OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: IN THREE PARTS. I. FROM THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. II. FROM THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. III. FROM THE CUSTOMS OF ANCIENT and MODERN NATIONS. BY THE REV. GEORGE PAXTON, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY UNDER THE GENERAL ASSOCIATE SYNOD, IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR OGLE, ALLARDICE & THOMSON, AND WAUGH & INNES ; M. OGLE, GLASGOW; OGLES, DUNCAN AND COCHRAN, LONDON; PREFACE. THE present times are happily distinguished by an uncommon attention to the Holy Scriptures. By the unprecedented exertions of the religious public, this inestimable gift of Heaven, which has brought life and immortality to light, is circulated far and wide among the nations; and the day seems to be rapidly approaching, when every people and every tribe shall read in their own language the wonderful works of God. The object is worthy of even greater exertions than have yet been made, and of a much larger expense than has yet been incurred; for the Scriptures are the power of God and the wisdom of God, to the salvation of perishing sinners. They present the most sublime and instructive subjects of contemplation to the human mind; they restrain the angry and impetuous passions which agitate the bosom of man, and too frequently break forth in deeds of shame; they purify his desires and affections; they expand and invigorate his faculties; they elevate and enlarge his views; and wherever they come, wherever their voice is heard and their authority acknowledged, they rescue from a state of ignorance and barbarity, vice and profligacy; they humanize the heart, and adorn the life; they form the strongest and sweetest bond of |