Reviews.

confirmed on several other lodge clays . In accordance with these statutes , four central lodges were created , Strasburg , Cologne , Vienna , and Zurich , each witln a separate district . Strasburg , however , had the precedence . Thc overseer of thc cathedral works was Grand Master of the Stonemasons'

fraternity , and accorded to its code , confirmed by the Emperor Matthias in 1613 , he was even then still considered as ' chief judge of stonework . ' Even in the eighteenth century the Masters of the Stonemasons' lodge at Strasburg demanded a goldfinch from the lodge at Rochlitz , as a token of its

dependence . And as late as 1789 , the Vienna lodge administered justice throughout thc whole of its district , awarded punishment , and so forth . This union of thc workmen in the building trades was followed by others amongst kindred or technically-identical crafts , especially amongst those which , on account of the trifling demand for their wares could not

exist in small towns at all , and only in limited numbers in large towns , as for instance the locksmiths and sword-cutlers . The central societies were in the capitals , thc branches in the small towns . Three masters in any one of thc confederated towns formed a corporation , whose acts , if they were in conformity with the acts and statutes of the central society , were legally recognised by the other confederated

societies . As thc branch societies were subordinated to the central one , they were always obliged to send a couple of of deputies to thc meetings which took place at the abode of the central society ; and to

give there the accounts of their branches . At these meetings the common good of thc gild was discussed ; and all concerns which could not be regulated by the branches were settled . ( To be continued ) .

The Legend Of Joshua And The Solar And Lunar Miracle.

THE LEGEND of JOSHUA and the SOLAR and LUNAR MIRACLE .

The legend of the solar and lunar phenomena mentioned in the tenth chapter of tlie Book of Joshua , has a place in the Ritual of Masonry , though it is very unsatisfactory , because an equivocal one . It is referred to in different lodges in two or three several ways , but

in no one correctly . In thc ceremonial of tlie second degree , the allusion is by some made to the position in which Moses prayed to the Almighty to prolong the light of day until he had overcome his enemies . By others , it is said to be the position in which Joshua prayed ,

& c ., in the Valley of Jehoshaphat ; while I have heard Moses and Joshua combined , cacli being said to have been in a certain position when they prayed , & c . There is a sad want ot •' uniformity " here ; and , what is worse , a sad want of accuracy , each reference being alike unwarranted

by the sacred text . It is quite clear to my mind , that in some cases , there is a confounding of Joshua ' s victory over tlic Amalekiles , in tlic Valley of Rephidim , as recorded in Exodus xvii ., with his victory over the Amorites in the Valley of Gibeon , forty years afterwards , as recorded in

Joshua x . That , 111 Joshuas battle with the Amalekites , recorded in Exodus xvii ., Moses held his hands up , and had them so supported , is beyond doubt , for it is said that " when he held tip his hands Israel prevailed , " but •' that when he let down his hands Amalck prevailed , "

( ver . 11 . ) But there is no mention of his praying that the light of day might be prolonged until he had vanquished his enemies . When Joshua fought with the live kings of die Amorites , ( Joshua x ., ) he is said to have prayed that the light of day might be prolonged , but nothing is

said of his hands being held up . I low came tlie confusion introduced , making , as I have shown , both narratives inaccurate ? I cannot answer that question , though it exists [ know ; and it would certainly be well to get rid of it . In one sense , it would be accurate enough to say that

Joshua prayed for a prolongation of the li ght of day , until he had vanquished his enemies ; but that would not meet the case , if he did not hold up his hands . It would be accurate enough to say , that Moses held up his hands when he prayed for Joshua ' s victory over his enemies ; omitting all reference lo the solar and lunar

miracle ; and there surely can be no objection to such a revision of the working , to which 1 have referred . There is tin ' s in its favour also , that no cognisance would be taken of the solar and lunar phenomena , so that we . should get rid of an allusion that has in it what cannot fail to cause some perplexity in the mind of any think-

The Legend Of Joshua And The Solar And Lunar Miracle.

ing and conscientious man . If we were to ask a hundred persons , who reverence tlie Bible , and believe in its historical verity , what they think of the story of the sun and the moon standing still at the command of Joshua , as we read in the tenth chapter of the Book of Joshua , the answer

of ninety-nine out of them would be , that they could not accept it literally , although they would be greatly puzzled if they attempted to interpret it metaphorically ; and if it were attempted to press npon them an acceptance of its truth , alleging it is recorded as a miracle , and that as

such , it involves no difficulty , the answer would be like that of Colenso : " I cannot believe it , any how ; for if the earth ' s motion were suddenly stopped , a man ' s fed would be arrested , when his body was moving at the rate ( on the equator , ) of 1 , 000 miles a minute , since not only

must the earth ' s diurnal rotation on its axis be stopped , but its annual motion also through space ; so that every human being and animal would be dashed to pieces in a moment , and a mighty deluge overwhelm the earth ; unless all this were prevented by a profusion of miraculous interferences . "

It is very desirable to have such impediments to a reception of the biblical narratives removed , if they be susceptible of removal , for if we permit ourselves to reject one passage merely because we find some difficulty in it which we do not at once see how to remove , the probability is , that

we shall acquire the habit of doing so , and thus reduce all the scripture narratives to tlie level of our own understanding , rejecting what we cannot reconcile with our notions of things , although they may be quite compatible with the real nature of things . If we make " tlie trumpet thus

give an uncertain sound , who shall prepare himself for the battle ! " Besides , to a conscientious man , it is very painful to be obliged to express a formal assent , in a solemn ceremonial especially , to that which he really disbelieves , and he will , therefore , be glad to he relieved from such a dilemma .

Let us look at the narrative as it stands in the Bible , and which presents such difficulties that long before the time of Colenso it had exercised the critical ingenuity of many great scholars . Le Clerk , Dalhe , Whiston , and others treat it as an optical delusion . Rosenmullcr , following

Ilgen , supposes it to have been a mistake of the time of day ! Winer , and other German critics , who are followed by Davidson ( Intrad . /;/ loco ) , refer the idea of a miracle to a mistake of meaning . J aim explains it as a sublime poetical trope ; while Maimonides supposes that

Joshua only asked of the Almighty to grant that he might defeat his enemies before the going down of the sun , and that Me heard his prayer , inasmuch as before the close of the day the five kings , with their armies , were defeated . Other critics , following josephus and the early Fathers ,

do not attach any weight to the difiiculties alleged against the miracle , believing that " a profusion of miraculous interferences" being necessary , furnishes no argument against it ; and I quite agree with them . For , as Keil observes ,

wherever a certain meaning is obtained from a literal interpretation of the words , or when it can be energetically proved to be . the only admissible and necessary one , then it must be accepted , whatever the supposed consequences may be .

But did this miracle appear to be ncccsraiy ; or docs a critical examination of tlie passage ( josh . x . 11—16 ) demand , upon fair critical grounds , that we should admit tlie verity of what is recorded in verse 13 ? I think not . As to the necessity for a miracle of such a

description , as must arrest the whole course of nature , and , but for " a profusion of miraculous interferences , " destroy , not only the great globe itself" with all that there in is , " but throw out of its orbit its satellite—tlie moon . I may , without presumption ; s . iy it does not appear , since

it is certain that God could have brought about the victory over the Amorites in one of many ways without such an expenditure of divine power in the multiplication of miracles , as this interference would call for . But I need not pause upon this , as a critical examination of the passage will , I believe , get vid of the whole difficulty .

The Legend Of Joshua And The Solar And Lunar Miracle.

The first thing that strikes us in the narrative is , that the description of the solar and lunar phenomena is said to be something taken from another book : — " Is not this written in the Book of J asher" ( ver . 13 ) . This book of Jasher is mentioned only twice in the Bible—here , and

in 2 Sam . i , iS . What was this book ? We are here left to conjecture ; but the opinion that it was a selection of sacred poems , made at an early period , seems a probable one . The Peschito-Syriac . in , Joshua , has " The book of praises or hymns . " That it was a poetical

composition may be inferred from the specimens of it that are preserved . Lowth , who adopts this opinion , and supposes that its title was taken from its opening words , as jasher , " then sang , " observes , that " in a bold use of the common resources of his art , the poet had probably

represented the victory as so glorious that the heavenly luminaries had seemed to pause in their course to look down upon it ; or the slaughter of one day as being so terrible that it might have been thought it was protracted to the length of two , to give the conquerors time to complete their terrible work . "

May we not , then , reasonably and without doing violence to the sacred text , regard the passage as a parenthetical reference by Joshua to the poetical and contemporary book , in confirmation of his own narrative of the defeat of Amorites . That the whole passage ( ver . 12—15 inclusive ) is

parenthetical has certainly been demonstrated by J . D . Michaelis , Havernich , and others , and it is evident from the connection between verses 11 and 16 , showing that all the intervening sentences are closely associated , and form a small paragraph by themselves . In addition to this , it

may be observed that both the opening and the close of the paragraph prove that it is not the production of the author of the book of Joshua either wholly or in part , hut is , word for word , an extract , without alteration , from the book of Jasher . The opening words , " When the Lord

delivered up the Amorites , " & c , show that a different writer is speaking ; and thc concluding sentence ( ver . 15 ) cannot be by the author of thc Book of Joshua , inasmuch as he did not return to the camp at Gilgal then , but followed up his victory by collecting his army together in a

camp at Makkedah as soon as the enemy was thoroughly dispersed ( see ver . 21 ) . After staying there for some time , and putting to death the five kings who had been taken prisoners , he besciged and captured , one by one , the fortified

cities ; and then , when the whole of the south had been conquered , returned to Gilgal . The fifteenth verse : " Then Joshua returned , and all the camp with him , to the camp at Gilgal , " is unintelligible , unless we suppose it to form part of the quotation from the Book of Jasher .

Now , if the passage was an extract from some old document , as we suppose it was , and not written by Joshua himself , there is an end of the matter , for the most extraordinary incident in the war he describes , and the most extraordinary thing that could be conceived of , would

never have been ignored by him , who was employed by the Lord in achieving miraculous events , and who appealed to them , as Moses had done , in proof that the Lord was with him . As little can we imagine that he would have introduced it in a parenthesis , and by the way , as it

were , and not as the chief and notable event in the history , which it was , but as something which , in the composition of the narrative , was of onl y subordinate interest . The itlca is quite incompatible with the fact of such a miracle in the succession of miracles which accompanied thc mission of Moses and Joshua in the wilderness .

It is difficult , too , to account for the silence of the other books of the Old Testament 011 so wonderful an occurrence , supposing that it really took place . The passages referred to in the margin of English Bibles , ( job . ix . 7 , and Ilab . iii . 2 , ) are nothing to the purpose , for they occur

in poetical compositions like the Book of Jasher , though probably of a much higher and sublimer character , in which metaphors and hyperboles , of the boldest kind , are heaped one upon another . In these compositions the sun is spoken of as standing still , ( in Job it is the sun and the stars , not the moon ) , in liko manner as the mountains