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may have given them the name Baratanac, whence Britain, as fome authors will have it; but this will be doubted in another place. Be that as it will, the first Britons, that landed in England, came from the isles of Elisha, without all manner of doubt; to ftrengthen which opinion, I fhall offer the following reafon, which I cannot help thinking is of great weight: viz. if the Phenicians had firft discovered and inhabited this ifland, then the Phænician tongue would have prevailed here; whereas, it is well known the Gomerian, otherwife called Celtic, and ancient British language, was the only tongue that was spoken by those whom I have mentioned to be the first who came from the isles of Elisha, and landed in the Southweft parts of this island; and of all the Celts and Galls, which were spread over the South-western parts of Europe afterwards; now it is well known, that the Phænician tongue never made any progress in Europe at all; but made its way chiefly into Arabia and Africa, and extended itself all along the coafts of Barbary, lofing itself in the inland parts of those regions, and splitting into many dialects, which is the fate of all languages in general, in process of time.

I HAVE now briefly traced the Gomerians by the authority of Holy Writ, which is the very foundation of their history, and the general confent of the most authentic writers, from Armenia into feveral neighbouring parts,: into the ifles of Elisha, and from thence through all the South-western kingdoms of Europe, under various denomi-, nations, to the utmost migrations of their brethren, and that in as concise a manner as poffible; fomething more

thing; founding their reafons upon the agreement of the manners and cuftoms of the inhabitants of both countries. Now there is no wonder in fuch agreement, because no one can deny that they were both colonies from the fame stock, having undoubtedly language, manners and customs alike, as they were in fact all Celts: but if thofe authors had attended to the particular traffic carried on by the Greeks with the Caffiterides, for tin, lead, and copper, they would scarce have thought thus of the matter; befides, the learned Bochart feems to me to have abfolutely mistaken the fact of the discovery of those ifles by the Phænicians, and afterwards by the Greeks; whereas, we have better authority for reverfing this opinion, in Holy Writ. I have before fhewed, from the prophet Ezekiel, that Tarshish, part of the iles of Elifba, afterwards called Greece, fold tin and lead to the merchants of Tyrus, and were therefore more likely to be the first discoverers of the Caffiterides, and that having in time found out the mines, invited their own brethren to come over for it; for it is not probable that the Phoenicians would have fuffered the Greeki to import tin and lead, and let thefe commodities be fold in their fairs, if they could have had it brought to them in their own fhips at the firft hand; and therefore I cannot help being of opinion, that the people of Tarshish, that is, the Pelafgians, difcovered and concealed thefe islands from the Phoenicians as long as they could, instead of the contrary; and that it was from thence the first people of the Gomerian race came into the Southern parts of Britain. The Greeks called the tin iflands, Caffiterides, and perhaps the Phenicians coming thither afterwards,

may

may have given them the name Baratanac, whence Britain, as fome authors will have it; but this will be doubted in another place. Be that as it will, the first Britons, that landed in England, came from the ifles of Elisha, without all manner of doubt; to strengthen which opinion, I shall offer the following reason, which I cannot help thinking is of great weight: viz. if the Phænicians had first discovered and inhabited this island, then the Phænician tongue would have prevailed here; whereas, it is well known the Gomerian, otherwife called Celtic, and ancient British language, was the only tongue that was spoken by those whom I have mentioned to be the first who came from the isles of Elisha, and landed in the Southweft parts of this island; and of all the Celts and Galls, which were spread over the South-western parts of Europe afterwards; now it is well known, that the Phænician tongue never made any progress in Europe at all; but made its way chiefly into Arabia and Africa, and extended itself all along the coafts of Barbary, lofing itself in the inland parts of those regions, and splitting into many dialects, which is the fate of all languages in general, in process of time.

I HAVE now briefly traced the Gomerians by the authority of Holy Writ, which is the very foundation of their history, and the general confent of the most authentic writers, from Armenia into feveral neighbouring parts, into the isles of Elisha, and from thence through all the South-western kingdoms of Europe, under various denomi-, nations, to the utmost migrations of their brethren, and that in as concise a manner as poffible; fomething more

will be faid of them, when we come to speak of their language, and other particular matters; let us now fee what became of the brothers of Gomer, Magog, Mefbech and Tubal; whom we shall shew to be the fathers of the Scythians, who, together with the defcendants of Gomer, will appear in the fequel to have been called, in general, the Pelafgians, before they went under the name of Celts, Scythians, &c.

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CHAP. HE

The progress of the Magogians, or offspring of Magog, with thofe of his brothers, Meshech and Tubal.

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T is to be observed, that authors have brought confufion into the hiftories of the two

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brothers, Gomer and Magog, and their defcendants, in their several transactions and migrations, through the long tracts of country, into which their respective colonies were forced to pass; which might have been eafily avoided, if they had followed them as a diftinct people from each other, as the Scriptures do, during the first of the world after the flood, for feveral centuries. THEN their further progreffes would have been easily difcerned, and their often mixing with each other in various countries of Europe, between the Northern and Southern parts, would be well understood: for as the Ga

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merians were, in general, more happy in their climates, and every other natural advantage, than the iffue of Magog; fo it is most certain, that the Scythians, whofe dwellings were altogether north, and north-west, sent their overflowing offsprings fouthward, from time to time, from every part of the northern quarters, as Ezekiel has it, to which they were driven by one another, or voluntarily took poffeffion of, according to their several neceffities.

If we confider who thefe Scythians were, and from whom descended, we shall be the more clear in our intelligence of them as we purfue them through their northern quarters. And although what we purpose is but a very brief account of them, not at all meddling with their policy, government, kings, nor wars; yet it is hoped that we shall prove their just distinction from the Gomerians, by undoubted authority.

Jofephus, and most of the fathers, as well as many modern authors after thefe, declare that the Celts and Galls are the immediate defcendants of Gomer, and the Scythians the offspring of Magog, his brother. The names, characters and fucceffions, though altered much in procefs of time, were never obliterated in Gomer's line, though often confused by several authors; for they are seen even now in Europe, amidst the many revolutions of monarchies round about them, retaining the ancient traces of their proper names and identical language in several places; which will appear ftill more evident, before this little work is finished. And as to the Scythians, they are no less remarkably distinct from the Gomerians in their own proper line. Jofephus and the ancient fathers had

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