Hervey, James Remarks on Lord -Bolingbroke's Letters.. . London, 1752. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY REMARKS 0 N t,ord Bt>LINGBROKEs i LETtE'R,S IxsLi Iff :6 N. T H'E Study and Use of History : So far as they relate to the History of the Old Testament > And elpecially to the CASE of Noah, denouncing a Curfe upon Canaan. In a Letter to a Lady of Quality. By J AM E S HERYE Y, A. M. Rettor of Wefton l'a vel, Northam^onftiire. • Merfes -profunda, pukhrior evenlt. Hon LONDON: Printed for J. and J. Rivington, fn St. Paul's Church-y^rd. MDCCLIL PREFACE, TH E Reader will fee, From the Date of the follow ing Letter, that it was written a considerable , Time ago. From which Circumftance He will pro bably conclude, that it was not intended for Publication. A Conjecture, which is perfectly juft. The Publication is owing to the right honourable Perfonage, whofe Name, though it would grace and recommend his Papers, the Author is not allowed to mention. Her Ladyfhip's Com mands, which would admit of no Excufe, drew the Remarks from his Pen ; and her Defire, which with Him will always have the Force of a Command, has brought them to the Prefs. — A 2 It =^P- RE-F AC B; It will give Him the higheft Plea- fure> if^^while He i\J>jayi$ig the jDebt of Obedience and Grati tude, to a, noble Frien^,. He^nay.. fhppQrt , the. Dignity of the Efj- vine Word ; ' may raifeits EJieem^ - and promote ' its Study among* Men. Becaufe then, He niay rea- fqnably hope, to promote the beji , Ifit ere/is of his, Fellow-creatures; ; and. fubferve.that grand Deiigna-. ! tion of the almighty r Majefty, t! exprefled'by the Pfalmif^:r-5^, was overfpread, inha bited., ( 5 ) Archives, in which, the Charter of our So vereignty a over the Creatures, is preferved ; and the original Draught of the Covenant of Graceb, depofited. Here then, may we not challenge any, or all the Books, written in every Language under Heaven ? What Memoirs go fo far back into Anti quity ? What Memoirs are fo inter cfting to all Mankind ? Had they been tranf- mitted to us by any Grecian or Roman Au thor, how would they have been admired and valued ! How lavifhly, and indeed how juftly, praifed ! Another Excellency of thefe Writings (and peculiar to thefe alone) is, That they not only reach backward, as far as the very Birth of Things ; but proceed for wards, even into the remoteft Futurity.- They foretold the Ruin of Babylon,' the nobleft, the beft fortified, and moft commodioufly fituated, Metropolis in the Univerfe. Who faid, and no one would have fufpected it to be a vain Boaft, IJhall be a Lady for ever.d Yet, the Scriptures pronounced her utter Dcftrutlion -," and fpeci- bited, and denominated. It difcovers the true Source of the feveral Nations ; about which, profane An- thors either fay nothing at all, or elfefay what is chi- pierical, precarious, falfe. * Gen. i. 28. b Gen. iii. ic. c Ifaiah Xiii. 19, &c. xvi. 23, 24. * Ifaiah xlvii. 7. * Ifaiah xiii. 19, 2°, &c. Ifaiah xvi. 23, z>. ( 6 ) fpecified the Per/on, whofliouldbring about this great Cataftrophe. They pointed out the Place of his Abode.1 -They de- fcribed him, by feveral difiinguiftoing Cir- cumftances.b They particularized the Genius of his warlike Enterprizes.c They 1 Ifaiah xlvi. n. b That He fhould befiege and take the mod impreg nable of Cities, Ifaiah xlv. i. z. That He fhould enrich himfelf with immenfe Spoils, Ifaiah xlv. 3, That He fhould not be a Tyrant, but a Shepherd to the captive Jews ; fhould releafe them from their Captivity, and .both permit and promote the Rebuild ing of their Temple, Ila 96- d Fag- I0?' ( so ) fuper-added this valuable Anecdote ? Is the Concealment of the Penman's Name fufficient, to impeach the Genuinenefs, or invalidate the Authority, of the Paflage ? Efpecially, fince it has been approved by other infpired Writers, and received the Imprimatur of the Holy Ghoft ? : — I know not who is the Printer of his Lord- fhip's two Volumes ; yet, though ignorant of this Circumftance, for other very fatis- fatlory Reafons, I have no Doubt but they are the genuine Produdions of his Pen. My Lord would have done well to con- fider Whether it was a probable or a pradicable Thing, to interpolate a fet of Books, which were ftudied with fo much Accuracy, and kept with fo much Vigi lance. The Number of whofe Verfes, efpe cially in the Pentateuch, was computed ; and the Arrangement of the very Letters known. Whether, after the Coming of Chrift, the jealous Eye which the Jews and Chriftians had on each other, was not an unfurmountable Bar againft any Inno vations or material Alterations. As for Tran/pqfi tions, they are ufed by the moft approved Hiftorians. When ufed with Judgment, they redound to the Reputation of the Writer, and encreafe the Pleafure of the Reader. And would his Lordfhip make that a Difparagement of the facred Narrative, ( 21 ) Narrative, which is a Recommendation of any ordinary Compofition ? But my Lord imagines, that He has found out a fubftantial Reafon for the afore mentioned Diftindion • has deteded fuch Improprieties in the facred Narrative, as " contradid all our Notions of Order " and of Juftice." 6 He produces, by way of Specimen, the Cafe of Noah, de nouncing a Curfe upon Canaan. This, it feems, is the capital Abfurdity ; this the glaring Error ; which, He concludes, is fufficient to un-canonize the Hiftories of the old Teftament, and degrade their Wri ters from the Clafs of Infpiration. : — This therefore, if your Ladyfhip pleafes, we will examine a little more particularly. The Charge in general is thus exprefled. " One is tempted to think, that the Patri- *' arch was ftill drunk ; and that no Man '¦' in his Senfes, could hold fuch Language, " or pafs fuch a Sentence." —Was I at Leifure to criticife upon Words, I fhould be tempted to obferve, that the Didion '¦? no Man could hold fuch Language," may be French, but is fcarcely Englifh. However, from the Expreflion I pafs to the r pag. HO. ( 22 ) the Sentiment. This, for Candour and Solidity, is much like the Refledion of the Jews, on the memorable Day of Pen- tecoft. When the Apoftles addreffed the Inhabitants of various Countries, each in his own native Tongue ; fome of their Hearers afcribed this miraculous Ability — fo what ? we are amazed, when we read ¦ to the intoxicating Power of Wine/ Strange ! that exceflive Drinking, which incapacitates other People for talking c om-> mon Senfe, fhould enable the Difciples of CHRIST to fpeak all Kinds of Langua ges ! Is it not equally ftrange, that a drunken Diforder fhould enable the Pa triarch to deliver Prophecies, and foretell future Events ? Which (as I hope to prove) was the real Import of the Speech. Perhaps, this Curfe may feem to be the Effect, if not of diforderly Indulgence, yet of intemperate Paffton. And how in compatible is this, with the Charader of a Preacher of Righteoufnefs ? Surely Noah fhould not have been fo forward, to call for the Thunderbolts of Vengeance, Any benevolent Man, much more a pious Pro genitor, would rather have deprecated the Blow. 1 wonder, his Lordfhip did not ftart this Objedion. Which would have been f Ads. ii. 13. ( 23 ) been much more plaufible, and much lefs fhocking. To this, in Cafe it had been ftarted, we might reply ;— — That Noah aded as the Oracle of GOD. This and many other fuch Paffages, which feem to be Imprecations, are really Predictions. Holy Men fpoke, as they were influenced by the Spirit; and uttered, not the Suggestions of their own Minds, but the Will of Al mighty GOD.—-— Which inclines me to think, it might be no lefs proper, and much more fuitable to the prophetic Style, if we tranflated fuch Paffages, as Indica tives, rather than Imperatives; making them declaratory of what is decreed in the Cabinet of Heaven, and will as certainly take Place, as if it already exifted. Curled is, rather than be, Canaan. Bleffed of the LORD is, inftead of be, his Land. Deut„ xxxiii. 13. Thus Ifaiah, foretelling the Incarnation of that wonderful and adorable Perfon, whom He ftyles The mighty GOD, fays, To us a Child is born. g So, calling the Things that are not, as though they were. Such a Manner of fpeaking, would remove from this particular Paffage, all that founds har/h, or feems uncharitable : and would, in the general, impart an un equalled 5 Ifai. ix. 6. ( 24 5 equalled Majefty h to the Language of Scrip ¦' ture. It was GOD then, and not Man, from whom this avenging Sentence came. And GOD, to fhew his utter Deteftation of all Iniquity ; to manifeft his fingular Delight in all Virtue ; frequently takes Occafion to denounce Vengeance, or promife Happi- nefs, when fome notorious Evil is commit ted, or fome laudable Good performed. And was there not a moft notorious Evil committed Here ? 'Charity, fays the Apoftle, covereth all Things : ' draws a Veil over the various Infirmities of every common Neighbour. But this Man (Man ihall I fay ? rather Monfter of Ingrati tude) fees the Shame of a. Father—an aged k Father,--a pious Father ; and inftead of concealing, when He cometh forth, He tell" eth h Bleffed be, is what any holy Perfon might fay, and comprehends no more than a fupplicatory Benedic tion. Bleffid is, fuits only the Mouth of a Prophet, and implies an authoritative Bleffing. 1 Corinth, xiii. j. ira.Ha. rsysi. This is one Arti cle in the fmeft Difplay of facial Virtue, that ever was exhibited to the World. And fhould, I think, be r^ranflated (not beareth, but) covereth or concealeth all Things. The natural Import of the Word juftifies, and the Context evidently requires, thisSenfc. Otherwife, the firft and laft Claufes of the Verfe, will co-incide in their Meaning ; or rather make an un-meaning Tau- ' tology. k Levit. xix. 32. ( 25.) eth it.- Fools they are, abandoned Pro- fligatesi that make a Mock at Sin. What Name then can be badenough, for aprofane and un:natural' Wretch ; who makes Sport with a Parent's Folly, W'Parent's Sinful- nefs, a Parent's Mifery ? — ^-Surely this Was a rrioft flagrant Violation of filial Re- verence, filial Love, and filial Duty.1 Which not only implied fo many particular Offences-, each attended with 'its re/peilive Guilt, but indicated' thfc ; Offender to be deftitute of all Piety. For, to argtip in the Apoftle's Strain ; How could this Man venerate a' Father in Heaven, whom He had i The Tul-pitude and fmmbrality of this Offence, -will a-J>peaj in blacker Colours, if we confiderthe •very peculiar Reverence ; which, in tho.'e Days of primitive Simplicity, was- paid to any aged Perfon, ¦much mote to an aged Parent. Cre'debant hoc grande nefas, & Mor'te piznduni' Si fuvcnis Vefulo n-m ajfurnxerat, & ft Barbato cukunoue Puer. ; . . ., Juven. Satyr. Xiii. We- may' fee, from that awful Threatning; Prov. xxx. 1 7.^ with what ex:reme,Dcteflation the moft holy GOD relents fuch un-naUiral Behaviour. Tie Eye thai MOCKETH AT HIS FATHER, and de- fpfeth to obex his Mother, the Ra-jens of the Valltifball pick it out, and the young Eagle Jl^.all eat 'it. Nay, it fhould feein from'this Text, as though allNature was ready -to'teftify its Abhorrence of fuch a Crime ; and; rather than it (hould efcape condign Punilhment, the molt infenfible Animals would rife up to execute Ven geance. E C 26 ) had not feen ? If he was fo irreverent to a Father on Earth, whom He had feen ? But fuppofing the Turpitude and Immo rality of the Adion to be very enormous, and fuch asdeferved fome fignal Vengeance: the Vengeance, it is objeded, was mifap- plied. For, " Ham alone offended : ' Ca naan was innocent.". My Lord is not fure, that Canaan was innocent ; though He afferts it pretty confidently. The contrary Notion has obtained among the Jews. They apprehend, that Canaan was firft in the Tranfgreffion ; and, inftead of being re proved, was imitated by his Father. Bi- fhop Patrick, Mr. Pool, and other emi nent Commentators, think this to be no improbable Opinion. If his Lordfhip was un-acquainted with the Hebrew, He will fcarcely be thought qualified to pronounce fo peremptorily, concerning a Cafe related in that Lan guage. If He was acquainted with the Original, He ads fomewhat unfairly in faying; " This Notion is not only " with- " out, but againft the exprefs Autho- " rity of the Text.5"" For He muft know, that it receives fome Countenance even from the Text itfelf. I would by no means 171 pag. 1 1 1 . ( 27 ) means offend your Ladyfhip's Eyes, with any rugged Figures, or uncouth Quotati ons. But you may venture to believe me, when I affure you, That the moft exad Tranflation of Verfe 24th is, Noah knew what his Son had done to Him, the or that little one. n Ham could not fo properly be ftyled The little otie ; fince He was the mid- dlemoft, and is always placed in that Or der: Shem, Ham, Japheth. But the De fcription agrees perfedly well with Canaan, the Grandfon of Noah: and it was cufto- mary among the Jews, to call the Grand children, the Sons of their Grand-Father,0 Canaan, it is added" was alone curfed." — — The Words would run fmoother, if tranfpofed in this manner, Canaan alone was curfed. As for the Fall, that wants fome better Confirmation, than my Lord's bare Affertion. To me it is evident, that Ham was not exempted from the Curfe. E 2 What? a Though it would have been very unpolite, to quote Hebrew in writing to a Lady : is may be judged proper, perhaps be thought neceiTary, now the Let ter is made public, to produce the original ExprelTion. That, where an Argument is derived from the precife Signification of the Phrafe, the learned Reader may examine and determine for Himfelf. lltDPn "Oil Gen. ix. 24. The word \Y\2p is ufed of Benjamin, Jacob's youngeft Son, and tranflated a little one ; (Jen. xliv. 20. • Gen. xxi.x. 5. 1 Chron. i. 17, ( 28 ), _ . What? If it. did not fall upon- Him ia Perfon? yet, to be punifhed in his Off- fpring, muft be very ajfeCling, and no lefs' afflicting. But hold — '—r— ?my Lord has foreftalled/ us in this Reply. Inftead of waiting for it, . or acquiefcing in it ; He plays it upon us, with an Air of Triumph, " Will it, " be faid — r-this , has been faid That * Hamvr&s punifhed in his Pofterity." * It has : an,d with his Lordfhip' s Leave, I will venture to fay it again-. Nor fhould I, in cafe Lord Bolingbroke was alive, have went farther than his own Breaft, for . H Proof of my Affertion. - Would He, with all his exalte.4 Ideas of 'Liberty, have thought it no Punifhrheht on Himfelf, provided He had been the Father of Children, to have hear'd them doomed to a Sfate of Slavery ; nay, to be, as He vqry rightly explains the facred Phrafe, " the vileft and worft of *S Slaves ?" Efpecially if, like Ham, He was appointed, in the Courfe of Pro vidence, to be the Father of feveral Na tions ? - — And if the Doom had been pronounced by a Perfon, of whofe prophetic Spirit there was fo. inconteftable an Evi dence, as the univerfal Inundation was of Noah's ? Since ? Pag. cxi. ( 29 ) • Since my Lord has no more Communi cation with us or our Affairs, I appeal to any, to every parental Heart. Let Na ture fond, companionate, yearning Nature fpeak r Whether the Inflidion of fuch a Penalty on the Son, (perhaps, a favourite Son, like Jofeph) the Son's Sons, and the lateft Pofterity Whether this be not properly a Punifhment of the Fa ther ? Whether the Father muft not feel by Anticipation, what his wretched Progeny muft endure in Reality? Nature once fpoke to fuch a Query, and this was her Language : 0 my Son Abfalom ! my Son, my Son Abfalom ! Would GOD I had died for Thee ! O Abfalom my Son, my Son ! b Did Hiftory ever record, or Poetry ever invent, fo melancholy a Moan ? It breathes the very Soul of Woe ; and exemplifies the Sentiment, which his Lordfhip would ex plode. David, it is plain, was punifhed in the calamitous Exit of this young Pi ince •, in theDifafters fuftained, and the Diforders committed, by his other Children. c Adam thought Himfelf punifhed in the Ruin which He brought upon the human Race ; and laments it, in the moft pathetic Terms, as the fevereft Diftrefs attending his Apo- ftacy. b 2 Sam. xviii. 33. c z Sam. xii. 10. ( 3° ) ftacy. d One wifer than Adam, One greater than David, whofe Judgment is al ways according to Truth, is evidently of the fame Opinion : and, for that Reafon, has formed the Sandion of a moft facred Commandment, upon this very Principle ; He will vifit the Iniquities 0/ the Fathers upon the Children, unto the third and /ourtb Generation 0/ them that hate Him. What GOD has fo exprefly threatened, He has adually done : not on this only, but on various other Emergencies. Thus E/au fuffered in his Defcendants ; c Jehu in his Family ;f and Hezekiah in his Children. g Who all, like the Canaanites, were Children of their Father's Difobedience : h Inheritors1 of their Sin, as well as of their Name. But d See the whole of Adam's difconfolate Complaint ; Part of which are the following Lines. Yet well, if here would end The mifery, 1 deferv'd it, and ivould bear My own Defervings : but this will not fervt. /ill that I eat, or dr ink, or fhall beget Is propagated Curfe. O Voice ! once hearxd Delightfully, Increafe and Multiply ; Now Death to hear ! Parad. Loft. Book x. jzy r Compare Gen. xxvii. 40. with 2 Sam. viii. 14, Thoufbalt ferve thy Brother : Here, is the Sentence. All they of Edom became David's Servants : Here, its Execution. f Hofea i, 4. " Ifai. xxxix. 6, 7. h Morum qu?pi Fit;.. Juvenal Satyr. XIII. ( 3* ) - — But this would anticipate the Reply to another Objedion. Where is the Equity of curfing a Peo ple, that are yet unborn ? Does not this " contradid all our Notions of Order and ** of Juftice ?" It may be contrary to our Notions, at leaft it would be unjuftifi. able in our Pradice. But is quite other- wife, with regard to the all-feeing GOD. Is it not agreeable to the ftrideft Rules of Juftice, for a Magiftrate, when He has heard the Witneffes, fummed up the Evi dence, and found the Prifoner guilty— — Is it not agreeable to the ftrideft Rules of Juftice, to pafs Sentence upon fuch a Cri minal? The Queftion can admit of no Doubt. Yet it is equally certain, that this was the very Cafe, with Reference to the fupreme Judge, and thofe Sinners the Ca naanites. They pradiced the groffeft and moft inhuman Idolatries. They aban doned themfelves to the moft horrid Im moralities : fuch as violated Nature ; con founded all Order ; and fuch as it would be fhocking even to mention. r — - — Now all thefe provoking Crimes, were prefent to the View of HIM, by whofe Infpira- tion Noah fpake. Fie faw them with the fame circumftantial Exadnefs, as if they had ' Levit. xviii. 24. ( 32 ) had been already perpetrated. Let us take thefe very important Particulars in to Confiderationj the exceffive Wickednefs^ of thofe Nations, and the all- fore/eeing Dif- cernment of JEHOVAH, and then who will dare to infinuate ? That the everiaft- ing Sovereign aded unjuftly. That He launched the Lightenings of his Indigna tion, in an arbitrary manner, or upon ah innocent People. Who will be fo pre cipitate, as to affirm with my Lord ? That " no other Writer but a Jew, could irri- " pute to the Economy of divine Provi- " dence the Accomplifhment of fuch a " Predidion ; nor make the fupreme Be - " ing the Executor of fuch a Curfe." 3 The former of thofe Circufnftances will fet in a proper Light, what his Lordfhip calls, " the Cruelties committed by Jofljua " in the Conqueft of the Canaanites.*' It will make them appear to be ads of righ teous Vengeance ; a much needed and moft defirable Extirpation of a peftilent People : altogether as ferviceable to the Public, as it was formerly, to deftroy the Wolves from our Ifland ; or as it is, at prefent, to deliver over fome flagitious Malefadors to the Sentence of the Law.- Yet the Execution of this Vengeance Was delayed, Year after Year, Century after Century. The feed of Abraham, for feveral Ages, were 5 fa;?. 1 :o. C 33 ) Were not permitted to enter upon the Poffef- fion of theirdeftined Inheritance ; becaufe the Iniquity of the Amorites, which was the Caufe of their Extermination, was not yet ful\ ' -Does it then, befpeak the Man of Integrity, to reprefent thofe Proceedings of Joftoua, under the abhorred Image of Cruelties ; which were Ads of a Juftice, exemplary, falutary, and greatly to be re vered. Is it becoming an honeft Inquirer after Truth, to fuggeft, without the leaft Shadow of Proof, a felfifh and malignant Reafon, for the Deftrudion of the Ca naanites ; when a Reafon, the moft equitable in its Nature, the moft beneficial in its Con- fequences, is exprefly and repeatedly af- figned by the facred Hiftorian ? x — —This I s Gen. xv. 16. < Gen. xv. i<5. Deut. ix. 5. FOR THE WICK EDNESS of thofe Nations, the LORD thy GOD doth drive them out from before Thee — — "See alfo Levit. xviii. 25. Where the facred Writer defcribes their ex ecrable and un-paralleled Vilenefs, by one of the ftrongeft and boldeft Figures imaginable. So vile they were, that the very Country loathed them 5 was weary to bear them ; and acted like a dilguited naufeating Stomach, when opprefled with foul and offenfive Food : the Land iftlf Vomiteth out her Inhabitants, -»—Let no faueamijb Critic betray bis fa If e Talte, and worfe Temper, by carping at the Exprelfion. But let all be aftonimed at the outragious Impiety of the Ca naanites ; and adore the vindiaive Arm of JE HOVAH j and acknowledge, that fuch honible Mif- creants ( 34 ). I refer to your Ladyfhip's Decifionv Who, I am fure, will hot err on the un charitable Extreme. Yet I believe, will find it difficult, with all your Good-nature, to acquit the Author of thefe Letters from the Charge of Dis ingenuity. May I not add ? This Way of /ore- telling, yet re/pi ting the' Punifhment, is gracious both in itfelf, and hi its Confe- quences.- In itfelf: becaufe, a Re1 prieve is always reckoned an Alleviation of the Sentence, even though it be not the Forerunner , Ti.ac hi j Lordfliip's Style is fo correct., elegant, and t * • ' 1 ( 37 ) when laid in the Ballance of Impartiality and Candour, it will be found wanting. For, admitting the Objedion in its full Scope, what follows ? Why, that the righteous GOD pardoned fome Criminals, when He might juftly punifh all. And if it fhould have pleafed the Supreme Judge, to repeal the Sentence, and remit the Penalty, with regard to fome Offenders, who fhall ar raign his Condud ? Who fhall cenfure his Providence ? To exercife Mercy is his great Prerogative : an Ad not of Debt, but of royal Bounty, which He exercifes,- when and to whom, it feemeth good in his Sight : / will have Mercy^ on whotn I will have Mercy, e is his high and holy Refolve. I might therefore anfwer his Lordfhip's Queftion, by afking another. Which I might propofe, in the plain but /olemn Words of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. " If " the/e axe fpared, while tho/e are punifh- «' ed, what is that to Thee ? Is thine Eye «' evil, becuu/e GOD is good?" But I fhall rather reply to the Objedion, by de nying and noble, as to be a Standard fox fine Writing. It can- jiot, in my Apprehenfion, juftly claim this Honour. If others think differently, I leave them to enjoy their Opinion ; and fhall not (though it would be eaiy enough to multiply Proofs) add a Word mo.e uponths .Subject. e .Rom. ix. 1 6. ( 3« ) nying the Fad. The Punifhment was not confined to Canaan and his Pofterity. It reached the other Defcendants of Ham\ Mi/raim Himfelf, the Father of the Egyp tians (as will be fhewn in a proper Place) not excepted. Canaan, 'tis true, is parti cularly mentioned. Becaufe, He was (as from this very Circumftance is extreme ly probable) an Accomplice e with Ham, in the Breach of filial Duty. — Becaufe, this Branch of the Family was more than ordinarily corrupt, nay, beyond Mea/ure vi cious. Becaufe the Canaanites were, in the firft Place, and in the /ulleft Manner, to feel the Effeds of the Curfe. And Mc- /es, being charged with a Commiffion to execute the Vengeance on this People only, had no Occafion to concern Himfelf with any other. Juft as the Sheriff of a Coun ty, demanding the Body of a condemned Malefador, produces the dead Warrant for bis Execution ; without inter-meddling, or thinking Himfelf under any Neceffity to inter- c This is rendered Hill more credible, by that Par ticularity of Style, which the Scripture ufes in fpeak- ing of Ham. Ham the Father of Canaan. Gen. ix. 18, 22. Why of Canaan fo efpecially ? Had He not other Children, other Sons ?¦¦- — Several other.— But this Diftinction feems to be a Brand of lnfa?ny, let upon the Offender ; and intimates, that He who was Father of Canaan by Blood, was his Parmer, wash's Brother in Iniquity, ( 39 ) inter-meddle, with the other Prifoners ir> the Jayl. -This leads me to a new, and, if I judge right, by far the moft impor - tant Inquiry ; namely, whether the Curfe was executed, as well as pronounced. As I haften to the Proof of this Parti cular, my Lord embarraffes and retards me with a frefh Obftacle. He Himfelf has thought proper to inform us, " why the " Pofterity of Canaan was to be deemed an " accurfed Race." But He lets the World know ; " It is not fo eafy to account, why " the Pofterity of the righteous Shem, that " great Example of filial Reverence, be- " came Slaves to another Branch of the " Family of Ham, during more that four- " fcore Years." £ J am by no means convinced, that the Point propofed enters into the Merits of our Caufe. Should the Reafons for this Difpenfation remain an im penetrable Secret ; yet, if we clear up the Propriety, and demonftrate the Equity, of the Curfe denounced ; we compafs our main End, and confute the grand Cenfure. However, as the Queftion is prefented, it fhall be confidered : And though his Lord • fhip fhould affed to freer, I chufe rather, in 8 Pag. ii2. ( 40 ) in Imitation of thofe noble Writers, whofe! Dignity I would affert, to be /erious. Why were the 1/raeljtes Sojourners in Egypt*. A Reafon occurs, that is worthy of a gracious GOD, and greatly for the public Good. That they might carry thither the Knowledge of the everlafting JEHOVAH, and of the promifed MES SIAH ; of the only acceptable Method of Worftiip; and the only effectual Way of Sal vation. — —As Egypt was the Parent of Li terature, and the Fountain-Head of Sci ence : as Men of Letters and Curiofity earner from all Parts of the World, to cornplete their Studies at Egypt : if thefe heavenly Dodrines were received THERE, they would be more likely, fome Streams of them at leaft, to be tranfufed into all Climes, and improve every Nation. So that the People of the LORD, the only Depofitaries of divine Philofophy, were fettled in this Land of general Refort, with much the fame wife and beneficent Views, as the ableft Profeffors of Learning are placed at our famous Univerfities. But why were they Slaves in Egypt ?— — This might be to try them, and to humble them ; to ftdew them what was in their Heart, and to purge out their Drofs. We are taught in Scripture, that the Almigh- 2 ty ( 41 ) ty chaftens whom He loves ; and fcourges the Men, whom He receiveth to Himfelf. Even the heathen Claffics, my Lord's fa vourite Authors, have frequently remark ed ; That Adverfity is a School, in which both private Perfons, and public Societies, have learned the moft heroic Virtues. Befides ; this might be intended to animate and infpirit the I/raelites for their Invafion of Canaan. They were, in the general, a fu- pine and groveling ' Set of People. Flad they been fettled in a State tolerably eafy, or in Territories that were but moderately commodious ; they might never have afpired after the Land flowing with Milk and Honey ; never have made any refolute Efforts, to poffefs their deftin'd Inheritance. But, being driven by the Lafh, and inftigaied by the Goad, of pungent galling Slavery, they were even conftrained to burft the Chains, and pufh ther way to Liberty and Canaan. Their infupportable Slavery, was fomewhat like bending the Bow, and ftrain- ing the String, in order to launch the Ar row. Farther ; GOD Almighty allures Abraham, 1 Let none imagine, that the Wifdom of GOD is impeached, by felecting to Himfelf a People of this Character. His Clemency, his Forbearance, and all thofe benign Perfections, which are fo neceffary for the Salvation of Sinners, are hereby difplayed with pe culiar Advantage, and to our unfpeakable Confola- tioa. G ( 42 ) Abraham, that his Seed, though enflaved for a while, fhould come out of their Bon dage with great Subftance ; * with the Silver, the Gold, the Jewels, and the choiceft Treafures of Egypt. So that, when la bouring for their Tafk Mafters, they were, in Fad, labouring for themfelves. The Wealth of the Oppreffbrs, was laid up for the Oppreffed. And the Seafon of their Afflidion in the Enemies Country, was like the rigorous Cold of Winter ; which, far from obftruding, only makes Prepara tion, for the Blojfoms of Spring, and the Fruits of Autumn. Thefe Confidera- ti'ons might have folved the Difficulty to his Lordfhip, as a Politician. Other Reafons are fuggefted by our Di vines ; which, if my Lord had thought it worth his while to regard, might have given better Satisfadion, and yielded more Edi fication. They would have reminded the right honourable Querift That fuch a gloomy Afped of the Jewi/h Affairs, made way forthe brighteft Manifeftation of GOD's glorious Attributes : of his Power, in re- fcuing them from their tyrannical Rulers : of his Faith/ulne/s, in fulfilling his Pro mife, made to their Fathers : of his Good- ne/s, in fupporting and conduding them ; keeping them, amidft the moft formidable Dangers, 1 Gen. xv. 14.. ( 43 > Dangers^ as the Apple 0/ an Eye ; and bearing them, even through the moft infuperable Difficulties, as on Eagle's Wings. ' This al fo opened a moft confpicuous Theatre, for that amazing. Train of Miracles; which h-ave been, in all Ages, as ferviceable to the Faith of Chriftians, as they were for merly conducive to the Welfare of the Jews. ' They would farther have informed his Lordfhip, and have confirmed their Opi nion by apoftolical Authority ; That the Whole of this moft wonderful Tranfadion, was typical of /piritual Things : was a Series of living Leflbns ; delivered, according to the Eaftern method of conveying Know ledge, in Figures and Emblems. The Egyptian Bondage was a Refemblance of our natural Condition ; whichis a State of the moft abjed Slavery to Sin. The arbitrary and injurious Impofitions of the Tafk-Mafters fhadow forth, though but faintly, the Tyranny of unruly Appetites, and imperious Paffions.' That barbar ous Edid for the Deftrudion of all the G 2 infant 1 See Deut. xxxii. 10, ii. Thefe, I think, are- aioft delightful and inimitab'y delicate Reprefentations. Let the pious Critic try, if He can conceive thofe tender Offices, that un-intermitted Vigilance, and Af- fiduity of proteSing cherifhing Cares, which are ex- preiTed in thefe fine Images. For my Part, I own myfelf incapable of defcribing them. But moft ear- neftly wifh, that every Reader as well as myieif, may le.irn them in that bell of Schools, ' the School of Ex perience. ( 44 ) infant Males, fitly enough reprefents the genuine Tendency of carnal and cor rupt Affedions j which deftroy our true Comfort ; fubvert our nobleft Interefts ; are as Death to the Joys and to the Hopes of our Souls. Their Deliverance from that miferable State, was an expreffive Sign of our Redemption, from the Guilt and the Dominion of Sin. ra Both which the LORD JESUS accomplifh.es : the one by Price, the other by Power. Not by flaying the firft-born, but by fhedding his own Blood : not by foftening Rocks into a Stream, but by taking away the Heart of Stone : not by turning the Current of Jordan back ward, but by turning all our Defires into a new Channel. The many Troubles and Oppofitions they met with in the Wil- dernefs, exhibit a lively Pidure ofthe Mo ¦ leftations m The divine Writer to the Hebrews, makes the Land of Canaan, typical of a better Country, even of an Heavenly. Heb. xi. 16. xii. 22. According to .'the fame Author, the peaceful Settlement of the Ijrael- ites in Canaan, fuggefted to their Thoughts, and pointed out to their Faith, that everlafting Reft which remaineth for the People of GOD. Heb. iii. 4, 5, &c. Since the Terminus ad quern, (as the School-men fpeak) is evidently myftical and allegorical : may we not conclude, that the Terminus a quo is myftical and allegorical likewife ? Then it will follow, upon the cleared: Principles of Analogy, that the intermediate Steps and Advances are of the fame Nature ; figni- ficative of refined and fpiritual Things, under earthly and fenfible Images. This, if I millake not, is put be yond all Doubt. 1 Corinth, x. 1, 2. Sec, ( 45 ) leftations that attend, and the Temptations that affault, the Chriftian. Trials await Us. Snares are around Us. Through many Conflids, and much Tribulations We muft enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only let Us beware, left, like the ungrateful lfrael- ites, We forget the GOD of our Salvation, and fall after the fame Example of Unbelief. — The Cloud, that was fpread over them by Day, to intercept the Glare, and fcreen them from the Heat of the Sun : The Fire, that fhone before them in the Night, to chear the noc turnal Darknefs, and lead them through the tracklefs Defart : were not thefe very amiable and exad Emblems of our Savi our's Merits, and of his holy Word ? The former of which, are re/rejhing to the guil ty Confcience, as the Veil of a thick inter- pofing Cloud is welcome to a Traveller in fultry Climes. The latter, is a Light to our Feet, and a Lanthern to our Paths, to guide us in the Way everlafting. Their Paf/age through Jordan, the Priefts that bare the Ark of the Covenant going before them, a and Handing in the midft of the River, till all the Congregation were paffed over : this very emphatically prefigured our great High-Prieft ; bearing our Sins ; ful filling the Law in our Stead; aboli/hing Death ; a See Jolhua iii. 13, 14. &c. ( 4& ) Death ; and making it a /a/e as well as fhort Tranfition to Life eternal. You will excufe me, Madam, for ex patiating vt^on thefe Topics. They are fo inviting, fo pleating, fo comfortable, that I can hardly perfuade myfelf to leave them. — If any other Parts of the Epiftle, through a Kind of unhappy Neceflity almoft infepar- able from Controverfy, fhould refemble the A/perity of the Thorn -, this I hope, will bear fome Affinity to the Fragrance of the Rc/e. For which Caufe it is, that I chufe only to touch, and but lightly touch, the one ; while I would open the other, into a full Expanfion, and a rich Effufion. — Let me add one more Obfervation on this Head, and I have done. It is apprehend ed by very judicious Perfons, that the Punifhment of the Egyptians, and their total Overthrow, may be a Prefage of the Mi/ery and Ruin ; which will fooner or la ter fall upon Individuals and Nations, that rejecl the glorious Gofpel, and vilify its fa cred Repofitory THE BIBLE. If the Reafons I have offered, are nei ther tirefome, nor un-fatisfadory to your Ladyfhip, I fhall proceed the more chear - fully to fhew, That the Curfe was executed, as well as pronounced. Had it been the /en/ele/s ( 47 ) /en/ele/s Extravagance of a Man intoxicated with Liquor ; or the rajh Imprecation of a Man heated with Refentment ; or the de- figning Interpolation of fome crafty Statef- man ; would the holy, the gracious, the true GOD have fet the broad Seal of Hea ven to it ? Would HE, who over-rules all Events, have fuffered it to fucceed have commanded it to fucceed nay, have brought it Him/elf to pafs, by a mighty Hand, and ftretched out Arm ? Impoffible to con ceive! — If therefore it was really brought to pafs ; and -with a furprifing Punduaii- ty ; and not by any Competency of humarj. Means, but by the moft evident Difplay of divine Power : this will be fuch a Proof of its Credibility, its Rea/onablene/s, and Equi ty, as no One, who thinks reverently of the Deity, can deny. Canaan was to be Servant to Shem. This was accomplifhed, when the I/raelites, the Defendants of Shem, conquered the Land of Canaan ; flew thirty of its Kings ; n and took Poffeflion of their Cities. When the Gibeonites particularly, who compofed one of their principal States, ° became Hew ers 0/ Wood, and Drawers of Water, to the Congregation ; p or, in other Words, the moft menial Servants to the loweft of the People. By " Jofh. xii. 1, z\. * Jofh. x. 2. p Jofh. ix. 27. ( 48 ) By what Inftruments was this extraordi nary Revolution wrought ? • By one ot the fineft Armies in the Eaft or Weft ? Marfhalled by the braveft Officers, and headed by the moft experienced General ? No : but by a raw, undifciplined, enflaved People. "Who were deftitute of military Skill ; and without any perlbnal Qualifi cations, or warlike Apparatus for fo diffi cult, fo dangerous an Enterprize. Through what Obftacles was it begun, car ried on, and compleated ? In fpite of the Attempts of one potent Monarch, to detain them in Servitude. In fpite of the Refolution of feveral combined Kings, to difpute with them every Inch of Ground, to the laft Drop of their Blood. A deep River,andan Arm of theSeamuft be croffed, by fix hundred thoufand Men, with their Wives, their Children, their Cattle ; and without any Veffel to tranfport them, or any Bridge to tranfmit them. They muft dwell, forty Years, in a defolate, in- hofpitable, barren Wildernefs. Which was infefted by ravenous Beafts, and fiery fly ing Serpents. In which there was neither Water ; nor Corn ; nor any fort of Ac commodation for Abode, or Suftenance for Life. How were all thefe Difficulties furmount- ed? Not by the Arm of Flefh. This was ( 49 ) was utterly impradicable. But by the moft aftonifhing Interpofition of Omnipotence. ¦ The Egyptian Tyrant is humbled, and brought to their Terms, by the Inflic tion of ten tremendous Plagues. — The Wa ters of the River are dried up, and che Waves of the great Deep are divided, fo as to yield them a fafe-unobftruded q Paf- fage. A Stream gufhes even from the hard Rock; and gives them Drink, as it had been out of the great Depths. Pro digious Quantities of Manna ' defcend, with everyMorning-Dew ; and fupply them, not from the Garner, but from Heaven, with their daily Bread. Vaft Flights of Quails arrive, with every fetting Sun ; and drop, 1 He led tl-im through the Deep, encumbered as they were with their Kneading- I roughs, and furrounded with frightful Billows, i.s an Horfe in the Wildernefs : with as much fa/sand Spirit, as fome couragious Cour ier makes his Way through ("PIO) a plain, open, champaign Country. Ifai lxiii. 13. ' We are not to think, that the Manna took its Name, from any Refemblance to the medicinal Drug, which, among us, is fo commonly known, and fo frequently ufed. It is rather derived from the abrupt Expreffion of the Ifraelite-, on their firft beholding this wonderful Food They cried out with Amaze ment, ^Ifl 1f2 ManHu? What is this? Which Ex clamation, denoting sheir own Surprize, and the un expected a^ well as unparalleled Nature of the Gift, became both a Memorial of the one, and a Denomina tion of the other. H ( 50 ) drop, like a Bird fhot through the Wing,9 in the midft of their Camp, and round about their Habitations. The Walls of an im pregnable City fall to the Ground, at the Blaft of Rams-Horns.' The Sun ftands ftiU in the midft of Heaven, at the Voice of a Man." All the Hofts ofthe Nations, with all their Weapons of War, are driven a- funder as the Foam upon the Waters, and cut off as the Tops 0/ the Ears 0/ Corn. And is it probable ? Can it be poffible ? That every Element, and all Nature, fhould not only concur ; but alter their eftablifhed Courfe ; depart from the fundamental Laws of their Creation ; on purpofe to ratify, what was bolted out by the Patriarch in a drunken s This is defcribed with the utmoft V igour and Beauty, ki that fublime Piece of facred Poetry, Pfal. lx.'.viii. 27, 28. He rained Flefh upon them as Dufl, and winged (here lies a peculiar Emphafis, and thus fhould the Original tp3 IXty be tranflated, winged) Fowl like as the Sand of the Sea. Yet, though they were fumimed with Wings, and therefore might cafily efcape, they neglefted to make Ufe of their natural Powers They fell round the Ifraelitifh Tents, like the Rain from Heaven, which retumeth mt ; and like the Sand of the Shore, which cannot be numbered. This whole Pfalm is a manifeft Proof of the Ob- firvation, which was made in a preceding Paragraph ——That the hiftorical and dodrinal Paffages of Scrips ture are, like the Deed and its Counter-Part, in their Subftance exaclly correfponding : and like the feveral Links of the fame Chain, in their Connexion abfo- lutely infepr.rabls. 1 Jofh. vi. u Jofh. x. iz, 13. ( 5i ) . Sunken Revel* or foifted into the Teit by fome ffebrew Machiavilian f Canaan was to be Servaqt alfo to Ja~ pheth.- ipurfuant to this Predidion, did not the Greeks and .Romans, who derive their Lineage from - Japhet h, make them felves Mailers of the Refidue of Canaan. Tyre built by the Sidonicms*, and Thebes ' by Cadmus, were both defboyed by Alexander the Grecian. , Carthage, founded by Didoi was, after a long Succeflion of Loffes, and a vaft Effufion of Blood, demoliffeed by Scipio the Raman. Which Loffes made Hanni bal,- a Child of Canaan, cry out with ,a Mixture of Aftonffhment and Defpondency; Agnv/co Fortunam Carthaginis ! i. e. " " I *.< fee plainly the Hand of Deftiny work- H 2 ing ; f " Alexander laid Siege to this City, took it by " Storm, and- entirely ' diftroyed it ; flaying ninety " thoufand*of the fnhabitants, and felling the reft, to " the number of thirty thoufand more, into Slavery." Prideaux's Connect, Vol. I. Pag.' 4-79. . "' Vid. Liv. Lib. xxvii. adfin.em.—— A Writer a$ tfte firft Repute, for elegant f afte, arid' penetrating Judgment, thinks it more than, probable, that Hannibal, in this difpirited'and hopelefs. Acknowledgment, refers to the Prophecy under Coniidoration. Which will ju- fllfy my free,, though I hope, not err,Qneou6 Translation of t'he PaiTage.-— What the fame Author adds, is fo very - . ingenious, ( 52 ) " ing ; I fee that oracular Doom halting to " its Accomplifhment ; in thefe dreadful *' Calamities fuftained by Carthage ! " If thefe Fads are true, which have the unanimous Confent of Hiftorians for their Support, what can we fay of his Lordfhip's Affertion ; " that Ccnaan was Servant to Shem, though not to Japheth ?" w This, I am ingenious, and fo appolite to my Purpofe, that I will beg Leave to tranlcnbe it. " That the Romans were no Strangers to the fame '< divine Oracle, appears from Virgil." Progeniem fedenim Trojuno a Sanguine duci Audierat, Tyrias ilim qua: vertcrct Arces; flinc Populum lat} Regem, Belloque fuperbum, Venturum Excidio Lybia. Sic volvere Parcas. " In tranflating which, if we only name the An- " cefiors, iiftead of the Defendants, the original " Prophecy glares upon us." From Japheth'^ Loins deriv'd, a Race f/e knew Difigiia the Strength of Canaan to fubdue: Wide- if read their Empire, deflin' d to fucceed Ani wafte the Sons of Ham : So Fate decreed ! See Mr. Ridley's Sermons at Lady Mayer's, Lecture. Pag. 252. w The Words at large are, " Canaan became Ser- " vant of Servants to Shem, though not to Japheth, " when the Ifraelites conquered Palejline." Pag. III. «-— I muft beg Leave to inquire, why the laft Claufe js added ? Is it to prove, that, when the Ifraelites fubdued the Canaanites, the Descendants of Him were not, by this Viflory, made Servants to Japheth's Off- fpring ? ( 53 ) am apprehenfive, will be found as/al/e, as the following Objedion is weak. In which He urges ; That " Canaan was Servant to " one of his Uncles, not to his Brethren." x Such a Cavil (for certainly it deferves no better Name) difcovers an utter Igno rance of the Hebrew Phrafeology ; or elfe, a /range Inattention to it ; I would not fay, an egregious Mi/repre/entation of it. I thought every one had known, till Lord Bolingbroke undeceived me, That nothing is more common in the oriental Idiom, than to exprefs any Relatives of the Male Line, by the Denomination of Brethren. y I hope, your Ladyfhip will not think this, or any of my other Remarks, inde cently fpring ? If fo, my Lord encounters a Phrntom of his own raifing; and confutes, what no Man afferts,— — Is it to infinuate, that, becaufe the Race of Canaan ¦were not, at this Time, made Vafials to the Pofterity of Japheth, therefore they never were ; and, of Con- fequence, the Prophecy was eluded? This feems to be the Defign of the Sentence. Abft.radt.ed from this Defign, I fee not what End it can anfwer.. But this is to draw, from Premifes that are true, a Conclufion that is falfe. And is juft as good Logic, as the Liber tine's Argument is found Divinity ; " "Vengeance is not yet, therefore it never will be, Executed." See 2 Pet. iii. 4. x Pag. in. y See Gen. xiii. 8. Where Abraham and Lot, though Uncle and Nephew, are called Brethren. Gen. xxiv. 48. Where Bethuel, another of Abra ham's Nephews-, is ftyled h\s Brother. •. > Gen. xvi, ?|. xxiv, 27. ( 54 ) cenlly free. In the Prefence of the moft High GOD, all Men are upon a Level. When the Honour of hrs divine Word or glorious Attributes is concerned, We are to know no Man after the Flefh : r pay no deferential Regard to the Diftindions of Birth, or Elevations of Charader. In thefe Lifts the Privileges of Peerage ceafe. And I fhould reckon myfelf the moft abjed of Creatures, if, through Refped of Perfons, I could palliate ox fecrete the Truth, when the ever-venerable Oracles of Infpiration are treated with Contempt. A Violation of Decency this ! by whatever Hafid it is of fered, or from whatever Quarter it comes, incomparably more flagrant than Scandahm. Magnatum. Pardon, Madam, this Digreflion, and permit me farther to obferve That the Progeny of Ham, in another Line, are, to this very Day, the Slaves of the whole trading World. The Negroes I mean : whofe Defcent is from that unhap py Man. And what is their Country, but the Market of Slavery? Are not their Per- fons bought z and fold, as the meaneft Commodities ? Are they not debafed to the moft y 2 Corinth, v. 16. 2 No lefs than thirty Thoufand, I have been inform ed, are, every Year, bought for Slaves by the Englfo only. ( 55 ) moft fordid, and harraffed with the moft toil/owe Drudgery ? made,, in the ftridly literal Senfe of the Phrafe, Servants 0/ Ser~ vants ? I have not forgotten what I promifed to make appear, with relation to the Egypti ans ; neither fhall I overlook what his Lordfhip has remonftrated, from the fame Quarter. " The Defendants of Mit/r aim," He fays, " another ofthe Sons of Ham, were " the Egyptians: And they were fo far " from being Servants of Servants to their " Coufins the Shemites, that thefe were " Servants of Servants to them." a — For a Seafon, they were. But this Servi tude was calculated for the Good of their Community, and redounded to the Glory of their GOD. It terminated in fuch a fignal Deliverance, as brought Flonour and Opulence to themfelves, Confufion and Ruin to their Enemies. Does it then follow, from this temporary Superiority of the Egyptians, which ended in fo di/aftrous a manner, that they were excepted in the Denunciation of the Curfe, or favoured with an Ad of Indemnity ? —What " Pag. 1 1 2. 4 ( 56 ) What fays the fupreme Arbitrator ? The Nation whom they ferve, will I fudge : * I myfelf will punifh ; not by any human Inftruments, but by my own immediate Hand. Accordingly, they were vifited with the moft dreadful and deftrudive Plagues. In the laft of which, the Firft- born, the Flower of their Kingdom, were cut off; and at length, their King, and his whole Army, perifhed in the Red Sea. Does my Lord make no Account of thefe moft terrible and unexampled Judgments ? Befides ; what Was the Condition of this People in the following Ages ? If We con- fult Ezekiel, He will declare it, as clearly by the Spirit of Prophecy, b as if He had lived on the Spot, and feen the Face of Af- fairs. Andit came topa/s in the eleventh Year'-* in the firft Month, in the feventh Day of the Month, that the Word 0/ the LORD cam& unto me, frying ; Son 0/ Man, I have broken the Arm 0/ Pharoah King .0/ Egypt ; and lo, it ftoall not be bound up to be healed, to put a Roller to bind it, to make it ftrong to hold the Sword. i" will fcatter the Egyptians among the Nations, and will difr pcr/e them through the Countries. Egypt /hall be the ba/eft of Kingdoms, neither fhall it exalt itfelf any more among the Nations. ~-And a Gen. xv. 14. * Ezek. xxx, 20, 21, 23. xxix. 15. xxx. 13. ( 57 ) *———And there /hall be no more a Prince of the Land 0/ Egypt. — -i— Is not all this con firmed, by "antient Hiftory, and by the prefent State of Africa ? From the one We learn, That the Egyptians were fubjed, firft to the Perfiahs ; next to the Grecians ; then to the Romans ; afterwards to the Arabs". And from the other it appears, That they now wear the Turkifh Yoke : are governed, not by a Prince of their own, but by the Grand Seignor and his Bafhaws. Nay ; let any Perfon look round upon all the Countries, peopled by the Progeny of Ham -, and I am much miftaken, if He does not find them, what the Pfalmift defcribes, Dark Places of the Earth, and full of the Habitations of Cruelty : a the Dens of Rapine ; and the Dungeons of Ignorance : where Slavery drags the Chain, and Tyranny lifts the Scourge. Infomuch, that We need not fcruple to fay, in the emphatical Words of Jofhua ; Not one Thing has failed cf all the Good, or the evil Things, which the LORD fpake by the Mouth of Noah, concerning each of his Sons refpedively. All are come to pa/s, not one Thing has /ailed. b This calls upon me to clear up another Part of the Predidion. The Blefling I . pro- » Pfal. lxxiv. zo. b Joih. xxiii. 14. ( 58 ) pronounced upon Shem, and the Enlarge ment promifed to Japheth. Which wilj afford a new Argument, to maintain the Authenticity of the Paffage, and affert its divine Infpiration. I faid, the Blefling pronounced upon. Be caufe, I would not translate the Words^ Bleffed be the LORD GOD 0/ Shem ; but, Bleffed 0/ the LORD GOD is Shem. This will put a ftriking Contraft, between the Doom of the irreligious Scoffer, and the Reward of filial Piety : this is what we naturally -expeCt from a GOD, who is not unrighteous to forget his People, and their Labours of Love : this Senfe the original Language will very commodioufly bear, c and the Event feems to require.. For, how manifeftly, how eminently, was this bene- didive Sentence fulfilled ! Since, in the Pofterity of Shem, the Church of GOD Was eftablifhed, and his true Worfhip pro pagated. From Him, the Redeemer of Mankind, that Bleffi7ig c/ Blefftngs, accord ing to the Flefh fprung. The great Enlargement of Japheth's Ter ritories, is no lefs certain, and no lefs re markable. « Gen. ix. 26. a# irfrx mn> -pn — words of the very fame Import, in the very fame Conftruc- tion, are thus rendered by our Translators, Deut. xxxiii. 13. and will hardly admit of any other Inter- prctation ; i3p)j} nirr rcna W of tu LORD &c. ( 59 ) markable. He had, for his Pofiefiion, the Ifles of the Sea Weftward, and the fine exf enfive Countries near them ; Spain, Italy y Greece, Afia the lefs, all Europe, and the vaft Regions towards the North ; which antiently the Scythians^ now the Tartars in habit ; from whom t,he Americans, the Peo ple of the new World, feem to be derived. By Japheth's dwelling in the Tents of Shem, is meant The Converfion of the European Gentiles, to the Gofpel of CHRIST. Who, through a long Progref- fion of Years, were Aliens from the Common- Wealth 0/ Ifrael ; Strangers to the Covenants 0/ Promife; having no Hope of eternal Life. and without any faving Knowledge of GOD in_ the World. d But were, in due Time, perfuaded to embrace the true Faith : were made (as the Apoftle elegantly fpeaks, and in a Strain perfedly correfpondihg with the Language of our Prophecy) Fel low-citizens with the Saints, and of the Houfe^- hold of GOD. e An Event, altogether as undeniable, as it is important* delightful, and glorious. Upon the whole ; I cannot but think that, his Lordfhip has planted his Battery and played his Artillery, if not like an un- fki'lful, at leaft like an unfuccefsful Engi- I 2 neer * Ephef. ii, 13, * Ephef, ii. 19. ( 60 v) neer. He has planted his Battery againft a Place, too well fortified to admit of any Imprefnonj and that milft infallibly triumph over every Affault. He has fo played his Artillery, that it recoils upon Himfelf, and crufhes his own Defign. —And this, I apprehend, will always be the Iffue, when Men even of the fineft Genius and moft improved Capacities, prefume to atf tack the Scriptures of eternal Truth. This very Paffage, inftead of depred ating, unfpeakably ennobles, the divine Writings. It fhews, that they bear the Stamp — —of that all-over-ruling Power, which purpofes, and none fhall difanuil it- of that "all- comprehending Know ledge, which difcerns Events, long, long before they come into Exiftence.— ¦ '¦ — And let any unprejudiced Reader judge, what Degree of Efteem thofe Books may fairly challenge ; whofe leaft confiderable, or, in his Lordfhip's Opinion, moft obnoxious Parts, have fuch a Depth and fuch a Dig nity of Wifdom ! Such as will be admired and revered, fo long as hiftoric Truth has any Credit, or commercial Intelligence any Being. Shall I trefpafs upon your Ladyfhip's Patience, a little farther ? —The Pen- i. men ( 61 ) men of the Old Teftament, .carry all tha Marks of the moft difinterefted and unde- ftgnittg Sincerity. They record the Failings of their favourite and moft jlluftrious Heroes ; without concealing the Punifh ment, inflided on fuch Mifcarriages. • The uniform Tendency of their Narratives and Obfervatipns is, Tp promote a Reli gion the moG: pure, the moft benevolent, the moft elevated imaginable j as remote from ,. all felfifh Aims, and every low Art of Collufion, as the Heavens are higher than the Earth. — - — They were Men Angu larly qualified for their Work ; being ei ther Eye-Witneffes of the Fads, they relate *? or elfe Cotemporaries with the Perfons, they defcribe ; or ftill more remarkably diftin- guifhed, by their Ability to work Mix a - cles, and their Infight into Futurity.— — As to the Fads related, fome of them had anniverfary Solemnities, on which they were commemorated : Some of them had fignificant Ceremonies, by which they were reprefented. They were publickly read in the Synagogues, and univer/ally known through the Nation. It was a Duty of Religion, to talk of them by Day, to me ditate on them by Night, and diligently to inftruCl' the Children in them. And were not thefe Circumftances a Security, an inviolable Security againft any Attempt to ( ^2 ) to corrupt, to innovate, Or alter ? — So that their Writings appear with every Charac ter, both internal and external, of genuine Truth ; and with the moft unqueftiori- able Credentials, from the GOD of Power, and GOD of Wifdom. d Confequently, they have a Credibility of their own : fuf ficient both to claim, and to fupport, the Faith of an antient Jew. Such as muft command the Affent of every rational and honeft Inquirer, even before the Chriftian Difpenfation took Place. If my Lord had duly adverted to theft Confiderations ; furely, He would have ex punged that bold and rafh Affertioh, " without Chriftianity we have no Obliga- ereaclied the very fame Rightesufnefs, of which he him- 'felf was an Heir : and that, we are aflured, was the Righteoufnefs of Faith; Heb. xi. 7. * jude xiy. y Heb, xi. 4. z Gen. iii. 15. ( 68 ) the Antt-diluvian Patriarchs, borrow their Honours ; and ftand upon everlafting Re cord, chiefly as being in the Number of his Progenitors. This capital Omiflion is (to ufe his Lordfhip's own Language) " a manifeft Abufe of facred Hiftory, and *' quite inexcufable in a Writer, who knew, " or fhould have known," a that, in its moft early as well as in its later Periods, it invariably teftifies of CHRIST, b Thus to undertake, and thus to execute, is as if fome Pretender to Anatomy, fhould engage to explain the Nature of Animal Motion ; and fay not a Word, concerning the Nerves, the Mufcles, the Heart. Or, as if fome Smatterer in Geography, fhould of fer to exhibit a complete Map of our Coun try ; and leave entirely out of his Plan, the Cities, the Towns, and the Rivers. — . Yet, this is not the only Incident, on which my Lord, however critical in profane Li terature, difcovers Himfelf to have been very remi/s in the Study, at leaft very fu- perficial in the Knowledge, of his Bible. From which Flint I would take Occafion to entreat, and with the moft affedionate Earneftnefs, all that are inclined to difpute againft this divine Book, firft to make themfelves thoroughly acquainted with it And,. » Pag. 178. b John v. 39. ( 69 ) And would they once fetaboutthe moment ous Work, with a candid, upright;, and im partial Mind: Free from the Jaundice of Prejudices ; not blinded with the Fumes of Self- Conceit ; nor intoxicated with the Cup of vicious Pleafure : If they would thus examine the infpired Volumes, they would foon perceive fuch a lovely Conftellation of Truth, of Wifdom, and of Grace, fhin- ing forth from every Page ; as muft turn their Di/efteem into Admiration, and their Averfion into Delight. But if they bring with them a Fondnefs for Fame ; a haughty Self-fufficiency of Spirit; or an ignoble Attachment to fenfual Gratifications : If they are determined to cherifh, and will on no Consideration di vorce, thefe Seducers of the Heart, and Perverters of the Judgment : We cannot wonder, that the Scriptures fhould appear to them, with much the fame Afped, as the miraculous Cloud appeared to the Egyptians. Which threw Darknefs on their Paths, and fhed Horrour on their Souls ; even while it gave Light to the Steps, and Alacrity to the Hopes, of the Ifraelites. Q In this Cafe, we may affign a Reafon for their Oppofition, from the unhappy Cir- cumftances e Exod. xiv. 20. It was a Cloud and Darknefs to them, but it gave Light by Night to thefe. ( 7° ) cumftances recorded of IJhmael: d Their Hand, their Tongue, their Pen, is againft the Word of GOD ; becaufe, the Word of GOD is againft them, their Tempers, and their Ways. In the facred Narrations, we behold the Arm 0/ the L O R D revealed. Other Hiftorians, only gue/s at the Interpofition of an avenging, or propitious GOD. * And, though Conjedures of this Kind, occur but very rarely, in their Works ; they are frequently cenfured, as a pre/umptuous In trusion upon the Arcana- of Heaven. But the Pen-men of Scripture, with un erring Certainty declare ; This is the LORD'S Doing : a Stroke from the Sword of his Juftice, c or a Reward from the Ri ches of his Goodnefs. f Here d Gen. xvi. 12. His Hand will be againft every Man, and every Man's Hand againft Him. e See 2 Chron. x. 1 5.- xv. 6. — ~ xxv. 20. sxviii. 5, 6. xxix. 8, 9. { See 2 Chron. xii. 7. xiii. 15, 16, 18. xiv. 6, 12.- xxvi. e..,. . xxvii. 6. 1 re fer to the Chronicles, rather than to the other Parts of facred Hiftory, in order to create a higher EJiecm for thefe excellent Memoirs. Many People, I believe, are contentedly ignorant of the Chronicles. Becaufe, fome of the firft Chapters confift of Hebrew Names, which are forbidding, and of genealogical Table5, which ^re ufelefs, to the Generality of Readers.-— But, noti withftanding ( 7* ) Here we perceive, as in the brighten: Mirrour, what Pradices He favours, and what Methods He oppo/es: what Courfes are attended with his Bleffing, and what Be haviour provokes his Difpleafure. — Thefe Records fet before us the moft ftriking Exem plifications, both of the divine Threatnings, and of the divine Promifes : denaonftrating, from repeated Experience, that the former, are more than vain Menaces; the latter, are far from alluringFallacies. By which Means, they are admirably well adapted, to incul cate thofe fundamental Leflbns of pradical Religion — a continual Advertence to GOD1 — a believing Dependence on- GOD— and an habitual Expedation of Sueee/s in our Schemes, not merely from any Addrefs or Induftry of our own, but from the all- powerful Benediction of GOD. Which are, of all other Precepts, perhaps, the moft falutary and beneficial to Mankind. My Withllanding their unpromifmg Introduction, they con* tain the moft memorable, and momentous Occurrences. They are inierfperfed with the moft weighty and edi fying Remarks. They are worthy of our repeated Pe- rufal, and will amply repay the moft careful Attention. ———I would compare them to fome noble Mine, whofe Surface is barren, and feems to include nothing valuable. But, as you penetrate the Soil, the Trea- fure opens. The deeper you go, the more Riches you find, And, inftead of regretting the little Toil of Application, you are only grieved, that you under took the gainful Search nofooner. My Remarks' would be immpderately prolix; were they to -enumerate dl'f the Per- fedib'hs of .Sacred* Hiftory. I fhall con'"' tentmyfelf with wifhing,' that your Lady* fhip -may'efteem, may 'reverence, may; love the whole Book of GOD, only in Proportion to its Worth. Then, 1 am perfuaded, it will have your higheft Efteem, your profoundeft: Reverehcej and moft de voted Love": v Before I conclude, give me Leave, Ma-, dam» to make oneRequeft. Which I make, under a Senfe of my various Obligations to your Ladyfhip; with all the engaging Ads -of your Condefentioh ana'Geriero- " fity, . full in my: View. It ought therefore to be, and it re^Uy is, exprefftve. of the" moft unfeigned Thankfulnefs' for your Favours, and of the trueft Zeal for -your Happinefs. It is this That you would" carry on a daily Intercourfe, and cultivate" a holy, an intimate Familiarity, with the-inlpired Wri-. ters, and their 'ineftimable Volumes. - Read them. . Recoiled them., Weigh them. •Contemplate th)em, •hv rjieir magnificent Whole?; ih-'thei-r beautiful Parts; and their harmonious Connections ¦. I fhould be afraid to recommend, in this, - zealous Manner, and to this affiduous Pe- . rufeJ^ ( n ) rufal, the mft correct Compofitions, that ever proceeded from a human Pen. But Her©» I am under no Apprehenfion, of your ex- haufting the Mine, and complaining of Emptinefs: under no AfJprehenfion; left the Entertainment fhould_/to;*».upon your Tafte, and create Difguft. The more We fearch thofe Store-Houfes of Wifdom ; -the better We underftand thofe Oracles of Truth ; the more they will approve them felves to our Judgment, and become dearer ', ftill dearer to our Affedions.— — The Pages of "Scripture, like the Produdions of Na ture, will not only , endure the Teft, but improve upon the Trial. The Application of the Microfcope to the one, and a re peated Meditation on the other, are fufe to difplay new Beauties, and prefent Us with higher Attradives. Nay, the ve ry Attempts of an Adverfary to blacken the Scriptures, ferve only to eyicreafe their Luftre. For my Part, I never fhould have feen the Predidion of Noah, riftng, with fuch Perfpicuity, Propriety, and Glory, to Obfervation ; had not Lord Bolingbroke made an Effort, to over -whelm it with Ob- jedions, and fink g it into Difcredit. Above s An Allufion to the Motto, in the Title Page, Merfes profunda, pulchrior tvenit, juid expreflive of its Meaning. k. I 7i )' ¦ Above all, may We bring to this belt pf Studies,, an humble' Mind*., A Mind, deeply fenfible.jof its own Igxqnance and Weakne/s\\ yet frequently and:."shearfully. lifted up flj GPDj foa his% enlightening and animating Spirit. That, . by his bleffed Inn fluences, pur Underftandings,:jnay be opened U underftand the Scriptures,*, aridour Hmrts- dpened to receive them : 1 to underftand- tragmj- in all the: Fulnefs of their heavenly JVEeani' ing; tp receive them, in all the Force rtifi their transforming Power. • That, reading the Threatnings, We may tremble at' the awful Word ; and acknowledge ourfelves juftly liable, to thofe terrible Judg ments. But at the fame Time believe, that CHRIST has deliver ed.Us from the Curfe 0/ s*< ' the h Luk. xxiv. 45. ._ ..... , , . 1 Aft. xvi. 14. Such'fs the Darknefs, 'fuch. tlije, Depravity of our Mindsj t\zx they will not, they can-' not, be made waft - unfo Salvation, even frpm the Scriptures themfeb/es, without the powerful Agency of the bleffed Spirit* Unlefs his Influences enlighten our Underftandidgs ; -and apply the Doctrines, when- un- derftood,. iq our Hearts; We fhall be,, even with th.0 Word of- Light" arid Life in our Hands, fomewhat like Mixd-BatKtim'eui, -fitting-' amidft the Beams of* Bay-; or1 like the withe i e d Arm, with invaluable !I>e^SiiSij be fore it. This, I think, Experience muit acknowledge f this, I am very certain, the T£xts referred 'id, in Con cert with many others, evince. k See Ezra. x. 3. —U*2 Chron'.- xxxiv. 27. Whefe it might not be.amifs, to compare the Temper of true Believers, and the Behaviour of an ilkffirious King, wirlf the Spirit that runs through his Lereftip's Performance. 9002 00886 3004