Letter from J. C. Mott to Isaac Leeser;December 29, 1850

Title: Letter from J. C. Mott to Isaac Leeser;December 29, 1850
Author: J. C. Mott
Contributor: Isaac Leeser
Date Created: 29 December 1850
Location(s): Mobile; Philadelphia
Format: Letter. 2 page(s).
Type: Letter
Language(s): English
Has Format: https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3t43jp11/manifest.json
Link to Colenda: https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3t43jp11
Physical Characteristics: Unlined Paper; Manuscript
Is Part Of: The Dropsie College Isaac Leeser Collection at the Penn Libraries
content: Mobile 29th Decr. 1850
Dear Sir
Yours of 18th reached me this morning & I am obliged to you for your free & friendly com=ments on my brochures, which I did not send you with any desire of my being noticed in the occident. You had been so kind as reply to the queries which I had propounded, & as a matter of courtesy I sent these essays to you, not hoping that you would coincide with me in opinion, but hoping they might show you what the enemy were doing & afford you some material for reflection.
A letter is not the place to reopen this discussion. You believe in the strict authenticity of the Pentateuch, which I with Gesenius, De Wette, Eichhorn, Munk, Cohen, & many other first rate Hebrew scholars, do not, to say the least the question is unsettled, while the Egyptian dis=coveries go far I think to strengthen the party opposed to you. Admitting the antiquity of the Pentateuch, this is no proof of its historical accuracy—modern sci=ence I think has clearly upset the plain & simple account of the Creation in Genesis, & I think the Genealogies, & Chro=nology of the Hebrew text is are pretty generally abandoned by scholars—certainly the chronologies of Egypt & China destroy that of Genesis I think, & this book itself has statements written itself irreconcilable with each other all this of course you deny.
My object was not theological discussion. I entered this field because the Unity of Races could not be dis=cussed apart from the Bible, & I wished to cut loose what

I considered great practical truths from the trammels which find it. If there is a gradation in Races, the fact is too important to be smothered, by human opinions.
In reply to your comments on my note on page 40 of “Chronology” I need only say that if you will recur to it you will see that you have been led into an error by reading Moses instead of Menes the first of the Pharaohs—I regard two facts as ? which are incompatible with Genesis as we have it viz the Chronology—& the proof of distinct Races as far back as the 3d or 4th Dynasties. Though exactness cannot be attained as to the date of Menes, I think all Egyptologists place him far beyond & African Races far beyond your date of the flood
I regret very much that on page 17 of Phy? List of Jews I have put words in your mouth which you did not use. The latter part of the paragraph to which you allude is from Buchanan & the printer or editor in Charleston must have made the mistake. I never saw the proofs, & this is but one of many blunders they have made for me on different occasions.
Smyths critique on my book is too weak & ungentlemanly to deserve a reply. Howes is not much better & I replied merely to keep the subject alive. Bachmans book is a rare combination of biggotry, talent, & learning. Agassiz & Morton have killed him so dead that he can never kick again
very respectfully
your obt. servt
J. C. Mott
To Isaac Leeser Esq
Phia.
Identifier: LSDCBx1FF7_34
Date: 1850-12-29

Part of Letter from J. C. Mott to Isaac Leeser;December 29, 1850

J. C. Mott, “Letter from J. C. Mott to Isaac Leeser;December 29, 1850”, 1850-12-29, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 7, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/69482