E.iv.20, and one of whom their mother | the wilderness; and the children of Israel said circumcised by the way, E.iv.25. 21. We must, consequently, suppose either that Moses, though already forty years old, lived nearly forty years with Jethro before he took Zipporah to wife, -although the story would lead us to conclude that she was one of the 'seven daughters' of Jethro, whom Moses, at his first coming to Midian, 'helped' at the well, and 'watered their flock,' E.ii.17,-or else that Moses lived with Zipporah nearly forty years before she bare him her first child. But these suppositions are both of them at variance with the plain, natural, meaning of E.ii.21,22, as quoted above, from which we should infer,-unless we choose to force another meaning upon it.-that Moses married Zipporah soon after he had consented to dwell with Jethro, and that Gershom was born to him in due course of time after his marriage. And so the name of his second son, Eliezer' God is a help,' is expressly said to have been given, 'because the God of my Father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh,' E.xviii.4,— which also points to a recent escape from danger in Egypt, and not to a deliverance wrought for him nearly forty years ago. First, it appears to be certain that by the expressions used so often, here and elsewhere, 'the Assembly,' 'the whole Assembly,' all the Congregation,' is meant the whole body of the people or, at all events, the adult males in the prime of life among them and not merely the elders or heads of the people, as some have supposed, in order to escape from such difficulties as that which we are about to consider. The whole Assembly of the Congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening, E.xii.6. 'The whole Congregation of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in unto them, . . . Ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole Assembly with hunger.' E.xvi.2,3. 'Take ye the sum of all the Congregation of the children of Israel.' N.i.2. Korah gathered all the Congregation against Moses and Aaron, unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and the glory of Jehovah appeared unto all the Congregation. And Moses rose up, and went unto Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him,' N.xvi.19,25,where the elders' are plainly distinguished from all the Congregation,' as are the 'princes' from 'all the Assembly,' in the following passage: 'When they shall blow with them (the two trumpets), all the Assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and, if thou blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.' N.x.3,4. 23. Now the men in the prime of life, 'above twenty years of age,' N.i.3, were more than 600,000 in number. We may reckon that the women in the prime of life were about as many, the males under twenty years, 300,000, the females under twenty years, 300,000, and the old people, male and female together, 200,000, making the whole number about two millions. This number is, indeed, a very moderate estimate. In HORNE'S Introd. ii.p.205, they are reckoned to have formed an aggregate of upwards of three millions.' Accordingly, CESAR, Bell. Gall. i.29, says that the Helvetii numbered 92,000 men capable of bearing arms, whilst their whole population including children, old men, and women,' amounted to 368,000 souls, or exactly four times the former number. In short, for general purposes, we may fairly compare the whole body of Israelites, together with the 'mixed multitude,' E.xii. 38, to the entire population of LONDON, which was 2,362,236, by the census of 1851, increased to 2,803,035, by that of 1861. 24. This vast body of people, then, received on this occasion, and on other similar occasions, as we are told, an express command from Jehovah Himself, to assemble at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.' Of course, no one would suppose that every individual would be able to attend such a summons, or would be expected to do so. Many might be prevented by sick- | that such an enormous congregationness, many by accidental circumstances, the warriors alone being nearly twice and others by other claims of duty. the whole population of MANCHESTER, Yet still the number of persons implied-should have been summoned expressly in the expression, all the Congrega- by Jehovah Himself, to attend for the tion,' the 'whole Assembly,' must surely purpose of witnessing a ceremony, be understood to bear some reasonable taking place in a tent eighteen paces proportion to the whole number. At all long and six wide, which could only events, the great body of the 603,550 have been seen by a few standing at warriors ought, we must believe, to have the door. obeyed such a Divine command, and hastened to present themselves at the 'door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.' 25. And so says Dr. MCCAUL, Examination of Part I, p.17,— The whole congregation was convoked or summoned-[i.e. not merely the 600,000 adult males, but women and children,' as he freely admits.'] And all thus convoked, who were not prevented, turned out of their tents to assist at a great national ceremony, the consecration of Aaron's Priesthood. Supposing, then, with him, p.18,that as many as could of this great multitude stood at the door,-that the princes, elders, and officers, had the precedency, that the rest stood behind and about, with their faces turned to the Tabernacle, knowing what was going on, and expecting some manifestation of the Lord's Presence, let us try to realise more distinctly, by the aid of a numerical example, to what this statement amounts, the prodigious number of people here concerned, and the incredibility of the fact which is here narrated. 27. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel.' D.i.1. 'And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them.' D.v.1. And afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that which is written in the Book of the Law. 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, and the strangers that were conversant among them.' Jo.viii.34,35. We have just seen that all the Congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them,' may be reasonably compared to the whole population of London. How, then, is it conceivable that a man should do what Joshua is here said to have done, unless, indeed, the reading every word of all that Moses commanded,' with the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the Law,' was a mere dumb show, without the least idea of those most solemn words being heard by those to whom they were addressed? For, surely, no human voice, unless strengthened by a miracle of which the Scripture tells us nothing, could have reached the ears of such an enormous body of people, however they might be arranged. Under favourable circumstances, many thousands, perhaps, might hear the voice of a speaker. But imagine the whole population of London addressed at one time by one man! 26. Now the whole width of the Tabernacle was 10 cubits or 18 feet, reckoning the cubit at 1824 feet, and its length was 30 cubits or 54 feet. Allowing two feet in width for each full-grown man, nine men could just have stood in front of it. Supposing, then, that all the Congregation' of adult males in the prime of life had given due heed to the Divine Summons, and had hastened to take their stand, side by side, as closely as possible, in front of the whole end of 28. It may be said, indeed, that the Tabernacle, in which the door or only a portion of this great host was entrance was, they would have reached, really present, though all Israel' is allowing 18 inches between each rank spoken of. And this might have been of nine men, for a distance of more allowed without derogating from the than 100,000 feet, in fact, nearly general historical value of the book, twenty miles! or, if we reckon, with though, of course, not without impeachDr. MCCAUL, the old men, women, and ing the literal accuracy of the Scripture children, for a distance of more than narrative, which by some is so strenusixty miles! It is surely inconceivable | ously maintained. But the words above quoted from Joshua are so comprehensive, as to imply that, at least, the great body of the Congregation was present, and not only present, but able to hear the words of awful moment which Joshua addressed to them. And the expressions of D.xxix.10,11, are still more decisive on this point:— 'Ye stand this day, all of you, before Jehovah your God,-your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,-your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is in thy Camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water.' 29. Thus in the Morning Herald' report of the entrance of GARIBALDI into LONDON there occurs the following passage: LONDON turned out to a man-and a woman -and a child-along the route from Nine Elms to Stafford House. CHAPTER IV. THE CAMP AND THE PRIEST'S DUTIES. 30. And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, even the whole bullock, shall he (the Priest) carry forth without the Camp, unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out, there shall he be burnt.' L.iv.11,12. "And the Priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the Altar, and he shall put them beside the Altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the Camp unto a clean place.' L.vi.10,11. grave. And even then the different We have seen (23) that the whole population of Israel at the Exodus may be reckoned at two millions. Now we cannot well allow for a living man, with room for his cooking, sleeping, and We accept this as a fair rhetorical other necessaries and conveniences of description of the immense mass of life, less than three or four times the people, which welcomed the Italian space required for a dead one in his hero: ; though even that enormous crowd was after all but a small fraction of all LONDON;' and we will suppose that, when Moses called all Israel,' D.xxix.2. to hear his last words, the numbers who attended at the summons, and who are recognised in the above passage, D.xxix. 10,11, as actually standing before him, did not in reality exceed some such small fraction of the whole population of Israel. Yet who could believe that GARIBALDI addressed at one time the multitude of human beings, that crowded the roads for three miles, from Nine Elms to St. James's Park?-or that a host like this, large enough to throng Hyde Park from one end to the other, could have assembled - much less, could have been summoned to assemble-in order that a few standing in front might witness what was passing at the door of his host's house in Prince's Gate? In short, while it is conceivable that a later writer, imagining such scenes as these, may have employed such exaggerated expressions as occur in the above passages, it cannot be believed that an eye-witness, with the actual facts of the case before him, could have expressed himself in such extravagant language. 31. Uponthis very moderate estimate, then, (which in truth is far within the mark,) we must imagine a vast encampment of this extent, swarming with people, more than a mile and a half across in each direction, with the Tabernacle in the centre. And so says JosePHUS, Ant. III.xii.5:— It was like a well-appointed market; and everything was there ready for sale in due shops; and it resembled nothing so much as a city, that sometimes was moveable, and sometimes was fixed. order; and all sorts of artificers were in the Thus the refuse and ashes of these sacrifices would have had to be carried | sively cramped area of 1652 acres, less than three square miles, for such a Camp as this, we take the more reason. able allowance of the Rev. T. SCOTT, who says, 'this encampment is computed to have formed a moveable 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 LONDON, and that in the Hebrew tents there were no first, second, third, and fourth stories, no crowded garrets and underground cellars! In that case, the offal of these sacrifices would have had to be carried a distance of six miles; and the same difficulty would have attended each of the other transactions above-mentioned. In fact, we have to imagine the Priest * having himself to convey,-we may suppose, with the help or by the hands of others, from St. Paul's to the outskirts of the Metropolis, the 'skin, and flesh, and head, and legs, and inwards, and dung, even the whole bullock,' and the people having to carry out their rubbish in like manner, and bring in their daily supplies of water and fuel, after first cutting down the latter where they could find it! Further, we out for a distance of three-quarters of a mile. And it would seem, from the second of the passages above quoted, that the Priest himself in person was to do this, or, at least, to superintend the business of doing it. From the outside also of this great camp, wood and water would have had to be fetched for all purposes, if, indeed, such supplies of wood or 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 are said to have encamped for nearly twelve months together. How much wood would remain in such a neighbourhood, after a month's consumption of the city of LONDON, even at midsummer? And the 'ashes,' &c., of the whole camp, for a population like that of LONDON, would have had to be carried out in like manner, through the midst of the crowded mass of people. They could not surely all have gone outside the camp for the necessities of nature. There were the aged and infirm, women in childbirth, sick persons, and young children, who could not have done this. 32. But, indeed, the very fact, that provisions for ensuring cleanliness, such as that laid down in D.xxiii.12–14,— '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 their application, is itself a very convincing proof of the unhistorical character of the whole narrative. It is true that this particular direction is laid down, as appears from the context, with special reference to a moveable camp of soldiers engaged in a military expedition. Yet how much more necessary must some such a provision have been, for the vast stationary camp of two millions? Or, rather, how is it conceivable that such a camp could have existed without any sewage arrangements, without even the assistance for this purpose of a small running stream of water? And what would such a stream have been to the whole population of London? *There probably was at Jerusalem some place 'outside the camp,' i.e. outside the wall of the city, where the ashes were poured out,' and whither, in David's or Solomon's time and afterwards, the remains of certain sacrifices were actually carried, by one or more of the officiating priests or their attendants. See 2Ch.xxix.16, and the priests went into the inner part of the House of Jehovah, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the Temple of Jehovah into the court of the House of Jehovah. And the Levites took it, to carry it abroad into the brook Kidron.' And those beasts, whose blood is brought into the compare Heb.xiii.11,12,- For the bodies of sanctuary by the High Priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate." It is inconceivable that any lawgiver, with the actual camp before him, as large and populous as LONDON, could have laid down such directions as those in L.iv.11,12.vi.10,11, for the priest. It is, however, conceivable that a writer, living (suppose) in David's or Solomon's days, and wishing to connect the practices which actually existed in those times with those which might be supposed to have existed in the wilderness,-not having, therefore, the Camp itself before his eyes, but only imagining the state of things in question 33. But how huge does this difficulty should, for want of due consideration, have become, if, instead of taking the exces-committed such an inadvertence as this. C have to imagine half a million of men | tribe, and the total number summed going out daily,-the 22,000 Levites for a distance of six miles,-from St. Paul's to the suburbs, for the common necessities of nature! CHAPTER V. THE ISRAELITES NUMBERED, DWELLING 11-13. The expression, 'shekel of the Sanctuary,' in the above passage, or, as some render it, 'sacred shekel,' could hardly have been used in this way until there was a Sanctuary or sacred system in existence, or, rather, until it had been some time in existence, and such a phrase had become familiar in the mouths of the people. Whereas here it is put into the mouth of Jehovah, speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, six or seven months before the Tabernacle was made. Some, however, suppose that the words 'a shekel is twenty gerahs,' which appear like a later note of explanation, are a Divine definition of the shekel for the first time. 35. But these words direct that, whenever a numbering of the people should take place, each one that is numbered should pay a 'ransom for his soul' of half a shekel. Now in E.xxxviii. 26 we read of such a tribute being paid, 'A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel after the shekel of the Sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward.' Here, then, it seems, the atonementmoney is collected; but nothing is said of any census being taken. On the other hand, in N.i.1-46, more than six months after the date of the former occasion, we have an account of a very formal numbering of the people, the result being given for each particular up at the end. And here, therefore, the census is made, but there is no indication of any atonement-money being paid. The omission in each case might be considered, of course, as accidental, it being supposed that, in the first instance, the numbering really took place, and in the second the tribute was paid, though neither circumstance is mentioned. 36. But then it is surprising that the number of adult males should have been identically the same (603,550) on the first occasion as it was half a year afterwards. And each account professes to be a strictly accurate account of the numbers in question,—the first being checked, as it were, and verified, thrice over, in E.xxxviii, viz. in v.25, where the silver paid is reckoned in talents and shekels, in v.26, where the number of men is given, and in v.27,28, where the separate portions of silver are specified, which were devoted to different purposes,-and the second being verified, in like manner, by the numbers of the tribes being repeated twice over, and summed up in different ways, N.i,ii. 37. In this interval of six months, had none arrived at maturity, i.e. 'twenty years,' N.i.3, who would be numbered at the census, but would not have paid the atonement-money? Or, of those who had died or become superannuated in this interval, out of a population as large as that of London, where the mortality (of all ages) is 1250 weekly, were there none who had paid the atonement-money,' but would not be numbered at the census? Or must we suppose that the number of supernumeraries in the one case was miraculously ordered so as to exactly balance that in the other? 38. THE ISRAELITES DWELLING IN TENTS. 'Take ye every man for them which are in his tents.' E.xvi.16. Here we find that, immediately after their coming out of Egypt, the people were provided with tents, cumbrous articles to have been carried, when they fled out in haste, 'Taking their dough before it was leavened, |