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 PREFACE. 
 
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IV PREFACE. 
 
 preserve existence through a lapse of eighteen cen- 
 turies, amidst the hatred, the execration, the per- 
 secution of all nations among whom they have been 
 dispersed ; they have been wonderfully conducted, 
 preserved, distinguished. They are still kept se- 
 parate from the rest of mankind, and present dis- 
 tinctive features of body, of mind, of habits, and 
 behaviour j and all this is because eternal Providence 
 entertains purposes of wisdom, love, and mercy 
 concerning them, which are advancing to their ac- 
 complishment." 
 
 The compiler of the following pages frankly 
 acknowledges that he is indebted for the materials 
 to several valuable books; viz. Bas?iage's History of 
 the Jews; a compendious Dictionary of the Bible, pub- 
 lished by IV. Button, Paternoster Row; an admirable 
 little piece, entitled, a View of all Religions, written 
 by Hannel Adams, first printed in America, and now 
 reprinted in England; to which is annexed, an ex- 
 cellent Essay on Truth, by Andrew Fuller. Also 
 valuable matter has been extracted from the Monthly 
 Magazine, particularly respecting their present con- 
 dition in France and Germany. The writings of Dr. 
 Herman Witsius, Dr. Gill, Dr. Whitby, Dr. Dod- 
 dridge, and President Edwards, have furnished pleas- 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 ing anecdotes, which the reader will find worth 
 perusing. 
 
 The Sermons annexed were preached several years 
 since, and it has been thought advisable to give them 
 publicity, as they contain those sentiments which 
 are very important, and closely connected with the 
 eternal felicity of both Jews and Gentiles. 
 
 N. B. The Sermons were preached by the following 
 Ministers: 
 
 The First and Fifth, by Rev. Dr. Haweis. 
 
 The Second, by Rev. Mr. Love, late Secretary to the 
 
 Missionary Society. 
 The Third, by Rev. Mr. Nicol, one of the Ministers of 
 
 the Scots' Church in Swallow Street. 
 The Fourth, by Rev. Samuel Greatheed, of Newport 
 
 Pagnel. 
 The Sixth, by the late Rev. Dr. Hunter. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 1. A general rfistory of the Jews.,... 1 
 
 2. A particular Account of their State at the Birth of Jesus 
 
 Christ 25 
 
 3r An interesting Narrative of their Sufferings and Revolu- 
 
 lutions which they have met with in England 36 
 
 4. Facts and Anecdotes relative to their present Condition in 
 
 France and Germany 49 
 
 5. A Statement of the Sentiments and Sects of modern Jews 59 
 
 6. The Views of eminent Divines, respecting their future 
 
 Conversion to Christ, and Restoration to their own 
 Land.., ,.,,.,,,,,,,.,,,.,,,,■,.,,.,.,. .............. 64 
 
PaiBTCJSTOIT X' 
 
 THE 
 
 
 RISE, FALL, AND FUTURE RESTORATION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 FT has been justly remarked by the late Dr. Hunter, 
 -*• that, of all the families which have peopled the globe, 
 no one has acquired so much celebrity, through a duration 
 so extended, and in situations so varied, as the family of 
 the patriarch Abraham. The illustrious Founder himself 
 began his career at the age of seventy-five years, in a 
 state of exile from his country, his kindred, and his fa- 
 ther's house, with a promise from heaven of a progeny 
 numerous, distinguished, renowned beyond example. 
 " He went out, not knowing whither he went ;" and, 
 contrary to every appearance of nature, " there sprang 
 of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of 
 the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea- 
 shore innumerable." 
 
 God promised to Abraham that he would render his 
 seed extremely numerous ; but it was long before the pro- 
 mised seed made any remarkable appearance. Abraham's 
 seed by Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah, indeed mightily 
 increased, but neither these, nor the posterity of Esau, 
 were the promised offspring. In Jacob's twelve sons, it 
 first began to increase ; and in after times they were called 
 
 a 
 
2 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Israel, or Jacob, from their progenitor ; and, in times still 
 later, were called Jews, such of them as were known, 
 from the name of Judah. In about two hundred and ten 
 or two hundred and fifteen years, they increased in Egypt 
 from seventy, to between two and three millions, men, 
 women, and children. While Joseph lived, who had 
 preserved the Egyptian nation, amidst a terrible famine, 
 they were kindly used by the Egyptian monarchs; but 
 soon after were terribly oppressed. From a suspicion, 
 that they might, in process of time, become too strong 
 for the natives, they were condemned to labour in slavish 
 and toilsome employments. The more they were oppressed, 
 tjie more they multiplied. The midwives, and others, 
 were therefore ordered to murder every male infant at the 
 time of its birth ; but the midwives shifted the horrible 
 task. Every body was therefore ordered to destroy the 
 Hebrew male children wherever they were found: the 
 females they intended to incorporate with the Egyptians. 
 After they had been thus miserably oppressed for about an 
 hundred years, and on the very day that finished the four 
 hundred and thirtieth year from God's first promise of a seed 
 to Abraham, and about four hundred years after the birth 
 of Isaac, God by terrible plagues on the Egyptians, ob- 
 liged them to let the Hebrews go, under the direction of 
 Moses and Aaron. As the Hebrews' due wages had been 
 denied them, God, the supreme judge and proprietor of 
 all, ordered them to ask a vast deal of precious things from 
 the Egyptians, and carry them off. Thus they departed 
 peaceably, and with great wealth, without so much as one 
 of their number weak or sickly. See Gen. xv. xvii. xxii. 
 with Exod. i. — xiii. Acts. vii. Neh. ix. 
 
 God directed, the Hebrews' march by a cloud, which 
 in the day was dusky, and screened them from the 
 scorching heat of the sun, and in the night was fiery, and 
 gave them light. He caused them to march towards the 
 streights of Pihahiroth, where there were mountains on 
 each side, and the Red Sea before them. Pharaoh, ex- 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS* 3 
 
 pecting they were now entangled, pursued them with a 
 mighty army to bring them back. The Lord opened a 
 passage through the Red Sea for the Hebrews; but the 
 Egyptians, attempting to follow them, were drowned. The 
 Hebrews were now in a diy and barren desert ; nor had they 
 brought provision for the journey. God supplied them 
 with water from a rock, and with manna from heaven. 
 He regaled them with quails, in the Desert of Sin. By 
 means of Moses 1 prayers, and Joshua's bravery, he enabled 
 them to rout the Amalekites, who fell on their rear. 
 Having got officers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and 
 tens, set over them, they marched southward, along the 
 east side of the western gulf of the Red Sea, and came 
 to Mount Sinai, about fifty days after their departure from 
 Egypt. There God, in a most tremendous manner, from 
 the midst of a terrible fire from the top of the mount, 
 avouched them for his peculiar people, intimated to them 
 his laws, and confirmed the authority of Moses. While 
 Moses tarried in the mount, they so far lost the impres- 
 sion of every thing they had seen and heard, that they 
 formed, and worshipped the golden calf. This being 
 destroyed, and 3,000 of the idolaters cut off by the sword 
 of the zealous Levites, God, at the intercession of 
 Moses, spared them; he renewed the tables of his law; 
 his tabernacle was erected among them ; Aaron and his 
 sons consecrated to the priesthood ; and vast numbers 
 of ceremonies concerning offerings, purifications, and 
 festivals, were prescribed them. The numbers of their 
 fighting men were taken, and arranged in four divisions, 
 three tribes in each ; and the manner of their marching 
 and encampment appointed : the tabernacle was dedi- 
 cated, by the oblations of their chief princes, on twelve 
 several days ; the Levites were consecrated to the service 
 of it, in room of the Hebrews' first-born ; and the pass- 
 over was again observed in the first month of the second 
 year after they had come out of Egypt, Exod. xiv. — xl. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Lev. i. — xxvii. Numb. i. — x. Neh. ix. Psal. lxxviii. cv, 
 cvi. cxiv. cxxxv. cxxxvi. Ezek. xx. xvi. 4 — 14. 
 
 Having continued about a year at the foot of Sinai, 
 they marched northward, loathed the manna, and were 
 punished with a month's eating of flesh, till a plague brake 
 out among them. About this time, seventy or seventy- 
 two elders were set over them. They quickly arrived 
 on the south border of Canaan at Kadesh-barnea ; but. 
 for their rash belief of the ten wicked spies, and their 
 contempt of the promised land, God had entirely destroy- 
 ed them, had not Moses' prayers prevented it. They 
 were condemned to wander in the desert till the end of 
 forty years, till that whole generation, except Caleb and 
 Joshua, should be cut off by death. During this period, 
 God frequently punished them for their rebellion, mur- 
 muring, or loathing of manna. The Canaanites made 
 terrible havoc of them at Hormah, when they attempted 
 to enter Canaan, contrary to the will of God. Above 
 14,000 of them perished in the matter of Korah. Multi- 
 tudes of them were bitten by serpents. Twenty -four 
 thousand of them were cut off for their idolatry and 
 whoredom with the Midianitish women. But God's 
 marvellous favours were still continued : his cloudy pillar 
 conducted and protected them; his manna from heaven 
 supplied them with meat ; the streams issuing from the 
 rock of Meribah, followed their camp about thirty nine 
 years. Their clothes never waxed old. At Kadesh, and 
 at Beer, God anew supplied them with water. The 
 intended curse of Balaam was turned into a blessing 
 in their favour. During this period, the cloud conducted 
 them from Kadesh-barnea on the south of Canaan, back 
 to Ezion-geber, which is on the north east oi" Sinai ; and 
 then back to the south border of Canaan. This journey, 
 though of no more than a few hundred miles, took them 
 up about thirty eight years, and it is likely they marched 
 hither and thither, so that it is in vain to pretend to give 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 5 
 
 an accurate account of their stations. Nor were they 
 yet admitted to enter the promised land, but conducted 
 along the south border of Idumea by a way exceeding 
 rough and fatiguing. At last they marched to the north 
 east, till they came to about the head of the river Arnon, 
 and turned westward to the Jordan. While they tarried 
 in these quarters, they took possession of the kingdoms 
 of Sihon and Og, on the east of Canaan; and made 
 terrible slaughter of the Midianites, for enticing them to 
 uncleanness and idolatry. After crossing the Jordan, 
 miraculously divided, under Joshua, the successor of 
 Moses, as their general, they solemnly dedicated 
 themselves to the Lord, by circumcision, and eating of 
 the passover ; and, in a war of six years, conquered 
 thirty-one kingdoms. On the seventh the land was 
 divided, and the tabernacle of God set up at Shiloh; and 
 not long after, they dedicated themselves to the Lord, 
 Numb. xi. — xxiv. Neh. ix. Psal. lxxviii. cv. cvi. cxiv. &c. 
 Gen. xlix. Deut. xxxiii. 
 
 On their entrance into Canaan, God ordered them to 
 cut off every idolatrous Canaanite; but they spared vast 
 numbers of them, who enticed them to wickedness, and 
 were sometimes God's rod to punish them. For many 
 ages, the Hebrews scarcely enjoyed a blink of outward 
 prosperity, but they relapsed into idolatry. Micah, and 
 the Danites, introduced it long after Joshua's death. 
 About this time, the lewdness of the men of Gibeah 
 occasioned a war of the eleven tribes against their bre- 
 thren of Benjamin. To punish the tribes for their wick- 
 edness, and their neglecting at first to consult the mind 
 of the Lord, they, though more than fourteen to one, 
 were twice routed by the Benjamites, and 40,000 of them 
 sjain. In the third, all the Benjamites were slain except 
 six hundred. Heartily vexed for the loss of a tribe, the other 
 Hebrews provided wives for these six hundred, at the ex- 
 pence of slaying most of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, 
 and of eluding their oath, in the affair of the daughters of 
 
6 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Shiloh, Judg. i. ii. xvii. — xxi. Their relapses into ido- 
 latry, also brought on them repeated turns of slavery 
 from the Heathen, among or around them. From 
 A. M. 2591 to 2598, they were terribly oppressed by 
 Cushanrishathaim ; but delivered by Othniel. From 
 A. M. 2661 to 2679, by Eglon, king of Moab ; from 
 which they were delivered by Ehud. Soon after which, 
 they were delivered from the ravages of the Philistines 
 by Shamgar. From A. M. 2699 to 2719, they were op- 
 pressed by Jabin king of the Canaanites ; but delivered 
 by Deborah and Barak. From 2752 to 2759, by the 
 Midianites, but delivered by Gideon, whose son Abime- 
 lech was a scourge to Israel. From 2799 to 2817, by 
 the Ammonites on the east, and the Philistines on the 
 west; but Jephthah rescued them from the Ammonites. 
 From A. M. 2849 to 2889, they were oppressed by the 
 Philistines, who were harassed by Samson, and routed by 
 Samuel, after the death of Eli. During this last oppres- 
 sion, the Hebrews were almost ruined ; the ark was taken, 
 and for perhaps one hundred and ten or one hundred and 
 thirty years afterwards was without a settled abode, 
 Judg. i. — xxi. 1 Sam. ii. — vii. When the Hebrews had 
 been governed by judges for about three hundred and 
 forty years after the death of Joshua, they took a fancy 
 to have a king. Saul was their first sovereign, who op- 
 pressed them. Under his reign they had almost perpetual 
 struggles with the Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines; 
 and, at his death, the nation was left on the brink of ruin by 
 the Philistines. After about seven years struggling between 
 the eleven tribes that clave to Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, 
 and the tribe of Judah, which erected themselves into a 
 kingdom under David, David became sole monarch of 
 Israel. Under him, the Hebrews subdued their neigh- 
 bours the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, 
 and Sj'rians, and took possession of the whole dominion 
 which had been promised them, from the border of Egypt 
 to the banks of the Euphrates. Under Solomon they had 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 7 
 
 little war, but employed themselves in building, and ma- 
 ritime affairs. It is plain, however, that they disrelished 
 the taxes which he laid upon them towards the close of his 
 reign. After Solomon's death, two of the Hebrew tribes 
 formed a kingdom of Judah and Benjamin, ruled by the 
 family of David. This division, which happened about 
 A. M. 30^9, and in the one hundred or one hundred 
 and twentieth year of their kingdom, tended not a little 
 to the hurt of both parties, by their contests. The 
 kingdom of Israel, Ephraim, or the ten tribes, had never 
 so much as one pious king ; and often the royal family 
 were destroyed, and others took their place. Idolatry, 
 particularly of worshipping the golden calves of Bethel 
 and Dan, was always their established religion, and 
 brought miseries unnumbered on their heads. The king- 
 dom of Judah had wicked and pious sovereigns by turns ; 
 but their frequent relapses into idolatry often occasioned 
 distress to the country. To punish the kingdom of 
 Judah, or the Jews, for their apostacy, God delivered 
 them into the hand of Shishak king of Egypt, who ra- 
 vaged the country, but appears to have done no hurt to 
 Jeroboam's kingdom, as perhaps he was in league with 
 him. There was almost perpetual war between Jeroboam 
 and Rehoboam, and Abijah his son. In one battle Jeroboam 
 had 500,000 of his forces cut off by the army of Abijah, 
 which was but the half of his own. From A. M. 3049 to 
 3115, the kingdom of Judah for the most part followed 
 the true God, and had considerable prosperity and suc- 
 cess against their enemies. Jehoshaphat had an army of 
 1,160,000 men. Meanwhile, the Israelites under Nadab, 
 Baasha, Elah, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jeroboam, were 
 generally in a most wretched condition, especially by 
 Ahab's introduction of the worship of Baal ; and by 
 various famines, by repeated wars with the Philistines 
 and Syrians, and by civil broils between Omri and Tibni, 
 1 Sam. viii. — xxxi. 2 Sam. i. — xxiv. 1 Kings i. — xxii. 
 1 Chron. x. — xxix. 2 Chron. i.— xx. 
 
8 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Not only was the kingdom of Israel, but that of Judah, 
 brought to the very brink of ruin, after the death of 
 Jehoshaphat; nor did his successors, Jehoram and Aha- 
 ziah, de'serve a better fate. From A.M. 3120 to 3232, 
 Jehu and his posterity governed the kingdom of Israel, 
 the worship of Baal was abolished ; bat the idolatry of 
 the calves was retained. To punish this, the kingdom 
 was terribly ravaged, and the people murdered by the 
 Syrians, during the reign of Jehu, and especially of 
 Jehoahaz his son ; but Jehoash and Jeroboam his son, 
 reduced the Syrians, and rendered the kingdom of the 
 ten tribes more glorious than ever it had been. In the 
 beginning of this period, Athaliah for six years tyran- 
 nized over Judah. After her death, religion was pro- 
 moted under Joash, by means of his uncle Jehoiada, the 
 high priest ; but they quickly relapsed into idolatry ; and 
 during the reigns of Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, as well as 
 of Jotham, numbers sacrificed in high places, but to the 
 Lord their God. Nor did the kingdom recover its gran- 
 deur, till the reign of Uzziah. Under the reigns of 
 Zechariab, Shallum, Menahem, and Pekahiah, the king- 
 dom of the ten tribes was reduced to a most wretched 
 condition, by their intestine broils, murder of sovereigns, 
 and Assyrian ravages. Under Pekah, they recovered 
 part of their grandeur ; but he being murdered by 
 Hoshea, a civil war of nine years seems to have hap- 
 pened ; at the end of which Hoshea found himself 
 master of the crown. Under Jotham the kingdom of 
 Judah was moderately happy ; but under Ahaz, they 
 relapsed into idolatry, and were terribly harassed by the 
 Philistines, Syrians, and by the ten tribes under Pekah. 
 About A. M. 3280, the kings of the Hebrews were better 
 than they had been since the division. Hezekiah of Judah 
 was an eminent reformer, and Hoshea was less wicked 
 than his predecessors ; but the abounding wickedness of 
 both kingdoms had ripened them for ruin. Provoked 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 9 
 
 with Hoshea for entering into a league with So king of 
 Egypt, Shalmaneser king of Assyria invaded the kingdom 
 of the ten tribes, besieged and took their cities, mur- 
 dered most of the people, ripping up the women with 
 child, and dashing infants to pieces: he carried almost 
 all the rest captive to Hara, Halah, and Habor, by the 
 river Gozan, and to the cities of the Medes, on the 
 nor.h east of the Assyrian empire; and brought the 
 Samaritans, and placed them in their stead. Thus the 
 kingdom was ruined two hundred and fifty-four years after 
 its erection. Sennacherib king of Assyria, contrary to 
 treaty, invaded the kingdom of Judah, and brought that 
 nation to the brink of ruin. Hezekiah's piety, and Isaiah's 
 prayer, were a means of preventing it ; but under his son 
 Manasseh, the Jews abandoned themselves to horrid im- 
 pieties. To punish them, Esarhaddon king of Assyria, 
 about the twenty-second year of Manasseh's reign, 
 invaded Judea, reduced the kingdom, and carried Ma- 
 nasseh prisoner to Babylon : he also transported the 
 remains of the Israelites to Media, and the countries 
 adjacent. What became of them afterwards is unknown. 
 2 Kings i. — xxi. 2 Chron. xxi. — xxxiii. Amos ii. — ix. 
 Hos. i. — xiii. Mic. i. ii. iii. iv. vii. Isa. i. — x. xvii. xxii. 
 xxiv. — xxxi. xxxvi. — xxxix. 1 Chron. v. 26. 
 
 Manasseh repented, and the Lord brought him back to 
 his kingdom, where he promoted the reformation of his 
 subjects during the rest of his reign ; but his son Amon 
 defaced all, and rendered matters as wicked as ever. His 
 son Josiah mightily promoted reformation, and brought it 
 to such a pitch, as it had never been since the reigns of 
 David and Solomon; but the people were mostly hypo- 
 critical in it, and the Lord never forgave the nation the 
 murders, and other wickedness of Manasseh, as to the 
 external punishment thereof. After Josiah was slain by 
 Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, the people of Judah 
 returned to their idolatry. God gave them up to ser- 
 vitude, first to the Egyptians, and then to the Chal- 
 
10 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 deans. The fate of their kings, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, 
 Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, was unhappy ; and so was the 
 case of their subjects during the twenty-two years of their 
 reigns. Provoked by Zedekiah's treachery, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar invaded the kingdom, sacked and burned the 
 cities, and murdered such multitudes, that of a kingdom, 
 once consisting of about six millions of people, no more 
 than a few thousands were left. The few that were left, 
 after the murder of Gedaliah, flying to Egypt, made them 
 suspect them guilty of the murder, and excited their fury 
 against the Jewish nation. Thus the kingdom of Judah 
 was ruined, A. M. 3416, about three hundred and eighty- 
 eight years after its division from that of the ten tribes. 
 In the seventieth year from the begun captivity, in the 
 fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the fifty-second from the 
 destruction of the city, the Jews, according to the edict 
 of Gyrus king of Persia, who had overturned the empire 
 of Chaldea, returned to their own country, under the 
 direction of Shesbazzar or Zerubbabel, the grandson of 
 king Jehoiachin, Joshua the high priest, and others, to 
 the number of 42,360, and 7,337 servants of an Heathen 
 original; but as the particulars mentioned by Ezra amount 
 but to 29,818, and those by Nehemiah to 31,031, it seems 
 the overplus of about 1 2,000, were of the remains of the 
 ten tribes. 
 
 Vast numbers of the Jews who had agreeable settle- 
 ments, remained in Babylon. After their return, the 
 Jews, under the direction of Zerubbabel, Joshua, Ezra, 
 and Nehemiah, rebuilt the temple and city of Jerusalem, 
 put away their strange wives, and renewed their covenant 
 with God, Isa. xiv. xl. — xlv. xlviii. xlix. Jer. ii. xliv. 1. 
 lii. Mic. iv. Hab. i. iii. Zeph. i. ii. iii. 2 Kings xxii. — 
 xxv. 2 Chron. xxxiii. — xxxvi. Ezra i. — x. Neh. i. — xiii. 
 
 The Jews, after their return from Babylon, retained an 
 aversion to idolatry, which they believed had been a chief 
 reason of their ejection from their land ; but many cor- 
 ruptions remained, and their troubles were not few. Their 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 1 1 
 
 temple wanted the antient ark, cherubim, shechinah, pot 
 of manna, and budding rod. The gift of prophecy 
 ceased, after the death of Haggai, Zechariah, and Ma- 
 lachi. Tatnai, Shethar-boznar, Rehum, &c. opposed the 
 building of the temple. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, 
 opposed the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem. About 
 A. M. 3490, or 3546, they escaped the ruin designed 
 them by Haman. About 3653, Darius Ochus king of 
 Persia, who is by some pretended to be the husband of 
 Esther, and master of Haman, ravaged part of Judea, 
 took Jericho by force, and carried off a great number of 
 prisoners ; part of which he sent into Egypt, and the 
 rest he transported to Hyrcania, on the south of the Cas- 
 pian Sea. When Alexander was in Canaan, about A. M. 
 3670, he was at first provoked with their adherence to the 
 Persians, but being afterwards pacified, he confirmed to 
 them all their privileges ; and having built Alexandria, 
 he settled vast numbers of them there, endowed with the 
 same privileges as his Macedonian subjects. About four- 
 teen years after, Ptolemy Lagus, the Greek king of Egypt, 
 to revenge their fidelity to Laomedon his rival, ravaged 
 Judea, took Jerusalem, and carried 100,000 Jews pri- 
 soners to Egypt, but used them so kindly, and even 
 assigned them places of power and trust, that many of 
 their countrymen followed them of their own accord. 
 It seems, that, about eight years after, he transported 
 another multitude of Jews to Egypt, and every where 
 gave them equal privileges as Alexander had done. 
 About the same time, Seleucus Nicator having built about 
 thirty new cities in Asia, sixteen of which were called 
 Antioch, nine Seleucia, six Laodicea, settled in them as 
 many Jews as he could, they being reckoned most faithful 
 to their friendly sovereigns ; and bestowed on them the 
 same privileges as they had at Alexandria: nor did An- 
 tiochus Theos, his grandson, less favour them. Piolemy 
 Philadelphus of Egypt, about 3720, at his own expence, 
 bought the freedom of all the Jewish slaves in Egypt ; 
 
12 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and Ptolemy Euergetes offered a vast number of victims 
 at Jerusalem for his victories over the Syro-grecians, and 
 was extremely kind to Joseph and other Jews. Ptolemy 
 Philopater, having defeated Antiochus the Great, offered 
 a great multitude of victims at Jerusalem ; but provoked 
 with the priests, for hindering his entrance into the Holy 
 of Holies, and at the affright he had received in attempt- 
 ing it, he issued forth murderous decrees against all the 
 Jews in his dominions. Antiochus the Great soon after 
 invaded Judea, and the Jews readily revolted to him. To 
 reward this, he repaired their temple at his own expence, 
 and assigned twenty thousand pieces of silver, fourteen hun- 
 dred measures of wheat, and confirmed to them all the 
 privileges which had been ratified to them by Alexander. 
 Such dispersed Jews as settled at Jerusalem, he for three 
 years exempted from tribute. Such as were slaves to his 
 subjects, he ordered to be set free ; but Scopas quickly 
 reduced Judea, and put an Egyptian garrison into Jeru- 
 salem. Under Philometer, Onias, who, about 3850, 
 built a temple at On, or Heliopolis, in Egypt, after the 
 model of that at Jerusalem, and Dositheus, had almost 
 the whole management of the Egyptian state. About 
 A. M. 3828, Heliodorus, by his master Seleucus' orders, 
 attempted to pillage the temple ; but an angel affrighted 
 him. Soon after Antiochus Epiphanes came to the Syrian 
 throne, and severely the Jews felt the effects of his fury 
 and madness. Because Onias the high priest refused to 
 comply with some imitations of the Heathen, he turned 
 him out, and sold it to Jason his brother for three hundred 
 and fifty talents of silver. Soon after he took it from 
 him, and sold it to Menelaus, a third brother, for six 
 hundred and fifty talents of silver. About A. M. 3834, 
 Antiochus, enraged with the Jews, for rejoicing at the 
 report of his death, and for the peculiar form of their 
 worship, in his return from Egypt, forced his way into 
 Jerusalem, murdered 40,000, and sold as many more for 
 slaves to the Heathen around, carried off a great part of the 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 13 
 
 sacred furniture, with about one thousand eight hundred 
 talents of gold and silver, which he found in the treasury ; 
 and appointed two of his most savage friends, Philip the 
 Phrygian, and Andronicus, to govern Judea and Samaria, 
 as his deputies. About two years after, enraged at the 
 check his designs against Egypt met with from the Ro- 
 mans, he, in his return, ordered his troops to pillage 
 the cities of Judea, murder the men, and sell the women 
 and children for slaves. On a Sabbath-day, Apollonius, 
 his general, craftily entered Jerusalem, killed multitudes, 
 and carried off 10,000 prisoners. Antiochus built a fort 
 adjacent to the temple, whence his garrison might fall 
 upon the people who came to worship in the courts ; the 
 temple was soon after dedicated to Jupiter Olympius, an 
 idol of Greece, and his statue was erected on the altar 
 of burnt offering. For two thousand three hundred 
 mornings and evenings, -or three years and about two 
 months, the daily sacrifice was stopped, and the temple 
 Tendered a shambles of murder, and of all manner of 
 baseness. Such Jews as refused to eat swines' flesh, and 
 comply with idolatry, were exposed to all the horrors of 
 persecution, torture, and death. While Eleazer, and 
 the widow with her seven sons, and others, bravely suf- 
 fered martyrdom, and others with ardour taught their 
 brethren the evil of idolatrous compliances, Mattathias 
 the priest, with his sons, chiefly Judas, Jonathan, and 
 Simon, who were called Maccabees, bravely fought for 
 their religion and liberties. After a variety of smaller 
 advantages, Judas, who succeeded his father about 3840, 
 gave Nicanor and the king's troops a terrible defeat, re- 
 gained the temple, repaired and purified it, dedicated it 
 anew, restored the daily worship of God, and repaired 
 Jerusalem, which was now almost a ruinous heap. After 
 he had for four years more, with a small number of 
 troops, proved a terrible scourge to the Syrians, and other 
 Heathens around, the Edomites, Arabs, &c. he was slain, 
 and Jonathan his brother succeeded him, as high priest 
 
14 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and general. He and his brother Simon, who succeeded 
 him, wisely and bravely promoted the welfare of the 
 church and state, and were both basely murdered. Hir- 
 canus, Simon's son, succeeded him, A. M. 3869 ; he at 
 first procured a peace with the Syrians, and soon after 
 threw off the yoke. He subdued Idumea, and forced 
 < the inhabitants to be circumcised, and to accept the 
 Jewish religion : he reduced the Samaritans, and demo- 
 lished their temple at Gerizzim, and Samaria their capital. 
 His son Alexander Janneus succeeded him, A. M. 3899. 
 He reduced the Philistines, and obliged them to accept 
 circumcision : he also reduced the country of Moab, 
 Aramon, Gilead, and part of Arabia. Under these three 
 reigns alone, the Jewish nation was independent after the 
 captivity. His widow govei-ned nine years with great 
 wisdom and prudence. After her death, the nation was 
 almost ruined with civil broils, raised by the Pharisees, 
 who had hated Alexander for his cruelties, and their 
 opposers: and in 3939, Aristobulus invited the Romans 
 to assist him against Hircanus, his elder brother. They 
 turning his enemy, quickly reduced the country, took 
 Jerusalem by force ; and Pompey, and a number of his 
 officers, pushed their way into the sanctuary, if not the 
 Holy of Holies, to view the furniture thereof. About 
 nine years after, Crassus the Roman general, to obtain 
 money for his mad Parthian expedition, pillaged the temple 
 of its valuables, to the worth of eight thousand talents of 
 gold and silver. After Judea had, for more than thirty 
 years, been a scene of ravage and blood, and during 
 twenty-four of which, had been oppressed by Herod the 
 Great, assisted by Antony the Roman Triumvir, got 
 himself installed in the kingdom. Finding that neither 
 force nor flattery could make his reign easy, he, about 
 twenty years before our Saviour's birth, with the Jews* 
 consent, began to build the temple ; in three years and a 
 half the principal parts were finished, and the rest not 
 till eight years 'after, if ever, Mic. v. 3. Ezek. xxi. 21. 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 15 
 
 Dan. ix- 24, 25. Deut. xxviii. 68. Joel iii. 16, 17. Psal. 
 lxviii. 29, 30. Zech. ix. 8, 13 — 16. Dan. viii. 9—14. xi. 
 11, 14, 2S — 35. About this time, the Jews every where 
 had hopes of the appearance of their Messiah, to free 
 them from their bondage, and bring their nation to the 
 summit of temporal glory. The Messiah, or Christ, 
 and his forerunner, John the Baptist, actually appeared : 
 both were born about A. M. 4000, which is four years 
 before our common aera. Instigated by fear of losing his 
 throne, Herod sought to murder him in his infancy. 
 When he assumed his public character, and after his 
 resurrection, many of the Jews believed on him, and 
 these chiefly of the poorer sort ; but the most part, of- 
 fended with the spiritual nature of his office, his mean 
 appearance, and sorry retinue, reproached, persecuted, 
 and at last got him betrayed, and crucified between two 
 thieves, as if he had been a noted malefactor, and wished 
 his blood might be on them and their children. The Jews' 
 rejection of Christ was wisely ordered of God ; it fulfilled 
 the antient prophecies; it demonstrated, that the report 
 of Jesus's Messiahship, was far from being supported 
 with carnal influence ; and by this means, the Jews came 
 to be standing monuments of his birth, amidst almost every 
 nation under heaven. 
 
 The sceptre was now wholly departed from Judah. 
 About twenty-seven years before Christ's death, Judea 
 was reduced into a province. After our Saviour's 
 ascension, their misery gradually increased. Some false 
 prophets, as Judas and Theudas, had already arisen ; 
 now their number exceedingly multiplied : Simon Magus, 
 Dositheus the Samaritan, and the Egyptian, who led 
 4,000 men into the wilderness, were of this sort. Under 
 Fcelix's government, pretended Messiahs were so nume- 
 rous, that sometimes one was apprehended every day. 
 Caligula had wreaked his rage on the Jews, for refusing 
 to worship his statue, if Herod had not soothed him, or 
 death prevented him. At Csesarea, 20,000 of the Jews 
 
16 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 were killed by the Syrians in their mutual broils, and the 
 rest expelled from the city. To revenge which, the Jews 
 murdered a vast number of Syrians in Syria, and Canaan ; 
 and were in no small numbers murdered in their turn. 
 At Damascus, 10,000 unarmed Jews were killed ; and at 
 Bethshan, the Heathen inhabitants caused their Jewish 
 neighbours to assist them against their brethren, and then 
 murdered 13,000 of their assistants. At Alexandria, the 
 Jews murdered multitudes of the Heathen, and were 
 murdered in their turn, to the number of about 50,000. 
 The Jews of Peri warred with their Heathen neighbours 
 of Philadelphia, about adjusting their territory. Both 
 Jews and Galileans warred on the Samaritans, who had 
 murdered some Galileans in their way to a solemn feast at 
 Jerusalem. War too, often raged in the empire, between 
 the different pretenders to sovereignty. 
 
 About A. D. 67, Cestius Gallus, the Roman governor 
 of Syria, laid siege to Jerusalem; but most unaccountably 
 raised it, and was pursued at the heels by some of the 
 Jewish rebels. The Christians according as Jesus had 
 warned them, took this opportunity to leave the city, 
 and the country westward of Jordan, and retired to Pella, 
 a place on the east of Jordan. Soon after, the Romans 
 under Vespasian, invaded the country from the north 
 east, besieged and took Galilee, Chorazin, Bethsaida, 
 Capernaum, &c. where Christ had been especially reject- 
 ed, and sometimes murdered almost all the inhabitants. 
 Almost every where, the Jews resisted even unto madness; 
 and sometimes murdered themselves, rather than yield, 
 even to the most compassionate generals of Rome. While 
 the Romans destroyed them in multitudes, the zealots of 
 the Jewish nation, with enraged madness, fought with 
 one another. At Jerusalem, the scene was most wretched 
 of all. At the passover, when there might be two or three 
 millions of people in the city, the Romans surrounded 
 it with troops, trenches, and walls, that none might 
 escape. The three differ^it factions within, murdered 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JFTWS. 17 
 
 nine another, and sometimes united to make a desperate, 
 but unsuccessful sally on the Romans : they even murdered 
 the inhabitants in sport, to try the sharpness of their 
 swords. At last Eleazer's party was treacherously 
 massacred by their brethren. Titus, one of the most 
 merciful generals that ever breathed, did all in his power 
 to persuade them to an advantageous surrender; but, mad 
 on their own ruin, they scorned every proposal. The 
 multitudes of unburied carcasses corrupted the air, and 
 produced a pestilence. The famine was hastened on by 
 their destruction of one another; the magazines failed, 
 till people fed on one another, and even ladies broiled 
 their sucking infants, and ate them. After a siege of six 
 months, the city was taken : provoked with their 
 obstinacy, the Romans murdered almost every Jew they 
 met with. Titus was bent to save the temple; but a false 
 prophet having persuaded 6,000 Jews to take shelter in it, 
 all of whom were burnt or murdered therein, a Roman 
 soldier set it on fire with a brand he cast; nor could all the 
 authority of Titus make his troops, who highly regarded 
 him, attempt to extinguish the flames. The outcries of 
 the Jews, when they saw it on fire, were almost infernal. 
 The whole city, except three towers, and a small part of 
 the wall, was razed to the ground. Turnus Rufus, a 
 Roman commander, caused the foundation of the temple 
 to be ploughed up, and other places of the city ; and the 
 soldiers dug up the rubbish in quest of money, and it 
 seems ripped up some Jews to procure the gold they were 
 supposed to have swallowed. Titus wept as he beheld the 
 ruins, and bitterly cursed the obstinate wretches, who 
 bad forced him to raze it. • Soon after, the forts of 
 Herodion and Macheron were taken, and the garrison of 
 Massada murdered themselves, rather than surrender. 
 At Jerusalem alone, we read, 1,100,000 perished by sword, 
 famine, and pestilence. In other places 250,000 were 
 tut off. Every Jew in the empire was required to pay 
 the yearly half shekel of soul ransom money, which they 
 
18 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 had paid to their temple, for the maintenance of the idol- 
 atrous capitol of Rome. 
 
 Prodigious numbers of Jews still remained, in almost 
 every part of the Roman empire. About fifty years 
 after, they brought a superadded ruin on their own heads. 
 In Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia, they 
 murdered about 500,000 of the Roman subjects, Hea- 
 thens and Christians. With terrible bloodshed, and no 
 small difficulty, did the conquering Trajan, about A. D. 
 119, reduce them. About A. D. 130, the emperor j£lius 
 Adrian sent a colony of Romans to rebuild Jerusalem, 
 and called it iElia, after himself; and had prohibited the 
 Jews to circumcise their children. Barcocheba, one of 
 the Jewish banditti who had infested Canaan, for about 
 an hundred years, pretended that he was the Messiah, 
 raised a Jewish army of 200,000, and murdered all the 
 Heathens and Christians that came in their way. About 
 A. D. 134, Adrian's forces defeated him in battle, and 
 after a siege of three years, took Bitter his capital; 
 after which fifty of his fortifications quickly surrendered. 
 In this terrible war, it is said, about 600,000 Jews were 
 slain by the sword, besides what perished by famine and 
 pestilence. In this war they had about fifty strong castles 
 taken, and nine hundred and eighty five of their best 
 towns demolished. For some time, the emperor caused 
 annual fairs to be held for the sale of captive Jews, and 
 transported such as dwelt in Canaan to Egypt, and every 
 where loaded with taxes such as adhered to their religion. 
 Adrian built a city on Mount Calvary, and erected a 
 marble statue of a swine, over the gate that led to Beth- 
 lehem. No Jew was allowed to enter the city, or-to look 
 to it at a distance, under pain of death. Constantine 
 farther enlarged this city : his troops repressed the Jews* 
 attempt to seize on it. Multitudes of them had their ears 
 cut off, and, being marked in their bodies for rebellion, 
 were dispersed through the empire as vagabond slaves. • 
 About A. D. 360, the Jews, eacacwraged by Julian, Con- 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 19 
 
 stantine's nephew, and now emperor, began to rebuild 
 their city and temple. They had scarce begun to build 
 the temple, when a terrible earthquake killed the work- 
 men, and scattered the materials. Soon after, Julian 
 dying, the edict of Adrian was revived against them; and 
 Romish guards prohibited their approach to the city : 
 nor till the seventh century, durst they so much as creep 
 over the rubbish to bewail it, without bribing the Roman 
 soldiers. 
 
 However basely the Jews have complied with the 
 delusions of the countries whither they are scattered, 
 they have been exposed to the most outrageous abuse. 
 At the close of the second century, Niger the usurper 
 persecuted them, because of their adherence to Severus 
 the emperor; and for a while Severus harassed them, on 
 account of Adrian's edict. In the third century, Sapor 
 king of Persia persecuted and put vast numbers of them 
 to death; and about the same time, Manes, one of them, 
 founded the sect of Manichees, who believed there were 
 two Gods, a good and a bad. Dioclesian intended to 
 persecute them ; but by large sums of money they 
 appeased his fury. In the fourth century, the council 
 of Elvira, in Spain, prohibited Christians to eat with thenn 
 Constantine the Great discharged them to retain any 
 Christians for slaves, and obliged them to undergo their 
 share in public services, of the military, &c. It is even 
 said that he forced multitudes of them to eat swines' flesh, 
 'or be murdered. Offended with the insult of the Chris- 
 tians in Egypt, and their insurrection in Palestine, Con- 
 stans, his son, terribly chastised them, revived every 
 harsh edict against them, and condemned to death such 
 as had Christians either for their wives or servants. En- 
 couraged by the emperor Theodosius' prohibition to pull 
 down their synagogues, they became very insolent at the 
 beginning of the fifth century ; they crucified the image 
 of Haman, and sometimes a Christian, in derision of our 
 Saviour, In Egypt they insulted the Christians on the 
 
 c 2 
 
20 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Lord's day. Provoked herewith, the Christians ir> 
 Macedonia, Dacia, Chalcis, Syria, and Egypt, killed 
 prodigious numbers of them, especially at Alexandria. 
 In the isle of Minorca, vast numbers of them were forced 
 to turn Christians, or hide themselves in caves of the earth. 
 About A. D. 432, one Moses of Crete, pretending that 
 he, as their Messiah, would lead them safe through the 
 sea to Canaan ; a vast number of them threw themselves 
 into the deep from a precipice, and were drowned. 
 Just after, many of them, for the sake of the presents 
 given to new converts, were baptized at Constanti- 
 nople. 
 
 In the sixth century, Cavades, and the two Chosroes, 
 kings of Persia, terribly harassed them; but the latter 
 Chosroes was afterwards reconciled to them, and gratified 
 their malice with the murder of about 90,000 Christians, 
 at the taking of Jerusalem, A. D. 614. About 530, the 
 emperor Justinian discharged them to make testaments, 
 or to appear witness against the Christians, and prohibited 
 those in Africa the exercise of their religion. Soon after, 
 one Julian of Canaan set up for Messiah. He and his 
 followers did infinite mischief to the Christians; but in 
 the end 20,000 of them were slain, and as many taken, 
 and sold for slaves. Just after, numbers of Jews were 
 executed for occasioning a revolt at Ctesarea. And to 
 revenge their assistance of the Goths at the siege of 
 Naples, the Greek general Belisarius, and his troops, 
 killed as many of them as they could find, men or 
 women. In A. D. 602, they were severely punished for 
 the massacre of the Christians at Antioch, Heraclius 
 the emperor soon after banished them from Jerusalem. 
 Multitudes in Spain and France were forced to become 
 Christians: and the councils of Toledo encouraged their 
 sovereigns to oblige them to do so. About A. D. 700, 
 when Erica king of Spain complained, that the Jews of 
 that nation had conspired with those of Africa against 
 him, the council of Toledo ordered that they should be 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 2 I 
 
 all enslaved, and their children taken from them, and 
 ■educated in the Christian religion. In France, a variety 
 of edicts were made against them. Chilperic, Dagobert, 
 and other kings, ordered, that such as refused baptism, 
 should be banished. In this century, too, numbers of 
 them in the east imagined Mohammed the Messiah ; 
 and one of them assisted him in compiling his Alcoran. 
 
 In the eighth and ninth centuries the miseries of the 
 Jews still continued. In the east, Caliph Zady permitted 
 his subjects to abuse them. About 760, Jaafa the Imam 
 ordered that such as embraced Mohammedanism should 
 be their parents' sole heirs. About 841, Caliph Wathek 
 persecuted them, because some of their number had 
 embezzled his revenues : and he fined such as refused to 
 embrace Mohammedanism. Motawakhel his successor 
 deprived them of all their honour and trust; and, marking 
 them with infamy, caused them to wear leathern girdles, 
 and ride without stirrups on asses and mules. Sundry 
 of his successors persecuted them in a manner still more 
 severe. While the emperor Leo Isaurus heartily hated 
 them, the promoters of image worship obliged the Jewa 
 to comply, and curse themselves with the curse of 
 Gehazi, if they did it not from the heart. In France 
 and Spain the people terribly insulted them. Probably 
 provoked with this usage, they invited the Normans 
 into France, and betrayed Bourdeaux, and other places, 
 into their hands. 
 
 In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, their 
 miseries rather increased ; partly through their own divi- 
 sions, and partly by the persecutions which they under- 
 went. About A. D. 1037, we find about 900,000 of 
 them near Babylon, and yet about two years after, all 
 their academies there, if not also their schools, were 
 ruined. About A. D. 1020, Hakem, the founder of the 
 Drusian religion, for a while persecuted them in Egypt. 
 Besides the common miseries which they sustained in the 
 east, by the Turkish and holy war, it is shocking to 
 
32 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 think what multitudes of them the crusaders, in this and 
 the two following centuries, murdered in Germany, 
 Hungary, Asia Minor, and wherever they could find 
 them, as they marched to recover Canaan from the 
 Mohammedans; and what numbers of Jewish parents 
 murdered their own children, that the crusaders might 
 not cause them to be baptized. The contention between 
 the Moors and Spaniards might have procured them 
 some ease in Spain, had not their own mutual broils ren- 
 dered, them miserable. In France, multitudes of them 
 were burnt, others were banished, and others had their 
 goods confiscated, by order of king Philip; and such as 
 offered to sell their effects, and remove, could get none 
 to buy them. About A. D. 1020, they were banished 
 from England, but afterwards they returned; and had 
 some respite: on account of their attending at the coro- 
 nation of king Richard I. the mob fell upon, and 
 murdered, a great many of them. This popular fury 
 was prohibited by law, but it still raged, A. D. 1189 
 and 1190, at London, and elsewhere. Richard had 
 scarcely gone off to the sacred war, than the populace 
 rose and murdered multitudes of them, intending not to 
 leave one alive in the country. About 1,500 of them 
 got into the city of York, and thought to defend them- 
 selves in it. A furious siege obliged them to offer to 
 ransom their lives with money. This being refused, they 
 first killed their wives and children ; and then retiring to 
 the palace, burnt it on themselves. 
 
 Nor in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was 
 their condition any better. In Egypt, Canaan, and Syria, 
 the crusaders still harassed and murdered them, till 
 themselves were expelled from those places. The rise of 
 the Mamlucks turned to their misery in Egvpt. Provoked 
 with their mad running after pretended Messiahs, Caliph 
 Nasser scarce left any of them alive in his dominions of 
 Mesopotamia, &c. In Persia, the Tartars murdered 
 them in multitudes: in Spain, Ferdinand persecuted them 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. !§3 
 
 furiously. About 1260, the populace of Arragon terribly 
 harassed them. Henry III. of Castile, and his son John, 
 persecuted them ; and in the reign of the last, prodigious 
 numbers were murdered. About 1349, the terrible 
 massacre of the Jews at Toledo forced many of them 
 to murder themselves, or change their religion. After 
 great cruelties exercised on them, they were, in A. D. 
 1253, banished from France. In 1275, they were recalled ; 
 but in 1300, king Philip banished them, that he might 
 enrich himself with their wealth. In 1312, they obtained 
 re-admission, for a great sum of money; but in 1320, 
 and 1330, the crusades of the fanatic shepherds, who 
 wasted the south of France, terribly massacred them 
 wherever they could find them ; and besides, 15,000 were 
 murdered on another occasion. In 1358, they were ba- 
 nished from France, since which time few of them have 
 entered that country. After repeated harassments from 
 both kings and people, and six former banishments, 
 founded on causes mostly pretended, king Edward, in 
 1291, for ever expelled them from England, to the 
 number of 160,000. He permitted them to carry their 
 effects and money with them to France, where, in his 
 own dominiQns, he confiscated all to his own use, so that 
 most of them died through want. In Italy they had most 
 respite, yet they underwent some persecution at Naples. 
 Pope John XXII. pretending that they had affronted the 
 holy cross, ordered their banishment from his territories; 
 but recalled the edict for the sake of a hundred thousand 
 florins. A pretty piece of pontifical finesse! In this 
 period two false Messiahs appeared in Spain; one Zech- 
 ariah, about 1258, and one Moses, in 1290. 
 
 In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, 
 their misery continued. In Turkey, we know of no 
 persecution which they have suffered, but what the com- 
 mon tyranny of the government, and their own frauds, 
 have brought on them. In Persia they have been terribly 
 used, especially by the two Shah Abbas' : from 1663 to 
 
24 A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 1666, the murder of them was so universal, that but a 
 few escaped to Turkey. 
 
 In Portugal and Spain, they have been miserably 
 handled. About A. J). 1420, Vincent half converted 
 200,000 of them to Popery. The infernal inquisition 
 was appointed, to render their conversion sincere and 
 complete. About 1492, six or eight thousand Jews 
 were banished from Spain. Partly by drowning, in their 
 passage to Africa, partly by hard usage, the most of 
 these were cut off, and many of their carcasses lay in the 
 fields, till the wild beasts devoured them. The African 
 Mohammedans shut their gates against the poor remains, 
 and many were obliged to sell their children to the Moors 
 for slaves, to obtain food for the support of their life. 
 About 1412, 1.6,000 Jews were forced to profess Popery 
 at Naples. About 1472, they were barbarously mas- 
 sacred in the dominions of Venice. In Germany, they 
 have had plenty of hardship. In Saxony, and elsewhere, 
 they have been loaded with taxes ; they have been banished 
 from Bohemia, Bavaria, Cologn, Nuremburgh, Augsburg, 
 and Vienna; they have been terribly massacred in Mora- 
 via, and plundered in Bonna and Bamberg, Deut. xxviii. 
 15.— 68. xxix. 19.— 28. xxxi. 29. xxxii. 18—35. Psal. 
 xxi. 8 — 2. lxix. 19. — 28. Isa. v. xxiv. lxix. lxv. 1 — 16. 
 lxvi. 3—6, 24. Dan ix. 26, 27. Zech xi. Matth. viii. 11, 
 12. xxi. 41. xxiii. xxiv.xxii. 1 — 7. Luke xxi. xix.41 — 44. 
 Thus they have continued scattered, contemned, perse- 
 cuted, and enslaved, among almost all nations, not mixed 
 with any in the common manner, but as a body distinct 
 by themselves. While they are standing witnesses of the 
 dreadful guilt of his murder, and of the truth of his 
 divine predictions, they continue obstinate rejecters of 
 Jesus; and contrary to all means, harsh or gaining, they 
 improve their antient ceremonies and covenant relation to 
 God, as a means of hardening themselves in their unbelief. 
 About A. D. 1650, three hundred rabbin, and a multitude 
 of other Jews, assembled in the plain of Ageda in 
 
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 25 
 
 Hungary, and had a serious dispute, whether the Messiah 
 were come? and whether Jesus of Nazareth were he? 
 Many seemed in a fair way to believe the truth; but the 
 popish doctors present, by their mad extolling of the 
 papal power, the worship of the Virgin Mary and other 
 saints, prevented it, and strengthened their prejudice 
 against the Christian faith. At present their number 
 is computed to be 3,000,000, one of which resides in the 
 Turkish empire; 300,000 in Persia, China, India on the 
 east and west of the Ganges, or Tartary; and 1,700,000 
 in the rest of Europe, Africa, and in America. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF THE JEWISH 
 NATION AT THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 THE state of the Jews was not much better than that 
 of other nations at the time of Christ ? s appearance 
 on earth. They were governed by Herod, who was 
 himself tributary to the Roman people. His government 
 was of the most vexatious and oppressive kind. By a 
 cruel, suspicious, and overbearing temper, he drew 
 upon himself the aversion of all, not excepting those who 
 lived upon his bounty. 
 
 Under his administration, and through his influence, 
 the luxury of the Romans was introduced into Palestine, 
 accompanied with the vices of that licentious people. In 
 a word, Judea, governed by Herod, groaned under all 
 the corruption which might be expected from the au- 
 thority and example of a prince, who, though a Jew in 
 outward profession, was, in point of morals and prac- 
 tice, a contemner of all laws human and divine*. 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. i. p. 31. 
 
'26 ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF THE 
 
 After the death of this tyrant, the Romans divided the 
 government of Judea between his sons. In this division 
 one half of the kingdom was given to Archelaus, under 
 the title of Exarch. Archelaus was so corrr.pt and 
 wicked a prince, that at last both Jews and Samaritans 
 joined in a petition against him to Augustus, who banish- 
 ed him from histlominions about ten years after the death 
 of Herod the Great. Judca was by this sentence reduced 
 to a Roman province, and ordered to be taxed*. 
 
 The governors whom the Romans appointed over Judea 
 were frequently changed, but seldom for the better. 
 About the sixteenth year of Christ, Pontius Pilate was 
 appointed governor, the whole of whose administration, 
 according to Josephus, was one continual scene of venality, 
 rapine, and of every kind of savage cruelty. Such a 
 governor was ill calculated to appease the ferments oc- 
 casioned by the late tax. Indeed Pilate was so far from 
 attempting to appease, that he greatly inflamed them, by 
 taking every occasion of introducing his standards, with 
 images, pictures, and consecrated shields, into their city ; 
 and at last by attempting to drain the treasury of the 
 temple, under pretence of bringing an aqueduct into 
 Jerusalem. The most remarkable transaction of his 
 government, however, was his condemnation of Jesus 
 Christ; seven }'ears after which he was removed from 
 Judeaf. 
 
 However severe the authority which the Romans exer- 
 cised over the Jews, yet it did not extend to the entire 
 suppression of their civil and religious privileges. The 
 Jews were in some measure governed by their own laws, 
 and permitted the enjoyment of their religion. The 
 administration of religious ceremonies was committed 
 as before to the high priest, and to the sanhedrim ; to the 
 former of whom the order of priests and levites was in 
 the usual subordination ; and t'he form of outward 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. i. p. 32. f Emcvc. Brit, vol. ix. p. 1,36. 
 
JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 27 
 
 worship, except in a very few points, suffered no visible 
 change. But, on the other hand, it is impossible to 
 express the disquietude and disgust, the calamities and 
 vexations, which this unhappy nation suffered from the 
 presence of the Romans, whom their religion obliged 
 them to regard as a polluted and idolatrous people; 
 particularly from the avarice and cruelty of the pretors, 
 and the frauds and extortions of the publicans: so that, 
 all things considered, their condition who lived under 
 the government of the other sons of Herod, was much 
 more supportable than the state of those who were 
 immediately subject to the Roman jurisdiction*. 
 
 It was not, however, from the Romans only that the 
 calamities of this miserable people proceeded. Their 
 own rulers multiplied their vexations, and debarred them 
 from enjoying any little comforts which were left them 
 by the Roman magistrates. The leaders of the people, 
 and the chief priests, were, according to the account of 
 Josephus, profligate wretches, who had purchased their 
 places by bribes, or by other acts of iniquity, and who 
 maintained their ill-acquired authority by the most abo- 
 minable crimes. The inferior priests, and those who 
 possessed any shadow of authority, were become dissolute 
 and abandoned to the highest degree. The multitude, 
 excited by these corrupt examples, ran headlong into every 
 kind of iniquity ; and by their endless seditions, robberies, 
 and extortions, armed against themselves both the justice 
 of God and vengeance of manf . 
 
 About the time of Christ's appearance, the Jews of 
 that age concluded the period p re-determined by God 
 to be then completed, and that the promised Messiah 
 would suddenly appear. Devout persons waited day 
 and night for the consolation of Israel ; and the whole 
 nation, groaning under the Roman yoke, and stimu- 
 lated by the desire of liberty or of vengeance, ex- 
 
 • Moshcim. f Mosheim, vol. i. p. 38. 
 
28 ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF THE 
 
 pected their deliverer with the most anxious impa* 
 tience. 
 
 Nor were these expectations peculiar to the Jews. By 
 their dispersion among so many nations, by their con- 
 versation with the learned men among the heathens, 
 and by the translations of their inspired writings into a 
 language almost universal, the principles of their religion 
 were spread all over the east. It became the common 
 belief that a prince would arise at that time in Judea, 
 who would change the face of the world, and extend 
 his empire from one end of the earth to the other*. 
 
 The whole body of the people looked for a powerful 
 and warlike deliverer, who they supposed would free 
 them from the Roman authority. All considered the 
 whole of religion as consisting in the rites appointed 
 by Moses, and in the performance of some external 
 acts of duty. All were unanimous in excluding the 
 other nations of the world from the hopes of eternal 
 life. 
 
 Two religions flourished at this time in Palestine, the 
 Jewish and Samaritan. The Samaritans blended the 
 errors of paganism with the doctrines of the Jews. 
 
 The learned among the Jews were divided into a great 
 variety of sects: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and 
 Essenes, eclipsed the other denominations. 
 
 The most celebrated of the Jewish sects was that of 
 the Pharisees. It is supposed by some that this denomina- 
 tion subsisted about a century and a half before the 
 appearance of our Saviour. They separated themselves 
 not only from pagans, but from ail such Jews as complied 
 not with their peculiarities. Their separation consisted 
 
 * Robertson. — About this period the pagans expected some great 
 king of glorious person to be born. Hence Virgil, the Roman poet, 
 who lived at this time, in his fourth eclogue, describes the blessings of 
 the government of some great person, who was, or should be born about 
 this time, in language agreeable to the Jewish prophet's description of 
 the Mcssijh and his kingdom. 
 
JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 29 
 
 chiefly in certain distinctions respecting food and religious 
 ceremonies. It does not appear to have interrupted the 
 uniformity of religious worship, in which the Jews of 
 every sect seem to have always united*. 
 
 This denomination, by their apparent sanctity of 
 manners, had rendered themselves extremely popular. 
 The multitude, for the most part, espoused their interests ; 
 and the great, who feared their artifice, were frequently 
 obliged to court their favour. Hence they obtained the 
 highest offices both in the state and priesthood, and had 
 great weight both in public and private affairs. It appears 
 from the frequent mention which is made by the evange- 
 lists of the Scribes and Pharisees in conjunction, that the 
 greatest number of Jewish teachers, or doctors of the 
 law, (for those were expressions equivalent to scribe) 
 were at that time of the Pharisaical sectf. 
 
 The principal doctrines of the Pharisees are as follow : 
 — That the oral law, which they suppose God delivered 
 to Moses by an archangel on Mount Sinai, and which is 
 preserved by tradition, is of equal authority with the 
 written law. That by observing both these laws a man 
 may not only obtain justification with God, but perform 
 meritorious works of supererogation. That fasting, 
 alms-giving, ablutions, and confessions, are sufficient 
 atonements for sin. That thoughts and desires are not 
 
 * Percy's Key to the new Testament. 
 
 + The dissensions between the schools of Hillel and Shammai, a little 
 before the christian aera, increased the number and power of the Phari- 
 sees : Hillel and Shammai were two great and eminent teachers in the 
 Jewish schools. Hillel was born a hundred and twelve years before 
 Christ. Having acquired profound knowledge of the most difficult 
 points of the law, he became master of the chief school in Jerusalem, 
 and laid the foundation of the Talmud. Shammai, one of the disciples 
 of Hillel, deserted his school, and formed a college, in which he taught 
 doctrines contrary to his master. He rejected the oral law, and follow- 
 ed the written law only in its literal sense. These different schools long 
 disturbed the Jewish church by violent contests. However the party of 
 Hillel was at last victorious. Encyc, vol. xvii. p. 10K 
 
30 ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OT THE 
 
 sinful, unless they are carried into action. — This denomi- 
 nation acknowledged the immortality of the soul, future 
 rewards and punishments, the existence of good and evil 
 angels, and the resurrection of the body*. 
 
 * According to Josephus, this was no more than a Pythagorean re- 
 surrection ; that is of the soul by its transmigration into another body, 
 and being born anew with it. From this resurrection, he says, they 
 excluded all who were notoriously wicked ; being of opinion that the 
 souls of such persons were transmitted into a state of everlasting woe. 
 As to lesser crimes, they held they were punished in the body, which 
 the souls of those who committed them were next sent into. 
 
 There seems indeed to have been entertained amongst the Jews in our 
 Saviour's time a notion of the pre-existence of souls. How else could 
 the disciples ask concerning the blind man, " Who did sin, this man 
 or his parents, that he was born blind ?" (John ix. '2.) And when they 
 told Christ that ** some said he was Elias, Jcremias, or one of the pro- 
 phets." (Matt. xvi. 14.) the meaning seems to be, that they thought he 
 was come into the world with the soul of Elias, Jeremias, or some other 
 of the old prophets, transmigrated into him. 
 
 It does not appear, however, that these notions were at all peculiar 
 to the Pharisees ; and still less, that in them consisted their doctrine of 
 the resurrection. It is a well-known fact that the resurrection of the 
 same body, as taught in the new testament, was commonly believed 
 among the Jews ; and th'i3 not only in the purest, but most degenerate 
 periods of their history. This is manifest from the story of the seven 
 brethren, who, with their mother, were put to death by Antiochus 
 Epiphanes in one day ; (2 Mac. vii. xii. 43, 44.) to which story the 
 writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, in chap. xi. 35, clearly alludes, 
 caying, "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they 
 might obtain a better resurrection." And when Martha, the sister of 
 Lazarus, was told that her brother should rise again, she answered, " I 
 knoiu that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day ;" (John xi. 
 23, ~4.) which implies that this doctrine was at that time a well-known 
 and acknowledged truth. Luke also says expressly, that the Pharisee: 
 ■confess the resurrection. (Acts xxiii. 8.) And Paul, speaking before 
 Felix of his hope towards God, says, " Which they themselves (the 
 Pharisees) also allow, that there shall be a resurrection both of the just 
 and unjust." (Acts xxiv. 15.) If the doctrine of the resurrection, as held 
 by the Pharisees, had been nothing more than the Pythagorean trans- 
 migration, it is beyond all credibility that such testimony would have 
 been borne of it. Josephus- therefore mast either have grossly mistaken 
 the faith of his countrymen, cr, which is more probable, wilfully 
 
JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 31 
 
 The peculiar manners of this sect are strongly marked 
 in the writings of the evangelists, and confirmed by the 
 testimony of the Jewish authors. The former are well 
 known. According to the latter, they fasted the second 
 and fifth day of the week, and pitt thorns at the bottom 
 of their robes, that they might prick their legs as they 
 walked. They lay upon boards covered with flint-stones, 
 and tied thick cords about their waists. They paid 
 tithes as the law prescribed, and gave the thirtieth and 
 fiftieth part of their fruits ; adding voluntary sacrifices 
 to those which were commanded. They were very exact 
 in performing their vows. — The Talmudic books mention 
 several distinct classes of Pharisees, among whom were 
 the Truncated Pharisee, who, that he might appear in 
 profound meditation, as if destitute of feet, scarcely 
 lifted them from the ground; and the Mortar Pharisee, 
 who, that his contemplations might not be disturbed, 
 wore a deep cap in the shape of a mortar, which would 
 only permit him to look upon the ground at his feet, 
 Such expedients were used by this denomination, to 
 captivate the admiration of the vulgar; and under the 
 appearance of singular piety, they disguised the most" 
 licentious manners*. 
 
 The sect of the Sadducees derived its origin and name 
 from one Sadoc, who flourished in the reign of Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus, about two hundred and sixty-three years 
 before Christ. The chief heads of the Sadducean doctrine 
 are as follow: — All laws and traditions, not comprehended 
 in the written law, are to be rejected as merely human 
 inventions. Neither angels nor spirits have a distinct 
 
 misrepresented it, to render their opinions more respected by the Roman 
 philosophers, whom he appears to have been on every occasion 
 desirous to please. 
 
 * Enfield. Whether they rejected all the sacred books, except the 
 Pentateuch of Moses, has been disputed. Pridenux contends that they 
 did. The arguments for the contrary may be seen in Parkhurst's Gr, 
 X,ex. under £«$3«k«»m, 
 
52 ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF THE 
 
 existence, separate from their corporeal vestment: the 
 soul of man therefore expires with the boly. There will 
 be no resurrection of the dead, nor rewards and punish- 
 ments after this life. Man is not subject to irresistible fate^ 
 but has the framing of his condition chiefly in his power. 
 Polygamy ought to be practised. 
 
 The practices of the Pharisees and Sadducees were 
 both perfectly suitable to their sentiments. The former 
 were notorious hypocrites, the latter scandalous liber- 
 tines. 
 
 The Essenes were a Jewish sect. Some suppose they 
 took their rise from that dispersion of their nation which 
 took place after the Babylonish captivity. They main- 
 tained that rewards and punishments extended to the 
 soul only, and considered the body as a mass of malignant 
 matter, and the prison of the immortal spirit. The 
 greatest part of them considered the laws of Moses, as 
 an allegorical system of spiritual and mysterious truth, 
 and renounced all regard to the outward letter in its 
 explanation. The leading traits in the character of this 
 sect were that they were sober, abstemious, peaceable, 
 lovers of retirement, and had a perfect community of 
 goods. They paid, the highest regard to the moral 
 precepts of the law; but neglected the ceremonial, 
 excepting what regarded personal cleanliness, the observa- 
 tion of the sabbath, and making an annual present to 
 the temple at Jerusalem. They commonly lived in a state 
 of celibacy, and adopted the children of others, to 
 educate them in their own principles and customs. 
 Though they were in general averse to swearing, or to 
 requiring an oath, they bound all whom they initiated by 
 the most sacred vows to observe the duties of piety, justice j 
 fidelity, and modesty ; to conceal the secrets of the frater- 
 nity, to preserve the books of their instructors, and with 
 great care to commemorate the names of the angels. 
 
 Philo mentions two classes of Essenes, one of which fol- 
 lowed a practical institution— -the other professed atheore- 
 
JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. S3 
 
 tical institution. The latter, who were called Therapeutaj, 
 placed their whole felicity in the contemplation of the di- 
 vine nature. Detaching themselves entirely from secular 
 affairs, they transferred their property to their relations and 
 friends, and retired to solitary places, where they devoted 
 themselves to a holy life. The principal, society of this 
 kind was formed near Alexandria, where they lived not far 
 from each other in separate cottages, each of which had its 
 own sacred apartments, to which the inhabitants retired 
 for the purposes of devotion*. 
 
 Besides these eminent Jewish sects, there were others of 
 inferior note at the time of Christ's appearance. 
 
 The Herodians derived their name from Herod the 
 Great. Their distinguishing tenet appears to have been, 
 that it is lawful, when constrained by superiors, to 
 comply with idolatry, and with a false religion. Herod 
 seems to have formed this sect on purpose to justify 
 himself in this practice, who, being an Idumean by 
 nation, was indeed half a Jew, and half a pagan. He, 
 during his long i*eign, studied every artifice to ingratiate 
 himself with the emperor, and to secure the favour of 
 the principal personages in the court of Rome. Josephus 
 informs us that his ambition, and his entire devotion to 
 Csesar and his court, induced him to depart from the 
 usages of his country, and in many instances to violate 
 its institutions. He built temples in the Greek taste, 
 and erected statues for idolatrous worship, apologizing 
 to the Jews that he was absolutely necessitated to this 
 conduct by the superior powers. We find the Sadducees, 
 who denied a future state, readily embraced the tenets 
 of this party : for the same persons who in one of the 
 gospels are called Herodians, are in another called 
 Sadduceesf. 
 
 * Enfield, vol. ii. p. 186. [For a more particular account of these 
 Jewish sects, see Josephus's Antiquities and Prideauxs Connection ; 
 also Parkhurst's Gr. Lex.~\ 
 
 f Comp. Markviii. 15. with Matt. xvi. 6. Harwood'slntrod.vc l.'u 
 p. 235. 
 
34 account or the state of the 
 
 The Gaulonites* derived their name from one Juda3 
 The u das, a native of Gaulon, in Upper Galilee, who 
 in the tenth year of Jesus Christ excited his countrymen, 
 the Galileans, and many other Jews, to take arms, and 
 venture upon all extremities, rather than pay trihute 
 to the Romans. The principles he instilled into his 
 party were, not only that they were a free nation, and 
 ought not to be in subjection to any other; but that they 
 were the elect of God, that he alone was their governor, 
 and that therefore the)- ought not to submit to any 
 ordinance of man. Though Theudas was unsuccessful, 
 and his party in their very first attempt entirely routed 
 and dispersed; yet so deeply had he infused his own 
 enthusiasm into their hearts, that they never rested, till 
 in their own destruction they involved the city and 
 templef . 
 
 Many of the Jews were attached to the oriental philo- 
 sophy concerning the origin of the world. From this 
 source the doctrine of the Cabala is supposed to have been 
 derived. That considerable numbers of the Jews had 
 imbibed this system, appears evident both from the 
 books of the new testamentt, and from t::e ancient 
 history of the christian church. It is also certain that 
 manv of the gnostic sects were founded by Jcws§. 
 
 Whilst the learned and sensible part of the Jewish nation 
 was divided into a variety of sects, the multitude was 
 sunk into the most deplorable ignorance of religion; 
 and had no conception of any other method of rendering 
 themselves acceptable to God, than by sacrifices, washings, 
 and other external rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law. 
 Hence proceeded that dissoluteness of manners which 
 prevailed among the Jews during Christ's ministry on 
 earth. Hence also the divine Saviour compares the 
 
 * Called Galileans, Luke xiii. 1 . 
 f Fercy's Key to the New Testament, 
 J Matt. x. 6. xv. 24, 25. John ix. 39. 
 § Mosheim, vol. i. p. 38. 
 
JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 35 
 
 people to sheep without a shepherd, and their doctors 
 to men who, though deprived of sight, yet pretended to 
 shew the way to others*. 
 
 In taking a view of the corruptions, both in doctrine 
 and practice, which prevailed among the Jews at the 
 time of Christ's appearance, we find that the external 
 worship of God was disfigured by human inventions. 
 Many learned men have observed that a great variety of 
 rites were introduced into the service of the temple, 
 of which no traces are to be found in the sacred writings. 
 This was owing to those revolutions which rendered the 
 Jews more conversant than they had formerly been with 
 the neighbouring nations. They were pleased with 
 several of the ceremonies which the Greeks and Romans 
 used in the worship of the pagan deities, and did not 
 hesitate to adopt them in the service of the true God, and 
 add them as an ornament to the rites which they had 
 received by divine appointment. 
 
 The Jews multiplied so prodigiously, that the nar- 
 row bounds of Palestine were no longer sufficient to con- 
 tain them. They poured, therefore, their increasing 
 numbers into the neighbouring countries with such 
 rapidity, that at the time of Christ's birth there was 
 scarcely a province in the empire where they were not 
 found carrying on commerce, and exercising other 
 lucrative arts. They were defended in foreign countries 
 against injurious treatment by the special edicts of the 
 magistrates. This was absolutely necessary, since in 
 most places the remarkable difference of their religion 
 and manners from those of other nations, exposed them 
 to the hatred and indignation of the ignorant and bigotted 
 multitude. " All this (says doctor Mosheim) appears to 
 have been most singularly and wisely directed by the 
 adorable hand of an interposing providence, to the end 
 that this people, which was the sole depository of the 
 true religion, and of the knowledge of one supreme God, 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. i. p. 38, 
 D 2 
 
36 NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 being spread abroad through the whole earth, might be 
 every where, by their example, a reproach to superstition, 
 contribute in some measure to check it ; and thus prepare 
 the way for that yet fuller discovery of divine truth which 
 was to shine upcn the world from the ministry and gospel 
 of the son of God*." 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 AN INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND RE- 
 VOLUTIONS WHICH THEY HAVE MET WITH IN ENGLAND. 
 
 T TOW soon any Jews settled in Great Britain is un- 
 -*• •*■ known : but from the spread of Christianity among 
 the Britons, previously to its establishment under Constan- 
 tine, it is reasonable to infer, that there had long been some 
 synagogues! here to serve as stubs of propagation for the 
 new faith. The inroads of the Saxons and Danes obliter- 
 ated much of the imperfect conversion of the native 
 inhabitants. At this period the Jews with singular 
 liberality, patronised the civilization of these barbarous 
 heathens, by endowing Christian monasteries. In a 
 charter of Witglaff, king of Mercia, made to the monks 
 of Croyland, we find confirmed to them not only such 
 lands as had, at any time, been given to the monastery 
 by the kings of Mercia, but also all their possessions 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. i. p. 42. 
 
 t From the preface to Leland's Collection 1 !, it appears thatMr. Richard 
 Waller believed the Jews to have been settled in England during the 
 supremacy of the Bomans; the ground of his conjecture being this: 
 Above seventy years ago, there was found at London, in Mark-lane, 
 a Roman brick, having on one side a bas relief, representing Sampson 
 driving the foxes into a field of corn, which brick was the key of an 
 arched vault, discovered at the same time full of burnt corn; and from 
 ihe elegancy of the sculpture, and other criteria, it was inferred, that 
 this brick could be no work of latter ages, and if of Remans, of 
 Roman Jews, from its subject. 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 37 
 
 whatever, whether they were originally bestowed on 
 them by Christians or Jews. Omnes terras et tenementa, 
 possessiones et eorum peculia, quce reges Merciorum et 
 eorum proceres, vel aliifideles Christiani, vel Judm, dictis 
 monachis dederunt. Nearty a hundred years earlier, the 
 Jews must have been numerous in England, since the 
 twenty-fourth paragraph of the Canonical Excerptions, 
 published by Egbright, archbishop of York, in 740, 
 forbids any Christians to be present at the Jewish 
 feasts. 
 
 Indeed, during the feudal ages, the Jews seem to 
 have been the most opulent, polished, and literate por- 
 tion of the laity. They were the only bankers, or, as 
 the vulgar term them, usurers of the time. They con- 
 ducted what there existed of foreign trade, and often 
 visited the civilized south of Europe. They wrought 
 most of the gold and silver ornaments for altars. William 
 Rufus, who (as Tovey says) "was no better than an 
 infidel," not only permitted, but encouraged them to enter 
 into solemn contests with his bishops concerning the true 
 faith; swearing, by the faith of St. Luke, that, if the 
 Jews got the better in the dispute, he would turn Jew 
 himself. Accordingly, in his time, there was a public 
 meeting of the chief leaders on both sides in London, 
 when the Jews opposed the Christians with so much 
 vigour, that the bishops and clergy were not without some 
 solicitude how the disputations might terminate. No 
 other class of men was at that period enlightened enough 
 to cope with the priesthood. Some young Jews were so 
 imprudent as even to value themselves upon their 
 infidelity. The son of one Mossey, of Wallingford, to 
 laugh at the votaries of St. Frideswide, would sometimes 
 crook his fingers, and then pretend he had miraculously 
 made them straight again : at other times he would halt 
 like a cripple, and then in a few minutes skip and dance 
 about, bidding the crowd observe how suddenly he had 
 cured himself. 
 
38 NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 Henry II., in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, 
 granted a burial place to the Jews on the outside of every 
 city where they dwelt: proof they were numerous and 
 respected. In this reign, one Joshua, a Jew, furnished 
 the rebels in Ireland with great sums of money. And 
 one Sancto, of Burv Saint Edmund's, took in pledge 
 certain vessels appointed for the service of the altar. 
 Others were grown so presumptuous as even to scoff at, 
 and ridicule, the highest dignitaries of the Church. We 
 may in part owe to them the spirit which dictated the 
 Constitutions of Clarendon. In 1188, the parliament at 
 Northampton proposed to assess the Jews at sixty 
 thousand pounds, and th,e Christians at seventy thousand, 
 toward a projected war. The Jews must have been very 
 rich or the parliament very tyrannical. 
 
 Under Richard I. the prejudices of the populace were 
 set loose against the Jews. A crusade had been resolved 
 on. The declamations of the clergy in favour of this 
 holy war stirred up the intolerance of the vulgar. In 
 London, a riotous populace broke open and plundered 
 the houses of the Jews. Three persons only were pu- 
 nished, who by mistake had injured the houses of Chris- 
 tians. In six months the flame became general. The 
 most formidable explosion happened at Stamford -fair, 
 which had drawn together great multitudes of people, 
 and among them whole troops of roaming saints, who 
 were preparing to go with the king to the Holy Land. 
 These zealous men, disdaining that the enemies of Christ 
 should abound in wealth, while they, who were his great 
 friends, were obliged to strip their wives and children of 
 common necessaries, to supply the charges of the voyage, 
 persuaded themselves, that God would be highly 
 honoured, if they should first cut the throats of the Jews, 
 and then seize upon their money : — so ready are men to 
 believe what makes for their worldly advantage. Accord- 
 ingly they flew upon them, and, finding very little 
 resistance from an oppressed and spiritless enemy, 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 39 
 
 quickly made themselves masters both of their persons 
 and fortunes: the former of which they treated with all 
 kinds of barbarity. Some few of them, indeed, were so 
 fortunate as to get shelter in the castle ; whither, as they 
 fled without their riches, the source of all their misery, 
 they were not earnestly pursued. And as these devout 
 pilgrims pretended to do all this for the advancement of 
 God's glory, to shew they were in earnest, they took 
 shipping- as fast as they could, and fled away for 
 Jerusalem, not so much as one of them being detained 
 by the magistrates, or any farther enquiry made by the 
 king, into such a sanctified piece of villany. Internal 
 trade must at that time have been chiefly conducted by 
 the Jews, since they were assembled in such numbers at 
 an inland fair. They had probably too bestowed, ere 
 this, upon commerce, the important improvement of 
 inventing bills of exchange, as mention seems to be made 
 of them, by the name of Starra (from the Hebrew Shetar) 
 in certain Latin documents of this aera. The Jews were 
 still admitted to the liberal professions, as the cruel edict 
 of Richard I. for registering their property, orders that 
 their " contracts should be made in the presence of 
 two' assigned lawyers who were Jews, two who were 
 Christians, and two public Notaries." This king ap- 
 pointed Justicers of the Jews, whose office it was to 
 collect and pay into the Exchequer the taxes assessed 
 upon that unfortunate sect. Benedict de Talemunt and 
 Joseph Aaron were the two first of these Justicers. 
 
 The intolerant policy of Richard I. occasioned the 
 emigration of all the wealthier Jews, and a consequent 
 defalcation of the revenue; which was so sensibly felt, 
 that John, in 1199, used several arts to draw them back 
 into his kingdom; not only confirming their ancient, 
 but offering new privileges, and particularly that of 
 naming a high-priest by the title of Presbyter Judasorum. 
 Many Jews upon this returned, and were afterwards 
 more cruelly plundered than ever- Our Great Charter 
 
40 NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 sanctions an injustice to the Jews, by enacting, that, " If 
 any persons have borrowed money of the Jews, more or 
 less, and die before they have paid the debt, the debt 
 shall not grow whilst the heir is under age," &c. 
 
 Henry III. liberated such Jews as were in prison, 
 ordered them to be protected against the insults of Jeru- 
 salem pilgrims, and to wear upon the fore-part of their 
 upper garment two broad stripes of white linen or parch- 
 ment. In this reign, Stephen Langton, archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, and Hugo de Velles, bishop of Lincoln (in hopes 
 to drive them away by want of sustenance) published 
 injunctions throughout their respective dioceses, that no 
 Christian should presume to have communication with, or 
 sell them any provision, under pain of excommunication. 
 And the same seems to have been done by the bishop of 
 Norwich. Persons unacquainted with the nature of false 
 zeal (continues Tovey, p. 83) when backed by authority, 
 will scarcely believe, that the Jews had been in any 
 great danger of starving, though the king had not 
 interposed in this matter. Yet Rapin tells us, that when 
 the Gerhardine heretics made their appearance in the 
 time of Henry II. and orders were given not to relieve 
 them, the prohibition was so punctually observed, that 
 all those wretches miserably perished with hunger. 
 
 Be it remembered, however, that the prior of Dun- 
 stable, much about this time, granted to several Jews 
 free liberty to reside within his lordship, and to enjoy all 
 the privileges of it in consideration of the annual payment 
 of two silver spoons. 
 
 During the sunshine of the king's favour (in 1230) the 
 Jews erected a very stately synagogue in London, which 
 surpassed in magnificence the Christian churches. But 
 the people petitioned the king to take it from them and 
 have it consecrated; which accordingly he complied with. 
 In the eighteenth year of his reign, upon a petition of 
 the inhabitants of Newcastle, he granted them the inhos- 
 pitable privilege, that no Jew should ever reside among 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 41 
 
 them. This prince was not free from the confiscatory 
 policy so common in the dark ages, but frequently pil- 
 laged the Jews ; his necessities, however, would have 
 continued to tolerate them, had not the Pope sent over 
 the Caursini, Christians and Lombards, who were 
 gradually to supersede the ancient practitioners of usury, 
 by conducting it in a manner not disapproved by the 
 church. To such a pitch of hatred was the pi'ejudice, 
 which had been gradually instilled into the people against 
 the Jews arrived, during this reign, that in 1262, when 
 the king, refusing to stand to the agreement lately made 
 with his barons at Oxford, withdrew into the Tower, and 
 threatened the Londoners for taking part with his enemies; 
 the barons suddenly entered London with great forces, 
 and (to keep the citizens more strongly in their interest) 
 gratified them with the slaughter of seven hundred Jews 
 at once, whose houses they first plundered, and then 
 burnt their new synagogue to the ground. It was, hoAV- 
 ever, rebuilt; but, in 1270, taken from them, upon 
 complaint of the Friars Penitents, that they were not 
 able to make the body of Christ in quiet, for the great 
 howlings the Jews made there during their worship. 
 
 In the third year of Edward I. a law passed the Com- 
 mons concerning Judaism, which seemed to promise a 
 qualified security ; notwithstanding which, in the year 
 1290, and the eighteenth of his reign, the king seized 
 upon all their real estates, and the whole community was 
 for ever banished the kingdom. Yet no sooner (adds the 
 historian) was the inventory made, and every thing sold 
 to the best bidder, than the whole produce was unac- 
 countably squandered away, without one penny being 
 ever put aside for those pious uses which the king had 
 talked of. From fifteen to sixteen thousand Jews were 
 thus ruined, and then expelled. During the preceding 
 century, they must constantly have been in a state of 
 rapid and progressive diminution ; neither is it probable 
 £hat the more respectable portion of them should have 
 
42 NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 put so much confidence in edicts of recal, thus frequently 
 and perfidiously revoked, as to have been found settled in 
 England. Yet even these left behind them several valu- 
 able libraries, one particularly at Stamford, and another 
 at Oxford, which last being purchased among the scho- 
 lars, most of the Hebrew books were bought by the 
 famous Roger Bacon, who, by a short note written in one 
 of them, declared they were of great service to hi in in 
 his studies. This expulsion was so complete, that no 
 farther traces of English Jews occur until long after the 
 reformation. 
 
 It was reserved for the generous policy of Oliver Crom- 
 well to attempt restoring to Great Britain the industry 
 and wealth of the Jews. During aires of unrelenting 
 persecutions, they had, however, lost many of the virtues 
 of their early character. Oppression had imprinted an 
 air of meanness, of servile timidity upon their demeanor. 
 The undistinguishing contempt of men, who ought to 
 treat them as equals, had lessened the importance, and, 
 therefore, the frequency of respectable character among 
 them. This inferior degree of dedcacy in points of re- 
 putation occasioned their being employed in usurious 
 and other illegal transactions : and these practices kept 
 alive the prejudices of the magistrate. Scarcely allowed 
 a home, they contracted the habit of all itinerant pedlars, 
 who never expecting to see the same customer twice, 
 have nothing to apprehend from making an exorbitant 
 gain upon each single transaction. Schools, synagogues, 
 and other institutions of public instruction, were so un- 
 willingly allotted them, and their appearance in Christian 
 schools so shamefully resisted, that they were sunk into 
 a degree of ignorance, which increased to themselves and 
 ethers the difficulty of bettering their condition. 
 
 The first intercourse between Cromwell and the Jews 
 was managed by means of one Henry Marten, upon whose 
 intimations a deputation from the Jews at Amsterdam 
 waited on the English Ambassadors there, whom they 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 43 
 
 entertained with concerts of music in their synagogues, 
 and by means of whom they obtained permission from the 
 z?istrumeiit-parliament* ', to send a public envoy with 
 proposals. After some deliberation, they fixed upon 
 Manasseh Ben Israel f, a divine and doctor of physic, as 
 he styled himself; in reality, a printer and bookseller; 
 and of whom Huet tells us, that he was a chief ruler of 
 the synagogue, and married to a wife who was related to 
 the family of the Abrabanels, which pretends to be of the 
 tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, by which 
 wife having several children, he would sometimes boast of 
 having raised up seed unto David. He was a man of 
 great modesty and moderation, a perfect master of the 
 letter of scripture, and very little addicted to the mystical 
 superstitions of the Cabbala. He was much acquainted 
 with the younger Vossius, with Blondel, and with Boc- 
 hart. The Professor, Gaspar Barloeus, addressed to him 
 the following lines : 
 
 Si sapimus divers3, Deo vivamus amici, 
 
 Doctaque mens pretio constet ubique suo, 
 Plaec fidei vox summa mea est; hoc crede Menasse; 
 
 Sic ego Christiades, sic eris Abramides. 
 
 This Manasseh, on his arrival in England, presented an 
 Address to the Lord Protector, recognizing his authority, 
 
 * The leaders of the Independents held a convention at St. Alban's, 
 on the 16th of November, 1647, at which Fairfax presided, and they 
 drew up a plan of constitution, consonant with their republican notions, 
 which they published under the the title of The Agreement of the People. 
 This constitution was afterwards realized. The nation having been 
 called upon to choose a legislature, conformably to its provisions, by 
 that proclamation of Cromwell's, known by the name of The Instrument 
 of Government, the first parliament which met under this proclamation 
 is called the Instrument-parliament. The convention, vulgarly called 
 Barebones-parliament , appears to have been a second meeting of those 
 Avho assembled at St. Alban's. 
 
 \ Manasseh's pamphlet on this occasion, has been preserved in the 
 Phoenix ; a long catalogue of his writings is annexed to it. 
 
44 NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 and soliciting his protection : " For our people (says he) 
 did in their own minds presage, that the kingly go- 
 vernment being now changed into that of a common- 
 wealth, the antient hatred towards them, would also be 
 changed into good-will : that those rigorous laws, if 
 any there be yet extant, made under the kings, against 
 so innocent a people, would happily be repealed." 
 He also presented, printed, and dispersed, a declaration 
 to the commonwealth, and a treatise containing several 
 arguments for toleration, addressed to the justice of the 
 principled, to the prudence of the reflecting, and to the 
 prejudices of the multitude*. On the 4th of December, 
 1655, Cromwell summoned a convention, meeting, or 
 privy-council, consisting of two lawyers, seven citizens, 
 and fourteen noted preachers, to consult upon this request 
 of the Jews. Among the latter, Mr. Godwin and Mr. 
 Peters (whose works were burned along with those of 
 Milton at the restoration) and Mr. Nye (of celebrated 
 beard) particularly exerted themselves in favour of putting 
 the Jews upon the like footing with other sects. So many 
 symptoms of prejudice and intolerance escaped from 
 others, that after a conference of four days,. Cromwell 
 began to think the measure would not be introduced to 
 the people from the pulpits, in a manner to assist its po- 
 pularity ; and therefore dismissed the meeting, saying, 
 they had rendered the matter more doubtful to him than 
 it was before. On the 1st of April he took leave of Ma- 
 nasseh, by a polite but evasive answer. Whilst this 
 affair was pending, the Rabbi Jacob Ben Azahel pro- 
 fessed to entertain suspicions that Cromwell was the ex- 
 pected Messiah ; an opinion propagated, no doubt, for 
 the purpose of attracting a vast concourse of the lower 
 classes of Jews into England, in case the political equality, 
 
 * The notorious pamphlet in favour of sabbatizing, declared by the 
 rotes of the House, in March, 1649, to be erroneous, scandalous, and 
 profane, does not appear to have had the slightest connection with the 
 views of Manasseh and his employers. 
 
REVOLUf IONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 45 
 
 for which Manasseh petitioned, could have been obtained 
 Some few must, from this period, have settled in London 
 by connivance, since, in 1663, their register of births 
 contained twelve names: and during the whole reign of 
 Charles II. who introduced the sale of patents of deniza- 
 tion, their numbers increased. 
 
 In 1684, James II. (who lost the affections of the bi- 
 gotted people, as much by his disposition to tolerate both 
 catholics and dissenters, as by his political intolerance to 
 the adherents of Monmouth) remitted the alien duty upon 
 all goods exported, in favour of the Jews. This was 
 universally resented by the English merchants, who were 
 apprehensive that the same duties would also be remit- 
 ted upon all imported goods. Petitions from the Ham- 
 burgh company, from the East India company, from 
 fifty-seven of the leading merchants in the city, from 
 the west, and from the north, were offered to the king 
 against this equitable regulation. These illiberal beings 
 were glad, under any pretext, to defraud some of their 
 neighbours of the privilege to trade upon the same 
 terms with themselves : remembering the homely proverb, 
 " the fewer, the better cheer," they were naturally very 
 glad to see the number of candidates lessened for the 
 advantages they were themselves striving to obtain. After 
 the revolution, this order was superseded, to the great 
 joy of the Christian merchants. 
 
 In the first year of Queen Anne, a detestable statute 
 was passed, to encourage the conversion of young Jews, 
 by emancipating such converts from all dependence upon 
 their parents. And in the sixth year of George II. 
 Reasons were offered to the Lord Mayor and Court of 
 Aldermen, for applying to Parliament for the suppression 
 of Jew brokers. No public proceeding, however, ensued : 
 equity for once overpowered selfishness : it seemed the 
 dawn of rising liberality ; but, like the twilight of a 
 winter's morn within the arctic circle, was to be succeeded 
 by no effectual sunshine, 
 
46 
 
 NARRATIVE O? THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 The Church of England had obtained, in the seventh 
 year of James I. an act, which prevented all persons 
 from being naturalized, unless they first receive the sa- 
 crament of the Lord's supper, according to its own pecu- 
 liar and exceptionable mode of commemoration. This 
 act effectually excluded the Jews from being naturalized ; 
 till, in the year 1753, a bill was brought into the House 
 of Lords, and passed there without opposition, which 
 provided, that all persons professing the Jewish religion, 
 who have resided in Great Britain or Ireland for three 
 years, without being absent more than three months at 
 one time during that space, may, upon application for 
 that purpose, be naturalized by parliament, without re- 
 ceiving the sacrament of the Lord's supper. But all 
 persons professing the Jewish religion, are, by this act, 
 disabled from purchasing or inheriting any advowson, " 
 right of patronage, &c. to any benefice or ecclesiastical 
 promotion, school, hospital, or donative whatsoever. On 
 the 16th of April, this bill was sent down to the House 
 of Commons, ordered to be printed, and on the 7th 
 of May read a second time, when a motion was made 
 for its being committed. Lord Barrington, Lord Duplin, 
 Robert Nugent, Esq. and Henry Pelham, Esq. were 
 among its most eloquent advocates ; Lord Egmont, and 
 Sir Edmund Isham, among its more zealous opponents. 
 The bill was supported by the petitions of a few mer- 
 chants, chiefly dissidents, and countenanced by the 
 ministry, who argued : 
 
 That it would increase the numbers and wealth of the 
 people, upon which depend the national strength, the 
 ability to encounter future difficulties, and achieve useful 
 undertakings — and by which posterity would estimate the 
 means and utility of our frame of government. That, by 
 receiving the Jews into our community, and admitting 
 them to a participation of our civil rights, they would 
 contract a warm attachment to our constitution and 
 country, and gladly divide with us the public burdens. 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 4? 
 
 That a great portion of the funds belonging to foreign 
 Jews, it was our obvious interest to induce them to follow 
 their property, and to expend here an income which was 
 yearly exported to a clear loss. That, connected as the 
 Jews were with the great bankers, and monied interest of 
 Europe, their residence here, would, in future wars, 
 give us a great command of capital, and facilitate our 
 loans. That even their prejudices, as a sect, would 
 operate in our favour, and occasion our manufactures to 
 be dispersed among the multitudinous Jew-shopkeepers in 
 Europe, who now recurred to the Jew-merchants of Hol- 
 land and the other tolerant countries. That Poland had 
 never risen to so high a pitch of civil, literary, and com- 
 mercial distinction as when her policy was most liberal 
 towards Socinians and Jews ; and that the sect itself had 
 always abandoned its offensive prejudices in proportion to 
 its good usage. 
 
 On the other side, it was urged, that, born as we are 
 to privileges and exclusive rights, we did not, by this 
 bill, sell our birth-right, like Esau, for any consideration 
 however inadequate, but foolishly gave it away. That if 
 the Jews, about to be naturalized, belonged to the nu- 
 merous classes, we should import vagrants and cheats to 
 burden our rates, or supplant the industry of our less 
 parsimonious poor — if to the wealthy classes, who cannot 
 procure a settlement elsewhere, they would become the 
 highest bidders for our landed estates, dispossess the 
 Christian owners, attract around them their butchers, 
 bakers, and poulterers (for they can eat nothing of our 
 killing) and by-and-by, would endanger our religion 
 itself. That the rites of the Jews will for ever resist their 
 incorporation with other nations, for any common pur- 
 poses, while their early marriages and frequent divorces 
 promote so rapid an increase of their numbers, that they 
 might become, like the bitch in the kennel, too strong 
 for their hospitable patrons. That it had a tendency 
 to embroil us with foreign powers: we must reclaim, 
 
48 NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS AND 
 
 for instance, as a British subject, any Portuguese Jew 
 who should come over to be naturalized, and by indis- 
 cretions, expose himself to the inquisition. That the 
 Jews were not given to manufactures, and, if they should 
 open shops, would interfere with the profits and main- 
 tenance of Christians-, for the number of shops being 
 adequate to the consumption, could only be increased 
 with injury to the established. That Jewish nationality 
 would intrigue all the trade into their own hands; that 
 they were enemies upon principle to all Christians ; and 
 that it was flying in the face of the Almighty to gather 
 together a sect, of which the Bible foretold the dis- 
 persion. 
 
 The trumpet of alarm was first sounded by the lord 
 mayor, aldermen, and commons of the city of London, 
 who, in a petition to parliament, expressed their appre- 
 hension, that the bill, if passed into a law, would tend 
 greatly to the dishonour of the Christian religion, and 
 endanger the excellent constitution. 
 
 The Earl of Egmont became their mouth-piece ; who, 
 in an artful speech, countenanced and inflamed the 
 ungenerous bigotry of the multitude. The English have 
 always enjoyed a cry of alarm, when there is no real 
 danger; because it enhances, for the time, the personal 
 importance of each individual. It flatters his love of 
 consequence to be called upon to stand up for his church 
 and king, when he is not likely to be exposed to the ruffle 
 of contest, or the humiliation of defeat. Accordingly, 
 a zeal, the most furious, vociferated in the pulpits and 
 corporations against the bilr, and, by the next session of 
 parliament, instructions were sent to almost all the mem- 
 bers to solicit a repeal of it. 
 
 The minister did not attempt to resist the torrent, 
 but was among the foremost who spoke in favour of the 
 repeal: he was answered, with much force of reasoning, 
 and a truly liberal spirit, by Thomas Potter, Esq. to 
 whose speech a very elegant reply was delivered by Sir 
 
REVOLUTIONS OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 4<) 
 
 George Littleton : and the Jew bill was repealed, by an 
 Act which received the royal assent the same session. 
 Attempts too were made, but successfully opposed by 
 Mr. Peiham and Mr. Pitt, to repeal so much of An Act 
 for naturalizing foreigners in America, as did not exclude 
 Jews. From that time, the legal condition of Jews in 
 England has not altered ; but the people no longer viev 
 them with rancour, or mistrust, or unbrotherly emotions. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 FACTS RELATIVE TO THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE 
 JEWS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 TT'OR the last twenty years the state of the Jews has 
 -*- excited much attention in Germany and France; 
 and by turns bigotry and philanthropy have censured or 
 justified them. 
 
 The nations of Europe, becoming daily more abased 
 and corrupt, can have no right to reproach the Jews 
 Avith immorality, and especially with usurious practices. 
 A comparison between them would in many respects turn 
 out to the advantage of the latter, who might say to 
 the Christians, as Jesus Christ did to the Pharisees, 
 " Let him who is free from sin throw the first stone." 
 
 If the Jews be a degenerate race, their degeneracy 
 is an effect produced by the crimes of our ancestors, 
 whose descendants must be considered as their accomplices 
 as long as the Jews shall have to complain of civil and 
 political rights being unjustly withheld from them. Since 
 the time of Vespasian their history presents nothing 
 but scenes of sorrow. Fugitives and proscribed in the 
 various countries of the universe where they sought an 
 asylum, they have seen all nations united to annihilate 
 them; and notwithstanding this rancorous enmity hey 
 
 E 
 
50 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE JEWS 
 
 exist among all nations. The Jews were a prey to 
 innumerable calamities, and their whole existence was 
 little else than a protracted agony, except in the dominions 
 of the Pope. 
 
 No nation was ever so much attached to agriculture 
 as the Jews in Palestine : it was only for a short period 
 that they engaged in commerce, when Solomon sent his 
 ships from Asiongaber to Ophir. Since their dispersion 
 no people were ever so averse from agriculture, because 
 they were every where denied the privilege of acquiring 
 and cultivating land, or exercising arts and trades. 
 Commerce was therefore the only road left open to them, 
 especially retail-trade, which is within the reach of every 
 one, and which, offering only small and precarious 
 profits, produces a rapacious disposition. But the riches 
 which the Jews acquired by commerce soon awakened 
 the cupidity of their enemies, who plundered and ba- 
 nished, hanged or burnt them ; and to fill up the measure 
 of their sufferings, even pretended to justify themselves 
 by calumniating the victims of their crimes. The dread 
 of tyranny suggested to the Jews the invention of bills 
 of exchange and insurance; and they often eluded the 
 violence and rapacity of their enemies by being enabled 
 to transfer and transport their property in a letter or a 
 pocket-book; and thus they and the Armenians became 
 the brokers and bankers of the world. 
 
 The character of the Jews is the effect of their educa- 
 tion ; like that of the Negroes, the Parias, the Gypsies, 
 and, in a word, of all men. 
 
 Instead of requiring so much of men whom we have 
 almost forced to become vicious, is there not, on the 
 contrary, reason to be surprised that among the Jews 
 w£ still meet with so many persons who, surmounting 
 by their courage all the obstacles which persecution and 
 public opinion oppose to them, have acquired virtues 
 and learning. Freind assures us, in his History of Medi- 
 cine, that in the middle ages they were at the head of 
 
IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 51 
 
 that profession. Medicine has indeed at all times, and 
 in every country, been cultivated among them; and at 
 present they may boast of many eminent physicians. 
 It is to the Jews of Toledo we are indebted for the 
 Alphonsine Tables, drawn up in the thirteenth century, 
 and the finest monument of astronomy during that age 
 of darkness. If we consult the Dictionaries of Bartoloci, 
 Imbonati, Rossi, &c. we shall find a crowd of distinguished 
 men among the Hebrews, whose names are transmitted 
 with eclat to posterity : — Maimonides, Kimki, Jarchi, 
 Aben Ezra, Juda Levi, Elias the Levite, Abarbanel the 
 Republican, Zacutus, Orodio, Menasseh Ben-Israel, 
 Mendez, author of a tragedy intitled Athalia, Mendel- 
 sohn, Pinto, Marcou, Hers, Bloch, Vezelize, &c. 
 
 Virtues and talents generally follow in the train of 
 liberty ; and this is the reason why the Jewish communi- 
 ties in Holland have produced so many enlightened men: 
 even now we find many such among them, such as 
 Cappadoce, a physician; D'Acosta w r ho was president 
 of the Batavian Legislative Assembly ; Asser, and several 
 others of Amsterdam, who are eminent lawyers; De Solla 
 and Bel-Infante at the Hague, &c. Like the Catholics, 
 they have acquired in Holland politicial rights ; but both 
 Catholics and Jews complain that the intolerance of the 
 lately dominant religion actually deprives them of that 
 which the law has granted them. 
 
 During the last fifteen years France has communicated 
 to the 100,000 Jews dispersed in her departments every 
 civil right? Among them there are many men of cul- 
 tivated minds, such as Rodriguez, Furtado, Eli Levi; 
 Bing, lately dead, and universally regretted; Lipman 
 Moses, known as the author of Hebrew and German 
 poems ; Berr Isaac Beer, who at the commencement of 
 the Constituent Assembly victoriously refuted the pa- 
 ralogisms advanced by Lafare, Bishop of Nancy, against 
 the admission of Jews to civil rights; Michael Berr, 
 
 E 2 
 
52 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE JEWS 
 
 an advocate, and member of several learned societies; 
 Zalkind Howwitz, author of some esteemed works, as 
 for instance, " On the Resignation of the Jews;" Terkem 
 and Anschel, the former professor of the higher branches 
 of mathematics, the latter of physics and chemistry, at the 
 Lyceum of Mentz, &c. &c. 
 
 No Jew has ever had a seat in any of the French Na- 
 tional Assemblies, into which Catholics, Lutherans, 
 Calvinists, Negroes, and Mulattoes, were admitted ; 
 but several have filled with honour the offices of judges, 
 administrators, and municipal officers. In the depart- 
 ment of Mont Tonnere one of them is mayor of his 
 commune, of which he has put the financial affairs in 
 very good order, and is esteemed as an excellent farmer. 
 
 Mr. David Zinstheimer, a Rabbin of Alsace, has 
 displayed much learning and eloquence in a letter which 
 he addressed two years ago to such as professed the Jewish 
 religion; preaching charity towards all men, and the 
 duties they owe to their country. The influence which 
 he derives from his sacerdotal character enables him to 
 second the views of the government, which wishes to 
 turn the attention of the Jews to agriculture, and the 
 exercise of the liberal and mechanic arts. The praise- 
 worthy conduct of this Rabbin forms a striking contrast 
 to that of many of his brethren, whose folly and 
 ignorance might lead us to suppose that they do not 
 belong to the present age. To be versed in the Talmud 
 is by them considered as the maximum of learning. They 
 contract and debase the minds of their followers by the 
 fooleries with which their memory is charged, and by 
 a multitude of puerile observances, some of which are 
 not the most decent, imposed upon the women in par- 
 ticular. Fearful of losing their power, they sound the 
 ahum as soon as any of their flock evince a desire to 
 cultivate their understandings. From the same motive, 
 in the German provinces lately annexed to France, they 
 
IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 55 
 
 oppose the establishment of separate schools for the 
 Jews, or the sending of their children to those of the 
 Christians. 
 
 In the past centuries of our era, especially from 450 
 to 550, difference of religion did not hinder the Jews 
 and Christians from intermarrying ; but such unions are 
 very rare in our times ; and not above four or five are 
 known to have taken place in France since the Revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 The Jews have less dislike to the military profession 
 than to agriculture. A considerable number of them 
 serve in the French armies ; several of them are officers ; 
 and two have risen to the rank of chiefs of battalions. 
 
 Formerly the Portugueze and German Jews detested 
 the Caraites, and mutually hated each other. In the last 
 century a Prussian Jewess having married a Portugueze 
 physician, her relations put on mourning as if she had 
 been dead. A Caraite having come to Frankfort, would 
 have been murdered there, if Ludolp had not saved him 
 from the fury of the synagogue. A Rabbin had pre- 
 viously given it as his decided opinion, that if a Caraite 
 and a Christian were drowning at the same instant, the 
 Rabbinical Jew ought to make a bridge of the body of 
 the Caraite for the purpose of saving the Christian. 
 
 Their ideas, however, have undergone a considerable 
 change in that l-espect. It is not a hundred years since 
 fifty Jewish families of Amsterdam having expressed a 
 wish to declare themselves Caraites, the government pre- 
 vented them. Lately, at Paris, a religious festival united 
 under the roof of one synagogue the Portugueze and 
 German Jews. This, however, is supposed to have 
 resulted less from a conformity of doctrine, than from an 
 indifference which is partly the fruit of their education. 
 In their childhood they heard their teachers not only 
 approve, but even prefer, the Talmud to the Bible; for 
 the Rabbins compare the latter to water, and the Talmud 
 to wine. In their riper years, revolting against the 
 
-$4 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE JEWS 
 
 reveries of the Mishna, they have not been able to 
 separate the absurd tales from the truths which enlighten- 
 ed reason reveres. 
 
 For some }'ears past the spirit of reform has manifested 
 itself among the Jews of Leghorn, who in 1796 made 
 some alterations in their religious rites; among those 
 settled at Amsterdam, four or five hundred of whom 
 have established a separate synagogue ; among those of 
 Berlin, the greater part of whom no longer attend their 
 synagogue, and some of whom, ten years ago, addressed 
 a celebrated letter to the Protestant pastor Tellier. They 
 offered to join the Protestant church, without believing 
 its doctrines; for they reduced their symbol to four or 
 five insignificant and abstract propositions, which do not 
 indicate any symptom of Christianity. 
 
 The progress of mental improvement among the Jews 
 is however most observable in Germany; where several 
 men of learning are earnestly endeavouring to improve 
 the mode of education. The Jews have had a share in 
 this moral revolution. Mendelsohn, a creative genius, 
 raised himself to a high rank among philosophers: and 
 his renown was the electric spark which kindled the genius 
 of the Hebrews. Mendelsohn had for contemporaries or 
 successors men of distinguished reputation, some of 
 them now no more, such as Bloch, Herz, Maimon, 
 Hartevig, Vevelize, Stc. ; others still living, such as 
 Friedlander, uncle and nephew, Wolfssohn, Fraenkel, 
 Schottlander, &c. but in particular Bendavid, president 
 of the Society of Friends of Humanity at Berlin, and 
 author of several profound works, who has endeavoured 
 to apply algebra to the theory of taste in the arts. 
 Several times the Berlin Academy of Sciences had ex- 
 pressed a wish that Mendelsohn might be appointed one 
 of their associates; but Frederic, who has been called 
 the Great, refused his assent, because he would not have 
 in the list of members the name of a Jew joined to that 
 of Catherine JI. of Russia! This trait of little-minded- 
 
IN. FRANCE AND GERMANY. 55 
 
 ness will probably not be copied, if the Academy should 
 now present to the Prussian Government as a candi- 
 date, Bendavid, to whom it has already decreed several 
 prizes. 
 
 The Prussian Jews had during the last six years 
 published a Journal in Hebrew, in which they attacked 
 with argument and ridicule the reveries of the Talmud. 
 This periodical work is to be revived at Dessau under a 
 new form, and the title of The Sulamite, or a Journal 
 for the Diffusion of Knowledge among the Jews, by MM. 
 Fraenkel, Wolf, and Rundel. 
 
 The Jews have been reproached for undervaluing the 
 female sex. In the daily-prayers of the men is the follow- 
 ing passage : — " Blessed be the Creator of Heaven and 
 Earth for not having made me a woman;" — whilst the 
 woman was taught to say with humility, " Blessed be 
 thy name for having made me as I am." — They begin to 
 repair this injury, especially at Berlin and at Hamburg, 
 where there are many Jewesses whose education has been 
 conducted with the greatest care, and who are distinguish- 
 ed by a union of virtue and learning. In Michael Berr's 
 " Appeal to the Justice of Nations," there are some 
 curious notes relative to this subject. 
 
 Some enlightened Jews do not approve of having 
 schools exclusively appropriated to the children of their 
 nation. It would undoubtedly be a powerful means towards 
 effecting a complete political union, if they all frequented 
 the schools and universities of the Christians; but the. 
 prejudices of the latter, by rejecting them, or at least 
 attaching a kind of stigma to Judaism, induced them to 
 establish separate schools in different towns and cities of 
 Germany, — at Nuremberg, Furth, Breslau, Konigsberg^ 
 &c. They have likewise such schools at Berlin, Frank- 
 furt-on-the-Mayne, Dessau, Seezen, in particular for 
 the education of poor children. They are almost all 
 supported by voluntary contributions. The regulations 
 of these schools, and several elementary works expressly 
 
56 PRESENT CONDITION OF THKJEWS 
 
 written for their use, Iiave been printed. At Frankfurt- 
 on-the-Mayne, M. Giesenheimer, uniting- music with 
 poetry, has printed for the scholars a collection of 
 pieces in every way calculated to inspire virtuous senti- 
 ments. 
 
 In 1795 a society of Jews, for the most part young men, 
 founded at Dessau a separate school for the children of 
 their nation. They had to contend against a multitude 
 of obstacles; but the protection of the government, 
 which approved of the statutes of that school, the success 
 attending their mode of instruction, and the public and 
 solemn examinations, caused the establishment to prosper. 
 The founders addressed themselves to the benevolence 
 of persons in easy circumstances, and received abundant 
 succours, by means of which they were enabled to 
 enlarge their plan. They have accordingly increased 
 the number of the masters; and they are now preparing 
 a fit place for the library. The pupils, whose number 
 amounts to about one hundred, are under the direction 
 of M. Friinkel; and a better choice could not well have 
 been made. — He is assisted by professors worthy of him; 
 among others, by the modest Tillieh. In this school they 
 follow the method of Pestalozzi, M. Olivier, formerly a 
 colleague of Basedow, and who has given us a learned 
 Analysis of the system of languages., and of the manner 
 of teaching them. 
 
 At Seezen, a town situated between Brunswick and 
 Gottingcn, a college was founded in 1801 for the children 
 of the Jews, by M. Jacobsohn, who fills a high office 
 in the service of the Duke of Brunswick, and enjoys the 
 esteem of all ranks. He confides the direction of it to 
 a man of learning and zeal, M. Schoitiander, counsellor 
 to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, who is engaged 
 in writing a history of his nation. There are ten pro- 
 fessors, although the number of students does not yet 
 amount to more than fifty; but it daily increases. The 
 arrangement of the building and the administration of the 
 
IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 57 
 
 establishment may serve as models. There, as well as at 
 Dessau^ the children are distinguished by neatness and 
 cleanliness, by good order, and an air of health and 
 content. The poor are admitted gratis, and the others 
 pay in proportion to their ability. They are taught the 
 German, French, Hebrew, and Latin languages, geo- 
 graphy, histQPT, declamation, natural history, mathema- 
 tics, technology, &c. — At Seezen they add to the above 
 the Greek language and music ; and it is intended soon 
 to establish a school of industry. Each student has a 
 small plot of ground allotted to him, which he cultivate; 
 with his own hands ; and it is part of the plan of this 
 school to wean them from commerce, the spirit of which 
 is so deeply rooted among the Jews. 
 
 They communicate to the pupils here the elements of 
 such knowledge as is necessary for every station in life, 
 and the acquisition of which prepares the way for the 
 developement of the greatest talents, if they happen to 
 be. endowed therewith. I have admired the facility with 
 which conversation was carried on between the pro- 
 fessors and some of the pupils, though very young, in 
 the French and Latin languages, and on various objects 
 of instruction. I have likewise seen them, during their 
 hours of recreation, solve very complicated arithmetical 
 problems, and make mathematical demonstrations. Those 
 details sufficiently evince the capacity and diligence of 
 the pupils, who are all Jews, and of the professoi"s, some 
 of whom are Jews, and some Christians, and who live 
 most amicably together. With respect to such of the 
 pupils as, from the inferiority of their talents, are ren- 
 dered unfit for the pursuits of literature and the sciences, 
 the Duke of Brunswick has lately taken some wise 
 measures to facilitate to them the learning, and to 
 ensure to them the free exercise, of arts and handi- 
 crafts. 
 
 On the front of the new synagogue for the College of 
 Seezen it is proposed to have two hands joined together, 
 
5S PRESENT CONDITION OP THE JEWS 
 
 with an inscription, the object of which is to remind 
 Christians and Jews that they worship the same God. 
 
 Besides the ascetical books with which they are pro- 
 vided, M. Schottlander has compiled for the use of the 
 students a Collection of Poems and Moral Precepts, 
 taken from various authors. The Talmud, among other 
 works, has been put under contribution for this purpose. 
 M. Schottlander has inserted in his book Maiinonides's 
 Thirteen Fundamental Laws of the Jewish Faith ; a short 
 and well-written History of the Hebrew Language ; the 
 second canto of theMoysiade, an epic poem by Hartwig 
 Vezelize, a Rabbin, lately deceased at Hamburgh; and 
 other instructive and interesting pieces. 
 
 In Germany the most happ}^ effects are expected to 
 result from these schools of the Jews. They are unwearied 
 in their endeavour to merit admission to a full participa- 
 tion of all civil rights. This has been granted them already 
 in France. — But on the other side of the Rhine they have 
 not been able to obtain the object of their wishes, notwith- 
 standing the efforts of the learned and respectable M. 
 Dohm. 
 
 There seems to be, however, a gradual approximation 
 towards a better order of things. Already, through the 
 zeal of Messrs. Jacobsohn and Breitcnbach, twenty-six 
 German princes have repaired an outrage done to humani- 
 ty, by abolishing that infamous toll which put the Jews 
 upon a level with cloven-footed animals. 
 
 In a German state on the right bank of the Rhine, the 
 government had been hesitating about the suppression 
 of this toll, and even pretended to subject to it the Jews 
 dwelling on the left side. But this determination was 
 soon changed, when they were informed of the spirited 
 conduct of M. Jambon St. Andre, the prefect of Mont 
 Tonnere, who proposed, by way of reprisal, that the 
 subjects of the German Prince (the Jews only excepted,) 
 should be obliged to pay the same toll when they entered 
 France. 
 
IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 59 
 
 Will it be believed, that in the nineteenth century 
 there exists a republic where public opinion has so stig- 
 matized the Jews, that they dare not, under pain of 
 being insulted, enter the wide alleys which serve as a 
 promenade to the Christians ; and yet Frankfurt-on-the- 
 Mayne is known to possess citizens estimable in every 
 respect, and who no doubt will raise their voice for the 
 purpose of putting an end to this injustice, less dishonour- 
 able to those who suffer it than to those who tolerate it. 
 Will it be believed, that at Berlin, when a Jew has 
 several sons, he cannot marry more than one of them. 
 For the marriage of the second he must have permission 
 from government, the obtaining of which, always at- 
 tended with expense, becomes progressively more difficult, 
 if the application be about a third or fourth. Formerly 
 the bridegroom was obliged to purchase a certain quantity 
 of faulty porcelain- ware of the royal manufactory. 
 But let us hope that the epoch approaches when all the 
 separate Jewish communities will be abolished; — when 
 civil toleration, expiating the crimes of preceding gene- 
 rations, will call mankind without distinction to fulfil all 
 the duties and enjoy all the rights of citizens. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 A STATEMENT OF THE SENTIMENTS AND SECTS OF THE 
 MODERN JEWS. 
 
 r I "*HE modern Jews are dispersed over every kingdom in 
 -*• the world, and in spite of the miseries they have 
 suffered, still look down upon all nations, and consider 
 themselves as the favourites of heaven. 
 
 The Jews commonly reckon but thirteen articles of 
 their faith. Maimonides, a famous Jewish Rabbi, reduced 
 them to this number when he drew up their confession 
 about the end of the eleventh century, and it was 
 
60 STATEMENT OF THE SENTIMENTS 
 
 generally received. All the Jews are obliged to live and 
 die in the profession of these thirteen articles, which are 
 as follows: — I. That God is the creator of all things; 
 that he guides and supports all creatures; that he has done 
 every thing; and that he still acts, and shall act during 
 the whole eternity. 2. That God is one : there is no 
 unity like his. He alone hath been, is, and shall be 
 eternally our God. — 3. That God is incorporeal, and 
 cannot have any material properties; and no corporeal 
 essense can be compared with him. — 4. That God is the 
 beginning and end of all things, and shall eternally 
 subsist. — 5. That God alone ought to be worshipped, and 
 none beside him is to be adored. — 6. That whatever has 
 been taught by the prophets is true. — 7. That Moses is 
 the head and father of all contemporary doctors, of those 
 who lived before or shall live after him. — 8. That the law 
 was given by Moses. — 9. That the law shall never be 
 altered, and that God will give no other. — 10. That God 
 knows all the thoughts and actions of men. — 11. That 
 God will regard the works of all those who have perform- 
 ed what he commands, and punish those who have trans- 
 gressed his laws. — 12. That the Messiah is to come, 
 though he tarry a long time. — 13. That there shall be 
 a resurrection of the dead when God shall think fit*. 
 
 The modern Jews adhere still as closely to the Mosaic 
 dispensation, as their dispersed and despised condition 
 will permit them. Their service consists chiefly in read- 
 ing the law in their synagogues, together with a variety 
 of prayers. They use no sacrifices since the destruction 
 of the temple. They repeat blessings and particular 
 praises to God, not only in their prayers, but on all 
 accidental occasions, and in almost all their actions. 
 They go to prayers three times a day in their synagogues. 
 Their sermons are not made in Hebrew, which few of 
 them now perfectly understand, but in the language of 
 the country where they reside. They are forbidden tl! 
 * Basnage's History of the Jews, pp. 110 — 115. 
 
AND SECTS OF THE MODERN JEWS. 6l 
 
 vain swearing, and pronouncing any of the names of 
 God without necessity. They abstain from meats pro- 
 hibited by the Levitical law ; for which reason whatever 
 they eat must be dressed by Jews, and after a manner 
 peculiar to themselves. As soon as a child can speak, 
 they teach him to read and translate the Bible into the 
 language of the country where they live. In general they 
 observe the same ceremonies which were practised by 
 their ancestors in the celebration of the passover. They 
 acknowledge a two-fold law of God, a written and an 
 unwritten one : the former is contained in the pentateuch, 
 or five books of Moses ; the latter, they pretend, was 
 delivered by God to Moses, and handed down from him 
 by oral tradition, and now to be received as of equal autho- 
 rity with the former. They assert the perpetuity of their 
 law, together with its perfection. They deny the ac- 
 complishment of the prophecies in the person of Christ; 
 alleging that the Messiah is not yet come, and that he 
 will make his appearance with the greatest worldly 
 pomp and grandeur, subduing all nations before him, and 
 subjecting them to the house of Judah. Since the 
 prophets have predicted his mean condition and sufferings, 
 they confidently talk of two Messiahs ; one, Ben-Ephraim, 
 whom they grant to be a person of a mean and afflicted 
 condition in this world; and the other, Ben-David, who 
 shall be a victorious and powerful prince. 
 
 The Jews pray for the souls of the dead, because they 
 suppose there is a paradise for the souls of good men, 
 where they enjoy glory in the presence of God. They 
 believe that the souls of the Avicked are tormented in 
 hell with fire and other punishments ; that some are con- 
 demned to be punished in this manner for ever, while 
 others continue only for a limited time; and this they 
 call purgatory, which is not different from hell in respect 
 of the place, but of the duration. They suppose no 
 Jew, unless guilty of heresy, or certain crimes specified 
 by the Rabbins, shall continue in purgatory above a 
 
02 STATEMENT OF THE SENTIMENTS 
 
 twelvemonth; and that there are but few who suffer 
 eternal punishment*. 
 
 Almost all the modern Jews are Phariseesf, and are 
 as much attached to tradition as their ancestors were ; and 
 assert that whoever rejects the oral law deserves death. 
 Hence they entertain an implacable hatred to the Caraites, 
 a sect among the Jews, who adhere to the text of Moses 
 and the word of God; rejecting the rabbinistical interpre- 
 tation and cabala. The number of the Caraites is small? 
 in comparison with the Rabbins ; and the latter have so 
 great an aversion to this sect, that they will have no 
 alliance, or even conversation with them : and if a 
 Caraite should turn Rabbinist, the other Jews would not 
 receive him. 
 
 There are still some of the Sadducees in Africa, and 
 in several other places; but they are few in number: at 
 least there are but very few who declare openly for these 
 opinions. 
 
 There are to this day some remains of the ancient sect 
 of the Samaritans, who are zealous for the law of Moses, 
 but are despised by the Jews, because they receive only 
 the pentateuch, and observe different ceremonies from 
 theirs. They declare they are no Sadducees, but acknow- 
 ledge the spirituality and immortality of the soul. There 
 are numbers of this sect at Gaza, Damascus, Grand 
 Cairo, and in some other places of the east; but especially 
 at Sichem, now called Naplouse, which is risen out of 
 the ruins of the ancient Samaria, where they sacrificed 
 not many years ago, having a place for this purpose on 
 Mount GerizimJ. 
 
 With regard to the ten tribes, the learned Mr. Basnage 
 supposes they still subsist in the east, and gives the follow- 
 ing reasons for this opinion: — 1. Salmanassar had placed 
 them upon the banks of the Chaboras, which emptied 
 
 * Orckley's History of the Jews, p. 233. 
 
 ■f Their doctrines are similar to those of the ancient Pharisees. 
 
 t Collier's Historical Dictionary. 
 
AND SECTS OF THE MODERN JEWS. 63 
 
 itself into the Euphrates. On the west was Ptolemy's 
 Chalcitis, and the city Carra; and therefore God has 
 brought back the Jews to the country whence the patri- 
 archs came. On the east was the province of Ganzan, 
 betwixt the two rivers Chaboras and Saocoras. This was 
 the first situation of the tribes : but they spread into the 
 neighbouring provinces, and upon the banks of the 
 Euphrates. — 2. The ten tribes were still in being in this 
 country when Jerusalem was destroyed, since they came 
 in multitudes to pay their devotions in the temple. — 3. 
 They subsisted there from that time to the eleventh cen- 
 tury, since they had their heads of the captivity and 
 most flourishing academies. — 4. Though they were 
 considerably weakened by persecutions, yet travellers of 
 that nation discovered abundance of their brethren and 
 synagogues in the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. — 5. 
 No new colony has been sent into the east, nor have 
 those which were there been driven out. — 6. The history 
 of the Jews has been deduced from age to age, without 
 discovering any other change than what was caused by 
 the different revolutions of that empire, the various tem- 
 pers of the governors, or the inevitable decay in a nation, 
 which only subsists by toleration. We have therefore 
 reason to conclude that the ten tribes are still in the east, 
 whither God suffered them to be carried. If the families 
 and tribes are not distinguishable, it is impossible it should 
 be otherwise in so long a course of ages and afflictions 
 which they have passed through. In fine, says this 
 learned author, if we would seek out the remains of the 
 ten tribes, we must do it only on the banks of the 
 Euphrates, in Persia, and the neighbouring provinces. 
 
 It is impossible to fix the number of people the Jewish 
 nation is at present composed of : but yet we have reason 
 to believe there are still near three millions of people who 
 profess this religion ; and, as their phrase is, are wit- 
 nesses of the unity of God in all the nations in the 
 
 ■world* , 
 
 * Basnage, pp. 227 — 745, &c. 
 
04 VIEWS OF EMINENT DIVINES 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE VIEWS OF EMINENT DIVINES RESPECTING THE FUTURE 
 CONVERSION AND RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. 
 
 I. T~VR. Herman Witsius, Professor of Divinity in 
 -*—' the universities of Franker, Utrecht, and Ley den, 
 in his Oeconomy of the Covenants between God and man, 
 thus expresses himself: " We may reckon among the 
 benefits of the New Testament the restoration of the 
 Israelites, who were formerly rejected, and the bringing 
 them back to the eommunion of God in Christ. Paul 
 has unfolded this mystery to the Gentiles, Rom. xi. 25, 
 26, 27. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be 
 ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your 
 own conceits) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, 
 until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so 
 all Israel shall be saved : as it is written, There shall 
 come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn awav 
 ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto 
 them, when I shall take away their sins." 
 
 The Apostle here very justly explains Zion and Jacob 
 of the Jews; for these are the natural sons of Jacob, 
 natives, citizens of Zion ; and then also he speaks of those 
 with whom the covenant was made, as it is said in the text. 
 This is my covenant with them ; but that testament and 
 covenant belong to Israel, whose are the covenants and 
 promises — Rom. ix. 4. Lev. xxvi. 44, 45. Moreover Zion 
 and Jacob denote not some few of Israel, but the whole 
 body of that nation, as Gen. xlix\ 7. The deliverer is 
 promised to Zion. The Redeemer's in Isa. lix. 20. The 
 work of this Redeemer will be to turn away iniquity 
 from Jacob. In the Hebrew it runs, He shall come to 
 those that return from defection. The meaning is the 
 same : he will impart his grace and salvation to those, 
 who, by a true faith and repentance, shall return unto 
 
ON" THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. f)5 
 
 God. And as they cannot give this repentance to 
 themselves, the Redeemer will bestow it upon them. 
 Acts. v. 31. 
 
 .*' We are to expect the general conversion of the 
 Israelites in time to come, not indeed of every individual, 
 but of the whole body of the nation, and of the twelve 
 tribes. We chuse not to multiply minute questions, either 
 out of curiosity, or incredulity, concerning the time, 
 place, manner, means, and the like circumstances of this 
 mystery, which God has reserved in his own power. 
 Let us maintain the thing itself, and leave the manner of it 
 to God. Our Calvin, as his manner is, speaks with prudence 
 and gravity. ' Whenever the longer delay is apt to 
 throw us into despair, let us recollect the name mystery, 
 by which Paul clearly puts us in mind, that this conver- 
 sion is not to be in the ordinary or usual manner ; and 
 therefore they act amiss who attempt to measure it by 
 their own private sentiments.' 
 
 " To this restoration of Israel shall be joined the richesl 
 of the whole church, and, as it were, life from the dead, 
 Rom. xi. 12. 'Now, if the fall of them be the riches of 
 the world, and the diminishing of them, the riches of the 
 Gentiles, how much more their fulness?' And, ver. 15, 
 1 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of 
 the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life 
 from the dead?' The Apostle intimates, that much 
 greater and more extensive benefits shall redound to the 
 christian church from the fulness and restoration of the 
 Jews, than did to the Gentiles from their fall and diminu- 
 tion : greater, I say, intensively, or with respect to degrees, 
 and larger with respect to extent. 
 
 " As to intenseness or degrees it is supposed, that about 
 the time of the conversion of the Jews, the Gentile world 
 will be like a dead person, in a manner almost as Christ 
 describes the church of Sardis, Rev. iii. 1, 2. namely, 
 both that light of saving knowledge, and that fervent 
 piety, and that lively and vigorous simplicity of ancient 
 
 F 
 
66 VIEWS OF EMINENT DIVINES 
 
 Christianity, will, in a course of years, be very much 
 impaired. Many nations, who had formerly embraced the 
 gospel with much zeal, afterwards almost extinguished 
 by the venom of mahometanism, popery, libertinism, and 
 atheism, verify this prophecy. But upon the restoration 
 of the Jews, these will suddenly arise as out of the grave; 
 a new light will shine upon them, a new zeal be kindled 
 up; the life of Christ be again manifested in his mystical 
 body, more lively, perhaps, and vigorous' than ever. 
 Then, doubtless, many scriptural prophecies will, after 
 their accomplishment, be better understood, and such 
 as now appear dark riddles, shall then be found to con- 
 tain a most distinct description of facts. Many candles 
 joined together give a great light ; a new fire laid near 
 another o-ives a greater h ea j- . anc j suc h will the accession 
 of the Jews be to the Church of the Gentiles." 
 
 Wits. Oec. vol. iii. p. 351. 
 2. Dr. Gill, in his Body of Divinity, when treating on 
 the spiritual reign of Christ, observes, that " One 
 great step to the increase and enlargement of Christ's 
 kingdom and government in the world, will be the con- 
 version of the Jews, which will follow upon the 
 destruction of antichrist ; for the Popish religion is the 
 great stumbling-block which lies in the way of the Jews ; 
 and therefore must be first removed. There are many 
 prophecies that speak of their conversion; as that they 
 shall be born at once, not in a civil sense, set up and 
 established as a nation ; but in a spiritual sense, born 
 again of water and of the spirit. They shall be brought 
 into a thorough conviction of sin, and a true sense 
 of it; and shall mourn for it; particularly the sin of 
 their obstinate rejection of the true Messiah, and their 
 continued unbelief in him. Then they shall be led and 
 go forth with weeping and with supplication ; and shall 
 seek the Lord their God, and David their king, the 
 Messiah, and receive him and submit unto him; and 
 join themselves to christian churches and be subject to 
 
ON THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. 67 
 
 the ordinances of Christ: and this will be universal. 
 All Israelsha.il be saved, the whole nation shall be born 
 at once, suddenly, for which for many hundreds of years 
 they have been kept a distinct people, and have not been 
 reckoned and mixed among the nations though scattered 
 in the midst of them ; which is a most marvellous thins- 
 in providence, and plainly shews that God has some great 
 things to do for them and by them. In the reign of the 
 late king, and within our knowledge and memory, was a 
 very surprising event respecting this people, yet little 
 taken notice of. A Bill was brought into our British 
 Parliament to naturalize them ; I then thought in my own 
 mind it would never pass ; God would not suffer it in 
 providence, being so contrary to scripture-revelation 
 and prophecy, and the state of that people, in which they 
 are to continue until their conversion ; but the Bill did 
 pass to my great astonishment : not knowing what to 
 think of prophecy, and of what God was about to do in 
 the world, and with that people. But lo ! the Bill was 
 repealed, and that before one Jew was naturalized upon 
 it, and then all difficulties were removed, and it appeared 
 to be the will of God that an attempt should be made, 
 and that carried into execution as near as possible, without 
 crossing purposes, and contradicting prophecy; and to 
 let us see what a watchful eye the Lord keeps upon the 
 counsels of men, and that there is no counsel against 
 the Lord ; and that the Jews must remain a distinct people 
 until the time of their conversion. How -otherwise at 
 that time would it appear that a nation is born at once, if 
 not then a people that dwell alone, and not reckoned 
 among the nations? These two sticks, Jew and Gentiles, 
 will become one ; but it will be in and by the hand of the 
 Lord ; it will not be effected by Acts of Parliament, but 
 by the works of grace upon the souls of men. The Jews 
 will never be naturalized until they are spiritualized, and 
 when they are, they will return to their own land and 
 possess it. 
 
 1 ' By this means, the conversion of the Jews, and the 
 
6.8 VIEWS OF EMINENT DIVINES 
 
 settlement of them in their own land, a way will be 
 opened for the great spread of the gospel in the eastern 
 nations, and for the enlargement of Christ's kingdom 
 there ; for the Protestant princes, who will be assisting to 
 the Jews in replacing them in their own land, will carry 
 their victorious arms into other parts of the Turkish 
 dominions, and dispossess the Turk and his empire; which 
 will be effected by the pouring out of the sixth vial upon 
 the river Euphrates, which will be dried up, an emblem 
 of the utter destruction of the Ottoman empire; whereby 
 way wili be made for the kings of the East, or for the 
 Gospel being carried into the kingdoms of the East, not 
 onry into Turkey, but Tartarif, Persia, China, and the 
 countries of the great Mogul, which, upon the passing 
 away of the second, or Turkish wo, the kingdoms of this 
 world, those vast kingdoms just mentioned, will become 
 the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. Rev. xvi. 12. 
 and xi. 14, 15. And now will the fuiness of the Gentiles 
 be brought in, and those vast conversions .made among 
 them, prophesied of in Isa. xi. And now will the 
 interests and church of Christ make the greatest figure 
 it ever did in the world; now kings shall come to the 
 brightness and glory of Zion ; her gates shall stand open 
 continually for the kings of the Gentiles to enter in, who 
 will become church-members, and submit to all the or- 
 dinances of Christ's house; their kings shall be nursing fa- 
 thers, and their queens nursing mothers : and this will be the 
 case, not only of one or two, or a few of them, but even 
 of all of them; for all kings shall fall down before Christ, 
 and all nations shall serve him: churches shall be raised 
 and formed every where, and those be filled with great 
 personages. Now will be the time when the kingdom, and 
 dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
 heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High. Isa. xi. 3. 10. 11. and x.lix. 23. Psal. lxxii. 
 10. 11. Dan. ix. 27. Yet such will be the spirituality of 
 this state, that it will be a counter balance to the gran- 
 deur and riches of it, so that the saints shall not be hurt 
 
ON THE RESTORATION OP THE JEWS. 69 
 
 thereby as in former times, particularly in the times of 
 Constantine." Body of Div. 4to. p. 715. 
 
 3. President Edwards in his History of Redemption, 
 says, " Jezvish Infidelity shall be overthrown. However 
 obstinate they have been for above 1700 years in rejecting 
 Christ, and though instances of their conversion have 
 been so rare ever since the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 they have, against the plain words of their own prophets, 
 continued to approve of the cruelty of their forefathers 
 in crucifying Christ; yet the day will come, that the 
 thick veil that blinds their eyes shall be removed, [2. Cor. 
 iii. 16.] divine grace shall melt and renew their hard 
 hearts, f and they shall look on him whom they have 
 pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth 
 for his only son, and shall be in bitterness as one that is 
 in bitterness for his first born.' Zech. xii. 10. And then 
 shall the house of Israel be saved : the Jews in all their 
 dispersions shall cast away their old infidelity; shall have 
 their hearts wonderfully changed, and abhor themselves 
 for their past unbelief and obstinacy; and shall flow 
 together to the blessed Jesus, penitently, humbly, and 
 joyfully owning him as their glorious king and only 
 Saviour, and shall with one heart and voice declare his 
 praises unto other nations. 
 
 " Nothing is more certainly foretold, than this national 
 conversion of the Jews, as in xi. chap, of Rom. and 
 there are also many passages of the Old Testament which 
 cannot well be interpreted in any other sense, which I 
 shall not now particularly mention. Besides the pro- 
 phecies of the calling of the Jews, we have a remarkable 
 seal of the fulfilment of this great event in providence, 
 by their being preserved a distinct nation in such a dis- 
 persed condition for about 1600 years, which is a kind 
 of continual miracle. When they shall be called, then 
 shall that ancient people that were alone God's people 
 for so long a time, be received again, never to be rejected 
 more ; they shall then be gathered into one fold together 
 with the Gentiles; and so also shall the remains of the 
 
70 VIEWS OF EMINENT DIVINES 
 
 ten tribes, wherever they be, and though they have been 
 rejected much longer than the Jews, be brought in with 
 their brethren. The prophecies of Hosea especially seem 
 to hold this forth, that in the future glorious times of the 
 church, both Judah and Ephraim, or Judah and the ten i 
 tribes, shall be brought in together, and shall be united 
 as one people, as they formerly were under David and 
 Solomon, ' Then shall the children of Judah and "the 
 children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint them- 
 selves one head,' Hos. i. 1 1 . and so in the last chapter + 
 and other parts of his prophecy. Though we do not* 
 know the time in which this conversion of the nation 
 of Israel will come to pass; yet thus much we may deter- 
 mine by scripture, that it will be before the glory of the 
 Gentile part of the Church shall be fully accomplished; 
 because it is said that their coming in, shall ' be life 
 from the dead to the Gentiles,' Rom. xi. 12. 13." /j 
 
 4. Dr. Doddridge in his Evidence of Christianity ob- f> 
 serves that, " The preservation of the Jews as a distinct, 
 people, well deserves our attentive regard. 
 
 "It is plain they are vastly numerous, notwithstanding / 
 all the slaughter and destruction of this people in former 
 and in latter ages. They are dispersed in various most 
 distant nations, and particularly in those parts of the 
 world where Christianity is professed: and though tbey^ . 
 are exposed to great hatred and contempt, on account of Jj» 
 their different faith, and in most places subjected to civil J^ 
 incapacities, if not to unchristian severities; yet they are 
 still most obstinately tenacious of their religion, which 
 is the more wonderful, as their fathers were so prone / 
 to apostatize from it; and as most of them seem to be 
 utter strangers, either to piety, or humanity, and pour 
 out the greatest contempt on the moral precepts of 
 their own law, while they are so attached to the ceremonial ' 
 institutions of it, troublesome"'and inconvenient as they 
 are. Now seriously reflect, what an evident hand of pro- 
 vidence is here; that by their dispersion, preservation, 
 a nd adherence to their religion, it should come to pass, 
 
 < 
 
ON THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. 71 
 
 that christians should daily see the accomplishment of 
 many remarkable prophecies concerning this people; 
 and that we should always have amongst us such a crowd 
 of unexceptionable witnesses to the truth of those antient 
 Hebrew records, on which so much of the evidence of the 
 gospel depends: records, which are many of them so full 
 to the purpose for which we allege them, that, as a 
 celebrated writer very well observes*, ' Had the whole 
 body of the Jewish nation been converted to Christianity, 
 men would certainly have thought, they had been forged 
 by christians, and have looked upon them, with the pro- 
 phecies of the Sybils, as made many years after the events 
 they pretend to foretel.' And to add no more here, the 
 preservation of the Jews as a distinct people evidently 
 leaves room for the accomplishment of those Old and New 
 Testament promisesf , which relate to their national con- 
 version and restoration ; whereas that would be impossible 
 in itself, or at least be impossible to be known, if they 
 were promiscuously blended with other people. On the 
 whole, it is such a scene in the conduct of providence, 
 as I am well assured cannot be paralleled in the history of 
 any nation on earth, and affords a most obvious and im- 
 portant argument in favour of the gospel. 
 
 "To strengthen these remarks, we shall add the following 
 ^anecdote : a person, the former part of whose life was spent 
 in vice, when he became thoughtful of death and eternity, 
 was shaken in mind from day to day with many doubts 
 about the truth of the christian faith, and being upon the 
 point of a resolution to renounce it, as he was passing 
 through a street in the city, he cast his eye upon a Jew ; 
 presently his doubts vanished, and by the blessing of God 
 attending that providential occurrence, he became a 
 confirmed believer." 
 
 5. Mr. Locke gives us the substance of the xith chapter 
 
 * Spectator, No. 495. 
 
 f Deut. xxx. 3 — 6. Isa. xxvii. 12, 13. xlv. 17. xlix. 6. liv. lix. 20, 21. 
 xl. Ixi. lxii. lxv. Jxvi. Jer. xxiii. 5. 6. xxx. 8—24. xxxi. 30 — 40, 1, 4, 5. 
 Ezek, xi. 17—20. xx, 34—44. xxxiv, U— 31. &«- &c. &c. 
 
72 VIEWS OF EMINENT DIVINER &C. 
 
 of the Romans in a few words. " St. Paul in this chapter 
 goes on to shew the future state of the Jews and Gentiles 
 as to Christianity, viz. that though the Jews were for their 
 unbelief rejected, and the Gentiles taken in their room 
 to be the people of God, yet there was a few of the Jews 
 that believed in Christ, and so a small remnant of them 
 continued to be God's people, being incorporated with 
 the converted Gentiles into the christian church. But 
 when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, see ver. 25, 
 26. the whole nation of them shall be converted to the 
 gospel, and again be restored to be the people of God." 
 
 6. Dr. W. Harris justly observes, " that as this epistle 
 (the Romans) was written about the year 57; that is long 
 after the most remarkable conversion of the Jews by the 
 first preaching of the gospel, and after Paul had been 
 about thirty years engaged in the work, it appears that the 
 prophecies relating- to the calling of the Jews were not 
 accomplished then, and consequently are not yet accom- 
 plished." Disc, on Messiah, p. 91. 
 
 1. Dr. Whitby remarks, that " there is a double harvest 
 of the Gentiles spoken of in this chapter (Rom. xi.) the 
 first called their riches (ver. 12.) as consisting in preach- 
 ing the gospel to all nations, whereby indeed they were 
 happily enriched with divine knowledge and grace; the 
 second, the bringing in their fulness, which expreses a 
 more glorious conversion of many to the true faith of 
 Christians in the latter age of the world, which is to be 
 occasioned by the conversion of the Jews." 
 
 It is indeed now pretty generally agreed among the 
 learned, that we are warranted by the Scriptures to expect 
 a national conversion of the Jews, and their return to 
 their own land ; and the chief thing which has prejudiced 
 so many persons against this hypothesis is, that some 
 divines have carried it too far, almost to the restitution 
 of Judaism itself, and added a number of particulars 
 from their own conjecture, which are by no means plainly 
 revealed. 
 
 Printed by C. Wbittingham, Dean Street, 
 
TO THE 
 
 RULERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE, 
 
 THE 
 
 RABBIS AND JEWISH PEOPLE, 
 
 iN ENGLAND AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. 
 
 ANIMATED, we tftdl, by a fpirit of phi- 
 lanthropy, and real faith in the Scriptures of 
 Truth, we have not beheld the ftate of our 
 Jewifh Brethren with carelefs indifference or 
 infidel contempt. We have judged it our 
 duty to endeavour to excite renewed and fo- 
 lemn inveftigation of thofe Sacred Oracles 
 which we profefs alike to receive, whether 
 Jews or Chriftians. We feel it of the lair, 
 importance to our own fouls to know the 
 true Jehovah, and the Meffiah, who is the 
 fum and fubftance of all the Prophecies and 
 Promifes, and in whom alone all the nations 
 of the earth Jhall he hleffed. 
 
 B 2 The 
 
iv INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 The days of candor and divine charity have, 
 we truft, begun to dawn : bigotry and pre- 
 judices are faft fubiiding. We no longer dare 
 defpife, or infult, any man for his religious 
 opinions. AfTured that there can be but one 
 revealed truth, we endeavour to awaken every 
 man's confeience to the neceffity of a deep 
 and practical enquiry into their real ftate be- 
 fore God, and what fupport they have againft 
 the hour of death and day of judgment. 
 We mould, indeed, be under a fearful delu- 
 fion, if we vainly relied on educational reli- 
 gion, received by tradition from our fathers ; 
 or be abfurdly attached to forms, which en- 
 ter not into the effence of godlinefs. It be- 
 hoves every Jew and every Chriftian to ac- 
 quaint themfelves with the folid foundation 
 on which true hope is built, lb as to be able 
 to give a reafon of that hope to him that 
 afketh, " with gentlenefs and refpeel:," 
 •&potvTijTQ$ iL%i Qo&Xf 1 Pet. iii- 1 5 . Paffion is 
 never the proof of true piety ; nor will the 
 wrath of man, in any of its exertions, pro- 
 duce the risrhtcoufnefs of God. Bearing with 
 each other's infirmities — refpecling each 
 other's excellencies — diverted of the rcpulfive 
 paffions of pride and contempt — and ready to 
 
 hear, 
 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 hear, as to fpeak, in love, and in the fpirit 
 of meeknefs ; — fuch communications cannot 
 but have a tendency to enlarge the circle of 
 our information, to induce greater attention 
 to the important objects before us, and to 
 lead men of one blood, however they may 
 finally differ, to greater patience and for- 
 bearance in the matters yet in controversy, 
 and to nearer union in thofe things, about 
 which there can be no controverfy, to do good 
 unto all men. Whilit. our exertions arc con- 
 fined to, or centre in, the little circle of our 
 particular connections, and exclude all who 
 differ from us, the expanfive force of divine 
 liberality mult be neceffarily reftricled, and 
 we ihall fo far be unlike him who caufeth his 
 fun to rife on the evil and on the good, and 
 fendeth his rain upon the juft and upon the 
 unjuft. 
 
 Falfe religion has long been paving the 
 way for the triumphs of Infidelity, which 
 now reigns almoft uncontrouled : nor can it 
 be otherwife. Bigot Jews and formal Chrif- 
 tians afford an eafy conqueft to the reaibners 
 of this world. They have a thoufand 
 breaches, at which their arguments, or ridi- 
 cule. 
 
vi INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 cule, can enter, to throw down the foolifti 
 confidences of mere traditional opinions. 
 Herein, indeed, their victory confifts. They 
 can demolifh and raze the foundations of fu- 
 perftition and bigotry; but when they attempt 
 to raife a new fuperftructure, of Morals, or 
 Materialifm, the Religion of Philofophy is 
 found more impotent of all good, and more de- 
 structive of all confeientious principle, than 
 all that it hath overturned. Infidelity and 
 Atheifm will find in this novel experiment, 
 that without a Governor of the univerfe and 
 .a Judge of quick and dead, the main- 
 tainance of order and the peace of fociety will 
 hardly be fupported. 
 
 It is an arwful truth, that the number of 
 thofe, who call themfelves ftill Jews or 
 Chriftians, but live as Infidels, and radically 
 embrace their fentiments, is aftoniihingly 
 great. Divine Revelation to fuch, has no 
 conclufive authority. They only yield to it a 
 partial acknowledgement of juit as much as 
 they like, and reject the reft, which in fact is 
 the rejection of the whole, for a revelation 
 from God admits of no partial reception. 
 
 Strongly ' 
 
INTRODUCTORY ylDLRESS. vu 
 
 Strongly perfuaded ourfelves of the Divine 
 authority of the Scriptures, we call upon the 
 difciples of Mofes to fearch them with us, to 
 examine into their faithful conformity with 
 his injunctions, without adding to, or dimi- 
 nifhing from, the things written in the book. 
 
 As Chriftianity {lands in the neareft. relation 
 to Judaifm — admits the whole of the Oracles 
 committed to the fathers — fuppofes x and ex- 
 hibits, the fulfilment of the prophecies — and 
 inculcates obedience to God's revealed will, 
 as the confequence of a divine principle com- 
 municated, even of faith which worketh by 
 love — it highly imports every Jew to examine 
 the records, to weigh the evidence, and to 
 try the ground of his own hope by the prin- 
 ciples he himfelf admits. At leaft, the deep 
 and ferious enquiry can do no harm, and the 
 eternal importance of the matter requires it. 
 Every examination into a man's ftate before 
 God, according to his own principles, will 
 be attended, if fmcere, with humiliation, and 
 calls to greater diligence, and fo far produce, 
 it is prefumed, fome good to himfelf, in his 
 firmer eilablimment in faith, and humble 
 and holy walking with God. 
 
 We 
 
viii INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 We beg therefore, Brethren, of you a 
 candid perufal. We deiire to hear your ob- 
 jections with the fame candor with which 
 we propofe our own arguments. And if no 
 other good refult from the intercourfe be- 
 tween us, we hope it will tend to foften 
 down all bitternefs and difrefpect, with which 
 falfe Chriftians, and falfe Jews have been too 
 prone to treat their opponents ; a temper and 
 conduct that muft be utterly inconfiftent 
 with every principle of true religion. 
 
 Miftake not our object ; nor fuppofe we 
 wifh you to profefs our religion, and to aban- 
 don your own. We mould think our labour 
 employed to little purpofe, could we perfuade 
 every Jew we meet to receive Baptiim, and 
 become fuch Chriftians as are, perhaps, his 
 next door neighbours, the worldlings on the 
 'Change, or the formal and unawakened in 
 our churches. We perceive but one religion 
 in the Bible, divine fuhjedf ion of heart to the 
 King Meffiah : and where the confcicnce 
 feels no fenfe of fin and mifery, nor feeks in 
 his appointed ways to find acceptance Avith a 
 pardoning God, we efteem Jew, Turk, Hea- 
 then, and nominal Chriitian, to be exactly 
 
 on 
 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. ix 
 
 on a level refpecling falvation, and no change 
 of outward profeffion worth a moment's la- 
 bour, as long as the heart remains not right 
 with God. 
 
 Accept then, Brethren, this token of our 
 good will towards you, and cultivate towards 
 us a like mind. And may our God and your.s 
 direcl us into all truth, and prepare us for his 
 everlafling kingdom ! 
 
 C SEIIMON 
 
SERMON 
 
 Hebrews iv. 2. 
 
 For unto us was the Go/pel preached, as well as 
 unto them ; hut the morel preached did not 
 profit them, not being mixed with faith in th'efri 
 that heard it. 
 
 WlTH chearfulnefs I fubmit to the talk al- 
 lotted me by my Brethren : and, were my abili- 
 ties equal to the good will I bear the honoured 
 offspring of Abraham, I might hope this labour 
 of love would not be in vain in the Lord. But, 
 whether he be now pleafed to grant, or deny, 
 our prayer, to crown this attempt for his Is- 
 rael's good, or difappoint our delires, the time 
 Will come afluredly when, if we fail, others, Si- 
 mulated to more vigorous exertions, Iliall be 
 blefled with more abundant fuccefs. 
 
 C 'i Breathing 
 
12 SERMONS TO THE JEJFS. 
 
 Breathing this fpirit of philanthropy towards' 
 our Brethren univerfally through the whole world, 
 and efpecially to thofe who are dear to us for their 
 fathers' fakes, we cannot look with indifference on 
 the ftate of deplorable ignorance and difobedience 
 into which the Jewifh people are in general funk 
 down, without anxious concern for the confe- 
 quences which muft enfue. Grieved at the in- 
 fults which have been fo unworthily inflicted on 
 the race of Ifrael, by many who have borne the 
 Chriftian name, we, Brethren, are flretching 
 forth to vou the arms of affection ; and whether 
 you will hear, or whether you will forbear, we 
 feel ourfelves conftrained to prefs upon your 
 confciences a candid and ferious confideration of 
 fubjects equally interefting, and eternally mo- 
 mentous alike to Jew and Gentile. The Oracles 
 of God — their awful contents — the true Jehovah 
 — what duty, love, and fervice we owe him — 
 and how we are difcharging our obligations ; — 
 thefe cannot but be owned to be matters of the 
 laft importance to every man who has the leaft 
 pretenfions to reafon or religion. 
 
 In every attempt to heal divilionS) prudence 
 dictates, that we mould begin with the review 
 of thofe common principles in which we are 
 agreed, and of thofe truths admitted equally by 
 Jews and Chriitians. The fharp angles of con- 
 troverfy will thus be rubbed down to the 
 
 fmoother 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 13 
 
 fmoother furfaces of mutual good will. We 
 wifli to conciliate your regard ; and we refolve 
 to deferve your efteem at leali, if we are unable 
 to communicate to you all the rich bleilings 
 which we deiire. 
 
 Happily the leading features of the JeiviJ/i and 
 Chrijiian religion are the fame. We boaft the 
 fame divine origin — profefs/ to believe in the 
 fame God — to hold the fame rule of duty — ana 
 look to the one Meffiah. Thefe mofc important 
 points of union and agreement we are at prefent 
 to confider. 
 
 First. We mutually acknoivledge revelation* 
 as necefTary to inform the erring judgement, and 
 correct, the devious fleps of the fallen fons of 
 Adam, that they may be brought back to the 
 knowledge, love, and worfhip of the only 
 true God. 
 
 Indeed, it is among the flattering distinctions 
 of the Jew, that to them firft were committed 
 the Oracles of God, and that to their frith 
 " at fundry times, and in diverfe manners, lie 
 cc fpake by his holy prophets, fince the world 
 " began." 
 
 As the happy cenfequences of mch commu- 
 nications, this people, however opprefTed or de- 
 fpifed, pofiefled a treafure of wiidom and know- 
 ledge which all the learning of Egypt, and the 
 
 p-cniu; 
 
i4 Sermons to the jews. 
 
 genius of Greece, were unable to attain, and in- 
 competent to fupply. 
 
 To them alone, secondly, the one true God 
 tvas revealed in the unity of Jehovah, and the 
 perfections of his nature and attributes, as a fpi- 
 rit, felf-exiftent, omnipotent, eternal, incom- 
 prehenfible. 
 
 Whilft all the reft of the world was funk in 
 the groffefb idolatry, " changing the glory of 
 " God into images, made like to corruptible 
 " man, and birds, and quadrupeds, and rep- 
 C£ tiles ;" " in Jewry was God known, his name 
 " was great in Ifrael." Contemptibly as the 
 Jewifh nation has been treated by modern infi- 
 dels, in the firft criterion of wifdom, the know- 
 ledge of God, the meaneft Hebrew as far ex- 
 ceeded all the fages of the Earl, as revelation 
 doth unenlightened reafon, or certitude conjec- 
 ture. Even thefe proud fophifts themfelves, 
 however affecting to defpife the vulgar herd, 
 bowed down to the eftabliihed Polytheifm ; and, 
 li brutifh in their knowledge, turned the truth of 
 " God into a lie," affording the moft complcat 
 demonftration, that " the world by wifdom 
 *' knew not God, 1 ' and that, after all their re- 
 fearches, they could never find out the Almighty 
 to perfection. 
 
 Jehovah, indeed, like the fun, the nobleft 
 objedt of his creation, can only be known by 
 
 the 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 15 
 
 beams himfelf difpenfes. Till he fhine into the 
 heart to give the light of the knowledge of his 
 glory, man may feel after him, but cannot find 
 him. Enveloped with the clouds of thick darknefs, 
 he to them remains for ever " the unknown God." 
 The {peculations of the deepefl metaphysicians 
 on his being and attributes will be as far from 
 the true Jehovah as all the rabble of Heathen 
 Deities, or the hideous and grotefque idols of 
 Indoftan, the work of men's hands. 
 
 Thirdly. Agreeing in the acknowledge- 
 
 DO O 
 
 ment of the one God, as united are we, profef- 
 fionally at leaft, in fubmijjlon to the law and its 
 fanclions. 
 
 My Jewim Brethren, the two tables of the 
 Covenant, written and engraven on ftones, w^e 
 admit, as you do, to be of eternal obligation ; 
 not merely as given by Mofes on Sinai, but as 
 containing a rule of duty refulting from the very 
 nature of God, and from the relation in which 
 we Hand towards him, as creatures to their 
 Creator. 
 
 Againfr. fuch a God, and fuch a law, " every 
 " tranfgreffion and difobedience muft receive a 
 "juft recompence of reward. " The fm&ions 
 muft be awful, and the penalty, like him who 
 inflicts it, eternal. God cannot change. Sin 
 cannot alter its nature or defert. " Curled is 
 f* every one that continueth not in all things 
 
 " written 
 
16 SE71M0XS TO THE JE1VS. 
 
 fi written in the book of the law to do them." 
 At leaft this was the faith of .the antient Jewifh 
 as well as Chriftian church ; and I am fhocked 
 to obferve, in many modern Jews, as well as 
 profefTmg Chriflians, with whom I have lately 
 converfed, a grievous defection from Mofes and 
 the Law in this behoof, and an utter rejection of 
 eternal pmifliment as the wages of fin — an Infidelity 
 begotten by, and fpringing out of, that Hate into 
 which they are together fallen, and which makes 
 it their mutual intereft to deny what, if admitted 
 to be true, muft be their prefent torment. Oh ! 
 Jewifh. people, the fanctions of your law, and 
 ours, are indeed awful and eternal. " Wo to 
 " the wicked ; for it fhall be ill with him."" " It 
 * c is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
 ■*' living God." " Who can dwell with the de- 
 " vouring fire ? Who can dwell with everlafting 
 4i burnings ?" 
 
 As cordially as any Ifraelitc we admit alfo, the 
 ceremonial, as well as the Moral Idtid ; deeply im- 
 preiTed with a fenfe of its neceflity, as providing 
 for man, a finner, that atonement, without 
 which every tranfgrefTion mufl have left the 
 awakened confeience in defpair. Indeed, how 
 any Jew, confiftent with his own principles, can 
 poffibly hope for peace with God, deprived, as 
 $ie is, of Altar, Sacrifice, Prieft, and Atone- 
 ment, is aftonifhing : and among the flriking 
 
 proofs 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 17 
 
 proofs of the blindnefs, ignorance, and hardnels 
 of the unhumbled heart : " for, without fhed- 
 <f ding of blood there is no remiilion of fin :" 
 and Chriftian and Jew, if they would judge con- 
 fiftently with their own facred records, mufr. ac- 
 knowledge the neceffity of a vicarious facrifice, 
 and the need of a propitiation before a holy and 
 offended God. 
 
 It was, fourthly, for this great purpofe of 
 atonement and reconciliation, that, from the 
 firft promife of " the Bruifer of the ferpent's 
 " head," to the lafl, of his <i fpeedily coming 
 " into his temple," we are directed to expett the 
 MeJJiah ; who is equally " the defire of all na- 
 a tions," becaufe alike needed by all, whether 
 Jew or Gentile, " to flnim tranfgrefnon, and 
 " make an end of fin, and to bring in everlaft- 
 " ing righteoufnefs." Such was the faith of the 
 antient Jewifh church ; and nothing contrary to, 
 or inconliflent with, the glories of his kingdom, 
 when truly underftood, is to be inferred from 
 his fufferings, humiliation, and facrifice. But 
 I may not anticipate what will be hereafter ad- 
 vanced by my Brethren on this head : luffice it 
 to fay, that Meffiah, with us both, is alike the 
 great object of faith and hope. We look " for 
 " falvation in no other," nor fuppofe " there is 
 " any other name given under heaven, among 
 li men^ whereby they can be faved." However 
 D we 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 we may differ refpecting the time of his appear- 
 ing, and the nature of that kingdom which he 
 fhall fet up on earth, (t in him, and in him 
 " alone, we believe that all the nations of the 
 " earth fhall be bleffed." 
 
 Fifthly. That prayer Jhould be made to him, 
 and daily he Jhould be praifed, every Jew and 
 Chriftian mull admit to be alike their bounden 
 duty and fervice. However criminal the one or 
 the other may be, in the neglect of thefe obli- 
 gations, none will dare deny that to God we owe 
 them. Nor muft thefe be the fervice of the lip, 
 or the knee ; " God requireth truth in the in- 
 (( ward parts ;" and " they who worihip him 
 " muft worihip him in fpirit and in truth." 
 Without this, the loudeft devotions, or the moll 
 expenfive facrifices, would be " vain oblations/* 
 and no more accepted on God's altar than fwine's 
 blood or the flefh of a dog, the moft abhorred 
 of ; bominable tl ings. And here I cannot but 
 oblerve, that the mere gobble of prayer and 
 praife, whether in a fynagogue or a cathedral, is 
 equally ii/cant from the worihip of the heart 
 which Jehovah requires. " We muft pray with 
 " the fpirit, and with the underftanding alfo," or 
 elfe our iervices will be as vain as the lengthened 
 
 D 
 
 clamours and cuttings of the priefts of Baal, 
 when they leaped on their altars, crying, " O 
 " Baal ! hear us," from morning until noon. 
 
 We 
 
SERMOKS TO THE JEJVS. 10 
 
 We muft bring with us a devotional fpirit, 
 and approach with reverential fteps the place 
 where his honour dwelleth. And when we bow 
 our knees before the Moft High and Moll Holy, 
 a guard muft be placed on the door of our lips ; 
 nor ihoiild we dare be hafty to utter any thing 
 before God, left we offer the facrifice of fools, 
 and our very prayers be turned into fin. A 
 fubject this, that ought folemnly to affecr. Jew 
 and Chriftian alike in every act. of divine wor- 
 fhip ; for, " God is not mocked." The mockery 
 and delufion will reft upon our own fouls, when- 
 ever with lying lips, and with a deceitful tongue, 
 we dare thus infult Him " who fearcheth the 
 " heart, and trieth the reins," and from whom 
 nothing is fecret. 
 
 Lastly. We are, in profenion at leaft, 
 agreed, that Jehovah mujl be honoured, not only 
 with our Yips, but in our lives, by giving our/elves 
 vp to his fervice, and by walking before him in 
 right eoufnefs and true holinefs all the days of our 
 lives. Without Morals there can be no Reli- 
 gion. Thofe which the Bible inculcate are con- 
 feffedly the pureft, and of the moft perfeeT. 
 kind. " Be ye holy," fays Jehovah, " for I am 
 " holy." Both the principle and the fraffice 
 are, in the fulleft manner, fet down in our 
 book : and they are without excufe who fhu: 
 their eyes, and " hate the light, neither come 
 
 D 2 " unto 
 
20 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 " unto the light, left their deeds mould be 
 " made manifeft, that they are wrought in dark- 
 " nefs." 
 
 " My Son, give me thy heart," is the plainer! 
 of the divine injunctions. Jews and Chriftians 
 alike acknowledge it ; and they are alike bound 
 " to glorify God in their bodies, and in their 
 " fpirits, which are his." To fubmit without 
 murmuring to his providences — to make his re- 
 vealed word the rule of our conduct — to defire 
 that his will may be done upon earth, as it is in 
 heaven — and to adorn the doctrine of God our 
 Saviour by all holy converfation and godlinefs — 
 thefe are alike obligations on us both. And 
 every man who affumes the name of Jew or 
 Chriftian is (ai/roxaT^xpiTos.) condemned out of 
 Ills own mouth, and by his own heart, when 
 his life gives the lie to his profeffions ; and 
 therefore the holy and heart-fearching God muft 
 much more condemn him. 
 
 Yet it is awfully evident that the whole Jewifh 
 and Chriftian world abounds with fuch charac- 
 ters, and therefore Jieth in wickednefs. The pro- 
 feifed difciples of Mofes and of Jefus are in- 
 volved in the fame condemnation, and act: in 
 the fame contradiction to their admitted princi- 
 ples. We fee them alike ferving diverfe lufts 
 and pleasures — funk in worldly amufements or 
 engagements — earthly in their tempers — fen- 
 
 fual 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 21 
 
 fual in their enjoyments — preferring gain to 
 godlinefs — and centaurs not fabulous, treading 
 both the Tables of the Covenant under their 
 feet. 
 
 To expatiate on fcenes fo oppofite to all re- 
 ligion would lead me into a vaft field of awful 
 reflections on falfe Jews and falfe Christians, whofe 
 prefumptuous careleflhefs about their fouls and 
 infidel indifference about an eternal world, can- 
 not but be the prelude to certain deftruction, — 
 unlefs they repent. 
 
 Now thefe things, Brethren, are the great 
 barriers againft conviction. It is this prevailing 
 immorality, irreligion, indevotion, and worldly- 
 mindednefs, that indifpofe men for the reception 
 of the Divine Word, and feal them up in Infi- 
 delity and Atheifm ; for, fo low are many Chrif- 
 tians alfo fallen, that they doubt of their own 
 immortality, and, with Sadducean fcepticifm. 
 difpute whether there be angel or fpirit, hell or 
 heaven. 
 
 Brethren, " if any man will do his will, he 
 " fhall know of the doctrine whether it be of 
 " God." The heart, which is ferioufly engaged 
 to follow the mind of God as far as it is known, 
 and cries, " Lord ! what I know not teach thou 
 " me," will be led in fimplicity and godly fin- 
 cerity to enquire, " what is truth ;" to investi- 
 gate 
 
M SERMOXS TO THE JElVS. 
 
 gate what is dark, and to afcertain what is du- 
 bious. Thus fearchcd the noble Bereans the 
 Scriptures daily, that they might fee if thcfe 
 things were fo, and the confequence was happy, 
 " Then many of that city believed." Could we 
 perfuade you, Brethren, to make a like candid 
 and ferious enquiry, we might hope for a like 
 blefTed iflue ; but where wilful ignorance and 
 prefumptuous fin blind the eyes, and harden the 
 heart, I appeal to the Circumciiion and to the 
 Uncircumcihon, according to the admitted prin- 
 ciples of Judaifm or Chriftianity, what muft be 
 the end of thcfe things, if there be indeed a God 
 that judgcth the earth. 
 
 Let the Jew then renounce Mofes and the 
 Law ; let the Chriitian reject Jefus and his Gof- 
 pel ; — this will be more confident far than to 
 admit of a revelation, which they neither believe 
 nor obey — to acknowledge Jehovah, whom they 
 neither reverence, love, worfhip, nor ferve — to 
 confefs a refponfibility to his government, whilft 
 they live in the habitual tranfgreftion of his law, 
 and treat its fanclions with contempt — and to 
 profefs faith in a Meffiah, whole kingdom and 
 coming they mult dread ; — let fuch men, I fay, 
 tremble to take the name of God and his Mef- 
 iiah in their lips ; for, whoever he is, and when- 
 soever he mall be revealed, alfuredly every fuch 
 k Jew, 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJFS. 23 
 
 Jew, and every fuch Chriftian, mull be difowned 
 of him, rejected by him, and driven from his 
 prefence with everlafting fhame and contempt. 
 They will hear that terrible voice from the 
 throne of the tremenduous Judge of quick and 
 dead, " Depart from me, accurfed : I never 
 " knew you, ye workers of iniquity." 
 
 My Brethren, whether Jews or Chriftians, 
 know, that a deep and humbling fenfe of the 
 ftate into which we are fallen is effential to our 
 recovery, and to the reception of all faving truth. 
 They who are whole need not the phyfician, but 
 thofe who are lick. Till a Divine conviction of 
 lin fixes on the confcience through the power of 
 the Holy Ghoft, no fuch concern will ever be 
 awakened in the heart about falvation as can 
 lead to him, " who alone is come to feek and to 
 " fave that which is loft." 
 
 " O kifs the Son then, left he be angry, and 
 iQ fo ye perifh from the right way. If his wrath 
 " be kindled, yea, but for a moment, who can 
 " abide it r" He muft be without excufe, or 
 the poffibility of efcape, who neglects fo great 
 falvation ; and wrath will come upon him to the 
 uttermoft. 
 
 " Take heed then, Brethren, left there be in 
 " any of you this evil heart of unbelief in de- 
 (i parting from the living God :" and ye alfo 
 
 pe- 
 
24 SERMONS TO THE iEWS. 
 
 perifh with thole who believed not. " For the 
 " Gofpel was preached to them even as to us, 
 " but the word preached did not profit them, 
 ,c not being mixed with faith in thofe that heard 
 " it" — of all that immenfe hoft, the hundreds of 
 thoufands of Jews, who came out of Egypt by 
 Mofes, only two were counted faithful, were 
 Suffered to pafs the river Jordan, and to inherit 
 the Land of Promife. The carcafes of all the 
 reft fell in the Wildernefs, St becaufe they gave 
 " no credence to his word." 
 
 Hearken then, Brethren, every one of you — 
 examine your confeiences and conduct — con- 
 iider your ways — fearch the Scriptures, — and 
 know afiuredly, that no man truly believes in 
 Jehovah who does not honour him as God ; and 
 that he can have no part nor lot in Mefliah, who 
 is not a faithful fubject of his kingdom. We 
 muft conclude, therefore, with the moft infalli- 
 ble certainty, that he is no more a Chriftian than 
 a Jew, nor a Jew than a Chriftian, whofe life is 
 habitually a contradiction to the iirft principles 
 of that religion which he himfelf profeffes. 
 
 But whether profefftonally Jew or Chriftian, a 
 moment only is allotted 'for thy abidance here 
 below ; and on that moment eternity depends. 
 Dark and difmal is the profpe6l beyond the 
 grave, where faith doth not realize the hope full 
 
 of 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 25 
 
 of immortality, and revelation unbar the gates 
 of life and glory. Death, death approaches^ 
 He that believeth mail be faved, and he that 
 believeth not mall be damned. How awful the- 
 alternative ! 
 
 END OF SERMON I. 
 
triCMIBI— 3— — lit — — — ■ 
 
 SERMON 
 
 Christianity 
 
 AND 
 
 Modern Judaism 
 
 0ISCRIMINATED. 
 
 Gen. i. 4v. 
 
 And God divided the light from the darhnefs. 
 
 JL HE glorious Majefty of God appears mani- 
 feftly impreiTed on. the firH page of thcfe ] oly 
 Oracles. The book opens with the Creation of 
 the Univerie., delcribed in a limple. eofnpre- 
 h entire, magnificent manner, — a manner which 
 F 2 an- 
 
30 SERMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 ami the Creator hi m lei f to be the primary 
 
 hor ol the ". - : ting. 
 
 I ike h( of the expreflion of the text in an 
 allufive view. The general ftyle of the Scrip- 
 ture, which frequently applies to knowledge and 
 ignorance, truth and error, the emblem light 
 
 d darknefs, fufneiently authorizes fuch an al- 
 lufion. 
 
 There appears alio a refemblance between 
 the dark chaos, created at firft as the feed of 
 the organized univerfe, and that gloomy ftate of 
 things in the fpir-itual world which was juftly 
 the confequence of man's apoftacy from God. 
 The work of the Almighty alfo, in railing the 
 children of Adam from their miferable Irate by 
 his word, difplays a glory and goodnefs iimilar 
 to that which appeared when God faid < c Let 
 " there be light, and there was light." 
 
 When this nobleft material being " light" 
 firfl exiited, the Creator beheld his production 
 with complacency ; " God law the light, that 
 " it was good.'* It was, however, ftrangely in- 
 volved in the confufed mafs of matter, and its 
 native, orient, beauty obicured. Another acl 
 of fovereign power therefore followed, which is 
 marked in the text, " and God divided the 
 " light from the darknefe." 
 
 Awful, defolate,, dreary, and aftonifhing is 
 that chaos wliich opens to view, when we think 
 
 of 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 31 
 
 of a world of human fpirits fallen from God, in- 
 volved in ignorance, error, and iniquity, over- 
 ihadowed with the incumbent cloud of Divine 
 wrath. BlcfTed be God, he hath made a diffe- 
 rence between the world of human finners and 
 the loft multitude of angels. They are wrapped 
 up in the hopclels blacknefs of darknefs ; but 
 among mankind fome rays of light, leading to 
 •God, are every where fcattered. Proceeding 
 from the Word of God, and cheriflied by im- 
 preffions on the underftanding and conference 
 from his vifible works, this light bears witnefs 
 for God, and invites man to repentance: but it 
 fhines in darknefs, and the darknefs mingles itfelf 
 with the light, baffles its energy, abforbs its luftre, 
 imprifons it in unrighteoufneis. 
 
 In a condition fo awful, but, blefied be the 
 God of their fathers, not abfolutely exclufive of 
 hope, ChrifHaris behold die prefent Jewifh peo- 
 ple ; and, therefore, their bowels of companion 
 are moved towards, them. That they poffefs 
 fome knowledge of divine truth we deny not. 
 The extent of that knowledge a reverend Father 
 hath, in the preceding difcourfe, candidly and 
 ably reprefented. This view of things, how- 
 ever, while it excites our wonder, increafes our 
 concern. We are grieved to fee an unhappy 
 people linning againll fo much admitted light ; 
 and our indignation is routed, not merely againll 
 
 the 
 
32 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 the fubjefts of this error and rebellion, but 
 againft the Infernal Deceiver, the Author of de- 
 luiion, the facrile ;ious Pervcrter of the truth, 
 and of the right ways of the Lord. At the light 
 of facred truth abuitd, and of immortal fouls de- 
 ceived and led captive, our fouls are fet on fire ; 
 we feel the riling enmity which the original pro- 
 mile announces ; and, while no hope is enter- 
 tained for the author of evil, we wifri to alarm 
 and refcue his deluded captives, by putting 
 energy into the truths they acknowledge, and by 
 disjoining thefe truths from the uncongenial 
 raafs of error, wherewith they have been loaded 
 and contaminated. 
 
 With defigns of this nature, in the confi- 
 dence of immutable and unconquerable truth, 
 and longing for the emanation of thofe beams 
 from God, the Father of lights, which fooner or 
 later mail viclorioufly irradiate the benighted 
 children of Abraham, I proceed to remark, 
 
 First, That the primary error of Modern 
 Judaifm, and the fource of all the reft, an error 
 common to it with every other fyltem of falfe 
 religion, confifls in a mifapprehenfion of the 
 nature of the true God; and may be defined, 
 " A want of right views of God in his per- 
 " fectiofts and government, as bearing relation 
 " to moral agents and their conduct ;" or, to 
 
 ufe 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS* 33 
 
 life one comprehenfive fcriptural word, the want 
 of juft views of " the holinefs of God." 
 
 We would entertain lively hope of our Jevvifli 
 Brethren, if their mouths were once filled wit^i 
 the complaint, recorded in one of their facred. 
 books, " Surely I am more brutifh than man — 
 " I neither learned wifdom, nor have the know- 
 '* ledge of the holy." The perfon who fo com- 
 plained had considered attentively the vilible 
 works of God, and had derived from them fome 
 ideas of Divine power, wifdom, and goodnefs. 
 This is evident from his emphatical quefdons, 
 " Who hath afcended up into heaven and de- 
 ci fcended ? Who hath gathered the wind in 
 i( his fifts ? Who hath bound the waters in a 
 a garment ? Who hath eftablifhed all the ends 
 " of the earth ?*' But he knew there were views 
 of the glory of Jehovah of a higher order, and 
 to which, through the carnality of his mind, ho. 
 had fcarcely at all penetrated. 
 
 In the model of feraphic worfhip which Ifaiali 
 records, the epithet " holy" is thrice loudly pro- 
 claimed ; and, in numberlefs paflages, Jeifoovah 
 is denominated " the Holy One of Ifrael." We 
 are convinced, that if the Jews were fufficiently 
 attentive to thofe Divine Perfections which be- 
 long to the awful Judge of the univerfe, and 
 which render him " glorious in holinefs," they 
 
 would 
 
34 SERMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 would find no reft for the foles o r their feet in 
 the bleak regions of Pharifaical righteoufnefs. 
 
 The Holinefs of God, in its large meaning, 
 includes tltc whole afTemblage of Divine excel- 
 lencies, which he manifefts in his government of 
 intelligent, refponhble creatures, fuch as are the 
 immortal fouls of men. 
 
 They who are well infr.rue~r.ed on this fubjecl 
 will give their ready aflent to the following 
 truths ; in briefly rehcarfing which I muft re- 
 queft the patience, candour, and attention of 
 my readers, efpccially of the Jews* 
 
 The Holinefs of God is effentwl to Him : it 
 originates in his very being. This idea is fug- 
 gefred by Mofcs, when he fays, " The Lord thy 
 " God is a confuming fire, a very jealous God." 
 God fees and embraces his own beauty, with a 
 necciiary complacency, lie, therefore, loves 
 his own image upon the foul of man, and hates 
 the image of the Devil. The Holinefs of God 
 Is his very felf. Compare Amos vi. 8. with Pf. 
 Jxxxix. 35. and Malachi ii. 11. 
 
 It follows hence, that the Holinefs of God is 
 immenfe, and unfearchably great. Every thing 
 in God is infinite ; but, in a comparative view, 
 infinity belongs chiefly to thofe things which, in 
 the afTemblage of Divine excellencies, arc moil 
 eminent and refglendent. 
 
 We 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 35 
 
 We therefore afTert farther, that the Holinefs 
 
 of God is the primary glory of his nature ; for 
 it includes the immenfe beauty of the Godhead, 
 which God beholds in himfelf : it includes God's 
 tranfcendent delight in his own beauty : it in- 
 cludes his love of his own fefemblance in cre- 
 ated beings, and his boundleis hatred of evil. 
 
 In confequence of thefe things, it is evident 
 that " the Holinefs of God" rifes far above his 
 regard to the ?iatia\d good, and the mere happhujs 
 of his creatures. He condefcends, indeed, to 
 regard with complacency, the enjoyments and 
 pleafurgs even of irrational creatures. But 
 though " he giveth to the beaft his food," in a 
 comparative view " he delighteth not in the 
 " ftrength of the horfe ; he taketh not pleafur6 
 " in the legs of a man. -Jehovah taketh pleafure 
 " in them that fear him." 
 
 And when the natural good, or happineis of 
 any created being, becomes incofrfiffcent with the 
 glory of Divine Holinefs, he will make a facri- 
 tlce of that good or happinefs. rlis infinite 
 Holinefs gives rile to the puniihment of evil. 
 And this puniihment, which flows from the 
 holy nature of God, is indifpenuble, and, in 
 fome refpeefs, irmnite \ beeaufe God cannot ap- 
 pear othcrwife than as becomes tlie Holy One, 
 the infinitely pure and righteous Judge of all 
 the earth. 
 
 g it 
 
36 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 It is therefore evident, that if it pleafe God to 
 exercife mercy towards finful creatures, that 
 mercy muft be difplayed in a holy manner. No- 
 thing can fet afkle the eflential holinefs of Deity. 
 This immenfe pure glory of the Godhead doth 
 not, indeed, fhut up the fountain of Divine 
 corrtpaffiori and love : in fome refpedts it is the 
 very* for. main and original fdurce of that com- 
 panion. But, undoubtedly, the eflential Holi- 
 nefs of God regulates, and gives a colouring to, 
 the dilplav of mercy. The eflential name " Je- 
 " hovah, Jehovah, precedes in order the titles 
 " merciful and gracious." Exod. xxxiv. t), 7. 
 The name " 1 am that i am" was held forth to 
 the diftrefled Ifraelites as the primary fpring of 
 their longed-for deliverance. 
 
 Once more ; the Holinefs of God constitutes 
 his all-fulTiciency for giving liappinefs to rational 
 beings. They cannot be made happy by the 
 mere creation of worlds for their benefit. The 
 Holy One himfelf, revealed to them in his im- 
 menfe beauty and love, is their only poflible 
 portion, their exceeding joy. 
 
 All thefe things it was neceflarv that I fhould 
 mention, that my fellow iinners of the Jewiih. 
 nation, whom I tenderly pity and love, may fee 
 where their miitakes begin. Their views of the 
 Holinefs of God are defective and falfe : hence 
 arifes an endlefs train of fatal errors. 
 
 Here 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 37 
 
 Here I enter my firft appeal to the coniciences 
 of the Jewiih people. Is it your practice to me- 
 ditate frequently, and with delight, on the infi- 
 nite holinefs of God ? Are you acquainted with 
 feelings like thofe of Abraham, when he laid* 
 " Let not the Lord be angry — Behold, I have 
 " taken upon me to fpeak unto the Lord, who 
 " am but dull and afhes ;" or of Moles, when 
 God laid to him, " Thou canft not fee my face, 
 " for there mall no man fee me and live ;" or of 
 Ifaiah, when he cried out, " Woe is me, for I 
 " am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips 
 u — for mine eyes have feen the King, the 
 " Lord of Hofts." Do the teachers of the fjp- 
 nagogue clearly and folemnly inculcate thefe 
 truths ? In what modern Jewilli book is there a 
 vivid reprefentation of the Holinefs of God. 
 
 The truths which I have fatted refpecting the 
 moral perfections of Deity, are the dictates of 
 found reafon : they are fuppofed, illuftratedj 
 and confirmed, in the Old Teftament Scfip*- 
 Uires. 
 
 To neglect or deny them is to do violence to 
 the light of reafon, and to rebel againit the 
 voice of God. And it is in conlequenc^ of this 
 that, 
 
 Secondly, the Jews are greatly miftaken 
 refpe&ing the Moral Law of God,, and the de- 
 ijgn of its being republifhed by Moles. 
 
 G 2 From 
 
38 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 From views of the glorious Holinefs of the 
 Lawgiver ariie proper ideas of the fublime fpi~ 
 ritualky, the exteniive demands, the immutable 
 and immenfe obligations of the law of God. 
 Hence we are led to jufr. fentiments refpecTing 
 that fupreme love to Gou, accompanied with 
 fear and confidence, whicn is the fubitance of 
 oui duty to Him; and refpecling that fpiritual, 
 enlarged, and operative, affection wherewith wo 
 are bound to embrace our fellow creatures. That 
 the demands of the law may be fulfilled, the heart 
 ought to burn with continual frames of feraphic 
 affection towards God, and fhould difFufe all 
 around an odour of benevolence fvveeter than all 
 the fpices and perfumes of Arabia. The fmalleft 
 abatement or deviation, and much more the 
 frighten: taint of inward impurity or enmity, 
 mult immediately offend the glorious eyes of 
 Jehovah; and bring condemnation on the tranf- 
 gredbr. And the oblig tions whereby we are 
 bound to yield this perfect and angelic obe- 
 dience to the Moft High, are obligations of ai\ 
 infinite! and unalterable kind ; becaufe they ariie 
 from the immfthife excellency and glory of Him 
 with A'hoiL vc have to do. 
 
 It follows from thefe fclf -evident truths, that 
 the very publication of the law from Mom Si- 
 nai implied a jtrate of difobedience and apoltacy ? 
 on the part pf the people to whom the revelation 
 
 was 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. :>:> 
 
 is given; for otherwife it would have been 
 perfectly unnecessary. This is farther manifeft 
 from the afpect of the whole tremendous fcene, 
 and from its impreffion on the Iiraelites. Jeho- 
 vah did not reveal from that mountain the fmiles 
 of love fui ted to his obedient and pure creatures, 
 nor did Mofes and the ifraelites iland before 
 hi n joyful and undifmayed, like fo many angels. 
 No : there was guilt and impurity ; God frowned 
 majeftic, they trembled as criminals before 
 Him. 
 
 Here we discover the firft end of the pub- 
 lication of the law, namely, to convince of dis- 
 obedience, and to alarm with the dread of pu- 
 niihment. 
 
 But alas ! the Enemy cf fouls takes advan- 
 tage of the felf-righttous fpirit of the Jews, and 
 leads them into fatal error. They turn away 
 their eyes from the fplendour of Infinite Purity, 
 and think of the Holy government of Jehovah 
 as though He were on a level with earthly rulers, 
 who have no inspection of the heart, and m 
 content themfelves with the exterior obedience 
 of their fubje£ls. The Jews imagine, that, by 
 publifhing the law from Mount Sinai, God de- 
 figned to aflifl them in their proud attempts to 
 justify themfelves before him by their own obedi- 
 ence. They forget the terrible thunceringsof that 
 
 mouu-r 
 
40 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 mountain, the terrific found of the trumpet and 
 voice of words, which overpowered their fore- 
 fathers with the dread belonging to criminals, 
 and, for a time, laid proftrate in the dult their 
 lofty ideas of themielves and their own righte-i 
 oufnefs. 
 
 Thirdly. The God of glory coming near to 
 his ancient people imprefied them indeed with his 
 unutterable Majefty, and caufed them to lvc 
 low before him : but he defigned not to crufh 
 them under his feet, and to leave them in the 
 gloom of defpair. " He loved the people."' 
 
 Mofes, therefore, was called into the Mount, 
 ;uid was detained there for a long time. And 
 a. fyftem of ceremonial ordinances was there re« 
 vealed to him, fuited, as means in the hand of 
 the Spirit, to convey relief to the wounded con- 
 fcience, and to throw additional light on the 
 promifes of falvation by the Mefliah, which, 
 ever fince the fall of Adam, had been handed 
 down from generation to generation. 
 
 We honour the Jews for their refpeel to thefe 
 holy inftitutions of the Molt High ; but we can- 
 not fufficiently deplore their perverfenefs, in 
 loiing light of the high and gracious deiign for 
 which thefe bloody rites were appointed. 
 
 Verily ye are guilty in this point, ye children 
 of Abraham. You and yotsr fathers have become 
 
 like 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 41 
 
 like the Heathen, in fuppofing that Divine An- 
 ger may be really appeafed by the blood of bulls 
 and goats ; and that the linner condemned by 
 the moral law may juftify himfelf by ceremonial 
 obfervances. Why have you fo darkened the 
 luftre of the purity of your God, and debafed 
 the majefty of his dread tribunal ! He was 
 holding forth, under thefe fhadowy forms, the 
 jubftantial and futilime atonement, which his wif- 
 dom and love had prepared in the glorious 
 Meffiah. 
 
 Your fathers fuffered feverely for this folly. 
 Confcience would not be bribed to iilence by all 
 the pomp of the temple facrifices, when offered 
 without faith in the promifed Meffiah. Con- 
 fcience brake loofe from fuch reftraints as thefe ; 
 it roared like a lion in their bofoms ; it de- 
 manded nobler blood ; it prompted the refr- 
 lefs linner to fay, " Shall I give the fruit of my 
 " body for the fin of my fonl V They who ob- 
 ftinately turned away from God's Meffiah, and 
 the ranfom piomiied in him, fought peace or" 
 confcience, in vain, by the horrid murder of 
 their infants ; till the God of Jerufaletn pro- 
 nounced the Item decree of juftice, '* They 
 " fhall bury in Tophet, till there be no place ta 
 *fr bury." Jer. xix. 
 
42 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 Fourthly. Permit us, ye children of Abra- 
 ham, influenced by love to your precious fouls, 
 to fpeak plainly, and to Hate the cuntroverfy be- 
 tween you 2nd us clearly. 
 
 You have loft light of the infinite Holinefs of 
 God ; and therefore you perceive not the true 
 Jtate arid infinite wants of a /inner. A finner, a 
 child of fallen Adam, whether Jew or Gentile, 
 is a being feparated from God, excluded from 
 the enjoyment ®f the fupreme good, driven out 
 from paradife, debarred by the flaming fword 
 from the tree of life ; he is accurfed of God, 
 and, devoted to punifhment, he haftens through 
 the miferies of a fhort life to an awful appearance 
 at the tribunal of God, and to the ever-enduring 
 • Woes of that place of torment of which the hor- 
 rible Tophet, where infants were facrificed, ex- 
 hibited a dreadful- emblem. 
 
 Such is the condition of every finner, as a 
 finner. Thus he lies expofed and helplefs ; un- 
 lefs, either God mould ceafe to be holy, or an 
 atonement be found worthy to be accepted by 
 Him who is " glorious in holinefs, fearful in 
 '* praifes, a conluming fire, the Judge of the 
 *' whole earth." 
 
 Fifthly. The blefTed Majefty of heaven 
 comes down to us, and comes near us > for our 
 
 relief 
 
SERMON'S TO THE JEIVS. 43 
 
 relief from thefe terrible circumftances, in the 
 /acred Oracles, the Scriptures of Truth. 
 
 Turning our thoughts to this part of the con- 
 troverfy we are reminded of that . veneration, 
 mixed with companion, which is due to the 
 houfe of Ifrael. Knowing the precioufnefs of 
 thefe Scriptures, in winch we learn by experience 
 that we have eternal life, we venerate the people 
 from among whom the facred veflels of infpira- 
 tion were felecled, and who have been the faith- 
 ful depositaries and guardians of the word of life. 
 Their continued adherence to thefe holy books is 
 one of the tokens, whereby we know that our 
 God fhall yet raife them to* the true and faving 
 underftanding of his Oracles. 
 
 We view them, therefore, with companion, 
 groping in darknefs amidft fuch refplendent light. 
 And we are here obliged to trace the confe- 
 quences of their criminal inattention to the holy 
 attributes of Deity. 
 
 It is owing to this caufe that the Jews per- 
 ceive not the 'infinite diji'incl'ion between the in- 
 spired words of Jehovah, and the low produc- 
 tions of the polluted understanding of man. 
 They mould tremble at the thoughts of bringing 
 down the Holy Oracles of God to the level of 
 the Talmud, or any compoiition of uninfpired 
 mortals. " What is the chaff to the wheat ? Is 
 
 H " not 
 
44 SERMONS TO THE JEW'S. 
 
 (i not my word as a fire, faith Jehovah, and as a 
 " hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces." 
 
 The higheft evidence of the Divinity of the 
 Scriptures arifes from that impreffion of the infinite 
 Holinefs and 'Majejfy of God which is univerfallv 
 diffuied over fchem. But this evidence the Jews 
 feem not at all to perceive. 
 
 A revelation from God, adapted to the relief 
 of apoftate creatures, cannot confift of a feri&s of 
 doubtful quibbles, the knowledge of which de- 
 pends on a iv.ee invert! [ration of the genius of a 
 particular language. Its grand lines muft be 
 prominent, and obvious to every ferious reader. 
 Such it muft be as to the letter of the truths re- 
 vealed. Yet thefe truths may be expected to be 
 fo fublime, and fo full of fpiritual glory, that 
 Divine teaching and light mull- be neceffary to 
 raife the mind of a fallen creature to the true 
 and lively percepl ion of them. 
 
 Such are the properties of Divine revelation, 
 in our view : it is at once plain and myfterious ; 
 clear and plain to every capacity in the letter 
 and leading truths ; but fecrei: and hidden in its 
 fpiritual glory, until God himfelf " opens the 
 " eye-; of tl id finner, that he may behold 
 
 " marvellous things out of his law." There 
 would be an end. at once, to an immenfe nun ll 
 ©f fophi flical objections ag . ' , .. the truth, if our 
 
 Jew ilk 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 45 
 
 Jewifh Brethren were duly to attend to theie ob- 
 vious ideas of the nature and genius of Divine 
 revelation. 
 
 Sixthly. What then is the chief fubjeet 
 contained in the Holy Scriptures, the great bur- 
 den of Divine revelation, the corner- ftone of the 
 truth made known by Moles and the Prophets ? 
 What is it ? 
 
 The do&rine concerning the Mejfiah. 
 
 Here opens to us the grand queition in this 
 controverly between Chriflians and Jews. And 
 here, on the part of the Jews, We are obliged, 
 with forrow of heart, to mark the confequences 
 of their being eftranged from the knowledge of 
 the glorious holinefs of Jehovah. 
 
 From the beginning to the end of the Old 
 Tefbament Scriptures, the Meffiah is held up as 
 the grand pledge and difplay of the infinite 
 mercy and love of God towards miferable finners. 
 And when we view the glories of the Holy One, 
 and the alarming condition of the objects of his 
 wrath, it is felf- evident that nothing lefs than an 
 imrnenlity of love, bringing into the plan of 
 falvation the whole treasures of Divine Wifdom, 
 Power, and All-firm" ciency, can be of avail for our 
 relief. W^ith joy, therefore, we feize the promife 
 of the Meffiah, and perceive through this me- 
 dium the bowels of Jehovah melting over a world 
 
 II 2 of 
 
46 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 of iinners with unutterable companion. There 
 we ftand aftoniined, while " all the goodnefs of 
 " the Moil High partes before us." And 
 coining down from this delightful Mount, we 
 cannot but wonder and complain at the low, 
 contracted, and worldly ideas of the love of 
 God which the unhappy Jews difcover in their 
 fentiments concerning the Mefliah. 
 
 What is the Meffiah to do ? God, who knows 
 the forlorn ftate of a world of linners, promifes 
 him as our Deliverer. What then muit he do ? 
 His work muft meet the grand lines of the mi- 
 fery of our fallen ftate. We are the captives of 
 Satan, who hath feduced us, who hath impreffed 
 his hateful image upon us, and who comes 
 againft us armed with the charges of our guilt, 
 and with the denunciations of the law of God. 
 The infinite Holinefs of Jehovah is againft us, 
 his countenance frowns, his voice thunders, his 
 throne flames with indignation over us ; calamity 
 overtakes us ; Death makes his dart, Eternity 
 opens, Hell gapes all ghaftly and tremendous be- 
 fore us. It is thy work) biffed MeJJiah, to re/cue 
 us from the jaws of dejlrufflon, to pacify Divine 
 wrath, and to place us in heaven under thefmiJes of 
 Jehovah's favour and love! 
 
 But how fhall this be done ? The promifes 
 of the Meffiah anfwer : the figures of the Levi- 
 
 tical 
 
S E R MO NS TO THE JL jys. 47 
 
 tical fervice give the anfwer : the prophecies, 
 the high -coloured paintings of infpired predic- 
 tion, exhibit the anfwer. " He fhall bruife the 
 " head of the acceding ferpent ; He fhall remove 
 " the curfe, and procure the bleffing ; He fhall 
 " take the place of the guilty ; He fhall be a 
 " victim in their Head ; He fhall fuffer, his 
 " foul ihall travail as in birth ; His hands and 
 " feet fhall be pierced ; He fhall make reconci- 
 " liation for iniquity ; He fhall bring in ever- 
 " lafting righteoufnefs ; He fhall reign over his 
 " ranfomed people in the heaven of heavens for 
 " ever and ever." 
 
 Such, if we believe Mofes and the Prophets, 
 is the work of the Meifiah. But who is he that 
 can perform fuch things as thefe ? Shall the 
 deliverer be an angel ? The entire holts of holy 
 angels in heaven are too poor to furnifh the 
 ranfom of one finner •, thev cannot meet 
 the demands of. an infinitely Holy God 
 for one tranfgreffion. Belides the tranfgref- 
 fors are human beings : their furety and fub- 
 flitute muft be man ; he mull be " the feed of 
 " the woman, the feed of Abraham, the fon 
 " of David." And fhall one mere man do that 
 which all the an°;els of heaven could not do ? 
 The Promifes, the Prophecies, refolve this infi- 
 nite difficulty. The demands of Divine Juitice 
 
 extend 
 
48 SERMOXS TO THE JEIFS. 
 
 extend to a ranfom of immenfe dignity and va- 
 lue. " I have found that ranfom, faith Jeho- 
 w vah." The deliverer, the fufferer, the fubfti- 
 tuted victim, fhall be Immanud, Cud in human 
 nature, Jehovah. 
 
 Here the blefled angels bow down their afto- 
 niihed heads ; here the wicked fpirits of hell 
 ftand appalled, difmayed. Bui the Jews, in 
 harmony with Socinians, Mahometans, and 
 other heretics, cavil ; they wiih to get rid of 
 that truth without which nothing; can remain for 
 ilnners but everlafting defpair. The Scriptuie.-i 
 tefcify that Jehovah is One. The fame Scrip- 
 tures teflify, that One, who is Jehovah,, fends 
 as an angel, as a deliverer, another, who is alio 
 Jehovah. They teitify, that One, who is God, 
 faith to another, u Awake, O fword, againft my 
 " Shepherd, agairift the man who is my fellow ; 
 <( Sit thou at: my right hand ; Thy throne, O 
 61 God, is for ever and ever." 
 
 And what is the objection to this truth? It is 
 myfterious, it feems incredible. Is this ftrange, 
 that the deliverance of fmners, under the go- 
 vernment of a holy God, fhould be accompliftied 
 in a mviterious manner ? Or, that th« nature 
 of that God fhould be unfearchable, whofe leaft 
 footfleps, even in the creation of one atom of 
 duft, I, a blind atom, cannot trace ? 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 4» 
 
 Seventhly. I have ftated the true prophe- 
 tic doctrine concerning the Mefliah. For the 
 truth of the ftatement I appaal not to this or that 
 iingle fentence or word, but to the whole mafs 
 of thefe infpired Writings, to every book which 
 they contain, and to the prominent lines of each 
 particular book. Particular prophecies will be 
 hereafter considered. 
 
 We are advancing to the moil momentous 
 par!" of the whole controversy. We are in pof-- 
 fefnon of a clear delineation of the Mefliah' s 
 character, furnifhed to us by Mofes and the 
 Prophets ; and we are to apply this criterion to 
 Pry the fretenfions of One, who hath claimed to he 
 the -very Mefliah, and whofe claim hath been Sup- 
 ported in a manner which the Jews themfelves 
 mull acknowledge very ftr iking, lingular, and 
 awful. Let the Jews who now read lift up their 
 fouls to the God of their fathers, befeeching him 
 to enable them to lay ande prejudice and paflion, 
 and, judging for eternity, to judge righteous 
 judgment. And to fuch a prayer let the heart 
 of every Christian fay, Amen. 
 
 But here — " my belly trembles, my lips- qui- 
 " ver, rottennefs enters into my bones, and I 
 " tremble in myfelf" — at the thoughts of feem- 
 ing to fit in judgment on the character of Him, 
 at whofe tribunal I Shall Shortly appear ; whofe 
 
 Divine 
 
50 SERMONS TO THE JEJFS. 
 
 Divine Majefty fhines before me, abates, over- 
 whelms, reduces me to nothing. Muft I enter 
 into controverfy whether He is an impoftor, 
 whom I feel to be God, whofe love embraces and 
 delights me, and mall be my everlafting heaven ? 
 
 Jems, thou Son of David, thou Son of the 
 living God, be thou witnefs, and ye holy angels 
 of Jehovah be ye witnelTes, that, whatever me- 
 thods of perfuafion I ufe for the fake of others 
 in what they account matter of controverfy, in 
 mv own breaft there is no hefitation, no fhadow 
 of doubt ! I fee the truth, I feel its glory ; Je- 
 fus who was crucified is my Lord and my God. 
 Let his love be ftronger in me than death — let 
 me follow, if called to it, the fteps of the mar- 
 tyr * who faid — spog sgag sguu^ooToii — " my Love 
 " was crucified/' 
 
 The difference uffentiment hetween Chr'ifiians and 
 Jews concerning Jefus of Nazareth, is, indeed, 
 great as thefea. 
 
 We believe that he is the Meffiah, the Son of 
 God. We believe this, becauie we perceive an 
 exact, an inimitable, correfpondence between his 
 character and the Meffiah of the Prophets ; and 
 becaufe we find in him thofc treafures of falva- 
 tion which fupply the infinite wants of guilty, 
 •periining, fpurs. 
 
 * Ignatius. 
 
 Having 
 
SERMOXS TO THE JEIFS. 51 
 
 Having contemplated the infinite Holinefs of 
 the Judge of the world, we come forward with 
 humble awe to coniider the character of the 
 holy Jefus ; and immediately we perceive in 
 him that furpalling moral beauty, and that cap- 
 tivating tendernefs of love to the church which, 
 in the forty-fifth Plalm, and in the ftill bolder 
 figures of Solomon's Song, characterize the 
 Meffiah. The facred graces of his human nature 
 engage our attention ; his exalted wifdom, faith, 
 heavenlinefs, love of God, his humility, gentle- 
 nefs, companion, and beneficence, preient be- 
 fore us human nature reflored to more than its 
 original rectitude ; they exhibit, in unexampled 
 ftrength, that purity which the law demands, 
 and which delights the holy eyes of Jehovah. 
 Fixed in this contemplation, we defcend ftill 
 deeper into the myftery, and, under the cloud of 
 poverty, contempt, and forrow, dilcern ftill 
 richer glories. We fee him, who knew no fin, 
 fullering for others, and groaning under the 
 overwhelming preffure of guilt, from the infi- 
 nite tranfgreffions of a world of finners. As he 
 advances into the deep waters our admiration and 
 faith increafe, till we are quite overpowered with 
 his fufferings, glory, and love. In the mean- 
 while, we behold him ftrewing his fuffering path 
 with the marks of royal dignity and bounty, the 
 
 I - pledges 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 pledges of his mercy and companion. But our 
 views terminate in nothing human. Through 
 the veil of flefh we perceive the eternal Godhead, 
 emitting its peculiar, fparkling, rays. He is God 
 manifeitcd in the flefli. In him human fulfering 
 and obedience are lifted up to infinite dignity, 
 are enriched with the gems of the crown of 
 Deity, are ftamped with the immenfe value of 
 God Incarnate. When, in the light of thefe 
 ideas, we furvey that bloody lweat which 
 marked the agonizing of his foul in the garden 
 of Gethlemane, and hear from the crofs his com- 
 plaint of inward anguiili under Divine wrath, 
 the facriflce appears complete, the raniom is full 
 for eternity, we feize everlafting life, and each 
 believer pronounces thus, " God forbid that I 
 " mould glory, fave in the crofs of the Lord 
 " Jems Chrift." 
 
 The views of his refurreftion, his afcenfion 
 into glory, and his coming as the Judge of the 
 univerfe, make our triumph perfect, boundlefs, 
 eternal. ■ 
 
 But, alas ! thefe things were not underftood 
 by the ancient Jews : They looked at this wonder- 
 ful objecl through afalfe and -vitiated medium. 
 
 They did not conlider the glorious attributes 
 of Jehovah; therefore, they felt not their own 
 mifery and guilt, therefore the falfe glories of 
 
 this 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 53 
 
 this world dazzled their eyes. They fighed for 
 a worldly paradife, and fabricated in their imagi- 
 nation a Meffiah who would indulge, inilead of 
 extirpating, their pride and all their linful lufts. 
 And when Jefus, the Meffiah of God, paffed be- 
 fore their eyes, they acted towards him as the 
 Prophets had predicted they would do : " He 
 ••' hath no form nor comelinefs — we hid, as it 
 " were, our faces from him — he was defpifed, 
 " and we efteemed him not." 
 
 We are aftoniihed at that infenfibility which 
 remained proof againft fnch a difplay of all pof- 
 lible human excellence : we are afhamed of the 
 depravity of our degraded nature, which could 
 prefer to the Holy Jefus the carnal and bafe idea 
 of an earthly conqueror : we \ihrink back with 
 horror from blafphemies pointed, with impotent 
 fury, againlt him who is " God over all blefTed 
 " for ever." I will not enter farther into that 
 cloudy abyfs of iniquity and wrath, in which 
 the polterity of thefe unhappy men have fo 
 long, and fo tamely, remained. Rather, I will 
 call aloud to them to come forth into the mar- 
 vellous light of Jehovah ; I will rather cry to 
 Heaven for that pover which at the day of Pen- 
 tecoft pierced the enemies of Jefus, that power 
 which in a moment fubdued the haughty Phari- 
 fee, in his way to the fcene of perlecution and 
 
 I 2 blood 
 
54 
 
 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 blood at Damafcus. We long to fee that pro- 
 found repentance, which fhall take place when the 
 ancient prediction fhall be largely accomplifhed : 
 
 ' I WILL POUR UPOX THE HOUSE OF DAVID, AND 
 f UPON THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, THE 
 ' SPIRIT OF GRACE AND SUPPLICATIONS, AND 
 ' THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE 
 c PIERCED, AND THEY SHALL MOURN FOR HIM 
 f AS ONE THAT MOURNETII FOR HIS ONLY SON, 
 e AND SHALL BE IN BITTERNESS FOR HIM, AS 
 f ONE THAT IS IN BITTERNESS FOR HIS FIRST- 
 
 ' born." Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 Such is the controverfy between ChrifHanity 
 and Modern Judaiirn ; a controverfy already de- 
 cided in the Scriptures of Truth ; but, to give 
 power and folemnity to the decilion, the glorious 
 fplendours of the Day of Judgment are haftening 
 to burn: upon the aflonifhed world. 
 
 It relates to fuch points as the following : The 
 Holy Perfections of Deity, The Moral Law, 
 The Levitical Ceremonies, The Condition of 
 fallen Man, The exclulive Authority of the in- 
 fpired Scriptures, The Mofaic and Prophetical 
 Delineation of the Meffiah, and The Fulfilment 
 of that Delineation in Jefus of Nazareth. 
 
 Other collateral articles of this controverfy, of 
 high importance, might be in a fimilar manner 
 ftated and illuftrated. 
 
 Let 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 55 
 
 Let me, however, be permitted to employ a 
 part of this difcourfe in ferious expostulation with 
 the reader, whether his name and profeilion be 
 that of a Jew or of a Chriflian. 
 
 Thou child of Abraham, learned or illiterate, 
 rich or poor, man or woman, young or aged^ 
 come near to me, and give me leave to deal with 
 thee as one rational being with another ; my ob- 
 ject is thy real benefit, and that with the angels 
 of light I may rejoice over thee as a repenting, 
 faved linner. Thy danger is great ; thou art 
 coming nearer every hour to that lofty precipice, 
 far beneath under which rolls an ocean of fire ; 
 pafs over that fleep into the unfeen world, and 
 the univerfe cannot fave thee. Through the 
 mercy of God thou art yet on praying ground, 
 and though, when thou beginneft to read, much 
 prejudice be upon thy mind, there is a Power 
 which can bring thee to relent before this paper 
 drops from thy hand. 
 
 Wilt thou not then, for once, affume the pre- 
 rogative of a rational creature, and judge im-. 
 partially for thyfelf in matters of eternal im- 
 portance ? 
 
 Reviewing the plain flatement of the truth re- 
 lative to the tranfcendent holinefs, juflice, power, 
 and mrjefly of Jehovah, the pure ipirituality of 
 his law, and thy condemnation as a finner before 
 
 him 4: 
 
56 SLRMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 him, what, O ion or daughter of Abraham, haft 
 thou to anfwer thy confeience ? If thou trieft 
 to evade the light of fuch truths, and to enter- 
 tain other thoughts of God and thyfelf, this is 
 only to imitate the fruitlefs efforts of our frrft 
 guilty parents, Adam and Eve, who " hid them- 
 " ielves from the prefence of the Lord God 
 >' among the trees of the garden." 
 
 Thou believeit that there is one God, the 
 creator of heaven and earth, infinite in power, 
 wifdom, and goodnefs ; and wilt thou remove 
 from him the fplendour of infinite purity ? Wilt 
 thou reprefent him to thyfelf as like the idol 
 gods of the Heathen, a mean, unholv, unrigh- 
 teous being ; holy in heaven, but unholy upon 
 earth ; condemning the angels who finned, but 
 cherifhing in his bofom finners of the human 
 race, without any real regard to the claims of 
 juiiice and liolinefs ? Be allured, it is only for 
 a moment, and while confeience is aflcep, that 
 fuch monitrous ideas of God can occupy thy 
 mind. Remember the words of thy God in the 
 fiftieth Pfalm : " Thou thoughteft I was altoge- 
 " ther fuch an one as thyfelf: but I will reprove 
 " thee, and let thy fins in order before thine 
 " eyes. Now conlider this, ye that forget God, 
 " left J tear you in pieces, and there be none to 
 tl deiivcr." 
 
 Even 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 57 
 
 Even while the delufion Lifts, wheat are the 
 effects of thy pretended commerce with a mean 
 impure Deity ? It leaves thee under the power 
 of wicked lulls, a prey to every temptation ; thy 
 devotions are formal, dead, infipid ; thy heart is 
 melancholy, a ftrariger to folid pleaiiire ; and 
 •thy countenance is fallen. An unholy God is a 
 God of no excellency, he hath no fweetnefs in 
 himfelf, no living joy to communicate to others. 
 
 But, if thou layeft I believe the holinefs, and 
 juftice, and infinite majefty of my God, come, 
 then, let us reafon a little on that ground, '■' and 
 " I will fhew thee that I have yet to fpeak on 
 l - God's behalf." 
 
 Thy thoughts are fhut in from fenlible ob- 
 jects, and from the opinions of men concerning 
 thee ; thy fpirit is ferious, and cafts a folemn 
 look into the immenfe tract of endlefs duration ; 
 thou lookeft up to the high and holy Judge of 
 fouls, thou art placed " under the eyes of his 
 " glory ;" haft thou then a hope of everlafting 
 blelfednefs : On what foundation doth thy hope 
 reft? 
 
 Away with fophiftical quibbling ! This is 
 not a bufinefs to be tranfactcd in jeft. Don; 
 thou deipair of heaven ? Doft thou hope for it \ 
 If thou hopeft, what is thy warrant ? 
 
 There 
 
38 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 There are but three conceivable grounds of 
 the hope of man, if the glorious perfections of 
 the Judge of the world are at all kept in view : 
 .The Mejfiahy peifonal obedience, ceremonial obfcr- 
 vunces. 
 
 The Jew cannot truft in the MeJJiah for ever- 
 lafting bleffednefs ; for his imagined Meffiah is 
 a mere, a iinful man ; he is a temporal deliverer ; 
 he poiTeiTes no redundant merit to be imparted 
 to others ; he fuffers for no crimes : at this door, 
 therefore, there is no hope. 
 
 Thou tirufteft, then, in thy perfonal obedience. 
 Remember, 1 befecch thee, before whom thou 
 prefenteft thy obedience ; and co:»nder well 
 what are the qualities of the obedience thou 
 pleadeft before him. Art thou indeed holy as 
 the angels of heaven ? Doth feraphic love to 
 God and man burn in thy breaft every moment ? 
 Doth it lliine in thy countenance, and in all thy 
 conduct ? Come, thou earthly angel, let us look 
 upon thee, let us learn from thee to keep the 
 law of God. 
 
 Poor worm ! it is not my defign to infult thee, 
 but to rouie thy confciencc, that, before it be 
 too late, thou mayeft know that "all thy righ- 
 " teoufneffes are as filthy rags," and that in the 
 fight of this holy God " no man living can be 
 " juftified." Iiaiah lxiv. YL cxliii'. 
 
 Thy 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIFS. 59 
 
 Thy laft refuge remains to be examined, cere- 
 monial obfer-vances. And that no advantage may 
 be wanting, we will fuppofe thee at Jerufalem, 
 in poffeffion of a fplendid temple, lineal and 
 well-adorned priefts, fat bullocks, goats, lambs, 
 and rams of the breed of Bafnan. Remember, 
 thy facrifices have no connection with the Mef- 
 iiah. Anfwer, then, the queftions which reafon, 
 confcience, God himfelf, put to thee : ( j Will 
 " God eat the flefh of bulls, or drink the blood 
 u goats ?." Shall the momentary bufferings of 
 a brute animal be an equivalent for eternal tor- 
 ments due to fin ? Shall the patience of a be aft 
 hold the place of the obedience of an angel ? 
 Shall eternal juftice pronounce fuch a deciiion ? 
 No : this is God's fentence, " He that killeth an 
 " ox is as if he flew a man ; he that facrificeth a 
 " lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck ; he that 
 il offereth an oblation, as if he offered fwine's 
 " blood ; he that burnetii incenfe, as if he 
 " bleffed an idol." Ilaiah lxvi. 3. 
 
 Miferable defcendant of Abraham ! thou pof~ 
 feffeft not the hope of eternal life, thou art in 
 the pit of deipair ; thy profpects for eternity 
 cannot be worfe. Come, then, take one impar- 
 tial look of Jelus of Nazareth : if he is not. an 
 impoftor, there is hope for thee in him, he is 
 the refuge of a defperate world. An impoftor J 
 
 K An 
 
do SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 An impoftor adorned with angelic irreproachable 
 purity, approved by infinite Holinefs, emitting 
 the beams of Divine majefty and love ! Return, 
 repent, ye erring children of Abraham. Behold 
 the Lamb of God, furvey a Divine facriiice of 
 atonement — an everlafting righteoufnefs — em- 
 brace, at laft, the hope of eternal glory in the 
 heavens. 
 
 " See that ye refufe not him that fpeaketh 
 " from heaven." If ye do, what awaits each of 
 you at the hour of death ? A fcene more folemn 
 than that of trembling Sinai, blacker darknefs, 
 brighter flames, founds more terrific than that 
 trumpet and that voice of words ; an immortal 
 foul abhorred by angels, renounced by Abraham, 
 condemned by infinite purity, forfaken by im- 
 menfe companion, torn in pieces by the Saviour 
 of the world ! 
 
 Thou who calleft thyfelf a Chriftian, weep 
 over fuch dangers of thy fellow creatures, cry 
 mightily to God that fuch miferies may be pre- 
 vented. 
 
 But take heed to thyfelf, left, naming the 
 name of Chrift, thou be found in the gall of 
 bitternefs and in the bond of iniquity. No Jew 
 is by nature more an unbeliever than thou art. 
 How was thy faith in Jefus Chrift produced ? Is 
 \t the effect of thy own exertions, or of regene- 
 rating 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 61 
 
 rating grace ? Haft thou feen the holy Judge of 
 the world ? Haft thou trembled before him ? 
 Haft thou felt complacency in his awful glories ? 
 Haft thou rejoiced in Chrift Jefus, as glorifying 
 the juftice, as well as difplaying the love, of Jeho- 
 vah ? And doth the light of God's purity and 
 love fhine forth in thy fpirit, converfation, and 
 conduct, to the conviction of Gentiles and Jews ? 
 
 " LOOK DOWN FROM HEAVEN, THOU GOD OF ABRA- 
 " HAM, AND BEHOLD FROM THE HABITATION OF THY HO- 
 « LINESS AND OF THY GLORY. WHERE IS THY ZEAL AND 
 " THY STRENGTH, THE SOUNDING OF THY BOWELS AND 
 " OF THY MERCIES TOWARDS THINE ISRAEL? WHY HAST 
 " THOU MADE THEM TO ERR FROM THY WAYS, AND 
 « HARDENED THEIR HEART FROM THY FEAR? OH, THAT 
 " THOU WOULDEST REND THE HEAVENS, THAT THOU 
 « WOULDEST COME DOWN, THAT THE MOUNTAINS MIGHT 
 U FLOW DOWN AT THY PRESENCE !" Ifa. Isiii. lxiv. 
 
 JEND OF SERMON II. 
 
SERMON 
 
 JESUS OF NAZARETH 
 
 CLAIMING THE CHARACTER OF 
 
 MESSIAH, 
 
 AND MAKING GOOD HIS CLAIM. 
 
 Matth. xi. 3. 
 
 Art thou he that Jhould come, or do we look for 
 another f 
 
 .DAILY experience concurs with the Word of 
 God, to teach us 3 that man is born to trouble 
 as the fparks fly upward, and that the man who 
 is born again is fubjected to trials peculiar to 
 the renewed flate, 
 
 L 2 John 
 
60 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 John the Baptift. was a burning and a mining 
 light ; he difcharged the duties of his facred of- 
 fice, with acceptance to his Divine Mafter, with 
 advantage to immortal fouls, and with much ho- 
 nour to himfelf. The applaufe of the multitude 
 did not allure him ; the frowns of the great did 
 not alarm him. But this faithful fervant of God 
 was caft into prifon, and without the forms of law 
 or of juftice,was beheaded in that prifon. Whilft 
 we coniider this afflictive difpeniation of Provi- 
 dence to John, and to the church y we ihould 
 keep in mind, tjjat his enemies were not per- 
 mitted to touch tlie Baptift, till he had finifhed 
 the work given him to do. We need not be 
 furprized that this morning, ftar, although un- 
 commonly bright, was eclipfed when the Sun ap- 
 peared. Whilft this good man was in a ftate of 
 confinement, he fent fume of his difciples to Je- 
 fus, to aik him the queftion contained in the 
 text. When we confider, that John had fctn 
 the Holy Spirit defcending and retting on the 
 head of Chrift, according to what had been fore- 
 told him ; and when we behold' the Baptift point- 
 ing with his finger to his Mailer, and hear him 
 faying, " Behoid the Lamb of God, who taketh 
 " away the fins of the world P we can fcarcely 
 believe, that he doubted whethef Jefus was the 
 promiled Mcfliah : we are rather cUfpofed to 
 
 think 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 67 
 
 think that it was more for the fatisfaction of 
 his difciples that he fent them to fay, " Art thou 
 " he that mould come, or do we look for ano- 
 " ther ?" 
 
 Ye fons of Abraham, the language of your 
 conduct, in coming to this place, is the fame 
 with that of John's difciples. You are en- 
 quiring, is Jefus of Nazareth he that was pro- 
 mifed to come ? or are we frill to look for ano- 
 ther ? 
 
 I propofe, with a becoming dependence on 
 Divine grace, 
 
 First, to make two preliminary obferva- 
 tions. 
 
 Secondly, to fhew you that Jefus of Nazareth 
 claimed the character of the Mefnah, according 
 to the raoft fublime reprefentations of it in the 
 Old Teftament. 
 
 Thirdly, that Jefus of Nazareth made good 
 his claim. 
 
 First. I obferve that fuch dignitv, names, 
 and qualities, are afcribed to the Mefiiah, in 
 the Old Teftament, as are only compatible with 
 a Divine per/on. 
 
 The Pfalmift, in his beautiful feventy-fecond 
 Pfalm, when looking forward to the days of 
 Meffiah, fays, « Yea, all Kings mall fall down 
 
 " before 
 
68 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 " before him ; all nations ihall ferve him. His 
 " name mail endure for ever ; his name mall be 
 " continued as long as the fun ; and men mall 
 " be bleffed in him. All nations fhall call him 
 " Blefled." 
 
 The prophet Ifaiah, in his ninth chapter, 
 fays, " Unto us- a child is born, unto us a fon is 
 " given : and the government mail be upon his 
 " moulder : and his name fhall be called Won- 
 " derful, Counfellor, the mighty God, the ever- 
 " Luting Father, the Prince of Peace." In the 
 twenty-third chapter of Jeremiah, the Prophet, in 
 the language of faith and gratitude and joy, ex- 
 claims, " Behold the days come, faith the Lord, 
 " that I will raife unto David a righteous 
 u Branch ; a king fhall reign and profper, and 
 ,e mail execute judgment and juftice in the 
 " earth. In his days Judah fhall be faved, and 
 " Ifrael ihall dwell lafely : and this is his name 
 " whereby he fhall be called, The Lord our rwh- 
 " teoufhefs." 
 
 My Second preliminary obfervation is, that 
 an attempt to perfoliate fucli a Mejfiah 'would be 
 of all impoftures the hardeit to be executed, and 
 liable to the eafieft detection. k 
 
 Suppofmg a perfon was at this prefent time to 
 make the attempt, might not any man amono- 
 
 you 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. Cg 
 
 you, who are the defcendants of Abraham, and 
 who have read with attention the predictions 
 in the Old Teftament, come forward and fay, 
 " 1 find, from the facred writings, that Mef- 
 ° fiah mould confirm his doctrine by mira- 
 (i cles. Now here is a blind man ; make him 
 " fee : here is a deaf man ; make him hear : 
 " here is a lame man ; make him walk. 
 i( But if you cannot perform fuch works as 
 <f Ifaiah declared Meffiah fhould perform, you 
 " muft not be offended if I decline becoming; v.our 
 <c difciple." But it was not only predicted, that 
 Meffiah fhould prove his million by reversing 
 the eftablifhd laws of nature, but that he fhould 
 fuffer, and die a violent death ; and therefore ye 
 might fay to the man claiming the character of 
 Meffiah, " Before you can fully prove, to our 
 " fatisfaction, that you are Chrift, you muft be- 
 < c come a man of forrow, and acquainted with 
 " grief; nay, you muft make your foul an of- 
 " fering for lin." Do ye not fee, O ye fons of 
 Ifrael ! from thefe obfervations, that if Jefus of 
 Nazareth did claim the character of Meffiah, 
 and was an impoftor, that he undertook a diffi- 
 cult talk, and that he might have been eaiily de- 
 tected. 
 
 I am 
 
70 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 I am now to proceed to the second part of 
 my plan, which was, 
 
 To fhew you that Jefus of Nazareth did 
 claim the character of Mefiiah, according to 
 the fublimeft reprefentations of it in the writings 
 of the Old Teftament. 
 
 John informs us, in his fourth chapter, and 
 25th and 26th verfes, that the woman of Sama- 
 ria faid to Jefus, " I know that Meffias eometh, 
 " who is called Chrift : when he eometh, he will 
 u tell us all things. Jefus faith unto her, / that 
 u /peak unto thee am he." 
 
 In the eighth chapter of the fame Gofpel we 
 find our Lord faying to the Pharifees, " Your 
 " father Abraham rejoiced to fee my day; 
 (e and he faw it, and was glad. Then faid the 
 u Jews, thou art not yet fifty years old : and haft 
 * c thou feen Abraham ? Jefus faid unto them, 
 w Verily, verily, I fay unto you, before Abra- 
 " ham was, I am" In the ninth chapter of the 
 Gofpel by the fame infpired penman, we find, 
 that when Jefus met the man whofe eyes he had 
 opened, he faid unto him, " Doeft thou believe 
 " on the Son of God? He anfwered and faid, 
 f* Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on 
 " him ? And Jefus faid unto him, Thou haji 
 " both feen him, and it is he that talketh with 
 if thee. And he faid, Lord, I believe. And he 
 
 w woy~ 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 71 
 
 " worfhipped him." In the fixteenth chapter of 
 Matthew we are informed, that Jefus plainly de- 
 clared to his difciples, that he was the Chrift, 
 and truly and properly God. He afked his dif- 
 ciples, faying, " Whom do men fay that I the 
 " Son of Man am ? And they faid, Some fay 
 " thou art John Baptift, fome Elias, and others 
 " Jeremias, or one of the Prophets. He faith 
 " unto them, But whom fay ye that I am ? And 
 " Simon Peter anfwered and faid, Thou art 
 " Chrift, the Son of the living God. And Je- 
 " fus anfwered and faid unto him, BlefTed art 
 " thou, Simon Bar-jona : for flefh and blood 
 " hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Fa- 
 " ther which is in heaven." When Jefus was 
 carried before Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate, did 
 he give up with his claim ? By no means : he 
 then witnefTed a good confeffton, and that before 
 many witnefles *. Other paffages from the Evan- 
 gelifts might be quoted, to prove that Jefus of 
 Nazareth claimed the character of Meffiah, ac- 
 cording to the fublimeft reprefentations of it in 
 the Old Teftament, but thofe which we have 
 produced are certainly more than fufficient. 
 I mail therefore proceed to the 
 
 * Mark xiv. 62. John xviii. 37, 
 
 M Third 
 
72 SERMOXS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 Thihd thing in the method, which was, To 
 endeavour to lhew that Jcfus of Nazareth made 
 good his claim. 
 
 That Jcfus made his claim good will appear, 
 firft, from the purity of his life and eloclriuc. 
 
 His friends, who have faithfully recorded their 
 own iins and the fins of their fellow difciples, 
 allure us, that Jems was holy and harmlefs, and 
 feparated from tinners ; and he himfelf could chal- 
 lenge hrs enemies, and lay, " Which of you con- 
 " vinceth me of fin :"' But if ye wifh to know 
 if his life was blamelcfs, you may aik the judge 
 who condemned him, and he will tell you, that 
 he could find no fault in him. You may en- 
 quire of Judas who betrayed him, and he will 
 tell you, that the blood which he betrayed was 
 innocent: blood. 
 
 The purity of his doctrine is another proof 
 that Jefus was the true Mefhah. Read, if ye 
 can, with minds divefted of prejudice, any, or the 
 \vhole, of his difcourfes, and then denv, if ye are 
 able, that his doctrine was perfectly pure. But 
 we would chiefly intreat of you to read his fer- 
 mon on the Mount, and you will find, that he 
 delivered the fame precepts, which had been de- 
 livered to your fathers at Sinai. Your forefa- 
 thers intrcated, that God would never fpeak to 
 
 them 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 them again in fuch an awful manner as he did 
 at Sinai, and God granted their requeft. 
 When therefore the Son of God took his feat 
 upon this mountain, to which we have juft now 
 referred, there was no blacknefs nor darknefs, 
 nor found of a trumpet waxing louder and 
 louder. No fires Mazed, no thunders roared, 
 the Mount did not fhake, nor did the multitudes 
 tremble ; nothing was heard but a ftill calm 
 voice. But Jefus on that occalion ratified the 
 moral law. " Think not, Jefus faid to the peo- 
 " pie, think not that I am come to deftroy the 
 " law. I am not come to deftroy, but to fulfil." 
 Tour fathers had corrupted the law of God, but 
 Jefus, whilft fitting on that Mount, fat like a 
 refiner, and purified the filver from the drofs. 
 If you will read this fermon of his, you will find, 
 that the words of Jefus are pure words ; that they 
 are like filver tried in a furnace feven times. 
 
 Before I leave this article I would intreat you 
 to attend to one doctrine which Jeliis taught. 
 On a certain occalion, Jefus afked the Pharifees 
 faying, " What think ye of Chrift ? Whole fon 
 " is he ? They fay unto him, the fon of David. 
 " He faid unto them, How then doth David in 
 il fpirit call him Lord ? faying, the Lord faid 
 fC unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand till 
 " I make thine enemies thy footftool. If David 
 
 M 2 " then 
 
74 SERMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 (i then call him Lord, how is he his fon *?" 
 From this pafTage you fee that Jefus taught 
 that the promifed MeiTiah was truly and pro- 
 perly God ; but muft not every one of you 
 be convinced, if open to conviction, that if Je- 
 fus had been an Impoftor, it would have been 
 his wifdom to have concealed this truth ? 
 
 Again, if you confider the manner in which 
 Jefus taught, and the effecls which his doctrine 
 produced, you may fee that' he was the true 
 Meiliah. 
 
 Jefus taught as one having authority, and not 
 as the fcribes. The boldnefs and freedom of his 
 fpeech without refpect of perfons ; the gravity, 
 the Simplicity, and majefty of his ftyle, deeply 
 affected the people, and convinced them that he 
 was fent of God. 
 
 According to ancient prediction Jefus had the 
 tongue of the learned, and fpoke words in feafon 
 to thofe who were weary. On one occafion one 
 of his hearers cried out, BlefTed is the womb that 
 bare thee, and the breafts which thou haft fuck- 
 ed. The people were aftonifhed at his doctrine, 
 and his very enemies were constrained to ac- 
 knowledge, " Never man fpake like this man." 
 
 * Matth, xxii. 
 
 But 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 75 
 
 But farther, confide r that humility with which 
 Jefus was clothed, and you mull fee that he was 
 the perfon concerning whom Ifaiah predicted, 
 " He fhall not cry, nor lift up, nor caufc his 
 " voice to be heard in the ftreets." 
 
 Take a view of him on the Mount of Tranf- 
 figuration, converfing with Mofes and Elias, and 
 then behold him fitting on Jacob's well, talking 
 with the woman of Samaria. Behold angels mi- 
 niftring to him, and then fee him taking up 
 children in his arms and bleiling them, and you 
 mult be convinced that he was perfectly humble. 
 At the time that Jefus appeared the people were 
 fitting in darknefs. They had been long Ihame- 
 fully neglected by their teachers. When this 
 glorious Sun arofe, many of your fathers faw the 
 light, and came in crowds to the brightnefs of its 
 rifing. Whereever Jefus went, multitudes flocked 
 after him, bu> his mind was not in the kali 
 elated. When he entered for the lafl time into 
 Jerufalem, the people call their garments in the 
 way ; they cut down branches from palm trees, 
 and llrewed them in the way whilft they cried 
 (( Hofanna to the Son of David ! bleiTed is lie 
 " who cometh in the name of the Lord." But 
 the daughter of Sion beheld her King meek and 
 Jiaving lalvation. 
 
 Jefus 
 
76 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 Jefus made good his claim by lhewing that he 
 was omniprefent and omnifcient. 
 
 I might bring forward many parts of his 
 hiftory to prove this, but I fhall only pro- 
 duce one. When Philip had invited Nathanael 
 to come to Chriit, Jefus faw him coming 
 unto him, and faith of him, " Behold an 
 " Ifraelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Natha- 
 " nael faith unto him, Whence knowcft thou 
 " me ? Jefus anfwered and faid unto him, Bc- 
 " fore that Philip called thee, when thou waft 
 u under the fig-tree, IJaw thee. Nathanael an- 
 " fwered and faith unto him, Rabbi, thou art 
 " the fon of God ; thou art the king of Ifrael." 
 Nathanael, you fee, was fully convinced, that 
 Jefus had made good his claim. From what he had 
 faid to him, he was perfuaded that Jefus was the 
 promifed Meffiah, the omniprefent and omni- 
 fcient God. 
 
 The works which he performed, not by a dele- 
 gated, but by his own power, prove him to be 
 the promifed Meffiah. 
 
 lie made the deaf to hear, the dumb to fpeak, 
 the blind to fee. He made the lame to walk, and 
 eleanfed lepers, yen he cured all manner of dif- 
 eafes, the moft obftinate not excepted. But Je- 
 fus not only healed all who Lad need of healing, 
 
 bur 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 77 
 
 but he brought back in triumph fome of thofe 
 who had become prifoners of the king of terrors. 
 He railed the little daughter of Jairus, the wi- 
 dow's fon of Nam, and brought Lazarus to life 
 after he had been dead four days. Perhaps fome 
 of you may now be thinking with yourfelves, if 
 Jefus had really performed fuch miracles, our fa- 
 thers would not have rejected him. I would afk 
 you, Did not your progenitors fee miracles in the 
 land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the Wilder- 
 nefs ? You anfwer, They did. But I have ano- 
 ther queftion to propofe : After your forefathers 
 had been conducted through the Red Sea, and 
 whilft their eyes beheld the cloudy pillar, whilft 
 they were eating manna from heaven, and drink- 
 ing water ftreaming from a flinty rock, did they 
 not fpeak of ftoning the venerable Moles ? did 
 they not fay, is the Lord amongfi us or not t 
 Need you then be furprized that the prophet 
 raifed up like unto Mofes was defpifed and re- 
 jected ? 
 
 This leads me to conlider another proof 
 that Jefus was the true Meffiah, I mean )x\s>Juffev- 
 kigs and death. 
 
 From the day on which he was born 
 till the hour in which he expired on the crofs, 
 Jefus was a man of forrow and acquainted 
 with grief. When he entered upon his public 
 
 mi- 
 
78 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 miniftry, earth and hell combined againft hirri. 
 When he taught the moft important doctrines 
 many who came to hear had not inftruction for 
 their object, they came to catch him in his 
 words. Miracles were performed by him for 
 the confirmation of his doctrines, but thefe were 
 by many afcribed to the influence of infernal 
 fpirits. When his hour was come, he was be- 
 trayed by one of his own difciples, apprehended 
 by his enemies, and, after a mock trial, your 
 fathers murdered the Lord of Glory. But the 
 fufFerings of the foul of Jefus infinitely exceeded 
 thole which came from the hands of men. " It 
 " pleafed the Lord to bruife him." 
 
 Be it known unto you, ye fons of Ifrael, that 
 we Chriftians are not afhamed to acknowledge 
 ourfelves the difciples of this crucified Jefus. 
 When we read the Pfalms of David, and pre- 
 dictions of Ifaiah and of the other Prophets, we 
 find the fufFerings and death of Je.us of Naza- 
 reth as minutely defcribed, as if thofe good men 
 had been witnefTes of the awful fcene. When 
 our minds are illuminated by the Spirit of God, 
 that we may fee the purity of his law, and the 
 exceeding evil of fin, we then fee the neceffity, 
 the abfohte neceility, for the fufFerings and death 
 ofMefTiah. 
 
 That 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIFS. ?9 
 
 That temper of mind which Jefus maintained 
 amidft all his fufFerings, and even in the agonies 
 of death, proved him to be the promifed Mef- 
 nah. Mofes has been juftly celebrated for his 
 meeknefs, but Mofes fpake unadvifedly with his 
 lips. When Jefus was reviled he reviled not 
 again, he bleifed them that curfed him, and 
 prayed for them which defpitefully ufed him. Ac- 
 cording to ancient prophecy he was brought as 
 a lamb to the flaughter, and as a fheep before 
 her fhearefs is dumb, fo he opened not his 
 mouth. When nailed to the crofs, he offered 
 iip a prayer, which will ftand in this blefled book 
 to the end of time, for our inftruclion, for your 
 encouragement to truft in him, and for his eter- 
 nal honour •. iC Father, forgive them ; for they 
 " know not what they do." 
 
 If ye conflder the awful events which took 
 place at his death, you may fee that he made 
 good his claim. There was darknefs over all the 
 land from the lixth till the ninth hour. Permit me ' 
 to afk you, Did you ever hear of an eclipfe of the 
 fun but this taking place at full moon ? Did you 
 ever hear of an eclipfe but this lafting for three 
 hours ? You never did, nor you never will. 
 An Heathen philofopher cried out when, he faw 
 this darknefs, " Either the Divine Being now 
 " fufFereth, or fympathizeth with one that fuf- 
 
 N " fereth." 
 
60 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 " fereth." This was not the only prodigy which 
 took place whilft the Son of God was upon the 
 •accurled tree. It pleafed the Lord not only to 
 give figns in the heavens above, but alio in the 
 earth. There was a great earthquake, the rocks 
 rent, and the vail of the temple was rent in 
 twain from the top to the bottom. The centu- 
 rion at the foot of the crofs, whilft he perceived 
 the darknefs, and felt the earth making, ex- 
 claimed, ( * Surely this was the Son of God." 
 
 Jefus made good his claim, by rifing from the 
 dead, according to his own prediction, on 
 the third day. 
 
 When he had cried out with a loud voice, he 
 bowed his head and gave up the ghoft. That a 
 prediction might be accomplished, a lbklier was 
 permitted to pierce his fide, and forthwith there 
 came out blood and water. Jofeph of Ari- 
 mathea took duwn the lifelefs body, and having 
 wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, he laid it in a 
 new iepulchre hewn out of a rock: when he had 
 rolled a great ftone to the door of the fcpulchre, 
 he departed. 
 
 The next day the chief priefts and pharifees 
 come to Pilate and informed him, that Jefus had 
 faid whilft he was alive, " After three days I 
 " will rife again." They at the fame time in- 
 treat that proper meafures fhould be taken to 
 
 prevent 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 81 
 
 prevent his difciples from coming and ftealing the 
 body of Jefus. Pilate gave them a very proper an- 
 fwer. He laid, " Ye have a watch ; go your way; 
 " make it as fure as ye can." So they went, and 
 made the fepulchre fure, fealing the ftone, and 
 fetting a watch. They fealed the ftone to prevent 
 fee ret fraud ; and they placed a fufficient guard 
 of Roman foldiers, to be a check againft open 
 violence. But, in fpite of all thefe precautions, 
 an angel defcends from heaven, rolls back the 
 ftone from the door of the fepulchre, whilft the 
 Mefliah comes forth from his grave, travelling 
 in the greatnefs of his ftrength, and mighty to 
 fave. The face of the angel was like lightning, 
 and his raiment white as fnow ; and for fear of 
 him the keepers did make and become as dead 
 men. 
 
 It is a childifh ftory, reported to this day, 
 amongft the Jews, that his difciples came and 
 ftole the body of their Mafter away whilft the 
 foldiers flept. How came the foldiers to be 
 afleep, when they knew, that, if detected, 
 death was the punifhment which would be in- 
 flicted ? How came the difciples to know that 
 the foldiers were afleep ? How came the fol- 
 diers to fleep all at one and the fame time, and 
 to be fo long in that ftate ? But if they were 
 ileeping, and in fuch a deep fleep, how came 
 N 1 they 
 
82 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 they to give their teftimony refpedting a circum- 
 fhince which took place whilfl they were afleep ? 
 I muft inform you, that credible witnefies law 
 Jefus after his refurrection. His difciples, who 
 had been, for the fpace of three years, in his 
 company before his death, faw him after he had 
 rifen from the dead ; they converfed with him ; 
 they did eat and drink with him ; he fhowed 
 them the print of the nails in his hands and in 
 his feet ; and he commanded one of them to 
 thruft his hand into his lide, which had been 
 pierced with the foldier's fpear. An apoftle in- 
 forms us, that Jefus was feen after his refurrection 
 by above five hundred brethren at once, and that 
 the greateft part of thofe witneffes remained at 
 the time when he wrote his epiftle. 
 
 Jefus made good his claim by the effufion 
 of the Spirit. He had promifed that if he 
 went away, he would fend the Comforter ; 
 and he commanded his difciples to tarry in 
 the city of Jernfalem until they mould be en- 
 dued with power from on high. This promife 
 was fulfilled, and the fulfilment of it muft be a 
 confirmation, not only of the refurrection, but 
 alfo of the afcenfion of Jefus ; a convincing 
 proof that he was the promifed Meffiah. 
 
 There; 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS, 63 
 
 There are three things refpecting this event 
 which claim your moll ferious attention ; — the 
 time, appearance, and effects. 
 
 With regard to the time, the Scriptures of the 
 New Teftament inform us, that it took place on 
 the day of Pentecoft. This, as the word iigni- 
 fieth, was on the fiftieth day after the lixteenth 
 of Nifan, which was the fecond day of the feaft 
 of the Paffover. When we confult the hiftory 
 of Ifrael, we find that on the day this law was gi- 
 ven on Sinai, and on this day the firft fruits 
 were prefented unto the Lord. 
 
 As to the appearance, we are informed, that 
 there appeared cloven iongkes as of fire. You 
 who are acquainted with the hiftory of your own 
 nation, may have obferved, that, when the Lord 
 has favoured his fervants with any lifible token 
 of the Divine prefence, the appearance has been 
 wonderfully fuitedto the circumftances in which 
 the fervants of God were then placed, and well 
 fitted to difpel their fears and encourage them to 
 go forward in the way of duty. 
 
 When Jacob was obliged to fly from his fa- 
 ther's houfe and native land, we may be certain 
 that he was in deep diftrefs, but the vinon at 
 Bethel was every way calculated to infpive his foul 
 with confidence in God, and to afford him the 
 ftrongeft confolation,. J^e beheld a ladder let 
 
 upon 
 
64 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 upon the earth, and the top of it reached to hea- 
 ven : he faw the angels of God afc ending and 
 defcending on that ladder, and the Lord ftanding 
 above it. 
 
 When that fame good man, at the command 
 of God, had left the fervice of Laban, and 
 was returning to his native country, he was fa- 
 voured with another virion of angels, but they 
 were not now afcending and defcending ; they 
 are now reprefented as having come down from 
 that ladder, ready to protect Jacob from all his 
 powerful foes. 
 
 The great light which Mofes faw on Mount 
 Horeb was not only a finking emblem of the 
 church at that period, but was well fitted to 
 encourage that fervant of God to go, in obe- 
 dience to the Lord's command, and bring your 
 fathers from the land of Egypt and from the 
 boufe of bondage. 
 
 After the gallant Jofhua had conducted the 
 many thoufands of Ifrael over the Jordan, and 
 had encamped by Jericho, he beheld an appear- 
 ance fuitcd to the circumftances in which he was 
 then placed. We are informed, that he looked, and 
 behold there ftood a man over againlt him, with 
 f drawn Jword hi his hand, and Jofhua went unto 
 him, and faid unto him, Art thou for us or for 
 
 our 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 83 
 
 our adverfaries ? and he faid, Nay j but as captain 
 of the Lord's hoft I am now come. 
 
 In the iixth chapter of the fecond book of 
 Kings we are informed, that the king of Syria 
 fent horfes and chariots, and a great hoft, to 
 Dothan, to apprehend the Prophet Elifha. When 
 the fervant of the Prophet faw the city encom- 
 paffed with horfes and chariots, he was greatly 
 alarmed, and cried, " Alas ! my mafter : how 
 " mail we do ?" The Prophet, with unruffled 
 compofure, anfwered, " Fear not ; for they that be 
 " with us are more than they that be with them. 
 " And he prayed, and faid, Lord, I pray thee, 
 " open his eyes that he may fee. And the 
 " Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and 
 {< he faw ; and behold ! the mountain was full of 
 " horfes and chariots of fire round about Eliiha." 
 
 In like manner, that appearance with which 
 the diiciples were now favoured, was perfectly 
 fuited to the circumftances in which they then 
 were placed. Their Mafter had commanded 
 them to go into ail the world, and to preach the 
 Gofpel to every creature. But the difciples were 
 illiterate men ; they could only fpeak the lan- 
 guage of their native country ; how then could 
 they obey the command of their Mafter I But 
 when they beheld the appearance of cloven 
 tongues, they were then, in effect, told, that 
 
 tills 
 
86 SERMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 this difficulty., which firit prefented itfelf, mould 
 be removed, and that they fhould be quali- 
 fied for the work to which they were then 
 called. 
 
 Now, when you behold fuch a ftriking ana- 
 logy betwixt the appearances with which the fer- 
 vants of God were favoured under the Old Tef- 
 tarnent difpenfation, and the token of the Di- 
 vine prefence on the day of Pentecoft, are ye 
 not conitrained to acknowledge, that the difci- 
 ples were the fervants of the living God, and 
 that Jefus of Nazareth is the promifed Mef- 
 fiah ? 
 
 If ye coniider the effefls which were produced 
 by the effuiion of the Spirit, you may fee that 
 Jefus was the true Meffiah. 
 
 The effects produced upon the difciples of 
 Jefus claim your attention in the firft place. 
 As has been already obferved, the difciples were 
 illiterate men. They could only fpeak the lan- 
 guage of their native country. But when the 
 Spirit was poured out, they were filled with 
 the Holy Ghoft, and enabled to fpeak all Ian-* 
 guages, as they had occafion to ufe them. 
 On the day when the followers of Jefus were 
 firft endued with the gift of tongues, fome 
 ■who heard them faid", " Thefe men are full of 
 " new wine ;" but they only expofed their own 
 
 ignorance ; 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 87 
 
 ignorance ; for, had they underftood the dif- 
 ferent languages which the difciples fpoke, they 
 could not have afcribed the effect to fuch 3 
 caufe. That the difciples were miraculously en- 
 dued with the gift of tongues is a fact well at*- 
 tefted. At that time a general expectation pre- 
 vailed, that Meffiah fhould appear. Daniel's 
 weeks were now expired, and the fceptre was 
 now departed from Judah. This expectation 
 brought devout men from all quarters of the then 
 known world to Jerufalem. Thefe devout men 
 came to the place where the difciples were afTem- 
 bled. They were aftonifhed, and faid, " Are 
 <f not all thefe which fpeak Galileans ? and how 
 " hear we every man in our own tongue f ' Thefe 
 witneffes obferved, that the Galileans not only 
 fpake the languages of the different countries, but 
 that they fpake the various languages in a man- 
 ner * that could be raoft eafily underftood by 
 the natives of the refpective countries. This 
 work, like the other operations of Jehovah, was 
 perfect. It was one of the feals affixed to the 
 commiffion of Jefus of Nazareth, and had for 
 its motto, " this is the lord's doing." But 
 the apoftles were not only enabled to fpeak va- 
 
 * The word rendered iongue properly Signifies dialed, or 
 the particular manner in which any language is pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 O rious 
 
68 SERMONS TO THE JEJFS. 
 
 rious languages, but they were alfo enabled to 
 preach the Gofpel with more fullnefs, perfpi- 
 cuity, and power, than they had ever done be- 
 fore. 
 
 The influence of the Spirit was not confined 
 to the difciples. No lefs a number than three 
 thoufand were brought under that influence on 
 the day of Pentecoft. 
 
 The Lord had now begun to fend the rod of 
 his ftrength out of Sion, and a willing people 
 came to him in tjhis, the day of his power. O 
 that the Lord would pour out his holy Spirit 
 upon you this day ! and then, like the three 
 thoufand, you would be pricked in your hearts, 
 and fay, " Men and brethren ! what fhall we 
 (t do ?" Then, with heart-felt fatisfaclion, we 
 fhould addrefs you in the language of Peter, or 
 rather in the language of infpiration, and far, 
 ff Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in 
 (C the name of Jefus Chrift for the remiilion of 
 " fins ; and ye fhall receive the gift of the Holy 
 ff Ghoft ; for the promife is unto you, and to your 
 " children, and to all that are afar off, even as 
 <{ many as the Lord our God fhall call." 
 
 I might now fhew you, at great length, 
 that for a feries of no lefs than nigh eighteen 
 hundred years Jefus has fapported his claim 
 by the accomplifhment of his predictions 
 
 reflecting 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 89 
 
 refpecting your temple, and city, and nation. 
 Read, I intreat you, thefe predictions, and com- 
 pare them with the events which have taken 
 place, and you then, by the bleffing of God, 
 may be convinced, that Jefus is the Prophet like 
 unto Mofes. 
 
 Would you wifh to be led to the fource of the 
 
 awful judgments which God has been inflicting 
 
 upon your nation at, and fince, the time when the 
 
 Romans deftroyed your city and temple : 
 
 Would you wifh to know the caufe of your pre- 
 
 fent fcattered deplorable ftate, I befeech you to 
 
 take Moles, in whom you truft, for your guide : 
 
 Mofes will lead you as by the hand to the fource ; 
 
 he will point out the caufe. The pafTage to 
 
 which I refer, you will find in Deuteronomy 
 
 xviii. 18, 19. There the Lord fays to Mofes, " I 
 
 if. will raife them up a Prophet from among their 
 
 (l Brethren, like unto thee, and will put my 
 
 iC words in his mouth ; and he mail fpeak unto 
 
 ff them all that I fhall command him. And it 
 
 l % fhall come to pafs, that whofoever will not 
 
 f( hearken unto my words, which he fhall fpeak 
 
 li in my name, I will require it of him." 
 
 I might have brought forward many other ar- 
 guments to prove, that Jefus made good his claim. 
 but your time does not permit. 
 
 In the concluiion of this difcourfe, I would 
 moft earneftly entreat you to compare the pre- 
 dictions 
 
90 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 dictions refpecting the promiied Meffiah, in the 
 Old Teftament, with the hiflory of Jefus. There 
 is one doctrine which Jefus taught, and to which 
 you certainly cannot object. I would therefore 
 befeech you to attend to it, when you read the 
 Scriptures. You will find it recorded in the Gof- 
 pel by John, in his feventh chapter, and 17th 
 verfe. " If any man will do his will, (that is, the 
 " will of God,) he fhall know of the doctrine 
 " whether it be of God.*' 
 
 As for you of this affembly, who are Chriftians, 
 true Chriftians, let me call upon you to blefs God 
 for fending the Meffiah in the fullnefs of time, 
 and for bringing you to this glorious Redeemer. 
 We need not bring forward any arguments to 
 convince you that Jefus of Nazareth is the true 
 Meffiah. The Holy Spirit has taken of the 
 things of Chrift, and has fhewn them to you. 
 I befeech you therefore to pray for a once 
 highly favoured, but now rejected nation. Pray 
 to God, that he would remember his covenant 
 with his friend Abraham, and that he would give 
 an anfwer to the prayer which his own Son of- 
 fered when hanging upon the crofs. Coniider, 
 that God's ancient people often prayed for us 
 Gentiles. Remember, that Jefus according to 
 the flefh was a Jew. It is in the feed of Abra- 
 ham that all the nations- of the earth are to be 
 bleiTed. You have the greateft encouragement 
 
 to 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 91 
 
 to pray for the Jews, for they flail look upon him 
 whom they have pierced. God will yet be as the 
 dew unto Ifrael, and he Jhall grow as the lily, and 
 caft forth his roots as Lebanon. 
 
 Now may the God of Abraham, of Ifaac, and 
 of Jacob ; the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jems Chrift, be with you all : and may we all 
 meet in heaven, to ling the fong of Mofes and 
 of the Lamb. Amen and Amen. 
 
 EXD OF SERMON III, 
 
SERMON 
 
 Cfic JFourtJ. 
 DECISIVE CERTAINTY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DIFFERENCES OF SENTIMENT 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 CHRISTIANS AND JEWS, 
 
 REPRESENTED TO BE ATTAINABLE AND INDISPENSABLE. 
 
 Jeremiah xxxi. 31 — 34. 
 
 Behold the days come $ faith the Lord, that I will 
 make a new covenant with the, houfe of Ifrael, 
 and with the houfe of Judah : not according to 
 the covenant that I made with their fathers hi 
 the day that I took them by the hand, to bring 
 them out of the land of Egypt, (which my co- 
 Q 2 venant 
 
i>6 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 Tenant they brake, although I was an hufband 
 unto them faith the Lord :) hit this Jliall he the 
 covenant that I will make with the houfe of If- 
 rael, Aftet thofe (Jays, faith the Lord, / will- 
 put my law in their inward parts, and write it 
 in their hearts, and will he their God, and they 
 Jhall be my people. And they Jliall teach no more 
 every man his neighbour, and every man his bro- 
 ther, faying, Know the Lord : for they Jliall 
 all know me, from the leafl of them unto the 
 great ejl of them, faith the Lord: for I will for- 
 give their iniquity, and I will remember their fin 
 no more. 
 
 ALL things around us, which are objects of 
 our fenfes, are evidently of a changeable and pe- 
 rifhable nature. The covenant, which Jehovah 
 eftablilhed with the Jewifh nation by the hand 
 of Mofes, might on this account have been ex- 
 pected to wax old, and to give place to one of a 
 ipiritual and incorruptible kind. The taberna- 
 cle, the temple, the holy city, were always lia- 
 ble to decay, and have long fince been de- 
 ftroyed. Mankind are inexcufably thoughtlefs 
 of the frailty of all worldly objects ; but the 
 Lord, in condefcending mercy, enforces the 
 coniideration by means of his revealed Word' 
 after we have been inattentive to the voice of his 
 
 Works- 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 97 
 
 Works. Thus, in the text, a politive afTurance 
 was given to the Jews of old, that the formal and 
 ceremonial inftitutions, enjoined upon them 
 when leaving their Egyptian bondage, were to 
 be abolifhed ; and were to be fucceeded by a df- 
 penfation, which fhould not confift of outward* 
 ordinances, but fhould relate to the thoughts and 
 affections of the mind. 
 
 Such a difpenfation is ChriJHanity. Jefus of 
 Nazareth, its founder, moll beautifully illus- 
 trated; moft folemnly eftablifhed, whatever of a 
 fpiritual; nature was contained in the law of Mo- 
 fes. He profefTed to abrogate only its ceremo- 
 nial inftitutions ; which were no longer neceffary 
 when the way of falvation was clearly made 
 known ; and were no longer practicable, when 
 the knowledge of falvation was extended' to na- 
 tions fcattered over the habitable world. 
 
 The prophecy contained in the text taught 
 the Jews to expect, under the New Covenant, 
 not only fuller inftruction reflecting the nature 
 and the will of Jehovah, but alfo ftronger qtm- 
 f.rmalion reflecting matters of fiich vaft impor- 
 tance. What is obfcure is, corifequently, doubt- 
 ful ; what is clearly explained admits of cer- 
 tainty. We are encouraged to feek for the 
 cle'areft knowledge, and the moft decifive cer- 
 tainty, when the Lord fays, " They fhall teach 
 
 " no 
 
93 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 " no more every man his neighbour, and every 
 " man his brother, faying, Know the Lord : for 
 " they inall all know me, from the leaft of them 
 " unto the ereateft of them. 1 ' 
 
 O 
 
 It is agreed, by Jews and Chriftians, that the 
 chapter from whence the text is taken, is pro- 
 phetical of the Meffiah's kingdom. Commenta- 
 tors, of both thefe claffes, have, notwithstand- 
 ing, differed in their interpretations of fome 
 paHages contained in it. It does not appear to 
 me a difficult undertaking to confute the princi- 
 ples upon which Jewifh writers deny that any 
 part of this prophecy has received its accom- 
 plifhment ; although I fhould readily concede 
 to them that the whole is not at prefent fulfilled. 
 I cannot, however, enter upon a difcuffion of 
 the paffages in queftion, without departing from 
 the fubject afligned for this Sermon. I can only 
 fnggeit one general obfervation upon the pro- 
 phecies of the Old Teftament. They appear to me 
 by no means adapted to imprefs conviction upon 
 the carelefs or the prejudiced, upon the worldly- 
 minded or the impenitent ; although they con- 
 cur with the hiftoncal evidence, the fpiritual ex- 
 cellence, and the experimental effects of the 
 Gofpel, to eftablifh the humble and attentive 
 enquirer in a decifive certainty that Jefus is the 
 thrift. 
 
 How 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. <>!) 
 
 How can you, my brethren of the feed of 
 Abraham, reft fatisfied without decifive certainty 
 on this fubject ? Yet how can you attain to it, 
 otherwife than by a ferious and impartial exami- 
 nation of the whole evidence alledged in fupport 
 of Chriftianity ? Is it enough for you to take up 
 the prophecies, and to ufe every fhift, plaufible 
 or abfurd, to make them bear a fenfe oppoftte to 
 that in which they have been underftood by 
 Chriftians, and even by the mofl ancient and re- 
 fpectable of your own writers ? Will fuch me- 
 thods ever bring yourfelves, as others, to a de- 
 ciflve certainty of judgement? AfTuredly not; 
 even if every expreflion of the prophets cculd be 
 gloried in a manner that would be independent 
 of Chriftianity. You cannot demonftrate that 
 thofe predictions which have not yet been accom- 
 pliihed, will never be fulfilled conflftently with 
 the Gofpel : whilft we can relate to you, in the 
 exprefs terms of prophecy, all the principal 
 events, and many of the minuter circumftances, 
 of the Gofpel hiftory; and can demonftrate the 
 impoffibility that it fhould be untrue. 
 
 That decifive certainty is infinitely deferable to 
 you who are Jews, as well as to us who arc 
 Chriftians, will be manifeft even upon a flight 
 CO federation of the fvbjecls on which we dif- 
 fer. It is true, we agree together on feveral very 
 
 important 
 
100 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 important points of doctrine Recollect the 
 1 iews that have been presented to you of thefe, 
 and of the differences which neverthelefs fubiift 
 between us. You will find that the truths in 
 which we coincide, whilft they afford us common 
 terms of argument, and ample means of decilion, 
 at the fame time render the latter more important 
 and indifpenfable. We all fay there is one true 
 and living God: but if by our different views of 
 Him, any of us debate his nature, and difhonour 
 his darling attribute of holinefs how heinous mutt 
 be the offence, how fatal the error ! We all admit 
 a Divine revelation: but if you reject, as impof- 
 ture, that which has the flrongeft evidence of 
 being divinely revealed ; are you not thereby 
 fealing and aggravating your own condemnation ? 
 And whilft you reject the New Teftament, which 
 is fupported by greater miraculous evidence than 
 the law of Mofes itfelf, you receive, as if of 
 equal authority with the latter, and even as if of 
 ft ill greater importance, your Mifhna and Ge- 
 mara, which have only a mere tradition, of th e 
 moft improbable defcription, to recommend them 
 to your belief. Will not the oracles of God, 
 which were firft committed to you, bear tefti- 
 mony equally againft your unbelief, and your 
 credulity? What if we all acknowledge the Di- 
 vine original of the moral and ceremonial law? 
 
 You 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 101 
 
 You are not convinced of fin by the former ; 
 nor do you improve the latter as your guide to 
 the only effectual atonement for fin. You dif- 
 mifs the fubftance, and grafp the fhadow. Nay, 
 when deprived of this, during your difperfion, 
 you pretend that God difpenfes with all atone- 
 ment whatever for fin ; Jis if the nature of God, 
 or the nature of fin, altered with your condi- 
 tion ! We agree, that Mejfiah was promifed 
 under the Old Teftament ; but we differ even 
 about the effential character of Meffiah, and the 
 grand purpofe for which he was to come. You 
 expect an ambitious Conqueror, who fhall de- 
 luge the earth with blood, in order to aggran- 
 dize your nation, and to glut you with volup- 
 tuous enjoyments. I forbear to mention the 
 egregious abfurdities detailed by your Rabbis on 
 this fubject. We believe him to have come, as 
 God our Saviour, redeeming us from the con- 
 demning fentence of the Law, and eftablifhing, 
 in the hearts of all who receive the truth, 
 a kingdom, which confifts in righteoufnefs, 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 
 
 In matters of infinitely lefs importance than 
 thefe, uncertainty and fufpenfe often overwhelm 
 mankind with diftrefs. The event of a mercan- 
 tile adventure, the rife and fall of flocks, and 
 many other worldly occurrences, at times, I 
 
 R doubt 
 
102 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 doubt not, fill your minds with anxiety. If your 
 hope be only in this life, it can fcarcely be other- 
 wife. All that a man has, however little it may 
 be, is of effential importance to him. But you 
 generally believe, as we do, that there is a life 
 beyond the grave. BlefTed be God ! we have in 
 the Gofpel abundant fatisfaclion on this momen- 
 tous queftion. Far be it from us to depreciate 
 the intimations of immortality contained in the 
 Law and the Prophets. We believe, and we are 
 glad that you alfo, brethren, believe in a future 
 ftate of retribution. But how earneftly mould 
 each of us, Jew or Chriftian, enquire, " Will it 
 " be to me a ftate of happinefs, or a Hate of 
 <e torment ?" This, we apprehend, will be de- 
 termined by the matter of our faith, and the in- 
 fluence of it upon our hearts and lives. The 
 differences, in thefe refpecls, between the Jew 
 and the real Chriftian, are fuch as affect the very 
 foundation of hope for eternity. We firmly be- 
 lieve, that no fin can be pardoned, no foul be 
 faved, but through the atoning blood of Jefus ; 
 whom your fathers crucified, and whom ye per- 
 fift in rejecting. This belief conftrains us to 
 follow you with our warnings and perfuafions, 
 whether from the pulpit or the prefs. Oh, bre- 
 thren, trifle not with eternity ! What fhall it 
 profit you to gain the whole world, and lofe your 
 
 own 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 103 
 
 own fouls ? What madnefs is it, in the fure 
 profpecl: of death, to be eager about things of 
 this life, and indifferent about your condition in 
 eternity ! How miferable would be our prefent 
 ftate if we could not attain to certainty about our 
 Hate in an everlafting world ! 
 
 Suffer me then, my brethren, as one who 
 iincerely and powerfully feels for your prefent 
 peace and eternal welfare, to appeal to your con- 
 fciences, whether, whilft you reject Chriftianity, 
 you are abfolutely certain that it is impoflure, 
 and not truth. I greatly fear, that the chief 
 part of you rejedl it upon no better ground, than 
 that your fathers have done fo. Is this a tell of 
 truth and falfehood worthy to be adopted by 
 reafonable creatures ? Is this a foundation upon 
 which all, or any of mankind, can fafely reft 
 their hope refpecting eternity ? The only mo- 
 dern writer, within my knowledge, who has at- 
 tempted to vindicate Judaifm in this country, 
 properly rejects with difdain, a plea fo weak and 
 idle. " I am not afhamed," fays he, Ci to tell 
 " you, that I am a Jew by choice, and not be- 
 " caufe 1 am born a Jew : far from it ; I am 
 " clearly of opinion, that every perfon endowed 
 " with reafon ought to have a clear idea of the 
 " truth of revelation, and a true ground of his 
 (t faith, as far as human wifdom can go." He 
 R 2 oh- 
 
104 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 obferves it to be the fenfe of your facred Scrip- 
 tures, that you " fhould not do as the Heathen 
 " do, who inherit their religion from father to 
 " fon, without having any true ground for their 
 " faith." Thefe obfervations muft furely re- 
 commend themfelves to every man of common 
 understanding. They demand your practical 
 attention. It cannot be your duty to reject 
 Chriftianity merely becaufe you were born and 
 educated in Judaifm. Nay, it can be no excufe 
 to you for neglecting a ferious and diligent exa- 
 mination of the question between Jews and Chrif- 
 tians. The prejudices of education, and the 
 bias of worldly interest, fhould rather lead you 
 to fufpect yourfelves of partiality in any judge- 
 ment you might hastily form upon fuch a fub- 
 ject. A flight investigation is not likely to pre- 
 vail over the force of habit. Perhaps you have 
 allowed a mere fhadow of argument to confirm 
 your preconceived opinions ; and have hastened 
 to a politive conclufion in their favour, when 
 there was room for fufpenfe, if not ground for 
 an opposite conviction. I would exhort you, 
 therefore, even if you are confident of having 
 acted rightly in rejecting Chriftianity, to review 
 the ground upon which you have decided. The 
 neglect of fuch an investigation maybe fatal to you. 
 The practice of it cannot injure you. The more 
 ftrictly you fearch into the truth, the more 
 
 firmly 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 105 
 
 firmly you will be eflablifhed in it. What we 
 fear to examine thoroughly, we mufl fecretly fuf- 
 pect to be falfe. Yet how unreafonable is it to 
 cherifh delufion in any inflance ; and how much 
 more fo in one of eternal confequence ! 
 
 Perhaps it will be fuggefled that the greater 
 part of people called Chriflians have themfelves 
 no better ground for their profeffion than habit 
 and example. I fear the obfervation is too true. 
 It has, indeed, received, very lately, an awful 
 confirmation. A fcurrilous book, full of impu- 
 dent falfe hood and malignant fophiflry, has been 
 capable of perverting many to avowed Deifm. 
 But what does this tend to prove ? Not that the 
 Law, or the Gofpel, is untrue. Thefe have, in 
 every country of Europe, long flnce been vindi- 
 cated againfl the cavils and quibbles that are 
 now revived. It only proves, that many, who 
 for the fake of fafhion, have called themfelves 
 Chriflians, are no better than baptized Heathens. 
 And fufFer me to obferve, that many, who are 
 called Jews, differ, I fear, from Heathens, in 
 little more than circumcilion. I fear, from 
 what I have heard, that fome of you no 
 more believe in the Pentateuch, than you 
 do in the New Teflament. I hope bet- 
 ter things of others ; and I befeech you, as 
 united with me in the faith of the Law ana 
 
 the 
 
lOfi SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 the Prophets, to be ftedfaft and immoveable 
 in your adherence to Scriptures, which are fo 
 ftrongly fupported by hiftorical proof, and by 
 their internal excellence. Examine thoroughly 
 the foundations of your faith. Receive nothing, 
 as revealed from God, but that which has his 
 image and fuperfcription. And, as you value 
 the favour of God, which is better than life, 
 dare not to reject any thing that is demonftrated, 
 by teftimony of the fame nature, to be, likewife, 
 a divine revelation. It is upon rational con- 
 viction that ferious Christians, believe in the di- 
 vine origin of the Mofa'ic difpenfation. We fee 
 it demonftrated by works which no one but a 
 perfon commiilioned by the Almighty could 
 have performed. We fearch the Bible, and we 
 find that its dictates are holy and gracious ; wor- 
 thy, in their grand tendency, of a Divine Au- 
 thor. But the New Teitament likewife profefTes 
 to be the word of God, and not of man. We ex- 
 amine its pretenlions. We find them valid. No 
 other hiftorical facts are fo ftrongly proved as 
 the miracles wrought by Jefus, in confirmation 
 of his character, as the promifed Meffiah, 
 through whom the new covenant, fpoken of in 
 my text, was to be eftablifhed. The forgivenefs 
 of paft iniquity, through his facrifice and inter- 
 ceffion, as the high prieft of his people ; and the 
 
 infcrip- 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 107 
 
 infcription of God's law upon their hearts, by 
 the power of his fpirit ; are the leading topics of 
 Jefus and his Apoftles, as they were of Mofes 
 and the Prophets. We therefore believe in both 
 thefe difpenfations as divine, becaufe both are 
 recommended by fufficient evidence to demand 
 our acceptance. But you, my brethren, who 
 reject the authentic teftimonies which the New 
 Teftament prefents to you, in doing fo under- 
 mine the foundation of your own faith, and of 
 all credit in divine revelation. Thus inflead of 
 labouring, with ferioufnefs and impartiality, to 
 attain to deciflve certainty on the differences be- 
 tween Jews and Chriftians, you reduce yourfelves 
 to fufpenfe, even refpecting the infpiration of 
 the Prophets. So eager are you to build a bar- 
 rier between yourfelves and Chriftians, that you 
 provide yourfelves with materials for its con- 
 ltruction, by demolifhing the partition wall, 
 which God vouchfafed to erect between you and 
 the Heathen world. What can be the refult„ 
 but an abfolute and dreadful fufpenfe refpecting 
 all revelation \jhatever ? 
 
 Allow me to purfue and illuftrate this argu- 
 ment. God is my witnefs, that my object is to 
 convince you of the truth, and to lead you to 
 the only way of falvation. Indulge me with 
 your impartial and ferious attention. 
 
 We 
 
ics SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 We affert that " Jefus was a teacher fent from 
 " God, becaufe no man could do thofe miracles 
 " that he did, except God were with him." Your 
 ancestors did not fcruple to acknowledge that he 
 performed them, but they attempted to invali- 
 date their divine authority. They who were 
 contemporary with Jefus, attributed them to dia- 
 bolical influence. Since then, your Rabbis have 
 pretended that he wrought them by tiling the 
 myftical name of Jehovah. I apprehend that 
 few, if any of you, at prefent, place much con- 
 fidence in thefe fubterfuges. You fometimes 
 hazard an intimation of fufpicion, as to xhtfafls 
 of the miracles faid to be wrought by Jefus. 
 To this you are, doubtlefs, encouraged by the 
 great diflance of the age in which they were 
 wrought. But you feem to be aware that this 
 advantage, which time alone has given you over 
 your anceftors, is to be employed with caution ; 
 becaufe, if it furnifhed you with any folid ob- 
 jection again!! the miracles of Jefus, it would af- 
 ford one much ftronger to Infidels, againft thofe 
 of Moles, which were wrought in an age by far 
 more remote. Being therefore unable to dif- 
 prove the miracles performed by Jefus, you have 
 no refource in attempting to vindicate your re- 
 jection of his doctrine, but to alTert that Mofes 
 himfelf prohibited your belief of any one who 
 
 fliould 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 109 
 
 fhould endeavour to eftabliih a new difpenfation 
 of the revealed will of God, even though, lie 
 fhould work miracles in proof of his divine au- 
 thority. He faid, iC If there arife among you a 
 " Prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give 
 " thee a fign or a wonder, and the fign or the 
 " wonder come to pafs, whereof he fpake unto 
 " thee, faying, Let us go after other gods, which 
 (t thou haft not known, and let us ferve them : 
 ie thou fhalt not hearken unto the words of that 
 " prophet, or that dreamer of dreams : for the 
 " Lord your God proveth you, to know whe 
 " ther you love the Lord your God with all 
 ", your heart, and with all your foul # ." No- 
 thing was more needful than a caution like this ; 
 nothing more dangerous than the perverfion of 
 it. Mofes had the power of working miracles 
 given to him for the very purpofe of proving 
 that his legation was from God. The degree of 
 power conferred upon him was made equal to 
 every exigency, fuperior to every obftacle. 
 Wherever coin is current, there will be counter- 
 feits. It was to be expected, that crafty and 
 ambitious men would attempt to exalt them- 
 felves in the efteem of the Ifraelites, by pretend-, 
 ing to a fimilar power w;t]i Mofes. Happy 
 
 * Deuteronomy xiii. 1 — 3. 
 
 S would 
 
no . SERMONS TO THE JE IVSi 
 
 would it have been for your fathers, O ye Jews, 
 if they had attended to the admonition I have 
 quoted, on the various occasions, in which, be- 
 fore and after the appearance of Jefus, they 
 were deceived by impoftors, to their ihame and 
 deftruction. But could Mofes mean, that if a 
 perfon fhould arife, who would perform more 
 and greater miracles than he himfelf performed, 
 that perfon fhould, notwithstanding, be re- 
 jected ? Such a charge would totally overturn 
 his own claim to authority from God, which he 
 founded upon the performance of works which 
 no man could do except God were with him. 
 So far was Mofes from giving a charge like this, 
 unworthy, not only of infpiration, but of com- 
 mon fenfe, that in a pafTage of the Law, fubfe- 
 quent to the former, he declares, the Lord 
 faid unto him, " I will raife them up a prophet 
 ic from among their brethren like unto thee, 
 " and will put my words in his mouth, and he 
 " mail fpeak unto them all that I mall com- 
 * : mand him, and it mall come to pafs, that 
 " whomever will not hearken unto my words 
 " that he fhall fpeak in my name, I will require 
 » it of him*." 
 
 * Deut. xviii. 18, lp. 
 
 I have 
 
SERMOftS 7 THE JEIVS. ill 
 
 I have neither opportunity nor occafion, at 
 prefent, to demonftrate to you that this paffage 
 peculiarly refers to Jefus Chrift. If Mofes, in 
 the admonition before granted, had meant that 
 the performance of real and obvious miracles did 
 not furnifli fufficient evidence of a commiflion 
 from God, he mull have fuperfeded the autho- 
 rity of all the fucceffive prophets, as well as of 
 Jefus Chrift ; and the promife, which has juft 
 been cited, muft have become nugatory, or rather 
 pregnant with danger and mifchief. The an- 
 cient Heathens, and the modern favages, have 
 always had a notion of divine infpiration ; but 
 they have conftantly been deluded by crafty 
 perfons, who pretended to be endowed with it ; 
 becaufe they had no certain rule whereby to 
 judge of the claims that were made to this facred 
 endowment. How often^ and how grievouily, 
 has the Jewiih nation itfelf fufferedj through a 
 fatal error On this fubjecl ! The Heathen, at 
 ftrft, forfeited the bleffings of divine revelation 
 •through their fins ; but their flate is furely lefs 
 awful than that of a nation diftinguifhed by the 
 uninterrupted continuance of divine revelation, 
 yet rejecting its advantages, and perverting its 
 deiign, through inexcufable prejudice. I cannot 
 forbear, my Jewifh brethren, from terming your 
 prejudice againft the clear evidence of the Gdf- 
 
 S 2 pel 
 
112 SERMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 pel of Chrift, mexcufabh. If you alledge, that 
 Jefus taught you " to go after other Gods, that 
 i{ you had not known ;" I abfolutely maintain 
 that he did not. He came to manifeft and to do 
 the will of the God of Abraham, of Ifaac, and 
 of Jacob. He loved the Lord, your God ; and 
 him only he ferved, and preached. " What,'' 
 you perhaps will fay, " do you mean, as fom e 
 " have already attempted, to palm Chrifti- 
 ec anity upon us, by pretending that it does not 
 " after t a plurality in the Godhead ?" No, my 
 friends. You have been, and will be addreffed. 
 in thefe Lectures, by Preachers of feveral diife- 
 rent denominations of Chriitians ; yet you will 
 find us all agreeing to afcribe eternal glory to 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But 
 this is perfectly coniiftent with your Sacred 
 Scriptures. You know, that the very word by 
 which they moft commonly defcribe the Al- 
 mighty, is DM^K, a plural noun. You know 
 that it is conftructcd with pronouns, adjectives, 
 and verbs, agreeing with it in the plural num- 
 ber. You know, that when God was about to 
 create our firft parent, he faid, " let us make 
 c - man in our image, after our likenefs : and let 
 « them have dominion, &c." The plurality of 
 the o-odhead is by far more ftrongly intimated in 
 the Old Teftament, than the immortality of the 
 
 foul, 
 
SERMONS TO THE JE1VS. 113 
 
 foul, or the refurrection of the body of man. 
 It was referred for Jefus Chrift to bring thefe 
 and other important truths into the cleareil and 
 flrongeft light ; but the fubftance of all that he 
 taught was the fame from the beginning. There 
 is not therefore even an apparent contradiction 
 between the New Teftament and the Old : but 
 if there was, I do not fee how you could vindi- 
 cate your rejection of one in favour of the other, 
 when the authority of both is alike founded upon 
 miraculous teftimony. Whilft you aim to ex- 
 empt Jehovah from a fuppofed charge of contra- 
 dicting himfelf by his word, you expofe him to 
 the more grievous imputation of contradicting 
 himfelf by his works ; and that in the very arti- 
 cle, by which alone we can tell what is to be re- 
 garded as his Word. So did not your father 
 Abraham. What could be a more palpable con- 
 tradiction than God's command to facrifice his 
 fon Ifaac, contrafted with the promife that God 
 had before given, to eftablifh his covenant with 
 that very fon, and with his feed after him ? A- 
 braham had believed the promife, and it had been 
 imputed to him for righteoufnefs. Was it not 
 then his duty to reject the command, as it ap- 
 peared to be utterly inconfiftent with the pro- 
 mife ? Doubtlefs he would have done fo, if he 
 had acted upon the principle which you affign 
 
 for 
 
114 SERMON'S TO THE JEWS. 
 
 for rejecting the Gofpel. But nothing can be 
 more oppoiite to your conduct than his was. We 
 are not certain by what means he knew, that either 
 the promife, or the command, was from the 
 Lord ; but he miift have had ground for a fa- 
 tisfactory convictidn on the fubject in both in- 
 flances. He therefore acted, as every rational 
 humble believer muft do, in fuch a difficulty. 
 We may juftly expect from God the means of 
 obtaining decilive certainty in diftinguifhing re- 
 vealed truth from diabolical delulion, or human 
 impofture. But we have no right to reject that 
 which comes to us with fufficient evidence that it 
 is revealed from God, merely becaufe our weak 
 perceptions are incapable of feeing how one part 
 of it agrees with another. The fuppofed obfeu- 
 rity of God's Word, in many inftances, arifes 
 from our own prejudices, which lead us to ex- 
 pect, in a divine revelation, fomething con- 
 trary to that which God deligns to im- 
 part by it. This is the flagrant and ruinous 
 error of the Jewifh nation. Whilil your ancef ■ 
 tors eritertained a hope that Jefus would deliver 
 them from the oppreffion of the Romans, they 
 followed him in multitudes, crying, ce Hofan- 
 " nah to the Son of David ! BlefTed is he that 
 " cometh in the name of the Lord !" But when 
 they found that he came to fuffer, not to tri- 
 umph j 
 
SERMONS TO THE JE1VS. 1 u 
 
 umph ; and to fave his people, not from their 
 conquerors, but from their fins ; they followed 
 him no more : nay, they turned their fhouts of 
 applaufe to the cry of Ci Crucify him, crucify 
 " him !" Thus you perlift in rejecting Jefus, 
 not for want of fufhcient evidence that he is the 
 Meiliah, but becaufe his character does not an- 
 fwer to the worldly expectations you ftill fondly 
 cherifh, notwithftanding all that God has done 
 for eighteen centuries paft, to convince you of 
 their vanity. Within that period you have fuf- 
 fered yourfelves to be deluded, more than twenty 
 times, by falfe Meffiahs ; raoft of whom pretended 
 to no other proof of their divine commifiion, 
 than that of fuccefs in war, which they vainly 
 promiled to their followers. Yet, becaufe they 
 cherilhed your favourite lufl of worldly pomp 
 and dominion, you gave credit to pretences that 
 bore the moft flagrant marks of impofition ; and 
 you rejected the lowly and fpiritual Jefus, al- 
 though he had made good his claim to the title of 
 Meffiah by power from above. 
 
 I have enlarged upon this part of the argu- 
 ment, becaufe it appears to me conclufive in de- 
 monftrating the impoflibility that you fhould at- 
 tain to decifive certainty upon the principles that 
 you profefs to adopt. If you believe in Mofes 
 upon rational and folid ground, there }s the fame 
 
 caufe 
 
116 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 caufe for you to believe in Jefus Chrift. If you 
 deny that Jefus fubflantiated his authority as the 
 Meffiah, you remove the foundation upon which 
 alone the prophetical and legiflative offices of 
 Mofes could be eftablifhed. To this alternative 
 you are reduced, not by plaufible theory, but by 
 plain matter of fact. In what ftate, then, is it 
 poffible that your minds mould remain, con- 
 cerning the important matters in difpute be- 
 tween yourfelves and Chriftians ? You cannot 
 demonftrate from hiftorical facts, you cannot 
 argue upon reafonable ground, that Jefus of Na- 
 zareth is not the promifed Meffiah. If you are 
 not convinced of this folemn truth, you cannot 
 but remain infufpenfe refpe cling it. The nature 
 of the evidence, and of the argument, feems to 
 me to preclude a contrary conviction. And to 
 what is your fufpenfe to be afcribed ? Not to a 
 want of means for decifion ; but to an inveterate 
 prejudice, that hardens your hearts, and blinds 
 your eyes, to all kinds and all degrees of evi- 
 dence, without the Meffiah of God fhould adapt 
 himfelf to your temporal interefts and carnal 
 difpoiitions. This unhappy bigotry has already 
 involved your nation in calamities which no 
 other people ever fuffered. The duration of 
 them has already exceeded that of the exiftence 
 of any other nation ; and there is not yet the 
 
 leaft 
 
SERMONS TO TtiE JEWS. 117 
 
 leaft appearance of its drawing toward a clofe. 
 It muft continue, till God takes from you the 
 heart of Hone, and gives you a heart of flefh. 
 But what are the outward miferies you have fuf- 
 fered, or can fuffer, although unparallelled in their 
 feverity and continuancej compared with th c 
 norrors of everlafting damnation, which impends 
 as the infallible cohfequence of rejecting the 
 only atonement God hath provided for the lins 
 of mankind ! 
 
 It is upon this account, that I feel it to be in- 
 finitely defirable, you mould attain to de- 
 cilive certainty refpecting the difference in our 
 fentiments. If you felt, as I do, the need of an 
 effectual atonement for fin ; you would furely 
 not give flumber to your eye-lids till you had 
 clearly afcertained its exiflence, nor even till 
 you had experienced its efficacy. It is true, 
 that our mutual confent to the divine authority 
 of the Mofaic Law lets afide the neceffity of ar- 
 guing with you, that the Lord admits, and re- 
 quires, what we term a vicarious facrifice. The 
 victims, that were flaughtered before the doors 
 of the tabernacle and the temple, were evidently 
 fubftituted in the room of the tinners who pre- 
 fented them. The fentence of death, which had 
 been denounced againfl every perfon who con- 
 firmed not the words of the Law by doing thenr, 
 
 T was 
 
118 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 was transferred from the tranfgreflbr to the fa- 
 crifice he had provided. But was this kind of 
 atonement ever reprefented by Mofes as com- 
 pletely fatisfactory for iin ? It prevailed indeed 
 to refcue the tranfgreflbr from immediate death, 
 and to reftore him to the outward privileges of 
 religion and fociety. But every new offence re- 
 quired a new atonement ; and all could not avail 
 to fhelter from the original curfe denounced in 
 Paradife, as the wages of lin. Temporal death 
 put a clofe to the fubftitution of animal facri- 
 fices. If thoulands of rams had been offered, 
 the finnermuft notwithstanding atlaftpay the for- 
 feit of his own life. The execution of the fen- 
 tence had only been fufpended, and poflponed, 
 by meaner victims. Much lefs could they avail 
 to ward off" eternal judgement. Their efficacy, 
 even as to out-ivard expiation, did not extend to 
 all offences. For murder, adultery, and feveral 
 other iins, no atonement was appointed, nor could 
 be accepted. And can you fuppofe, that the 
 blood of bulls, and of goats, could purify the 
 confcience from the guilt of fpritwl difobedi- 
 ence ? You, perhaps, have been reafoning thus 
 in your hearts ; " I have worfhipped but one 
 " God ; I have fanctified his name, and his 
 M Sabbaths ; I have obeyed and fupported my 
 " parents ; I have neither murdered, nor com- 
 
 " mined 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 119 
 
 " mitted adultery, nor ftolen, nor borne falfe 
 " witnefs." I doubt that I have already gone too 
 far. Which of you can plead guiltlefs of all 
 thefe offences ? And if not, to what altar can 
 you bring your facrifice of atonement ? But 
 fuppofing you could fay, as a rich and noble 
 young man faid to Jefus, whilft on earth, " All 
 " thefe things have I kept ;" I mull ftill anfwer, 
 as he did ; " One thing thou lacked." Remem- 
 ber, and ferioufly confider, that in addition to all 
 the commands I have referred to, the Law has 
 faid, " Thou malt not covet." It has faid, 
 •" Thou malt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 (i heart, and foul, and mind, and ftrength." It 
 has faid, " Thou fhalt not hate thy brother in 
 " thine heart; thou malt in any wife rebuke thy 
 " neighbour, and not fufter fin upon him. Thou 
 " malt not avenge, nor bear any grudge againfl 
 " the children of thy people ; but thou fhalt 
 " love thy neighbour as thyfelf." Thefe, my 
 brethren, are fpiritual commands : they admit- 
 ted of no outward expiation ; and, accordingly 
 none was appointed for them. If a man ftole any 
 thing that was his neighbour's, he was to reftore 
 it feveral fold. But the very difpofition to covet 
 the poffeffion of any thing that was his, was 
 equally forbidden ; and no way of atonement for 
 \hc offence was provided by the Law. And in 
 T 1 which 
 
120 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 which of your hearts dwells a fupreme and un-r 
 bounded love of God ? Read, with ferious at- 
 tention, with humility, and candour, the Pfalms 
 of David. See whether they can be underftood 
 of an outward, a formal, or a lukewarm piety. 
 On the contrary, his language is, " Create in 
 P me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right 
 " fpirit within me ! Can: me not away from thy 
 " prefence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit from 
 <l me ! Reftore unto me the joy of thy Salvation : 
 " and uphold me with thy free fpirit !" 
 
 What do you, my brethren, know of thefe 
 things ? Are you longing and praying for a clean 
 heart, and a right fpirit ? Have you known 
 what the pofTeffion of the Holy Spirit is, and do 
 you above all things dread to lofe it ? Have you 
 experienced what the joy of God's falvation is ? 
 If you have, and are now deftitute of that un- 
 fpeakable bleffing, nothing will fatisfy you but 
 the recovery of its enjoyment. 
 
 My friends, we fpeak to you of that which 
 we know, and of what our hands have handled 
 of the Word of Life. We confent to the Law 
 that it is good. We fubmitto its divine authority. 
 We acknowledge its fpiritual force and excel- 
 lence. Whilft I am endeavouring to convince 
 you of fin, I confefs my f elf a. finner. We "jufti- 
 " fy God when he fpeaks/' we own him to be 
 
 " clear 
 
SERMON'S TO THE JEIVS. 121 
 
 " clear when He judges." We iubfcribe to the 
 general affertion of your facred writings, that 
 ". by the deeds of the Law no flefh fhall be jufti- 
 " fled." We afcribe that honour to the na- 
 tural and moral perfections of God, which ren- 
 ders every offence againft his revealed will a juft 
 occafion of his everlafting difpleafure. Our fins 
 have expofed us to the curfe of his Law, in the 
 life that now is, and in that which is to come. 
 If God deal with us in flncf juftice, when we 
 fhall awake from fleeping in the dufl of the earth, 
 it muft be to fhame and everlafting contempt. 
 But in fo awful and alarming a flate, \ve difcover, 
 by the light of God's Word, a place of refuge. 
 We fee it obfeurcly intimated, at the dawn of 
 revelation, by the woman's promifed offfpring, 
 who fhould bruife the head of the tempter and 
 deflroyer of mankind. We fee it more clearly 
 foretold to Abraham, in whofe feed all the na- 
 tions of the earth fhould be blefled. In the fa- 
 crifices of your Law, we find the profpect 
 opened, of effectual remiffion of fins, through 
 the blood of a more glorious facrifice. In the 
 workings of your Prophets, we read of one, who 
 fhould be " wounded for our tranfgreffions, and 
 " bruited for our iniquities ; on whom was to be 
 " laid the chaftifement of our peace, and by 
 *>' whofe flripes we fhall be healed. We all like 
 " fheep have gone aflray, and have turned every 
 
 " one 
 
K>2 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 " one to his own way; but the Lord hath laid on 
 " him the iniquity of us all." We fee this, literally, 
 and fully accomplifhed, in the hiftory of 
 Jefus. We find it fupported by evidence 
 completely fatisfactory to our minds. We 
 thankfully embrace a falvation fuited to 
 the nature, and to the extent of our fpi ritual 
 wants. We afk in the name of Jefus, as he 
 teaches us to do ; and we obtain what we need. 
 By him we offer up the facrifke of praife to God 
 continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving 
 thanks to his name. We find him daily to be 
 the hearer and anfwerer of prayer. He beftows 
 upon us the ineftimable gift of his Holy Spirit, 
 renewing the fpiritof our minds. Being juitified by 
 faith, we have a fenfe of peace with God through 
 Jefus Chrift our Lord ; and we rejoice in the 
 hope of the glory of God. In the name of thou- 
 fands, and tens of thoufands, who have com- 
 mitted their fouls to Jefus Chrift for falvation, 
 I declare, that we experience the fulfilment of the 
 prophecy in the text : " We know Him to be 
 ki the Lord, from the leaft of us to the greater!, 
 " for he hath forgiven our iniquity, and our fin 
 " he will remember no more." 
 
 Thus we find verified the declaration of Jefus, 
 u If any man will do the will of God, he fhall 
 " know of the doctrine that it is true." " We 
 " have the witnefs of God's Spirit with our fpi- 
 
 " ritsa 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 123 
 
 " rits, that we are born of God." Enjoying this 
 decifive certainty ourfelves, and feeling its inef- 
 timable value, we cannot but exhort you, our 
 Jewifh Brethren, to feek for the fame bleffing. 
 We mourn over you, we plead with you, we 
 pray for you, that you may fee the things that 
 make for your peace, before they are hid from 
 your eyes. We are encouraged from the New 
 Teftament, as well as from the Old, to expect 
 that the veil which has blinded your hearts fhall 
 be removed. Yes, we rejoice, that a period 
 fhall arrive, when all Ifrael will be faved. Your 
 pofterity will all be turned from lin and unbelief, 
 and fhall know the Lord, who will forgive their 
 iniquity. But what will this avail you, if you 
 live and die rejecting Jefus ? No other name 
 is, or will be given, under Heaven, whereby men 
 can have falvation. He that believeth on Him 
 hath everlafting life ; he that believeth not mull 
 be damned. May the Spirit of God caufe fear- 
 fulnefs to furprize you, left you perifh in his 
 wrath ! " JF/io amongft you can abide the de- 
 <c vouring fire ? Who amongft you can dwell 
 " with everlafting burnings ?" Oh, flee, with 
 us, from the wrath to come ; and lay hold for 
 hope on the refuge that has now been fet before 
 you ! 
 
 END OF SERMON IV. 
 
SERMON 
 €&e ififtfj. 
 
 THE 
 
 ARM OF THE LORD; 
 
 O R, 
 
 A SOLEMN CALL 
 
 TO EXAMINE 
 
 THE SCRIPTURES, 
 
 Isaiah li. 9. 
 
 Awake, aivafo, pit on Jlrength, arm of the 
 Lord, awake as in the ancient days, in the gene- 
 rations of old. 
 
 VV E are confcious, that nothing ihort of the 
 arm of the Lord, the divine, fupernatural, and 
 almighty grace, ever did, or ever can, turn the 
 
 U 2 hearts 
 
128 SERMOXS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 hearts of the diibbedient to the wifdom of the 
 juft. We place no confidence in ourfelves, nor 
 fuppofe our wifdom or zeal can accomplifh the 
 conversion and falvation either of Jew or Gen- 
 tile. But we feel the imperious calls of duty, 
 as far as poffible to preach the Gofpel to every 
 creature, and to make all men know what is the 
 height, and length, and depth, and breadth, of 
 that love of Chrift which pafTeth knowledge. 
 We are debtors to all men, and therefore defi- 
 rons to difcharge the awful truft committed to 
 our care, and not to withhold from any, the 
 whole counfel of God : nor dare we make the 
 attempt, without turning firft to that eternal 
 Spirit, who alone can take of the things of Mef- 
 fiah, and ihew them unto you, with i'uch de- 
 monstration and power, as the moft blind, the 
 moft obdurate and prejudiced, may be unable to 
 gainfay or refift. " Awake, awake, put on 
 " ftrength, O arm of the Lord !" 
 
 The people of God have feen this arm made 
 bare, and thefe wonders of Divine Grace dif- 
 played in the ages that are pall ; and is it now 
 fhortened that it cannot fave ? or his ear heavy 
 that he cannot hear ? Often, to my fhame, I 
 own, my fainting fpirit goes forth, trembling, to 
 the work ; and unbelief and iinful fear mingle 
 in. my very addrefies to Him : but neceffity is 
 
 laid 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 129 
 
 laid upon me ; yea, woe is me, if I preach not 
 the Gofpel. Oh! that he who confirmed it from 
 the beginning with the figns following, may be 
 with us in effectual energy, and fuffer none of 
 thefe words to fall to the ground. 
 
 To you then, brethren of the race of Abra- 
 ham, we particularly addrefs ourfelves, defiring 
 to engage your folemn attention to the things 
 written by Mofes and the Prophets, re/pecting 
 the coming and kingdom of the adorable Mef- 
 fiah. We wim to imprefs your confciences, and 
 to have our own more fuitably affected with the 
 wonders revealed in God's Word, that his name 
 may be fanctified, and his authority refpecled. 
 Religion is but an empty name, unlefs a deep 
 fenfe of our refponfibility to Jehovah dwell upon 
 the heart, and univerfally influence the con- 
 duct. 
 
 Art thou a Jew then, and boafteft thyfelf in 
 the Law ? An thou a Chriflian, and under the 
 Law to Chrift ? Haft thou not an immortal foul, 
 like mine ? and fhall we not furely, fpeedily, be 
 called to give an account of ourfelves to the 
 Judge of quick and dead ? Is there not one Law- 
 giver, who is able to fave and to deftroy ? Have 
 we not all one God, and Father ? Mufl not his 
 will be the rule of every creature ? Can we break 
 his Laws with impunity? Mull not every tranf- 
 
 gref 11 on, 
 
130 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 grefiion, and diibbcdience receive its j lift recom- 
 pence and reward ? Hath not the eternal Judge 
 of all, infeparably connected fin and its wages ? 
 and fhall not every one be accurfed, who conti- 
 nued! not in all things, written in the Book of 
 the Law, to do them ? 
 
 Ah ! how infenfible are we to our danger ? 
 how little affected by our tranfgreiiions, though 
 fo great and manifold ? Who trembleth at God's 
 word; or feels how fearful a thing it is to fall 
 into the hands of the living God ? This fenfibi- 
 lity none but the offended Jehovah himfelf can 
 beftow. Awake, Awake, O arm of the Lord, 
 as a fpirit of conviction this moment in every 
 confcience. Then all our falfe confidences will 
 be confounded, our refuges of lies detected, our 
 hard hearts broken, and we fhall feel ourfelves 
 naked and opened before Him, with whom we 
 have to do. 
 
 Brethren, if I am a Chriftian, it is becaufe I 
 believe the Law written and engraven on tables 
 of ftone was glorious ; in its nature holy, and 
 jufl, and good ; and that I am carnal, fold un- 
 der fin. It was a real humbling feeling of this, 
 which made me cry out, " Wretched man that I 
 <c am! who fhall deliver me from the body of this 
 " death?" and in coniequence of helplefs miferv, 
 to turn to the ltrong hold as a prifoner of hope. 
 
 But 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 131 
 
 But am I lingular ? Who can ftand before this 
 holy Lord God ? Have we not all finned, and 
 come fhort of the glory of God ? Have we not 
 all gone aft ray every one in his own way ? Who 
 hath not by thought, word, or deed, tranfgrefled 
 againft the Divine Majefty, a thoufand and a 
 thoufand times ? Who hath not moft juftlv 
 provoked his wrath and indignation againft him ? 
 Can the heart feel a deep and lively fenfe of 
 thefe truths, and not awake out of the ileep of 
 fecurity, crying, Lord, what mult I do to be 
 faved ? 
 
 I cannot here bring forth that Law in all its 
 vaft extent and fpirituality, which may never be 
 broken with impunity. I can only remark, that 
 the man, whether he be Jew or Gentile, who 
 hath received no deep conviction of his guilt and 
 danger, of his ill-defer ving, hell-deferving, tranf- 
 greffions, hath never yet been wounded by the arm 
 of the Lord, and therefore cannot be healed by 
 Him *. And fuch a one muft be as unacquainted 
 with the Law of Mofes, as with the grace and 
 truth, which came by Jefus the Mefliah. 
 
 How a guilty confcience could ever return to 
 hope and peace with God, is uniformly pour- 
 trayed in the Old Teftament, as in the New. 
 
 * Deuteronomy xxxii. 3g. 
 
 The 
 
132 SERMONS TO THE JEIFS. 
 
 The Gofpel was preached to them, even as unto 
 us. All the institutions of the ceremonial Law 
 fpeak aloud the neceflity of fhedding blood in 
 order to obtain remifiion of fin. And when we 
 fee the blood of bulls and of goats, and the afhes 
 of an heifer fprinkling the unclean, conftantly 
 refortsd to by every Ifraelite of old, we are na- 
 turally led to enquire into the reafon of thefe in- 
 ftitutions, and perceive they were defigned to 
 teach us, that peace could only be refloicd to a 
 guilty confcience by atoning blood. 
 
 To whom thefe facrifices pointed ; in whofk 
 they were confummated ; through whom all fpi- 
 ritual blefiings in heavenly things could only be 
 fecured, will be farther considered. " This man 
 " Jhall he our peace*." From him it mull 
 come to whom the text is addreffed ; and who 
 ever believed the report, but thofe to whom the 
 arm of the Lord was revealed -j~ ? Only thofe 
 favingly know the things that make for their 
 everlafting peace, unto whom the Holy Ghoft 
 taking the things of Meffiah, is pleafed to re- 
 veal them ; explaining the import of them to 
 the confcience, and fealing a precious confciouf- 
 nefs of their reality and bleflednefs to the heart ; 
 
 * Micah v. 5. 
 f Ifaiah liii. 1. 
 
 and 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 133 
 
 and thus filling us with joy and peace in be- 
 lieving, becaufe our fins, which are many, are 
 forgiven us, for his Name's fake. " There is no 
 tf peace, faith my God, to the wicked ;" but " let 
 " him return unto the Lord, and he will have 
 i( mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abiai- 
 " datitly pardon *." Without this fenfe of a par- 
 doning God, fealing to the confcience, in his 
 own inftitutiohs, an happy and allured confi- 
 dence of favour* I fee not how any man can find 
 reft unto his foul. He muft otherwife, all his 
 life long, be in bondage, and in death become 
 the prey of tormenting fear. 
 
 To a Jew all pofiibility of peace with God* 
 according to Mofes and the Prophets, appears to 
 have cealed, and to have ceafed for ever. He is 
 cut off from the ability of complying with the 
 Divine inftitutions, ever fince God hath caufed 
 " the daily facrifice and oblation to ceafe^f." There 
 is not now upon earth an individual who can 
 prove his defeent from Aaron, or his right to 
 approach the altar* to fprinkle the blood, or to 
 wave the cenfer. There is not a Jew in the 
 univerfe who can trace his relation to Abraham. 
 His circumcifion is a very equivocal proof, fince 
 
 * Ifaiah lv. 7- 
 f Daniel ix. 27. 
 
 X many 
 
134 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 many other nations practife the fame rite : and 
 even this iign in the flefli to a real Jew, is a 
 conftant memorial, and ought to produce the 
 decpeft conviction, " that he is a debtor to keep 
 " the whole Law *." In his prefent lituation, a 
 Jew, according to his own mewing, is of all 
 men raoft miferable and hopelefs ; cut off from 
 every divinely appointed means to recover, or 
 maintain, favour with Jehovah. 
 
 To evade a ftate fo big with horror and de- 
 fpair, where guilt within gnaws as a never-dying 
 worm, and fearful looking for of judgment, yet 
 more the future dreads, the apoilate ions of If- 
 rael have fought out many inventions. Turning 
 from Moles and the Prophets, where all pro- 
 nounce their condemnation, they have recourfe 
 to pretended oral traditions, delivered down to 
 them from their forefathers. 
 
 I wiih folemnly to warn every man againft the 
 Jewifi fables, and commandments of men, that turn 
 from the truth. Their glaring falfehoods, ab- 
 furdities, and contradictions, whoever examines 
 their Talmuds and Mifhna will difcover. I mall 
 therefore only dwell a moment on the means 
 now generally prefcribed by their Rabbis, as the 
 fubftitute for ordinances, which every Jew is 
 
 * Gal. v. 3. 
 
 con- 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 135 
 
 confcious of his inability to obferve. Thefe are 
 chiefly Prayers, Penances, Fafts, Almfgiving. 
 
 Now admitting thefe things right and proper 
 
 in themfelves, can they fuperfede or fupply the 
 
 lofs of all thefe concomitants, which alone could 
 
 render them an acceptable fervice ? For inftance, 
 
 Prayer, that univerfal duty of every creature ; it 
 
 is impoffible that He, who trieth the heart, and 
 
 fearcheth the reins, mould not require truth in 
 
 the inward parts. Spirituality of devotion is ef- 
 
 fential to every acceptable approach to God. 
 
 They who worfhip him, " muji ivorjhip him in 
 
 " fpirii and in truth.'''' But when I have vifited 
 
 your fynagogues, heard the clamour, obferved 
 
 the careleffnefs, formality, and inattention of the 
 
 worihippers, I confefs I have been ready to fay, 
 
 as the indignant Prophet, si Who hath required 
 
 " this at your hands?" To every man of reafon 
 
 and religion it cannot but be evident, that a 
 
 heart-fearching God can only be infulted, and 
 
 provoked by fuch fervices. 
 
 But even admitting them devout, where is the 
 blood, or the horns of the altar ? Where the 
 incenfe fmoaking before the vail, in virtue of 
 which alone any linner's prayer could ever enter 
 with acceptance into the ears of the Lord of Sa- 
 baoth? Where, in M°fes and the Prophets, 
 are thefe fubftitutions to be found ? The very re- 
 X 2 verfe 
 
136 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 verfe is there revealed, and the curfe awfully 
 denounced againft thofe who prefume to add to, 
 as well as to diminifh from, the things written 
 in the book of the Law *. What can fupply 
 the great day of atonement ? What the morning 
 and evening facrifice ? What all the other di- 
 vinely inftituted ordinances ? The Golden Calf 
 may as foon be admitted a fubftitute for Jeho- 
 vah, as thefe inventions for the f acred appoint- 
 ments of the Law, made thus void through hu- 
 man traditions. 
 
 The fame may be faid of Alms, Fafts, and 
 felf-prefcribed mortifications. Thefe, if fubfti- 
 tuted as a commutation for Mofaical Inftitutions, 
 and as capable of making atonement for fin, fo 
 far from obtaining favour, can only wreathe 
 the milftone of Divine wrath more fearfully 
 round the neck of the deluded finner, making 
 him twofold more the child of hell than he was 
 before. 
 
 Is the cafe then hopelefs ? Is there no balm 
 m Gilead ? Is there no Phyfician there ? Af- 
 furedly there is. " Help is laid on one mighty to 
 ■'five J." To him Mofes and all the Prophets 
 
 * Deuteronomy iv. 2. 
 
 X Pfalm lxxxix. 19. Ifaiah Ixiii. l. 
 
 bear 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 137 
 
 bear witnefs, even to the Lord Median, " the 
 (e hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that 
 " are afar off upon the fea * ;" " So he was their 
 " Saviour \" If I have any hope in God, it is 
 becaufe I believe Mofes and the Prophets. Do 
 ye believe them ? elfe would ye never be per- 
 iuaded " though one rofe from the dead." " A- 
 " wake, awake, O arm of the Lord!" breathe 
 on thefe dry bones, that they may live ! || 
 
 Meffiah then is the only deliverer of his Ifrael 
 from all the miferies of guilt and lin, and from 
 all the fearful confequences thefe have entailed 
 upon the children of men. And he is a Saviour 
 to the uttermoft to all thofe who come to God 
 by him. They who know in whom they have 
 believed, hold fall the blelTed hope of ever- 
 lafting life, and endure feeing him that is invifi- 
 ble ; but out of him every reflection on the paft 
 is confounding, and every profpect of the future 
 terrible. 
 
 That he was the woman's promifed feed from 
 the beginning, in whom all nations of the earth 
 
 * Pfalm lxv. 5. 
 
 f Ifaiah lxiii. 8. 
 
 || Ezekiel xxxvii. A, 5. 
 
 mould 
 
138 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 fhould be blefled, both Jews and Gentiles agree : 
 and that there is lalvation in no other, the whole 
 revelation of God teftifieth. 
 
 Who he is ; 
 
 The nature of his kingdom ; 
 
 Who are the true fubjedts thereof; 
 
 Is he come ? 
 
 By what tokens this may be known. 
 
 Thefe are topics to be farther difcufTed as we 
 proceed to examine the things which are writ- 
 ten in Mofes and the Prophets, and in the book 
 of Pfalms concerning him. To the Law, and to 
 the teftimony we appeal, and he is equally inex- 
 cufable, whether Jew or Chriltian, who has not 
 made the enquiry, ferioufly, diligently, daily ; 
 comparing fpiritual things with fpiritual. To be 
 content with educational prejudices, and to be a 
 Jew or Chriftian, becaufe we are born of fuch, is 
 an ignorance deplorable, and a careleflhefs highly 
 criminal. It is every man's firft duty, wherever 
 the word of falvation is fent, to fear ch the Scrip- 
 tures. He mult trult. neither Chriftian Priefl, nor 
 Jewifh Rabbi, for the mind of God therein re- 
 vealed ; but examine for himfelf, crying ear- 
 neftly to God to open his underftanding, that he 
 may underftand the Scriptures, and fee the 
 
 wondrous 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIFS. 139 
 
 wondrous things of God's Law *. An awakened 
 confcience feeks the Divine Interpreter ~j~, and is 
 careful that his faith may Hand not in the wifdom 
 of men, hut in the power of God. 
 
 And this is equally the duty of the poor as of 
 the rich, and of the unlearned, as of the wife. 
 Nor can I doubt but the one is as capable of dis- 
 cerning the mind of God in the Scriptures, in all 
 matters relative to falvation, as the other, when- 
 ever the Spirit of God awakens his folicitude, 
 and prompts him to the fearch. " They Jh all all 
 " he taught of God" is the promife, "from the 
 " leafi of them, to the great efi of them § :" and " the 
 " way faring men, though fools, fliall not err therein^" 
 The deplorable ftate of ignorance in which the 
 Jews too generally live is much to be lamented, 
 and may be reckoned among the chief obftacles 
 to the communication of hVht and truth amono 
 them. Whilft their prejudices are ftrong in 
 proportion to their ignorance ; they neither know, 
 nor delire to know, the things winch make for 
 their everlafting peace, but, as was prophefied of 
 
 * Pfalm cxix. 18. 
 -j- Job xxxiii. 23, 
 § Jeremiah xxxi. 34. 
 j| Ifaiah xxxv. 8. 
 
 old. 
 
140 SERMONS TO THE J&JVS. 
 
 old, " their foolifli heart is darkened*." O that 
 the arm of the Lord might now put on ftrength, 
 and fay, " Awake thou that fleepefl, and a rife from 
 " the dead, and Meffiah Jh all give thee light /" 
 
 The prophecies relative to the Meffiah will 
 demand our moft ferious and candid enquiries ; 
 but before we enter on thefe, it may be ufeful to 
 remove an objection or two, invented by the 
 Jewifh Rabbis, to divert and deter the minds of 
 their difciples from fearching into the fulfilment 
 of the Prophecies, and which tend directly to 
 render them of no effecl:. A curfe is denounced 
 by them againft every man, who fhall prefume 
 to calculate the time of Meffiah's coming, and to 
 bring forward to view the Prophetic evidence, 
 which hath fpoken fo decifively on the fubjecl. 
 Now we know, that u the Prophets themfelves dili- 
 gently enquired , fear ching what and what manner of 
 time, thefpirit of Meffiah which was in them did 
 " fignify, when it tefiified before hand, the fufferings 
 li of Meffiah, and the glory which fhould follow" 
 Every virion had its appointed time §, and was 
 fure to be fulfilled at its feafon. Thus Daniel 
 
 
 * Ifaiah vi. Q, 10. xxlx. 10. 
 § Habakkuk ii. 3. 
 
 ft 
 
 un- 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 141 
 
 " underjiood by books, the number of the years 
 " whereof the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah 
 u the Prophet, that he would accomplijh feventy 
 t{ years in the defolations of Jerufalem * ;" and that 
 time expiring, he fet his face to feek the Lord 
 by prayer for the accompliihment of his word. 
 The general expectation raifed of the coming of 
 Meffiah at the time when Jefus was born at 
 Bethlehem, fhewed that, according to their view 
 of the Prophecies, the fet time was come. But 
 now that every conliderate Jew cannot but fuf- 
 pect the time is pall, confcious that all the hopes 
 of his nation have been fo long and fo often 
 fruftrated, no one token of Divine favour to 
 them having appeared for fo immenfe a fpace, 
 and the multitude of impoftors whom they have 
 followed all difappointing their expectations, I 
 marvel not that he trembles and defpairs. In- 
 deed all calculable ground of hope feems now 
 vanilhed. Left for feventeen hundred years 
 without prophet, facrifice, temple, or vilion, yet 
 ready to be the dupes of every pretender, who 
 faid " I am he," the heart of every Jew lickens 
 and links into defpondency. Did God ever be- 
 fore fo abandon his people ? Read, and conli- 
 der. But fo it mull be, that the Scripture may 
 
 * D.m. ix. 2. 
 
 Y be 
 
142 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 be fulfilled. He hath given them the fpirit of 
 /lumber ; eyes that they /houhl not fee, and ears 
 that they Jhould not hear unto this day: yet they 
 are, as a people, a living miracle, and monu- 
 ment of all that Mofes and the Prophets have 
 fpoken. Never could the truth of their Scrip- 
 tures and ours be more demonftrably proved. 
 Behold ! a nation fcattered among all nations — 
 finding no reft or fettlement — every where a 
 hilling and proverb of reproach — hating as hated 
 — forming no union with thofe where they re- 
 fide, but preferved as diftinct as the firft day of 
 their difperfion, yea, as if fixed in Paleftine, and 
 furrounded with a wall of adamant — as tenacious 
 of Mofes as ever, without the poflibility of prac- 
 ticing the moft efTential of his precepts, or ob- 
 taining any of the promifed bleflings. Do the 
 annals of time produce any fuch inflance ? " / 
 " will make an end of all nations, but I will -never 
 " make an end of thee *." That they are thus 
 preferved for a purpofe which they will fcarce 
 bear to hear of, though their blefTednefs, pre- 
 fent and eternal, is fo connected therewith, who 
 can doubt, that believes the Scriptures of Truth? 
 When the fulnefs of the Gentiles is come in, then 
 /hall all Ifrael befaved. 
 
 * Jcr. xxx. 11. 
 
 Another 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 143 
 
 Another pretence of the Jews to maintain their 
 own delulion is, that, for their wickednefs, the 
 coming of MeJJiah is delayed. Yet this mould ra- 
 ther haften it, as the purpofe of his coming is 
 to turn away ungodlinefs from Jacob. But have the 
 lins of the latter or prefent generations exceeded 
 thofe of their forefathers ? Are they a more 
 flubborn and faithlefs generation, than when 
 they dwelt in Egypt, and faw all his miracles in 
 the Wildernefs ? What crimes have they com- 
 mitted beyond the Molten Calf in the face 
 of Sinai ? With what abominations have 
 they been polluted beyond all the idols of 
 Canaan, and the hands defiled with the blood 
 of infants facrificed to Molech ? I am per- 
 fuaded, the prefent race of Ifrael, for moral 
 excellence, may well compare with their prede- 
 ceffors. They are certainly far from many of 
 the crimes chargeable upon their forefathers. 
 They abhor Idolatry : nay, their very dread of 
 it, however miftaken their appreheniions, is one 
 of the chief obftacles to their receiving our Mef- 
 fiah, and embracing Christianity. 
 
 But admit the truth of their own reprefenta- 
 tion, that their wickednefs is as great as they 
 fuggeit ; and great, no doubt it is, in the light 
 of Jehovah ; yet did God, for reafons of this 
 nature, ever delay the fulfilment of his prophe- 
 cies and promifes ? During their abode in Egypt* 
 Y 2 un- 
 
144 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 uncircumcifed, and neglecting all their former 
 inftitutions, and, as it feems, falling into the 
 common abominations around them, for the 
 Golden Calf was an awful proof of former habits 
 of Idolatry, did God for this defer their deli- 
 verance ? Did he not bring them out on the 
 very night which had been foretold *, and led 
 them through the Wildernefs as a ilock ? 
 
 In the Wildernefs God /ware in his wrath, that 
 they Jhould not enter into his reft; but no fooner 
 were the men of that generation, Caleb and Jo- 
 fhua excepted, laid in the duft, than their chil- 
 dren, though too like their forefathers, entered 
 into the Land flowing with Milk and Honey. 
 Did God defer his promifes ? Did he not, at 
 the end of forty years, the appointed time, bring 
 them into his reft, and call: out the nations be- 
 fore them ? 
 
 And when, at length, for their iniquities, the 
 Promifed Land vomited them forth, and, ac- 
 cording to the prophetic threatenings, they were 
 delivered into the hands of their enemies, and 
 led away captives into a itrange land, did God 
 exceed the determined period of ieventy years, 
 notwithstanding their Babylcnim tranfgremons ? 
 Did he not, at the precife moment, turn their 
 
 * Exod. xii. 42. 
 
 cap. 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. HI 
 
 captivity as the rivers in the fouth ? Then -were 
 they like unto men that dream. 
 
 Can it be fuppofed, that the Weeks of Daniel 
 fhould have a lefs punctual fulfilment ? Is the 
 word of Haggai faliified * ? Is not the deiire of 
 all nations come into his temple ? Hath not His 
 glory rendered it greater than that of Solomon ? 
 But I advert only to thefe things now curforilv. 
 A fuller, and more precife, conlideration of the 
 word of prophecy and its fulfilment will follow 
 hereafter. 
 
 Never did human evil prevent the current of 
 the Divine goodnefs ; it only rendered his com- 
 paffions ftill more aftonifhing and adorable. 
 Where fin abounded, there did his grace much 
 more abound. God is not a man that he fhould 
 lie, or the fon of man that he fhould repent. 
 With him, however the appearances may change 
 their afpect to us, there is no variablenefs, nor 
 Jliadow of turning. 
 
 Search then the Scriptures, for in them, Jew 
 and Chriftian agree, that they have eternal life. 
 It is not on the inventions of men, rabbinical or 
 papiftical, that we mull depend. .Every one is 
 bound to examine and judge for his own foul. 
 Why hath God given thee the capacity of a man, 
 
 * Chap. ii. 7, S. 
 
 but 
 
145 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 but to prove all things, and hold fajl that which is 
 good? It is furely high time for every defcen- 
 dant of the race of Abraham to fhake himfelf 
 from the duft, to loofe himfelf from the bands of 
 his neck, and arife to the confideration of eternal 
 things, according to the revelation of God. He 
 mufl be without excufe, who negleclsfo great jal- 
 'V at ion. 
 
 You know, 
 
 Your mifery is great. 
 
 A feries of awful providences, through a long 
 train of ages, hath brought your whole nation 
 into lituations as mortifying and afflictive in 
 temporal matters, as in fpirituals you have been 
 defolate. Every where you have been a people 
 fcattered and peeled, oppreffed, plundered, per- 
 fecuted. The bofom of humanity, much more 
 the companionate heart of every real Christian, 
 cannot but feel tenderly for the atrocities in- 
 flicted upon you. We are grieved to reflect, 
 that in the lands profeffing godlinefs, even in 
 our own, fuch cruel and unkind treatment has 
 been fhewn to thofe, who mould have been ob- 
 jects of pity for their own fakes, and of love for 
 their fathers' fakes. 
 
 'our 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 147 
 
 Your fms have he en greater than your ft tfferlngs ; 
 defpifed, infulted, feparated, degraded in the 
 fcale of fociety, the very calamities you have 
 undergone, and the ill-ufage you have re- 
 ceived, have hardened, inftead of humbling, 
 and feem to have rendered thofe defperate in 
 evil, whom kindnefs and compaffion might have 
 won to a better mind. Forgive me, my Jewifh 
 friends, if I fpeak freely to you. I wifli to foften 
 down all prejudices againfl you, and, if I could, 
 to bring man nearer to man 5 in love and in the 
 fpirit of meeknefs. 
 
 But the profpecls of the future are fill more ter- 
 rible than any fufferings, pajl or prefent. To a 
 real Jew, who reads the Scriptures, and ferioufly 
 meditates on them, and looks into a world to 
 come, how dark and difmal is all beyond the 
 grave ? He can have no fure confidence of ac- 
 ceptance with God — He can have no Scriptural 
 hope of the forgivenefs of fin — He is precluded 
 from every divinely inftituted ordinance for ob- 
 taining favour with the Moll High and Mo ft 
 Holy. All to him is doubt and uncertainty, 
 bordering on defpair. Whether MeJJiah is come, 
 of which he cannot, at leaft, if he carefully en- 
 quires, but have many mifgiving apprehenfions: 
 whether he will come, of which the hope deferred 
 
 hat.ii 
 
148 SERMOXS TO THE JEM'S. 
 
 hath funk him fo low ; whilft every revolving 
 clay, and month, and year, leaves him enveloped 
 m deeper darknefs and diftrefs : meantime guilt 
 is preffing upon his confcience, and death has- 
 tening him down to the grave. How ihall I 
 come to appear before God, is a tremendous 
 consideration. 
 
 Be not angry with me, or prejudiced, if I im- 
 portunately crave your attention to thefe things. 
 The refuges of lies, whether of carelefthefs or 
 Infidelity, will all be fwept away in that great 
 day. The rich Jew will feel his wealth as an 
 ephah of lead, heavy upon his foul, to drown it 
 in perdition and deflruction ; and the poor, de- 
 luded with rabbinical dreams, will fee his folly 
 too late to feek redrefs. They who lead, and they 
 who are led blindfold by them, will then disco- 
 ver the lie in their right hands, and link — never 
 to rife up again. Then, as the tree falleth, fo it 
 mnjl Vie. 
 
 I know many among you mock at all terrors 
 of the Lord, and, cafed in the ancient Sadducean 
 fpirit, reject all after death as fabulous, fuppofe 
 the foul as mortal as the body ; and dare to de- 
 ipife the torment denounced as the wages of iin, 
 though intolerable, as eternal. Such I leave to 
 the delulions they have chofen ; but I turn to 
 
 you 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEJFS. 149 
 
 you the young, the riling generation, whofe 
 hearts are yet tender. The aged are commonly 
 grown inveterate in evil and prejudice. You 
 are beginning life. To the word and the tefti- 
 mony. Read Mofes and the Prophets. They 
 are to be found in the native language of every 
 country, and tranfla'ted with great fidelity. We 
 are too jealous of each other to dare pervert the 
 Word of God, where the detection would be fo 
 eafy, and the difgrace of doing it fo great. Few 
 perhaps among you underftand the Hebrew 
 Scriptures. But I can fpeak with confidence of 
 the Englifh tranflation, that whoever reads it at- 
 tentively may become fully acquainted with every 
 truth eflential to the falvation of his foul. 
 
 I apply myfelf particularly to you, the poor, 
 the wretched, the off-fcouring of all things; and, 
 I am not afhamed to fay, that I have more hope 
 of you, than of thofe, who have made to them- 
 felves another golden calf of their riches; or the 
 proud, who fancy themfelves wife, deep en- 
 trenched in all the invention^ of Talmudic tradii 
 tion. To the poor the Gofpel was ever preached 
 with peculiar effect; of luch is the kingdom of 
 God. The wife men of this world, who fay wa 
 fee, know not that their Jin rentameth, ? k nd they 
 who wallow in wealth leek no oilier Canaan, 
 
 Z in- 
 
150 SERMONS TO THE JEJVS. 
 
 infenlible that they are poor and miferable, 
 and deftitute, and blind, and naked ; but you 
 feel wretchednefs, and: need a friend. O that 
 the arm of the almighty Meffiah may be 
 flretched forth this moment for your help, and 
 to pluck you as brands frcm the burning ! 
 
 But I nay not conclude without a word to my 
 Chriftian Brethren, who are prefent, by what- 
 ever motive drawn together. You witnefs our 
 attempts to call the attention of God's ancient 
 people to the consideration of their own Pro- 
 phets : and how can you concur with us in pro- 
 moting the great end we have in view ? I an- 
 fwer, 
 
 Firft, By your prayers, that the Lord God 
 would lake from us and them, all blindnefs, 
 hardnefs of heart, and contempt of his word and 
 commandments. We have prayed too little, and 
 too coldly for the converiion of Ifrael ; elfe we 
 had ihewn them greater tendernefs, and been 
 more anxious to do them good. 
 
 Secondly, By your benevolence. Regard them 
 no longer as enemies, but as branches ready to 
 be givffe'l into their own olive. Be ready to 
 every ac~i of kindnefs, civility, and charity to- 
 wards 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 151 
 
 wards them. Defend them from infult and 
 abufe. Treat them not as aliens, but chenili 
 them, if not as brethren, at leaft as men ; and 
 men once as high in privileges above the nations, 
 as they may now feem degraded below them. 
 Remember, and honour the blood which flows 
 in their veins. They are the near kinfmen, after 
 the flefh, of that Lord Meffiah whom we worfhip. 
 
 But efpecially, 
 
 Thirdly, Let your lives adorn your profejjion of 
 Chr'ifiianlty . The great Humbling block to Jews 
 and Infidels of every fort, is the unchriftian 
 conduct of thofe who blafpheme that holy name 
 whereby they are called. Live therefore as your 
 obligations demand, more dead to the world, 
 more kind and tender-hearted, more liberal, 
 more devoted to every good word and work. 
 This will do more than all, perhaps, we can 
 urge, or argue. A converfation, fuch as be- 
 cometh godlinefs, is a living fermon to man- 
 kind, feen and read of all men. And though 
 nothing but the arm of the Lord can break the 
 heart of ftone, no agent but the Spirit of God 
 convert the foul; yet nothing hath a iironger 
 tendency to allure, to excite enquiry, to pro- 
 cure a favourable hearing, than fuch a demon- 
 
 2 2 itration 
 
152 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 ftration of the purity and bleffednefs of thofe 
 principles, which we wifh to recommend, and 
 by which we ourfelves profefs to be actuated. 
 
 Fourthly, Let your own faith receive confir- 
 mation in the certain coming and kingdom of 
 I Jim, whofe right it is, and who will ihortly 
 take to himfelf his great power, and reign, when 
 the kingdoms of the world fhall become the 
 kingdoms of the Lord and of his Meffiah. An 
 event how ardently delired by every faithful 
 foul ! how worthy to engage our zeal, labour, 
 ftudy, prayer ! And how great will be the 
 bieiiednefs, if we can but contribute in the re- 
 moteft manner, to haften it in our time ? The 
 prophecies mull be fulfilled : not one jot or 
 tittle of the promiies can fail. Who can tell 
 how near, even at the door, the great confum- 
 mation of all things may be ? How trium- 
 phantly would our hearts exult to receive the 
 final anfwer to our long-repeated cry, " Thy 
 €i kingdom come !" 
 
 Fifthly, Have particular regard to thofe, upon 
 whofe heart the vail remains yet untaken away. 
 Second our endeavours. Put into their hands 
 the Sermons we have written for their benefit, 
 
 or 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 153 
 
 or any other tracts, which have a tendency to 
 engage their attention and awaken their con- 
 fciences. Say not, as Cain, " Am I my bro- 
 " ther's keeper V Pafs not by on the other 
 fide, as the Prieft and Levite. Think not to 
 excufe yourfelf, as though it were a matter to 
 which you have no call. By whom fhall Jacob 
 arife from the humiliating Hate into which he is 
 funk down, if no man lends a helping hand ? 
 Confider, and be afhamed, and humbled for 
 your paft inattention, and neglect of thofe, who 
 ought to have engaged your affectionate notice. 
 Have you any zeal for the kingdom of your 
 Divine Mafter ? Endeavour to recommend his 
 eafy yoke to thofe who have hitherto caft it off. 
 Do you believe that God is able to graff them 
 in again ? Slack not then the appointed means. 
 Feel you for their ignorance, guilt, and mifery ? 
 Seek to pluck the brand from the burning. 
 The more obdurate their hearts, and the greater 
 their prejudices, the greater fhould be our zeal 
 and compaffion for them. Would you in the 
 hour of death, and day of judgment, deliver 
 your own fouls, and be free from the blood of 
 all men ? Make at leaft fome effort to feek and 
 to fave that which is loft. You believe their 
 ftate defperate, and their ruin inevitable, and 
 
 will 
 
154 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 
 
 will you move no finger to help ; devote no 
 moment of your time to their fervice ; no far- 
 thing of your fubftance to fpread among them 
 the light of truth, whom you believe perifhing 
 for lack of knowledge ? 
 
 Laftly, Be not difcouraged by any ivant of fuc- 
 ce/s, or even if you receive infult for your good 
 ivill. Many give the matter up in defpair. 
 Is there a Jew upon earth, whofe heart is more 
 deceitful and defperately wicked than yours and 
 mine ? Yet others defpaired not of us, and 
 God blefTed the means to our converfion. But 
 grant we fhould be difappointed, and not an 
 individual of the Jewifh people turned from the 
 evil and error of their ways, yet lhall not the 
 labour be in vain in the Lord. The peace 
 which refts not on them fhall return into our 
 own bofom. We fhall at leaft feel the fatif- 
 faclion of having done our duty. The great 
 Matter will approve our fidelity. Not a word 
 fpoken to them, or communicated from the 
 Prefs, fhall return void ; it muft accomplifh 
 the thing whereunto God fends it, and be a 
 favour of life unto life, or of death unto death. 
 Deliver then, brethren, at leaft, your own fouls, 
 if others, like the deaf adder, ltop their ears, 
 
 and 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 155 
 
 and refufe to hear the voice of the charmer 
 charm he never fo wifely. In the hour of 
 death, and in the day of judgment, you will 
 not regret that you fought the recovery of 
 thofe, whom no man cared for, and longed for 
 the falvation of the meaneft Ifraelite in the 
 bowels of Jefus Chrift, 
 
 END OF SERMON V, 
 
k 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 1 Cannot permit this Difcourfe to mee£ 
 the public eye, without acknowledging that 
 I am indebted for the leading idea of it, and 
 for a considerable part of the proofs and illuf- 
 trations, to Dr. Whitby's Appendix to Chap- 
 ter XL of the Epiftle to the Romans. The 
 learned Reader is refpeclfully referred to that 
 work, as it will prefent him with the autho- 
 rities on which the Doctor's opinion, and, 
 after him, my own, is founded. 
 
 Hoxton, 14 July, 1798. H. H. 
 
 *A a 2 SERMON 
 
SERMON 
 
 THE 
 
 FULNESS OF THE GENTILES 
 
 COEVAL WITH THE 
 
 SAL FA T10N 
 
 OF 
 
 ISRAEL, 
 
 Romans xi. 25—33. 
 
 For I would not, brethren, that ye Jhould be ig- 
 norant of this myfiery, leji ye Jhould be wife in 
 your own conceits, that blindnefs in part is hap- 
 pened to Ifrael, until the fulnefs of the Gentiles 
 be come in. And Jo all Ifraelfhall befaved : as 
 it is written, There Jhall come out of Sion the 
 A a 2 deli- 
 
16a SERMON'S TO THE JEWS, 
 
 liverer, and ftiall turn away ungodlinefs from Ja- 
 cob : For this is my covenant unto them, when I 
 Jliall take away their fins. As concerning the 
 Go/pel, they are enemies for your fakes : hut as~ 
 touch'mg the eleclion, they are beloved for the fa- 
 thers' 1 fakes. For the gifts and calling of God are 
 without repentance. For as ye in times p aft have 
 not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy 
 through their unbelief : Even fo have thefe alfo 
 nozv not believed, that through your mercy they 
 alfo may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded 
 them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy 
 upon all. /he depth of the riches both of the 
 wifdom and knowledge of God ! How unfearchable 
 are his judgments, and his ways pafl finding out? 
 
 Kj F all the families which have peopled the 
 globe, no one has acquired fo much celebrity, 
 through a duration fo extended, and in lituations 
 fo varied, as the family of the patriarch Abra- 
 ham. The illuftrious Founder himfelf began his 
 career at the age of feventy-five years, in a flare 
 of exile from his country, his kindred, and his 
 father's houfe, with a promife from Heaven of a 
 progeny numerous, diftinguifhed, renowned be- 
 yond all example. "He went out, not knowing 
 " whither he went," and, contrary to every ap- 
 pearance of nature, " there fprang even of one, 
 
 "and 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. 161 
 
 " and him as good as dead, fo many as the liars 
 <c of the iky in multitude, and as the fand which 
 " is by the fea-fhore innumerable." This innu- 
 merable offspring has produced a fucceffion of 
 prophets, of patriarchs, of fages, of legiflators, 
 of judges, of princes, of priefts, of apoftles, 
 whofe reputation has filled the whole earth, dur- 
 ing a feries of almoft three thoufand eight hun- 
 dred years. Their hiftory exhibits a nation of 
 the moft lingular charadler, and in every pofTi- 
 ble lingularity of condition, from the extreme of 
 feeblenefs to the plenitude of power ; from fplen- 
 dour and affluence the moft unbounded, down to 
 the loweft ftate of indigence, miferv, and op- 
 preffion ; in all the refpectability of wifdom and 
 goodnefs, and in all the odiouihefs of profligacy 
 and vice. 
 
 The prefent Hate and character of the Jewifh 
 nation prefent a remarkable lingularity in the 
 hiftory of mankind. Driven from a country once 
 their own, they have contrived to penetrate into, 
 and to find a refidence in, every country of the 
 world. Though difperfed, they ftill fubfift. 
 Scattered to the four winds of heaven, they ne- 
 verthelefs maintain a bond of union which ieeros 
 indiffoluble ; they have a language, a religion, a 
 fpirit and manners tranfmitted to them from 
 their anceftors, which clearly demonftrate from 
 
 what 
 
163 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 what ftock they fprung, and which fennbly dif- 
 tinguifh them from every other people on the 
 face of the earth. Excluded from the acquifition 
 of territorial property, they have, through an un- 
 interrupted fucceffion of ages and generations, 
 had the fkill and addrefs fuccefsfully to inter- 
 meddle in the acquifition of every other fpecies 
 of property, and have rendered themfelves one 
 of the mafter-fprings in conducting the com- 
 merce of the globe. 
 
 Whence is all this ? Why have they not, 
 like other conquered nations, infenfibly -melted 
 away, or have gradually incorporated with their 
 conquerors, till they at length loft their name 
 and other characteriftic diftinctions ? How came 
 they to recover from an univerfal captivity of 
 feventy years' duration ? How came they to 
 furvive the deftruction of their capital, the defo- 
 lation of their country, the exterminating fword 
 of Roman armies ? How have they been enabled 
 to preferve exiftence, through a lapfe of eighteen 
 centuries, amidft. the hatred, the execration, the 
 perfecution of all nations among whom they have 
 been difperfed ? I do not hefitate to anfwer ; 
 The whole, and every part, of this marvellous 
 appearance, conftitute an irrefiftible proof of the^ 
 truth and divine authority of the venerable Books, 
 which we receive, and rejoice in 5 as the .ground 
 
 of 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 168 
 
 of our faith, the rule of our conduct, the fource 
 of hope and joy through life and in death. If 
 the people of the Jews have been thus wonder- 
 fully conducted, preferved, diflinguifhed ; if 
 they are ftill kept feparate from the reft of man- 
 kind, and if they prefent diftinctive features of 
 body, of mind, of habit, and behaviour, it is be- 
 caufe eternal Providence entertains purpofes of 
 wifdom, love, and mercy, concerning them which 
 are advancing to their accompliiliment. They 
 are fufpended before the eyes of the nations, an 
 interefting and inftructive monument of the fe- 
 verity and goodnefs of the Moft High. They 
 are referved as the fubject of a difplay of divine 
 perfection more aftonifhing than any which has 
 ever preceded it. They are referved to the glo- 
 rious era, to which the Apoftle refers in the text ; 
 when " the falnefs of the Gentiles fhall come in, 
 e * and all Ifrael fhall be faved ;" when the pro- 
 mifed " Deliverer fhall come out of Sion, and 
 " fhall turn away ungodlinefs from Jacob ;" when 
 God fhall fulfil his " covenant unto them, and 
 " fhall take away their fins." 
 
 The paffage furnifhes fubject of much ufefu! 
 and interefting meditation to both Chriftians and 
 Jews. I fhall take the liberty to fuggeft a few 
 particulars, applicable to them in common, and 
 to each feparately, confining myfelf ftrictly to 
 
 the 
 
164 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 the ideas which the text prefents, and which {land 
 in need of no artificial arrangement or laboured 
 embellishment, to be rendered powerfully im- 
 prefiive. 
 
 First. We have an ufeful caution againSt a 
 fin which doth moft eaSily befet men of all de- 
 fcriptions, felf-conceit, that is, an unreafonable, 
 unfounded, pertinacious adherence to our own 
 opinions, privileges, prejudices. This bane of 
 all harmony among mankind, this bar of all im- 
 provement, infpired the Jews, from the begin- 
 ning, with a difguSl at Christianity, and this it 
 is which Still keeps alive their animofity. Self- 
 conceit fed itfelf with an exclusive covenant, 
 with peculiar privileges, with a fancied fuperiori- 
 ty. Hence their rejection of a difpenfation 
 which propofed an enlargement of the pale of the 
 church, a communication of privilege, an abo- 
 lition of their ritual, and an extension of favour 
 to the whole human race, without distinction, 
 and without refpeel of perfons. Hence their 
 preteniions to freedom, as Abraham's feed, at a 
 period when they were under the moSt abject 
 fubjection to the Roman yoke, and ready to ac- 
 knowledge that they had no king but Caefar. 
 Hence their prefent fullen, obftinate contempt of 
 every conciliatory overture, of every benevolent 
 advance on the part of Chriftians, toward making 
 them fellow partakers of what they deem the 
 
 greateSt 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIFS. 161 
 
 greateft of all bleffings. Hence their resolution 
 neither to hear nor to read, what is kindly in- 
 tended, at leaft, to remove prejudice, and to 
 confer a benefit ; and this from motives the 
 moil pure and difinterefted, love to God, and to 
 the fouls of men. 
 
 But the Apoftle faw it neceffary to addrefs the 
 caution to the Chriftian world alfo, " left," 
 t hrough ignorance of an effential part of the 
 myftery of godliriefs, any of his brethren 
 " fhould be wife in their own conceits ;" and led. 
 to " boaft againft the" amputated " branches," 
 as being more highly favoured, and more excel- 
 lent than they were. " Be not," fays he, " high- 
 " minded, but fear. For if God fpared not the 
 " natural branches, take heed left he fpare not 
 " thee. Behold the goodnefs and feverity of 
 " God : on them which fell, feverity ; but to- 
 t{ wards thee, goodnefs, if thou continue in his 
 " p-oodnefs : otherwife thou alfo fhalt be cut 
 " off." Behold the axe laid to the root of felf- 
 conceit, and every high thought in man levelled 
 with the duft. Even the Chriftian needs to 
 have the leftbns of humility, of felf-diffidence in- 
 culcated upon him ; and to be reminded from 
 day to day, that " he beareth not the root, 
 " but the root him." 
 
 B b Secondly, 
 
1(5(5 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 Secondly. It is of importance to coniider, 
 what is that " myftery," of which Paul would 
 not have his Chriftian brethren to be ignorant. 
 The apoftle's meaning cannot be, that by occa- 
 fion of the unbelief of the Jews, the Gcfpel was 
 preached unto- the Gentiles, and joyfully em- 
 braced by many of them ; for of this he repre- 
 fents the believing Gentiles thus reafoning : 
 " Thou wilt fay then, the branches were broken 
 " off, that I might be grafted, in." This, there- 
 fore, could not be to them a myftery. Neither 
 could he mean to fay that this was done in mercy 
 to the Jews, to the end that, beholding the Gen- 
 tiles cleaving to the Chriftian faith, they might 
 at length, from a fpirit of emulation, be pro- 
 voked to do fo likewife : for of this he had fpo- 
 ken before, oftener than once, quoting a pre- 
 diction of Mofes to that effect ; " I will provoke 
 " you to jealoufy by them that are no people, 
 " and by a foolifh nation I will anger you," and, 
 in the 11th verfe of this chapter; "Through 
 " their fall, falvation is come unto the Gentiles, 
 H for to provoke them to jealoufy." The myftery, 
 therefore, which he wifhes to difclofe to the per- 
 ception, and to imprefs- upon the heart, of every 
 Gentile convert to Chriftianity, is this, That 
 when the period fhould arrive for " the fulnefs 
 " of the Gentiles to come in ;" when the con- 
 
 verftoa 
 
SERMON'S TO THE JEJVS. l&? 
 
 verfion of the yet unchriitianized parts of the 
 Heathen world fhould be acc'ompliihed, then 
 alfo the M blindnefs^ of the Jews fhould be re- 
 moved, and f* all Ifrael faved ;" and that then, 
 according to another prophecy, " all nations 
 " fhall flow in unto them," and the happy 
 junction of the whole " be as life from the 
 " dead." 
 
 Thirdly. The Apoftle is here, then, leading our 
 attention to two co-eval and concurring events, of 
 high importance, and which were to exert a migh- 
 ty influence on the production of each other : 
 fi the coming in of the fulnefs of the Gentiles," 
 and " the falvation of all Ifrael." Now it is evi- 
 dent that, at the time when this epiftle was writ- 
 ten, (A. D. 57,) thefe events were ftill future, 
 and that they are fo up to this day. Some in- 
 deed have referred and reftricled them, to the 
 partial converfion of the Jewilli nation which 
 had already taken place, and might ftill be go- 
 ing on, through the preaching of the apoftles ; 
 and to the equally partial progrefs of the Gofpel 
 through Heathen-countries. But this fenfe is 
 clearly contradicted by the exprefs words of St. 
 Paul, who declares that there fhall be a much 
 more remarkable and more glorious conversion 
 of the Gentiles than that which was occafioned 
 by the " fall" of the Jews ; that their " ful- 
 B b 2 " nefs" 
 
168 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 " nefs" mould be much more the iC riches of 
 " the Gentiles" than " their diminishing" had 
 been ; " for," fays he, " if the cafting away 
 " of them be the reconciling of the world ; 
 <( what fhall the receiving of them be, but life 
 ** from the dead ?" Let it therefore be remarked, 
 that there is a two-fold " fulnefs of the Gen- 
 u tiles" indicated in Scripture, but which have 
 an intimate relation to each other : the one al- 
 ready paft, the other yet to come. 
 
 Firfl. " The fulnefs" already paft is that 
 mentioned in verfe 12th, in thefe terms, " if the 
 " diminution of them was the fulnefs, or riches, 
 i( of the Gentiles :" and this fulnefs confifted in 
 the preaching of the Gofpel to all nations, and in 
 communicating to them the bleffmgs of falvation 
 through Jefus Chrift. Now this was to be effect- 
 ed, to a very considerable extent, previoufly to 
 the deftruftion of Jerufalem, and the difTolution 
 of the Jewiih economy; and it actually was fo, in 
 conformity to a well-known prediction of our 
 blefTed Lord : " The Gofpel of the Kingdom 
 " fhall be preached in all the world, for a witnefs 
 fe to all nations, and then mall the end come ;" 
 referring, as is evident from the context, to the 
 final annihilation of the Jewifh ftate. But, 
 
 Secondly. There is laid up in the bofom of fu- 
 turity a ftill more glorious s< fulnefs of the Gen- 
 
 " tiles." 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIFS. 169 
 
 *' tiles," in the univerfal extenfion of the Redeem- 
 er's kingdom, over thofe nations which have not 
 hitherto heard and embraced the Gofpei, or 
 which may have relapfed into a ftate of Ilea- 
 thenifm or Mahometanifm. This is to be 
 brought about, through the goodnefs of God, 
 when the rejection of the Jews mail terminate, 
 and God fhall accomplifh the prediction here 
 quoted by the Apoftle from Ifaiah, in fending 
 " the Deliverer out of Zion, to turn away un- 
 " godlinefs from Jacob." In this fenfe alone 
 can we underftand the expreffions in verfe 12, 
 already quoted : " If the fall of them," the Jews, 
 (( be" already, to a certain degree, " the riches 
 " of the" Gentile " world, and the diminiihingof 
 " them the riches of the Gentiles, how much 
 " more" fhall " their fulnefs," that is, their re- 
 storation to the. divine favour, their converfion 
 to Chriftianitv, contribute to the increafe and 
 fulnefs of the nations of the earth ? The fame 
 thought is repeated in different words, verfe 15, 
 " If the calling away of them be the reconciling 
 " of the world, what fhall the receiving of them 
 *' be," to that fame world, " but life from the 
 Si dead ?" The idea again occurs in the words 
 of the text : " Blindnefs in part is happened to 
 -" Ifrael, until the fulnefs of the Gentiles be 
 " come in," Now it is evident that this " blind- 
 
 " nefs" 
 
170 SERMONS TO THE JEJfS. 
 
 *' nefs" continues as deplorably prevalent as 
 ever ; another, and more abundant fulnefs of the 
 Gentiles is, therefore, yet to be expected, at a 
 period when the " blindnefs" of the Jews mall 
 be removed, and "^//Ifrael fhall be faved." 
 
 Again, The paft and prefcnt ftate of the 
 Jewifh nation is an irrefiftible confirmation of 
 the truth of our blefTed Lord's prediction, Luke 
 xxi. 24. "They fhall fall by the edge of the 
 u fword, and fhall be led away captive into all 
 u nations : and Jerufalem fhall be trodden down 
 u of the Gentiles," How long ? " until the times 
 " of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Here we are 
 farther referred to a future day of light and glo- 
 ry to arife upon the Gentile world. Jerufalem is 
 Hill trodden down of the Gentiles ; the Jews are 
 ftill led away captive into all nations ; they are 
 ftill in a ftate of difperfion and depreflion. But 
 this captivity is to ceafe ; from this difperfion 
 the Jews are to be gathered ; from this treading 
 down Jerufalem is to be delivered, when the 
 times of the Gentiles are fulfilled ; the times 
 when there fhall be a plenary converfion of the 
 nations to the Redeemer, on the coming in of 
 the Jews ; when that depreiTed people fhall be 
 raifed up again, and the nations " fhall flow in 
 if unto them." — " We fee not yet all things put 
 " under Meffiah the Prince/' for, 
 
 There 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 171 
 
 «. " - 
 
 There are a multitude of ancient prophecies 
 refpecting the world at large, and the exteniion 
 of the Mediator's dominion over it, which have 
 not yet been fulfilled. It is written, Pfalm ii. 8. 
 *' I mall give thee the Heathen for thine inheri- 
 *f tance, and the uttermoft parts of the earth for 
 " thy poiTeffion." It is written, Daniel vii. 27- 
 " The greatnefs of the kingdom under the whole 
 " heaven, mall be given to the people of the 
 t( faints of the Moll High, whofe kingdom is an 
 " everlafnng kingdom, and all dominions fhdl 
 " ferve and obey him." The fame Daniel fpeaks 
 of a power which mould " break in pieces, and 
 il confume" all other kingdoms, and " fill the 
 '* whole earth." Micah foretells an era when 
 " the majefty of the name of the Lord God 
 * c mould abide, and be great unto the. ends of 
 *' the earth ;" and Zechariah points cut a day 
 when the Lord mould be in a peculiar fenfe, 
 *' king over all the earth : in that day mall 
 " there be one Lord, and his name One." Da- 
 vid, himfelf a great king, contemplates with a 
 prophetic eye, One who mould " have dominion 
 " from fea to fea, and from the river unto the 
 " ends of the earth ; all kings," fays he, " IhaH 
 " fall down before him ; all nations fhall ferve 
 *' him." Thefe, and many other prediction^ 
 tefpecling the reign of the promifed Mefiiah, 
 
172 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS.. 
 
 undoubtedly have not hitherto been accomplifhed 
 to their full extent. Melancholy and mortifying 
 calculations have been made to fhew the limited 
 progrefs and extension of Chriftianity. The human 
 race has been, by fome, divided into thirty parts, 
 of which five only, they allege, are profeffed 
 Chriftians ; fix are Mahometans, and no lefs 
 than nineteen are Idolaters. If this be any thing 
 like the truth, O how far is " the fulnefs of the 
 ce Gentiles" from being come in ; and, confe- 
 quently, how remote is the falvation of all If* 
 rael ! Whoever, therefore, believes the Scrip- 
 tures, muft be looking forward to a period, prior 
 to the grand confummation of all things, when 
 Jefus mall difplay his mighty power in the illu- 
 mination and converfion of every nation under 
 heaven ; when he fhall ride forth glorioufly con- 
 quering and to conquer, fubduing the people un- 
 der him ; turning his enemies into his friends, 
 and making " all nations, tongues, and Ian* 
 " 2;uaees to ferve him.'* 
 
 The Scripture not being yet fulfilled in re- 
 fpect of the promifed " fulnefs of the Gentiles," 
 fo neither have the things fpoken concerning the 
 " glory of Ifrael" hitherto found their accom- 
 plilhment. Neverthelefs " the foundation of 
 " God ilandeth fure ;" his " covenant of peace 
 " cannot be removed ;" he will at length reftore 
 
 that 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 173 
 
 that degraded people, and " take away" the pu- 
 nishment of '" their iins." " Their minds were," 
 and ftill are " blinded ; until this day remaineth- 
 " the vail untaken away, in the reading of the 
 " Old Teitament ; which vail is done away in 
 " Chrift ; but even unto this day, when Mofes 
 " is read, the vail is upon their heart. Never- 
 " thelefs, when it fhall turn to the Lord, the 
 " vail ihall be taken away." Is it poffible to be- 
 lieve that the great and precious promifes of fa- 
 vour to the posterity of Abraham ft the friend of 
 " God" are already exhaufted ? Is it poilible to 
 reftricl the meaning of the fublime predictions 
 relative to the children of Ifrael, to the partial 
 and tranfient polTeffion of a mere earthly inheri- 
 tance ? Oh no ; they look far beyond a land 
 " flowing with milk and honey ;" they confer 
 privileges much more glorious than a covenant 
 of circumciiion could beflow ; they point to 
 " a kingdom which cannot be moved." I pro- 
 duce a few, from a great number which might 
 be adduced, and which will readily occur to 
 every ferious and attentive reader of Moles and 
 the Prophets. " As I have fworn," fays God, 
 by the mouth of the Prophet Ifaiah, " that the 
 " waters of Noah fhould no more go over the 
 " the earth : fo have I fworn that I would not 
 " be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For 
 C c « the 
 
174 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 " the mountains mall depart, and the hills be 
 " removed : but my kindnefs mail not depart 
 " from thee, neither fhall the covenant of my 
 " peace be removed, faith the Lord, that hath 
 " mercy on thee." Ifaiah liv. 0, 10. H And the 
 " Redeemer mall come to Zion, and unto them 
 " that turn from tranfgreflion in Jacob, faith the 
 Sl Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with 
 " them, faith the Lord ; My Spirit that is upon 
 w thee, and my words which I have put in thy 
 "mouth, fhall not depart out of thy mouth, 
 <e nor out of the mouth of thy feed, nor 
 u out of the mouth of thy feed's feed, faith the 
 " Lord, from henceforth and for ever." Ifaiah 
 lix. '20, 21. u I will make thee an eternal ex- 
 " cellency, a joy of many generations. — Violence 
 " mall no more be heard in thy land, wafting 
 " nor deftruftion within thy borders ; but thou 
 '' fhalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates 
 " Praife. The fun mail be no more thy light 
 " by day : neither for brightnefs fhall the moon 
 11 give light unto thee ; but the Lord fhall be 
 " unto thee an everlafting light, and thy God 
 " thy glory. Thy fun iliall no more go down ; 
 li neither iliall thy moon withdraw itfelf : for the 
 " Lord iliall be thine everlafting light, and the 
 i( days of thy mourning fhall be ended. Thy 
 " people alio mail be all righteous : they iliall 
 '« inherit the land for ever, the branch of my 
 
 " plant- 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 1 75 
 
 " planting, the work, of my hands, that I may 
 r ' oe glorified." Ifaiah lx. 15, IS, 19, 20, 21. 
 "They mail build the old waftes, they mail 
 " raiie up the former defolations, and they fhall 
 " repair the wafte cities, the defolations of many 
 " generations. And ft angers fhall ftand and 
 " feed your flocks, and the fons of the alien 
 " fhall be your plowmen and your vine-drefters. 
 " But ye fhall be named the Priefts of the Lord: 
 " men fhall call you the minifters of our God : 
 M ye mall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in 
 ,ii their glory fhall ye boaft yourfelves. For your 
 " fhame ye fhall have double : and for confufion 
 " they fhall rejoice in their portion : therefore 
 " in their land they fhall poffefs the double : 
 " everlafting joy fhall be unto them." Ifaiah lxi. 
 4, 5, 6, 7- " For Zion's fake will I not hold my 
 u peace, and for Jerufalem's fake I will not reft, 
 f* until the righteoufnefs thereof go forth as 
 (t brightnefs, and the falvation thereof as a lamp 
 u that burnetii. And the Gentiles fhall fee thy 
 (C righteoufnefs, and all kings thy glory : and 
 (S thou fhalt be called by a new name, which 
 ie the mouth of the Lord fhall name. Thou malt 
 " alfo be a crown of glory in the hand of the 
 " Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy 
 u God. Thou fhalt no more be termed For- 
 " faken ; neither fhall thy land any more be 
 C c 2 • " termed 
 
176 SERMON'S TO THE JEWS. 
 
 " termed Deiblate ; but thou lhalt be called Heph- 
 (< zi-bah, and thy land Beulah ; for the Lord de- 
 u lighteth in thee, and thy land fhall be mar- 
 " ried. I have fet watchmen upon thy walls, O 
 " Jerufalem, which fhall never hold their peace 
 Ci day nor night : ye that make mention of the 
 " Lord, keep not filence, and give him no reft, 
 il till he eftablifh, and till he make Jerufalem 
 " a praife in the earth. And they fhall call 
 " them, The holy people, the redeemed of the 
 " Lord : and thou fhalt be called, Sought out, 
 " A city not forfaken." Ifaiah lxii. l, 2, 3, 4, (3, 
 7, 12. " I will rejoice in Jerufalem, and joy in 
 " my people : and the voice of *veeping mail no 
 st more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying." 
 Ifaiah lxv. 10. " As the new heavens and the 
 ,( new earth, which I will make, mall remain 
 " before me, faith the Lord, fo fhall your ieed 
 f( and your name remain." Ifaiah lxvi. 22. " They 
 <•' fhall be my people, and I will be their God : 
 " And I will give them one heart and one war, 
 li that they may fear me for ever, for the good 
 " of them and of their children after them : And 
 " I will make an everlafting covenant with them, 
 " that I will not turn away from them to do them 
 <c good : but I will put my fear in their hearts, 
 iC that they fhall not depart from me." Jer. xxxii- 
 38, 30, 40. (t They mall no more be a prey 
 
 " to 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 177 
 
 " to the heathen, neither mall the beafl of the 
 tc land devour them ; but they fhall dwell fafely, 
 " and none iliall make them afraid. And I wili 
 " raife up for them a plant of renown, and they 
 " mall be no more confumed with hunger in the 
 IC land, neither bear the fhame of the heathen 
 " any more. Thus mall they know that I the 
 " Lord their God am with them, and that they, 
 <c even the houfe of Ifrael, are my people, faith 
 " the Lord God." Ezekiel xxxiv. 28, 2Q, no. 
 " And they fhall dwell in the land that I have 
 " given unto Jacob my fervant, wherein your 
 M fathers have dwelt ; and they mall dwell there - 
 " in, even they and their children, and their 
 " children's children for ever : and my fervant 
 " David iliall be their prince for ever. IMore- 
 " over, I will make a covenant of peace with 
 " them ; it fhall be an everlafting covenant with 
 <c them : and I will place them, and multiply 
 " them, and will fet my fanftuary in the midit 
 (C of them for evermore. My tabernacle alfo 
 " fhall be with them : yea, I will be their God, 
 " and they mall be my people. And the hea- 
 <: then fhall know that I the Lord do fanclify 
 " Ifrael, when my fancluary fhall be in the mid it 
 * c of them for evermore." Ezek. xxxvii. 25, 26, 
 2/, 28. <' Thus faith the Lord God ; Now will 
 " I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have 
 
 iC mercy 
 
17S SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 li mercy upon the whole houle of Ifrael, and 
 
 u . will be jealous for my holy name ; after that 
 <f they have borne their fhame, and all their 
 '•' trefpaffes whereby they have trefpi/ed againfl 
 te me, when they dwelt faleiy in their land, and 
 ff none made them afraid. When I have brought 
 <c them again from the people, and gathered 
 *< them out of their enemies' lands, and am fanc- 
 " titled in them in the light of many nations ; 
 " then fhall they know that I am the Lord their 
 " God, which caufed them to be led into capti- 
 J* vity among the heathen : but I have gathered 
 " them unto their own land, and have left none 
 " of them any more there. Neither will I hide 
 <l my face any more from them : for 1 have 
 " poured out my fpirit upon the houfe of Ifrael, 
 " faith the Lord God." Ezekiel kkxix. 25, 20J 
 2/, 28, 29. " I will bring again the captivity 
 " of my people of Ifrael, and they ihall build 
 *' the wafte cities, and inhabit them ; and they 
 " fhall plant vineyards, and drink the wine 
 " thereof; they lliall alio make gardens, and 
 " eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them 
 " upon their land, and they ihall no more be 
 *' pulled up out of their land which I have 
 " given them, faith the Lord thy God." Amos 
 ix. 14* 15. 
 
 It 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 179 
 
 It is abundantly evident that the greateft part 
 of thefe, and of many fi mil ar predictions, can- 
 not poifibly have had their accomplifhment in 
 the return from the Babylonifh captivity, nor in 
 the tranfient gleams of Jewifh profperity and im- 
 portance which have fucceeded it, down to the 
 deftruclion of the fecond temple ; much lefs in 
 any events which have taken place fince that pe- 
 riod, down to the prefent day. For, during that 
 long fucceffion of ages, God's " kindnefs hath 
 " departed" from that people, and his " cove-- 
 " nant of peace hath been removed :" — " Vio- 
 " lence hath been heard in their land, wafting 
 " and deftruction within their borders." The 
 judgments threatened have fallen heavily upon 
 them. Their " land" hath been made ee defo- 
 " late ;" the " days of mourning," of " wrath," 
 of " weeping," have been meafured out unto 
 them ; the prediction of our Lord hath been 
 awfully fulfilled, and is fulfilling ; their " fun 
 " has been darkened," and their " moon hath 
 " withdrawn her light ;" their " tabernacle and 
 " fandtuary have been confirmed ;" they have 
 become " a prey to the heathen ;" they have, 
 for almofi: eighteen centuries, ceafed to be 
 " unto God a people, and He to be their God." 
 And have all thefe brilliant promifes no mean- 
 ing ? Are all thefe bright profpects merely an 
 
 illulion : 
 
180 SERMOKS TO TIIL SETTS. 
 
 ilhifion ? Can we confine their meaning and 
 defign to the inconsiderable remnant who be- 
 lieved in the Apoftolic age ? Can it be called 
 the rt houfe of Ifrael," the Ci whole houfe of If- 
 " rael ?" When have they been u gathered out 
 C( of all lands," and made to ** inherit the land 
 " for ever ?" No, no. Thefe are the " glories 
 " of the latter days ;" the " time to favour Zion, 
 iC yea, the fet time," is ft ill to come. tc When 
 " the Lord fhall build up Zion, he fhall appear 
 " in his glory." 
 
 But the predictions we have quoted, it has 
 been alleged, refer not to Ifrael, properly lb 
 called, but to the fpiritual Ifrael of God, to the 
 flourilhing ftate of the Gentile church, under 
 the reign of God Redeemer. Some of them 
 perhaps may ; but there are others which can 
 be applied only to literal Ifrael, the pofterity of 
 Abraham, Ifiiac, and Jacob. With what pro- 
 priety of fpeech could it be faid of believing 
 Gentiles, that they mould become u a prey to 
 " the heathen" or " bear their fhame ?" Could 
 they be the people whom God was to " lead into 
 " captivity," and afterwards "gather them into 
 <c their own land," and there " plant them," ib 
 as " never to be plucked up" again ? In what 
 fenfe could Gentile converts be faid to " fuck the 
 " breafts, and eat the riches of the Gentiles :" 
 
 The 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEW'S. 181 
 
 The whole tide of prophecy is flowing toward a 
 fulnefs of time, when Ifrael mall be difplayed in 
 a glory unknown before ; when, received into 
 the pale of the Chriftian church, they mail form, 
 together with the Gentile nations, one great 
 fheep-fold, under the guardian care of the chief 
 Shepherd. In this mutual influx mail the Scrip- 
 tures be fulfilled ; " the nations mail flow in 
 " unto them," and (< walk in their light ;" their 
 ** fulnefs" mail be ec the riches of the Gentiles," 
 and " as life from the dead" to them : then " na- 
 <c tions which knew them not mail run unto 
 <c them becaufe of the Lord their God, and for 
 **. the Holy One of Ifrael, who hath glorified 
 6i them :" — cc The Lord God, which gathereth 
 Cl the outcafts of Ifrael, faith, yet will I gather 
 e " others to him, befides thofe that are gathered 
 " unto him :" — « It mall come, that I will ga- 
 " ther all nations and tongues, and thev mall 
 " come and fee my glory:" — "Behold, I will 
 Ci extend peace to her like a river, and the 
 ce glory of the Gentiles like a flowing ftream :'* 
 — Then " the Gentiles mail come to their light, 
 " and kings to the brightnefs of their riling :" 
 f For the earth fhall be filled with the know- 
 " ledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
 " fea." 
 
 D d Fourthly. 
 
182 SERMONS TO THE JEIVS.. 
 
 Fourthly. The prefent ftate of the whole 
 human race prefents an infathomable " depth of 
 (t the riches both of the wifdom and knowledge 
 " of God ;'' of "judgments unfearchable," and 
 of " ways paft finding out." — " God hath con- 
 " eluded them all in unbelief, that he might 
 '• have mercy upon all." Of the lixth part of 
 the inhabitants of the globe, who profefs Chrif- 
 tianity, what an awful proportion is fhut up, 
 with the reft, in unbelief. They have " a 
 ie name to live, but are dead ; — having a form 
 ic of godlinefs, but denying the power thereof." 
 When we confider the partial diffufion of nomi- 
 nal Chriftianity, and fubtracl thence the count- 
 lefs myriads who poffefs nothing of Chrift but 
 the name, and a few barren ceremonies, how 
 fmall will be the amount of real Chriftians ; of 
 thofe who have " the fame mind which was alfo 
 <c in Chrift Jefus," and who are " walking as he 
 (< alfo walked ?" When the comparifon is fairly 
 ftated between ourfelves and unbelieving Jews, 
 the Apoftle's queftion and anfwer will recur : 
 " What then ? are we better than they ? No, in 
 <c ' no wife : for we have proved both Jews and 
 " Gentiles, that they are all under fin." Me- 
 lancholy view of this miferable world ! A mafs 
 of corruption preferved from total diffolution by 
 a little portion of fait ! The judgment due to 
 
 t an 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 163 
 
 an ungodly race fufpended for the fake of a few 
 righteous perfons ! The whole referred for a 
 farther and more glorious difplay of divine per- 
 fection ! " God hath concluded them all in 
 " unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." 
 This is the myftery which Paul contemplates 
 with rapture t light fpringing up out of darknefs ; 
 mercy rejoicing over judgment ; the wrath of 
 man praiiing God ; the work of Redemption 
 haflening to its confummation as the work of 
 creation was confummated. Then the Redeemer 
 K mall fee of the travail of his fouh and inall be 
 " fatisfled :" and Deity fhall furvey the execu- 
 tion of the whole plan of his Providence, and 
 pronounce all to be " very good." 
 
 If the above ftatement be well founded;, it will 
 follow, that the attempts which have been, of 
 late, made for the converiion of the Jews, both 
 by preaching and writing, are premature. The 
 Chrilrian world, even the Britifh part of it, is 
 far, very far from a Hate of preparation to meet 
 the promifed, the expected era. We fee indeed 
 enough of that « blindnefs which is happened to 
 " Ifrael," but What " fulnefs of the Gentiles is 
 (i come in," to promife the approaching removal 
 of the " blindnefs ?" Laudable efforts have 
 been made, it is admitted, may Pleaven crown 
 them with fucceis, to difFufe the light pf the 
 D d 2 Gof- 
 
1S4 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 Gofpel over heathen lands. But even thefe are 
 ffcill in a flute of infancy, and the iffue is altoge- 
 ther uncertain. At the belt, time, much time 
 is requifite to produce even the firft fruits of the 
 wicked — for harveft ; for we prefume not to ex- 
 pect a miraculous interpofirion. It is refpecta- 
 ble, however, even to fail in an honourable en- 
 terprize ; but if this caufe be of God it will 
 proiper, and nothing in reafon, in fcripture, in 
 providence, difcourages the attempt. I cannot 
 fay fo much for that which has the illumination 
 of the Jews for its object. All Scripture feems, to 
 me, to remove that defirable event to a very- 
 great diftance ; and I know of no providential 
 appearances which fupport the expectation of a 
 fpeedy change in the minds of that people. The 
 experiment, as far as it hath been made, though 
 with no flender ability, has totally failed. Upon 
 enquiry it will be found that no ferious impref- 
 lion whatever has been made upon the heart of 
 a fingle Jew lince the commencement of thefe 
 well-meant- labours. But they have not been 
 therefore fruitlefs and unprofitable. Though 
 the eyes of no Jew have been opened, many 
 Chriftian fpirits have been edified, their hearts 
 melted and purified, their acquaintance with di- 
 vine truth extended. And may not this be a 
 partial progrefs, the commencement, at leaft, of 
 
 that 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEWS, iss 
 
 that aufpicious " fulnefs" which, like a mighty 
 current, gathering richnefs and ftrength as it 
 flows, fliall at length meet the fwelling tide of 
 Jewifh refboration, and in one united ftream 
 " make glad the city of God ; the holy place of 
 " the tabernacles of the Moft High ?" 
 
 The Jews have not always had the amiable and 
 attractive iide of Chriftianity turned towards 
 them. They have met with hatred, contempt, 
 perfecution from Christians ; and, in return, 
 they have hated both us and our religion. Let 
 us try what the " meeknefs and gentlenefs of 
 " Chrift" will do. They lie under the difplea- 
 fure of God. Ah, is that a reafon why they 
 fhould fuffer ours alfo ? There is fomething fo- 
 lemn and facred about a convict. The hand of 
 Juftice is upon him. Refentment is difarmed, 
 and turns to pity. Behold a whole nation of 
 convicts, and one generation after another, in a 
 ftate of punifhment, blinded, hardened. Have 
 compaffion upon them ; plead the caufe of 
 Chriftianity with them in the fpirit of your 
 divine Mafter ; weep over them, pray for 
 them, draw them with " the bands of a man, 
 " with the cords of love." A " fulnefs" of mercy 
 and love toward them, on the part of believing 
 Gentiles, may be the channel through which the 
 JDivine benignity is to flow unto them. They 
 
 have 
 
IS<5 SERMONS TO THE JEWS. 
 
 have refilled your violence and unkindnefs : per- 
 haps they will melt under the influence of ten- 
 dernefs, forbearance and long-fuffering. You 
 may not be permitted to fee, in this world, the 
 complete M fulnefs" of a Chriftian globe, of a 
 Chriftian nation, of a Chriftian church, of a 
 Chriftian family ; but O ! make fure of a Chrifti- 
 an individual. It is good to be zealouily afTecled 
 in a good caufe ; but it is melancholy and mor-. 
 tifying to behold zeal, in the belt of caufes, ex- 
 preffed by perfons who difcover nothing of the 
 power of religion upon their own hearts, and in 
 their own lives. It is impoffible to believe that 
 man in earneft about the converfion of the Jews, 
 whofe conduct betrays a want of the moral prin- 
 ciple. The apoftle of whether Jew or Gentile, 
 mull be a modeft, humble, felf-denied Chriftian. 
 He muft not be " a novice," and " lifted up 
 " with pride.'* He muft not tell lies for God's 
 fake, and boaft of a fuccefs with which he has 
 not been crowned. God can indeed make the 
 folly, the wickednefs, " the wrath of man," to 
 praife himfelf, and " the remainder of wrath he 
 i ( can reftrain ;" but wo be to the man whofe 
 folly, wickednefs, or wrath are thus over-ruled, 
 linlefs they are likewife fubdued and deftroyed. 
 Whenever the falvation of Ifrael is wrought out, 
 you may reft aflured it will be at a time, and by 
 
 means 
 
SERMONS TO THE JEIVS. Uf 
 
 means of inftruments by far beyond the power of 
 human fagacity to determine I have contributed 
 my mite toward the attempt, but under a com- 
 plete conviction of its total inutility. But fo 
 little am I wedded to my own prejudice or opi- 
 nion, that to live to fee the event giving them a 
 flat contradiction I mould conlider as the moll 
 blefTed event of my life. Lord, let " thy king- 
 " dom come :" let there be " great voices in 
 <f heaven, faying, The kingdoms of this world 
 " are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of 
 * c his Chrift, and he ihaU reign for ever and 
 " ever." Amen. 
 
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 64. A CANDID STATEMENT of the 
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 65. THE GUIDE to DOMESTIC 
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 " Hail, wedded lo,e! by '-racions heaven design'd, 
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 'Ti? this fair fame an. I guiltless pleasure brings, 
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 When hoist'rous winds, and stormy bil'ows roar. 
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 Near her Betrayer's door she lays her head ; 
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 Goldsmith. 
 
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