One among many objections to this supposition is,
that the time of a single ebb would not have been sufficient for
the passage of that vast multitude of men and beasts, or even for a
small fraction of it. Moreover, the creek to the north of this
point can be compassed in an hour, and in two hours you can make
the circuit of the salt marsh over which the sea may have extended
in former times. If, therefore, the Israelites crossed so high up
as Suez, the Egyptians, unless infatuated by Divine interference,
might easily have recovered their stolen goods from the encumbered
fugitives by making a slight detour. The opinion which fixes the
point of passage at eighteen miles' distance, and from thence right
across the ocean depths to the eastern side of the sea, is
supported by the unanimous tradition of the people, whether
Christians or Mussulmans, and is consistent with Holy Writ: "the
waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, AND ON THEIR
LEFT." The Cambridge mathematicians seem to think that the
Israelites were enabled to pass over dry land by adopting a route
not usually subjected to the influx of the sea. This notion is
plausible in a merely hydrostatical point of view, and is supposed
to have been adopted by most of the Fellows of Trinity, but
certainly not by Thorp, who is one of the most amiable of their
number.
Pages:
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305