 13c. 32v., " and 
 we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the " promise" which 
 was made unto the "Fathers." 
 
 Acts 26c. 6v. "And now I stand and am judged, for the 
 hope of "the Promise" made of God unto " our Fathers." 
 
 Eom. 15c. 8v. to confirm "the Promises" made unto "the 
 Fathers," these are a few of the testimonies of the apostle 
 Paul, that, " the Promise" was not made exclusively to Abraham, 
 but to the Fathers, Isaac and Jacob as well, "the Promise" was 
 not received by Isaac and Jacob as an heirloom from their 
 fathers, but in solemn covenant from God himself, and even with 
 Jacob in the lifetime of his father Isaac ; with these three only 
 was the covenant verbally made, as we find it, Gen. 15c. 18v., 
 " In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, 
 saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, &c., and 22c. 18v. 
 
19 
 
 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, &c. 
 to Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 3, 4, sojonra in this land, and I will be 
 with thee, and will bless thee ; for unto thee, and unto thy 
 seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the 
 oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father ; ver, 4, and in 
 * thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. 
 
 To Jacob, Gen. xxviii.'lS, 'And behold the Lord stood 
 above it, and said ' I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, 
 and the God of Isaac ; the land whereon thou liest to * thee' 
 will I give it, and to thy seed, v. 14, and in ' thee,' and in thy 
 seed shall all the famiUes of the earth be blessed, v. 15, and 
 behold, I am with 'thee,' and will keep 'thee' in all places 
 whither thou goest, and will bring ' thee' again into this land; for 
 I will not leave ' thee,' until I have done that which I have 
 spoken to thee of. 
 
 Here we have in these last words a more precise, and 
 enlarged definition of the covenant, and the promise, which was 
 not made to Abraham, or to Isaac, * behold I am with thee,' and 
 will keep ' thee,' in all places whither thou goest, and will bring 
 ' thee' again into this land, &c. 
 
 Abraham's faith was more conspicuous, in the offering up his 
 son ; than either Isaac or Jacob's faith, and the apostle in his ad- 
 dress to the Galations, mentions the name of Abraham exclusively, 
 in regard to his faith in God's 'promise' in this same chapter to the 
 Galations 3, 15, * though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it 
 be confirmed, no man disanmilleth or addeth thereto.' The 
 covenant was made with the father's, (' three,' a sacred number), 
 and a threefold cord is not soon broken, now we ask when is a 
 covenant confirmed ? whenever its first features are developed. 
 And such it was in Jacob. The covenant was made with him sixty 
 years before, and now on his way down to Egypt, the Lord met him, 
 and confirmed the covenant, saying, (Gen. Ixvi. v. 4), I will go 
 down with 'thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring 
 'thee' up again. 
 
 And we assert, that stronger testimony could not be given 
 or'desired, that it was, on this self same day, 430 years after 
 Moses led Israel out of Egypt, as we before stated, Exo. xii. 
 V. 40, ' now the sojourning of the children of Israel, (not the 
 children of Abraham as they are called, but the children of 
 Israel), who dwelt in Egypt, (mark it is not, who dwelt in 
 Canaan and in Egypt), was four hundred and thirty years. — 
 Now in concluding this portion of the subject, and that this is 
 the true way in which it ought to be viewed. That in the 
 ' covenant and the promises' there was no priority, in the three 
 Patriarchs we give the strongest evidence, that can be offered, 
 
20 
 
 the testimony of God himself, for in Ex. , ii. v. 24, ' and God 
 heard their groanings, and God remembered his 'covenant' with 
 Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,' and as it were to prevent 
 such a schism in regard to which we have endeavoured to ex- 
 plain, the Lord revises the order of the names, in Lev. xxvi. 
 V. 42, ' then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also 
 my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham.' 
 
 In this view of the matter, there is no jarring, no contradic- 
 tion, but a beautious harmony, in every statement made by the 
 apostles, the prophets, and by Moses as the mouth of God. 
 
 Now, for argument's sake, let us suppose that, Isreal so- 
 journed only 215 years in Egypt, we shall see what incongruities 
 contradictions, and improbabilities, there are in the idea, and first 
 the Lord said unto Abraham, Gen. xv. v. 16, * but in the 
 ' fourth' generation, they shall come hither again.' Now if 
 the 430 years began with Abram entering Canaan, the genera- 
 tions, also mentioned, must begin here too, of necessity, therefore 
 the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Mannasseh, were the ' fourth' 
 generation, but it is said that Joseph and all that generation, 
 died in Egypt, and we have no account of Ephraim and 
 Mannasseh's going up with Moses. 
 
 Again we have shown that Joseph was forty years old when 
 his father came down to him. It is said Gen. c. 1. 26 v., " So 
 Josepli died being onehvmdred and ten years old ;" therefore he 
 lived 70 years after his father came down to him. Moses was 
 80 years old at the Exodus c. vii. 7, thus 70 years of Joseph 
 and 80 years of Moses is 150 years from 215, leaving only 65 
 years, between Joseph and Moses, for all the great events follow- 
 ing to have taken place, which Bishop Colenso says was not 
 possible to have been in the 215 years. After Joseph's death, 
 and before , Pharoah had begun to destroy the males, before 
 Moses was born, it is said, Ex, c. i. 7, "And the children of 
 Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, 
 and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them." 
 Did this take place in 65 years ? Then Bishop Colenso must be 
 wrong, and all those that with him believe that Israel only 
 sojourned in Egypt 215 years. 
 
 We will now look at the way in which the Bishop makes out 
 the " fourth generation." He says : — 
 
 " The twelve sons of Jacob then, as appears from the above, 
 had between them 53 sons,thatis, on the average, 4i each. Let 
 us suppose that they increased in this way from generation to 
 generation. Then, in the first generation, that of Kohath," (we 
 have already shown that if the 430 years was from Abram enter- 
 ing Canaan, this said Kohath would be of Abram's " seed," the 
 
21 
 
 fourth generation, not the first, thus the Bishop contradicts his 
 own proposition) " there would be 54 males (according to the 
 story 53 or rather only 51 since Err and Onan died in the land 
 of Canaan, v, 12, without issue.) In the ' second' that of 
 Amrara 243 ; in the ' third' that of Moses and Aaron 1094 ; 
 and in the 'fourth,' that of Joshua and Eleazer 4923." 
 
 We are here only to speak of the " fourth" generation, his 
 numericals shall come after. 
 
 Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron, we may suppose to 
 have been 25 years of age, when he married his father's sister 
 (for had he been any older, his wife, we presume, would hav3 
 been past childbearing,) Aaron was 83 at the Exodus, therefore, 
 his father would have been 108 years old when they went up from 
 Egypt, for it is said, " and the years of the life of Amram 
 were an hundred and thirty and seven years." Bishop Colenso 
 says this Amram was the " second" generation, Moses and Aaron 
 the " third," Joshua and Eleazer the "fourth;" he admits first, 
 the proposition, that, in the fourth generation, Israel should be 
 delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians, and then he would 
 have us believe, and sets itdownas a fact, that the second, third, 
 and fourth generations all went up from Egypt, as would appear 
 by his story. 
 
 Again, if the father of Moses and Aaron were the sam« 
 Amram the son of Koath (in the first degree) then Bishop 
 Colenso makes it appear that Amram came down with Jacob and 
 his house into Egypt, and, also it would seem evident, went up 
 with Moses, and this would be in the " first generation" they 
 went out, when Amram would be then 250 years old, at least. 
 
 Again, if this Amram were the same, it is said he mamed 
 his father's sister, ( Jochebed) the sister of Kohath, the daughter 
 of Levi, her brother being married and having a son. She could 
 not be less than 20 years of age when Israel went down into 
 Egypt, and 135 years after bare Moses and Aaron ; she would 
 then be 155 years of age, for Moses being 80 years old, this, 
 from the presumed 215 years, leaves 135. Such a specimen of 
 " theology" we have not before seen in type. Now shall we 
 believe the solemn declaration of the Almighty to Abraham, the 
 Lord's testimony to Moses, the prophets and the Apostles, that 
 Israel served in Egypt 430 years, and the beauteous harmony 
 throughoutall the evidences; orshallwebelievetheincongruities, 
 improbabilities, contradictions, and impossibilities, we have 
 pointed out in the assertions of Bishop Colenso with the evidence 
 of learned men and commentators. Let the reader judge if Israel 
 was only 215 years serving in Egypt. 
 
 "When the Lord said unto Abraham : *' In the fourth gene- 
 
ration, they shall come hither again," we understand **a 
 generation to have been the allotted time of man : his days 
 shall be 120 years." Again : the aged Patriarch : as Joseph ; 
 seeing the children of Ephraim, to the third generation, the 
 youngest that his eye beheld, was clearly understood in the 
 Phraseology of the Hebrews, as is (Joseph's) generation, and 
 so on, when that youngest one, (that Joseph saw,) became the 
 aged Patriarch, to the youngest of his seed, which his eye 
 beheld, was accounted another generation. We cannot, therefore 
 see, how each "generation" could possibly be defined, by names 
 or otherwise, than we have described. 
 
 But, we conceive, the question will be asked, is it not said, 
 Exodus, c, vi., 18 v., " And the sons of Kohath, Amram, and 
 Ishar, and v. 20, and Amram took him Jochebed his father's 
 sister to wife, and she bare him Moses and Aaron." It is true, 
 such is the text, but that Amram, the father of Moses and 
 Aaron, was the same Amram that came down into Egypt with 
 Isobath his father, we deny, else the father of Moses 
 would have been, at least, 350 years old, when Aaron was born. 
 We find in all the Tribes of Israel, the same name occurring in 
 different generations. We will try here, to dispel a dark cloud 
 that seems to hang over the minds of " Theologians" in these 
 last days. In the phraseology of the Jews, through all their 
 generations, they had no such " appellations," in vogue as we 
 use, viz : grandfather, great grandfather, grandson, great grand- 
 son, great great grandson, &c. ; but *' the son" of such a one, 
 not merely, in the first degree, as we understand it, but in the 
 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and up to the 40th degree, this was as familiar 
 to them as we are with great grandson ; many examples we 
 could give from Scripture, but a few we present : " Thou son of 
 David have mercy upon us." Our Saviour said to the Pharasees 
 and Scribes, "If David called him Lord, how then is he is son." 
 Jereboam said to Rehoboam and to all Israel, what portion 
 have we in David, or what inheritance in the " Son of Jesse," 
 (we should say the great grandson of Jesse:) The Lord said 
 unto Moses, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham ; 
 although Moses was at least sixteen generations from Abraham. 
 Brevity was one great principle in all the writings and speechifying 
 of the Jews. Had all the names of the different tribes with the 
 minutia of each family, and branch thereof be recorded, we 
 should have had such a volumious Bible, that few could have 
 purchased^ we can see a beauty in the brevity of these speeches 
 and writing that we should do well to imitate. 
 
 This phraseology and brevity appears in the ancestors of 
 David, who was " the son of Jesse," who was *' the son of 
 the son of Boaz," who was "the son of 
 
Salma" (or Salmon,) who was "the son ofNahshon," who was 
 contemporary with Moses and Aaron, and must have been of 
 tlie same age when he came out of Egypt, for he was the Prince 
 (or the oldest head) of the tribe of Judah. Now if David had 
 no more intermediate ancestors, than these given, or named ; 
 each of them must have been more than 100 years old when 
 his son was born ; and Boaz himself, born either in Egypt, 
 or soon after they entered the wilderness, but in the 
 book of Ruth, we find this Boaz quietly enjoying his inheritance 
 upwards of 300 years after the Israelites entered Canaan. But 
 to prove our assumption, that more of the names were left out 
 in this genealogy than are given ; (but, no doubt, those names 
 passed over, were not of much note or standing, in their day and 
 generation), has in the priesthood from Aaron to Azariah, (the 
 priest who first officiated in the temple which Solomon built,) 
 there appear "fourteen generations," 1 Chron. c. vi. v. 10, 
 while in the same period of time, Solomon stands only the sixth 
 name given in the tribe of Judah from Nahshon. It is clear, 
 then, that at least the names of eight of David's ancestors are 
 left out, as not being conspicuous in their day, and for brevity's 
 sake. This mode of record and phraseology, " the son of" or 
 " the daughter of" whether in the first degree or the tenth, we 
 have clearly set forth again, in the numeration of Jacob's house- 
 hold, ^Gen. c. xlvi. 15.; After enumerating the names of 
 Leah's sons and her son's sons, it is said, " these be the " sons" 
 of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padan-arum, with his 
 daughter Dinah. All the souls of his " sons" and his "daugh- 
 ters" were thirty and three. Also, of the sons of Zilpah, it is 
 said, V. 18, " These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave 
 to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even 
 sixteen souls, and so with Jacob's other wives. Thus, in one 
 sense, we can only understand that Leah was only the mother 
 of six sons, and one daughter ; but in another sense, we under- 
 stand that she was the mother of all the thirty-three, as we say, 
 that Eve was the mother of us all. And it is thus, we can 
 understand the statement given us of Amram and his wife, the 
 father and mother of Moses and Aaron, in the way it is recorded 
 in Num. c. xxvi. v. 59, " And Kohath begat Amram, and the 
 name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, 
 whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt, and she bare unto 
 Amram, Asron and Moses, and Miriam their sister." Levi's 
 wife must have been long past child-bearing when she went into 
 Egypt, (if she ever went at all), yet truly, she was the mother 
 of all Levi's posterity. We have a more simple, and to our 
 understandings, more clear account of this matter given in 
 Exodus c. ii. V. 1, " And there went a man of the * house of 
 
24 
 
 Levi,' and took to wife a daughter of Levi, or of the honse of 
 Levi." 
 
 It is in this light we view the generations, as recorded, and 
 the terms used. And in this view, is cleared up a little, the 
 apparent discrepancy between the genealogies given by St. 
 Matthew and St. Luke, the former gives us but " forty-two 
 generations," the latter fifty-five, from Abraham to Christ; yet 
 we know that if the medium age of young men were, even 
 twenty-five years at marriage, there must have been from 
 Abraham to Christ, (2000 years), 80 generations. 
 
 There was evidently with the Jews a public record and also 
 a private one in each tribe, it is easy then to understand one 
 scribe taking the genealogies, " the son of" in the first or second 
 degree, while another sets it down in the second or third degree, 
 but that this was their phraseology and well understood by them 
 is clear — numberless are the instances in the Bible. In the 
 vii. c. Ezra, whose ancestors is given 16 from Aaron, whereas 
 there musthave been at least 50 generations, in these 1500 years. 
 
 "We come now to the brightest specimen of the Bishop's 
 high learning, the increase of the Israelites in Egypt. 
 
 He sets out by stating that, on entering Egypt, there were 
 70 souls ; at the end 2,000,000 ; this, he asserts, was physi- 
 cally impossible. 
 
 Stating — " The twelve sons of Jacob, as appears, had be- 
 tween them 53 sons, that is on the average 4i each. Let us 
 suppose that they increased in this way from generation to 
 generation. Then, in the first generation, that of Kohath, there 
 would be 54 males ; in the second, that of Amram, 243 ; in 
 the third, that of Moses and Aaron, 1094 ; and in the fourth, 
 that of Joshua and Eleazer, 4,923 ; that is to say, instead of 
 600,000 warriors in the prime of life, there would not have been 
 5,000. Further, if the numbers of all the males in the four 
 generations be added together, (which supposes that they were 
 all living at the time of the Exodus,) they would only amount 
 to 6,311. If we even add to these the number of the fifth 
 generation, 22,154 who would be mostly children, the sum total 
 of males of all generations could not, according to these data, 
 have exceeded 28,465 instead of being 1,000,000. 
 
 Any schoolboy, of ordinary capacity, we presume, would 
 blush at the above attempt at multiplication, in its proposition 
 and premises. We remember once a lad trying a sum, when, 
 with his pencil and slate, he began, being heard to say, '' that 
 once nought (0), was nought ; but twice nought (00), must be 
 summit." So this learned Bishop tries to shew the increase of a 
 
25 
 
 rising generation from the dry and barren generation dying out* 
 Any plough-boy knows, that in every community, people, and 
 nation, there is " a rising generation" and a declining genera- 
 tion. Bishop Colenso as a translator of Scripture could not be 
 ignorant, that in the last chapter of Genesis, and at the 23rd 
 verse, it is recorded thus, " and Joseph saw Ephraim's children 
 of the " third generation," which, with Joseph and Ephraim, 
 made " five generations," in the first 70 years of Israel's sojourn 
 in Egypt, for Joseph was the first that went into Egypt, he was 
 40 years old when his father came to him, (as we have before 
 shewn), and he died at 110 years old; will the Bishop persuade 
 us to believe that no more generations were born for the next 
 145 years, allowing, for the sake of argument, that the Israelites 
 were only 215 years under Egyptain bondage. Himself, asserts, 
 at the commencement of this tirade, against the Pentateuch, 
 that Judah was mamed at 20 years of age, we presume, he 
 had a son at 21 ; this son marries at 20 ; he has a son at 21, 
 the son's son, marries at 20 and he has a son at 21. Thus, by 
 his own premises and assertion, (we take his own), in the first 
 100 years, he proves the " five generations." Then in the 215 
 years, " ten generations" must have sprung up, we will now mul- 
 tiply for him with his own figures. 
 
 The twelve sons of Jacob, he states had 54 sons, or an 
 average of 4 1 each. And for the "ten generations," we have 
 a total of 40, 880, 318. In our days, it is considered that the 
 medium age of man is 20 years, but in the times of Israel's stay 
 in Egypt, they lived much longer, and we would give the 
 medium age at 40, which leaves to Israel at the Exodus, 
 1,022,008 males, and allowing that one fourth of these would 
 be under 20 years of age, we find there would remain 766,506 
 males able to go forth to war; now we ask is the "Pentateuch" 
 wrong, or Bishop Colenso. "We cannot even collect one spark 
 of charity, to attribute his figures to ignorance, for duplicity 
 stands so prominent. Under the able teaching of an intelligent 
 Natal sheep -master, -the Bishop calculates without the least 
 trouble the natural increase to 2,000,000 lambs and sheep of 
 the Israelites ; yet pretends that for the life of him, he cannot 
 make out the natural increase of the Israelites themselves, 
 certainly he should have remained at Natal under such 
 excellent instructors, imtil his education had been complete, we 
 would advise him to return. 
 
 We would not tljink it worth the time, pen, ink, and paper, 
 to follow Bishop Colenso farther in his ramblings, nor yet with 
 any expectation of enlightening his benighted understanding, 
 but for the sake of others into whose minds the poison he has 
 60 enveloped in adulterated honey, may have taken effect. But 
 
26 
 
 we will just go over the next stage with him in his further 
 attempts at calculation when he says : 
 
 " Thus Dan in the first generation has one son, Hushim, 
 Gen. c. xlvi., 23 v., and that he had no more born to him in 
 the land of Egypt, and therefore had only one son, appears from 
 Num. c. xxvi. 42 v., where the sons of Dan consist of only one 
 family. Hence, we may reckon that in the fourth generation 
 he would have had twenty-seven warriors descended from him, 
 instead of 62,700, as they are numbered in Num. c. ii., 26 v., 
 increased to 64,400 in Num. c. xxiv., 43 v. In order to have 
 had this number born to him, we must suppose that Dan's one 
 son, and each of his sons and grandsons must have had about 80 
 children of both sexes. We may observe also, that the offspring 
 of the one son of Dan, 62,700 is represented as nearly double 
 that of the ten of Benjamin, 35,400, Num. c. ii., 23 v. Again 
 we have in Exodus, c. vi, the genealogy before quoted of the 
 three sons of Levi, who came with Jacob into Egypt, Gershon 
 Kohath, Merari, (i) these three increased in the second 
 (Amram's) generation, to eight, not to nine as it would have 
 been, if they had had each three sons on the average, (viz : the 
 sons of Kohath four, of Gershon two, of Merari two, Exodus, 
 c. vi., 17-19 V.) (ii.) The four sons of Kohath increased in 
 the third (Aaron's) generation to eight, ('not to 12,) viz : the 
 sons of Amram, (Moses and Aaron,) two of Izhar, three of 
 Uzziel, 3, Exodus, c. vi., 20-22 v. If we now assume that the 
 two sons of Gershon, and the two sons of Merari increased in 
 the same proportion, that is four to four respectively, then all 
 the male Levites of the third generation would have been 16. 
 (iii.) The two sons of Amram increased in the fourth (Eleazer's) 
 generation to six, viz : the sons of Aaron 4, (of whom however, 
 two died, Num. c. iii., 2-4 v.,) and of Moses two. Assuming 
 that all the 16 of the third generation increased in the same 
 proportion, then all the male Levites cf the generation of Eleazer 
 would have been 48, or rather 44, If we omit the four sons of 
 Aaron who were reckoned as priests. Thus the whole number 
 of Levites who would be numbered at the first census would be 
 only 44, viz : 20 Kohathites, 12 Gershonites, 12 Merarites, 
 instead of 8,580 as they are numbered in Num. c. iv. 48, viz., 
 2750 Kohathites, ; 2,630 Gershonites ; and 3,200 Merarites ; 
 V. 36, 40, 44 ; or we may put the matter in another and yet 
 stronger light, using only the express data of Scripture, and 
 omitting all reference to the 216 years sojourn in Egypt, and to 
 the four generations, in fact making no assumptions of our own 
 whatever. The Amramites numbered as Levites in the fourth 
 (Eleazer's) generation were as above, only two, viz : the two 
 sons of Moses J the sons of Aaron being reckoned as priests. 
 
27 
 
 Hence the rest of the Kohathites of this generation must have 
 be6n made up of the descendants of Izhar and Uzziel, each of 
 whom had three sons, Exodus, c. vi., 21-22 v. Consequently 
 since all the Kohathites of Eleazer's generation were numbered 
 at 2,750, Num. c. iv., 36 v., it follows that these six men must 
 have had between them, according to the Scripture story, 
 2,748 sons, and we must suppose about the same number of 
 daughters." 
 
 We have taken the trouble to copy the whole of this para-* 
 graph, that the absurdities of Bishop Colenso may be seen by 
 those who may never have the opportunity of reading his infa- 
 mous book. But we only purpose to shew the first and last, all 
 the rest being of the same class. " Dan in the first generation 
 had one son." "With this we take the Bishop's premises and 
 figures, as with those of the whole of Jacob's sons. The Bishop 
 himself shewing that " ten generations" must have arisen in his 
 215 years ; we multiply by 4| again, as he has premised this 
 one son of Dan, and in the lOtb generation we find a total of 
 3,362,044, and allowing, as before, that 40 years was the medium 
 of life, in those days, we have 84,051 males, allowing that one 
 fourth were under 20 years of age, then we find the net number 
 able to go forth to war, 63,039. Then we find the number given by 
 Moses in Num. c. ii. 26, as 62,700, a very slight difference ; so 
 also will the descendants of Levi appear to any who chooses to 
 carry out the calculation. The latter part of his conclusions, in 
 the above quoted paragraph, is the result of his own absurdities, 
 and then finds himself amazed at the idea he has created ; that 
 the six sons of Levi should have between them 2,748, sons, and 
 supposes the same number of daughters. "We will try and amaze 
 him a little more, with some facts. "We read in Scripture of 
 more than one man, having " seventy sons ;" now we multiply 
 these by the Bishop's average, 4|, and there appears to this one 
 man 385 sons, (according to Jewish phraseology), and, we suppose, 
 as many daughters. But we will shew this learned bishop some- 
 thing still more marvellous, which he ought to have known before, 
 as a theologian and translator of the fact in Scripture. Quoting 
 Josephus, who states (the Bishop says, in one part of his book) 
 that the Egyptians numbered 7,000,000 in his day, we will sup- 
 pose them to have been some less in Abram's day, (although some 
 historians have stated them greatly above) at 3,000,000, and in 
 Ethiopia, 1,000,000, (a low estimate) in Asia-Minor, among 
 whose kings and nations Abraham sojourned, we may safely set 
 down equal to Egypt, 3,000,000, beyond the Persian Gulf; the 
 descendants of Japheth in the land of Gomer, along the north 
 shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and up by the Black Sea, these 
 we cannot set down at less than 3,000,000. Here then we have 
 
28 
 
 a total of 10,000,000 inhabitants in Abraham's day, with the 
 amazing fact, that Noah, the father of them all, was living among 
 them in Abraham's time ! genealogy given in Gen. c. xi. 
 that Abraham was born 292 years after the flood, and in Gen. 
 c. ix. 28, it was said, " And Noah lived 350 years after the 
 flood," so that Abraham wonld be 58 years old, when Noah died. 
 Shem, the son of Noah, we also find in the same acconnts, lived 
 some years after Abraham. Now Bishop Colenso what think 
 you of a man with 10,000,000 children, (let any one examine 
 the facts, who are inclined to question) what is your poor puny 
 family of 84, at which you are so astounded, or pretend to be ? 
 And this increase from "three couples." Noah's three sons, in 
 80 years, less space of time than the Bishop will allow for 
 2,000,000 increase from 54 couples, Jacob's sons. But Bishop 
 Colenso says he won't believe in the records of the Pentateuch. 
 Well, we will give him a comparison on different authority, authori- 
 ties which he has acknowledged, modern writers, who have 
 estimated, pretty nearly, the present population of the world at 
 500,000,000, couples. Will he allow that all these have sprung 
 from " one couple," our fir.st parents, Adam and Eve, and that, 
 in only the fifteenth-fold space of time. Israel emanated in Egypt 
 to 2,000,000 from 54 couples, facts are stubborn things which 
 he cannot controvert. 
 
 Those who have lauded Bishop Colenso, so much for his 
 candour, learning, truthfulness, theological knowledge, and as 
 an honorable critic, would do well to point out one feature of 
 these graces, in all he has written. 
 
 An honorable critic, holds an integrity, which he would 
 disdain to prostitute at the shrine of any creed. 
 
 For candour, we deny him credit. 
 
 .^.nd as to his theological knowledge, he is evidently as yet 
 but i.i the ABC class. 
 
 We now come to another of the Bishop's mountains, im- 
 passable, wherein he states that : 
 
 " We cannot here have recourse to the ordinary supposition, 
 that there may be something wrong in the Hebrew numerals. 
 This suggestion will not avail here, however it might be applied 
 in other cases, to reduce within the bounds of probability, the 
 extravagant statements of Hebrew writers, such as that in Jnd. 
 xii. V. 6, where we are told that the Gileadites under Jephthah, 
 slew of their brethern 42,000 men! or that in Jud. xx., where 
 first the Benjamites slay of the Israelites, 40,000 men, v. 21^ 
 25, and then the Israelites kill of the Benjamites, 43,100, 
 
29 
 
 V. 35, 43, all these being • men of valour' that ' di-ew swovd,' 
 or that in 1 Saml., iv., v. 10, when the Philestines slew of 
 Israel 30,000 footmen, or in 1 Saml., xlii., v. 5, where the 
 Philestines had 30,000 war chariots, or in 2 Saml. x., v. 18, 
 where David slew of the Syrians 40,000 horsemen, or 2 Ch., 
 xxviii., V. 6, 8, where Pekah king of Isarcl, slew of Judah in 
 in one day, 120,000 sons of valour, 'and carried away captive 
 200,000' woman sons and daughters, or in 2 Ch., xiii., where 
 Abijah's force consisted of 400,000, and Jeroboam's of 800,000, 
 and Judah slew Israel, v. 17, with a great slaughter, so there 
 fell down slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. ! ! It being re- 
 membered that, at the battle of Waterloo, there were killed of 
 the allies, British, Germans, &c., 4.172, (Allison's History of 
 Europe, p. 19, 372. 
 
 The mighty spreading of the Scriptures, in such a multitude 
 of languages, reminds us of the near fulfilling of the prophecy, 
 " that the knowledge of the Lord, shall cover the earth, as the 
 waters cover the great deep," this doth so enrage the Devil 
 *' and the Pope," and as though they had spent all their 
 ingenuities, and exhausted all their sophistry, to stay the 
 spreading of, and to bring into contempt in the minds of men ; 
 the sacred record of truth." As a last recourse, they had 
 engaged Bishop Colenso to try his hand ; and he coming in 
 softly, as an Angel of light, insinuates, that it is only 
 the " numerals," of the Hebrew Scribes, he questions, suggesting, 
 that they were only men like ourselves, and liable to make 
 mistakes as well as we, but we thank our God, who hath not 
 left himself without witnesses, to whom, he hath given eyesight 
 to see into, and read the subtle movements of the enemy, not 
 a sentence does the Bishop offer, " ascribing" to the Almighty 
 that power, which belongeth alone to God, who is the God of 
 battles ; and whom he hath appointed to the " sword," shall by 
 the sword be slain : and whom he hath appointed to the famine 
 shall by the famine be devoured : and whom ;,he hath appointed 
 to disease and pestilence, shall by disease and pestilence be 
 consumed. 
 
 Let the reader peruse the chapters quoted, where it will be 
 seen the causes of such immense slaughter ; for it is said, " the 
 children of Israel fled l)efore Judah, and God delivered them 
 into their hand." 
 
 The Bishop gives ns, as incredible, the number of slain in 
 the " defeated " army, of numerous battles ; and then, as a 
 counterpoise, or comparison, sets down the killed of the " victo- 
 rious" allies at Waterloo. Had he given us the French account 
 of their defeated army, the loss only, on the first day, at Quatre 
 
30 
 
 Bras, it would have cloaked his duplicity a little. But surely 
 he must take Englishmen to be great thickheads, not to be able 
 to see a just comparison. 
 
 It must be remembered, that wars were not conducted in 
 those days, from which the Bishop draws his statistics, as wars 
 are carried on now. With the Hebrews, and all the nations of 
 the East, when an enemy appeared, every man able to bear arms 
 was called out ; with their kings at their head they met the foe, 
 each man engaging, as soon as possible, an antagonist of the 
 enemy. The sword, the spear, or the battle-axe, soon decided 
 whom the Lord would have slain ; and in nine cases out of ten 
 the war was settled in " one day." After such sanguinary 
 conflicts, it is said, " The land had rest twenty, forty, and eighty 
 years. The vital strength of the nation being broken, which 
 many years could scarce restore. Not so in these days, wherein 
 wars are carried on year after year. Had Bishop Colenso but 
 before his eyes, the numbers that perished in war during the life 
 of " Bonaparte," and by his hand, there would be something for 
 him to marvel at, and tax his comprehension ; or in the wars of 
 the Romans and Carthagenians, the multitudes slain. But we 
 bring him nigher to his and our senses. We challenge him to 
 show, in Scripture, from the death of Joshua to the Babylonish 
 captivity, in any one hundred years, an equal number slain in 
 battle, as have perished in America within the last one year ; and 
 and we ask, why does not the Bishop cpestion the statistics of 
 modern historians, in regard to wars. The motive is plain ; to 
 undermine the foundation of our faith he has engaged, and like 
 his master, he wont stick at any subterfuge to accomplish his 
 purpose. 
 
 But we will just give him one more fact to consider, accord- 
 ing to the estimated population of the world, and the medium 
 age of mankind, 20 years. There is a mighty stream of 5,000 
 each hour, 120,000 per day, or 45,000,000 spirits yearly quitting 
 the body ; hour by hour, day by day, and year after year. And 
 these, not by the hand of man, but by disease and death. Who 
 hath appointed it ? He that made them, God over all, and we 
 say, blessed for ever. 
 
 We pass over his allusions, again, to the number of the 
 Israelites at the Exodus, having shown sufficiently clear, in our 
 sight, that the numbers given by Moses are correct and true. 
 
 The following extract shows one use to which the Bishop 
 applies his conclusion that the Pentateuch " cannot be regarded 
 as historically true." 
 
 " But how thaukful must we be, that we are no louger 
 
31 
 
 obliged to believe, as a matter of fact, of vital consequence to 
 our eternal hope, the story related in Num. xxxi., where we are 
 told that a force of 12,000 Israelites slew all the males of the 
 Midianites, took captive all the females and children, seized all 
 their cattle and flocks (72,000 oxen, 61,000 asses, 675,000 
 sheep), and all their goods, and burnt all their cities, and all 
 their goodly castles, without the loss of a single man. And 
 then, by command of Moses, butchered in cold blood all the 
 women and children, ' except all the women-children, who have 
 not known a man by lying with him ;' these last the Israelites 
 'were to keep for themselves.' They amounted, we are tolcl, to 
 32,000 (verse 35), mostly, we must suppose, under the age of 
 sixteen or eighteen, we may fairly reckon that there were as 
 many more under the age of forty, and half as many more above 
 forty, making altogether 80,000 females, of whom, according to 
 the story, Moses ordered 48,000 to be killed, besides (say) 
 20,000 young boys. The tragedy of Cawnpore, where 300 were 
 butchered, would sink into nothing compared with such a mas- 
 sacre, if, indeed, we were required to believe it. And these 
 48,000 females must have represented 48,000 men, all of whom, 
 in that case, we must also believe to have been killed, their 
 property pillaged, their castles demolished, and towns destroyed, 
 by 12,000 Israelites, &c. 
 
 The Bishop here like Ananias and Saphira," keeps back 
 part of the price, he don't even hint at the cause for which God 
 gave commandment, to choose out the 12,000 men of war, but 
 we find it solemnly given in the chapter he quotes, " avenge 
 the Lord of Midian, Num. c. xxxi., 3 v. — v. 15-16, and Moses 
 said unto them, have you saved all the women alive ? " Behold, 
 these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of 
 Baalam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of 
 Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the 
 Lord." Whereof 24,000 men of Israel died the death of 
 these 24,000 Israelites. Bishop Colenso is not in the least 
 aflfected, these had been the victims of the mles and enticements 
 of the Midianitish women, at whose just execution the Bishop 
 pretends such affected horror. These women were idolaters, 
 enemies of God, as well the males. But it was, we hesitate not 
 to say, the same evil spirit which excited Baalam to council, 
 Balak and the Midianitish women, how they only could prevail 
 against the men of Israel, has excited Bishop Colenso to write 
 his book, and turn aside the lovers of the Bible from their faith, 
 and commit whoredom with his dogmas. The man that cannot 
 believe what is recorded in the 31st chapter of Numbers, cannot 
 be a believer in what is recorded in the 11th chapter of St. 
 John's Gospel. 
 
32 
 
 Bishop Colenso don't object to .the account Josephus gives 
 of the *' Siege of Jerusalem" by Titus, when women roasted 
 and eat their own offspring ; we ask him the "solemn question 
 who appointed it." 
 
 We give the foregoing a mere instalment while we look a 
 little further into his book. 
 
 JOHK BSTWOOP, FBINIER BT STEAM FOWEB, 143, PEAI^SGUXB.