616. 
both being of the tribe of Levi ; ; and Da- 
than and Abiram, being of the tribe of 
Reuben, afpired to fhare with Mofes in 
the fovereign authority ; but God’s indig- 
nation was manitefied againtt this united 
faction, by the earth opening and {wal- 
lowing them up. This decided preference 
fixed the title and office of priefthood to 
Aaron and his defcendants. And Elea- 
zar, the prieft, tock the brazen cenfers, 
wherewith they that were burnt had offer- 
ed, and they were made broad-plates for a 
covering of the altar; to be a memorial 
to the children of Ifrael, that no ftranger 
who is not of the feed of Aaron come 
near to offer incenfe before the Lerd, that 
he be not as Korah and as his company, 
&c. Numbers xvi. v. 39. 
Q.2. As the Old Tefament pofitively affer tS, 
and I believe the Fews themfelves acknowledge, 
thar the CPi qwas to defcend from the frock of 
David, is there any family or families now in 
exiftente, Ge anes by their nation, or confi- 
dered by themfelves, as the lineal defcendants “of 
that mouar ch 
Anfwer tr Q.2. ‘Fhe prefest Jews do 
not know of any lineal defcendents of Da- 
vid. This is a curious circumftancé in 
confirmation of the truth of our own hif- 
tory of a Mefiiah in Jefus—for the Jews 
expect a Meffiah of the houfe of David, 
while they a€tually acknowledge or know 
not of any living deicendants of that mon- 
arch ; whence then can their -expetied 
“Meffiah fpring? unleis by fome miracle 
the fimily of David fhould be reftored, or 
diiccvered from ee Whereas, 
Jefus dates his defcent, through his father 
Jo‘eph, lineally from David and Abraham, 
according to St. Matthew; but accord- 
ing to St. Luke, it does ndt appear that 
Jefus took a lineal, though a fide defcent 
through David from Abyahara ; ; and if the 
immaculate conception be adopted, his 
defcent was entirely from his mother 
Mary, the daughter of Joachimand Anna, 
both. of the tribe of Judah, of w hich 
tribe her hutband Jofeph was alfo a mem- 
ber—but both were of tne royal race of 
David, Luke i. v. 5, 36, which makes 
out the defcent of their fon Jefus from 
that monarch, and fulflls the prophecies 
as to the M efligh. 
fee 3 What is their ian ling opti 2300. rela= 
tive to t the fa tT E of the ny ana La they give any 
credit té the accowzit o es it contained in the firft feven 
werjes of the fecond che; pter of the 2 Maccubees ? 
Anfwer to Se dg modern prevail-' 
ing opinion of the Jews relative to. the 
ark ‘is, it contained as well the two 
tables of Commandment, as slid the frag- 
ments of thofe whica were firit o given to 
that 
Anfwers to Queries— Pedefirian Tour. 
\ 
[Sept. 
Mofes, and which he threw onthe ground 
in the camp of the Iiraclites, when he dif- 
covered their idolatry, after his forty days 
abience in. Horeb or Simai: they were 
preferved together in the ark, with the 
rod of Aaron that budded. But the ido- 
latry of the Ifraelites being eafily led to 
ay more than feem! evden: to thefe 
ye ‘¥ 
‘relics, and. to the ark itfelf, which was 
therefore a from place to place with 
the army, k King Jofal n, whofe real piety re- 
formed many of their abufes, is faid to 
have hid many of thofe utenfils which had 
been held too facred, A. M. 3376—and 
thus it happened that the ark never came 
into the fecond temple. The modern Jews 
give credit to the account of the ark, men- 
tioned in 2 Maccabees, chap. il. v. 5. that 
the prophet Jeremiah ke ina hollow 
cave in Mount Sinai, with the tabernacle 
and altar of incenfe, and ‘‘ itopped the 
door,’’ and fome of thofe who, followed 
him cameto mark the way, but could not 
find it ; and he faid to them, that the place 
fhould be unknown, until the time that 
God gathered his people again together, 
and receive them unto mercy, &c. Now 
Jeremiah preached in the 13th of Jofiah, 
the fon of Ammon, king of ‘Judah (Jere- 
Miah i. Ws, ante. Je CG. 6413; and the 
Jews finally returned from their captivity 
in Babylon (which had bas under. Ze- 
dekiah, A. M. 3416) after the feventy 
years foretold by Jeremiah, A. M. 3486, 
when Darius Byitaipes allowed them by 
an edict to rebuild the temple. 
I hope thefe notes will be found to 
be correét, and that W. H. P. will 
have the goodnefs, through the channel 
of this-Msagazine, to communicate any 
farther notes or refults of his refearches, 
to which I fhall be happy to. pay every at- 
tention, 
Fuby ty 4799+ A. H, 

For the Monthiy Magazine. 
A SAR ee ExCURSION THROUGH 
veral Parts of ENGLAND and 
Wits duriag the Summer of 3797+ 
(Continued from p. 533. J 
N Friday, June 30, 1797. From 
Sunbury to the little hamlet of He- 
retord; mech ot the road is very delight- 
ful, efpe cially the parts neareft to Sune 
bury ;‘where the winding river, the exten- 
five mea sons: the fhady « walks, and luxu- 
riant ie antat oa diffufe a prodigality of 
Rut greennefs itflf 
is not green enough for che tafielefs in- 
fabitance, fome oF whom have daubed 
their houies, and, one in particular, the 
very 
, 
