142 PROF. HULL_, LL.D., F.E.S., ON HOLY SCEIPTUEE ILLUSTRATED AND 



The illustrations I have thus somewhat briefly and imper- 

 fectly dealt with are far from exhausting those which modern 

 research has disclosed, as testifying to the accuracy of the 

 Biblical record of Old Testament events, but may, perhaps, 

 suffice to confirm our belief not only in the truth of the state- 

 ments and the reality of the subjects with which it deals, but 

 also may induce us to hold more firmly the conviction that 

 we may implicitly rely on the historic accuracy of the ac- 

 counts recorded from the time of the call of Abraham down- 

 wards. It is at this momentous epoch, as it seems to me, 

 that the historical, prophetic, and didactic pages of the sacred 

 volume really commence, and succeed to the traditional por- 

 tions of the early chapters. 



The Chairman (D. Howard, Esq., D.L., F.C.S.). — I am sure you 

 will join with me in thanking Professor Hull for the very valuable 

 paper which he has given ns. The concurrence of testimony that 

 he has brought together from very recent investigations is yet 

 another link in the chain of evidence which has accumulated iu 

 our time of the marvellous historic accuracy of the Old Testament. 

 It is curious to he able to remember, not so long ago, the discus- 

 sions that took place as to the historic truth of the Old Testament 

 when the only testimony for or against large portions was that of 

 the fragments of Berosus that have come down to us ; and now we 

 have these marvellous discoveries of ancient inscriptions which, 

 from one quarter and another, have come to us, and to which, 

 though hidden for thousands of j'ears, we can now turn with deep 

 interest to know what they can tell us. It is most interesting and 

 remarkable, and it is necessary to explain (if we are not to accept 

 the historic accuracy of the Old Testament) how it is that they 

 have confirmed in these little details (which, after all, are the test 

 of the truth of the MSS.) the minute accuracy of the Old Testa- 

 ment. We do not expect the inscriptions of the defeated and the 

 victorious to give the same account ; but as they compare the one 

 with the other, they prove to demonstration the truth of the 

 Scripture narrative, and the more one studies them, the greater is 

 the interest that attaches to them. All these little details are like 



