66 UNIVERSAL ERUDITION. 



Bibles, &c. 2. How difficult is it to afcertairt 

 the years of the judf.es of the Jewilh nation, irk 

 the Bible? Vv'hat darknefs is fprcad over the 

 fuccefilon of the kings of Judah and Ifrael ? 

 The calculation cf time is there fo inaccurate, 

 that the fcripture never marks if they are cur- 

 rent cur complete. years.. For we cannot fuppofa 

 that a patriarch, judge, or king, lived exaclly 

 60, 90, ICQ, or 969 y.ears, without any odd 

 months or dsys. 3. The different names that 



\ffyrians, Egyptians, Perfians, and Greeks, 

 ha e given to the fame prince, have contributed 

 no a little to embarrafs all ancient chronology. 



.t or four princes have borne the name of 

 AfTuerus, though they had alfo other names. If 

 Vfc did net know that Nabucodonofcr, Nabu- 

 ccdrofor, andNabucolailar, were the fame name, 

 or the name of the fame man, we mould fcarccly 

 believe it. Sargon is Sennacherib , Ozias is Az*- 

 n'as ; Scckcias is Mathanias ; Joachas is alfo 

 called Sell ura , Afaraddon, whicd is pro- 

 nounced indiflcrently Efarhaddon and Afarhud- 

 don, is called Afenaphar by the Cutharans ; and 

 by an oddity of which we do not know the ori- 

 gin, Sardaihipalus is called by the Greeks Te- 

 nos Concoleios. 4. There remain to us but few 

 monuments of the firft monarchs of the world. 

 Numberlefs books have been loll, and thofe - 

 which have come down to us are mutilated or 

 altered by tranfcribers. The Greeks began to 

 write very kite. Herodotus, their firft hiflorian, 

 was of a credulous difpoiition, and believed all 



the 



