& the law by w^ch he was to judge the people was not to
be published by less authority then his own \the law-maker being not inferior to the judge/. And the book of Iasher
w^ch is quoted in the book of Ioshua (Ios. 10.13) was in being at the
death of Saul, 2 Sam. 1.18.

At the dedication of the Temple of Solomon when the Ark
was brought into the most Holy, there was nothing in it but the
two tables (1 King. 8.9) & therefore when the Philistines took the
Ark, they took out of it the Book of the Law & the golden pot
of manna & Aarons rod. And this & other losses [illeg] in the desolati-
on of Israel by the conquering Philistims, might give occasion to Sa
muel, after some respite from those enemies, to recollect the scattered
writings of Moses & Ioshua & the Records of the \Patriarchs &/ Iudges & compose
them in the form now extant.

The book of Ruth is a history of things done in the days
of the Iudges & may be looked upon as an addition to the book of the Iudges written by the same author & at the same time.
For it was written after the beginning of the reign of Saul
(Ruth 1.1) \birth of David (Ruth IV.17, 22)/ & not long after because the history of Booz \& Ruth/ the great
grandfather \& great grandmother/ of David & of Ruth & \ his gre[a] / \that of/ their contemporaries could not
well be remembred above two or three generations. And since this
book derives the genealogy of David from Booz & Ruth & o [p] |m|its
Davids elder brothers & his sons; it was written in honour
of David after he was annointed King by Samuel & before
he had children in Hebron & by consequence in the reign of
Saul. It proceeds not to the history of David & therefore seems
to have been written presently after he was annointed. They
judge well therefore who ascribe to Samuel the books of Ioshua
Iudges & Ruth.

Samuel is also reputed the author of the first book of Sa-
muel till the time of his death. The two books of Samuel cite no
authors & therefore seem to be originals. They begin with his gene
alogy birth & education & therefore might be writ in honour of him
by his disciples \the sons of the Prophets of Naioth in Ramah/. Or if he began then his disciples might continue
them to the last sickness of David might be writ by himself & his
disciples the Prophets at Naioth in Ramah & continued b might be be-
gun by himself & continued by \might be written partly in his life time by himself or his disciples begun / his disciples the Prophets at Naioth in Ramah (1 Sam. 19. 18, 19, 20) & partly after his death by the same disciples.

The books of the kings cite other authors, as the book of the
Acts of Solomon, the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel &
the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Iudah. The books of the
Chronicles cite the book of Samuel the Seer, the book of Nathan the
prophet, & the book of Gad the Seer, for the acts of David; the book
of Nathan the prophet, the prophesy of Ahijah the Seer for \Shilonite &/ the
visions of Iddo the Seer for the Acts of Solomon; the book of
Shemajah the prophet, & the book of Iddo the Seer concerning
gener |a|logies, for the Acts of Rehoboam & Abijah; the book of
the kings of Iudah & Israel for the acts of Asa, Iona |as|h, Ama-
ziah, Iotham, Azaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, & Iosiah; the book of
Hanani the Seer for the Acts of Iehosaphat; & the visions of Isaiah
for the Acts of Vzziah & Hezekiah. 1 |[|These books were therefore
collected out of the historical writings of the ancient Seers & Prophets.
And because the books of the Kings & Chronicles quote one another
they were written at one & the same time. And this time was after
the return from the Babylonian captivity because they bring down
the history of Iudah & the genealogies of the Kings of Iudah &
of the high Priests to that captivity. And the book of Ezra was
originally a part of the book of the Chronicles & has been divided