r 
 
 , S3BHEE " 
 
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 OF THK 
 
 ?aa(DikOQa(3aiL aaiaiiia&iay, 
 
 .IT 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 *>o?VA.Tic>:Nr of- 
 
 SAMUEL AONEW, 
 
 OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
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 ^msion. 
 
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 *>■■ 
 
f>-Sjtfi-a^f<0**< f&?/2. 
 
 ESSAYS 
 
 On the following 
 
 SUBJECTS: 
 
 I. On the Reality and Evi- 
 dence of Miracles, efpeci- 
 ally thofe on which the 
 Jevsijb and Chriftian Reli- 
 gion are built : And on 
 thofe which were wrought 
 by Mofes in Egypt : And 
 why ililed by God his 
 Judgments on the Egyptian 
 Deities. Exod. xii. iz. 
 
 II. On the extraordinary Ad- 
 venture of Balaam, the 
 famed Eaftern Prophet and 
 Diviner. Num. xxii. & feq. 
 
 III. On the furprifing March, 
 and fignal Vi&ory, gain- 
 ed by yojhua over Jabin 
 King of Hazor, and his 
 
 WHEREIN 
 
 The moft confiderable Objections raifed againft each 
 refpe&ive Subject, are fully anfwered ; the Diffi- 
 culties removed ; and each of thefe remarkable 
 Transactions accounted for, in a rational Way. 
 
 Written fome Years fince, at the Defire, and for the Ufe, of 
 a young Clergyman in the Country, 
 
 By an Obscure l/AYMAN in Town : 
 
 And now publifhed, onoccafion of" lonie late Attempts made to dis- 
 prove the Probability, ^nd even Poffibility, of all Miracles ; par- 
 ticularly, by a pretended Moral Pkikfophcr ; and more lately, by 
 an EJjay-Writcr on fome philofophical Subjects. 
 
 numberlefs Confederates. 
 Jojb. x. 
 
 IV. On the religious War of 
 the Ifraelitijh Tribes againft 
 that of Benjamin, and the 
 almoft total Deftru&ion of 
 that impious Tribe. Jud. 
 xviii. iff feq. 
 
 V. On the amazing fpeedy 
 Relief which Saul, the new- 
 ly chofen King of Ifrael, 
 brought to the befieged In- 
 habitants of Jabefo-Gilead ; 
 and the fignal Overthrow 
 which he gave to the Am- 
 monites, and their Confede- 
 rates, i Sam. xi. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for A. MILLAR, in the Strand. 
 
 M.DCC.LIIll 
 
 i 
 
[in J 
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 TH E following EiTays, among many 
 more of the fame Nature, were writ- 
 ten, as is hinted in the Title-Page, at the 
 Defire, and for the Ufe, of a young Clergy- 
 man j and tranfmitted to him in fo many 
 Letters, on the following laudable Occafion. 
 His Friends had procured him a confiderable 
 Benefice in the Country, where he no foon- 
 er came to refide, than he was attacked by 
 feveral of his Neighbours, moft of them Men 
 of Wit and Figure, and profeffed Sceptics, 
 about the above-mentioned, and other fcrip- 
 tural Subjects, of the like important Nature ; 
 in. which he had the Misfortune to be fo lit— 
 
 A 2 tie 
 
IV! The PREFAC E. 
 
 tie verfed, that he mutt, in all Likelihood, 
 \}ave become, the frequent Subject of their 
 Raillery, and led a very uneafy Life among 
 • them, had not his good Senfe, and finguhrMo- 
 defty, directed him to an Expedient, that would 
 at leaft intitle him t©^ if not procure him, 
 better Quarter from them : And this was, 
 by ingenuoufly owning himfelf, as yet, too 
 young, and unacquainted with the Topicks 
 they urged againft him, to enter the Lifts 
 with fuch feafoned Opponents ; and begging 
 of them, for Truth's fake, that he might be 
 allowed the Liberty of turning thefe Points 
 in Difpute over to a Perfon whom he knew 
 to have been, of a long time, converfant vyith 
 that kind of Learning ; and who. had lately 
 publifhed fome occafional Remarks upon fun- 
 dry Subjects of the like controverted Nature, 
 which had been well received by the Public. 
 So juft and modeft a Propofal could hardly 
 fail of being complied with ; and they came 
 into it the more readily, it feems, when he 
 apprifed them, that the Perfon he defigned 
 ;o apply to was an obfeure Layman, who 
 
 had 
 
The PREFACE; v 
 
 had fpent a great Part of his latter Years in 
 Privacy and Retirement, and who, he had 
 Reafon to believe, was in no way addicted 
 or bigotted to either Party or Opinion. They 
 only exprefled a Defire to know his Name, 
 and fuch other Particulars as he mould think 
 fit to -acquaint them with ; both which he 
 declined to do, without my Leave, left that 
 mould induce me to refufe the Tafk j as he 
 was fully apprifed of the Care I had taken 
 to conceal my being the Author of thofe 
 Productions from all but a few feledt Friends. 
 I failed not, in my next Letter, to thank him 
 for his kind Caution ; and to affure him of my 
 Unwillingnefs to comply with his Requeft 
 upon any other Terms : To which he inform- 
 ed me, foon after, they all readily acquiefced : 
 Immediately after which our epiftolary Cor- 
 refpondence began ; and each of the Subjects 
 in Debate were regularly conveyed to me by 
 him, with full Liberty of methodizing both 
 the Objections and Anfwers, in fuch manner 
 as I thought would prove moil convincing 
 A 3 and 
 
vi The PREFAC E/ 
 
 and fatisfactory to them ; or to the Public, in 
 cafe I fhould be inclined to make them fo. 
 
 This Licence proved the more acceptable 
 to me, becaufe, though I had then no View 
 of printing them, yet I found the mod feri- 
 ous of thofe Subjects treated by his Antago- 
 nists in fo trivial and ludicrous a manner, 
 as if they had been fitter for Ridicule, than 
 an impartial Examination. So that I made 
 no Difficulty to take them at their Word, 
 and to retrench as much of the farcaftical 
 Pleafantry out of their Objections, as I found 
 void of Reafoning j as well as to foften the 
 Profanenefs and Scurrility of their Language, 
 where-ever it could be done without leffen- 
 ing the Weight and Strength of their Ob- 
 jections. And thus much may fuffice for the 
 Occafion of my writing thefe EfTays. 
 
 I tnuft, however, acquaint the Reader, 
 that the five above-mentioned Subjects were 
 not the only controverted ones that were fent 
 to me from the fame Quarter. Several others 
 
 they 
 
The PREFACE. vii 
 
 they fucceffively communicated to me, no 
 lefs curious and important : Some of which, 
 I found, had been fo fully and learnedly 
 treated, by a Set of Gentlemen, in a late ex- 
 tenfive Work, that I made no Scruple to re- 
 fer our Antagonists to it, for a fatisfaclory 
 Anfwer to all their Objections (a). Of this 
 Nature were thofe two miraculous Tranf- 
 adtions, mentioned in the Old Teftament 3 
 viz. the Paflage of the Ifraelites through the 
 Red Sea (Exod. xiv.) 5 and the fupernatural 
 Solftice obtained by JoJhna y their new Chief, 
 in the Land of 'Canaan (Jofh. x.) : To which 
 I may add a third, which gave me no lefs 
 Pleafure to find fo juftly and evidently clear- 
 ed by thofe curious Gentlemen, and in a 
 manner entirely new j viz. the different Ge- 
 nealogies given of Chrift, in the Gofpels of 
 St. Matthew and St. Luke (b) ; a Point that 
 hath lately exercifed fome of our beft 
 Heads. And this I the more readily did, in 
 A 4 hopes 
 
 (a) Un. Hiji. Svo. vol. iii. p. 390, &? feq* 496, fc? 
 
 (b) Ibid. vol. X. p. 451, & feq, (R). 
 
Vill 
 
 The PREFACE. 
 
 hopes that if I could, by that means, bring 
 my polemic Correfpondents to be better ac- 
 quainted with that extenfive Work, they 
 would find.fo many Difficulties of the like 
 Nature fo fatisfactorily cleared, as would, of 
 courie, much leffen the Matter of this our 
 epistolary Controverfy, as well as induce 
 them to treat thefe ferious and important 
 Subjects in a lei's ludicrous and offensive 
 manner. 
 
 As for the Occaiion of my now publish- 
 ing the five following ones, I fhall not in- 
 fill here on the kind Invitations I had to it, 
 from fome of my worthy Country Friends, 
 who had both perufed them, and been Wit- 
 neffes of the good Effect they had on fome 
 of my young Clergyman's Antagonifts ; for 
 if that had had a fufficient Weight with me, 
 they had appeared in Print forne Years ago. 
 Neither could the various Attempts that have 
 been made, from time to time, by fo many 
 eminent Hands, againft the Authority of the 
 facred Books, have induced me to it fince 
 
 then i 
 
The PREFACE. it 
 
 then ; becaufe I could fee neither Objection 
 nor Argument in any of them, if we except, 
 perhap?, the Newnefs and Variety of their 
 Drefs, but had been fully exploded over and 
 over, by Perfons of equal Senfe and Learn- 
 ing, and much fuperior to them, in the learn- 
 ed World's Eye, in point of Judgment, and 
 fair folid Reafoning j and (what could not 
 but lenen one's Value of them) without 
 paying any Regard to, or taking the leaft No- 
 tice of, what had been fo often, and fo 
 powerfully, urged on the other Side of the 
 Queflion. This Treatment appears jftill the 
 more unfair, as they have not hitherto made 
 any freih Attack on their Side, but hath been 
 foon after fairly examined and confuted on 
 ours ; and, I may add, in a more civil, fe- 
 rious, candid, and impartial Way, than we 
 have, as yet, met from them, though they 
 fo frequently charge us with the contrary Be- 
 haviour ; but how juftly, let every Reader 
 judge, from all that hath been written on 
 either Side. I was therefore fo well fatisned, 
 upon the Whole, that the Foundation of 
 
 the 
 
x The PREFACE, 
 
 the Jewifi and Chriftian Revelation, as well 
 as the Evidence of the Miracles upon which 
 both are built, were out of all Danger of 
 being fhaken by any Attempt that had hi- 
 therto been made, or, as I imagined, could 
 be made, againft it from that Quarter, that I 
 could not fuppofe this occalional Perform- 
 ance of mine could add any Weight to that 
 Variety of folid Arguments, and Cloud of 
 unquestionable Teftimonies, that had been 
 urged in its Defence. I was rather in hopes, 
 that after the Divine Authority both of the 
 Law and Gofpel had been fo clearly and 
 learnedly demonftrated, all the other Diffi- 
 culties and Cavils which have been raifed 
 againft them, would eafily have yielded to 
 that fuperior Evidence, and have fubfided of 
 their own Accord ; inftead of furniming our 
 fceptic Opponents with frefh Occaficn of 
 difcrediting and ridiculing the facred Records, 
 by magnifying and mifreprefenting thofe Dif- 
 ficulties at the unfair Rate they have lately 
 done, and as if they were of themfelves fuf- 
 iicient to invalidate their divine Authority, 
 
 and 
 
The P R E F A C E. xi 
 
 and the Credibility of the great and mani- 
 fold Miracles upon which it is founded (<:)♦ 
 But as thofe further Exceptions could never 
 be deemed, by the ferious Part of Mankind, 
 fufficient to outweigh fo great an Evidence, 
 a new Expedient muft be thought on, that 
 might at once overturn both the Foundation 
 and Superftructure ; and that was, by trying 
 to deftroy, not only the Probability, but even 
 the Pofiibility, of all Miracles. To this End, 
 among other Champions, one of them, a pro- 
 fefted Infidel, boldly enters the Lifts, under 
 the Difguife of a Moral Philofopher ; and not 
 only attacks the greateft and beft attefted 
 Miracle of the Gofpel, againft the learned 
 Author of the Trial of the Witneffes (d) ; 
 but, on the Strength of an imaginary Victo- 
 ry, concludes that indigefted Performance 
 with what he ftiles a full and unanfwerable 
 Confutation of the Reality and Poffibility of 
 any of the reft : His fwelling Stile induces 
 
 one 
 
 (c) See the Author of the Cbaraflertjiics, Colli ns t Tin* 
 dal, Chub, b'c. 
 
 {<i) Refurreflion conjidered, p. 89, &f fej. 
 
xii The PREFACE; 
 
 one to believe, that he comes fraught with 
 fome new-fet Arguments^ that will give a 
 decifive Blow to the Controverfy between us; 
 W'hilft, in Fact, he produces none but fuch 
 trite and exploded ones, as give Reafon to 
 expect, that fomething more effectual is ftill 
 behind, and kept in referve for the concluding 
 Blow ; without which one would hardly have 
 the Patience to follow him through fo much 
 Scurrility, Arrogance, and Impiety ; and you 
 are not apprifed of your Miftake, till you 
 are infenfibly brought to the End of the 
 Book. 
 
 This Piece, however, which had fo little 
 Novelty to recommend it, except the Bold- 
 nefs and Inveteracy of its Stile, gave our 
 Country Antagonifts fuch new Matter for 
 Triumph, that my young Clergyman Was 
 forced to call upon me for frefh Afliftance ; 
 every Argument in it appearing to them both 
 new and deciiive, fo little were they verfed 
 in that trite Controverfy : And I mould have 
 had the irkfomeTafk of confuting them, had 
 
 hot 
 
The PREFACE. xiii 
 
 not I been timely relieved by a much abler 
 Hand, which appeared foon after, in the De- 
 fence of the Trial of the Witnejfes ; and, in a 
 few Pages at the End of it, exploded all his 
 pretended Reafoning againft the Poffibility of 
 Miracles, in fo clear, nervous, and convincing 
 a manner (e)> as, I doubted not, would, up- 
 on the bare Reading, effectually fatisfy them, 
 and excufe my proceeding farther upon that 
 Head, as well as from publiming any of the 
 other Subjects of our epiftolary Controverfy; 
 unlefs fome future, and more proper, Occa- 
 fion mould induce me to it. But this, I ima- 
 gined, would not be in Hafte, conlidering 
 the fignal Defeat which that daring Cham- 
 pion had met with, after having fpent fo 
 long a time in raking up all the Objections, 
 and fophiftical Reafoning, of his whole un- 
 believing Tribe, againft the Poffibility of all 
 Miracles, and in dreffing them up in the moil: 
 affuming and invidious Terms j for this bold 
 Piece did not appear in Print, till the incom- 
 parable 
 
 (e ) Evidence of the Refurreclion cleared, p. 143, & 
 fea. 
 
xiv The PREFAC E, 
 
 parable one he pretended to anfwer had gone 
 through a tenth Edition : And it was, in all 
 Likelihood, the Succefs, and univerfal Appro- 
 bation, this laft fo juftly met with, that caufed 
 fuch an extraordinary Profusion of Gall in 
 our pretended Moral Philofopher, beyond 
 what is ufuaily met with in the Writings of 
 his Brethren : So that it was now high time 
 for them to look out for forne fkilful Hand, 
 to wipe off, as much as poflible, the Di£- 
 credit which that frantic Performance ha4 
 done to them, and their Caufe j by refuming 
 Its Defence, if not by a new Recruit of 
 more folid Arguments (their Logic and Phi- 
 lofophy having been long exhaufted), by 
 dreffing the old exploded ones in fuch a po- 
 lite and artful Trim, as might carry, at 
 leaft, the Appearance of Novelty ; and there- 
 by the more eafily infinuate them into the 
 Minds of the Thoughtlefs and Unwary, with- 
 out giving fuch great Offence to thofe of the 
 oppofite Side. 
 
 And here I cannot pretend to fay how ma- 
 • jy Hands engaged in this new Attempt, I 
 
 rather 
 
The P R E F A C E. ** 
 
 rather wonder, that any fhould, where fo 
 little Thanks and Credit were to be gained j 
 and where the only plaufible Pretext for fo do- 
 ing, viz. the promoting of natural Religion, or 
 moral Virtue, and the Happinefs of Society, 
 had been fo fairly exploded j and their Write- 
 ings proved, by fo many able Pens, to tend 
 to undermine and ruin them both: Info- 
 much that one of the politeft of them, and 
 a ftrenuous Oppofer of revealed Religion, 
 makes no Difficulty to own its fuperior In- 
 fluence on the Lives and Conduct of Man- 
 kind, to all the other Topicks which he had 
 put into the Mouth of his Epicurean Philo- 
 fopher ; and to conclude his Argument with 
 this notable Remark ; which, whether meant 
 in Earnefr. or no, muft needs carry its own 
 Evidence with it, in the Judgment of every 
 ftric"t Obferver of Mankind : His Words are 
 thefe (f) : Whether this Keafoning of theirs 
 (about the Rewards and Punifhments of a 
 future State) be jujl or 7iot, is no Matter. 
 
 Its 
 
 (f) Hume's Ejfay en particular Prsvidence, and future 
 State , p. 231. 
 
xvi The PREFACE. 
 
 Its Influence on their Life and Conduct mufl 
 Jiill be the fame. And thofe who attempt to 
 difabuf them, may, for ought I know, be good 
 Reqfoners j but I cannot allow them to be good 
 Citizens and Politicians : Since they free 
 Men from one Kefir aint upon their PaJJions, 
 and make the Infringement of the Laws of 
 Equity and Society, in one refpeff, more eafy 
 and fecure* 
 
 Now, if the Notion of future Rewards 
 and Punilhments, founded on a mere abf- 
 trufe Reafoning, be allowed to be of any 
 Efficacy towards the Preferyation of the 
 Peace and Interest of Society ; how much 
 greater Influence muft it be fuppofed to 
 have on the Minds and.4&i°ns of Men, 
 when once firmly believed to be founded on 
 the Authority of a Divine Revelation ; and 
 fuch a Revelation, as is fo exactly calculated 
 to promote the moft fecial and exalted Vir- 
 tues, and to enforce them, by the nobleft and 
 moft powerful Motives ? Infomuch that, were 
 it not built on fo (Irong a Foundation, it 
 
 would 
 
The PREFACE. xvii 
 
 would be hardly poffible for a fincere Well- 
 wifher to human Society, not to wi(h it 
 were fo. And may we not here fafely pro- 
 nounce that Author to be a much worfe 
 Politician and Commonwealth's-man, who 
 hath taken fuch extraordinary Pains to over- 
 turn, burlefque, and ridicule it, if not with 
 fuch fcurrilous and inveterate Malice as his 
 PredecefTor had done, yet with fuch fubtle 
 and fophiftical Reafoning, and dogmatic Ar- 
 rogance, as if the Peace and Welfare of Man- 
 kind depended wholly on its Ruin (g) ? If 
 the former therefore hath been fo juftly cen- 
 fured for his fplenetic and blafphemous Lan- 
 guage, even by thofe who are no Enemies, 
 in other refpecls, to his Way of Thinking ; 
 fome decent Regard: being certainly due to 
 that Authority, from which we derive the 
 Liberty we enjoy, of free fpeaking and write*- 
 ing; what muft a fober Reader think of the 
 latter, who, without producing one new Ar- 
 gument againft the Reality and Evidence of 
 thofe Miracles, upon which it is founded, or 
 
 b taking 
 
 (g) See his EJfay on Miracles, faff, 
 
$ffl The PREFACE. 
 
 taking the leaft Notice, how clearly and fully 
 all his old ones againft it had been exploded, 
 by fo many Perfons of Learning and Merit, 
 makes no Scruple to pronounce them mere 
 Delufions, Forgery^ and Impofitions upon 
 Mankind, merely on account of their being 
 Miracles ? So that, according to him, every 
 Man of Senfe may, and ought to reject them, 
 without farther Trial or Regard, either to the 
 Authority they claim, or any Evidence orTe- 
 ftimony, how great foever, that is urged in De- 
 fence of them (h). How much behind his Bro- 
 ther he comes, in his bitter, as well as unjuft, 
 Reflections againfl: the Chriftian Revelation, 
 may be judged, among many other Inftances, 
 by this one Scantling, with which he concludes 
 his ErTay : Where having told his Reader, 
 but a Page or two before, that our mofi holy 
 Religion (fo he is plea fed to ftile it, in an 
 ironical Sneer) is founded on Faith, and not 
 on Reafin ; and that it is the furejl Way to 
 eccpofe it, to put it to fuch a 'trial, as it is 
 by no means fit to endure (?) $ he clofes up 
 
 the 
 
 (b) See Hume's Eflay on Miracles, p. J 79, Iff feq. 
 (?'J Ibid. p. 205. 
 
The PREFACE. xix 
 
 the Whole with thefe remarkable Words {k)i 
 (< So that, upon the Whole, we may conclude, 
 " that the Chriftian Religion was at firft not 
 " only attended with Miracles, but even at 
 a this Day cannot be believed, by any rea- 
 t{ fonable Perfon, without one. Mere Rea- 
 tc fon is inefficient to convince us of its Ve- 
 <c racity ; and whoever is moved by Faith 
 " to a/Tent to it, is confcious of a Miracle 
 <c in his own Perfon -, which fubverts all the 
 u Principles of his Underflanding, and gives 
 " him a Determination to believe, what is 
 u mod contrary to Cuftom and Experience." 
 lam willing to hope, however, that theiincere 
 Profeffors of that holy Religion will be able 
 to draw a much jufter Conclufion from his 
 Premifes j and that the Sight of fo much 
 Learning, Philofophy, and fubtle Reafoning, 
 difplay'd in Defence of fo bad a Caufe, will 
 direct them to difcover the real Miracle, 
 where this Author leaft expects itj whilit 
 it reminds them of the many fignal Inftances 
 in which the Divine Providence hath, ac- 
 
 b 2 cording 
 
 (k) See Hume's EJfay on Miracles, $, 207. 
 
xx The P R E F A C E. 
 
 cording to an exprefs Promife, vifibly inter- 
 pofed, in confounding the Wifdom of the 
 Learned, and defeating the Counfels of the 
 Prudent and Crafty of this World (/). 
 
 What I would farther obferve, with re- 
 fpect to this notable Concluflon, is his fhrewd 
 Manner of introducing it, two or three Pages 
 before, in thefe Terms : lam the better pleafed 
 with this Method of Reafo?ii?jg, as I think it 
 may ferve to confound thofe dangerous Friends, 
 or difguifed Enemies, to the Chrijiian Reli- 
 gion, ivho have undertaken to defend it by the 
 Principles of human Reafon (m). The Defign 
 of this ungenerous, not to fay invidious, Re- 
 flection on all thofe learned Men, who have 
 appeared in Defence of the Jewifi or Chri/ti- 
 an Revelation, is too bare-faced to want Ex- 
 planation-; and too plainly fhews the fingular 
 Difregard he hath, and would, at any rate, in- 
 spire his Readers with, both for them, and 
 •their Writings. And if his vain Conceit of 
 his Performance made him imagine, that it 
 
 would 
 
 (l) Conf. Ifa. xxxix. 14. & 1 Cor. i. iff feq. 
 (m) Hums' $ EJJay on Mir ales, f. 204, fcf feq. 
 
The PREFACE. xxi 
 
 would deter others from entering the Lifts 
 again ft him, in Support of the fame interest- 
 ing Caufe j it cannot but be extremely pleaf- 
 ing to all fincere Well- withers to it, to fee 
 how quickly he was undeceived, and how 
 many able Pens were ready to defend it by 
 dint of fair and found Reafoning, without 
 the leaft Apprehenfion of being reckoned ei- 
 ther dangerous Friends, or difguifed Enemies, 
 to it («) : Two Characters which are no- 
 where fo juftly applicable, as where fo much 
 Merit, and Force of Argument, is boafted, 
 and fo little urged to fupport it j or where 
 fo manifeft a Diftance, fome would venture 
 to call it Contrariety, appears between the 
 fceptical Structure of the Premifes, and the 
 dogmatic Boldnefs of the Conclufion. 
 
 It is hardly pomble to read the greater 
 Part of that polite Author's ElTays, without 
 imagining yourfelf to be perufing fome long 
 and elaborate Commentary, or Expofition 
 
 b 3 on 
 
 (n) See, among others, Adams's EJfay on Mr. Humes 
 EJfay, where the latter is fully and clearly anfwered, Pa- 
 ragraph by Paragraph. 
 
XXII 
 
 The PREFACE. 
 
 on one of the mod inftru&ive Leffons of the 
 Book of Wifdom (A) ; in which the Weak- 
 nefs of human Undemanding, the narrow 
 Boundaries of our Knowlege, the Darknefs 
 of our Conception, the Fallibility of our Rea- 
 fonings, the Wildnefs of our Conclufions, 
 and other human Defe&s, from which the 
 greateft Philofophers of all Se£b and Ages 
 were not exempt, are exemplified in a moil: 
 philoibphical and pathetic Manner. The on- 
 
 (A) The Words of that 
 excellent antfent Author, 
 whofe Work is, by the 
 Greeks, jullly ftiled Pana- 
 retos, are as follow ( i ) ; 
 
 Verfe 13. For what Man 
 is be who can know the 
 Counfei of God, or knozv 
 zvhat the Lord's Will is f 
 
 14. For the Thoughts of 
 mortal Man are fearful, 
 and our Devices are but 
 ^uncertain. 
 
 • 15. For the corruptible 
 Body prejfeth down the 
 Soul, and the earthly Ta- 
 bernacle weighcth dovm the 
 Mind, that mufcth on ma- 
 ny Things, 
 
 16. And hardly do we 
 guefs aright at the Things 
 that are upon Earth ; and 
 iviib great Difficulty do 
 we find out the Things that 
 ar& at hand; but the Things 
 that are in Heaven, who 
 hath fear coed out ? 
 
 1 7 . And thy Counfei who 
 hath known, except thou 
 give him Wifdom, and fend 
 thy Holy Spirit from above? 
 
 1 8. For Jo were the 
 Ways of them that lived on 
 Earth reformed, and Men 
 were taught by thee the 
 Things that are pleajing 
 unto thee, and were faved 
 through Wifdom. 
 
 (1) Wifdcm of Solomon, ix. 13. ad fin. 
 
The PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 ]y Difference between the Text and Com- 
 ment, is in the Choice of the moil proper 
 Remedy j the former directing us to feek it 
 in that Wifdom which cometh from above, 
 and flows from the facred Fountain of Di- 
 vine Revelation ; the only fure and fafe Cri- 
 terion of Truth : The other, unwilling to go 
 fo far, on what he thinks a bootlefs Errand, 
 being intirely fatisfied in his own Mind, that 
 every thing of that Kind, that is pretended 
 to be derived from thence, is no other than 
 mere Delufion or Forgery, imagines there 
 may be a much nearer Way to be found to 
 it : And tho' he hath fought for it in vain 
 in all the Schools of Philofophy, both an- 
 tient and modern ; yet having, after much 
 Difficulty and Study, happily ftumbled upon 
 one, which will better fuit his Purpofe ; is 
 no lefs induftrious in recommending the Ufe 
 of it to Mankind, as a moil: efficacious, nay, 
 an ever la/ling, Check to all Kinds of Bigotry , 
 and Juperftitious Delufiom ; and fo fafe a Cri- 
 terion for every wife Man to regulate his 
 Belief by, that the Benefit of it will, in all 
 b 4 Likelihood, 
 
*xiv The PREFACE. 
 
 Likelihood, be felt as long as the World en- 
 dures [p\ % This new Criterion, this new 
 Touchftonc, is what he ftiles Experience, or 
 common Obfervation ; which, tho' in mod 
 refpe&s as old as our fir ft Parents, yet may 
 be, neverthelefs, allowed a new Difcovery, 
 with refpect to the unlimited Application he 
 would have us make of it, to all Times, 
 Places, Perfons, and Cafes : So that, accord- 
 ing to him, whatever Facts, Doctrines, or 
 other pretended Truths, fall in our Way, 
 and will not abide this Teft, may, and ought, 
 by every wife Man, to be ftruck out of his 
 Creed - } but more efpecially all fuch as carry 
 the Face or Pretence of a Miracle, on what- 
 ever Teftimony founded, as being the moft 
 oppofite to common Experience and Obfer- 
 vation. 
 
 By what powerful Arguments he hath 
 deavoured to eftablifh the Certainty and 
 Safety of this new Criterion, fo as to venture, 
 upon the Strength of it, not only to explode 
 
 the 
 
 (9) E/fay en Miracles, p. 174. 
 
The PREFACE. xxv 
 
 the Authority of the facred Books, but to 
 burlefque and ridicule all the Miracles re- 
 corded both in the Law and Gofpel ; how 
 he makes it appear, that the Want of Expe- 
 rience or Obfervation of a Fact is equivalent 
 to its being contrary to it j and confequently 
 fufficient to outweigh all that Multitude and 
 Variety of Tettimonies, both from Friends 
 and Foes, which are urged in Defence of 
 their Reality and Evidence -, laftly, what 
 irrefragable Proofs he, or any of his Prede- 
 cerTors, have hitherto produced, not only 
 againft the Probability, but even the PorTibi- 
 lity, of all Miracles ; fo as to dare to pro- 
 nounce all thofe, upon which the Jewi/h 
 and Chriftian Revelations are built, to be 
 mere Deluflons and Impofture j mall be fair- 
 ly examined in the Firft, and fome of the 
 following EiTays. And I was the more rea- 
 dily prevailed upon to make them public at 
 this Juncture, not only as the Subjects they 
 were written in Defence of, were fome of 
 thofe which had been moft carped at, and 
 ridiculed, by our modern Sceptics,, and rank- 
 ed 
 
xxvi The PREFACE. 
 
 cd in the Lump, by the Author laft quoted, 
 among the moil abfurd and fabulous Pro- 
 ductions of thofe remote and barbarous Ages 
 and People (p) ; but becaufe I am fatisfied, 
 they have not hitherto, that I know of, been 
 fufficiently examined, or fo rationally ac- 
 counted for, as I hope they will be found 
 there. And if the Reader find fomething 
 new and peculiar, in the Light I have given 
 to thofe Miracles which Mofes wrought 
 in Egypt, in the firft EfTay, or by Jojhua, 
 in the Land of Canaan, in thofe that fol- 
 low it, I doubt not but it will, upon due 
 Examination, be found to be exactly con- 
 formable to the ftrict. Tenour of the Text, as 
 well as to the main End and Scope of the Di- 
 vine Providence , considered, not as termi- 
 nating folely in the Benefit and Profperity of 
 the Ifraelitifh Nation, as our Oppofers mif- 
 reprefent it ; but as a real Prelude of that 
 univerfalSyftem in favour of Mankind, which 
 had been, in part, revealed to Adam, imme- 
 diately after his Fall (q) , and was to be con- 
 ducted. 
 
 (p ) EJfay on Miracles, p. 205, & fcq* 
 (q) Genu/, iii. 15, 
 
The PREFACE. xxvii 
 
 ducted, by gradual Steps, to its full Comple- 
 tion, by our Divine Redeemer, under the 
 Light of his glorious Gofpel. For if it can 
 be once fairly proved, againft all our Op- 
 pofers, to be every way conn (lent with the 
 Wifdom and Goodnefs of the Supreme Be- 
 ing, to interpofe his divine Power, in order 
 to rectify the enormous Diforders that had 
 been introduced into the moral World, par- 
 ticularly in Religion ; then it will be no 
 lefs evident, that no Period could be more 
 feafonable, to lay the Foundation of fuch a 
 Reformation, than this ; when the civil 
 Power, and the Avarice of the heathen Priefts, 
 had rendered the Diftemper incurable by 
 any other means, than by fuch a Series of 
 Wonders : No Scene more proper to difplay 
 them in than Egypt ; where the moft abo- 
 minable Idolatry and Worfhip had its Birth, 
 and had fpread itfelf into all other Countries, 
 far and near. Neither will any of the Mi- 
 racles, which Mofes wrought there, under 
 the Divine Power and Direction, appear lefs 
 wifely levelled againft fome one or other of 
 5 their 
 
xxviii The PREFACE. 
 
 their pretended Deities, or againft fome other" 
 Branch of their idolatrous Theology j and 
 confequently every way conducive to the 
 main Defign of convincing that infatuated 
 People, by the mofl rational means, of God's 
 abfolute Superintendency and Government 
 over the whole Creation. 
 
 The extraordinary Adventure of Balaam^ 
 and the lingular Circumftances that accom- 
 panied it, have been likewife the Subject of 
 much Cavil and Ridicule among our Unbe- 
 lievers, and of Doubt and Dififatisfaction 
 among the far greater Part of Believers, both 
 Jews and Chriftians ; either for want of Lei- 
 fure, or Capacity, to give it a due and ferious 
 Examination ; many of them, even among 
 the latter, looking upon the whole Tranf- 
 a&ion as fcarce worth, or fit to bear, a Scru- 
 tiny. Yet I am willing to hope, that what 
 I have faid upon \t will eafily reconcile any 
 impartial Reader to the moft exceptionable 
 Part of it, and make the Whole to appear al- 
 together uniform, agreeable, and conducing 
 
 to 
 
The PREFACE. xxix 
 
 to the fame gracious Syftem of the Divine 
 Providence. But of all the Tranfactions re- 
 corded in the Old Teitament, none have 
 been objected fo much againit, or with fo 
 great Appearance of Reafon, as thofe fur- 
 prifing fwift Marches, and fignal Victories, 
 afcribed to "jojlma, Saul, and other Hebrew 
 Chiefs ; and which, confidering the plain 
 and fuccinct Stile in which they are related 
 by the facred Penmen, are clogged with fo 
 many geographical and other Difficulties, as 
 have appeared, to fome of the ableft Com- 
 mentators, altogether infurmountable. I 
 have, in the following Eflkys, fingled out 
 two of the moil remarkable Inftances of that 
 Kind j viz. that of Jojhua over Jabin, King 
 of Hazor, and his numberlefs Confederates 3 
 and the fwift Conqueft of Northern Canaan, 
 that immediately followed it (r) -, and that 
 of Saul over Nahajh, King of the Ammonites, 
 at the Siege of Jabejh-Gilcad (s). This laft, 
 above all others, is related with fo many Cir- 
 
 cumflances 
 
 (r) Jofh. xi. faff, 
 (s) 1 Sam. xi. faff. 
 
XXX 
 
 The PREFACE. 
 
 omittances which give it the Appearance of 
 Impoflibility, that moft Critics and Com- 
 mentators have been contented to let the Cre- 
 dibility of it reft on the fole Authority of the 
 infpired Writer. And yet I dare flatter my- 
 felf to have made it plainly appear, in the laft 
 of thefe ErTays, that there wanted nothing 
 but a competent Acquaintance with the ex- 
 cellent Laws, and martial Difcipline, of the 
 Hebrews, together with fome Attention to 
 the Geography of their Country, and the Si- 
 tuation of their refpective Tribes, both with 
 regard to each other, and to the heathen 
 Nations round about them, to diipel all thofe 
 feemingly unfurmountable Difficulties, and 
 to demonftrate that whole TranfacTion to be 
 every way as feafible and probable (though, 
 in moft refpecls, as great and noble, if not 
 much more fo), as any that is to be met 
 with in facred or profane Hiftory. 
 
 This laft Piece, it is hoped, the Reader 
 will not be difpleafed to fee published in a 
 different Form from the reft {viz, in that of a 
 
 Sermon, 
 
The PREFACE. xxxi 
 
 Sermon, in which it was originally written by 
 the fame Lay Hand) ; when he comes to be 
 acquainted, at the Conclufion, with the Oc- 
 caflon and Succefs of it. And thus much 
 fhall fuffice for a Preface to thefe EfTays; 
 which, if they meet with a favourable Ac- 
 ceptance from the Public, may be hereafter 
 followed by the Remainder of our epiflolary 
 Jntercourfe, on the like obfcure and contro- 
 verted Places of the Sacred Writ. 
 
 E SSA Y 
 
ESSAY I. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 On the real Evidence of Miracles in 
 general \ and more particularly of 
 thofe which were wrought in Confir- 
 mation of the Jewifli and Chriftian 
 Revelation, 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Am not a little concerned to hear, 
 that your Lot is fo unluckily fallen 
 into a Parifh where you are fo fre- 
 quently attacked by your fceptic 
 Neighbours ; who take an ungenerous De- 
 light in prefling you upon thofe difficult 
 B Points 
 
2 ESSAY I. 
 
 Points of Scripture, in which they know you 
 to be lead verfed ; fuch as particularly the He- 
 brew and other Eaftern Tongues 5 the Jewifh 
 Occonomy, Antiquities, Laws, and Cuftoms. 
 And it is greatly to be wifh'd, either that 
 there were not £0 great a Number of our 
 Clergy, who have, like you, been mifled into 
 a Neglect of fo ncccffary a Branch of Learn- 
 ing, or that they would, as often as they fall 
 under the like Difficulties, make ufe of the 
 fame Method you have condefcendcd to take, 
 of fupplying thatDefeft, by appealing to fome 
 more proper Judge of every Point in Difputc, 
 rather than to fuffer the Authority of the fa- 
 cred Hiftorians to be impaired thro' your want 
 of Ability, as you modeftly word it, of de- 
 fending them. And I no lcfs applaud your 
 Prudence in the Choice of a Layman, who 
 will, in all Probability, be thought lefs ex- 
 ceptionable than a Clergyman, in a Contro- 
 verfy of this nature : But why you fhould 
 fingie me out for the Task, when you might 
 fo eafily have pitch'd upon one of much fu- 
 perior Ability, to anfwer the End, I can 
 only afcribe to that partial Satisfaction you 
 lately expreiTed, in reading fome of my for- 
 mer Obfetvations on feverai obfcure and 
 
 con- 
 
On Miracles, 3 
 
 controverted Points of the Old Teftament. 
 I ("hall therefore the more readily accept of 
 your Offer, as it will afford me an Opportu- 
 nity of communicating to you, and your 
 Neighbours, fome more of the fame kind, 
 which I have had occafion to make during my 
 long Recefs from the World 5 and which, in 
 all Likelihood, muft otherwife have lain neg- 
 lected and ufelefs by me. And I own my- 
 felf highly obliged to you, for having en- 
 gaged yourfelf to conceal my Name, unlefs 
 permitted by me to do otherwife 5 which I 
 cannot by any means confent to, upon feveral 
 Conftderations I need not trouble you and 
 them with.; one of which will, however, 
 eafily occur to you, that it is too obfeure, 
 and too little known, to add any Weight 
 to what I (hall tranfmit to you. On its own 
 Merit let it ftand or fall. One thing you 
 may indeed acquaint them with, becaufe it 
 may, in all Probability, make a favourable 
 Imprefllon on them 5 viz. That the Writer 
 is a Layman, who, tho' neither defigned for, 
 nor ever intending to enter into Holy Or- 
 ders, hath yet chofen to dedicate the greater 
 part of his latter Life to this kind of Study; 
 but hath (till, for fome not unworthy Rea- 
 ls 2 fons, 
 
4 ESSAY % 
 
 fons, carefully concealed his Name; altho' 
 fome of his Productions have met with a 
 good Reception from the Public. And as 
 you are fufficiently apprifed, that this is my 
 cafe, fo it can hardly fail of meeting with 
 a ready Belief from a Perfon of your lin- 
 gular Integrity. Thus much in Anfwer to 
 the former Part of your Letter. 
 
 As to the Objections and Difficulties raifed 
 by them againft feveral miraculous and other 
 hiftorical Facts, recorded in the Old Tefta- 
 ment (a), as I have long ago had occafton to 
 examine them at my leifure Hours, fo I 
 doubt not to convince them in the fubfe- 
 quent Eflays, that they chiefly arife either 
 from their not being fufficiently acquainted 
 with, or their not having given fufficient 
 Attention to, the peculiar Genius of the He- 
 brew Idiom, the La ws,Difcipline,andCuftoms, 
 of the Jews, and the uniform and general 
 Delign of Providence towards them; and 
 more particularly to a Milapprehenfion of 
 their being calculated folely in favour of that 
 Nation 5 whereas, in fact, they were no lefs 
 
 dcfigned 
 
 (a) Thefe are particularly mentioned in die Title- 
 page and Preface. 
 
On Miracles. 5 
 
 defigned and fitted for the Benefit of the reft 
 of the heathen World. So that if your 
 fceptic Neighbours are the Perfons of Senfe 
 and Candour you reprefent them, I flat- 
 ter myfelf I fhail find no great Difficulty in 
 removing all that Heap of Doubts and Dif- 
 ficulties which they have thrown in your 
 way, with refped to the Fads in queftion 5 
 and, at the fame time, make it appear to 
 their Satisfadion, that this admirable and 
 long Series of Miracles which were wrought 
 both in Egypt ) and in the Land of Canaan* 
 were fo far from being calculated in favour of 
 the Jewijh Nation only, that they are no lefs 
 .than a gradual and uniform Sequel of that di- 
 vine Scheme, which had been laid ever fince 
 the Creation, for the Benefit of all Mankind, 
 and was to be fully completed in the Perfon of 
 the Mejfiah, when the Fulnefs of the Time 
 was come. 
 
 In the mean while, as you inform me, 
 that fome of your Antagonifts are great Ad- 
 mirers of the noble Author of the Charac- 
 ter iftks, of Collins, Tindal t the late Writer 
 of the Moral Thilofopher, and other pro- 
 fefled Oppofcrs of Divine Revelation, and 
 B 3 of 
 
6 ESSAY I. 
 
 of the Miracles on which the Jewijb and 
 Chriftian Religion are built, it will be highly 
 requifite, before I proceed farther, to take a 
 fhort Examen of the Arguments by which 
 thofe Authors pretend to prove, not only the 
 Incredibility, but like wife theImpofIibility,of 
 all Miracles in general, as well as of thofe which 
 are urged in Confirmation of the Law and 
 Gofpel. Were a mere Stranger to guefs at 
 the Merit of the Chriftian Revelation, by 
 the indefatigable Pains which thefe pretended 
 Well-wifhersto Mankind, and public Society, 
 have taken to overthrow it, he muft of courfe 
 conclude it to be one of the worft, and the 
 moft dangerous, inftead of the moft beneficial 
 and comfortable Syftems of Religion in the 
 World. And if we were to meafure the 
 Succefs of their Labour, either by the Num- 
 ber of their Admirers, or by the victorious 
 Applaufes they aflume to themfelves, or have 
 received from them, we could not hardly fup- 
 pofe any thing but that they had long fmce 
 gained their Point, and filenced all Oppo- 
 fers, by the moft irrefragable Arguments, 
 and cleared Demonflration {b). And yet we 
 
 plainly 
 
 (b) De bis vid. int. al Spinof. Leibnit. Dijfert. de 
 
 Fid. 
 
0» Miracles. 7 
 
 plainly fee, that as on the one hand they 
 have never dared yet openly to impugn the 
 excellent Morality of its Precepts, fo nei- 
 ther have they been able, on the other, to 
 undermine its Foundation, by all the Va- 
 riety of Engines they have fet on work for 
 that purpofe. They have all, indeed, made 
 ftrong Efforts to cry down the Validity, 
 Truth, Probability, and ionic of them even 
 Poflibility, of thofe numberlcfs Miracles on 
 which its Evidence is chiefly founded : They 
 have left no Art untried, to cxpofe them as 
 contrary to Reafon, and the Experience of 
 Mankind, and what they know of the ftated 
 Laws and Courfe of Nature : They have re- 
 prefented them as inconfiftent with the Im- 
 mutability of the Supreme Being, and as in- 
 fufficient Evidences of the Do&rines they 
 are urged in Proof of. Some of them have 
 endeavour'd to expofe the Law, and theGo- 
 fpel, as unneceffary and impertinent Revela- 
 tions ; Mens natural Faculties being able to 
 teach them the moft excellent Morals, to fur- 
 nifl them with the moft effectual Incentives to 
 
 B 4 the 
 
 Fid. &? Ration. Collins. Tindal. Moral Philofopher. 
 Confederations on the Refurreflion, againjl The Trial of tl e 
 If'itneJJes, & al. 
 
8 ESSAY I. 
 
 the Obfervation of them, and to infpire them 
 with the truejt Notions of the Divine Na- 
 ture, an4 a well grounded Belief of a Su- 
 preme Being, and hisTrovidence : Which, if 
 true, overturns at once the Neceflity of a 
 Revelation, and of the Miracles urged in 
 Proof of it. Others again as pofttively affirm, 
 that fuch Revelations were not only need- 
 lefs, but that the admitting of any fuch, 
 implies fome extraordinary Defect in the mo- 
 ral World, which requires a Divine Inter- 
 pofition to amend it : Whereas ail God's 
 Works, being the Refult of infinite Wifdom, 
 Power, and Goodnefs, can never be fuppo- 
 fed to ftand in need of any Amendment, 
 much lefs of a Divine Interposition to rectify 
 them. Laftly, they affirm, with the fame Af- 
 furance, that if fuch an Interpofition of the 
 Divine Power was ever requifite upon that, 
 or any other Occafion, it muft have been 
 always, and ever continue to be fo. If 
 Miracles, therefore, were thought neceflary 
 or expedient at any time, they muft be fo 
 at all times ; becaufe, fay they, whoever 
 fuppofes God to have wrought them in one 
 Generation, and not in another, muft of 
 
 courfe 
 
On Miracles. 9 
 
 courfe look upon him as a partial Being (c\ 
 This is the Sum and Subftance of all their 
 Arguments againft the Reality, Evidence, and 
 Pofllbility, of Miracles: In confequence of 
 which, they have made no Scruple to con- 
 demn them all in the Lump, as Dclufions 
 and vile Impositions upon Mankind j and the 
 Recorders of them, be their Character what 
 it will in other refpects, as Dealers in For- 
 geries and Monftroftties, and unworthy any 
 Credit or Regard (d). 
 
 From this fhort Scantling I have given of 
 the Premifes and Conclufion, you, and your 
 fceptic Neighbours, may clearly fee what Pains 
 thofe Authors have taken to eradicate, as far 
 as poflible, the very Notion of a Divine Re- 
 velation, founded on Miracles, out of the 
 World. And it was natural for them to 
 prefer that expeditious Way to any other: 
 And fince they could not ftand againft the 
 Shafts that galled them from that Battery, 
 to endeavour, by any means, to blow it up. 
 And if their fanguine Hopes have hitherto 
 failed of Succefs, the World will at leaft fay 
 
 thus 
 
 (c) Confider. ubi fup. p. 98. Edit. 3. p. 82. 
 
 (d) Humii Ejjay on MiracUi % p. 179, y feq. 
 
io E S S A Y I. 
 
 thus much in Juftice to them, that their Dif- 
 appointment is owing to fome other Caufe, 
 tiian to the want of Zeal, or hard ftrusdins: 
 for it, on their Part : Whilft thofe who re- 
 flecl: more juftly upon it, will, probably, 
 be reminded of Chrift's infallible Prornifc to 
 his Church (<?), that he would protect it to 
 the End of Time, and againft much more 
 powerful and dangerous Attempts than any 
 of theie Gentlemen can make againft it. 
 But this more properly belonging to your 
 Province, I (hall leave to you to take no- 
 tice of, and urge againft your Opponents, 
 as occafion offers. And as I doubt not but 
 you are by this time thoroughly acquainted 
 with thofe excellent Authors, who have 
 written in Defence of the Jewijk and Chri- 
 Jlian Revelation (f)> it will not be impro- 
 per to obferve to them, how fhort thole of 
 the oppoftte Side are from having completed 
 their Task, were even their Arguments 
 
 againft 
 
 (c) Matth. xvi. 1 8. 
 
 (/) I fhall here infert fome of the principal of them, 
 for the fake of the younger Sort of Readers. See Gro- 
 tiu:, and Labadie de Verit. Limborch's Theolog. & Atnica 
 Collat. cum erudito Judao. Lejleys Short Method with the 
 Deijls. Bentlefs Boyle's Lectures, and Philo-Luther. Lip- 
 fanf. Dean B.'s Atciphron, Dr. Sa?n. Clark, Saurin, Calmet^ 
 is al on the moll difficult Places in the Old Teftament. 
 
On Miracles. ii 
 
 agalnft Revelation more folidly founded, ancl 
 their Inferences more fairly drawn, than they 
 will be found, upon clofer Examination, to 
 be: For, even in fuch cafe, the Merit of the 
 Controverfy, at the bcft, will be (till left in 
 Sufpenfe, until they have fully confulted all 
 that hath been urged in Defence of it i and 
 all that a Reader of a moderate Capacity 
 could conclude, after a careful Perufal of 
 both Sides, would be only this, that it was 
 a Point about which much might, and had 
 been urged fro and con. ; but on which Side 
 to fix, he was ft ill at a Lofs. Tis true, one 
 thing muft greatly help to determine him in 
 favour of our Side, who are the Defendants 
 inPofieflion; viz. our Read inefs, at all times, 
 to enter the Lift with them on the faireft 
 Terms, and to give their Arguments a candid 
 Hearing, as well as the moft folid and perti- 
 nent Anfwers ; whilft they, without paying 
 the leaft Regard to them, take all Oppor- 
 tunities they can, to appear in the Field with 
 the fame Air of Triumph, tho' fo often re- 
 pulfcd, and with the fame old weather- 
 beaten Invalids, kept up, it feems, in Re- 
 fervc, upon every frcfh Occafion, to make a 
 fhort-liv'd Parade in fome new modifh Drefs, 
 
 and 
 
 / 
 
12 ESSAY I. 
 
 and be laid up again till farther Orders. It 
 would be no difficult Matter to difcover the 
 Grounds of thefc fo frequent and indecent 
 Infults on a Revelation that hath the Seal of 
 Heaven for its Credentials ; the mod excel- 
 lent and exalted Morality for its Voucher; 
 the Tcftimony of all Antiquity, Foes as 
 well as Friends, for its .Evidence; the mod 
 confiderablc Men of all Ages for Learning, 
 Judgment, and Integrity, for its Defenders; 
 and the Legiilative Power for its Support. 
 But I fhall leave that to you, and others, to 
 infer from the plain Tendency and Spirit of 
 their Writings, and the Nature of the Reli- 
 gion which they would fubftitute in its ftead. 
 There you'll likewife fee, with Eafe, the 
 true Motive of. their lingular Contempt for 
 the Clergy, cfpecially of thofe who havt 
 written mod clearly and powerfully in De- 
 fence of Chriftianity, or moft effectually de- 
 tected and exploded the Sophiftry and Fal- 
 lacy of their Arguments againft its Evidence 
 from Miracles. This laft is indeed an Af- 
 front, or Injury, perhaps, in their Senfe, 
 they will not eafily forgive them ; as it hath 
 cafl; no fmall Reflection on their Integrity, 
 as well as Judgment; and, by that means, 
 
 prevented 
 
On M I R A C L E s. 13 
 
 prevented their favourite Scheme from going 
 fo fwimmingly on, or meeting with fo ge- 
 neral an Approbation, as they feemed to 
 expeel (g). It is not unlikely neither, that 
 your fceptic Neighbours, and others of their: 
 Admirers and Difciplcs, may flatter them- 
 felves with the Hopes of better Days, and 
 an happier World, fhould thefe Demagogues 
 prove fo fuccefsful as to become the only In- 
 ftru&ors and Reformers of it j and, by pro- 
 curing their fo much boafted Syftem of na- 
 tural Religion to be adopted inftead of the 
 Chriftian, which is now eftabiiuYd, fet hu- 
 man Reafon at once free from the Oppref- 
 fion of myfterious Creeds, and their Fellow- 
 fubje&s from the Dominion of Prieftcraft, 
 and other religious Impofitions : So that 
 everyone might live peaceably under his own 
 Vine, and under his own Fig-tree : And I 
 may add, in his own Way, without Fear or 
 Danger of Coercion, or other Difturbance 
 from thofe hot Zealots for Revelation. But 
 were that more likely to be ever the cafe 
 than it is, I can fee but little Reafon to ex- 
 peel, 
 
 (g) See Rights of the Chrijiian Church defended. Chn- 
 Jlianity as old as the Creation. Independent Whig. Mo- 
 ral Fhilofopher^ is' al. fajj'. 
 
14 ESSAY I. 
 
 pc&, that we of the Laity mould meet with 
 berter Quarter, by becoming the Difciples 
 and Catechumens of thefe new Guides, than 
 we enjoy under our prefent ones ; or that 
 Men that betray fo much Subtilty and Sophi- 
 ftry in their Reafonings, and (hew themfelves, 
 in the higheft Degree, either fcepticai or dog- 
 matical, as belt fuits with their Purpofe, could 
 much better agree in any one Syftem of Mo- 
 rality or Religion than ours do, or indulge 
 their Difciples in a greater Freedom of think- 
 ing and acting than thefe do their Flocks. 
 Hitherto they have been only endeavouring 
 to undermine and pull down an old Stru- 
 cture they do not like : But if we may guefs 
 fromthence 3 how they will act when they come 
 to build their new one, it is much to be 
 feared, that, let them fplit themfelves into 
 ever fo many Syftems about it, they will agree 
 in this one Canon, to turn Scepticifm over 
 to their Hearers, and to allow of none to 
 aft the Dogmatifts but thofe that fit in the 
 Chair. But, not to create to ourfelvcs need- 
 lefs Fears from their ill-grounded Hopes, Jet 
 us now take amort Survey of thofe pretended 
 irrefragable Arguments they have hitherto 
 urged* agai nit the Credibility and Poflibility 
 
 Qt 
 
O/; Miracles, i <; 
 
 of Miracles; and on the Strength of which 
 one of their latcft Writers hath made no Dif- 
 ficulty to affirm they may, and ought to be, 
 rejcded, as Delufions and Forgeries, merely 
 on account of their being Miracles, let the 
 Authority of the Recorder, or Evidence of 
 the Fad, be what they will j becaufe, ac- 
 cording to him, the Evidence of the Tefti- 
 mony muft naturally rife or fall, according 
 as the Fa£t related is more or lefs agreeable to 
 our common Experience and Obfervation : 
 The Confequence of which muft be, That 
 where the Facl attefled hath feldom fallen 
 under Obfervation, there is a Contejl of two 
 oppofite Experiences ', of which the one de- 
 ftroys the other, as far as its Force goes (£).' 
 This ftrange Way of Reafoning, which feems 
 ro imply, that want of Obfervation, and con- 
 trary to Obfervation, are the fame Thing, 
 hath been already fo clearly confuted by a 
 learned Author (/), that ic were fuperfluous 
 to add any-thing to it : Only I cannot but 
 obferve, that it is much the fame with that 
 which a witty French Writer (k) fuppofes 
 
 Rofes 
 
 (b) Hume's EJfay on Miracles, p. 179. 
 
 (i) Adams's EJjay on Miracles, p. 10. & feq. 
 
 (k) Font, JVirld in tht Moon, 
 
16 ESSAY I. 
 
 Rofes would be apt to make, concerning their 
 Gardener, and conclude him to be fome 
 eternal and unchangeable Being, becaufe they 
 had never obferved any Alteration in him, 
 either with refpecl to Age, Drefs, &c Now, 
 if I may be permitted to carry the Allufion 
 a little farther, Let us fuppofe, that they had 
 fome authentic Records, that this fame Gar- 
 dener had, many Generations before, made 
 a much finer Appearance for fome time, that 
 is, in his Sunday's Drefs ; or that in fome 
 Corner of the Rofe-bufh there had been kept 
 a conftant Tradition, and very authentic Mo- 
 numents and Records, that the fame Gardener, 
 in fome Ages Mill more remote, had been fo 
 kind to the whole Shrub, as to cut down a 
 Tree which greatly incommoded it by its 
 Shade, and frequent dropping of Rain; or 
 that he had planted a very convenient and 
 comfortable Fence to fhelter them againft 
 the curting North-winds. In this cafe, if 
 that Author reafons juftly, it is plain, that all 
 thefe Fads muft be rejected as fabulous, or 
 mere Forgeries, becaufe they could not find, 
 either by Obfervation, or Experience, that 
 they had been ever incommoded by any fuch 
 Tree on the one Side, or had ever wanted 
 
 fuch 
 
On Miracles. tj 
 
 fuch a Shelter on the other, or that ever 
 the Gardener had been feen in any but one 
 and the fame Drefs. 
 
 But is there no Difparity between the Fads 
 recorded of the Gardener, and thofe which 
 the Sacred Writers afcribe to the Supreme 
 Being ? Yes, doubtlefs, a vaft one : But as the 
 Want of Obfervation could be no fufficient 
 Argument againft the Authenticity of theFatts 
 in one Cafe, fo neither can it be againft that 
 of the other, unlefs either of them can be 
 demonstrated to be above the Power of their 
 refpeclive Agents, or to have implied a pal* 
 pable Contradiction. An hard Point this, one 
 would think, to prove, with refpecl: to the 
 Deity : Let us therefore fee now how they 
 have fucceeded in their Attempt to do ir^ 
 But here you will, I doubt not, eafily excufe 
 me, if, for Brevity and Clearnefs fake, as 
 well as to avoid troubling you with a Mul- 
 titude of Quotations, I choofe to link the 
 Sum and Subftance of all their Objections 
 andReafonings, together with my Anfwer to 
 them, in one Chain; and to contract both in 
 one fhort View, rather than as they lie fcat- 
 tered in the Works of the Writers on both 
 
 C Sides 
 
18 ESSAY I. 
 
 Sides of the Controvcrfy. And you will 
 do me the Juftice to think, that as I would 
 not charge them with any thing but what is 
 exprefsly found in their Writings, much lefs 
 would I omit any thing they have faid on 
 this important Head, that carries any Weight 
 
 with it : For tho' your Antagonists at P. ■ 
 
 may not perhaps cany their Oppofition fo far 
 as the Authors I am going to examine; in 
 which cafe they can eafily difculpate them- 
 iclves from it to you ; yet would it by no means 
 excufe my omitting any material thing that 
 hath been urged by others on fo momentous 
 a Point. 
 
 Firft, then, as to that old and trite Objec- 
 tion againft Miracles, that they are no proper 
 Proofs of any Do&rine, I have already fhewn 
 fome Instances in which they really are; and 
 that the Railing of the Dead is as full and pro- 
 per Evidence of the Doctrine of the Rcfur- 
 rection, as any that could be pofTibly given, 
 or reafonably required (/). Again, the mi- 
 raculous Cures' wrought on the Blind, Lame ? 
 Lepers, Lunatics, Paralytics, and other Dif- 
 eafes, were no lefs proper, as well as preg- 
 nant 
 
 (i) See the Preface. 
 
0^ Miracles. 19 
 
 nant Proofs both of the univerfal Depravity of 
 Mankind, and of the Guilt incurr'd by it, 
 when the fame miraculous Power that de- 
 livered them from the dire Effects of the for- 
 mer, pronounced them abfolvcd from the lat- 
 ter (m). What greater Proof could any one 
 require to convince him, that his Guilt or 
 Sin was really remitted to him with refpeft 
 to the Penalty or Punimment of it in the 
 next Life, than fuch a miraculous Deliverance 
 from that only Part of it which was the Con- 
 fluence of it in this ? With refpect to the 
 monftrous Idolatry, and abominable Superfti- 
 tions, which had over-run the greateft Part 
 of the heathen World, at the time when 
 Mofes made his fecond Appearance in Egypt, 
 could any thing be more proper or pertinent 
 to convince that Nation of the Abfurdity and 
 Impiety of their worshiping, and putting 
 any Confidence in, the falfe Deities of their 
 own creating, or of the God of Ifrael be- 
 ing the Supreme Governor and Difpofer of 
 all fublunary things, than that long and won- 
 derful Conteft, which he condefcended to 
 enter into with them; wherein every Mi- 
 racle wrought under his Direction and Au- 
 . C 1 fpices, 
 
 , (m) Mattb. ix. 2, & feq. 
 
26 ESSAY 1. 
 
 fpices, by his Servant, was fo exactly levelled 
 againft fome one or other of their pretended 
 Deities, and every other Branch of their fu- 
 perftitious Worfhip, as will be more fully 
 fhewn in the next EfTay ? And if Egypt was 
 at that time the chief Seat of Learning, from 
 which every Branch of it, together with that 
 vaft Variety of Extravagancies which related to 
 their Worfhip, flowed into molt other Coun- 
 tries about it, far and near; if their Priefts 
 and Doctors were allowed to excel all others, 
 not only in the Knowlege of their profound 
 and myftic Theology, but in their Skill in 
 Aftronomy, Aftrology, Natural Philofophy, 
 Magic, Divination, and other pretended oc- 
 cult Arts and Sciences; where could there 
 be a more proper Scene for this Difplay of 
 his fnpreme and irrcfiftible Power, than that? 
 What Means more likely to convince, not 
 only Pharaoh, and his Subjects, but all other 
 Nations which had received their falfe Theo 
 logy from thence, of the Vanity and Impo- 
 tency of their imaginary Deities, than the 
 conftant Defeat which was given to them at 
 every new Tryal ? What Time more proper 
 than this for it, when the Infection was grown 
 fo univcrlal, and become incurable by any 
 
 other 
 
On Miracles. 21 
 
 other Means, by its reigning under the Pre- 
 tence of a Divine Sanction, whilft thofe 
 who alone had the Power of fupprefling, 
 made it their Intereft and Glory to fupport 
 and propagate it? Laftly, What Occafion 
 more worthy of the Divine Interpofition, 
 than the reducing fuch a Number of Nations 
 from, the mod deftru&ive and abominable 
 Errors in Faith and Practice, to fuch a Senfe 
 of his unerring Providence, fuch an Obedi- 
 ence to his Will, and fuch pure and unde- 
 nted Worfhip of him, as could alone intitle 
 them to his Favour and Bleilings in this, and 
 the next Life? 
 
 Hence then we may fafely conclude, that 
 Miracles were fo far from being fuch impro- 
 per Evidences of God's gracious Defign of 
 reclaiming a degenerate World from that 
 Multitude of Errors and Enormities, into 
 which it was irretrievably immerged, that 
 they appear to have been the molt erTe&ual, 
 if not the only Means, that could bring 
 about Co defirable a Change; as they were 
 mod apt to awaken the Attention of Man- 
 kind; appealed to their rational Faculties, 
 without offering any Violence to their Frcc- 
 C 3 dom; 
 
22 ESSAY I. 
 
 doni ; and gave them the ftrongeft Aflurances 
 of his over- ruling Providence over the whole 
 Creation ; and, what ftill more nearly con- 
 cerned them to know, over all thofe imagi- 
 nary Deities, whether the Luminaries, Planets, 
 Stars, Elements, or any other miftaken Ob- 
 ject of their Worfhip and Confidence. Hence 
 alfo we may judge, how worthy of the Divine 
 Goodnefs and Juftice fuch a miraculous Inter- 
 pofition ought to appear to every ferious 
 Thinker, that is, not as merely calculated 
 in Favour of the poor and defpicable Nation 
 of the Jews, as our Oppofers falfly fug- 
 geft, but for the Benefit, both prefent and 
 future, of the heathen World ; and ulti- 
 mately, as a Part or Prelude to the grand 
 Syftem of the Redemption of Mankind {n). 
 
 Againft all this, how reafonable foever, 
 they have, as I obferved to you a little 
 higher, levelled a new Set of Arguments, 
 which, in their Judgment, amount to no 
 
 lefs 
 
 (n) See Grot, de Verit. Lib. I. Cimm. in Exod. 
 IJ Aba die Verit. de la Religion 'Judaique. Bate's Har- 
 mony of the Divine Attributes. Bray's Covenant. Ham- 
 mond, and other Commentators on Exod, Sam. Clark's 
 Lefiurcs, & al, 
 
0« Miracles, 23 
 
 lcfs than fo many Demonftrations, not Only 
 againft the Credibility, but the Pofjlbility of 
 all Miracles, how firmly foever attefled, and 
 on what Occafion foever pretended to have 
 been wrought j how juftly, we fhall now 
 examine. 
 
 Firft, then, with regard to the univerfal 
 Difafler, which we lately obferved had over- 
 run the moral World, and flood in need of 
 nothing lefs than the divine Interpolation to 
 rectify, they peremptorily objed, That both 
 the material and moral World, being alike 
 the 'Production of infinite Wifdom, Power, 
 and Goodnefs, cannot be other-wife than per. 
 feci, each in their Kind '-, and consequently 
 out of allTojfibility of ever fianding in Need 
 of any fuch Interpofition to amend it. This 
 is one of their fundamental Axioms; which 
 whofoever can admit, without any farther 
 Proof (for none they have, or can give of 
 it), muft of courfe give up the Caufe of Mi- 
 racles as abfurd, and utterly exploded. What 
 they affirm of the material World being lefs 
 pertinent to our prefent Controverfy, I ihall 
 content myfelf with reminding them, that 
 a much greater Natural Philofopher, than they 
 
 C 4 can 
 
24 ESSAY I. 
 
 can produce out of their Clafs, made no 
 Scruple to declare himfelf of a contrary Opi- 
 nion; viz,. That the Frame of it would, in 
 Courfe of Time, require the fame divine 
 Hand to re -touch and refit it, that had at 
 firft created it (o). With refpect. to the moral 
 World, it is no lefs certain, that two as great 
 Moral Philofophers, as ever Antiquity, or the 
 World, could boaft, were fo far from dream- 
 ing any thing like its having been created in 
 fuch pretended Perfection, as to be above all 
 Po/Iibiiity of ever wanting the Divine Interpo- 
 sition to reform it, that one of them, So* 
 crates (p), thought it highly reafonable to hope, 
 that God in time would fend fome proper Mef~ 
 fenger from Heaven, to inftruc~lManki?idin the 
 great 'Duties of Religion and Morality. The 
 other, the celebrated Confucius, who flourifhed 
 in China above a Century earlier than that 
 of Athens -, that is, about 530 Years before 
 the Chriftian JEw, ufed to comfort himfelf, 
 and his Difeiples, under the then reigning 
 Degeneracy, with a prevailing Tradition they 
 had among them, that the Saint, or Holy- 
 One, fo he ftiled the extraordinary Perfon, 
 
 who 
 
 (0) Sir Ifaac Newton's Optics, p. 346. laft Edit. 
 (p) Vid Plut. in Alcibiad. ad fin. 
 
On Miracles. 25 
 
 who was expe&cd to work a fignal Reforma- 
 tion in the World, would, in time, appear in 
 the Weft (q) ; meaning, doubtlefs, Chrift> the 
 promifed Mejfiah, and Divine Lawgiver (A). 
 
 We 
 
 (q) Martini. Hijl. Sinenf. p. 413. 
 Confuc. & alib. 
 
 Du Halde in vit. 
 
 (A) This Notion of an 
 holy Lawgiver, or Refor- 
 mer, together with his Cha- 
 racter of a peaceable Prince, 
 and the very Year of his 
 coming into the World, if 
 we may believe the Cbinefe 
 Mifiionaries, was fo well 
 known, and ftrongly belie- 
 ved, not only in Confucius's 
 Time, but for feveral Ages 
 after him, that on the very 
 Year in which it was fore- 
 told he mould be born, 
 which was exactly that of 
 CZ>r//?'sBirth,the then reign- 
 ingMonarch,aPrince other- 
 Wife of no great Character, 
 is recorded to have changed 
 his Name of Ngay, which 
 Signified a Conquror, into 
 that of Pingy or Peaceable, 
 in Memory of that remark- 
 able Event (1). 
 
 How they came by this 
 Tradition, or could be fo 
 
 exact as to the Year, we 
 are not told ; but it is not 
 unlikely, that the Cbinefe 
 received it from Noah, or 
 fome of his immediate De- 
 fcendents, as they were fet- 
 tled in thofe remote Parts 
 fome few Ages after the 
 Flood : And as to their be- 
 ing exact, with refpect to 
 the very Year, it is proba- 
 ble, that they kept their Re- 
 cords more carefully, as liv- 
 ing feparate from other Na- 
 tions, who were continually 
 at War with each other, 
 whilft they enjoyed a con- 
 stant Peace among them- 
 felves, andFreedom from In- 
 vaders without : So that the 
 Tradition being, in all Pro- 
 bability, the fame which was 
 like wife preferved in the Fa- 
 mily ofShem, and defcended 
 from thence to the Jfraelitcs, 
 importing, that the Mejjiah y 
 or 
 
 ( 1 ) Martin Du Halde, & al ub. fup. 
 
26 ESSAY I. 
 
 We may indeed fafely leave it to them, to 
 make out this pretended Impoffibility of the 
 World's ever wanting to be amended, againft 
 the known Sentiment of the reft of theWotld, 
 and the conftant Experience of all Ages and Na- 
 tions 5 andtofhew in whatSenfe fuch a Divine 
 Revelation, as that we are defending, can be 
 faid to amend God's original Work, except 
 that in which a good Education, or Inftruftion, 
 is known to do 5 for what doth a Divine Re- 
 velation elfe, than afford Mankind a clearer 
 and more certain Knowlege of his Divine 
 Nature and Attributes, than bare unafllfted 
 Reafon could do, in order to render us more 
 conformable to his Will, and to the Ends 
 for which he made us? We may therefore pro. 
 nounce the moral World perfect, when every 
 Part of it is endowed with Faculties anfwer- 
 able to thofe Ends. And it is in this very 
 Scnfe, that the wife Man (r) tells us God 
 
 made 
 
 (r) Ecclef. vii. 29. 
 
 or promifed Seed, fhould was perfectly acquainted : 
 appear at the Clofe of the But as to the precife Coin- 
 Fourth, or Beginning of the cidence of the Year with 
 Fifth Millenary, Confucius that of Cbriji's Birth, it 
 might more eafily determine wholly depends on theCre- 
 the precife Time from their dit of the Jefuits above- 
 Records, with which he mentioned. 
 
On Miracles. 27 
 
 made Man perfed, or upright; yet adds, 
 that they fought out many Inventions, or, 
 as the Original imports, vain Imaginations. 
 He was endowed with fufficient Faculties to 
 know what is right or wrong, and a free 
 Power over his own Adions; that is, of 
 making a good or bad Ufe of thofe Faculties; 
 without which he would have been only a 
 mere Piece of Machinery, inftead of rational 
 free Agent ; and confequently incapable of 
 Virtue or Vice, of Reward or Punifhment. 
 But as this doth not exclude, but rather en- 
 forces, the Neceflity of Tutors to inftrud 
 and dired, and Monitors to encourage or 
 deter, to reprove or reclaim Individuals, fo 
 much more will it do fo with refped to the 
 whole moral World. And fmce the Expe- 
 rience of every Age and Nation (hews it to be 
 in a continual Fluduation, one while making 
 vaft Advances and Improvements in Virtue 
 and Knowlege, and, by-and-by, funk into the 
 groffeft Ignorance and Immorality, Superfti- 
 rion and Idolatry ,• if fuch has been the State 
 of the moral World, that the far greater Part 
 of it hath preferred Falfnood to Truth, Vice to 
 Virtue, Superflition to a pure Worfhip, with 
 what Face can thefe Pretenders to Reafoning 
 
 and 
 
28 ESSAY I. 
 
 and Philofophy affirm it out of all Pofllbility of 
 wanting any Amendment ? They may indeed, 
 ptonounce thofe Diforders to be incurable > 
 and fo they do, in fad, by excluding the only 
 Means that can poflibly rectify them. But 
 what Reafon can they give us, the Difeafe be- 
 ing thus far above all human Remedy, to 
 believe the Divine Goodnefs too unconcerned 
 to interpofe, in our behalf, and furnifh us with 
 a more fuitable, powerful, and erTedual one i 
 viz. a more perfed Revelation of himfelf, 
 and a Syilem of Morality more fuitable to 
 his Divine Will ? But here they tell us again, 
 that we aflume too much, when we pro- 
 nounce the difailrous State of Mankind to be 
 beyond all human Power to redify, feeing 
 the Faculties with which he hath endowed 
 Mankind are abundantly fufficient to recover 
 Mankind from any Mi [carriage, and to fur- 
 nijh them with J itch a Syftem of Religion and 
 Morality y and fuck a competent Notion of 
 Cod-, and his Trovidence^ as will anfwer 
 all the Ends of fuch a fupfofed Revelation. 
 This they positively affirm ; and tho' none 
 of them hath hitherto dared, as they have 
 in other Cafes, to appeal to common Expe- 
 rience and Obfcrvation for the Truth of fo 
 
 hold 
 
On M i r a c l e s. 29 
 
 b6ld an Afiumption, they being point-blank 
 againft it ; a fmall Retrofpection on the 
 brightcffc Ages of the moft polite antient Na- 
 tions, the Egyptians ; Chaldeans, Babylonians, 
 Greeks, Romans, &c. will foon convince 
 us how few there were amongft their wife 
 and learned Men, that had any true Notion 
 either of the Deity, or of Religion and Mo- 
 rality ; how fewer ftill, thofe who had either 
 Credit, or Courage, to ftem the Current of 
 Superftition and Degeneracy, in Comparifon 
 of thole who fufTered themfelves to be hur- 
 ried away with it ; to fay nothing of the fmall, 
 if not rather ill Succefs, of fuch anOppofition 
 againtt fuch powerful Supporters as the Civil 
 Power, the Priefthood, and an headftrong 
 Populace. Our Antagonifts therefore, being 
 confeioushow little able that vain AlTertion was 
 to ftand againft two fuch powerful Witneffes, 
 have thought it more expedient to endeavour 
 to prop it up by fome far-fetch'd Arguments, 
 which, how inconclufive foever, might at 
 leaft bear the fpecious Face of Rcafoning. 
 And firft, they tell us, that fuch a miraculous 
 Revelation is inconfiftent with God 'slmmut a- 
 bility, one of his moft effential Attributes ; 
 that is, according to their Logic, if God is 
 
 immutable 
 
3 o ESSAY I. 
 
 immutable in his Nature, he mud be like- 
 wifefo in his Actions. Wild Conclufion this! 
 and of no Force, unlefs they can alfo prove 
 all his Creatures to be as unchangeable as 
 himfelf, than which nothing is more con- 
 trary to all Obfervation and Experience, nor 
 more abfurd and unreafonable to fuppofe,and 
 much more fo with refped to the moral 
 World : For if the Experience of all Ages 
 (hews it to have been in a conftant Fluclua. 
 tion 3 if whole Nations appear to have funk 
 from a good Pitch of Learning, to the lowcil 
 Dregs of Ignorance; from the trueft and fub- 
 limeft Notions of the Supreme Being, and 
 of the pure Worfhip that is due to him, to 
 the bafefl Degrees of Idolatry and Supcrlii- 
 tion j and from the nobleft Sentiments of 
 Virtue and Morality, to the mod fhameful 
 Degeneracy and Corruption, both in Theory 
 and Pra&ice; what Reafon can there be to 
 fuppofe, much lefs to affirm fo peremptorily^ 
 as our Oppofers do, that a Divine Interpofi- 
 tion muft neceffarily be contrary to his Im- 
 mutability? Is it not rather more juft to in- 
 fer, that the very Immutability of his Nature 
 and Counfels mull incline, I might fay, oblige 
 him to alter his Mcafurcs with his Creatures, 
 
 as 
 
0« Miracles, 31 
 
 as often as he fees them deviate from, or go 
 contrary to them, or abafe thofe Faculties, and 
 that Freedom of Choice, with which he had 
 endowed them, to Purpofes quite oppofite 
 to the Ends for which he had created them ? 
 Can a Clock-maker be faid to change his 
 Mind or Defign, when he goes about mend- 
 ing what is amifs in a Clock $ or a Phyfician, 
 when the Irregularity of his Patient obliges 
 him to alter his Prefcriptions, and Method of 
 treating him, in order to his Recovery ? 
 Much more abfurd, if not impious, will it 
 be, to infer a Mutability in the Supreme and 
 All-wife Being, who, foreknowing from all 
 Eternity all the poflibie Exigencies of his 
 moral World, and the ill Uie Men would 
 make of thofe Faculties, and the Liberty, with 
 which he had endowed them, rauft neccfTarily 
 be thought to have decreed like wife, in his 
 eternal Counfel, a proper Supply for every 
 Want, and Remedy for every Difordcr : So 
 that every fuch extraordinary Interpofuion, 
 as we are contending for, that is, where the 
 Subjed is worthy of it, is fo far from im- 
 plying any thing like a Mutability in the God- 
 head, as our Oppofers would infer, that it 
 •is in Reality no other than an ErFcd of his 
 
 eternal 
 
3 2 ESSAY I. 
 
 eternal and unalterable Decrees. I dare veri* 
 ture to appeal to every confidering Man, whe- 
 ther Immutability, in thisSenfe, is not more 
 truly, and every way, worthy of the Divine 
 Nature, than that which our Oppofers attri- 
 bute to him, and which reprefents the whole 
 Creation as a mere large Piece of compound 
 Mechanifm 5 which, having been once fet in 
 Motion by its Maker, is left to go on its own 
 Way, without any fatther Care or Regard 
 from him, notwithstanding that great Variety 
 of Diforders and Irregularities which is feen 
 and felt in our moral Part of it ? 
 
 But here, again, wc are (Irangely flopped on 
 the fudden, and are boldly arraigned, as en* 
 tertaining too high Notions of the Divine 
 Nature and Attributes,* and all our Reafon- 
 ings, from the Effects to the Caufe, and af- 
 cribing thofe Perfections to the latter, in an 
 infinite Degree, which we obferve in the 
 former, is, it feems, all falfe Logic : And what- 
 ever Degrees of Wifdom, Juftice, Goodnefs, 
 Power, &c. we afcribe to the Creator, beyond 
 what hath immediately fallen under our Ob- 
 fervation on the Works of Nature, being 
 all together unfupported by any Reafon or 
 
 Argument, 
 
On Miracles. 33 
 
 Argument, can never be admitted, but as 
 mere Conjecture andHvpotheJis (s). So that, 
 according to this Author's Reafoning (which 
 is, for Form's fake, put into the Mouth of an 
 Epicurean Philofopher, fuppofcd to defend 
 his Doctrine before an Athenian Senate), as 
 many as have afcribed any higher, or any 
 other kind of Attributes or Perfections, to 
 the Deity, than actually appear to have 
 been exerted to the full, in his iVorks, have 
 been guilty of Flattery and T?anegyric, 
 rather than Maftcrs of ' jufl Reafoning and 
 Philofophy > which can never be able to 
 carry us bey end the ufual Courf of Expe- 
 rience, or give us different Me a fur es of Con- 
 duel; and Behaviour from thoje which are 
 furniJJoed by Refection on common Life (t). 
 Whence we are taught thefe two fpeciai 
 Leflfons ; viz. Firlr, to take care, for the fu- 
 ture, how we launch out in the Praifcs of 
 the Supreme Creator, at that extraordinary 
 rate the grcatcft Divines, and Moral Philofo- 
 pheis, have hitherto done, feeing the Notioa 
 of his infinite Wifdom, Power, Jufticc, &c. 
 is no better than abfurd Nonfcnfc, an abfo- 
 
 D lute 
 
 (s) Hume EJfay, xi, p. 228. 
 (t) Ibid. p. 230. 
 
34 ESSAY I. 
 
 lute Contradiction to Experience andReafon; 
 the one plainly fhewing, that he never did, 
 and the other, that it is impoflible for him 
 ever to exert any of his Perfections or At- 
 tributes, were they ever fo truly infinite, in 
 any fuch Degree as we may fafely pronounce 
 to be fuch, from any effectual Appearance, 
 or ImpreiTion, they can make upon a finite 
 Mind : The other Leflbn we may learn from 
 it is, not to fuffer ourfelves to be any more 
 impofed upon, by any Pretence, how fpecious 
 foever, that he ever did, or ever will, interpofe 
 his Power, or furnifh us with any new Means to 
 amend his moral World 5 fince, if our Author's 
 Logic is good, we have no Reafon or Ar- 
 gument to convince us, that, bad or corrupt 
 as it may appear to us, it is not in as good 
 and perfect: Condition as he could, or knew 
 how to, make it ; and the contrary Suppo- 
 sition, that he might, if he would, is at belt 
 but mere Conje&ure and Hypothejis. 
 
 I mall readily leave it to him to make the 
 mod of all this bold afiuming Stuff againft 
 the clcarcft and moft convincing Reafonin^s 
 of thofc great Divines, and learned Philofo- 
 phers, who have hitherto argued in Defence 
 
 of 
 
0» Miracles. 35 
 
 of God's infinite Perfection. If fuch dog- 
 matical Aflertions as his may pafs forDcmon- 
 flrations with any Set of Men, not only the 
 Notion of the divine Attributes, but that of 
 the divine Nature, may be in fome Danger of 
 dwindling into a mere imaginary Shadow, 
 in their Eftimation : And we may plainly 
 fee, by the Topics they have hitherto made 
 ufe of, to explode the bare Poflibility of its 
 interpofing in human Affairs, upon any Ac- 
 count or Exigence whatfoever, how much 
 they have already ventured to fink it below the 
 Mark to which mod other Schools, except 
 their own, had fo univerfally raifed it. 
 
 But fince this Author not only makes Ex- 
 perience and Obfervation the fole Touch- 
 ftone by which we may judge of the Truth 
 of any hiftorical Fads, but feems to engrofs 
 the fole Property and Evidence to his own 
 Side, whilft he abfolutely excludes ours from 
 challenging any Benefit from it, merely be- 
 caufe thofe we challenge in Defence of the 
 divine Revelation are of a miraculous Kind, 
 it will not be improper here to examine 
 which of the Two hath the better Claim to 
 it, even according to his way of Reafoning: 
 D 2 For 
 
36 ESSAY I. 
 
 For if that Experience may be mod fafely de- 
 pended upon, which is founded upon the bell 
 Teftimony, it is plain, that ours hath pro- 
 duced the ampleft, the moll pofitive, unquc- 
 ftionable, and univerfal, from Friends and 
 Foes, and been confirmed by other authentic 
 Monuments, in Proof of the Miracles recorded 
 in our facred Books (u) ; whereas all the pre- 
 tended Experience he objecls againft them, 
 being of the negative Kind, and implying no 
 more than a Want of Experience and Obfer- 
 vation, and not a Contrariety to it, can never 
 be allowed to outweigh the Evidence of a 
 flngle weil-attefted Teftimony, much lefs of 
 fuch a Number and Variety of them as we 
 allege againft him. This he could not but 
 be ienfible of; and that, as he could not 
 object any thing againft the Sufficiency of 
 them, either on account of their Paucity, or 
 cf the Character of theWitnefies, but what had 
 been fully anfwered long ago, and by many 
 able Pens, he muft like wile think, that his 
 confining his negative Experience to fuch 
 Periods of Time, in which no fuch divine 
 
 Inter- 
 fKJ Fid. Grotius, &f VAbadie de Verit. LeJIefs 
 Short Method, & al. /up. atat. vid. & Un Hi/1. Q£lava> 
 Vol, 3. p. 390, & feq. fub not, p. fcf attb. paj/] 
 
0« Miracles. 37 
 
 Intcrpofitions were become unnccefiary, and, 
 confequently, could not fall under our Ob- 
 fervation, is but a weak Argument againft 
 the Credibility of their having been difplayed 
 in former ones 5 when the Exigencies of the 
 moral World did more immediately require 
 them, and the Occafion of them was alto- 
 gether worthy of them. And when could there 
 be a more worthy one, than when Mankind 
 were not only funk into the mod difhonour- 
 ablc Notions of the Deity, and the moft abo- 
 minable Rites in hisWorfhip; but had even 
 degenerated fo far, as to fhelter them under 
 the Sanction of his Authority and Inftitution, 
 barring up, by that means, all pofllblc Ave- 
 nues againft Convi&ion, and rcnderins; the 
 Diftcmper incurable by any other Means, but 
 that of a new Revelation of himfelf, and 
 his divine Will ? If in fuch a Cafe we 
 have fufficient Tcftimony, that the divine 
 Providence interpofed, and, by a long Series 
 of Miracles the moft appofite, drove to con- 
 vince the Egyptians, who were the firft 
 Broachers and Propagators of that dcteftable 
 Theology and Worfhip, of the Vanity of 
 their falfe Deities, the Impiety of their re- 
 ligious Rites, and of his alone and abiblure 
 D 3 Super- 
 
38 ESSAY I. 
 
 Supcrintendency over all his Creatures (and 
 our Author is not above fuppofing, that the 
 Teftimony for thofe Miracles, confidered 
 apart y and in itfelf, may amount to a full 
 'Proof), I would gladly know of what Evi- 
 dence his negative Experience of latter Ages, 
 when no fuch Exigence called for them, can 
 be, againft that of the former ones, when 
 there was fuch a vifible Neceffity for them ? 
 Or how the want of Obfervation in the former 
 can invalidate the Teftimony which we have 
 of their having been fo frequent, and fo fignal, 
 in the latter? At this rate of Reafoning, an 
 Inhabitant of Lower Egypt muft never be- 
 lieve, that Faleftine, and other Countries, 
 enjoy the Benefit of the former and latter 
 Rain, let ever fo many credible Eye-witnefies 
 affure him of it ; becaufe fuch a Blcillng is 
 feldom or never obferved in his own : And, 
 for the fame wife Reaibn, thofe that live 
 within the Tropics, ought not, on any Ac- 
 count, to believe that there is either Snow or 
 Ice without, becaufe there is no fuch Thing 
 to be feen within them : And one-half of the 
 Moon'sGlobemuft not believe, that ourEarth 
 is a Planet to it, becaufe it can never be ob- 
 ferved 
 
On Miracles. 39 
 
 ferved by thofe of that Side, by rcafon of its 
 being conftantly turned from us. 
 
 But here it may be asked, How doth all 
 this affecl: our Author's Argument, drawn 
 from Non-experience, and Non-obfervation, 
 againft Teftimony ? which is not here le- 
 velled againft a few rare Phenomena of 
 Nature, but againft Miracles, which are a 
 plain Deviation from, or (as he pleafcs to 
 ftile them) a Violation of, the Laws of Na- 
 ture? Is not this fingle Confideration fuf- 
 ficient to difcrcdit it, and explode the bare 
 Poffibiiity of them, againft .any Teftimony 
 whatever, tho\ co?iJidered apart l , and in it- 
 Jelfj amounting to a full Proof ? I grant that 
 the Charge of Violation of Nature's Laws, 
 were Miracles really fuch, as is here fo boldly 
 affirmed, carries an Abfurdity fufficient to dif- 
 courage any thinking Perfon from admitting 
 the bare Poffibiiity of it, let who will be 
 Violator of them, whether the Supreme Au- 
 thor of thofe Laws, or any other fubordinate 
 Power. But here the Abfurdity lies, in the 
 Suppofition of either being polfibly charge- 
 able with it ; for in what Senfe can the 
 former be poflibly taxed with violating his 
 own Laws, whenever he fees fir, for Motives 
 D 4 worthy 
 
4 o ESSAY I. 
 
 worthy of himfelf, to fufpcnd or difpenfc 
 with them ? Or how can the latter, who only 
 act as Inftrumcnts under him, and by his fole 
 Direction and Power? That Nature would 
 act conitantly, and uniformly, to the Laws 
 that were firft impreffed upon it by the Su- 
 preme Being, is out of all Qiieflion ; but what 
 lefs, than being of his own eternal Council, 
 or having it revealed to him, can embolden 
 any Creature to affirm, or even imagine, that 
 he diverted himfelf of all Power of ever 
 fufpending, or difpenfing with them, upon 
 any Occaiion whatsoever? much lefs, that iuch 
 a Sufpcnfion of, or difpenfmg with, was a 
 Violation of them; efpecially as we (till fee 
 the fame Laws conftantly obferved in every 
 Inuance, but where the Exigencies of the 
 moral World rendered fuch a carnal Inrerpo- 
 fition neceflary or expedient: In which cafe 
 in cannot be deemed any other than an Ef- 
 fect of his divine Wifdom and Prefdence, 
 and a Part of his eternal Decrees, in confe- 
 quence to it, as I obferved a little higher to 
 you. 
 
 Here, again, therefore, the Author laft-' 
 quoted hath greatly overfhot himfelf in make- 
 up 
 
On Miracles. 41 
 
 ing what he calls Experience, orObfervation, 
 the common Standard of the Laws of Na- 
 ture (w), which, were it ever fo truly fuch, 
 as in many Cafes it is plain it is not, yet hath 
 nothing to do with Miracles; the very No- 
 tion of which fuppofes a Deviation from 
 thofe Laws; the Impoflibility of which can 
 never be, with any Juftice, pleaded againft 
 Teftimony, until it hath been fully demon- 
 ftrated : But that is what our Oppofers could 
 never yet do, nor, I may add, ever will : 
 For where is the Abfurdity or Impoflibility of 
 the Supreme Lawgiver's fufpending his own 
 Laws., or even of his decreeing, in his eternal 
 Counfel,theDifpenfing with,orSufpenfion of 
 them, for fome wife Ends, towards his ra- 
 tional Creatures? that is, either to convince 
 them of hisOmniprefcnce, Prefcience, Pro- 
 vidence Mercy, Juftice, and abfolute Govern- 
 ment over the whole Creation 5 or to in- 
 fpirc them with the deeper Regard to him j 
 or to revive it in them, when obliterated or 
 extinct, thro' the Depravity of human Naturcj 
 or to anfwer any other Defigns of his unerr- 
 ing Will. Jf a true SciVc of thofe divine 
 Attributes is fo bencrieial, or ncceffary, as 
 
 having 
 
 (w) Hume ibid, p. 180. 
 
42 ESSAY I. 
 
 having a mod powerful Influence upon Man- 
 kind, furely fuch a conftant, uniform, and 
 uaiverfal Obfervation, of what they ftile the 
 Laws of Nature, was the mod unfit Means 
 to revive it in their Minds, after it had been 
 once obliterated ; and the Experience of all 
 Ages plainly allures us, that the very Hypo- 
 thefis of it hath only ferved to extinguifh, 
 inftead of rekindling it: For what are the wild 
 Syftems of the Stoics and Epicureans, to 
 name no others, but the genuine Off-fpring 
 of that unphilofophical Supposition, which 
 hath been ever obferved to be the conftant 
 Shelter of the raoft licentious and abandon'd 
 of Men, and the moft effectual Means to har- 
 den them againft all Remorfe and Reproofs ? 
 In a Word, have not all the enormous Dis- 
 orders that have ever infected the moral 
 World, both with refped to Theory and 
 Practice, been chiefly owing to that defiruc- 
 tive Notion of the World's for ever conti- 
 nuing in the fame unalterable Courfc, and 
 without all Po lability of its ever wanting, 
 or receiving, any Amendment from its Su- 
 preme Architect? But enough hath already 
 been faid before, againft the monftrous Ab- 
 furdity of excluding the Divine Providence 
 
 from 
 
On M i r a c l e s. 43 
 
 from interpofing in the extraordinary and mi- 
 raculous Way we are told, from fufficient 
 Tcftimony, he did in favour of his moral 
 World, efpecially as that was the only one 
 confident with the Liberty of rational Crea- 
 tures, that could pofllbly reclaim it, and the 
 doing of it, by fuch means, every way wor- 
 thy of the divine Goodnefs and Wifdom. 
 
 It is plain then, notwithstanding all the 
 dogmatical Parade of the Oppofers of Mi- 
 racles, that they have not hitherto produced 
 one fair Argument againft their Probability 
 and Poffibility, that can outweigh, or even 
 affedt, the contrary Evidence we have of them, 
 from Reafon and Teftimony : I fhall there- 
 fore haften to the laft Argument they urge 
 againft us, and which, tho'no lefs illogical and 
 unphilofophical than any of the former, muft 
 by no means be patted by, efpecially as it hath 
 been ufhered in by fome of them, with fuch 
 a feeming Confidence and Triumph, as if it 
 carried the mod irrefiftible Demonstration (x), 
 I fhall content myfelf with giving you the 
 Subftance of it, which is to this Amount; 
 
 That 
 
 (x) See the Con fiderer of tbcTriaf oftbeTVitneffes, p. 96. 
 Hume EJfay on Miracles? Tindaf, Co/Iins, & at 
 
44 ESSAY I. 
 
 That if God be fuppofcd to have thus mira- 
 culoufly intcrpofed his divine Power in any 
 Age, or to have made ufe of that extraordi- 
 nary Method, to reveal his Will to any People, 
 he mud of courfe be concluded to do fo in 
 all Ages, and towards all Nations : So that, 
 according to their Way of Reafoning, if Mi- 
 racles were ever neccffary or expedient to 
 anfvver any of the Defigns of the divine Pro- 
 vidence, they mult be ever fo ; becaufe, whe- 
 ther the Nature of Things, or the Laws of 
 Nature, be allowed to be changeable, or not, 
 yet God, being unchangeable in his Nature, 
 mull niil purfue the fame Methods, whether 
 we allow the State of the moral World to 
 require it or no; that is, in other Words, if 
 God ever wrought any Miracles, when the 
 State of Mankind made them expedient or 
 neceffary, he cannot but continue fo work- 
 ing of them, when they ceafe to be fo. 
 This Inference, wild as it is, they draw not 
 only from his Immutability, which hath 
 been already proved to be out of the prefent 
 Cafe -, but back it by another Argument, 
 no lefs attaining and inconclufive ; viz>. 
 That he cannot ceafe to do fo, without be- 
 ing chargeable with Partiality towards one 
 Age or Nation, above another. I {hall for* 
 
 bear 
 
On Miracles. 45 
 
 bear reflecting on the Boldncfs of fuch a 
 Charge, as well as on the Prefumptiqn of 
 thcfe Writers, who dare thus freely to cavil 
 at the Counfcls of infinite Wifdom ; which, 
 extending to all Ages, cannot but be above 
 all pofliblc Comprehenfton : Let it fuffice to 
 obferve here, that as God will ever act with 
 the fame unalterable Wifdom, Goodncfs, and 
 Juftice, towards his Creatures, fo he will al- 
 ways difpiay the fame miraculous Interpofi- 
 tion, whenever the State and Circumftances 
 of the moral World make it expedient or 
 requifitc 5 but at no other time doth it fol- 
 low, that he mud or can do fo, becaufe, ac- 
 cording to their own Confeillon, he can do 
 nothing in vain. That he condefcended to 
 act in this miraculous manner, upon fome 
 particular Occafions, at fome particular Times, 
 when nothing lefs than fuch an extraordinary 
 Intcrpofition, could reduce Mankind from 
 thofe Enormities into which it was plunged, 
 both with regard to their Religion and Morals, 
 as both were then cllablifhed and upheld by 
 the civil and pricftly Power, and under the 
 Pretence of the divine Sanction, we have 
 fuch fufficient Evidence, as they have not 
 been able hitherto to overthrow. But after 
 he had, by a long Series of Wonders, made 
 
 fo 
 
46 ESSAY I. 
 
 fo ample a Manifestation of his Will, Nature, 
 Attributes, given them the moft fenfible 
 Proofs both of his over-ruling Power, and 
 of his high Difpleafure at their abominable 
 fuperftitious Idolatries, inhuman Rites, by 
 the fevered Punifhment of thofe whom the 
 milder Difplays of his Arm could not foften 
 into an Acknowlegement of his Almighty 
 Power and Sovereignty, as in the Inftance of 
 the Egyptians and Canaankes, of which fee 
 the next EfTay; laftly, after he had caufed 
 thofe Wonders to be recorded in fuch inde- 
 lible Characters, both under the Mofaic 
 and much more fo under the Chriftian Dif- 
 penfatio.n; where could there be any occafion 
 for renewing and repeating them in every 
 Age and Nation, when the Memory of them, 
 if duly preferved, was of itfelf fuflicient to 
 anfwer all the Ends for which they had been 
 wrought ? Now, that they have been fo pre- 
 ferved in the facred Records of the Old and 
 New Tcitament, the frequent and vain Ef- 
 forts, and illufory Shifts, the Oppofers have 
 hitherto ufed to difcredit thofe facred Books, 
 in which they are recorded, would ofthem. 
 felves afford us a furfkient Proof, had we no 
 other Evidence of their divine Authority, 
 or were thofe Facls which they relate deftitute 
 
 of 
 
0;/ Miracles. 47 
 
 of that Cloud of Tcftimonics which we have 
 of them, from all Antiquity, and from Foes, 
 as well as Friends, of the Jewijh and Chri- 
 Jlian Revelation. But I have already (aid 
 enough on this Head ; and may have occa- 
 fion to refume and back it with fome frefh 
 Proofs, in fome of the following E flays. But 
 before I take my Leave of them, and the 
 Subject of Miracles, I cannot pafs by a new 
 illufory Argument, or rather an old one, in 
 a new Drefs, they have darted to invalidate 
 this prcilingTeftimony we urge againfl: them; 
 efpecially, becaufe it may, tho' a poor one, 
 chance to impofe on fuch of their Readers 
 as are either byatTcd in their Favour, or too 
 indolent to look beyond the Surface of it. 
 One of the laft Writers gives it to us, in 
 Words to thisPurpofe: Moil: Religions, whe- 
 ther antient or modern, and how different 
 foever from one another, were at fuft efta- 
 blifhed on the like pretended Evidence of 
 Miracles ; which, if of any Weight, would 
 argue them to be all al :! :e true, and to (land 
 alike on a folid Foundation ; which yet mult 
 appear to be abfolutely impoilible, to every 
 one who confidcrs their vaft Contrariety. To 
 make this Afiertion appear more plaufible, 
 
 we 
 
48 ESSAY I. 
 
 we are reminded of an Apollonius Tfai* 
 neus at Rome, a Simon Magus at Samaria, 
 an Alexander in T * aphlagonia, a Titus at 
 Alexandria, and many others, who are re- 
 corded to have wrought much the fame Mi- 
 racles which are urged in Confirmation of 
 the Chriftian Revelation. Next to thefe are 
 brought in fundry Legends, both new and 
 old, of Popifh Miracles 5 to which the EiTay- 
 writer lately quoted hath added a Catalogue 
 of others publifhed fome time fince at Paris j 
 and affirmed to have been wrought at the 
 Tomb of a Janfenift Saint j all which, if 
 we will take his Word for it, are as fully 
 attefted, and as univerfally believed, as thofe 
 recorded in the Gofpel (y): In confcquencc 
 of w 7 hich, he makes no Scruple to put them 
 all on the fame Level, and to pronounce them 
 mere Deiufions, and Impofitions upon Man- 
 kind. A modeft Inference this, and of a 
 Piece with the Premifes > bat of which I 
 fhall take no farther Notice, than to obiervc, 
 from the Whole, what impartial Regard thefc 
 great Pretenders to Pvcafoning pay to that 
 vaft Number and Variety of irrefragable Ar- 
 guments, which have been urged by much 
 
 abler 
 
 (y) Hume EJfay on Miracles, p. 192, & feq. 
 
On Miracles. 49 
 
 abler Pens, in Confutation of fo odious and 
 unjuft a Parallel 5 and to (hew, beyond all 
 Contradi&ion, the vaft, and almoft infinite 
 Difparity there is between the Miracles re- 
 corded in our facrcd Books, and thofe which 
 are oppofed to them, either with refpect to 
 their Nature or Evidence. Inftead, therefore, 
 of treading the fame irkfome Road, of prove- 
 ing afrefh what hath been fo fully and clearly 
 demonstrated by fo many learned and judicious 
 Men (#), I think we may fairly chalienge 
 them to prove that pretended Parity, by fome 
 ft rongcr Arguments than thofe that have been 
 hitherto ufed to confute it, before they ven- 
 ture to urge it again on their own bare Word, 
 and againft fuch Evidence to the contrary. 
 As for thofe of more modern Date, which 
 the fame Author hath muftercd up in his 
 Eflay on this Subject, they have been fo fully 
 and judicioufly exploded by one of your Re- 
 verend Brethren (a), that you will eafilyex- 
 cufe my taking no farther Notice of them 
 here. Upon the Whole, I fhall readily fubmit 
 
 E to 
 
 (z) Vid. Grot, de verit. U Abadie, Limborch, Bentley y 
 Clark, Bullock, Middleton, LeJIey's Short Method ivith the 
 Deijis, fcf al /up. at at. 
 
 (a) Adam?* Ejfay againft Hume, p. 72, & feq. 
 
5 o ESSAY I. 
 
 to the Judgment of every candid Reader,Who 
 hath the jufter Claim to impartial Reafoning, 
 they who from this general, tho' falfe Pre- 
 tence to Miracles, conclude that fome real 
 ones muft have been wrought, to give Rife 
 to it ; or thofe, who from the Uncertainty 
 and Abfurdity of fome, pronounce all the 
 reft, how reafonable or well foever attefted, 
 to be equally falfe? 
 
 By this time, I hope I have fuirkiently an- 
 fwered all the Objections which have been 
 hitherto raifed againft the Reality and Evi- 
 dence of Miracles; and by that means cleared, 
 in fome meafure, the way to the fubfequent 
 Eflays; in which I am to remove the Dif- 
 ficulties which your neighbouring Antagonifts 
 urge againft thofe which were wrought in 
 Egypt, and in the Land of Canaan. And 
 if the Subjed I have been upon hath been 
 fo far exhaufted, by much better Hands, that 
 it was fcarcely poiliblc for me to add any 
 new Thing to it, I hope you'll rind the fub- 
 fequent ones treated in a more untrite, tho' 
 no lefs clear and fatisfactory way, than they 
 have hitherto been: And if I have taken the 
 Liberty to fufpend the taking Notice of thofe 
 
 which 
 
On Miracles. 51 
 
 which they have raifed againft thofe two 
 celebratedTranfactions, the miraculous PafTagc 
 of the Israelites thro' the Red Sea 5 and the 
 fupernatural Solftice obtained by Jojhua's 
 Prayer, in Favour of the Gibeonites> his new 
 Allies and Profelytes 5 it isfornootherReafon, 
 but becaufe they are fo fully, and, in my Opi- 
 nion, fo fatisfactorily cleared up in that Book, 
 which I had once the Pleafure to recommend 
 to your Perufal (£); and which hath fince 
 met with fuch Approbation, that I am highly 
 pleafed to hear, by the public Propofals and 
 Advertifements given about, it is now ready 
 for a third Edition : For if what I have hi- 
 therto faid on the Subject of Miracles, be 
 thought fufficient, by your fceptic Neigh- 
 bours, to anfwer all the Objections that have 
 been urged againft their Reality and Evidence, 
 as well as againft the Character and Authority 
 of the infpired Hiftorians ; as I can hardly 
 queftion but it will, if they are the judicious 
 and candid Opponents you reprefent them to 
 be ,• you may fafely refer them to that Book for 
 a full Satisfaction to all that they, or any other 
 Objectors, have faid or written againft them : 
 E 2 Tho', 
 
 (b) Univcrfal Hi/?cry, Folio Edit. Vol. i. Chap. 7. 
 Sect. 6, 7. Octavo Edit. Vol. iii. Page 390, & feq, 
 404—419, 
 
52 ESSAY I. 
 
 Tho', if there fhould (till be any Doubt or Dif- 
 ficulty left, which they think not fufficiently 
 cleared up; or if tbey fhould chance to ftart 
 up any new ones againft either of thofe two 
 extraordinary Events j I fhall not be wanting 
 in my Rcadinefs and Endeavours, according 
 to my fmall Ability, to remove them, as foon 
 as you fhall be pleafed to apprife me of 
 them. 
 
 If , the following Efiays have the good For- 
 tune to anfvver the End propofed with your 
 fceptic Friends, I mall readily embrace any 
 Opportunity you fhall afford me, of purfuing 
 hereafter the fame laudable Trad j efpecially 
 as they pretend to you, that thefe you have 
 fent me, in this firfi Packet, are but a fmall 
 Sketch, in Comparifon of what they can 
 mutter .up againft the Authority of our facred 
 Books. But on the other hand, if you fhould 
 find our Endeavours, as far as they have gone, 
 to come fhort of our Expectation, I beg you 
 will apprife me of it, by a Line, feeing you 
 and I can fpend our time to a much better 
 Purpofe, than in vainly trying to wafh a Black- 
 moor white. 1 reft, dear Sir, 
 
 Jour ever affectionate 
 and obliged, &c. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 53 
 LETTER II. 
 
 On the Lord s Judgments threatened 
 and executed upon the Gods of Egypt, 
 Exod. xii. 1 1 . ad fin. 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 THE Text, you may remember, runs 
 thus : For I will pafs through the 
 Land of Egypt this Night, and will finite 
 all %he Firft-born in the Land of Egypt, 
 both Man and Beaft j and againft all the 
 Gods of Egypt will 1 execute Judgments. 
 J am the Lord. But what is meant by the 
 Gods cf Egypt, and in what manner this 
 'Judgment was executed upon them by 
 God, is what hath hitherto been varioufly, 
 and, I may add, unfatisfaclorily accounted for, 
 by all theExpofitors I have hitherto met with; 
 fome of them interpreting the Words Elohe 
 Mizraim, the Gods of Fgypt, of the Princes 
 or Rulers of that Nation, which arc fome- 
 times in the Scriptures fliied Gods (Plal. lxxxii. 
 6 ) and who, Following their King in his Pur- 
 fuit of the Ifraelites, perifhed with him, and 
 his Holt, in the Red Sea: Others understand- 
 ing the Word Elohim to mean no more than 
 the Idols, which they carried about with 
 
 E 3 them 
 
54 ESSAY I. 
 
 them in their Armies on all fuch Emergencies, 
 and which were all fwallowed up by theWaves 
 on that remarkable Night. In this Senfe, 
 the antient Jews, and particularly the Author 
 of the Book of Wifdom, underftood it s and 
 the latter fubjoins the following Remark 
 upon the extraordinary Completion of that 
 threatened Judgment, That the Idol which 
 is made with Hands is curfed, as well as 
 he that made it, being both alike hateful to 
 God, and both deferring to be ptnijhed by 
 him : Therefore, adds he, upon the Idols of 
 the Gentiles flail there be a Vifitation, becaufe 
 the Creature of God is made thereby to be- 
 come an Abomination, and a Stumbling- 
 block, to the Souls of Men, a Snare to the 
 Feet of the Unwife, the Occafwn of fpiritual 
 Fornication, and of the Corruption of Mens 
 Lives, Wifd. xiv. 8 — 12. 
 
 But whoever ferioufly weighs the Impor- 
 tance, Dignity, and Defign, of this whole 
 miraculous Tranfadtion, will hardly allow 
 either of thofe Interpretations to be anfwer- 
 able to, or worthy of, fuch a folcmn and 
 dreadful Denunciation. Firft, Not anfwer- 
 able to it, becaufe this Judgment was to be 
 
 executed 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles/ 55 
 
 executed not at the fatal Deftru&ion of the 
 Egyptians at the Red Sea, but on the fame 
 Night in which all the Firft born of the Na- 
 tion were to be miraculoufly cut off. Se- 
 condly, Not worthy of it, becaufe, from the 
 very Tenour of it, it plainly appears to be 
 levelled againft fomething greater than Princes 
 or Magistrates, who were to be alike Suffer- 
 ers with the reft of the People in the Lofs 
 of their Firft- born, from Pharaoh, their 
 haughty Monarch, down to the loweft Slave 
 in his Dominions; and much lefs can it be 
 fuppofed to have been levelled againft their 
 dumb and fenleiefs Idols. The Words there- 
 » fore which we tranflate, I will execute Judg- 
 ment, or rather Judgments, as the Text hath 
 it, muft mean fomething of an higher Nature 
 than the bare drowning of their Rulers or 
 Idols in the Red Sea 5 and the Words Ani 
 Jehovah, which conclude the Verfe, and 
 which we tranflate, / am the Lord, but 
 may be more properly rendered, I, even I, 
 Jehovah, or the Supreme Being, will per- 
 form it, plainly fhew, that nothing lefs here 
 is threatened, than the whole Colluvies of 
 falfe Egyptian Deities, as they ftand juftly 
 oppofed to the true and only God, whom 
 E 4 Pharaoh 
 
56 ESSAY E 
 
 'Pharaoh had hitherto refufed to acknowlcgc, 
 notwithstanding the Variety of Miracles which 
 Mofes had already wrought in his Name, and 
 fuch as the very Magicians had been forced 
 to own were wrought by the only Finger of 
 the Supreme .Being. 
 
 But to make, this, and what I am farther 
 to fay, in order to difplay the genuine Senfe 
 of theT\xt in Queftion, fliil plainer, it will 
 be necellary t.> take the Matter a little higher, 
 and make fome previous Remarks on the 
 Nature and Dcfign oi this divine and mira- 
 culous Dnpenfarion, from the Account which 
 the infpired Hebrew Lawgiver hath given 
 us of it 5 and irom which it will plainly ap- 
 pear, that tho the Deliverance of the Ifiaelites 
 from their prefent dreadful Thraldom fcems 
 to be the main Point in View; yet God had 
 , ft ill a much higher and nobler Deilgn in it, 
 namely, to convince not only the Egyptians, 
 now more immediately concerned in it, but 
 by that means all other Nations, far and near, 
 of thefe three important Truths ; viz. i.That 
 the Lord Jehovah, whom the Hebrews 
 worfhiped, was the Supreme Being, the 
 Creator, and fole Governor and Difpofcr, of 
 
 ail 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 57 
 
 all Things. 2. That all the other pretended 
 Deities, which either the Egyptians, or any 
 other heathen Nations, vvorfhiped , as Med iators 
 and Benefactors, whether the celeftial Bodies, 
 Angels, Demons, &c. were either Fi&ions 
 of their own Brain, or, at beft, Beings created 
 by him, and intirely fubordinate to his fu- 
 preme Power and Difpofal. And, 3. That the 
 Hebrews, now groaning under their fevere 
 Servitude, were the peculiar People of that 
 one only Supreme and Almighty Being ; 
 in confequence of which he lent Pharaoh 
 this fpecial Meflage, and abfolute Command, 
 to let them go and ferve him, under the dread- 
 ful Penalty, in cafe of Refufal, of being 
 made to feel the mod fevere Effects of his 
 Anger and Refentment. This lafl: is plainly 
 implied in thofe Words of God to Mofes (c) : 
 Thus fait tknufay unto Pharaoh : Thus fays 
 the Lord (or Jehovah, the fupreme and only 
 God), Ifrael is my Son, Firft-born s and I fay 
 unto thee, Let Ifrael go, that he may ferve 
 me ; and, if thou refufe to let him go. behold, 
 I will flay thy Son, even thy Firft-born. 
 
 With 
 
 (c) Exod. iv. 22, 23. vid. &? Cap, vii. 1 7. ix. 13. & 
 feq. x. 2. & feq. x. pajf. 
 
58 ESSAY I. 
 
 With refpect to the firft of thefc three grand 
 Points; viz. That Jehovah, the God of the 
 Hebrews, was the Supreme Creator and Go- 
 vernor of all Things; it is a Thing, which, 
 confidering the then reigning Theology of 
 the Egyptians, and the miferable Figure 
 which the Hebrews then made in the World, 
 could hardly come into the Head oiTharaoh, 
 or of any of his People. Some of them had, 
 indeed, a right Notion of a Supreme Being, 
 whom they called Cneph, or Eneph, and 
 believed him to be the Creator, or, as they 
 fliled him, the Architect of the World, and 
 the only immortal God {d): But, befide that 
 it was peculiar to the Priefts of Thebais, or 
 Upper Egypt (B), whilft thofe of the Lower 
 
 Egypt 
 
 (d) Plutarch in Jfid. & Ofirid. vld. & Cumberland in 
 Cofmog. Sanchionat. p. 12, 6f feq. 
 
 (B)ThisCnepb, or Eneph, have fignified the World, 
 
 they reprefented in an hu- others the God Phtba or 
 
 man Shape, holding a Seep- Vulcan (i). And the Wor- 
 
 tre, and a Girdle, with a fhipers of that fupreme 
 
 royal Plume on his Head, Deity are affirmed to have 
 
 and an Egg coming out of been particularly diftin- 
 
 his Mouth ; the latter of guifhed from the reft by 
 
 which fome interpret to an Exemption from the 
 
 (i) Eufeb. Prtep. Evang, lib. iii, c. 4. 
 
 Tax 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 59 
 
 Egypt were funk into the groffeft Idolatry {e) t 
 had that Doctrine been ev*er fo univcrfally 
 held, it is fcarcely to be fuppofed, that Pha- 
 raoh, or any of his Sages, fhould be fo eafily 
 perfuaded, that fuch a Set of poor and cn- 
 flaved Strangers could be the peculiar and 
 favourite People of that Supreme Deity. 
 The Thing will ftill appear more unlikely, 
 if we fuppofe, with fome learned Men, that 
 the Egyptian Monarch, to whom Mofes was 
 fent, and whom he (tiles a new King, or a 
 King of a new Family, who knew not Jo- 
 Jeph (fjj was of the Race of thole Hycfbs or 
 Shepherds, which over-ran and enflaved the 
 whole Land of Egypt 5 and that thefe were 
 the Horims, or Horites, whom the Edomites i 
 or Children of Efau, had driven out of the 
 Country (g), and forced to feek new Settle- 
 ments elfe where, much about this time, which 
 
 thofe 
 
 (e) Vid. ibid. Eufeb. Prcepar. lib.i. c. 7. "Jamblic. aj>. 
 Cudworth Intel. Syji. p. 412. &f fej. 
 
 (f) Exod. i. 8. 
 
 (g) Deut. ii. 12. 22. 
 
 Tax that was levied to- worfhiped by the idolatrous 
 wards the Maintenance of Part (2). 
 thofe Animals which were 
 
 (2) Plutarch de Ifid. y Ofirid. Vide Lumbert, in Cof- 
 mog. Sanchoniat. p. 1 2, cif Jea, 
 
6o ESSAY I. 
 
 thofe Authors think the mod probable Con- 
 jecture concerning thofe Shepherds; for they 
 were a People that lived by Pafturagc ; and, 
 being feated Eaftward of Egypt, had but a 
 fhort and ftrait Paflfage thither (t7); for thefe, 
 
 (C) Who thofe Hyc 
 fos, or as thefe two Words 
 imply, King-Jhepherds, were, 
 is indeed hard to guefs. 
 Manetho brought them from 
 Arabia ( i ), and Africanus, 
 from Phcenue (2), and from 
 the Eaftern Parts, cu t«>v 
 •zs^ii dvcL\aX\)V ps&fuv, by 
 which might as well be 
 meant the Land of Canaan, 
 thofe two Countries being 
 often confounded : And his 
 Aflertion is not a little con- 
 firmed, by their fortifying 
 all the Eaftern Borders after 
 their fettling in Egypt, to 
 prevent their being followed 
 thither by thofe who had 
 driven them out of their 
 antient Territories. 
 
 As to the time of this 
 Invafion, S '. Marjkam places 
 it 157 Years before the 
 
 being 
 
 Exod; and Sir Ifaac Newton, 
 foon after the Time of 
 Joflma entering into Ca- 
 naan (3). But it is more 
 likely, that they had already 
 been driven out of Egypt 
 by Amofis, King of Thcbais, 
 or Upper Egypt, fome time 
 befor efofeph's being fold thi- 
 ther ; and that thence pro- 
 ceeded the Averfion which 
 the Egyptians bore to all 
 Shepherds (4). It is true, 
 there is another Reafon 
 given for that Averfion, 
 but fuch as carries but little 
 Weight ; viz. Becaufe the 
 Shepherds Jlew, end lived 
 upon the Flejh of, thofe Sheep, 
 Oxen, &c. which the Egyp- 
 tians worjhiped. But this 
 could eafily have been pre- 
 vented, by making fome 
 fevere Law againxr. it ; and 
 
 (1) Ap. Jofcph. cant. Apian. 
 
 (2) Sync. p. 61. Canon. Chron. 
 
 (3) Newton's Chronology. 
 
 (4) Genefu xliii. 32. xlvi. 34. 
 
 then, 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 6i 
 
 being dill more degenerated in their Religion, 
 had, in all Likelihood, loft all Notion of 
 one Supreme Being ; fo that when Mofes 
 addreffed their Monarch with this (Iran ire 
 MefTage, Thus fays Jehovah, or the one 
 Supreme Deity, he might be well furprifed 
 at it, and anfwer, that he knew of no fuch 
 Supreme Deity ; and therefore, in a kind of 
 Defiance to ir, not only refufed to let the 
 Ifraelites go, but made them feel a more 
 fevere Servitude than they had done till then. 
 But we need not have recourfe to the Hontes y 
 as fome learned Men have done (h) t for a 
 King or People capable of returning fo arro- 
 gant an Anfwer to the Divine MefTage 5 feeing 
 
 any 
 
 (h) Vid. Shurtford? s Connefi . vol. ii. lib. 7. 
 
 then, in all other refpe&s, 
 the Shepherds Life would 
 have been an honourable 
 one, they being the Guar- 
 dians and Protestors of thofe 
 facred Animals. And ac- 
 cordingly we are told, that 
 the Goatherds of the Pro- 
 vince of .M?«<&z were highly 
 refpe£ted, where that Crea- 
 ture was held in particular 
 Veneration (5). It is more 
 
 (5) Herod, lib. ii. c. 42. 
 
 likely therefore, that their 
 Averfion to Shepherds was 
 owing to that Slavery which 
 they underwent under them, 
 during the Space of almoft 
 260 Years ; and that they 
 were Canaanltes, who fled 
 from thofe Wars which 
 every pettyKingdom waged, 
 from the earlieft of time, 
 againft each other ; of 
 which, fee Gen. xiv. pajf. 
 
62 ESSAY I. 
 
 any of the Monarchs of Lower Egypt, and, 
 we may add, of any other heathen Nation, 
 would, upon the like Occafion, have behaved 
 in the very fame manner; efpecially as it was 
 backed with no better Authority than that of 
 the MelTenger's bare Word. However, whe- 
 ther that Tharaoh was of Egyptian, or any 
 other Race; and whether the Meaning of 
 his Anfwer was, that he did not know or 
 acknowJege fuch a Supreme Deity ; or that 
 he did not believe this pretended God of the 
 Hebrews to be Him; it plainly appears by the 
 whole Tenour of Mofes's Com million and 
 Miracles, that God's Defign was to convince 
 him, and his People, of both thofe important 
 Truths, by fuch infallible Signs as fhould at 
 once extort from him a free Confeflion of 
 them, and an infallible Compliance with the 
 Divine Command. 
 
 The fecond Point which the Egyptians 
 were to be made fenfible of, by this Divine 
 Meflage, and which is but a natural Confe- 
 quence of the firlt, was, that all the other 
 pretended Deities, both of the Egyptians, 
 and other heathen Nations, whether Angels, 
 pemons, and the like, or the Stars and Planets, 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 63 
 
 &c. were either mere Illufions and Fictions 
 of Mens Brains, or, at beft, but Beings created 
 by "Jehovah, the Supreme Creator and Go- 
 vernor of the Univerfe 5 and wholly fubor- 
 dinate to his over-ruling Power, and unerring 
 Providence. But this Do&rinc, reafonable 
 and juft as it was in itfelf, could not but meet 
 with the moft (Irenuous Oppofition, not only 
 from the heathen Priefts, but from the Laity 
 too, confidering that Polytheifm had then 
 over-run the greateft Part of the World j and 
 that Lower Egypt was, at that time, fo 
 overftocked with thofe imaginary Deities, 
 and fo (lupidly fond of that fuperftitious Sort 
 of Worfhip, that they had altogether forgot 
 that of the Supreme Being, if not the very No-. 
 tion of him j infomuch that we are told (/) 
 no Country abounded with Idols of all kinds 
 like it, in alJ the World. And I may add, 
 that it was chiefly from thence, that AJfyria, 
 Babylon, Thcenice, Greece, and other Na- 
 tions, received their chief Deities. Be/us, 
 whatever was his original Name, was an Egyp- 
 tian, and is recorded to have led a Colony to 
 Babylon, and built the chief Temple there; 
 
 for 
 
 (i) Herodot, lib. iL Eufeb, Dcmonjir. Evang* Jofeph. 
 
64 ESSAY I. 
 
 for which they honoured him with the Name 
 of Belus, which was that of their Founder (k) m 
 Danaus was another confiderable Perfon, 
 who brought the Egyptian Theology from 
 Egypt to Argos (/), and became King of it. 
 Cecrops did the fame in Attica, where, having 
 married the Daughter otAElaus } he fuccceded 
 him in that Kingdom; and from him the Coun- 
 try was, for fome time, called Cecnpia, as it 
 had been before czWcd AcJicafiomAclaus^). 
 The Father of Cadmus was an Egyptian, and 
 brought the Egyptian Religion into Phoenicia, 
 and reigned there j and from his Son 'Phoenix 
 the Country had its Name ; and his other Son, 
 Cadmus, who had likcwife been brought up 
 in it, under him, conveyed it, with him, to 
 Thebes -, and hence the Difpute among the 
 Learned, Whether he were an Egyptian or 
 Thoenician : He was the former only by Ex- 
 trad, and the latter by Birth (n), Lelex, an- 
 other famed Egyptian, had, fome fmall time 
 
 before 
 
 (k) Diod. Sicul. lib. I. Shitchford's ConneSl. p. 2. 1 8. 
 
 (1) lid. ibid. Paufan. Argol. ($ Corinth, c. 1 6, & feq. 
 
 (m) lid in Attic, vid. Chronic. Marm. 13 Prid. An- 
 not. in eund. UJcr's Chronol. Sec. 
 
 (n) See Sir J. Mar/barn's Can. Chron. p. 118. Prid. 
 Not. Hijlor. ad Chron. Marm. Sbuckford's Connect, p. 2. 
 lib. viii. & at. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 65 
 before this of Mofes's Miflion, fettled feveral 
 Colonies in Carta, Ionia, Ida near Troy, 
 in Acarnania, ^/Etolia, Bozotia (0) ; and 
 laft of all, in Laconia, of which he became 
 the firft King (p); in which Countries he 
 likewife introduced the Egyptian Religion, 
 Rites, and Government. Many more In- 
 ftances might be brought of their great Per- 
 fonages, who abandoned Egypt, either to 
 avoid the Tyranny of their new Invaders, the 
 King-fhepherds above-mentioned, or upon 
 fome other Motive ; and,difperfmgthemfelves 
 into various Countries, brought thither with 
 them the Egyptian Theology, and introduced 
 the Worfhip of the Egyptian Deities where- 
 ever they fettled. But thefe few will fuf- 
 fice to fhew, at once, where this Notion 
 of Polytheifm had its Origin, and what 
 ready and univerfal Reception it met with 
 every-where : And this raifed the Reputation 
 of the Egyptian Priefts and Sages to fuch an 
 Height, that thofe of other Nations, not 
 content with, what had been brought to them 
 from hence by others, were eager to travel 
 F thither, 
 
 (0) Paufan. in Att. c. 39. Strah's Gcog. lib. 7, 9, 
 14. Homer's II. 3. 86, ts? feq. 
 (p) Paufan, ibid. 
 
66 ESSAY I. 
 
 thither, in order to be ftill more deeply in- 
 ftru&ed in their Myfteries, Rites, and other 
 Branches of Learning, for which they were 
 no lefs famous. I may add, that their being 
 fo juftly extolled for their fuperior Skill in 
 all other Sciences, proved a moft effectual 
 Means of recommending their Religion to 
 them alfo ; for who could imagine other- 
 wife, but that the Theology and Worfhip 
 of fo learned and polite a People mufl be 
 anfwerable to their other Learning ? And this 
 Notion was accordingly fo univerfally re- 
 ceived, that whatever the Learned of other 
 Nations met with in it, that feemed to 
 fhock their Reafon, they readily chofe to fup- 
 pofe fome deep Myftery to be wrapped up 
 in it, rather than to think that any thing, 
 either abfurd or unreafonable, could poflibly 
 be contained in the Religion of fo wife a 
 People,- not conftdering, as St. 'Paul rightly 
 obfervcs(^), that it was this boafted Wifdom 
 that made them become vain in their Ima- 
 ginations; fo that, pretending themfelves to 
 be wifer than all the reft of Mankind, they 
 became fooiifn and monftrous in their No- 
 tions of the Deity, above all other Nations; 
 
 intro- 
 
 (q) Rem, l. 21. & feq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 67 
 
 introducing, inftead of one only Supreme, 
 Almighty, and All-wife Being, an infinite 
 Number and Variety of inferior Deities; 
 and finking into fuch a Degree of Folly and 
 Depravity, as to worfhip not only all the 
 ccleftial Bodies, Angels, Demons, Heroes, 
 &c. but even Beafts, Fowls, Reptiles, and 
 Plants i whilft, on the other hand, they 
 fufFered their Pride to fwell to fuch a mon- 
 ilrous Height, as to challenge an extravagant 
 Antiquity above all other Nations, and to 
 pretend to have been governed by a long Se- 
 ries of Gods and Demigods, above 34,000 
 Years before Menes, their firft Monarch of 
 human Race. Thefe were the boafted Sas:es 
 whom Mofes was, now, not only to enter the 
 Lifts with (for their Monarchs feldom, if ever, 
 did or refolved any thing of Moment, with- 
 out previoufly confulting them), but was to 
 convince, by irrefragable Proofs, that all the 
 boafled Variety of Deities, which they wor- 
 fhiped, were mere Delufions of their own 
 Brain, an Impofitionupon Mankind, or, at the 
 mod, that they were only Beings created by, 
 and wholly fubordinatc to, the great and only 
 God Jehovah ; in whofc Name, and by whofe 
 exprefs Orders, he was lent to demand the 
 F 2 imme- 
 
68 ESSAY I. 
 
 immediate Releafc of the opprefled I/raelites.- 
 No wonder then that Mofes Ihould exprefs 
 fuchan extraordinary Relu&ancyagainft, and 
 devife fo many idle Pretences, to excufe him- 
 felf from undertaking fo arduous and danger- 
 ous a Commiflion, even after all the Angular 
 Encouragement which God was pleafed to 
 give him, at that firft miraculous Confer- 
 ence (r), and the infallible Promife of his 
 fupcrnatural Afiiflance. 
 
 But, thirdly, Mofes was to convince Tha- 
 raohy and his Sages, that this Supreme Being, 
 this Sole and Almighty Lord of the Uni- 
 verfe, was, in a more peculiar manner, the 
 God of the poor oppreiTcd Hebrews 5 and 
 that, tho* now groaning under fo fevere a 
 Thraldom, they had been a long time his 
 chofen People, his Firft-born above all other 
 Nations under Heaven, and in whofe behalf 
 he was now ready to difplay his irrefifUbic 
 Power, and inflict on that haughty Monarch, 
 and his People, the moft dreadful Judgments, 
 in cafe they were not immediately difmilTed 
 out of the Land {s). Strange Menage this 
 
 to 
 
 (r) Exod. iii. iv. 
 
 (s) Ibid. vii. &f feq. paf. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 69 
 
 to the Egyptian King and Court, take it 
 all together! that there ffo td be but one 
 Supreme Jehovah in the whole Univerfe'5 
 that he fhould make choice of the molt dc- 
 ipicable People upon Earth to be his favour- 
 ite Nation above all others ; and that he 
 fhould fo far intereft himfelf in their Deli- 
 verance, as to finite the whole Land with 
 fuch terrible Punifhments, as none or that in- 
 finiteVariety of Dcitics,which were worfhiped 
 there, mould be able to avert. Well might 
 Pharaoh tell the Meflenger, that he knew 
 of no fuch an over-ruling Power as he fpoke 
 to him of j which was a thing he never 
 heard of, and point-blank oppofite to the 
 then Egyptian Theology : For if any of the 
 wifer Sort of his Priefts or Magicians had 
 any Notion left of a Supreme Being, as many 
 of the Philofophers of other Nations had j 
 yet the Belief of his having transferred the 
 Care of all fubi unary Things to the Stars, 
 Planets, and other inferior Deities, prevailed 
 fo far every-wherc, that it had quite obli- 
 terated that of his over-ruling Providence 
 How could they therefore be perfuaded to 
 think, that he fhould concern himfelf fo 
 far in the Pvclcafc of a defpicable Set of 
 P 3 Strangers, 
 
7 o ESSAY I. 
 
 Strangers, that fcemcd born to perpetual 
 Slavery ? The mod, therefore, that they 
 could gather, from Moftfs dreadful Threats* 
 was, that he defigned to furprife them with 
 fome ftrange Feats, but fuch as the Magicians 
 told Pharaoh he needed not be frightened at, 
 feeing they themfelves profeffed the fame 
 Art, and would quickly convince him, that 
 they were as dextrous at it as he (t). And if 
 we may believe Jofephus («), and the Thai- 
 mud (w) } Egypt abounded with fuch at that 
 time, to that degree, that fome of them 
 flouted Mofes with this Saying, with regard 
 to the two or three firft Miracles, Thou 
 bringeji Straw to Afra, or, as we may 
 Englifh it, Thou br Inge ft Coals to New- 
 cajlle, in pretending to play thy conjuring 
 Tricks here. But by what Art or Power thefe 
 wrought theirs, whether by mere Legerde- 
 main, or fome ftrange Delufion, caufed on 
 the Sight of the Beholders, or by the Help 
 of Demons, or by fome occult natural Ope- 
 ration, as fome antient Fathers, and a much 
 greater Number of learned Moderns, have ima- 
 gined 
 
 (t) Exod. vii. ii. Vid Phik in vit. Mof. 
 (u) ylntiq. 1. ii. c. 13. 
 (w) Tratt. Sanbedr. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 71 
 
 gincd (xj$ or by fome deeper Infight into 
 natural Magic 5 or, laftly, by Witchcraft, and 
 the Help of the Devil, as St. Auftin, and 
 many other antient and modern, contend for ; 
 will be more clearly feen in the Sequel : All 
 that need be faid here, is, that Mofis, in 
 the Relation he has given us of this extra- 
 ordinary Conteft, makes no Difference be- 
 tween his own Miracles, and thofe of the 
 Magicians ; which he would certainly have 
 dom, had theirs been no more than adeceptio 
 njtfus : Accordingly he tells us in one Place, 
 that they flung down their Rods, as he had 
 done, and that they became Serpents y) y 
 and not that they only appeared fuch; and 
 in the two following Trials of the Waters 
 turned into Blood, and oi the Frogs, he 
 cxprefsly fays, that the Magicians ', .ven they, 
 did the fame Hi ezvife, oy their Incfrarit- 
 ments: So that there can be no room left 
 to doubt of the Reality ot the one, more 
 than of the other. 
 
 F 4 But 
 
 (x) Jujl. Mart. £)uaft. Orthocl 16. Tertul. de Anima, 
 Greg. Nyjfcn. Hieron. cont.Jovin. &c. vid, O Jofeph. lib. ii- 
 c. 13. Grot. Le Clerc> & a I, 
 
 (y) E*od, vii. 12. 
 
72 ESSAY I. 
 
 But to return to the true and real Intent 
 of the Divine Providence in this wonderful 
 Conteft between its commiiTioned MeiTcnger 
 and the Egyptian King, and his Magicians j 
 we have already feen how Egypt was at this 
 time not only immerged in the ftrangeft, and 
 moil monftrous Polythcifm, but had likewife 
 infected mod other Nations, far and near, 
 with it ; and, I might have added, that a great 
 Number of inhuman and unnatural Rites 
 had aifo been gradually introduced into the 
 Worfhip of thofe falfe Deities, which were 
 denru&ive of common Society, and a Scandal 
 to human Nature itfelf CD) 5 all which now 
 
 loudly 
 
 (D) It hath indeed been Abraham's time, whatever 
 queftioned, whether the anyAntientor Moderns may 
 Worfhip of the Egyptians, fay to the contrary ( i ) ; 
 Car.aanites, £sV- had any but that they became com- 
 fuch abominable Rites, at men foon afcer, is not to 
 leaft fo early as Mofes's be doubted j and it is not 
 time, if at all ; and I muft improbable, that the in- 
 own, it is not eafy to fix tended Sacrifice of that Pa- 
 the time when they were triarch, who was in very 
 firft introduced among them, high Efteem among all 
 As for human Sacrifices, it thofe Nations, might give 
 cannot be proved, that any R.ife to them ; and that 
 were offered by them before that of Chroma, mentioned 
 
 (1) Vide Phil, de vit. Abraham. Sir J. Marjham's Can. 
 Chron. Shaftcsburfs Charaft. vol. iii. p. 2. 
 
 by 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 73 
 
 loudly called for his interpofing Hand, and 
 the Accomplishment of that folemn Promife 
 which he had made to Abraham, fome Cen- 
 turies 
 
 by Sanchoniatho (2), was an 
 Imitation of it, if not the 
 fame,underdifferentNames, 
 and with additional Circum- 
 ftances (3) ; and that the 
 Egyptians ufed them in their 
 Worfhip of OJiris, Juno, 
 and Lucina, we have no 
 Reafon to doubt (4) : For 
 Amofis was the firft of their 
 Monarchs who abolifhed 
 them, and ordered waxen 
 Images to be offered in their 
 ftead( 5 ). 
 
 It is likewife difputed, 
 whether the frequent Ex- 
 prefiion ufed in the Old 
 T eft anient, of making their 
 Children topafsthro'theFire 
 to Moloch, and other Dei- 
 ties, implies a real burning 
 
 of them alive, or only the 
 bare carrying them thro' 
 the Flames, by way of Pu- 
 rification. The Jews do, 
 indeed, infift on the latter, 
 by way of excufing their 
 Imitation of that Rite (6) : 
 Bui if we had no other 
 Authority for the other 
 Senfe, that which the facred 
 Hiflorian relates of its 
 Pr HceatT(?/)/^(7),aswell 
 as Pfalmift (8), would 
 be fu v;ient to explode that 
 Jewijh -Cvafion : Befides, if 
 there 1 ad been no more in 
 it, than they pretend, God 
 would hardly have forbid 
 it in fuch itrong Terms, 
 and under fuch fevere Pe- 
 nalties (9). 
 
 (2) Ap. Eufeb. Prap. Evang. 
 ("$) Vide Sbuckford's Conncfl. vol. ii. lib. 6. 
 (4.) Diod. Sicul. lib. i. Manetho ap. Porphyr. Plut. in 
 Ofir. 
 
 (5) lid. ibid, vide Eufeb. ubifup. lib. iv. C. 1 6. IFif- 
 doni xii. 3. & feq. 
 
 (6) Vide int. al. Maimon. More Nevoch. 1. iii. c. 23. 
 (■j) zKingsxxm. 10. 2 Cbron. xxviii. g. 
 
 (S) Pf. cvi. 37, 38- 
 (<)) Vide Levit. xx. 2, 3. 
 
74 ESSAY I. 
 
 turies before (z). And what Country could 
 be a more proper Scene for this wonderful 
 Difplay of his Almighty Power, than that 
 which had been both the Mother and Nurfe 
 of fuch a ftrange Variety of falfe Deities, the 
 Inventrefs of fuch a fuperftitious and abomi- 
 nableWorfhip ? But neither were thefe fearful 
 Judgments to be confined to Egypt only j 
 for thofe Nations that had been infected with 
 it, and more efpecially all the Nations of Ca- 
 naan, were afterwards to feel the Effect cf 
 them, in order to make both the one and 
 the other fenfible of the wretched Folly and 
 Stupidity of putting their Confidence in fuch 
 falfe and imaginary Deities, as neither could 
 hurt nor benefit them, inftead of acknow- 
 Jeging and relying on the unerring Provi- 
 dence of the All-wife and Almighty Creator 
 and Governor of the Univerfe. 
 
 But, in order to work fo unexpected and 
 univerfal a Conviction in fo many different 
 Nations, fo long enured and hardened in their 
 idolatrous Supcrftition, what Method could be 
 more effectual, and worthy of an all-wife gra- 
 cious God, than that which he was pleafed to 
 
 make 
 
 (z) Gencfis xv. 13, & fsq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 75 
 
 make ufe of; condefcending to enter into 
 a kind of Competition with the vaft Multi- 
 tude of their pretended Deities, and by this 
 furprifmgDiiplay of his uncontroulabie Power 
 over the feven Planets, as well as four Ele- 
 ments, over which they were fupoofed to pre- 
 side, in fuch a great and dread m Variety of 
 Inftances, to convince their ftupid Votaries 
 of the Non-entity of the ureatcfl: Part of them, 
 fuch as their pretended Godi. of the Air, Sea, 
 Water, and Earth, their Demons, Mediators, 
 Demigods, &c. 5 and that thofe whom they 
 placed in the higheft Rank, fuch as vac Lumi- 
 naries, and other celeltul Bodies, were no 
 other than neceffary Agents, wholly fubor- 
 dinate to his fupreme Power and Dirc&ion; 
 or, according to his own energicWords, fo fre- 
 quently repeated thro' this whole Tranfadion, 
 that they might know, that he alone was^r 
 hovah, or the only Sovereign, Governor, and 
 Moderator, of theUniverfe? This was, in- 
 deed, a molt effectual Method of bringing that 
 momentous Conteft to a fair and eafy Trial, 
 and fo luited to the meaneft Capacity (£), as 
 well as to the moft refined Genius, that neither 
 
 of 
 
 (b) Exodus vn. 5. & alib. paffl 
 
-6 ESSAY I. 
 
 of them could be at a Lofs how to make a 
 true Judgment upon it : It was ufing Men as 
 rational Creatures, and directing them, with- 
 out the leaft Infringement orlnvafionon their 
 native Freedom, to judge where to affign the 
 Palm of Victory. It was, in a Word, ap- 
 pealing to their Senfes, Experience, and ra- 
 tional Faculties, by fuch infallible Tokens, as 
 the loweft Mechanic could as eafily judge for 
 himfelf as the moft fublime Reafoner, or 
 profound Philofopher : Either of them might 
 be held in Sufpenfe for a while, not only 
 whilft 'Pharaoh's Magicians imitated fome 
 of Mofess Miracles, but even after they had 
 been nonplufed by him, and forced to ac- 
 knowlege the fupreme Power of God, 
 as their Confeflion might be as well fu- 
 fpe&ed to have been a mere Cloak to cover 
 their Ignorance or Incapacity ; and tho' Mofes 
 had ail the way, even from the Beginning, 
 the much greater Advantage over them, efpe- 
 cially when they appeared with their Swarms 
 of Lice (c) about them, or hid themfelvcs, to 
 conceal their Boils and Blotches (d) ; yet dill 
 
 the 
 
 (0 Ibid, viil 18. fcr fee, 
 
 {d) Ibid. xx. 1 u 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 77 
 
 the People might only infer from it, that 
 Mofes was only a greater Conjurer than they ; 
 or, at mod, that the God of the Hebrews 
 had hitherto mewed himfelf more powerful 
 than thofe of the Egyptians , but this they 
 might (till afcribe to any other Caufe, un- 
 known to them, rather than to fuppofe the 
 former the only fupremeGod, and the latter 
 no Gods at all 5 for thus, ftupidly, do we 
 find the Syrians reafoning, after having re- 
 ceived a total Overthrow from the Ifraelites, 
 that their Gods were Gods of the Mountains? 
 and that there could no Head be made againjl 
 them-, unlefs they could be brought down into 
 the Vallies (^), and be obliged to fight on 
 plain Ground. Any Pretence would eafiiy 
 account for this Difparity of Power among 
 People who believed a Plurality of Gods, and 
 did not acknowlege a fupreme one over alt 
 the reft. The Philijlines could fee their 
 Dagon fallen in Pieces before the Ark, and 
 themfelves plagued with Emrods, &c. with- 
 out abating one Tittle of their Regard for 
 their difmembrcd Idol ( f), that could neither 
 defend itfelf, nor heal them. Where then is 
 
 the 
 
 [e) I Kings xx. 23. 
 (/) I Sam. v. 1, & feq. 
 
7 8 ESSAY I. 
 
 the Wonder, that Pharaoh, and his Court, 
 fhould continue obftinate and rebellious, in 
 ipite of all the grievous Plagues he and his 
 People had felt from the turning the Waters 
 into Blood to the three Days total and mod 
 dreadful Darknefs which overfpread the whole 
 Land ? I do not hereby pretend to excufe, 
 much lefs to juftify, this their Obftinacy, and 
 Hardnefs of Conviction, againft fuch dire and 
 awakening Judgments. All I would obferve 
 here is, what a ftubborn, and almoft invincible 
 Obftacle, their Notion of Polytheifm, and 
 other PrejudiceSjWhich they had imbibed with 
 their Religion (efpccially when backed with 
 Self-intercft, and Unwillingnefs of difmiffing 
 fo many hundred thoufands of ufeful Slaves), 
 was to their paftlng a more equitable and im- 
 partial Judgment on Mofes's Miracles. 
 
 It is, indeed, faid in many Places, that God 
 would, and that he had hardened that Mo- 
 narch's Heart againft Convi&ion (£) ; and in 
 one Place, that he had raifed him up for that 
 very End, that he might fhew his Power, and 
 declare his Name over all the Earth (£). 
 
 But 
 
 (g) Excd. iv. 21. & alib. pajf. 
 (/.>) Ibid, ix. 1 6. Rom. ix. ij. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 79 
 
 But it will here fcarcely be needful to re- 
 mind your Opponent, that the former of 
 thofe Expreilions, according to the Genius 
 of the Hebrew Tongue, implies at moil: but 
 a bare Permifllon j and the latter, that God 
 had fuffer'd him to reign fo far, though he 
 might Jong before have cut him off for his 
 Obftinacy and Difobedience ; that he might 
 convince him, and all the World, of his being 
 the only fupreme Governor of it. And in 
 this Senfe both thofe Expreilions are under- 
 ftood and interpreted by the beft Expofitors, 
 to which I (hall refer (i) thofe who are not 
 fufficiently verfed in the Text (E). But lean- 
 not 
 
 (/) See among the re/?, Pelling, Whitby, Limborch, 
 Le Clerc, Shuckford, and Un. Hift. 2vo Edit, vsl. iii. 
 p. 372 (D). 
 
 (E) That Mofes meant bythefingularPainshetook 
 
 no more by them than to to make that Monarch com- 
 
 exprefs Pharaoh's invincible ply with God's Commands ; 
 
 Obftinacy, is plain, not only which he could hardly have 
 
 from many fuch parallel done, had he thought that 
 
 Phrafes, where the Moun- his Refufal had been the 
 
 tains, Cedars, &c. of God EfFecl: of God's irrevocable 
 
 mean no more than their Doom to deftroy him, and 
 
 vaft Height, Strength, and his People. It is very re- 
 
 thelike (10) j but likewife markable, that as to the 
 
 Words, 
 
 (io) Fid, int. al. Pf, xxxvi. 6. Ixviii. 15. civ. 16. 
 
So ESSAY I. 
 
 not forbear taking Notice here, that the He- 
 brew Verb p?H Chazak, which we tranflate 
 harden, doth, in its primitive and genuine 
 Senfe, ilgnify to Jlrengthen, encourage, con- 
 firm, and the like ; which is either done by 
 Exhortations, Promifes, Alliftances, &c. or 
 elfe, as in 'Pharaoh's Cafe, by Forbearance, 
 Iparing or fufpending of due Punifhment, 
 as fond Parents often do by their (tubborn 
 Children ; which laft Senfe feems clearly 
 implied in that Expostulation of God, As yet ', 
 or hitherto, exalt eft thou thyfelf, or, art as 
 yet too elated to let my People go (k) ? and 
 that of Mofes to him, Glory, thyfelf, over 
 me, when lint re at the LordTomorrow (/) ; 
 
 and 
 
 (k) Exod. ix. 17. 
 (/) Ibid. viii. 9. 
 
 Words, For this very Caufe 
 have I raifed ihee up, &c. 
 the Expofition I have given 
 above of it, is confirmed by 
 the Septuagint Vernon, and 
 the Chaldec Paraphrafe ; the 
 former of whom renders it, 
 For this End thou haft been 
 hitherto preferved ; and the 
 
 latter, For this Caufe I have 
 hitherto borne with thee, or 
 held thee up ; either of which 
 much more naturally ex- 
 preilcs the Meaning of the 
 Hebrew jnityn Heghe- 
 madtika, I have fujfered or 
 caufe d to ft and ( 1 1 ). 
 
 ( n ) Fid. Munfter. Tremel Lyran. i$ al, in he. & 
 Un. Hiji. Qcliivo, Vol. iii. p. 372. fub not. 
 
On /A? Egyptian Miracles. Si 
 
 and in another Place, Iwillfpread my Hands 
 to the Lord, that the Thunder and Had 
 may ceafe, ahd that thou mayft be convinced 
 that the Earth is the Lord's. But as for 
 thee j and thy Servants, I know that ye will 
 not fear the Lord God (m) : Or as the 
 Words |lM"ir» DID more emphatically ex- 
 prefs, / know that before ye fear the Lord 
 God; implying thereby, that they muft yet 
 feel fome heavier Judgment, before they 
 could be brought to a true Senfe and Fear of 
 that over-ruling Power. And indeed 'Pha- 
 raoh's frequent Prevarication with him, and 
 owning himfelf no longer in a State of Obe- 
 dience than whilft the Rod was ftretch'd over 
 him, and returning to his old Obftinacy as 
 foon as it was removed, had given but too 
 much room for that threatening Reproof; 
 which was accordingly followed by a (till more 
 grievous Plague than any they had hitherto 
 felt 5 namely, The total Darkncfs that over- 
 ipread his whole Realm during three whole 
 Days i the Dread and Grievoulhefs of which 
 Mofes could not more emphatically exprcis, 
 than by calling it a Darknefs that might be 
 
 (*>/) Exod. ix. 29. 30. 
 
82 ESSAY I. 
 
 felt ; and which did not fuffer the Egyptians 
 to ftir from their Places all the time it lafted 
 (m) ; For if any of die foregoing ones, efpeci- 
 ally as they fell only on the Egyptians, whilft 
 the Ifraelites w ere wholly free from them, had 
 already fo far fhaken their Confidence in their 
 vain Deities,, and extorted a Confefiion from 
 that proud Monarchy that the Lord Jehovah 
 alone was righteous, and he and his People 
 Sinners j a much more powerful Effect 
 mult this furprifing Darknefs make upon 
 them, who till now had looked upon the Sun 
 as the chief Deity of Egypt r and faw the 
 whole Land deprived of his benign Light ; 
 whilft the Ifraelites, in the Land of Gojhen,. 
 were the only ones that enjoyed their ufual 
 Sun-£hine (tt)~ How can they now any 
 longer doubt, that this great Luminary, whom 
 they worfliiped as the greateft of all their 
 Deities,, is really, as Mofes amired them, fub- 
 ordinate to the God of the Hebrews 5 when 
 they fee its molt zealous Votaries deprived fo 
 long of its cherifliing Beams j whilft it is ob- 
 liged to mine, with its ufual Luftre, on thofe 
 who abfolutely difowned its pretended Divine 
 
 Power ? 
 
 (m) Exod. x. 21, &f feq,. 
 (n) Ibid. v. 23. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 8 3 
 
 Power ? And fuch a Confternation did this 
 laft Judgment throw the whole Nation into, 
 and more efpecially its haughty Monarch, and 
 whole Court, that Mofes was fent for with 
 all Speed, and told that they were now at full 
 Liberty to depart with their Wives, and their 
 Children, provided they confented to leave 
 their numerous Herds behind. This he 
 doubtlefs thought a great Conceffion, and 
 fuch as would have contented him ; but 
 when he was pofitively anfwered,that not an 
 Hoof of thefe mould be left in Egypt> his 
 Confirmation quickly changed into a furious 
 Rage j in the firft Part of which he fo fat 
 forgets himfelf, and whom he is fpeaking to, 
 that he orders him immediately to go from 
 his Prefence, and never to come to him up- 
 on fuch an Errand, under Pain of Death (0) $ 
 as if he could flill at his Pleafure take the 
 Life of a Man, who had by fo many Ways 
 made him fenfible, to his Coft, of his own 
 Impotence, either to hurt him, or to ward 
 cfF the Effects of any of his Threatenings. 
 The Refult of this laft Interview was, that Mo- 
 fes took him at his Word 3 fo that they parted 
 G 2 in 
 
 (0) Exod. x, 284 
 
84 
 
 ESSAY L 
 
 in great Anger at each other (E) ; though not 
 without Mo/es previoufly apprifing him ot 
 the concluding and moil dreadful Judgment 
 of all, the Deftruc~tion of all the Egyptian 
 Firft-born ; which his obftinate Refufal was 
 now haflening upon him, and his whole King- 
 dom 
 
 (E) A learned Author 
 finds Fault here with our 
 Englijh) and moft other, 
 Veriions, for making Mo- 
 les to depart from Pharaoh 
 in Anger ; and thinks that 
 the Text rather implies, 
 that it was that Monarch 
 that was angry with him 
 (i) : And that the Place 
 fhould be rendered, He 
 (Mofes) went out from 
 Pharaoh, who was in a 
 furious Anger (l). But, 
 befides that the Hebrew 
 Conftruction will not ad- 
 mit of that Senfe ; and 
 that, in fact, they were 
 moft likely in a great Paf- 
 i\ox\ againft each other ; I 
 lee nothing inconfiftent 
 •with Mofes's Character, 
 had he been the onlv an- 
 
 gry Perfon : For as his lin- 
 gular Meeknefs mult, re- 
 train him from fhewing 
 ir, in an indecent manner, 
 to the King ; fo neither 
 could his Zeal for the Ho- 
 nour of God, nor that 
 Monarch's tyrannic Beha- 
 viour, permit him to re- 
 ceive his obftinate and 
 threatening Refufal, with- 
 out fome confiderable E- 
 motion ; efpecially as that 
 Prince acted more like an 
 hardened Tyrant, on this 
 Occafron, than a Father 
 of his People; and appear r 
 ed refolved to facrifice the 
 Lives of (o vaft a Number 
 of his Subjects, rather thas 
 fuffer the Ifraelites to take 
 their Herds with them. 
 
 (\) Excel, xi. 8. 
 
 (?) Shuckford Conned, torn* ii, A 9. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles* 85 
 
 dom (F) ; and which he alTur'd him would 
 
 be executed in fuch an aftonifhing Manner, 
 
 O 3 not 
 
 (F) That Mofes ac- 
 quainted the King with the 
 oniverfal Slaughter of the 
 F irft-born, in this laft In- 
 terview, is agreed on by 
 tnoft Interpreters ; though 
 he ha'.h related them fome- 
 what out of their natural 
 Order, in this eleventh 
 Chapter, after having men- 
 tioned his laft Parting from 
 Pharaoh at the Conelufion 
 of the preceding. So that 
 the Direction given to the 
 People at the Beginning of 
 it, about alking Jewels, and 
 other valuable Things, of 
 the Egyptians, is but a 
 fhort Recapitulation of 
 what he had injoinedthem 
 in fome of the foregoing 
 ones. 
 
 The fame muft be like- 
 wile underftood of the Con- 
 tents of the twelfth Chap- 
 ter, in which the Paflbver 
 is inftituttcl, and the man- 
 ner of celebrating it fet 
 forth : For this is but a 
 
 Recapitulation of what 
 God had injoined them 
 to do four Days before, 
 that is, on the tenth Day ; 
 whereas this laft Meflage, 
 and the fad Cataftrophe 
 that enfued it, happened 
 on the fourteenth Day of 
 the Month (i). As for 
 thofe who pretend to cen- 
 fure the Orders given the 
 Ifraelites about getting 
 Jewels, and other valuable 
 Thing?, from the Egypt!- 
 ans (2) ; it will be fuffi- 
 cient to tell them, that the 
 Verb JXy Shaal, which 
 Mofes makes ufe of, figni- 
 fies to ofk, or beg, and not 
 to borrow, as our Verfion 
 renders it : Jofephus there- 
 fore rightly ltiles them 
 Gifts or Prefents (3) : And 
 it can hardly be fuppofed, 
 that they obtained more 
 of them than they had 
 dearly earned by their 
 long and laborious Servir 
 tude. 
 
 (1) Exod. xii. 3. compar'd with Verfes 28, & fey. 
 
 (2) Exod. xi. 2. xii. 35. 
 
86 ESSAY I, 
 
 not only upon every Rank and Condition, 
 from the higheft to the lowed of his Sub- 
 jects, but even upon all their Cattle, that 
 the Survivors would come crouching to the 
 Hebrews, and, in the moft fubmiffive and 
 endearing manner, intreat them to be gone (p). 
 
 This was indeed the dreadfulleft MefTage 
 that he had hitherto brought to that infatu- 
 ated King ; yet was it fuch as his Obftinacy 
 againft fo many others that had gone before, 
 and been fo punctually executed, might jufHy 
 deferve ; and the moil likely to force him into 
 a Compliance; and, as fuch, was referved by 
 God as the finishing Stroke to all the reft. 
 For this was plainly hinted to Mofes from 
 the Beginning ; Go, and tell Pharaoh, Ifrael 
 is my Son, my Firjl-born-, and if thou refufe 
 to let him go, behold, I w ; ll Jlay thy Son, even 
 thy Firjl-born (q) : Which was as much as 
 to fay, as appears by the Sequel, If none of 
 the previous Wonders I defign to work in 
 thy Sight, nor the fearful Punifhments I mall 
 inflict upon thee^ and thy Kingdom, can 
 
 prevail 
 
 (p) Exod. ?ci. 8. 
 
 {q) Ibid. iv. 22, EaT feq< 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 8y 
 
 prevail upon thee to difcharge this my fa- 
 vourite People -, the Deitruction of all the 
 Firft-born in thy Dominions, from Man to 
 Beaft, with which I intend to conclude all 
 my Plagues upon you, fhall effectually com- 
 pel thee to comply. And it is very remark* 
 able here, that the threatened Judgments on 
 the Gods of Egypt, which never were once 
 mentioned before, are now joined together 
 with the Death of the Firft-born ; as if the 
 laft was to be no other than the effectual 
 Completion of the former: For, fays God (r) y 
 I will pafs this Night through the Land of 
 Egypt, and dejlroy all the Firft-born in if, 
 both of Man and Beaji ; and againf the Gods 
 of Egypt will I execute Judgments : I am 
 the Lord. So that the Import of this lad 
 and moil: dreadful Meflage, is plainly thist 
 Since all the Wonders I have hitherto wroight 
 before your Eyes, have not been able to make 
 you acknowlege me the true and only God ; 
 nor all the fevere Punilhments I have already 
 inflicted upon you, which none of the ima- 
 ginary Gods you fondly confide in were able 
 to avert, have been powerful enough to ex- 
 G 4 tort 
 
 (r) Exod. xii. 2. 
 
$8 ESSAY I. 
 
 tort an Obedience to my Commands; this 
 laft, which I have kept in referve as the 
 finifhing Stroke, viz. the Deftruclion of all 
 the Firft-born, {hall, in fpite of your Obfti- 
 nacy, oblige you to confefs and acknowlege 
 my fupreme Power and Authority over the 
 Univerfe ; as well as your own Folly and 
 Blindnefs, in trufting on any other God but 
 me. 
 
 It muft be owned, that the Expreffion here 
 ufed, ttn*>V iWfti Egbe/Je Sbepbatim, which 
 we tranflate, / 'will execute "Judgments, is 
 fomewhat vague and obfcure. But there is 
 none that is ever fo little verfed in the He- 
 brew Language, that doth not know, that it 
 generally imports, to do or execute Jujlice, 
 io try and judge a Caufe, to pafs Sentence of 
 Abfdution or Condemnation , to right the In- 
 jured, and punijh the Injurer, &c. according 
 to the Nature of the Subject in queftion (f). 
 In this Senfe we find much the fame Expref- 
 fion ufed in the laft Chapter of the Second 
 Book of Kings, Verfe 6, where it is faid, 
 That Nebuchadnezzar, and his Officers, dabru 
 
 ko. 
 
 ([) Fid, int. el. Num. jfxvii. 5. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 89 
 
 Ito Mifipat ; or, as Jeremiah hath it, Cap. tilt, 
 Ver. 9. Mifhphatim; which our Verlion rightly 
 Fenders, Gave Judgment upon Zedekiah at Ri- 
 bla ; that is, as the Sequel (hews, pronounced 
 Sentence of Death upon him. The true Mean- 
 ing therefore of doing Juftice, or executing 
 Judgment, on the falfe Deities of Egypt, can 
 be no other than the bringing the Point in 
 Difpute (whether the Egyptian Deities had 
 all, or any, of that Power which their Vota- 
 ries afcribed to them, or whether the Lord 
 Jehovah was the only fupreme Governor of 
 the World) to fo fair and impartial a Trial, 
 that not only Pharaoh, and his Subjects, but 
 all other Nations that came to hear of it, 
 might be enabled to judge of the Iffue of it, 
 or pafs an equitable Sentence on the Merit 
 of either Side, from the Refult of the Whole : 
 And how could this be done in a more ra- 
 tional and fatisfactory Manner, than by con- 
 descending to enter into this Competition 
 with them ? For this was fuch a plain and 
 irrefragable Appeal to their Reafon, Experi- 
 ence, and Senfes, as I lately hinted, that had 
 any of our modern Sceptics, who either deny 
 Miracles to be a fufficient Proof of any Doc- 
 trine, 
 
go ESSAY I. 
 
 trine, or even deny the Poffibility of them, 
 been Eyer-witnefTes of it, it could hardly 
 have failed of extorting at leaft a tacit Recan- 
 tation from them, and a confeious Acknow- 
 legement, that iuch a Series of fupernatural 
 Events could be effected by nothing lefs than 
 by the Interpofition of the Supreme and Al- 
 mighty Lord } and that he was indeed the 
 only God, of whom it could be faid, that 
 he did whatfoever he pleafed, both in Hea- 
 ven, Earth, the Sea, and all the deep Abynes 
 (t). But, to make this appear ftill plainer to 
 every unbiased Reader, let us now take a 
 fhort Review of the Defign and Management 
 of this whole Tranfaction. 
 
 And, firft, Let it be remembred, that the 
 Deliverance of the Ifraelites from their long 
 and hard Bondage, was only derigned by Pro- 
 vidence to be fubfervient to a much nobler 
 one 5 that of the Egyptians, and other Hea- 
 then Nations, from their Itrange Ignorance, or, 
 at beft, bafe and unworthy Notions, of the Su- 
 preme Being; from their vain and unaccounta- 
 ble Confidence in their falfe Deities, and the 
 
 more 
 
 (t Pfalm exxxv. 5» tmd b. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 91 
 
 more deteftable Rites- they ufed in their Wor- 
 fhip of them, in order to reduce and allure 
 them, by degrees, to the true primitive Re- 
 ligion, from which they were 10 fcandaloufly 
 degenerated. It was to this End that Abra- 
 ham, of whom God made Choice to be the 
 Reviver of it, was called out of his idola- 
 trous Country and Kindred ; and that both 
 he, and his two immediate Defendants, Ifaac 
 and Jacob, were made to wander through 
 feveral Parts of Canaan, and thence at laft into 
 "Egypt, in order to fow the Seeds of it, where- 
 ever they came. It was to confirm their 
 Faith, and encourage their Obedience, that 
 God was pleafed fo frequently to appear to 
 them, to blefs and protect them in fo ex- 
 traordinary a Manner, and to allure them by 
 frill greater Promifes. Laftly, It was with 
 the fame gracious View, that God fhewed 
 fuch fignal Favours to, and heaped fuch extra- 
 ordinary BlefTings upon them j to the end 
 that the People among whom they lived, 
 feeing a Set of Strangers, who profefTed a Re- 
 ligion point-blank oppofite to theirs, and which 
 confifted chiefly in acknowleging one only Su- 
 preme Being, relying upon one only Mediator 
 between God and Man, and profefTing an ut- 
 3 ter 
 
92 ESSAY I. 
 
 ter Abhorrence for atl their falfe Gods, and 
 their ftill more deteftable Worfhip of them, 
 to be fuch Favourites of Heaven, above all 
 the reft of human Race, might the more ef- 
 fectually be weaned from their vain Confi- 
 dence in, and execrable Worfhip of, their 
 imaginary Deities ; and be aliured by degrees 
 to look up to that almighty and all-benefi- 
 cent Creator, as the fole Difpenfer of all 
 Bleffings; for other than temporal ones they 
 fcarcely dreamed of ; and fuch they were, of 
 which thefe Worfhipers of the true God ap- 
 peared to them to have the far larger Share 
 (u). This was vinbly the Cafe of the I/raelites, 
 not only during their frequent Peregrinations 
 through the fevcral Kingdoms of Canaan, but 
 much more fo in the Land of Egypt ; the 
 Scene made Choice of fome Ages before, by 
 the Divine Providence, for this extraordinary 
 Con ted (w) ; and where they accordingly 
 increafed. in Wealth, Number, and Strength, 
 to fuch an aflonifhing Degree, as could not 
 fail alarming the whole Kingdom (x). So 
 that, to prevent theii joining at any time 
 
 with 
 
 (it) Vid. int. al Gen. xxiii. 6, & feq. xxvi. 12, &? 
 feq. xxxii. 3, W Jeq. 9, Cj Jeq. & filth, poff. 
 See Gen efts xv. 14, tJ Jeq. 
 / - --d i. 7,-ftf feq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 93 
 
 with a foreign Enemy againft them, they 
 found themfelves obliged to doom them to 
 the mod inhuman Thraldom ; which brought 
 on the till then unheard of Series of Wonders, 
 and fearful Punifhments, which ended in, 
 and haftened, their glorious Deliverance. 
 
 I have already obferved, that Egypt was pro- 
 bably made Choice of by God for the Scene 
 of this wonderful bifplay of his Divine Power, 
 as it was the Parent and Ninfe of all the falfe 
 Deities, and fuperftitious Idolatry, that had 
 been tranfplanted thence into a great Num- 
 ber of other Nations, far and near. And it 
 might be much more fo, on account of the 
 great Name it then bore, both for being 
 the Inventrefs, and for exceeding all others, 
 in the Art of Magic, Divination, Inchanting, 
 and other fuch conjuring Knowlege; which 
 was, at that time, and long after, elleemed 
 as the higheft Pitch of Learning, and human 
 Wifdom (y) (G) j and where Pharaoh would 
 
 not 
 
 (y) PUny, lib. xxx. cap. i. 
 
 (Ci)The Egyptians boaft- fo famed Art from Ham \ 
 ed, that they received this the third .Son of Noa.) . 
 
 and 
 
94 ESSAY t 
 
 not fail of trying the utmoft that could be 
 done by it, to invalidate the Miracles of Mo- 
 
 fes. 
 
 and that his fecond Son 
 Mizraim, the Founder of 
 their Nation, brought it 
 thither (i). Others afcribe 
 the Invention of it to their 
 Hermes (2), and the Im- 
 provement of it to one of 
 their Kings called Nechep- 
 fos (3). As for the Notion, 
 that the Angels, who be- 
 came enamoured with the 
 Daughters of Men, taught 
 it the Antediluvian World 
 ( 4), it is hardly worth con- 
 futing ; the firft Author 
 who mentions it being the 
 fabulous Author of the Re- 
 cognitions falfly attributed 
 to St. Clement (5). 
 
 What this Art confifted 
 in, and how far it extend- 
 
 ed, is hard to fay ; how- 
 ever, that it went farther 
 than a bare Knowlege of 
 the various Powers of Na- 
 ture, as fome contend for 
 (6), feems fully confirmed 
 by what the Magicians of 
 Pharaoh are affirmed to 
 have performed upon this 
 Occafion (7), as well as 
 by the Divine Prohibition 
 againft the Practice of the 
 feveral Branches of it (8), 
 that are faid to have been 
 then in Ufe amongft the 
 Heathen Nations. 
 
 Much lefs can this Art 
 have confifted in a greater 
 Skill in the Nature, Influ- 
 ence, and Motion, of the 
 heavenly Bodies : For tho' 
 they 
 
 (1) Vid. Un. Hiji. Oftavo, Vol. I p. 173. 272. 
 iii. 373, Cif ftq. 
 
 (2) Philajlr. Brix. Haref 3. 
 (•3 ) Aufon. Epi/l. 19. 
 
 (4 J Genefis vi. 2. 
 
 (5) Vid. Bochart. Phaleg. lib. iv. c. I. 
 
 (b) Vid. Com. Agrip. Clav. Magic. Si) 
 Temple's EJfay on the JVifdom of the AntientS, 
 Le Glerc, hf al. in Exod. vii. & feq. 
 
 (y) Exod. vii. 11. 22. Ch. viii. 7. 
 
 (%) D cuter on, xviii. 10, & feq. 
 
 William 
 GrotiuSf 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 95 
 
 fes. So that if his Magicians, who were 
 commonly thePriefts, and {acred Scribes, could 
 not ftand this Competition, but were fo vifi- 
 bly defeated in «very Inftance of it, there 
 
 they believed them all, as 
 well as the Elements them- 
 felves, to be endued with 
 peculiar Intelligences ; by 
 which thefe Magicians pre- 
 tended to perform great 
 Feats, to foretel Events, 
 and the like ; as being ap- 
 pointed by the Supreme Be- 
 ing to govern the World 
 (9) ; yet there is hardly 
 any Perfon fo befotted to 
 that Art now, as to ima- 
 gine, that any fuch extra- 
 ordinary Effects could ever 
 be produced by it. And it 
 is moft likely, that thofe 
 Magicians only made ufe 
 of that Pretence, the bet- 
 ter to conceal the Means 
 by which they did them ; 
 viz. by thelntercoufe and 
 Affiftance of fuperior A- 
 
 gents, fuch as Angels and 
 Demons ; in the Know* 
 lege of whofe natural Abi- 
 lities, and Manner of fet- 
 ting them on work, con- 
 fided the Foundation of 
 their Art, or what we 
 ftile, in the worft Senfe, 
 Magic ; and is that which 
 was fo feverely forbid by 
 God, under the Old (10), 
 as well as under the New, 
 Teftament (n) : For, un- 
 lefs we will admit the Pof- 
 fibility of fuch a Commerce 
 with thofe evil Spirits, at 
 leaft before the Times of 
 the Gofpel, I cannot fee 
 how we can account either 
 for this, or for feveral 
 other the like Inftances, 
 mentioned by the infpired 
 Writers (12). 
 
 (9) Fid. Plutarch, de Defecl. Orac. deer, de Divi- 
 nat. lib. i. c. 55. 
 
 (\o) Leviticus xix. 31. xx. 6. Deuteron. xviii. io, 
 tf/ef. 
 
 (11) See Burnet. Archaol. lib. i. /». 103. and the Ge- 
 nerality of Commentators, both Jewijh andChriflian. 
 
 (12) Fid. Calmefs Dijfcrt. prefixed to bis Comm, on 
 Exodus. 
 
 could 
 
96 ESSAY I. 
 
 could be no room for fuppofing, that thofe of 
 any other Nation could have been more fuc- 
 cefsful in it. St. Paul mentions only two 
 Magicians who withftood Mofes j viz. Jarmes 
 and Jambres (z) : Thefe two were perhaps 
 the two Chiefs of that Sect, and are celebrated 
 as fuch by the Talmud, under the Names of 
 yuchani and Mamri ; and by Pliny, as the 
 Founders of the magic Seel: in Conjunction 
 With Mofes (a). The Chaldee Paraphraft 
 adds, that they were the Sons of the famous 
 Balaam, and that they were lent for by Pha- 
 raoh to oppofe their Miracles to thofe of Mo- 
 fes ; and that they perifhed with the reft of 
 the Egyptians in the Red Sea (b). But^ 
 without laying too much Strefs upon thofe 
 Authors, we may well allure ourfelves, that 
 the Egyptian Monarch would fpare neither 
 Pains nor Colt, to procure the moft cele- 
 brated Mafters of the Art upon fo lingular 
 an Emergency ; nor neglect any other Pre- 
 caution to prevent being impofed upon by 
 the two Hebrew Chiefs. Neither can it be 
 fuppofed, that the Divine Providence, which 
 
 directed 
 
 (2) 2 Tim. iii. 8. 
 
 (a) Lib. xxx. c. l. 
 
 (b) Targum Jonatb. in U(t 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 97 
 
 directed the Whole to fo wife and gracious 
 an End, would fuffer any thing to be want- 
 ing, that could leave any room to doubt of 
 his being that only true and almighty God, 
 whom Pharaoh refufed to acknowlege j and 
 that he was too righteous to punifh him for 
 his Difobedience, before he had given full 
 Conviction of his fupreme Authority over 
 the whole Creation. 
 
 Accordingly the Con reft proceeds gradually 
 on between Mo/es and the Magicians, and in 
 fuch a manner, that the former hath vifibly 
 the Advantage over the latter. Both turn 
 their Rods into Serpents at the firft Trial, 
 and that of Aaron fwallows up all the reft : 
 And this perhaps is not without its particular 
 Meaning j that as the Serpent was ever look- 
 ed upon as the Emblem of Wifdom and Cun- 
 ning (c), fo that of the Magicians would be 
 forced to yield to that of Mo/es (d). In the 
 next Trial, the Waters of the Nile, from 
 which the Land of Egypt received its Fe- 
 cundity, are turned into Blood. That River 
 fupplied the Defect of Rain to them, and 
 H was, 
 
 (c) Gtnejii iii. I. Jfai. xxvii. I. Mattb. X. 16. 
 
 (d) Exod. vii. 12. 
 
98 ESSAY I. 
 
 was, on that Account, worfhiped by them 
 with great Ceremony ; but being now fmit- 
 tcn by a fuperior Hand, is made to difgorge 
 that Blood with which it had been ftained, 
 if not by the human Sacrifices offered up 
 yearly to it (H), at leaft by that of fo many 
 
 innocent 
 
 (H) The Egyptians are 
 recorded, from the moft 
 antient Times, to have ce- 
 lebrated a yearly Feftival, 
 with the utmoft Solemnity 
 and Pomp, in Honour of 
 the Nile ; efpecially en 
 tbofe Years in which it 
 fwelled above its ufual 
 Mark ; and as an Ac- 
 Jcnowlegement of the great 
 Benefits they received from 
 that River, to have facri- 
 ficed a Girl, or, according 
 to others, a Boy and a 
 Girl (i). And that this 
 inhuman Cuftom may have 
 been as early, if not earli- 
 er, than 'he Time of Mo- 
 fes, we have little Reafon 
 to doubt; confidering what 
 hath been lately faid of 
 their Religion and Rites 
 being, about the fame time, 
 
 propagated into all the 
 otherCountries about it far 
 and near. And what fcru- 
 pulous Obfervers they have 
 been of it fince, we may 
 gather from this, that it 
 never was totally abolifli- 
 ed, tho' perhaps fufpended, 
 when they were under the 
 Government of foreign 
 Princes, till the Conqueft 
 of their Country by the 
 Turks ; when the firft Go- 
 vernor put an efFcdtual End 
 to it, by ordering Flowers 
 and Branches to be offered 
 upon the Altar, inftead of 
 thofe human Victims (2). 
 We are indeed told, that 
 Amofis, King of that Part 
 of Egypt called Diofpolis 
 (who is fuppofed by Africa - 
 nus to have lived about the 
 Time of the Exod, but in 
 all 
 
 (1) Herod, in. Diod. SicuL i. Lucas Voyage, torn. 
 ii. p. 327, cif fcq. Tbevmot. Voy. part i. cap, 45, 46. 
 \i) Lucas, TbivoiQtjub. /up. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 99 
 
 innocent Infants, who had been doomed 
 to perim in it (e). Could the Magicians 
 
 H 2 have 
 
 (e) Exod. i. 22. 
 
 all Likelihood fomewhat 
 earlier), had caufed the 
 human Sacrifices, offered 
 to ^jfuno Lucina at Heliopo- 
 lis, to be abolifhed (3) : 
 If To, 'lis ftrange that he 
 fhould not have forbid this 
 alfo j and much more fo, 
 that none of the Chrijlian 
 Emperors, or the Saracens, 
 fhouid aboliQi it, while 
 they were Matters of it. 
 But it muft be obferved, 
 that the Egyptians were 
 very tenacious of their Su- 
 perftitions about the Nile j 
 becaufe on them they ima- 
 gined the Rifing of it to 
 its ufual Height chiefly de- 
 pended ; infomuch that 
 they would doubtlefs have 
 rifen in Arms rather than 
 forego them. So that it 
 it was at any time inter- 
 rupted by the Authority 
 of thofe Emperors, it con- 
 tinued no longer fo than 
 
 till they found an Oppor- 
 tunity of reviving it. 
 
 This was likely to have 
 proved the Cafe, when 
 their Turkijh Governor 
 above-mentioned fir It at- 
 tempted to fupprefs it : 
 Fur that River not rifing 
 on the next Year to its 
 ufual Mark, and the fol- 
 lowing one proving ftill 
 worfe, the People were all 
 ready to revolt, and tear 
 him in Pieces: Upon which 
 he perfiiaded them, "Jews, 
 Turks, and Cbrijlians, to 
 accompany him to a neigh- 
 bouring Mountain ; and 
 there exhorted them to 
 flrive, by fervent Prayers 
 to God, to obtain the 
 Bleffing they wanted : And 
 on the next Morning they 
 were congratulated with 
 the joyful News, that the 
 River had rifen in that 
 Night twelve full Pikes. 
 It 
 
 (3) Diortor. Sicul. I. i. Maneth. ap. Porphyr. de alf~ 
 tincnt. Eufeb. prap, Ev.wg. /. iv. C. 16. Plutarch, de 
 I/id. £jf Oftr. p. 380. 
 
ioo ESSAY I. 
 
 have exerted their Art to any Purpofe, it 
 would have been (hewn in the turning the 
 Blood into Water again : But this was out of 
 their Power j they could only add to the 
 Plague, inftead of removing it (f). The 
 fame happened to them in the third Trial, 
 where their Skill could only help them to 
 increafe the Number and Stench of thofe 
 vaft Swarms of Frogs, which Mofes had al- 
 ready brought over all the Land, and with 
 the Stink of whofe Carcafes the Air was but 
 too much infected to want any Addition. 
 
 Here then was one of their chief Deities 
 fairly tried and condemned, in two fuch 
 Inftances, as might have convinced the 
 fenfelefs Egyptians, how eafily that River, 
 in which they placed fo great a Confidence, 
 and which they looked upon as one of their 
 
 greateft 
 
 (f) Exod. vii. 21, &f feq. 
 
 It continued doing fo they have had ever fince 
 
 during the reft of the time; recourfe to that Moun- 
 
 and that Year was blefied tain, and to their Prayers, 
 
 with fuch extraordinary inftead of their inhuman 
 
 Plenty, that whenever its Sacrifices (4). 
 Waters are like to fail, 
 
 (4) Lucas, Thevenot. ub. /up. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles, ioi 
 greateft Bleffings, could be turned into the 
 greateft Curfe, by the bare Stroke of the mi- 
 raculous Rod ; and that nothing but the Di- 
 vine Power could reftore it to its native Ufe- 
 fulnefs and Fecundity (g) ; whilfl the Art 
 of the Magicians here proved vain and in- 
 effectual. 
 
 The fourth Trial was that of the Lice ; a 
 Trial, to all Appearance, as eafy, if not more 
 fo, to be imitated, than any of the former -, 
 but in which, however, they are fo unex- 
 pectedly foiled, that they make no Difficulty 
 to own their Impotence and Difappointment 
 to be the EfFecT: of a Divine Power (h). 
 Hence fome Divines have been induced to 
 believe, that this fmall Vermin was a new 
 Kind of Creature, and out of the Power of 
 any but God to produce j whereas the Mi- 
 racle here chiefly confifted in retraining the 
 Power of thofe Magicians from working a Mi- 
 racle, every whit as eafy as thofe they had done 
 before ; and thereby forcing them to acknow- 
 lege that fuperior Power, or, as they exprefT- 
 ed it to the King, the Finger of God, which 
 H 3 was 
 
 (g) Exod.vYu. i^&feq. 
 (b) Ibid. Verfe 19, 
 
102 ESSAY I. 
 
 was the Caufe of it ; by which both he and 
 they might fee, that what they had hitherto 
 performed was chiefly owing to his Divine 
 Permiflion, beyond which they found it im- 
 poffible to go. And this the Magicians fo 
 readily acknOwleged, that we do not find, 
 that the King made any farther. Trial of 
 their Art, or that they intermeddled any far- 
 ther in the'Conteft. 
 
 However, as Pharaoh's, Magicians appeared 
 fo little affected by the Advantage which Mofes 
 had hitherto gain'd over them in it, that there 
 is Reafon to think he did not believe them, if 
 he did not indeed fufpect them to have been 
 privately drawn in to ad in concert with 
 the two Hebrew Chiefs, it was requifite that 
 the fucceeding Plagues fhould be of a more 
 pungent and awakening Nature ; and, by 
 falling On the Magicians, as well as the reft 
 of the People, remove all poffible Sufpicion 
 of any latent Juggle or Confederacy. Ac- 
 cordingly the next was that of the Swarm 
 of Flies, which, by their poifonous Sting, 
 fo terribly annoyed both Man and Beaft> that 
 the Air was now as much infected with them, 
 as the Earth and Water had been by the 
 5 Frogs, 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 103 
 
 Frogs, and the River turned into Blood (i). 
 But what was ftill more fingular and won- 
 derful in this new one was, that thofe little 
 poifonous Infects were directed to make a 
 Difference between the Land of Egypt, and 
 the Canton of GoJIoen ; fo that they had no 
 more Power to annoy an Ifraelite, than to 
 fpare an Egyptian : And this fo plainly 
 (hewed them to be fent by an angry God, 
 and not by Chance or Art, that Pharaoh, un- 
 able to reliffc fuch an Evidence, confents to 
 let Ifrael go and facrifice to their God, if he 
 will but vouchfafe to rid him of this Plague 
 (k) • tho'he continues ftill hardened, as foon 
 as it is removed. And here I canndt but 
 obferve, once for all, that God not only 
 made the fame remarkable Difference per 
 tween the Ifraelites and Egyptians, in the 
 Murrain of Beafts, in the Boils and Blains, 
 which affected the very Magicians themfdves, 
 as well as the King and People ; but likewife 
 fet the Space of a Day between the Meffage 
 and the Plague, as well as between the Pro- 
 mife and the Removing. In the firft it is 
 faid always, < To-?norrow the Lord will bring 
 H 4 it 
 
 (i) Exod. viii. 20, & feq. 
 (k) Ibid. VerfeiZ, 
 
io4 ESSAY I. 
 
 k to pafs -, and in the other it is faid, To- 
 morrow I will intreat the Lord, and he Jloall 
 remove it. The Intent of which feems 
 plainly to give them Time to apply to thofe 
 falfe Deities, in whom they put fo much 
 Confidence, and try whether any of them 
 were able, either to avert the threatened 
 Judgment, or to remove it when inflicted : 
 For if none of them could do either of thefe, 
 what could be a greater Demon ftr at ion, that all 
 the Power that was falfly attributed to them 
 was mere- Delufion, and that confequently 
 there was no other God in Heaven, or on 
 Earth, except the Lord Jehovah ? This 
 Pharaoh could not but be deeply fenfible of 5 
 but the Thoughts of difmiffing fo many My- 
 riads of ufeful Slaves, made frill a much 
 ftronger Impreflion upon him; and, tho' ex- 
 tremely defirous to have each Plague removed 
 from him, yet he would willingly purchafe the 
 BlelTing at the cheapeft Rate, At firfl he 
 tells them plainly they {hall not go ; he next 
 gives them Leave to go and facrifice, fo it be 
 done within his Dominions (/) ; in the next, 
 they may go into the Wildernefs, but not too 
 
 far 
 
 (/) Exod. viii. 25. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 105 
 
 far off '(»;) ; by-and-by the Men may go, fo 
 they leave their Young ones and Cattle be- 
 hind (n) -, at laft they may all go, young and 
 old, provided their numerous Herds flay be- 
 hind (0) j neither can he be prevail'd upon to 
 condefcend fo far to their Defire, till ear- 
 neflly folicited to it by his Servants, and re- 
 minded of the deplorable Condition Egypt 
 was now reduc'd to (p) thro' his Obftinacy. 
 And great Reafon they had to do fo, confi- 
 dering that all the Fifh was deftroy'd by the 
 firft Plague (q) ; the Cattle and Fruits by the 
 Murrain and Hail (r) 5 the Corn by the Lo- 
 cufts (s) ; and the Fruits and Leaves by the 
 fame Vermin, which now covered the whole 
 Face of the defolate Earth, in fuch prodigious 
 Swarms, that they darkened the very Air (/) ; 
 no Part of that unhappy Kingdom having 
 efcaped the Effects of thofe dreadful Plagues, 
 but the Land of Gofhen, where the Ifraelites 
 dwelt («), 
 
 (m) Exod. viii. 28. 
 
 (n) Ibid. x. 9, & feq, 
 
 (0) Ibid. Verfe 24. 
 
 (p) Ibid. Verfe 7. 
 
 (q) Ibid. vii. 21. 
 
 \r) Ibid. ix. I, &f feq. 22, & feq. 
 
 (s) Ibid. x. 4, &f feq. 
 
 (t) Ibid. Verfe 15, fcf feq. 
 
 (u) Ibid. ix. 6. 16. & alib. faff. 
 
 By 
 
io6 ESSAY I. 
 
 By this time, therefore, the Egyptians, 
 whom we may reafonably fuppofe to have 
 applied in vain to all their fanfied Deities 
 for Help, muft be fully convinced of their 
 Impotence, and their own Stupidity, in place- 
 ing any Confidence in them ; as well as of 
 the Vanity of their fo much boatled Skill in 
 the magic Art, &c. all which had fo egre- 
 gioufly failed them in this important Conteft. 
 Neither can we well queftion but Pharaoh's 
 Confeflion came fi;om his Heart, when he 
 faid to MqfeSy 1 have finned againft the Lord 
 your God, and againft you — Intreat the Lord 
 for me, that he may remove this only one dead- 
 ly Plague more from me, and I will difmifs 
 you (w). But what appears indeed almoft in- 
 credible, is, that he mould fufTer his Remorfe 
 to be blown away, as it were, by the fame 
 Wind that drove the deftructive Locufts in- 
 to the Sea (#). But here it muft be remem- 
 bred, that tho' the Confeffion was the Effect 
 of a full Conviction $ yet the Promife being 
 rather extorted from him by the prefent 
 Smart, the one was no fooner removed, than 
 
 the 
 
 (w) Exod. x. 1 6, &f feq. 
 (x) Ibid. Verfe 19, & feq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 107 
 the other muft of courfe have proved abor- 
 tive, till roufed again by a frefh and more 
 efficacious Stroke. 
 
 Accordingly, the very next proves a more 
 dreadful and awakening one than any of the 
 former j as it extended itfelf beyond the four 
 Elements, even to the celeftial Bodies, and 
 more particularly over the two grand Lumi- 
 naries, which were worfhiped by the Egyp- 
 tians as the chief and moft powerful of all 
 their Deities, and as the immediate Vicegerents 
 of their great Eneph^ or fupreme Being (y). 
 For tho* their Courie was neither flopped nor 
 retarded, as it was afterwards in jfo/hua's 
 Time (z) ; yet to be on the fudden deprived 
 of their chearful Light j to be doomed to a 
 ftrange and difmal Night, not only fix times 
 as long as the common ones, but which was 
 made flill more fo, by the Horror that reign- 
 ed every-where, muff appear to them more 
 extraordinary and dreadful, than if they had 
 flood flill over their Heads ; becaufe it was 
 not now a bare Privation of Light, but a 
 
 Darknefs 
 
 (y) See before, page 58 (B) f 
 ( z ) J^Jhua *• 12, Cf feq. 
 
108 ESSAY I. 
 
 Darknefs that might be felt (a) ; and that, in 
 fuch a Degree, that they had neither Power 
 nor Will to ftir out of their Places : So that 
 being left wholly to the Horror of their 
 Thoughts, they either imagined thofe Lu- 
 minaries, together with the whole Train of 
 celeftial Bodies, to be totally extinguished ; 
 or that the whole Creation was returning to 
 its original Chaos. Now they had Leifure to 
 reflect upon all the former Punifhments they 
 had undergone, and to think, with awful 
 Dread, how punctually the Lord God of 
 the Hebrews had fulfilled all that Mofes had 
 foretold to them ; and how ineffectual all their 
 Addreffes to their numerous Deities had been, 
 towards averting or removing any of his Pu- 
 nifhments. They are now convinced, to 
 their Coft, that this Lord is, as Mofes truly 
 faid, the only fupreme Being, to whofe irre- 
 iiftible Will all things are forced to fubmit ; 
 but dare not apply to him for Mercy, for 
 fear of incenfing his Anger ftill more againft 
 them. The only Remedy that Pharaoh and 
 his People can think of, to fupport them un- 
 der their heavy Load of Dread, is to endea- 
 vour to appeafe it, both by an immediate 
 
 Compliance 
 
 (a) Exod. X. 21, & feq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 109 
 
 Compliance with his Command, and by the 
 moil earneft Intreaties, and generous Prefents, 
 to prevail upon the Ifraelztes, to intercede for 
 them, and to obtain them that Pardon from 
 God, which they dared not afk for themfelves. 
 
 This, at leaft, appears by the Sequel, to 
 have been the Refult of Pharaoh's moody 
 Thoughts, during the Time of this long and 
 dreadful Night. He had indeed more than 
 once intreated Mofes and Aaron to intercede 
 with God for him (b) j but we do not find, 
 that he ever ventured to addrefs himfelf to 
 him ; for he had too often prevaricated with 
 him, to hope that his Prayers could meet 
 with Acceptance ; and therefore chofe to re- 
 ly on thofe of two fuch powerful and tried 
 Advocates, as Mofes and Aaron, for an effec- 
 tual Deliverance. In this Perplexity both he 
 and his People are joyfully furprifed with 
 the Return of the wifhed for Light ; and 
 Mofes and Aaron are once more fent for, to 
 be informed, that he, and his whole Nation, 
 both fmall and great, are at full Liberty to 
 depart ; only their Cattle are to flay behind, 
 as a Security for their Return. But upon 
 
 their 
 
 (I) Vid. int. al ExsJ. ix. 28, &V. x. 16, 17. 
 
no ESSAY I. 
 
 their abfolute Refufal to comply with this 
 lad Condition, for which they gave him a 
 fufiicient Reafon (c), the haughty Monarch 
 falls into an indecent Fury with them ; or- 
 ders them to be gone, and, under Pain of 
 Death, never to fee his Face more : And Mo- 
 fes retires from him, with a Promife to com- 
 ply with his Command (d). 
 
 Thus far the Competition had been carried 
 on, with the moft evident and fenfible Dis- 
 advantage to the Egyptians in every Inftance ; 
 either with refpecl: to their boafted magic 
 Art, or to the pretended Power of all their 
 Deities. There is not now the leaft room 
 left to doubt of the Lord God of the Ifrael- 
 ites being the only fupreme and abfolute 
 Governor of All ; and every Stroke of his ir- 
 refiftible Arm falls heavier and heavier on 
 that infatuated and idolatrous Nation ; and 
 yet Pharaoh refufes to yield, and will rather 
 run the Rifque of a new and feverer Judg- 
 ment, than let the lfraelites take their Cattle 
 with them. And no Wonder he (hould ftill 
 continue obftinate, feeing the greateft of all 
 
 his 
 
 (c) Exod. x. 25. 
 
 \d) Ibid. Verfes 28, 29, 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles, hi 
 
 his Crimes remained unpunished by the righ- 
 teous Judge of Heaven and Earth - y namely, 
 the Murder of fo many innocent Hebrews, 
 whom the Tyrant had caufed to be deftroyed 
 as foon as born -, and which was to be expi- 
 ated now by the Deftruction of all the Egyp- 
 tian Firft-born. For as the Dooming of thofe 
 Innocents to immediate Death, was the Com- 
 pletion of the Ifraelitifi Thraldom and Mi- 
 fery, and that which brought on their Deli- 
 verance ; fo the miraculous Slaughter of the 
 Firft-born was to give the final Stroke to the 
 Egyptian Tyranny, and haften the total Sub- 
 verfion of ^Pharaoh, and his Hoft, which hap- 
 pened foon after. And the fame Divine Pro- 
 vidence, which had fo wonderfully brought 
 them into this Country, and hard Bondage, 
 fhall now, the Time prefcribed for it being 
 fully come (e), by this laft Difplay of his al- 
 mighty Power, at once fulfil his never-failing 
 Promife ; and, by the Deliverance of his 
 chofen People from their Thraldom, and the 
 juft Punimment of their OpprefTors, manifeft 
 himfelf, both to them, and all the Earth, to 
 be the true and only Lord and Governor of 
 the Univerfe, exclufive of all other pretended 
 
 Deities 
 
 {e) Genefn xv. 13 — 16. 
 
ii2 ESSAY I. 
 
 Deities of the Heathen World ; which was 
 the main Scope and Defign of this whole mi- 
 raculous Tran faction (/). 
 
 It is not eafy to determine, whether this 
 Meffage of the Death of the Firft-born was 
 delivered to Pharaoh at the laft- mentioned In- 
 terview which Mofes had with him, immedi- 
 ately after the three Days Darknefs, or at any 
 time after : The Generality of the Jews, and 
 not a few Chrijlians> are for the former, as I 
 have already hinted (g). Others think, from 
 the Order in which the infpired Hiftorian 
 relates them (h), that it was a new one, with 
 which Mofes was forced to comply, tho' he 
 had been fo feverely forbid to fee his Face ; 
 it being of fuch a Nature, as muft make him 
 overlook all the Threatening, and over- rule 
 his own Promife to that haughty Monarch. 
 However that be, we have no Reafon to 
 doubt, but it was openly delivered to him in 
 its full Extent ; feeing it was decreed by 
 the Divine Providence, that he mould be 
 warned of it j and that it was to be the con- 
 cluding 
 
 ( f) See before. Page 56, &f feq . 
 (g) See before, Page 85, Note (F) 
 (I) Exod, XU 4, &? feq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 113 
 
 eluding Stroke of the Divine Vengeance, in 
 cafe he proved obftinate and difobedient (/). 
 So that in this extraordinary Trial between 
 the Almighty God of the Hebrews, and the 
 pretended Deities of Egypt, all the former 
 Judgments^ down to the three Days dreadful 
 Darknefs, may be looked upon as fo many 
 credible Witneffes for the former; againft 
 whofe plain Evidence nothing of Weight 
 had been offered by the latter : Yet this lad 
 was to be the moft convincing and irre- 
 fragable of all, and that in the following re- 
 fpe&s ; wz. 
 
 lft y Becaufe nothing lefs thri- an almighty 
 and unerring Hand could direct the Deftroyer, 
 whether Angel, or whatever other Jnflru- 
 ment, was made ufe of on this dreadful Oc- 
 cafion, to the only Firft-born of every Con- 
 dition and Sex, from the higheft Prince of 
 the Royal Family, to the meanefl Female 
 Slave, doomed to the loweft Degree of Ser- 
 vitude, and downwards to the moft abject 
 Animal (k). 
 
 idly, 
 
 [i) Exod. iv. 23. 
 
 (i) Ibid. xi. 5, y feq- xii. 12. 
 
H4 ESSAY I. 
 
 2dfy y Becaufe nothing lefs than fuch a 
 powerful and unerring Hand could preferve 
 thofe that belonged to the Ifraelitijh Nation 
 from {baring in the fame dreadful Fate. 
 So that whilfr. the whole Land of Egypt was 
 filled with the utmOft Confufion, and uni* 
 verfal Grief, Horror, and Dread, there be- 
 ing no Houfe in it that had not one dead 
 Perfon within it, the Land of Gofien 
 enjoyed the mod profound Peace ; and the 
 Avenue to each Houfe and Family was made 
 fafe and impallable to the common Deftroyer, 
 by the Blood of the Pafchal Lamb (/). " 
 
 %&ly y This Deft rucl ion was an infallible 
 Proof, both of the fovereign Power of the 
 God of the Hebrews, and of the Vanity of 
 the Egyptian Deities ; becaufe in this, and 
 all other Nations, thePrieithood andPrimoge^ 
 niture were always joined together : So that 
 the Firft-born of every Family was always 
 the Prieft of thofe Deities which were the 
 Objec> of their Worfhip (I) ; and, being 
 
 look'd 
 
 (/) Exod. xii. 13. 
 
 (I) That, during the pa- Firft- born, or Heads of eve- 
 triarchal Oeconomy, the 17 Family, were alfo the 
 
 Priefts 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 115 
 
 look'd upon as more immediately related to 
 
 them than the Laity, muft be of courfe the 
 
 I 2 more 
 
 Priefts of it, is too plain 
 to need any Proof: From 
 which we may reafonably 
 infer, that this Hierarchy 
 Was of Divine Appoint- 
 ment. Noah, as fuch, fa- 
 crificed to God for him- 
 felf, and the fmall Remains 
 that were faved with him 
 in the Ark (1). Abraham, 
 Ifaac, and "Jacobs did the 
 lame in their refpe&ive Fa- 
 milies, after they became 
 their Heads : And fo doubt- 
 !efs did the twelve Sons of 
 "Jacob*, after they were part- 
 ed from him ; though it is 
 hardly to be doubted but 
 that he (till retaihed a kind 
 of fupreme Authority over 
 them, in this, as Well as 
 in his civil Capacity, whiift 
 he lived ; and which de- 
 fcended after his Death to 
 his eldeft Son, unlefs he 
 were on fome account dis- 
 qualified for it, as Reuben 
 was, who foiftited both 
 
 the Priefthood and Primo- 
 geniture, by his inceftuous 
 Commerce with his Fa- 
 ther's Concubine (2). 
 
 It is therefore more rea- 
 fonable to fuppofe, that 
 this Hierarchy, as the moft 
 rational, convenient, and 
 primitive, was continued 
 among the other Depend- 
 ents of Noah ; and that 
 Mizraim y the firft Peopler 
 of Egypiy introduced it 
 thither ; than that they 
 mould leave the Choice of 
 their Priefts to the caprici- 
 ous Votes of the People^ 
 or to the Nomination of 
 the Heads of them. Nei- 
 ther is it probable, that thefe 
 would eafily give up fuch a 
 choice Prerogative, which 
 raifed them to the higheft 
 Rank and Power, next to 
 their Monarchs ; and in- 
 titled them to fo great a 
 Share in the Administra- 
 tion with them : Which 
 Prerogative, 
 
 (1) G enefis v\\\. 20. xii. 7, & feq. xv. 9, & feq. 
 xxv. 31, & feq. xxxiii. 19, 20. xxxv. I, ef feq. & 
 
 With. paff. * 
 
 (2) Genefii xxxv. 22. xlix. 3, & feq. 
 
ii6 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 more peculiar Objects of their Care and Con- 
 cern; which, if they had had any of thatPower 
 that was attributed to them, they muft, on 
 this Occafion, have exerted to the utmoft, 
 in their Prefervation from the threatened 
 Doom. The Conteft here is no lefs than be- 
 tween the Firft-born of Jehovah, the God 
 of the Hebrews, and thofe of the 'Egyptian 
 Deities : But if 3 after fo fair and various a 
 Trial, it plainly appears, that the former can 
 
 do 
 
 Prerogative, Herodotus tells 
 us (3), palled from the 
 Father to the eldeft Son j 
 that is,according 2s 2 learn- 
 ed modern Author under- 
 ilands it ; not the -rsu/jf, 
 as a noble Author would 
 rtjprefent it, intimating 
 thereby, that all the Sons 
 of a Prieft were obliged to 
 follow their Father's Call- 
 ing (4) ; but to the icii:, 
 or eldeft Son ; which was 
 exactly according to the 
 primitive divine lnftuution 
 ^5). But that Notion is by 
 far too restrained here, and 
 
 clafhes too palpably with 
 Afofes's Account, who tells 
 us, that there was not an 
 Houfe in which there was 
 not one dead (6). So that 
 we muft understand him 
 to mean no lefs than the 
 Firft-born or Head of eve- 
 ry Family ; who, though 
 fubordinate to the higher 
 Oafs of the Priefthood, 
 yet were inti tied to per- 
 form the Prieftly Functions 
 within their own inferior 
 Prtcin£f. or Families ; as 
 I hinted at the Beginning 
 of this Note. 
 
 (3) Uh < "• '■ 37- 
 
 (4) Lord Shaftejbury*s CharaEierlJI. 
 
 (5) See Shuckford. Conneft. L vi. p. 107, Cjf- ftq. 
 
 (6) Exod. xii. 30. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 117 
 do all things in favour of his own, and the 
 latter prove unable to flir an Hand for the Pre- 
 fervation of theirs from fuch a dreadful and 
 univerfal Ruin, what can be a more irrefraga- 
 ble Demonstration of the Omnipotence and 
 Sovereignty of the one, and the Impotence 
 and Vanity of the other ? Here is no Need 
 of any Depth of Learning or Sagacity to decide 
 the Point ; a common Share of unbiafled 
 Reafon will eafily enable a Man to judge in 
 fo plain a Cafe ; and fo did the Egyptians 
 accordingly, when they cried out, We be all 
 dead Men (in). And well they might fear 
 to fhare in the fame Fate ; for if thofe 
 who were the Guardians of their Religion, 
 the Fountain of all Learning, Cpunfel, Pow- 
 er, and, as the Pfalmift (tiles them, Refiith 
 lecol Onam, Tl>e Chief of all their Strength 
 («), could not obtain a Safeguard from any 
 of their Deities, againft the Executioner of 
 the Divine Vengeance, what could they ex- 
 pect but to be involved in the fame Deftruc- 
 tion, unlets they could happily prevent k 
 by the immediate Diimifiion of his People, 
 and by their earned Intreaties, as well as by 
 
 I 3 their 
 
 (m) Exod. xii. 33. 
 \n) Pfaln} cv. 36. 
 
Ii8 ESSAY I. 
 
 their Gifts and Prefents, to haflen their De- 
 parture, and obtain their Prayers for them ? 
 
 But, qtbly % The Death of the Egyptian 
 Firfl-bom was no lefs an Evidence ot God's 
 Supreme Goodnefs and Juftiqe, than of his 
 Omnipotence, and abfolute Sovereignty : For 
 fince Egypt was now become ripe, upon fo 
 many accounts, for Punifhment, and for 
 fuch an exemplary one as mould convince 
 both its Inhabitants, and all other Nations 
 that heard of it, of the over-ruling Power of 
 the great Jehovah, and of the Impotence 
 and Vanity of the Egyptian Deities ; what 
 could be a more pregnant Proof of his Mer- 
 cy and Juftice, than the fparing the guiltlefs 
 and mifguided Laity, and caufing the Effects, 
 df his Anger to fall only on their mifcreant 
 Guides ; who, inftead of preferving, had, for 
 the moft bafe and felfifh Ends, not barely 
 corrupted, but in a great meafure obliterated, 
 the old patriarchal Religion ; and fubftitute4 
 to it the impious, as well as monftrous, Wor- 
 ship of fuch a vafl Variety of falfe Deities ; 
 and with it the mpft unnatural and abomina- 
 ble Rites and Superflitions 5 which, as I ob- 
 
 ferved 
 
On tie Egyptian Miracles. 119 
 
 ferved before (0), had fpread themfelves in 
 mod Countries about them ? 
 
 However, this lafr. Stroke hath the deflred 
 Effect i and the Egyptians find themfelves 
 every-where under lb dreadful a Confterna- 
 tion, that they are now more preffing for 
 the lfraelites to be gone, than ever they were 
 willing to obtain them (/>) : They even bribe 
 them with large Pre fen fs to go away as Con- 
 querors, whom they had till now detained 
 as Slaves. Ifrael now triumphs, as the Firft- 
 born of the almighty Jehovah j * whilfr. 
 Egypt, by the fudden and direful Cataflrophe 
 of its own, experimentally feels, by this 
 one Stroke, the Vanity and Impotence of its 
 own boafted Gods, and the irrefiftible Power 
 of that of the Hebrews (q). And, what is 
 ftill more dreadful, they fee themfelves' fo 
 far expofed, naked and defencelefs, to the 
 Effects of his Refeniment, for their tyranni- 
 cal Treatment of them, that they think nei- 
 ther Gold, nor Silver, nor Jewel?, too great 
 a Price to recompenfe their former Evils, and 
 
 I 4 haflen 
 
 (0) See before, Page 63, & fcq. 
 (p) Exod. xii. 31, (3" feq. 
 \q) IVijdom xix. 1 3, 6f fca. 
 
120 ESSAY I. 
 
 haften their Departure. Even Pharaoh, till 
 now unmov'd at all the other Plagues which 
 his ftubborn Heart had brought upon his 
 Country, is now forced to intreat them to be 
 gone, and to become Interceffors for him to 
 that fupreme Deity, which he had hitherto 
 refufed to acknowlege (r). 
 
 And now we are come to the Conclufion 
 of this grand and celebrated Conteft between 
 the Lord God of the Hebrews, and the falfe 
 Deities of the Egyptians ; in which the lat- 
 ter having undergone a great Variety of fig- 
 nal Trials, and been plainly defeated in every 
 one, this lafr, and moft remarkable of all, of 
 the Death of the Firft-born, is brought on as 
 the finifhing Blow ; which was referved as 
 the final Execution of thofe divine Judge- 
 ments, which his unerring Word had pro- 
 nounced againfr. the Egyptian Gods - 3 and that 
 in fuch a conspicuous manner, that the moll: 
 zealous Votaries mould be forced at once to 
 acknowlege the Juftice of them, and the 
 Senfe they had of his almighty Power, by a 
 
 ready 
 
 (r) C;rfer Fxod, v, 2- and xii. 31, 32. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 121 
 ready Compliance with his divine Commands 
 (j). There remained one thing more to be 
 done to crown this wonderful Tranfaclionj 
 and that was, to have it recorded in fuch in- 
 delible Characters, that the lateft Pofterity 
 might have all the moral Certainty of its 
 Truth and Reality, that the Nature of it 
 could poffibly admit of. And to this end it 
 was that God ordained the grand Feftival of 
 the Paffover, or Eating of the Pafchal Lamb, 
 to be yearly celebrated ; and commanded 
 moreover all the firft-born Males, both of 
 Man and Beaft, to be fan&ified to him ; and 
 to be feverally redeemed ; the former with 
 the Price of five Shekels, as foon as they were 
 thirty Days old (/) ; and the latter by fome 
 fettled Equivalent (it). Which two Inftitu- 
 tions were the moft proper to perpetuate the 
 Memory of it to future Ages (w), as long as 
 the Hebrew Nation fubfifted ; which it hath 
 done ever fince, in fo aftoniming a manner, 
 in fpite of all their feveral Captivities, cruel 
 
 Perfecutions, 
 
 (s) Exod. vi. 1, feC feq. 
 (t) Numb, xviii. 16. 
 
 (u) Exod. xii. 2, &f feq. xiii. 2, &f feq. xxxiv. 19, 
 fcf feq. Levit. xxvii. 26, iff feq. & alib. pajjl 
 (w) See Leflefi Method with the Deijis. 
 
122 ESSAY I. 
 
 Perfections, and other very many Difad- 
 vantages, and more particularly fince their 
 lad: and total Difperfion, after the Deft ruction 
 of their City *nd Temple by 7itus, as leaves 
 one no room to doubt, but that the Divine 
 Providence hath all along preferved them, 
 thro' fo long a Series of Ages and Changes, 
 for fome wife and important Ends ; which 
 will be made manifefl in their own due time 
 (x). For, as the Apoftle juflly obferves, if 
 the Fall and Diminifhing of them be the 
 Riches of the (converted Gentile) World, 
 how much more their Fulnefs (y) ? And if 
 the Calling off of them be the Reconciling of 
 the World, what fhall the Receiving of them 
 be, but Life from the Dead? But this be- 
 ing a Subject that is foreign to the prefent 
 Point, and hath been already handled by fo 
 many learned Pens, I willingly pafs it by. 
 And for the fame Reafon it is, that I have 
 forborn entring into the grand and principal 
 View of the Divine Providence, in this mi- 
 raculous Deliverance of the Ifraelites 3 as it 
 was defigned to typify to us that much nobler 
 one which was to be wrought, and was ac- 
 cordingly 
 
 (x } Set a Treat) fe of the Reparation of Ifrael-, addrejf- 
 id to the Jews, .-■■-. ; 7 47. 
 
 'yj Rom. x:. '.2. 15. 26, e?" fcq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 123 
 
 cordingly fo, by the Divine Redeemer of 
 Mankind, who is ftiled the only Firft-born 
 of every Creature (z), and Firft-begotten of 
 the Dead (a) -, yet, as the Fir ft- born of his 
 Virgin Mother (K), condefcended to be re- 
 deemed according to the Law above-men- 
 tioned (b). For though in this refpect the 
 infinite Power, Wifdom, and Goodnefs of 
 God, are ftill more vifibly and wonderfully 
 difplay'd, in the conducting of fuch Variety 
 of difparate Means to that one glorious End ; 
 yet that is a Point which doth not concern 
 the Queftion about the true Meaning of the 
 'Judgments executed by him on the Egyptian 
 Gods ; which I hope I have fufficiently mewiL 
 by this time, to be no other than the irrefra- 
 gable 
 
 (z) Colo/, i. 15. 
 
 (a) Revel, i. 5. 
 
 (b) Luke ii. 22. 
 
 (K) It is rightly obferv- Mojaic Law, that he open- 
 ed, by fome antient Fa- ed his Mother's Womb ; 
 thers, that Chrift was the becaufe it was the only one 
 only Firft-born, of whom that was unbroken and un- 
 it could be truly faid, ac- touched by natural Coition 
 cording to the Letter of the ( 1 ). 
 
 (i) Orlgen Homil. 14. in Luc. i. Tertul. de cam, 
 Chrift. c. 23. Ambroj. in Luc, ii. 56. Hieron. 
 Tbeopbil. &f al. 
 
124 ESSAY I. 
 
 gable Evidence given through the Series of 
 the ten Plagues, inflicted on their fenfelefs 
 Votaries, of their being no other than ima- 
 ginary and falfe Deities, and that he alone 
 was the true and only fupreme Governor of 
 Heaven and Earth. 
 
 But here I know not whether I (hall not be 
 thought guilty of a confiderable OmifTion, in 
 not joining to the foregoing ten Plagues, that 
 which was the laft, and moft dreadful, as well 
 as the moft wonderful of all, the miraculous 
 Paflageof the Ifraelites through the Red Sea, 
 and the total Deftruclion of Pharaoh and his 
 Hoft in it (c ) ; efpecially as the moft miraculous 
 Part of it^the Dividing of its Waves on each 
 Side (d)> hath been fo boldly attacked by 
 very learned Men, both jfews and Chrzftzam j 
 and attempted to be accounted for in a na- 
 tural Way, fo difcreditable to the Account 
 given us by the facred Hiftorian (L), and 
 
 other 
 
 (c) Exod. xiv. pajf. 
 
 (d) Vid. int. al. Pf. lxxviii. 13. exxxvi. .13, 14. 
 JJai. Ixiii. 12, 13. Rabak. iii. 15. & el. 
 
 (L) It is plain from Mofes gives us of thi* 
 the whole Account which Tranfa&ion, that it could 
 
 be 
 
Gn the Egyptian Miracles. 12 j 
 
 other infpired Writers, who have made men- 
 tion of that extraordinary Tranfa&ion ; as if 
 the Whole of it confifted in Mofes'% having 
 gained a greater Infight into the Ebbing and 
 Flowing of that Sea than the Egyptians, and 
 
 be no other than a very 
 miraculous one (1). So 
 that one' would wonder 
 how it fhould come into 
 the Heads of learned Men, 
 who acknowlege ht« di> 
 vine Authority, to repre- 
 fent it in a manner (o in- 
 compatible with it, and 
 pretend that he only coaft- 
 ed along fome Part of the 
 Sea, or, at mofr, crofTed 
 fome narrow Nook of it, 
 at a time when he knew it 
 to be low Water ; whilft 
 the Egyptians^ ignorant of 
 thatCircumft<mce,and ven- 
 turing to follow the fame 
 Tract, were overwhelmed 
 by the Waves ar the Re- 
 turn of the Tide. A 
 Notion, which, we arc 
 told by an antient Writer 
 (2), went current with 
 the Mempbitijh Priefts ; 
 
 choofrng 
 
 whilft '.hofeof Heliopolis al- 
 lowed that Fact to be alto- 
 gether fupernatural. And 
 10 certainly muft every 
 thinking Man, that confi- 
 ders the Impoflihility of 
 Mofes's leading fuch a nu- 
 merous Hoff, conlifting of 
 little lefs than three Milli- 
 ons, befides a vaft Quan- 
 tity of heavy Luggage, 
 acrofs tile fmalleft Arm of 
 the Sea, in fo fhort a time 
 as that between low Wa- 
 ter and the Return of the 
 Tide. But for a farther 
 Confutation of that and 
 other Abfurditie?, that at- 
 tend that wild Suppofition* 
 I fhall refer the Reader 
 to the Univerfal Hiftory, 
 above-quoted, where that 
 whole Tranfadtion is fet in 
 the ta;reii Light ($). 
 
 (1) Exod. xiv. 14, 13 feq. 
 
 (2) Jrijlopkan. op. Eufeb. prap. Ever.?. I. iv. r. zy. 
 (1) Vn.MJl.fal. vol.'i. cb.vu. fief, 6, ad Jr. » 
 
 %1jo. vol. Hi. p. 391, & feq. 
 
126 ESSAY I. 
 
 choofing the critical Time of its low Water 
 to crofs it at fome narrow Nook. But, be- 
 fides that this wild Notion ha'h been fully 
 confuted, and the Impoliibikty of fuch a, 
 Suppofition fairly demonftrated, by abler 
 Pens, to which I willingly refer your Op- 
 ponent (e) ; I cannot look upon that fignal 
 Punifhment as a Part of the Judgment de- 
 nounced againft, and executed upon, the 
 Egyptian Gods, in the Senfe I have taken 
 that Phrafe in ; their Caufe having already been 
 determined by the Death of the Firft-born* 
 in fuch a manner, as had effectually convin- 
 ced Pharaoh^ and his Court, of the Vanity and 
 Impotence of thofe pretended Deities : The 
 Misfortune was, that their Conviction was 
 fo eafily overbalanced by their Regret of 
 parting with fo many Myriads of ufeful 
 Hands, fuch numberlefs Herds of Catttej and 
 fo much oPother Wealth, all at once* that his 
 Avarice and Ambition gets the better of his 
 Reafon j and his Eagernefs to bring them 
 back permits not him to reflect on the 
 Danger of the Attempt till he and his Hoft 
 
 are 
 
 ( i) See, among others on that Subjeft, tfn. Hi ft. fol. 
 tool. i. ch. vii. fett. 6, ad fin. gg $vo, Edit. vol. iii. p k 
 392, fcf feq. fub Not* 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 127 
 
 are all fwallowed up in one common Ruin. 
 So that this laft Punifhmcnt is not inflicted 
 upon them for their Unbelief, or refufing to 
 acknowlege the all-powerful God of the He- 
 brews ; but for daring to difobey him, in 
 fpite of all the former and fevere Inflances 
 he had fo lately given of his fovereign Au- 
 thority over them, and all the World. 
 
 However that be, it cannot but be con- 
 fefled, that this lafl miraculous Cataftrophe 
 was a moil convincing Proof, both to the 
 furviving Egyptians, and to all the other Na- 
 tions roundabout, of the Falfhood of their Re- 
 ligion ; which had hitherto fo fatally mifled 
 them from the Knowlegeand Worfhip of that 
 one fupreme and almighty Being, into a Belief 
 and Confidence in their own refpeclive imagi- 
 nary Deities. This is elegantly exprefled by 
 Mofes, in that excellent Poem, which he com- 
 pofed upon this Occafion, to be fung by the 
 IfraelitiJJj Hoft : The People Jhall hear of if y 
 and be difmayed : Fear fiat! feize on the In- 
 habitants of Paleftine : The Dukes of Edom 
 fall be amazed : Terror fall feize on the 
 mighty Men 0/Moab s and all the Inhabitants 
 3 *f 
 
i28 ESSAY I. 
 
 cf Canaan /hall melt away (J). All which 
 was punctually verified by the Sequel (g). 
 And indeed, how could they be otherwise 
 than difmayed, to the laft degree, when they 
 heard of this fignal Overthrow ? And to what 
 lefs than an almighty Power could they 
 afcribe it, confidering the vaft Difparity be- 
 tween the Purfued and the Purfuer ? The 
 former an unwieldy Body of fugitive, un- 
 armed Slaves ; unufed to War, and ready to 
 die with Fear at the Sight of a mercilefs 
 Sea before, and an inexorable Enemy be- 
 hind : The latter a numerous Hoft of expe- 
 rienced Warriors, armed Cap-a-pe\ and with 
 fuch Quantities of Horfe and Foot, as make 
 them already fure of Victory : And yet to 
 find the one fafely conveyed over, thro' the 
 yielding Waves ; and the others fwallowed up 
 to a Man by them, and thrown up, by thfi 
 next Tide, to the oppofite Shore. 
 
 From what had hitherto been tranfacted, 
 both in Egypt, and laft of all at the RedSea^ 
 the CanaanlteS) and other Nations, who wor- 
 
 miped 
 
 (f) Exoi. XV. 14, & feq. 
 
 (g) Fid. int. al. Deut. ii. 25. Jojh. ii. 9, iff feq. & 
 *lti- pojf- . 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 129 
 
 (hiped the like falfe Deities, had all the 
 Reafon in the World to conclude, that 
 theirs would no more be able to ftand the 
 Trial with the Lord God of Ifrael y than thofe 
 of Egypt had done. 
 
 However, that there might be no Want 
 either of Proofs to convince them of his be- 
 ing the true and only fupreme Being, or of 
 Motives to induce them to comply with his 
 gracious Defign, and to renounce all future 
 Confidence in their Idols, and falfe Gods, and 
 to worfhip and truft in him alone; he is 
 pleafed to work as great, unheard of, Wonders 
 among them, by the Hand of his new Ser- 
 vant yofoua, as he had done by that of Mofes 
 in Egypt ; and at the fame time orders him 
 to proclaim an univerfal Peace and Amnefty 
 to as many of them as lliould accept it upon 
 thofe Terms (M), and utter Deiiruction to 
 all Recufants. 
 
 K lam 
 
 (M) That is, the re- which we have alrezdy de- 
 nouncing all Idolatry, and fcribed elfewhere (i), and 
 embracing the pure, an- by which the Tcumudifts 
 tient, patriarchal Religion, and Jewijh Rabbins under- 
 
 itand 
 
 (1) See the Preface, and p. 90, & fcq* 
 
130 ESSAY I. 
 
 I am fenfible, that there is fome Difficulty 
 to reconcile this with the pofitive Anathema 
 which God had pronounced againft feven of 
 thofe Canaanitijh Nations (/) ; who mull 
 therefore be fuppofed to have been excluded 
 from the Benefit of the one, and irrecovera- 
 
 ably 
 
 (I) Deut. vii. 2. 26. xx. 17, y allb. pajf. 
 
 ftand the feven Precepts 
 pretended to have been 
 
 fiven to Noah after the 
 lood ; viz. 1. To abftain 
 fromldolatry. 2. FromBlaf- 
 phemy. 3. From Murder. 
 4. From Adultery. 5. From 
 Theft. 6. From Blood, and 
 things ftrangled. And, 7. 
 To appoint proper Judges 
 to maintain the Execution 
 of thofe Laws (2). But 
 as neither the Chaldec Pa- 
 nphraft, nor Jofepbus, nor 
 Pbilo^ among the Jetus ; 
 nor Origen, or St. Jerom^ 
 among the Fathers j make 
 mention of them : their 
 
 pretended Antiquity is 
 much called in quefiion. 
 And I fhould rather think, 
 with the judicious Mai- 
 mon. (3) that the fix firft, 
 being the Subftance of the 
 Decalogue, or natural Re- 
 ligion, were given to Jdam^ 
 and the feventh to Noah 
 (4.) ; either as a Check to 
 all kind of Cruelty (5), or 
 perhaps rather as an Ac- 
 knovvlegement, that our 
 Right to feed upon living 
 Creatures is not derived to 
 us from Nature, but from 
 God's free Permiflion. 
 
 (2) Gemar. Babyl. lib. Sanhedr. Rabbin, fer. omn. in 
 Gen. viii. Fid. &f Selden de Jur. Nat. iff Gent. lib. i. 
 c. ult. 
 
 (2) Tad. Chazak. Sepher Melakim, c. 9. 
 
 (4.) Cumberland de Leg. Patriarch, printed in his 
 Origines antiquijfima:, 
 
 (5) Fid. Ariiob. emit, Gent. lib. v. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 131 
 ably involved in the Sentence of the other ; 
 on account of their confummate Wickednefs 
 above all the reft {m). But even this Exclu- 
 sion, a priori, might be juftly decreed againft 
 them by God, from a Prefcience that they 
 would infallibly refufe his more peaceful Of- 
 fers, out of an invincible Reluctance to ex- 
 change their Idolatries, and impious Superfli- 
 tions, for his more pure and rational Wor- 
 fhip ; upon which Conditions only they were 
 to be admitted to the Benefit of them. So 
 that this Exception, with refpect to them, 
 might mean no more than this : As for thefe 
 feven Nations, who, notwithftanding I have in 
 Mercy fpared hitherto, have now filled the 
 Meafure of their Iniquity, by the moft horrid 
 and abominable Superftitions ; you may fpare 
 all farther Offers of Pardon, and act againft 
 them, as if they had actually rejected them -, 
 becaufe I well know, that they are determined 
 to do fo, and are therefore unworthy of any 
 farther Invitation or Encouragement. The 
 Event did fufficiently juftify it; and the Con- 
 federacy which they unanimoufly entered in- 
 to, not only againlt JoJhua> but againft the 
 Gibeonites, who, tho' included in the fame 
 K 2 Anathema 
 
 (m) See Genejls xv. 16. 
 
132 ESSAY I. 
 
 Anathema, had, by a lucky Stratagem, ob- 
 tained an Alliance with him, plainly fhews 
 how fully determined they were againft liften- 
 ing to any Offers from the Israelites ; and to 
 hazard their All, rather than fuffer the Gibe- 
 onites to enjoy the Benefit of their new Alli- 
 ance (n). From this remarkable Inftance I 
 would obferve further, that neither Jofiua, 
 nor the grand Council of the Hebrews, look- 
 ed upon the divine Interdict above-mentioned 
 to have been of lo abfolute a Nature, as to 
 fuperfede the Oath they had fworn to their 
 new Allies - y for in fuch a Cafe Eleazar, 
 the then High-Prieft, muft have been obliged 
 to abfolve them from it, as invalid and un- 
 lawful : At lead they could never have look- 
 ed upon it to be fo binding, as to oblige them 
 to take up Arms in their Defence, when they 
 found them on the Eve of falling a Sacrifice 
 to the Refentment of the five confederate 
 Kings (c). Whereas Jrfiua really mewed a 
 quite contrary Behaviour towards them ; and, 
 upon the firfl News of their imminent Dan- 
 ger, marches at the Head of his Army that 
 whole Night, and on the next Morning falls 
 
 upon 
 
 (ft) See Jojb. ch. ix. & x. faff. 
 Ibid. x.5 t &fcq. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 133 
 
 upon the Enemy with his ufual Bravery; 
 and flacks not his Purfuit of them, till he 
 hath utterly deftroyed them. And what is 
 ftill more remarkable, God is fo far from re- 
 proving him for it, that he encourages him 
 to go on, with the Promife of a complete, 
 and even a miraculous, Victory (/>). It is 
 true indeed, that the Benefit the Gibeonites 
 received from this Alliance was a very fmali 
 one ; fince they only faved their Lives, to be 
 doomed to perpetual Servitude : But this was, 
 as Jofiua told them (q) y inflicted on them, 
 on account of the fraudulent Stratagem by 
 which they over-reach'd him ; which, how- 
 ever, was made the lighter, and more ho- 
 nourable, in that they were made to attend, 
 not on the Ifraelites, but on the Service of 
 their God 5 whereby they ftill continued as 
 one Body or Nation : And it is not impro- 
 bable, that the noble Confeflion they made 
 to the Congregation of Tfrael (r), might be 
 the main Motive of it. 
 
 K 3 Thus 
 
 (P) Jojhua x. 8. II, & feq. 
 
 (q) Jojb. ix. 22, 23. 
 
 (r) Ibid. Verfes 9, 10. fcf 24. 
 
i 3 4 ESSAY I. 
 
 Thus far went the Divine Interdict againft 
 the feven Nations above-mentioned. But as 
 to the reft of the People to be conquered, 
 they were to be treated in a different manner, 
 and to have the Offers of Peace, on the Con* 
 ditions lately mentioned, fent to every City j 
 which if accepted, they became tributary; and, 
 in all other refpects, were left to enjoy their 
 Freedom and Laws : But if rejected, a fecond 
 Offer was fent to them, to depart quietly 
 and unmolefted, whitherfoever they would ; 
 But if this laft was ftill refufed, then they 
 were at Liberty to begin Hoftilities againft 
 them ; and, when fubdued, to kill every 
 Man, and feize on their Women, Children, 
 and Cattle, as their Spoil (s). But in no cafe 
 were the Ifraelites to fuffer them to continue 
 in their old Idolatry ; but were ordered to 
 deftroy their Idols, Altars, Groves, &c. Nei- 
 ther were they permitted to contract any kind 
 of Affinity with them, left they fhould be 
 enticed by it to the Worfhip of their falfe 
 Peities. 
 
 However^ 
 
 (s) Dent. xx. 10, & feq. Fid. Maimon. in he. R. 
 Sam. Nachmanid. in Dent. xx. 10, &e. 
 
0?t the Egyptian Miracles. 135 
 
 Ho\Vever, in all the various Exploits which 
 they were to go through, the Divine Provi- 
 dence took fpecial Care, that they mould not 
 appear to the Canaanites like thofe vaft 
 Herds of Celtes, Scythians, and other In- 
 vaders, who acknowleged no other Right 
 than that of the ftrongeft Arm ; and alleged 
 that, as a fufficient Indication, that the Gods 
 were on their Side, and favoured their In- 
 vafions of other Peoples Property. All Ca- 
 naan was fo fully apprifed of all the Wonders 
 which God had wrought, both in Egypt, on 
 the Red Sea, and in the Wildernefs, in their 
 Favour (t), that the (louteft Inhabitants in it 
 were quite overcome with Dread and De- 
 fpair, and thought on nothing but how to 
 fell their Lives and Lands as dear as they 
 could, to their invincible Enemies. But left 
 they mould imagine the Report of them to 
 have been exaggerated, God vouch fafes to 
 fignalize their firft Entrance into their Bor- 
 ders with fuch new and furprifing ones, as 
 mail leave them no room to doubt of their be- 
 ing affifted, in the Conqueft of that Land, 
 
 K4 by 
 
 (t) Jcftjua ii. 9, y feq. v. I, fcf feq. ix. 9, 10, &f 
 tlib. paJJ'. 
 
136 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 by fuch an all-powerful Hand, as all the 
 Canaanitijh Deities were not able to repel. 
 
 He begins with the miraculous Divifion of 
 the Waters of Jordan, at a Seafon when they 
 were wont to overflow the Land a great way 
 on each Side (N) ; and opening a PafTage 
 
 through 
 
 (N) It Is plain, what- 
 ever modern Travellers fay 
 of the prefent Shallownefc 
 and Narrownefs of the 'Jor- 
 dan (1), whether through 
 its finking its Bed deeper, 
 or any other common 
 Change made in it, by 
 Length of Time, that it 
 was formerly a large and 
 confiderable River, even 
 in the Time of Pliny and 
 Strabo (2) ; and that it was 
 fordable only at fome few 
 Places, probably made fo 
 by Art (3) : And that it 
 overflowed its Banks for- 
 
 merly, about the Time of 
 Barley-Harveft, we are af- 
 fured of, not only by the 
 Book of JoJJma, but by 
 fome other Places of Ho- 
 ly Writ (4). And Mr. 
 Maundrel obferved, that 
 the Defcent, from its out- 
 ermoft Bank to its prefent 
 Chanel, was about a Fur- 
 long ; tho' at the time of 
 his viewing it, which was 
 at the latter End of March -, 
 the ufual Seafon of its over- 
 flowing in former times, 
 it ran about two Yards be- 
 low the Brink of its Cha- 
 nel. 
 
 (1) Fid. Sandys, Tbevenot, La Rocque, Pedro de la 
 Pa He, Maundrel, & al. 
 
 (2) Plin.N. Hift. I v. c. 19. Strab. Geogr. lib. xvi. 
 
 P- 755- 
 
 (3) Comp. Jojb. ii. 22, & fcq. Judg. hi. 28. Ml. 5. 
 2 Kings ii. 6, ij feq. 
 
 (4) Comp. JoJI). iii. 15. iv. 18. 1 Chen. xii. 15. 
 Jerem. xlix. 19. 1. 44. Ecdus. xxiv. 26. 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 137 
 
 through it, wide enough for their numerous 
 Hoft to go over it in one Day (u). In Me- 
 mory of which wonderful Tranfaclion, he 
 orders his new Captain to erect a Monument 
 on the oppofite Shore, with the Stones which' 
 he had caufed to be brought out of the midfl 
 of its Chanel (w). . 
 
 The next Proof which God gave the now 
 dilheartened Canaanites y of his irrefiftible 
 Power, was the furprifing manner in which 
 they befieged and took the firft City in that 
 Country, and the miraculous Downfal of its 
 (lout Walls, by the Circumvection of the 
 facred Ark, in a formal Proceffion : Which, 
 how ftrange foever it might appear to the 
 Befieged, during the firft fix Days, could not 
 fail of convincing them of it on the feventh 5 
 
 when 
 
 (u) JoJJ). iii. 13, iff feq. 
 (w) Ibid. iv. 2 j iff feq. 
 
 nel (5). So that the crofT- And we are to'd accord- 
 ing ot it at that time by ingly, that, when they 
 the Ifraelites, could not heard of it, their Hearts 
 but be locked upon as al- melted away, neither was 
 together miraculous by the there any Spirit left in 
 Inhabitants of Canaan : them (6). 
 
 (5) 'Journey from Aleppo, p. 82, 
 (b) l Jof». v. 1. 
 
138 ESSAY I. 
 
 when they beheld their impregnable Ram* 
 parts proftrate on the Earth; themfelves de- 
 fencelefs, and expofed on all Sides to the af- 
 failing Enemy ; all their flately Temples 
 levelled with the Ground > and all their Idols 
 buried under their Ruins (a;). 
 
 But what was to give thofe infatuated Na- 
 tions the moft fenfible and irrefragable Evi- 
 dence of the Vanity and Impotence of their 
 imaginary Deities, was in making them in- 
 strumental to the Deft-ruction of their fenfe- 
 lefs Votaries. The Ganaanites^ at this time, 
 worfhiped the Sun, Moon, Stars, and the 
 Elements ; and efteemed them as the moft 
 powerful of all the Deities : And thefe had 
 hitherto fhewed themfelves as idle and impo- 
 tent Spectators of the dreadful Havock which 
 the IJraelites made, both of their Temples, 
 Idols, and their unhappy Worfhipers. But 
 now, to complete all with one fignal Stroke 
 of his Omnipotence, thofe Elements mail be 
 made to affift the IJraelites in the Slaughter 
 of thofe Fugitives, which they could not 
 reach in the Purfuit ; and, by the miraculous 
 Showers of Stones or Hail which they pour 
 
 on 
 
 (x) Jojh. vi. paf 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 139 
 
 en their Heads, deftroy a much greater Num- 
 ber of thofe unhappy Wretches, than the 
 Sword of the Enemy could have done (y) ; 
 whilft the two grand Luminaries are flopped 
 at Jq/kuas Prayer, in the midft of their 
 Courfe, for a whole Day,- to give the He- 
 brews Light enough to purfue, and complete 
 their Victory (z). Here then, as well as in 
 Egypt y was executed a moft exemplary 
 Judgment on all their falfe Deities : For 
 what could be a greater Proof of their Va- 
 nity and Impotence, than to make them thus 
 remarkably fubfervient to the utter Deftruc- 
 tion of their molt zealous Worfhipers ? But 
 that which ftill carries a greater Weight, ' 
 was, that thefe two fignal Wonders were 
 wrought, not fo much in favour of the If- 
 raelites, the profeiTed Enemies to all their 
 Deities, as to fave the GibeorJtes from the 
 imminent Danger they were in, of being all 
 facrificed to the Refentment of the red 
 of the Hittites, for becoming the Ser- 
 vants and Profelytes of the almighty God 
 of Ifrael: Foe had they been as irrevocably 
 doomed to Denru&ion as their other Coun- 
 try men, 
 
 (y) Jojk.y. n. 
 
 (z) Ibid. Ferfe 12, fcf feq. 
 
i 4 ° ESSAY I. 
 
 trymen, they would, like them, have ftill 
 perfifted in their Defiance to his fupreme- 
 Power, and been involved in the fame Fate j 
 whereas God here permits his People to be 
 over-reached by, and to make a folemn Al- 
 liance with, them ; in Vindication of which 
 he difplays his almighty Power in a more 
 fignal manner, than ever he had done upon 
 any Occafion, to preferve them, as lafting 
 Monuments of his Clemency, and Readinefs 
 to receive all that fled to him for Protection, 
 as to the true and only fupreme Being. 
 
 The fame may, in a great meafure, be 
 faid of all the other Canaa?iites ; whom, if 
 he had abfolutely decreed to utter Excifion, 
 he would never have fufTered to have been 
 preferved alive, and live intermixed with the 
 Ifraelites i as he did (O). Jt is true, that he 
 
 often 
 
 (O) It is indeed more laft were at firft highly 
 
 than probable, that the Ex- provoked at the fraudulent 
 
 ample of the Gibeonites en- manner by which they ob- 
 
 couraged many others to tained them, yet when 
 
 accept of the lame peace- they found, foon after, 
 
 able Terms ; and Jofiua^ how manifeftly God de- 
 
 and the Ifraelitifo Council, clared himfelf in their Fa- 
 
 to admit them to the fame vour, and what Wonders 
 
 Benefit : For though thefe he wrought to Cave them 
 
 from 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. ,141 
 
 often upbraids thefe for not totally dcftroying 
 them, together with all 'their idolatrous Mo- 
 numents; and threatens themy that they (hall 
 thenceforth prove, Thorns in their Eyes, and 
 their Gods Snares 'to their Feet, and Scourges 
 to their Sides (a) : But here the Sin of the If- 
 raelites was not the permitting thofe Nations 
 to live among them, but their not obliging 
 them to forfake all their falfe Deities, and to 
 worfhip the only true God. It was not their 
 fparing their Lives, but their Temples, Idols, 
 and other fuperftitious Monuments, and fuf- 
 fering them to continue in all their Abomina- 
 tions, and impious Rites, that occafioned thofe 
 
 fevere 
 
 (a) Jojh. xxiii. 13. Judg. ii. 3. 
 
 from the Fury of the five 
 Amor'ite Kings, they might 
 perceive juft Caufe to un- 
 derftand the Words of Mo- 
 fes in a more moderate 
 Senfe, and confine the Sen- 
 tence of Excifion only to 
 thofe who fhould perfift in 
 an obftinate Defiance. On 
 the other hand, the Ca- 
 naar.\tes % tho' exafpcrated 
 at fiift at the Gibeouites> 
 for entering into a private 
 Alliance with Ifrfitl j yet 
 when they once faw how 
 
 well it fucceeded with 
 them, and how ill it went 
 with all thofe that were 
 confederate againft them, 
 they might T>e eafily in- 
 duced, not only to fue for 
 their Protection and Friend- 
 fhip, but to hope for a 
 more readv Reception from 
 the Jeiv'ifl> Chiefs ; feeing 
 they ufed now no Fraud to 
 obtain it, but wholly fub- 
 mitted themfelves to their 
 Difcretion and Mercy. 
 
142 ESSAY I. 
 
 fevere Threa r tenings againft them. The Se- 
 quel evidently fhewed the Juflnefs of that 
 Reproof; lince they themfelves became en- 
 fnared even by thole idolatrous Monuments, 
 the very Name and Memory of which if 
 they had utterly deflroyed, as they were in- 
 joined, their lingular Happinefs, which was 
 to attend their Obedience, and to rife and fall 
 according to it, could not but have opened 
 the Eyes of thofe unhappy Nations, to fee 
 the vaft Difference between ferving the great 
 and only God, with a pure and holy Wor- 
 (hip, and that of their vain and impotent 
 Deities, by their abominable Rites ; and that 
 even with regard to their temporal Intereft, 
 which was all they had aimed at, or hoped 
 for, from ail their various Superftitions. So 
 that, in a little while, the very Remembrance 
 of them would have been quite obliterated ; 
 and both they, and the Ifraclites, have mared 
 in the fame common Bleilings, and have had 
 Caufe to rejoice under the blifsful Sunfhine 
 of the Divine Providence ; from which none 
 'would then have been excluded, but the Ob- 
 flinate and Irreclaimable, 
 
 In 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 143 
 
 In all thefe things we may plainly obferve, 
 if not blinded by Prejudice, how careful the 
 Supreme Being was to a&, both with refpect 
 to the Ifraelttes and Canaamtes y in a manner 
 equally fuitable to his divine Attributes of 
 Mercy, Wifdom, and Juftice, and confiftent 
 with the Freedom of his rational Creatures ; 
 when, as is excellently expreffed by the Pro- 
 phet, he flrives to draw them to himfelf with 
 the Cords of a Man y and Bonds of Love (h). 
 The former he choofes as a peculiar People ; 
 brings them up with a paternal Tendernefs 
 in the antient patriarchal Religion ; and re- 
 wards their Obedience with continual Blef£- 
 ings ; to the end that they may fow the 
 Seeds of the fame pure Worfhip where-ever 
 they go. When the predeterminate Time is 
 come for them to inherit the promifed Land, 
 he leads them thither by fuch Series of un- 
 heard of Wonders, as could not but convince 
 them, and all the World, of his almighty 
 Power (c) ; and, at the fame time, prove 
 the moil rational Prefervative againft the ido- 
 latrous Infection that reigned among all its in- 
 fatuated 
 
 (b) Hof. xi. 4. 
 
 (c) See Exod. xxxiv. 10. 
 
i 4 4 ESSAY I. 
 
 fatuated Inhabitants. Thefe, on the other 
 hand, he firft tries to awaken to a Senfe of 
 their horrid Superstitions, by the Fame of 
 thofe dreadful Judgments which he had exe- 
 cuted on the Egyptians, and their falfe Dei- 
 ties. Thefe not proving fufficient, he alarms 
 them with frefh Proofs of his almighty Pow- 
 er, and Threats of his inevitable Vengeance ; 
 and, to put an effectual End to all their Con- 
 fidence in their falfe Deities, and impious Su- 
 perftitions, makes the very Elements, and 
 two Luminaries (P), to contribute to the 
 Excifion of the moil: hardened and obfti- 
 nate among them : Whilft thofe who ac- 
 cepted 
 
 (P) As my Defign in 
 this EfTay reached no far- 
 ther than the giving a 
 more rational Explanation 
 about thf Divine Judg- 
 ments executed on the 
 Egyptian Deities, than any 
 I had yet met with ; it 
 will not, I hope, be ex- 
 pected, thatlfhould here 
 enter into an Inquiry into 
 that extraordinary Fact ; 
 that is, whether it was a 
 real and fupernatural Sol- 
 ftice, or a mere Aurora, 
 or ftrange Lnor, which af- 
 
 5 
 
 forded JoJhua\ Hoft Light 
 enough to difcomfit the 
 confederate^wor/Vtt, much 
 lefs to account for the In- 
 accuracy of "Jojhua's Ex- 
 preffion of the Sun ftanding 
 ftill, &c. which is quite op- 
 pofite to the now univer- 
 sally received Syftem of 
 Aftronomy, and of the 
 Earth's Motion round 
 the Sun : All which would 
 afford Matter enough for 
 a particular DifTertation, 
 in which it would be hard- 
 ly poflible for me to add 
 any 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 145 
 
 cepted the Terms of Peace, and were willing 
 to renounce all their Idolatry, their brutifh, 
 unnatural Rites, Sorceries, and other Abomi- 
 nations, and become Profelytes of the true 
 God, are; by the Example of the Gibeonites, 
 encouraged to try to fave their Lives, by ac- 
 cepting of the proffered Conditions of Peace 
 (d). So that it is evident, from the Whokj 
 that the Extirpation of the former was not 
 owing to any abfolute and irrevocable De- 
 tree, but to the Hardnefs of their own 
 Hearts (<?) ; which made them reject the 
 
 L mo ft. 
 
 (d) See before, Note (O). 
 
 (e) Compare Jojh- xix. 20. with Wifd. xii 3, iff feq. 
 and with what hath been faid formerly of God's hardening 
 Pharaoh's Heart , page 78, iff feq. 
 
 any thing new, to what ed all the Cavils, and fully 
 
 hath been faid on that cu- confuted every Objection 
 
 riousSubjed by much abler raifed againft that miracu- 
 
 Heads. For which Reafon lous Facl ; and wherein he 
 
 I fhall content rriyfelf with may with Eafe come at a, 
 
 referring your Antagonift fatisfa&ory Knowlege of all 
 
 to the principal Authors that hath been written on 
 
 who have fet that Matter either Side of the Q^eftion 
 
 iri the faireft Light, anfwer- ( 1 ). 
 
 (i) See Univ. Hlfl. fol. vol. i. ch. vii. fa. 7. g?,^ 
 Edit. vol. iii. p. 464, iff feq. Shuclford. Conned, vol. 
 iii. p. 453, iff feq. Calmet. Dlffcrt. on that Miracle, ana 
 Virion, fub Jojhua % 
 
346 ESSAY I. 
 
 moll; pure and reasonable Religion, rather 
 than part with their old fhameful Superftition. 
 And where is the Wonder that the fame fu- 
 preme Judge, who rained down Fire and 
 Sulphur from Heaven on Sodom, and other 
 neighbouring Cities, for their unnatural Sins, 
 fhould doom thefe to utter Deff.ru ftion, for 
 more unnatural and impious Abominations, 
 and for introducing them into the Worfhip 
 of their Deities ? 
 
 But what is the moft furprillng of all is, 
 that the ungrateful IJraeh'tes mould fo foon 
 cool in their Zeal and Obedience j and, in- 
 ftead of either totally abolishing this Religion, 
 with all its Rites, or exterminating thofe 
 that fiill peril fled in them, they furTered 
 both to continue in the very midlt. of them; 
 the Confeqaence of which was, as had been 
 often foretold to them, that they foon be- 
 came enfnared by them ; and infenfibly fell 
 from the Worfhip of God into a moll: fliame- 
 ful Fondnefs for the impious Superftitions 
 and Cuftoms of the Canaanites. Yet even 
 then God did neither fuffer them to go on 
 in their Apollafy, without eminent Proofs 
 of his Power and Difpleafurej nor did he 
 3 ceafe 
 
On the Egyptian Miracles. 147 
 ceafe giving them frefh ones of his Mercy 
 and Goodnefs, as foon as his Punishments had 
 brought them to a Senfe of their Impiety : 
 Their whole riiftory, for fome Centuries af- 
 ter Jofiua, is nothing elfe but a conftant Al- 
 ternative of new Defections, followed by 
 fome fevere and long-continued Captivity ; and 
 Of Repentance and Pardon, attended by fome 
 lignal Deliverance. Both were ftill fo many 
 Handing and unexceptionable Witneffes of 
 his fupreme Power, Juftice, and Goodnefs ; 
 and furficient to render both the Ifraelitet 
 and Canaanites inexcufable 5 and, at the fame 
 time, leave fuch ftrong and fenfible Traces 
 6f his Divine Providence over the Jewife 
 Church, as mould fully anfwer the all- wife 
 Defigns of it ; as it effectually did, through 
 all its various Changes, during the Space of 
 1 100 Years j that is, till all its figurative 
 Train of Rites and Ordinances were plainly 
 fulfilled and fuperfeded by the new and 
 more fpiritual Difpenfation of the Gofpel - } 
 and all the bloody, typical Sacrifices, of the 
 patriarchal and Jewijh Oeconomy, had their 
 full Completion in that of our Divine Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 La ESSAY 
 
E h8 1 
 
 ESSAY XL 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 On the furprijing Adventure^ Dif 
 appointment, and Punifhment^ of 
 Balaam; and the fad Cataftrophe 
 of the Midianites. Num. xxii. 8c 
 feq. 
 
 Reverend' Sz'r, 
 
 I Doubt not but I have by this time paved 
 the Way towards accounting, in a ra- 
 tional manner, for this fo much can va (Ted 
 and burrefqued Part of the facred Biftory ; 
 and that you at leaft, if not your fceptical' 
 Antagonifts', behold it in a much different 
 Light, than you formerly feemed to do. I 
 fhaU now endeavour to mew, that it really 
 is no other than a regular and uniform Se- 
 quel of that miraculous Competition between 
 the Supreme LORD, the God of Ifrael, 
 
 and 
 
On Balaam V DiJ appointment > &c. 149 
 
 and the falfe Deities of the Moabites, and 
 other Heathen Nations, mentioned in my laft 
 EfTay. And with this remarkable Difference, 
 that Ba/ak, and the Moabites, being now fo 
 fully convinced of his fuperior and irreiifti- 
 ble Power, not only by what had been trans- 
 acted in Egypt, but by the late fatal Cata- 
 ftrophe of Sihon King of the Amorites, and 
 Og King of Bafan (*z), had but little Heart 
 to hazard a frefh Competition between their 
 own Deities and him, notwithf landing their 
 extreme Defire to put fome effectual Stop to 
 the alarming Progrefs of the fuccefsful Ijra- 
 elites, under their Divine Guide and Protector. 
 Had Ba/ak ftayed to be better informed of 
 their Defign, he would eafily have found, 
 that he had little to fear from them ; feeing 
 God had exprefly forbid them to commit 
 any Hoftilities againft them, on account of 
 their being defcended from Lot (b). Neither 
 could he be ignorant of the Friendfhip and 
 Alliance which was between the hofpitable 
 Jethro, one of their Chief Priefts and Princes, 
 and MofeSy the IfraelitiJJ: Chief : So that it 
 would have been eafy for him, by the Me- 
 L 3 diation 
 
 (a) Num. xxi. 21, iff fcq. Deut. ii. 9, & feq. iii„ 
 I, &Jey. 
 
 [b) Deut. ii. 9, & feq. . 
 
15© E S 8 A Y II. 
 
 diation of the former, to have obtained fucfy 
 a firm and lafting Peace from the latter, as 
 would have put an End to all his Fears from 
 that Quarter. But in that Cafe there would 
 have been no room for this extraordinary 
 Conteft, by which the Divine Providence de- 
 figned to difplay his lingular Favour to If- 
 rael ; And therefore Balak is fuiFered to 
 cherifti and heighten his ill-grounded Fears, 
 and to ufe all the Arts againft them which 
 his Prudence and Superftition could fuggeft 
 to him : In confequence of which he firft 
 calls the Midianites to his Affiftance, and 
 enters into a ftrong Alliance with them ; and 
 then fends for the celebrated Inchanter Ba r 
 laam, to come and curfe this fo dreaded Peo- 
 ple : Not doubting, by one or both thefe 
 means, to gain fome confiderable Advantage 
 againft them (c). 
 
 Whether this famous Perfon was a real 
 Prophet, and Worfhiper of the true God, or an 
 Heathen, and a mere Conjurer, or Soothfayer, 
 is, you know, much difputed by the Learned 
 among "fews and Chriflians^ both antient 
 and modern. However, not to enter too 
 deep into that needlefs Controverfy, I can fee 
 
 no 
 
 (() N urn. >xii. 3, & [eq. 
 
On Balaam'* Dif appointment ^ &c. 1 51 
 
 no Reafon why we may not admit him to 
 have been a real Prophet, tho' otherwife a 
 bad Man, and much given to Incantation, 
 and other heatbenifh SuperfHtions ; and a 
 Wodhiper of the true God, tho' not in all 
 refpecls a true Worfhiper of him. The Te- 
 nor of Mofes's Relation feems plainly to in- 
 timate the former 5 and his own Words to 
 Ba/ak's Meflengers (d), If Balak would give 
 me his Houfe full of Silver and Gold, I can- 
 not go beyond the Word of (Jehovah) the 
 LORD my God, will not give us Leave to 
 doubt of the latter. We read of many fuch 
 real Prophets among the Jews, who did yet 
 proftitute their Office for Lucre, and other 
 fordid Ends (e) : And both our Saviour and St« 
 Paul allure us, that neither the Gift of Pro- 
 phecy, nor that of Miracles, deprive a Man of 
 the Liberty of acting quite oppoiite to his Cha- 
 rafter (f) : For which Reafon St. Auftin right- 
 ly enough reckons Balaam among thofe who 
 /hall fay to Chrift, at the laft Day, Lord, have 
 not I prophefied in thy Name {g) ? &c. How- 
 ever that be, whether we take him to have been 
 L4 a 
 
 (d) Num. xxii. 18. 
 
 (/) J event, v. 31. Mic. iii. 5, £f feq. Zephan. iii, 
 4, & alii. pajf. * 
 
 (f) Matth. vii. 22. I Cor. xiii. 2. 
 
 (g) ghiajl. in Num. Art. ix. qnajl. 48. 
 
i 5 2 ESSAY II. 
 
 a Prophet, or a bare Conjurer, here was the 
 Interposition of the divine Power plainly dif r 
 play'd, in obliging him, contrary to his In- 
 clination and Intereft, as well as in fpite of 
 his Incbantment, to blefs, in fo lingular a 
 jnanner, thofe whom Balak fent for him to 
 curfe ; and the Sequel fufficiently proves him 
 to have been a true Prophet fo far, whatever 
 Character he might bear before or fince ; and 
 the open Confeffion he was forced to make 
 to Balak, before his whole Court, and all 
 the Midtanitijh Princes, how ineffectual all 
 hislnchantments, and other Stratagems, would 
 prove, againft a Nation, whom God had 
 made Choice of to be the Object of his fpe- 
 cial Bleffing, could not but make, not only 
 a fuitable Impreffion upon them, in favour of 
 it, but likewife give them a kind of Warning 
 and Fore-tafte of the Impiety, as well as Va- 
 nity, of all their fuperftitious Efforts and 
 Stratagems to obftruct their Succefs. It 
 could not but convince them of thefe two 
 great and important Truths (the inculcating 
 of which into all thofe Nations was the, 
 main Scope of all this long Series of Won-. 
 ders); ®iai t That there was an over-ruling 
 Power that governed all things in Heaven 
 and Earth by his unerring Providence, and 
 
 chiefly 
 
On Balaam 1 j Dif appointment > 6cc. 153 
 
 chiefly for the Good and Benefit of thofe that 
 acknowleged and relied on him : And, 2dfy, 
 That all the Deities they had adopted, and 
 confided in, were either imaginary Delufions, 
 or elfe Creatures fubordinate to, and wholly 
 directed by, him, 
 
 Here your Antagonift, haying nothing ma- 
 terial to object againft fo reafonable a De- 
 fign, fets himfelf wholly to find Fault with 
 the ftrange, and, as he is pleafed to call it ? 
 unaccountable Method, by which it was con- 
 dueled: The Whole of whofe Objections may 
 be reduced to the following Heads -, viz, 
 
 1. The Improbability of God's endowing 
 a Perfon of Balaam's Character with the 
 Spirit of Prophecy, and vouchfafing to con- 
 verge with him in fo peculiar and intimate a 
 manner. 
 
 2 r Of his fo ftrictly forbidding him to go 
 with Balak's flrft Meffengers j and permit- 
 ting, nay, ordering him to go with the 
 fecond. 
 
 3. Of his being angry with him for going, 
 after he had injoined him to do fo. 
 
 4.. Of 
 
154- ESSAY II. 
 
 4. Of his fending an Angel to obftruft his 
 Journey j yet bidding him to purfue it under 
 fuch Reftrictions, as he could not tranfgrefs 
 without his Permiffion. 
 
 5. His opening the Mouth of the dumb 
 Afs, to reprimand him for his pretended ill- 
 tirn'd Refentment and Cruelty. 
 
 And, laftly, The ft range Reproof, and 
 itricT: Charge, of the Angel to him ; the one 
 for abufing his Beaft ; and the other, not to 
 act or fpeak otherwife than God Oiould fee fit 
 to direel: him (h). 
 
 Let us now examine each of thefe Arti* 
 cles by the Rules of Reafon j and fee whe- 
 ther, upon an impartial Examination, they will 
 appear in that ridiculous Light in which he 
 hath ftated them ; or not rather as uniform 
 and well conducted Series of Events, all tending 
 to the End propofed \ the reducing thofe in- 
 fatuated Nations from their vain Confidence 
 in their falfe Deities, to a due Senfe of, and 
 a fteady Reliance on, God's all-wife and over- 
 ruling Providence, in a way the moil- adapt- 
 ed 
 
 (h) See Numb. xxii, 5— 35, 
 
Qn Balaam 'x Difappomtment^ &c. 1 5 1 
 
 ed to their Capacities, and, at the fame time, 
 the moft effectual to convince rational Crea- 
 tures, without the lead Infringement on 
 their natural Liberty. 
 
 ift } then. With refpe# to the pretended 
 Improbability of God's endowing a Perfon 
 of Balaams Character with the Gift of Pro- 
 phecy, I cannot fee whence it arifes : And it 
 being his declared JI)efign to convince thofe 
 fuperftitious Nations, who placed no fmall 
 Confidence in their pretended Prophets, of 
 his over-ruling Power ; where is the Abfurdi- 
 ty, or even Wonder, if, in compliance with 
 their Notion, he mould raife a real one among 
 them, that mould fully anfwer that End ? 
 But why mould he make Choice of one of 
 his vile Character ? Moft probably, becaufe 
 one of a better would not have anfwered the 
 End prppofed ; and his bleffing Ifrael, in- 
 ftead of curling them, might have been 
 looked upon as the Effect of his Zeal for 
 that favourite Nation of Providence, and of 
 his Hatred to the idolatrous Notions and 
 Rites of the MoabiUs and Midianites j where- 
 as a Perfon of Balaams unbounded Ambition 
 and Avarice, and moreover addicted to the 
 
 reigning 
 
156 ESSAY II. 
 
 reigning Sorceries and Inchantments of thofe 
 Times, being forced, againft his own Incli- 
 nation and Intereft, to blefs thofe, whom 
 Balak would have bribed him, at any Rate, 
 to curfe, could not but convince them, as 
 well as all the reft of his Behaviour on this 
 Occafion did, that he was driven to it by a fu- 
 perior, or rather irrefiftible Power j as, on 
 the other hand, had he been lefs than a real 
 Prophet, or had he been, as many learned 
 Men have fuppofed him, only a mere Conjurer 
 or Inchanter, all that he uttered in favour 
 of the Ifraelitifh People, might have been 
 imputed either to his Want of Skill, or to 
 a fudden, inward Fear of bringing fome hea- 
 vy Refentment from them upon his Head, 
 or to any other Caufe, rather than to fuch a 
 divine and irrefiftible Impulfe. 
 
 But here your Antagonift further objects 
 againft the Probability of God's condescend- 
 ing to converfe, or, as he modeftly words it, 
 to dialogue it, with fuch an infamous Con- 
 jurer, or, at beft, a bafe Proftituter of the 
 prophetic Gift. But why not, as well as he 
 vouchfafed to difcourfe with Adam and Eve 
 
 after 
 
On Balaam'* Dif appointment > &c. 157 
 
 after their Tranfgrefiion ; or with the Ser- 
 pent (/) ; or even with Satan (k) ? But far- 
 ther ; if we confider that this was the fame 
 Divine Perfon, who here fpoke to Balaam, 
 that had manifefted himfelf in fo lingular a 
 manner to Abraham, I/aac, &c. and more 
 lately to Mofes and Aaron, and was now the 
 chief Conductor of all thefe furprifing Events, 
 in favour of the Ifraelites ; the fame more- 
 over who had been promifed to our firft Pa- 
 rents, and was, in the Fulnefs of Time, to 
 appear in our Nature (/) ; where will be the 
 Improbability of his now converfing thus fa- 
 miliarly with the very Man whom he had 
 pitched upon, for the Reafons above-men- 
 tioned, as a proper Inftrument to carry on 
 his prefent Defign (A) ? And fince the Event 
 
 was 
 
 (i) Genejis m.pajf. 
 
 (k) Job i. 7. ii. I, tff feq. 
 
 (I) See int. al. Shuckf. Conneft. vol. i. lib. v. vol. ii. /. q. 
 
 (A) As for the Ca- fengers came, they will 
 
 yils which your Opponent hardly be liable to be mif- 
 
 raifes againft the ExpreiTi- underftood by thofe who 
 
 ons here made ufe of by are ever fo little verfed in 
 
 Mofes, and reprtfenting the Stile and Genius of the 
 
 the Deity as inquiring of Hebrew, and other Orien- 
 
 Balaam, who, whence, and tal Tongues ; much lefs be 
 
 on what Errand, thofe Mel- thought to imply, that God 
 
 wantcif 
 
i 5 8 ESSAY It. 
 
 Was to end in Dtfgrace and Difappointmehfj 
 who could be more deferving of it, than he 
 who appeared fo ready to proftitute his pro^ 
 phetic Office to his own ambitious Views ? 
 
 Butj 2.dfyy Why, fays your Antagonist* 
 fhould God fo ftrictly forbid him to go with 
 Balak\ firft Meffengers j and yet not only 
 permit him, but oblige him, to go with the 
 fecond ? I anfwer, for the greater Pomp 
 and Grandeur of the Thing. Had he been 
 
 fuffered 
 
 wanted tb be informed 
 about thofe Meflengers, 
 and the Occafion of their 
 Errand, any more than 
 when he slked Adam in 
 Paradife, Where art thou 
 ( i ) ? or Cain, Where is 
 thy Brother Abel (2) ? Ha- 
 gar, Sarah's Maid, Whence 
 comeji thou, and whither 
 goejl thou (3.) ?■ Where is 
 Sarah thy Wife (4) ? The 
 Jike n.ay be faid of the 
 Queftion with which the 
 Prophet Ifaiah prefaced his 
 
 (1) Genefis iii. 9. 
 
 (2) Ibid. iv. 9. 
 
 (3) Ibid, xv i. 8. 
 
 (4) Ibid, xviii, 9. 
 
 (5) 2 Kings xx. 14. 
 
 MefTage from God to He- 
 zekiah, upon his receiving 
 the Babylonijh AmbalTa- 
 dors (5), Whence are thefe. 
 Men? What faid they? 
 What have they feen in thy 
 Houfe ? &c. all which h& 
 was fully apprifed of be- 
 fore he came to him. Of 
 the fame Nature are die 
 Queftions afked of fome of 
 the Prophets : Teremiah, 
 What fecfl thou (6) ? And 
 many more fuch, which 
 need not here be mention'd< 
 
 (6) Jere?> 
 
 *. 1. n« 
 
On Balaam 1 V DiJ "appoint l fnent>&c. 159 
 fuffered to go with the firft, who, the Text 
 intimates, were but few in Number, and 
 Perfons of a lower Rank ; their Report of 
 the extraordinary Oppofnion which he was 
 to meet with on the Way, having no other 
 WitneiTes than they, and the Prophet's two 
 Servants, might have been "liable to Sufpi- 
 cion ; and Jo failed of making a due Impref- 
 fion on thofe that had fent them. But when 
 Bnlak fees himfelf obliged to fend new ones 
 of an higher Rank, as well as in greater Num- 
 ber (who may be fuppofed to have had a 
 fuitable Retinue after them, being ftiled 
 Princes by the facred (m) Hiftorian) ; thefe, 
 I fay, accompanying the Prophet all the 
 Way, and being Eye and Ear Witneffes of 
 what happened to him in his Journey to the 
 Land of Moab, can hardly be fuppofed to 
 have countenanced, much lefs combined with 
 him to invent, a Fiction fo contrary to his- 
 Intereft, and their own fanguine Expecta- 
 tions. And as this Scene of Wonders was to 
 be a kind of Prelude to Balaks Difapooint- 
 ment, their Confirmation of it could not 
 choofe but give it an unqueitionable Sanction 
 among the Moabites and Midianites i and add 
 
 Weight 
 
 Cm) Num. xxii. 15. 
 
i6o ESSAY If. 
 
 Weight to the Prophecies which were to fol- 
 low, in favour of the Ifraelites ; as being 
 the then only Nation among whom God was 
 to eftablifh his pure Worfhip, in Oppoiition 
 to the Superftitions and Idolatries reigning 
 among the reft of the World (»). 
 
 ldly y But here the next Objection ftarted 
 by your Antagoniil: is, Why was God angry 
 with Balaam for going with the MefTengers, 
 feeing he had not only permitted, but or- 
 dered, him to do fo ? The common Solution 
 which the Jeivijh and Chriflian Writers give 
 us, is, that Balaam flattered himfelf, that 
 God had or might be prevailed upon to al- 
 ter his Intentions with refpect to the Ifraelites, 
 either by his Sacrifices or Inchantments ; by 
 which means he would gain fome confidera- 
 ble Preferment, as well as great Reputation^ 
 among the Moabites. But if this had been 
 the only Caufe of God's Anger, would he 
 not more probably have fuffered him to go 
 on in his fond Conceit, and then punifhed 
 his Prefumption, in the Face of Moab and 
 Midian j either by forcing him to blefs, in- 
 ftead of curfing, or by turning his Curfes into 
 
 Blcffings ? 
 
 (n) Num. xxiii. 7, b" feq. 20, & feq. xxiv. I, & feq. 
 
On Balaam^ Dif appointment. Sec. 1 6 1 
 
 Bleffings ? Which would have equally an- 
 fwered his End, without being at the Trou- 
 ble of fending an Angel to obftruct his Way. 
 It muft be owned that the Crime which the 
 Angel here lays to his Charge, is but ob- 
 fcurely exprefled, and, according to moft 
 Verfions and Commentators, implies no 
 more than that he had warped or perverted 
 his Way before God (o) (B) ; that is, that he 
 M either 
 
 (o) Num. xxii. 32. 
 
 (B) The Difficulty is in 
 fixing the true Meaning of 
 the Verb L3T Jarath, as 
 it occurs only in this Place, 
 and in Job xvi. II. but in 
 a feemingly different Senfe, 
 where the Text runs, 
 % XPP He (God) hath 
 given me over, er jhut me 
 up, into the Hands of the 
 Wicked, as our Vernon 
 renders it ; or, as it might 
 jftill be more literally ex- 
 prefled, He hath bowed me 
 down by the Hands of the 
 JVicked ; alluding, as the 
 Context feems to hint, to 
 the Depredations which 
 fob had fuffered from the 
 
 plundering Saba:ans, &c. 
 mentioned Ch. i. Ver. 15. 
 and 17. According to 
 which Senfe, the Expref- 
 fion made ufe of by the 
 Angel, Jareth haderek le~ 
 negdi, Thy Way, or View, 
 is bafe and loiv in my Eyes, 
 from the Context, may 
 thus be paraphrafed, Be- 
 catife thou hajl /looped fo 
 low, as to projlitute thy pro- 
 phetic Office to thy own felf- 
 ijh Vietvs ; and hajl hired 
 thyfelf to curfe that very 
 People, who thou ivert told 
 by God bimfelf were the 
 Objcfls of his Favour (1) ; 
 nay t 
 
 (1) Vid. Num. xxii. 12* 
 
162 ESSAY II. 
 
 cither propofed to himfelf a different IfTue 
 of this Expedition than God had decreed ; 
 or that he was meditating on fome Way 
 how to elude or fruftrate his Defigns, if 
 he fhould find them contrary to his own 
 and Balak\ Expectation ; or, perhaps, lafl- 
 ly, how to palliate the Matter with Balak y 
 and his People, in cafe he did not fucceed. 
 fo as to avoid their Refentment. In any of 
 which Cafes he appears to have a greater Re- 
 gard to his own Credit and Intereft, than to 
 God's CommifTion and Defign. Where then 
 is the Improbability of an Angel being lent 
 to reprove him for his felfifh Views, and to 
 injoin him to proceed as he was directed, 
 and leave the IiTue of the Whole to the Di- 
 vine Providence ? efpecially as fuch an ex- 
 traordinary Apparition could not but add a 
 farther Weight to what he fhould be after- 
 wards bid to fay or do- 
 But 
 
 nay, and to make ufe of all mayejl hut obtain the Wages 
 thy inch anting Arts, fa thou of Unrighteoufnefs (2). 
 
 (2) Confer Num. xxii. 32. and 2 Pet, ii. 15. Jud. 
 Verf. 11. 
 
On Balaam' j Dif appointment, 6cc. 163 
 
 But this Rencounter, as related and cir- 
 ccmftantiated by the infpired Hiftorian, is, 
 it feems, what your Antagonift thinks can- 
 not be treated with too great Contempt. A 
 celebrated Prophet and Diviner, and confe- 
 quently a Perfon well acquainted of courfe 
 with fuch Vifipns, is oppofed by an Angel, 
 with a drawn Sword ; yet goes refolutely on, 
 infenfible of his Danger ; whilfl the Bead he 
 rides, on, the mole ilupid Animal of the 
 whole Creation, is clear-righted enough to 
 perceive and avoid it, by turning out of the 
 Way, and faves her Rider from running 
 blindfold into it. This is repeated twice 
 more, in two fuch narrow Paths, that the 
 Afs is forced, in the one, to crufh her Rider's 
 Foot againft the "Wall j and, in the Other, to 
 crouch down upon her Belly, to avoid his 
 rufhing on his Deftruction ; for which ex- 
 traordinary Care and Concern (lie is only re- 
 warded with a fevere Drubbing. Which, fays 
 your Friend, deferves the greater Admiration 
 or Laughter ; the Perfpicuity and Prudence of 
 the dumb Creature, or the Stupidity and In- 
 gratitude of the Prophet ? But what is even 
 this, compared to the furprifing Dialogue 
 M 2 that 
 
1 64 ESSAY II. 
 
 that enfues between the Mailer and hisBeaft, 
 in which the latter hath fo much the Ad- 
 vantage of the former, in point of Reafoning 
 and Temper ; in that fhe contents herfelf 
 with calmly expostulating his unjuft Seve- 
 rity j whilft he, on the contrary, breaks out 
 into a furious Refentment, and wifhing at 
 that Inftant for a Sword to difpatch her, for 
 her extraordinary and repeated Services to 
 him (/>)? The Angel likewife, in his Opi- 
 nion, makes but a mean Figure amongft 
 them : His ill-timed Anger againft the Pro- 
 phet, whofe Eyes he knew to be with-holden 
 from feeing him ; and his rebuking him for 
 his ill Requital to his Afs, whofe new-ac- 
 quired Gifts of Speech and Reafoning, he 
 thinks, made him fufficient Amends for his 
 fevere Drubbing j are, he fuppofes very un- 
 fuitable to the Character of an heavenly 
 MerTenger (q) -, and his telling him, that he 
 would have killed him upon the Spot, if the 
 Afs had not timely faved him, by turning 
 afide out of his Reach (r), is what he 
 judges w r ould have rather become the Ma- 
 lice 
 
 (p) Num. xxii. 22 — 29. 
 (q) Ibid. Verfe 32. 
 (r) Ibid. Verfe 33. 
 
On Balaam V Dif appointment ^ &c. 165 
 
 lice of an infernal one. So that, upon the 
 Whole, he highly commends Jofephus for 
 fuppreffing that Part of the Dialogue, rather 
 than expofing his Credulity, by trying in vain 
 to palliate it (j). 
 
 I have now given your Antagonift's Ob- 
 jections their full Strength, tho' not couched 
 them in his ludicrous and farcaftical Terms ; 
 to avoid, as much as poffible, the diftafteful 
 Contrail that would appear between them, 
 and the Serioufnefs with which the Subject, 
 whatever he may think to the contrary, de- 
 ferves to be treated. In doing which I mail 
 not, like fome of the Jewifh and Chrifitan 
 Writers, have recourfe to allegorical and 
 other elufory Subterfuges (C) ; which, for 
 
 aught 
 
 (s) Antiq. lib. iv. c. 6. 
 
 (C) Maimonides, and 
 fome other Jew ijh Writers, 
 pretend that this whole 
 Scene was tranfacled only 
 in a Vifion, in which they 
 have been followed by 
 fome Chriftians. Others 
 think, that the whole 
 Tranfa&ion muft be un- 
 derftood in an allegorical 
 
 Senfe ; that the Afs was 
 flopped from going on by 
 fome extraordinary Im- 
 pulfe ; that the Blows 
 which its Rider gave it fet 
 it not a fpeaking articu- 
 lately, but a braying ; 
 which he, however, ei- 
 ther by his conjuring Skill, 
 or his Acquaintance with 
 M 3 the 
 
166 ESSAY II. 
 
 aught I know, have rather given Birth to 
 thofe fatirical Rejections, with which your 
 Friend, and many more of the lame Stamp, 
 have treated this and other fcriptural Sub- 
 jects ; but confine myfeif to making fuch 
 Remarks as naturally refult from Mofes's 
 Relation of this lingular Event, and mew 
 how every Step and Circumftance tended to 
 the main Defign, which was to convince 
 both Moab and Midian, in the moll fenfihle 
 and rational Manner, of the In ju Pace and 
 InefHcacy of all their Efforts againft a Na- 
 tion 
 
 the Language of Brutes, 
 rightly interpreted as a juft 
 Rebuke for finking her. 
 Others again think, that 
 Mofes copied this whole 
 Account out of the Me- 
 moirs which were found 
 in Balaam's Cuftody, after 
 he had been flain by the 
 Israelites ; and were fup- 
 pofed to have been writttn 
 by him : U;>on which Ac- 
 count Mofes thought pro- 
 per to tranfmit thsm in 
 
 the very Terms they were 
 couched in ; not, indeed, 
 to have them believed as 
 true, but merely to expofe 
 the Vanity of the Diviners 
 of his Time (i). All 
 which are juftly looked 
 upon as mere Evanons, 
 and contrary to the exprefs 
 Tenor of the Text, as 
 well as to the Scnfe in 
 which two of the Apofiles 
 have underftood it (2). 
 
 (1) De his Maim. Mor. Nevoch. fcr* al. Jud. Greg, 
 Nyjfcn. in vit. Mof. Tojlal. Le Clerc y & al. in Num, 
 xxii. 28. 
 
 (2) 2 Pet. ii. 16. Jude Verfe 11. 
 
On Balaam V Difappobitment^ &x. 167 
 
 don from whom they had nothing to fear ; 
 and confequently, no Grounds for any fuch 
 hoftile Stratagems, as they were hatching 
 againft them ; and who, being under the 
 Guidance and Protection of an infinitely fu- 
 perior Power to all their pretended Dei- 
 ties, were out of the Reach of all their ma- 
 licious Darts, unlefs it were to return them 
 with double Force on their own Heads. 
 
 Let us then fuppofe, that this celebrated 
 Diviner, by vvhofe Inchantments theMoabites, 
 and their Confederates, expected to prove 
 more fatal to the Jfraelitifi Holt, than all 
 their united Force and Valour could be, is 
 now in full March, at the Head of a nu- 
 merous Train of Noblemen, and in full 
 Scent of Honour and Preferment ; when, on 
 the fudden, and contrary to its ufual Cui- 
 tom, his Beaft makes a full Stop, without 
 any vifible Hindrance, and will not be fet 
 forward again, but by dint of dry Blows : 
 They come next to a narrow Path, or De- 
 file ; where, after a frefh Stop, and a fecond 
 Drubbing, they fee the fearful Beaft fqueeze 
 itielf quite clofe to the Wall, to avoid fome- 
 thing in its Way, winch neither he nor his 
 M 4, Company 
 
168 ESSAY II. 
 
 Company can perceive ; and in doing which, it 
 is for d to crum its Rider's Foot againft the 
 Wall. This could not but be fomewhat fur~ 
 priling to them ; but ftill more {o, when, after 
 fome Miles riding, they come into a ftreight 
 Path, where they fee the frighted Beaft,inftead 
 of going forward crouch fuddenly on its Belly; 
 becaufe it faw no Way to Hide by the unper- 
 ceived Oppofer, and continue a while motion- 
 lefs, under a third, and more fevere, Volley 
 cf Blows. All this could not fail of drawing 
 the Attention, as well as Wonder, of the 
 whole Caravan : But whilft they are ponder- 
 ing on the Strahgenefs of the Adventure, a 
 new Scene offers itfelf ; in which tho' the 
 Prophet had the largeft Share of the Surprize, 
 yet it could not but nil the reft of the Com- 
 pany with frefh Aftoniibment. For here, on 
 the Hidden, the dumb Bead's Mouth is un- 
 expectedly opened ; not in its ufual braying 
 Tone, but in fuch a manner, that the Rider 
 feels himfelf feverely reproved for his ill- 
 timed Severity 5 but whether in fuch articu- 
 late Words as were underftood by the reft, 
 or only by the Prophet, I mall not prefume 
 to determine j tho" there is no Doubt but they 
 underftood the pailionateReply which he made 
 
 to 
 
On Balaam' 's Dif appointment ^ Sec. i 69 
 
 to it. They mud: be no lefs furprifed at his 
 paflionateExpreffions on that Occafion, when 
 they heard him wifh for a Sword to flay the 
 guiltlefs Animal ; without being able fo much 
 as to guefs at the Caufe of all this extraordi- 
 nary Behaviour, both of the Afs and its 
 Rider. Whilft they ftand in this Sufpenfe, 
 they fee the latter fall proftrate on his Face 
 before the Angel, and making his Apology 
 to him for what he had ignorantly done, and 
 offering to return to his own Home, fince 
 God feemed now fo difpleafed with his 
 Journey to the Land of Moab (/). I will 
 not pretend to decide, whether the Meffen- 
 gers of Balak, who were prefent at this ex* 
 traordinary Scene, did fee the Angel, or heard 
 what he faid to the Prophet, becaufe the 
 Text hints nothing of it ; but as they could 
 not but hear what he faid to the heavenly 
 MefTenger, and admire his humble Behaviour 
 to him, they muft of courfe fuppofe, that 
 there muft be fomething more than natural 
 that had thus flayed the Afs in its Way, and 
 new at laft extorted fuch Language and De- 
 portment from its Rider ; for hitherto he had 
 
 betrayed 
 
 (t) Num. ub. fup. Vet. 21 34, 
 
i 7 o ESSAY II. 
 
 betrayed fuch uncommon Eagernefs to go 
 With them, and fatitfy their Delires, in hopes 
 of the large Rewards promifed to him, that 
 he could not forbear exprefling an indecent 
 Refentment againft the Bead, for feeming to 
 oppofe or retard his Speed ; whereas, after 
 the feeing of this unexpected Virion, he ap- 
 pears altogether difcouraged, and ready to de- 
 iiii, and give up all further Hopes of Prefer- 
 ment. And as this Rencounter made him 
 fo ftrangeiy alter his Behaviour, and cafl fuch 
 a Damp upon his fanguine Views j fo I 
 doubt not, but in the Account he gave 
 them of it, as they went on, it produced a 
 different Kind of Difcourfe with f .hem, and 
 fuch as would prove a proper Preface to the 
 Difappointment they were like to meet with. 
 For it is plain, from the ltrict Charge which 
 the Angel gave him, of [peaking only 'what 
 God ftould ditfate to him (#), that he had 
 no great Hopes, that the Event would prove 
 according to his and their Willies. And ac- 
 cordingly, upon his firil Approach to the 
 Moahitijh King, he prepares him in the fame 
 Way, by telling him, that, now he was 
 
 come, 
 * 
 
 (u) Num. ub. fup. Vcrfe 35. 
 
OnTS&d&msDifappointwent, &c. 171 
 
 come, he had no Ppwer at all to fpeak any 
 thing, but what the Lord mould pleafe to 
 put in his Mouth (w). And it is hardly to 
 be doubted, but his Meffengers took alfo 
 Care to inform him of all that had parTed 
 in their Journey homewards ; particularly, 
 the Rencounter with the Angel, and the Ad- 
 venture of the Afs : From both which they 
 might find Occafion to infer a Likelihoood, 
 that their Deligns againfh Ifrael were going 
 to be defeated by a fuperior Power; and 
 might be more upon their Guard to examine 
 every Circumftance, to prevent their being 
 impofed upon by the Perfon who was pitched 
 upon to be the chief Actor in it. For hither- 
 to I fee no Reafon to fufpect him of any 
 Cheat -j becaufe, tho' he might be eafily fup- 
 poled to have contrived that furprifing Scene, 
 and pretended an extraordinary Vifion, in 
 order to cover his Want of Power or Skill, 
 or to avoid Balak's. Refentment ; yet how 
 could he ever manage his dull Beaft fo art- 
 fully, as make it contribute its Part in, and 
 to act it with the fame Exadlnefs as he did 
 his own, without being perceived by fome 
 
 of 
 
 (w) Num. ub.fup. Verfe ?8. 
 
i 7 2 ESSAY II. 
 
 of the By-ftanders ? How could he make it 
 ftand ftock ftill in one Place, fqueeze itfelf 
 a^ainft a Wall in another, to avoid fomething 
 which neither he nor they could fee j and in 
 the third to crouch at once on its Belly ; and 
 in all three of them to continue •• motionlefs, 
 under fuch a Volley of dry Blows, and efcape 
 the Notice of fome or other of his numerous 
 Retinue ? But I fhall fufficiently (hew, by- 
 and-by, how inconfiftent his Deportment in 
 the Land of Moab, the lingular manner of 
 his blefling the Ifraelitijh Tribes, and the Na- 
 ture and Extent of the Prophecy he uttered 
 on that Occafion, is to fuch a Suppolition. 
 But before I am come to that, it will be 
 neccfTary to remove the two great Difficulties 
 which your Antagonift raifes againfl the Pro- 
 bability of the Adventure j viz. That of the 
 Afs's afluming, as he terms it, an human 
 Voice and Speech, and a reasonable Faculty, 
 which, even according to the Mofaic Rela- 
 xation, appears much fuperior to that of its 
 Mailer, tho 1 a Prophet and Diviner : And, 
 idly j The ftrange Rebuke which the Angel 
 gives to the latter, for his ill-timed Cruelty 
 to the former, allowing the Cafe to have 
 
 been 
 
On Balaam V Dij appointment \ &c. 173 
 
 been worthy of the Interpolation of fuch an 
 
 heavenly Meflenger. 
 
 As to the firft, the Impoflibility of an 
 Afs's affuming (he fhould have faid rather, 
 being miraculoufly endowed with) an human 
 Voice, and rational Faculty, it will be time 
 enough to anfwer it, when he hath proved 
 that pretended Impoflibility of all Miracles, 
 of which this is allowed to be one ; and that 
 no more againft Nature, or above tr^e Power 
 of an almighty Agent, than any of fchofe 
 that were wrought in Egypt, or at the Red 
 Sea > and for which I fhall refer him to what 
 hath been faid upon that Subject in the laft 
 Eflay (#), and more particularly againft the 
 pretended Impoflibility of all Miracles in 
 general (y). For if it be once allowed that 
 God hath flill referved to himfelf the Power, 
 for fome wife and important Ends, to dif- 
 penfe with his own Laws (and his bare De- 
 nial of it, againft all Reafon, and the Senfe 
 of all Nations, is no Proof, that he hath not 
 or cannot do fo), how will he make it ap- 
 pear, that it is more above the Power of an 
 
 almighty 
 
 (x) See before, p. 33, & feq. 
 
 (y) Ibid. p. 29, tf feq. 39, & feq. 
 
i 7 4 ESSAY II. 
 
 almighty .Being, to enable a dumb Animal 
 to pronounce fome few articulate Words, in a 
 rational Order, than to cleave the Red Sea, 
 to rain down Manna fix Days, and with-hold 
 it on the feventh, or to cure the deadly Sting 
 of. fiery Serpents by the bare looking on an 
 artificial brazen one ? And if it be farther 
 objected, that the dumbBeait mewed a greater 
 Degree of Wifdom than the Prophet that 
 rode it, where even then will be the Won- 
 der, if we coniider who infpired it ? And if 
 fome of the Brute Creation do, in many Cafes, 
 difplay a greater Sagacity in their Actions 
 than thofe of the human Species, who value 
 themfelves fo much on their fuperior Facul- 
 ties ; need we be furprifed here, that the 
 moft ftupid of all Animals, being, on fuch 
 a particular Occafion as this, endowed with 
 a much higher Degree of Rationability, which 
 is the utmoft Extent that can be allowed to 
 the Miracle, mould argue more juftly than 
 its Matter, whofe Judgment was hurried 
 away by the Torrent of his boundlefs Am- 
 bition, and the Profpecl of fome confiderable 
 Advancement ? If any thing feems to chal- 
 lenge our Admiration on this Occafion, it 
 mult be, one would think, the Method which 
 
 the 
 
On Balaam' s Difappohitment, &c. 175 
 
 the Divine Providence made choice of to ex- 
 pofe the Stupidity of the Prophet (z) ; and 
 to deter both him, and thofe who lent for 
 him, from purfuing their malevolent Views 
 againft the Ifraelites ; and his choc ling ratner 
 by that means to forewarn them of the Dan- 
 ger they would bring upon them, than to 
 punifh them for perfifting in them. He 
 might as eafily have ordered the Angel to 
 punifh Balaam with immediate Death, as 
 barely to obftrud his Career ; but if he pie- 
 fers the fparing him, in order to make him 
 a more effectual Inftrument to convince both 
 Moab and Midian, how vain and dangerous 
 all their Efforts would prove, againft a Peo- 
 ple whom he had taken under his fpecial 
 Conduct and Favour, why ihould'the Singu- 
 larity of the Miracle be deemed a furlicient 
 Proof againft the Reality of it, when it is, 
 in all other refpects, fo agreeable to the di- 
 vine Goodnefs ? 
 
 I would farther obferve here, that the 
 opening the Mouth of the dumb Afs could 
 not but be a convincing Proof, both to Ba- 
 laam, 
 
 (z) 2 Pet, ii. 1 6, 
 
176 ESSAY II. 
 
 laam, and his Company, how vain and fruit- 
 lefs it would be for him to attempt, or them 
 to bribe him, to fpeak otherwife than God 
 fhould direct him ; fince the fame Power 
 that could enable a dumb Beaft to fpeak, con- 
 trary to its Nature, was no lefs able to in- 
 terdict the Tongue of its Rider from utter- 
 ing any thing but what fhould be dictated to 
 him. God might, indeed, without any far- 
 ther Miracle, have put it wholly out of his 
 Power to have done otherwife ; but if, in- 
 ftead of depriving him of his Liberty upon 
 this extraordinary Occalion, he is rather 
 pleafed to deter him from abufing it, and his 
 Moabitifi Retinue from tempting him to it, 
 by the miraculous Speaking of a dumb Afs j 
 was not this a mod rational Way of con- 
 vincing both, of his divine Interpolation in 
 favour of the Ifraelites? And here, by-the- 
 by, did your Antagonift never read of an 
 Afs fpeak ing to Bacchus, a Lamb to (Phrixius, 
 an Horfe to Achilles and Adra/tus, a Bull to 
 Europa, and an Elephant to Porus (a) f 
 Should it be faid, that thefe fabulous Stories 
 probably took their Rife from this of Mofes, 
 
 as 
 
 (a) Vid, Patric. Comment, in Num. XXif. 
 
Qn Balaa m *s Dif appointment y 8cc. 177 
 as that of lphigenia from that of Jephthah's 
 Daughter (b) ; and others of the like Kind? 
 Would it not rather confirm than confute 
 them ? Doth it not fhew, that the Original of 
 them had their Foundation in Truth, what- 
 ever may be fuppofed of the Copies ? Are not 
 moreover antient Oracles faid to have been 
 given by Stones, Trees, and other inanimate 
 Things ? And whence had thefe their Ori- 
 gin, more probably than from the miracu- 
 lous Urim and Tbummtm^ worn by the Jewijh 
 High-Prieft (c) ? 
 
 However, left the Miracle of the dumb 
 Bead above-mentioned mould not prove fuf- 
 ficient to difiiiade the ambitious Prophet 
 from purfuing his hoftile Defigns, God is 
 pleafed to add another, no lefs deterring ; viz* 
 the Apparition, and fevere Threatening, of an 
 Angel ; that as the firft plainly (hewed how 
 eafily God could direct and controul his 
 Words, fo the other might convince him of 
 the Danger of difobeying his exprefs Com- 
 mands. 
 
 N If 
 
 (b) Judg. xi. 30, &f feq. 
 
 (c) See Un. Hifi. fol. Edit, vol. i. ch. vii. feci, i. & 
 2vo. vol. iii. p. 76, fcf feq. fub not. 436, fc? feq. (C); 
 
178 ESSAY II. 
 
 If your Antagonift fliould infift, that the 
 above Inftances, out of Heathen Authors, 
 ought to be understood in a figurative or al- 
 legorical Senfe, I would afk of him, why 
 may not the fame be as well faid of this I 
 am upon ? Sure I am, that it carries with it 
 a much more excellent and inftrucldve Mo- 
 ral, than any that he can draw out of his 
 profane Mythologifts - 3 whilft it reprefents 
 to us, in the mod glaring Light, the dread- 
 ful Effects of Ambition and Avarice, in the 
 Perfon of one of the moil celebrated Diviners 
 of the Eaft - 3 who, in fpite of his great Skill, 
 Learning, and other lingular Qualifications, 
 fuffers himfelf to be hurried, as it were blind- 
 fold, by his predominant Paflion, into the 
 greateft Danger -, fo that neither God's ex- 
 prefs Prohibition and Threats, nor his other 
 miraculous Warnings, can prevent his falling a 
 fatal Sacrifice to it. I may fafeiy add, that 
 fuch an allegorical Application is fo far from 
 being inconfiftent with the main Scope of 
 whole Tranfaction, that the moll: remarkable 
 ones of this Nature, recorded in Holy Writ, 
 plainly appear to have been conducted by 
 the Divine Providence, with this further View, 
 
 either 
 
On Balaam V Dif appointment y &c. 179 
 
 either of prophetic Warning to the Perfons 
 concerned, or of Inftruction to thofe that 
 fhould read or hear of them afterwards. Thus 
 I obferved, in the former Effay, how Aaron s 
 Rod, fwallowing up thofe of the Egyptian 
 Inchanters, was defigned, mofi probably, to 
 fhew the ill Succefs that would attend the 
 latter, in their ill-timed Oppofition of the 
 former j and that the turning the Waters in- 
 to Blood did no lefs pre-fignify the dreadful 
 Cataft rophe that was to clofe up the whole 
 Conteft (d). And why may we not fuppofe 
 this whole Tranfaction to have been thus 
 conducted with the fame gracious View, not 
 only towards the infatuated Prophet, whofe 
 Thirft after Honour and Preferment made 
 him overlook the moft imminent Danger to 
 which that had expofed him \ and, at the 
 fame time, to deter both Moab and Midian 
 from purfuing their vain and injurious Ef- 
 forts againft the Ifraelites? Your Antagonift 
 ought to have known, that fuch allegorical 
 Way of Writing and Interpreting was one 
 of the moft efteemed Branches of Learning 
 in thofe Days ; and no Man was better qua- 
 N 2 lifted 
 
 (d) See before, p. 97, &f feq. 110, fcf feq. 
 
180 ESSAY II. 
 
 lifted than Balaam to have made a true Ap- 
 plication of every particular Event, had his 
 Ambition permitted him to reflect ferioufly 
 upon it. However, the IfTue fufficiently ex- 
 plained their Intention : Balak, having tried 
 in vain to avert God's fpecial Bleffing from 
 the Ifraelites, by all the Ways which his 
 Superstition could fugged: to him, ot Balaams 
 Skill contrive, difmiffes him with this re- 
 markable Speech; I thought indeed to promote 
 thee to great Honour j but the Lord Jehovah 
 hath kept thee back from Honour (e). After 
 which we do not find, that he tried any 
 further Inchantments, or other means, to an- 
 noy the JJraelites ; if we except his joining 
 with the Midianitcs in the Project of de- 
 bauching them by the Charms of their 
 beautiful Females ; of which moft pernicious 
 Attempt I fhall fpeak in the Sequel ; but, 
 from that time, left them to enjoy the Di- 
 vine Bleffing and Guidance unmolefted ; by 
 which he faved himfelf, and his People, from 
 that dreadful and univerfal Deft ruction, which 
 the Midianitcs brought upon themfelves, by 
 too greedily purfuing Balaams deftructive 
 
 Counfel ; 
 
 {c) Num. xxiv. ii. 
 
On Balaam V Dif appointment ^ &c. 1 8 1 
 Counfel ; and in which they quickly became 
 the dreadful Victims j he, of his Ambition and 
 Avarice j and they, of their unjuil Hatred 
 and Impiety (f). 
 
 By this time, I hope, another of your An- 
 tagonists Difficulties is pretty well cleared j 
 whether the perverfe View of the ambitious 
 Prophet was 3. thing of Moment enough to 
 deferve the Commiilioning of an Angel to 
 oppofe him ? God might indeed have Hop- 
 ped him fhort, by an immediate and irrefifti- 
 ble Impulfe j but how could the By-ftanders 
 have known whether it was a divine one, or 
 only occafioned by fome confcious Fear, ei- 
 ther of his own Inability, or of expofing 
 himfelf to fome dreadful Refentment, either 
 from the Moabitijh Monarch, or from the 
 Ifraelitifo Hoft ? Befides, fuch an abfolute 
 Restraint upon the Will would have been 
 inconfiftent with the Method of God's deal- 
 ing with rational Creatures ; nor could it 
 have turn'd to his Glory, like that of con- 
 vincing them by Arguments fuitable to their 
 rational Faculties, and Freedom of Will : 
 N 3 For, 
 
 (/) Nitm.xxv.pajf. xxxi. faff, i — 8. 
 
i8a ESSAY II. 
 
 For, by this means, he no lefs difplays his 
 Mercy and Goodnefs, than he doth his Ju- 
 ftice, in punifliing them for their Abufe of 
 it ; as here in the Cafe of Balaam^ and the 
 Midianites. And can it be faid, that the De- 
 claring of the divine Will, either to a whole 
 Nation, or even to one (ingle Perfon, for 
 their Sakes, in order to convince them, that 
 their Devices, and hoftile Stratagems, were 
 quite oppofite to it, and would not only 
 prove vain and fruitlefs, but dangerous and 
 hurtful, was beneath the Office or Dignity 
 of an Angel ? 
 
 But your Antagonift feems moftly diffatif- 
 fied with the Behaviour and Reproof of the 
 Angel to the Prophet ; and thinks, that his 
 declaring, that he would furely have killed 
 him, if his Afs had not prevented it, by 
 luckily avoiding to come within his Reach, 
 is more becoming the Language of an infernal, 
 than that of an heavenly, Meffenger. But here 
 again he quite miftakes the Cafe. The 
 Words of the Angel, how fevere foever, be- 
 ing only defigned to deter the ambitious 
 Prophet from purfuing a Defign, which, how 
 intereiting foever it might appear to him, 
 
 would 
 
On Balaam 9 s Dif appointment > 8cc. 183 
 
 would furcly turn to his Deftrudtion, and of 
 thofe who engaged him in it, cannot be juilly 
 faid to favour of the Malignancy of an infer- 
 nal Spirit ; but rather, by far, to be exactly 
 agreeable to the benevolent Nature of an hea- 
 venly one -, and, if candidly interpreted, ac- 
 cording to the Hebrew Idiom, and duly com- 
 pared with the Conteft, muft be readily ac- 
 knowleged to amount to no more than this j 
 " How couldft thou thus unjuftly and re- 
 u peatedly abufe thy innocent Beaft, and 
 " not rather conclude, from her unufual 
 " ftarting afide, and crouching under thee, 
 " that fomething extraordinary muft have 
 " flood in her Way, and obliged her to do 
 <l fo ? For, behold, 1 was indeed fent on 
 11 Purpofe to oppofe thee ; becaufe thy Views 
 " were perverfe before God, and oppofite 
 " to his Defign, in permitting thee to go 
 <c with all this People. The Si<?ht of me 
 " hath made thy Afs decline me thefe three 
 " times; and well it is for thee, that fbme 
 li divine Impulfe enabled her both to per- 
 " ceive and avoid me, which was a fureSig. 
 <c nal to me, that I mould fpare and let 
 <c thee go on ; and that the Divine Provi- 
 " dence defigned to crofs thy malicious Pur- 
 N 4 " pofe 
 
1 84 ESSAY II. 
 
 <c pofe againft Ifrael ; and oblige thee, in 
 ** ipite of thy fanguine Hopes, to declare 
 c< thofe fignally bleffed, whom thou wert 
 ct hired to curfe ; for had it not been for 
 " that, I had certainly put an End at once 
 <c both to thy Life, and to thy ambitious 
 eC Attempts ; and faved thy innocent Beaft." 
 For, whatever vour Antagonift may pleafe to 
 infer from Mofes's Words, it is plain, that 
 the Sparing or the Prophet was not owing to 
 the accidental Declining of the Afs, but to 
 her being enabled to perceive and avoid the 
 threatening Angel, by turning afide from 
 him ; and, where the Narrownefs of the 
 Way would not permit her to do fo, by 
 flopping fhort, and crouching upon her Belly : 
 Both which being owing to a miraculous Im- 
 pulfe, gave timely Notice to the Angel to 
 fray his Hand. The feverer therefore the 
 Threatening was, the more kindly muft 
 we judge it to have been meant; as it was 
 indeed the niofl effectual Way to deter the 
 infatuated Balaam from milling farther into 
 his utter Ruin (g), 
 
 I come 
 
 [g) Num. xxii. 32, & fef. 
 
On Balaam' s Difappointment^ &c. 185 
 
 I come next to the Apology which the 
 Prophet makes to the Angel, which, ac- 
 cording to our Verfion, runs thus {IS) : I have 
 finned ; ftr I knew not that thou fioodeft in 
 my Way. But that this cannot be the true 
 Meaning of his Words, is manifeft; for how 
 could he be guilty in this re f peel:, if his Eyes 
 were with-held from feeing him? But, accord- 
 ing to the Hebrew Idiom, they carry a much 
 higher Senfe, and more agreeable to the Con- 
 text j viz. I have finned, or tranfgrejfed y in 
 that I did not know, or duly confuier, that 
 thou ftoodefi in my Way ; or, in other 
 Words, that thou did{i oppofe my Proceeaing 
 (D) j sr that it could be difpleafing to God y 
 who had given me exprefs Leave to go. But 
 
 (h) Num. xxii. 34. 
 
 (D) Much fuch another 
 Apology did St. Paul make 
 before the Sanhedrin, when 
 accufed of reviling God's 
 Higb-Prieft, for unjufily 
 caufing him to be fmitten 
 in the Mouth : / wlji not, 
 Brethren, fays he, that he 
 
 mw % 
 
 tvas the Higb-Prie/i (1) : 
 For it is plain, that he could 
 not but know him, both 
 by his peculidr Habit, and 
 by his fitting in the upper- 
 moft Place of that AfTem- 
 bly. So that he could 
 mean no other, than that 
 fin 
 
 (]) AP.s xxiii. 5. 
 
i86 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 noWy continueth he, face I find it to be fo, I will 
 readily retur?i home again. According to 
 this Senfe, Balaam artfully evades the Charge 
 laid againft him by the Angel, of having per- 
 verted his Way ; that is, as I explained it 
 a little higher, of entertaining Views fo 
 very oppofite to the Divine Will, as he could 
 not but know were fufficient to expofe him 
 to the Divine Difpleafure ; tho' not enough 
 fo, to make him apprehenfive, or even 
 
 dream, 
 
 (in the Height of his Re- 
 sentment) he had not duly 
 confidered who the Perfon 
 was, whom he had thus 
 reviled, contrary to the 
 Mofaic Law. 
 
 Some Interpreters indeed 
 infift, that the Words I did 
 not know, mould be tranf- 
 lated, / do not acknowlege 
 him to be God's High- 
 Prieft y becaufe, as that 
 Dignity was become venal 
 under the Romans (2), 
 thofe Pontiffs who were 
 raifed to it by that un- 
 lawful Way, were not ac- 
 
 knowleged by the ftricter 
 Sort of Jevjs } which may 
 have been the Rcafon of 
 St.PWsexpreffing himfelf 
 10(3). But either of thofe 
 Senfes will be ftill agreea» 
 ble to the Context, andZte- 
 laam will mean no more, 
 than that his Ambition or 
 Avarice had not permitted 
 him to confider, whether 
 his Proceeding was indeed 
 of fo difpleafing a Nature 
 to God, as to bring upon 
 him fuch a miraculous Op- 
 pofition. 
 
 (2) See Un. Hift.fol. Edit. vol. iv. ch. xi. fed. 6.; Svo. 
 Edit. vol. x. p. 521. 
 
 (3) See Le Scene Ejfay on a new Verfion. Tojlaty 
 Jun. Burkit) & al. in loc. 
 
 
0/7 Balaam 1 *s D ] ij 'appointment, 8cc. 187 
 
 dream, of fuch an extraordinary Oppofition. 
 But the Words in the Original are ftill capa- 
 ble of another Senfe ; viz. I have finned, 
 therefore did not perceive that thou fioodejl 
 to oppofe my Way : Or, in other Words, It is 
 my Fault that 1 did not perceive, that thou 
 wert averfe to my Proceedings ; for that is 
 the Englijh of that Hebrew Expreilion. Now 
 therefore, fince they are difpleafng unto thee, 
 I will get me back again. Here the An- 
 gel, having thus far deterred Balaam from 
 purfuing his ambitious and hoftile Defign, 
 gives him frefh Leave to go on with Balak's 
 Meffengers ; but with this exprefs Caution, 
 however, that he mould not fpeak any thing 
 but what was dictated to him (/). Accord- 
 ingly, he readily declares to that Monarch, 
 upon his coming to welcome him, that he 
 had really no Power to fpeak a Word for, or 
 againft, the Ifraelites, but what God jhould 
 pleafe to put into his Mcicth (k). So far had 
 the Rencounter and Warning of the hea- 
 venly Meffenger wrought upon the ambitious 
 Prophet, that he feems to have been fully 
 determined to renounce all Hopes of Riches 
 
 or 
 
 (i) Num. xxii. 35. 
 (a) Ibid. Verfe 38. 
 
188 ESSAY IT. 
 
 or Preferment, rather than go one Step be- 
 yond his Commiffion. But here your Anta- 
 gonift afks, Why mould two fuch Angu- 
 lar Miracles be wrought in vain ? Or could 
 not the Divine Providence forefee the little 
 Effect they would have on the ambitious Pro- 
 phet, till it came to the Proof ? To which 
 I anfwer, That God did certainly forefee, 
 that his Avarice and Ambition would fo far 
 get the better of his Fears, as foon as the 
 Allurements of Balafcs great Offers came in 
 Competition with thefe Warnings ; and yet 
 it would be very unjuft to ftile thofe Miracles 
 vain, whilfl they fo fully anfwered the End 
 for which they were wrought ; viz. To dif- 
 play God's Goodnefs towards even that in- 
 fatuated Prophet, in trying, by rational Mo- 
 tives, to divert him from his felfifh Views, 
 without infringing on his free Will. 2dly, To 
 prepare the Moab'itifi Meffengers, and, by 
 their means, thofe who had' fent them on 
 that hoftile and fruitlefs Errand, for the fub- 
 iequent and more fenfible Tokens he was 
 going to give them, as well of his unalterable 
 Purpofes in favour of the Ijraelites, as of the 
 Folly, Impiety, and Danger, of attempting, 
 by whatfoever means, to obftru<3: them. Can 
 
 it 
 
On Balaam V Dif appointment, &c. 189 
 
 it bereafonably faid that thofe Miracles, which 
 were wrought in Egypt, were wrought in 
 vain, becaufe they met with fo little Regard 
 from Pharaoh, and his Court ? But I mail 
 not repeat here what hath been laid in a 
 former EiTay upon that Subjeft (/) j and the 
 Event hath but too plainly {hewn an impar- 
 tial Reader, to what Caufe to attribute their 
 unhappy Inefficacy, both there, and in the 
 Land of Moab, to need our dwelling any far- 
 ther upon it. 
 
 It muft be owned, that Mofes's Account 
 of this extraordinary Tranfaction is very fuc- 
 cincl, and leaves us to feek for fundry par- 
 ticular Circumftances •, which, though he 
 thought of lefs Moment to the main Defign 
 of his Narrative, yet would, in all Likeli- 
 hood, have obviated many of the Difficulties 
 ftarted by your . Antagonift, if they had been 
 mentioned by him. But if fo many of them 
 may be fairly gathered from the Whole, as 
 will clear up thofe feeming Difficulties ; we 
 fhall have Caufe rather to admire his Wif- 
 dom, than to complain of his Concifenefs. 
 
 Now 
 
 (I) See before, p. 78, & feq. 104, & f<q* 
 
i 9 o ESSAY II. 
 
 Now it plainly appears, from the Tenor of 
 his Relation, that the Moabitijh King, as 
 well as his new Allies, placed fuch Confi- 
 dence in the Efficacy of Balaam's Bleffings 
 and Curfes (which was no extraordinary 
 thing, confidering the reigning Superftition 
 of thofe Times), that he would have fpared 
 neither Rewards, nor fumptuous Promifes, to 
 have obtained a plentiful Shower of the latter 
 upon the fo much dreaded Ifraelitijh Hoft 
 (/») ; in confequence of which they would 
 have fallen, with the utmoft Speed and Fury, 
 upon them ; and made the moll dreadful 
 Slaughter they could among them. It is 
 true, God might eafily have turned their 
 hoftile Defigns, with a tenfold Ufury, upon 
 their own Heads ; but yet he rather choofes 
 to fpare them; doubtlefs out of the fame 
 Regard to their Anceftor Lot, that had in- 
 duced him to forbid the Ifraelites to commit 
 any Hostilities againfl them (n) ; and to con- 
 vince them, in the mildefl and moft rational 
 manner, both of the Injustice and dangerous 
 Confequences of their Enmity, as well as of 
 the Impiety and Folly of all their fuperfti- 
 
 tious 
 
 (m) Num. xxii. 6. 
 (n) Deut. ii. g. 
 
On Balaam'* Dif appointment ^ &c. 191 
 
 tious Projects and Attempts againft a Nation, 
 fo favoured and protected by his unerring 
 Providence ; to the effectual Accomplifhing 
 of which nothing more was required, than 
 the obliging of the infatuated Prophet, againft 
 his own Will and Intereft, to blefs it in as 
 fignal and effedual a manner, as he or they 
 could wim to have them curfed. 
 
 Whether Balaam did certainly conclude, 
 from the Angel's ambiguous Commands, 
 not to fpeak any thing but what was put 
 into his Mouth (0), that God was deter- 
 mined to make him blefs the Ifraelites or 
 no, is not clear from the Text ; tho' enough 
 had been faid and fhewn to make him ap- 
 prehend, that this would be the Refult of his 
 being permitted to purfue his Journey. He 
 did not remain long, however, in Sufpenfe 
 about it, after his Arrival : For when, on 
 the very next Morning, he was conducted 
 by the Moabitifi King unto an Eminence, 
 from which he could behold the Ifraelitijh 
 Camp (p) ; he foon concluded, as well from 
 their prodigious Multitude, amounting to no 
 
 lefs 
 
 (0) Num. xxii. 35. 
 
 (p) Sue Num. xxiii. 8, 9, & 10, 
 
i 9 2 ESSAY II. 
 
 tefs than 600,000 armed Warriors, as from 
 the Strength and Regularity of their En- 
 campment, and their peaceable and orderly 
 Difcipline, how impomble it would be to 
 prevail againft an Hod: fo numerous, fo well 
 trained, and fo divinely protected ; and how 
 vain and dangerous it would be for him to 
 pronounce a Curfe on a People fo vifibly 
 favoured and blefTed by the Supreme Being. 
 On the other hand, the Dread of Balak'Sy 
 and the Midianitifh Princes Refentment, who 
 had him now in their Power, and might 
 fufpect his Non-compliance to proceed from 
 fome fecret Confederacy with their Enemies, 
 rather than a Divine Interpofition, added to 
 the Mortification of feeing himfelf at once 
 deprived of all his flattering Profpects, could 
 not but give him the greateft Uneafinefs : So 
 that, to extricate himfelf, if poffible, from fo 
 dangerous a Dilemma, he fees himfelf obliged 
 to have recourfe to fome of thole Inchant- 
 ments, which, according to the fuperftitious 
 Theology of thofe Times, were imagined to 
 be the moft capable of engaging the Sun, 
 Moon, Stars, and all other inferior Dignities, 
 to efpoufe the Quarrel of Moab and Midian 
 againft the Israelites : And here again the 
 
 Divine 
 
OnBaharnsDifappohitment, Sec. 193 
 
 Divine Providence, purfuing ftill the fame 
 mild and gracious Tract, is pleafed to permit 
 him to try the utmoit of his Skill, in order 
 the more effectually to convince him, and 
 his infatuated Clients,, of the Vanity and In- 
 efficacy of his Art ; and oblige them to ac- 
 knowlege with him, that furely there was 
 no Inchantment againjl Jacob, nor Divination 
 that could prevail againfi Ifrael (2). 
 
 But here it may appear fomewhat fur- 
 prifing, that Balaa??i fhould fo foon forget 
 his former Refolution, or obliterate the Im- 
 preffion which his late Encounter with the 
 Angel had made upon him ; and much more 
 fo* how he could be fo foon prevailed upon 
 to act contrary to that noble Declaration he 
 had fo lately made to Balak, That if he 
 would give him his Houfe full of Silver and 
 Gold, he could not be allowed to utter one 
 Word beyond what the Lord (Jehovah) 
 was pleafed to dictate to him. But the Won- 
 der will foon vanifh, if we confider, iji t 
 That Balak might take that as an artful 
 Grimace, chiefly calculated to extort a more 
 O ample 
 
 [0) Num. xxiii, 23. 
 
T 9 4 ESSAY II. 
 
 ample Reward from him j and, on that ac- 
 count, be the more profuie in his Promifes 
 to him 5 as he could not but plainly fee, that 
 Avarice and Ambition were his predominant 
 Paffions. idly, Balaam had, by this time, 
 beheld fo much of the Splendor of the Mo- 
 abitifi Court, and received fuch extraordinary 
 Honours and Carefles, both from that, and 
 from the Midianitifi Princes, as might eafily 
 outbalance all other Con fide rations with him ; 
 and if he ftill retained, as he could hardly do 
 otherwife, any Fear of the Divine Difpleafure, 
 it was now outweighed by a greater and 
 more affecting one, to a Man of his Charac- 
 ter j r oiz. that of forfeiting all thofe Honours, 
 and flattering Promifes, and being difmiffed 
 with Shame and Difgrace. However, $dly y 
 He had ftill a Salvo againft his Fear of the 
 Divine Difpleafure, namely, that he did not 
 intend, by thofe Inchantments, to thwart 
 thePurpofes of the Supreme Being ; but only 
 to try to render them more favourable to his 
 Wifhes, by taking to his Affiftance all thofe 
 inferior Deities, and ftriving to obtain that 
 by their Mediation, and benign Influence, 
 which he could not procure to his generous 
 
 Clients 
 
On Balaam'* Dif appointment ^ &c. 195 
 
 Clients by any other Intereft (E). Accord- 
 ingly, the firft Eflay he made was the order- 
 ing of leven Altars to be built, and a Bullock 
 and a Ram to be offered upon each of them 
 (p) : Where it is worth obferving, that this 
 Kind and Number of Victims is not only in- 
 joined by the Mofa'tc Law, upon various Oc- 
 cafions ; but likewife to Job's three Friends, 
 by way of Atonement for their Trefpafs (q). 
 But as to that Number of Altars, we no 
 where read of any fuch ; nor indeed of any 
 O 1 more 
 
 (p) Nu?n. xxiii. I, & feq. 
 (q) Job, cap. tilt, ver. 8. 
 
 (E) There could be no- 
 thing in all this, incon- 
 Fiflent either with the fu- 
 perftitious Theology of 
 thofe Nations, or incon- 
 gruous to the Character 
 of Balaam, both as Pro- 
 phet, and Worfhiper of 
 the true God, as I have 
 ftiewn at the Entrance on 
 this Eflay. And in cafe 
 his Endeavours to obtain 
 the fo much defired Fa- 
 vour did not meet with 
 Succefs, he could but, ac- 
 cording to his former Rcfo- 
 lution, comply with God's 
 Injunction of bleffing If- 
 
 rael, in what manner, and 
 to what Degree, he fhould 
 pleafe to order it ; in which 
 cafe he would be then fo 
 far acquitted by Moab and 
 Midian, that he had done 
 all in his Power to anfwer 
 their Requefts, and that 
 his Difappointment was vi- 
 fibfy owing to a divine and 
 irrefiftiblelnterpoficion ; to 
 the Truth of which, the 
 Rencounter with the An- 
 gel, and the Miracle of 
 the dumb Afs's fpraking,as 
 feen znd vouched by Ba~ 
 lak's Meffengers, would 
 give a ftill greater Sanction. 
 
196 ESSAY II. 
 
 more than one at a time, either under the 
 Patriarchal, or Mofaic, Difpenfation ; nei- 
 ther indeed was a greater Number compati- 
 ble with the Notion of one Supreme Being, 
 which Balaam profefied to worfhip. But if 
 he reared them to the feven Planets, which 
 were efleemed the greateft and raoft power- 
 ful of all the fubordinate Deities, as we have 
 great Reafon to fuppofe he did, becaufe that 
 kind of Theology had been fome time in vogue 
 in Egypt, and fpread itlelf all over thofe Parts 
 (/-) j then it is plain, that he applied to them 
 in that manner, only as to the mod power- 
 ful Mediators, to render the Supreme Deity 
 propitious to his Wiihes. What makes this 
 Interpretation appear to me the moft. proba- 
 ble is, that upon his firft Rencounter with 
 God, at the Conclufion of the firft of 
 thofe grand Ceremonies, he addreffes him 
 in thefe Terms j / have prepared /even 
 Altars, and offered upon each of them a Bui- 
 lock, and a Ram (s) ; but doth not, in either 
 Part, mention the Words, to Thee, as he 
 would of courfe have done, had thofe Altars 
 been designedly rear'd, or the Victims been 
 
 offered, 
 
 (r) See Shuck ford's Conncfi. fart iii. p. 327, & feq. 
 
On Balaam' j Dif appointment ^ Sec. 197 
 
 offered, to him : So that he means no more, 
 according to the Theology then reigning, 
 than this ; / have invoked, by the ufual Rites 
 the /even Planets, or inferior Deities, to 
 whom thou haji committed the Government of 
 the World, to interpofe their Mediation with 
 thee, on the behalf of Moab and Midian, 
 What confirms this Senfe ftill more is, that 
 after he has declared the Tenor of the Divine 
 Anfwer, in Terms the mod oppofite to Ba~ 
 lak's Wiflies, that Monarch doth not defire 
 him to apply himfelf to fome other inferior 
 Deities ; there being little Reafon to hope, 
 that thefe mould prove more fuccefsful than 
 the former; but only defires him to repeat 
 the fame Sacrifices to them, from fome other (/) 
 Eminence, which might prove more favour- 
 able than this. To which I may add, that 
 the laft two Trials are performed at the De- 
 lire, and in Compliance with, the fuperfti- 
 tious King ; and not by the Prophet's Ad- 
 vice or Choice 3 who could not but certainly 
 conclude, from the exprefs Tenor of the fir ft 
 Divine Anfwer, the ImpolTibility of obtain- 
 ing a Reversion of it. However, as this 
 Q 3 Worfhip 
 
 (t) Num, xxiii. 13. 
 
i 9 8 ESSAY II. 
 
 Worfhip and Invocation of the Planets was 
 one of the main Branches of heathenifh Ido- 
 latry, which God had fo folemnly declared 
 his Difpleafure againfr, and done fo many 
 Wonders, both in Egypt, and other Places, 
 to extirpate out of the Minds of thofe infa- 
 tuated Nations ; we may reafonably rank it 
 among the unlawful means which Balaam 
 made ufe of upon this Occafion, and which 
 Mofes mentions under the Name of Divina- 
 tions or Inchantments. Others he might, 
 2nd probably did ufe, which that Lawgiver 
 hath given us no farther Account of, than 
 where he tells us, that when he (Balaam) 
 found, at the third Trial, that God was 
 determined to blefs I/rael, he went not, as 
 at other times, to feek for them, but fet his 
 Face towards the Wildernefs ; that is, to- 
 wards the Ifraelitijh Hoft ; and having re- 
 ceived the Divine Impulle, delivered his third 
 Bleffing on them, in more emphatical and 
 magnificent Terms, than he had done at the 
 two former j till Balak, quite out of all Pa- 
 tience at his expreffing himfelf in fo high and 
 extraordinary a manner in favour of them, 
 and at his ftill ufing fome fre(h and addi- 
 tional Expreffions, of God's peculiar and un- 
 alterable 
 
On Balaam' j DiJ appointment , 8c c. 199 
 
 alterable Favour to them, above all other 
 Nations, at once filenced and difmifTed him 
 with Contempt and Difgrace («). 
 
 Here Jofephns acquaints us with fome far- 
 ther, and not improbable, Particulars, re- 
 lating to this extraordinary Tranfattion 5 
 which Mofes did not think worth inferting 
 in his concife Narrative 3 and, among them, 
 Balaam's Apology to the Moabitijh King ; 
 in which he allures him, that in all that he had 
 uttered in favour of Ifrael, he was no more 
 than a paffive Inftrument in the Hand of 
 the Supreme Being ; and that he neither 
 had Power to fpeak or act, nor Knowlegc 
 of what he faid or did j much lefs any Re- 
 membrance of the Defign for which he had 
 been fent for by him, or of his extreme De- 
 fire of complying with it j every Word being 
 forced from him by an irrefiftible Power, 
 and quite contrary to his own Inclination 
 (w). This is no more than Balak and his 
 Courtiers might eafily perceive, by his man- 
 ner of acling and fpeaking fo like what, vvc 
 read, was ufual, not only with the true 
 O 4 Prophets 
 
 (u) Num. xxiv, 10, & fe<u 
 (iv) Antiq. I. iv. c . 8. 
 
20o ESSAY II. 
 
 Prophets among the Jews, as well as with 
 the pretended ones, who had apoflatized to 
 the Worlhip of Baal ; both which had the 
 Character of Madmen given them (x) ; but 
 was alfo. believed to be the Cafe of the hea- 
 thenifh Pytbonejf'es, and other Oracle-mon- 
 gers. But the moft convincing Argument to 
 them, was his acting a Part fo contrary to 
 his Intereft and Inclination ; and the extreme 
 Mortification and Difpleafure we may rea- 
 sonably fuppofe him to have fhewn at his 
 Difappointment : From all which, both he, 
 his Princes and Allies, might be thoroughly 
 fatisfied, that their Defigns againft Ifrael 
 were defeated by a divine and irrefiftible 
 Power 5 and that all their future Attempts 
 would meet with no better, if not worfe, 
 Succeis than the former had done. 
 
 However, the Divine Providence took f pe- 
 dal Care to convince, not only them, but 
 future Ages, of his prophetic Commiffion, 
 before he left the Moabitijh Court : For he 
 no fooner had, in fome meafure, appeafed 
 the King's Anger, than he felt himfelf feized 
 
 with 
 
 (x) De bis vid. int. eh I Sam. xix. 23, &f feq. 
 I Kings xviii. 28. 2 Kings ix. 11, & alib. pajfl 
 
0^ Balaam' j Z)j/ appointment ',&c. 201 
 
 with a frefh prophetic Impulfe ; and, having 
 gained the Attention of the whole Aflembly, 
 began toex tend his Predictions on fundry King- 
 doms and People, and to difplay their various 
 Fates, both by Sea and Land, in fo plain a man- 
 ner, that whatever flight Impreffion they might 
 make on thofe that then heard him, yet, by their 
 timely Accomplishment afterwards, they fuf- 
 ficiently fhew'd, that they all flowed from the 
 fame divine Original (y). Among thefe none 
 was more remarkable, nor more univerfally 
 fpread all over the Eaft, than that of the 
 miraculous Star that (hould arife in Jacob, 
 and the Sceptre, or Kingdom, that was to 
 be founded in Ifrael (z) : The miraculous 
 Completion of which, in the Birth and Reign 
 of the Mefliah, tho' at the Diftance of above 
 1450 Years, hath given the greateft Evidence 
 to his prophetic Character, and to all his 
 former Predictions. - 
 
 All this, however, did not prevent the 
 difappointed Monarch's Refentment from 
 {hewing itfelf afrefh ; particularly, in his 
 difmiffing the Prophet, not only without 
 
 any 
 
 (y) Num. xx iv. 15, & feq, 
 (z) Ibid. Vcrfe 17, 
 
202 ESSAY II. 
 
 any Recompence, but likewife with this mor- 
 tifying Speech for it : I thought indeed to 
 have promoted thee to great Honours j but, lo ! 
 the LORD hath kept thee back from Ho* 
 nour (a). And here had been, in all Like- 
 lihood, an End put to all further Hoftilities 
 againft the Ifraelites, it being fcarcely to be 
 doubted, but both the Moabites and Midi- 
 anites mult have been fufficiently convinced, 
 by all that they had heard and feen, how 
 hazardous, as well as fruitlefs, all further 
 Attempts mufl have proved againft a Peo- 
 ple fo vifibly protected by the Divine Provi- 
 dence : Neither do we find that Balak, or 
 a«ny of his Subjects, attempted any thing 
 againft them ; or that Mofes was ordered to 
 take any farther Revenge of them for what 
 had palled, than that of damping a Brand of 
 indelible Ignominy upon them, by excluding 
 them for ever from the Ifraelitijh Congrega- 
 tion, and from being admitted to contract 
 any Affinity with them, or to be received as 
 Profelytes into their Commonwealth (b) : 
 Which Exciulion entailed a conftant Hatred 
 between them, and was the Caufe of many 
 
 (a) Num. xxiv. 10, II, IS fetu 
 (k) Deut. sxiii. 3, 4. 
 
On Balaam'* Difaffointment^ &c. 203 
 a bloody War between* them (c). It fared 
 indeed much worfe with the unhappy Midi- 
 anites y who became quickly after the dread- 
 ful Victims of the Prophet's Refentment, 
 and of their own obdurate Enmity againft the 
 Israelites. But that was for joining with 
 him in one of the moft hellifh Defigns, that 
 could well be hatched againft them. For 
 that impious and revengeful Wretch, vexed 
 at Heart at his Difgrace and Difappoint- 
 ment, foon ftrove to ftifle all Impreffion of 
 what had happened to him, except what 
 might ferve his vindictive Malice; and, right- 
 ly judging that their Happinefs would rife or 
 fall, according as they proved obedient to 
 their Divine Protector, immediately be- 
 thought himfelf of an Expedient, which 
 would make them curfe themfelves more 
 effectually, than all his Art and Inchantments 
 could poffibly have done ; which was, to 
 counfel the Moabitijh and Midianitijh Princes 
 to fend fome of their faireft and moft tempt- 
 ing Women, to entice them to Lewdnefs and 
 Idolatry. His Advice was foon put in Exe- 
 cution, and failed not of anfwering their Ex- 
 pectation ; 
 
 (c) Vid. int. ah Jud. iii. 12, &? feq. 2 Sam, viii. 2, 
 &fea. & alib. pajf, 
 
204 ESSAY II. 
 
 peclation ; as there could not indeed be a 
 more effectual Way than that, to deprive 
 them of the Divine Favour and Prote&ion. 
 However, God, who had permitted this Pro^ 
 ject to fucceed lb far, that a great Number 
 of Ijraelites had been already debauched, by 
 thofe fair Tempters, to the Worfhip of their 
 filthy Deity Badl-peor, was ibon pleafed to 
 interpofe, and nip it in the Bud, in a man- 
 ner no lefs uniform with his former Dealings 
 towards them, and agreeable to his Divine 
 Attributes. Firft, by caufing all thofe De- 
 linquents to be put to immediate Death, to 
 the Number of 24,000, as a Determent to 
 the reft > and then by commanding Mofes 
 forthwith to declare War again ft the Midia* 
 nites, who had, in all Probability, been the 
 moft forward in promoting this Apoftafy; 
 for thefe only are mentioned by Mofes, ae 
 involved in the dreadful Slaughter that enfued 
 (d) ; whilft the Moabites t at leaft Balak y and 
 the greater Part of his People, being deter- 
 red, by what had pa/Ted, from engaging with 
 them in that pernicious Stratagem, were 
 fpared by Mofes, either on that Account, or, 
 
 more 
 
 (d) Cumpnre Num. xxv, i, & feq. and it, & feq. 
 Sse alfo eb. xxxi. pejfl 
 
On Balaam^ Dif appointment, 6cc. 205 
 
 more probably, in Obedience to God's ex- 
 prefs Command in their Favour, as being 
 defcended from Lo/- 7 Abrahams Nephew (e). 
 I (owever that be, the Ifradita made fo hor- 
 rid a Slaughter of the former, that they de- 
 irroyed all their Males, flew their five Princes, 
 burnt all their Cities, and brought away an 
 immenfe Spoil. In this War Balaam^ the 
 Author of this dreadful Cataftrophe, being, 
 by fome fatal Impulie, induced to loiter ftill 
 in Midian, met with his ju-ft Reward; being 
 (lain by the Sword of the Ifraelites, whom 
 his curfed Advice had drawn into fo dan- 
 gerous a Defection, as mufl, in all Likeli- 
 hood, have been attended with fatal Confe- 
 quences, had not the Divine Providence thus 
 timely prevented it [f). We need not there- 
 fore wonder, either at his falling a Victim 
 to his ambitious Views, who, in fpite of all 
 the Warnings given to him, could yet con- 
 trive fuch an hellifh Defign againft them j or 
 at the fad Cataftrophe of the Midtanites, % 
 when we confider, how little Occafion there 
 was for their Rancour and Enmity againft, 
 
 or 
 
 (e ) Deut. ii. 9. 
 
 (f) See Ntim. xxv. faff, xxxi. 16, if feq. Deuter. 
 iv'. 3. 
 
206 ESSAY li. 
 
 or indeed what fmall Caufe they had to fear 
 any thing from, the Ifraelitijh Hoft, after 
 the mutual and hofpitable Kindnefs that had 
 paffed between Mofes and Jethro> one of 
 their Princes and Chief Priefts, before this 
 •unhappy and ill-timed Breach. But to at- 
 tempt to withdraw them from the Worihip 
 -of their Divine Protector into that of their 
 •filthy and abominable Deity ; and that by 
 the Proftitution of their own Daughters ; 
 was an Inftance of fuch hellifh Malice, as 
 could not but juftly deferve the Fate they 
 underwent. 
 
 Thus far, Sir, I have,! hope, fufficientiy clear- 
 ed this extraordinary Tranfadtion from all the 
 Cavils which your Opponent had raifed againfl 
 it j and mewed how confident and uniform 
 every Step of it was with the main and gra- 
 cious Defign of the Divine Providence j and 
 how exactly every thing was calculated to 
 reduce thofe unhappy Nations from their 
 vain Confidence in their falfe Deities, the 
 Practice of the fuperftitious and abominable 
 Rites they ufed in their Worfhip of them, 
 as well as to infpire them with a due Senfe 
 of his infinite Power, Wifdom, and Good- 
 
 nefs. 
 
On Balaam 1 's T)if appointment^ &c. 2x37 
 
 nefs, in a Way the beft fuited to their Ca- 
 pacity, as rational and free Agents, and with- 
 out the leaft Infringement on their Liberty, 
 as fuch. To all which I fhall only add a 
 Remark or two more, upon the Whole ; 
 namely, iy?, On the great Condefcenfion of 
 the Almighty towards thofe infatuated Na- 
 tions, whofe Minds being fadly byaffed by 
 Prejudice and Cuftom, as well as by the 
 Craftinefs and Artifices of their felfifh Priefts, 
 who took fpecial Care to calculate their Re- 
 ligion and Superftitions, as beft fuited with 
 the depraved Tafte of their Votaries, were, in 
 a great meafure, incapable of being reduced 
 by Arguments drawn from Reafon ; and- 
 could only be wrought upon by fuch flrong 
 Impulies of Senfe, and interefting Motives, as 
 thefe I have been animadverting upon, and 
 which were indeed the fitteft to be fet in 
 Oppofition to, and to preponderate, thofe art- 
 ful and illufory ones, by which their Minds 
 had been till then captivated by thofe jug- 
 glingGuides. The next is, His extreme Good- 
 nefs towards them, in delaying to make them 
 Examples of his Juftice, for the Determent 
 of others, till their incorrigible Obftinacy 
 plainly proved them to be unworthy of any 
 3 farther 
 
208 ESSAY It 
 
 farther Tokens of his Forbearance. This t 
 have (hewn, in my firft Effay, to have been 
 the Cafe of the Egyptians, notwithstanding 
 all the Wonders which he wrought among 
 them (g) i and will no lefs plainly ap- 
 pear, upon an impartial Review> to be the 
 Cafe of Moab and Midian here. An ill- 
 grounded Jealoufy conceived againft a Peo- 
 ple, who, by all that God had already done 
 for thern, appeared to have been defigned 
 by his Providence to become the happy Pof- 
 feffors of the Land of Canaan, inftead of the 
 old Inhabitants, who had polluted it with 
 the moft abominable Idolatries, and the vileft 
 and moft inhuman Rites* engages thofe two 
 infatuated Nations to enter into an unjuft and 
 hoftile Confederacy againft them $ to render 
 which the more effectual > Balaam , a cele- 
 brated Prophet and Inchanter, is lent for, to 
 fupply, by his Curfes, what was wanting in 
 them, either of Courage or Strength, to de- 
 fir oy them. He refufes their nrft Pre fen ts 
 andPromifes, telling theMeffenger, that the 
 Supreme Being had taken them into his Pro- 
 tection, and would not permit him to at- 
 tempt 
 
 (g) See he/ore, p. 128, 6f feq. 144, & feq. 
 
On Balaam' j Difappohitment^ &c. 209. 
 tempt any thing to their Hurt. Balak fends 
 a fecond Embafly,. con fitting of a greater 
 Number of his Nobles j and Balaam is, un- 
 der fome Refrrictions, permitted to go with 
 them, that they might be fo many credible 
 WitnefTes of the extraordinary Rencounter 
 he was to meet with in his Way, as a pro- 
 per Check to his perverfe and ambitious 
 Views, and a proper Preparative to his Mo- 
 abitijld Retinue, for the DifappointmerU that 
 was to enfue. His Bean: is thrice flopped in 
 the Way, in a ftrange and unufual manner, 
 at the Sight of an Angel, and forced to crouch 
 at laft under the Weight of its Rider's Blows 
 before their Eyes 5 and being, on the fud- 
 den, endowed with an human Voice, reproves 
 him for his unjuft Treatment of her; upon 
 which his Eyes, till then with-held from fee- 
 ing the heavenly MefTenger, behold him with 
 his Sword drawn : He hears himfelf feverely 
 reproved for (till, entertaining fuch perverfe 
 and oppofite Views to the Defigns of Provi- 
 dence, and particularly for his Cruelty to his 
 own Beait, to whofe Deflexion he owed the 
 Prefervation of his Life, feeing he flood there 
 ready to flay him, had not the Divine Pro- 
 vidence directed the innocent Beaft to avoid 
 P the 
 
210 ESSAY II. 
 
 the Danger, as often as he flood in his Way 
 (b). In all which there was nothing, as I 
 have elfe where obferved, but what was con- 
 fiftent with the common Belief of thofe fu- 
 perftitious Nations j and the artful Practices 
 of their Diviners and Priefts, which, whether 
 real or pretended, that is, whether wrought 
 by the Help of Demons, or the EffecT: of 
 Juggling, or mere Delufion (a Point not yet 
 fufficiently cleared), feldom failed of making 
 a deep Impreffion on the Beholders. Nothing 
 therefore could well be more aptly and con- 
 defcendingly calculated, than this real and 
 twofold Miracle, to convince the fuperftitious 
 Moabites, in their own Way, that if Balaam 
 did, in the Sequel, thwart, inftead of com- 
 plying with, their Monarch's Requeft, it was 
 owing to the Divine Interpofition, which it 
 was out of his Power to refill: j and, at the 
 fame time, nothing could be a properer De- 
 terment to the Prophet, from cherifhing his 
 ambitious Views, than this miraculous Ren- 
 counter, and the Angel's fevere Reproof and 
 Interdiction. Again, when Baldk's pompous 
 Promifes to him had fo far obliterated thofe 
 
 Impreffions, 
 
 (h) See before, p. 182, &f /eg. 
 
On Balaam 'j D if appointment^ 6cg. 2 i i 
 
 Impreffions, as to fet him upon the trying 
 the Power of his Inchantments, in order to 
 oblige that Monarch, he is foiled again and 
 again in his Attempts -, and forced, in fpite 
 of his Heart, to pronounce the nobleft and 
 moil endearing Bleffings on thofe, on whom 
 he was hired, and earneftly wi(hed, to have 
 poured the bitterer!: Curfes j whilft Balak 
 hath the lingular Mortification to find every 
 frefh Trial he makes of his Art, to come out 
 more irkfome and difcouraging ; till his Dif- 
 dain and Defpair provoke him to difmifs 
 him out of his Prefence and Territory. Lail- 
 ly, Balaam, irritated at his Difgrace and 
 Difappointment, forgets all the former Warn- 
 ings j and, in a Fit of Refentment, devifes 
 that impious Stratagem, which he hopes will 
 draw down that Curfe upon Ifrael, which his 
 Inchantments could not effect ; and, by his 
 dreadful End, and the univerfal Slaughter of 
 the Muiianites, his infatuated Accomplices, 
 God gives a frefh and irrefragable Proof to 
 Moab, and all the Kingdoms round about, 
 of his unerring Providence, his Power, Jus- 
 tice, and Goodnefs, in defeating and punish- 
 ing the impious Attempts of the Enemies of 
 his chofen People, and fparing the Moabitljh 
 P 2 Nation, 
 
212 ESSAY II. 
 
 Nation, either as lefs deep in the Guilt of the 
 laft execrable Plot, or out of a tender Re- 
 gard to their Confanguinity with the Off- 
 fpring of the great Father of the Faithful. 
 But even in thefe Inftances of his Rigour on 
 thofe implacable Enemies of Ifrael, it is plain 
 that he did not let them feel the Effects of 
 it, till they had refifted all thofe rational 
 means which he had been ufing, in order to 
 reclaim them ; whilft, on the other hand, he 
 appears to have been no lefs fevere towards 
 the offending Ifraelites, in the fudden and 
 exemplary Death of thofe 24,000 Mifcreants, 
 who had been drawn away to the Worfhip 
 of Baal-peor, than gracious and merciful to 
 the reft, by putting fuch an effectual and 
 fpeedy Stop, by that means, to the further 
 ipreading of that Defection and Apoftafy (/). 
 
 Before I difmifs this Subject, I muft beg 
 Leave to take off another Difficulty, which 
 occurs in Mofess Relation of this fudden De- 
 fection to Baal-peor 5 and which, tho' not 
 taken Notice of by your Antagonifl, may 
 chance to ftart in his Way, if what hath 
 
 been 
 
 ($) Conf. Num. xxv. fcf xxxi. fajf. 
 
On Balaam'* Difappointme?it^ &c. 213 
 
 been faid above mould incline him to give it 
 a fecond Reading. It is where that Law- 
 giver is ordered by God (as our and moil 
 other Verfions render it) to take all the 
 Heads of the People, and to hang them up 
 againft. the Sun, in order to appeafe the Di- 
 vine Anger (k) : Which muft appear ex- 
 ceeding harm and unjuft, according to that 
 Verfion, it being unreafonable to fuppofe, 
 that all the Ifraelttijh Chiefs could be en- 
 gaged in that Apoftafy, or could deferve fo fe- 
 vere a Punimment, if they were not j where- 
 as the Words of the Original, if rightly un- 
 derftood, and compared with the following 
 Verfe, import no more than this : Appoint 
 all the Heads of Ifrael to fit in Judgment 
 over their refpective Subordinates, and order 
 all that were found guilty of it to be exe- 
 cuted out of hand -, or, as the Text hath it, 
 in the Face of this Sun j that is, on that very 
 Day (/) : Which was the moft expeditious 
 Way that could be thought on to bring 
 thofe Delinquents toTryal, and condign Pu- 
 P 3 nifhment -, 
 
 (k) Num. xxv. 4. 
 
 (1) Vid. Targ. Onkel. R. Salom. & Abarban. in he. 
 Jun. Le Seen. fcf el. & Vn, H'tfl. Svo. vol. \\\. p 432, 
 V feq. (Z). 
 
2i4 ESSAY II. 
 
 nifhment ; as well as to put a fpeedy Stop 
 to the Infection. 
 
 The next Point your Opponent undertakes 
 to criticize upon, being the miraculous Sol- 
 ftice obtained by Joftua, in favour of the 
 Gibeonites, his new Allies ^ and he having 
 offered nothing again ft the Authenticity of 
 that fupernatural Event, but what hath been 
 fully anfvvered by the Authors of the Book 
 laft quoted in the Margin ; I fhall gladly re- 
 fer you to it, for an.Anfwer to all his Ob- 
 jections, and pafs on to the next Point in 
 Difpute between him and you. 
 
 ESS AY 
 
[ 2I 5 ] 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Containing a rational Account of the 
 total Defeat of Jabin, King of 
 Hazor, and his numberlefs Confe- 
 derates, by the Ifraelites ; Jofhua 
 xi. paff. and anfwering the Ob- 
 jeSlions raifed againfl the Probabi- 
 lity of that Jignal Exploit, by pro- 
 per Obfervation on the Art of War^ 
 and military Difcipline, of the He- 
 brews. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I Do not at all wonder at the Difficulties 
 which your incredulous Neighbours raife 
 againfl: the Probability of this remarkable 
 Tranfa&ion, The fwift and miraculous Suc- 
 
 P 4 cefs 
 
216 ESSAY III. 
 
 cefs which jfojhua, and his Hebrew Hoft, 
 had fo lately met with, againft the confe- 
 derate Forces of the Southern Canaa?iites y by 
 which he was become Mafter of all that 
 large Tract of Ground, would, one might 
 reafonably think, have effectually deterred 
 thefe Northern Kingdoms from the like hope- 
 lefs and dangerous Attempt. How could they 
 imagine it po (Table for their Forces, how nu- 
 merous and valiant foever, to itop the Hebrew 
 General's Career, whom they knew to have 
 ftopt that of the two Luminaries, their two 
 grand Deities, in the midft: of theirs ; and to 
 have engaged the very Elements to over- 
 whelm fo many Myriads of the flying Con- 
 federates with Hailftones ; whilft that Day 
 was miraculoully lengthened, to give him 
 Time to cut off their difcomfited Remains 
 
 (a) ? What Help could they hope for from 
 their Deities, who had thus far already con- 
 tributed to the utter Excifion of their South- 
 ern Votaries, and fuffered the Ifraelites to 
 deflroy all their Temples, Altars, and Images 
 
 (b) ? In fo defperate a Situation would they 
 not more probably have choien to abandon 
 
 their 
 
 " (a) Jojh. x. paf. 
 
 (b) See before tag. 138, £? feq. 
 
On JabinV Defeat \ 8cc. 217 
 
 their whole Country to the irrefiltible Force 
 of fuch an Enemy, rather than rum into 
 unavoidable Deftruction, by attempting to 
 oppofe him ? 
 
 This Difficulty, how great foever it may- 
 appear, will quickly vanifh, if we conlider, 
 that thefe were, like the reft, giv*n up by 
 God to a judicial Infatuation, and to a de- 
 terminate Refufal of all Offers of Peace, on 
 the Conditions required of them (<:). Nor 
 is it indeed to be much wondered at, that 
 they fhould be fo unanimous in their Refo- 
 lution of dying Sword in Hand, in Defence 
 of their Liberty, Religion, and Country ; fee- 
 ing the fame Spirit reigned almoft every- 
 where among thofe Nations ; and thofe 
 among them were held in the greateft Con- 
 tempt and Abhorrence, that preferred not 
 Death, in fo interefting a Caufe, to an igno- 
 minious Servitude, on fuch difhonourable 
 Terms, as they efteemed the Exchange of 
 their old idolatrous Worfhip for that of the 
 God of Ifrael, whom they looked upon, by 
 this time, as an incenfed and inexorable 
 
 J^ge, 
 
 (c) joJI:.\\. 12. 19, 20. Seebefore^f. llfy&feq. 
 
2i8 ESSAY III. 
 
 Judge, rather than as an Object worthy their 
 Adoration and Love. In this defperate Situa- 
 tion, what could be expected from them, but 
 that their Resolutions mould prove equally 
 defperate - 3 and that they mould try, by one 
 bold Stroke of their united Force, either to 
 fave their All, or perifh in the Attempt ? 
 
 Accordingly we find, that whilft ^oftma 
 was refreshing his Army, after his Conqueft 
 of Southern Canaan y at his Handing Camp 
 at Gilgal, on the Weft Side of Jot'dan i 
 yabi?i, King of Hazor, one of the mo ft 
 powerful of all the Northern Princes {d) y 
 engaged not only feveral petty Kings, but a 
 great Number of States, both on the Hills 
 and Plains (e) 9 to enter into a moft powerful 
 Confederacy againft him. And though a 
 prodigious Number of the more Pufillani- 
 mous chofe to abandon their Country to the 
 irrefiftible Conqueror, and feek for fome 
 more peaceful Settlements in diftant Countries 
 (A), rather than run the Rifk of their Lives 
 
 in 
 
 (d) Jojh. xi. io. 
 
 (e) Ibid.Verfe I, 6f feq. 
 
 (A) Accordingly, we of them removed thence, 
 are toJ4, that great Shoals fome into Egypt, and fome 
 
 into 
 
On Jabin'x Defeat ^ &c. 219 
 
 in a fruitlefs Oppofition j yet there were frill 
 enough left, of a more determinate Spirit, to 
 
 make 
 
 into Africa; where they 
 fpread themfelves far and 
 wide, built a great Num- 
 ber of Cities, and retained 
 the antient Language of Ca- 
 naan, during a long Series 
 of Ages (1). Procopius 
 alfo mentions two white 
 Columns, reared by them, 
 in the City of Tingis, now 
 Tangier, a City of their 
 founding, and Capital of 
 the Province of Tingitania, 
 on which was carved an 
 Infcription, in the Phoeni- 
 cian Language and Cha- 
 racter, to this Purpofe; We 
 are Fugitives, ' that f.ed to 
 fave ourfehes from the 
 great Robber Jofhua, the 
 Son of Nun. St. Aujlin 
 farther allures us, that the 
 .^W<rtf«.f boafted themfelves 
 to be defcended from the 
 antient Canaanites, and 
 preferved their old Phoeni- 
 cian Language (2) ; the 
 Punic being generally al- 
 
 lowed to be very near the 
 Hebreio and Phoenician. 
 
 They are likewife fup- 
 pofed by the Learned to 
 have come in Colonies in- 
 to Greece, Cilicia, and 
 Lejftr Afia, and moft of 
 the Iflands of the JEgean 
 and Mediterranean Sea, 
 quite to Cadiz, in Spain 
 (3) : And, if we may cre- 
 dit, the Jewijh Writers, 
 they fpread themfelves as 
 far as Germany, Sclavonia y 
 &c (4). Arrian likewife 
 tells us, that, among the 
 many Embaffadors that 
 waited upon Alexander the 
 Great at Babylon, fome 
 came from Africa, that 
 were of the Canaanitijh 
 Race ; and the Babylonijh 
 Gemara adds, that they 
 came to beg of him to re- 
 inftate them in their an- 
 tient Seats, whence the 
 Ifraelites had driven them 
 (5). 
 
 (1) Procop. de bell. Vandal. l.\\. c. 10. 
 
 (2) Expojit. inchoat. in Epifl. ad Roman. 
 
 (3) $ ee Bochart. de Colon. & Serm. Phcenic. Selden, 
 de fur. Nat. I. vii. c. 8. Cahnet. DiJJertat. de Canaanit. 
 
 . (\) Gemar. Hierof. ap. Seld. ubi fup. 
 (5) Trad at. Sanhcdr. c.2. vid. Selden. ubi fup. 
 
220 ESSAY III. 
 
 make up an Army of 300,000 Men, 10, coo 
 Horfe, and 2000 Chariots ; if J-ofephus may- 
 be credited (f) : And fewer we can hardly 
 fuppofe them to have been, feeing the Text 
 compares them to the Sands of the Sea Shore 
 for Multitude 5 and makes likewife Mention 
 of their numerous Horfe, and Chariots of 
 War (g). And fuch a threatening Appear- 
 ance they made, at their general Rendezvous, 
 that the Hebrew Chief, though hitherto fo 
 accuftomed to Victory, feems here to have 
 wanted frefTi AfTurance from God, of his 
 proving equally fuccefsful againft this, as he 
 had lately been againft the Southern, Confe- 
 deracy. Be not afraid of them, fays God to 
 him ; for To-morrow about this time 1 will 
 deliver them up to thee, to be all Jlain before 
 Jfrael •, and thou fhalt hough their Horfes y 
 and burn their Chariots with Fire (h). 
 
 But here your Opponent raifes a very con- 
 fiderable Difficulty againft the Poffibility of 
 yojhiia's (whom he fuppofes to have been ftiil 
 at his Camp at Gilgal) reaching them, in fo 
 fhort a time, to the Place of their Rendez- 
 vous 
 
 (f) Antiq. lib. v. c, I. 
 
 (g) y°fi- xi - 4- 
 
 (b) Ibid. Verft 6. 
 
On Jabin'j Defeat \ 6cc. 221 
 
 vous at the Waters of Merom ; which he 
 likewife fuppofes to be the Sa?nachonltifi Lake, 
 iituate about half-way between that of Ge- 
 nezareth) and the Spring-head of the River 
 'Jordan. For, according to that twofold Sup- 
 position, he and his Army mud have marched 
 at leaft an hundred Miles, and a great Part 
 of the Way over high Mountains, and narrow 
 Denies, in that fhort time } which is evi- 
 dently impoffible. Your Friends may indeed 
 wonder, that the facred Hiftorian mould 
 have given us fo confafed and imperfect an 
 Account of that fignal Victory ; efpecially if 
 yoflma himfelf was, as he is fuppofed by 
 mod Interpreters, the Penman of it j for, as 
 he was fo confummate a General, it might be 
 reasonably expected, that he would have, if 
 not embelliflied his Relation, yet at lead: been 
 more particular in defcribing the Circum- 
 ftances both of his March, and of his en- 
 gaging the Enemy. But they ought to have 
 remembred, that it is the peculiar Character, 
 I might have called it Excellency, of the fa- 
 cred Hiftorians, to relate Facts with a fur- 
 prifing unaffected Simplicity • and, in all 
 Actions of this Nature, to avoid, as much 
 as poflible, entering into fuch Particulars, as 
 3 relate 
 
422 ESSAY III. 
 
 relate to their own Prudence, Conduct, or 
 Valour 5 left they mould appear to affume 
 any Share of that Glory to themfelves, which 
 was intirely due to their Heavenly Protector. 
 Hence it is, that the infpired Writer here 
 ^nought fit to confine himfelf to the two 
 mod: material Points j viz. The Divine Pro- 
 mife of a complete Victory over that nu- 
 merous, and fo much dreaded, Holt ; and 
 the Event of it in their total Defeat. 
 Other Circumftances of that Battle might in- 
 deed have convey 'd to us a clearer Idea of 
 the Conduct and Bravery of the Hebrew Ge- 
 neral, but could not have given us fo lively 
 an one of the Difplay of the Divine Power, 
 in favour of his People, as the reprefenting 
 him here as the fole Author of the whole 
 TranfacYion ; and afcribing the whole Glory 
 of it, where it was mod juftly due. 
 
 However, as Gilgal, the Handing Camp of 
 the IfraeliteSy was at too great a Diftance from 
 the Waters of Merom, where the Confederate 
 Forces were rendezvous'd, for Jojhua to reach 
 it in fo fhort a time ; whether we fuppofe 
 the latter to be the Samachonitijh Lake, or, 
 
 as 
 
On Jabin'f Defeat ^ &c. 223 
 
 as I {hall (hew by-and-by, fome Plain much 
 nearer than the former; it were abfurd to 
 fuppofe the Divine Promife to have been 
 made to him before his decamping from it, 
 and not rather upon his being come within a 
 fhort Day's March from, if not in full View 
 of, the Enemy's Army. The Text feems 
 plainly to be in favour of this latter Support - 
 tion ; for Jofiua could hardly, before that 
 time, be fo fufficiently apprifed of their Num^ 
 ber and Strength, as to want this frefh Af- 
 furance from God : Neither will Reafon 
 permit us to think, that fo old and experi- 
 enced a General would have fuffered fuch a 
 grand Confederacy to be made againft him, 
 without ufing all poffible Expedition to go and 
 oppofe them ; efpecially as fo great a Tracl of 
 South Canaan, which he had lately conquered, 
 lay between him and them ; and being now, 
 in fome meafure, deftitute of its old Inha- 
 bitants, might have eafily become a Prey to 
 them. 
 
 How long he and his Army were in 
 marching from Gilgal to Merom, the Text 
 doth not tell us : Jofephus fays only five 
 
 Days 
 
224 ESSAY III 
 
 Days (B) ; which, if true, plainly (hews that 
 thofe Places muft have been much nearer to 
 each other i and confequently, that the Me- 
 rom Waters here fpoken of could not be the 
 Samachonitz/hLake above-mentioned, as fome 
 Commentators conjecture j for neither could 
 fuch an Army, as his muft be fuppofed to 
 have been, have reached it in twice that 
 time, it being, as I hinted before, above an 
 hundred Miles over high Mountains, and nar- 
 row Paries : Nor is it likely, that the confe- 
 derate Army would choofe that for the Place 
 of their Rendezvous j it being almoft at the 
 farther!: End, North of their Country; and 
 have left fo vaft a Territory on the South ex- 
 pofed to the Enemy. 
 
 What hath given Birth to that Miftake isj 
 that Jofcphus mentions the City of Hazor^ 
 
 the 
 
 (B) Jofephus calls the or, according to the He- 
 
 Place where they engaged, breiv Termination Meroth 
 
 Berothe (l); hut that is (2); which he tells us is 
 
 rnoft likely a Miftake of one of the Towns of Gal> 
 
 theTranfcriber {oxMercthe> like. 
 
 (1) Jntiq. lib. v. c. I. 
 
 (2) Maf. Comment, in Jojh. xi. 
 
On Jabiti s Defeat, &c. 225 
 
 the Capital of Jabin, the chief of the confe- 
 derate Kings, as fituate upon that Lake j but, 
 befides that he doth not hint any thing like 
 the Battle having been fought there, is it not ve- 
 ry abfurd to fuppofe, that fo politic a King, 
 and who was the chief Promoter of the Con- 
 federacy, fhould choofe his own Territory 
 to be the Scene of War ; and a Plain, fo 
 near his Metropolis*, for the Field of Battle ? 
 Is it not much more reasonable to fuppofe, 
 that both he, and his Allies, would hafle all 
 they could, to meet the Enemy, before he 
 could penetrate into any of their Territories ? 
 Hence it is generally concluded, that the 
 Merom, here fpoken of, is the fame which 
 Eufebius calls Merus, and phces at about 
 twelve Miles Diftance from SebaJIe, or Sama- 
 ria y towards Dotkaim, and on this Side of 
 the Torrent of KiJJoon, and in the Neigh- 
 bourhood of Mount T'babor, and the Waters 
 of Megiddo, and the City of Thaanach : For 
 upon that fame Spot it was, that was after- 
 wards fought the famous Battle between 67- 
 fera, General of Jabin, King of Hazor, and 
 Barak, the Hebrew Chief, about 150 Years 
 after ; in which the former, tho' vaftly fu- 
 Q_ perior, 
 
226 ESSAY III. 
 
 perior, was totally cut off (/). For there was 
 a very important Pafs, which guarded the 
 Entrance into Galilee, and fo into Fhcenice-, 
 or from thence into South Canaan. It was 
 therefore of the utmoffc Confequence to the 
 Confederates to fecure it, feeing the Lofs of 
 it would open, as it actually did, after their 
 Defeat, a Way into all the Northern Part, 
 which they inhabited, quite into upper Ga- 
 lilee. Now this Spot being at moft but be- 
 tween fifty or fixty Miles from Gilgal, it 
 was eafy for Jofiua, and his Army, to reach 
 it in lefs than five Days, confidering the ex- 
 peditious Way which the Hebrews had of 
 marching their Armies, not only in different 
 Columns, more or lefs numerous, as the 
 Ground would allow, but even in fmall Bo- 
 dies, whenever they could do it fafe from the 
 Attacks and Infults of their Enemies; as they 
 could, on this particular Occafion, through all 
 the South Part of Canaan, where they had 
 already deftroyed all that could poflibly an- 
 noy them j and had, in all Probability, left 
 here and there a Garifon, at proper Places, 
 to fecure either their March, or a Retreat, 
 
 in 
 
 CO 7"fa iv. paff. v. 19, 
 
On JabinV Defeat ^ &c. 227 
 
 in cafe of Need. For it is to be obferved 
 here, that they were encumbered with nei- 
 ther Artillery nor Baggage, that could retard 
 their Speed. They took nothing with them 
 but their Arms, which were either the Sling, 
 oword, Lance, or Bow; all light of Car- 
 riage •> beiides their Provilions ; which, being 
 chiefly of the dry Kind, as Bread, parched 
 Corn, Peas, dried Figs, Railins, &c. they 
 eafily carried a fufficient Quantity about 
 them, for the prefent Occafion; or, in cafe 
 of a long March, they had their AfTes, Mules, 
 and other Beafts of Carriage, for the Purpofe ; 
 by which means they marched, with a fur- 
 prifing Expedition, from one End o* the 
 Country to the other. But of this I (hall 
 give as remarkable an Infiance, in the la ft of 
 thefe EfTays, as is to be met with in any Hi- 
 flory, either antient or modern. I mud - (till 
 add one peculiar Advantage they had, in this 
 refpect, above other Nations, from the ex- 
 cellent Discipline eitabliihed among them by 
 their infpired Lawgiver, and improved by his 
 worthy Succeflbr, the prefent Hebrew Chief, 
 Jojhua ; and that was, that every Man that 
 was able to bear Arms, that is, from twenty 
 to fixty Years of Age, was obliged to be in- 
 Q^ 2 rolled 
 
228 ESSAY III. 
 
 rolled in the Mufter-Pvoll of his own Tribe, 
 and to appear under the Standard of it, with 
 his Provinons, and military Accoutrements, 
 upon the firft Summons, under the fevered 
 Penalties. Thefe Mufr.er-R.olls were care- 
 fully preferved, not only by every Tribe ; but 
 a general one of the Whole was like wife to 
 be kept in the Hands of the chief Judge, or 
 General. The former of thofe Rolls was to 
 be called over at the Head of each refpe&ive 
 Tribe, to fee that none were abfent, but 
 fuch as were detained by fome unavoidable 
 Impediment, as Sicknefs, Lamenefs, and the 
 like. Here, likewife, as many as had mar- 
 ried a Wife, built a new Houfe, planted 
 a Vineyard, &c. within the Year, having 
 made good their Claim before the Head of 
 the Tribe, were likewife difmirTed to their 
 own Home, and fet down as fuch in the 
 Mufter-Book : After which the reft were to 
 march to the Place of Rendezvous, under 
 their refpective Heads of Thoufands, Hun- 
 dreds, and Fifties. Here their Names were 
 called afrefh, to fee whether any were miff- 
 ing ; and then the whole Amount was given 
 to the head Commander. So that there could 
 hardly be any that dared defert from his 
 
 Colours, 
 
On JabinV Defeat^ Sec. 229 
 Colours, becaufe they knew not whither to 
 go without Danger, no other Tribe daring 
 to admit them within their Roll 3 and they 
 being branded in their own for Run-aways, 
 and liable to be punifhed with Death, as 
 foon as found. They had ft ill another pow- 
 erful Tie j viz. their Family : For all the 
 Men were obliged to marry foon after they 
 had attained to their twentieth Year, and 
 were generally fruitful. But in cafe of De- 
 fertion, mould they by good Chance have 
 efcaped from being taken, yet they muff, be 
 for ever banifhed from their Parent?, Wives, 
 and Children ; befides living, perhaps, un- 
 der feme Servitude, in a ftrange Place, and 
 in conftant Fear of being difcovered. To 
 have fled into an Enemy's Country for Safe- 
 ty, was not only equally dangerous, but much 
 more dreaded ; becaufe that refcinded them 
 from the Commonwealth of Ifrael y as Trai- 
 tors and Apoftates ; which was efteemed the 
 greateft Curie that could befal them. Upon 
 all thefe Accounts, Defertion was fo rare, 
 that they could truft their Men to march 
 through their own Country, without that mi- 
 litary Regularity, which was commonly ob- 
 ferved by other Nations ; and, on all Emer- 
 Q^ 3 gencies 
 
230 ESSAY III. 
 
 gencies that required a more than ordinary 
 Expedition, permit them to divide themfelves 
 into fmall Bodies, go over Mountains, or 
 fetch a Compafs about, or take any other 
 Method, that would bring them fooneft to 
 the Place of Rendezvous. It was, therefore, 
 by this excellent Difcipline, that the Hebrew 
 Armies, tho' fometimes very numerous, were 
 able to make fuch furprifing quick Marches, 
 either over Mountains and Defiles, or by 
 fetching a Compafs about, as to come upon 
 their Enemies, when they leaft dreamed of 
 their being fo nigh ; and by attacking them 
 on the fudden, on two, or three, fometimes 
 on all, Sides, in diftinct Bodies, to give them 
 a total Overthrow. Upon the Whole then, 
 though Gllgal was at leaft an hundred Miles 
 Diftance from Hazor, the Capital of the 
 chiefeft of the confederate Kings; yet the 
 Text tells us, that when thefe laft were af- 
 fembied together, they marched their Army 
 to the Waters of Merom, in order to engage 
 the Ifraelites (k) ; which, as I have mewed 
 before, were not thofe of the Lake Samachofij 
 as your Friend and others fuppofe, but of 
 
 Kijhon y 
 
 (k) >Axi. 5 . 
 
On JabinV Defeat, 8cc. 231 
 
 Kijhon, or, as they are elfewhere fliled, the 
 Waters of Megiddo. To this I beg Leave 
 to add one Argument more j viz. that Jqflma 
 is faid, in the Text, to have purfued the Ene- 
 my, after their Defeat, to Great Zidon, to 
 Mizrephoth-majim, and to the Valley of 
 Mizpeh, on the Eaft. Now that Mizpeh 
 was in the Tract of Mount Gilead, is plain 
 from the Story of Laban and Jacob, who 
 gave it both thofe Names (Genef. xxxi. 49.) : 
 And it is as plain, that it lies Eaflward of the 
 Waters of Merom, or Torrent of Kijhon, but 
 full South from the Lake Samachon; and 
 therefore this laft could not be the Waters of 
 Merotn, mentioned in the Text, but thofe of 
 the River Kijhon (C). And accordingly we 
 
 find 
 
 (C) To this there can 
 be but one thing objected ; 
 viz. That the Text places 
 Mizpeh under Mount Her- 
 man (1), which lies above 
 Fifty Miles North of Gi- 
 lead, and North-eaft of 
 the Samachonitijh Lake ; fo 
 that it cannot be that in 
 the Land of Gilead j for, 
 according to that Situation, 
 
 it lies Eaft from the Lake, 
 and from Zidon, as the 
 Text places it, in the 8th 
 Verfe. But, allowing thaf, 
 it wili not follow, that the 
 Battle was fought near that 
 Lake ; but that Jabin, 
 King of Hazor, prevailed 
 on all the Nations, from 
 the Hittites that lived un- 
 der that Mount, and cott- 
 on 4 fequcntly 
 
 (i) 7»A».3, 
 
232 ESSAY III. 
 
 find Zldon on the North of that River ; and 
 the Mizrephoth-majim, the other Place where 
 'Jofhua purfued them, may be reafonably 
 fuppofed to have lain Weftward towards the 
 Sea. For the Word fignifies the Burnings 
 of Waters ; and is commonly underftood ei- 
 ther of Salt-pits, or melting of Sand to make 
 Glafs. And both thefe Manufactures were 
 carried on, along the Weftern Conffo, about 
 Acra, or c Ptolemais i but efpecially the lat- 
 ter j the Sand of the River Be!us y which falls 
 into the Sea not far from it, being reckoned 
 
 excellent 
 
 fequently were fituate the 
 Lrtheit North from South 
 Canaan^ quite down to 
 thofe who inhabited the 
 SouthParts, from the Lake 
 Genezareih E aft ward, to. 
 the Borders of Dor on the 
 Weft, to join in the Con- 
 federacy with him ; that 
 is, that he engaged all the 
 Nations about him, quite 
 to the very Borders of 
 South Canaa?:, to engage 
 in. that War. In Revenge 
 of which, Jojhua^ having 
 totally defeated them, pur- 
 fued them to the further- 
 moil Part of their refpe&ive 
 
 Territories ; that is, to 
 Mizrephoth-?najim Weft, 
 to Zidon North, and to 
 this Mizpeh under Her- 
 man Eaftward : Which I 
 gladly fubfcribeVto, be- 
 caufe the Text obferves, 
 that after he had purfued 
 them thus far North, he 
 turned back, and took and. 
 burned the City of Hazor 
 (2). But this cannot af- 
 fedt what I have faid, ei- 
 ther of the Field of Battle, 
 or of Jojhuas attacking 
 the Enemy by diftindt. Bo- 
 dies ; but rather confirms 
 it, 
 
 (2) Jajh. xi. 10, 
 
On JabinV Defeat, Sec. 233 
 
 excellent for that Ufe, and faid to have mi- 
 niftred the firft Hint to that Invention. 
 
 Here then we have the three Points to 
 which he purfued them ; viz. to Mizpeh, 
 Eaft ward ; to Zidon, Northward ; and to 
 Mizrephoth-majim, Wefiward : For the South 
 being already conquered, it is not to be fup- 
 pofed they would venture to flee to any Part 
 of it. We may therefore reafonably con- 
 clude, that this was the Scene of that me- 
 morable Action -, and that it lay near the 
 Confines of both : And I think it highly pro- 
 bable, that the River Kifion did, at this 
 time, divide the Southern Canaan^ conquered 
 by Jo/fata, from the Northern, flill unfub- 
 dued ; and hither it was that the Hebrew 
 Chief led his Forces to oppofe them (/) j and 
 there it was that he gained the fignal Victory, 
 mentioned a little after, which enabled him, 
 in four or five Years, to complete the Con- 
 queil: of the whole Northern Trad (;;/). 
 
 There remains but one Difficulty unan- 
 fvyered ; and that is, Plow Jofiua, with his 
 
 fmall 
 
 (I) Jojh. xi. 7. 
 
 (m) Ibid. Vet. 8, &f feq, 
 
234 ESSAY III. 
 
 finall flying Army, for fuch it might juftly 
 be deemed, in companion of that of the 
 Confederates, could give them fuch a total 
 Overthrow, and chafe them fo many differ- 
 ent Ways, and at fo great a Diftance from 
 each other j and cut them off, that none of 
 them fhould remain, but thofe few that fled 
 into fortified Cities; burn all their warlike 
 Chariots j hamftring their Horfes ; and open 
 to himfelf a Way thro' all that hilly Country, 
 quite to the City of Hazor, which flood 
 above fifty Miles farther North ; without 
 meeting, that we read of, any farther Op- 
 pofition from the Enemy ? But here likewife 
 the facred Hiftorian wholly afcribes the Glo- 
 ry of the whole Expedition to God, who de- 
 livered up that numerous Hofl: into his Hand 
 (a) ; and leaves us to guefs at the Methods 
 which the Hebrew General took to accom- 
 pliih it, by fome few Hints interfperfed, 
 as it were accidentally, in the Text ; but yet 
 iufricient to remove all Appearance of Im- 
 probability in the Relation. 
 
 \fl> then, As to the prodigious Superiority 
 of the Confederates, with refpect to Num- 
 ber, 
 (•) Jojl). xi. 8, 
 
On JabinV Defeat, 6cc. 235 
 
 ber, it is univerfally allowed to be a Dif- 
 vantage, rather than Advantage ; not only 
 as it is apt to infpire them with too much 
 Confidence, Security, and Negligence j but 
 like wife, as it often proves an unwieldy and 
 dead Weight ; efpecially when engaged againft 
 a General, who knows how to choofe his 
 Ground, fo as to render the greater Part of it 
 ufelefs j for the Truth of which we need not 
 feek for a more pregnant Inftance, than in 
 the two Armies of Darius and Alexander 
 the Great- idly, By the Hint the Text 
 gives us, of Jojkuas purfuing the flying Ene- 
 my, quite to Great Xidon, to Mizrephoth- 
 majim, and to the Valley of Mizpeh ; and 
 fmiting them, till none remained - y that is, as 
 the Text plainly imports, till none remained 
 undifperfed ; we may draw this very proba- 
 ble Inference from it j viz* that Jojbua had 
 divided his Army into feveral diftincT: Bodies, 
 both to attack them on different Sides, and to 
 purfue and kill thofe that fled : For that was 
 a Method much in vogue in thofe antient 
 times, feeing we find it praclifed as early as 
 the time of Abraham (/>). Another Remark 
 
 1 
 
 (p) Gene/is xiv. 15, 
 
236 ESSAY III. 
 
 I would make on thofe flying and feparate 
 Bodies, is, that they generally aimed at, and 
 were defigned to furprife, the Enemy, and 
 fall unexpectedly upon them on as many 
 Sides as they could ; by which means fuch a 
 hidden Panic was generally convey 'd from 
 the Out-guards to the main Body of the 
 Army, as feldom failed of being attended 
 with their total Overthrow. The many In- 
 stances of this kind of fuccefsful Stratagems, 
 in Barak, Gideon, Saul, and other Jewijh 
 Chiefs ; and among the Maccabees, in later 
 Ages 5 are not only Standing Proofs of its 
 Ufe and Excellence, but give us a moral Af- 
 furance, that Jojhua, who was fo well verfed 
 in all the Arts of War, would not omit put- 
 ting this in Practice, whenever a fair Oppor- 
 tunity offered. And where can the Impro- 
 bability be, that fuch a vaft Army as that of 
 the Confederates, who, in all Likelihood, lay 
 negligently encamped, trufting chiefly in their 
 Number and Strength, mould afford him fuch 
 an one as he could wifh ; efpecially if he took 
 the Opportunity of coming upon them in 
 the Night, and attacking them upon the firfl 
 I^awn of the Day ? Did not Gideon, with 
 his three hundred Men, by much the fame 
 
 well- 
 
On Jabin'j Defeat, 8cc. 237 
 
 well-concerted Stratagem, injecl an univerfal 
 Panic into the numerous Hoft of Midian y 
 Amalck, and their Confederates, in the Dead 
 of Night j and difcomfit them on the next 
 Morning (q) ? Did not Barak, with 30,000 
 Men, defeat Si/era, and his numerous Hoft, 
 with his 900 Iron Chariots of War (r) ? And 
 Saul, with an Army of 300,000 Men, fur- 
 prife the Ammonitifi Camp before Jabeflj- 
 Gilcad, and cut them all in Pieces (s) ? And 
 did not his Son Jonathan, with only his Ar- 
 mour-bearer, by luckily furprifing one of the 
 Stations of the warlike Philiftines, inject fuch 
 a Terror into their whole Camp, as occaiioned 
 their total Defeat (/) ? For, in the general 
 Confufion and Miftruft that reigned through 
 thofe numerous Hods, which was ftill much 
 greater, when they con lifted of various Na- 
 tions, whether Confederates or Auxiliaries, 
 they commonly fell foul upon one another, 
 with fuch deiperate Fury, that the Enemy 
 had little elfe to do, but to ftand ftill and fee 
 them lheath their Weapons into each other's 
 
 Side. 
 
 (q) Judg. vii. 12, (3 feq. 
 (r) Ibid. iv. paf. 
 (s) 1 Sam. >i. paff. 
 (t) Ibid. xiv. pajl 
 
238 ESSAY III. 
 
 Side. How much more grievous muft the 
 Horror and Defpair of thefe Northern Ca- 
 naanites be, at this unhappy Juncture, to fee 
 themfelves furprifed, and on all Sides fur- 
 rounded with fuch an irrefiftible Enemy j 
 all the Union of their Confederacy at once 
 broken ; their Politics defeated j and their 
 united Force diflblved ; by the univerfal Dif- 
 trufl and Dread which reigns among them ; 
 whilft every Nation, I might almoft fay eve- 
 ry Individual, forgetting the Ties of com* 
 mon Alliance, can think on nothing but of 
 feeking their own Safety, by the molt dan- 
 gerous and defperate means ? Such, I believe, 
 will eafily be allowed to be the necefTary 
 Confequence of fuch ill-concerted Confedera- 
 cies, when acting in Oppofition to a Force, 
 which, how inferior foever in Number, is fo 
 ftrongly cemented by one common Interefl ; 
 directed by a wife and experienced Command- 
 er ; kept up by a good martial Dilcipline j and 
 infpirited with fuch frequent Divine AfTure- 
 ances of Victory. What Wonder is there 
 then, that the Hebrew Army, with fo many 
 great Advantages, nay, with every Advan- 
 tage but that of Numbers, if that be redly 
 one, mould thus totally rout and difperfe that 
 
 of 
 
On Jabin'j Defeat, &c. 239 
 
 of fo many ill-united and intimidated Confe- 
 derates ; make fuch a dreadful Slaughter 
 among them that fled ; purfue them to the 
 very farthermoft Borders of their refpective 
 Territories ; and, in their Return, make them- 
 felves Matters of every Part of that Northern 
 Trad ? But we may further remember, that 
 immediately after their fignal Defeat, Jcjhua, 
 cutting off all the Men that he could come 
 at, hamftringing all their Horfes, and deftroy- 
 ing all their Chariots, in which it is likely 
 their chief Strength confifted, put it wholly 
 out of their Power to make any farther De- 
 fence againfl him. 
 
 The only Difficulty that can be jftarted, 
 therefore, againft this fignal Tran faction, is, 
 that fuch a numerous Holt, as that of the 
 Confederates, who had with them fuch Mul- 
 titudes of Horfe, and warlike Chariots, and 
 could fend Scouts enough abroad, to give 
 them Intelligence of what pafled, mould fuf- 
 fer themfelves to be furprifed by the Hebrew 
 Chief; and, what is more amazing, by an 
 old threadbare Stratagem, that had been in 
 Ufe even fince Abrahams Days ; and had 
 been fo lately praclifed with Succefs by him 
 3 in 
 
240 ESSAY III. 
 
 in the Relief of Gibeon, and the Defeat of 
 the confederate Army oiCanaanltes^ that were 
 then befieging it on all Sides. Was not all 
 this enough to put them upon keeping a bet- 
 ter Guard around them than ufual, to avoid 
 the like Surprize ? To this I anfwer, That 
 nothing is more common, than for fuch large 
 Armies to truft lb far to their Numbers, 
 Strength, advantageous Situation, and the For- 
 tifications of their Gamp, as to become quite 
 negligent of this main Point. We meet with 
 numberiefs In (lances of this, both in facred 
 and profane Hiflory j and fome of them of 
 a much more modern Date. Thefe Confe- 
 derates, having formed their feveral Camps 
 in the propereft manner, and, as is moft 
 likely, furrounded them with their armed 
 Chariots, perhaps two or three Rows deep, 
 and ported their Vanguards about them, 
 might think themfelves fufficiently fecured 
 from any fudden Attack, without troubling 
 themfelves about any further Precautions* 
 This was the Cafe, we find, above 100 Years 
 after, of the confederate Midianites, Amalek- 
 ites y and their Eaftern Allies ; whom the 
 facred Hiftorian reprefents as lying negligent- 
 ly fcattered about like Locufts, when Gideon 
 
 fell 
 
On JabinV Defeat, &c. 241 
 
 fell fuddenly upon them, in the Night, and 
 gave them fuch a total Overthrow, that they 
 dared not (hew their Faces againft Ifrael, for 
 fome Scores of Years after (u). I have alrea- 
 dy mentioned other Inftances out of the fa- 
 cred Books, and could produce a much 
 greater out of profane Hiftorians, were it 
 needful. 
 
 But, idly, Jofiua, who was become Ma- 
 tter of all South Canaan, might eafily put 
 it out of the Power of the Enemy to receive 
 any Intelligence of his Approach, by caufing 
 all the Partes and Defiles to be clofely guard- 
 ed. For, as I obferved before, the Battle was 
 fought near the Frontiers, between North 
 and South Canaan ; though on which Side I 
 will not pretend to affirm. It was eafy there- 
 fore to prevent their Scouts, or even any of 
 his Deferters, if any fuch there had been, to 
 bring them Notice of his March or Route : So 
 that hearing nothing from any Side, they 
 might eafily imagine that he dared not come 
 to attack them. 
 
 R 3<ily, 
 
 (u) Judg. vii. 12, &? fei. 
 
242 ESSAY III. 
 
 3 <//y, I likewife obferved, that he ufually 
 marched his Army in different Columns; and 
 that not only for the fake of Expedition, but 
 likewife that he might attack the Enemy on 
 different Sides. It was eafy therefore for 
 him to order one Corps to march towards 
 them, by the neareft Way, but fomewhat 
 more flowly ; whilft he ordered the reft of 
 his Army to fetch a Compafs about, both on 
 the Right and Left ; and, by a fpeedier 
 March, to arrive time enough to fall unex- 
 pectedly upon them, on the Flank or Rear, 
 whilft thefe attacked them in Front • which 
 could not fail of throwing them into Diforder 
 and Confufion. Let me add, that fuppofing 
 their Camp ever fo well fortified, Jq/hua had 
 ftill another Stratagem to play againft them ? 
 as he had lately done to the Inhabitants of 
 Ai (w) ; Vfz. by making a feint Attack 
 with one Body, in order to draw them out of 
 their Intrench men ts, in Purfuit of them ; 
 and then falling fuddenly upon them, on the 
 Flank and Rear. 
 
 By all therefore that hath been faid upon 
 this memorable Tranfaction, you may plain- 
 
 (w) JcJIj. vin. 3, & feq< 
 
On JabinV Defeat^ &c. 243 
 
 \y fee, that there was nothing done in it, but 
 what might have been performed by any other 
 experienced Chief, in the common martial 
 Way of Conqueft ; tho' he had never been 
 favoured with fuch Encouragements, and 
 Aflurances of Succefs, as God was pleafed fo 
 frequently to give to Jojhua, and his Troops. 
 It is therefore no Wonder, that the facred 
 Writers, inftead of dwelling on a long De- 
 tail of the Arts and Stratagems that were 
 ufed by the Hebrew Chiefs, choofe rather to 
 afcribe the whole Glory of all their fignal Vic- 
 tories, and the happy Confequences of them, 
 to the Divine Providence, that fo vifibly 
 profpered their Arms ; fince it was chiefly 
 owing to their fure Truft and Confidence in 
 thofe repeated Aflurances, that they fought 
 fo valiantly and fuccefsfully againfl: Enemies 
 that wholly relied on their Number and 
 Strength, and on the Affiftance of their ima-^ 
 ginary Deities ; and who, by their deteftable 
 Worfhip of them, had not only forfeited all 
 Title to the Protection of God, but had made 
 themfelves worthy of his moft fevere Punifh^ 
 ments. Neverthelefs it would be abfurd to 
 infer from thence, that Jofina neglected any 
 R 1 * Art 
 
244 ESSAY III. 
 Art or Stratagem, that could cither fecure or 
 facilitate the promifed Conqueft ; for that 
 were an Abufe of, rather than a Reliance on, 
 the Divine AiTiftance ; and fuch as we have 
 no Reafon to fufpect him to have been capa- 
 ble of. If therefore trjofe Arts and Means 
 are not recorded in the Text, it cannot be 
 fuppofed to be done with any other View, 
 than to intimate to us the fmall Efficacy they 
 mull all have had, without fuch a fteady 
 Reliance on the one Side, and God's Blefling 
 on the other ; than which nothing could be 
 more proper to keep up their Confidence in 
 him, and to fill them with the mod grateful 
 Senie, for all the Succcfs they had hitherto, 
 or mould hereafter be blefTed with ; whilft, 
 on the other hand, inftead of arrogating any 
 Share of the Glory of it, they looked upon 
 themfelves only as the mere Inftruments of 
 his Providence, and Executors of his Divine 
 Will. Agreeable to this was that extraor- 
 dinary Precaution which he was pleafed to 
 take, on a like Occaiion, with regard to Gi- 
 deon, and his 30,000 Men, when he made 
 him difmifs them, all but 300 tried Men ; 
 viz. left they mould boafl, that their own 
 
 Valour 
 
On Jabin'j Defeat^ &c 245 
 
 Valour or Strength had obtained the promifed 
 Victory (x). Where you'll permit me to 
 obferve, once more, that though Gideon had 
 had all the Aflu ranee he could wifh for given 
 him, of his totally defeating the Midianites^ 
 and their Confederate^, and delivering his 
 People from their Yoke, yet he doth not 
 venture to fall upon them, till his Reafon 
 furnifhes him with a Stratagem j which, by 
 injecting a general Panic among them, would 
 make them become an eafier Prey to his 
 conquering Sword (y). And indeed the Au- 
 thor of Ecclefiaflicus, and the in fpired Writer 
 of the Epiftle to the Hebrews, would have 
 had little Reafon to extol Jojliua, Gideon, and 
 other Hebrew Worthies (z\ if all their Me- 
 rit had confided in a blind Obedience to Gods 
 Directions, without contributing fo much as 
 one fingle Thought, or forming one Defign, 
 for the more effectual Execution of his Or- 
 ders. But that never was the Cafe of thofe 
 Hebrew Worthies ; and the next Letter but 
 one will furnifh you with a mofl fignal In- 
 ftance of the contrary. 
 
 R 3 But 
 
 ( x) Judg. vii. 2, d? feq. 
 
 (y) Ibid. 16, y feq. 
 
 (z) Ecdus. xlvi. 1, & feq. Hebr. xi. 32, &f feq. 
 
246 ESSAY III. 
 
 But here I am aware of an Objection, that 
 will hardly fail of being ftarted by your Op- 
 ponents, as it hath been by many others, in 
 the fame Way of thinking ; viz. that fuch 
 Stratagems for furpriiing and routing an Ene- 
 my, cannot but appear below the Character 
 of thofe Hebrew Chiefs, and much more fo 
 of the Divine Providence, that is faid to have 
 directed and profpered them ; efpecially con- 
 fidering how defpicably all fuch Artifices were 
 looked upon by the Romans, Celtes, Gauls, 
 Greeks, and other warlike Nations ; fome of 
 which were fo far ''from feeking to furprife 
 their Enemies, that they apprifed them of 
 the Time and Place where they defigned to 
 attack them (a) : Infomuch that Alexander 
 the Great would fay, that he had rather com- 
 plain of his ill Fortune, than to have Caufe 
 to blufh at his good one, by choofing to fall 
 on the Enemy in the Night (£). But, not- 
 withftanding all the fpecious Pretences in fa- 
 vour of thofe antient Nations, it will be no 
 eafy Matter to prove, that fuch Artifices are 
 
 fo 
 
 (a) Vid. int. al Grot, de Jur. Bel fcf Pac. I iii. c. I, 
 § 20. S error, in Jo/h. viii. Calmet, Hid, 
 
 (b) j£. Curt, lib. it. 
 
On Jabin'j Defeat^ &c. 247 
 
 (o dishonourable, or below the Character of 
 the greatefr. Monarch or General : On the 
 contrary, it cannot be thought inglorious in 
 them to ufe all proper means to lave the Lives 
 of as many of their Subjects as they can, fee- 
 ing a Victory, that is not gained with this 
 Advantage, may prove too dearly bought; 
 and be, perhaps, as dishonourable and disad- 
 vantageous as a Defeat. Jof/ma, in the Cafe 
 before us, was to engage, with his fmall fly- 
 ing Army of Foot, an Hoft of Confederates,- 
 as numerous as the Sand on the Sea- more, 
 together with a numerous Cavalry, and armed 
 Chariots (c) ; and all of them fully deter- 
 mined to blot out, if poffible, the very Name 
 of Ifraelite from under Heaven. What could 
 therefore more become his Valour, and long- 
 tried Experience, or turn more to his Glory, 
 than contriving the moll effectual means to 
 deftroy as many as he could of the one, and 
 to fave all he could of the other ? Or where 
 would his Advantage have been, if the Lofs 
 of each of his Men had been attended with 
 that of twenty of the Enemy, at fo great a 
 Pittance from his main Camp ? As to what 
 R4. we 
 
 (c) Jojb. xi. 4, fc? fa 
 
248 ESSAY 111. 
 
 we are told of the antient Romans, and other 
 Nations, fcorning to fight upon mch unequal 
 Terms, or to gain a Victory by Artifice, Stra- 
 tagem, or Surprize, or any other means, but by 
 dint of Strength and Courage j it is well, if all 
 this was not rather faid by way of wiping off 
 the Scandal of fome fignal Defeats they had 
 met with, from fome more vigilant and ex- 
 pert Commander, than they chanced to have 
 at thofe times. For we are not without fre- 
 quent Inflances of their Generals having mf- 
 fered themfelves to be overthrown by fuch 
 kind of Surprizes and Stratagems ; which 
 might put them under a Neceility of ufing 
 them afterwards, if it be really true, that they 
 did not at firft. For nothing is more noto- 
 rious, than that in After-times they not only 
 put in Practice all Kinds of Stratagems, but 
 even of Treachery, againft. thofe brave antient 
 Nations, both in and out of Italy, which 
 they, by degrees, brought under their Yoke 
 (d). As to what we are told of Alexanders 
 refufing to fteal a Victory, whilft he had none 
 but effeminate Per/tans, Indians, &c. to fight 
 with, and againft whom he was fure to. fuc r 
 
 ceed, 
 
 (d) Vid. Polyb. Hifi. I iv. Front in. Stratagem. pa(f. 
 JJn. Hiji. fol. vol. i. & ii. pajf. Bvo. vol. xi. x\i. (sV." 
 
On Jabiris Defeat ', Sec. 249 
 
 ceed, without Artifice or Stratagem, we need 
 not wonder fo much, that his unbounded Am- 
 bition, of being thought the invincible Son of 
 Jupiter , did not permit him to defcend to fuch 
 low and derogatory Arts ; but how he would 
 have acted again ft more warlike Nations, 
 may be eafily guefled at, feeing all his Acti- 
 ons, that one Cafe excepted, were but one 
 continued Series of the mod deeply concerted 
 Arts and Stratagems againft the Liberties 
 and Properties of io many Nations, over 
 which he had neither Title nor Claim ; and 
 that frequently at the Expence of his own 
 faithful Macedonian Troops, whofe Lives he 
 was juftly blamed for being as lavifTi of, 
 as our Hebrew Heroes were careful to pre- 
 ferve thofe of their own. In a Word, 
 therefore, I can fee nothing in thefe martial 
 Artifices, but what is highly agreeable to 
 the Character of the nobleft Generals, or to 
 the jufteft Notions we can conceive of the 
 Divine Providence ; whillt they were prin- 
 cipally concerted for the Prefervation of fo 
 many Lives, appointed, feveral Centuries be- 
 fore, to be the happy PoiTefTors of this fertile 
 Land, and mult have been loft by a more 
 equal Warfare ; and, at the fame time, gave 
 
 Thoufands 
 
2 5 o ESSAY HI. 
 
 Thoufands of the difmayed Canaanites, when 
 recovered from their Panic, an Opportunity of 
 confulting their mutual Safety by a timely 
 Retreat, unlefs refolutely bent upon their own 
 Deftruction. On the other hand, the He~ 
 breiv Worthies were hereby allowed fuch 
 Share of the Honour, as was requifite to give 
 their Authority a due Weight ; whilft that 
 of their Divine Protector was fufficiently fe- 
 cured, by the wonderful Succels which he 
 gave to their Councils, and to their Arms, 
 againft all thofe who continued ftill deter- 
 mined, at all Events, to fight in Defence of 
 their old deteftable Idolatry, and to oppofe 
 the Jfraelites fettling in their Country. For 
 it is plain from the Text, that none but fuch 
 as thofe perifhed by Jojhua's Sword, either 
 in Southern or Northern Canaan. For as 
 foon as he had finifhed this Expedition, by 
 the Slaughter of as many as he found flill 
 in Arms, in his Return to his ftanding Camp, 
 he did not fight one Battle more, but fet 
 himfelf immediately about the dividing of 
 the Land, by Lot, among the Tribes (e) ; 
 rearing the Tabernacle (f) j appointing Ci- 
 ties 
 
 ■(e) Jo/h. c. xti. — xvii. 
 
 (/) Ibid, xviii. i , & feq. % 
 
On Jabin'j Defeat, &c. 251 
 
 ties of Refuge (g) ; affigning thofe of the 
 Priefts and Levites (h) j and executing other 
 Parts of his Office, according to the Orders 
 given to him by Mofes (/). Agreeably to 
 which, the Book of Judges, which begins 
 with an Account of his Death, and of what 
 followed it, plainly tells us, that there was 
 no one Tribe, on this Side Jordan, in which 
 there were not ftill remaining vafl: Numbers 
 of thofe Canaanites intermixed with them ; 
 and fome of them ftill powerful enough to 
 keep up a Superiority over them (k). And 
 who could they be, but thofe who had fled 
 from Jofiua'sSword, during the time of this 
 Conqueft ; and afterwards taken the Oppor- 
 tunity of fettling themfelves again in their 
 refpective Territories, whilft he and his Peo- 
 ple were employed in the Diviiion of the 
 Land, and fettling all Matters relating to their 
 Church and State ? We are told accordingly, 
 that after the Tribes were gone, each to 
 their own Lot, they tried in vain to diilodge 
 thofe old Inhabitants (/) : And no Wonder 
 
 they 
 
 (i) y°fi- xx - * x i- 
 
 lb) J bid. fcf feq. 
 (i) Ibid, ad fin. lib: 
 {k) Judg. i. paf 
 (1} lbid.Ver.2i. ad fin. 
 
252 ESSAY III. 
 
 they could not, feeing, inflead of deftroying 
 all their Altars, Temples, and other Monu- 
 ments of Idolatry, as Mofes had commanded, 
 they, by degrees, became themfelves en- 
 fnared by them j upon which account God 
 let them know, that he would no longer af- 
 Jijl them, in the driving them out 5 but that 
 they Jhould continue amongft them y to be Thorns 
 in their Sides (»z)j as they proved accord- 
 ingly. So that, upon the Whole, the S'm 
 of the Ifraelites was not fo much the fparing 
 of their Lives, as fuffering them to continue 
 in all their old Idolatries, inftead of oblige- 
 ing them to become Profelytes of the true 
 God in). 
 
 (m) Judg.il. I, & feq. 
 
 (n) See before, p. 140, & fe%* 
 
 ESS AY 
 
[ 253 ] 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 LETTER 
 
 V. 
 
 On the War of the eleven Tribes 
 againfi that of Benjamin, and tht 
 ahnofl utter Excifion of that impi- 
 ous Tribe. Judg. xix, & feq. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I Should have wonder'd very much, if your 
 Sceptic Neighbours had let fo remarkable 
 a Transaction pafs unquestioned, confidering 
 the many Difficulties it labours under j and 
 expected no other, than that they would 
 raife a whole Battery of Objections againft 
 
 it; 
 
254 ESSAY IV, 
 it; when I was obliged, in the laft Piece I 
 fent you, to quote fome Particulars of it, in 
 order to mew how ftrictly the Hebrews 
 kept up their martial Discipline (a)* It is, 
 indeed, furprifing to find in Jfrael, fo foon 
 after Jofiua's Deceafe (A), not only a fecond 
 
 Sodomy 
 
 (a) See before, p* 227, & feq* 
 
 (A) Authors are not 
 agreed about the Time in 
 which this unnatural Ac- 
 tion happened ; but moft 
 of them place it foon after 
 the Death of Jojhua j that 
 is, according to Archbifhop 
 Vjher, between the Year 
 of the World 2591. and 
 2599. which was the Year 
 in which Othniel was cho- 
 fen Judge over the Ifrael- 
 ites (1). During which 
 Anarchy that other Trans- 
 action is iuppofed to have 
 happened, of the Danites 
 feizing on the City of La- 
 ijh, and carrying thither 
 the Ephod and Terapbim 
 of Micah, together with 
 
 his young hired Levltei 
 and fetting them up in this 
 their new Settlement (2) ; 
 where they continued till 
 the Captivity of the Land, 
 as the Original hath it, or, 
 more reasonably, till the 
 Captivity of the Ark (3) ; 
 fuppofmg the Word THN 
 to be a Miftake of the 
 Tranfcriber, inftead of 
 pl& ; it being abfurd to 
 think, that fuch a flagrant 
 Piece of Idolatry fhould 
 have been fuffered, either 
 during the Adminiftration 
 of Samuel, or the Reign of 
 David, and other pious 
 Kings of Judah (4). 
 
 (1) Fid. UJfer. in An. 
 
 (2) Jud. x\iii. pajf. 
 
 (g) I Sam. iv. 11, £5? feql 
 
 (4) See Un. Hi/t. $vo. vol, iii. p, 239. 
 
 ca). 
 
 /> 
 
On the War againfi Benjamin. 255 
 
 Sodom, but one more degenerate and wicked 
 than that which God had deftroyed by Fire 
 from Heaven (b) ; inafmuch as the brutal 
 Indignity was offered, not to a Stranger, but 
 to an Ifraelite, and one of the Levitic Tribe 
 (f). It is no lefs ftrange, that a Man of his 
 facred Function, having found his Concubine 
 (B) falfe to his Bed, mould, after a four 
 
 Months 
 
 (b) Gene/is xix. pafll 
 
 (c) Judg. xix. I, & feq. 22, &* feq* 
 
 (B) A Concubine, in the 
 Hebrew Senfe, was not a 
 bare kept Miftrefs, but a 
 Wife of the fecond Or- 
 der, and differed only from 
 one of the firft in the 
 Omiflion of fome Cere- 
 mony attending the Mar- 
 riage of the latter, and a 
 Contract, by which the 
 Hufband obliged himfelf to 
 endow her, and make the 
 Children he had by her to 
 be his Heirs : Whereas the 
 Concubine was taken with- 
 out fuch a Dowry, but was 
 intitled to Food, Raiment, 
 and the Privilege of his 
 Bed, equally with the 
 
 Wife ; and her Children 
 claimed a Portion of his 
 Goods, according to his 
 Circumftances. Thefetwo 
 Ranks were not only al- 
 lowed by the Mofaic Law, 
 but a Man might take as 
 many of either as he could 
 maintain (i). Both Ranks 
 were obliged to be faithful 
 to him ; but, in cafe of In- 
 fidelity, whether the Con- 
 cubine was liable to the 
 fame capital Punifhment 
 that the Wives were, is 
 not agreed : But, if found 
 guilty, after full Proof, he 
 was obliged to divorce her 
 for ever from him, if not 
 t? 
 
 (i) Ibid. vol. iii, /». 140 (F), 
 
256 E S S A Y IV. 
 
 Months Divorce, go fo far to feek her, ven- 
 ture to be reconciled to, and take her home 
 again, contrary to the Law of Mofes. The 
 butcherly Method he took to apprife the 
 Tribes of her Abufe and Death (</), is un- 
 precedented ; and in the Account he gives of 
 the unnatural Attempt made on him by the 
 Inhabitants of Gibeab, he artfully conceals 
 his thrufting her out to them, to fave him- 
 felf from their more brutifh Luft:. But what 
 is the moil: furprifing of all is, that the whole 
 Tribe of Benjamin , inftead of delivering up 
 thofe Mifcreants to a condign Puniihment, 
 or rather, inftead of offering themfelves to 
 the other Tribes, to become their Execu- 
 tioners, as that vile Action reflected the great- 
 eft Reproach upon themfelves, mould fo 
 unanimoufly refolve, at all Events, to take 
 up Arms, in Defence of that bafe and un- 
 worthy City, againft the united Forces of 
 the other eleven Tribes (e). But here it 
 ought to be remembred, that the infpired 
 
 Writer 
 
 (d) Judg, xix. 29, & feq. 
 (/) Ibid. xx. 12, & feq. 
 
 to profecute her ; fo that fearch of, or to be recort- 
 it was altogether irregular ciled to her, after fuch a 
 in the Levite to go in Breach of Fidelity. 
 
On the War agalnjl Benjamin. 257 
 
 Writer of this ftrange Tranfaction begins and 
 ends his Relation of it with thefe remarkable 
 Words j that in tbofe Days there was no 
 Ki?2g in Ifrael ; but that every Man did that 
 which was right in his own Eyes (f). To 
 which give me Leave to add, that in this 
 the Benjamites did but too plainly verify the 
 Prophecy of their dying Father Jacob^ con- 
 cerning that fierce and untraceable Tribe 
 (g) -j Benjamin Jhall ravin as a Wolf, or, is 
 like a ravenous Wolf, which Jails foul on 
 bis Prey in the Morning, and in the Evening 
 divideth the Spoil. Nor is this the only In- 
 fiance wherein they verified this Character : 
 Witnefs, among others, their bloody Wars 
 againft the Houfe of 'David, in favour of 
 that of Said, who was of that Tribe (h). But 
 m this, and the like Cafes, it were unreafon- 
 able to draw any Inference from the tumul- 
 tuous and irregular A&ions of a Tribe or 
 People, to the lelTening of the Authority of 
 the Writer of any Hiftory, who ought rather 
 to be admired for the Impartiality with 
 
 S which 
 
 (f) Judg. xlx. 1. xxi. 25. 
 
 (g) Genefis xlix. 27. 
 
 (h) Vid. int. <tl. 2 Sam, ii, 8. 12, & feq. fc? alii, 
 
258 ESSAY IV. 
 
 which he relates a Fact fo little to the Cre- 
 dit of his Nation. 
 
 The main Difficulty therefore which yon 
 are concerned to remove, with refpecl: to the 
 bloody War of the eleven Tribes againft that 
 of Benjamin, is neither the unnatural Beha- 
 viour of the Gibeatbites to the Levite, and his 
 Concubine ; nor that of that whole Tribe, in 
 rehiring to furrender thofe brutiiTi Wretches 
 to condign Punifhment : For how ftrange 
 jfoever either of them may appear, yet is 
 there nothing in it either improbable, or in- 
 continent with the Degeneracy of thofe times, 
 and the Character of that haughty and un- 
 traceable Tribe. Neither will there any thing 
 appear extraordinary in that laudable Zeal, 
 which the other Tribes fo unanimouily ex- 
 prefled on this Occafion - y nor in the Refa- 
 ction they took of puniming thofe Mif- 
 creants with the utmoft Severity ; when we 
 call to mind how exprefly this had been 
 commanded them by God, to the utter Ex- 
 tirpation of thofe that mould be found guilty 
 of fuch vile Abominations (/). And it was 
 
 on 
 
 (i) Vid. Deut.xiu. 12, & feq. xxiii. 17. Levit* 
 xviii. 22. xx. 13. &f alib.pajf. 
 
On the War againft Benjamin. 259 
 
 on account of that, among many other cry- 
 ing Sins, that the Canaanites were doomed 
 to utter Deftruclion ; which Punifhment was 
 no lefs feverely denounced againft the Ifrael- 
 iteSy that mould be found guilty of them. 
 It would have, indeed, been more furprifing, 
 if, in a Cafe of this Nature, they had ex- 
 preffed lefs Warmth and Abhorrence than 
 they did, not only againft the brutim Perpe- 
 trators of that unnatural Deed, but much 
 more againft the more wicked Benjamites, 
 for patronizing it, inftead of (hewing them- 
 felves the moft forward in punifhing it. 
 
 The chief Difficulty therefore remaining, 
 that is really fuch, and that no fmall one in 
 your Opponent's Eye, lieth in accounting for 
 the ill Succefs that attended the laudable Re- 
 folution of the eleven Tribes, and for their 
 being fo fhamefully repulfed, and with fo cOn- 
 iiderable a Lofs j efpecially after having con- 
 fulted the Divine Oracle about this War, and 
 received fuch an encouraging Anfwer from it, 
 as could hardly be interpreted to import lefs 
 than a Promife of a complete Victory, as a 
 due Reward for their Zeal : Whilft, to their 
 great Mortification and Aftonifhment, they 
 S 2 fee 
 
2 6o ESSAY IV. 
 
 fee the Arms of that impious and untracta-* 
 ble Tribe crowned with an undeferved Vic- 
 tory. Thefe are the flrong Terms in which 
 your Opponent couches his Objection : In 
 whiten, however, he feems to overlook two 
 material Points, amifs, in their Behaviour, on 
 this important and extraordinary Occafion ; 
 namely, iji. However laudable and conform- 
 able to the Mofaic Law their Intention might 
 be, to punifh the impious Gibeathites with 
 the utmoft Severity ; yet this fudden and una- 
 nimous Refolution, of declaring an ofTenfive 
 War againft the whole Tribe of Benjamin, 
 appears plainly enough, by all Circumftances, 
 to have been the Effect of their Refentmenc 
 againft it, for daring to oppofe themfelves, 
 in Defence cf fuch Mifcreants, againft the 
 whole Ifraelitifo Congregation, rather than 
 the Refult of a, cool, fincere, and deliberate 
 Debate, about the mod effectual Means tt> 
 extirpate iiich fhameful Impieties out of 
 their Commonwealth. Had they given 
 themfelves time to think coolly upon it, they 
 mud have remembred, that if it was not 
 permitted to them to declare War, even 
 againft Strangers, without confulting the Di- 
 vine Oracle, that is, the High-Prieft, by 
 
 Urim > 
 
On the War agai?ift Benjamin. 261 
 
 Urim ; much lefs was it for them, not only 
 to refolve, but to bind themfelves by a fo- 
 lemn Oath, to engage in one againft one of 
 their own Tribes ; and to purfue it with fuch 
 furious Zeal. For it is plain, however your 
 Antagonist may have overlooked it, that they 
 never once thought of confulting the Divine 
 Will, or, as the infpired Writers commonly 
 word it, of inquiring of, or cjking Counfel 
 of y the LORD, till the V/ar was unani- 
 moufly refolved upon, and fworn to. And 
 then it was not to inquire about the Fitnefs 
 or Lawfulnefs of it, for that they took for 
 granted ; but only which Tribe mould have 
 the Poft of Honour, and the chief Com- 
 mand, in this hoflile Expedition ; that no 
 Jarring or Difpute about it might obflruct 
 the Execution or Succefs of it. The other 
 Circumftance which your Opponent hath 
 overlooked, is, that the Divine Oracle, or, 
 as is commonly underftood, the Anfwer of 
 the High-Prieff. by JJrim y only informs them, 
 that the Preference inquired after is due to 
 the Tribe of Judah. But this Anfwer was 
 not attended with any Promife of Succefs (k) t 
 S 3 which 
 
 (k) Jttdg. XX. 18, & feq. 
 
262 ESSAY IV. 
 
 which was rather expected by them as a thing 
 of courfe, or as the natural Confequence of 
 fo pious and laudable an Enterprize. The 
 Caufe, they fo far rightly judged, was God's; 
 how could they fuppofe that it would end in 
 their Defeat ? They were fuperior by far in 
 Number to the rebellious Tribe j how mould 
 they then expect any thing but Victory ? In 
 this Perfuafion and Confidence, they never 
 inquire whether God will blefs them with 
 one, but only afk who (hall lead them to it: 
 And this it was that proved the Caufe of their 
 fir ft Defeat j and that juftly too, as a con- 
 dign Punifhment for their Prefumption, in 
 rafhly decreeing the Excifion of a Tribe, 
 without either confuking God's Will about 
 it, or trying fome previous Method of re- 
 ducing them to Reafon, by more pacific 
 means : For this was, in Fact, making them- 
 felves Judges and Executioners in God's 
 Caufe, without his Authority, Advice, or 
 Confent. To this I may add, what the Jews 
 farther allege againft them, that they fought 
 his Caufe with unhallowed, or with Hands 
 -as guilty as thofe of that rebellious Tribe j 
 in fuffering a new Kind of Idolatry to be fet 
 and kept up amongft them j if they were 
 z not, 
 
On the War againjl Benjamin. 263 
 
 not, for the moft part, infected with it (/) ; 
 and which it was their Duty to have extir- 
 pated, before they prefumed to draw their 
 Swords in God's Caufe, upon any other Oc- 
 cafion. This is, indeed, the more probable, 
 becaufe not only the Jewifi, but moft other 
 Chronologers, place the fetting up of Micab's 
 Idol, in their new Dan, much about the 
 fame time that this War happened j both 
 Tranfa&ions being diftinguiflied by the fa- 
 cred Hiftorian (;;;), that they happened when 
 there was no King in Ifrael, but every one 
 did what was right in his own Eyes. In this 
 State therefore of Anarchy and Apoftafy, 
 how little Reafon had they to expect a 
 Bleiling on a Zeal fo partial and blind -, 
 which, in all Likelihood, would have been 
 as cold and unactive againft Benjamin, as 
 again ft Dan, had it not been blown up into 
 a Fury againft the former, partly by the then 
 unheard of Circumftance of a Concubine 
 hewn and difpatched in Pieces to the Tribes, 
 and partly by the more furprifing Refolution 
 of the Benjamites, to ftand in the Defence of 
 the brutifli Gibeathites ! And in this Cafe> 
 S 4 how 
 
 (1) Fid. Judg.yisw. 3c, fcf fcq. 
 
 (m) Ibid, xv ii. 6. xviii. 1. xix, 1. xxi, 25, 
 
264 ESSAY IV. 
 
 how could they be more effectually brought 
 to a jufter Way of Thinking, than by their 
 being fuffered to meet with a fignal Defeat, 
 where they expected nothing lefs than a 
 complete Victory ? Accordingly, we find, 
 that the firft Difcomfiture brings them to 
 their Tears and Prayers j they now begin to 
 confult God, not about a General, but about 
 the Lawfulnefs of the War ; and, upon their 
 finding it approved by him (»), renew the 
 Onfet with frefh Vigour, thp' with no better 
 Succefs. 
 
 It will not be amifs here to obferve, that 
 the Phrafe here ufed, upon both thefe Con r 
 fultations, of afking Counfel of the Lord, 
 doth often mean no more, than confulting 
 their grand Council, or Sanhedrin^ with the 
 High-Priefl at their Head ; and thefe were 
 the proper Judges of all fuch things ; and 
 whofe Sentence was of equal Force, though 
 siot fo infallibly lure, as if it had been deli- 
 vered by the Divine Oracle (0). So that it 
 was no lefs than a capital Crime "to refufe to 
 abide by their Determination. And this is 
 
 all 
 
 (n) *Judg. xx. 23, & feq.. { 
 
 (a) Deut. xvi. 18, cs?/^. xvii. II, <J fer^ 
 
On the War againji Benjamin. 265 
 
 all the Inquiry and Application which the 
 Israelites feem to have made upon this Oc- 
 cafion -j viz. They firft inquired of this 
 grand Council, then folemnly affembled, who 
 mould have the Command of the Army j and, 
 upon their being unexpectedly defeated, they 
 confulted them about the Lawfulnefs of the 
 War, which they now began to fear was 
 difpleafing to God $ fince they had fucceeded 
 no better on their firft Onfet. For as to their 
 confulting the Lord, in the ufual folemn 
 Form, that is, by the Urim, and before. the 
 Ark and the High-Prieft, it doth not ap- 
 pear, from the Tenor of the Text, that they 
 thought of it till after their fecond Defeat : 
 For then it is plainly faid, that all the Chil- 
 dren 0/^-Ifrael, even all the People, went up 
 unto the Houfe of God ; where they not only 
 fafied and wept until the Evening, but pre- 
 faced their Addrefs to him, with the ufual 
 Sacrifice of Burnt and Peace Offerings 3 upon 
 which Phinehas, the then High-Prieft, Hand- 
 ing before the Ark, afked Counfel, with the 
 ufual Solemnity, in their Name ; faying, Shall 
 J go once more to Battle againfl the Children 
 of Benjamin my Brother, or floall I ceafe $ 
 ^Vnd received this favourable Anfwer from 
 
 Cod; 
 
266 ESSAY IV. 
 
 God ; Go up, for To-morrow 1 will deliver them. 
 into thy Hand (p) ; as he accordingly did, to 
 the almoft to'al Extirpation or that rebellious 
 Tribe [q). Upon the Whole, therefore, the 
 two nrft Battles, in which Ifrael loft 40,000 
 Men, may be juftly looked upon as their ralh 
 and inconfiderate Act and Deed ; in which, 
 whatever Countenance may be fuppofed to 
 have been given to that Enterprize, whether 
 by God, or by the Sanhedrin, yet it was ftill 
 without any Promife of Succefs ; and I may 
 add, without any juffc Grounds to hope for 
 it, from any thing that might be inferred from 
 the two firft Anfwers, and much lefs from 
 their irregular Way of Proceeding, in a Mat- 
 ter of that great and univerfal Concern. But 
 now that God is not only applied to in a pro- 
 per Way, and prevailed upon by the Prayers 
 and Tears, the Sacrifices, and other Acts of 
 Humiliation, of the whole People, to give 
 them a more encouraging Promife, they re- 
 new their Hoftilities with more Caution and 
 Regularity : Benjamin is foon made to pay 
 dearly, not only for the Lives of the 40,000 
 they had flain, on the two former Rencoun r 
 
 terr^ 
 
 (p) Judg. xx. 26, fcf Jcr. 
 (q) Ibid, ad fii. 
 
On the War againfl Benjamin. 267 
 
 tcrs, but like wife for their daring to take up 
 Arms in Defence of the impious Gib?athites\ 
 whilft the Fire confumes the Cities, and the 
 Sword the Lives, of thofe rebellious Mif- 
 creants : Infomuch that the whole Tribe is 
 now reduced to about 600 fugitive Defpera- 
 does, who went and fortified themfelves upon 
 a barren Rock (r) ; and muft, in all Probability, 
 have perifhed there, to the utter Excifion of 
 that whole Tribe, had not God infpired the 
 reft with returning Sentiments of Pity to* 
 wards that fmall and unfortunate Remnant, 
 and with a Remorfe for having fo nearly ex- 
 terminated one of the Tribes of Ifrael (i). 
 
 But there was Mill another, and more dan- 
 gerous, EffecT: to be feared, from their too 
 ram and precipitate Zeal againft the Benja- 
 mites^ at firft ; viz. the general and folemn 
 Curie they had pronounced againft any one 
 that fhould give his Daughter in. Marriage to 
 any of that rebellious Tribe, whilft they had 
 fuffered their furious Zeal to tranfport them 
 fo far, as to deftroy all their Females ; fo 
 that the fparing of thefe 600 Men could be 
 
 of 
 
 (r) Judg. XX. 47, & feq< 
 ({) Ibid. xxi. 2, & Jtq, 
 
268 ESSAY IV. 
 
 of little Service towards the faving of that 
 Tribe from periming, unlefs they could alfo 
 find them Wives, on whom to beget a new 
 Offspring. In this Perplexity they return all 
 to Bethel \ rilling the Air with their Cries, 
 about the Feet of the Ark ; but come not fo 
 much to inquire of God, whether the Oath 
 they had thus rafhly fworn was lawful or no; 
 and if the latter, whether he would not in 
 Mercy forgive and difpenfe them from it, as 
 to expoftulate, in a kind of tumultuous man- 
 ner, with him, for fuffering them to bind 
 themfelves by it, to the endangering the Lois 
 of one of their Tribes. Lord God of Ifrael, 
 fay they, why is this come to pafs y that there 
 Jhould be To-day a Tribe lacking in Ifrael ? 
 They proceed next to offer new Sacrifices and 
 Burnt-offerings, and to implore his Pity to- 
 wards the poor Remains of that once flou-* 
 riming Tribe : But as the Text takes no No- 
 tice of their con ful ting him in the ufual 
 Form, nor of their receiving any Direction 
 from the High-Prieft, we may reafonably 
 fuppofe, either that they omitted that Cir- 
 cumftance, or thitGod refufed to give thera 
 any Direction, how they mould act upon 
 
 that; 
 
On the War againjl Benjamin. 269 
 
 that Emergency. For we meet with fome 
 fuch Inftances in Scripture, in which God 
 has thought fit to fufpend his Anfwer, when 
 thus afked, in the ufual Form ; and upon 
 perhaps a lefs provoking Occafion than this, 
 as he did, fome time after, to Saul, upon 
 his Son Jonathan's having incurred his Curfe, 
 by tatting of the forbidden Honey («) : And 
 this, not fo much, in all Probability, to ihew 
 his Difpleafure foraTranfgreflion unwittingly 
 committed, as to infpire the People with a 
 deeper Senfe of his all-feeing Eye, who would 
 not fufFer even fo fmall and inconfiderable a 
 Fault to pafs by uncenfured. Something pa- 
 rallel to this, tho' more aggravated, we may 
 reckon the concealed Theft of Achaw, for 
 which, not only the guilty Perfon,but the reft 
 of the People, were punifhed with an unex- 
 pected Defeat before Ai (w) j tho' altogether 
 ignorant of it, till it was difcovered to them 
 by the Urim ; whereas, in the Cafe before 
 us, the IJ'raelites could not but be fenfible, 
 both of the Rafhnefs and Unlawfulnefs of 
 the Oath which they had taken againft Benja- 
 min 3 and, now the Fury of their Zeal againft 
 
 them 
 
 (u) Vid. int. al. i Sam. xiv. 37, 
 (w) Jofh. vii. paff. 
 
273 ESSAY IV. 
 
 them was abated by the great Slaughter they 
 had made of them, had ftill lefs Reafon to 
 afk or expect an Anfwer from the Divine 
 Oracle, in (o plain a Cafe. They had in* 
 fringed on God's Prerogative, in dooming a 
 whole Tribe to utter Exciiion j and bound 
 themfelves under an heavy Curfe, to become 
 the Executioners of his Vengeance, without 
 confulting his Will and Pleafure : What re- 
 mained for them now to do, but to bewail 
 their own Preemption, and beg of him to 
 releafe them from their Oath, and permit 
 them to raife up again that Tribe, which 
 they had fo inconfiderately doomed to De- 
 ilruction ? 
 
 Had they taken this laudable Method, I 
 doubt not but God would have either ab- 
 folved them from their Oath, or directed them 
 to fome means how to fupply the remaining 
 600 Benjamites with Wives, without the 
 Breach of it j whether by difpenfing with 
 the Obligation of marrying Ifraelitifo Wo- 
 men ; or permitting them to feize on them 
 by Force, and without their Parents Confent j 
 or, laftly, by naturalizing fuch a Number of 
 their Virgin Slaves, as would have fufficed 
 
 for 
 
On the War agai7ifl Benjamin. 271 
 
 for their Purpofe 3 any of which the High- 
 Pricft in being could have authorized, in fuch 
 an Emergency, without any Infringement of 
 the Mofaic Law ; as he was fupreme Judge 
 in all fuch doubtful Cafes, efpecially when 
 inverted with the Urim and Thummim («). 
 
 But here the Tribes proceeded in a differ- 
 ent, that is, in their old, irregular Way j and, 
 taking their Oath againft Benjamin to be 
 abfolutely binding and indifpen fable, only 
 fought how to elude ir, without incurring the 
 Curfe they had tacked to it. And tho' they 
 bewailed the Quantity of Blood it had made 
 them fhed, yet can they not think of any 
 better Expedient for evading it, than by fhed- 
 ding of more : They blame them (elves for 
 the great Slaughter they had made of that 
 ftubborn Tribe ; and yet refolve to deftroy 
 ihofe that did not affift them in it : And the 
 Inhabitants of Jabefo-Gikad, being found, by 
 the Mufter-Rolls, to have abfented themfelves 
 from this bloody War, muft be all destroyed, 
 
 Men, 
 
 (u) See Un. Hift. Svo. vol. iii. p. 70, & feq. & au£i. 
 ib. citat. Jofeph. cont. Apian. Buxtorf. Synag. & Com- 
 mcntar. in Dm. xix. xxi, xxiii. Calmet. procem. in Num. 
 & al. 
 
272 ESSAY IV. 
 
 Men, Women, and Children, in order td 
 fave all the Virgins they found amongft them, 
 and bellow them upon the remaining 600 
 Benjamites. But the Number of them 
 proving inefficient, they have recourfe to 
 another Stratagem, equally elufory and fcan- 
 dalous ; viz. permitting the other 200, that 
 were ftill unprovided for, to fall foul on a 
 Company of Damfels, coming down from 
 Sbilohy the then Place of Ifraelitijh Worfhip, 
 and forcing them into Matrimony, without 
 either their own, or their Parents, Confent. 
 This Proceeding your Opponent juftly blames, 
 as who doth not ? but is unwilling to allow 
 it, what it really appears to be, the Refult of 
 a rafli and precipitate Judgment, whether of 
 the Sanhedrin, or only of the Heads of the 
 Tribes, it matters not, fo long as it doth not 
 appear from the Text, that the Pontiff was 
 confulted about it, in the ufual Form j or 
 that it was in the leaft approved, much lefs 
 dictated, by the Divine Oracle, as your Op- 
 ponent would willingly inlinuate. The very 
 Words with which the infpired Hiftorian 
 concludes the Relation -> viz. that in thofe 
 'Days there was no King in Ifrael, but every 
 one did what was right in his own Eyes 3 fuf- 
 
 ficiently 
 
On the War againjl Benjamin. 273 
 
 fkiently prove the contrary ; and that their 
 whole Proceeding ftands condemned by him, 
 as difpleafing to the Divine Being. For it 
 plainly intimates, that this Epoch, fhort as 
 it proved, was a time of Anarchy and Con- 
 fufion ; wherein the People, for want of pro- 
 per Governors to reftrain them, had run 
 themfelves into all kind of Licentioufnefs. 
 The idolatrous Worfhip fet up by the Dan- 
 ites^ in their new Settlement j the abomina- 
 ble Attempt made by the Gibeathites i on the 
 travelling Levite ; the unnatural Abule of 
 his Concubine j and the tumultuous War, 
 with all its dire Effects that enfued j are 
 brought in as pregnant Instances of the then 
 reigning Corruption ; and, being fo little to 
 the Credit of the 1/raelitifi Nation, are no 
 lefs manifeft Proofs of the Sincerity and Im- 
 partiality of the infpired Hiftorian. It is 
 therefore in vain that your Antagonist pre- 
 tends to offer fome more rational Expedients, 
 by which the fpiJling of fo much Blood 
 might have been prevented, inftead of thofe 
 violent ones, into which the Israelites furTer- 
 ed themfelves to be hurried. Any Man of 
 common Senfe might do the fame j and yet 
 fo unhappy is he in his Choice of them, that 
 
 T the 
 
274 ESSAY IV. 
 
 the moft confiderable one of all he propofes ; 
 viasr. that for the faving the Gileadites from 
 Deftruftion - } can by no means be allowed of, as 
 being altogether inconfiltent with the Laws 
 and martial Difcipline of the Ifraelites. He 
 tells you very gravely, that thefe, inftead of 
 dooming the Inhabitants of Gilead to utter 
 Excifion, ought only to have obliged them 
 to give all their unmarried Females in Mar- 
 riage to the 600 Betijamites ; which they 
 might the more lawfully have done, becaufe, 
 as they did not appear in Arms at the Place 
 of Rendezvous, they could not be affected 
 by the general Oath which the reft of the 
 Tribes had fworn. But here he mould have 
 confidered, that by their not anfwering the 
 general Summons, they had, according to the 
 martial Laws of Ifracl, forfeited their Lives, 
 and incurred the Penalty of military Execu- 
 tion, from which no Power could then ex- 
 empt them j there being, at this Juncture, 
 neither King nor Judge among them. And 
 if he fays, that the grand Council, or Sanhe- 
 dri?2, could have difpenfed with the Severity 
 of that Law ; which, by-the-by, he will find 
 an hard Matter to prove ; yet it ought to be 
 confidered, how impolitic fuch a Step mnft 
 
 have 
 
On the War againjt Benjamin. 275 
 
 have been, and what an Encouragement it 
 might have given to the reft, to neglect the 
 excellent Difcipline which Mofes and Jo/bua 
 had left amongft them^ and on which, confi- 
 dering, as I (hall mew in my next, how they 
 were furrounded every- where with Enemies^ 
 befides thofe which they were forced ftill to 
 entertain within their own Bowels, was the 
 greater! Security they could have againrl: any 
 Attempt, either from within, or from with- 
 out (#), and a fufficient Reafon for their ob- 
 ferving it with fuch Exadtnefs and Severity. 
 
 I have, by this time, gone thro' every 
 thing worth Notice in your Opponent's Let- 
 ter, except the fmall Sting which he leaves 
 at the Clofe of it ; but which neither Carries 
 Sharpnefs or Poifon enough to fright one 
 from handling it. He thinks it very fur- 
 prifing, on the one hand, that Fhinehas, who, 
 as High-PontifF, fat at the Helm of, and 
 fleered, the whole Sanhedrin, fhould yet be 
 fo far wanting, either in Zeal, Courage, or 
 Conduct, as not to make ufe of all his In- 
 tereft and Authority with them, to fupprefs 
 T2 all 
 
 (x) See before, p. 227, 
 
276 ESSAY IV. 
 
 all thofe fhameful Diforders that then reign- 
 ed in lfrael \ and on the other, that if fuch 
 was his Remiflnefs, or Want of Authority, 
 upon fuch an Occafion, one would reafona- 
 bly expect, that God mould, as he has often 
 done before and fince, have interpoied his 
 Divine Power, either to inflame his Zeal, or 
 give a due Weight to his Authority, both 
 over the grand Council, and over the reft 
 of the People. 
 
 With refpecY to the firft, I (ball only ob- 
 ferve, that Phinehas wanted neither Zeal nor 
 Courage in God's Caufe : Had his Authority 
 been equal to either, there could never fuch 
 a general Apoftafy and Corruption have crept 
 into the Jewifi Church and Commonwealth. 
 A Perfon who had even dared to ftop a ge- 
 neral Defection of the whole Nation by the 
 Death of the two chief Offenders, and thofe 
 of the higheft Rank (y), cannot be juftly 
 fuppofed to have connived at this general 
 Apoftafy, for want of Zeal or Courage, had 
 he been fupporteM, as he ought, by the fe- 
 cular Power. But the whole Tenor of the 
 
 Book 
 
 ■ 
 
 (y) Ses Num. xxv. 6. 
 
On the War againjl Penjamin. 277 
 
 Book of Judges, and the frequent Apoflaiies 
 that crept in again and again, after the Death 
 of any of thofe Chiefs, whom God fet up 
 for Rulers and Deliverers of that rebellious 
 Nation, is but too plain an Evidence of the 
 little Influence which the Jewijh Pontiffs, 
 and the Sanhedrin, had over them, when- 
 ever there happened an Interregnum, or the 
 Want of a ftrenuous Judge, to give it a due 
 Sanction. 
 
 But here, fays your Opponent, the more 
 vifible Need was there of ihe Divine Inter- 
 position, to give that Sanction to their dif- 
 regarded Authority, in order to check that 
 general Depravity. Before I anfwer this laft 
 Objection, give me Leave to obferve to you, 
 and I would advife you to do the fame to 
 him, how widely and inconfiflently Men in 
 this Way of Thinking are apt to argue, as 
 beft ferves their Turn. At one time, you 
 (hall hear them exclaim againft the Probabi- 
 lity of God's interpofing fo wonderfully, and 
 fo frequently, in favour of fuch a poor in- 
 conliderable Nation ; which, mod common- 
 
 iy, were apt to repay his fignal Favours with 
 )lack Ingratitude, Murmurs, and downright 
 T 3 Apoftafy; 
 
H 7 8 ESSAY IV, 
 
 Apoftafy : At other times, as in the Cafe 
 before us, they will not fcruple to afcribe all 
 thofe Diforders and Corruptions to the Want 
 ©f this extraordinary Interpofition. Sometimes 
 thefe Divine Interpontions are arraigned, ei- 
 ther as beneath the Dignity of the Supreme 
 Being, or as an Infringement on the Liberty 
 of rational Agents : And at other times, the 
 Want of them is urged as an Argument againfl 
 his Providence. So that, unlefs he will pleafe 
 to rain or fhine, to acl or not act, as they 
 think proper, they will, at all Hazards, take 
 the Liberty of cenfuring, or calling in questi- 
 on, what the facred Books relate of him. 
 How vaftly fliort was the great Mr. Locke of 
 thefe fine Reafoners, in Sagacity and Mode- 
 fly, who could freely own, that be had fpent 
 the latter Part of his Life in the Study of 
 them, and could never be weary of admiring 
 the great Views of thofe Divine Oracles, and 
 the jujl Relation of each Part ; in which 
 every Difcovery he made, was a new Subject- 
 of the deepejl Admiration [a) ! But to re- 
 turn to the Objection of God's not interpofing 
 %o fupprefs the then reigning Degeneracy : It 
 
 % 
 
 (a) See Cojlt in Fit. hoc}, p, 8, 
 
On the War againjl Benjamin. 279 
 
 is not only without Foundation, but exprefly 
 contrary to what the (acred Writer affirms, 
 who tells us {b), that he lent them an Angel 
 or Meffenger (C), to reprove them, in his 
 Name, in fuch ftrong Terms, that he brought 
 the whole Congregation to their Tears; from 
 which the Place was called Bokim t or the 
 Place of Weeping. But as this penitent Fit 
 proved but mort-lived (r), and they fo quick- 
 ly relapfed into their old Apoflafy, he punifli- 
 ed them with a fevere Servitude under the 
 King of Mefopotamia, under which they 
 T 4 groaned 
 
 (b) Jue/g. ii. U, & feq . 
 
 (c) Ibid. iii. %*&'feq. 
 
 (C) The Hebrew Word 
 "JN/D fignifies both an 
 Angel and a MefTenger, 
 but moft commonly the 
 former, when joined with 
 the Word fltT or O'rftt* 
 as it is here. However, the 
 Generality of the Jews 
 take the Perfon here fent 
 to have been Phinehas, the 
 High-Priefr ; to whom, 
 with refprct to his ponti- 
 fical Dignity, that Title 
 might properly enough be 
 
 given ; as we find It is af- 
 terwards by St. John, to 
 the Bifhops of the feveral 
 Churches he directs his 
 Epiftle to (1). But whe- 
 ther he, or a real Angel, 
 the EffecT: doth plainly 
 (hew a Divine Interpofi- 
 tion ; fince nothing lefs 
 than that could have ever 
 wrought fo quick and uni- 
 verfalaChange,orfqueezed 
 fo great a Plenty of Tears 
 out of fuch fion.y Hearts, 
 
 (l) Jpocal. i. 2.0. ii. i, fcf feq. 
 
280 ESSAY IV. 
 
 groaned about eight Years ; and, upon their 
 frefh Application to him for Mercy, deliver- 
 ed them from it, by the Hands cf Othniel,, 
 the Son of Caleb, who became their firft 
 Judge, eight Years after Jcjhuas Death (d)* 
 So that their Slavery lafted juft as long as 
 their Defection and Anarchy. This was the 
 Method by which God had frequently threat- 
 ened, by the Mouth of Mofes and JoJJji/a 
 (e), to punifh their Defections j and accord- 
 ing to which we do not read of any one of 
 them, but was attended by fome fuitable fer- 
 vere Slavery, under fome of the Nations 
 round about them ; and thefe were as infal- 
 libly followed by a lignal Deliverance, as 
 foon as their Sufferings had brought them to 
 a Senfe of their Guilt, and rendered them fit 
 Objects of Mercy (/). This was God's con- 
 ftant Method with them, during the whole 
 Period of their being governed by Judges s 
 and fuch an one, whatever your Antagonist 
 Neighbours may think of it, as even an im- 
 partial 
 
 fd) See VJhers Annals, fub A. M. 2599. and the 
 Chronology in the Margin of our Eaglifn Bible. 
 
 (e) Fid. Deut. xxviii. paffl Jojh. xxiii, 3. 11, Cs* 
 feq. 
 
 (f) Deut. xxx. fajf.. 
 
0;z the War againft Benjamin. 281 
 
 partial Reader muft judge highly agreeable 
 to his Divine Attributes, and no lefs wifely 
 calculated to reduce, not only the wavering 
 Ifraelites, but like wife their idolatrous Neigh- 
 bours, from their vain Confidence in their 
 falfe Deities ; to let them both fee and feel 
 how difpleafing the abominable Rites they 
 ufed, in their Worfhip of them, were to 
 him, by the extreme Seventy with which he 
 punifhed them, both upon his own People 
 and them : As, on the other hand, what 
 could be more effectual to invite th.fe hea- 
 then Nations, too naturally allured by 
 the Hopes of worldly Profperity, to his 
 more pure and reafonable Service (D), than 
 to behold that of the Ifraelites to rife and 
 fall, in proportion to their Obedience to his 
 Laws, and their Averfion or Propenlity to 
 
 all 
 
 (D) It muft be remem- but only to abjure their 
 bred here, that thofe Hea- falfe Deities, and idolatrous 
 then Nations that became Worfhip ; and to obferve 
 tributary to, or were per- the Precepts of Noah, men- 
 mitted to live among, the tioned in a former Effay 
 Ifraelites, were not obliged (i): So that they only be- 
 to be circumcifcd, and to came Profelytes to the ori- 
 obferve the Mofalc Law j ginal Law of Nature. 
 
 fj) See before , p. 129: 
 
282 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 all idolatrous Worlhip ? But this hath been, 
 I hope, fo fully and fairly fhewn, in a for- 
 mer Effay (g), that there is the lefs need of 
 my dwelling any longer upon it. 
 
 (g) See before ', pag. 142, & feq. 
 
 ESSAY 
 
C 283 ] 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 On the quick and furprifing Deliver- 
 ance of the City of Jabefhj and the 
 fignal Overthrow given to the Am- 
 monitifh Army, by Saul, the fir ft 
 Monarch of Ifrael. In which that 
 generous and ttoble Exploit is dif- 
 play d in all its amazi?tg Circum* 
 fiances \ the Cavils and Objections, 
 raifed againfi the Poffibility and 
 Probability, fully anfwered \ and 
 the Feafibility fairly proved ; by 
 proper Obfervations upon the excel- 
 lent Confiitution, and martial Dif- 
 cipline, of the Hebrews. Interfperfed 
 with Geographical, and other expla- 
 natory Notes, on their expeditious 
 Manner of Raifing, Completing, 
 and Equipping, their numerous Aty~ 
 
 tflies $ 
 
284 ESSAY V. 
 
 mies ; Marching, Encamping, and 
 Engaging. A Sermon, penned by 
 the fame Lay Hand, in order to be 
 preached by a proper Perfon at the 
 Head of a mutinous Body of Englifh 
 Forces, on a very interefting Occa- 
 fion , the farther Account of which 
 is given, immediately after the 
 Opening of the Text. 
 
 i Sam. xi. 6, & feq. 
 
 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, 
 when he heard thofe Tidings j and his Anger 
 was greatly kindled. 
 
 And he took a Toke of Oxen, and hewed them in 
 Pieces, and fent them throughout alltheCoafts 
 of Ifrael by the Hands of Meffengers, faying y 
 Whofoever cometh not forth aft er Saul and af- 
 ter Samuel, fojha 11 it be done unto his Oxen: 
 And the Fear of the Lord fell on the Peo- 
 ple, and they came out with one Co?jfent t 
 
 THE Occafion of this dreadful and un- 
 ufual Summons of the newly chofen 
 Hebrew Monarch, to the ten Tribes on this 
 Side Jordan, you will find mentioned at the 
 
 Beginning 
 
On the Relief of Jabefti-Gilead. 285 
 
 Beginning of the Chapter j where Nahafh 9 
 King of the Ammonites^ a moft inveterate 
 Enemy to Ifrael, is related to have reduced 
 the Inhabitants otJabeJh-Gilead, on the other 
 Side of that River, to fuch Streights, that they 
 were upon the Point of buying their Lives 
 at the Expence of a moll unworthy Slavery ; 
 and to fubmit to the cruelleft and moft igno- 
 minious Conditions, of being deprived of 
 their right Eyes, as an eternal Brand of In- 
 famy to their whole Nation, and an effectual 
 means of rendering them utterly ufelefs in 
 War, and incapable of regaining their Liber- 
 ty. The Pretence for this unjufr. and inhu- 
 man Behaviour of the Ammonitijh King, you 
 may read in the tenth and following Chap- 
 ter of the Book of Judges^ where you will 
 find the Cafe between the two Nations fairly 
 ftated, and the Ground of the Quarrel as fair- 
 ly exploded, by the then valiant Hebrew 
 Chief, Jephthah the Gileadite. But as his 
 Reafons could not prevail upon them to re- 
 cede, till he had forced them, by the com- 
 plete Victory he foon after gained over them ; 
 their Defeat had fo excited their Rage ever 
 fince, that they thought now no Revenge 
 bloody enough for their Refentment. And 
 
 this 
 
286 ESSAY V. 
 
 this it was that made their haughty Monarch 
 to refufe the JabeJJxtes any other, than thofe 
 cruel and ignominious Terms you have heard. 
 So that the moil that their SubmitTion and 
 Diflrefs could obtain from him, was a poor 
 Truce, or rather Reprieve, of feven Days ; 
 in which Space of Time if no Relief could be 
 procured from the other tenTribes, they agreed 
 to fubmit to their hard Fate. And it is in- 
 deed a Wonder, that he, who breathed no- 
 thing but Disgrace and Ruin againft the If- 
 raelites^ mould yet yield to them this fhort 
 Refpite, and run the Riik of a Delay. But 
 here the Jewijh Hiftorian tells us (Antiq, 
 1. vi. c. 5.), that the Befieged had already 
 fent to implore the Aflifrance of the two 
 Tribes and an half on their Side of 'Jordan ; 
 and that none of them dared to ftir an Hand 
 to their Relief. So that there being fo little 
 Likelihood, that the other ten on this Side, 
 which were ftill at a greater Diftance, fhould 
 be able to bring them any in fo fhort a 
 time ; he might, in that Confidence, eafily 
 grant them that Breathing-time -, unlefs we 
 will rather fuppofe, as moil likely, that the 
 Divine Providence fo far reftrained his Re- 
 fentment, in order to give the new Jewijh 
 l Monarch 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-GUead. 287 
 
 Monarch an Opportunity of fignalizing this 
 Expedition, which was, in fome meafure, 
 the firft EfTay of his Government, with fuch 
 an eminent Proof of his Fortitude and Con- 
 duct ; and to reward his Generality with fuch 
 fuitable Succefs, as mould infpire his new 
 Subjects with a greater Regard to, and Con- 
 fidence in, him. 
 
 Accordingly the facred Hiftorian tells us, 
 that Sau/y upon his Return from the Field, 
 and receiving the firft News of the Jabefiites 
 extreme Diftrefs, was infpired with a more 
 than human Courage; whilft the reft of the 
 People could only exprefs their Concern, by 
 their doleful Outcries : And that having, in 
 a kind of enthufiaftic Fury, hewed a Yoke 
 of Oxen into fmall Pieces, he difpatched 
 them with all Speed, by proper Meflengers, 
 to all the Tribes, with the dreadful Threat 
 mentioned in the Text, Whofoever cometh not 
 forth after Saul and after Samuel, fojhall it 
 be done unto his Oxen, &c The Confequence 
 of which was, that the ten Tribes immedi- 
 ately gathered themfelves with one Confenr, 
 or, as the Original elegantly expreffes it, as 
 one Man $ and obeyed his Summons, with 
 
 fuch 
 
2 38 ESSAY V. 
 
 fuch furprifing Readinefs and Speed, as to be 
 able to join him, at the Time and Place ap- 
 pointed by him for the general Rendezvous, 
 tho' fome of the Tribes were feated at above 
 an hundred Miles Diflance from it, as will 
 be fhewn to you in due time. 
 
 As I am called upon, by my Duty and 
 Office, to fpeak to you from this Place, on 
 this bleffed Sabbath-day, you will have the 
 lefs Caufe to wonder at my choofing to en- 
 tertain you, on this Occafion, with this no- 
 ble and truly generous Expedition, of the 
 new Hebrew Monarch ; and to remind you 
 of the fmgular Bleffing that attended it ; if 
 you will but ferioufly reflect, that you are 
 now called upon, and commanded, by your 
 King and Country, to an Enterprize no lefs 
 glorious and prefiing, the refcuing of a Mo- 
 ther City of this Realm from falling into 
 the Hands of a no lefs inveterate Enemy ; 
 and fome Thoufands of your brave Fellow- 
 Subjects from the fatal and unavoidable Ne- 
 ceffity of facrificing their Lives, to avoid be- 
 ing reduced to the loweft. State of Slavery ; 
 And whofe Diftrefs, and imminent Danger, 
 though not perhaps quite fo urgent as that of 
 
 the 
 
On the He/zefofjahefhrGilead. 289 
 
 the ^abejhites m the Text, yet calls as loudly 
 for all your wonted Valour, and quicker! Dn 
 fpatch, for their Relief. The next thing I 
 would have you eonfider is, how little Hopes 
 the late Murmuring and Difeontent (not to 
 call it by a worfe Name, which you have 
 expreffed during a two or three Days long 
 and difficult March, made perhaps fomewhat 
 more tirefome by the Badnefs of the Wea- 
 ther), afford us of your meeting with the 
 fame Succefs as thofe brave Hebrews did, un- 
 lefs you be brought to a better Senfe of your 
 Duty, before you come to engage our com- 
 mon Enemy. And let me add, thirdly and 
 laftly, that mould this prove the happy Cafe, 
 and God (hould fo far profper what I am 
 now going to deliver to you, as to infpire and 
 blefsyou with an equal Courage and Readinefs, 
 which thofe generous Hebrews difplayed on 
 the like Occafion, I muft not forbear remind- 
 ing you, that you will, even then, have the 
 lefs Reafon to become arrogant and aiTuming 
 upon it ; a thing but too common in the like 
 Cafes, feeing, {hould your returning Loyalty 
 and Valour atchieve what their fteady and 
 unmaken one formerly did, the effectual De- 
 liverance of the City, and the total Over- 
 
 U throw 
 
2go £ S S A Y V. 
 
 throw of the Enemy, yet your Laurels would 
 come ftill vaftly (hort of theirs, and be no 
 lefs tarnifhed by the mutinous Reluctance 
 you have hitherto {hewn on this Occafion, 
 than theirs muft have been imbrightened by 
 the furprifing Chearfulnefs and Difpatch, 
 which they difplayed in that ; fince it plainly 
 appears, that this Exploit, great and arduous 
 as it was, did not, from rirft to laft, that is, 
 from their receiving Saul's firft Summons to 
 the War, to their putting an effectual End 
 to it by the total Overthrow of the Am- 
 monites, take them up above five, or, at the 
 moll:, fix Days. 
 
 But here it may be perhaps objected, that 
 this laft and mortifying Caution I have 
 been giving you, might have more properly 
 been deferred, till your lingular Valour and 
 Succefs againft the Enemy had called for it, 
 than infifted upon at this time, when you 
 have (till a two Days long and difficult March 
 to come at them ; and the greateft Part of 
 yo i leem to have fo little Stomach to either. 
 h will perhaps be thought, that, inftead of 
 damping your Zeal and Valour, by this mor- 
 tifying Caution, I ought rather to try to roufe 
 
 ifi 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 291 
 
 it up, by fuch enlivening Examples, as are 
 to be met with in the Hiftory of the Greek, 
 Roman) and other antient Nations. And I 
 mighty indeed, here entertain you with a long 
 Detail of Hannibal's arduous and hazardous 
 March through Spain and Gaul s over the 
 Alps and Pyrenees^ and forcing his Way thro' 
 Mountains of Ice, and impenetrable Rocks, to 
 come and attack, the Enemies of his dear Coun- 
 try, in the very Heart of theirs, I might remind 
 you like wife of thofe furprifing and almoft 
 incredible Journeys, fhall I call theirs or not 
 rather Flights ? which Cafar is recorded to 
 have taken from Rome^ either to the Rbofne 
 or the Rhine), to quafh fome dangerous Re- 
 volt in the Birth j and in which he himfelf 
 tells us, that he had already reached the Ene- 
 my, before the News of his Departure was 
 known in that Capital. I might alfo, and 
 with no lefs Pleafure, expatiate on that glo- 
 rious and unparalleled Retreat, which the 
 celebrated Xenophon made at the Head of his 
 10,000 Greeks^ by a March of above 13,000 
 Miles, through itrange and impailable Coun- 
 tries, harafled and purfued all the Way, as 
 they were, by their implacable Enemies, 
 from Babylon quite to the Euxine Sea. Thefe 
 V a and 
 
2Q2 ESSAY V. 
 
 and many other the like Inftances of Valour 
 and Indefatigablenefs, could I produce out 
 of profane Hiftory ; Sufficient, one would 
 think, the leail of them, to roufe the moft 
 daftardly and defponding amongft you to 
 Courage and Activity, on fuch a criti- 
 cal Juncture as this. But what Impref- 
 fion can I expect fuch an elaborate Difplay 
 of Oratory would make on fuch a difcon- 
 tented Audience as I am fpeaking to, but 
 that of an obftinate Unbelief ? Would not 
 naoft of you be ready to think, or even to 
 fay, that Cdfar, Xenophon, and other pane- 
 gyrical Retailers of their own heroic Deeds, 
 do too plainly appear to have had a greater 
 Regard to their own Glory than to Truth, 
 to deferve to be credited in every thing they 
 have faid r" Would not you likewife be apt 
 to allege, in Excufe for your Want of Zeal 
 or Courage, that the unbounded Ambition, 
 Thirft after Glory, Revenge, and other the 
 like Motives, which hurried an Hannibal, or 
 a C&far, on fuch arduous and defperate At- 
 tempts, are of too bafe a Nature, to be pro- 
 poied for Imitation to a Chriftian Army, es- 
 pecially on fuch a Juncture as this, and after 
 your late mutinous Behaviour hath fo plainly 
 3 convinced 
 
On the Relief of Jabeflb-Gilcad. 293 
 
 convinced me, how hardly you are like to 
 be wrought upon by thofe of a more noble 
 Nature, the Love and Defence of your 
 Country, and the Prefervation of your Reli- 
 gion and Liberties ? 
 
 Well then, fo far I hope I (hall be ac- 
 quitted, for not attempting to reduce you to 
 your Duty from fuch precarious and ex- 
 ceptionable Examples - y and for confining my- 
 felf to fuch only, as are to be found in the 
 facred Books, and of whofe Authority you 
 can have no Pretence for any fuch Doubts or 
 Objections : For this Reafon I have particu- 
 larly fingled out this Inftance, of Saul's quick 
 and effe&ual Relief of the diftreiTed Jabefi- 
 jtts, not only as it bears a vifible Analogy 
 to the noble Enterprize, to which you are 
 commanded by your King and Country, and 
 agiinft which you have fhewed fuch an un- 
 generous and difloyal Reluctancy, but like- 
 wife in hopes that the great and almoft in- 
 furmountable Difficulties, which the new 
 Jewijh Monarch, and his Army, were forced 
 to overcome, in order to effect it in the (hort 
 Space that was allotted to them, and the 
 Bleffing that attended their zealous Endea-. 
 U 3 vours, 
 
294- ESSAY V. 
 vours, and furprifing Difpatch, will at once 
 quell all your Murmurings and Difcon tents j 
 and, by God's Affiitance,infpire you again with 
 the like generous Ardour for your diftrefTed 
 Fellow-Subjects, and fuch as may intitle you^ 
 in fome meafure, to the lame Glory and Sucv 
 cefs with them : For if you duly compare 
 with me the Nature of the Exploit I am go- 
 ing to fet before your Eyes, the Difficulties 
 that accompanied it, and the fhort Space that 
 Saul had to perform it, with the wonderful 
 Succefs that attended It 5 if you confider that 
 he had but five, or, at moil, fix Days, to 
 raife a furlicient Force againft a powerful 
 inveterate, and fuccefsful Enemy, out of the 
 ten Tribes on this Side Jordan, and to reach 
 the Befieged on the other ; and that he not 
 only appeared there, at the Head of 330,000 
 armed Men before the Expiration of the 
 time, but that he forecaft his Matters with 
 fuch uncommon Prudence, as to furprife 
 them on the very Morning in which they 
 expe&ed the City, with all its Inhabitants to 
 have been delivered up into their Hands 5 and, 
 by falling upon them on every Side, to give 
 them fuch a total Overthrow, as put at once 
 an End to that threatening War ; I fay, if 
 
 you 
 
On t/x Re/zef of Jabefti-Gilead. 295 
 
 you duly weigh all thefe Circumftances to- 
 gether, you muft be forced to own it to be 
 one of the moil confiderable Actions that can 
 be met with in any Hiftorian, either facred 
 or profane ; efpecially if you add to it, that 
 the whole Defign was conducted by a young 
 Monarch, who had hardly reigned three 
 Months when he went upon this Enterprize; 
 had been till then converfant only in rural Af- 
 fairs ; and was ltill wholly unaccuftomed to 
 martial Feats ; and at a time when the Hebrews 
 laboured under the moit grievous and difcou- 
 raging Circumitances, as you will hear by-and- 
 by. Only give me Leave to obfcrve to you 
 here, that this Tranfaction, great, important, 
 and furpriung, as it was, is neverthelefs trans- 
 mitted to us here by the infpired Penman, not 
 in the pompous and fwolien Language of 
 profane Hiftorians, but in the plaineft and 
 moft unaffected Stile, and fuch as any one 
 would deem much below the Dignity of the 
 Subject, did we not certainly know this to 
 be an Excellency peculiar to the facred Pen- 
 men, and which is not to be met with in any 
 but their infpired Writings. 
 
 IU I 
 
2 9 6 ESSAY V. 
 
 I doubt not but moll of you have read 
 this Angular Piece of facred Hiftory over and 
 over j and yet I much queftion, whether any 
 of you have looked upon it as any other than 
 a plain Relation of fome notable Fact, tranf- 
 acled long ago ; and in which you, at this 
 Diftance, are little or not at all concerned, 
 beyond the bare Knowlege of it. And may 
 it not be chiefly owing to the artlefs and in- 
 imitable Simplicity, with which it is recorded 
 by the facred Hiilorian, that you have over- 
 looked the moffc furprifing and remarkable 
 Circumftances of it, which could not fo ea- 
 sily have efcaped you, had they been intro- 
 duced with thofe florid Strokes of Rhetoric, 
 which Hiftorians commonly deal in, when 
 they want to raife our Attention or Admira- 
 tion ? But if that be the Cafe, it is no Won- 
 der, I mull plainly tell you, that you read the 
 Scriptures to fo little Purpofe ; and I hope I 
 ihall do you no inconsiderable Service, if 
 what I have to fay on this Subject proves an 
 Inducement to you, to make you admire 
 them the more, and to perufe them with 
 greater Reverence, as well as Profit, for 
 their being thus divefted from all artful Or- 
 nament, 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 297 
 
 nament, but that of Concifenefs, and Sim- 
 plicity of Stile, For tho' this peculiar Ex- 
 cellency of theirs hath often expofed them 
 to the Cavils and Ridicule of fofne bold Cri- 
 tics, and daring Infidels ; yet it hath never 
 failed, upon the ftrieteft Search, and moft 
 impartial Scrutiny, of making their Authority 
 appear the more venerable, and worthy of 
 our deepen: Regard. A lively Inftance of 
 which I mail now give you,in the furprifing 
 Exploit mentioned in my Text : For the fur- 
 ther Difplay of which I propofe, 
 
 In the firft Place, To lay before you all 
 the Difficulties that attended it, and have 
 been, or may be, objected againft the Pofli- 
 bility of the Fact. 
 
 2dfy 9 To mew you how thofe Difficulties, 
 great and infurmountable as they are repre- 
 fented by fome late Critics, may have been 
 overcome with Eafe by the Jewiflj Monarch, 
 by means of the excellent Laws, and martial 
 Difcipline, then known among the Hebrews ; 
 and by the ft rid: and prudent Ufe he made 
 of them, upon that Emergency, in order to 
 
 caufe 
 
298 E S S A Y V. 
 
 caufe his Summons to be obeyed with a 
 fuitable Readinefs and Difpatch. 
 
 $dly t And, by way of Application, I (hall 
 not fcruple to remind you, in the ftrongeft 
 Terms, not only of the Shame and Difgrace, 
 but the complicated Danger, to which your 
 Difobedience and Difloyalty will expofe you, 
 fhould you, in fpite of the bright and en- 
 couraging Example I am going to fet before 
 your Eyes, ftill perfift in a mamelefs Difre- 
 gard of your Duty to your King and Coun- 
 try, on fo preffing an Occafion as this to 
 which you are called. 
 
 17?, then, I am to lay before you the vaft, 
 unfurmountable Difficulties, that attended this 
 Expedition of the new Hebrew Monarch, in 
 the timely Relief of his diitreffed Subjects. 
 For thefe, upon Examination, will be found 
 to have been fuch, in the Eyes of fome other- 
 wife learned Critics, as exceeded all Probabi- 
 lity, or even Poffibility, with regard to their 
 having been ever furmounted in the manner, 
 and in the fhort Space of Time, that the di- 
 vine Hiftorian allures us they were. So that 
 fome of them have made no Scruple to lay j 
 
 the 
 
On the Relief of Jabeflv-GileadL 299 
 
 the Relation would have been as much above 
 their Belief, as it was above their Comprehen- 
 fion, had it not been tranfmitted to us by an 
 infpired Penman, Thefe Difficulties, there^ 
 fore, I fhall, for Order's fake, reduce under 
 the three following Heads : 1. The difad- 
 vantageous and diftracted State which the 
 Hebrew Commonwealth was in, at the break- 
 ing out of this AmmQnitiJh War, 3. The Un- 
 likelihood there is that the A?nmonitifo King 
 (hould grant the befieged Jabejhites even that 
 poor Refpite of fQven Days ; or, if he did, 
 that he mould be fo remifs in that martial 
 Pifcipline, for which his Nation was no lefs 
 famed than the Hebrews , as to have no kind 
 of Intelligence of Saul, and his Army, being 
 in full March againft him ; but fufFer him- 
 felf to be furprifed, furrounded, and cut in 
 Pieces, by three diftincl Bodies, confifting in 
 all of 330,000 Men. And, 3. The Improba^ 
 biiity, or rather Impoffibility, of Saul's raid- 
 ing fo vaft an Army, out of the ten Tribes 
 on this Side Jordan, and conducting them to 
 the Enemy's Camp, in fo fhort a Space as 
 five or fix Days, which is the utmoft Length 
 pf time he h^d to do it in. 
 
 iA 
 
3©o ESSAY- V. 
 
 ift, As to the difadvantageous and diftrad- 
 ed State the Hebrews were in, at the break- 
 ing out of this unexpected War, I muft ob- 
 ferve to you, that though the Divine Provi- 
 dence had fignally difplayed itfelf in their 
 Favour, fince the late dreadful Overthrow 
 of the Philiftines, by the grievous Plagues he 
 fent, fucceffively, to each of their five Can- 
 tons, during the feven Months in which the 
 facred Ark remained among ft them (a) ; and 
 more particularly afterwards, when SamueVs 
 Prayer obtained for them that fignal and mi- 
 raculous Victory over the fame Enemy, which 
 enabled them to recover all the FortrefTes 
 which they had taken from them {b) ; yet 
 they were no fooner threatened with this 
 new War, than they afTembled themfelves 
 before that Prophet, and, in an obftinate 
 and tumultuous manner, infifted upon being 
 thenceforth governed by a King, like other 
 Nations ; by which they not only introduced 
 a new kind of Government, till then un- 
 known among them, which could not be 
 done without creating fome Diforder and 
 
 Confufion, 
 
 (a) I Sam- iv. v. & feq. pajf, 
 
 (b) Ibid, cap. vii, pajl 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 301 
 
 Confufion, altogether incompatible with their 
 prefent diftrefTed State j but, at the fame 
 time, caft from them that divine Affiltance, 
 which had fo manifeftly difplay'd itfelf in 
 their Favour, and of which they never flood 
 in greater need, than at this Juncture (b). 
 And tho' God did indeed vouchfafe to yield 
 to their unreafonable Requeft, yet it was in 
 fuch a manner, as gave them little Hopes of 
 bettering their Condition by their Change ; 
 and accordingly Samuel failed not to expofe 
 their Folly and Ingratitude, as well as God's 
 Refentment, in the ftrongeft Terms, for thus 
 earring off the Divine Government and Pro- 
 tection, to put themfelves under that of a 
 weak Mortal. So that when the Prophet 
 came to acquaint them with the News of 
 Saul's being appointed King over them, they 
 conceived fuch fmall Hopes of him, that 
 they began to think themfelves in a worfe 
 Cafe than they were before, and him to be 
 fet over them, rather for a Punifhment, than 
 a Defender. He was indeed taller than the 
 reft, by the Head and Shoulder (c) ; but, un- 
 lefs his Courage and Conduct were equal 
 
 to 
 
 (b) I Sam. viii. 5, iff feq. 
 
 (c) Ibid. ix. 2. 
 
3 o2 ESSAY V; 
 
 to his Stature, it only expofed him the mote 
 to the Shots of the Enemy. And what Like- 
 lihood was there^ that they fhould entertain 
 any fuch Hopes of a young Man j whofe Edu- 
 cation, till then> had never reached higher 
 than the Plough and Cart $ arid whofe fheep- 
 l(h Behaviour, in hiding himfelf among his 
 father's Lumber j to avoid being introduced 
 to the People (d), (hewed nothing lefs than 
 a Soul fit to take the Reins of Government 
 over fuch a ftubborn Nation, and at fuch a 
 critical Juncture ? To which if we add, that 
 Ktfi his Father, who mud be beft acquaint- 
 ed with him, could find no better Employ- 
 ment for him, than to fend him in queft of 
 fome ftraggling AfTes (e) ; and that he did not 
 exempt him from following his rural Bufi- 
 nefs, even after he had been declared King 
 by Samuel, at the Head of all the Tribes (f) ; 
 we iliall fee little Reafon to fuppofej that 
 they could exped any greater Feats from 
 him, either on this, or any other. Emer- 
 gency, than thofe Malecontents did, who, 
 in a fcoffing manner, cried out, Hew pal! 
 
 this 
 
 (d) I Sam. x. i: 
 
 (e) Ibid. ix. "], 
 
 (f) Ibid. xi. 5, 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 303 
 
 this Man fave us ? and refufed to pay him 
 the Compliments and Prefents ufual on the 
 like Occaiions (g). 
 
 If we now look upon the Condition the 
 People were in, at the breaking out of this 
 War, we {hall find it to the full as melan- 
 choly and unpromifingj as that of their de- 
 fpifed new Monarch. Jofephus informs us 
 (h), that the diftretTed Jabejhites had fent in 
 vain to implore the Amftance of the two 
 Tribes and half on the other Side Jordan ; 
 and that not a Soul dared ftir Hand or Foot 
 to their Relief. And the Text tells us, 
 that when their MelTengers reached the City 
 of Gibeah, the Place of Said's Refidence, 
 and acquaiuted the Inhabitants with their 
 extreme Diftrefs, they could only have re- 
 courfe to their Cries (/) ; which plainly 
 fhews, that their Hearts were readier to be- 
 wail, than to aflifr, thofe poor Sufferers j 
 who, on their Part, were fo far funk in- 
 to Defpondency, that, inftead of refolv- 
 ing to die Sword in Hand, in Defence of 
 
 their 
 
 (g) I Sam. x. 27. 
 
 \h) Antiq. I. vi. c. $. fid fin* 
 
 (i) I Sam. xi. 4. 
 
3 C4 ESSAY V. 
 
 their Liberty, they had already engaged thern- 
 felves to fubmit to a bafe and ignominious 
 Slavery, if they could not obtain fome time- 
 ly Affiftance from their Brethren on this 
 Side (k). How improbable is it therefore, 
 how abfurd, to fuppofe that the whole He- 
 brew Nation, defponding and unprepared as 
 they were for fuch an Exploit, mould agree, 
 as one Man^ fo the Text exprefTes it (/), to 
 follow fuch a Novice of a Monarch, to the 
 Number of 330,000, on (o difficult and dan- 
 gerous an Expedition, and againffc a warlike 
 and inveterate Enemy, who had been, for 
 many Years, premeditating this War, and 
 making all the necefTary Preparations for, ae 
 well as made already fuch a considerable 
 Progrefs in it ! Efpecially if we add to all 
 this, the great Diftance of fome of the ten 
 Tribes to the Place of Rendezvous, and the 
 apparent Unlikelihood, not to fay Impoffibi- 
 lity, of their reaching the Befiegers Camp 
 foon enough to fave the City. And thus 
 much may fuffice for the firft Kind of Diffi- 
 culties which are objected againft the Proba- 
 bility of this Piece of facred Hiftory, from 
 
 the 
 
 (k) I Sam. xi. 3. 
 (I) Ibid. ver. j. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 305 
 
 the difadvantageous and diftrafted State of 
 the Hebrew Commonwealth, at this Jun 
 clure. 
 
 idly y The next is drawn from the great 
 Unlikelihood, that the Ammonitijh King 
 fhould grant the reduced Jabejhifes even fo 
 poor a Refpite as feven Days ; or, allowing 
 that he did fo, that he mould be fo remifs 
 in his martial Difcipline, and be fo void of 
 all Intelligence of Saul, and his great Army, 
 being in full March againft him, as to fuffer 
 himfelf to be furprifed, furrounded, and cut 
 in Piecesj by three fuch vaft Bodies as his 
 Army confifted of. For, with relation td 
 the firft, the antient Hatred between the two 
 Nations of Ammon and tfrael, which was 
 flill more exafperated by the total Over- 
 throw which Jepbtbab, the Hebre*w Hero, 
 gave them, about fifty Years before, makes 
 it but too probable, that they undertook this 
 War with a full Defign of taking a fevere 
 Revenge on them for that fignal Victory 
 (A). And the unmerciful Terms which 
 
 Nahajh 
 
 (A) This cruel Conteft Land of Gilead, Is elegant- 
 of the Ammonites , for the ly defcribed by the Prophet 
 
 X Jmot 
 
3 o6 ESSAY V. 
 
 Nahajh their King impofed on the Jabejhhes, 
 make it very unlikely, that he mould be fo ea- 
 fily prevailed upon to fufpend his Refentment 
 fo long as feven Days j much more that, having 
 agreed to grant them that Reprieve, he mould 
 not be more attentive to what was tranfact- 
 ing on the other Side of the River, than to 
 fuffer himfelf to be thus mamefully furprifed 
 by the Hebrew Monarch, at the Head of fo 
 numerous an Army. This is the fecond Dif- 
 ficulty that is objected againft the Probability 
 of this Expedition, as it is related by the fa- 
 ded Hiftorian ; and to which I fhall endea- 
 vour to give like wife a fufBcient Anfwer in 
 its proper Place. But, 
 
 $dly\ The third and laft Objection is ftill 
 ftronger j and is urged, not only againft the 
 Probability, but even againft the PofTibility, 
 of the Fact; as it is circumftantiated by the 
 facred Penman. It is drawn from the Short- 
 
 nefs 
 
 Amos (C. i. Ver. 13, & Mountains) of Gilead : 
 
 fcq.) by their ripping open For which that Prophet 
 
 the pregnant Women (or, denounces utter Deftru&i- 
 
 as the Original likewife on againft the Ammonitijb 
 
 imports, and the Margin King, and his whole King- 
 
 of our Bibles translates dom. 
 it, their tearing open the 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 307 
 
 nefs of the Time allowed for completing fo 
 iign.il a Deliverance, compared with the 
 Diftance cf the feveral Places to which SauVi 
 dreadful Summons were directed ; the Space- 
 of Time required for fuch a vafl Army to b@ 
 equipped, and ready for a March ; and the 
 Length of the Way they had to go, to reach 
 the Place of Rendezvous, and thence to 
 come at the Camp of the Befiegers. To 
 make this the more plainly to appear, it muffc 
 be obferved, ijl, That the befieged City of 
 JabeJJj could ftand at no lefs Diftance from 
 Gib'eab) the Place of Saul's Refidence, than 
 between fixty and feventy of our Miles ; but 
 perhaps considerably more, if we add to it 
 the Mountainoufnefs of the Countrv, the 
 Windings and Turnings of the R.oads, and 
 the like : So that allowing the feven Days 
 Time to have been granted to the Befieged 
 ever fo early in the Morning, their MefTen- 
 gers can hnrdly be fuppofed to have reached 
 Gibeab, till the Evening of the next Day. 
 Saul therefore could have but five more Days 
 to fummon the ten Tribes to Arms 5 fome of 
 which, efpecially on the South Side, were 
 above an hundred Miles from Gibeah, and 
 above an hundred and fixty from Bezek, the 
 X 2 Place 
 
308 ESSAY V. 
 
 Place appointed for the general Rendezvous 
 (B) j where, nevertheless, upon a Review 
 of the whole Army, they were found to 
 amount to 300,000 effe&ive Men, befides 
 30,000 more of the Tribe of Judab (m). 
 From Bezek they had ftill four or five Miles 
 to Bethfhean, where they were to crofs iht Jor- 
 dan -, 
 
 (m) I Sam. xi. 8. 
 
 ( B; Gibeab, the Birth- 
 place and Refider.ce of 
 Saul, was fituate pretty 
 rear the Centre, between 
 the North and Snath Bor- 
 ders of Dan and Bcerf);eba, 
 and between fix and eight 
 Miles North of Jernfalem t 
 according to Jojephus, Eu- 
 febius, Av.dSt.Jcrcm. From 
 Gibsc.b to Bitbj'J;ea>7, the 
 Place where the Army was 
 to a of* the ^Jordan, were 
 . bout fixtvmore ; and Be- 
 : '\ tie Place of Rendez- 
 vous was fituate wi:hin 
 two or three Allies trom 
 ■Bitb/bcan. The Authors 
 - -<> hove- mentioned take No- 
 tice of two Towns, of the 
 Name of B^ek ? but place 
 them only within 3 Mile or 
 two from each other : So 
 that which of the two fo- 
 
 cyer it was that Saul pitch- 
 ed upon, for the Meeting 
 of his Army, their Diftance 
 horn Bethfotan could not 
 be above five or fix Miles 
 at moil ; and from this laft 
 to Jabcfh-Gileadi may be 
 computed about ten or 
 twelve more ; for there is 
 no coming at any Exacl- 
 nefs, as to the true Di- 
 ftance of thofe Places ; and 
 it will be fufficient, if we 
 can, by the moft equitable 
 Computation we can make 
 from the Authors above- 
 quoted, and from Be/and, 
 and other Moderns, ex- 
 plode the pretended Im- 
 pollibility of- Saul's per- 
 forming the Exploit above- 
 mentioned within theTime 
 limited by the facrcd Hi- 
 ftorian. 
 
0?i the Relief of Jabefli-Gilcad. 309 
 
 dan , and from thence about ten or twelve 
 more, to reach the Ammonitifh Camp ; which, 
 conlidering the Vaftnefs of the Army, and the 
 Mountainoufnefs of the Canton of Gilead, 
 could hardly take up lefs than a whole Day's 
 March more (C). This being allowed, it 
 will follow, that Sauls Summons muft have 
 reached the ten Tribes, and thefe muft have 
 armed and arTembled themfelves, under their 
 refpective Standards, and have reached the 
 Place of Rendezvous, within the (hort Space 
 of four Days j or even lefs than that : For 
 the Text exprefly fays, that they were all got 
 thither foon enough to be reviewed by their 
 Monarch, which muft take fome confiderable 
 X 3 time ; 
 
 (C) Jofepbus ftill en- Canton of Gilead. But 
 
 creafes the Difficulty, by we fee no Reafon for pre- 
 
 making the Hebrew Army ferring his Authority to 
 
 to have confifted of 700,000 that of the Text, efpeci- 
 
 Men, befides 70,000 of the ally as he fo often betrays 
 
 of the Tribe of "Judah ( i ) ; a particular Fondnefs for 
 
 which, if true, muft have magnifying every thing 
 
 ftill required a much long- that he thinks contributes 
 
 er time, in mufttring, in to the Honour of his Na- 
 
 cro fling the Jordan* and tion, tho' at the Expence 
 
 in marching through the of Truth, and in Contra- 
 
 Windings, and narrow De- diction to the Hebrew 
 
 files, of the mountainous Text. 
 
 (i) Jntiq. 1. VI. c. 6. 
 
3io ESSAY V. 
 
 time ; after which he had itill his Meffengers 
 to fend to the befieged Jabejhites, with the 
 AfTurance of an effectual Relief by the next 
 Morning's Dawn, before he could decamp 
 from Bezek to their Affiftance. All thefe 
 things duly weighed, and the Diftance con- 
 lidered between Gibeah, from which the 
 Summons were difpatched to the remoteft 
 Tribes, both Northward and Southward, 
 molt of which could hardly be lefs than an 
 hundred Miles ; and from thefe latter, to 
 Bezek, the Place to which they were to re- 
 pair, by a March of at lead: an hundred and 
 forty Miles, through fome Deferts, craggy 
 Mountains, long and difficult Defiles; it muit 
 appear absolutely impoffihle to have been per- 
 formed in fo fhort a time : For, allowing 
 Saul's MefTengers to have travelled Night 
 and Day, and with the utmoft Difpatch, no 
 lefs than a Day and an half can be allowed to 
 them, to have reached the remoteft Tribes j 
 fo that thefe could have, at molt, but two 
 Days and an half more, to alTemble them- 
 felves under their Chiefs, and to reach the 
 Place of Rendezvous, through fo long and 
 difficult a Trad of Ground. Who therefore 
 that barely cpniiders, what a long while it 
 
 requires 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 311 
 
 requires now-a-days, to raife and fit up an 
 Army of 30 or 40,000 Men among us, or 
 even to equip a General, to appear at the 
 Head of them, can ever imagine, that fo raw 
 and unexperienced a Monarch as Saul, mould 
 ever have been able to raife one, of almoft 
 ten times that Number, out of fo many di~ 
 ftant Tribes ; much lefs to lead them, armed 
 Cap-d-pe, againft fo powerful an Enemy ; 
 and with fuch Speed and Secrecy, as to fall 
 unexpectedly upon them, and give them fuch 
 a fignal Overthrow, as put an effectual End 
 to the threatening War, and to all future 
 Hoftilities from that Quarter, during his whole 
 Reign ? And to perform all this, in a fmaller 
 Number of Days, than a much lefs difficult 
 and important Enterprize would have taken 
 up Months amongft us (D). Thus far goes 
 the Objection of our Hypercritics, againft the 
 
 Poffibility 
 
 (D)That is, within the ing, as he was returning 
 fhort Space of five, or, at from his rural Affairs (i). 
 nioft, fix Days, from the For, confidering the Di- 
 li me that Saul received the ftance from that City to 
 News of the Siege of Ja- Gibeab, it is hardly credi- 
 bejh j which, the Text ble, that the MefTengers 
 tells us, was in the Even- could reach it on the fame 
 
 X4 Day 
 
 (1)1 Sam, xi. 5, 
 
3 i2 ESSAY V. 
 
 Poffibility 'of the Fad ; to which I doubt 
 not, neverthelefs, to give fuch a full Anfwer, 
 as will leave no room for doubting of the 
 Feafiblenefs of it, when duly weighed with 
 the excellent Conflitution, and martial Difci- 
 pline, of the Hebrew Nation ; a Circumftance 
 with which the Objectors feem not to have 
 been fufflciently acquainted, or, at leaft, not 
 to have paid due Attention to. But I am, 
 under this next general Head, to remove the 
 two grand Difficulties that are raifed againft 
 the Probability of the facred Narrative. 
 
 $dly, then, In Anfwer to the firft of thefe 
 Difficulties, drawn from the difadvantageous 
 Situation of the Hebrew Commonwealth, at 
 the breaking out of this AmmGnitijh War., 
 both with refpect to the apparent Inability 
 of their new Monarch, and the Defpondency 
 of the People, on account of their late De- 
 fection from God j might not the fevere 
 Threats which Samuel pronounced againft 
 them, which we find extorted fo humble 
 and pathetic a GonfeiTion from them of their 
 
 Guilt 
 
 Day in which the Truce raife, lead, and difpofe, 
 
 was granted ; and if on the his numerous Hofr, for 
 
 next, then had he no attacking the Enemy, 
 more than five Days to 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 313 
 
 Guilt and Ingratitude, prove a moft effectual 
 Spur to that uncommon Readinefs, with 
 which they complied with Ws Commands? 
 However, it will be fufficient here to obferve 
 to you in general, that the whole Affair ap- 
 pears plainly to have been conducted by the 
 Divine Providence, and with the fame gra- 
 cious and conftant View, of reducing that 
 ungrateful and rebellious People to their Obe- 
 dience to, and fteady Dependence on him ; 
 from both which they had fo /hamefully 
 fwerved, during the latter End of Eli their 
 Judge and High-Prieft's remifs Government; 
 and as a due Punifhment for which, he had 
 fuffered them to be thus depreffed at this 
 time (?i). The Book of Judges furnifhes us 
 with many fignal Inftances of the like Na- 
 ture, wherein God was pleafed to fuffer them 
 to fink into the loweft State of Slavery and 
 Defpondency, for their frequent Defections 
 and Idolatries ; and afterwards to raife them 
 to their priftine Freedom, and profperous 
 State, by fuch unlikely and difparate means, 
 as might beft direct their Eyes and Hearts 
 to him. This we find was the Cafe, when 
 he delivered them from their feveral Thral- 
 doms, 
 
 (n) 1 Sam. ii. 27, & feq. iii, 11, & fey. iv. pajf. 
 
3 1 4 ESSAY V. 
 
 doms, under the Conduct of Deborah and Ea^ 
 rack, of Gideon, Jepbtbah, and others of their 
 Chiefs (0). And let me add here, that as 
 the People never flood in greater Need of 
 fuch a gracious Memento, than at this time, 
 when, in the Height of all their Diftrefs, 
 they feem to have fo far cafl off the Divine 
 Protection, as to put their fole Hope and Re- 
 medy in having a King fet over them, for 
 their Deliverer ; fo nothing could be more 
 proper to reduce them from their mifplaced 
 Confidence, than the giving them fuch an 
 unpromifmg one as Saul was ; and then, upon 
 the very firft Emergency, to infpire him wuh 
 fuch unexpected Fortitude and Conduct; and 
 to crown it with fuch wonderful and un- 
 hoped for Succefs. For this could hardly 
 fail of infpiring both King and People with 
 a frefli and furer Truft and Dependence on 
 God, above any human Help. Accordingly, 
 you may remember, that God had taken 
 care to encourage the new Monarch with 
 fuch a kind of Pfomife, from the very Be- 
 ginning, by the Mouth of his Prophet, in 
 thefe Words j And the Spirit of tSe Lord 
 will come N upon thee, and thou [halt become 
 
 another 
 (9) Vid. int. al. Jud. vii. 2, & feq. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefl>Gilead. 315 
 
 another Man ; and let it be, when thefe things 
 are come unto thee, that thou do as Occafion 
 Jhall require ; for God is with thee (p). In 
 confequence of which Divine AfTurance it 
 was, no doubt, that Saul, on his returning 
 from the Field, and hearing the Outcries of 
 the People, on account of the Jabefhites, felt 
 iuch an uncommon Warmth at their Diftrefs, 
 as well as Refentment againft the pufillani- 
 mous and defponding Gibeathites y that he 
 immediately ordered the two Bullocks to be 
 hewn in Pieces, and fent to each Tribe, with 
 the dreadful Summons mentioned in my 
 Text -j Whofoever cometh not forth after Saul 
 and after Samuel, fo Jhall it be done unto his 
 Oxen. The Refult of which was, that they 
 were ftruck with Fear and Dread, and made 
 fo quick aDifpatch to join him at the Place 
 of Rendezvous, that they were all got thi- 
 ther, from every Tribe, with one Confent, 
 a Day at leaft before the Expiration of the 
 Truce, and to the Number of 330,000 ef- 
 fective Men. How eafily this might be per- 
 formed, is what I fhall mew under another 
 Head : In the mean time I cannot but obferve 
 to you, from what hath been faid under this, 
 
 as 
 (p) 1 Sam. x. 6, & 7. 
 
3 i6 ESSAY V. 
 
 as well with refpect to the generous and he- 
 roic Spirit which Saul difplay'd on this preff- 
 ing Occafion, and the extraordinary Readi- 
 nefs with which the People obeyed his Sum- 
 mons, as with refpect to the wonderful Suc- 
 cefs with which both were crowned, that 
 the Whole plainly appears to have been the 
 Work of the Divine Providence. For as to 
 the firft, the Text exprefly affirms, that the 
 Spirit of God came upon Saul y and it is hard- 
 ly to be fuppofed, that any thing but fuch an 
 extraordinary Impulfe, could have frighted 
 his heartlefs and defponding Subjects into fo 
 ready, quick, and univcrfal, Compliance with 
 his Commands ; efpecially as the Danger that 
 threatened them was fo far off, Jabefi being 
 on the other Side Jordan y and at a good Di- 
 stance from the greateft Part of the Tribes $ 
 and the Lofs of it not appearing to them of 
 fuch Confecruence, as to require fo quick a 
 Difpatch, had there been a much greater 
 Probability of their fucceeding in their At-, 
 tempt to relieve it. So that, upon the 
 Whole, it cannot be doubted, that God in- 
 tended, by this Angular Difplay of his Pro- 
 vidence ? to fignalize the firft warlike ErTay 
 of his new Anointed, in fuch a manner, as 
 
 mould 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 317 
 
 mould infpire his People with a due Regard 
 to him, and both him and them with a more 
 fure and fledfaft Reliance on the Divine Pro- 
 tection, as well as a warmer Zeal for his Re- 
 ligion, than they had hitherto mewn for it ; 
 more efpecially fince that fhameful and uni- 
 verfal Degeneracy, which the Wickednefs 
 of £//'s and Samuel's Sons had caufed among 
 them. In all this there is nothing but what 
 is exactly uniform and agreeable to the Con- 
 duel which the Divine Providence had mewn 
 already, upon feveral Occafions of the like 
 Nature ; and more particularly in the Cafes 
 of Mofes, Jofiua, Gideo??, Jephthah, and 
 other Jewifi Chiefs j and what he continued 
 flill to mew, fince then, in favour of many 
 of their Monarchs. And this is, indeed, what 
 the Prophet took care to inculcate into them, 
 in the flrongefl Terms, in that pathetic 
 Speech which he made to them, foon after 
 the fignal Overthrow of Nabafi, and his Hofij 
 wherein he allures them, that provided they 
 did caft off all their vain and fuperftitious 
 Confidence in their Idols, and falfe Deities, 
 and trull in God alone, and abide in his 
 Truth, they mould never fail of his A Alli- 
 
 ance 
 
3*8 ESSAY V. 
 
 ance and Protection [q) : But, concludes he, 
 in the kit Verfe, if ye fiall ftill go on to do 
 wickedly , ye fiall furely be confumed, both 
 ye and your King. And thus much may, 
 I hope, fuffice, for an Anfwer to the raft 
 Difficulty. 
 
 idly, I come now to the fecond, which is 
 objected again ft the Probability of the Fact ; 
 viz. the Unlikelihood there is that Nabafh, 
 who breathed nothing but Ignominy and De- 
 ftruction againft Ifrael, fhould yet be pre- 
 vailed upon to grant to the Jabejlites even 
 that (hort Reprieve of feven Days ; and much 
 more, that, having once granted it, he mould 
 keep fo bad a Look-out, as to be wholly ig- 
 norant of what was tranfacting on the other 
 Side Jordan, and fufTer his Camp to be fur- 
 prifed and furrounded by Saul, and his Army, 
 on the very Morning on which he expected 
 the City to be delivered up to him : But as 
 furprifing and uncommon foever as that Over- 
 fight may appear, we meet with Inftances 
 enough of it, in facred and profane Hiftory, and 
 even among modern and warlike Nations, to 
 confute the pretended Improbability of it. 
 
 I 
 
 (q) I Sam. xii. pajf. & ver. 20, & fcq. 
 
On the Relief of J abefh-Gilead. 3 1 9 
 
 I lhall here only remind you of that fignal 
 Infatuation of the French General, Count 
 Tal/ard, who, when he might eafily have 
 oppofed the confederate Army, under the 
 late glorious Duke of Marlborough, from 
 paffing the Rhine, to come at him, did yet 
 fuffer them to crofs that rapid River unmo- 
 lefted ; alleging, that the more mould come 
 over to them, the more would be either 
 killed or taken ; the Confequence of which 
 egregious Overfight, you may well remem- 
 ber, was the total Defeat of the French Army 
 at Hockjiedt, the Taking of their infolent 
 General Prifoner, with a prodigious Number 
 of other commanding Officers of Diftinction, 
 and the Saving of the Empire from the moft 
 impending Danger. 
 
 But were this prefumptuous Negligence of 
 the Ammonitijh King even without any Pa- 
 rallel, yet, when duly weighed with all its 
 Circumftances, it will appear far enough from 
 having any thing that can exceed your Be- 
 lief. 'Jofephus telis us, in few Words, that 
 Naha/h had fo mean an Opinion of the Jf- 
 radites at this Juncture, that he made no 
 Difficulty to comply with the Befiegers Re- 
 
 queft, 
 
, 3 20 ESSAY V. 
 
 queft. And if we look upon the defpica- 
 ble Figure which, as I obferved to you, 
 the Jews made, at this time, under their 
 new Government and Monarch, we mall 
 find nothing among them, but what might 
 contribute to lull that inveterate Enemy 
 into the fatal Security, in which they fo 
 happily furprifed him. Had even Saul 
 ever {hewn himfelf a Man of a more mar- 
 tial Difpofition, yet what Likelihood was 
 there, that he mould raife fo powerful an 
 Army, in fo (hort a time ; or be in a Con- 
 dition to attack the Enemy in their Camp, 
 before the Expiration of fo fhort a Truce ? 
 Where is then the Wonder, that Nahajh 
 fhould confent to fufpend his Cruelty for 
 fo little a while, when he had no other 
 Profpect before him, than that of execute- 
 Jng it with greater Satisfaction, at the End 
 of it ? Whereas might he not have fome 
 Caufe to fear, left an abiblute Refufal of 
 their Requeft fhould force the Befieged up- 
 on fome defperate Attempt, to fave their 
 Lives and Liberty j which might cofl him 
 the Lofs of a good Number of his Troops, 
 £>r, at leafr, prove of much worfe Confe- 
 
 quence 
 
' On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 321 
 
 quence to him, than a feven Days Refpite 
 could, all things confidered, be poffibly fup- 
 pofed to do. It is hardly credible, indeed, 
 that the Ammonites mould be wholly unap- 
 prifed of the Motions of the ten Tribes on 
 this Side the River ; but that they mould be 
 intended for the Relief of the Beficgcd> 
 much lefs that there mould be any Poffibi- 
 lity of their reaching the Place time enough 
 to effect it, is what never could come into 
 their Heads ; and the mod they could ap- 
 prehend from them was, that they were in- 
 tended to oppofe their farther Progrefs. It 
 is alfo no lefs unreaibnable to fuppofe, that fo 
 warlike and well-difciplined a Nation mould 
 be without their Piquet, their Vanguard, 
 Scouts, Spies, and other martial Precautions, 
 at that Juncture ; and all thefe they may 
 have had, and yet feveral unforefeen Acci- 
 dents may have concurred, thro' the Policy 
 of the Hebrew Monarch, to render them in- 
 effectual, if not, perhaps, contribute to their 
 Indolence, and fatal Security. Said^ and fome 
 of the Tribes, might take the Advantage of 
 their Nearnels to the Place of Rendezvous, 
 to fecure all the Paries and Defiles leading; 
 from Jordan to the Enemy's Camp, and 
 Y thereby 
 
322 ESSAY V. 
 
 thereby intercept all kind of Intelligence of 
 his Approach from reaching them ; which 
 would, of courfe, make them think them- 
 felves the more fecure, upon that very Ac- 
 count: They might, in all Likelihood, be ftill 
 more confirmed in it, by thofe very MefTengers 
 whom Saul fent to acquaint the Befieged on 
 the Night before his Arrival, with his Defign 
 of attacking the Enemy by the next Morning: 
 For, whilft theywere carrying the mod com- 
 fortable and encouraging News to the Befieged, 
 they might take that Opportunity to fpread a 
 contrary Report thro' the Befiegers Camp j 
 and make them believe, that neither Saul, nor 
 any of his Tribes on the other Side, had ei- 
 ther Power or Courage to come to their Af- 
 fiftance. But that which, in all Appearance, 
 contributed mod to lull them afleep, was the 
 fubtle MefTage which the Jabejhites fent to 
 the Ammonitifi King ; That, having in yain 
 implored the Help of their Brethren on the 
 other Side Jordan, they had now no other 
 Refource left, than to march out by the next 
 Morning, and caff, themfelves at his Mer- 
 cy : For this News, being once fpread through- 
 out the Camp, could hardly fail of rendering 
 both Guards and Centliiels more remifs and 
 negligent. There 
 
On the Re/tef of JabeRx-Gite&d. 3^3 
 
 There was ftill a further Stratagem^ not 
 unufual in thofe early Days; which Saul 
 might ufe with Succefs, in order to fall up- 
 on them unawares j viz. fetching a Com- 
 pafs about, inftead of taking the neareft 
 Way to them, which he might the more 
 eafily do, as he marched his Army in feve- 
 ral Columns (E) j and moft probably under 
 the Guidance of fome of thofe JabeJJoites^ 
 who had been deputed to apprife him with 
 their Diftrefs, and who muft be fuppofed to 
 have been beft acquainted with all the Ave- 
 nues to it, as well as with the Situation of 
 the Enemy's Camp. So that by continuing 
 their March all that Night, and with as little. 
 Y 2 Noife 
 
 (E) This was a Method more Bodies, as Occafion 
 
 very ufual, as well as ne- required, in order to fur- 
 
 ceffary, in thefe mountain- prife an Enemy, we find 
 
 ous Countries, where the it was pra£tifed even fo 
 
 frequent Defiles, and nar- early as Abraham's time, 
 
 row PaiTes, muft otherwife and with good Succefs j 
 
 have obftrudted the Quick- tho' his whole Force, We 
 
 nefs of the March of a are told, confuted only of 
 
 whole Army ; confidering 318 of his own Servant. , 
 
 how numerous they were and, in all Likelihood, 
 
 wont to bej in thofe Days, about much the fame 
 
 And as for that of dividing Number of thofe of his 
 
 them into two, three, or two Confederates (1), 
 
 (1) Conf. Genef. xiv. 13, fcf fe$. & vtrf. 24, 
 
324. ESSAY V. 
 
 Noife as poflible, he might with Eafe come 
 upon them unperceived and unexpected j till 
 their furrounding Shouts waked them,perhaps, 
 out of their profound Sleep ; and the fucceed- 
 ing Day-light difcovered them on every Side 
 of their Camp, and ready to rum upon them 
 with all their Might. In the Confufion, 
 which mud be reafonably fuppofed to have 
 reigned thro* the whole Hoft of the Be- 
 fiegers, we may likewife expect, that the 
 yabejhites would not fail to make good their 
 Promife of coming out to them, and falling 
 upon their Rear, whilft their Front and 
 Flanks were no lefs bravely plied by Saul's 
 three powerful Corps. No Wonder then, 
 if, with all thefe Advantages, the Hebrews 
 gained fo fignal and eafy a Victory, and made 
 fuch a dreadful Slaughter among them 5 
 which, the Text tells us, lafled from Sun- 
 rifing, till the Heat of the Day obliged them 
 to give it over (s) j by which time thofe that 
 efcaped were fo effectually fcattered, that 
 two of them were not left together. Nothing 
 indeed was more frequent among the He- 
 brews, than this politic Way of furprifing 
 the Enemy by their fwift Marches ; by 
 
 which 
 (s) i Sam. xi. 10, is' Ceg. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 325 
 
 which they injected fuch a Panic among 
 them, as feldom failed of ending in their 
 total Defeat. And it was by that very 
 Method, that Jojhua, the moil confummate 
 General of his time, won fo many fignal Vic- 
 tories over the united Forces of the Canaan- 
 ites. Witnefs that celebrated one which 
 he gained over the five confederate Kings, 
 who had joined their numerous Forces again ft 
 the Gibeonites (q) ; and that frill more fur- 
 prifing one, which he gained, .with his fmall 
 flying Army, over the King of Hazor, and 
 his confederate Princes, at the Waters of 
 Merom j though their Force, the Text a (lures 
 us (r), confifted of a vaft Number of Cha- 
 riots, and Horfemen, and Foot, as numerous 
 as the Sand of the Sea : Of all which I have 
 given you a full Account, in a foregoing Let- 
 ter. Jofephus more diflinctly tells us (j), 
 that it confifted of 300,000 Foot, 10,000 
 Horfe, and 2,000 Chariots of War. Againft 
 which numerous Hon: he marches, with the 
 Choice of his Troops, with fuch fwift and 
 long Strides, that he comes unexpectedly 
 upon them ; and falling upon them, accord- 
 
 Y 3 ' iftg 
 
 (q) JoJhuax.faf. 
 
 (r) Ibid. xi. 4. See Ejfay iii. p. 215, &f feq. 
 
 (sj Antlq. /.v. c. 1, 
 
326 ESSAY V. 
 
 ing to Cuftom, in three or four diftincT: Bo- 
 dies, gives them a total Defeat, feizes upon 
 their Camp, burns all their Chariots, ham- 
 firings their Horfes, and, having totally di- 
 fperfed thofe that efcaped from the Sword, 
 becomes, by that fingle Action, Mailer 
 pf a confiderable Trad: of Ground, and of 
 fuch a Number of fortified Cities, as would, 
 in all Likelihood, have taken up fome Years 
 to reduce by regular Sieges. But to return 
 to Saul's Victory : 'Jofephus adds, that Na- 
 hajh, the Ammonitifo King, was flain , and 
 that Saul, not content with this fignal Vic- 
 tory, and the timely Deliverance of Jabejh, 
 purfued the War againft them, laid their 
 Country wafle, enriched his Army with the 
 Spoil, and brought back his victorious Troops 
 fafe to their refpective Homes (£), laden with 
 Glory and Plunder. However that be, 
 the Ammonites were fo humbled by this fig- 
 nal Overthrow, that we do not read of any 
 farther Hoflilities between them, during the 
 Remainder of Saul's Reign ; nor indeed till 
 the latter End of that of David \ when 
 HanuK, their newly crowned Monarch, did, 
 
 by an unheard of Affront offered to his Em- 
 
 baffadorsj 
 
 (t) Antiq, I. vi. c. $» 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli Gilead . 327 
 
 baffadors, provoke that warlike Prince to ufe 
 them with much greater Severity (u). Thus 
 far then, I hope, I have fully removed the 
 two firft Difficulties, which are objected 
 againft the Probability of this remarkable Ex- 
 ploit. 
 
 I come now to the third and laft, in which 
 our Unbelievers feem to triumph over us, with 
 a Credat Judaus ; and is levelled not only 
 againft the Probability, but againft the Pof- 
 fibility, of the Fact, as related and circum- 
 ftantiated by the facred Hiftorian; that is, as 
 you have already heard, the Shortnefs of the 
 Time in which it is affirmed to have been 
 effected. For if we allow, that the Jabefi- 
 ites MefTengers could not reach Saul till after 
 the fecond Evening of the Truce, it will of 
 Neceffity follow, that he had but five Days 
 more to fend his Summons to every Part of 
 his Kingdom, on this Side Jo? tan, and to 
 get his vaft numerous Army punctually rea- 
 dy, upon the Spot, at the general Rendez- 
 vous j which, confidering the Length of the 
 Way, and other obvious Difficulties, muft 
 needs make fuch a March appear altogether 
 Y 4 impracticable, 
 
 (u) 1 Kings x. xi. pajf. 
 
328 ESSAY V. 
 
 impracticable. And fo it muff needs appear 
 to thofe, who only reflect on the Time that 
 it would take up, to raife an Army of even 
 the tenth Part of that Bulk among us, and 
 to get it ready equipped, and fit for Action, 
 as this was j and that an equal Number of 
 Months would hardly fuffice now-a-days, to 
 fit out one of our Generals to appear at the 
 Head of it. But the Hebrews were, in this 
 refpect, under much better Regulations, and 
 a more excellent Difcipline ; and fo they had 
 need indeed, considering that they were not 
 only furrounded, on all Sides, with fuch war- 
 like and powerful Enemies, but likewife in- 
 termixed, within, with a great Number of 
 others, equally inveterate, and ready to join 
 Hands with the refl, in every holtile Attempt 
 againft them (F). Is it therefore a Wonder, 
 
 that 
 
 (F) The Ifraelites were Sidonians, Egyptians , and 
 
 cncompafTed on the North other maritime Nations ; 
 
 by the Syrians, on the Eaft all of them ill affedied, and 
 
 by the Ammonites zx\&Moab- the far greater Part irrecon- 
 
 ites, on the South by the cileable Enemies, to them. 
 
 Edomites and Amalekites ; And as for the old Canaan- 
 
 and on the Weft moft of itijh Nations, who (till lived 
 
 their Coafts were hemmed within the Bowels of their 
 
 in by the Philijiines ; and Land, and were tributary to 
 
 the reft lay expofed to In- them, tho' they were ftill 
 
 yafion from the Tyrians> permitted to have their own 
 
 Kings^ 
 
On the i?£//V/ > <?/'Jabefli-Gilead. 329 
 
 that a Nation fo fituate, fo hated, and fur- 
 rounded by fuch a Variety of warlike Ene- 
 mies, mould take all proper Methods to fe« 
 cure itfelf, as much as poffible, from being 
 furprifed or overpowered by them ? 
 
 But this is not all : They had, from their 
 firft coming out of Egypt, been inured to an 
 excellent martial Difcipline under Mofes ; 
 who, befides his being thoroughly inftrucledin 
 all the Wifdom of Egypt, had acted all along 
 under the Direction of the Divine Providence. 
 So that nothing was more regular and admi- 
 rable, than their Method of encamping, de- 
 camping, marching, and engaging ; notwith- 
 flanding the whole Ifraelittfh Hoft confrfted 
 of no lefs 600,000 fighting Men ; that is, 
 Males between twenty and fixty, befides thofe 
 above and under that Age, Women, Servants, 
 and an innumerable Mixture that followed 
 
 their 
 
 K'mgs,(uchzsjfraunahw2s, fhews, how watchful they 
 
 in the Reign of David (i) ; were of all Opportunities 
 
 thefe, I fay, were ftill of retaliating upon them, 
 
 more dangerous Enemies and bringing them under 
 
 than the reft ; and their the fevereft SuDjedion and 
 
 Hiftory but too plainly Slavery (2). 
 
 (1)2 Sam. xxiv. 20, &f feq. 
 
 (2) See Jojh. pajf. judg. i. ii. & feq. pajf. 
 
330 ESSAY V. 
 
 their Camp (x) : All of which, put together, 
 could hardly amount to lefs than three Mil- 
 lions of Souls. A prodigious Hoft indeed ! 
 to be led about, during forty whole Years, 
 thro' fuch a Wildernefs, and under fuch fre- 
 quent Difficulties and Difcouragements, by 
 a fingle Perfon. All which could only be 
 owing to that excellent Difcipline which he 
 had eftablifhed among them ; and to the Di- 
 vine Interpofirion, and fevere Punifhments 
 inflicted upon them, upon every murmuring 
 or rebellious Attempt. Accordingly, as foon 
 as they were directed, by the fupernatural 
 Cloud, for a new March, they had three Sig- 
 nals given through the whole Camp ; the firft, 
 for taking up their Tents, and packing up 
 their Baggage ; the fecond, for fummoning 
 each Tribe to appear under their refpective 
 Standards and Chiefs, accoutred and armed, 
 or to repair to the feveral other Polls affign- 
 ed to them ; and the laft, for moving in fuch 
 a Number of Columns, as they were direct- 
 ed, or as the Ground would permit. All 
 which was performed with wonderful Order 
 and Regularity ; infomuch that this vail: un- 
 wieldy Body hath, upon fome Occalions, 
 
 been 
 
 fx) See Excdus xii. 37, 38. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 331 
 
 been able to march eighteen or twenty Miles 
 in one Day, before the firy Pillar gave them 
 the Signal to encamp. At which time they 
 obferved the fame Order and Method for re- 
 pitching their Tents ; which, Jofephus tells 
 us, was done with fuch Exaclnefs, that it 
 refembled a moft regular City, compofed of 
 as many Quarters as there were Tribes, with 
 fpacious Streets, Lanes, and all other Conve- 
 niencies ; whilft the facred Ark was placed 
 under the ftately Tabernacle, in the Centre 
 of the Whole ; furrounded by regular Rows 
 of Tents, belonging to Mofes, jlaron, and 
 the reft of thePriefts and Levites; and placed 
 at a due Diftance from the reft of the Tribes. 
 
 This excellent Mofaic Difcipline was, no 
 Doubt, greatly improved afterwards, and ad- 
 apted to the Exigencies of their prefent Set- 
 tlement in Canaan^ by their new General 
 Jojhua, a Perfon no lefs experienced in mar- 
 tial Affairs, and equally under the Divine 
 Conduct with his Predeceftbr. Their dan- 
 gerous Situation, among fuch vigilant and 
 potent Enemies, challenged his utmoft At- 
 tention to fo important a Point ; and had he 
 not been directed by the Divine Providence, 
 
 yet 
 
332 ESSAY V. 
 
 yet Neceffity mull have been the Mother of 
 Invention, and put him upon finding out all 
 poffible Ways and Methods of defending 
 himfelf, and People, againft all Surprizes, 
 as well as public Attacks, from any Side ; and, 
 upon all fuch Emergencies, for conveying the 
 Alarm through all the Tribes, at leaft thofe 
 on this Side Jordan, in the moft expeditious 
 manner. 
 
 Now it is certain, that no Country was 
 better furnifhed with wide and commodious 
 Roads, for the Expedition of MefTengers and 
 Travellers, than theirs j and this owing chiefly 
 to the Injunctions given by Mofes, and clofely 
 followed by his worthy Succeffor Jojhua, to 
 have all the Roads leading, not only to the 
 fix Cities of Refuge on each Side the 'Jordan, 
 for the innocent Man-flayers to flee to (y)^ 
 but likewife thofe which led to the forty-eight 
 Cities belonging to the Priefts and Levites, and 
 which were likewife Places of Sanctuary (z), 
 kept wide, level, dry, and plain ; with con- 
 venient Bridges over Rivers ; Pofts to direct 
 Paflengers from Place to Place j with all 
 
 other 
 
 (y) Num. xxxv. ii, & feq. Deut. xix. I, &f feq. 
 (%) Num. xxxv. i>&feq. Maimon. & al. Raibin* 
 ds Ajylis, 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh Gilead. 333 
 
 other necefiary Conveniences, to render their 
 Travelling as eafy and expeditious as poflible. 
 All which, though chiefly contrived for the 
 Benefit of thofe who were obliged to flee to 
 fuch Places of Refuge, yet equally contri- 
 buted to the quick Difpatch of Couriers and 
 MeiTengers, when fent from one Part of the 
 Kingdom to another, upon any important 
 Bufinefs $ for thofe Cities and Sanctuaries, 
 being fcattered through the whole Country, 
 and at proper Diftances from each other, 
 made it requisite to have the greater Number 
 of thofe commodious Highways, in every 
 Tribe ; and thefe did not a little facilitate 
 the Marches of their Armies from one Part 
 of the Kingdom to the other, upon all Emer- 
 
 gencies. 
 
 They had another Convenience likewife, 
 for the quick Difpatch of their Intelligence ; 
 vzz. by their Dromedaries ; a Creature very 
 common in all thofe Eaftern Parts, and fo 
 fwift-footed, that they were chiefly ufed for 
 Expedition by the Rich - } and we are told, that 
 they commonly travelled 100 Miles, and fome 
 of them 1 50 Miles, a Day (a). And if fo, 
 
 then 
 
 (a) Vincent, Le Blanc's Travels, Part v. c. 22. 
 
334 ESSAY V. 
 then might the Jabejhite MerTengers reach 
 Saul at Gibeah on the firft Evening of the 
 Truce ; and this will give him one Day more 
 to atchieve their Deliverance, than the Ob- 
 jectors feem willing to allow. But all this 
 will ftill go but a little Way towards ac- 
 counting for the prodigious Difpatch he made 
 in fending his threatening Summons to all 
 the ten Tribes, and they in joining him at 
 the general Rendezvous ; unlefs we can find 
 out fome flill more expeditious Method, from 
 their martial Difcipline, for conveying the 
 Alarm throughout the Kingdom, and for the 
 fummoned Tribes repairing to their refpect- 
 ive Standards, armed and expedited for fuch 
 a March. 
 
 As to the firft, we may reafonably fuppofe, 
 that the Alarm, or Summons for a general 
 Armament, were conveyed thro' the King- 
 dom by Beacons, or firy Signals, kindled 
 upon the Tops of the Hills ; which, confi- 
 dering the Mountainoufnefs of the Country, 
 and the few Plains of any Length there were 
 in it, might eafily fpread itfelf thro' every 
 Part of it, in the Space of a few Hours. 
 Thefe Beacons we find often mentioned 
 j in. 
 
On the Belief of Jabefti-Gilead. 335 
 
 in the Prophets, and were in ufe not only 
 among the Hebrews , but among all the an- 
 tient Nations that were feated in hilly Coun- 
 tries (G) ; and, being eafily perceived at a 
 
 vafl 
 
 (G) Of thefe firy Sig- 
 nals, or Beacons, we find 
 frequent Mention in the 
 Prophets (i) : They were 
 placed on fome Eminences, 
 from which they conveyed 
 the Alarm to the next, 
 with furprifing Swiftnefs ; 
 and where the Ground was 
 too flat, they fupplied that 
 Defect by placing them on 
 the Tops of fome tall 
 Trees, or Mafts, or on 
 eminent Towers, which 
 anfwered the fame End. 
 We may likewife reasona- 
 bly fuppofe them to have 
 been diftinguifhed by fome 
 proper Difference, accord- 
 ing to the Nature of the 
 Notice they were to con- 
 vey, and in order to direct 
 the Alarm-trumpets in the 
 lower Lands to fpread it, 
 by their proper and refpec- 
 tive Sounds ; of which they 
 had a Variety, according to 
 
 which they were blown. 
 For, in ibme Cafes, only 
 two or three Tribes were 
 to be fummoned to Arms, 
 as in the Cafe of Deborah^ 
 Gideon,Jepbtbah, &c; and 
 in others, as in that of all 
 the Tribes againft the Ben- 
 jamites (2), and in that 
 we are upon, the whole 
 Nation was to appear in 
 Arms. They feem like- 
 wife, from the different 
 Names ufed by the infpired 
 Writers, to have had ano- 
 ther Sort, probably for the 
 Day-time, when the firy 
 ones could not be fo eafily 
 perceived ; and thefe wer« 
 Enfigns, differently difplay- 
 ed on thofe Eminences, an- 
 fwering, in fome Sort, to 
 thofe ufed at Sea ; and 
 ferving to convey the 
 Summons to the lowLands, 
 with much the fame Expe- 
 dition. 
 
 the various Exigencies for 
 
 (1) Vid. int. al. Ifai. v. 26. xi. 10, csP feq. xiii. 2. 
 xviii. 3. xxx. 17. xlix. 22. Ixii. 10. Jerem. iv. 6, 
 1. 2. li. 12. 17. & alib.pajf. Zecbar. ix. 16. 
 
 (2) Jad, XIX. 29, & feq. XX. 1, & Jeq. 
 
336 ESSAY V. 
 
 vaft Diftance from each other, efpecially in 
 the Night-time, and being moreover diftin- 
 guifhed by fome well known Difference, ac- 
 cording to the Notice or Orders they were to 
 convey, were immediately anfwered by the 
 Sounds of the Trumpets in the Valleys be- 
 low ; fo that not a City or Village, whether 
 fituate on high or low Ground, could be ex- 
 empt from the general Alarm, or ignorant of 
 the Defign of it, either from the Nature of 
 the Signal, or the different Sounding of the 
 Trumpets, in a lefs Space than a Night. 
 Whenever therefore the Import of the Alarm 
 was for a general Armament, every Man that 
 was able to bear Arms, being obliged, ac- 
 cording to their martial Difcipline, to repair 
 with their proper Weapons and Accoutre- 
 ments, to their refpective Standards, un- 
 der the fevereft Penalties ; they had nothing 
 to do but to haften to their Arms, and to 
 furnifh themfelves with two or three Days 
 Provifions for the Mouth ; which, being com- 
 monly of the dried Kind, fuch as Bread, 
 parched Corn, Pulfe, Figs, Raifin?, Dates, 
 and the like, was fpeedily got j and to join 
 their Brethren of the fame Tribe, at the ge- 
 neral Rendezvous belonging to it. Here 
 
 they 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 337 
 
 they were firft muttered by their refpective 
 Chiefs, or Captains of Hundreds, of Thou- 
 fands, and at laft by the Head of the whole 
 Tribe. After which they had nothing to do, 
 bat to wait till the Orders came from above, 
 when and whither to begin their March. 
 Thus, Gibeah being fituate about the Centre 
 of Judea, or at about an equal Diftance 
 from Dan and BeerJ/jeba, the two extreme 
 Boundaries of it, North and South ; it is rea- 
 sonable to fuppofe, that the Alarm had reach- 
 ed both, by thefe expeditious Signals, long 
 enough before the next Morning ; whilfl 
 thofe that were feated nearer the Centre were, 
 in all Likelihood, ready for March, as foon 
 as they received their Orders and Route from 
 their King or Chief : For I take it for grant- 
 ed, that thefe were not difpatched to every 
 City and Village of the Kingdom j which 
 would have required too long a time, as well 
 as too great a Number of Couriers, but were 
 communicated only at this general Rendez- 
 vous of each Tribe j and this, we may fup- 
 pofe, was at, or near, the Place of Residence 
 of each refpective Chief of it. For this we 
 find was the Method which the Levi re took: 
 to acquaint all the Tribes with the Indignity 
 7.i offered 
 
338 ESSAY V. 
 
 offered to his Concubine at Gibeah -, viz. by 
 fending to each of them a Piece of her 
 mangled Body : And to each of thefe re- 
 fpecTive AfJemblies it mnft reafonably be fup* 
 pofed to have been, that Saul difpatched his 
 threatening Summons, accompanied with the 
 Pieces of the hewn Oxen (H) -, which in- 
 fpired them with fuch a general Dread, and 
 
 Readinefs 
 
 (H) This laft Circum- 
 j'tance fcems very much to 
 confirm my laft Suppofi- 
 tion, that the Orders, cori- 
 fequent to the general 
 Alarm, were not fent to 
 every City, Town, or Vil- 
 lage, but only to fuch par- 
 ticular Places, ~s were ap- 
 pointed for theMen of each 
 Tribe to repair to their 
 refpeclive Chiefs ; elfe the 
 two Oxen, though hewn 
 ever fo fmall, could hard- 
 ly have fufHced them all : 
 And much lefs fo, if, as 
 'Jofephus affirms, and the 
 original Word feems to 
 countenance his Verfion of 
 it, Saul only cut off" the 
 Legs of the Oxen, and 
 fent them by the Meflen- 
 gers (i). I may add, that 
 the Expreffion which wc 
 tf-anflate, to all the Coafts 
 of I/rod, might be mofe 
 
 (i) Antiq. I. vi. c, 6. 
 
 properly rendered, to eve- 
 ry Boundary, or, perhaps, 
 rather, to every Place fixed 
 and afiigned for a Bounda- 
 ry, between Tribe and 
 Tribe ; or that appointed 
 for their general AfTem- 
 blies, whether upon civil 
 or military Affairs. Con- 
 fidering therefore the fre- 
 quent and fudden Irrup- 
 tions they were ex pofed to, 
 from their Enemies within, 
 and round about, them ; 
 there could not be a more 
 expeditious Way found 
 out, than for every Tribe 
 to repair, armed and ac- 
 coutred, to fuch appointed 
 Places of Rendezvous, up- 
 on every Alarm, for a ge- 
 neralArmament ; and there 
 to wait for further Orders 
 from above, how to acl, 
 and whither to march. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 339 
 
 Readinefs to obey them. By this excellent and 
 expeditious Way, thofe Tribes that were near- 
 eft to the Refidence of their Judge or King, 
 being the firft that received both the Alarm, 
 and Summons to Arms, could, in few Hours, 
 be equipped, and ready to march to the Place 
 appointed ; and there begin to be reviewed, 
 or even difpatched upon any necefTary Expe- 
 dition ; whilft the more diftant ones were 
 daily arriving in their Turns, till they amount- 
 ed to a fufficient Number for the defigned 
 Enterprize. Allowing therefore theMelTen- 
 gers of Jabejh-Gilead to have reached Gibeah 
 on the firft Evening of the Truce, and the 
 general Alarm to have reached both Ends of 
 the Kingdom in that one Night (both which 
 I have fhewn to have been very feafible) -, 
 where, I pray you, is the Impoflibility, or 
 even Improbability, that the moft diftant 
 Tribes from Bezek, the Place of Rendezvous, 
 which were thofe of Judah, Simeon, and 
 Dan, the fartheft of which was not above 
 160 Miles, fhould reach it in the following 
 fix Days, or even in lefs time, confidering 
 that they might take the Advantage of 
 marching in Columns, thro' a Country that 
 abounded with Highways, kept ea(y and 
 X 2 plain 
 
34-° 
 
 ESSAY. V. 
 
 plain for Expedition ; and that they had no 
 other Luggage to retard them, than their 
 Weapons and Provinon?, nor any Enemies 
 to obftrucl their Way, or retard their Speed? 
 
 But farther let me obferve to you here, 
 that if we compare the Muder of Saul's 
 Army upon this Occafion, with thofe we 
 rind recorded both before and fince that 
 time, we fhall find it to come fo far fhort of 
 them (I), as to give us room to fuppofe, 
 that he did not flay for the coming of thofe 
 that were the moil remote ; but that find- 
 ing thofe that were already arrived, by the 
 laft Day of the Truce, to be more than fuf- 
 
 ficient 
 
 (1) Thus we find, in 
 the War which the Tribes 
 undertook againft the Ben- 
 jamiies, mentioned in the 
 laft Effay, they amounted 
 to 400, oco effective Men, 
 exclufive of that of Benja- 
 min (1) : Whereas here 
 Saul had but 330,000. In 
 a Cenfus like wife which 
 David caufed to be made 
 of ?A\Ifrad, fome time be- 
 fore his Death, the total 
 Sum of Ifrael was 8oo,000 } 
 
 d) J ud. xx. 2. 
 
 (2) J Kings ^X!"• 9. 
 
 and ofjudab 500,000 (2). 
 So that the 30,000, which 
 joined Saul, were but a 
 fmall Part of what this laft 
 Tribe muft have amount- 
 ed to, had he ftaid for 
 the reft ; who, it is pro- 
 bable, being the moft di- 
 ftant of all, were not able 
 to reach him time enough, 
 with all the Speed they 
 could make ; which, in 
 this Cafe, was a fufficient 
 Excufe. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 34 r ' 
 ficient for his Purpofe, he gave immediate 
 Orders for marching againft the Enemy with 
 all Speed, leaving the reft to come after as 
 foon as they could ; fince they were equally 
 included in the Summons, and anfwerable for 
 Non-attendance. 
 
 For I muft take Leave here to remind . 
 you of another Piece of their Difcipline, 
 mentioned in a former EflTay, as eftabliihed 
 among them by Mofes and Jofiua ; -viz. that 
 every Male, from twenty to fixty, was to 
 be inrolled in his reipeclive Tribe, and ob- 
 liged to appear in Arms under his refpeclive 
 Standard, upon every fuch Alarm, under the 
 fevereft Penalties ; unleis hindered by Sick- 
 nefs, Lamenefs, or any other lawful Impedi- 
 ment {b). Thefe Rolls were fo carefully v 
 kept, not only by the Heads of every Tribe, 
 but by the inferior Captains of the Hundreds 
 and Thoufands, and called over before and 
 after the Engagement, that none could ab- 
 fent themfelves without being difcovered, and 
 called to an Account for it. And this afford- 
 ed a farther Conveniency, that, as there was 
 Z 3 no 
 
 (b) What _ 'thofe other Imptdiments and Jbatcmcnti 
 from the Rigour of this martial Law were y the Reader 
 may fee, among other Places, in D.eut. xx. 5, & feq. 
 
342 ESSAY V. 
 
 no Danger of their deferring, (o there was 
 no Neceffity of their marching in large re- 
 gular Bodies > unlefs it were through an Ene- 
 my's Country j but, in their own, they might 
 fafely move on towards the Rendezvous, in 
 the mod convenient or expeditious manner, 
 as Occafion required, fo they but reached it 
 time enough to anfwer to their Names, at 
 the general Review. Let me add, that the 
 dreadful Cataftrophe of the Inhabitants of this 
 very City of Jabejh, who were all put to 
 the Sword, except about 400 Virgins, for 
 not having joined the reft of the Tribes in 
 the War they waged againft that of Benja- 
 min, two or three Centuries before, is a plain 
 Indication of the Severity with which they 
 punifhed all fuch Defaults. So that the very 
 Name of Jabejh-Gilead was enough, at this 
 time, to remind the whole Nation of the Dan- 
 ger of difobeying Saul's preffing Commands. 
 Thus, then, you fee how poflible, and even 
 eafy, it was for that Monarch to get fuch a 
 numerous Army ready at the Place of Ren- 
 dezvous, and to lead them againft the Be- 
 ftegers time enough before the Expiration of 
 the Truce j which furprifing Difpatch, how- 
 ever, was chiefly owing to the excellent 
 
 Laws, 
 
On the Relief of Jabeih-Gilead. 34.3 
 
 Laws, and military Difcipline, which had 
 been eftablifhed among them ; fo that by 
 the Help of it he was able to accomplish 
 that, in five or fix Days, which, without it, 
 would have been impracticable in fo many 
 Weeks, and, in ourTimes, in fo many Months. 
 Hence therefore you may plainly fee, it was 
 not without good Grounds that I affirmed, 
 that the pretended Impoffibility, urged by 
 our Critics, doth wholly proceed from their 
 Ignorance of, or Inattention to, this Branch 
 of the JewiJJj- Constitution. 
 
 I may, therefore, by this time, prefume 
 to hope, that I have effectually removed eve- 
 ry Difficulty that can be reafonably raifed 
 againft the Truth of this remarkable and 
 iignal TranfacYion. However, it may juftly 
 appear, when considered in all its Circum- 
 stances, and fur pri ling Succefs, to exceed 
 any that we meet with, either in facred or 
 profane Hiftory. So that we need not weir- 
 der, that it Should infpire the Hebrews with 
 fuch extraordinary Regard for their new 
 Monarch, that nothing lefs could now fatisfy 
 them, than the immediate Death of thofe 
 Malecontents, who had lately affronted him 
 £4 by 
 
344 ESSAY V. 
 
 by their contemptuous Language and Behavi- 
 our (c) : And had he been as vindictive and 
 refenting, as they were now zealous for him, 
 he muft unavoidably have fullied the Glory 
 of that noble Victory by fuch a mean and un- 
 worthy Piece of Revenge. But here alfo 
 Said (hewed himfelf no lefs worthy to reign, 
 by the fingular and unhoped for Moderation 
 he difplayed on this Occafion. As the Lord 
 Hveth, faid he, there fiall no Man die this 
 D/iy : For To-day the Lord hath wrought 
 Salvation in Ifrael. And it was no fmall 
 Addition to his Glory, that he, who could 
 fhew fuch, a prodigious Ardour and Eagernefs 
 to fhed the Blood of his Enemies, fhould 
 prove himfelf no lefs tender in fparing that 
 of his very word: Subjects. Well might they 
 triumph now, that they had a King indeed 
 given to them by God ! And fuch an one, 
 as they might firmly hope would, upon all 
 Occasions, behave as his chofen and worthy 
 Vicegerent, whether in protecting his own 
 People, fuppreiTing their Enemies, or in the 
 gaining the, Love of fuch of his rebellious 
 Subjects, by his fignal Benignity, whom nei- 
 ther his Dignity, Valour, nor Conduct, could 
 
 reduce 
 
 (c) I Sam. xv. 17, &fc$. xxii. 17, Iff /eg. 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh • Gilead . 345 
 
 reduce to their Duty. Happy King ! happy 
 Subjects ! happy in the Protection and Favour 
 of the Divine Providence ! happy in the Zeal 
 and Harmony which now reigns between 
 them, and the pleating Profpect' which they 
 have now before them ! But neither of them 
 did continue long, either in this b'ifsful Har- 
 mony, or under the Favour of their Almighty 
 Protector. Saul' grew proud, difobedient, 
 and cruel (d) ■> and was rejected by God ; 
 and the People, returning to their old Super- 
 stitions, and heathenifh Idolatries, became 
 fuch Daitards, and errant Cowards, that, up- 
 on the very next Danger that threatens them, 
 inftead of obeying his Summons, and follow- 
 ing him againft the Enemy, with the fame 
 Courage and Readinefs they had done againft 
 the Ammonites j they only feek to hide them- 
 fehes in Caves and Dens, in Rocks, high 
 Places, and Pits, or to crofs over the Jordan 
 into the Land of Gilead [e) : Infomuch that, 
 when he came to number his fmall Force, 
 he found it dwindled to 600 Men (f), and 
 all of them ddtitute of warlike Weapons. 
 So evidently were Samue/'s Words verified in 
 
 both, 
 
 (d) 2 Sa?n. xx i. I. 
 
 (e) 1 Sam. xiii. 6, iff feq. 
 (ff Ibid. ver. 15, & fey. 
 
346 ESSAY V. 
 
 both, that their Succefs and Happincfs would 
 rile and fall, according to the Regard they 
 paid to their Divine Protector. 
 
 But it is now high time for me to hiften 
 to my laft general Head ; wherein I promifed 
 to lay before you, by way of Application, 
 both the Shame and Difgrace, and the com- 
 plicated Danger, to which your Difobedience 
 and Difloyalty muft inevitably expofe you, 
 if you mould ftill perfift in imitating the 
 cowardly Ifraelites, in this laft Inftance, of 
 Defpondency, and Difregard for the Safety 
 of their King and Country, rather than in 
 that noble and generous Eagernefs, with 
 which they accompanied their Prince to the 
 Relief of their diftreffed Brethren. You may 
 remember, that Saul had no fooner muttered 
 his numerous Army at Bezek, and (ten the 
 furpiifing Readinefs with which they had 
 complied with his Commands, than both he 
 and they drew from it an happy Omen ; and, 
 as if they had been divinely infpired, or af- 
 fured of gaining the Victory, fend a pofitive 
 Promife to the Jabejhites, that they mould 
 receive the defired Affiftance, and be deliver- 
 ed from the impending Danger, by the next 
 
 rifing 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 347 
 
 rifing Sun (g) : In which they not only 
 proved true Prophets, but, by the Divine 
 Blefling, performed even more than they had 
 promifed (and perhaps more than they could 
 have hoped for), in the total Overthrow they 
 gave to the Enemy. But now, alas ! how dif- 
 ferent a Profpect doth your late Behaviour af- 
 ford me, from that of the brave and generous 
 Hebrews I have been entertaining you with! 
 We are here met together, to beg the Divine 
 Blefling, on an Expedition of no lefs Import- 
 ance to England, than the Deliverance of the 
 Jabefiites was to the IfraeUtiJh Nation ; and 
 which would yield you no lefs an Harveft of 
 Laurels, than that did to them. And had 
 you but (hewn the fame generous Ardor for 
 the faving of a Mother City, and with it fome 
 Thoufands of brave loyal Fellow-Subjects, 
 from the impending Danger of falling into 
 the Hands of a no lefs cruel and inveterate 
 Enemy j it might have been juftly looked 
 upon as an Earneft of the Divine Afliftance 
 crowning you with the fame Succefs, 
 
 But oh ! what fhall I fay, or hope for, 
 when I reflect on your late fhameful Defe. 
 
 ctioo, 
 (g) 1 Sam. xi. 8, &f 9. 
 
34-8 ESSAY V. 
 
 6tion, little fhort of a Revolt, compared with 
 the glowing and generous Heat with which 
 thofe Hebre w Soldiers underwent greater Fa- 
 tigues and Difficulties, than any you can com- 
 plain of, to come at the Victory, on an Oc- 
 cafion of much lefs Confequence to their 
 Commonwealth, than this you are fummoned 
 to is to ours ? yabeft, being on the other Side 
 yordan, might have been loft without en- 
 dangering any more than the fmall Canton 
 round about it ; whereas, on the faving or 
 lofing of this, depends, for ought we know, 
 the Honour and Safety of our King and Coun- 
 try, the Preiervation of our Religion, Liber- 
 ties, and whatever is, or ought to be, mod 
 dearly valued by us. Our brave Englijh Ja- 
 beflrites are not, indeed, threatened with (o 
 dreadful a Brand of Infamy, as the Lofs of 
 their Right Eyes, with that of their Liberty - 3 
 but will not their Valour, and unfhaken Loy- 
 alty, expofe them to as difmal a Fate, and to 
 all the cruel Infults of an enraged Enemy ? 
 And will they not rather choofe to die Sword 
 in Hand, in Defence of fo noble and intereft- 
 ing a Caufe, than to fave their Lives at the 
 Expence of their Honour and Loyalty ? And 
 can it be poffible, that you mould, with your 
 
 Eyes 
 
0?t the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 349 
 
 Eyes open, or rather judicially blinded, fufV 
 f'er To many thoufand noble and valuable 
 Lives, and never more fo than at this fatal 
 Criiis, to be facrificed to your Bafenefs and 
 Treachery, to the Shame and Reproach of the 
 E?igUJh Name ? What if your Commanders 
 have, perhaps, fhewed a little lefs Regard to 
 your Conveniency, than to the Urgency of 
 the prefent Occaiion, which calls you to fight 
 pro arts & foczs> and juftly challenges your 
 utmoft Courage and Speed j and in which we 
 muft confequently be all either Actors or 
 Traitors j either reach the wifhed for Port of 
 Victory, or be fhipwrecked in the Ocean of 
 an ignominious Slavery ? Could it ever have 
 been thought, that fo great a Part of an Englifo 
 Army mould grudge a few more long Strides 
 to reach the Enemy, before they can be join- 
 ed by the ftrong Reinforcement, which they 
 only wait for, to renew the Attack with great- 
 er Vigour and Efficacy ? And which, if once 
 received, will infallibly turn the Scale on 
 their Side, and render all our Efforts again!! 
 them more difficult and dangerous, if not to 
 end in cur total Defeat, and the Ruin of our 
 Country ? You will pleafe to obferve, that 
 I have all along forbprn entering into a ftricl 
 
 Inquiry 
 
35 o ESSAY V.' 
 
 Inquiry into the Motives of your preient 
 Difcontent, as a Matter quite out of my Pro- 
 vince, and which may be more fafely refer- 
 red to thofe whom Providence has fct over 
 you j and are beft acquainted with our pre- 
 fent Exigencies, and the propereft means of 
 fupplying of them. But it behoves me here 
 to take Notice to you, of a ftrange Saying, 
 now current amongft you, which is become 
 a kind of Watch-word, and gives one but 
 too much Reafon to think, that fome Vete- 
 rans have been the Leaders of this rebellious 
 Dance. I mean that Text in Job (£), that 
 Wifdom is with the Antients : By which you 
 would feem to infinuate, as if thofe few old 
 Leaders knew much better what is fit, or not 
 fit, to be done, upon this Emergency, than 
 thofe who fit at the Helm, and have a Right 
 to direct and command you. But, let me tell 
 you, this is another of your bungling Ways 
 of interpreting the Scriptures ; and that Job 
 meant nothing lefs, than what you would ex- 
 tort from him : He expected, indeed, to have 
 found it fo; and that his three old Vifitors 
 would have proved much better Counfellors 
 and Comforters than they did : But, upon 
 
 finding 
 lh) Job xii. ii. 
 
On the /?£//^<^Jabefli-Gilead. 351 
 
 finding himfelf fadly difappointed, you may 
 fee plainly enough, that he fcruples not to 
 expofe both their boafted Wifdom and 
 Kindnefs in fuch ftrong Terms, as they in- 
 deed deferved. Nay, you'll find, if you read 
 on but to the thirty-fecond and following 
 Chapters, how Eli hit y tho' a much younger 
 and modefterPerfon,difplay'd a much higher 
 Degree of Wifdom, and fublimer Theology, 
 than they all ; and how feverely God himfelf 
 reproved thofe three Pretenders, for their Va- 
 nity and Folly : And I doubt not but thofe 
 Antients, who are the Fomenters of your 
 prefent Difcontent, will, upon a fuller In- 
 quiry, be found to be Men of the fame, if 
 not worfe, Leaven ; wife indeed in their own 
 and your Opinion, but Traitors in their 
 Hearts. But what I would gladly know is, 
 what Arguments thefe old Pretenders to fupe- 
 rior Wifdom could ufe,to draw you into this 
 dangerous and ihameful Step : Not furely fuch 
 as flow from Scripture ; for that plainly tells 
 you, that Obedience is better than Sacrifice ; 
 and that Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft 
 (1 Sam. xv. 23.) : Nor yet from Reafon 5 for 
 that goes Hand in Hand with the Word of 
 God ; and both will tell you, that Anarchy 
 5 and 
 
352 ESS A Y V. 
 
 and Ruin muft.be- the necefTary Confequence 
 of all fuch unnatural Defections, if not timely 
 fuppreiTed, when our All lies at Stake, as it 
 doth now. What then could they urge to 
 fafcinate and bewitch you into this bafe Dif~ 
 loyalty ? Have they chilled your daftardly 
 Hearts with the falie Pretence of fome great 
 Difparity between you and the Enemy you 
 are to engage ? At prefent, Thanks be to 
 God, you are greatly fuperior to them in 
 Number ; and might be much more fo in 
 Strength and Courage, would, but your tur- 
 bulent Spirit fuffer you to confider, what a 
 juft Caufe you are engaged in, and what Rea- 
 fon there is to hope, that we have a juft God 
 on our Side. And you, as well as I, may 
 well enough remember the times when this 
 very laft: Consideration would have infpired 
 an Englifh Hoft, on an Occafion like this, 
 with fuch noble Ardour, that they would have 
 defpifed much greater Difficulties to attack an 
 Enemy, though in all other refpects fuperior 
 to them. The Time was, 1 fay, and you 
 cannot but know, when the Greatnefs of the 
 Banger, Fatigues, or other Gbftacles, would, 
 on fuch an Emergency as you are now called 
 upon, have only ferved to whet their Appe- 
 tite, 
 
On the Relief of jabefh-Gilead. 353 
 
 tite, and inflame their Hearts with a noble 
 Ardor, either to conquer or die in fo honour- 
 able a Caufe : Whence then this ftrange, this 
 lhameful, this ill-boding, Change ? Hath your 
 old martial Genius forfaken you ? Are Loyalty 
 to your King, the Love of your Country, and 
 Zeal for our Religion, fo far extinguifhed in 
 you, by a few Days unufual Fatigue, that 
 you mould all appear thus refolutely, or ra- 
 ther treacheroufly, bent againft complying 
 with the Orders of your Commanders, and 
 acting with the requifite Difpatch, which 
 alone, for aught you know, can prevent our 
 prefent Danger from becoming defperate, and 
 the Lofs of our Laws and Liberties irretrieva- 
 ble ? How (hall we interpret this monftrous 
 Behaviour, this unnatural Defection, of yours ? 
 Muft we take it as a fad Omen, that God 
 hath forgot to be gracious to this once happy 
 Ille ? and that he will no longer protect our 
 religious and civil Rights, againft the avowed 
 Enemies of both ? Good Heaven preferve us 
 from fo ungrateful a Defpondency ! God is itill 
 able to fave us, whether by few or many ; 
 and is never more ready to do fo, than when 
 called upon in our greater!: Extremities. And 
 mould you flill obitinately perfift in your 
 A a Difobedience, 
 
354 ESSAY V. 
 
 Difobedience, or even turn your Arms againffc 
 your native Country — But Heaven be praifed, 
 who bids me, by your relenting Tears, and 
 fudden Change, to hope for better things, 
 and to expect a quite contrary Behaviour, 
 from you ! A Behaviour, worthy of the Eng- 
 l'i(h Blood you boaft of; and fuch as will not 
 only wipe off the Shame and Difgrace of 
 your bafe Murmurings and Complaints, bat 
 yield you, in a few Days, a plentiful Harveft 
 of Laurels, and to the Nation a joyful Occa- 
 sion of Thankfgiving : Whilft the Remorfe 
 for your late Defection infpires your Hearts 
 with frefh Motives of Courage and Loyalty, 
 and with fuch Confidence in God, and Pity 
 for your diirrefied Fellow-Subjects, as may 
 bring down a Bleffing from Heaven upon our 
 preient Expedition. Heaven alone knows 
 what will be the Effect of this happy Change 
 I perceive in you : I may, perhaps, have given 
 my Hopes too great a Scope j we are naturally 
 apt to do fo in things which we moil earneftly 
 wiili ; and, for that Reafon, am the more 
 willing to fubmit the Event of it to him, 
 who alone could fo timely work it in you : 
 For, if it prove fincere and lafting, I mail 
 have much greater Caufe to afcribe it to his 
 
 Grace, 
 
On the Relief of Jabefh-Gilead. 355 
 
 Grace> than to any thing that I did, or could 
 have prefled, upon the prefent Occaiion, from 
 that lingular and fuccefsful Example of the 
 generous Hebrew Monarch. And if his 
 Goodnefs fhould magnify itfelf ftill further 
 in our Favour, and crown this prefent Enter- 
 prize with the defired Succeis $ if the fame 
 Divine Ailiftance, which feems to have thus 
 timely rekindled your wonted Valour and 
 Courage in your Breafts, fhould farther enable 
 you, as it did thofe noble Hebrews, not only 
 to free your diftrefTed Fellow- Subjects from 
 the impending Danger they are in, but to give 
 the Enemies of our Country as total an Over- 
 throw as they did to theirs > if this, I fay 
 fhould prove the happy IfTue of this Expedi- 
 tion, 1 fhall have the lefs to fay to you, 
 by way of Warning ; fince your late Mifbe- 
 haviour and Defection, duly laid, to Heart, 
 will be the beft Antidote I can give you, 
 againft your becoming infolent and arrogant 
 ©r your afcribing any Part of the Glory to 
 any, but to his divine and all-gracious Pro- 
 vidence. 
 
 However, as there. .may be ftill fomeCaufe 
 
 to fear, left this fudden and unhoped for 
 
 A a z Change 
 
356 ESSAY V. 
 
 Change fhould not prove fa fteady and uni- 
 verfal, as I do heartily wifh it to be j and 
 left there ihould ftill remain, in any of your 
 Breafts, fome bitter Root of Difcontent and 
 Murmuring againft y our Superiors; I fhall com 
 elude this Difcourfe with one Confideration 
 more, which I earneftly advife you to mind 
 (whatever elfe you may think unworthy your 
 Attention with refpect to what J have hitherto 
 faid) ; and that is, that if there be ftill any fuch 
 amongft you, that have io far hardened them- 
 felves againft the Sword of the Spirit, by 
 which I have been ftriving to reduce you to 
 a Senfe of your Duty and Loyalty, and is the 
 only kind of Weapon that our Church is al- 
 lowed to ufej they will find, to their Coft 
 and Sorrow, that the State is entrufted to, and, 
 Thanks be to Heaven, is ftill in PorTerTion of ? 
 one of a much harder Metal, and keener 
 Edge, and fuch as will admit of no RefifU 
 ance. And this I am bound in Duty to re- 
 mind you of, more particularly at this time, 
 not only as it is equally granted by -God, for 
 the Punifhment of the ftubborn and difloyal, 
 as for the Prefervation and Defence of the 
 peaceable and liege Subject (/) 5 but likewife, 
 
 as 
 
 (i) ifojw, xiii. 2, & feq* 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 557 
 
 as it cannot be made ufe of to a better and 
 more honourable End, than againft the bafc 
 and cowardly Betrayers, as well as againft 
 the open and avowed Invaders, of our civil 
 and religious Rights and Properties. But I 
 muft call to mind, that you will, in a few 
 Hours, be fummoned to march ; and {hall 
 clofe this Difcourfe, as the Prophet Samuel 
 did to the murmuring Ifraelites \k) > t As for 
 me, Ged forbid that I Jhould ceafe praying 
 and interceding for you, and Jheiving you the 
 good and right Way ; your Duty to your 
 King and Country, and the Guilt and Dan- 
 ger of oppofing yourfelves againft it ! And 
 may the Divine Goodnefs infpire your Breafts 
 with fuch a Senfe of both, that you may all 
 behave, on the approaching Juncture, as be- 
 comes JLnglijhmen and Proteftants ; that our 
 Meeting on the next Sabbath-Day may be 
 fuch, as may afford a joyful Subject for Praife 
 and Thankfgiving, for the Succefs of this 
 Expedition. Amen, 
 
 (k) % Sam* xii. 23, 
 
358 ESSAY V. 
 
 The CONCLUSION. 
 
 HPHUS far, Sir, went this occafional Dif- 
 ^ courfe, which, as I formerly hinted to 
 you, had the deiired Effect on the lower 
 Clafs of the Audience, to whom it feemed 
 chiefly directed j tho', in Fact, principally le- 
 velled againft the Heads of thole Malecon- 
 tents. You will excufe me, if my Fear of 
 hurting fome of them, who are ftill alive, 
 and, I hope, in a better Mind, restrains me 
 from giving you any farther Account of the 
 Occafion of it, than that the underhand Pro- 
 moters of this Defection being moitly pro- 
 feifedDeifts and Republicans, though, in other 
 refpecfs, Men of Figure and Authority, there 
 was an abiblute Neceffity to draw away the 
 inferior Officers and Soldiers from the im- 
 plicit Confidence they put in them : And 
 this, it was thought, could not be more ef- 
 fectually done, confidering the Shortnefs of 
 the time, than by caufing fome fuch routing 
 Difcourfe as this to be penned, and preached 
 to them j and, at the fame time, by making 
 Choice of fome fuch curious and uncommon 
 Topics, as might, as much as poffible, en- 
 
 grofs 
 
On the Relief of Jabefli-Gilead. 3^9 
 
 grofs the Attention of thofe Leaders, who 
 were Men of Parts, and polite Literature, in 
 order to prevent their caufing any Disturb- 
 ance, which might interrupt the Preacher 
 from going on. 
 
 The Talk of penning it being impofed 
 upon me, the Urgency of the Occafion, and 
 the fhort time given me to perform it, foon 
 brought into my Mind that noble and fignal 
 Overthrow, which Saul, the new Hebrew 
 King, gave to the Ammonites ; a Subject up- 
 on which I had formerly beftowed fome 
 Pains, and which now appeared to me fo 
 fuitable to the Occaiion, that I immediately 
 fet about and drefled it up in the Form, Me- 
 thod and very Words, in which you have 
 feen it above ; excepting only that I have 
 thrown fome Geographical, and other ex- 
 planatory Remarks, into Notes ; which, in 
 fome meafure, clogged and interrupted the 
 Stile of the Text. An Inconveniency which 
 could not be fo well avoided, in a Difcourfe 
 that was to be delivered off-hand to an Au- 
 dience^ as when it is penned to be read at 
 one's Leifure. However, the Piece was 
 liftem:d to without Interruption ; and was 
 
 fcarcelv 
 
j6o ESSAY V. 
 
 fcarcely finiftied, before the good Effe& of it 
 appeared, in the furprifing Change it wrought 
 on the malecontent Troops, as well as in the 
 Succefs that crowned, foo'n after, their re- 
 trieved Loyally and Bravery. 
 
 I fhall take it as a Favour, if you'll let me 
 -know, in your next, how it is relifhed by 
 your Sceptic Neighbours ; after which I fhall 
 readily fend you my Anfwers to their re- 
 maining Queries and Objections, with all the 
 Difpatch I am able to make : Being, in the 
 Interim, 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 FINIS* 
 

DATE DUE 
 
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 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GAYLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S A. 
 

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