famous for human learning, new inventions, or their knowledge in arts and sciences?

T. Both Jews, Chriftians, and Mahometans celebrate the learning of Enoch, and in particular, his capacity in the mathematical fciences. The Jews call him Metatron, admit him to be the inventor of letters, and afcribe to him the figns of the heavens. The Greek chriftians acknowledge him to be the fame as the first Egyptian Hermes, and fay, that he was the first that difcourfed of fuperior fubftances; and that, having foretold the flood, he engraved the figures of artificial inftruments, and the elements of the fciences, on pillars, or. ftone pyramids, to prevent their being loft in the univerfal deluge. Eupolemus will have it, that he is the Atlas of the Grecians; and confequently attributes the invention of aftronomy to Enoch. And the Mahometans pretend he was the firft taylor by trade; that he found out the ufe of the needle, as well as of the pen, arithmetic, and aftronomy; and that afterwards being fent with a divine commiffion to preach to, and to reclaim the wicked pofterity of Cain, he was the firft that took up arms for religion, or the caufe of God against that irreligious and perverfe generation, whose wives and children he carried into captivity, because they would not be converted, and turn to the paths of righteousness, at the hearing of his word. But it does not appear very fafe to admit all these traditions indifcriminately. This we have well attefted, That he was a prophet.

S. Did he not leave fome writings? T. It should appear from St. Jude's account, ver. 14, 15, that fome prophecy of his was preserved in our Saviour's time either in writing, or by tradition. But though we have fome fragments of this fcripture or prophecy of Enoch, the most orthodox and beft critics have always ranked them amongst the apocryphal. The Jews,

in their Zohar, mention another book written by Enoch; and Origen says, that he wrote a book different from his prophecy, containing fecrets concerning the names of the parts of heaven, and of all the ftars and conftellations, which is faid to be extant among the Ethiopians in their tongue; but though it has been diligently fought after, and with a great expence, it cannot as yet be recovered from that ftate of obfcurity in which it lies there buried, fuppofe there be any fuch thing.

S. How long did the offspring of Seth preferve the true worship of GOD, and themselves from the infec tion of the wicked lives of Cain's pofterity?

T. It is certain that they perfevered in the true worship of God, and in the practice of piety, imitating his virtues, fo long as Adam lived. Jofe phus prolongs this good eftate to seven generations: but the oriental writers reduce this period to the fortieth year of Jared; when they fay one-hundred of the fons of Seth perifhed by whoreing with the daughters of Cain, who were tolerated in all manner of uncleannefs. And thus you are to account for the fans of God begetting children of the daughters of men ; and not fancy that the angels defcended from heaven to propagate a male species with the human race, as the fabulous book, mentioned before by the name of Enoch's Prophecy, has too fuccefsfully made a great many believe: though certainly we need only relate its fpurious fragments to confute them.

S. I fhould be glad you would oblige me with an abstract of those frag

ments.

7. It is as follows: God, fays that book, fet certain Egregori or watching-angels over the human race, who, after the great increase of men, being captivated with the beauty of their daughters, propofed to one another, to go down and chufe themselves

wives

wives out of the daughters of men: these angels, as there recorded, were in all two-hundred, amongst whom were twenty Princes, called Sémiazas, the chief, Atarcuph, Araciel, Chobabiel, Orammame, Ramiel, Sampfich, Zaciel, Balciel, Azalzel, Pharmarus, Amariel, Anagemas, Thaufael, Samiel, Sarinas, Eumiel, Tyriel, Jumiel, and Sariel; who, upon Semiazas's demur that he was afraid they would not go thro' with the affair, but leave him to bear the guilt alone, bound themselves under a folemn oath never to recede from this refolution. Matters being thus fettled to mutual fatisfaction, they all defcended upon mount Hermon, in the days of Jared, or the 1170th year of the creation, took themselves wives, and to them were born three generations; the firft of which were the Giants; the fecond were the Nephilim, and the third were the Eliud; all which multiplied according to their ftature, and taught themselves and their wives magic and enchantments. Azalzel is there faid to teach the art of making fwords, breaft-plates, and other inftruments of war; and of working gold and filver, and other metals, into various ornaments for women; as alfo the art of preparing cofmetics; the polishing of precious stones, and the art of dying. By which many were drawn from their duty to God, and tempted to many wicked peffes. Semiazas is faid to have taught the force of poisonous herbs and roots: Pharmarus is famous for charms and incantations : Balciel, for aftrofcopy: Chobabiel, for astrology: Zaciel, for aërofcopy: Araciel taught the figns of the earth: Sampfich, thofe of the fun: Sariel, thofe of the moon; and, in like manner, this fpurious book of Enoch celebrates each of thefe angels for fome peculiar fecret revealed by them to their wives and children. But then, continues that author, the giants be ginning to devour human flesh, and the men, finding their numbers to de

creafe, cried to heaven against their cruelty and the Lord hearing their cry, and finding their complaint to be juft, upon report of the four archangels, ordered thefe Minifters of Justice to bind the Princes of thofe tranfgreffors, and throw them into the abyfs, there to be kept till the day of judgment. The archangels, according to this author, were Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael. And, fays he, Uriel was fent to Noah with a declaration of the deftruction of all flesh by a flood; and to inftruct Noah how to efcape. Raphael's commiffion was to bind Azalzel hand and foot, and to throw him into darkness, in the defert of Duduel, and to lay him upon fharp ftones, and there to keep him prifoner for to be punished by fire on the day of judgment. Gabriel was ordered to fow difcord amongst the Egregori, that they might destroy each other in a civil war. And Michael's talk was, to bind Semiazas, and the rest of his companions, and after they had feen the flaughter of their beloved fons, to lead them to the outmoft parts of the earth, where they were to be confined for feventy generations, till the confummation of all things, and the day of judgment; when they were to be thrown in the gulph of fire.

Having thus difpofed of the Egregori, he adds; the giants, their offfpring, being all killed, were condemned to become evil fpirits, doing mischief upon the earth, appearing as fpectres, and taking no food: but they fhall rife with mankind at the laft day. And their offspring the Nephilim, or mighty men of the earth, and the great men of renown, the fpirits which went forth from their fouls, as from flesh, were to continue their mischievous employments till the laft day.It was alfo, fays he, decreed that mount Hermon, where thofe angels mutually bound themfelves by an oath, fhould never be without fnow, and cold, till the day

of judgment, when it should melt like wax. -Here, likewise, mankind is threatened with a general deftruction, and the period of their lives fixed at 120 years.

And thus, I hope, your curiofity is fatisfied as to these fragments; and convinced that they are spurious, or fo greatly corrupted, as to deferve no credit from a rational creature. Tho' I must confefs they seem to have been too much countenanced by thofe that admit of the ridiculous ftories of hobgoblins, fpectres, and wandering fpirits, and their familiarity with, and power over men. But if it appears, as I do not doubt hereafter to fhew, That thefe Terrors have no exiftence but in diftempered brains, nor any foundation in true hiftory; I hope you will readily defpife them, as much as every judicious reader rejects the fpurious fragments of the book of Enoch.

S. I am fully convinced of the incredibility of this account of angels defcending and propagating on the daughters of men; it being repugnant to the notion we have of thofe fpiritual beings who are neither married nor given in marriage. But does not the phrafe, The Sons of GOD, in this place, mean the Princes, great Men, and Magifirates of thofe times?

T. This is the interpretation of moft of the Jewish writers, who accufe their Princes, Magiftrates, &c. of abusing their authority, and, instead of punishing and discounte-nancing vice, of becoming the greateft examples and promoters of lewdpefs and debauchery, by taking the daughters of men, or the inferior or moaner fort of the people, and debauching them by force. But I recommend to you the history that naturally leads us to the fons of Seth, who, tempted by the Allurements of the daughters of Cain, first left their feat of innocence, and were afterwards followed by others, who, from time to time, defcended from the ha

bitation of their religious father, and took themselves wives, in like manner, of that profligate and abandoned race. From these unhappy marriages, fprung a race of giants, whose offspring were mighty men.

S. What mean you by giants? T. Men both of great ftature and ftrength, and of monftrous impiety and injuftice. But do not imagine that, therefore, mankind in general, in the firft ages of the world, were of a much larger ftature than they are at prefent; because the best authors of antiquity speak of giants as rarities, and the wonders of their time; though, I confefs, their numbers feem to have been much greater before the flood: one race of them defcending from Cain both by father and mother, who made ufe of their fuperior ftrength to fpoil and tyrannize over the weaker ; another race of them fprang from Seth's children's imprudent alliance with Cain's pofterity: and both of them became mighty men, and men of renown, fignalizing themselves by robberies, oppreffions, and all pro fanenefs and immorality.

S. How long did Adam live? ·

T. He lived nine-hundred and thirty years; in which time he repented of his fins, and made his peace with God; who is always ready to pardon thofe that feek mercy and forgiveness with a fincere heart.

S. Is there any account of the place of his burial?

T. We have no account of it in

fcripture: but it has been the fubject of much fpeculation amongft the other writers of all denominations. Some bury him at Arba or Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah, i. e. the double cave, bought many ages after by Abraham for a burying place for himfelf and family. The oriental chriftians fay, that when Adam perceived the hour of his diffolution drew near, he called Seth, Enos, Canaan, and Mahalaleel to him, and ordered them, after embalming his body with sweet

Spices,

fpices, to lay it in the cave al Konuz, . e. a private vault on the top of a certain mountain. They also add, that Adam enjoined his pofterity to carry his body with them, when ever they should be obliged to leave the neighbourhood of paradife, and place it in the midst of the earth; because thence should come his falvation, and that of all his pofterity: and that Lamech repeated this order to his fon Noah, with this addition, That he should take with the body gold, frankincenfe, and myrrh, as offerings, and appoint one of his fons to attend the corpfe to, and at the new fepulchre, who was to be a religious perfon, and unmarried; was to fhed no blood, nor offer any facrifices but bread and wine only; was to be cloathed in fkins, and fhould neither cut his hair, nor pare his nails, and was to be called the Prieft of God; meaning thereby Melchizedek. And this Noah and Melchizedek are faid to have perform ed. The primitive fathers generally believe, that he died in the place where Jerufalem was afterwards built; and that he was interred on mount Calvary, in the very fpot whereon Chrift was crucified. Cornelius è Lapide, a celebrated commentator in the church of Rome, adds, That Seth, at the command of an angel, put into Adam's mouth, at the time of his interment, a feed of the Tree of Knowledge, which afterwards grew to be a tree; and that Chrift's cross was made of it. The Mahometans contend alfo for the body of Adam, and difcover his fepulchre on mount Abu-kabis, near their holy city Mecca: but the Perfians, refolved to engrofs fo precious a relique to themfelves, fet a guard of lions over it in Sererdib or Ceylon. All which lufory inventions are as ridiculous as the ftory of Ja cobus Edessenus, who fays, that Noah, having preferved the bones of Adam in the ark, divided them after the flood amongst his fons, giving the fkull to Shem, who, coming into Judæa, re

pofited it in the fepulchre of Adam, on mount Calvary.

S. Did Eve furvive Adam?

T. The facred history gives no intimation at all of the time of her death. But fome authors pretend to know that the out-lived her husband the space of ten years. Which, however, is no better fupported than the many fabulous ftories you have heard related by thofe that pretend to be wife, above what is written in the book of Genefis. Let me, therefore, before we part, recapitulate what is worth your remembrance, and deferves your belief, within this period.

I have, as briefly as poffible, fhewn you, that, as mankind multilpied, wickedness increased. Cain, the first fon of Adam and Eve, fhews the infant world the tragical action, in the murder of his brother; and from that time virtue is perfecuted by vice. Here you are fhewn the contrary manners of the two brothers; the inngcence of Abel, his paftoral life, and his offerings accepted; and Cain's reje&ted; his avarice, impiety, and jealosfy the cause of parricide, and parent of murders; the punishment of that crime; the confcience of the mur derer racked with continual terrors; the first city built, and the invention of fome arts by Cain's children; the tyranny of paffions, and the prodigious malignity of man's heart ever prone to evil; the pofterity of Seth faithful to God, notwithstanding that depravation; the reward of piety in good Enoch miraculously taken up into heaven out of this world, which was not worthy of him; the diftinction of the children of God from the children of men; that is, of those that live after the fpirit, from those that live after the flesh; their intermixture, and the univerfal corruption of the World: and now I will take my leave till the next opportunity; referving you a liberty to enquire into the truth of what I advanced, at our next meeting. (To be continued.) J. Ford's