New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-26
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL
PROF. TOYS SCHOLARSHIP AssA1LED'
STUDENT WHO coNTRovERTs HIS STATE
MENTs AS TO THE OLD TEsTAMENT's
AUTHENTICITY.

A STUDENT WHO CONTROVERTS HIS sIAiE-
MrNrs AS TO THE OLD TEsTAMENT's
AUTHENTICITY.
TO the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir. In your issue Of the 9th inst. under the cap
t,on "Israeltsh Legends" appeared the partial ie
mort of lecture by Professor Crawford howe" ny
of Harvard University. being the hrst Oh three ".
ures on THE Latest Results of the higher Do''ea
criticism" Besides the weight Of his name ana OH
-, oorrsc,,on Professor Toy is introduced to the
readers NJ The Tribune as who mas lons peeh
acknowledged expert on matters 'o".e G
history of Biblical nations as well as upon the So
of theology. In these matters MS repu'""0 " "
terna tional. $500. ,rr,
Having read in the last few years large nun
her NJ hooks beginning with that OF Professor hoo
ertson Smith upon the interesting question: u 'e
authenticity of the Old Testament scripture no' -.
any sense as partisan. but with sincere ue'". W
get at the truth by patient investigation 'ne VIZ.
felt supreme satisfaction on reading Inc IiiDu
announcement. AT last" he though', 90,
has cor,e ~ Judgment, Now shall nave hs"t
and a satisfactory solution OF the great .heoioe,1
ouestio vexata of the age. Doubtless al "
will die with this expert OF interha''oiiai -.
t,on.' and thrice fortunate is he who IS prvheseu "
hear the conclusion of the whole matter
Tho Tribune introduction says: The Professor
.roke In mart as follows" etc So that' 80 iai
az II goes 1t is fair to assume the report " ~
textual and to that extent 1t becomes a la'i s"''
n, nublic remark The writer has walteu ~ o.
or,s rev,ew of the assertions Tade by the iearheu
o.xn.r," from competent scholars, but, disappo'eu
in this respect with much reluctance anu
.cousness OF his own deficiencies, ventures as
mere layman 70 offer some ooser'auo's ~ '
readers upon the lecture of Aprh :. ~
Tn discussing question OF such vital in'poi -
% millions Of the human family who have not pee"
favored with the opportunity OF PURSUING
INN IN Hsrvardan theology. one naturally ioohs o
,roofs that will warrant one in laying as'oe pre-
conceived opinions. even Of you chooSe' ' .
prepossessons which differ toto coelo' ~ va"
40 radical a change But. strange 10 say II,
ing OK cathedra. the question before him. ana III eur
deavoring to lead his audience TO the same co''
.,one not scintilla of proof is offered Inc "ioie
scone of the lecture a series OF assertions az"
negations vastly qualified. at that IL Is 0 t
that 1.-The story of the Flood and kIndreu 'aies " "
an interesting Election of legends ana ih!'ls '.
.rrtla Of Genesis can be accepted as his'or! 'n"'
80 Tho reasons why the abode in Egypt and the
.xodus cannot be regarded historical iac's IL
s. .that In the Egyptian records that nave peo" '
far discovered there is no reference 10 '"e'e W.
rences so that this portion OF the ou ie .
must be regarded a reflection OF eupscau'
period etc. $500. .s,o,,
pu, ~ continue quotations with decent respect
10 your limitations of space is impracu0a''.' -
,onlv necessary to say that the absence Oh '"e va
rohoraton OF Israolitish history by the hs!p.'a
records thus far found that the facO wouu De
- 49,, that that history was not what the Od
restament gives U.S. The Egyptian records SO lar
az discovered and deciphered as well as 'he bao'
lonian cylinders IN no instance antaso"Ae 'ie s'"
ments Of the Old Testament. but. on the contrary
I'm countless instances. where they reier 10 CORE
sponding events. confirm them 'That accohpisne'
.cho,ar a nd Psychologist. Professor A. H. Sayce IN
mis- recent work. THE Egypt OF the hebrews anu
Herodotus," points out condolences ana comm"
lions between the two RECORDS all the way iion'
Abraham to the latest date of the Hebrew Script
vyhQ
have beeen lost in the destruction or the
Alexandrian Library Of 10000 volumes about ~ IS
e. or of the Egyptian tablets in the earlier Gays Oh
"chance finds Before the key to their in'erpre'a-
ton was discovered in the Rosetta stone, and AFTER
that until a systematic plan OF excavations was
adopted and the fellahn Of Egypt had learned that
such finds had marketable value?
But We are not wholly left to surmse. PROFESSOR
Toy refers TO the tablets OF Amarna found nine
years ago and inscribed about 100 years b. c.
as mot containing word of the 1sraeltish history
as found the earlier books Of the Old Testament
Now Professor Sayce, Chapter III, describes this
find at Te-el-Amarna In 1857 He says that about
three hundred tablets discovered in the ruins
OF the Foreign Office. but that no one on the spot
appreciated their value and many of them were
injured or destroyed before they fell into European
hands and he accounts for the distribution and
present place Of deposit Of the most of those that
were recovered. But from these scanty relics
many combinations Of Scripture history are op-
elaborate history Of nation OF slaves In the
archives Of the Egyptian Foreign Office? Professor
6ayce describes the Mosaic of Intense
literary activity in Egypt. Babyionia and Canaan.
was called Klrjath-Septer-"th city of books"-and
hopes are entertained that if its site be ever dis.
covered great additions will be made 10 our present
scantv and fragmentary knowledge Outside OF the
s deHIe after the Israelitish conquest
The evidence above given or rather referred TO;
material and partial. There lies beyond is per
haps parallel with it, another line Of arg umeht IN
pace Professor Toy is exhaustive and convincing to
the dispassonate student: appealing wholly to his
entitled LEX Mosaica" recently published in Lon
don which the Harvard professor appears not to
have seen. or else presumed that IT was unknown
in this country. In symposium OF essays. written
BY fourteen Of the most eminent BRITISH
and Egyptian lore. embracing So IN names as raw
others equally noted for scholarship and ability in
the line OF Higher Criticism there is a series o,
Arhnp Bhp
which treat exhsustvely OF Hebrew history IRON
Course s impossible 10 pass in review the profound
ea Teadns them the assertions Of Professor Toy
and all Of his school seem to fan as harmless ana
against the walls of a granite fortress. One illus
tration however. may be given Professor Toy
asserts that the Book of Joshua is but an imagi,
nary picture drawn in the sixth century B. c. OF
what then believed 10 have been the condition
Mosaca,' Principal Grdestone Of Wycline Hall;
Oxford treating OF the Period OF JOSHUA and
referring to the Aforementioned tablets found at
Te-el-Amarna. quotes from Major Conder, recog-
mixed authority in Egyptoogy as follows: ''The
mass OF political correspondence thus brought 10
light is equal in bulk to half the Penateuch.
II is clear that these letters are the most import
ant records found in connection with the Bible
and that they most fully confirm the historical
statements of the Book of Joshua"
In conclusicI II may not be impairment TO ask
whether Harvard University IL fulfilling the pur-
pose OF It's grand old founders In teaching per
hitting to be taught BY one Of It's professors a
Christian religion. for If the Old Testament Scrip.
lures are only an aggregation or legends. :
''myths' and Imaginary pictures OF past life, .
then we may adrift from the Decalogue 80 the
rule of life, and Jesus Christ (be 1t said without
irreverence) only pretender when, referring
20 Moses. the Psalms (fron one Of which he quotes