Moral and Religious distinct from Historical Inspiration--Myth and Allegory--The Higher Criticism--All Ancient History unconfirmed by Monuments untrustworthy--Cyrus--Old Testament and Monuments--Jerusalem--Tablet of Tell-el-Amarna--Flinders Petrie's Exploration of Pre-Hebrew Cities--Ramses and Pi-thom--First certain Synchronism Rehoboam--Composite Structure of Old Testament--Elohist and Jehovist--Priests' Code--Canon Driver--Results--Book of Chronicles--Methods of Jewish Historians--Post-Exilic References--Tradition of Esdras--Nehemiah and Ezra--Foundation of Modern Judaism--Different from Pre-Exilic--Discovery of Book of the Law under Josiah--Deuteronomy--Earliest Sacred Writings--Conclusions--Aristocratic and Prophetic Schools--Triumph of Pietism with Exile--Both compiled partly from Old Materials--Crudeness and Barbarism of Parts--Pre-Abrahamic Period clearly mythical--Derived from Chaldæa--Abraham--Unhistoric Character--His Age--Lot's Wife--His double Adventure with Sarah--Abraham to Moses--Sojourn in Egypt--Discordant Chronology--Josephus' Quotation from Manetho--Small Traces of Egyptian Influence--Future Life--Legend of Joseph--Moses--Osarsiph--Life of Moses full of Fabulous Legends--His Birth--Plagues of Egypt--The Exodus--Colenso--Contradictions and Impossibilities--Immoralities--Massacres--Joshua and the Judges--Barbarisms and Absurdities--Only safe Conclusion no History before the Monarchy--David and Solomon--Comparatively Modern Date. In dealing with the historical portion of the Old Testament, it is important to keep clearly in view the distinction between the historical and the religious and moral elements which are contained in the collection of works comprised in it. It is quite open to any one to hold that a certain moral and religious idea runs through the whole of these writings, which is gradually developed from rude beginnings into pure and lofty views of an Almighty God who created all things, and who loves justice and mercy better than the blood of bulls and rams. It is open to him to call this inspiration, and to see it also in the series of influences and events by which the Jews were moulded into a peculiar people, through whose instrumentality the three great Monotheistic religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Mahometanism, superseded the older forms of polytheism. With inspiration in this sense I have no quarrel, any more than I have with Bishop Temple's definition of "original impress," though possibly I might think "Evolution" a more modest term to apply, with our limited faculties and knowledge, to that "unceasing purpose" which the poet tells us "Through the ages runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns."