401 
in order to enable me to overthrow it, I went through the greater portion 
of the Pentateuch, and elaborated my own argument, which I put into the 
most condensed form I could. At the same time there fell under my notice 
five lectures by Professor Harold Browne, delivered in the University of 
Cambridge in reply to Dr. Colenso, and I was extremely pleased to find that 
Professor Harold Browne, who is now Bishop of Ely, took exactly the view 
that I take, and which Mr. Gosse and Mr. Moule have also taken and 
brought forward subsequently. With regard to the question of inspiration, 
it is very important that we should thoroughly hold the inspiration of the 
original documents. Uncorrupted preservation is one thing on which Pro* 
fessor Harold Browne speaks wisely, but uncorrupted preservation is not 
inspiration. For many of the numbers in the Pentateuch I do not contend, 
but I believe that though some of them may have become more or less cor- 
rupted, we can correct many of the discrepancies. For instance, I take, just 
as an illustration, that reference of Dr. Thornton’s to the Second Book of 
Chronicles and the Second Book of Kings. How what is the simple matter 
of fact ? If you correct the Book of Chronicles by the Second Book of 
Kings, and if you take the Second Book of Kings as correct, the difficulty 
entirely disappears — the one text corrects the other. Then take the 
number of men smitten at Bethshemesh. Mr. Moule has dealt very ably 
with that point, and what he conceives to be the case, taken on the 
authority of Glassius, entirely sets aside the difficulty. I take the Hebrew 
from Genesis, in the case of Abraham’s intercession on behalf of Sodom 
rwm DpHtfn D’ttf72n pion That, literally rendered, is, “ perad- 
venture there lack fifty the righteous five.” Now that, I submit, is non- 
sense ; but then we have the fact that the preposition 72 is sometimes 
omitted from the larger number. Apply that to the text relating to Beth- 
shemesh. Suppose the 72 to be understood before the larger number, the 
difficulty disappears, and you have 70 destroyed out of 50,000 men who 
were gathered round the ark. Mr. Moule has brought that out with great 
clearness on the authority of Glassius. 
Mr. Moule. — Glassius does not criticise the passage about Bethshemesh — 
he merely gives the rule in his grammar that 72 is frequently omitted. 
Mr. Graham. — Then it is still more creditable to the scholarship of Mr. 
Moule that he should apply it in this case. (Hear, hear.) But let me say 
with regard to the 600,000 men, that I firmly believe that the credibility of 
the Pentateuch depends as much on the number 600,000 men leaving Egypt 
under Moses as it does on any other fact stated in it. Though it is a very 
high number, it is a grand fact which runs through the whole history, and it 
is the subject of prophecy. God tells Jacob not to be afraid of going down 
into Egypt, for He will there make of him a great nation. The same pro- 
mise had also been made to Abraham, and then I see that Pharaoh became 
afraid of the nation — they multiplied to such an extent — and cast out their 
young children, to the end that they might not live. Pharaoh says, “ They 
be mightier than we ” ; and then again when they have come into the wilder- 
ness they are numbered at the end of the year, and they have 603,550 men 
VOL. v. 2 H 
