prophets, their triumphs and fucceffes, whilst adhering to God's worship, and their deplorable condition, when they corrupted his fervice with the impurities of the idolatrous nations, whom they drove from their poffeffions, form a moft furprizing chain of incidents, to which the annals of no other people upon earth can be faid to bear refemblance.

Had it fuited the all-wife purposes of God, when he revealed himself to this peculiar people, to have made them the inftruments for diffeminating the knowledge of his true religion and worship over the Gentile world, their office and adminiftration had been glorious indeed; but this part was either not allotted to them, or justly forfeited by their degenerate and abandoned conduct difobedient and rebellious against God's ordinances, they were fo far from propagating thefe imparted lights to the neighbouring nations, that they themselves funk into their darkness, and whilst all the land was over-run with idols, few were the knees which bowed to the living, true and only God.

Mofes,

Moses, their inspired lawgiver, judge and prophet, is generally faid to have delivered to them no doctrine of a future ftate: I am aware there is a learned author now living, one of their nation, David Levi by name, who controverts this affertion; it is fit therefore I should leave it in reference to his future proofs, when he fhall fee proper to produce them; in the mean time I may fairly ftate it upon this alternative, that if Mofes did not impart the doctrine abovementioned, it was wholly referved for future special revelation; if he did impart it, there must have been an obftinate want of faith in great part of the Jewish nation, who knowingly profeffed a contrary doctrine, or elfe there must have been fome obfcurity in Mofes's account, if they innocently mifunderstood it: The Sadducees were a great portion of the Jewish community, and if they were inftructed by their lawgiver to believe and expect a future ftate, it is high matter of offence in them to have disobeyed their teacher; on the other hand, if they were not instructed to this effect by Mofes, yet having been taught the knowledge of

one

one all-righteous God, it becomes just matter of furprize, how they came to overlook a confequence fo evident.

No. LXIV.

FROM the review we have taken of the

state of mankind in refpect to their religious opinions at the Chriftian æra it appears, that the Gentile world was fyftematically devoted to idolatry, whilft the remnant of the Jewith tribes profeffed the worship of the true God; but at the fame time there did not exist on earth any other temple dedicated to God's fervice, fave that at Jerufalem. The nation fo highly favoured by him, and fo enlightened by his immediate revelations, was in the lowest state of political and religious declenfion; ten out of their twelve tribes had been carried away into captivity, from which there has to this hour been no redemption, and the remaining two were brought under the Roman yoke, and divided into fects, one of which opposed the opinion of the other, and maintained that there was to be no refurrection of the dead:

The

The controversy was momentous, for the eternal welfare of mankind was the object of difcuffion, and who was to decide upon it ? The worshippers of the true God had one place only upon earth, wherein to call upon his name; the groves and altars of the idols occupied all the reft: Who was to restore his worship? Who was to redeem mankind from almoft total ignorance and corruption? 'Where was the light, that was to lighten the Gentiles? Reafon could do no more; it could only argue for the probability of a future ftate of rewards and punifhments, but demonftration was required; an evidence, that might remove all doubts, and this was not in the power of man to furnish: Some Being therefore muft appear of more than human talents to inftruct mankind, of more than human, authority to reform them: The world was loft, unless it should please God to interpofe, for the work was above human hands, and nothing but the power which created the world, could fave the world.

Let any man caft his ideas back to this period, and ask his reafon, if it was not natural to fuppo.e that the Almighty Being, to whom this general ruin and disorder muft

be

be visible, would in mercy to his creatures fend fome help amongst them; unless it had been his purpose to abandon them to deftruction, we may presume to say he furely would: Is it then with man to prescribe in what particular mode and form that redemption should come? Certainly it is not with man, but with God only; he, who grants the vouchfafement, will direct the means: Be these what they may, they must be preternatural and miraculous, because we have agreed that it is beyond the reach of man by any natural powers of his own to accomplish: A fpecial infpiration then is requifite; fome revelation it fhould feem, we know not what, we know not how, nor where, nor whence, except that it must come from God himfelf: What if he fends a Being upon earth to tell us his immediate will, to teach us how to please him, and to convince us of the reality of a future state? That Being then must come down from him, he must have powers miraculous, he must have qualities divine and perfect, he must return on earth from the grave, and personally fhew us that he has furvived it, and is corporeally living after death: Will this be evidence