JOG 



told that the life of man was extended in tVat age to one 

 hundred thoufand years, and that his ftature was twenty-one 

 cubits. 



2. Th(? T'lrlah Jogiie (in which one-third of mankind was 

 corrupted), they fiippofe to have confiflcd of two million 

 four hundred thutifand years, and that men lived to the age 

 of ten thoufand yL\\rs. 



3. Tiv Dwapaar Jogttc (in which half of the human race 

 became d:-praved), endured one million fix hundred thouf;ind 

 years, and the life of man was then reduced to a thoufand 

 years. 



. 4 The Colkf Jjgiie (in which all mankind are corrupted, 

 •r rather lefiencd, for that is the ln:e meaning of CoUee), is 

 the prcfent era, which they fuppofcd ordained to fubfift four 

 hundred thoufand yenrs, of which near five thoufand are 

 already caft ; and the life of man in that period is limited to 

 one hundred years. Sec Hindoos. 



We (hall hereUibjcin Dr. Robcrtfon's obfervations on the 

 above period?, from the Notes to his Hillorical Difquifition 

 concerning India. 



•= If (fays he, p. 363.) we fuppofe the computation of 

 time in the Indian chronology to be made by folar, or even 

 by lunar years, nothing can be more extravagant in itfel.f, or 

 more repugnant to our mode of calculating the duration of 

 the world, founded on facred and infallible authority. From 

 one circumftance, however, which merits attention, we may 

 conclude that the information which we have hitherto re- 

 ceived concerning the chronology of the Hindoos is very in- 

 correft. We have, as far as I know, only five original ac- 

 counts of the different jogues, or eras of the Hindoos. The 

 firfl is given by M. Rogers, who received it from the Brah- 

 mins on the Cfromandel coail. According to it, the Suttee 

 Jon"ue is a period of one million feven hundred and twenty- 

 eight thoufand years ; the Tirtah Jogue is one million two 

 hundred and ninety-fix thoufand years ; the D'.vapaar Jogue 

 is eight hundred and f:xty-four thoufand. The duration of 

 the Collee Jogue he does not fpecify. (Porte Oaverte, 

 p. 1 79-) The next is that of ^!. Bernier, who received it 

 from the Br.-'Jimins of Benares. According to him the du- 

 ration of the Suttee Jogue. wastwo million five hundred thou- 

 fand Tears ; that of the Tirtah Jogue, one million two hun- 

 dred thoufand year' ; that of the Dwapaar Jogue is eight 

 hundred and fixty-four th^-ufand years. Concerning the 

 period of the Colke Jogue, he likewife is filent. (Voyages, 

 torn, ii p. 160.) The third is that of colonel Dow ; ac- 

 cording to which the Suttee Jogne is a period of fourteen 

 million of years ; the Tirtah Jogue one million eighty thou- 

 fand ;■ the Dwapaar Jogue feventy-two thouiand ; and the 

 Co'lee Jogue thirty-fix thoufand years. (Hill, of Hindoll. 

 vol. i. p. 2.) The fourth account is that of M. le Gtntil, 

 who received it from the Brahmins of the Coromandel coaft ; 

 and as his information was acquired in the fame part of India, 

 and derived from the fair.e fonrce with that of M. Rogers, it 

 agrees with his in every particular. (Mem. de I'Academ. 

 des Sciences, pour 1772 torn. ii. parti, p. 176.) The 

 fifth is the •.■.ccount of Mr. Halhed, which has been already 

 given. From this difcre'-ancy, not only of the total numbers, 

 but of many of the articles in the different accounts, it is 

 rnanif-.il that our information concerning Indian chronology 

 is hitherto as uncertam as the whole fyftem of it is wild and 

 fabulous. To me it appears highly probable, that when we 

 usderlbnd more thoroughly the principles upon which the 

 faftitious eras or jogues of the Hindoos have been formed, 

 we m^y be more able to reconcile their chronology to 

 the true mode of computing time, founded on the authority 

 o the Old Teilament'j and may likewife find rcafon to con- 

 clude, that the account given by tlieir aLlronomers of the 



J O H 



fituation of the heavenly bodies at the beginning of the 

 Collce .logue, is not cftablifhed by aftcal obfervation, but 

 the refidt of a rctrofpettive calculation." 



JOHADING', in Geography, a town of Bengal; 32 

 miles N.E. of Calcutta. 



JO HAN, St.', a town of France, in the department of 

 the Sarre, on the Sarre, communicating by a bridge with 

 Saarbruck. — Alfo, threetowns in the duchy of Stiria. — Alfo, 

 a town of the archbilllopric of Salzburg ; 30 miles S.S.E. 

 of Salzburg. 



JOHAN-GEORGEN-STADT, atown of Saxony, in 

 the circle of Er/.geburg, founded in l6j4 by the Protellant 

 miners, who were driven from Flatten in Bohemia, and fo 

 named after John George I. The corn, cultivated near the 

 town, is inconfiderable, but the breed of cattle is good. The 

 men are employed in mining, and the women in weaving lace. 

 Ores of tin and filver have been formerly found near this 

 place. Copi er ore, cobalt, emery, and other minerals are 

 now found; 24 miles S. of Chemnitz. N. lat. 50" 23'. E. 

 long. 12 40'. 



.fOHANNES, a fmall ifland in the Pacific ocean, dif- 

 covered in 1767. N. lat. 6 50'. E. long. 132' 18'. 



JOHANNESBERG, or Bichofsberg, a town of Ger- 

 many, famous for its wine ; 16 miles W. of Mentz. 



JOH ANNESBUPvG, a town of Pruflia, in the province 

 of Natangen, near the Spirding lake ; 96 miles S.S.E. of 

 Konigffaerg. N.lat. 53^ 22'. E. long. 22^ 2'. 



JOH ANNS, St., a town of Auftria ; 1 1 miles S.S.E. of 

 Glaggnitz Aifo, a town of Auftria ; 8 miles E. of Bava- 

 rian Waidhoven. 



JOHANSTHAL, a town of Moravia, in the circle of 

 Prerau, fituated in Silefia ; 1 2 miles N.N. W. of Jagcn- 

 dorf. 



JOHN the B.\PTI.ST, in Scripture Biography, was the 

 fon of Zacharias, a prieil of the courfe of Abia, and of 

 Elizabeth, coufin to Mary, the mother of our Saviour. He 

 was announced before his birth to Zacharias, who received 

 inllruftions to call him Jolm, and who was apprized of the 

 high .md honourable character which he was to fuflain, as 

 the forerunner of the MefTiah. See the account of l;is birth 

 and ofHce in the fir-it chapter of St. Luke's Gofp-.l. Having 

 withdrawn himftlf from fociety, in order to prepare, by ex- 

 ercifesof devotion, and ftrictnefs of manners, for the duties 

 of the office which was alTigned him, he was called to com- 

 mence his miniftry when he was about thirty year« of age ; 

 and, like the ancient prophets, he quitted his folitude in a 

 garm.er.t of camel's hair, and diftinguilhed him.felf by ablli- 

 nence and felf-denial, and feverity of morals. His commif- 

 fion was to proclaim the approaching advent and kingdom of 

 the Mefuah, and to qualify n.en, by repeftitancc and reforma- 

 tion, for becoming partakers of the blefSngs which the great 

 teacher and faviour was empowered to bellow. The fuc- 

 cefs of liis preaching was fucb, that multitudes reforted to 

 hear him, and to be baptifed by him in the waters of Jor- 

 dan. Hi* reputation was fuch among the people, that many 

 beg.in to debate among th.Mi.felvcs, whether he was not the 

 Melfiah : and when the Jcnvifh Sanhedrim, hearing of his 

 fame, fent fcribes and phanfecs from Jerufalem to examine 

 his pretenfions, John thought it fufficient honour to be com- 

 mifTioned as the forerunner" of the Mefliah, and therefore ex- 

 plicitly declared that he was not the Mefliah himfelf At 

 tl»e appointed time Jelus came to him from Nazareth, and 

 after fome hcfitation, tirii from ignorance of his perfon and 

 character, and afterwards, fromhuniility and diffidence, John 

 performed for hici the religious rite of baptifm, according 



