tion of the Calendar, in 1582: Preventing the Seafons running back, as in the Julian Account. See the Speech, containing many Things in·ftructive and curious. See also Remarks upon the Solar and Lunar Years, the Cycle of 19 Years, commonly called the Golden Number, the Epact, and a Method of finding the Time of Eafter, as it is now observed in most Parts -of Europe; being Part of a Letter from the Right Honourable George, Eart of Macclesfield, to Martin Folks, Efq; Prefident of the Royal Society, communicated May 10, 1750.

The CHRONOLOGY of CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION.

OUR Saviour was kept up all Thursday Night (before the Friday, or next Day on which he was crucified) in the High Priest's House, and led away in the Morning to Pontius Pilate, (See Matth. xxvii. 1. compared with other Evangelifts) who was then Governor of Palestine, under Tiberius the Emperor of Rome. Pontius Pilate first sent Chrift to Herod (Luke xxiii.) who sent him again to Pilate, who took fome Time in examining him in the Pretorium, and in going out to confer with the People ftanding without Doors, left they should be defiled by entering into a Hall, where a Heathen acted as Judge. See St. John's Gofpel compared with the reft.

It was just before the second Cock-crowing, that Peter denied him, before he was fent to Pilate. And it was about the third Jewish Hour (or our 9 o'clock) according to St. Mark, when his Crucifixion was ordered or refolved on. For, by St. Luke's Gofpel, he was hung on the Crofs about the fixth Hour, (or 12 o'Clock as we reckon) as he, as well as St. Matthew and St. Mark, mentions a Darkness from the fixth to the ninth Hour; and St. Mark tells us, it was about the ninth Hour (which we reckon three o'Clock paft Noon, when he expired.

From whence it is plain, he was condemned about the third Jervish Hour (or 9 o'clock as we reckon) arrived at Golgotha, or Calvary, at, or little before, the fixth Hour, (or 12 at Noon as we reckon) when the Darkness begun, and expired at three in the Afternoon, when the Darkness ceased.

He did not live long on the Cross, it appears from Pilate's wondering at his being dead fo foon; and that his Death was towards Friday Evening (April 3d, Anno 33) is plain, from the Care the Jews took to kill the Thieves executed at the fame Time, by breaking their Legs, (who had broke our Saviour's, if he had not already been dead) left the Bodies fhould remain on the Crofs upon their Sabbath Day ; Sabbath then happening at the Time of the Jewish Paffover, or in their Paffover-Week, which was a Festival of feven Days; tho' the Pallover was eaten on the first, according to St. John's Golpel.

It was also the Law of Mofes, that all, who were hang'd, should not remain after Sun-fet; and accordingly we find by St. Matthew, that St. Jofeph of Arimathea buried our Saviour that Friday Evening, foon after his Execution. The Jezus always begun their Day at Sun-fetting, (before we begin ours at Midnight) from whence to Sun-rife they reckon 12 equal Hours, which was the former Part of their Day (as we reckon 12 equal Hours from Midnight to Noon following). The kafter Part of their Day was from Sun-rife to Sun-fetting, in which Time

they

they reckoned 12 equal Hours more; and their firft Hour of Sun-rife was about the fame as our Six o'Clock; their fixth Hour, like our Twelve o'clock or Noon; and their twelfth Hour, at Sun-fetting, about the fame as our Six o'clock in the Evening. These twelve Hours were called Planetary Hours; and thofe of the Night, though equal among themselves, were unequal to the Planetary or Jewish Hours by Day; which were alfo equal among themselves (being each the twelfth Part of Time from Sun-rifing to setting) and at the Time of the Equinoxes, when the Day and Night is of equal Length, the Jewish Hours by Day and Night are therefore equal.

The Evangelifts have plainly pointed out the exact Time of our Saviour's Crucifixion, as well by the previous as fubfequent Circumstances relating thereto; fo that no Person can be mistaken in determining or fixing the Day and Hour of Chrift's Suffering, when they mention a Darkness fpread from Noon to Three o'Clock, according to our Reckoning.

This Darkness, by Aftronomical Tables, is found to be no Natural Eclipfe of the Sun, as St. Auguftin, Origen, Erafmus, and others fupposed; there being no Solar Eclipfe at that Time. The Darkness was not feen at Athens, or in other remote Places; but extended itself only in the Neighbourhood, of Jerufalem. The Impoffibility of the Sun's being totally dark in a Solar Eclipfe, for three Hours, evinces the Darkness to be miraculous! The Jewish Paffover being at the Time when our Saviour fuffer'd, at the firft Full Moon after the vernal Equinox, which then was on Friday April 3d, in the Year of Chrift 33, (by Aftronomical Tables) there could happen only an Eclipse of the Moon to the remote Parts of the Earth, preceding by about three Hours, the Time of his Crucifixion. The Moon could not at Jerufalem hide the Sun's Light at Chrift's Suffering by Day, when she was below the Horizon, the whole Heaven's oppofite; fo that the Darkness, spoken of by the Evangelifts, must therefore be miraculous, and no natural Eclipfe of the Sun:

Dionyfius, the Areopagite, then a young Man in Egypt, of about 25 (well verfed in Aftronomy for those Times) on Occafion of this unnatural Darkness, when he faw the Sun hid, and no Moon present to hide it, cried out to his Friend Apollophanes, Aut Deus patitur, aut vicem patientis deflet, either God fuffers, or is much concerned for him that suffers; as many have thought the Remembrance of this Incident was a great Step in his Converfion to Christianity, as appears by the preaching of St. Paul; (See the Acts of the Apostles) and alfo the Dialogue between Dionyfius and Apollophanes, (quoted by Strauchius and others) as recited by Suidas, in his Lexicon, upon the Word Dionyfius. Phlegon the Trallian (an Heathen Writer) fpeaks of this miraculous Darkness, as of an Eclipfe, in these Words:

"In the fourth Year of the 202d Olympiad there happened the greatest "Eclipfe that ever was known;" for he took the miraculous Darkness for an Eclipfe; as in thofe Times the true Caufes of Eclipfes were but imperfectly understood. The Epocha of the Olympiad begun in the 3938th Year of the Julian Period at the Calends of July; therefore the fourth Year of the 202d Olympiad must be compleated in the 4746th, Year of the Julian Period, in the Summer; and this was the Year on which our Saviour fuffer'd, has been plainly proved by Scaliger, Strauchius, and others; being in the Year of our Lord 33, (according to Dionyfius, the Author of that Æra) and on Friday the 3d of April, by

the Julian Account; which was the 14th Day of the Jewish Month Nifan; for which we have alfo the concurring Teftimony of Philo, the Jerv. Tacitus, in the 15th Book of his Annals fays, "The first Founder of the Chriftian Name was one CHRIST, who was put to "Death under the Reign of Tiberius, by Pontius Pilate, then Governor "of Paleftine.

And Jofephus (a well known Jewish Hiftorian of great Authority) in the 5th Chapter of the 18th Book of his Antiquities tells us, that Vitellius having advanced his Friend Marcellus to the Government of Judea, ordered Pilate to return to Rome to answer to the Emperor Tiberius fuch Matters as the Jews had objected against him, and Pilate having governed the Province ten whole Years, being obliged to fubmit to Vitellius's Orders, fet out for Rome, but before he could reach that City, Tiberius died, fo that Pilate's Government, and Tiberius's Life terminated in the fame Year; and that Tiberius's Death happened in or about the 4750th Year of the Julian Period, or, according to Dionyfius, in the Year of our Lord 37; fo that Chrift fuffer'd between the Years 27 and 37 is plain: Which Event must therefore happen in that Year, betwixt the two, when the Pafchal Full Moon happened on a Friday, which is according to the Authority of the Evangelifts, who tell us, that the Crucifixion was on a Friday, as before obferved. We are alfo told, that the Day of our Saviour's Refurrection was on a Sunday, the third Day inclufive from the Day of his Suffering, which was immediately made the Chriftian Sabbath, as from the Beginning, in the Room of the Jewish Sabbath, before and fince kept on a Saturday.

Now, there was no other Year between the 27 and 37th Year of Chrift inclufive, but the 33d Year, on which the Pafchal Full Moon could happen upon a Friday the 3d Day of April. This fell out about Noon at London, and confequently correfponded to about half an Hour after Nine o'clock as we reckon, at Jerufalem, or about the 16th Hour from the Beginning of their fifth Feria, or Week-Day, (beginning according to the Jewish Reckoning on the Thursday Night after Sun-fet) which aftronomically fet down is April 2d, 21 Hours and half, Anno 33 or fourth Hour on April 3d, by Jewish Reckoning.

Other Chronological Events might be produced for ascertaining the Time of our Saviour's Paffion; as Caiaphas's High Priesthood, St. Luke's Account of the Time of our Saviour's Baptifm, if the Teftimonies hitherto advanced, to corroborate Phlegon's Account of the Time of the miraculous Darkness happening at that Time (of our Saviour's Suffering) were not fufficient, and the true Time of the Paffion not indifputably proved.

The CONTROVERSY of Phlegon's Eclipfe, at
CHRIST's Suffering, decided.

A Controverfy about Phlegon's Eclipfe was begun by Dr. Sykes, who endeavoured to fhew, that Phlegon meant a common Eclipfe of the Sun, and because no fuch Eclipfe happened the fourth Year of the 202d Olympiad, he would have it, that it was the first Year of that Olympiad, and that the Numeral A, by which the Greeks fignified 4, was made a by the Careleffness of Tranfcribers, and was at firft probably an A to de

note

3

note the first Year; and on this fuppofed Change of the a into d, he found his Conjecture, or what he calls his Proof. But not to mention Whifton's Antwer (who mixes fo much Chaff with his Wheat) alledging the Apocryphal Authority fuperior to that of the beft Hiftorians, and even equal to that of the Sacred Writ itself, as to be not worth regarding, Mr. Chapman of Cambridge, M. A. took up the Cudgels against Dr. Sykes, (who had before writ a Reply to Whifton) and makes a nice and critical Enquiry into Phlegon's Account of this Eclipfe, and the antient Authors who have mentioned it, diftinguishing those who had it at first Hand from Phlegon, from those who barely transcribed from them; and, in fhort, does a great deal to corroborate Phlegon's Teftimony. Dr. Sykes replies to this, and Chapman's Rejoinder puts an End to the Controverfy.

They all agree that the Year of Chrift's Paffion was the fourth of the 202d Olympiad, (which has been already proved) and look upon it as paft all Difpute; but they differ in refpect to the Eclipfe, and alfo an Earthquake, mentioned by Phlegon, which Sykes would have to be in another Year of the Olympiad, and confequently not that which happened at our Saviour's Paffion: Chapman has fully proved it to be the fame, and that the Paffage in Phlegon, which relates to it, is genuine, as follows.

Τῷ Δ. Τετράζω ἔτει. τῆς Σ Β. Διακοσιοςῆς δευτέρας. Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐγένετο έκλειψις ἡλίς μεγίςη τῶν ἐγνωριστ μένων πρότερον. Και νύξ ὥρᾳ ἕκτη τῆς ἡμέρας ἐγένε]ο, ὥστε καὶ ἀσέρας ἐν κρατῶ φανῆναι. Σεισμός ο μέγας καλά Βιθυνίαν [γενόμενος] 1ὰ πολλὰ [1ῆς] Νικαίας κατεςρέψατο

N. B. The Words between [ ] ́are wanting in fome Copies.

"In the IVth Year of CCIId Olympiad there was an Eclipfe of the Sun, the greatest that had been known [or obferved] before. "Twas Night at the fixth Hour of the Day, infomuch, that the Stars appeared in the Heavens. And there was also a great Earthquake in Bythynia, which overthrew a great Part of the City of Nice.'

To confirm the Truth of this Paffage, Mr. Chapman obferves, that there are no less than feven antient Writers, Three Greek [viz. Eufebius, the Author of the Chronicon Pafchale, alias Chronicon Alexandrinum, who quotes this Paffage of Phlegon twice; and Joannes Philoponus] and Four Latin, [viz. St. Jerom, Anaftatius, the Author of the Hiftoria Mifcella, and Freculphus Lexovienfis] who all lived while the Works of Phlegon were yet in being, (the lateft of the Greek Writers being about the Year 600, and the lateft of the Latins about 824) all quoting or tranflating this Paffage from Phlegon, and all concurring in one uniform Reprefentation thereof, and in one Reading of a controverted Numeral. A Number [of Writers] very extraordinary and of great Weight; there not, I believe, (adds the learned Author) one antient Chronological Fragment in a hundred (of those which are now extant) fo well attefted and Supported as this of Phlegon.

Those who have a Mind to examine the Controversy relating to this Affair, may confult these Pamphlets, containing the Arguments on both Sides.

Dissertation

Differtation of the Eclipfe mentioned by Phlegon, or an Enquiry whether that Eclipfe bad any Relation to the Darkness which happened at our Saviour's Paffion. By Arthur Ashley Sykes, D. D. printed at London, 1732.

The Teftimony of Phlegon vindicated: or, An Account of the great Darknefs and Earthquake, at our Saviour's Paffion, defcribed by Phlegon, Including all the Teftimonies, both Heathen and Chriftian, in the very Words of the original Authors, during the first fix Centuries of Chriftianity, with proper Obfervations on thofe Teftimonies. By William Whiston, M. A. London, 1732.

Phlegon examined critically and impartially, in Anfaver to the late Differtation and Defence of Dr. Sykes. To which is added, a Poftfcript explaining a Paffage in Tertullian. By John Chapman, M. A. Fellow of King's College in Cambridge. London, 1734.

A fecond Defence of the Differtation upon the Eclipfe mentioned by Phlegon: Wherein Mr. Chapman's Objections, and those of the A. of a Letter to Dr. Sykes are particularly confidered. By A. A. Sykes, D. D. London, 1734.

Phlegon re-examined; in Answer to Dr. Sykes's fecond Defence of bis Differtation concerning Phlegon. To which added a Poftfcript concerning the Chronicon Pafchale. By John Chapman, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. London, 1735. Ending the Controversy.

The fix Differtations published by William Whifton in 1734, need not be regarded, one of which is a Reply to Dr. Sykes's Defence of bis Differsation. He falls fhort of Chapman, and has Nothing valuable but Extracts from fome original Authors, (in which he is fcarcely to be trufted) and the Calculations of fome Eclipfes, which help to fet Matters right in the faid Controversy. Chapman intirely difregards him, oppofing no one but Dr. Sykes, calls in no Affiftance, nor refers to Whiffon, or any other.

Phlegon was a Heathen, born at Tralles, a City of Lydia, and when he grew up, became a Libertus, or Freedman, of the Emperor Adrian, and was much efteem'd for his Learning, and the Works he published : Among other Pieces (of which a Catalogue is ftill in Being) he wrote, one of more Note and Eminence than the rest, entitled 'ОλμLOVIN☎V και χρονικών συναγωγή or a Chronological Account of the Victors of the Olympic Games, beginning with the first Olympiad, and continued down to the 229th; in fixteen Books. Of this fome Fragments now remain (of which the Paffage in Difpute is one) but the whole Work was extant in Photius's Time, who lived in the ninth Century: for he tells us he had it in his Hands, and made confiderable Extracts from it. One may judge it must have been a very long and valuable Work, and of great Service towards fettling many Points in antient Chronology.We also find, that the whole Work was extant in Suidas's Time, who lived about 200 Years after Photius; but when it was loft is uncertain. What we would chiefly observe from this, is, that Phlegon did not live at the Time of the Eclipfe he mentions (as fome have fuppofed, and argued on that Suppofition) but tranfcribed his Account of it from the Annals of thofe Times, which might give a much more particular Account of the Eclipfe and the Earthquake, that accompanied it, than Phlegon has done, or than perhaps fuited his Purpofe to transcribe. And what Pity! that antient Writings are not more preferved; that we might take our Prospect from the Shoulders of

Giants.

The