The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1843-04-05

Wig.
DR. JARVIS ON MILLERIsM. We copy
rhe following article on Mr.. Miler's Chro-
nology from the Churchman. The author,
DR.. Jarvis of Middletown CT, is one of the
most learned divines in the Episcopal
Church. and has devoted himself for many
wears to the study of Chronology. His opin-
ions are therefore entitled to general atten-
lion.
The paper which you sent, "The Midnight
Cry'' of Nov ODD, ls42, contains answers TO
certain question from the Aurora which apt
iy illustrate the pert ignorance OF tnese men.
10. By what authority does Mr. Miller give
Samuel "a years? Ans. BY the authority
given in the Chronological table on our last
1agep That is, in plain English, by the
authority of my balance-sheet. go. By
whit authority does he give Cyrus yearsf
Ans. Rollin. @. By what authority does
he give Cambyses years! Ans. Rollin.-
D. By what authority does he give Xerxes
IS wears? Ans. RolIin."-And who was
RoIi:n. A rector in The University of Paris,
who, from 1880 to 1888, published popular
Abridg.nent of Ancient History. But by
what authority was Rollin governed! Here,
our wise calculator is entirely at fault. He
little knows, poor man, the difficulty of set
ling the Chronology of the early Persian
kings. Not to mention Eusebius and other
Chronoiosers, to whom we are so much IN
debted, he scarcely knows the names OF the
grea, modern writers, Joseph Scaiiger, Pc
lawns. Norris, Pasi, Usher, Sir John Marsh
am, aud many others, who have exhausted
their lives in determining questions of this
nature. These men knew the difficulties in
their way, and therefore, in giving their
indqmeut on obscure questions, thought 1t
necessary to quote original authorities, and
explain the grounds and reasons oftheir de-
cisons.
"But fools rush in, where angels dare
not tread.''
Does Mr. Miller, or do his followers, cup
pose that the difficulty of reconcillng Kings
Vi. |. with Acts xiii. 20, has been left for HIM
10 discover? Or that the whole subject had
not been maturelv weighed, by the great and
learned writer's whom have mentioned: II
So he and his followers are grossly deceived
bv their own ignorance. He assumes tnat
the Judges successfully ruled the whole ma
ton of Israel, for the space OF AS years;
and this leads him into several gross absur-
dities. For example: he makes Ehud rule
for eighty wears, when the Bible says only
that the land had rest eighty years; and he
substitutes Barak for Deborah, possibly TO
avoid wIa, he himself saw was ridiculous,
that the whole nalon should be placed under
Deb0rah's government for forty years.
.fAfter the death of Joshua, what erl
dence is there Of single ruler? The tribes
noted independently; anu the temporary de-
fenders raised up from time to time in vari-
Gus parts ofihe land, were often contempt
raneous. Without speaking OIL Kings vi
/, which he So rashly and daringly asserts
WAS the blunder of transcriber, VIII men
ton one massage which he seems entirely TO
have overlooked. If you examine his fs
ures, you will see that he makes the number
years from the Exodus to the commence
ment of the government of Jephthah, 400;
whereas Jephihah himself i'll his message to
the king of the Arnorites, Judge. vi. 12-2S,
makes the same period only $40 years; for
he speaks of the lsraeli;es on that side of
Jordun, as having been in possession OF their
land 800 years, and IT was conquered IN the
doth year after they left Egypt. Here is at
once difference of 81 years.
'sWhen he comes down TO the periods of
Profane History, he is singularly loose and
inaccurate. The fourth year of Jehniaklm
und the first OF observation-disclosures, where he
places the commencement of the 40 years
captivity, was rot IS he makcsit, B. c 596,
but B. c. COZ. Both Petarius and Usher
place it in that year; and accordingly, it is so
HOkcu III lHc vi INT Dibi-S-
The 20 years woulL, in such case, end in the
year B. c. 5S7, or at least 3. G. $50, and
not as he has it, B. c. 526. Here, therefore
is another lnaccuracy of 10 or II years.
acknowledges are by no means agreed
in their computation of the reign of Aria
xerxes Longimanus. Tie seventh year of
his reign, when Ezra was sent 10 Jerusa-
lem, is placed by Abp. Usher in The year
b. e. 467. Petavius places it year ear
her. b. c. 466; but he supPoses double
beginning of Ar,axerxes ; one coljoinlly
with his father. beginning before Chris'; tie
ether alone after the death of Xerxcs, begin
ming Before Christ Ats. live take the lat.
ter date, Tie seventh year would be b. c.
4JS, Mr. Miller has taken B. c. 457, be-
cause he places the death Of Christ in the
year 50 of,he common nra, and b. c. 457
plus 4. D. $3.50 days or tho 70 weeks
OF Daniel His whole plan is founded on
these two suggestions: first, that the 400
ended with the death of Christ. and second
Is, that A D.33, was the year of that event;
for Is 400 plus lslOE2300, and A. ID. 80
plus ls1O=A. D. lS43. il is evident that
any uncertainty as 10 those two SUPPOSE
lions, will destroy his whole scheme. Now
hope and trust lha, the work L am about /
10 publish. will prove beyond tile possibility
of cavii, that he has placed the death Of our
Savior eractly fire gears too late. and ccnse-
quenily,.:ihOt if The 70 weeks ended with the
death of Christ, and the $500 years would
end with The purifying of the world by fire
1910 years after The. Crucifxion, then the
world oaght to:have. been burned up five