not entitled to the praises that have been bestowed on him, by those who have thought that he was a very creditable authority. The many improbabilities I have met with in perusing his books, make me suspect that he was either exceedingly credulous, or much inclined to alter the truth, and to invent stories: perhaps both. I do not wonder that among those who lived in his time, and might be better judges of his veracity than the moderns, as they could compare what he has said, with the documents that were then admitted as authentic, I do not wonder, I say, that he has been, as he owns it, "loaded with opprobrious invectives, and that his

history could gain no other character than that of a "fable." Here are a few extracts from which I suppose you will doubt that he deserves any credit:-

He says that Lot's wife went out of the town with her husband, but either from a motive of tenderness or curiosity, she violated the strict command of God in looking behind her, and she was in consequence turned into a pillar of salt. He adds: I have seen the pillar, and can safely assert that it still remains.

Josephus may have been shown somewhere about the country, where it has been fancied that the Scriptural Sodom was, a pillar, whether of salt or any thing else; and he may have been told that it was the identical pillar of salt which the Scripture represents Lot's wife as being turned into for her disobedience, (just the same as pious travellers in Palestine are still imposed upon by the natives with fabulous accounts); and he may have believed that the pillar he saw was the very pillar we read of in Genesis. For my part I think that he was foolishly credulous, or that he has told a shameful lie.

He mentions that one Hyrcanus had plundered the tomb of David and Solomon of 300 talents; and that Herod wishing to get a share of the spoil, went into the building where it was, and found only some plate; upon which, not being satisfied, he ordered two men to break open the tomb; but that immediately, on their attempting to do it, came out a flame that devoured them. Of this again I cannot believe a single word; but whether he had been told so, and had from credulity received it as true; or whether he invented the whole of the story, I cannot decide.

I have read in his works, that agreeable to the directions of Titus, he first walked through several parts of Jerusalem, and then stopt on an elevated spot, within the hearing of the enemy, though not within the reach of their shot, from which he made a speech to them. He adds that the people, far from being grateful for his friendly admonition, reviled him in the most contemptuous manner from the walls, and accompanied their sarcastic speeches with darts and stones. Then he relates a much longer speech than the first, which he made to them. I ask you whether it is likely that he could be within the hearing of the Jews, but not within the reach of their shot, darts, and stones; and that he had been allowed to walk through several parts of the city, where he was most despised and hated, and would have been considered as nothing else than a spy.

Josephus relates that there perished 1,100,000 persons in Jerusalem during the siege, and that no less than 97,000 were taken captives; (from which one might conclude, if it should be admitted as true, that it must have been an exceedingly large town to contain such a

multitude;) that it was surrounded by three walls, except in one part, where, he says, that the steepness of the hill made it unnecessary; that during the night the Jews used to go into the country in search of food; and that Titus, to prevent them from conveying any relief to the city, ordered a wall to be built round it, the whole extent of which was thirty-nine furlongs; that thirteen forts were erected outside of it, ten furlongs being the compass of each fort; and he adds: "It is somewhat extraordinary, but no less so than true, that this amazing work was completed in three days, though an equal number of months might have been supposed a reasonable time for it." I do not believe that so marvellous a circumstance is to be found in any of the creditable Roman histories. Would any body have been surprised, if one of the besiegers, in reading the article, had exclaimed, what an exaggeration, and what a misrepresentation of facts! What a fable, seemingly invented to persuade the superstitious that something supernatural had been done in behalf of Titus!

He speaks of a mother who, being starved to death, destroyed her infant, and boiled a part of it for her sustenance. In an excess of hunger such thing is possible; but what is most improbable, and, in my opinion, may discredit the lamentable circumstance, is the speech which he relates as having been made by the mother to her sucking victim, before killing it. Is there the least likelihood in that speech, and that she was cool enough to narrate it to those who entered her dwelling, just after she had committed the crime? I cannot take that speech but for a fabrication of Josephus; who, in the course of his works, gives several others, of which I

suspect a great part to be of his own invention, from his disposition to amplify. The same I think of a Roman anecdote which he mentions; in the way that he does it, I believe his imagination has been at work, without any regard for the truth.

You may see in his books an account of a strange plant, called, according to him, baaras, which he says is of a flame colour, and on the approach of the evening, reflects a light like the beams of the sun. He goes on with his marvellous description; then he concludes by the following curious sentence. "Notwithstanding what "has been said, it is related that this plant has a pro"perty that is more than equivalent to all its noxious.

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qualities. It will not be disputed, that to be possess"ed with evil spirits, is one of the greatest calamities to "which human nature is subject. Those evil spirits, "which we place under the denomination of demons or "devils, are only the souls of men, who, during their "mortal existence, had abandoned themselves to ini"quity having gained possession of living bodies, they "would inevitably destroy them, if their operation was "not counteracted by preventive remedies. Now the "plant in question possesses so extraordinary a virtue, "that upon only touching the patient with it, his afflic"tion is immediately removed."

Is it not likely, Theophila, that a writer who would publish now-a-days such accounts, would be held in great contempt; and what would not be said of him, if he had the audacity of altering the Bible, as Josephus has done; of giving speeches of his own fabrication, and setting forth that they were made by the Almighty; and of in

venting things that are in direct contradiction with the Scriptures? Here is an instance of it.

"Under the persuasion that God had pronounced a "sentence of destruction against the human race, Noah "was dreadfully apprehensive that the judgement would "be repeated, and even that an inundation of the universe would take place annually; he, therefore, of"fered sacrifices, and humbled himself in prayer before "the Lord, beseeching the Almighty, to continue the "world in its original order; to chastise the wicked, "and show favour to the unoffending; and not to act "'in wrath against the whole race for the vices of some "individuals; whereby those who had survived the "devastation, would be involved in greater misery "than those who had met their fate in the waters which "had overwhelmed the world, and would besides "labour under the distressing idea of having been pre"' served from one calamity to become sharers in another "dismal event, similar to that of which they had al"ready been melancholy witnesses.' He fervently

supplicated the Creator to hear his prayers, receive "his sacrifice; and, removing his indignation from "mankind, permit them again to cultivate and enjoy "the fruits of the earth, and to restore to them those "blessings and comforts of life, which they had expe"rienced before the flood. He moreover prayed for "long life to himself and his descendants, and that such "children as should be born to him in future, might "not perish, till they had numbered the days of their "forefathers.

"The righteousness and piety of Noah were so ac