aresmio devoted himself at great length to the Dead Sea,
but above all to the salt statue; and he divides his chapter on it
into three parts, each headed by a question: First, "HOW was Lot's
wife changed into a statue of salt?" secondly, "WHERE was she thus
transformed?" and, thirdly, "DOES THAT STATUE STILL EXIST?" Through each
of these divisions he fights to the end all who are inclined to swerve
in the slightest degree from the orthodox opinion. He utterly refuses
to compromise with any modern theorists. To all such he says, "The
narration of Moses is historical and is to be received in its natural
sense, and no right-thinking man will deny this." To those who favoured
the figurative interpretation he says, "With such reasonings any passage
of Scripture can be denied."

As to the spot where the miracle occurred, he discusses four places,
but settles upon the point where the picture of the statue is given in
Adrichom's map. As to the continued existence of the statue, he plays
with the opposing view as a cat fondles a mouse; and then shows that the
most revered ancient authorities, venerable men still living, and the
Bedouins, all agree that it is still in being. Throughout the whole
chapter his thoroughness in scriptural knowledge and his profundity
in logic are only excelled by his scorn for those theologians who were
willing to yield anything to rationalism.

So powerful was this argument that it seemed to carry everything before
it, not merely throughout the Roman obedience, but among the most
eminent theologians of Protestantism.

As regards the Roman Church, we may take as a type the missionary priest
Eugene Roger, who, shortly after the appearance of Quaresmio's book,
published his own travels in Palestine. He was an observant man, and his
work counts among those of real value; but the spirit of Quaresmio had
taken possession of him fully. His work is prefaced with a map showing
the points of most importance in scriptural history, and among these he
identifies the place where Samson slew the thousand Philistines with the
jawbone of an ass, and where he hid the gates of Gaza; the cavern which
Adam and Eve inhabited after their expulsion from paradise; the spot
where Balaam's ass spoke; the tree on which Absalom was hanged; the
place where Jacob wrestled with the angel; the steep place where the
swine possessed of devils plunged into the sea; the spot where the
prophet Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire;