Of the earlier ones we may take Matthew Poole's _Synopsis_ as a
type: as authorized by royal decree in 1667 it contains very
substantial arguments for the pious belief in the statue. Of the
later ones we may take the edition of the noted commentary of the
Jesuit Tirinus seventy years later: while he feels bound to present
the authorities, he evidently endeavours to get rid of the subject
as speedily as possible under cover of conventionalities; of the
spirit of Quaresmio he shows no trace.[[246]]
About 1760 came a striking evidence of the strength of this new
current. The Abate Mariti then published his book upon the Holy
Land; and of this book, by an Italian ecclesiastic, the most
eminent of German bibliographers in this field says that it first
broke a path for critical study of the Holy Land. Mariti is
entirely sceptical as to the sinking of the valley of Siddim and
the overwhelming of the cities. He speaks kindly of a Capuchin
Father who saw everywhere at the Dead Sea traces of the divine
malediction, while he himself could not see them, and says, "It is
because a Capuchin carries everywhere the five senses of faith,
while I only carry those of nature.
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