force and a strain, and can never be made to agree with the text. The grand difficulty, and, indeed, an unfurmountable one, lies here; that, as St. Paul fays exprefsly that the island he was caft upon was in the Adria, Malta, to be proved the place fpoken of, must be made an Adriatic island. To effect this, the learned Bochart labours hard. He fhews, first, that the fea we are speaking of incroached upon the Ionian; that it extended itself to the Sinus Corinthiacus: then, in order, it ingroffed the Sicilian fea and the Cretan: and thus, advancing step by step, he includes Malta within it's verge; makes the coast of Africa washed by it's waves; and would persuade you that Leptis in agro Tripolitano was fituated upon the Adriatic coast. All this he does upon the authority of the poets, and a few of the later hiftorians. As for the poets, their evidence is not worth taking notice of: they make every thing fubfervient to measure. Yet, even of thefe, nothing he quotes comes up to his purpose. The learned writer feems to make use of their trefpaffes, merely to prepare the reader for what is to come; that he may not be too much fhocked at the violence of the after-evidence. What Ovid and Tibullus fay is only preparatory: Philoftratus and Paufanias come but half way: those that speak to the purpose are Procopius, Orofius and Ethicus. These are they that advance the Adriatic to the confines of Barca; and by the fame way of proceeding might make Carthage itself, if they pleased, an appendage to Ragufa. But we ought to enquire of what rank and of what age the writers are, whofe authority he appeals to: for, in producing the teftimony of authors, it is not fufficient to be told what is faid, unless we are likewise informed when, and by whom, it was delivered. We know that Polybius, Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny tell another story: it is therefore neceffary to confider the character of these persons that are to overturn fuch I fuch established authority. If we make a juft estimate of them, even with Suides and Hefychius added to their number; (for they too are quoted) what will they be found? doubtlefs, writers of fome eminence in their feveral times; fo let them have their due: who lived, however, many centuries after the fact we are determining. So that all you can learn from their evidence in respect to St. Paul and his fhipwreck is, how things were called four or five hundred years afterwards. This is the very utmost it will amount to; which is very little to the present purpose: for we must make use of the times we are treating of for a standard; and not be guided by the mistakes and extravagancies of after ages. The only way to arrive at the truth, is to learn the fentiments of the best authors who lived in, or near to, the times we are engaged in; and observe how things were defined and specified when the Apostle wrote. The learned Bochart would fain prove Malta to be an island in the Adriatic fea: I think I can fhew his scheme to be impracticable. In doing which, I shall not defcend for evidence to the fourth, fifth, or any lower centuries; but confine myself to the testimony of writers who were either contemporaries, or not many years antecedent or fubfequent to the apostolic age. As Bochart feems to be the fulleft of any body upon this fubject, and comprehends every thing that others have said in favour of it; I will lay before the reader the whole of his arguments in order. 1 Sed altera hic fefe offert majoris momenti quæftio, ad utram [Infulam] appulerit Paulus Primo enim Act. 27. 13, 14. Circa Cretam cum navigaret Paulus, excitatur ανεμος τυφωνικος ὁ καλεμενος Ευροκλύδων, ventus o turbulentus, qui vocatur Euroclydon; vel, ut legit Vulgatus interpres, Eupoaxuλwv, Euroaquilo: quam lectionem fi fequaris, res eft confecta: neque enim Euroaquilo potuit è Cretâ navem in Illyricum ! lyricum impellere. Præftitiffet id Euronotus, non fubcontrarius Euroaquilo, ut docet fitus locorum. Sed, quoquo modo legas, ventum illum Euroclydonem in Auftrum inclinâsse potius quàm in Septentrionem inde palam eft; quòd, illo flante, nautæ metuunt ne in Africa Syrtim incidant; A&t. 27. 17: nihil tale formidaturi, fi ventus navem in Illyricum impuliffet, quæ ora eft Syrti et Africa obverfa. 2. ΑΕ. 27. 41. περιπεσοντες εις τοπον διθαλασσον επωκειλαν την vauv; cum incidiffent in locum bimarem, illiserunt navem. In locum bimarem, id eft, in ifthmum. Horatius Od. 7. Lib. 1. Aut Ephefum bimarifve Corinthi Monia. Ovid. Eleg. 10. Lib. 1. Trift. Aut poftquam bimarem curfu fuperavimus ifthmum. Hic ifthmus ad infulæ ortum æftivum hodieque oftenditur, et vocatur ab incolis la Cala di S. Paolo, S. Pauli appulfus. 3. Act. 28. 7. Circa locum illum erant xwgiα TW TOWTW TM5 χωρια πρωτῳ της No, ovoμATI ПOλ; prædia primo infulæ, nomine Publio. Eum intelligo, quem infulæ Romani præfecerant : nam hujus infulæ præfectos ita nominari folitos et ex hoc loco colligere est, et ex veteri epitaphio, quod in marmore Græcis literis fe Melita vidisse refert Quintinus: Λ.ΚΑ. ΥΙΟΣ. ΚΥΡ. ΙΠΠΕΥΣ. ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ. ΠΡΩΤΟΣ. MEAITAION. L. Ca. Filius. Cyr. Eques. Romanorum. Primus Melitenfium. Nempe idem antea nominis fuerat præfectis Carthaginienfibus, qui Punicâ phrafi dicebantur, Primi. 4. Tres menfes continuos in illâ infulâ hæfit Paulus cum centurione et aliis, Act. 28. 11; qui numerus hominum fuit CCLXXVI, A&t. 27. 37. Quod vix quifquam crediderit de Illyrica Melite: quia, cùm non nifi quatuor paffuum millibus à continenti diftet, et Epidaurum in confpectu habeat, portum celeberrimum et hofpitibus commodiffimum; centurio Romanus maluisset eò trajicere, quàm totam hiemem in miferá infulâ degere, in quâ tam multos advenas fine gravibus incommodis diverfari fuiffet nefas. 5. Fam quòd iidem dicuntur Puteolos vecti fuiffe in Alexan drina drinâ nave, quæ in eâdem infulâ hiemaverat, Act. 28. 11; quis de Illyricâ Melite intellexerit? cùm ab Ægypto Puteolos conté dentibus Africana Melite penè invitis fefe offerat. At quifqr` lexandriâ Puteolos iturus Illyricam Meliten petit, meritè ueat, fin minùs toto cælo, faltem toto falo aberrâsse. 6. Hoc potiffimùm, quod Lucas è Melite profectos addit primò Syracufas, deinde Rhegium appuliffe, Act. 28. 12, 13: Quæ via, quàm eft recta, fi profectio fuit ex Africanâ Melite; tam flexuofa fuerit et præpoftera, fi ex Illyricâ difcefferunt: è quâ potius per Rhegium Syracufas iter eft, quàm per Syracufas Rhegium; quia Rhegium eft vicinius. 7. Jam, fi auctoritate certatur, Conftantino Porphyrogennetâ longè antiquior eft Arator fubdiaconus, qui fic habet, Lib. 2. Hiftoriæ Apoftolica; Sicanio lateri tellus vicina Melite. Nec difficile eft folvere quicquid contrà objiciunt. Nam in Adriá quidem jactari dicitur navis appulfura Meliten, Act. 27, 27: non tamen in Adriatico finu, quo multò latiùs patet Adria, feu, quod idem eft, Adriaticum mare. Sinus enim Adriaticus cum Illyrico definit: at mare Adriaticum idem eft cum Ionio. Hefychius: Ιονιον, πελαγος vvv Adpias, Ionium, mare quod nunc Adria. Juvenalis vetus Scholiaftes: diu navigatura de Tyrrheno mari ad Adriacum: Adriacum pro Ionio dixit. Ita enim Juvenalis ; Tyrrhenos igitur fluctus, lateque fonantem Pertulit Ionium. Hinc Ptolemæus Siciliam ab ortu, Epirum et Achaiam à meridie, et Peloponnefum adeoque Cretam ab occafu definit Adriatico pelago. Et in Ovidio non femel Adriam ab Ægao dividit ifthmus Corinthiacus. Sic Lib. 4. Faftorum: Adriacumque patens latè bimaremque Corinthum. Aut hæc me, gelido tremerem cum menfe Decembri, Aut poftquam bimarem curfu fuperavimus ifthmum, Proinde Proinde Philoftratus, Lib. 2. Imaginum in Palamone eum ifthmum fcribit Arya na Adpix μeσoù neio Ja, medium effe inter mare Ægæum et Adriaticum. Et in Apollonio fuo, Lib. 4. Cap.8. Neronem idem tradit de hoc ifthmo fcindendo cogitâffe, ut Adriaticum Ægæo mari mifceret. Eodem facit, quòd Alpheus apud Suidam in AXQe105, et rurfus in Apedera, è Peloponnefo in Sicilia Arethufam influere legitur δυομένος δια της Αδριαδος θαλασσης, pelagus fubiens per mare Adriaticum. Hinc de Alpheo Paufanias in Arcadicis: Euenne de ἄρα μηδε Αδρίας επισχήσειν αυτον τε προσω : neque illius curfum Adria cohibitura erat: cætera ibi vide. Quid? quòd Adriaticum mare ad Africam ufque extenfum eft, fi Ethicum fequimur et Orofium; apud quos Tripolitana provincia, ubi Arzuges et Leptis magna, habet à feptentrione mare Adriaticum: et à meridie Creta finitur mari Libyco, quod et Adriaticum vocant. Nec aliter fenfit Hieronymus in vitâ Hilarionis, ubi medium Adriam pertranfeunt ab Ægypti Parætonio ad Sicilia Pachynum appulfuri. Sed ad rem id maximè eft, quòd in Procopii Vandalicis, Lib. 1. infula Gaulos et Melita Αδριατικον και Τυῤῥηνικον πελαγος διορίζεσιν, Adriaticum et Tufcum pelagus difterminant. Scitè igitur Sacer Scriptor et ex geographorum ufu è Cretâ Melitam delatos vi ventorum ingruentium jactari dicit in Adriâ. Porrò in eâdem infulâ barbarorum nomine Panos ab illo defignari docuimus, quorum reliquiæ in agris hæferant. Oppidi denique non meminit, quia nihil erat neceffe. Ita Act. 21.1.Paulus appuliffe narratur in infulas Coum et Rhodum,abfque mentione urbium, quas tamen utraque habuit infule cognomines. These are the arguments of Bochart in favour of Malta. In answer to which I will endeavour to fhew, that it could not be the island, that this learned man fuppofes it to be, where St. Paul was caft away. And although, if this point be made out, it falls of courfe to the lot of the other island to be the place mentioned by St. Luke; yet I will not rest satisfied with this alternative: but, while I produce incontestable proof that Malta was not the place; I will bring as certain evidence that Melite Illyrica was. It is to be observed, in the course of the foregoing arguments, |