May 1, 1886.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



9.0' 



that of the 2nd due south of fi iu tha same constellation ; on the 

 3id, S.W. of Rigel in Orion's foot ; on the 4th, X.W. of a Leporis ; on 

 the oth, due west of S Leporis, and so on. Barnard's comet too, 

 although it is brightening, is unfortunately situated for the observer, 

 as it is practically invisible until two or three hours after midnight, 

 when it may be detected at a small elevation over the N.E. by N. 

 part of the horizon. Its path commences at the point to the west 

 and south of y Andromeda^, shown on our map on p. 197, and trends 

 in a south-easterly direction into Triangula. On the night of the 

 12th it will be due west of P Trianguhe. Hence the comet travels 

 into Aries, and will be found X.E of o on the ITth. On the ISth it 

 will be N.E. of y Arietis, and S.W. of e the nest night. It will be 

 S.W. of S Arietis on the 20th, and in the wlioUy blank south-eastern 

 region of .Aries on the 21st and the 22nd. The night of the 23rd finds 

 it S. by E. of | Tauri, after whic'n no indication of its path would 

 bj likely to be of any use to the observer. All the latter portion of 

 the comet's path may be traced on Tlate sxiii. of " The Seasons 

 Pictured." 



#0 SIS I p. 



By Richard A. Pboctor. 



The Spectator sees only -wild .speculation in the idea that 

 there was ever the slightest reference to sun-worship in 

 the ancient Jewish ceremonial. Possibly it may seem wild 

 to suggest even that the Jewish people or rulers knew any- 

 thing about the worship of the heavenly bodies. It may 

 surprise the writer in the Spectator to liear that not only 

 at the time to which the Jewish ceremonial is referred — 

 mistakenly or otherwise — but long after the time of David, 

 the implements of sun-worship (so to speak) were in use in 

 the Temple itself. Mv friend, " A Student of Divinity," re- 

 minds me of the passage where we are told that Josiah 

 " commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of 

 the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring 

 foith out of the Temple of the Lord all the ve.ssels that were 

 made for Baal, and the Asherah, and for all the host of 

 heaven," and he put down '• them also that burned incense 

 unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets 

 (the twelve signs it should be, which are, however, the 

 mansions of the planets), and to all the host of heaven. 

 And he brought out the Asherah yVo/» thi Jtouse of the Lord. 

 without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron. and burned it," 

 kc. The word Asherah. mistranslated '• grove " in the 

 Authorised Version, and by some regarded as more correctly 

 to be translated '• orrerj'," seems to have been a wooden 

 symbol of a goddess ; and being nearly always found in 

 company with references to the worship of the sun, 

 moon, and planets, was perhaps connected with Sabaistic 

 observances. Some consider that the .symbol related more 

 probably to nature worship. " And he took away the 

 liorses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the 

 entering in of the Hoiise of the Lord . . . an<l he burned 

 the chariots of the sun with tire.'' 



* * * 



The question suggests itself here, by the way, whether, 

 in the remote time to which we have to refer the first 

 purifying of the Jewish religion — even if we go no further 

 back than the days of Josiah, instead of turning, as we well 

 may, to the days of the early lawgivers — the priests could 

 possibly have carried out the ceremonial S3'stem described in 

 Leviticus and Xumbers without using some sort of astro- 

 nomical instruments. We know that Moses and others of 

 the early guides of the people possessed astronomical know- 

 ledge. Moses was " learned in all the wisdom of the 

 Egyptians," which included astronomy. The Egyptians 

 and Babylonians regulated their fasts and festivals by 

 astronomical observations ; and no doubt the early Jewish 

 teachers knew how to do astronomical work with all such , 



accuracy as was nece.ssary for determining their months 

 (lunar) and passovers (annual), ilay not a sacred signifi- 

 cance have come to be attached in later times to the instru- 

 ments— -wooden circles, quadrants, direction-bars, and so 

 forth — which had bsen preserved in the Temple from those 

 early times when they were necessary for determining 

 times and seasons? May not the Asherah, instead of being 

 an orrery (which is rather an absurd interpretation) have 

 been the name given to these ancient observing instru- 

 ments? 



Of course, to persons ignorant of astronomy, no difficulty 

 arises from the considerations I have here suggested. They 

 speak and write sometimes as if they thought the high 

 priests had " Whitaker's Almanac " to refer to, to tell them 

 the times of new moon, of the vernal and autumnal 

 equinoxes, and so forth. Jly own opinion is that Moses 

 was not acquainted with " Whitaker's Almanac." This, 

 however, may seem to the Spectator •• a wild speculation." 



* * * 



This being so, those who had to cany out the Jewish 

 ceremonial system must have had some astronomical know- 

 ledge, and must hava made some astronomical observations, 

 and that, too, in a systematic manner. 



* * * 



The Topical I'im-'s objects, and really with some apparent 

 re.oson, that in mentioning a criticism which really ap- 

 peared in that paper I did not name the Topical I'iines. 

 I had this sufficient reason that the criticism was cut out 

 from the Topical Times, and the name of the Topical T'imes 

 was not appended to that Topical Times criticism. (I am 

 tr3-ing hard to repay my obligation to the Topical Times for 

 so often mentioning my name.) 



•* * * 



The Topical Times asks what is a " cheap critic." The 

 term is free from offence. It does not refer to the quality 

 of the critic's mind, or the value of his opinion, but to the 

 price paid hirn for his work. I know very well what cheap 

 criticism is, for long ago I was more than once invited to 

 supply it ; and I might have supplied it, too, just as a man 

 might break stones for a shilling a day, if I had not had 

 more profitable employment for my time. (There is no 

 shame in working cheaply, though there may be loss of 

 name, for how can the public know the beggarly nature of 

 the wage for which the poor work may have been done.) 

 As a sample, I may mention how a wealthy firm of pub- 

 lishers (who have ])ublished no work of mine, let me note) 

 once sent me a book of six hundred pages, or thereabouts, 

 to be reviewed " in a quarter of a column" (10s. 6d. being 

 the pay per column) '• and returned .' " If I had done that 

 work, even if I had given good work for the half crown, I 

 should decidedly have been for the nonce a cheap critic. 



* 



*• 



The Topical Times finds my name as often in the March 

 number as in the February number of Knowledge ; but I 

 fancy if the number of columns had been counted a con- 

 siderable difference would have been found. Albeit, both 

 the February and the 3Iarch numbers included matter 

 which had been for months in type, and had to be useil 

 before Messrs. Spottiswoode undertook the piinting. I 

 might add that the April number and the May number 

 have both had to be got ready much earlier than of yore, 

 and the contributors to Knowledge have not always been 

 able to come up to time, so that I have had to supply more 

 matter than usual. 



