¥10 
tion, such observations as the subjeét sug- 
gests, or. the further instruction and ra- 
tional entertainment of the reader may 
require. “Che chronologer’s task is more 
complicated ; he must compare time with 
time, dates with dates, country with, 
country. He must compound ; he must 
compute; he must reduce.. Our two 
ancient historians had very little, if any, 
Knowledge of those things. The blun- 
dering account Herodotus, in the name of 
Solon, gives to Cresus, of the difference 
Fesulting, in the short space of seventy 
years, from the Grecian intercalations, 
sheweth what a sort of chronologer he 
was; and Cresas’ simple, though faith- 
ful, account of the numbers he found-in 
his vouchers, doth fiot give us a much 
higher idea of his skill that way. There- 
fore, we are reduced to draw, from their, 
respective situations, what light we can, 
concerning the nature of the materials 
they had to work upon. . 
I think it is sufficiently known, that, 
among the ancient nations, of whom we- 
have any knowledge, none had written 
records of past transaétions, but the He- 
érews, the Phanicians, the Chaldeans, 
and the Medes, to whom we may, per- 
haps, add the Persians. The Egyptians 
made a class by themselves.—Hicrogly- 
phics, instead of letters, were, at first, 
the repositories of their history, and.the 
meaning of those sacred and significative 
charaéters, perfectly understood by the 
priests, was transmitted by oral tradition 
from one generation to another. Yet the 
memory of former times was not entirely 
lost, among the nations who were desti- 
tute of written annals: Poctry supplied 
the want of books. Popular songs con- 
veyed to posterity the feats of their an- 
cestors, of their kings, of their worthies, 
and accounts of their successions. From 
such monuments as these, the first histo- 
ries were compiled; and if at all taken 
care of, kept for the use of those who 
had the administration of public affairs. 
The Assyriazs are not here to be con- 
founded with the Chaldeans, as was ge- 
nerally done by the Greek writers, and 
3s too often done by the modern, to the 
Zreat confusion of ancient history. The 
Hebrews, who knew them better, and 
Gerosus, a Chaldean, constantly repre- 
sent the two nations as distinét from each 
other. The first, and I believe the only 
instance we meet with of an Assyrian 
writing, is Sexnacherib’s letter to Exe- 
fiah, However, supposing these people 
had any historical compilations, they must 
have perished in the conflagration of 
Chronelogy of Hersdotus and Ctefjas; 
[March 
Sardanapaluys’ palace; an event which. 
no ancient author ever denied, or had the 
least doubt about. Yet songs, which the 
sons had learned from their fathers, and 
taught their children, could not be so 
soon lost; and it may be presumed that, 
when the Babylonians began to write 
their own annais, their historians. made 
use of those songs in the very words, 
and according to the aceount of the ori-. 
ginal Assyrian bards; these accounts. 
were, In some Measure, necessary preli-. 
minaries to the history of the separation 
of their state from the Assyr/au empire. 
But, to Cresias, when he met with them 
in the Roial dpSnge, they were very rude 
materials. What use he could make, 
and really made of them, I will inquire 
hye and bye. | 
Now I turn to Herodpius. The Egyp- 
#iaus, from whom he apparently learned 
all, or most part of what he knew o 
distant nations, especially of ancient 
times, were equally curious in search-. 
ing, careful in colleéting, and industrious. 
in. digesting, whatever they could learn 
about foreign affairs. All we know of 
their history, when duly and impartially 
considered, sheweth them. to have been 
no strangers to any of the operations, 
either astronomical or arithmetical, which 
are necessary to form a true chronology. 
ds it unreasonable to suppose, that the 
same poetical materials which were con- 
signed in the Chaldean records, had 
fallen into their skilful hands? And that, 
by reducing them to a different compu 
tation of time, they extraéted, out of 
that rubbish, the number of years, which 
we find expressed in Herodotus, 520: 
How that number can he made to agree 
with, or at least to differ but little from 
_ the 1360 of Ctesias, remains now to be 
explained. The werd year, hath had, at 
different times, and in different countries, 
SO many and such various significations, 
that very little stress ought to be laid on 
it, till one knowcth in what precise sense 
it was taken by ancicnt authors, or in the 
materials from which they derived their 
information. From one day (#é 7 @ 
mpteae evinvinc elnpiter, says Suidas, of the 
Egyptians) 10 forty-three thousand six 
hundred and thirty days, the magnus 
annus, Seov enavies, the held is large for 
choice or conjeétures. Among this im~ 
mense variety, I find one particular form 
of year, which suits our purpose; and 
appears to meto be the true Key of Cresias? 
chronology. Dzodorus tells us, that the 
ancient Heypizans divided the year in 
thr ES SEGSOMS, lenetzeciy weais, and gne may > 
judge, 
