FIVE PEBBLES

From

THE BROOK. 

A Reply

TO

"A DEFENCE OF CHRISTIANITY"

WRITTEN BY

EDWARD EVERETT, GREEK PROFESSOR OF HARVARD UNIVERSITYIN ANSWER TO"THE GROUNDS OF CHRISTIANITY EXAMINEDBYCOMPARING THE NEW TESTAMENT WITH THE OLD"

BYGEORGE BETHUNE ENGLISH. 

"Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with theeast wind?""Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speecheswherewith he can do no good?--Thou chooseth[fn1] the tongue ofthe crafty. Thy own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thineown lips testify against thee. ""Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument havingteeth. "

PHILADELPHIA:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 

1824. 

[PG Editor's Note: Many printer's errors in this texthave been retained as found in the original--in particularthe will be found a large number of mismatched andwrongspace quotation marks. ]

ADVERTISEMENT. 

WHEN I left America, I had no intention of giving Mr. Everett'sbook a formal answer: but having learned since my arrival in theOld World, that: the controversy in which I had engaged myselfhad attracted some attention, and had been reviewed by adistinguished member of a German university, my hopes of beingserviceable to the cause of truth and philanthrophy are revived, and I have therefore determined to give a reply to Mr. Everett'spublication. 

In this Work, as in my prior writings, I have taken for granted theDivine Authority of the Old Testament, and I have argued upon theprinciple that every book, claiming to be considered as a Divinerevelation and building itself upon the Old Testament as upon afoundation, must agree with it, otherwise the superstructurecannot stand. The New Testament, the Talmud, and the Koran areall placed by their authors upon the Law and the Prophets, as anedifice is upon its foundation; and if it be true that any or all ofthem be found to be irreconcileable with the primitive Revelationto which they all refer themselves, the question as to their DivineAuthority is decided against them, most obviously and completely. 

This work was written in Egypt and forwarded to the U. States, while I was preparing to accompany Ismael Pacha to the conquestof Ethiopia; an expedition in which I expected to perish, andtherefore felt it to be my duty to leave behind me, something fromwhich my countrymen might learn what were my real sentimentsupon a most important and interesting subject; and as I hopedwould learn too, how grossly they had been deluded into buildingtheir faith and hope upon a demonstrated error. 

On my arrival from Egypt I found that the MS. Had not beenpublished, and I was advised by several, of my friends to abandonthe struggle and to imitate their example; in submitting to thedespotism of popular opinion, which, they said, it was imprudent tooppose. I was so far influenced by these representations--extraordinary indeed in a country which boasts that here freedomof opinion and of speech is established by law--that I intended toconfine myself to sending the MS. To Mr. Everett; in the belief thatwhen he should have the weakness of his arguments in behalf ofwhat he defended and the injustice of his aspersions upon me, fairly and evidently laid before him, that he would make me atleast a private apology. He chose to preserve a sullen silence, probably believing that he is so securely seated in the saddlewhich his brethren have girthed upon the back of "a strong ass"that; there is no danger that the animal will give him a fall. 

Not a little moved at this, I determined to do my myself justice, andto publish the pages following. 

This book is not the work of an Infidel. I am not an infidel; what Ihave learned and seen in Europe, Asia and Africa, while it hasconfirmed my reasons for rejecting the New Testament, hasrooted in my mind the conviction that the ancient Bible doescontain a revelation from the God of Nature, as firmly as my beliefin the first proposition of Euclid. 

The whole analogy of Nature, while it is in many respects opposedto the characteristics ascribed to the Divinity by themetaphysicians, yet bears witness in my opinion, that this worldwas made and is governed by just such a Being as the Jehovah ofthe Old Testament; while the palpable fulfillment of predictionscontained in that book, and which is so strikingly manifest in theOld World, leaves in my mind no doubt whatever, of the ultimatefulfillment of all that it promises, and all that it threatens. 

I cannot do better than to conclude these observations with themanly declaration of the celebrated Christian orator Dr. Chalmers, "We are ready, (says he, ) to admit that as the object of the inquiryis not the character, but the Truth of Christianity, the philosophershould be careful to protect his mind from the delusions of itscharms. He should separate the exercises of the understandingfrom the tendencies of the fancy or of the heart. He should beprepared to follow the light of evidence, though it should lead himto conclusions the most painful and melancholy. He should trainhis mind to all the hardihood of abstract and unfeeling intelligence. He should give up every thing to the supremacy of argument andhe able to renounce without a sigh all the tenderestpossessions[fn 2] of infancy, the moment that TRUTH demands ofhim the sacrifice. " (Dr. Chalmers on the Evidence and Authority ofthe Christian Religion. Ch. I. )

Finally, let the Reader remember, that "there is one thing in theworld more contemptible than the slave of a tyrant--it is the dupeof a SOPHIST. "

G. B. E. 

PEBBLE I

And David "chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, andput them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip: andhis sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. "

Mr. Everett commences his work with the following remarks. "WasJesus Christ the person foretold by the prophets, as the Messiahof the Jews?; one method, and a very obvious one, of examininghis claims to this character, is to compare his person, life, actions, and doctrine, with the supposed predictions of them. But if it alsoappear that this Jesus wrought such works, as evinced that heenjoyed the supernatural assistance and cooperation of God, thiscertainly is a fact of great importance. For we cannot say, that inestimating the validity of our Lord's claims to the character ofMessiah, it is of no consequence whether, while he advancedthose claims, he wrought such works as proved his intimacy withthe God of truth. While he professed himself the Messiah, is itindifferent whether he was showing himself to be as being beyonddelusion, and above imposture?--Let us make the case our own. Suppose that we were witnesses of the miraculous works of apersonage of pretensions like our Lord's, should we think itnecessary or reasonable to resort to long courses of argument, orindeed to any process of the understanding, except what wasrequisite to establish the fact of the miracles? Should we, while hewas opening the eyes of the blind, and raising the dead from theirgraves, feel it necessary to be deciphering prophecies, andweighing these[fn 3] difficulties? Now we may transfer this case tothat of Christianity. The miracles of our Lord are either true orfalse. The infidel if he maintain the latter must prove it; and if theformer can be made to appear, they are beyond all comparisonthe most direct and convincing testimony that can be devised, " p. 1, 2. Of Mr. Everett's work. 

To this statement I would reply--that I do not know what right Mr. Everett has to call upon his opponent, to prove a negative. It washis business to prove the affirmative of his question, and to showthat these miracles actually were performed, before he proceededto argue upon the strength of them. It is, I conceive, impossible todemonstrate that miracles said to have been wrought 1800 yearsago, were not performed; but it is, I believe, quite possible to showthat there is no sufficient proof that they were. One of the reasonsgiven, in the 2d, ch. As I think, of the grounds of Christianityexamined, for throwing out of consideration the miracles recordedin the New Testament in examining the question of theMessiahship of Jesus, was, that the New Testament itself, was nota sufficient proof that these miracles were actually wrought; andthis, with the reader's indulgence, I think I can plainly show. 

Mr. Everett allows p. 450 of his work, what indeed he cannot deny, that the four Gospels do sometimes contradict each other in theirnarratives; and he refers with approbation, in a note to p. 458, to awork of Lessing's, which he says, "ought to be read by every onewho is overfond of Harmonies. " This work of Lessing's, if Irecollect right, maintains, that all hopes of harmonizing theevangelists, of reconciling their contradictions, must be given up. [See Lessings Sammliche, Schriften, ch. V. S. 150, as quoted byMr. Everett, p. 458. ]

Now these contradictions, if they do exist, unquestionably argueone of two things; either fraud, or want of accurate information intheir authors, as no man who wishes to be considered "composmentis" will deny, because, accurate information excludes thepossibility of contradiction in authors willing to tell the truth, andmuch more in inspired authors, who must be incapable of writinganything but the truth. 

The Christian, therefore, must, it seems to me, on account ofthese contradictions, allow one of two things; either, that theevangelists were fraudulent men, or else that the Gospels werenot written by the Apostles and immediate followers of Jesus:because want of accurate information, cannot be supposed of theApostles and immediate followers of Jesus; as having beenconstantly with him, from the beginning, to the end of hisministery, they must have been perfectly acquainted with hisactions and doctrines. Neither can lapse of memory be urged;because the Gospels represent Jesus as saying, John ch. Xvi. 26, that they should have the aid of inspiration, which "should, bringall things, to remembrance;" and in Acts ch. Iv. 31, all the followersof Jesus are represented as having actually received the effusionof the Holy Ghost: of course want of accurate information, andlapse or memory in them cannot be supposed. 

The Christian, therefore, must allow, since contradictions do exist, if he would avoid accusing the Apostles and disciples of Jesus offraud, that the Gospels were not written by the Apostles and firstfollowers of Jesus, but that they were written by men, who had noaccurate information about the events they record. It is thereforeplain, that the miracles recorded in the Gospels, are incapable ofproof. For what Christian in his senses can ask another man tobelieve accounts of miracles, which accounts, he must at thesame time allow, were written by fraudulent men, or by men whohad no accurate information upon the subjects about which theywrite. 

The edge of this, as I think, smites right through the neck of Mr. Everett's argument on which his work depends, and leaves hisbook--"a gasping head---a quivering trunk. " Sic transit gloriamundi. 

But in order to make Mr. Everett still farther Sensible how easilyhis argument can be "overturned, overturned and overturned, " Iwill suppose a reasonable and reasoning man, desirous to verifythe claims of the books of the New Testament as containing aRevelation from God, to set down to scrutinize with anxioussolicitude every argument of internal and external evidence, infavour of their authenticity, and authority, in the hope of becomingsatisfied of the truth of their claims. But in the course of hisexamination, such a man will assuredly find, that almost everystep in his inquiry, is an occasion of doubt and of difficulty. 

Books containing Revelations from the Supreme, must beconsistent with themselves. But he will observe on a carefulperusal of the evangelists, that the contradictions, particularly inthe narratives of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, arenumerous; and that all the ingenuity of Christian writers, has beenexhausted in vain in the attempt to reconcile them; for example, the Gospel called of Matthew says, ch. Iii. 14, that John theBaptist, knew Jesus when he came to him to be baptised, (whichwas very probable on account of the relationship and intimacysubsisting between Mary the mother of Jesus, and: Elizabeth themother of John, as mentioned in the Gospel called of Luke, ch. I. 18, it could hardly have been otherwise) but the author of theGospel called of John says, ch. I. 31, that John knew him not, untilhe was designated by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him. 

Again, it is said in the Gospel called of John, ch. Ii. 14. That Jesus, on his first visit to Jerusalem after he had commenced hispreaching, cast the buyers and sellers out of the Temple, whereasthe Gospel called of Matthew, and also those called of Mark andLuke, represent this to have been done by Jesus at his last visit toJerusalem. See Matt. Ch. Xxi. 12. Mark ch. Xi. 15. Luke ch. Xix. 45. 

Again, the author of the Gospel called of John, represents the lastsupper or Jesus with his Apostles, to have taken place (See ch. Xiii. 1. And ch. Xviii. 28. ) on the eve before the feast of thepassover, and that Jesus was crucified on the feast day itself, while the authors of the other Gospels represent the first event tohave taken place, on the evening of the passover itself, and thatJesus was crucified the day after. See Matt. Ch. Xxvi. 18. Mark xiv. 12. Luke ch. Xxii. 7. Now Matthew and John must, according to theGospels themselves, have been present with Jesus when hedrove the buyers and sellers out of the Temple, and at his lastsupper, and when he was seized in the garden of Gethsemane;they must therefore have known perfectly whether Jesus drovethe buyers; and sellers out of the Temple, at his first visit toJerusalem in their company; or at his last, and whether his lastsupper, and his seizure in the garden of Gethsemane took placeon the eve before this passover their great national festival, or onthe evening of the passover itself. They could not forget the timeand place of events, so affecting and important as the lastmentioned, and when we add to these considerations, that theGospels represent Jesus as saying, (John ch. Xiv. ;26. ) that theyshould be inspired by the Holy Spirit, which "should bring all thingsto remembrance, " the supposition that the real Matthew and Johncould contradict each other in this manner, becomes quiteinadmissable. 

In the account of the resurrection of Jesus, the most important factof Christianity, we also find several contradictions; for instance, the Gospel called of Matthew says, that the first appearance ofJesus to his disciples after his resurrection, was in Galillee, (SeeMatt. Ch. Xxxviii. 7, ) while the other evangelists assert, that his firstappearance to them after that event was at Jerusalem. See Markch. Xvi. , Luke ch. Xxiv. John ch. Xx. The Gospel called of Johnsays, that he afterwards appeared to them in Galilee: butaccording to that of Luke, the disciples did not go to Galilee tomeet Jesus; for that Gospel says, that Jesus expressly orderedhis disciples to tarry at Jerusalem, where they should receive theeffusion of the Holy Ghost, and that after giving that order he wastaken up to Heaven. See Luke ch. Xxiv. 49, 50, also, the first ch. OfActs. [fn 4]

This greatly invalidates the credibility of these accounts; for asmuch as that the historical testimony in attestation of supernaturalevents, ought, because such events are out of the commoncourse of nature, to be strong and unexceptionable. 

He will observe too that these writers, supposed to have been theinspired followers of Jesus Christ, have applied many passages ofthe Old Testament as prophecies of Jesus, when it is mostcertain, (and is at the present day allowed by Christian BiblicalCritics of the highest standing) from examining those passages intheir context in the Old Testament, that they are not prophecies ofJesus; and that some of the passages cited are in fact noprophecies at all, but are merely historical. Nor is this all, theseauthors have cited as prophecies and proof texts, passages whichdo not exist in the Old Testament. From which it seems to followthat they must have forged those passages, or quoted them fromsome Apocryphal book; which they believed to be inspired. If theywere capable of the first, they were not the honest and inspiredfollowers and disciples of Jesus Christ; if they were capable of thelast, they were not Jews but Gentiles, ignorant that the Jews in thetime of Jesus, acknowledged no books as inspired scripture butthe books of the Old Testament. See Appendix, A. 

A reasonable and reasoning man, such as I have supposed, mayask himself if it be possible that men filled with the Holy Ghost, and whose minds were supernaturally opened to understand thescriptures, could make mistakes such as these. 

Lastly, he will recollect, on discovering what is about to be stated, that the Apostles and followers of Jesus Christ were Jews, andconsequently could not be ignorant of what was notorious to thewhole nation, for instance, that the Jewish Sabbath begins atsunset on Friday evening, and ends at sunset on Saturdayevening. Nevertheless the author of the Gospel called of Matthewmakes ch. Xxviii. 1. The Sabbath to end at dawn of day on Sundaymorning: while the author of that called of John apparentlyreckons, ch. Xx. 19. The evening of the first day of the week as apart of the first day of the week; whereas it is in fact, according tothe law and customs of the Jews, who then and now reckon theirdays from sunset to sunset, the beginning and a part of thesecond day of the week. Such mistakes appear to me to indicatethat the writers of those Gospels were Gentiles not perfectlyacquainted with Jewish customs, and therefore not Matthew andJohn. [fn 6]

There are other traces of ignorance of Jewish customs, to befound in the Gospel called of Matthew, which betray the Gentilismof the author of it. For instance, he says ch. Xxvi. 24[fn7], thatJesus told Peter, that "before the cock crew he should deny himthrice;" the same is also found in Mark ch. Xiv. 30. In Luke ch. Xxii. 54[fn8], and in John ch. Xiii. 38. Now it is asserted in the Mishna (i. E the oral law of the Jews. ) in the Bava Kama according to Mr. Everett p. 448. Of his work, that cocks were not permitted inJerusalem where Peter's denial took place; [probably because thatbird is constantly scratching up the ground with his feet, and wasthereby liable to turn up impurities, by touching which in passingby, a Jew would be ceremonially defiled, and rendered incapableof visiting the Temple to perform his devotions, till after theevening of the day on which the defilement took place], thereforeall the four Gospels which all contain, this story, must have beenwritten by Gentiles ignorant of the custom which belies the story. 

Some Christian writers have endeavoured to get rid of thisobjection, by attempting to prove "that the crowing of the cockhere mentioned, does not mean actually the crowing of a cock, but'the sound of a trumpet!'" while others, blushing at the hardihoodof their brethren, think it more prudent to maintain, that the authorof the Mishna was ignorant of Jewish customs, and that thewriters of the Gospels were perfectly acquainted with them; andthat therefore every good Christian was bound in conscience notto regard the objection. 

But the prohibition of cocks from entering the Holy city is soperfectly of a piece with many other cautions against defilementobserved by the Jews, and is so perfectly in the taste of the timesof the Pharisees, "the careful washers of plates and platters, "--the"tithers of mint, anise, and cummin, " not to mention the reasonabove expressed, which perhaps was, to say truth, according tothe regulations against defilement contained in the Pentateuch asufficient reason for excluding that bird from the city, where stoodthe Temple, that the reader will probably believe that such acustom might have existed. 

Again, it is said Matt. Xxvii. 62, that the Chief Priests andPharisees went to Pilate; demanded a guard; went to theSepulchre of Jesus, sealed the door, and set watch. Now Jesus issaid to have arisen on the day after this, on the first day of theweek, i. E. Sunday, of course the day before was Saturday of theJewish Sabbath. I maintain that the Chief Priests and Pharisees, who objected to Jesus curing the sick and rubbing corn from theear, in order to satisfy his hunger on the Sabbath day; I maintainthat it is utterly incredible, that these men should have gone toPilate on public business, and transacted all this on their Sabbath. For such an action would have come completely within the spirit, and the letter of the Laws against breaking the Sabbath containedin the-Pentateuch, which makes the penalty of such actions as arehere ascribed to the Chief Priests and rigorous Pharisees, nothingless than stoning to death. I infer therefore, that the author of theGospel of Matthew was ignorant of this, and of course not a Jew, and consequently not Matthew. 

I would observe further, in connection with this subject, that Jesusis represented, Matt. Xxiii. 35, as saying, that upon the Jews of thistime should come "the blood of Zecharias the son of Barachiaswhom ye slew between the Temple and the altar. " Now, I believethat it is recorded in Josephus' history, that the Jews slew thisZecharias in the time of the Jewish war, about forty years afterJesus is represented as saying, that they had killed him already. Of course Jesus never could have said this, nor would a Jewacquainted with the times, as Matthew must have been, havebeen guilty of such an anachronism. The writer of that Gospelmust therefore, have been a Gentile, and not Matthew. The samemistake is made by Luke xi. 51. 

On turning his attention to the external evidence in favour of theauthenticity of the Gospels, the difficulties and objectionsaccumulate. He will find, that they are not mentioned by any writerearlier than the latter half of the second century, after the birth ofJesus. The first writers who name the four Gospels, wereIrenaeus, and Tertullian. [fn9] The competency of the testimony ofthese Fathers of the church, as to the genuineness of thesebooks, is invalidated by the fact, (See Middleton's Free Enquiry)that they admitted the principle of the lawfulness of pious frauds, and from their having acted upon this principle, in having assertedin their writings, as from their personal knowledge, things whichwere certainly false; (See the work above referred to) while theircapability to distinguish the genuine writings of the Apostles, fromthe numerous forgeries in their names that appeared about thesame time that the four Gospels begin to be mentioned, isrendered suspicious by the fact, that they also give their sanctionas Divine Scriptures, to books notoriously apocryphal; for instancethe book of Enoch and the Sybilline Oracles. [fn11] The testimonyof the Fathers who succeeded them is liable to the sameobjections, with this aggravation that its value diminishes moreand more, as the distance of the ages in which they flourishedincreases, from that of Jesus Christ. 

Thirdly, He will find that these Gospels were never received by theMother Church of Jerusalem and Judea, founded by the Apostles. The Jewish Christians, the countrymen of Jesus, who one wouldthink had the best means of knowing the real history, and realdoctrines of Jesus and his Apostles, uniformly rejected not onlythese Gospels, but all the other books of the NewTestament. [fn12] They were also rejected, by several sects ofChristians who flourished in the early ages of Christianity. 

Fourthly, he will learn too that the Christians most distinguishedfor their learning on this subject, for instance, Michaelis, Semler, Lessing, Eichorn, and the erudite Bishop Marsh, do allow andmaintain in their works, that the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke were compiled from accounts of the life anddoctrines of Jesus which became, after different additions, revisions and translations, the BASIS of our present Gospels; fromsuch separate materials, which had gone through different hands, and had acquired a variety of text and context, from the differenttranscripts and translations in which they circulated, though for themost part they were copied verbatim from one another, severalGospels, among which were our three first Matthew Mark andLuke, were composed AFTER [fn13] the destruction of Jerusalem, and designated some by the names of the readers for whom theywere designed, and others by the names of their authors andcompilers. (See the life of Semler in Eichorn's Universal Library, as quoted by Mr. E. P. 465. Of his work. )

 These Gospels then, in the opinion of these learned Christians, were originally compiled from anonymous writings, which hadgone through different hands and been variously altered, andadded to in the passage, before they became the BASIS, !! of ourpresent Gospels. [fn14]

Lastly, he will discover, that since their construction from suchnameless materials, they have been further altered andinterpolated. Celsus accuses the Christians of his time (the latterpart of the 2nd century) of "continually altering their Gospels;" andthe ancient Christian sects accuse each other of the same fact. That these accusations were well founded, is evident fromGriesbach's edition of the Greek Testament, where besides thenotice of some hundred thousands of various readings, we findnot only single words, but whole phrases, and verses, and evenentire paragraphs rejected as corruptions and interpolations. Neither have all these corruptions been accidental; for as much asthe strongest text in the New Testament, in support of the doctrineof the Trinity and the Divinity of Jesus Christ, which is to be foundin the first Epistle, called of John ch. V. 7, "there are three thatbear witness in Heaven. The Father, the Word, and the HolyGhost and these three are one, " has been struck out of the text byGriesbach, himself a Trinitarian, as a pious fraud, and is now Ibelieve universally acknowledged as such by learned Christians. 

There are also, two other passages which for ages have beencited as proofs of the Divinity of Jesus (viz. "The Church of Godwhich he has redeemed with his own blood, " Acts ch. Xx. 28. And"God was manifested in the flesh, " in the first Epistle to Timothy, ch. Iii. 16. ) which the same Critic has proved to have been alteredfrom their original reading to favour the same doctrine, and it isimpossible to say how many more frauds of a similar nature mightbe detected, if the learned and candid Christians before-mentioned were in possession of the primitive manuscripts of theNew Testament. [fn15]

All these enormities Mr. Everett, who has a light hand in writingupon some subjects, comprizes with great tenderness in thefollowing expressions, "our copies of the New Testament by thelapse of time, have suffered some literal alterations, which mayhave fallen occasionally on the quoted texts (he is trying to justifythe writers of the New Testament, for quoting the Old Testamentotherwise than it is written) and thus made them to differ from thereading of the Old Testament, " p. 279. 

I have supposed that a reasonable and reasoning man, desirousto ascertain the truth of the religion of the Christians, and in thehope of finding it well founded, in the course of his examination ofthe testimony for the authenticity and authority of the books of theNew Testament, comes to the knowledge of all thesecircumstances. If the reader be such a man, I would ask him, if hecan rationally rest his belief in the moral attributes of God and hisfaith in a future life, upon a foundation composed of suchmaterials?

Mr. Everett observes "that as prophecy and miracle are equallydivine works, it is impossible that they should contradict eachother. They are equally the works of the God of truth, andwhatever contradiction there appears to be between them, mustbe but apparent. If a person of whatever pretensions proposes towork miracles in support of those pretensions, in whichnevertheless he is contradicted by express prophecy, one of thesethings is certain--that the prophecy is a forged one--or that wehave mistaken the meaning of it--or that the miracles are not real, "p. 3. Of Mr. Everett's work. 

Granted--upon this ground I think that Mr. Everett can fairly bebrought to issue. I presume that he will hardly persist inmaintaining that the Gospels are a sufficient proof of the miraclesthey record, in the face of the objections to their authenticity andauthority already stated--and as neither he nor myself maintainthat the prophecies, with regard to the Messiah, contained in theOld Testament were forged, it remains only to be considered, whether he or I have mistaken the meaning of them. So that, as Ihave repeatedly said in my former publications, the prophets, afterall, are the only criterion which can be appealed to certainly mostimportant to the great interests of humanity, were it only on thisaccount, that the dispute has occasioned the most unparalleleddegradation, misery, and oppression to one of the parties toit. [fn16]

 PEBBLE II. 

"The Messiah expected by the Jews, " says Mr. Everett, at thebeginning of the second chapter of his book, "and which Mr. English supposes to be predicted in the Old Testament, is 'atemporal prince, and a conquering pacificator. ' The Christians onthe other hand maintain, that the prophets foretold not a political, but a religious institution, not a temporal prince, but a moralteacher, and spiritual Saviour. Which of these opposite views ofthe predicted character of the Messiah is correct, must be decidedof course by an appeal to particular predictions. But it is also amatter of reason, and we have a right to argue upon the questionfrom the character of God, and the nature of man. Which of theseviews the Jewish or the Christian doth most commend itself to thesincere believer in the moral government of God, and the rationaland accountable nature of man?"

This statement, I cannot help considering as both artful and unfair. That I have represented the Messiah as predicted to be "atemporal Prince and a conquering pacificator, " is true, but it is notthe whole truth; Mr. Everett would have it to be understood, that Imaintained that the Messiah was to be merely "a temporal Prince;"whereas, those who will take the trouble to refer to the priorchapters of "the grounds of Christianity examined, " will find that Ihave endeavoured to prove that the prophets predict, that he wasalso to be "a just, beneficient, wise, and mighty monarch, underwhose government righteousness was to flourish, and mankind bemade happy:" and I believe that there is not a single passage fromthe prophets quoted in Mr. Everett's 2d. Chapter to prove his viewsof the Messiah, that I have not also myself quoted to prove thebeneficent character of him I suppose to be predicted. 

Mr. Everett unwarily betrays his own unfairness in the followingpassage of his work, p. 63. ---"Mr. English objects, that whereasthe first characteristic of the Messiah was, that he was to be thePrince of Peace, in whose time righteousness was to flourish andmankind be made happy, " &c. [fn17]

How is it possible, I might ask Mr. Everett that I could havemaintained that the Messiah was to be merely "a temporal Prince, and a conquering pacificator, " when it is also true, as Mr. Everettconfesses, that I maintain that "the first characteristic of theMessiah was that he was to be the Prince of Peace, in whose timerighteousness was to flourish and mankind be made happy?" Iconfess, that I feel both contempt and indignation at such an artfulmis-representation of my opinions, in order to attack them withmore hopes of success, and as I do not profess to be a Christian, Imay be excused for expressing what in this case I certainly have aright so feel. [fn18] The prophets, literally understood represent (asMr. Everett will not deny) that the Messiah is to be a mightyMonarch, enthroned at Jerusalem under whose reign the Jewsshould be restored to their country and converted from their sinsand errors, and established in the most perfect and endlesshappiness; that he will put down all opposition to his authority, andexterminate the wicked out of the earth, and unite the pious andgood of all the human race under his government, making themparticipators of the eternal happiness of the favoured descendantsof Abraham, that all sin, sorrow, and error shall be no more, andthe earth become all Paradise. 

"Far more bless'd than that of Eden, And far happier days. " [fn19]

The difference between Mr. Everett's and my view of thisrepresentation is, that I understand the prophets to mean that thewhole will be literally fulfilled; and Mr. Everett maintains that, thatpart which accords with the Christian view of the Messiah is to beliterally understood, but that that part which is opposed to it mustbe taken figuratively. 

Who is so blind as not to perceive the motives for such anincoherent system, of interpretation! The passages whichrepresent the Messiah as a Monarch reigning at Jerusalem, andwhose temporal authority should extend over all the earth, Mr. Everett would interpret to signify, (by a figure) "a preacher ofrighteousness, and a spiritual Saviour of the souls of men;"because Jesus had no temporal authority whatever, and thereforeto understand them literally would exclude the claims set up forhim. The earth's being restored to a Paradisiacal state, and theextinction of all sin, violence, and misery throughout itscircumference, Mr. Everett would interpret to signify, (by. A figure)"the blessed events, " which have occurred, and the "changes thathave taken place, " since the promulgation of Christianity!! [fn20]

Mr. Everett, in support of his system of interpretation, shows us, that the Supreme Being is frequently spoken of in the OldTestament, as a King and as a victorious warrior; and thereforeinfers, because such passages must be understood figuratively, that the passages in the prophets which speak of the Messiah insimilar terms, must be also understood figuratively. 

To this it seems to me to be a sufficient answer to observe, thatmen who speak of the Deity, are obliged to employ humanlanguage and human ideas; because:

"What can we reason but from what we know?" and therefore agreat part of such language will be necessarily figurative; but it byno means follows from this, that the writers who are obliged to usethis figurative language when speaking of the Deity, intend to beunderstood in the same sense when they apply the sameexpressions to describe men and their actions. On the contrary, asthey were writing to men and for men, it is natural to presume, thatthey meant to be understood in the way that such expressions areuniversally understood by all men, when they relate to men andtheir actions. Such a system, of interpretation as this of Mr. Everett's, turns the Bible into a Babel of confusion: a manproceeding upon this system, might with equal plausibility turn allthe good and prosperous kings of Israel and Judah into "SpiritualSaviours. "[fn21]

"What, says Mr. Everett, p. 63. Would be thought of one, who aftermaking a collection of passages which ascribe these attributes ofroyalty and conquest to God, such as Mr. English has made ofthose which ascribe such attributes to the Messiah, should infer ashe does, that God is a just, beneficent; wise and mighty monarchreigning on a throne in Jerusalem?"

To this I answer by asking in my turn, what should we think of one, who after making a collection, of passages which ascribe theseattributes of royalty and conquest to God, as Mr. Everett hasdone, should therefore think himself authorised to infer, that thehistory of David the son of Jesse, contained in the Bible, (which, as all the world knows, is an oriental book abounding in figurativeexpressions) was not to be understood literally, but that it wasvery possible that this supposed monarch of Israel, who isrepresented as having "saved it from its enemies on every side, "was after all, probably only a spiritual saviour of the souls of theIsraelites, by having distinguished himself as a prophet, apreacher of righteousness, and a composer of Psalms!! [fn22]

As Mr. Everett says, I "cheerfully leave this part of the controversy, with the answer to this question which every rational inquirer willgive;" p. 63. 

Mr. Everett, however, in maintaining that the Messiah, was to bemerely a preacher of righteousness, a founder of a new religion, and a. Spiritual saviour of the souls of men, not only opposes dictaof the prophets of the Old Testament, but is expresslycontradicted by the doctrine of the New, which maintains the sameideas of the Messiah that the prophets teach and the Jewsbelieve; and this with the indulgence of the reader's patience I willplainly show. 

The angel is recorded, Luke, ch. I. 31, to have told Mary, concerning Jesus whom the author of that Gospel supposes tohave been the Messiah, that "the Lord God shall give unto him thethrone of his father David: and he shall reign over the house ofJacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. " Now thisis precisely the doctrine, concerning the Messiah, believed by theJews from that time to the present; for we see that Lukerepresents that the Messiah was not to be merely a spiritualsaviour of the souls of men, but was actually to set upon thethrone of David, and reign over the house of Jacob for ever; whichis precisely what the prophets teach and the Jews believe. 

Again, in the same ch. 68, the writer of that Gospel representsZecharias, when filled with the Holy Ghost, as predictingconcerning Jesus as follows. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up ahorn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David: as hespake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been sincethe world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, andfrom the hand of all that hate us: to perform the mercy promised toour Fathers, and to remember his holy covenant: the oath whichhe swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, thatwe being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve himwithout fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the daysof our life. "

Here we see again that in Luke's opinion the Messiah was not tobe merely "a spiritual saviour of the souls of men, " but that he wasto "save Israel from their enemies and from the hand of all thathated them, " and this too is precisely what the prophets teach andthe Jews believe. 

Again, from the first ch. Of Acts 6. It is evident, that the primitiveChristians did not believe that the Messiah was to be merely aspiritual saviour of the souls of men, but that he would perform forIsrael what was promised by the prophets. For the Apostles arerepresented there as asking Jesus, previous to his ascension, saying "Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom toIsrael?"

The way the writers of the New Testament, get over the objectionto the Messiahship of Jesus, founded on the nonfulfillment by himof the splended visions of the prophets relative to the restorationof the dispersion, the punishment of their oppressors, and thediffusion of universal happiness to the tribes and of the world, (which they represent as the consequence of the coming of theMessiah) is, not by maintaining that the Messiah was to be merely"a spiritual Saviour of the souls of men, " but by affirming thatJesus would shortly come again into the world to fulfill them. "TheLord Jesus, " says the writer of the second Epistle to theThessalonians ch. I. 7, "shall be revealed from Heaven with hismighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them thatknow not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from thepresence of our Lord, and from the glory of his power: when heshall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired of allthem that believe. "[fn23]

Again, in the xii. Ch. Of the Revelations, Jesus is apparentlyspoken of as destined "to rule all nations with a rod of iron. " And inthe ii. Ch. Jesus is represented as saying, that "he that overcomethand keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give power overthe nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as thevessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as Ireceived of my Father, " v: 26, and lastly, not to be tedious, there isa passage in the xix. Ch. Of Revelations, which proves decisivelyagainst Mr. Everett, that the primitive Christians had even moresanguinary ideas of the vengeance of the Messiah upon thewicked of the earth, than are even entertained by the Jews. Jesusis there, described thus, "I saw Heaven opened, and behold awhite horse; and he that set upon him was called Faithful andTrue, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war, and outof his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite thenations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeththe wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God, " v. 11, 15. Some idea of the slaughter meant by the writer of theRevelations by "treading the wine press of the fierceness of thewrath of Almighty God, " may be understood from ch. Xiv. 20, where it is represented that the blood of men came out of thiswine press "by the space of a thousand and six hundredfurlongs!!"

I suppose that the reader is quite satisfied by what has beenadduced, that Mr. Everett's idea of the Messiah's being merely "aspiritual saviour of the souls of men, " is equally rejected by the OldTestament and the New, and since Mr. Everett does not andcannot pretend, that Jesus during the long space of 1800 yearshas fulfilled the predictions relating to the Messiah in a literalsense, which is the sense in which they must be fulfilled in orderto be made good, Mr. Everett is left without better proof of theMessiahship of Jesus than bare opinion only, which attaineth notto any certainty. 

Mr. Everett supposes that a mere "Preacher of righteousness, " iscapable of fulfilling all the predictions of the Messiah, whichrepresent him as putting an end to all wickedness and miserythroughout the World. How absurd!! there never was, [fn24] abetter or greater "Preacher of righteousness, " than Jesus Christhimself, and what did he effect among the people of his age? theGospels say, that they whipped him, and nailed him to a cross. There has been since his time, for eighteen hundred years, I knownot how many millions of "preachers of righteousness, " and whathave they effected? look at the history of the decline and fall of theRoman Empire: look at the histories of mankind for the last 400years. What scenes do they for the most part, present to theshocked contemplation! are they not generally a complication offolly, madness, and devilism, worthy of being recorded in triumphby the evil one himself, in letters of blood and infernal fire?

What success have the "Preachers of righteousness, " of thepresent day? Do not these pious and good men, and pious andgood they generally speaking undoubtedly are, do they not feelthemselves obliged to tell you, that such is the depravity of humannature, that "teaching and preaching are all in vain;" that they arewearying themselves in "throwing pearls before swine, " whoreceive them with a grunt, and "trample them under their feet?"

Does not Mr. Everett himself tell us p. 80, that "it is too true thatthe mighty passions, which agitate the public intercourse of theworld, are almost beyond the direct reach of moral means, " i. E. Ofthe "Preachers of righteousness. "

How then can he expect that a mere "Preacher of righteousness, "is capable of subduing these "mighty passions, " whose existenceis incompatible with peace and happiness, and fulfilling thepredictions relating to the Messiah? No, all history and experiencetestify that no merely human power can put an end to them. Itmust be done by the strong and armed hand of Heaven. 

Then, and not till then, shall exiled "justice look down fromHeaven, and righteousness and peace shall kiss each other. "Then, and not till then, shall "the wicked cease from troubling;"and the afflicted enjoy happiness. 

"These be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the Messiah of the Godof Jacob, (See the Heb. ) and the sweet Psalmist of Israel; Thespirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word is in my tongue. TheGod of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, he that rulethover mankind (see the Heb. ) shall be just, ruling in the fear ofGod: And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sunriseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grassspringing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man that shalltouch them must be fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear; andthey shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place. " 2 Sam. Ch. Xxiii. 

PEBBLE III

Let us, however, follow Mr. Everett in the consideration of thoseprophecies, which he says p. 83, "are really to be regarded asproofs of the (Christian) religion. "

It is not necessary for me to say any thing further, in defence ofthe interpretation of the prophecy in Deut. Xviii. 15, contained inmy first publication, where I consider it as referring to asuccession of inspired messengers from God to the Israelites;because Mr. Everett allows, that "in granting that this interpretationis correct, we should only follow the example of the most learnedand judicious Christian interpreters, " p. 84. 

I will pass therefore to the passage in the Psalm xvi. 10. "Thou wiltnot leave my soul in hell, (i. E. The place of the departed, ) norsuffer thy Saints (or thy pious ones[fn25]) to see destruction, " as Ihave translated it. Mr. Everett maintains that the word translatedby me in this place "destruction, " sometimes means "corruption. "Granted, but Mr. Everett will not deny that the original wordsometimes signifies "destruction, " and assuredly therefore I haveas good a right to translate it my way, as he has to interpret it tosignify "corruption. "[fn26] I maintain, moreover, that I have a betterright in this place to translate it "destruction, " than he has to renderit "corruption;" if the whole psalm manifestly relates to David, as isI think evident from the context, whose body underwent thenatural decomposition occasioned by death; which thereforenecessitates the translation I have given if the psalm relates toDavid which I think is evident. 

"I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my righthand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and myglory rejoiceth, my flesh shall also rest in hope: for thou wilt notleave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy saints (or thy pious one) to seedestruction. Thou wilt show me the path of life, in thy presence isfulness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. " Since therefore the psalm evidently relates to David, I donot see how it is a prophecy of Jesus' rising from the dead on thethird day after his crucifixion, as it is said to have been applied toprove, by Peter in the book of Acts ch. Ii. 

I would observe also, that the modern German Theologicalscholars, who as Mr. Everett says (p. 247. Of his work. ) "aresupposed to excell in Critical learning, " do allow and maintain, bythe confession of Mr. Everett himself p. 247 of his work, that thispassage in the psalms is not a prophecy of Jesus, no more thanany of the others adduced in the New Testament from the Old, butthat it is quoted merely by way of accommodation or allusion. 

I presume therefore that Mr. Everett will cease to regard thispassage as one of "the prophecies, " which are really to beregarded as proofs of the Christian religion. 

The next passage of the Old Testament, which Mr. Everett relieson as a prophetical proof of the Christian religion, is the 2nd. Psalm; "why did the nations (according to the Heb. ) rage, and thepeoples (ac. To the Heb. ) imagine a vain thing. The kings of theearth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together againstJehovah, and against his Messiah saving, let us break their bandsasunder, and cast away their cords from us, " &c. To theapplication of this prophecy to Jesus, I objected in my firstpublication, on account of these reasons, 1st. That "the nations, "as it is in the original, did not assemble to crucify Jesus, as thiswas done by a few soldiers. To this Mr. Everett replies, p. 90. Ofhis work, that "the Apostle (Peter in Acts ch. Iv. 45, [fn27]) does notsay, they assembled to "crucify him, " their joint opposition was notlimited to this single act, they were gathered together against him. And it is certainly true, that Jesus was an object of the unitedpersecution of the nation of the Jews, by means of their bigottedpriests and furious multitudes, and of the Romans, by means oftheir tributary sovereign, Herod, and their Proconsul Pilate. " Inreply to this I would observe, that the words "nations, " and"peoples, " in the original of the passage never signified the Jewishnation, but are used in the Hebrew Bible to signify all other nationsbut the Jews, or what is expressed by the word "Gentiles. "

Now it is said in the psalm, that "the nations and peoples, "(exclusive of the Jews for the reason above-mentioned) shouldrage and that "the kings of the earth should stand up, and therulers (of the earth, ) take counsel against Jehovah, and againsthis Messiah. " I do not see, therefore, how this passage could havebeen fulfilled by the Romans, who were but one nation, by meansof their Proconsul Pilate and his soldiers: who (the Romans) wereso far too from being enraged against Jesus, that it is certain, thatall the Romans out of Jerusalem, did not even know what wasdoing against him, and Pilate himself was so far from being"enraged, " and "taking counsel, " against Jesus, that he befriendedhim as far as he dared, and made great exertions to save his life. 

Moreover, in the psalm, these "nations and peoples, and kingsand rulers, " are represented as saving "let us break their bands insunder, and cast away their cords from us. " This passage refers tothe Messiah and the Jewish nation taken together, whom the OldTestament represents as to have "dominion over all peoples, nations and languages, " and that "the nation and people that willnot serve them shall perish, yea those nations shall be utterlywasted. " Is. Lx. [fn28]

Therefore, these refractory nations and kings could not, andactually never have said this of Jesus, who was but an individual, to whom the expression "their bands and their cords, " cannotapply; and finally, since Mr. Everett maintains that Jesus was"merely a spiritual saviour of the souls of men, " I do not see howhe can consider him as a character pretending to impose "bandsand cords, " upon any body. 

2. I had also objected to the application of this prophecy to Jesus, because "God has not set Jesus as his king upon the holy hill ofSion, (as the psalm imports) nor given him the nations for hisinheritance, nor the uttermost parts of the earth for hispossession. " To this Mr. Everett, p. 91, replies in the usual way, i. E. After interpreting as much of the psalm, as he thinks he canmake accord with the history of Jesus, in a literal sense, heinterprets this passage of the Messiah's being enthroned onMount Sion, which he cannot make accord with it, in a figurativeone. The reader must judge whether this be fair or reasonable. 

The latter part of the psalm, Mr. Everett contends, was fulfilled bythe rapid spread of Christianity, and he quotes, in proof of this, some passages of the Fathers. To this I would reply, that thosepassages of the Fathers are notorious exaggerations, andconvicted of falsehood by Middleton in his Free Inquiry. 

And lastly, I would observe, that even those nations who haveembraced Christianity, can by no means be called the inheritanceor subjects of Jesus, since they have since the days ofConstantine and the Counsel of Nice renounced his doctrines, andperverted his religion into "a fabulous, irrational and blasphemoussuperstition, "[fn29] for as much as all of them, except a handful ofUnitarian Christians, are worshippers of three Divine Beingsunited by an ineffable union; and by far the greater part of themare adorers of idols, images, and pictures. [fn30] And if I may, without offence, be allowed to express the sincere opinion of myheart upon this subject, I would say, that it is my serious belief, that if Jesus the son of Mary could return into the world, and learn, that his professed followers had placed him between theCherubim, at the right hand of the Almighty, worshipping him as"God equal to the Father, " as, "God of God, very God of everyGod:" and that by far the greater part had also placed Mary hismother on the other side of the Deity, worshipping her as "themother of God!"[fn31] he would in my opinion renounce anddenounce them as impious heathens, and possibly believe thatthey were possessed with devils. 

The next passage which Mr. Everett quotes as a prophecy ofJesus, is the 2d verse of the 5th chapter of Micah, "and thouBethlehem Ephratah, it is little to be among the thousands ofJudah; out of thee shall come forth unto me, him who is to be rulerin Israel, whose goings forth have been of old, from the days ofancient years:" [according to the Hebrew. ] This I interpreted tosignify, not that the birth of the Messiah should be in Bethlehem, but the descent of the Messiah should be derived from Bethlehem, i. E. From Jesse the father of David; (and that therefore a futureMessiah who should be derived from this family, would fulfill theprophecy;) and this interpretation, I represent as being known andacknowledged by Hebrew scholars. "But the truth is, says Mr. Everett p. 94, that the original word, [translated by me "shall comeforth, "] is familiarly used of the birth of a man, as "Mizraim begatPathrusim, and Casluhim out of whom came Philistim, "" Gen. X. 13, 14. This is a very awkward quotation on the part of Mr. Everett, as it says nothing in favour of his views, but directlyfavours mine: for Philistim is a word in the plural number, and isused in the Hebrew Bible, to express "the Philistines;" and theword translated "come"[fn33] is also in the plural number, seeSimon's Hebrew Bible. The passage therefore in Genesis x. 13. 14. Imports that the Philistines were derived or descended fromMizraim. "Who the Hebrew scholars are, says Mr. Everett, whoacknowledge this turn of the passage [in Micah] know not, " p. 94of Mr. Everett's work. If I were writing in Europe or America, Ithink that I could point them out; but if my memory does notdeceive me, Grotius interprets the passage of the derivation of theMessiah from Bethlehem: and Mr. Everett will not deny that themodern Christian Hebrew scholars of Germany, disallow that thispassage has any reference to Jesus, and affirm that it is quoted inthe New Testament, Matthew ii. 5. , only by way of allusion oraccommodation. 

I had however, in order to show that this prophecy could not beinsisted on by the Christians, said by way of argument, thatallowing "that Bethlehem was to be the birth place of the Messiah, what then? will a man's being born in Bethlehem, be sufficient tomake him the Messiah foretold by the Hebrew prophets!"

This Mr. Everett seizes hold on in the following Way, p. 95. "Nowif we were willing to be consistent, and cling to our principleswherever they carry us, it would almost seem that this concessionmight decide the controversy. The Messiah is to be of Bethlehem. This reduces to a little span, the number of those among whom hecan be found. Moreover, Bethlehem is now in ruins, to all moralpurposes its identity is gone. [fn34] It is the habitation of Turks, ofArabs, of Christians, and if there be any Jews there, none willpretend that the divisions of the tribes are preserved among them, so that the tribe of David, from whom the Messiah is to arise, isknown in Bethlehem, from the rest. Neither can it be argued thathereafter when the Jews are restored, Bethlehem will berepeopled with Jews, the family of David be discriminated, and theprophecy admit of fulfillment, because Mr. English himself allows itto be the sense of prophecy, that the Messiah shall be born beforethe restoration. It only remains therefore to look back, and to see, of all that have appeared in Bethlehem, which has the greatestclaim to this character. "

On this reasoning I would observe, 1st, that my concession onwhich it is founded is merely gratuitous; as the words "shall comeforth" signify merely derivation; 2nd, that Mr. Everett is mistaken insupposing that Bethlehem is now in ruins. It is at present probablynearly as large and populous as it ever was. 3d, Mr. Everett ismistaken, in supposing that the family of David cannot be tracedamong the Jews. There are at this moment in the world, manyfamilies allowed by their bretheren to be descended from David. Should any of the Jews go to Bethlehem at any time to come, andhave a male child born to him in that place, for aught that can beknown beforehand, that child may be the Messiah and theprophecy be fulfilled in Mr. Everett's sense of it; which I repeatcannot be insisted on, as "come forth" certainly may signify, and inthe case unluckily quoted by Mr. Everett, (Gen. X, 13. 14. )certainly does import, derivation. [fn35]

The next passage, adduced by Mr. Everett, is the 10th v. Of the ix. Ch of Zechariah, "Rejoice greatly O! daughter of Zion, shout O!daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy king cometh unto thee: he isjust and saved, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt thefoal of an ass. "

Mr. Everett, after allowing that the Hebrew reads "saved" or"preserved" instead of "having salvation, " as in the Englishversion, observes, that many ancient versions read as in theEnglish Bible. Whether the true reading be mine or his, is not ofany consequence to the question to which this book relates. Imaintain that a man's riding upon an ass into Jerusalem, is notsufficient to prove him the Messiah. 

I also repeat that the event predicted, is spoken of by the prophetas contemporaneous with the restoration of the division, [fn37]and of course could not have been fulfilled eighteen hundredyears ago. 

"Mr. Everett tries to shove out this objection, by taking for granted, p. 98 of his work, that the chapter of Zechariah in which thisprophecy is found, is a series of chronological predictions. But Imust remind Mr. Everett that this pretention is inadmissible. Noneof the predictions of the prophets, except some in Daniel, arearranged in chronological order; they were delivered by parcels, and at intervals, frequently of some years; and these parcelsgenerally have no connexion with each other. Mr. . Everett'sreasoning upon the assumption here contradicted, is thereforeinadmissible. 

Finally, the German Biblical Scholars so frequently mentioned, deny that this was a prediction of Jesus, and affirm that it isquoted by the Evangelists merely by way of accommodation. 

The next passage adduced is Zechariah xii. 10. , "And I will pourupon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look upon [ortowards] me[fn38] whom they have blasphemed, [or pierced, ] andthey shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son. "

The meaning of this prophecy is obscure. The word translated"pierced" in the English version, may also in the opinion of Grotius, and I add of Rosenmuller too, as quoted by Mr. Everett in the 104. P. Of his book, be best rendered "blasphemed or reproached. " Itmay refer to the time when, according to the Old Testament, thehearts of the house of Israel shall be cleansed from sin, and theyshall turn to God "with their whole heart and with all their souls, "as predicted by Moses. 

I conclude with observing, that this passage, quoted in the NewTestament; John ch. Xix. Has long since ceased to be consideredas a prophecy of Jesus by the German Critics, and is believed bythem, to have been adduced in the gospel merely by way ofallusion. (See Rosenmuller's observations in his notes on thepassage. )

I am afraid that the reader has found these discussions rathertedious, and am therefore happy to be at liberty to proceed to theconsideration of the three famous prophecies of Jacob, Isaiah, and Daniel. 

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Law-giver frombetween his feet for ever; for Shilo shall come, and to him shallthe obedience of the peoples be . " Gen. Xlix. 10. So I maintain thepassage should be translated. 

On this prediction I observed, (Grounds of Christianity Examinedp. 40. As quoted by Mr. Everett. ) "That though this prophecy isallowed by the Jews to refer to their Messiah, yet it does notdefine, nor limit the time of his coming. For that it is perfectlyevident to all who will look at the place in the Hebrew Bible, that itis pointed to read, not "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet until Shilo come;" but "thesceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from betweenhis feet for ever; for Shilo shall come, and to him shall thegathering of the peoples be. " So that the prophecy does notintimate that the Messiah should come before the sceptre bedeparted from Judah: but that it should not depart for ever, butshall be restored when Shilo comes. "

On this Mr. Everett remarks, "now the points, commonly so called, have nothing to do with the division of a sentence into itsmembers, or with what we call punctuation; but Mr. Englishintended to intimate, that according to the accents, the verseshould be divided as he proposes. " (p. 110, of Mr. Everett's work. )In return for this friendly attempt to set me right, I would beg of Mr. Everett to peruse the following extract from the celebrated Alting'sTreatise on Hebrew punctuation, which he will probably look overwith blushing cheeks. "Punctorum appellatione venit, quicquid inHebraea Scriptura occurrit praeter literas. Sunt vero punctorumgenera tria; unum eorum quae sonum moderantur; alterumillorum, quae tonum regunt, tertium mere criticorum est quae adcrisin masoretharum solummodo pertinent. "' p, 9. Edit. Septima. 

I do not think it necessary, to enter with Mr. Everett into theintricate dispute about the Hebrew accents, since he representsthat they are of no authority in deciding the question between himand me, and because I think he will therefore not deny, thatdisregarding their authority, the passage will bear the rendering Ihave given it. 

I shall therefore proceed to establish the interpretation I havegiven of the passage in Genesis, 1st. By endeavouring to show, that Mr. Everett's interpretation would convict the prophecy, offalsehood; and 2dly. By showing that the interpretation I havegiven, is confirmed by the express declaration of God himself. 

This prophecy was delivered by Jacob before there was any kingin Judah. The sceptre did depart from Judah, and with avengeance too, at the dethronement and captivity of Zedekiah, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans: consequently, if the sceptre was not to depart from Judah till Shilo came, theMessiah ought to have appeared before the dethronement ofZedekiah; as he certainly did not appear before that event, theprophecy, according to Mr. Everett's sensible interpretation, wouldbe falsified. 

2. The sceptre never has been restored to Judah since thedethronement of Zedekiah; because the tribe of Judah, since thatperiod, have been in subjection to the Babylonians, the Persians, the Syrians, the Romans, and all the world. Mr. Everett maintainsthat the sceptre of Judah was in the hands of that tribe during thetime that it was held by the Romans[fn42] who were of the tribe ofLevi and the Herods who were Idumaeans. This idea appears tome absurd, but I shall not give myself the trouble to oppose it byargument, as it can be set aside by the express declaration ofGod, as reported by Ezekiel, ch. Xxi. 26. Speaking of Zedekiahand his dethronement, the prophet represented the Deity, assaying, "thus saith the Lord God, remove the diadem, take off thecrown; this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abasehim that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, (i. E. Thecrown or sceptre of Judah, ) and it shall be no more until he comeswhose right it is, and I will give it him. "

Here the Deity expressly declares, that from the dethronement ofZedekiah; the crown of Judah should be no more till the coming ofthe Messiah to whom he would give it. The Asmonaeans and theHerods cannot therefore be considered as having held it, as Mr. Everett supposes. [fn41]

But this is not all, the original Hebrew of this emphatic declarationhas a singular force, the idea it expresses is as follows, "I willmake it (or "place it, " the crown of Judah, i. E. The Messiahship) anoccasion of perversion, of perversion, of perversion, and it shallbe-no more till he come whose right it is, and I will give it him. "Viewed in this light, who will deny that this declaration has beenmost strangely fulfilled? The Christians reproach the Jews with"perverse and mad delusion" in having successively believed ahundred: different impostors to have been the Messiah, while theJews in their turn say that the Christians have been as mad asthemselves, in believing that Jesus of Nazareth was thispersonage. 

I suppose therefore that Mr. Everett, after coolly viewing what Ihave stated with regard to this prophecy of the Shilo, will besensible that he may as well discharge the unfortunate Rabbieshe has seized upon and lugged into court as reluctant witnessesof the truth of Christianity, as their further attendance can be nolonger necessary: and I would leave him to consider whether theliberal appellation of "dogmatical blunderer, " which he hasbestowed upon me, p. 114 of his work, relative to my argumentsupon this prophecy, may not better apply to another thanmyself. [fn43]

Let us now proceed to the consideration of the famous prophecyof Isaiah, which Mr. Everett styles, p. 144, the "carinficinaRabbinorum. "[fn44]

In order to be enabled to give a fair interpretation of it, it is first ofall necessary to give a fair translation of it from the originalHebrew, which is what has not been done in the English version;forasmuch as there are therein not less than thirteenmistranslations. 

The following, I believe, will be considered as a just representationof the original as it stands in the Hebrew Bible. 

"Behold my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted, andextolled, and be very high. As many as were astonished at thee;his visage was so marred more than any other man, and his formmore than the sons of man, (or Adam, ) so shall he sprinkle manynations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him; for that whichhad not been told them shall they see; and that which they had notheard shall they consider. [fn45]

"Who hath believed what we heard? (or what was reported to us)and to whom was the arm of Jehovah revealed? For he grew upbefore him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. Hehad no form nor comeliness; and when we saw him there was nobeauty that we should desire him, He was despised and theoutcast of men; a man of sorrows and familiar with grief;[fn46] andwe hid as it were our faces from him, (or, as one that hid his facefrom us, ) he was despised and esteemed not. Surely he hathborne our griefs and carried (away) our sorrows. [fn47] Yet did weesteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he waswounded through our transgression, he was bruised through ouriniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, andwith[fn48] his stripes we are healed. ("healing is to us, " Hebr. ) Allwe like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to hisown way; and Jehovah hath caused to light (or "meet") upon himthe iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yethe would not open his mouth; he was brought as a lamb to theslaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so hewould not open his mouth. He was taken from prison and fromjudgment, and who would meditate [or consider sufficiently] hisgeneration? [or who shall declare his generation;] For he was cutoff out of the land of the living: through the transgression of mypeople was he smitten: ["smiting was to him, " Hebr. ] and heappointed his grave with the wicked, and with the rich[fn49] in hisdeaths. [fn50] Although he hath done no violence, neither was anydeceit in his mouth, yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him: he hathput him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, [fn51] and thepleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see [thefruit] of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by hisknowledge shall my righteous servant make many righteous, forhe shall bear [away] their iniquities. [fn52] Therefore will I dividehim a portion with the great: and he shall divide the spoil with thestrong, because he hath made naked his life unto death; and hewas numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin ofmany, and made intercession for the transgressors. " Is. From the13th. V. Of the 52d. Ch. To the end of the 53d. 

It is an acknowledged principle of sound criticism, that the sameexpressions in the same author, are to be-understood always, inthe same sense, unless the context makes it plainly evident thatanother sense is intended. Let us, therefore, first of all, examinethe chapters of Isaiah preceding the extract, in order tounderstand who he means by "God's servant. "

In the 49th. Of Isaiah, v 3. It is said, "Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. " In ch. Xlviii. 20. "The Lord hathredeemed his servant Jacob. " In ch. Xlv. 4. "For Jacob myservant's sake, and Israel mine elect. " In ch. Xliv, 1. "Yet hear now, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen: fear not OJacob, my servant. " v. 2. "Remember these O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee, thou art my servant OIsrael, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. " v. 21. 

"Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord, and my servant whom I havechosen. " ch. Xliii. 10. See also the whole of ch. Xlii. "Thou Israel artmy servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham myfriend. " ch. Xli. 8. 

There can be no doubt therefore, that by "my servant, " mentionedin the first part of the prophecy quoted from Isaiah, and by "myrighteous servant, " in the latter part of it, that "God's servantIsrael" must be understood to be meant, provided there be nothingin the context to make it necessary to resort to some otherinterpretation. Mr. Everett says that there is something in thecontext, which forbids the application of this prophecy to "God'sservant Israel. " Let us then examine the reasons on which thisassertion is founded. 

He says 1st, p. 136 of his work, that the subject of this prophecy isspoken of as "passive and unresisting, " and he exclaims, "TheJews passive and unresisting! They are the most obstinate andunyielding of the tribes of the earth, and have resisted the arm ofpower, and the lapse of time, which have crushed all other nationsinto oblivion. "

The prophecy speaks of their non-resistance to oppression, andMr. Everett tells us, to contradict this, that "they have resisted thearm of power, and the lapse of time, which have crushed all othernations into oblivion. " This seems to me to be irrelevant. 

"They afflicted and complained not! their complaints have beenfiercer than their sufferings have been cruel. " Is this true? DoesMr. Everett really believe it to be true? Does not all the world knowit to be false?[fn53]

"They have done no iniquity? When no iniquity? Not in the days ofIsaiah their own prophet, who cries, "Ah! sinful nation, peopleladen with iniquity, seed of evil doers. " Not in the days ofJosephus their own historian, who sets forth scenes of depravitywhich turn common wickedness into virtue, and declares "that theearth would have swallowed them, if the Romans had not sweptthem from its face?" No iniquity in the ages since; throughout thecities of the dispersion, where they are proverbially dishonest, andprofessedly unfaithful. " &c. . &c. 

Now all this eloquent invective can be set aside so far as it affectsmy application of this prophecy by this simple remark; that thisprophecy neither relates to the wicked Jews of the time of Isaiah, nor of Josephus, nor the ages since, but refers to "God's servantIsrael" i. E. , not to the rebellious and reprobate of the Jewishnation, but to those of the house of Jacob, who have, who do, andwho shall adhere to God's law, and obey his commandments; forno others of them will God acknowledge as "his servants. "[fn54]

I would also observe, that the stress which Mr. Everett lays uponthe phrase "no iniquity, " shows either great carelessness, or greatignorance of the idiom of the Hebrew Scriptures; because everyman, familiar with those writings, knows that this expression is oneof those called Hebreisms, which must be understood in arestrained sense. In proof of which, and a decisive one too, Iwould refer him to the prophecy of Balaam, recorded, Num. Ch. Xxii. 21. Where Balaam exclaims in his prophetic enthusiasm, "He[i. E. God] hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seenperverseness in Israel. "

Now I suppose that the 53rd. Of Isaiah, is a representation of whatmay be the reflections of the nations, who have despised andpersecuted "God's servant Israel, " through the influence of theprejudices of their mistaken religion, but who had becomesensible of their error by seeing the tremendous interference ofGod himself in their behalf, predicted over and over again by theprophets as to happen. The natural consequence of thisconviction in the minds of those nations, would be a revulsion ofthe feelings to the opposite extreme. They would exaggerate themerits, and extenuate the demerits of "God's servant. " They wouldreflect with astonishment and commiseration on their pastsufferings. "We considered them, " they might exclaim, "as a God-abandoned race, and devoted to wretchedness by him for havingcrucified their king. But instead of being the victims of God's wrath, they were wounded through our cruelty, they were bruised throughour iniquitous treatment. It is we who have sinned more than they. We having gone astray in our ignorance, being without theknowledge of God and his law. How passive and unresisting werethey! They were oppressed, they were afflicted, and complainednot: when through false accusations and mistaken cruelty, theywere plundered and condemned to die, they went like a lamb tothe slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so theyopened not their mouth. They were taken from the dungeon to beslain; they were wantonly massacred, and every man was theirfoe; and the cause of the sufferers who condescended toexamine? They had done no iniquity to merit this: for theiradherence to their faith, which we charged upon them as a crime, we now see to be approved of by their God, as an acceptableinstance of unexampled perseverance in the cause of truth. "[fn55]

Mr. Everett proceeds, p. 145, "If any thing needs be added, thefollowing observation is important, viz. That there is one passageso clearly inapplicable to the Jewish nation, and so totallyincongruous with the rest of the interpretation, that Mr. Englishpasses it over without even the attempt of an explanation. It isthis: in a part of the prophecy which he puts into the mouth of theGentiles we read, "for [the Hebrew I must remind Mr. Everettreads "by or through, "] the transgressions of MY PEOPLE was hestricken, " This Mr. English paraphrases "for [it should have been"by or through"] the thoughtless crimes of my people he suffered. But what the Gentiles could mean by "MY PEOPLE" he does notsay, and this difficulty is fatal to the whole interpretation. ""

I will presently show Mr. Everett, that this formidable objection, soemphatically announced, is after all a mere man in buckram; and Iam almost sorry that in doing this, I shall be obliged to expose onemore proof of Mr. Everett's having neglected the study of "thebeggarly elements, " in order to devote himself, without distraction, to the understanding of the delectable types and allegories of theNew Testament. Mr. Everett certainly is a scholar and a man oftalents, but he does not perfectly know, nor will [fn56] understand, the contents of the Old Testament; and the above objection is aproof of it. 

He maintains, that the expression "my people, " could not be usedby a Gentile, and that therefore my whole interpretation of theprophecy in Isaiah, is fatally affected by his objection. I requestMr. Everett to have the goodness to turn to the book of Ruth ch i. 16. , where he will find this Gentile, "this Moabitish damsel" sayingto her mother in-law "thy people shall be my people. " Will Mr. Everett look a little farther to the 1 Sam. Ch. V. 10. In the Hebrew, (not in a translation, ) where he will find the Gentile Philistinessaying, "They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel toslay me and my people?" (ac. To the Hebr. ) again, v. 11. "Sendaway the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go to his own place, that it slay me not and my people. " (ac. To the Hebr. )[fn57]

Mr. Everett, therefore, may understand from these examples, whyI passed over this phrase "without even the attempt of anexplanation;" because, truly, I never dreamed, that this formidableobjection, would have been made: or that any man would write, upon the Jewish controversy, who did not first inform himself ofthe contents and phraseology of the Hebrew Bible. 

Having, as I believe, shewn that the 53d. Chapter of Isiah can beunderstood of "God's servant Israel, " I will now attempt to shewthe reasons why I think that it cannot relate to Jesus of Nazareth. 

1st. Of the subject of this prophecy it is said v. 9. "and heappointed his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in hisdeaths, " in the plural. Now of Jesus we read in the gospels thedirect contrary: for the gospels represent that his death was withthe wicked, and his grave with the rich. [fn58]

2. The use of the word deaths, in the plural, appears to me tonecessitate the application of the prophecy to a people, not to anindividual. The same is evident distinctly from the Hebrew of v. 8. At the end of the verse, in the word "lamoo. "

3. The subject of this prophecy is said to have been "oppressed", i. E. By pecuniary exactions: for that is the radical idea of theHebrew word, as is shown and asserted in the lexicons of theHebrew language. [fn59] This is peculiarly true of the Jewishnation, but was not true at all with regard to Jesus. 

And to conclude, this prophecy is quoted repeatedly in the NewTestament. Now, that none of the quotations in the NewTestament from the Old can be maintained as prophecies fulfilledby Jesus, is the opinion of the learned Christians Michaelis, Eichorn; Semler, Eckerman, Lessing, &c. As is allowed by Mr. Everett: of course the 53d ch. Of Isaiah in their opinions cannot beadduced as a prophetic proof of Christianity: and Mr. Everett, inmaintaining the contrary, has to struggle not only againstargument, but the strongest Christian authority that can beproduced on any question of Biblical Criticism. 

Mr. Everett, in several passages of his book, has thought properto charge me with errors; but in the course of his discussion of myinterpretation of the 53d. Of Isaiah, has directly accused me offalsehood and of fraud, p. 148. Of his work. 

With regard to many of these errors, the situation andcircumstances I am in at present, put it out of my power to defendmyself, because I cannot get the books he refers to in order to testhis statements;[fn60] but of the latter imputations, the work of Mr. Everett itself not only enables me to justify myself, but to fix thosecharges upon him. 

He says in the 148 page of his work, remarking upon my assertionin "The Grounds of Christianity Examined. "--"In a word the literalapplication of this prophecy [the 53d. Of Isaiah] to Jesus is nowgiven up by the most learned Hebrew scholars, who allow that theliteral sense of the original can never be understood of him, "-"Why does not Mr. English name these Hebrew scholars? Simplybecause his assertion is not true. " Indeed! Does not Mr. Everetthimself say in the 247 p. Of his work, that Eichorn in a view of awork of Dr. Ekerman says, that "the principle of accommodation, which the better interpreters had already applied to manyviolations [fn62] in the New Testament, is by this author extendedto all. " "Though this opinion of Dr. Ekerman, " says Mr. Everett, must be allowed to savour a little of the extravagance of theory, Eichorn adopts it. As the work alluded to, the "TheologicalContributions" has become a classical book with one class of theGerman divines, who are thought to excel in critical learning, thereis no doubt that this doctrine is generally received among them. MICHAELIS we all know admits it; and Marsh is the only famouscritic of the present day who does not embrace it. 

Now the 53d. Ch. Of Isaiah is quoted in the New Testament, [fn63]of course, therefore, according to Mr. Everett's ownrepresentations of the opinions of these learned critics, they mustdeny that the prophecy of Isaiah has any reference to Jesus, andhold that it is quoted merely by way of accommodation. And if sohow has Mr. Everett dared to accuse me of falsehood inrepresenting, that "the literal application of this prophecy to Jesusis now given up by the most learned Hebrew scholars, who allowthat the literal sense of the original can never be understood ofhim"?! There is undoubtedly a falsehood told in this affair, and aconscious suppression of truth, but it is not I who tell the first, orconceal the latter. 

Mr. Everett then proceeds. "Priestley and Grotius are all heclaims, [the reader may see by the above that I might haveclaimed more, ] Priestley was a learned man, but he has nopretentions as a Hebrew scholar, and though Mr. English quotesGrotius, he does it incorrectly. " He declares that "Grotius hasapplied it to Jeremiah, and says, that Jesus Christ has nothing todo with it except in a secondary sense, but that the whole of itfrom beginning to end refers to Jeremiah. " "There are but few towhom I need say" continues Mr. Everett, "that the words of Grotiusin his commentary are, "These marks have their first fulfillment inJeremiah, but a more especial, sublime, and often indeed moreliteral fulfillment in Christ. " Mr. Everett's work p. 148. I do not seehow this passage of Grotius contradicts my representation of hisopinion. The passage from Grotius quoted by Mr. Everettdeclares, "that these marks [i. E. The 53d. Of Isaiah] have their firstfulfillment in Jeremiah;" of course they could not be fulfilled by anyother except in a secondary sense, as I have asserted. As for the"more especial, sublime, and often indeed more literal fulfillment inChrist, " I have always supposed that this and similar expressionsin other parts of Grotius' Commentary, were understood, by allwho were acquainted with Grotius' history and the times in whichhe wrote, to be intended for a mere salvo, as a tub thrown out tothat great whale the vulgar; to contradict directly whose opinionswith regard to the prophecies, was in the time of Grotius verydangerous, as he himself, notwithstanding all his precaution andtruckling, seriously experienced. [fn64]

"Also, [Mr. Everett goes on to say, ] in adducing the authority ofPriestley for his interpretation without reference or qualification, Mr. English gives cause to think, that he did not know, or knowingforbore to state, that Priestley pronounces it impossible, in one ofhis works, to explain this prophecy of any but Jesus Christ. WhatHebrew scholars are to be named with Lowth and MICHAELIS, who both assert the literal application to Christ, Mr. English mayone day learn, that asseverations like these whatever immediateeffect they produce, will finally stand in the way of his character forveracity. " p. 149. 

This has been to me the most irritating passage in Mr. Everett'sbook, because it is a tissue of impudent ignorance or impudentfraud, and as such I will prove it. [fn65]

I have always supposed, that in quoting the opinion of an authoras authority, it is the fairest way to quote his last avowed opinions. Now the work of Priestley's which I refer to as applying theprophecy of Isaiah to the Jewish nation, as I do, is entitled"Priestley's Notes on Scripture, " and was published after arrival inAmerica, several years AFTER the work to which Mr. Everett. Refers, wherein Priestley, maintained that it was impossible toexplain this prophecy of any but Jesus Christ. " Therefore this fact"gives cause to think, that Mr. Everett did not know, or knowingforbore to state (which I believe in my conscience is the truth) thiscircumstance" which completely acquits me at least of asuppressio veri. [fn66]

"What Hebrew scholars are to be named with Lowth andMichaelis!" Several--among whom Eichorn stands pre-eminent. Moreover, how has it happened that "the keen detector ofdissonances" has contradicted himself in quoting Michaelis? Here, because he chooses to cling to the 53d. Of Isaiah as favouring hiscause, he quotes the name of MICHAELIS as asserting "its literalapplication to Christ. " In another place, (p. 247. ) where it isnecessary to defend the New Testament from the charge of falseapplication of the prophecies of the Old Testament to Jesus, hequotes again the great name of MICHAELIS as the patron of thesystem of accommodation, which system maintains that the 53d. Of Isaiah has no application to Christ at all! but is quoted by thewriters of the New Testament merely by way of allusion. Mr. Everett himself may live to learn, that such double dealingattempts to slander his opponent, and impose upon his readers, "whatever immediate effect they may produce, will finally stand inthe way of his character for veracity, " or at least for fairness andcandour. 

These are not the only instances in which Mr. Everett hascalumniated me, and abused the good nature of his readers. Forexample--

I had maintained in my first work, that the gospel called ofMatthew was a forgery, and not a translation from the ancientHebrew gospel of Matthew, and had supported my opinion bysaying, that learned Christians allowed that "it had not the air of atranslation. " This Mr. Everett contradicts as follows: "But Mr. English is aware that MICHAELIS, the highest authority on thesesubjects, pronounces that it is a translation, and maintains hisproposition not less from the unanimous testimony of the ancientsthan from internal evidence. " p. 472, of Mr. Everett's work. 

I beg the reader after reading this to attend carefully to what issaid by Mr. Everett in p. 464. "Semler's opinion of the origin andcomposition of the three first gospels, was the same as that of LeClerc, MICHAELIS, Lessing, and Eichorn, and which has beenillustrated and maintained by professor" Marsh. This opinion isthat they were compiled from documents [not one document orgospel, but several] of our Lord's preaching and life, which hadbeen committed to writing during his life, or immediately after, andwhich became after different additions, revisions and translations, the BASIS of our present gospels. " Here the reader sees thatwhen it is necessary to oppose my statements, in one place Mr. Everett avers that Michaelis maintained that the Greek gospelaccording to Matthew, was a translation of Matthew's Hebrew; inanother place, where it is also necessary to oppose me, he aversthat Michaelis believed that the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke were compiled compositions, and of course noneof them were translations from any one work. "I would, says Mr. Everett, answer Mr. English fairly, or not at all. " If this and theother instances quoted be specimens of Mr. Everett's fairness, what would be his conduct upon the very impossible suppositionthat he could be guilty of duplicity?

2. Mr. Everett tells his readers, that the Jewish Rabbies "are themost contemptible critics that have appeared;" that "they are sosilly that he is almost ashamed to quote them;" that they were inshort idiots. If so, of what value can their opinions be oncontroverted points, which must after all be settled by reason andscripture, and not by any bare human authority. [fn67]Nevertheless Mr. Everett is continually calling upon his reader tobelieve his arguments and statements upon the authority of thesesaid Rabbies. If I were one of his Christian readers, I shouldconsider myself insulted by such a procedure. It is almosttantamount to saying, "'it is true, my arguments are built upon theauthority of fools, but yet they may serve to convince you. "

3. I had accused the writers of the New Testament in my firstpublication, of having blundered in applying passages of the OldTestament as prophecies of Jesus Christ. Mr. Everett justifiesthem by maintaining in the 5th. Chapter of his work, that it is truethat these quotations cannot be supported as prophecies, but thatthey are excusable for the following reasons. The writers of the. New Testament were Jews; the Jews of their times believed thatevery text of Scripture had seventy-two faces, and that each oneregarded the Messiah, and that the resurrection of the dead wasalso taught in every chapter of Scripture, though we might not beable to perceive it, and that the writers of the New Testament hadbeen brought up in these silly prejudices, and therefore argued onthese principles, i. E. That, notwithstanding their being inspiredmen and full of the spirit of the Almighty, they continued in thisrespect as silly as ever. 

Now if there be a pious and sincere Christian in the world, andshould have this hypothesis laid before him for his acceptance asthe best means of defending the writers of the New Testament, from the charge of fraud or blundering in their application of theprophecies, I venture to say that that pious and sincere Christianwould, without hesitation, believe the proposer of such anhypothesis to be ruining the cause he professed to defend. "What!he might say, are the quotations in the New Testament from theOld, indeed founded on folly, and alledged through stupidity?Have the writers of the New Testament, who are allowed to havebeen inspired by the Most High God with a perfect knowledge andunderstanding of the Christian religion, who are representingcontinually that Jesus Christ was foretold by the prophets, andthat their own minds were opened by the Holy Ghost tounderstand the Scriptures, have they indeed though continuallyquoting the Old Testament, after all never quoted for us even oneof the predictions on which they say their religion is founded? andhave they spent all the time they devoted to writing for thesalvation of the souls of men, in fooling with the Old Testament inthe manner you aver? 'Tis false! 'Tis monstrous! Either yourhypothesis is a fable, or Christianity, itself is like the dreams of theRabbies. "[fn68]

When I see such principles, and other like principles avowed inMr. Everett's work, I feel myself authorized to propose to him thefollowing questions, by which I hope he will not consider himselfas put to the torture. 

What, Mr. Everett, were your motives for quitting, so abruptly andunexpectedly, the most respectable society who had done you thehonour to elect you their pastor, believing you to be the only manworthy to succeed the learned, eloquent and lamentedBuckminster? This abandonment of your station took place afteryou had engaged yourself in the examination of the questionbetween me, Mr. Cary, and Mr. Channing. If you felt doubts of thevalidity of the Christian religion, and were therefore scrupulousabout going into your pulpit every Sunday to preach Christianity inthe name of the God of Truth, and therefore resigned your post, your conduct thus far does you honour and not shame. But if, afterthis, you have allowed yourself to be overcome by the solicitationsof interested friends (who might have been anxious that youshould publish something, that would allay the suspicions andsilence the rumours your conduct had occasioned) to give to theworld your very singular book, you have acted a part unjusttowards me, and injurious to yourself, for you now see theconsequence. You are taken in the snare you had laid for me, andyour violent dealing has come down on your own head. 

I come now to the examination of the celebrated prophecy of theseventy weeks. This prophecy has always run [fn69] the cruxCriticorum. It is unquestionably a very ambiguous one, since Mr. Everett himself informs us in a note, p. 167 of his work, that"Calovius whose day has passed a century ago, in a dissertationupon the mysteries of the seventy weeks, numbers twenty-fivedifferent Christian hypotheses, " to which may be added at leasttwo more, those of Michaelis and Blayney. 

If so, I would ask what stress a reasonable man can lay upon asimple [fn70] prophecy which is allowedly so ambiguous, as tohave led Christians, sincerely disposed to make a prophecy ofJesus Christ out of this passage, to interpret it at least twenty-seven different ways?

There appears to me to be a mistranslation at the root of theprophecy, which vitiates and confounds all the systems ofinterpretation; applied to it that I know of. I conceive that theprophecy should be translated thus. 

"Seventy times seven [fn71] are determined upon thy people, andupon thy holy city, to finish transgression and to make an end ofsins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring ineverlasting righteoussness, and to seal [up] the vision andprophecy, and to anoint the most holy things. "

"Know therefore, and understand that from the going forth of thecommandment to restore, and to build Jerusalem, unto theanointed Prince, shall be seven weeks; and [in] [fn72] threescoreand two weeks the street shall be built again, and the wall, even introublous times. " [fn73]

"And after threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cutoff, and have no successor; and the people of the Prince that shallcome, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary: and the endthereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end desolations aredetermined. "

"And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, and inthe midst of the [or, a] week he shall cause the sacrifice and theoblation to cease; and for the overspreading of abominations heshall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and thatdetermined be poured upon the desolate. " Dan. , ch. Ix. 24, 27. 

Whatever may be the true sigification of this prophecy, it is not, Iconceive, favourable to the purpose to which Mr. Everett appliesit, for the following reasons. 1. That in supposing what iscommonly translated "seventy week's, " to signify four hundred andninety years, the prophecy would be falsified; for certainly theexpiration of this period did not "finish transgression, " nor "makean end of sins, " nor "make reconciliation for iniquity, " nor "bring ineverlasting righteous, " nor "anoint the most holy things, " i. E. As Iunderstand it, the new and eternal temple and its altar, predictedby Ezekiel in the last chapters of his prophecies. On the contrary, the Jews became more wicked than ever, and the temple thenstanding was destroyed to its foundations. 

2. It follows from what is allowed by Mr. Everett himself, p. 159 ofhis work, that from the going forth of the word to restore and buildJerusalem, to the birth of Jesus Christ, was not seven weeks andsixty and two weeks, i. E. Sixty-nine weeks, but EIGHTY-FOURweeks, for he says there, that the duration of the second templewas "NINETY-FOUR weeks, " i. E. Six hundred and fifty-nine years. Now if my memory does not deceive me, Jerusalem was takenand the temple destroyed by Titus about the year seventy after thebirth of Christ, which is equal to the prophetic weeks; thereforetake ten weeks from the ninety-four weeks, (the time Mr. Everettstates to have elapsed from the building of the second temple, toits destruction) and there remains EIGHTY-FOUR weeks, and notSIXTY-NINE. Which circumstance, appears to me to vitiateentirely the interpretation of Mr. Everett, who supposes theannointed one, " spoken of as to be cut off after the sixty-nineweeks, to be Jesus Christ. 

As to who the "annointed ones" were, the first I think entirely refersto Cyrus, and the last who was to be "cut off" and have nosuccessor, may either mean the pious and good Onias mentionedin the book of Maccabees, who was the last I think of thelegitimate Jewish High Priests, [for after his time History testifiesthat several, who had not the right of primogeniture asdescendants of Aaron, obtained the priesthood by force, byintrigue, and by bribery;] or the last Jewish High Priest, Joshua[fn74] who perished during the siege of Jerusalem, according toJosephus. At any rate the anointed one who was to be cut off, cannot mean Jesus of Nazareth; because this anointed one wasto be cut off in that same week of seven years, in which the citywas destroyed, whereas Jesus was crucified forty years beforethat event; a circumstance I insist which excludes any applicationof this prophecy to Jesus. 

The claims set up for Jesus of Nazareth are moreover evidentlyrejected by Daniel's prophecy, even according to Mr. Everett'sinterpretation, forasmuch as he did not appear at the expiration ofsixty-nine weeks, but of EIGHTY-FOUR. 

And to conclude this discussion, I would observe that Daniel, ch. Iii, in his account of the image [seen in a vision byNebuchadnezzar] whose head was of gold, breast and arms ofsilver, belly of brass, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron andclay, is predicting the empires which have most influenced the fateof the Hebrew nation; i. E. The Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, andRoman, the last represented by "the iron legs, " which did indeedbestride the world; these "iron legs" are represented asterminating in feet and toes part of iron and part of clay, whichhave no natural coherence; i. E. The Roman empire shall bedivided into several kingdoms, partly strong and partly weak: aprophecy remarkably fulfilled in the history and condition of thekingdoms of Europe. The prophet goes on to say in ch. Ii, that inthe latter days of those kings or kingdoms, [which are yetsubsisting] "the God of Heaven, would set up a kingdom whichshould never be destroyed, " that of the Messiah. Of course thekingdom of the Messiah was not to be--not only not till after thedestruction of the Roman empire--but not till the latter days of thekingdoms which grew up out of the ruins; whereas Jesus Christwas born in the time of Augustus, i. E. When the Roman empireitself was in the height of its splendour and vigour. Mr. Everett inp. 201, endeavours to escape the strong gripe of the prophetDaniel, by maintaining that these strong and weak parts, intowhich the Roman empire was to be divided, meant that it shouldbe divided into "strong and weak institutions. " Now to turn thissensible interpretation head over heels, [fn75] it appears to me tobe only necessary to observe, that these strong and weak partsinto which the Roman empire was to be divided, were, accordingto the prophet, ch. Ii. 4. 3. Of Daniel, to "mingle themselves with theseed of men, " i. E. Make intermarriages; which, it appears to me tobe a thing that "strong and weak institutions" cannot do. This, however has remarkably, been the case among the royal familiesof Europe, who intermarry too with the avowed design ofcementing union and promoting peace and harmony. Nevertheless, agreeable to the prophet's prediction, they have not"cleaved together, but on the contrary have been almostconstantly at war with each other. 

 PEBBLE IV. 

"The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, andwithout a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; afterwards shall thechildren of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and Davidtheir king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latterdays. " Hos. Iii, 4, 5. 

"I will set up one shepherd over them, even my servant David, heshall feed [or govern] them, and he shall be their shepherd: and Ithe Lord will be their God, and my servant David, a prince amongthem. " Ezech, ch. Xxxiv. 23. 

"David my servant shall be king over them, and there shall be oneshepherd, "------" my servant David shall be their Prince for ever. "Ezek. Ch, xxxvii. 24, 25. 

"They shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom Iwill raise up unto [or for] them. " Jer. Xxx. 9. 

"Incline your ear and come unto me: hear and your soul shall live;and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the suremercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness, to thepeoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. " Is. Iv. 3, 4. 

From such passages I inferred, in my first publication, that thename of the true Messiah, was to be DAVID, and not Jesus. Toavoid the force of these passages Mr. Everett has recourse toallegory and analogy. 

Jesus is prophecied of in these passages, says he, by the nameof DAVID, because "there was an analogy between these twodistinguished servants of God. David, from a low and humbleestate, was raised to be the founder of the temporal glories of hiskingdom; and Christ, not less humble in his origin, was the authorof the spiritual distinction of Israel; David was the most illustriouspolitical and Christ the most distinguished moral instrument of theLord. David was commanded to entrust to his successor theelection of the famous temple, which was the centre of the Jewishworship; and Christ has founded through the agency of hisapostles that CHURCH by which his religion has been preserved, and diffused in the world. "

"To laugh, were want of dignity, or grace, "And to be graveexceeds all power of face. "

I assure Mr. Everett, that the days of Type and FIGURE are goneby, and have been succeeded among Biblical Critics by a stricterstyle of reasoning, and are now considered as "piouswhims. "[fn76]

In the present advanced state of sacred Criticism even thebeautiful allegory in Paul's Epistle to the Gal. Ch. Iv. Which makesHagar, Abraham's maid, nothing less than "Mount Sinai in Arabia;"and Sarah, Abraham's wife, to be the "Jerusalem, that is abovethe mother of us all!" has come to be regarded as "rather queer. "

I had also objected that the coming of the true Messiah, wasaccording to the Old Testament, to be preceded by theappearance of Elijah the prophet on earth; and that he had notappeared before the era of Jesus, nor ever since. 

In answer to this, Mr. Everett endeavours to show 173. & seq. , that a man named John the Baptist--a righteous person, --whoseraiment was of camels hair, --and whose meat was locusts andwild honey, who lived in the age of Jesus of Nazareth, was Elijah, and had a right to be so considered--by a figure. 

To this I answer, that the prophecy of Malachi does not say"Behold I will send you one like Elijah, or "an Elijah, "---but it saysexplicitly, and expressly, "Behold, I will send you Elijah theProphet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of theLord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. " Mal. Iv. 5, 6. 

Now who is "Elijah the Prophet?" undoubtedly the great prophet ofIsrael, who called down fire from heaven--who raised the dead tolife--and who ascended alive to heaven in a chariot of fire; God bysuch a translation sufficiently intimating that he had in reserve forhim, some extraordinary commission. Moreover the coming of thisElijah the prophet, was to be followed by. "the great and terribleday of Jehovah, " by which name the prophets call the personaldescent of Jehovah upon the earth, to take vengeance on thewicked, and to punish the oppressors and persecutors of hispeople. [fn77] Was the appearing of John the Baptist followed bythis event? or has it yet occurred, though that man lived eighteenhundred years ago? His appearance, instead of being followed bythe interposition of God to avenge Israel of its enemies, was onthe contrary, followed by giving Israel into the hand of its enemies, who, "for the overspreading of abominations, " made Jerusalem adesolation, and delivered over its sinful population to the chains ofslavery, and the bands of Death. 

Elijah the Prophet is to turn the hearts of the fathers to thechildren, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. " Did Johnthe Baptist do this? On the contrary, the morals of his countrymen, in His age, instead of growing from bad to better, went on frombad to worse, till there was no remedy, and the Sword of God didhis work. 

Indeed, and indeed Mr. Everett you are wrong; And yoursuperannuated allies, TYPE and FIGURE, whom I disdain tocombat, cannot aid you to defend what is indefensible. 

 PEBBLE V. 

The Law of the Pentateuch, is pronounced by the Old Testamentto be intended for a permanent and eternal Code for the Jewishnation. Mr. Everett denies this. Let us see nevertheless, if itcannot be proved. 

The promulgation of the ordinance imposing circumcision on thedescendants of Abraham, is in these words. "And God said untoAbraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou and thyseed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which yeshall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Everyman child among you shall be circumcised. --He that is born in thyhouse, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs becircumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for aneverlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whoseflesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut offfrom his people; he hath broken my covenant. " Gen. Ch. Xvii. 9. --14. 

The ordinance of the Passover is also declared to be everlasting, "and this day [i. E. The feast of the Passover] shall be unto you fora memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord throughoutyour generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. "Ex. Ch. Xii. 14. See also v. 15. --in v. 17. It is said "ye shall observethis day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. "

The ordinance of the day of atonement, is declared to be aperpetual institution, "It shall be a statute for ever unto you, " Lev. Ch. Xvi. 29. "It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shallafflict your souls, by a statute for ever. " v. 31. "and this shall be aneverlasting statute unto you. " v. 34. 

The feast of offering the first fruits of the year, is declared Lev. Ch. Xxiii. 14. "to be a statute for ever throughout your generations, inall your dwellings. "

The feast of the Pentecost, is also declared in the same ch. OfLev. 21. To "be a statute for ever, in all your dwellings throughoutyour generations. " See also v. 41. 

The ordinance of the Sabbath is pronounced a perpetualinstitution, "Verily my sabbath ye shall keep: for it is a signbetween me and you, throughout your generations--Wherefore thechildren of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbaththroughout their generations for a perpetual covenant: It is a signbetween me and the children of Israel for ever. " Ex. Xxxi. 13--17. 

As it is clearly evident from such passages as the above, that thelaw of Moses was intended to be a perpetual rule for the Israelites"throughout all their generations, " as long as they should exist, Mr. Everett, in order to get rid of their force, has thought proper toannihilate the Jewish nation with a stroke of his pen. He maintainsp. 350. Of his work, that no such nation exists as the Jewishnation! This unexpected stroke was to me a confounding one--noton account of its force--but on account of its amazing effrontery. 

The Jews not a nation! ask the histories of mankind; ask all writerswho give an account of the different nations and peoples intowhich the race of Adam is divided! and Mr. Everett will find thatthey all consider the Jews as "a distinct and peculiar people. ""But, says Mr. Everett, p. 350, if they are a nation, we can be toldwhereabouts they dwell, and what cities they inhabit. "Undoubtedly Mr. Everett can be told all this if he will take thetrouble to ask their chiefs; and if he does he will be surprised tolearn that the Jews, in cities and countries that can be named andpointed out, amount probably to ten millions of people, governedby their own law, so far as relates to their religion and intercoursewith each other, and yet Mr. Everett maintains that the Jewishnation does not exist. [fn79]

But I have a solemn answer from immortal lips to give to Mr. Everett's assertion, which he may possibly, if he be a religiousman, hearken to, and tremble. 

"Thus saith Jehovah, which giveth the sun for a light by day, andthe ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night;which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; JEHOVAHOF HOSTS is his name; if those ordinances depart from beforeme saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel shall cease being ANATION before me FOR EVER. 

Thus saith Jehovah, if heaven above can be measured, and thefoundations of the earth searched out beneath, I also will cast offall the seed of Israel, for all that they have done saith Jehovah. "Jer. Ch. Xxxi. 35, 36, 37. 

But, says Mr. Everett, p. 352, "above all, the Jews have nonational existence in respect of their religion; which is really theprincipal point to be urged. The tribe of Levi which was separatedto the service of the temple, and the family of Aaron, exonerated[fn80] to the priesthood, and ordained to be "a perpetual duration"have both been long extinct, At least have long since ceased to betraced. "

This is incorrect. The tribe of Levi is not extinct, neither has thefamily of Aaron ceased to be traced. Hundreds, perhapsthousands of Jews at present existing, are recognized by theirbrethren as of the tribe of Levi, and the descendants of Aaron tothis day have the privilege of blessing the people in theSynagogues on solemn days, in a peculiar form which no otherJews are allowed to employ. 

This marvellous fact, that the descendants of David and Aaronshould yet be discriminated amidst the general confusion of thetribes, is an illustrious verification of the following promise of Himwhose word never fails, which I now oppose to the last rashassertion of his creature who has denied it. 

"Thus saith Jehovah, David shall never want a man to sit upon thethrone of the house of Israel, neither shall the priests the Leviteswant a man before me [fn81] to offer burnt offerings, and to kindlemeat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. Thus saithJehovah: if ye can break my covenant of the day, and mycovenant of the night, and that there should not be day and nightin their season; then may also my covenant be broken with Davidmy servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon histhrone, and with the Levites the priests my ministers. As the hostof heaven cannot be numbered neither the sand of the seameasured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and theLevites the priests that minister unto me. " "Considerest thou. Notwhat this people have spoken, saying, the two families whichJehovah hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? Thus havethey despised my people that they should be no more A NATIONbefore them. Thus saith Jehovah, If my covenant be not with dayand night, and I have appointed, the ordinances of heaven andearth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David myservant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over theseed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, FOR I WILL CAUSE THEIRCAPTIVITY TO RETURN AND HAVE MERCY UPON THEM. " Jer. Xxxiii. 17--26. 

I presume that the CHRISTIAN CLERGYMAN who hascontradicted his BIBLE and his GOD, is ready to exclaim likehumbled Job; "I have uttered what I understood not; things toowonderful for me which I knew not; wherefore I abhor myself, andrepent in dust and ashes. " Job ch. Xlii. See Appendix. H. 

Shall I proceed to the consideration of some little arguments of Mr. Everett against the intended perpetuity of the Mosaic law derivedfrom some expressions in the Psalms and the Prophets? Is itpossible that Mr. Everett the scholar and the clergyman, isignorant, that according to the idiom of the Hebrew language allsuch passages are merely expressive that God lays no stressupon sacrifice, and burnt offering, if unsanctified by righteousnessand good works: Mr. Everett has blindly recommended a passageto my serious attention, p. 358, which ought to have made himsensible of this. 

"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, put your burntofferings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh thereof. For I spakenot unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day I broughtthem out of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. Butthis thing commanded I them saying, obey my voice. " Jer. Ch. Vii. 23, 24. What! might a critic of the cast of Mr. Everett exclaim, didnot God indeed command the children of Israel, when he broughtthem out of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices? arenot the books of Leviticus and Numbers filled with regulationsconcerning them? Very true, might a rational scholar reply to him, but this and several other expressions in the Psalms and Isaiahare Hebraeisms, i. E. Peculiar idioms of the language, expressingcomparison not rejection; this passage in Jeremiah implying thatwhen God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, in giving hislaw to them he laid no stress upon burnt offerings and sacrifices, in comparison with moral duties. 

Finally, I would ask Mr. Everett, whether he believes it was theintention of David, of Isaiah, and Jeremiah, to declare to the Jewsof their times that God would no more accept of burnt offeringsand sacrifices! and that the ceremonial law was ipso factoabolished; because, if such passages do signify the abolishmentof the Mosaic law, it must be considered as having been a deadletter ever since David, Isaiah. , and Jeremiah uttered theseexpressions. 

But, says Mr. Everett, p. 357, "the positive declaration of God, puts the matter [the repeal of the Mosaic law] beyond a doubt. "

"Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a newcovenant with the house of Israel; and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in theday that I took them by the hand, to lead them out of the land ofEgypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husbandunto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be my covenant that I willmake with the house of Israel, after those days, I will put my law intheir inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be theirGod, and they shall be my people. " Jer. Xxxi. 31, &c. 

I would observe first, that Mr. Everett in applying this passage tothe purpose for which he has adduced it, has against him theopinions of all those Christian critics whom he allows to excel incritical learning; viz. Michaelis, Ekerman, Lessing, Eichorn, &c. For this passage is quoted to the same purpose in the Epistle tothe Hebrews, ch. Viii. 8. And all the critics above mentionedmaintain, as Mr. Everett allows, that none of the passages of theOld Testament quoted in the New, can be supported asprophecies of the things to which they are applied, but hold thatthey were quoted merely by way of accommodation or allusion. 

2. I would observe, that this passage is one out of several more inthe prophets, which represent that after the general restoration ofIsrael to their country, God will put a new spirit in them, and causethem to obey his voice, (which was not done at the giving of thelaw, the Israelites being left to obey it or not; after being given tounderstand what should be the rewards of obedience and thecurses of disobedience, )' this very chapter of Jeremiah, fromwhich this quotation is taken, expressly representing, that this newcovenant is to be made AFTER the Israelites are restored to theirown land: which completely excludes the idea that this newcovenant can relate to a new religion, fabricated seventeenhundred years ago; and renders the solemnity with which Mr. Everett has introduced it, somewhat ridiculous. 

This new covenant also, is not to put the old law out ofremembrance, but is to "write it on their hearts. " "Behold, I willgather them out of all countries whither I have driven them in mineanger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring themagain into this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: andthey shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will givethem one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, forthe good of them and their children after them. And I will make aneverlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away fromthem, to do them good; but I will put my fear into their hearts, thatthey shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to dothem good, and I will plant them in this land with my whole heartand with my whole soul. " Jer. Xxxii. 37--41. [fn82]

In order to manifest that the prophecy of the new covenant, quoted from Jeremiah by Mr. Everett, had no reference to thepromulgation of the new [fn83] law, I had said in my firstpublication, "that though the prophet speaks of a "new covenant"he says nothing of a new law. On which Mr. Everett laboursgreatly to prove, See p. 357 &c. Of his book, that the expression"making a new covenant, " must signify making a new law, andcannot signify reimposition of the old. 

There is a history in the Bible which convicts this opinion ofmistake, which I propose in my turn to Mr. Everett's seriousattention. 

"These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commandedMoses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. AndMoses called unto all Israel, and said unto them; ye stand this dayall of you before the Lord your God, your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel; your littleones, your wives, and the stranger that is in thy camp, from thehewer of thy wood to the drawer of thy water; that thou shouldestenter into covenant with the Lord thy God, &c. Deut. Ch. Xxix. 

And what was the covenant? why, as the reader may find byperusing the rest of this piece of history in the Pentateuch, it wasthe reimposition of the Law of Moses upon the new generation ofIsraelites, who were children when their fathers came out ofEgypt. So that Mr. Everett must see, that God's making a newcovenant, can be accompanied with a reimposition of the law, since in the instance considered, he has actually done it oncebefore. 

I have, however, another passage in reserve, which must compelMr. Everett to resign his unfounded opinions on this subject. 

Moses, the giver of the law, after predicting most exactly whatshould befall the Jewish nation for disobedience to it, in the 28thchapter of Deuteronomy, proceeds in the 30th ch. To inform them, that the time would come, when "the Lord their God will turn theircaptivity and have compassion upon them, and will return andgather them from all the nations whither the Lord their God hathscattered them. "

"If thy dispersion, [fn84] (says the lawgiver) shall be unto theutmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gatherthee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God willbring thee unto the land which thy fathers possessed, and thoushalt possess it; and he will do thee good and multiply thee abovethy fathers, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and theheart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, andwith all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the Lord thy God willput all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hatethee, and which persecuted thee. And thou shall return, and obeythe voice of the Lord, AND DO ALL HIS COMMANDMENTSWHICH I COMMANDED ON THAT DAY. " Deut. Ch. XXX. [fn85]

In accordance with this express prediction of Moses, that whenthe Israelites should be gathered out of all countries into their ownland, God would give them a heart and disposition to love the Lordtheir God, and to do all his commandments which Moses was thendelivering to them are the prophecies of Ezekiel; who in his lastchapters, after giving a prophecy of the general return of thedescendants of Jacob to their own land, proceeds to predict thedivision of the country, between the Mediterranean and theEuphrates, among the restored tribes; and minutely describes theplan, parts, offices, and ceremonies, of a new and eternal templeto be raised upon the ancient site of that of Solomon, that is to beconsecrated by the re-establishment of the magnificent ritual ofMoses, with augmented splendour. 

That the prophecy of Moses, and those of Ezekiel, referred to, have never yet been fulfilled, is undeniable; and that they will befulfilled, will not be doubted by a Christian; and can hardly bedisbelieved by a Sceptic, who will take the trouble to compare thehistory of "the eternal people, "[fn86] with the predictionsconcerning it which have been fulfilled to the letter. 

Mr. Everett, in the 449 page of his work, speaks rathercontemptuously of the law of Moses. It is somewhat unusual tosee a descendant of savage wanderers of the woods, who paintedthemselves blue in order to look handsome, [fn87] and whoseposterity, and among them Mr. Everett himself, might so far asreligion and morals is concerned, but for the instruction originallyderived from the law of Moses, be still in the same respectablestate, speaking lightly of a Book to which every nation on theGlobe, who have any rational ideas of God or futurity, areabsolutely indebted for that invaluable knowledge. The Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan religions, by which so many of ourunfortunate race have been brought to a knowledge of God, andmade candidates for an eternity of bliss, are all founded on, andderived from the Pentateuch. If that Book had never existed, thosereligions could not have existed. All that part of mankind who haveany claims to reason in their Religion, are therefore indebted tothis Jew Book for the benefit. 

Nor is this all the wonder. The sublime and fundamental Doctrineof the Pentateuch--One God--Eternal and Supreme---the AlmightyCreator and tremendous Avenger--can be traced up to Abraham, that wandering shepherd who at the command of God left hiscountry and his father's house, to go to a foreign land. , where helived and died a stranger and a pilgrim. 

What ideas should we entertain of a man whose tent wasfrequented by angels, and with whom the Supreme "conversedface to face, as a man talketh with his friend!" of a man who livedand died a shepherd, yet to whom it was predicted four thousandyears ago, by Him whose word never fails that "his name shouldbe great, that it should be a blessing, and that in his seed shouldall the nations of the earth be blessed. " Sceptic! has not thisprophecy been fulfilled? Is not the name of Abraham a theme ofblessing to the Jew--the Christian--the Magian--and theMusselman? Is not his name pronounced with reverencethroughout the four continents of the Globe. Has not the earthbeen blessed in his seed? Is there a nation or people upon it, whohave any rational ideas of God or futurity, who have not derivedthem from Moses, Jesus, or Mohammed? Are we not indebted tothese descendants of this wonderful man, [fn89] for theconsolations which support the soul under the trials of life, and forthe faith and hope that smooth the bed of death? assuredly--assuredly. The events of past ages have verified the divine originof the prediction, and ages to come will still farther confirm it. 

Mr. Everett objects to the law of Moses, its multiplied forms andceremonies; but these were mostly not obligatory upon the wholenation, but upon one tribe set apart to this duty, and who hadnothing else to do. [fn90]

The influence of these rights [fn91] and ceremonies--and noreligion can perpetually exist without them, for after all the [fn92]man is the slave of his senses, and powerfully affected by theimpressions made upon them--cannot be doubted by one whoattentively considers their amazing magnificence. 

A temple blazing with the most precious productions of themine, [fn93] and inaccessible to all but the consecrateddescendants of one man, standing at the extremity of an immensearea covered with variegated marble, and surrounded bymagnificent corridors and porticos; a gorgeous host of nearly fortythousand priests, [fn94]: to minister at the ever smoking altar, andto nourish the eternal fire; the golden ewer containing thehallowed blood of atonement, and the censer streaming [fn95]clouds of fragrance, in the hands of the trembling descendant ofAaron approaching the inner sanctuary of the INVISIBLE ANDALMIGHTY; three hundred sons of song, accompanied withpsaltery and cymbal, and "the harp with a solemn sound, "resounding the attributes of HIM WHO IS, AND EVER SHALLBE;[fn96] and hundreds of thousands of worshippers prostratingtheir foreheads on the pavement in awe and extacy, as the templeshines forth with the Shechinah, streaming its rainbow glories intothe heart of heaven, and covering the earth with its effulgence, plainly showing that GOD IS THERE! This, all this Mr. Everettpronounces, "all calculated to occupy the attention of a simple andunfeeling [fn97] people. " p. 344. [fn98] There is, not however, aphilosopher on earth that would [fn99] walk barefoot over its wholecircumference to witness such a sight. 

With this terminates my reply to Mr. Everett. I leave it to hisconsideration, whether he has fulfilled the magnificent promisesheld out to the public in the splendid table of contents prefixed tohis book, from which it should seem as if I were actually crushedinto the dust; and I leave it to the consideration of my abused anddeluded countrymen, whether the heavy artillery of the law andthe prophets, which I have wheeled but from the Old Testament, has not fairly blown the old board fences behind which a crazysuperstition is ensconced, and which Mr. Everett has painted up tolook like real fortifications, and mounted with quaker guns, tosplinters and fragments. 

 THE SLING. 

WHAT was the real history and character of Jesus Christ?

Mr. Everett had a right to consider my expressions, relative to thissubject contained in my first work, as "far from being explicit;" forin fact I hardly knew what to think of the unparalelled son of Mary. That he was a pious and blameless man, I conceived that no manof good heart could doubt, while the supposition that he claimed tobe the Messiah, I believed and still believe to be incompatible withsuch a character as his. 

With the reader's permission, I will now state what I conceive mayhave been the real truth with regard to him. 

I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was certainly a righteous man, and probably one who wished to bring back his countrymen, to arational observance of the law, and to abandon their traditions. 

He appeared in an age when the religious part of the Jewishnation had made the law in many respects of none effect by thosetraditions, and had rendered their religion a stumbling block to theGentiles, by reason of the puerile superstitions they had added toit: thus counteracting the express design, for which they had beenset apart from other nations, viz. To bring them to the knowledgeand acknowledgement of the unity and supremacy of God;) andviolating the command of Moses, "ye shall not add unto the wordwhich I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it; forthis is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of thenations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, surely thisgreat nation is a wise and understanding people. " Deut. Ch. Iv. --and when the irreligious part of the nation, had become dreadfullycorrupt. 

The Jewish people at that time were oppressed and despised; theprophets of the Old Testament had taught them to believe that ata time when their oppressions should be at their height, theirMessiah should appear. Of consequence the appearance of sucha man as Jesus Christ, at that time when they consideredthemselves as crushed under the Roman yoke, possibly led themor some of them to believe that he might be their expecteddeliverer. But the Jewish nation at that time were unworthy of sucha deliverance. They longed for their Messiah, not forrighteousness, but for vengeance sake; not to hail him as thebenefactor of the human race, but as the avenger of their wrongsupon all the world who had crushed and despised them. 

Such a people were not the lawful candidates for the happiness ofthe eternal kingdom; and they afterwards learned, by the event oftheir struggle with the Romans, that they must not expectdeliverance till they had become less unworthy of it. 

Jesus, by preaching against the traditions of the elders, by notobserving the Sabbath day so rigidly as the Pharisees, bydenouncing them as hypocrites, tithers of mint anise and cummin, washers of plates and platters, and neglecters of the weightiermatters of the law, justice, judgment, and mercy, as serpents, ageneration of vipers, whited sepulchres, and what not, hadenraged these superstitious fanatics to the last degree. But theycould not wreak their vengeance, because he was protected, bythe people whom the gospels represent as expecting with themost anxious impatience, that he would announce himself as theirdeliverer. [fn100] But when repeated importunity, accompanied byan attempt to seize upon him and by compulsion oblige him tohead them, terminated only in causing Jesus to escape andwithdraw himself from their wishes [fn101] the people weredisgusted, and abandoned him. 

The Chief Priests and Pharisees took advantage of thisabandonment, to seize him and deliver him to the Romangovernor as a dangerous man, who either was willing to head thepeople against the Romans, or who might be made the pretext ofan insurrection, as the people had shown a disposition torecognize him as the Messiah. [fn102] Such I believe to be asnear an approximation to the true history of Jesus Christ, as canbe made at this day. 

Let us now review the points I have endeavoured to establish inthis work. 

1. I have endeavoured to show that the miracles, supposed by Mr. Everett to have been wrought by Jesus in proof of hisMessiahship, cannot be proved; because that the New Testamentis not to be depended on as competent testimony for the realhistory and real doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth; and therefore, thatthe question of his Messiahship must in all events be decided byan appeal to the Old Testament. 

2. It has been shown, that the prophecies of the Messiahcontained in the Old Testament, have not been fulfilled in Jesus;and that those prophecies which Mr. Everett regards as proofs ofthe Christian religion, were also not fulfilled in Jesus. 

3. It has been shown that the law of Moses was intended for aperpetual law for the Jewish nation, "through all their generationsforever;" and of course that it is, and must be perpetuallyobligatory upon them; and consequently whether JESUS BE THEMESSIAH, OR NOT, the Jews are bound to adhere to the law ofMoses. [fn104]

4. It has been shown, that [fn105] it is absolutely impossible toknow the real history of Jesus with certainty; the Jews andChristians ought for the future to consider his character, not as asubject of dispute, nor an occasion of quarrel, much less as acause of mutual aversion, but merely as a matter of speculation. 

Should these positions ever be recognised by the Jews andChristians as reasonable and true, let us consider what, may bethe consequence. 

1. The Christians become sensible, that the New Testament is notto be depended on, would cease to hate, to persecute, and toannoy the unfortunate Jews, on account of their rejecting itsdoctrines. 

2. The Christians would themselves adhere to the Old Testament, as the rock and rule of faith and morals; and would worship withthe Jews the One Jehovah, without equal or companion, and obeythe moral law of the Old Testament, leaving the observance of itsceremonial institutions to the nation for whom they wereintended:[fn106] like the "devout Gentiles" in the time of Josephusand Christ. 

3. The Jews, seeing the Christians Unitarians as well asthemselves, would cease to regard the Christians as impiousidolaters, and cruel enemies. 

4. Both parties would worship and serve God as brethren, andchildren of the same father; and await in faith and hope theappearance of the GREAT PERSONAGE, who is to make themand all the good part of mankind, perfectly happy. 

Should what I have written have any tendency to promote unionand friendly feelings, between the parties to a dispute which hasfor nearly eighteen hundred years occasioned such crueloppressions and bloody persecutions to the side which is in theright, I shall not have lived in vain; and though the cause in which Ihave exerted myself has occasioned me much detriment anddistress, [fn107] and may possibly ultimately oblige me to die in aforeign land, without a friend to close my eyes; I comfort my heartwith the hope, that I may have done somewhat for the great causeof truth, justice, and humanity, and for the promotion of mutualregard and friendly feelings, among a very large portion of thehuman race. 

APPENDIX. 

A

For instance, it is said in the 2d. Ch. Of the Gospel called ofMathew, that Jesus, when brought out of Egypt by his parents, "came and dwelt in the city called Nazereth: that it might befulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. "He shall be called aNazerene. "

Now there is no such passage as this throughout the OldTestament: the author of the Gospel called of Mathew musttherefore, it seems to me, have forged this supposed prophecy outof his own head, or must have mistaken the sense of somepassage in the Old Testament: if he was capable of either, he wasnot the honest and inspired Mathew, the Apostle of Jesus Christ. There is a passage in the Old Testament, which might have led aGentile, ignorant of the Jewish Scriptures into this mistake, butcould not have misled a Jew. In the history of Sampson Judgesxiii. 5. It is said, "that he should be a Nazarite unto God from thewomb. " But a Nazerite was one thing and a Nazarene another: thefirst was a man who had a peculiar vow upon him, describedNumbers. 7. Ch. , but a Nazarene was a man belonging the city ofNazereth in Palestine. The quotation is a proof with me, that theauthor of the Gospel ascribed to Matthew was a Gentile, of coursenot Matthew who was a Jew, and incapable of making such ablunder. [fn108]

Again, in the Gospel called of Matthew ch. Xxvii. A passage isquoted as a prophetic proof text from Jeremiah, says the author. "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophetsaying, and they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of himthat was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; andgave them for the Potters field, as the Lord appointed me. " Thereis no such passage as this in "Jeremy the prophet, " nor in any ofthe Books of the Old Testament. But Jerom asserts, that it wastaken from an Apocryphal Book ascribed to Jeremiah; he saysthat he saw the apocryphal book from whence this is taken. SeeJerom's Commentary upon Matthew tom. Iv. P. 1. P. 134, See alsoMarsh's Michaelis Vol. I. P. 490. As quoted by Mr. Everett. 

It appears to me, that an honest man would not quote, asprophetical authority, a forged book ascribed to Jeremiah: and aninspired man as the Christians suppose Matthew to have been, still less. 

In short the quotations in the New testament from the Old, adduced as prophecies of Jesus and the Religion of the NewTestament, are so very inapplicable to that purpose, that the mostcelebrated of the Christian. Theologians of the present day, havefound themselves obliged to abandon all attempts to support themas prophecies fulfilled in the events to which they are applied. They maintain, as will appear hereafter in the course of this work, that not one of the passages, quoted in the New Testament fromthe Old, was quoted as a prophecy, but merely by way ofaccommodation or allusion. If so, it may be replied, that it is veryextraordinary, that the authors of the books of the New Testamentwho are almost continually representing that Jesus was predictedby the prophets, should after all never have adduced one of thosepredictions, although they are perpetually quoting the OldTestament. But the truth of the matter probably is, that the writersof the New Testament, did firmly believe that the passages theyhave quoted, were really predictions of the events and doctrines towhich they refer them. This is clear from the Epistle to theHebrews for instance, it is a deliberate and formal defence of theDoctrines of Christianity, addressed to the Jews, or JewishChristians, in which the author attempts to show from the OldTestament, allowed by the Jews as oracular, that the Pre-existence, Divinity, Priesthood, and Atonement of Jesus Christ, assupposed by the Christians, were predicted in the Old Testament, and proved by his citations. [fn109]

Who is so blind as not to see, that this system of Defence ismerely one of the last resort, adopted in circumstances of distressfor want of a better?

Sure I am, that the believing part of the Christian Laity will neveradopt this System, (though the unbelieving part probably gladlywill) but would be extremely shocked on being told by their Clergy, that the passages quoted from the Old Testament by the writers ofthe New, which they and their predecessors from the 2nd centurydownwards have been accustomed to regard as veritablepredictions of Jesus, and introduced too by such solemn prefacesas the following, "all this was done that it might be fulfilled whichwas spoken by the prophet, saying" &c, or, "in this was fulfilledthat which was spoken by the prophet saying" &c--were not afterall adduced as prophecies, but merely by way of allusion. [fn110]

 PASSAGES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT REFERRING TOTHE MESSIAH AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS KINGDOM. 

"Shiloh shall come, and to him shall the obedience of the peoplesbe. " Ac. To the Hebr. Gen. Xlix. 10. 

"The adversaries of Jehovah shall be broken in pieces; out ofHeaven shall He thunder upon them; Jehovah shall judge theends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, andexalt the horn of his Messiah. " I Sam. Ch. Il. 10. 

"These be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was exalted on high, the Messiah of the God ofJacob, [See the Hebr. ] and the sweet Psalmist of Israel. The Spiritof Jehovah spake by me, and his word was [fn111] in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He thatruleth over mankind [or the human race. See the Hebr. ] shall bejust, ruling in the fear of God, And he shall be as the light of themorning when the sun ariseth, even a morning without clouds; asthe tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining afterrain. --But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrustaway, because they cannot be taken with hands; but the man thatshall touch them must be fenced with iron, and the staff of aspear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the sameplace. " 2. Sam. Ch. Xxiii, 1. --7. 

" I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, I will declare thedecree, Jehovah hath said unto me. Thou art my son, this dayhave I begotten thee; ask of me, and I shall give thee the nationsfor thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thypossession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalldash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. " Ps. 2. See also Ps. 21. 

"He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor withjudgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and thelittle hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in piecesthe oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moonendure throughout all generations. He shall come down like rainupon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth, [compare2. Sam. Ch. Xxi. [fn112] 3. 4. ] In his days shall the righteousflourish; and abundance of peace as long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the riverunto the ends of the earth. [" his dominions shall be from sea evento sea, and from the river even unto the ends of the earth. " Zech. Ix: 10. ] they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, andhis enemies shall lick the dust, The kings of Tarshish and of theisles [i. E. Of Europe and the west, ] shall bring presents; the kingsof Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. All kings shall fall down beforehim: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needywhen he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. Heshall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of theneedy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: andprecious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and tohim shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be madefor him continually; and daily shall he be praised--His name shallendure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun:and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only doethwondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever; andlet the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, andAmen. [fn113] Ps. 72. 

"Thou speakest in vision of thy holy [or pious] one, and saidst, Ihave laid help upon one that is mighty: I have exalted one chosenout of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oilhave I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established:mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exactupon him: nor the sin of wickedness afflict him. And I will beatdown his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. Butmy faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my nameshall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, andhis right hand In the rivers. He shall cry unto me thou art myfather, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make himmy first born, higher than the kings of the earth, My mercy will Ikeep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast withhim. ["although my house be not so with God: yet he hath madewith me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. "2. Sam. Ch. Xxiii. 5. ] His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. --My covenant will I notbreak, -nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have Isworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shallendure for ever, and HIS THRONE AS THE SUN BEFORE ME. Itshall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithfulwitness in the heaven. " Ps. 89. 

"Jehovah said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until Imake thy enemies thy footstool. Jehovah shall send the rod of thypower out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. --Jehovah at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day ofhis wrath. He shall judge among the nations; he shall fill theplaces with the dead bodies: he shall wound the heads over manycountries. " Ps. 110. 

"It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain ofJehovah's house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flowunto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let usgo up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God ofJacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in hispaths: for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word ofJehovah from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many peoples: and they shall beat their swordsinto ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nationshall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn warany more. " Is. Ch. Ii. 

" Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and thePrincipality shall be upon his shoulder; and the WonderfulCounsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father shall call hisname the Prince of Peace. [fn114] [See. The Heb. ] Of the increaseof his government and peace there shall be no end, upon thethrone of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establishit with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will perform this. "' Is. Ix: 6, 7. 

"There shall come forth a rod out of the stem (or stump, i. E. Theroots of a tree cut down) of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out ofhis roots, and the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit ofwisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, thespirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah, and shall make him ofquick understanding in the fear of Jehovah; and he shall not judgeafter the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of hisears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprovewith equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earthwith the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall heslay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwellwith the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: and thecalf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little childshall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed: their youngones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like theox. [fn115] And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrices den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for theearth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waterscover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the peoples; to it shall theGentiles seek; and his seat shall be glory. " [See the Hebr. ] Is. Ch. Xi. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah shall set hishand again the second time to recover the remnant of his peoplewhich shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and fromPathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, andfrom the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for thenations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gathertogether the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of theearth. " Is. Ch. Xi. 

"And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering castaver all the peoples, (i. E. Their ignorance of God's dispensations)and the vail that is spread over all the nations. He will swallow updeath in victory, (or to eternity), and Jehovah God will wipe awaytears from off all faces: and the rebuke of his people shall he takeaway from off all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it, and it shallbe said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; thus saith [fn116] Jehovah; we have waitedfor him, we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation. " Is. Xxv. 7--9. 

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; andthe desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossomabundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory ofLebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel andSharon, they shall see the glory of Jehovah, and the excellency ofour God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feebleknees, Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with arecompense, he will come and save you. Then the eyes of theblind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall beunstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and thetongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters breakout, and streams, in the desert. And the parched ground shallbecome a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in thehabitation of dragons where each lay, shall be grass, with reedsand rushes. And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and cometo Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, andsorrow and sighing shall flee away. " Is. Xxxv. 

"Comfort ye, comfort, ye my people, saith your God. Speak yecomfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare isaccomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath receivedof Jehovah's hand, double for all her sins. The voice of him thatcrieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, makestraight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall beexalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and thecrooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Andthe glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see ittogether: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all thegoodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grasswithereth, the flower fadeth; because the spirit of Jehovah blowethupon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flowerfadeth; BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR, EVER. " Is. Xl. 

"My people shall know my name: therefore shall they know in thatday, that I am He that doth speak; behold it is I. How beautifulupon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, thatpublisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thywatchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall theysing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah shall bring againZion. Break forth into joy, sing together ye waste places ofJerusalem; for Jehovah hath comforted his people, he hathredeemed Jerusalem, Jehovah hath made bare his holy arm in theeyes of all nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see thesalvation of our God. " Is. Lii. 

G. G. 

The good Christians of the United States, I do nut use the term insarcasm, for they are good, speak in their books and sermons ofthe Christian religion as if it were every where the same as in thegrand, free, and liberal republic. But the Fact is not so. AnAmerican who reads the poems of Homer, or Ovid'sMetamorphoses, laughs at the religion of the ancient Greeks andRomans as a ridiculous folly; but when he visits those countries inChristendom which are not Protestant, he will be inclined to regardtheir religion as a blasphemy against the Most High. Go whereyou will in those countries, if you look into their churches, youinvariably nod "a molten image, or picture, and a teacher of lies. "[fn117]

The prophets of the Old Testament reproached the idolatrousJews, that "according to the number of their cities were theirgods. " But in the countries I speak of, the number of gods isaccording to the number of churches, and even houses; for everyhouse contains an image or picture of some saint or other, who isconsidered as the tutelary guardian of the family. 

H

Mr. Everett observes upon this prophecy of Jeremiah p. 75. Of hiswork, "as it is near two thousand years since David has failed of atemporal prince up on his throne, and a temporal successor ofLevites, and since it is declared that it shall NEVER fail of these, we must suppose that a spiritual secession and a spiritual servicewere intended: or else the solemn promise. -of God has been fortwo thousand years, without fulfillment. "

"Ut semper!"------

Sternhold and Hopklns had great qualms, When they did quaverDavid's Psalms; "Which made their hearts full glad. But had theprophet back been sent, To hear them SING, --and youCOMMENT, They surely had run mad. "

I

PASSAGES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT PREDICTING THERESTORATION OF THE DISPERSION. 

"Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do IDECLARE: BEFORE THEY SPRING FORTH I TELL you them. "

"I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west:I will say to the north, give up; and to the south keep not back:bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of theearth. Every one that is called by my name: for I have created himfor my glory, I have formed him; yea I have made him. Is. Xliii: 3, 6, 7. 

"Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will lift up my hand to theGentiles, and set up my standard to the peoples; and they shallbring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carriedupon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, andtheir queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to theewith their face toward the earth, and shall lick up the dust of thyfeet: and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, for they shall not beashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from themighty, or the lawful captive delivered. But thus saith Jehovah. Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the preyof the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him thatcontendeth with thee; and I will save thy children. And I will feedthem that oppress thee with their own flesh: and they shall bedrunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all fleshshall know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, theMighty One of Jacob. " Is. Xlix. 

" Jehovah shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places:and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like thegarden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein;thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me mypeople, and give ear unto me O, my nation: for a law shallproceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for alight ofthe peoples. My righteousness, is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples: the isles shall wait uponme, and on mine arm shall they lean. "

[See the Heb. ] Is. Li. 

"Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thouconfounded: for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shaltforget the shame of thy youth, [i. E. Thy ancient Idolatry] and shaltnot remember the reproach of thy widowhoods [i. E. Thy twodispersions] any more. For thy Maker is thy Husband, Jehovah ofhosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the Holy one of Israel; theGod of the whole earth shall he be called. For Jehovah hath calledthee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife ofyouth, when thou hadst been refused saith thy God. For a smallmoment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gatherthee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, butwith everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saithJehovah thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me:for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more goover the earth; so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills beremoved: but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shallthe covenant of my peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hathmercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and notcomforted: behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thyfoundations with sapphires, and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasantstones, and thy children shall be taught of Jehovah, and greatshall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou beestablished: thou shalt be far from oppression: for thou shalt notfear, and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. " Is. Liv. 

"Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nationsthat knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thyGod: and for the Holy one of Israel; for he hath glorified thee, " Is. Lv. 5. 

"Behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darknessthe peoples; but Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and his glory shallbe seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light andkings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round aboutand see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee:thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed atthy side. Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heartshall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the seashall be converted unto thee, the forces [or wealth] of the Gentilesshall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee;the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah: all they from Sheba shallcome: they shall bring gold and incense: and they shall show forththe praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gatheredtogether unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth [i. E. The chiefs of theArabs Nebaioth was the eldest son of Ishmael] shall minister untothee: they shall come up with acceptance to mine altar, [doubtless, because they have been worshippers of one sole Godof Abraham and the prophets since, the days of Mohammed] and Iwill beautify the house of my glory. "Who are these that fly as acloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shallwait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons fromfar, their silver, and their gold with them; unto the name ofJehovah thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel because He hathglorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee, for in my wrath I smotethee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thygates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nornight: that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, andthat their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom thatwill not serve thee shall perish; yea those nations shall be utterlywasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box-tree together, to beautify the place ofmy sanctuary: and I will make the place of my feet glorious. Thesons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee:and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at thesoles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the city of Jehovah, TheZion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken, and hated, that no man went through thee, I will make thee aneternal excellency, a joy of endless [ac. To the Heb. ] generations. Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breastof kings: and thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour andthy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bringgold, and for iron I will bring silver; and for wood brass, and forstones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactorsrighteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders: but thou shalt call thywalls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no morethy light by day: neither for brightness shall the moon give lightunto thee: but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, andthy God thy Glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shallthy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people alsoshall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branchof my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. "' Isch. Ix. 

"Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and aroyal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt be no moretermed forsaken: neither shall thy laud any more be termeddesolate--For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sonsmarry thee: and, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride soshall thy God rejoice over thee. " Is. Ch. Ixii. 

"Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her all ye that loveher: rejoice for joy with her all ye that mourn for her: that ye maysuck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations: that yemay milk and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. Forthus saith Jehovah. Behold I will extend Peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like an overflowing stream: then shallye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled uponher knees. As one whom his mother comforted so will I comfortyou; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. " Is. Ixvi. 

"Thus saith Jehovah, keep ye judgment, and do justice: for mysalvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layethhold of it, that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepethhis hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the strangerwho hath joined himself unto Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovahhath utterly separated me from his people--the sons of thestranger that join themselves to Jehovah, to serve him, and to lovethe name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeththe Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant:even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyfulin my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrificesshall be accepted on mine altar; for mine house shall be called ahouse of prayer for all peoples. Jehovah God which gathereth theoutcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather others to him beside thosethat are gathered to him. " Is. Ch. Ivi. 

"Tell ye and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it fromthat time: Have not I Jehovah? and there is no God else besideme; a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me. Look untome, and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth: for I am God and, there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out ofmy mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me:every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall onesay, in Jehovah have I righteousness and strength: even to Him, shall men come: and all that are incensed against Him shall beashamed. In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, andshall glory. " [fn119] Is. Xlv. 21. &c. 

 ERRATA. 

(The manuscript of this book was written in little more than threeweeks at Cairo, amidst the hurry and bustle of my preparations toaccompany Ismael Pasha to the Upper Nile. It has been printedwithout my having had it in my power to correct any of the proofs. In consequence of one or both of these circumstances thefollowing. Errata almost entirely literal have been committed. Ibelieve however that the Scholar will not find any misstatement offacts, nor the Logician any flaw in the arguments; the book laysbefore the Public. On these two points I feel quite secure in thisrespect: I calmly and firmly lay my gage at the feet of allChristendom. Let him who dares to take it up, do it. )

[fn1 for "chooseth, " read "chusest. "]

[fn2 for "possessions, " read "prepossessions"]

[fn3 for "these, " read "their"]

[fn 4. Mr. Everett appears willing to allow, as said before, theexistence of these contradictions in the narratives of theEvangelists, particularly in their accounts of the resurrection ofJesus, [See p. 456. Of his work. ] but maintains their credibilitynevertheless, and in justification of this opinion, he quotes p. 457, the contradictions of the historians of the execution of the Marquisof Argyle; a fact nevertheless not doubted. But the cases are byno means parallel; that a rebel should be decapitated is a fact ofnotorious frequency in British history and very probable in itself, and as it is a fact without consequence, no man will be inclined todoubt it, if it be affirmed by history, notwithstanding somecontradictions in the accounts of the circumstances of hisexecution. 

But I would ask Mr. Everett--if the same historians who report theexecution of the Marquis of Argyle; had also affirmed that threedays after he had his head cut off, he appeared again alive to hisparticular friends with his head on, talking and dining with them;and that one of these historians represent this to have taken placeat London--another at Edinburgh--and a third at Stirling, would Mr. Everett, or any man in his senses, hesitate to consider thesecontradictions in the accounts of such a supernatural event as ofno weight? Let us add to this another consideration. --Supposethat the Marquis of Argyle was a man of irreproachable andadmirable character, and enthusiastically beloved by his friends, and that these friends believed in certain ancient prophecieswhich predicted that a Scotchman should arise, who should makeScotland supreme over all the earth, and live himself for ever; andthat these friends believed the Marquis of Argyle to be the man:but that disappointed in their expectations by seeing him suffer hishead to be cut off, they had their hopes revived by the appearanceof this story of his having been seen alive by twelve of his mostintimate friends, who were the heads of the party who hadbelieved that the Marquis of Argyle would fulfill the propheciesaforesaid, and not content with receiving this contradictory storywith avidity themselves, (which after all might have been inventedas a salvo for his non-fulfillment or postponing the fulfillment ofthese prophecies, by submitting to be decapitated) insisted thatevery body else should believe it too, on pain of eternaldamnation!--Would not Mr. Everett be inclined to suspect thatthese friends of the Marquis of Argyle were deluded men, andpossibly noncompos mentis; and suppose that these friends of theMarquis of Argyle had told their party that he had been taken up toHeaven, for a time, but would return again into the World, beforethat generation had passed away, and would then fulfill theprophecies aforesaid; and that this party, notwithstanding, that theMarquis of Argyle did not come again before that generation hadpassed away nor for eighteen hundred years afterwards, stillretained their belief in the aforesaid circumstances, and stillinsisted that everybody else should believe them too on pain ofeternal damnation; would not Mr. Everett consider these men ascertainly distracted? "Mulata[fn5] nomine de te fabula narratur, "Mr. Everett. ]

[fn5 for "mulata" read "mulatto"]

[fn6 Dr. Campbell in his notes to his translation of the Evangelistsin loco. Tries to prove that the Greek words in the Gospel ofMatthew, which undoubtedly strictly and literally Signify "in theevening of the Sabbath, " or "at the end of the Sabbath, " maymean "the Sabbath being ended, "; which, if it could beestablished, would set aside the objection I have mentioned. ]

[fn7 for 24 read 36]

[fn8 for 54 read 34]

[fn9 Of lrenaeus and. Tertullian Mr. Everett remarks, that"Tertullian was a very shrewd writer, [yes indeed, and of hisfraudulent shrewdness Middleton gives some notable instances inhis true inquiry] and Irenaeus less fool than knave, " p. 471. Of Mr. Everett's work. I would observe to Mr. Everett, that this Irenaeus isthe first writer who mentions the four Gospels, and that theFathers of the Church who came after him in affirming thegenuineness of the four Gospels appeal to this Irenaeus this "halffool, half knave, " as the authority and voucher for theirauthenticity; the evidence for their authenticity stops short withhim. Justin Martyr who flourished about the year 140 of theChristian Era, in his apology quotes, indeed, Memoirs of JesusChrist which he says, were written by Apostles and Apostolickmen. But it is, acknowledged by Bishop Marsh in his notes toMichaelis Introduction, to the New Testament, that the quotationsof Justin Martyr are so unlike the expressions in the receivedEvangelists to which they appear to refer, that one of two thingsmust be true; either that Justin does not quote our presentGospels; or else, that they were in his time in a very differentstate, than what they now are. 

Papias who wrote about 116 of the Christian Era says, thatMatthew wrote a Gospel "in Hebrew which every one interpretedas he was able, " but says nothing of a Gospel of Matthew inGreek; and that the present Greek Gospel called of Matthew couldnot be a translation from Matthew's Hebrew, appears fromBishops Marsh's Dissertation on the origin of these[fn10] firstGospels; where he proves that it is not a translation of one work, but a compilation from several. The same is maintained by theGerman Theologians to be presently mentioned. 

[fn10 for "these, " "the three"]

[fn11 These Sybiline oracles so often, and so confidently appealedto by the Fathers of the Church, are now universally allowed tohave been forged by the Christians themselves: of them Scaligerspeaks as follows. 

"Quid pseudo--Sybilina oracula quae Christiani gentibusobjiciebant, quum tamen e Christianorum officina prodiissent inGentium autem Bibliothecis non reperirentur? Adeo verbum Deiinefficax esse censuerunt, ut regnum Christi sine mendaciispromoveri posse diffiderent? atque utinam illi firimi mentiricoepissent, " apud La Roche Mem. Lit. 7. 331. As quoted by Mr. Everett, p. 228. Of his work. 

If the reader will consult Toland's Amyntor, he will find appendedto that work, a list of the names of I think about a hundredGospels, Epistles, and Revelations, forged by the GentileChristians in the first centuries of the Christian Era. TheCelebrated Semler, so distinguished for his knowledge in Biblicalcriticism and ecclesiastical antiquities, has said, as Mr. Everettallows, p. 464 of his work, that the general Epistles of James, Peter, and John and Jude, and the book of Revelations, containedin the New Testament at present, must be also placed upon thelong list of pious frauds, fabricated in the first ages of Christianity. ]

[fn12 It is an allowed principle of liberal criticism, that when theexpressions of an author are capable of two senses, one of whichwould make him contradict himself, and the other would leave himconsistent, it is but fair to suppose that he meant to be consistent, and therefore should be interpreted in the sense which wouldexclude self contradiction. How has the liberal Mr. Everett actedon an occasion of this kind? I had said in my first work "the JewishChristians, the disciples of the twelve Apostles, NEVER received, but rejected every individual book of the present New Testament. "

I had also maintained, that the Gospels were forged after themiddle of the second century. Now any reasonable man would Ibelieve understand me as using the expressions, "JewishChristians, the disciples of the twelve Apostles, " in the samesense as when we speak of the followers of Plato, Whitfield, orWesley, by the name of Disciples of Plato, Whitfield, or Wesley, without confining the expression to signify their immediatedisciples; the insertion of the words, "never received, " alsosuggests that this must have been my meaning. Nevertheless Mr. Everett, in order to bring me in contradiction with myself in order toserve a turn of his own, remarks upon my words, "withoutpresuming to decide upon the opinions of a writer, so keen indetecting dissonances as Mr. English, I do presume to think, that ifevery individual book, of the present New Testament, wasrejected, by the disciples of the twelve Apostles, that they musthave been in being at the time they were rejected, and thereforecould not have been forged, a century after that period. I am notconscious of any wish to weaken the force of Mr. English'sarguments, by affecting to speak of them in contemptuous terms, Iwould, as I have, answered them fairly, or not at all. " p. 445. ]

[fn13 If so, what becomes of all Mr. Everett's laboured argumentupon Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem contained inp. 401 et seq. Of his work; if it be true that the prophecy waswritten, after the events predicted took place!]

[fn14 If this opinion be true, and Bishop Marsh may be consideredas having almost demonstrated it to be so in his dissertation uponthe origin of the three first Gospels, it follows, that these Gospelscould not have been written by the Apostles, and immediatefollowers of Jesus Christ; for certainly, men personally andintimately acquainted with all his actions, and all his doctrines, (aswere his Apostles and all his immediate followers, and influencedtoo by the Holy Ghost, as they are all represented to have been inthe book of Acts, ch. Iv. 31, ) in setting about writing Memoirs ofJesus, would write from their own complete, inspired and personalknowledge; and would not compile from "books which had gonethrough various hands, and been variously altered and added to inthe passage. " No! such a procedure would be that of men whohad no personal knowledge of the events they undertook torecord; and who were therefore obliged to consult books forinformation. 

In order to place in a fair light the absurdity of supposing the fourGospels to have been written by the Apostles and first followers ofJesus, I will suppose, a case. Suppose there should appear in theworld, four different Lives of Napoleon pretending to have beenwritten by four of his aids de camp, who had constantly been nearhis person, from the time that he commanded the troops in Paristill his dethronement; and that one of them represented that theexpedition to Egypt took place when he was General of the troopsin Paris, another that it took place when he was first Consul, andthe others that it took place when he was Emperor. Would anyman believe, that ALL these books were written by aids de-campof Napoleon, who had been constantly near his person from thetime that he commanded the troops of Paris till hisdethronement?]

[fn15 The New Testament, is I believe unparalleled among all theancient books that have come down to us for the number, andimportance of the corruptions, and alterations, it has undergone. What! can learned Christians tell us of several hundred thousandsof various readings, in copies of a small book like the NewTestament--that almost every, perhaps every verse has beenaltered, interpolated, or retrenched in some copy or other--andthen add in the same breath that the book is nevertheless to bereceived, as containing the uncorrupted doctrines of the foundersof Christianity? If we did not know the inconsistency, andblindness of prejudice, one might be tempted to suspect that theselearned men were hardly sincere. 

What! is it to be insisted on that a book which Providence hasevidently abandoned to carelessness, or to roguery, or to both, was nevertheless intended by the Supreme, as a credible recordof an ultimate, permanent and universal religion for all mankind!!--The insane effrontery of such a supposition deserves to be hootedout of countenance. 

Mr. Everett says, p. 243. Of his work "that not one of the books ofthe New Testament, nor all of them together, were intended to bea forensic defence of Christianity. On the contrary, the historicalbooks are brief, and imperfect memoirs, which were not designed, nor supposed to contain all the faces, and which do not set forth, nor profess to set forth the evidences of the religion. TheEpistolary parts are the counsels, instructions and affectionatesentiments which the occasions of the infant churches, drew fromtheir founders. Now from these we expect, to collect the whole ofChristianity, of its doctrines, its precepts, and its sanctions. " CanMr. Everett confidently believe, that God Almighty, whodescended to the earth, to deliver a Code to one nation wouldhave left the world to collect as they could a complete, universal, and permanent code of religion and, morals from "brief andimperfect, " interpolated and corrupted memoirs, and a fewoccasional letters?]

[fn16 Mr. Everett recommends to me to adopt as an appropriatemotto for the second edition of my first work, a passage fromCelsus which speaks of the dispute, between the Jews andChristians as a "quarrel about the shadow of an ass. " p. 327. OfMr. Everett's work. 

Is it so indeed! How then has it happened that Mr. Everett'sCoreligionists have for fifteen hundred years persecuted, despised, oppressed, trampled underfoot millions, plundered andmassacred hundreds of thousands, tortured, racked, and roastedalive thousands of the Jewish nation; and all in a quarrel about"the shadow of an ass!" O shame, where is thy blush. O meekeye'd humanity, how hast thou been outraged and trampled on!

For my own part I do not consider it as a quarrel about "theshadow of an ass, " I rather think it has a much greaterresemblance to a quarrel about an ass in the Lion's skin; in whichquarrel the Christians have shown themselves to be every thingbut the Fox in the Fable upon that subject. ]

[fn17 Mr. Everett, also quotes my words in another place into the211 page of his work. "The Jews had certainly good reason fromtheir prophecies, to expect no Messiah but one who should set onthe Throne of David, and confer Liberty and happiness on them, and spread peace and happiness throughout the earth, andcommunicate the knowledge of God and virtue, and the love oftheir fellow men to every people. "

Is this a character "whose laurel is to be watered by tears, " theleaves of which is to "grow green in an atmosphere filled withsighs and groans?" I would ask Mr. Everett. ]

[fn18 Mr. Everett says page, 107. With great gravity, "to hear theEvangelists charged in vulgar terms with misquoting and changingwords, by one, who could himself fall into the errors and themisrepresentations we have just exposed, has moved me to awarmth of language, which I did not think to have used. But, I begpardon: it is the New Testament which teaches us, that we"beware lest we condemn ourselves, in what we judge another. "And Mr. English has let us know that the New Testament moralityis pernicious to society. Justly, most Justly, does Dr. Lelandobserve, that "it would be hard to produce any persons whatever, who are chargeable with more unfair, and fraudulent managementin their quotations, in curtailing, adding to, and altering thepassages they cite, or taking them out of their connexion, andmaking them speak directly contrary to the sentiments of theirauthors than the Deistical Writers!!" They are indeed sad dogs, itmust be allowed, Mr. Everett. ]

[fn19 See Appendix B]

[fn20 Mr. Everett considers the happy reign of the Messiah ashaving actually commenced with the era of Jesus Christ, and thatwe are actually enjoying its blessings. Of course he must considerhis being whipped, and gibbetted by his own subjects, and leavingthe world in the hands of those holy men, Tiberius, Nero, Caligula, Domitian, and Heliogabalus, kingdom rising against kingdom, andnation against nation; (though the prophets declare that in thereign of the Messiah "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more, ") famines, earthquakes, andpestilences in divers places, (though the prophets declare that inthe reign of the Messiah, the earth shall become a Paradise, andthat God shall wipe all tears from off all faces, and sorrow andsighing shall flee away, ) that horrid Jewish war in which perishedmore than eleven hundred thousand of the Jewish nation, whilethe rest were dispersed and enslaved, (though the prophets say, that in the reign of the Messiah the Jews should enjoy the mostperfect and endless happiness, ) the theological quarrels, frauds, forgeries. Councils, and Excommunications, and an endless detailof Battle and Murder, the irruptions and devastations of the GothsHuns and Vandals, the rise and establishment of "these venerableinstitutions, " the Popedom and the Inquisition, the persecutionsand wars excited by St. Dominic, the wars of Charlemagne, andthe Teutonic Knights upon the Germans, giving them noalternative but the Gospel or the Sword, the Crusades, the piousexploits of Cortez and Pizarro in America, the comfortable state ofthings during the dark ages, the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the wars carried on by the Catholicks against the Protestants, and the wars since carried on by the Protestants and Catholicks, indiscriminately with each other, as among those "blessed events, and happy changes, " I use Mr. Everett's words, intended by "thehighly figurative language, " of the Old Testament prophetspredictive of the reign of the Messiah! If the reader will pursuethose predictions contained in Appendix, B, or that beautifulcompend of them in Pope's "Messiah" he will I believe allow, that ifit were possible for such things as the above mentioned, to bereally intended by those prophecies, they would be the greatesthoax, and the most flagrant and enormous verification of the oldproverb "parturiunt montes nascitur ridiculus mus, " on record. 

[fn21 It is worth notice that when the term "Saviour, " is applied inthe Old Testament to men, it invariably signifies a temporaldeliverer, for instance, Judges iii. 9. 15, in the Hebrew. ]

[fn22 The writers of the Old Testament frequently speak of thehead, hands, ears, eyes, and even nostrils of the Deity. Will Mr. Everett infer that because these expressions must be understood, figuratively, that whenever the sacred writers speak of heads, hands, ears, eyes, and noses of men, that said heads, hands, ears, eyes, and noses had no physical existence, but must beinterpreted figuratively? If so, I do not despair of seeing Mr. Everett publish a dissertation, crowded by numerous quotationsfrom the Rabbies, in order to prove, that the history of David'scutting off the head of Goliath, was in all probability merely afigurative account, in the oriental style, of the success of theprophet David in a controversy he had with a certain PhilistineHeathen Priest of the God Dagon, ("strange sea monster, upwardman, and downward fish:") who had written a book in order toprove against the Israelites) that their law was "a dead letter, " andthey themselves no "nation. "]

[fn23 Paul in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians appears to say, as he affirms "by the word of the Lord, " that the second coming ofJesus to do all this, should take place during the life time of thegeneration to whom he was writing, for he says 1 Thess. Ch. Iv, 15, speaking of the Christians who had died before he wrote, "thiswe say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are aliveand remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent themwhich are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heavenwith a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump ofGod; and the dead in Christ should rise first. Then we which arealive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in theclouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be withthe Lord. "

The Gospels represent Jesus as saying, that there were some ofthat generation who should not taste of death till they saw himcome in the manner that Paul describes. For Mark, in the xiii. Ch. Of his Gospel, after representing Jesus as prophecying thedestruction of Jerusalem, says that his discourse at that time wenton as follows. 

"But in those days after that tribulation, (i. E. After the siege anddestruction of Jerusalem) the sun shall be darkened, and themoon shall not give her light. And, the stars of Heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in Heaven shall be shaken. "And thenshall they see the son of man coming in the clouds with greatpower and glory, and then shall he send his angels, and shallgather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermostpart the earth to the uttermost part of Heaven. Verily I say untoyou, that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not passaway. " Mark, xiii. 24, &c. ]

[fn24 after "was" insert "according to Mr. Everett, "]

[fn25 Mr. Everett has produced some authorities which make itdoubtful whether the genuine reading in this place was "thy saintsor thy pious ones, " in the plural, or thy "saint, or thy pious one;" inthe singular. The matter is not worth disputing about, if it be madeevident that the Psalm refers to David. ]

[fn26 Mr. Everett p. 87. Of his work: in trying to prove that theoriginal word signifies "corruption, " has unhappily produced apassage which not only proves nothing in his favour, but a greatdeal in mine. "Therefore, says Daniel, I was left alone, and sawthis great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for mycomeliness was turned in me into corruption ("the word here in theoriginal is from the same root as that, in the 16 Psalm translatedby me destruction?") and I retained no strength. " Dan. X. 8. Mostcommentators on this passage, I believe, suppose that Danielmeant to signify that he was petrified at the sight of the angel; andthat his physical faculties were suspended through terror. DoesMr. Everett suppose, that the prophet meant to; signify that hewas actually putrified at the sight of Gabriel?]

[fn27 for "Acts 4. 45" read "Acts 4:25"]

[fn28 "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand. To execute vengeance upon thenations, and punishments upon the peoples: To bind their kingswith chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute uponthem the judgment written; this honour have all his saints. Praiseye Jehovah. Ps. Cxlix. This passage alludes to the same doctrine:there are many in the psalms and prophets of the same import. Itis but justice however to the Hebrew prophets to add, that theyhold the balance of justice between Jew and Gentile very fairly, inrepresenting that on account of the superior light vouchsafed tothe former, God would punish them "double for all their sins;" andthat before they shall be advanced to the eternal supremacypromised them, the most terrible trials and severities shallexterminate the wicked and worthless from the nation. ]

[fn29 Which is of the same family as the religion of Thibet. TheChristians believe that God became incarnate in the infant Jesus. The Thibetians and Chinese believe that God is incarnate in theperson of the Grand Lama. And each of them considers the otheras "ignorant and deluded idolaters. "]

[fn30 All the Christians throughout the world, except theProtestants who do not constitute more than a fifth of the Christianworld, kneel and pray before the crucifix, images, and pictures ofChrist, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. Their churches arecrowded with images and pictures, before which they burn lamps, tapers, and incense. The great toe of the right foot of an ancientbronze statue of Jupiter, christened St. Peter, in the magnificentChurch of St. Peter at Rome, is nearly worn off by the devoutkisses and rubbings of the worshippers of that Saint, If the spirit ofthe Unitarian Jew Peter, could animate that statue, I believe thatthe foot of it would have long since kicked the teeth down thethroat of some of his worshippers. See Appendix, G. G. ]

[fn31 That Mary is "the Mother of God!" is the creed of all theChristian sects except the Protestants, and Nestorians. 

The European and Asiatic Christian churches, except a precioushandful of Unitarians, appear to act upon the principles of the oldSamaritans. So these nations feared Jehovah, and served theirgraven images, both their children, and their children's children; asdid their Fathers, so do they unto this day. " 2 Kings xvii 41. Theirreligion is as inconsistent and inconsequent as the conduct ofNebuchadnezzar; who "answered unto Daniel, and said, of a truthit is that your God is a God of Gods, and a Lord of Lords, " Dan. Ch. Ii. 47. And who, notwithstanding, set up an idol of gold, andcommanded all peoples, nations, and languages to fall down andworship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had setup: and threatened that whoso falleth not down; and worshippethshould be cast into a burning fiery furnace. " ch. Iii, and who onanother occasion "acknowledged and blessed the most high, andpraised and honoured him that liveth forever and ever, whosedominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom fromgeneration to generation:" ch. Iv. And who notwithstandingdestroyed his Temple, and lodged its sacred vessels in thetreasure house of his idol. The service of the Christian churchesnot Protestant resembles Bellshazzar's feast. They drink out of thegolden, and silver vessels, which they have "taken out of theTemple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem, " and praisethe Gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of wood, and of stone, [fn32]which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the result of the business, if the Old Testament predict the truth, will be, that the mysteriousmenaces written by the figures of God, will be fulfilled inconfusion, wo, and destruction]

[fn32 I allude to the crucifixes, images, and pictures of Christ, theVirgin Mary and the Saints, with which all Christian churches, notprotestant are filled. ]

[fn33 for "come" read "came"]

[fn34 This is incorrect, Bethlehem is at present one of mostpopulous cities in Palestine. ]

[fn35 I request the reader to look at the Hebrew of Gen. X 14. Which Mr. Everett must have neglected to do: as otherwise Icannot account for his having referred to a passage which directlyestablishes my interpretation of the passage in Micah against hisown. I trust that this little circumstance will induce Mr. Everett tohave a fellow feeling for some errors which he says exists [fn36] inmy first publication. He will find some further proofs adduced fromhis book in the course of this work, of the truth of the old adage, "humanium est errare. "]

[fn36 for "exists" read "exist"]

[fn37 v. 10. Of the ix. Ch. Of Zechariah, "and I will cut off thechariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and thebattlebow shall be cut off; [i. E. There shall be war no more]; and he[i. E. The Messiah, ] shall speak peace unto the nations: and hisdominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even tothe ends of the earth. " Has this been yet fulfilled or have thenations called Christians, for the last 180 years, been morepeaceable than others? on the contrary, is it not they who haveperfectionated the arts of war and destruction!]

[fn38 "I render me, " says Mr. Everett, "because I cheerfully allow"with Eichorn and De Rossi in loco, that it is supported by mostauthorities. " Why then does Mr. Everett abuse and insult me, p. 103, 104. , for neglecting to notice the other reading he mentions, which he considers not to be the true one! If it be erroneous, whatis it good for and if it be false, how has the inspired Evangelistquoted a false reading, (Gospel according to John ch. Xix. 34. &c. , ) in order to make out a prophecy?

I had objected in my first publication that the assertion of Stephen, when filled with the Holy Ghost, that "When Abraham went out ofthe land of the Chaldees, he dwelt in Haran, from thence, after hisfather was dead, God led him unto this land in which ye dwell. "Acts vii. 4. , directly contradicts the chapter in Genesis, where theStory of Abraham's leaving Haran is related, for it is certain fromthence, that Abraham left his father Zerah[fn39] in Haran alivewhen he departed, and that he did not die till many ' yearsafterwards. "

On this Mr. Everett observes, "The difficulty is this, that Zerah issaid in Genesis ch. 11. To have been seventy years old whenAbraham was born, and to have lived two hundred and five years. But Abraham is also said to have left Haran when he was agedseventy-five years [Genesis xii. 14. ]; at which time of course; hisFather was one hundred and forty-five years old, and thereforemust have lived sixty years after his son Abraham left Haran. ButStephen in the passage in question says, that Abraham left Haranafter his Father was dead. Now this direct contradiction is quitecleared up by the Samaritan copies of the Pentateuch, which givethe whole age of Zerah exactly 145 years: and confirm theaccount of Stephen, that Abraham waited till the decease of hisfather, and then immediately left Haran. Had Mr. English no lightupon this subject, but what he derived from his unlettered Rabbi, or even from the Commentators whose "troubles" he finds orfeigns, one could not blame him for passing over this fact insilence. But I remember well the time, when Mr. Englishcollected[fn40] the text of the Samaritan copy as it stands inKennicott's Bible, for the express purpose of ascertaining thediversity of the Hebrew and Samaritan texts. To suppress now areading from this copy, which entirely removes his objection, argues a deplorable forgetfulness, or a willful fraud; and it wouldbe a piece of affectation in me to speak of it in milder terms, " p. 340. Of Mr. Everett's work. 

To put this courteous language to the blush, it is only necessary toobserve, that the most distinguished Hebrew Critics [I think, if mymemory does not deceive me, I may name De Rossi, forinstance, ] adhere to the reading of the Hebrew bible as the trueone, and have not suffered themselves to be swayed by thestrong Christian motives which have biassed Mr. Everett in thisinstance. Stephen, who was a Jew, would also never have giventhe preference to a reading-of the Pentateuch of the Samaritan's, which also abounds with blunders. The Gentile author of the Bookof Acts probably fabricated the speech. ]

[fn39 for "Zerah" read "Terah"]

[fn40 for "collected" read "collated"]

[fn41 Mr. Everett, in. A note to p. 194 of his work, speaks ofSalathiel and Zorobabel as succeeding to the "throne of Judahafter the Babylonish captivity. Any one who will read the books ofEzra and Nehemiah with attention, will be satisfied that thislanguage is quite ridiculous: forasmuch as that Salathiel was acaptive slave at Babylon, and Zorobabel was but at best theGovernor of Judea for the King of Persia, and all the Jews underhis command were subject to the orders of Tabnai[fn42] andShether Boznia. "Governors beyond the river" for the PersianKing. See Ezra ch. Ix. 8, 9. Neh. Ch. Vi. 6, 7. And ch. Ix. 37. In thisand in many other instances, Mr. Everett in order to gain hiscause, has been obliged to forget the command recorded in "thebeggarly elements, " to have been given from Mount Sinai, "thoushalt not speak in a cause to decline after many to wrestjudgment. " Exod. Xxiii, 2. There are, however, cases in whichlawyers allow that this precept may be dispensed with, particularlyif the cause be of great importance: and more particularly stillwhen the client pays well. ]

[fn42 for "Romans" read "Asmonaeans" for "Tabnai" read"Tatnai"]

[fn43 The Jewish Rabbies have been treated, by the Christiancontroversial writers, in the same manner as the foolish King ofIsrael was treated, by the messengers of the defeated Benhadad. "Now the men [the messengers of Benhadad] did diligentlyobserve whether any thing would come from him, and did hastilycatch at it. " 1 Kings, ch. Xx 33. The famous work of Dr. Allix, exposed by Nye, where Allix tries to show by quotations fromJewish writings, that the ancient Jews were Trinitarians, is anotable instance of this. Mr. Everett's work itself, enables me tolay before the reader one at least, which will verify myobservation. 

Mr. Cary in his refutation of my first work, quoted with greatsolemnity, one Rabbi Alshek as maintaining that the 53d. Of Isaiahreferred to the Messiah. Every one of Mr. Cary's lay readers, undoubtedly have supposed that this was the truth, the wholetruth, and nothing but the truth. But it was not. The whole truthleaks out in Mr. Everett's work, in a note to p. 143, where Mr. Everett says, that this famous Rabbi "having acknowledged thatthe prophet had the Messiah in view [in the 53d. Of Isaiah, ], heafterwards applied the oracle to some other person, and finally toMoses!" Now in the name of common sense I would, ask, of whatvalue can the testimony and authority of a man be, who could becapable of such contradictory nonsense as this. 

The Jewish Rabbies, in general, have verified completely theprediction of the prophet. "Jehovah said, Forasmuch as thispeople draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips dohonour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and theirfear toward me is taught by the precepts of men, [possibly alludingto the traditions of the elders, ] therefore, behold I will proceed todo a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous workand a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, andthe understanding of their prudent men shall be hid, " Is. Ch. Xxix. 13, 14. 

Mr. Everett says, that it is notorious that the Rabbies the mostcontemptible critics on the sacred writings that have appeared, p. 49. And in another part of his work, says that they are so silly thathe is almost ashamed to quote them, 229. Notwithstanding all this, he is continually justifying his own follies by appealing to theirs:such is Mr. Everett's respect for the understandings of his readers, that he is continually hauling the poor Rabbies to the bar of thepublic; he makes them "hold up their culprit paws, " and pinchestheir ears to make them say what he pleases. His pages arecrowded with their names; unutterable names; names whichreduce "arms! and George! and Brunswick!" into tameness andinsignificance. If such means of defending Christianity aresuccessful, I shall no longer doubt that it was possible for the DevilAsmodus to have been corked up in a bottle by the hard words ofa conjurer. ]

[fn44 for "carinficina, " read "carnificina"]

[fn45 Or "soliloquize upon" the original word in the Hebrew isused in this sense in Is. Ch. Xiv. 16]

[fn46 "Thou hast made us the offscouring and refuse in the midstof the peoples, " says Jer. Lam. Ch. Iii. 45. ]

[fn47 The prophet here compares Israel to the scape goat, whohad the sins of the people-laid upon him, and was banished intothe wilderness. ]

[fn48 for "with" read "through"]

[fn49 Or "fierce oppressor. " See Eichorn's Lex. In loc. ]

[fn50 "In deaths often" says Paul, meaning terrible dangers orsufferings. ]

[fn51 Mr. Everett in his zeal to catch me at a fault with regard tothis prophecy of Isaiah, has himself stumbled and fallen. I hadmaintained in my first work, in reference to this passage, that ofthe subject of this prophecy it is; said, "He shall see his seed andshall prolong his days, " and that therefore it could not relate toJesus who had no posterity. Mr. Everett in his remarks upon thisp. 147 of his work, spiritualises the word "seed, " and says itrelates to the church, and he exclaims against me as follows, p. 147. "What indolent carelessness it is to say that the word seedshall not be spiritualized here, when the very next verse says, heshall see the travail of his soul. " "What poor mortals we are, " saysSir Hugh! If Mr. Everett will look at the Hebrew, he will find thatthe "indolent carelessness" he speaks of, was not mine but his; forthe Hebrew word translated travail, has no reference whatever tochildbearing, but signifies fearful toil, or painful distress. TheEnglish word travail, in the time of the translators of the Bible hadthis signification. They have employed it in this signification in thepassages following: "And Moses told his father-in-law all that theLord had done unto Pharoah and to the Egyptians for Israel'ssake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way. " Ex. Ch. Xviii. 8. Again, "this sore travail hath God given to the sons ofmen to be exercised therewith. " Eccles. I. 13. As Mr. Everett says, p. 114 of his work, "It is good to be positive but better to be correct;and the reader I doubt not will agree with me, that suchdogmatical blundering as this is prevent-. Ed from being offensiveonly as it is ludicrous. "]

[fn52 The prophet represents here, that Israel should be to thenations what Aaron was to the Jews. Aaron was considered asbearing away the sins of the Jews on the day of atonement. "Yeshall be named the priests of Jehovah, and in men shall call youthe ministers of our God. " Is. Ch. Lxi. 6. ]

[fn53 Have their complaints been "fiercer" than the flames of thepiles of Madrid, Lisbon, Paris, Italy, Germany, and England, inwhich thousands of them have been burnt to ashes? For shame!Mr. Everett. The recording angel may drop a tear upon what youhave written, not to blot it out, but in compassion for the miseriesfor which you seem to think words of "complaint" are anequivalent. ]

[fn54 Mr. Everett, after having poured forth what is quoted above, very consistently adds in a note to p. 137, "I cheerfully agree withone of the most active benefactors of the Jewish nation, who whilehe acknowledges these facts, changes the blame of them to theChristians. " Very true, and truly I do not know, what right one manhas to trample another into the mire, and then abuse him for beingdirty. Mr. Everett remarks upon the same subject, p. 210, "Boweddown with universal scorn, they have been called secret andsullen; cut off from pity and charity, they have been thought selfishand unfeeling, and are summoned to believe on the Prince ofPeace by ministers clothed with terror and death. " What anunconscious comment from the pen of a Christian on the words ofthe prophet. "He was despised and the outcast of men, a man ofsorrows, and familiar with suffering, and we hid as it were ourfaces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not. "]

[fn55 I have had the satisfaction to find, since my return toAmerica, that the distinguished Christian Hebraeist, Rosenmuller, in his notes on the Old Testament, maintains as I do, that the 53d. Of Isaiah, refers not to Christ, but to the Hebrew nation, of whichthe following extract from the work referred to may serve as proof, "In tot. V. T. Locis Messias tam variis modis describatur, tamen neunicum quidem vestigium deprehenditur unde collegere jureposset existimasse veteres Haebreos Messiam quem expectabanttalia esse perpessurum quae ministrum divinum hac pericopa, [Is. 53. ] descriptum perpessum esse legimus. Ubicunque vel inPsalmis vel in prophaetarum libris de Messia agitur semper nobisproponitur imago potentissimi regis, felicissimi herois, gloriossissimi reipublicae statoris, coloribus ab imperii Davidici autSalomonei flore, regumque orientalium pompa sumptis depicta. "Rosenmuller's notes on the 53d. Of Isaiah. ]

[fn56 for "will" read "well"]

[fn57 "Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people. "says Sampson's Philistine wife to him, Judges ch. Xiv. 16. ]

[fn58 I had made the same objection in my first publication. Mr. Everett, in his elaborate view of my arguments upon the 53d. OfIsaiah, has not thought proper to notice this objection: possibly hethought it a trivial one. ]

[fn59 Buxtorf's remark upon the very word in Is. 53. Ch. Is"arctatus, coarctatus, oppressus, oppressus tuit, propriaexactiquibus. " Buxtorf's Heb. Lex. Mr. Everett p. 146 of his worksays, that Robertson declares that the radical idea of the wordwhich Mr. English insists upon rendering "he was oppressed bypecuniary exactions", to be "fearful distress. " To this I answer, thatRobertson was a Christian and had a reason for saying so. ]

[fn60 The only works I have had to aid me in the composition ofthis book, are Mr. Everett's work, a Hebrew Bible, [fn61] andLexicon, and the English Bible. I have not been able to procureany thing beyond this in Egypt, and think myself fortunate inhaving so much. ]

[fn61 before "and" insert "Grammar"]

[fn62 for "violations" read "quotations"]

[fn63 Gospel ac. To John. Xii, 38. Rom. X. 16. Acts viii. , 32, 33. ]

[fn64 That Grotius would sometimes prevaricate to serve a turn iscertain. There is an anecdote on record, contained in the notes toGibbon's account of Mohammed in his Roman History, whichproves this. In Grotius' famous book on the truth of the ChristianReligion, there is a story that Mohammed had a tame pidgeonwhich he taught to come and peck in his ear, in order to make hisfollowers believe that the bird was the organ by whom he receivedrevelations from God. This story is not believed, nor was everheard of among the Musselmen. On the publication of Grotius'book, a friend learned in Oriental Literature, came to him andasked him for his authority for this story, Grotius frankly ownedthat he had none, in other words that the story was a pious fraudin order to stigmatize Mohammedanism. "This story" Gibbon says, "was accordingly left out of the Arabic version of Grotius' Book, intended to circulate among the-Musselmen, for fear that theyshould laugh at such a piece of ignorance or effrontery: but it stillmaintains an edifying place in those copies printed for the perusalof Christians. "! I quote from memory. 

It is really a pity that the Protestant Church, which like a Magdalenprofesses to repent other errors committed during her formerconnection with "the mother of abominations, " should yet retain somany of the bad habits contracted during their past intimacy. Some folks have even pretended to have observed, thatnotwithstanding their old quarrel, they seem to haverecommenced a "nodding acquaintance. " I hope the report isuntrue. ]

[fn65 Mr. Everett will probably say, that he made these deadlystabs at my character upon the same principle that the NewEngland Cobbler killed the Indian Hogan Mogan. "Not out ofmalice, but mere zeal Because he was an infidel. "]

[fn66 I have a right to believe so, for Mr. Everett quotes Priestley'snotes, p. 339 of his work. Dr. Priestley united in his character, therare concurrence of a keen controversial writer, with great fairnessand candour. He seems always to have been willingly disposed toresign an untenable opinion, when convinced by the arguments ofhis opponent. His conduct in regard to the question between theJews and Christians, may be considered as a proof of this. Hewrote letters to the Jews in defence of Christianity, which werereplied to by Levi. In this controversy Levi had evidently the betterof Priestley. Priestley seems to have been sensible of this, whichoccasioned him to examine the question more minutely. The resultof his examination led him to avow, in a Dissertation in theTheological Repository published in England, I believe in the veryone which Mr. Everett refers to [Theol. Rep. Vol. 5. ] that theprophets clearly justify the Jews for expecting as their Messiah, aglorious monarch of the house and name of David, who shouldreign over them and all the human race; but he also maintained asI think in the same Dissertation, that Jesus Christ is neverthelesspredicted by the 53d. Of Isaiah. Several years afterwards, whenPriestley resided in America, he published his notes on Scripture, wherein he abandons the Christian interpretation, of the 53d. OfIsaiah, and applies it as I do to the Jewish nation. ]

[fn67 If all that Mr. Everett has said upon this subject were true, itwould amount after all only to an argument ad prejudicium, for theJews of past times, who believed the dreams of the Rabbies, butis of no weight whatever with those who reject them, as do all theBiblical critics of the present day. ]

[fn68 There occurs to me an instance of carelessness orsomething worse on the part of Mr. Everett in p. 342 of his work. Ihad said in my first publication, that "there is in the speech ofJames, Arts xv. A quotation from Amos in which, to make it fit thesubject, (which after all it does not fit) is the substitution of thewords "the remnant of men, " for "the remnant of Edom, " as it is inthe original. " On this Mr. Everett remarks with astonishing'composure, "There are few of my readers to whom I need say, that the same Hebrew word means 'men, ' and 'Edom, ' according'as it is pronounced, and St. James has as fair a right to pronounceit men, ' as Mr. English has to pronounce it 'Edom. '" The only wayby which Mr. Everett can escape the charge of fraud in this affair, is by allowing that he did not take the trouble to look at thepassage quoted from Amos, ix. 12. In the Hebrew Bible, fromwhich it will appear that neither St. James, nor any other Saint, has a right to read the passage "the remnant of men" (or Adam;)because the Hebrew word contains a letter (vau, ) which the wordAdam does not contain, and which limits its signification to Edom. 

I would observe by the. Way, that the passage in Amos "that they, (i. E. Israel, ) may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all theheathen (or nations) which are called by my name, appears tocontain an allusion to the Christians and Mohammedans, who arethe only nations besides the Jews who invoke, the name ofJehovah, and profess faith in his prophets. There are not a fewpassages in the prophets, which have a significance at present, which they could not have had at the time the predictions wereuttered. ]

[fn69 for "sun" read "been"]

[fn70 for "simple" read "single"]

[fn71 In the beginning of the 9th. Ch. Of Daniel, the prophet says;"I Daniel, understood by books the number of years whereof theword of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he wouldaccomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And Iset my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer andsupplications with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. " It appears fromhis prayer, that he supposed the Babylonish captivity of seventyyears, would terminate the chastisement of his nation. Upon whichthe angel Gabriel was sent to "give him skill and understanding, "and to inform him, that their chastisement would not be terminatedby the captivity of seventy years, but by one of "seventy timesseven, " i. E. A long and undefined period. The words "seven, " and"seventy, " were frequently used by the Hebrews to signify anindefinite number, and "seventy times seven" is a Hebreism usedto signify a great and indefinite number. Thus one of the disciplesof Jesus is represented as asking him, "Lord, how oft shall mybrother sin against me, and I forgive him; until seven times? Jesussaith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times, but untilseventy times seven. " Mat. Ch. Xviii. 21, 22. ]

[fn72 In my first work I had alleged this prophecy of Daniel, andhad inserted this word "in" enclosed in a parenthesis, in order tosignify, that it was not in the original, but was suggested by it asnecessary to the sense of the original. This "in, " in a parenthesis, the zealous Mr. Everett, who loves to find fault, pronounces to be"an absolute interpolation, " "and a shameless one too. " p. 157 ofhis work. ]

[fn73 The reader will see that I suppose the original to make oneperiod of seven weeks, and one of sixty-two. "The Englishtranslation renders it "seven weeks and threescore and twoweeks, " making one period of the two. This appears to me to beinadmissible: because if the prophet meant to signify but oneperiod, he would, as I think, have said, according to the analogy ofthe Hebrew language, not "seven weeks, and threescore and twoweeks, " but "nine weeks and threescore, weeks, " In the Hebrewthe clauses of the seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks, areseparated by a character which frequently, in the Hebrew Bible, performs the function of a full stop. ]

[fn74 delete "Joshua]

[fn75 read "heels over head"]

[fn76 Mr. Everett appear; himself to have been somewhatembarrassed by the gravity he is obliged to maintain in holdingforth this antithetical "analogy. " For he says, that he forbears "topursue analogies like these, which though they abound in thewritings of the Old Testament, [I challenge him to point out asingle such instance] and are familiar to all the nations of the East, have long been succeeded among us by a stricter style ofreasoning" p. 178. They have indeed been long since exploded bythe Modern Biblical Critics: and I doubt not that if this curiousanalogy should ever be subject to the notice of Eichorn orLessing, they would in their closets peruse it "with a smile or asigh. "]

[fn77 "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garmentsfrom Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in thegreatness of his strength?--I that speak in righteousness mighty tosave. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garmentslike him that treadeth in the winefat--I have trodden the wine pressalone; and of the peoples there vas none with me: for I trode themin mine anger, and trampled them in my fury, and Their bloodsprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of myredeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help: andI wondered there was none to uphold, therefore mine own armbrought salvation unto me; and my fury it upheld me, and I trodedown the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my fury, and I brought down their strength to the earth. " See Is. Ch. Lxiii. Inthe Hebrew. This passage relates to the "Great and Terrible Dayof Jehovah. " mentioned in Malachi. The Psalms of the Prophetsabound with descriptions of [fn78] it both terrible and magnificent. See for example Ezekiel xxxviii: & xv-xix chapters. Joel ch. Iii. AndZech. Ch. Xiv. ]

[fn78 for "of" read "and"]

[fn79 The enumerations given by the Jews themselves arealways below the truth. They conceal the real amount forparticular reasons. In Spain and Portugal, where it is dangerousfor a man to be known to be a Jew, there are notwithstanding, many thousands; probably one third of the population of Portugalis of Jewish descent. I have seen a Jew at Paris, who had residedseveral years in Spain, who has told me, that the number of hisnation in Spain is great and unsuspected. I believe him, for Orobioand Acosta, both Jews of the Peninsula, affirm that Jewsdisguised as Christians, were to be found not only among thepopulace of the Peninsula, but among the nobles and bishops. Inthose countries (Spain and Portugal, ) where the Inquisitionobliged every body to be educated as Christians, the fathers whowere secretly Jews, were accustomed, when their children cameto the years of discretion, to inform them of their descent, and toengage them secretly to conform to the religion of their fathers. Ifthey found their conversion impracticable, these wretched parentswere accustomed to poison such children, to prevent theircommunicating the dangerous secret to the Inquisition, whichwould occasion the whole family to be burned alive. See theBiography of Orobio and Acosta for some interesting informationupon this subject. ]

[fn80 for "exonerated" read "consecrated"]

[fn81 "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of thehouse of Israel, neither shall the priests the Levites want a manbefore me, " i. E. The house of David and the tribe of Levi shallnever be extinct, when called upon to fulfil the prophecies of thekingdom of the Messiah, and the re-establishment of the ritual ofthe temple, David will not want a man to sit upon the throne of thehouse of Israel, neither will the priests the Levites want a man todo sacrifice. And how was this to be secured, because says God, "as the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand ofthe sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites the priests that minister unto me. " That this is thesense of the phrase "shall not want a. Man, " is evident from theemployment of the same expression by Jeremiah in xxxv. Of hisProphecies: "Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel:Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand beforeme for ever, ch. Xxxv. 19. I. E. Not that a particular descendant ofJonadab the son of Rechab should always be standing in thepresence of the Lord for ever: but that he should never want arepresentative, his posterity should never be cut off. It is a singularfact that the descendants of Jonadab the son of Rechab still existin Arabia, preserving' the customs of their fathers; they are called"Beni al Khaib, " i. E. Descendants of Heber. See Jud. Ch. Iv. 11. 

To these considerations it may be added, that Jeremiah himselfpredicts the dethronement of the house of David, the destructionof the temple, and the captivity of the priests, and the wholeJewish nation, and as it is an allowed principle of sound criticismthat if the expressions of a writer are capable of two significations, one of which would make him contradict himself; and the otherwould leave him consistent: it is but fair to suppose that he meantto be consistent, and should be interpreted in the sense whichexcludes self contradiction. ]

[fn82 Ezekiel gives a. Prophecy of the same events spoken of byJeremiah, and in these words. "Thus saith Jehovah God; I willeven gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of thecountries where ye have been scattered; and I will give you theland of Israel. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a newspirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in mystatutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shallbe my people, and I will be their God. " Ezek. X. Xi. 17, 18, 19, 20. Now what is meant in the Old Testament by "God's statutes, andGod's ordinances, " is not the Mosaic law always signified by theseexpressions? Again, Ezek. Says, ch. Xxxvi. 23, &c. "I will sanctifymy great name, which was profaned among the nations, which yehave profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall knowthat I am Jehovah, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctifiedin you before their eyes. For I will take you from among thenations, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you intoyour own land; then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and yeshall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will Irelease you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will Iput within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of yourflesh, and will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spiritwithin you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shallkeep my judgments and do them. " See also Ezekiel, ch. Xxxvii. From verse 20 to the end. ]

[fn83 for "the" read "a"]

[fn84 Ac. To the Hebrew. ]

[fn85 In my first publication I had maintained, that Jesus Christhad not taught the abolishment of the Law, and alleged in proofthe passages following. "Think not I am come to destroy the law orthe Prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I sayunto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot [i. E. The smallestletter of it] or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all befulfilled. " (or consummated) Mat. V. 17. 18. "It is easier for heavenand earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. " Luke. Xvi. 17. Mr. Everett has a device by which he thinks he can evade thegripe of these passages: perhaps the following may satisfy himthat there is no way of escape. Luke reports, Acts xxi. 20. ThatJames the bishop of the mother church of Jerusalem, said to Paul, "Thou seest brother, how many thousands of Jews there arewhich believe: [i. E. Are Christians] and they are all zealous of theLaw. " Now if Jesus Christ had taught the abolishment of the Law, it appears to me that, his followers would not have been zealousin adhering to it: as to do so would be giving the lie to theirmaster's doctrine. ]

[fn86 So called, in Is. Ch. Lxvi. 22. ]

[fn87 The ancient Britons were savages and painted themselvesblue when wishing to appear in full dress. In truth it is hardly threehundred years since the bears of Europe have learned to walk upon their hinder legs, and had "a man's heart given unto them. " Andit is only about two hundred years since "the wild boar out of theforest" [fn88] has become a learned pig. It is not much more thana hundred years since the people of Boston, have left off hangingtheir fellow creatures for being witches and Quakers. ]

[fn88 after "forest" insert "of the North"]

[fn89 Mohammed was descended from Abraham throughIshmael. ]

[fn90 The numerous regulations concerning defilement, and theritual of purification, contained in the Pentateuch, were very properin reference to the immediate and personal presence of theDivinity among the Israelites, which therefore rendered the mostperfect cleanliness a duty. These regulations were also adopted tothe peculiar circumstance of the Jewish nation, which, wasseparated from all the rest of mankind and not obliged to go overtheir frontier to mingle with other people. But it is very true thatsuch regulations are "not calculated for us" Gentiles; because menwho are obliged constantly to mingle with other men, cannotobserve them. ]

[fn91 for "rights" read "rites"]

[fn92 delete "the"]

[fn93 According to 1 Chron. Ch. Xxix, 3, &c. The gold employed inadorning the Temple, amounted to at least 8000 talents, and thesilver to 17000 talents. This vast mass of treasure was given byDavid and his princes: how much was added to it by Solomon isnot said. ]

[fn94 The number of the males of the tribe of Levi in the time ofMoses, is said, Numbers, ch. Xxvi. 62. To have been twenty threethousand. But in the reign of Solomon the number of males of thetribe of Levi from thirty years and upwards, was thirtyeightthousand. See 1 Chron. Ch. Xxiii, 3. ]

[fn95 for "streaming" read "steaming"]

[fn96 The name of the Deity "JEHOVAH, " is a compound of twoHebrew words, the first of which signifies "HE IS, " and the second"HE SHALL BE. " The word JEHOVAH expresses these twosublime ideas in three syllables. ]

[fn97 for "unfeeling" read "unreflecting"]

[fn98 Mr. Everett represents me as supposing (because Imaintain that it is the sense of the prophets that the temple ofJerusalem will oneday be the house of prayer for all mankind) thatall nations must come and worship at the temple three times ayear as the Jews were required to do. See Mr. Everett's work, p. 207. 

But if Mr. Everett were more familiar with the Bible, he would learnthat the prophets represent that this visit to the future temple, fromother nations than the Jews, will be required only once a year. "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all thenations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up fromyear to year to worship the King Jehovah of Hosts, and to keepthe feast of Tabernacles. " Zech. Ch. Xiv. 16. 

Now supposing that the Old Testament predicts the truth inaffirming that the earth is to be restored to its primitive state, as itwas at the beginning, when God viewed every thing that he hadmade, and behold it was very good. If the earth is spontaneouslyto produce the delicious nourishment which we may suppose thatAdam enjoyed, a journey once a year through an ever variedparadise to the temple of Jehovah, can surely be no toil. If aperson will look at the situation of Jerusalem on a map of theworld, he will be sensible, that no spot on earth is as eligible to bechosen for a common centre of worship for mankind as that city. Itstands about sixty miles from the Mediterranean, whichcommunicates with the Atlantic, and not many days Journey fromthe Red Sea, which communicates with the Indian Ocean. Andwhen the winds and waves shall cease to be dangerous, whowould not desire to visit as often as possible, the land which issaid to be "the glory of all lands, " and illuminated by the ineffablesymbol of the immediate presence of the Lord of the Universe, atwhose effulgence "the sun shall be ashamed, and the moonconfounded. "

Neither is it necessary to suppose, that I know of, that every manof the human race should be annually present; if some come fromall nations, all nations may be said to come. See Appendix, I. ]

[fn99 after "would" insert "not"]

[fn100 "And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Thencame the Jews round about him, and said unto him, how long dostthou draw our souls asunder? If thou be the Messiah, tell usplainly. " John x, 23, 24. See the original Greek. ]

[fn101 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come, and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again intoa mountain, himself alone. " John vi. 15. ]

[fn102 It is remarkable that the gospels represent Jesus asrefusing to acknowledge himself to the Jews as the Messiah. Thegospels say, that Jesus confided his Messiahship to the disciplesas a secret, with express injunctions not to betray it. "Thencharged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he wasthe Messiah. " Mat. Xvi. 20. See also Mark viii. 29. And Luke ix. 21. This makes it possible that he never did claim that character, andthat the glory [fn103] in the gospels that he had told it as a secretto his disciples, was invented in order to furnish a reply to theJews, who might have told the first Christians, that Jesus hadnever told them so, and of course never pretended to beconsidered as such, and that the Christians could not justly blamethem for rejecting pretensions which Jesus never made to them, to whom especially he ought to have plainly declared them if hewished them to be received. The truth of the matter appears to be, that the notion of the Messiahship of Jesus, had originally nobetter foundation than the mistaken enthusiasm of his followers. ]

[fn103 for "glory" read "story"]

[fn104 The case of the Jews and Christians is parallel to that of"the prophet of Judah, " and "the prophet of Bethel. " The Christiansallow that God himself gave the law to the Jews, but they say tothe Jews that Jesus was ordered by God to repeal it. 

"It was said unto me (says the prophet of Judah) by the word ofJehovah, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there, (atBethel the chapel of the golden calf, ) nor turn to go by the waythat thou camest. He (i. E. The prophet of Bethel) said unto him, Iam a. Prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me bythe word of Jehovah, saying; Bring him back with thee into thinehouse, that he may eat bread, and drink water. But he lied untohim. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drink water. "

"And. It came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word ofJehovah came unto the prophet that brought him back: and hecried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thussaith. Jehovah, forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth ofJehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thyGod commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten breadand drunk water in the place, of the which Jehovah did say untothee, eat no bread, and drink no water, thy carcase shall not comeunto the sepulchre of thy fathers. " 1 Kings, ch. Xiii. ]

[fn105 after "that" insert "as"]

[fn106 1. If the Christians should do this, the fundamental articlesof their creed, would be, to love the Lord their God with all theirheart, and with all their mind, and soul, and strength, and to lovetheir neighbours as themselves: for on these two commandmentshang all the law and the prophets. 

2. If the Christians should do this, they would have precisely thesame Scriptures which the apostles and first Christians had, andwhich they considered as sufficient. Even Paul himselfpronounces, that the Old Testament was "given by inspiration ofGod, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, forinstruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. " 2 Tim. Ch. Iii. 16. 

3. If the Christians should do this, all the endless and rancourousdisputes about the trinity, incarnation, atonement, transubstantiation, worship of the Virgin Mary, the saints, theirimages and relics, the supremacy of the Pope, et id genus omne, would be quietly laid upon the shelf, and torment mankind nomore. 

4. The hundred sects into which Christians are divided, wouldcoalesce; for it is the New Testament which keeps them asunder. So long as that book is believed to contain a Revelation from God, there can be no peace. For pious and good men who believe thatit is of divine authority, and who are zealously disposed todiscover from its contents "what is the mind of the spirit, " mustnecessarily be divided in their opinions; BECAUSE the NewTestament is not only inconsistent with the Old, but is alsoinconsistent with itself too; and must therefore necessarily createa diversity of opinions in those who reverence it as the word ofGod. This is the grand secret, and everacting cause, which hasmade scisms in the church. ]

[fn107 Mr. Everett, p. 427 of his work, alluding to my anticipationsin one of my publications, in which I expressed myself as aware ofwhat I should have to encounter, in consequence of myundertaking on behalf of the oppressed, and slandered Jews; sayswith something like "the charity of a monk, and the meekness ofan inquisitor, " that "the affecting allusion he (Mr. English, ) hasmade to his prospects in the world, has many a time restrainedme, when I ought to have used the language of indignation. "

If a man had told me, that in consequence of my enterprise Ishould encounter great misfortunes, I should have answered, Iexpected, and was prepared to meet them. But if he had told me, a native of the New World discovered a few centuries ago, that thetime would come when I should write upon this subject, in the veryland, and almost on the very spot that gave birth to Moses and thePharoahs, I should have thought him amusing himself with a jest;nevertheless such is the fact. I write this book; on the banks of oldNile, and in sight of the pyramids. ]

[fn108 I have read in a Magazine, of an itinerant Methodistpreacher, not perfectly acquainted with the sublime arts of readingand writing, who, in a sermon of his in praise of Industry, alledgedas a proof of God's aversion to idleness, that God commandedMoses, when he built the Tabernacle in the wilderness, to cover itwith "BEGGAR'S SKINS. " The English Translation says Ex. Ch. Xxvi 14. With BADGER'S SKINS. " Now I suppose that if such aquotation from the Old. Testament was found in a work whose titlepage represented it to have been written by Bishop Marsh, thatthere is not a scholar, in. Christendom, who would not pronouncethe book to be a forgery. ]

[fn109 Mr. Everett says p. 243, of his work that "not one of thebooks of the New Testament, nor all of them together, wereintended to be a forensic defence of Christianity. " The-Epistle tothe Hebrews, at least, convicts this opinion of mistake. 

He says also p. 273. , "As to what Mr. English, after Collins, proceeds to say, that the authors of the books of the NewTestament always argue absolutely from the quotations they citeas prophecies out of the books of the old Testament, it is so farfrom being correct, that it is highly notorious, that they do notargue from them at all. " Mr. Everett must have felt very desperateto venture upon such an assertion in the face of the Epistle to theHebrews. Mr. Everett may succeed with some in facing downargument, but he is mistaken if he thinks, that

"Stubborn facts must still give place "To his unpenetrable face, "Which-makes its way through all affairs, &c. &c. "']

[fn110 Bishop Marsh does honour to his English honesty andcommon sense, in refusing to allow that such strong expressionscan signify a mere accommodation of a passage in the OldTestament. See his Notes to Michaelis' Introduction to the NewTestament. ]

[fn111 For "was" read "is"]

[fn112 For 21 read 23]

[fn113 This Psalm is entitled in the English version "a prayer forSolomon, " It should have been translated "a Psalm of Solomon. "]

[fn114 Mr. Everett says p. 51. That "the Septuagintdiscountenances this rendering. " What is that to me? I chose toabide by the original Hebrew, and not to follow a blundering, garbled, and interpolated version, which frequently imposes afalse sense upon the original, and not unfrequently no sense at all. More Christiano. ]

[fn115 Mr. Everett, p. 52. Considers this expression as a decisiveproof that the prophecies of the Messiah's kingdom, must beunderstood figuratively. Is Mr. Everett so ignorant of his Bible asnot to know, that it represents that at the beginning animals didnot prey upon each other, and if it was so once, which Mr. Everettwill not deny, it may be so again. See Gen. Ch. I. 30. ]

[fn116 for "thus saith" read "this is"]

[fn117 The Greeks, Russians, and Copts will not worshipimages, for that they say is flagrant idolatry; but they say there isno harm in praying before a picture. Their churches and housesare full of them. I have heard of a Greek bishop who employed afamous Italian painter to make a picture of the bishop's patron, Isaiah [fn118]: when it was finished he refused to take it, andexpressed himself much shocked, by its appearance. The painterasked why?

"your picture, said the bishop is scandalous, the figure stands outfrom the canvass absolutely as if it were a statue; it would beidolatry in me to pray before such a picture. "

[fn118 for "patron Isaiah" read "patron saint"]

[fn119 "In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and itshall bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and be a glorious cedarand under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow (if thebranches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the fieldshall know, that I Jehovah have brought down the high tree, haveexalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and made thedry tree to flourish, I Jehovah have spoken it and I will do it. "Ezech. Xvii. 23. ]