nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of THE PEOPLE (i. e. which had Canaan, the designed inheritance of Jacob) according to the number of the children of Israel; i. e. he gave the Canaanites such a tract of land as he knew would be a sufficient inheritance for the children of Israel. And thus this text will in no wise lead us to the number of the nations that arose at Babel. That question is most likely to be determined by considering how many persons were heads of companies immediately at the time of the dispersion. One thing I would observe, that how few or how many soever the languages were now become; yet many of them, for some time, did not differ much from one another. For Abraham, a Hebrew, lived amongst the Chaldeans, travelled amongst the Canaanites, sojourned with the Philistines, and lived some time in Egypt; yet we do not find he had any remarkable difficulty in conversing with them. But though the difference of the tongues was small at first, yet every language, after the stability of speech was lost, varying in time from itself, the language of different nations in a few ages became vastly different, and unintelligible to one another. And thus in the time of Joseph, when his brethren came to buy corn in Egypt, we find the Hebrew and Egyptian tongues so diverse, that they used an interpreter in their conversation. The gradual decline of men's lives, from longer to shorter periods, without doubt contributed a great deal to

daily alterations; for when men's lives were long, and several generations lived together in the world, and men, who learned to speak when children, continued to speak to their children for several ages, they must have transmitted their language through many generations with little variation. But when the succession of mankind came on quicker, the language of ancestors was more liable to grow obsolete; and there was an easier opportunity for novelty and innovation to spread amongst mankind. Thus the speech of the world confounded first at Babel received in every age new and many alterations; until the languages of dif ferent nations came to be so very various and distinct from one another, as we now find them.

THE

SACRED AND PROFANE

HISTORY OF THE WORLD

CONNECTED.

BOOK III.

THE people at Shinaar, upon the confusion of their language, in a little time found it necessary to separate; and accordingly divided themselves under the conduct of the leading men amongst them. Some writers imagine, that they formed as many societies as Moses has given us names of the sons of Noah, Gen. x, for, say they, in the words of Moses, These were the sons of Noah after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations; and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the Flood. But, I think, this opinion cannot be admitted, for several reasons.

1. The dispersion of mankind happening about the time of Peleg's birth; and it is very plain

that all the persons named by Moses, who must appear younger, or not much older than Peleg, could not be heads of nations, or leaders of companies at this time; for they were but infants, or children; therefore the sons of Jocktan, who dwelt from Mesha to Sephar, had no hand in this dispersion; they were perhaps not born, or at most very young men. They must therefore be supposed to have settled at first under their fathers; in time each of them might remove with a little company, and so have a kingdom or nation descend from him.

2. None of the persons named by Moses, as concerned in the dispersion, both in the families of Japhet and Ham, were lower in descent than the third generation; they are either sons or grandsons of Japhet or Ham; as Gomer, and the sons of Gomer; Javan, and the sons of Javan; Cush, and the sons of Cush; Mizraim, and the sons of Mizraim. The descendants of these made a figure afterwards, as appears from the manner of mentioning a son of Casluhim, out of whom came Philistim; plainly intimating, that the person so named was a descendant of Casluhim, later than these days. And if this observation may be allowed in the family of Arphaxad, neither Salah nor Eber were leaders of companies at the confusion of tongues.

3. Not all the persons here mentioned, even of the third generation, were immediately heads of different nations, at the time of the dispersion; for