13^ Q Q^ i:a. .^^^ i:a. ^2^ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 X» t> >J- _'VT I o >r *J» XT 
 
 SAMUEL AQNEW, 
 
 OF P}!ILADELPHIA, PA, 
 
 
 P^C^c^ /<:ty-ic^^^(ST 
 
 BM 648 .L4 1834 c.2 
 
 Leeser, Isaac. 
 
 The Jews and the Mosaic law 
 
 
THE 
 
 JEWS AND THE MOSAIC LAW. 
 
 PART THE FIRST: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A DEFENCE OF THE REVELATION OF THE PENTATEUCH, AND 
 r OF THE JEWS FOR THEIR ADHERENCE TO THE SAME. 
 
 BY ISAAC LEESER, 
 
 READER OP THE PORTUGUESE JEWISH CONGREGATION IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 ' I said to those who derided, deride je not ; 
 And to the wicked, raise ye not the horn." 
 
 Psalm Ixxv. v. 5. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 E. L. CAREY & A. HART, PHILADELPHIA; CAREY, HART & CO. BALTIMORE J 
 
 D. W. HARRISON, CHARLESTON, S. C; E. BLOCK, CINCINNATI, OHIO; 
 
 AND MOSES SARFATY, KINGSTON, JAMAICA. 
 
 5594. 
 
Entered according to act of congress, in the year 1833, by Isaac Leeser, in 
 the clerk's office of the district for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. 
 
 A. WALDIE, PRINTER. 
 
 i« 
 
eOit^tton. 
 
 TO RABBI B. S. COHEN, 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF THE JEWISH INSTITUTE AT MUNSTEH IN WESTPHALIA. 
 
 Respected Friend, 
 
 # No apology will be necessary for inscribing this volume to you. 
 
 The friendship with which you were kind enough to regard me when 
 yet a child, is sufficient warrant for me to hope, that a work of maturer 
 years will not be received with indifference by one, who, though from 
 his varied learning well capable of judging, will yet be indulgent to 
 errors, and perhaps misapprehensions, almost inseparable from youth- 
 ful productions.— It had been my intention to have dedicated this first 
 production of mine, to my late venerated teacher. Rabbi Benjamin 
 Jacob Cohen, your friend and my benefactor } but since it was the 
 will of our Father in heaven, to deprive me of this excellent guide 
 of my infancy, and the world of an active friend, and religion of a 
 zealous defender : I know no one, to whom I could with more pro- 
 priety dedicate it, than to you. Perhaps you may find, that the 
 sentiments, imbibed in part under your excellent instruction, and 
 which were dear to me when I had the pleasure of daily enjoying a 
 friendly intercourse with you, are yet remembered and cherished by 
 me, at this distance of time and place. If so, you will doubtlessly 
 be pleased at the discovery ; and you may be assured, that to receive 
 your approbation will be one of the most pleasing fruits, which I can 
 hope to reap from my labours.— Farewell, dear friend, and believe 
 me, that I find a great degree of consolation in the idea, that the 
 Almighty has preserved you, whilst He has deprived me of my first 
 teacher and friend ; and that it shall ever be cause of joy to be in- 
 formed of your welfare and prosperity to 
 
 Your obliged servant, 
 
 ISAAC LEESER. 
 
 i^... 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 This book, now for the first time published, was composed more 
 than four years ago, whilst I was engaged in pursuits quite unconge- 
 nial to literature. Many a time, after a day of active application to 
 business, have I spent the hours of night in writing. Books for reference 
 I had but few ; and the reader will therefore excuse the brevity with 
 which many points are treated, which no doubt would have received 
 more attention, could I have had authorities to refer to. In some re- 
 spects this may have been an advantage, as it prevented me from 
 being too much trammeled by the opinions of others. The reader 
 may be assured, however, that since my residence in Philadelphia I 
 have omitted no opportunity of correcting and altering many passages 
 which I thought required it ; and even while the work was going 
 through the press I have made a great number of additions and altera- 
 tions, at times amounting to nearly an entire page. With all this 
 care I do not flatter myself that the book is free from fault, nor can I 
 even say that it meets my own approbation in every instance ; for 
 many a sentence had to pass as it stood, because I did not discover its 
 defectiveness till it was too late. One thing, however, I hope, that 
 no error in point of fact, and no great want of connection in reason- 
 ing, will be discovered ; at least I have done all I could to avoid it. It 
 becomes me not, however, to be too solicitous of engaging the favourable 
 opinion of the reader : the book itself is before him ; and let him con- 
 demn or approve, as he may think proper after mature reflection. In 
 conclusion, I must remark, that vanity had but a small share in induc- 
 ing me to make public a book laying so long dormant ; the reasons 
 assigned in the preface, written at Richmond on the day it is dated, 
 are yet operative, as no book of the kind required has made its ap- 
 pearance since then. But my own opinion of the humble value of my 
 labours has not been changed ; and I therefore insert the pre- 
 face, though in some respects it is not quite as applicable as it was 
 four years ago. To say that I should not be highly delighted if I 
 meet with approbation and success, Avould be the excess of ill dis- 
 guised affectation ; but I may freely say, with justice to myself, that 
 a fair criticism, even if it should strip my work of all value, will not 
 be at all unwelcome to me, although mortifying to my self-love; the 
 object of my enquiry and of this publication is the search for and main- 
 tenance of truth, but not the acquisition of fame ; and as the humble 
 inquirer for truth, I dare not be offended if I have been found wanting 
 either in talent in my search for her, or in capacity whilst engaged in 
 her service. 
 
 Philadelphia^ Tishry, 5594. 
 
 * 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In presenting the following pages to the consideration of the public, 
 I deem it unnecessary to inform them who and what I am ; but, at the 
 same time, I think it incumbent upon me to disclose the motives 
 which induced me to add another theological work to the many al- 
 ready in existence ; that it may not be supposed I undertook this dif- 
 ficult task from the mere love of writing, and of becoming an author. 
 
 Some time last fall (182S) a gentleman of this city showed me an 
 article in the London Q,uarterly Review, in which our nation (the 
 Jews) were very much abused, and their moral and religious charac- 
 ter shamefully vilified. Though I felt very indignant at the time, I 
 deferred noticing it publicly, until the article in question was repub- 
 lished in a New York paper, on the 26th of December last. I 
 then thought it was high time to notice it, as I verily believed that its 
 circulating without a reply would be extremely injurious to the inte- 
 rest of my brethren in this country. I therefore undertook, without 
 being solicited by any one, the task of refuting the accusations it con- 
 tained. I was at first very doubtful of success ; but I had soon the 
 satisfaction of discovering that my feeble efforts had met with favour- 
 able notice. A few weeks after the publication of the first essay, I was 
 gratified with the mild and temperate piece which appeared under the 
 signature of " A Professor of Christianity." After replying to him, I 
 understood that several persons at a distance had read and approved 
 of my labours. I must confess that I felt pleased at this mark of ap- 
 probation from strangers, which I in the first instance hardly expected 
 to receive from friends ; but since it was so, I came to a determination 
 to republish my two essays, to rescue them from the perishable 
 state in which they had appeared. It being hinted to me by a friend* 
 
 * Mr. B. H. Judah, late librarian of the Richmond Library Company, who 
 has died since this book was written ; and I have to express here the oblig-ation I 
 am under to him, Mr. Jacob Mordecai, and Mr. Abraham H. Cohen, late Reader 
 of the Richmond congrcg;ition, for many valuable suggestions. 
 
 ■.'^.. 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 that in that case I ought to add some proofs in favour of our 
 observing the proper day of the week as the Sabbath, I followed his 
 suggestion, and began immediately to embody my thoughts relative 
 to the truth of the mission of Moses j and though I intended to say 
 but little, the subject grew by degrees under my hands, till it assumed 
 the shape in which it is presented to the indulgent reader. I had 
 scarcely commenced, when I saw the reply of the "Professor of 
 Christianity" to my second essay, but was prevented from answering 
 him then, on account of the editors of the Richmond Whig (in which 
 paper these four essays first appeared) having closed their columns 
 against the further continuation of the controversy.* 
 
 Whatever opinion may be formed as to the merits of this my first 
 work, I would beg my readers not to pronounce me guilty of presump- 
 tion, in attempting to write on so grave and difficult a subject, as 
 theology. My motives are simply these. I have beheld with grief 
 and shame the efi'orts made of late by many, who dishonour the name 
 of Israel, to lessen the respect our nation has ever felt for the law of 
 Moses and the traditions of our ancestors. I waited, but found no one 
 in this country, older than myself, attempting to enlighten the minds 
 of my brethren ; I could therefore no longer remain silent — I felt called 
 upon to act, and I obeyed the inward call, not unmindful of what 
 Hillel the ancient said: " And in a place, where there is no man, 
 try even thyself to be a man." ( Abothe II.) The infidel, indeed, clothed 
 in his panoply of unbelief, thinks himself invulnerable, he defies the 
 word of God, and exultingly asks for proof of the truths of revelation. 
 But in times of old the Philistian Goliath was conquered by David, 
 who, armed with a sling only, but coming in the name of the God of 
 Israel, threw the stone, which entered the head of his powerful and 
 armed antagonist, who sunk before the future king of Israel. Even 
 so have I attempted to approach the armed infidel ; who knows, but 
 God may effect some good work through me, for He is ever powerful 
 to assist them, who rely upon Him in truth and sincerity. — I dare not 
 even flatter myself with the hope of success ; but if I fail, I may con- 
 
 * I must once for all acknowledge the liberality of Mr. John H. Pleasants, 
 the senior editor of the Whig, who so kindly offered to pubUsh my essays ; and 
 I seize with unfeigned pleasure the present opportunity (the first that has offer- 
 ed) of returning him thus publicly my heart-felt tlianks for the handsome man- 
 ner in which lie drew public attention to my first essay. I also think it an 
 act of justice to mention, that I believe him to have been actuated by the best 
 motives in discontinuing the controversy. 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 sole myself with the idea, that I have been defeated in a good cause ; 
 this disappointment even may stimulate me to make a second attempt, 
 when I shall endeavour to avoid those faults which caused my failure 
 in this first undertaking. 
 
 The liberal Christians (and to those alone I address myself) will 
 easily discover, that the little I have said in relation to Christianity, 
 was indispensably necessary to my plan. They moreover cannot be 
 offended, at a liberal and candid view being taken of their belief by a 
 Jew J for if he is wrong, they can easily reply to him ; and I will just 
 remark, that any strictures or hints, in relation to this book, shall be 
 thankfully received by me, provided they be made in the spirit of 
 candour and conciliation. 
 
 The body of the arguments, as far as the plan of arranging them 
 is concerned, is altogether mine, as are also many of the arguments 
 themselves. I will not assert, that the same have not been used 
 before ; but I may say with truth, that I have not intentionally bor- 
 rowed from others. I consulted no books, besides those mentioned in 
 the text, and even those I had not always before me ; but quoted 
 perhaps as often from memory, as from actual inspection. Be that as 
 it may, I can assure the public that I have advanced neither argument 
 nor assertion, which I did not subject to frequent examinations, and 
 have asserted nothing which I in conscience did not believe founded 
 in fact to the best of my knowledge. It would be the height of pre- 
 sumption in me to say, that I have made no mistake, for that only can 
 be the case with inspired writers ; and if I err not altogether, I do not 
 remember to have read any book from a profane writer, where some 
 error or other had not been committed. Should I have the good for- 
 tune, however, to see a second edition of this work called for, I will 
 make those corrections and alterations, which may have been dis- 
 covered to be necessary. 
 
 In some places I have followed the English version of the Bible, 
 in others again I have attempted to translate the original myself j 
 either because I did not consult the English at all, or because the 
 common translation seemed to me incorrect. 
 
 No man can be more aware of the difficulty of doing justice to the 
 subject under discussion, than myself; yet this did not deter me from 
 the attempt, it rather stimulated me the more ; first because I never 
 saw a book in the English language written by a Jew, that treated of 
 the evidences of his religion, if perhaps we except David Levy's 
 answer to Thomas Paine, and Rabbi de Cordova's little book. Reason 
 and Faith : and therefore I resolved to write, with the hope that some 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 person more capable than myself, might undertake to discuss the sub- 
 ject, as its importance deserves, and follow up with more success, my 
 humble beginning. — And secondly, having been taught by men dis- 
 tinguished for learning and piety, I thought that perhaps the instruc- 
 tion I had received from them might be made as beneficial to others 
 as it had been to me. 
 
 These are the reasons and motives, which governed me in writing; 
 but neither fame nor emolument was my object ; for how can any man 
 gain either by appearing as the champion of the hated and persecuted 
 Jews ? I was not however deterred from doing, what I conceived to 
 be my duty, by the fear of ridicule or hatred ; and I believe it to be 
 obligatory upon every Jew, to defend his principles and religion 
 from the obloquy generally cast upon them, at whatever hazard to 
 himself. I must therefore entreat every liberal Christian, deist or 
 Jew, to read what I have written in favour of our laws and ceremonies, 
 and not condemn them before he knows some of the reasons which 
 can be urged in their favour even by so obscure an individual as 
 myself. 
 
 If I have succeeded in establishing the truth of our faith, let not the 
 honour be ascribed to me, but to the excellence of that law, which 
 can be defended so easily and with so little information, as I possess ; 
 but if I have failed, let not our law be rejected on that account, for 
 though I could not do it justice, there are many amongst the descend- 
 ants of the patriarchs, who are every way much better qualified to 
 do so than 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Richmond^ Va. Sivan 9th, (June 10th,) 5589. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chapter I.— Conscience and Revelation 
 
 II._Who wrote the Pentateuch ^ 
 
 III.— Moses an authentic historian . . . •* • • 1^ 
 
 21 
 IV.— The Pentateuch 
 
 v.— The History of Revelation— Adam— Noah ... 26 
 VI.— The History of Revelation— Abraham ... 32 
 
 i VII. The History of Revelation — Isaac . • • -36 
 
 VIII.— The History of Revelation— Jacob .... 38 
 
 IX.— The Legation of Moses . * ^ 
 
 X.— The Exodus ^^ 
 
 XI— The Israelites and Revelation ^^ 
 
 XII.— The Descent on Sinai ^'^ 
 
 XIIL— The Decalogue ..•••••• ^^ 
 
 XIV. — The Jewish Commonwealth ^^ 
 
 XV.— The Bible and Paganism .82 
 
 XVI.— The Phylacteries ^^ 
 
 XVII.— The Festivals ^^ 
 
 XVIII.— The Sacrifices ^^^ 
 
 XIX.— The Forbidden Meats 11"^ 
 
 XX.— The Golden Calf • . 125 
 
 XXI.— Inspiration and Prophecy 135 
 
 XXII.— Fulfilment of Prophecy 1^^ 
 
 XXIII.— The Religion of the Bible 156 
 
 XXIV.— The Hebrew Worship 1^^ 
 
 . 182 
 
 XXV.— The Fasts and Ceremonies . ... 
 
 . 200 
 
 XXVI. The Law and the Rabbins . V . . • 190 
 
 Appendix . . • 
 
 PART II. 
 
 211 
 Introduction • 
 
 X. T .... 225 
 
 ^'''\l' ••••••■.... 244 
 
 IIL '.'.'.'/ 248 
 
 IV 262; 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Those persons desirous of possessing the " Instruction in the Mosaic Reli- 
 gion," translated from the German of Johlson, of Frankford on Maine, by the 
 author of this book, will please to make early application to any of the agents 
 for selling this book, or to the author himself, as but a small number of copies 
 are yet unsold. 
 
 The author has been advised by several friends to print the discourses deli- 
 vered by him on various occasions, either in book or pamphlet form, which 
 latter mode, it is asserted, would give them a greater circulation. He has no 
 objection whatever to make any of his writings public, if they are deemed of 
 any service ; but the encouragement hitherto extended to him, both in the sale 
 of the first and subscriptions to the present work, does not authorise him to 
 undertake a new book, especially in parts, as the trouble and expense attending 
 a distribution in this way would evidently be very great. He therefore takes 
 this method to announce to the friends of our religion, that, if they think his 
 discourses of sufficient value to wish them published, they will be kind enough 
 to communicate their willingness to encourage the undertaking, to Messrs. 
 Carey & Hart, J. L. Hackonburg, or the author, Philadelphia; the Rev. 
 Isaac B. Seixas, New York ; Mr. Zalma Rehine, Baltimore ; Mr. Jacob Morde- 
 cai, Richr.iond ; Dr. Jacob de la Motta, and Mr. Nathan Hart, Charleston ; Mr. 
 Jacob de la Motta, Savannah ; Mr. Eleazer Block, Cincinnati ; and Mr. Moses 
 Sarfaty, Kingston, Jamaica ; or to any of the author's friends, who are requested 
 to communicate to him, as soon as convenient, their success or failure. Those 
 willing to subscribe will please to state how many copies they wish to take, and 
 whether they wish the work in monthly parts, or in one or two volumes, accord- 
 ing to the number of printed pages it may make. He cannot yet state tlie price 
 which he will charge ; but the public may rest assured that he will ask as 
 moderately as possible ; and he trusts that the two books which have been pub- 
 lished already are suflScient evidence that he does not wish to make any undue 
 profit by his writings. In conclusion, he must state, that he will not think 
 himself bound to publish the aforesaid discourses, if the encouragement is not 
 sufficient to secure him from loss; and that he will be determined about the 
 mode of publication as circumstances may hcreafler direct. 
 
THE 
 
 JEWS AND THE MOSAIC LAW 
 
 PART I 
 
 O Lord of the universe ! who endurest for ever, we adore Thee ; 
 for Thou art the Creator of all nature, from Thee all, that is, derives 
 its existence, and Thou hast the power to do with this, thy creation, 
 as Thou pleasest. Thou changest the order of nature, as Thou de- 
 sirest, without deranging its harmony ; for Thou, nature's architect, 
 knowest the secret springs of all existence. All is sustained solely 
 by thy will ; and if Thou but speakest, all must be annihilated. — 
 Fountain of eternal life! who didst choose our forefathers to be thy 
 people, have mercy upon us their descendants, though fallen and 
 degraded through our sins ; let thy wisdom enlighten our minds, that 
 we may understand the ways of thy law; that we may live according 
 to thy commandments, and be worthy of thy love and protection ! 
 Hasten Thou also the time of our redemption through thy anointed, 
 and show again, as thou hast promised, that thou art the God and 
 Redeemer of Israel, when Thou displayest for a second time over 
 us thy protecting arm, before the eyes of all nations. Amen. 
 1 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 
 
 In proving the truth of Judaism, or, to speak more correctly, the 
 laws and ordinances contained in the Mosaic writings, and the 
 books of the prophets who were the successors of Moses, it is neces- 
 sary, first, to prove the truth of Revelation in general, and next, 
 that what is commonly called the Old Testament, can he true, with- 
 out at the same time admitting the authority of the gospels tind 
 epistles of that book, known as the New Testament. 
 
 Let us then enquire : — 
 
 " Is it rational to believe that the Almighty revealed himself to the 
 children of Israel, as related by Moses ; and is this assertion of the 
 Jewish legislator borne out by historical facts ?" 
 
 The greater number of thinking men of our own days and of past 
 times agree in asserting, that a revelation, so called, does really 
 exist ; but they differ very widely as to the nature of this revela- 
 tion. The notion of the heathens, that the gods lived in familiar 
 intercourse with men, and taught them the necessary mode of wor- 
 ship, has long since been given up by a great number of nations, 
 who have adopted, in the place of heathen mythology, the tenets of 
 the Koran or the Gospels ; but immense bodies of men, and who are 
 far more numerous than Christians or Mahomedans, yet believe in 
 the just mentioned theory of revelation. — Another set of men, 
 amongst whom the Jews stand pre-eminent, believe, that the Al- 
 mighty, Eternal, and Only God made his will known to men, singu- 
 larly pious and resigned to his will, £md sent them as messengers to 
 the rest of the world, to make known certain laws and regulations 
 by which mankind should be governed ; and to this idea the Christians 
 and Mahomedans also adhere. — But there are some men who sup- 
 pose that no such revelation was ever made ; that is to say, that 
 God n^wGi spoke to any man ; but that He has revealed himself, that 
 is, has made himself known, through his creation, and has at the 
 
CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 3 
 
 same time implanted within the bosom of every individual of the 
 human family a certain and infallible guide to righteousness, which, 
 when attentively listened to, will invariably lead a man in the path 
 of right and justice.— The notions of the Pagans it is useless 
 to examine here, as there are none amongst us who profess them ; 
 and then again, their nothingness must be admitted, if any one 
 of the other two systems can be established as the correct one. 
 And as those, who acknowledge only what they call the inward re- 
 velation, deny the necessity even of any other, it remains to be exa- 
 mined if there be actually such a thing as the infallible voice with- 
 in, or, as it is commonly styled, conscience. If it should, therefore, 
 be found, that conscience, properly so called, does not exist, or is in- 
 adequate to effect the purpose of a general revelation, that is, to 
 tea'ch every body under every circumstance the same : it must fol- 
 low that conscience, or the inward monitor, cannot be the sole reve- 
 lation ; as, in that case, no universal standard, unvaried and infallible, 
 of right, could be in existence ; we should therefore be obliged to 
 arrive at the conclusion, that there must be somewhere an outward 
 revelation, or, in other words, a promulgated law, which must be 
 the universal standard of right ; and it would next be our business 
 to seek, where this outward revelation, this promulgated law of God, 
 could be found.— Since, however, it is very often asserted, that man 
 can arrive at a knowledge of right of his own accord, we will briefly 
 examine if this can be true, or if there be not some facts which 
 clearly prove the contrary. Suppose that conscience were a proper 
 teacher, and would always punish with inward remorse every aber- 
 ration from the path of right : we might then place an implicit reli- 
 ance upon it, and thus our own unassisted reason would be the only 
 revelation necessary. But is it true that all men, when left to 
 themselves, will think alike 1 Whence, then, the horrible modes of 
 idolatry, which shock us so much in ancient, and even in modern, 
 history ? But grant even, that superstition may be made an engine 
 in the hands of designing and interested men, to induce their fellow- 
 men to disregard the voice of conscience, and follow the mad inven- 
 tions of others ; yet what can be urged in favour of inward revela- 
 tion, when we find whole nations addicted to certain actions, which 
 are condemned as unjust by others? It is well known that an 
 ancient Greek legislator thought parricide such a monstrous crime, 
 
4 CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 
 
 that he did not even specify the punishment, believing that no 
 human being could ever be guilty of a crime so heinous and unnatu- 
 ral. But, for all that, we find that a certain American nation do not 
 regard the killing of their aged parents in this light; for when a man is 
 grown too old, according to their notions, that is, as soon as he has 
 become unable to shift for himself, a grave is dug, into which he is 
 compelled to descend, and is then strangled or tomahawked by the 
 young men, who do this atrocious deed with the utmost unconcern, 
 and even think they do him a service. — The free-thinkers also say, 
 that incest is so contrary to the well-being of society, that it would 
 not be permitted, although there were no prohibition against it to 
 be found in the Bible. But even this is not true ; for the Grecians, 
 Persians, and Egyptians, the most refined nations of antiquity, mar- 
 ried their sisters, or other near relations ; and amongst the Lacedae- 
 monians it often happened that the same woman was the wife of two 
 men.* Amongst the Romans, also, incest was not very rare. — 
 Most savage nations are addicted to stealing ; and the Arabians of 
 the present day will rob you, and entertain you very hospitably, 
 after having emptied your pockets. They very often accost a tra- 
 veller with — " Thy brother is hungry, thy sister is naked, and as 
 
 * Schiller, — the celebrated German poet and historian, and who was a liberal 
 deist, that is to say, he believed in the truth of the Mosaic history, and applaud- 
 ed the beauty of the Mosaic code, without believing in a direct revelation from 
 God to man, — thus speaks of the laws of Lycurgus, in his treatise entitled, 
 " The Legislation of Lycurgus and Solon." 
 
 " From the married state itself all jealousy was banished. Every thing, even 
 (female) modesty, the Legislator (Lycurgus) rendered subordinate to his chief 
 design. He sacrificed female fidelity, to obtain healthy children for the state." 
 
 "As soon as the child was born, it belonged to the state. Father and mother 
 had lost it. The elders (of the people) inspected it; if it was strong and 
 well built, it was given over to a nurse ; but if it appeared weak and badly 
 ehapen, it was thrown into a deep pit near Mount Taygetus." See Schillet^s 
 IVorks, Stutgard edition, vol. xvi. page lOL 
 
 I would hardly have dared to shock the finer feelings of my readers with the 
 above extracts, which are almost too immodest for transcribing, were it not that 
 some dcniers of revelation had dared to place the Lycurgian laws in compari- 
 son with the Mosaic code, the spirit of uncleanliness and barbarity with the 
 essence of chastity and benevolence. The subject deserves a much more ex- 
 tended notice than can be taken of it here ; but it is likely, that at some future 
 time I may recur to it, when a more fitting opportunity offers. 
 
CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 5 
 
 thou hast food and clothing to spare, it is but right, that thou shouldst 
 give us, what we want." It is true, they return you enough to de- 
 fray the expenses of travelling; but they are very careful to take 
 first, whatever suits them. 
 
 The foregoing instances are undoubted facts, and they must go a 
 great way to prove, that one set of men almost invariably thinks 
 that right, which the other thinks wrong and criminal. Civilised 
 nations of modern times detest theft, murder and incest, and believe 
 them to be dangerous to the public welfare ; whilst barbarous people 
 commit these things without ever once dreaming, that they are 
 doing wrong: nay even civilised nations of antiquity were not 
 altogether exempt from some of these crimes at least. The unen- 
 lightened part of mankind of our own times have hardly any idea 
 of What is, amongst Europeans and Americans, considered right and 
 wrong : they frequently are generous, brave and hospitable ; but we 
 seldom or never find them possessed of those noble qualities of the 
 soul, that nice sense of duty, which animate those who have drunk 
 of the refreshing fountain of revelation.— But to return to our 
 proposition : will it be said that the Hindoo believes himself impelled 
 by consience, to sacrifice himself to his idol, the Juggernaut ; or that 
 he does think it wrong, uninformed as he is ? Does the conscience of 
 the European permit him to comm.it suicide, or not? Does the 
 ignorant Arab think, that he commits any crime by robbing the 
 wayfaring traveller 1 And did the Spartan woman suppose herself 
 guilty of any sin by adultery ? 
 
 The greater number of my readers, whatever their opinion rela- 
 tive to revelation may be, will agree with me in asserting, that it 
 is the greatest sin to sacrifice ourselves or any other person to an 
 idol; that suicide can hardly be defended by those even, who deny a 
 future state ; and 1 am sure, that there are not many honest men in 
 civilised society, who would defend robbery with the same reasons 
 the Beduin gives for his depredations.— We have thus seen, con- 
 science allowing theft to the Arab, and self-destruction to the ignorant 
 Hindoo and the desperate European, when he has lost his all, or 
 ruined his neighbour ; but that to the generality of mankind con- 
 science forbids theft and the destruction of one's own life or that of 
 another. It follows, therefore, that the conscience of one man justifies 
 what another's very justly condemns. Can it then be said, that we 
 
6 CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 
 
 may without fear give ourselves up to the guidance of our own 
 reason (conscience), unassisted by the word, the written word of 
 God, and do, what we of our own accord deem to be right 1 Will 
 the philosophers allow every man to do what he likes ? O no* — they 
 will say : " That action will endanger your neighbour's safety, and 
 this will be disagreeable to the majority of the people." This is all 
 very well, but what can they say against incest, suicide and gambling, 
 where one or more men injure themselves alone, without harming 
 any one, except he be a party or accessary to their deeds by his 
 own accord ? If I have a large sum of money, and another man 
 chooses to stake an equal sum against me, what right, it may be 
 asked, have these philosophers to forbid his doing so? Does he, or 
 does he not, injure society at large, if he loses? His conscience 
 does not forbid it ; he says, " My own reason tells me, it is perfectly 
 right, that I, knowing what I am about, may lose all I possess, if it 
 pleases my fancy." This, it must be obvious, is a fair defence of 
 gaming with those, who acknowledge no other monitor, than that 
 still voice within us, called conscience; but notwithstanding this, 
 none is more loud in condemning this really detestable vice, than 
 the philosopher, who denies all revelation. But does not any re- 
 straint, laid upon a man in this respect, limit the observance of what 
 the dictates of his conscience or reason allow him to do? So then 
 we find, that not even freethinkers can allow us to be guided in all 
 concerns of life by the dictates of our own reason alone. But we 
 hear them say : " Since every man is not endowed with the same 
 reasoning powers, and since all are not equally virtuous, not every 
 man should be allowed to follow the bent of his own inclination, since 
 this would be injurious to society ; but he is to submit to those 
 rules and regulations, which wiser and better men, than himself, have 
 prescribed to him." — But is this fair ? From what source does the 
 
 * Even a Draco, who punislied small and great crimes equally with deatli, 
 because the smallest sin deserved death, and for greater ones he could find no 
 severer punishment — even he made his laws, at least in letter " unchangeable 
 laws." — Schiller''s Works, vol. xvi. p. 122. 
 
 And the French revolutionary legislature solemnly decreed there was no God, 
 and introduced an actress and worshipped her as the goddess of reason ! and 
 besides they tortured and butchered the catholic clergy for non-conformity to 
 revolutionary laws. 
 
 w 
 
 
CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 7 
 
 philosopher derive the right to dictate laws to mankind from his 
 study ? How can he convince every one, that he is in possession of 
 more wisdom and virtue than every other human being ? How then 
 dares he to appropriate to himself the privilege of thinking for so 
 many of his fellow-mortals 1 — Now grant for argument's sake, that 
 his superior wisdom and virtue, which are universally acknowledged, 
 entitle him to this pre-eminence by the common consent of his con- 
 temporaries. But we ask, whence proceeds his wisdom ? Has he 
 obtained it by intuition ? Is his knowledge derived from himself, or 
 from some superior Being? Do his superior endowments make him 
 more than man ? do they render him immortal ? do they make him 
 infallible ? Is he no longer liable to err because he is wise, because 
 he is learned] Is his virtue of that kind, that it never yields to 
 temptation 1 In short, can he cease to be man 1 No — he is still a 
 mortal, prone to err, and he must at length descend to the grave, and 
 there his body, as well as the remains of the most ignorant of men, 
 will become a prey to worms. — Shall we then rely for our moral 
 instruction upon a man — one destined to die — one, who cannot change 
 even the smallest particle of nature — one, who, no less than the hum- 
 blest of mortals, must look with astonishment at the great works of 
 the great Creator ? From this great Creator the wisdom of the 
 philosopher is derived ; it is He, who favoured him with more know- 
 ledge, than other men, and to Him his spirit must return, when his 
 body is laid to moulder in the grave. Shall it now be said, that we 
 are to listen to the instructions of the creature, but disregard 
 those of the Creator? Or can it be supposed, that the almighty 
 Author of all could not make as good laws for the government of 
 mankind, as the man, to whom He has imparted but a small share 
 of knowledge ? Shall we shut out the light of the sun, because a 
 taper also can give light ? 
 
 But, ask our opponents: "Is it rational to suppose, that the 
 Creator did promulgate his laws ?" Yes, and we may be bold to say, 
 that the contrary opinion must of necessity be absurd ; as from the 
 preceding remarks it will be apparent, that our own reason is not 
 sufficient to show us the path of right ; for that what is called con- 
 science does not, cannot, influence all alike, and consequently cannot 
 be the universal standard of right, since it leads different persons to 
 different conclusions. This being admitted, (and the experience of 
 
9 CONSCIENCE AND REVELATION. 
 
 every man will prove it so,) it must follow, that unless there be a 
 revelation, that is to say, a declared and known law proceeding 
 from God, the world is left without the knowledge of right and wrong ; 
 and thus the deniers of revelation must accuse the Deity of the 
 greatest injustice, in creating so many beings, endowed with reason, 
 and leaving them to proceed without a rule or guide, like a ship, 
 tossed upon the billows of the tempestuous ocean, without rudder or 
 compass !* — Let us then ask every thinking man, what is most rea- 
 sonable to believe — that G od made his will known to mankind, that 
 
 * Since, if you break down the moral influence of enacted laws in a community, 
 mere brute force will never be able to maintain peace and order, as the history 
 of all nations, where anarchy has reigned, clearly proves; and you would thus 
 expose the whole world to mutual pillage and rapine, and subject the weaker to 
 the insolent tyranny of the stronger ; and we should see a spectacle exhibited, 
 the most frightful ever yet experienced on earth. It is in fact the idea of a 
 supreme legislative power being somewhere, which has been the fomidation of 
 civiUsed society in all ages, and where this has not been the case, disorder was 
 ever the consequence. If we have now no declared will of the Deity, (which 
 however the traditions of all nations clearly establish,) and as the enactments of 
 man, even the cardinal points on which the structure of civil society rests, can 
 be repealed by a succeeding generation, (witness the laws of Draco and Solon,) 
 it will be evident that no moral system, even the emanation of the wisest men, 
 can obtain sufficient moral force, to become a standard of right. This moral 
 force, however, can only belong to a system derived from a Being not fallible 
 himself, and whose wisdom cannot be gainsaid by a successor. It cannot be 
 denied, that some persons have availed themselves of the actual existence of a 
 revelation to promulge ideas of their own engrafted upon it, which were foreign 
 to its nature; but this only proves the more clearly, the necessity of a knowledge 
 of the pure source, even to the unbeliever, not to mention to any one founding 
 his behef upon, and regulating his life by, revelation ; since from it systems have 
 sprung, which, although not possessing the whole strength and grandeur of the 
 original itself, have nevertheless done so much towards civilising the world, 
 and exploding codes of laws disfigured by cruelty and immorality. What 
 is more, this diversity of systems derived from the Pentateuch will upon reflec- 
 tion establish the truth of the latter; as its actual existence, and the knowledge 
 they had of its being the work of inspiration, induced reformers to give to 
 their own nations something resembling it, whilst they perhaps thought them 
 not yet sufficiently enlightened to bestow the whole upon them. But there is 
 no doubt, that a time will come, when the Mosaic code alone, under such modi- 
 fication (to the nations) as the Almighty may ordain, will be the law-book of all 
 the earth. See Isaiah, chap. ii. and xi. Zachariah, chap. xiv. and many other 
 passages in the prophets. 
 
WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? 9 
 
 they might have a road to lead them on to happiness, or that He 
 left them to grope about in darkness? Can it be believed, that He, 
 who has provided for the smallest insect, which is invisible to the 
 human eye, should leave his noblest work so unprovided, so desti- 
 tute, so miserable? Did He give him an intelligent mind to make 
 his station the more wretched, the more forlorn ? 
 
 If philosophers would only reflect, to what ends their reckless 
 denial of all revelation must lead them, I am confident, they would 
 pause and shudder at the sight of the fathomless abyss, to which 
 they so thoughtlessly hurry on themselves and others. They would 
 not then so often think lightly of the word of Him, who is no less 
 their God, than the God and Creator of the whole universe. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH 
 
 Before we adduce further proofs in favour of revelation, it will be 
 necessary to enquire, if Moses actually wrote the books, which bear 
 his name ; and granted he did write them, if he be then entitled to 
 belief, or in other words, if what Moses relates in his history did take 
 place, at the time, place, and in the manner, he himself says it did 
 happen. 
 
 First : " Did Moses write the jive books (Pentateuch), which are 
 designated by his name?" To this question we unhesitatingly answer, 
 yes ; for the following reason : If any man presents a book to the 
 public, and alleges that he is the author of the same, he deserves, 
 without doubt, to be believed, unless some other person should claim 
 the authorship, and bring conclusive proof, that he, and not the 
 ostensible editor, is the true author. Now we find, that Moses tells 
 us, that he was commanded by God, whose messenger he purports to 
 be, to write down all the transactions of his time, as they happened ; 
 2 
 
10 WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? 
 
 for we read in Exodus, chap, xxxiv. v. 27: "And the Eternal said unto 
 Moses, Write thou these words; for according to these words I 
 have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." 
 
 Here we find Moses announcing, that he had received an absolute 
 injunction from the Deity, to write down the events of his time, and 
 the laws which were communicated to him. 
 
 And in Deuteronomy (chap.xxxi. v. 24) we read that Moses relates 
 his having completed the task thus imposed upon him by God ; for 
 there it is said : 
 
 "And when Moses had finished to write down the words of this law 
 in a book, to their very conclusion ; 
 
 25. Then Moses commanded the Levites, the carriers of the ark 
 of the covenant of the Eternal, as follows : 
 
 26. Take this book of the law, and place it at the side of the ark 
 of the covenant of the Eternal your God, and it shall be there as an 
 evidence against thee (the whole nation of the Israelites)." 
 
 It is thus proved by the internal evidence of the books themselves, 
 that they were written and compiled* by Moses; and even the ac- 
 count of the travels of the Israelites owes its origin to the same 
 author, as he carefully noted down all the journeyings of the people 
 under his charge, as he himself tells us in the Sod chapter of the 
 book of Numbers. 
 
 How can it now be doubted, that Moses was the writer of the 
 books in question ? — Suppose a modern antiquarian were to attempt 
 to demonstrate, that Caesar was not the author of his Commentaries ; 
 or that Demosthenes did not deliver those splendid orations, which 
 were for the last two thousand years supposed to be his : would not 
 such an attempt be considered, by most men at least, as an evidence 
 of insanity in the person who makes the attempt] — For how could 
 he hope to convince the world of their error, except by prostrating 
 at the same time all dependence upon history? The reason for this 
 assertion is simply the following : if you deny, that a book, which 
 
 * I say compiled ; for though there can be no doubt, that Moses was the bona 
 fide author of the last four books of the Pentateuch, comprising the history of 
 the Israelites during his life time ; it is nevertheless more than probable, that the 
 book of Genesis was in existence before Moses, and if even not in its present 
 form, at least it may be presumed that he had ample materials in his possession, 
 from which hrrow/M7cf/ it, r.s will be more clearly shown in a subsequent chapter. 
 
WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? H 
 
 bears the name of any author, was written by the reputed author, you 
 admit, that this book contains in this respect at least an untruth ; and 
 if it cannot be reUed upon in so material a point, it ought not to 
 carry any weight with it in other matters ; for since the author has 
 been convicted of not paying a strict regard to truth, how can you 
 determine, (if you rely solely upon the internal evidence of the book 
 itself,) what is true and what is not true? Not to come to this 
 dilemma you must admit, that the pretended author was the real 
 author ; for to deny this, as has been said, would throw discredit 
 upon the whole book. — The same is the case with every historical 
 writing extant ; and we are constrained to credit the authenticity of 
 authorship, or else no monument of art, no building, no painting, in 
 short nothing whatever, would be believed to be the work of the 
 artist, to whom it is generally ascribed ; and all history would be a 
 mere romance, written perhaps like some fairy tale, to amuse chil- 
 dren and frighten the ignorant. Nothing, of which we had not 
 ocular proof, would then be believed by us, and nothing considered 
 a reality, of which we had no perception with our senses. But 
 where is the man to be found, who is willing to carry this principle 
 to so great an extent ? And yet I see no point, where to stop with 
 any degree of safety. There are very few, who do not repose confi- 
 dence in history, and believe things, though they never did come 
 under their own observation. Many have never seen the emperor 
 Napoleon, few have ever seen Sir Walter Scott ; nevertheless they 
 firmly beUeve that the former fought the many battles in Europe, 
 Asia and Africa, in which he is reported to have been present ; and 
 that the latter wrote the life of Napoleon, and that moreover he is 
 the author of that great number of books, of which he has avowed 
 himself the author. It cannot indeed be well comprehended, how a 
 single man, unaided, could possibly write so much, independently of 
 the composition of so many works ; but for all that, they believe, that 
 Sir Walter did write all those books, the authorship of which he 
 claims, chiefly because no other person has claimed the authorship 
 and proved a superior title to the reputed author, although they them- 
 selves have never seen him write a single word. 
 But, some one may ask ; 
 
 « If I am to believe the identity of books, which have been written 
 so many centuries ago, what safeguard have I against being imposed 
 
12 WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? 
 
 upon by any book, which is given out as being the work of any 
 author of antiquity ?" 
 
 This, I confess, is a weighty objection, the more so, ^lS forged books 
 have very often been ascribed to writers, who perhaps had never 
 even heard the names of those very works, said to be theirs. But let 
 us examine the matter a Uttle more closely, and see if the danger of 
 being imposed upon be really so great as might perhaps appear at 
 first sight. Let us for instance suppose ; that a book should be pub- 
 lished, purporting to have been written by Julius Cissar, and giving 
 an account of the civil war, which under Caesar agitated the whole 
 Roman empire ; that further, this book should give an account of 
 the events of the time, similar to that, which is contained in the book, 
 commonly ascribed to Caesar, on the same subject, — let us say, till 
 his arrival in Greece ; but in speaking of the battle of Pharsalus, in 
 which Pompey was conquered, suppose it to state, that Caesar's army 
 was routed by that of Pompey, after which the latter held a triumph- 
 ant entry into Rome, and that it was not till after a long war, that 
 Caesar conquered in a hard fought battle, ui which Pompey was slain. 
 What would every one's opinion be in finding such an account in a 
 work said to be written by Caesar 1 Surely, that Caesar could not 
 be the author, because the whole chain of events, which preceded 
 Ccesar's dcatk, belie the (fictitious) account just given, and the great 
 dictator would not in all probability have committed any thing to 
 writing, which he, as an eye-witness and the principal actor, must 
 have known to be untrue. — Or if the book in question should say, 
 that the German warriors in Caesar's army were equipped after the 
 fashion of Numidian horsemen — or if it were written in the monkish 
 Latin of the middle age : in all these cases the book would no doubt 
 be pronounced a forgery, without the slightest diversity of opinion ; 
 for circumstances, generally and upon the best possible evidence, 
 admitted as facts, prove that Caesar could not have written it, for he 
 must have been intimately acquainted with the history, manners and 
 language of his time. — But if, on the contrary, a book were found 
 at present, written in the easy style of Caesar, and giving such an 
 account of events as would appear plausible, and not contradicted by 
 well established histories of that period, and if there should be a 
 clause in the work stating, that C. Julius Caesar the Dictator had 
 written it : could then any reasonable doubt be entertained of its 
 
WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? 13 
 
 authenticity? And I am free to assert, that most persons would 
 regard the book as genuine, and they would require more proof, than 
 the mere dictum of any man, to establish the contrary.* 
 
 The foregoing illustration it is hoped will have satisfactorily sho^vn, 
 that we may with a great degree of safety rely upon the identity of 
 books of antiquity. I will now advance another position, which from 
 its very nature is incontrovertible, namely: ^Hliat what is once true 
 must ever be so." If for instance it is true now, that Caesar wrote the 
 first seven books on the Gallican War, the same must be true two 
 thousand years hence, for what is once past, is past, and nothing can 
 undo the past. 
 
 I must ask pardon of my readers for this long digression, which 
 was considered necessary for the proof, or at least elucidation, of the 
 assertion, " that Moses was the author of the books he professes to 
 have written." — Almost every man admits the truth of profane his- 
 tory, at least so far as to believe, that the different books of all ages 
 were written by those men, who claim to be the authors, unless 
 perhaps it might be established, that there be some other claimants, 
 who have superior titles to the reputed authors. The details of his- 
 tory are also admitted, unless their falsity can be proved. 
 
 Let us now ask all those, who deny the truth of our religion, why 
 will you give credence to profane history, and not even believe, that 
 our blessed legislator was the author of his own books ; or rather 
 that it was he who wrote them by the command of the Most High, 
 if any one did? But you will say, "the books are of so great anti- 
 quity, that it may be fairly doubted, whether Moses wrote them, 
 especially as we have no contemporary writer to prove the fact !" Is 
 that your objection ? well let us examine it a little more closely and 
 ask : if Moses did not write them, who then was the author ? Were 
 the seventy elders, who made the translation, commonly called the 
 Septuagint, for Ptolemy Lagos, the authors?— No, for they were 
 only the translators into Greek of this book — a book previously ex- 
 isting in Hebrew, and so much renowned for its wisdom, that a 
 
 * Although the above supposition may appcav far-fetched, similar cases have 
 nevertheless frequently occurred, both with vi^orks of ancient and modern 
 authors; for example, the book of the Republic by Cicero, and Milton's book on Re- 
 ligion, which both have been discovered only very lately, as the learned reader 
 will no doubt recollect. 
 
14 WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? 
 
 Grecian king desired a transcript of it in his own language.* — But 
 was it Ezra ? No, for he could not be the compiler even, much less 
 the author, as he speaks of the books as already in existence, nay as 
 existing even before his time, and as being well known to the en- 
 lightened part of the people. — So he cannot be the man. — But was 
 it Joshua, the immediate successor of Moses 1 Oh no, for to him it 
 was commanded (Josh. i. 8.): " This book of the law shall not depart 
 out of thy mouth, and thou shalt meditate therein day and night, 
 that thou mayest observe to do all, which is written therein, for then 
 wilt thou be prosperous and then wilt thou be wise." If the Penta- 
 teuch then was existing before Joshua, he cannot be the author of 
 it ; much less Ezra, who lived near a thousand years later. We 
 must therefore come to the conclusion, that Moses — being the im- 
 mediate predecessor of Joshua, and as the Jews had no legislator 
 before him — must be the authorf de facto of the books that bear his 
 name. This he was in the time of Joshua, and what was true 
 then, is true nmc; and, therefore, since Moses was the real author in 
 those days, he must now also be considered as such, and this so long 
 as the blue vault of heaven shall remain extended over this beautiful 
 earth ! 
 
 May God enlighten our minds and fortify us in his law, Amen ! 
 
 * And it certainly can be no argument against the actual existence of the 
 Pentateuch before this period, that the Greeks were not acquainted with it, as 
 we find no mention made of it in their most ancient historian. For this may 
 have been owing to their ignorance of what related to other nations, or to the 
 contempt they imiformly expressed towards barbarians (all nations except the 
 Greek), and they may have therefore concealed the knowledge they had of a book 
 of wisdom and good laws belonging to another and distant people. — But the 
 eagerness of Ptolemy to possess himself of this treasure clearly proves, not only 
 that the Greeks were ignorant of its existence, but that its origin must have 
 been referrible, even at that time, to very remote antiquity. 
 
 t See Appendix to Part I. for a refutation of some anachronisms, which it is 
 pretended have been discovered in the Pentateuch. 
 
13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MOSES AN AUTHENTIC HISTORIAN. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapter endeavoured to establish, to the 
 best of my Umited abiUties, that Moses was the author of the books, 
 which are known by his name : we must now proceed to the second 
 point of enquiry ; 
 
 " Is Moses entitled to credibility, as a historian ?" 
 
 Our conviction or knowledge may be referred as proceeding from 
 three causes : fir sty we are convinced of any thing, that is, we know it 
 to bQ true, because we were eye-witnesses, or have other personal 
 knowledge of the fact; secondly, because we hear it related by persons, 
 who profess to have seen or experienced it, and in whose veracity 
 we place confidence ; and lastly, because we read events described 
 in books, and though the author, or what is the same, the narrator, 
 himself be not present, to tell us his narrative by word of mouth, 
 we may nevertheless believe confidently, first, that the professed 
 author was an eye-witness of the described event, or that his source 
 of information was undoubted; and lastly, that his narrative is in 
 conformity with truth, or, what is the same, that the events related 
 actually occurred. 
 
 The limited faculties of man will not allow him, to be an eye- 
 witness of many things ; and, since he cannot be at different places 
 at the same moment of time, he must receive, whatever happens out 
 of his presence, upon the good faith of others; for he would assur- 
 edly be, and ever remain, woefully uninformed of the affairs of life 
 and the discoveries of science, should he reject every thing as untrue, 
 which did not fall under his own personal observation. 
 
 Since our acquaintance with external facts can only commence 
 from the time of our birth, we are thereby prevented from having 
 personal knowledge of what occurred before our time ; we cannot 
 resort to eye-witnesses for information, as every human being alive 
 is comparatively of but recent date. If therefore we wish to be in- 
 formed of what took place before our time, we must needs seek this 
 information from books ; secondly, from those who have read them, 
 
16 MOSES AN AUTHENTIC HISTORIAN. 
 
 in case we cannot read them ourselves, and lastly from monuments 
 and popular tradition. 
 
 Of all the above sources of information, or conviction, that is un- 
 doubtedly the safest, which results from our own actual observation 
 and the perception of our senses ; the second best is that, which is 
 derived from living witnesses, who impart to us what they know 
 by experience ; and the last is that, which is drawn from books, 
 monuments and tradition. 
 
 Though, generally speaking, to see is to believe ; we will yet 
 frequently find, that we may be deceived, although we have the 
 thing to be investigated actually before us. The reason of this is, 
 that many things, presented to our view, are not sufficiently known 
 or understood by us, to enable us to form a correct judgment ; and 
 even when this is not the case, we are frequently so much biassed 
 by prejudice, as to suffer it to warp our judgment to such a degree, 
 that we are led to judge altogether erroneously, though under other 
 circumstances we would be able to form a strictly correct opinion, if 
 our feelings were not enlisted, on the one side or the other. 
 
 When we derive our information from living witnesses, we are 
 too apt to suffer our judgment to be swayed by the feelings of our 
 informants^ particularly, if our interest coincides, with theirs; so, on 
 the contrary, we are often, from no other cause than private pique, 
 predisposed to differ altogether with our informants, because we 
 may prefer finding them, or their friends, in the wrong, or shut 
 our ears against conviction, from a mere spirit of contradiction. 
 But as we are here not so much personally engaged, as if we were 
 the actors, or immediate spectators, we will frequently, upon reflec- 
 tion, be disposed to alter our opinions, and bring them down to a 
 proper standard of reasoning, much oftener at least, than if our 
 feelings were more immediately enlisted, by our personal observation 
 or actual participation. 
 
 When at last books, monuments, or traditions, are our guides 
 to knowledge, though we may even here be more inclined to one side, 
 than the other, we will yet certainly, and almost invariably, be en- 
 abled to form a more correct opinion^ than in the two first cases. 
 
 Thus we see, that each mode of acquiring information has its 
 advantages and disadvantages; and indeed it often happens, that 
 though we ourselves are unjust towards a third person, our neighbours 
 
MOSES AN AUTHENTIC HISTORIAN. 17 
 
 will understand our dispute better, and, however favourably inclined 
 towards us, will decide in his favour: — and again, posterity will 
 esteem a man great and glorious, whom his contemporaries suffer- 
 ed to starve. 
 
 I am inclined to believe, that the foregoing will be sufficient to 
 show, that we may derive positive information without ocular 
 evidence, or else, that our mind must be a blank, and ignorant of the 
 most important concerns of life, and of those things, which are the 
 most conducive to our happiness. In fact, the world in general 
 has ever thought so, since, from time immemorial, history has 
 afforded instruction and amusement, and has been generally received 
 as true ; besides, the example of great deeds has roused many a 
 noble mind into activity, which might otherwise have lain dormant, 
 or e:^hausted its vigour in works, if not pernicious, at least useless 
 to society. 
 
 But some one may ask : " How far is it reasonable to rely upon 
 any thing I hear, or find related in books? what rule am I to ob- 
 serve, to guard myself against being imposed upon ?" Here let us 
 pause a moment, and reflect : how does it appear to our conviction, 
 that any thing has actually occurred, and that our impression of any 
 supposed fact is not a phantom of the imagination? First, from the 
 effect the occurrence has produced ; secondly, from preceding, ac- 
 companying, or subsequent circumstances; and lastly, from the 
 impression it made at the same time upon others, if others there 
 were, to witness the occurrence at the same time with us. — For in- 
 stance, let us suppose, that a number of persons should be assembled 
 in a well built house, and that this had the appearance of being a 
 structure which could endure for ages. Now let us imagine, that 
 a sudden concussion of the earth were to rend this building asunder, 
 and bury the persons there assembled amidst the tumbling ruins ; 
 that only one should be dug out alive, and recover his recollection by 
 degrees, after weeks of sickness and mental darkness, and then, find- 
 ing himself surrounded by strangers, call for those who were with 
 him when the earthquake took place ; now even assume, that he re- 
 ceive at first an evasive reply, as for instance, that they would soon 
 come ; is it not highly probable, that his own returning reason will 
 soon convince him of the reality of the case ? his being where he is, 
 will tell him, upon reflection, that something dreadful must have taken 
 3 
 
18 MOSES AN AUTHENTIC HISTORIAN. 
 
 place, and the sudden tumbling of the strong walls, the shock, which 
 he himself experienced, will force upon him the melancholy conclu- 
 sion, that he shall see his friends no more ; and no matter how faint his 
 knowledge of the actual occurrence of the earthquake may be at first, 
 the effect it had upon him will undoubtedly teach him that it ac- 
 tually did occur. — In the second case ; you are in a room, and hear 
 a conversation, to which you pay no particular attention ; to be sure, 
 you hear it, but yet do not think it of consequence enough to charge 
 your memory with it. After some time suppose a friend comes to 
 you, and asks : " Do you recollect what such a one said on that day ?" 
 At first, you will barely recollect that a conversation took place at 
 all ; but if he draws your attention to various circumstances, which 
 accompanied this conversation, you will very probably recollect the 
 whole or the essential part at least, which would have been abso- 
 lutely impossible, but for the accompanying circumstances. — In the 
 third place, let us suppose that a sudden meteor flashes before our 
 eyes, but that its transit is so quick as to leave us in doubt if we 
 are mistaken in our impression or not ; but if we hear others say 
 that they too saw a meteor, we shall then be convinced of the truth of 
 onr first although imperfect impression. 
 
 In the same manner may historical correctness be tested ; first, 
 by effects ; secondly, by circumstances which are known to have 
 taken place ; and thirdly, by general impression, except when it is 
 contrary to previously well attested facts. — Historical effect is every 
 thing produced by events related in, or made known by, history ; 
 thus is the independence of the United States an effect or conse- 
 quence, in the first instance of the Declaration of Independence, and 
 in the next, of the subsequent war. — In this class may also be reck- 
 oned what are called the remains of antiquity, as ruins, ancient 
 buildings, monuments, and manuscripts. — To the second class belong 
 conversations, said to have been held by persons, who are no more 
 in being, which derive their claim to authenticity, merely from the 
 known character of those persons ; further, such incidents as have 
 been transmitted to us in historical records, which are rendered pro- 
 bable from the peculiar manner, lives, and character of persons or 
 even nations. Of the former, I will only mention the few words said 
 to have been spoken by Julius Caesar, when he discovered Brutus 
 amongst his assassins ; and of the latter, the conduct of Alexander 
 
MOSES AN AUTHENTIC HISTORIAN. 19 
 
 of Macedon at the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and his conduct subse- 
 quently thereto, after he believed himself, and obliged others to be- 
 lieve, that he was the son of a god.— In the last class 1 would reckon 
 all traditions and popular stories, which are more or less worthy of 
 credit, as they can be more or less fortified by either monuments 
 &c., known circumstances, or lastly, probability. 
 
 When the effect produced by a certain reported event is yet in 
 existence, no man in his sober senses will doubt a fact so well au- 
 thenticated.* For instance, it is said, that in the seventy -ninth year 
 of the Christian sera, the city of Pompeii was destroyed or rather 
 buried, by the volcanic ashes of Vesuvius. If any one even might have 
 been inclined to doubt this, had it merely been reported, it is now 
 rendered certain beyond a possibility of being disputed, as the buried 
 city%as actually discovered about a hundred years ago, since which 
 time many streets have been re-opened. No man, therefore, can 
 now doubt, that a similar fate has befallen, or may yet befall other 
 places. — About a century ago an island was formed in the Grecian 
 Archipelago, after a terrible convulsion of nature. This island yet 
 exists, and the account of its emersion from the waves is consequently 
 believed It will therefore be readily acknowledged, that the rare- 
 ness and even improbability of a thing, can be no argument against 
 its possibility, and whatever is authenticated and verified by vn- 
 doubted effects must be received as true, no matter if the event be in 
 accordance with the ordinary course of nature or not. 
 
 If then profane history is verified by the remains of antiquity, why 
 should we reject the account which Moses has left us ? Why will 
 you, who deny the truth of the word of God, be more indulgent to 
 the records of the Grecians and Romans, than to sacred history ? 
 Is there not a more noble monument of the historical truth of the 
 Pentateuch, than Grecian marble, or Egyptian granite, namely, we 
 ourselves, the Jews ? — Answer me, are not the dispersions of Israel 
 sufficient testimony of the existence of Moses, of the wonderful de- 
 liverance of the children of Jacob, and of their conquest of the Holy 
 Land under the guidance of Joshua ? — Will you believe that Sesostris 
 reigned, Themistocles fought, Socrates and Plato taught philosophy, 
 
 * If Iherefore any thing is related to us, and we are assured that it had a 
 mentioned efFect, and it can be proved that this effect never took place ; we 
 may then safely and fairly consider the whole story a fabrication. 
 
20 MOSES AN AUTHENTIC HISTORIAN. 
 
 and Demosthenes spoke — and will you, can you deny that Moses 
 lived ? that through him the law was given 1 and that the history of 
 the Israelites is faithfully narrated in the subsequent biblical writings ? 
 
 " Well," some of you will say, " we grant the possibility, even 
 the probability of the plain matters of fact in the Bible, but we will 
 not admit the truth of the miracles ; and as these are so much inter- 
 woven with natural occurrences throughout the Bible, they are 
 enough to throw discredit upon the whole." 
 
 But if there is a God who created all things, and governs all, and 
 sustains all by his will, — and there is a God ! exclaims all nature — 
 to whom all owes its origin — we must admit that miracles are within 
 the scope of possibility ; for, should not the Creator be able to order 
 things differently, and yet preserve all in being, if He deems it 
 proper ? Since then miracles are possible, since we even see that 
 extraordinary events occur daily ; can we possibly doubt, that God 
 could change water into blood for particular purposes, when He, 
 in his unerring wisdom, thought it necessary towards the accom- 
 plishment of his almighty will 1 Could He not send frogs, or as 
 some suppose, crocodiles, to plague the inhabitants of Egypt, when 
 they refused to obey his will 1 Could he not let water flow out of a 
 rock, when he determined to do so 1 
 
 I admit, that God has ordained nature to 7L'ork so harmoniously, 
 that, to our impression, the slightest impediment would destroy the 
 beautiful fabric. But does that change, or diminish, or circumscribe 
 his ability, to order it otherwise? Can He not dry up every foun- 
 tain ? can He not split mountains asunder ? can He not command the 
 sea to produce habitable land in its vast and deep centre ? and should 
 He not be able " to give bread, should He not be powerful enough to 
 provide food for his people?'' Why then, let me repeat the ques- 
 tion, will you not accept the Mosaic writings as the true chronology 
 of times gone by? Will you reject them, because of their antiquity? 
 Will you leave such a blank in the history of the world, from its 
 creation to Herodotus ? Forbid it science, forbid it reason, forbid it 
 justice ! Rather join with u» and say : 
 
 " Moses is true, and his law is true ! 
 
21 ; 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 In the foregoing chapters, I have endeavoured to show the plausi- 
 biUty as least, first, of Moses's right to be acknowledged the author 
 of the Pentateuch, and secondly, of the claims of this book to be con- 
 sidered the true history of his time. — But how* did Moses know 
 what happened before his days ?— To this, I answer, that he was not 
 only the narrator of his own observations, but also the compiler or 
 transcriber of existing historical materials. We have no means to 
 prove positively, that the Israelites had any writings before Moses ; 
 but we can give various reasons, which seem to leave hardly any 
 doubt resting upon the matter. 
 
 In the first place, the greater part of the events in Genesis are 
 so circumstantially narrated, that it appears that those, who were 
 immediately concerned in them, were the historians of their times. 
 
 A second reason may be discovered in the peculiar phraseology of 
 at least «m7o passages in Exodus. We read in Exo. xvii. v. 14 : "And 
 the Eternal said unto Moses, write this (the attack of Amalake upon 
 Israel) for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it before Joshua." — 
 The Hebrew words are the following : 1303 jnDT HKi nnD (Ketohe 
 zotJie zicJcahrone B assay pher.) The word, Bassaypher signifies, 
 in the hook, whereas in a hook (Eng. Version) ought to have been 
 Besaypher ; or, to make it more intelligible to an English reader, the 
 Hebrew syllable ha is the preposition in followed by the definite 
 article the (in the), and the syllable he is the preposition in with the 
 indefinite article a (in a).t If the passage, of which we are now 
 
 * If it is once admitted that the Pentateuch was written by inspiration, it 
 makes no ditFerence, from what other sources Moses derived his information, 
 as the Holy Spirit was in that case his instructer, which would have prevented 
 him from committing any error ; but as I direct my argument against unbe- 
 lievers, I think it necessary to prove every thing, so as not to leave them any 
 opportunity for cavilling. 
 
 t I am indebted for this argument to the April No. 1826, p. 282, of the North 
 American Review, 
 
22 THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 treating, is rendered correctly, and which no Hebrew scholar can 
 dispute, it is pretty evident, that, as God ordered Moses to write 
 the attack of Amalake in the hook, it must follow, (as no particular 
 book is mentioned, either here or elsewhere,) that this expression 
 must relate to a book well known to the then Israelites, and which 
 book, moreover, must have been a record of their history previous 
 to the promulgation of the law, as the battle with Amalake took 
 place before that event, the most remarkable since the creation. The 
 second passage is found in Exodus xxiv. v. 7, and is in the following 
 words : " And he (Moses) took the hook of the covenant and read it 
 within hearing of the people, &;c." This passage, however, is 
 not so explicit as the preceding one, as it may refer also to the oc- 
 currences between the Exodus and the promulgation of the law on 
 Sinai exclusively ; though many are of opinion, that the hook of the 
 covenant here spoken of is that in which the covenants with the Pa- 
 triarchs are recorded, meaning the book of Genesis ; and this book 
 must have contained the history of the world from the creation to 
 the death of Joseph, and further, the first nineteen chapters of Exodus 
 (the passage quoted being a part of the recapitulation of what oc- 
 curred before the promulgation of the Decalogue). But as this can- 
 not be well established, and as it is mere conjecture, though highly 
 probable, I shall not insist upon it as a convincing argument. 
 
 But I have now to adduce reasons to show, that independently of 
 every consideration of inspiration or prophecy, we have cause to 
 prefer Moses's history to any profane history extant, and it may be 
 added, that ever was or will be written. — For every historian, if he 
 relates the history of an enemy, will delight to dwell upon his crimes, 
 and place his misdeeds before the world in the boldest relief, and 
 use every means to make him odious, and only put a limit to his 
 acrimony, for the sake of his own reputation for veracity, and that 
 he may not be charged with giving his picture too deep a colouring. 
 If he speaks of a friend, or one whom he pretends to admire, he will 
 always endeavour to gloss over the faults of the hero of his tale, or 
 omit them altogether, if he possibly can. And if any man writes 
 his own life, he never relates a fault of his own, except it be to gain 
 applause for his sincerity, or he strives hard to excuse that to the 
 world, which he, in his conscience, cannot justify. Is this true or 
 not? 
 
THE PENTATEUCH. 23 
 
 Not so Moses. From the commencement of Genesis to the end 
 of Deuteronomy, he merely relates the facts, as they occurred, with- 
 out at any time commenting upon them. He relates the history of 
 Jacob and Joseph, those two prominent and exalted patriarchs, with 
 the most bewitching simplicity ; both are represented to us as they 
 really were, without addition, without diminution. In some parts of 
 their lives, any profane historian, had he been their biographer, 
 would have attempted to justify their actions, and at least would have 
 tried to prove them virtuous, though their actions might to some 
 appear equivocal. But Moses does not do so ; he gives us facts, lets 
 us draw our own inferences, and justify or condemn actions accord- 
 ing to the standard which he was the instrument of making known 
 to the world ; well knowing that the intelligent part of mankind would 
 be iAdulgent to the few faults and occasional errors of these good 
 men ; particularly when he, at the same time, leads us to the mortify- 
 ing reflection, that no one is entirely free from fault, and that the 
 best occasionally transgresses ; and if any one should now be disposed 
 to vent his spleen against the bible characters, because they were 
 not altogether perfect, he may be referred to reflect upon himself, 
 and told to see if all is so pure within him, that he cannot err, before 
 he can be permitted to be too severe upon the sins of otherwise 
 good men. 
 
 We thus find him never giving a false or overcharged colouring to 
 any thing he relates. In the aflfecting interview between Joseph and 
 Benjamin every thing is told in so simple a style, that we are at a 
 loss which most to admire, the delicacy of Joseph's feelings towards 
 Benjamin, when he first sees him, or the sublime brevity in which 
 the whole is presented to us. — That part, where Joseph makes him- 
 self known to his brothers, is in the same style of simple sublimity, 
 if I may use the expression ; " I am Joseph ! lives my father yet ?" 
 These few words seem to proceed, so spontaneously, and so naturally, 
 from a surcharged heart, and feelings raised to the highest pitch, 
 that it is not probable that any passage can be found, either in 
 ancient classics or in any modern production, that will in any degree 
 equal the idea expressed by — I am Joseph ! lives my father yet ? 
 
 If we have seen Moses act and write so in matters where he was 
 not himself concerned, we shall find him equally sincere, and equally 
 regardful of truth, when he has occasion to speak of himself or his 
 
24 THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 nearest relations. Though he had often opportiiniiies to praise him- 
 self, or to sketch his own character in the most exalted manner, yet 
 does he ever remain the simple narrator of facts, and speaks only once 
 in his own praise, and that in a trait for which alone i^e\Y men would 
 think of praising themselves, namely the absence of all pride. (Numb, 
 xii. V. 3. " And the man Moses was the meekest of all men upon the 
 face of the earth.") What, the greatest of mortals to suffer himself 
 to be slandered, and not resent the affront? What, does he suffer 
 rebellion against his authority, without wishing the ringleaders even 
 to be punished, save only then, when the well-being of Israel abso- 
 lutely demanded this painful sacrifice ? — Yes, it is even so. The man 
 who was destined and appointed to be the leader of the Israelites 
 shared all their toils, all their sufferings, and once only was sedition 
 against his authority punished, and even then not through his agency ; 
 and his version of that event must needs be believed, since it is so 
 circumstantially told, and it occurred before the whole nation of 
 Israel. 
 
 Though he had undoubtedly acquired a great stock of knowledge 
 in the sciences and the mechanic arts, yet do we not hear him 
 boast of any of his acquirements ; he only tells us in one part that 
 his bodily strength remained unimpaired to his dying day, and in 
 another he informs us, that he had an impediment in his speech, 
 and this is all we know of the greatest of men!* — About his own ac- 
 tions he is very explicit, he throws no veil over them to hide their 
 defects, and he has even the frankness to tell us, (Deut. ch. iii. v. 
 23 — 26,) that his earnest prayer to be permitted to enter " and see 
 the good land, which was (to him) on the other side of the Jordan, 
 the good mountain and the Lebanon," was not accepted, for the well 
 known reasons several times recorded in the book of Numbers. 
 
 If we even search all books of antiquity, or modern times, we shall 
 probably meet with none which is so impartially written as the 
 Pentateuch ; which presents both sides of a picture with the same 
 faithfulness, as the Hebrew canon does ; and where we have facts 
 so simply given, and our judgment is more left at liberty to judge 
 for itself. 
 
 This very carelessness of Moses about amplifications and excuses, 
 
 * Compare thib with the lives of Hume and Gibbon, written by themselves. 
 
THE PENTATEUCH . 25 
 
 proves to the candid mind, that his subject must have been a good 
 one, and the cause he advocated righteous. For would any man, 
 ushering a fable into the world as truth, take so little trouble to per- 
 suade the world to receive it, as Moses has done ? Would he not 
 rather try to produce ingenious arguments, and well devised artifices, 
 to make his laws palatable 1 Did not the celebrated Lycurgus, I 
 may say, cheat the Spartans into an acceptance of his code, (if any 
 credit can be given to the Greek writers,) which otherwise would 
 probably never have been tolerated, as the supreme laws of the 
 land? 
 
 But as there may perhaps be some other objections, of which I 
 am, however, altogether ignorant, I will just state one instance of 
 the great disinterestedness of Moses. The honour of priesthood was 
 the gi'eatest dignity among us, for under certain circumstances, the 
 priest was even higher than the chief magistrate of the nation ; in- 
 dependently of religious distinctions and other privileges attached to 
 
 that order. If Moses now had been ambitious, or eager after 
 
 power and glory, he would certainly, {(ill along supposing he was 
 not inspired,) have assumed to himself and his descendants the high- 
 est honour. But did he do so ? No, he elevates his brother and 
 his four sons, whilst he submits himself and his own children to 
 Aaron's superintendence (see several passages in Numbers, particu- 
 larly chap. viii. v. 5 — 26). No other conqueror, no other legislator 
 ever acted in this manner. I will not say, that they did assume allho- 
 nours and power, but it may be boldly asserted that no one conqueror 
 or legislator ever excluded himself and descendants from honour, 
 power, and riches ! — It is well known, that the Levites had neither 
 sovereign power, nor immediate property like the other tribes, since 
 all their property was dispersed among all the tribes of Israel, and 
 even then their possessions were limited within a mile on each side of 
 their cities. Why then did Moses exercise this forbearance unless 
 directed by a superior power, a power superior to his will, and to 
 whose unlimited sway Moses, no less than every other member of 
 the human family, was obliged to submit ? Indeed, it was his word 
 Moses wrote, by his command Moses acted, and his almighty name 
 was the watchword of Moses ! 
 
 We have thus seen Moses proved to be the writer of the Pentateuch, 
 seen him entitled to credibility as a historian in general, and also 
 4 
 
26 THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 seen him proved equal, if not superior, to any historian of ancient 
 or modern times. I will then pause here and in the succeeding 
 chapters endeavour to establish the truth of revelation, not alone by 
 Moses's history, but also by our national existence as Jews, and as 
 the representatives of the Israelites to whom the law was originally 
 given, and the fulfilment of prophecies pronounced by Moses and his 
 successors, the prophets and seers of Israel. — I must here also beg 
 every one who reads these pages, to consult the passages in the Bible, 
 to which 1 may refer, and take them in connection with the preceding 
 and following verses, to see that the interpretation I may have to 
 give, is consonant with the context, as 1 do not wish any thing to 
 be taken upon my bare assertion. Should he in the succeeding 
 part of this little volume find any thing startling at first sight, he 
 will do well to reflect before he condemns my conclusion; at all 
 events I hope to receive a fair hearing, not alone from Jews, but also 
 from Christians and free-thinkers. 
 
 CHAPITER V. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION ADAM — NOAH. 
 
 I deemed it altogether unavoidable, before commencing to draw 
 arguments from the Pentateuch, to prove at first, that it is highly 
 reasonable to believe that its contents are true. Having accomplished 
 this task, in the best manner I could, I shall now resume my original 
 proposition, namely, to adduce proof in favour of the revelation given 
 to Moses, and the subsequent adherence of the Israelites to the same, 
 from his time until the present day. 
 
 In Chapter I. I have shown, that it is reasonable to conclude that 
 God revealed himself to mankind, and have at the same time proved, 
 that the contrary opinion would accuse the Almighty of injustice to- 
 wards man. 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 27 
 
 But 1 hear tlie infidels and the wavering say : — " Most true, it 
 would be unjust to suffer the world to be without a ?'2ile of right ; 
 but was it just in God to do, as you Jews assert him to have done, 
 to give a law to you only, and that after two thousand years from 
 the creation ?" 
 
 Before answering this question, 1 must state that 1 shall in the 
 sequel adopt the Mosaic writings as universally acknowledged, and 
 therefore argue from them without stopping to prove the correctness 
 of every passage, having, as 1 conceive, already amply demonstrat- 
 ed the truth of the wJiole. Having premised this much, I 
 have to state that the above objection would stand good, provided 
 the assertion were true, that no revelation was known to mankind 
 before Moses ; but, it can be shown that the fact is otherwise. It 
 is unnecessary to prove, that God is capable^ when He is willing to 
 communicate his commandments to mankind ; we Jews believe him 
 not alone capable and willing, but also think that he has actually 
 done so, and we shall continue in this our belief, till some one can 
 2)rove that no revelation was given. — In support of our belief, we 
 may cite the text of our Holy Writ, where this is so plainly written, 
 as to leave no doubt upon our minds of the fact, believing at the same 
 time, that the contents of Holy Writ are strictly conformable to 
 truth. 
 
 The question arises then : — " Can it be proven from Holy Writ, 
 that there was a revelation before Moses, and were there any in- 
 spired men, in his time, among other nations, besides the Jews T' 
 
 To prove the affirmative, it is only necessary to give an abstract 
 of the history of the world until Moses, to satisfy the greatest 
 sceptic. 
 
 From jiotJiing did the Almighty call ei^ery thing into existence, 
 and He clothed the world in light by the word of his mouth, as Mo- 
 ses so beautifully saith : " And God said, let there be light, and there 
 was light." After organising the mighty structure of the star-clad 
 heavens, He on the sixth day of the creation created man, in the man- 
 ner related in the second chapter of Genesis ; He formed his body 
 out of the clay of the earth, but unlike other animals formed in the 
 same manner, which are only endowed with instinct. He imparted 
 to him a living soul, by which He made man an intellectual being. 
 He gave him also a companion to cheer him during his hours of toil, 
 
28 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 
 
 and to share his prosperity. — Immediately after the history of their 
 creation, we find God imparting his will to the man whom He had 
 made, or in other words. He revealed himself to Adam. But oh, our 
 sinful propensities, when we once give way to- them, when we, to 
 avoid hurting the feelings of those we love, rather sin with them than 
 give them reproof! — Eve was tempted to taste the forbidden fruit of 
 the tree of knowledge, and Adam ate, by her persuaded. — Adam and 
 his wife were before in a state of innocence ; but now their inno- 
 cence was past, they had offended God their Creator. Before, the 
 earth spontaneously yielded them its fruit, and man needed only to 
 apply himself to work, to gather that which was so bounteously 
 offered him ; but now labour was decreed to him during his so- 
 journ on earth. — Before, he only saw his wife happy; but now 
 he was obliged to see her often writhing under severe pain. Before, 
 he could listen to the word of God with joy and elevation of heart ; 
 but now it seemed to him the terrible voice of thunder, which split- 
 teth cedars and maketh the wilderness quake. And this was not all, 
 for even death — the dissolution of the body — that noble fabric of the 
 Deity — became man's lot ; and not even the descendants of Adam 
 were exempt from that dread decree, and a mortal father begat a 
 mortal son. 
 
 But was the decree of God just, in punishing so trifling a trans- 
 gression so severely ? — Yes ! yes ! It was not that the act in itself 
 was so very heinous ; but the disobedience to the only command of 
 God given to Adam constituted the offence. Man, by this act had 
 lost his innocence, remorse must have visited him, for disobeying so 
 just a God, and all his life would inconsequence have been embitter- 
 ed. But death being destined to close at last his career on earth, and 
 as he knew, that the living soul within him could not die with his 
 body, he had an incentive to virtue — to regain that heaven by 
 repentance and good deeds, which he had forfeited by disobedience. 
 His life, before his fall, was free from earthly cares, indeed; but as 
 he existed then as man — flesh and spirit — he could not enjoy that 
 happiness, which he can be heir to in his present state, when he by 
 the exercise of virtue, or repentance, when he has erred, deserves 
 that happiness, which no eye has seen save that of God alone. — And 
 the Talmud in accordance with this teaches, and inculcates by 
 examples and passages drawn from the prophets, that repentance, 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 29 
 
 sincere repentance, and good deeds are a shield against punishment, 
 and guides to eternal life. — Adam had fallen, but did God forsake 
 him? No, He, to use the language of man, sought him out, and 
 asked of him : " Where art thou 1" He did not at once upbraid 
 him with his ingratitude, but called him first, to give him an oppor- 
 tunity of defending himself. But who can justify himself against 
 Thee, O Almighty God ] who trembleth not when Thou speakest in 
 thunder ? — Adam attempted to shift the fault on his wife, and she 
 was indeed more guilty than himself, and her tempter more guilty 
 still ; and in the same manner was their punishment ordained, — thus 
 giving a lesson to mankind, that, though many be guilty of the same 
 offence, minor guilt should never suffer the same punishment with 
 consummate crime. But great is the Eternal's goodness; while in 
 justice compelled to punish, He at the same time took notice of the 
 altered state of mortals — altered by their own fault — and provided 
 them with covering, since the consciousness of guilt forbade them to 
 appear any longer to each other, as they had done before, because 
 their ideas and desires were no longer pure and unsullied. Adam 
 was henceforward banished from the garden of Eden, to mourn in 
 his toil and increased labour, over his fallen state ; and the Cherubim 
 were placed at the entrance of the garden, to guard with the flaming 
 sword the road to the tree of life, and to prevent the re-entrance of 
 man, till being purified by a holy life and submission to the will of 
 his Maker, he be worthy again of a state of unmixed pleasure and 
 uninterrupted enjoyment. 
 
 Though it is not stated in express language, it must nevertheless 
 be inferred, that partial revelation, or to speak more intelligibly, a 
 limited number of laws, were given to Adam and his immediate 
 descendants. For we hear God reproving Cain for the murder of 
 his brother, and even speaking to him of sin, and of man's power to 
 conquer his passions, and to do good, when he will. (Gen. iv. 7.) 
 Cain was severely punished for his crime ; and would God have pun- 
 ished him if he had not known that the act he was committing was 
 sinful ? Would that be justice 1 — We are therefore forced to admit, 
 that God had imparted some of the civil institutions at least to the 
 first men, for their government. — In further confirmation of this 
 point, we may adduce the example of Hannoch (Enoch), who is said 
 " to have walked with God" (acted as He desired); and how could 
 
:10 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 
 
 Hannoch act so, it' lie liad not been certified of the will of God ? — 
 Noah was to admit into the ark seven pair of all clean animals and 
 two only of unclean ones ; now what criterion did he have to distin- 
 guish between the two kinds, without revelation. 
 
 I am free to confess, that these inferences will not prove any thing 
 positive, though they be ever so ingenious ; but we have more solid 
 ground to stand on in the ninth chapter of Genesis, where we see 
 God giving laws to Noah and his children. The world had been 
 overflowed ; all men, save eight, had been swept off from the face of 
 the earth ; and when the flood had subsided, we see the Father of all, 
 either kindly renewing the old, or giving altogether new command- 
 ments, for the regulation of the conduct of the children of Adam. 
 
 But when men again began to multiply, they soon forgot the God 
 who had made them ; ambitious of renown, they built a city and a 
 hio-h tower, resolved to dwell there, and thus prevent their being 
 dispersed over the face of the earth, when God had decreed other- 
 wise. To frustrate their design therefore. He changed their speech, 
 so that no one understood the language of the other, and thus they 
 were compelled to relinquish their building, and seek homes in the 
 different quarters of the globe.* — Men soon after settled in comma- 
 nities, those descended from one man, or one family, in the same 
 neighbourhood, and adopted such laws for their government, as 
 suited their fancy. But they soon forgot — because they soon 
 neglected — the word of their Creator — they no more remembered 
 the dreadful scourge of the flood, being secured by God's own word 
 against the recurrence of that calamity — they forgot that they 
 themselves had been punished for their pride and arrogance ; they 
 became rebellious against God's majesty, and began to worship idols, 
 and bowed to the work of their own hands. Some adored the sun 
 and the whole host of heaven, whilst others even worshipped the 
 crocodile, the ox, and the ibis. — A man distinguished himself in war, 
 or slew a monster that infested a district, immediately the bards 
 chanted his praise— he was made the lord paramount of his country- 
 
 *The very name of the city (Babel) is an evidence of tlie truth of Moses' 
 account, for the Hebrew verb Bahlole or Bole sijrnifies to mix, and tliis word is 
 the root of ^33, where only the first letter is doubled. (See also Gen. chap. 
 xi. V. 9.) 
 
 ^* 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 31 
 
 men — who, as his subjects, fell down in the dust before him — and 
 his descendants declared him a god, and filled his altars with the blood 
 of men ; and thus tyranny spread at the same time with the growth 
 of superstition. 
 
 Such a race was not worthy of receiving the pure and holy law cf 
 the pure and holy Eternal. What, are those, who, forgetful of God's 
 first and solemn commandment to Noah, slay their fellow beings as 
 sacrifices to their idols — are they, we say, fit to receive the word, 
 which is as pure as the bright flame? Would such men, speak, 
 philosophers ! if you can, be a fit depository for the law of God ? — 
 Where then is the injustice, in God's not promulgating the whole 
 law at this early period of the world ? — 
 
 But let us turn from the sickening spectacle, where man is not 
 much elevated above the brute, and let us look upon a brighter 
 scene. When danger is the most pressing, help is frequently near- 
 est ;^and so even was it in the person of our ancestor of glorious 
 memory, who arose the messenger of truth and piety, when wicked- 
 ness was spreading fast and threatened to shroud every thing in 
 gloom. — Every one acquainted with sacred history knows, that 1 
 speak of the peaceful, unpresuming shepherd — Abram, who born of 
 idolatrous parents acknowledged in infancy even, as tradition tells, 
 the name of the Most High, and even suffered for the sanctification 
 of the God of his salvation. He placed his trust in the Rock of ages — 
 and, happy patriarch ! thy hope was not misplaced, thy expectations 
 were not in vain ; for thy faith was recorded on high, thy sufferings 
 were none of them forgotten, and amply wast thou rewarded, when 
 the voice commanded thee to leave thy father's house ; though to 
 leave kindred and friends must have been painful to thy feeling 
 bosom, yet was it sufficient compensation to thee, to have heard the 
 voice of Him, who created the world by his word. Thou didst obey 
 his word and wentest forth into a strange land, and great was thy 
 reward ! — May all thy descendants thus follow thee to obey God and 
 to love Him, that they all may with thee rise from the ashes to 
 everlasting happiness, in the presence of the God of Hosts. Amen ! 
 
32 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION ABRAHAM. 
 
 When Abram was ordered to leave his father's house, he had already 
 reached his seventy-fifth year ; he had up to this time been childless ; 
 he nevertheless trusted in the word of God, by which he had been 
 promised riches, children and a good name, the three greatest of 
 earthly blessings. He at the same time received the promise, that 
 he should be the object of blessing to all nations. Though, as has 
 been said, he was at the advanced age of seventy-five childless, he 
 had yet full confidence, that the God, whom he had acknowledged and 
 worshipped from his youth, was powerful, willing and ready to keep 
 his promises. Thus strengthened by the revelation he had received, 
 Abram went forth into a land, whose name he had not even heard, 
 for he had been told to go to a land, which God would show him. 
 But soon it became manifest to him, that the country then inhabited 
 by the Canaanites was the land of his destination, and the land 
 assigned to him by Divine Providence as a temporary residence. If 
 we enquire, what was God's motive in sending Abram forth as a 
 wanderer? we will find the answer easy, when we consider the acts 
 of Abram during his travels. In several places he erected altars for 
 the service of the Most High, and there he taught the world to know 
 its Creator and to render Him adoration. In other words, Abram 
 was deputed to reveal in a country, where the terrible Moloch was 
 worshipped, the sacred truths of the mysterious Father, who, unknown, 
 invisible and incomprehensible to us, rules us, governs us, and provides 
 for us. No doubt, Abram was successful ; and we in fact find, that 
 he had made friends among the chiefs in the neighbourhood of 
 Hebron, then called Kiryath Arbang, and Aner, Eshkole and Mam- 
 ray are mentioned, as men in league with Abram ; and can it be 
 believed, that his friends should have been ignorant of his opinions? 
 and how could they, knowing his opinions, refrain from admiring and 
 adopting them? 
 
 The Patriarch had not dwelt long in Palestine, when he was agam 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 33 
 
 obliged to leave this land of his sojournment, and pinched by famine, 
 he went with his family to Egypt. Here he acquired large posses- 
 sions, after which he returned again to the land of Canaan, and again 
 proclaimed the unity of God. 
 
 In a few years afterwards, he rescued his kinsman Lot from his 
 enemies, and brought back at the same time the captured property 
 of the Sodomites. He then also received the blessing of the king of 
 Salem, (afterwards Jerusalem,) Malkyzedeck, who was a priest to 
 the Most High God ; but he refused the rich presents offered him 
 by the king of the sinful Sodom, though he had incurred great person- 
 al risk, in recapturing the prisoners and the property taken from the 
 five confederated cities. Thus setting us an example, that good ac- 
 tions, to be really good and worth accepting, should be done without 
 hope of emolument, and without a vain ostentation of disinterested- 
 ness, as we find that jVbram permitted the king of Sodom to reward 
 his fdlowers, though he refused every thing for himself. 
 
 Abram's hope had yet been delayed, he was growing old, and yet 
 he had no son to succeed him ; but now, soon after he had recap- 
 tured Lot, he heard again the voice of God (in a vision) tell him, that 
 he should have a son : and Abram believed it. But who can know 
 the decrees of God — understand his ultimate views before they are 
 accomplished ? At the same time that Abram was promised a large 
 and numerous progeny, he was informed that his descendants should 
 be wanderers and slaves for four hundred years ; yet he repined not, 
 yet he feared not, for the fulfilment of the evil was a sure pledge of 
 the ultimate fulfilment of the good. 
 
 Ishmael had been born since that event, and had reached his thir- 
 teenth year, when Abram, at that time ninety-nine years old, heard 
 again the word of God revealed to him, saying : " Walk before me, 
 and be perfect." His constancy was now again probed — his name 
 changed to Abraham — and he himself commanded to shed the blood 
 of the covenant ; he was also promised that the Almighty would ever 
 be his God and Protector, and of his descendants after him, on con- 
 dition that they, on their part, should observe the covenant of God, 
 that is, to circumcise all male children when eight days old. This 
 covenant was to be perpetual, and as we, the^ Jews, understand this 
 term and the text in Genesis, was to be unchangeable. — God also 
 promised Abraham a son by Sarah, precisely in a year from that 
 5 
 
34 ^^ THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 
 
 date. Sarah was then eighty-nine years old — but the decree was 
 fixed, and the child was, to be called pn:^' (Yitzchak) Isaac, com- 
 memorative of the JO?/* Abraham felt, when he was assured of the 
 certainty of the event. 
 
 This eventful year had passed away, and Abraham and Sarah 
 were rejoiced with the birth of the long promised child, and it re- 
 ceived the name which God had ordained. — Time again passed on, 
 and the word of God again went forth unto Abraham. — He was or- 
 dered to take the only son of his wife Sarah, his dearly beloved Isaac, 
 to the land of Moriah, to sacrifice him upon one of those mounts, 
 which yet surround Jerusalem. Abraham obeyed. " With tearful eye 
 and joyful heart," as the Hebrew poet so elegantly says, both father 
 and son prepared themselves to fulfil the imperious command of their 
 God. Did they repine ? did they murmur ? No — but calmly re- 
 signed to his will, they were ready to conform strictly to the pre- 
 cept they had received. The altar was built, the fire was kindling, 
 Isaac lay bound upon the wood, and the father — he who had given 
 him being — was grasping the knife to fulfil the last part of the man- 
 date — when behold, a voice, the voice of a messenger from the Lord, 
 resounded with " Abraham ! Abraham !" the knife drops by his side, 
 and he listens to the word of salvation then made known : " Stretch 
 not thy hand out against the youth, do him no harm, for now I know 
 that thou fearest God." 
 
 " Did not" — asks the Deist, " did not God previously know, how 
 Abraham would act? what need was then for that useless parade V 
 True, God, the searcher of hearts, knew Abraham's mind, knew 
 also his entire willingness to obey all the commandments known to 
 him; but the world was to be convinced and instructed, and a great 
 deed was obliged to be done to accomplish this. Amidst all the 
 trials of Abraham, previous to this period, we do not find any, where 
 he was compelled to make any great personal sacrifices, which in 
 ordinary human foresight might not have been supposed to yield 
 him ultimately worldly benefits ; and the unbelievers might therefore 
 
 * The Hebrew word pnV signifies to laugh, smile, play, feel joy, &c.; and it 
 is said, Gen. oh. 17, v. 17. "And Abraham fell upon his face pHV'l and felt jot/, 
 and from tliis joy, felt by Abraham, emanated the commandment, to name tJie 
 child of promise pnif"' from which the Englisli Isaac is derived, in the same 
 manner as many oilier names, are from the original Hebrew. 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 35 
 
 have said, that Abraham's piety was not strong enough to enable 
 him to obey the will of God, whose worship he taught, when 
 his all was at stake. For this reason the command was given, that 
 Abraham should offer up his son, him, whom he loved more than 
 himself, whom God had previously declared should be the father of 
 the great nation^ who was also to be the repository of God's cove- 
 nant. Who could now say with propriety that the doctrines of Abra- 
 ham were preached for the sake of interest or self-aggrandizement ? 
 No one.— 'But also instruction was conveyed ; first, that we should 
 be always ready to sacrifice our own lives, when necessary, for the 
 sanctification of God, rather than transgress the law ; secondly, that 
 we are to submit with the utmost resignation, to the decrees of Heaven, 
 and that it is unbecoming in us to question the justice of God's dis- 
 pensations ; and thirdly, that God desires not, but on the contrary, 
 detests that one man should sacrifice the other, pretending to bring an 
 acceptable offering to the Deity. — It is, I presume, well known that 
 the heathens then and afterwards thought (and this belief yet ex- 
 ists to the present day) human blood to be the most acceptable* 
 offering to their idols ; we find therefore that God by an example 
 prohibited such a practice in his holy temple, which should never 
 be defiled by murder and iniquity. 
 
 Was then, 1 ask, the intended sacrifice an idle pageant 1 Surely 
 not. And God's blessing was also given both to father and son, 
 that all nations were to be blessed in their descendants ; which means, 
 that through their descendants the word of God, which in itself is a 
 blessing, was to spread over all the earth and make all mankind 
 happy. — This promise has been fulfilled already, in a great measure. 
 The sacred light of revelation was first lit up in the wilderness of 
 Arabia, and from thence it has commenced spreading all over the 
 globe. In every country some, at least, of the scattered seed of 
 Abraham are to be found; their beautiful code of laws has been par- 
 tially adopted in many places, and millions of human beings are 
 drinking the waters of revelation, though they derive it from differ- 
 
 * There is a curious passage in Hoshea, chap. 13, v. 2, which proves iiow 
 horrible the practices of idolatry were even in his time; for he says : " To them 
 (the people) they (the priests) say : Those who sacrifice men shall (or are worthy 
 to) kiss the calves," (in Bethel and Dan,) and this speaks volumes (even without 
 any comment) in favour of the enobling virtues of revelation. 
 
3G THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 
 
 ent and polluted cliaiinels. Upon the solid rock of our law have the 
 followers of the Notzry and Mahomed built their systems, and though 
 in part erroneous, yet do these systems already acknowledge the 
 true God, his revelation, and his supreme rule. May we not hope, 
 that the time will speedily arrive, when not alone the Nazarenes and 
 Mahomedans, but all the other families of the earth also will hasten 
 to the banner raised on the mountains, range themselves behind the 
 ranks of the true believers and exclaim : 
 
 The Eternal is the God ! The Eternal is the God ! ? 
 O happy time ! O blessed hour ! when our eyes shall behold the 
 restoration of Zion, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the temple on 
 Moriah, and the reassembling of the tribes of Israel! 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION ISAAC. 
 
 Abraham had seen his son Isaac married to his brother's grand- 
 daughter, and seen him in possession of all earthly blessings : when 
 he was called hence, to shine in a world more bright than this, to 
 receive the reward for a long life of action and usefulness. When 
 living, even the heathens called him " a prince of God," thus ac- 
 knowledging his divine mission ; and dead — his memory has ever 
 been revered, both by his descendants and those who have joined 
 them. — After Abraham's death, Isaac followed his footsteps, and like 
 his father, he walked humbly before the Lord. The first, who was 
 at eight days old joined in the covenant, he lived to an age of a hun- 
 dred and eighty years, in the same manner, as unostentatious as 
 his father had done before him ; and though wealthy and much es- 
 teemed, he yet knew that all earthly pomp is vain, and that labour 
 is to man the sweetest of all employments. Thus we find him en- 
 jraged in agriculture, a careful husbandman and a kind neighbour, 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. W^.' 37 
 
 even to those who had, without any good cause, offended, envied and 
 even expelled him from their country. And as soon as they came to 
 him as friends, he immediately forgot all animosity, and made the 
 promises they desired of him. Who will not admire so benevolent a 
 being, who forgets an offence, whenever the offender seems to feel 
 contrition ? 
 
 Isaac also followed his father in other respects, for he also erected 
 altars and taught the worships of God : and to him was repeated the 
 promise made to Abraham, that his descendants should be blest for 
 Abraham's sake ; and thus we have already one reason, why the 
 Jews were chosen to be God's people. 
 
 But even on the brightest summer's day, the heavens are often 
 darkened with clouds, and so was it even with Isaac. His two sons, 
 his only children, were at variance ; he himself had grown blind ; 
 and to add to his calamity, Esau had married two women, who 
 caused him and the meek Rebecca much heart-burning by their 
 wickedness. His misfortunes did not rest here : on account of the 
 blessing, which his younger son Jacob received, he was obliged to 
 part with him, and many a year passed over his head, bereft of his 
 child, who had to dwell among strangers. But at length the sky 
 again brightened, and pleasure revisited the Patriarch's dwelling. 
 Jacob returned from Mezopotamia with a numerous and blooming 
 family, all children of righteousness, to cheer Isaac's declining years, 
 — the brothers had been previously reconciled ; and thus, after years 
 of trouble and affliction, the aged father had around him peace and 
 contentment, and he also, like his excellent father Abraham, laid 
 down his head in the grave, honoured and respected, happy in having 
 fulfilled his task, and glorying in having proclaimed the wonders of 
 the Creator of the universe. 
 
38 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF EEVELATION JACOB. 
 
 Was the constancy of Abraham tested by sufferings, was Isaac's 
 love proved by his willingness to die, because he supposed his God 
 required it 1 Jacob was no less tested, no less did he by his example 
 teach that they who confide in God are never forsaken. — We have 
 seen that Abraham received a revelation, and after him, Isaac ; 
 and as soon as Jacob became a wanderer from his father's house, 
 we see him also receiving the promise of God of the future greatness 
 of his progeny, when he, the son and grandson of wealthy men, who 
 were so powerful, that princes even sought their alliance, was obliged 
 to sleep in the open air with the hard rock for his pillow. Here we 
 have another example, if any were necessary, that God is no res- 
 pecter of persons, that to Him the rich and the poor are equal ; that 
 only the righteous, though poor and needy, is to Him acceptable — 
 We therefore find it recorded, that Jacob sleeping in the open air, 
 upon that spot where Bethel was afterwards built, received a con- 
 firmation of the promise previously made to Abraham and Isaac, and 
 that this prophecy should not be fulfilled in the person and descend- 
 ants of his brother Esau, but in his own person and descendants — 
 When Abraham, besides Isaac had Ishmael and other children, when 
 Isaac, besides Jacob had Esau ; Jacob had not 07ie among his nu- 
 merous children, who was not acceptable to his God and Protector. 
 
 Like his father and grandfather, Jacob erected altars to the true 
 God, and thus spread the light o( revelation in the countries to the 
 east and north of Palestine, which before had been made known to 
 the west and south only. Though Jacob was obliged to live for up- 
 wards of twenty years amid a people, who knew not the worship of 
 God, we yet see Jiim constant in his faith, see him teaching his 
 wives and children to love and fear their Maker ; and not alone 
 those who were connected with him by the ties of relationship, but 
 also all others who were about him, acted as he himself had taught 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 39 
 
 them ; for in chap. 35, v. 4, of Genesis* we read, that upon Jacob's 
 requisition, all the members of his household delivered up whatever 
 was in their possession, which in any manner could have been used 
 for the worship of idols- 
 After a long separation from his father, Jacob was at last permit- 
 ted to revisit Isaac's house ; but he was not allowed to remain there 
 long undisturbed, for sufferings and troubles again overtook him, 
 when he, as he thought, had sat himself down in quiet for the short 
 remnant of his days. Thus giving mankind a lesson, which cannot 
 be too often called to mind : " that not in this world must the righteous 
 expect the reward of his good deeds, for he is here only in the out- 
 building, where he is to prepare himself to enter the palace."t Also 
 the following useful moral may be drawn from Jacob's patience and 
 resignation, and his perseverance to serve God in all his severe and 
 manifold calamities : « that man is not to serve God with a view of 
 being* rewarded, but to obey his commandments, and practise virtue 
 independently of all views of emolument, gain, or honour,"^ and 
 "that in spite of calamities and reverses, we should never swerve 
 from the path of right, for the practice of virtue will in itself be suffi- 
 cient to kindle a light within, when even all around is gloom and 
 darkness."^ Again — we often see the wicked prosper, and the pious 
 suffer, for what serves virtue then, what avails piety, if with this life 
 our existence were ended ? But this is only the time for action, and 
 when our body is enclosed within the grave, then ivill the scul reap 
 the harvest of its righteousness. 
 
 Jacob had not been returned more than eight or nine years from 
 his long exile, when dissention among his children became to him 
 the fruitful source of the greatest mental sufferings, with which he 
 had hitherto been afflicted. Joseph, being the eldest son of his 
 beloved Rachel, was distinguished by his father by a svperior dress 
 
 * Presuming that the greater number of my readers are acquainted with the 
 Pentateuch, and as the major part of my arguments, unless otherwise stated, 
 are drawn from this holy book, I hope to be excused, for not in every instance 
 denoting the particular passage, from which these arguments are derived, as I 
 do not wish to load the body of the text with long quotations and too frequent 
 references, which must ever be tiresome and perplexing. 
 
 t Aboth, chap. iv. t Ibi. chap. i. 
 
 § For further confirmation of this see Job, chap. i. and ii. 
 
40 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 
 
 from the other children : this vexed them, and envy soon ripened into 
 hatred, particularly when they found, that Joseph had the weakness to 
 speak of their failings, which, to judge from their otherwise virtuous 
 conduct, must have been trifling, to Jacob. From the short account 
 contained in the 3Tth chapter of Genesis we can draw the following 
 moral lessons ; first, that it is dangerous for a father to have an osten- 
 sible favourite amongst his children, even when his preference is 
 founded upon the acknowleged superiority of the favoured child ; 
 secondly, that it is dangerous to be a tale-bearer, even if the tales re- 
 late but to trifles, for the detection of this failing is sure to be followed 
 by the detestation of the slanderer ; and lastly, that we ought to be 
 very careful, how we suffer envy or malice to approach us, for if we 
 once give them a resting place in our bosom, we shall soon be hurried 
 on to commit unjustifiable actions. 
 
 Jacob's other sons had been gone from home for some time to 
 follow their occupation as shepherds, and Jacob determined to send 
 Joseph after them to enquire about the welfare of his brothers and 
 the well-being of the flock. No sooner had Joseph approached his 
 brothers, than they determined to kill him, and to justify homicide 
 by falsehood. But Reuben dissuaded them, but in his absence Judah 
 advised to sell Joseph to a caravan of Ishmaelites just passing by. 
 He was obeyed, and Joseph, then seventeen years old, was sold as a 
 slave, and his father was left to mourn for him for the space of 
 twenty-two years. 
 
 Joseph was in the mean time carried to Mitzrayim (Egypt), and 
 sold to an officer of the Pharaoh,* by the name of Poteephar, who 
 was so pleased with his new servant, that he made him his steward. 
 How long Joseph continued in his new station, we cannot precisely 
 determine ; but it could hardly have been above two years, when his 
 mistress attempted to induce him to commit adultery, which Joseph 
 refused to do, and gave as a reason, that he, by compliance, would 
 " sin against God"; thus we have another proof, that some at least 
 of the civil laws of our code were, even before Moses, known to the 
 patriarchs, who were scrupulous in observing them. — When Joseph's 
 
 * Pharaoh or rather Parngo was the Hebrew name of the kings of Egypt, 
 but was not the particular name of any one king; as at the present time the 
 sovereign of the Turks is called the Soltan, or the emperor of Russia the Czar. 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 41 
 
 mistress saw that he would not be the slave of her desires, her love 
 for him was turned into hatred, and she artfully accused him to her 
 husband of an attempt to insult her, while he was absent. The 
 master became enraged and threw Joseph in prison, where he linger- 
 ed for many years a captive and a slave. But even in this apparently 
 forlorn condition he was not without a friend, or altogether miserable; 
 for the superintendent of the prison took, by the will of God, a fancy 
 to Joseph, and gave him the appointment of an overseer of the 
 prisoners' work. — Two years before his release he interpreted the 
 dreams of two household officers of Pharaoh, who had been one year 
 in prison. Joseph begged the one, whose dream he had favourably 
 interpreted, to remember him ; but he forgot his companion in cap- 
 tivity, when he was prosperous, thus verifying David's saying : " put 
 not your trust in princes." At the expiration, however, of the above 
 mentioned time, when Pharaoh had a dream, of which no one of his 
 sages could give the desired interpretation, his cup-bearer at last 
 remembered Joseph, who was forthwith liberated from prison and 
 brought before the King. Joseph's modesty and wisdom quite cap- 
 tivated Egypt's ruler, and he raised him (so was God's will) from a 
 state of servitude to the second dignity in the empire ; and Joseph 
 became the viceroy of the land. Though he now stood at the 
 highest pinnacle of human glory, he yet sighed for his father, and 
 his father's household, of whose fate he was altogether ignorant. — At 
 length the severe famine, which raged both in the land of Canaan 
 and Mitzrayim, compelled the brothers of Joseph to resort to the 
 granaries, which he had provided for the approaching scarcity fore- 
 told by him to Pharaoh. — His brothers came before him, and bowed, 
 or rather prostrated* themselves, before their brother, who imme- 
 diately recognized them, though they had not the least recollection 
 of him. 
 
 He sought a quarrel with them, called them spies, and would not, 
 so he pretended, suffer them to depart, till one of them had brought 
 Benjamin to him, who had remained behind with their father. He 
 had them locked up for three days, and then permitted them to return, 
 Eifter having taken Simeon and bound him in their presence. — The 
 
 * This custom is yet observed, on approaching a king, in Turkey and other 
 parts of the East. 
 6 
 
42 THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 
 
 reader would do well to peruse the whole transaction in the elegant 
 language of the Bible, where we find Reuben reproving his brothers 
 for the violence they had committed against the child (Joseph) and 
 them, justifying the judgment of God and the punishment they then 
 suffered for their inhumanity to Joseph. No wonder then that he 
 wept, no wonder that he felt moved. 
 
 The nine brothers accompanied by Benjamin returned to Egypt 
 after the lapse of a considerable time, and brought back the money, 
 which they had found in their bags on their return home, to restore 
 it to the superintendent of the magazines, to whose treasure they 
 supposed it to belong. — When Joseph saw Benjamin he was obliged 
 to leave the room and to withdraw into his private chamber, where 
 his full heart was eased by tears ; but he returned soon and dined 
 with his brothers. — Before they were ready to depart, he ordered 
 his superintendent, to contrive to put a silver cup, which had been 
 on the table, in the bag of Benjamin, then to pursue them, afler they 
 had left the city, and when upon searching he should have found the 
 cup, to bring Benjamin (as the supposed thief) back with him. The 
 officer obeyed. But the noble brothers disdained to escape and 
 suffer their youngest brother to remain behind a slave; and the 
 magnanimous Yehudah (Judah) stept forward to offer himself in 
 Benjamin's place. " For," said he, " thy servant (himself) has been 
 a security for the youth to my father, saying, ' if I bring him not to 
 thee, then will I have sinned against my father for ever.' And now 
 let thy servant remain, instead of the youth, a slave to my lord, and 
 let the youth go up with his brothers. For how could I go up to 
 my father, without having the youth with me ? I never could witness 
 the distress, which would overwhelm my father." 
 
 Such generous self-devotion moved Joseph, his feelings were too 
 strong almost for utterance, he ordered all strangers from hispresencCy 
 and then cried out: " I am Joseph ! lives my father yet?" 
 
 The children of Israel hurried away from Egypt, to tell their 
 father that Joseph yet lived, and that he was regent over all the land 
 of Egypt ; but the heart once inured to sorrow does not even wish 
 any joy to rob it of its sacred grief: it knows how short lived all 
 pleasure is, and is fearful of some worse calamity yet to come, and 
 then it can hardly admit any sudden gladness, because it is doubting 
 its reality ; and so did Jacob too remain incredulous, till he had seen 
 
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION. 43 
 
 the vehicles, which Joseph had sent for his accommodation. Then 
 indeed was his joy unbounded, and from a full heart he spoke; 
 " Enough, my son Joseph lives yet ; I will go and see him before I 
 die." — Thus it came to pass, that Israel went with his whole family 
 to Egypt; and in Beare Shebang (Berseba) God revealed himself to 
 Jacob and told him, to go without fear to Egypt, for He would go down 
 with him, and bring him also back again, — meaning : that neither 
 Jacob's body nor his descendants should for ever remain buried in 
 Egypt, but that both should be brought out again from that land. 
 
 Thus fortified by the word of God, our glorious ancestor arrived 
 in Egypt, where he was soon locked in the embrace of his long-lost 
 son ; where he was soon taught to forget all his previous sufferings. 
 Joseph, with the permission of Pharaoh, gave his family land, in the 
 district of Goshen, where he supplied them with all the necessaries 
 of life ; and the children of the true faith became inmates of the land 
 of th|^ children of Cham. 
 
 Jacob had lived seventeen years in Egypt, when he found his end 
 fast approaching ; he therefore assembled his children around him, 
 and giving them his blessing and admonitions, he foretold that which 
 should happen to them till the latest posterity. He prophesied 
 of the Messiah, who is to descend from Judah, and thus spoke the 
 dying saint : 
 
 " Not for ever shall the sceptre depart from Judah, nor the law- 
 giver from his descendants, for Shiloh shall come, and unto him shall 
 the nations assemble." 
 
 And surely the time xoill come, when unto the teacher, the prince 
 David, all nations will assemble to worship the only true God, the 
 Father of all, and shield of Israel. The sceptre has departed, and no 
 more does the law-giver reside in Jerusalem ; but the sceptre must 
 be restored, and the crown will return again to its former dwell- 
 ing !— 
 
 When Jacob had blessed his children, he composed himself in his 
 bed, and departed this life, to be an angel in heaven, and to shine 
 foremost amidst the saints, whose resting place is at the foot of the 
 throne of glory. 
 
44 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LEGATION OF MOSES. 
 
 In the foregoing pages it has been proven to the conviction of any 
 man, who feels no abhorrence against being convinced, that a reve- 
 lation existed before Moses, and though the law, we now have, be the 
 most perfect, yet could not the Syrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, 
 and Canaanites excuse their gross wickedness, by pleading igno- 
 rance of the divine will ; for they had ample means of acquiring a 
 knowledge of the laws given to the patriarchs, if they had but de- 
 sired it ; for wherever Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob went, they taught 
 the word of God. And even if they had not done this, their recti- 
 tude, chastity, and hospitality ought to have been admired, and not 
 alone admired, but also imitated. Instead of this, all the horrors of 
 murder, human sacrifice, and incest, were practised by these nations 
 to an almost incredible extent. Who would believe, that mothers 
 carried their children to the valley of Moloch, and stood by while 
 the poor innocents were roasted alive on the heated arms of the bra- 
 zen image 1 Can it be credited, that the crocodile received the babe 
 out of the arms of its mother 1 Would it be believed, if the fact 
 were not, alas, too well authenticated, that the women were often 
 the wives of their own sons ? — I will not mention the images of in- 
 cest, for the hrief catalogue of crime is already revolting enough, 
 without any further addition. 
 
 The days of happiness and tranquillity for the descendants of Jacob 
 were over; and Joseph — who before he died, had ordered his re- 
 mains to be taken away from Egypt, whenever it should^please God 
 to conduct his people to the promised land — was scarcely dead, 
 scarcely had the last clod of earth rung upon the coffin of the last of 
 the patriarchs : when the new king of Egypt forgot the kindness of 
 Joseph, the benefits he had heaped upon the inhabitants of the coun- 
 try under his dominion, in having saved them from the desolating 
 famine. — The Israelites had greatly increased in numbers since the 
 
THE LEGATION OF MOSES. 45 
 
 arrival of Jacob, and the tyrant of Egypt feared them as inimical to 
 his goyemment, falsely thinking of them, like many rulers in later 
 times, and even in the present day, think of us, their descendants, 
 that they could have no community of interest with the other inhabit- 
 ants of the country, amongst whom they resided. His fear soon 
 made him look around him for remedies, or rather, preventives, 
 against the too rapid increase of the hateful people within his dominions, 
 though the land on which they resided, had been given them as an 
 inheritance, by the especial command of his predecessor. — By labour 
 then did the new king endeavour to check the growth of the Israel- 
 ites, and at the same time to break down their high-mindedness, for 
 he thought, that as slaves they would cease to be dangerous to the 
 state, and useful in building cities, monuments, and other public edi- 
 fices, independently of other manual labour, which he compelled them 
 to do. But the tyrant's aim was frustrated, and the more the Israel- 
 ites were oppressed, the more they increased. Seeing his designs so 
 sadly disappointed, he became furious, and ordered the midwives to 
 murder all the male children of the Hebrews, as soon as born. But 
 these heroic women, regardless of any mischief that might happen to 
 them, did not obey the king's cruel mandate ; and when he disco- 
 vered this, he commemded his own people to throw every male child 
 of the Israelites into the Nile. 
 
 But vain are the efforts of man against the decrees of Heaven ! 
 In the midst of this calamity was born by Yochebed, the wife of Am- 
 ram, of the tribe of Levi, that child, who at the age of eighty years, 
 rescued, under the peculiar guidance and providence of God, his fel- 
 low-believers from the yoke of slavery. — After Yochebed had con- 
 cealed her infant for three months, she found it impossible to hide 
 him any longer from Pharaoh's blood-hounds, and with sorrow she 
 was compelled to place him in a box, and expose him amidst the 
 reeds of the Nile, for she preferred leaving his rescue to the hand 
 of Providence, rather than begging his life of men, whose hearts were 
 steeled against mercy — The box was providentially discovered by 
 the king's daughter, who, feeling compassion for the helpless inno- 
 cent, determined to save him. When the child grew up, she adopt- 
 ed him, and called him Mosheh (Moses,) from a Hebrew word, 
 which denotes drawing out, as we also read in Exodus: "And she 
 
40 THE LEGATION OF MOSES. 
 
 called him Moslieh ni^D, for (she said) 1 have drawn him (in^n^iyD) 
 out of the water. 
 
 When Moses was grown, he went out one day to see his brethren 
 work, and he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite ; Moses, who 
 perhaps found no other chance of saving the Hebrew's life, slew 
 the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. Egypt was now no longer 
 a safe residence for Moses, for soon did Pharaoh hear of what he had 
 done, and intended to kill him ; but Moses escaped. He now, who had 
 been reared in a palace, had been the adopted son of the princess of 
 Egypt ; became the servant of the chief of Midian (a district m Ara- 
 bia), and so much was Jithro pleased with him, that he gave him his 
 daughter Zipporah for a wife, by whom he had afterwards two sons, 
 of whom one was called Gershom, the other Eleazer. 
 
 The above mentioned king of Egypt was dead, and yet the pres- 
 sure was not removed under his successor from Jacob's children, 
 and bitterly did they groan under their heavy labour ; but their 
 Father in Heaven heard their cries and determined then to save 
 
 them. 
 
 Moses, so he himself tells us*, was tendmg the sheep of his father- 
 in-law, and drove the flock far into the wilderness, and arrived at 
 the mount of God in Horeb. The wonderful appearance of a thorn- 
 bush being on fire, without being consumed, attracted his attention, 
 and he steppped forward to see " why the thornbush was not con- 
 sumed?" — But hark! his step is arrested, and a voice calls out: 
 « Come not hither ! take thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
 thou standest upon is holy ground." The Eternal then proceeded 
 to tell Moses, that he was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Ja- 
 cob, the God, in times of old adored by the patriarchs, with whom 
 he had made a covenant ; He had therefore resolved to redeem their 
 descendants from their servitude in Egypt, and bring them into the 
 promised land, and that He had destined Moses to be the messenger 
 to Pharaoh, and to be the leader of the Israelites after their redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 Moses, hearing himself appointed to such a high station, modestly 
 declined the honour, on account of his supposed inability. But God 
 told him, that He would assist him ; and to prove to Moses the truth 
 
 * Here I must beg the reader to refer to tlie third chapter of Exodus, 
 where the whole account of Moses's mission is so beautifully given. 
 
THE LEGATION OF MOSES. 47 
 
 of his mission, He gave him a sign ; that namely, when the mission 
 should he in part accomplished, by the liberation of the Israelites from 
 thraldom., they then should worship God upon that rnoiinfaiti, (Horeb). 
 Here our law teaches us a lesson, of which we ought never to lose 
 sight, " that prophecy cannot be verified, but by the accomplishment 
 of the prediction, and no miracle^ however striking, can establish the 
 truth of what any man, pretending to be inspired, says, if the event 
 accords not with the prediction." 
 
 When Moses felt thus convinced in his own mind, he asked by 
 what name the God of their ancestors should be announced to the 
 Israelites ? And God answered riTlN* ni^N n'nx, which ought to be 
 rendered : " 1 am the unchangeable Eternal Being, who ever will 
 be ;" and He commanded Moses to tell to the Israelites, " The Ever- 
 Being rrnx has sent me to you." — Moses was yet diffident, yet 
 afraid, that the people to whom he was sent would not believe him, 
 if he did not show them miracles, to convince their senses. And he 
 was gratified, for God gave him power to work certain miracles. — 
 But Moses would not yet consent, and offered his want of eloquence 
 as an excuse ; God, however, spoke to him as follows : " Who gave 
 to man a mouth 1 who maketh him dumb or deaf, or well endowed 
 with hearing and seeing, or blind 1 is it not I, the Eternal?" Thus 
 far Moses had been right, in not grasping too eagerly at power and 
 distinction ; but when he had seen that it was God's will, that he 
 himself, and no other should be the messenger, he ought to have 
 raised no more objections ; for when he yet refused, so he himself 
 tells us, he was rebuked by God, who then assigned him his brother 
 Aaron ze spokesman, and thus gave him a partner in the work of sal- 
 vation, which otherwise, as we have every reason to believe, would 
 have been accomplished by Moses alone. — The following moral les- 
 son is clearly deducible from the whole narrative : " we ought never 
 to be eager to claim honours, but when we find ourselves capable to do 
 any thing serviceable to mankind, or to the cause of virtue and reli- 
 gion, or if we see things done wrong by others, which we could 
 do better ; then it becomes our duty to come forward, and ofJer our 
 services ; to hold back then would be false delicacy, but not mo- 
 desty, and we deserve punishment if we suffer mischievous errors to 
 exist, which we by our exertions could perhaps remove." 
 
 Moses having received his commission from his Maker, wandered 
 
 / 
 
48 THE LEGATION OF MOSES. 
 
 back to Egypt, having previously taken leave of Jithro, and being 
 assured, that he would expose himself to no danger by his return to 
 a land, where he was once threatened with the scaffold. — Aaron, 
 who was rejoiced at Moses's elevation, met him on the road, and 
 they, after their arrival in Egypt, assembled the elders of the Israel- 
 ites ; Moses performed the miracles before the people, and Aaron 
 related to them the message, with which Moses had been charged. 
 And the people believed. — Although heavily oppressed, they yet 
 well remembered the promise given to Abraham, and the manner of 
 Moses^ s prophecy convinced them, that he was the chosen messenger 
 of the God, whom their forefathers had worshipped. — After having 
 made known the word of salvation to their brothers, Moses and Aaron 
 repaired to Pharaoh, and in the name of the Eternal demanded the 
 release of his people. Pharaoh refused and said : " Who is the 
 Eternal, that I should obey his voice, to let Israel go? I know 
 not the Eternal, nor will I suffer Israel to depart." The obvious 
 meaning of this answer is, that Pharaoh said, that the Eternal was 
 a deity unknown to him, and as such he would pay no respect to 
 his commands. — Like the miser, who clings more firmly to his ill- 
 gotten treasure, when he finds that his enjoyment of it will soon be 
 over ; just so did Pharaoh order, that the Hebrews should be compel- 
 led to do harder work, and their daily task not be in the least dimin- 
 ished, when he discovered by the determined manner of i\ie exiled 
 Moses, that his dominion over the children of Israel was soon to 
 terminate ; for even Phaoraoh must have felt assured that no man, 
 much less one, who had been obliged to leave the empire, would 
 boldly step up to the king and make such a monstrous demand, if he 
 had not the power to make his threats of vengeance good. 
 
 Pharaoh perhaps intended to stifle, by harder oppression, the 
 incipient desire for freedom just excited in the bosom of a degraded 
 people ; he also endeavoured, but in vain, to resist the power of the 
 Most High ; — but he was soon taught to know, that he himself was 
 but a man, a weak, powerless mortal ; that the gods, to whom he 
 looked for support, were things, in which there is no power to help, 
 and — that there is none like our God. — His rivers were turned into 
 blood ; frogs came in masses to plague him and his equally guilty 
 people ; vermin and wild beasts came to destroy them, and pestilence 
 swept off their cattle; their own bodies were afliicted with dangerous 
 
THE LEGATION OF MOSES. 49 
 
 ulcers ; hail and locusts were sent to destroy every tree and every 
 plant which grew in the field, and at last there was darkness, which 
 lasted for three days, and was so intense that no one could see the 
 other. — As long as the plague lasted, Pharaoh seemed to relent and 
 willing, that the Israelites should leave the country; but no sooner 
 had the evil been removed by Moses's praying to God for his enemies, 
 than Pharaoh and his ministers forgot their promise, and yet kept 
 Israel enslaved. Nine plagues had already, in this manner, passed 
 over Egypt, many times had Pharaoh refused to keep his promise ; 
 but now his proud spirit even was to yield, and he, who but lately 
 spoke with contempt : " I know not the Eternal," was now destined to 
 feel the full weight of his wrath, and to acknowledge that his will 
 must be obeyed. Pharaoh had but just forbidden Moses ever to 
 come to him again, under pain of death ; when Moses was notified, and 
 ordered to tell him, that that very night the greatest distress should 
 overtake all Egypt, neither king nor slave should be spared, and that 
 not even the cattle and the idols, which the Egyptians worshipped, 
 should escape. For Moses was ordered to announce, that just at 
 midnight, when every one should repose in security, every first-born 
 of each family, in the whole land of Egypt, was to die, and that even 
 the king's first born, his presumptive successor, should perish, and 
 that then the bereaved parent would be willing to allow the Israelites 
 to depart, to worship God the Eternal, who had chosen them to be 
 his servants. 
 
50 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE EXODUS. 
 
 It was in the beginning of the month of Abib,* that Moses and 
 Aaron received the first commandment promulgated to those who 
 went out of Egypt. It is well known, that the Egyptians, although 
 they are so highly celebrated for their learning and skill in various 
 arts, were silly enough to worship beasts, and amongst the rest the 
 bull (Apis) and the ram ; for it is, I suppose, known to most classical 
 scholars, that Jupiier Ammnn was represented with a ram's head. — 
 As has been already related in the preceding chapter, the time of 
 Israel's redemption was fast approaching, and Moses and his brother 
 were then commanded to tell the whole nation of Israelites, that each 
 family should provide themselves with a lamb, which should be in 
 their possession as early as the tenth day of the month, but not be 
 killed till the afternoon of the fourteenth. The Egyptians never ate 
 meat, for beasts were their gods ; but now the Israelites, who had 
 been their slaves for many years, selected the idols of their masters 
 as sacrifices to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, thus showing 
 the Egyptians, that the descendants of the patriarchs were no longer 
 afraid of them; whereas before this time the Israelites were not per- 
 mitted to kill animals in the presence of the Egyptians, (see Exo- 
 dus, chapter viii. v. 22). — The Hebrews were also commanded, to 
 sprinkle the blood of the paschal lamb upon the door-posts ; " to what 
 purpose ? did not God know where the Hebrews lived, without this 
 mark?" Certainly, but the commandment^as given to test the 
 faith of God's people. Those who, fearful of offending their task- 
 masters, omitted to obey the will of God, were not deserving to be 
 spared, when these suffered ; but those who, firmly relying upon the 
 promise of their God, obeyed his word with alacrity, were indeed 
 worthy of being spared. Thus was the blood a true mark of 
 
 * Now commonly called Nissan. The months of the Hebrew year liavc, since 
 the return from the Babylonian captivity, been distinguished by Chaldean 
 names, and the Hebrew ones have not been in general use since that time. 
 
THE EXODUS. 51 
 
 discrimination to the Israelites themselves, between him, who confided 
 in God, and him, whose faith was weak and wavering. — They were 
 also commanded to be dressed as if prepared for a journey, while 
 eating the passover-lamb ; with their clothes well fixed, their sandals 
 on their feet, and their sticks in their hands, and to eat the meat 
 hastily ; thus was it indicated to them, that immediately after the 
 eating of the offering, they should be ready to leave the land of their 
 oppressors. They were further commanded that they themselves, 
 and their remotest descendants, should eat unleavened bread for 
 seven days, from the fifteenth till the twenty-first of the month in 
 the evening. — The passover was also to be eaten with bitter herbs, 
 in commemoration of the bitterness of the sufferings of the Israelites 
 in Egypt. 
 
 The above commandments were strictly observed ; and when the 
 night after the fourteenth day had set in, the IsraeUtes were celebrat- 
 ing the fi'st Passover. The blood of the sacrifice graced the door- 
 posts of the habitations of the Hebrews, when just at midnight the 
 avenging God went forth over the land of Egypt, and slew every first- 
 born of man and beast in Pharaoh's dominion. " We are all dying," 
 resounded through the land, and when the tyrant's first-born dropt 
 dead at his father's feet, even he relented; he called Moses and Aaron, 
 begged them to leave his land, and craved their blessing. The 
 Egyptians, who before could not bear the idea of letting their ser- 
 vants go, now drove them fairly off", would not give them time to 
 bake their bread, and gave them gold, silver, and clothing, any thing 
 to'be rid of such dangerous inmates. And was Moses, who was 
 seemingly the author of all this misery, hated by them 1 No, he 
 stood high in the estimation and affection of Pharaoh's ministers, and 
 the people of Egypt ; for all acknowledged that he was the servant 
 and messenger of the true God, and that by his will and permission 
 alone Moses was enabled to do these great things.— The people of 
 Israel, therefore, who had been slaves for many years,* were in this 
 manner freed from their oppressors, and they went out openly and 
 unmolested, to meet their new destinies under a leader beloved by 
 his own fellow-believers, and respected even by his enemies.— They 
 were destined for the conquest of Palestine ; but the Eternal did not 
 
 * This event took place, according to the Rabbins, in the four hundredth year 
 after the birth of Isaac, and as I believe 430 years after Abraham had left Ur 
 Casdim, which is, I think, the time mentioned in Exodus, chap. xii. 
 
52 THE EXODUS. 
 
 wish to lead them through the country of the Phihstines to the im- 
 mediate acquisition of their inheritance ; He preferred to let them 
 pass through the wilderness of Arahia, to teach them more fully, 
 that they were altogether dependent upon his support. — He sent a 
 pillar of clouds to go before them by day, to point out the road they 
 were to travel, and by night, he illuminated their path with a 'pillar 
 ofjire^ so that they were enabled to travel by day and night. 
 
 When the terror of Pharaoh and his people had a little subsided 
 after their late calamity, they repented their having dismissed the 
 Israelites, and all went out in pursuit of them, to bring them back to 
 servitude. — The Egyptians overtook the Israelites, as they lay en- 
 camped along the shores of the Red Sea. They, who had been 
 redeemed but a few days ago, saw column after column of their re- 
 vengeful pursuers arrive ; and how should they be able to withstand 
 this well armed host of horsemen and charioteers 1 Behind them 
 were their enemies, and before them they saw the agitated waves of 
 the Arabian Gulf; there was therefore no possibility of retreating, 
 no advancing ; the danger was pressing, and six hundred thousand 
 freemen saw no alternative between death and slavery. The very 
 idea was maddening, to think that their wives should be swept off by 
 the flood — or that the necks of their tender children should bend 
 under that heavy yoke of slavery, under the pressure of which they 
 had themselves so long groaned. — In their anguish, they called upon 
 their God to assist them, and He heard their prayer. — It is true, 
 that some began to grow faint-hearted, and accused Moses as the 
 author of their present distress ; but let those, who may be disposed 
 to think our ancestors so very blameable for their want of confidence, 
 only reflect how they themselves would have acted under equally 
 trying circumstances.* — But Moses stood unappalled in this emer- 
 gency — 'he, the man of God, knew no fear, and he inspired his 
 affrighted brethren with a share of the confidence he himself felt. 
 Secure of a happy issue, he ordered the Israelites to stand quiet, and 
 in the spirit of prophecy he assured them, that they should never 
 again see the Egyptians in the manner they beheld them that day. — 
 
 * Let me not be misunderstood, as being tlie apologist for the rebellious'spirit 
 manifested so frequently by the Israelites; since my only aim is to draw the 
 attention of those saints, in their own opinion, who accuse the Jews of want of 
 faith, to themselves, and to reflect if they are in the least more virtuous, in des- 
 pite of their boasted sanctity. 
 
THE EXODUS. 53 
 
 All the nation became silent — all clamour was hushed, whilst Moses 
 prayed to God, who had through him so often before manifested his 
 power. — And soon was his prayer answered from Heaven ; he was 
 ordered to stretch his staff, with which he had performed the other 
 miracles, over the sea, and behold ! its waters were divided, and 
 were congealed,, and stood up like two walls, to the right and to the 
 left. The tribes ofYeshurun boldly advanced into the dry chasm of 
 the ocean, and passed through unharmed. Their pursuers, being 
 baffled in their intentions, and disappointed of their prey, hurried on- 
 ward after the retiring Israelites ; but soon they discovered, when it 
 was too late, their inability to accomplish their purpose ; against 
 their will they were dragged forward, and they arrived in their turn 
 in the middle of the sea. Moses was again commanded to stretch his 
 hand over the sea, and all the Egyptians were at once overwhelmed 
 in one confused and sudden destruction; for the sea ebbed down 
 again to " the gate of tears,"* and buried under its mighty waves 
 the whole host of Pharaoh, and not even one was left to carry home 
 to his countrymen an account of the terrible catastrophe. — The de- 
 struction was complete ; and when the Israelites saw the corpses of 
 their enemies thrown upon the seashore, they all acknowledged the 
 great power of their mighty Deliverer, and as our legislator expresses 
 in a few words : " And the people feared the Eternal, and they be- 
 lieved in the Eternal and his servant Mosheh." When Moses and all 
 Israel saw the great deliverance, and when they felt that they were 
 now and for ever free from Egyptian thraldom, they composed that 
 elegant hymn, which must ever remain an example of chaste and ele- 
 vated poetry. In which after rehearsing the great deliverance, by 
 which they had been saved from slavery and from death, they speak 
 in terms of confidence of the fulfilment of the yet remaining unaccom- 
 plished promises of God, and conclude with the following beautiful 
 sentences : 
 
 " Thou wilt bring them, and Thou wilt plant them in the mountain 
 of thy inheritance, in the place, O Eternal, Thou hast prepared for 
 thy residence; the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have found- 
 ed !— The Eternal will reign for ever and ever !" May this be his 
 will, and may all flesh speedily be brought to acknowledge Him alone, 
 and to the observance of his precepts. Amen. 
 
 * The straits of Bab-el Mandeb, which form the outlet of the Red Sea. 
 
54 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE ISRAELITES A^'D REVELATION. 
 
 In the foregoing, 1 have briefly narrated the history of the lsrael= 
 ites from Abraham, the founder of the nation, to their deUverance 
 from the Egyptians. We will therefore pause here a little, and ex- 
 amine the following question : " Is it reasonable to suppose that God 
 revealed himself to the Israelites 1 and is it compatible with the dig- 
 nity of the Creator, to make a nation or a set of men, just released 
 from slavery, the depository of his will ?" 
 
 No one will deny, since denial is useless and unnecessary, that 
 the Israelites were a nation just released from slavery, that they were 
 ignorant and idolatrous ; yet this admission does not in the slightest 
 degree invalidate the assertion of Moses, that these Israelites were 
 chosen as the depository of God's will and law. Let us but examine 
 the object of religion, the intended influence and scope of the revealed 
 word of God, and no solid objection can be raised to the Bible having 
 been given to a people who were ignorant and unused to a worship 
 different from the rites of the heathens, amongst whom they had 
 hitherto resided. For religion is intended to fill our minds with a 
 proper idea of God and his attributes, and in consequence, to raise 
 our thoughts to Him, inasmuch as we are dependent upon his 
 bounty for our daily subsistence, nay to his kindness for every 
 moment of our life. — The more we feel our dependence upon- God, 
 the oftener the subject is brought before us in . its full force, the 
 greater the benefits are we receive from his goodness : the more 
 must we, of necessity, be alive to his mercy, the greater will be, 
 must be, our desire to merit the continuance of his supreme pro- 
 tection, by gratitude towards Him — by the observance of his pre- 
 cepts.— The Israelites had been for nearly two hundred years 
 compelled to do the most degrading work, and they were even 
 inhumanly beaten by those very persons, whose ancestors owed 
 every thing to the Hebrew Joseph. (See above.)— At the same time 
 the promises made to Abraham, and reiterated to the succeeding 
 patriarchs, were not forgotten by the Hebrews. But year after year 
 
THE ISRAELITES AND REVELATION. 55 
 
 rolled on, and their toil was not diminished, the appointed time was 
 drawing to a close, and they were yet slaves. At length, Moses, the 
 son of Amram, communicated to them the joyful tidings that God had 
 taken cognizance of their deplorable situation, and that even then at 
 the moment he was speaking, the decree of their redemption had 
 gone forth. — If now the additional pressure of the last acts of Pha- 
 raoh's tyranny had continued long, the Hebrews would probably 
 have derided and scorned him (Moses) as a deceiver, who had 
 mocked them with hopes of deliverance, and was even the proximate 
 cause of additional hardships. It was not, however, the will of God, 
 that his faithful servant should be considered in this light. — No 
 sooner had Pharaoh announced his determination of still more tight- 
 ening the chains of the captives, than Moses was sent to him, to de- 
 mand again and again the release of God's first-born, namely, our 
 nation. Pharaoh still refused. — Punishment after punishment was 
 inflicte'd upon the king and his Egyptians, whilst the Hebrews re- 
 mained unharmed amid the desolation around them. At length, by 
 that dreadful scourge, the last the Egyptians suffered at home, the 
 king was compelled to comply with God's will and dismiss Israel, and 
 when he attempted to force them back, we have seen already the 
 entire destruction which befel him and his army. — These things 
 were not done in a corner, they were not done before a few men ; 
 but before the whole Hebrew and Egyptian nations, all of whom saw 
 and (therefore) knew all, that we are told did happen. — The Egyp- 
 tians, therefore, were convinced that the Eternal is a God, who 
 cannot be offended with impunity ; and the Israelites were taught, 
 that He keeps his word, and that He rewards those who love Him, 
 to the thousandth generation, and besides— that He was their glory 
 and their God, who had done all those wonderful things, which their 
 oivn eyes had beheld. 
 
 In this manner were the Israelites convinced, that their sole 
 dependence was the favour of God, for by his assistance alone were 
 they redeemed from that captivity, of which in spite of their numbers 
 they had been unable to free themselves by their own exertions. 
 Their mind v/as therefore in a proper state to receive lasting religious 
 impresions. They owed every thing to God, they had seen his 
 power, and felt his forbearance; and can any man devise a state of 
 society, where more lasting impressions could be made by the divine 
 
56 THE ISRAELITES AND REVELATION. 
 
 law, than that in which the Israehtes were, when going out of Egypt? 
 Here every thing tended to draw them to their Maker — the ties of 
 the covenant had been renewed, and new obUgations of obeying God's 
 word had been laid upon them, and all they could do, to requite the 
 many favours they had received, was — to devote themselves to the 
 service of God. — It is true, they murmured several times, when they 
 wanted bread and water, and God gratified them. — They frequently 
 sinned, and they were punished ; but soon they acknowledged the 
 justice of the decrees of Heaven, and were forgiven, because they re- 
 pented. And to this day the law is respected by us, its very pages are 
 considered sacred, and our greatest praise is to have observed its pre- 
 cepts, as far as lies within our power. The impression was made three 
 thousand years ago, and it is as fresh at this moment, as it was on 
 that day, when, after the Israelites had seen the pow er of God anew 
 displayed, by giving them loater out of the hard rock, they went out 
 under the guidance of Joshua to repel the attack of the Amalekites. 
 They were unused to arms, yet did they fight bravely for a whole 
 day, under the eye of the youthful hero, who led them on against an 
 enemy, whose very trade was war ; for they confided in God, and 
 hoped that He, who had led them out of Egypt, would vouchsafe to 
 defend them against the attack of a barbarous horde — and they were 
 not deceived in their expectation. Moses ascended a hill, where he 
 prayed with uplifted hands (Talmud Roshe Hashanah, chap. 3, §. 8,) 
 for those who fought, and they conquered by the name of God, to 
 whom their hearts were raised during the battle ! 
 
 Does any man want the objection at the head of the chapter re- 
 futed by more solid arguments ? I think not — for what has been 
 said already must convince every reader, that the very state of so- 
 ciety considered objectionable to the account of Moses relative to the 
 law having been given to the lately freed Israelites, was of all others 
 the most favourable, and infinitely preferable to a state of affluence, 
 where the mind of nations, equally with that of individuals, is alas, 
 too often, and too much, engrossed with worldly aflfairs ; and nations 
 and individuals thus circumstanced are too little inclined to think of 
 the decrees of their God, whose creatures they are, and to whom they 
 are indebted for that very afliuence which makes them think so 
 highly of their own power and wisdom, and so lightly of their God 
 and Creator. 
 
57 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 
 
 The last notes of the song of thanksgiving had died way along the 
 shore of the Arabian Sea, the shout of triumph over the conquered 
 Amalekites was hushed ; and Israel lay encamped in the wilderness 
 of Sinai. The whole neighbourhood of Mount Horeb is described 
 by late travellers as strikingly sublime, and the mount itself, though 
 not quite so elevated, as some others in the neighbourhood, as having, 
 nevertheless, a wonderful effect by its several and distinct summits, 
 one more elevated than the other. At the foot of this mountain, our 
 ancestors encamped, at the commencement of the third month ;* 
 they had therefore arrived at that spot, where it had been foretold to 
 Moses, (see above, chap, ix.) the Israelites should worship God, after 
 their leaving Egypt. 
 
 It was therefore, here, that Moses was called for the first time be- 
 fore the whole congregation, to receive the annunciation of God's will. 
 He was commanded (Exodus, chap, xix, v. 3 — 6): " Thusshalt thou 
 say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel : you have 
 seen what 1 have done to Egypt, and that I have borne you on 
 eagle's wings, and brought you to me. And now, if you will obey 
 my words and observe my covenant, then you shall be to me a people 
 more dearly beloved than any other nation, for all the earth is mine. 
 And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." 
 Let us understand this message well, for then we shall easily discover 
 upon what terms the Almighty promised to befriend us, and under 
 what circumstances we were to be the dearly beloved people. — Pre- 
 viously to this moment the Israelites had been told, that their re- 
 demption from slavery was to take place, not on account of any 
 
 * The month in which they were reheved from Egypt being, by God's com- 
 mand, instituted the first of the ecclesiastical year. See Instruction in the Mo- 
 saic Religion, page 124. 
 
 S 
 
58 THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 
 
 thing they themselves had done ; but soleljs because of the covenant 
 with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the promises made to them.— 
 The IsraeUtes, being now free, were told : first, that it was God, 
 and not Moses, by whose power they had been redeemed ; further, 
 that the Almighty had subsequently— like the eagle that protects its 
 offspring from danger — protected them, and delivered them from 
 flood, from famine, from thirst, and from the sword ; and lastly, that 
 if they would now agree to the conditions, which He would propose, 
 then should they be entitled to the continuance of his protection and 
 fostering care. Although God could, after his goodness to them, 
 have, according to human notions of gratitude, demanded their obe- 
 dience ; yet did He lay before them his intentions, for their accept- 
 ance or refusal. Thus teaching us, that we should never presume to 
 dictate to a person, indebted to us, any thing which might by chance 
 be disagreeable to him, but that we ever ought to gain his compli- 
 ance by gentle persuasion.— Well then— God proposed to the chil- 
 dren of Israel, that they should receive his peculiar protection and 
 love, in case they would obey his commandments and observe the 
 terms of the covenant, to be proposed to them — He also justifies this 
 preference of them by saying : " All the world is mine," meaning, 
 since you choose voluntarily to observe my statutes, no nation has a 
 right to complain of my favouring you more than others, for all na- 
 tions are equally mine, and all shall ultimately be deserving to be 
 called by my name ; but since I must make a beginnmg with one, 
 to promulgate my law in the first instance to them, it is but just and 
 fair that I, who am the maker and master of all, should be left to 
 choose that* people, which I, in my superior wisdom, think better 
 
 * The prophets frequently refer to the existence of the Israelites, as an argu- 
 ment in favour of the existence of God, and Isaiali (chap. 43,) calls upon all na- 
 tions, "to bring instances, where any of them could foretell things, which were 
 to happen, and to produce analogous events to our history, from tlieirs ;" and 
 then he proceeds (v. 10): " You are my witnesses, and my servants, whom I 
 have chosen." (v. 12) " And you are my witnesses, speaketh the Eternal, and 
 I AM GOD." Here then the prophet rests the truth of the law, and the proof 
 of the existence of God, upon the existence of the Israelites ; and to us it really 
 appears, that the existence of the Jewish nation proves that there is a superm- 
 tending Power, and that this Power has chosen this people for some ulterior pur- 
 pose, wliich is known to Him alone. Let us endeavour to account for our 
 national existence as wc will, a moment's reflection will be enough to convince 
 
THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 59 
 
 fitted and more deserving than any other, to be the depository of my 
 statutes, till the rest of mankind be also fitted to adopt my will as 
 their guide, and my laic as their code. 
 
 Can any philosopher step forward and assert, that the Israelites 
 were not better fitted, than any other people, then or even now ex- 
 isting, for this great purpose of God ? They were already uncon- 
 nected with any other nation, they had no home, but that one they 
 expected to acquire by the assistance of their God ; they had there- 
 fore to make no great personal sacrifices by secluding themselves 
 from the rest of the world ; when, on the contrary, it would have 
 been a most difficult thing to reform a people, whose manners were 
 once settled, and this difficulty would have been not a little magnified, 
 when this very change of manners must have set them up as a 
 mark of hatred to all the surrounding nations, whose manners had 
 been formerly similar to theirs, and with whom they had lived in 
 
 friendship Independently of this reason, the Israelites were already 
 
 better acquainted with revelation than any other people, and their 
 manners were probably not so corrupt. — Moreover, the Israelites 
 were prepared to receive the law of God from feelings of gratitude 
 towards Him for the signal favours they had received, which was, as 
 has been shown, another powerful reason to entrust the law to them. 
 
 To return to the subject under consideration, — the Israelites were 
 promised happiness and salvation, — for God said, they should be 
 a holy people, — if they would on their part abide by the conditions 
 proposed, and observe the duties required of them. Let it be well 
 observed, that God here plainly says, that the righteousness of a 
 man is sufficient to ensure his salvation, for he does not even hint in 
 the slightest manner at a saviour, or to speak more clearly, at a 
 mediator between God and man. According to this definition, which 
 can hardly be controverted, we may safely rest our hope of salvation 
 upon our obeying the will of God and upon our observing his precepts, 
 and we are not to expect to be saved through any being, save the 
 Eternal, for He alone is our Supporter, our Saviour and our Redeemer. 
 
 No sooner had Moses delivered the message of God, than all the 
 
 us, that the biblical account is the most rational, nay, the only probable one 
 of the origin, progress, and fall of our nation, the once powerful Israel, but 
 now the humble and much despised Jews, 
 
60 THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 
 
 people unanimously (not together) answered. " All that the Eter- 
 nal has spoken we will do." When Moses had carried back this 
 reply to God, he was further notified, that He would come to him in 
 a thick cloud, that the people might hear, when He spoke to him ; 
 and God at the same time, promised Moses, " that in him they should 
 believe for ever." Thirty centuries have already elapsed, since our 
 great and good leader was taken from us, (at a time when his strength 
 was yet unimpaired) ; and his mission is yet believed divine, and its 
 truth defended by the Jews. Does not my writing this imperfect 
 defence of our law in part verify this prediction ? Can any denier of the 
 truth of prophecy assert, that this prophecy has not been fulfilled to 
 the letter? What right has he, then, to deny the authenticity of ai 
 least this one prediction ? 
 
 When the people had declared their willingness, nay their eager 
 desire, to see their King, as the Rabbins figuratively call the desire 
 of hearing the word of God proclaimed without any mediator, not 
 even Moses, the latter was ordered, to prepare his brethren for 
 three days previous to that glorious day. Perfectly clean, perfectly 
 free from all earthly desires and pollution, should they meet their 
 God, and receive his holy and pure law, in holiness and purity. The 
 mount Sinai was to be the place, whence the law was to be proclaim- 
 ed, and on that account Moses was commanded to fence it round, so 
 so that no one should approach the sanctuary of the Lord, and death 
 would have been the punishment for the violation of this interdiction. 
 
 At dawn of the appointed day there rested a dense cloud on the 
 mount, and the terrible thunder rolled, and the bright lightning 
 flashed, at the coming of the Most High in his glory. The trumpet 
 — a trumpet not blown by mortals, but sounding by the will of the 
 Almighty — called forth with its loud blast the people of Israel. And 
 they trembled, whilst Moses led them out of the camp and placed 
 them at the foot of Sinai ; for the mount emitted flames fiercer than 
 the destructive volcano, and shook to its very base. — It could not 
 have been an ordinary earthquake, not a common eruption of a burn- 
 ing mountain ; for then, in the ordinary course of nature, the approach 
 to the base of the mount would have produced instant death. But, 
 no! it was the glory of God, in whose presence there is safety, 
 which produced this effect, and therefore did the Israelites, led by 
 Moses, advance with a trusty mind and a firm step, though with a 
 
THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 61 
 
 quaking heart, for who fears not when God speaks? — After Moses 
 had placed his brethren in proper order, he ascended the mount ; 
 but he was ordered to go down* and give warning a second time, 
 that no one should pass beyond the barrier which Moses had drawn 
 round the mount. And here we have another moral lesson, " that 
 it is not enough, that a father tell his children, and a superior those 
 under his charge, only once of their duty ; but that they ought to 
 repeat their instructions so often, that they cannot be forgotten, or 
 else the father and guardian have neglected their trust, and they are 
 answerable to God for sins committed by their charges through 
 ignorance. — 
 
 When the Israelites were at length fully prepared, the all-power- 
 ful God spoke as follows : 
 
 1. "I am the ETERNAL thy GOD, who have conducted thee 
 out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 
 
 2. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt make 
 thyself no image, nor any likeness of aught in heaven above, or on 
 earth below, or in the waters beneath the earth. Thou shalt not 
 bow down to them, nor worship them ; for I the Eternal thy God, 
 am a watchfulf God, who am visiting the sins of the fathers on the 
 
 *The intelligent reader is requested to read with particular attention the 
 nineteenth chapter of Exodus, and he will discover, that Moses was not in all 
 probability on the mount Sinai during the promulgation of the Decalogue, for it 
 is not mentioned, that he re-ascended, till after the promulgation, and we have 
 tlierefore another proof that Moses had no agency in imposing a law of his own 
 invention upon the Israelites. 
 
 It is but justice to say, that I am indebted to Mr. Jacob Mordecai of Rich- 
 mond, for this remark. 
 
 + It is really astonishing, with how much avidity every difficult passage, nay 
 every obscure word, in the whole Bible is seized by infidels, and explained by 
 them in such a manner, as to make its meaning absurd, and thus they attempt 
 to defend their infidelity, saying, that they cannot believe such nonsense, as they 
 pretend to say they have met with in the holy scriptures. A stronger instance 
 can hardly be found, than the assertion, that according to the Jewish Bible, 
 God is a vindictive Being. God pardon me, for even penning this blasphemy ! 
 And where do they find this ? In the Decalogue they say, where it says : He is 
 a jealous God. But if I may venture an opinion, I would explain the words 
 X3p Sx in the following manner : The Israelites had seen the goodness of God 
 manifested to them, ever since Moses was first sent to them, and though 
 they had already shown themselves dissatisfied on several occasions, yet had 
 
62 THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 
 
 children, on the third generation and fourth generation, of those who 
 hate me ; but am doing mercy unto the thousandth generation of 
 those who love me and keep my commandments. 
 
 3. Thou shalt not bear the name of the Eternal thy God in vain, 
 (not use it without necessity, nor at an untruth,) for the Eternal will 
 not suffer him to remain unpunished, who beareth his name in vain. 
 
 4. Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days thou 
 mayest labour and do all thy work ; but the seventh is a day of rest 
 in honour of the Eternal thy God ; then thou shalt not do any manner 
 of work, neither thyself, nor thy son, thy daughter, thy man and thy 
 maid-servant, not even thy cattle, and the stranger who is within thy 
 gates. For in six days did the Eternal make heaven and earth, the 
 sea and all that is in them, and refrained from work on the seventh 
 day ; therefore did the Eternal bless the Sabbath-day, and declare it 
 holy. 
 
 5. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long 
 upon the land, which the Eternal thy God giveth thee. 
 
 6. Thou shalt not commit murder. 
 
 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 8. Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 they never been punished, except we consider the attack of Amalake as a 
 punishment. But now God told them what was their duty, and that it was 
 obligatory upon them to do what they were certified to be right: and as 
 they now knew, what God considered as right, they should be punished for 
 transgressing the precepts of the law, or in other words for doing wrong ; 
 and therefore did God continue : " I am i^}p ^^" a God, who am ever watchful 
 and remembering all that happens, and therefore ready to punish, where punish- 
 ment is due. If this explanation is correct, it follows, that God, according to 
 our Bible is not a vindictive Being, but a just Judge, who, as such, punishes 
 all sins against liis will, because they are offences against the standard of right. 
 " But does not tlic Hebrew word H^p always mean jealous, in its common 
 acceptation?" No, for we find in Numbers chapter xxv. 11 v. -.^nXJp flN IXJpI] 
 which is very properly translated, " because he was zealous for my sake." 
 See also the succeeding chapter, and Instruction in the Mosaic Religion, page 37, 
 note ; and I may add here, tliat svhen the within was written, this book was not 
 in my possession, which is another proof, that all who study the Bible with can- 
 dour and honest zeal will generally agree witli each other in their conclusions, 
 although they are divided by time and space. And is this not a beautiful com- 
 mentary upon the truth of the Mosaic revelation ? 
 
THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 63 
 
 9. Thou shalt not answer as a false witness against thy neighbour. 
 
 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house. Thou shalt not 
 covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid servant, 
 nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing else which belongs to thy 
 neighbour." 
 
 The foregoing precepts are technically called : the ten command- 
 ments or the Decalogue, and are the foundation of our whole civil, 
 moral and religious code. 
 
 When the Israelites heard these precepts announced from on high, 
 they were filled with fear and apprehension. For the voice of the 
 Eternal had not been heard by any other people before them, and 
 they had therefore beheld and heard that, which no mortals ever 
 before had seen or heard. The Israelites had desired to be convinced 
 with their own eyes of the truth of Moses's mission, and they had 
 wished to hear the word proclaimed by God himself. They had 
 been gratified, they had seen the glory of God, as He proceeded from 
 Sinai, and shone unto them from Sayir, and sent his beaming light 
 forth from Paran, and came with myriads of saints ; and they had 
 received from his right hand the law as pure as fire, as they lay 
 prostrate before him. (Deut. xxxiii.) — Being therefore now convinced 
 of the truth of Moses's mission, they begged of him, to receive, by 
 himself alone, the commandments, which God might ordain for their 
 government, and that he should teach them afterwards, what he had 
 learned ; for they themselves were in fear of losing their lives, should 
 they witness again the great fire, which was yet burning, while they 
 were speaking to Moses. — But he wished to induce them to perse- 
 vere in receiving themselves the other commandments, and he 
 therefore answered : " Fear not, for only to prove you did God 
 come, and that his fear might be upon your faces, that you may not 
 sin. When Moses however heard from God, that the request of the 
 Israelites was pleasing to him, he then, but not till then, consented 
 to be the instructor of the people and to tell them all, which he 
 should hear announced by God. 
 
 In this manner became Moses the messenger of God to the peo- 
 ple of Israel, and their messenger to and interceder with God. Can 
 it be believed, that a man thus honoured should promulgate laws of 
 his own, should teach aught but the word of God ? The man chosen 
 by God and confided in by the Israelites could not have acted so ; 
 
64 THE DESCENT ON SINAI. 
 
 whatever he taught was the word of God, and all his thoughts were 
 for the safety of the Israelites, and when they sinned and deserved 
 utter annihilation, he offered himself to die, that they might escape. 
 Much had he to encounter, many difficulties had he to overcome ; 
 but he at length succeeded, and the descendants of Jacob confided in 
 him when alive, and wept for him when he was dead. Shall any 
 man in the present age dare to slander such a good, such a pious 
 man, call his words untruths, and his miracles deceptions 7 Can it 
 be possible, that his contemporaries, who saw him act, who heard him 
 speak, should have confided in him, if he had been a deceiver ? And 
 that they did believe him, is evident, from our existence as a distinct 
 nation. For it cannot be denied by any human being that loe exist 
 now ; nor, that we did exist in the days of Tacitus ; nor, that we 
 existed in the days of Ezra, nor previous thereto ; if we then proceed 
 to trace our origin backwards, we must, and so must even the most 
 obdurate doubter, arrive at the days of our blessed legislator, as the 
 time of our first becoming a nation, with peculiar manners and dis- 
 tinct laws. If this is true, (and there exists not the man, who can 
 disprove it,) then it is also true, that it would argue the grossest 
 ignorance of human nature, to believe, that one man unaided should 
 have been able to impose upon two successive generations, and that 
 he was unaided, cannot be denied. — Let us therefore rather believe, 
 that Moses was sent by God, (the ability of the Creator to do it can- 
 not be doubted,) to work those miracles, and that it was the word 
 of the living God which Moses taught ! 
 
65 
 
 CHAPTER XIll. 
 
 THE DECALOGUE. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapter enumerated the precepts con- 
 tained in the Decalogue, 1 hope to be excused, if 1 pause in my 
 argument relative to the divine origin of our law, and proceed to ex- 
 plain the Commandments themselves ; for 1 can assure my readers, 
 that if they once understand the true bearing of the Mosaic institu- 
 tions, they must confess either that Moses, more than any other man 
 who ever lived, united in himself the philosopher, legislator, and 
 governor, and that as such, he is entitled to be imitated and obeyed 
 from our own free choice ; or that his wisdom and power of mind 
 were given him for the special purpose mentioned in his books, by 
 the immediate inspiration of the Most High, that he merely copied 
 the words spoken to him, and therefore, Moses's laws (not Moses 
 himself) are to be obeyed implicitly, without our enquiring at every 
 tura : " Can 1 understand the reason of this or that particular pre- 
 cept ?" For since they are all and every one the emanations of the 
 will of God, they must be obeyed, though we be ignorant of the rea- 
 sons the Almighty had in giving these, to vs mysterious, laws. This 
 point will be more clearly illustrated in a subsequent part of this 
 work, and I shall therefore commence, without further preface, with 
 the explanation* of the Decalogue. 
 
 Precept I. 1 am the Eternal thy God^ icho have brought thee 
 out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 
 
 Most, if not all Christian commentators, think this verse only a 
 kind of preamble to the Decalogue ; we Jews, however, take it to 
 be the first commandment. Its meaning is this : " You Israelites 
 have been in Egypt, and you were taken thence by a Power supe- 
 rior to man. I am that Power, lam the Eternal ; do not believe 
 that there are more persons in the Deity than one ; no, 1 am your 
 
 * For a more particular elucidation of the Decalogue than is here given, see 
 " Instruction in the Mosaic Religion," page 39 and seq. 
 
 
66 THE DECALOGUE. 
 
 God, indivisible and all-powerful. Acknowledge me alone and none 
 esle. — Therefore, 
 
 Precept II. Thou shall have no other gods before me, <Sfc. 
 
 Since I have told you that there is no God besides me, it is un- 
 lawful for you to worship any thing else, no matter vfhdX Us strength, 
 beauty, or wisdom may be. But some one of you may think : " True, 
 I will not worship any other being, but the Eternal God ; but can I 
 do wrong, if I make myself a symbol, to remind me always of his 
 power ? I will make an image to represent God, and this image 
 shall admonish me of the greatness of my Creator ; 1 will look at the 
 sun, and prostrate myself before him, and adore the Creator by wor- 
 shipping the most powerful creature; the earth, through God's 
 bounty nourishing all mankind, shall be to me the emblem of his 
 goodness, and the pure flame, the emblem of his purity." — Therefore 
 do I command you, not to make yourselves any personification or 
 representation of the Deity, for I am incorporeal, you know not my 
 essence (Deut. iv.) ; and under what figure will you represent me, 
 since you have never seen me ? And then you will sin if you prostrate 
 yourselves before images and creatures, or pay them religious ado- 
 ration. No image can represent me, the light of the sun is darkness 
 compared to me, and the fire is impure compared to my holiness. — 
 But do not imagine, that because I am good, deviations from 
 my commandments will have no serious consequences ; do not de- 
 ceive yourselves with such specious self-delusions, for I am careful 
 of my honour, and you will be punished if you act wrong ; and if 
 the son follow the sins of the father, if the grandson or great-grand- 
 son imitate his ancestors' apostacy, each will be punished, not alone 
 for his own sins, but receive also a share of the punishment his progeni- 
 tors have incurred for their wickedness. But do not think, that the 
 punishment for vice will be in a greater degree, than the reward for 
 virtue ; no — for I will do good even to the thousandth generation for 
 the virtuous actions of their ancestors, if they obey my words. You 
 will therefore be convinced, that though I will punish vice, I am yet 
 benevolent, and that 1 rather reward, than punish ; since the pun- 
 ishment for sin will be continued only to the fourth, whilst the 
 thousandth generation will be benefited by the virtue of the an- 
 cestors. 
 
THE DECALOGUE. 67 
 
 Precept III. Tliou shall not hear the name of the Eternal thy 
 God in vain, (SfC. 
 
 When you are called upon to testify to the truth of any thing, be 
 very careful how you call upon me to be a witness to your actions ; 
 no falsehood can I allow, nothing but truth will satisfy me, who am 
 the God of truth. Do not mention my name upon frivolous occasions, 
 for I am holy, I am your God, your Father, your Protector, you 
 must venerate me even in your words and thoughts ; do not therefore 
 mention my name, except when it becomes necessary, either to 
 asseverate any thing, the truth of which can be established solely 
 through your oath, or when addressing me in prayer. — 1 cannot suf- 
 fer any levity with my name, and will therefore punish every one, 
 who impiously uses it frivolously or falsely.* 
 
 Precept IV. Remember] the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, 6^c. 
 
 I have commanded you to acknowledge me your God, and to ab- 
 stain fi'om idolatry ; and I now further command you to set apart the 
 seventh day of every week for my service and your recreation, as I 
 abstained from work after I had created the world. But if you 
 should ask, what proof have we, that that Being who speaks to us 
 now, is the author of all ? then will I advise you to remember, that 
 you have been slaves in Egypt, and that / conducted you thence. 
 Your redemption was brought about, as you remember, by my 
 changing the regular course of nature. The river was filled with 
 blood, instead of water ; the land that formerly smiled with plenty, 
 and was as lovely as Eden, was visited with hail and locusts, in a 
 manner unheard of before ; and the country, where the sun always 
 shines bright, where a cloudy day is never known, was shrouded for 
 three days in impenetrable gloom. After you had left the land of 
 your affliction and had arrived near the Red Sea, you saw nothing 
 hefore you, but death in the troubled billows of the ocean, and 
 
 * The Jews never pronounce the name of God as it is written, and only the 
 priests were allowed to do so when they blessed the people, and the high-priest 
 during the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. (See Yoma and the Musaph of 
 Kippur.) 
 
 t In the commentary on this precept, I have endeavoured to unite the ori- 
 ginal Decalogue (Exo. chap, xx.) with the recapitulation of it by Moses in Deut. 
 chap. V. — But these remarks are not my own discovery, since I am indebted for 
 them to my esteemed instructer, Rabbi Benjamin Cohen, to whom I owe also 
 several other remarks, of which I have made use without acknowledgment. 
 
68 THE DECALOGUE. 
 
 naught behind you, but destruction from the countless host of Egypt ; 
 when all of a sudden the sea divided and piled itself up in two solid 
 walls. — Who wrought these wonders 1 It was I the Eternal, who 
 have also redeemed you to be my people. Who, I ask you, can 
 change nature, but nature's Lord ? Who again is nature's Lord, but 
 nature's Creator? You must therefore acknowledge, that I your 
 God, who changed the natural course of events in Egypt, (and of this 
 you were all witnesses,) am nature's Lord, am nature's Creator. I 
 created the earth you stand on, the sea which surrounds you, and the 
 wide expanse of ether, in which the innumerable systems are fixed 
 and sustained by my will alone, in six days : I spoke, and all that 
 you see rose into existence ; but when I on the sixth day had finished 
 my creation, by making man^ I ceased and made nothing more ; for 
 on the seventh day, after all had been produced from nothing, 1 
 added not the least to the system I had approved of on the sixth, 
 (Genesis i. and ii.) and I now fix it as a day of rest to be held 
 sacred, and to be strictly observed by the last descendants of your 
 nation, in remembrance of the creation of the world and your re- 
 demption from Egypt. 
 
 I moreover do not command the heads of families alone to rest, 
 but each member of your families, even your servants, nay even your 
 cattle — every thing shall rest on my Sabbath-day ; the voice of the 
 oppressor shall then be hushed, and the sigh of the bondman shall 
 not be called forth, but calmness, peace, and content shall, on that 
 day, reign amongst you. — You have no right to call this command- 
 ment hard and oppressive, to be compelled to rest one day out of 
 seven ; for I allow you six days, to do every thing you have to do ; I 
 do not restrain you from doing any lawful work in all this time ; but 
 having been employed six days in pursuits for the promotion of your 
 interest or amusement, you must dedicate one day to my service. 
 On that day you must visit the places where you can receive in- 
 struction in my laws, that you may know how to serve me. You 
 are also to abstain from labour, that by a suspension of your daily 
 toil, you may acquire fresh strength for renewed exertion in the 
 coming week. On that day your servant shall have leisure to think, 
 as well as his master, of their common Maker, and breathe more 
 freely than he can do on those days when he is engaged in his toil- 
 some task. Your rest shall be quiet ; no noise or shout of revelry 
 
THE DECALOGUE. 69 
 
 must be heard in your streets, and not even slight work, which re- 
 quires no exertion, is allowed to be done. Remember it is the Sab- 
 bath ! Do not speak about business, make no bargains even by word 
 alone, and do not arrange plans of labour for the coming week ; but 
 abstract yourselves altogether from your usual occupations, devote 
 this day entirely to me, your God, and let the ^veekly day of rest 
 be a symbol to you of the day of bliss of the righteous, after they 
 have thrown off the covering of clay, when there is no care, no toil, 
 no grief, no tears, no master, no oppressor ; but where all is security, 
 peace and joy ! 
 
 Precept V. Honour* thy father and mother, S^c. 
 
 When hitherto, O children of Israel, I have spoken to you only of 
 things relating to my own service, I have now to reveal to you the 
 duties from man to man. The first of human beings, who claim the 
 attention, regard, and honour of each of you, are his father and 
 mothef". Be careful in your behaviour towards them, honour them 
 while living, and do not slander their memory when they are dead ; 
 and although they are then not present to punish you, yet have I 
 given the judges amongst you power to punish with death that un- 
 grateful son, who curses his father or his mother. — Do not think 
 this punishment too severe, for he who can forget his duty towards 
 his father and mother, will soon neglect his duties towards God and 
 his fellow-men, and he does not, therefore, deserve to live.— Do fur- 
 ther treat both your parents alike. Though your father may chas- 
 tise you more than your mother, remember he is your father, that 
 his chastisements are intended for your benefit, to bring you by gen- 
 tle and well-timed punishment to an acknowledgment of your errors 
 and failings, and that, by correcting them, you may become better 
 and more worthy members of society, than if he, by ill-timed indul- 
 gence, be blind to your errors, and from mistaken affection fail to 
 correct you. Be also careful of paying proper respect to your mo- 
 ther's commands. Though she may not always inflict punishment 
 when you deserve it, do not on that account grow indifferent about 
 obeying her ; consider she is your mother, and therefore, entitled 
 to your obedience no less, than your father. In short, honour your 
 
 * In Leviticus, chap. xix. v. 3, it says : " Each of you shall fear his mother and 
 father, and observe my Sabbaths," for an explanation (the same as is given above) 
 see the commentary of Rabbi Solomon Yarchi, on this passage. 
 
70 THE DECALOGUE. 
 
 father, although he chastise you, and fear your mother, though on 
 account of the benignity of female disposition, she be often too indul- 
 gent towards your failings. 
 
 I have said that you should be punished for disobedience to your 
 parents ; but there is also reward destined for you, if you observe 
 this my commandment. Though I have said that father and mo- 
 ther are to be obeyed, yet must you never think yourselves at 
 liberty, to violate any of my commandments, because your parents 
 desire or even command it : no — they, no less than you, are my 
 creatures and my servants. — You, it is true, owe in a measure 
 your life to them ; but they and you live solely by my will, and 
 equally with yourselves they are bound to serve me. If therefore, 
 your father tells you to violate, for instance, the Sabbath, you must 
 disobey him, because obedience to him in that case, would be disobe- 
 dience to your God ! 
 
 PRECErT VI. Thou shah not commit murder. 
 
 Not alone towards me and your parents have you certain duties 
 to fulfil, but also to your other fellow-mortals. Whatever has been 
 assigned by my providence or permission to your neighbour, or even 
 to your enemy, must be sacred in his possession. In the first place : 
 You shall take away no man's life, unless he aim at yours, and in 
 that case only when be has expressed his intentions so fully, that 
 there is no doubt of his willingness to do so, whenever he has an op- 
 portunity, and then only, if his death is the only means of saving 
 your or another person's life. At all events it is your duty to apply 
 to the judges, rather than to procure justice for yourselves by your 
 strong arm and violence. You are not allowed to maim any person 
 or do him any bodily mischief whatever. — You are not permitted to 
 lay violent hands upon yourselves, your lives are in my keeping, for 
 I have placed the soul in your body, and as men, therefore, you 
 can have no right to appear before my judgment-throne uncalled ; 
 but through whatever sufferings you have to pass, you must remain 
 on earth, and bear your misfortunes with fortitude ; for know, that 
 there is sufficient reward in my power to pay you for your patience 
 in enduring, and resignation in suffering ! Even in this life, you 
 see tliat I often reward constancy and patience ; and can I not repay 
 him a thousand-fold, who suffers with patience and dies resigned, be- 
 cause he thinks that by so doing he is serving me ? 
 
THE DECALOGUE. 71 
 
 Precept VTI. Thou shall not commit adultery* 
 Since the object of the promulgation of my commandments is to 
 secure in the most ample manner the security and peace of society, 
 I enjoin upon you to abstain from every act, which in the most 
 remote degree could injure the security and peace of the domestic 
 circle, or which could lead others to ruin, or bring them in the way 
 
 of sin You have heard, that the safety of your neighbour's life and 
 
 limb is dear to me ; but his home also must remain uninvaded by the 
 arts and wiles of the seducer. Permit him therefore to be gladdened 
 by the partner that has been assigned to him to share his earthly 
 toil, and who is the solace of his hours of woe, and the attentive 
 mother of his children; and rather rejoice, that your brother is so 
 blest. And reflect, how miserable he would be, if he discovers that 
 she, in whom he so fondly confided, has been untrue to her duty, and 
 bestowed her embraces upon a stranger. — Think how perhaps he 
 may bfecome infuriated, and aim at the heart's blood of the destroyer 
 of his peace ; and that even, if the husband should not succeed in his 
 revenge, I the all-seeing One do not slumber, but will assuredly send 
 destruction unto him who is regardless of my precepts. — Further 
 you must know, that on no account can you be excused for inconti- 
 nent conduct. You have no right to lure any female from the path 
 of virtue to gratify your unholy desires, for all departures from the 
 rules of the strictest morality are odious to me. And O consider, 
 the state of misery to which the fallen, weak-minded and confiding 
 woman is exposed ! Spurned by friends, neglected by her lovers, and 
 an object of derision to every stranger, her very touch is pollution, 
 her breath is like the pestilence ! and she is rendered so only to 
 gratify the consuming passion of the ungodly lover of pleasure ; and 
 only when too late she curses herself and her immolator, when she 
 sees herself forsaken and despised, and dying prematurely, without 
 the voice of comfort to breathe consolation to her, when racked by 
 sickness and overwhelmed at the idea of appearing in judgment 
 before my awful throne ! — Let it therefore be your constant study, 
 ye children of Israel, to show to all the world the example of a holy 
 life, which I demand of you, and that you are deserving of the name 
 I gave you, when I said : " Israel is my first-born." 
 
 Precept VIII. Thou shall not steal* 
 
 Whatever property any man has acquired is to remain his, unless 
 
72 I'HE DECALOGUE. 
 
 I, for reasons known to me, deprive him of it, or he himself volunta- 
 rily resign it. You have no right to take even the smallest trifle, 
 which is not strictly and honestly your own. I have given a man 
 riches, and who should have the right to take it away from him by 
 force or stratagem, without offending me ? Does not the thief say 
 by his actions, that he knows better than myself, your God, how to 
 distribute my bounties? But let not the rich man by carelessness 
 or design withhold from the poor labourer his wages, even for one 
 hour ; the poor man deserves to possess that, for which he has work- 
 ed, and to withhold it, therefore, is theft. — Let every man, who may 
 he appointed to the exalted station of judge amongst you, be careful, 
 how he decides in disputed affairs laid before him for his decision. 
 Let him be careful to scan the evidence on both sides, and decide 
 impartially, unswayed by bribes, favour, partiahty, compassion or 
 prejudice. Let him decide on the mere abstract question, " who is 
 right," and let him consider, that he is in a measure my representa- 
 tive on earth, and he must therefore, like myself, be strictly adhering 
 to what is right without the slightest deviation ; for if through neglect 
 or precipitancy a wrong verdict should be given by him, he robs 
 the party, against whom the wrong decision is made ; and the man 
 who has been appointed a guardian of the rights of the people, and 
 a defender of the oppressed, is no better than a prowling thief or a 
 high-way robber, Again, if the poor man come before a judge with 
 a complaint, he is to give an attentive hearing to the cause, though 
 the matter, for which the poor man seek redress, be but a trifle ! and 
 let him consider, that, what is to the wealthy man a trifle, may be 
 of great service to the poor ; and further, that I, the Eternal God, 
 watch with as much solicitude over the most abject wretch, as over 
 the king on his throne, and the judge shall for this reason also, con- 
 sider the trifle of the poor as of equal importance, in point of right, 
 with the immense treasures of the rich man. 
 
 Precept IX. Thou shall not answer as a false witness against 
 thy neighbour* 
 
 Some one of you may say: " I will not murder my neighbour, I 
 will not seduce his wife, nor will I steal his property ; but he has 
 oflfcnded me, and since he is sued for a certain sum of money, which 
 in fact he does not owe, but if I give testimony against him, he will 
 be obliged to pay it ; I will not let this opportunity pass without 
 
 Sk 
 
 .w 
 
THE DECALOGUE. 73 
 
 •making him feel my resentment." Let me admonish you all, not to 
 rob your neighbour in such an indirect manner, though no ultimate 
 benefit may result to you from such conduct. — If a man is upon his 
 trial for any crime, for which, if convicted, he is to suffer bodily 
 punishment, do not speak any thing as a witness against him, which 
 in any manner might be adverse to truth. On the contrary, when 
 you are obliged to give evidence, consider that you are standing 
 before your God, that every action, every word, of yours vv'ill be 
 noticed, never to be forgotten ; say nothing which is not strictly true 
 to the best of your knowledge ; but it is also obligatory upon you, to 
 say all you may happen to know, though it might injure your friend 
 and benefit your enemy, for it is your duty to speak out, and to show 
 favour to no man ; but let truth be ever your guide, and fear not the 
 consequences, for the more painful the duty, the greater the sacrifice 
 of personal feelings is : the greater must your merit be, the greater 
 also will be your reward ! 
 
 Precept X. Thou shalt not covet <S^-c* 
 
 I have already told you, that you must not injure your neighbour 
 by conduct ; but in your own thoughts even you are not to meditate 
 him any injury, much less attempt to execute your thoughts ; for you 
 are not permitted to covet that which is not yours. Do not desire 
 to possess any thing belonging to any body else ; for if once you give 
 full sway to your desires, if but once you contemplate the means of 
 satisfying your wish, you have already committed the sin of tres- 
 pass by half. You will not long remain satisfied with desiring ; 
 but you will soon contrive means of getting the desired article in 
 your possession. Do therefore guard yourselves against covetous- 
 ness, and you will not have to struggle hard against temptation to 
 sin. Let your expectations be moderate, and less will satisfy you ; 
 desire little, and you v/iil be content with the humble lot 1 may 
 assign to you ; envy not your neighbours, and you will be happy, if 
 they are happy, and feel heart-felt pleasure, if all around you are 
 affluent, honoured and beloved. And think not, that you will suffer 
 any loss by so doing ; for your own peace of mind will be accompa- 
 nied by the respect, love and gratitude of all good men, and by the 
 good will, grace and satisfaction of your Maker ! " 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 It will be self-evident to every one, who but glances at the Deca- 
 logue, that its precepts are the foundation of the whole Mosaic law. 
 If we search through all the statutes of this code, they can be traced 
 to one or more of the precepts of the Decalogue ; and thus it will be 
 seen, that though but ten commandments were made known to the 
 Israelites without a mediator, it may yet be said that all the re- 
 maining civil, moral, and ceremonial ordinances are contained and 
 comprehended in them, and it may therefore be maintained, that to 
 a certain extent the whole law was communicated to the ivhole Is- 
 raelitish nation. — As an illustration of this let us consider the duties 
 towards God, as we find them detailed in Deuteronomy, in connection 
 with the Jirst precept. 
 
 If it is once solemnly impressed upon our minds that we owe our 
 being and our preservation to the Almighty Creator, who liveth for 
 everlasting, and who reigneth through all eternity, we must be im- 
 pressed with feelings of awe at his greatness, with sentiments of ad- 
 miration at his wisdom, and with gratitude for his kindness and 
 mercy. All this will lead us to adore and love this great Being,* 
 who shows us kindnessf when we act righteously ; defends us from 
 danger and injury, when we are menaced 4 and forgives us our 
 transgressions, when we repent of our errors. || Have we thus es- 
 tablished the love of God in our hearts, we will naturally desire to 
 do something, by which we can manifest our love, and to let our 
 feelings be displayed in our actions. But as we can neither injure 
 God by our misconduct, nor benefit him by any thing we can accom- 
 plish, since He is so far elevated above us in power and beatitude : 
 we can do nothing else in requital of his goodness, we can show our 
 love in no other manner, save by listening with profound attention 
 
 * Dcut. chap. vi. v. 5. t Ibid. chap. vii. v. 9. 
 
 t Ibid. chap, xxiii. v. 15. || Ibid. chap. xxx. v. 2 and 3. 
 
THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 75 
 
 to his instruction,* which is contained in the revelation He has given, 
 and regulating our lives by the records of his will. 
 
 This idea is beautifully illustrated in the tenth chapter of Deuter- 
 onomy, commencing at the twelfth verse. There is not perhaps in 
 the whole Bible, though full of passages strikingly grand for their 
 beauty and force, not another passage more calculated to awaken 
 religious awe in the soul of man, than the one we are speaking of. 
 It places before our eyes the relative position which man bears to 
 his Maker in the strongest light. God is exhibited as the greatest 
 conceivable being, in possession of the immensity of space, and of 
 every thing animate and inanimate contained therein ; man among 
 this infinity is almost nothing; and still he is told, that his case, 
 his life, and his wants are objects of importance to the Deity, from 
 whom nothing is hidden, be it ever so insignificant. Further, that 
 obedience, love of God, and justice and kindness towards others, are 
 deeds which will propitiate the favour of the infinite One, and that 
 this exhibition of piety is a thing desired of man. Who will not now 
 be willing, so to say, to oblige the Creator ? who would withhold 
 obedience, when man can gain so great a prize by it 1 But I need 
 not comment on a passage so very lucid in itself, and will present it 
 therefore entire to the reader, and let him compare it with the idea 
 advanced, that through the whole Bible the same chain of thoughts 
 and precepts is continually kept in view. 
 
 Moses had been reminding the Israelites in a preceding part of the 
 address he held to them a short time before his death, of the many 
 benefits they had received from God, and how often He had par- 
 doned their sins ; and then proceeded to say : 
 
 " And now, O Israel ! what does the Eternal, thy God, ask of thee, 
 but to fear Him, the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to 
 love Him, and to serve Him, the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul ; to observe the commandments of the Lord, 
 and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that thou mayst 
 fare well. — Behold the heaven, and the heaven of heavens belong to 
 the Eternal thy God, also the earth, and all that is upon it. Only in 
 thy ancestors did the Lord find pleasure, and He therefore chose 
 their descendants after them, namely you, from all the nations, as 
 you see this day. Lay then aside all wickedness of heart, and be no 
 
 #1 
 
 Dent. chap. x. v. 12. 
 
76 THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 longer stubborn and disobedient. For the Eternal, your God, is the 
 God of gods, and the Lord of lords ; the great, the mighty, and the 
 terrible God, who respecteth no face, and receiveth no bribe; who 
 righteth the orphan and the widow, and loveth the stranger, to give 
 him food and clothes. And love you the stranger, for you yourselves 
 have been strangers in Egypt — The Eternal thy God thou shalt 
 fear, Him thou shalt serve, to Him thou shalt adhere, and hy his 
 name thou shalt swear ; He is thy Glory, and He is thy God, who has 
 done for thee these great and wonderful things, which thy own eyes 
 have seen." 
 
 If we mortals now only considered how much we owe to God, 
 that He not alone gave us existence, but also a law, to make this 
 existence henejicial to ourselves : should we not of our own accord, 
 and even without the certainty of punishment for transgression, be 
 diligent in the study of his law, careful in the observance of his sta- 
 tutes, in short dedicate our whole life to his glory 1 And how^ are 
 we commanded to act ? To imitate God in his acts of mercy, as far 
 as we can. Is He merciful? so shall we be too — Is He good to all 
 mankind 1 so shall our love to the human race be universal, and not 
 confined to any particular sect — Does He show us benevolence with- 
 out any possibility of remuneration ? so ought our charity to be, pro- 
 ceeding from feelings of love, pity, and goodness of heart, but should 
 never be practised for the sake of fame or reward — Does He teach 
 the world how to act rightly ? so shall we also be ever ready to dif- 
 fuse the knowledge of truth and of our holy law ; in fine, to be 
 loving God and be perfect^ means to practise universal charity ! 
 How then can the freethinker, or even the atheist, ridicule our law 
 as superstitious and injurious to society, when he sees the love of 
 the stranger and the protection of those who need our protection, 
 enjoined at the same time with the observance of the ceremonial 
 law [statutes of God) ? Let me tell him, that we think not that man 
 good, who says his prayers at the appohited time, is a regular attend- 
 ant at the place of worship, but is unmindful of the duties towards 
 man ; but only him we call a good and pious man, who besides being 
 a devout observer of the laws relating to the worship of God alone, 
 is also a philanthropist, and protects the orphan, is kind to the wi- 
 dow, comforts the distressed, is charitable as far as lies in his power 
 to the poor, and is liberal, and just, and forgiving to the affluent. — I 
 
 m 
 
THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 77 
 
 cannot stop to quote passages for every part of the foregoing asser- 
 tions, since the Mosaic law is so replete with exhortations and in- 
 junctions on these points, that they are to be met with in almost 
 every chapter ; it is moreover my hope that every one, who reads 
 this defence, may be induced to read the Pentateuch through with 
 profound attention, and long quotations can be of but little use, not to 
 say tiresome, to most readers. 
 
 If we take the foregoing in connection with the five last precepts 
 of the Decalogue, it will be apparent, that our law is very careful 
 in guarding the rights of every person of the community, from the 
 chief of the nation down to the humble stranger who has no perma- 
 nent dwelling. The rights of every individual are so well defined, 
 that no misunderstanding can take place. — When we yet had a 
 government of our own, every man was in fact upon an equality with 
 the^most exalted of the nation, and the governors were raised to 
 the dignity they possessed only by the choice or consent of their 
 fellow-citizens. The Israelites- exercised the right of meeting in 
 primary assemblies , without permission of government, and of discuss- 
 ing public matters, also of petitioning their governors for the redress 
 of grievances, long before a republican constitution of that kind was 
 known amongst other nations. (See 1st Kings, chap, xii.) Every 
 Jew was eligible to any office he was capable of filling, with the 
 exception of the service at the altar, and the watches in the temple, 
 and singing whilst the sacrifices were offered. But even here the 
 Israelites proper had a share, as well as the priests and the Levites. 
 For besides the twenty -four divisions of the two latter, there were 
 representatives chosen from among all Israel, who, being likewise 
 divided in twenty-four companies, were obliged to stand by, whilst 
 the sacrifices were going forward These men were selected from 
 the most wise and virtuous, and were called i:o;,*d '^JX {Anshay 
 mangamahd). — Although none but the male Levites were allowed 
 to sing the psalms in the temple, yet were the Israelites, and even 
 females, permitted to accompany the singers with instrumental 
 music. So that even in the temple worship and the sacrifices, each 
 of the three divisions had their particular rights assigned to them, 
 which were on no account to he invaded or vsu?'ped by the other. 
 
 It has been intimated, that the institutions of the republic of the 
 North American confederacy are of modern invention ; but this can- 
 
78 THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 not be admitted as altogether founded on fact, for the Mosaic code 
 was evidently intended to form a republic of freemen, who were all 
 equally entitled to protection from the government. The govern- 
 ment of the Jews was in the strictest sense of the word a government 
 of laws, and not of arbitrary rule. It is true, our constitution is 
 not the work of the people themselves ; but then it has that advantage 
 over every other yet invented, that its laws have never, to this very 
 day, required the slightest amendment or repealing, as it is well 
 known, that the wisdom of every precept it contains has been proved 
 by the experience of every age. It is almost needless to compare 
 our laws with those of the other nations of antiquity, for none of 
 them ever enjoyed any rational liberty ; and besides it is, if 1 do not 
 err, universally admitted, that truly free governmeni s have only been 
 formed among nations, who enjoyed, at least to a certain extent, the 
 light of revelation. And the late French revolution proves, more 
 than any argument I can adduce, that no nation can he free, which 
 has not a proper respect for the Mosaic code; and the virtuous republic 
 of Switzerland as clearly demonstrates, that a people truly regardful 
 of the word of God must ever be free, for a thorough knowledge of it 
 is the best safeguard any nation can devise for the upholding of its 
 liberty and the crushing of tyranny, whenever it should dare to rear 
 its dreadful and blighting head. — But without religion liberty soon 
 degenerates into phrensied licentiousness, and instead of a govern- 
 ment founded on reason and equal rights, despotism and the spirit 
 of faction will govern the land with a bloody sceptre and unrelenting 
 oppression ! 
 
 Thouo-h properly speaking it does not belong to a defence of our 
 law to describe our judiciary system ; yet can I not refrain from 
 inserting a few particulars in relation thereto. — Money matters were 
 decided by arbitrators, chosen by the parties themselves, each 
 appointinor one, and these two selecting a third ; and these three, 
 thus chosen, pronounced judgment ; but appeal could be taken, or 
 rather contested points of law and equity could be carried before the 
 high- court or Sanhedrin of seventy-one in Jerusalem. In matters of 
 corporeal punishment, or trials for life and death, the number of 
 judges was twenty-three, and if there was but a majority of one vote 
 for finding the criminal guilty, he was forthwith to be set free, as a 
 division o^ thirteen to ten was necessary for the conviction and con- 
 
THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 79 
 
 demnation of the accused. If a man was once condemned, his sen- 
 tence could be revised to save him from death ; but if a man was once 
 acquitted, though there should afterwards have been found the most 
 positive evidence of his guilt, he could not be tried again for the 
 same offence.* 
 
 We thus find some of the provisions of the laws of the American 
 republic practised already three thousand years ago. — Every con- 
 tested point of law of whatever description, civil, criminal, or cere- 
 monial, was finally decided upon by the Sanhedrin, and their 
 decision was to be strictly obeyed. (See Deut. chap, xvii.^v. 11.) To 
 establish any cause, it was necessary to produce at least two lawful 
 witnesses, who were obliged to testify as to the fact, that they had 
 seen it, and forewarned the person who committed the act, previously 
 to his doing so, or admonished him to desist while engaged in the 
 supposed crime. They were interrogated separately, so that one 
 shoold give no clue to the other ; in this way any discrepancy in the 
 testimony must have been easily detected, in which case, if the dif- 
 ference was a material one, the accused was acquitted. In case the 
 witnesses could be convicted of having offended against the ninth 
 precept of the Decalogue, they were to be punished with the same 
 punishment the person by them accused would have suffered if he had 
 been convicted ; and no pardon durst be extended to false witnesses 
 (Deut. chap. xix. v. 21).— No man could act as judge, if he had 
 seen any crime committed, or in money matters, if he was capable 
 of giving testimony for or against either party ; even the president 
 of the Sanhedrin, emphatically called ^Ae^wc^org (chief justice), could 
 not sit on the bench, but was obliged to give his evidence before the 
 inferior judges ; so that every case must necesarily have had a fair 
 hearing, and every man accused of crime an impartial trial. 
 
 1 have said that no rational liberty was enjoyed by any heathen 
 people, and thinking that some proof may be required of me for this 
 
 * Exodus, chap, xxiii. v. 7, we read : X'W^ pHl^.^ .sS O J^nn bx pni'1 'pJT 
 "And him, who has been once declared innocent and righteous, thou shalt not 
 slay, for / will not suffer the wicked to go unpunished." This verse is under- 
 stood by us to refer to a person, who has been tried and acquitted, as it would 
 be unnecessary to forbid the murdering of the innocent and righteous in general; 
 besides the conclusion of the verse is a strong argument in favour of the abme 
 given translation. 
 
80 THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 bold and unqualified assertion, I shall take the liberty of comparing 
 a few points of Solon's laws, which are, I believe, the most liberal 
 of the ancient systems, with those of Moses, whose fate it has been 
 to be so much cried down and denounced. Every liberal man will 
 agree with me, that it is dangerous to entrust one class of men with 
 particular privileges over any other class of the same community, or 
 to use the figurative language of a great philosopher and statesman* 
 now dead, " to provide the backs of one class of the community with 
 saddles, that they may be ridden by the more favoured class." — If 
 Solon's la\ve had this tendency, then I hope, that their superiority 
 over our laws will no longer be asserted by any man, whose boast it 
 is to be the supporter of universal liberty and equality of rights. 
 
 I shall not waste much space and time in investigating the sub- 
 ject at any great length, but shall content myself with picking up a 
 few facts, as I find them related in GilUes' Greece (vol. ii. p. 93 
 and 94). He says, the Athenians were divided into four classes ac- 
 cording to the property they possessed, and that the lowest class, 
 though they had a right to vote in the popular assemblies, yet could 
 never become members of the senate or Areopagus, or hold any ma- 
 gistracy whatever. Now let me ask, what great use was the power 
 of voting to the commons, when the senators had the extraordinary 
 authority of deciding what business should be laid before the popular 
 assemblies ? And had they not the right of convoking these very 
 assemblies ? Then again the senators had the power of passing 
 laws, which were in force for a whole twelvemonth, without ever 
 consulting the jwople at all about them ; they possessed the chief 
 part of the executive power ; their president had the custody of the 
 archives and treasury ; the senate alone could build ships, equip 
 fleets and armies, and seize and confine state criminals ; and to 
 crown all, they could examine and punish several offences, ichich 
 were not prohibited by any positive law ! — I am not disposed to 
 pursue the subject any further, not being engaged in writing a disser- 
 
 * The late President Jefferson in his letters to Mr. Weightman. Since the 
 text was written, however, the author of these pages has seen a statement, that 
 these emphatic words had been originally employed by Richard Rumbold, who 
 was executed for a parficipation in tlie Rye-house plot, under James II. of Eng- 
 land, in 1685. Having quoted the words under an impression that they were 
 original with President Jefferson, this correction was considered necessary. 
 
THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH. 81 
 
 tation on the Athenian laws ; but let me respectfully ask all Ameri- 
 cans, who have so justly a great horror of all ex post facto laws and 
 constructive treason, how they would like to have their representa- 
 tives in congress invested with power to examine and punish offences 
 not prohibited by any particular law?— Away then with the cant 
 of these men, who prefer Solon's laws to Moses's code,* solely be- 
 cause Solon was a Greel' and Moses a Hebrew, and claimed no 
 merit for those excellent laws, made known through him, because 
 he said, and said truly, that they were not the fruit of his own in- 
 vention, but the expression of the will of God ! I had thought, that 
 the world had grown too liberal and too enlightened to act so fool- 
 ishly from ignorance ; to what cause then are we to ascribe that 
 silly praising of the Greek and Roman legislators and the rancorous 
 abuse of the Jewish code ? Is it maUce 1 Hatred towards the Jews 
 and aversion towards their laws ? Though this may perhaps be an 
 excCise to individuals belonging to other nations, what can be said in 
 exculpation of those our own people, who act the parricide by ridi- 
 culing Moses and despising his code 1 It must be considered equally 
 improper, as for a person to be pleased with every thing abroad, 
 and io find fault with every thing at home, solely because it is at 
 home. And it may be likened to the conduct of fretful and too much 
 indulged children, who spurn every endearment of their own mother, 
 
 * Fault has been found with the Pentateuch for containing so many penal 
 statutes, where life was the forfeit. This objection can weigh nothing in the 
 mind of the thinking. For when a law is known and well understood and its 
 practice uniform, the criminal cannot blame the law, but only himself for disre- 
 garding it ; and then the punishment of death was only against crimes of the 
 deepest die ; and if it is wrong to punish such crimes witli death, it is equally 
 wrong to punish them with imprisonment ; and arc criminals to run at large 
 uncheckedby the armofthe law?— Besides this, the practice of the Jewish 
 code, was any thing but sanguinary, as will appear from Maccothe, chap. i. §. 
 10, where it says : " A Sanhedrin which slays once in seven years is called a 
 destructive one ; Rabbi Elazar son of Azariah said, once in seventy years ; Rabbi 
 Tarfone and Rabbi Akiba said, if we had been in the Sanhedrin, no man would 
 ever have been executed. Thereupon, said Rabbi Shimone, son of Gamaliel, 
 men such as these would have caused the increase of murderers in Israel." This 
 characteristic extract must convince all, how great the clemency was, which 
 was exercised in our courts ; so much so, as to cause one of our greatest men to 
 say, that this lenity, if carried further, would have emboldened criminals through 
 the impunity shown to others, who had been on their trials. 
 11 
 
82 THE DIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 but are pleased to excess with the most useless and trifling toy from 
 the hands of a stranger. — But is such conduct becoming men and 
 philosophers, who say they search for truth 1 Shame ! shame ! 
 remember that you have not all the wisdom and all the knowledge 
 to yourselves, and you would therefore do well to draw some lessons 
 from that book, which confessedly contains the best code of laws, 
 <fcver devised for the government of mankind. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 It has of late grown fashionable among some of the learned men; 
 to assign a high moral character to the Greek and Roman mytho- 
 logy ; and even the Guebers have come in for a share of the white- 
 washing process. It has ahvays been believed, that the latter were 
 the worshippers of the sun and fire ; but wonderful to relate, it has 
 been discovered, how long ago I know not, that they did not wor- 
 ship the fire as a deity, but only prayed to it as a symhol of the Cre- 
 ator of the sun and fire, in the same manner as the Romem Catholics 
 yet have image-worship amongst them, in which images arc only 
 considered as remembrancers of God's power. How far the Guebers 
 were actually acquainted with the attributes, which revelation 
 ascribes to the Creator, I indeed cannot tell, for my knowledge of 
 antiquity (and I confess it without the least hesitation) is very 
 limited. But it appears to me very strange, that the opinion should 
 have been general for so long a time, that the Guebers in reality 
 worshipped the fire, and this at times, when they were masters of 
 Persia, if the contrary were true. Moreover we are told by Mr. 
 RoUin and others, that the Persians believed in a good and evil god, 
 and consequently, their idea of the Creator could not have been that 
 
THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 83 
 
 which the Jews, or even the philosophers themselves, call rational. 
 The Hindoos also are praised for the simplicity and antiquity of their 
 faith, and we hear a great deal concerning their sacred books. 
 However, according to a late writer, (Mrs. Graham's* Letters on [n- 
 dia,) they believe : " That the creation of the gods is coeval with 
 that of the world ; and when the Supreme Melligence called the 
 universe into being, he delegated to the gods the creation of man- 
 kind, and the formation and government of all mundane objects. 
 Brahma, the creating energy, with Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, 
 the destroyer, were the greatest of the deities." There is a good 
 deal more about the Indian deities in the letters referred to, but 
 what has been quoted already, is sufficient for our purpose. From 
 the extract just given, it appears, that if it even be admitted, that 
 the Indians believe in a Supreme Intelligence, and consequent Creator 
 of all, they have nevertheless a very crude notion of the government 
 of this world by this Supreme Intelligence. We Jews believe, that 
 God created the world, governs it, and preserves it; that there is no 
 power independent of his will, that every power, even that power 
 superior to man, is accountable to Him, and to Him alone, praised be 
 He for everlasting ! This belief presents to cur idea an adorable 
 Being, who, though superior in intelligence, power, and happiness 
 to aught which exists, yet disdains not to watch over the welfare of 
 his creatures. The enlightened Indians, on the other hand, believe 
 that the creation of the world was intrusted to mere creatures ^for 
 their gods are [as above] creatures of the Supreme Intelligence), of 
 which creating creatures, one is the creator, the other the preserver, 
 and the third the destroyer ; a pretty trio, truly ! The creator (see 
 the sequel of Mrs. G.'s letters) Brahma has withdrawn from the 
 government of what he made himself; and the jjreserver Vishnu, is 
 hardly capable of saving things from the destructive power of the 
 destroyer Siva, who, strange to tell, is also considered as the repro- 
 ducer. There may be, no doubt, a hidden and rational meaning to 
 all this, which appears evidently a strange mixture of truth and fa- 
 ble; but it is useless to extract the beauties of heathenism in this 
 place, and, however instructive it might perhaps be, I am compelled 
 to resign the task to those, who so much admire the system of the 
 
 * Her account is confirmed by others ; I (luotcd her book as the only accessi- 
 ble one to me, when this work was written. 
 
 ^5 
 
84 THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 Brahmins, and though dehghting in the obscure allegories of Indian 
 mythology, reject as unwise the obvious beauties of the Mosaic and 
 prophetic writings. And if even they should succeed in making 
 matters appear rational, we Jews would still continue to point to the 
 book of our blessed law-giver, and exclaim : " Look at this wonderful 
 work ." We also must ever continue to prefer the doctrines and re- 
 ligion taught therein to any other system, since the Mosaic code is 
 60 much more explicit, than the law of any other nation, and as re- 
 ligion, to be useful, should be intelligible and accessible to the 
 ploughman, who cultivates the soil, no less than to the philosopher 
 and public teacher, to whom, alas ! worldly interest is frequently the 
 sole monitor to induce them to practise outward piety. 
 
 That the Brahmins have also what they term sacred writings, 
 which however have evidently no divine origin, proves nothing 
 against the authenticity of the Mosaic writings, which also claim a 
 divine origin ; as the very excellence of the latter, their great sim- 
 plicity, the sublime conceptions contained therein with regard to the 
 Deity, prove, beyond a doubt, their pre-eminence over the former, and 
 consequently, Moses may have been a truly inspired man, and writing 
 by divine direction, if even no other man ever was ; and in flict, the 
 very claim any thing sets up to divine origin can only be tested, by 
 its agreeing or disagreeing with the standard of the Pentateuch. 
 So well were the authors of the sacred books of the Israelite con- 
 vinced of this, that they in no place seek to hide the existence of 
 false^ or pretended, prophets. We are even told that there existed in 
 one assembly more than four hundred deceivers and but one who 
 was a prophet of the Eternal. Besides, as the great miracle of the 
 promulgation of the law was no doubt made known to the inhabit- 
 ants of the East by the ships of Solomon, which traded to Ophir, it 
 is highly probable, that some deceiver, residing there, conceived the 
 plan of offering something to his countrymen which they should 
 obey as an emanation from Heaven, and so it may have happened, 
 that truth in the first instance was made the instrument for the pro- 
 pagation of falsehood. As I have said before, my acquaintance with 
 matters of antiquity is not sufficiently extensive to enable me to de- 
 termine the age of the writings of the Brahmins ; I however do not 
 recollect ever to have read or heard, that it could ever be assumed, 
 that thoy were of as early a date as the Pentateuch, and it may 
 
THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 85 
 
 therefore be actually as I have suggested. Nevertheless, I offer 
 my own hypothesis with extreme caution, and I hope not to be 
 called presumptuous, for daring to venture offering an opinion, which 
 may perhaps have never been suggested before. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans, too, had a religion, acknowledging the 
 existence of God, and claiming an obedience to the divine will. But 
 how different was this from the law which has been given to us. Of 
 the Creator they had but a confused idea, and Ovid, one of the most 
 learned Romans, said in one of his poems : 
 
 " Sic ubi dispositam, quisquis fuit ille deorum, 
 Congeriem secuit." Metam. i. 32, 33. 
 
 Meaning, that a God, tchoever he might be, ordered the chaos, as 
 Ovid describes. The poet was well convinced that the gods, commonly 
 worshipped by the Romans, were unable to produce the world, and 
 order every thing as it exists ; hence his uncertainty, and his " quis- 
 quis fuit ille deorum," yet he knew not what to call him, or what 
 station to assign to him amongst the immense number of the deities 
 acknowledged by his countrymen. 
 
 Jupiter is generally called pater omnipotence; and yet he also 
 appears to have been obliged to submit to inexorable fate, and thus 
 the greatest deity of the Romans had a superior power to direct him, 
 whose decrees could not be disobeyed. For thus says Virgil, (and 
 he had certainly the best means of information on all subjects con- 
 nected with his belief,) in the first book of the ^Eneid : 
 
 " Trojae qui primus ab oris 
 
 Italiarn, /afo profugus, Lavinia venit 
 Litora." 1—3. 
 
 Again : 
 
 Parce metu, Cytherea, manent immota tuorum 
 Fata tibi." 257—8. 
 
 All the supreme power of Jupiter, therefore, seems to have consisted 
 in his knowing, more than any other god, what the fates had decreed. 
 Homer, in the begining of the eighth book of the Iliad, introduces 
 Jupiter in the act of consulting the fates, to whom they had decreed 
 the victory, and thus even he was compelled to consult a mightier 
 being than himself— chance or fate— to enable him to know how to 
 act correctly. — Here are the words of Homer as translated by Mr. 
 Pope: 
 
86 THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 " But when the sun the height of heaven ascends, 
 Tlie sire of gods his golden scales suspends 
 With equal hand; in these explored the fate 
 Of Greece and Troy, and poised the mighty weight. 
 Pressed with its load, the Grecian balance lies 
 Low sunk on earth, the Trojan strikes the skies." 
 
 Independently of this mystery, there are many other considera- 
 tions to compel us to consider the Greek and Roman religion im- 
 measurably beneath ours ; for their deities were, even by them, not 
 viewed in a very favourable light, and both Homer and Virgil have 
 given us some specimens of the life of the immortals* — The greatest 
 praise Homer ever bestows upon Juno, is his calling her " white- 
 armed, or large-eyed, (ox-eyed rather,) elegant Juno," and the like ; 
 and Virgil, in the first book of the iEneid, describes Venus : 
 
 " Dixit, et avertens rosea eervice refulsit, 
 Ambrosiseque comse divinura vertice odorem 
 Spiravere ; pedes vestis defluxit ad imos ; 
 Et vera incessu patuit dea." 202 — 5. 
 
 Here no one finds the gods known by any thing but their superior 
 beauty, white arms, large eyes, broad neck, handsome hair, a long 
 robe, and to sum up all in the strongest possible manner, the very gait 
 proved the goddess! Wonderful ! And this is all, for no superior intelli- 
 gence, no power beyond that of mortal men, is ever displayed ! But 
 how great is the difference between Virgil's story of the recognition of 
 Venus by herson, and the simple, yet sublime, account of the angel's 
 appearance to Manoah and his wife, where he (the angel) went up 
 in the flame just ascending from the altar, and did wonders, which 
 Manoah and his wife witnessed. (See Judges chap, xiii.) 
 
 What kind of life was led by the Grecian gods, according to the 
 poets, may be inferred from some of the concluding lines of the first 
 book of the Iliad. — Vulcan is there represented, as pouring out 
 nectar, first to his own white-armed mother, and next to the whole 
 multitude of the gods ; but the lame smith did not get much reward 
 for his pains, for 
 
 " Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies. 
 And unextinguished laughter shakes the skies." 
 
 Pope's Transl. 
 
 There was, moreover, continual strife between Juno and Venus ; 
 •lupiter and his wife frequently quarrelled, and some hard names 
 
THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 87 
 
 were given from one to the other ; the father of the gods was very 
 jealously watched by his spouse, and he was hardly allowed to let a 
 visiter come to him, without exposing himself to an altercation. 
 
 Now see the difference between the Bible's and the Greek wri- 
 ters' account of the Divinity. For the God of Israel is always re- 
 presented, throughout the Jewish canon, as a great, immaculate, and 
 perfect Being ; whereas the Greek and Roman gods had all the vices 
 of the Greeks and Romans themselves. Jupiter was confessedly 
 very viciously mclined, and practised vice whenever he could; and 
 the story of Venus and Mars is certainly not very creditable to them 
 or to the circle of gods, among whom such conduct was not alone 
 tolerated, but even approved. Homer's gods are ranged against one 
 another in battle, and Mars, the brutal god of war, receives a wound 
 from Diomede, and the god retires to Olympus, and complains to 
 father Jove about the wickedness of the Grecian hero. 
 
 What must have been the state of religion amongst the people, 
 when they were told the like of their gods, images of whom were 
 stuck in every nook and corner of their houses? Is it a wonder that 
 the Greeks and Romans at length fell to the lowest state of nioral 
 depravity ? Is it not in this manner easily accounted for, that the 
 very temples of Vesta, Minerva, and Diana became at last places of 
 prostitution 7— It may be, and there is hardly any doubt of it, that ori- 
 ginally there was some reasonable foundation for the mythology of 
 the ancients— it may be that all the tales about the lives of the gods 
 were only allegorical allusions to some acts, committed by men — it 
 may be that the multiplicity of gods among them, was only emble- 
 matical of the universality of the Almighty's providence— it m.ay be 
 that, the light of revelation originally given to Adam and Noah was 
 never altogether extinguished, and that it continued to emit now and 
 then a luminous ray, though ever so feeble— all this, and more may 
 be said, and said with truth ; but that does not in the least controvert 
 what has been said above ; for if we even admit that heathenism was 
 truth disguised, it must nevertheless be self-evident, that this dis- 
 guised truth could have been known to the priests only, perhaps to 
 the Pontifex maximus alone ; but the multitude, those upon whom 
 religio'n ought always to exercise its chief and best influence, did, 
 (as may be boldly asserted) know nothing of their gods, save, and 
 only that, which was taught them in Homer and other similar books. 
 
88 THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 We therefore find the baneful influence of paganism upon the morals 
 of the people to be so dreadful and almost surpassing belief; we find 
 the Greek and Romans in their very acts, of what they called reli- 
 gious exercises, practising the most odious profligacies ; they were 
 corrupt, but they did justify this corruption by the practices of their 
 gods. 1 could, if I but would, transcribe some of those practices, 
 but I will not stain my paper with their recital, and must therefore 
 refer the curious to the works of Homer and Virgil themselves. 
 Having said thus much I must beg every learned unbeliever to point 
 out to me one single passage in the whole twenty -four books of our 
 canon of a similar tenor. And for all that, these learned infidels can 
 ask with an air of exultation ; " Who can prefer the psalms of David 
 to Homer ?" O there are many that do, and they are at the same 
 time ready to admit, that they never could praise Homer half as 
 much as he is generally praised. For this very good reason ; Aga- 
 memnon, Menelaus, Achilles, and Ajax Telamon are complete ruf- 
 fians, uttering perhaps at times some pretty phrase, which they 
 never could have spoken, and Odysseus is one of those dishonest 
 politicians, those crafty intriguers, the like of whom so much disfi- 
 gure the pages of modern history. There can indeed be but little ob- 
 jection to paint vice and barbarity in their true colours, provided they 
 are held up to our detestation : but not such is Homer's aim ; every 
 epithet intended to express greatness and preeminence, from godlike 
 down to quick-footed, is lavished upon these heroes, and thus he 
 seems at least to approve of the conduct of the barbarians, whose 
 deeds he recounts. And then, there is hardly a good character in 
 all Homer, if you except the noble Hector and the wise Nestor. — 
 The Greeks had further as many gods and demigods as they had 
 ancient kings, modern heroes, and — trees in their forests ! What 
 kind of religion is that, where the augurs looked at the flight of 
 birds, and the haruspices inspected carefully the entrails of the 
 slaughtered ox, before an army could march, or before a battle 
 could be fought? — How much more elevated is the idea, that 
 through prophecy alone, made known to the high-priest by holy 
 inspiration, the Israelites marched out to attack their invaders* 
 
 * The reader will please to refer to Essay III. for a further account of the 
 practices of war amongst the Israelites, where he will find some arguments to 
 prove that war was not an occupation of theirs. 
 
THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 89 
 
 After our ancestors had come in sight of the enemy, the priest, 
 who always accompanied the army, but never fought, was to speak 
 as follows (Deut. chap, xx.) : " Hear, O Israel, you approach this 
 day to battle against your enemies ; let not your hearts faint, fear 
 not, tremble not, and be not cast down, because of them ; for it is 
 the Eternal, your God, who goeth with you, to fight with you 
 against your enemy, to save you" (from danger) ! When the priest 
 had finished his address, the officers made the following proclama- 
 tion : " Whoever there is among you who has espoused a woman, 
 built a house, or planted a vineyard, or who is fearful and faint- 
 hearted, let him return home." In this manner every one, who by 
 some worldly cause was particularly attached to life, every one, who 
 was naturally a coward, every one, who, from the compunctions of 
 a sinful conscience, felt himself unable to enter into the front ranks 
 of the fight, fearing that he should die in battle in punishment of his 
 sins— all these, I say, were admonished to go and return home, for 
 not the multitude gain the victory, but those who, though few in 
 number, are men, whose " knees have never knelt to Baal, and 
 whose mouth has never kissed him." (See the account of Gideon's 
 battle, Judg. chap, vii.) Our religion was thus intended to prove 
 to us that to be victorious we must first deserve to be so ; and to 
 conquer the heathens, we should by superior virtue and greater 
 reliance upon God deserve his assistance. 
 
 In fine, whatever hidden, and to Jews unknown, beauties the Greek 
 and Roman rites may have had, our religion would stigmatise as 
 superstition, and as such all the ceremonies of the Roman augurs, 
 Tuscan soothsayers, and Greek oracles were prohibited to us. (See 
 the 18th chap, of Deut.)— I hope to have, in the few foregoing 
 words, said enough to demonstmte, that without even calling in the 
 aid of revelation, our religion is, upon grounds of human reason 
 also, more sublime, more sacred, than the creeds of all nations of 
 antiquity taken together. 
 
 I have heard it said that it is highly probable that Moses boirow- 
 ed his doctrines and laws from the Egyptians, with whose customs 
 he was intimately acquainted. But this assertion, though generally 
 and very confidently brought forward, can be refuted by a single 
 passage from Leviticus, a book, allowed even by the most malig- 
 nant critics, to be of undoubted antiquity. We read (Lev. chap. 
 12 
 
90 THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 xviii.) : " And the Eternal spoke unto Moses as follows : Speak 
 unto the children of Israel and say unto them, 1 am the Eternal 
 your God. You shall not do such things as are done in the land of 
 Egypt, in which you have resided ; nor shall you act after the man- 
 ners of the land of Canaan, whither 1 am bringing you, nor shall 
 you walk in their ordinances." 
 
 Here Moses speaks as explicitly as possible, prohibiting the imita- 
 tion of Egyptian customs ; how can any man, who wishes not to be 
 considered a maniac, then say, that Moses at the same time copied 
 Egyptian customs and forbade their execution ? The idea is too 
 absurd, and must, therefore, be rejected by every fair-reasoning 
 man ; and where is the man who, after this, can deny that Moses's 
 law is altogether original, and altogether unconnected with any 
 code either known before or after him? 
 
 I have said that the Psalms of David are preferable to Homer ,* and, 
 to exhibit the justice of the preference, I shall transcribe the follow- 
 ing two passages, the first from the eighth, and the other from the 
 eighteenth psalm : 
 
 " O Eternal God, our Lord, how powerful is thy name in all the 
 earth ! who placest thy glory above the heavens. Out of the 
 mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast established thy reign, to 
 confound thine opponents, to quiet the enemy, and him who seeketh 
 vengeance. When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy hands, 
 the moon and the stars which Thou hast founded ; — what is man, 
 that Thou rememberest him ? and the son of Adam, that Thou 
 regardest him ? And Thou hast made him a little less (gifted) than 
 angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou hast 
 given him dominion over the works of thy hands, and hast placed 
 all things under his feet ; sheep and oxen — all, and also the beasts of 
 the field, the birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, — and he 
 passes through the v/ays of the ocean ! O Eternal God, our Lord, 
 how great is thy name in all the earth !" Psalm viii. 
 
 " In my distress I called upon the Eternal, and prayed to my God, 
 and He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before 
 Him — to his cars. 
 
 " And the earth shook and trembled, and the foundations of the 
 mountains were loosened, and they quaked, for He was angry. 
 Smoke rose out of his nostrils, fire blazed out of his mouth, coals 
 
THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 91 
 
 were kindled from it. And He bent the heavens, and went 
 down, and a cloud of darkness was under his feet. And He 
 rode upon a Cherub, and flew along, and rushed by upon the 
 wings of the wind. And He shrouded himself in darkness, around 
 his pavilion ; dark waters, clouds piled upon clouds ! From the 
 light before Him passed through his clouds hail and coals of fire. 
 And the Eternal thundered in heaven, and the Most High let his 
 voice resound ; — hail and coals of fire. He sent forth his arrows, 
 and scattered them ; — and mighty lightning, and confounded them ; 
 and the channels of the waters were seen, and the foundations of 
 the universe laid bare, from thy call, O Eternal, from the breath- 
 ing of the breath of thy anger !" Psalm xviii. v. 6, &c. 
 
 The extract from the eighteenth psalm is particularly strikingly 
 grand. He (David) describes the power of the incomprehensible 
 God, whose word is sufficient to prostrate all before Him in ruins ; 
 He is shrouded in darkness, but light, or rather intense brightness, 
 (n:j) is immediately around Him : there all is light, all is glory, 
 all is gladness ; only to man, whilst he is yet mortal, is the Deity 
 clothed in the thick cloud, that rests at his feet. But the flashes of 
 the lightning, the rolling of the thunder, the rattling of the hail, the 
 scalding streams of lava, the burning coals from the volcanos — all 
 proclaim to us his might and his power. He but speaks and the 
 earth trembles ; He but breathes and mountains are split in twain. 
 But does it cost Him any effort, any great exertion ? O no, all this 
 happens 13X nn HDli^JD " from the breathing of the breath of thy 
 anger ;" by which the Psalmist means : the ease with which a man 
 breathes is well known, and thus easy is it for our God to do this 
 mighty work. Here then we have a picture of the power of the 
 Almighty, we see his great omnipotence displayed in glowing 
 colours ; and we are told that all his desire is that we should be 
 good, obedient to his will, submissive to his dispensation, that we 
 ourselves should be made happy, that we may be worthy to enjoy 
 " delights at his right hand for ever :" and can a stronger reason be 
 addressed to the human mind ? can any thing more strongly impel 
 him to obey the will of his God, made known to him for his own 
 happiness alone ? 
 
 Has Homer any passage to equal the foregoing in sublimity ? — 
 Virgil, indeed, attempts a description of Jupiter's power, and says: 
 
92 THE BIBLE AND PAGANISM. 
 
 " ille flagranti 
 
 Aut Atho, aut Rhodopcn, aut alta Ceraunia telo 
 
 Dejicit." Geor. i. 331—3. 
 
 Virgil must needs employ a telum, for neither he nor any other 
 heathen had any conception of God's power being manifested by 
 his word alone. God, according to our ideas, however, has no 
 need of any materials in his government of all the world, for He, 
 (as our prayer so elegantly says) : " Reviveth the dead with his 
 word !" — And, though the translation given above is not at all to be 
 compared in brevity and closeness of diction with the Hebrew, it is 
 yet sufficient to prove that a person may be a very good man, and 
 yet dare to prefer Damd''s Psalms to Homer's Iliad, or even to 
 Homer^s Odyssee. 
 
 I shall now close this chapter with a translation of a portion of our 
 daily prayers, and beg those of my readers, who are Greek scholars, 
 or who possess a translation of the first book of the Iliad, to compare 
 it themselves with the prayer of Chryses addressed to his Sminthean 
 Apollo. 
 
 " Thou art mighty for ever, O Lord, Thou revivest the dead, art 
 powerful in helping us, and causing the wind to blow and the rain to 
 descend. — Thou maintainest the living with kindness, and revivest 
 the dead with great mercy, supportest the falling, healest the sick, 
 loosenest the bonds of the captives, and preservest thy truth to those 
 who sleep in the dust. Who is like Thee, Lord of strength, and 
 who can be compared unto Thee, O King, who slayest and bringest 
 to life again, and lettest salvation spring forth !" 
 
 Here the unbelievers have something nervous, concise, and ener- 
 getic, where the wonderful deeds and the great kindness of our 
 Maker are enumerated in a few forcible words, without any ornament 
 whatever. And since they so much admire eveiy thing that is not 
 Jewish, they ought to ransack their classics to produce parallel or 
 even superior beauties to the foregoing. — But they cannot ! — Well 
 then, let them admit, that not alone is Moses's law superior to any 
 ancient or modern constitution, but also that onr style of writing, 
 both in the Bible and our regular prayers, is as far above what has 
 been written by profane poets and prosaics, as light is preferable to 
 darkness ! 
 
93 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE PHYLACTERIES. 
 
 If by superstition is understood a belief or confidence in things, 
 having no existence in reaUty, or existing only through fraud or ig- 
 norance : then it can be boldly asserted, that we Jews are not 
 superstitious ; but that, on the contrary, we abhor superstition as 
 being contrary, and in opposition, to our religion. — If by bigotry are 
 meant an inveterate adherence to error, and a persecution or a ten- 
 dency to persecution of others who have firmness enough to resist 
 such errors, or to oppose the enforcing of it, when presented to them 
 for ^acceptance : then can we again assert, that we are no bigots ; for 
 our religion is not founded on error, as has been proved, and besides 
 this we wish to burden no one with our opinions, who admits them 
 not of his own accord. — But if by superstition are understood, a vene- 
 ration of God, belief in revelation and hope of future reward for 
 virtue — and by bigotry, an adherence to opinions so irell founded, 
 and a determination to resist all innovation, no matter by whom re- 
 commended : then hail, superstition ! welcome, bigotry ! If philoso- 
 phers have determined to stamp such virtuous resolutions with the 
 odious names of bigotry and superstition, we must needs be prepared 
 to bear these opprobrious titles with content and resignation ; and I 
 venture to assert in the name of our whole nation, that not twenty 
 good Jews could be induced to relinquish their opinions, merely be- 
 cause these opinions have received harsh names from unbelievers. 
 And if 1 could be convinced, that Jews could be base and cowardly 
 enough, to be swayed by mere abuse without argument, I should be 
 sorry to be considered a member of their community. But, thank 
 Heaven, I know my brethren better ,* and though they may deviate, 
 though they may live /or a time forgetful of their duty ; yet will they 
 always cherish with fondness the idea of their having been born 
 members of the nation despised and trodden under foot ; and exam- 
 ples are not rare, where even apostates called in the brethren to their 
 dying bed, after refusing the attendance of any other ! 
 
94 . THE PHYLACTERIES. 
 
 But some one may ask, " have not the Jews superstitious customs, 
 for example, the cloak they wear during prayers, the phylacteries, 
 holydays, the blowing of the cornet, and the palm branch ?" This 
 question may at first sight appear to throw very great difficulties in 
 the way of a defence of our religion ; but a candid enquiry must 
 soon convince us, that the above ceremonies are by no means super- 
 stitious, although their true intent may not be altogether obvious to 
 a prejudiced and superficial enquirer. 
 
 Let us commence with the Tallith, or cloah, used during prayers. 
 We find in Numb. chap. xv. v. 37, the following commandment : 
 " And the Lord spoke unto Moses as follows : speak unto the chil- 
 dren of Israel, and bid them to make themselves fringes (n^w) at 
 the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that 
 they put upon the fringe of the corners, ( borders Eng. vers.) a string 
 of blue, n^Dn." — In Deute. chap. xxii. v. 12: "Thou shalt make 
 thee fringes upon the four corners of thy vesture, wherewith thou 
 coverest thyself" The reason for this commandment is given in 
 Numb. chap, xv : " That by seeing these fringes, we might remem- 
 ber all the commandments of the Eternal and observe them, and not 
 follow blindly the evil desires engendered within us, by the behold- 
 ing of the eyes and the desiring of the heart." Our Rabbins give 
 the following explanation : n* is 400, v is 90, and ^ is 10, and in 
 consequence the numerical value of the word n^W, is 600 ; there 
 are also on each of these fringes eight strings and Jive double knots, 
 thus the number of the word itself, together with that of the strings 
 and knots, amounts to six hundred and thirteen, this being the whole 
 numberf of the commandments in the Mosaic Law. If even we 
 reject this explanation as too fanciful, there is yet no reason to laugh 
 at the fringes, since, as we are always covered with clothes, they 
 seem to be well adapted (it being once so understood) to act as moni- 
 tors to us, when we are going to do any thing unlawful ; and it is 
 the object of the precept, that the sight of the n'T'i shall withhold 
 us, by addressing our senses, from offending against our religion, 
 
 * Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value, for instance N is 1, :] 2, J 3, 
 &c. 
 
 + Sec Instiviclion in the ]\Iosaic Religion, page 109, note. 
 
THE PHYLACTERIES. 95 
 
 and they are to tell us, when every other voice* is silent : " Beware ! 
 remember the commandments of thy God !" And is this symbol, 
 though simple, not far superior to and much more rational than the 
 idols, statues, and marks of other nations ? 
 
 In former times the Israelites wore the fringes upon the corners 
 of their cloaks ; but since our dispersion, and because it has become 
 dangerous for us in many places to be known as Jews, we wear 
 under our clothes a four cornered garment, to which the fringes 
 are attached ; and in the synagogues or other places of worship we 
 make use of a square, or rather, oblong cloak, to which they are 
 fixed, and this garment or n'S^^ (Tallith) is worn during public wor- 
 ship by day, but not at night, except at certain occasions, which it 
 would be needless to detail here. — When the purple colour (nSDn) 
 was yet known, we were obliged (see above) to have one of the 
 strings of each fringe of this colour, but since this colour is no more 
 known, we are unable to comply with this provision of the law to 
 its full extent ; and the fringes we make use of are, therefore, com- 
 posed of eight white strings only. 
 
 The phylacteries rblDH (Thephillin) are improperly supposed to 
 be considered by us in the light of amulets, as has been lately 
 asserted by an English vv^riter, who also quite liberally (as liberally 
 as most writers concerning us, who are either deists or Christians) 
 supposes, that they were for a similar purpose as the Greek, Ro- 
 man, or Arab amulets. The learned writer was, no doubt, misled 
 by the term phylacteries, derived from the Greek verb phylasso, I 
 watch or guard ; but the r^Dn are not phylacteries, a name which 
 properly belongs to the n^^Dp, a cabalistical mstrument. But since 
 there is no word in the English, Latin, or Greek, synonymous with 
 the Hebrew word Thephillin, I shall drop the term phylacteries 
 altogether, and in the sequel make use only of the proper word. — 
 There are two kinds of Thephillin, and both consist of extracts 
 from the Law, written upon parchment. They are commanded to 
 
 * And thus teach the Rabbins : Whoever has ITifi on his garments, |"'7i3r» 
 on his head, and a nilTD o" his door, will not easily be misled to sin. For to be 
 engaged in acts of religion, and having things pertaining to religion constantly 
 near us, will act as a check, whenever the mind should desire to enter the way 
 of sin, and be as it were a silent rebuker in all matters of dereliction from our 
 duties. 
 
96 THE PHYLACTERIES. 
 
 be made* in Exodus xiii. and Deuteronomy vi. and xi. (which see). 
 The two kinds of Thepliillin are : the ThephiUin shel Roshe and 
 Thephlllin shel Yahd, or in EngUsh, ThephilHn for the head, and 
 ThephiUin for the hand ; they (as well as the Tallith).are used dur- 
 ing the morning prayers, but not on the Sabbaths and festivals, 
 though the Tallith is worn on these days also. — The ThephiUin 
 themselves are ^OM?* paragraphs from the Pentateuch, namely, Exod. 
 xiii. V. 1—10; 2d, Ibid. 11—16 ; 3d, Deut. vi. v. 4—9 ; 4th, Ibid. 
 xi. 13 — 21. In the ThephiUin shel Yahd these paragraphs are 
 written upon one piece of parchment, and fixed in a small case 
 made of the same material ; on one side of which is an opening, 
 through which a leathern thong of about two yards long is passed ; 
 on one end of which are a knot and loop of a peculiar form, through 
 which loop the other end of the thong is drawn, and the whole 
 ThephiUin can thus be fixed upon the arm. 
 
 The ThephiUin shel Roshe have the same paragraphs, but writ- 
 ten upon ybwr different pieces of parchment, and are fixed in the 
 order above mentioned, in a parchment case with four divisions. A 
 thong is fixed to the ThephiUin shel Roshe in the like manner as to 
 those shel Yahd ; yet so that they may be worn round the head. 
 On one side of the case is stamped a Sheen with three heads : on the 
 other a Sheen with four heads. — The knot on the shel Yahd forms 
 a ■' (Yod) the one on the shel Roshe a n (Dahleth) and, as said, the 
 case of the latter is stamped with a w (Sheen), these three letters 
 combined read ^-]\^, an attribute of God synonymous with the English 
 Almighty. 
 
 The last kind of the commonly so called phylacteries is the nniD 
 (Mezoozah) and consists of the two paragraphs from the sixth and 
 eleventh chapters of Deuteronomy mentioned above, written upon 
 one piece of parchment, which is rolled up from the right to the left. 
 The word niy together with three other words, (which, however, 
 stand higher up, by themselves,) is written upon the outside ; it is then 
 
 * See Instruction in the Mosaic Religion, pp. 115 and 116, where the 
 other regulation concerning the Thephilhn can he found. — I have been thus 
 particular with the explanation of Tzitzith, &c. tliat any one may see their 
 whole intent, meaning, nature, and object, and thus judge for himself whether 
 there is any superstition connected therewith, or whether they are more cor- 
 rectly to be regarded as proper religious observances. 
 
THE PHYLACTERIES. 97 
 
 put in a reed, a tin, or oilier case, and fixed on the door post in 
 every proper room, so that the name ^liy (being visible through an 
 aperture left in the case) may be seen by every one entering tlie 
 apartment, and i>e tbus ever reminded ul' the greatness and power 
 of tiie Almighty. 
 
 " But what can be tlie meaning of all this ?" This will easily 
 be plain to us if we but read the passages cited above ; we will there 
 see that the Thephillin were ordered for a twofold reason : first, 
 as a ?/iomme/?^ of our redemption from Egypt ; and next, that the 
 laws of our God may be continually before us. For we read in 
 Exod. chap. xiii. v. 16 ; " And it shall be for a token upon thy 
 hand, and a mark of remembrance (frontlets, Eng. vers.) between 
 thine eyes, for by the strength of (his) hand has the Lord brought 
 us out of Egypt." — And in Dent. chap. vi. v. 8. after having said, in 
 the preceding verses, that the law of God should be always in our 
 mortth, that we should converse about it in whatever place or situa- 
 tion we might be, Moses continues : " And thou shalt bind them as 
 a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine 
 eyes." The Mezoozah, also, is very plainly commanded in the 
 ninth verse of the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. The object of 
 God in giving these ordinances was probably this : " 1 have forbid- 
 den you to raise yourselves monuments of sculptured stone or molten 
 metal ; but I will give you a nohlcr monument — my Imo shall be 
 this monument ; passages commemorative of your redemption shall 
 be your daily garment ; so that the recollection of the events con- 
 nected with this redemption and the promulgation of the law shall 
 never cease ; they shall also be a sign of my perpetual power, of my 
 constant providence, and of my unceasing watchfulness over you ; 
 fix, therefore, these chapters upon your doors and gates, that you 
 may be always mindful, whenever you lay Thephillin and see the 
 Mezoozah, that I, the all-powerful, who formerly released you from 
 slavery, am yet able and willing to watch over you, protect you, 
 and again redeem you — by whatever trouble you may be aliiicted — 
 when the time shall have arrived which I have appointed as the 
 termination of the punishment you may have to endure for your 
 transgressions against my will— and that I may again show you 
 wonders, as 1 did in those days when you went out of Egypt." 
 
 13 
 
96 
 
 CHAPTER XVll. 
 
 THE FESTIVALS. 
 
 " Were the Hebrew festivals like those of the heathens, times of 
 general licentiousness, and for this reason superstitious and inju- 
 rious ; or were they dedicated to the honour of God and the 
 improvement of the people, by inciting them to virtue, and in con- 
 sequence, reasonable, useful, and even necessary ?" 
 
 To answer this enquiry, we have but to consult the institutions of 
 Moses themselves, to pronounce in favour of the usefulness of our 
 festivals. — The first in order that presents itself, is the Passover- 
 feast (HDD Paysach), or the annual celebration of the redemption 
 from Egypt ; it commences on the evening after the fourteenth, which, 
 according to our mode of reckoning time, is the commencement of 
 the fifteenth day of Nissan or Abib, the fifteenth day of this month 
 being always the first full-moon-day after the spring equinox ; and 
 all the subsequent holydays are (at present) regulated by the Pass- 
 over. — I have said that this feast is the annual celebration of the 
 Exodus ; we have thus again, in our institutions, a confirmation of 
 the truth of the Mosaic history. For this reason. The Passover 
 was instituted to celebrate a certain event, and the reason stated to 
 those very persons, who ought to have known if the reason assigned 
 by Moses was founded upon truth or not, i. e. they ought certainly 
 to have known (for this is the reason given,) if they themselves had 
 been slaves in Egypt or not. Suppose a man were to arrive in this 
 or some other city, and tell the inhabitants thereof: " You must 
 celebrate annually the victory which you gained over the enemy, 
 who besieged your city for so many weeks," when, in point of fact, 
 no such enemy had been seen, nor such a siege had taken place. 
 What does every one think would be the fate of such an imposture? 
 Either the impostor would be laughed at, as a madman, or, if he 
 should be attended to, it would argue the greatest ignorance and the 
 most unaccountable credulity in those who chose to obey such an 
 
THE FESTIVALS. 99 
 
 impudent impostor. — But the Jews did keep the Passover in comme- 
 moration of their redemption ; is there not now every reason to 
 beUeve that that event actually did take place 1 
 
 But to return to the subject under discussion :— The feast was 
 annually ushered in by sacrificing, on the fourteenth day of Nissan, 
 the passovei'-lamh, in the same manner (with some slight excep- 
 tions) the first one had been prepared in Egypt. — The feast itself 
 was celebrated seven* days, commencing with the fifteenth day. 
 
 * After the return of the Israelites from Babylon, a great number of the 
 brethren yet remained behind, and they regulated their months and festivals by 
 the messages they received from the great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, where the 
 commencement of every month was ushered in by the chief judge's saying: 
 lynnn tyipD " ^^^ month is sanctified," (meaning this day is the first of the 
 month,) after competent witnesses had been examined relative to their having 
 seeA the new moon. (See Mishna of Roshe Hashanah.) At first telegraphs were 
 used by the Sanhedrin, to make the result known to all the captivity — as those 
 living out of Palestine were called ; — but when, on a certain occasion, the 
 Samaritans counterfeited the signals, and deceived those at a distance, the San- 
 hedrin came to a resolution not to employ the signals any longer; and from 
 this time forward they sent out messengers, who travelled with the utmost pos- 
 sible expedition. Those living at a great distance from Jerusalem, could not 
 always be certified of the first day of the month before the holydays set in ; 
 and they celebrated, therefore, for each day of holy convocation two days, 
 instead of one day, as originally commanded in the Pentateuch. For instance, 
 they reckoned the month of Adar at twenty-nine days, (as it is commonly, we 
 may say always,) and taking the thirtieth day as the first of Nissan, they 
 commenced Paysach on the fifteenth day from that date. But as they did 
 not exactly know if the Sanhedrin had commenced Nissan with the thirtieth 
 or the f/ar/y-^Vsf of Adar, they continued to withhold from work also on the 
 sixteenth day after the twenty-ninth of Adar, so that they kept, at all events, 
 the first day of Paysach on the proper day, which would not have been the 
 case if they had only kept the fifteenth day after the 29th, when the first of the 
 month had not been until the 31st of Adar. Thus it originated, that they 
 celebrated eight instead of seven days of Passover, two instead of one of the 
 Pentecost and New Year, and the Tabernacles nine instead of eight days. The 
 Day of Atonement alone, on account of the inabiUty of most persons to fast two 
 entire days, was celebrated on the thirty -ninth day after ' the first of Elul ; for 
 this month was never known to have had more than twenty-nine days, but, as has 
 been said already, they were obUged to wait for the messengers of the Sanhe- 
 drin to be assured of this fact. After the calendar was fixed, and so organised 
 on scientific grounds, that those in Syria and tlie adjacent countries were no 
 
100 THE FESTIVALS. 
 
 The first day was a day of holy convocation, that is to say, no work 
 was done except the preparing of food ; the law was read publicly, 
 additional sacrifices were oflTered, and the whole male population of 
 the Israelites was assembled to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. 
 The seventh was also a day of rest ; and during the whole feast of 
 the Passover unleavened bread was eaten, to remind the Israelites 
 that their ancestors had been hurried out of Egypt in so great a 
 haste, that they could not prepare their bread even in the customary 
 manner. — -On the second day of the Passover, being the sixteenth 
 of Nissan, an omer-fiill of new barley was oflcred in the temple, 
 with appropriate sacrifices and ceremonies ; and from this day it 
 was lawful to eat of tlie new fruit, and this day was considered the 
 commencement of the harvest. 
 
 The time of rejoicing had now arrived, and iiill and valley were 
 covered with tlic ripening treasures of the husbandmen. This was 
 the time of general activity througliout Palestine, and whilst the 
 highminded daughters of Israel were superintending the household, 
 the male population applied themselves to the labours of the field. 
 The reaper's song was heard throughout our land, when they bound 
 in sheaves the rich blessing of God which fell in rows before their 
 sickles. The poor, the widow, the orphan, and the houseless stran- 
 ger, were permitted to gather all that had fallen down accidentally, 
 been forgotten, or left purposely for them. No one dared to dis- 
 
 long-cr obliged to wail for messengers from tlie Sanhcdrin to fix the first day of 
 the month on the prorper day : the Israelites living out of Palestine continued, 
 upon the recommendation of tlic Beth-Din, assembled in Tham, to observe the 
 additional holydays ; not, liowever, thinking tliem commanded by Moses, but 
 as commemorative of tlie state of tlie ca})tives previous to that time. The 
 second and last days <x.yc considered as mere prolongations of the preceding 
 ones, and the same chapters are read for the conclusion of the reading of the 
 law (n'tOSD), ^'^ o" the original days. — That the Sanhcdrin had the right to 
 recommend the observance of this custom, I cannot doubt, (sec Deut. chap, 
 xvii. and 1 Kings, chap. viii. v. 6.) and since the Israelites, in all their disper- 
 sions, have acted accordingly for seventeen hundred years, the custom has in a 
 manner become law, and it would accordingly be wrong to abolish the cus- 
 tom of our ancestors, for the sole reason that some merchants sustain a trifling 
 loss by the observance of six additional holydays in a whole year. 
 
 N. I>. The narrative part of the above is drawn from the second chapter of 
 Talmud Bclzah. 
 
THE FESTIVALS. 101 
 
 turb them, but they shared, without being made to feel it, the bless- 
 ings bestowed on their more opulent neighbours. 
 
 Fifty days from the fourteenth of Nissan had passed away, and 
 again the streets of Jerusalem were filled with the gladsome shout of 
 the men of Israel, as each company came with music, and the ox 
 with gilded horns, bringing the first fruit of their delightful land to 
 the temple of their God. For the sixth day of Swan had arrived ; 
 and the Israelites therefore were assembled before the altar of their 
 God, on the day on which the law, under which they so happily 
 lived, had been proclaimed to their ancestors as they stood trembling 
 at the foot of Sinai ! O days of happiness, days of joy, you have in- 
 deed passed away, and Israel linger in a land not their own. No 
 more in the vineyards on Israel's mountains are the daughters 
 of Zion seen to dance, and the sons of Levi no longer chant the 
 son^s of praise on thy hill, Moriah ! Woe to us, that we have 
 sinned ! woe to us, that in the land, where the glory of God once 
 shone, the stranger lives forgetful of our God's power, and the Eter- 
 nal's glory ! 
 
 On the first day of the seventh month is the commencement of the 
 civil year ; the day, on which, as our wise men teach us, the Most 
 High holds judgment over all the inhabitants of the earth, and ap- 
 portions to each man his amuial share of prosperity and woe. O 
 dread day, when mortal man is to be judged by his Maker ! what 
 good deeds has he done tojustify himself in judgment ? can the sinful 
 worm yet speak loudly then, when he contemplates the fearful dis- 
 tance between him and the HOLY ONE of Israel ? Therefore did 
 God command us to blow the cornet on that day — to let the signal 
 trumpet be heard — to call up the latent energies of his people, to ex- 
 hort them to a speedy and sincere repentance.— There is also 
 another reason for the blowing of the cornet. In the eastern coun- 
 tries it is the custom to receive the king with music, particularly 
 wind-instruments ; we therefore blow the cornet to show, that we 
 acknowledge the Creator, on the day on which the world was cre- 
 ated, our King, amid the fervent prayer of the people and the soutid 
 of the trumpet. — The Day of Atonement at length approaches, and 
 we go to the temple of God, and abstain from all earthly food and 
 drink from evening to evening, and only live in the contemplation of 
 God, his greatness, his kindness, and his mercy ! and happy arc 
 
102 THE FESTIVALS. 
 
 we, if we come well prepared, well fortified in faith and firm reliance 
 upon God's mercy — happy, if we have forgiven all our enemies sin- 
 cerely and truly— happy, if our frail body alone separates us from 
 the Deity ! If we come thus before Mercy's throne — the purity and 
 whiteness of our garments a true emblem of the purity and sacred- 
 ness of our souls — if the voice of the ^t^w (cornet) has had its in- 
 tended eflJect upon us — if the nine days of preparation have not been 
 misspent : then may we be assured, that on that day all our sins 
 will be forgiven, and that, cleansed from our iniquities, we shall 
 stand pure and unspotted before the Eternal ! 
 
 When the temple yet stood, the high-priest walked on that day 
 into the holy of holies, whilst the cloud of incense filled the place, 
 where the ark of the covenant was, and here he sprinkled on that 
 day alone the blood of the sacrifices, and here he also prayed a short 
 prayer for the welfare of the people. Before he killed his sacrifice 
 and that of the people, he confessed his sins and the sins of the con- 
 gregation, imposing at the same time his hands upon the heads of 
 the animals, and when he pronounced the name of the Eternal, all 
 the priests and people, who were standing by, fell upon their faces 
 and exclaimed : " Praised be the name of the glory of his kingdom 
 for ever and ever !" — But, no longer is our temple standing— no 
 longer are the descendants of Aaron graced with the sacerdotal 
 robes — and the holy of holies is no longer the dwelling place of the 
 ark ! The fat of oxen is no more seen burning upon the altar — no 
 longer are its sides sprinkled with the blood of the sin-ofiering — and 
 the incense no more curls upwards under the hands of the Cohen ! 
 Mayest Thou, O holy God, receive our prayers — the offering of the 
 contrite heart — in the place of the oflTerings of beasts, and let our 
 lips* pay for steers which, in days of yore, were led to thy temple 
 in atonement for our sins ! 
 
 The year had terminated, and the sun had entered Libra, and 
 thus produced the autumnal equinox ; the grapes hung in rich clus- 
 ters along the vines, and the golden fruit glistened among the dark 
 foliage of the fruit trees. Here and there autumn had already 
 
 * This is a quotation from Isaiah, and plainly means, that since the captive 
 Israelites can no longer offer up sacrifices, which could only be done at the place 
 chosen by God ; tli6 prayer which wc offer up, the words of our lips, may be 
 as acceptable to God as the steers once burnt upon the altar. 
 
THE FESTIVALS. 103 
 
 changed the hue of the leaves, and some lay scattered under the 
 trees, which they had graced during the spring and summer. 
 Every husbandman was busied with gathering in the bounteous 
 blessings of his God, to provide himself sustenance for the coming 
 winter. The heart of man was raised high, when he contemplated 
 the manifold blessings showered upon him, though unworthy he 
 might be. Gratitude would naturally then fill his bosom, and he 
 would feel more inclined to obey the will of God, because of his 
 great kindness to him. — In this time of general joy, on the fifteenth 
 day of the seventh month, were we commanded to celebrate the feast 
 of Succoth or Tabernacles. On the Day of Atonement our sins had 
 been forgiven, and immediately after we were commanded to build 
 tabernacles niDD for our residence during the first seven days of the 
 feast. Though the chill of autumn had already arrived, yet was it 
 our duty to prove ourselves worthy of having our sins forgiven to 
 us, l3y placing entire confidence in God, and obeying his will to the 
 letter, though it might be a little inconvenient to our bodily ease, and 
 we were obliged to dwell in booths for seven days in the chilly time 
 of year, to commemorate that He caused our ancestors to dwell in 
 booths, when He brought them out of Egypt. — The dwelling in ta- 
 bernacles was therefore a symbol of our placing ourselves under the 
 shadow of God's protection, and withdrawing from the cares and 
 enjoyments of life. — This feast was also a time for all the men of 
 Israel to meet at the city God. had chosen for his residence, and the 
 first and eighth days were, like the Passover and Pentecost, days of 
 holy convocation and suspension of labour. (All the ceremonies, 
 except the sacrifices, relatives to the holydays are yet observed by 
 us at the present time, as commanded by Moses.) 
 
 On the first day of the feast of Tabernacles we were to take the 
 fruit of the citron-tree, the palm-branch, the myrtle and the willow. 
 These four productions of the vegetable kingdom were in old times, 
 and are even now, used in the following manner : the palm, the 
 myrtle, and the willow, being united in one bunch, are taken in the 
 right hand, and the citron in the left, and thus held, they are waved 
 three times each towards the east, west, north, and south, upwards 
 and downwards, in certain parts of the prayers. " But what is the 
 meaning of this ?" — Let us consider the shape and formation of these 
 various products, and we shall find tiiem symbolical of ourselves.— 
 
104 THE FESTIVALS. 
 
 The palm branch is tall and erect, and its leaves are branching out 
 from it on both sides ; it is like the stature of man erect, it is like 
 his back-bone, from which the ribs branch out on either side ; the 
 oval myrtle leaf is like the e3^e of man — and the willow like his lips 
 compressed — the citron is pointed like the man's heart ; all these 
 are taken for the worship of God, and thus shall our body, our eyes, 
 our lips, and our heart all be united in the worship of God. 
 
 Or perhaps they may be symbolical of the nation of the Israelites. 
 The citron is a fragrant fruit and delightful to the taste; the palm 
 bears fine fruit, but has no fragrance ; the myrtle has fragrance, but 
 a bitter taste ; and at last, the willow has neither taste nor fragrance. 
 Thus are amongst Israel, men of good learning and good works — men 
 of good works without learning ; men of learning without good deeds ; 
 and at last, others who have neither learning nor virtue. But al- 
 though one is superior to the other in virtue and learning, yet do we 
 find that God commanded us to join the citron, the palm, the myrtle, 
 and the willow, thus showing, that however exalted we may be, 
 though our brother be ignorant and sinful, yet shall we not cast him 
 off; but unite him with us in the bonds of love, and indtice him to 
 worship, no less than we do, our common Creator. — We wave the 
 four kinds mentioned to all the four corners of the compass, towards 
 heaven and downwards to the earth, to indicate that we acknow- 
 ledge God, " who formed tJie corners of the world, made the heavens, 
 the earth, and all that is in them ;" we wave the palm-branch* in our 
 prayers, to thank God for his bounty with the plants he has given 
 us for our use and sustenance ; we hold up the palm-branch and pray 
 Him to continue his kindness to us, and to savef us from evil, and to 
 give us prospcj'ity in all our doings ! 
 
 When we have dwelt seven days in the tabernacles, when on the 
 seventh we have laid by the pa^m, the myrtle, the willow, and the 
 citron, when we- have said the last grace in the Succah (tabernacle) : 
 we are yet to celebrate another day more, a closing day of festiviy to 
 
 * For the sake of brevity, and on account of tlic size of the palm-branch 
 above the others, the expression has become common amongst us : to say grace 
 over the 2h)h (Loolab, the palm-branch), when in fact the citron, the myrtle, 
 and the willow, arc also understood. 
 
 t •• NJ nn^Svn 'n NJi< »SJ n;»^iyin 'n NJN Psalm 118,v.25.— This psalm 
 is read during tjie feast of Succoth. 
 
THE FESTIVALS. 105 
 
 the honour of God. Then we pray for the blessing of timely and 
 abundant rain, and a year of plenty, of cheerfulness, and of peace ; 
 that we may all have as much as we stand in need of, without our 
 being obliged to beg for our bread from a brotlier or a stranger, but 
 receive it immediately from the Supporter of all ! 
 
 Some of our wise men have compared our festivals to the three 
 stages of the human life. Passover is our youth, when all before us 
 is yet happy expectation, and when we enter the rugged path of life 
 with a buoyant heart and smiling countenance ; we only look at the 
 surface of things, and seeing amid the Jine Jl.owers and verdant hills 
 no obstacle to our onward march in virtue and worldly prosperity, 
 we dream not of disappointments we may have to encounter, and of 
 trials that await us. — Next comes the Pentecost, the middle age of 
 man, when we have been already obliged to work under a hot sun ; 
 we have perhaps been often overcome by faintness in our daily toil, 
 we have heard the thunder roll over our heads, and seen the light- 
 ning rend the green forest trees — to drop the figurative language, 
 we have, as we grow older, been forced to undergo many fatigues 
 . and disappointments to procure an honest livelihood ; we have seen 
 our best hopes foiled, and we have discovered how firmly we have 
 been forced to withstand that temptation, which has drawn so many 
 others around us from the path of virtue. — k.i last comes the feast of 
 Tabernacles, when the autumn begins to scatter the yellow leaves 
 round the tree ; the time when age is already encroaching upon 
 our strength of body and vigour of mind ,• when our hairs begin to 
 grow white, and we are at last thinking of enjoying the fruit of our 
 labour through a life mixed with sorrow and gladness — and we begin 
 to look forward to the winter, to the grave, which must at length 
 receive us, and which, when it closes over us, hides all our cares, all 
 our earthly joys — and leaves the soul free to enjoy that blessing, to 
 deserve which she has so nobly acted here below, in withstanding 
 sin, subduing the passions, and dispensing good to all around us ! O 
 happy old age ! — when with such thoughts and feehngs we see death 
 approach ; and we need not then fear the temporary dissolution, 
 which must for ever join us to our Father in heaven, in bliss, joy, and 
 everlasting peace ! 
 
 14 
 
106 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 It will be easily discovered in reading the preceding chapter, that 
 the festivals, and the ceremonies attending them, are not founded upon 
 superstitious usages ; but that they are intended to preserve to the 
 latest posterity the memory of those events, which are recorded as the 
 cause of their being instituted. Thus was the Passover instituted to 
 celebrate annually our redemption from Egypt ; the Pentecost (ni^^Uiy 
 Shahboongoth), the promulgation of the law from Sinai, and the 
 Tabernacle-feast, that for forty years our almighty Redeemer 
 caused our ancestors to live in tents by Him provided, and that He, 
 through all this time, held his protecting arm over them, and pro- 
 vided for all their wants, and supplied them with the necessaries of . 
 life. The first day of the seventh month is, as has been mentioned 
 above, the New-year's-day, the day on which all the world is judged ; 
 and the tenth of the same month is the Day of Atonement, on which 
 sins sincerely repented, faults positively amended, and injuries done 
 to our neighbours atoned for by full reparation having been made 
 them, will be forgiven by God to those who seek his forgiveness. 
 
 But some may say again : " We will admit that the festivals can 
 be construed to mean very pretty things ; but what have you Jews 
 to say in favour of the sacrifices ? Can any man seriously believe 
 that the blood of an animal can operate as a forgiveness for his sins 
 — or rather, can it be taken, according to your opinion, as a full 
 expiation for offences committed ?" 
 
 To answer this query properly we will now proceed to investi- 
 gate, according to the truths laid down in the Pentateuch and the 
 prophets, the view of the ofJerings, and how and when they were 
 required. — First : " Did the Jews believe that they could be for- 
 given when they sinned wilfully, at the same time promising a sacri- 
 fice in atonement of this sin? And : Granted the Mosaic law did not 
 countenance such a practice, had not the Jews degenerated so much 
 
THE SACRIFICES. 107 
 
 at the commencement of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, as to 
 deem such unhallowed conduct justifiable ?" 
 
 We must, unhesitatingly, answer both questions in the negative ; 
 for the Mosaic law did not teach that a man might sin, and bring an 
 ox as an atonement ; nor did the Rabbins and Pharisees, at the time 
 of Tiberius, teach any thing like it, but just the contrary. And 
 although it has often been asserted, that at various times, if not 
 throughout their whole existence, the Jews looked upon the blood of 
 animals as the only thing requisite to obtain atonement for any sin 
 committed : the contrary will be apparent, if any man will but can- 
 didly examine the passages from our writings I am going to adduce 
 in support of this assertion. 
 
 In the book of Leviticus we find no where that wilful sins could 
 be expiated by sacrifices alone ; on the contrary, we read in Numb, 
 chap. xxxv. that no expiation could be made by a murderer, except 
 with his life ; analogous crimes were punished without accepting 
 bail or mainprize (Levit. chap. xxiv. v. 21.) ; and (ibid. chap, xxvii. 
 V. 29.) we find that no man condemned for a crime* (not devoted as 
 incorrectly rendered in the Eng. vers.) coidd he redeemed ^ but was 
 absolutely to die. — What, then, was the object of the sacrifices ? 
 how were they brought ? and on what occasions ? 
 
 * The Hebrew word which I, according to the interpretation of our Rab- 
 bins, have translated as above, is Din''. The same word is found in Exod. 
 chap.xxii. v. 19. Q'^ri'' D'hS^S HJIT, ^c. which must be translated : " He, who 
 sacrifices to any other deity save the Eternal alone, shall be condemned to die," 
 and cannot possibly be rendered by devoted vi\ih.i\\e signification it apparently has 
 intheEnglishversionof the twenty-seventh of Leviticus. The intention and mean- 
 ing of this passage is this : in the commencement of the chapter on valuations 
 it appears that every person of every age, of both sexes, has his particular and 
 fixed price, if any one should destine the value of such persons for the service 
 of God. At the end of this chapter, therefore, we are told by our legislator, 
 that to give the value of a criminal in the treasury of the temple, would be of 
 no avail to save his life, for that it was forfeited notwithstanding such a price. 
 " And was such an exception necessary to be made ?" Certainly, for many na- 
 tions used to take pay from a murderer even, to save his life ; and amongst 
 the Germans tlie price for murder was less than that for horsestealing. It was, 
 therefore, necessary that God should prohibit, in the most explicit terms, any 
 such demoralising practice amongst that people chosen by Him as his peculiar 
 treasure. 
 
108 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 In studying the book of Leviticus we shall discover that sacri- 
 fices were national and individual. The national sacrifices, — i. e. 
 those for the whole congregation — were either the daily burnt-offer- 
 ings D'TrDD, the additional sacrifices D'£)Din for the Sabbaths and 
 festivals, or sin-offerings mxDn, when the whole congregation had 
 acted contrary to a principle of the law ; as, for instance, if the San- 
 hedrin had given a wrong decision upon a question of law referred 
 to them, and all the Israelites had acted according to this erroneous 
 decision, but contrary to the will of God, as laid down in the law. 
 (Lev. iv.) The nn^'O ^'J/JN spoken of above in chap. xiv. attended 
 at these sacrifices, as the representatives of the people, except at the 
 national sin-offering, where the Elders, who were the cause of the 
 sin, themselves attended and imposed their hands upon the head of 
 the victim; and on the Day of Atonement the high priest was 
 obliged to do the same with the goat destined as the offering for the 
 whole people. (See. Lev. chap. iv. v. 15. and ibid. xvi. v. 21.) 
 
 Private or individual sacrifices were either brought when a man 
 had, through ignorance, offended against one of the principal nega- 
 tive precepts, the offering in this case was called nxDn sin-offering ; 
 or when he had wronged his fellow man, or committed one of the 
 other sins enumerated in Leviticus, for which a trespass-offering 
 DtS^N was to be sacrificed ; or when he had escaped an imminent 
 danger, for which a mm i. e. thanksgiving-offering, was brought ; 
 or at last offerings which a man voluntarily obliged himself to bring, 
 which were of two kinds, D^nSiJ^ peace and rhyi burnt-offerings, 
 though the latter were frequently offered as an atonement for evil 
 thoughts, when a man had not accomplished the intended sin or tres- 
 pass. It is useless to explain the various kinds of sacrifices, which 
 were either of horned cattle, sheep, goats, birds, or fine flour, and 
 in one instance barley meal, (Numb. chap. v. v. 15.), as these can 
 easily be found out by turning to the law book itself; 1 shall there- 
 fore proceed at once to explain the reasons and purpose of the sacri- 
 fices. 
 
 God is just and merciful to all his creatures, for He maintains all 
 through his infinite kindness, and has, as we have seen, given them 
 a law, which, if obeyed, must lead a man to happiness. To obey, 
 therefore, the will of God, is nothing more than to show our grati- 
 tude to Him by following the rules which He has marked out for 
 
THE SACRIFICES. 109 
 
 our happiness, and, in consequence, we shall be made happy, if we 
 are, in every sense of the word, religious. — To disobey the word of 
 God is ingratitude, and we therefore, by our own actions, discard 
 happiness and choose misery and punishment. If a man sins wil- 
 fully he can blame only himself for misery he may draw upon him- 
 self by his acts ; and if these offences be committed against the 
 peace of society, he will be punished by those entrusted with the 
 management of public affairs, and who are, therefore, guardians 
 for the time being, of the public welfare— that is, the happiness and 
 peace of society.— But if he should transgress, not the laws o^ men, 
 but the statutes of God, should he not in this case also deserve pun- 
 ishment? Shall the laws of God be transgressed with impunity, 
 when those of men must be obeyed to the letter ? Certainly not, 
 and whatever may be said about the cruelty it would appear in the 
 Deity to punish man hereafter for sins committed in this Ufe ; yet 
 will every thinking man see, upon a moment's reflection, that God 
 cannot be blamed for that, which man by his own wickedness and 
 wilful folly draws upon himself, when he had the power to avoid the 
 evil. — But for wrong actions done unknowingly or in ignorance man 
 cannot, with any degree of justice, be punishable to an equal extent 
 with sins committed wilfully. Yet a wrong action, a sin, has been 
 committed, and the harmony of right has been disturbed ; and then 
 man should always be watchful, always consider the bearings of all 
 he engages in, and should, moreover, make himself acquainted with 
 his duty ; he ought, therefore, to make atonement for his sins, he 
 ought to show that he is sorry for having offended his God, who main- 
 tains him and watches over him. He was for this reason obliged to 
 bring a sin-offering to the temple door, lay his hand upon its head, and 
 kill it, or have it killed, as a sin-offering. (Lev. chap. iv. v. 33.) The 
 meaning of this is : that the offerer, who wished to be forgiven, was to 
 ask of God the forgiveness of his transgression, whilst imposing his 
 hands upon the head of the victim, and then have this animal killed, 
 with a view that it was intended for this particular occasion. No 
 foreign thoughts were to obtrude during the sacrifice ; but the sin- 
 ner's attention was to be riveted to the ceremony ; and he was to 
 consider, that as he himself had laid his hands upon the head of the 
 beast, thus had he himself deserved the imposition of hands by the 
 witnesses of his crime, previous to execution, (Ibid. chap. xxiv. v. 
 14.) ; as the blood of the beast was flowing, thus had he deserved 
 
110 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 to be dealt with, and so on at every stage and ceremony during the 
 sacrifice. If a man truly penitent, thus prepared and so doing, 
 came before the altar of God, can it be doubted that the sacrifice 
 was obliged to work a reformation in him ? And again, can any man 
 gainsay that he ought to have been forgiven, if he was sincerely 
 sorry for what had past, and acted for the future as he had deter- 
 mined during the moment of Iwly enthusiasm ? 
 
 As has been said above, if a man has sinned it is absolutely neces- 
 sary that he should make an atonement of some sort or other. If 
 he commits theft or otherwise wrongs another person, it is but just 
 that he should make restitution to the full extent of the injury he 
 has done. But though he thus satisfy his neighbour, yet he has 
 also offended his God, for every breach of duty against the peace of 
 society is an offence against the law of our God, whose object, in 
 promulgating it, was the happiness of mankind, as has been already 
 sufficiently established in the foregoing. — Any man, therefore, who 
 had been guilty of such a sin, as just mentioned, was to bring a 
 trespass-offering in expiation, and its treatment was in almost every 
 respect similar to that of the sin-offering. 
 
 When the traveller in the pathless desert had felt the keen blast 
 of the poisonous Simoom, when he had expected to perish amidst the 
 endless sand, for want of water, for lack of food : it was his duty, 
 after he had reached the residence of men, to return, publicly, 
 thanks to his God, and to bring to his altar the rniD (Todah) the 
 offering of thanksgiving. — V/hen amidst the storm of the battle- 
 field he had sunk overpowered by fatigue, and been led away cap- 
 tive, and had long lingered in hopeless captivity in the land of his 
 enemies : he was also to testify his gratitude when he had returned to 
 the bosom of his family. — When a man had been thrown upon the bed 
 of sickness, all his bones had ached, when he loathed food and a speedy 
 death had been impending over him : when ho recovered he was bound 
 to proclaim, before all, the mercy of his Deliverer from death, and 
 with his thanks bring the offering as ordained. — When the seafaring 
 man had encountered a furious storm, while the waves dashed the frail 
 bark to and fro, when the master had exhausted all his skill in vain, 
 and expected, in mute despair, the wreck of his ship : when then God's 
 mercy had been manifested to him, and tlie storm abated, and the sea 
 calmed, and he had been permitted to enter the port of his desti- 
 
THE SACRIFICES. H] 
 
 nation in safety — he was obliged to praise God before the assemblage 
 of people, and to repair to the altar with the sacrifice.* 
 
 We have thus a brief view of the object of this sacrifice ; but 
 who is bold enough to call it superstitious, when we must admit, 
 even without the aid of revelation, that we are bound by mere com- 
 mon gratitude, when we have escaped from danger, to return thanks 
 to Him who is the disposer of our fate ; and how can our gratitude 
 to Him be better shown, than if, by a public acknowledgment of his 
 mercy, we induce others, who may have strayed from his ways, to 
 love, to fear, and to adore Him ? 
 
 When, at last, a man saw himself blessed and all around him 
 cheerful, he brought a peace-offering, of which all his friends were 
 usually invited to partake. This sacrifice, the firstlings and the an- 
 nual tithe of the increase of the flocks, were permitted to be eaten for 
 the space of two days and one night, but all the other sacrifices, 
 those I mean, which were eaten either by the priests or the offerers, 
 were not allowed to be eaten after midnight of the first day, and 
 whatever was left after this time, was to be burnt. (See various pas- 
 sages of Leviticus relating to the sacrifices.) It is well known, that 
 it was unlawful for any Israelite to sacrifice out of the precincts of the 
 temple, and the tendency therefore of the frequent offerings was to 
 bring the people often to the house of God, where an interchange of 
 opinions and acts of friendship could and did take place. And the 
 greater the individual happiness of the Israelites was, the greater 
 must have been the benefit arising from those meetings, for when a 
 man is happy himself, and actuated by motives of true religion, he 
 will always be glad to r^oice when others are happy, and he will 
 try to do all in his power to promote general satisfaction around 
 him. 
 
 Though the private burnt and peace-offerings are spoken of in the 
 law, yet were we never commanded to bring such offerings ; for in 
 this, as in other acts of virtue, the Almighty never intended to force 
 our inclinations, but left it altogether to our own free choice to bring 
 
 * These four eases are described in the 107th psalm, with the usual energy 
 of the sacred poets ; and all those desirous of being kindled by an ardent devo- 
 tion to the great and merciful Supreme, may be safely referred to this psahn, 
 as they must rise from its perusal with a mind filled with a holy reverence of 
 God's majesty. 
 
112 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 such sacrifices or not. He even tells us (Deut. chap, xxiii. v. 23) 
 that we should commit no sin, if we made no vows at all ; but, on the 
 other hand. He most strenuously exhorts us to keep strictly to our 
 vows, for their violation is highly offensive to Him. 
 
 We have thus seen briefly exhibited the nature of the sacrifices ; 
 but it may be asked : " Did not the Jews think themselves absolved 
 from sin by the mere sacrijice of beasts w^idi a pretended reformation?" 
 That such opinion may have taken root amongst our ancestors, I 
 cannot positivehj disprove, though it is highly improbable ; but this 
 I can say with the utmost confidence, that if they ever thought so, it 
 was contrary to what they had ever been taught by the prophets. — 
 The first lesson on this subject we find in 1 Samuel chap. xv. v. 22. 
 Samuel had orered Shahool (Saul) to go and slay all the Amalekites 
 and to suffer not even a beast to live. Shahool did go and conquered 
 the Amalekites, but took the best of the cattle along with him ; and 
 when the prophet enquired of him at their meeting after his return, 
 " about the voice of the sheep he heard," he answered him frankly, 
 that " they (the sheep) had been brought from the enemies' country, 
 and that they were intended for sacrifices." Hereupon Samuel said, 
 and I beg every Jew and every stranger to our faith to consider 
 with attention his words : " Does the Eternal find as much pleasure 
 in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of the 
 Eternal ? Behold, to hearken, is better than a fine sacrifice, and to 
 obey better than the fat of rams ! For disobedience is equal to the 
 sin of witchcraft, and refusing to comply is like idolatry and image- 
 worship." This speech of Samuel is too plain to be misunderstood, 
 for he is here correcting an error into which Saul had fallen, and of 
 course it must be conceded, that sacrifices were not according to the 
 Mosaic law and the opinion of the good amongst the Israelites the 
 only thing necessary for the absolution of sins. — This position is in- 
 controvertible ; but since the truth of the prophets has been so 
 frequently assailed, since their motives have been so often misrepre- 
 sented, since their doctrines arc so little understood : I shall give 
 concurrent evidence from three others, according to our belief, in- 
 spired writers, namely, Ahsaph, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, in accordance 
 with Samuel's address, and thus force even the most obdurate to ad- 
 mit, that the assertion in the commencement of this chapter is 
 correct. 
 
THE SACRIFICES. 113 
 
 First, as to Asaph ; the opinion of the holy bard is found in Psahii 
 1. V. 7, &;c., where he speaks in the person of the Deity : " Hear 
 me, my people, whilst I speak, Israel ! whilst I testify against thee : 
 I AM GOD, THY GOD ! Not for thy sacrifices will I reprove thee, 
 nor need thy burnt-offerings be continually before me. I will not 
 an ox from thy house, nor a ram from thy enclosures ; for mine are 
 all the beasts of the field, the cattle on the mountains by thousands ; 
 1 know all the birds of the mountains, and all that moveth upon the 
 field is with me. When I hunger, I need not tell thee, for mine is 
 the universe and all that is in it. — Shall I eat the flesh of the fattened 
 sheep ? and drink the blood of the rams ? Ofier up thy thanks unto 
 God, and then pay the Most High thy vows. And call on me in 
 the day of affliction, and I will help thee out — thus only thou hon- 
 ourest me !"* Here the Psalmist plainly tells us, that not sacrifices 
 alone are agreeable to God, for "when He hungers He need not tell 
 us, for all the world is his ;" but his chief delight (if I may so ex- 
 press myself) is, that we show ourselves grateful for his kindness by 
 our actions, and honour Him by word and thought ! 
 
 Isaiah (chap. i. v. 11 ,) exclaims in the bitterness of his heart : 
 " To what use serves me the great quantity of your sacrifices, says 
 the Eternal, I am tired of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of 
 fattened sheep ; I no longer desire the blood of oxen, of sheep, and 
 of goats. And when you come to appear before me — who asked it 
 of your hands to tread (the floor of) my courts'? Bring no longer 
 your insinceret meal-offerings, for it is incense of abomination to 
 me," &;c. 
 
 Again, chap. Ixvi. v. 3, he says : " He who kills an ox, slays a 
 man ; he who sacrifices a lamb, breaks the neck of a dog ; he who 
 brings a meal-offering, sacrifices a swine ; he who burns incense, 
 bringeth as it were stolen property as a present ; they also chose 
 their own ways, and their soul delighted in their abominations." 
 
 * This translation is chiefly according to Yarchi's commentary upon the 
 fiftieth psalm, which see. 
 
 t The Hebrew words j^^jy nnJH are rendered "vain oblation," which does 
 not, according to my opinion, express the prophet's meaning ; for he intended not 
 to say, that the oblations in general were vain^ but that they were disagreeable 
 to God on account of the wickedness of the people at that time ; I have there- 
 fore thought proper to translate these words " insincere meal-offerings." 
 15 
 
114 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 In the 57th chapter, Isaiah explains what kind of fasting can be 
 agreeable to God, from all which it appears, that no outward show 
 can, according to the opinion of Isaiah, tend to operate as an expia- 
 tion for sins. 
 
 Jeremiah confirms the assertion of Samuel, Asaph, and Isaiah, in 
 the following words : " For I did not say to your fathers, nor did 1 
 command them, on the day when I carried them out of Egypt, any 
 thing about burnt-offerings or sacrifices. But this matter commanded 
 1 them, as follows : " Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, 
 and you shall be my people, and you shall go in all the ways which 
 I will command you, that good may be done to you." (Jeremiah vii. 
 V. 22 and 23). 
 
 There are other passages in the Bible to prove that the Jews did 
 not think slaying an animal sufficient for an atonement if not accom- 
 panied with sincere repentance, and amelioration of the former 
 course of life of the sinner, if the offence was against God alone, or 
 reparation of the injury done to man — before a sacrifice could be 
 supposed to be acceptable to the Deity. 
 
 Instead now of the Jewish sacrifices being a superstitious rite, like 
 those of the Romans, Greeks, and other nations, they were on the 
 contrary intended to draw forth the finest feelings which grace hu- 
 man nature : in the first place, love and gratitude to God ; secondly, 
 restitution of property, unlawfully obtained from our fellow-men ; 
 and lastly, they were eminently useful to make ourselves better men, 
 and more fitted to receive the blessings of the Most High, whose for- 
 giveness we always implored by the act of sacrificing. — Another 
 noble feature does this law of sacrifices present to our view. After 
 our legislator had detailed in the first chapter of Leviticus the regu- 
 lations to be observed at the sacrifice of an ox, of sheep, and goats, 
 and of pigeons : he next laid down, by the order of the Almighty, 
 the rules for the sacrifice of a handful of meal, the offerwg of the 
 poor. Here we find also many regulations for, and a description of 
 the various modes in which the poor man could bring his humble 
 offering ; thus showing, that the poor man's pittance will be no less 
 acceptable to the Father of all, than the rich man's magnificent pre- 
 sent ; as we are also taught by our Rabbins : " No less he who gives 
 little, than he who gives much, will be acceptable, provided he 
 steadily direct his heart and thoughts to the honour of Heaven." 
 
THE SACRIFICES. 115 
 
 Some canting heathen may perhaps whine about the cruelty of our 
 priests in sacrificing innocent animals, and refer with exultation to 
 the Brahmins, who never even eat meat. But this objection, if it be 
 really urged, is really too nonsensical almost to deserve the least 
 notice ; since, however, I wish to proceed step by step, I shall endea- 
 vour to break its force by a few words. Well then, philosophers, 
 if you yourselves will abstain from animal food altogether, I would 
 be compelled to admit this your argument of some weight ; but it is 
 hardly probable that you are resolved to sacrifice this much to your 
 principles of universal benevolence, for all of you are too fond of 
 what good things this life affords to act so ; but even if you did, that 
 could be>no reason why we should abstain from that which our law 
 allows us. All the brute, vegetable, and mineral creation was made 
 subservient to man : is not this true ? — To proceed : in the first ages 
 of the world, namely, before the flood, animal food was not allowed 
 to man, and it was only first permitted to Noah. (Genesis ix.) Since 
 then animals may be slaughtered for our own use, could we make a 
 nobler use of this permission, than to dedicate them to the service 
 of our Maker? — " But the Brahmins?" — But let me ask you^ do 
 they not burn widows alive upon the funeral piles of their husbands ? 
 Do they not sacrifice men to their idols ? Is not in fact their religion, 
 if religion it be, more like brutality than wisdom ? — I may therefore 
 freely assert, that the objection on that score against the sacrifices is 
 of no force. 
 
 We must now investigate the last part of the introductory ques- 
 tion, namely : " Had not the Jews degenerated at the commencement 
 of the reign of Tiberius, so much as to think that sacrifices were 
 alone an atonement for all sins ?" 
 
 It is well known that the Rabbins, or the Scribes and Pharisees 
 so oflen mentioned in the gospels, were apparently very pious men, 
 for even the gospels admit this ; neither can it be denied that they 
 stood always very high in the estimation of their brethren. Can it 
 be possible, I ask, that they should have obtained and preserved 
 such immense influence from the days of Ezra to the present hour, 
 if their interpretation of the law had been contrary to the generally 
 received opinion ? It must, therefore, be admitted, eve^i if there 
 were no positive argument of the fact, that the Jews, in the time 
 of Tiberius, had the same opinion concerning the sacrifices, which 
 
116 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 they were taught to entertain by Jeremiah and his predecessors ; 
 and in consequence, that the Scribes and Pharisees did not believe 
 that wilful sins could be atoned for by offering sacrifices, or by 
 any other means save suffering the punishment decreed for the 
 offences committed. — But that this was their opinion we are enabled 
 to prove by positive argument ; for we read in Yomah, Payreck viii. 
 Mishna 8 : " A sin-offering and a trespass-offering with repent- 
 ance will operate as an atonement." — Mishna 9 : " He who says, ' I 
 will sin and repent, I will sin and repent,' will never have it in his 
 power to repent. He who says, ' I will sin, and the Day of Atone- 
 ment shall be my expiation,' will not be forgiven on the Day of 
 Atonement. Sins between God and man will be forgiven on the 
 Day of Atonement, but not those between man and man, till the 
 offender has made reparation to the other." 
 
 This proves most clearly that at no time of our national exist- 
 ence was it considered pardonable to commit sins with a view of 
 obtaining forgiveness by sacrifices or any other method ; for it was 
 always well understood, that to obey the word of God is the greatest 
 virtue, and disregarding his law the greatest vice. It must, therefore, 
 be admitted, that all the expiatory offerings were instituted for sins 
 committed unconsciously or without premeditation — or without hav- 
 ing known the action to be sinful. Trespass-offerings, as we have 
 seen, could only then be acceptable when the wronged party had 
 been satisfied ; and the other offerings were either brought to return 
 thanks in public, when a man had escaped from danger, or to testify 
 his gratitude for benefits received from the Deity ; and the national 
 sacrifices were brought in the name of all Israel, either as atone- 
 ment for sins or as an acknowledgment of national gratitude. — All 
 this was when our temple yet stood, — the temple called by God's 
 name ; — but now our altar lies prostrate, our glorious temple exists 
 no longer — and we wander about without priest, without sacrifice, 
 without incense — and nought is left us but the words of our mouth 
 in our prayers, and the study of the law, as a substitute for the sacri- 
 fices once offered up before God's temple. We hope, however, that 
 He will receive our prayers graciously, and look down upon our 
 desolate condition — upon the ruined towers of Jerusalem — upon the 
 walls of the temple blackened by the fire of the enemy — and have 
 mercy upon the dispersed and despised remnant of Israel, who have 
 
THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 117 
 
 for so many centuries suffered the just burden of his wrath, and the 
 weight of his chastisement. May He then speedily gather us from 
 all the countries of the earth, reinstate us in our land, restore Zion, 
 and cause again the halls of the temple to re-echo with our songs of 
 thanksgiving to his holy name, and praise to Him, for his unbound- 
 ed mercy, which endureth for ever. Amen ! 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 
 
 If we have heretofore seen our legislator careful for the glory of God 
 and the well-being of society at large, we shall now see him giving 
 and enforcing laws, the observance of which will give every individual 
 of the community bodily health, and greatly tend to his self-preserva- 
 tion ; and it is a fact not to be denied, that, in proportion to our 
 numbre, there are more old persons amongst us than amongst any 
 other people. 
 
 In whatever light the prohibition of unclean animals, the blood 
 and fat of those even, the meat of which is not forbidden, is consi- 
 dered, it must be evident that the abstaining from these prohibited 
 things will preserve our body free from certain diseases, which are 
 many times engendered by the immoderate, nay often by a very 
 moderate use of them. It is on all hands admitted that the eating 
 of swine's flesh will occasion leprosy in the country which our an- 
 cestors inhabited ; and I am not very sure but that its use, even in 
 colder climates, is any thing but wholesome ; but I must leave this 
 point to be settled by physicians, who are, if I mistake not, yet 
 uncertain how to decide.— The eating of blood is no doubt very in- 
 jurious, and one of the eastern emperors, I think one of the Leos, 
 issued a decree prohibiting it in his dominions, and went so far as 
 to endeavour to prove its pernicious effect, by writing himself a book 
 
118 THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 
 
 on the subject, or having one written under his own superintend- 
 ence.— Moses* also prohibited shell-fish, snakes, amphibious ani- 
 jnals in general ; creeping things of all kinds, and those fishes which 
 have not fins and scales ; nay many quadrupeds and all birds of 
 prey were also interdicted by God through him ; and he says : 
 " That it is God's intention, that we should be a lioly people, and 
 that the eating of forbidden food would make vs unclean^ and of 
 course our life would not he holy, if we pollute ourselves by ivhat is 
 prohibited.^' If it be granted even that the eating of the flesh of 
 the swine is not unwholesome in countries where the climate is cold, 
 (which is, however, by no means conceded,) we have no right to 
 permit ourselves to eat the same ; for our law does not lay down its 
 unwholesomeness as a reason, but gives it as the will of God, that 
 we should abstain from it ; and since no other injurious effect is 
 mentioned, save that forbidden things will contaminate us, what 
 right have we to suppose the prohibitions on this subject repealed ? 
 — " because we are no longer in Palestine ;" — but, should not the 
 use of forbidden things make us as much unclean here, as in Pales- 
 tine or the deserts of Arabia? 
 
 But if we even waive altogether the unwholesomeness of forbidden 
 animals as a reason for their being interdicted, which, as said al- 
 ready, can hardly have been the sole motive for the enactment 
 under discussion : we can discover a cause perfectly consonant with 
 the idea we entertain of the goodness of the Deity, in the object 
 which He always had in giving his precepts — which is, the mo7^al 
 perfection of ourselves. He wanted to train us up in obedience and 
 submission to his will, and gave us therefore various enactments, 
 which tend to call for a vigilance over our inclinations, and demand 
 a constant surveillance over our conduct. If, then, some actions 
 are at times not forbidden, and even praiseworthy, there may be cir- 
 cumstances when they may be pernicious, and to be avoided. In 
 truth, we will discover, that almost for every act permitted, some- 
 thino- else is prohibited, and thus the whole system of clean and 
 unclean, of permissions and interdictions, may be referred to the 
 
 * The reader will please to observe that whenever the terms our legislator 
 enacted, Moses commanded, and others of hkc tenor are employed, tliey mean 
 nothing else than that God commanded through our legislator or Moses. 
 
THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 119 
 
 grand ulterior reason of the descent on Sinai, to raise up a holy peo- 
 ple and a kingdom of priests.— As a further illustration of this 
 principle, the reader will please to reflect on the following exam- 
 ples. — One of the chief subjects in the law, and concerning which 
 we have many regulations, is the intercourse between the sexes ; it 
 is sin, a breach of moral duty to seduce any female ; but it is not 
 wrong to persuade a woman to marry us, and thus this connection, 
 which in the one instance is sinful, becomes in the other lawful, nay 
 even praiseworthy and necessary. But we are not permitted to many 
 every female ; for by our law (see several passages in Leviticus and 
 other places) the wife of another man is prohibited, as are also cer- 
 tain other persons who are connected with us either by the ties of 
 relationship, as sisters, daughters, aunts, and some others ; or those 
 who are connected with us through marriage either to ourselves or 
 to near relatives, as our wife's mother or sisters, our father's wife, 
 and* others mentioned in Leviticus ; nay at certain periods our own 
 wives are prohibited. And so heinous were such illegal marriages 
 considered by God, that He in most cases made them punishable 
 with death, both to the man and the woman ! It will readily be con- 
 fessed, that the permission of such acts would be ruinous to the 
 peace of families, if not of whole societies, and that they have been 
 so, even to the latter, can be easily demonstrated by the destruction 
 of the greater part of the tribe of Benjamin, as related in the book of 
 Judges, and by the demolition of Troy . It is unnecessary to search for 
 other examples, for these two are enough already to prove my as- 
 sertion. — There is yet, however, another restriction laid upon our 
 inclinations in this respect, namely that we are not to marry an un- 
 married woman, though unconnected with us, if she does not belong 
 to the descendants of Israel, unless she tdk.Q previously, from no love 
 to the man, but sincere affection to our religion, the yoke of this tq- 
 \\g\oxi freely and voluntarily upon herself. The same is the case 
 with a Jewish female, for she has no right to marry any man who 
 is not called by the name of Israel. (See Deut. vii. and Ezra, and 
 Malachi.) 
 
 The drinking of wine, in general, was not interdicted ; but the 
 priests, when they were about to commence the service in the tem- 
 ple, and the judges, before they entered upon the hearing of any 
 
120 THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 
 
 case, were forbidden to taste wine or other spirituous liquors. (See 
 Leviticus x.) 
 
 It is not unlawful to wear garments of linen and woollen, when 
 these two materials are unmixed ; but it is prohibited to wear any 
 garment made of linen and woollen mixed together. 
 
 A murderer after he had been tried and found guilty, was to be 
 executed, or in case he should have made his escape, the nearest 
 relative of the murdered (the avenger of the blood) was permitted to 
 remove the monster out of the world. It was nevertheless strictly 
 forbidden to touch the murderer, although wilful murder was pun- 
 ishable with death only, before he had been tried by his peers,* (see 
 Numbers xxxv. v. 12,) no matter how aggravated or enormous his 
 guilt might have been. 
 
 We have thus seen that our religion is intended to bridle our pas- 
 sions and restrain our desires ; and we may therefore assign this as 
 a reason, and perhaps as the only probable reason, that certain kinds 
 of animal food were interdicted. God allowed us a great number of 
 birds, an immense number of fishes, four kinds of winged insects, 
 and ten kinds of four-footed animals, besides all wholesome vegeta- 
 bles. He has therefore left us enough for our support, and restricted 
 us at the same time from the other quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and 
 insects, to bridle our desires ; and we are therefore to abstain from 
 these things, because it is the will of God. If we then disregard 
 this precept, and transgress, if we say, " what difference can it make 
 to God, if I eat the meat of an ox or a swine," we offend against his 
 will, we pollute ourselves, by what goes into the mouth, and can con- 
 sequently lay no longer any claim to holiness ; for the term " holi- 
 ness," applied to mortals, means only, a framing of our desires by 
 the will of God, by that rule which He has promulgated as the stan- 
 dard of right ; the subduing of our passions, because He desires it ; 
 and lastly, by doing as much good to all mankind as lays within our 
 power. Does not then the strict observance of our law demand this 
 small sacrifice at our hands? Have we not enough to eat without 
 
 * I have introduced this modern word in this place, because the whole nation 
 of the Israelites were equals, and no one had a superior claim to honour above 
 the other, except in so far only, as he was the better and more useful man ; of 
 course there could be no aristocracy, as long as the Israelites adhered strictly to 
 the Moiiaic code. 
 
THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 121 
 
 touching forbidden things 1 Let me beseech my fcllow-behevers, 
 not to deceive themselves by saying, " there is no sin in eating of 
 aught that lives ;" on the contrary, there is sin and contamination 
 too. — Thus God tells us — and is his assertion not to be regarded more 
 than the dreams of pretended prophets or the sneers of unbelieving 
 enemies of our faith 1 Let the Israelites, if they love their religion, 
 not be deterred by the taunts of one sect or the sneers of the other, 
 and let them only persevere and conform in this important particular 
 to our law, and when asked for the reason of their abstinence let 
 them refer to the Pentateuch, and say : " Here is our warrant." 
 
 Not alone in regard to unwholesome food, but also in other res- 
 pects, has our law been careful of our personal ease and safety. — 
 Although no evil can betide us without God's sufferance, we yet find 
 that he commanded us (Deut. chap, xxii.) : " To make a railing round 
 the roof of the house, that no one might fall therefrom." It is no 
 doufct well knov/n, that the houses in Palestine were flat-roofed, and 
 that people frequently went up there, particularly in summer eve- 
 nings, and they often spread even fruit upon them to dry, nor was 
 it very uncommon for several to meet in the Aliyah for discussion or 
 prayer.* To prevent accidents therefore, which might otherwise 
 have easily occurred, the above commandment was given. There 
 are many similar ordinances in the Bible, but it is needless to tran- 
 scribe them, as one example will suffice to prove the extreme care 
 our law takes of the welfare of every individual of the nation, no 
 matter how humble his station. 
 
 It is well known, that among many nations it is customary to show 
 the most extravagant signs of grief at tlie death of any person ; they 
 pull out their hair, tear their bodies in the most shocking manner, 
 and show other fantastical marks of outward grief. The Romans 
 employed gladiators even, (i. e. — men trained to fight for the amuse- 
 ment of this enlightened people,) who fought till one or both were 
 killed, whenever a respectable man died. This fashion was carried 
 to such a cruel extent, that — if I do not altogether err — on more 
 
 * .See Mishiia, Sliabballi i. 4, also the cxcelleiiL dcseriptivc novel, Ileloii's Pil- 
 grimage to Jerusaleu), where the reader ean obtain a great deal, and generally 
 carrect information with regard to the eustonis and mode of living of the aneienl 
 Jews. 
 
 16 
 
122 THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 
 
 occasions than one, a hundred of these miserable beings were sacri- 
 ficed to the manes of the departed. This custom was horrible, yes ! 
 horrible beyond conception, and yet the most refined nations of an- 
 tiquity, the Greeks and Romans, indulged in this and similar prac- 
 tices, and a man like Marcus Tullius Cicero could be deluded enough 
 to defend them. And at the present day, as has been mentioned al- 
 ready in the foregoing chapter, the Indian widows, from some super- 
 stitious notion or mistaken principle of affection — it is needless to 
 determine which — burn themselves upon the funeral piles of their 
 husbands. Though they do it, for the most part, very unwillingly, 
 their infatuation is nevertheless so great that they do not even ques- 
 tion the authority of their priests for recommending and enforcing 
 such brutal sacrifices. The most horrid scenes are frequently ex- 
 hibited at these suttees, as they are called, and to the shame of the 
 local government be it spoken,* they seldom, if ever, make any at- 
 tempt to rescue the poor victims, impelled by foolish enthusiasm, 
 from the ruffian grasp of their immolaters, who, during the lighting 
 and burning of the pile, make a terrible and deafening noise with 
 drums and other discordant instruments, to drown the shrieks of the 
 women as they are gradually consumed, and this very often under 
 the most agonising tortures ! 
 
 Not so is Jacob's portion ; thus are not we allowed to act. We 
 read in Deut. chap. xii. " that we are children to our God, and that 
 we are not permitted to pull out our hair, and mar our bodies at the 
 
 * Since writing the above, the author has understood that hitLerto the British 
 government would not interfere, because the Hindoos are so jealous of their an- 
 cicnt customs, that it was feared that the abolition of this practice might perhaps 
 subvert the dominion of the British in India. This may have been in some 
 measure an excuse for the government ; the greater cause therefore have the 
 friends of humanity to congratulate themselves, that at last an enlightened and 
 moral ruler, the Lord William Bentick, has interdicted the burning of widows, 
 and he deserves the greater glory, as all his predecessors were too much deter- 
 red by real or imaginary fears from engaging in the cause of this useful reform. 
 Be this as it may, the argument in the text is not in the least weakened by the 
 abolition of this custom at this late hour ; for what can be advanced in exculpa- 
 tion of the Brahmins, who at all events did encourage the ignorant females of 
 their nation, and goad them on by visionary hopes, fears, and affections? What 
 can be said of the holiness of any institution, which produces such self-delusions? 
 (May 20tii, 1830.) 
 
THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 123 
 
 death of any one," much less to murder others at the funeral of a 
 friend or relative. — The intention of this commandment is probably 
 this : Religion, at least such a religion as it is our fortune to possess, 
 should inspire us with confidence in God, and an acquiescence in his 
 judgment, and soften our grief so much, that under any affliction, we 
 should be firm and resigned enough to exclaim with the holy writer : 
 " Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him !" The severest blows 
 are oftentimes the most productive of happiness in their consequen- 
 ces, or at least, that which wears such a formidable aspect, as almost 
 to cause us to despond altogether at first sight, loses many of its 
 terrors when nearer viewed, and at moments when we have become 
 more collected, when the lapse of some little time enables us to take 
 a calm survey of the event we so much deplore. Often, to the most 
 forlorn, unexpected help arises, and the gloom of despondency is full 
 many a time suddenly dissipated by a light from above, as bright as 
 the instantaneous meteor in a dark night, but as lasting and benefi- 
 cent as the light of the sun. Many, no doubt, who will read this, 
 have encountered manifold adversities, some of them have perhaps 
 seen, in early youth, a near connection consigned to the tomb, others 
 may have stood weeping at the bier of their parents, others again 
 may have been left destitute orphans without a protector ; and yet, 
 have they not all of them experienced that there is never a wound 
 inflicted, without a healing balsam being sent to alleviate the pain of 
 the sufferer 1 Perhaps the orphan, who pronounced at his father's 
 grave the words of the Psalmist : " My father and mother have left 
 me," may have also had occasion to express his gratitude to God by 
 exclaming : " but the Lord has taken me under his protection." 
 Why should we then fear, when we are apparently unfortunate? 
 why should we destroy our health, or deprive ourselves altogether 
 of life ? if the very circumstance of our present distress may redound 
 to our temporal as well as spiritual advantage ; and when besides we 
 ought always to bear in mind, that there is One above who directs 
 our destiny. We have a beautiful example of resignation given us 
 in the Pentateuch : Aaron had lost his two eldest sons on the day 
 they were installed in the priestly office ; Moses told his brother, 
 that God had informed him that He would be sanctified through 
 those who were near Him, (i. e. — the otherwise pious men) ; and 
 Aaron remained silent, and in obedience to the divine command, he 
 
124 THE FORBIDDEN MEATS. 
 
 suppressed the feelings of the father, conscious that the punishment 
 of his sons for their one transgression would act as a salutary admo- 
 nition to the people, who would thus be made more careful in their 
 course of life, seeing that the very pious and most exalted did not 
 escape merited punishment. — Like Aaron's grief, therefore, should 
 our grief always be, silent but sincere; we should feel the weight of 
 God's chastisement, yet know how to bear — how to be resigned to 
 his wise decrees. " You are the children of the Eternal, your God," 
 the father punishes not his son in anger, with unfeelingness — no, he 
 inflicts slight punishment to induce him to mend some evil habit, or 
 corrects him for some transgression against paternal authority. Tn 
 the same light should we view whatever the Almighty may send to 
 us. If we are thankful for the good which we daily and hourly re- 
 ceive from his bounty, we ought also not to murmur, when evil 
 befals us ; have we drunk deep of the cup of happiness, let us not 
 repine, if with the sweets of life the bitterness of wormwood is now 
 and then mixed. We all must die ; death will not spare the most 
 exalted, the most beloved objects ; it behoves us, therefore, to re- 
 strain our grief from becoming too violent ; for, in the first place, it 
 would be injurious to our health, and then, it would manifest a dis- 
 satisfaction with God's dispensation. But let us not in the hour of 
 joy be too much elated, nor grow careless by uninterrupted success ; 
 but we should consider how soon our joy may be turned into sorrow, 
 and how speedily our smiles may be chased by the tears of anguish. 
 Let temporal happiness inspire us with gratitude to God, and compas- 
 sion for mankind, and let adversity teach us resignation to God's will, 
 and to feel for another's woe. And since we daily see, how brief all 
 joys are, how soon life may terminate, we should live so as always to 
 be prepared for death — so, that no vice may disturb our dying bed, 
 and we be ever ready to return our soul pure and unspotted to the God 
 who gave it — to make it deserving of that happiness in the world to 
 come, of which it is his wish that we all should participate. (Deut. 
 chap. V. V. 26.) May we live to see the day when all mankind have 
 become virtuous and good, and all are willing to acknowledge them- 
 selves servants of the Most High, and to worship Him in truth and 
 sincerity. Amen ! 
 
125 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 , We have thus endeavoured to give clear and convincing arguments 
 in favour of the beauty and necessity of that part of our law, fre- 
 quently denounced as superstitious. — With how much injustice this 
 charge has been made, I leave every candid man to decide, without 
 even attempting to enlist his feelhigs, being sure, that \\\s judgment 
 must be in favour of our laws. If we now seriously reflect upon the 
 nature of our religion, it must be admitted, that this, our religion, 
 must promote devotion to God and peace among men. Can any 
 thing more be asked, that these laws should effect ? — That they were 
 often violated by the very persons to whom they were given, we 
 dare not even attempt to deny, for Moses himself has left us un- 
 doubted evidence of the fact. We shall therefore be met by the 
 following objection : " If it be true that the Israelites received the 
 law from God, in the manner related by JVIoses, how did it happen, 
 that they so often transgressed and acted so contrary to that system, 
 which is in fact sk very beautiful ?" 
 
 It is lamentable, but not the less true, that few men are taught 
 wisdom by experience, and that the number of those is smaller still 
 who are made good by mere precept alone, though their teacher be 
 the wisest and most exalted. Even at the present day we generally 
 find, that many a man, when in trouble, will promise any thing and 
 every thing to be forgiven for the wrong he has done ; but no 
 sooner is he out of trouble, no sooner is he pardoned, than he again 
 commences his old career, and commits anew the same follies which 
 have occasioned him so much distress. This is the conduct from 
 one man to the other, whom he, perhaps, may hope to deceive by 
 outward appearances of reformation ; yet even towards our Maker 
 do we often act thus. In trouble, at the death of a friend or re- 
 lative, we suddenly grow wonderfully pious, we seem strangely 
 reformed, we view our former course of life with real or aflfected 
 
126 TIIE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 horror, as sinful and unbecoming mortals, who receive all they pos- 
 sess from God, and we determine to do better for the future. When 
 the impression, however, is once weakened by time, when forgetful- 
 ness has taken off a little from the keen edge of our grief: we are 
 our former selves again — God is forgotten — his law neglected 
 — and our calamities are scarcely remembered — we make merry at 
 what we then call trifles, and often pretend to be surprised at our 
 own folly, for having been weaJc enough to be affected by occur- 
 rences, which were, to make the most of them, but natural. 
 
 Is not this a true picture of the conduct of most men? Where, 
 in fact, is that man to be found, who is alicays mindful of passing 
 events, and regulates his life by them ? 
 
 Just so were our ancestors. They had been slaves in Egypt, 
 their redemption was sudden, and we may say would have been un- 
 expected at the moment it took place, if they had not been previous- 
 ly prepared for it by the plagues which befel their oppressors. 
 After their redemption, we have seen that the law was given to 
 them, and its precepts were contrarj^ to almost every thing they had 
 been accustomed to in Egypt. There was besides an immense 
 number of persons in the camp, who were not Jews, (Exod. chap. xii. 
 V. 38,) and whom we afterwards find (Numb. chap. xi. v. 4,) not alone 
 murmuring themselves, but exciting the Israelites also to rebellion. 
 After the promulgation of the ten commandments Moses re-ascended 
 the mount, and staid there forty days and nights. The people, par- 
 ticularly the strangers, were not yet used to the rule of the divine 
 law : they could yet hardly understand how God could be worship- 
 ped without symbolic idols, altars, sacrifices and priests ; for idols 
 had been interdicted, and they had not yet heard in what manner 
 the sacrifices were to be offered, what kind of place for the worship 
 of God they were to have ; and as yet the first-born of the families 
 were the priests, according to patriarchal custom. All this was 
 new and strange to them, and when they saw that Moses staid out 
 longer than they expected, they became restive, and were pi-ohahly 
 afraid, as we may infer from their address to Aaron, that he had 
 died upon Sinai ; being therefore now without a leader, they desired 
 a syinljol of God, which might be carried before them as their en- 
 sign uf war, for so it is said : " Rise, make us gods, which shall go 
 before us." It is said in tradition, that they applied first to Hur, 
 
THE GOLDEN CALF. 127 
 
 who, together with Aaron, had been left as governors during Moses's 
 absence ; he, however, refused, and was immediately slain by the 
 infuriated mob. They then came to Aaron, who did all in his power 
 to procure delay ; he demanded the ear-rings and other ornaments 
 of the women and children, hoping that they might refuse to part 
 with them. But the men fearing delay, or perhaps discovering 
 Aaron's unwillingness to obey them, immediately gave him their own 
 ornaments. Aaron saw now no means but to comply with their de- 
 mands, and at last a golden calf was made under his auspices. The 
 calf, as is well known, was the deity of Egypt, and it is very proba- 
 ble that Aaron chose this image to remind his brethren how ineffec- 
 tual the Egyptian gods had been to save their worshippers from 
 destruction. But as soon as the strangei's* who were Egyptians, 
 saw their old god, they exclaimed to the Israelites : " These are 
 thy gods, oh Israel, which have brought thee out from Egypt !" 
 Whtn men are once wavering, it is but a slight step to apostacy ; 
 
 * This explanation of the thirty-second chapter of Exodus may seem very 
 strange to those who have never heard it ; but, in the Jirst place, let it be consi- 
 dered, that Hur is never mentioned after this event, though he must have been 
 an intimate friend of Moses and Aaron, he being first with Moses and Aaron 
 on the hill during the battle with Amalake ; and next he and Aaron were ap- 
 pointed judges during Moses's absence. — In the second place, the address 
 " These are thy gods, iStc." can not possibly have originated with the Israelites 
 themselves, which, if it were the case, could not be reconciled to the language 
 of the text ; we must, therefore, conclude that this address was held by the 
 strangers, who had followed our ancestors from Egypt. The probable meaning 
 of these words is this : " You Israelites have, till this moment, thought that it 
 w as a new, unheard of God — ^the Eternal — who had redeemed you from slavery ; 
 but think no longer so — it was Osiris, Isis, Apis, and the other gods of Egypt, 
 who were your redeemers. They were incensed at the injustice done to you ; 
 and the punishment inflicted upon the Egyptians was their work ; they gave 
 you food in the wilderness ; and as for the law given from Sinai — that whole 
 affair was a contrivance of Moses himself. But see, here is your god, and is not 
 his image good evidence of the fact, that he has come to resume his rule over 
 you ; you — who have so long lived in the land where he is worshipped ?" — I do 
 not know that this opinion agrees with that of any other commentator ; but I 
 do not wish to force 7ny opinion upon any one, I just give it as it occurred to 
 me while v/riting, and if it be erroneous, let my readers reject it; only let them 
 not think me presumptuous, nor the explanation absurd, Ibr it is founded upon 
 the plain and literal translation of the Hebrew wordy. 
 
128 THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 once dissolve the bond by which we are bound, and we rush head- 
 long forward, without once looking to see in what direction we pro- 
 ceed. Just so was it with a part of our ancestors ; I say a part, for 
 all did 7iot sin : they had begun to doubt the truth of Moses's mission 
 on account of his absence, and no sooner, therefore, had they an ex- 
 cuse for deviating from their duty, than they followed the way of 
 error, and instead of adoring the all-powerful God, they worshipped 
 " the image o^ a, grass-eating o.t." Aaron did not long remain un- 
 conscious of the fatal error he had committed in not sacrijicing 
 himself to their resentment, rather than yield to the unreasonable 
 demands of the Israelites and strangers. He therefore built an altar 
 before the calf, and exclaimed aloud before the assembled people : 
 " To-morrow is a feast in honour of the Eternal.'''' The meaning 
 can easily be discovered to be : " Do not, my deluded brethren, 
 imao-ine that this calf is God, or a symbol of God, for He has told 
 you that he is not to be represented by any living thing ; by aught 
 either in the heavens, the earth, or the water. Apis, Osiris, and 
 the other idols you saw worshipped in Egypt, are not gods ; for, if 
 by them are understood the sun, moon, stars, and the creatures 
 around you, then they are the creatures of our God, and ought, for 
 this reason, not to be worshipped, for worship is due to the Creator 
 alone. But, if they are supposed to be independent deities, and pos- 
 sessing power of themselves, then they have no existence at all, for 
 nothinfic exists that is not derived from the God we adore. Wait 
 therefore my brethern, and act not with precipitancy ; wait until to- 
 morrow, perhaps our beloved Moses may return, and to-morrow then 
 shall be a day of feasting in honour of the Eternal our God, who is 
 your King, Protector, and Redeemer, and whom alone you ought to 
 worship !" 
 
 It often happens that good advice is not listened to, if men are 
 predetermined to do w rong ; and the same was the case with the 
 Israelites. For they rose early on the following morning, and per- 
 formed their unholy rites round the statue of the calf, and showed, by 
 this conduct, how little they had corrected the evil habits they had 
 contracted in Egypt ; and gave a warning to all how dangerous bad 
 comi)any and bad cxam))le are, particularly to young persons, before 
 tlieir character is well formed. 
 
 \yhile they had yet scarcely time to commence their horrid 
 
THE GOLDEN CALF. 129 
 
 dance, Moses received the two tables of the covenant from the Most 
 High, who then also told him that the Israelites had so soon depart- 
 ed from the way which He had pointed out to them. Moses, being 
 bidden, descended from the mount, and at its foot he met his trusty 
 servant Joshua, who had remained there ever since he had been 
 upon Sinai. The mount yet blazed (Deut. chap, ix.) when Moses 
 returned to the camp with the tables in his hand, but he threw them 
 down and broke them at the foot of Sinai, as soon as he had arrived 
 at the camp, and had seen " the calf and the dancing." For he 
 argued : the uncircumcised is not even permitted to taste the pass- 
 over-lamb, and thus he is disabled on account of the non-fulfilment 
 of one commandment only from being in every respect a true Israel- 
 ite ; and can this people, who have in a measure all become idola- 
 ters, be worthy of the whole law and those statutes, more dear than 
 gold, and more costly than pearls ? 
 
 But not in vain reproofs did Moses idle away the time which was 
 of necessity to be devoted to action. The man of God stood in the 
 gate of the camp, and exclaimed : " Who is for the Eternal come 
 to me !" and they came, who had not forsaken their God, namely, 
 the children of Levi ; and they proved on that day their adherence 
 to God at the risk of their lives. The small number of the Levites 
 is well known ; they were, in fact, the smallest tribe of Israel ; yet 
 did they singly brave the immense numbers of the other tribes, not to 
 reckon the strange mob mixed with them. But tlie Levites did 
 not regard numbers — they heeded not the ties of friendship, it was 
 enough for them to know that on that day — so was the will of their 
 God — they should strike for the glory of his holy name, and three 
 thousand idolaters fell before the swords, which had never been un- 
 sheathed in vain. From this day, however, they became con- 
 secrated to the service of their God, and war was no longer to be 
 their trade. The sword of destruction was henceforward taken out 
 of their hands, and the book of the holy and life-giving law was put 
 there in its stead : the teaching of this book, the attendance at the 
 sacrifices, and the service at the temple, were entrusted to the Le- 
 vites, as a reward for the willingness which they showed in the 
 execution of a duty at a>ll times painful to the heart that feels, and 
 to the mind that is conscious of its own imperfections. 
 
 "But was not Moses's order to slay the idolaters cruel and unne- 
 17 
 
130 THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 cessary?" — That three thousand is a large number we are ready to 
 confess ; but we assert that it was not cruel, and that the destruction 
 of this large number was called for by the most imperious necessity. 
 Hitherto, it will be perceived, no punishment had been inflicted upon 
 the Israelites, though they had frequently deserved it ; because God 
 had compassion for their weakness, and He pardoned them accord- 
 ing to his great mercy. But when they had, at the time we are 
 speaking of, altogether thrown off the yoke which they had volunta- 
 rily accepted to bear, it became absolutely necessary to teach them 
 by acts, but not ivords, that on no account could the second com- 
 mandment be transgressed with impunity ; and they were made to 
 feel that God, who is kind and delays his anger a long while, is sure 
 to punish every disobedience against his will. And since it had 
 thus become necessary to punish, was it not proper that all those 
 who had been equally guilty and active in crime should be equally 
 punished? — They, also, received a practical lesson, that a handful 
 of men, when protected by God, are more powerful than great 
 armies ; as the Levites, confiding in God, overcame multitudes, who 
 had but just chosen Apis as their god, who was unable to save them 
 from the sword of the servants of the Eternal. 
 
 To prove more fully to the Israelites the utter weakness of their 
 idol, Moses reduced the whole to powder, which he mixed with 
 water, and gave it them to drink. — When idolatry had thus been 
 eradicated in one day, Moses announced that he would go again 
 upon the mount Sinai, to pray to God, and ask forgiveness for their 
 transgression. — He did go, and remained there forty days and forty 
 nights, without food or drink, and lived happy in receiving the word 
 of God, and in obtaining the pardon of the erring Israelites. Though 
 he was told that their destruction should be the means of his eleva- 
 tion, yet did he not desire greatness for himself which must have 
 been attended by the destruction of others; and he asked to be blot- 
 ted out of the book which God had icritten, (i. e. Moses offered him- 
 self as a sacrifice, even so far that his name might be altogether 
 forgotten,) only that the Israelites might be preserved and forgiven. 
 But God would not accept Moses as a sacrifice, thus teaching the 
 world that ojie man can never be sacrificed, that any other man or 
 even a whole community might escape without 'punishment, but the 
 sinning person himself, and none other in his stead, is to die. (See 
 
THE GOLDEN CALF. 131 
 
 Exod. chap, xxxii.) Although God would not forgive the Israelites, 
 and punish his messenger in place of them, He nevertheless pardoned 
 them upon Moses's intercession ; but He also made known to them, 
 that all ornaments must be laid aside, that those things which had in- 
 duced them to sin should be no longer a temptation in their way 
 to make them swerve from their adherence to God a second time. 
 The people mourned, and obeyed the commandment, and showed us 
 by so doing, that whenever we wish to repent seriously, we must ab- 
 stract ourselves as much as possible from the affairs of this world 
 and its allurements, and place before ourselves in the strongest light 
 the power of God, his kindness, and his mercy. 
 
 Moses was after this ordered to prepare two tables like those he 
 had broken ; he therefore descended from Sinai, and made them as 
 he had been commanded. He again ascended, and staid a third time 
 forty days and nights upon the mount ; at the expiration of which 
 period he returned to the camp and deposited the tables, which were 
 inscribed with the Decalogue, in a wooden ark. (Deut. x.) 
 
 Moses now made known to the Israelites, that he had received the 
 commands of God to build Him a temple, where He should be wor- 
 shipped, and that the expenses of the building were to be defrayed 
 by voluntary contributions. The people had now an opportunity of 
 showing if they had truly repented of their former folly — and they 
 did prove their sincerity ; whatever was wanting, gold, silver, pre- 
 cious stones, in short all which had been demanded was cheerfully 
 given, and even more than was actually needed was brought to the 
 workmen, so that at length Moses was obliged to proclaim: " That 
 no one should bring any more contributions for the service of the 
 holy tabernacle." — The workmen, who were selected from all Israel, 
 and had knowledge to do all kinds of work for the holy service, 
 made all things necessary exactly after the model which God had 
 shown to Moses ; and when all was finished they received the bless- 
 ing of their great teacher, who wished them the grace of God and 
 his future protection ! Moses then set up the tabernacle, and the 
 glory of God filled it, and the pillar of light shone upon it brightly 
 every night ; and the admiring Israelites were thus convinced that 
 God was amongst them continually, to protect them, and to shield 
 them from all danger. 
 
 As the Israelites were drawinj? near the land of their destination, 
 
132 THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 they desired that spies should be sent, to see which road they ought 
 to take, and what cities they should come to. The spies were sent, 
 but like other travellers, ten out of twelve (the number sent) magni- 
 fied real dangers, and invented others which had no existence. The 
 whole congregation rose in rebellion against the messenger and the 
 anointed of the Lord ; and the mob would have attempted to stone 
 them but for the timely interference of Caleb and Joshua, two of 
 the spies. — All lamented the fate that awaited them ; they feared to 
 enter the land which had been promised them as an inheritance, 
 and they proposed returning to Egypt, where they had been slaves. 
 This conduct was highly offensive to the Deity, who, in consequence, 
 bid Moses to tell the people, that all over the age of twenty should 
 die in the wilderness, where they should wander for forty years ; but 
 that their children, or all those under twenty years old, should enter 
 the land, which had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; 
 and that farther they should not advance against their enemies, but 
 return tov/ards the Red Sea. — O strange inconsistency ! as soon as 
 they had heard their doom, and the injunction to return, and after 
 ten of the spies had died, they were all willing to go, and even tu- 
 multuously demanded to be led forward. In vain did Moses entreat 
 them to desist, for that they would be surely beaten by their ene- 
 mies ; they, however, did go forward, and suffered what Moses had 
 foretold. They wandered then for forty years, sustained solely by 
 the providence of God ; and thus was a people raised up, free from all 
 admixture of evil, for all the bad men died by degrees, as related 
 in the fourth book of Moses ; and those whom Joshua led over 
 the Jordan were all worthy of being the people of that God in 
 whose name they went forward against their enemies, and by whose 
 aid they obtained possession of their inheritance. 
 
 1 have not thought it necessary to explain every one of the rebel- 
 lious actions of the Israelites in the wilderness ; but I just extracted 
 these two to show that the unwillingness of our ancestors to obey 
 the' will of their God does not prove that He never revealed himself to 
 them ; and I hope that it has been clearly demonstrated, that their 
 rebellious disposition may have been altogether owing to the weak- 
 ness of human nature ; and secondly, to the peculiar circumstances 
 under which they found themselves. Besides, it must be well 
 
THE GOLDEN CALF. I33 
 
 remembered, that our law was not given to us to force our compli- 
 ance ; far from it, — God gave us the laws, known as the Mosaic, as 
 a rule to regulate ourselves by in our intercourse with one another, 
 and for our conduct towards Him ; and we have seen that He made 
 his will known to us with a view to teach us how to distinguish be- 
 tween right and wrong, because our reason, unaided, does not guide 
 us correctly. But having once pointed out " what is right" and 
 " what is wrong," He gave us the choice, either to obey his will, 
 which is " to do good," or to disobey it, which is " to do evil." 
 (Deut. chap, xxx.) He, however, at the same time tells us the con- 
 sequences of our choosing the one or the other ; namely, that by 
 obedience to his will we shall be made happy — by disobedience un- 
 happy; or rather, in the words of the holy book, we have the choice 
 between doing good and live, and doing evil and die. God advises 
 us, however, to choose " life," for it is more pleasing to Him to 
 reward the virtuous than punish the wicked. (See above, commen- 
 tary on the Decal. chap, xiii.) Then, again, it must be borne in 
 mind, that all the laws, as has been already said, were no less new 
 to the Israelites than to any other nation ; and it took, therefore, in 
 the natural course of things, some considerable time to make them 
 perfectly, acquainted with the divine ordinances. If Moses now had 
 not recorded their frequent apostacies, but had only given the his- 
 tory of a people, all the time they were under his guidance, acting 
 obediently to God, and with deference towards himself, we should 
 have been very much inclined to doubt the veracity of the narrative, 
 for then some wiseacre might have said with some show of reason : 
 " It is impossible that among three millions of people there should 
 arise no dissatisfaction with a self-constituted ruler, who was one of 
 their number, and had therefore no right to command his equals. 
 He had, besides, promised them to bring them to a land flowing with 
 milk and honey; but, instead of doing this, he keeps them for the space 
 of forty years in a frightful wilderness, where not even fresh water is to 
 be found." Such a nation of saints indeed would with justice have 
 been considered an improbability, not to say an impossibility, unless we 
 should believe that their nature had been changed ! This, however, 
 would virtually have changed their freedom of action, and of course 
 such a hypothesis is utterly fallacious, it being not only contrary to 
 revelation, but also to common reason. — The Lsraelites had been so 
 
134 THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 long slaves under idolatrous masters, that they were not altogether 
 free from the influence of the Egyptians amongst them ; and as 
 Moses had been absent a long while, they became alarmed, and they 
 required another leader in the place of Moses, whom they either 
 supposed dead, or what is worse, that having once attained his 
 object by depriving the king of Egypt, who was his personal 
 enemy, of their services, he had left them to their fate, under a pre- 
 tence of going to receive new laws for their government, finding 
 himself unable to keep the promises he had made them. We have 
 seen with how much cunning the designing strangers took advan- 
 tage of this feeling among the Israelites, and the consequent apos- 
 tacy of the latter, the adherence of the tribe of Levi to God, and the 
 subsequent punishment of the idolaters. From this affair, and the 
 other murmurings and backslidings of the Israelites, it will appear 
 that Moses conceals nothing that happened to him and the people 
 under his charge ; he also tells us that his government was not ac- 
 quiesced in by all, but that he was perpetually assailed by riotous 
 meetings, and grieved very frequently by the obstinacy of a people 
 to whom he was so devoted as to offer his own life a sacrifice for 
 their welfare. We have thus the strongest evidence of the truth of 
 what he says regarding the history of the Israelites, since he is at 
 no pains to conceal any thing which might induce some to believe 
 that this dissatisfaction was deserved by him. — To sum up the whole 
 in a few words : human nature was not changed ; propensities to err 
 were not removed ; and although the Israelites had a rule to go by, 
 yet could they not so soon forget old and deep-rooted habits ; force, 
 therefore, and persuasion, were both necessary to make them re- 
 member the new law ; and thus were we already very early taught 
 by practical lessons, " that no good goes unrewarded, and no evil 
 unpunished." 
 
 I do not wish to palliate the sins of our forefathers, but only to 
 show that their sinning is no evidence that they did not receive the 
 law ; besides, let it be considered, that although they sinned, their 
 transgressions were not more numerous than those of the best men 
 living at any time and in any country, if we take into consideration 
 the length of time of which Moses speaks, and their former state ; 
 and though no such crimes, as they were guilty of, may be now 
 committed, let it be observed, that the world has many other failings 
 
INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 135 
 
 which our ancestors had not ; further, that the sins of the fathers 
 tended greatly to confirm the children more strongly in the law of 
 God, since they saw how much evil springs from disobedience, and 
 how many blessings flow from a cheerful submission to the will of 
 God! 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 If we carefully examine the biblical records, we shall discover that 
 prophets were not alone found amongst the Israelites, but also 
 amongst other nations, previous to Moses, and during his lifetime. 
 We find two mentioned, namely. Job* and Balaam, who were sent 
 
 * It is the generally received opinion among the Rabbins, that Job died dur- 
 ing Moses's lifetime ; at any rate, it is acknowledged by all, tliat this patriarch 
 lived in a very remote age, and it is unnecessary for me to make an enquiry in 
 this place, if his death occurred at the time the Rabbins say it did, which is at 
 all events very probable. — Let me here once for all remark, that I am really 
 astonished at the presumption of antiquaries, who, no matter with how little 
 reason, set gravely about to determine the time and mode of every thing in his- 
 tory ; they affirm things as true upon the most frivolous data, and upon equally 
 trivial grounds reject all which they do not wish to believe, and thus it is not 
 to be wondered at, that they so often arrive at conclusions the very reverse of 
 truth. And no class of writers have been more abused by this class of reasoners, 
 than our sacred writers and Rabbins. — Having said thus much, I shall resume 
 the subject which I intended to explain. — I have said that the opinions of the 
 Rabbins concerning the time of Job's death is very plausible, and as there is 
 certainly no positive proof against this tradition, we Jews will continue to think 
 it true, till we sec some more conclusive reasoning against its probability, than 
 the unsupported assertion of any man. If we then assume it as true, that Job 
 died at the time mentioned, it follows : that the light of revelation was not yet 
 extinct, though the patriarchs, to whom this revelation was first given, had long 
 past away. We find Job bringing sacrifices in honour of God, fearing, that his 
 
136 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 as messengers, at least in so far, as to make the will of God known 
 to those who were immediately about them ; and others, as Abime- 
 lech and Laban, who received prophecy for their own guidance. 
 (See Gen. chap. xx. v. 3, and ibid. chap. xxxi. v. 24.) 
 
 Not all the prophets received their mission in the same manner, 
 nor had they all an equal degree of knowledge of divine things and 
 of sanctity, if the frequency of inspiration be taken as the test. — We 
 generally find that when the spirit of prophecy came over a man, he 
 could not remain standing, but fell involuntarily down, as Abraham, 
 Ezekiel, and Balaam. Most of the prophets prophesied only once, 
 or when there was any urgent necessity of making something known 
 to the people, leader, judge, or king ; of the first, we can cite as a 
 remarkable instance the seventy elders in Numbers, chap, xi., and 
 of the second, the many prophets mentioned in Kings will serve as 
 an illustration. — Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel have 
 left us accounts of their first appointment to the dignity of prophets, 
 and from their histories we can learn what kind of men were thus 
 honoured by their Maker ; they were all, namely, men of unim- 
 peachable morality and virtue, and ready to fulfil the object of their 
 mission at whatever personal risk to themselves ; with the exception 
 
 children had, in tlie moment of conviviality, been forgetful of God's mercy and 
 blasphemed Him in their hearts. Job lived in a district of Idumea, and his close 
 contiguity to the Canaanites must lead us to the conclusion, that they were neither 
 ignorant of Job's person nor of his mode of liie, and they therefore must have 
 known too, that their abominable conduct was displeasing to the God whom 
 Job worsliipped. 
 
 I deemed this necessary to defend the Israelites against the charge of having 
 murdered the nations of Palestine, who are said to have been ignorant of the 
 will of God. It will however not be disputed, that they had some knowledge, 
 not alone of the patriarclial revelation, but also of tlie Exodus and the promul- 
 gation of the law from Sinai; yet did they persevere in their course of life, and 
 they were for this reason alone doomed to destruction. (See Deut. chap. ix. v. 5.) 
 God sent the Israelites to drive them out and take possession of their land. But 
 our ancestors, after they had subdued or driven out the Canaanites, imitated 
 their example; they too were therefore nearly all destroyed, and the remainder 
 driven into captivity ; for, as they did that for which their predecessors had 
 suffered, they were no longer permitted to inhabit the land which had been given 
 them, because of the iniquity of these predecessors ; and thus we see that re- 
 tributive justice will reach nations no less tiian individuals, and this we are 
 taught throughout all the prophetic books. 
 
i 
 
 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 137 
 
 of Balaam, who, though probably not virtuous, was yet gifted with 
 prophecy, and this must teach us, as well as many other acts of the 
 Deity, that our reason is not capable of understanding all. 
 
 In investigating the prophetic histories, or what is the same, all the 
 books of the Jewish canon, it will be discovered that inspiration was of 
 two different kinds : the one was inspiration proper, and the other 
 prophecy. The inspired man, or one endowed with the holy spirit 
 lynpn nn whilst speaking or writing, was he, who wrote or spoke by 
 himself (but not to others) what he felt within himself to be the will 
 and word of God ; or one who wrote down what had happened be- 
 fore him, or was to happen after him, as it was made known to him 
 by a knowledge superior to that with which he was generally en- 
 dowed. Inspired writers of this kind are David, Solomon, Daniel, 
 Ezra and Nehemiah. All these men, as will be seen, were never 
 sen^ out to communicate to others what had been imparted to them ; 
 but they wrote down or spoke as to themselves what they felt con- 
 vinced to be that wisdom and that knowledge, which their God had 
 revealed to them. Thus David said : " The spirit of the Lord 
 spoke within me, and his word was upon my tongue." (See 2 Sam. 
 chap, xxiii. v. 2.) If we now wish to determine what is holy spirit 
 or inspiration, we must say : It is the endowment of superior know- 
 ledge proceeding from God as a special gift to the person so gifted, 
 which inspiration compels him to write and speak only what is, was, 
 or will be true, and prevents him from committing any error in the 
 facts he relates as happening, past, or coming, because his know- 
 ledge ranges over events and circumstances, and the nature of both, 
 as if they pass in review before him ; or, in other words, a man 
 truly inspired can commit no error, but must speak the truth. 
 
 A man endowed with prophecy, on the contrary, was a messenger 
 sent to tell to others the will of God ; he was therefore not permitted 
 to keep any thing imparted to him a secret, but he was to go forth 
 to the nation and communicate to them either the good or the evil 
 message, which had been entrusted to him. (See also, 1 Sam. chap. 
 iii. V. 17, where we read, that Samuel concealed nothing that God 
 had told him from Eli, who had even required this frankness from 
 the young prophet.) We must, according to this definition, call 
 Moses, Isaiah, Joel and others, prophets, since they were messen- 
 gers sent to speak. The prophet, like the inspired writer, could 
 .18 
 
138 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 not err, for it is impossible to think that God, who sent him to speah 
 a particular message in his name, should not have imparted to him 
 the truth. 
 
 Some of the prophets had power to work miracles, these were 
 chiefly Moses, Elijah, and Elisha, who were the most favoured of 
 mortals, even so far, that Elijah never tasted the cup of death, but 
 was translated by a whirlwmd into heaven. (2 Kings, chap, ii.) 
 But let no man think that any undue partiality was shown to these 
 men, for they were the most virtuous that ever lived, and as such 
 they were entitled to, and did receive the highest favours. — The 
 miracles wrought by them demonstrated also, that no matter how 
 great the miracle is, it entitles not the man, through whose agency it 
 is performed, to receive adoration or reverence, other than should 
 be shown to a man noted for his virtue and favour with God. For 
 what could be more extraordinary than Moses drawing water out of 
 a hard rock, or Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel reviving the dead ? But 
 neither they, nor the people before whom these miracles were ex- 
 hibited, ever thought that they proceeded from any inherent power 
 in those prophets ,* and when Elijah had been answered with fire 
 from heaven, (1 Kings chap, xviii. v. 39,) all the people cried out : 
 " The Eternal is the God, the Eternal is the God !" Thus we see, 
 that the miracles of the prophets were only considered as a con- 
 firmation of their prophecy, and it was well understood, that the per- 
 former of miracles was only the instrument in the hand of God, and 
 therefore the three aforementioned prophets could not claim any 
 merit in bringing the dead to life again, for any other man might 
 have done the same, if he had received the commission to do so. 
 
 Properly speaking, we had no oracles, but all the predictions 
 amongst us were the word of God, only made known in different 
 ways. The nature of inspiration and prophecy has been already 
 explained, and I shall now give an account of the Uriin and Tku- 
 mim, which served as a guide to our ancestors. According to the 
 generally received opinion among us, the Urim and Thumim was a 
 hohj name written by Moses and placed by him between the folds of 
 the breast-plate, one of the robes of the high-priest. All the letters 
 of the Hebrew alphabet were engraved upon the stones of this plate, 
 and when any question was to be answered, (upon the requisition of 
 the chief judge or the leader of the people,) the priest looked upon 
 
INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 139 
 
 the breast-plate, and which ever letter he saw shining forth he bore 
 in mind, and did so with every other one as it shone, and when no 
 other reflected light, he was convinced that the answer was com- 
 plete. To make this obscure description more intelligible, 1 will 
 introduce an example from the commencement of the book of 
 Judges. It there says, that the Israelites, after the death of Joshua, 
 enquired which of the tribes should go out first to attack the enemy ; 
 to which question they received a reply : " Judah shall go," Heb. 
 T]by' min^ : the priest saw the ^ shining, then n, and so on, till he 
 had seen in succession the nine letters composing these two words, 
 which combined in the order they appeared, made out the reply 
 asked for. Though this reply was very brief, it was nevertheless 
 all that was necessary, it being concise and explicit ; there was no 
 room left for a doubt or to put a double construction upon this reply, 
 as was invariably the case with oracles invented and conducted by 
 mQn. Let us for instance take the celebrated answer the Atheni- 
 ans received, when they were threatened with an invasion by the 
 Persian Xerxes. They were told to defend themselves behind 
 wooden walls. This oracle, as it stood, had certainly no other mean- 
 ing, than that the Athenians were lost, as apparently there was no 
 more safety for them, than for a man who would endeavour to shelter 
 himself behind a wooden wall, when attacked by an immense host 
 well provided with instruments of attack. But Themistocles ad- 
 vised his townsmen to seek safety on board of their fleet, and do 
 thus what the oracle demanded of them to do. They did so, and 
 the victory of Salamis was the fruit of this wise counsel— But can 
 any man imagine, that in case the Athenians had been defeated, the 
 priests of Delphi had no door by which to escape ; or to speak more 
 plainly, that they would not have been able to interpret their pre- 
 diction so as to suit the event 7 
 
 A similar duplicity in oracle-reply we find in the book of Judges. 
 The notorious Micah had made himself an image and oracle, and 
 appointed a young Levite to be his priest. Some men of the tribe 
 of Dan came by accident to the house, and when they asked the 
 priest: « If the oracle could tell them if their journey would be pros- 
 perous," he answered them : " Go in peace, the way you go is UD} 
 the Eternal." The word r\D: means here ostensibly* —agreeable to; 
 * See the commentary of Rabbi Solomon Yarchi, on tliis passage. 
 
140 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 but it also means before, hiiown, laid open, and the phrase therefore, 
 may mean : " Go in peace, the way you go is known to the Lord," 
 and by impHcation not to this idol ; true, the men were successful, 
 but if they had been otherwise, he could not with propriety have 
 been called a liar, since he had said nothing positive, and in fact he 
 could not have chosen any word so well adapted to his purpose of 
 mystifying, as this riDJ, he so adroitly used. 
 
 This may seem to some an unnecessary digression, but in fact it 
 is not. Attempts have been often made to call the Urim and Thu- 
 mim oracles, and some go even so far as to give this name to the 
 altars or other monuments, on which particular passages of Scripture 
 had been inscribed. — I should have no particular objection to the 
 word oracidum itself, which means — first, a place where divine an- 
 swers were obtained, and secondly, the divine answer itself, though 
 even this would not exactly express the nature of the Urim and Thu- 
 mim, as we have explained it above. But no Jew, who is alive to his 
 national honour, can suffer an idea to be entertained, that our mode 
 of obtaining the decision and the knowledge of the will of God had 
 any thing in common with the oracles of the Greeks and Romans ; 
 one was by the positive command of God — the others were by the 
 jugglery of priests and madmen ; — one was always clear and deci- 
 sive, and the event never belied the prediction — the others were 
 always ambiguous and uncertain, and no more dependence could be 
 placed upon them, than upon the divinations of gypsies and fortune- 
 tellers of the present time. 
 
 It will be evident from the foregoing definitions, that inspiration^ 
 prophecy, and decision through the Urim and Thumim, were equally 
 infallible, or whatever was announced in either of the three modes 
 was of necessity true. But if it should have been discovered, that 
 any prediction did not correspond with the event, it must have been 
 clear, that this prediction was not made by inspiration, but was an 
 invention of the pretended prophet. 
 
 In Deuteronomy, chap, xviii. will be found a prohibition of all m- 
 perstitioiis enquiries into futurity ; we should, namely, not consider 
 one time more propitious or lucky than the other ; should not con- 
 sult the dead ; nor make use of conjuration, or any other species of 
 fraud and deception, which was resorted to in ancient or modern 
 times. If the power of witchcraft be real or pretended is unneces- 
 
INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 141 
 
 sary to be determined here ; for if it be real, its practice is no less 
 contrary to our law, than if it be but pretended. It is also quite 
 immaterial, whether this power was practised, or even possessed only, 
 at any time since the creation ; it is enough for us to know, that it was 
 prohibited, and the pretender to witchcraft, necromancy, or the like 
 practices was punishable with death. The object of our law in in- 
 terdicting all superstitious customs, which were current amongst all 
 the nations of antiquity, and are yet practised amongst most of the 
 barbarous communities of the present day, was, as Moses says : 
 " That we should be perfect with the Eternal our God." The word 
 rendered " perfect" is in Hebrew D^nn, which is used to express 
 any thing entire, complete, without blemish, simple ; its meaning in 
 this place is therefore : our confidence in God should be entire, we 
 should simply put our trust in his protection, and always hope, that 
 as He directs our destinies as we deserve, that only will happen 
 which is good and redounding to our advantage ; we are, for this 
 reason, forbidden to dive any further in futurity than God himself 
 chooses to reveal to us. — Moses therefore proceeds in his discourse 
 (Deut. chap, xviii. v. 14,) ; 
 
 " For these nations, which thou shalt drive out, are accustomed 
 to listen to observers of time and diviners, but thou hast not received 
 the like for thyself from the Lord thy God. A prophet, from 
 amongst thee, from thy brethren, like myself, the Lord thy God will 
 raise up unto thee, to him you shall hearken." (Pay attention to his 
 words.) " Just as thou hast asked of the Lord thy God in Horeb, 
 on the day of the assembly, when thou spokest, ' 1 wish not further 
 to hear the voice of the Lord my God, nor see any more the great 
 fire, that I may not die ;' and the Lord then said unto me, <■ They 
 have acted properly in what they said ; I will raise up unto them a 
 prophet from amongst their brethren, like thyself, and I will put my 
 words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all which I shall 
 command him. And it shall happen, that I will punish every man, 
 who will not hearken to my words, which he' (the prophet) ' shall 
 speak in my name. But that prophet who shall be wicked enough 
 to speak any thing in my name, which I have not commanded him 
 to speak, or who shall speak in the name of false gods, shall die.' 
 And if thou shouldst say in thy heart : ' How can we know the 
 word, which the Lord has not spoken?' That, which the prophet 
 
142 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 speaks in the name of the Lord, and it happen not, nor come to 
 peiss, this is what the Lord has not spoken, wickedly has the pro- 
 phet spoken it, thou shalt not be afraid of him." (Meaning : do not 
 think that you will do the least wrong in removing him from amongst 
 you by killing him, for he richly deserves his fate, for attempting to 
 deceive his brethren.) 
 
 We have here before us the method by which the truth of prophecy 
 can be tested. As from a negative we generally can infer the posi- 
 tive, we may conclude in what true prophecy consists from the 
 foregoing extract. It is necessary : first, that the prophet announce 
 his prohecy, or what is the same, his mission, as proceeding from 
 the Eternal Lord our God, who revealed himself to Moses ; and 
 secondly i that the event correspond exactly with the prediction. But 
 if a man pretending to inspiration should presume to speak in the 
 name of idols, as for instance, he come with a message from Jupiter 
 or any other personage or thing, existing or not existing, which re- 
 ceives, or is intended to receive, honours due only to God ; or if he 
 say such a thing shall happen at such a time, and it does not happen 
 at the time specified ; or if he predict a thing, the contrary of which 
 should come to pass ; or if he speak against any one commandment 
 of the Mosaic law, (this being once laid down as the irrevocable will 
 of God) : such a man must be considered as a false prophet ; that, 
 which he gives out as prophecy, is an invention of his own, and it 
 is wickedness in him to presume to palm upon the world his own 
 ideas as the will and word of God. 
 
 If we take this passage in connection with what is commanded 
 concerning any one, who should advise the people or individuals to act 
 contrary to the law (Deut. chap. xiii. v. 1 — 12): it will appear 
 that no miracle or sign can be taken as evidence of the truth of any 
 prophecy, which should be contradictory in any one particular to the 
 laws given us through Moses. For in the ^r^^ verse we are directed 
 to observe every commandment laid down by Moses, and Qxe forbid- 
 den to add or take any away, and in the fifth verse we read; 
 " After the Lord your God you shall walk, and Him you shall fear, 
 and his commandments you shall observe, and to his voice you shall 
 hearken, and Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall adhere." 
 These commandments speak too plainly to be misunderstood ; that 
 every precept of the law is binding and will be ever binding \ and it 
 
INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 143 
 
 must follow of course, that not one of them will be abrogated, nor 
 any other thing substituted, for any, even the smallest, precept con- 
 tained in the Pentateuch. We are therefore told, that if any man 
 should even perform a miracle, as an evidence of his mission, when 
 this mission contains aught in opposition to the letter and spirit of 
 the law, he must be considered as a false prophet, or in other words, 
 that which he tells us must be looked upon as an invention of his 
 own, and that therefore the miracle performed, or the sign given, is 
 no proof of the truth of his assertion. For if it were possible that 
 any commandment could be abrogated at any time, it must follow, 
 that what is right to-day, can be wrong to-morrow — or, that God did 
 not know, when He gave the first commandments, what was right — 
 or, that He is changeable in his disposition, and alters the law to 
 suit his caprice — all such hypotheses are rank blasphemy, and can 
 not be entertained by any man, who is duly impressed with the 
 wisdom and grandeur of God ; for, as the Psalmist and Balaam say ; 
 " God is not a man, that He should speak falsely !" 
 
 Prophecy now, to be true, must be in every respect agreeable to 
 the precepts of the Mosaic law ; if, therefore, a man comes forward 
 and proclaims his mission, produces proof of its truth, and speaks 
 altogether in confirmation of and according to the Pentateuch, he 
 must be believed, and to disbelieve him would be sin ; but for which 
 the person refusing to believe is not to be punished, on any account, 
 by an earthly tribunal, being accountable to God alone. And 
 since we are once upon the subject, I will just remark, that no man 
 could be punished by a court of justice for opinions which he held, 
 till he had proved these, his sinful opinions, by an overt act ; for in- 
 stance, the worship of idols, disobedience to the decision of the San- 
 hedrin, or any ony other wilful transgression of the precepts of the 
 law ; and the maxim of our law is : for opinions we are answerable to 
 God alone — for our actions to men also. If, however, a man should 
 be convicted of having spoken as a prophet contrary to the law, he has 
 committed a crime against the well-being of society, and he is pun- 
 ishable with death by a court of justice, although he has performed 
 miracles, for miracles are no evidence whatever of the truth of any 
 man^s mission, if no other proof of his being a prophet be produced. 
 
 " In what manner is prophecy to be verified, if miracles are no 
 confirmation ?" To answer this question it is only necessary to 
 
144 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 consult three out of the many passages on this subject in the Bible : 
 namely, Numbers, chap. xvi. v. 28 ; 1 Kings, chap. xxii. v. 28, and 
 Jeremiah, chap, xxviii. v. 16. From these passages it clearly fol- 
 lows, that the accomplishment of the predictions is the only proof 
 of their truth ; and it matters not if the accomplishment be a miracle 
 or a mere natural event, provided it take place at the time [and in 
 the manner specified, and the prophecy be in confirmation (as we 
 have seen it must be) of the precepts contained in our law. 
 
 1. We read in Numbers, chap. xvi. v. 28 : " And Moses said, by 
 this you shall know that the Eternal has sent me to do all these 
 things, and that they proceeded not from my own mind. If these 
 men die a death similar to that of all men, and the fate of all mor- 
 tals overtake them, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord 
 create a new thing, and the earth open its mouth, and swallow them 
 up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive to their 
 graves, then you will know that these men have incensed the Lord.'''' 
 Here Moses proposed a test of his mission, by saying, that the 
 destruction, nay, the instantaneous destruction of the rebels should 
 be a confirmation of his course being dictated by God ; but that 
 if, on the contrary, they should die a natural death, every one 
 should judge him to have acted without authority, and that his whole 
 course had been a series of frauds and deceptions. — Mark the confi- 
 dence of the prophet ! He could not, in a natural way, have known 
 that the earth would be rent asunder the moment he left off speak- 
 ing ; for though such a thing happens now and then during an earth- 
 quake, 1 do not remember to have read any instance, where a 
 chasm was produced, at a moment's warning, upon the requisition 
 of any man, and closed again in a few moments after, when it had 
 effected the purpose of its formation. — But no sooner had Moses 
 proposed the test than the men, whose names are mentioned in the 
 sixteenth chapter of Numbers, were swallowed up, the chasm closed 
 over them, and they were lost from among the midst of the assem- 
 bly, and no other man was injured, save those designated by the 
 prophet. Although Moses himself is the narrator of this event, 
 there is yet every reason to believe his account ; for just before he 
 died we find him reminding the people of what had been done to 
 Dathan and Abiram, and again detailing the event in a few but for- 
 cible words. (Deut. chap. xi. v. 6.) Does now any man believe that 
 
INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 1^5 
 
 Moses could have been audacious enough to remind the people of 
 any event said to have occurred before their eyes, if really such an 
 event had never taken place ? Is it reasonable to suppose that all 
 would not have exclaimed : " We know of no such thing'* ? — But we 
 have other evidence to prove that this event was believed and gene- 
 rally accredited long after Moses's death ; for we find in the 106th 
 psalm, verse 16th and 17th : " And they envied Moses in the camp, 
 also Aaron, who was consecrated to the Eternal ; the earth opened 
 and swallowed Dathan and covered Abiram's band." The other 
 events enumerated in this psalm were then and are even now too 
 well known to be doubted ; and could the Psalmist have inserted a 
 fabulous account amongst historical facts ? 
 
 2. In the twenty-second chapter of the first book of Kings we 
 find an account of the expedition of the kings of Judah and Israel 
 against Ramoth, then occupied by the Syrians. Previous to their 
 leaving Shom.erone (Samaria) we readrohat many false prophets 
 encouraged Ahab to go, promising him success and a prosperous 
 return. Yehoshaphat, however, the king of Judah, although he 
 was found in company with the most inveterate idolater, was sin- 
 cerely pious ; and hearing four hundred men all using the same lan- 
 guage, he could not believe them inspired, for there is no example to 
 be found where two prophets ever used precisely the same words, 
 although they announced the same message ; for inspiration taught 
 them only to speak nothing but what was true, but never compelled 
 them to use language different from what they were accustomed to ; 
 — hence the difference in the style of the prophets. Yehoshaphat 
 for this reason asked : " If there were no prophet of the Eternal (in 
 opposition to the four hundred of Baal) of whom they might enquire?" 
 And there was one — one who braved the idolater Ahab, despite of 
 his being king and capable of injuring him ; but he was in prison by 
 the commands of Ahab ; as Yehoshaphat, however, desired to see 
 him, he was brought in the presence of the two kings. It is unne- 
 cessary to transcribe the whole account of Micaiah's prophecy, as 
 every one, who may wish to know it, can find it in the chapter re- 
 ferred to. — Ahab was very an'gry when he heard the prophet pre- 
 dicting his death in battle ; he ordered him, therefore, to be kept in 
 close confinement, and at hard diet, until he should come back in 
 peace ; whereupon the prophet said (v. 28.) : " If thou return at all 
 19 
 
146 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 in peace, the Eternal has not spoken through me ;" and he added : 
 " Hear it, all nations !" thus calling upon the whole world to bear wit- 
 ness, that in case Ahab should be killed in battle, (which in fact did 
 happen,) that then, and then only, would he be considered a true 
 prophet ; but if the king should return unhurt, then would he will- 
 ingly forfeit all his claim to that name. — Micaiah, in all probability, 
 was not the author of his own history ; and of course it must have 
 been recorded by some other person, that he predicted the death of 
 Ahab in the manner related above ; and if it had been untrue, it 
 could never have been admitted into our historical writings, since 
 such a remarkable event, as the death of a king in battle, must have 
 been a matter well known to all the Israelites ; the more so, as 
 chronicles were kept, in which every occurrence of importance was 
 immediately recorded ; and could any man have palmed upon the 
 people a fictitious narrative, the falsity of which might have been 
 proven by a mere reference to the records of state ? 
 
 3. In Jeremiah, chap, xxviii. we read, that a man by the name of 
 Hananiah, pretending to have been inspired, limited the time of 
 seventy years, foretold by Jeremiah, as the duration of the Baby- 
 lonian captivity, falsely to two years only. In an address of Jere- 
 miah to the people and Hananiah he said: " When the word of the 
 prophet who prophesies peace comes to pass, then it will be known 
 what prophet the Eternal has sent in truth." (v. 9th.) To prove fur- 
 ther the fallacy of Hananiah's prophecy, Jeremiah announced to him : 
 " That he should die in the course of the year, as a punishment for the 
 deception he practised by his pretended mission ;" and Hananiah did 
 die before the expiration of the year. (v. 17.) — It is utterly impossi- 
 ble to suppose that the prophecy of Jeremiah was written after 
 Hananiah's death, and that in consequence the pretended prophecy 
 was indited after the event, or what is the same, that the prophecy 
 was never given. Let us but reflect that the whole affair took place 
 before a large concourse of people, some of whom must have been 
 alive in Ezra's time, and able to decide if Jeremiah's account was 
 true or not ; but since his book was universally received as canonical 
 by those who returned from the Babylonian captivity, we are com- 
 pelled to come to the conclusion that every thing happened as Jere- 
 miah himself relates it. If any other proof were wanting, it could 
 be draw n from the duration of the captivity. Jeremiah himself did 
 
INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 147 
 
 not live to see the restoration, for he died in Egypt long before that 
 time. Now it appears clearly from Ezra, that just at the expira- 
 tion of the seventy years Cyrus, king of Persia, granted the Jews 
 permission to return to their own land ; and in consequence, what 
 had been prediction in the time of Jeremiah, became certainty and 
 fuljilment in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah ; and that further the 
 prophecy of Jeremiah bears the marks oitrue revelation and inspira- 
 tion, which have been given in this chapter, as the doctrines pro- 
 claimed by him are also in conformity with the Pentateuch. 
 
 We have thus incontestable proof that miracles were never ap- 
 pealed to by our prophets to attest their divine mission ; but refer- 
 ence was always had on this point to the fulfilment of conditions 
 previously stated, that is to say, the accomplishment of the predic- 
 tions. A similar test was proposed by Elijah to the prophets of 
 Baal on mount Carmel, to prove who was God ; — if the Eternal Lord 
 whorA he adored, or what they pretended to call god. He made a 
 condition with those around him, that the God who should send fire 
 to consume the sacrifices should be acknowledged as the true God. 
 The false prophets were obliged to think this test so liberal, that 
 they immediately consented. It need not be told that .their efforts 
 were fruitless (see 1 Kings, chap, xviii.), though they dreadfully cut 
 themselves with swords and lances, as was their custom, till the 
 blood ran down. Not so acted the prophet of the Eternal Lord of 
 heaven : calmly but with firmness did he call the people to him, and 
 thereupon repaired the altar of his God, which had been destroyed.* 
 When the altar was finished, and the sacrifice was laid in proper 
 order upon it, Elijah addressed a fervent prayer to God, whose mes- 
 senger he was : " To prove on that day to the people that the Eternal 
 is God, and that he himself was the prophet chosen to do all he had 
 done !" — And behold — the fire descended from heaven, and con- 
 sumed the sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, yea 
 even the water in the trench round the altar ! It was then that the 
 
 * To sacrifice out of the precincts of the temple was, under every other cir- 
 cumstance, contrary to the law ; but as it had become necessary to prove to the 
 deluded people the folly of idolatry, and since the Israelites no longer went to 
 Jerusalem to worship, Elijah was permitted, but for this time only, to bring a 
 sacrifice upon mount Carmel, as the practical lesson of piety could only be 
 taught at the place and in the manner it was done by him. 
 
148 INSPIRATION AND PROPHECY. 
 
 eyes of the people were opened, and they beheld clearly that the 
 God whom Elijah proclaimed is God, and that Elijah was the chosen 
 messenger of this the i?- God. — The prophet stood alone, unaided, 
 amid a people addicted to idolatry but a few moments before — but 
 now they were convinced of their error, they fell on their faces and 
 said : " The Eternal is the God ! the Eternal is the God !" The 
 film was removed from their eyes, and but three words were all 
 they were able to utter, and to this day the words D'H^isH «in 'n 
 are the motto of our nation ; when the Day of Atonement is clos- 
 ing they announce that a day entirely devoted to our God is past ; 
 when our brother is dying they are repeated, that he may be re- 
 minded, at the moment of his departure hence, of the God of 
 nature, and be admonished to dedicate to Him his last thoughts ; for 
 He is kind, merciful, and ever ready to pardon the returning child, 
 though this return has been long deferred. On both occasions, at 
 the close of the Day of Atonement and of our earthly career, we 
 should be free from sin, ready to meet that God who has so kindly 
 sustained, and so mercifully protected us. Has our life been devoted 
 to his service — have not our sins formed a division between Him and 
 us : — then our prayer on the Day of Atonement cannot have been 
 in vain, for our sins have been forgiven. If every Kippur-day (Day 
 of Atonement) has been thus through life — if every year has found 
 us better and more perfect : why need we tremble when death comes 
 near ? Can we not say with composure : " The Lord shall reign 
 for ever ?" Yes, for ever shall his kingdom endure, — like ourselves 
 all mankind shall acknowledge Him— shall seek protection under 
 his almighty power ; and when all nations have been united in his 
 service, all will join us in exclaiming : " Hear, O Israel, the Eter- 
 nal our God is the only Eternal Being !" He alone is everlasting — 
 no other being exists to share his power — to Him, therefore, we 
 will submit our destinies ; and He will surely assist us. Whilst liv- 
 ing we will pay adoration to his name ; and when dying let our 
 last thought be : his UNITY ! his power ! his protection ! and his 
 willingness to forgive the crimes of the returning sinner ! 
 
149 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 
 
 Having seen, in the foregoing chapter, what prophecy is, we ought 
 next to examine : " Can the prophecies of Moses, or at least a part 
 of them, be verified by the predicted result or not ?" 
 
 We have already seen proven (chap, xii.) that one at least of 
 Moses's predictions has been literally fulfilled, namely, that the be- 
 lief in his prophecy should exist amongst us for ever ; since from his 
 time to the present age every generation of Jews were believers in 
 the truth of his mission. Although at certain periods of our his- 
 tory religion was sadly neglected : yet were there always some men 
 who firmly adhered to the law, when even the ignorant multitude 
 had neglected their duty. Another strong confirmation of our law 
 can be found in the fact, that the more acquainted a man is with it, 
 the stronger will ever be his confidence in its divine origin, and in the 
 truth of him by whose instrumentality it was first made public. If 
 we are asked for proof to sustain this assertion, we can exultingly 
 point to the long succession of the wisest and most pious men, who, 
 penetrated with real love of God and afiection for mankind, labour- 
 ed all their life, under every disadvantage imaginable, to perpetuate 
 what they justly conceived to be the word of God amongst their 
 brethren. And what was their reward ? — Honours conferred by 
 princes ? — Worldly riches ? — No, no, — imprisonment, the rack, and 
 even the scafibld ; to be despised by heathens— hated by the Maho- 
 medans — and persecuted, even to death, by the Nazarenes ! And 
 did they flinch ? — Did they grow slothful in their sacred avocation 1 
 Far from it. The greater the danger was, the greater and more 
 persevering became their devotion. The following anecdote is re- 
 lated concerning the great Rabbi Akiba, who at the age of one hun- 
 dred and twenty years suffered the most cruel death for his attach- 
 ment to the law : — " The government had prohibited every Jew, 
 under pain of death, from studying or teaching the law ; but regard- 
 
150 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 
 
 less of this mandate did this Rahbi continue to teach pubHcly, as 
 formerly lie was wont to do. A certain Paphos, son of Judah, re- 
 monstrated with him on the folly of thus exposing himself to certain 
 destruction ; but Rabbi Akiba answered him with the following para- 
 ble : — A fox was once walking by the margin of a river, and he saw 
 the fish moving to and fro in the water, as if they were in fear of 
 something. He asked them the reason of their continual motion, 
 when they told him, it was on account of the fisherman who inces- 
 santly molested them with nets and fishing rods. — ' Why do you not 
 leave the water,' said the fox, « and come to live with me on shore, 
 as your and my ancestors used to do V < Really,' answered the fish, 
 ' thou fox, who art generally considered the wisest of beasts, art in 
 fact the most silly ; here in the water, where alone we can live, we 
 are afraid ; how much greater reason have we to fear the dry land, 
 where we are sure to die !' Not long after this conversation. Rabbi 
 Akiba was apprehended and committed to prison, at the same time 
 that Paphos was sent there, who being asked by the former what 
 was the cause of his being there, exclaimed : ' Happy art thou, 
 Akiba, that thou sufferest for the sake of the law, and woe to thee,* 
 Paphos, that thy suflferings proceed from unworthy actions !' Akiba's 
 integrity did not save him from death, and they tore the flesh from 
 his bones with iron combs ; but he suffered with patience, and con- 
 tinued to say : ' Hear, O Israel, the Eternal our God is the only Eter- 
 nal Being,' till his soul left its mortal habitation, to ascend to hea- 
 ven, to receive there everlasting light and permanent unalloyed 
 enjoyment, as the reward for its constancy !" 
 
 Need I mention the many precious sons and daughters of Zion 
 who laid in heaps, blackening under a summer's sun, perforated by 
 the dagger of the adversary ? Who does not remember the stakes 
 burning in Spain, Portugal, France, and England, the best of Jacob's 
 children, because of their belief in ONE GOD ? And they ac- 
 knowledged the God whom their forefathers had been taught to 
 
 * It was very common amongst the Jews living about the time of the de- 
 struction of the second temple, to speak of themselves in the second or third 
 person. See several passages in the Talmud, particularly Baha Mctzeengah, 
 Payreck^ Hapongalim. 
 
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 151 
 
 worship, and they died in defence of the faith which had been trans- 
 mitted to the IsraeUtes through Moses ! 
 
 In Leviticus, chap. xxvi. v. 32 — 33, God says : " And I will lay 
 waste the land, so that your enemies, who dwell therein, shall be 
 astonished at it. And yourselves 1 will scatter among the nations, 
 and will draw the sword after you, and your land shall be desolate, 
 and your cities shall be waste. " And has not this actually occur- 
 red ? Are not the once fertile fields of Judah a desert? the splendid 
 cities of Palestine heaps of ruins 1 and the beautiful Jerusalem — the 
 joy of all the earth — is scarcely the shadow of its former self; and 
 really our enemies who now inhabit our land, and the stranger who 
 comes from a far off country, are astonished, and wonder : " For 
 what reason has the Lord acted so towards this land, why was this 
 great anger kindled 1" But to our shame we must answer: " Be- 
 cause we have forsaken the covenant of the Eternal, the God of our 
 foreA-thers, which he made with us when He brought us out of 
 Egypt ; and we went, and worshipped other gods, and bowed down 
 to them ; gods which we did not know, and which our God had not 
 assigned to us. The anger of the Lord was therefore kindled 
 against this land, to bring upon it all the curses which are written 
 in the book of the law. And the Lord has driven us out of our land 
 in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrown us into 
 another land, as we see this day.'"* 
 
 In Numbers, chap. xxiv. v. 24, is the following : " And ships of 
 war shall come from the coast of Chittim, and afflict Ashur and 
 afflict Eber, but it (the land of Chittim) shall also be ruined at last." 
 (This translation is according to Mendelsohn's translation of the 
 Pentateuch.) At the time that Balaam spoke this prophecy, the 
 Roman state was not in existence, and the other nations, by whom 
 Italy was then inhabited, were not in a condition to send out ships 
 of war to afflict Ashur and Eber. Therefore, at the time the pro- 
 
 * This answer is found in Deut. chap, xxix., only tliat 1 have taken the liber- 
 ty of using i\iG first instead of the third person plural. My intention, however, 
 is not to change the meaning of the passage in the slightest degree ; but since 
 I could not use words more expressive than those of Holy Writ I applied them 
 as above. I deem this explanation necessary, that none may accuse me of per- 
 verting the text of Scripture. 
 
152 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 
 
 phecy was uttered, it could not have been understood, since the na- 
 tion to which the prophecy referred was not even in being. But 
 has not this prediction been literally fulfilled ? Did not the Romans 
 overrun Assyria and Judea? And where are these Romans at the 
 present day ? Where is the^* splendour 1 Where is their mighty 
 empire ? — Lost, lost, lost ! — The ancient Forum is now a cow-mar- 
 ket ; this place, where once the greatest Roman orators contended 
 for the victory, is buried under rubbish, and the ruins of buildings 
 which once surrounded it ! The Coliseum, built by the commands 
 of a conquering emperor by conquered captives, remains now a 
 monument of the awful vengeance which our God has taken against 
 Rome, through hordes of barbarians sent to subvert the mightiest 
 empire of antiquity. — And Italy ? is at present divided into many 
 small governments, scarcely one of which can be called independ- 
 ent. — And the Italians ? the nobility of their character has past 
 away ; and where can you find the representative of Tully — of 
 Caesar — of Tiberius Gracchus — of Fabius the Cunctator? The 
 energy of the Italians is broken ; and those, who once kept a world 
 in subjection by the terror of their arms, are now an easy prey to 
 every invader ! 
 
 Near the close of Numbers, chap, xxxiii., we read that the Israelites 
 were commanded to drive out the Canaanites, and they were foretold 
 that those Canaanites, not driven out as soon as it could be done^ 
 should be like thorns in their sides, meaning, that they should but 
 ill requite the debt of gratitude they owed the Israelites for their 
 forbearance, but would, on the contrary, be their most inveterate en- 
 emies. Our ancestors, knew better, as they thought, how to deal 
 with the aborigines than God had commanded, and they left many 
 of these wicked people amongst them, only exacting a tribute for the 
 protection afforded to them. But mark the consequences ! The Is- 
 raelites were immediately notified that it should never be in their 
 power to expel the remaining Canaanites, and that they should be 
 their constant enemies ; and this was literally accomplished, witness 
 the subjection of the Israelites (previous to Deborah) to the king of 
 Harosheth, and David's taking Jerusalem, by storm, from the 
 Jebusites. 
 
 In Dcut. chap, xxviii. we have a description of the conquest of 
 Palestine Ijy Vespasian and Titus ; and if Moses had been present at^ 
 
 % 
 
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 153 
 
 the siege of Jerusalem, he could never have better and more forcibly 
 described the sufferings of the besieged. — Of the i^owza/ts themselves 
 he says : " The Lord shall bring over thee a nation from afar, from 
 the end of the earth, like the eagle//fs; a nation whose language 
 thou shalt not understand." This nation, /erce and steeled against 
 pity, was to besiege the Israelites in all their cities, till the strongest 
 and highest walls had been broken down ; and all this was to be in 
 consequence of their non-compliance with the will of God, as con- 
 tained in the Mosaic law. — And did this not take place 1 Were not 
 the Romans a nation from the verge of the earth, v^'hose conquests 
 were as rapid as the flight of the eagle? Were they not fierce and 
 steeled against pity ? What nation did the Romans ever spare ? 
 Did they not rather break the power of every people that attempted 
 to resist their gradual but unceasing encroachments ? Just so did 
 they also treat us ; they drove us from post to post, and from town 
 to t6wn, till all our cities at last became subject to their sway ! and 
 thus was this prediction accomplished. 
 
 Deut. chap, xxviii. v. 37 : " And thou shalt become an (object of) 
 astonishment, a proverb, and a bye-word amongst all the nations^ 
 whither the Eternal thy God shall carry thee." — So we are ! Every 
 one is astonished how a nation so favoured by God, could be reduced 
 so low ; when any preacher admonishes the people who flock to hear 
 him, he points either the finger of scorn or pity at us, and exclaims : 
 <' See what the Jews have come to !" Whatever wrong is done by 
 one of us, though this one be the most insignificant and worthless, 
 the whole nation is, in a measure, burthened with the stigma; if a 
 woman of our society acts contrary to law, it seems to be of weight 
 enough to throw blame upon every one, who was born in the same 
 faith with her ; yea, our very name has been used to express every 
 thing dishonourable and mean — the noble name of Israelite has been 
 applied to designate a usurer, when usury is universally known to 
 be contrary to the law winch the Israelite acknowledges. It is thus, 
 that the curse pronounced against us for disobedience, has been, alas ! 
 too literally fulfilled, and we have become an object of astonishment, 
 a proverb, and a bye-word, and the very meanest of human beings 
 thinks, himself superior to the best of our nation. 
 
 We have here before us some of the most prominent prophecies 
 concerning the punishment, which was predicted and did actually 
 20 
 
154 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 
 
 overtake our ancestors and even ourselves to this very day. It may 
 be, that we are yet to suffer many centuries, for as yet our course 
 has not been in the spirit of true repentance, we have not even now 
 thrown aside tlie sins for which Jerusalem was twice taken, and the 
 temple twice burnt. Not yet have all the Israelites one heart and 
 one mind in the worship of the Eternal their Redeemer ; but when- 
 ever they " pursue the true path to know the Eternal," they may 
 rest assured, that their captives will be gathered and restored to 
 their former habitations — Let us consider the following from the 
 Talmud : Rabbi Gamaliel, R. Elazar ben Azariah, R. Yehoshua, and 
 Rabbi Akiba* were one day standing together, when they saw a fox 
 running out from the place, where the holies of holies once stood ;. 
 the three first began to weep, whilst R. Akiba laughed ; in astonish- 
 ment, they asked of him the cause of his untimely mirth, but he in 
 his turn enquired : "Why do you weep?" "And should we not 
 weep, when we see the curse so clearly verified? for the mountain 
 of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walked upon it." (Lament, v. 
 18.) "For this reason do I laugh," answered the wise Rabbi, 
 " whilst the evil prophecies remained unaccomplished, there might 
 have been fears entertained for the verification of the good tidings 
 promised through our prophets; but now, since we see the evil 
 coming to pass, can we possibly doubt the eventual fulfilment of the 
 consolation of Zion — and does not God rather reward than punish ?" 
 His friends were satisfied, and answered : " Akiba, thou hast com- 
 forted us !" 
 
 And not hope alone, but also a partial fulfilment attests the truth 
 of the good prophesied to us. We read in Levit. chap. xxvi. v. 44 : 
 " And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I 
 will not cast them away, nor will 1 abhor them to destroy them ut- 
 terly and to break my covenant with them, for I am yet the Eternal 
 their God. But I will remember them (for their benefit) the' cove- 
 nant of their ancestors, whom I have brought out of the land of 
 Egypt in the sight of the heathens, that 1 might be their God ; I am 
 the Eternal." — This prophecy clearly points out the protecting arm 
 ever held out over the Israelites, and never yet did God leave us 
 altogether at the mercy of our adversaries. — Whenever a plot has 
 
 "^ They hved immediately after the destruction of the temple. 
 
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 155 
 
 "been formed for our destruction, we yet escaped, and often our ene- 
 mies fell ill the snares they had laid for our feet ; and though hun- 
 dreds and thousands of us have been killed in battle— in the amphithe- 
 atre — by the sword — the gibbet — and the stake, we are still as nu- 
 merous among the nations as the " dew-drops from heaven," and all 
 the massacres have not caused a sensible diminution of our numbers. 
 Another prophecy pronounced by Moses in Deut. chap, xxxii., is 
 even now in a train of accomplishment. The last song of the law- 
 giver concludes thus : "Praise* as happy, O ye nations, his people, 
 for He will avenge the blood of his servants, and render vengeance 
 unto his adversaries, and wash away the sins of his land and of his 
 people." (v. 43.) And indeed all who have oppressed us in times 
 gone by, noiv, at this very hour, feel the weight of the vengeance 
 threatened against the adversaries of Israel. See what has become 
 of Spain and Portugal ! countries once flourishing and prosperous, 
 now^impoverished — sunk in ignorance, and degraded ! The innocent 
 blood of God's servants does not cry in vain to be avenged ; the per- 
 pretators of the horrid deeds are slaves — and the places where these 
 barbarous scenes were witnessed are hourly becoming more like a 
 wilderness, and it is evident to the most careless observer, that all 
 this is owing to the expulsion of our brethren from these countries ; 
 for since the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain has been gra- 
 dually declining. The same was the case with England before the 
 time of Cromwell ; civil wars and internal commotions were then 
 very common, and only since the days of the protector, when the 
 Jews began to re-enter England, has it risen to that eminence it 
 now holds among European nations. Verily the prophecy of Jere- 
 miah is every day proving its truth : (Jer. chap. ii. v. 1 — 3.) " And 
 the word of the Lord came to me as follows : ' Go and cry in the 
 
 * I have given a different translation of this verse from tlie one in the Eng- 
 lish version, having followed R. Moses Mendelsohn (of blessed memory) who 
 translates ij^'j^n with, preiset glucklich, that is : declare happy, praise them as 
 happy. — Again, -\33i is given in the Eng. Vers, will be merciful, when in fact, 
 the true meaning of this word is wipe off, as vji3 n"ii3D5s (Gen. chap, xxxii. v. 
 21,): " I will remove his anger ;" I have tlierefore given it : " He will wasii 
 away the sins;" and thus prophesied Jeremiah : " In those days, and at that time, 
 speaks the Lord, shall tlie transgression of Israel be sought for, but it shall be 
 no more, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon 
 those wliom 1 shall leave," 
 
156 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 ears of Jerusalem,' (proclaim that every one may hear) 'and 
 say : Thus saith the Lord, I remember unto thee the kindness of 
 thy youtli, the love of thy espousals, when thou didst walk after me 
 in the wilderness, in a land which is not sown. Israel is holy to the 
 Lord' (consecrated to his service) ' and the first of his fruit, all who 
 devour' (injure or molest) ' him shall offend, evil shall befal them,' 
 saith the Lord." Let therefore all nations be cautious how 
 they meddle witli us, lest they offend, and incur punishment. — 
 From the whole of the foregoing it will be clearly seen, that some 
 of the good prophecies have come to pass, and can we then enter- 
 tain any doubt about the ultimate restoration of the Israelites and 
 the gathering of the captives ? Let us then, my brethren, await 
 with resignation the time when Jerusalem shall be rebuilt, and the 
 Israelites shall aaain inhabit the land of their ancestors ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 If what has been advanced in the preceding chapters is correct, 
 and there is every reason for its being so : it follows, that the Mo- 
 saic laws are of divine origin, and are for this reason, and no other, 
 binding upon us. But some doubter may yet question, if the books 
 we now have are the same which were given to Moses, or what is the 
 same thing : " Have not at different times different laws been ob- 
 served by the Jews under the name of the Mosaic code ?" 
 
 To answer this question we need only refer to the historical books 
 written posterior to Moses's death, and anterior to the return of the 
 Jews from Babylon. It cannot be expected (because it was unne- 
 cessary) that every one of the commandments contained in the Pen- 
 tateuch should be found in the histories and the prophets; but if we 
 find some recorded, (when occasion required,) and those in the very 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 157 
 
 words of the Mosaic law, we must admit that there is good ground 
 for beheving that the other commandments also, though not men- 
 tioned, were then known and practised. 
 
 Joshua, the immediate successor of Moses, circumcised the 
 younger part of the Jews, or rather Israelites, immediately after 
 they had crossed the Jordan. (Josh. v. 4.) — While the Israelites 
 were crossing the Jordan, they took with them twelve stones, each 
 as heavy as a strong man could carry, out of the bed of the river, 
 which they erected in Gilgal, as a monument that they had passed 
 through the Jordan in the same manner their fathers had passed 
 through the Arabian Sea. — When afterwards they arrived at mount 
 Ebal, they built an altar of unhewn stones, and inscribed thereon the 
 Deuteronomy^ and also brought sacrifices of burnt and peace-offer- 
 ings, (Josh. chap, viii.) as was commanded by Moses. (Deut. chap, 
 xxvii. V. 1 — 8.) They also pronounced the blessings towards* those 
 who^stood upon Gerizim, and the curses towards those upon Ebal, 
 as commanded in the same chapter of Deuteronomy. — In the same 
 book, chap, xxi., it is forbidden to let a culprit hang over night on 
 the gallows, and Joshua invariably acted so. — The land, when con- 
 quered, was to be divided by lot among the different tribes, but the 
 tribe of Levi was to have only forty-eight cities, and a mile round 
 the cities on all the four sides, just so did Joshua do ; and he also 
 confirmed the commands given to Moses, (in Numb. chap. xiv. v. 24 
 and Deut. chap. i. v. 36,) by giving Hebron to Caleb, and the land 
 beyond Jordan to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of Me- 
 nasseh. (Numb. chap, xxxii. v. 22.) — In several passages of Exodus, 
 Numb, and Deut., we see positive commands given to provide cities 
 of refuge for the man who had slain another unintentionally. Now 
 let any man compare the thirty-fifth of Numbers, with the twentieth 
 of the book of Joshua, and he must confess that this part of the law 
 was existing before Joshua. — In Joshua, chap, xxii., is an account 
 of an altar built by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of Me- 
 
 * It must not be supposed, that the blessings and curses were pronounced in 
 favour of one and against the other division of tribes ; but that the Levites 
 turned, whilst pronouncing the blessings, towards those upon Gerizim, and, 
 while pronouncing the curses, towards those upon Ebal ; but in point of fact, 
 the blessings were intended for all the Israelites, in case they acted right, and 
 the curses, in case they acted wrong. 
 
158 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 nasseh, upon their return to their own land. It is well known, that 
 according to Lev. chap. xvii. v. B, it was unlawful to sacrifice but at 
 the door of the tabernacle, while it served in place of the temple. 
 The Israelites therefore sent a deputation to the two and a half 
 tribes, to remonstrate with them on account of their building an al- 
 tar in contravention of the command of God ; but the latter informed 
 them in extenuation of the supposed infraction of the law, that it 
 was but a monument commemorative of the history of the time and 
 of their affinity to the other tribes, and on no account to offer upon 
 it any sacrifice whatever. 
 
 In the admirably written address of the great republican leader 
 Joshua, we find him admonishing the people whom he had so long 
 and faithfully governed, in nearly the same terms used by Moses. 
 He even so far agrees with his predecessor, in what may appear to 
 some a trifling, but which is to a Jew of necessity a very essential 
 thing, as to prohibit the swearing by or mentioning the names of 
 idols. (Exodus, chap, xxiii. v. 13, and Josh. chap, xxiii. v. 7.) The 
 reason for this interdiction will be easily discovered by every think- 
 ing man ; it was, namely, to prevent their taking a pretended oath 
 by an idol, with a view perhaps of deceiving either for their own ad- 
 vantage, for instance, to obtain money, preserve life, or the like, or 
 for the benefit or tranquillity of others ; such conduct is condemned 
 by our law, no deception must be practised, but our conduct should 
 be open and free from all duplicity and evasion, and if it be neces- 
 sary for us to take an oath, let it be by the name of the Eternal, to 
 whom alone we owe allegiance. In the same chapter, v. 15, Joshua 
 says : " That as the Israelites had received all the good which God 
 had promised them, they might be sure, that in case of deviation, 
 they should suffer every punishment denounced, even the expulsion 
 from that land they had just acquired by conquest." 
 
 At the conclusion of his second harangue (chap. xxiv. v. 15 — 16,) 
 Joshua proposed to the people a choice of worship, either to serve 
 the Eternal, or the idols worshipped by the ancestors of Abraham in 
 Chaldea, or the gods of the Amorites, " but " said he, " 1 and my 
 family will serve the Eternal." — It was therefore left to the people, 
 for the third time, to accept or reject the books of Moses ; but then 
 no sucli thing as doubting existed, they were all too much convinced 
 .of the truth of what they had seen, and thus they spoke : " Far be 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 159^ 
 
 it from us to forsake the Eternal, to serve other gods. For it is the 
 Eternal our God, who has brought us and our fathers out of Egypt, 
 from the house of slavery, and who has done before our eyes these 
 great wonders, and preserved us in all the way we travelled, and 
 amongst all the nations we passed through ; and He, the Eternal, 
 has driven out all the nations and the Amorites, the inhabitants of 
 this land, before us : the Eternal then we also will serve^ for HE IS 
 OUR GOD." Joshua again reminded them, that the worship of God 
 was not so easy a matter, for that He is careful of his honour, and 
 never suffers sins to remain unpunished, because He is holy. They 
 again assented, though they were now, if they were even not so be- 
 fore, fully convinced that they would be certainly punished if they 
 sinned. — Joshua then addressed them : " You are witnesses against 
 yourselves, that you have chosen yourselves the Eternal, to serve 
 Him ;" to this they answered : " We are witnesses ;" they presently 
 added*: " The Eternal our God we will serve, and his voice we will 
 obey !" Joshua added all the above to the book of the law of God, 
 and erected a stone as a monument, and said : " This stone shall be 
 a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Eternal, 
 which He has spoken with us ; — let it be an evidence against you, 
 lest you deny your God !" — This is the substance of the last address 
 of Joshua; let it not however be supposed, that he meant to assert, 
 that the stone had actually heard the words spoken ; but that the 
 expression is employed figuratively, to indicate to posterity, when- 
 ever they should see this stone, that their ancestors willingly entered 
 into the covenant, becavse they had seen all before them,- so that 
 there was no room to doubt, and thus the stone would serve in fact 
 every purpose, as if it had heard all and communicated its knowledge 
 to those who saw it. 
 
 From the above we can draw the following incontestable infer- 
 ences : first, that the Mosaic books existed before Joshua obtained' 
 his office of judge ; or what is the same, that they were written by 
 Moses himself, for who else could have done it ? Secondly, that 
 Joshua added his own book to the first part of our canon, and it is 
 therefore authentic, having been written by an eye-witness of the- 
 facts it contains. And lastly, that at the time of Joshua's deatb 
 the Israelites adhered firmly to the laws derived from Sinai, and 
 that the third generation from the Exodus willingly accepted these 
 
 # 
 
160 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 laws as their code, and the Eternal as their God, having been con* 
 vinced of the truth and correctness of the Pentateuch by the fulfil- 
 ment of the predictions it contains, relative to the conquests of 
 Palestine ; and being impressed with a firm conviction of the exist- 
 ence of the Eternal and his almighty power, having so largely par- 
 taken of his goodness, kindness, and protection, in all the trynig 
 scenes of their history, from the first mission of Moses down to the 
 time of which we are speaking. 
 
 There are, besides those already enumerated, several other coinci- 
 •dences between the book of Joshua and the Pentateuch, of which, how- 
 ever, I shall only mention the observance of the Passover-feast (chap. 
 V.) whilst the Israelites were at Gilgal. — We must now examine the 
 book of Judges, in which we find several instances recorded, in which 
 the Mosaic law was observed. — Immediately in the commencement 
 we find, that the people asked advice through the Urim and Thu- 
 mim. — The messenger, who came to Bochim to announce to the 
 people that their conduct had been displeasing to God, made use of 
 language similar to Moses in the thirty-third chapter of Numbers. 
 Samson was, by a special message, dedicated to God as a Nazarite 
 n'TJ, and he was ordered strictly to observe the regulations laid down 
 for the conduct of a person thus consecrated, which consecration 
 was always voluntary on the part of the Nazarite himself, except 
 in the instances of Samson and Samuel. (Numb. chap, vi.) — Gideon, 
 when he had been appointed by the messenger of God to effect the 
 liberation of his fellow-citizens from the yoke of their enemies 
 (Judges, chap, vi.), was commanded to cut down the trees, and to 
 break the altar used for the worship of Baal, conformably to the 
 repeated commandments in relation to idolatry. (Numb, xxxiii. and 
 other places.) — Adultery was an unheard of thing in the latter times 
 of the Judges ; and the commitment of such an act was sufficient 
 cause to induce the whole nation to take up arms against the tribe 
 of Benjamin, upon their refusal to deliver up to punishment the per- 
 petrators of this horrible outrage. (Judges, chap, xx.) 
 
 Not only are there confirmations to be found in the book of 
 Judges of the imperative, but also of the historical parts of our law. 
 I allude, in the first place, to the passage in the song of Deborah 
 (chap. V. v. 4 — 5,) in which she plainly refers to the promulgation 
 of tlie law from Sinai ; and the language employed bears a close re- 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 161 
 
 semblance to the beautiful passage in the thirty-third chapter of 
 Deuteronomy. — In the second place, I wish to direct the attention 
 of the reader to the letter of Yiphtach (Jephthah) to the king of 
 the Ammonites. (Judg. chap, xi.) Here Yiphtach, who had been 
 chosen commander against the invader, expostulates with the latter 
 about his unjust irruption into Palestine. He recapitulates in a few 
 words the history of the conquest of the country on the east side of 
 the Jordan, as a justification of its being possessed by the Israelites. 
 He further states, that it had remained in their possession for three 
 hundred years> and if the Ammonites had had any right to it, they 
 would surely have claimed it in all this time. — From this letter of 
 the Hebrew general we must infer, that three hundred years after 
 Moses his history was yet believed not alone by the Hebrews, but 
 was even offered in argument to a heathen king ; which could not 
 have been done if the matter in debate had not been known to this 
 king^from sources other than the Hebrew writings. For, what 
 would the story avail which Yiphtach tells, if the king could have 
 answered : " All these things are new to me, and 1 do not believe 
 you 1" But since Yiphtach appeals to the facts which he relates in 
 such a confident and triumphant manner, it must be admitted, that 
 the history of the conquest of Palestine, as related by Moses and 
 Joshua, is the authentic account of this event ; and that further it 
 was a matter of general notoriety amongst the nations bordering 
 upon Palestine. 
 
 The book of Ruth, the history of which is contemporaneous with 
 that of the Judges, affords other instances of the observance of seve- 
 ral other Mosaic precepts ; namely, the redemption of the land of 
 poor relatives, (Lev. chap. xxv. v. 25,) the espousal of the relict of 
 a near connection, (Deut. chap. xxv. v. 5,) and the leaving of things 
 forgotten in the field for the benefit of the poor and tlie stranger. 
 (Lev. chap, xxiii. v. 22, and Deut. chap. xxiv. v. 19.) Besides the ob- 
 servance of the written precepts, we discover the custom of con- 
 firming a sale, bargain, or contract, by one party pulling off his 
 shoe and presenting it to the other, which custom, only in a different 
 manner, is yet observed amongst us ; namely, one party takes hold 
 of the corner of a garment, and presents it to the other to lay hold 
 of in the same manner, and this ceremony concludes the contract. 
 This custom, recorded in Ruth, is the first example on record of 
 21 
 
162 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 traditional or rabbinical law, and deserves for this reason particular 
 attention. 
 
 Having thus taken a cursory view of the three oldest books after 
 Moses's, we will next examine the books known as the first and se- 
 cond of Samuel and the two books of Kings. In the very outset of 
 the first of these books we find, that Elkanah, the father of Samuel, 
 made his annual pilgrimages to the tabernacle of assembly at Shiloh, 
 in conformity with the injunction three times repeated in the Mosaic 
 law, to sacrifice the offerings of the seasons and those which he 
 voluntarily offered. — We also see in the same chapter exemplified 
 the most approved mode of praying ; and further, that the heartfelt 
 prayer, though scarcely audible, is that most acceptable to the 
 Deity. — In the second chapter we have undoubted proof, that the 
 doctrine of the resurrection of the body was universally known 
 amongst the Israelites, since Hannah employed this assertion in her 
 song of thanksgiving, after she had presented her son to the high- 
 priest. Another interesting subject can be established by this song, 
 that poetry was an accomplishment not unusual amongst our ances- 
 tors, since we see females inditing songs of praise, (Hannah and 
 Deborah,) and, of course, a nation, where such exalted sentiments 
 as used by tJiese two Hebrew females were common, must have 
 reached a high state of civilisation. — In Numbers, chap. vi. v. 19, 
 we read, that the priest was not entitled to take his share of the 
 sacrifice, till it was boiling in the pot ; and in 1 Samuel, chap. ii. 
 V. 15 — 17, we find, that the two sons of Eli are censured for in- 
 fringing this regulation by demanding the priest's portion, while the 
 meat was yet raw. — In the fourth and sixth chapters we have some 
 curious and important facts relative to the truth of the history of 
 Moses, nanaely, that the Philistines were acquainted with the many 
 plagues the Egyptians had suffered on account of the oppression 
 they imposed upon the Hebrews. — In chap. vii. v. 6, is a confirma- 
 tion of the truth of tradition, with regaid to the pouring out of 
 water on the feast of Tabernacles ; for in this verse we read, that 
 they poured ovt water before the Lord ; that they also fasted that 
 day, and said there : " We have sinned against the Lord ;" and that 
 Samuel held judgment over the Israelites. We must infer from this, 
 that the sacrifice of water was a custom sanctioned by the earliest 
 authorities posterior to Moses — that on the days of fasting the peo- 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 163 
 
 pie made confession of their sins in addresses to God — and that 
 restitution was made for any wrong done by man to man, for we 
 read that Samuel sat in judgment. Does this not prove the anti- 
 quity of the fast-days amongst the Jews, and of the customs ob- 
 served on such occasions ? 
 
 After Saul had been chosen by lot as head of the nation, he being 
 the man whom God had chosen, (Deut. chap. xvii. v. 15,) (which 
 was at the same time recorded, 1 Sam. chap. x. v. 25,) he was des- 
 pised by the worthless part of the people, who said contemptuously : 
 *' What good can this one do us f they brought him no presents, 
 as is yet customary in the East, but it is recorded to Saul's honour, 
 that he took no notice of this intentional insult. And now mark the 
 simplicity of those days ; the man chosen from amongst all the na- 
 tion to be their leader and chief, had just returned from his work in 
 the field, when he heard the lamentations of the people on account 
 of tlie irruption of the king of the Ammonites. But the hero was 
 filled with more than natural courage, and he assembled all the peo- 
 ple to follow him and Samuel to battle. They conquered under the 
 guidance of Saul ; and when the people threatened with death every 
 one who should refuse to acknowledge him, he forbade the harming 
 of any one on that account, " for the Eternal had given assistance 
 to Israel on that day." — It will appear from this whole account, that 
 the Israelites followed strictly in the choice of their king the rule 
 laid down in Deut. chap. xvii. v. 15. — In the twelfth chapter of first 
 Samuel will be found the address of Samuel to the people after Saul 
 was finally chosen ; here the prophet recapitulates the history of the 
 Jews according to Moses's account of them ; and we have thus for 
 the hundredth time 'positive mi^ incontestable proof, that the book of 
 Exodus and the history of that and of the subsequent times were 
 known and recorded amongst the Jews, and that the prophets fre- 
 quently referred to these events as undoubted and undeniable. We 
 further learn from the twenty-third verse of the same chapter, that 
 however wrong the people may have acted, the pious man is not au- 
 thorised to withhold praying for them and teaching them the icay of 
 right, and in this respect we see that Samuel imitated Moses ; and 
 if we compare the lives of these two men, unsurpassed by any men 
 of any age, we must acknowledge that Samuel must have known the 
 history of Moses, and followed him as a prototype. — In the four- 
 
164 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 teenth cliapter we have an account of the mode of slaughtering cat- 
 tle for the use of the people (i. e. not for sacrifices) ; and we shall 
 discover, on examination, that the custom amongst us of cutting the 
 throat of the beasts is conformable to ancient usage, and according 
 to the allusion contained in Deut. chap. xii. v. 21. 
 
 Though it may not be altogether relevant to the subject under 
 consideration, I cannot omit to notice what is said in the twentieth 
 chapter about the days of the new-moon. We find related, that the 
 two first days of the month were celebrated in the palace of Saul, as 
 is done yet at this time, (and of these two days, the first is considered 
 as belonging to the past, and the second to the new month,) which, 
 proves that our mode of calculating time is of the highest antiquity. 
 From the 26th verse of this chapter it appears that the laws rela- 
 tive to clean and unclean, as laid down by Moses in Leviticus and 
 elsewhere, were practised, and therefore must have been known in 
 the days of Samuel and Saul. According to chap. xxi. v. 7, the 
 commandment relative to the show bread (Lev. chap. xxiv. v. 8,) 
 was known and practised in those days, and in the twenty-eighth 
 chapter it is recorded that Saul had removed all wizards out of the 
 land, agreeably to Lev. chap. xx. v. 27, and several other passages 
 in the Pentateuch. 
 
 As the second book of Samuel contains but few illustrations of 
 the mode of worship amongst our ancestors, and of the manner in 
 which they observed the law, 1 shall commence at once with the 
 first book of Kings. — In chap. ii. v. 30, we read, that Joab who, 
 though he was the greatest general of that or perhaps any other age, 
 had committed two murders, which he perhaps did not consider in 
 that light, fled to the altar of the Lord as to a place of refuge ; he 
 refused to leave the sanctuary, and was therefore killed where he 
 was, conformably to Exodus, chap. xxi. v. 14. — Chapter vii. v. 60, 
 we read that Solomon made the vessels of the temple in the manner 
 laid down by Moses. (Exo. chap. xxv. v. 38, and ibid. chap, xxvii. 
 v. 3.) — The tables of the covenant were in the ark (1 Kings, chap, 
 viii. V. 9,) as related by Moses. (Exodus chap. xl. v. 20.) — The fes- 
 tivals also were known and observed, as we are told in 1 Kings chap. 
 viii. V. 65, since we are informed there, that Solomon and all Israel 
 with him, observed the feast (of Tabernacles), and further, that in- 
 stead of eight they celebrated fovrtcen days, the additional six no 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 165 
 
 doubt in honour of the consecration of the house. — In chap. xi. v. 1, 
 Solomon is censured for marrying females not belonging to his na- 
 tion. (SeeDeut. chap. vii. v. 3 — 4.) — In chap. xiv. v. 15, the wife of 
 Jereboam was notified by the blind prophet of Shiloh that the nation 
 should be driven out of their land and sent beyond the river Eu- 
 phrates, for their disobedience. (Deut. chap. xi. v. 16 — 17.) In the 
 same chapter v. 24, is recorded, among other crimes committed by 
 the tribe of Judah, their infraction of the commandment found in 
 Deut. chap, xxiii. v. 18. We read in the first verse of the seven- 
 teenth chapter, that Elijah, surnamed Thishby,* swore by the Eternal 
 God, whose servant he was, that there should be neither dew nor rain 
 for three years, as was threatened by Moses. (Deut. chap. xi. v- 17.) 
 Let us pause here a little, and look at the fearless messenger of God, 
 who despising all worldly comforts, and clothed in a garment made of 
 hair, with a thong of leather for a girdle, advanced boldly to carry 
 the message of the Eternal his God to that king, who more than 
 any other of his predecessors despised and persecuted the messen- 
 gers of the true God. — In the conclusion of the sixteenth chapter we 
 are informed that a man by the name of Chiale rebuilt Yericho, 
 but that all his children died, as Joshua the son of Nun had foretold. f 
 We are told in tradition, that Achab, who pretended to disbelieve 
 Moses, said to Elijah : " See here, the curse of the scholar, Joshua, 
 is fulfilled, whilst that of the master, Moses, and his predictions, are 
 not verified by the event ; for did he not say, that when the Israel- 
 ites should become idolatrous, there should be no rain, and are we 
 not blessed with plenty, though we worship what Moses calls idols V 
 It was then that Elijah swore the dreadful oath, and the prediction 
 of Moses was verified to the fullest extent ; for three years no rain 
 fell to enrich the worn-out land, and the parched soil was not refreshed 
 by the gentle dews of heaven. — During all this time the most pious 
 of mankind was obliged to conceal himself, for his exposing himself 
 then would have answered no good purpose, save to irritate the more 
 strongly the hatred of the sinful king of the Israelites ; but when 
 the time of his prediction was drawing to a close, Elijah again ap- 
 peared before the king, and after having demonstrated the greatness 
 
 * The same prophet spoken of above, chap. xxi. 
 t See Joshua, chap. vi. v. 26. 
 
166 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 and the truth of the Eternal, the God of Israel, rain again visited the 
 land which was suffering from severe famine. I have already ex- 
 plained (chap, xxi.) the sacrifice of Elijah upon Carmel, immediately 
 after which he ordered the prophets of Baal to be killed and none 
 escaped. (Deut. chap. xvii. v. 5.) Again w^as Elijah threatened by 
 Izabel, the wicked wife of the wicked Achab ; but he was protected 
 by God and escaped to Horeb, the mount from which the law 
 had been given. — Achab had endeavoured to dispossess Naboth 
 peaceably of his paternal inheritance ; but this noble Israehte refused 
 to act contrary to the law of Moses, (Lev. chap. xxv. v. 23, and 
 Numb. chap, xxxvi. v. 9,) though he must have known, that a man 
 so regardless of all moral and religious duties, who moreover was in 
 a measure governed by a wife even more than himself addicted to 
 all sinful passions and desires, would not stop at any thing to obtain 
 that which he desired. — In short, Naboth was killed, as we are in- 
 formed in 1 Kings, chap. xxi. ; and when Achab went to take pos- 
 session of the land acquired in so illegal a manner, he was met by 
 Elijah, who then communicated to him the downfal and utter de- 
 struction of his house. — Let the reader notice that it was Elijah, 
 who carried this message to the king, before whom he was flying, 
 and we thus have the strongest and clearest possible evidence, that 
 Elijah was one of those prophets like Moses, whom God had promised 
 to raise up unto Israel, (Deut. chap, xviii. v. 18,) who were to be 
 fearless of consequences and only intent upon executing the will of 
 Heaven ; and this was also clearly exemplified by the perilous reply 
 of the prophet Amos, to the idolatrous priest Amaziah, as he boldly 
 declared his intention of not complying with the command of the 
 latter, although his life was thereby put in jeopardy. (See Amos, 
 chap. vii. v. 16.) 
 
 After Elijah had been taken to heaven, his disciple Elisha was 
 the acknowledged prophet, and before him all the worshippers of 
 idols quailed, no less heathens than the sinners of Israel, for all were 
 afraid to injure the exalted man through whom God spoke. — A wo- 
 man in Shunam had been blessed with a son, as Elisha had promised 
 her; this child died, and the Shunamith, (i. e. a female resident of 
 Shunam,) concealing this mournful occurrence from her husband, 
 prepared to go to the man of God. Her husband, not knowing the 
 cause of her sudden departure, asked her: "Why she would go that 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 167 
 
 day, since it was neither new-moon nor Sabbath ?" I do not think 
 that there is any mention made of the Sabbath in any passage pre- 
 ceding this, and we have here at least satisfactory evidence, that the 
 Sabbath was not alone known before the Babylonian captivity, but 
 that on this day the people resorted to the prophets, and since the 
 prophets taught the laws of God, we may also add, that in all pro- 
 bability other men were visited, who, though not prophets, taught 
 the life dispensing words of the law. — The Shunamith gave her hus- 
 band an evasive answer, and sought out the prophet, upon whose 
 intercession the dead child was revived, and restored in this manner 
 by the manifest help of God to its overjoyed mother. (2 Kings, 
 chap, iv.) 
 
 In the thirteenth chapter is recorded the death of Elisha, and that 
 the king of Mesopotamia did the Israelites much mischief; but it is 
 said, V. 23 : " That God had compassion on them on account of his 
 covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so that He would not de- 
 stroy them altogether." Let the reader compare this verse with 
 Moses's prophecy in Leviticus, chap. xxvi. v. 42 — 45, and then de- 
 termine whether or not the writer* of the second book of Kings was 
 acquainted with the present Pentateuch. 1 am well aware that the 
 
 * I am unable to determine who is the author of the book, of which we are 
 now treating, though it must be either Jeremiah, Baruch, or some one of their 
 contemporaries and friends ; for this reason : this and the book of the prophecies 
 of Jeremiah both conclude with an account of Jeconiah's being greatly favoured 
 by Eveel Merodoch the successor of Nebuchadnezzar ; no mention whatever is 
 made of Ezra, Daniel, or Zerubabel, nor of the return of the captives, and we 
 must therefore conclude that the writer of this book must have been ignorant of 
 the fulfilment of Jeremiah's prophecy, and of course that it must have been ex- 
 isting in its present state previous to Ezra, who, therefore, could have had 
 no agency whatever in compiling this or any of the preceding books. — It may 
 be, that it was written by different persons, or rather that Jeremiah or Baruch 
 compiled it from authentic sources ; as upon referring to chap, xix. v. 20, will 
 be found a passage purporting to be a prophecy of Isaiah. Now the manner of 
 Isaiah is so very unique and his style so sublime, that no one can mistake its 
 authenticity ; in fact, it is the same, with some few verbal differences, with the 
 thirty-seventh chapter of the book of the prophecies of Isaiah. — He was an eye- 
 witness of the events lie relates in his book, and it lias accordingly the strongest 
 claims to be generally accredited, and we have therefore sufficient reason to be- 
 Ueve that the other sources of the second book of Kings are equally authentic 
 with the nineteenth chapter. 
 
168 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 passage in Leviticus referred to, seems to hint at a time when the 
 Israelites should be captives in a foreign land ; yet we may reason- 
 ably conclude, that the promise held out for preserving the Israelites 
 in a foreign land, does also include their preservation from amiihila- 
 tion in their own country. 
 
 We find in chap. xiv. v. 6, that Amaziah, king of Judah, having 
 killed the conspirators who slew his father, suffered their children to 
 live, because it was written in the book of the law of Moses, by the 
 command of God : " The parents shall not be killed on account of 
 the children, nor the children on account of the parents, but each 
 shall die for his own sins." (Compare with Deut. chap. xxiv. v. 16.) 
 Azariah or Uziah, the son of Amaziah, attempted to usurp the 
 priestly office by entering the temple with incense ; but he was 
 punished with leprosy, although he had led a virtuous life previous- 
 ly ; and he experienced thus the punishment denounced (Numb, 
 chap. xvii. v. 5,) against the violators of the priestly privileges, (2 
 Kings, chap. xv. v. 5, and 2 Chron. chap. xxvi. v. 19,) and was kept 
 apart from the habitations of other men, like any other leper would 
 have been. (Numb. chap. v. v. 3.) — The histoiy of the carrying 
 off the Israelites captives, is given in 2 Kings, chap, xvii ; and the 
 reason for this punishment is there said to be their having acted 
 contrary to the commandments given them ; and among other sins 
 enumerated is their having done like the nations around them, con- 
 trary to what is commanded in Lev. chap, xviii. v. 3. and Deut. 
 chap. xii. v. 29. — In chap, xviii. v. 4, we are told, that Hezekiah, 
 son of Achaz, king of Judah, broke the copper serpent, which Moses 
 had made by the command of God, (Numb. chap. xxi. v. 8,) be- 
 cause it had become an object of adoration to the people, who, in 
 the time of Achaz, were mad enough to worship any thing. We 
 read also; v. 5, that Hezekiah confided entirely in the Eternal, the 
 God of Israel ; and that he was more pious than any king of Judah 
 who went before him or came after him, and (v. 6,) that he adhered 
 to the Eternal, and observed the precepts which God had command- 
 ed to Moses — In chap, xxiii. v. 21 — 23, we have an account of the, 
 Passover-feast having been celebrated by Josiah, and it is also said 
 there, that no Passover was ever held in so solemn a manner since 
 the days of the Judges. Josiah also read the book of the law to 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 169 
 
 the people, which was also in accordance with the law as it now 
 stands. 
 
 We have in the above instances a concurrent mass of evidence to 
 prove beyond all doubt the assertion : that the law now acknowledged 
 as the Mosaic is, in every respect, the same as that considered and 
 obeyed as such before the Babylonian captivity ; for it will be disco- 
 vered, that from Joshua to Jeremiah all the books of the law, to wit: 
 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are indis- 
 criminately spoken of as existing, and that the Israelites either 
 obeyed the precepts they contain, or were reproved and punished if 
 they neglected them. 
 
 1 shall now subjoin a few extracts from Isaiah and Jeremiah, re- 
 lative to the observance of the Sabbath, and one from the latter in 
 relation to servants, and then close this subject, which I am afraid ' 
 has been spun out already to too great a length. 
 
 Isaiah, chap. Ivi. v. 2 : " Happy is the man who does this, and the 
 son of Adam who remains steady in it ; who observes the Sabbath, 
 and does not violate it, and withholds his hand from doing any evil." 
 
 Isaiah chap. Iviii. v. 13 — 14: " If thou restrainest thy foot on the 
 Sabbath, and refrainest from doing what thou desirest on my holy 
 day, and callest the Sabbath a delight, honoured as a holy (day) of 
 the Lord, and thou honourest it (the day) by abstaining from doing 
 thy ways, (usual occupations,) or seeking thy own pleasures, or speak- 
 ing words (i. e. conversing about business, see above, chap, xiii.) : then 
 shalt thou find delight in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ascend 
 upon the high places of the land, and will let thee enjoy the heritage 
 of thy father Jacob, — for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." 
 
 Jeremiah, chap. xvii. 21 — 22 : " Thus says the Lord, take heed 
 for yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath-day, nor bring 
 it into the gates of Jerusalem ; neither carry any burden from your 
 houses on the Sabbath-day, nor do any manner of work ; but sanc- 
 tify it, as I have commanded your fathers." (See also v. 27, of the 
 same chapter.) 
 
 Jeremiah, chap, xxxiv. v. 13 : " Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 
 I have made a covenant with your fathers, at the time I brought them 
 out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery, and said : (v. 14,) 
 At the end of seven years you shall each let go his brother the Hebrew, 
 who has been sold unto thee, and when he has served thee six years 
 22 
 
170 THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 thou shalt let him go free from thee." (Exodus, chap. xxi. v. 2, and 
 Deut. chap. xv. v. 12.) 
 
 I deem it altogether superfluous to produce any other instances 
 from the many which offer themselves, to establish that which has 
 been so clearly proven already, that, namely, the books we now have 
 are in fact those given to Moses, for every passage found in the 
 histories and the prophets referring to the law can be easily traced 
 back to the books of our Pentateuch. From this striking coinci- 
 dence it follows, that the Hebrew prophets and historians agreed 
 precisely with one another, and there can for this reason be no dis- 
 crepancy in their statements. This is a strong evidence in favour 
 of their inspiration, since we never find two profane historians or 
 preachers write or speak, as if they were animated by one mind. 
 To assert that all the books of the Hebrew canon were written by 
 one man is too ridiculous to merit refutation, since the difference in 
 style and dialect is so great, and each prophet and inspired writer 
 is withal in his own way so perfect, that it is absolutely impossible 
 to entertain such an idea. It is true, that some few men have been 
 good prose writers and good poets at the same time ; but 1 venture 
 to assert, though yet inexperienced, that that man never lived who 
 was capable of speaking like Moses, inditing songs like David, moral- 
 ising like Solomon, rousing the passions Uke Isaiah, and melting the 
 heart like Jeremiah. If indeed a man uniting such qualifications ever 
 was or ever will be, he deserves to be obeyed ; and I am sure that 
 all mankind, except perhaps the envious, would willingly become his 
 followers. It is therefore impossible that any one man could have 
 composed the whole Bible ; but 1 may go a step farther, and say : 
 " 'J hat these books were not composed or compiled at one time, even 
 by different persons ;" and this for the following reason. It is well 
 known, that, however different their style, a great resemblance will 
 still be discovered in their manner of writing amongst authors of 
 one age ; there is generally, if I may use the expression, a connect- 
 ing link, which binds the republic of letters together. Now granted 
 even, that Ezra and his great council were men of the greatest 
 talents— and none is more ready to acknowledge this fact, than the 
 Jews, and particularly the humble writer of these pages : — yet I am 
 sure, that every reasonable man, who has independence enough to 
 judge for himself, in despite of the little quibbles of those who doubt 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 171 
 
 the truth of our Bible, will acknowledge, that it is highly improba- 
 ble, not to say impossible, to believe, that at a time when the Hebrew 
 language had ceased to be generally spoken, and when its purity 
 was destroyed by the admixture of foreign words, there should have 
 been men skilful enough to write the books of Job, Jeremiah's La- 
 mentations, Isaiah, David's Psalms, and the Song of Solomon, not 
 to mention the books of Moses, which show, as clearly as any writ- 
 ings can do, the extraordinary and diversified acquirements and 
 talents of the author, or even authors if you will, though neither I 
 nor any other Jew will admit the latter. It is almost needless to 
 mention, that a great part of the books of Daniel and Ezra is writ- 
 ten in the Chaldean language, and even the Hebrew, which these 
 two writers use, is, though very appropriate and expressive, not at 
 all to be compared to the writings just above enumerated in clas- 
 sical purity of style. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the three 
 last pfophets, equally with the inspired writers of their age, made 
 use of a language which clearly proves, that it had ceased to be so 
 well cultivated as in the days of Samuel and Hezekiah. This does 
 not at all diminish the credibility of these prophets — God forbid ! 
 let the reader but bear in mind what has been said above in regard 
 to the nature of prophecy (chap, xxi.) : that the prophets were only 
 instructed what to say, hut not how to speak ; and this was very pro- 
 per, for, since they were to instruct the people, it was necessary 
 that they should use language which they themselves, and the peo- 
 ple to whom they were sent, well understood. From the whole of 
 the above remarks it follows, that the various books composing the 
 canon of what is called the Old Testament were written at different 
 times, and mostly by those persons who were the chief agents them- 
 selves. These men were all inspired, and could, therefore, not err. 
 (See above chap, xxi.) Hence it is that they all agree so well, and 
 that one always confirms the assertions of the other. Since now 
 the Bible was and is yet the book chiefly studied by the Jews ; and 
 as it contains such a fund of learning and instruction, we must con- 
 clude that the Jews were a highly civilised, though simple and un- 
 ostentatious people, immediately after the conquest of the land j and 
 it is no wonder, therefore, that, being once acquainted with such a 
 book, they should always hold to it as their principal support 
 and adviser. We neoer can consent to part with it, or receive 
 
172 THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 
 
 any thing in addition to or in lieu of it. Many have railed against 
 us for observing that which one party thinks insvjicie?it, the other 
 superfluous ; but as long as they are unable to give us any thing 
 better, or even any thing at all approaching it in value, we must hold 
 that close which we now so happily possess. The world has never 
 seen a series of books so consistent and so full of wholesome advice ; 
 and ca?i we be blamed for refusing to cast off that which is so high- 
 ly serviceable ? Who can call us bigots, but the very bigoted infi- 
 del himself— and are not most infidels bigots ? Who dares to call 
 us sceptics, but that unlearned and blind zealot, who knows not what 
 he is about 1 — Let me then advise you, all who are the enemies of 
 our faith and nation, to beware how you touch the holy ark of our 
 faith — to beware how you harm the Israelites, for he who toucheth 
 them, toucheth the apple of his eye, says the prophet Zechariah, 
 and know also, that God will again assert the dignity of his holy 
 name, and again have compassion on Israel ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 
 
 The next point of enquiry is : " Have not the Jewish teachers of 
 the law imposed unnecessary burdens upon the people, subsequently 
 to their return from Babylon ?" Every one knows how easy it is to 
 denounce any body of men however exalted, and it is at the same 
 time most curious, that those who denounce others do so, for the 
 most part, without producing any other proof of their being in the 
 right, than their own potent dictum. This has been done, 1 may 
 say, by all those who have been so bitter against the wise men 
 amongst the Jews, known at different times under the names of 
 Scribes, Pharisees, and lastly. Rabbins. It therefore remains now 
 to be enquired into, if in fact the rabbinical institutions are contrary 
 
THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 173 
 
 to the written law, and therefore unlawful and useless, or if they are 
 conformable to the laws and the prophets, and therefore proper and 
 necessary. — But let me premise, that it is an error, though a very 
 common one, that the Rabbins had their origin only in the time im- 
 mediately preceding the destruction of the second temple : for if we 
 come to investigate the Jewish antiquities and to fix the period of the 
 first rise of these Scribes, we must at least lay it in the days of Ezra, 
 for to him and his council are ascribed the first rabbinical insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 A great outcry has of late been raised against the use of the 
 sacred language, the Hebrew, in our worship, because this language 
 is no more universally spoken, and but little understood. Several 
 attempts have therefore been made to substitute the languages of the 
 countries in which we are dispersed, in lieu of the Hebrew. Of 
 course the Rabbins have been saddled with all the blame and odium, 
 as haying been the first to force this mode of worship in an un- 
 known tongue upon the Jews, and some good souls, more afraid of 
 disturbing the conscience of others, than regardful of their own vir- 
 tue and piety, have even dared to talk of thus restoring the purity of 
 Judaism, as if any impurity had ever been added. But let us inves- 
 tigate this subject without prejudice and partiality, and then deter- 
 mine according to the light which can be thrown upon it in the few 
 following observations. 
 
 " Did those men, generally called Rabbins,yorre the Hebrew, con- 
 trary to reason, upon the people, and should it therefore be dispensed 
 with ? or is the establishment of that language an ordinance ema- 
 nating from the prophets, and which consequently ought not to be 
 abolished?" 
 
 We read (Nehemiah, chap. xiii. v. 24,): " And half of their chil- 
 dren spoke the language of Ashdod, and did not understand the 
 Jewish." It will from this single verse be discovered, that the He- 
 brew had ceased to be universally spoken, as early as the days of 
 Ezra and Nehemiah. These two men were assisted in their re-or- 
 ganisation of the Hebrew commonwealth by the three last prophets, 
 Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. If then they established the He- 
 brew to be read in the Synagogues in their time, we must admit, as 
 believers in revelation, tfee^t this was necessary for the promotion of 
 the proper worship ; and ixa^i they did establish the Hebrew to be 
 
174 THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 
 
 read publicly, is clearly deducible from Nehemiah viii. v. 7 — 8 ; for 
 according to this passage all that, which Ezra read, was explained 
 to the people by the men named as being near him ; and thus it hap- 
 pened, that though the Hebrew was not understood by a great part of 
 those present, Ezra did nevertheless make use of it, but it was explained 
 to the people in a language and dialect they understood. The expoun- 
 der of the law was called pj-nnn (Methurgeman) or translator, 
 and we find such a personage mentioned after the destruction of the 
 temple. At present however this has become by far less necessary 
 than formerly ; for at that time books were scarce and could be pro- 
 cured by comparatively few, owing to the great difficulty of multi- 
 plying copies ; but now the art of printing has reduced the price of 
 books so low, the religious books especially, being printed in such 
 immense quantities, that every individual, however poor, can procure 
 himself the Bible and the prayer-books. Then again all parts of the 
 Bible are carefully translated, as are also the prayers, and it is there- 
 fore easy for every person desiring it, and capable of receiving in- 
 formation of any kind, to make himself acquainted with the meaning 
 of the law and of the prayers in general, though he may be altogether 
 ignorant of the holy language.* Let me not however be misunder- 
 stood, as saying that the Rabbins forbade the use of every language 
 other than the Hebrew in public and private worship ; on the con- 
 trary, they permitted the use of any language understood by the in- 
 dividual praying, nor is the language of the country prohibited in 
 public worship. (^Oracli Hayim, Laws of Prayer, chap. ci. §. 4.) It 
 will therefore be evident, that the use of foreign tongues explanatory 
 of the Hebrew service is permitted, but the recital of the regular 
 prayers, the reading of the law, and the portion from the prophets, 
 must ever be in the holy and original language. 
 
 The greater part of the daily and Sabbath prayers were composed 
 before the destruction of the second temple, — some say by Ezra and 
 
 * In Germany and the adjacent countries the price of Hebrew books in g^en- 
 oral use is uncommonly low, and every family, without exception, is provided 
 with the necessary prayer-books and at least the Pentateuch. The access to in- 
 formation is so easy to the poor and unlettered, that it is not uncommon to hear 
 a man, who would be supposed to be ignorant, discussing the moral, religious, 
 and ceremonial duties of our law, in a manner yvhich would not disgrace a man 
 of learning and high standing in society. ^' 
 
THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 175 
 
 his associates — as may be easily gathered from several passages in 
 the Talmud, particularly the Massacheth Berachothe (Tractate of 
 Prayers) in which are enumerated the Berachothe or blessings to be 
 said before and after the Shemang.* To any person acquainted with 
 the Mishnah it would be entirely superfluous to draw his attention to 
 this subject, and to those who are unacquainted with it, I hope it 
 will be satisfactory enough, that the fact is stated in general terms 
 without citing the several passages. Having thus seen that the use 
 of the Hebrew was established as far back as the days of the last 
 prophets, it remains to be enquired : " Would it be expedient, if we 
 had the right to do so, to abolish the use of our holy language, and 
 substitute the languages of the different countries, in whose bounda- 
 ries the Israelites now sojourn ?" — Let it be considered, that our 
 abode in the countries, where we now reside, must not be considered 
 as a permanent location ; but God forbid, that I should insinuate, that 
 we are to consider ourselves absolved from allegiance to the govern- 
 ments and obedience to the municipal laws of the countries in which 
 we are protected, for this would be contrary to what we are com- 
 manded by God, through his faithful servant Jeremiah (chap. xxix. 
 V. 7,) ; but I would only remind my brethren, that their abode in 
 any country, other than Judea, is against their will. I hope that I 
 am understood, but for fear of any misconception, I will explain my- 
 self a little more in detail. We were, in the first instance, driven 
 from Palestine by the kings of Assyria, (see several passages in the 
 second book of Kings,) and next the remaining two tribes Judah and 
 Benjamin, together with the Levites who resided amongst them, 
 were carried away captives to Babylon and Egypt| by Nebuchadnez- 
 
 * The Shemang is the celebrated passage from the sixth chapter of Deuter- 
 onomy, commencing with the words "Hear, O Israel," Hebrew : SiN'^ti'"' >'rDiy 
 {Shemang Yisrahale) whence its name. It is read morning and evening, that we 
 may, as our Rabbins express themselves, receive the yoke of Heaven, when we 
 lie down and when we rise up. The parallel passage from the eleventh of Deu- 
 teronomy, commencing with the words, " And it shall come to pass if you 
 hearken diligently, &c." and the conclusion of Numb. xv. commencing with 
 V. 37, are also read with the Shemang. 
 
 t Strictly speaking, the king of Babylon did not carry the Jews to Egypt, for 
 they fled of their ow^ accord from Palestine, to escape his vengeance, on account 
 of the death of Gedaliah. (See Jeremiah, chap xliii. v. 7.) 
 
176 THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 
 
 zar king of Babylon. After seventy years spent in captivity the 
 Jews were permitted by Coresh (Cyrus) king of Persia, who had sub- 
 verted the Babylonian empire, to return to their own land. Those who 
 did return were, with but few exceptions, either Levites or Jews, 
 (Judah and Benjamin) ; but the other ten tribes did not return, and 
 their existence has been a matter of doubt and speculation ever since ; 
 though according to some accounts they have been lately discovered 
 in Bucharia, a country in the very heart of Asia. The Jews, after 
 building the second temple (see Ezra and Nehemiah) lived for rather 
 better than four hundred years in Palestine, though far from peace- 
 ably or independently, as they were often agitated by internal dis- 
 turbance and molested by surrounding nations ; but after this time, 
 they were conquered by Vespasian and Titus, Roman emperors, 
 who, though they are celebrated for their clemency and benevolence 
 of disposition, did yet treat our ancestors in a manner too revolting 
 and too horrible for words to describe. The remainder of the Jews 
 not yet carried off by these barbarous emperors, (for such they were 
 to us at least,) were driven out by Trajan and Hadrian, for which 1 
 refer to the histories of those days. — It will be discovered from this 
 account of our people, that our abode out of Palestine is any thing 
 but voluntary on our part. Our expulsion from our land was owing 
 to our deviation from that holy law, which God, in his kindness and 
 superabundant mercy, bestowed upon our forefathers. Our continua- 
 tion in captivity is to be ascribed solely to our not yet having re- 
 formed our conduct sufficiently to merit the return of the blessings 
 promised in Deut. chap. xxx. (which see). It is well known that 
 we hope to be ultimately restored to our land, and that this hope is 
 well founded has been shown, 1 trust to every man's satisfaction in 
 chapter xxii. — Our residence in all countries, save one, must 
 therefore be considered as a sojourning, though this is 'of ne- 
 cessity for an unlimited time ; for, as we understand the prophecies, 
 there is no specific period fixed in the Bible for Israel's restoration, 
 but all depends upon our being worthy of this signal favour. That at 
 all events the restoration will not be delayed for a longer period than 
 God has fixed in his own wisdom, but which He has not imparted to 
 any man, is not to be doubted. In short, if we Israelites are virtuous, 
 our restoration, or what is the same thing, the coming vf the Messiah, 
 will take place immediately ; but if, on the contrary, we continue in 
 
THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 177 
 
 our wickedness, then at the appointed time. — Since then we are 
 strangers, and as the time of our being re-united is of necessity un- 
 known", it behooves us to be always united by a certain bond of union, 
 to keep us one people, though at opposite corners of the globe ; and 
 secondly, to be united in the closest manner, when our captives be 
 again restored and assembled in a body on the high-raised moun- 
 tains of Israel. We have already a law which, if properly observed, 
 will ever be that bond, which must, owing to its great purity, bind 
 together the Israelites though the distance between them be as great 
 as from pole to pole. But what would be the scene, if upon our res- 
 toration, we had in the course of time forgotten that very language, 
 in which the law was first given 1 How could we be considered a 
 re-united people, if different languages were used by the captives re- 
 turning to Zion in their mode of worshipping God ? 
 
 But even without going so far into the recesses of futurity, we can 
 find ^any good reasons for employing the Hebrew in our prayers, 
 and in reading the law^ and the other parts of Holy Writ, as it is now 
 customary in the Synagogues. Let it be remembered, that we Jews 
 are in fact a wandering people — we have no rest for the soles of our 
 feet (Deut. chap, xxviii. v. 65) : we are either driven by circum- 
 stances or necessity from station to station, and it may truly be 
 said, there is hardly a spot on earth where Jews are not to be found. 
 It is for this reason chiefly that the Hebrew language ought to be 
 retained both in public and private worship. If a Jew come from 
 China even, as our worship is now constituted, he can enter any 
 Synagogue even in America, and worship his God in company and 
 unison with his brethren there assembled. He uses the Hebrew, 
 and so do they. And this is an every day occurrence ; for Jews 
 from every part of the world do meet and worship together, as if 
 they were natives of the same land. And in our small Synagogue 
 at Richmond are frequently assembled natives of America, Ger- 
 many, England, France, Poland, and Bohemia, some of whom hard- 
 ly understand English. They can all join in the worship, solely 
 because it is conducted in the Hebrew, when the use either of the 
 English or any other language would evidently destroy the harmony 
 thus existing. — There is, however, another very weighty reason 
 why the Hebrew language should be used, and this is, the preserva- 
 tion of the purity of the law ! " But is it possible that the purity of 
 23 
 
178 THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 
 
 the holy law can be destroyed by the discontinuance of the Hebrew ]" 
 I will not assert precisely that its intrinsic purity could be destroyed 
 by this or any other means ; but it may confidently be asserted, 
 without fear of contradiction, that if the Hebrew were once dis- 
 pensed with in our Synagogues, the interpretation of the law would 
 be rendered altogether uncertain, and thus its extrinsic purity would 
 be so much marred, that it might be considered destroyed without a 
 great stretch of the imagination. To establish this upon indisput- 
 able grounds, 1 beg leave to draw the attention of the indulgent 
 reader to the following exposition. — If the Hebrew language were 
 by universal consent banished from our worship, it would follow, as 
 a necessary consequence, that translations ov foreign originals must 
 be substituted, imless we would consent either not to pray at all, or to 
 suffer any fanatic or enthusiast to pray for the congregation in the 
 wild and mad strains which shock us so much in the worship of 
 some sects. — If now in addition to this we should have a transla- 
 tion of the law read to the people, we would soon find that no man 
 would care to know Hebrew. For to what purpose should the Jew, 
 whose intentions are not to become a classical scholar or a divine, 
 apply himself to the study of a dead language, which would be of 
 no earthly use to him when attained ? Curiosity would not, I dare say, 
 impel fifty out of five hundred to engage in its study, particularly 
 as in the case of which we are speaking, they would have authorised 
 translations of all the sacred books. — It is really deplorable, that 
 not more are engaged in acquiring a knowledge of the holy lan- 
 guage — a language which our ancestors spoke — a language in which 
 the law was given. — But can this be a reason for banishing it alto- 
 gether 1 And that this banishment of the Hebrew would be ex- 
 tremely injurious is susceptible of the easiest and plainest demon- 
 stration. — As it is, those who altogether use translations of the 
 whole or a part of the Scriptures, are frequently caught in making 
 the most absurd deductions from the Bible, which, upon examina- 
 tion of the Hebrew text, are no where to be met with. Let us take 
 one example : there is a trite saying, man is horn to sin, and many 
 have attempted to fortify this position by reference to Psalm li. and 
 Genesis vi.; and, if you come to investigate the meaning of these 
 two passages, you would be surprised that no such thing is found in 
 either of them ; and this is not all, for as far as my acquaintance 
 
THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 179 
 
 with the Jewish canon extends, 1 never could discover a single pas- 
 sage even to prove that man was born to sin. In the fifty-first 
 psalm, David says : " Behold in iniquity 1 was conceived," but not 
 to sin; in the sixth chapter of Genesis we read, that God determin- 
 ed to destroy mankind, " because the desire of the thoughts of their 
 heart was the whole day directed to evil ;" here is only stated the 
 fact, that that generation had degenerated, and were perpetually 
 intent how they could do icrong ; not because they were obliged to 
 do so, but only because they chose this course of life in preference 
 to doing right. — In the eighth chapter of Genesis we read that God 
 said : " That He would never more destroy all flesh, as He had 
 done, for the desire of the heart of man is evil frbm his youth." 
 Now this sentence camiot mean that he is born to sin, and cannot of 
 his own free will do right, without intervention of grace ; but its 
 obvious and only true meaning is : that as we have desires and pas- 
 sions, we are, from our earliest infancy, drawn on by these desires, 
 but we are by no means obliged to yield to them, for in the fourth 
 chapter God told Cain, that though he were inclined to sin, he had 
 yet the mastery over himself, to sin or not to sin ; of course man 
 has the inherent power to do right, though his inclinations should 
 point the other way. But how is he to know what is right ? Simply 
 by revelation, and following that course which God had marked out 
 for him. (See above, chap, i.) The investigation of this subject 
 would lead me too far, besides I am fearful of engaging at present 
 in the discussion of the 'philosophy of our law, as 1 do not think 
 myself qualified to discuss the points which it would present to me, 
 as they deserve ; 1 will therefore rest here, only assuring the reader 
 that this is not the only popular error* which men have attempted 
 to demonstrate as true with arguments drawn from the Bible. 
 
 * The subjoined has been transmitted to me by Mr. Jacob Mordecai, the 
 same gentlemen mentioned in a foregoing note. " The translators of the Bible to 
 suit their purpose, have rendered the 8th verse of the 25th chap, of Isaiah : ' He 
 will swallow up death in victory ;' if you consult the Hebrew, the error is imme- 
 diately discovered, for we read : nufj'? rilDH J^Sd? ' H^ will swallow up death 
 for ever;' it is not written pn^J3 i^ victory, but n^fjS forever. So that no 
 one could have been ' victorious in death in fulfilment of this prophecy.' — 
 Again we read, Deut. chap. xxx. v. 19 : ' Choose life,' Psalm xxxiv. v. 15: 'Shun 
 evil and do good.' How then can a man be born to sin ?" 
 
180 THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 
 
 What I intend to prove by the foregoing example is this. We 
 have seen that by justly investigating the Bible we have overthrown 
 a position so generally admitted as true, that to some it may appear 
 to be but little better than scepticism even to doubt it. — If the He- 
 brew language were now altogether neglected, as some desire, we 
 should be unable to make these investigations. Whatever were as- 
 serted upon the authority of any translation, would then of course 
 pass for sound truth, and instead of Holy Writ being the light of 
 the world, it would become the cause of contention. Every man 
 would explain every thing as he liked best, and we should have just 
 as many laws as there were Bible readers. But as long as the He- 
 brew continues to be studied, there is no danger that any thing of 
 this kind will ever occur, 1 mean amongst ourselves. It is this 
 which makes the Jews so very formidable in argument ; we have the 
 original records, and if any man comes to argue from his copy, we 
 ask him : " Let us see how your copy agrees with our original ;" 
 and we have thus maintained the superiority in argument and con- 
 troversy in every age and in every country, unless our reasons were 
 answered by the sword or the faggot. — The Bible must be literally 
 given ; and every word, every letter, nay every point, has its meaning, 
 which must not be lost sight of; no passage must be wrenched from 
 its position to mean any thing or nothing ; but, as the whole from 
 the first word in Genesis to the last in the Chronicles (which books 
 are the last in order with us) is one revelation, because all emanates 
 from one source, the HOLY ONE of Israel (whose name be praised 
 for eternity !) it is but fair that one passage should be used to ex- 
 plain the other. And the Bible may be compared to an arch, where 
 one stone supports the other ; so, generally speaking, will every ob- 
 scure passage receive elucidation from another part of the Bible. 
 
 This is no fanciful defence of the use of the Hebrew, for the ex- 
 perience of every day proves its correctness ; now let me ask my 
 brethren who have not yet resolved to abandon all : Are you pre- 
 pared to give up the superiority you possess over every other nation 
 and sect upon the face of the earth? Pause before you strike the 
 
 Or if tlic prophet had intended to express the idea conveyed by the English 
 version, he might also have said : nVJD {^im? l^c being conquering' — in victory 
 — J^IDI'Sd' ""// swallow death ; but are these words found in the text ? 
 
THE HEBREW WORSHIP. 181 
 
 fatal blow ; the nations are so alive to your strength, that in some 
 countries they will not allow a clergyman to be licensed who has 
 not some knowledge of the Hebrew. In Germany and England 
 they teach the Hebrew at all their universities, and I verily believe 
 their object in so doing is to be the better able to cope with us. 
 Therefore, for the sake of Heaven, for the sake of your own honour 
 and eternal salvation, listen not to what irreligious men wish to in- 
 stil in you, and consider and know that your ancestors were fully as 
 wise and as well informed of right and propriety as any modern infi- 
 del, and, if I err not, even greatly more so ! 
 
 I do, with every lover of his people, and venerator of the word of 
 God, deeply deplore the condition in which many Jews, particularly 
 in this country, are found. — Many, and 1 am sorry to confess, most 
 are altogether ignorant of the Hebrew ; this is no doubt an evil, 
 which is of sufficient magnitude to alarm any man who seriously re- 
 flects/ But this evil is not yet great enough to break down on its 
 account the limits which our ancestors have set ! No — instead of 
 finding fault, let those who have the abilities set about enlightening 
 and informing those who are less favoured ; let them explain the 
 law, the ceremonies, the object and meaning of the prayers, and 
 my life for it, the outcry against the not understanding of our ser- 
 vice will cease. It requires a great deal of labour perhaps to re- 
 move the great mass of ignorance — to root out prejudices against the 
 ancient system ; but is he a brave man, who turns back at the sight 
 of any obstacle opposed to him ? Yet would 1 not recommend to 
 those, who may be disposed to follow up my humble beginning, to 
 lose sight of discretion ; far from it, they must use language mild 
 and becoming ; they must endeavour to convince the understanding 
 rather than captivate the fancy ; they must endeavour to be plain and 
 intelligible at the expense of being tedious — lest by a display of wit 
 and great learning, they might astonish more than improve. We 
 may be met at the very beginning by difficulties not thought of per- 
 haps, for we may by chance rouse those spirits to greater activity, 
 which have been, and are even now at work to destroy all that is ' 
 venerable for sanctity and antiquity : but let us work unremittingly, 
 and the victory is ours. Let no man, who bears the honourable 
 name of Israelite, and who has the good of his brothers at heart, be 
 caught sleeping at his post, but let us oppose our enemies with per- 
 
18^ THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 severance, and use our watchfulness against theirs, and our God will 
 bless our endeavour. — We ought not however to be too much elated 
 by success, for our battle is for truth and not for fame, and if our object 
 is attained — if we once have succeeded — if we have reached the 
 goal of our desire in convincing all of the righteousness of our law : 
 we should lay down the arms of attack, and only continue to improve 
 our advantage — teach the law which we have proved true — spread 
 amongst our brethren the Imowledge of their God — and by gentle 
 means lead them back to the fold from which they have strayed ! 
 And should we fear to encounter ridicule — or hatred — or scorn — or 
 even persecution 1 No — we must act and do our duty, regardless of 
 what men may think, say, or do ; and will not God prosper our un- 
 dertaking ? most surely ; success must await us, for never was war 
 waged in a cause more holy ; and our enemies need not then be 
 ashamed to confess themselves vanquished, for not by ns were they 
 conquered, but by our God, who influences our minds, and to suc- 
 cumb to Him is honour, for to Him we all must bow in humble 
 adoration ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 1 imagine that what has been said above will prove — first, that the 
 public worship in Hebrew was not instituted by the Rabbins, but by 
 Ezra and the prophets after the partial restoration of the Israelites ; 
 and secondly, that its retention is of the greatest advantage to all the 
 Jews, and its abolition would lead to the most dreadful consequences, 
 which ought ever to be deprecated by every real friend of his reli- 
 gion and of his brethren. — Of the propriety of the second days of the 
 festivals I have already treated above (chap xvii. note) ; I shall 
 therefore begin our next enquiry with : 
 
THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 183 
 
 " Have not the Rabbins usurped undue authority in establishing 
 the fast-days V I must answer at once, that so far from usurping 
 any authority in this respect, the Rabbins had not any agency what- 
 ever in estabUshing the fast-days, for they were instituted in the 
 days of the prophets, and this was with the express approbation of 
 God. The fast-days, independently of the Day of Atonements, are the 
 fast of the seventeenth day of Tamuz (fourth month) ; the fast of the 
 ninth of Ab (fifth month) ; the fast of the third of Tishry (seventh 
 month) ; the fast of the tenth of Tebeth (tenth month) ; and of the 
 thirteenth day of Adar (twelfth month). — On the tenth day of Te- 
 beth the enemy first approached Jerusalem ; on the seventeenth of 
 Tamuz the city was taken, and on the ninth* of Ab the temple was 
 burnt. After Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the temple, he suffered 
 a small number of our brethren to live in Palestine under the govern- 
 ment of Gedaliah, who was treacherously slain by Ismael, son of Ne- 
 thanidh, on the third day of Tishry. The remnant of the Israelites 
 were now afraid to stay any longer in their country, and contrary to 
 the advice of the prophet Jeremiah they went to Egypt, where nearly 
 the whole of their number died, as the prophet had foretold. (Jere- 
 miah chap. xli. and others.) — These days were therefore instituted 
 as fasts, for so long as the Israelites should remain captives in 
 foreign lands. — On these days we ought to assemble in the places of 
 worship, confess our sins, make restitutions, (see chap, xxiii.) ask the 
 protection of God for the remnant of the flock that has escaped, and 
 pray for the restoration of our national glory at the time of the 
 coming of the promised Messiah — The antiquity of these days can 
 be proven from Zechariah, chap. viii. v. 18 — 19 : " And the word 
 of the Lord of Hosts came to me as follows : Thus speaketh Adonai 
 Zebahothe, the fast day of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the 
 fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of 
 Judah (days of) rejoicing and gladness and happy festivals ; and love 
 
 * These are the days of the conquest of Jerusalem in tlie time of the second 
 temple ; in that of the first, the two last named events happened on other days, 
 in the same months however ; but since the destruction of the second temple is 
 more to be lamented by us, than that of the first, we fast and mourn on those 
 days upon which Jerusalem was taken and the temple destroyed by Titus. — 
 The city was taken by Nebuchadnezzar on the ninth of Tamuz, and the temple 
 burnt on the tenth day of Ab. (See Jeremiah, chap. lii. v. 6 — 12.) 
 
184 THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 you truth and peace." We here see the prophet announcing that 
 these four days, which were in his time (and are now) days of 
 mourning and abstinence, shall, at the time of our restoration, be 
 days of festivity, of general joy, and gladness. The fast of Esther, 
 which is on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, was instituted 
 to commemorate the troubles in which our ancestors found them- 
 selves in the time of Achashveroshe through the evil counsels of 
 Haman. The history of this event is so well known, that a synop- 
 sis is not necessary here ; suffice it to say, that the thirteenth, four- 
 teenth, and in walled cities the fifteenth (of Adar) also, are annually 
 celebrated, (the thirteenth as a fast, the other two as days of re- 
 joicing,) in commemoration of our escape from the designs of Ha- 
 man.— It is hardly necessary to say, that our opponents disapprove 
 entirely our celebrating the downfal of our enemy, when this event 
 took place twenty-three hundred years ago. They say : " It argues a 
 spirit of bitterness and unforgiving hostility, which is highly unbe- 
 coming." — This objection would be a good one, if our rejoicing were 
 only on account of the execution of Haman ; but this is not the fact, 
 we celebrate our redemption ; we rejoice, because we were snatched 
 from destruction, when the whetted sword lay already unsheathed upon 
 our necks ; we assemble to return sincere thanks to our God for the 
 goodness He then displayed towards his chosen people, and pray for 
 the continuance of his vigilance and protection over us, who linger 
 so long in captivity — Is such a celebration proper ? — To argue this 
 point further, I am afraid, would be insulting to the understanding of 
 my readers, who, 1 hope, will be intelligent and kind enough to sup- 
 ply the defective details, which now and then may be found in my 
 arguments. 
 
 The fast-days are, according to the above, proved not to be of 
 rabbinical origin, but that all except the fast of Esther were instituted 
 by God himself through the agency of his prophet. The fast of Es- 
 ther cannot indeed be traced to any prophet, but it was received by 
 the Jews then living as a day of humiliation on account of the great 
 deliverance they had experienced, as were also the festivities of Pu- 
 rim (the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar) for the reason just given. 
 Ever since the days of Mordecai and Esther this celebration has 
 been kept up, and it cannot now be abolished ; first, on account of 
 the extraordinary hold it has taken of the mind of all Jews ; and 
 
THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 185 
 
 secondly, because it would destroy a feature in our ceremonies re- 
 sulting from the most amiable trait in human nature — gratitude. For 
 these days are celebrated every year as a tribute from us to our 
 heavenly Protector, and on these days also we read the history of 
 our redemption, and we return our thanks to Him, who was then as 
 ever our Saviour from annihilation. — To the same cause may be as- 
 cribed the festival called Hannuckah, commencing on the twenty- 
 fifth day of Kislave, (ninth month,) and continuing eight days. x\ll 
 conversant with history know that the Syrian king Antiochus op- 
 pressed the Jev/s very grievously, and that they regained their 
 liberty under the guidance of Judah Maccabaeus, who defeated the 
 Syrians and drove them from Jerusalem. Antiochus had made un- 
 clean all the oil set apart for the lighting of the lamps in the temple, 
 and when the Jews reconsecrated the temple they found but one 
 cruet of oil, sealed with the signet of the high-priest, the contents of 
 which were only sufficient for one day's service. The Jews were 
 not able to procure any other oil, which might be used, for some 
 days ; but it so happened, that the contents of the small jar lasted 
 for eight days, till fresh oil had been procured. For this reason do 
 we light lamps on the evenings of this festival, commencing with one 
 on the first, and increasing night after night till the eighth, when 
 eight lamps are lighted. These days, like the Purim, were institut- 
 ed to keep alive the recollection of our deliverance from an enemy 
 who attempted to root out the Israelites ; and wherever Jews are 
 found, they are celebrated as days of rejoicing and festivity, but we 
 are not bound to abstain from labour on those days, since they are 
 not commanded in the Pentateuch ; on Purim, however, most per- 
 sons do not work, but give themselves up for that day to religious 
 mirth, as it may properly be called. — All these" celebrations and 
 feasts proceeded from the voluntary burst of feeling of the whole 
 people, but they were not imposed upon an unwilling nation by the 
 command of the Rabbins, Scribes, and Pharisees. 
 
 The next question for consideration is: "Did, or did not the 
 prophets prohibit meat, other than that of forbidden animals, pre- 
 pared by a gentile, to be eaten by a Jew ? And is wine of the gen- 
 tiles prohibited by the same authority or not ?" It needs hardly to 
 be told that the Rabbins have received a great share of abuse, as 
 being the authors of these interdictions ; but who would not be sur- 
 24 
 
186 THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 prised to be convinced that these very Rabbins are as innocent of 
 this as any person now aHve ? To prove this, however, we need only 
 read the first chapter of Daniel; and is it not surprising, that those 
 would-be-wise men, who spend all their lives, and write folio upon 
 folio, in endeavouring to clear up the mysterious prophecies of Daniel 
 concerning the coming of the Messiah, should altogether overlook 
 what he relates concerning his own mode of life, while in the service 
 of the Babylonian king? He tells us that he came to the determina- 
 tion not to defile himself with the meats (or viands) of the king, nor 
 with his wines, and he asked of Melzar the favour to give him and 
 his three associates vegetables (pulse) to eat, and no wine, but water, 
 to drink ; though Melzar at first refused to comply with this request, 
 thinking himself in danger of losing his head if his charges did not 
 look so well as the other youths in the palace, he at length yielded, 
 and took for himself the rations furnished for their use, and gave 
 them pulse in place of them. (See Daniel, chap, i.) This whole nar- 
 rative proves, that any meat not prepared by a Jew is forbidden to 
 us. — The killing of animals, as practised by the rabbinical Jews, is 
 also in every respect conformable to the Mosaic law, where we are 
 in several places positively commanded to let the blood run out 
 (see Lev. chap. xvii. v. 13, and Deut. chap. xii. v. 16,); however 
 any one might be disposed to explain these texts to suit his own 
 views, it may well be doubted if he could break the force of Deut. 
 chap. xii. v. 21, where it says: " Thou shalt kill of thy herd and of 
 thy flock, which the Lord has given thee, as I ham commanded 
 thee ," commanded where? and since we can no where find the mode 
 of killing commanded in express terms, we must come to the con- 
 clusion, that it was explained to the Israelites orally, and handed 
 down from father to son to the present day. The great care that 
 has ever been bestowed upon this subject, even in the time of Saul, 
 proves, that there is something more in this than mere invention of 
 men, and that therefore the tradition of the fathers is true, and 
 founded upon, and agreeable to, the intent of the Mosaic law. 
 
 It cannot be expected, that I should give an analysis even of our 
 ceremonies, but I may say with truth, that they are of great antiquity, 
 and most of them have even an obvious meaning and are beautiful 
 allegories. For instance, a golden ring is used at our marriages, 
 and when the bridegroom puts it upon the finger of the bride, he 
 
THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 187 
 
 says ; " Thou art wedded to me by this ring according to the law of 
 Moses and Israel." — The ring is a circle, and when well finished, 
 the point where the two extremes join cannot be discovered ; if once 
 a breach be made in the ring, or if it be broken, it cannot answer the 
 purpose for which it was intended, and even if it should be mended, 
 a mark will generally remain of the former breach. Just so is it 
 with the married state. The husband and wife should be like the 
 ring of pure metal employed at their marriage, that is, they ought 
 both to be pure, devoted to the practice of virtue and piety. They 
 should be of one mind, so that their being two individuals should 
 be hardly perceptible ; the husband should always pay deference to 
 the wishes of his wife, but it is her duty also to endeavour to win his 
 good will by ready compliance and gentle demeanour ; and if it un- 
 fortunately should become necessary for either of them to chide the 
 other, let it be done in a spirit of conciliation, let it never be more 
 than remonstrance, for faults are much oftener laid by in consequence 
 of mild reproof, than violent altercation. Let the husband think the 
 honour of the wife his own, and let her look up to him as her sole 
 protector (under God) on earth, whose happiness ought ever to be 
 her chief delight, and which she is to promote by all the means in 
 her power. If they live so, in love towards God and friendship to- 
 wards one another, the married state must be the most blissful on 
 earth. But reverse the picture, let once discontent take root in 
 their minds, let them habitually find fault with one another, let angry 
 disputes become familiar to them, let the fear of God be once re- 
 moved from before them — and unhappiness is the lot of both man 
 and wife, and what was once the best blessing becomes now the 
 greatest curse. Though they become reconciled afterwards, painful 
 recollections of past follies will nevertheless often occasion them 
 those pangs of conscience, which are the severest torture on earth. 
 After the ring is put upon the bride's finger and the marriage con- 
 tract read, the bridegroom gives her to drink out of the cup, over 
 which grace has been said, which he then throws upon the ground, 
 so that it breaks. This ceremony also is not without its use, and 
 has the following meaning : " Midst the festive joy of the marriage- 
 day man is too apt to think only of pleasure, nothing but joyful anti- 
 cipations float before his eyes, and he is forgetful of the ills of life 
 and its close. But like the glass, that lays shivered in a thousand 
 
1 88 THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 pieces before him, will the joys of life pass away into innumerable 
 sorrows, and tlie body of man now so beautiful, must in a few brief 
 years be dissolved into its natural elements, the flesh will decay 
 from the bones and Become a prey to the worms of the earth." 
 Again— we read in the Talmud : " That on the day the son of Rab 
 Hoonah was married, the latter made a feast for all his scholars and 
 companions. They were all, as he thought, too much rejoiced, and 
 he found them forgetful of the state of captivity in which we even 
 yet linger. Seeing this the pious Rabbi threw down an elegant glass 
 ornament, from a stand near which he stood. The scholars were no 
 sooner aware of the destruction of the rare and costly vase, than they 
 all looked sorrowful about the wanton destruction of what was then 
 very scarce and dear, and they enquired of R. Hoonah the cause of 
 his strange conduct, when he told them : ' Remember the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, remember the burning of the temple, and do not 
 forget that we dwell no longer in our land, and you will moderate 
 your joy !' " And it is just and proper that we should always recol- 
 lect, that we were hurled from our high estate, and that, like the 
 fragments of the glass strewed about the floor, we are scattered all 
 over the world in small numbers. We ought to act and think like 
 the holy Psalmist, who says (Psalm 137) : 
 
 " By the streams of Babel — there we sat and also wept — when 
 we remembered Zion. Upon its willows did we hang our harps, 
 for there did our captors ask of us the words of song, and those de- 
 riding us — joy, ' sing us some of Zion's songs !' How can we 
 sing the song of the Eternal in the land of the stranger? If 1 for- 
 get thee Jerusalem, may my right hand forget — then may my 
 tongue cleave to my palate, if I remember thee not — if I bring not* 
 (thee O) Jerusalem at the head of my joy !" 
 
 Though these ideas may appear to some too gloomy, the reflect- 
 ing mind will not revolt from them. To remember the hour of dis- 
 solution has for the'good man and true believer no further terror, than 
 deterring him from sin, that he may leave this world unspotted, and 
 return his soul in the same purity to his Maker, as it was when He 
 gave it to him. — The same is the case with remembering our de- 
 
 * Or, as R. Moses Mendelsohn translates: " If a tear does not flow for thee, 
 whenever I am rejoiced." 
 
THE FASTS AND CEREMONIES. 189 
 
 graded political state. The recurrence to our former glory must 
 and ever will occasion the severest pain to a Jew ; yet is there some- 
 thing very animating in the idea of our future restoration, and it 
 will incite every good man to act so, that the coming of the Messiah 
 may not be retarded on his account. 
 
 Our ceremonies on various occasions have been explained already 
 in some parts of the foregoing pages, and since it is not my present 
 purpose te explain the ceremonies of the Jews, it would be quite out 
 of place to dilate on this subject ; I shall therefore but remark, that 
 our mourning is in most respects just the same that was customary 
 in the times of the patriarchs, which can be easily proved if neces- 
 sary ; and to show with what feelings we mourn, I beg to call the 
 reader's attention to the following from the funeral service : 
 
 " Thou art just, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments ! 
 Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and beneficent in all thy works ! Thy 
 righteousness is everlasting righteousness, and thy law is true ! 
 
 " The judgments of the Lord are true and uniformly just. Where 
 the word of the King is, there is power, and who can say to him, 
 ' What doest Thou V For He is of one mind, and who can alter 
 it ? and what his soul desires He doeth. The rock — whose work 
 is perfect, for all his ways are just ; the God of truth — and without 
 iniquity — He is just and upright. He is a true Judge, judging with 
 righteousness and truth. Praised be the true Judge, for all his 
 judgments are just and true." 
 
 It will be seen, that when our grief is naturally the greatest, we 
 acknowledge the justice of our Supreme Judge, all whose ways are 
 just. — After this prayer we pray for the soul of the departed in a 
 very appropriate manner, and conclude with the prophecy from Isaiah, 
 where he speaks in confident terms of his hope in the resurrection. 
 In short, the ceremonies of the Jews are conformable to the laws 
 they obey ; and the life of a good Jew may fairly be set down as a 
 model of perfection, as far as mortals can be perfect ! 
 
190 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 
 
 Before 1 conclude this part of my subject, that is to say, the 
 proofs of the divine origin of the Mosaic law and the reasons of the 
 continued adherence of the Jews to the same : I must say a few 
 words relative to the veneration we pay to the hook of the law 
 itself. The great Ezra* (who was next to Moses the principal in- 
 strument of God to perpetuate the law amongst us), together with 
 the prophets and the wise men of his time, made a regulation, that 
 the law should be read in the Synagogues every Sabbath, Monday, 
 and Thursday, that the Israehtes should never be three days with- 
 out reading the law or hearing it read. This regulation is not an 
 addition to the Mosaic Law, for there we are commanded that the 
 book of the law shall be read at every time, (Deut. chap. xvii. and 
 several other passages,) and once at least every seven years the 
 chief of the nation was obliged to read the law publicly to the whole 
 assembled people, men women and children, nay even the stranger. 
 (Deut. chap. xxxi. v. 12.) In the same chapter we are command- 
 ed : " To place the song in the mouth of the Israelites," meaning, 
 to make them perfectly acquainted with it ; upon further examina- 
 tion, however, it will be discovered, that not only the last song of 
 Moses, but also the whole law was to be known to every Israelite. 
 (Chap. XXX. v. 14.) It needs not be told, that in the Mosaic law 
 many commandments are given in general terms, without defining 
 their extent or the mode how they should be done ; and we find, 
 that God empowered the judges to explain any contested matter, 
 according to the general rules given through Moses. (Deut. chap. 
 
 * That this regulation chiefly emanated from Ezra is the general opinion 
 amongst the Jews, and there is no reason to doubt it, if we consider the great 
 veneration he had for tlic law. It is, however, probable tliat the same custom, 
 or a similar one, was common as early as the time of Elisha ; for some reasons 
 in favour of this hypothesis, see above, chap, xxiii. p. 167. 
 
THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 191 
 
 xvii. V. 11. and ibid. chap. xxi. v. 5.) This being the case it cannot 
 be doubted that Ezra and the Sanhedrin, at the time being, had the 
 right to make the above regulation, it being in accordance with 
 the general law as laid down in the Pentateuch, and well adapted for 
 the spreading of this law amongst the people. — According to this 
 reo-ulation the whole five books composing the Pentateuch are 
 divided into fifty-four portions, namely, Genesis in twelve^ Exodus 
 in eleven, Leviticus in ten, Numbers in ten, and Deuteronomy in 
 eleven ; in general one is read every Sabbath in the year, commenc- 
 ing on the first Sabbath after the feast of Tabernacles, and closing 
 on the last day of this feast ; but in the common years of our calen- 
 dar, which are only three hundred and fifty-five days, there are 
 read on some Sabbath-days two portions, so as to read the whole 
 law once at least in every twelve months. — On the festivals and 
 fast-days portions appropriate to the days are read ; for instance, on 
 the first day of the Passover, Exodus, chap. xii. v. 21, — chap, xiii ; 
 on the seventh day, ibid. chap. xiii. v. 17, — chap- xv. v. 26 ; on 
 the Day of Atonement, Leviticus, chap. xvi. v. 1 — 34, and in the 
 same manner on the other days. On Sabbath afternoon, and 
 Monday and Thursday, the first section of the following Sabbath is 
 read. The usefulness of this custom will be apparent to any person 
 endowed with the smallest share of penetration ; the law being con- 
 tinually read to the people, and whereas it has been recommended 
 by the Rabbins, to read, before the reading in the Synagogue, the 
 Hebrew timce and a translation once, it must be continually, in the 
 literal sense of the words, in the mouth and heart of all IsraeUtes ; 
 and can they fail, if they attend to this strictly, to become intimate- 
 ly acquainted with the whole law ? — Nor can the Rabbins be charged 
 with a desire of shrouding the law in mystery and withholding ex- 
 planations from the people ; so far from this being tiue, men capable 
 of teaching deliver lectures (in every village and town of Europe) 
 to the congregation before the afternoon service of the Sabbaths 
 and holydays ; and those who are able frequently give sermons and 
 discourses of their own composition during or immediately after the 
 morning-service. 
 
 After the reading of the law on the mornings of the Sabbaths 
 and the festivals, and on the afternoons of the fast-days, an appro- 
 priate portion is read from some of the historical writings and the 
 
19::^ THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 
 
 prophets prior to Daniel, (that is in the order in which the prophets 
 are placed in our canon). The origin of this custom is this : when 
 Antiochus had conquered Palestine he forbade the reading of the 
 law by the Jews, hoping that by degrees it might be altogether for- 
 gotten. But so convinced were our ancestors of the good to be de- 
 rived from the institution of Ezra, that tiiey, not being able to read 
 the law itself, substituted portions of the prophets bearing resem- 
 blance to those passages of the law which ought to have been read 
 on that Sabbath. It is well known how cruelly Antiochus treated 
 the aged priest Eleazer and the seven sons of Hannah ; but his day 
 of destruction soon arrived, and he was driven from our soil with igno- 
 miny and shame ; but the Israelites to this day retain the custom of 
 reading the passages of the prophets as just mentioned ; and thus not 
 only the law, but also the prophets, will be remembered by us, as 
 the frequent perusal of them must fix them indelibly in our minds. 
 
 It is also universally known, that all the copies of the law in use 
 amongst us are precisely alike. If we now wish to know how this 
 extraordinary result was brought about, how it could possibly hap- 
 pen, that in the many countries, where our dispersions d\\e\],ai[\ our 
 copies of the Pentateuch should agree : we must look to the mode 
 prescribed by our wise men, before and after the destruction of the 
 temple, for the reason of the miraculous preservation of the purity of 
 the Scriptures. — These men have laid down rules for preparing the 
 parchment and the ink, and in what manner the books of the law, 
 the Thephillin and Mezoozothe were to be written. No man, who 
 has not been previously examined as to his competency in writing 
 and knowledge of the rules, and who cannot produce testimonials of 
 an upright and religious conduct, can be admitted to be a writer of 
 the law. The Massorites have carefully noted every word, how it 
 is to be written ; and if a man follows the rules they have laid down, 
 it is impossible but he must write correctly. No book, which has 
 an error in it, can be used for public reading in the Synagogue, and 
 if any error be discovered during the reading of the law, another 
 book must be used. Before a book can be considered as fit for pub- 
 lic service, it must have been several times carefully revised. It is 
 unlawful to erase any name of the Most High ; but in case the error 
 discovered can not be rectified without this being done, the whole 
 sheet, in which the error is, must be taken out, and a correct one 
 
THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 193 
 
 substituted.— The law is written upon parchment, and on one side 
 only ; every word must be written upon lines, and the letters must 
 stand so that no one touch the other. The letters, it is almost need- 
 less to say, are Hebrew; they are, however, somewhat different 
 from those used in printing, as some of them have certain marks 
 upon the top, called Taggim, which any one can discover by just 
 inspecting one of the rolls, which, moreover, are mounted on two 
 rollers, for the purpose of being the more easily conveyed from one 
 place to the other, and of being better adapted for the use of the 
 Synagogues. 
 
 Thus we see, that all the rolls existing are written after one rule, 
 by men who are virtuous and competent to the task ; no dishonour 
 can therefore belong to the name of Scribe ; for can it be dishonour- 
 able for a man to be chosen to transcribe the law of his God, when 
 this very permission stamps him as a man of virtue and knowledge 1 
 1 really wonder how any man, who professes to venerate the Bible, 
 should dare to call the body of Scribes hypocrites, when Ezra 
 says of himself, " that he was a ready scribe of the law of God !" 
 Would Ezra have said that of himself, which would class him 
 amongst hypocrites ? And is it rational to suppose, that at any time 
 the whole community of the Jews was so depraved, that the persons 
 appointed to write the law were uniformly taken from amongst 
 those who assumed only the cloak of piety to conceal their hideous 
 moral deformity? It is impossible : and from the time of Ezra to 
 the present day the station of a Scribe has been an honourable one, 
 though worldly riches have seldom been the portion of any one of 
 this fraternity. 
 
 If we consider the above with due attention, our astonishment 
 will cease at the accuracy of all our copies of the law. But shall 
 those men, the Pharisees and Rabbins, who strove so hard to accom- 
 plish this desirable object, be branded with every opprobrious epithet 
 which malice or ignorance can invent ? It surpasses my intellectual 
 powers to comprehend the reason they could have had to take so 
 much care to preserve the law free from additions, alterations, and 
 forgeries, if: it was their intention to twist and turn the text as they 
 pleased '.—And whilst teaching, that this law must be observed ac- 
 cording to the letter, without addition or diminution, can it be possi- 
 ble, 1 ask, that they should have promulgated aught that was not 
 25 
 
194 THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 
 
 warranted by the law itself, or the tradition they had received from 
 their fathers ? However, I need not trouble myself to find argu- 
 ments for our opponents, who, as they continually make those 
 charges against our wise men, are in reason bound to explain the 
 above mental phenomenon, and to prove the truth of what they 
 otherwise assert. 
 
 But I hear asked on every side : " Did not the Rabbins disagree 
 about the meaning and extent of many passages of the law ?" Yes, 
 they did ; but this is no reason for rejecting their enactments. Let 
 us consider a few moments, if it be possible for a whole assembly 
 of delegates from various quarters of a state to agree in every 
 question of importance brought before them. Let it be borne in 
 mind, that they act under a law whose general principles are 
 known, but whose extent in particular cases is unknown. Each of 
 the members of this assembly is called upon to vote, and to state 
 his opinions and the reasons which govern him in so voting. Each 
 member thus called upon ventures to express his opinion, and to 
 give his reasons for his vote, and the view he has of that general 
 law, according to which he is bound to decide. Can any man assert, 
 with a strict regard to truth and justice, that each one of this assem- 
 bly may not be actuated by the best motives and the highest reve- 
 rence for this general law 7 If I might be permitted to hazard an 
 opinion, I should say, that this very disagreeing, where no party is 
 personally interested, (as was the case with all the Sanhedrin,) and 
 where each man might relinquish his own views without any per- 
 sonal sacrifice — this disagreeing, I say, proves the sincerity of 
 the individuals composing this assembly, for each man contends for 
 right in the abstract, and his maintaining his own opinion with argu- 
 ment against that perhaps of all the other members, shows, that his 
 veneration for the general law is so great that he cannot remain 
 silent, though he is sure of being in a minority, or perhaps alone. 
 
 1 will relate one instance of a disagreement of the Rabbins from 
 the Talmud, which, 1 am sure, will be sufficient to exonerate them 
 from the charge of quarrelling, and endeavouring to make the 
 law obscure by their disputes. — During the time that Rabban Ga- 
 maliel was Nahssy, or chief of the Sanhedrin, a man, who lived in 
 the country of the Ammonites, wished to join the Israelites. Rab- 
 ban (lamaliel was of opinion that he could not be received, for it is 
 
THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 195 
 
 written in Deut. chap, xxiii. v. 4 : " No Ammonite or Moabite shall 
 come in the congregation of the Eternal." Rabbi Yehoshua, how- 
 ever, thought that he might be received, " For," said he, " it is well 
 known that Sanherib mixt all the nations (those around Palestine) ; 
 amongst this number were the Ammonites, who, since that time, 
 no longer exist as a separate and distinct people. Now, since the 
 greater number of the nations thus driven from their homes were 
 not of those whose acceptance as proselytes was interdicted by the 
 passage in question, the living in the country of the Ammonites does 
 not constitute any one an Ammonite ; it may be that he is a de- 
 scendant from this people, but the greater probability is, that he is 
 not, for it is a rule, whatever separates, separates from the majority. ^^ 
 I do not think that this requires any explanation, for both reasons 
 are very plain. No man reading this can doubt but that both Rab- 
 ban Gamaliel and Rabbi Yehoshua were sincere and pious Israel- 
 ites, Ifoth passionately attached to the law, and each of them ready 
 to sacrifice his life for the sanctification of God and his laws. On 
 the other hand, no man can doubt that there was good reason for 
 either side of the question, and that, though the opinion of Rabban 
 Gamaliel was strictly according to the Mosaic law, yet did Rabbi 
 Yehoshua clearly prove that the passage cited by the Nahssy was 
 inapplicable in the present instance for the reasons given.* — I beg 
 leave to draw the reader's attention to another circumstance attend- 
 ing this difference. Rabban Gamaliel was a descendant of David, 
 and was besides a man of great wealth and influence ; Rabbi Yeho- 
 shua, on the contrary, was but a poor man, who maintained himself 
 by his own labour ; but he was a man of great learning, piety, and 
 virtue. He was not deterred by the greatness of the Nahssy from 
 speaking his opinion freely ; and this is not all, for it was afterwards 
 found that it had been the right one, and it was in consequence 
 adopted. 
 
 The debates incident to a disagreement of opinion amongst the 
 Rabbins called forth the most acute and close reasoning, and those 
 persons at all acquainted with the Talmud must acknowledge this 
 
 * Can the generality of the English tell, if they are descended from Romans, 
 Britons, Saxons, Danes, or Normans, though this mixture constitutes the Eng- 
 lish nation ? 
 
196 THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 
 
 in spite of themselves. But let it not be imagined, that upon every 
 question arising there was necessarily a difference of opinion ; far 
 from it, as a reference to any part of the Mishnah and Gemarah 
 (which both together are called Talmud) will amply demonstrate. 
 I will just mention, that this difference amongst the Rabbins pro- 
 duced no angry feelings, and they ever lived together in the greatest 
 harmony, with but very few exceptions. In fact, they did not con- 
 tend for the mastery in argument, nor the establishment of their 
 own particular views ; but only that the truth might be brought out 
 by discussion, and all their differences were for the sake of Heaven, 
 for the ultimate glory of the name of God. Such differences as 
 these must raise the parties in our estimation, and compel us to re- 
 spect the opinions of those men, who, with an eye solely to the ad- 
 vancement of religion and social virtue, braved persecutions, and 
 poverty, and distress, to accomplish this noble object. There are 
 materials enough to prove this last assertion more fully, but enough 
 has already been said for the conviction of those who are disposed 
 to be convinced. 
 
 I will not attempt to deny that the Rabbins were very strict and 
 austere ; but is this an objection to them 1 Can any man be blamed 
 for adhering to his opinion, which he conceives to be right, even in 
 trifles ? I imagine not. Besides, the limit between right and wrong 
 is so delicate as to be hardly perceptible, and it is always safer to 
 be too strict, than too lax, as the author of Lacon so elegantly says : 
 " Many persons say, in cases of doubtful morality, what harm 
 can there be in doing it, but he (the author of L.) would be glad to 
 know what harm there could be in letting it alone." — Why not 
 judge the Rabbins by the same rule ? Moreover, let it be consider- 
 ed that many little things, of which we are daily guilty, are unlaw- 
 ful, if we will but take the trouble to investigate our conduct a 
 little. But this is a thing which we will but seldom do. We love 
 ourselves so much, and are so tender of the peace of our conscience, 
 that we will never suffer any disagreeable sensation to disturb us, if 
 we possibly can help it. And this want of courage and command 
 over ourselves is no trifling fault, for if we would always be courage- 
 ous enough to accuse ourselves, and correct trifling faults in the 
 commencement, or when we first discover in us a strong propensity 
 to any vice, we would often be prevented from committing many 
 
THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. I97 
 
 crimes, or becoming notorious for vice or irreligion. It is a com- 
 mon and a true saying, that no man becomes bad of a sudden. We 
 commence by doing a trifling wrong, next one of greater magnitude, 
 till by degrees we have broken through every law, both human and 
 divine. We, therefore, read in the second Payreck of Abothe : 
 " And be as careful of a trifling good deed as of a weighty one, for 
 thou dost not know the reward for good actions ; and always con- 
 trast the loss which any good action may occasion with its reward, 
 and the benefit of sin with its ultimate injury." — Payreck iv. : " Ben 
 Azay says : Run to do any good action, though trifling it be, and 
 shun any sin ; for one good deed is the parent of another — and one 
 sin is the parent of another ; for the reward of any virtuous action 
 is another virtuous action, and the punishment of sin is sin." And 
 do we not find daily, that we never stop short upon the road of vir- 
 tue or vice ? — In the same spirit the Talmud also says : " That 
 when <Tod will destroy the ^nn ^T Yaytser harang (figurative for 
 evil inclinations) he will appear to the pious men as a large moun- 
 tain, who then will say : How were we able to overcome so large a 
 mountain ? to the wicked, however, he will appear as a hair, and they 
 will say: Woe to us, that we had not firmness enough to overcome even 
 a hair." And so it is, if we take a view of all the temptations we 
 had to encounter, we will often be astonished how we escaped them 
 without giving way to our inclinations. On the other hand, if we 
 have been guilty of any crime, religious or moral, and we take a 
 look at our past conduct, we will often shudder at the trifle which 
 was the first cause of our present degradation. Shall I search 
 through the annals of crime and infidelity to prove this? My 
 readers, I think, will gladly dispense with it ; and each will perhaps 
 be able to supply an example of both virtue and vice from his own 
 recollection. 
 
 No rabbinical Jew will, therefore, attempt to deny that the Rab- 
 bins were, in old times, austere, as regards themselves, and that 
 they are so even yet ; since this is no fault. But let it not be 
 thought that they are gloomy fanatics and bigots : so far from this 
 being the case, I am inclined to think that they are the most cheer- 
 ful class of men ; but their hilarity is not boisterous, and their mirth 
 is tempered by piety and a knowledge of the uncertainty of life. 
 The shortness of our existence is not with them a goad to hurry 
 
198 THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 
 
 them on from pleasure to pleasure (as with the Epicureans of old) ; 
 but it always reminds them that the time must be spent in good ac- 
 tions — in deeds of kindness towards mankind, and in adoration to 
 God. 
 
 Having touched in succession upon those points which appeared 
 to me best adapted to demonstrate the divine origin of our law, I 
 think that I cannot close this part of my little book better than by 
 extracting the following from the Proverbs of the Fathers, chap. ii. : 
 
 " Rabbi Tarfone said : The day is short, the work is great (mul- 
 tifarious), the workmen are lazy, the reward is ample, and the mas- 
 ter of the house is urgent. — He also used to say : It is not incum- 
 bent on thee to finish the work, nor art thou at liberty to divest thy- 
 self altogether of it ; if thou hast learned much of the law, much 
 reward will be given thee, and the master of thy work is trustwor- 
 thy (capable) to pay thee the reward for thy labour ; and know thou 
 that the reward of the righteous is in the world to come !" 
 
 No man, whatever his religious principles may be, can find fault 
 with the moral contained in this beautiful allegory, and its force and 
 simplicity are perhaps unsurpassed by any saying that flowed from 
 pens not wielded by inspired writers. — And I believe that it may be 
 asserted, that whatever the Rabbins wrote bears the mark of a high 
 elevation of thought, and a grandeur of conception, and although 
 their figures may now and then seem too bold, yet their meaning is 
 always very appropriate when correctly explained. 
 
 In fine, the law given by God through Moses is the citadel, in 
 which we must take shelter ; but let that rude hand be blasted 
 which should impiously dare to break down the wall, which our 
 good pastors and faithful guardians have with so much care built 
 around it ! 
 
 O GREAT AND ADORABLE BEING, who didst create the 
 heaven and the earth, and the innumerable planetary systems which 
 shine around us, look down with mercy and compassion upon thy 
 servant, who feebly essays to vindicate the glory of THY HOLY 
 
THE LAW AND THE RABBINS. 199 
 
 NAME ! O may the words of his mouth be acceptable to Thee, 
 and may nought that he says be displeasing to Thee ! — Vouchsafe 
 also to look down from thy high abode upon the descendants of 
 Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, thy servants, and remember Thou 
 the covenant which Thou didst make with them, saying, that Thou 
 wouldst never forsake their children ! Grant them, therefore, 
 knowledge and wisdom, that they may all understand thy law, and 
 know what is pleasing to Thee ! — DeUver them from all affliction, 
 and bring to fulfilment the prophecy spoken through thy prophet, 
 that the earth should be full of thy knowledge, as the waters cover 
 the sea. May this be thy will, and may we speedily behold thy re- 
 turn to ZION. Amen ! 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 TO CHAPTER II. PAGE 14. 
 
 Some unfortunate critic (the Archaeologist in the Monthly Maga- 
 zine for August, 1814) has attempted to prove that the book of Exo- 
 dus and a part of Genesis were composed about the time of Jeremiah, 
 mainly on the following grounds : first, because the book of Exodus, 
 chap. XXV. contains a description of the candelabre to be used in the 
 temple, which was to consist of seven branches, and Solomon (so 
 says the Archaeologist) was ignorant of this commandment, because 
 he made eleven single candlesticks, each holding one light (1 Kings, 
 chap. vii. v. 49,): secondly, because the motto, HOLINESS TO 
 THE LORD, which is ordered in Exodus to be put on all the temple- 
 plate ! ! ! was not upon the utensils of the first temple, but it was in 
 use during the second temple, (by which, I suppose, he wishes to 
 insinuate that the motto was engraved upon the utensils of the second 
 temple) ; for proof we are referred to Zech. chap. xiv. v. 20 : and, 
 lastly, as to the book of Genesis, whereas it contains (chap, xxxvi. v. 
 31) a list of eight kings who reigned in Idumea — 'J:ib ^Sd ^Sd ""jaS 
 bNliy which is rendered in the English version," before there reigned 
 any king over the children of Israel"— from this it follows, that the 
 book was not written till long after Moses, i. e. after the introduction 
 of royalty among the Israelites ; and since the princes of Edoni are 
 mentioned in chap. xv. v. 15, of Exodus, the Archaeologist draws ano- 
 ther argument against this latter book having been redacted to its 
 present form before Jeremiah. Reader, hast thou ever heard igno- 
 rance presuming to teach wisdom ? If not, please to procure for thy 
 perusal the 38th volume of Sir R. Phillips's Monthly Magazine, and 
 when thou hast read, with the utmost attention what is said there, 
 pp. 34, 35, by the learned critic, in relation to the antiquity of the 
 biblical writings, thou wilt agree with me, that hardly a more foolish 
 piece of criticism was ever committed to paper, and that no man could 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 be more ignorant of the subject he presumes to discuss, than our 
 would-be-learned antiquary. Let us see what he says in relation to 
 the first reason he gives for his assertion, that Solomon must have 
 been ignorant of what is contained in the twenty -fifth chapter of Exo- 
 dus — because he made " eleven single candlesticks." I did consult 
 the passage in the seventh chapter of the first book of Kings ; but, un- 
 fortunately for the Archaeologist's position, the Hebrew word used is 
 nn^DH which ought to be translated "the candelabres," but not 
 " the candlesticks ;" and, in fact, the verse concludes with — " and the 
 flower-works, and the lamps, and the tongues were gold." I will but 
 briefly state that nj (Nare) means a single lamp ; ni3D (Menorah), 
 however, an assemblage of lamps, or candelabre, plural, nnJD, seve- 
 ral assemblages of lamps, or simply candelabres ; in short, Nare and 
 Menorah bear the same relation in Hebrew as mount and mountain 
 do in English. The n is equivalent to the English definite article 
 the ; and for these reasons nniDH should be translated as I have 
 done ; £vnd this must be apparent to every one, even if he be entirely 
 unacquainted with the Hebrew. If the Archaeologist had now but 
 reflected what could be meant by the definite article, he would have 
 come to the conclusion that it alludes evidently to a known form, 
 which form is given, in continuation, to be flowerwork, lamps, and 
 tongues : and is this not the same as we find recorded and commanded 
 in Exodus, chap, xxv? 
 
 To his second objection I may answer explicitly, that the critic 
 overshot the mark altogether. The inscription he speaks of, which, 
 by the by, ought, properly speaking, to be given in English, HOLY 
 TO THE ETERNAL, was ordered to be engraved on the golde^i 
 plate only, which the high priest wore over the mitre j but I defy the 
 Archaeologist, if he yet lives, or any other person who has adopted his 
 opinions, to produce even the shadow of evidence to prove that this 
 inscription was to be upon any other utensil spoken of in Exodus. 
 Was Solomon now to blame for not doing that for which he had not 
 the least warrant in the Pentateuch ? But our critic, to show his 
 complete ignorance, concludes — " but (the motto) was in use on the 
 return from captivity;" and refers to Zechariah, chap. xiv. v. 20. 
 This verse, however, speaks not of the utensils in use during the se- 
 cond temple, but relates to the time of the Messiah, for the prophet 
 says: "In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, HOLY 
 TO THE ETERNAL;" and if this is taken in connection with the 
 whole of the fourteenth chapter, every intelligent reader will easily dis- 
 cover, without any aid of mine, the time of which Zechariah treats. 
 26 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that the second objection is too puerile to de- 
 serve further refutation. We now come to the reason given to prove 
 that Moses was not the author of Genesis. The whole objection rests 
 upon the words, " before there reigned any king over the children of 
 Israel;" but if we insert a single particle, namely, "yet," and read 
 " before there yef^ reigned," &c. all difficulties will be at once remov- 
 ed ; and Moses, then, meant to say, that up to his time eight kings 
 had been reigning over Edom, whereas the Israelites had had no 
 king yet. But some one may ask me : " What proof can you produce 
 that your construction is the correct one ?" I Avill then give this as 
 my reason : Saul, the first king of Israel, was chosen about four hun- 
 dred years after the Exodus ; the Israelites resided, at the lowest cal- 
 culation, two hundred and ten years in Egypt, during all which time 
 there were probably kings in Idumea.f If we now adopt the opinion 
 of the critic, the average reign of these eight kings will be found to have 
 been seventy-six years ! But allow that the last of these kings lived in 
 Moses's time : the whole duration of their collective reign may then 
 be put down at two hundred and fifty, and the average reign of each 
 at thirty-one years. I will not add one word more, but leave it for 
 all judicious men to decide which hypothesis is the most reasonable. 
 If, then, the thirty-sixth chapter of Genesis be no objection to its 
 being written by Moses, no argument can be drawn from it against 
 the authenticity of chap. xv. v. 15, of Exodus, because allusion is there 
 made to the dukes of Edom. The Archseologist is further mistaken 
 in supposing that the Jewish archives, as he is pleased lo style our 
 sacred canon, were ever kept in the ark ; for in this ark were only the 
 
 * This has been done by Mendelsohn in his translation of the Pentateuch, 
 and his construction is perfectly consonant with the Hebrew idiom, as it is well 
 known that particles are frequently omitted in this language, when the obvious 
 sense of the passage will supply the deficiency, as is the case in the very passage 
 before us. 
 
 t But even allow that Idumea was in the first ages of its settlement governed 
 by Sheiks, or, as they are termed in Genesis, Alluphim, hereditary independent 
 heads of tribes : it is yet very reasonable to suppose that the whole family of 
 Esau, together with the original inhabitants of the country, " the children of 
 Sengir the Chory" were early united under one common head, though each 
 Sheik or AUuph may have possessed even then some authority under the chief, 
 perhaps in the manner of baronial tenure in the middle ages. And though, if 
 this supposition be true, the average reign of the Idumean monarchs may have 
 been ratlier shorter than we have supposed, yet can this be no objection to inva- 
 lidate the position assumed in the text. 
 
APPENDIX. 203 
 
 two tables on which the Decalogue was inscribed by superhuman 
 agency ; but the Pentateuch itself was kept at the side ni^D of the 
 ark. (See Deut. chap. xxxi. v. 26.) When, therefore, the critic 
 wishes to draw a distinction between the " canon of the ark" and the 
 " canon of the temple" — a distinction entirely unknown to the He- 
 brews, because in Solomon's time there were only the two tables, 
 (but not nothing,'^ as A. says,) in the ark, and no other archives (1 
 Kings, chap. viii. v. 9,) — he comes to an altogether erroneous conclu- 
 sion; for the very assertion of the passage in Kings, " that there was 
 nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses had placed there 
 in Horeb," proves most incontestably the truth of the opinion I have 
 ventured to advance. 
 
 That, during the reigns of Menasseh and his son, who were very 
 wicked, and addicted to idolatry, the study of the law was much ne- 
 glected, and that, in consequence, the copies of it had become scarce, 
 is extremely probable. When, therefore, Josiah had read the contents 
 of the^book which was found in the temple, in the twenty-sixth year 
 of his age, and the eighteenth of his reign, he sent to the prophetess 
 Hidda, to enquire of her if she had received any revelation concern- 
 ing what God intended to do to the Israelites, because they had trans- 
 gressed the commandments contained in the book which had been 
 found. What evidence can be produced to establish that this book 
 was not the same that was delivered to the Levites by Moses ? I 
 may answer, none whatever. On the contrary, when a person reads 
 the twenty-second chapter of the 2d Kings, he will, if not predeter- 
 mined not to be convinced, come to the inevitable conclusion, that 
 the book was the entire Pentateuch, since Josiah observed precepts 
 scattered indiscriminately through the whole law, (particularly Exo- 
 dus). And if it even will not be admitted, (because the supposition 
 be too bold,) that the book was the autograph of Moses, given to the 
 Levites just before his death, to be kept at the side of the ark, that is 
 inside of the temple, in the holy of holies, to be there as an evi- 
 dence against the Israelites, — every one must confess that it must 
 have been a similar one. 
 
 The Archaeologist is further pleased to inform the world, that " the 
 Hebrew Avas never the vernacular language of Palestine," and that 
 the Hebrew Bible now extant is " a translation from the original lan- 
 guage, made for the use of the Babylonian court, to enable it the better 
 
 * For he says the ark was empty, and did not even contain the two tables of 
 the covenant. 
 
204 APPENDIX. 
 
 to govern the conquered province." If any man were to come for- 
 ward and say, that the Declaration of Independence is a translation of a 
 Chinese document, written three thousand years before the creation : 
 he could hardly be more absurd than the Archaeologist is in saying, 
 that the Hebrew was not the vernacular tongue of the Jews, but of the 
 Babylonian court. If he had but turned over to the book of Daniel, • 
 he would have seen that the language called Hebrew was not the one 
 spoken in Nebuchadnezzar's palace, and that there is a radical differ- 
 ence between the Hebrew and the Chaldean languages ; and that the 
 latter was the one spoken and understood by the Babylonians. Daniel, 
 therefore, when he speaks of what occurred in the king's palace, uses 
 the last mentioned language ; but when he narrates his visions and 
 prayers, and in the first chapter, he uses his own vernacular tongue, 
 the Hebrew. If, now, the Hebrew was not vernacular in Palestine, 
 how do the Scriptures exist at all in that language 1 Could the Ba- 
 bylonians possibly have ordered a translation into this language, when 
 they and the Jews were ignorant of it ? What should have been the 
 use of it ? Turn the matter as you will, you must arrive at the con- 
 clusion, that the Hebrew was the language spoken by the Israelites, 
 previous to their abduction to Babylon, and that the Scriptures ever 
 existed in this same language, and in the same style in which we 
 now possess them. 
 
 The Archaeologist also says, " that the Decalogue must be an inter- 
 polated fragment, introduced after the captivity." His reasons are, 
 first, because Joshua did inscribe the Decalogue existing in his time 
 on a single altar; and, secondly, because the long jimg against sculp- 
 ture could not have been inserted till after the destruction of the 
 brazen serpent. (2 Kings, chap, xviii. v. 4.) Let us consider these ob- 
 jections. 
 
 1. "Could Joshua inscribe the Decalogue, as now existing, in large 
 legible letters on a single altar?" I answer, yes ; for in Exodus, chap, 
 xxvii. V. 1, we read that the altar made in the wilderness was to be 
 five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high ; let it also be 
 considered that this altar was carried about from place to place, but 
 that the one built by Joshua upon mount Ebal was a permanent 
 structure, built of blocks of entire and unhewn stone, and so large that 
 the whole Deuteronomy T\W1^ niin 'r\wn nx was written on it. (Joshua, 
 chap. viii. v. 32.) If we now even admit that only the Decalogue 
 was inscribed on this altar, (which, however, remains to be proven, 
 for not a word is said about the Decalogue,) and that the altar itself 
 was of no larger dimensions than the one made by Moses, it will yet 
 
APPENDIX. 206 
 
 strike every one, that there was room enough for the Decalogue upon 
 a surface of sixty square cubits, if the letters were of any reasonable 
 size. 
 
 2. "Could the inhibition against sculpture have been known before 
 Hezekiah?" Again I must answer in the affirmative. " But did not 
 Moses make the brazen serpent?" Certainly; but this was by the 
 special command of God. The reason for this order may perhaps 
 have been this : the Israelites, discontented with the manna, began to 
 murmur, and to desire something which they thought better. (Numb, 
 chap. xxi. V. 5.) God, to punish them, sent poisonious serpents 
 amongst them, who killed a " large number of Israel." Being now 
 convinced of their sin, and conscious of their ingratitude towards God 
 and Moses, they besought him to pray for them to the Eternal, to re- 
 move the reptiles from them. Moses thereupon was ordered to make 
 a serpent, and fix it upon a staff, that every one bitten might see it, 
 and when seeing it remember his sins, ask forgiveness, and thus ob- 
 tain a^prolongation of life. As we also read in Tractate Roshe Ha- 
 shanah, chap. iii. § 8 : " And thus it is also said: 'Make thyself a ser- 
 pent, and place it upon a staff, and it shall be that every one who is 
 bitten, and looks at it, shall live.' But how could the serpent kill or 
 keep alive any man? The serpent itself could not; but when the Is- 
 raelites looked towards it on high, and subdued their hearts to their 
 Father in heaven, they were cured ; and if not, they perished." This, 
 then, was the object of the brazen serpent ; but it was done away with 
 as soon as the occasion for which it was made had passed ; and we 
 find no mention made of it till Hezekiah, who destroyed it because 
 the idolaters in his father's time had paid it adoration, contrary to 
 law. In short, the brazen serpent was but a temporary suspension of 
 a negative precept, similar to Elijah's sacrifice on Carmel (see above, 
 page 147); but this precedent was on no account to be imitated; 
 and can any proof be adduced that it ever icas by those judges 
 and kings who lived according to the precepts of the law ? It will 
 therefore be seen from the foregoing, that the length of the Decalogue 
 is no argument against its id^tity, and that the " long Jiing''^ against 
 sculpture is any thing but interpolated. 
 
 The next subject for enquiry is what the Archaeologist says in regard 
 to the feelings towards the Egyptians displayed in the second book, the 
 Exodus, namely. He has discovered that its intention is to rouse hatred 
 towards the Egyptians in the bosom of the Jews, I suppose he means 
 by the narrative of our long sufferings in Egypt. But the insimtation 
 that Jeremiah therefore must have been the author, (so says the Ar- 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 chaeologist,) is as false as ihe inference is unjust. I do not suppose 
 that any person will doubt, or even can doubt, that the situation of the 
 Israelites in Egypt was the most abject and miserable. A historian 
 of our people, intimately acquainted with all that occurred, and con- 
 fining himself strictly to facts, transmits an account of the hardships 
 of our ancestors to posterity, that the latest descendants of Jacob may 
 learn to know the great wonders and the unbounded mercy of God, 
 in redeeming his people from a state worse than death. How can he 
 be charged with sinister motives in so doing ? Shall history not speak 
 what is true, because, forsooth, prejudice might be roused against ty- 
 rants and oppressors ? Shall vice be unblushingly practised, and vir- 
 tue not even dare to raise her voice to denounce the evil? This 
 ought certainly not to be. And the tyrant will ever be abhorred, and 
 the wicked be denounced, as long as men love freedom, and preserve 
 a due regard for virtue. 
 
 If, then, the book of Exodus were to give an exaggerated account 
 of our affliction in Egypt, the charge might perhaps be sustained ; or 
 if the Pentateuch would even insinuate that it were lawful to hate the 
 people of that country, the author might then be accused, with some 
 show of reason at least, of displaying too much acrimony. But nei- 
 ther is the case : all our sufferings are described in about fifty verses, 
 and that without comment, which was indeed unnecessary, for the 
 enormities practised towards us required not many words to make 
 them odious ; and so far from our being ordered to hate the Egyptians, 
 we are commanded (Deut. chap, xxiii. v. 8,) to receive the grandson 
 of an Egyptian proselyte into the congregation, " because we were 
 strangers in his land y" and this surely looks very different from hat- 
 ing our former oppressors. If Jeremiah, now, had altered the Penta- 
 teuch, and added just what he pleased, Avould he have suffered the 
 last passage adduced to iema.m as b. damning record against him? 
 Surely not. Upon the whole, it will be self-evident that all the out- 
 cry of the Archaeologist* is mere imagination, and the emanation of a 
 mind filled with prejudice, and bent upon weakening the authority of 
 
 • 
 
 * This is a proper place to warn my readers against taking any tiling upon 
 trust, till they have examined for themselves. Our law, our prophets, and our 
 Rabbins have been charged by men of learning even with uttering things which 
 were the farthest from their thoughts. And tliough these charges are made 
 with tlic utmost assurance, yet would I remind my brethren, the Jews, that this 
 is the cloak which ignorance usually assumes to hide her defects ; wisdom is al. 
 ways diffident, and ratlicr yields a little, than, by being too positive, injure the 
 cause of truth and piety. 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 the Mosaic law ; and that the whole is no more founded upon truth, 
 than his concluding assertion, or rather insinuation, that Jeremiah 
 quoted at Babylon documents altogether new to him, up to the time 
 of his making the selections for composing the Pentateuch (!) ; which 
 must be untrue^ for Jeremiah never was in Babylon^ since we know 
 from his own account, that hejiedfrom Palestine into Egypt. This 
 country he never left afterwards, for he died there ; and I defy any 
 person to produce the slightest proof to establish that he ever was ifi 
 Babylon. The charges made by the Archaeologist against Jeremiah 
 for want of patriotism require no refutation, as every body will no 
 doubt be gladly inclined to acquit him of a crime — for crime it is — of 
 which Jews are but seldom guilty ; for a national feeling, deep-rooted 
 and heartfelt, is their principal characteristic. And do not the La- 
 mentations of Jeremiah of themselves sufficiently prove how deeply 
 he felt and mourned for the downfal of Jerusalem ? 
 
 Since some of my readers may perhaps think this criticism of mine 
 out of place, I deem it necessary to state the following reason as my 
 justification. Having seen by accident the remarks of the critic, I 
 thought to myself, who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he blas- 
 phemes so against our holy law ? Again I reflected, and found that 
 his arguments were perhaps as good as can be adduced in favour of 
 his position. I resolved, therefore, to refute them, thinking that, by 
 doing so, I should in the best manner possible establish the assertion 
 at the head of the second chapter ; and I hope that I have proved al- 
 most beyond a doubt that Moses, and Moses alone, must have been 
 the writer of the books which bear his name. 
 
 In conclusion, I would remark, that. most objections raised against 
 the authenticity of the Bible are predicated upon the not understand- 
 ing of our language and our customs ; and it therefore happens, that, 
 whether they are urged by a Voltaire, a Payne, a Cooper, or an un- 
 learned man of the lowest degree, they all bear the characteristic of 
 consisting more of assertion without proof than of sound argument. 
 And however formidable they may appear to one who only reads a 
 translated Bible, which naturally must contain more or less inaccura- 
 cies, they can weigh but little with one acquainted with the language 
 and habits of the people to whom the Bible was given. Much more 
 might be added ; but the length to which the subject has been carried 
 already admonishes me to desist for the present. 
 
THE 
 
 JEWS AND THE MOSAIC LAW 
 
 PART THE SECOND: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 FOUll ESSAYS ON THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF 
 JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 BY 
 
 A NATIVE OF GERMANY, 
 
 AND 
 
 A PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 : y^w'Wi £33iyDS "jriN Dipn \wh S^i 
 
 "Every weapon forged against thee shall not prosper; and thou shalt condemn 
 every tongue rising against thee in judgment." — Jsaiah, liv. 17. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 Perhaps some person may be disposed to think that it displays a 
 considerable degree of rancour to republish the reply to an attack 
 long since forgotten, or at least lost sight of. He may say : " Few 
 ever read the Quarterly Review, and fewer still pay sufficient re- 
 gard to its allegations to retain them in memory after a lapse of five 
 years." But 1 must say in answer, that no one actually acquainted 
 with tUe true state of the question can assert with any regard to 
 truth, that the charges against the Jews have not been repeated 
 since the appearance of that article in the London Quarterly Re- 
 view, which induced me to contradict the usual and oft-repeated 
 accusations. In the second place, the authority which the said pe- 
 riodical has amongst the literary world makes its opposition worth 
 something more than to treat it with silent contempt. Besides, a 
 procedure of this nature presupposes such a share of greatness and 
 elevation above the power attacking, such as we Jews can, alas ! not 
 boast of at the present time. We have, unfortunately, too often felt 
 the talons of the destroying lion riveted in our flesh, not to dread 
 his roar even now ; and though at the present moment his power of 
 harming be considerably diminished, it behooves us yet to be watch- 
 ful lest he overpower us from our not heeding the covert where he 
 lies in wait, thirsting for our life's blood. With this I do not mean 
 to say, that those who dislike our code of laws would wish to see 
 us led again to slaughter ; but I may assert, without fearing to be 
 called illiberal, that many a good Christian would be glad to convert 
 us, if not by fair, well, then, by foul means ; but at all events the 
 Jews must be converted. No one can deny that this is a leading 
 principle with a large number of persons, who, we hardly doubt, are 
 actuated by real philanthropy, since they imagine that their doctrines 
 are as beneficial as ours are alleged to be pernicious. Hence it ori- 
 
212 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ginates, that tlic name of infidel is a favourite epithet applied to us, 
 together with unbelieving Jeic, one groping in darkness, persecuting 
 Jew, and many more ; and hence it is that a late writer, I allude to 
 the Rev. H. H. Milman, in his History of the Jews, says : " That the 
 best and wisest of the Jews were not equal to the Christians;" and 
 that Bishop M'llvaine, in his Evidences of Christianity, uses the fol- 
 lowing phrases : " Had the Jews of Jerusalem been able to deny it, 
 would their persecuting enmity have permitted them to be silent V 
 and " Consider tlie three thousand, converted from bitter, persecut- 
 ing Judaism to the faith of Christ, on the eve of the Pentecost." 
 Who, now, reading these extracts, merely taken at random, would 
 think otherwise than that no morality of the purer kind is taught by 
 the Old Testament, and that the spirit of the Jews is persecution ? 
 And do not the reverend and learned authors of these respective 
 works see that they raise, by their ill-chosen phraseolog}^, a spirit 
 of persecution and hatred towards the Jews in the minds of their 
 readers, although they themselves be free therefrom ? Add to this, 
 that the infidel Jews are prayed for at prayer-meetings and in public 
 worship, and that God is entreated to convert them to the gospel dis- 
 pensation : and I am confident that no one will sincerely blame me 
 when 1 maintain, that much ill will is constantly raised, though per- 
 haps innocently, against our people. We suffer doubly, because we 
 have no means of dispelling the prejudice, except by our conduct, 
 and this is, unfortunately for us, not observed with sufficient impar- 
 tiality to permit people to form a correct judgment. Since now the 
 charges of the Quarterly Review, or at least similar ones, are con- 
 stantly repeated and renewed, I trust that no blame will attach to me 
 for republishing a reply to these charges, although they have been 
 made in their peculiar form five years ago. 
 
 Another opinion may be maintained about my unimportance, and 
 the little good I can do by appearing voluntarily and uncalled for as 
 the champion of the Jews. Indeed this objection is much more 
 reasonable than the uselessness of a defence ; but all I can say in 
 reply is, that my intentions are good, and that, if my abilities and 
 standing are not sufficient, let some one more able, and upon a higher 
 station in life, and more known to the public, assume the respon- 
 sibility, and he may be assured that 1 shall with pleasure yield him 
 the palm of superiority. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 213 
 
 Again, some person may fear that the republication of the four 
 essays subjoined may provoke controversy ; but the same may be 
 urged against every pubUcation upon disputed points of morality, 
 politics, science, and religion ; and let it be observed, that contro- 
 versy, if carried on in a gentlemanly and modest manner, can do no 
 harm ; and if, unfortunately, controversial remarks should be elicit- 
 ed from any one who may think my observations improper, (which, 
 however, I hardly anticipate,) I pledge myself, should I be prevailed 
 upon to give an answer, not to suffer my zeal to run away with my 
 judgment, and that I shall never let opprobrious epithets be the 
 cause of my forfeiting the claims to moderation which is perhaps 
 the only, at least the chief, merit of my writings. In conclusion, 1 
 must state, that I mean no personal disrespect to any one by the 
 allusions I may have made, as I feel no ill will towards the respect- 
 ive persons whose opinions I have canvassed or alluded to. And to 
 show4hat my comments upon the London Quarterly Review are not 
 too harsh, I have extracted some of the passages 1 have commented 
 on. I would have republished the whole article ; but this is useless, 
 as any person can get it who feels a great curiosity to read it ; and 
 then 1 have not replied to half the misstatements and charges 
 made in the article under question ; and even these extracts would 
 have been omitted, were it not that it is better to let every person 
 see that nothing more than justice has been done to the Reviewer. 
 
 I. L. 
 
 September, 1833. 
 
 In the beginning of his remarks, the Quarterly Reviewer says (p. 
 114): 
 
 " Is it too much to say, that we have rather left them among our- 
 selves as vermin, which we know not how to get rid of, than regard- 
 ed and treated them as the children of a common Father ? We have 
 not even afforded them any portion of that compassion which usage 
 and opinion would require that we should at least appear to feel for 
 fallen greatness." 
 
 This sounds liberally enough, — but, now, as to the remedy, which 
 of course is to be the effect of compassion for fallen greatness (p. 
 130): 
 
 " Civil enactments, with reference to this peculiar people, require 
 
214 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 much deliberation. We may harm both them and ourselves by hasty 
 and injudicious attempts to benefit them." 
 
 After saying that oppression would not do, he continues (p. 131) : 
 
 " On the other hand, to give all the rights and privileges of citizens 
 to them, whilst holding to Judaism, [reader, reflect !] would be to 
 bind ourselves wholly to those who cannot so bind themselves to us ; 
 to confer on them a strength which might be turned against ourselves j 
 and to compel them of course to contract reciprocal obligations, which 
 their highest duties — in their view — national, political, and religious, 
 must force them to violate at such a call as they shall believe to be 
 that of their promised deliverer," Ergo (page 130) : " If the discord- 
 ant and painful position of the Jews amongst us, and the prejudicial 
 effects of the mode of their existence as a crude, unamalgamated, and 
 heterogeneous mass [hard words, truly], arise from their Judaism, 
 and from their refusal to adopt the religion of Christendom,* then 
 every rule of sound policy urges us to promote, by means of persua- 
 sion, [or bribes too ?] and as far as we can, the reception of the gospel 
 by them." 
 
 The Reviewer expresses himself in the following manner when 
 speaking of the Jews (p. 115) : 
 
 " The greatest accumulation of them on any one point in Europe is 
 in the countries of ancient Poland, now forming Russian, Austrian, 
 and Prussian Poland, and the modern kingdom of Poland under the 
 sceptre of the emperor of Russia. It is stated by Beer, that many 
 centuries ago a considerable body of Jews migrated from France into 
 Germany, whence many of their descendants passed into Poland ; but 
 they must have remained long in Germany before this second 
 swarm hived itself in Poland." 
 
 And further down he continues : 
 
 " There are great numbers of Jews in the parts of Turkey contigu- 
 ous to Poland ; but there they literally swarm ; they are innkeepers, 
 tradesmen, distillers of brandy, brewers, horse-dealers, money-chang- 
 ers, usurers,! as every where else ; some few of them are farmers 
 
 * Which is that ? — the catholic — episcopal — methodist — baptist — Greek — 
 presbyterian ? Would it be possible to convert the Jews to the Christian reli- 
 gion vvitliout making tliem sectarians ? 
 
 t Mind, reader, usury is a trade of the Jews : no Christians are ever brokers, 
 stock-jobbers, money-changers, and usurers, — no, not they indeed ! This is all 
 ]efl for tlie hated Jews to do, for the good reason the Germans gave when they 
 
INTRODUCTION. 215 
 
 of the soil. Their numbers have increased of late years so rapidly as 
 greatly to alarm and embarrass the governments of countries which 
 afford but slender resources for a population so averse to be engaged 
 in tillage. The evil of this immense accumulation of such a people, 
 having one common interest and feeling, both of which are foreign to 
 the interests and feelings of the citizens of the state, is felt, especially 
 by the Russian government." 
 
 " Since the time of Mendelsohn, many of them have studied with 
 much success in its (Germany's) universities ; of these Professor 
 Neander, now a Christian, [mark, now a Christian !] may be cited as 
 a very creditable specimen." — p. 116. 
 
 " But when these feudal properties, besides many of the finest 
 houses in the German capitals, passed thus into Israelitish hands, 
 it was in the course of things that the people should view with 
 envy and indignation (!) these foreign unbelieving money-changers 
 [why not at once Christ-killers ?] climbing up on the pedestals from 
 which the statues of Christian knights and barons of ancient race had 
 been Hurled down by the storms which shook their native land to its 
 centre." — p. 117. 
 
 " Pharisaism has descended uninterruptedly to the rabbinical Jews ; 
 their modern rabbis are the lineal spiritual descendants of the scribes 
 and lawyers of the time of Jesus Christ ; and it appears that the whole 
 of the traditionary additions to the law existing then are in vigour 
 now, and that they have been fearfully augmented since then. We 
 spare our readers citations from the blasphemous and horrible absurdi- 
 ties of the Talmud, which professes to have, as its groundwork, an 
 oral revelation made by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, when he deli- 
 vered the law to him ; nor will we add a statement of the supersti- 
 tions which harass the Jew, or of that demonology Avhich arrays innu- 
 merable maleficent invisible agents in arms against his health and happi- 
 ness, under all and the strangest circumstances. In Russian Poland the 
 Jews bury their dead hastily, judging them to be such when no steam 
 appears on a glass applied to the mouth. If the jolting of the cart re- 
 calls life and action, they believe that it is a devil who occupies the 
 body, and deal with it accordingly : thus says a very respectable Jew, 
 an eye-witness [?] born and bred there. He adds, that they are armed 
 against our reasonings on the Old Testament, (of which, hoAvever, 
 they knoAV very little,) by the assurances of their rabbis, that the Al- 
 
 permitted Jews to buy stolen goods and take interest for money lent — "Their 
 souls are once belonging to tlie devil, and it can make no difference whether 
 they have these sins in addition to answer for or not I" 
 
216 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mighty has placed many things in the text as stumbling-blocks to the 
 Gentiles, but that the truth is to be found in the marginal notes from 
 the Targum, which are given as infallible guides to the Israelites 
 alone. They are taught that the seven nations of the land of Canaan 
 were Christian, and that Jesus Christ [!] was a magician. How deeply 
 they feel the want of a mediator, is evident from a part of a prayer 
 used by them on the day of atonement, which runs thus : ' Woe unto 
 us, for we have no mediator.' The Jew on the bed of death can see 
 nothing in his God but an inexorable judge, whose wrath he cannot 
 deprecate, and whose justice he cannot satisfy. At all times, but in 
 sickness especially, the thought or mention of death is terrible to him ; 
 the evil eye, ever an object of horror, is then peculiarly so ; they then 
 fear their nearest and dearest friends looking at them. We can find 
 no solution of this mental darkness in those who have Moses and the 
 prophets for their guide, and millions of whom have lived for centu- 
 ries amidst the civilisation and literature of Europe, but in that curse 
 which God pronounces against rebellious Israel, ' that he will smite him 
 with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart ;' and declares 
 of him ' that he shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in dark- 
 ness?' But there is a dispensation of heavenly justice and mercy re- 
 specting Israel, requiring particular attention. An unheard of crime 
 required an unheard of punishment ; and the race were condemned to 
 the dispersion and captivity in which they still languish. But while 
 other races, long trodden under foot, like the Pariahs of India, lose 
 the keen sense of degradation, and of the injustice of men, through a 
 continued habit of humiliation, and with blunted feelings endure them 
 as a matter of course— it is not so with the Jew. He has implanted 
 in his bosom a national and spiritual pride — a fierce constancy and a 
 contempt of his oppressors, which constantly exasperate and keep 
 alive his sense of pain and degradation. This pride and contempt 
 are infused into him by the extravagant, most uncharitable, and often 
 blasphemous [?] assertions of his rabbi. But from this very arrogance 
 which increases his sufferings, springs that principle of resistance and 
 opposition under which the Jews have clung together and struggled 
 incessantly against the storms that have buffetted them for ages ; and 
 it is this loftiness of mind, so ill suited to their present lot, that will 
 the better enable them to seek, contend for, and maintain those higher 
 and nobler destinies which are placed before their sight in a glorious 
 futurity. It is the consciousness of his past and his future fortunes 
 which gives to the Jew, a buoyancy and a tendency to rise above the 
 surface of the waves, even when plunged deep below them, unknown 
 
INTRODUCTION. 217 
 
 to other depressed nations, and which inspires into him the will and 
 the means to seek the level of his promised fortunes ; for even the 
 meanest Jcav considers himself as personally invested with national 
 and spiritual greatness. Israel has within him another principle of 
 resistance. He was, from the first, reproached with being a ' stiff- 
 necked generation 5' and stubborn as he was in the desert, so he is 
 now, whether you find him in die streets of London, or of Cairo, or in 
 a Polish forest. His eye, his nose, and his narroAV upper jaw are not 
 more especial marks of his physical conformation, than is his stub- 
 bornness a distinguishing feature of his mind. It is this obstinacy 
 which creates one of our greatest difficulties in dealing with him. 
 Proteus could be bound by no knot, because he perpetually changed 
 his shape — the Jew can be bound by none, because he will not change 
 his. In other nations, corruption and abandonment of religion have 
 been a mighty cause of moral and national decadence : but the moral 
 and national wreck of the Jewish people was caused by their stiff- 
 necked adherence, in despite of type and prophecy, to a religion super- 
 seded by a purer code of heavenly laws. 
 
 " It has been often observed, that, under every religion which was 
 originally false, or has degenerated into falsehood, the weaker sex is 
 not possessed of the advantages it holds under the true. Superstition 
 corrupts the heart while it weakens the understanding ; and where 
 that charity, which springs from a pure faith alone, vanishes, the 
 stronger animal lords it over the feebler. We know how honourable 
 was the situation of the women in ancient Israel. We have Miriam, 
 Deborah, and Hannah, as it were, before our eyes — but the Jewess of 
 these days is treated as an inferior being. Neither religious nor moral 
 instruction is vouchsafed to her ; and in lieu of it three observances 
 are imposed on her, as comprising her whole duty : one of them dou- 
 bles a restraint enjoined to her by the law, the two others are purely 
 mechanical. The only book given to the rabbinical Jewesses, and 
 given in childhood to them, is eminently calculated to fill their minds 
 with the most impure ideas, as well as with the falsest notions of the 
 divinity. There have been, however, of late, extracts from the Old 
 Testament published in Germany, expressly for their use and benefit. 
 An equally mischievous effect in polluting the minds of the boys must 
 be produced by an instruction which they are compelled to make 
 themselves acquainted with — and this also in childhood." — p. 119. 
 
 " Is it to be wondered at, that, amidst a people under such spiritual 
 misrule and neglect, confined to cities, in general, occupied mainly in 
 the pursuit of petty gains, under the guidance of the foul and uncha- 
 28 
 
218 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ritable abominations of the Talmud, a great relaxation of moral prin- 
 ciples has taken place, and especially at the expense of those whom 
 they hate as their oppressors, and despise as heathens and unclean ? 
 Indeed there are many precepts of their rabbis utterly subversive of 
 honesty in all their dealings with Gentiles. Antonio Margarita, a 
 converted Jew of the sixteenth century, reproached them with the Col 
 Nidre, an absolution, pronounced at the yearly feast of atonement, to 
 all present, for all perjuries and breaches of vows and engagements, 
 committed by them in the preceding year. It is so called, from the 
 two words with which a prayer used at that feast begins : the night 
 and day are passed in prayer and fasting, during which the Jew 
 wears the shroud in which he is to be buried, a present from his 
 father-in-law, as it is also his wedding garment; and then this abso- 
 lution is pronounced to him. But Eisenmenger, in his ' Entdecktes 
 Judenthum' (Judaism Unveiled), published in the seventeenth centu- 
 ry, upbraids them with pronouncing that absolution prospectively in 
 his day, that is, for the coming year. A German government, aware 
 of this fact, not long since caused the Jews, when sworn in cases in 
 which Christians were concerned, to make oath that they were not 
 present at the last yearly promulgation of this absolution : forgetting 
 that, if they were present, this last perjury was also comprised in this 
 precautionary whitewashing. It is not long since (we state the fact 
 on the best authority) that a Polish Jew hired his rabbi to send the 
 angel of death to destroy a Polish nobleman, as his only means of es- 
 caping the detection of an heinous fraud : soon after this, the countess 
 died, but the husband lived. The Jew went to upbraid his rabbi, who 
 replied, that ' he sent the angel on his errand, who, not finding the 
 count at home, did his best by slaying the lady ;' and this satisfied the 
 complainant. [Who believes this story?] 
 
 " It is always and especially to be observed, that these and the like 
 matters are stated exclusively of the rabbinical Jews, those bent down 
 under the whole weight of their law as now interpreted, and most es- 
 pecially of them as they are found in their northern hive, in Poland. 
 In other parts of Europe there are great numbers of Jews, who have 
 profited very considerably of the civilisation which surrounds them, 
 and of the morality of the gospel, though without recognising its di- 
 vine origin. Amongst them there are many amiable, charitable, libe- 
 ral-minded men, of unquestioned probity, to whose virtues we ofier a 
 willing tribute ; and, small as is the number of English Jews, we have 
 had, and have amongst us, men adorning this country by their talents 
 and acquirements, as well as virtues, who trace their origin to them. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 219 
 
 But it was Mendelsohn, the translator of the Pentateuch, who was in 
 truth an infidel, that gave the first impulse to the Jewish mind in mo- 
 dern days, and the first blow to Rabbinism : he was seconded by able 
 and learned Jews, his associates ; a taste for literature and science 
 was excited amongst their nation." — p. 124. 
 
 The article in the Review contains also an account of the Caraites, 
 a small sect, and the only dissenting sect of Jews, settled in Poland 
 and the Crimea, and who are praised as being far superior to the 
 rabbinical Jews, and as being more likely to receive the light of the 
 gospel, since we are told they were unable to answer a missionary 
 who was sent to convert them. The words of the Reviewer are as 
 follows : 
 
 "A missionary, who, in travelling through Troki, pressed upon 
 their minds the truth of the gospel in the only short conversation he 
 had an opportunity of holding with them, found them candid and well 
 disposed to listen : they were surprised at his arguments, and little 
 able to reply to them, as they know nothing of the quibbles and subtle- 
 ties which the rabbinical Jews have long resorted to when engaged 
 in controversy with Christians. Who, reflecting on the pure faith of 
 the Caraites, and that integrity, industry, and virtue, by which they 
 have every where impressed sentiments of respect and esteem for them 
 upon the people with whom they dwell, would not fain believe that, 
 though exiles from Palestine, they are exempt from the worst and 
 final curses inflicted by the Almighty upon Israel for the worst and 
 blackest of his crimes ? And who will not be delighted to hear that, 
 whilst the rabbinical Jews can give no clue to the history of this re- 
 markable portion of the race, modern discovery seems strongly to con- 
 firm the views cherished among the Caraites themselves ? Mr. Wolfi", 
 the missionary, having learned that a body of Caraites was establish- 
 ed in the desert of Hit, at three days' journey from Bagdad, visited 
 them. The account which they gave him was, that their fathers, 
 during the Chaldean captivity, perceiving that their brethren were 
 corrupting the pure faith by amalgamating with it the philosophical 
 doctrines of the country, ' sat down by the waters of Babylon, and 
 wept when they remembered Sion ;' that in order to imprint the Scrip- 
 tures unmixed on their hearts, they read them incessantly, and were 
 thence called Caraites, or readers ^ and that, when the others returned 
 from the captivity, they separated themselves, to escape their offences 
 and punishments, and retired to the very spot where the missionary 
 found them. He there saw these ' children of the Bible,' as they call 
 
220 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 themselves, living an Arab life in cottages; they arc a very fine peo- 
 ple, and tlie women singularly handsome. He was struck with their 
 unvarying truth, of which their neighbours allow the merits, but prac- 
 tise it not ; and they are remarkable for their honesty and cleanliness. 
 They said that they had sent colonies to Cairo and to Ispahan, where 
 a synagogue still bears an inscription, which shows that it belonged 
 to them. Benjamin de Tudela, it is said, found the same people living 
 in the same manner at Hit, six hundred years ago. They speak pure 
 Arabic, but all knoAV and read Hebrew ; they state the whole number 
 of their sect to be five thousand, and that they are the original stock 
 of it. They call their ministers ' wise men,' and know not the name 
 of rabbis." — p. 127. 
 
 I must make here a remark or two, since the extract here given 
 contains two untrue inferences which I have not noticed in my reply. 
 The first is as to the name Caraites havin"; been brouo^ht into use 
 during the Babylonian captivity, which is the farthest possible from 
 truth, since the name is mentioned nowhere, at least as far as my read- 
 ing extends, till long after the destruction of the second temple ; 
 and we must therefore disbelieve the statement of the Caraites, even 
 allowing the Rev. Joseph Wolff did not tell a deliberate falsehood to 
 obtain the credit of a great discovery. The second misstatement is, 
 that the Caraites call their ministers " wise men," from which one 
 would infer that the Rabbinists do not do the same, whereas the 
 contrary is the case ; for we always speak of our wise men, but never 
 of our Rabbins ; and any one in the least acquainted with rabbinical 
 writings must know that the phrase of " our wise men say," is that 
 generally used when speaking of the Rabbins as a body. Besides 
 this, the Portuguese Jews, also Rabbinists, call their chief Rabbi Ha- 
 cham, or the wise man. The whole matter is but of small import- 
 ance, but it proves the unfairness of the accusations against us. 
 
 " The Jews at Constantinople, forty thousand in number, and in 
 the parts of European Turkey on and near the Mediterranean, speak 
 Spanish, and appear to descend from Israelites driven from Spain by 
 persecution. The Bible Society are now printing at Corfu the New 
 Testament, in Jewish-Spanish, /or their beiuifit.^^—p. 129. 
 
 " When we speak of the conversion of the Jews as a thing which is 
 a desideratum for the European governments, nothing can be further 
 from uur intentions than to suggest that they should mix in it direct- 
 ly ; we arc well aware thai it could not be usefully even attempted by 
 
INTRODUCTION. 221 
 
 them,— for this, among other reasons,— that their so doing would ex- 
 cite extreme mistrust and jealousy : they should, undoubtedly, how- 
 ever, view such attempts, if prudently made, with favour and good 
 will, and. endeavour to lead to them by advice and encouragement. 
 But if political wisdom urges us to encourage, by all prudent and cha- 
 ritable means, the promotion of Christianity amongst the Jews, our 
 religion summons us to the same duty with a far more powerful voice. 
 What can show more strongly that inveteracy of uncharitableness 
 towards the Jews, which has grown out of long indulgence in the 
 feeling, than the disfavour accompanying the attempt to convert 
 them ? There are even many who will contribute to the support of 
 missions to distant nations, to which we owe no atonement, and yet 
 withhold their aid from those whose aim it is to give the gospel to the 
 Israelites who dwell in our cities, and who have so long been trodden 
 down under our feet. That very degraded moral state, which gives the 
 Jew his strongest claim to our assistance, is urged as a reason why it 
 shouH be withheld from him as one past help and amendment ! He 
 is vilified for blindness, perverseness, obstinacy, if he adheres to the 
 faith of his fathers ; and he is vituperated as insincere and interested, 
 if he abandons it to profess our own !"— p. 131. 
 
 " In this state of things, the question may naturally be addressed to 
 the European Christians : what endeavours they have made to convey 
 the gospel to the ancient people of God. 
 
 " We may dispense with any allusion to the Sunday exposition of 
 the errors of Judaism, which the Jews at Rome are compelled to hear, 
 or to the flames of the Spanish auto da ft. The Jew has peculiar 
 feelings, which will ever cause him to repel the hand of the church of 
 Rome, even were it tendered in kindness."— p. 132. [But are the 
 Jews more inclined to the Protestant sects ?] 
 
 " The next attempt made by any body of men to communicate the 
 knowledge of the gospel to the Hebrews Avas that of the ' London 
 Society for promoting Christianity amongst the Jews.' It was formed 
 in 1S09, and its founders appear not to have known that the Callen- 
 berg Institution had existed. It has been for many years a religious 
 society of the church of England exclusively. Its revenues arise from 
 voluntary contributions, and were last year between fourteen and fif- 
 teen thousand pounds. It has translated the New -Testament into 
 Hebrew, and employs various missionaries abroad, particularly in 
 Poland, where they enjoy especial protection from the government. 
 Other societies have been formed subsequently in Great Britain and 
 Ireland, with the same object, either in connection with that society, 
 
222 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 or acting independently of it; and the continent is beginning to follow 
 this example."— p. 133. 
 
 • " The difficulties, however, are great, and must not be disguised. 
 The Jews resisted the preaching of Jesus Christ himself, and of his 
 inspired apostles : the traditions, which so materially aided in causing 
 that resistance, have multiplied an hundred fold since then ; and there 
 arose subsequently amongst them a new and deadly repugnance to 
 the gospel, as being the law of their own persecutors. At the com- 
 mencement of our Lord's mission, the Jews attempted his life, because 
 he signified to them the call of the Gentiles to the gospel ; trodden 
 under foot for ages, on account of their rejection of it, by those Gen- 
 tiles who accepted it, they traced their calamities up to Christ, with a 
 blindness like that of their fathers, and heaped upon the name of the 
 Son of God a horrible and vindictive hatred, of which the Talmud, in 
 its text and commentary, the Mischna and Gemara, bears dreadful 
 and multiplied evidence. [Where ?] The rabbis, their spiritual 
 guides and rulers, have moreover most powerful worldly motives for 
 endeavouring to check the progress of the gospel, which they do, by 
 burning tracts and the New Testament, [who informed the Quarterly 
 Review of this ?] whenever they get them into their hands, with un- 
 relenting activity, and by harassing the Jews who are inclined to turn 
 their attention to Christianity, inter alia, by curses and imprecations, 
 of which they have long possessed a fearful store, and for adding to 
 which they possess a facility that attests the effects of uninterrupted 
 practice and Asiatic imagination. Their priestcraft, pre-eminence, 
 power, and worldly wealth are all at stake. The Jews, moreover, are 
 scandalised, especially on the continent, by our profanation of our 
 own Sabbath, and other prevalent impieties." — p. 134. 
 
 " The missionaries in Poland, on visiting places for the first time, 
 have frequently found in the hands of Jews, and conveyed to them by 
 other Jews, New Testaments and tracts originally distributed by 
 themsBlves: and in one case, a Jew was converted thus by a tract 
 given to him by one of his brethren, who retained his Judaism. Mr. 
 Wolff found at Ispahan and Cashan Hebrew New Testaments, which 
 he had given away at Jerusalem and Aleppo, and had marked ; and 
 there were notes subsequently inserted, recommending them to the 
 perusal of the Persian Jews ; and there are accounts of New Testa- 
 ments given to Jews at Ispahan, having been sent to their brethren in 
 Balk, Bokhara, and Afghanistan. The Jews of one of their colleges 
 at Mosul, near the site of Nineveh, showed to Mr. Wolff a manuscript 
 of the New Testament in Arabic, but written in Jewish characters ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. 223 
 
 the translator was a rabbi, now dead, but whose son still lives there. 
 Mr. Wolff found it to be a good translation. They refused to part 
 with it. The rabbi had written in it a recommendation to peruse it, 
 addressed to the members of the colleges, and to his descendants. 
 Mr. Wolflf found also, in the library of the Spanish Jews at Jerusa- 
 lem, a Syriac translation of the New Testament written in Hebrew 
 characters. This is the less surprising, as Schultze, in 1754, found 
 the eastern Jews less disputatious than the European, and especially 
 than the German ; and they heard him willingly. He tells us, more- 
 over, that they do not talk during worship, as those of Europe do." 
 —p. 136. [What does all this amount to?] 
 
 " There is strong evidence that Christianity is making extensive, 
 though secret progress amongst the Jews at Constantinople. Indeed, 
 we think there is every reason to believe that the general extent of 
 avowed Christianity amongst the Jews is very greatly less than that 
 which is concealed from motives of fear, from aversion to, or mistrust 
 of the Christians, and from, in very many cases, the dread of forfeit- 
 ure of the means of existence, in nearly all, of breaking the bonds of 
 consanguinity and affection. Three such cases of old Jews came 
 lately within the knowledge of one individual of our own acquaint- 
 ance, within a short space of time ; two of them had been converted 
 by the perusal of tracts circulated amongst their brethren, without 
 their having ever conversed with a missionary ; yet these men were 
 known to be regularly performing the rites of their apparent religion 
 in the synagogue. [Who believes this ?] 
 
 " To say the truth, it is not on the number of conversions actual, 
 visible, and averred, effected amongst a people so circumstanced as 
 the Jews now are, that we dwell as the matter of the most import- 
 ance. The great object is not at present to pursue and hunt down, 
 as it were, single Jews to conversion, but to remove the prejudices, 
 and soften the hearts, and dispose towards Christianity the minds of 
 hundreds." ***** " In general it may be affirmed, on the best and 
 latest testimonies from the north and east of Europe, and from the 
 Persian and Ottoman empires, — testimonies which coincide com- 
 pletely, and in a way that is most striking, — that very many of the 
 Jews, now bearing far less hostile feelings towards Christianity than 
 they used to do, on account of its being professed by Gentiles, have 
 so strong a conviction of the beauty of the morality of the gospel, 
 that they do justice to it in despite of our imperfect practice of it, and 
 say that the fault is in us and not in our law." — p. 138. 
 
 " In the German universities, whither the most gifted and ardent of 
 
 «« 
 
224 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 their youth resort, the risk of their falling into scepticism, neologism, 
 the mad metaphysics of the day, or pantheism, is infinitely greater 
 than the chance, in the present state of things, of their enrolling 
 themselves under the comparatively small number of those who, in 
 these institutions, profess genuine Christianity ; and this experience 
 has but too well proved. But further— the Jew, though he may have 
 thrown off rabbinism, can no where have found or undergone a disci- 
 pline calculated to chasten or subdue that extreme pride which cha- 
 racterises his race ; and, contemplating the doctrine of the cross with 
 a proud and inflated heart, if he views it as a Jew, he will see in it a 
 ' stumbling-block,' and if as a Greek, that is, as a philosopher, ' fool- 
 ishness.' Then, as for a pure worship, such as the so called reformed 
 Jews profess to seek to restore, we must observe, that no Israelitish 
 Luther or Calvin has as yet arisen to divest Judaism of the rubbish 
 which so miserably encumbers it." — p. 140. 
 
 But we must have done with the Review ; and I trust that the 
 extracts furnished prove enough that the scope of the whole article 
 is to excite hostility towards the Jews, and that I have not said a 
 tenth of what could have been urged in contradiction to the slanders 
 heaped upon our poor exposed heads by the learned critic and his 
 hopeful coadjutors, such as unbelieving Jews — heartless apostates — 
 and credulous missionaries. 
 
THE 
 
 JEWS AND THE MOSAIC LAW 
 
 PART II. 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 REMARKS UPON THE " PRESENT STATE OF THE JEWS," IN THE 
 QUARTERLY REVIEW, NO. 75. 
 
 Almost every writer upon the condition of the Jews has indulged 
 himself in showering plentiful abuse upon their moral and religious 
 character, vilifying their institutions, and denouncing their teachers 
 and Rabbins. The Jews themselves have commonly been stigma- 
 tised as dishonest in their dealings, and only desirous of engaging in 
 small-trade out of aversion to agriculture, manual labour, and the 
 sciences. It is unfortunately true, that most of my brethren in 
 faith are thus engaged, but let us enquire if the fault be theirs. Let 
 us for one moment recur to our history since the destruction of the 
 second temple, and we shall find reasons enough to account for the 
 present state of the Jews. That part of our nation settled in Syria 
 were agriculturists and mechanics, as long as they lived unmolested ; 
 they were respected and enlightened, and not alone made the Tal- 
 mud their study, but made also great progress in the other sciences, 
 particularly astronomy, of which the Jewish Calendar bears honour- 
 able testimony, which even the Christians must confess has been 
 very ingeniously constructed ; and several schools, particularly the 
 one in Suria, were long and justly celebrated. But a barbarous 
 29 
 
22G ESSAY I. 
 
 people now occupies this fair land, and the Israelites groan under 
 the heavy oppression which the eastern rulers impose upon them. 
 
 The Jews settled amongst the Christians were uniformly hated 
 and detested ; every oppressor considered them as lawful prey, and 
 both king and beggar trod them under foot. No Jew was allowed 
 to enter a university ; no Jew could be member of a guild, without 
 beino- which he could exercise none of the mechanic arts ; what then 
 
 o 
 
 was left him but to turn his attention to trade 1 Could every one be 
 a wholesale dealer ? Surely not. Is it therefore wonderful, that 
 by degrees the greater part of our nation became small-traders, 
 shop-keepers, and pedlars ? Some in this way amassed considerable 
 fortunes, and, in consequence, turned their attention to increase their 
 wealth, without the trouble and vexation accompanying the afore- 
 mentioned occupations ; and thus they became money-changers, and 
 because they loaned money on interest, were directly called usurers. 
 The Christian nobility, nay even kings, became indebted to them, 
 and they acquired in this manner an ascendancy, which was other- 
 wise denied them. I will not dwell upon the many hardships we 
 had to endure ; how many persecutions we had to suffer, particularly 
 in England, France, and Spain ; how v/e were driven from town to 
 town, and from country to country ; it was then that flocks of Jews, 
 or " swarms," as the Quarterly so elegantly styles them, fled from 
 these countries into Germany and Poland, where, though oppressed, 
 they could at least hope to obtain a resting place for their wearied 
 limbs, where they might dwell to acquire fresh strength to be able 
 to endure new sufferings. It was then that the emperor of Ger- 
 many took the Jews under his own protection ; it was then that the 
 king Casimir of Poland granted unto the people of God those privi- 
 leges which they yet enjoy there. But even in Germany and Po- 
 land we were obliged to suffer much, and many of us were slaughtered, 
 and as the Hebrew elegy expresses it : " The blood of parents was 
 mingled with that of the children; that of the teachers with the 
 blood of the scholars ; and the blood of the bridegroom with the 
 blood of the bride." — We were considered as an inferior race, every 
 one spit at us, and no one felt pity for the miserable remnant of a 
 great people. It is true we cheerfully went to meet our death by 
 fire, by water, by the sword and the gallows, nay many suffered 
 themselves to be buried alive, rather tlian forsake their faith. Our 
 
ESSAY I. 221 
 
 enemies would compel us to acknowledge a god unknown to our an- 
 cestors; but we gave up our lives, exclaiming: " Hear, O Israel, 
 the Eternal pur God is the only Eternal Being," rather than by 
 changing our belief, live highly honoured and respected by the 
 world, but despised by ourselves. In ail these great sufferings the voice 
 of the Rabbins was heard encouraging their flock to submit cheer- 
 fully to the decrees of Heaven ; and they suffered every thing rather 
 than cease admonishing and teaching the common people. And 
 could they acquire glory by martyrdom ? Had they any principles 
 of their own to establish by their death ? — No, so far from either 
 of these two usual incentives to martyrdom having had any influence 
 with them, their individual names are almost forgotten, except by a 
 few of their brethren ; besides no history of martyrs ever existed 
 amongst us : where then was the glory they could hope to ac- 
 quire ? — And they died for the faith of their ancestors — that faith 
 acknowledged even by the lowest of the house of Israel ; where then 
 were the doctrines of their own, the Rabbins could expect to esta- 
 blish ? Who, now, can say that aught but the best motives prompted 
 them to sacrifice their lives ? Who can say that their object was 
 not solely to sanctify the holy law, by the willingness they showed 
 to lay down their lives when they were no longer permitted to ob- 
 serve its precepts ? — The lives of the Rabbins have been uniformly 
 moral and pious ; and it may puzzle even the learned writer in the 
 Quarterly Review to find the Hebrew Rabbins act like some of the 
 many Christian bishops and pontiffs have done. No Rabbin, I ven- 
 ture to assert, ever went forth to battle, to fight in the train of a 
 conquering prince ; no Rabbin ever ordered the eyes of an opponent 
 to be put out, as one of the early popes is said to have done- Upon 
 the whole, the lives of the Rabbins may, without danger to their re- 
 putation, be compared with those of the best of the Christian divines, 
 and I even dare say, that in most cases the Jewish Rabbins will be 
 found to have been the best men. — It is not my object to throw 
 odium upon the teachers of Christianity, far from it, for there are 
 many good and valuable men amongst them, many both in ancient 
 and modern times, who wished and did well to Israel ; but only to 
 rescue the memory of our own pastors from the reproach and con- 
 tempt which the Reviewer and many kindred spirits would so gladly 
 bring them into. If what I have said of the Rabbins be true (and I 
 
228 ESSAY I. 
 
 challenge the world to deny it,) all astonishment will vanish, why 
 the Jewish theologians exercise such a powerful influence over all 
 their brethren ; why their opinions are listened to with such profound 
 deference, and why every Jew should aim that his son should be- 
 come one of the sacred fraternity. 
 
 Every person, who dispassionately reads the article alluded to in 
 the Quarterly Review, must be convinced that the writer of it was 
 actuated by, I may say, a deadly hatred to the Rabbins; for 
 what other motives could he have for calling the great Moses Men- 
 delsohn, of blessed memory, an infidel ? Has the Reviewer ever 
 read his letters to Professor Koelbele, in which he defends himself 
 against the charge of being a deist ? True, he left Koelbele in pos- 
 session of the field ; but was that because he could not answer him ? 
 Certainly not ; it was what Mr. Mendelsohn publicly announced, 
 that, should Mr. Koelbele think proper to answer him, he (Mendel- 
 sohn) would not think him worthy of a reply, as the letter he was 
 then writing must of necessity be a sufficient answer to all the other 
 could say. I only quote from memory, not having the book at pre- 
 sent ; but I am sure that 1 have stated the substance correctly. Let 
 any man read the works of Mendelsohn, and let him then pronounce 
 judgment, and I do not fear that he will find him guilty of the foul 
 charge of the Quarterly Review. — Mr. Mendelsohn's memory did 
 not need a defence from so obscure an individual as I am ; but I 
 could not suffer his calumniator's assertion to pass unnoticed. For 
 Moses Mendelsohn has done more than any other individual who 
 has lived since the days of Maimonides and Yarchi, for the improve- 
 ment of his fellow-believers. — May he rest in peace, and may all be 
 confounded who speak evil against the righteous. 
 
 I will not enter into a systematic defence of the Mishna and 
 Gemara, as I may leave them to defend themselves; the most pro- 
 found wisdom is discovered in these books, which have always been 
 cried down by infidels amongst ourselves and Christian writers. But 
 though it has often been asserted that the Talmud is a blasphemous 
 work, I utterly and boldly deny it. How often must it be said, 
 how often shall it be repeated, that the Talmud contains allegorical 
 sayings, parables, or fables if you please? Have not the Jews and 
 even the enlightened and liberal amongst the Christians often said 
 so? And the Count Stolberg acknowledges, that the Talmud con- 
 
ESSAY I. 229 
 
 tains some of the wisest sentiments found in any book whatsoever ; 
 and surely he could not be supposed to be in any degree biassed in 
 favour of our Rabbins, as he had forsaken the protestant and joined 
 the Roman catholic church, and I suppose it is well known, that 
 the Romans are no very particular friends to the Jewish doctrines ; 
 nor can the count be accused of any attachment to them, although 
 he was compelled to make the above admission ; and of this all his 
 numerous writings, after he had become a catholic, will bear ample 
 testimony.— But I leave my subject : what I mean to assert is this, 
 that the allegorical sayings of the Talmud must not be considered as 
 if the Rabbins believed that such things had actually happened, but 
 only as fables, which, under the appearance of marvellous stories, 
 conceal good and wholesome truth ; and they adopted this allegorical 
 and hyperbolical mode of conveying their sentiments, as in many 
 instances it might have been dangerous for them to speak plainly. 
 
 That the doctrines of the Rabbins enjoin implicit resignation to 
 the divine will, every one will acknowledge who has the least ac- 
 quaintance with them. The Rabbins also taught the immortality of 
 the soul, before the Christian religion was yet in existence ; the doc- 
 trine of reward and punishment after death was promulgated by 
 them, as was also that of the resurrection of the dead. They did 
 not, however, teach these glorious truths as inventions of their own ; 
 but they brought arguments from the law and the prophets in sup- 
 port of their assertions, and proved, at the same time, that the doc- 
 trines of immortality, reward and punishment after death, the resur- 
 rection of the body, and the subsequent beatitude of the righteous, 
 were taught to the children of Israel by our teacher Moses (of bless- 
 ed memory) himself. Would any man then in his sober senses call 
 such men blasphemers ?— men who taught the law without receiving 
 any emolument for so doing, and who literally fulfilled the com- 
 mandment which God gave to Joshua : " And thou shalt meditate 
 therein, day and night." 
 
 Oh, shame ! shame ! that there should be found in England one 
 man capable of harbouring such a thought. Could the following 
 from the Proverbs of the Fathers, have been written by blasphe- 
 mers? 
 
 " Rabbi (Yehudah) said : Consider three things and thou wilt 
 not sin; know that there are above thee an all-seeing eye, an all- 
 
230 ESSAY I. 
 
 hearing ear, and that all thy actions are written down in a book," 
 (namely, that no action of man will be forgotten.) Abothe, chap. ii. § 1. 
 
 " Akabia, the son of Mahallalel, said : Consider three things and 
 thou wilt never come in the way of sin ; whence thou earnest, whi- 
 ther thou art going, and before whom thou art destined to render an 
 account of thyself, and appear to be judged. Thy origin was im- 
 pure ; thou art going to a place where thou wilt be devoured by 
 moths and worms ; and thou must lastly render an account of thy 
 actions before the King of kings, the Holy One, to whom be praise, 
 by whom thou wilt be judged." Ibidem, chap. iii. § 1. 
 
 I could select many other passages from the Mishna and Gemara 
 fully as beautiful as the foregoing ; but I deem it useless, as the can- 
 did mind must be convinced by what 1 have said already; and the 
 prejudiced man will not be convinced, though I should write volumes. 
 
 I hope that I have thus proved that the Rabbins taught only the 
 ways of piety ; and that, so far from their deserving abuse, they 
 merit praise and commendation for their perseverance in perpetuat- 
 ing the doctrines of our holy faith amidst the thousands of difficul- 
 ties they had to encounter, and the almost insurmountable obstacles 
 they had to overcome. When they found that all the avenues of 
 learning were closed against the Jews — when they saw that their 
 brethren were driven to occupations which were hateful to them 
 whilst the Israelites yet lived in their own land : they endeavoured 
 to perpetuate the knowledge of our holy law amongst them — and 
 they succeeded. And though many were engaged in useless disputes 
 and too minute researches, particularly in Poland, yet do we find 
 many a great man, even during the times of persecution and trouble : 
 for instance, Abarbanel, Orobio, Solomon Hanau, Menasseh ben 
 Israel, and at last Mendelsohn, and a number of others, whom 1 
 could easily enumerate, but I only choose the most prominent out of 
 the many who present themselves. Owing to the exertions of the 
 wise men amongst us, who were the instruments in the hand of God 
 to effect his great and unsearchable purpose, and to the natural 
 firmness and strength of the Jewish character, we preserved our in- 
 dependence of mind and our bond of union, amidst all the persecu- 
 tions and calamities we had to sulTcr by the divine dispensation. 
 But was it pride which upheld us? Or was the finger of God visible 
 in our preservation ? Evidently the last ; for how should pride be 
 
 
 
ESSAY I. 231 
 
 powerful enough to effect that in us which it has failed to do in any 
 other nation of antiquity ? Was the Roman less fierce than the 
 Jew ? But what is the Roman of the present day compared to him 
 who checked the successful Hannihal after the battle of Cannse ] 
 And though we also have lost our national independent government, 
 yet there is that within us which will make us reject with scorn all 
 the alluring invitations, held out by the nations of the earth to join 
 them — although they live in palaces, and stride triumphantly over the 
 fallen sanctuary of Jerusalem, the residence of the Holy One of 
 Israel ; for we are upheld by the promise of Him who spoke and the 
 world was called into existence, that He will have compassion on us, 
 and restore the remnant of his people to the land which their fore- 
 fathers inhabited. We have the promise of God that He will never 
 forsake us, for it is written : " If the heavens can be measured above, 
 and the earth beneath, then can I forsake Israel." And is it then 
 pride alone that keeps us united ] Contempt for our oppressors ? No, 
 it is the confidence in revelation, the certainty that our day too will 
 cQine. 
 
 The pressure has already been removed in part, and in many 
 countries do the Israelites now dwell in peace, secure, for the pre- 
 sent, under the protection of the governments in whose dominions 
 they live. The age of darkness and oppression, I hope, has passed 
 away ; and already we begin to show that we are capable of excel- 
 ling in the arts and in nobler professions than small-dealing. We 
 formerly were only the most successful merchants ; but already 
 there are in Germany men who have distinguished themselves as 
 philosophers, mathematicians, poets, historians, lawyers, and phy- 
 sicians. The Bible has also been translated by Jews, natives of Ger- 
 many and Poland, in a manner never before equalled ; and the names 
 of Friedlander, Ottensosser, Heidenheim, Meier Hirsch, Eichel, 
 Frankel, Steinheim, and many others, are advantageously known 
 in the literary circles of the continent of Europe. — In England, 
 Hurwitz (at present the professor of the Hebrew language in the 
 London university) and Samuels (the biographer of Mendelsohn) 
 have produced books, which are read and admired ; and though I 
 am not acquainted in France, Italy,* and Holland, I doubt not but 
 
 * It is perliaps known to most of my readers, that the celebrated Tyrolese 
 chief Andreas Hofer was made prisoner by Napoleon some time in 1809, or the 
 
232 ESSAY 1. 
 
 that the Jews in these countries have not remained behind their 
 brethren in Germany, England, and Poland. Though the Reviewer 
 mentions the revival of science among the Jews, he only names Pro- 
 fessor Neander, one who has left the faith of his fathers and em- 
 braced Christianity. Is this fair dealing ? Are there no more men 
 of fame amongst the German Jews than this apostate ? It is about 
 as fair as if a future historian should mention Benedict Arnold and 
 William Hull as the most distinguished American generals and pa- 
 triots, or praise Richard the Third and James the Second as the 
 best of English kings. I only remark this to show with how much 
 candour the Reviewer treats us. 
 
 Many Jews, particularly the younger part, have given up trade as 
 their sole occupation, and turned their attention (particularly in 
 Bavaria) to the learned professions and the mechanic arts. But in 
 the latter they have, for the present, many difficulties to encounter, 
 as the Christians are for the most part unwilling to take apprentices 
 or journeymen who will not work on the Sabbath (Saturday). Yet, 
 under all disadvantages, the Jews are doing tolerably well; thus 
 clearly establishing that it was not their fault that they were engag- 
 ed in small-trade for so many centuries. 
 
 The Reviewer says, that the females were kept in profound igno- 
 rance, and treated as an inferior race, and that, moreover, the only 
 
 commencement of 1810. He was carried to Mantua in Italy, and tried, as if 
 he had been a French subject. He was very ably defended by his counsel, a 
 young Jew, by the name of Basseva (if I recollect right) ; and this defence 
 was so able that the biographer of Hofer regretted very much that he could not 
 succeed in obtaining a copy of the speech of Mr. Basseva. I do not suppose 
 that it will be objected to the ability of Mr. B. that he did not succeed in clear- 
 ing his client; for every one knows the clemency of Napoleon's court martials, 
 and Hofer shared but the same fate with the ill-fated Duke of Enghien. But I 
 am not going to turn politician, and to discuss the measures of Napoleon's 
 government; I introduced this subject only to show in what estimation 
 Jewish talent is held by the German writers. — It is probably known to all read- 
 ing men, that whenever one of our society commits a crime, the public is 
 informed " that Jacob Moses, a Jew^ broke into the house of, &c. ;" whereas 
 our virtues are passed over in silence. But to the honour of the biographer of 
 A. H. (whose name I do not know, as the book was anonymous) be it spoken, 
 he states explicitly : " Mr. Basseva, a young Israelite," thus giving us credit 
 where credit was due. 
 
ESSAY I. 233 
 
 book they were permitted to read filled their heads with impure 
 ideas. Since 1 have already shown how accurate the information of 
 the Quarterly Review is, it will easily be believed that this asser- 
 tion concerning the Hebrew females is equally true with that con- 
 cerning the Jewish Rabbins. In the first place, it is untrue that 
 the females amongst us are, generally speaking, worse educated than 
 the Christian females. They are early taught reading and writing, 
 as far at least as my information extends ; many religious works 
 written in Jewish German, for the most part expressly for them, 
 were formerly read by them with the greatest attention ; and, as far 
 as I have read them myself, they are not only calculated to give 
 them instruction in the ceremonial part of their religion, but also to 
 convey to them their moral duties in a language at the same time 
 easy and familiar among them. At present these books are gradu- 
 ally giving way to others written in pure German ; and 1 have no 
 doubt that in a few years these alone will be in use amongst the fe- 
 male part of our nation. The Reviewer next speaks of extracts 
 from the Old Testament, which, he says, they have commenced 
 putting in their hands ; but I am happy to be able to inform him, 
 that this would hardly be necessary, as the Bible, the entire twenty- 
 four books of the Old Testament, has long ago been translated in 
 German, and printed chiefly for the use of females ; and we had in 
 our family a folio Bible of this kind, printed in the year 5439 of the 
 Jewish era, and consequently is now (5589) one hundred and fifty 
 years old. The chastity of the Jewish females is well known ; and 
 hardly ever does any one hear of a Jewish lady violating her mar- 
 riage-vow. — The Jewish female is considered inferior to the man 
 only in so far as she is exempted, by the nature of her sex, from 
 the greater part of the affirmative commandments of our law ; and 
 three commandments are exclusively incumbent upon her, which it 
 would be needless to mention, as they are well known to all those 
 who are in the least acquainted with the Jewish ritual. The fe- 
 male, in fine, is treated by the Jews with respect in countries where 
 the female is respected by the other inhabitants, though I can not 
 tell how they are treated in the Barbary states, Turkey, and other 
 parts of Asia and Africa ; although 1 can freely say, that it would 
 be contrary to the principles of the rabbinical Jews to treat their 
 wives and daughters ill under any circumstances whatever ; which 
 30 
 
234 ESSAY I. 
 
 can be proved in the most positive manner from many passages in 
 their writings. 
 
 To what the Reviewer alludes, in speaking of the education of 
 boys, as tending to corrupt their morals, I cannot tell ; however, I 
 can assert with the strictest regard to truth, that all I have learned 
 at a rabbinical school (and I went to no other until I was thirteen 
 years old,) only tended to teach me how to govern my desires, and 
 curb my passions ; and I may say that I know of no Jewish school 
 in which the strictest moral doctrines are not daily and hourly in- 
 culcated, fully as well as in any Christian school ; and I may be 
 allowed to judge, having been in them both in Germany and America. 
 
 I am glad to see that the learned Quarterly Reviewer has so well 
 studied the works of the famous Eisenmenger, and the very acute 
 Antonio Margarita. For the benefit of those who may not know it, 
 I have to state, that both were, as is generally believed, what are 
 commonly called converted Jews ; the first was a German, and died 
 about the commencement of the eighteenth century, or may be a lit- 
 tle later ; the second was, I suppose, an Italian, but I have not the 
 pleasure of an acquaintance with him, though that is no great pity, 
 since the Reviewer is kind enough to inform us that this luminary 
 lived in the sixteenth century. It is, indeed, a pity that these learn- 
 ed men no more exist ; but we have yet the consolation to know, 
 that they have so worthy an imitator as the London Quarterly Re- 
 view. To be serious, however, the charge that perjury is permit- 
 ted to the Jews, and that they annually, on the Day of Atonement, 
 have a formula in their prayers absolving them from the keeping of 
 any oaths they may make during the year, is one on a par 
 with the other charges already noticed, and I hope that, from the 
 little knowledge I have of the writings of the Rabbins, 1 shall be 
 able to refute it, and prove its falsehood. — In the first place then let 
 me premise what the Rabbins think of the Day of Atonement ; this 
 opinion is found in the last chapter of Yojna : " The Day of Atone- 
 ment can only be an expiation for sins between God and man ; but 
 for sins between man and man the Day of Atonement cannot be an 
 expiation till the offender has pacified the offended :" (that is, has 
 made complete restitution if the offence was a fraud or the like, or 
 retracted slander, or made other atonement, according as the nature 
 of the case might require). Can it now be supposed, that the Rab- 
 
ESSAY I. 235 
 
 bins, who taught such doctrines as the foregoing, should for the 
 same day institute a prayer, by which jperjunj was allowed to the 
 Jews ? Can it be possible, that any set of men can say that you 
 must satisfy your neighbour before you can be forgiven, and at the 
 same time permit you to swear falsely against him in a court of jus- 
 tice, and thus do him perhaps the greatest possible mischief? But 
 no, the Rabbins never intended that one man should wrong the other, 
 much less was perjury considered by them as permitted, as will be 
 evident by just referring to their writings on this subject. 
 
 The prayer of " Col Nidre,'' to which the Reviewer alludes, is 
 in the following words (as translated by David Levi) : 
 
 " In the celestial tribunal, and in the terrestrial tribunal : by the 
 divine permission of the ever blessed God, and by the permission of 
 this holy congregation, we hold it lawful to pray with those who 
 have transgressed." 
 
 "^AU vows, obligations, oaths, anathemas, excommunications, exe- 
 crations, expiations, and fines, which we have vowed, sworn, devoted, 
 excommunicated, or bound ourselves by, from the past Day of Atone- 
 ment unto this present Day of Atonement, which is now come in 
 peace. Our vows are no more vows ; our oaths cease to be oaths ; 
 our anathemas are no more anathemas, and our obligations are no 
 longer binding." 
 
 " They all shall be null and void, without power or confirmation. 
 And it shall be forgiven to the whole congregation of Israel, and to 
 the stranger who sojourneth among them ; for all the people did it 
 ignorantly." 
 
 In a note to the foregoing, the learned David Levi says: 
 
 " That the reader may not be led to misconstrue this form, I think it 
 necessary to observe that the vows, obligations, oaths, <Sfc. here men- 
 tioned, are such only as apply to a man in his economical state, as 
 mentioned in Numbers, xxx. 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. &;c.; but have not the most 
 distant relation to his social character, and the transactions between 
 man and man. No : God forbid ! for all transactions between man and 
 man are sacred, and cannot be dissolved but by the mutual consent 
 of the parties. And so zealous are our Rabbins in inculcating this 
 doctrine, that they firmly believe that there can be no hope of par- 
 don on the Day of Atonement for such as have injured their neigh- 
 bours, unless they make full restitution to the party wronged, and 
 
236 ESSAY I. 
 
 crave his pardon. From all which it is manifest, that we abhor 
 the idea of any man's freeing himself, by means of this form, from 
 any oath or covenant which he has entered into with another, as 
 some have ignorantly thought, and thereby brought unmerited re- 
 proach on the nation." 
 
 If any man considers the above formula with attention, he will 
 easily discover that it relates solely to the vows, &c. made without 
 due consideration, made, for instance, in the moment of excitement, 
 and perhaps forgotten as soon as made. Though such conduct is 
 abhorrent to the spirit of our law ; yet we must consider, that " not 
 to angels the law was given ;" we are human beings, and thus liable 
 to sin, and in consequence of the frailty of our disposition we fre- 
 quently make promises and vows, the execution of which we defer 
 from time to time, or it may be, neglect altogether. For this reason 
 did our Rabbins institute the prayer of Col Nidre, in which we pray 
 the Pardoner of the iniquities of his people, to forgive us for vows, 
 promises, oaths, &c. which we have unwittingly made, and the fulfil- 
 ment of which we have forgotten, (or may forget,) either because 
 they had escaped our memory, or because to act as we had sworn 
 ^w^ould have occasioned us to commit a sinful action. — 1 hope that I 
 am understood, as what I have advanced is plain and self-evident. 
 Before, however, I dismiss this subject altogether, let me inform my 
 readers, that the foregoing formula is that used by the Portuguese 
 Jews ; but the German Jews say instead of " From the past Day of 
 Atonement, &c." the following ; " From the present Day of Atone- 
 ment until the next Day of Atonement, which may come to us inpeace^ 
 This difference between the Portuguese and the German Jews only 
 varies the form, but not the intention of the prayer, as the one pray 
 forgiveness for the unnecessary vows they have made during the 
 past year, the others for those vows which they may make uninten- 
 tionally during the following year. Had the Reviewer now only 
 consulted the rabbinical writings themselves, instead of Eisenmenger 
 and similar authors whose interest it evidently was to abuse the 
 religion they had forsaken : he could never have been guilty of thus 
 slandering the Jews, and he would have acknowledged, that the Col 
 Nidre has been introduced amongst the prayers for the Day of 
 Atonement with the greatest propriety, and that it must have a bene- 
 ficial tendency, instead of the pernicious one which he (the Reviewer) 
 
ESSAY I. 237 
 
 and other Christian writers seem to dread. I have noticed this 
 charge of the Quarterly Review more at large, as the general belief 
 of it might do us incalculable mischief, and might easily tend to 
 augment the fearful catalogue of prejudices already existing against 
 us. 
 
 I should be very glad to stop here, having, I think, sufficiently 
 cleared our Rabbins and brethren in general from the imputations 
 which the Quarterly Review has cast upon their moral character ; 
 but if I should now suffer his assertions concerning our religious 
 feelings to pass unnoticed, it might be supposed that there at least 
 the assertions (for arguments I cannot call them) of the Reviewer 
 are well-founded, and that in consequence we Jews are in fact a 
 blind flock led by blind shepherds. I must, therefore, endeavour to 
 set him right, but I shall say as little about Christianity as possible, 
 since 1 do not wish to grow abusive in my turn, and I beg therefore, 
 that Avhatever I may say should be considered as extorted from me 
 in defence of my faith. 
 
 It is well known to those who believe in a revealed religion, that 
 the code of laws by which we Israelites endeavour to direct our 
 course of life has been handed down to us from amidst thunder and 
 lightning on mount Sinai, when all Israel heard the voice of the 
 Almighty proclaim : " I am the Eternal thy God, who have con- 
 ducted thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." 
 Moses, the son of Amram, was chosen by God to be the mediator 
 who should teach the children of Israel " just statutes and command- 
 ments," which should endure for ever ; for in many places of the 
 five books of Moses do we find, that these were to be the laws which 
 the latest posterity of Jacob should obey. How can any man then 
 have the audacity to style our religion a false one, without at the 
 same time admitting that he does not believe in the sacred truths of 
 the Bible 1 Shall any man say we are wrong, are infidels, because 
 we will not forsake our religion ? — Because we will not consent to 
 change our Sabbath for the Sunday, when God instituted the seventh 
 day as a perpetual covenant between Him and the children of Israel 1 
 — Because we will not mingle with the nations of the earth, to 
 marry their daughters, and eat of the flesh of the swine ? — Because 
 under every vicissitude we have firmly maintained our national cha- 
 racter ?— But we care not what the world may think of us, as long 
 
238 ESSAY I. 
 
 as we are convinced of the rectitude and the permanency of our re- 
 ligion, which God has inscribed on the tablets of our hearts, and 
 established so firmly in our minds that all the powers of hell are 
 unable to remove it ; for the prophet, in the name of God, tells us : 
 " And my words, which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart 
 out of thy mouth, the mouth of thy children, nor the mouth of thy 
 children's children, from now and for ever." — Whatever of moral 
 beauties the Christian religion may have, ours is no less beautiful, 
 no less effective in raising our ideas from nature to nature's Lord. 
 To love Him, to confide in his goodness and special protection, is 
 commanded to us in almost every page of the Mosaic writings. To 
 love our neighbour like ourselves is no new doctrine of the gospel, 
 for this obligation was known already ever since the promulgation 
 of the law, which commands : " And thou shalt love thy neighbour 
 like thyself." Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, spoke of the resurrec- 
 tion and the life everlasting, and reward for the righteous, and pun- 
 ishment for the wicked. What are then the glorious truths which 
 the Christian religion, for the Jirst time, made known to a world 
 sunk in darkness ? I am absolutely unable to discover which and 
 where they are, and 1 should, therefore, be much indebted to any 
 professor of Christianity who could point out any moral doctrine 
 which was not long previously taught by our prophets and Rabbins. 
 
 We do not believe in the necessity of a mediator between God 
 and man, in so far as relates to the sacrifice of the Messiah ; for it 
 is a settled opinion amongst the Jews, that the Messiah need not 
 die in expiation of their sins, as a strict observance of the divine 
 law and a confidence in God's protection will lead a man to ever- 
 lasting happiness, according to their belief. But we find in the first 
 chapter of Job that Satan is the accuser of man, and that he recapitu- 
 lates the sins committed on earth in the heavenly tribunal ; and in 
 Daniel we find mention made of protecting angels, and of Michael 
 particularly, as the protector of Israel. Now it is the general opi- 
 nion of the Jews that the protecting angels will defend man when 
 Satan accuses. Having premised this much, I am confident that 
 the following will be understood, which is an extract from a prayer 
 read in the German Synagogues on the New-year's-days and the 
 Day of Atonement : 
 
 " May He, our Lord, yet remember to us the love of Ethan 
 
ESSAY I. 239 
 
 (Abraham), and for the sake of the son who was bound upon the 
 altar, command our accuser to be silent ; and for the sake of the 
 piety of the righteous (Jacob), may He to-day pronounce favourable 
 judgment upon us, for this day is holy to our Lord. Though there 
 be no one to speak in our favour against him who relates our trans- 
 sressio?is, mayest thou yet tell to Jacob the words of law and judg- 
 ment, and justify us when Thou judgest us, O King of justice !" 
 
 The meaning of this is, that although our sins be so great that 
 they can admit of no justification, we yet throw ourselves upon the 
 mercy of God to forgive us, though we be not worthy of this great 
 goodness. 
 
 This is the prayer, as I suppose, alluded to by the Quarterly Re- 
 view ; but how different a meaning it has from that the Reviewer 
 gives it, I leave every person to judge for himself. The Jew sees 
 in his God a just judge, who will punish all transgressions ; but 
 whose wrath he can deprecate by sincere repentance, and ameliora- 
 tion of his course of life. And our Rabbins teach us that repent- 
 ance, accompanied by contrition of heart, is available on the death- 
 bed of the dying sinner, and that " many a man," as they say, " has 
 bought his world in one hour," meaning, that many have gained 
 happiness in the world to come by repentance on their death-bed. 
 Is it, then, true, that to the Jew the future is shrouded in impene- 
 trable gloom — that he has no means, according to his belief, of satis- 
 fying his Creator ? No ; he has hopes equally well founded, at least, 
 with those of the Christian ; and he may, like him, look upon a bright 
 and glorious futurity. Since, however, the Christians seem to think 
 our end so miserable, I hope that I may not be considered presump- 
 tuous in describing the death-scene of my nearest relative, namely, 
 my father. He had been suffering at intervals, for nineteen years, 
 the most excruciating pains, when the end of his days came near. 
 He had been confined to his bed for three weeks previous ; and I 
 had left him to go to the house of one of my uncles, who did not live 
 far off. About nightfall my father felt all at once his strength fail- 
 ing fast, and he therefore sent for me to give me his last blessing 
 and his last injunctions, as it is customary amongst us. I cannot 
 describe my feelings, which were very acute, though I was but four- 
 teen years old, when I approached his bed. He laid his hands upon 
 my head, and pronounced the blessing with which the dying patri- 
 
240 ESSAY I. 
 
 arch Jacob has prophesied the IsraeUtes should always bless their 
 children, cuid the blessings with which, by the ordinance of God, 
 the family of Aaron are commanded to bless the congregation. (See 
 Numb, vi.) My father saw how much I felt, and how deeply 1 was 
 affected ; and he therefore said to me in the most collected and calm 
 manner: "Weep not for me; for my being longer in this world 
 would be but painful to me, and of no use to you, being no longer able 
 to do any thing for you, though I should recover. As for yourself, 
 be an honest man and a good Jew, and God will never forsake you. 
 Now go, my son ; for your remaining any longer with me might dis- 
 turb me, and distress you too much." I then left his presence, as 
 it is considered improper amongst us for the near relations of a 
 dying person to remain in his presence, that his devotion may not 
 be distracted in his last moments, if he sees before him those who 
 are dearest to him on earth, and whom he is so soon to leave behind 
 him, to combat for an uncertain period with the ills and temptations 
 of life. Soon after I was gone, the members of the Jewish congre- 
 gation began to assemble to pray at the couch of their dying brother. 
 He prayed with them as long as he was able, then laid himself com- 
 posedly down, and departed this life without a struggle. Those who 
 saw his death, and those who heard of it, said : " May my end be 
 like his." Thus died my father, and though poor, he left a reputa- 
 tion unsullied, and a memory respected by Jews and Christians. I 
 could bring other proofs of the truth of my assertion, that the Jews 
 can die calmly, and look with composure upon futurity ; but enough 
 has been said already to disprove what the Reviewer has said on 
 this subject also. 
 
 I shall not notice what other things the Quarterly Review says 
 about the rabbinical Jews, or about the Caraites, as I know but 
 very little or nothing concerning the latter ; but I cannot pass over in 
 silence what he says in his concluding paragraphs about the mode of 
 treating the Jews in the countries where they are settled. He says 
 there are but two alternatives ; either to drive them out altogether, 
 or to convert them by degrees to Christianity ; as he thinks it unsafe 
 and unwise to grant them civil liberty as long as they remain Jews. 
 He does not seem to be inclined to drive us altogether out of Europe, 
 as that would, by the way, be hardly j)ossible at the present day ; 
 since, in conse(iuence of most of the governments being largely indebt- 
 
ESSAY I. 241 
 
 ed to the Jews, they would be obliged either to pay them immedi- 
 ately what they owe them in money, which they cannot do, or not 
 to pay them at all, or to kill them, which they will hardly dare to 
 do. But he believes that it ought to be tried to convert them by 
 gentle means — to educate them so, that the affection they feel for 
 their ancient religion and customs might be weakened, with a view 
 to induce them to embrace Christianity. But to do this, the ame- 
 liorating societies must obtain the consent of the parents to educate 
 the children in the manner proposed ; for / do not believe that any 
 man would advise to inveigle the children away from their parents — 
 or to steal them — or to compel them — or to seduce them clandes- 
 tinely to enter a missionary-school, although these methods have 
 been partly resorted to. No honourable man can dream of propos- 
 ing such diabolical plans, and to obtain the consent of the parents 
 themselves to make their children apostates is impracticable, as 
 long*as the adults are Jews. The only chance, therefore, for bring- 
 ing about the conversion of the Jews, is to draw the adults within 
 the pale of the church. 1 cannot, however, conceive how the Re- 
 viewer means to effect this ; for compulsion he himself will not lis- 
 ten to ; persuasion will not do ; abuse will not convert us, as the 
 Q,. R. may have experienced himself; to reason us out of our opin- 
 ions has been tried with little success, as all the arguments brought 
 against us have been again and again overthrown. What then re- 
 mains to be done ? To bribe us I ! This seems to have been the 
 darling plan o^ ameliorating societies and piously inclined governments 
 of late years. This is to be done in two different ways, either to pay 
 a bounty for apostacy, say two thousand dollars a head, or to give 
 offices to such men of talents as choose to become (outwardly) Christ- 
 ians. The first plan has been tried without success; the American* and 
 
 * As the reader may perhaps have some curiosity to know the names of 
 some of those worthies who attempted to save our souls from perdition, by an 
 appeal to our pockets, I have thought proper to transcribe a few from a long 
 list of presidents, managers, &.C., which I lately saw (since the publication of 
 this essay) in a little work called " Israel Vindicated," printed in New York, 
 in 1820. This little book is a series of letters, supposed to be addressed by a 
 resident in New York to his friend in Philadelphia, and contains, among other 
 things, some account of the American Society for Ameliorating the Condition 
 of the Jews. — In letter second the writer says, that " although from the arti- 
 31 
 
242 ESSAY I. 
 
 London Societies A. C. J. have spent immense sums of money, and 
 obtained a few vagabondish fellows and some few designing men as 
 recruits ; but as we have heard so little lately about the proceedings 
 of these societies, we are forced to believe that they have either 
 contracted their sphere of operations, and work more in silence than 
 they used to do, — or that they have even dissolved and adjourned 
 their meetings ^^ sine diej'' for want of encouragement from the 
 Jews. — To bribe through means of office has also been tried ; and I 
 am glad to have it in my power to inform the Reviewer, that it has 
 succeeded hardly any better than direct bribery. A little while 
 before I left Germany (1824) I was told, that a young gentleman, 
 after he had finished his studies, applied to the Prussian govern- 
 ment for employment. He was answered, that if he would turn 
 Christian he might be appointed to the office he solicited ; to which 
 he is said to have indignantly replied : " I have learned enough to 
 be able to teach boys, and I need not your offices, if I must forsake 
 my faith to obtain them." — And so it has always been. Though 
 Maria Theresa and other European sovereigns tried, by the most 
 alluring oflfers, to gain the Jews over, they have never been able to 
 succeed even partially. This is no idle declamation, but positive 
 fact, as all those must know who are in any degree acquainted with 
 the internal history of Germany. The governments of Europe, 
 therefore, having tried the plan which the Quarterly Review recom- 
 
 cles of their constitution it appears, that they propose to establish ' a settle- 
 ment' for, and to give ' employment' to sueh of our nation as may apply for 
 it, yet is it laid down as a proviso, that none shall be invited and received but 
 such Jews as do already profess the Christian religion, or are desirous to receive 
 Christian instruction." — The writer next gives a long list of officers — -Jifti/ -three 
 in all ; but I must content myself with naming the following : " Hon. Elias 
 JBoudinot, President ; Hon. John Q. Adams; Rev. Dr. J. Day, Pres. Yale Col- 
 lege ; His Ex. William Findlay ; Rev. Dr. A. Green, Pres. Princeton College ; 
 Herman Le Roy, Esq. ; Rev. Dr. J. H. Livingston, S. T. P. ; Rev. Dr. Philip 
 Milledoler ; Rev. Dr. James Milnor ; Hon. William Phillips ; Col. John Troup; 
 Gen. Stephen Van Rensellaer ; James Wadswortli, Esq., Vice Presidents ; Hon. 
 Peter A. Jay, Treasurer, «fec." — I do not accuse these honourable and reverend 
 gentlemen of any other evil intention than officiousness, since not one of us 
 Jews ever desired them to ameliorate our condition; which we do not think as yet 
 desperate enough to require the interference of the honourables and reverends 
 just enumerated. 
 
ESSAY I. 243 
 
 mends, and deeming it impolitic to oppress us any longer, knowing 
 at the same time, that, if emancipated and left to ourselves, we are 
 able and willing to render the state some service, have in many 
 instances commenced putting us on a level with the Christian popu- 
 lation, and this has been already effected in Holland, Bavaria, Saxen- 
 Weimar, and some of the other German states ; not to mention the 
 republic of the United States, where we enjoy equal rights and privi- 
 leges, without any injury to the Christians. 
 
 I have lately received a letter from an old and intelligent gentle- 
 man in Germany, which states, that King Lewis of Bavaria gave 
 not long since 20,000 flrs., equal to 8,000 dollars, towards the estab- 
 lishment of a Jewish seminary of learning ; and that about two years 
 ago a college was established in Miinster, the capital of the Prussian 
 province of Westphalia, for the education of young schoolmasters 
 and mechanics anions the Israelites. In this institution are taught 
 the y.ebrew, German, Latin, and French languages ; the Bible with 
 commentaries, the Talmud, mathematics, history, natural history, 
 logic, geography, &c., besides the ornamental branches, as sing- 
 ing, music, and painting. This school is in a flourishing condition, 
 though so short a time only has elapsed since its establishment ; and 
 the teachers are both of the Jewish and Christian persuasions, thus 
 proving that we can live in peace with Christians, without amalga- 
 mating with them. The school is patronised by the Prussian go- 
 vernment, which has lately shown itself very desirous of advancing 
 education amongst us, without tacking any degrading conditions to 
 its benevolence. What is most remarkable with the above college, 
 is, that it is established in a town where, no more than twenty years 
 ago, no Jew was allowed to locate himself permanently ; and before its 
 establishment the Jewish young men were permitted to study in the 
 gymnasium of that place, where they were just as much honoured 
 as any of the Christian students, of which fact I can speak with the 
 utmost confidence, having been myself a scholar there for two years 
 and a quarter. — In short, in spite of the eflx)rts of our enemies we 
 have continued to flourish and to acquire greater respectability for 
 the last thirty years, and we shall continue to advance as long as 
 we deserve the blessing of Heaven ! 
 
 I could add a great deal more, but I am afraid that I have said too 
 much already ,* but I beg every one who reads the foregoing, to 
 
244 ESSAY II. 
 
 pardon my loquacity, since I hardly could say less against the many 
 allegations of the Review than I have done, without being obscure 
 or altogether unintelligible. I dare not even hope that 1 have suc- 
 ceeded in convincing the Christians of the truth of what I have said ; 
 for it would certainly be very strange if a young man, who, more- 
 over, had not the best opportunities of acquiring knowledge, should 
 be able to overthrow a writer in the London Quarterly Review, who, 
 for aught 1 know, may be a professor in the Oxford university. — 
 But if I have succeeded in allaying a little of the prejudice existing 
 against us, it will be ample compensation for 
 
 A Native of Germany. 
 Richmond, Va., January Qtlu 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 I have read with much interest the manly and temperate remarks 
 of a " Native of Germany," published in the Whig, in vindication 
 of the Jews from the calumnies of the Quarterly Review. So far 
 from feeling any desire to perpetuate the prejudice which has so 
 long existed against that unfortunate people, I would on the contrary 
 do all in my power to remove it ; for I entertain no doubt that many 
 of them are as exemplary in their moral habits, as good citizens and 
 as kind neighbours ; and therefore equally entitled to the favour of 
 God as those who profess to be Christians. Neither am I disposed 
 to find the least fault with them for continuing in the belief and 
 practice of that religion which was delivered in fire and tempest on 
 mount Sinai, so long as they believe their present happiness and 
 everlasting salvation to depend upon it. I conceive it would be de- 
 priving God of the essential attributes of mercy and justice, by ren- 
 dering Him incapable of saving his rational offspring from perdition, 
 whether they be Jew or gentile, heathen or Christian. They are all 
 equally the objects of his love, whatever may be their faith or condi- 
 
ESSAY II. 245 
 
 tion in life ; even though the force of external circumstances brought 
 about by the pride and injustice of man, may seem to render Him 
 partial in the distribution of his favours. It is declared, on what 
 Christians believe unquestionable authority, that God is no respecter 
 of persons, but in every nation those who fear him and work right- 
 eousness shall be accepted of Him. It is in the contrite heart that 
 He manifests himself, amongst every people and every colour ; and 
 not to any privileged few, who claim to be the favourites of Heaven. 
 It has always been the custom of particular sects and particular na- 
 tions, to appropriate to themselves the especial grace of God. But, 
 according to this assumption, all those who believe differently are 
 in danger of the divine displeasure. How partial, how unjust, is 
 such a belief calculated to render a Being who is emphatically pro- 
 nounced to be Love ! 
 
 It cannot be expected, under the present condition of the human 
 mind, that all the nations of the earth will ever arrive at that state 
 in which there will be a uniformity of belief in what all may deem 
 essential. The same causes which actuate them to think differently 
 now, will continue to produce the same effect, until mankind shall 
 be released from the fetters of prejudice ; and from the influence of 
 education, example, and authority. But amidst the endless variety 
 of nations that people the earth, I have never heard of any that did 
 not acknowledge the existence of certain obligations to a superior 
 Being, and have recourse to some plan to testify their duty and alle- 
 giance. Whence could such impressions have been derived but 
 from the fountains of truth, how much soever they may have 
 been subsequently obscured by the inventions of men ? The scrip- 
 tural writers abundantly declare that God has written his law upon 
 the hearts of all men; and by consulting that law, that still small 
 voice which saith to us, " this is the way, walk ye in it," we have 
 every assurance of pleasing Him whom we serve. 
 
 So far, therefore, from excluding the Jews, and I may add, every 
 other nation, from the benefits of salvation, I am free to acknowledge 
 them equally the heirs of a glorious immortality with the Christians ; 
 and equally acceptable in the eyes of a just and merciful God, in so 
 far as they respectively strive to perform his will. To every man 
 is given a certain duty to discharge, a certain talent to improve ; 
 and it is doubtless the same with nations : and as all are faithful and 
 
246 ESSAY II. 
 
 obedient in the performance of this duty, would it not be derogatory 
 to the divine goodness to presume that they will be debarred from 
 the enjoyments of a future state ? In accordance with this view of 
 the subject, I think a greater responsibility rests upon Christendom 
 than any other division of mankind, in proportion to the superiority 
 of that system of morality which they profess to venerate : and this 
 brings me to notice (which, indeed, was a principal object in taking 
 up my pen) some remarks which " A Native of Germany" has used 
 in reference to the duties imposed by the Jewish and Christian laws. 
 He says, if I understand him, that no glorious truth, no moral doc- 
 trine, is brought to light by the gospel, which was not equally incul- 
 cated by the Old Testament or the Talmud. The moral duties 
 taught by the gospel, according to the light in which I view them, 
 are of a far higher order, and of more universal application, than 
 those enjoined by the Mosaic law. It is true that one of the com- 
 mands of the latter is : " Thou shalt love thy neighbour like thyself;" 
 but viewed in connection with other parts of that law, the meaning 
 of the term neighbour is by no means so comprehensive as it is un- 
 der the Christian dispensation. It only extended to those of their 
 own tribe or nation under the Mosaic system ; whereas under the 
 gospel, it is made to embrace all who may be placed in a situation 
 calculated to excite our sympathy and demand our assistance. See 
 the parable of the Samaritan. That the Jewish precept did not ex- 
 tend to other nations is evident from the fact, that the Jews were 
 commanded, or believed they were commanded, to wage war against 
 the neighbouring countries, to slay their inhabitants and dispossess them 
 of their inheritances. This is so common a feature in the Jewish his- 
 tory, that it is unnecessary to specify any particular passages. But 
 what was the command of the blessed Author of the Christian reli- 
 gion ? " Ye have heard it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a 
 tooth for a tooth ; but I say unto you, resist not evil." " Ye have 
 heard it said, thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy ; 
 but I say unto you, love them that hate you, bless them that curse 
 you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you." 
 And the most conclusive reason is given to sustain the force of this 
 divine injunction ; namely, that our heavenly Father makes his sun 
 to shine, and his rain to descend, upon the just and the unjust. Is there 
 not far more sublimity in these high commands of universal applica- 
 
ESSAY II. 247 
 
 tion, than in the Mosaic precept of so limited operation ? Again ; 
 " Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so 
 unto them." These exalted precepts were intended to be our rule 
 of action in our intercourse with all men ; the polar star by which 
 to regulate our course whilst travelling the journey of life. I am 
 here speaking of genuine Christianity, such as we sometimes see 
 exemplified in the world ; not of that mongrel and monstrous species 
 which too often usurps its place. And it is with sorrow that I am 
 here compelled to ask " A Native of Germany" to extend that fa- 
 vour to us which he solicits for the Jews ; and not to judge all of 
 us and our religion by the practices of some. I confess there is, 
 too generally speaking, such a lamentable diversity between our 
 profession and practice, that they are the direct antipodes to each 
 other. 
 
 Let it not be said that these heavenly injunctions cannot be ful- 
 filled* Surely they never would have been promulgated, on what 
 Christians must deem such high authority, if they had been beyond 
 our attainment. It has often been urged that if any nation were to 
 comply literally with the commandment, to love our enemies, and on 
 no occasion to resist them by force, it would soon be overrun and 
 plundered by warlike and avaricious neighbours. But, fortunately, 
 there is a living fact to the contrary ; a fact which merits one of the 
 brightest pages of history. I allude to the settlement of Pennsylva- 
 nia by the illustrious Penn, whose colony flourished amidst tribes of 
 fierce barbarians, while other settlements on this continent, support- 
 ed by the force of arms, were with difficulty effected. Here is a 
 splendid illustration of the effect produced by the practice of the 
 Christian virtues, against which there never was any legal enact- 
 ment by any people : and I am informed that to this day the Indians 
 cherish a lasting friendship for that society of which Penn was the 
 ornament and the founder. In like manner, if we were to do as we 
 would be done by, what changes would it produce in the world ! No 
 longer would be exhibited the singular anomaly which our country 
 presents, of being the freest nation on the globe, and of holding at 
 the same time, in corporeal and mental subjection, a million and a 
 half of our fellow-beings. Such a state of things could not exist. 
 But yet we are a people making the most exalted profession of right- 
 eousness, holding in pious contempt the Jew and the heathen, and 
 
248 ESSAY III. 
 
 handing them over to reprobation without the least mercy or re- 
 morse. Is not, then, the language of inspiration as apphcable now 
 as it was when it was uttered ? " This people draweth nigh unto 
 me with their lips, and honoureth me with their mouth, but their 
 heart is far from me." 
 
 A Professor of Christianity.* 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 TO " A PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIANITY." 
 
 You will easily believe me, that I received much real satisfaction 
 from reading your reply to that part of my " remarks" in which I 
 asserted, that not one single moral doctrine was for the first time 
 taught in the gospels ; as you have so well preserved that gentle 
 
 * The writer of this and the fourth essay is a member of the " Society of 
 Friends," who resides about twenty-five miles from Richmond. It happened, 
 strange enough, that a note to which my name had been signed was inserted, 
 much to my chagrin, along with the first essay, which, as the reader will see, 
 was intended to remain anonymous ; but my name having once been made pub- 
 lic as the writer of these unpretending essays, I became indebted to this circum- 
 stance for the pleasure of a correspondence, which was carried on for some 
 months, with the Professor of Christianity, as he wrote to me a ^ew days after 
 the publication of his last essay, disclosing to me his name and profession. I 
 have endeavoured to prevail upon him to give me permission to make his name 
 public ; but in vain, as his modesty will not permit him to appear publicly as an 
 author. I regret this determination, but since it seemed to be particularly disa- 
 greeable to him to be known, I would consider myself guilty of a breach of 
 confidence were I to disobey his injunction. — All that I have heard of him has 
 impressed me with the belief that he is a man of a finely cultivated mind, and, 
 what is more, one whose principles are followed up in his conduct ; I, therefore, 
 am happy to repeat the favourable opinion I had conceived of him from reading 
 his reply to my first communication, and which I accordingly expressed in the 
 following essay. It has been my fortune but once to meet with him ; but 
 he may be assured that I shall ever be ready to redeem the pledge I made 
 when he was yet unknown to me, and always be prepared to extend to him 
 the right hand of fellowship, though we differ in opinion. I. L. 
 
ESSAY 111. 249 
 
 spirit of forbearance, which should characterise generous opponents, 
 who are both aiming for the attainment of truth. If your conduct 
 in hfe corresponds with your sentiments as avowed in your reply, 
 (of which, however, I have no doubt,) I shall be very glad to hail 
 you as a friend, and extend to you the right hand of fellowship, 
 though we differ in our religions opinions. — You shall, therefore, 
 receive that courtesy from me which you have displayed ; and I beg 
 of you to consider none of my strictures as personal ; for although 
 you are altogether unknown to me, since I never have heard your 
 name even, I yet feel a high regard for a man so generous and mild. 
 These being my sentiments, you may ask, why I should reply to you 
 then 1 But please to consider, that thinking you had erred, 1 deem 
 it necessary to remove the impression which you may have left 
 upon the minds of the public concerning our religion, which is the 
 more expedient at the present moment, as I understand that the sub- 
 ject under consideration has lately excited deep and universal interest 
 throughout this city among the thinking and intelligent citizens. 
 
 In the first place then, you do us no more than justice to believe, 
 that we can be good citizens and kind neighbours, no less so than 
 the followers of the gospel, for this has been proved by the expe- 
 rience of ages ; and I can assert, without the least fear of contradic- 
 tion, that, wherever the Jew was kindly treated, whenever he 
 received any benefit from a gentile, he was always ready to acknow- 
 ledge the kindness of his benefactor ; as ingratitude towards man is 
 not a trait in our character, though we have frequently acted un- 
 gratefully towards the Deity, for which we even now suffer our pun- 
 ishment, in the dismemberment of our nation, and the loss of our 
 land. But notwithstanding we have been gradually dispersed over 
 the whole face of the earth after our expulsion from Palestine, we 
 are nevertheless, emphatically speaking, Israelites, the same now, 
 which we ever were ; we possess the same laws, the same customs, 
 nay, retain the same features even, which we had in our own land, 
 and through all the revolutions and changes of time we have pre- 
 served our national identity. All the celebrated nations of antiquity 
 have, I may say, mouldered away, for there was no living principle 
 in their constitutions ; and in vain does the astonished traveller look 
 for the people which built the Egyptian pyramids and temples ; 
 Greece and its ruins remind us that a wise and powerful nation once 
 32 
 
250 ESSAY III. 
 
 existed there ; and Italy presents to the searching eye of the anti- 
 quary only the remains of a nation which once dictated laws to the 
 whole civilised world. But though Palestine is no longer the land 
 possessed by the people of God, yet can the true representatives of 
 its ancient possessors be met with in every country, who are essen- 
 tially one people, though scattered throughout all the countries of 
 the earth ; and their preservation as one nation is owing to the liv- 
 ing principle of their constitution, a constitution given them as a 
 special gift from their Maker. — All nations have ever admired this 
 close bond of union existing amongst us, and the unanimity with 
 which we have always, under every vicissitude, resisted any inter- 
 ference with our moral and religious duties ; for on no account did 
 we, or can we, suffer any stranger to advise us in any matter of con- 
 science, if we deem his advice contrary to the standard of the Mo- 
 saic law. 
 
 For this our constancy we have been abundantly vilified, have 
 been called obdurate Jews who wilfully resist the light of the gos- 
 pel; and we have even been considered as inimical to the Christians^ 
 because we would not, could not, embrace Christianity. — 1 must 
 confess, we are determined never to change our faith, and of course 
 we must be considered by Christians enemies of their belief; but 
 though I admit this, I utterly deny that we do think ourselves per- 
 mitted by our religion to hate the Christians themselves ; on the 
 contrary, we believe ourselves bound to live in good fellowship with 
 all men, no matter what their belief may be. 
 
 You seem to think, my dear friend, that the gospel has the supe- 
 riority over the Mosaic law, in so far as the former commands uni- 
 versal love, while the latter prescribes love for the children of Israel 
 alone. But is your position correct ? Or is what you say true, that 
 the Jews so vnderstood the commandment : " And thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour like thyself?" You say, the Jews must have inter- 
 preted the law so, as they had frequent wars with the surrounding 
 nations, and they thought themselves obliged to slay the inhabitants 
 and to plunder their property. — But pardon me, my friend, you have 
 misunderstood the Jewish law, or you have forgotten the precepts 
 of the Old Testament. The law relative to war is found in Deut. 
 chap. XX. V. 10 — 19 inclusive, and is in the following words : 
 
 " If thou comest nigh unto a city to make war against it, thou 
 
ESSAY III. 251 
 
 shalt proclaim peace unto it. And it shall happen, if it answer thee 
 peace, and open unto thee, then all the people found therein shall be 
 tributaries unto thee and serve thee. But if it will not make peace 
 with thee, but will wage war against thee, then thou shalt be- 
 siege it ; and when the Eternal thy God has delivered it into thy 
 hands, thou mayest smite every male thereof with the edge of the 
 sword ; but the women, and children, and the cattle, and all that is 
 in the city, namely, all the spoil thereof, thou shalt take unto thy- 
 self, and eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Eternal thy God 
 has given thee, &c. &c." 
 
 I am well aware that my translation diffe-rs from the English ver- 
 sion, as the English Bible says : " Thou shalt smite, &c." which 1 
 have rendered " mayest ;" but I have preferred to adopt the inter- 
 pretation of some of the Rabbins ; and the passage thus rendered 
 gives only a permission to slay the garrison, those capable of bear- 
 ing a^rms, but forbids, on any account, to injure the women and 
 children, who cannot participate in the war, from the nature of their 
 weakness and dependence. I do not believe that any man can make 
 any objection to the interpretation I have just given; and every 
 one I trust will then acknowledge, that so far from our law allowing 
 the massacre of the inhabitants of the countries at war with the Jews, 
 it tended greatly to soften the rigours of war, as carried on in an- 
 cient times, since it prohibited the molestation of the women and chil- 
 dren, when even in Christian countries the former are not always 
 exempt from violence ; and surely I need not bring examples from 
 history to prove this, as, alas ! examples are too often met with, and 
 many scenes of violence have been enacted by warriors calling them- 
 selves Christians, which present instances of atrocity too horrible 
 to be related. 
 
 A second enquiry presents itself: " Did the Jews think themselves 
 bound to go to war with their neighbours, or was it only in cases of 
 necessity that they were embroiled with other nations ?" Without 
 hesitation I answer: That war was considered amongst us as the 
 greatest evil, and was only resorted to to repel invasion, and to 
 secure the peace of our boundaries. (For proof read the books of 
 Samuel and Kings.) " But was not David a conqueror ?" True 
 he was ; but was he the aggressor ? or rather, was he not forced to 
 war by the Philistines, Edumeans, Syrians, and other nations? Did 
 
252 ESSAY III. 
 
 they not invade his country, and insult the ambassadors whom he 
 had sent with a letter of condolence to the king of the children of 
 Ammon? Was he to stand by and see Israel slaughtered, whom 
 he was appointed to govern like the shepherd governs his flock ? 
 Was he permitted, I ask you, to see the wolves come amongst the 
 flock and bear some of the unoffending sheep away ? Was he, again, 
 permitted to see the ambassadors of the people of God ill-treated by 
 a barbarian king and his barbarian people ? — And, to conclude my 
 queries, did not the almighty Protector of Israel sanction those enter- 
 prises by giving David success in all his undertakings ? Can any 
 human being believe, that God would be so partial, so unjust, as to 
 give the Jews success when they went out beyond the borders of 
 their land to pillage and slaughter their unoffending neighbours ? — 
 No ! no ! the divine Judge would not encourage such deeds even 
 amongst his people, for all the world is his, and the life of one man 
 is as dear to Him as the life of the other, and He is no respecter of 
 persons, no favourer of the oppressor ; but He is ever ready to save 
 the weaker from the hands of him who is more powerful. 
 
 But you will say : " Were not the Jews a warlilie people, lovers 
 of strife and fight ?" Again I ans::)er, no ; for we read in Levit. 
 chap. xxvi. v. 6 : " And I will give peace in the land, and you shall 
 lie down, and none shall make you afraid ; and I will remove the 
 evil beasts out of the land, and the sword shall not pass through 
 your land." — And in the sixth chapter of Judges we find Deborah 
 alluding to the groat want of warlike instruments among the Israelites; 
 and if a person reads the book of Judges, which comprises a history 
 of three hundred years, he will discover, that war was a more un- 
 common occurrence among our ancestors than among any nation of 
 antiquity, or even modern times ! — But what 1 intend to prove is, 
 that peace was considered by the Jews as the greatest blessing 
 which the Almighty in his kindness could bestow upon them. This 
 doctrine was taught them by the Mosaic law, since God promised 
 them peace as a reward for their obedience to the divine will ; and 
 in the book of Judges we find, that whenever the Israelites were 
 doing the will of Heaven, they had security and peace ; but whenever 
 they deviated, they were punished with war and desolation : and it 
 is recorded, that God sent the surrounding nations to oppress them, 
 as a punishment for their disobedience ; and the Philistines, in par- 
 
ESSAY III. 253 
 
 ticular, were for many years the oppressors of the IsraeUtes, and 
 were not subdued till the reign of David. 
 
 I hope, my dear friend, that 1 have proved to your and every can- 
 did man's conviction, that we abhorred war, and thought it always 
 a curse, and never considered it a pastime or an employment worthy 
 of the generous and brave youths of Israel ; whereas you no doubt 
 know that, in the middle ages, Christians of every rank and age 
 studied war as a science, and practised it as a game for their daily 
 diversion ; and I suspect that the horrors of the tilt-yard occupy yet 
 their due share in the history of chivalry. 
 
 But you may say : " That the Jews kept at peace with their 
 neighbours from policy, from fear of consequences arising out of a 
 state of war ; that, however, towards individuals of the gentiles 
 they were illiberal, thinking themselves not bound to love them." 
 But if you will only examine the sacred books of the Mosaic law, I 
 do n^t doubt but that you will confess your error. We read in 
 Exodus, chap. xxii. v. 21 : " Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor 
 oppress him ; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." 
 
 Ibidem, chap, xxiii. v. 9 : " And thou shalt not oppress the 
 stranger ; and you well know how a stranger feels, for you have 
 yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt." 
 
 In Leviticus, chap. xix. we find the following : 
 
 V. 33. " And if a stranger sojourn in your land with you, ye shall 
 not vex him" — (neither vex him with words, nor do him actual 
 wrong). 
 
 V. 34. " But the stranger who dwelleth with you shall be unto 
 you as one born amongst you, and thou shall love him as thyself; 
 for you were strangers in the land of Egypt : I am the Eternal your 
 God." 
 
 Here, then, my dear friend, you have a complete refutation of 
 your opinion, that the Mosaic law did not enjoin universal love. Now 
 do tell me, do you find any passage equally decisive with the fore- 
 going, in any of the gospels ? Can it now be said that the gospels 
 have any superiority over the five books of Moses in this respect ? 
 But I will not rest here, and will go a little further, and tell you, 
 that the Mosaic law looks even farther than your gospels in the pro- 
 tection of the oppressed part of mankind, namely the slam ; for it is 
 written, Deut. chap, xxiii. v. 15 and 16 : " Thou shalt not deliver 
 
254 ESSAY III. 
 
 unto his master the servant who may escape unto thee from his 
 master. He shall dwell with thee in the midst of thee, in any place 
 which he may clioose, in any one of thy gates, where it pleases him 
 best ; thou shalt not oppress him." 
 
 You may perhaps be disposed to confess that the Old Testament 
 does contain the doctrines which 1 have advanced ; but you will say 
 that the Jews did not understand them so — in fact, you have partly 
 said so already — you have asserted it, without proving it further 
 than by referring to the general history of the Jews. You know, 
 however, that it is very easy to make assertions ; but they cannot 
 stand unless supported by substantial proof 1 will therefore first 
 deny your assertion, and then bring proof of the truth of what I ad- 
 vance. 
 
 We all know that the temple which Solomon built was finished in 
 the four hundred and eighty-seventh year after the promulgation of 
 the law on mount Sinai ; and of course we all must admit that the 
 opinion at that time prevailing, concerning the meaning of any part 
 of the law, must be considered as a pretty correct standard by which 
 to ascertain the meaning the Israelites attached to the law, which 
 was then, as it is now, our guide through life. It is a lamentable 
 fact, that the Old Testament, particularly the historical part, is but 
 little read by the Christians ; and therefore do we find men of learn- 
 ing, nay, preachers, having an inadequate acquaintance with the sa- 
 cred books of the Israelites. I will therefore transcribe a portion of 
 Solomon's prayer in the temple at its dedication, as contained in the 
 eighth chapter of the first book of Kings, v. 37 — 43. 
 
 " If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, 
 mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar ; if their enemy besiege 
 them in the land of their cities ; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sick- 
 ness there be ; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any 
 man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the 
 plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this 
 house : then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, 
 and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart 
 thou knowest ; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all 
 the children of men ;) that they may fear thee all the days that they 
 live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 
 
 " Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Is- 
 
ESSAY III. 255 
 
 rael, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake, (for they 
 shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy 
 stretched-out arm,) when he shall come and pray toward this house: 
 hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that 
 the stranger calleth to thee for ; that all people of the earth may 
 know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel ; and that they 
 may know that this house which I have builded is called by thy 
 name." — [English version.) 
 
 I know very well that the last part would have been enough for 
 my purpose ; but I extracted the first one also, to bhow to those tvho 
 may not be so ivell acquainted with the Bible, in what manner the 
 wisest of men prayed for the nations who do not belong to Israel : 
 he first prays that the Supreme Ruler may listen to the supplication 
 of the penitent Israelite ; and then, that when he who is no son of 
 Jacob comes to pray in the sincerity of his heart, because he has 
 hear/i of the glory of God, he also may be graciously received, and 
 have that granted unto him for which he has petitioned the throne 
 of grace. 
 
 We find, in the second book of Kings, that Elisha healed the 
 leper Naaman, though it is well known that the nation to which he 
 belonged was frequently at war with the Israelites ; thus we find 
 him assisting not alone a gentile, but even an enemy. What, then, 
 becomes of your assertion, that the Jews did not practise acts of 
 universal benevolence ? Let me advise you, my dear friend, to read 
 the books of the Old Testament well before you venture on such 
 dangerous ground again, as asserting things about us Jews which 
 you might not be able to sustain with incontestable proof when called 
 upon. 
 
 In support of your assertion concerning the beauty of the gospel, 
 you introduce a few verses from the sermon on the mount, in the 
 fifth chapter of Matthew. By so doing you have imposed upon me 
 an invidious task, that of attacking in some manner the Christian 
 religion, when I should have been very glad to have let the gospels 
 rest. But I am now called upon to defend the tenets of my faith, 
 and I dare not, therefore, shrink from the responsibility thus thrown 
 upon me, although this happens without my desiring it. 
 
 Let me premise, that the religion we profess is divided into three 
 parts ; first, duties towards God ; secondly, duties towards our fellow- 
 
2^ ESSAY III. 
 
 men ; and lastly, duties towards ourselves. The duties towards God 
 require of us the belief in the Creator, confidence in his protection, 
 hope in his salvation, and the observance of those statutes which He 
 has made known to us as his law. Hie duties towards our fellow- 
 men consist in acts of charity and benevolence, and in abstaining 
 from injuring them in their persons, property, and honour. Duties 
 towards ourselves are : self-preservation and self-defence ; by which 
 I mean, that first, we ought not to depend upon others for our sup- 
 port, if we are ourselves capable of earning a living; as it is beauti- 
 fully said in the Proverbs of the Fathers: " Sweet is the learning of 
 the law combined with labour, for to be engaged in both makes us 
 abstain from sin ;" and secondly, that we ought to be careful of pre- 
 serving our health, and therefore any unnecessary exposure of our- 
 selves is unlawful. Self-defence also demands of us to conduct ourselves 
 so that we shall not be exposed to the hatred and violence of others ; 
 but if in spite of all our endeavours, we are molested and violently 
 attacked, it is lawful to prevent our adversary from injuring us, (or 
 even others,) and if he attempts to kill us, it is even permitted to 
 slay him if we can prevent him in no other manner : in support of 
 this position I refer you to Exod. chap. xxii. v. 2. 
 
 Again, itisa'feettled point with us, that not one commandment, or 
 part of a commandment, of the Mosaic law, was ever repealed, or 
 can be repealed, except in the same manner as it was promulgated ; 
 that is, before the whole nation of Israel, in the same manner as the 
 law was given on Sinai. These preliminaries are a sine qua non, 
 without which no argument, however ingenious, can stand the test 
 of Jewish criticism. Let us now apply this rule to the chapter of 
 Matthew in question, to test its correctness. In the outset, he, 
 whom the Christians call the Messiah (Christ), says himself; 
 « Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets : 1 
 am not come to destroy, but to fulfil, &c. &cj' Here, my dear 
 Professor of Christianity, you have it from what you must thinJc the 
 highest authority, that the gospels must, in every particular, conform 
 to the Mosaic writings, which, let me repeat, were given by the Author 
 of all for the government of Israel ; and as you believe in revelation, 
 you must acknowledge that these writings contain the best code of 
 laws that can be devised. Well, then, when Matthew says : " Swear 
 not at all," the Christian writers are puzzled how to explain it so as 
 
ESSAY III. 257 
 
 to reconcfle it to the Mosaic law, which permits oaths under certain 
 circumstances (" And by his name shalt thou swear") ; the learned 
 Doctor James Beattie, therefore, explains it, as if its meaning were 
 " any unnecessary oath," which, however, can hardly be the intent 
 of this passage. — What Matthew says in the same chapter from 
 verse 38 to 41, 1 am bold to assert, has not been fulfilled by fifty men 
 from all Christendom ever since Christianity was established ; and 
 if these doctrines were adopted as the general rule of society, every 
 wicked person could with impunity despoil his unoffending neigh- 
 hour ; and let me ask you, can this be the will of God 1 For what 
 purpose did He command the election of judges, if it were not to see 
 the innocent righted ? And have the Society of Friends,* who, 
 more than any other Christian sect, endeavour to obey the com- 
 mandments under consideration, ever acted up to the l-^tter of them? 
 In the forty-third verse of the same chapter Matthew says : " Ye 
 have heard it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate 
 thine enemy, &c." Now pardon me, my friend, when I beg of you 
 to tell me in what part of the Old Testament, or any other Jewish 
 writing, this sentiment is to be found ? Hate our enemies ?— Hea- 
 venly Father has it come to this, that thy children, who have suffer- 
 ed for ages persecutions without number for the SANCTIFICA- 
 ^ TION OF THY HOLY NAME— who have been slaughtered 
 like the sheep that are dumb before their shearers, without murmur- 
 ing, without repining — shall thy children, O our Father above, be 
 accused of hating their enemies ? Do they not pray to Thee daily : 
 " To prepare the world for thy kingdom. Almighty God ! to cause 
 all flesh to call thy name, and to bring to Thee all sinners of the 
 earth — that all may receive the yoke of thy kingdom, and that Thou 
 mayest speedily reign over all for ever, for thine is the government, 
 and for ever and ever Thou wilt reign in glory ?"— Again, we are 
 commanded in Levit. chap. xix. v. 18, that we shall not avenge 
 
 * When this was written, I was not aware that the Professsor of Christianity 
 was a member of this sect, as I rather supposed him to be a baptist minister by 
 the name of Henry KeeUng, who at that time edited a paper at Richmond, 
 called the " Religious Herald" : but I was only induced to mention the Friends, 
 as the Professor of Christianity had brought them forward to prove that the 
 gospel doctrine, " resist ye not evil," could be fulfilled ; it will, however, be seen, 
 that it can only be in part, since the literal obedience to it is impossible. 
 33 
 
258 ESSAY III. 
 
 ourselves, nor even, as we rabbinical Jews understand* the word 
 miDn Thittore (translated in the English version "nor bear any 
 grudge") to tell those who have offended us : " Look here, though 
 you would not do me the favour I asked of you, yet will I not do 
 like you did to me, — here is what you asked for." — In Exod. chap, 
 xxiii. v. 4 — 5, we are positively enjoined to assist our enemy, 
 when we see him in need of our assistance. — In chap. xxiv. v. 17, 
 and chap. xxv. v. 21, of the Proverbs of Solomon, he tells us : " Re- 
 joice not when thy enemy falleth, and when he stumbleth let not 
 thy heart be glad ; lest the Eternal see it, and it displease Him, and 
 He turn his wrath from him." — " If thine enemy be hungry, give 
 him bread to eat ; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink, &c." 
 Thus we see clearly, that the Old Testament enjoins those exalted 
 doctrines, for which you give the gospel the sole credit. 
 
 But you will say, Christ lived in the time of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees, who did not act so ; who were hypocrites, and deviated 
 from the letter of the law ! Indeed ! but even here you would be 
 mistaken ; for we find the following in the Talmud : " A stranger 
 came to Shamai, and told him, " Rabbi, I wish to become a prose- 
 lyte ; but you must teach me the law while I can stand on one leg ;" 
 but Shamai turned him off, not thinking it possible to teach him the 
 law in so short a time. The stranger went next to Hillel, surnam- 
 ed the elder, and repeated the same request ; " My son," answered 
 the Rabbi, " what is disagreeable to thee do not to thy neighbour, 
 (or companion,) for thus it is written : ' Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bour like thyself;' this is the principal commandment, and if thou ob- 
 servest this strictly, thou wilt easily observe the other precepts of the 
 law.' " — Whkt the Talmud says concerning the punishment of him 
 who makes his antagonist ashamed in public is also found in the 
 Proverbs of the Fathers, where we read : " He who makes the face 
 of his neighbour turn pale in public though he has knowledge of 
 the law, and has otherwise acted well, will not share in the happi- 
 ness of the future life." What new doctrine then, I ask you again, 
 has the gospel taught to the Jews ? since the Old Testament con- 
 tains all the practicable moral doctrines, and the Rabbins (Scribes 
 and Pharisees) of the time of the reputed Christ, did invariably 
 preach in the temple and the synagogues doctrines conformable to 
 their text-book, the twenty -four books of the Jewish canon. 
 
ESSAY III. 259 
 
 I have thus, I hope, made my assertion good, that our law is a 
 perfect model of a moral, religious, and civil code, that there is no- 
 thing too much, and nothing too little in it ; and in fact, if any man 
 will but examine the wonderful effect it has had of keeping a dis- 
 persed nation united, in every sense of the word, he must acknow- 
 ledge : " That no nation, though ever so great, has such just statutes 
 and commandments as those which the Eternal our God has given 
 to us." 
 
 You, my friend, call upon me to do the Christians that justice 
 which I demand at their hands ; I am willing to concede all that 
 Christians deserve, and I have already acknowledged, and shall 
 always do so, that I have been very kindly treated by them, and shall 
 always, till my dying hour, remember the benefits conferred on me 
 by some of them. — But while I do this, I must repeat and re-assert, 
 that the prejudice existing against us is highly unjust, and even con- 
 demned by that law which you as Christians are bound to respect. 
 This was the reason why I undertook, in the first instance, the de- 
 fence of our people from the vile and insidious attacks of the Quar- 
 terly Review ; and the same reason impels me now to answer you, 
 though even here I am very willing to admit the difference which 
 exists between your mode of warfare and that of the above men- 
 tioned magazine. — Pardon me one more remark before 1 dismiss you 
 altogether. Do you know that what you profess about universal 
 salvation is no Christian doctrine 1 Do you know that it was first 
 taught, and 1 may say, taught only, by the Jewish Rabbins ? — And 
 do you know that if you believe in the gospels, you must renounce 
 this doctrine as not orthodox 1 How this may be I leave you to 
 settle with the Christian divines ; but 1 must enter my protest against 
 what you say about the voice of conscience ; for revelation was given 
 to assist us m forming a correct course of life, and if conscience 
 could of itself effect this, to what purpose was the law then given 1 
 — But our opinion is, that our law was given as the standard, to 
 which all nations were ultimately to resort as to a rallying point, 
 till which time every man, ivho is no Israelite, was to be saved, if 
 he acted according to the light given him, and only observed the 
 precepts of general revelation given to Noah, which are to be found 
 in the ninth chapter of Genesis ; and it was therefore the practice of 
 the Jews, whenever they conquered, to make the subdued nation 
 
260 ESSAY III. 
 
 conform to the " seven commandments of the children of Noah," as 
 they are called in the Talmud. — Each son of Israel, on the contrary, 
 is bound to observe all that lies in his power to do, as otherwise he 
 will be punished for good deeds omitted and sins committed. 
 
 It would be a great satisfaction to me to be assured that I had 
 effectually removed the ill-will so many feel towards us — that I had 
 contributed a little to make the Israelites more respected in this coun- 
 try, and especially in this city. Let me, however, at the same time 
 call upon my brethren, those who with me believe in the same im- 
 mortal, unchangeable God ; who with me are bound by the same 
 faith ; who with me live in the land of the stranger — far, far from 
 the sweet hills of Israel — far, far from the sacred banks of the Jor- 
 dan — far, far from the holy Jerusalem, the city where God's glory 
 used to dwell ; who with me hope to reach a glorious immortality, 
 when God will open the graves of his people, as promised by Ezekiel ; 
 -—let me call upon them to arouse from their lethargy, to break the 
 chains of listlessness, by which they are bound. Let them draw 
 the bond of union closer — let each man forget the injuries done by 
 his neighbour — and then show the world what Israel can be even in 
 captivity. Let them show their attachment to that beautiful religion 
 which has ever been the admiration of the world, and prove them- 
 selves, by conforming strictly to the spirit and letter of the divine 
 law, worthy of that glorious futurity, for which they are destined by 
 the God of nature, by the ever kind Father of Israel ! 
 
 In conclusion, I think it necessary to make an apology, why I, a 
 young man, who have hardly reached the age of manhood — who, 
 moreover, am a foreigner, should step forward to do that which 
 older and wiser men than myself have omitted to do. But I hope 
 that my justification is contained in the following from the thirty- 
 second chapter of Job, which, with little alteration, is well applica- 
 ble to the present case : 
 
 " And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said, 
 I am young and ye are very old ; wherefore I was afraid, and durst 
 not show you my opinion. I said. Days shall speak, and multitude 
 of days should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man : and the 
 inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding. Great men 
 are not always wise ; neither do the aged understand judgment. 
 Therefore I said, Hearken unto me ; I will also show mine opinion. 
 
ESSAY III. 261 
 
 Behold, I awaited for your words ; T gave ear to your reasons, 
 while ye searched out what to say. Yea, I attended unto you ; and 
 behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered 
 his words : lest ye should say. We have found out wisdom : God 
 thrusteth him down, not man. Now he has not directed his words 
 against me ; neither will I answer him with your speeches. They 
 were amazed ; they answered no more ; they left off speaking. 
 When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still and answered 
 no more ;) I said, T will answer also my part ; I also will show my 
 opinion. For I am full of matter ; the spirit within me constraineth 
 me." 
 
 Like Elihu 1 have considered it my duty to speak, because older 
 men did not speak ; and I was thus in a manner compelled to assume 
 the fearful responsibility of accepting the challenge, which others 
 neglected to do. I have, like the holy writer, endeavoured to abuse 
 no man, nor to flatter any one ; but have given, as far as 1 believe, 
 things their proper names, without intending to give offence to any 
 one ; I have tried — 
 
 " Nothing to extenuate, nor set down ought in malice." 
 
 How far I have succeeded I leave others to judge ; and I only beg of 
 all to listen to my defence with patience, and to read my remarks to 
 the end. I dare not hope that which I have written will stand the 
 test of severe criticism ; but I request that every fault may be as- 
 cribed to the head, hut not the heart of 
 
 A Native of Germany. 
 
 Richmond, Va,, 
 
 Sunday morning, January 25th, 1829. 
 
262 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 TO " A NATIVE OF GERMANY." 
 
 There would have been less occasion to offer myself again to your 
 notice, if the language I used in my late very imperfect essay had 
 not been misconceived. The limits I had prescribed myself did not 
 allow me sufficient room to express my meaning with all the clear- 
 ness 1 could have desired ; and 1 am therefore under the necessity 
 of explaining my views more fully. Before I do this, however, per- 
 mit me, my dear friend, (and I reciprocate the term with the utmost 
 cordiality,) to express the gratification 1 feel that you were so well 
 pleased with the spirit of my remarks. In return, I beg leave to 
 offer my acknowledgments for the courtesy and kindness you have 
 shown in replying to me. I am happy in having so generous and 
 temperate an opponent. Indeed it was the presence of those esti- 
 mable qualities in your vindication of the Jews from opprobrious and 
 unmanly attacks, and not any predilection for controversy, that 
 made me consent to claim your attention at all. I wish you every 
 success in your attempts to allay the prejudice that exists against 
 your nation ; and I trust your appeal to the liberality of an enlight- 
 ened people will not be in vain, so far, at least, as it may be enforced 
 by the virtue and integrity of your lives. To this test I doubt not 
 you will be perfectly willing to submit yourselves. 
 
 In the application I intended to make of the passage from Mat- 
 thew, chap V. V. 43, " Ye have heard it said, thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour and hate thine enemy," you have entirely misapprehended 
 my object ; and I am the more grieved at it, as you have manifested 
 so much generous sensibility on the occasion. 1 cheerfully acknow- 
 ledge that, if war is admissible, the provisions of your law tended very 
 much to mitigate its rigours, considering the principles on which it 
 was waged by cotemporary nations. When I quoted the precept — 
 " But I say unto you, love your enemies," 1 did it for the purpose of 
 showing, that not only war and every species of violence, but every 
 thing like hatred, is opposed to the benign spirit of the gospel. To 
 
ESSAY IV. 263 
 
 say the least, you cannot deny that war was tolerated under certain 
 circumstances by the Mosaic law — indeed, you have defended it to 
 a particular extent. But the gospel injunction, if 1 understand it, 
 strikes at the veiy root of all discord and dissention, by inculcating 
 brotherly love and peace ; for if the passions and feelings which lead 
 to strife are subdued, all contention must cease to exist (a). And 
 in this view, the injunction is in perfect harmony with the angelic 
 anthem chanted on the birth of Christ : " Glory to God in the highest, 
 on earth peace, good will towards men." In these few words 
 the character and object of his mission are beautifully declared ; and 
 the whole course of his ministry, the whole tenor of his spotless life, 
 go conclusively to show that it was for the attainment of this end 
 that he laboured and that he died. Our religion in its purity is 
 emphatically a religion of charity and peace. This feature so strik- 
 ingly pervades the whole series of the writings of the New Testa- 
 ment, that I believe (b) nothing can be found in them which will 
 bear an opposite construction, when taken in connection with the 
 whole. " My kingdom is not of this world ; if my kingdom were of 
 this world, then would my servants fight." John xviii. 36. This 
 language was uttered at a time when Christians must all believe 
 that it was in the power of Jesus to call down assistance even from 
 heaven, to (c) protect himself from the violence of man. We can ima- 
 gine no situation when the desire to avail ourselves of relief can be 
 greater, than when we are in the act of being dragged to a cruel 
 and ignominious death. And the apostle James asks, " Whence 
 came wars and fightings among you ? Come they not hence, even 
 from the lusts that war in your members?" iv. 1. Now, my dear 
 friend, though you say the Mosaic law is a superstructure of perfect 
 symmetry, in which there is not the least disproportion, " nothing 
 too much, and nothing too little," — you must either prove the advan- 
 tages of a state of war, however modified, in favour of the happiness 
 of mankind, (d) over the contrary state of peace and good will, to 
 enable you to establish the superiority of that law, — or you must 
 acknowledge its inferiority to the gospel. And I will endeavour to 
 deprive you, from your own showing, of any argument you might 
 advance in support of a justifiable resort to war. You say that the 
 Jews considered peace as the greatest blessing, and that this doc- 
 trine was taught by the Mosaic law, inasmuch as God promised 
 
264 ESSAY IV. 
 
 peace as a reward for their obedience to the divine will. You more- 
 over state that, whenever the Jews were doing the will of heaven, 
 they lived in perfect security ; but when they were disobedient, God 
 sent the surrounding nations to oppress them. Now, if peace is a 
 blessing, and obedience to the divine will is a sure means of meriting 
 and enjoying tranquillity, my position is established, that war is not 
 only no part of the divine economy in the government of mankind, 
 but that it is in every aspect offensive in the sight of heaven. Is it 
 not, moreover, a rational conclusion, that when the children of Israel 
 had been guilty of a defection from the law of God, so as to call 
 down his displeasure upon them, he would, even if they had not re- 
 sisted the scourge sent to chastise them, have interposed his power- 
 ful arm in favour of his chosen people, as soon as their transgressions 
 had been atoned for by suffering or repentance ? (e) 
 
 1 am sensible, my friend, and I shall not affect to conceal it, that 
 you may retort with far more severity than you have indulged, and 
 demand, in a voice of thunder, if universal love be so strongly incul- 
 cated by the gospel, why do not its followers practise it ? It can 
 only be accounted for on the supposition that they had fallen short 
 of a complete and unreserved submission to the will of God. And 
 wherever this disobedience exists, in every age and nation, the result 
 is invariably the same, namely, aggression, insult, and injury, and a 
 consequent substraction from the sum of human enjoyment- Jews 
 and Christians have alike been guilty of a departure from the spirit 
 of the religion they have respectively professed ; and if a comparison 
 were instituted, it would be found that there is hardly any thing in 
 the Jewish wars, down to the destruction of the holy city, to which 
 a parallel might not be furnished in the butcheries which have been 
 practised at various times by the nations of Christendom. If Christ 
 had commanded his followers to hate, not only their enemies, (for 
 that, comparatively speaking, would have been mercy, if they had 
 proceeded no farther,) but all mankind, and one another, they could 
 scarcely in some instances have resigned themselves more complete- 
 ly to his will. Not only can the golden regions of Mexico and Peru 
 attest the tender mercies of Christian warfare, but history records 
 many a bloody conflict waged by one Christian power against 
 another, in the holy cause of religion ; and individuals have been 
 Subjected to martyrdom, and communities to massacre, for the 
 
ESSAY IV. 265 
 
 ostensible purpose of promoting the glory of the God of love ! Indeed, 
 a faithful ecclesiastical history would, 1 fear, embrace one half the 
 crimes and enormities of Christendom. But though this may be an 
 awful truth, still it does not impair the intrinsic excellence of the 
 gospel, any more than the iniquities of the Jews detracted from the 
 purity of the law of Moses. No abuse of any blessing can consti- 
 tute a valid objection against the use for which it was designed. (/) 
 
 But you may say all this is a Eutopian scheme, incapable of being 
 realised. In reply, my friend, I would again refer you to the pages 
 of history, where, in " words that burn," you may discover that it 
 has been triumphantly reduced to practice, under the auspices of 
 the wise and benevolent Penn, who has been eulogised by the philo- 
 sophic Jefferson as one of the greatest lawgivers of any age. One 
 clear (g) and incontestable fact camiot be overturned by all the wit 
 and ingenuity of man. 
 
 Mter this exposition of the peaceful character of the gospel, it 
 may not be necessary for me to notice particularly your evidence to 
 show that the oppressed part of mankind, namely, the slave, was 
 more humanely provided for by the Mosaic law. If I have succeed- 
 ed in convincing you that violence and injustice form no part of the 
 gospel, it must follow that slavery, which is one of the most odious 
 species of violence, inasmuch as its effect is to bind the free spirit of 
 man, which should be left as uncontrolled in the exercise cf its legi- 
 timate powers as the air we breathe, is at war with the whole genius 
 of the gospel. If, after all, however, and contrary to my most san- 
 guine expectations, it can be established that war and slavery arc 
 not incompatible with genuine Christianity, 1 should then enter upon 
 a vindication of its excellence with extreme diffidence. 
 
 In enumerating the duties which the Mosaic law imposes, you di- 
 vide them into three classes, namely, our duties to God, to our fel- 
 low-men, and to ourselves. That the gospel imposes solemn duties 
 of the same character, cannot, I presume, be denied by its most in- 
 veterate enemies. Now, admitting the Jewish religion to be founded 
 on the power of God, which I firmly believe, (though adapted in 
 some of its details to the particular state of the children of Israel,) I 
 may reasonably ask you to make the same concession in regard to 
 our religion, in so far as it enjoins the same duties with yours. The 
 same truths cannot be derived from sources contradictory in their 
 34 
 
26G ESSAY IV. 
 
 nature. If any great moral duty is founded on the power of God in 
 one instance, it must be equally so wherever it is known and ac- 
 knowledged. If this concession is granted, I presume you will not 
 withhold your assent to the following propositions : 1. That the 
 object of true religion is to reform the heart, and cleanse it from all 
 impurity. 2. That consequently no religion of which this is not the 
 legitimate effect can be of any value. If, therefore, this be, in any 
 degree, the effect of Christianity, which I have feebly endeavoured to 
 show, just so far is it entitled to respect, and no farther, (h) It is 
 far from my intention, however, to be understood as confining the 
 exercise of these redeeming virtues to those who profess the Christian 
 name. 
 
 In every important discussion, it is proper that a definite meaning 
 should be attached to particular terms. This is the more indispens- 
 able on the present occasion, as you seem to have taken a very 
 limited view of the gospel. The New Testament is not the gospel 
 of Christ, but a written testimony in support of it. " The gospel is 
 the power of God unto salvation.'' Romans i. 16. Wherever, there- 
 fore, the power of God is manifested to salvation, there is the gospel 
 known. The apostle Paul says, moreover, that " it is preached to 
 every creature under heaven." Col. i. 2, 3. It follows of course 
 that the law of Christ cannot be any external written law ; and 
 though many of my fellow-professors believe it to be essentially 
 such, yet there is no evidence in the New Testament at all conclu- 
 sive in support of such an opinion. We are never referred to it as 
 containing in itself any redeeming power ; but Christ and his apos- 
 ties unceasingly directed the attention of the people to the spiritual- 
 ity of religion. " And I will pray the Father, and he will give you 
 another comforter, and he shall abide iviih you for ever, even the 
 spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth 
 him not, neither knoweth hirii ; but you know him, because he 
 dwellcth with you and shall be in you." John xiv. 16, 17. [i) This 
 spirit of truth was to teach his followers all things, v. 26. " For 
 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
 and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness ; 
 because that which is to be known of God is manifest in them, for 
 God hath shown it unto them." Rom. i. 18, 19. And the samp 
 apostle goes on to say in the same epistle : " The word is nigh thee, 
 
ESSAY IV. 267 
 
 even in thy mouth, and in thy heart ; that is, the word of faith which 
 we preach." x. 8. " The grace of God that brings salvation has 
 appeared to all men, teaching us that by denying ungodhness and 
 worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this 
 present world," &;c. Titus, ii. 11, l:^. " We have also a more sure 
 word of prophecy (than the outward knowledge of Christ) ; whore- 
 unto ye do well to take heed, as to a light that shineth in a dark 
 place." 2 Peter, i. 19. These are a very few of the passages that 
 might be cited from the New Testament to prove the entire spirit- 
 uality of the gospel. And this gospel-state is so clearly foretold by 
 the sacred writers, that it will be unnecessary for me to refer to 
 more than one or two passages in the Old Testament in evidence of 
 it. " But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house 
 of Israel : after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in 
 their hearts, and write it in their inward parts ; and they shall teach 
 no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, say- 
 ing, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know me from the least of 
 them to the greatest of them." Jer. xxxi. 33 — 34. " And it shall 
 come to pass afterwards, that 1 will pour out my spirit on all flesh." 
 Joel ii. 28. And Moses expressly speaks of this same spiritual guide 
 and teacher, when in his last and solemn advice to the children of 
 Israel he says : " This commandment, which I command thee this 
 day, is not hidden from thee ; neither is it far off: but the word is 
 nigh thee, (k) in thy heart, and in thy mouth, that thou mayst do it." 
 Deut. XXX. 11 — 14. These passages are also referred to by the 
 apostles, in proof of the religion of Jesus Christ. It is in this com- 
 prehensive law, that the beauty, the simplicity, and the eflicacy of 
 the Christian religion consist. It is this word of God " which is 
 quick and powerful, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit," 
 that may be said to be the flaming sword which guards the entrance 
 into the paradise of God, through which none can pass without 
 having every thing slain that is opposed to the divine nature. 
 
 Such a religion as this cannot be extended nor limited by the no- 
 tions or opinions of mankind, concerning outward or temporal cir- 
 cumstances. This view is predicated on the fact, which is alike 
 obvious both to Jew and gentile, that goodness or righteousness is 
 the same thing in all ; and is the effect of a power which proceeds 
 from the same universal and blessed fountain, and produces the same 
 
268 ESSAY IV. 
 
 fruits in every individual of the human family who submits himself 
 to its influence. Doubtless it was by this efficient power that Abel 
 offered an acceptable sacrifice ; that Enoch walked with God ; that 
 Noah preached and practised righteousness ; with all the other illus- 
 trious examples which are recorded in the Old and New Testaments. 
 The histories of nations or individuals are religiously available to 
 the rest of mankind, only because of the developement of the princi- 
 ples by which they were actuated in what they did : and it would be 
 as rational to deny, that the principle of honesty or piety would 
 make men honest or pious in the present day, (and without distinc- 
 tion as to nation or profession,) as that the sun shines with the same 
 light, and produces the same effects upon the earth and all its inha- 
 bitants now that it did five thousand years ago. Permit me, my 
 friend, to call your attention to the universality ascribed to this 
 power in Isaiah, chap. xlix. v. 6. " It is a light thing that thou 
 shouldst be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to re- 
 store the preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a light to the 
 gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation to the ends of the earth." 
 I believe it is a pretty generally received opinion, both with Jews 
 and Christians, that those passages which relate to God's saving 
 power, both in the Old and New Testaments, should be interpreted 
 as referring to a 'person. It is true that it is personified ; but so is 
 wisdom, so is death, and so is Jerusalem, and many other things 
 that all men know are not persons. The words of the prophet, 
 therefore, as I conceive, are only truly and adequately interpreted, 
 when applied to the universal power and wisdom of God, {I) which 
 indeed did raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved 
 of Israel ; and has been, is now, and always will be, the only sav- 
 ing power to the end of the earth. No matter in what person, or in 
 what period of time it may be manifested, whether in Enoch, or 
 Joseph, or Daniel, or Paul, or Peter ; or in the supremely holy and 
 blessed Jesus; it is still the "only thing under heaven, given 
 among men, by which we can be saved." It is the " fountain of 
 living waters" streaming through all generations, applied to all con- 
 ditions, and perpetually performing the same glorious work of 
 cleansing the defilements of the human mind ; and producing a change 
 in all its propensities and faculties : so that in the beautiful, figurative 
 language of the prophet, " the wilderness" of human nature is 
 
ESSAY IV. 269 
 
 changed into an " Eden," and the " desert" of human thouglitand 
 affection " into the garden of the Lord," where "joy and good- 
 ness" spring up in the place of " weeping and waiUng ;" and " thanks- 
 giving and the voice of melody" supplant the doleful Chorazins of 
 " mourning and lamentation." As this great and momentous change 
 is accomplished, the prophecies are found to be actually fulfilled in 
 the experience of every individual who submits to the divine govern- 
 ment. The mind is then no longer under the necessity of looking 
 outward, or backward, or to futurity, for the coming or appearance 
 of God's Messiah ; but he is found to be present to rebuke all fierce- 
 ness and contention : and by the introduction of peace and love, to 
 cause them to " beat their swords into ploughshares, and their 
 spears into pruning hooks." For every impure, dishonest, proud, or 
 revengeful temper becomes the object of his judgment ; and as the 
 creature submits to his blessed operation, he changes these dis- 
 posij^ions into concord and harmony ; so that those which were as 
 ravenous as the " wolf, the leopard, and the young lion," become as 
 innocent " as the lamb, the kid, or the fatling, and so gentle that a 
 little child can lead them." And I appeal to the experience of all, 
 if we have not witnessed the presence of this holy and heavenly 
 being, conversing in secret, by means of thought and affection, with 
 the heart ; and producing all the righteousness we ever knew, and all 
 the happiness we ever felt. In the operations of this living reality 
 does the Christian religion consist, according to my belief, and not 
 in the dogmas of men, nor in their conjectures concerning external 
 historical events. He who becomes a subject of the government of 
 the spiritual Messiah, is introduced by him into holiness and purity, 
 whether he call him by one name or another. For it is the thing 
 that produces the effect ; and not the name by ivhicJi it is called. 
 All the prophetic declarations of the reign of the Messiah, are pre- 
 dicated upon such a change in the human mind, as is above referred 
 to ; for it is impossible, in the nature of things, that righteousness 
 should cover the earth as the waters do the sea, by any other 
 means than the suppression of all unrighteousness. But the power 
 which is alone able to perform these miracles of love and goodness, 
 must be omnipresent ; and, therefore, as Moses testified, it is not far 
 from us : " it is very nigh thee, in thy heart and in thy mouth, that 
 thou mayst do it." (m) 
 
270 ESSAY IV. 
 
 In conclusion, my friend, though these arc my views, I always 
 hope to be able to extend to others who see through a different me- 
 dium, that charity which I am well aware I shall need on account 
 of my own imperfections. You say you are determined never to 
 change your faith. It is far from my desire to make proselytes, 
 for the name is perhaps no essential part of Christianity. It is by 
 " doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly ;" doing to others 
 as we would they should do us ; loving God above all things, and our 
 neighbour as ourselves ; that we fulfil the end for which we were 
 created, at least during our present state of existence : and whoever 
 does this I hope to regard him as a brother, let his name be what it 
 may. A Professor of Christianity. 
 
 NOTES BY I. L. 
 
 Although it was my first intention to let my friend have the last 
 word, yet upon re-perusing his production, I think it necessary to com- 
 ment on several passages, where I believe he has fallen into uninten- 
 tional errors, which are owing altogether to his not having been 
 taught to view things with the eye of an Israelite, or, in other words, 
 that he, like most Christians, has thought proper to spiritualise the 
 Scriptures, and to invest prophecies with meanings which are not 
 warranted by a literal interpretation of them. 
 
 (a)—" All contention must cease to exist." This is no doubt true, 
 for the absence of evil inclination is of itself a sufficient guarantee, 
 that its fruit — evil deeds — will not exist : but the precepts of the 
 Mosaic law, " if I understand them, right," forbid hatred altogether, 
 for we read in chap. xix. v. 17 of Leviticus : " Thou shalt not hate 
 thy brother in thy heart ;" and it follows from this, that, if hatred and 
 manevolence are banished, strife and war cannot take place, especial- 
 ly as we are forbidden to take vengeance upon one another. But it 
 is not the observance^ but the infraction of the holy law, which is 
 the cause of national war and civil strife ; of course then the gospel 
 cannot claim any superiority over our Pentateuch in this respect, as 
 the latter is altogether calculated, even more so than the former, to 
 eradicate the cause of war, as the resistance to evil through legal 
 means is permitted by the Pentateuch, but forbidden by the gospels, 
 if taken literally; and if we once commence spiritualising any pre- 
 
ESSAY IV. 271 
 
 cept, so as to remove its harsh and unpalatable features, it requires 
 but the ingenuity of an ordinary lawyer to mslke its operations entire- 
 ly ineffectual. — And if the Professor of Christianity had carefully 
 compared our law with the gospels, I am confident he would not have 
 fallen into the error which I felt constrained to expose. 
 
 (6) — " Nothing can be found in them, which," &c. I am sorry that 
 I cannot even permit this to pass unnoticed, for the gospels contain at 
 least two passages which do not even allow us to harbour a thought 
 that Christianity could bring peace, much less to view it as the chief re- 
 quisite of a Christian. — Matthew x. 34 : " Think not that I am come 
 to send peace on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword." — 
 The Nolzry next states, that " a man's foes shall be of his own house- 
 hold ;" which prophecy, strange to tell, is the only one in the New 
 Testament which has been literally fulfilled. (See also Luke xii. 51.) 
 And I must maintain, that these two passages, supposing even the 
 Notzry to have been a prophet, prove clearly, that the gospels sanc- 
 tion ^ state of war, as they predict that such shall be the consequence 
 of the prevalence of Christianity. 
 
 (c) — " Assistance even from Heaven to protect himself," &c. If 
 it is true that the so called Christ was to die, it is impossible that any 
 assistance from Heaven could have been granted him, for in that case 
 God would have used means to defeat his own immutable will, which 
 is evidently an absurdity. — Besides Peter did fight, for he cut off the 
 ear of one of the high-priest's servants ; and it appears, that in spite 
 of the Notzry's prohibition, his chief servant, upon whom he said he 
 would build his church, did resort to violence, of course he did not 
 understand the sermon on the mount to prohibit war, or else he would 
 have acted contrary to law, and what is the same, have been a man 
 of violence and a sinner. 
 
 (d) — " Over the contrary state of peace," &c. I must remind my 
 friend that I explicitly stated that war is a curse, and a curse of such 
 magnitude even, that every other expedient of redress should be ex- 
 hausted, before it ought to be resorted to. On the other side, how- 
 ever, there are evils greater even than direful war, which must be 
 resisted at every hazard. Passive obedience and submission to usurped 
 authority would, as the world is now constituted, open the door to 
 every outrage, and every act of aggression, villany can conceive ; 
 whereas the consciousness that violence will be met by violence, de- 
 ters despots frequently from injuring surrounding nations, just as the 
 dread of punishment by the hand of justice compels the wicked man 
 10 refrain from his meditated burglary or murder. War, therefore, 
 
272 ESSAY IV. 
 
 and violence can only then cease, when the state of the world is dif- 
 ferent from what it is i*w. That the knowledge of the gospels cannot 
 have the effect of producing this altered state of society, it is impos- 
 sible to deny, though I am ready to confess that certain men profess- 
 ing Christianity have lived peaceably, even to such a degree as not to 
 resist actual aggression. But as the Hebrew religion is, in fact, what- 
 ever our opponents may say to the contrary notwithstanding, a religion 
 of love and mercy, its universal acknowledgment will eradicate all 
 motives of violence and aggression, since the world will be enlighten- 
 ed in the knowledge of the Eternal to such a degree, that peace will 
 be preferred by all mankind, and it therefore will abolish the pos y 
 
 even of war, and this we are taught by our prophets. (Isaiah, chap, 
 ii. V. 4.) Till, however, this universal knowledge reigns, violence, as 
 has been said, must and may lawfully be resorted to, to ward oflf evils 
 of great magnitude, which admit of no other remedy. Amputation 
 of a limb is an evil, and would never be performed when it is in a 
 healthy state ; but if the limb be fractured, lacerated, or otherwise 
 wounded, so as to endanger the life of the patient, amputation be- 
 comes necessary, and it is resorted to, to ward off the greater evil — 
 death. Just so it is in the present state of the world. War is abhor- 
 rent to the benign principles of the divine religion revealed unto our 
 ancestors when they had been redeemed from slavery ; violence is pro- 
 hibited ; injustice of every kind is interdicted ; and peace, internal and 
 external, is held up to our view as the greatest blessing the Supreme 
 Ruler can bestow on the children of his creation. But should we be 
 molested, our country invaded, our liberties attacked, our children 
 slaughtered, or our sanctuary polluted, then it becomes our duty to 
 rise in our manhood, to step forward, and do battle for " our people 
 and the cities of our God," and we deserve to be branded Avith the 
 epithets of cowards, slothful, and irreligious men, if we would fold 
 our arms over our bosom, and say : " We dare not defend our lives, 
 our honour, and our religion." Indeed, I must repeat, war is a curse, 
 but there are greater curses than it, and to protect us against them, 
 war is permitted and even commanded. 
 
 (e) — " Had been atoned for by suffering or repentance ?" If my 
 friend means to assert in this sentence, the conclusion of which I have 
 quoted, that no war can be, emphatically speaking, a holy war ; but 
 that even defensive war is hateful in the sight of Heaven : I am 
 obliged to dissent from him, for our Holy Bible and even every day's 
 experience prove, that never was a righteous people defeated, when 
 their cause was righteous. The Philistines were enraged, that 
 
ESSAY IV. 273 
 
 the fugitive David had been elected king of Israel, and they came 
 with powerful armies to dispossess him of the government which he 
 had rightfully obtained : the Israelites met them in battle, and the 
 Philistines fell by the edge of the sword. — The Carthagenian Hanni- 
 bal presumed to follow the aggression of the Romans, and to carry 
 war and desolation to the gates of their city: his quarrel was unjust, 
 and Carthage was humbled, its government abolished, and the walls 
 broken down by the Romans, whose annihilation had been meditat- 
 ed. — The Austrians Avished to oppress Switzerland, and invaded it 
 with a powerful army, consisting of the flower of German chivalry : 
 but nt»r Sempach they were met by the Swiss peasantry, who over- 
 threw them and drove them back in shame, and proved thus that the 
 righteous cause must be victorious. — And but lately, when the Britons 
 attempted to compel their colonies to pay obedience to laws unjustly 
 enacted : the colonists rose in arms, and, trusting in the God of battles, 
 overcame the bravest armies which England ever sent from her shores, 
 and the liberty and independence of these United States Avere achiev- 
 ed. — There are many other examples which history affords, but it is 
 perfectly useless to prove the matter any further. — It will thus be seen, 
 that all wars are not abhorrent to God ; and of course we must admit, 
 that they are a part of the economy of God, and are a scourge which 
 He wields to punish the aggressor and the ambitious conqueror, while 
 they at the same time promote the enlargement of the oppressed, and 
 secure the liberties of an upright people. — But if my friend means to 
 say, that war shall one day cease, and that no more injury shall in 
 those days be done from man to man, I am compelled to agree with 
 him, for this is what the prophets predict, and this is the mark by 
 which we are to distinguish the time of the true Messiah. — To the 
 question of my friend : " If God was not able to save the Israelites 
 without war ?" I must answer in the affirmative ; but I do not know 
 what advantage can be gained from this my concession. Suppose 
 God had saved them without war, we should then have found it so 
 recorded j but, if we read the book of Judges, we shall discover that 
 God absolutely commanded Gideon and Barak to go to war; of course 
 we must conclude, that although He could have saved them without 
 war, yet He preferred to save them through their own agency ; for as 
 our wise men teach us, God will always employ some natural means, 
 though the result effected is frequently entirely disproportionate to the 
 end accomplished. For instance Gideon's battle ; he had but three 
 hundred men, and he was enabled with this handful to overcome a 
 mighty and well appointed army .—Moses was commanded to stretch 
 his staff over the Red Sea; the waters were divided as an effect of 
 35 
 
274 ESSAY IV. 
 
 Moses's doing as he was ordered, and yet the efiect bears no propor- 
 tion to the apparent cause. And the like will be found throughout 
 the Bible ; and it follows, therefore, that as war is in certain respects 
 " a part of the divine economy in the government of the world," as 
 it is now constituted, the New Testament cannot claim any supe- 
 riority over the Mosaic law ; since to say that we shall not repel an 
 invading foe is evidently contrary to revelation, and if the New Tes- 
 tament indeed contains the doctrine contended for by the Society of 
 Friends, it speaks contrary to the divine law, and cannot be true, be- 
 cause no two disagreeing precepts can proceed from the Source of 
 everlasting wisdom and all-seeing Providence. 
 
 (/)— " Can constitute a valid objection," &c. I cheerfully subscribe 
 to this proposition ; but whilst my friend claims this indulgence for 
 his creed, I claim with even more justice the same for the religion 
 which it is my happiness to profess. And if it even can be proved 
 that the Israelites carried on unjust wars, I hope that no candid man 
 will charge our law as the cause of this abomination, seeing that its 
 spirit, and even its letter, are so diametrically opposed to all violence 
 and oppression, as has been amply demonstrated. 
 
 (g) — " Cannot be overturned by all the wit and ingenuity of man." 
 My friend seems here to have grown a little warm, and he seems to 
 have supposed, that I had endeavoured to " turn the laugh" against 
 his society in my last essay. But this was not my intention ; I lay no 
 claim to wit, or a large share of ingenuity ; — my arguments are all 
 drawn from Scripture, the only fair and legitimate source of argument 
 in religious matters. I will repeat the confession, that Mr. William 
 Penn may have been, for aught I know, the greatest legislator next ta 
 Moses ; but this does not invalidate my assertion, that neither he nor 
 any body else ever observed the gospel strictly ; and if they, I mean 
 Penn and his followers, actually did so, they are clearly to blame ; for 
 it is one thing to abstain from injuring others, and another thing to 
 submit silently to the injustice of good or wicked men, if we have 
 lawful means of redress within our power. Besides the example of 
 Penn does not prove that the spirit of the gospel is the spirit of peace, 
 since the self-styled holy inquisition, and the good people of New 
 England, could demonstrate with equal clearness, that they were 
 commanded to torture Jews, hang Quakers, and burn old and infirm 
 women, and this by the benign gospel of their Christ, with which the 
 Society of Friends prove that it is absolutely necessary not to resist 
 evil. Add to this, that the prophets do not speak of peace among one 
 sectonly, but through all the earth: and it will be seen, that the New 
 Testament and the state of Christians, either individual or collective, 
 
ESSAY IV. 275 
 
 cannot be considered as a fulfilment of the Holy Writ contained in 
 the Jewish canon. And where then, I ask, can be the superiority of 
 the gospels over the Pentateuch? 
 
 (h) — " And no farther." In this paragraph my friend and myself 
 are perfectly agreed, and as far as Christianity is founded u'pon the 
 books proceeding from the revealed power of God it is useful, for it is 
 the duties enjoined in these books, which purify the heart, and if 
 obeyed will make our condition in life useful to all the world, (for 
 every man is able to do something for the good of society,) and render 
 us fit to be children of immortality ; but as soon as it exceeds this 
 limit even by one iota, it is no longer entitled to respect much less 
 obedience ; for no truth can exist beyond the words of revelation, 
 which revelation is contained solely in the Old Testament, as can be 
 clearly proven. 
 
 (?■) — " This spirit of truth was to teach," &c. My friend says, that 
 I have taken a too limited view of the gospel ; I shall debate this 
 position, although I might shield myself behind the general accepta- 
 tion of the word : my object only is to correct a very important error 
 of my friend in his position, which he has founded upon passages from 
 the New Testament. If I would, I could demand of him, before I 
 should even permit myself to debate its doctrines, to prove its histori- 
 cal accuracy ; but I need not be so very dignified, and I am even 
 content to do him battle upon his own terms. The spirit, or rather 
 Holy Ghost, so says John, was " to teach his followers all things." 
 This is said by John, but I say, that this has never happened 5 for if 
 the spirit were diffused over the followers of the Notzry, the conse- 
 quence would be that they would all think alike in matters of religion 
 at least : instead of which even the apostles disagreed ; for upon refer- 
 ring to Paul's Epistle to the Galatians it will be discovered in chap, 
 ii. V. 11: "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him tO; 
 the face, because he was to be blamed." Thus we see, that Peter and 
 Paul differed in matters of faith ; and could this be the effect of the 
 inward revelation, the working of the inward spirit, which deceiveth 
 not ? And at the present day, one person is impelled by the inward 
 spirit of grace to become a methodist, another a baptist, a third a Roman 
 catholic, a fourth something else, in short, every sect of Christians 
 thinks itself exclusively right, and as far as I was ever able to decide, 
 they all can find some warrant for their opinions in the New Testa- 
 ment; and if we then suppose that the true gospel is not the written 
 gospel, id est : the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but an 
 inward infusion of the (Christian) Holy Ghost, it appears that the 
 revelation of this spirit is not the same to every body, and t might with 
 
276 ESSAY IV. 
 
 equal justice believe myself inspired, as Matihew and Mark have 
 done. From all which it appears : that the inward revelation pro- 
 duced by the Christian gospel is the parent of discord, and cannot 
 therefore be the revelation from the Most High, for He ordered his 
 prophet to say : " And all thy children shall be taught by the Eter- 
 nal, and much peace shall be to thy children," which means, that 
 when the time of the Messiah shall come, all the Israelites shall be 
 taught by inward inspiration, and this then will cause all dissension 
 to cease because all shall know what is right. Now I do not believe, 
 that any man can be hardy enough to assert that this is the case with 
 the followers of the Christ of the Christians, for they disagree about 
 the interpretation of almost every passage in the New Testament. 
 
 (k) — " But the word is nigh unto thee," (fee. My friend adduces 
 two passages from the Old Testament, and he mistakes the character 
 of both. The 31st chapter of Jeremiah refers to the revelation con- 
 tained in the Pentateuch, as can be easily proved ; and the passage 
 from the 30th of Deuteronomy, when taken in connection with what 
 precedes and follows, will also be found to refer to the Mosaic la,w ; 
 and Moses meant to say, that the Israelites could not complain of not 
 knowing the will and the word of God, for it had been but on that 
 very day taught to them by the legislator who spoke these words, 
 and it was therefore, so to say, within their mouth and heart. Besides, 
 it must be remembered, that Moses wrote the law in a book, and com- 
 manded the Levites to teach it to the Israelites, so as to put it in their 
 mouth ; that is to say, that the Israelites were to be taught until the 
 law was so familiar to them that they might know it by heart, and 
 converse about it with ease. We believe, that the law will one day 
 be inscribed on the hearts of all mankind; but we contend that this has 
 not yet come to pass. It matters not what may be advanced about the 
 beauty of the gospels, and about the language of the apostles : the fact 
 is otherwise, for it appears that at the time the inward revelation will 
 be general, evil will of itself cease to exist, and universal knowledge 
 and univ^ersal peace will go hand in hand over the face of the reno- 
 vated earth; and in the language of the 85th psalm: " Mercy and 
 truth shall then meet together, and righteousness and peace shall kiss 
 each other, and truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness 
 shall look down from heaven." This is to be the effect of God's pour- 
 ing out his spirit over all flesh, which will take place at the time of 
 the true Messiah. 
 
 (/) — " Which, indeed, did raise up the tribes of Jacob," &c. I agree 
 with my friend in maintaining, that whoever acts righteously, whether 
 Jew, Brahmin, or Nazarene, is a child of eternal salvation, for this 
 
ESSAY IV. 277 
 
 idea is founded upon the universal justice of God, although the gos- 
 pels, chiefly Mark in the conclusion of his last chapter, assert that 
 the faith in Christianity is necessary to ensure salvation, although a 
 man had observed every precept of the law ;' and this is also the 
 opinion of Paul. But having agreed thus far with my friend, I must 
 dissent from him in the use he makes of the several passages of Scrip- 
 ture adduced by him : for he again spiritualises, which ought not to be 
 done, according to our mode of interpretation. — It is true, that we need 
 not look for any Messiah to teach us what to believe and do to become 
 righteous, for that has been taught us in the Mosaic law ; but never- 
 theless a Messiah is predicted, a Messiah is expected, and this Mes- 
 siah will come to fulfil the prophecies, and to restore the Israelites to 
 their land, and peace and harmony throughout the world. 
 
 (m) — " That thou mayst do it." This is the passage cited from 
 Deut. chap. xxx. ; but it relates, as has been shown, to the Mosaic 
 law — the law written down by the command of the God of nature — a 
 law^ existing uncorrupted and unequalled for three thousand years ; it 
 is this of which Moses and the prophets speak, and to this we are al- 
 ways commanded to direct our attention. It is indeed surprising, 
 how Christians are obliged to twist every passage in Scripture so as 
 to avoid the force of our arguments ; for it is impossible to reconcile 
 the gospel, written and unwritten, either to the letter or the obvious 
 spirit of the Bible, and the consequence is, that every now and then 
 we see a new sect coming into being, who interpret their new law 
 differently from any sect which went before them. This evident- 
 ly proves no superiority of the gospels over the Bible — this surely 
 does not establish that the kingdom of peace is prevalent on earth. 
 On the other hand, let the world look at us, who have been scattered 
 in every country of God's earth, and driven to slaughter in almost 
 every age, whose books have been burnt, whenever the adversaj^ 
 could lay hold of them — let, I say, the world look at us, who are yet 
 united and one people, and then let them consider if the finger of the 
 Almighty God has not done this ; I must, therefore, now conclude this 
 volume with the words of the blessed lawgiver, the last words he 
 spoke to the people of Israel, whom he had loved so well and served 
 so faithfully : 
 
 " Happy art thou, O Israel : who is like unto thee, O people assist- 
 ed by the Lord, who is the shield of thy help, and who is the sword 
 of thy excellency ! and thy enemies shall cower down before thee, 
 but thou shalt tread upon their high places." 
 
 May everlasting life of blessedness be the portion of all mankind, 
 and. may the Messiah soon be sent to redeem the captives of Israel. 
 Amen ! 
 
278 
 
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 enough to continue their subscription, are respectfully informed, 
 that the non-appearance of the book was owing to the want of en- 
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 received lately, particularly the very liberal one of Mr. Abraham 
 Hart, of the house of Carey & Hart of this city, the subscriptions 
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 not been announced ; and I did not wish it thought that I was afraid 
 of meeting a small pecuniary loss, where the object is a defence of 
 our religion. — To this want of encouragement it is also owing that 
 the number of copies printed is fully one fourth less than the edition 
 printed of the Instruction in the Mosaic Religion. I. L. 
 
 Correction. — In page 257, line 14, for latter read letter — in part of tlie edition. 
 
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Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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