Lon, JoHANN Michael, a Ciorman Protestant jurist and theologian, was born at Frankfort-on-the-JIain in 1695. He studied jurisprudence at Marburg, became soon known as an essayist on questions of morals, phi- losophy, and theology, which he treated with great ease and brilliancy, although occasionally inaccurate in his statements, and was finally appointed president of the Council of Lingen and Teeklenburg. He died in 177G. He is especially known for his efforts to bring about a union of the different Christian churches, or, at least, of the evangelical denominations. He sought to unite them all into one, to carry out indifferentism towards dogmatics to its full extent. With this object in view, he wrote, under the name of (iottlob von Friodenheim, Evangelischer Friedenstempel nach d. A rt d. ers/en Kirche (1724) : — Von Vereinigung d. Protestanten (1748) -.— Die einzig wahre Religion (1750). These works brought him into a long controversy with Hoffmann, Weickh- mann, Brenner, etc., and his attempts at establishing a union proved fruitless. — Herzog, Real-EncyUhpddie, viii, 452 ; Pierer, Unirersal-Lexifcon, x, 463. .(J. N. P.)
London Missionary Society. See Mission- ary SOCIETIKS.
Long, Jacques Le. See Le Long.
Long, Roger, D.D., an English divine, noted as an astronomer, was born in Norfolkshire in 1680, and was educated at Pembroke Had, Cambridge University, and became M.A. in 1733. He was honored with the chair of astronomy by his alma mater in 1749, and shortly after secured the rectory of BradwcU. He died Dec. 16, 1770. Besides his Sermons (1728 sq.), he pub- lished and is best known as the author of a Treatise on Asti-onomy (2 vols. 4to ; vol. i, 1742 ; vol. ii, 1764). See Allibone, Did. of Brit, and American Authors, ii, s. v. ; Thomas, Biog. and Mythol. Did. s. v.
Long, Thomas, an English Nonconformist, was born at Exeter in 1621. He was educated at Exeter College, and about 1660 became prebendarv- of Exeter cathedral, from which he was ejected in 1688 for refus- ing to take the oath to William and Mar\'. He died in 1700. Mr. Long published a Vindication of the Primitive Christians in Point of Obedience to their Prince (1683): — A nswer to Locke's first Letter on Toleration (1689) : — ■ Vox Cleri on A Iteratioiis in the Liturgy (1690) ; and a Review of Dr. Walker's Account of the Author ofEikon Basilike. See Wood, A then. Oxon. ; Thomas, Dictionary of Biogra- phy and Mythology, s. v.
Long Brothers, The Four. Among the leading men of the spiritualists, the four " Long Brothers" must not be overlooked : Dioscorus, Ammonius, Eusebius, and Euthymius, who were as distinguished by their influ- ence as they were eminent in stature. The secret of their power was in their inflexible honesty, combined with hearty and miflinching faith in the system of their choice. See each name.
Longevity. The Biblical narrative plainly as- cribes to many individuals in the earUer historj^ of the race lives far longer than what is held to be the present extreme limit, and we must therefore carefully consider the evidence upon which the general correctness of the numbers rests, and any independent evidence as to the length of life at this time. The statements in the Bible regarding longevity may be separated into two classes — those given in genealogical lists, and those interspersed with the relation of events.
1. To the former class virtually belong all the state- ments relating to the longevity of the patriarchs before Abraham. These, as given by Moses in the Hebrew text, are as follows :
Shem Gen. si, 10, 11 600
Arphaxad " 1-2,13 438
' ■ " 14,15 433
10, 17 464
IS, 10 239
20, 21 239
22, 23 230
24, 25 143
32 205
ssv, 7 175
Adam Gen,
Seth "
Enos "
Cninan "
Mahalaleel... "
Jared "
Enoch "
Methuselah .. "
Lamech "
Noah "
Years. V, 5 93(1
8 11 14 17 20 23 27 31 ix, 2!)
Salah.
Eber
Peleg
Ren
^ernt;
Xahor. . .. Terah . . . . Abraham.
Infidelity has not failed, in various ages, to attack revelation on the score of the supposed absurdity of as- signing to any class of men this lengthened term of ex- istence. In reference to this, Josephus (.4^^^ i. 3, 3) re- marks : " Let no one, upon comparing the lives of the ancients with our lives, and with the few years which we now live, think that what we say of them is false, or make the shortness of our lives at present an argu- ment that neither did they attain to so long a duration of life." When we consider the comiicnsating process which is going on, the marvel is that the human frame should not last longer than it does. Some, however, have supposed that the years above named are lunar, consisting of about thirty days; but this supposition, with a view to reduce the lives of the antediluvians to our standard, is replete with difiiculties. At this rate, the whole time from the creation of man to the flood would not be more than about 140 years; and Methuse- lah himself would not have attained to the age which many even now do, whilst many must have had chil- dren when mere infants ! Moses must therefore have meant solar, not lunar years — averaging as long as ours, although the ancients generally reckoned twelve