66

integro sæclorum;" when the ten previous weeks, or ages, were completely fulfilled; and when it might be added, that,

"Incipient magni procedere menses."

We have, indeed, no proof beyond the reference of Virgil himself, that he had seen the Sibylline verses; but, I think, it will appear that there is a strong presumption, from the result of a comparison of the passages to which I have referred, not only that he drew this calculation from the books to which he ascribes it, but that it must have been obtained from the East, when the collection, under the name of the Sibyl, was made, and that it had been originally copied from the more ancient book of Enoch.

However inconclusive some of the foregoing evidences may appear when taken singly, yet as the probability, which I have sought to establish, must arise from the agreement of many coincidences, rather than from any direct testimony, I have thought that they might strengthen that which may be called circumstantial evidence, as derived from the unconscious agreement of various writers.

As I have endeavoured to shew that the Hermetic oracles of Chaldea were, in all probability at least, mingled with these books of Enoch, if they were not composed of them, so it has appeared also that the second Sibylline collection, having been formed from those materials which the Chaldean or Egyptian priests supplied, there is much reason to conclude that whatever prophecies the later Sibylline books contained, were derived from the same ancient sources. But since it can hardly be doubted that coincidences between the present Sibylline verses, and the books of Enoch, have been pointed out in the foregoing pages, it would seem that these coincidences cannot be more simply or naturally accounted for, than by the suppositions which I have already stated; so that we thus have the independent testimony of several authors in successive ages, to substantiate our conclusion, that at least the more ancient portions of the book of Enoch, must have subsisted prior to the Christian æra.

Having now concluded my attempt to trace the various instances of apparent coincidences, which exist between portions of the books of Enoch,

and compositions under the name of Hermes, or of the Sibyls, as well as the apocryphal testaments of the patriarchs, and the foregoing passages of Virgil; I shall add a few observations on those subsequent verses, which I have placed after the book on the future judgment, and in which an apparent prophecy, whether true or false, is contained.

Without offering any opinion on this point, I shall endeavour to trace such internal evidence as may tend towards either of these conclusions. That probability which I have already endeavoured to establish, from whence we might ascribe an ancient date to these writings, must indeed be a necessary addition to our estimate, before we can come to any conclusion favourable to the genuineness of this composition. But for the present we will look merely to the contents of these verses, in order to see whether we can collect from them any evidence of falsehood, or observe in their structure any probable marks of truth.

In the first place we may remark the singular fact, that the duration of the world is here assumed to be seven thousand years, and I think

сс

it will be found in perusing the observations on chronology, which are added at the conclusion of this volume, that there is much reason to infer from the use of this millenary calculus, a far earlier period of composition than that which has been usually assumed as the time at which this opinion originated.

It will be found also that some singular coincidences arise, from the comparison of the prophetic numbers mentioned in the Scripture, with the dates assigned by this book to the duration of the religion of Christ previous to the millenium, and to that subsequent period itself.

It may be questioned whether the expression used by St. Jude, when he calls Enoch the seventh from Adam, may not have been taken from the first of these verses :-" I have been born the seventh in the first week." It is at any rate apparent that St. Jude must either have referred generally to this expression, or that he must have reckoned the number of years from Adam to Enoch, according to the Hebrew calculation; for as to the succession of persons, Enoch was not the seventh, but the sixth from

Adam, since this mode of speaking forbids us to include Adam himself in our calculation. But as to time, in which sense this expression is certainly used in the present verse, Enoch was the seventh, as he was born a few years after the completion of the sixth century of the world.

From this verse up to the end of the eleventh verse, or the conclusion of the sixth week, it would be easy for any author of the second century to assign the dates of the various actions by which he might be inclined to characterize each successive week. Still, however, it would be remarkable that any Jewish author of that period should pass so slightly over the ancient glories of his nation, or fail to embody in his prophetic calendar some of those recollections of the former wealth and power of Israel, which must have been equally interesting to him, whether he had been converted to Christianity or not. But on the contrary, the events which have been selected seem only to have reference to the Messiah, in the gradual preparations which were made for the coming of Him who was "to fill his house with "glory."