The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-07-17
,9,,a - man md ,of his llstory from ilis

eHg 49, - s4 -
wor,d ,f man. and Of his history from his
en,anaf,on from the hands of his Creator
| down TO his destruction by the deluge, when
| form the first nine chapters OF Genesls.
these two narratives have been distin.
c,,ished respectively as the Jehovah ana
| the Elohim records, because in the ono the
Jehovah is spoken of MS Jehovah, and In Ine
| other in the plural form as Elohlm. FRO
badly Sir Henry Rawlinson's discoveries
will throw light on the subject, and tnus
clear up the obscurity which hangs over tna,
portion of the sacred text. If TINS shoulu
! be the case. he will be benciactor 10 tne-
oIor, and Biblical lore as well as to history
and archaeology. .,,..
There is nothing amazing in the fact tnat
the sculpturcd archives of Babyionia, neces,
sarily the chief memorial OF tradltion ana
belief among the Chaldeans, should be re-
Elected i'm the annals of race when came
forth from Chaldea; still, the prospect OF
comparing the originals with the derived
reports. and of finding the authentic sources
from which Elohist and Jehovlst drew ', thell
statrmcnts. T. one which will naturally eX.
cite vivid expectations among Blbllcai
scholars. and cannot tail to arouse very
general curiosity. The cause of religion
has ALWAYS been advanced by discoveries III
science. notwithstanding the outcrles maze
AGAINST them by well-meaning but rather
Shot-sighted persons.
Truth can never gainsay truth, nor can can
we 90 back TO the practice, whether polltl.
cal or religious, which is said to have lald
hands on Calico for asserting that the earth
moved. Nevertheless it moves" IS true
of everything as well rs OF the planet we
live on: and if these new discoveries, OF
any others. interpret to us, in positive
and simple sense, legends which have been
lost in the sacred list of tradition. the Bibll-
cal account cannot but gain in clearness,
while the intent which dictated the record
must be carried out with increased direct
ness and force.
The character of all such investigations
has ever been in the highest sense Scrip
| tural and Christian. Tt may turn out to
the Chaldeans had traditions Of Eden, OF
the flood, and Of Babel, and that ADrahanl
brought them from Cur of the Chaldees
to Canaan, and handed them down to MS
poSterity and these traditions may ail'o
have found their way into other lands long
before Abraham's time, which would parity
account for their universally. Let Us, at
anv rate, know what the Babylonian records
can tell about the Garden OF Eden. Ii Hid,
dekel, Pison, and Gihion, can be identified
without geographical beWilderment, let IL
bv all means be done. We have our doubts
about the probability of this.
EuphrateS remains, but it seems strange
that the three other rivers should have dis
appeared so completely in country where
no natural commissions have taken place
within recorded history. Neither the heat
nor the sand have been ableto obliterate the
Euphratcs, and it is difficult to imagine tha'
they could have obliteratcd the others unless
they were insignificant streams. But the
turn which Sir Henry Rawlinson has giye:r
TO the meaning of the term "Garden Of
Eden" throws light OH that passage in
Isaiah CHAP. 81, V. 12l, "Hoye the gods O
the nations delivered them which my father;
have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran
and Rezeph, and the children of Eden
which were in Telassar?" And on thai
in Ezekiel (chap. %, V. 49,. "Thou hast
been in Eden, the garden Of God"