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MRS. JAMES HUNTLEY CAMPBELL
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37463
True. James I. Camper
رام
Univerfal Hiftory;
A N
FROM THE
Beginning of the WORLD,
TO TH E
EMPIRE of CHARLEMAGNE.
B Y
M. BOSSUET, late Biſhop of MEAUX,
Formerly Preceptor to the DAUPHIN.
Tranflated from
The Thirteenth Edition of the ORIGINAL.
By JAMES ELPHINSTON.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
Printed for CARNAN and NEWBERY, at No. 65,
in St. Paul's Church-yard.
Benjamin Willis p
Bequest & Ms. James Huntley Campbell.
1-19-193/2
PREFACE.
O
UR author having, in his
introduction, fo beauti-
fully fet forth the exten-
five ufefulness of history
in general, and of a chronological
abridgment in particular; and con-
fequently explained the defign of the
following work ;5 it were equally
preſumptuous and unneceffary to fay
any thing here on thofe fubjects.
No lefs were it impertinent to
offer any new intelligence to the
learned world, about a performance
which hath been fo long its admira-
tion; or to recommend to it an au-
thor, whofe name paffes all enco-
paſſes
mium. It is well known, that,
whereas all other univerſal hiſtori-
A 3
ans
iv
PREFAC E.
ans give rather a collection of par-
ticular hiftories, M. BossUET alone
bath the glory of producing a true
general history; which, like a ge-
neral map, according to his own
excellent comparison, is only one,
great, confiftent plan, collecting and
arranging, with the justeft fymme-
try and fucceffion, from the begin-
ning of time, every thing material
in every nation; and exhibiting,
in one view, that important fcene,
which alone can convey a clear idea
of the univerſal fituation, connexion,
and order of things.
We shall not, however, infift upon
the extent and importance of the
Jubject, or the dexterity and extent
of the Genius, that could handle it
in fo complete and concife a manner;
that could fo admirably combine fa-
cred and profane things, the in-
Atruction of the head and the heart.
But is it not matter of juſt ſur-
prize, that, notwithstanding the de-
Served
PREFA C E.
ferved reputation of this master-
piece bath brought it no less than
thirteen different times to the prefs
in its own and other countries, nei-
ther the excellence of the work, nor
the fame of the writer, ſhould have
hitherto excited our countrymen to
promote the naturalization of fo ce-
lebrated and valuable a foreigner?
There was indeed an attempt made,
above threescore years ago, to in-
troduce this performance faithfully
engliſhed; or rather fo difadvan-
tageously metamorphofed, that the
original could no longer be known:
which may ferve to account for its
Jo different reception in that dif
guife, from what it hath ever met
with in its native drefs. Not only
was the most elegant diction trans-
formed into the most barbarous jar-
gon, but the clearest, the finest fenfe
miftaken, nay, made nonfenfe, in al-
most every page, or rather every
paragraph. No wonder then if an
English
PREFACE.
English eye or ear turned away,
with abhorrence, from what appear-
ed fo fhocking; and if it well judg-
ed ufelefs, what it found unintel-
ligible.
In order therefore to vindicate
the injured author from the falfe
impreſſions that may have thus na-
turally been received of him; in
order to make him as well known,
and confequently as much efteemed, in
our country, as he is wherever elfe
taſte and learning reign; in order
to prefent to the public, what it
bath ſo long wanted, a complete
compendium of univerfal hiftory, bas
this tranflation been undertaken.
;
The British youth will find in it
the most useful claffic of its kind
whether it is taught them, before
they are capable of ftudying the
large and learned volumes from
whence it hath been digeſted; or
whether it is read afterwards, for
recapitulation; or, in fine, if it is
fubftituted
PREFACE.
yii
fubftituted in their place: a claffic,
which the learned and judicious M.
ROLLIN, the beſt ſchool-biftorian we
have, but whofe labours are fuelled
almoft beyond the ufe of fchools, bath
done little elfe than paraphrafed as
a Text, nor been afhamed to own his
doing fo.
But as our author hath fhewn,
that the usefulness of his work is
not confined to the great, fo may we
venture to affirm, that every age
and fex, as well as degree, may reap
equal benefit from it. To youth it
affords an entertaining inftructor;
to age a faithful remembre
remembrancer;
and to the unlearned, of whatever
denomination, a complete fyftem of
univerfal knowledge, facred and pro-
fane; though compofed for the use of
the greatest prince in Europe, ad-
apted to the reach of the meanest
Jubject.
It is an irreparable lofs, that our
matchless author did not live to per-
form
viii
PREFACE.
!
form his promife, of favouring the
world with a fecond part, or a com-
pendicus fynopfis of modern hiftory,
upon the fame plan with the anci-
ent. In order to remedy, in fome
Small degree, fo great a misfortune,
Some pretty eminent pens abroad un-
dertook the important defign, and
have actually brought it down to
the year 1738. But instead of imi-
tating our Orator's concife method,
and Laconic jiyle, they fwelled their
continuation to above thrice the fize
of the work they continued, though
in a period not much exceeding one
fixth part of the time. We have
therefore been prevailed with, to
make an humble attempt towards a
more compendious execution of the
uſeful, but arduous task continued
down to the prefent times: wherein
it will be endeavoured to follow, as
near as poffible, (though at an in-
finite diftance, and with unequal
Steps) our author's ftyle and manner,
bis
PREFACE.
ix
bis order as well as accuracy, his
conciſeneſs as well as perfpicuity.
We hope, at least, to omit few me-
morable facts that belong to our pe-
riod, and to fituate each event in
its proper point of time. But there
must not be expected, in the fecond
part, the fame fublimity of thought
and expreffion, the fame happy turns
and imperceptible tranfitions, the
fame lively and ingenious ftrokes, as
in the firft: for, befides that the na-
ture of our ſubject and plan does
not admit it, who can pretend to be
a BossUET ?
AN
Benjamin Millis ( )
Jr.
AN UNIVERSAL
HISTORY.
To the DAUPHIN.
T
of this
HOUGH hiſtory were of The
no uſe to other men, it general
ſhould be made the ftudy defign
of princes. There is no work.
better means of diſcover-
ing to them the power of paffions and
interefts, the importance of times and
conjunctures, and the confequences of
good and evil counfels. Hiftories are
compoſed only of ſuch actions as they
are engaged in, and every thing in
them feems calculated for their ufe.
If experience is neceffary towards their
acquiring that prudence which teaches
to reign well, there is nothing more uſe-
ful for their inftruction, than to join
their
B
2
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
their own daily experience to the ex-
amples of paft ages. Whereas they
ufually learn only at the hazard of
their fubjects, and of their own glory,
to judge of the critical affairs that come
before them; by the aid of hiftory they
form their judgment upon paft events,
without riſking any thing. When
they ſee even the moft fecret faults of
princes, expoſed to the view of all men,
notwithſtanding the falfe praiſes be-
ftowed on them in their life-time, they
are aſhamed of the vain delight which
flattery occafions them, and convinced
that true glory can only confift with
merit.
Befides, it were fhameful, not to
ſay for a prince, but in general for any
gentleman, to be unacquainted with
mankind, and the memorable revolu-
tions which the courfe of time has
produced in the world. If we do not
learn from hiſtory to diſtinguiſh times,
we ſhall reprefent men under the law
of nature, or under the written law,
fuch as they are under the evangelical;
we fhall confound the Perfians con-
quered under Alexander, with the Per-
fians victorious under. Cyrus; we ſhall
make Greece as free in the days of
Philip, as in thofe of Themiftocles,
er Miltiades; the Roman people as high-
fpirited
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
3
ſpirited under the emperors, as under the
confuls; the church as quiet under Di-
oclefian, as under Conftantine; and
France, torn with civil wars in the
time of Charles IX. and Henry III. as
powerful as in the time of Lewis XIV.
when united under ſo great a monarch,
ſhe alone triumphs over all Europe.
It was, SIR, to avoid theſe inconve-
niencies, that you have read ſo many
ancient as well as modern hiſtories. It
was expedient, before all things, to
make you read in fcripture, the hifto-
ry of the people of God, which is the
foundation of religion. You have not
been left ignorant of the Grecian, nor
of the Roman hiſtory; and what was
to you of ſtill greater importance, you
have been carefully inftructed in the
hiſtory of that kingdom, which you are
bound one day to render happy. But
leſt theſe hiſtories, and thoſe you have
yet to learn, ſhould confuſe one another
in your mind, there is nothing more
neceffary than to fet before you in a
diftinct, but concife, manner, the feries
of all ages.
This fort of univerfal hiſtory, is to
the hiſtories of each country and peo-
ple, what a general map is to particular
ones. In particular maps you ſee the
whole detail of a kingdom, or pro-
B 2
vince
4
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
vince in itſelf; in general maps you learn
to fituate thoſe parts of the world in
their whole; you fee what Paris, or
the ifle of France, is in the kingdom,
what the kingdom is in Europe, and
what Europe is in the World.
Juſt ſo particular hiſtories repreſent
the ſeries of events, that have happened
to a people with all their reſpective cir-
cumſtances turn, into; but in order to
underſtand the whole, we muſt know
the relation each hiftory bears to others:
which is only to be effected by an a-
bridgment, wherein we fee, as it were
with one glance, the whole order of time.
Such an abridgment, SIR, exhibits a
noble fpectacle to your view. You fee
all preceding ages unveil themfelves, fo
to ſpeak, in a few hours before you:
you fee how empires fucceed one an-
other, and how religion, in its various
ftates, fupports itfelf from the begin-
ning of the world, down to our days.
'Tis the progrefs of theſe two par-
ticulars, I mean that of religion, and
that of empires, that you ought to im-
print upon your memory; and as reli-
gion and political government are the
two hinges, whereon all human things
turn, to ſee whatever concerns thoſe
particulars fummed up in an epitome,
and by this means to difcover the
whole
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
5
whole order and progreffion of them,
is to comprize in thought all that is
great among men, and to hold, fo to
fay, the thread of all the affairs of the
world.
As then in examining a general map,
you leave the country where you are
born, and the place that bounds you,
to roam over the whole habitable earth
which you grafp in thought, with all
its feas and countries; ſo in confider-
ing a chronological epitome, you over-
leap the narrow bounds of your own
time, and launch out into all ages.
But in like manner as to help the
memory in the knowledge of places,
we mark certain principal countries,
around which we place others, each
at its proper diftance; fo in the order
of
ages, we muſt have certain times di-
ſtinguiſhed by fome great event, to
which we may refer all the reft.
This is what is called an Epoch,
from a Greek word which fignifies to
ftop, becauſe we ſtop there, as at a
refting-place, to confider all that hap-
pened before and after, and by this
means to avoid anachroniſms, or that
fort of error which creates a confufion
of times.
We muſt firſt confine ourſelves to
a few epochs, fuch as are in the
B 3
times
An Univerfal Hiftory.
times of ancient hiſtory; thoſe of A-
dam, or the creation; Noah, or the
deluge; the calling of Abraham, or
the beginning of God's covenant with
men; Mofes, or the written law; the
taking of Troy; Solomon, or the finiſh-
ing of the temple; Romulus, or the
building of Rome; Cyrus, or the
people of God delivered from the Ba-
byloniſh captivity; Scipio, or the con-
queft of Carthage; the birth of Jefus
Chrift; Conftantine, or the peace of the
church; Charlemagne, or the efta-
bliſhment of the new empire.
I give you this eſtabliſhment of the
new empire under Charlemagne, as the
end of ancient hiftory, becauſe there
you ſhall ſee the ancient Roman em-
pire totally at an end. 'Tis for this
reafon I detain you at fo confiderable a
period of univerfal hiftory. The con-
tinuation of it ſhall be laid before you
in a fecond part, which will bring you
down to the age we ſee adorned by the
immortal actions of your royal father,
and to which the ardor you fhew to
follow fo great a pattern, gives ſtill
ground to expect an additional luftre.
Having explained to you in general
the defign of this work, I have three
things to do in order to make its ufe-
fulneſs anſwer my expectation.
I muft
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
7
Defign
tome,
into
parts.
I muſt firſt run over with you the
of this epochs which I propofe to your obſer-
first epi- vation, and by pointing out to you,
which is in few words, the principal events,
divided which ought to be annexed to eath
three of them, accuftom your mind to range
thofe events in their proper places, with-
out regard to any thing but the order
of time. But as my principal intention
is to make you obferve in this pro-
greffion of times, that of religion, and
that of great empires; after carrying
on together, according to the courfe
of years, the facts which regard thoſe
two topics, I fhall particularly refume,
with neceffary reflexions, firft, thofe
which ſet forth to us the perpetual du-
ration of religion; and, laftly, thofe
which diſcover to us the cauſes of the
great revolutions that have befallen em-
pires.
Then, whatever part of ancient hi-
ſtory you read, all will turn out to
your advantage. No fact fhall paſs,
but you ſhall perceive its confequences.
You will admire the train of God's
counſels in the concerns of religion;
you will likewiſe ſee the concatena-
tion of human affairs, and thereby will
be fenfible, with how great reflexion
and forefight they muſt needs be go-
verned.
B 4
PART
8
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
1. epech.
Adam,
or the
creation.
the
world.
T
PART I.
HE first epoch immediately
prefents to you a grand and aw-
ful fpectacle; God creating the
1 age of heavens and the earth by his word,
and making man after his own image.
With this begins Mofes, the moſt an-
cient of hiftorians, moft fublime of phi-
lofophers, and wifeft of legiſlators.
Years
theworld
Thus he lays the foundation as well Years of
before of his hiſtory as of his doctrine and I.
laws. Next he fhews us all men con-
Jefus
Chrift.
4004.
tained in one man, and his wife her-
felf extracted from him; matrimonial
union, and the fociety of mankind
eſtabliſhed upon this foundation; the
perfection and power of man, ſo far as
he bears the image of God in his firſt
eftate; his dominion over animals; his
innocence, together with his felicity, in
paradife, the memory whereof is pre-
ferved in the golden age of the poets;
the divine command given to our firſt
parents; the malice of the tempting
fpirit, and his appearance under the
form of a ſerpent; the fall of Adam
and Eve, fatal to all their poſterity;
the firſt man juſtly puniſhed in all his
children, and mankind curfed by God;
the
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
9
A. C. the first promiſe of redemption, and A.M.
the future victory of men over the de-
Genef.
vil who had undone them.
The earth begins to be filled, and
v. 3, 4. wickedneſs increaſes. Cain, the firſt
3875. fon of Adam and Eve, fhews the in- 129.
fant world the first tragical action ;
and from that time virtue dates her
perfecution from vice. There we fee the
contrary manners of the two brothers;
the innocence of Abel, his paftoral life,
and his offerings accepted; thoſe of
Cain rejected, his avarice, his impie-
ty, his fratricide, and jealouſy the pa-
rent of murders; the puniſhment of
that crime, the confcience of the pa-
ricide racked with continual terrors;
the first city built by this miſcreant,
now a vagabond upon the face of the
earth, ſeeking an Aſylum from the ha-
tred and horror of mankind; the in-
vention of fome arts by his children;
the tyranny of paffions, and the pro-
digious malignity of man's heart, ever
prone to evil; the pofterity of Seth,
faithful to God, notwithſtanding that
3017. depravation; the pious Enoch, mi- 987.
raculouſly ſnatched out of the world,
which was not worthy of him; the
diftinction of the children of God from
the children of men; that is, of thoſe
who lived after the fpirit, from thoſe
B 5
who
10
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. who lived after the fleſh; their inter- A. M.
mixture, and the univerfal corruption
of the world; the deftruction of men
decreed by a juft judgment of God;
his wrath denounced againſt finners by
2468. his fervant Noah; their impenitence 1536.
and hardneſs of heart puniſhed at laft by
2348. the deluge; Noah and hisfamily reſerv-1656.
ed for the reſtoration of mankind.
This is the fum of what paſſed in
1656 years. Such is the beginning of
all hiftories, wherein are diſplayed the
omnipotence, wiſdom, and goodneſs of
God; innocence happy under his pro-
tection; his juſtice in avenging crimes,
and at the ſame time his long-fuffering
patience in waiting the converfion of
finners; the greatneſs and dignity of
man in his primitive ftate; the temper
of mankind after their corruption; the
nature of jealouſy, and the ſecret cauſes
of violences and of wars, that is, all
the foundations of religion and mo-
rality.
With mankind Noah preſerved the
arts, as well thoſe which were effen-
tial to human life, and which men
knew from their original, as thoſe
*Gen. ii. they had afterwards invented. Thofe
15. iii. firſt arts which men learned immediate-
17, 18, ly, and probably from their creator,
19. iv. 2.
tib. iv. were agriculture, the paftoral + art,
2.
*
that
An Univerfal Hiftory.
II
A. C. that of cloathing themfelves, and, A. M.
Ib. iii. perhaps, that of building houfes for their
And indeed, do we
accommodation.
21.
*Berof.
Hieron.
Mnal.
Chald. not trace the commencement of theſe
Hift. Charts from thoſe places of the Eaſt from
whence mankind was propagated?
Ægypt.
Phon. * The tradition of the univerfal de-
Hift. luge prevails over all the earth. The ark,
Nic. Da. wherein the remnant of mankind was
mafc. 1. faved, has ever been celebrated in the
xcvi. A- Eaft, particularly in thofe places where
Med. & it refted after the deluge. Many other
Affyr. circumftances of that famous ſtory are to
Ap. Jof. be found marked in the annals and tradi-
1. i. c. 3, tions of ancient nations ; the times
4. & 1.
agree, and every thing anſwers as far
pion, & as could be expected in fo remote a
Euf. 1. piece of antiquity.
byd. de
Antiq.
cont. A-
Ev. c.
II, 12.
Plufne
Noah, or
age of
ix, Præp. NEAR the deluge are to be ranged the Epoch.
decreaſe of man's life, the alteration the de-
Plut. O- of diet, and a new food ſubſtituted in luge.
pufc. place of the fruits of the earth; fme Second
Solert. oral precepts delivered to Noah; the the
terr. an confufion of languages at the tower of world.
aquat. Babel, which was the firſt monument 1656.
de Dea of the pride and weakneſs of men;
Syr. the portion of the three fors of Noah, 1657.
2348. and the firſt diſtribution of lands.
Lucian.
2347.
The memory of thofe three firſt
2247. fathers of nations has ſtill been pre-
ſerved amongſt men. Japetus, who
peopled the greateft part of the weft-
ern
1757•.
12
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. ern world, has continued famous there A. M.
under the celebrated name of Japheth.
Ham, and his fon Canaan, have been
no leſs noted among the Egyptians
and Phoenicians; and the memory of
Shem has ever lafted with the Hebrew
people, who are defcended from him.
9, 10,
21.
A little after this firft divifion of
mankind, Nimrod, a man of a fierce.
and violent difpofition, becomes the
firſt conqueror; and fuch is the origin
Gen. x. of conquefts. He fet up the throne of
his kingdom at Babylon, in the fame
place where the tower had been be-
gun, and already raiſed to a great
height, but not fo high as man's va-
nity wiſhed it. About the fame time
Nineveh was built, and ſome ancient
kingdoms eſtabliſhed. They were but
petty in thofe early times, for in Egypt
alone we find four Dynafties or Prin-
cipalities, thofe of Thebes, Thin,
Memphis, and Tanis; this laft was
the capital of the lower Egypt. To this
time we may alſo refer the commence-
ment of the laws and polity of the
Egyptians, that of their pyramids which
ftand to this day, and that of the a-
ftronomical obfervations, as well of that
2233. people as of the Chaldeans. So we 1771.
may trace up to this time, and no
higher, the obfervations which the
Chal-
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
13
A. C. Chaldeans, who were, without difpute,A. M.
Porphyr.the firſt obſervers of the ſtars, gave in
lib. ii. Babylon to Califthenes for Ariftotle.
Cœlo.
Every thing begins: there is no an-
cient hiſtory wherein there do not ap-
pear, not only in thofe early ages,
but long after, manifeft veftiges of
the newneſs of the world. We fee
laws eſtabliſhing, manners poliſhing, and
empires forming. Mankind by degrees
get out of their ignorance, experience
inſtructs them, and arts are invented or
perfected. According as men multiply,
the earth is clofer and clofer peopled;
they paſs mountains and precipices;
they cross rivers, and at length feas,
and eſtabliſh new habitations.
The
earth, which at the beginning was but
an immenſe foreft, takes now another
form, the woods cut down make room
for fields, for paftures, for hamlets, for
towns, and at length for cities. Men
learn to catch certain animals, to tame
others, and to inure them to ſervice.
They were obliged at firft to encoun-
ter wild beaſts. The first heroes figna-
lized themſelves in thoſe wars. Thefe
occafioned the invention of arms, which
men turned afterwards againſt their fel-
Gen. x. low-creatures. Nimrod, the first warri-
our, and the firſt conquerour, is called in
fcripture a mighty hunter. Together
9.
with
14
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. with animals, man acquired alſo the A. M.
art of managing fruits and plants; he
bended the very metals to his uſe, and
gradually made all nature become ſub-
fervient to it. As it was natural that
time ſhould cauſe many things to be in-
vented, it muſt alſo cauſe others to be
forgot, at leaſt by the greater part of
mankind. Thoſe firſt arts, which
Noah had preferved, and which we
alfo find always flouriſhing in the coun-
tries where mankind was firſt eſtab-
liſhed, were loft according as men re-
mov'd from them. Theſe behoved others
either to learn them anew in procefs
of time, or thoſe who had preferved.
them, muſt have carried them again
to the reft. Therefore do we ſee every
thing come from thoſe lands that were
always inhabited, where the principles
of the arts remained entire, and even
there were daily made many important
diſcoveries. The knowledge of God,
and the memory of the creation were
preſerved there, but began to decay by
degrees. The ancient traditions were
now falling into oblivion and obfcu-
rity; the fables, which fucceeded them,
retained but grofs ideas of them; falſe
deities multiplied; and this gave occa-
fion to the calling of Abraham.
FOUR
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
15
A. C.
III E-
poch.
FOUR hundred twenty fix years af-A.M.
ter the deluge, when men walked every
Thecall. One in his own way, and grew forget-
ing of ful of him that made them, that great
Abra- God, to ftop the progrefs of fo great
an evil, in the midſt of corruption be-
ham.
Third
the
world.
1921.
age of gun to fet apart a chofen people for 2c83.
himſelf. Abraham was made choice of
to be the ſtock and father of all be-
lievers. God called him into the land
of Canaan, where he intended to e-
ſtabliſh his worſhip, and the children of
that patriarch, whom he had refolved
to multiply as the ſtars of heaven, and
as the fand of the fea. To the promiſe
he made him of giving that land to his
offspring, he added fomewhat far more
glorious, and this was that great
bleffing which was to be extended
to all the nations of the world in Jefus
Chrift proceeding from his race. It was
that Jeſus Chriſt whom Abraham ho-
nours in the perfon of the high-prieft
Heb. vii. Melchifedec who reprefents him; it is
1, 2, 3 to him he pays the tithe of the ſpoil he
had won from the vanquished kings;
and it is by him he is bleffed. Though
poffeffed of immenſe riches, and of a
power which equaled that of kings,
Abraham preferved the primitive man-
ners; he led always a plain and paſto-
ral life, which, however, wanted not
and fol.
its
16
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. its magnificence; and this that patri-A.M.
arch fhewed particularly by exerciſing
1759.
1856. hoſpitality to all men. Heaven fur-2148.
nifhed him with guests; angels im-
parted to him the counfels of God; he
believed, and in every thing approved
himſelf full of faith and piety. In his
time Inachus, the moft ancient of all
the kings acknowledged by the Greeks,
founded the kingdom of Argos. After
Abraham we find Ifaac his fon, and Ja-
cob his grand-fon, imitators of his faith
and fimplicity in the fame paftoral life.
God repeats to them alfo the fame pro-
mifes he had made to their father, and
conducts them, as he had done him,
in all things. Ifaac bleffeth Jacob, to 2245.
the prejudice of Efau his elder brother,
and though deceived in appearance, he
in effect executes the counfels of God.
Jacob, whom God protected, in every
thing excelled Efau. An angel, with
whom he had a myſterious wreſtling,
gave him the name of Ifrael, whence
his children are called Ifraelites. To
him were born the twelve patriarchs,
fathers of the twelve tribes of the He-
brew people; among others Levi, from
whom were to proceed the miniſters in
facred things; Judah, from whom was to
fpring, together with the royal race,
the Chrift, king of kings, and lord
of
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
17
A. C. of lords; and Jofeph, whom Jacob A. M.
loved above all his other children.
There new fecrets of divine providence
are diſcloſed. We fee before all things
the innocence and wiſdom of young
Jofeph, ever an enemy to vice, and
careful to reprove it in his brethren ;
his myſterious and prophetical dreams;
his brethren jealous, and jealoufy a
ſecond time the cauſe of a parricide;
1728. that great man fold; the fidelity he ob-2276.
ferves to his mafter, and his admirable
1717. chaſtity; the perfecutions it draws upon2287.
him; his impriſonment and conſtancy ;
his predictions; his miraculous deli-
1715. verance; that famous interpretation of2289.
Pharaoh's dreams; the merit of ſo great
a man acknowledged; his exalted ge-
nius and upright heart, and the pro-
tection of God, who gives him rule
1706. wherever he is; his forefight, wife 2298.
counfels, and abfolute power in the
kingdom of the lower Egypt; and this
the means of preſerving his father Jacob
and his family. That family favour-
ed by God is thus fettled in that part
of Egypt whereof Tanis was the ca-
pital, and whofe kings took all the
1689. name of Pharaoh. Jacob dies, and2315.
a little before his death he makes that
celebrated prophecy, where, in dif-
covering to his children the ftate of their
pof-
18
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. pofterity, he points out particularly to A. M.
Judah the times of the Meffiah, who
was to fpring from his race. The houſe
of that patriarch in a little time becomes
a great nation; this prodigious multi-
plication excites the jealoufy of the E-
gyptians; the Hebrews are unjuftly
hated, and unmercifully perfecuted:
1571. God raifes up Mofes their deliverer, 2433.
whom he faves from the waters of the
Nile, and makes him fall into the
hands of Pharaoh's daughter: fhe
brings him up as her own fon, and
cauſes him to be inſtructed in all the
wiſdom of the Egyptians. In thofe
days the people of Egypt fettled in di-
1556. vers parts of Greece. The colony 2448.
which Cecrops brought from Egypt
built twelve cities, or rather twelve
towns, whereof he compoſed the king-
dom of Athens, and there he eſtabliſh-
ed the gods together with the laws
Marm. of his country. A little after hap-
feu - pened Deucalion's deluge in Theffaly,
ra Att. confounded by the Greeks with the
Arund.
Æ-
univerfal flood. Hellen, the fon of
Deucalion reigned in Phthia, a country
of Theffaly, and gave his Name to
Greece. His people, before called
Greeks, took ever after the name of
Hellenes, though theLatins have preſerv-
ed their ancient name. About the fame
time
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
19
A. C. time Cadmus, the ſon of Agenor, carri-A. M.
ed a colony of Phoenicians into Greece,
and founded the city of Thebes in
Boeotia. The gods of Syria and Phœ-
nicia came
into Greece with him.
In the mean time Mofes was growing
1531. up. When forty years old, he defpifed2473.
the riches of the court of Egypt;
and, touched with the afflictions of
his brethren the Ifraelites, he endan-
gered himſelf for their relief. But
ſo far were they from taking the benefit
of his zeal and courage, that they ex-
pofed him to the rage of Pharaoh, who
refolved his ruin. Mofes fled out of
Egypt into Arabia, to the land of
Midian, where his virtue, ever ready
to fuccour the oppreffed, found him
a ſecure retreat. This great man lof-
ing hopes of delivering his people, or
waiting a better opportunity, had spent
forty years in feeding the flocks of
1491. Jethro his father-in-law, when he faw2513.
the burning buſh in the defert, and
heard the voice of the God of his fa-
thers, who ſent him back into Egypt
to bring his brethren out of bondage.
Then appear the humility, the courage,
and the miracles of that divine lawgiv-
er; the hardneſs of Pharaoh's heart,
and the terrible plagues God fends up-
en him; the paffover, and next day
the
20
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. the paffage of the Red Sea; Pharaoh A.M..
and the Egyptians buried in the wa-
IV E-
poch.
Mofes,
law.
1491.
ters, and the total deliverance of the
Ifraelites.
HERE begin the times of the writ-
ten law. It was given to Mofes 430
or the years after the calling of Abraham,
written 856 years after the deluge, and in
the fame year that the Hebrew people
came out of Egypt. This date is re- 2513.
markable, being made ufe of to de-
nominate all the time from Mofes to
Jefus Chrift. All that time is called
the time of the written law, to diftin-
guiſh it from the preceding, called the
time of the law of nature, wherein
men had nothing to direct them but
natural reaſon, and the traditions of
their anceſtors.
God then having fet his people free
from the tyranny of the Egyptians, in
order to conduct them into the land
where he will be ferved, and before
he fettles them in it, fets forth to
them the law by which they are to
live. He writes with his own hand
upon two tables, which he gives to
Mofes on the top of mount Sinai, the
foundation of that law, that is, the
decalogue, or ten commandments,
which contain the firſt principles of the
worſhip of God, and of human fociety.
To
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
21
9, 23.
A. C. To the fame Mofes he dictates the A. M.
other precepts, by which he appoints
Heb. ix. the tabernacle, the figure of time to
come; the ark, where God manifeft-
ed himſelf by his oracles, and wherein
the tables of the law were depofited;
the promotion of Aaron the brother
of Mofes; the high-priesthood, or pon-
tificate, a dignity folely appropriated
to him and his fons; the ceremonies of
their confecration, and the fafhion of
their myſterious habits; the functions.
of the priests, fons of Aaron; thofe
of the Levites, with other religious
rites; and what is ftill more excellent,
the rules of good manners, the polity
and government of his chofen people,
to whom he will himſelf be lawgiver.
This is what is fignified by the epoch
of the written law. Then we fee
the journey continued in the wilder-
nefs; the revolts, idolatries, chaf
tiſements, and confolations of the peo-
ple of God, whom that almighty law-
giver gradually forms by this means;
the confecration of Eleazar the high-
prieſt, and the death of his father2552.
Aaron; the zeal of Phinehas, fon of
Eleazar, and the priesthood confirmed
to his defcendants by a particular pro-
miſe. During theſe times the Egyp-
tians continue fettling their colonies in
1452.
different
22
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. different parts, particularly in Greece, A. M.
where Danaus, an Egyptian, makes
himſelf king of Argos, and difpof-
feffes the ancient kings of Inachus's line.
1451. Towards the end of the journeyings of 2553.
the people of God in the wilderneſs,
we ſee the beginning of the wars
which the prayers of Mofes render
fucceſsful. He dies, and leaves the
Ifraelites their whole hiſtory, which he
had carefully digeſted from the origin
of the world down to the time of his
death. That hiſtory is continued by
the command of Joſhua, and his fuccef-
fors. It was afterwards divided into
feveral books, which are handed down
to us under the titles of Joſhua, Judges,
and the four books of Kings.
hiſtory which Moſes had written, and
wherein the whole law was contained,
was alfo parted into five books, called
the Pentateuch, which are the founda-
tion of religion. After the death of the
man of God, we find the wars of
1445. Joſhua, the conqueft and divifion of the 2559.
holy land, and the rebellions of the
The
people, who are at various times chaf-
tiſed and re-eſtabliſhed.
Here are to
1405. be ſeen the victories of Othniel, 2599.
who delivers them from the tyranny
of Chufhan, king of Mefopotamia,
and fourfcore years after, that of Ehud
over
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
23
A. C. over Eglon, king of Moab. About this A.M.
1325. time Phrygian Pelops, fon of Tantalus, 2679.
1322. reigns in the Peloponnefe, and gives his 2682.
name to that famous country. Belus,
king of the Chaldeans, receives divine
1305. honours from that people. The un-2699.
grateful Ifraelites fall again into fervi-
tude. Jabin, king of Canaan, ſubjects
them; but Deborah the prophetess,
1285. who judged the people, and Barak, 2719.
the fon of Abinoam, defeat Sifera the
general of that king's armies. Thirty
1245. years after, Gideon, victorious without2759.
fighting, purſues and overthrows the
1236. Midianites. Abimelech his fon ufurps 2768.
the fovereign power by murdering his
brothers, exerciſes it tyrannically, and
1187. lofes it at laft with his life. Jephthah 2817.
ftains his victory by a facrifice, which
cannot be excuſed but by a fecret
command from God, of which he has
not been pleaſed to communicate any
thing to us. During this age there hap-
pened fome very confiderable events
among the Gentiles; for if we follow
Herod. the computation of Herodote, which
1. 1. c.
2.5.
feems the most exact, we must place in
1267. theſe times, 514 years before Rome, 2737.
and in the time of Deborah, Ninus
the fon of Belus, and the foundation
of the first empire of the Affyrians.
The feat of it was eſtabliſhed at Nine-Gen. x
veh,11.
24
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
Antiq.
A. C. veh, an ancient and already famous A.M
city, but beautified and adorned by
Ninus. Thoſe who give 1300 years
to the firſt Affyrians, go upon the an-
tiquity of the city; and Herodote, who
allows them but 500, fpeaks only of
the duration of the empire, which
they begun under Ninus, fon of Belus,
to extend into upper Afia. A little af-
ter, and during that conqueror's reign, Joſh. xix.
ought to be placed the foundation, or 29.
3252. rebuilding of the ancient city of Tyre, 2752.
fo celebrated for its navigation and colo-Jofeph.
nies. Some time after Abimelech, weg. 21.
find the famous combats of Hercules,
fon of Amphitryo, and thofe of The-
feus, king of Athens, who made but
one city of the twelve boroughs of
Cecrops, and gave a better form of go-
vernment to the Athenians. In the
days of Jephthah, while Semiramis,
widow of Ninus, and guardian of
Ninyas, enlarged the empire of the
Affyrians by her conquefts, the cele-
brated city of Troy, already taken once
by the Greeks under Laomedon, its
third king, was again reduced to aſhes
1184. by the Greeks, under Priam, ſon of 2820.
Laomedon, after a fiege of ten years.
The tak-
+
VEpoch. THIS Epoch of the deftruction of
ing of Troy, which happened about the 308th
Troy. year after the departure out of Egypt,
and
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
25
the
A. C. and 1164 years after the deluge, is A. M.
Fourth confiderable, as well by reaſon of the
age of importance of fo great an event, cele-2820.
world. brated by the two greateſt poets of
1184. Greece and Italy; as becauſe to this
date may be referred whatever is moſt
remarkable in the times called fabulous,
or heroic; fabulous, on account of the
fables, wherein the hiftories of thoſe
times are enwrapped; heroic, on ac-
count of thoſe whom the poets have
ftiled fons of the gods, and heroes.
They lived not far from this period:
for in the days of Laomedon, Priam's
father, appear all the heroes of the
Golden Fleece; Jafon, Hercules, Or-
pheus, Caftor and Pollux, and the
reft, whom you very well know;
and in the time of Priam himſelf, dur-
ing the laft fiege of Troy, we ſee
Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus, U-
lyffes, Hector, Sarpedon fon of Jupi-
ter, Eneas fon of Venus, whom the
Romans acknowledge for their found-
er; and fo many others, from whom
illuftrious families and whole nations
have gloried to defcend. This Epoch
is, therefore, proper to collect all that
is moſt certain or beautiful in the fa-
bulous times. But what we find in
facred hiſtory is every way more re-
1177. markable: the prodigious ſtrength of 2887.
C
Samp-
26
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. Sampfon, and his amazing weakneſs; A. M.
1176. Eli the high prieft, venerable for his 2888.
piety, and unfortunate in the wicked-
1095. nefs of his children; Samuel, an un-2969.
blamable judge, and a prophet chof-
en of God to anoint the kings;
Saul, the firft king of the people of
God, his victories, his prefumption in
facrificing without priefts, his diſobe-
dience ill juftified by the pretence of
religion, his reprobation, his fatal fall.
In this period Codrus, king of A-
thens, laid down his life to fave his
people, and by his death procured
them victory. His fons, Medon and
Nileus, difpute the kingdom. On this
occafion the Athenians aboliſhed the
regal dignity, and declared Jupiter fole
king of the people of Athens. They
created governors, or perpetual prefi-
dents, but liable to give account of
their adminiſtration. Thefe magiſtrates
were called Archons. Medon, fon of
Codrus, was the firft who exercifed
this magiftracy, and it continued a
long time in his family. The Atheni-
ans fpread their colonies over that part
of the leffer Afia which was called Io-
nia. The Eolian colonies were planted
much about the fame time, and all the
leffer Afia was filled with Grecian ci-
2949.
ties. After Saul appears a David,
3055.
that
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
27
A. C. that admirable fhepherd, the vanquiſh-A. M.
er of the proud Goliath, and of all the
enemies of the people of God; a great
king, a great conqueror, a great pro-
phet, worthy to fing the wonders of
divine omnipotence a man, in ſhort,
1034. after God's own heart, as he himſelf 2970.
terms him, and who, by his peni-
tence, made his very crime turn to
1014. his creator's glory. To this pious war- 2990.
riour fucceeded his fon, the wife, the
juft, the peaceful Solomon, whoſe
1012. hands, undefiled with blood, were 2992.
judged worthy to build the temple of
VI. E-
Solomon,
or the
Fifth
the
world.
God.
ABOUT the 3000th year of the 3000.
poch. world, the 488th from the departure
'out of Egypt, and to adjuft the times
temple of facred hiftory with thofe of profane,
finished. 180 years after the taking of Troy, 250
age of before the foundation of Rome, and
1000 years before Jefus Chrift, did
Solomon finish that ftupendous edifice.
1004. He folemnized the dedication of it with 3001.
1003.
an extraordinary piety and magnifi-
This celebrated action is fol-
lowed by other wonders of Solomon's
reign, which ends with ſhameful weak-
neffes. He gives up himſelf to the love
of women; he fails both in head and in
heart, and his piety degenerates into
idolatry. God, though juftly provok-
C 2
ed,
cence.
£8 An Univerſal Hiſtory.
975.
A. C. ed, yet fpares him in remembrance of A. M.
David his fervant; but would not fuffer
his ingratitude wholly to paſs unpuniſh-
ed: He divided his kingdom after his
death, and under his fon Rehoboam. 3029.
The brutal haughtinefs of this young
prince made him lofe ten tribes, whom
Jeroboam turned afide from their God,
and from their king. To prevent their
returning to the kings of Judah, he
prohibited their going to facrifice at the
temple of Jerufalem, and fet up golden
calves, to which he gave the name
of the God of Ifrael, that the change
might ſeem the lefs ftrange. The fame
reafon made him retain the law of
Mofes, which he interpreted in his
Kings own way; but cauſed almoſt all its
. 32. polity, as well civil as facred, to be
obferved; fo that the Pentateuch con-
tinued always in veneration amongſt
the feceding tribes.
Thus was the kingdom of Ifrael fet
up againſt the kingdom of Judah. In
that of Ifrael, impiety and idolatry
triumphed, Religion, though often over-
clouded in that of Judah, ftill kept ſome
footing there. In thofe days the kings
of Egypt were powerful. The four
kingdoms were united under that
969. of Thebes. 'Tis thought Sefoftris, 3035.
that famous Egyptian conqueror, was
the
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
29
A. C. the Shiſhak king of Egypt, whom God A. M.
made the inftrument of chaftifing the
impiety of Rehoboam. In the reign.
of Abijam, fon of Rehoboam, we fee
the famous victory which the piety of
that prince obtained over the ſchifma-
tic tribes.
917.
3085.
3090.
His fon Afa, whofe piety is com- 3087.
mended in fcripture, is there deſcribed
as a man, who in his fickneſſes relied
more upon the aid of medicine, than
924. upon the goodnefs of God. In his time.
Omri king of Ifrael built Samaria,
where he erected the throne of his
914. kingdom. This period is fucceeded by
Jehoshaphat's admirable reign, wherein
flouriſh piety, juſtice, navigation, and
the art of war. Whilft he exhibited-
another David to the kingdom of Ju-
dah, Ahab and his wife Jezebel, who
reigned in Ifrael, to the idolatry of Je-
roboam added all the impieties of the
899. Gentiles. They both perifhed miferably. 3105.
God, who had bore with their idolatries,
refolved to avenge on them the blood of
Naboth, whom they had cauſed to be
put to death, becauſe he had refufed, as
the law of Mofes enjoined him,. to fell
them the fee of the inheritance of his fa-
thers. Their fentence was pronounc-
ed to them by the mouth of the pro-
phet Elijah. Ahab was flain fome
C 3
time
30
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. time after, notwithſtanding the precau- A. M.
897. tions he took for his fafety. About 3107.
892. this time must be placed the founda- 3112.
tion of Carthage, which Tyrian Dido
built in a fituation, where, after the
example of Tyre, ſhe might trade to
advantage, and aſpire to the empire of
the fea. 'Tis not eafy to fix the time,
when it took the form of a common-
wealth; but the mixture of the Tyri-
ans and Africans made it a city at once
888. martial and mercantile. The ancient 3116.
hiftorians, who put its origin before
the deftruction of Troy, would make
it conjectured, that Dido rather en-
larged and fortified it, than that fhe laid
its foundations. The face of affairs
changed in the kingdom of Judah. A-
thaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Je-
zebel, brought impiety along with her
into the houſe of Jehoshaphat. Jeho-
ram, the ſon of fo pious a prince, chofe
rather to imitate his father-in-law, than
his father. The hand of God was upon
him. His reign was fhort, and his end
dreadful. In the midſt of theſe chaftife-
ments, God wrought unheard of won-
ders, even in behalf of the Ifraelites,
whom he was willing to call to re-
pentance. They faw, unconverted,
the miracles of Elijah and Elifha, who
prophefied during the reigns of Ahab
and
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
31
Arund.
A. C. and five of his fucceffors. In this A. M.
Marm. period Homer flouriſhed, as did Hefiod
thirty years before him. The primi-
tive manners which they repreſent to us,
and the veftiges of the ancient fimpli-
city, which they ftill with great dignity
retain, are of no fmall uſe to our un-
derſtanding antiquities much more re-
mote, and the divine fimplicity of
884. fcripture. Behold now dreadful fcenes
in the kingdoms of Judah and Ifrael!
Jezebel, by Jehu's order, thrown head-
long from the top of a tower! In vain
had the painted her face, and tired her
head: Jehu trampled her under his
horfes feet: he fmote Joram king
of Ifrael, the ſon of Ahab: the whole
houſe of Ahab was extirpated, and had
well nigh drawn that of the kings of
Judah into its deftruction. King Ahazi-
ah, fon of Jehoram king of Judah, and
of Athaliah, was flain in Samaria with
his brethren, as being a kinfman and
friend to the children of Ahab.
foon as this news was brought to Je-
rufalem, Athaliah reſolved to diſpatch
all that remained of the feed royal,
without ſparing her own children, and
to reign by the deftruction of all her
family. Only Jehoaſh the fon of Ahazi-
ah, a child yet in the cradle, was
ftolen from the fury of his grandmo-
C 4
As
ther.
3120.
32
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. ther.
viii. de
lib. xi.
Jehoſheba fiſter of Ahaziah, and A. M.
wife of Jehoiada the high-prieſt, hid
him in the houſe of God, and faved
that precious remnant of the houſe of
David. Athaliah, who believed him
murdered with the reft, lived without
fear. Lycurgus now gave laws to La-
cedemon. He is blamed for having Plato de
calculated them all for war, after the Rep. 1.
example of Minos, whofe inftitutions leg. lib.
he had followed, and for having little Arift.
provided for the modefty of the women, Polit.
while, in order to make foldiers, he oblig-c. 9.
ed the men to fo laborious and tempe-
rate a life. Nothing was ftirring in
Judea againſt Athaliah; fhe thought
herſelf quite fecured by a reign of fix
years. But God was bringing her up
an avenger in the facred fanctuary of his
878. temple. When he had attained his fe- 3126.
venth year, Jehoiada fhewed him to
ſome of the chief captains of the royal
army, whom he had carefully prepared
for fuch a diſcovery; and with the af-
fiſtance of the Levites, he crowned the
young king in the temple. All the
people readily acknowledged him the
heir of David and of Jehofhaphat. Atha-
liah, upon hearing the noife, coming up
to quell the confpiracy, was dragged with
out the ranges of the temple, and receiv-
ed the treatment which her crimes de-
ferved.-
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
33
4. C. ferved. So long as Jehoiada lived, Jeho- A. M.
afh cauſed the law of Mofes to be kept.
But after the death of that good prieft,
being corrupted by the flatteries of his
courtiers, with them he gives himſelf
840. up to idolatry. The prieſt Zechariah, 3164.
fon of Jehoiada, made bold to reprove
him; and Jehoaſh, unmindful of what he
owed to his father, commanded him.
to be ſtoned. Vengeance quickly over-
839. took him. The year following Jehoaſh, 3165.
defeated by the Syrians, and fallen into
contempt, was affaffinated by his own
fervants; and Amaziah his fon, a bet-
ter man than he, was placed upon the
825. throne. The kingdom of Ifrael, brought 3179.
low by the victories of the kings of
Syria, and by civil wars, recovered its
ftrength under Jeroboam II. more pi-
ous than his predeceffors. Uzziah, - o-
therwiſe called Azariah, fon of Ama-
ziah, governed the kingdom of Judah
810. with no lefs glory. This is that fa- 31944
mous Uzziah, who was fmitten with
leprofy, and ſo many times reproved
in fcripture, for having, in his latter
days, prefumed to invade the prieſt's
office; and for having, contrary to the
prohibition of the law, offered incenſe
on the altar of perfumes. He was
obliged to be ſeparated from the peo-
ple, king as he was, according to the
C 5
law
34
An Univerſal Hiftory.
A. C. law of Mofes; and Jotham his fon, A. M.
who was afterwards his fucceffor, go-
verned the kingdom wifely. Under
the reign of Uzziah, the holy pro-
phets, the chief of whom at that time
were Hofea and Iſaiah, begun to pub-
liſh their prophecies in writing, and in
particular books, the originals whereof
they depoſited in the temple, to ſerve
for a monument to pofterity. The
prophecies of leffer extent, and orally
delivered, were regiſtered, according to
cuſtom, in the archives of the temple,
with the hiftory of their refpective
776. times. The Olympic games, infti- 3228.
tuted by Hercules, and long diſcon-
tinued, were revived. From this revival
are deduced the Olympiads, whereby
the Grecians reckoned their years.
At this period ended the times, which
Varro calls fabulous, becauſe till this
date profane hiftory is full of confufion
and fables; and the hiftorical times
begin, wherein the affairs of the world
are related by more faithful and di-
ftinct narratives. The firft Olympiad
is diftinguiſhed by the victory of Cho-
rebus. They returned every fifth
year, and after the revolution of four.
There, in an affembly of all Greece
at Pifa firft, and afterwards at Elis,
were celebrated thofe famous combats,
in
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
35
A. C. in which the victors were crowned A. M.
with incredible applaufes. Thus exer-
cifes were had in honour, and Greecebe-
came daily ftronger, and more polite.
Italy was ftill almoft quite favage.
The Latin kings of the pofterity of
Eneas reigned at Alba. Phul was king
of Affyria. He is thought to be
father of Sardanapalus, called, accord-
ing to the Eaſtern cuſtom, Sardan-
Pul; that is, Sardan, the fon of Pul.
Some too are of opinion, that this Phul
or Pul, was the king of Niniveh, who
repented with all his people at the
771. preaching of Jonah. This prince, at- 3233.
tracted by the troubles of the king-
dom of Ifrael, marched to invade it;
but being pacified by Menahem, he
confirmed him in the throne he had
ufurped by violence, and received, by
way of acknowledgment, a tribute of
a thouſand talents. In the reign of his
fon Sardanapalus, and after Alcmeon,
the laſt perpetual Archon of the A-
thenians, that people, whofe humour
inſenſibly led them to a popular go-
vernment, diminiſhed the power of
their magiſtrates, and reduced the ad-
miniſtration of the Archons to ten
years. The firſt of this kind was
Charops. Romulus and Remus de-
fcended of the ancient kings of Alba
by
+
36
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. by their mother Ilia, restored their A. R
grandfather Numitor to the throne of
Alba, whom his brother Amulius had
difpoffeffed of it; and immediately after
they founded Rome, while Jotham
reigned in Judah.
754.
→
Romu-
Years of
THAT city, which was one day to be _VII.
miſtreſs of the world, was founded Epoch.
towards the end of the third year lus, or
of the fixth Olympiad; about four Rome
hundred and thirty years after the tak- founded.
ing of Troy, from which the Romans 3250.
imagined their anceſtors fprung; and Rome.
ſeven hundred fifty three years before
Jefus Chrift. Romulus being brought
up hardily, amongſt fhepherds, and
continually employed in warlike ex-
erciſes, dedicated that city to the
God of war, whom he called his fa-
748. ther. About the time of Rome's in- 6.
fancy, happened the fall of the first Af
fyrian empire, through the foftnefs of
Sardanapalus. The Medes, a warlike
people, animated by Arbaces their go-
vernor, ſet all the fubjects of that effe-
minate prince an example of defpifing
him. All revolted againſt him; and
he periſhed at laft in his, capital city,
where he was forced to burn himſelf
alive with his women, his eunuchs,
and his riches. From. the ruins of that
empire we behold three great kingdoms
arife.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
37
7.
A. C. arife. Arbaces, or Orbaces, by fome A. R.
called Pharnaces, gave liberty to the
Medes, who, after a pretty long anar-
chy, had ſome very powerful kings.
Befides this, immediately after Sarda-
747. napalus, we fee a fecond kingdom of
the Affyrians appear, whereof Nineveh
continued the capital, and a kingdom of
Babylon. Theſe two laft kingdoms
were not unknown to profane authors,
and are celebrated in facred hiftory.
The fecond kingdom of Nineveh was
founded by Tilgath, or Tiglath, ſon
of Pilezer, called, for that reafon,
Tiglath-pilefer, to whom fome give
alfo the name of Ninus the younger.
Baladan, by the Greeks named Bele-
fis, eſtabliſhed the kingdom of Baby-
lon, where he is known by the name
of Nabonaffar. Hence the era of Na-
bonaffar, famous with Ptolemy and the
ancient aftronomers, who reckoned
their years from that prince's reign..
It is proper here to take notice, that
the word Era fignifies a number of
years begun at a certain period diſtin-
guiſhed by fome great event. Ahaz,
740. an impious and wicked king of Judah, 14.
being fore preffed by Rezin king of
Syria, and by Pekah, fon of Remali-
ah, king of Ifrael, inftead of having
recourfe to God, who raifed up thofe
entemies
38 An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. enemies to puniſh him, ſent and invit-A. R.
ed Tiglath-pilefer, the firft king of
Affyria, or of Nineveh, who reduced
the kings of Ifrael to the loweſt extre-
mity, and totally ruined that of Sy-
ria; but at the fame time ravaged the
kingdom of Judah, which had implored
his affiftance. Thus the kings of Af-
fyria learned the road to the Holy Land,
and refolved the conqueft of it. They
began with the kingdom of Ifrael,
721. which Shalmanefer, fon and fucceffor 33.
of Tiglath-pilefer, utterly deſtroyed.
Hofhea, king of Ifrael, had relied on
the aid of Sabacon, otherwiſe named
Sua, or So, king of Ethiopia, who
had invaded Egypt. But that mighty
conqueror was not able to deliver him
out of the hand of Shalmanefer.
ten tribes, among whom the worſhip
of God was extinguiſhed, were carri-
ed away to Nineveh, and being ſcat-
tered among the Gentiles, were fo loft,
that there is no longer any veftige of
them to be found. Some few were
left behind, who were mixed with the
Jews, and made a finall part of the
kingdom of Judah. At this time hap-
715. pened the death of Romulus. He was
The
39.
ever at war, and ever victorious; but
in the midſt of wars he laid the foun-
714. dations of religion and laws. A long 40.
peace
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
39
A. C. peace afforded Numa his fucceffor op- A. R.
portunity of finiſhing the work. He
formed the religion, and civilized the
favage manners of the Roman people.
In his time colonies from Corinth, and
fome other cities of Greece, founded
Syracufe in Sicily, Crotona, Taren-
tum, and perhaps fome other cities in
that part of Italy, to which former
Grecian colonies, who had over-
ſpread the country, had already given
the name of Great Greece. Mean
while Hezekiah, the moſt pious and
righteous of all the kings fince David,
710. reigned in Judea. Sennacherib, fon 44.
and fucceffor to Shalmanefer, befieged
him in Jerufalem with an innumerable
hoſt, which was cut off in one night by
the hand of an Angel. Hezekiah, de-
livered in fo wonderful a manner, ſerv-
ed God, with all his people, more
698. faithfully than ever. But after that 56.
prince's death, and under his fon Ma-
naffeh, the ungrateful people forgot
God, and fell into many diſorders.
687. The popular ftate was then forming 67.
among the Athenians, and they begun
to elect annual Archons, the firft. of
whom was Creon. Whilft impiety in-
creaſed in the kingdom of Judah, the
power of the kings of Affyria, who
were to be its ſcourges, advanced un-
der
40
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. Ç. der Efar-haddon, the fon of Sennacherib. A. R.
681. He united the kingdom of Babylon with
that of Nineveh, and equaled in the
73°
greater Afia the empire of the firſt Af-
677. fyrians. Under his reign the Cuthites, 77.
2 Kings, a people of Affyria, afterwards called
xvii. 24. Samaritans, were fent to inhabit Sama-
Ezr. iv.
2.
2 Kings
xvii. 27,
ria. Theſe joined the worſhip of God
to that of idols, and obtained of Efar-
haddon an Ifraelitiſh prieft, who taught
them the ſervice of the God of the
country, that is, the ceremonies of
the law of Mofes. God, not willing
that his name ſhould be utterly aboliſh-
ed in a land which he had given to his
people, left his law there for a teſtimo-
28, &c. ny; but their priest gave them only
the books of Mofes, which the twelve:
revolted tribes had retained in their
fchifm. The fcriptures compofed af-
terwards by the prophets, who facrific-·
ed in the temple, were had in detefta-
tion amongſt them; which is the reaſon.
the Samaritans receive only the Penta-
teuch to this day.
While Efar-haddon and theAffyrians
were ſo powerfully eſtabliſhing them-
felves in the greater Afia, the Medes
begun alſo to render themſelves confi-
derable. Dejoces their firſt king, named
Arphaxad in fcripture, founded the.
ftately city of Ecbatan, and laid the
found-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
41
lib. i. ç.
27.
A. C. foundations of a great empire. They A. R.
had placed him on the throne to crown
his virtues, and to put an end to the dif-
orders which anarchy occafioned among
them. Conducted by fo great a king, Herod.
they ſupported themſelves against their
neighbours, but did not extend their
dominion. Rome was advancing, but
671. weakly. Under Tullus Hoftilius her 83-
third king, and by the famous combat
of the Horatii and Curiatii, Alba was
conquered and deftroyed. Its citizens
incorporated in the victorious city, con-
fiderably enlarged and ftrengthened it.
Romulus was the firſt who had practiſ-
ed this method of augmenting the city,
into which he admitted the Sabines and
other conquered nations. They forgot
their defeat, and became loyal fubjects.
Rome, by extending her conqueſts,
formed her foldiery; and under Tullus
Hoftilius fhe began to learn that excel-
lent diſcipline which rendered her af-
terwards miſtreſs of the world. The
670. kingdom of Egypt, weakened by its 84
long divifions, was recovering under
Pfammeticus. This prince, who owed
his crown to the Ionians and Carians,
allowed them to fettle in Egypt, till
then ſhut up to ftrangers. On this oc-
cafion the Egyptians entered into com-
merce with the Grecians; and from
this
42
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. this time likewiſe the hiftory of Egypt, A. R.
hitherto mixed with pompous fables
through the artifice of the prieſts, be-
Herod. gins, according to Herodote, to have
lib. 1. c. fome certainty. Mean while the kings
95.
of Affyria were growing more and more
formidable to all the Eaft. Saofduchin,
fon of Efar-haddon, called Nabuchod-
donofor in the book of Judith, defeat-
657. ed, in a pitched battle, Arphaxad king 97.
of the Medes.
Fluſhed with this fuc-
cefs, he undertook the conqueft of the
656. whole earth. With this defign he paff-
98.
ed the Euphrates, and ravaged all be-
fore him as far as Judea. The Jews
had provoked God, by giving them-
felves up to Idolatry, after the example
of Manaffeh; but they had repented
with that prince, wherefore God took
them alfo into his protection. The
conquefts of Nabuchodonofor and
Holofernes his general, were ftop-
ped all at once by the hand of a
woman. Dejoces, though beaten by
the Affyrians, left his kingdom in a
condition of advancing under his fuc-
ceffors. Whilft Phraortes, and Cyax-
ares the ſon of Phraortes, fubdued Per-
642. fia, and puſhed their conquefts in the 112.
leffer Afia, as far as the banks of the
Halys, Judea beheld the wicked reign
641. of Ámon, the fon of Manaffeh, pafs 113.
away:
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
43
A. C. away and Jofiah the fon of Amon, A. R.
wife from a child, laboured to repair
the breaches made by the impiety of
the kings his predeceffors. Rome,
whofe king was Ancus Martius, fub-
dued fome of the Latins under his
conduct; and continuing to make citi-
zens of her enemies, fhut them up
within the compaſs of her walls. The
people of Veii, already weakened by
626. Romulus, fuffered new loffes.
Ancus 128.
puſhed his conquefts as far as the neigh-
bouring fea, and built the city Oftia at
the mouth of the Tiber. At this time
the kingdom of Babylon was invaded
by Nabopolaffar. That traitor, whom
Chinaladan, otherwife Sarac, had made
general of his armies againſt Cyaxares
king of the Medes, joined Aftyages
fon of Cyaxares, took Chinaladan in
Nineveh, deftroyed that great city fo
long miſtreſs of the Eaft, and mounted
his maſter's throne. Under this am-
bitious prince Babylon fwelled with
pride. Judea, whofe impiety increaſed
beyond meaſure, had every thing to
624. fear. Good king Jofiah, by his pro- 130.
found humility, ſuſpended for a little
the puniſhment his people had deferved;
610. but the evil waxed greater under his 144.
607. children. Nebuchadnezzar II. more 147,
terrible than his father Nabopolaffar,
fuc-
44
r
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. fucceeded him. That prince, bred up A. R
in pride, and continually exerciſed in
war, made prodigious conquefts both
in the Eaft and Weft; and Babylon
threatened the whole earth with ſlavery.
Its threats foon took effect with regard
to the people of God. Jerufalem was
given up to the haughty conqueror,
who took it three feveral times: first,
in the beginning of his reign, and fourth
year of the reign of Jehoiakim, from
whence are dated the feventy years of
Jer. xv. the Babyloniſh captivity mentioned by
1112. the prophet Jeremiah: the fecond time
xxix. 10. under Jechonias, or Jehoiachin, fon
599. of Jehoiakim; and the laſt time under 155..
Zedekiah, when the city was razed to
598, the ground, the temple reduced to 156.
afhes, and the king carried captive to
Babylon, with Seraiah the high-prieft,
and the greateſt part of the people.
The moſt eminent of thoſe captives
were the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel.
Among them likewiſe are to be counted
the three young men, whomNebuchad-
nezzar could neither force to worſhip
his image, nor had power to deſtroy by
fire. Greece was now flouriſhing, and
the ſeven wife men were rendering
594. themſelves illuftrious. Some time be- 160..
fore the defolation of Jerufalem, So-
lon, one of thofe feven fages, gave
laws
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
45
**
'
A. C. laws to the Athenians, and eſtabliſhed A. R.
liberty upon the foundation of juſtice:
578. the Phocians of Ionia carried their first 176.
colony to Marſeilles. Tarquinius Pri-
fcus, king of Rome, after having ſub-
jected part of Tufcany, and adorned
the city with magnificent works, ended
566. his reign. In his time the Gauls, con- 188.
ducted by Bellovefus, poffeffed them-
felves of all the countries of Italy adja-
cent to the Po, while Segovefus his
brother led another body of the fame
nation a great way into Germany.
Servius Tullius, Tarquin's fucceffor,
inſtituted the Cenfus, or lift of the ci-
tizens difpofed into certain claffes,
whereby that great city was regulated
as a private family. Nebuchadnezzar
beautified Babylon, which had enrich-
ed itſelf by the ſpoils of Jerufalem and
the Eaft but it did not long enjoy
them. That king, who had adorned
562. it with ſo much magnificence, faw up- 192.
on his death-bed the approaching ruin of Abyd.
the haughty city. His fon Evilmero- apud Eu-
dach, having rendered himſelf odious ix. Præp.
by his debaucheries, had not reigned Ev. c.
long when he was flain by Nerigliffor
his brother-in-law, who ufurped the
kingdom. Pififtratus ufurped alfo the
560. fovereign authority in Athens, which 194.
he found means to maintain for the
ſpace
feb. 1.
46
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. fpace of thirty years, amidſt a number A. R.
of viciffitudes, and which he even left
to his children. Nerigliffor could not
fuffer the power of the Medes, who
were growing great in the Eaft, and
therefore declared war against them.
While Aftyages, fon of Cyaxares I.
was preparing for a vigorous refiftance,
he died, and left the war to be carried
on by Cyaxares II. his fon, called by
559. Daniel Darius the Mede. This laft 195.
nominates for general of his army,
Cyrus, the fon of Mandane his fifter,
and of Cambyfes king of Perfia, which
was fubject to the empire of the Medes.
The reputation of Cyrus, who had
fignalized himſelf in divers wars under
Aftyages his grandfather, united moft
of the kings of the Eaft under the
548. ftandards of Cyaxares. He took Cre- 206.
fus king of Lydia in his capital city,
and made himſelf mafter of his immenſe
543. riches: he fubdued the other allies of 211.
the kings of Babylon, and extended his
dominion not only over Syria, but
even a great way into the leffer Afia.
538. At laſt he marched againſt Babylon, 216.
took it, and ſubjected it to Cyaxares
his uncle; who, no leſs touched with
his fidelity than his exploits, gave him
his only daughter and heir in marriage.
537. In the reign of Cyaxares, Daniel, al- 217.
ready
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
47
A. C. ready honoured under the preceding A. R.
reigns with ſeveral heavenly viſions,
wherein he faw in manifeft figures fo
many kings and empires pafs before
him, learned by a new revelation thoſe
feventy famous weeks, in which the
times of the CHRIST, and the deſtiny of
the Jewiſh people are unfolded. It was
weeks of years, fo that they contained
490 and this way of reckoning was
common amongſt the Jews, who ob-
ferved the ſeventh year, as well as the
feventh day, with a religious reſt.
536. Some time after this vifion, Cyaxares 218.
died, as did alfo Cambyfes the father
of Cyrus; and that great man who
fucceeded them, joined the kingdom of
Perfia, till then but obfcure, to the
kingdom of the Medes, which he had
fo vaftly enlarged by his conquefts.
Thus was he peaceable maſter of the
whole Eaft, and founded the greateſt
empire that had ever been in the
world. But what is moft material to
the connexion of our epochs, is, that
this great conqueror, in the firſt year
of his reign, gave his decree for re-
building the temple of God at Jeruſa-
lem, and re-eſtabliſhing the Jews in
Judea.
We must stop a little at this period,
which is the moſt intricate of all an-
cient
48
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. cient chronology, by reaſon of the dif- A. R.
ficulty of reconciling profane with ſa-
cred hiſtory. You have doubtlefs,
SIR, already obferved, that what I re-
late of Cyrus, is very different from
what you have read of him in Juftin;
that he does not ſpeak a word of the
fecond kingdom of the Affyrians, nor
of thoſe famous kings of Affyria and
Babylon, fo renowned in facred ftory;
and that, in fhort, my account agrees
very little with what that author tells
us of the three firſt monarchies; namely,
that of the Affyrians finiſhed in the per-
fon of Sardanapalus, that of the Medes
ended in the perfon of Aftyages, grand-
father of Cyrus, and that of the Perfi-
ans begun by Cyrus, and deſtroyed by
Alexander.
To Juftin you may join Diodorus,
with moft of the Greek and Latin au-
thors extant, who relate thoſe pieces of
hiſtory in a different manner from that
which I have followed.
As to what regards Cyrus, profane
authors are by no means agreed about
his hiftory: but I thought I ought ra-
ther to follow Xenophon with St. Je-
rom, than Ctefias a fabulous author,
whom moſt of the Greeks have copied
after, as Juftin and the Latins have the
Greeks, and even rather than Hero-
dote himſelf, though he be a moft ju-
dicious
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
49
A. C. dicious writer. What determined me A. R.
to this choice was, that Xenophon's
history, more coherent and more pro-
bable in itſelf, has this additional ad-
vantage, that it is more conformable
to fcripture, which by reafon of its an-
tiquity, and the connexion of the af-
-fairs of the Jewiſh nation, with thoſe
of the Eaft, would merit to be pre-
ferred to all the Grecian hiftories, al-
though we did not moreover know,
that it was dictated by the Holy Spirit.
Tim.
As to the three firft monarchies,
what moſt of the Greeks have written
of them, has appeared doubtful to the
Plat. in wifeft men of Greece. Plato fhews
in general, under the name of the
prieſts of Egypt, that the Grecians
were profoundly ignorant of antiquity :
and Ariftotle has ranked amongſt the
Polit. V. fabulous authors, thofe who wrote the
110. Affyrian affairs.
Arift.
· v.
The matter is, the Grecians were
late of beginning to write, and being
willing to entertain Greece, ever củ-
rious, with ancient hiftories, they
compofed them from confufed me-
moirs, which they contented them-
felves with putting in an agreeable or-
der, without much minding the truth.
And fure the manner, in which the
three firft monarchies are generally
ranged
D
50
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. ranged, is evidently fabulous. For af-A. R.
ter having overthrown the Affyrian em-
pire under Sardanapalus, the Medes
are brought upon the ftage, and then
the Perfians; as if the Medes had fuc-
ceeded to the whole power of the Af-
fyrians, and the Perfians had eſtabliſhed
themſelves on the ruin of the Medes.
26, 27.
But on the contrary, it is certain
that, when Arbaces raiſed the Medes in
revolt againſt Sardanapalus, he did but
fet them free, without fubjecting to
Herod. them the empire of Affyria. Hero-
1.1.c. dote, followed in this by the ableſt
chronologers, makes their firſt king
Dejoces appear fifty years after their
revolt; and it is farther certain from
the concurring teftimony of that great
Herod. hiftorian and of Xenophon, not to
mention others, that during the time
allotted to the empire of the Medes,
v, vi. &c. there were in Affyria fome yery power-
ful kings, who were formidable to the
whole Eaft, and whofe empire Cyrus
overthrew by the taking of Babylon.
1. 1.
Xen.
Cyrop.
·
If then moſt part of the Greeks,
and of the Latins, who have followed
them, fay nothing of thoſe Babyloniſh
kings, if they allow no place to that
great kingdɔm among the firſt monar-
chies, of which they relate the fuc-
ceffion; in fhort, if we find little or
nothing
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
51
A. C. nothing in their works concerning the A. R.
famous kings Tiglath-pilefer, Shalma-
nefer, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar,
and many others fo renowned in ſcrip-
ture, and in the eaſtern hiftories; we
muft impute it, either to the ignorance
of the Greeks, who were more elo-
quent in their narrations, than curious
in their enquiries; or to our having
loft what was moſt authentic and exact
in their hiftories.
Herod,
lib. ii.
6.91.
Strab.
1. i. c.
And indeed Herodote had promifed a Herod.
particular hiftory of the Affyrians, 28. 47.
which we have not got, whether it has
been loft, or he has had not time to
write it; and we may believe that ſo ju-
dicious an hiftorian would not have o-
mitted the kings of the ſecond empire
of the Affyrians, fince Sennacherib, who
was one of them, is ſtill to be found
named in the books we have extant of
that great author, as king of the Affy-
rians and Arabians.
Strabo, who lived in the time of
lib. xv. Auguftus, relates what Megafthenes,
an ancient author, who lived near the
days of Alexander, had left in writing
about the famous conquefts of Nabu-
chodonofor king of the Chaldeans,
whom he makes to over-run Europe,
penetrate into Spain, and carry his
arms as far as the pillars of Hercules.
D2
Ælian
52
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. Ælian names Thilgamus king of Af-A. R.
Elian, fyria, who is, undoubtedly, the Til-
Hift. A. gath, or Tiglath of facred hiftory; and
nim. c. we have in Ptolemy a catalogue of the
lib. xii.
21.
J. l. i.
princes, who ruled the great empires 3
among whom we find a long feries of
kings of Affyria unknown to the Gre-
cians, and whom 'tis eafy to reconcile
with facred hiſtory.
It were too tedious to rehearſe what
the Syrian annals, what Berofus, Aby-
denus, or Nicolaus of Damaſcus narraté
Jof. Ant. to us. Jofephus and Eufebius of Cefarea
lib. ix. c. have preferved to us the precious frag
uit. x. c. ments of all thofe authors, as well as of
a great many others, that were com-
Ap. Euf. plete in their time, whoſe teſtimony
Præp confirms what the holy fcripture tells
us concerning the eaſtern antiquities,
and particularly concerning the Affyri-
an hiſtory.
cont.
Evang.
As for the monarchy of the Medes,
to which most profane hiftorians give
the fecond place in the catalogue of
great empires, as diftinct from that of
the Perfians, 'tis certain that the fcrip-
ture always joins them; and you fee,
SIR, that, befides the authority of the
facred books, the very order of the
facts demonftrates, that it is to that we
ought to adhere.
The Medes before Cyrus, though
pow-
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
53
A. C. powerful and confiderable, were eclipf- A. R,
ed by the greatness of the kings of
Babylon. But Cyrus having conquer-
ed their kingdom, by the united force
of the Medes and Perfians, whofe
mafter he afterwards by lawful fuccef-
fion became, as we have obſerved af-
ter Xenophon; it appears that the
great empire, whereof he was founder,
muſt have taken its name from both
nations; ſo that that of the Medes, and
that of the Perfians, were but one and
the fame thing, though the Glory of
Cyrus has made the name of the Perfi-
ans to prevail.
We may likewife imagine, that be-
fore the war of Babylon, the kings of
the Medes having extended their con-
queſts on the fide of the Grecian colo-
nies in Afia Minor, were by this means
famous among the Greeks, who aſcrib-
ed to them the empire of the greater
Afia, becauſe they knew none but them
of all the kings of the Eaft. Yet the
kings of Niniveh and Babylon, more
powerful, but lefs known to Greece,
have been almoſt quite forgot in what
Grecian hiftories we have extant; and
the whole time from Sardanapalus to
Cyrus, has been given to the Medes
alone.
Thus we need no longer to be at ſo
much
D 3
54
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. much pains to reconcile, in this parti- A. R.
cular, profane with facred hiſtory. For
as to what regards the first kingdom of
the Affyrians, fcripture hints at it only
by the by, and names neither Ninus,
the founder of that empire, nor, ex-
cepting Phul, any of his fucceffors; be-
caufe their hiftory has no connexion
with that of the people of God. As
for the fecond Affyrians, the Greeks
have been either entirely ignorant
of them, or through not knowing
them fufficiently, have confounded
them with the firft.
When therefore any one objects
thoſe Greek authors, who range the
three firſt monarchies according to their
fancy, and make the Medes fucceed
to the ancient empire of Affyria, with-
out mentioning the new one, which the
fcripture exhibits fo powerful; we have
only to anfwer, that they have not
been acquainted with that part of hiſto-
ry; and that they are no lefs repug-
nant to the moſt curious and beft in-
formed authors of their own nation,
than to holy ſcripture.
And, what in one word cuts off
the whole difficulty, is, that facred
authors, being nearer, both in time and
fituation, to the eaftern kingdoms;
writing, befides, the hiftory of a people,
whofe
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
55
A. C. whofe affairs are fo interwoven with A. R.
thofe of the great empires, though they
had no other than this advantage, might
be fufficient to filence the Greeks, and
the Latins who have copied after them.
If, nevertheless, fome will perfift in
maintaining that commonly received
order of the three firft monarchies, and
if, to preſerve to the Medes alone the
fecond rank which is given them, they
will fubject to them the kings of Ba-
bylon; yet by owning that after about
anhundred years fubjection, thefe regain-
ed their liberty by a revolt, they fave
in fome meaſure the coherence of fa-
cred hiftory, but agree little with the
beſt profane hiftorians, to whom holy
writ is more favourable, in that it con-
ſtantly unites the empire of the Medes
with that of the Perfians.
But there ftill remains to be difco-
vered to you one of the cauſes of the
obfcurity of thoſe ancient hiftories, and
it is this: as the kings of the Eaſt aſ-
fumed ſeveral names, or, if you will,
feveral titles, which afterwards took
place of their proper names; and as
different nations tranflated, or pro-
nounced them differently, according to
the refpective idioms of each language,
hiftories fo very ancient, of which
there remain fo few authentic memoirs,
muft
D 4
56
An Univerfal Hiftory,
fcured.
A. C. muſt have been thereby very much ob- A. R
This confuſion of names has
doubtleſs cauſed a great deal of confu-
fion in things themſelves, and in per-
fons; and hence proceeds the difficulty
we find to fituate in the Grecian hiſto-.
ry the kings who have had the name of
Áhafuerus or Affuerus, which was as
much unknown to the Greeks, as
known to the people of the Eaſt.
And indeed, who ſhould think that
Cyaxares were the fame name with Af
fuerus, compounded of the word Ky,
that is, Lord, and Axares, which ma-.
nifeftly coincides with Axuerus, or Af-
fuerus? Three or four princes have
bore the name, though they had others
befides. Were we not informed that
Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar,
Nabuchodonofor, Nabuchodrofor, and
Nabopolaffar, are but one and the fame
name, or the name of one and the fame
man, we ſhould have difficulty to be-
lieve it; and yet the thing is certain.
Sargon is Sennacherib; Uzziah is A-
zariah; Zedekiah is Mattaniah; Joa-
chas, or Jehoahas, was alſo called Shal-
lum; Ezar-haddon, which is likewife
wrote Afaraddon, or Afor-haddan, is Esr. iv.
named Afenaphar by the Cuthites; and
by an oddity, of which we know not the
origin, Sardanapalus finds himſelf named
by
iv..
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
57
A. C. by the Greeks, Tonos Concoleros. One A. R
might make out a long lift of eaftern
princes, who have, each of them, had
feveral different riames in hiftory; but
'tis fufficient to have given you a general
Cyrus,
Sixth
hint of the cuftom. Nor was it unknown
to the Latins, among whom titles and
adoptions multiplied names fo variouſly.
Thus the title of Auguftus, and that
of Africanus, became the proper names
of Cefar Octavianus, and of the Sci-
pio's; and thus were the Nero's Cefars.
The thing is undoubted, and it is need-
le to dwell longer on fo allowed a
fact.
I do not intend, SIR, to trouble
you any more with the difficulties of
chronology, which are very little ma-
terial to you. This, indeed, was of
too great importance not to be cleared
up in this place; and now having told
you what is fufficient for our defign, I
refume the ſeries of our epochs.
VIII IT was then 218 years after the
Epoch. foundation of Rome, 536 years before
or the Jefus Chrift, at the expiration of the
Jews re- 70 years captivity in Babylon, and the
ftored. fame year that Cyrus founded the Per-
age of fian empire, that that prince, chofen of
God to be the deliverer of his people,
and reftorer of his temple, put his hand.
536. to the great work. Immediately after 218.
D 5.
the
the
world.
58
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. the publication of this order, Zerub- A. R.
babel, the ſon of Shealtiel, attended
2, 3.
by Jeſhua, the fon of Jozadak, the high
prieft, brought back the captives who
535. rebuilt the altar, and laid the founda-
tions of the ſecond temple. The Sa-
maritans, jealous of their glory, wanted
to have a fhare in this great work; and
Ezr. iv. upon pretence that they worſhiped the
God of Ifrael, though they blended
his worſhip with that of their falfe
gods, they befought Zerubbabel to per-
mit them to rebuild the temple of God
with him. But the children of Ju-
dah, who abhorred their mixed wor-
hip, rejected the propofal. The Sa-
maritans provoked, thwarted their de-
fign by all manner of artifices and out-
rages. About this time, Servius Tul-
Fius, after having enlarged the city of
Rome, formed the fcheme of turning it
533. into a commonwealth.
219
But he was 221.
cut off in the midſt of theſe thoughts,
by the counſel of his own daughter,
and command of Tarquin the proud,
his fon-in-law. That tyrant took pof-
feffion of the kingdom, wherein he ex-
erciſed a long time all manner of vio-
lence. Mean while the empire of the
Perfians continued advancing. Beſides
thoſe immenſe provinces of the greater
Afia, the whole vaft continent of the
Low-
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
59
A. C. lower Afia owned their fway; the A. R.
Lydians and Arabians were fubdued;
525. Egypt, fo jealous of its laws, received 229.
theirs. The conqueft of it was made
by Cambyfes the fon of Cyrus. That
622. brute did not long furvive his brother 232.
Smerdis, whom an ambiguous dream
cauſed him to murder privately. Smer-
dis the mage reigned fome time un-
der the name of Smerdis, the brother of
Cambyfes; but this impofture was foon
521. detected. The feven chief lords con- 233.
fpired against him, and one of them
was placed upon the throne. This
Herod. was Darius, Son of Hyftafpes, who in
lib. iv. his infcriptions ftiled himſelf the beſt,
and handſomeft of all men. Several
€. 159.
marks difcover him to be the Ahaſue-
rus of the book of Efther, though it is
not a fettled point. In the beginning
of his reign the temple was finished,
after various interruptions caufed by the
Samaritans. An irreconcilable hatred
took place between the two nations,
and nothing was more oppofite than
Jerufalem and Samaria. In the time
of Darius, commence the liberty of
Rome and Athens, and the great glo-
ry of Greece. Harmodius and Arifto-
giton, Athenians, deliver their country
from Hipparchus, fon of Pififtratus,
and are flain by his guards. Hippias,
the
60
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. the brother of Hipparchus attempts, in A. R
vain, to fupport his title. He is ex-
pelled; and the tyranny of the family
510. of Pififtratus is utterly aboliſhed. The 244
Athenians, re-inftated in their liberty,
erect ftatues to their deliverers, and
re-establish the popular government.
Hippias throws himſelf into the arms of
Darius, whom he finds already difpof-
ed to undertake the conqueft of Greece,
and all his hope how lies in his pro-
tection. At the time he was expelled,
Rome alfo got rid of her tyrants. Tar-
quin the proud had rendered the regal
dignity odious by his oppreffion and vi-
olence the lewdnefs of Sextus his fon
509, gave it the Aniſhing ſtroke. Lucretia 245,
deflowered, killed herfelf: her blood,
and the harangues of Brutus, fpirited
up the Romans. The kings were ba-
nifhed, and confular government efta-
bliſhed upon the plan of Servius Tul-
lius; but it was foon weakened by thẹ
jealoufy of the people. In the firft
confulfhip, P. Valerius the conful, ce-
lebrated for his victories, became fuf→
pected by his citizens; and to fatisfy
them, was obliged to enact the law,
which allowed an appeal to the people,
from the fenate and confuls, in all cau-
fes wherein the puniſhment of a citi-
zen was concerned. The expelled
Ter
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. Tarquins found friends: the neigh-A. K
bouring kings looked upon their ba
nifhment as an indignity offered to al!
crowned heads; and Porfenna, king
of the Clufians, a people of Hetruria,
507. took up arms againſt Rome; which 247:
being reduced to the laſt extremity,
and almoſt taken, was faved by the
valour of Horatius Cocles. The Ro-
mans performed wonders in defence of
their liberty: Scevola, a young citizen,
burned the hand which had miffed
Porfenna; Clelia, a young virgin,
aftoniſhed that prince by her reſolution :
Porfenna left Rome in peace, and the
500. Tarquins remained fuccourlefs. Hip- 254-
pias, for whom Darius declared, had
fome better Hopes. All Perfia rofe in
his behalf, and Athens was threatened
493. with a dreadful war. Whilft Darius 261.
was making preparations, Rome, that
had fo gallantly defended herfelf against
foreign powers, had like to have fallen
by her own hand the jealoufy had re-
vived between the Patricians and Ple--
beians the confular power, though
already moderated by the Valerian law,
feemed ftill exorbitant to a people too
jealous of their liberty. They feceded
to the Aventine mount: violent over-
tures proved fruitlefs; thing could
bring back the people, but the calm
femon
62 An Univerfal Hiſtory.
T
A. C. remonftrances of Menenius Agrippa: A. R.
it was neceffary, however, to find
fome lenitives, and to grant the people
tribunes to defend them againſt the
confuls. The law which inftituted
this new magiſtracy, was called the
facred law; and fuch was the rife of the
tribunes of the people. Darius had at
laft openly broke with Greece. His
fon in law Mardonius, after over-run-
ning Afia, thought to overpower the
Grecians by his numbers: but Miltia-
490. des, with ten thouſand Athenians, de- 264.
feated that vaft army in the plain of Ma-
rathon. Rome was beating all her
enemies round about, and feemed to
have nothing to fear but from herſelf.
Coriolanus, a zealous patrician, and
the greateſt captain ſhe had, being ex-
pelled notwithſtanding his fervices by
the popular faction, meditated the ruin
489. of his country, led on the Volfci a- 265.
488. gainſt it, reduced it to the laſt extre- 266.
mity, and nothing but his mother could
appeaſe him. Greece enjoyed not long
the tranquillity which the battle of Ma-
rathon had procured her. In order to
revenge the affront of Perfia and Da-
rius, Xerxes his fon and fucceffor, and
grandſon of Cyrus by his mother Atof-
480. fa, attacked the Grecians with 1100000 274,
fighting men, (fome fay 1700000)
with-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
63
A. C. without reckoning his naval force of A. R.
1200 fhips. Leonidas, king of Spar-
ta, with no more than 300 men, kill-
ed him 20000 of them at the ftreights
of Thermopyla, and bravely died with
all his followers. By the conduct of
Themistocles the Athenian, Xerxes's
naval armament is the fame
year de-
feated near Salamis. That prince re-
paffed the Hellefpont in confternation;
479. and a year after, his land army, which 275.
Mardonius commanded, is cut to pieces
nigh Platea, by Paufanias king of La-
cedemon, and Ariftides the Athenian,
furnamed the juſt. The battle was
fought in the morning, and in the even-
ng of that famous day, the Ionian
Greeks, who had fhaken off the yoke
of the Perfians, killed thirty thouſand
of them in the battle of Mycale, under
the conduct of Leotychides. That ge-
neral, to hearten his foldiers, told
them, that Mardonius was juſt defeat-
ed in Greece. The news proved true,
either by fome unaccountable effect of
fame, or rather by a lucky hit of con-
jecture; and all the Grecians of the
leffer Afia fet themſelves at liberty.
That nation was gaining every where
confiderable advantages; and, a little
before, the Carthaginians, then power-
ful, were beat in Sicily, which they
had
64
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. had invaded at the inftigation of the A. R
Perfians. Notwithstanding this ill fuc-
cefs, they did not ceafe forming new
defigns upon an ifland, fo commodious
for fecuring the empire of the fea
which was the great aim of their re-
public. Greece enjoyed it then, but
her attention was wholly turned upon
477 the Eaft and the Perfians. Paufanias 277.
had juft freed the iſland of Cyprus
from their yoke, when he conceived the
defign of enflaving his country. All
his fchemes proved abortive, notwith-
ſtanding the great promiſes of Xerxes:
the traitor was betrayed by him he lov-
ed beft, and his infamous affection
474 coft him his life.
Polit,
The fame year 28c,
Xerxes was flain by Artabanus, cap- Arift.
tain of his guards: either the perfi- 10.
dious wretch wanted to mount his ma→
fter's throne, or elfe he dreaded the
feverity of a prince, whoſe cruel orders
he had not readily enough executed.
Artaxerxes Longimanus his fon began
473. his reign, and fhortly after received a 281,
letter from Themiftocles, who, being
profcribed by his citizens, made him a
proffer of his fervice againſt the Gre-
cians. He, well knowing how to prize
fo renowned a captain, gave him a
great appointment, in fpite of the jea-
457. loufy of the Satraps. That magnani- 287,
mous
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
65
A. C. mous prince protected the Jews, and A. R
Ezr. vii. in his twentieth year, memorable for
viii. its confequences, he permitted Nehe-
454 miah to rebuild Jerufalem with her 300
ii, walls. This decree of Artaxerxes
Nehem.
25.
differs from that of Cyrus, in that Cy-
rus's related to the temple, and this
was made for the city. At this decree,
Dan. ix. foreſeen by Daniel, and mentioned in
his prophecy, the 490 years of his
weeks commence. This important
date has very folid foundations. The
baniſhment of Themiftocles is placed
by Eufebius's chronicle, in the laſt
year of the 76th Olympiad, which
anfwers to the 280th of Rome. Other
chronologifts bring it a little farther
down: the difference is inconfiderable,
and the circumftances of time confirm
Eufebius's date. They are taken from
Thucyd. Thucydides, a moſt accurate hiſtorian;
lib. 1. and this grave author, almoſt cotempo-
rary, as well as fellow-citizen, with
Themiftocles, makes him write his
letter in the beginning of the reign of
Artaxerxes. Cornelius Nepos, an an-
cient and judicious, as well as elegant
author, admits no doubt of this date
Nep. in after the authority of Thucydides; an
argument ſo much the more folid, that
another author, ancienter ftill than
Thucydides, entirely agrees with him.
Corn.
Themift.
And
66
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. And that is Charon of Lampfachus, A. R.
Plut. in quoted by Plutarch; and Plutarch
Them, himſelf adds, that the annals, meaning
thofe of Perfia, are conformable to theſe
two authors. He does not, however,
follow them, but gives us no reaſon for
it; and the hiftorians, who begin the
reign of Artaxerxes eight or nine years
later, are neither of that time, nor of
fo great authority. It appears there-
fore unquestionable, that its beginning
is to be placed towards the end of the
76th Olympiad, and near the 208th
year of Rome, whereby the twentieth
year of that prince muft fall towards
the end of the 81ft Olympiad, and
about Rome's 300th year. In fine,
thoſe who caft the beginning of Artax-
erxes' reign lower, to reconcile authors,
are reduced to fuppofe, that his father
had, at leaſt, afſociated him in the king-
dom, when Themistocles wrote his
letter; and which way ever it is, our
date is afcertained. This foundation
being laid, the reſt of the computation
is eafy, which the fequel will make
evidently appear. After the decree of
Artaxerxes, the Jews laboured hard in
rebuilding their city and its walls, as
Daniel had foretold. Nehemiah con- Dan. ix.
ducted the work with great prudence 25.
and refolution, amidſt all the oppofiti-
on
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Gy
A. C. on made by the Samaritans, Arabians, A. R.
and Ammonites. The people ftrenu-
oufly exerted themſelves, and Eliafhib
the high priest animated them by his
example. Mean time the new magi-
ftrates, that had been given to the Ro-
man people, fomented the divifions of
the city; and Rome, formed under
kings, wanted the laws neceffary for
the good conftitution of a common-
wealth. The reputation of Greece,
ftill more celebrated for its government
than for its victories, moved the Ro-
mans to take from thence their pat-
452. tern.
So they fent deputies to ftu- 302.
dy the laws of the cities of Greece, and
eſpecially thoſe of Athens, which were
the moſt agreeable to the ſtate of their
451. republic. Upon this model, ten abfo- 303.
lute magiftrates, who were created
the year after under the name of De-
450. cemvirs, digefted the laws of the 304.
twelve tables, which are the founda-
tion of the Roman la w. The people,
charmed with the equity with which
they compoſed them, fuffered them to
ingrofs the fupreme power, which they
449. uſed in a tyrannical manner.
Great 305.
commotions were now occafioned by
the incontinence of Appius Claudius,
one of the Decemvirs, and by the mur-
der of Virginia, whom her father choſe
rather
An Univerfal Hiſtory,
xiii.
Deut.
xxiii. 3.
A. C. rather to kill with his own hand, than A. R.
fuffer her to be proftituted to Appius's
paffion. The blood of this fecond Lu-
cretia, rouzed the Roman people, and
the Decemvirs were expelled. While
the Roman laws were forming under
the Decemvirs, Ezra, a doctor of the
law, and Nehemiah, governor of
God's people, newly re-eftabliſhed in
Judea, were reforming abufes, and
inforcing the obfervance of the law
Neh. of Mofes by their example as well
as authority. One of the principal
articles of their reformation was, to
oblige all the people, and particularly
the priests, to put away the ftrange
wives, whom they had married contra-
ry to the law. Ezra put the ſacred
books into order, accurately revifed
them, and collected the ancient me-
moirs of the people of God, to com-
pofe the two books of the Paralipome-
na, or Chronicles, whereto he added.
the hiſtory of his own time, which was
finiſhed by Nehemiah. Their books.
conclude that long hiſtory begun by
Mofes, and uninterruptedly continued
by fucceeding authors down to the re-
building of Jerufalem. The reft of fa-
cred hiſtory is not written in the fame
order. While Ezra and Nehemiah
were forming the laſt part of that great
work,.
An Univerfal Hiftory.
6g
A. C. work, Herodote, by profane authors A. R.
called the father of hiftory, began to
write. Thus the lait authors of facred
hiftory coincide with the firft authors.
of the Grecian hiftory; and when it
begins, that of the people of God, to
take it only from Abraham, included
already fifteen centuries. Herodote could
not make any mention of the Jews
in the hiſtory he has left us; and the
"Grecians had no need to be informed
of any people but fuch as war, com-
merce, or renown made known to
them. Judea, which was beginning
with difficulty to rife from its ruins,
attracted no regard. It was in thoſe
unhappy times that the Hebrew tongue
ceaſed to be common. During the
captivity, and afterwards by the com-
merce the Jews were obliged to have
with the Chaldeans, they learned the
Chaldaic language, which was very
near a-kin to their own, and had al-
moft the fame idiom. For this reafon
they changed the ancient figure of the
Hebrew letters, and wrote the Hebrew
with Chaldaic characters, which were
more in uſe among them, and eaſier to
be formed. This change was eafy be-
tween two neighbouring languages,
whofe letters had the fame power, and
differed only in fhape. From that time
we
70
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. we find the holy fcripture among the A. R.
Jews, only in Chaldaic characters; but
the Samaritans ever retained the ancient
way of writing it. Their poſterity
have perfevered in this practice down
to our days, and have, by that means,
preferved to us the Pentateuch, which
is called Samaritan, in ancient Hebrew
characters, fuch as we find on medals,
and on all the monuments of ages
paſt.
The Jews lived pretty comfortably.
under the authority of Artaxerxes.
That prince, reduced by Cimon (fon
of Miltiades) general of the Athenians,
to make a ſhameful peace, deſpaired of
conquering the Greeks by force, and
now confidered only how to profit by
their divifions; which were come to a
great height between the Athenians and
Lacedemonians. Theſe two ſtates, by
their jealouſy of each other, divided
431. all Greece. Pericles an Athenian com- 323.
menced the Peloponnefian war, during
which Theramenes, Thrafybulus, and
Alcibiades, Athenians, rendered them-
felves renowned. In it too Brafidas and
Myndarus, Lacedemonians, died brave-
ly fighting for their country. This
war having lafted 27 years, ended to
the advantage of Lacedemon, which
had engaged on its fide Darius, fur-
named
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
71.
A. C. named the baftard, the fon and fuccef- A. R.
404. for of Artaxerxes.
Lyfander, cap- 350.
tain of the Lacedemonian fleet, took
Athens, and altered its form of go-
vernment. But Perfia foon perceiv-
ed ſhe had rendered the Lacedemoni-
401. ans too powerful. They fupported the 353.
young Cyrus in his revolt againſt Ar-
taxerxès his elder brother, called Mne-
mon on account of his great memo-
ry, the fon and fucceffor of Darius.
That young prince, faved from con-
finement and death by his mother Pari-
fatis, meditates vengeance, wins the
hearts of the Satraps by his endearing
manner, over-runs the leffer Afia,
marches to give battle to the king his
brother in the heart of his empire,
wounds him with his own hand, and
too foon thinking himſelf fure of the
victory, periſhes through his own rafh-
nefs. The ten thouſand Grecians who
followed his fortune, make that amaz-
ing retreat, which was, in the end,
conducted by Xenophon, a great phi-
lofopher and captain, who has wrote
the hiſtory of it. The Lacedemonians
continued their attacks upon the Per-
fian empire, which Agefilaus, king of
396. Sparta, made to tremble in the leffer 358.
Afia; but the divifions of Greece called
him home to his own country. About
that
72
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
1. C. that time the city of Veii, the formi- A. R.
dable rival of Rome's glory, after a
fiege of ten years, and a great deal of
$94. various fuccefs, was taken by the Ro- 360.
mans, under the conduct of Camillus.
His generofity gained him alfo another
conqueft. The Falifci, whom he be-
fieged, furrendered to him, being touch-
ed with his fending them back their
children, whom a ſchool-mafter had
delivered up into his hands. Rome
would not conquer by treachery, nor
take advantage of the perfidy of a vil-
lain, who abufed the obedience of an
391. innocent age. A little after, the Galli 363.
Senones entered Italy, and laid fiege to
390. Clufium. They gained over the Ro- 364.
lib. ii. c.
mans the famous battle of Allia. Rome
was taken and burned. While the
Romans defended themſelves in the ca-
pitol, their affairs were retrieved by
Camillus, whom they had baniſhed. Polyb. I,
The Gauls had remained ſeven months. c. 6.
mafters of Rome, when being neceffa- 18. 22.
rily called elſewhere, they withdrew
371. themfelves, loaded with booty. During 383.
the broils of Greece, Epaminondas the
Theban fignalized himſelf by his equi-
ty and moderation, as much as by his
victories. 'Tis remarked of him, that
he laid it down as an inviolable rule,
never to make a lye, even in jeft.
His
great
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
73
A. C. great actions fhine forth in the laft A. R.
years of Mnemon, and firſt of O-
chus.
Under fo great a captain the The-
bans are victorious, and the
359. Lacedemon is brought low.
power of
That of 395.
the kings of Macedon begins with
Philip the father of Alexander the
great. Notwithſtanding the oppofition
of Ochus and Arfes his fon, kings of
Perfia, and the ftill greater difficulties
created him in Athens by the eloquence
of Demofthenes, a powerful afferter of
liberty, that victorious prince, in the
fpace of twenty years, fubjected all
Greece, where the battle of Cheronea,
which he gained over the Atheni-
ans and their allies, gave him an abſo-
338. lute power.
In that famous battle, 416.
whilft he broke the Athenians, he had
the joy to fee Alexander, at the age of
eighteen, plunge through the Theban
troops, of Epaminondas's difcipline,
and among others, the Sacred Troop,
called the Friends, which thought itſelf
invincible. Thus mafter of Greece,
and ſupported by a ſon of ſogreat hopes,
he begun to conceive higher defigns,
and meditated nothing leſs than the ru-
in of the Perfians, against whom he was
337. declared captain-general. But their 417.
overthrow was referved for Alexander.
E
In
74
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. In the midſt of the folemnities of a ſe- A. R.
cond marriage, Philip was affaffinated
by Paufanias, a young man of a good
336. family, to whom he had not done ju- 418.
ftice. The eunuch Bagoas, in the fame
year, killed Arfes, king of Perfia, and
gave the kingdom to Darius, ſon of
Arfames, furnamed Codomannus. This
prince, by his valour, challenges our
affent to the opinion, in other refpects.
the moſt probable, which makes him
defcended from the royal family. Thus
two brave kings begun their reigns to-
gether, Darius, fon of Arfames, and
Alexander, ſon of Philip. They look-
ed upon each other with a jealous eye,
and feemed born to difpute the empire
of the world. But Alexander was will-
ing to eſtabliſh himſelf, before he at-
tacked his rival. He revenged the
335. death of his father; he ſubdued the re-
419.
bellious nations, who defpifed his youth;
he beat the Greeks, who vainly at-
tempted to ſhake off the yoke; and
deftroyed Thebes, where he ſpared no-
thing but the houſe and defcendants of
Pindar, whofe edes were admired in
Greece. Powerful and victorious he
marches, after ſo many exploits, at the
334. head of the Grecians, again ft Darius, 420.
333. whom he defeats in three pitched bat- 421.
331. tles, enters triumphant into Babylon 423.
I
and
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
75
•
A. C. and Sufa, demoliſhes Perfepolis, the A. R.
330. ancient feat of the kings of Perfia, 424.
327. puſhes his conquefts as far as the In- 427.
dies, and returns to Babylon, where
324. he dies, in the 33d year of his age.
In his time Manaffes, brother of
Jaddus the high prieft, raiſed fome
commotions among the Jews. He had
333. married the daughter of Sanballat a Sa-
maritan, whom Darius had made Sa-
trap of that country. Rather than put
away this ſtranger, to which the coun-
cil of Jerufalem, and his brother Jad-
dus, would oblige him, he embraced
the fchifm of the Samaritans. Many
Jews, to avoid like cenfures, joined
him. From that time he refolved to
build a temple near Samaria, upon
mount Gerizim, which the Samari-
tans accounted holy, and to make him-
felf high-prieſt of it. His father-in-
law, who was in great favour with
Darius, affured him of that prince's
protection, and the confequences prov-
ed ſtill more favourable to him.
332. ander arofe: Sanballat deferted his
Alex-
mafter, and carried troops over to the
victors during the fiege of Tyre. And
thus he obtained all he wanted; the
temple of Gerizim was built, and the
ambition of Manaffes was fatisfied.
The Jews, however, ftill faithful to
E 2
the
430.
421.
422.
76
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. the Perfians, refufed Alexander the A. R.
326.
fuccours he demanded of them. He
marched to Jerufalem, breathing re-
venge; but his wrath was turned a-
way upon fecing the high-prieſt come
out to meet him, with the prieſts in
their ceremonial robes, preceded by all
the people cloathed in white. He was
fhewn fome prophecies, which foretold
his victories: the prophecies were
thofe of Daniel. He granted the Jews
all their requefts, and they obferved
the fame fidelity to him, they had ever
done to the kings of Perfia.
During his conquefts, Rome was 428.
325. engaged with the Samnites her neigh- 429.
324. bours, and had the utmoſt difficulty to 430.
324.
reduce them, notwithſtanding the va-
lour and conduct of Papyrius Curfor,
the moſt illuftrious of her generals.
After the death of Alexander, his em-
pire was divided. Perdiccas, Ptole-
my fon of Lagus, Antigonus, Seleu-
cus, Lyfimachus, Antipater, and his
fon Caffander; in a word, all his cap- 430.
tains trained up in war under fo great a
conquerour, thought to make them-
felves mafters of it by force of arms.
324. They facrificed to their ambition the 430.
318. whole family of Alexander, his bro- 436.
316. ther, his mother, his wives, his child- 438.
310. ren, and his very fifters: nothing was 444.
to
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
77
A. C. to be ſeen but bloody battles, and A. R.
309. dreadful revolutions. In the midſt of 445-
fo many diſorders, feveral nations of
Afia Minor, and the neighbourhood,
fet themſelves free, and formed the
kingdoms of Pontus, Bithynia, and
Pergamus. The goodneſs of the foil
made them afterwards rich and power-
ful. The Armenians too threw off at
the fame time the Macedonian yoke,
and became a great kingdom. The
two Mithridates, father and fon, found-
ed that of Cappadocia. But the two
moft powerful monarchies that then
arofe, were, that of Egypt founded
323. by Ptolemy fon of Lagus, from whom
431.
312. proceed the Lagidæ, and that of Afia, 442.
or Syria, founded by Seleucus, from
whom come the Seleucidæ. The lat-
ter comprehended, befides Syria, thoſe
vaſt and rich provinces of the upper
Afia, which compofed the empire of
the Perfians. Thus the whole Eaft be-
came fubject to Greece, and learned
its language; while Greece itſelf was
oppreffed by Alexander's captains.
Macedon his ancient kingdom, which
gave mafters to the Eaft, fell a prey to
the first comer: Caffander's fons drove
each other out of that kingdom. Pyr-
296. rhus, king of Epirus, who had feized 458.
on part of it, was expelled by Antigo-
E.3
nus's
78
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. nus's fon, Demetrius Poliorcetes, A. R.
294. whom he expelled alfo in his turn: 460.
289. He is himſelf driven out once more by 465.
286. Lyfimachus, and Lyfimachus by Se- 468.
281. leucus, whom Ptolemy Ceraunus, be- 473.
ing expelled Egypt by his father Ptole-
my I. treacherously murdered, not-
withstanding the favours he had re-
28c. ceived from him. This perfidious vil- 474.
ain had no fooner ufurped Macedon,
than he was attacked by the Gauls,
and fell in a battle he fought with
279. them. During the troubles of the 475.
Eaft, they came into the leffer Aſia,
headed by their king Brennus; and
fettled in Gallo-grecia, or Galatia, ſo
called from their name, whence they
penetrated into Macedonia, which they
ravaged, and made all Greece trem-
ble. But their army perifhed in the
facrilegious attempt upon the temple of
278. Delphos. That nation was ever enter- 476.
prizing, but every where unfuccefsful.
283. Some years before the affair of Del- 471.
phos, the Gauls of Italy, whom their Polyb.
continual wars and frequent victories
rendered the terrour of the Romans,
were ſtirred up againſt them by the
Samnites, the Brutians, and the Hetru-
rians. They gained at firft a new
victory, but fullied the glory of it by
putting to death fome ambaffadors.
The
lib. ii.
20.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
79
A. C. The Romans fired with indignation, A. R.
march againſt them, defeat them,
invade their territories, where they plant
282. a colony, beat them twice more, fub- 472.
ject one part of them, and reduce the
other to fue for peace. After the eaft-
ern Gauls were driven out of Greece,
277. Antigonus Gonatas, fon of Demetrius 477.
Poliorcetes, who had reigned twelve
years in Greece, but little of that time
in peace, made an eafy purchaſe of
280. Macedonia. Pyrrhus was employed 474
elſewhere. Expelled that kingdom,
he hoped to fatisfy his ambition by the
conqueft of Italy, whither he was
called by the Tarentines. The battle,
which the Romans had won over them
and the Samnites, left them no oeher
refource. He gained fome victories over
the Romans, which brought them very
279. low. The elephants of Pyrrhus afto- 475.
nifhed them: but the conful Fabricius
foon fhewed the Romans, that Pyr-
rhus might be conquered. The king
and the conful feemed to diſpute the
glory of generofity, yet more than that
of arms: Pyrrhus gave up to the con-
ful all the prifoners without ranfom,
faying, "That war fhould be made
" with fteel, not with filver :
"" and
278. Fabricius fent back to the king, his 476.
perfidious phyfician, who had come to
E 4
him
80
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. him with an offer to poiſon his maſter. A. R.
In theſe days the Jewiſh religion and
nation begins to be known among the
Greeks. That people, well treated by
the kings of Syria, lived quietly ac-
cording to its own laws. Antiochus
Theus, grandfon of Seleucus, fpread
them over the leffer Afia, whence
they extended themſelves into Greece,
and every where enjoyed the ſame pri-Jof. Ant
vileges and liberties with the other citi-xii. 3.
zens. Ptolemy, fon of Lagus, had al-
ready fettled them in Egypt. Under
his fon Ptolemy Philadelphus their
Scriptures were turned into Greek,
and then appeared that celebrated ver-
fion, called the Septuagint. It was per-
formed by feventy old men, whom E-
leazar the high-prieſt had ſent to the
king, at his defire. Some will have
it, that they tranflated no more than
Jof. Ant. the Pentateuch. The reft of the fa-
I. i. c.
cred books might afterwards have been
put into Greek for the ufe of the
Jews, that were diſperſed over Egypt
and Greece, where they forgot not
only their own ancient language, which
was the Hebrew, but alſo the Chal-
daic, which they had learned in their
captivity. They formed to themſelves
a Greek mixed with Hebraiſms, which
is called the Hellenistic language; and
I. lib.
xii. c.
2.
in
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
81
A. C. in this both the Septuagint, and the A. R.
whole New Teftament are written.
During this difperfion of the Jews,
their temple was celebrated over the
whole earth, and all the eaſtern kings
prefented there their offerings. The
attention of the Weft was fixed upon
the war
between the Romans and
275. Pyrrhus. At length, that king was 479.
defeated by the conful Curius, and re-
paffed into Epirus. He had not been-
long at reft there, when he propoſed
to indemnify himſelf on Macedon for
274. his ill fuccefs in Italy. Antigonus 480.
Gonatas was confined to Theffalonica,
being forced to quit to Pyrrhus all the
272. reft of the kingdom. He again took cou- 482.
rage, whilſt the reſtleſs and ambitious
Pyrrhus made war upon the Lacede-
monians and Argives. The two ad-
verfe kings were brought into Argos at
one and the fame time, by two oppo-
fite factions, and two different gates.
A great battle was fought in the city,
where a mother feeing her fon purſued
by Pyrrhus, whom he had wounded,
knocked out that prince's brains with
a ftone. Antigonus thus rid of fuch
an enemy, recovered Macedon, which,
after ſome revolutions, remained in the
peaceable poffeffion of his family.
The Achean league prevented its
E 5
growth
82
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. growth in power. This was the laſt A. R.
bulwark of the liberty of Greece, and
this it was, which produced her laft
heroes in Aratus and Philopemen.
The Tarentines, whom Pyrrhus had
amufed with hopes, called the Car-
thaginians to their aid after his death.
But this fuccour provedor no uſe to
them they were beat with the Bru-
tians and Samnites their allies. Thefe,
after ſeventy two years continual war,
were forced to fubmit to the Roman
yoke. Tarentum quickly followed
them the neighbouring ftates could
not hold out: and thus all the ancient
nations of Italy were fubdued. The
Gauls, often beat, durft not ftir. Af-Polyb.
ter 480 years war, the Romans, find- lib. i. ii.
ing themſelves maſters of Italy, began
to turn their eyes abroad: they now
conceived a jealoufy of the Carthagi-
nians growing too powerful in their
neighbourhood, by the conquefts they
were making in Sicily; from whence
they had made an attack upon them,
and upon Italy, by coming to the aſ-
fiftance of the Tarentines. The re-
public of Carthage commanded both
coafts of the Mediterranean. Befides
that of Afric, which fhe almoſt en-
tirely poffeffed, ſhe had extended her-
felf on the Spaniſh fide through the
Streights.
I.
An Univerfal Hiftory.
83
A. C. Streights. Thus miftrefs of the fea, A. R.
and of commerce, ſhe had ſeized on the
iflands of Corfica and Sardinia. Sicily
had difficulty to defend itſelf, and Ita-
ly was too nearly threatened not to be
264. alarmed.
Hence the Punic wars, 490.
notwithſtanding treaties, but ill ob-
ferved on both fides. The firſt taught
the Romans to fight upon the fea.
They were preſently maſters in an art
which they were not acquainted with;
and the conful Duilius, who fought the
260. firſt naval battle, gained it. Regulus 494.
259. fupported that glory, and landed in 495.
256. Afric, where he had to engage that 498.
prodigious ſerpent, againſt which he
was obliged to employ his whole ar-
my. Every thing yields: Carthage re-
duced to the laft extremity, is faved
folely by the aid of Xantippus the La-
255. cedemonian. The Roman general is
beat and taken; but his captivity ren-
ders him more glorious than his victo-
ries. Being fent back, upon his parole,
to negotiate an exchange of priſoners,
he comes and maintains in the fenate
the law, which cut off all hope from
ſuch as ſuffered themſelves to be taken,
and returns to a certain death. Two
dreadful fhipwrecks forced the Romans
to abandon, once more, the empire of
the fea to the Carthaginians. Victory
remain-
499.
84
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
lib. i. c.
I.
A. C. remained long doubtful between the A. R,
two nations, and the Romans were
ready to yield but they repaired their
241. fleet. One fingle battle decided, and 513.
the conful Lutatius put an end to the
war. Carthage was obliged to pay tri-
bute, and to give up, together with
Sicily, all the iſlands that lay between
Sicily and Italy. The Romans gained
that whole ifland, except what belong-
ed to Hiero king of Syracufe their al-
ly. After the war was ended, the
Carthaginians had like to have been
ruined by an infurrection of their army. Polyb.
They had, according to their cuftom, 62, 63.
compofed it of foreign troops, who re-lib. ii. c.
volted for their pay. Their cruel go- 1
vernment caufed almoft all the cities
of their empire to join thoſe mutinous
troops; and Carthage, cloſely befieged,
had been undone, but for Hamilcar, fur-
named Barcas. He alone had fupport-
ed the laft war. To him his citizens
238. owed alfo the victory they got over 516.
the rebels: but it coft them Sardinia,
which the revolt of their garrifon laid
open to the Romans. For fear of in-Polyb.
volving herſelf in a new quarrel with lib. i.
79.83.
them, Carthage yielded up, with re-38.
luctance, that important ifland, and
fubmitted to an augmentation of her
tribute. She now turned her thoughts.
towards
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
85
A. C. towards re-eſtabliſhing her dominion in A. R.
Spain, which had been ſhaken by the
230. revolt. Hamilcar paffed into that pro- 524.
vince with his fon Hannibal, then but
nine years old; and there fell in a bat-
tle. During nine years that he car-
ried on the war there with equal con-
duct and courage, his fon was forming
under fo great a captain, and at the
fame time imbibing an implacable ha-
tred to the Romans. His kinfman Af-
drubal was appointed his father's fuc-
ceffor. He governed his province with
a great deal of prudence, and built in
it New Carthage, which held Spain
in ſubjection. The Romans were en-
gaged in a war with Teuta Queen of
Illyria, who exerciſed piracies all along
the coaft with impunity. Fluſhed
with the booty fhe made of the Greeks
and people of Epirus, fhe deſpiſed the
Romans, and put their ambaſſador to
death. But fhe was foon humbled:
229. the Romans left her nothing but a 525.
228. fmall part of Illyria, and gained the 526.
ifland of Corfu, which that queen had
ufurped. They then caufed themſelves
to be reſpected in Greece by a folemn
embaffy, and this was the first time
their power was known there. Af
Polyb. drubal's great progrefs gave them fome
lib. ii. jealoufy, but the Gauls of Italy divert-
C. 21,
£2.
ed
86
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Id. eod.
lib. c.
21.
A. C. ed their Attention from the affairs of A. R.
Spain. Five and forty years had they
remained quiet. The youth, who had
grown up in that time, thought no more
of paft loffes, but began to threaten
Rome. The Romans, in order to at-
tack with the more fecurity fuch tur-
bulent neighbours, firft made fure of the
Carthaginians. A treaty was conclud-
ed with Afdrubal, who engaged not
224. to paſs beyond the Ebro. The war 530.
between the Romans and Gauls was
carried on with fury on both fides:
the Tranfalpines joined the Cifalpines :
all were beaten. Concolitanus, one
of the Gaulifh kings, was taken in
battle: Aneroeftus, another king, kill-
ed himſelf. The Romans, victorious,
paffed the Po for the first time, be-
ing refolved to ftrip the Gauls of the
lands adjacent to that river, of which
they had been in poffeffion for fo
220. many ages. Victory followed them, 534.
wherever they went: Milan was tak-
en; almoſt the whole country was ſub-
jected. About this time Afdrubal died;
and Hannibal, though but five and
twenty years of age, was made choice
of to fill his place. From that mo-
ment war was foreſeen. The new
governor undertook openly to ſubdue
Spain, without any regard to treaties.
Then
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
87
A. C. Then Rome heard the complaints of A. R.
219. Saguntum her ally. Roman ambaſſa- 535-
dors go to Carthage. The Cartha-
ginians, now recovered, were no long-
er in the humour of yielding. Sici-
ly fnatched out of their hands, Sar-
dinia unjustly taken from them, and
the augmented tribute, ftuck deeply
in their ſtomachs. So the faction that
was for abandoning Hannibal, found
itſelf but weak. That general had
his eyes every where. Some fecret
embaffies had affured him of the Gauls
of Italy, who, no longer in condition
to attempt any thing by their own
ftrength, embraced this opportunity
of retrieving themſelves. Hannibal
croffes the Ebro, the Pyrenees, the
whole Tranfalpine Gaul, the Alps,
and falls down, as it were in a mo-
ment, upon Italy. The Gauls do not
fail to ftrengthen his army, and make
218. a laſt effort for their liberty. Four 536.
217.
537.
battles loft threaten the fall of Rome.
216. Sicily fides with the conqueror. Hie- 538.
215. ronymus, king of Syracufe, declares 539-
212. againſt the Romans almoſt all Italy 542.
abandons them; aud the laſt reſource
of the republic feems cut off in Spain
with the two Scipio's. In fuch extre-
mities Rome owed its prefervation to
three great men. The conftancy of
Fa-
88
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. Fabius Maximus, who, defpifing po- A. R.
pular clamours, made war by way of
retreat, was a bulwark to his country.
214. Marcellus, who raiſed the ſiege of No- 540.
212. la, and took Syracufe, infpired the 542.
troops with new vigour by thofe acti-
ons. But Rome, though the admired
theſe two great men, thought ſhe ſaw
fomewhat ftill greater in the young
Scipio. The wonderful fuccefs of his
counfels, confirmed the entertained o-
pinion, that he was of race divine,
211. and that he converfed with the gods. 543.
210. At the age of four and twenty, he 544--
undertakes to go into Spain, where his
father and uncle had juft before loft
their lives
he attacks New Carthage,
as if he had acted by infpiration, and
his foldiers carry it at the firft affault.
All that fee him are won over to the
206. Roman people: the Carthaginians give 548..
up Spain to him: upon his arrival in
203. Afric, kings fubmit to him: Carthage 551.
trembles in her turn, and fees her ar-
mies defeated. Hannibal, fixteen years
victorious, is in vain called home, and
cannot defend his country: Scipio gives
202. law to it; the name of Africanus is his 5520
reward. The Roman people having
humbled the Gauls and Africans, ſees
nothing more to fear, and henceforth
makes war with hazard.
In
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
89
A. C. In the middle of the firſt Punic war, A. R.
250. Theodotus, governour of Bactria, with- 504.
drew a thouſand cities from the obedi-
ence of Antiochus, furnamed Theus,
fon to Antiochus Soter king of Syria.
Almoſt all the Eaft followed this ex-
ample. The Parthians revolted under
the conduct of Arfaces, chief of the
houſe of the Arfacidæ, and founder
of an empire, which extended by
degrees over all the upper Afia.
The kings of Syria and Egypt,
bloodily fet againſt each other, medi-
tated nothing but mutual deftruction,
either by force or fraud. Damafcus
and its territory, called Celo-Syria,
which was frontier to both kingdoms,
was the ſubject of their quarrels, and
the affairs of Afia were entirely diftinct
from thoſe of Europe.
During all theſe times philofophy
flouriſhed in Greece. The Italic and
Ionic fects ftored it with great men,
amongſt whom crept in a number of
extravagants, whom, however, Greece,
fond of novelty, honoured with the
name of philofophers. In the time of
Cyrus and Cambyfes, Pythagoras com-
menced the Italic fect in Great Greece,
in the neighbourhood of Naples. Much
about the fame time Thales the Milefi-
an formed the Ionic fect.
Thence
fprung
90
An Univerſal Hiftory.
A. C. fprung thoſe great philofophers, Hera- A. R.
clitus, Democritus, Empedocles, Par-
menides; Anaxagoras, who, a little
before the Peloponnefian war, demon-
ftrated the world framed by an eternal
fpirit; Socrates, who, a little after
brought back philoſophy to the ſtudy
of good manners, and was the parent
of moral philofophy; Plato his dif-
ciple, head of the academy; Ariſtotle
Plato's fcholar, and preceptor to A-
lexander, chief of the Peripatetics;
under Alexander's fucceffors, Zeno,
called the Cittian, from a town in the
ifle of Cyprus, where he was born,
chief of the Stoics; and Epicurus the
Athenian, head of the philofophers
named after him: if, indeed, we may
ftile thofe men philofophers, who open-
ly denied a providence, and quite igno-
rant of moral duty, defined virtue by
pleaſure. We may reckon among the
greateſt philofophers Hippocrates, the
father of phyfic, who fhone amidſt the
reft in thoſe happy days of Greece.
The Romans had at the fame time an-
other kind of philoſophy, which did
by no means confift in difputations,
and difcourfes; but in frugality, in
poverty, in the labours of a rural life,
and in the toils of war, they placing
their glory in that of their country,
and
An Univerfal Hiftory.
91
A. C. and of the Roman name: which at A. R.
length rendered them mafters of Italy
and Carthage.
IX E-
poch.
Scipio,
or the
IN the 552d year from the founda-
tion of Rome, about 250 years after
the foundation of the Perfian monar-
conqueft chy, and 202 before Jeſus Chriſt,
thage. Carthage was fubjected to the Romans. 552.
202. Hannibal, however, continued to raiſe
of Car-
them up enemies under-hand, where-
ever he could: but he did only draw
all his friends, both old and new, into
the ruin of his country and his own.
198. By the victories of the conful Flamini- 556.
196. us, Philip king of Macedon, an ally 558,
of the Carthaginians, was humbled,
the other kings of Macedon brought
low, and Greece freed from their yoke.
The Romans attempted to procure the
death of Hannibal, whom they found
ftill formidable, even after his over-
195. throw. That great captain, forced 559.
to fly his country, ftirred up the Eaft
againſt them, and drew their arıns in-
193. to Afia. Through his powerful per- 561.
fuafions, Antiochus, furnamed Mag-
nus, king of Syria, became jealous of
their power, and made war upon them:
but in carrying it on he did not follow
the counfels of Hannibal, who had en-
gaged him in it. Beat by fea and land,
he received the terms impofed on him
by
92
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. by the conful Lucius Scipio, brother A. R.
of Scipio Africanus, and was confined
182. to mount Taurus. Hannibal having 572.
Aled for refuge to Prufias king of Bi-
thynia, eſcaped the hands of the Ro-
mans by Poiſon. They are now dread-
ed all over the earth, and will no lon-
ger fuffer any other power but theirs.
Kings were obliged to give them their
children as hoftages of their fidelity..
Antiochus, afterwards called Illuftris,
or Epiphanes, fecond fon of Antiochus
Magnus king of Syria, remained a long
time at Rome in that quality: but
176. about the end of the reign of Seleucus 578.
Philopator, his elder brother, he was
reftored; and the Romans would have
in his ftead, Demetrius Soter the king's
175. fon, then ten years of age. In this 579.
critical juncture, Seleucus died; and
Antiochus ufurped the kingdom of
his nephew. The Romans were in-
tent upon the affairs of Macedon,
where Perfeus was diſturbing his neigh-
bours, and would no longer ftand to
the conditions impofed on his father
173. king Philip. Then begun the perfe- 581.
cutions of the people of God. Anti-
ochus Illuftris reigned like a mad-man:
he bent all his. fury againſt the Jews,
and attempted to deftroy the temple,
the law of Mofes, and the whole nati-
on,
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
93.
A. C. on. The authority of the Romans A. R.
171. kept him from making himſelf maſter 583.
of Egypt. They made war upon Per-
feus, who being readier to undertake
than to execute, loft his allies by his
covetoufnefs, and his armies by his
168. cowardice. Vanquifhed by the conful 586.
Paulus Æmilius, he was forced to fur-
render himſelf into his hands. Gentius
king of Illyria his ally, reduced in
thirty days by the Pretor Anicius, had
juſt met with a like fate. The king-
dom of Macedon, which had ſtood
feven hundred years, and had near two
hundred given mafters, not only to
Greece, but even to the whole Eaſt,
was now no more than a Roman pro-
vince. The fury of Antiochus increaf-
ed againſt God's people. Then do we
fee, the noble ſtand made by Mattathi-
as the priest, of the race of Phinehas,
167. and imitator of his zeal; the injuncti- 587.
166. ons he gives on his death-bed for the 588.
fafety of his people; the victories of
Judas Maccabeus his fon, notwithſtand-
ing the infinite number of his enemies;
the rife of the family of the Afmone-
ans, or Maccabees; the new dedica-
165. tion of the temple, which the Gentiles 589.
164. had profaned, the pontificate of Judas, 590.
and the glory of the priesthood restored;
the death of Antiochus befitting his
im-
94
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. impiety and pride; his feigned conver- A. R.
fion during his laft illness, and the un-
appeafed wrath of God upon that
haughty king. His fon Antiochus
Eupator, yet a minor, fucceeded him,
under the guardianſhip of Lyfias his
governour. During this minority,
Demetrius Soter, who was at Rome
as an hoſtage, thought he might get
himſelf reftored; but he could not pre-
vail with the fenate to fend him back
into his kingdom: the Roman policy
163. chofe rather an infant king. Under 591.
Antiochus Eupator the perfecution of
God's people, and the victories of Ju-
162. das Maccabeus continue.
Divifion 592,
takes place in the kingdom of Syria.
Demetrius makes his eſcape from Rome;
his people acknowledge him; the
young Antiochus is put to death with
Lyfias his tutor. But the Jews are
no better treated under Demetrius,
than they were under his predeceſſors;
and he meets with the fame fortune;
his generals are beat by Judas Macca-
beus; and the hand of the haughty
Nicanor, which he had fo often ſtretch-
ed out againſt the temple, is hung up be-
. 161. fore it. But not long after, Judas, over- 593.
powered by numbers, was flain fighting
with aſtoniſhing bravery. His brother
Jonathan fucceeds to his command, and
fupports
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
95
A. C. fupports his reputation. Though re- A. R.
duced to extremity, his courage never
failed him. The Romans, fond to
humble the kings of Syria, granted the
Jews their protection, as alfo the alli-
ance which Judas had fent to requeſt.
of them, yet without any fuccours :
however, the glory of the Roman
name proved no fmall fupport to the
154. diftreffed people. The troubles of Sy- 600.
ria increaſed daily. Alexander Balas,
who boafted himſelf the fon of Antio-
chus Illuftris, was placed upon the
throne by the people of Antioch. The
kings of Egypt, perpetual foes to Sy-
ria, fomented its divifions, in order to
profit by them. Ptolemy Philometor
fupported Balas: the war was bloody :
150. Demetrius Soter was killed in it, and 604.
left to revenge his death, only two
young princes, yet under age, Deme-
trius Nicator, and Antiochus Sidetes.
Thus the ufurper remained in peaceable
poffeffion, and the king of Egypt gave
him his daughter Cleopatra in marri-
age. Balas, now fancying himſelf be-
yond all danger, plunged into debau-
chery, and drew upon himſelf the
150. contempt of all his fubjects. At this 604.
2 Mac. time Philometor judged the famous
proceſs, which the Samaritans raiſed
againſt the Jews. Thoſe fchifmatics,
vi. 2.
ever
96
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. ever fet againſt the people of God, ne- A. R.
c. 6.
ver failed to join their enemies; and, Jof. Ant.
in order to pleaſe Antiochus Illuftris xii. 7.
167. their perfecutor, had dedicated their 587.
temple on mount Gerizim to Jupiter
Hofpitalis. Notwithſtanding this pro-
fanation, thoſe impious wretches had
the boldness, fome time after, to main-
tain, before Ptolemy Philometor at
Alexandria, that this temple ought to
be preferred to that of Jerufalem. The
parties debated it before the king, and
engaged on both fides, upon pain of
death, to make good their pretentions, Jof. Ant.
from the exprefs terms of the law of lib. xiii.
Mofes. The Jews gained their cauſe,
and the Samaritans were puniſhed with
death, according to agreement. The
fame king gave permiffion to Onias, Ibid.
of the prieſtly race, to build in Egypt.
the temple of Heliopolis, after the mo-
del of that of Jerufalem: an under-
taking which was condemned by the
whole council of the Jews, and judged
contrary to the law. In the mean time
Carthage was beftirring herſelf again,
being unable to bear the laws which
Scipio Africanus had impofed on her.
The Romans refolved her total over-
148. throw, and the third Punic war was 606.
undertaken. Young Demetrius Nica-
tor, now paft childhood, began to
think
An Univerfal Hiftory.
97
A. C. think of recovering the throne of his A. R.
anceſtors; and the foftneſs of the
ufurper gave him every thing to hope.
146. Balas was troubled at his approach: 608.
his father-in-law Philometor declared
against him, becauſe Balas would not
fuffer him to ſeize upon his kingdom:
the ambitious Cleopatra his wife for-
fook him, to marry his enemy, and he
was cut off by the hand of his own
people, after the loſs of a battle. Phi-
lometor died a few days after, of the
wounds he there received, and Syria
was delivered from both her enemies.
The world faw at that fame time the
fall of two great cities. Carthage was
taken, and reduced to afhes by Scipio
Æmilianus, who, by that victory,
confirmed the furname of Africanus
in his family, and approved himſelf the
worthy heir of the great Scipio his
grandfather. Corinth fhared the fame
fate, and the Achean republic periſh-
ed with it. The conful Mummius
razed to the ground that city, the moſt
voluptuous, and moft adorned in Greece.
He tranſported its incomparable ftatues
to Rome, without knowing the value
of them. The Romans were ignorant
of the arts of Greece, and contented
themſelves with the knowledge of war,
politics, and agriculture. During the
F
troubles
98 An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. troubles of Syria the Jews fortified A. R,
themſelves: Jonathan was courted by
both parties, and Nicator, victorious,
treated him as his brother. His kind-
144. nefs was foon requited for in a fedi- 610.
tion, the Jews coming fpeedily to his
aid, delivered him out of the hands of
the rebels. Jonatharr was loaded with
honours; but when once the king
thought himſelf fecure, he refumed
the defigns of his ancestors, and the
Jews were haraffed as formerly. The
troubles of Syria broke out a-freſh :
Diodorus, furnamed Tryphon, brought
up a fon of Balas, whom he named
Antiochus Theus, and ferved him for
a guardian during his minority. The
pride of Demetrius caufed an infurrec-
tion against him; all Syria was in a
43. flame: Jonathan knew how to improve 611.
the conjuncture, and renewed his al-
Kance with the Romans. Every thing
was profpering with him, when Try-
phon, by a breach of faith, caufed
him to be flain, with his children. His
brother Simon, the moft prudent and
fortunate of the Maccabees, fucceeded
him; and the Romans patronized him,
as they had done his 'predeceffors.
Tryphon was no lefs treacherous to his
ward Antiochus, than he had been to
Jonathan. He put the youth to death
by
An Univerfal Hiftory.
99
A. C. by the means of phyficians, upon pre-A. R.
tence of caufing him to be cut for the
ftone, which he had not, and made
himſelf maſter of a part of the king-
dom. Simon took the fide of Deme-
trius Nicator the lawful king, and,
after having obtained of him the liber-
ty of his country, he maintained it by
force of arms against the rebel Try-
phon. The Syrians were driven out
of the citadel, which they held in Je-
rufalem, and afterwards out of all the
142. ftrong holds in Judea. The Jews, 612.
thus freed from the yoke of the Gen-
tiles by the valour of Simon, vefted
the royal powers in him and his fami-
ly: and Demetrius Nicator confented
to this new eſtabliſhment. There be-
gins the new kingdom of God's people,
and the principality of the Afmoneans
ever joined to the high-priesthood. In
thofe days the empire of the Parthians
was extended over Bactria and the In-
dies by the victories of Mithridates,
the moſt valiant of the Arfacidæ.
141. While he was advancing towards the 613.
Euphrates, Demetrius Nicator, invit-
ed by the people of the country, whom
Mithridates had ſubjected, hoped to
reduce the Parthians, whom the Sy-
rians treated always as rebels. He
gained feveral victories; and as he was
about
F 2
100
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. C. about to return into Syria, in order A. R.
to overthrow Tryphon, he fell into a
fnare, which one of the generals of
Mithridates had laid for him; and fo
remained prifoner with the Parthians.
Tryphon, who thought himſelf ſe-
cured by that prince's misfortune,
found himſelf all at once abandoned
140. by his own people. They could no 614.
longer fuffer his pride. During the
captivity of Demetrius their lawful fo-
vereign, they entered into the ſervice
of his confort Cleopatra and her chil-
dren; but a guardian and defender
was to be fought for the young princes,
who were not yet of age. This care
naturally devolved upon Antiochus Si-
detes brother of Demetrius; Cleopa-
tra cauſed him to be acknowledged all
over the kingdom: nay, fhe did more.
Phraates, brother and fucceffor to Mi-
thridates, treated Nicator as a king,
and gave him his daughter Rodogune
in marriage. Out of fpite to this ri-
val, Cleopatra, whom fhe deprived of
the crown together with her husband,
eſpouſed Antiochus Sidetes; and re-
folved to reign by all manner of wick-
39. edneſs. The new king attacked Try- 615.
phon: Simon joined him in the enter-
prife, and the tyrant forced out of all
his ftrong holds, came to a condign
end.
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
101.
A. C. end. Antiochus, now mafter of the A. R.
135. kingdom, very foon forgot the fervic- 619.
es Simon had done him in his late
war, and cauſed him to be treacherouſ-
ly murdered. Whilft he was collect-
ing all the forces of Syria againſt the
Jews, Joannes Hyrcanus, fun of Si-
mon, fucceeded to his father's ponti-
ficate, and all the people fubmitted to
him. He held out the fiege of Jerufa-
lem with much bravery, and the war,
which Antiochus meditated againſt the
Parthians, to deliver his captive brother,
made him grant the Jews tolerable
conditions. At the faine time that
this peace was concluded, the Romans,
who were beginning to grow too rich,
found formidable enemies in the pro-
digious multitude of their flaves. En-
nus, a flave himſelf, raiſed an infur-
rection of them in Sicily; and it took
the whole Roman power to reduce
133. them. A little after, the fucceffion of 621.
Attalus king of Pergamus, who by his
will made the Roman people his heir,
threw the city into divifion. The
troubles of the Gracchi commenced.
The feditious tribunefhip of Tiberius
Gracchus, one of the first men in
Rome, became his deftruction: the
whole fenate put him to death by the
hand of Scipio Nafica, finding no
F 3
other
102
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. other means to prevent the dangerous A. R.
diftribution of money, with which
that eloquent tribune flattered the peo-
ple. Scipio Emilianus reftored mili-
tary difcipline, and that great man,
who had deftroyed Carthage, demo-
132. lifhed alfo Numantia in Spain, the fe- 6220
cond terror of the Romans. The
Parthians proved too weak for Sidetes:
his troops, though corrupted by an ex-
ceffive luxury, had a furprizing fuc-
cefs. Joannes Hyrcanus, who had at-
tended him in that war with his Jews,
fignalized his valour in it, and gained
honour to the Jewish religion when
the army
halted to afford him leifure
to celebrate the fabbath-day. Every
thing yielded, and Phraates faw his
empire reduced to its ancient limits;
but, far from deſpairing of his affairs,
he thought his prifoner might be of uſe
towards his retrieving them, and in-
vading Syria. In this conjuncture De-
metrius experienced a very capricious
fortune. He was often releaſed, and
as often detained, according as hope
or fear got the afcendant in the mind
of his father-in-law: at laſt a happy
moment, in which Phraates faw no
refource but in the diverfion he pro-
poſed to make in Syria by his means,
130. fet him quite at liberty. That in- 624.
ftant
An Univerfal Hiftory.
103
A. C. ftant the ſcale turned. Sidetes, whoA. R.
could no otherwiſe ſupport his extrava-
gant expences, than by intolerable rapines
and extortions, was overwhelmed all at
once by a general infurrection of the
people, and perifhed with his army,
which had been ſo oft victorious. In
vain did Phraates fend with all ſpeed
after Demetrius: it was now too
late that prince had got back into his
kingdom. His wife Cleopatra, who
wanted only to reign at any rate, re-
turned quickly with him, and Rodo-
gune was foon forgot. Hyrcanus im-
proved the juncture: he took Sichem
from the Samaritans, and utterly de-
moliſhed the temple of Gerizim, two
hundred years after it had been built
by Sanballat. Its deftruction did not
hinder the Samaritans from continuing
their worſhip in that mountain, and the
two nations remained irreconcilable.
129. The year after, all Idumea, united by 625.
the victories of Hyrcanus to the king-
dom of Judea, received the law of Mo-
fes with circumcifion. The Romans
continued their protection to Hyrca-
nus, and cauſed the cities to be reſtored,
which the Syrians had taken from him.
128. The pride and violence of Demetrius 626.
Nicator fuffered not Syria to enjoy
long tranquillity. The people revolt-
*
F 4
ed.
C
104
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. ed. To cherish their revolt, Egypt, A. R.
125. their enemy, gave them a king; A- 629.
lexander Zebina fon of Balas. Deme-
trius was beaten, and Cleopatra, think-
ing to reign more abfolutely under her
children, than under her husband,
brought him to a miferable end. No
124. better did the ferve her eldeſt fon Se- 630.
leucus, who had a mind to reign in
fpite of her. Her fecond fon Antio-
chus, called Grypus, was juſt return-
ed victorious from the defeat of the re-
121. bels, when Cleopatra preſented to him 633-
in form the poiſoned cup, which, her
fon warned of her pernicious defigns,
forced herſelf to fwallow. She died,
and left an eternal bone of contention,
between the children ſhe had had by
the two brothers, Demetrius Nicator,
and Antiochus Sidetes. Syria thus di-
ftracted, was no longer in condition of
109. difturbing the Jews. Joannes Hyrca- 645.
nus took Samaria, but could not con-
vert the Samaritans. He died five
years after; and Judea remained in
the peaceable poffeffion of his two fons,
104. Ariftobulus, and Alexander Janneus; 650.
103. who reigned, one after the other, un- 651.
moleſted by the kings of Syria. The
Romans fuffered that rich kingdom to
waſte away of itſelf, and extended
125. their dominion weftward. During the 629.
wars
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
105
A. C. wars of Demetrius Nicator and Zebi- A. R.
na, they began to extend their domain
124. beyond the Alps; and Sextius, having 630.
conquered the Gauls, named Salii,
eſtabliſhed in the city of Aix a colo-
ny, which bears his name to this day.
The Gauls made but a forry defence.
123. Fabius fubdued the Allobroges, and 631.
all the neighbouring nations; and the
121. fame year that Grypus cauſed his mo- 633.
ther to drink the poifon fhe had pre-
pared for him, Gallia Narbonenfis,
reduced into a province, received the
name of a Roman province. Thus
the Roman empire grew in greatnefs,
and gradually poffeffed itſelf of all
the lands and feas of the then known
world. But as fair as the face of the
republic feemed outwardly by its con-
queſts, ſo disfigured was it by the in-
ordinate ambition of its citizens, and
by its inteftine broils. The moſt il-
luftrious of the Romans became the
moft pernicious to the public weal..
The two Gracchi, by flattering the
people, begun divifions, which did
not end but with the common-wealth.
Caius, brother of Tiberius, could not.
brook their having put to death fo
great a man, in fo tragical a manner.
Animated to vengeance by impulſes,
which were thought infpired by the
F 5
ghoft
106 An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. ghoſt of Tiberius, he armed all the A. R.
citizens against one another, and as
119. he was upon the point of deſtroying 635.
114. the whole, he was cut off by a death 640.
113. like to that he meant to revenge. Mo- 641.
ney did every thing at Rome. Jugur-
tha king of Numidia, ftained with the
murder of his brothers, whom the Ro-
man people protected, defended him-
106. felf longer by his largeffes than by his 648.
arms; and Marius, who compleated
his overthrow, could not arrive at
103. the command, but by fpiriting up the 651.
people againſt the nobles. The flaves
took up arms once more in Sicily; and
their fecond revolt coft the Romans no
lefs blood than the firſt. Marius beat
102. the Teutons, Cimbrians, and other 652.
northern nations, who were penetrat
ing into the Gauls, into Spain, and
100..into Italy. The victories he obtained 654,
over them were an occafion of propof-
ing a new diſtribution of lands. Me-
tellus, who oppofed it, was forced to
give way to the juncture, nor were the
divifions extinguiſhed. but by the blood
of Saturnius, a tribune of the people.
Whilft Rome protected Cappadocia
94. againſt Mithridates king of Pontus, 660.
88. and fo great a foe yielded to the Ro- 666.
86. man force, with Greece, which had e- 668.
91.. ſpouſed his intereft; Italy, long exerciſed 663.
in
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
107
foll.
A. C. in arms by fo many wars, maintained A. R.
either againft, or with the Romans,
endangered their empire by an univerſ-
al revolt. Rome felt herſelf at the
fame time torn by the furious animofi-
88. ties of Marius and Sylla, one of whom 666.
87. & had made both the South and North 667.
to tremble, and the other was the & foll.
conqueror of Greece and Afia. Syl-
la, who was ftiled the fortunate, was
82. too much fo against his country, which 672.
his tyrannical dictatorship brought into
79. fervitude.. He might well lay volun- 675.
tarily down the fovereign power, but
he could not hinder the effect of bad
example. Every one would be maſter.
Sertorius, a zealous partifan of Mari-
74. us, cantoned himfelf in Spain, and 680.
73. entered into a league with Mithrida- 681.
tes. Againſt fo great a captain, force
was of no avail; and Pompey could
find no way of reducing that party but
by fowing divifion in it. Not even
Spartacus the gladiator, but thought he
might afpire to the chief command.
That flave caufed no lefs trouble to
71. the pretors and confuls, than Mithri- 683.
dates was creating to Lucullus. The
war of the Gladiators became formi-
dable to the Roman power. Craffus
finding difficulty to put an end to it,
the great Pompey behoved to be fent
againſt
108
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. C. againſt them. Lucullus was getting A. R,
68. the better in the Eaft. The Romans 686.
paſſed the Euphrates: but their gene-
ral, invincible againſt the enemy,
could not keep his own foldiers in their
duty. Mithridates, often beat, but
never lofing courage, was recruiting
his force, and Pompey's good fortune
feemed neceffary to put a happy peri-
67. od to the war. He was juft come from 687.
ſcouring the feas of the pirates, that
infeſted them from Syria as far as the
pillars of Hercules, when he was fent
againſt Mithridates. His glory appear-
ed then at its height. He totally fub-
jected that valiant king, and Armenia,
65. whither he had fled for refuge; Iberia 689.
63. and Albania, which fupported him; 691.
Syria torn by its factions; Judea, where
the division of the Afmoneans left
Hyrcanus II. the fon of Alexander
Janneus but a fhadow of power; and,
in fhort, the whole Eaft. But he had
not had where to triumph over fo
many enemies, but for the conſul Ci-
cero, who faved the city from the
flames that were preparing for it by
Catiline, backed by the moft illuftri
pus of the Roman nobility. That
formidable party was ruined by Cice-
ro's eloquence, rather than the arms of
C. Antonius his collegue. The liber-
ty
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
10g
A, C. ty of the Roman people was nothingA. R.
the more ſecure. Pompey reigned in
the fenate, and his great name made
him abfolute mafter of all deliberations.
58. Julius Cefar, by fubduing the Gauls, 696.
gained his country the moſt uſeful con- & foll.
queft it had ever made. So fignal a
fervice enabled him to eſtabliſh his do-
minion in his country. He wanted firſt
to equal, and then to ſurpaſs Pompey.
Craffus's immenfe riches made him
fancy he might ſhare the glory of theſe
two great men, as he did their author- 700.
54. ity. He rafhly undertook the war
againſt the Parthians, which proved fat-
al to himſelf and to his country.
53. The Arfacide victorious, infulted with 701.
cruel railleries, the ambition of the
Romans, and the infatiable avarice of
their general. But the diſgrace of the
Roman name was not the worft effect
of Craffus's overthrow. His power
counter-balanced that of Pompey and
Cefar, whom he kept united, as it
were, againſt their will. By his death
49. the mound, that confined them, was 705.
broke down. The two rivals, who
had all the forces of the commonwealth
in their hands, decided their quarrel
48. at Pharfalia by a bloody battle: Cefar, 706.
47. victorious, appeared in a moment all 707.
46. over the world; in Egypt, in Afia, in 708.
Mau-
PIO
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. C. Mauritania, in Spain: conqueror on A. R.
45. all fides, he was acknowledged mafter 709.
44. at Rome, and in the whole empire. 710.
43. Brutus and Caffius thought to fet their 711.
fellow citizens free by murdering him
as a tyrant, notwithſtanding his cle-
mency. Rome fell again into the hands
of Mark Antony, Lepidus, and the
young Cefar Octavianus, grand ne-
phew to Julius Cefar, ánd his adopted
42. fon; three inſupportable tyrants, whofe 712.
triumvirate and profcriptions cannot
yet be read without horrour. But
they were too violent to laft long.
Theſe three perfons divide the empire
amongſt them. Cefar keeps Italy; and
changing inſtantly his former cruelties
into mildneſs, he makes it believed that
he was drawn into them by his col-
legues.
The remains of the common-
36. wealth perifh with Brutus and Caffius. 718.
32. Antony and Cefar, after ruining Lepi- 722.
dus, fall next upon each other. The
31. whole Roman power puts to fea. Cefar 723-
wins the battle of Actium: the forces of
Egypt, and of the Eaft, which An-
tony brought with him, are difperfed;
all his friends abandon him, and even
his Cleopatra, for whom he had loft
the world. Herod the Idumean, who
owed every thing to him, is forced to
30. fubmit to the victor, and maintains 724.
himſelf,
An Univerfal History.
TIT
A. C. himſelf, by this means, in poffeffion A. R.-
of the kingdom of Judea, which the
weakneſs of old Hyrcanus had entirely
loft to the Afmoneans. Every thing
yields to Ceſar's fortune: Alexandria
opens her gates to him: Egypt be-
comes a Roman province: Cleopatra,
deſpairing of being able to preferve it,
kills herſelf after Antony: Rome
ftretches out her arms to Cefar, who,
27. under the name of Auguftus, and title 727.
of emperor, remains fole maſter of
the empire. He fubdues, towards the
Pyrenees, the revolted Cantabrians
and Afturians: Ethiopia fues for peace:
24. the Parthians, in fear, fend him back 730.
22. the ſtandards taken from Craffus, to- 732.
20. gether with all the Roman prifoners: 734.
15. the Indies court his alliance: the Rhe- 739.
12. ti, or Grifons, feel the force of his 742.
7. arms; their mountains cannot defend 747.
them: Pannonia acknowledges him:
Germany dreads him; and the Wefer
receives his laws. Victorious by fea
and land, he fhuts the temple of Ja-
nus.
•
The whole earth lives in peace 753.
under his power, and JESUS CHRIST 754.
comes into the world.
Now are we at length arrived, at X E-
thoſe times, fo much defired by our The
poch.
fathers, thofe of the
Meffiah. This name
coming of the birth of
fignifies the Jefus
CHRIST,
Chrift,
112
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
age of
the
world.
A. D. CHRIST, or the Lord's anointed;
7.
and JESUS CHRIST deferves it as
and last prieft, as king, and as prophet. It
is not agreed what precife year he
came into the world; but it is allow-
ed, that his true birth fome years pre-
cedes our vulgar era, which, however,
we ſhall follow, with all others, for
the more conveniency. Without dif-
puting further about the year of our
Lord's birth, it is fufficient that we
know it happened about the 4000th
year of the world. Some place it a
little before, fome a little after, and
others preciſely in that year; a diver-
fity proceeding as much from the un-
certainty of the years of the world,
as of that of the birth of our Lord.
Be that how it will, it was about this
time, 1000 years after the dedication
of the temple, and the 754th year of
Rome, that JESUS CHRIST, the eter
nal fon of God, and temporal ſon of
Abraham and David, was born of a
virgin.
This epoch is the moſt conſiderable
of all, not only for the importance of
fo great an event, but alſo becauſe it is
that from whence Chriftians have, theſe
many ages, begun the computation of
their years.
It has befides this remark-
able in it, that it pretty nearly co-in-
cides
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
113
cides with the time, in which Rome re- A. D,
turns to a ſtate of monarchy, under the
peaceful empire of Auguftus. All the
arts flouriſhed in his time, and Latin po-
etry was carried to its laft perfection by
Virgil and Horace, whom that prince en-
couraged, not only by his favours, but al-
fo by indulging them a free accefs to his
prefence. The birth of JESUS CHRIST
was quickly followed by the death of He-
rod. His kingdom was divided amongſt
his children; but the principal fhare was
not long of falling into the hands of the
Romans. Auguftus ended his reign with
great glory. Tiberius, whom he had ad-
opted, fucceeded him without oppofition;
and the empire was acknowledged heredi-
tary in the houſe of the Cefars.
Rome
had much to fuffer from the cruel policy
of Tiberius: the reſt of the empire was to-
lerably quiet. Germanicus, nephew of
Tiberius, pacified the rebel armies, refufed
the empire, beat the proud Arminius,
puſhed his conquefts as far as the Elbe,
and having attracted, together with the
love of thoſe people, the jealouſy of his
uncle, that barbarian occafioned his death,
either by grief or poiſon. In the fifteenth
year of Tiberius, St. John Baptiſt appears:
JESUS CHRIST receives baptifm from that
divine harbinger: the eternal father ac-
knowledges his well-beloved fon by a
8.
14.
16.
17.
Ig.
28.
30.
voice
114
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. D. voice from heaven: the Holy Ghoft de-
fcends upon the Saviour, under the harm-
lefs figure of a dove : the whole Trinity
manifefts itſelf. There begins, with the
Dan. ix, 27. ſeventieth week of Daniel, the preaching
of JESUS CHRIST. This last week was
the moſt important, and the moſt noted.
Daniel had diftinguiſhed it from the reft,
as the week, wherein the covenant was to
be confirmed, and in the middle of which
the old facrifices were to loſe their effi-
cacy. We may call it the week of myfte-
ries. In it JESUS CHRIST eſtabliſhes
his miffion and doctrine, by numberless
-miracles, and afterwards by his death.
This happened in the fourth year of his
miniſtry, which was alfo the fourth year
of the last week of Daniel; and after this
manner is that great week found exactly
interfected by the ſuffering of our Saviour.
Thus the computation of the weeks is
eaſy to be made, or rather is done already.
We have only to add to 453 years, which
will be found from the 300th year of
Rome, and 20th of Artaxerxes, to the
beginning of the vulgar era, the 30 years
of that era which we fee come down to
the 15th year of Tiberius, and the bap-
tifm of our Lord; thefe two fums will
make 483 years: of the ſeven years which
yet remain to complete 490, the fourth,
which makes the middle one, is that in
which
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
115
:
which Jefus Chrift died and all that Da- A. D.
niel prophefied, is vifibly contained within
the term prefcribed. There would even
have been no neceffity for fo much exact-
nefs, nor does any thing oblige us to take
in fo ftrict a fenfe the middle marked by
Daniel. The moft difficult would be con-
tented with finding it in any point between
the two extremes. This I take notice of,
that thofe, who may think they have rea-
fon to place a little higher, or a little low-
er, the beginning of Artaxerxes's reign, or
the death of our Lord, may not ſtraiten
themſelves in their calculation, and that
thoſe who would attempt to embaraſs a
thing clear, by the quibbles of chronolo-
gy, may lay afide their fruitlefs fubtlety.
& Tr. 35.
i
The darkneſs which covered the whole Matth.
face of the earth at noon-day, and at the xxvi. 45.
Phleg. 13.
moment of JESUS CHRIST's crucifixion, Olymp.
is taken for an ordinary eclipſe by heathen Thal. Hift.
writers, who have mentioned that memo- 3. Tertull.
Apol. 21.
rable event. But the primitive Chriftians, Orig. 2.
who ſpoke of it to the Romans as a prodigy cont. Celf.
recorded, not only by their own authors, in Matth.
but even by the public regifters, have Eufeb. &
fhewn, that neither at the time of the full Hieron. in
Coron. Jul.
moon, when JESUS CHRIST died, nor in
the whole year, in which that eclipſe was
obferved, could any one have happened,
that was not fupernatural. We have the
very words of Phlegon, Hadrian's freed-
Afric. Ibid.
man,
116
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
37.
40.
man, quoted at a time, when his book
was in every body's hands; as well as the
Syriac hiftories of Thallus, who followed
him; and the fourth year of the 202d
Olympiad, marked in Phlegon's annals,
is that of the death of our Lord.
To complete the myfteries, JESUS
CHRIST rifes from the grave the third day;
he appears to his difciples; he afcends into
heaven in their prefence; he fends them
the Holy Ghost; the church is formed;
perfecution commences; St. Stephen is
ftoned; St. Paul is converted. A little af-
ter Tiberius dies. Caligula his grand-ne-
phew, his fon by adoption, and his fuccef-
for, aftoniſhes the world with his cruel
and brutal folly: he claims adoration, and
commands his ſtatue to be ſet up in the tem-
ple of Jerufalem. Chereas rids the world.
of this monſter. Claudius reigns, notwith-
ſtanding his ftupidity. He is difhonoured
by Meffalina his wife, whom he demands
back, after caufing her to be put to death.
He is next married to Agrippina, daugh-
Acts xv. 6. ter of Germanicus. The Apoftles hold
the council of Jerufalem, in which St.
Peter fpeaks firſt, as he does every where
elfe. The converted Gentiles are there
freed from the ceremonies of the law.
49.
The ſentence is pronounced in the name
of the Holy Ghoft, and of the church.
Acts xvi. 4. St. Paul and St. Barnabas carry the decree
of
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
117
54.
58.
60.
62.
63.
&c.
66.
67.
68.
of the council to the churches, and teach A. D.
the faithful to fubmit to it. Such was
the form of the firſt council. The ſtupid
emperor difinherited Britannicus, and ad-
opted Nero the fon of Agrippina. She,
in return, poiſoned her too eaſy husband.
But her fon's government proved no lefs
fatal to herſelf, than to all the reft of the
empire. Corbulo gained all the honour
of this reign by the victories he won over
the Parthians and Armenians. Nero com-
menced at once the war againſt the Jews,
and the perfecution againſt the Chriftians,
He was the firſt emperor who perfecuted
the church. He caufed St. Peter and St.
Paul to be put to death at Rome. But as
he at the fame time perfecuted all mankind,
they revolted againſt him on all fides.
Underſtanding that the fenate had con-
demned him, he laid violent hands on him-
felf. Each army made an emperor: the
difpute was decided hard by Rome, and
in Rome itſelf, by dreadful engagements.
Galba, Otho and Vitellius, all three periſh-
ed in them; the diftreffed empire found
fome reft under Vefpafian. But the Jews
were reduced to the laft extremity: Jeru-
falem was taken and burned. Titus, fon
and ſucceſſor of Vefpafian, afforded the
world a fhort-lived joy; and his days,
which he counted loft, when they were not
diſtinguiſhed by fome good action, hurried
on
69.
70.
79.
118
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
93.
95.
an.
on too faſt to an end. And now we be-
hold Nero revive in the perfon of Domiti-
The perfecution broke out afreſh.
St. John having got ſafe out of the boiling
oil, was banifhed to the isle of Patmos,
where he penned his Apocalypfe or Revela-
tion. A little after he wrote his Goſpel, at
the age of 90, and joined the quality of
an evangeliſt to that of an apoſtle and pro-
phet. From this time the Chriftians were
continually perfecuted, as well under the
good, as bad emperors.
Theſe perſecu-
tions were carried on, fometimes by com-
mand of the emperors, and by the particu-
lar fpite of the magiftrates; fometimes
by an infurrection of the people; and ſome-
times by folemn decrees pronounced in the
fenate upon the refcripts of princes, or in
their prefence. Then the perfecution was
more univerfal and bloody; and thus the
malice of unbelievers, ever inveterately
bent to deſtroy the church, was excited
from time to time to new acts of fury. It
is from theſe renewed fits of violence that
ecclefiaftical hiftorians reckon ten perfecu-
tions under ten emperors. Under ſo long
fufferings, the Chriftians never made the
fmalleft fedition. Of all the faithful, the
biſhops were always the moſt ſeverely at-
tacked of all the Chriftians, the church
of Rome was perfecuted with the greateſt
violence; and thirty popes fealed with
their
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
119
3
96.
97.
98.
their blood that gofpel, which they de- A. D.
clared to the whole earth. Domitian is
killed the empire begins to enjoy fome
refpite under Nerva. His great age does
not permit him to retrieve the ſtate of af-
fairs but in order to render the public
tranquillity permanent, he makes choice
of Trajan for his fucceffor. The empire
quiet at home, and triumphant abroad, can-
not forbear admiring fo good a prince. And
indeed it was a maxim with him, that his
citizens ought to find him fuch as he
would have wifhed to find the emperor,
had he been a private citizen. This prince 102.
fubdued the Daci, and Decebalus their 106.
king; extended his conquefts in the Eaft; 115.
gave a king to the Parthians, and made them 116.
dread the Roman power: happy he whom
drunkenneſs and infamous amours, vices
fo deplorable in a great prince, have never
made to attempt any thing contrary to juſt-
ice! To times fo advantageous for the
common-weal, fucceeded thofe of Hadrian
blended with good and evil. This prince
maintained military difcipline, lived him-
felf in a foldiery way, and with much fru-
gality, eafed the provinces, made the arts
to flourish, and Greece, who was the mo-
ther of them. The Barbarians were kept 120.
in awe by his arms and authority. He re- 123.
built Jerufalem, to which he gave his 126.
name, and from thence too it derives the 127-
name
120
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
130.
131.
135.
138.
139.
161.
162.
169.
180.
name of Ælia; but he baniſhed the Jews
out of it, who were ever rebels to the
empire. That ftubborn race found in him
a mercileſs avenger.
He fullied by his
cruelties, and monftrous loves, the luftre
of fo bright a reign. His infamous Anti-
nous, of whom he made a god, throws
ſhame upon his whole life. But the empe-
ror ſeemed to make amends for his faults,
and, in fome degree, to retrieve his effac-
ed glory, by adopting Antoninus Pius,
who alſo adopted Marcus Aurelius the
fage and philofopher. In theſe two princes
appear two beautiful characters. The fa-
ther, ever at peace, is always ready, upon
occafion, to make war: the fon, ever at
war, is always ready to give peace, both
to his enemies, and to the empire. His
father Antoninus had taught him, that it
was better to ſave one citizen, than to de-
feat a thouſand enemies. The Parthians
and Marcomani experienced the valour of
Marcus Aurelius: the latter were Germans,
to whom the emperor was giving the finiſh-
ing ſtroke, when he died. By the virtue
of the two Antonines, that name became
the darling of the Romans. The glory of
ſo illuſtrious a name was not defaced, by
all the effeminacy of Lucius Verus, bro-
ther to Marcus Aurelius, and his partner
in the empire, nor yet by the brutalities of
Commodus his fon and fucceffor. This
laft,
An Univerfal Hiftory.
121
laft, unworthy of fuch a father, forgot A. D.
both his inftructions and example. The
fenate and people abhorred him: his moft 192.
affiduous minions, and his miftrefs, put 193.
him to death. His fucceffor Pertinax,`a
vigorous afferter of military difcipline, fell
a facrifice to the fury of the licentious
foldiers, who had, but a little before,
forced the fovereign power upon him.
The empire, expofed to auction, found
a purchaſer. The lawyer Didius Julia- 194.
nus ventured upon this bold bargain: but 195•
it coft him his life. Severus Africanus put 198.
him to death, revenged Pertinax, paffed &c.
from the Eaft to the Weft, triumphed in 207.
Syria, Gaul, and Great-Britain. The ra- 208.
pid conqueror equaled Cefar by his victo- 209.
ries; but imitated not his clemency. He 211.
was not able to make peace amongſt his 212.
own children. Baffian, or Caracalla, his
eldeſt fon, a falfe imitator of Alexander,
immediately upon his father's death, mur-
dered his brother Geta, who was emperor
as well as himſelf, in the arms of Julia
their common mother; ſpent his life in
cruelty and carnage, and brought himſelf
to a tragical end. Severus had gained him
the hearts of the foldiers and people, by
giving him the name of Antoninus
; but
he could not fupport the glory of it.
The Syrian Heliogabalus, or rather Alaga- 218.
balus, his fon, or at leaft reputed fuch,
though
G
122
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
222.
A. D. though the name of Antoninus had given
him at firft the hearts of the foldiers and
victory over Macrinus, he became prefent-
ly after, by his infamous conduct, the hor-
rour of mankind, and deftroyed himſelf.
Alexander Severus, fon of Mameus, his
coufin and fucceffor, lived too fhort while.
for the good of the world. He complain-
ed, that he had more difficulty in reſtrain-
ing his foldiers, than in conquering his ene-
235. mies. His mother, who governed him,
was the cauſe of his ruin, as ſhe had been
of his glory. Under his reign Artaxerxes
the Perfian killed his mafter Artabanus,
the laſt king of the Parthians, and reſtor-
ed the empire of the Perfians in the Eaſt.
233.
Tertull.
In theſe times the yet infant church was
adv. Jud. filling the whole earth, and not only the
7. Apol. 37. Eaft, where fhe had taken her rife, that
107.
is, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Afia Minor,
and Greece; but alſo in the Weft, be-
fides Italy, the feveral nations of the
Gauls, all the provinces of Spain, Afric,
Germany, Great-Britain in places im-:
penetrable to the Roman arms; and was
even gaining ground without the empire,
in Armenia, Perfia, the Indies, among
the moſt barbarous nations, the Sarmati-
ans, Dacians, Scythians, Getulians, and
as far as the moſt unknown ifles. The
blood of her martyrs rendered her fruit-
ful. Under Trajan, St. Ignatius, biſhop
of
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
123
of Antioch, was expofed to wild beafts. A. D.
Marcus Aurelius, unhappily prepoffeffed
with the calumnies with which Chriftiani-
ty was charged, put to death Juftin the 163.
philoſopher, and apologiſt for the Chriftian
religion. Polycarp, biſhop of Smyrna, St. 167.
John's difciple, at the age of fourfcore,
was condemned to the ſtake under the
fame prince. The holy martyrs of Lions 177.
and Vienne endured unheard of torments,
after the example of Photin their biſhop, a
man of ninety years. The Gallican church
filled the whole world with its glory. St.
Ireneus, difciple of St. Polycarp, and St.
Photin's fucceffor, imitated his predecef- 202
for, and died a martyr under Severus, with
a great number of the faithful of his church.
Sometimes the perfecution abated. Mar-
cus Aurelius happening once in Germany 174.
to be in extreme want of water, a Chrift-
ian legion, obtained a rain fufficient to
quench the thirſt of his army, and accom-
panied with peals of thunder, which ftruck
terrour into his enemies. The name of
Thunderer was given or confirmed to that
legion by this miracle. The emperor was
touched with it, and wrote to the fenate in
favour of the Chriftians. Butat laſt his footh-
fayers perfuaded him to attribute to his
gods, and to his prayers, a miracle, which
the Pagans did not fo much as dream of de-
firing. Other cauſes fufpended, or af-
G 2
fwaged
124
An Univerſal Hiftory.
A. D.
213.
fwaged fometimes the perfecution, for a
while; but fuperftition, a vice, which
Marcus Aurelius could not avoid, the pu-
blic hatred, and the calumnies caft upon the
Chriſtians, ſtill too quickly prevailed again :
the fury of the heathens rekindled, and
the whole empire ftreamed with the blood
of martyrs. The doctrine went along with
the fufferings. Under Severus, and a little
after, Tertullian, a prieft of Carthage,
enlightened the church by his writings, de-
fended it by an admirable apology, and de-
ferted it at laſt, being blinded by an over-
weening aufterity, and feduced by the vi-
fions of the falfe prophet Montanus. Much
about the ſame time the pious prieft Cle-
mens Alexandrinus laid open the iniquities
of paganiſm, in order to confute him. Ori-
gen, fon of the holy martyr Leonidus,
rendered himſelf celebrated throughout the
whole church, from his youth, and taught
great truths, though mixed with abun-
dance of errors. The philofopher Am-
monius made the Platonic philofophy fub-
fervient to religion, and won himſelf the
refpect of the Heathens themſelves. Mean
while the Valentinians, the Gnoftics, and
other impious fects, attack the gofpel by
falfe traditions. St. Ireneus oppoſes to them
. 1, 2, 3. the tradition, and authority, of the apo-
ftolical churches, eſpecially that of Rome
the chief, founded by the apoftles St. Pe-
Iren. lib.
ter
An Univerfal Hiftory.
125
ter and St. Paul. Tertullian does the fame. A. D.
The church is neither fhaken by herefies, De præfc.
nor by ſchiſms, nor by the fall of her moft adv. Hær.
c. 36.
eminent doctors. Her fanctity of manners
is fo confpicuous, that it commands the
praiſe of her enemies.
235.
242.
The affairs of the empire were imbroil-
ed in a terrible manner. After the death
of Alexander, the tyrant Maximine, who
had killed him, made himſelf maſter,
though of Gothic race.
The fenate fet 236.
up four emperors in oppofition to him, who 237.
were all cut off in less than two years. 238.
Among theſe were the two Gordians, elder
and younger, favourites of the people of
Rome. The young Gordian their fon,
though he, in the earlieſt years, difcovered
a confummate wifdom, had much ado to
defend, againſt the Perfians, the empire
enfeebled by fo many divifions. He had
retaken from them many important places.
But Philippus Arabs killed that good 244.
prince; and for fear of being overpowered
by two emperors, whom the fenate elected
one after the other, he clapped up a fhame- 245.
ful peace with Sapor king of Perfia. This
was the firſt of the Romans, who gave
up by treaty any of the empire's territo-
ries. He is faid to have embraced the
Chriſtian religion at a time, when all of a
fudden he appeared reformed; and it is
certain, that he was favourable to the
Chrift-
G 3
126
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
vi. 39.
lib. I. Hift.
251.
254.
257.
258.
Chriftians.
Out of hatred to this empe-
no
Eufeb. lib. ror, Decius, who killed him, renewed the
perfecution with greater violence than ever.
249 The church extended herſelf on all fides,
Greg. Tur. but chiefly in the Gauls, and the empire
Franc. 28. very foon loft Decius, who vigorously de-
fended it. Gallus and Volufian, paffed
away very ſwiftly: Æmilian did
more than appear: the chief power was
given to Valerian; and that venerable
old man afcended to it through all the de-
grees of dignity. He was cruel to none
but the Chriftians. Under him pope Ste-
phen and St. Cyprian, biſhop of Carthage,
notwithſtanding all their difputes, which
had made no breach of communion, re-
ceived both of them the fame crown.
St. Cyprian's error, in rejecting the baptiſm
given by heretics, hurt neither himſelf nor
the church. The tradition of the holy
fee fupported itſelf, by its own ftrength,
againſt all the fpecious arguments and au-
thority of fo great a man, although other
great men defended the fame doctrine.
Another diſpute did more mifchief. Sabel-
lius confounded the three divine perfons to-
gether, and acknowledged in the Deity only
Eufeb. Hift. one perfon under three names. This inno-
Eccl. lib.vii. vation aftoniſhed the church, and Dionyfi-
us, biſhop of Alexandria, difcovered to
pope Sixtus II. the errors of that Herefi-
arch. This holy pope quickly followed
256.
257.
c. 6.
259.
in
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
127
in the road of martyrdom, Stephen his A. D.
predeceffor: he had his head ftruck off,
and left a yet greater conflict to be main-
tained by his deacon St. Laurence. Then 258.
do we fee begin the inundation of the Bar- 259.
barians. The Burgundians, and other 260.
people of Germany, and the Goths, for-
merly called Getæ, poured into the em-
pire; other nations, which inhabited about
the Euxine fea, and beyond the Danube,
entered into Europe: the Eaſt was invaded
by the Afiatic Scythians, and the Perfians.
Theſe defeated Valerian, whom they af-
terwards took in a treacherous manner,
and after letting him linger out his days in
a painful flavery, they flea'd him, in order
to make his skin a monument of their
victory. Gallian, his fon and collegue, ut- 261.
terly ruined all by his foftnefs. Thirty ty-
rants ſhared the empire. Odenatus king of 264.
Palmyra, an ancient city, founded by So-
lomon, was the moft illuftrious: he re-
fcued theEaſtern provinces out of the hands.
of the Barbarians, and made himſelf ac-
knowledged in them. His wife Zenobia
marched with him at the head of his ar-
mies, which the commanded fingly after
his death, and rendered herſelf famous all
over the earth, for having joined chaſtity
with beauty, and conduct with courage.
Claudius II. and Aurelian after him, re- 268.
trieved the affairs of the empire. Whilft 270.
G4
thev
128
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
folit. The
A. D. they were overthrowing the Goths and
Eufeb. Hift. Germans by fignal victories, Zenobia pre-
Eccl. vii. c. ferved to her children the conquefts of
27. & feq.
Athan. ad their father. That princeſs inclined to Ju-
daifm. In order to gain her over, Paul of
hær, fab. 8. Samofata, biſhop of Antioch, a vain and
Niceph. 1. turbulent man, taught his Jewifh opinion
concerning the perfon of JESUS CHRIST,
whom he made but a mere man.
od. lib. ii.
vi, c. 27.
273.
274.
After
long diffembling fo new a doctrine, he
was convicted and condemned at the coun-
cil of Antioch. Queen Zenobia maintain-
ed the war againſt Aurelian, who thought
it no fcorn to triumph over fo renowned
a heroine. Amidft continual wars, he
knew how to keep up the Roman diſcipline
amongſt his foldiers, and fhewed, that by
following the ancient regulations, and the
ancient frugality, great armies might be
kept on foot, both at home and abroad,
without being a charge to the empire.
Hift. Aug. Then begun the Francs to grow formidable.
Aurel. c. 7. Theſe were a confederacy of German
Flor. c. 2. ftates, who dwelled along the Rhine.
12. Firm. Their name ſpeaks them united from the
&c. c. 13. love of liberty. Aurelian had beat them,
when a private perfon, and kept them in
aw, when emperor. That prince made
himſelf hated by his bloody actions. His
wrath too much dreaded occafioned his
death. Thoſe who thought themſelves in
hazard, refolved to be before-hand with
Prob. c. II,
275.
him;
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
129
put
him; and his fecretary being threatened, A. D.
himſelf at the head of the combination.
The army who faw him cut off by the
confpiracy of fo many chiefs, refuſed to
chufe an emperor, for fear of fetting one
of Aurelian's affaffins on the throne; and
the ſenate reſtored to its ancient right,
elected Tacitus. This new prince was
venerable for his age, and for his virtue :
but he became odious through the violences
of a kinſman, to whom he gave the com-
mand of the army, and periſhed with him
in a fedition the fixth month of his reign. 276.
Thus his promotion ferved only to fhorten
his days. His brother Florian claimed the
empire by right of fucceffion, as being the
neareſt heir. This right, however, was
not acknowledged: Florian was killed, and
Probus forced by the foldiers to accept the
empire, though he threatened to keep them
in order. Every thing yielded under fo 277.
great a captain; the Germans and Francs, 278.
who attempted to enter the Gauls, were 280.
repulſed; and in the Eaft, as well as Weft,
all the Barbarians reverenced the Roman
arms. So formidable a warriour aſpired at
peace, and gave the empire to hope it
ſhould have no more occafion for military
men. The army revenged that infinuation, 282.
and the ftrict regulations their emperor
made them obferve. The moment after,
confounded at the violence they had uſed
G 5
to
130
An Univerfal History.
A. D.
-284.
to fo great a prince; they honoured his
memory, and gave him for fucceffor, Carus,
who was no leſs zealous for diſcipline than
283. himſelf. This valiant prince revenged his
predeceffor, and quelled the Barbarians, to
whom the death of Probus had given freſh
courage. He marched into the Eaft to
fight the Perfians with Numerian his fecond
fon, and fent againſt the northern enemies.
his eldeſt fon Carinus, whom he made
Cefar. This was the fecond dignity, and
next step to the empire. The whole
Eaſt trembled before Carus: Mefopotamia
fubmitted: the divided Perfians could not
refift him. Whilſt every thing gave way
to him, Heaven ftopt his career, by a
flash of lightning. Numerian almoft cried
out his eyes for him. What dire effects has
the defire of reigning upon the heart! His
father-in-law Aper, far from being touched
with his diſtreſs, murdered him: but Diocle-
tian revenged his death, and arrived at length
to the empire, which he had fo ardently
defired. Carinus roufed himſelf in ſpite
of his foftneſs, and beat Diocletian; but
was flain, in the purfuit, by one of his own
men, whoſe wife he had debauched. Thus
the empire got rid of the moſt violent and
moſt abandoned of all men. Diocletian
governed with vigour, but with an infup-
portable vanity. In order to make head
againſt fo many enemies, that were rifing
285.
286.
up
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
131
Eufeb. Hift.
cœt. 25.
up againſt him on all fides, both at home A. D.
and abroad, he named Maximian emperor
with him; but took care, however, to pre-
ſerve the chief authority to himſelf. Each
emperor made a Cefar. Conftantius Chlo- 291.
rus and Galerius were raiſed to that high
tation. The four princes were hardly able
to fupport the burden of fo many wars.
Diocletian fled Rome, which he found
too free, and fettled at Nicomedia, where
he obtained adoration, after the manner of
the people of the Eaft. Mean while the 297..
Perfians, vanquiſhed by Galerius, gave up lib. viii. 13.
to the Romans large provinces, and whole Orat. Conft.
kingdoms. After fo great fucceffes, Gale- ad fanet.
rius will no longer be a ſubject, and fcorns Lact. de
the name of Cefar. He begins with inti- mort. Perf,
midating Maximian. A long illnefs had. 17, 18.
funk the ſpirit of Diocletian, and Galerius,
though his fon-in-law, forced him to quit.
the reins of empire. Maximian was oblig-
ed to follow his example. Thus the em--
pire came into the hands of Conftantius.
Chlorus, and Galerius; and two new Ce-
fars, Severus and Maximine, were created
in their place by the depofed emperors: 304..
The Gauls, Spain, and Great-Britain were
happy, but too fhort while, under Con-
ftantius Chlorus. Being an enemy to ex-
tortion, and therefore accuſed of ruining
the Finances, he fhewed that he had im-
menfe treaſures in the good-will of his
fub-
132
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
24.
fubjects The reft of the empire fuffered
greatly under fo many emperors and Ce-
fars: officers multiplied with princes ex-
Lact. Ibid. pences and exactions were infinite. Young
Conftantine, fon of Conftantius Chlorus,
begun to diftinguiſh himſelf: but he was in
the hands of Galerius. That emperor,
jealous of his rifing glory, expofed him dai-
ly to new perils. He was obliged to fight
wild beafts by way of exerciſe: but Gale-
rius was no lefs to be feared than they.
Conftantine having at length got out of his
306. hands, found his father expiring. At this
time Maxentius, fon of Maximian, and
fon-in-law of Galerius, made himſelf em-
peror at Rome, in ſpite of his father-in-
law; and inteftine diviſions were added to
the other calamities of the ftate. The
La&. de
307.
morte perf. image of Conftantine, who had juft fuc-
. 26, 27. ceeded his father, being carried to Rome,
according to cuftom, was rejected there by
order of Maxentius. The receiving of the
images was the ufual form of acknowledg
ing new princes. War is prepared for on
all fides. The Cefar Severus, whom Ga-
lerius fent againſt Maxentius, made him
tremble in the heart of Rome. In order
to procure fome comfort under his panic,
he recalled his father Maximian. The am-
bitious old man quitted his retreat, where
he was but with reluctance; and endea-
voured, in vain, to draw Diocletian his
col-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
133
collegue from the garden he cultivated at A. D.
Salona. At the name of Maximian, a ſe-
cond time emperor, Severus's foldiers de-
fert him. The old emperor cauſes him to
be put to death; and at the fame time, to
ftrengthen himſelf againſt Galerius, he gives
bis daughter Faufta to Conftantine. Gale-
rius wanted alſo fome fupport after the Lact. ibid.
death of Severus: and this it was that made 31,32.
him refolve to name Licinius emperor: but
this choice provoked Maximine, who, in
quality of Cefar, thought himſelf neareſt to
the fupreme dignity. Nothing could per-
fuade him to fubmit to Licinius, and he
rendered himſelf independent in the Eaft.
28, 29, 30,
There remained fcarce any thing to Ga-
lerius but Illyria, whither he had retired,
when driven out of Italy. The reft of the
Weft obeyed Maximian, his fon Maxen-
tius, and his fon-in-law Conſtantine. But
he did not chufe his own children, any
more than ſtrangers, for partners in the
empire. He endeavoured to drive his fon 310.
Maxentius out of Rome, but was expelled
by him. Conftantine, who received him
into the Gauls, found him no leſs perfi-
dious. After various attempts, Maximian
formed a final plot, in which he thought
to have engaged his daughter Faufta againſt
her husband. She deceived him; and Lact. ibid.
Maximian, who fancied he had killed
Conftantine, by killing the eunuch they
had
42, 43.
312.
134
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. D.
Eufeb. viii.
16. de vit.
Lact, de
had put in his bed, was forced to lay v io-
lent hands on himſelf. A new war breaks
out; and Maxentius, under pretext of re-
venging his father, declares againſt Con-
ftantine, who marches to Rome with his
troops. At the fame time, he cauſes the
ftatues of Maximian to be thrown drown:
thofe of Diocletian, which ſtood next to
them, fhared the fame fate. Diocletian's
repofe was diſturbed by this piece of con-
tempt, and he died fome time after, as much
of vexation as old age.
In thoſe times Rome, a conftant enemy
Hift. Eccl. to Chriſtianity, made a laſt effort to ex-
Conft. i. 57. tinguifh it, inſtead of which ſhe compleated
its eſtabliſhment. Galerius, marked by
hiftorians as the author of the laft perfecu-
tion, two years before he had obliged Di-
ocletian to quit the empire, forced him to
make that bloody edict, which command-
ed the Chriftians to be perfecuted more vi-
olently than ever. Maximian, who hated
them, and had never ceafed tormenting
them, fpirited up the magiſtrates and exe-
cutioners but his violence, however ex-
ceffive, did not equal that of Maximine and
Galerius. New puniſhments were daily
invented. The modefty of the Chriftian
virgins was no lefs attacked than their
faith. The ftricteft fearch was made for
the facred books, in order to aboliſh the ve-
ry memory of them, and the Chriftians.
durft
mort, perf.
9 & feq.
302.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
135
durft not have them in their houfes, nor al-A. D.
moſt preſume to read them.
Thus, after
three hundred years perfecution, the ma-
lice of the perfecutors became ftill more in-
The Chriftians wearied them
veterate.
out by their patience. The people, touch-
ed with their holy life, turned converts
in great numbers. Galerius defpaired of
being able to fupprefs them. Struck with 311.
an extraordinary difeafe, he revoked his
edicts, and died the death of Antiochus,
with as falfe a repentance. Maximine con- 312.
tinued the perfecution: but Conſtantine
the great, a wife and victorious prince,
publicly embraced Chriſtianity.
or the peace
THIS celebrated declaration of Conftan-XI Epoch.
tine happened in the 312th year of our Conftantine,
Lord. Whilft he was befieging Maxentius of the
in Rome, a flaming crofs appeared to him church,
in the air, before all the people, with an
infcription that promiſed him victory: the
fame thing is confirmed to him in a dream,
Next day he gained that celebrated battle,
which ridded Rome of a tyrant, and the
church of a perfecutor. The cross was
diſplayed as the defence of the Roman
people, and of the whole empire. A little 313
after Maximine was vanquished by Licini-
us, who was then in good terms with
Conſtantine, and made an exit like that of
Galerius. Peace was given to the church.
Conftantine loaded her with honours and
riches.
135
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
315.
324.
325.
Gel. Syric.
Nic. lib. ii.
Hift. Con.
6.27.
326.
riches.
Victory.followed him wherever he
went, and the Barbarians were quelled, as
well by him as his children. Mean time
Licinius falls out with him, and renews
the perfecution. Beat by fea and land, he
is forced to quit the empire, and at laſt to
lofe his life. About this time Conftantine
affembled at Nice in Bithynia the firft ge-
neral council, where 311 bifhops, who
repreſented the whole church, eondemned
the prieſt Arius, oppoſer of the divinity of
the fon of God; and drew up the creed,
wherein the confubftantiality of the father
and fon is eſtabliſhed. The prieſts of the
Roman church, fent by pope Sylvefter,
took place of all the bifhops in that af-
fembly, and an ancient Greek author-reck-
ons among the legates of the holy fee, the
celebrated Ofius biſhop of Corduba, (now
Cordova) who prefided at the council.
Conftantine took his feat in it, and re-
ceived its decifions as an oracle from Hea-
The Arians concealed their errors,
and recovered his good graces by diffimula-
tion. Whilft his valour maintained the em-
pire in profound tranquillity, his own fa-
mily's peace was diſturbed by the artifices
of Faufta his wife. Crifpus, fon of Con-
ftantine, but of another marriage, being
accuſed by this ſtep-mother, of having at-
tempted to feduce her, found his father in-
flexible. His death was quickly revenged.
ven.
Faufta
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
137
Faufta, convicted, was fuffocated in the A. D.
bath. But Conftantine, diſhonoured by the
wickedness of his wife, derived at the fame
time a great deal of honour from the piety
of his mother. She difcovered in the ru-
ins of the ancient Jerufalem, the true croſs,
faid to have been productive of miracles.
The holy fepulchre was alſo found. The
new city of Jerufalem, which Hadrian had
built, the grotto where the Saviour of the
world was born, and all the holy places
were adorned with ſtately temples by He-
len and Conftantine. Four years after, 330.
the emperor rebuilt Byzantium, which he
called Conftantinople, and made it the ſe-
cond fee of the empire. The church,
peaceful under Conftantine, was cruelly
afflicted in Perfia. An infinite number of
martyrs fignalized their faith. The em-
peror endeavoured in vain to pacify Sapor,
and bring him over to Chriftianity. Con-
ftantine's protection afforded the perfecuted
Chriſtians, only a favourable retreat. This
prince, bleffed by the whole church, died 337.
full of joy and hope, after dividing the em-
pire amongſt his three fons, Conftantine,
Conftantius and Conftans. Their unity
was foon diſturbed. Conftantine periſhed 340.
in the war he had with his brother Con-
ftans, about the limits of their empire.
Conftantius and Conftans agreed but little
better. Conftans maintained the Nicene
336.
faith,
138
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
341.
Soc. Hift.
Eccl. ii. 15.
Sozom. iii.
8.
350.
35I.
353.
357.
359.
faith, which Conftantius as ftrenuouſly op-
pofed. Then did the church admire the
long fufferings of St. Athanafius, patriarch
of Alexandria, and defender of the council
of Nice. Thruſt out of his fee by Con-
ftantius, he was canonically re-inveſted by
pope Julius I. and Conftans ratified the de-
cree. This good prince lived not long.
The tyrant Magnentius treacherously mur-
dered him but foon after being vanquiſh-
ed by Conftantius, he killed himſelf alfo.
In the battle, wherein his affairs were ruin-
ed, Valens, an Arian biſhop, having had
private intelligence from his friends, affured
Conftantius, that the tyrant's army was
put to flight, and made the weak emperor
believe that he knew it by revelation. Upon
this forged' revelation, Conftantius delivers
himſelf over to the Arians. The ortho-
dox biſhops are expelled their fees: the
whole church is filled with confufion and
trouble: the conftancy of pope Liberius
gives way to the tediouſneſs of exile: tor-
ments overcome old Ofius, formerly the
main pillar of the church: the council of
Rimini, fo fteady at firft, yields at lat
through furprize and violence: nothing is
done in order or form: the emperor's au-
thority is the only law: but the Arians,
who have thereby the whole management,
cannot agree among themſelves, and change
their creed every day: the Nicene faith
ftands
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
139
2
ſtands firm: St. Athanafius, and St. Hilary A. D.
biſhop of Poitiers, its principal champions,
make themſelves renowned over all the
earth. Whilft the emperor Conftantius,
taken up with the affairs of Arianifm, neg-
lected thoſe of the empire, the Perfians got
great advantages. The Germans and 357.
Francs attempted on all hands an entrance 358.
into the Gauls. Julian the emperor's cou- 359.
fin, ftopt their career, and beat them.
The emperor himſelf defeated the Sarma- 360.
tians, and marched againſt the Perfians. 361.
Then appear Julian's revolt againſt the
emperor, his apoftacy, the death of Con-
ſtantius, the reign of Julian, his equitable
government, and the new kind of perfecu-
tion he made the church undergo. He fo-
mented her divifions; he excluded the
Chriftians not only from honours, but
from ſtudies; and by imitating the holy
diſcipline of the church, he thought to
turn her own arms againſt her. Punish-
ments were contrived, and appointed, un-
der other pretexts, than that of religion.
The Chriſtians continued faithful to their
emperor; but that glory he too greedily 363.
purfued, proved the cauſe of ſhortening his
days: he was flain in Perfia, where he 364.
had engaged himſelf rafhly. Jovian his 366.
fucceffor, a zealous Chriftian, found 367.
things defperate, and lived only to conclude 368.
a fhameful peace. After him Valentinian 370.
made 371.&c.
140
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
hær. 53.
made war like a great captain: he carried
his fon Gratian very young to it, maintain-
ed military difcipline, beat the Barbarians,
fortified the frontiers of the empire, and
protected the Nicene faith in the Weft.
Valens his brother, whom he made his col-
legue, perfecuted it in the Eaft; and nei-
ther being able to gain nor to cruſh St. Ba-
fil and St. Gregory Nazianzen, he gave
over all hopes of conquering it. Some A-
rians added new errors to the former tenets
Epiph. hær. of the fect. Aerius, an Arian prieft, is
75. Aug. branded in the writings of the fathers as au-
thor of a new herefy, for having put the
priesthood on a level with the Epifcopate,
and for having judged uſeleſs the prayers
and oblations, which the whole church
made for the dead. A third error of that
Herefiarch was, his reckoning among the
fervitudes of the law, the obſervance of
certain ftated fafts, and pretending, that
fafting ſhould always be free. He was ftill
alive, when St. Epiphanius wrote his ce-
lebrated hiſtory of herefies, wherein he is
375. refuted with the reft. St. Martin was made
biſhop of Tours, and filled the whole
world with the noiſe of his fanctity and mi-
racles, not only during his life-time, but
after his death. Valentinian died after a
violent ſpeech he made to the enemies of
the empire: his impetuous paffion, which
rendered him dreaded by others, at laſt
proved
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
141
proved fatal to himſelf. Gratian his fuc- A. D.
ceffor beheld without envy the promotion
of his younger brother Valentinian II. who
was made emperor, though but nine years
old. His mother Juftina, a protectrefs of
the Arians, governed during his minority.
Here we ſee in a few years fome wonderful
events: the revolt of the Goths againſt
Valens; that prince leaving the Perfians to 377.
fupprefs the rebels; Gratian hafting to join 378.
him, after getting a fignal victory over the
Germans: Valens, refolving to conquer
alone, precipitates the fight, in which he
is routed near Adrianople. The Goths,
victorious, burn him alive in a village, whi-
ther he had retired. Gratian, overbur-
dened with affairs, affociates in the empire
the great Theodofius, and quits to him
the Eaft. The Goths are vanquished: all
the Barbarians are kept in awe, and, what
Theodofius no leſs valued, the Macedoni-
an heretics, who denied the divinity of the
Holy Ghoft, are condemned in the council 381.
of Conftantinople. There was none but
the Greek church there: the conſent of all
the Weft, and of pope Damafus, con-
ferred on it the appellation of the fecond
general council. Whilft Theodofius go-
verned with fo much fortitude and fuccefs,
Gratian, who was no lefs valiant or pious, 383.
being deferted by his troops wholly made
up of foreigners, fell a facrifice to the ty-
rant
379
142
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
386.
387.
388.
392.
rant Maximus. The church and empire
lamented that good prince. The tyrant
reigned in the Gauls, and feemed to con-
tent himſelf with that district. The em-
prefs Juftina publiſhed, under her fon's
name, edicts in favour of Arianiſm. St.
Ambrofe, biſhop of Milan, oppoſed to her
nothing but found doctrine, prayers and
patience, and made fhift by fuch arms, not
only to preſerve to the church the cathe-
drals, which the heretics wanted to poffefs,
but alſo to gain over the young emperor.
In the mean time Maximus is ſtirring again,
and Juftina finds none more faithful than
the holy biſhop, whom fhe was treating
as a rebel.
She fends him to the tyrant,
who proves inflexible to all he can fay.
The young Valentinian is forced to take
flight with his mother. Maximus makes
himſelf mafter at Rome, where he revives
the facrifices of the falfe gods, in com-
plaiſance to the fenate, ftill almoſt wholly
pagan. After he had got poffeffion of all
the Weft, and at the time he thought
himſelf moft fecure, Theodofius, affifted
by the Francs, defeated him in Pannonia,
befieged him in Aquileia, and fuffered him
to be flain by his foldiers. Now abfolute
mafter of both empires, he reftored that
of the Weft to Valentinian, who did not
keep it long. This young prince both pro-
moted and degraded in extremes Arboga-
ftus,
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
F43
394,
ftus, a captain of the Francs, valiant and A. D.
difintereſted; but capable of maintaining,
by all fort of crimes, the power he had
acquired over the troops. He raiſed the
tyrant Eugenius, who could do nothing
but talk, and killed Valentinian, who
would no longer have the proud Franc for
his maſter. This deteftable deed was done
hard by Vienne, in the country of the
Gauls. St. Ambrofe, whom the young
emperor had ſent for, in order to receive
baptiſm from him, deplored his lofs, and
had good hopes of his falvation. His
death did not remain unpuniſhed. A vi-
fible miracle gave Theodofius victory over
Eugenius, and the falfe gods, whofe wor-
ſhip that tyrant had re-eſtabliſhed. Euge-
nius was taken: there was a neceffity of
making him a facrifice to the public ven-
geance, and to quafh the rebellion by his
death. The haughty Arbogaftus killed
himſelf, rather than have recourfe to the
conqueror's clemency, which all the reft
of the rebels had experienced. Theodo-
fius now alone was the delight, and won-
der of the world. He fupported religion;
he put heretics to filence; he aboliſhed the
impure facrifices of the Heathens; he cor-
rected effeminacy, and reftrained fuperflu-
ous expences. He humbly confeffed his
faults, and fincerely repented of them.
He liftened to St. Ambrofe, a celebrated 390.
doctor
3
144
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
395.
386.
doctor of the church, who reproved him
for his paffion, the only vice of fo great
a prince. Though always victorious, he
never made war but through neceffity.
He rendered the nations happy, and died
in peace, more glorious by his faith than
his victories. In his time St. Jerom, a
387.1 prieft, having retired to the facred grotto
of Bethlehem, undertook immenfe labours,
in order to expound the Scripture: he
read all the interpreters, fearched all the
hiſtories, both facred and profane, that
could give any light to it, and compoſed
from the original Hebrew that verfion of
the Bible, which the whole church has re-
ceived under the name of Vulgate. The
empire, that ſeemed invincible under The-
odofius, changed its afpect all at once un-
der his two fons. Arcadius had the Eaft,
and Honorius the Weft: they both, being
governed by their magiftrates, made their
power fubfervient to private intereſts. Ru-
finus and Eutropius, fucceffively favourites
of Arcadius, and one as wicked as the
other, quickly fell; and affairs went never
the better under fo weak a prince. His
wife Eudoxia made him perfecute St. John
Chryfoftom, patriarch of Conftantinople,
and the light of the Eaft. Pope Innocent,
and all the Weft, fupported that great bi-
fhop against Theophilus, patriarch of Alex-
andria, miniſter of the emprefs's violence.
395.
399.
403.
404.
The
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
145
The Weft was difturbed by the incurfion A. D.
of Barbarians. Radagaife,
Radagaife, a Goth and 406.
Heathen, ravaged Italy. The Vandals, a & foll.
Gothic and Arian nation, feized on part
of Gaul, and ſpread themſelves into Spain.
Alaric, king of the Vifigoths, an Arian
people, compelled Honorius to yield up to
him thoſe large provinces already poffeffed
by the Vandals. Stilico, embaraffed with
fo many Barbarians, beats them, favours
them, plays booty with them, breaks 408.
with them, facrifices all to his intereft;,
and, nevertheleſs, preferves the empire,
which he had a defign to ufurp. Mean
while Arcadius died, who thought the Eaſt
fo deftitute of good fubjects, that he put
his fon Theodofius, a child of eight years
old, under the tuition of Ifdegerd, king of
Perfia. But Pulcheria, the young empe-
ror's fifter, proved capable of great affairs.
Theodofius's empire was fupported by the
prudence, and piety of that princeſs.
That of Honorius feemed near its ruin.
He caufed Stilico to be put to death, but
could not fill his place with fo able a mini-
fter. The revolt of Conftantine, the total 409.
lofs of Gaul and Spain, the taking and 410.
facking of Rome by the arms of Alaric
and the Vifigoths, were the confequences
of Stilico's death. Ataulph, more furious.
than Alaric, pillaged Rome a-new, and
thought of nothing lefs than abolishing the
H
Roman
146
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
413.
414.
415.
420.
423.
424.
412.
413.
416.
Roman name: but for the happineſs of the
empire, he feized Placidia the emperor's
fifter. That captive princefs, whom he
married, mollified him. The Goths treat-
ed with the Romans, and eſtabliſhed them-
felves in Spain, reſerving in the Gauls the
provinces that lay towards the Pyrenees.
Their king Vallia conducted thoſe great
defigns wifely. Spain fhewed her conſtan-
cy, nor did her faith fuffer any alteration
under the dominion of thofe Arians. Mean
while the Burgundians, a German people,
feized upon the neighbourhood of the
Rhine, whence by degrees they gained the
country that ſtill bears their name. The
Francs did not forget themſelves: refolved
to make new efforts to open a paſſage into
the Gauls, they raiſed to the royalty Pha-
ramond, fon of Marcomir; and the mo-
narchy of France, the moft ancient and
moft noble in the world, took its rife un-
der him. The unfortunate Honorius died
without iffue, and without providing for
the empire. Theodofius named emperor
his coufin Valentinian III. fon of Placidia
and of Conftantius her fecond husband; and
placed him, during his minority, under
the guardianship of his mother, to whom
he gave the title of emprefs. In thofe
times Celeftius and Pelagius denied original
fin, and the grace whereby we are Chrift-
ians, In fpite of their diffimulations, the
African
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
147
The A. D.
African councils condemned them.
popes, Innocent and Zozimus, whom pope 417.
Celeſtine afterwards followed, ratified the
fentence, and extended it throughout all
the world. St. Auguftine confuted thoſe
dangerous heretics, and enlightened the
whole church by his admirable writings.
The fame father, backed by St. Profper
his difciple, ftopped the mouths of the
Demi-pelagians, who attributed the be-
ginning of juftification and faith to the fole
power of free-will. An age fo unfortun-
ate for the empire, and which gave birth
to fo many herefies, proved, nevertheless,
happy for chriſtianity. No commotion
ſhook it, no herefy corrupted it. The
church, fruitful in great men, confounded
all errors. After the perfecutions, God
was pleaſed to make the glory of his mar-
tyrs to fhine forth confpicuous: all hiſto-
ries and other writings, are full of the mi-
racles, which their aid implored, and
tombs honoured, wrought through the
whole earth. Vigilantius, who oppofed 406.
fo received opinions, being refuted by St. Hier. cont.
Vigil. Gens
Jerom, remained without a follower: the nad. de-
Chriftian faith grew daily ftronger, and fcript. Decl,
more extended. But the empire of the
Weſt was at the loweſt extremity: attack-
ed by fo many enemies, it was alſo weak-
ened by the jealoufies of its generals.
By the artifices of Aetius, Boniface, count
H 2
of
148
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
429.
430.
430.
of Afric, became fufpected by Placidia.
The count, ill uſed, brought from Spain
Genferic and the Vandals, whom the Goths
were expelling that country, and too late
repented his calling them. Afric was
taken from the empire. The church ſuf-
fered infinite calamities from the violence
of thofe Arians, and faw a noble army of
martyrs crowned. Two dreadful herefies
arofe: Neftorius, patriarch of Conftanti-
nople, divided the perfon of JESUS CHRIST;
and twenty years after, Eutyches, an ab-
bot, confounded his two-fold nature. St.
Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, oppofed
Neftorius, who was condemned by pope
Celeftine. The council of Ephefus, the
third general, in execution of this ſentence,
depofed Neftorius, and confirmed the de-
cree of St. Celeftine, whom the bishops.
of the council call their father in their
depof. Neſt. definition. The holy virgin was acknow-
ledged mother of God, and St. Cyril's
doctrine was celebrated over all the earth.
Theodofius, after fome ſtruggles, ſubmit-
ted to the council, and baniſhed Neftori-
us. Eutyches, who did not know how to
oppoſe that herefy without running into
another extreme, was no leſs powerfully
caft out. Pope Leo the Great, condemn-
ed him, and refuted him at the ſame time
by a letter, which was revered through
the whole world. The council of Cħal-
431.
Part ii.
Conc. Eph.
act. 1. Sent.
I.
448.
45I.
cedon,
An Univerfal 149
*
Hiftory,
ad Leon.
cedon, the fourth general, in which that A. D.
great pope held the first place, as much
from his learning as the authority of his
fee, anathematized Eutyches, and his pro-
tector Diofcorus, patriarch of Alexandria..
The council's letter to Leo fhews, that Relat. S.
that pope prefided there by his legates, as Syn. Chale,
the head over its members. The emperor Conc. Part.
Marcian affifted in perfon at that great af- 3.
fembly, after the example of Conftantine,.
and received its decifions with the fame
reſpect. He had been raiſed to the empire
but a little before, by Pulcheria's marrying
him. She was acknowledged emprefs
after the death of her brother, who had.
left no fons. But the empire muſt needs
have a maſter: Marcian's virtue procured
him that honour. During the time of theſe
two councils, Theodoret, biſhop of Cyrus,
made himſelf famous; and his doctrine
would be without blemiſh, if the violent.
writings he publiſhed againſt St. Cyril had
not ſtood in need of too great elucidations.
Theſe, however, he honeftly gave, and
was counted among the orthodox biſhops.
The Gauls begun to acknowledge the
Francs. Aetius had defended them againſt
Pharamond, and Clodio the Long-haired;
but Meroveus was more fucceſsful, and
made a furer ſettlement in them, much a-
bout the fame time that theAngles, a Saxon
people, invaded the South part of Great-
Britain.
H 3
150
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
452.
454.
455.
Britain. They gave it their name, and
there founded feveral kingdoms. Mean
time the Huns, a people from Palus Me-
otis, defolated the whole world with an
immenſe army, under the conduct of At-
tila their king, the moft fhocking of all.
men. Aetius, who defeated him in the
Gauls, could not prevent his ravaging Ita-
ly. The Adriatic iflands afforded a retreat
to many againſt his fury. Venice aroſe in
the midſt of the waters. Pope Leo, more
powerful than Aetius and the Roman ar-
mies, commanded refpect from that bar-
barous, and heathen king, and faved Rome
from pillage: but he was foon after ex-
pofed to it by the debauches of her empe
ror Valentinian. Maximus, whofe wife
he had raviſhed, found means to deſtroy
him by diffembling his refentment, and
making a merit of his complaifance. By
his deceitful counfels, the blinded empe-
ror put to death Aetius, the fole bulwark
of the empire. Maximus, author of the
murder, fpirits up the friends of Aetius to
revenge it, and fo gets the emperor killed..
By theſe ſteps he afcends the throne, and
compels the emprefs Eudoxia, daughter of
the younger Theodofius, to marry him.
In order to get out of his hands, fhe was.
not afraid to put herſelf into thoſe of Gen-
feric. Rome becomes a prey to the Bar-
barian: St. Leo alone prevents his putting
every
An Univerfal Hiftory.
151
every thing to fire and fword: the people A. D.
tear Maximus to pieces, which is their on-
ly, though difmal, confolation in their ca-
lamities. All is imbroiled in the Weft :
we there ſee ſeveral emperors rife and fall 456.
almoſt at the fame time. Majorian was 457-
the moſt confiderable. Avitus but ill fup-
ported his reputation, and faved himſelf
by a bishopric. The Gauls can no long- 458.
er hold out againſt Meroveus, and Chil-
deric his fon: but the latter had almoſt
been ruined by his debauches. If his fub- 465.
jects expelled him, a faithful friend, which
he had yet left, got him recalled. His
valour made him feared by his enemies,
and his conquefts extended a great way into
the Gauls. The Eaftern empire was peace-
able under Leo the Thracian, fucceffor to 474.
Marcian, and under Zeno, Leo's fon-in-
475.
law and fucceffor. The revolt of Bafilifcus, 476.
being foon fuppreffed, caufed but a fhort
diſturbance to that emperor: but the em-
pire of the Weſt perifhed irrecoverably.
Auguftus, commonly called Auguſtulus,
fon of Oreftes, was the laſt emperor ac-
knowledged at Rome, and immediately
after was difpoffeffed by Odoacer, king
of the Herulians. Theſe were a people
come from the Euxine fea, whoſe do-
minion lafted not long. In the Eaſt the
emperor Zeno attempted to ſignalize him-
felf in an unheard of manner. He was
A
H 4
the
152
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
482.
483.
400.
491.
492.
494.
the first of the emperors, that took upon
him to fettle points of faith. Whilſt the
Demi-Eutychians oppofed the council of
Chalcedon, he publiſhed againſt the coun-
cil his Henoticum, that is, his decree of
union, detefted by the catholics, and con-
demmed by pope Felix III. The Heruli-
ans were foon driven out of Rome by The-
odoric, king of the Oftrogoths, or Eaft
Goths, who founded the kingdom of Italy,
and allowed, though an Arian, a pretty free-
exerciſe to the Catholic religion. The
emperor Anaftafius difturbed it in the Eaft.
He trod in the fteps of Zeno his predecef-
for, and ſupported the heretics. He there-
by alienated the minds of the people, and
could never regain them, even by tak-
ing off their heavy taxes. Italy obeyed
Theodoric. Odoacer, hard put to it in
Ravenna, endeavoured to fave himſelf by a
treaty, which Theodoric did not obſerve,
and the Herulians were forced to part with
every thing. Theodoric, befides Italy,
poffeffed alfo Provence. In his time St.
Bennet, having retired into a defert in Ita-
ly, begun from his most tender years, to
practiſe the holy maxims, whereof he af-
terwards compofed that excellent rule,
which all the Weſtern monks received
with the fame regard, the Eaftern monks
pay to that of St. Bafil. The Romans
compleated the overthrow of the Gauls,
by
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
153
by the victories of Clovis, fon of Childe- A. D.
ric. He gained alfo the battle of Tolbiac 495.
over the Germans, by the vow he made
of embracing the Chriftian religion, to
which his wife Clotilda was inceffantly
perfuading him. She was of the houfe of
the kings of Burgundy, and a zealous ca-
tholic, though her family and nation were
Arian. Clovis, inftructed by St. Vaaft,
was baptized at Reims, with his French-
men, by St. Remy, biſhop of that ancient.
metropolis. He alone, of all the princes
then in the world, maintained the catholic
faith, and merited the title of Moft Chrift- 506.-
ian to his fucceffors. By the battle in 507,-
which he killed with his own hand Ala-
ric, king of the Vifigoths, Toulouſe and
Aquitain were added to his kingdom.
But the victory of She Oftrogoths prevented
his taking all as far as the Pyrenees, and
the end of his reign fullied the glory of its
beginning. His four children parted the
kingdom among them, and were continu-
ally making attacks on one another. Ana-
ftafius died, by lightning. Juftin, of mean 518..
birth, but good parts, and a thorough ca-
tholic, was made emperor by the fenate.
He fubmitted, with all his people, to the
decrees of pope Hormifdas; and put an 526,-
end to the troubles of the Eaftern church.
In his time Boetius, a man celebrated for
learning as well as birth, and Symmachus
H® 5
his
508,
510.
154
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D. his father-in-law, both raiſed to the high-
eft pofts, were facrificed to the jealoufy
of Theodoric, who groundleſsly fufpected.
them of confpiring againſt the ſtate. The
king, troubled in mind for his crime,
thought he faw the head of Symmachus in
a difh ferved up to his table, and died ſome
time after. Amalafonta his daughter, and
mother of Atalaric, who became king by
the death of his grandfather, is hindered
by the Goths from giving the young prince
the education fuitable to his birth; and
being forced to give him up to perſons of.
his own age, fhe is witneſs to his ruining
himſelf, without being able to prevent it.
The year following Juftin died, after af-
fociating in the empire his nephew Juftin-
ian, whofe long reign is celebrated for the
labours of Tribonian, compiler of the Ro-
man law, and for the exploits of Belifari---
us, and of the eunuch Narfes. Theſe two
famous captains checked the Perfians, de--
feated the Oftrogoths and Vandals, and
recovered to their maſter Afric, Italy, and
Rome: but the emperor, jealous of their
glory, without off ring to take part in their
toils, gave them always more trouble than
affiftance. The kingdom of France was
After a long
receiving new acceffions.
war, Childebert and Clotaire, fons of
Clovis, conquered the kingdom of Bur--
gundy, and at the fame time facrificed to
527.
529.
$30...
&c.
533.
534.
532.
533.
532.
their
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
155
their ambition the children, yet minors, of A. D.
their brother Clodomir, whofe kingdom
they divided between them. Some time
after, and whilft Belifarius fo vigoroufly
attacked the Oftrogoths, what they had in
the Gauls, was abandoned to the French.
France extended then far beyond the
Rhine but the particular portions of prin-
ces, which made fo many kingdoms, hin-
dered its being united under one and the
fame dominion. Its principal parts were
Neuftria, or Weft France, and Auftrafia,
or Eaſt France. The fame year that Rome 533,
was retaken by Narfes, Juftinian cauſed
to be held at Conftantinople, the fifth
general council, which confirmed the pre-
ceding ones, and condemned ſome writings
that were favourable to Neftorius. This is
what was called the three chapters, on ac-
count of the three authors, long before
dead, who were then in queftion. There
were condemned the memory and writings.
of Theodore biſhop of Mcpfuefta, a Letter
of Ibas biſhop of Edeffa, and among The-
odoret's writings, thoſe which he had
compofed againſt St. Cyril. The books
of Origen, which had diſturbed the whole
Eaſt for a century, received alſo ſentence
of reprobation. This council, though be-
gun upon bad defigns, had a happy conclu-
fion; and was received by the holy fee,
which had at firſt oppoſed it. Two years 535.
after
156
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
568.
570.
57I.
574.
A. D. after the council, Narfes, who had taken
Italy from the Goths, defended it againſt
the French, and obtained a complete vict-
ory over Buceline, general of the troops
of Auftrafia. Maugre all theſe advan-
tages, Italy continued not long in the pof-
feffion of the emperors. Under Juftin II.
Juftinian's nephew, and after the death of
Narfes, the kingdom of Lombardy was
founded by Alboin. He took Milan and
Pavia: Rome and Ravenna could hardly
keep out of his hands; and the Lombards
made the Romans fuffer the greateſt hard-
fhips. Rome was but poorly fuccoured by
her emperors, whom the Avari, a Scythi-
an nation, the Saracens, a people of Ara-
bia, and the Perfians more than all the reft,
were haraffing on all fides in the Eaft.
Juftin, who trufted none but himſelf and
his paffions, was always beat by the Per-
fians, and their king Chofroes. So many
loffes vexed him to that degree, that he
fell into a Frenzy. His wife Sophia fup-
ported the empire. The unfortunate prince
recovered his fenfes too late, and faw upon
his death-bed the villainy of his flatter-
After him, Tiberius II. whom he
had named emperor, checked the enemies,
eaſed the people, and enriched himſelf by
his alms. The victories of Maurice the
Cappadocian, general of his armies, cauf-
ed the proud Chofroes to die of the ſpleen.
579.
580.
581.
583.
ers.
They
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
157
They were rewarded with the empire, A. D.
which Tiberius gave him at his death, to-
gether with his daughter Conftantina. In
this period the ambitious Fredegunda, wife
to king Chilperic I. put all France in com-
buftion, and was continually ftirring up
bloody wars among the French kings. In
the midft of the calamities of Italy, and
while Rome was vifited with a dreadful 590.
Peftilence, St. Gregory the great was pro-
moted, notwithſtanding his modeft reluct-
ance, to St. Peter's chair. This great pope
affwages the plague by his prayers; in-
ftructs the emperors, and at the fame
time cauſes all due obedience to be paid
them; comforts Afric, and ftrengthens
it; confirms in Spain the Vifigoths con-
verted from Arianifm, and Recarede the
catholic, who had juft returned into the
bofom of the church ; converts Eng-
land; reforms the difcipline in France,
whofe kings, ever orthodox, he exalts a-
bove all the kings of the earth; bends
the haughty Lombards; faves Rome and
Italy, which the emperors were unable to
affift; checks the growing pride of the
patriarchs of Conftantinople; enlightens
the whole church by his doctrine; governs
the Eaſt and Weft with equal vigour and
humility, and affords the world a perfect
model of ecclefiaftical government. The 597.
hiſtory of the church has nothing more Beda, lib. re
beautiful
158
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
Greg. lib.
9 EP. 58.
beautiful than the entry of the holy monk
Auguſtine into the kingdom of Kent, with
forty of his companions, who, preceded
by the croſs and image of the great king,
our Lord JESUS CHRIST, made folemn
vows for the converfion of England. St.
Gregory, who had fent them, inftructed
them by letters truly apoftolical, and taught
St. Auguftine to tremble, amidst the con-
tinual miracles that God was working by
his miniſtry. Bertha, a princefs of France,
won over king Ethilbert her husband to
chriſtianity. The kings of France, and
queen Brunchault protected the new mif-
fion. The bifhops of France entered into
this good work, and it was they, who,
601. by the pope's order, confecrated St. Auſtin.
ind. 4.
604.
601.
The re-inforcement which St. Gregory fent
the new biſhop, produced new fruits, and
the Anglican church took its form. The
emperor Maurice, having experienced the
fidelity of the holy Pontif, was reclaim-
ed by his inftructions, and received from
him the commendation fo worthy of a
Chriſtian prince, that the heretics durft
never open their mouths in his time. This
pious emperor was guilty, however, of one
great fault. An infinite number of Ro-
mans periſhed amongst the hands of the
Barbarians, for want of being ranfomed at
a crown a head. We fee immediately af-
ter the good emperor's remorfe, the prayer
he
An Univerfal Hiftory.
159
7
he makes to God to punish him in this A. D.
world rather than in the next; the revolt 602.
of Phocas, who murders his whole family
before his eyes; Maurice himſelf, the laſt
put to death, and amidft all his misfortunes
uttering nothing elſe but this verſe of the
pfalmift, Righteous art thou, O Lord, Pfal. cxix,
and upright are thy judgments. Pho-
cas, raiſed to the empire by fo execrable
an action, endeavoured to gain the people, 606..
by honouring the holy fee, whofe privileg-
es he confirmed. But his doom was fix-
=
ed. Heraclius, proclaimed emperor by 610..
the African army, marched againſt him.
Then Phocas found by experience, that
debauches prove oftentimes more hurtful
to princes than even acts of cruelty; and
Photinus, whofe wife he had debauched,
delivered him up to Heraclius, who caufed.
him to be put to death. France beheld, a
little after, a much ftranger tragedy.
Queen Brunehault, given up into the
hands of Clotaire II. fell a facrifice to
·
7
י.
that prince's ambition: her memory was 614.
blackened, and her virtue, fo much com-
mended by pope Gregory, can yet ſcarce
find vindication. The empire mean while
was laid wafte. Chofroes II. king of
Perfia, under pretext of revenging Mau-
rice, had undertaken the deftruction of
Phocas. He pufhed his conquefts under
Heraclius. We fee the emperor beat, and 620%
the
160
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
621.
622.
623.
625.
626.
622.
629.
633.
the true croſs carried off by the infidels :
then, by a wonderful turn, Heraclius five
times conqueror; Perfia penetrated by the
Romans, Chofroes killed by his fon, and
the holy crofs retaken. Whilft the power
of the Perfians was fo effectually check-
ed, a greater evil broke out againſt the
empire, and againſt all chriſtendom. Ma-
homet fet himſelf up for a prophet among
the Saracens; he was expelled Mecca by
his own people. At his flight begins the
Hegyra, from whence the Mahometans
compute their years. The falfe prophet
gave his victories for the whole proof of
his miffion. In nine years he fubjected
all Arabia, either by fair or foul means,
and laid the foundation of the empire of
the Caliphs. To thefe mifchiefs were
added the herefy of the Monothelites,
who by an almoft inconceivable oddity,
while they acknowledged two natures in
our Lord, would admit of but one will.
The man, according to them, had no
will; there was in JESUS CHRIST only
the will of the word. Thefe heretics
concealed their poifon under ambiguous
terms; and a falfe love of peace. made
them propofe, that neither one, nor two
wills fhould be ſpoke of. By theſe arti
fices they impoſed on pope Honorius I. who
entered into a dangerous forbearance with
them, and confented to filence, in which
falfhood
An Univerfal Hiftory.
161
falfhood and truth were equally fuppreffed. A. D.
To complete the misfortune, fome time af- 639.
ter the emperor Heraclius took upon him
to decide the queſtion by his own authori-
ty, and propofed his ecthefis, or expofiti-
on, favourable to the Monothelites: but
the artifices of the heretics were at length
detected. Pope John IV. condemned the 640.
ecthefis. Conftans, grandſon to Heracli- 648.
us, fupported his grandfather's edict by his 649.
own, called the Type. The holy fee,
and pope Theodore, oppofe this attempt:
Pope Martin I. convocates the council of
Latran, where he anathematizes the Type,
and the heads of the Monothelites. St.
Maximus, celebrated through all the Eaft
for his piety and learning, quits the court,
infected with the new herefy, openly re-
proves the emperors, who had prefumed
to pronounce on points of faith, and fuffers
numberless hardships for the catholic re- 650.
ligion. The pope, dragged from exile to 654
exile, and ſtill harfhly treated by the em-
peror, dies, at laſt, amidſt his ſufferings,
without repining or remitting any part of
the duty of his miniftry. Mean time the
new Anglican church, ftrengthened by the
cares of popes Boniface V. and Honorius,
was fpreading abroad her luftre throughout
the whole earth. With the virtues miracles
alfó abounded, as in the apoftles days: and
nothing was more fhining than the fanctity
of
162
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
627.
634
$55.
635.
of her kings. Edwin embraced, with all
his people, the faith, which had given.
him victory over his enemies, and converted
his neighbours. Ofwald was interpreter
to the preachers of the goſpel; and, though
renowned for his conquefts, he preferred-
to them the glory of being a Chriſtian. The
Mercians were converted by the king of
Northumberland, Ofwin: their neighbours
and fucceffors followed their footſteps;
and their good works were infinite. Every
thing was going to wreck in the Eaſt.
Whilft the emperors are wafting them-
$34. felves in difputes about religion, and invent--
ing herefies, the Saracens penetrate into the
636.
empire; they ſeize on Syria and Paleſtine;
637. the holy city is fubjected to them; Perfia
is laid open by its divifions, and they
647.
take that great kingdom without reſiſtance.
648. They enter Afric, in a fair way of foon
making it one of their provinces: the
ifle of Cyprus yields them obedience, and
in leſs than thirty years they add all theſe
conqueſts to thofe of Mahomet. Italy,
ever hapless and forlorn, groaned under
the arms of the Lombards. Conftans
deſpaired of expelling them, and reſolved
to ravage what he could not defend.
More cruel than the Lombards them-
felves, he came to Rome, only to plunder
its treaſures: the very churches did not
not eſcape him: he ruined Sardinia aud
663.
Sicily;
An Univerfal Hiftory.
163
Sicily; and having become odious to all A. D.
the world, he perifhed by the hands of
his own Servants. Under his fon Con- 668.
ftantine Pogonatus, or the Bearded, the Sa- 671.
racens made themfelves mafters of Cilicia 6720
and Lycia. Conftantinople befieged was 678.
faved only by a miracle. The Bulgarians,
people from the mouth of the Volga,
joined the many enemies, with which the em-
pire was overwhelmed, and feized on that
part of Thrace, called fince Bulgaria, which
was the ancient Myfia. The Anglican
church brought forth new churches; and
St. Wilfrid, biſhop of York, being expelled
his fee, converted Friefland. The whole 680
church received a new light from the coun-
cil of Conftantinople, the fixth general
one, where pope Agatho prefided by his
legates, and explained the catholic faith by
an admirable letter. The council anathe-
matized a bishop celebrated for his learn-
ing, a patriarch of Alexandria, four patri-
archs of Conftantinople, or, all the
authors of the fect of the Monothelites; with-
out fparing pope Honorius himſelf, who
had fhewed them too much favour. Af-
ter the death of Agatho, which happened
during the council, pope Leo II. confirmed.
its decifions, and received all its anathema's,
Conftantine Pogonatus, an imitator of the
great Conftantine and of Marcian, took
his feat in the council after their example;
and
164
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
685.
pope
and as he paid it the fame fubmiffions, he
was honoured with the fame titles of or-
thodox, religious, pacific emperor, and
reftorer of religion. His Son Juftinian II.
yet a child, fucceeded him. In his time
686. the Faith extended, and diffuſed its be-
689. nign influences towards the North. St. Ki-
lian, fent by pope Conon, preached the
goſpel in Franconia. In the time of
Sergius, Ceadwalla, one of the kings of
England, came in perfon to do homage to
the Roman church, from whence the faith
had paſſed into his part of the Britannic if-
land; and after receiving baptiſm from the
pope's hands, he departed in peace ac-
cording to his wifh. The houfe of Clo-
vis was fallen into a deplorable weakneſs;
frequent minorities had degenerated the
princes into a ftate of foftnefs and effemi
nacy, which they never could get out of,
when of age. Hence-fprung a long fuc-
ceffion of drones, who had nothing but
the name of king, and left the whole
power to the Maires du Palais, or grand.
minifters of the crown. Under this title
693. Pepin Heriſtel governed every thing, and
raiſed his family to higher expectations.
By his authority, and after the martyrdom
of St. Wigbert, the faith was efta-
bliſhed in Friefland; which France had
added to her conquefts. St. Swibert, St.
Willebrod, and other apoftolical perfons,
695.
propagated
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
165
propagated the goſpel in the neighbouring A. D.
provinces. Mean time Juftinian's minority
was happily over: the victories of Leon-
tius had overthrown the Saracens, and re-
ftored the empire's glory in the Eaſt. But
that valiant captain being unjustly arrefted, 694.
and unfeaſonably releaſed, ſupplanted his 696.
mafter, and expelled him.
711.
This rebel
met with a like treatment from Tiberius,
named Abfimarus, who ftood not long.
himſelf. Juftinian, reſtored, proved
ungrateful to his friends; by revenging, 702.
himſelf of his enemies, he made more
formidable ones, who killed him. The
images of Philippicus his fucceffor were
not received in Rome, on account of
his favouring the Monothelites, and de-
claring himſelf an enemy to the fixth
council. Anaftafius II. a catholic prince,
was elected at Conftantinople, and Philippi- 713.
cus's eyes were put out. At this time
the debauches of king Roderic, or Ro-
drigo, caufed Spain to fall a prey to
the Mauri, or Moors; for fo were called
the Saracens of Afric. Count Julian, to
revenge his daughter, whom Roderic ab-
ufed, invited thofe infidels. They come
with an innumerable hoft: the king is
killed Spain is fubdued, and the em-
pire of the Goths there is extinguiſhed.
The church of Spain was put then to a
new trial: but as ſhe had ſtood her ground
under
a66
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
under the Arians, the Mahometans could
not prevail againſt her. They left her at
firft with a good deal of liberty: but
in after ages the had fevere conflicts to
maintain; and chaſtity had its martyrs
as well as faith, under the tyranny of a
nation equally brutal and infidel. Anaſta-
fius fway'd not long the imperial fceptre.
715. The army forced Theodofius III. to af-
fume the purple. A battle neceffarily en-
fued; the new emperor gained it, and Ana-
ftafius was clapt in a monaftery. The
Moors, mafters of Spain, were in hopes
of extending themfelves foon beyond the
Pyrenees; but Charles Martel, deftined
to check them, had ariſen in France, and
had fucceeded, though a baftard, to the
power of his father Pepin Heriftel; who
left Auftrafia in his family, as a kind
of fovereign principality, and the com-
mand in Neuftria, by the poft of Mai-
re du Palais. Charles united both by his
valour. The eaftern affairs were imbroiled.
Leo, the Ifaurian, governor of the Eaft,
would not acknowledge Theodofius,
who quitted without reluctance, that em-
pire which he had accepted only by force;
and retiring to Ephefus, gave himſelf up
entirely to the ftudy of true greatneſs.
The Saracens received fome great blows
during the empire of Leo. They ſhamefully
raiſed the ſiege of Conftantinople. Pela-
716.
718.
719
gius,
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
167
gius, who cantoned himſelf in the moun- A. D.
tains of Afturia, with the moſt reſolute
of the Goths, after a fignal victory,
ſet up in oppofition to thofe infidels a new
kingdom, by which they were one day to
be driven out of Spain. In fpite of the ef-
forts and vaſt army of Abderamus their
general, Charles Martel gained over them 725.
the famous battle of Tours. There fell an
infinite number of the infidels, and Abde-
ramus himſelf lay dead upon the field.
This victory was attended with other ad-
vantages, whereby Charles put a stop to
the progrefs of the Moors, and extended
the kingdom as far as the Pyrenees. There
now remained ſcarce any part of the Gauls,
that was not under the obedience of the
French; and all did homage to Charles
Martel. Mighty both in peace and war,
and abfolute mafter of the kingdom, he
reigned under feveral kings, whom he fet
up and pulled down at his pleaſure, with-
out ever preſuming to take upon him that
high title. The jealoufy of the French
lords choſe to be thus deceived. Religion
was eſtabliſhing in Germany. The prieſt
Boniface converted that people, and was
made their biſhop by pope Gregory II.
who had fent him thither. The empire
was then pretty quiet; but Leo raiſed in it
a lafting diſturbance. He attempted to
overturn, as fo many idols, the images of
JESUS
723.
768
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D.
726.
730.
JESUS CHRIST and his faints. As he
could not bring St. Germain, patriarch of
Conftantinople, over to his way of think-
ing, he acted by his own authority; and
upon a decree of the fenate, he firſt of
all broke down an image of JESUS
CHRIST, which ftood upon the great gate
of the church of Conftantinople. Thus began
the outrages of the Iconoclafts, or image-
breakers. The other images, which the em-
perors, biſhops, and all the faithful had ſet up
fince the peace of the church, both in public
and private places, were alſo pulled down.
At this ſcene the people was moved. The
ftatues of the emperor were overthrown
in different parts. He immediately thinking
his perfon affronted, was reproached with
offering a like affront to JESUS CHRIST
and his faints, and that by his own confef-
fion, the indignity offered to the image,
reflected upon the original. Italy went ftill
farther the emperor's impiety caufed him
to be refuſed the ordinary tributes. Luit-
prand, king of the Lombards, made uſe
of the fame pretext for feizing on Raven-
na, the refidence of the Exarchs: thus
were called the governors, whom the em-
perors fent into Italy. Pope Gregory II.
oppoſed the pulling down of the images:
but he at the fame time oppoſed the ene-
mies of the empire, and endeavoured to
retain the people in their obedience. Peace
was
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
169
739,
was made with the Lombards, and the em- A. D.
peror executed his decree againſt the
images with greater violence than ever.
But the famous John of Damafcus de-
clared to him, that in matters of religion,
he knew no decrees but thoſe of the church,
and ſuffered greatly on that account. The
emperor drove from his fee the patriarch
St. German, who died in exile at the age
of 90 years. A little after, the Lombards 740.
again took up arms, and in the calamities
they brought upon the Roman people, they
were reftrained only by the authority of
Charles Martel, whoſe affiftance pope Gre-
gory II. had implored. The new king-
dom of Spain, which was called, in thoſe
early times, the kingdom of Oviedo, was
receiving acceffions from the victories and
conduct of Alphonfus, fon-in-law to Pe-
lagius, who, after the example of Reca-
rede, from whom he was defcended, af
fumed the name of Catholic. Leo died,
and left the empire, as well as the church,
in a great fermentation. Artabazus, pre-
tor of Armenia, caufed himſelf to be pro-
claimed emperor inftead of Conftantine
Copronymus fon of Leo, and reftored the
images. After the death of Charles Mar-
tel, Luitprand threatened Rome anew:
the exarchate of Ravenna was in danger,
and Italy owed its fafety to the prudence 742-
of pope Zachary. Conftantine, embaraffed 743
74I
I
in
170
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
747.
752.
7.53.
in the Eaft, thought of nothing but efta-
bliſhing himſelf; he beat Artabazus, took
Conftantinople, and filled it with execu-
tions. Charles Martel's two fons, Carlo-
man and Pepin, had fucceeded to their
father's power: but Carloman growing
fick of the world, in the midſt of his
grandeur and victorics, embraced a monaft-
ic life. By this means his brother Pepin
centred the whole power in his perſon.
He knew how to fupport it by an ex-
alted merit, and formed the defign of raif-
ing himſelf to the crown. Childeric,
the moſt pitiful of all princes, opened the
way to him, by joining to the quality of a
drone, that of a natural fool. The French,
quite weary of their drones, and fo long
accuſtomed to Charles Martel's family,
ever fruitful in great men, were graveled
at nothing but the oath they had taken to
Childeric. Upon the anſwer of pope
Zachary, they thought themſelves free,
and fo much the more difengaged from
their oath of allegiance to their king, that
he and his forefathers, for two hundred
years paſt, ſeemed to have renounced their
right of ruling over them, by leaving the
whole power intailed, as it were, in the
office of Maire du Palais. So Pepin was
placed on the throne, and the name of
king was re-united with the authority.
Pope Stephen II. found in the new king
the
An Univerfal Hiftory.
171
754.
the fame zeal that Charles Martel had A. D..
fhewn for the holy fee againſt the Lom-
bards. After vainly imploring the empe-
ror's aid, he threw himfelf again into the
arms of the French. The king received
him in France with refpect, and would
be anointed and crowned by his hand. At
the fame time he paffed the Alps, deliver-
ed Rome and the exarchy of Ravenna,
and reduced Aftolph, king of the Lom-
bards, to an equitable peace. In the mean
time the emperor made war upon the
images. To fupport himſelf by ecclefi-
aftical authority, he affembled a numerous
council at Conftantinople. There did not, Cone. Nic.
however, appear, according to cuftom, ii. Act. 6.
either the legates of the holy fee, or
the bishops, or legates from the other
patriarchal fees. In this council, they not Ibid. defin.
only condemned as idolatrous, all honour Pfeudofyn,
paid to images in memory of the ori-
ginals, but they even damned fculpture
and painting as deteftable arts. This
was the opinion of the Saracens, whofe
advice Leo was faid to have followed,
when he overthrew the images. Nothing,
however, appeared againſt relics. The Ibid. Pfeu-
council of Copronymus did not forbid to dofyn. C. P.
honour them, and thundered out anathe-
ma's againſt ſuch as refuſed to have re-
courſe to the prayers of the holy virgin and
the faints. The catholics, perfecuted for
I 2
the
C. P.
Can. ix. & xi,
172.
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
A. D.
755.
the honour they paid to images, made an-
fwer to the emperor, that they had rather
endure all manner of extremities, than not
honour JESUS CHRIST in his very fha-
dow. Mean time Pepin repaſſed the Alps,
and chaftifed the faithlefs Aftolph, who
refuſed to fulfil the treaty of peace. The
Roman church never received a more noble
gift than that which that pious prince then
made her. He gave her the cities retaken
from the Lombards, and laughed at Copro-
nymus, when he redemanded what he had
not been able to defend. From that time
the emperors were but little acknowledged
in Rome; they became contemptible for
their weakneſs, and odious for their errors,
Pepin was regarded as protector of the Ro-
man people, and of the Roman church.
That quality became, as it were, heredi-
tary to his houſe, and to the kings of
France. Charlemagne, fon of Pepin, fup-
ported it with equal courage and piety.
Pope Adrian had recourfe to him againſt
Didier, king of the Lombards, who had
taken feveral cities, and was threatening all
773 Italy. Charlemagne paffed the Alps. Eve-
ry thing yielded. Didier was delivered
up: the Lombard kings, enemies to Rome,
and to the popes, were deftroyed: Char-
lemagne had himſelf crowned king of Italy,
and affumed the title of king of the
French and Lombards. At the fame time
772.
777,
he
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
173
he exerciſed in Rome itfelf the fupreme A. D.
´authority in quality of patrician, and con-
firmed to the holy fee the donations of the
king his father. The emperors had diffi-
culty to withſtand the Bulgarians, and
vainly fupported, againft Charlemagne,
the difpoffeffed Lombards. The quarrel
of the images ftill fubfifted. Leo III. fon 780.
of Copronymus, feemed at firft pretty mo-
derate; but renewed the perfecution fo
foon as he thought himſelf mafter. He
quickly died. His fon Conftantine, but
ten years old, fucceeded him, and reigned
under the tuition of the emprefs Irene his
mother. Then things begun to change 784-
their afpect. Paul, patriarch of Conftan-
tinople, declared, towards the latter end
of his life, that he had oppofed the images
contrary to his confcience; and retired in-
to a monaftery, where he deplored, in pre-
fence of the emprefs, the misfortune of the
church of Conftantinople, feparated from
the four patriarchal fees and propofed to
her the celebration of an univerfal council,
as the only remedy of fo great an evil.
Tarafius his fucceffor maintained, that the
queftion had not been judged in due order,
becauſe they had begun with a decree of
the emperor, upon which an informal
council had followed; whereas in matters
of religion, it belonged to the council to
begin, and to the emperors to fupport the
judg-
I 3
:
174
An Univerfal Hiftory.
787.
Cone. Nic.
. Act. 7.
A.D.. judgment of the church. Going upon this
argument, he accepted the patriarchate on-
ly upon condition that the univerſal coun-
cil fhould be held it was commenced at
Conftantinople, and continued at Nice.
The pope fent thither his legates: the
council of the Iconoclafts was condemned.:.
they are detefted as people, who, after the
example of the Saracens, accufed the
Chriftians of idolatry.. It was decided,
that images fhould be honoured in remem-
brance, and for the fake of the originals;
which is called in the council relative
worſhip, honorary adoration and falutation,.
as oppofed to fupreme worship, and ado-
ration of Latria, or of entire fubjection,
which the council referves for God alone.
Befides the legates of the holy fee, and
the preſence of the patriarch of Con-
ftantinople, there appeared legates from.
the other patriarchal fees, then oppreffed
by the Infidels. Some have difputed their
miffion, but what is undisputed, is, that
far from difowning them, all thofe fees
have admitted the council, without the
leaſt appearance of contradiction, and it
has been received by the whole church.
The French, encompaffed with idolaters,
or with new Chriftians, whofe ideas they
were afraid to perplex, and at the fame
time puzzled with the equivocal term ado-
ration, heſitated long. Of all the images,
they-
An Univerfal Hiftory.
175
they would pay honour to none, but that A. D.
of the crofs, as being abfolutely different
from the figures, which the Heathens be-
lieved full of divinity. They preferved,
however, the other images in an honour-
able place, and even in the churches, and
detefted the Iconoclafts. What difference
remained, made not any fchifm. The
French came at length to underſtand, that
the fathers of Nice required for images
only the fame kind of worſhip, in all due
proportion, which they themselves paid to
relics, to the book of the gofpel, and to
the cross; and this council was honoured
by all Christendom, under the name of
the ſeventh general council.
Thus have we feen the feven general
councils, which the Eaft, and the Weft,
the Greek and Latin churches, receive with
equal reverence. The emperors called thoſe
great affemblies, by the fovereign authority
they had over all the bishops, or, at leaft
over the principal ones, on whom all the
reft depended, and who were then ſub-
jects of the empire. The public vehicles
were furniſhed them by order of the princ-
es. They affembled the councils in the
Eaft, where they made their refidence, and
uſually fent thither commiffaries to main-
tain order. The bishops, thus affembled,
carried with them the authority of the
Holy Ghoft, and the tradition of the
I 4
churches.
176
An Univerfal Hiftory.
A. D.
churches. At the beginning of chriftianity
there were three principal fees, which had
the precedency of all the reft: thoſe of
Rome, Alexandria, and Anticch. The
Conc. C. P. Council of Nice had allowed the fame rank
1. Can. 3. to the biſhop of the holy city. The fecond
Conc. Chal- and fourth councils exalted the fee of
Conc. Nic.
Can. 7.
ced, Can.28.
Can. 6.
Conftantinople, and would have it to be
the fecond. Thus were there five fees,
which came, in procefs of time, to be call-
ed patriarchal. The precedency was given
them in council. Of thofe fees, the fee
of Rome was ever regarded the firſt, and
Cone Nic, the council of Nice regulated the others
by it.
There were alfo Metropolitan biſh-
ops, who were heads of provinces, and
took place of the other bifhops. It was
pretty late before they begun to be called
archbishops; but their authority was no-
thing the lefs acknowledged. When the
council was formed, the holy fcripture was
propounded; paffages of the ancient fathers,
witneffes of tradition, were read: it was
tradition that interpreted fèripture: its true
meaning was believed to be that, about
which former ages were agreed; and no
one thought he had a right to explain it
otherwiſe. Such as refuſed to ſubmit to
the decifions of the council, were anathe-
matized. The faith, being explained, ec-
clefiaftical diſcipline was fettled, and ca-
nons, that is, rules of the church, were
drawn
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
177
drawn up. It was believed, that the faith A. D.
never changed, and that though difcipline
might receive divers alterations, according
to times and places, men ought to aim,
as much as poffible, at a perfect imitation
of antiquity. In fine, the popes affiſted
only by their legates at the firſt general
councils; but they approved exprefsly of
their doctrine, and there was but one faith
in the church.
Conftantine and Irene, caufed the de- 787.
crees of the ſeventh council to be religiouſly
executed; but the reft of their conduct
was not conform. The young prince,
· whom his mother forced to marry a woman
he did not love, gave himſelf up to dif-
honourable amours; and, weary of paying
implicite obedience to his imperious mother,
he endeavoured to remove her from public
affairs, of which fhe kept the management
in fpite of him. Alphonfus the chafte 793-
reigned in Spain. The perpetual conti-
nence that prince obferved, earned him
that noble title, and rendered him worthy
to deliver Spain from the infamous tribute
of an hundred virgins, which his uncle
Mauregatus had granted to the Moors.
Threefcore and ten thouſand of thoſe In- ·
fidels killed in a battle with Mugatius
their general, evinced the valour of Al-
phonfus. Conftantine was alfo endeavour-
ing to fignalize himſelf againſt the Bulga- 795;
I 5
rians;
17,8
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
A. D..
796.
799.
XII Epoch.
magne, or,
the efta-
rians; but the fuccefs did not anſwer his
expectation. He deftroyed, at laſt, the
whole power of Irene; and being as inca-
pable to govern himſelf, as to fuffer the
government of another, he divorced his
wife Mary, in order to eſpouſe Theodora,
one of her attendants. His mother, high-
lý exafperated, fomented the troubles,
which fo great a feandal occafioned, and
by her artifices wrought the deftruction of
Conftantine. She gained the people by
moderating the taxes, and engaged the
monks and clergy in her interefts, by an
apparent piety. At length fhe was ac-
knowledged fole emprefs. The Romans,
defpifing her government, went over to
Charlemagne, who fubdued the Saxons,
checked the Saracens, deftroyed herefies,
protected the popes, won infidel nations to
chriſtianity, reſtored the fciences, and ec-
clefiaftical difcipline, affembled famous
councils, where his profound learning was
admired; and made not only France and
Italy, but Spain, England, Germany, and
every where, feel the happy effects of his
piety and juftice.
AT length, in the 800th year of our
Charle- Lord, that great protector of Rome and
Italy, or, to fay better, of the whole
blishment church and all Chriſtendom, being elected
empire. emperor by the Romans, without his
dreaming of any fuch thing, and crowned
of the new
by
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
17*
by pope Leo III. who had prompted the Ro-
man people to this choice, became founder
of the new empire, and of the temporal
greatnefs of the holy fee.
THESE, SIR, be the twelve epochs,
which I have followed in this abridgment.
I have annexed to each of them, the prin-
cipal facts that depend upon them. You
may now, without much difficulty, dif-
pofe, according to the order of time,
the great events of ancient hiſtory, and
rank them, fo to ſpeak, every one under
its own ſtandard.
I have not forgot, in this epitome, that
celebrated divifion, which chronologers
make of the duration of the world, into
ſeven ages. The beginning of each age
ferves us for an epoch: if I intermix fome
others with them, it is, that things may be
the more diftinct; and that the order of
time may unfold itſelf before you with the
lefs confufion.
you
When I ſpeak to you of the order of
time, I do not mean, SIR, that you
ſhould charge yourſelf fcrupuloufly with
every date; far lefs, that fhould enter
into all the diſputes of chronologers, which
are generally but about a few years. Con-
tentious chronology, that ftands fo criti-
cally upon thofe minute matters, has,
doubtleſs, its ufe; but it is not your af-
fair, and conduces very little to enlighten
the
•
180
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
the mind of a great prince. I did by no
means intend to refine upon this difcuffion
of time, and amongſt the calculations al-
ready made, I have followed that, which
to me feemed moft probable, without en-
gaging to warrant it.
Whether in the computation. we make
of years from the time of the creation
down to Abraham, we fhould follow the
Septuagint, which makes the world older,
or the Hebrew, which makes it younger
by feveral centuries; though, indeed, the
authority of the original Hebrew feems to
deferve the preference, it is a thing ſo indif-
ferent in itſelf, that the church, which hath,
with St. Jerom, followed the computation
of the Hebrew in our vulgate, has allow-
ed that of the Septuagint in her martyro-
logy. In fact, what matters it to hiſtory
to diminiſh, or multiply vacant centuries,
where a man can have nothing to relate?
Is it not enough, that the times, wherein
the dates are important, have fixed cha-
racters, and that the diftribution of them
be ſupported upon certain foundations?
And though even in theſe times there.
fhould be a difpute about fome years,
this would feldom or never create any
difficulty. For example, fhould we be
obliged to put a few years fooner or later,.
either the foundation of Rome, or the
birth of JESUS. CHRIST, you may have
per-
An Univerfal Hiftory.
181
perceived, that this diverfity does no wife
affect the ſeries of the hiftories, or the ac-
compliſhment of the counſels of God. You
are to fhun Anachroniſms, that perplex the
order of affairs, and leave the others to be.
difputed amongſt the learned.
No more would I burden your memory
with the computation of Olympiads, al-
though the Greeks, who make uſe of them,
render them neceffary for the fixing of
times. It is fit you fhould know what it
is, in order to have recourfe to it, upon
occafion but in fhort it will be fufficient,
to confine you to the dates, which I pro-
pofe, as the moft fimple, and the moft fol-
lowed, namely, thofe of the world to
Rome, thofe of Rome to JESUS CHRIST,
and thofe of JESUS CHRIST to all gene-
rations.
But the true deſign of this epitome, is,
not to explain to you the order of times,
though that be abfolutely neceffary to-
wards connecting of all hiftories, and
fhewing their mutual relation. I told you,
SIR, that my principal ſcope was to make
you confider, in the order of time, the
progrefs of the people of God, and that
of great empires.
Theſe two important objects run on to-
gether in that great movement of ages,
where they have, if I may fo fay, one and
the fame courſe; but it will be needful, in
order
1.2.3
182
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
order to the right underſtanding of them,
to take them apart fometimes the one from
the other, and to confider ſeparately what-
ever may relate to each of them.
I.'
The crea-
tion, and
firft times.
PART II.
THE
PROGRESS OF RELIGION.
A
BOVE all, religion and the pro-
grefs of the people of God con-
fidered in this manner, is the
greateſt and moſt uſeful of all objects, that
can be propoſed to man. How beautiful
is it to take a review of the different ſtates
of God's people, under the law of nature,
and the patriarchs; under Mofes, and the
written law; under David, and the pro-
phets; from the return out of captivity,
until JESUS CHRIST; and, laftly, under
JESUS CHRIST himſelf, that is, under
the law of grace, and the goſpel; in the
ages that have expected the Meffiah, and in
thofe, wherein He hath appeared; in thoſe,
wherein the worship of God was reduced
*
to
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
18.3
to one people, and in thofe, in which,
agreeably to ancient prophecies, it was
fpread abroad over all the earth; in thoſe,
in fine, where men, yet full of infirmity
and grofsnefs, ftood in need of being fup-
ported by temporal rewards and puniſh-
ments, and in thoſe wherein the faithful,
better inftructed, are no longer to live but
by faith, having their affections fet upon
eternal good things, and fuffering, in hopes
of poffeffing them, all the evils that can
poffibly exercife their patience.
And, furely, SIR, nothing can be con-
ceived more worthy of God, than to have,
first of all, chofen to himſelf a people, who
ſhould be a palpable inftance of his eternal
providence; a people, whofe good or ill
fortune fhould depend upon their piety or
impiety, and whofe condition fhould give
teftimony to the wiſdom and juftice of
Him who governed them. With this did
God begin, and this did he make manifeft
in the Jewish people. But after having,
by ſo many fenfible proofs, eſtabliſhed this
immoveable foundation, that He is the fole
and abfolute difpofer of all the events of
this life, it was time to raiſe mens minds
to higher notions, and to fend JESUS
CHRIST, for whom it was reſerved to dif-
cover to the new people, collected from all
the nations of the world, the fecrets of
the life to come.
You
184
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
You may eafily trace the hiſtory of both
the old and new people, and obſerve, how
JESUS CHRIST is their common centre
of union; fince either expected, or given,
He hath been, in all ages, the confolation
and hope of the children of God.
Behold then religion ever uniform, or,
rather, ever the fame from the foundation
of the world! The fame God hath ever
been acknowledged the maker, the fame
CHRIST, the faviour of mankind.
Thus you fhall fee, that there is no-
thing more ancient among men, than the
religion you profefs, and that it is not
without reafon your anceſtors have placed
their greateſt glory in being protectors
of it.
What a convincing teftimony is it of
the truth, to find, that in the times, where-
in profane hiftories have nothing to tell us
but fables, or at moft confufed, and half-
forgotten facts, the fcripture, which is,
without difpute, the moſt ancient book in
the world, carries us back by fo many pre-
cife events, and by the very chain of things,
to their true principle, that is, God, the
author of all; and points out to us fo dif-
tinctly, the creation of the univerſe, that
of man in particular, the happineſs of his
firft ftate, the cauſes of his miferies and
frailties, the corruption of the world, and
the deluge, the origin of arts and nations,
the
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
185
the diftribution of lands; in fhort, the
propagation of mankind, and other mat-
ters of like importance, whereof human
hiftories fpeak but confufedly, and oblige
us to feek elſewhere the certain fources
of them.
But if the antiquity of religion gives it
ſo much authority, its progrefs continued
without interruption, or alteration, during
fo many ages, and in ſpite of ſo many in-
terpofing obftacles, makes manifeft the
hand of God fupporting it.
What can be more wonderful, than
to behold it ftill fubfift upon the fame
foundations from the beginning of the
world; without either the idolatry and im-
piety, which on all fides furrounded it, or
the tyrants, who have perfecuted it, or
the heretics and infidels, that have endea-
voured to corrupt it, or the cowards, that
have bafely betrayed it, or its unworthy
followers, who have difhonoured it by their
crimes, or, in fine, the length of time,
which alone is fufficient to deftroy all
human things; without any, or all of
thefe, having ever been able, not to ſay,
to extinguiſh, but even to alter it!
If we now come to confider what idea
that religion, whofe antiquity we revere,
gives us of her object, that is, of the firſt
being, we ſhall confefs her above all hu-
man
186
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
man conception, and worthy to be re
garded, as come from God himſelf.
The God, whom the Jews, and Chriſt-
ians have ever worshiped, hath nothing.
in common with the divinities, full of im-
perfection, and even of vice, whom the
reft of the world adored. Our God is a
God, infinite, perfect, alone worthy to a-
venge wickednefs, and to crown virtue,
becauſe He-alone is holineſs itſelf.
He is infinitely above that firft cauſe,
and firſt mover, whom the philofophers
have owned, yet without adoring. Thofe
of them, who have been wideft of the
mark, have ſet forth to us a God, who,
finding matter eternal and ſelf-exiftent, as
well as himſelf, took and faſhioned it as
a common artiſt, cramped in his work
by that matter, and its difpofitions, which
he did not make; without ever being able
to comprehend, that if matter is from
itſelf, it was not to expect its perfection
from a foreign hand, and that, if God is
infinite and perfect, He ftood in no need of
any thing but Himſelf, and his own Al-
mighty will, to make whatſoever He pleaf-
ed. But the God of our fathers, the
God of Abraham, the God, whofe won-
ders Mofes hath recorded to us, did not
only put the world in order, but made it
entirely both in its matter and form. Till
he
gave being, nothing had it but himſelf
only.
An Univerfal Hiftory.
187
only. He is reprefented to us as the maker
of all things, and as making all things by
the word of his power, as well becaufe
He makes all things by reafon, as becauſe
He makes all things without any trouble;
and the performance of fo great works
cofts Him but a fingle word, that is, it
cofts Him but to will it.
Now, to purfue the hiftory of the cre-
ation, fince we have begun it, Mofes hath
taught us, that this mighty architect,
whofe works coft Him fo little, has been
pleaſed to perform them at feveral times,
and to create the univerfe in fix days, to
fhew that He does not act by neceffity,
or by a blind impetuofity, as fome philo-
fophers have imagined. The fun darts
forth at once, and without reſerve, all the
rays it has; but God, who acts by un-
derſtanding, and with a fovereign liberty,
applies his power where He pleaſes, and
how far He pleafes and as in making
the world by his word, He fhews that no-
thing is hard to Him; fo by making it
at different times, He demonftrates, that
He is maſter of his matter, of his action,
of his whole undertaking; and that He
has, in acting, no other rule than his own
will, ever infallibly right in itſelf.
This conduct of God lets us fee alſo,
that every thing proceeds immediately
from His hand. The nations and philo-
fophers,
188
An Univerfal Hiftory.
fophers, who have believed, that the
earth, mixed with the water, and affifted,
if you will, by the heat of the fun, had,
of itfelf, and by its own fruitfulneſs,
produced the plants and animals, have
moft grossly erred. The fcripture hath
given us to underſtand, that the elements
are barren, if the word of God do not
render them fruitful. Neither the earth,
nor the water, nor the air, would ever
have had the plants and animals we fee
in them, if God, who had made and pre-
pared their matter, had not alfo formed.
it by his Almighty will, and given to
every thing the feed proper for its multi-
plication in all ages.
Thofe, who fee the plants derive their
ſpring and growth from the fun's genial
heat, might poffibly be apt to fancy that
he is the creator of them. But the fcrip-
ture exhibits to us the earth clothed with
grafs and all manner of plants, before
ever the fun was created, that ſo we may
conceive that every thing depends on God
alone.
I pleaſed the great artificer to create
the light, even before He reduced it to the
form He gave it in the fun and ſtars;
becauſe he meant to teach us, that thoſe
great and glorious luminaries, of which
fome have thought fit to make deities, had
in themſelves, neither that precious and
fhining
An Univerfal Hiftory.
189
ſhining matter, whereof they were com-
pofed, nor that admirable form, to which
we ſee them reduced.
In fhort, the account we have from
Mofes of the creation, difcovers to us this
great fecret of true philofophy, that in
God alone dwells all fulneſs and abfo-
lute power. Happy, Wife, Almighty,
alone Self-fufficient, He acts without ne-
ceffity, as He acts without need; never
confined or cramped by matter, but makes
of it what He pleafes; becaufe He it is,
who hath given it, by his fole will and
pleaſure, the foundation of its being. By
this fovereign right He turns it, He moulds
it, He moves it, without any fort of diffi-
culty all depends upon Him: and if, ac-
cording to the order eſtabliſhed in nature,
one thing depends on another, as, for in-
ftance, the rife and progrefs of plants,
upon the heat of the fun, it is by reaſon
that the fame God, who made all the
parts of the univerfe, hath been pleafed
to link them to one another, and to difplay
his wiſdom by the wonderful concatenation.
But all that the holy fcripture teacheth
us concerning the creation of the univerfe,
is nothing in compariſon of what it ſays
of the creation of man.
Hitherto God had done all in a com-
manding way: Let there be light: let there Gen. i,
be a firmament in the midst of the waters;
let
190
An Univerfal Hiftory.
let the waters be gathered together unto one
place; let the dry land appear, and let
it bring forth: let there be great lights,
to divide the day from the night; let the wa-
ters bring forth fowl and fiſh: let the
earth bring forth living creatures, after
their feveral kinds. But when He comes
to the producing of man, Mofes makes
Gen. i. 26. him talk in a new ſtyle: Let us make man,
faith He, in our image, after our likeness.
It is no longer that authoritative word of
command, but one more mild, though no
lefs efficacious. God holds council in
Himſelf: God excites himſelf, as it were
to fignify to us, that the work He is now
fetting about, furpaffes all the works he
had till then performed.
Let us make man. God fpeaks within
Himfelf; He fpeaks to fome one who
makes as well as He, to fome one, of
whom man is the creature and image;
He ſpeaks to another Self; He fpeaks to
Him, by whom all things were made, to
John v. 19. Him, who faith in his gofpel, Whatſo-
ever things the Father doth, thefe alfo doth
the Son likewife. In fpeaking to his Son,
or with his Son, He fpeaks at the fame
time, with the Almighty Spirit, equal to,
and co-eternal with Both.
It is a thing unknown in all the ſcripture
language, that any other than God hath
ever fpoke of himſelf in the plural num-
ber;
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
191.
ber; Let us make.
ſpeak thus above two or three times in
fcripture; and this extraordinary ſtyle be-
gins to appear, when he goes about the
creation of man.
God himſelf doth not
When God changes his language, and,
in fome fort, his conduct too, it is not that
he changes in Himfelf; but He fhews us,
that He is going to begin, according to his
eternal counfels, a new order of things.
Thus man, fo highly exalted above
the other creatures, whofe generation Mo-
fes had defcribed to us, is produced in a
method entirely new. TheTrinity begins to
declare itſelf, in making a reafonable crea-
ture, whofe intellectual operations are an
imperfect image of thofe eternal operati-
ons, whereby God is fruitful in Himfelf.
The word of counfel, which God makes
ufe of, denotes, that the creature, which
is about to be made, is the only one, that
can act by counfel and underſtanding.
All the reft is no lefs extraordinary. Till
now we had not ſeen, in the hiſtory of Ge-
nefis, the finger of God applied to corrupt-
ible matter. But to form the body of man, Gen. ii. 7.
Himſelf takes earth; and that earth mould-
ed by fuch a hand, receives the moft
beautiful figure, that hath ever yet ap-
peared in the world.
That particular attention which appears
in God, when he is making of man, fhews
Uus,
192
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Ibid. 24.
us, that he has a particular regard for him,
though every thing elſe be immediately
conducted by his wisdom.
But the manner in which He produces
the foul, is far more wonderful: He does
not extract it from matter; He infpires
it from above: it is a breath of life, that
proceeds forth from Himſelf.
When He created the beafts, He faid,
Gen. i. 20. Let the water bring forth fishes; and after
this manner He created the fea-monfters,
and every moving creature that hath life,
that was to fill the waters. He faid alfo,
Let the earth bring forth every living crea-
ture, cattle, and creeping thing. Thus
were to ſpring thofe living fouls, of a
brutiſh and beftial life, to whom God al-
lots no other ſphere of action, than fome
motions dependent on the body. God
calls them forth from the womb of the
waters, and of the earth; but that foul,
whofe life was to be an imitation of his
own, which was to live as himſelf, by
reaſon and underſtanding, which was to
be united to Him, by contemplating and
loving Him, and which on that account
was made in his image, could not be de-
rived from matter. God, in fafhioning
matter, may well form a beautiful body,
but turn or faſhion it how He will, He
never will find in it his own image and
likeneſs. The foul, made after his image
and
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
193
and capable of being happy in the enjoy-
ment of Him, muſt be produced by a new
creation; it must come from above; and
this is what is fignified by that breath
of life, which God breathes from his
mouth.
Let us always remember, that Mofes fet
forth to carnal men, by fenfible images,
pure and intellectual truths.
Let us not fancy that God breathes
after the manner of animals. Let us not
fancy that our foul is a fubtle air, or thin
vapour. The breath, which God inſpires,
and which bears in itſelf the image of
God, is neither air nor vapour. Let us
not believe, that our foul is a portion of
the divine nature, as fome philofophers
have dreamed. God is not a whole that
can be divided. Though God ſhould have
parts, they would not be created ones.
For the creator, the uncreated being, could
not be compoſed of creatures. The foul
is made, and fo made, that it is no part
of the divine nature; but only a ſubſtance
made after the image and likeneſs of the
divine nature; a ſubſtance, that is ever
to continue united to Him that formed it.
This is the meaning of that divine breath-
ing; this is what that breath of life re-
prefents to us.
Behold, then, man formed! God forms
alfo out of him, the companion He is
pleaſed
K
194.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
pleaſed to give him. All men fpring from
one marriage, in order to be for ever but
one and the fame family, however difperf-
ed or multiplied.
Our first parents, thus formed, are
placed in that delightful garden, which
is called paradife: God owed to himſelf to
make his image happy.
He gives a command to man, to let him
know, that he hath a mafter; a command
relating to a fenfible thing, becauſe man
was made with fenfes; an eafy command,
becauſe He would render his life as com-
fortable, as it ſhould be innocent.
:
Man does not keep a precept of ſo eaſy
obfervance he hearkens to the tempting
ſpirit, and to himſelf, inſtead of hearken-
ing to God only: his fall is inevitable :
but we muſt confider it in its origin, as
well as in its confequences.
God had, at the beginning, made his
angels pure fpirits, and diftinct from all
inatter. He who makes nothing, but what
is good, had created them all in holineſs,
and they had it in their power to fecure
their felicity, by a voluntary ſubmiſſion
to their creator. But whatever is derived
from nothing is defective. A part of thoſe
angels fuffered themfelves to be feduced
by felf-love. Wo to the creature that de-
lights in itſelf, and not in God! it loſes in
a moment all his gifts, Strange effect of
fin!
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
195
fin! thofe fpirits of light became fpirits of
darkneſs: they had no longer any light,
but what turned to malicious cunning. A
malignant envy now took place of love:
their native greatneſs now was only pride;
their happineſs was changed into the diſmal
comfort of getting themfelves companions
in their miſery, and their former bleſſed
exerciſes to the execrable employment of
tempting men. The most perfect of them
all, who had alfo been the moſt proud,
proved the moft mifchievous, as he was
the moſt miſerable. Man, whom God had Pfal. viii,
made a little lower than the angels, by
uniting him to a body, became an object of
jealouſy to ſo perfect a fpirit: he wanted
to draw him into his rebellion, that he
might afterwards involve him in his de-
ſtruction. Let us hear how he beſpeaks
him, and dive to the bottom of his artifices.
He addrefies himſelf to Eve, as the weaker
veffel but in the perfon of Eve, he
ſpeaks to her husband as well as to her:
Yea, bath God faid, ye shall not eat of every Gen, iii. 1.
tree of the garden? If He hath made you
reaſonable creatures, you ought to know
the reaſon of every thing: this fruit is not
poiſon: Ye shall not furely die: Behold,
how the ſpirit of revolt begins! The com-
mand is difputed, and the obedience is
brought into doubt. Ye fhall be as gods, Ibid..5.
free and independent, happy in yourſelves,
K 2
and
Gen. iii, 4.
196
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Ibid. 6.
and wife through yourſelves; ye shall
know good and evil;
penetrable to you.
arguments does the
nothing fhall be im-
By theſe perſuaſive
deluding ſpirit fet
himſelf up againſt the creator's order,
Eve, half-gained,
whofe beauty pro-
Finding that God
and above his rule.
looks upon the fruit,
miſed a pleaſant tafte.
had united in man a foul and body, fhe
thought, that in favour of man, he might
poffibly have alfo annexed to plants fuper-
natural virtues, and intellectual gifts to
fenfible objects. After eating of this beau-
tiful fruit, fhe preſented of it alſo to her
husband. Behold him dangerouſly attack-
ed! Example and complaifance add ſtrength
to the temptation: he is beguiled into the
fentiments of the tempter, fo powerfully
backed a deceitful curiofity, a flattering
thought of pride, the fecret pleaſure of act-
ing fpontaneous, and, according to one's
own inclinations, allure and blind him:
he is willing to make a dangerous trial of
his liberty, and taftes, with the forbidden
fruit, the pernicious ſweets of pleaſing his
fancy: the fenfes mingle their allurements
with this new charm, he follows them,
he ſubmits to them, he makes himſelf their
flave, who was before their maſter.
At the ſame time every thing changes to
him. The earth fmiles no longer upon him
as formerly; he fhall have no more from
thence,
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
197
thence, but by the fweat of his brows
the ſky has no more that ferenity of air:
the animals, which all, even the moſt
odious and fierce, were wont to afford
him an innocent paftime, affume to him
hideous forms. God, who had made eve-
ry thing for his happineſs, turns every
thing in a moment into his puniſhment.
He is a burden to himſelf, who had enjoyed Gen. iii. 7.
fuch felf-complacency. The rebellion of
his fenfes makes him obferve in himſelf
fomewhat fhameful. It is no more that
firft work of the creator, in which all was
comely. Sin hath made a new work,
that needeth to be hid. Man can no
longer fupport his fhame, and would fain
cover it from his own eyes. But God be-
comes ſtill more infupportable to him.
That great God, who had made him after
his likeneſs, and had given him fenfes, as
a neceffary help to his underſtanding, was
pleafed, fometimes, to fhew himfelf to him
under a fenfible form: man can no longer
endure his prefence. He feeks the deepest Gen. iii. §.
receffes of the woods, to hide himſelf from
the prefence of him, who formerly was
his whole happineſs. His confcience ac-
cuſes him before ever God fpeaks. His
woful excufes compleat his confufion. He
muft die: the remedy of immortality is
taken from him, and a more dreadful
death, namely, that of the foul, is figured
K 3
to
198
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
to him by that bodily death, to which he
is condemned. But behold our fentence
virtually pronounced in his! God, who
had refolved to reward his obedience in all
his pofterity, the moment he fell from
it, condemns and fmites him, not only in
his own perfon, but alfo in all his chil-
dren, as in the most tender and dearest
part of himself: we are all curfed in our
first principle: our birth is tainted and in-
fected in its fource.
Let us not here pretend to examine
thoſe terrible rules of divine juſtice, by
which the human race is curfed in its ori-
ginal. Let us adore the judgments of
God, who looks upon all men as one, in
him, from whom he means to make all
proceed. Let us alfo look upon ourſelves
as degraded in our rebellious parent, as ftig-
matized for ever by the ſentence, that
docms him, as baniſhed with him, and
excluded paradife, which he ought to have
preferved for our birth-place.
*. The rules of human juſtice may help us
to enter into the depths of divine juſtice,
whereof they are a fhadow: but they can
never diſcover to us the bottom of that
abyfs. Let us believe that the juftice, as
well as mercy of God, will not be mea-
fured by thofe of men, and that both have
effects far more extenſive and profound.
But
An Univerfal Hiftory.
199
But whilft God's feverities upon mankind
alarm us, let us admire, how he turns
our eyes to a more agreeable object. Un-
der the figure of the ferpent, whoſe Gen. iii. 14,
crooked windings were a lively image of 15.
the dangerous infinuations, and fallacious
devices of the evil fpirit, God fhews
our mother Eve her enemy vanquished,
and points out to her that bleffed feed,
which was to bruife her vanquiſher's head,
that is, to humble his pride, and pull down
his empire, over the whole earth. This
bleffed feed was JESUS CHRIST, the fon
of a virgin; that JESUS CHRIST, in
whom alone Adam had not finned, be-
cauſe he was to fpring from Adam in a
divine manner, and to be conceived, not
by man, but by the Holy Ghoft.
But before the Saviour fhould be given
us, it was fit mankind ſhould by a long
experience know, the need they had of
fuch a fuccour. Man was then left to
himſelf, his inclinations became corrupt,
his enormities went beyond all bounds, and
iniquity covered the whole face of the earth,
Then God meditated a vengeance, the
remembrance of which he refolved fhould
never be blotted out from among men:
that of the univerfal flood, the memory
of which accordingly is ftill lafting in all
nations, as well as that of the wickedness
which occafioned it.
K 4
Let
200
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Let men no longer fancy, that the world
moves alone; and that what has been,
fhall always be, as being of itſelf. God,
who hath made all things, and by whom
all things fubfift, is about to drown both
man and beaſt, that is, he is about to de-
ftroy the moſt beautiful part of his work.
He had need of nothing befides him-
felf to deſtroy, what he had made by a
word: but he judged it more worthy of
him to make his creatures the inftrument
of his vengeance, and he calls the waters
to ravage the land already overflowed with
wickedness.
There was found in it, however, one
juft man. God, before he faved him from
the deluge of waters, had preferved him
by his grace from the deluge of iniquity.
His family was referved to repleniſh the
earth, which was about to be but one im-
menfe folitude. By the cares of that
righteous perfon, God faves the animals,
that fo man may underſtand, they are
made for him, and ſubjected to his domi-
nion by their creator.
The world becomes new again, and the
earth once more rifes out of the bofom of
the waters; but in this new world there
remains an eternal impreffion of the divine
vengeance. Until the flood, all nature was
ftronger, and more vigorous; by that im-
menfe body of waters, which God brought
upon
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
201
upon the earth, and by their long continu-
ance on it, the juices it contained were
altered; the air, clogged with an exceffive
moiſture, ftrengthened the principles of
corruption; and the old conftitution of the
world being thus weakened, the human
life, which before would run to near a
thouſand years, gradually decreaſed: herbs
and fruits had no longer their former
ftrength, and there was a neceffity for giv-
ing men a more ſubſtantial food in the fleſh
of animals.
Thus by degrees were to diſappear and
wear out the remains of the primitive in-
ftitution; and nature changed gave man
intimation, that God was no more the ſame
to him, fince he had been provoked by fo
many crimes.
Berof. Hef
tiæ. Nic.
4-
Moreover, that long life of the primitive Maneth.
men recorded in the annals of the people bec
of God, has not been unknown to other Damaf, & al,
nations, and their ancient traditions have apud Jofeph.
preferved the memory of it. Death ad-Hefiod. Op
vancing with fwifter fteps, cauſed men to & di.
feel a ſpeedier vengeance; and as they daily
plunged deeper and deeper into wicked-
nefs, it was fit they ſhould be likewife, fo
to ſpeak, daily plunged deeper in their
puniſhment.
The fingle change of diet might have
intimated to them, how much their ſtate.
was growing worſe, fince by becoming
weaker, -
K 5
202
An Univerfal Hiftory.
:
weaker, they at the fame time became
more voracious and bloody. Before the
time of the deluge, the food men found
without violence in the fruits, which fell
of their own accord, and. In the herbs,
which alfo dried fo faft, was, doubtlefs,
fome remains of the primitive innocence,
and of the mildneſs to which we were
formed. Now for our nouriſhment we
muſt ſpill blood, in ſpite of the horror it
naturally excites in us, and all the refine-
ments we make uſe of to cover our tables,
are ſcarce fufficient to diſguiſe to us the
carcaſes we muſt devour to fatisfy us.
But that is the ſmalleſt part of our mis-
fortunes. Life, already fhortened, is ftill
more abridged by the violences introducing
among mankind. Man, whom we faw in
the primitive times fparing the life of
beafts, grows now accuſtomed not to ſpare
even that of his fellow-creatures. In vain
did God, prefently after the deluge, forbid
the fhedding of human blood: in vain, to
preferve fome veftiges of the mildnefs of
our nature, while he allowed to eat the
Gen. ix. 4. fleſh of beafts, had he referved the blood.
Murders multiplied without meaſure. It is
Gen. iv. 8. true, that before the flood Cain had facri-
ficed his brother to his jealoufy. Lamech,
Gen. iv. 23. fprung from Cain, had committed the fe-
cond murder, and we may believe that more
were committed after thofe damnable ex-
amples.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
203
amples. But wars were not yet invented.
It was after the deluge, that appeared thoſe
ravagers of provinces, called conquerors,
who, incited by the fole glory of command,
have exterminated fo many innocent per-
fons.
Nimrod, a curfed fpawn of Ham, who Gen. x. 9.
was curfed by his father, began the making
of war, only to eſtabliſh an empire to
himſelf. From that time ambition hath
wantonly ſported with the lives of men :
nay, they came the length of killing each
other, in cold blood: the height of glory,
and the moſt noble of all arts, was to put
one another to death.
Such were the beginnings of the world,
as the hiſtory of Mofes reprefents them to
us: beginnings happy at firſt, but after-
wards big with miſchiefs: with reſpect to
God, who makes all things, ever admirable;
ſuch, in ſhort, that we learn by revolving
them in our mind, to conſider the univerſe
and mankind ever under the hand of the
creator, brought out of nothing by his
word, preferved by his goodneſs, governed
by his wifdom, puniſhed by his juſtice,
delivered by his mercy, and ever fubject to
his power.
This is not the univerſe philofophers
have conceived it, formed, according to
fome, by a fortuitous concourfe of atoms,
or which, according to the wifeſt of them,
furniſhed
204
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
furniſhed its matter to its author, which
confequently depends on him, neither in
the effence of its being, nor firft eftate,.
and ties him up to certain laws, which
himſelf cannot violate.
Mofes, and our ancient fathers, whofe
traditions Mofes hath collected, afford us
other notions. The God he hath declared
to us, hath a very different power: he can
do and undo juſt as he pleafes; he giveth
laws to nature, and abrogates them when
he will.
If, in order to make himſelf known in
times, when the greateſt part of men had
forgot him, He wrought aftoniſhing mira-
cles, and forced nature to recede from her
moſt conſtant laws, He, by fo doing, con-
tinued to demonftrate, that He was her ab-
folute mafter, and that his will is the only
bond, that keeps up the order of the
world. -
And this was juſt what men had for-
got the ftability of fo beautiful an order
ferved now only to perfuade them, that
that order had ever been, and that it was
from itſelf: whereby they were prompted.
to worſhip either the world in general, or
the ſtars, the elements, and, in ſhort, all
thoſe great bodies which compoſe it. God.
hath therefore fhewn to mankind a good-
nefs worthy of himſelf, in reverfing, upon
remarkable occafions, that order, which,
not
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
205
not only no longer ftruck them, becauſe
they were accustomed to it, but which
even prompted them, fo groſsly were they
blinded, to imagine eternity and indepen-
dence elſewhere than in God..
The hiftory of the people of God at-
teſted by its own progreffion, and by the
religion, as well of thoſe who wrote it, as
of thofe, who have preferved it with fo
much care, has kept, as in a faithful regi-
fter, the memory of thofe miracles, and
gives us thereby a true idea of the fupreme
dominion of God, Almighty mafter of his
creatures, whether to hold them fubject to
the general laws He hath eſtabliſhed, or
to give them others, when he judges it ne-
ceffary by fome furprizing ſtroke to awaken
fleeping mankind.
Such is the God, whom Mofes hath pro-
poſed to us in his writings, as the only one
we ought to ſerve; fuch the God, whom
the patriarchs worshiped before ever Mo-
fes was; in a word, the God of Abraham,
Ifaac, and Jacob; to whom our father A-
braham was willing to offer up his only fon;
of whom Melchifedek, the type of JESUS
CHRIST, was high-prieft; to whom our
father Noah facrificed, upon coming out
of the ark; whom righteous Abel had ac-
knowledged in offering to him of his moſt
precious fubftance; whom Seth, given to
Adam instead of Abel, had made known
to.
206
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
II.
-
to his children, called alfo the children of
God; whom Adam himſelf had fet forth
to his deſcendants, as him, out of whoſe
hands he had lately come, and who alone
could put an end to the woes of his unhap-
py pofterity.
Ô excellent philofophy, which gives us
fuch pure ideas of the author of our being!
Excellent tradition, that preferves to us
the memory of his glorious works! How
holy the people of God, fince by an unin-
terrupted fucceffion, from the foundation
of the world down to our days, they have
ever preſerved fo holy a tradition and phi-
lofophy!
But as the people of God begun under
Abraham, the patriarch Abraham, to take a more
and the pa- regular form, it will be neceffary, SIR,
to dwell with you a little upon that great
triarchs.
man.
He was born about three hundred and
fifty years after the flood, at a time,
when human life, though reduced to nar-
rower limits, was ftill very long. Noah
was but juft dead; Shem his eldeſt ſon was
yet alive, and Abraham might have paffed
the moſt of his days with him.
Figure then to yourſelf the world ftill
new, and ſtill, fo to fpeak, drenched in
the waters of the deluge, when men, ſo
near the origin of things, had no occafion,
in order to know the unity of God, and
the
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
207
the ſervice that was due to him, for any
thing but the tradition which had been
preſerved of it from Adam and Noah: a
tradition otherwife fo conformable to the
light of reaſon, that one would have thought
fo clear and important a truth could never
have been darkened or forgotten among
men. Such is the first state of religion,
which continued down to Abraham, when,
to know the greatnefs of God, men had
only to confult their reaſon and memory.
But reafon was weak and corrupted, and
proportionably as men removed further
from the origin of things, they confound-
ed the ideas they had received from their
anceſtors. The untoward, or ill-taught
children, would no longer believe their
old decrepit grand-fires, whom they ſcarce-
ly knew after fo many generations; hu-
man ſenſe brutified, (if I may be allowed
the term) could rife no more to intellectu-
al objects, and men chufing no longer to
worſhip ought but what they faw, idola-
diffuſed itſelf over the whole world.
try
The fpirit, who had beguiled the firſt
man, taſted now the full fruit of his fe-
duction, and beheld the complete effect of
his faying, Ye shall be as gods. From the
moment he uttered it, he defigned to con-
found in man the idea of God with that of
the creature, and to divide a name, whoſe
majefty conſiſts in being incommunicable.
His
208
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
His ſcheme fucceeded.
Men ſwallowed
up in flesh and blood, had, however, pre-
ferved an obfcure idea of the divine power,
which maintained itſelf by its own force;
but being blended with the images that en-
tered by their fenfes, made them fall down
and worſhip all things wherein there ap-
peared any activity or power. Thus the
fun and ſtars, which made their influences
felt at ſuch a diſtance, the fire and ele-
ments, whofe effects were fo univerfal,
became the firſt objects of public adoration.
The great kings, and conquerors, who
were ſo mighty in the earth, and the au-
thors of inventions uſeful to human life,
had ſoon after divine honours paid them.
Men fubjected themfelves to the tyranny
of their ſenſes: the fenfes decided every
thing, and made, in ſpite of reaſon, all
the gods that were adored upon earth.
How widely diftant did man now ſeem
from his firſt inſtitution! And how was
the image of God defaced in him! Could
God have made him with thoſe perverſe in--
clinations, that were daily more and more
declaring themſelves? And did not that
amazing propenſity he had to ſubmit to
every thing but his natural Lord, betray
too viſibly the ftrange hand, by which
God's workmanſhip had been fo deeply al-
tered in the human mind, that ſcarce could
any trace of it be found? Driven by
that
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
209
that blind impulſe, which fwayed him, he
hurried into idolatry, nor was any thing
able to ftop his career. So great an evil
made a wonderful progrefs. But left it
fhould infect all mankind, and utterly ex-
tinguiſh the knowledge of God, that great
God called from on high his fervant Abra-
ham, in whoſe family he meant to eſtabliſh
his worſhip, and preferve the ancient be-
lief, as well of the creation of the univerſe,
as of the particular providence, with which
he governs human things.
Abraham has ever been celebrated in the
Eaft. It is not only the Hebrews that
look upon him as their father: the Idu-
means boaſt the fame original. Iſhmael, the Gen. xvi, 16,
fon of Abraham, is known among the A-
rabians, as the
the fountain whence they
fprung. Circumcifion is continued with
them, as the mark of their origin, and Jofeph. Ant.
they have in all times received it, not on 31.
the eighth day, after the manner of the
Jews, but at their thirteenth year, as the
ſcripture informs us, it was given to their Gen. xvii,
father Ifhmael; a cuſtom which still pre-25.
vails among the Mahometans. Other A- Alex. Pc-
rabian nations commemorate Abraham and lyh. apud
Keturah, and they are the fame the fcrip- . 61. Be-
Jof, Ant.
ture derives from that marriage. This rof. Hecat.
patriarch was a Chaldean, and thofe peo- Eup. Alex,
ple, famed for their aftronomical obfer-apud Jof.
vations, have counted Abraham as one ofant. l. i. c.
their 8. & Euf,
210
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
18, 19, 20.
& xili II.
Nic. Da-
maf. lib. iv.
præp. Ev. their moſt learned obfervers. The Syrian
ix. 16, 17, hiftorians have made him king of Damaf-
cus, though a ſtranger, and come from the
confines of Babylon, and they tell that he
Hift. univ. quitted the kingdom of Damafcus, in or
in excerpt. der to fettle in the country of the Canaan-
Val. p. 491.ites, afterwards called Judea. But it is
& ap. Jof.
Ant. 1. viii, better worth while to obferve what the
c. 8. & Euf. hiſtory of the people of God relates to us
præp. Ev.
concerning this great man. We have feen,
ix. 16.
that Abraham followed the kind of life,
which the ancients did before all the world
was reduced into kingdoms. He reigned
in his family, with which he embraced
that paſtoral life, fo noted for its fimplicity
Gen. xiii, and innocence; rich in flocks, in flaves,
&&C.
Gen. xiv.
20. &c.
and in money; but without lands, and
without inheritance, and yet he lived in a
foreign kingdom, refpected, and indepen-
dent as a prince. His piety and integrity,
protected by God, won him this refpect.
He treated as an equal with kings, who
courted his alliance, and thence came the
ancient opinion, that he made himſelf a
king. Though his life was fimple and
peaceful, he knew how to make war, but
only in defence of his oppreffed allies. He
defended them, and revenged them by a
fignal victory. He reftored them all their
riches, retaken from the enemies, without
reſerving any thing, but the tithe, which
he offered to God, and the portion that
te-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
211
belonged to the auxiliary troops, which he
had carried to battle. Moreover, after fo
great a fervice, he refufed the preſents of
the kings with an unparaleled magnani- Gen. xxxiii,
mity, and could not endure that any man 9.
fhould boaft, he had made Abraham rich.
He would owe nothing but to God, who
protected him, and whom alone he follow-
ed with a perfect faith and obedience.
Guided by that faith, he had left his na-Gen. xii.&c,
tive country, to come into a land which
God fhewed him. God, who had called
him, and rendered him worthy of his co-
venant, concluded it upon these condi-
tions.
He declared to him, that he would be Gen, xvii, &,
his God, and the God of his children, 9.
that is, that he would be their protector,
and that they ſhould ſerve him as the only
God, creator of heaven and earth.
He promiſed to him and his feed after Ibid.
him, a land, (namely, that of Canaan)
for an everlasting poſſeſſion, and for the feat
of religion.
xvii. 19.
Now Abraham had no children, and Gen. xii. z.
Sarah his wife was barren. God fware to xv. 4, 5.-
him by himſelf, and by his eternal truth,
that of him and that woman ſhould ſpring
a nation, that ſhould equal the ftars of
heaven, and the fand of the ſea for mul-
titude.
Buti
212
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
But here comes the most memorable ar-
ticle of the divine promiſe. All nations
were running headlong into idolatry.
Gen. xii. 3. God promiſed to the holy patriarch, that
xviii. 18. in him, and in his feed, all thofe blinded
nations, which had forgot their creator,
fhould be bleffed, that is, reftored to the
knowledge of him, wherein alone true
bleffing is to be found.
By this faying Abraham is made father
of the faithful, and his poſterity is choſen
to be the ſource, whence the bleffing is
to flow throughout the whole earth.
In this promife was included the com-
ing of the Meffiah, ſo often foretold to our
fathers, but always foretold as him, who
was to be the faviour of the Gentiles, and
of all the nations of the world.
Thus that bleffed feed promifed to Eve,
became alfo the feed and offspring of A-
braham.
Such is the foundation of the covenant;
fuch its conditions. Abraham received the
Gen. xvii. token of it in circumcifion, a ceremony,
the proper effect of which was to fignify,
that that holy man belonged to God with
all his family.
Gen. xv. 2.
xvi. 3, 4.
Abraham was childlefs, when God be-
xvii. 20, 21. gun to bleſs his race.
xxi. 13.
feed for feveral years.
God gave him no
Afterwards he had
Ifhmael, who was to be father of a great
nation, but not of that chofen people fo
long
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
213
long promiſed to Abraham. The father
of the chofen people was to fpring from
him, and his wife Sarah, who was barren.
At length, thirteen years after Ifhmael, Gen. xxi,
came that ſo long wifhed for child: he
was named Ifaac, that is laughter, a child
of joy, a child of miracle, a child of pro-
mife, who fhews by his birth, that the true
children of God are born of grace.
This bleſſed child was now grown up,
and of an age, in which his father might
expect other children by him, when all of
a fudden God commanded him to offer
Gen. xxi.
him up. To what trials is faith expoſed!
Abraham carried Ifaac to the mountain,
which God had told him of, and was go-
ing to facrifice that fon, in whom alone
God promiſed to make him father both of
his people, and of the Meffiah. Ifaac pre-
fented his bofom to the knife, which his
father held ready to pierce it. God, fatis-
fied with the obedience of both father and
fon, wants no more of them. After thefe
two great men have given the world fo
lively and beautiful a type of the voluntary
oblation of JESUS CHRIST, and tafted in
ſpirit the bitterneſs of the cross, they arc
judged truly worthy to be his anceſtors.
The faithfulneſs of Abraham makes God Grn, xxii.
confirm to him all his promifes, and blefs 18.
anew not only his family, but alſo, in his
family, all the nations of the earth.
Accord-
214
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
Gen. xxv.
11. xxvi. 4.
xxviii. 13.
14.
Accordingly, he continued his protection
to Ifaac his fon, and Jacob his grandfon. -
They were imitators of him, adhering
like him to the primitive faith, to the pri-
mitive way of life, which was the paſto-
ral, to the primitive government of man-
kind, where every father of a family was
prince in his houfe. Thus, amidſt the
changes daily introducing among men, ho-
ly antiquity revived in religion, and in the
behaviour of Abraham and his children.
Therefore God repeated to Ifaac and to
Jacob, the fame promifes he had made to
Abraham; and as he had called himſelf the¸.
God of Abraham, he took alſo the name
of the God of Ifaac, and of the God of
Jacob.
Under his protection thoſe three great
men begun to fojourn in the land of Ca-
naan; but only as ftrangers, and without
Acts vii. 5. poffeffing a foot of land in it; till the famine
drew Jacob into Egypt, where his chil-
dren multiplying, foon became a great na-
tion as God had promiſed.
Moreover, though that people, whom
God cauſed to be born in his covenant,
was to be propagated by generation, and
though the bleffing was to follow the
blood, that great God, nevertheleſs, ma-
nifefted in them the election of his grace.
For, after having chofen Abraham from
amidſt the nations, among the children of
Abra-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
215
Abraham he choſe Iſaac, and of Ifaac's
twins he choſe Jacob, to whom he gave
the name of Ifrael.
Jacob had twelve children, who were the
twelve patriarchs, heads of the twelve tribes.
They all were to enter into the covenant
but Judah was chofen amongst all his bre-
thren, to be father of the kings of Ifrael,
and father of the Meffiah, fo long pro-
mifed to his anceſtors.
The time was to come, that ten tribes
being cut off from the people of God, for
their infidelity, the pofterity of Abraham
ſhould preferve their primitive bleffing,
that is, religion, the land of Canaan, and
the hopes of the Meffiah, only in the
tribe of Judah, which was to give name
to the rest of the Ifraelites, who were
called Jews, and to the whole country,
which was named Judea.
Thus the divine election appears ftill,
even in that carnal people, who were to
be preſerved by ordinary propagation.
Jacob faw in fpirit the fecret of this Gen. xlix.
election. When he was about to die, and
his children around his bed were craving the
bleffing of fo good a father, God difcover-
ed to him the ftate of the twelve tribes,
when they ſhould be in the promiſed
land: he unfolded it in a few words,
and thoſe few words contain innumerable
myfteries.
Though
216
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
Ibid. 8.
Though all he ſays of Judah's brethren
be expreffed with an extraordinary dignity,
and beſpeaks a man tranfported beyond
himſelf by the fpirit of God; yet when
he comes to Judah, he rifes ftill higher.
Judah, fays he, thou art he whom thy breth-
ren fhall praife: thy hand shall be on the
neck of thine enemies: thy father's children
fhall bow down before thee. Judah is a
lion's whelp; from the prey, my fon, thou
art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as
a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouſe
him up? The fceptre (that is, the autho-
rity) shall not depart from Judah, nor a
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh
come, and unto him fhall the gathering of
the people be or, according to another
reading, which is, perhaps, no leſs ancient,
but which in the main differs nothing from
this, until he come, for whom things are re-
ferved, and the reft as we have above re-
cited it.
The ſequel of the prophecy literally re-
fers to the country which the tribe of Ju-
dah was to poffefs in the holy land. But
the former part of it. take it how we
will, can fignify nothing elfe, than Him,
who was to be the fon of God, the mi-
nifter and interpreter of his will, the ac-
compliſhment of his promifes, and the king
of the new people, that is, the Meffiah,
or the Lord's anointed.
Jacob
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
217
Jacob fpeaks of him exprefsly to Judah
only, from whom that Meffiah was to
fpring he comprehends in the deſtiny of
Judah alone that of the whole nation,
which, after its difperfion, was to fee the
remnant of the other tribes re-united un-
der Judah's ftandards.
All the terms of the prophecy are clear:
there is only the word fceptre, which the
cuftom of our language might make us
take for the royalty alone; whereas, in
the facred language, it fignifies, in general,
power, authority, magiftracy. This ufe
of the word is to be met with in every page
of ſcripture: it appears even manifeft-
ly in Jacob's prophecy; and the patriarch
means, that in the days of the Meffiah all
authority fhould ceafe in the houfe of Ju-
dah, which implies the total overthrow of
a ftate.
Thus the times of the Meffiah are
marked out here by a double change. By
the first, the kingdom of Judah, and of
the Jewish nation, is threatened with its
final ruin. By the fecond, there is to
ariſe a new kingdom, not only of one peo-
ple, but of all nations, of whom the
Meffiah is to be the head and hope.
Rom, x. 19.
In fcripture ftyle, the Jewiſh people is If. lxv. &c.
called in the fingular number, and, by &c. if...
way of eminence, the people, or, the people 2, 3, 4.
of God; and when we find many people,
L
or,
li.
18.
4, 5. &c.
218
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
III.
the written
or, the nations, thofe who are verfed in
the ſcriptures, underſtand the other nations,
who had been alfo promiſed to the Meffiah
in the prophecy of Jacob.
That great prophecy comprehends, in a
few words, the whole hiftory of the Jew-
iſh people, and of the CHRIST, who is
promiſed to them. It points out the whole
progrefs of the people of God, nor is its
effect yet ceafed.
But I do not intend to make you a com-
mentary upon it: you will have no occafi-
on for that, fince by barely obſerving the
progress of the people of God, you will
ſee the ſenſe of the oracle unfolded of it-
felf, and fimple events fhall be its inter-
preters.
After the death of Jacob, the people of
Mofes, or God fojourned in Egypt, till the time of
the miffion of Mofes, that is, about two
the intro- hundred years.
law, and
duction of
the people
into the
promiſed
«land,
Gen. xv. 16.
Thus 430 years paffed away, before
God gave his people the land he had pro-
miſed them.
He meant to accuftom his elect to re-
ly upon his promife, with firm confidence,
that it would be fulfilled fooner or later,
and always in the time appointed by his
eternal providence.
The iniquity of the Amorites, whoſe
land and fpoils he refolved to give them,
was not yet, as he declares to Abraham,
come
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
219
come to the height for which he waited,
in order to deliver them up to the fevere
and unpitying vengeance, that he intended
to wreak upon them by the hands of his
chofen people.
It was fit to give this people time to Ibid.
multiply, fo as to be in a condition to fill
the land, that was deftined them, and to
take poffeffion of it by force, by exter-
minating its inhabitants accurfed of God.
He was willing that they fhould un-
dergo in Egypt a hard and infupportable
captivity, that when delivered by unheard.
of wonders, they might love their deli-
verer, and eternally celebrate his mer-
cies.
Such was the order of God's counfels,
as he himſelf hath revealed them, in order
to teach us to fear Him, to adore Him, to
love Him, and to wait for Him with faith
and patience.
The time being arrived, he hears the
cries of his people, cruelly afflicted by the
Egyptians, and fends Mofes to deliver his
children from their tyranny.
He makes himſelf known to that great Exod. iii,
man, more than he had ever done to any
man living. He appears to him in a man-
ner equally glorious and comforting: he
declares to him that he is He, who is. All
that is before him, is but a ſhadow. I am, Ibid. ii'. 1 4
fays he, that I am: being and perfection
belong
L 2
220
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
Exod, xx, 18.
Exod. xxv.
Nun b, xi,
belong to Me alone. He affumes a new
name, which denotes being and life in Him,
as in their fource; and it is, under that
great name of God, terrible, myfterious,
incommunicable, that he will henceforth
be ferved.
I ſhall not give you a particular detail
of the plagues of Egypt, or of the hard-
nefs of Pharaoh's heart, or of the paſſage
of the Red Sea, or of the thunderings,
lightnings, noife of the trumpet, or of
the ſmoke that was ſeen by the people on
mount Sinai. God there wrote with his
own hand, upon two tables of ftone, the
fundamental precepts of religion and fociety:
He dictated the reft to Mofes with a loud
voice. To maintain this law in its full
force, he had orders to form a venerable aſ-
fembly of feventy elders, which might be
called the fenate of the people of God,
and the perpetual council of the nation.
God appeared publicly, and caufed his law
to be publiſhed in his prefence, with an
aftoniſhing demonftration of his majeſty
and power.
Till then God had given nothing in writ-
ing, that could be a rule to man. The
children of Abraham had only circumci-
fion, and the ceremonies, that accompanied
it, as a token of the covenant, which
God had made with that chofen race.
They were diftinguished by this token
from
An Univerfal Hiftory.
22 I
from the nations, that worshiped falſe
deities: moreover, they preferved them-
felves in God's covenant, by the remem-
brance they had of the promifes made to
their fathers, and were known as a people,
who ſerved the God of Abraham, Ifaac,
and Jacob. God was fo ftrangely forgot,
that it was neceſſary to diſtinguiſh him by
the name of thoſe who had been his wor-
ſhipers, and of whom he was alſo the de-
clared protector.
This great God would no longer leave
to the bare memory of men the myſteries
of religion, and of his covenant. It was
time to ſet ſtronger barriers to idolatry,
which was overflowing all mankind, and like
to extinguiſh totally the remains of natural
light.
Gen. xiv.
Ignorance and blindneſs had prodigioufly
increaſed in the days of Abraham. In his
time, and a little after, the knowledge of
God appeared alfo in Paleſtine and in
Egypt. Melchizedek, king of Salem, was
the priest of the Most High God, poſſeſſor 18, 19.
of heaven and earth. Abimelech king of
Gerar, and his fucceffor of the fame name,
feared God, fware by his name, and ad-
mired his power. The threatnings of Gen. xxi.
this great God were dreaded by Pharaoh, xxvi. 28,
king of Egypt: but, in Mofes's time, 29.
thofe nations were perverted. The true God Gen. xii. 17,
was no more known in Egypt, as the God
22, 23.
18.
L 3
of
222
An Univerfal Hiftory.
2, 3.
ix. 1. &c.
26.
of all the nations of the world, but as the
Exod. v. 1, God of the Hebrews. Men worſhiped
the very beafts and reptiles. Every thing
Exod. viii. was god, but God himſelf; and the world,
which God had made to manifeft his pow-
er, feemed to have become a temple of
idols. Mankind went fo grofsly aftray,
as to worſhip their own vices and paffions;
nor muft we be aſtoniſhed at it. There
was no power more unavoidable, or more
tyrannical than theirs. Man, accuſtomed
Levit. xx.
2, 3.
to think every thing divine, that was pow-
erful, as he felt himfelf drawn to vice
by an irreſiſtible force, came eaſily to
believe that force without him, and foon
made a god of it.
Thence it was, that unchafte love had
fo many altars, and that the moſt horrid
impurities begun to be mingled with the
facrifices.
Cruelty entered into them at the fame
time. Guilty man, racked with the fenfe
of his wickednefs, and looking upon the
deity as an enemy, thought he could not
appeaſe him with ordinary victims. He
muſt ſhed human blood along with that
of beaſts: a blind fear drove fathers to
offer up their children, and to burn them
to their gods inftead of incenfe. Theſe
facrifices were common in the days of
Moſes, and made but a part of thoſe hor-
rible iniquities of the Amorites, whofe
ven-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
223
vengeance God committed to the Ifraelites.
Cæf. de bell.
xxx, Athen.
But they were not peculiar to thoſe Herod. l. ii.
people. It is well known, that in all na- Gal. vi. Di-
tions of the world, without excepting one, od. lib. i. v.
men have facrificed their fellow creatures; Plin. lib.
and there is not a place on the face of the lib. xiii.
earth, where they have not ferved fome of Porph. de
thoſe difmal and fhocking deities, whofe Abt. lib. ii.
Jorn, de reb.
implacable hatred to mankind required fuch Get, &c.
fort of victims.
Amidft fo much ignorance, man came
to worſhip the very work of his own hands.
He thought himself able to lodge divinity
in ftatues, and fo profoundly forgot that
God had made him, that he thought in his
turn he might make a god. Who could
believe it, did not experience convince us,
that fo ftupid and brutal an error was not
only the moſt univerſal, but even the moſt
inveterate and incorrigible among men.
Thus we must own, to the confufion of
mankind, that the firft of truths, that truth,
which the world proclaims, that truth,
whofe impreffion is the most powerful, was
now the fartheft from the fight of man.
Tradition, which preferved it in their
minds, though yet clear, and fufficiently
prefent with them, had they been atten-
tive to it, was ready to vaniſh away; mon,
ftrous fables, as full of impiety as extra-
vagance, affumed its place. The moment
was come, when the truth, ſo ill kept
L 4
in
224
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
บ
in the memory of men, could no longer
be preferved but by writing; and God
having, moreover, refolved to form his
people to virtue by laws more exprefs,. and
in greater number, he refolved, at the fame
time, to give them in writing.
Mofes was called to this work. That
great man collected the hiſtory of paſt ages,
thofe of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ifaac,
Jacob, and that of Joſeph, or, rather,
that of God himfelf, and of his wondrous
acts.
He had no need to dig very deep for
the traditions of his anceſtors. He was
born an hundred years after the death of
Jacob. The old men of his time might
have converfed feveral years with that
holy patriarch: the memory of Joſeph,
and of the wonders God had done by that
great minifter of the kings of Egypt,
was ftill freſh. Two or three men's lives
reached as far back as Noah, who had
feen the children of Adam, and touched,
fo to ſpeak, the origin of things.
Thus the ancient traditions of mankind,
and thoſe of Abraham's family, were not
hard to recollect: the memory of them
was yet alive, and we need not wonder,
if Mofes, in his Genefis, fpeaks of
things that happened in the firſt ages as
certainties, of which too there were
ftill to be ſeen remarkable monuments,
both
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
225
both in the neighbouring nations, and in
the land of Canaan.
Whilft Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob had
inhabited that land, they had every where
erected monuments of the things which had
befallen them. There were ſtill to be
fhewn the places where they had inhabit-
ed; the wells they had digged in thoſe dry
countries, to water their families and flccks;
the mountains, whereon they had facrifi-
ced to God, and on which he had appear-
ed to them; the ftones they had erected,
or piled up, for a memorial to pofterity;
and the tombs, wherein their facred afhes
were depofited. The memory of thofe
great men was recent, not only in the
whole country, but likewife over all the
Eaft; where feveral famous nations have
never forgot that they came of their race.
Thus, when the Hebrew people entered
the promiſed land, every thing there cele-
brated their anceſtors; both cities and
mountains, nay the very ftones there ſpoke
of thoſe wondrous men, and of the afton-
iſhing viſions, by which God had confirm-
ed them in the primitive and true belief.
They, that are ever fo little acquainted
with antiquity, know how curious the firſt
times were in erecting and preſerving ſuch
monuments, and how carefully pofterity
retained the occafions, on which they had
been fet up. This was one way of writ-
L 5
ing
226
An Univerfal Hiftory.
ing hiſtory: ftones have come fince to be
fashioned and polifhed: and ftatues have
fucceeded, after pillars, to the grofs and
folid maffes erected in the firſt times.
We have even great reaſon to believe,
that in the lineage wherein the knowledge
of God was preſerved, they preſerved alſo
in writing, memoirs of ancient times.
For men have never been without this
care. At leaſt it is certain, that a ſort of
carols or fongs were made, which fathers
taught their children; and which, being
fung at the feaſts and affemblies, perpe-
tuated the memory of the moft fignal acti-
ons of paft ages.
This gave birth to poetry, varied, in
proceſs of time, into feveral forms, the
moft ancient of which is ftill preſerved
in the odes and hymns uſed by all the an-
cients, and even at prefent by the nations,
who have not the uſe of letters, to praiſe
the deity and great men.
The ftyle of thofe canticles is bold, un-
common, yet natural, in that it is fuited
to repreſent nature in its tranſports, bound-
ing, for that reafon, by quick and impe-
tuous fallies, free from the ordinary ties,
which regular difcourfe requires, at the
fame time comprehended in harmonious.
numbers which augment its force; it fur-
prifes the ear, catches the imagination,
moves
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
227
moves the heart, and more eaſily imprints
itſelf upon the memory.
Numb. xxi.
Among all the nations of the world,
that in which fuch fongs were moft in
uſe, was the people of God. Moſes men-
tions a great many of them, which he de- 14, 17, 18,
nominates by the firft verfes, becauſe the Exod. xv.
people knew the reft. He made two of
this kind himſelf.
The first fets before
27, &c.
our eyes the triumphant paſſage of the Red
Sea, and the enemies of the people of God,
fome already drowned, and others half
dead with fear. By the fecond, Mofes Deut. xxxii.
confounds the ingratitude of the people,
by celebrating the goodneſs and wonders
of God. Following ages imitated him.
It was God and his wondrous works, that
made the ſubject of the odes they com-
pofed God inſpired them himſelf, and
there was properly none but the people of
God, to whom poetry came by infpi-
ration.
Jacob had pronounced in this myſtical
language, the oracles, which contained
the deſtiny of his children, that ſo each
tribe might the more eafily retain what
concerned it, and might learn to praiſe
him, who was no leſs glorious in his pre-
dictions, than faithful in their accompliſh-
ment.
Such be the means, which God made
ufe of, to preſerve down to Moſes, the
memory
228-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
memory of things paft. That great man,
inftructed by all theſe means, and raiſed
above them by the Holy Ghoſt, hath wrote
the works of God, with an exactneſs and
fimplicity, which attracts belief and admi-
ration, not to him, but to God himſelf.
He joined to things paſt, which contain-
ed the origin, and ancient traditions of
God's people, the wonders which God
actually wrought for their deliverance.
Of this he produces to the Ifraelites no
other witneſs than their own eyes. Mofes
does not tell them things that paſt in im-
penetrable receffes, and deep-winding
caves: he does not ſpeak in the clouds:
he particularizes, and circumftantiates eve-
ry thing, as a man, who is not afraid to
be belyed. He founds all their laws, and
their whole conftitution on the wonders
they had ſeen. Thofe wonders were no-
thing less than nature changed all of a ſud-
den, upon different occafions, for their de-
liverance, and for the puniſhment of their
enemies; the fea divided, the dry land
diſcloſed, a heavenly bread, abundant wa-
ters gufhing from the rocks at the ſtroke of
a rod, heavens giving them a vifible fig-
nal to direct their march, and other like
miracles, which they faw for. forty years.
-
The people of Ifrael were no more in-
telligent, or more refined, than the other
nations, who, being wholly given up to
their
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
229
their fenfes, could not conceive an invi-
fible God. On the contrary, they were
grofs and rebellious, as much, or more
than any other people. But that God,
though invifible in his nature, rendered
himſelf ſo perceptible by continual miracles,
and Mofes inculcated them with fo much
energy, that at laft this carnal people fuf-
fered themſelves to be touched by that
pure idea of a God, who made all by
his word; of a God, who was only fpi-
rit, only reaſon and intelligence.
In this manner, while idolatry, fo
greatly increafed fince Abraham, covered
the whole face of the earth, the fole poft-
erity of that patriarch was exempt from
it. Their enemies bore them this teftimo-
ny, and the nations, wherein the truth of
tradition was not yet wholly extinguiſh-
ed, cried out with aftoniſhment, He hath Numb,
not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath xxiii. 21,
he feen perverfeness in Ifrael. Surely there
is no enchantment against Jacob, neither
is there any divination against Ifrael: the
Lord his God is with him, and the fhout
of a king is among them.
23.
In order to imprint on their minds the
unity of God, and the perfect uniformity
he required in his worſhip, Mofes often
repeats, that in the promiſed land this one Deut. xii.
God would chuſe a place, in which alone 14, 15, 16,
the feafts, the facrifices, and the whole
17, &c.
public
230
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
public ſervice ſhould be performed. In
the mean time, till this defired place
fhould be found, while the people wan-
dered in the wilderneſs, Mofes built the
tabernacle, a moving temple, where the
children of Ifrael prefented their petitions to
the God, who had made heaven aud earth,
and who thought no ſcorn to journey, if
I may fo fay, along with them, and to be
their guide.
Upon this principle of religion, upon
this facred foundation was the whole law
built; a law holy, juft, and good, wiſe,
provident, and fimple, which connected
the fociety of men with one another, by
the facred fociety of man with God.
Deut. xxvii. To theſe holy inftitutions, he added noble
xxviii. &c. ceremonies, feafts, which recalled the me-
mory of the miracles, whereby the children
of Ifrael had been delivered; and, what
no other lawgiver had ever preſumed to
do, exprefs affurances, that all ſhould
go
well with them, fo long as they lived fub-
ject to the law, whereas their difobedience
fhould be purſued with manifeft and in-
evitable vengeance. He must have been
warranted by God, to give ſuch a founda-
tion to his laws, and the iffue has evinced,
that Mofes did not fpeak of his own
head.
As to the great number of rites he en-
joined the Hebrews, though they now may
feem
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
23 F
feem fuperfluous, they were then neceffa-
ry, in order to diftinguiſh the people of
God from other nations, and ferved as a
barrier to idolatry, left it fhould have
drawn afide that chofen people along with
all the reft.
To maintain religion, and all the tradi-
tions of the people of God, among the
twelve tribes, one was made choice of,
to whom God allotted for its portion,
together with the tithes and oblations,
the care of facred things. Levi and his
children are themſelves confecrated to God,
as the tithe of all the people. Out of
Levi Aaron is chofen to be high-prieft,
and the priesthood made hereditary in
his family.
Thus the altars have their minifters ;
the law hath its advocates, and the pro-
grefs of God's people is teftified by the
fucceffion of its priefts, which goes on
without interruption, from Aaron the first
of them.
But what was moſt excellent in this
law, was, that it prepared the way for
one more auguft, lefs incumbered with ce-
remonies, and more productive of virtues.
Mofes, to keep the people in expecta
tion of this law, affures them of the com-
ing of that great prophet, who was to
fpring from Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob.
The Lord thy God, fays he, will raiſe up Deut.xviii,
unto 15. 28.
232
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee,
of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him shall
ye hearken. That prophet, like unto Mo-
fes, a lawgiver as himſelf, who can he be,
but the Meffiah, whoſe doctrine was one
day to rule and fanctify the world.
Deut. xxxiv...
10.
› Kings,
ii. iii. &c.
Until him there was no prophet to ariſe
in Ifrael like unto Mofes, to whom God
ſhould ſpeak face to face, and who ſhould
give laws to his people and fo till the
time of the Meffiah, the people at all
times, and in all difficulties rely upon Mo-
fes only. As Rome revered the laws of
Romulus, Numa, and the twelve tables;
as Athens had recourfe to thofe of Solon ;
as Lacedemon preferved and reſpected
thofe of Lycurgus; the Hebrew people
continually pleaded thoſe of Mofes. And,
indeed, fo well had the lawgiver adjuſted
all things, that none had ever any occafion
to make the leaft alteration in them.
Therefore the body of the Jewiſh law is
not a collection of different ftatutes made
at different times and occafions. Mofes,
enlightened by the fpirit of God, had
foreſeen every thing. We fee no ftatutes
of David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, or He-
zekiah, though all three zealous for juſtice.
The good princes had only to cauſe the
law of Mofes to be obſerved, and con-
tented themſelves with recommending the
obfervance of it to their fucceffors. To
Deut. iv. 2.
xii. 32.
'add.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
233
to manners.
add to it, or diminiſh from it one tittle,
was an attempt, the people looked upon
with horror. They had occafion for the
law every moment, to regulate, not only
the feafts, facrifices, and ceremonies, but
alſo all other public and private actions,
trials, contracts, marriages, fucceffions,
funerals, the very fafhion of their drefs,
and, in general, every thing relating
There were no other books,
wherein to ſtudy the precepts of a
good life. They were to peruſe it, and
meditate upon it night and day; to col-
lect ſentences from it, and to have them
always before their eyes. It was therein
the children learned to read. The only
rule of education, that was given to their
parents, was to teach them, to inculcate
upon them, to make them obferve that
holy law, which alone could render them
wife from their infancy. Thus it was to
be in every body's hands. Befides the Deut. xxxi.
conftant reading which every one was 10, 11,
bound to give it in private, there was every
ſeven years, in the folemn year of releaſe
and reſt, a public reading, and, as it were, 1 Efa. viii.
a new publication made of it, at the feaſt 19.
of tabernacles, when all the people were
affembled for eight days. Mofes caufed Deut. xăxi,
the original of Deuteronomy to be depo- 26.
fited in the fide of the ark: this was an
abridgment of the whole law.
But to pre-
vent
234
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
vent its being altered in the courſe of time,
through the malice or negligence of men,
befides the copies that were current among
the people, authentic tranſcripts of it were
made, which being carefully reviſed and
kept by the prieſts and Levites, were uſed
inftead of originals. The kings, (for Mo-
fes had well foreſeen, that this people would
at length have kings, as all other nations)
the kings, I fay, were obliged, by an ex-
Deut. xvii. prefs law of Deuteronomy, to receive from
18.
S.
2 Chron.
xxxiv. 14.
&c.
the hands of the prieſts one of thofe tranf-
cripts thus religiouſly corrected, that they
might write it, and read therein all the
days of their life. The copies fo reviſed
by public authority, were had in fingular
veneration with all the people: they re-
garded them as proceeding immediately
from the hands of Mofes, as pure and en-
tire as God had dictated them to him.
2 Kings xxii. An ancient book of that ftrict and reli-
gious correctneſs, having been found in
the houſe of the Lord, under the reign
of Jofiah, or perhaps it was the original
itſelf, which Mofes had caufed to be put
in the fide of the ark, excited the piety
of that good king, and proved an occafion
of his bringing that people to repentance.
The great effects wrought at all times
by the public reading of this law, are
innumerable. In a word, it was a perfect
book, which being annexed by Mofes to
the
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
235
the hiſtory of the people of God, taught
them at once their origin, their religion,
their polity, their manners, their philofo-
phy, every thing that tends to regulate
life, every thing that unites and forms fo-
ciety, good and bad examples, the 'reward
of the one, and the rigorous puniſhments
that had attended the other.
By this admirable difcipline, a people,
come out of flavery, and kept forty years
in a defart, arrives full formed at the
land they are to poffefs. Mofes conducts
them to the entrance, and, being warned
of his approaching end, he commits what Deut. xxxi,
remains to be done to Joſhua. But before
- he died, he compoſed that long and admi-
rable ſong, which begins with theſe words: Deut. xxxii,
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and¹.
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. In
this filence of all nature, he fpeaks firft
to the people, with inimitable ſtrength, and
forefeeing their infidelity, he difcovers to
them the heinoufneſs and horrors of it.
All of a fudden he goes out of himſelf,
as finding all human language beneath
fo grand a fubject; he relates what God
faid, and makes him ſpeak with ſo much
majeſty, and ſo much goodneſs, that it is
hard to fay whether he infpires moft, awe
and confuſion, or love and confidence.
All the people learned by heart that
divine fong, by order of God, and of Mo-
fes.
236
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
19, 22.
Deut. xxxi. fes. And then that great man died con-
tented, as having forgot nothing that might
tend to preſerve amongft his followers, the
memory of the benefits and commands
of God. He left his own children loft in
the croud of their countrymen, without
any diſtinction, and without any extraor-
dinary fettlement.
He hath been admired, not only by his
own people, but by all the nations of the
world; and no lawgiver hath ever had fo
grcat a name among men.
It is thought he wrote the book of Job.
The fublimity of the thoughts, and ma-
jefty of the ftyle, render that hiſtory wor-
thy of Mofes. Left the Hebrews fhould
have been puffed up, by arrogating the
grace of God to themſelves only, it was
proper to let them know, that that great
God had his elect even in the race of
Efau. What doctrine was more impor-
tant? What more ufeful entertainment
could Mofes give to the people afflicted in
the wilderneſs, than that of the patience
of Job, who, when delivered into the
hands of Satan to be tried by all man-
ner of hardſhips, fees himſelf deprived of
his fubftance, of his children, and of eve-
ry earthly comfort; preſently after, fmitten
with a loathſome diſeaſe, and diſtracted in-
wardly by the temptation of blaſphemy
and defpair; who, nevertheleſs, by hold-
ing
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
237
xvi. 21.
ing faft his integrity, fhews that a faith-
ful foul ſupported by divine aid, amidſt Job xiii. 15.
the moſt dreadful trials, and in ſpite of the xiv. 14, 15.
gloomieſt thoughts the evil ſpirit can fug-xix. 25, &c.
geft, cannot only preferve an invincible.
confidence, but even raiſe itſelf by its own
calamities to the higheft contemplation,
and acknowledge, in the troubles it en-
dures, the nothingneſs of man, and the
fupreme dominion and infinite wifdom of
God? Such are the leffons taught in the
book of Job. To keep up the character of
the occafion, we fee the holy man's faith
crowned with temporal profperity: but
yet the people of God learns to know what
is the virtue of fufferings, and to foretafte
the grace that was one day to be faſtened
to the cross.
Mofes had tafted it by anticipation, Exod. ii. 10,
when he chofe rather to fuffer affliction 11, 15.
and ſhame with the people of God, than Heb. xi. 24,
to enjoy the pleafures and plenty of the 25, 26.
houſe of the king of Egypt. From that
time God cauſed him to tafte the reproaches
of JESUS CHRIST. He tafted them ftill
more in his precipitate flight, and in his
forty years exile. But he drunk deep of Numb. xiv.
the cup of JESUS CHRIST, when being 10.
chofen to deliver that people, he had to
bear with their continual revolts, in which
his life was often in danger. He learned
what it costs to fave the children of God,
and
238.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
12, 13.
xxvii. 14.
51, 52.
and fhewed afar off what a higher de-
liverance was one day to coft the Saviour
of the world.
:
That great man had not even the con-
folation of entering the promiſed land he
Numb. xx. beheld it only from the top of a mountain,
and was not at all aſhamed to record, that
Deut. xxxii. he was excluded from it by a fin, which,
flight as it appears, deſerved to be ſo ſevere-
ly puniſhed in a man, who was endued
with fo eminent a portion of grace. Mo-
ſes afforded an example of the fevere jea-
loufy of God, and of the judgment he
exerciſes with fo terrible ftrictneſs upon
thofe, whom his gifts make bound to a
more perfect fidelity.
But a higher myftery is fet forth to us
in the exclufion of Moſes. This wife law-
giver, who does, by fo many wonders,
only conduct the children of God into the
neighbourhood of their land, is himſelf a
Heb. vii.19. proof to us, that his law made nothing per-
fect, and that without being able to give
the accompliſhment of the promifes, it
Ibid. xi. 13. makes us embrace them afar off, or con-
ducts us at moft, as it were, to the en-
trance of our inheritance. It is a Joſhua,
it is a Jefus, for this was the true name of
Joſhua, who by that name, and by his
office, repreſented the Saviour of the
world; it is that man, fo far inferior to
Mofes in every thing, and only fuperior to
him
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
239
him by the name he bears; it is he, I fay,
who is to bring the people of God into the
holy land.
By the victories of that great man, be-
fore whom Jordan turns back, the walls
of Jericho fall down of themſelves, and
the ſun ſtands ſtill in the midſt of heaven,
God eſtablifhes his children in the land
of Canaan, from whence he by the fame
means drives out the abominable nations.
By the hatred he gave his faithful towards
them, he infpired them with an extreme.
abhorrence of their impiety; the puniſh-
ment he inflicted on them by their mi-
niftry, filled themſelves with an awe of
the divine juſtice, whofe decrees they
were executing. One part of thoſe nations, Procop. lib.
whom Joſhua expelled their land, fettled ii. de bel.
in Africa, where was found long after in
an ancient inſcription, the monument of
their flight, and of the victories of Joſhua.
After thoſe miraculous victories had put
the Ifraelites in poffeffion of the greateſt
part of the land promiſed to their fathers, Jof. xiii.
Jofhua, and Eleazar the high-prieft, with xiv. & foll.
the heads of the twelve tribes, made a di-
53. xxxiv.
viſion of it among them, according to the 17.
law of Mofes, and affigned to the tribe jef. xiv. xv.
of Judah the first and greateſt lot. From Num. ii. 3.
the time of Mofes, it hai furpaffed the 12.
others in number, in courage, and in dig- 1 Chron. v.
nity. Joshua died, and the people con- 2. Jud. i. 1,
Num. xxvi.
g. vii.
X. 14.
2.
tinued Ibid. iv. 8.
240
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
tinued the conqueft of the holy land.
God would have the tribe of Judah to
march at the head, and declared that he
had delivered the country into its hands.
Accordingly, that tribe defeated the Ca-
naanites, and took Jerufalem, which was
to be the holy city, and the capital of
the people of God. This was the ancient
Salem, where Melchifedek had reigned in
the days of Abraham, Melchifedek, that
Heb. vii. king of righteousness, (for fo his name im-
ports) and at the fame time king of peace,
as Salem fignifies peace, whom Abraham had
acknowledged as the greateſt high-prieft in
the world, as if Jerufalem had been thence-
forth deſtined to be a holy city, and the
Jud. i. 21, fountain-head of religion. That city was
given at firſt to the children of Benjamin,
who being weak, and few in number,
were not able to drive out the Jebufites,
the ancient inhabitants of the country, and
fo dwelled among them. Under the Judges,
the people of God are variouſly treated,
according to their good or bad behaviour.
After the death of the old men, who had
feen the miracles of God's hands, the me-
mory of thoſe great works decays, and the
univerfal tendency of mankind draws away
the people to idolatry. As oft as they fall
into it, they are puniſhed: as oft as they
repent, they are delivered. Faith in pro-
vidence, and the truth of the promiſes and
threat-
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
241
threatenings of Mofes is more and more
confirmed in the hearts of true believers.
But God prepared ftill greater examples of
it. The people demanded a king, and
God gave them Saul, who was foon reject-
ed for his fins: he refolved at laſt to efta-
bliſh a royal family, whence the Meffiah
ſhould ſpring, and this he chofe in Judah.
David, a young fhepherd, come of that 1 Sam. xvi.
tribe, the youngeft of the fons of Jeffe,
whofe father, and his family, were unac-
quainted with his merit, but whom God
found after his own heart, was anointed by
Samuel, in Bethlehem, his native city.
I
VI.'
Here the people of God affume a more
auguft form. The kingdom is eſtabliſhed David, the
in the houſe of David. This houfe begins the pro-
kings, and
with two kings of different characters, phets.
but admirable both. David, a man of
war, and a conqueror, fubdues the enemies
of the people of God, whofe arms he cauſes
to be feared over all the Eaft; and Solo-
mon, renowned for his wifdom both at
home and abroad, renders that people hap-
py by a profound peace. But the progrefs
of religion requires of us here fome parti-
cular remarks upon the lives of thoſe two
great kings.
David reigned firft over Judah, power-
ful and victorious, and he was afterwards
acknowledged by all Ifrael. He took from 2 Sam. v.
the Jebufites the ftrong-hold of Sion, which 6, 7, 8, 9.
M
was
242
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Chron.
was the citadel of Jerufalem. Maſter of
xi. 6, 7, 8. that city, he eftabliſhed there, by God's
order, the feat of the kingdom, and of re-
ligion. Sion was his dwelling-place: he
built it round about, and named it the city
of David. Joab his fifter's fon built the
reft of the city, and Jerufalem took a
new form. The men of Judah poffeffed
the whole country, and Benjamin, few in
number, dwelled intermixed with them,
* Chron. ii.
26.
2 Sam. vi.
16.
The ark of the covenant built by Mofes,
where God dwelled between the cherub-
ims, and where the two tables of the de-
calogue were kept, had then no fixed
place. David brought it in triumph into
Sion, which he had conquered by the Al-
mighty aid of God, that fo God might
reign in Sion; and that he might be there
acknowledged as the protector of David,
of Jerufalem, and of the whole kingdom.
But the tabernacle, wherein the people
xvi. 39. xxi. had ferved God in the wilderneſs, was
* Chron.
29.
2 Sam. viii.
1 Chron.
xvii. I.
25.
ftill at Gibeon: and there it was that the
facrifices were offered on the altar, which
Mofes had fet up.
This was only till fuch time as there
fhould be a temple, where the altar ſhould
2 Sam. xxiv, be re-united with the ark, and wherein
the whole ſervice fhould be performed.
When David had defeated all his ene-
mies, and puſhed the conqueſts of the peo-
ple of God as far as the Euphrates; peace-
ful
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
243
xxi. xxii. &
ful and victorious, he turned all his thoughts Chron.
towards the eſtabliſhment of divine worſhip; foll.
and upon the fame mountain, where Abra- Jof. Ant.
ham, ready to offer up his only fon, was vii, 10.
ftayed by the hand of an angel, he mark-
ed out, by God's appointment, the place
for the temple.
I
2 Chron. iii.
He formed all the plans of it; he col-
lected its rich and precious materials; he
dedicated the ſpoils of the conquered na-
tions and kings to its ufe. But this temple
which was to be prepared by the conque-
ror, was to be reared by the peaceful
prince. Solomon built it upon the model 1 Kings vi.
of the tabernacle. The altar of burnt- vii. viii.
offerings, the altar of perfumes, the golden iv. v. vi.
candleſtick, the tables of fhew-bread, and all vii.
the rest of the facred furniture of the tem-
ple, were taken from like pieces, which
Mofes had cauſed to be made in the wil-
dernefs: Solomon added nothing but mag-
nificence and grandeur. The ark, which
the man of God had built, was placed in
the holy of holies, a place inacceffible, a
Tymbol of the impenetrable majeſty of
God, and of heaven, forbidden to men,
until JESUS CHRIST had opened an
entrance into it by his blood. On the day
of the dedication of the temple, God ap-
peared there in his majefty. He made
choice of that place to eſtabliſh his name
and his worship there; and it was prohi-
M 2
bited
244
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
• Kings ix.
bited to facrifice any where elſe. The
unity of God was demonftrated by the
unity of his temple. Jerufalem became
a holy city, an image of the church,
where God was to dwell, as in his true
temple; and of heaven, where he will
make us eternally happy by the mani-
feftation of his glory.
After Solomon had built the temple, he
built alſo the palace of the kings, the ar-
chitecture of which was worthy of fo
great a prince. His pleaſure-houſe, which
Ibid. vii. 2. was called the house of the foreft of Lebanon,
was equally ftately and delightful. The
palace he reared for the queen, was a new
ornament to Jerufalem. Every thing was
grand in thoſe edifices, the porches, gal-
leries, walks, the king's throne, and the
tribunal where he fat to do judgment and
juſtice: cedar was the only wood he made
ufe of in theſe works. Every thing fhone
refplendent with gold and precious ftones.
Citizens and ſtrangers, all admired the ma-
jefty of the kings of Ifrael. Every thing
elfe was correfpondent to this magnificence;
the cities, arſenals, horfes, chariots, and
the prince's guard. Commerce, navi-
gation, and good order, together with a
profound peace, had rendered Jerufalem
the richeft city of the Eaft. The king-
dom enjoyed peace and plenty: every
thing in it reprefented the heavenly glory,
1 Kings 1.
2 Chron.
wiii. ix.
In
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
245
In David's wars were exhibited the toils
whereby it was to be attained; and in So-
lomon's reign was fhewn how peaceable
was its enjoyment.
Moreover, the exaltation of thoſe two
great kings, and of the royal family, was
the effect of a particular election. Da-
vid himſelf celebrates the wonder of that
election by thefe words: Howbeit, the 1 Chron:
Lord God of Ifrael chofe me before all the xxvii. 4, 5.
houſe of my father, to be king over Ifrael
for ever: for he hath chofen Judah to be
the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the
houfe of my father; and among the fons of
my father, he liked me, to make me king over
all Ifrael: and of all my fons (for the
Lord hath given me many fons) he hath
chofen Solomon my fon, to fit upon the throne
of the kingdom of the Lord over Ifrael.
This divine election had in view a higher
object than at first appears. That Meffiah
fo many times promifed as the fon of A-
braham, was alfo to be the fon of Da-
vid, and of all the kings of Judah. It
was with an eye to the Meffiah, that God
promiſed to David, that his throne should
ftand faft for ever. Solomon chofen to
fucceed him, was deftined to reprefent
the perfon of the Meffiah. And therefore
does God fay of him, I will be his father, 2 Sam. vii.
and he shall be my fon, a thing he never 14.
faid xxii. 10.
M. 3
2 Chron.
246
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Matth. vi.
29. xii. 42.
Fixxi. 5
11, 17,
· Pf. ex₁
faid with that emphaſis of any other king,.
or any other man.
Thus in David's time, and under the
kings his offspring, the mystery of the
Meffiah declares itſelf more than ever by
prophecies glorious and clearer than the
fun.
He
David had feen him afar off, and fung
him in his pfalms with a loftineſs that no-
thing will ever equal. Oftentimes, when
he meant only to celebrate the glory of So-
Fomon his fon, being all at once raviſhed.
out of himſelf, and tranſported far beyond
that fubject; he faw him, who is greater
than Solomon in glory, as well as in wisdom.
The Meffiah appeared to him ſeated on a
throne more laſting than the moon.
faw at his feet all nations fubdued, and at
the fame time bleffed in him, conformably
to the promiſe made to Abraham. He
raiſed his profpect ftill higher; he faw him.
in the beauties of holiness, and from the womb
of the morning, proceeding eternally from
the bofom of his father, a priest for ever,
and without fucceffor, as fucceeding no
body, created in an extraordinary manner,
not according to the order of Aaron, but
after the order of Melchizedek: a new or-
der, which the law did not know. He
faw him fetting at the right hand of God,
beholding from the higheft heavens, his
nemies made his footstool. He is aſtoniſh-
ed
An Univerfal Hiftory.
247
ed at ſo grand a ſpectacle; and tranſported
with the glory of his fon, he calls him his
Lord.
:
Pf. xlv. g,
4,
He faw him God, whom God had anoint-
ed to make him reign over all the earth by
truth, meekness, and righteousness. He was 5, 6, 7.
preſent in ſpirit at the council of God, and
heard from the eternal father's own mouth
that expreffion which he addreſſes to his
only fon: This day have I begotten thee :P, ii. 6,7,
to which God joins a promiſe of the hea-8.
thens for his inheritance, and the uttermoft
parts of the earth for his poſſeſſion. In Ibid. i. 1,4,
vain do the people rage; in vain do the8, 9.
kings and princes take counfel together. The
Lord from the height of heaven laughs at
their mad projects, and in fpite of them
eſtabliſhes the empire of his CHRIST. HеPf, ii. 10
eſtabliſhes it over themfelves; and they
are obliged to be the first fubjects of that
CHRIST, whofe yoke they wanted to
fhake off. And though the reign of that
great Meffiah be often foretold in the
fcriptures under glorious ideas, God did
not conceal from David the irrominies
that were to be offered to that bleffed fruit
of his loins. This inftruction was necef-
fary to the people of God. If that people,
yet weak, ftood in need of being allured
by temporal promiſes, they were not,
However, to be fuffered to look upon hu--
man greatneſs as the fovereign felicity,
M 4
and
248
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
and as their fole reward: wherefore God
fhews them from afar that Meffiah fo long
promiſed, and ſo much deſired, the pat-
tern of perfection, and the object of his
complacency, overwhelmed in forrow.
The croſs appears to David as the true
Pf. xxii. 17, throne of this new king: he fees his hands
and feet pierced, all his bones ſtaring through
P. xviii. his skin, by the whole weight of his bo-
Pf. xxii. 8, dy violently fufpended; his garments di-
13, 14, 17, vided, lots caft upon his vefture, his tongue
18, 19.
22.
21, 22.
moiſtened with gall and vinegar, his ene-
mies raging all around him, and glutting
themſelves with his blood. But he ſees
at the fame time the glorious effects of his
humiliation: all the ends of the world re-
2 & foll, membering and turning to their God, whom
Ibid. 26,
>
they had fo many ages forgot, the poor
coming the firft to the table of the Mef-
fiah, and afterwards the rich and power-
ful, all adoring and bleffing him, himſelf
prefiding in the great and numerous congre-
gation, that is, in the affembly of the con-
verted nations, and there declaring to his
brethren the name of God, and his eternal
truths. David, who faw theſe things,
acknowledged, upon feeing them, that the
kingdom of his fon was not of this world.
He is not aftoniſhed at it, for he knows
that the world paffeth away; and a prince
always fo humble upon the throne, faw
plainly
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
249
plainly that a throne was not a blifs, in
which his hopes ought to terminate.
Mal. iii. 1.
Other prophets have no leſs ſeen the
myſtery of the Meffiah. There is nothing
great, or glorious, that they have not faid
of his reign. One fees Bethlehem, a city Mic. v. 2.
the least among the thouſands of Judah, made
illuftrious by his birth; and at the fame time
rifing a little higher, he beholds a birth
whereby he comes forth, from all eternity out
of the bofom of his father: another fees the Ifa. vii. 14.
virginity of his mother; an Emanuel, a God
with us, proceeding from that virgin
womb, and a wonderful child, whom Ibid. ix. 6.
he calls God. One perceives him coming to If. xi. 10.
his temple, another beholds him glorious in ii. 9.
his reft, or in his grave, where death was
conquered. While they publiſh his glory,
they do not conceal his reproaches. They Zech. xi.
faw him fold to his people, they knew 12, 13.
the number and uſe of the thirty pieces of
filver, at which he was prized. At the
fame time that they beheld him, exalted If.
and extolled, they faw him defpifed and re- 14.
jected of men; the aſtoniſhment of many,
as much by his humiliation, as his great-
nefs; the least defirable of men; a man of
forrows, and acquainted with grief, bearing
the iniquity of us all; doing good to thoſe
who hide their faces from him; disfigured
by his wounds, and by them healing ours;
treated as a malefactor; brought to the
flaughter
M 5
lii. 13,
3.
ii. §.
2.50
An Univerfal Hiftory..
Dan. ix.
1
flaughter with the wicked, and as an inno--
cent lamb, opening not his mouth; a long
generation proceeding from him by this
means, and vengeance overtaking his un--
believing people. That nothing might be
wanting to the prophecy, they numbered
the years till his coming, and unleſs we
wilfully blindfold ourſelves, it is no longer
poffible to miſtake it.
Not only did the prophets fee JESUS!
CHRIST, but they alfo were a type of
him, and repreſented his myfteries, efpe-
cially that of the crofs. Almost all of
them fuffered perfecution for righteouſneſs..
fake, and by their fufferings have figured
to us, the innocence and truth perfecuted
in our Lord. We fee Elijah and. Eliſha
conftantly threatened. How many times
was Iſaiah made the fcorn of the people,,
and of the kings, who, in the end, as the
allowed tradition of the Jews bears it,.
facrificed him to their fury? Zachariah,
the fon of Jehoiada is ftoned: Ezekiel
feems ever in affliction: the misfortunes of:
Jeremiah are continual, and inexpreffible;
and we fee Daniel twice caft into the den
of lions. Not one of them but has been
gainfayed, and maltreated; and all have.
fhewed us by their example, that if the.
weakneſs of the ancient people required
in general to be fupported by temporal
bleffings, the ftrong men of Ifrael, and.
:
thofe
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
25
thofe of an extraordinary fanctity, were
no lefs fed with the bread of affliction,-
and drunk beforehand, for their further
fanctification, of the cup prepared for the
fon of God: a cup, as much more bitter,
as the perfon of JESUS CHRIST WAS
holier.
Jiii. 3, 5+
lii. Iga
But what the prophets faw moft clearly,
and what they alfo declared in the fublimeft
terms, was, the bleffing extended towards
the Gentiles in the Meffiah. That root of If. xi, 10, -
Jeſſe, and of David, appeared to the holy
prophet Iſaiah, as an enſign given by God
to the people, and to whom the Gentiles fhould
feek. The man of forrows, whofe ftripes liii. 5.
were to be our healing, was choſen to waſh
the Gentiles by an holy ſprinkling; which
is in his blood and in baptifm. The kings
ftruck with an awful reverence at his pre-
fence, dare not to open their mouths be-
fore him: for that which had not been told
them, they fee, and that which they had not
beard, they are called to confider. Behold,
He is given for a witness to the people ; a¹v. 4, 5·
leader and commander to the Gentiles. Un-
der him a nation that they knew not ſhall
be joined to the people of God, and the na-
tions that knew not them shall run unto
them. This is the righteousness of Zion, Ixii, 1.2. ·
which shall go forth as brightness, this is
the falvation thereof, which shall be as a
lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles fhall
See
}
252
An Univerfal Hiftory.
2, 3, 4, 5,
6. lix. 6.
>
fee his righteouſneſs, and all kings the glory
of that man, fo celebrated in the prophe-
cies of Zion.
But behold him ftill better defcribed,
and with a peculiar character. A man
If. xlii. 1, · of wonderful meekneſs, the fingularly elect
of God, and in whom his foul delighteth,
brings forth judgment to the Gentiles: and
the ifles wait for his law. Thus the He-
brews call Europe, and other diſtant coun-
tries. He fhall make no noife: he fhall
not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be
heard in the Street: fo meek and peaceful
fhall he be. A bruifed reed fhall he not
break, and the Smoking flax fhall he not
quench. Far from confounding the weak,
and finners, his gracious voice fhall call
them, and his merciful hand fhall be their
ftay. He will open the blind eyes, he will
bring out the prisoners from the priſon, and
them that fit in darkness, out of the priſon-
house. His power fhall be no lefs than
his goodneſs. His effential character is,
to join together meeknefs and efficacy,
wherefore that fweet voice fhall run in a
moment, from one end of the world to the
other, and without caufing any fedition
among men, fhall excite the whole earth.
He is neither froward nor impetuous; and
he, whom they hardly knew, when he
was in Judea, fhall not only be a founda-
tion for the covenant of the people, but alſo
the
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
253
lxi. 1, 2, 3,
II. lxv. 1,
the light of the Gentiles. Under his blefled If. xix. 24,
reign the Affyrians and Egyptians, fhall 25.
make with the Ifraelites, but one and the
fame people of God. All becomes If-
rael, all becomes holy. Jerufalem is no
more a particular city; it is the image of
a new fociety, in which all nations are
gathered together: Europe, Afric, and
Afia receive preachers, among whom God If, lx, 1,2,
hath fet his fign, that they may declare his 3, 4, 11.
glory among the Gentiles. The elect, till.
then called by the name of Ifrael, fhall be lxii. 1, 2,
called by a new name, in which fhall be fig-2, 15, 16.
nified the accompliſhment of the promifes, lxvi. 19, 20,
and a happy Amen. The priests and Le-21.
vites, who hitherto came of Aaron, ſhall
be taken benceforth out of the midst of the
heathen. A new facrifice, more pure and Mal. i. 10,
more acceptable than the old one, fhall be
ſubſtituted in their place, and it fhall be
known why David had celebrated an high-Pf. cz.
prieſt of a new order. Drop down, ye hea- If. xiv. 8,
vens, from above, and let the fkies pour
down righteousness: let the earth open, and
let them bring forth falvation, and let right-
eouſneſs Spring up together. Heaven and
earth fhall unite in producing, as by one
common birth, him, who fhall be at once
heavenly and carthly: new ideas of virtue
fhall appear to the world in his example,
and doctrine; and the grace, which he
fhall difpenfe, fhall imprint them on men's
hearts
II.
254
An Univerſal Hiſtory..
Ibid. xlv.
23.
2 Sam. vii.
8 & foll.
1 Kings ix.
4. & foll.
2 Chron.
vii. 17. &
hearts. All things change at his coming,
and God fwears by himſelf, that every
knee fhall bow before him, and that every
tongue fhall confefs his fovereign power.
•
This was a part of the wonders which
God fhewed to the prophets under the
kings, the fons of David, and to David
above all the reft. They all wrote before-
hand the hiftory of the fon of God, who
was alſo to be made the fon of Abraham
and of David. And thus every thing fol-
lowed regularly in the order of the divine
counfels. That Meffiah exhibited at a
diſtance, as the fon of Abraham, is alfo
fhewn nigher, as the fon of David.
eternal kingdom is promifed him the
knowledge of God, ſpread abroad through- -
out all the earth is fpecified as the certain
fign, and as the fruit of his coming the
converfion of the Gentiles, and the bleffing
of all the nations of the world, ſo long
promiſed to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob,
is confirmed anew, and all the people of.
God live in this expectation.
An
In the mean time God continues to go--
vern them in an admirable manner. He
makes a new covenant with David, and
obliges himſelf to protect him and the
kings his defcendents, if they walk in the
2 Sam: i. ftatutes he hath given them by Mofes; but
12.& foll. if not, he denounces to them the ſevereſt
puniſhments. David, who forgets him-
foll.
felf:
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
255
a
.
-
félf for a little, is the first that feels them :
but having made amends for his fault by
his repentance, he is crowned with pro-
fperity, and propoſed as a model of a per--
fect king. The throne is eſtabliſhed in his
houfe. So long as his fon Solomon imitates
his piety, he is happy: he goes aftray in Kings xi。.
his old age, and God, who fparcs him for
his fervant David's fake, declares to him,
that he will puniſh him in the pcrfon of
his fon. Thus he fhews parents, that ac-
cording to the fecret order of his judg-
ments, he continues their rewards or pu--
niſhments after their death; and holds
them in fubmiffion to his laws by their
deareft tie, that is, by the tie of their.
children. In execution of his decrees, Reho-1 Kings xiì.
boam, headstrong in himself, is given up to
a. fooliſh council: his kingdom is diminiſh-
ed by ten tribes. Whilft theſe ten rebel-
lious and fchifmatic tribes turn afide from.
their God and from their king, the child-
ren of Judah, faithful to God, and to Da--
vid whom he had chofen, ftand faft in:
the covenant and faith of Abraham. The
Levites with Benjamin adhere to them ::
the kingdom of the people of God fubfifts.
by their union under the name of the king-
dom of Judah; and the law of Mofes is
maintained there in all its rites and cere-
monies notwithſtanding the idolatries and
dreadful corruption of the ten feparated
tribes,
256
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
2 Kings
xviii. 6,7,
& foll.
Tob. i. 5,
6,7.
tribes, God remembers his covenant with
Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob. His law goes
not quite out amongſt thofe rebels: he
does not ceaſe to call them to repentance
by numberless miracles, and by continual
warnings, which he fends them by his
prophets. But they, being hardened in
their wickedness, he can no longer bear
with them, and fo drives them out of
the promiſed land, without hopes of ever
being re-eſtabliſhed in it.
Mean while the hiftory of Tobit hap-
pening at that fame time, and about the
beginning of the captivity of the Ifraelites,
fhews us the conduct of God's elect,
who remained in the feparated tribes.
This holy man, by dwelling among them
before the captivity, found means not only
to preſerve himſelf from the idolatries of
his brethren, but even to perform the
law, and worſhip God publicly in the
temple at Jerufalem, unmoved either by
bad example, or by fear. When a perfe-
cuted captive at Nineveh, he perſevered in
piety with his family; and the wonderful
manner in which he and his fon are re-
warded for their faith, even upon earth,
Ibid. xii. 21, fhews, that in fpite of captivity and per-
fecution, God had fecret ways of making
his fervants tafte the bleffings of the law,
in raiſing them, however, by the misfor-
tunes they had to fuffer, to more exalted
Ibid. ii.
82.
notions.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
257
19.
notions. By the examples of Tobit, and
by his wholeſome admonitions, the men
of Ifrael were excited to acknowledge, at
leaft under the rod, the hand of God,
which chaftened them; but almoſt all
continued in their obftinacy: the children 2 Kings xvii.
of Judah, far from profiting by the chaft-
iſements of Ifrael, imitated their bad ex-
amples. God does not ceaſe to warn them
by his prophets, whom he fends them
time after time, rifing up early, and fend- Ibid. xxiii.
ing them, as he fays himſelf, to exprefs 2 Chron.
his paternal care. Provoked by their in- xxxvi. 15.
gratitude, he is moved againſt them, and Jer. xxix.
threatens to deal with them as with their 19. xxxv.
rebellious brethren.
26, 27.
15.
xxviii. 14.
If. xx. 2.
Zech. xiii.
Their 4.
There is nothing more remarkable in
the hiftory of the people of God, than
this miniſtry of the prophets. We fee men 1 Sam.
fet apart from the reft of the people, by
I Kings xix.
a retired life, and by a peculiar garb: 19.
they have habitations, where we fee them 2 Kings i. 8.
live in a fort of community, under a ſu-
perior, whom God gave them.
poor and felf-denied life was a type of the 1 Sam. x,
mortification, which was to be enjoined Kings xviii.
under the goſpel. God communicated 2 Kings ii.
himſelf to them in a particular manner, 3, 15, 18,
and made manifeft to the eyes of the peo- iv. 10, 38.
ple, that wonderful communication: but vi. 1,2.
it never was fo eminently conſpicuous as
in the times of diforder, when idolatry
feemed
10. xix. 20.
1
19,25.
258
An Univerfal Hiftory.
feemed about to aboliſh the law of God.
During thoſe unhappy times, the prophets
loudly proclaimed on all fides, both by
word, and by writing, the threatnings of
God, and the teftimony they bore to his
truth. The writings they compofed were
in the hands of all the people, and care-
fully preſerved in continual remembrance
to future ages. Thofe of the people,
who kept faithful to God, adhered to
them; and we fee that even in Ifrael,
where idolatry reigned, the few faithful
there were, celebrated with the prophets
If. xxx. 8. the fabbath, and the feafts eſtabliſhed by
xxxiv. 16. the law of Mofes. It was they that en-
Jer. xxii. 30.
xxvi. 12,13. Couraged good people to ftand faft in the
xxxvi. 2,11. covenant. Many of them ſuffered death;
and after their example, there were in the
r Eid. i. 1. worſt times, that is, even in the reign of
Dan. ix. 2. Manaffeh, infinite numbers of the faith-
2 Kings iv. ful who laid down their lives for the truth,
2 Kings xxi, in fo much that it has not been a ſingle
moment without a witneſs.
Exod. xvii.
14.
2 Chron.
xxvi. 22.
23.
15.
Thus the fociety of the people of God'
always fubfifted, and the prophets continued
in it: a great number of the faithful ftre-
nuouſly perſiſted in the law of God, with
them, and with the priests the fons of Za--
Ezek. xliv. doc, who, as fays Ezekiel, when the chil-
dren of Ifrael went aftray from God, kept:
the charge of his fanctuary.
15.
Yet,›
An Univerfal Hiftory.
259
Yet, in fpite of the prophets, in fpite
of the faithful priefts, and of the people
united with them in the obfervance of the
law, idolatry, which had ruined Ifrael,
often drew afide, even in Judah itſelf,
both the princes, and the bulk of the
people. Though the kings forgot the God
of their fathers, he bore long with their
iniquities, for the fake of David his fervant..
David is ever in his fight. When the
kings, the fons of David, follow the good.
example of their father, God works fur-
prizing wonders in their behalf: but they
feel, when they degenerate, the invincible
ſtrength of his arm, which then falls heavy
upon them. The kings of Egypt, the
kings of Syria, and, above all, the kings
of Affyria and Babylon, ferve as inftru-
ments to his vengeance. Impiety increaſes,.
and God raiſes up in the Eaft a king more
haughty, and more formidable than all
that had till then appeared: and that is
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
moſt terrible of all conquerors.
points him out afar off to the nations and Fz. xxvi.
kings, as the avenger deftined to pun-sc.
nigh, and terror 2 Kings
He takes Jerufa-Chron..
lem a firſt time, and carries away a part xxxvi..
of its inhabitants to Babylon: yet neither do
they who remain in the country, nor
they who are tranſported, though warned,
ifh them. He draws
marches before him.
the
God Jer. xxv.
thofe.
&c.
I.
260
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
thoſe by Jeremiah, and theſe by Ezekiel,
turn to repentance. They prefer to thofe
Jer. xiv. 14. holy prophets, the prophets who prophesied
lies to them, and flattered them in their
wickedness. The avenger returns into
Judea, aud the yoke of Jerufalem is
made heavier; but fhe is not quite de-
ftroyed. At laft impiety comes to its
height; pride increaſes with weakneſs;
and Nebuchadnezzar reduces the whole
to aſhes.
2 Kings
Kxvi.
Jer. vii. 4.
God fpared not his own fanctuary.
That glorious temple, the ornament of
the world, which was to have been eter-
nal, had the children of Ifrael perfevered
in piety, was confumed by the fire of the
Affyrians. In vain did the Jews cry out
inceffantly, The temple of the Lord, the tem-
ple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, is
among us, as if that facred temple had
been to protect them of itſelf. God had
refolved to let them fee, that he was not
confined to a fabric of ſtone, but that he
would have his habitation in faithful hearts.
So he deftroyed the temple of Jerufalem;
he delivered its treaſure to the fpoilers,
and the many coftly veffels confecrated by
pious kings, were given to an impious ty-
rant.
But the fall of the people of God was
to be the edification of the whole world.
We fee in the perfon of this impious,
and
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
261
and at the fame time victorious king,
what are thoſe men called conquerors.
They are for the most part but inftru-
ments of the divine vengeance. God exer-
cifes his juftice by them, and then ex-
ercifes it upon them. Nebuchadnezzar
vefted with the divine power, and become
invincible by that miniftry, puniſhes all
the enemies of the people of God: he
ravages the Idumeans, the Ammonites,
and the Moabites; he overthrows the
kings of Syria; Egypt, under whoſe pow-2 Kings
er Judea had fo often groaned, is now xxiv. 7.
the prey of the proud tyrant, and be-
comes tributary to him: his power is
no lefs fatal to Judea itſelf, which knows.
not how to improve the reprieves God
vouchfafes her. She totally falls, is to-
tally deftroyed by the divine juſtice,
whereof Nebuchadnezzar is the minifter :
he too fhall fall in his turn, and God,
who employs the hand of that prince to
chaftife his children, and pull down his
enemies, referves him for his own al-
mighty arm.
He left not his children ignorant of the
deſtiny of that king, who chaftened them,
and of the empire of the Chaldeans, un-
der which they were to be captives. Left
they ſhould be furprized at the glory of
the wicked, and of their haughty reign,
the prophets denounced their fhort du-
ration.
262
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
xxi. xlv.
If. xiii. xiv. ration. Ifaiah, who faw the glory of Ne-
buchadnezzar, and his mad pride, a long
and xlviii. time before his birth, foretold his fudden
xlvi. xlvii.
fall, as well as that of his empire. Ba-
bylon was ſcarce any thing, when that
prophet faw its power, and a little after,
its downfal. Thus the revolutions of the
cities and empires, which haraſſed the
people of God, or profited by their de-
ftruction, were written in their prophe-
cies. Theſe oracles were followed by a
Speedy execution: and the Jews, fo fe-
verely puniſhed, faw fall before them, or
a very little after, according to the pre-
dictions of their prophets, not only Sa-
maria, Idumea, Gaza, Afcalon, Damaf-
cus, the cities of the Ammonites and
Moabites their perpetual enemies; but the
capitals of the great empires, Tyre mi-
ftrefs of the fea, Tanis, Memphis, hun-
dred-gated Thebes, with all the riches.
of its Sefoftris ; Niniveh itſelf, the feat
of the kings of Affyria their perfecutors;
and proud Babylon, victorious over all the
reft, and rich with their ſpoils.
It is true, Jerufalem periſhed at the
fame time for her fins: but God doth not
f. xliv. xlv.leave her without hope. Ifaiah, who had
foretold her ruin, had feen her glorious re-
ſtoration, and had himſelf named Cyrus
her deliverer, two hundred years before
Jer. xxv. 11, he was born. Jeremiah, whofe predicti-
#2. xxxix.
JO
on
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
263
ons had been ſo precife in pointing out
to that ungrateful people their certain
overthrow, had alfo promiſed them their
return after threefcore and ten years cap-
tivity. During thoſe years, the humbled
people was refpected in its prophets :
thefe captives pronounced to kings and
nations their dreadful dooms. Nebuchad-
nezzar, who would needs be worshiped, Dan. ii. 46.
does himſelf worſhip Daniel, aftonifhed Ibid. iv. 26.
at the divine fecrets he difcovered to
him
he learns from him his fentence,
foon followed by execution. This victo- Jer. xxvii.
rious prince triumphed in Babylon, which
he made the greateft, ftrongeft, and moſt
beautiful city the fun had ever beheld.
"There it was God intended to confound his
pride. Happy and invulnerable, fo to
fpeak, at the head of his armies, and
during the whole courfe of his conquefts,
he was to fall in the place where he was
created, and in the land of his nativity, ac-
cording to the oracle of Ezekiel. While Ezek. xi.
admiring his greatneſs, and the beauty of 30.
Babylon, he exalts himſelf above humani-
ty, God ftrikes him, deprives him of his Dan. iv. 31,
underſtanding, and degrades him to the
rank of the beafts. He recovers his fenfes
at the time affigned by Daniel, and con-
feffes the God of heaven, who had made
him feel his power. But his fucceffors
did not take warning from his example.
The
264
An Univerfal Hiftory.
Herod. lib.
i. Xenoph.
lib. ii. iii.
lib. i. Xe.
Arift. 3.
Polit. 3.
conqueror.
The affairs of Babylon fall into confu-
fion, and the time pointed out by the pro-
phecies for the reſtoration of Judah, arrives
amidſt all theſe troubles. Cyrus appears
at the head of the Medes and Perfians :
every thing gives way to that formidable
He makes but flow advances
towards the Chaldeans, and his march
Sec. Pædag. meets with frequent interruptions. The
Jer. li.
46. Herod. rumour of his coming is heard from afar,
as Jeremy had foretold: at laft he is de-
noph. lib. termined: Babylon often threatened by
vii, Pædag. the prophets, and ever proud and impe-.
nitent, fees her conqueror arrive, and de-
ſpiſes him. Her riches, her lofty walls,
her numberlefs inhabitants, her prodigious
compaſs, which contained a whole large
country, as all the ancients atteft, and her
infinite ftores, all theſe puff up her mind
with undoubted fecurity. Befieged a long
time without feeling any inconvenience,
fhe laughs at her enemies, and at the
ditches Cyrus was digging about her: no-
thing is talked of there but banquets and
rejoicings. Her king Belfhazzar, grandfon
to Nebuchadnezzar, as proud as he, but
not ſo great a man, makes a folemn feaſt
to his lords. This feaft is celebrated with
unheard of exceffes. Belshazzar com-
mands to bring the facred veffels which
had been taken out of the temple, and
mingles profanation with luxury. The
Dan. v.
wrath
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
265
xxi. 2. xlv.
xlvi. xlvii.
wrath of God declares itfelf: a heavenly
hand writes terrible words upon the wall
of the room, where the feaft is held.
Daniel interprets the meaning of it and
that prophet who had foretold the fatal fall
of the grandfather, fhews alfo to the grand-
fon the thunder that is ready to burft
upon him. In execution of God's de-
cree, Cyrus makes all at once a breach
in Babylon. The Euphrates turned afide
into the channels he had been fo long pre-
paring it, difcovers to him its immenfe
bed: and he enters by this unexpected
paffage. Thus that haughty Babylon was If. xiii. 17,
delivered up a prey to the Medes, to the
Perfians, and to Cyrus, as the prophets Jer. li. 11.
had faid. And thus perifhed with her the 28.
empire of the Chaldeans, which had de- 17.
ftroyed. fo many other kingdoms, and the Jer. 1. 23.
hammer which had broke the whole earth in Iſ. xiv. 5, 6.
pieces, was cut aſunder and broken itſelf.
Well had Jeremiah foretold it. The Lord
broke the staff, wherewith he had fmote ſo
many nations. Ifaiah had forefeen it.
The nations accuftomed to the yoke of the
Chaldean kings now fee them under the
yoke themſelves: Art thou alſo, ſay they, Ibid. 10,
become weak as we? Art thou become like 13, 14.
unto us? Thou, who haft faid in thine
heart, I will exalt my throne above the
ftars of God, and I will be like the Moft
High. This the fame Ifaiah had pronounc-
N
ed.
If. xiv. 16,
266
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
If. xxi. 9.
Ibid, xlvi. 1.
Jer. 1. 38.
li. 36. 1. 24.
i. 39, 57.
i
ed. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, as had
faid that prophet, and all the graven images
of her gods are broken unto the ground.
Bel boweth down, and Nebo, her great god,
from whom the kings took their name,
Stoopeth for the Perfians their enemies,
worſhipers of the fun, would not ſuffer
idols, nor kings made gods. But how
did this Babylon perifh? Why, juſt as the
prophets had declared. Her waters were
dried up, as Jeremiah had foretold, to
give paffage to her conqueror: drunk,
fleeping, betrayed by her own rejoicing,
according to the fame prophet, fhe found
herſelf in the power of her enemies, and
was taken, as in a fnare, without being
If. xiii. 15, aware. All her inhabitants are put to the
16, 17, 18. fword: for the Medes, her vanquishers,
Jer. 1. 35,
36, 37,42. as Ifaiah had faid, regarded neither gold nor
filver, but vengeance, to fatiate their ha-
If. xlviii.
20.
tred by the deftruction of a cruel people,
whofe pride made them the enemy of all
Jer. li. 31. the nations of the world. The meſſengers
If. xliii. 12. came one after another to fhew the king of
13, 14, 15. Babylon, that his city was taken at one end:
Jer. 1. 36.
and fo Jeremiah had defcribed it. Her
aftrologers, in whom ſhe trufted, and who
promiſed her perpetual empire, could not
fave her from her deftroyer. Iſaiah and
Jeremiah declare it with one accord.
that dreadful flaughter, the Jews, having
timely warning, efcaped alone from the
Jer. li. 8
28.
li. 6, 10,
50, &c.
fword
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
267
fword of the victors. Cyrus, become
by this conqueft mafter of the whole Eaft,
acknowledges in that people, fo often
conquered, fomething I do not know
what divine. Enraptured with the ora-
cles, which had foretold his victories, he
confeffes, that he owes his empire to the 2 Chron.
God of heaven, whom the Jews ferved, xxxvi. 23.
and fignalizes the first year of his reign
by the reſtoration of his temple and
people.
Ezra i. 2.
Who would not here admire the divine
providence, fo manifeftly declared upon
the Jews and Chaldeans, upon Jerufa-
lem and Babylon? God means to puniſh
both; and that they may not be igno-
rant, that it is he alone who does it, he
is pleaſed to declare it by above an hundred
prophecies. Jerufalem and Babylon, both
threatened at the fame time, and by the
fame prophets, fall one after another in
the time limited. But God here difco-
vers the great fecret of the two chaſtiſe-
ments he inflicts: a chaftiſement of feve-
rity upon the Chaldeans; a fatherly chaſt-
ifement on the Jews, who are his child-
ren. The pride of the Chaldeans (for
this was the characteriſtic of the nation)
and the ſpirit of that whole empire is
humbled without retrieve. The most proud Jer. 1. 31,
Shall Stumble and fall, and none ſhall raiſe 3², 4°.
him up, faid Jeremiah; and Iſaiah before
N 2
him,
268
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
Jer. xlvi.
28.
IL xiii, 19. him, Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the
beauty of the Chaldees excellency, ſhall be as
when God overthrew Sedom and Gomorrah,
to whom God left no refource. But as
for the Jews, it is not fo with them;
God chaftened them as diſobedient chil-
dren, whom he turns again to their duty
by correction, and then moved with their
tears, he forgets their faults. Fear thou
not, O Jacob, my fervant, faith the Lord,
for I am with thee; for I will make a full
end of all the nations, whither I have driv-
en thee; but I will not make a full end
of thee, but correct thee in measure: yet
will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
Wherefore Babylon, taken for ever from
the Chaldeans, is delivered unto another
people; and Jerufalem reſtored by a won-
derful revolution, fees her children return
from all quarters.
It was Zerubbabel, of the tribe of Ju-
dah, and of the blood royal, that brought
them back out of captivity. The men of
Judah return in crouds, and fill the whole
country. The ten ſcattered tribes are loft
among the Gentiles, fave thofe, who, un-
der the name of Judah, and re-united
under its ftandards, come again into the
land of their fathers.
In the mean time the altar is re-erected,
the temple is rebuilt, the walls of Jeru-
falem are reared anew. The jealouſy of
the
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
269
the neighbouring nations is checked by
the kings of Perfia, now become the pro-
tectors of the people of God. The high- Efr. . 6z.
prieſt reſumes his office, with all the other
prieſts who proved their fucceffion by
genealogy from the public registers: the
reft were, as polluted, put from the prieſt-
hood. Ezra a prieft himſelf, and doctor of
the law, and Nehemiah the governor,
reform all the abuſes which the captivity
had introduced, and caufe the law to be
kept in its purity. The people mourn 1 Efd, viiïs
with them for the tranfgreffions, which 9
had brought thofe fevere chaftifements
upon them, and acknowledge that Mofes
had foretold them. They all together-
read in the facred books the threatenings
of the man of God: they ſee the accom-
pliſhment of them: the oracle of Jeremiah,
and the fo often promifed return, after the
feventy years captivity, aftonifhes and com-
forts them they adore the judgments of
God, and once more reconciled with him,
live in peace.
God, who does every thing in his own
due time, had made choice of this to
cauſe the extraordinary means, that is,
prophecies, to ceafe among his people,
henceforth fufficiently inftructed. There
yet remained about five hundred years unto
the days of the Meffiah. God, in honour
of his fon's majefty, filences the prophets
during
N 3
270
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Pen, ii. ii.
v. viii. 27.
X. II.
..
Ibid. vii. 6.
during that whole time, to keep his peo-
ple in expectation of Him, who was to
be the accompliſhment of all their oracles.
But towards the expiration of the times,
in which God had refolved to put an end
to the prophecies, he feemed willing to
ſpread abroad all his light, and to difco-
ver all the counfels of his providence: fo
clearly did he reveal the fecrets of times.
to come. 1
During the captivity, and eſpecially to-
wards the time it drew to an end, Daniel,
revered for his piety, even by infidel kings,
and employed for his prudence in the
greateſt affairs of their kingdom, faw in
fucceffive order, at different times, and
under different figures, four monarchies,
under which the Ifraelites were to live.-
Dan. ii. vii. He diftinguiſhes them by their proper
characters. We fee paſs as a torrent the
empire of a king of Grecia; which was
that of Alexander. By its fall we fee
eftabliſhed another empire lefs than his,
iii, 21, 22. and weakened by its divifions: and this
was that of his fucceffors, among whom
there are four pointed out in the prophe-
cy. Antipater, Seleucus, Ptolemy, and
Antigonus are viſibly deſcribed. It is evi-
dent from hiſtory, that theſe were more
powerful than the reft, and the only ones
whoſe power deſcended to their children.
We fee their wars, their jealoufies, and
-
A
their
1:
An Univerfal Hiftory.
271
their deceitful alliances; the cruelty and Dan. xi,
ambition of the kings of Syria; the pride,
and other marks which diftinguiſh An-
tiochus Illuftris, the implacable enemy of
the people of God; the fhortnefs of his
reign, and ſpeedy puniſhment of his ex-
ceffes. We fee arife, in fine, towards the
latter end, and as it were out of the womb
of theſe monarchics, the reign of the fon
of man. By this name you underſtand Dan. ii. 44,
ESUS CHRIST ; but that reign of the fon14, 17, 13.
of man is alſo called the kingdom of the
faints of the Moft High. All nations
are made, fubject to this great and peace-
ful empire: eternity is promiſed to it,
and it is to be the only one whofe king-
dom ſhall not be left to another people.
4.5. vii. 13,
&c.
When that fon of man, and that fo
much longed for CHRIST fhall come,
and how he ſhall accompliſh the work
committed to him, that is, the redemption
of mankind, God difcovers manifeftly to
Daniel. While he is taken up about the Dan. ix, 2 Jy
captivity of his people in Babylon, and
the feventy years, which God had deter-
mined to accompliſh in the defolations of
Jerufalem, in the midſt of the fupplicati-
ons he makes for the deliverance of his
brethren, he is all of a fudden raifed to
more tranſcendent myfteries. He fees an-
other number of years, and another far
more important deliverance.
N. 4
Inftead of Dan, ix. zij
the
272
An Univerfal Hiftory.
rbid. 24.
•
1
the ſeventy years foretold by Jeremiah,
he is fhewn ſeventy weeks, to commence
from the going forth of the command-
ment from Artaxerxes Longimanus, in
the twentieth year of his reign, for re-
building the city of Jerufalem. There is
marked in precife terms, at the end of
thefe weeks, the reconciliation for iniquity,
the everlasting reign of righteousness, the
full accomplishment of the prophecies; and
the anointing of the Most Holy. The
Ibid. 25, 26. CHRIST is to execute his office, and
appear as the prince of the people after
fixty nine weeks. After fixty nine weeks,
(for the prophet repeats it) the Meffiah
is to be cut off he is to die a violent
death he is to be made a facrifice in order
to fulfil the myfteries. One week is di-
ftinguifhed among the reft, which is the
laft and feventieth. It is that wherein
the Meffiah fhall be facrificed, wherein
the covenant fhall be confirmed; and in the
midſt of which the facrifice and oblation
fhall ceafe, doubtlefs, by the death of
CHRIST for it is in confequence of his
death, that this change is fignified. Af
Ibid. 26,27. ter the death of the Meffiah, and the abo-
lition of the facrifices, nothing is to be
feen but horror and confufion: we ſee
the deftruction of the holy city and fan&tu-
ary; a people and a prince, who come to
destroy every thing; the abominations in the
temple
Ibid. 27.
:
An Univerfal Hiftory.
273
temple, and the final and irremediable defola-
tion of the people, rebellious againſt their
God, and ungrateful towards their Saviour.
We have ſeen, that thoſe weeks reduc-
ed to weeks of years, according to the
fcripture manner, make 490 years, and
bring us preciſely from the 20th year of
Artaxerxes down to the last week; a week
full of myſtery,in which JESUSCHRIST of-
fered up puts an end by his death to the
facrifices of the law, and fulfils the figures
of it. The learned make various computa-
tions to make the times quadrate exactly:
but that which I have propofed to you,
is attended with no inconvenience. It is
fo far from obfcuring the feries of the
hiftory of the kings, of Perfia, that it
throws light upon it; although there would
be nothing very furprizing, if there fhould
be found fome uncertainty in the dates of
thoſe princes, and eight or nine years,
the moſt that could be difputed, in a
reckoning of 400, will never make any
important queftion. But what need we
fay more? God hath cut off the difficul-
ty, if there was any, by a decifion, that
admits no reply. A manifeft event fets-
us above all the little niceties of chrono-
logers; and the total deftruction of the
Jews, which followed fo cloſe upon the
death of our Lord, demonftrates to the.
N 5.
mean-
-
274
An Univerfal Hiftory.
Zech, xiv.
meaneft underſtanding the accompliſhment
of the prophecy.
It now remains only to obferve to you
one circumſtance of it. Daniel difcovers.
to us a new myſtery. The oracle of Ja-
cob had taught us, that the kingdom of
Judah was to ceafe at the coming of the
Meffiah ; but it did not tell us that his
death ſhould be the cauſe of that king-
dom's downfal. God hath revealed this
important fecret to Daniel, and declares.
to him, as you fee, that the ruin of the
Jews fhall be the confequence of the
death of CHRIST, and of their own in-
gratitude. Mark well this paffage, if you
pleaſe, and the ſeries of events will foon
make you an excellent commentary on it..
You fee, what God fhewed to the prophet
Daniel a little before the victories of Cyrus,.
and rebuilding of the temple. While it
was building, he raiſed up the prophets
Haggai and Zechariah; and immediately
after he fent Malachi, who was to cloſe
the prophecies of the ancient people.
What did not Zechariah fee? One would
think, that the book of the divine de-.
crees had been laid open to this prophet,
and that he had read the whole hiſtory
of God's people from the captivity.
The perfecutions of the kings of Sy-
ria, and the wars they wage againſt Ju-
dah, are diſcovered to him in all their
con-
An Univerfal Hiftory.
275
confequence. He fees Jerufalem taken,
and facked, a dreadful pillage, and infinite-
diforders, the people flying into the wilder-
nefs, uncertain of their fate, to live or
die, and when on the brink of utter defō--
lation, a new light all of a fudden ap--
pearing to them. The enemies are con--
quered; the idols are thrown down in all the
holy land: we ſee peace and plenty in town
and country, and the temple is revered in
the whole Eaft.
One memorable circumſtance of thofe Zech, xv.
wars is revealed to the prophet: that Jeru-14
falem was to be betrayed by her own
children, and that amongst her enemies
many Jews fhould be found.
Zech. ix. x,-
Sometimes he fees a long train of pro-Zech. x. 6.-
fperity Judah is filled with ftrength; the Ibid. II.-
kingdoms that oppreffed her are humbled
the neighbours, who did not ceafe to
harafs her are puniſhed; fome are con-
verted, and incorporated with the people
of God. The prophet beholds this peo-Zech. ix.
ple crowned with divine favours, among 1, 2, 3, 4..
5,6, 7,
which he reckons the triumph, no lefs g.
modeft than glorious, of the king, juſt,
lowly, and having falvation, who riding
upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of
an afs, cometh unto his city of Jerufalem.
After having recounted their profperity, Zech,
he reſumes from the beginning the whole.
feries of their calamities. He fees all at
once
#76
An Univerfal Hiftory.
Zech. xi. 8.
Zech. xi.
12, 13.
once the temple on fire, the whole coun
try deſtroyed with the capital, murders,
violences, and a king authorizing them..
God takes pity on his forfaken people, he.
becomes himſelf their fhepherd, and his.
protection is their ftaff. In the end civil:
wars break out, and things turn to decay.
The time of this change is fpecified by a
certain mark, and three princes degraded.
in one month fpeak the commencement
of it.
In the midſt of theſe woes appears a ſtill
greater. A little after thoſe divifions, and.
in the times of decay, God is prized at:
thirty pieces of filver, by his ungrateful.
people; and the prophet fees every thing,
even to the potter's field, or that of the gra-
ver, on which the money. is beftowed..
Hence follow extreme diforders amongſt
the fhepherds of the people; at laſt they
are blinded, and their power is deſtroyed..
What fhall I fay of the wonderful.
Zech, xiii. vifion of Zechariah, who fees the Shepherd.
fmitten, and the sheep scattered? What
fhall I fay of the look the people caft upon
their God, whom they have pierced, and
of their mourning for a more lament-
able death than that of an only fon,.
or than that of Jofiah? Zechariah faw all
theſe things: but the greateſt fight he
Zech. ii. 8, faw was, The Lord fent by the Lord to in-.
9, 19, 11. habit Jerufalem, where he calls the Gen-
7%
xii, 10.
•
:
tiles,
An Univerfal Hiftory.
277
tiles, to join them to his people, and to dwell
in the midst of them.
4
Haggai fays lefs, but what he fays is
furprizing. Whilft the ſecond temple isEz. iii. 12..
a building, and the old men, that had
ſeen the firſt, melt into tears, on comparing
the meanneſs of this latter edifice with
the magnificence of the former, the pro-
phet, who fees farther than they, pub-
lifhes the glory of the fecond temple,.
and prefers it to the firft. He explains
whence this new houfe fhall proceed;.
the defire of all nations fhall come: that Hag. ii. 7.
Meffiah promifed two thouſand years, and 8, 9, 10..
from the beginning of the world, as the
Saviour of the Gentiles, fhall appear in
this new temple. Peace fhall be established:
there; the whole world shaken fhall bear
witneſs to the coming of its redeemer;:
there is now but a little while to expect.
him, and the times appointed for that ex--
pectation are in their laſt period..
At length the temple is finifhed; vict--
ins are offered up; but the covetous Jews
prefent defective facrifices. Malachi, who
reproves them for it, is raiſed to a higher
confideration, and upon occaſion of the
polluted offerings of the Jews, he fees
an offering pure, and unpolluted,. which Mal. i. 11,
Shall be prefented to God, no longer as a-
foretime only in the temple of Jerufalem,
but from the rifing of the fun, even unto the
going
278
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
going down of the fame: no longer by the
Jews, but by the Gentiles, among whom
he prophefies, that the name of God ſhall
be great.
He fees alfo, like Haggai, the glory of
the ſecond temple, and the Meffiah ho-
nouring it with his preſence: but he fees,
at the fame time, that the Meffiah is the
God, to whom that temple is dedicated..
Mal.iii... Behold, I will fend my meſſenger, and he
hall prepare the way before me: and the
Lord, whom ye feek, ſhall ſuddenly_come.
to his temple; even the messenger of the co-
venant, whom ye delight in: behold, he
hall come, faith the Lord of hofts.
Mal. iii.
iv. 5, 6.
1.
God's meffengers are angels: but here.
is a meffenger of a wonderful dignity, a
meffenger, who hath a temple; a meſ-
fenger, who is God, and who entereth
into the temple as his proper dwelling;
a meffenger defired by all the people,
who cometh to make a new covenant,
and who is, for that reafon, called the an--
gel of the covenant, or, of the New
Teftament.
It was, therefore, in the fecend temple,
that this God, the meffenger of God, was
to appear but another meffenger goes be-
fore, and prepares his ways. There we
fee the Meffiah preceded by his harbin-
ger. The character of that forerunner
is alfo fhewed to the prophet. This is
to
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
279
to be a new Elijah, remarkable for his
holinefs, for his aufterity of life, for his
authority, and for his zeal.
Thus the laft prophet of the ancient
people pointed out the firft prophet, that
was to come after him, or that Elijah,,
the forerunner of the Lord, who was
to appear. Till that time God's people
had no prophet to expect, the law of
Mofes was to be fufficient for them, and
therefore Malachi concludes with thefe
words: Remember ye the law of Mofes my Mal. iv. 49..
fervant, which I commanded unto him in 5, 6.
Horeb for all Ifrael, with the ftatutes
and judgments. Behold, I will ſend you Eli-
jah the prophet, who fhall turn the heart
of the fathers to the children, who ſhall
fhew to theſe what the others have ex-
pected.
To this law of Mofes, God had joined
the prophets, who had ſpoken in con--
formity to it; and the hiftory of God's
people compofed by the fame prophets,
in which were confirmed, by vifible ex-
periences, the promiſes and threatenings.
of the law. All was carefully written ;;
all was digefted in the order of time::
and this was what God left for the in-
ſtruction of his people, when he made
the prophecies to ceaſe.
SUCH inftructions made a great change
in the manners of the Ifraelites.
They
V..
The time
had cond temple.
The times
of fe-
286
An Univerfal Hiſtory..
had no more need either of vifion, or
manifeſt prediction, or of thoſe unheard
of wonders which God ſo often wrought
for their prefervation. The proofs they
had got fufficed them: and their incredul-
ity, not only convinced by the event of
things, but likewife fo often puniſhed,
had at laft rendered them tractable.
Wherefore, from that time we ſee them
no more return to idolatry, to which
they were ſo ſtrangely inclined. They
had fufficiently found the bad effects of
rejecting the God of their fathers. They
were ever calling to mind Nebuchadnez-
zar, and their own deftruction fo often
foretold in all its circumftances, and yet.
fooner come than expected. No lefs did
they admire their reftoration brought a-
bout, contrary to all human appearance,
in the time, and by the perfon, that had
been pointed out to them. Never did.
they behold the fecond temple, without
remembering why the former had been.
deftroyed, and how this latter had been re-
built and thus did they confirm them--
felves in, the faith of their fcriptures, to
which their whole ftate bore teſtimony.
There were no more falfe prophets to
be feen among them. They had thrown
off at once the propenfity they had to be--
lieve them, and that which they had to
2, 3, 4, 5, idolatry. Zechariah had foretold by one
Zech. xiii.
and
;
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
28:1
and the fame oracle, that both thefe
things fhould happen to them. His pro-
phecy received a manifeft accompliſhment.
The falfe prophets ceafed under the fe-
cond temple: the people, fcandalized at their
impoftures, were no longer in the humour
of hearkening to them. The true pro-
phets of God were read over and over,
continually they wanted no commentary:
and the things which came daily to pafs
in execution of their prophecies, were
too faithful interpreters of them.
xliii. 18,19.
lii. 1, 2, 7.
Ezek. xxxvi.
In fact, all their prophets had promiſed If. xli. 11,
them a profound peace. We ftill behold 12; 13.
with pleaſure the beautiful picture which xlix. 18,19,
Iſaiah and Ezekiel draw of the happy times, 20, 21.
that were to fucceed the captivity of Ba- liv. lv. &c.
bylon. All the breaches are repaired, thelx. 15, 16,
cities and towns magnificently rebuilt, &c.
the people is without number, the ene- xxxviii. 11,
mies are brought low, and plenty abounds 12, 13, 14.
in-town and country: in both we fee joy,Jer. xlvi. 27.
reft, and, in fhort, all the fruits of a
long peace. God promifes to keep his
people in a laſting and perfect tranquil-
lity. They enjoy it under the kings of Per-
fia. So long as that empire ftood, the
favourable decrees of Cyrus, who was
the founder of it, fecured the peace of the
Jews. Though they were threatened Eth. iv. v.
with their final deftruction under Ahafue- ix.
whoever he was, God, moved by
Rus,
vi. vii. viii.
their
282
An Univerfal Hiftory.
12, 17.
*t. 9.
their tears, turned all at once the king's
heart, and took a fignal vengeance on Ha-
+
Jer. xxvii. man their enemy. Except in this juncture,
which was foon over, they knew no fear:
inſtructed by their prophets to obey the
kings, to whom God had ſubjected them,
their fidelity was inviolable.
And fo were
they ever mildly treated. In confideration
of an eaſy tribute, which they paid to
their fovereigns, who were rather their
protectors than their mafters, they lived
according to their own laws: the facerdo-
tal power was preferved entire: the prieſts
conducted the people: the public council,
firſt eſtabliſhed by Mofes, enjoyed its full
Ez. vii. 25, authority, and they exerciſed amongſt
26. themſelves the power of life and death,
Jofeph.Ant.
without any one's interfering with their
2 Cont. Ap. conduct. So the kings ordered it. The
Id. Ant. xii. deftruction of the empire of the Perfians
made no alteration in their affairs.
ander reſpected their temple, admired their
prophecies, and augmented their privileges.
They had fomewhat to fuffer under his
firft fucceffors. Ptolemy fon of Lagus
took Jerufalem by furprize, and carried
away from thence into Egypt an hundred
thouſand captives: but he fcon ceafed to
hate them. He himſelf made them citi-
zens of Alexandria, the capital of his
kingdom; or rather confirmed to them
the grant that Alexander had already made
xi. 8.
F, 2.
2 Cont.
Ap.
Alex-
them;
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
283
Præf. Ant.
them; and finding in all his dominions
none more faithful than the Jews, he fill-
ed his armies with them, and committed
to their truſt the moſt important places.
If the Lagides had fome confideration of Jof. Ant. xii.
them, they were ftill better treated by 3.
2 Cont. Ap
the Seleucidæ, under whofe empire they
lived. Seleucus Nicanor, head of that
family, fettled them in Antioch; and An-
tiochus Theus, his grandfon, having cauf-
ed them to be received in all the cities of
the leffer Afia, we have ſeen them fpread
themſelves all over Greece, living there
after their own law, and enjoying the fame
privileges with the other citizens, as they
did at Alexandria and Antioch. In the Jofeph.
mean time their law is turned into Greek & lib. xii.
by the care of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 2. & 2.
Cont. Ap.
king of Egypt. The Jewish religion is made
known among the Gentiles, the temple of
Jerufalem is enriched by the gifts of prin-
ces and of people, the Jews live in peace
and liberty under the power of the Sy-
rian monarchs, and had hardly ever taft-
ed fuch a tranquillity under their own
kings. This tranquillity feemed to pro-
miſe an everlaſting continuance, had they
not diſturbed it by their diffenfions.
Three hundred years had they enjoyed.
this reft fo much foretold by their pro-
phets, when ambition and jealoufies arifing
amongst them, had like to have undone
them.
284
An Univerfal Hiftory.
1 Mac. i.
12, 13.
2 Mac. iii.
iv. 1, &c.
&c.
them. Some of the most powerful betray-
ed their people to flatter the kings; they
wanted to render themſelves famous after
14, 15, 16, the manner of the Greeks, and preferred
that vain pomp to the folid glory, which
the obfervance of the laws of their an-
ceftors acquired them among their coun-
trymen. They celebrated games like the
Gentiles. This novelty dazzled the eyes
of the people, and idolatry cloathed with
this magnificence appeared lovely to many
of the Jews. To thefe changes were join-
ed difputes for the high-priefthood, which
was the chief dignity of the nation. The
ambitious devoted themſelves to the kings
of Syria in order to attain it, and that fa-
cred dignity was the price of the flattery
of thoſe minions. The jealoufies and di-
viſions of individuals, did not fail quick-
ly to caufe, as ufual, great mifchiefs to
the whole people. Antiochus Illuftris,
king of Syria, conceived the defign of de-
ftroying this divided people, in order to
feize upon their wealth. That prince ap-
peared now with all the characters Daniel
xxxi. in ex- had given him; ambitious, covetous, craf-
cerp. et ap. ty, cruel, infolent, impious, maɗ, elated
Dan. viii. with his victories, and then enraged at
his loffes. He enters Jerufalem in condi-
Dan. vii. 8, tion to attempt any thing; the factions of
Dan, viii. the Jews, and not his own force, em-
11, 12, 13, bolden him and fo Daniel forefaw it.
Dan, vii.
24, 25.
viii. 9, 10,
11, 12, 23,
24, 25.
Polyb. lib.
xxvi. &
Ath. 1. x.
24.
1:1, 25.
He
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
285
:
2
He commits unheard-of cruelties: his pride
carries him to the laſt exceffes, and he
pours forth blafphemies againſt the Moft
High, as foretold by the fame prophet.
In execution of thefe prophecies, and by
reaſon of the fins of the people, an hoſt,
(or power,) is given him against the daily
facrifice. He profanes the temple of God,
which the kings his anceſtors had re-
vered he pillages it, and repairs with the
riches he there finds, the ruins of his ex-
haufted treaſury. Under pretext of fettling 1 Mac. i.
43, 46, 57.
a conformity in the manners of his fub- Mac. vi.
jects, but in reality to fatiate his own ava- 1, 2.
rice by plundering Judea, he commands
the Jews to worship the fame gods with
the Greeks: above all, he will have them
to adore Jupiter Olympius, whofe idol
he places in the very temple; and more
impious than Nebuchadnezzar himſelf, he
attempts to deſtroy the feafts, and the
law of Mofes, the facrifices, religion, and
the whole people. But the fucceffes of
this prince had their limits fet by the pro-
phecies. Mattathias makes head againſt Dan. vii.
his violences, and unites all the good peo-25.
ple under his banner. Judas Maccabeus x 7, 11.
his fon, with an handful of men, performs lib. de bell.
Jofeph. Prol.
unheard of exploits, and purifies the tem- Jud. & lib.
ple of God three years and an half after 1. lxiii.
its profanation, as Daniel had foretold. 1 Mac. iv.
He purfues the Idumeans, and all the other 15.
>
xii. 8.
If.
v. 3, 26.
gen-28, 36, 54.
•
286
An Univerfal Hiftory.
gentiles, that joined Antiochus, and hav-
ing taken from them their ftrongeſt places,
he returns victorious and humble, juſt
fuch as Iſaiah had ſeen him, finging forth
the praiſes of God, who had delivered in-
to his hands the enemies of his people,
and ftill red with their blood. He con-
tinues his victories, notwithſtanding the
prodigious armies of the captains of An-
Dan. viii. tiochus. Daniel had allowed but fix years
wicked prince to torment the
2 Mac. ix. people of God; and behold at the time
fixed he learns at Ecbatan the heroic deeds
of Judas. He falls into a profound me-
lancholy, and dies as the holy prophet had
foretold, miferable, but not by the hand
of man, after acknowledging, but too late,
the power of the God of Ifrael.
14.
■ Mac. vi.
Dan. viii.
25.
to this
I need not now tell you in what manner
his fucceffors profecuted the war againſt
Judea, or the death of Judas its deliver-
er, or the victories of his two brothers,
Jonathan and Simon, fucceffively high-
prieſts, whoſe valour reftored the ancient
glory of the people of God. Theſe three
great men faw the kings of Syria, and all
the neighbouring nations combined againſt
them; and what was more deplorable,
they faw at different times the men of Ju-
dah itſelf in arms against their country,
and againſt Jeruſalem: a thing till then
unheard of, but exprefsly noted by the
prophets.
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
287
I Mac. i.
12.
21, 22. xvi,
prophets. In the midſt of ſo many ca- Zech. xiv.
lamities, the confidence they had in God 4
rendered them undaunted and invincible.
The people was ever happy under theirx. xi. 20,
conduct, and at length in Simon's time, 2 Mac. iv.
being freed from the yoke of the Gentiles, 22. & foll,
they fubjected themfelves to him and his
children, with the confent of the kings of
Syria.
But the act whereby the people of God
transfer to Simon the whole public autho-
rity, and grant to him the royal powers,
is remarkable. The decree bears, that Mac. xiv.
he and his pofterity fhall enjoy them, until41.
there fhall arife a faithful and true pro-
phet.
The people accustomed from their ori-
gin to a divine government, and knowing
that ever fince the time David had been
fet upon the throne by God's appointment,
the fovereign power belonged to his houſe,
to which it was at laft to be reftored againſt
the time of the Meffiah, joined this exprefs
reſtriction to the power they gave their
high-priests, and continued to live under
them in expectation of that fo often pro-
mifed CHRIST.
Thus did that abfolutely free kingdom
make uſe of its right, and provide for its
government. The pofterity of Jacob, by
the tribe of Judah, and the reft that rank-
ed themſelves under its ftandards, pre-
ferved
288
An Univerfal Hiftory.
61.
34..
18.
ſerved itſelf in a body politic, and en-
joyed independently and peaceably the land
that had been affigned them.
By virtue of the people's decree we have
Ezek. xvi. been ſpeaking of, Joannes Hyrcanus, fon of
53, 55, 56, Simon, fucceeded to his father. Under
him the Jews aggrandize themſelves by
Jer. xxxi. 5. confiderable conquefts. They fubject Sa-
1 Mac, xi. maria, (Ezekiel and Jeremiah had foretold
Jofeph.Ant. it:) they fubdue the Idumeans, or Edom-
xiii. 8, 17, ites, the Philiftines, and the Ammonites,
their perpetual enemies, and theſe nations
embrace their religion. (Zechariah had
noted it.) At laft, in ſpite of the hatred
and jealouſy of the nations round about
them, under the authority of their priests,
who become at length their princes, they
found the new kingdom of the Afmoneans,
or Maccabees, and that one more extenſive
than ever, if we except the times of Da-
vid and Solomon.
Zech. ix. I,
2, & foll,
靠
​In this manner did the people of God
ſtill ſubſiſt amidſt fo many revolutions:
and that people fometimes puniſhed, and
fometimes comforted in its afflictions, by
the different treatment they meet with ac-
cording to their deferts, bear a public
teſtimony to the providence, which governs
the world.
But in whatever ftate they were, they
lived always in expectation of the Meffi-
ah's times, wherein they promiſed them-
felves
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
289
i.
felves new favours, greater than any they
had yet received; and there is no one but
fees, that that faith in the Meffiah and his
miracles, which continues to this day among
the Jews, has been tranſmitted to them by
their patriarchs and prophets from the very
origin of their nation. For in that long Jofeph. i
Teries of years, in which themſelves ac-Cent.
knowledged, that by a counſel of provid-Apion.
ence there arofe no prophet among them,
and that God gave them no more any new
predictions or promifes, that faith in the
Meffiah who was to come, fubfifted more
lively than ever. It proved fo well efta-
blifhed, when the fecond temple was built,
that there needed no more any prophet to
confirm the people in it. They lived un-
der the faith of the ancient prophecies,
which they had ſeen ſo punctually accom-
pliſhed before their eyes in fo many parti-
culars: the reft, from that time, never
appeared to them any way doubtful, nor
had they the ſmalleft difficulty to believe,
that God, fo faithful in every thing, would
alſo, in his own good time, fulfil what re-
lated to the Meffiah, which was the chief
of his promifes, and the foundation of all
the others.
And indeed, their whole hiſtory, every
thing that happened to them from day to
day, was only one continued unfolding of
the oracles which the Holy Ghoſt had left
VOL. I.
them.
290
An Univerſal Hiſtory..
them. If, being reinftated in their own land
after the captivity, they enjoyed three hund-
red years profound peace; if their temple was
revered, and their religion honoured in all
the Eaft; if at laft this peace was diſturb-
ed by their diffenfions; if the haughty king
of Syria made unheard of efforts to deftroy
them; if he prevailed fome time; if a lit-
tle after he was puniſhed; if the Jewiſh
religion, and the whole people of God were
reſtored with a more wonderful glory than
ever they had before, and the kingdom of
Judah received acceffions in the latter times
from new conquefts: you have ſeen, SIR,
that all this was to be found written in-
their prophets. Yes, every thing was ſpe-
cified there, the very time the perfecutions
were to laft, the very places where the
battles were fought, and the very lands
that were to be conquered.
I have related to you in general fome-
thing of thoſe prophecies: a minute detail
would be matter for a longer difcourfe. I
mean here to give only a firſt tincture of
thoſe important truths, which are ſo much
the more to be difcovered, the more one
enters into particulars. I fhall only ob-
Porph. de ferve here, that the prophecies of the peo-
abit. lib. 4. ple of God have had, during all thofe
* Jul. apud times, fo manifeft an accompliſhment, that
Cyr. lib. v. afterwards, when the Heathens themselves,
when a Porphyry, or a Julian the apoftate,
Id. Porph.
& vi. in
Julian.
otherwiſe
An Univerfal Hiftory.
291
otherwiſe enemies to the fcriptures, have
wanted to give examples of prophet-
ical predictions, they have been fain to
feck them among the Jews.
And I may even affirm to you with
truth, that if, during five hundred years,
the people of God were without a pro-
phet, the whole ſtate of thoſe times was
prophetical: the work of God was going
forward, and the ways were infenfibly pre-
paring for the full accompliſhment of the
ancient oracles.
The return from the captivity of Baby-
lon was but a fhadow of the greater and
more neceffary liberty, which the Meffiah
was to bring to men the captives of fin.
The people ſcattered in 'divers places of
the Upper Afia, Afia Minor, in Egypt, in
Greece itſelf, began to fhew forth among
the Gentiles the name and glory of the
God of Ifrael. The feriptures, which were
one day to be the light of the world, were
put into the language moft known upon
earth: their antiquity is acknowledged.
While the temple is revered, and the ſcrip-
tures fpread abroad among the Gentiles,
God gives fome idea of their future con-
verfion, and lays afar off the foundations
of it.
What paſſed even among the Greeks,
was a kind of preparation to the knowledge
of the truth. Their philofophers were
fenfible
O 2
292
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
fenfible, that the world was ruled by a
God very different from thofe, whom the
vulgar adored, and whom they worshiped
themſelves with the vulgar. The Greek
historics evince, that this excellent philofo-
phy came from the East, and from the
places where the Jews had been difperfed :
but from whatever place it may have come,
fo important a truth propagated among the
Gentiles, however oppofed, however ill
followed, even by thofe who taught it, be-
gan to awaken mankind, and furniſhed by
anticipation, certain proofs to thofe, who
were one day to refcue them from their
ignorance.
But as the converfion of the Gentile
world was a work referved for the Mef-
fiah, and the proper characteriſtic of his
coming, error and impiety prevailed over
all. The moſt enlightened and wifeft na-
tions, the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Pheni-
cians, Grecians, and Romans, were the moſt
ignorant, and the blindeft in the article of
religion ſo true it is, that we muſt be
trained to it by a fpecial grace, and by a
more than human wifdom! Who would
dare to narrate the ceremonies of the im-
mortal Gods, and their impure myfteries?
Their loves, their cruelties, their jealoufies,
and all their other exceffes were the ſub-
ject of their feafts, of their facrifices, of
the hymns that were fung to them, and of
the
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
293
the paintings that were confecrated in their
temples. Thus wickedneſs was worſhip-
ed, and owned neceffary to the ſervice of
the Gods. The graveft of the philofophers Plat. de leg
forbids drinking to excefs, if it was not in vi.
the feafts of Bacchus, and to the honour
of that God. Another, after feverely laſh- Arift. vii.
ing all unfeemly images, excepts thoſe of Polit.
the Gods, who chofe to be honoured by
fuch indecencies. One cannot read with- Baruch, vi.
out aftoniſhment the honours that were to 10, 42, 43″
Herod. 1. .
be paid to Venus, and the proſtitutions Strabo lib
that were eſtabliſhed for her worſhip. 15.
Greece, as polite and wife as fhe was, had
received thofe abominable myſteries. Up-
on preffing emergencies, private perfons
and public weals devoted courtifans to Ve- Athen,
nus; and Greece did not bluſh to aſcribe ¹. xiii.
her preſervation to the prayers they put
up to their goddefs. After the defeat of
Xerxes and his formidable armies, there
was placed in the temple a picture, where-
in were repreſented their vows and procef-
fions, with this infcription of Simonides,
the famous poet: Thefe prayed to the god-
defs Venus, who for their fake faved Greece.
If love was of neceffity to be worshiped,
it fhould at least have been honourable
love but here it was not fo. Solon, who
could believe it, or expect from ſo great a
name fo great a fcandal? Solon, I fay, e-
rected at Athens a temple to Venus the Ibid.
prostitute,
0 3
294
An Univerfal Hiftory.
proftitute, or unchafte love. All Greece
was filled with temples confecrated to this
goddefs, and conjugal love had not one in
the whole country.
Yet they deteſted adultery both in men
and women: the conjugal tie was facred
among them. But when they applied
themſelves to religion, they appeared pof-
feffed with a ſtrange ſpirit, and their natur-
al light forfook them.
Nor did the Roman gravity treat religi-
on any more ſeriouſly, feeing it confecrated
to the honour of the Gods, the impurities.
of the theatre, and the bloody fpectacles of
the gladiators, that is, whatever can be
imagined moſt corrupt and barbarous.
But I don't know whether the ridiculous
follies men blended with religion, had not
a ftill more pernicicus effect, by bringing
it into fo great contempt. Could people
preſerve the reſpect due to divine things,
amidſt the impertinences that ftuffed the
fables, whereof the reprefentation or com-
memoration made fo great a part of the
divine worſhip? The whole public fervice
was but one continued fcene of profanation,
or rather a deriſion of the name of God;
and there muft needs have been fome pow-
er, an enemy to that facred name,who hav-
ing defigned to difparage it, prompted
men to uſe it in fo contemptible things,
and even to proſtitute it to fo unworthy
fubjects.
'Tis
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
295
Y.
'Tis true, the philoſophers had at laſt
confeffed, that there was another God than
thofe the vulgar worshiped; but they durft
not avow it. On the contrary, Socrates Xenoph.
delivered it as a maxim, that every one mem. lib. x.
ought to follow the religion of his country.
Plat, de legy
Plato his diſciple, who faw Greece, and all
the countries of the world filled with an
abfurd and fcandalous worſhip, does never-
theleſs lay it down as a foundation of his
republic, "That men are never to make
"any change in the religion they find efta-
"bliſhed, and that they muſt have loft all
"common fenfe fo much as to think of
"it." So grave philofophers, and who
faid fo excellent things concerning the Di-
vine Nature, did not dare to oppofe the
public error, and defpaired of being able to
conquer it. When Socrates was accuſed of Apol. Soc.
denying the Gods the public adored, he apud Plat. &
vindicated himſelf from it, as from a crime ; Xenoph. Ep,
and Plato, ſpeaking of the God who had nyf.
formed the univerfe, fays, that it is hard to
find him, and that it is forbidden to declare
him to the people. He protefts, that he
never fpeaks of him but enigmatically, for
fear of expoſing fo great a truth to ridicule.
2. ad Dio.
In what abyfs was mankind plunged,
when it could not bear the leaft idea of the
true God? Athens, the moſt polite, and Diog. Laert.
moſt learned of all the Grecian cities, took 1. ii. Soc. iii
for atheiſts, thoſe who ſpoke of intellectual Plat. Id.
lib, ii, Suid.
things,
296
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
Jofeph. An-
tiq. xiii.
Ibid. 18.
9.
things, and this was one of the reaſons for
which Socrates was condemned. If fome
philofophers prefumed to teach, that ſtatues
were not gods, as the vulgar apprehended,
they found themſelves obliged to recant this
doctrine, and even after that were they ban-
iſhed, as profane perfons, by fentence of the
Areopagus. The whole earth was poffeffed
with the fame error: truth durft not fet
up its head. The great God, the Creator
of the world, had neither temple, nor wor-
ſhip, but in Jerufalem. When the Gentiles
fent thither their offerings, they did no other
honour to the God of Ifrael, than that of
joining him to the other gods. Judea alone
was acquainted with his holy and ſevere
jealoufy, and knew that to divide religion
between him and other gods, was to de-
ftroy it.
And yet, in the latter days, the Jews
themſelves, who knew him, and who were
the guardians of religion, begun (fo prone
are men ever to weaken the truth) not to
forget the God of their fathers, but to min-
gle in religion fuperftitions unworthy of
him. Under the reign of the Afmoncans,
and in the time of Jonathan, the ſect of the
Pharifees arcfe among the Jews. They
acquired at firſt a great reputation, by the
purity of their doctrine, and by their ftrict
obfervance of the law: add to this, that
their conduct was mild, though regular,
and
An Univerfal Hiftory.
297
and that they lived in great union among
themfelves. The fewards and puniſhments Id. lib. ii.
of the future ftate, which they zealously de bell.
afferted, gained them much honour.
At Jud. 7.
laft, ambition entered among them. They
would needs govern, and accordingly affum-
ed an abfolute power over the people, ſet
themſelves up for arbitrators of learning and
religion, which they infenfibly perverted to
fuperftitious practices, fubfervient to their
intereft, and the dominion they wanted to
ufurp over confciences; and the true ſpirit
of the law was like to be loft.
To thefe evils was added a greater, pride
and prefumption; but a prefumption which
went fo far as to arrogate to itſelf the gift
of God. The Jews, accuſtomed to his bene-
fits, and enlightened fo many ages by his
acquaintance, forgot that his goodneſs alone
had ſet them apart from other nations, and
looked upon his favour as their due. Be-
ing a chofen race, and ever bleſſed for two
thousand years, they judged themſelves a-
lone worthy of knowing God, and thought
themſelves of a different fpecies from other
men, whom they faw deprived of the know-
ledge of him. From this principle, they
look upon the Gentiles with an infupport-
able difdain. To be come of Abraham after
the fleſh, ſeemed to them a diftinction,
which ſet them naturally above all o
thers; and puffed up with ſo noble an ex-
traction
298
An Univerſal Hiſtory.
traction, they fancied themſelves holy by
nature, and not by grace: an error, which
ftill prevails amongst them. It was the
Pharifees, who ſeeking to glorify themſelves
on their own lights, and on their ſtrict ob-
fervance of the ceremonies of the law, in-
troduced this opinion towards the latter
times. As their fole aim was to diſtinguiſh
themſelves from other men, they multiplicd
external ufages without number, and de-
livered all their notions, however contrary
to the law of God, as fo many authentic
traditions.
Although theſe fentiments had never
paffed by a public decree into tenets of the
fynagogue, they infenfibly ſtole in amongſt
the people, who became difquiet, turbulent,
and feditious. At length the divifions,
which, according to their prophets, were to
Zech. xi. 6, be the beginning of their forrows, broke
7, 8, &c.
out on occafion of the quarrels that entered
into the houſe of the Aſmoneans. It was
hardly fixty years to JESUS CHRIST,when
Hyrcanus and Ariftobulus, fons of Alexan-
der Janneus, fell out about the priesthood,
Jofeph. Ant. to which the kingdom was annexed. This
xiv.8. xx. i. is the fatal moment, wherein hiſtory fixes
bell. Jud. the firft caufe of the deftruction of the Jews.
Appian. bel. Pompey, whom the two brothers called to
be umpire between them, fubjected them
both, at the fame time that he difpoffeffed
Zech. xi. 8. Antiochus, furnamed Afiaticus, the laft king
4, 5.
Syr. Mi-
thrid. &
Liv. ii. 5.
of
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
299
of Syria. Theſe three princes, degraded to-
gether, and as it were at one blow, were the
fignal of the decay marked in preciſe terms
by the prophet Zechariah. It is certain
from hiftory, that this change of affairs in
Syria and Judea was made at the fame time
by Pompey, when, after putting an end to
the Mithridatic war, being about to return
to Rome, he ſettled the affairs of the Eaft,
The prophet obferved only what concerned
the deftruction of the Jews, who, of two
brothers, whom they had ſeen both kings,
faw one, a prifoner, adorn Pompey's tri-
umph, and the other (the weak Hyrcanus)
from whom the fame Pompey took, toge-
ther with his diadem, great part of his do-
minions, now retain but an empty title of
authority, which he foon after loft. Then
it was that the Jews were made tributary to
the Romans; and the ruin of Syria brought
on theirs, becauſe that great kingdom, re-
duced into a province in their neighbour-
hood, fo greatly augmented there the Ro-
man power, that there was no more ſafety
but in obeying them. The governors of Sy-
ria made continual attempts upon Judea;
the Romans rendered themſelves abſolute
maſters there, and weakened its government
in many respects. By them, in fine, the
kingdom of Judah paſſed from the hands of
the Afmoneans, to whom it had fubmitted,,
into thoſe of Herod, a foreigner and Idu-
mean,
300
An Univerfal Hiſtory.
mean. The cruel and ambitious policy of
that king, who profeſſed only in appearance
the Jewiſh religion, altered the maxims of
the ancient government. They are no long-
er thofe Jews, mafters of their own fate un-
der the vaft empire of the Perfians and firſt
Seleucidæ, when the only thing required of
them was to live in peace. Herod, who
keeps them almoſt enſlaved under his go-
vernment, puts every thing in diforder; con-
founds at his pleafure the fucceffion of the
prieſts; weakens the pontificate, which he
renders arbitrary; enervates the authority
of the council of the nation, which can no
longer do any thing: the whole public pow-
er paffes into the hands of Herod, and of the
Romans, whofe flave he is, and he ſhakes the
foundations of the Jewiſh commonwealth.
The Pharifees, and the people, who were
entirely led by their fentiments, bore this
ftate with the utmoſt impatience. The more
they felt themſelves galled by the yoke of
the Gentiles, the greater contempt and hat-
red did they conceive for them. They were
no more for any Meffiah, who ſhould not
be a warriour, and formidable to the powers
that enthralled them. Thus forgetting all
the prophecies, which told them fo expreſs-
ly of his humiliations, they had no longer
either eyes or ears, but for thoſe which
announced them triumphs, though very
different from thoſe they defired.
End of the FIRST VOLUME.
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