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 T II E 
 
 IIESTQEATIQN OF THE JEWS 
 
 THE 
 
 C RISIS OF ALL NATIONS; 
 
 TO WHICH IS NOW PREFIXED, A 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THEIR FIRST DISPERSION, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CALLING OF THEIR GRAND SANHEDRIM AT 
 PARIS, OCTOBER <mi, 1806. 
 
 AND 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 ON TllE PRESENT 
 
 STATE OF AFFAIRS, IN EUROPE IX GENERAL, 
 
 AND 
 
 IN THIS COUNTRY IN PARTICULAR. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 BY J. BICHENO, M. A. 
 
 PRIXTED BY J. BARFIELD, WARDOUR-STREET. 
 AND SOLD BT 
 
 Messrs JOHNSON, St. Paul's Church-yard ; WILMAMS & Co. Stationer'? 
 Court; BUTTON, Paternoster-row ; OGLE, Holboru ; and MATTHEWS 
 & Co. Strand, London ; OGLE & Co. Edinburgh ; OGLE and VIVEN*, 
 Glasgow; LANDSDOWN and GREEN, Bristol; NICHOLSON, Cam- 
 bridge; SLATER and MUNDAV, Oxford; GODWIN, Bath; BINNS, 
 Leeds; SN-ARE and RUSHER, Reading ; and FULLER, Newbury. 
 
 1807. 
 (Price 5s. Entered at Stationery-Ball.)
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 A brief Vitro of the History of the Jews - p. 1 
 An Address on the present State of Affairs - p. 64 
 INTRODUCTION p. 77 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIRST. 
 
 The Restoration of all the tribes of Israel The moral 
 character, peace, and prosperity, which are. to dis- 
 tinguish this people Their double return^ and the 
 extent of their country - p. 105 
 
 CHAPTER THE SECOND. 
 
 Events, intimately connected with the Restoration of 
 the Jews; generally, great Calamities and Revo- 
 lutions ; particularly, thefallofthe Fourth Monarchy, 
 and of the Ottoman. Power, the Quarter from 
 whence their deliverance may be expected to on- 
 ginate, - p. 132 
 
 CHAPTER THE THIRD. 
 
 Particular Circumstances attending the Deliverance, 
 of the Jews the Evils they are to endure their 
 moral Character at the Commencement of their 
 Recovery the important Part which they are to 
 take in punishing and revolutionizing the Nations, 
 %c. p. 166 
 
 CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 
 
 The Kingdom of God on Earth the general Conver* 
 sion of Mankind and the Means thereby it is likely 
 to be effected. - p. 186 
 
 Conclusion - p. 227 
 
 2096120
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 The reader is requested to make the following corrections whh his pen , 
 
 Page 24, 1. 2 from bottom, for men write man. 
 
 44, 1. P, dele semicolon after sorts, and hjsert comma after espe- 
 cially. 
 
 56, 1. 8 from bottom, for religion write citizen. 
 
 69, 1.6 of note, for his write this; 1. 11, for Hunnes write Hun? 
 and after whom insert he. 
 
 77, 1. 1 t for instructing write interesting. 
 
 80, 1. 6, for completion write complexion. 
 
 bB, 1. 3,/or J write. I.
 
 f" 
 
 A 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THEIR FIRST DISPERSION, 
 
 TO THE CALLING OF 
 
 THEIR GRAND SANHEDRIM, AT PARIS, 
 OCTOBER 6TH, 1806. 
 
 THAT t\\e knowledge of the history of the various 
 nations which, in different periods of time, have 
 peopled the earth, is one of the most useful branches of 
 literature, all will allow : and that that of the Jewish na- 
 tion and people is amongst the most remarkable, few will 
 dispute. It is stampe4 with such a peculiarity of cha- 
 racter, that it cannot be contemplated with indifference 
 by any but the most insensible; and by men of religion 
 and piety, especially, it must always be considered as 
 peculiarly interesting and instructive. 
 
 Their history exhibits a nation of a character alto- 
 gether different from every other, and in every possi- 
 ble singularity of condition. " But," as Dr. Wor- 
 thington has observed, " what is most remarkable con- 
 cerning this people is, that wheresoever dispersed, or 
 however distressed; notwithstanding the numberless 
 banishments, oppressions, exactions, persecutions, mas- 
 sacres, and miseries of all kinds, which they have un- 
 dergone, in almost every age and nation, from their 
 first dispersion, down to tliese later times notwith- 
 standing all the various causes which have concurred 
 to wipe off the very name and memorial of them from 
 the face of the earth, or to dissipate and confound them 
 with other people yet they are neither destroyed nor 
 
 B
 
 2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 swallowed up, nor incorporated with any other, but 
 they exist a distinct people still ; retaining their distinct 
 religion and laws, rites, customs, manners, name, and 
 language, every where, and making a nation in the 
 midst of a nation, with almost every other nation upon 
 earth : though there is not an instance of any other 
 people in the world, who have been harassed, sifted, 
 and tossed about in any degree, as these have been, 
 who have not, in a few ages, been melted down, ab- 
 sorbed, and lost in the common mass. All these great 
 monarchies, which captivated, overturned, and destroy- 
 ed the Jewish state, are made a full end of, yet hath 
 there not been made a full end oj this people without 
 king, or prince, to govern and unite them under one 
 common head ; without sacrifice, without priest to 
 offer it, and without a place proper to offer it in they 
 are the same unalterable people still, in spite of all that 
 can happen unto them. Like the three confessors- 
 among their predecessors of old, their coats are not 
 changed, and they walk in the midst of the fire, n 
 hurt. All this hath something prodigious in it, it is 
 altogether out of the common way, and which the com- 
 mon principles of human nature will not easily explain. 
 It is the finger of God ! It is wffat the inspired prophets 
 foretold ! 
 
 Let us take a view of the interesting history of this 
 extraordinary people. Though it may be brief, yet, if 
 we at all contemplate it in the spirit of our religion, it 
 cannot fail of being useful. Some tolerable knowledge of 
 their history seems indispensably necessary to our per- 
 ceiving, with any accuracy, the meaning of those pro- 
 phecies which relate to their character and fortunes ; and 
 to our appreciating the value, and feeling the force, of 
 that evidence which is derived in favor of the divinity 
 of the scriptures, from their accomplishment. But 
 beyond what is found in the Old and New Testaments 
 few, comparatively, possess any means of information. 
 Most attentive Christians may, indeed, have gained 
 some information from the pulpit, or otherwise, re- 
 specting the awful judgments which, according to the 
 predictions of our Lord, overtook the Jewish people ; 
 and about the calamities which brought destruction on
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 3 
 
 their city and temple, and put an end to both their civil 
 and religious polity : but where they have since been, 
 and what doing, or suffering, the generality have no 
 idea. A brief view, therefore, of the history of this 
 people, of their dispersion and sufferings, and espe- 
 cially since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Ro- 
 mans, may not be unacceptable to the public, nor with- 
 out its use, preparatory to the consideration of those 
 prophecies relative to their restoration, which are to be 
 brought forward for the reader's examination in the fol- 
 lowing pages. 
 
 I shall not aim at much originality : little more will 
 very frequently be done than to transcribe and abridge, 
 or modernise, as may be thought necessary. Josephus, 
 Basnage, the Universal History, and Tovey's Anglia 
 Judaica, will be the authors chiefly made use of. 
 
 If I succeed in narrowing within the compass of a 
 few sheets such a view of the history of the Jewish 
 people, since their dispersions, as may convey to the 
 uninformed reader some tolerably clear and connected 
 ideas of their character and fortunes, through a suc- 
 cession of so many ages, my end will be attained, and 
 the interests of religion, I hope, will be promoted : For 
 the preservation of this people through such a sea of 
 miseries, and through so many centuries, and for such 
 purposes as the scriptures assert, is a long-continued 
 miracle, more stupendous than all others which God 
 has wrought in proof of divine revelation, and that 
 which is admirably calculated, at the present crisis par- 
 ticularly, to excite our faith and confidence in the over- 
 ruling providence of God, and to soothe and stay the 
 mind, amidst the agitation of all the elements of hu- 
 man society, and under the expectation of calamities 
 the most awful. 
 
 The ten tribes, which had formed the kingdom of 
 Israel, after their separation from their brethren in the 
 reign of Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, 
 had, at the appearance of our Lord, been in a state of 
 captivity for more than 700 years; and were dispersed 
 through various and distant parts of the east. The 
 people of the kingdom of Judah had experienced also a 
 similar punishment to that of their brethren, when A 
 B2
 
 4 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 about 130 years afterwards, their country was laid 
 waste, and Jerusalem and their temple destroyed, and 
 they carried captives to Babylon ; but after 70 years, 
 the decrees of Cyrus and his successors restored them 
 to their country, and they again became a nation, and 
 so continued for about 600 years, till the measure of 
 their iniquities was full, and the wrath of God came 
 upon them to the uttermost. But, though a nation, 
 they seldom enjoyed either independence or prosperi- 
 ty. Various was their condition under the kings of 
 Persia, under Alexander and his successors, and the 
 Romans. By the latter, Judea was reduced to a Ro- 
 man province, A. D. 8. and the sceptre for ever de- 
 parted from Judah, and the Jews now lost the power 
 of life and death, and no longer paid their taxes to their 
 own princes as formerly and as even all the depend- 
 ent kingdoms did but to the Romans. 
 
 It may here be proper to recollect, that previous to 
 this, great multitudes had been transported and settled 
 in distant parts, not only at the times of the two great 
 captivities which we have mentioned, but on other oc- 
 casions. Alexander having built Alexandria in Egypt, 
 sent thither great numbers of Jewsto people it, and which 
 afterwards became as another Jerusalem. From Egypt 
 they passed into Ethiopia and the neighbouring parts, 
 where great numbers of them settled. And Palestine, 
 lying between Syria and Egypt, becoming the great 
 thoroughfare for the passage of the armies of the suc- 
 cessors of Alexander, and subjected by turns to be ra- 
 vaged by them all, multitudes fled for refuge to other 
 countries, and hence they and their religion were spread 
 over all Arabia, and the other regions within their 
 reach. And from the great numbers that were dis- 
 persed into all the cities of Asia and Greece, came that 
 famous distinction of Hellenist Jews. Bythinia, Ma- 
 cedonia, Pontus, and Thracia, as well as the islands of 
 Cyprus and Crete, or Candia, were full of them. Great 
 numbers also were settled in Italy ; being either driven 
 thither by the dangers which threatened them in their 
 own country, or attracted by the privileges there con- 
 ferred on them. It was these dispersed Jews who 
 were attending at the feast of Pentecost, when the 
 Holy Ghost fell upon the Apostles, Actsii, 5 11.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 5 
 
 What the character of the generality of the Jews 
 
 was, both in Judea and in other countries, at the 
 
 time of the appearance of our Lord and the first 
 
 promulgation of the gospel, all have learnt from the 
 
 four Evangelists and the Acts of the, Apostles. 
 
 After the ascension of Jesus Christ, though 
 a great many of the Jews repented and believed, yet 
 the rulers, and the great body of thj nation, went 
 on increasing in superstition and wickedness, and 
 hardness of heart. Their miseries also increased 
 with their delusions and crimes. Many iaise pro- 
 phets and pretended messiahs, arose, as our Saviour 
 foretold, and betrayed the people into rebellions, 
 which brought upon them the vengeance of the 
 Romans, who slew many thousands of them. Rob- 
 bers and banditti infested every part of the country. 
 One high priest was opposed to another, and each 
 uniting under him, armed men of the vilest character ; 
 the greatest outrages were .committed, not only 
 against each other, but against the inferior sort, who 
 were often plundered of all they had, and reduced to the 
 lowest misery. Some of the Roman governors too, 
 by conniving at, and encouraging these disorders, 
 greatly increased them. Gessius Florus, particularly, 
 who was appointed governor of Judea A. D. 64. 
 and who was the last and worst governor the Jews 
 ever had, since subject to the Romans, so openly 
 and barefacedly connived at the practices of the 
 banditti, which he ought to have suppressed, and 
 was guilty of such rapines and cruelties, that he 
 was looked upon by the Jews more as a bloody ex- 
 ecutioner sent to butcher them, than as a magistrate 
 to govern their nation. His design was, evidently, 
 to provoke them to such open rebellion as might 
 prevent his misdeeds from being inquired into. He 
 succeeded but too well in his design: for a war. 
 was kindled, through his means, which did not end 
 but with the total ruin of the Jewish nation. 
 
 This great event is so well known, that we sball 
 not enter into a detail of the particulars of it ; but 
 only observe, that after the most unheard of enormi- 
 ties committed, and sufferings endured from famine,
 
 6 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 pestilence and the sword, Jerusalem was taken and, 
 with the temple, laid in ashes. A. D. 73. All that 
 the Romans could find, when the city was taken, were 
 put to the sword. Titus would have put an end to 
 the massacre, and saved the temple ; but all his at- 
 tempts were rendered vain by the madness of the 
 Jews, and the provoked rage of the conquerors. A 
 great many other cities fared a similar fate. Of 
 those who escaped the slaughter, the youngest and 
 most beautiful were reserved for Titus's triumph : 
 multitudes above seventeen years of age were sent 
 into Egypt to be employed in some public works ; 
 a great number of others were sent into several 
 cities of Syria, and other provinces, to be exposed 
 on the public theatres, to fight like gladiators, or 
 to be devoured by wild beasts, The number of 
 these prisoners amounted to ninety-seven thousand, 
 besides about eleven thousand, who were either starv- 
 ed through neglect, or starved themselves through 
 sullenness and despair. From the beginning to the 
 conclusion of the war, one million three hundred and 
 Jifty four thousand, four hundred and ninety, are 
 computed to have perished. There perished at Je- 
 rusalem by the sword, famine, pestilence, and in 
 the siege one million, one hundred thousand, and 
 the rest in other parts of the country. And besides 
 these, a vast multitude died in caves, woods, wilder- 
 nesses, common sewers, and in many other ways 
 of whom no computation could be made. 
 
 As soon as the work of massacre and pillage was 
 finished, Titus ordered his army to demolish the city, 
 with all its structures, fortifications, palaces, towers, 
 walls, and other ornaments and edifices, which were 
 levelled with the ground. The leaders of the Jews, 
 and 700 of the most beautiful captives, were carried 
 to Rome to adorn the triumph of the conqueror; 
 and which was farther adorned with a great number 
 of trophies brought from Judea; among the principal 
 of which were, those which had been taken out of the 
 sanctuary ; such as the golden table of shew bread ; 
 the seven-branch candlestick ; the roll or volume of 
 the law, covered with a costly gold cloth, which was
 
 carried the last of the three, as the most venerable 
 of all the trophies. The two former Titus caused to 
 be placed in the temple of peace, where they cpn- 
 tinued till carried away by Genseric at the sacking 
 of Rome A. D. 4.55. 
 
 Thus was fulfilled what Jesus Christ had so dis- 
 tinctly foretold; and thus an end was put to the 
 nation and polity of the Jews; and from that day 
 Jerusalem has been trodden under foot of the Gentiles, 
 and they have been led away captive into all nations, 
 to be a taunt, and a proverb, and a by-word ; and 
 thus they continue to the present moment. Let us trace 
 this extraordinary people in their state of degradation 
 and exile. 
 
 Such of the Jews as survived the sad catastrophe of 
 their country, and escaped the sword of the Romans, 
 or who were not sold in the markets as slaves and 
 horses, retired, some into the East, and to Babylon, there 
 to implore the charity of their brethren, who had 
 continued in those countries ever since the captivities 
 of ancient times ; others into Galilee, and a much 
 greater number into Egypt and Gyrene, where we 
 shall find them raising new rebellions, committing 
 horrid massacres, and again bringing upon themselves 
 the vengeance of the victorious Romans. 
 
 But before we proceed farther, it may be best here 
 to give some account of the rise and fall of the Patriarchs 
 of the West, whose authority for more than three 
 hundred years formed a sort of bond of union among 
 the Jews, from Tiberias in Galilee to the extremity 
 of Europe, where any Jews were found. There re- 
 mained only a small number of the priests and laity, 
 who endeavoued to settle themselves among the ruins 
 of their native country. What authority continued 
 among them was altogether in the hands of the priests. 
 The house of David was almost extinct, and his de- 
 scendants, reduced to get their bread by the tillage of 
 a few acres of land, had long laid aside all thoughts 
 of re-establishing the throne of their ancestors. The 
 people were still less mindful of restoring them, or of 
 even giving them any shadow of authority, because 
 this would have excited the jealousy of their con-*
 
 8 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 querors, and re-awakened their cruelty. Hence the 
 race of Levi, from their superior knowledge of the 
 law, and as a privileged body of men, were naturally 
 looked up to by their inferiors ; and that shadow of 
 authority which the Romans permitted to exist among 
 them, as naturally fell into their hands. Hence origi- 
 nated the power which was exercised by the Patriarchs 
 of the West, from about the time of the emperor 
 Nerva, till the year of the christain era 429. Its be- 
 ginnings were small, and increased with the fame of 
 the rabbies, who were at the head of the Jewish 
 schools; till, by degrees, it extended itself from 
 Palestine, to all the western parts of the Roman em- 
 pire, where there were Jews residing; and the Patriarchs 
 came, not only to dictate in matters of religion, but to 
 impose tribute for the support of their dignity, and to 
 inflict censures, penances, and even excommunica- 
 tion, as well as some corporeal punishments. From 
 Tiberias, the place of the residence of the Patriarch, 
 officers were sent with his orders and decisions to all 
 places whither his authority reached. The chiefs of 
 the synagogues, schools and academies, were likewise 
 nominated by him ; and the imperial laws gave him 
 the title of Illustris, or Clarissimus. 
 
 As their dignity was hereditary, and exceedingly 
 profitable, it came at last to be so abused, that the 
 emperor Theodosius the younger was obliged, first, to 
 issue out an edict to suppress the exorbitant power 
 they had assumed, and to reduce it to its proper limits, 
 and afterwards to abolish it altogether, A. D. 429, 
 after it had continued in the sarae family through 
 thirteen generations, and about the space of 33O 
 years. 
 
 Some of these Patriarchs were men of learning, and 
 attained considerable celebrity. Judah Hakkadosh, 
 called the saint, and who is reckoned the third 
 Patriarch., compiled the Mishna;* Hillel II. was a 
 
 * This is a code, or body of oral traditions founded upon a five- 
 fold authority. First, upon the writings of Moses, whose expositions are 
 contained in the Pentateuch. Secondly, upon the ordinances of that 
 Lawgiver, said tote delivered to him upon the Mount, or, as they are 
 commonly styled, the oral law, and which are looked upon by the Jews
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. <? 
 
 person of great merit and learning, and was the first 
 who began to compute the years from the creation. 
 He was also author of the cycle of nineteen years, to 
 conciliate the course of the sun with that of the 
 
 as of equal authority with the written. Thirdly, upon the different de- 
 cisions of the ancient doctors. Fourthly, upon the maxims and sayings 
 of the ancient prophets and wie men. Fifthly, upon the ancient rite* 
 and customs, which have since gained the sanction of a law, and are made 
 by it equally obligatory. These are the traditions of the elders which 
 Jesus Christ censured. With this celebrated writer, whom the super- 
 stitious gratitude of his countrymen sainted, ended the first order of the 
 Jewish Doctors. 
 
 As it will be proper to notice some others of the most celebrated hooks 
 in repute among the Jews, it may be best here to give some account of 
 the orders under which their Doctors were ranged, and to connect in one 
 note all that may be thought necessary to say about the above Mislina, 
 the Talmud, c. 
 
 The first order of Doctors were called the Tanaits : they were those 
 who preserved the traditions of the elders, from Esdras, to the %bove 
 Judah the saint. 
 
 The second order consisted of the Gemarists and Talmudists, of whom 
 the reader will be able to form an idea when he is told, that Judah's col- 
 lection of traditions, called the Mishna, as above, being considered ai 
 imperfect, Jochanan, a disciple of Judah, with the assistance of liab 
 and Samuel, two others of his scholars, compiled (in the third century) 
 the Jerusalem Talmud. Talmud signifies doctrine, and is emphatically 
 given to this work as being a complete system of the religion and morals 
 of the Jews. Judah's Mishna, as we observed, being considered as de- 
 fective and obscure, a comment was written upon it to give it more per- 
 fection and perspicuity, and which comment was called Gemarrah, or 
 Perfection ; and this, and the Mishna together, made what is called the 
 Talmud; and from being compiled in Judea, is styled the Talmud of 
 Jerusalem. The Jews have another book of this kind published about 
 a century afterward, larger, and less obscure, and which ,from being writ- 
 ten in Chaldea, is called the Babylonish Talmud. 
 
 Of the third and/ourt/t orders, the Doubter* and the Excellent, but little 
 is known, nor is that little worth knowing. 
 
 The fijth order of Doctors consisted of the Masoreths, or Masorites. 
 These were grammarians, who principally applied themselves to the revi- 
 sal of the Hebrew text of their sacred books. To prevent any alteration 
 in them, they even numbered "the very words and letters: lor instance^ 
 there are in Genesis, they say, 12 great sections ; 43 orders ; 15.54 verses ; 
 20,713 words; 78,100 letters; and the very middle of the book consist! 
 of these words, vel al harveha tihich ch. xxvii. v. 40. They made also a 
 collection of all the different readings which were known to them, and 
 were those who added the vowel points to the consonants. The Masora 
 is written in Chaldee. The college of the Masorites ended about 330 
 years before Christ, having lasted about 130 years. The last Doctor of 
 this order was Simon the just. 
 
 The Cabalists are reckoned the sixth order of Jewish doctors. Ac- 
 cording to these, there is not a word, letter, or accent in the law without 
 some mystery in it. In the interpretation of these mysteries consists the 
 f the Cabala, which, as conducting to the most profound truth:
 
 10 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 moon, by the help of seven intercalations. But that 
 which most endeared him to the Christians, was his 
 conversion and baptism a little before he died. 
 
 As we shall hereafter pass on with less interruption, 
 it may not be amiss, here also, to give some account 
 of the Princes of the captivity at Babylon, who, for 
 some ages were allowed to exercise considerable au- 
 thority over their brethren in the East. The origin of 
 these heads of the captivity is not known, any farther 
 than that they did not exist before the end of the 
 second century, when Huna appears to have been the 
 first who was raised to that dignity. It was not here- 
 ditary, but they were nominated by the voices of their 
 brethren, and exercised their authority by the per- 
 mission of the Parthian and Persian monarchs, on 
 whom they were entirely dependent, and to the Jews, 
 of whose dominions their jurisdiction was confined. 
 The Jews pretend that these princes were of the 
 house of David : but this appears to have been ima- 
 gined merely to flatter their pride, and raise the glory 
 of their nation. The prince being installed into his 
 office with great pomp and ceremony, he was con- 
 by the easiest method, they consider as the most sublime and essential. 
 It is essentially necessary, because, without it, we cannot penetrate into 
 the truths locked up under the external shell of the literal meaning. 
 The sublime nonsense of this science, which affords such fine play to the 
 fancy, may be seen in Basnage's History of the Jews, Book III. chap. 
 TL xxviii. 
 
 But the Jews, we are to remember, hare not monopolized all the be- 
 nefits of this sublime science ; but Christian doctors have also very much 
 edified the church, and served its interests, by the discoveries they have 
 made, and the support they have hence been able to bring forward in 
 favour of its peculiar doctrines, by means of this science. Take an ex- 
 ample : " The closed Mem teaches us the reasons of the Paraclete com- 
 ing after the Messiah. The Van and the Jod teach us how Jesus Christ 
 as God, is the principle of himself as man. The name of the three letters 
 He, Vav., and Aleph given to God, not only shew the mystery of the Tri- 
 nity, but also the possibility of the incarnation." This was in times of 
 yore, and in other climes; but we of this age, and of this country, are 
 also peculiarly favoured with these Cabalistic doctors ; and, what is 
 more wonderful than any thing to be found in the Jewish Cabala itself, 
 i s, that the most ignorant and unlettered teachers are the profoundest 
 adepts in this science ! To be serious, when we recollect what mysteries 
 onr preachers are every Sabbath-day extracting from the simplest propo- 
 sitions, or the plainest historical facts, it may well moderate our laughter 
 at the Jews, whom, however far -we may fall beneath them in sublimity of 
 nonsense, we at least excel in insipidity of thought, and dullness of 
 fancy.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 11 
 
 ducted to the palace of the king, where, having pros- 
 trated himself to the earth before him, to~ signify his 
 being his vassal and subject, he was raised and seated 
 on his left hand; when he opened to him the com- 
 plaints and affairs of his nations, and on which the 
 king decided. 
 
 The residence of these princes was, at first, at 
 Mahazia, but was afterwards translated to Babylon, 
 or, more properly, Bagdad ; there they had ten 
 courts of Justice over which they presided. Their au- 
 thority extended over all the dispersed Jews in Assyria 
 and Chaldea, and all the kingdom of the Parthians 
 afterwards of the Persians They conferred ordination 
 on all the heads of the synagogues of the East, and 
 thence they received the necessary contributions for 
 the support of their dignity, and to pay the tribute 
 exacted by the sovereign. This dignity appears to 
 have subsisted till the eleventh century, when it received 
 a deadly blow. The academies were then shut up, 
 the people and disciples fled to the West, and particu- 
 larly to France, where the latter taught for some years 
 with great reputation. The name, indeed, of these 
 heads of the captivity, remained in the, East till the 
 twelfth century ; but since that time, no traces of them 
 are to be found. 
 
 Thus ceased, first, by the suppression of the au- 
 thority of the Patriarchs in the West, and, afterwards, 
 by that of the Princes of the captivity in the East, even 
 alt shadow of political connexion among the Jews as 
 a body. It is true, that since their expulsion from 
 their own country, there has never been such an union 
 among there, as could properly constitute them a 
 nation ; yet, for several ages, they retained some 
 semblance of a body politic ; but now, no one joint 
 or ligament remains, but they are become, in a political 
 view, as the dry bones which Ezekiel saw. They arc 
 very dry. Whether they are ever again to reunite 
 and be clothed with flesh, and have life breathed into 
 them, we are hereafter to enquire. Let us now pursue 
 their history. 
 
 The chastisements which God has inflicted upon 
 this people have been the- most terrible that the
 
 12 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 world ever saw, as having involved both the men, and 
 the religion, and the land which they inhabited, and 
 as extending through such a succession of ages. 
 
 They had not long escaped from the flames of their 
 city and temple, and the miseries of their desolated 
 country, but they were again overtaken by fresh ca- 
 lamities, partly the effect of their own crimes, and 
 partly from the wanton oppressions and cruelty of 
 their enemies. Impatient under a foreign yoke, and 
 galled by the contempt and hardships which they 
 endured, they raised rebellions, and committed horrid 
 slaughters. In the reign of the emperor Trajan, 
 they murdered in Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus, and Meso- 
 potamia about 500,000 of the Roman subjects; and 
 it was not without an abundance of bloodshed, and a 
 great deal of difficulty, that they were reduced about 
 A. D. 119. 
 
 The next insurrection was raised under their false 
 messiah Caziby } or, as he styled himself Barchocheba, 
 who, taking advantage of the heart-burnings which 
 then reigned among the Jews, on account of Adrian's 
 having sent a colony to rebuild Jerusalem, which he 
 designed to adorn after the Roman style, and to call 
 by his own name, ^Elia ; and his having forbid the 
 Jews to circumcise their children, set himself up as 
 head of his nation, raised a Jewish army of 200,000 
 men, and murdered all the heathens and Christians 
 who came in his way. About A. D. 134, Adrian de- 
 feated him ; 600,000 Jews are said to have been slain 
 by the sword in this war, besides what perished by 
 famine and pestilence. For some time the emperor 
 caused annual fairs to be held for the sale of captive 
 Jews, and transported such as cTwelt in Canaan to 
 Egypt, and every where loaded with taxes all such as 
 adhered to their religion. This war being brought to 
 an end, Adrian finished his design of rebuilding Jeru- 
 salem, and by an edict, among other severities, ex- 
 pressly forbade all Jews, even from a distance, to look 
 at it, under pain of death. After this disaster, the state 
 of the Jews became one of the most melancholy that 
 can be imagined, and so continued for some time. 
 But under several of Adrian's successors the Jews en-
 
 A BRIEF HISTOHY OF THE JEWS. 13 
 
 joyed considerable peace and liberty ; and Alexander 
 Severus shewed them particular kindness, as he did also 
 to the Christians. 
 
 In the East, till about the middle of the third century, 
 the Jews had enjoyed tolerable prosperity ; but this 
 their felicity proved the prelude of a violent persecu- 
 tion under Sapor, the king of Persia, who put numbers 
 of them to death. 
 
 In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, their condi- 
 tion in the West was sometimes tolerable, and at others 
 extremely miserable. Constahtine, the first Chri&tian 
 emperor, and Constans his son, who were much more 
 2ealous against the oppugners of their opinions than 
 in the practice of the moral duties of their religion, 
 enacted some severe laws against them. The council 
 of Elvira in Spain also, about this time, issued a 
 decree to prohibit their eating with Christians. The 
 apostate Julian, from his hatred to Christianity, shewed 
 them favor, and to falsify the prophecies encouraged 
 them to rebuild their city and temple ; but their at- 
 tempts are said to have been frustrated by terrible 
 earthquakes, and other phenomena. In Persia they 
 enjoyed the sunshine of favor, and abused it by ex- 
 citing such a long and bloody persecution against the 
 Christians, that all their churches were demolished, and 
 the very traces of Christianity almost obliterated. 
 
 In the fifth century we find the Jews grown to such 
 a height of insolence by the long series of peace and li- 
 berty which they had enjoyed, and particularly under 
 Theodosius II. as to oblige that prince to suppress it by 
 the punishment of the guilty. He forbad the Chris- 
 tians to persecute the Jews, and these to offer any con- 
 temptuous insults to the established church. But in 
 spite of every precaution, insults and skirmishes, and 
 much bloodshed, often occurred. In Egypt, Mace-, 
 donia, Dacia, Chalcis, and Syria, prodigious numbers 
 of them were killed. At Alexandria, particularly, 
 where the Jews are computed to have amounted to 
 about 100,000, blopdy skirmishes often took place be- 
 tween them and the Christians. And in the year 415 
 their quarrels occasioned a very serious disaster. Cyril, 
 the bishop of that city, and afterwards sainted, threat-
 
 14 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ening the Jews with ecclesiastical execution, they re- 
 venged the threat by the murder of great numbers of 
 Christians. Cyril, without waiting for justice from the 
 civil power, put himself at the head of a sufficient 
 number of his flock, seized on the synagogues for the 
 use of the church, and then abandoned the houses of 
 the Jews to plunder, and obliged them to quit the city 
 almost naked. Orestes, the then prefect, resented this 
 conduct of the bishop, by which he had infringed on 
 his authority, and depopulated the city ; and the peo- 
 ple taking part with the prefect against him, he order- 
 ed a regiment of his monks, to the number of 1500, to 
 come down from the mountains to his assistance, and 
 who, assaulting the chariot of Orestes with vollies of 
 stones, would have killed him had not the people come 
 to his rescue. 
 
 It was in this century that the Jews, as we have before 
 noticed, received a most sensible blow in the total sup- 
 pression of the patriarchs. Theodosius and Valentinian 
 were the two monarchs who appropriated that revenue, 
 which they had been wont to draw from their scattered 
 brethren, to their own treasury, by which means the 
 patriarchal dignity was more effectually suppressed 
 than if it had been directly annulled by an edict. In 
 the West, the Jews enjoyed the full exercise of their 
 religion under Honorius, who, much to his honour, 
 enacted a law in favour of toleration. 
 
 A strange affair happened about this time in the 
 island of Candia, where the Jews were very rich and 
 numerous. One Moses pretending to be the Messiah, 
 ran up and down and through every town and village 
 of the island, persuading the Jews to follow him, and 
 to be ready for him on the day, and at the place ap- 
 pointed, and he would lead them safe through the sea 
 to Canaan. A vast multitude were deluded, and threw 
 themselves from a precipice into the deep, and were 
 drowned. 
 
 It is pretended that a great number of Jews were, 
 about this time, converted to Christianity by means of 
 divers miracles, which were wrought by the virtue of 
 the holy relics brought from Jerusalem. At Minorca, 
 in particular, A. D. 428, where, besides the influence
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 15 
 
 of persuasion in the private and public disputations 
 which were held, and the demolition of their syna- 
 gogues at Port Mahon, they were plied with such 
 numbers of miracles, that their greatest men began to 
 relent, and in eight day s_ the greater part of them were 
 converted ; and those who were too blind and hardened 
 to perceive the force of the evidences produced, were 
 obliged to hide themselves in caverns from the public 
 fury ; or, leaving all their property behind them, to 
 seek an asylum in foreign countries. 
 
 Towards the latter end of the fifth century, the Jews 
 of Persia suffered a violent persecution, which, they 
 tell us, lasted seventy-three years ; during which the 
 synagogues were shut up, the observation of the sab- 
 bath suppressed, and their schools and chapels given to 
 the magi. Some suffered death with surprising con- 
 stancy ; but multitudes, among the young especially, 
 who were addicted to ease and pleasure, forsook their 
 religion. 
 
 In the sixth century, also, they suffered greatly in the 
 East, first under Cavades, a prince of a proud and 
 fierce disposition, who wanted to force alibis subjects, 
 Christians as well as Jews and others, to embrace die 
 Persian religion ; and afterwards under Chosroes the 
 Great, and Chosroes II. But this latter was afterwards 
 reconciled to them; and when he took Jerusalem in 
 his wars with the Greek emperors, he delivered up all 
 the Christian prisoners into their hands, and 90,000 of 
 them were unmercifully butchered. 
 
 We are now entered into the seventh century, the 
 beginning of which was signalized by the appearance 
 of Mohammed, or Mahomet, on the stage of the world. 
 The Jews were now very numerous and powerful in 
 several parts of Arabia, and had there many strong 
 castles and fortresses, and maintained armies under 
 their princes. From whatever cause it happened, it is 
 certain that Mahomet was soon the declared enemy of 
 the Jews ; and as they opposed his measures, their op- 
 position led to a war, which did not end but with their 
 subjection. 
 
 Under the Caliphs, the successors of Mahomet, the 
 Jews enjoyed much religious freedom j and though
 
 16 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 they could but be sharers in the common misfortunes, 
 which these conquerors brought into every kingdom 
 and province they subdued, yet, both in Persia, Egypt, 
 and Syria, they experienced mildness and friendship, 
 and their academies were restored to their former flou- 
 rishing condition. 
 
 We shall now turn our eyes to tbe West. Under 
 the Roman emperors at Constantinople, and in Africa, 
 Italy, Spain and France, during the sixth and seventh 
 centuries, we find the Jews retaining their old charac- 
 ter, and though they sometimes enjoy repose, yet, partly 
 from their own misconduct, and partly from the bi- 
 gotry and hatred of those among whom they dwell, 
 they are oftener subjected to harassments, and cruel 
 sufferings, in a variety of ways. Justinian, who af- 
 fected to judge of most affairs relating to religion, 
 interfered with theirs, and forbad them to celebrate 
 their passover according to their own calculation, 
 insisting that they should keep their passover when 
 he kept his Easter; and, by a still more severe edict, 
 he deprived them of several important privileges, 
 such as making wills, bequeathing legacies, and bring- 
 ing up their children in their own religion. In Africa, 
 at the request of the council of Carthage, he de- 
 prived them of the exercise of their religion, and or- 
 dered all their synagogues to be turned into churches; 
 by which means revolts and massacres were occasioned. 
 Afterwards the emperor Heraclius declared himself 
 their enemy, and in the year 628 forbad them to ap- 
 proach within three miles of Jerusalem, and obliged 
 numbers to abjure their religion. In Italy they en- 
 joyed tolerable repose, and particularly under Pope 
 Gregory the Great. But in France and Spain they 
 met with the worst treatment; for Heraclius, not 
 content with persecuting them in his own dominions, 
 carried his zeal against them into the neighbouring 
 kingdoms. He wrote to France to oblige them to 
 be converted. In his treaty of peace with Sisebut, 
 king of Spain, he demanded, as a first article, that the 
 Jews should be expelled his territories, which was 
 granted, The Jews wept. But all that refused bap- 
 tism were obliged to quit the country, and seek a
 
 A BRIEF HISTORV OF THE JEWS. 17 
 
 new home. The fourth council of Toledo, A. D. 633, 
 by a decree, sometime after, condemned this violence 
 as unchristian ; but, agreeable to the wisdom of the 
 age, by a second decree it was ordered, that all who 
 had been converted by force should be obliged to 
 keep the faith and continue in the church, lest, having 
 received the sacrament, the holy name of God should 
 be dishonoured. And a sixth council, doubtless with 
 greatjconsistency, decreed that all Jews should be 
 banished the kingdom; and the king made a law 
 that every Jew who refused to be baptized should 
 receive a hundred stripes, be banished, and have all 
 his goods confiscated ; alledging as a motive, That f 
 as the violent are they who take the kingdom of 
 heaven by force, men ought to be hastened to obtain 
 that advantage. Multitudes who were driven from 
 Spain went to seek repose among their brethren in 
 France; but they sought it in vain. Dagobert was 
 sole monarch, a wicked prince, from whom neither 
 justice nor humanity might be expected : and from 
 whom they found neither. 
 
 The Jews had been long settled in Gaul, but made 
 no conspicuous figure there till after it was subjected 
 to the Franks ; but from the time of Clovis, we find 
 divers regulations made by the council there relating 
 to this people. In the sixth century, they appear to 
 have been numerous at Paris, and still more so in 
 Languedoc. By their own untimely zeal, particularly 
 at Clermont, where one of their number insulting a 
 new convert, who was entering the city in his white 
 garment, by throwing on him a pot of oil, they 
 brought upon themselves the popular fury, the con- 
 sequence of which was, they were either obliged to 
 turn Christians, or be banished. Chilperic, who ob- 
 served those of his kingdoms of Soissons and Paris 
 to be rich and numerous, undertook their conversion; 
 and as the shortest way of going to work, made a 
 law to oblige them to be baptized, and cruelly pu- 
 nished those who refused it. Dagobert, under whom 
 all France was united) and reigned from 628 to 638, 
 was their bitter enemy (as we have seen,) Being ap- 
 
 c
 
 18 A BRIEF HISTORV OF THE JEWS, 
 
 plied to by Heraclius, he assembled the prelates of 
 the kingdom, and communicated to them his designs 
 relative to the Jews, and the request of the emperor. 
 The clergy approving of the pious resolution of the 
 king, all the Jews were ordered, on pain of death, 
 to quit the kingdom, or be baptized, which was ex- 
 ecuted with the greatest rigour. Thus, in those days 
 were conversions effected, and thus were kings and 
 priests used to manifest their piety towards God, 
 and zeal for the honour of Christ. A double advan- 
 tage was obtained ; they enriched their coffers with the 
 plunder of the enemies of their faith, and expiated 
 the guilt of their many debaucheries at an easier rate 
 than by the practice of justice and virtue. These, at 
 least, were their ideas. 
 
 In the eighth and ninth centuries much the same 
 scenes occurred. In the East, indeed, under the 
 Caliphs the Jews enjoyed full liberty of conscience for 
 many years, and their academies flourished till about 
 the middle of the ninth century, when they met with 
 severe treatment from Watheck, and his sucessor 
 Motavel; the latter of whom stripped them of all 
 their honours, titles, and places, and obliged them to 
 wear a leathern girdle by way of distinction, and for- 
 bad them to ride but on asses and mules, with iron 
 stirrups; and which marks of infamy have more or 
 less subsisted ever since, in those countries which are 
 under the Turks; and even under some Christian 
 Princes. 
 
 In the West some of the Greek emperors perse- 
 cuted them with great animosity, as Leo Isaurus, who 
 ordered them to turn Christians under the severest 
 penalties ; but under others they fared better. We 
 know but little of their condition either in Italy or 
 Spain, during these two centuries; except that in 
 the latter, a Jew, named Serenus, proclaimed him- 
 self the messiah, and drew great numbers of his silly 
 brethren to follow him into Judea. The effects and 
 estates which they left behind them were seized, and 
 when those, who did not perish in their expedition 
 returned to their homes, their only consolation was the 
 liberty of bewailing their folly and loss. In France we
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 19 
 
 find them accused of favouring the incursions of the 
 Arabs and Saracens of Spain, and on which account 
 they were exposed to some sufferings. But Charlemagne, 
 being softened by their groans and cries, commuted 
 their punishment, and only executed the heads of 
 them ; and decreed that those Jews that dwelt at 
 Tholosa should receive a box on the ear three times 
 a year at the gates of one of the churches, and which 
 degrading custom continued to be practised for some 
 centuries, with this difference, that their syndic only, 
 in Jatter times, received that punishment in the name 
 of the rest. However, this prince appears afterwards 
 to have held them in great consideration : and Lewis 
 the Debonair, whose physician was a Jew, shewed 
 them still greater favour. But under Charles the 
 Bald, their state was not quite so agreeable. The 
 clergy preaching in their synagogues every Saturday, 
 and converting many of their children, they are 
 accused of resenting it by aiding the Normans who 
 ravaged the coasts of France, and by hiring Sedecias 
 the king's Jewish physician to poison him : all which 
 necessarily involved them in troubles. 
 
 We come now to take a glance at the history of the 
 tenth and eleventh centuries. The history of these cen- 
 turies, although it reflects so much discredit on the 
 Christians, does honour to the Jews. Talents and 
 learning, as well as virtue, generally follow in the train 
 of liberty, and are cherished by security and peace ; 
 but though the best condition of the Jews, since their 
 exile, has never borne much resemblance to a state of 
 liberty and security, yet they boast, with some reason, 
 that they never had such excellent doctors as at this 
 period. An inclination and genius for learning, which 
 had been extinct in almost all countries, and especially 
 among the Chi istians,for a longtime, now revived among 
 them, and their academies were in the most flourishing 
 condition. This was particularly the case in the East, 
 where their prosperity continued till towards the middle 
 of the eleventh century, when their academies were 
 shut up, and they were forced to seek refuge in the 
 West. Here it is that most authors place the total ex-
 
 20 A BRIEF BISTORT OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Unction of the dignity of the Princes of the Cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 In the West also, they produced many. famous 
 doctors who cultivated the sciences; particularly in 
 Spain, where the Jews grew to be both numerous 
 and wealthy. One of their number, R. Samuel Levi, 
 being secretary and prime minister to the king of 
 Granada, he used all his credit and influence to pro* 
 mote the interest and honour of his nation, and above 
 all, for the encouragement of their learned men. 
 But this prosperity was not uninterrupted. A. D. 1Q4(> 
 the Granadian king began a fierce persecution against 
 them, of which about 1500 families felt the dreadful 
 effects. . A great number also were lawlessly and cru- 
 elly murdered by the crusaders; who thought that 
 before they left their country to go and fight the 
 infidels in Palestine, they could not perform a more 
 meritorious service for Christianity than by cutting the 
 throats of the Jews at home. But notwithstanding 
 these persecutions, Spain still continued to produce 
 a great number of learned rabbies during the eleventh 
 century. 
 
 In France it was far otherwise; for though they 
 here enjoyed tolerable repose, yet there were pro- 
 duced among them but few men of learning. 
 
 In Hungary the Jews were numerous and powerful. 
 They were no less so in Germany and Bohemia, where 
 they had built many stately synagogues ; particularly 
 at Treves, Cologn, Meritz, and Franckfort. The em- 
 peror Henry IV. was their protector. But against 
 the fury of zealots what protection could effectually 
 avail them ! A priest, inspired with zeal for their de- 
 struction, put himself at the head of 1500 robbers, 
 whom he collected in Germany, and declared war 
 against the Jews as the enemies of the faith. So 
 pious a pretence procured him the veneration of the 
 people, and the protection of several princes; and 
 great were the miseries the poor Jews endured, before 
 these wretches could be subdued. The crusaders, in 
 their march through Germany to the Holy-land, re- 
 kindled a fresh zeal against them. These enthusiasts 
 passing to Cologn, Mentz, Worms, and Spires, com-
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 21 
 
 mitted a massacre from the month of April to July, 
 A. D. 1094, in which they stabbed and drowned 5000 
 persons; and the number they obliged to abjure their 
 religion cannot be reckoned. Many killed themselves : 
 and mothers, seeing the crusaders coming, took knives 
 and stabbed their children, saying, " It is better to 
 send them to Abraham's bosom, than to abandon them 
 to the Christians." The Bavarian annalists reckon 
 12,000 who perished in that country : and the number 
 who were killed, or who killed themselves, through 
 all Germany, was incredible. This was only the first 
 crusade. A second was published about fifty years 
 after, in the twelfth century, which proved also fatal, 
 not only to the Jews in Germany, but in most other 
 parts of Europe. 
 
 In the twelfth century, the state of the Jews in the 
 East, seems to have been more peaceable and flourish, 
 ing than in Europe, or than it had been at the close 
 othe eleventh century. At Rome, they generally met 
 with protection from the popes. In Spain, though 
 their lives and property were sometimes sported with, 
 yet, on the whole, they thrived and possessed no little 
 power. In France, their fortune was pretty much 
 diversified, Philip Augustus at the beginning of his 
 reign assumed airs of devotion, and banished the Jews, 
 and confiscated their estates ; by which they were re- 
 duced to the last extremity, and great numbers sunk 
 under the weight of their misfortunes. His zeal however 
 soon gave way to motives of policy, and he ordered 
 them to be recalled. 
 
 This century, any more than the two preceding, 
 was not barren of learned Jews. Among others who 
 now flourished was Maimonides, the greatest man of 
 his time. It was he who reduced the articles of the 
 Jewish faith, as still professed by all Jews, to the fol- 
 lowing thirteen. 1. That God is the Creator of all 
 things ; that he guides and supports all creatures : 
 that lie has done every thing ; and that he still acts, 
 and will act during the whole eternity. 2, That God 
 is one: there is no unity like his. He alone hath 
 been, is, arid will be eternally our God. 3. That God 
 is incorporeal, and cannot have any material pro-
 
 22 A BRIEF HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 perties ; and no corporeal essence can be compared 
 with him. 4. That God is the beginning and end of 
 all things, and will eternally subsist. 5. That God 
 alone ought to be worshipped, and none besides him 
 is to be adored. 6. That whatsoever has been 
 taught by the prophets is true. 7. That Moses is the 
 head and father of all contemporary doctors, of those 
 who lived before, or shall live after him. 8. That 
 the law was given by Moses. 9. That the law will 
 never be altered, and that God will give no other. 
 10. That God knows all the thoughts and actions of 
 men. 11. That God will regard the works of all those 
 who have performed what he commands, and punish 
 those who have transgressed his laws. 12. That the 
 Messiah is to come, though he tarry along time. 13. 
 That there will be a resurrection of the dead, when 
 God shall see fit. He died in Egypt at the age of 7O. 
 In this twelfth and the following century, flourished 
 also the famous rabbies, Joseph and David Kimchi ; 
 the latter was reckoned the greatest grammarian the 
 Jews ever had, and his commentary on the Old Testa- 
 ment is considered as a work of great value and au- 
 thority. And among the other learned Jews of these 
 times, we may reckon also Solomon Jarchi, whose 
 commentary on the Gemarrah gained him the title of 
 the Prince of Commentators. He died at Treves, A. 
 D. 1180, and his tomb is still to be seen at Prague, 
 where he was buried. Most of these learned men 
 flourished in France. As for the Jews in Germany, they 
 were more remarkable for their prophecies and mira- 
 cles than learning. Portugal produced in the twelfth 
 century a most celebrated Jew, named Solomon, who 
 was a great philosopher and general, and raised him- 
 self by dint of merit to the dignity of field-master- 
 general, A. D. 11 90, and to the command of the whole 
 army. In this century no less than nine false messiahs 
 are reckoned to have started up in different countries, 
 and whose pretensions and extravagances brought upon 
 the Jews a great many sufferings.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 23 
 
 That our view of THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS 
 IN ENGLAND might be as uninterrupted as possible, 
 and as the most interesting part of their history com- 
 mences at the latter part of the twelfth century, and 
 finishes before the close of the thirteenth, we have 
 hitherto taken no notice of them. Bullet us now see 
 what sort of treatment they met with from our an- 
 cestors in this country. 
 
 Many historians speak of the Je'-vs as being first 
 brought over to England, from Normandy, by William 
 the Conqueror; but though they might then begin to 
 make a more conspicuous figure here than before, yet 
 it is probable, from their own historians, that they 
 were here some time before the conquest; and, in- 
 deed, there are documents to prove, that they might 
 have been in this country in the ninth, or even in the 
 eighth century. However, in the year 1020 they were 
 banished, but returning with the conqueror, they be- 
 came so numerous in the reign of Henry II. that, 
 having but one burying ground in London, they peti- 
 tioned for, and obtained, from that monarch, in the 
 year 1178, new cemeteries. They were accused, in 
 this reign, of a great many crimes, such as of crucify- 
 ing children, taking to pledge sacred vessels, &c. and 
 in return the king extorted from them a great deal of 
 money, and on one occasion, that he might get pos- 
 session of their wealth, (A. D. 1458,) he banished the 
 richest, and fined those whom he suffered to remain 
 in the sum of 5000 marks. But it was under his suc- 
 cessor, Richard I. that the system for plundering them 
 was organized, and that they suffered most from the 
 fury of popular zeal. Desiring by all means to secure 
 the favor and protection of this prince, numbers of 
 them flocked from all parts of the kingdom to his 
 coronation at Westminster, A. D. 1189, bringing with 
 them many rich presents, worthy of his acceptance. 
 But, as the generality of the Jews were supposed to 
 be sorcerers, they were prudently forbid to attend the 
 coronation, lest they should improve the opportunity 
 to bewitch the king ; but many having come a great 
 way to see the sight, and not being willing to lose the 
 labour and expence of their journey, and flattering 
 themselves that,, as strangers, they should pass unob-
 
 24 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 served, ventured to appear at the solemnity. Unhap- 
 pily they were discovered, and being set upon with 
 great violence, were dragged half dead out of the 
 church. The rumour spreading itself into the city, 
 the populace were so exasperated, that they hroke into 
 their houses, and murdering all they met, plundered 
 and burnt their habitations. From the metropolis 
 the flame spread into the country, and at Norwich, St. 
 Edmundsbury, Stamford, Lincoln, and other places 
 where the Jews resided, the people followed the ex- 
 ample of the Londoners : the rage being increased by 
 troops of roaming saints, who were preparing to go 
 along with the king to the Holy-land, and who wished 
 to anticipate the rewards of their zeal, in the common 
 cause of Christendom, by plundering the enemies of 
 the cross, before they set out. 
 
 The scene at York was the most tragic of all; 
 baptism or death was the only alternative. Fifteen 
 hundred of them took shelter in the castle. Being 
 besieged, they offered to capitulate, and to ransom their 
 lives with money ; but the offer being refused, and 
 their circumstances becoming /desperate, a council 
 was called to consider of what was best to be done. 
 When all were assembled, their senior rabbi, a man 
 of great learning and experience, rose and said, "Men 
 of Israel, the God of our fathers, to whom none can 
 say, what doest thou ! commands us at this time to die 
 for his law ; and, behold ! death is even before your 
 eyes, and there is nothing left us to consider, but 
 how to undergo it in the most reputable and easy 
 manner. If we fall into the hands of our enemies, 
 which I think there is no possibility of escaping, 
 our deaths will not only be cruel, but ignominious. 
 They will not only torment us, but despitefully use us. 
 My advice, therefore, is, that we voluntarily surrender 
 those lives to our Creator, which he seems to call for, 
 and not wait for any other executioners than ourselves. 
 The fact isboth rational and lawful ; nor do we want ex- 
 amples from among our illustrious ancestors, to prove 
 it so : they have frequently proceeded in the like man- 
 ner upon the same occasions." Having thus spoken, 
 
 the old men sat down and wept, The asssembly 
 was divided ; some affirming that he had spoken wisely;
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 25 
 
 others, that it was a hard saying. The rabbi again 
 stood up and replied, tf Seeing, brethren, that we are 
 not all of one mind, let those who do not approve of 
 my advice, depart from this assembly." They de- 
 parted but the greater number continued stedfastly 
 with him. It was the dead of night being left alone 
 their despair increased. They burnt, or buried, every 
 thing of value which belonged to them ; and then, 
 setting fire to the castle in several places, they began 
 the work of death. Each man took a sharp knife, 
 and first cutting the throats of their wives and children, 
 they then cut their own. The persons who remained 
 last alive, (to see the work executed) were the 
 rabbi, and Jocenus, a wealthy Jew of great distinc- 
 tion at York. The work being thus far perfectly 
 accomplished, the rabbi, out of respect to Jocenus, 
 first slew him, and then himself! 
 
 When the assailants returned the next morning, 
 they found the castle all in flames, and only a few 
 miserable wretches upon the battlements, who offered 
 to surrender and become Christians, provided they 
 might have assurance of their lives. This was so- 
 lemnly given and sworn to. But as nothing could 
 appease the fury of their enemies but their blood, the 
 oath which had been taken was violated, and they 
 were all put to death. Nor were they yet appeased ; 
 but hastening to the cathedral church, they demanded 
 all the bonds and obligations there lodged in a com- 
 mon chest, which had been given by any Christian 
 man to the Jews ; and which being delivered to them, 
 they threw them into afire made for that purpose, and 
 then declared themselves satisfied. 
 
 When the king heard of these proceedings he was 
 incensed, and appointed a commission to make in- 
 quiry, and punish the offenders ; but little was done 
 to bring the guilty to punishment. 
 
 Richard soon afterwards, (A. D. 1190,) set off on 
 his pilgrimage to the Holy-land. During his absence, 
 we hear of no more plundering and murdering the 
 Jews. On his return, he took their affairs under his 
 special consideration. 
 
 As that political relation which subsisted between 
 the Jews and the English government, during this,
 
 26 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and the three following reigns, till they were banished 
 in the year 1290, had its beginnings chiefly in this 
 reign, we shall now notice it. 
 
 The Jews in England were now become a nu- 
 merous body ; and by traffic, usury, and mortgages, 
 very wealthy, both in money and land. But as they 
 fleeced the subject, so the king fleeced them ; and that 
 he might do it more effectually, and at pleasure, he 
 took the best means to obtain information of what 
 property they possessed, real or personal. He com- 
 manded that all the effects belonging to Jews should 
 be registered, and that concealment should be forfei- 
 ture of body and estate ; that six or seven places 
 should be appointed, wherein all their contracts were 
 to be made. They were to be made in the presence 
 of two assigned lawyers, who were Jews, two who 
 were Christians, and two public notaries ; they were to 
 be by indenture, one part of which was to remain with 
 the Jew, and the other in one of the common chests 
 with three locks, and three keys, one of which keys 
 was to be kept by the Jewish lawyers, one by the 
 Christians, and the other by the notaries. The officers 
 also, called Justices of the Jews, were first appointed 
 in this reign. Their chief business was to attend to 
 the above Jewish contracts, to look after that part of 
 the king's revenue, which arose from the taxes drawn 
 from that people, and to judge in all civil matters 
 where a Jew was one party. They were appointed by 
 the king, and were generally Christians and Jews in- 
 differently, who acted together. The place appointed 
 for the management of the Jewish revenue, was a 
 part, or member, of the great exchequer. These 
 Justices had their rolls, or records, wherein the writs 
 and proceedings of what was called the Judaism, 
 were entered, and summonses were issued out of the 
 exchequer of the Jews for the king's debts, in the same 
 manner as out of the great exchequer. The revenue 
 consisted of taxes laid upon them at the king's pleasure, 
 and various sums of money paid for licences of resi- 
 dence, and on many other accounts. It may easily 
 be conceived what an engine of robbery this system 
 was capable of being made j and it was made so.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 27 
 
 However, the Jews continued to live very peaceably 
 till the death of Richard, but it was far otherwise soon 
 after. 
 
 During the thirteenth century they endured very 
 considerable oppressions in England, as well as in 
 other countries.. . John, who came to the throne A. D. 
 1199, and who was a grievous tyrant towards all his na- 
 tive subjects, cannot be supposed to have acted towards 
 the Jews with much regard either to humanity or jus- 
 tice. But as a crafty man he perceived what a rich 
 harvest he might make of them, and, therefore, in the 
 beginning of his reign, used several arts to draw them 
 into his kingdom from foreign parts. 
 
 It is to be remembered that the Jews, who, from 
 the wandering condition to which they were reduced, 
 and the hazard they were every where continually in 
 of being plundered, and fixed property being the most 
 difficult to secrete or dispose of, had devoted them- 
 selves every where to trade and merchandise, and 
 money transactions; and were generally consider- 
 ed as of the greatest use as merchants and bankers. 
 And as it was thought sinful for Christians to lend mo- 
 ney on interest, and as the law forbad them to do so, 
 the Jews, as money lenders, were every where con- 
 . sidered as almost essentially necessary ; and every 
 where they found opportunities of enriching them- 
 selves. Hence John allowed them the free exercise 
 of their religion, and granted them what is called the 
 great charter of their privileges. 
 
 Thus, for awhile, matters went on smoothly ; but as 
 royal favor generally begets envy, they now began to 
 be violently accused of crucifying children, of falsi- 
 fying the coin, and of other crimes, and were treated 
 by the people with great indignities. In 12 10 the king 
 began to lay aside his mask, and set upon all he had 
 drawn into his net without mercy ; and commanded 
 all, men and women, to be imprisoned till they should 
 make a discovery of their wealth ; and which he ap- 
 pointed officers to receive in every county. Stowe 
 says, that the generality of them had one eye put out. 
 Of a certain Jew of Bristol, who was accused of great 
 wealth, he demanded no less than 10,000 marks of
 
 528 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS 
 
 silver, but which being resolutely denied him, he com- 
 manded one of his great teeth to be pulled out daily 
 till he should comply. The poor man lost seven of his 
 teeth, but on the eighth day he confessed his wealth, 
 and paid the sum demanded. These ridiculous cruelties 
 to extort money might excite the laughter of by- 
 standers, but they were as disgraceful to the king, and 
 to the nation that was pleased with it, and suffered it, 
 as serious to the sufferers : they served to encourage 
 general contempt, and popular cruelty. 
 
 They did not fare much better under Henry III. du- 
 ring whose reign many of them turned Christians to 
 avoid the severity of the government. To promote 
 their conversion, he not only made several laws both 
 to degrade and oppress them and, among other laws, 
 one to oblige them to wear a badge on their breast, 
 and another to forbid their eating with Christians 
 but in the year 1232 he founded the House of Con' 
 verts for the reception of such Jews as should embrace 
 Christianity, where they might live without labour or 
 usury, and which subsisted a considerable time. It 
 was situated in New Street, now Chancery Lane, and 
 is at present called the Rolls. 
 
 In this reign they were accused of circumcising a 
 boy at Norwich, for which four men were hanged, and 
 great violence was committed against them ; and again, 
 of crucifying a child at Lincoln, and of many other 
 crimes, which roused against them the public indig- 
 nation, that manifested itself in massacres and burn- 
 ings. Whether they were guilty of half the crimes 
 Jaid to their charge, is liable to be called in question. 
 And, if they were, their depravity was, in a great mea- 
 sure, the effect of the bigotry and crimes of Christians. 
 Proscribed, by turns, by almost every country where 
 they sought an asylum, they saw all nations united to 
 calumniate, to plunder, to murder and annihilate them, 
 so that nothing but contempt, oppresion, and misery 
 every where awaited them. Was it at all to be won- 
 dered at, then, that their character degenerated into 
 cunning, selfishness, over-reaching, and revenge ? But 
 it is pretty certain, that a great part of the crimes laid 
 to their charge were the creation of bigotry and ill-will,
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 29 
 
 nnd given credit to the more easily, as affording an 
 apology for plundering and destroying them. 
 
 The robberies and oppressions of the king were with- 
 out mercy ; and not contented to fleece them himself, 
 he let them out to farm to his brother Richard, earl of 
 Cornwall, and again to his son prince Edward, who being 
 in want of money, he assigned them over, for two 
 years, to the Caturcensian merchants, as a security for 
 several large sums they lent him. So severe were the 
 oppressions they suffered, that, driven to despair, they 
 resolved one and all to depart the country, and be- 
 sought the king for leave to do so; but, as this was not 
 consistent with his interest, the favo-ur was not granted 
 them. They were still detained, and still plundered, 
 traduced, and murdered : and this state of things con- 
 tinued till towards the end of Henry's reign, when, the 
 government becoming more regular and settled, from 
 the checks given to arbitrary power, the laws were 
 more regular in their course ; and, on account of the 
 services which several Jews had rendered the king in 
 his troubles, lie shewed them considerable favour. 
 
 As but few persons, perhaps, have ever heard of a 
 Parliament of Jezvs, I shall just notice one that was 
 called in this king's reign, A. D. 1241. The king di- 
 rected writs to the sheriffs of each county, command- 
 ing them to return before him, at Worcester, upon 
 Quinquagesima Sunday, six of the richest Jews from 
 every town ; or two only from places where there were 
 but few. The surprise of the Jews was doubtless great, 
 at being thus, all at once, after so many years degrada- 
 tion, transformed into counsellors of the king. Whe- 
 ther they had raised their hopes very high, does not 
 appear. If they had, his majesty's most gracious speech 
 soon undeceived them. When they found that it was 
 nothing but money he wanted of them that they must 
 raise him money, and that he had called them toge- 
 ther to consult on ways and means to furnish him with 
 twenty thousand marks, their consternation was inex- 
 pressible. Liberty of speech was denied them ; no 
 remedy was left, but home they must go and provide 
 the money. The peculiarity of this assessment was, 
 that whereas all former tatliages were, assessed, and
 
 30 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 collected by the kind's officers; this was to be made 
 and levied by themselves. 
 
 The royal favour, which we have noticed, did not last 
 long. A little before his death, the king returned to 
 his old plan of extortion ; and numbers of the Jews, 
 who could not pay the sums levied on them, were im- 
 prisoned, and nothing but weeping and wailing was to 
 be seen in every corner. But the death of the king 
 brought them a short respite from their afflictions. 
 
 Edward J. succeeded to the throne, A. D. 1272, and 
 as soon as he had taken the government, he began to 
 regulate the affairs of the Jews upon his father's model. 
 They were taxed, fined, and imprisoned, just as they 
 used to be, upon every little occasion ; and restrained 
 to dwell in this or that particular town, according to 
 ancient custom. But on non-payment of the taxes im- 
 posed on them, instead of imprisonment, as formerly, 
 they were condemned to perpetual banishment. 
 
 In the third year of Edward, a law was made to for- 
 bid the Jews the practice of usury. And in the seventh, 
 many of them having been guilty of clipping and 
 adulterating the common coin of the nation, and of im- 
 porting several sorts of light money from abroad, the 
 king commanded all the Jews in the kingdom to be 
 seized in one day, and, November 17th, 1279, two 
 hundred and eighty of them received sentence of death 
 at London, and were executed without mercy ; besides 
 great numbers in other parts. A great many confis- 
 cations were made, and the king reaped a plentiful 
 harvest. 
 
 This year the Dominican friars being seized with a 
 more than ordinary zeal for the conversion of the Jews, 
 entreated leave of the king to preach to them, and that 
 he would oblige them all to attend their sermons. As 
 the former part of the petition was very pious, and the 
 latter very wise, the request was readily granted ; and 
 to encourage conversions, the king declared by patent, 
 that, whereas the estates of Jews, on their conversion, 
 used to be escheated to the crown, he would wave all 
 claim to their estates, and that it should be lawful for 
 all converts to retain one half of their goods, provided 
 the other half were given toward the maintenance of
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 31 
 
 the poorer sort, who resided in the House of Converts, 
 which was founded by his father Henry. Thus au- 
 thorized, and thus encouraged, to work the friars went; 
 but as the king, though he could authorize the friars 
 to preach, and command the Jews to hear, could nei- 
 ther give common sense to the one, nor docility to the 
 other; little more appears to have been done, besides 
 setting a few Jewish husbands and wives a quarrelling 
 about faith and dowers. 
 
 Though after this we hear no more about crucifix- 
 ions, emasculations, false coining, blasphemies, or any 
 such disorders, yet, in the year 1292 for what reason 
 is not known the king seized upon all the real estates 
 of the Jews, and banished the whole community from 
 his kingdom. He granted them the liberty of dis- 
 posing of their personal property, and a free passage 
 out of the country. But the people looking upon this 
 as only a matter of course, practised towards them the 
 greatest injustice and cruelty. Among other tragic 
 stories, one is given by Lord Coke, which illustrates 
 the barbarities they suffered, though not the general 
 justice which overtook their persecutors. The richest 
 of the Jews having embarked themselves and their trea- 
 sure on board a ship of great burden, and the ship hav- 
 ing fallen down to the mouth of the Thames, the mas- 
 ter, confederating with some of his men, invented a 
 stratagem to destroy them, and seize their property. 
 He ordered anchor to be cast, and waited till the ship, 
 at low water, lay on the sands. He then pretending to 
 walk on shore for diversion, invited the Jews to walk 
 with him ; which they did till the tide began to come 
 in, when the master privily stole away from them, and 
 was drawn up into the ship. But the Jews, not aware 
 of their danger, continued still to amuse themselves ; 
 but observing the tide to be fast coming upon them, 
 they hastened to the ship, and called out for help. 
 But, instead of yielding them assistance, the villain 
 scoffingly told them they ought rather to call upon 
 Moses, who conducted their fathers through the Red 
 Sea, and who was still able to deliver them from the 
 floods which were surrounding them. Thus insulted, 
 they were left to the mercy of the waves, and all pe-
 
 32 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 rished. However, justice in this case did not, as in 
 jnost others, leave the guilty unpunished ; they were 
 afterwards tried for it, found guilty, and hanged. The 
 number thus banished were about 16,000. Great were 
 the spoils they left behind them. Whole rolls full of 
 patents, relating to their estates, are still remaining in. 
 the Tower ; which, together with their rents in fee, 
 pensions, and mortgages, were all escheated to the king. 
 The Jews being thus banished, nothing more is heard 
 of them in England for above three hundred years ; it 
 being reserved for the liberal policy of Oliver Crom- 
 well to favour their re-admittance into this country. ' 
 Thus much for the Jews in England. 
 
 Let us now just glance at their condition in other 
 countries, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
 ries. In the East, they were strangely dwindled both 
 in number and figure. In the dominions of the caliph 
 of Bagdad, all who would not turn Mahommedans were 
 obliged to quit his territories, and seek anew country. 
 The wars which raged in J udea between the Christians 
 and Saracens, though it did not prevent the Jews from 
 having some synagogues, yet they could but partake 
 of the general calamities. Nor did they fare much 
 better in Egypt, where the invasion which St. Lewis 
 made upon that kingdom, and the revolution which 
 happened soon after under the Mamelukes, did not per- 
 mit them to thrive either in wealth or learning. Under 
 the Greek emperors of Constantinople, they appear to 
 have enjoyed the full exercise of their religion, though 
 the figure which they made was not very conspicuous. 
 
 In Spain, they began to be persecuted from the 
 commencement of the thirteenth century ; especially 
 by the crusaders, who made such havoc among them, 
 that Abravanel looks upon this as one of the four se- 
 verest persecutions which this nation ever endured ; and 
 he reckons that a greater number fled from Spain, than 
 went with Moses out of Egypt. Happily their miseries
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 33 
 
 were not without cessation. The favour of Alphonso 
 X. king of Castile, and that of James I. of Arragon, 
 afforded them some respite about the middle of this 
 century. Alphonso being much devoted to the study 
 of astronomy, and being about to compile those tables 
 which have since gone by his name, he was induced to 
 give great encouragement to the Jewish rabbles, find- 
 ing many of them well versed in that science. And, 
 seeing that the first scholars and physicians of the age 
 were to be found amongst them, he likewise made use 
 of them in some other cases, and proved to them a ge- 
 nerous benefactor. And James, though a devout man, 
 was so far from adopting the reigning zeal against the 
 Jews, that he is affirmed to have applied to them for 
 moral instruction, and to have borrowed their prayer 
 books, and made use of them in his private devotions. 
 However, this happiness was not of very long conti- 
 nuance ; royal favor excited the ill-will of the multi- 
 tude, and brought upon the Jews the most fatal effects 
 of their malice. Falsely accused of murder, the popu- 
 lace rose upon them in several places, and massacred 
 great numbers of them. And what multiplied and ag- 
 gravated these desultory persecutions was, the encou- 
 ragement they never failed to meet with from the ig- 
 norant clergy. 
 
 But a still more dreadful disaster than all the rest 
 befel them about the beginning of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, occasioned by the irruption of a band of enthu- 
 siastic robbers, called the Shepherds, who pretended to 
 work miracles ; and who, being swelled into a numer- 
 ous army, carried fire and sword into many provinces, 
 and were not suppressed till after a most dreadful effu- 
 sion of blood. The Jews in particular, as the enemies 
 of the faith, were the objects of their vengeance. 
 Happy were they who could save their lives at the ex- 
 pense of their religion and wealth ; but those who re- 
 fused to part with either, were every where inhumanly 
 butchered. The pestilence, which had spread itself 
 from the army of the shepherds to the neighbouring 
 countries, proved also a source of new disasters to the 
 Jews, who were accused of having bribed the peasants 
 of Mesura to poison the waters of the river. They did, 
 
 m
 
 34 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 indeed, clear themselves after along imprisonment; but , 
 upon their refusing to be baptized as a condition of 
 their releasement, 15,000 were ordered to be burnt. 
 At Toledo, and other places, many were massacred ; 
 and, driven to despair, many destroyed themselves and 
 families. And even greater miseries than these were en- 
 dured under Henry III. of Castile; and in Arragon, 
 things were not much better. 
 
 In France, their condition was not a great deal 
 more favourable than in Spain : as Usurers, they every 
 where practised extortion, and in return were plun- 
 dered and persecuted. At Paris, in the reign of St. 
 Lewis, they were accused of crucifying children, and, 
 whether the accusation were true or false, the pub- 
 lic indignation was roused against them, and many 
 thousands at Paris, and in the provinces, were put to 
 the most torturing deaths. Thus they went on, sin- 
 ning and suffering; often barbarously persecuted, 
 seldom smiled upon ; now expelled, and then recalled ; 
 till at length appeared that edict, A. D. 1356, from 
 Charles Vi. which banished them entirely from France. 
 From this exile they have made an epoch, and begin 
 the date of their years.* Metz, however, must be 
 excepted from this general banishment, for here they 
 still preserved their ancient privileges, and which were 
 afterwards confirmed to them by Lewis XIII. in the 
 year l6l?. 
 
 In Italy, though some of the popes were their bitter 
 enemies, yet in general they favoured them, shewing 
 infinitely more lenity towards their errors, than towards 
 the opinions of those whom they stigmatized as Chris- 
 tian heretics. This was the case also with most of the 
 other princes and governments of that country, from the 
 Alps to Calabria ; at least, their treatment of them was 
 mild, when compared with that they met with in most 
 other Christian states ; for though they were sometimes 
 massacred here and there, or were forced to abandon 
 
 * Either from some error in their own history, or because they meant 
 to commence this' sera, not from the time of their final expulsion by 
 Chark-s, but from' -the commencement of this species of persecution which 
 they experienced from the kings of France, they have made this their XT A 
 to begin with their banishment under St. Lewis ; and hence the date 567 
 to the address of the Jewish deputies at Parb in October last, which, by 
 and by, we shall have occasion tottotice.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 35 
 
 i 
 
 their religion, and were harassed in a variety of ways, 
 yet, on the whole, their condition here was, generally, 
 not only tolerable, hut prosperous. 
 
 Whether the Jews in Germany were really more 
 wicked than elsewhere, or the' people there more ig- 
 norant and more superstitiously zealous against them, 
 1 know not; but it is certain, there is scarcely any 
 country where they have been accused of such enor- 
 mous crimes, or \\here the public indignation has 
 been so violent against them. Of crucifying children, 
 poisoning rivers and wells, favouring invaders, sorcery, 
 and other such like crimes, they were constantly accus- 
 ed; and the fourteenth century was distinguished by 
 massacres of them in divers places on these accounts. 
 The plague raging through Europe about the middle 
 of the fourteenth century, and vast numbers every 
 where dying, whilst, as is said, but few of the Jews 
 suffered from it-, these were accused as the authors of 
 it by poisoning the waters, and so violent a rage was 
 excited against them through all Germany, that the 
 people, instead of setting themselves to prepare for the 
 death they apprehended, employed all the remains of 
 strength they had to destroy their supposed enemies, 
 setting fire to their houses, and burning, or in other 
 ways murdering all the Jews they could meet with. 
 Those of Mentz resolving to defend themselves, and 
 cruelly butchering about two hundred unarmed Chris- 
 tians, the incensed populace came in shoals, and mur- 
 dered about 1(2,000 of them on that single occasion. 
 The rage spread. The imperial cities demolished all 
 their houses : all the Jews, inhabitants of Ulm, were 
 burnt alive, with their wives, children and effects ; 
 and, in a word, the whole Hebrew nation saw them- 
 selves without friends, or place of retreat: the princes 
 not daring to interpose in their favor. Lithuania 
 was the only country where they enjoyed any tran- 
 quillity, or where they could hope for any asylum, 
 and, happily, they here enjoyed protection, and many 
 liberal privileges. Those wl>o fted to Bohemia fared 
 but little better than in (Germany; an$ some years 
 after (A. D. 1391) there was here made of them a 
 most terrible massacre. From Hungary they had 
 been entirely banished by Lewis I, ever since the 
 year 1344, D 2
 
 36 A BRIEF HISTORY or THE JEWS. 
 
 One conflagration in Germany was scarcely ex- 
 tinguished, when another was kindled by the igno- 
 rant prejudices of the multitude. They were accused 
 afresh of poisoning the waters ; and this accusation, 
 which drew after it burnings, and death, and tortures, 
 spread itself though all Germany, Italy, and Provence. 
 In vain did the emperor contend for their innocence, 
 and represent to his council the impossibility of poi- 
 soning springs and rivers which have a continual run, 
 of water ; to appease the rage, he was obliged, A. D. 
 1400, to publish an edict to expel them from the 
 empire ; and bid them fly, or change their religion. 
 
 The fifteenth century was not less calamitous to 
 the Jews: in Spain and Portugal, than the former had 
 been to their brethern in Germany and France. A great 
 many attempts were made in Spain, during this age, 
 to effect their conversion, and a great many cruel- 
 ties practised against those who relapsed ; but still 
 they maintained their ground till towards the close 
 of the century, and were exceedingly numerous. But 
 Ferdinand and Isabella having put an end to the war 
 against the Moors, now turned all their thoughts to 
 the mining the synagogues, and getting rid of the 
 Jews; and for this purpose, A. D. 149-, issued an 
 edict, commanding them to depart the kingdoms of 
 Spain in four months, or embrace Christianity. It 
 is said 70,000 families, or 800,000 persons, left Spain 
 on the execution of this edict, and managed to car- 
 ry off with them thirty thousand millions of ducats. 
 Numbers submitted to be baptized. Such as had the 
 courage to leave their country, were obliged to pay 
 some ducats per head to the king for their freight. 
 Those who would not, or could not for want of money, 
 became slaves, and their goods were confiscated. This 
 last clause was so rigorously executed, that two ves- 
 sels not being able to sail at the time fixed, all on 
 board were unmercifully sold. 
 
 The misery of those who embarked, and escaped 
 from this land of mourning, was inexpressible. Some 
 perished in this way, and some in that; by fire, by 
 shipwrecks, by the plague, and by cold and hunger. 
 It was for this exploit of piety that pope Alexander
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 07 
 
 VI. conferred on Ferdinand and his successors the 
 title of Catholic ! 
 
 A great number fled for refuge to Portugal, where 
 John II. though he had no friendship for them, 
 thought it to' his interest to receive them; but it was 
 upon hard conditions. Emanuel, John's successor, 
 appeared at first to compassionate the poor wretches, 
 but his pity soon gave way to his interest, and, A. D. 
 1496, sacrificed both them and the Moors, who had 
 before taken shelter there, for the sake of an al- 
 liance with Ferdinand and Isabella, w r hose daughter 
 he married. The Moors he suffered to go away with 
 their effects, but the Jews he contrived to impoverish ; 
 and, what was worse, he detained their children who 
 were under fourteen years of age, which drove them 
 to such despair, that some killed diem selves, and others 
 became the executioners of their children. Of those 
 who turned Christians to avoid such a train of rni- 
 series as they saw before their eyes, many were harshly 
 used, and a great number of them massacred upon 
 the slightest occasions. 
 
 It is said that many, both in Spain and Portugal, still 
 continue Jews under the mask of zealous Catholics 
 At least it was said to be thus in the last century. 
 The grandees have in vain made new alliances, chang- 
 ed their names, and taken up ancient coats of arms ; 
 they are still known to be of Jewish extract, if not 
 Jews in their hearts. The monastries and nunneries 
 are full of them, and the greater part of their priests 
 und inquisitors, and even bishops, are descended from 
 the same stock. Orobio, who relates the fact, was not on- 
 ly perfectly acquainted with these dissemblers, but had 
 been of their number, and mentions Jews an4 Jewesses, 
 in the very synagogue of Amsterdam, who were the 
 brothers and sisters, or near relations, to some of the 
 best families in Spain and Portugal. Some, who have 
 at length been tired with such impious dissimulation, 
 have returned to Judaism ; and among these, some 
 men of great learning and respectability. And every 
 one has heard of the proceedings of the inquisition 
 against such as are indicted for apostacy, and of the
 
 38 A BRIEF HISTORY OF Tilt 
 
 dreadful punishments inflicted on those who are found 
 guilty. 
 
 When' Charles V. came to the throne, the Jews 
 once more made a bold push for the liberty of their 
 religion in Spain, and offered him 800,^00 crowns in 
 gold, in return for his kindness. Charles e;ave their 
 deputies a gracious reception, but Cardinal Ximenes 
 remonstrated, that it was not lawful lor him to make 
 a traffic of religion, and to barter the blood of Christ 
 for money; and that those who had rejected Christ 
 from reigning over them, were unworthy of the pro- 
 tection of any Christian prince. Charles yielded, 
 and the hopes of the Jews were disappointed. This 
 was their last effort; they have had .recourse ever 
 since to dissimulation ; and, by pretending to a greater 
 zeal than ordinary for the Catholic religion, which 
 they abhor, do, for the most part, pass unobserved, 
 if not unsuspected. Perhaps to these Jews in dis- 
 guise, we may trace the peculiar cruelties Which, in 
 Spain and Portugal, have been practised against the 
 oppngncrs of popery; they being glad to wreak their 
 vengeance on such Christians as fall under their 
 power. 
 
 The fortune of the Jews in the East, during the 
 fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, con- 
 tinued diversified and sinking, till A. D. 1666, when 
 their utter ruin was determined on by Shah Abbas II. 
 who calling a council, it was unanimously agreed that 
 the Jewish nation should be destroyed without delay. 
 The order was therefore issued out, both to Persians 
 and strangers, to oblige them to become Moslems, 
 or butchefr .them without exception of age or sex. 
 The massacre began at Ispahan the capital of the 
 kingdom, and was carried on through all the Persian 
 provinces, where the Jews were setUed, with the 
 greatest severity, and lasted three years without in- 
 termission or pity, till there w r as not one of them 
 left. Some few, indeed, found means to escape into 
 the Turkish dominions, and others into India, and 
 many saved their lives by abjuring Judaism. 
 
 Thus we have seen the Jews, not only banished out 
 of Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal in the Wtst t
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS 2$ 
 
 \ 
 
 but by slaughter, apostacy, or flight for the pre- 
 sent at least extinguished in Persia and its provinces; 
 and thus has the sword pursued them, and thus have 
 they joined themselves with the heathen, and done 
 according to their ways, as their prophets had fore 
 told. But still, a full end is not made of them,; the 
 great and ancient empires and kingdoms which con- 
 quered and dispersed them, are swept from the earth 
 and lost, but the Jews continue. And, as sure as the 
 Scriptures are true, the more recent kingdoms which 
 have persecuted them, will also be broken to pieces 
 and disappear, but the Jews will still survive, and, as 
 a tree, Israel will blosom and bud, and fill the face 
 of the world with fruit. He hath been smitten, but 
 not as* those who smote him: nor will he yet be slain 
 according to the slaughter which awaits his ene- 
 mies. 
 
 We shall now hastily trace the Jewish history from 
 t\ic fifteenth century to the present time. Even iri 
 Persia, where they seemed so' determined utterly to 
 exterminate this hated race, they afterwards met with 
 toleration ; and though hated and poor, their number 
 is not small. In Armenia, they are said to enjoyT;o- 
 lerable peace. In Media, whither they were trans- 
 planted by Sennacherib, they are still numerous, and 
 spread themselves not only us far as the foot of Cau- 
 casus, but among the Tartarian tribes. And we are 
 told that the prince of Mingrelia, as well as that 
 of Imiretta, pretended to be descended from king 
 David ; as did the ancient inonarchs of Georgia. 
 Thus they are spread through every part of the East, 
 but their tribes have long since been so confounded 
 and blended, that the^y are no longer distinguished. 
 One would expect to find more of them in Judea, 
 their once dear country, than in any other part of the 
 avorld ; but here they are fewest ; the country having 
 been for ages so poor arid desolated, that it has been 
 hard for them here to procure the barest subsistence. 
 At Jerusalem there were reckoned, some time since, not 
 above a hundred families. At Damascus and Aleppo 
 they are flourishing. And, indeed, through all the 
 Turkish dominions there are great numbers of them,
 
 40 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and though loaded with heavy taxes, and hated by th 
 M.ussulsmans, yet, having found means to make them- 
 selves useful to the Turks, there is scarcely any traf- 
 fic carried on without them; and at Constantinople, 
 above all other places, there is neither lord nor 
 merchant, Moslem nor Christian, but has one of them 
 in pay to manage his affairs. 
 
 In Ethiopia they have, for ages, been numerous. Upon 
 the inundation of the Saracens they sought shelter 
 in this country, and met with a kind reception. They 
 have here lived more independaut of the government, 
 and attained more to something like a body politic, 
 than in any other country since their dispersion. At 
 least this was the case till the year l63 L 2, when they 
 were dislodged from their stong places, and dispersed 
 through the kingdom. They here apply themselves 
 chiefly to the iron and woollen manufactures, but are 
 said to be numerous at the court of the Abyssinian 
 princes, insomuch, that we hear of sixty thousand 
 attending their camps. 
 
 In Egypt they used to be very numerous, but of 
 late years have dwindled, so that they have now 
 scarcely any settlement there but at Cairo. In most other 
 known parts of Africa, they not only protect, but en- 
 courage the Jewish nation, and they are the principal 
 traders into the inland provinces, from whence they 
 bring not only slaves and gold dust, but abundance of 
 other commodities. 
 
 We turn now to the West, to see how they have 
 fared in the Christian states for the last three centuries. 
 The popes (as has been observed) though they have 
 sometimes persecuted them, have generally afforded 
 them protection. When banished from Spain and 
 Portugal, Alexander VI. hospitably received them; but 
 when some of them attempted to settle in the king- 
 dom of Naples, great tumults were raised, and they 
 were all banished. In all the Venetian territories 
 they have obtained protection ; and it was in this 
 capital that Hebrew Bibles were first printed. In 
 Piedmont, at Modena, Padua, Mantua, Leghorn, 
 Florence, and the other cities and states of Italy, 
 their circumstances have generally been tolerable,
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 41 
 
 if not flourishing. At Turin particularly, the capital 
 of Piedmont, an edict secured to them a plenary 
 liberty of conscience ; and though they have now and 
 then met with some disasters from the populace, yet the 
 court has protected them ; and they have here enjoyed 
 more peace than in most other parts of Italy. It had 
 been happy for the ill-fated house of Savoy, if as 
 much justice had been practised towards their Chris- 
 tian dissenting subiects ; but the princes of that house 
 have shed the blood of thousands of the martyrs of 
 Jesus, and it has not cried in vain for vengeance. 
 We have seen how the emperor was obliged to 
 banish the Jews out of Germany. They afterwards 
 found means to return, and have there, and in all the 
 northern regions, been very numerous. For some time, 
 little but oppression, persecution, and misery, awaited 
 them ; but they derived this great benefit from the 
 reformation in the sixteenth century, that it sup- 
 pressed, in a great measure, the violence they had 
 been subjected to, and introduced a spirit of tolera- 
 tion ; and though at different times they have been 
 banished from particular states and cities, and some- 
 times subjected to plunder, yet their condition has 
 been gradually ameliorating, and their number is be- 
 come very great. In the last century, the Jews in 
 Francfort only were reckoned at 30,000 ; and Ham- 
 burg is called the lesser Jerusalem, on account of the 
 many Jews who live and traffic in it. 
 
 They had been banished from Hungary by Lewis I. 
 as has been noticed ; but being re-admitted, they again 
 became numerous, and though in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury they were deprived of some of their privileges, 
 particularly of that of farming the revenue, yet they 
 continue there in great numbers ; and it Avas here that 
 they determined to assemble w their grand council in the 
 year 1650, to debate the great question, Whether or 
 not the Messiah was come ? There met on the day 
 appointed three hundred of their most learned rabbies, 
 out of different nations, with a vast multitude of other 
 Jews, who flocked thither from different countries. 
 They encamped under tents on ths plain of Ageba, 
 /about thirty leagues from Buda, and R. Zacharia, of
 
 42 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the tribe of Levi, was appointed their president and 
 speaker. The first day was spent in mutual congratu- 
 lations ; on the second, the president proposed the 
 question in words to this effect: <e We are here met 
 to examine whether the Messiah be come, or whether 
 we must still wait for his coming ;" Some professed 
 themselves inclined to believe he was already come, 
 and gave their reasons; but the majority of votes car- 
 ried it against them, and that his delay was occasioned 
 by their sins and impenitence. 
 
 They next debated in what manner the Messiah was 
 to come. They agreed, 1st, That he would appear as 
 a great conqueror, and deliver them from all foreign 
 yoke ; 2d, That he would alter nothing in the Mosaic 
 religion ; and 3d, That he was to be born of a virgin. 
 On the seventh day, some ecclesiastics from Rome 
 presented themselves, and, not content with proving 
 that Jesus was the Messiah, they began to extol their 
 own worship and ceremonies, which excited a tumultu- 
 ous outcry of, " No Christ! No God-man! No inter- 
 cession of saints! No worship of images! No prayers 
 to the Virgin !" And in this manner they departed for 
 that day. On the next they adjourned the council for 
 three years, then to be called in Syria ; but, that they 
 ever again met, does not appear. 
 
 This seventeenth century was also made remarkable 
 by the feats of Zabathai Tzevi, one of the most infa- 
 mous impostors that ever imposed upon the credulity 
 of the Jews. He was the son of a poulterer at Aleppo, 
 (the ancient Barea) and here he first set himself up for 
 the promised prince and deliverer of Israel; but heing 
 summoned before the heads of the synagogue there, 
 and condemned to death as an impostor, he fled to 
 Thessalonica, which, being thronged with Jews, he 
 considered a> a very proper stage on which to play off 
 his tricks. But being driven i'roin this placa, as well 
 as from Athens, and other cities of Greece, he went 
 to Alexandria, where he got great reputation. But as 
 Jerusalem was the most appropriate scene for the dis- 
 play of his mission, he directed his course towards that 
 city. At Gaza he met with Nathan Levi, a man of 
 some reputation, and thinking him a fit tool for his
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 43 
 
 purpose, he communicated to him his designs ; and, to 
 give the greater eclat to his character as the Messiah, 
 he appointed him his Elijah, or forerunner. Nathan 
 readily entered into 4iis schemes, and, assembling the 
 Jews at Jerusalem, lie introduced Tzevi to them as 
 their prince and long promised deliverer. The time 
 was favourable, for, according to the Cabalists, the 
 Messiah was to appear about the year 1675; and many 
 therefore were the more ready to listen to the impos- 
 tor's pretensions. But the wiser sort opposed him, 
 and being anathematized, he was forced to fly. He 
 went first to Smyrna, and then to Constantinople, but 
 meeting in this latter place with more opposition than 
 suited his plan, and four ambassadors from Levi, his 
 Elijah, being waiting for his presence at Smyrna, he 
 returned thither. Here, though pronounced an im- 
 postor by the rabbies, and again anathematized, he 
 carried all before him, being violently supported by 
 the ignorant multitude, who fancied they perceived 
 something divine in his person, and said they saw fire 
 come out of his mouth. He here set up his throne, 
 and sent and received ambassadors. The delusion 
 spread so far, that the Portuguese synagogue at Am- 
 sterdam composed a form of prayer, to be used by their 
 brethren who were sent to visit this pretended messiah. 
 He st} 7 led himself King of' Kings of Israel, and began 
 to dispense the high dignities of his future kingdom. 
 But unfortunately for iiis majesty, on his going to 
 Constantinople on high concerns, he was first seized 
 and bastinadoed, and then imprisoned jn the Darda- 
 nelles. His fame was so great, that the sultati wished 
 to see him. On his appearance before him, he ordered 
 him to be pierced through, to see if he were invulner- 
 able. To escape this experiment, the impostor turned 
 Mahommedan ; but, notwithstanding this his flexi- 
 bility, he was afterwards beheaded. Another impostor 
 sprung up among his followers, who, pretending that 
 Tzevi was still alive, and would appear again after 
 forty-five years, and confirming his testimony by some 
 juggling tricks, which passed with the ignorant for 
 prodigies, the delusion was for some time kept alive. 
 
 I have far exceeded the bounds I prescribed
 
 44 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 myself when I set out, and must therefore pass on 
 with haste. 
 
 In Holland, the Jews were never subject to those 
 persecutions and injuries which they suffered in other 
 countries, but have enjoyed, for many years, uninter- 
 rupted peace, and great commercial prosperity ; and, 
 since the late revolution, they, as well as the Catholics, 
 have obtained political rights. They are here of two 
 sorts; especially those who come from Germany, and 
 those who are sprung from Spain and Portugal. Both 
 these and the Karaites worship in different synagogues, 
 and, till lately, they have all entertained great hatred 
 towards each other; but in this respect they are daily 
 changing for the better, but whether most from an en- 
 lightened charity, or from a religious indifference, is 
 not quite certain. Numbers of them are very wealthy, 
 and live in the highest style of grandeur ; nor have 
 they been wanting in learned men *. 
 
 It was from the Jews in Amsterdam that Rabbi Me- 
 nassek Ben Israel was sent to Oliver Cromwell, to in- 
 dnce him to favour the re-admittance of the Jews into 
 this country. He was a person, not only of great 
 wealth and learning, but of great respectability for vir- 
 tue and probity ; and much admired, not only in fo- 
 reign countries, but in England. He presented an 
 able address to the Protector, and published another 
 to the commonwealth of England. Oliver was favour- 
 able to their return, and from this period may be dated 
 
 * The Karaites whom we have just mentioned above, are one of the 
 roost ancient Jewish sects ; for though we should not allow them the an- 
 tiquity they pretend tp, viz. from the time of Ezra, yet it is certain they 
 are of very longstanding, and, probably, they became asect at the same 
 time that the practices and number of the traditions became so swelled 
 and nnrnerous, that there was reason to fear lest religion should be en- 
 dangered by them ; for what has always particularly distinguished them, 
 is their opposition to the traditions and oral law. They are accused by their 
 enemies, of being a branch of the Sadducees : but this they deny, and, it 
 seems, justly ; for one article of their faith is, " That whereas the body 
 is of the nature of sublunary things, the soul is from heaven, and subsists 
 as the angels, and that the world to come is made for the soul." And, 
 indeed, the religion of the Karaites seems much more pure than that of 
 the rest of the Jews; and the great sin which gives such offence to their 
 brethren, appears chiefly to be, that they reject their traditions, and 
 maintain, " That there are but two guides in religion one is the lamp uf 
 Scripture, and the other that of the understanding."
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 45 
 
 their re-settlement in this country ; but many of the 
 zealots of that day being violently against it, and 
 raising a great outcry, but few came over till after the 
 restoration, when Charles II. to supply himself with 
 money for his debaucheries, introduced the sale of pa- 
 tents of denization$ which, with the increasing encou- 
 ragement that was now given to merchants and money- 
 lenders, drew over great numbers of them. Every one 
 knows their condition here. Though the conduct of 
 the English government has not been particularly li- 
 beral, and that of the people in some instances has 
 been narrow, yet they are allowed the free exercise of 
 their religion, a full freedom of trade, and the quiet en- 
 joyment of their property. 
 
 In lb'84, James 11. remitted the alien duty upon all 
 goods exported, in favour of the Jews. This was uni- 
 versally resented by the English merchants, who were 
 glad, under any pretext, to prevent their neighbours, 
 of a different stock and religion, from trading on the 
 same advantageous terms as themselves. Petitions 
 were presented, but in vain, till after the revolution, 
 when, October 14th, 1690, the order was superseded, 
 to the great joy of the Christian merchants. In 1701, 
 the first year of Queen Anne's reign, a detestable statute 
 was passed, to encourage the conversion of the chil- 
 dren of Jews, by emancipating such converts from all 
 dependance upon their parents. In the sixth year of 
 George 1. reasons were offered to the lord mayor and 
 court of aldermen for applying for an act of parliament 
 to suppress Jew brokers, but nothing came of it. This 
 is the only public matter relating to the Jews during 
 the reign of George I. except as to the wording of the 
 abjuration oath to be taken by them, as well as other 
 people. In 1753, an attempt \vas made to admit them 
 to the privilege of naturalization, without their first re- 
 ceiving the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and an act 
 of parliament was passed for that purpose ; but such 
 was the outcry that was made, that it was repealed the 
 following year. From that time the legal condition of 
 the Jews in England has remained unaltered. 
 
 In Poland and Lithuania, they have long been nu- 
 merous, and, till very lately, there has been scarcely a
 
 4 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 country in the world where they have enjoyed greater 
 liberty, or so many privileges. Their number at War- 
 saw only, is said to be 10,000, and through the whole 
 country 2,000,000 ; and they are, indeed, the only in- 
 ,dustrious body of people in the country. They pay, 
 or did lately pay, fifty-six thousand rix dollars yearly, 
 for the protection of the government; besides the ge- 
 neral imposts. They have here, their stately syna- 
 gogues and academies ; and their house of judgment, 
 or court of judicature, is endowed with singular autho- 
 rity ; since it is allowed to judge of criminal, as well as 
 of civil cases. Poland is looked upon as a nursery of 
 learned rabbles, and the country to which the Jews 
 send all their youth to study the Talmud, and the rites 
 of their religion. 
 
 Indeed, almost all the sovereigns of Europe, from 
 North to South, have perceived the errors of former 
 times relative to this people, and have found them a 
 useful body of men, who'm they could not well do 
 without; and hence have come to treat them with more- 
 moderation and justice. Thus the Jews are at present 
 spread over all Europe, living in ease and security, and 
 are become the instruments, by means of which, nations 
 at the greatest distance communicate with each other, 
 and thereby become connected. A change this in, 
 their condition, which every genuine Christian must 
 contemplate with pleasure, and is, we may hope, a 
 token that the divine displeasure against them is coming 
 to an end, and the dawn of that brighter day of which 
 "the prophecies assure them. 
 
 In Russia, the Jews also are very numerous ; and 
 lately great encouragement has been given to them. 
 By an imperial ukase, lately published, the rights of ci- 
 ti/ens have been given to them throughout the whole 
 extent of the Russian empire. The Jewish children 
 are henceforth to be admitted, like the other Russian 
 subjects, into the schools, colleges, and universities ; 
 or they may establish schools at their own expense. 
 
 In Prussia, there are also great numbers of them ; 
 and though they have not been there naturalized, as in 
 Russia, yet they enjoy the protection and countenance 
 of the government, and are fust advancing in improve 
 ment.
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 47 
 
 We have seen how they were banished from France 
 by Charles VI. with the exception of those of Metz. 
 After this they had no legal security ; some continued 
 under the disguise of a Christian profession, and, to 
 screen themselves the more effectually, have imitated 
 their brethren in Spain and Portugal, by entering 
 the church. However, as time wore away the asperi- 
 ties of public prejudice, their residence was winked at ; 
 and, though the law banished them, they met with 
 toleration, so that before the revolution, there were, 
 perhaps, in France, a hundred thousand Jews; and 
 since that stupendous event, the government has ad- 
 mitted them to all the rights of citizens. 
 
 But as there is a better account of the present con- 
 dition of the Jews in France and Germany, in the 
 Monthly Magazines for June and July last, than I 
 can find any where else, I shall here present it to the 
 reader. 
 
 " For the last twenty years, the state of the Jews 
 has excited much attention in Germany and France; 
 and by turns, bigotry and philanthropy have censured 
 or justified them. 
 
 " The nations of Europe, becoming daily more abased 
 and corrupt, can have no right to reproach the Jews 
 with immorality, and especially with usurious prac- 
 tices. A comparison between them would, in many 
 respects, turn out to the advantage of the latter,* who 
 might say to the Christians, as Jesus Christ did to the 
 Pharisees, '" Let him who is free from sin throw the 
 first stone." 
 
 "if the Jews be a degenerate race, their degeneracy 
 is an effect produced by the crimes of our ancestors, 
 whose descendants must be considered as their accom- 
 plices, as long as the Jews shall have to complain of 
 civil and political rights being unjustly withheld from 
 them. Since the time of Vespasian, their history pre- 
 sents nothing but scenes of sorrow : fugitives, and 
 proscribed in the various countries of the universe, 
 where they sought an asylum, they have seen all na- 
 tions united to annihili ate them; and notwithstanding 
 this rancorous enmity, they exist among all nations. 
 " The Jews were a prey to innumerable calamities,
 
 48 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and their whole existence was little else than a pro- 
 tracted agony, except in the dominions of the 
 Pope. 
 
 " No nation was ever so much attached to agriculture 
 as the Jews in Palestine : it w.as only for a short 
 period that they engaged in commerce, when Solomon 
 sent his ships from Asiongaber to Ophir. Since their 
 dispersion, no people were ever so averse from agri- 
 culture, because they were every where denied the 
 privilege of acquiring and cultivating land, or exercis- 
 ing arts and trades. Commerce was therefore the only 
 road left open to them, especially retail trade, which 
 is within the reach of every one, and which, offering 
 only small and precarious profits, produces a rapacious 
 disposition. But the riches which the Jews acquired 
 by commerce, soon awakened the cupidity of their 
 enemies, who plundered and banished, hanged or burnt 
 them ; and, to fill up the measure of their sufferings, 
 even pretended to justify themselves, by calumniating 
 the victims of their crimes. The dread of tyranny 
 suggested to the Jews the invention of bills of ex- 
 change and insurance, and they often eluded the vio- 
 lence and rapacity of their enemies, by being enabled 
 to transfer and transport their property in a letter, or 
 a pocket book ; and thus they and the Armenians 
 became the brokers and bankers of the world. 
 
 " The character of the Jews is the effect of their 
 education ; like that of the Negroes, the Parias, the 
 Gypsies, and, in a word, of all men. 
 
 " Instead of requiring so much of men whom we have 
 almost forced to become vicious, is there not, on the 
 contrary, reason to be surprised, that among the Jews 
 we still meet with so many persons who, surmounting 
 by their courage all the obstacles which persecution 
 and public opinion oppose to them, have acquired 
 virtues and learning. Freind assures us, in his His- 
 tory of Medicine, that in the middle ages they were 
 at the head of that profession. Medicine has indeed 
 at all times, and in every country, been cultivated 
 among them; and at present they may boast of many 
 eminent physicians. It is to the Jews of Toledo we are 
 indebted for the Alphonsine Tables, drawn up in the
 
 A BRIEF HIStOR'Y OF THE JEWS. 49 
 
 thirteenth century, and the finest monument of astro- 
 nomy during that age of darkness. If \ve consult the 
 dictionaries of Bartolocci, Imbonati, Rossi, &c., we 
 shall find a crowd of distinguished men among the 
 Hebrews, whose names are transmitted with eclat to 
 posterity: Maimonides, Kimki, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, 
 Juda Levi, Elias the Levite, Abarbanel the Republi- 
 can, Zacutus, Orobio, Menasseh Ben-Israel, Meudez, 
 author of a tragedy entitled Athalia, Mendelsohn, 
 Pinto, Marcou, Hers, Bloch, Vezelize, &c. 
 
 " Virtues and talents generally follow in the train of 
 liberty ; and this is the reason why the Jewish com- 
 munities in Holland have produced so many en- 
 lightened men : even now we find many such among 
 them, such as Cappadoce, a physician ; D'Acosta, 
 who was president of the Batavian Legislative Assem- 
 bly; Asser, and several others, of Amsterdam, who 
 are eminent lawyers ; De Solla, and Bel-Infante at the 
 Hague, &c. Like the Catholics, they have acquired 
 in Holland political rights; but both Catholics and 
 Jews complain, that the intolerance of the lately do- 
 minant religion actually deprives them of that which 
 the law has granted them. 
 
 " During the last fifteen years, France has communi- 
 cated to the 100,000 Jews dispersed in her depart- 
 ments every civil right ? Among them are many men 
 of cultivated minds, such as Rodriguez, Furtado, Eli 
 Levi ; Bing, lately dead, and universally regretted ; 
 Lipman Moses, known as the author of Hebrew and 
 German Poems ; Ben Isaac Beer, who, at the com- 
 mencement of the Constituent Assembly, victoriously 
 refuted the paralogisms advanced by Lafare, Bishop 
 of Nancy, against the admission of Jews to civil 
 rights; Michael Berr, an advocate, and member of 
 several learned societies ; Zalkind Howwitz, author of 
 some esteemed works ; as for instance, " On the resig- 
 nation of the Jews :" Terkem and Anschel, the former 
 professor of the higher branches of mathematics, the 
 latter of physics and chemistry, at the Lyceum of 
 Mentz, &c. &c. 
 
 " No Jew has ever had a seat in any of the French 
 National Assemblies, into which Catholics, Lutherans,
 
 50 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Calvinists, Negroes, and Mulattoes, were admitted ; 
 but several have filled with honour the offices of judges, 
 administrators, and municipal officers. In the depart- 
 ment of Mont Tonnere, one of them is mayor of his 
 commune, of which he has put the financial affairs 
 in very good order, and is esteemed as an excellent 
 farmer. 
 
 " Mr. Pavid Zinstheimer, a rabbin of Alsace, has 
 displayed much learning and eloquence in a letter, 
 which he addressed two years ago to such as professed 
 the Jewish religion ; preaching charity towards all 
 men, and the duties they owe to their country. 
 The influence which he derives from his sacerdotal 
 character, enables him to second the views of the go- 
 vernment, which wishes to turn the attention of the 
 Jews to agriculture, and the exercise of the liberal 
 and mechanic arts. The praiseworthy conduct of 
 this rabbin forms a striking contrast to that of many of 
 his brethren, whose folly and ignorance might lead us 
 to suppose they d^not belong to the present age. To 
 be versed in the Talmud, is by them considered as the 
 maximum of learning. They contract and debase the 
 minds of their followers, by the fooleries with which 
 their memory is charged, and by a multitude of 
 puerile observances, some of which are not the most 
 decent, imposed upon the womeu in particular. 
 Fearful of losing their power, they sound the alarm as 
 soon as any of their flock evince a desire to cultivate 
 their understandings. From the same motive, in the 
 German provinces lately annexed to France, they 
 oppose the establishment of separate schools for the 
 Jews, or the sending of their children to those of the 
 Christians. 
 
 " In the past centuries of our era, especially from 450 
 to 550, difference of religion did not hinder the Jews 
 and Christians from intermarrying ; but such unions 
 are very rare in our times, and not above four or five 
 are known to have taken place in France since the 
 revolution. 
 
 "The Jews have less dislike to the military profession 
 than to agriculture. A considerable number of them 
 erve in the French armies ; several of them are offi-
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. ^51 
 
 cers; and two have risen to the rank of chiefs of 
 battalions. 
 
 " Formerly, the Portuguese and German Jews detested 
 the Karaites, and mutually hated each other. In the 
 last century, a Prussian Jewess having married a Por- 
 tuguese physician, her relations put on mourning, as if 
 she had been dead. A Karaite having come to Frank- 
 fort, would have been murdered there, if Ludolph had 
 not saved him from the fury of the synagogue. A 
 rabbin had previously given it as his decided opinion, 
 that if a Karaite and a Christian were drowning at the 
 same instant, the rabbinical Jew ought to make a 
 bridge of the body of the Karaite for the purpose of 
 saving the Christian. 
 
 " Their ideas, however, have undergone a considerable 
 change in that respect. It is not a hundred years since 
 fifty Jewish families of Amsterdam, having expressed 
 a wish to declare themselves Karaites, the government 
 prevented them. Lately at Paris, a religious festival 
 united, under the roof of one syrragogue, the Portu- 
 guese and German Jews. This, however, is supposed 
 to have resulted less from a conformity of doctrine, 
 than from an indifference, which is partly the fruit 
 of their education. In their childhood they heard 
 their teachers not only approve, but even prefer, the 
 Talmud to the Bible ; for the rabbins compare the 
 latter to water, and the Talmud to wine. In their 
 riper years, revolting against the reveries of the 
 Mishna, they have not been able to separate the ab- 
 surd tales from the truths which enlightened reason 
 reveres. 
 
 " For some years past, a spirit of reformhas manifested 
 itself among the Jews of Leghorn, who, in 1796, made 
 some alterations in their religious rites ; among those 
 settled at Amsterdam, four or five hundred of whom 
 have established a separate synagogue ; among those 
 of Berlin, the greater part of whom no longer attend 
 their synagogue ; and some of whom, ten years ago, 
 addressed a celebrated letter to the Protestant pastor, 
 Tellier. They offered to join the Protestant Church, 
 without believing its doctrines ; for they reduced their 
 symbol to four or five insignificant and abstract pro-
 
 52 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 positions, which do not indicate any symptom of 
 Christianity. 
 
 " The progress of mental improvement among the 
 Jews is, however, most observable in Germany ; where 
 several men of learning are earnestly endeavouring to 
 improve the mode of education. The Jews have had 
 a share in this moral revolution. Mendelsohn, a crea- 
 tive genius, raised himself to a high rank among 
 philosophers ; and his renown was the electric spark 
 which kindled the genius of the Hebrews. Mendel- 
 sohn had for contemporaries or successors, men of dis- 
 tinguished reputation, some of them now no more ; 
 such as JBloch, Hetz, Maimon, Hartevig, Vezelize, &c. 
 others still living, such as Friediander, uncle and nephew 
 Wolfssohn, Fraenkel, Schottlander, Sic. but in par- 
 ticular Bendavid, president of the Society of Friends 
 of Humanity at Berlin, and author of several pro- 
 found works, who has endeavoured to apply algebra to 
 the theory of taste in the arts. Several times the 
 Berlin Academy of Sciences had expressed a wish 
 that Mendelsohn might be appointed one of their 
 associates; but Frederic, who has been called the 
 Great, refused his assent, because he would not have, 
 in the" list of members, the name of a Jew joined to 
 that of Catherine II. of Russia. This trait of little- 
 mindedness will probably not be copied, if the Aca- 
 demy should 4 novv present to the Prussian government 
 as a candidate, Bendavid, to whom it has already 
 decreed several prizes. 
 
 " The Prussian Jews had, during the last six years, 
 published a Journal in Hebrew, in which they at- 
 tacked with argument and ridicule the reveries of the 
 Talmud. This periodical work is to be revived at 
 Dessau under a new form, and the title of The Su- 
 lamite or a Journal for the Diffusion of Knowledge 
 among the Jews, by M.M. Fraenkel, Wolf, and Rundel. 
 
 "The Jews have been reproached for undervaluing the 
 female sex. In the daily prayers of the men is the 
 following passage "Blessed be the Creator of Heaven 
 and earth for not having made me a woman ;" whilst 
 the woman was taught to say with humility, "Blessed 
 be thy name for having made me as I am." They
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 53 
 
 begin to repair this injury, especially at Berlin and 
 at Hamburg, where there are many Jewesses, whose 
 education has been conducted with the greatest care, and 
 who are distinguished by a union of virtue and learn- 
 ing. In Michael Berr s " Appeal to the Justice of 
 Nations/' there are some curious notes relative to this 
 subject. 
 
 " Some enlightened Jews do not approve of having 
 schools exclusively appropriated to the children of their 
 nation. It would undoubtedly be a powerful means 
 towards effecting a complete political union, if they 
 all frequented the schools and^niversities of the Chris- 
 tians ; but the prejudices of the latter, by rejecting 
 them, or at least attaching a kind of stigma to Ju- 
 daism, induced them to establish separate schools in 
 different towns and cities of Germany at Nuremberg, 
 Furth, Breslau, Konigsberg, &c. They have likewise 
 such schools at Berlin, Frankfurt-on-the-Mayne, Des- 
 sau, Seezen, in particular for poor children ; they are 
 almost all supported by voluntary contributions. The 
 regulations of these schools, and several elementary 
 works expressly written for their use, have been print- 
 ed. At Frankfurt-on-the-Mayne, M. Giesenheimer, 
 uniting music with poetry, has printed for the scholars 
 a collection of pieces in every way calculated to in- 
 spire virtuous sentiments. 
 
 In 1795, a society of Jews, for the most part 
 young men, founded at Dessau a separate school 
 for the children of their nation. They had to contend 
 against a multitude of obstacles; but the protec- 
 tion of the government, which approved of the sta- 
 tutes of that school, the success attending their mode 
 of instruction, and the public and solemn examina- 
 tions, caused the establishment to prosper. The 
 founders addressed themselves to the benevolence of 
 persons in easy circumstances, and received abund- 
 ant succours, by means of which they were enabled 
 to enlarge their plan. They have accordingly increas- 
 ed the number of their masters; and they are now 
 preparing a fit place for the library. The pupils, 
 whose number amounts to about one hundred, are 
 under the direction of M. Frzenkel ; and a better choice 
 could not well have been made, He is assisted by
 
 54 A BRIEF HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 professors worthy of him ; among others, by the 
 modest Tillich. In this schooHhey follow the method 
 of Pestalozzi, M. Olivier, formely a colleague of 
 Basedow, and who has given us a learned analysis of 
 the system of languages, and of the manner of teach- 
 ing them. 
 
 At Seezen, a town situated between Brunswick and 
 Gbttingen, a college was founded in 1801 for the 
 children of the Jews, by M. Jacobsohn, who fills a 
 high office in the service of the Duke of Brunswick, 
 and enjoys the esteem of all ranks. He confided the 
 direction of it to a man of learning and zeal, M. 
 Schottlander, counsellor to the Landgrave of Hesse- 
 Darmstadt, who is engaged in writing a history of his 
 nation. There are ten professors, although the number 
 of students does not yet amount to more than fifty ; 
 but it daily increases. The arrangement of the build- 
 ing and the administration of the establishment may 
 serve as models. There, as well as at Dessau, the 
 children are distinguished by neatness and cleanliness, 
 by good order, and an air of health and content. 
 The poor are admitted gratis, and the others pay in 
 proportion to their ability. They are taught the 
 German, French, Hebrew, and Latin languages ; geo- 
 graphy, history, declamation, natural history, mathe- 
 matics, technology, &c. At Seezen, they add to the 
 above the Greek language and music ; and it is in- 
 tended soon to establish a school of industry. Each 
 student has a small plot of ground allotted to him, 
 which he cultivates with his own hands ; and it is 
 part of the plan of this school, to wean them from 
 commerce, the spirit of which is so deeply rooted 
 among the Jews. 
 
 They communicate to the pupils here the elements 
 of such knowledge as is necessary for every station 
 in life, and the acquisition of which prepares the way 
 for the developement of the greatest talents, if they 
 happen to be endowed therewith. I have admired 
 the facility with which conversation was carried on 
 between the professors and some of the pupils, though 
 very young, in the French and Latin languages, and 
 on various objects of instruction. I have likewise seen
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 55 
 
 them, during their hours of recreation, solve very 
 complicated arithmetical problems, and make mathe- 
 matical demonstrations. Those details sufficiently 
 evince the capacity and diligence of the pupils, who 
 are all Jews, and of the professors, some of whom, 
 are Jews, and some Christians, and who live most 
 amicably together. With respect to such of the pu- 
 pils as, from the inferiority of their talents, are rendered 
 unfit for the pursuits of literature and the sciences, 
 the Duke of Brunswick has lately taken some wise 
 measures to facilitate to them their learning, and to 
 ensure to them the free exercise of arts and han- 
 dicrafts. 
 
 " On the front of the new synagogue for the college 
 of Seezen, it is proposed to have two hands joined 
 together, with an inscription, the object of which is 
 to remind Christians and Jews, that they worship the 
 same God. 
 
 " Besides the ascetical books with which they are 
 provided, M. Schottlander has compiled for the use 
 of the students a collection of poems and moral 
 precepts, taken from various authors. The Talmud, 
 among other works, has been put under contribution 
 for this purpose : M. Schottlander has inserted in this 
 book Maimonides's Thirteen Fundamental Laws of 
 the Jewish Faith; a short and well-written History" of 
 the Hebrew Language ; the second canto of the 
 Moysiade, an epic poem by Hartwig Vezelize, a rab- 
 bin lately deceased at Hamburg ; and other instruc- 
 tive and interesting pieces. 
 
 " In Germany, the most happy effects are expected 
 to result from these schools of the Jews. They are 
 unwearied in their endeavours to merit admission to a 
 full participation of all civil rights. This has been 
 granted them already in France. But on the other side 
 of the Rhine, they have not been able to obtain the 
 object of their wishes, notwithstanding the efforts of 
 the learned and respectable M. Dohui. 
 
 " There seems to be, however, a gradual approxima- 
 tion towards a better order of things. Already, through 
 the zeal of Messrs. Jacobsohn and Breitenbach, twen- 
 ty-six German princes have reparied an outrage done
 
 50 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to humanity, by abolishing that infamous toll which 
 fitit the Jews upon a level wiih cloven-footed animals. 
 
 " In a German state on the right bank of the Rhine, 
 the government had been hesitating about the sup- 
 pression of this toll, and even pretended to subject to 
 it the Jews dwelling on the left side. But this deter- 
 mination was soon changed, when they were informed 
 of the spirited conduct of M. Jambon St. Andre, the 
 prefect of Mont Tonnere, who proposed, by way of re- 
 prisal, that the subjects of the German prince (the Jews 
 only excepted) should be obliged to pay the same toll 
 when they entered'Prance. 
 
 " Will it be believed, that in the nineteenth century 
 there exists a republic, where public opinion has so 
 stigmatized the Jews, that they dare not, under pain of 
 being insulted, enter the wide alleys which serve as a 
 promenade to the Christians ; and yet Frankfurt-on- 
 the-Mayne is known to possess citizens estimable in 
 every respect, and who no doubt will raise their voice 
 for the purpose of putting an end to this injustice, less 
 dishonourable to those who suffer it, than to those who 
 tolerate it. Will it be believed, that at Berlin, when a 
 Jew has several sons, he cannot marry more than one 
 of them. For the marriage of the second he must 
 have permission from government, the obtaining of 
 which, always attended with expense, becomes pro- 
 gressively more difficult, if the application be about a 
 third or a fourth. Formerly, the bridegroom was 
 obliged to purchase a certain quantity of faulty porce- 
 lain ware of the royal manufactory. But let us hope 
 that the epoch approaches, when all the separate Jew- 
 ish communities will be abolished ; when civil tolera- 
 tion, expiating the crimes of preceding generations, 
 will call mankind, without distinction, to fulfil all the 
 duties, and enjoy all the rights of religion." 
 
 All this is pleasant to the generous mind ; it is as the 
 cheering spring after a long and stormy winter ; and 
 though it is certain that the Jews will never be amal- 
 gamated with any of the nations among whom the} 
 are scattered, yet, considered in connection with what 
 is passing in France, relative to this people's destiny, 
 and with the progress of the arras of France in th
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 57 
 
 North, where Jews more than any where abound, it 
 is extremely interesting ; and, if 1 am not mistaken, 
 will soon be found to issue in the most important con- 
 sequences. The gay and thoughtless will laugh at the 
 idea of an army of Jews with long beards, but strlmge 
 things have happened, and stranger, it is likely, are in 
 reserve. 
 
 At the present moment a Sanhedrim is sitting at 
 Paris, consisting, it seems, of members, deputed, not 
 only from the Jews residing in France and Italy, but 
 from those of other countries, to consult, under the 
 auspices of the emperor Napoleon, on the means by 
 which the interests and prosperity of their nation,in con- 
 junction with those of France, may be effected. De- 
 puties from the Jews of France and Italy only were 
 first invited by the French government to assemble at 
 Paris, and ninety-six of them met there July 26, 1806, 
 and chose their president and secretaries. On August 
 4th, the emperor sent commissioners to the assembly to 
 communicate to them his intentions, and to propose 
 certain questions. A guard was appointed them, and 
 they have been distinguished with other honours sup- 
 posed suitable to their public character. October 6tb, 
 the assembly voted the following address to their bre- 
 thren professing the same religion, inviting them to 
 send deputies from all parts to form a Grand Sanhedrim 
 at Paris. 
 
 " THE goodness of the Most High manifests itself 
 visibly to us. A great event is preparing, that which 
 our fathers did not witness for a long series of ages, 
 that which we could not have hoped to have seen in 
 our time, is about to be made manifest to the eyes of 
 nn astonished universe. The 20th of October is the 
 day appointed for the opening of a Grand Sanhedrim 
 in the capital of one of the most powerful Christian 
 empires, and tinder the protection of the immortal 
 prince who governs. Paris is about to offer this spec- 
 tacle to the world ; and this ever-memorable event will 
 be to the dispersed remnant of the descendants of Abra- 
 ham, a new era of deliverance and felicity. Animated 
 with the sentiments which breathe the same ori- 
 gin and the same religion, we wish to express them to
 
 58 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 yon in the effusion of our joy. Who but must admire 
 with us the secret designs of that Providence who, by 
 ways inscrutable to our feeble minds, changes the face 
 of human affairs, consoles the afflicted, raises the hum- 
 ble from the dust, puts an end to the trials decreed by 
 his divine commands, and restores those faithful to his 
 laws, to the esteem and affection of nations. Since 
 our dispersion, innumerable changes have signalized 
 the inconstancy of human affairs. Nations have suc- 
 cessively expelled, intermingled with, and overwhelm- 
 ed each other. We alone have resisted the torrents of 
 ages and revolutions. Every thing presages to us in 
 Europe, a destiny more desirable, an existence less pre- 
 carious ; but this state of affairs is nothing yet but a 
 pleasing prospective. But in the midst of public com- 
 motion, in the midst of the agitations of an immense 
 nation, the reality of this prospect rises, conducted by 
 a divine hand, and by one of those powerful minds, 
 around which nations rally by a natural instinct of 
 preservation. This benevolent genius and consoler 
 wishes to make disappear every humiliating distinction 
 between us and his. other subjects. His penetration 
 has enabled him to discover in our Mosaic code those 
 principles of duration and strength, which have tri- 
 umphed over the ravages of time, and which gave 
 to our fathers that patriarchal simplicity, which, in 
 our times, is still venerated, and that heroism of cha- 
 racter, of which history preserves such admirable mo- 
 dels. He has decided in his wisdom, that it would be 
 suitable to his paternal views, to permit the convoca- 
 tion at Paris of a Grand Sanhedrim. The objects and 
 functions of this body are traced in the eloquent speech 
 of the commissioners of his imperial and royal majesty. 
 We address you, our dear brothers, to inform you, that 
 the mind which dictates this measure, has no other ob- 
 ject than to call us to our ancient virtue, and to pre- 
 serve our holy religion in all its purity. The appeal 
 which we now make to you for the assistance of your 
 abilities, in order to give to the decisions of the Grand 
 Sanhedrim more weight and consideration, will pro- 
 duce the happy result of rendering all our uniform 
 doctrinal principles more in unison with the civil and
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 59 
 
 political laws of the different states which you have 
 adopted for your country. Instructions from you will 
 be useful to us, and government authorizes us to claim 
 your assistance. Be not deaf to our call ; our dear bro- 
 thers, chuse men known for their wisdom, the friends 
 of truth and of justice, and capable of concurring with 
 us in this great work. Send them to take their places 
 amongst us, and to impart to us their wise and enlight- 
 ened views. It must be highly desirable for all the 
 Jews in Europe to co-operate in the regeneration of 
 their brethren, as it is glorious for us in particular to 
 have fixed the attention of a sovereign so illustrious. 
 Never had any men on earth such powerful motives as 
 ourselves to love and admire this sovereign, for it has 
 never happened to us to applaud an act of justice so 
 splendid, or a protection more marked. To restore to 
 society a people estimable by their private virtues, to 
 restore the opinion of their dignity, and assure to them 
 the enjoyment of their rights, such are the benefits for 
 which we are indebted to Napoleon the Great. The 
 Sovereign Arbiter of nations and of kings has permitted 
 this empire to cicatrize its wounds, to restore that tran- 
 quillity which continued storms had interrupted; and 
 to aggrandize its destiny, to fix ours, and to give hap- 
 piness to two nations who must ever applaud him to 
 whom has been confided the care of their happiness, 
 after that of their defence." Paris, the 24<A of Tisris, 
 567. (Qth October, 1806;. 
 
 More is evidently here meant than expressed. If 
 this Sanhedrim were to consult only on what was do- 
 mestic, why invite the co-operation of all the Jews in 
 Europe ? The time was not come for the design to 
 be exposed at full length. What grand scheme is de- 
 veloping, and whether Napoleon is devising the com- 
 mercial aggrandizement of France, and the ruin of the 
 English interest in the East, by the re-settlement of the 
 Jews in their own land, time will discover. But it 
 needs but little discernment, when, besides all this, the 
 state of things both in Europe and in the East, and the 
 character of the extraordinary man who has taken this 
 people under his protection, are taken into considera- 
 tion, to perceive, that something is intended more cha-
 
 60 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 racteristic of the vast grasp of Napoleon's ambition, 
 than that of squeezing out of the Jews a few millions 
 of livres. And if a letter, addressed by a Jew to his 
 brethren in 1798, was published at the suggestion of 
 those then in power in France, as was said at the time, 
 it shews that the importance of the restoration of the 
 Jews to that country, in a commercial point of view, 
 has not been overlooked, and may assist us in travers- 
 ing the present design. To gratify such readers as 
 may not have seen it, or may have forgotten its con- 
 tents, I will here transcribe it. 
 
 <e Brothers, 
 
 " You who have groaned for so many ages under the 
 weight of the crudest persecutions, do you not wish to 
 burst from the state of degrading humiliation in which 
 intolerant and barbarous religions have placed you ? 
 Contempt accompanies us every where. Our suffer- 
 ings are unpitied and despised. The unshaken con- 
 stancy with which we have preserved the faith of our 
 ancestors, far from procuring us the admiration due to 
 such a conduct, has only increased the unjust hatred 
 which all nations bear towards us. It is only by af- 
 fecting the exterior of baseness and misery, that we are 
 enabled to secure our property, and preserve our un- 
 happy existence. It is at least time to shake off this 
 insupportable yoke it is time to resume our rank 
 among the other nations of the universe. Vile rob- 
 bers possess that sacred land which our ancestors were 
 compelled to yield to the Romans. The} r profane the 
 holy city which we defended with so much courage. 
 Posterity has preserved a dreadful remembrance of the 
 struggle we, surely, have not forgotten it. That cou- 
 rage^ has only slumbered : the hour to awaken it is 
 arrived. O my brethren ! let us rebuild the temple of 
 Jerusalem ! 
 
 " An invincible nation, which now fills the world with 
 her glory, has shewn us what the love of country can 
 perform. Let us implore her generosity request her 
 assistance ; and we may be assured, that the'philosophy
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 6l 
 
 which guides the chiefs of that nation, will induce them 
 to give our demand a favourable reception. 
 
 " We are more than six millions of people scattered 
 over the face of the earth; we,possess immense riches: 
 let us employ the means that are in our power to re- 
 store us to our country. The moment is propitious, 
 and to profit by it, is our duty. The following are the 
 means best suited for carrying this holy enterprize into 
 execution : There shall be established a Council, the 
 members of which shall be elected by the Jews who 
 are spread over Europe, Asia, and Africa. 
 
 [Here the writer divides his countrymen into the 15 
 following tribes, viz. the Italian, Helvetic, Hungarian, 
 Polish, Russian, Northern, British, Spanish, Gallic, 
 Dutch, Prussian, German, Turkish, Asiatic, andAfrican. 
 These the author proposes shall each form a body of 
 electors in the capitals of the respective districts ; and 
 then he proceeds.] 
 
 " The fifteen deputies of these tribes shall form the 
 Council, which shall hold its sittings at Paris. When 
 they shall have assembled to the number of nine, they 
 may begin to deliberate on the object of their mission. 
 Their decisions shall have with all the Jews the force 
 of laws ; they shall be obliged to submit to them. The 
 Council shall appoint an agent, to communicate to the 
 Executive Directory of France the propositions which 
 it may think proper to make to the French govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " The country we propose to occupy shall include 
 (liable to such arrangements as shall be agreeable to 
 France) Lower Egypt, with the addition of a district of 
 country, which shall have for its limits a line running 
 from Ptolemais, or Saint John D'Acre, to the Asphaltic 
 Lake, or Dead Sea, and from the South point of that 
 Lake to the Red Sea. This position, which is the 
 most advantageous in the world, will render us, by the 
 navigation of the Red Sea, masters of the doramerce 
 of India, Arabia, and the South and East of Africa ; 
 Abyssinia, and Ethiopia, those rich countries which 
 furnished Solomon with so much gold and ivory, and 
 so many precious stones, will trade the more willingly 
 with us, that the greater part of their inhabitants still
 
 2 A BRIEF HlSTOftY OP THE JEW* 
 
 practise the law of Moses. The neighbourhood of 
 Aleppo and Damascus will facilitate our commerce 
 with Persia ; and by the Mediterranean we may com- 
 municate with Spain, France, Italy, and the rest of 
 Europe. Placed in the centre of the world, our coun- 
 try will become the entrepot of all the rich and precious 
 productions of the earth. 
 
 "^The Council shall offer to the French government, 
 if it will give us the assistance necessary to enable us 
 to return to our country, and to maintain ourselves in 
 the possession of it, 
 
 " 1. Every pecuniary indemnification. 
 
 " 2. To share the commerce of India, &c. with the 
 merchants of France only. 
 
 " The other arrangements, and the propositions to 
 be made to the Ottoman Porte, cannot yet be rendered 
 public : we must, in these matters, repose on the wis- 
 dom of the Council, and the good faith of the French 
 nation. Let us choose upright and enHghtened depu- 
 ties, and we may have confidence in the success of 
 this undertaking. 
 
 " O, my brethren ! what sacrifices ought we not to 
 make to 'attain this object? We shall return to our 
 country we shall live under ojir own laws we shall be- 
 hold those sacred places which our ancestors illustrated 
 with their courage and their virtues. I already see 
 you a.11 animated with a holy zeal. Israelites I the 
 term of your misfortunes is at hand. The opportu- 
 nity is favourable take care you do not allow it to 
 escape." 
 
 Whether the measures now pursuing in France, re- 
 lative to the Jews, be the beginning of the realization 
 of the plan here marked out only veiled with some 
 disguise cannot, at present, be ascertained ; but there 
 is that strong resemblance which may induce us to 
 think so. Who were deputed to form this Sanhedrim, 
 or what has passed since its assembling, we have not 
 heard. But as Bonaparte, just at the time of their 
 meeting, left Paris to head his army, and as he, and
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF TE JEWS. 63 
 
 all the officers of the government, have had full em- 
 ployment in matters of more pressing concern, it is not 
 likely that much has been done. But should he not 
 have passed the limits of his commission, but return 
 victorious, as there appears too much reason to appre- 
 hend, and should he, to the ascendency which he has 
 already obtained in Holland, Germany, and Italy, add 
 Poland and all the dominions of Prussia to the long 
 list of countries subjected to his power, we shall, pro- 
 bably, soon see his gigantic designs developing, and a 
 scene more wonderful than any we have hitherto wit- 
 nessed, will rapidly unfold itself to the astonished eyes 
 of Europe.
 
 I 
 
 Jon 
 
 AN 
 
 ADDRESS ON THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 OF 
 
 AFFAIRS IN EUROPE IN GENERAL, 
 
 AND 
 
 THIS COUNTRY IN PARTICULAR. 
 
 .Y COUNTRYMEN, I hope, will bear, with me, if 
 I here address to them a few words on the present 
 crisis of affairs. We have just entered the year 1807 : 
 what stupendous events have happened within the last 
 fifteen months ! and yet there are still but few, who 
 are properly affected with what is passing, or who form 
 any idea of the point to which we are hastening with 
 such an accelerating motion. Many, indeed, are struck 
 with astonishment for the moment (as vast events 
 rapidly succeed each other), but it displays itself in 
 little but execrations, and soon expires in apathy. 
 
 That the ancient and mighty monarchy of Austria, 
 should be reduced to the brink of ruin in one short 
 campaign of two months, and survive its calamities, 
 only because the policy of the conqueror pleaded for 
 the exercise of clemency, might well strike all the 
 surrounding nations with surprise, and make the most 
 powerful fear, lest the same Providence, which visited 
 the oppression and bloodshed of this monarchy, should 
 send to them, also, the cup of trembling. But who 
 could have conjectured that, before another year was 
 passed over our heads, the warlike kingdom of Prussia 
 would be almost swept away, in a still shorter campaign
 
 AN ADDRESS, &C. 65 
 
 of a few days ; and that, in a few more, the throne of 
 Russia, the last hope of Europe, would also totter. 
 
 Yet, before we could recover from the surprise oc- 
 casioned by the stroke which laid Austria in the dust> 
 lo! another, as fatal to the ancient order of things in 
 Christendom, has rapidly succeeded. Events these, 
 which our fathers would not have thought possible. 
 Nor would they have been possible, I believe, but for 
 that extraordinary Providence, which appears to be 
 disposing all things in a super- human way, for a mighty 
 change in human affairs. Of this Providence we ought 
 to be aware. We are continually saying on every oc- 
 casion of public calamity, " If things had been other* 
 wise managed, if thest had been sooner, and those 
 later, then this would not have happened the usur- 
 per had been tumbled from his throne, and Europe 
 had been saved." But, I repeat it, it is an extraordi* 
 nary Providence, which is breaking those monarchies 
 and states to pieces, which for so many centuries have 
 waged unceasing war against the peace and happiness 
 of mankind, and thus recompensing the accumulated 
 crimes of those ancient houses of Europe, which are 
 so deeply stained with blood, that no nitre can cleanse 
 them. Some say it is fortune and chance : this is the 
 divinity of Pagans Others ascribe it to superior 
 genius on one side, aided by the disaffection or indif- 
 ference of the people on the other : this may be true, 
 as far as it goes ; but He who inspires genius, directs 
 it ; He who made man, has the hearts of all in his hand ; 
 and it is He, who directs the stream of their passions, 
 as the rivers of water, to fertilize or desolate as he 
 pleases. God works by means; and equally makes 
 both the wrath and the indifference of men to praise 
 him, by co-operating with his designs. And what 
 those designs now are, seems written, as with light- 
 ning, in the canopy of Europe. 
 
 Most of the princes of the royal houses of Europe 
 have not only been cruel persecutors of the Jews, as 
 we have seen, but of all those Christians too, who, in 
 different ages, have borne testm ony against the usur- 
 pations and corruptions of Rome ; and those who may 
 not have been equally guilty in these respects, have
 
 66 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 yet never ceased to disturb the peace of mankind, 
 carrying fire and sword through every part of the 
 earth. And for what ? Seldom to repel any real in- 
 juries, or to protect the liberties of their subjects, or 
 procure for them justice. The stimulants and objects 
 of war have generally been of a very different nature. 
 It has been to obtain what is falsely called glory, to 
 display their military prowess, and gratify their pride ; 
 to extend their dominion, to counteract each other's 
 crooked policy, or to avenge their private quarrels, 
 that princes have generally kindled the flames of war. 
 Thus, while the world has never been at rest, men 
 have been tempted to the commission of crimes with 
 complacency, at which human nature in retirement 
 shudders. While the superior sort have been allured 
 to share with their princes in their imaginary glory, 
 the more ignorant and base have been led, by eeduce- 
 ments or force, to destroy their fellow creatures, whom 
 God hath made in his own image, and, by all the hor- 
 rors and crimes of war, to destroy and lay waste, and 
 involve in misery, unoffending millions.' And what is 
 the strangest of all, the great multitude at least till 
 the cry of destruction has been heard in their own 
 streets have willed it to be thus. Thro ugh some strange 
 infatuation, it needs but little art so to blind and in- 
 flame the multitude, that even those who are to pay 
 the cost, and hazard all that is most dear, vociferate 
 the loudest for war, and invoke it, as if the greatest 
 blessing. 
 
 And these are Christians ! these great ones of the 
 earth are the vicegerents of God ; and those who are 
 the instruments of their wrath to destroy the earth, 
 are the disciples of the prince of peace ! Surely, as 
 nations, such communities may be called any thing 
 but Christian! What, if we read our Bibles, had we 
 to expect, but that, some time or other, the Almighty 
 and Just Ruler of the world would interpose his power, 
 to effect a change in his creation, by the utter subver- 
 sion of this deranged order of things ? But, when the 
 destruction comes, we affect to wonder, as if nothing 
 for this thirteen hundred years, since the monarchies 
 of Christendom sprung up, had been passing in Europe
 
 PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS. 67 
 
 to provoke the anger of Heaven, but all had been 
 piety and peace. 
 
 Many, I am aware, will set me down for a wild 
 enthusiast, if for nothing worse; but I speak the 
 words of soberness and truth. The provocations of 
 the antichristian monarchies of the West, have sur- 
 passed even the crying sins of those in the East, that 
 suffered the ruin, which their crimes had prepared for 
 them i n ages past ; and they have nothing therefore 
 to expect but similar ruin. The Latin church, in cor- 
 ruption and bloodshed, has infinitely exceeded even 
 that of the Greek, against which the providence of 
 God armed the implacable Saracens and Turks, and 
 may, therefore, look forward to a heavier vengeance. 
 The crimes of Europe, under the mask of Christianity, 
 and in the name of Christ, have for ages been such, 
 ~hat he must be an utter stranger to the history of 
 God's dispensations towards the nations which have 
 flourished and disappeared in different ages, and in 
 different parts of the world, not to expect some awful 
 dispensation of Providence, to visit for their ruin the 
 kingdoms and empires of Europe. Expect it ! is it 
 not come ? Is not the wrath already gone forth ? 
 and has it not already laid in ruins the greater part 
 of political Europe ? And are not our own shores, 
 also, threatened ? The wicked may say peace ! and 
 pride or thoughtlessness may equally lull us into con- 
 fident security. But the danger is imminent : and I 
 am greatly mistaken, indeed, if the time of our visi- 
 tation with mercy does not soon end, and that of 
 wrath begin ; if we, as has been the case with other 
 nations, who were lately quite as secure as ourselves, 
 do not soon experience an awful chastisement, and 
 find that cup brought to us to drain, of which others, 
 not more guilty, have been made to drink so deeply. 
 And who are we, that God should not search out 
 our sins, and recompense our doings ? Or are we 
 the only people who, in this time of retribution, are to 
 escape with impunity for all that we have done ? 
 But here is the great evil : whilst we consider our 
 enemies as the most wicked, the general opinion is, 
 that we are one of the best and most religious 
 F 2
 
 68 AX ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 nations in the world; and hence the fatal error, "There 
 is no reason to fear that God will suffer us to be 
 scourged by the atheistical French, as the wicked 
 nations on the Continent have been." 
 
 Thus, indeed, it ever has been ; for whilst divines 
 and moralists have, perhaps, been too much disposed 
 to place their own country in the list of the most 
 guilty, and to consider their own age as the most de- 
 generate, ihe folly of all nations has been to think 
 themselves the best, and therefore the peculiar favor- 
 ites of Providence. The truth, as it respects thi* 
 country and the contemporary states of Europe, is, I 
 believe, that in some parts of our character, we are 
 better than our neighbours, and in others worse. And 
 as to the age, the nations of this day do certainly 
 appear, in many particulars, to rise far superior to 
 their ancestors in moral improvement, though in 
 others they fall beneath them. But it must not be 
 forgotten that there are several circumstances, which 
 seem to tell very much against us, and which ought 
 to be a check upon our pride and over fond confi- 
 dence : we are more highly privileged than most other 
 countries, and vastly more so than our ancestors ; 
 and it is said in an old book, which we ought 
 to read, " Unto whomsoever much is given, of him 
 shall be much required ;" but it is" pretty certian, 
 that our improvement in morals has not kept pace 
 with that increasing diffusion of light, with which 
 we have been distinguished, nor with that improve- 
 ment which we have made in knowledge above our 
 forefathers. Nor should it be forgotten, that there is 
 reason to suspect, that many of our boasted virtues 
 are not so real and meritorious as is generally fancied ; 
 and that we are not, in the eyes of our Creator, what 
 we are in our own ; for though refinement may have 
 lessened the odiou^ness of many of our vices, in the 
 eyes of each other, and the ostentation of respectable 
 virtues may deceive and pass current among us as 
 good coin, yet He who measures the earth, and 
 weights the nations in scales, stcth not as man seeth. 
 He alone, and without possibility of mistake, is able 
 to form a just estimate of the worth of the virtues 
 and of the guilt of the vices, of both men and
 
 PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS. 6$ 
 
 nations, of individuals and governments; as well as to 
 apportion to them their due punishments, and deter- 
 mine the properest moment for their infliction. 
 
 But, be our comparative character what it may, this 
 we may easily know, if we will but open our eyes, and 
 look first about us at home, and see what is here pass- 
 ing, and then to distant climes, and observe what still 
 greater crimes are there perpetrating for gain, that we 
 are very guilty, and that there will be no ground of 
 complaint against Providence, nor any reason to 
 wonder, though the punishment of the accumulated 
 guilt of ages should come in our day, and we should 
 share in the desolations which afflict the surrounding 
 nations. And, indeed, unless we are wilfully blind, 
 and utterly banish reflection, we can but perceive, not 
 only the calamities which are preparing for us in our 
 own bowelsy but the danger which threatens us from 
 without. Within, all its disease; without, all our 
 helpers fail us: Austria is chained; and should it again 
 struggle against its destiny, the probability is, that it 
 would terminate in additional misfortunes. Prussia 
 is expiring under the foot of the Conqueror. Russia 
 subdued,* and our last hope, but from ourselves, is 
 
 * I do not mean to intimate, that I think the Russian empire likely to 
 be soon overturned, for J still believe that the Russians and Muscovites, 
 descendants of the Rossi and Moschi, who were, originally, colonies 
 of Meshech and Tubal, are to be among the chief of those .who are to 
 unite with the Dragon at the conclusion of these scenes of calamity ; 
 though his, indeed, is not incompatible, as far as form, or dynasty, 
 are concerned, to what might be called the overthrow of the Russian 
 empire. See Signs of the Times, part ii. p. 101, and Well's Geogra- 
 phy of the Old and New Testament, vol. i. p. 158. But I am 
 
 here reminded of an observation of Mr, -Winston's, relative to the pro- 
 gress of Attila with his Hunhes, and whom considers as the blaz- 
 ing star, which the third trumpet brought, and which wa destined 
 to afflict, especially the northern parts of Italy, the land of rivers, and 
 fountains of water. Here Attila's success was terrible and decisive : 
 " But what is very remarkable," he observes, " whenever he ven- 
 tured beyond the bounds of this trumpet, he was beaten, or at least 
 failed of his design." This observation is much to the purpose, and 
 we may apply it : if the commission of Buonaparte with his French 
 extend only to what is called the Kingdom of the Beast, and he should 
 be hurried on by his ambition to pass its limits, it is likely he will fail ; 
 or at most, succeed no farther than may be essential to his executing the 
 great work of wrath, which Providence has appointed him. Though,
 
 70 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 lost; unless we bethink ourselves and turn to 
 God. 
 
 What the next object of the restless enemy, who is 
 made the scourge of Europe, will be, should he not 
 have passed the limits of his commission, but unhap- 
 pily return successful from the North, is uncertain. It 
 will doubtless be governed by circumstances, and par- 
 ticularly by such as may relate to the empires of 
 Russia and Turkey. It may be to the latter,, and to 
 the accomplishment of what he has been meditating 
 respecting the Jews, whom he probably means to make 
 the instrument of his ambition. And as, in this case, 
 our government would doubtless consider itself as 
 necessitated to oppose his designs, we should thus be 
 brought into a situation, which every enlightened Chris- 
 tian must contemplate with grief and fearful appre- 
 hension. But if this should not engage his atten- 
 tion, we must then expect him to bend all his thoughts 
 lo the realization of his threats against this kingdom ; 
 and we shall have to contend on our own shores for 
 the existence of our country, for our homes, and all 
 that is dear to us. May.God avert so severe a visita- 
 tion, and turn us to repentance in the milder ways of 
 his mercy ! But if this should be appointed for us, it 
 will be well not to be found sleeping in confident se- 
 curity. The thought is painful ; but as it is not only 
 possible, but becoming every day more and more 
 probable, we shall do right, not only to contemplate 
 it as a fact that may be, but, if it should be, to be 
 aware both of the cause and design. The cause 
 originates in our crying sins, and the great and many 
 corruptions which have perverted us in constitution 
 and practice; and the design of them is to bring us 
 to a proper sense of our state, and to produce a radi- 
 cal reform, both political and moral. Without this, 
 no navies, however powerful, no armies, however 
 numerous, no courage, however well directed, will 
 
 perhaps, his failure, instead of operating in favour of those who can 
 but rejoice in it, may, like Attiia's, after the battle of Chalons, onlj 
 send him back infuriated with tenfold rage to desolate and destroy.
 
 PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS. 71 
 
 be able to save the country, and protect us from 
 punishment. 
 
 To produce a disposition of mind suitable to the 
 awful crisis of affairs in general, and the circum- 
 stances of our own country in particular, and to 
 effect that repentance and change of conduct which 
 are indispensable to our safety, nothing seems better 
 calculated than our being properly aware of that 
 extraordinary Providence, which .is now displayed 
 on the theatre of Europe ; and a deep impression on 
 our hearts, that the stupendous events, and great ca- 
 lamities, which excite our wonder and grief, are of 
 God; and that both the genius and the criminai 
 ambition of men, are but the instruments which He 
 uses to accomplish his own wise and just purposes. 
 Let this, then, be well considered by us all. Enough 
 has already passed to give warning to every 
 thinking man of what is coming ; but if the Jews 
 are soon to be restored, as we conjecture no matter 
 by whom, or how this will be an event so indica- 
 tive of what God is doing in the earth, and of what 
 we have to expect, that few, I would hope, will be 
 so blind as not to perceive it, and be affected by it. 
 But should this be the case with us, and the power 
 of our country be engaged to resist it, because it 
 may thwart our political relations, or clash with our 
 interest, our destiny would then be no longer a ques- 
 tion . That this fatal delusion might be averted, 
 formed the principal motive for first publishing the 
 following pages, seven years ago ; and that they may 
 contribute to this end, is still the devoutest wish of 
 the AUTHOR. 
 
 Newbury. Jan, 24, 
 1807.
 
 THE 
 
 RESTORATION OJP THE JEWS, 
 
 THE 
 
 CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS; 
 
 OR, AN 
 
 ARRANGEMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCRIPTURE PROPHECIES, 
 
 WHICH RELATE TO THE 
 
 RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 AND TO SOME OF THE 
 
 MOST INTERESTING CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH ARE TO 
 
 ACCOMPANY AND DISTINGUISH THAT 
 
 IMPORTANT EVENT ; 
 
 WITH 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS AND REMARKS 
 
 . DRAWN FROM 
 
 THE PRESENT SITUATION AND APPARENT TENDENCIES 
 OF THINGS, 
 
 BOTH IN 
 
 CHRISTIAN AND MAHOMEDAN COUNTRIES. 
 BY J. BICHENO, M. A. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 " Neither the Prophecies concerning the Gentiles, nor those conoern- 
 "ing the Jews, have yet received their lull and entire completion." 
 
 Br. NEWTON* 
 
 " The Restoration of the Jews may be expected to have the greatest 
 ' effect in alarming mankind, and opening their eyes. This will be such 
 an accomplishment of the Prophecies as will vindicate them from all 
 " cavil." 
 
 _ DR. HARTLEY. 
 
 LonDon : 
 
 PRINTED BY J. BARFIELD, WARDOb H-STRKET. 
 
 1807.
 
 I
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FIRST EDITION. 
 
 BY way of apology for the delay of the fol- 
 lowing pages beyond the time intimated 
 some months ago, I must plead want of leisure : 
 for, on such a subject, detached hours are no- 
 thing; the whole mind must enter into it, and 
 days of seclusion are necessary. 
 
 Some persons of superior qualifications and 
 more leisure, will, I trust, pursue the subject, 
 and bring it to a greater degree of perfection 
 than I can ever hope to do. The prophecies, 
 like the starry heavens, viewed by a careless and 
 uninstructed eye, appear, to too many readers, 
 little but confusion. Skill to distinguish, and 
 patient attention to arrange, are necessary to our 
 perceiving the beaut} 7 , and discovering that mag- 
 nitude of evidence which they display, and to 
 forming any thing like a clear and comprehensive 
 judgment of their contents. The author does 
 not pretend to have performed much, but he has 
 done all that he could in his circumstances. 
 
 There are doubtless many more particulars re- 
 lative to the Restoration of the Jews, marked 
 out in the sacred prophecies, than what are no- 
 ticed in the following pages, or than have been 
 observed by the author, and none of which should 
 be slightly passed by. Even the least circum- 
 stances which the spirit of prophecy has seen fit 
 to take notice of, as what are to attend this won-
 
 76 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 derful event we are looking for, must be deserv- 
 ing our attention, , Should it please God to give 
 the students in prophecy any clear ideas respect- 
 ing these, and they should be published to the 
 world, with any degree of correctness, before they 
 happen, this would very much tend to convince 
 gainsaying infidels; or, at least, to arm the weak 
 Christian against the seducements of sophistry. 
 
 It has been thought necessary, in the following 
 attempt, to lay (particularly at the entrance) a 
 strong foundation of Scripture authority. To 
 some, a number of scripture quotations may read 
 heavy ; but solidity and usefulness are not to be 
 sacrificed to fancied elegance and amusement. 
 
 The inquiry here pursued is of great import- 
 ance, and appears to be intimately connected 
 with present transactions, and the fate of nations; 
 more so than any are aware of who have not well 
 considered it ; as the reader, I think, will soon 
 perceive, if he have patience to read with half the 
 attention which the subject, particularly at the 
 present moment, deserves. 
 
 That the great Disposer of all things may 
 awaken mankind from their fatal inattention to 
 his awful providential judgments which are in 
 the world, and, to that end, render useful this 
 little effort made to serve them, is the sincere 
 prayer of the 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 Jan. 14, 1800.
 
 THE 
 
 RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 THE 
 
 CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OF all the subjects which divine inspiration presents 
 to the attention of mankind, what is so instruct- 
 ing as that which relates to the coming and kingdom of 
 Jesus Christ? It involves every thing which is import- 
 ant to intelligent and accountable creatures ! This is 
 that, in which all Christians, however divided in their 
 sentiments on abstruser points, are united and agreed. 
 
 But, though we all believe the promise which assures 
 us that, " in like manner as the Saviour ascended to 
 heaven, so he shall come again ;" and though this pro- 
 mise is constantly in our mouths, yet, how few seem to 
 be looking for this blessed hope, as becomes their cha- 
 racter as Christians, or as might be expected from the 
 infinite interest which we have in this important event! 
 Most seem to trifle with that solemn charge, which the 
 Saviour, when about to leave the world and go to his 
 Father, left with his disciples: " Watch, for ye know 
 not at what hour your Lord doth come. And what I 
 say unto you, I say unto all, watch" 
 
 The early Christians, not understanding those pro- 
 phecies which speak of a long season of apostacy and 
 corruption, lived in constant expectation of the speedy 
 coming of their Lord. But, age succeeding age, and 
 this promised coming being still delayed, the ardour of 
 expectation has died away, and no events, however 
 portentous, seem sufficient to rouse the sleeping church. 
 If Christians have not entirely given up their hopes, 
 yet the generality seem, at least, to refer them to some
 
 73 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 very distant age ; and, if any one is induced from " the 
 Signs of the Times" to conclude that the promised event 
 is near, and will venture to avow his sentiments, he 
 must be content to be stigmatized as a visionary en- 
 thusiast; and this not only by the scoffing infidel, but 
 by those who profess themselves believers in divine re- 
 velation : " While the bridegroom tarried, they all 
 slumbered and slept. As the days of Noe were, so 
 shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." 
 
 And is the coming of Jesus Christ an event which 
 will be attended with infinite consequences ? Then all 
 those events, which are to be intimately connected 
 with this, become deeply interesting too ; and to be 
 inattentive to these, or cold and indifferent in our in- 
 quiries respecting them, especially in times like the 
 present, is criminal apathy. 
 
 That some little time previous to the appearance of 
 the Messiah, for the purpose of consummating the 
 work which he has received from his Father to do, 
 there will be some remarkable occurrences in Provi- 
 dence, that will afford to attentive Christians sufficient 
 warning of his near approach, is certain ; for otherwise 
 there would be no propriety in what he said to his dis- 
 ciples in his interesting discourse on mount Olivet*; 
 " And when these things begin to come to pass, then 
 look up, and lift up your heads ; for your redemption 
 draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable, " Be- 
 hold the fig-tree, and all the trees, when they now 
 shoot forth, ye see and know of vour ownselves-, that 
 summer is now nigh at hand ; so likewise ye, when ye 
 see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom 
 of God is nigh at hand f ." 
 
 The things here referred to, are those calamitous antj 
 awful commotions of nations, singular and vast in 
 their degree, extent and consequences, which are to 
 
 * See what the author has advanced to prove, that the latter part oi 
 this discourse relates to the last days, in his Word in Season. 
 
 t The good Bishop of Chester seems of quite a different opinion, and 
 has urged upon his clergy, in his late admired charge, a very contrary 
 sentiment. He thinks that little or nothing is to be learnt from com- 
 paring passing events with the prophecies ; for, " the objects are there 
 presented to the view in so indistinct a form, that the most penetrating 
 yo can see men only as trees."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 79 
 
 take place when " the times of the Gentiles shall be 
 fulfilled;" that is, when an utter end shall be put to all 
 that power and authority which has been inimical to 
 the church of God, and subversive of the peace and 
 well-being of mankind ; when "the iron and the clay, 
 the brass, and the silver and the gold," of the great 
 image, " shall be broken to pieces together," and be- 
 come " like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, 
 and the kingdom shall be the Lord's ;" or, as it is in 
 Dan. vii. QZ. " when the saints shall possess the king- 
 dom." 
 
 The proximate signs of the coming of Jesus Christ 
 being nigh at hand, marked out in the scripture pro- 
 phecies, appear especially to be, the fall of the tenth 
 part of the antichristian city ; that is, a stupendous re- 
 volution in one of the ten kingdoms of the beast's em- 
 pire A series of awful calamities commencing from 
 the aera of this revolution, in the progress of which, 
 the papal hierarchy, and all ecclesiastical usurpation 
 and corruption, under every form, papal and protes- 
 tant, will perish The kingdoms which have given 
 their power to the beast will be revolutionized The 
 power of the Turks will be overturned And, in the 
 midst of these confusions, troubles, and revolutions, the 
 Jews will be put in motion, and return to take posses- 
 sion of their ancient country. 
 
 Of all these singular and astonishing events which 
 the prophecies have taught us to look for, and to con- 
 sider as the signs of our Lord's near approach, there is 
 no one which will be more calculated to strike the at- 
 tention of mankind, and so little liable to be misunder- 
 stood, as the Restoration of the Jewish people, and 
 their after-conversion. This will be such an illustrious 
 fulfilment of prophecy ; such a manifest proof of a di- 
 vine interposition, and will be attended with so many 
 remarkable circumstances, that, whilst it will give the 
 most deadly blow to infidelity, it will, with irresistible 
 force, command the serious attention of all true Chris- 
 tians. This may, at least, be expected to be the case 
 after some progress has been made in their restoration ; 
 but the^rsif movements of Providence in their favour 
 may, perhaps, be such as will thwart the prejudices,
 
 80 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as well as the interests, and thus blind the eyes of a 
 great number even of serious Christians ; and espe* 
 cially of such as are rivetted to the unfounded notion 
 of their conversion to Christianity being to precede 
 even the very beginnings of their restoration. And 
 whatever may be the completion of these movements, 
 and whoever the instruments that God may make use 
 of, there can be little doubt but that the base and 
 impious, and the great body of spurious Christians, 
 will be blind to the hand which moves the great ma- 
 chine of human affairs, and scoff at, rather than adore; 
 and oppose, rather than forward, the designs of hea- 
 ven. 
 
 How near the Restoration of the Jews may be, it is 
 impossible to say. There are certainly many existing 
 circumstances in the world, and many singular appear- 
 ances in the face of things, which are calculated to 
 awaken a suspicion that it may not be very far off; 
 and a serious attention to the subject, especially by a 
 close and candid examination of those scripture pro- 
 phecies which are supposed to refer to it, is becoming 
 more and more the duty of every considerate man, and 
 most of all of those whose time and talents are, pro- 
 fessedly, and more immediately, consecrated to the 
 moral and religious instruction of mankind. These 
 are our watchmen : if they fail to give us warning, we 
 perish. Better would it be to be unnecessarily alarmed, 
 a hundred times, by the illusions of timidity, than be 
 suffered to sleep in quiet at the fatal moment; and cri- 
 minal indeed are those who mock and trifle, when, 
 from the station which they occupy, and the obliga- 
 tions they have laid themselves under, they ought, in a 
 season so alarming as the present, to be unusually se- 
 rious, doubly watchful, and to devote themselves to the 
 most profound research. 
 
 That mere literary men should turn from such sub- 
 jects with disgust, or even hold up to profane ridicule, 
 all such kind of investigations, however soberly pur- 
 sued, is not much to be wondered at; for, if we are to 
 form our opinion from the general fact, we must be 
 obliged to conclude, that modem polite literature as 
 well as three-fourths of our modern philosophy is
 
 INTRODUCTION. 81 
 
 inimical to every thing which is peculiar, not only hi 
 die evangtlical system, but in the whole of divine re 
 velation : Above all, it need not excite our surprise, 
 that those who are mere classical scholars if devoid 
 of piety should despise almost all Biblical inquiries: 
 for having been taught, from their earliest childhood, 
 to admire the productions of Greece and Rome as the 
 exclusive models of all perfection, their minds have 
 been so imbued with paganism, and their taste so vi- 
 tiated by its poison, that all such pursuits and studies 
 can but be disgusting, and we must therefore expect, 
 of course, that all subjects of this kind will be neglect- 
 ed, if not scoffed at, by such persons ; but that so great 
 a number of the ministers of religion should partake of 
 the same spirit, or amidst such eventful occurrences 
 which astonish and confound the human faculties 
 even of the general indifference, is, truly, matter of 
 deep regret ; for if these are among the scoffers^ or 
 only sleep, who shall warn us ? Or who will regard 
 those who do ? That there are, indeed, the most re- 
 spectable exceptions to this general apathy and semi- 
 infidelity, both in the established Church and out of it, 
 is true ; but that a very great majority seem to care for 
 none of these things is as true, and greatly to be la- 
 mented. 
 
 " It is well observed by a late intelligent writer *, that 
 " There are subjects, which to contemplate with what 
 " is called philosophic indifference, infallibly indi- 
 " cates a want of feeling, and a sufficiency of discern- 
 " ment ; betrays the incontestible marks of an unna- 
 " tural insensibility to the best interests of mankind, 
 " and a blind disregard to their own most important 
 " concerns and ultimate destination. Prophecy and 
 " revelation are, doubtless, deserving of being ranked 
 " in this class of subjects." 
 
 Prophecy is one of the main pillars on which the evi- 
 dence of divine revelation rests ; and is the more im- 
 portant, because, unlike to some other proofs of the 
 inspiration of the scriptures, it acquires additional 
 strength by time. And is every part of sacred pro- 
 phecy, at all tunes, deserving of serious consideration ? 
 
 G 
 * Author of Illustrations of Prophecy, p. 57
 
 82 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There are seasons in which some particular prophecies 
 become more especially interesting, and claiui-a more 
 than ordinary attention. Such, at this time, are those 
 which relate to the Jews, and to their future destina- 
 tion ; and the design of the present publication is, par- 
 ticularly, to stir up the public attention to those pro- 
 phecies which relate to the restoration of this singular 
 people in the latter days, and to prepare the minds of 
 iny countrymen for the appearance of that event, 
 should it take place in the present age, as I think it will, 
 Those whose opinions are governed by the fleeting 
 appearances of the moment, may think that the aspect 
 of things, at present, is less favourable to the hopes of 
 the Jews than it was some months ago ; but those who 
 attend most to the complicated and mysterious provi- 
 dence of God, are affected the least by momentary ap- 
 pearances. " He that observeth the wind shall not 
 sow ; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." 
 
 The seed of Abraham, from the beginning to the 
 present time, have been a remarkable people, and evi- 
 dently chosen and set apart by God for special pur- 
 poses, to be a people for himself to shew forth his 
 praise. Their whole history illustrates that promise of 
 God made to Israel by Moses in Exod. vi. 7. " I will 
 take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a 
 God." Nor was the covenant which God made with 
 them to be in force for a short period, but it was to be 
 an " everlasting covenant ;" and he promised that al- 
 though for their sins he might hide his face from them 
 for a moment, yet, still, with everlasting kindness he 
 would have mercy on them ; and that the mountains 
 should depart, and the hills be removed, but his loving- 
 kindness should not depart from them, nor the cove- 
 nant of his peace be removed *. And that the Apostle 
 Paul believed, that although his countrymen had in- 
 curred the displeasure of God, and brought upon them- 
 selves his judgments, on account of their unbelief and 
 multiplied crimes, yet, that they were not cast off for 
 ever, is plain to every one who reads with attention 
 the eleventh chapter to the Romans. 
 
 God's judgments, it is true, have come upon this 
 
 Isa. lir.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 83 
 
 people to the uttermost. They have fallen by the 
 edge of the sword, and been led away captive into all 
 nations, that all things written by Moses and the prc- 
 phets might be fulfilled ; yet the Apostle assures us that 
 the time will come, " when all Israel shall be saved, as 
 it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, 
 and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." And 
 Jesus Christ himself, whilst denouncing the judgments 
 which were to come upon them, and the long captivity 
 they were to endure, gives assurance of their redemp- 
 tion, when " the times of the Gentiles shall be ful- 
 filled*." 
 
 For what particular purposes God hath, as by a 
 continued miracle, preserved the Jews a distinct peo- 
 ple, so that, different from what has happened to all 
 other conquered nations, though scattered, hated and 
 persecuted, more than any people upon earth, they 
 have yet tenaciously adhered to their religion and rites, 
 gloried in their despised descent, and continued un- 
 mingled with the nations among which God has sifted 
 them, is not for us to say. But, doubtless, they are 
 preserved for very important ends ; ends worthy of that 
 wonderful interposition of Providence, which has been 
 so conspicuous in the strange arid various fortunes 
 which have attended them f. 
 
 It is worth while, then, to look attentively into our 
 sacred records, to see what may be learnt respecting 
 the future destiny of this remarkable people. Their 
 prophets, and ours, have said much on this interesting 
 subject. What they have said of the blindness which 
 has happened to them, and of the long captivity which 
 was to be the consequence of their crimes, has been 
 fulfilled; and this may be considered as a complete as- 
 
 G 2 
 
 * Lufce xxi. 24 
 
 t " The history of the Jews," says Basnage, (p. 465) " offers to the 
 " public view an object worthy of admiration ; and the greatest prodigy 
 " imaginable is, the preservation of the Jewish nation in the midst of all 
 " the calamities they have run through for seventeen hundred years. 
 " The bush of Moses surrounded with flames, has always burnt without 
 " consuming, The Jews have been driven from all places of the world, 
 " which has only served to disperse them in all the parts of the universe. 
 " They have from age to age run through misery and persecution, and 
 " torrents of their own blood. They still live in spite of the disgrace 
 " and hatred that attends them in all places, whilst nothing remains of 
 " the greatest monarchies but the name,"
 
 84 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ?urance and certain pledge that what they have said of 
 their restoration and future glory will also, in due time, 
 have its full accomplishment. 
 
 And that the prophecies which we shall review, did 
 not refer, ultimately, or in their full sense, at least, to 
 the partial return from Babylon, is evident from this, 
 that the same things are prophesied of by the prophets 
 who lived after that restoration, as well as by those 
 who lived before it; and in the New Testament, as well 
 as in the Old; and such blessings are promised, and 
 such a state of holiness, peace and prosperity assured, 
 as no one, who knows any thing of the Jewish history, 
 can suppose to have been at all realized in any age ; 
 unless those who adopt the allegorizing (or, as it is 
 quaintly called, the spiritualizing) scheme, by which 
 scripture is made to speak every thing but its plain li- 
 teral meaning. 
 
 Nor is there any thing in the present state of the 
 Jewish people, or in the appearance of things in gene- 
 ral, which should make it hard to believe, not only that 
 they will sometime be restored, but that they may be 
 restored soon. That, whenever it happens, great op- 
 position will be made to it, cannot be doubted, because 
 the word of God teaches us to expect it ; but this forms 
 no objection. It will only be the occasion, in the 
 awful dispensations of Providence, of dashing their 
 enemies to pieces, and of bringing glory to God, their 
 Redeemer, by their triumphs over them. 
 
 As has been already observed, whenever, and by 
 whatever means, this restoration takes place, it will be 
 such an illustrious fulfilment of prophecy (and espe- 
 cially their after conversion) and attended with such 
 extraordinary circumstances, that it cannot fail of for- 
 cibly striking the attention, and deeply affecting the 
 minds of all serious Christians ; nor, indeed, of making 
 a great noise throughout the whole civilized world. 
 And such an accession will be made to the evidences 
 of the truth of divine revelation, that, though the un- 
 godly part of mankind may see little or nothing in ir, 
 and although those blind guides of the nations who 
 will oppose this restoration and re-settlement of God's 
 ancient people in their own land, will, as a punish-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 85 
 
 merit for their own sins, and of the sins of the people 
 over whom they rule, and who suffer themselves to be 
 deceived and misled by them, be hardened in their un- 
 belief, and be permitted to pursue their own mad 
 schemes, in opposition to the providence of God ; yet, 
 great numbers who heretofore may have been too in- 
 attentive, will be properly affected by what they wit- 
 ness ; will have their eyes opened to see the dangerous 
 situation into which the misguided, infatuated nations 
 have brought themselves ; will have their weak and 
 wavering faith established, and be added to the number 
 of Christ's genuine disciples. 
 
 May our country, in that day, be preserved from 
 forming those alliances with the destroyers of the 
 earth, and from pursuing those mad schemes of pride, 
 ambition, arid covetousness, which would fill up the 
 measure of our folly and our crimes, and infallibly 
 bring upon us the wrath of heaven ! Thus would be 
 realized, in our punishments, the miseries of Tyre. 
 " Thou wast replenished and made very glorious in the 
 midst of the seas. Thy rowers have brought thee into 
 great waters; the east wind hath broken thee in the. 
 midst of the sea. Thy riches and thy fairs, thy mer- 
 chandize, thy mariners and thy pilots, thy caulkers, and 
 the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of 
 war that are in thee, and in all thy company which is 
 in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the 
 seas, in the day of thy ruin. All the inhabitants of the 
 isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall 
 be sore afraid ; they shall be troubled in their counte- 
 nance." All their hopes shall fail them, when thcu 
 art fallen, O Tyre ; and when so great power and 
 riches are sunk in the midst of the seas. " The mer- 
 chants among the people shall hiss at thee, thou shalt 
 be a terror, and never shalt be any more." What a les- 
 son for the corrupted, proud, and imperious nations of 
 modern times * ! 1 would hope the best ; but 1 con- 
 
 * See Ezek. xxvii. xxviii. Quere, Whether the prophet is not, in 
 these two chapters, under the names of Tyre and Sidon, describing the 
 characters, and fall, of some of the maritime nations in the latter days, 
 about the time of the return of the Jews ? The last three verses of the 
 prophecy would incline one to conclude that he is. And if to, what 
 country 43 10 likely to be the Tyre referred to ai Great Britain ?
 
 86 
 
 fess that, if tbe Jews are soon to be put in motion for 
 the re-establishment of their commonwealth ; and if 
 the nation with whom we are at war should be em- 
 ployed by Providence as the instrument to rouse them 
 to the attempt, and to aid them in effecting it, we 
 should most resolutely set ourselves to oppose it. So 
 little are such matters of religion attended to by those 
 who rule ; so little do any questions of religion weigh 
 in political determinations ; and, through the neglect, 
 of their teachers, so ill-informed are the multitude in 
 general, among high and low, on subjects of divine re- 
 velation, that there is every reason to fear the worst, 
 should occasion offer. Thousands there doubtless are, 
 who are waiting for this " consolation of Israel," and 
 who would be fully aware of the danger of opposing 
 the Providence of God, let him work by whom, or by 
 whatsoever means he may ; but their voice would be 
 too feeble to be heard. 
 
 Let no one think that this expectation of the future 
 restoration of the Jews is a notion taken up by a few 
 obscure individuals of the present day, whose fancies 
 are heated by the extraordinary occurrences of the 
 times; it has been the fixed opinion of the brightest 
 luminaries of the Christian church in all ages, and of 
 all countries, as might easily be shewn by quotations 
 without end. I shall content myself with a few from, 
 the writings of our own countrymen, whose sentiments 
 on subjects like this (however various their ideas on 
 some other religious questions may be) will always be 
 respected by Christians of all denominations. 
 
 Mr. Lowth, in his Comment on Isa. xi. 11. says, " I 
 " take this part of the chapter from the tenth verse on- 
 " ward, to foretel those glorious times of the church 
 " which shall be ushered in by the restoration of the 
 " Jewish nation ; when they shall embrace the gospel, 
 '* and be restored to their own country from the se- 
 " veral dispersions where they are scattered. This re- 
 " markable scene of providence is plainly foretold by 
 " most of the prophets of the Old Testament, and by 
 " St. Paul in the New." Here the reader will observe 
 that Mr. Lowth has taken up the notion common to 
 most writers on this subject, viz, that the Jew* are to
 
 INTRODUCTION. 87 
 
 be converted before their restoration ; but which we 
 shall hereafter find to be ill-founded. 
 
 " The sounding of the seventh trumpet," says Mr. 
 Whiston', in his Essay on Rev. p. 76, 312, " is for the 
 " restoration of the Jews, and for the pouring out the 
 " seven vials, or last plagues, upon the remains of the 
 " beast's kingdom." And Dr. Doddridge, in his Com- 
 ment on Rom. xi. 12. note a, makes the following ob- 
 servation. " So many of the prophecies of the Old 
 f{ Testament do evidently refer to the reduction of the 
 " Jews into their own land, as the people of the Mes- 
 te siah, that I can by no means doubt of the certainty 
 " of that event. Compare Isa. xxvii. 12, 13. Ezek. xi. 
 " 1721. Chap. xx. 3444. Chap, xxxiv. 13, 14. 
 " xxxv. 25 29. Chap, xxxvi. 24 28. Chap, xxxvii* 
 " 2128. Amosix. 14, 15. Ob. ver. 17- Micah. vii. 14, 
 " 15. Zech. xiv. 10, 11. Hos. i. 10, 11. And the won- 
 " derful preservation of them, as a distinct people, 
 " thus far, not only leaves a possibility of this great 
 " event, but encourages our hope of it. When it shall 
 " be accomplished, it will be so unparalleled, as neces* 
 " sarily to excite a general attention, and to fix upon 
 " men's minds such an almost irresistible demonstra- 
 " tion, both of the Old, and of the New Testament re- 
 " velation, as will probably captivate the minds of 
 " many thousands of Deists, in countries professedly 
 " Christian, (of which, under such corrupt establish- 
 " ments as generally prevail, there will, of course, be 
 te increasing multitudes;) nor will this only captivate 
 " their understanding, but will have the greatest ten- 
 " dency to awaken a sense of true religion in their 
 " hearts ; and this will be a means of propagating the 
 " gospel, with an amazing velocity, in Pagan and Ma- 
 et hometan countries, which probably had been evan- 
 " gelized long ago, had genuine Christianity prevailed 
 " in those who have made a profession, and God 
 " knows, for the most part, a very scandalous profes- 
 " sion, of its forms." 
 
 ' ' That the Jews," says .Dr. Priestley, " shall return 
 " to their own country about the time of the com-[ 
 " mencement of the millenium ; that they shall pos- 
 " sess it many years, in peace, and be a very flourishing
 
 88 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 te nation, seem to be very distinctly foretold in many 
 " prophecies of the Old Testament*." 
 
 The following is. found in Sir J. Newton's Observa- 
 tions upon the Prophecies. " The Israelites in the 
 " days of the ancient prophets, when the ten tribes 
 " were led into captivity, expected a double return ; 
 tf and that at the first the Jews should build a new tem- 
 *' pie inferior to Solomon's, until the time of that age 
 " should be fulfilled ; and afterwards they should re- 
 '< turn from all places of their captivity, and build Je- 
 " rusalem and the temple gloriously, Tobitxiv. 4, 5,6; 
 ' and to express the glory and excellence of this city, 
 *' it is figuratively said to be built of precious stones, 
 Tobit xiii. 16, 17, 18. Isa. liv. 11, 12. Rev. xi. and 
 *' called the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly Jerusalem, 
 " the Holy City, the Lamb's Wife, the City of the 
 " great King, the City into which the kings of the earth 
 " do bring their glory and honour. Now while such 
 " a return from captivity was the expectation of Israel, 
 t( even before the times of Daniel, I know not why 
 " Daniel should omit it in his prophecy. This part of 
 " the prophecy being therefore not yet fulfilled, I shall 
 " not attempt a particular interpretation of it, but con- 
 '.* tent myself with observing, that as the Seventy, and 
 " the sixty-t zvo weeks, were Jewish weeks, ending with 
 " sabbatical years ; so the seven weeks are the compass 
 " of a Jubilee, and begin and end with actions proper 
 '( for a Jubilee, and of the highest nature for which a 
 " Jubilee can be kept: and that since the command- 
 t( ment to return and build Jerusalem precedes the 
 ** Messiah the Prince forty-nine years, it may perhaps 
 " come forth not from the Jews themselves, but from 
 te some other kingdom friendly to them, and precede 
 e< their return from captivity, and give occasion to it; 
 " and lastly, that this rebuilding of Jerusalem and th* 
 " waste places of Judahis predicted in Micah vii. 11, 
 fl Amos ijf. 1 1, 14. Ezek. xxxvi. 33, 35, 36, 38. Isa. liv. 
 " 3, 1 1, 12. Iv. 12. Ixi. 4. Ixv. 18, 21, 22. and Tobit xiv. 
 " 5. and that the return from captivity and coming of 
 '' the Messiah and his kingdom are described in Daniel 
 f- vii. Rev. xix. Acts i. Matt.xxiv. Joel iii. Ezek. xxxvi. 
 
 * Institutes of Nat. ^nd Ilcv.Rel. Vol. II. p. 420.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 89 
 
 *' xxxvii. Isa. Ix. Ixii. Ixiii. Ixv. and Ixyi. and many 
 " other places of scripture. The manner I know not. 
 ef Let time be the interpreter *." 
 
 I shall now transcribe from the valuable work of Bi- 
 shop Newton on the Prophecies. " The preservation 
 " of the Jews is really one of the most signal and il- 
 " lustrious acts of divine providence. They are dis- 
 (( persed among all nations, and yet they are not con- 
 <( founded with any. The drops of rain which fall, nay, 
 " the great rivers which flow into the ocean, are soon 
 
 ( mingled and lost in that immense body of waters : 
 and the same in all human probability would have 
 been the fate of the Jews ; they would have been 
 
 ' mingled and lost in the common mass of mankind ; 
 
 1 but, on the contrary, they flow into all parts of the 
 " world, mix with all tiations, and yet keep separate from 
 " all. They still live as a distinct people, and yet they 
 " no where live according to their own laws, no where 
 t{ elect their own magistrates, no where enjoy the full 
 " exercise of their religion. Their solemn feasts and 
 " sacrifices are limited to one certain place, and that 
 " hath been now for many ages in the hands of stran- 
 " gers and aliens, who will not suffer them to come 
 " thither. No people have continued so long unmix- 
 " ed as they have done, not only of those who have 
 " sent forth colonies into foreign countries, but even of 
 " those who have abided in their own country. The 
 " northern nations have come in swarms into the more 
 ef southern parts of Europe ; but where are they now 
 te to be discerned and distinguished ? The Gauls went 
 " forth in great bodies to seek their fortune in foreign 
 " parts ; but what traces or footsteps of them are now 
 " remaining any where? In France, who can separate 
 " the race of the ancient Gauls from the various other 
 " people, who from time to time have settled there ? 
 " In Spain, who can distinguish exactly between the 
 " first possessors, the Spaniards, and the Goths, and 
 " the Moors, who conquered and kept possession of 
 " the country for some ages ? In England, who can 
 tf pretend to say with certainty which families are de- 
 f( rived from the ancient Britons, and which from the 
 
 * p. 132134.
 
 90 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Romans, or Saxons, or Danes, or Normans? The' 
 " most ancient and honourable pedigrees can be 
 te traced up only to a certain period, and beyond 
 f( that there is nothing but conjecture and uncertainty, 
 "obscurity and ignorance : but the Jews can go up 
 *' higher than any nation ; they can even deduce 
 " their pedigree from the beginning of the world. 
 " They may not know from what particular tribe 
 " or family they are descended, but they know cer- 
 (( tainly that they all sprung from the stock of Abra- 
 " ham. And yet the contempt with which they have 
 " been treated, and the hardships which they have 
 " undergone in almost all countries, should, one would 
 " think, have made them desirous to forget or re- 
 " nounce their original; but they profess it, they 
 " glory in it: and after so many Wars, massacres, and 
 " persecutions^ they still subsist, they still are very 
 " numerous; and what but a supernatural power cpuld 
 " have preserved them in such a manner as none 
 " other nation upon earth hath been preserved ? 
 
 " Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in 
 " the destruction of their enemies, than in their pre- 
 " servation. For from the beginning, who have been 
 " the great enemies and oppressors of the Jewish 
 <e nation, removed them from their own land, and 
 " compelled them into captivity and slavery? The 
 ie Egyptians afflicted them, and detained them in 
 " bondage several years. The Assyrians carried away 
 " captive the ten tribes of Israel, and the Babylonians 
 (C afterwards the two remaining tribes of Judah and 
 " Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially An- 
 " tiochus Epiphanes, cruelly persecuted them: and 
 " the Romans utterly dissolved the Jewish state, and 
 " dispersed the people, so that they have never been 
 " able to recover their city and country again. But 
 " where are now these great and famous monarchies, 
 " which in their turns subdued and oppressed the 
 " people of God? Are they not vanished as a dream, 
 " and not only their power, but their very names, lost 
 " in the earth? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylo- 
 " nians were over thrown, and entirely subjugated by the 
 *' Persians ; and the Persians (it is remarkable) were the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 91 
 
 (t restorers of the Jews, as well as the destroyers of their 
 *' enemies. The Syro-Macedonians were swallowed 
 *' up by the Romans; and the Roman empire, great 
 ee and powerful as it was, was broken in pieces by 
 (t the incursion of the northern nations; while the 
 " Jews are subsisting as a distinct people at this day. 
 " And what a wonder of providence is it, that the 
 " vanquished should so many ages survive the victors, 
 " and the former be spread all over the world, while 
 " the latter are no more? 
 
 " But neither the prophecies concerning the Gen- 
 (c tiles, nor those concerning the Jews, have yet re- 
 " ceived their full and entire completion. Our Saviour 
 fe hath not yet had ' the uttermost parts of the earth 
 " for his possession.' (PsaL'ii. 8.) ' All the ends of 
 " the world have not yet turned unto the Lord.' (xxxi. 
 " 27.) ' All people, nations, and languages, have not 
 " yet served him.' (Dan. vii. 14.) These things have 
 " hitherto been only partially, but they will even li- 
 (t terally be fulfilled. Neither are the Jews yet made 
 " 'an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.* 
 " (Isa. Ix. 15.) The time is not yet come, when 
 (( ' violence shall no more be heard in the land, 
 " wasting nor destruction within their borders :' (ver. 
 " 18.) God's promises to them are not yet made good 
 " in their full extent. ( Behold, I will take the chil- 
 " dren of Israel from among the heathen, whither 
 " they be gone, and will gather them on every side, 
 " and bring them into their own land. And they 
 " shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob 
 " rny servant, even they and their children, and their 
 " children's children for ever, and my servant David 
 "shall be their prince for ever:' (Ezek. xxxvii. 21, 
 " 25.) * Then shall they know that I am the Lord 
 " their God, who caused them to be led into cap- 
 " tivity among the heathen ; but I have gathered 
 " them unto their own land, and have left none of 
 them any more there. Neither will I hide my face 
 any more from them, for I have poured out my 
 spirit upon the house of Israel, saiththe Lord God.' 
 (xxxix. 28, 29-) However, what hath already been 
 
 Cf
 
 92 INTRODUCTION". 
 
 " accomplished, is a sufficient pledge and earnest of 
 " what is yet to come : and we have all imaginable 
 " reason to believe, since so many of those prophe- 
 " cies are fulfilled, that the remaining prophecies will 
 " be fulfilled also ; that there will be yet a greater 
 ," harvest of the nations, and the yet unconverted 
 " parts of the earth will be enlightened with the 
 " knowledge of the Lord; that the Jews will in God's 
 " good time be converted to Christianity, and, upon 
 " their conversion, be restored to their native city 
 " and country: and especially since the state of affairs 
 <f is such, that they may return without much l dit- 
 " ficulty, having no dominion, no settled country, 
 " or fixed property to detain them much, any where. 
 " We have seen the prophecy of Hosea (iii. 4, 5.) 
 " fulfilled in part, and why should we not believe 
 " that it will be fulfilled in the whole ? ' The chil- 
 " dren of Israel shall abide many days without a 
 " king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, 
 " and without an image or altar, and without an ephod, 
 rt or priest to wear an ephod, and without teraphim, 
 * e or divine manifestations. Afterwards shall the chil- 
 " dren of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, 
 " and David their king, and shall fear the Lord, and 
 " his goodness in the latter days.' 
 
 " We have now exhibited a summary view of the 
 " prophecies of the Old Testament more immediately 
 " relative to the present state and condition of the 
 "Jews; and what stronger and more convincing ar- 
 " guments can you require of the truth both of the 
 " Jewish and of the Christian religion ? The Jews 
 " were once the peculiar people of God : and as St. 
 " Paul saith (Rom. xi. 1.) ' Hath God cast away 
 " his people I God forbid. We see that after so 
 " many ages they are still preserved, by a inira- 
 " cle of Providence, a distinct people; and why 
 " is such a continual miracle exerted, but for the 
 4< greater illustration of the divine truth, and the 
 " better accomplishment of the divine promises, 
 " as well those which are yet to be, as those which 
 tf are already fulfilled ? We see that the great em- 
 " pires, which in their turns subdued aud oppressed 
 " the people of God, are all come to ruin : because,
 
 INTRODUCTION, pS 
 
 fe though they executed the purposes of God, yet that 
 " was more than understood: all that they intended 
 " was to satiate their own pride and ambition, their 
 " own cruelty and revenge. And if such hath been 
 " the fatal end of the enemies and oppressors of the 
 " Jews, let it serve as a warning to all those, who at 
 " any time, or upon any occasion, are for raising a 
 
 " clamour and persecution against them.' We 
 
 f{ should consider, that to them we owe the oracles 
 " of God, the Scriptures of the New Testament, as 
 "well as the Old; we should consider,, that ' the glo- 
 " rio,us company of the Apostles, as well as the goodly 
 " fellowship of the prophets, were Jews; we should con- 
 *' sider, that of them as concerning the flesh, Christ 
 (t came/ the Saviour of the World ; and surely some- 
 " thing of kindness and gratitude is due for such 
 " infinite obligation. Though they are now broken 
 " off, yet they are not utterly cast away. ' Because 
 " as unbelief/ as St. Paul argues, (ver. 20.) c they 
 " were broken off, and thou standest by faith ; be not 
 " high-minded, but fear/ There will be a time, when 
 " they will be grafted in again, and again become the 
 " people of God; for as the Apostle proceeds (ver. 
 " 25, 26.) f I would not, brethren, that ye should be 
 " ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should be wise in 
 " your own conceits) that blindness in part is hap- 
 " pened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
 " be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved *.' " 
 
 Dr. Jortin, a man of great erudition and diligent 
 research, in his Extracts from Ecclesiastical History, 
 writes as follows : 
 
 " St. Paul, in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle 
 " to the Romans, observes, that God had rejected the 
 " Jews, and chosen the Gentiles to be his people ; but, 
 " says he, this rejection of the Jews, as it is not uni- 
 " versal, so neither is it final and irreversible; some 
 " of them are now called to the faith, but to the 
 " greater part blindness is happened, and thisblind- 
 " ness must continue till the fulness, the more com- 
 <( plete conversion of the Gentiles be come, and then 
 
 * Vol. i, p. 124 126, 137110,
 
 94 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " the people of Israel shall also be saved; that is, 
 " shall be converted to the Gospel, and so be put in 
 " a state of salvation. St. Paul argues thus ; if God 
 " hath called the Gentiles to his grace, after a long 
 " idolatry and infidelity, though they were never 
 "before admitted to those privileges which the Jews 
 " enjoyed, and though God had never promised to 
 " be their God for ever, much more will he recal 
 f{ his chosen people from their infidelity. Here we 
 " have his own authority for it, which he also 
 " strengthens by appealing to the Scriptures : * It 
 " is written,' says he, e the deliverer shall turn away 
 " ungodliness from Jacob, and God shall make a 
 tl covenant with his people, and take away their sins.' 
 " The Jews were called God's own people, and his 
 " first-born; to them Christ was sent, to them the 
 " Apostles first preached the Gospel, and the first 
 " Christian church was that of Jerusalem, which in 
 *' the primitive times was as the mother-church, and 
 " had some degree of dignity and pre-eminence over 
 " all churches. The prophets speak of a future call- 
 " ing of the Jews, and of a state of stability, piety, 
 " power, happiness, glory, peace, and prosperity, 
 "which they should enjoy. The expressions which 
 " are used upon this occasion are extremely strong 
 <f and magnificent, and have not as yet been literally 
 " accomplished. St. John also in the .Revelation, 
 " when he describes the New Jerusalem, and the 
 " glorious state of the church, adopts the same ideas, 
 " and uses the same expressions, and therefore may 
 " be supposed to have had the same event in view: 
 " and the ancient Christians, either by tradition, or 
 " by examining the Scriptures, were generally agreed 
 " in holding that the Jews should in those last days 
 " become God's people again ; and in the expecta- 
 " tion of happier times the Jews also agreed with 
 them. 
 
 " The question here is, whether St. Paul's declara- 
 " tion was fulfilled in the conversion of several Jews 
 " after the destruction of Jerusalem, and during the 
 " four first centuries, or whether he had a view to 
 " a still future and a much more extensive conversion ?
 
 INTRODUCTION. J)5 
 
 t{ Upon this question, commentators are divided; 
 *' but the preservation of this people under so long, 
 " so signal, and so unexampled persecutions and ca- 
 " lamities, would incline one to think that they are 
 " reserved for some illustrious purposes of Providence; 
 " and the expressions of St. Paul most naturally 
 fe promise a conversion which is yet to come*." 
 
 I shall now give an extract from the elegant pro- 
 duction of Bishop Hurd. " The dispersion of the 
 " Jews is another event which deserves your'considera- 
 " tion. Moses himself had predicted this circum- 
 '.' stance of their fortune in terms of the greatest 
 " energy. He had told them, ' that they should be 
 <( removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, and 
 tf that they should be scattered among all people, 
 " from one end of the earth even unto the other;' 
 <( that among the nations, into which they should be 
 " driven, ' they should find no ease, nor rest, and that 
 " they should be only oppressed and crushed al- 
 fe ways;' that they should 'become an astonishment, 
 " a proverb, and a bye-word, among all nations;' 
 " and that ' their plagues should be wonderful, and 
 " of long continuance.' (Deut. xxviii.) These pro- 
 " phecies had been, to a certain degree, fulfilled in 
 " other parts of their history : but there was to be 
 tf a time, when ' the wrath of God should come upon 
 " them to the uttermost.' (1 Thess. ii. 16.) This time 
 " was now come, when their city was destroyed, and 
 " their land desolated by the arms of Titus. Then, 
 <f as Jesus prophesied of them, ' were the days of 
 u vengeance, that all things, which were written, 
 " should be fulfilled :' then were they ' to be led away 
 " captive into all nations :' and thenceforth, f was Jeru- 
 " salern to be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the 
 "times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled.' (Luke 
 " xxi. 22, 24J Nor say, that this last prophecy is 
 " indefinite: for the times of the Gentiles is a period 
 ( - well known in the prophetic writings; a period of 
 " long duration indeed, as the event hath shewn; yet 
 " a period, marked out by the other prophecies no 
 <( less distinctly than their other captivities had been. 
 * Vol, iii, p, 132-4*5.
 
 ()6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " For to all these predictions there must be added 
 " one more, which expressly asserts the return of thrs 
 " people, in some future age, from their long and 
 " wretched dispersion : for blindness, in part only, hatli 
 fe happened to Israel ; and that again till ( the fulness 
 " of the Gentiles be come in.' (Rom. xi 25.) This St. 
 " Paul terms a mystery ; and yet the antient prophets 
 " had a glimpse of it, when they foretold, that the 
 " Lord would not make a full end of them ;' (Jer. 
 <( xliv. 28.) and that a remnant of them ' should remain, 
 " and should) icturn in the latter days/ (Isai. x. 21. 
 " Ezek. vi. 8. Moses himself, who had denounced 
 " such heavy judgments upon them, and of so long 
 *' continuance during their dispersion, had mingled 
 " with his woes this one note of mercy ; ' and yet, 
 " for all that, when they lie in the land of their ene- 
 " mies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor 
 " them to destroy them utterly, and to break my 
 " covenant with them/ (Lev. xxvi. 44.) 
 
 " Consider these predictions, and compare them with 
 " the present and past state of this people for seventeen 
 " hundred years ; and see, if there be nothing to take 
 ff your attention, or rather your astonishment, in the 
 tf completion of them. 
 
 " Why is this dreadful vengeance, singular in its cir- 
 " cumstances, and never yet experienced by any other 
 " people on the face of the earth, why is this peculiar 
 " vengeance executed on the Jews ? Or whatever the 
 " cause may be, is not the fact such as was pre- 
 " dieted ? 
 
 " Lastly, We believe, on the faith of the sacred 
 " Oracles, that the Jews shall never be destroyed 
 " utterly, but shall exist a distinct people, as they have 
 ** hitherto done, till the times of the Gentiles are jul- 
 *' filled. But here, you will say, the prophets indulged 
 " a natural prejudice in favour of their own nation ; 
 " it being the way of all people to delight in such 
 " dreams of existence and perpetuity. It may be so : 
 " but see, whether this dream hath ever yet been so 
 " far realized in the case of any other people. The 
 " Romans, for instance, were as partial to themselves, 
 " and doated as much on the idea of their perpetuity,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 97 
 
 " as the Jews. But what is become of their eternal 
 " empire ? Consider, therefore, the singular fate of 
 " the Jews through so many ages ; and see whether it 
 ff be not credible, from what is past, that the prophet 
 " was moved by something more than a spirit of na- 
 if tional vanity, when he said, * Fear thou not, O Jacob 
 " my servant, saith the Lord, for I arn with thee ; for I 
 " will make a full end of all the nations, whither I have 
 " driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee. 
 " (Jer. xlvi. 28*.) 
 
 Although, for the purpose of impressing the Reader's 
 mind with the reasonableness of a serious and candid 
 attention -to the following inquiry respecting the res- 
 toration of the Jews, I have already been pretty liberal v 
 in quotations from some of our most respectable wri- 
 ters on this subject, I cannot forbear presenting to his 
 view the following, which is taken from the valuable 
 work of Dr. Hartley, On Man, Vol. ii. p. 373. Prop. 
 83. 
 
 It is probable that the Jews will be restored to 
 PALESTINE. " This appears from the prophecies,' 
 " which relate to the restoration of the Jews and 
 " Israelites to their own land. For, 
 
 tf First, These have never yet been fulfilled in any 
 " sense agreeable to the greatness and gloriousness of 
 " them. The peace, power, and abundance of bless- 
 " ings, temporal and spiritual, promised to the Jews 
 " upon their return from captivity, were not bestowed 
 " upon them in the interval between the reign of 
 * f Cyrus, and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus ; 
 " and ever since this destruction they have remained 
 <c in a desolate state. 
 
 " Secondly, The promises of restoration relate- to the 
 " ten tribes, as well as the two ofJudah and Benjamin. 
 " But the ten tribes, or Israelites, which were captir, 
 " vated by Shalmaneser, have never been restored at x 
 ** all. There remains therefore a restoration yet future 
 " for them. 
 
 " Our ignorance of the place where they now lie 
 " hid, or fears that they are so mixed with other na- 
 
 * Sermon* at Warburton's Lectures, Vol, i. p. 172 187 
 H
 
 58 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " tions, as not to be distinguished and separated, onght 
 " not to be admitted as objections here. Like objec- 
 " tions might be made to the resurrection of the body ; 
 " and the objections both to the one, and the other, 
 " are, probably, intended to be obviated by Ezekiel's 
 " prophecy concerning the dry bones. It was one of 
 " the greatest sins of the Jews, to call God's promises 
 " in question, on account of apparent difficulties and 
 " impossibilities ; and the Sadducees, in particular, 
 " erred concerning the Resurrection, because, ' they 
 " knew not the Scriptures, nor the power of God.' 
 <( However, it is our duty to inquire, whether the Ten 
 " Tribes may not remain in the countries where they 
 " v<;ere first settled by Shalmaneser, or in some others. 
 \" Thirdly, A double return seems to be predicted in 
 " several prophecies. 
 
 " Fourthly, The prophets who lived since the return 
 " from Babylon, have predicted a return in similar 
 " terms with those who went before. It follows there- 
 " fore, that the predictions of both must relate to some 
 " restoration yet future. 
 
 Fifthly, The restoration of the Jews to their own 
 " land, seems to be predicted in the New Testament. 
 
 " To these arguments, drawn from Prophecy, we 
 " may add some concurring evidences, which the pre- 
 *' sent circumstances of the Jews suggest. 
 
 " First, then, The Jews are yet a distinct people 
 t( from all the nations amongst which they reside. 
 " They seem therefore reserved by providence for 
 " some such signal favour, after they have suffered the 
 " due chastisement. 
 
 " Secondly, They are to be found in all the coun- 
 " tries of the known world. And this agrees with 
 " many remarkable passages of the Scriptures, which 
 " treat both of their dispersion, and of their return. 
 
 " Thirdly, They have no inheritance of land in any 
 " country. Their possessions are chiefly money and 
 " jewels. They may therefore transfer themselves with 
 <c the greater facility to Palestine. 
 
 " Fourthly, They are treated with contempt and 
 " harshness, and sometimes with great cruelty, by th
 
 INTRODUCTION. 99 
 
 (t nations amongst whom they sojourn. They must 
 ff therefore be the more ready to return to their own 
 " land. 
 
 " Fifthly, They carry on a correspondence with 
 <f each other throughout the whole world , and conse- 
 tf quently must both know when circumstances begin 
 " to favour their return, and be able to concert mea- 
 " sures with one another concerning it. 
 
 " Sixthly, a great part of them speak and write the 
 " Rabbinnical Hebrew, as well as the language of the 
 fe country where they reside. They are therefore, as 
 " far as relates to themselves, actually possessed of an. 
 " universal language and character; which is a cir- 
 " cumstance that may facilitate their return, beyond 
 " what can be well imagined. 
 
 " Seventhly, The Jews themselves still retain a hope 
 " and expectation, that God will once more restore 
 " them to their own land." 
 
 All the fore-cited authors wrote before the com- 
 mencement of the present commotions, and, although, 
 a pretty deep silence has been observed of late among 
 our learned scribes, chief priests, and elders, on sub- 
 jects like this, yet this hope of the Jews still finds sup- 
 port; and even from a learned prelate too, (Dr. Hors- 
 iey,) who has never been suspected of immoderate zeal 
 for the overthrow of Pope or Turk. The excellent 
 and pious Mr. Edward King, who has so laudably em- 
 ployed his leisure and talents for the purpose of awaken- 
 ing his countrymen from that fatal slumber into which 
 they are sunk, to notice the awful hand of God which is 
 stretched over the guilty nations, has, in the Supplement 
 tohisRemarksonthe Sign oftheTimes, zealously support- 
 ed the hope of the Jews, as to a future Restoration, and 
 this before their conversion. And though it were to 
 be wished, that there was less of fancy in this worthy 
 gentleman's criticisms and remarks, yet his labours of 
 love deserve both our thanks and serious attention. 
 One good effect of his criticisms on Isa. xviii. has been 
 to stimulate the learned Bishop of Rochester to labour 
 in the same field. And for whose laboured Critical 
 Disquisitions on that same difficult prophecy, the pub- 
 H 2
 
 100 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lie .owe thanks. This learned prelate, although he 
 cannot allow, it to be at all probable, that the atheistical 
 democrats of France should be the people for whom 
 the honour of being the messengers of God, to an- 
 nounce to the scattered Jews the glad tidings of their 
 deliverance is intended*, yet maintains, that this 
 mercy is designed for them. 
 
 To finish this long Introduction, I would recom- 
 mend to those who censure researches into the mean- 
 ing of such prophecies as are supposed to refer to the 
 events of the present day, and who think they ought 
 to be discouraged, the more liberal sentiments of this 
 bishop. In his address to Mr. King, he thus expresses 
 himself, at p. 3 : " I must publicly declare, that I 
 " think you are rendering the best service to the 
 " church of God, by turning the attention of believers 
 if to the true sense of the prophecies. For you are 
 " perfectly right in the opinion you maintain, that a 
 " far greater proportion of the prophecies, even of 
 <c the Old Testament, than is generally imagined, 
 t( relate to the second advent of our Lord. Few com- 
 tf paratively relate to the first advent by itself, without 
 " reference to the second. And of those, that have 
 " been supposed to be accomplished in the first, many 
 " had in that only an inchoate accomplishment, and 
 " have yet to receive their full completion. While 
 " we agree in these great and leading principles, I 
 " hope that a difference of opinion upon subordinate 
 * ( points, upon the particulars of interpretation (so far 
 " as either of us may venture upon particular inter- 
 " pretation, which is to be ventured upon with the 
 " greatest caution, with fear, indeed, and trembling) 
 <{ will be received, on both sides, with that candour 
 " and charity, which is due from one to another 
 " among all those who, in these eventful times, are 
 " anxiously waiting for the redemption of Israel, and 
 " marking the awful signs of its gradual approach. 
 
 Page 17. "I never will admit, nor will you, I 
 " think, be inclined to admit, that our religion 
 " has belonging to it any secret doctrine, from the 
 " hearing of which the illiterate laity are to be ex- 
 
 * Critical Disc uisitiuns, p. 101*
 
 INTRODUCTION. 101 
 
 " eluded. The notion of the incompetence of the 
 " common people to understand the whole of the 
 " revealed doctrine, and of the danger of expounding 
 ' the prophecies to them, is false and abominable. 
 " It is the very principle upon which the sacred text 
 " was, for so many ages, kept under the look and 
 " key of the dead languages. Would God f say I, all 
 " the Lord's people were prophets!"
 
 
 THE 
 
 RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 THE 
 
 CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER THE FIRST. 
 
 The Restoration of all the tribes of Israel The moral 
 character, peace, and prosperity, which are to dis- 
 tinguish this people Their double return, and the 
 extent oj their country. 
 
 I. r TTHE 'prophecies which claim our first attention, 
 JL are those that give assurance of the future res- 
 toration of all the tribes of Israel ; the Jews led into 
 captivity by the Romans more than seventeen hundred 
 years ago, and the ten tribes carried away by Shal- 
 maneser, king of Assyria, above two thousand five 
 hundred years since*. In the Scriptures, these latter, 
 who revolted in the days of Rehoboam, and set up a 
 separate kingdom, are commonly called Israel f; 
 whilst 'the former, Jndah and Benjamin, who remained 
 with the house of David, are called Jews, and their 
 state the kingdom of Judah. In later times, indeed, 
 all the tribes appear to be included in this general 
 name J. And in this latitude we shall generally speak 
 of them. 
 
 Yes, the prophecies assure us, that the whole house 
 of Israel, after a long captivity, shall be restored again, 
 and once more become a great people. 
 
 * gKingsxviii. 
 
 1 1 Kings xii. The descendants of the ten tribes are to be sought for 
 in the eastern parts of the world ; those who are scattered among these 
 western nations are mostly of Judah and Benjamin. 
 J Acts ii. 5.
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, &C. 103 
 
 When God entered into covenant witji Abraham, 
 (Gen. xtii. 7, 8.) he promised, " I will establish tny 
 covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after 
 thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, 
 to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 
 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, 
 the land wherein thou art a stranger ; all the land of 
 Canaan, for an everlasting possession : and I will be 
 their God." This same promise was repeated to Ja- 
 cob. And when the descendants of Abraham, the 
 children of Israel, were about to enter the promised 
 land, the Lord assured them, by his servant Moses, 
 (Lev. xxvi,) that if they walked in his statutes, and 
 kept his commandments to do them, then he would 
 bless them, and give them peace in their land, and set 
 his tabernacle among them ; but, if they would not 
 hearken to do his commandments, to serve him in the 
 land which he gave them, then he would bring the 
 land into desolation, and scatter them among the hea- 
 then, and draw out a sword after them. Yet, still, if 
 they would confess their iniquity, and humble them- 
 selves before him, he promises (ver. 42 45.) " Then 
 will I remember my covenant with J acob, and also my 
 covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abra- 
 ham, will I remember ; and I will remember the land. 
 And when they be in the land of their enemies, I will 
 not cast them away, neither will I abhor them or de- 
 stroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with 
 them ; for I am the Lord their God." Compare this 
 with Deut. iv. 25 31. 
 
 And the message to transgressing Judah, by Isaiah*, 
 was, " Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but 
 understand not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 
 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears 
 heavy, and shut their eyes. Then said I, Lord, how 
 long ? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted 
 without inhabitant, and the houses without man, 
 and the land be utterly desolate : and the Lord have 
 removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking 
 in the midst of the land." But remark the promise 
 which follows : " But yet in it shall be a tenth, and 
 * Isa. Ti, 913.
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 it shall return, and shall be eaten : as a teil-tree, and 
 as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast 
 their leaves ; so the holy seed shall be the substance 
 thereof." Yes; although this goodly plant, which 
 God planted in Canaan, is cast out and withered as a 
 dead tree, it shall again be planted in the mountains of 
 Israel, and take root, and blossom, and bud, and fill the 
 face of the world with fruit ! 
 
 In chapter xxxii. the prophet, after Tittering some 
 predictions relative to the blessings of the Messiah's 
 kingdom, promising, " Behold, a king shall reign in 
 righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment; and 
 a man (or the man, as Bishop Lowth and Mr. Dodson 
 read it) shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and 
 a covert from the tempest," assumes, at verse the 9th, 
 the language of reproof, and forewarns his people of a 
 long series of calamities which they were to suffer for 
 their sins, before they should enter upon the enjoyment 
 of the promised blessings. " Rise up, ye women that 
 are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters, give 
 ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall ye be 
 troubled, ye careless women ; for the vintage shall 
 fail, the gathering shall not come. Upon the land of 
 iny people shall come up thorns and briers, yea, upon 
 all the houses of joy in the joyous city. Because the 
 palaces shall be forsaken, the multitude of the city 
 shall be left, the forts and towers shall be for dens for 
 ever, (i. e. for many ages,) a joy of wild asses, a pas- 
 ture of flocks. Until the spirit be poured upon us 
 from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field. 
 And the fruitful field be counted for a forest." It is 
 now that they are to be restored, and enter upon the 
 promised blessing, of the Messiah's kingdom : ver. 16. 
 " -Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and 
 righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the 
 work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the effect 
 of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And 
 my people shall dwell in peaceable habitations, and in 
 sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places." 
 
 Again in chap. xlix. 7- " Thus saith the Lord, the 
 Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom 
 man despisethj (the Messiah) to him whom the nation
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 105 
 
 abhorreth. Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable 
 time have 1 heard thee, and in a day of salvation have 
 I helped thee ; and I will preserve thee, and give thee 
 for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, 
 to cause to inherit the desolate heritages ; that thou 
 mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth ; to them that 
 are in darkness, Shew yourselves ; and I will make all 
 my mountains a way, and my highways shall be ex- 
 alted. Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, 
 these from the north, and from the west, and from the 
 land of Sinim." And when this prophet prophesies of 
 the Messiah, as the deliverer of captive Israel, chap. 
 Ixi. 4. he says, " And they shall build the old wastes, 
 they shall raise up the former desolations of many ge- 
 nerations." 
 
 Chap. Ixii. " For Zion's sake will I not hold my 
 peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the 
 righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the 
 salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the 
 Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy 
 glory. And thou shalt be called by a new name, which 
 the mouth of the Lord shall name Thou shalt no more 
 be termed Forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be 
 termed Desolate." Ver. 10. " Go through, go through 
 the gates ; prepare you the way of the people, cast up, 
 cast up the highway, gather out the stones, (i. e. re- 
 move every obstacle) lift up a standard for the people. 
 Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the 
 world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy sal- 
 vation coineth." 
 
 Were we to produce all the prophecies of Isaiah 
 which relate to the return of Judah and Israel 
 to their own land, in the latter days, we must 
 transcribe almost the whole of them. All the latter 
 chapters, especially, direct our attention to this im- 
 portant object. 
 
 Jeremiah, also, hath left us many prophecies on this 
 subject. In chap. xvi. 14, 15, he says, " Behold the 
 days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be 
 said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of 
 Israel out of the land of Egypt ; but, The Lord liveth 
 that brought up the children of Israel from the land of
 
 106 
 
 the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven 
 them ; and I will bring them again into their land that 
 I gave unto their fathers." The following part of this 
 prophecy, as well as many others which we have pass- 
 ed over, we shall have occasion to refer to by and by. 
 
 We pass now to chapter the xxxth. " Thus speaketh 
 the Lord God of Israel, (ver. 2,) saying, Write thee all 
 the words which I have spoken unto thee in a book. 
 For lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring 
 again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, 
 saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the 
 land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess 
 it." At the time of the restoration from Babylon, 
 they were those of Judah that returned, and not the 
 ten tribes, called Israel ; at least not as a people, for 
 though a few of these took advantage of the decrees 
 of the kings of Persia, and mingled with their brethren, 
 yet the great body remained behind*. This, as well 
 as some promises which follow, and which, it is cer- 
 tain, have never yet had any adequate fulfilment, de- 
 termine the prophecy to look farther than the deli- 
 verance from the Babylonish captivity. Ver. 10th. 
 " Fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, 
 neither be dismayed, O Israel, for lo, I will save thee 
 from afar, and thy seed from the land of thy captivity, 
 and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and quiet, and 
 none shall make him afraid ; for I am with thee, saith 
 the Lord, to save thee. Though I make a full end of 
 all nations, whither I have scattered thee, yet will I 
 not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in 
 measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunish- 
 ed." How wonderfully, hitherto, has this part of the 
 prophecy been fulfilled ! We look for their ancient 
 conquerors and oppressors where are they ? The As- 
 syrians ; the Medes and Persians ; the Egyptians ; the 
 Syro-Macedonians and Romans They are no more ! 
 But the Jews remain, a monument of the truth of God's 
 word, and a sign to all nations ! As the Bishop of 
 Bristol observes : " What a wonder of providence is 
 " it, that the vanquished should so many ages survive 
 " the victors, and the former be spread all over the 
 
 * Ezra ii. viii.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 107 
 
 "world, while the latter are no more*." Ver. 18. 
 " Thus saith the Lord, behold I will bring again the 
 captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwell- 
 ing-places, and the city shall be builded on her own 
 heap. Their children, also, shall be as aforetime, and 
 their congregation shall be established before me, and 
 I will punish all that oppress them ; and their nobles 
 shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed 
 from the midst of them. And ye shall be my people, 
 and I will be your God." And how are these promises 
 to find their accomplishment ? Ver. 23. " Behold, 
 the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a 
 continuing whirlwind ; it shall fall with pain upon the 
 head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord 
 shall not return, until he have done it, and until he 
 have performed the intents of his heart." And that 
 the period of this mercy to God's people, and of these 
 judgments on their oppressors, may not be mistaken, 
 the prophet adds, " In the latter days ye shall con- 
 sider it." 
 
 The latter days. It may be worth while to stop a 
 moment to inquire what, in the sacred writings, is 
 meant by this, and some other phrases of a somewhat 
 similar kind, relative to different times and seasons. 
 The last day, as in John vi. 54, evidently means the 
 time when Jesus Christ shall come to raise the dead ; 
 but the last time; the last times ; and the last days, 
 comprehend a large portion of time, and sometimes 
 signify the whole period from the first advent of Jesus 
 Christ to the end of the world, or, at least, of this pre- 
 sent dispensation ; and at others only the latter part of 
 this division of time. Thus the Apostle Paul says to 
 Timothy, (2 Ep. iii. 1.) " In the last days perilous 
 times shall come ; and to the Hebrews, (chap. i. 2.) 
 " God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his 
 Son." Peter says, (1 Ep. i. 20.) that Jesus Christ 
 " was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, 
 but was manifest in these last times for us." And 
 again the same Apostle says, (2 Ep. iii. 3.) " There 
 shall come in the last days scoffers." In his first 
 
 VoLI. p.126.
 
 108 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 epistle, chap. i. 5. he has the word time in the singular, 
 saying, " We are kept by the power of God, through 
 faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last 
 time" This last time must mean the eml of the world, 
 or of this dispensation ; but when the Apostle John 
 (1 Ep. ii. 18.) says, " Little children, it is the last 
 time" he evidently uses the term in a much more 
 comprehensive sense than Peter. The Old Testament 
 prophets also spoke of the period of the Gospel dispen- 
 sation in the same sort of language; as Isa. ii. 2. Mic. 
 iv. 1. Joel ii. 28 32. compared with Acts ii. 1?. The 
 last times, the last days, See. in some of the above pas- 
 sages, evidently signify a very long portion of time, 
 comprehending the whole of the Gospel age ; whilst 
 in others, the Jatter part of this age, or division of time, 
 seems to be intended. 
 
 But, to understand why the period from the first ap- 
 pearance of the Messiah ; at least the times when the 
 .Apostles wrote, and the ages after, are called the last 
 time, or times, and the last days, we must remember 
 that, in the Scriptures, time is divided into different 
 portions, in reference both to the history of the world 
 and of the church. With reference to the church, 
 there are three grand divisions of time, or three times. 
 The first division, or period of time, was when the 
 church was without the law ; this extended from Adam 
 to Moses. The second period of time reached from 
 the exodus from Egypt, to the appearance of the Mes- 
 siah ; and the last period, is that of the Gospel dispen- 
 sation. 
 
 With reference to the world (but as connected with 
 the church of God still) there are four times, or divi- 
 sions of time, distinguished by the four great monar- 
 chies that were to precede the reign of Jesus Christ. 
 The first was that of the Assyrians, which had its seat 
 first at Nineveh, and afterwards at Babylon : the se- 
 cond was the Medo-Persian, founded by Cyrus : the 
 third was that of the Greeks, founded by Alexander : 
 and the fourth is that of the Romans, which must con- 
 tinue iu its ten horns, or states and kingdoms, till the 
 be given to Jesus Christ and the saints*. 
 
 * Dan. vii.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 109 
 
 Now, whether we consider the divisions of time as they 
 refer to the church or the world, the period in which 
 we live, and in which the Apostles lived, is the last 
 time. All the years from the first appearance of Jesus 
 Christ to the end of this dispensation, are the last days. 
 And as to the phrase, the latter days, used by Jere- 
 miah, and others of the prophets, as well as latter years, 
 they plainly appear to signify the concluding part of 
 these last times, in which we live. 
 
 The latter days, then, in which the Jews are to ex- 
 perience this restoring mercy, promised by Jeremiah, 
 and when the fierce anger of the Lord is to go forth 
 against their enemies, could not be at about seventy 
 years distance from the time of the prophet, but are 
 still future, at least, the mercy to Israel and Judah must 
 be so, even supposing the phrase, the latter days, to 
 signify the same as the last times, and the last days ; 
 for, though the Jews have been oppressed, and led into 
 captivity, since the commencement of the last period 
 of time, yet, what .wonderful restoration of mercy have 
 they experienced, even since the succession of the Ro- 
 man monarchy ? But to return. 
 
 The prophet Jeremiah still pursues the same subject 
 through the thirty-first chapter, giving assurance of 
 Israel's and Judah's restoration to favor in the latter 
 days. Ver. 1. "At the same time, saith the Lord, 
 (that is, in the latter days) will I be the God of all the 
 families of Israel, and they shall be my people." Ver. 4. 
 " I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of 
 Israel, thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets ; 
 thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Sa- 
 maria." Ver. 8. " Behold, 1 will bring them from the 
 north country, and gather them from the coasts of the 
 earth ; and with them the blind and the lame, the wo- 
 man with child, and her that travaileth with child to- 
 gether ; a great company shall return thither." Ju- 
 dah's return from Babylon was from the east, and, 
 comparatively, not far from their own country ; but 
 this is to be from the north, and from the coasts of the 
 earth. Ver. 10. " Hear the word of the Lord, O ye 
 nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He
 
 HO THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a 
 shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed 
 Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that 
 was stronger than he ; therefore they shall come and 
 sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to 
 the goodness of the Lord. 
 
 Passing over the many other predictions of this ani- 
 mated prophet, to the same effect, let us attend to the 
 testimony of Ezekiel. In chap.xxxvii. he has informed 
 us of a vision which he had, relative to the destinies of 
 the whole house of Israel. A vision of the resurrection 
 of the dry bones in the valley of vision. And what is 
 it, but an assurance of the restoration of all the tribes 
 of Jacob to civil and political existence, after a long 
 season of dispersion and bondage ? The Jews, as to 
 their political state, and their religious state too, are as 
 dry bones, without a country, without a temple, with- 
 out magistrates ; every where despised and persecuted, 
 scattered and peeled ; a nation meted out and trodden, 
 down*. " But, thus saith the Lord," (ver. 5.) " Be- 
 hold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall 
 live. Prophecy, son of man, and say to the wind, 
 Thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, 
 O breath, and breathe upon these slain, and they shall 
 live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the 
 breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up 
 upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he 
 said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole 
 house of Israel ; behold, they say, Our bones are dried, 
 and our hope is lost ; we are cut off for our parts. 
 Therefore prophecy and say unto them, Thus saith the 
 Lord God, behold, O my people, 1 will open your 
 graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, 
 and bring you into the land of Israel." 
 
 The metaphor of dry bones is used rather than that 
 of dead bodies, as in Rev. xi. 812. to signify their 
 very long political death : and long indeed it has been ! 
 
 But we must not pass over what follows from verse 
 thq 16th. " Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one 
 stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the chil- 
 dren of Israel his companions." Those of the ten 
 
 * Isa. xviii. 2.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. Ill 
 
 tribes mingled with Judah and Benjamin. "Then 
 take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph 
 the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel 
 his companions. And join them one to another into 
 one stick, and they shall become one in thine 
 hand." By a miracle these two sticks were to be- 
 come one in his hand, to typify that miraculous inter- 
 position by which the future union of Judah and 
 Israel into one kingdom, shall be effected. 
 
 Ver. 21. "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I 
 will take the children of Israel from among the hea- 
 then, whither they be gone, and will gather them 
 on every side, and bring them into their own land. 
 And I will make them one nation in the land upon 
 the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king 
 to them all : and they shall no more be two nations, 
 neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any 
 more at all ; neither shall they defile themselves any 
 more with their idols, &,c. ;> 
 
 For the present we shall pass over the prophecies 
 of Daniel to Hosea iii. 4. where the prophet most 
 expressly foretels what should happen to his people 
 in after times. " The children of Israel shall abide 
 many days without a king, and without a prince, 
 and without a sacrifice, and without an image, (or 
 altar) and without an ephod, and without teraphim." 
 Could any words more exactly describe the state this 
 people are now in, and have been in for so many 
 ages ? By what faculty, short of divine inspiration, 
 was it possible to foresee, so exactly, into the facts 
 of future ages, and to ascertain, contrary to all ex- 
 perience, and the natural course of things, that such 
 a people, and in such circumstances, should still 
 survive, and be a distinct people still. Let unbelievers 
 solve the difficulties in which infidelity involves them, 
 if they can. But attend to the words which imme- 
 diately follow, and let sceptics, at least, acknowledge, 
 that if they should ever be verified, then the religion 
 of the Scriptures is from God, and divine revelation 
 is ascertained beyond a doubt. Ver. 5. " Afterwards 
 shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord 
 their God, and David their king, (the Messiah, of
 
 112 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 the house of David) and shall fear the Lord and 
 his goodness, in the latter days." Thus far Hosea. 
 
 The prophet Micah, after reproving Israel for their 
 abounding oppressions, denounces against them the 
 judgments of God. "Therefore/' says he, " shall 
 Zion, for your sakes, be plowed as a field, and Jeru- 
 salem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the 
 house as the high places of the forest *." but he im- 
 mediately addsf, "But in. the last days it shall 
 come to pass that the mountain of the house of the 
 Lord shall be established in the top of the -mountains, 
 and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people 
 shall flow unto it. In that day, saith the Lord, will 
 I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her 
 that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted. And 
 I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that 
 was cast far off a strong nation, and the Lord shall 
 reign over them in mount Zion, from henceforth even 
 for ever." 
 
 Is it not strange that any, who know any thing of 
 the Jewish history, and consider the degraded, per- 
 secuted state in which that people existed, from 
 the time of their return from Babylon till they were 
 utterly ruined by the Roman armies under Titus, can, 
 for a moment, entertain the sentiment, that these 
 prophecies, at which we have glanced, had any thing 
 like a completion by that partial restoration, and 
 what followed ? But to put this question beyond all 
 doubt, the prophets, who lived after the return from 
 Babylon, predicted the same things, as may be sen 
 both in the Old Testament and in the New. 
 
 The Lord saith by HaggaiJ, "I will shake the 
 heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry 
 land. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of 
 all nations shall come." Not only to suffer, but, 
 finally, to reign. " And in this place will I give 
 peace, saith the Lord of hosts." " Speak to Ze- 
 rubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the 
 heavens and the earth, and I will overthrow the 
 thrones of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength 
 of the kingdoms of the heathen." The great pa- 
 
 1 * Chap. iii. 1J. t Chap. iv. 1 7. ? Chap, ii,
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 113 
 
 Fiiico ecclesiastical revolution, so often predicted both 
 in the Old and New Testament, is evidently intend- 
 ed. "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take 
 thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, (the Jewish gover- 
 nor must here be addressed as a type of the Messiah, 
 or, by a figure, as the representative of the Jewish 
 nation) and will make thee a signet, for I have chosen 
 thee, saith the Lord of hosts." Although this pro- 
 phecv may not be considered as so clearly predicting 
 that peace which Israel is to enjoy after their re- 
 storation, yet a person must be little skilled in the 
 style of prophecy who does not perceive some grand 
 and awful events to be foretold, beyond what has 
 ever hitherto taken place, and in which the Jewish 
 people are particularly interested. 
 
 But the prophet Zechariah speaks in less equivocal 
 terms. See chapter the eighth, verse 7th. " Thus 
 suith the Lord of hosts, Behold I will save my people 
 from the east country, and from the west country, 
 and 1 will bring them, and they shall dwell in the 
 midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and 
 1 will be their God in truth, and in righteousness." 
 Ver. 20. " It shall yet come to pass, that there shall 
 come many people, and the inhabitants of many cities, 
 and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, 
 saying, let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, 
 and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. -Yea 
 many people, and strong nations shall come to seek 
 the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before 
 the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those 
 days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take 
 hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall 
 take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, 
 We will go with you, for we have heard that God 
 is with you." 
 
 When did many people, and strong nations, form 
 such resolutions as these, and speak thus ? When 
 were the universally despised and insulted Jews thus 
 honoured? Never as yet. But if we consider the 
 prophet as speaking of what shall be the case in the 
 latter days, then, indeed, his language may be sup-
 
 114 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 posed not to run into extravagance, and to agree 
 with a great number of other prophecies. 
 
 See also chapter the tenth. Here the prophet is 
 evidently foretelling a return of Israel, which has 
 never yet taken place. At the time of which the 
 prophet is speaking, the restoration of Israel, instead 
 of being a matter of favour, vouchsafed by their 
 masters, as was the case when they returned from 
 Babylon, and instead of their being an insignificant 
 and oppressed province, they are to tread down their 
 oppressors as the mire of the street in the battle ; 
 and the promise which is made to them is, "And I 
 will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save 
 the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to 
 place them ; for 1 have mercy upon them, and they 
 shall be as though 1 had not cast them off. I will 
 hiss for them, and gather them, for I have redeemed 
 them, and they shall increase, as they have increased; 
 and I will sow them among the people, and they 
 shall remember me in far countries, and they shall 
 live, with their children, and turn again." In chap- 
 ters xii. xiii. xiv. the prophet does also most evidently 
 speak of events which have never yet taken place, 
 but which are to be referred to those latter days of 
 which we have spoken. 
 
 To render this future mercy, to the seed of Abra- 
 ham, still more certain, we find predictions, to the 
 same effect with those above, in the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 When Jesus was prophesying of the destruction 
 which was to come upon Jerusalem, and of the over- 
 throw of the Jewish state by the arms of Titus, 
 he says, " These be the days of vengeance, that all 
 things which are written may be fulfilled. For there 
 shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon 
 this people, and they shall fall v by the edge of the 
 sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; 
 and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, 
 until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled*." No 
 one can read this passage with any attention, but he 
 must instantly see that the captivity and sufferings 
 of the Jews are fixed, by our Saviour, to a determi- 
 
 * Luke xxi. 23, 24.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 115 
 
 'nate period, namely, "until the times of the Gentiles 
 be fulfilled." What is intended by this expression, 
 we shall have occasion to consider hereafter. 
 
 The Apostle Paul, also, in his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, chapter xith, contends for a future deliverance 
 and conversion of the Jewish nation. That though 
 God had rejected the Jews, and chosen the Gentiles 
 to be his people, yet that this rejection was neither 
 universal nor irreversible; but, though blindness had 
 happened to the greater part of them, a blindness 
 which was to continue till the fulness of the Gentiles 
 was come in, (and which is not to be until the latter 
 days) yet, then, " all Israel shall be saved," and irr 
 confirmation of this he refers to a prophecy in the 
 Old IV.sMment, whic.i promises, "There shall come 
 out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away un- 
 god iaess from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto 
 them u in*n I shall take away their sins*." 
 , Bo ton we proceed further in our inquiries^ it may 
 be proper to stop and reflect seriously upon the 
 natme i> .d weigh; of the evidence in favour of the 
 future restoration <. the Jc-ws, which arises from those 
 prophecies wmca we have been reviewing. Surely, 
 on an attentive examination of these predictions 
 which abound in our sacre I writ ings, (and but a few 
 of which we have selected) there is nothing extrava- 
 gant in for.ning an expectation, that the descendants 
 of Abraham, now scattered and siltod among the 
 nations, will, one day, be again collected, and re- 
 settled in their own country. On the contrary, 
 does it not seem almost impossible for a believer in 
 the inspiration of the prophets, not to conclude that 
 this must some time be the case? The pieservation 
 and present circumstances of ibis people cones, also, 
 in aid of the argument drawn from tre prophecies, 
 and much strengthens the' hope of their future re- 
 turn to their own land; for their preservation, as a 
 distinct people, during so long and so wide a disper- 
 sion, and under such signal and unexampled perse- 
 cutions and sufferings, can but incline us to think 
 that they must be reserved for some very illustrious 
 Ver. 26. 
 It
 
 116 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 purposes of providence ; such as the Apostle intimates 
 to the Romans*. " For, if the casting away of them 
 be the reconciling of the world:" that is, if this be 
 over-ruled by providence for the spread of the Gospel 
 to distant lands ft what shall the receiving of them 
 be, but life from the dead r" What joy will their 
 restoration and conversion necessarily occasion, and 
 what wonderful effects may hereby be expected to be 
 produced, in convincing men of the truth of God's 
 word, and thus clearing the way for the general spread 
 of the Gospel ? 
 
 As the reader may not be displeased to see, here, 
 the sentiments of some of our most celebrated 
 writers on these subjects, as to the restoration of the 
 ten tribes, as well as of those more properly called 
 Jews, a few extracts shall be presented to his 
 attention. The first quotation shall be from Bishop 
 Newton. 
 
 " The difficulty of finding out the habitations of the 
 u ten tribes hath induced others to maintain, that 
 " they returned into their .own country with the 
 " other two tribes after the Babylonish captivity. 
 " The decree, indeed, of Cyrus extended to ' all the 
 <( people of God/ (Ezra r. 3.) and that of Artaxerxes 
 " to all the people of Israel, (vii. IS.); and no doubt 
 *' many of the Israelites took advantage of these 
 " decrees, and returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra 
 " to their own cities: but still the main body of the 
 " ten tribes remained behind. Ezra, who should 
 " best know, saith, that there e rose up the chief of 
 " the fathers of Judah and Benjamin,' (i. 5.), and he 
 " calleth the Samaritans 'the adversaries of Judah and 
 ff Benjamin;' these two tribes were the principals, 
 " the others were only as accessaries. And if they 
 " did not return at this time, they cannot be supposed 
 " to have returned in a body at any time after this : for 
 " we read of no such adventure in history ; we know 
 " neither the time nor occasion of their return, nor 
 " who were their generals or leaders in this expedi- 
 tf tion. Josephus, who saw his country for several 
 " years in as flourishing a condition as at any time 
 t( since the captivity, affirms, that Ezra sent a copy 
 
 * Rom, xi. 15.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 117 
 
 " of the decree of Artaxerxes to all of the same 
 " nation throughout Media, where the ten tribes lived 
 " in captivity, and many of them came with their 
 " effects to Babylon, desiring to return to Jerusalem ; 
 " hut the main body of the Israelites abode in that 
 " region : and therefore it hath happened, saith he, 
 " that there are two tribes in Asia and Europe, living 
 " in subjection to the Romans: but the ten tribes 
 " are beyond the Euphrates to this time : and then 
 " addeth, with the vanity of a Jew, speaking of his 
 " countrymen, that they were so many myriads, that 
 " they could not be numbered*." 
 
 My second quotation is from Dr. Prideaux. " It is 
 " a common saying among the Jews, that they were 
 " only the bran, that is, the dregs of the people, 
 " that returned to Jerusalem after the end of the 
 " captivity, and that all the fine flour staid behind 
 " at Babylon. It is most certain, that notwithstand- 
 " ing the several decrees, that had been granted by 
 " the kings of Persia for the return of the Jews into 
 " their own land, there were a great many that waved 
 " taking the advantage of them, and continued still 
 " in C/taldea, Assyria, and other eastern provinces, 
 " where they had been carried, and it is most likely, 
 " that they were of the best and richest of the 
 " nation that did so. For when they had gotten 
 " houses and lands in those parts, it cannot be sup- 
 " posed that such would be very forward to leave good 
 " settlements, to new plant a country that had lain 
 " many years desolate. But of what sort soever they 
 " were, it is certain a great many staid behind, and 
 " never again returned into their own country. And if 
 " we may guess at their number by the family of Aaron, 
 " they must have been many more than those who 
 " settled again in Judea. For of the twenty-four 
 " courses of the sons of Aaron, which were carried 
 " away, we find only four among those that returned, 
 " as hath been already taken notice of. And here- 
 " by it came to pass, that during all the time of trie 
 " second Temple, and for a great many ages after, 
 " the number of the Jews in Chaldea, Assyria, and 
 
 Dissertations on the Proph. Vol. ii. p. I $0,1 21,
 
 IIS THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 {( Persia, grew to be so very great, that they were all 
 (e along thought to exceed the number of the Jews of 
 " Palestine, even in those times, when that country wag 
 te best inhabited by them*." 
 
 Mr. .1. Bryant, in his Treatise upon the Authenticity 
 of the Scriptures, at p. 73, speaking of the change of 
 complexion-f-, form, and feature, by the influence of 
 climate, &c. says, "This is manifest from a colony of 
 ff Jews at Cochin, upon the coast of Malabar, who came 
 *' there, according to Hamilton , as early asthecapti- 
 " vity under Nebuchadnezzar. Thus much is certain, 
 (t the era is so far back, that they know not now the time 
 ft of their arrival. The Jews originally were a fair peo- 
 " pie ; but these of whom we are speaking, are become 
 " in all respects like the Indians among whom they re- 
 (( side. They consisted formerly of 80,000 families, but 
 (< are now reduced to 4,000. Mr. Hate, a clergyman, 
 " who had a son in the East Indies, made application to 
 *' have some particulars of their history <. / wrote over 
 <e to the coast of Malabar, to know tvh<it tradition the 
 <e JfK'S have retained, as to the time of their settlement 
 " at Cochin, but had no satisfactory answer. Ezekiel, 
 " the Rabbin of the Synagogue, did indeed send me a 
 " transcript of their copper-plate, hung up in their sy 
 " nogogue. 'Tis wiitten in the Malabar language, 
 "put into common Hebrew .characters; interlined 
 t( with o literal version in Hebrew; zvith an Hebrew 
 ''paraphrase upon that literal version. But I can 
 f 'Jind no date of their settlement there ; nut)/ a grant 
 "from a Ma/abar prince, called Schii in Peritnat, i. e. 
 " Prince Schirin. to allow them to settle there, with 
 *' certain privileges. Of these Jews, he farther says, 
 " that they are now grown as black as the other Ma- 
 <l labarians, who are hardly a shade lighter than thos-e 
 *< of Guinea, Benin, or Angola" 
 
 * Connection. P. 1. B. 5. p. 136. 
 
 t Frti. Paulino Rartolemni, in his Vnyage 1p the F.ast Indies, lately 
 translated by Mr. Johnson, speaking of {he population of Malay ala (p. 149) 
 informs us, t!int there are black and white Jews, and that twenty thou- 
 sand of them nre resident in Muttam, CatHmcolla, and Mattinoera, 
 
 J Account nf the Enst Indies, c. xxvj. p. 3"23. 
 
 Halt's Hatiunale, p. ^23 Notes. Maffeius, in his Indian History, 
 speaks of the Jews, as being in great numbers at Cochin. He styles 
 them Egyptian Jews : I suppose, from their colour. See his Hist. 1^. jri. 
 p. 322. <
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 119 
 
 Basnage, after giving the opinions of others as to the 
 situation of the ten tribes, adds, <e For our part, we be- 
 " lieve that the ten tribes subsist still in the East, and 
 et in most of the places where Salmanassar carried 
 " them, and here we ought to look for them*/' 
 
 Dr. Giles Fletcher, agent for queen Elizabeth at the 
 court of the Czar of Moscovy, offers many plausible rea- 
 sons for concluding that the ten tribes are to be sought 
 for among the Tartarian hordes t. 
 
 The following I transcribe from Illustrations of Pro- 
 phecy f in two vols. 8vo, a work abounding with much 
 curious information on a variety of subjects connected 
 with the study of the prophecies. 
 
 '* That the ten tribes were transported into some of 
 " the provinces of the Persian empire, is universally 
 " admitted; and that they continued there for a con- 
 " siderable time, and were very numerous, cannot be 
 " doubted. Now as we know them to have been ex- 
 " posed in that empire, at different periods, to oppres- 
 " sion and the severest calamities, it certainly does 
 " seem reasonable to conclude, independently of any 
 " positive testimonies which may be alleged on the 
 " subject, that considerable numbers of them, in order 
 " to escape from the fury of persecution, would enter 
 " and inhabit one or both of the two adjoining coun- 
 " tries of Tartary and India, where their settlement 
 * ( would be favoured by the facility with which revo- 
 " lutions were effected, and by the comparatively small 
 " power, which the princes of those countries, from the 
 " smallness of their territories, frequently possessed. 
 " That they would gradually be induced to corrupt the 
 " purity of the Jewish worship, to embrace heathen- 
 " ism, and afterwards to acknowledge a belief in the 
 " divine mission of Mahomet, seems also extremely 
 " probable; powerfully led to it, as they would be, by 
 " motives of policy and the contagion of example, by 
 " ignorance of letters, and their total separation from 
 " their brethren in Turkey and in Europe." 
 
 The quotation that follows, is from Bishop Law. 
 " At the termination of the captivity of the Jews at 
 
 * Hist, of the Jews, B. vii. chap, xxxiii. p. 476. 
 t Itrael Redux,
 
 120 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " Baby Ion, the greatest part of them, and those of the 
 " greatest eminence, stayed behind, and settled in 
 " Chaldea, Assyria,, and other eastern provinces ; - 
 " whence it is probable, that some of their descendants 
 " spread so far as the East Indies, where their posterity 
 tc continue to this day ; as appears from the accounts 
 t( of many modern travellers." 
 
 " The extract which follows, is from Bernier's De- 
 " scription of Hindostan. Bernierwas alearned French- 
 tf man, who resided twelve years at the court of the 
 " Great Mogul, and in the year l66'4, accompanied 
 " him in his journey to the small kingdom of Ka- 
 " chemire, or Cashinire; a country very rarely visited 
 t( by Europeans, as it is situated at the extremity of 
 " Hindostan, borders upon Tartary and upon Persia, 
 " ancj is extremely difficult of access, being shut up, 
 " and ahnost insulated by the mountains of Caucasus. 
 " In answer to some inquiries made by that industrious 
 " traveller, M. Thevenot, whether there were Jews in 
 <l the kingdom of Cashinire, and whether they were 
 *' possessed of the writings of the Old Testament ; 
 " Bernier informs him, * that if there have in that 
 " country been those who professed Judaism, as there 
 " is some reason to believe, there are none now re- 
 " rnainirig, but that all the inhabitants are either Pa- 
 *' gans or Mahometans. Nevertheless, one cannot 
 " fail of finding there many marks of Judaism. The 
 fc Jirst is, that on entering this kingdom, after having 
 " passed the mountains of Pirepenjale, all the inhabi- 
 " tants that 1 saw in the first villages appeared to me 
 " to be Jews, in their air and deportment, and inore- 
 " over in that indefinable peculiarity, which enables 
 f< us to distinguish one nation from another. I am not 
 " the only person, who has been of that opinion ; our 
 <( father^ the Jesuit, and many of us Europeans have 
 " entertained it before me. The second is, that I have 
 " remarked* that among the lower ranks of people in 
 " this town, although Mahometans, yet the name of 
 " Mousa, which signifies Moses, is very much in use. 
 " The thirdis, they commonly say, that Solomon came 
 ' into their country, and that it was he who cut through 
 " the mountain of Baramoule, to give a free passage
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 12f 
 
 " to the waters. The fourth, that Moses died at 
 " Cashmire, and that his tomb is one league distant 
 " from this town. The fifth, that they pretend, that 
 ' that little and very ancient edifice, which appears 
 " from this place, upon an high mountain, was built 
 " by Solomon, and that it is for that reason, that to 
 " this very day they call it the throne of Solomon. 
 " Therefore I would not deny, that some Jews have 
 " penetrated hither. These people, in the lapse of 
 " time, may have lost the purity of their law, have be- 
 " come idolaters, and at length Mahometans*/' 
 
 On the descent of the Afghans, who are supposed to 
 derive their origin from the ten tribes, I have spoken 
 in a former publication f. The curious may consult, 
 on this subject, Asiatic Researches, 4to. Vol. ii. or 
 Dissertations and Miscellaneous Pieces, relating to 
 the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and 
 Literature of Asia, by Sir W.Jones, 8cc. 8vo. Vol. ii. 
 p. 128. 
 
 On the whole, independent of the authority of pro- 
 phecy, there are many reasons for concluding, that the 
 descendants of the ten tribes, though they may be un- 
 able to trace from what particular tribe they descend, 
 are yet kept a distinct people ; and that the proofs of 
 this should be continually gaining strength at this 
 distant age, is a circumstance which may well not only 
 attract our attention, but excite our admiration. 
 
 II. But do the prophets assure us, that Israel shall 
 be gathered from all the nations whither they have 
 been driven ? They say much also of the moral cha- 
 racter by which they are to be distinguished, and of the 
 state of prosperity to which they shall be raised, after 
 this deliverance. They are to be a holy people, and 
 toenjoy unexampled prosperity and peace : and by at- 
 tention to those prophecies, which speak on this sub- 
 ject, and comparing them with the past history of the 
 Jews, we shall see reason to conclude, that something 
 great still awaits this people. And under this head we 
 shall take occasion to introduce some of those prophe- 
 cies which relate to a future more general spread of 
 
 VoUi.p. 591 595. 
 
 + Signi of the Times, inThrce Parts. Part ii. p. 103105. 5th. Ed.
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 the gospel among- the Gentiles, when such a state of 
 peace and holiness is to be realized among mankind, 
 in general, as has never, hitherto, been seen. 
 
 We shall begin with Isaiah, chap. ii. 2 5. " And 
 it shall come to pass in the last days, that the moun- 
 tain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top 
 of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, 
 and all nations shall flow unto it." That is, the 
 kingdom of God shall come, and be exalted above 
 all the kingdoms of the world, and his will be, done on 
 earth as it is done in heaven. " And many people 
 shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the 
 mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
 Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will 
 walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the 
 law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And 
 he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
 many people; and they shall beat their swords into 
 ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; 
 nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
 shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, 
 come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." 
 And in chap. xi. where the prophet is predicting the 
 blessings of the Messiah's reign, he says, " Righteous- 
 ness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness 
 the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with 
 the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, 
 the calf arid the young lion, and the falling together, 
 and a little child shall lead them." Figurative lan- 
 guage to represent the great peace and harmony which 
 shall prevail in the times referred to, but which has 
 never been realized in any degree corresponding with 
 the figures used. At this time, according to the pro- 
 phet, (ver. 9-) all is 10 be peace, all is to be goodness. 
 "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy moun- 
 tain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord as the waters cover the sea." But, alas ! 
 what has the world hitherto been ? What is the scene 
 which even Christendom has, in every age, presented, 
 and which it still presents? Deceit, violence, and 
 carnage. " He looked for judgment, but behold op- 
 pression : for righteousness, but behold a cry ;" ver.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL CATIONS. 123 
 
 12. " And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, 
 and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather 
 the dispersed of Judah from the four comers of the 
 earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and 
 the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. In chapter 
 the xxxii. it is promi^d that, after a state of long and 
 grievous desolation, the spirit shall be poured out from 
 on high, when the whole face of things shall be chang- 
 ed, " and the wilderness be a fruitful Held, and the 
 fruitful field be counted for a forest. And the work 
 of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of right- 
 eousness, quietness, and assurance for ever." And 
 in the following chapter, the mind of the holy prophet 
 being still filled with the same transporting ideas, he 
 exclaims, " Look upon Zion the city of our solem- 
 nities. Thine eyes^haitsee Jerusalem a quiet iidb.tation, 
 a tabernacle that shall not be taken <lu,\n, not one of 
 the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither sh ill 
 any of the cords thereof.be broken. And the inha- 
 bitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell 
 therein shall be forgiven their iniquity*.' 
 
 Chap. liv. ? " For as ail moment have I forsaken, 
 
 thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a 
 
 little wrath I hid my lace from thee, for a morne t, 
 
 but with everlasting kindness vvul I have mercy 
 
 on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. For this 
 
 is as tiie waters of Noah unto me, for as I 
 
 have sworn that the waters of Noah should no 
 
 more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I 
 
 would not be wroth with the?, nor rebuke thee. For 
 
 the mountains shall depart, and the inlis be removed, 
 
 but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither 
 
 shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the 
 
 Lord, that hath mercy on thee." Surely there remains 
 
 a time for the display of this uninterrupted kindness! 
 
 God has been wroth with his people, and his wrath is 
 
 not yet turned away from them, From the days of 
 
 Isaiah to the present moment, they have known little 
 
 else but oppression and trouble as a punishment 
 
 for their sin*. But hear the language of mercy (ver. 
 
 11. 14.) "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and 
 
 not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair 
 
 V.*0 24.
 
 124 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires And 
 all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great 
 shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness 
 shall thou be established: thou shall be far off from 
 oppression, for thou shalt not fear , and from terror, 
 for it shall not come near thee." 
 
 See also chapter Ix. " Arise and shine, for thy light 
 is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 
 For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross 
 darkness the people, but the Lord shall rise upon thee, 
 and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gen- 
 tiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the bright- 
 ness of thy rising. Thy sons shall come from far, and 
 thy daughters shall be nursed by thy side. Then shalt 
 thou see and flow together, and thy heart shall fear 
 and be enlarged, because the abundance of the sea 
 shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles 
 shall come unto thee who are these that fly as a 
 cloud, and as doves to their windows ? Surely the isles 
 shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to 
 bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold 
 with them. The sons of strangers shall build up thy 
 walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee ; for in my 
 wrath I smote thee ; but in my favour have I had mercy 
 on thee. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, 
 so that no man went through thee, I will make thee 
 an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Vio- 
 lence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor 
 destruction within thy borders. Thy people also shall 
 be all righteous. They shall inherit the land for ever, 
 the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, 
 that I may be glorified.'' But, were we to quote one 
 half of what this prophet has said upon this subject, 
 we must transcribe a great part of his book. Passing 
 over, therefore, the following chapters, which abound 
 with predictions to the same effect, let us attend to the 
 prophecies of Jeremiah. 
 
 Chapter iii. 12. "Go and proclaim these words to- 
 wards the north, ar t d say, Return, thou backsliding 
 Israel, saith the Lorti, and I will not cause mine anger 
 to fall upon you, for I am merciful, saith the Lord 
 God, and I will not keep anger for ever." Observe 
 what follows at ver. 17th ; it is certainly, what has .
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATION'S. 125 
 
 never yet had its completion. "At that time they 
 shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all 
 nations shall he gathered unto it, to the name of the 
 Lord at Jerusalem ; neither shall they walk any more 
 after the imagination of their evil hearts. In those 
 days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of 
 Israel, and they shall come together out of the land 
 of the north, to the land that I have given for an inheri- 
 tance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee 
 among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a 
 goodly heritage of the host of nations ? And I said, 
 Thou shalt call me, My father, and shah not turn away 
 from me." Although nothing of this has hitherto 
 heen seen, yet we are assured, in chapter xxx. and xxxi. 
 that it shall be realized in the latter days, when, it is 
 promised, they shall at once enjoy unlimited prosperity, 
 and be made a most holy people. " Behold, the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that 1 will sow the house of Israel, 
 and the house of Judah, with the seed of man, and 
 with the seed of beast ; and it shall come to pass, that 
 like as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to 
 break down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I 
 watch over them, to build and to plant, saith the Lord." 
 Nor does the promise relate to temporal prosperity 
 only. They are to be a holy people, and participate 
 in all the spiritual blessings suited to the better part 
 of man. " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 
 I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, 
 and with the house of Judah. This shall be the co- 
 venant that I will make with the house of Israel after 
 those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their 
 inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be 
 their God, and they shall be my people. And they 
 shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and 
 every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for 
 they shall all know me from the least of them to the 
 greatest of them, saith the Lord ; for I will forgive 
 their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." 
 And to make the promise sure, and to remove all 
 doubts, in the most discouraging times, as to its ac- 
 complishment, it is ratified in the most solemn manner. 
 " Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a ligh 4 -
 
 126 THE UESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 by day, and the ordinances of the moon, and of the 
 stars, for alight by night; which divideth the sea 
 when the wav$s thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his 
 name : if those, ordinances depart from before me, saith 
 the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from 
 being a nation before me, for ever. Thus saith the 
 Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the founda- 
 tion of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast 
 off the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith 
 the Lord*." 
 
 All the prophets corroborate the same hopes. God 
 promises by Ezekiei, that the clay shall come. " And 
 there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house 
 of Israel, nor any grieving thorn, of all that are round 
 about them, that despised them, and they shall know 
 that I am the Lordf." Hosea testifies, that after the 
 children of Israel have abode many days without a 
 king, or prince, or sacrifice, they shall afterwards re- 
 turn and seek the Lord, and snail fear him and his 
 goodness in the latter days^. Joel also prophecies, 
 that after the harvest and the vintage, when God shall 
 have cut off the enemies of his people, then, "The 
 mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills 
 shall flow with irtiik, and all the rivers of Judah shall 
 flow with water. Then Judah shall dwell for ever, and 
 Jerusalem from generation to generation^." " Jn those 
 days," says Amos, " \\hen the tabernacle of David 
 which is fallen shall be raised up, then the ploughman 
 shall overtake the reaper, and the tread er of grapes 
 him that soweth seed, and the mountains shall drop 
 new wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring 
 again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall 
 build the waste cities, and inhabit them, and they 
 shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they 
 shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 
 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall 
 no more be pulled up out of their land which 1 have 
 given them, saith the Lord God||." Zechariah also 
 foretels the general repentance of Israel, and gives 
 assurance of the mercy which they shall findlf. And, 
 
 * Chap. xxxi. 27 3137. t Chap, xxviii. 24. 
 i Chap. iii. 4, 5. $ Chap. in. 18 20. j| Chap. ix. 1 1 1* 
 i Chap, lii, xiii.
 
 *HE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 127 
 
 then, when all their enemies shall be destroyed who 
 shall fight against them, to prevent their re-settlement 
 in their own land. "The Lord shall be king over all 
 the earth ; in that day shall there be one Lord, and 
 his name one. And the land shall be turned as a plain 
 from Geber to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. And 
 men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter 
 destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited*." 
 
 These are a few of the Old Testament prophecies, 
 which give the most unequivocal' assurance, not only 
 that both the houses of Israel shall be gathered, and 
 united in the latter days ; but, that an extraordinary 
 degree of holiness shall be seen among them, and that 
 they shall long enjoy unexampled peace and prosperity. 
 Surely, if there 'be any meaning in words, this must 
 be taught by the language of the prophets; and if all 
 this, with what goes before, relative .to their return, 
 can possibly be strained and tortured, till it mean no- 
 thing.more than what followed the return from Babylon, 
 when a few Jews, by permission of their masters, re- 
 built their city and temple, and formed a petty state 
 in Palestine, which stood tottering for about five hun- 
 dred years, exposed to the perpetual assaults of its 
 enemies, and scarcely ever enjoying the shadow of 
 freedom, till, at length, it was entirely subverted by 
 the arms of Titus, and the nation dispersed over the 
 face of the earth : or, what is full as strange, if all this 
 can be allegorized till the return of banished Israel to 
 the land which God gave to Ahraham, ihe rebuilding 
 of Jerusalem, and the succeeding hie.-sings of which 
 the prophets speuk, mean the gathering of wandering 
 sinners to Christ by the preaching of the Gospel, the 
 building up of a church for God of Gentile converts, 
 the spiritual seed of Abraham, and the peace and pros- 
 perity of soul which believers enjoy. If the language 
 of the prophets, I say, can be made to signify nothing 
 more than this, or only something like it, then our 
 Scriptures are, indeed, a mere nose of wax, which may 
 be twisted to any thing, and unbelievers have a right 
 to make the most of it. No, the holiness, power, 
 splendor, and peace, of which the prophets have 
 spoken, and of which the Jews are the heirs, have 
 * Chap, xiv. 9 11
 
 128 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 never yet been seen. Instead of the homage which the 
 kings of the earth are to pay them, they have hitherto 
 experienced nothing but contempt, or the most dire- 
 ful wrath. If we look for peace, war has pursued them ; 
 if we look for prosperity and splendor, behold they are 
 scattered among all nations, and we see little but what 
 fills with loathing disgust. Do we look for holiness? 
 Behold bigotry, superstition, and wickedness, for the 
 sake of which the wrath of God is come upon them to 
 the uttermost. A strange fulfilment of the promise, thy 
 people shall be all righteous ! they shall inherit 
 the land for erer. / will make thee an eternal excel- 
 lency, a joy of many generations! To the Jews the 
 Messiah was promised, from them he sprung, to them 
 he was to be a blessing. But what blessing has the 
 nation of the Jews hitherto received from Christ ? 
 When he came, they murdered him, as their prophets 
 had foretold ; and for more than 1700 years they have 
 been removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for 
 their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and 
 a curse in all places whither they have been driven*. 
 A time must, therefore, come, When the Messiah shall 
 reign for the good of the Jews, and when the Gentiles 
 shall see their righteousness, and all kings their glory ; 
 for, if they perish in their present miseries, the pro- 
 phecies prove nothing, and our faith is vain. 
 
 If it were necessary to bring forward any thing more, 
 to shew what the future character and state of the 
 Jews will be, we might consider the Apostle Paul's 
 argument, in Rom. xi. where he contends, that there will 
 be a time when all Israel shall be saved ; and that 
 those, who on the first preaching of the Gospel, had 
 believed, were but the first-fruits ; the earnest of the 
 full harvest, which should hereafter be reaped. But 
 more, I hope, is needless. 
 
 III. Let us now notice that double return which the 
 prophets give us great reason to expect. Isaiah says, 
 (chap. xi. 10) " And in that day there shall be a root of 
 Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people, to 
 it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. 
 Atid it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord 
 * Jer. xxiv. 10
 
 THE CRTSIS OF Alt ffAllOXS. 
 
 shall set bis band again the second time to recover tb 
 remnant of'his people, which shall be left from Assyria^ 
 and from Egypt, and from Pathros and he shall set 
 up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the 
 outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed 
 of Judahj from the four corners of the earth." Again, 
 chapter Ix. 9. " Surely the isles shall wait for me, 
 and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring ihy sons from 
 far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the 
 name of the Lord thy God." If by the isles, and 
 Tarshish, the prophet meant those European countries 
 to which the Phoenicians anciently traded, (putting 
 Tarshish, or Tartessus, in Spain, for those distant mari- 
 time countries in general) as is probable, then, perhaps, 
 this passage may signify that the Jews in these western 
 parts shall be restored first. But from neither of the 
 above passages can we conclude, with certainty, either 
 that there will be a double return, or that the restora- 
 tion will begin with Judah, as has been the general 
 opinion. But this conclusion respecting the double 
 return, is not drawn so much from its being distinctly 
 predicted in any particular passages of Scripture, as 
 from the general cast of several of the prophecies, 
 arid from comparing them among themselves, and 
 attending to the discriminating circumstances of several 
 of them. For instance, many of the prophecies speak 
 of the return of this people as being attended with 
 great affliction, and as taking place amidst much op- 
 position, and on their own part, even with considerable 
 reluctance ; whilst others represent their return as ac- 
 companied with the happiest circumstances; being 
 entered upon with readiness and joy, and forwarded 
 by the assistance of all the nations. Some of the pro- 
 phecies speak of the nations as now sunk in idolatry 
 and crimes, and as the objects of the divine vengeance; 
 whilst others represent them as now turned to the Lord, 
 mid walking in the light of the Messiah. Judah also, 
 is spoken of as the alone people, or, at least, as the 
 principal, when their enemies shall oppose their re- 
 settlement in their own land, and their governors it i* 
 that are to be as a hearth of fife among wood, and as 
 a torch of fire in a sheaf*. 
 
 Zecli. xii. 6. 
 K
 
 130 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 These particulars wiD, hereafter, come under our 
 consideration; and, if we attend to them carefully, 
 we shall see abundant reason to conclude, that there 
 must be two eminent returns of this people, and, per- 
 haps, at about forty-jive years distance from each 
 other. The first will be before their conversion, but 
 the latter, which will be, by far, the most considera- 
 ble, after it. 
 
 IV. There is also another thing, of which it may be 
 expected some notice should be taken .- And that, 
 not so much because it is a matter of curious enquiry, 
 as because it suggests a strong argument in favour of 
 a future return of the Jews. It respects the extent 
 of the country which the restored tribes are to pos- 
 sess. God promised to Abraham (Gen. xv. 18.) that 
 he would give to his seed " the land from the river 
 of Egypt," (either the river which empties itself into 
 the Mediterranean sea, near Gaza, or, as Shaw and 
 others suppose, the Pelusiac branch of the Nile) " un- 
 to the great river, the river Euphrates." And which 
 promise he afterwards ratified to the people of Israel 
 thus. " I will set thy bounds from the Red sea, even 
 unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert 
 (i. e. of Syria) unto the river," or the Euphrates*. 
 Thus, agreeable to the original grant of God, their 
 territory was to extend to the river Euphrates on the 
 cast, to the Red sea, and the river of Egypt on the 
 south; to the great sea, or Mediterranean (called the 
 sea of the Philistines, because they inhabited the 
 countries bordering on it) on the west; and to the 
 desert of Syria on the north, including Lebanon, as 
 appears from Deut. i. 7. and Zech. x. 10. which 
 readies almost as far as Tripoli, and also the country 
 of the Zidonians which extended quite thither. See 
 Josh. xiii. 6. and Maundrell's Journey, p. 142. Ac- 
 cording to Mr. Whiston, the land allotted to" the 
 Israelites in Joshua's time was about 208 miles long, 
 and 100 broad, whereas from Elath, on the lied sea, 
 in lat. 29- N. to Tripoli, in lat. 34 and a ha/f, (or to 
 Palmyra or Tadmor) is nearly 308 English miles. 
 The width from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates 
 * Ex. xxiii. 31.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 131 
 
 is very irregular. Now it is certain that Israel never 
 yet had possession of the promised country to the full 
 extent, for although Solomon reigned over all the 
 kings from the Euphrates, even unto the land of the 
 Philistines, and to the border of Egypt*, and seems to 
 have extended a degree of power, from the Red sea 
 to TadmOr, in the desert of Syriaf, yet the Tyrians 
 and Zidonians (though God particularly promised to 
 drive out these last, which included the former, for 
 Zidon was the mother of Tyre) .always continued in- 
 dependent. Nor was the ptfwer which Solomon pos- 
 sessed permanent. It expired with himself. From 
 hence it appears that the time is yet to come when the 
 grant made to Abraham, and his seed, will be enjoyed 
 to the full extent ; and this conclusion is countenanced 
 by the language of the prophets. Isaiah says^, "They 
 shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the 
 children of Ammon shall obey them." Again, " Thy 
 waste, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy 
 destruction, (or thy land laid in ruins Lotctfi) shall even 
 now be too narrow, by reason of the inhabitants : and 
 they that swallowed thee up (the Turks, and other 
 enemies) shall be far away. The children which thou 
 shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again 
 in thine ears, the place is too strait for me, give place 
 tome that I may dwell ." And God promises by 
 Zechariah, " I will strengthen the house of Judah, 
 and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring 
 them back again to place them. And I will bring 
 them into the land of Gilead, and Lebanon, and place 
 shall not be found for them ||." But the territory pos- 
 sessed being still too narrow, they shall extend them- 
 selves to the Euphrates on the east, and to the Red 
 sea on the south. And thus to say nothing of the 
 situation of Jerusalem, as in the centre of the habitable 
 world ; as placed in a situation the most favourable 
 for carrying on an intercourse, whether as the seat 
 of a universal monarchy, or as the great emporium of 
 commerce with every nation upon earth ; and thus 
 placed in one of the happiest climates in the world, in a 
 
 * 2 Chron. ix. 26. t Chap. viii. 4. 17. $ Chap. xi. 14. 
 
 Ch, *lix. 19, 20. Se also liv. 13. \\ Ch, x, 6, 10, 
 
 K 2
 
 152 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 land flowing zcith milk and honey, which is the glory 
 oj'ail lands* , a country, which, when its boundaries 
 wre so much more contracted, supported in plenty, 
 as may fairly be calculated from 2 Sam. xxiv. 9. nine 
 Millions of souls, (a population three times as great 
 per acre as otirs) and their iniquities being now remov- 
 ed, the special blessing of God shall be upon them, 
 and he will bless their land, that the " ploughman shall 
 overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him 
 that sowetb seed. And the mountains shall drop new 
 Wine, and all the hills shall melt, and they shall be no 
 more a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast* 
 of the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely, 
 and none shall make them afraid." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Events, intimately connected with the Restoration of 
 the Jen's ; generally, great Calamities and Revo- 
 lutions ; particularly, the fall of the Fourth M anarchy, 
 and of the Ottoman Porcer, the Quarter from 
 whence their deliverance may be expected to ori- 
 ginate. 
 
 HAVING endeavoured to establish the certainty 
 of the fact, that the descendants of Abraham will,, 
 in the latter days, be gathered from the countries 
 \vhitherthey are dispersed, be resettled in their ancient 
 patrimony, be made a holy people, and long enjoy the 
 greatest peace and prosperity, we shall now examine 
 the prophecies to see what information can be obtained 
 ns to any of those events which are to be cotemporary 
 with this restoration, or intimately connected with it, 
 and as to the quarter from whence it. is likely to come. 
 Upon examination we shall find great reason to con- 
 clude that, generally, it will be at a lime of great au4 
 * Ek. xx. 6.
 
 THE CRISIS OF AtL NATIONS. 133 
 
 extensive revolutions and calamities ; and, more par* 
 ticuiarly, at the time of the overthrow of the fourth 
 monarchy, and of the Turkish empire ; and that some 
 people in these western parts of the world will be em- 
 ployed, by divine providence, as the first and principal 
 agents in this important work. 
 
 I. The prophecies, which first claim our attention, 
 are those which speak of the great and awful revolu- 
 tions and calamities which are to take place in the 
 latter times of the world*, and at the time of Israel's 
 deliverance. In Dan. xii. 1. the angel informs the 
 prophet, that, at the time when his people shall be 
 delivered, " There shall be a time of trouble, such as 
 never was since there was a nation, even to that same 
 time." And Jesus Christ, prophecying of the end of 
 Jerusalem's captivity, determines it to be at the same 
 time with that great revolution in human affairs, which 
 he has represented in the strongest language of meta- 
 phor. " And there shall be signs in the sun, and in 
 the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth dis- 
 tress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves 
 roaring. Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for 
 looking after those things which are coming upon the 
 earth ; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.f" 
 
 Although what David says, in the second Psalm, had, 
 doubtless, an inchoate or partial accomplishment, at 
 the first establishment of the Gospel, yet its full com- 
 pletion is still to come. " Ask of me, and I shall give 
 thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shall 
 break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them 
 in pieces lift? a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, 
 O ye kings \ be instructed ye judges of the earth." 
 Again, Ps. ck. " The Lord hatli sworn, and will not 
 repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of 
 Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike 
 through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge 
 
 * When we say world, we must often be understood to mean thi age 
 or dispensation under which we live. This is ometimes the weaaing of 
 the word in Scripture, asMatth. xxiv. 3. 
 
 t See Luke xxi, 2428,
 
 134 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 among the heathen; he shall fill the places with the 
 dead bodies, he shall wound the heads (princes) over 
 many countries." Dr. Jortin says of this prophecy, 
 " This is as plain as a prophetic description ought to 
 " be; it is applicable to Christ alone, and it sets forth 
 " his exaltation, his royal dignity, his priestly office, 
 " the propagation of his Gospel, the obedience of his 
 " subjects, of the destruction of his enemies, and of the 
 " Roman emperors who persecuted the church*." 
 And, he might have added, of all the rulers of the 
 earth who shall oppose the complete establishment of 
 the kingdom of God on earth, and, particularly, when 
 he shall set his hand to restore his ancient people, to 
 deliver the nations from the oppressions of antichrist, 
 to purify the Gospel from the corrupt mixtures of men, 
 and make Zion the joy of the whole earth. 
 
 In Isa. ii. where the prophet is predicting the exal- 
 tation of the kingdom of God at that time when Jacob 
 shall be invited to walk in the light of the Lord, he 
 says, (ver. 4.) " He shall judge among the nations, and 
 shall rebuke many people." Ver. 10 19- " Enter into 
 the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the 
 Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks 
 of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of 
 men shall be 'bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be 
 exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts 
 shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and 
 upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought 
 low, and upon all the cedars of Lebanon," (i. e. the 
 great and powerful among men) " that are high and 
 lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan. And upon 
 all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are 
 lifted up,"(upon all the powerful and proud kingdoms and 
 governments) " and upon every high tower, and upon 
 every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshisb," 
 (upon ships of commerce and war) " and upon all plea- 
 sant pictures." This may signify, by a figure, the de- 
 struction which shall fall upon all the elegancies of life, 
 which serve for pride and luxury : or, that vengeance 
 which shall be taken on idolatrous worship; both these 
 
 * Remarks on Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 183.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 135 
 
 idea comport with what follows. "And the loftiness of 
 raan shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men 
 shall be made low ; and the Lord alone shall be exalted 
 in that day, and the idols he shall utterly abolish. And 
 they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the 
 caves of the earth, for feur of the Lord, and for the 
 glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly 
 the earth." 
 
 In the twenty-fourth, and three following chapters 
 of this Book, we have one continued prophecy of events 
 which, it cannot well be doubted, are still future ; some 
 of which are the most tremendous; and others, the 
 most glorious. " Behold the Lord maketh the earth 
 empty,, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, 
 and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it 
 shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with 
 the servant, so with his master; as with the maid,, so 
 with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seJler; 
 as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the 
 taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The 
 land" (or earth, or that region of the earth, on which 
 Ood's judgment shall more immediately fall) " shall be 
 utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled ; for the Lord hath 
 spoken this word*." What language could the pro- 
 phet have chosen, that would have expressed, more 
 strongly, great and general calamities ? Again, " Fear 
 and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant 
 of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who 
 fleeth from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit, 
 and he that cotneth up out of the midst of the pit, shall 
 be taken in the snare; ' i. . he who flees from one evil 
 .shall fall into another: there will be no escape. ''For 
 the windows from on high are open, and the founda- 
 tions of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken 
 down,"(z. e. the earth politic. The foundations, on which 
 all rule and authority stood, are destroyed.) " The 
 earth is clean dissolved, and the earth is moved exceed- 
 ingly. The earth shall reel to and fro, like a drunkard, 
 and shall be removed like a cottage, and the transgres- 
 sion thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, 
 aad not' rise again -\" But some may say, These ore 
 Chap. MT. 13. t V*r. 1730,
 
 136 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 the common sort who are thus to suffer. The rich and 
 great will be more secure; they are placed above the 
 reach of those calamities which afflict the ordinary 
 ranks of mankind. It may be usually so ; we know that, 
 when fire and sword, at the command of tyrants, lay 
 waste extensive regions and kingdoms, and nothing 
 but consternation and misery are the portion of millions ; 
 the great ones of the earth live in riot still, and care for 
 none of these things. But hear the prophet : " And it 
 shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall pu- 
 nish the host of the high ones that are on high, and 
 the kings of the earth upon the earth, and they shall 
 be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the 
 pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many 
 days shall they be visited. Then the rnoori shall be 
 confounded, and the sun ashamed, (all that power and 
 splendour, supreme and subordinate, which has ruled 
 and shone in the political world, shall rule and shine 
 no more) when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount 
 Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients glo- 
 riously *." 
 
 And now, when God avenges the blood which has 
 been shed, and glorifies his justice in the punishment 
 and complete overthrow of the enemies of his people, 
 and in the deliverance of his servants, the righteous 
 shall ascribe praise to his name. Chap. xxv. 1. " O 
 Lord, thou art my God, I will extol thee, I will praise 
 thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things. Thy 
 counsels of old are faithfulness and truth : for thou 
 hast made of a city, an heap ; of a defenced city, a ruin. 
 Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the 
 needy in his distress." Now the mystical Babylon 
 comes into remembrance, and falls to rise no more. 
 Chap. xxvi. 5. " He bringeth down them that dwell 
 on high, the lofty city, he layeth it low ; he layeth it 
 low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the 
 dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of 
 the poor, and the steps of the needy." And now it is 
 that the dry bones of Israel are remembered. Ver. ,19. 
 " Thy <1M ' fiic: shall live, together with my dead body 
 th<-y /;se rlwake and sing, ye that dwell in 
 
 Ver. 212S.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall 
 cast out the dead." And what is the duty, and in what 
 consists the security, of .God's people, in these days of 
 judgment? Shall they take the sword, and mingle in 
 the political storm ? Shall they fight with the Baby- 
 lonians, or plot with the Persians ? No. Ver 20. 
 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and 
 shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself, as it were, for 
 a little moment, until tne indignation be overpast. For 
 behold, the Lord cometh out of his place, to punish 
 the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth 
 also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover 
 her slain." In the following chapter the prophet pur- 
 sues the same subject, and informs us, that after the 
 Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword, shall 
 have slain Leviathan the piercing serpent, and the dra- 
 gon that is in the sea*, (the horrible tyrannies which 
 devour mankind) then a happy state of things shall 
 succeed, " and he shall cause them that are of Jacob 
 to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the 
 face of the world with fruit f-" And, at the review of 
 God's dealings with the nations, and on comparing 
 the chastisements which Israel has endured, with the 
 judgments executed on their enemies, the prophet ex- 
 claims, " Hath he smitten him (Israel) as he smote 
 those that smote him ? or is he slain according to the 
 slaughter of them that are slain by him ?" 
 
 Again, when in chapter li. this prophet announces to 
 Israel the mercy of God, who restores their common- 
 wealth, or, in the metaphorical style of inspiration, 
 " Plants the heavens, and lays the foundation of the 
 earth, and says to Zion, Thou art my people," lie says, 
 " Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast 
 drunk, at the hand of the Lord, the cup of his fury. 
 Thus saith thy Lord, the LORD, and thy God, which 
 pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken 
 out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs 
 of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it 
 again. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict 
 thee, which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we 
 
 * Corap. Rev. xii. xiii. xix. xx. t Ver. 6,
 
 138 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 may go over : And thou hast laid thy body as the 
 ground, and as the street to them- that went over*." 
 
 And what judgments are they of which this prophet 
 speaks in the sixty-third chapter? Both Jewish and 
 Christian commentators are agreed, that he had his 
 eye directed to that great scene of destruction in which 
 the enemies of God, and of his people, shall be involv- 
 ed in the latter days. Some, indeed, have fancied, that 
 the prophecy had its completion in the victories ob- 
 tained by Judas Maccabeus over the Edomites. But 
 surely much of what is said is utterly inapplicable to 
 him, and to his slaughter of twenty thousand of the 
 Idumeans. Yes, the prophecy relates to something 
 still future. To say nothing about the double sense, 
 and the germinating fulfilment of many of the prophe- 
 cies, and supposing this, in particular, to have no 
 double sense, yet, as Mr. Lowth observes, t( Seeing 
 " that it is usual with the prophets to denote the ene- 
 " mies of the church in general, by the name of some 
 " country which was remarkable for its hatred to the 
 " Jewish nation," as the Idumeans were; for instance, 
 Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, &c. there is nothing wild in 
 concluding, that the prophet does here thus denote the 
 persecutors of the church of God (who have also been 
 the oppressors of the Jews) by Edom and Bozrah; and 
 the rather, perhaps, because Edom originally signifies 
 red as blood, and Bozrah denotes a vintage. And what 
 is here represented appears to be the same destruction 
 as that signified both by the vintage in Rev. xiv. and 
 by the seventh vial, Chap. xvi. The prophecy begins, 
 " Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed 
 garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his 
 apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength ? 1 
 that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Where- 
 fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments 
 ]ike him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trod- 
 den the wine-press alone, and of the people there was 
 none with me : for I will tread them in mine anger, 
 and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be 
 sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my 
 raiment: For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, 
 
 * Ver. 17; 22. 23.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 139 
 
 and the year of my redeemed is come. And I will 
 tread down the people in mine anger, and make them 
 drunk in my fury; and I will bringdown their strength 
 to the earth." 
 
 Again, when God promises to extend peace to Jeru- 
 salem like a river, and to comfort his restored Israel, 
 he says, " And the hand of the Lord shall be known 
 towards his servants, and his indignation towards his 
 enemies. For behold, the Lord will come with fire, 
 and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his 
 anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For 
 by fire, and by his sword, will the Lord plead with all 
 flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many*." 
 Idolaters, especially, are threatened to be consumed 
 together. 
 
 Lest we weary the reader with multiplied quotations, 
 we will pass to the prophecy of Joel. This prophet 
 also speaks of the same shaking of nations, and of the 
 destruction which shall fall upon them at the time of 
 Israel's restoration, and as preparatory to that state of 
 peace and righteousness which God has proraisedf. 
 The Gentiles (by whom are meant the wicked nations 
 of every region ; of whatever religion, whether Pagan, 
 Mahomedan, or Christian) will prepare for war, and 
 wake up their mighty men. And (provoked, most 
 likely, by some great movement in Providence, by 
 which their prejudices, their corruptions and supersti- 
 tions are threatened) they will beat their ploughshares 
 into swords, and their pruning hooks into spears. 
 They will gather themselves together to fight against 
 the dispensations of providence ; but it will be to the 
 valley of decision, where the Lord will decide the con- 
 test between himself and the enemies of his kingdom, 
 by their complete and everlasting overthrow. " The 
 sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall 
 withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out 
 of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the 
 (symbolical) heavens and earth shall shake; but the 
 Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength 
 of the children of Israel." Now, says the prophet, 
 " Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from 
 * Chap. Ixvi. 1417S | See Joel Hi,
 
 140 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood 
 that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion." 
 n-Thus far Joel. 
 
 Micah, also, prophesying of the return of Israel, a 
 we have seen, foretels (chap. iv. 11.) the opposition 
 which shall be made to their re-settlement, and the 
 awful consequences to their enemies. " Now, also, 
 many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let 
 her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But 
 they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither un- 
 derstand they his counsel; for he shall gather them as 
 sheaves into the floor." 
 
 Thus we have selected for notice a few from among the 
 numerous prophecies which speak, in a general way, 
 of those convulsions, revolutions, and calamities, with 
 which the nations are to be visited at the time of the 
 deliverance of the Jews from their present captivity, 
 and of the church of God from her enemies. 
 
 II. We shall now advert to a few of those prophe- 
 cies, which speak more distinctly of some particular 
 events, which are to be intimately connected with the 
 Restoration of the Jews : such as the utter overthrow 
 of the Roman oijourth monarchy, and of the Turkish 
 empire. 
 
 First, the overthrow of the Roman or fourth mo- 
 narchy. That the great image in Dan. ii. and the four 
 wild beasts in Dan. vii. represent the four great mo- 
 narchies with which the fortunes of the church of God 
 have been especially connected, hardly admits of a 
 doubt. The legs of the image, which were of iron ; 
 with the feet, composed partly of iron and partly of 
 clay, represent the fourth, or Roman monarchy. The 
 legs of iron signify its great strength and power in its 
 most perfect state; and its feet and toes, what it has 
 been since its division, and the mixture of barbarous 
 nations and opposing interests. " This fourth king- 
 " dom," says Mr. Lowth, " can be no other than the 
 " Roman empire. The ten toes of the image signify 
 t( the ten kings who were, in after times, to divide the 
 {< kingdom among themselves." Ver. 44.- " And in 
 the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up 
 a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: And the
 
 THE CRISIS OP ALL NATION*. 14l 
 
 kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall 
 break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and 
 it shall stand for ever." And when is this breaking to 
 pieces to happen ? Compare vcr. 34. " Thou sawest 
 till that a stone was cut out without hands, which 
 smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and 
 clay, and brake them in pieces." That is, it is in the 
 times of the last monarchy, and in the latter times of 
 this, of course, that the ruin is to come. The destruc- 
 tion is to begin at the toes of the image, the kingdom* 
 into which the Roman empire has been divided. 
 " Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and 
 the gold was broken to pieces together, and became 
 like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the 
 wind carried them away, that no place was found for 
 them : And the stone that smote the image became a 
 great mountain, and filled the whole earth." This is 
 the kingdom of God, and it shall stand for ever. 
 " The kingdom of Christ," says Bishop Newton, " was 
 " first set up whilst the Roman empire was in its full 
 " strength with legs of iron. The Roman empire wasaf- 
 " terwards divided into ten lesser kingdoms, the remains 
 " of which are subsisting at present. The image is still 
 " standing upon his feet and toes of iron and clay; the 
 Tf kingdom of Christ is yet f a stone of stumbling, and a 
 " rock of offence :' but the stone will one day smite 
 " the image upon the feet and toes, and destroy it 
 " utterly, and will itself ' become a great mountain, 
 " and nil the whole earth :' Or, in other words, 
 " (Rev. xi. 15) the kingdoms of this world shall be- 
 " come the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, 
 " and he shall reign forever and ever. We have 
 " therefore seen the kingdom of the stone, but we have 
 f( not yet seen the kingdom of the mountain. Some 
 " parts of this prophecy still remain to be fulfilled, 
 " but the exact completion of the other parts will not 
 " suffer us to doubt of the accomplishment of the rest 
 <{ in due season*." 
 
 The parallel vision of the four beasts, in the 
 seventh chapter, is interpreted in a similar manner. 
 The fourth beast represents the fourth kingdom ; the 
 Vol. i. p. 845.
 
 142 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 ten horns represent this kingdom, or empire, in its 
 divided state, as it has long subsisted ; and the little 
 horn appears to be none other than the papacy, or, 
 more properly, that politico-ecclesiastical monster 
 which has, for so many ages, been the plague of Eu- 
 rope. Ver. 23 25. " The fourth beast shall be the 
 fourth kingdom, upon earth, which shall be diverse 
 from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, 
 and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And 
 the ten horns, out of this kingdom, are ten kings that 
 shall arise ; and another shall rise after them, and he 
 shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 
 three kings. And he shall speak great words against 
 the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the 
 Most High, and shall think to change times and laws; 
 and they shall be given into his hand until a time and 
 times, and the dividing of time," or 1260 years. 
 " This fourth kingdom," says the Bishop of Bristol, 
 " can be none other than the Roman empire *" Of 
 the kingdoms signified by the ten horns, he says, " We 
 " must look for the ten kings, or kingdoms, where only 
 " they can be found, amid the broken pieces of the 
 " Roman empire." By the little horn, diverse from 
 the first, he understands the papacy. 
 
 As in the vision of the great image, the stone cut out 
 of the mountain without hands smote the image upon 
 the feet, and broke it to pieces, whilst itself became a 
 great mountain that filled the earth ; so here, the judg- 
 ment is set, and the books are opened, and the beast is 
 slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning 
 flame. And on him that wore out the saints of the 
 Most High " The judgment shall sit, and they shall 
 take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it, 
 unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and 
 the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 
 shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High : whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
 and all dominions shall serve and obey him *j-." 
 
 This brief view of these prophetic visions, has been 
 thought necessary to prepare the reader for what fol- 
 . 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 260. t Ver. II, 26, 27.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 143 
 
 lows *. We have seen what is to be understood by the 
 fourth great monarchy* and in what sense the Roman 
 empire is considered as still subsisting. We have seen 
 that the kingdom of God, or of Christ, or of " the 
 saints of the Most High," as it is denominated in the 
 fore-cited passage, is to commence immediately after 
 the overthrow of these powers of the world. 
 
 But whence does it appear that this overthrow is to 
 be about the time of the Restoration of the Jews ? 
 That the Jews are to act a principal part in the king- 
 dom of Christ, and of the saints, is generally allowed ; 
 and that the kingdom, or chief dominion and glory, is 
 one day to be given to this people, numerous prophe- 
 cies avouch, in the most express terms. " Arise, and 
 shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord 
 is risen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to 
 thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising 
 the sons? of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their 
 kings shall minister unto thee the nation and king- 
 dom that will not serve thee shall perish ; yea, those 
 nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon" 
 (i. e. the most exalted among men) " shall come unto 
 thee ; the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box to- 
 gether, to beautify the place of my sanctuary ; and I 
 will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also 
 of them that afflicted thee, shall come bending unto 
 thee ; and all they that despised thee shall bow them- 
 selves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall call 
 thee, The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One 
 of Israel f." Thus far Isaiah. The prophet Micah, 
 also, predicts the same pre-eminence. " And the Lord 
 shall reign over them in mount Zion, from henceforth, 
 even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the 
 strong hold of the daughter of Zioo, unto thee shall it 
 come, even the first dominion, the kingdom shall come 
 to the daughter of Jerusalem J." And why should we 
 question what we cannot account for; especially in a 
 case which is neither contrary to our reason, nor to the 
 
 * I hope, by aiming at brevity, I do not render the subject unhitelfll 
 gible. The reader is supposed to turn to the places referred to, and t'g 
 jead, aud well consider, the whole connection. 
 
 I Isa. Ix. 1, 3, 1014. J Chap. iv. 7, 8.
 
 144 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 known dispensations of God ? Is our understanding in- 
 finite, and can we penetrate into the deep counsels of 
 God farther than he reveals them, or say, in such mat" 
 ters, what is fit or unfit, for the great Creator and Go- 
 vernor of the world to do? For the same, or similar 
 reasons, that the people of Israel were made the depo- 
 sitories of h;s laws, and his peculiar people, in former 
 ages, they may be made so again, with an accession of 
 
 gory, in the dispensation to come. And, indeed, Jesus 
 hrist himself strongly Intimates this. When the dis- 
 ciples asked him, " Wilt thou at this time restore the 
 kingdom again to Israel ?" What was his answer ? Was 
 it such an one as might have been expected if the in- 
 quiry of the disciples arose only from an ill-founded 
 prejudice? "And he said unto them, It is not for you 
 to know the times, or the seasons, which the Father 
 Lath put in his own power." His answer plainly im- 
 plies that Israel will, at some time, have the kingdom ; 
 for, if this kingdom were never to be restored to Israel; 
 if in its nature it were altogether spiritual, and all their 
 notions about it were without foundation, surely he 
 would have told them so ; or, at least, he would not 
 have left them in suspense, by referring them to a 
 time, the knowledge of which the Father had reserved 
 to himself. Seeing, then, that the kingdom of God on 
 earth, for which Jesus Christ has taught us daily to 
 pray, is to commence immediately after the destruc- 
 tion of the kingdoms of the world, as we have seen ; 
 and seeing that the Jews are to act a principal part in 
 this kingdom, and to be among the most distinguished 
 subjects of it, their restoration must be effected either 
 before, or at the time of, this overthrow of which tha 
 prophets speak *. 
 
 We shall next attend to a prophecy which fixes with 
 great exactness the deliverance of the Jews to the time 
 of the fall of the kingdoms of the fourth monarchy. 
 At least it does so, if not entirely misunderstood. It is 
 found in Luke xxi. 24 28. From the 20th verse, our 
 JLord is speaking of those judgments of God which 
 
 We shall by and by see that the Jews are to be distinguished in- 
 struments in executing the vengeance of Cod upon the wicked nations, 
 and reTolutiuniziug Ui world.
 
 CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 145 
 
 were to come upon the Jewish people of that age to 
 their utter ruin, both as a church and a body politic. 
 In the 24th verse, he informs his disciples how long the 
 anger of God should pursue them as a nation. "And 
 they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be 
 led away captive into all nations ; and Jerusalem shall 
 be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of 
 the Gentiles be fulfilled." Having thus occasion to 
 notice the termination of the times of the Gentiles, the 
 Saviour now directs the attention of his disciples to 
 that great and general revolution in human affairs 
 which is to take place in the latter days, and of which 
 all their prophets had spoken. " And there shall be 
 signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and 
 upon the earth distress of nations, Sec." Matthew has 
 it, " Immediately after the tribulation of those days 
 shall the sun be darkened, &c."~ That is, after the 
 great and long sufferings of the Jews. Luke adds, at 
 ver. 28th. "" And when these things begin to come to 
 pass, then look up, and lift up your heads ; for your re- 
 demption draweth nigh/' That is, the deliverance of 
 the Jews, and of the church of God among the Gen- 
 tiles too, now approaches ; for their interests and des- 
 tinies are intimately connected. 
 
 But it may be asked, What is the meaning of the 
 phrase, " Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ?" 
 I answer, The times of the Gentiles^ means the times 
 of the four great monarchies ; and then will the time's 
 of the Gentiles be fulfilled, when the stone cut out of 
 the mountain without hands shall fall upon the feet 
 of the great image, and break it to pieces ; whe the 
 judgment shall sit, and the beast shall be slain, and 
 his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame; 
 and the kingdom and dominion shall be given to the 
 people of the saints of the Most High. Nor think this 
 an unsupported fancy of the author^ The venerable 
 Mede writes," Until the times of the Gentiles be ful* 
 " filled;" that is, fas was s-aid before) " until the mo- 
 " narchies of the Gentiles should be finished. For 
 " these times of the Gentiles are that last period of the 
 " fourth kingdom prophesied of, ' a time, times, and 
 
 L
 
 146 THE RESTORATION op THE JEWS, 
 
 " half a time,' at the end whereof the angel swears 
 " unto Daniel, chap. xii. 7. that * God should accom- 
 " plish to scatter the holy people ;' or, as Wintle reads 
 '' it, * after the accomplishment of the dispersion.' 
 " This is that fulness of the Gentries, which being 
 " c6me, St. Paul tells us, ' The deliverer shall come 
 " out of Zion, and all Israel shall be saved*.' And 
 " again, " 1 make no question but these ' times of the 
 " Gentiles/ with which the Jewish tribulation shall 
 " end, are either the times of the four monarchies in 
 " general, (that is, the times of that prophesied domi- 
 " nion of the Gentiles) or, which is all one in event, 
 " those last times of the fourth kingdom of * a time, 
 " times, and half a time/ at the fulfilling whereof, Da- 
 " niel prophesies of the same appearing and coming of 
 " the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, which St. 
 " Luke doth here f." To the same purpose writes Bi- 
 shop Newton. " Our Saviour's words are very me- 
 " morable : f Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
 " Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled/ 
 " When the ' times of the Gentiles' shall be ' fulfilled/ 
 " then, the expression implies, that the Jews shall be 
 " restored. And for what reason can we believe, that 
 " though they are dispersed among all nations, yet, by 
 " a constant miracle, they are kept distinct from all, 
 " but for the farther manifestation of God's purposes 
 " towards them ? The prophecies have been accom- 
 " plished to the greatest exactness in the destruction of 
 " their city, and its continuing still subject to strangers, 
 " in the dispersion of their people, and their living still 
 " separate from all people ; and why should not the 
 " remaining part of the same prophecies be as fully 
 " accomplished, too, in their restoration, at the proper 
 " season, when 'the times of the Gentiles shall be ful- 
 " filled ?' The times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled, 
 *' when the times of the four great kingdoms' of the 
 " Gentiles, according to Daniel's prophecies, shall be 
 " expired, and ' the fifth kingdom/ or the kingdom of 
 " Christ, shall be set up in their place, and ' the saints 
 ** of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and posses* 
 * the kingdom for ever, even for ever and everf." 
 Mede's Works, p. 709, t P. 753. * Vol. II. p. 69, 70,
 
 THE CRISIS OF AlL NATIONS. 147 
 
 The Bishop of Worcester, also, though he has not suf- 
 ficiently explained himself on the subject, says, 
 " Jerusalem was to be trodden down of the Gentiles, 
 " until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled t 
 " Nor say, that this last prophecy is indefinite; for the 
 " times of the Gentiles is a period well known in the 
 " prophetic writings ; a period oflong duration indeed, 
 " as the event hath shewn ; yet a period marked out by 
 " other prophecies (which may come, in turn, to be 
 " considered in this lecture) no less distinctly than their 
 " other captivities have been *." 
 
 We may look, then, for the Restoration of the Jews 
 about the time of the destruction of the fourth beast ; 
 the fall of the kingdoms which have committed forni- 
 cation with the great whore of Babylon ; and when the 
 emancipated nations " shall hate the whore, and make 
 her desolate .t" 
 
 2. The second great event more particularly marked 
 out by the prophets, as intimately connected with the 
 restoration of God's people, is the fall of the Turkish 
 empire. And, seeing that the Turks are now in posses- 
 sion of the country of the Jews, this is an event to be 
 expected, of course ; at least that they should by some 
 means, by the sword or by treaty, be expelled from 
 this part of the territory which they have seized. 
 
 By comparing the beginning of the tzoelftk chapter 
 of Daniel's prophecy with the latter part of the eleventh, 
 and these again with Rev. ix. 13 19- and xvi. 12 18. 
 it is easy to perceive that the deliverance and restora- 
 tion of the Jews is to take place about the time of the 
 fall of the Ottoman power ; but whether it will, to the 
 utmost extent, precede or follow, is not certain. That 
 ff the king of the north," in Dan. xi. 40 45. means 
 the Turkish power, all our ablest commentators agree, 
 as Brightman, Mede, Dr. More, Bishop Newton, Sir I. 
 Newton, Mr. Lowth, Mr. Whiston, Dr. Wells, Mr. 
 Samuel Clark, and a multitude of others, too numerous 
 to name, and much more to transcribe from. A single 
 quotation from Bishop Newton shall suffice. " And 
 " at the time of the end," that is, (as Mr. Mede rightly 
 
 * latrod. to the Study of the Proph. vol. i, 173. t Rev. AYU. 16. 
 L2
 
 148 THE RESTORATION OP THE JEWS, 
 
 expounds it*) " in the latter days of the Roman em- 
 " pire, ' shall the king of the south push at him :' 
 " That is, the Saracens, who were of the Arabians, 
 " and came from the south ; and, under the conduct 
 " of their false prophet Mohammed, and his succes- 
 '** sors, made war upon the emperor Heraclius, and 
 " with amazing rapidity deprived him of Egypt, Syria, 
 " and many of his finest provinces. They were also to 
 " push at, and sorely wound the Greek empire, but 
 " they were not to subvert and destroy it. * And the 
 " king of the north shall come against him like a whirl - 
 " wind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with 
 " many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, 
 " and shall overflow and pass over :' That is, the Turks, 
 " who were originally of the Scythians, and came from 
 "the north, and after the Saracens, seized on Syria, 
 " and assaulted with great violence the remains of the 
 " Greek empire, and in time rendered themselves ab- 
 " solute masters of the whole. The Saracens dismem- 
 " bered and weakened the Greek empire, but the Turks 
 " totally ruined and destroyed it : And for this reason, 
 " we may presume, so much more is said of the Turks 
 " than of the Saracens. ' He shall enter also into the 
 " glorious land :' The same expression of the glorious 
 " land was used before, (ver. 16.) and in both places 
 " it is rendered by the Syriac translator, ' the land of 
 " Israel.' Now nothing is better known, than that the 
 tf Turks took possession of the holy land, and remain 
 " masters of it to this day. Sultan Selim entered into 
 " Jerusalem in his way to Egypt. * And many coun- 
 * f tries shall be overthrown :' Aleppo, Damascus, Gaza, 
 " and the neighbouring cities and countries were forced 
 " to submit, and receive the yoke of the conqueror. 
 " ( But these thall escape out of his hand, even Edom, 
 " and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ainmon:' 
 *' These were some of the people who inhabited Arabia, 
 " and the Arabians the Turks have never been able, 
 " with all their forces, to subdue entirely. But though 
 '.' the Arabians should * escape out of his hand/ yet 
 " Ejg}-pt should not escape, but foil under his domi- 
 " nion, together with the adjoining countries. * He 
 * Mode's Works B. iiir'p. 674. and B. ir. p. 816.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 149 
 
 *' shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, 
 " and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he . 
 " shall have power over the treasures of gold and of 
 " silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt : 
 u And the Libyians and the Ethiopians shall be at his 
 " steps.' ' He shall stretch forth his hand also upon 
 " the countries :' This implies that his dominions 
 " should be of large extent ; and he hath ' stretched 
 " forth his hand' upon many, not only Asian and Eu- 
 " ropean, but likewise African countries. Egypt, in 
 " particular, was destined to submit to his yoke. The 
 " prophecy says further, that some others also of the 
 " African nations should submit to the conqueror j 
 " * the Libyians and the Ethiopians should be at his 
 41 steps:' And we read in history, that after the con-' 
 " quest of Egypt, the terror of Selim's many victories 
 " now spreading wide, the kings of Africa, bordering, 
 fc upon Cyreniaca, sent their ambassadors with proffers 
 " to become his tributaries. Other more remote- na- 
 " tions, also, towards Ethiopia, were easily induced to 
 " join in amity with the Turks* . At this present time, 
 " also, many places in Africa, besides Egypt, as Algiers, 
 " Tunis, &c. are under the dominion of the Turks. 
 " One thing more is observable with regard to the fate 
 " of Egypt, that the particular prophecy coincides ex- 
 t( actly with the general one, as it did before in the in- 
 " stance of Arabia. It was foretold by Ezekiel, (xxix. 
 " 14. xxx. 12.) that Egypt should always be ' a base 
 " kingdom/ and subject to strangers ; and here it is 
 " foretold, that in the latter times it should be made a 
 province to the Turks, as we see at this dayf." 
 What follows, (ver. 44, 45.) according to most writers 
 on the subject, remains yet to be fulfilled. It is a pre- 
 diction of the overthrow of this power. " But tidings 
 out of the east, and out of the north, shall trouble him; 
 therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, 
 and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant 
 the tabernacle of his palace between the seas, in the 
 glorious holy mountain ; and he shall come to his end, 
 and none shall help him." Whether " the tidings out 
 
 * Savage's Abridgment of Knolles and Rvcaut, Ygl. i. p. ?4%, 
 t YuJ. i. p. 398 405. 
 
 "
 
 150 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 of the north," and " out of the east" which are to trouble 
 him, signify the attacks which are to be made upon 
 his empire from these quarters, as is most probable ; 
 and whether by his planting his tabernacle between 
 the seas, in the glorious holy mountain, be meant that 
 he shall remove from Constantinople, and make his 
 last furious stand at Jerusalem, is not of consequence 
 now to inquire ; time will best explain all this. What 
 now concerns us is, that " he will come to his end, and 
 none shall help him." Many may attempt it, un- 
 worthy as he may be of support, but seeing that his 
 destruction is determined by Providence, none shall be 
 able to do it effectual ly*. Remark what immediately 
 follows: " And at that time shall Michael stand up, 
 the great prince which standeth for the children of thy 
 people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as 
 never was since there was a nation, even to that same 
 time ; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, 
 every one that shaU be written in the book t-" Allow- 
 ing that the Ottoman power is signified by the " king 
 of the north," (and nothing, I think, can be more evi- 
 dent) then the conclusion naturally follows, that at the 
 time of the fall of the Turks, the Jews will be restored 
 to their own land, long trodden under foot by this 
 bitter enemy of both Jews and Christians. 
 
 Having seen what Daniel says on this subject, let us 
 compare it with what we find in Rev. ix. 12 19* xvi. 
 12 18. That the Euphratean horsemen, which are 
 brought by the sixth trumpet, signify the Turks, is as 
 generally allowed as that, by " the king of the north/' 
 this dreadful scourge was intended. We need not, 
 therefore, stop to prove or illustrate this here, especially 
 as we have treated pretty much at large on this subject, 
 on a former occasion J. It may be enough now to 
 
 * Those who wish to form a just notion of the character of the Turks, 
 and of their government, (at least as to what they were a little while 
 since, but now they are fighting for the Christian religion and regular 
 governments) may read Mr. Eton's Survey of the Turkish Empire. What 
 he says, also, of its present state, deserves particular attention at this 
 time. According to this author, it has all the symptoms of a speedy dis- 
 solution. Whether the Christian nations do weli in interposing to delay 
 te fall, he will inform the reader. 
 
 t Chap. xii. J. J See Signs of the Timei, Part II.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NAT^XS. 
 
 read with attention the representation here exhibited 
 of the depredations brought by this second zzoe. Ob- 
 serving that, as ' the king of the south,' (the Saracen 
 scourge) and ' the king of the north,' (the Turk) are 
 presented in close connection by Daniel ; so here: 
 the Jifth trumpet brings the Arabian locusts, and the 
 sixth the Euphratean horsemen, who " are prepared 
 for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for 
 to slay the third part of men." 
 
 Their time for spreading destruction, is determined ; 
 and that being finished, they shall come to their end, 
 and none shall help them. To prepare the way for 
 this, is one of the chief designs of the sixth vial of the 
 wrath of God, poured out upon the great river Eu- 
 phrates, chap. xvi. 12. " And the sixth angel poured 
 out his vial upon the great river Euphrates ; and the 
 water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings 
 of the east might be prepared." That, by " the great 
 river Euphrates," the Turkish empire is intended, and 
 that by drying up its water, is meant the wasting its 
 population, riches, power, and the like, preparatory to 
 its overthrow ; and hence, that this vial contemporizes 
 with the " tidings out of the east, and out of the north/' 
 which trouble " the kings of the north," in Dan. xith, 
 most commentators are agreed ; and, in my humble 
 opinion, it needs not to be doubted. 
 
 But what proof can be deduced from what is said 
 respecting the pouring out of this and the following 
 vial, and of the effects which they produce in favour 
 of the restoration of the Jews being intimately con- 
 nected with the fall of the Ottoman power ? Here are 
 two things deserving attention The first is, who are 
 to be understood by the kings of the east? and the 
 second, the magnitude of the convulsions and troubles 
 produced by these vials. 
 
 Some understand by the kings of the east, or the kings 
 from the rising of the sun, (ru &ourt.iw rut itl vaTeXw> ^ia) 
 either the kings and kingdoms bordering on the Eu- 
 phrates, a way for whose conversion is to be prepared by 
 the destruction of the Turkish empire, or sovereigns and 
 leaders of armies, who from the eastern quarter, are 
 to break in upon this emi^e to complete its ruin.
 
 152 THE RESTORATION 1 OF THE JEWS, 
 
 But others contend, that by tlit kings of the east are 
 meant the Jews; called kings, not only on account of 
 the immense riches they will bring with them at their 
 return ; but because of the dignity and honour to which 
 God now raises them. They might have added, Per* 
 haps some of them may be literally kings, for there 
 are reasons to induce us to believe that among the 
 Afghans, and other tribes, in the eastern, and north- 
 eastern, parts of Asia, there are to be found descendants 
 of the dispersed Israelites, who make no contemptible 
 figure among the neighbouring nations. Those who 
 contend that the Jews are meant by the kings of the 
 east, argue that it must be thus, "because, 1. The 
 < ( Jews conversion being a thing so remarkable as 
 " nothing more, and this to be in the very last ages 
 <e of the world, it cannot be thought that in the vials 
 " (which is a prophetical history in short, of things to 
 " be transacted in the last times) the same should be 
 *' wholly omitted, which yet, in case it be not here 
 <e spoken of, is, 2. Because in Rev. xix. (which is 
 * f but a commentary upon the two last vials,) the raar- 
 (c riage of the lamb to his bride (which bride can be 
 te no other than the general assembly of the faithful 
 < f ones, both of Jews and Gentiles, converted to Christ, 
 *' among which the Jews, as-elder sister, are chief) 
 te is made an immediate 'forerunner of the battle of 
 " Armageddon, with which battle the 7th vial be- 
 ?' ginning, (for what is done before the pouring out 
 " of the seventh, is only a preparation to it) the con- 
 < ( version of the Jews, or the marriage of the bride, 
 (< must necessarily be before the. seventh vial is poured 
 tc "forth. 3. Because upon the pouring out of the 
 <e seventh vial, a great voice comes out of the temple 
 * f of heaven from the throne, saying, it h done. What 
 " is the meaning hereof ? here if is applied to the 
 # setting up of the New Jerusalem, noting the mean- 
 f ing of the phrase to be this. Now is the New Jc- 
 <* rusalem established, and how should this be, in case 
 " the Jews, the primary and principal inhabitants of 
 <f this city, were yet to be converted* ?" 
 
 Whatever weight maybe thought to belong to these 
 arguments, and whether*rf/*e kings of (he east signify 
 
 * Tillinghast's Generation Work, Part II. p. 41.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATION'S. 153 
 
 the Jews or not, I have no doubt, but that what is said 
 in ver. 18th, compared with Dan. xii. 1. the connec- 
 tion in each place being duly considered, sufficiently 
 determines that the judgments of the seventh vial are 
 the same with those troubles which are to be at the 
 time of Israel's deliverance ; namely, at the downfal 
 of the Turkish empire; and which again contemporizes 
 with the fall of papal Rome, and of the kingdoms 
 which have given their power to the beast: for whilst 
 the kingdom of the beast is filling with darkness, the 
 sixth and seventh angels proceed to pour out their vials, 
 the former vials being all but preparations for the 
 seventh. Ver. 10. "And the fifth angel poured out 
 his vial upon the seat of the beast," papal Rome 
 itself "And his kingdom was full of darkness." Not 
 instantly, but this vengeance on the seat of his govern- 
 ment, and on the government, itself, was followed by 
 one calamity after another, till the whole politico-ec- 
 clesiastical kingdom was full of miseries, and prepared 
 for the moment of its final overthrow. Ver. 12. 
 *' And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the 
 great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was 
 dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might 
 be prepared/' The wrath of God on the Ottoman 
 power wjll quickly succeed the stroke on Rome, and 
 thp way be prepared, in the mysterious dispensations 
 of Providence, for the bringing to a termination that 
 system of depredation and government, which has 
 been the most unfriendly to the improvement and 
 happiness of mankind, of any that the human race 
 have ever groaned snder. Ver. 13 16. "And I 
 saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the 
 mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the 
 beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. False 
 and lying spirits compare 1 Kings xxii. 20 23. For 
 they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, 
 which go forth unto the kings of the earth /'(?? y5<) 
 of the region, that is, of the region of the beast's 
 empire " and of the whole world," (x), T^ aixau/ws? Sxc) 
 that is, to the kings whose dominions lie without the 
 boundary of this region of the beast's kingdom " iq 
 gather them to the battle of that great day of God
 
 154 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 Almighty," &c*. Ver. 1721. " And the seventh 
 angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came 
 a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the 
 throne, saying, it is done. And there were voices, 
 arid thunders ; and there was a great earthquake, (that 
 is, commotions of nations) such as was not since men 
 were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and 
 so great," &c. 
 
 This is the series of events marked out by John. 
 The vial on the seat of the beast, is followed by another 
 on the Turks, which is to prepare the way for their 
 ruin ; this is succeeded by that general combination 
 among the friends of the dragon, and beast, and false 
 prophet, which brings on the battle (or war) of Arma- 
 geddon. Or, if it should not be a friendly combina- 
 tion among the political powers, signified by these 
 symbols, against a common foe, which these demons 
 of hypocricy and misery go forth to effect; but merely 
 to excite to general war; and in which their princi- 
 pals may very probably be engaged one against ano- 
 ther, for their mutual destruction ; yet it comes to the 
 same, it lea^ds to the pouring out of the last vial, when 
 
 * Though T>5? v)5 is wanting in some MSS. as may be seen in Mills 
 Nov. Test, yet, it does not certainly follow, that it may not be genuine. 
 By noticing the kings of the earth as distinct from the kings of the world, 
 I think the Holy Ghost intended to mark out a circumstance which was 
 to turn up in the latter days, highly worthy of attention. We shall do 
 well to remember, that wherever the scene of a symbolical univerie ii 
 laid, whether in one state or many, the metaphorical language, tad the 
 nature of things, require, that there should be a heaven and an earth. 
 An earth, over which the symbolical sun, moon, and stars of that heaven, 
 stand and rule, as in the natural universe. Now the scene of these 
 visions is laid in the Roman, or beast's empire, as all commentators agree, 
 and that because of the connection of the church of God therewith. 
 Rome, or Italy', the seat of government, was, by the ancients, considered 
 as the heaven of the Roman empire. The provinces, then, over which 
 Italy ruled, were the earth. Hence, through this book, the earth signifies 
 these provinces, as in chap. xii. where the dragon is cast out of heaven 
 into the earth ; it is a prophetical representation of the removal of the 
 imperial authority out of Italy, into Gaul and Germany: and when, in 
 the same chapter, the earth is said to help the woman against the flood, 
 cast out of the mouth of this dragon, it signifies the assistance and pro- 
 tection which the church has experienced in those parts of Europe where 
 the reformation has prevailed. No commentator, that 1 know of, has 
 taken advantage of this idea of the ancients, in explaining this book : 
 but, in my opinion, it is of great use for elucidating many 
 parts of it.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 155 
 
 all God's judgments on Babylon will be finished, and 
 the kingdom of God coine. Consequently this great 
 earthquake, such a$ was not since men zcere upon the. 
 earth, is the same with that trouble which Daniel 
 says, is to be at the time when the king of the north is 
 to come to his end, and when the people of Israel are 
 to be delivered, and which" trouble, he says, shalbe 
 such as never was since there was a nation, even to that 
 same time. 
 
 Whether the first resurrection, Rev. xx. relate to the 
 restoration of the Jews, and be a parallel prophecy 
 with Dan. xii. 2. as some think, does not appear per- 
 fectly clear; but if it be, then we are not to expect 
 this political resurrection until after the binding of the 
 dragon, which I have no doubt signifies the Romano* 
 Germanic tyranny and which, it seems, is to take 
 place some time in the course of the war of Armaged- 
 don ; for although he is engaged in the beginning of 
 it, (Rev. xvi. 13.) yet he is not seen, nor heard of^ at 
 its conclusion, (xix. 19-) and hence the probability is, 
 that in the course of that conflict he is, though not 
 quite destroyed, yet, for the present, not only re- 
 strained from farther action, but sealed up as in the 
 bottomless pit among the dead ; whilst the beast 
 and the false prophet, and the kings of the earth, 
 still go on till they bring upon themselves destruction, 
 and are cast into a lake of fire; and into which the 
 imperial monster, the successor of the Roman dragon, 
 will, in the end, be also cast*. 
 
 III. We come now, in the third place, to enquire 
 whether the prophecies give us any information as to 
 the quarter from whence the Jews may expect to re- 
 ceive the first assistance in favour of their restoration, 
 or whether any particular people, or nation, are marked 
 out by the prophets, as those who are to be the first 
 and chief instruments, in the hand of Providence, for 
 bringing about the predicted event ? 
 
 All that the prophets say on this head, appears to 
 be in too general a way for us to form any certain 
 
 * The Author's ideas relative to this dragon; his binding, the raillen* 
 niara, &c. may be seen at large in his Destiny of f/ie German Empire, in 
 ting parts.
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 opinion, whilst at a distance from the accomplishment 
 of their predictions, as to the particular nation to be 
 first employed in the deliverance of God's people. 
 No more seems to be said than what will be necessary 
 to ascertain the inspiration of the prophecies when 
 the event shall explain them. General outlines, only, 
 are discernable at a distance ; as we approach nearer, 
 the finer strokes are perceived ; but we must be brought 
 ^to see the thing itself in all its proportions, before we 
 * shall be able to form a perfect judgment. We have 
 already taken some notice of that passage in Isa. Ix. 9- 
 " Surely the isles shall wait for me," that is, be my 
 servants to bring my people to the land which 1 give 
 them. " And the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy 
 sons from far, &c." The countries, called the isles, are 
 to be employed in this work*, but Tarshish Jirst. 
 Some say that, on account of the great trade which 
 the Phoenicians carried on by shipping, with old Tar- 
 shish, or Tartessus, in Spain, all trading ships came 
 to be called ships of Tarshish; but here, the ships of 
 some particular country, or part of the world, seem 
 to be intended. But of what country ? Of what part 
 of the world ? Of that part of Spain where old Tar- 
 shish was situated ? A more extensive region appears 
 to have been comprehended under this name, even all 
 the European countries along the coasts of the Medi- 
 terranean, on this side Italy (the land of Chittim) at 
 least, as, far as Gibraltar, that is, France and Spain. 
 And seeing that the geography of the world was but 
 little understood in those times, the Jews might thus 
 denominate even all the countries which lay beyond 
 these. Thus, though it should be allowed as certain 
 that, by the ships of Tarshish, the prophet meant the 
 .ships of the Europeans, yet it is still uncertain to what 
 particular country of Europe these ships belong. 
 Spain and France, indeed, from their situation, seem 
 to have the most plausible claim to this destined ho- 
 nour; but some, like good patriots, are ambitious of 
 securing it to this country, and think our being the 
 first commercial people in the world, and moreover 
 possessing Gibraltar, the parts near which, they say 
 
 * See Isa. Ivi. 1320
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 were especially called Tarshish, to be in favour of 
 our claim. All that this passage intimates (and I think 
 it intimates thus much) is, that some European coun- 
 try or countries, possessing shipping, will be the first 
 to assist the Jews in their return. And, if this country 
 should not be engaged in alliances, or in a war, operat- 
 ing a contrary way ; that is, if no particular circum- 
 stances should exist at the time of the return of God's 
 mercy to his ancient people, to work either on our 
 avarice or prejudices, so ' as to give our passions 
 an opposite impulse, it may then be expected, from 
 the natural generosity of Englishmen, and from the 
 piety of thousands among us, that this country will 
 be foremost to lend assistance in so good -a work as 
 this. But should such unhappy circumstances exist, 
 alas ! what is to be expected ? However conspicuous 
 the hand of God may be in the providential events 
 of the time, we shall be blind, or passion will distort 
 every thing, and by waging war against the provi- 
 dence of rV.rr^hty God, and by attempts to frustrate 
 his purposes, we shall rush on to our ruin. 
 
 But there is another prophecy which, as casting 
 some light on this subject, deserves particular at- 
 tention. It is found in the eighteenth chapter of the 
 prophecy of Isaiah. " This is one of the most obscure 
 " prophecies," says Bishop Lowth, "in the whole 
 " book of Isaiah. The subject of it, the end and 
 " design of it, the people to whom it is addressed, 
 " the history to which it belongs, the person who 
 " sends the messengers, and the nation to whom the 
 rt messengers are sent ; are all obscure and doubtful*." 
 This learned translator has, I think, very much mis- 
 taken the general meaning of this prophecy. 
 
 As to the English reader, the wrong translation of 
 the first word in the prophecy, and the addition of 
 the word saijing, in the second verse, have proved 
 fatal to the right understanding of the whole of it. 
 The Hebrew word >in is a particle of calling to, griev- 
 ing, condoling, threatening, &c. In tsa. v* S< it is 
 threatening ; woe unto them that join house to house, 
 &c. In 1 Kings, xiii. 30. it is an exclamation of grief, 
 alas! my brother! In Zech. ii. 6. it is the language of 
 * New Translation, Notes, p. 109.
 
 158 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 calling to, ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of 
 the north; so also in Isa. Iv. 1*. And thus it should 
 be understood in this place. Ho J the land shadoicing 
 with wings! The prophet is calling to some country. 
 Bat our translators understood it as a particle of 
 threatening, and have rendered it, woe to the land 
 shadowing with wings, which gives an entirely wrong 
 turn to the prophecy : for, instead of a denunciation 
 against the shadowing nation, here is a call to some 
 people, who are to be the protectors of the Jews, (of 
 which protection, shadowing with wings, is the Scrip- 
 ture metaphor) to go with God's message of mercy to 
 them, that is, to assist them in returning from their 
 dispersions, and in recovering their own land ; and 
 this nation is described as situated beyend the, riven 
 of Cush. 
 
 To the present hishopof Rochester, the lovers of biblical 
 studies are indebted for the best translation, and inter- 
 pretation, of this interesting chapter, which is extant 
 in our language, or, perhaps, in any other. I shall 
 give his translation as found in his Critical Disquisi- 
 tions, addressed to Edward King, Esq. extracting as 
 much from that work, and adding such observations 
 as we pass, as may appear necessary for illustrating 
 the textf. 
 
 The bishop sets out with observing ; " First, The 
 " prophecy indeed predicts some woeful judgment : 
 " but the principal matter of the prophecy is not 
 
 * Sec Taylor's Heb. Concord. 436. 
 
 + Although the boundless zeal of this protestant bishop against Jaco- 
 binism (as all love of liberty, and desire of the reformation of corrup- 
 tions in church or state, are now called) and his veneration for what are 
 denominated ancient customs and opinions, may have induced him to 
 endeavour in this work, as well as on other occasions, to transfer from 
 the church of Rome to the democracy of France, the odium attached 
 to antichrist ; and though both his political and religious biassesmay be 
 disapproved of by the friends of liberty, and by all well-informed and 
 dispassionate protestants, yet candour and justice require that his merits, 
 wherever thev appear, should be acknowledged. Whether some of our 
 protestant bisnops and clergy, in the delirium of alarm, have been seized 
 with the fancy that some near degree of kindred subsists between them- 
 selves and the consecrated orders of the Roman hierarchy, I know not, but 
 many of them seem wonderfully affected, of late, for the credit of the 
 church of Rome, as a true church of Christ, and terribly afraid of the 
 prophecies being applied to the calamitiei which hav lately afflicted 
 her, and which threaten her total ruin.
 
 THE CR-ISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 159 
 
 " judgment, but mercy ; a gracious promise of the 
 " final restoration of the Israelites. Secondly, the 
 " prophecy has no respect to Egypt, or any of the 
 " contiguous countries. What has been applied to 
 fc Egypt is a description of some people, or another, 
 " destined to be the principal instruments in the hand 
 t{ of Providence in the great work of the re-settlement 
 *' of the Jews in the Holy Land, a description of that 
 " people, by characters by which they will be evidently 
 " known, when the time arrives. Thirdly, the time 
 " for the completion of the prophecy was very remote, 
 " when it was delivered, and is yet future ; being in- 
 " deed the season of the second advent of our Lord." 
 I would here observe, that the very difficulty, itself, 
 attending this prophecy, seems to favour the appli- 
 cation of it to Judea, rather than to Egypt, because, 
 if Egypt were its object, it is, probably, already ac- 
 complished ; in which case we might expect it to be 
 more intelligible; but seeing that its meaning is still so 
 questionable, this is to me a strong presumptive proof 
 that it is not yet fulfilled, and that it relates to J udea 
 and the Jews. 
 
 ISAIAH, CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 1. Ho! Land spreading wide the shadow of (thy) 
 wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush. 
 
 Spreading wide the shadow of thy wings, signifies, 
 affording aid and protection ; for both wings and sha- 
 dow are in the Scripture style, the symbols of these. 
 Ps. Ixxvii. 8. xxxvi. 7. Mat. xxiii. 37. Ruth ii. 12. 
 Judges ix. 15. Isa. xxv. 4. xxx. 3. 
 
 " The riven of Cush y in this place," says the bishop, 
 " may be either the Euphrates and the Tigris, on the 
 " east; or the Nile, the Astaboras, and the Astapus, o 
 41 the west. But which of these are meant, it must be 
 <( left for time to show*." In another place he saye, 
 " my notion of the prophet's geographical language is, 
 
 P. 93,
 
 16*0 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " that it is the language of the Phoenician voyage/s 
 * f of his time. And iu those times, the most distanrt 
 " voyages being made along the coasts, the Phceni- 
 " cian mariners would speak of every place which lay 
 " to the west of the mouths of the Nile, as beyond the 
 " Nile; that is, in the poeticallanguage of the pro- 
 " phet, beyond the rivers of Cush; because,' keeping 
 *' always along the coast, they would pass within 
 " sight of the mouth of the Nile, before they reached 
 " the western place *." 
 
 With the learned prelate it is a doubt whether the 
 African or Asiatic Cush be intended ; (though he seems 
 most inclined to think that the African Cush is meant) 
 but the nation called to, being described as a great 
 commercial and maritime power, seems evidently to 
 determine it in favour of the former, and that the 
 land, beyond the rivers of Cush, is some land beyond 
 the mouths of the Nile ; some maritime and commer- 
 cial country of Europe. 
 
 2. Accustomed to send messengers by sea, even in 
 bulrush-vessels, upon the surface of the. waters! Go 
 szoift messengers, unto a nation dragged away and 
 plucked; unto a people wonderful from their begin- 
 ning hitherto; a nation expecting, expecting, trampled 
 underfoot, whose land rivers have spoiled. 
 
 " Accustomed to send. The form of the expres- 
 " sion in the original signifies, not a single act of 
 " sending once, but the habit of sending perpetually." 
 " Sending by sea, in bulrush-vessels, is a figurative 
 " expression, descriptive of skill in navigation, and 
 " of the safety and expedition, with which the inha- 
 " bitants, of the land called to, are supposed to pef- 
 " form distant voyages f." " Navigable vessels are 
 " certainly meant ; and if it could be proved, that 
 " Egypt is the country spoken to, these vessels of bnl- 
 *" rushes might be understood literally of the light 
 ** s-kifis, made of that material, and used by the 
 " Egyptians upon the Nile. But if the country spo- 
 " ken to be distant from Egypt, vessels of bulrush are 
 " only used as an apt image, on account of their 
 M levity, for quick-sailing vessels of any material". 
 P. 37 t P. 94.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 " The country, therefore, to which the prophet calls, 
 " is characterised as one, which, in the days of the 
 " completion of this prophecy, shall be a great mari- 
 " time and commercial power, forming remote alli- 
 (( ances, making distant voyages to all parts of the 
 " world, with expedition and security, and in the 
 " habit of affording protection to their friends and 
 f< allies. Where this country is to be found is not 
 " otherwise said, than that it will be remote from Judaea, 
 " and with respect to that country, beyond the 
 " Cushaean streams*." 
 
 All this agrees perfectly with several of the nations 
 .of Europe, but not so well with any other; and par- 
 ticularly, not with the countries situate beyond the 
 Asiatic Gush. 
 
 " Go swift messengers. You,, who, by your skill in 
 " navigation, and your extensive commerce and 
 " alliances, are so well qualified to be carriers of a 
 " message to people in the remotest corners, go with 
 " God's message f." " The swift messengers will cer- 
 " tainly have a considerable share, as instruments in 
 te the hand of God, in the restoration of the chosen. 
 " people. Otherwise to what purpose are they called 
 " upon (v. 1.) to receive their commission from the 
 " prophet ? It will, perhaps, be some part of their 
 " business, to afford the Jews the assistance and pro- 
 " tection of their fleets. This seems to be insinuated 
 " in the imagery of the 1st verse J." 
 
 Unto a nation dragged away and plucked. Our 
 common translation, here, appears full as well, to a 
 nation scattered and peeled. Dispersed about the 
 world and robbed, both of their property, and of their 
 rights as men. 
 
 (Jntn a people wonderful from their beginning hi- 
 therto. Or as the bishop has it, in another place, 
 " awfully remarkable from their beginning." And 
 have not the Jews been a wonderful, and awfully 
 remarkable people, from first to last ? From their de- 
 liverance out of Egypt to the present day? Won- 
 derful providences, and divine interpositions, have 
 * P. 4* t P. 94. t P. 89. 
 
 M
 
 162 
 
 attended them. Awfully remarkable have been their 
 sufferings for their sins; and, their preservation still, 
 may well excite astonishment. 
 
 A nation expecting, expecting, and trampled under 
 foot. The learned prelate's criticisms and argument in. 
 favour of this rendering are profound and ingenious, 
 but, perhaps, the common reading may be as well, at 
 least, it conveys a very clear idea, and expresses the 
 exact state of the Jews. To mete and to measure, in 
 the symbolical style of the Scriptures, is to take posses- 
 sion of. Thus, Ps. Ix. 6, " I will divide Shechem, and 
 mete out the valley of Succoth, Gilead is mine, and 
 Manasseh is mine," &c. See Zech. ii. 2 5. Rev. 
 xi. 1, 2. For a people to be meted out and trodden 
 down by their enemies, is for them to be enslaved and 
 oppressed. 
 
 Whose land rivers have spoiled, that is, invading 
 armies have done so. See chap. viii. 7. " Behold, 
 the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the 
 river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and 
 all his glory : and he shall come up over all his chan- 
 nelsj and go over all his banks, and he shall pass 
 through Judah, he shall overflow and go over." Here 
 the king of Assyria and his army are represented as an 
 overflowing river. 
 
 " Thus it appears, that the description of the people, 
 " to whom the swift messengers are sent, agrees most 
 " accurately in every particular, with the character 
 " and condition of the Jews in their present state of 
 " dispersion. We have now heard messengers sum- 
 u moned. We have heard a command given to them 
 " to go swiftly with the message. We have heard 
 " the people described, to whom the message was to 
 " be carried. It might be expected, we should next 
 " hear the message given to the messengers in precise 
 " terms In prophecy, the curtain (if the expression 
 " may be allowed) is often suddenly dropped upon the 
 " action that is going on, before it is finished : and 
 '' the subject is continued in a shifted vision. In the 
 " present instance, the scene of messengers, sent upon 
 " a message, is suddenly closed, with the second verse, 
 " before the messengers set out, before even the mes-
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 163 
 
 " sage is given to them. But the new objects, which 
 "" are immediately brought in view, evidently repre- 
 " sent, under the usual emblems of sacred prophecy, 
 " other parts of the same entire action, and declare 
 tl with the greatest perspicuity, the report, the season, 
 tf and the effect of the message. An ensign, or stand- 
 " ard, is lifted up on the mountains, a trumpet is 
 " blown on the hills, &c." 
 
 3. All the inhabitants of the world, and dzvelle ri 
 upon earth, shall see the lifting up, as it were, of a 
 banner upon the mountains, and shall hear the sound- 
 ing, as it were of a trumpet. 
 
 Similar language to this is often used by the pro- 
 phets when armies are to be assembled to execute 
 Jehovah's judgments on the wicked nations, and when 
 Israel is to be restored. As may be seen by consulting 
 chap. y. 26. xi. 12. xiii. 2. xxvii. 23. Jer. li. 27 Zech. 
 ix. 14. 
 
 This setting up the standard, and sounding the 
 trumpet, appears to be for the purpose of gathering 
 the nations to that war of Armageddon, described in 
 Rev. xvi. 14 21. and at which time of trouble Israel 
 is to be gathered. To give some notice of this it is 
 that the prophet stops short, as we have seen, and says 
 nothing more of what God calls the swift messengers 
 for, nor of the effect of the message, till he has spoken 
 of this, as in the three following verses. 
 
 4. For thus saith Jehovah unto me ; I will sit stilt 
 (but I will keep my eye upon my prepared habitation.) 
 As the parching heat just before lightning f as the dewy 
 cloud in. the heat of harvest. 
 
 5. For afore the harvest, when the bud is coming to 
 perfection, and the blossom is become a juicy berry f 
 he will cut off the useless shoots zcith pruning-hooks, 
 and the bill shall take away the luxuriant branches, 
 
 6. They shall be, left together to the bird of prey of 
 the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth. And 
 upon it shall the bird of prey summer, and all the 
 beasts of the earth upon it shall winter. 
 
 Though it would carry us too far to attend to every 
 particular in this part of the prophecy, yet the follow"- 
 ing is so much to the purpose, and throws such light 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEW*, 
 
 on this obscure part of Scripture, that I cannot deny 
 myself the satisfaction of presenting it to the reader's 
 attention. 
 
 " The 4th verse represents a long cessation of visible 
 " interpositions of Providence, under the image of 
 " God's sitting still ; the stillness of that awful pause, 
 " under the image of that torpid state of the atmos- 
 " phere, in hot weather, when not a gleam of sun- 
 " shine breaks for a moment through the sullen gloom ; 
 " not a breath stirs j not a leaf wags ; not a blade of 
 " grass is shaken ; no ripling wave curls upon the 
 " sleeping surface of the waters ; the black ponderous 
 *' cloud, covering the whole sky, seems to hang fixed 
 " and motionless as an arch of stone. Nature seems 
 " benumbed in all her operations. The vigilance, 
 " nevertheless, of God's silent providence, is rep re - 
 " sented under the image of his keeping his eye, while 
 " he thus sits still, upon his prepared habitation. The 
 " sudden irruption of judgment, threatened in the next 
 <e verse, after this total cessation, just before the final 
 " call to Jew and Gentile, answers to the storms of 
 " thunder and lightning, which, in the suffocating 
 " heats of the latter end of summer, succeed that 
 " perfect stillness and stagnation of the atmosphere. 
 " And as the natural thunder, at such seasons, is the 
 te welcome harbinger of refreshing and copious show- 
 " ers; so, it appears, the thunder of God's judgment 
 " will usher in the long desired season of the consuni- 
 " mation of mercy. So accurate is the allusion in all 
 " its parts." 
 
 The prophet having thus described that cessation of 
 the divine interposition in favour of God's people, 
 which has continued now for so many ages, and during 
 which time the Gentiles have so cruelly and so wan- 
 tonly afflicted them, and trodden under foot his con- 
 secrated habitation ; and having given warning of the 
 judgments which are to prepare the way for the dis- 
 play of returning mercy ; the curtain again rises, and 
 we see the full effects of the message committed to 
 .the protecting nation which, in the dispensation of 
 God's providence, is appointed to be the first and
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. lt>5 
 
 principal instrument for bringing about the deliverance 
 of the Jews. 
 
 7. At that season a present shall be led to Jehovah 
 of hosts, a people dragged away and plucked ; even oj 
 a people wonderful from the beginning hitherto ; a 
 nation expecting, expecting, and trampled underfoot, 
 whose land rivers have spoiled, unto the place of 
 Jehovah of hosts, Mount Sion. 
 
 From this prophecy we may fairly conclude, J think, 
 that some nation lying far westofJudea, possessing 
 shipping, will be the instruments of bringing about 
 the restoration of the Jews, and that it is likely to be 
 one of the European powers, but whether France, or 
 Spain, or Great Britain, or some other, the prophecy 
 says nothing to enable us to conclude. The Bishop of 
 Rochester says, " that there is no reason to believe, 
 " that the Atheistical Democracy of France is destined 
 (< to so high an office." Some, perhaps, may entertain 
 different sentiments. Judging from what has been, 
 they may think that no certain conclusion, on such a 
 subject, can be drawn, from the piety or impiety of a 
 nation. They may think that, though there is nothing 
 in the prophecy to determine this, yet, seeing the pro* 
 phet appears to point to Europe, and that the bearings 
 of Providence tend as they do, there is more reason to 
 suppose, if the deliverance of the Jews be near, that 
 France may be the destined instrument to bring it about, 
 than those whose alliances, interests, and passions, seem 
 to operate a very contrary way. 
 
 What the designs of Providence are none can say ; 
 or how things may be over-ruled in favour of this na- 
 tion or that, it is impossible to conjecture; but if the 
 Jews are to be soon restored, I freely acknowledge, that 
 from the awful events which we have lately witnessed 
 in Europe ; from the footing which the French have 
 got in the Turkish empire, near to the promised 
 land, if not in it ; from the general disaffection of 
 the Turkish provinces, and from the deep policy of 
 our enemy, and the principles which they disseminate 
 whether they succeed in this or that particular- ob- 
 ject, or not as well as from the temper and spirit of 
 the government, and people of this country, at th$
 
 THE RESTOEATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 present moment, I cannot help fearing tbat we arc 
 not the favoured nation. I wish our prospects were 
 more promising. . 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Particular Circumstances attending the Deliverance. 
 of the Jews the Evils they are to tndure their 
 moral Character at the Commencement of their 
 Recovery the important Part which they are to 
 take in punishing and revolutionizing the Nations , 
 
 HAVING advanced thus far in our review of the 
 prophecies, which refer to the restoration of the 
 Jews, we shall now turn our attention to those which 
 mark out some particular circumstances that are to 
 attend this event. 
 
 I. Will the deliverance of the Jews be effected 
 at the time of the breaking up of the anti-christian 
 kingdoms, a time of very general revolutions, and great 
 calamities; when God will especially afflict those who, 
 though a series of ages, have afflicted this people, 
 and cruelly persecuted the best disciples of Christ ? 
 It is clear that the Jews themselves will, also, expe- 
 rience very great afflictions in .their return and re- 
 establishment, 
 
 " Like a woman with child," says the prophet Isaiah, 
 fe that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in 
 pain, and crieth out in her pangs, so have we been in 
 thy sight, O Lord*. We have been with child, we 
 have been in pain, we have, as it were, brought forth 
 wind, we have not wrought any deliverance in the 
 earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world 
 fallen." But what is the promise to animate them 
 against discouragment ? "Thy dead men shall live, 
 with my dead body shall they arise." Mr. Dodson 
 
 * Iri the language of the prophets, times, present or preter, have no 
 respect- tf the tune of the delivery of the prophecy, but of its completion,
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 1<>7 
 
 translates it, " Thy dead men shall live ; their dead 
 bodies shall arise." Bishop Lowth has it, ' Thy dead 
 shall live; my deceased, they shall rise.' "Awake 
 and sing, ye that dwell in dust ; for thy dew is as the 
 dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead*." 
 That is, the dead bones in the valley of vision, the 
 whole house of Israel, shall be restored to political 
 life. See also Jer. xxx. 4 8. " These are the words 
 which the Lord spake concerning Israel, and concern- 
 ing Judah. For thus saith the Lord, We have heard 
 a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace. Ask 
 ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with 
 child ? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands 
 on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are 
 turned into paleness ? Alas ! for that day is great, so 
 that none is like it ; it is even the time of Jacob's 
 trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall 
 come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that 
 I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will 
 burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve 
 themselves of him," Again, Ezekiel, when speaking 
 of the restoration of Israel in the latter days, has these 
 strong expressions. " As I live, saith the Lord God, 
 surely, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-ouc 
 arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. 
 And I will bring you out from the people, and will 
 gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scat- 
 tered ; with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out 
 arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you 
 into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead 
 with you face to face. And I will purge out from, 
 among you the rebels, &.ct" Thus do the prophets 
 make it plain that the Jews are to suffer much in their 
 efforts to re-gain their former place among the nations. 
 And, indeed, seeing it is to be such a lime of trouble 
 as never was since there was a nation, even to that 
 same time ; when men's hearts will fail them for fear, 
 and for looking after those things which are coming 
 upon the earth, it is not to be expected, but, that the 
 Jewish nation, struggling for its liberty, must expe- 
 rience a considerable share of the general calamity. 
 
 Iia. zxvi. 1719. * Chap. ix. 3358.
 
 168 THE RESTORATION OF tHE JEWS, 
 
 And this must, particularly, be expected to be the 
 case if they should be collected, organized, and armed, 
 by some distant people (who from policy may take 
 up their cause) and have either to fight their way to 
 their own country through hostile regions ; or to make 
 good their re-settlement there against powerful op- 
 position. And how scattered and disorganized as 
 the Jews are their union and re-settlement can be 
 effected without some such foreign interposition in 
 their favour, does not seem easy to conjecture; nor 
 is it likely, considering what human nature is, and the 
 character of the governments both in Europe and Asia, 
 and the different interests by which they are actuated, 
 but that their restoration, from the opposition of 
 Christians or Mahommedans, or both, will be the 
 occasion of much bloodshed : These will have one 
 interest, and Those another; and no one of them, it 
 is likely, will be influenced by any motives either 
 of religion or justice, but of supposed policy. 
 
 II. The moral character of the Jews, at the begin- 
 ning of their recovery, next claims our attention. Al- 
 though their great and joyful return, and complete 
 restoration, will take place after their repentance ; 
 yet, it appears evident that they will begin to be 
 gathered before this happy change will take place in 
 their character. This must be concluded frora the 
 language of the prophets. Isaiah, describing the seed 
 of Abraham just as we see them, says, " In trans- 
 gressing and lying against the Lord, and departing 
 away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, 
 conceiving and uttering from the heart words of false- 
 hood; and judgment is turned away backward, and 
 justice standeth afar off, for truth is fallen in the street, 
 and equity cannot enter." And what measures does 
 their Maker pursue ? Does their destruction follow ? 
 No. Pity is extended, and their God, who has long 
 sat still, rises up for their deliverance. " And he saw 
 that there was no man, and wondered that there was 
 no intercessor ;" (although he had suspended his in- 
 terpositions, yet his eye was over them) " therefore 
 his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteous-, 
 ness it su&tained him. For he put on righteousness 
 2
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 169 
 
 as a breast-plate ; and a helmet of salvation upon his 
 head : and he put on the garments of vengeance for 
 clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak." Though 
 Israel has sinned, and must therefore suffer chastise- 
 ment, yet God will be faithful to his covenant and 
 save them. And to do it, the prophet represents 
 Jehovah as arming himself to encounter the enslavers 
 of his people, and to procure redemption for them. 
 "According to their deeds; accordingly he will repay 
 fury to his adversaries, recornpence to his enemies; 
 to the islands he will repay a recompence." And what 
 follows this season of vengeance? u So shall they 
 fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory 
 from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall 
 come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift 
 up a standard against him." Or, as Bishop Lowth, 
 * When he shall come, like a river straitened in his 
 course, which a strong wind driveth along.' " And 
 the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that 
 turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah*." 
 
 In Ezek. xx. 32. Israel is represented as saying, 
 " We will be as the heathen, as the families of the 
 countries to serve wood and stone." Yet immediately 
 it is added, " As I live, saith the Lord God, surely 
 with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and 
 with fury poured out, will I rule over you ; and bring 
 you out from the people ; and will gather you out of 
 the countries, wherein ye are scattered And I will 
 cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you 
 into the bond of the covenant, and I will purge out 
 from among you the rebels, &,c." From this passage 
 it appears that, when God shall begin to deliver his 
 people, they will be in a state of impenitence, and dis- 
 posed rather to continue among the Gentiles, and walk 
 in their ways, than return to their own land and seek 
 God. But the Almighty will so dispose the events of 
 Providence, that they shall be put in motion towards 
 their restoration; but, although God designs their 
 ultimate good, as a nation, yet they shall be conducted 
 through such scenes of suffering, that most of those 
 on whom God's dealings do not work good, shall perish. 
 Isa. lu. 1320.
 
 170 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 This accords with a prophecy found in Jer. xvi. wherfc 
 the return of Israel from the land of the north, and 
 from all lands whither they have been driven, being 
 predicted, it is added : (v. 16.) " behold, I will send 
 for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish 
 them ; and after will I send many hunters, and they 
 shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every 
 hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. For mine eyes 
 are upon their ways, they are not hid from my face, 
 neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. And 
 first I will recompence their iniquity, and their sin 
 double, &c." From this prophecy it seems natural to 
 conclude, that the beginnings of their return will be 
 when they are in their sins, and take place from causes 
 separate from their own inclination. They will be put 
 in motion by others, the fishers and hunters, whom God 
 will send, rather than by any impulse, or causes, ori- 
 ginating among themselves. ' 
 
 From Ezek. xxxix. it appears that the conversion 
 of Israel is to be dated from the destruction of the 
 army of Gog And whose invasion is most certainly 
 to be some considerable time after Israel's first return; 
 and when they are in possession of Jerusalem. Ver. 
 21st. "I will set my glory among the heathen, and 
 all nations shall see my judgment that I execute, and 
 my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house 
 of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, 
 from that day and forward." Thus Joel, also, after 
 the harvest and vintage, when the enemies of God's 
 people are utterly overthrown in the valley of decision ; 
 after the sun and moon are darkened, and God has 
 roiired out of Zion, and uttered his voice from Je- 
 rusalem, it is added, " So shall ye know that I am the 
 Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain, 
 then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stran- 
 ger pass through her any more *." And what we fint} 
 jn Zeph. iii. 6 9- is directly to the point. For their 
 sins God punishes them. " Their cities are destroyed, 
 so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. 
 J said, surely thou wilt fear me; thou wilt receive in- 
 struction, so their dwelling should not be cut off, how- 
 Joel iii. if.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 171 
 
 ever I punished them." But, did they, from their 
 sufferings, learn to fear God? No " But they rose 
 early to corrupt all their doings. Wherefore, wait ye 
 upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up 
 to the prey, for my determination is to gather the 
 nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour 
 upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; 
 for all he earth shall be devoured with the fire of my 
 jealousy." Observe what follows : " For then will I 
 turn to the people a pure language, that they may all 
 call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one 
 consent." Zechariah also is express on this subject. 
 Judah is to be gathered, and their enemies destroyed, 
 before the general repentance. Chap. xii. 9. "And 
 it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to 
 destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." 
 The day to which the prophecy alludes appears to be 
 none other than that prophesied of in Ezek. xxxviii. 
 and xxxix. And it is on this appearance of God for 
 the destruction of the enemies of the Jews (by some 
 miraculous interposition, it is probable, and not by any 
 ordinary means) that this people will be converted, 
 Ver. 10th. " And I will pour upon the house of David, 
 and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of 
 grace, and of supplication ; and they shall look upon 
 me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for 
 him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be 
 in bitterness for him, (that is, on account of him, the 
 Messiah) as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. 
 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Je- 
 rusalem, and the land shall mourn every family apart, 
 and their wives apart, &c." It is now that a fountain 
 is to be opened for sin and uncleanness, as promised 
 in the beginning of the next chapter. That is, God 
 will now sanctify and pardon his people. 
 
 Some have supposed that Jesus Christ will now ap- 
 pear personally to the Jewish nation, not only for the 
 purpose of their deliverance from their invading ene- 
 mies, but especially for their conversion, and thus a 
 nation will be born at once*, not by the ordinary 
 means of instruction, but by a miracle, similar to that 
 
 * Isa. kvi. 8.
 
 172 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 by which their countryman, in his way to Damascus, 
 was brought to believe in him whom he had hated 
 and persecuted; and thus a nation of apostles will be 
 prepared at once, for evangelizing the world, and no- 
 thing will be left for men to glory in, but he that 
 glorieth must glory in the Lord. And it may be thus 
 for ought that I can advance to the contrary. That 
 there must be some very extraordinary interpositions 
 of God, both for the conversion of this people, and 
 for that general conversion of the heathen, which 
 is promised, I think evident enough, not only from 
 the declarations of Scripture, but from the nature of 
 the thing. But this matter will come, in turn, to be 
 considered hereafter. 
 
 But the reader, ere this, probably, may have been 
 questioning in his mind, 'If the Jews obstinately con- 
 tinue in impenitence and unbelief, what is it which 
 moves the divine mind to relax the judgments, of 
 nyhjch these, all along, have been the cause, and to- 
 visit them with mercy ?' We might answer this very 
 natural inquiry in a few words. God is moved by his 
 grace, and faithfulness to his covenant. It is that he 
 may glorify his own name in the sight of the nations. 
 But let us refer to the decision of inspiration. " For 
 their sins, says Jehovah," (Ezek. xxxvi.) " I poured 
 my fury uppn them, and scattered them among the 
 heathen. But" (ver. 21.) (l I had pity for mine own 
 holy name which the house of Israel had profaned 
 among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore 
 say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, I 
 do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for 
 ?nine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among 
 the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify 
 my great name which was profaned among the hear- 
 then, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, 
 and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord God, 
 >vhen I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For 
 I will take you from among the heathen, and gather 
 you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own 
 land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and 
 ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness, and from, 
 all your idols, will I cleanse you." This agrees, exact- 
 ly, with what the apostle Paul writes to the Romans,
 
 f 
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 173 
 
 f< All Israel shall be saved. As it is written, There 
 shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn 
 away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my cove- 
 nant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As 
 concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your 
 sakes ; but, as touching the election, they are beloved 
 for the father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of 
 God are without repentance." 
 
 Thus is appears plain, from the prophecies, that the 
 Jews will be restored, in part, at least, before their 
 conversion : And that the commencement of their re- 
 turn to their own land, will not be so much from any 
 spontaneous motion of their own, or because they 
 wish to serve and worship the Lord as their fathers 
 did of old ; but they will be put in motion by some 
 foreign power ; the fahers and hunters, whom Provi- 
 dence will employ; and all the mercy which they will 
 find, will be from the unmerited grace of God, and 
 that, in them, he may sanctify his holy name in the 
 sight of the heathen, and make his providence, and 
 grace towards them, the occasion of bringing glory 
 to himself before all nations. And this, without doubt, 
 that all nations may, ultimately, be made good ami 
 happy; for however impenetrable, by mortals, his dis- 
 pensations may be, yet we are sure he is good, infinitely 
 good, and " his mercy endureth for ever." 
 
 III. But the part which divine Providence has ap- 
 pointed the Jews to act in the punishment of their 
 oppressors, and in the important revolutions and 
 changes which are to be effected in states and king- 
 doms, demands particular attention. .Despised, weak, 
 and nothing, as they may now be ; yet, if there be 
 any meaning i words, the prophets teach us to expect 
 a time when they will stand up a great army, and at 
 once avenge their own wrongs on their persecutors, 
 and be the instruments of bringing about the awful 
 and grand designs of the Deity in revolutionizing the 
 world. Whether this will be altogether after they 
 become organized in their own country by the assist- 
 ance of the protecting people who are called to in 
 Isa. xviii. or partly in their efforts to emancipate 
 themselves from the power of their enemies, who may
 
 174 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 endeavour to prevent their return, and for this pur- 
 pose enact laws to forbid their removal from their 
 several countries, and partly in their way to take posses- 
 sion of Palestine, is uncertain ; but, possibly, in all these 
 situations. That they are to act a considerable part ni 
 the execution of God's judgments, when in possession 
 of their country, is pretty clear; nor is it unlikely that, 
 whenever they begin to move for the purpose of join- 
 ing in an attempt to recover this their country from 
 the Turks, the present possessors of it, then those 
 governments which shall be in friendship with that 
 power, or which may conceive their interests to be 
 endangered by their re-settlement, wiH take measures to 
 prevent the execution of their designs; and out of 
 which, where the Jews are numerous, consequences 
 may grow which it is impossible to calculate ; espe- 
 cially where a ferment shall already exist in the public 
 mind. 
 
 But leaving uncertain conjectures about how God's 
 designs are to be fulfilled, let us attend to a few of 
 those prophecie which bear testimony as to the fact, 
 and which give the most unequivocal assurance as to 
 the conspicuous part which the Jews are to act in 
 breaking the nations to pieces in the latter days. 
 
 Hear Isaiah. " He shall set up an ensign for the 
 nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and 
 gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four 
 corners of the earth. They shall fly upon the shoul- 
 ders of the Philistines towards the West, they shall 
 spoil them of the East together. They shall lay their 
 hand upon Edom, and Moab and the children of 
 Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly 
 destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with his 
 mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, 
 and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men 
 go over dry-shod.* 
 
 Mr. Lowth, in his comment on this place, says, 
 *' The word tongue, when applied to the sea, signifies 
 " a bay, and so it is translated, Josh. xv. 2, .5. So that 
 " by the tongue of the Egyptian sea must be meant the 
 " bay of the Mediterranean sea, where the river Nile 
 " empties itself into the Mediterranean. By the river 
 
 * Iia. xi, 12 1C.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS, \75 
 
 " here is certainly meant the Nile." Seeing that this 
 prophecy undoubtedly relates to the future restoration 
 of the Jews, the 14th verse must allude to the con- 
 quest which they shall make of the countries men- 
 tioned ; and of which, though in the grant made to 
 Abraham and Israel, as we have seen, they have never 
 yet had full possession. This conquest is to be made 
 by themselves ; but that of Egypt*, signified in the 
 15th verse, is not said to be made by them, and may 
 therefore be effected by some other instrument prepa- 
 ratory to the conquests which they themselves are to 
 make. Thus the 15th and l6th verses may be con- 
 sidered as explanatory, shewing how it is that the way 
 is to be opened for these victories. And if we render 
 the Hebrew particle i at the beginning of the 15th 
 verse, for, instead of and, as it is in chap. iii. 7, and 
 many other places, this will make our supposition ap- 
 pear more probable. Thus : " The) 7 shall fly upon, 
 the shoulders of the Philistines, &c. for the Lord 
 shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea ; 
 and with his mighty wind, shall he shake his hand 
 over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, 
 and make men go over dry-shod. And there shall be 
 an high-way for the remnant of his people which 
 shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel, in 
 the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." 
 This seems as if Egypt were to be conquered, that 
 the Jews may pass through it to attack those countries, 
 mentioned by the prophet, now possessed by the 
 Turks and Arabs. As Assyria here may certainly have 
 a mystical sense, as it has in other parts of the pro- 
 phecies, " the remnant of God's people" which are to 
 pass through Egypt, may be the Jews in this western 
 part of the world, Europe, which by a devolution of 
 power possesses that dominion which Assyria once 
 possessed, and which has exercised that same sort of 
 tyranny, civil and religious, which that empire once 
 
 It is needless to stop a moment to prove that smiting of rivers, dry- 
 ing them up, &c. means the conquest f the countries which they 
 water or defend : But the reader may turn toEzek. xxx. 10 12. For 
 a river to be so dried up that men may go over drv-shod, signifies the 
 entire waste of its power, and the consequent facility of the conquest.
 
 176 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 exercised. But if we understand the literal Assyria, it 
 will come to much the same, for the Jews in these western 
 parts (as also those of Africa) are the descendants of 
 those who returned from the seventy years captivity, 
 and who were but a remnant of those that had been 
 led away. For the great bulk staid behind, neglecting 
 to take advantage of the decrees of the Persian princes, 
 as Josephus testifies. There is a parallel prophecy in 
 chap, xxvii. 12, 13; and concerning the present ac- 
 complishment of which Mr. Edward King, in his 
 Supplement to the Remarks on the Signs of the Times, 
 expresses very great confidence. Whether this pro- 
 phecy, in Isa. xi. concerning Egypt, be already partly 
 fulfilled, by the easy conquest which the French have 
 made of it, and whether it be likely that the great 
 trumpet*, which is to rouse and assemble the Jews, is 
 ready to be blown, I shall not pretend to determine : 
 It may be that this conquest of Egypt, either imme- 
 diately, or by its consequences, is intended by Provi- 
 dence to prepare the way for the overthrow of the 
 power of the Turks, and the re-settlement of the Jews 
 in their own country ; things most certainly never 
 looked so much like it. It may be that the great 
 trumpet is ready to be blown : " And if so," ( I use 
 the words of Mr. King,) " then surely we have great. 
 " and good reason to take the alarm ; and to wait, 
 " with awful expectation, for what is next coming. 
 
 " If these words of prophecy are really now ful- 
 " filling ; if this be the real case, in what a period do 
 <c we live ? Let us remember the words of the first 
 " of the apostles t, and, with the honest publican, 
 " smite our hands upon our breast." 
 
 This same prophet, in chap. xli. has these remarkable 
 words; words which certainly have never, yet, had 
 any adequate completion." Fear not, for I am with 
 thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will 
 strengthen thee, yea, 1 will help thee. Behold, all 
 they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed 
 and confounded ; they shall be as nothing ; and they 
 that strive with thee shall perish. Fear not, thou worm 
 Jacob, and ye men of Israel." Ver. 15. " Behold, I 
 * Chap, xxvii. 13. t 2 Pet. iii. 9 13.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 1?7 
 
 will make thee a new sharp-threshing instrument, hav- 
 ing teeth. Thou shalt thresh the mountains," (that 
 is, the kingdoms) " and beat them small, and shall 
 make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the 
 wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall 
 scatter them ; and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, 
 and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel." Again at 
 ver. 25. " I have raised up one from the north, and 
 he shall come ; from the rising of the sun shall he call 
 upon my name ; and he shall come upon princes as 
 upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth the clay." 
 This, most probably, refers, if not to the Jews collect- 
 ively, to some eminent leader of them, who shall head 
 them in battle, and be a distinguished instrument in 
 the destruction of their enemies in the latter days. 
 
 IS T or is Isaiah the only prophet who has spoken of 
 the part which Israel is to take in the conflicts of the 
 latter days, and in the punishment of their oppressors. 
 What Jeremiah says in chapter li. of God's judgments 
 on Babylon, is generally understood to relate to mysti- 
 cal Babylon. And indeed it must be so; for what 
 part had the Jews in the punishment and destruction 
 of literal Babylon ? None at all. But here it is said of 
 Israel, the rod of God's inheritance, " Thou art my 
 battle-axe, and weapons of war, for with thee will I 
 break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I de- 
 stroy kingdoms. And I will render unto Babylon, and 
 to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their evil that they 
 have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord." 
 
 If the punishment of literal Babylon, and the de- 
 struction of the Chaldean empire, and the kingdoms 
 which it embraced, were meant by the prophet, why 
 did he ascribe all this to Israel, who, for aught that 
 appears, had no hand in it? Should it not rather 
 have been said of the Medo-Persian power, " Thou 
 art my battle-axe, and weapons of war ?'' For they 
 were the Medes and Persians, under Darius and Cyrus, 
 that broke in pieces the nations, and not the captive 
 Jews, whose deliverance from their then captivity was 
 not. by force and arms, but in consequence of the 
 grant of the conqueror Cyrus. Even those who are most 
 
 N
 
 178 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 against admitting a double sense in the prophecies, 
 need not object to the application of this to the king-* 
 doms of the empire of the beast, Babylon the great ; 
 for why might not Jeremiah, though his eye was 
 singly fixed on one object, speak of this oppressor of 
 God's people in the same mystical language as that 
 which was afterwards so familiar to John? 
 
 There is also a prophecy in Obadiah, which, I think, 
 must be applied to some transactions of the Jews 
 which have not yet taken place. The subject of the 
 prophecy is the destruction of Edom, and seems to 
 refer to tlie same judgments as the prophecy in Isa. 
 Ixiii. which we have already noticed *. That prophecy 
 our most cautious and judicious commentators, con- 
 sider as referring to some greater, and more awful 
 events, in the dispensations of Providence, than what 
 have ever yet taken place. And thus this prophecy 
 in Obadiah ; whether what was to happen to literal 
 Edom be considered as the ground-work of it or not, 
 yet some parts of it oblige us to consider it as look- 
 ing to some enemies of God's people in the latter days. 
 Mr. Lowth's comment on ver. 17, where the prophet 
 says, " But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance," is, 
 -*-" This was remarkably verified at the first preaching 
 " of the Gospel, when God's law came forth from Zion. 
 " And there shall be another completion of it at the 
 " restoration of the Jewish nation, which is spoken 
 " of in this arid the following verses." 
 
 Esau, from whom the Edomites descended, was the 
 brother of Jacob. . From the ties of relationship, 
 therefore, it might have been expected that the Edo- 
 mites should have been kindly disposed towards Israel, 
 and, rather than have aggravated their sufferings by 
 persecution, have shewn them pity in their affliction, 
 Hence their base conduct towards them was attended 
 with peculiar guilt ; and they may be considered as 
 the most apt type of those antichristian nations that 
 have persecuted God's ancient people without remorse, 
 
 * It is well known that the Jewish writers often understand by Edom 
 in the prophecies, the Roman empire. Italy and Rome are called in. 
 the Talmud, " The cruel empire of Edom." I'a Gemartit. Samped. c. 1. 
 $ 34. p. 307. See Bosnage's Hist, ffihe Jews, B.vi. chap, fi.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 179 
 
 and refused them all pity in their suffering state. The 
 persecutions with which the nations, professing Chris- 
 tianity, have pursued the pitiable Jews, has been vio- 
 lence against a brother, (ver. 10.) who, though an of- 
 fender under correction, is a brother still. " Thou 
 shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother, in 
 the day he became a stranger, neither shouldest thou have 
 rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their 
 destruction, neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly 
 in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have en- 
 tered into the gate of my people in the day of their 
 calamity ; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their 
 affliction in the day of their calamity; nor have laid 
 hands on their substance in the day of their calamity*." 
 And what, to these heathen Christians, is to be the 
 consequence of the cruel and aggravated injustice they 
 have practised against the people of God ? Hear the 
 doom pronounced by the prophet. " The day of the 
 Lord is near upon all the heathen : As thou hast done 
 it shall be done unto thee ; thy reward shall return 
 upon thy own head. And the house of Jacob shall 
 be a fire," (observe this) " and the house of Joseph a 
 flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they 
 shall kindle in them, and devour them ; and there shall 
 not be any remaining of the house of Esau. And savi- 
 ours shall come upon mount Zion to judge the mount 
 of Esau f," i. e. " The leaders of the Jews," says 
 Mr. Lowth, " who shall fight their battles, and van- 
 " quish their enemies, denoted by the inhabitants of 
 " mount Esau." What follows, indisputably fixes, in 
 my humble opinion, this prophecy to the events of the 
 latter days, " and the kingdom shall be the Lord's 
 " This will be fulfilled," says the above commenta- 
 tor, " when the four monarchies are destroyed, and 
 " the stone which smote the image, becomes a great 
 " mountain, and fills the earth/' 
 
 There appearing nothing in history relative to the 
 Jews and Edomites, which can be considered as at all 
 proportionate to the language of this prophecy; and 
 liie prophet so intimately connecting the kingdom of 
 Ver. 121-1. t Ver. 18, 19. $ Ver. 21. 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 ike Lord with, this destruction of the enemies of 
 the Jews ; and this expression, " the kingdom 
 shall be the Lord's/' being the well-known language 
 of the prophets to represent that happy state of things 
 which is to succeed the fourth monarchy, and the 
 conversion of Jews and Gentiles, it is reasonable to 
 conclude, that, under the name of Edom, the prophet 
 is speaking of the enemies of God's people in the 
 latter days ; and hence it farther follows, that the Jews, 
 at the time of their restoration, will be eminent instru- 
 ments, in the hand of Providence, for executing the 
 divine judgments on their oppressors. 
 
 But there is another prophecy to the same effect, 
 and, if possible, more indisputable. It is found in 
 Micah iv. ,The prophet, after predicting the glories 
 of the latter days, and the dominion and kingdom 
 which shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem, and 
 describing the struggles which the Jewish people are 
 to engage in to obtain their deliverance from cap- 
 tivity, and in the re-establishment of their common- 
 wealth, under the image of a woman in travail, he 
 adds, ver. 1 1th, " JXow also many nations are gathered 
 against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our 
 eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts 
 of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel; for 
 he shall gather them as sheaves into the floor. Arise 
 and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine 
 horn iron, and I will make thine hoofs brass, and thou 
 shalt beat in pieces many people, and I will consecrate 
 their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the 
 Lord of the whole earth." Again in chap. v. 8. 
 " And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the 
 Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among 
 the beasts of the forest ; as a young lion among ;i 
 flock of sheep; who, if he go through, both treadcth 
 down, and teareth to pieces, and none can deliver. 
 Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries, and 
 all thine enemies shall be cut off." Most of our com- 
 mentators have understood the 7th verse as a predic- 
 tion of the blessings which shall be derived to tike 
 Gentiles through the means of the Jews, scattered 
 among them, who shall be the instruments of their
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 181 
 
 conversion. " And the remnant of Jacob shall be in 
 the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as 
 the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, 
 nor waiteth for the sons of men." But with all de- 
 ference for the general opinion, I rather think that the 
 idea meant to be conveyed by this simile, is, that the 
 principles and circumstances working the emancipa- 
 tion and restoration of God's people, will be uncon- 
 trollable by man ; they may regret and oppose, but 
 \vill have no more, power to prevent the purposes of 
 God in the deliverance of the Jews, than they have to 
 stay the falling dew and descending showers. The 
 latter part of this verse, and what follows, best com- 
 ports with this idea. But, though all attempts to 
 frustrate the designs of God will be as vain as opposing 
 the falling dew and rain, yet the nations will make 
 them, and the consequence will be their ruin. " The 
 remnant of Jacob will be amone them as a lion amorisr 
 
 O O 
 
 the beasts of the forest." * 
 
 Zechariah, also, looking forward to the same in- 
 teresting period of Israel's deliverance, when they 
 shall again take a place among the nations of the earth, 
 says, (x. 5.) " And they shall be as mighty men which 
 tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in 
 the battle, and they shall fight, because the Lord is 
 with them ; and the riders on horses shall be con- 
 founded ; and I will strengthen the house of Judah, 
 and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring 
 them again to place them, for I have mercy upon 
 them, and they shall be as though I had not cast them 
 off, for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them." 
 In chap. xii. he adds, "And in that day will I make 
 Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all people ; all that 
 burden themselves with it shall be cutin pieces, though 
 all people of the earth be gathered against it;" that is, 
 all the nations which oppose the retur-n and re-settle- 
 ment of God's people in their own land, shall be crushed 
 under the weight of their power ; for God promises, 
 (ver. 4.) " In that day I will smite every horse with 
 astonishment, and his rider with madness, and I will 
 open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will 
 smite every horse of the people with blindness. In (
 
 182 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 that day will I make the governors of Judah like a 
 hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire 
 in a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people ro md 
 about, on the right hand, and on the left. An-i J :u- 
 salern shall be inhabited again, in her own r-lru-e, ; en 
 in Jerusalem." Thus do many of the piv . 
 present the Jewish people, though now a tam-i a 
 curse, as the instruments to be hereafter employee oy 
 Providence, to break to pieces the nations and king- 
 doms which have ruled over them. 
 
 IV. Some of the prophecies which we have no, _ed 
 lead us to conclude that the land of Palestine and the 
 neighbourhood of Jerusalem, where the devoted na^ 
 tions will muster all their strength to prevent the re- 
 settlementrof God's rising people, will he the principal 
 theatre of those awful conflicts and judgments which 
 \ve are taught to expect ; whilst others lead us to con- 
 clude that the warlike atchievements of the Jews will 
 extend over the contiguous countries ; and, a few seem 
 to intimate, (and especially that in Mic. v. 8.) as though 
 they would in the end (either from the opposition made 
 to their return, or from some other cause) prove fatal 
 scourges to the nations among whom they are scattered. 
 The prophecy, in Zech. xii. which we have just looked 
 at, appears to refer, particularly, lo that great and 
 final overthrow of Israel's enemies, which is to take 
 place some few years after the commencement of their 
 return, glanced at in many of the prophecies, but more 
 amply described by Exekiel*." " Son of man, set thy 
 face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince 
 of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and 
 say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold 1 am against 
 thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 
 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy 
 jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, 
 horses and horsemen, and all of them clothed with all 
 sorts of armour, even a great company, with bucklers 
 and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethi- 
 opia, and Lybia with them, all of them with shield and 
 helmet. Gomerand all his bands, the house of Togar- 
 mah of the north quarters, and all his bands, and many 
 
 * Chapters xxxviii. xxxix.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 183 
 
 people with thee*." It should be observed that the 
 Ux interpreters take the word Rosh, commonly trans- 
 lated Chief, for a proper name, and hence render 
 what, in our translation, is, The chief prince ofMeshech 
 and Tubal, "The prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tu- 
 bal." " Rosh, taken as a proper name," says Mr. 
 Lowth, " signifies those inhabitants of Scythia, from 
 whence the Russians derive their name and original." 
 At ver. 8th, we are informed when this great com- 
 bination against the people of God is to be. " After 
 many days thou shall be visited ; in the latter years 
 thou shait come into the land that is brought back 
 from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, 
 against the mountains of Israel, which have been 
 always (or rather, altogether) waste, but it is brought 
 forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all 
 of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, 
 thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and 
 all thy bands, and many people with thee." Most 
 commentators have understood the invaders here 
 spoken_of to be the Turks. The ingenious author, of 
 Illustrations of Prophecy, supposes that this for- 
 midable army will principally consist of Tartars. la 
 the second part of the Signs of the Times I have ven- 
 tured to give my opinion on this difficult subject. The 
 Tartars, it is most likely, will constitute a considerable 
 part of this invading army, but, seeing that the Rus- 
 sians, and the people called Tartars, are from the same 
 stock, the Scythians, and that the former possess au- 
 thority over so large a portion of the ancient Scythia, 
 and are constantly extending their power in the re- 
 gions marked out in the prophecy, it is not at all un- 
 reasonable to suppose that the Russians may be con- 
 spicuous actors in this scene of hostility, and especially 
 if we take into consideration their present character 
 and connections, and may be allowed to judge at all 
 from the direction which their politics seem to be 
 taking. But all such particulars as these we must leave 
 for events to explain more clearly. What more im- 
 mediately concerns us now, is the fact ; there will be a 
 most formidable combination entered into for the pur- 
 
 * Chapter xxxviii. 2 6.
 
 184 
 
 pose of opposing the re-settlement of the Jews, and 
 which will terminate in the destruction of those en- 
 gaged in it*. 
 
 See the issue in the sequel of this prophecy, " Thou 
 shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to 
 cover the land, it shall be' in the latter days, and I will 
 bring thee against my land, that the heathen may 
 know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, 
 before their eyes. In my jealousy, and in the fire of 
 my wrath, have I spoken ; surely in that day there shall 
 Ije a great shaking in the land of Israel ; so that the 
 fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the 
 beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep 
 upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face 
 of the earth, "shall shake at my presence, and the 
 mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places 
 shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And 
 1 will call for a sword against him throughout all my 
 mountains, every man's sword shall be against his 
 brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence 
 and with blood, and 1 will rain upon him, and upon 
 his bands, and upon the many people that are with 
 him, an overflowing rain, and great hail-stones, fire and 
 brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and I will 
 sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of 
 many nations, and they shall know that I am the 
 Lord-f-."- " And I will, set my glory among the 
 heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment 
 that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid 
 upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I 
 am the Lord their God, from that day and forward 
 Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God 
 which caused them to be led into captivity among the 
 heathen : but I have gathered them unto their own 
 land, and have left none of them any more there. 
 Neither will I hide my face any more from them, for 
 1 have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, 
 saith the LordJ." 
 
 It cannot be well doubted, that it is to this awful 
 
 * Those who wish to see more on this subject, may consult Illust. of 
 Proph. vol. ii. p- 620 633. 
 
 t Ver, 16 23. J Chap, xxxix, 21 *9.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 185 
 
 season our Lord alludes, when he says to the obdurate 
 Jews, " Behold your house is left unto you desolate. 
 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, 
 till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name 
 of the Lord*." Isaiah also appears to speak of this 
 same time in chap. Ixvi. 19> and so does Zechariah 
 (xii. 2.) " 1 will gather all nations against Jerusalem to 
 battle, and the city shall be taken then shall the Lord go 
 forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought 
 in the day of battle. And his feet hall stand in that day 
 on the mount of Olives, Sic." Thus, by some wonder- 
 ful providence, or, more properly, by some miraculous 
 interposition of God, all the nations gathered against 
 Jerusalem, for the purpose of preventing the re-esta- 
 blishment of the Jewish commonwealth, and that they 
 may crush the rising greatness of God's people, (and 
 thus crush also the cause of liberty ; for it is this 
 which is the object of fear and hatred to tyrants) will 
 be overwhelmed in one general destruction. And 
 now, it seems, the whole remains of the Jewish nation 
 (for multitudes of the wicked among them will perish 
 too) will be converted, and God will create a new 
 heaven and a new tarth. And THE AGE TO coMEf, 
 the kingdom of God, for which Jesus Christ taught his 
 disciples to pray, and of which all the prophets have 
 spoken, will commence. " And the kingdom, and do- 
 minion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
 whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the 
 saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an ever- 
 lasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and 
 obey him J/' 
 
 * Mat. xxiii. 38, 39. 
 
 f The a'wx, that eminent period when the earth shall be filled with 
 the knowledge of the Lord. 
 
 J Dan. vii. 27.
 
 186 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Kingdom of God on Earth the general Conner- 
 .. sion of Mankind and the Means whereby it is likely 
 to be effected. 
 
 WE have attended to some of those numerous 
 prophecies which speak of the restoration of 
 all the tribes of Israel; of the change which is to take 
 place in their moral character, and the great peace 
 and prosperity which they are long to enjoy; of the 
 revolutions and calamities, which are to be intimately 
 connected with the deliverance of God's people, and 
 the part which they are to take in the execution of the 
 divine judgments on the nations : we have seen by 
 what a series of wonderful interpositions the captives 
 are to be delivered, and how their enemies are to be 
 overwhelmed in ruin, and all this that they may be 
 brought to know the Lord their God ; and that the 
 heathen may know him, and that his name may be 
 sanctified among them, and all nations see his glory. 
 
 What that AGE TO COME, that Kingdom of God, 
 which is promised, is, who can tell ? Eye hath not 
 seen, neither hath the ear of man heard, nor have 
 entered into his heart, the things which God has pre- 
 pared for them that love him ! But, were we to stop 
 here without more particularly attending to those pro- 
 phecies which relate to that state of things, that new . 
 dispensation ; and without exercising that modest en- 
 quiry which our Creator, by revealing what he has 
 thought right to reveal of his designs, manifestly in- 
 tended we should exercise, some might think we had 
 stopped too short. With a view therefore, not to 
 gratify curiosity, but to nourish our piety and encou- 
 rage our hopes as Christians, we will proceed with 
 caution. 
 
 That things are not always to continue as they are ;
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 187 
 
 that ignorance, and vice, and misery, are not always to 
 cover the earth ; but that knowledge, virtue, and hap- 
 piness, shall take their place, is clearly promised in our 
 sacred Scriptures. How consoling the information ! 
 How animating the hope ! It disperses the clouds 
 which hang over the works and dispensations of God! 
 That moral and natural evil should be permitted a 
 temporary existence, may be conceived to consist with 
 the wise and good designs of the infinite Spirit; but 
 tha^ these should rage, and triumph, and desolate his 
 works for ever, this cannot be conceived. The pro- 
 mise of a renovation of all things is full of glory ; and 
 the man that, without attentive examination for him- 
 self, and great concern for the issue, wantonly throws 
 away these hopes, and exerts all his faculties to bring 
 into contempt that book which alone gives us any 
 rational and well-founded information on this subject, 
 is lost to all the best qualities which belong to intelli- 
 gence, and is an enemy to himself, and to his species. 
 
 That the Gospel of Jesus Christ shall, some time, 
 
 )iave a general spread, and that all nations, Jews and 
 
 Gentiles, shall know and worship God ; and that the 
 
 consequence shall be, that righteousness, peace, and 
 
 happiness, shall abound in every part of the earth, is 
 
 assured in the Scriptures, without a shade of obscurity. 
 
 Jesus Christ intimated this in some of his parables, as 
 
 when he said, " The kingdom of heaven is like to a 
 
 grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed 
 
 in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds; but, 
 
 when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and 
 
 becometh a tree ; so that the birds of the air come and 
 
 lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake 
 
 he unto them, The kingdom of heaven is like unto 
 
 leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures 
 
 of meal, till the whole was leavened*." In the Old 
 
 Testament, prophecies of the universal spread of the 
 
 Gospel, and of the general conversion of mankind, 
 
 abound. To this great event that promise of God to 
 
 Abraham, that in him, and in his seed, all the families 
 
 6fthe earth shall be blessed, is to be referred, as the 
 
 Mat. xiii. 3133.
 
 18$ THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 apostles, Peter and Paul, both teach us*. Agreeable 
 to this, is Psalm ii. " Ask of me and I shall give thee 
 (the Son) the heathen for thine inheritance, and the 
 uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou 
 shah break them with a rod of iron, (those that oppose 
 his kingdom) thou shalt dash them in pieces like a 
 potter's vessel. Be wise therefore, O ye kings, be in- 
 structed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with 
 fear, and rejoice with trembling." This prophecy had 
 but an inchoate fulfilment at the Messiah's first ap- 
 pearance, a fulfilment which fell far short of the ex- 
 alted language of the prophet. Again, it is of these 
 long expected times that he says, in the twenty-second 
 Psalm, ver. 27, vf All the ends of the earth shall re- 
 member and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds 
 of the nations shall worship before thee. For the 
 kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among 
 the nations." 
 
 We have already admired the elevated sentiments 
 of Isaiah, expressed in that prophetic description of 
 the lust days, found in chap. ii. " And many people 
 shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the 
 mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
 Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will 
 walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the 
 law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And 
 he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
 many people : and they shall beat their swords into 
 ploughshares, and their spears into priming-hooks : 
 nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
 shall they learn war any more." Similar sentiments 
 are expressed by Micah : and who, moreover, adds, 
 (iv. 4.) " But they shall sit every man under his vine, 
 and under his fig-tree, and none shall make them, 
 afraid : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." 
 Well might the prophet thus assert his authority, for 
 who, that judges only from the past and present state 
 of things, can ever flatter himself with the expectation 
 of such days of piety and peace ? The gospel revela- 
 tion, it is true, is calculated to repress the vices and 
 
 * Compare Gen. xii. 3. xviii. 18. sxii. 18. Acts iii. 25. Gal. iii. 8,16,
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS* 189 
 
 disorders which exist in the world, and to unite men 
 in the bonds of charity, and for this purpose, among 
 others, was it given ; but something must take place 
 which has never yet been seen, to cause it to produce 
 the full effect of the design ; for not only individuals 
 are to be brought to feel, and act under its influence, 
 but all the nations. But where is the nation which is 
 truly Christian ? With the Gospel in their mouths 
 they, with cool deliberation, ravage and destroy. But, 
 for our consolation, we are not left to vain wishes, and 
 unfounded expectations, but the mouth of the Lord 
 hath spoken it : " There shall come forth a rod out of 
 the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his 
 roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, 
 with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and re- 
 prove with equity for the meek of the earth : and he 
 shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and 
 with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." 
 And what shall follow this punishment of the ungodly 
 part of mankind ? " The wolf shall dwell with the 
 lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and 
 the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. 
 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy moun- 
 tain ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that 
 day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand 
 for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles 
 seek, and his rest shall be glorious." The holy and 
 equitable laws and maxims, by which the government, 
 established on mount Zion, shall be regulated, shall 
 command universal attention and admiration. This 
 government shall be the centre round which all nations 
 shall rally; and men will learn that it will be for their 
 interest and happiness to pay honour to, and imitate/ 
 the people of God; and thus will be fulfilled the pro- 
 mise to Zion, " Unto thee shall it come, even the first 
 dominion, the kingdom shall come to the daughter of 
 Jerusalem*." The prophet Isaiah proceeds, " And it 
 shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set 
 his hand again the second time, to recover the rem- 
 nant of his people-j-." And now will be fulfilled that 
 
 * Micah iv, 8. t l?a. xi. 111.
 
 190 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 saying of this same prophet, " Then shalt thou say in 
 thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I 
 have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive and 
 moving to and fro ? And who hath brought up these? 
 Behold, I was left alone, these, where, have they been ?" 
 That is, those of Jtidah will express their surprise 
 when their brethren of the ten tribes are searched out 
 and brought from their hiding places, and their mul- 
 titudes are found so great. It is added, " Thus saith 
 the Lord, Behold I will lift up mine hand to the 
 Gentiles, and set my standard for the people, and they 
 shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters 
 shall be carried upon their shoulders, and kings shall 
 be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing 
 mothers, they shall bow down before thee, with their 
 faces to the earth*." Till now little has been ex- 
 perienced but conflict and suffering ; but at this time 
 will be fulfilled what this prophet predicts (chap. lx. 
 1 3.) " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the 
 glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And the Gen- 
 tiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the bright- 
 ness of thy rising." Or, as Jeremiah expresses it, 
 ' The Gentiles shall come to thee from the ends of 
 the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have in- 
 herited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no 
 profitf." " Then," says the Lord by Zephaniah, after 
 he has poured his fury upon the kingdoms, " will I 
 turn to the people a pure language, that they may all 
 call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with 
 one consent^." Grand design ! and worthy of Jeho- 
 vah ! a design, which He only, who made man, is able 
 to effect ! 
 
 Nor is this renovation of all things known only to 
 the prophets of the Old Testament, it is spoken of 
 also in the New. "They shall see. the Son of man 
 coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great 
 glory. And he shall send his angels (messengers) 
 with a great sound of a trumpet, (the trumpet ot the 
 Gospel) and they shall gather together his elect from 
 the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 
 
 Chap. xlix. 2023. t Chap. xvi. 19. 
 
 t Chap, iii, 9. ^ Mat. JLJUV. 31.
 
 THE CRISIS. OF ALL NATIONS, 
 
 And does not the command which our Lord gave to 
 his disciples, to " go into all the world, and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature/' imply, that all nations 
 were the objects or' the divine mercy, that the whole 
 habitable globe was embraced in the gracious design 
 of his mission ? If so, then, the time must come, 
 though wicked men have been permitted to retard it, 
 when the design shall have effect, and all nations shall 
 be blessed, 'fo this period the apostle Peter seems to 
 refer, when he says to the Jews, " Repent ye, there- 
 fore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted 
 out, when the times of refreshing- shall come from the 
 presents of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ; 
 which before was preached unto you : whom the hea- 
 vens must receive, until the times of the restitution of 
 all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all 
 his holy prophets, since the world began *." And 
 again lie speaks of " new heavens and a new earth, 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness-}-. The same, doubt- 
 less, as the New Jerusalem in the apocalypse. The 
 apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, says, " Blindness 
 in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the 
 Gentiles be come in J. And so all Israel shall be saved, 
 as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the de- 
 liverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." 
 We might take a view of the two concluding chapters 
 of the Revelation, where this new state of things is 
 described in all the sublimity of eastern metaphor. 
 But, perhaps, by this time, the reader may be im- 
 
 * Acts iii. 1921. + 2 Ep. iii. 13. 
 
 $ The words until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, are generally, 
 1 think, misunderstood. Most suppose the apostle to mean that th 
 Jews are to continue in a state of unbelief till the general conversion 
 of the Gentiles be effected. But this, I presume, cannot be the idea 
 of the apostle, for it evidently appears that the general conversion of 
 the Gentiles will not take place till after that of the Jews, and in 
 consequence of it. "Ap^pi; TO vrkngufjkat run i 6x tiffsXOij, until the 
 completion of the Gentiles be come, that is, until the completion of the 
 time of their power and dominion as opposed to the reign of Christ 
 and the saints. Uan. vii. This is a parallel prediction with that of 
 our Lord's in Luke xxi. 24. AVPi rcAtjfwfW* xpo idtat>, until tiie 
 times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. This seems to have been the way ia 
 which Mr. Mede understood the apostle, as quoted at p, 51. 
 
 $ Rom, xi. 25, 26.
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 patient to ask, ' Hovv r can these things be? By what 
 means is this mighty and sudden change to be effected ?' 
 To pretend to say any thing positive on this head would 
 argue a degree of presumption highly unbecoming : but 
 to exercise our reason, and to search the Scriptures, to 
 see what assistance may he derived from thence, to aid 
 us in our enquiries respecting that, in which we are all 
 so deeply interested; and thus, by the use of the fa- 
 culties and light which God has given to us, to en- 
 deavour to form a modest opinion, cannot be wrong. 
 That renovation of things, of which the prophets speak ; 
 that correction of the moral character of men, and the 
 consequent amelioration of their condition, which it 
 is so pleasing to hope for, is certainly not beyond the 
 power of the Almighty Maker of the world, nor is it 
 for men to say, independent of the testimony of divine 
 revelation, whether it may, or may not, be. 
 
 Before I venture to offer any of my own thoughts 
 on this- subject, I will present to the reader's attention 
 the sentiments of some of our writers who are, or 
 were, in their day, the brightest ornaments of our 
 established church, all of whom state their sentiments 
 in favour of the fact, and some of them their opinion 
 as to its accomplishment. 
 
 I shall first quote from Bishop Butler's dnalogy*. 
 On the superiority of virtue, after supposing the ten- 
 dencies of virtue in the invisible world, he says, " Let 
 " us return to the earth our habitation ; and we shall 
 <e see this happy tendency of virtue; by imagining an 
 " instance not so vast and remote : by supposing a 
 " kingdom or society of men upon it perfectly vir- 
 " tuous, for a succession of many ages: to which, if 
 " you please, may be given a situation advantageous 
 " for universal monarchy. In such a state, there 
 " would be no such thing as faction: but men of the 
 f< greatest capacity would of course, all along, have the 
 " chief direction of affairs willingly yielded to them ; 
 " and they would share it among themselves without 
 " envy. Each of these would have the part assigned 
 " him, to which his genius was peculiarly adapted: 
 " and others, who had not any distinguished genius 
 
 P. % 99, 272, 274.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 193 
 
 n would be safe, and think themselves very happy, by 
 " being under the protection and guidance of those 
 " who had. Public determination would really be the 
 " result of the imited wisdom of the community : and 
 " they would faithfully be executed, by the united 
 " strength of it. Some would in a higher way contri- 
 <{ bute, but all would in some way contribute, to the 
 " public prosperity: and in it, each would enjoy the 
 " fruits of his own virtue. And as injustice, whether 
 " by fraud or force, would be unknown among them- 
 " selves; so they would be sufficiently secured from it 
 " in their neighbours. For cunning and false self- 
 fr interest, confederacies in injustice, ever slight, and 
 " accompanied with faction and intestine treachery ; 
 <c these on one hand would be found mere childish 
 fe folly and weakness, when set in opposition against 
 " wisdom, public spirit, union inviolable, and fidelity 
 " on the other: allowing both a sufficient length of 
 <f years to try their force. Add the general influence, 
 (( which such a kingdom would have over the face of 
 " the earth, by way of example particularly, and the 
 " reverence which would be paid to it. Jt would 
 " plainly be superior to all others, and the world must 
 fe gradually come under its empire: not by means of 
 " lawless violence, but partly by what must be allowed 
 " to be just conquest, and partly by other kingdoms 
 " submitting themselves voluntarily to it, throughout 
 " a course of ages, and claiming its protection, one 
 " after another, in successive exigences. The head of 
 " it would be an universal monarch, in another sense 
 <e than any mortal has yet been; and the eastern 
 *' style would be literally applicable to him, that all 
 <( people, nations, and languages, should serve him. 
 " And though indeed our knowledge of human nature, 
 " and the whole history of mankind, shew the im- 
 " possibility, without some miraculous interposition, 
 " that a number of men, here on earth, should unite 
 4( in one society or government, in the fear of God 
 " and the universal practice of virtue : and that such 
 *' a government should continue so united for a suc- 
 4t cession of ages : yet admitting or supposing this, 
 " the effect would be as now drawn out. And thus, 
 
 o
 
 194 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 fe for instance, the wonderful power and prosperity 
 " promised to the Jewish nation in the Scripture, 
 *' would be, in a great measure, the consequence of 
 " what is predicted of them ; that the people should be 
 " all righteous and inherit the land for ever*; were 
 " we to understand the latter phrase of a long con- 
 " tinuance only, sufficient to give things time to work. 
 et The predictions of this kind, for there are many of 
 " them, cannot come to pass, in the present known 
 " course of nature ; but suppose them come to pass, 
 " and then the dominion and pre-eminence promised 
 " must naturally follow, to a very considerable degree. 
 " Consider, now, the general system of religion: 
 " That the government of the world is uniform, and 
 " one, and moral : That virtue and right shall finally 
 " have the advantage, and prevail over fraud and 
 " lawless force, over the deceits, as well as the violence 
 " of wickedness, under the conduct of one supreme 
 ft governor : And from the observations above made, 
 " it will appear, that God has, by our reason, given us 
 et to see a peculiar connection in the several parts of 
 " this scheme, and a tendency towards the completion 
 " of it, arising out of the very nature of virtue ; 
 " which tendency is to be considered as somewhat 
 " moral in the essential constitution of things. If any 
 *' one should think all this to be of little importance, I 
 " desire him to consider what he would think, if vice 
 " had, essentially, and in its nature, these advantageous 
 " tendencies ; or if virtue had, essentially, the direct 
 " contrary ones. Christianity is a scheme quite be- 
 te yond our comprehension. The moral government 
 " of God is exercised by gradually conducting things 
 " so in the course of his providence, that every one, 
 te at length, and upon the whole, shall receive ac- 
 "' cording to his deserts ; and neither fraud nor vio- 
 " lence, but truth and right, shall finally prevail. 
 ' Christianity is a particular scheme under this ge- 
 *' neral plan of Providence, and a part of it conducive 
 " to its completion with regard to mankind : Con- 
 " sisting itself also of various parts, and a mysterious 
 ceconomy, which has been carrying on from the 
 
 Isa. Ix, 21. 
 
 "
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 f time the world catae into its present wretched 
 ' state, and is still carrying on, for its recovery, by a 
 ' divine person, the Messiah ; who is ' to gather 
 ' together in one the children of God, that are 
 '' scattered abroad*;' and establish f an everlasting 
 " kingdom, wherein dwelleth righteousness!.' 
 
 " Now little, surely, need be said to shew that this 
 
 ' system, or scheme of things, is but imperfectly 
 
 " comprehended by us. The Scripture expressly as- 
 
 " serts it to be so. And indeed one cannot read a 
 
 ' passage relating to this 'great mystery of godli- 
 
 " nessj/ but what immediately runs up into some- 
 
 Y thing, which shews us our ignorance in it; as every 
 
 ' thing in nature shews us our ignorance in the con- 
 
 " stitution of nature." 
 
 The following is from Bishop Kurd's Twelve Ser. on 
 Prophecy, Vol. i. Ser. 6, p. 197- " As it had been 
 " declared, from the beginning, that in the promised 
 " seed ' all the nations of the earth should be blessed;' 
 " so the Gospel, or the good tidings of that blessing, 
 " was, in due time, to be communicated to all nations. 
 " Further still, this Gospel was not only to be pub- 
 " lished to all nations, but to be acknowledged and 
 " received by them. There are numberless pro- 
 " phecies to this purpose in the books of the Old 
 " Testament: Prophecies, which say expressly, 'That 
 " God would give unto the Messiah the heathen for 
 " his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 " for his possession.' (Psal. ii. 8.) * That from the 
 " rising of the sun even unto the going down of the 
 " same, his name shall be great among the Gentiles.' 
 " (Mai. i. 2.) ' It is a light thing,' says the prophet 
 " Isaiah, addressing himself in the person of the Al- 
 " mighty to the Messiah, ' that thou shouldest be 
 " my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to 
 " restore the preserved of Israel ; 1 will also give fhee 
 " for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my 
 " salvation to the ends of the earth.' (Isai. xlix. 6.) 
 " And Jesus himself, when he commissioned his 
 " apostles to publish his doctrine, did it in these 
 " words: 'Go YE INTO ALL THE WORLD, AND 
 
 * John xi. 52. t 2 Pet. iii. 13. J 1 Tim. iii. 16. 
 
 02
 
 (C 
 
 196 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE/ 
 
 " (Mark xvi. 15.) 
 
 " It is unquestionable, therefore, from these and 
 " other passages, that not the Jews only, but all 
 " nations were to be instructed in the Christian faith ; 
 " that the Gospel was to be an universal religion; and 
 " that thus the Messiah was to be, in every sense, the 
 " Saviour of mankind. There is no doubt, I say, but 
 " that such is the language of the prophets ; and that 
 et they clearly suppose the dispensation of the Gospel 
 " to have these views, and to terminate in this event. 
 " That this victory hath not been hitherto so 
 
 complete as to answer the promise of an absolute 
 " universality, we readily acknowledge ; but we are in 
 " no pain for the event, as the same oracles, which 
 " have thus far been verified, suppose the present 
 " condition of things ; and what is more, assure us of 
 " a time to come, when ' the fulness of the Gentiles 
 " shall come in." 
 
 The quotation which follows, from Dr. Jorhn's Re- 
 marks on Ecclesiastical History, is much to the pur- 
 pose*. " The conversion and the restoration of the 
 " Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles, if ever it be 
 " accomplished, must in all probability be performed 
 " by the visible manifestation of God's power and 
 " spirit, and not by ordinary and human means. This 
 " will appear, if we consider the present situation of 
 " the Jews, and of the unbelieving nations, and the 
 " impediments to their conversion, both from their 
 " own state, and from the state of Christianity. 
 
 " When the Gospel was first preached, its progress 
 *' was swift and extensive. If you ask why it was so, 
 " and how it came to pass, the reason is, that it was 
 " accomparied with a plentiful effusion of divine and 
 " preternatural gifts, with prophetic and miraculous 
 * f powers ; else it could never have prevailed, and 
 " even the prejudices of education would have kept it 
 " out from all lands. 
 
 " Christianity, at present, is destitute of these aids, 
 " and is to be proved by no other ways than by 
 *' inferences and deductions, and moral and historical 
 
 Vol. iii. p.W 447".
 
 CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 197 
 
 '" proofs, which not only require learning, and the 
 " exercise of reason in the teacher, but also a tolerable 
 " capacity in the persons to be taught. Now those 
 " men, in general, who make up the bulk of society, 
 " are incompetent judges of complicated moral evi- 
 " dence, and of probabilities ; which makes it ex- 
 u tremely difficult to introduce Christianity anywhere 
 " by mere argumentative methods, and by convincing 
 " the understanding. 
 
 " The Mohammedans and Pagans are for the most 
 " part poor reasoners, and take up implicitly the re- 
 " ligious opinions which they find established. Good 
 " sense and intellectual abilities are indeed natives of 
 " all climes, but they are not equally cultivated every 
 " where, and no where less than in those countries of 
 " which we are speaking, where the vulgar are often 
 " only a better sort of brutes, and a little above the 
 " monkeys. Man is, in a great measure, what educa- 
 " tion and instruction make him. Despotic govern- 
 " ment, which is an enemy to the free exercise of the 
 " understanding, and the danger of examining points 
 " of faith, increases the stupidity and ignorance iu 
 " such places. Where the w r ill of one insolent man is 
 " the only law, there is usually neither learning, nor 
 " courage, nor virtue, nor religion. The manners, 
 " also, and the customs of those nations, are in some 
 " things directly contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. 
 " The Gospel restrains polygamy and divorce, enjoins 
 " chastity and humanity, orders servants or slaves to 
 " be kindly used, and the female sex to frequent the 
 te public worship of God, and therefore must be 
 " odious to those nations where different practices 
 " prevail. Hence it may be observed, that when. 
 " Christianity, not long after the death of the apostles, 
 " made its way in some parts of the Christian world, 
 " it probably had the assistance of miracles, not only 
 " because of the hardships and persecutions which its 
 " professors then underwent, but because it contra- 
 " dieted the manners and customs of those who em- 
 " braced it, and opposed itself to those indulgencies 
 " and practices which men are never willing to give 
 " up, and which are to them a kind of second nature.
 
 198 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " Thie, joined to some testimonies in ecclesiastical 
 " history, is no bad argument to shew that miracles 
 " might continue somewhat longer than the apostolical 
 " age, and be performed upon some important occa- 
 <e sions, particularly in preaching, and establishing 
 tf the Gospel amongst infidels. 
 
 " There is little reason to hope that Pagan and Mo- 
 " hammedan nations should be converted at present by 
 " the Christians. They are not at all disposed to re- 
 " ceive the Gospel, and to judge of the force of 
 " moral arguments, and of strong probabilities. It 
 <e would be a hard matter to convince them of the 
 ff antiquity and the authority of our sacred books, not 
 " because our proofs are weak and defective, but 
 " because they are not acquainted with our chronology 
 tf and history. Yet these impediments and difficulties 
 " are not such as should discourage the attempts 
 " made by our teachers and missionaries amongst the 
 fc Pagans in those countries where we have commerce 
 " and settlements. Such attempts are highly useful 
 " and commendable, and deserve public encourage- 
 " ment ; and surely it is the duty of Christians, when 
 " they have means and opportunities, to relieve the 
 " spiritual no less than the corporeal wants of their 
 " fellow-creatures. 
 
 " The Jews are dispersed over the earth, and dwell 
 " in Mohammedan, in Pagan, and in Christian coun- 
 te tries : So that, though by descent they are Jews, by 
 " birth they are Persians, Turks, Italians, &c. and par- 
 u take, in some measure, of the genius and temper of 
 " the nations in which they are born and educated. 
 " By dwelling amongst Pagans and Mohammedans, 
 " and under tyrannical government, they learn to 
 tf reason as little as their masters and their neighbours, 
 t( and to go on implicitly in the faith of their fore- 
 tc fathers. Their neighbours never dispute much 
 " about religion, and it is controversy, and free de- 
 " bate, that opens and enlarges the mind, and im- 
 " proves the understanding ; without this, there is a 
 " dull stagnation of the intellectual faculties. 
 
 tf Besides this, the Jews were never remarkable for 
 " accurate and methodical reasoning, and their tra-
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 199 
 
 " ditionary doctrines and mystical interpretations help 
 " to spoil their judgment. 
 
 " R. Falk began, A. D. 1530, to exercise hi 
 " scholars in dispute, after the manner of the Chris- 
 " tians : but this method did not please the wise, and 
 " was not generally approved. The Jews, who have 
 " a theology altogether mystical, and depending more 
 " upon the imagination than upon reasoning, have no 
 " taste for arguments and syllogisms/' Basnage Hist. 
 " des Juifs, 1. vii. c.30, p. 2072. 
 
 " The Jews, in countries where Christianity is not 
 " established, lie out of the way of receiving instruc* 
 " tion, if they were willing to hearken to it. Who 
 " should teach them ? The Christians who dwell in. 
 " those parts are poor, ignorant, superstitious, slavish 
 " men, and sometimes dishonest men also, and not 
 " qualified for preachers of the Gospel : So that the 
 " conversion of the Jews cannot, in all appearance, 
 " begin in those regions. 
 
 " The Jews, dispersed in Christian countries, dwell 
 " either in Popish or in Protestant nations. There is 
 " not the least probability that the Papists should 
 " ever convert them. The violence which a man 
 " must offer to his own senses and reason, and the 
 " slavish deference _that he must pay to human au- 
 " thority, before he can enter into that communion ; 
 tc the divine honours given to the Virgin Mary ; the 
 " worship of angels, saints, crosses, wafers, coffins, 
 " bones, rags, old iron, reliques, pictures and images, 
 <( supported by ridiculous miracles, and traditionary 
 " lies ; the tyranny of the church, and the cruelty of 
 ** the inquisition ; these are insuperable obstructions 
 " to the conversion of the Jews, and excite in them 
 " prejudices against Christianity, that are too strong 
 " and too plausible to be easily removed. The Jews 
 " abhor idolatry, and every thing that borders upon 
 " it, and in Popish countries they have no notion of 
 " any other Christianity than what is there professed, 
 " and what they see before their eyes. 
 
 " The Jews who dwell in Protestant countries have 
 " not the same causes to dislike Christianity, which
 
 200 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 <f appears with more simplicity, which offers itself 
 '' fairly to examination, which is purged from su- 
 " perstitious practices, and which forces itself upon 
 " no one with imperious insolence. But even in the 
 " reformed nations too many obstacles remain to pre- 
 " vent and discourage the conversion of that people ; 
 * e such as arise from the little influence which the 
 '* Gospel is observed to have upon the lives and 
 <e manners of many of its professors ; from the dis- 
 " union of Christians, and their division and subdivi- 
 " sion into various sects, which usually entertain no 
 * c favourable opinion of each other. 
 
 " If I should embrace Christianity, a Jew might 
 " say, I have just begun the laborious enquiry: It re- 
 '" mains to consider to whom I should join myself, 
 *' and here 1 am quite perplexed with your divisions. 
 
 * ( If I should go over to the church of Rome, the 
 " Protestants will condemn my judgment, and say that 
 " I have made a miserable choice ; if I become a 
 " Protestant, the Papists will tell me I might as well 
 " have remained a Jew ; schismatics and heretics are 
 " in their opinion in as bad a situation, and as much 
 " excluded from salvation as Jews, Mohammedans, 
 u Deists, Sceptics and Atheists; if I am a Protestant 
 *' of t'his or that denomination, other sects of Pro- 
 " testants will blame me, and think me still in a 
 " dangerous condition, and perhaps call me a schis- 
 " matic. Thus some Jews have reasoned. 
 
 " Another impediment to the conversion of the 
 " Jews is, that in the Christian world there is much 
 " difference and coldness towards religion, much dis- 
 '" soluteness of manners and dishonesty ; that amongst 
 *' us many Sceptics, Deists and Infidels are also to be 
 " found, who have deserted the faith in which they 
 " were educated. We may suppose, without any 
 *' breach of charity, that in these respects the Jews 
 " are not better than the Christians, nor free from the 
 " same faults ; that they have their doubters, and 
 " their unbelievers, besides those who mind nothing 
 te except the cares and concerns, and vanities and 
 *' diversions of this world ; tliat they and we go, one
 
 THE CRISIS OP AL-C NATIONS. 201 
 
 *' to his farm, and another to his merchandize, whilst 
 " the prophets are little regarded by the Jew, and 
 " the apostles by the Christian. 
 
 *' Another great and well known difficulty in the 
 " conversion of the Jews, (as also of the Mohamme- 
 " dans) is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which they 
 " have always been taught to look upon as not re- 
 " concilable with the unity of God. 
 
 " As miracles were the great instrument to convert 
 " the Jews and Gentiles in the apostolical age, so the 
 " absence of them at present must needs be a dis- 
 " advantage, as far as the propagation of Christianity 
 " is concerned. 
 
 " The Jews will say, If the miracles recorded in 
 " your sacred books were really wrought, our an- 
 " cestors were inexcusable in rejecting Christianity ; 
 " but these are transactions of remote antiquity, and 
 " we cannot be charged at present with resisting such 
 tf evidence. If it should please God to enable you to 
 " shew us the like wonders, you shall find us more 
 " compliant. In the mean time we chuse to adhere 
 " to a religion which you, as well as we, hold to have 
 " been of divine original. These arguments are not 
 " conclusive, but as they are not destitute of a plau- 
 " sible appearance, prejudiced persons will not easily 
 " give them up. 
 
 " Thus the conversion of the Jews seems to be re- 
 " moved to a distant day : But the Scriptures, as we 
 " have observed, give us reasons to expect it, and this 
 <f expectation is much confirmed by the wonderful 
 " preservation of that people. 
 
 " If, therefore, there be a time in the decrees of 
 " Providence, when many who sit in darkness shall be 
 " enlightened, when the everlasting Gospel shall be 
 u more generally known and received, and the Jews 
 " shall be called to partake of this blessing, it is to be 
 " supposed that the present obstructions to it. will be 
 (e removed, and in particular those which arise from 
 " popery. Popery is the most degenerate form of 
 " Christianity that can be conceived, and lays an 
 " heavier yoke upon the necks of Christians than the 
 *' scribes and the phurisees ever imposed upon the
 
 202 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " Jews. It is a religion which can never make its 
 " way but by cruelty and tyranny, by gibbets and in- 
 " quisitions, nor be supported but by self-interest and 
 " ignorance ; and yet, as it is received by many great 
 " and polite, learned and flourishing nations, it seems 
 " at present secure from ruin. But the smaller hope, 
 ** and the remoter prospect there is of the extinction 
 " of this tyranny, the more remarkable and the more 
 " providential will the downfal of it appear to all 
 " the world, if ever it happens, and strike Jews, and 
 " Mohammedans and Gentiles with amazement, and 
 tf prepare the way for their conversion. 
 
 " The next step towards the increase of Christ's 
 " kingdom, must be a farther improvement of Chris- 
 " tianity, and of those who receive and profess it. 
 " The church of Rome is not the only church that 
 " wants amendment. Other Christian societies which 
 " have separated themselves from her, and from her 
 " grosser defects, are departed more or less from the 
 " original simplicity of the Gospel, and have mixed 
 " some doctrines of men with the word of God, and 
 " so stand in need of some improvement. 
 
 " It is therefore to be hoped that a time will come 
 " when religion will have a fairer and a more alluring 
 " aspect, when Christians will be united, not in opi- 
 " nion as to all theological points, for that is impossi- 
 " ble whilst men are men, but that they will be united 
 " in benevolence and charity, in intercommunion, and 
 " in one common and simple profession of faith ; that 
 " their manners will be suitable to their profession, and 
 " that they will be more peaceable, more virtuous, and 
 " more pious ; and then the external impediments to 
 " the conversion of unbelievers will in no small mea- 
 " sure be removed. These are amendments which 
 " seem, besides human efforts, to require such a con- 
 " currence of favourable circumstances as scarcely 
 tf ever meet and are united, together with supernatural 
 " aids, and an effusion of divine gifts and graces. 
 " Therefore it may be said, such a change, such a 
 " regeneration of mankind is not to be expected ; and 
 " yet strange things have been accomplished. Who 
 " that had seen the dreadful destruction of Jerusalem
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 203 
 
 " could have thought that the Jewish nation, so en- 
 " feebled, so dispersed, so abhorred, and so oppressed 
 " in all places, would have subsisted for seventeen 
 " hundred years? Who that had beheld the begin- 
 " nings of Christianity, and the difficulties which it 
 " had to encounter, would have imagined that it 
 <( should spread through the known world ? Who 
 " that had seen a poor monk set his face against 
 " popes, and emperors, would have believed that the 
 " preaching of Luther should have brought about a 
 ** reformation, and the establishment of the Protestant 
 " religion? 
 
 " Nothing is too hard for omnipotence : Great and 
 " glorious changes, even a new earth, wherein dwelletk 
 " righteousness, may be produced by instruments and 
 " by methods of which we are now ignorant, and 
 " which it is vain to seek out by conjectures. These 
 " secret things belong to the Lord our God, and to 
 " him we must leave them. Our duty is to do all 
 " that lies in our power towards increasing his do- 
 " minion, by studying to understand his Gospel, by a 
 f< sober care and concern to live suitably to its holy 
 ff precepts, and by not only wishing and praying, but 
 " endeavouring, that his kingdom may come, and his 
 " will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 
 
 Although this quotation has been so long, yet I 
 cannot refrain from transcribing the sentiments of the 
 celebrated Dr. Hartley, on this head. They are found 
 in his Observations on Man. Vol. II. Prop. 84. 
 
 The Christian religion will be preached to, and re* 
 ceived by all nations. 
 
 " This appears from the express declarations of 
 " Christ, and from many of his parables ; also from 
 " the declarations and predictions of the apostles, 
 " and particularly from the revelation. There are 
 likewise numberless prophecies in the Old Testa- 
 ment, which admit of no other sense, when in- 
 terpreted by the events which have since happened, 
 the coming of Christ, and the propagation of his 
 religion. 
 
 " The truth of the Christian religion is an earnest 
 " and presage of the same thing, to all who receive it.
 
 204 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " For every truth of great importance must be discus- 
 " sed, and prevail at last. The persons who believe 
 " can see no reasons for their own belief, but what 
 " must extend to all mankind by degrees, as the diffu- 
 " sion of knowledge to all ranks and orders of men, to 
 " all nations, kindred, tongues and people, cannot now 
 " be stopped, but proceeds ever with an accelerated 
 " velocity. And, agreeably to this, it appears that the 
 " number of those who are able to give a reason for 
 " their faith, increases every day. 
 
 " But it may not be amiss to set before the reader, 
 tl in one view, some probable presumptions for the 
 " universal publication and prevalence of the Christian 
 " religion, even in the way of natural causes. 
 
 " First, then, the great increase of knowledge, li- 
 " terary and philosophical, which has been made in 
 " this and ihe two last centuries, and continues to be 
 " made, must contribute to promote every great truth, 
 " and particularly those of revealed religion, as just 
 " now mentioned. The coincidence of the three re- 
 " markable events, of the reformation, the invention of 
 " printing, and the restoration of letters, with each 
 " other, in time, deserves particular notice here. 
 
 " Secondly, The commerce between the several na- 
 " tions of the world is enlarged perpetually more and 
 " more. And thus the children of this world are open- 
 " ing new ways of communication for future apostles 
 " to spread the glad tidings of salvation to the utter- 
 " most parts of the earth. 
 
 " m Thirdly, The apostacy of nominal Christians, and 
 " objections of infidels, which are so remarkable in 
 " these days, not only to give occasion to search out 
 " and publish new evidences for the truth of revealed 
 " religion, but also oblige those who receive it, to pu- 
 <{ rify it from errors and superstitions ; by which means 
 " its progress amongst the yet heathen nations will be 
 " much forwarded. Were we to propagate religion, as 
 " it is now held by the several churches, each person 
 *' would propagate his own orthodoxy, lay needless im- 
 " pediments and stumbling-blocks before his hearers, 
 ' and occasion endless feuds and dissention amongst 
 "the new converts. And it seems as if God did not 
 " intend that the general preaching of the Gospel
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 205 
 
 n should be begun till religion be discharged of its in- 
 " curnbrances and superstitions. 
 
 " Fourthly, The various sects which have arisen 
 " amongst Christians in late times, contribute both to 
 " purify religion, and also to set all the great truths of it 
 " in a full light, and to shew their practical importance. 
 " Fifthly, The downfal of the civil and ecclesiastical 
 " powers, mentioned in the eighty-first and eighty-se- 
 " cond propositions, must both be attended with such 
 " public calamities, as will make men serious, and also 
 " drive them from the countries of Christendom, into 
 " the remote parts of the world, particularly into the 
 " East and West Indies; whither consequently they 
 " will carry their religion, now purified from errors and 
 " superstitions. 
 
 " Sixthly, The restoration of the Jews, mentioned in 
 " the last proposition, may be expected to have the 
 " greatest effect in alarming mankind, and opening 
 " their eyes. This will be such an accomplishment of 
 f( the prophecies, as will vindicate them from all cavils. 
 " Besides which, the careful survey of Palaestine, and 
 " the neighbouring countries, the study of the Eastern 
 " languages, of the histories of the present and antient 
 " inhabitants, &c. (which must follow this event) when 
 " compared together, \\iil cast the greatest light upon 
 " the Scriptures, and at once prove their genuineness, 
 " their truth, and their divine authority. 
 
 " Seventhly, Mankind seem to have it in their power 
 f< to obtain such qualifications in a natural way as, by 
 " being conferred upon the apostles in a supernatural 
 " one, were a principal means of their success in the 
 " first propagation of the Gospel. 
 
 "Thus, as the apostles had the power of healing mi- 
 " raculously, future missionaries may in a short time 
 " accomplish themselves with the knowledge of all the 
 " chief practical rules of the art of medicine. This art 
 <( is wonderfully simplified of late years, has received 
 " great additions, and is improving every day, both 
 " in simplicity and efficacy. And it may be hoped, 
 tf that a few theoretical positions, well ascertained, with 
 " a moderate experience, may enable the young prac- 
 " titioner to proceed to a considerable variety of cases* 
 *' with safety and success. 
 

 
 206* THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " Thus, also, as the apostles had the power of speak- 
 " ing various languages miraculously, it seems possible, 
 " from the late improvements in grammar, logic, and 
 " the history of the human mind, for young persons, 
 " by learning the names of visible objects and actions 
 " in any unknown barbarous language, to improve and 
 " extend it immediately, and to preach to the nations 
 " in it. 
 
 " The great extensiveness of the rabbinical Hebrew, 
 " and of Arabic, of Greek and Latin, of Sclavonic and 
 " French, and of many other languages, in their respec- 
 " live ways, also of the Chinese character, ought to be 
 " taken into consideration here. 
 
 " And though we have not the gift of prophecy, yet 
 " that of the interpretation of prophecy seems to in- 
 " crease every day, by comparing the Scriptures with 
 "themselves, the prophecies with the events, and, in 
 " general, the word of God with his works. 
 
 " To this we may add, that when preachers of the 
 " Gospel carry with them 'the useful manual arts, by 
 " which human life is rendered secure and comfortable, 
 " such as the arts of building, tilling the ground, de- 
 " fending the body by suitable clothing, &c. it cannot 
 " but make them extremely acceptable to the bar- 
 " barous nations ; as the more refined arts and sciences, 
 " mathematics, natural and experimental philosophy, 
 " &c. will to the more civilized ones. 
 
 " And it is an additional weight in favour of all this 
 " reasoning, that the qualifications here considered may 
 " all be acquired in a natural way. For thus they ad- 
 " mit of unlimited communication, improvement, and 
 " increase ; whereas, when miraculous powers cease, 
 (t there is not only one of the evidences withdrawn, but 
 " a recommendation and means of admittance also. 
 
 " However, far be it from us to determine by antici- 
 " pation, what God may or may not do ! The natural 
 " powers which favour the execution of this great com- 
 *' mand of our Saviour's to preach the Gospel to all nn- 
 ** tions, ought to be perpetual monitors to us to do so j 
 ** and, as we now live in a more adult age of the world^ 
 " more will now be expected from our natural powers. 
 " The Jews had some previous notices of Christ's first 
 " coining, and good persons were thereby prepared to
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 " receive him ; however, his appearance and entire con- 
 " duct were very different from what they expected ; 
 " so that they stood in need of the greatest docility and 
 " humility, in order to become disciples and apostles: 
 " And it is probable that something analogous to this 
 " will happen at Christ's second coming. We may 
 " perhaps say, that some glimmerings of the day begin 
 " already to shine in the hearts of all those who study 
 t( and delight in the word and works of God." 
 
 If 1 may presume to express my opinion on this in- 
 teresting and obscure subject, it is, that these great 
 events which we look for, viz. the gathering and con- 
 version of the Jews, and the .general spread of the 
 Gospel, and coining of the kingdom of God on earth, 
 will be realized by a mixture of natural and of super- 
 natural causes. 
 
 The restoration of the Jews may easily be supposed 
 to oe brought about by the natural progress of things, 
 and the circumstances of the nations ; but as particu- 
 larly over-ruled by the directing and all-disposing pro- 
 vidence of God. Some powerful people, especially if 
 at war with the Turks, the masters of the holy land, 
 may take up their cause, and become their patrons 
 and supporters, to assist them in the recovery of their 
 country ; not with a view of bringing about the ac- 
 complishment of the prophecies, or doing a work which 
 will be pleasing to God, but to promote their own de- 
 signs : And if such a thought were to strike the rulers 
 ot this supposed people, they might argue, " There 
 are millions of Jews scattered over Europe, and over 
 those parts of Asia and Africa which are contiguous to 
 Syria. Could that enthusiasm which formerly fired 
 them for the recovery of their country, and the re-esta- 
 blishment of their commonwealth and religion, be once 
 more rekindled and engaged in our cause, what a for- 
 midable weapon should we acquire, and what immense 
 resources would be open to us, for effecting our pur- 
 pose, whether in the East or in the West ; by war, or 
 by commerce !" Should measures be pursued con- 
 formable to these ideas, and prove successful, who can 
 calculate the consequences ? He who should have suf- 
 ficient power, or interest, to re-establish the Jewish 
 commonwealth, would be amply rewarded by such a
 
 208 THE RESTORATION OF THE JETTS, 
 
 alliance and treaty of commerce, as we must believe 
 the restored Jews would be ready to enter into with, 
 such a benefactor. And should the policy of the 
 French government be directed to this object as is 
 far from improbable and should they succeed in 
 such a scheme of aggrandisement as it is likely they 
 Would, if seriously to turn their attention to it our 
 ruin in the East would not be far distant. Excuse the 
 chimerical project, if it be such. At once to secure 
 the honour of being the instruments, in the hand of 
 Providence, of recovering the unhappy Jews from the 
 miseries of their wandering condition, and of restoring 
 them to their own land ; and, at the same time, to su- 
 percede the deep policy of our enemy, who, perhaps, 
 already meditates such a project as the above, let the 
 rulers of this country use their influence with the Porte 
 to give up that part of their territory from which the 
 Jews have been expelled, to its rightful owners, and 
 thus, whilst they perform the most generous of deeds, 
 do all they can, at least, to prevent those possible con- 
 sequences, which, were they to take place, would prove, 
 most fatal to our government and commerce. If the 
 accomplishment of this measure were to cost a few 
 millions, they would certainly be better laid out than 
 half of those which we annually expend. But, as 
 things stand, I do not think that it would require more 
 than that influence which we must now possess in the 
 divan, to induce the Porte to give up a district which 
 is productive of so little advantage*. Wild project ! ! ! 
 It may be so : but 1 very much suspect, that if we do 
 not pursue some such measure as this, we shall repent 
 it when it will be too late. But let us pass on. 
 
 Although it is easy to conceive that the restoration 
 of the Jews may be brought about by natural causes, 
 and by meant of ordinary instruments, yet their con- 
 version, and that of the Gentile nations, seems to re- 
 quire not only the concurrence of such happy circum- 
 
 * The tbO*e was written in 1799, since which time the situation of 
 things if much changed. At that time Great Britain was in nlJiatice 
 with fh$ Turks; at present the influence of France is triumphant at 
 Constaniiaople : but this change, viewed in connection with what is 
 passing in France relative to the Jews, seems to bear a favourable 
 aspect towards that people, and to cheer rather lliMi depress their hop <>s 
 oispeedv restortUion. Second rditien.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 209 
 
 stances as can hardtyever be hoped for, but moreover, 
 the aid of some supernatural interposition; and espe- 
 cially if it be to take place as suddenly as the prophe- 
 cies seem so clearly to assert. Nor can I conceive it at 
 all likely to be effected in the ordinary way of instruc- 
 tion, even though a considerable space of time were to 
 be allowed for the purpose, and though the morals and 
 tempers of professing Christians were the reverse of 
 what they generally are. Such as might command the 
 respect, instead of the execration, of Jews and bar- 
 barians. 
 
 Let us, for a few minutes, attend to some of those 
 ways and means which reason and revelation seem to 
 suggest as likely to lead to, and bring about, that won- 
 derful and happy change which we expect. 
 
 1. The probability is, as Dr. Hartley has observed, 
 that those afflictions which the nations will endure in 
 the overthrow of the civil and ecclesiastical govern- 
 ments, which have corrupted religion, abused their 
 power, and opposed the designs of the Gospel ; con- 
 nected with the wonderful fulfilment of the prophecies, 
 and the evident displays of a divine interposition, in 
 bringing about the greatest events that ever mankind 
 witnessed; some producing affliction, and all great in- 
 terest and astonishment; the probability, I say, is, 
 that these things will humble the minds of the lofty, 
 make the thoughtless serious, and thus dispose men for 
 repentance, and prepare their minds for a candid at- 
 tention to the evidences of religion: and which candid 
 attention will be favoured by the fall of those corrupt 
 establishments which have biassed men's minds in fa- 
 vour of whatever had .the sanction of establishment, 
 however corrupt, or contrary both to reason and Scrip- 
 ture. By the general affliction, and other causes, we 
 may also suppose the different sects of Christians 
 brought to a better temper towards each other, and 
 that by the exercise of candour, and a spirit of en- 
 quiry, not biassed as formerly, by prepossession, super- 
 stition, and bigotry, Christianity will become disen- 
 tangled from the sophistries of men, and thus, being 
 purified from human inventions and corruptions, it will 
 
 p
 
 210 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 assume its native beauty, and present, at the first glance, 
 a more commanding evidence than it has ever done 
 since it first fell into the hands of pride, superstition, 
 and intolerance. But whilst the multitude remain as 
 destitute of serious thoughtfulness as they are; whilst 
 Christians continue as we generally see them, and 
 Christianity itself is presented distorted and disguised, 
 little can be expected in our attempts to evangelize man- 
 kind. It is not till these hinderances shall be removed 
 that we can hope to see any thing like what is promised. 
 When they are, something will be done towards clearing 
 the way for the great work of God among men. 
 
 And is it thus ? Do not some important duties press 
 themselves on our attention ? They do. Duties, which 
 the present state of society, and the awful appearance 
 of things, both as they relate to religion, and to the 
 civil affairs of the world, render unspeakably urgent. 
 We live in no common times, and if any calculation 
 may be formed from existing facts, their tendencies 
 and relations, there is nothing extravagant in expect- 
 
 ing that events, unusually interesting to the Christian 
 church, are at hand. Hence that which is the duty 
 of the Christian at all times, is become especially so at 
 the present eventful moment; and every difference 
 which divides the sincere friends of religion should be 
 forgotten, that all may unite their exertions in the com- 
 mon cause Not from the apprehension of danger, 
 but the hope of good ; for true religion, genuine Chris- 
 tianity, has nothing to fear either from the craft, the 
 malice, the number, or the power, of its enemie's. 
 They may overturn human establishments ; but Christi- 
 anity, which ignorance has identified with these, will but 
 triurn ph the more. And to w hat, next to their ow n personal 
 purification, should the efforts of Christians be directed 
 so much as to the freeing religion from all the corrupt 
 mixtures of men, and to the bringing about a more in- 
 timate and harmonious union, than at present subsists, 
 among all those who believe in and obey the Gospel ? 
 Itis true that wicked men will always dislike the Cnris- 
 
 tian religion, because it teaches holiness ; but, it is our 
 departure from, its purity, simplicity, and true spirit, 
 which has, more than any thing else, obscured and
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 211 
 
 weakened the evidence of truth, impeded its progress, 
 nnd given to the arguments of infidels a seducing 
 plausibility : and till we return to the point from 
 whence we have departed, and become more united in 
 the charity of the Gospel, we shall have enough to do 
 to defend ourselves against the attacks of increasingin- 
 fidelity; and all our attempts to make conquests in the 
 territories of the enemy will be feeble, and all our 
 hopes of evangelizing the world, vain. 
 
 Besides the evil to be expected from the propagation 
 of a disfigured and corrupted Christianity, intolerance 
 and disunion among ourselves must ever prove the most 
 insuperable impediment, not only to the recovery of 
 apostates, and to the conversion of Jews, Mahometans, 
 and Pagans, but to the advancement of real religion 
 among professing Christians. We have, indeed, the hap- 
 piness to reflect, that more just ideas now prevail than 
 formerly, as to the rights of conscience. For, although 
 it should be true, that the safety of those conscientious 
 Christians who dissent from the different religious 
 establishments of Europe is more owing to adventi- 
 tious, precarious laws, on the one hand, and to indiffer- 
 ence on the other, than to general sentiment and pub- 
 lic principle, yet, it is certain that serious Christians, 
 in general, are much more disposed to tolerate each 
 other in the free exercise of their consciences than 
 heretofore ; so that, although there may still be a few 
 who are not shocked, as they ought to be, at the idea 
 of " fighting for the Christian religion," yet, I believe, 
 it would be difficult to find many serious believers in 
 Christianity, of any persuasion, who do not abhor the 
 violences of former times. But, although just ideas 
 respecting external toleration have made considerable 
 progress, yet, alas ! the duty of inte rnal toleration con- 
 tinues to be ill understood and little practised. Chris- 
 tians are still too averse to that general and intimate 
 union, which becomes the children of the same hea- 
 venly Father, the disciples of the same Lord, and heirs 
 of the same promises. Almost every little difference 
 in opinion is thought enough to divide them into sects 
 and parties. Thus we heap to ourselves teachers, and 
 
 p 2
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 multiply our tables. Whatever proofs are given of 
 godly sincerity, candid enquiry, and genuine piety, 
 still, in general, if Christians cannot " see eye to eye," 
 or accommodate their consciences to the subscriptions 
 imposed, a scandalizing separation is the consequence. 
 Separation prevents acquaintance with the true charac- 
 ter of our brethren; and prejudice, ever busy in invention 
 and misrepresentation, takes advantage of the distance 
 to foster ill-will. Hence that scorn and contempt, 
 that envying and grudging, railing and biting, which 
 we see and feel, and which, in proportion as it dis- 
 graces and weakens the Christian cause, aids the efforts 
 of the enemies of religion, and contributes to the secu- 
 rity of the kingdom of darkness. 
 
 These are evils which must be remedied. The duty 
 of every Christian is to do all he can towards it. Not 
 by indifference to what he esteems truth, or the sacri- 
 fice of principle, but by eradicating from the heart 
 pride, self-seeking, and bigotry ; and the cultivation of 
 a humble spirit, forbearance, brotherly-kindness, and 
 charity. Thus, making God's word alone the rule of 
 our faith and practice, let us purify ourselves from 
 every thing which is base and unworthy of our Chris- 
 tian vocation, and draw nearer the cords of love ; and 
 then, as workers together with God, we may hope to 
 see his work prosper in our hands, and such a free 
 course prepared for his Gospel, that it may run and be 
 glorified of all. This freeing of religion from all fo- 
 reign mixtures, and this more general harmony among 
 the professors of it, united with a moral character cor- 
 responding with the doctrine of Jesus Christ, favoured 
 by those serious impressions which shall be made, 
 through the blessing of God, by the afflictions and 
 awful events of the times, on the' minds of men in ge- 
 neral, may naturally be supposed to be the first means, 
 which divine Providence will use for ensuring to the 
 Gospel that universal spread, of which the prophets of 
 God have spoken. 
 
 2. .Again, the prophets of God have informed us, in 
 pretty clear terms, that one great means of the conver- 
 sion of the Gentile nations, will be the report of those 
 who shall escape that great destruction which is to fall
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 213 
 
 upon Gog and his multitude assembled against J.eru- 
 salem, as we have seen. " Behold the Lord will came 
 with fire, and with his chariots like a whirhvind, tQ 
 render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames 
 of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord 
 plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be 
 many. For I know their works and their thoughts :. 
 it shall come, that I will gather all nations, and tongues, 
 and they shall come and see my glory. And I will set 
 a sign among them ; and I will send those that escape 
 of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, 
 that draw the bow ; to Tubal and Javan, to the isles 
 afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have 
 seen my glory ; and they shall declare my glory among 
 the Gentiles*." And what effect will this report, 
 which they are to make of what they have seen, pro- 
 duce among the nations ? The prophet informs us in 
 the following words, " And they shall bring all your 
 brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all na- 
 tions upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and 
 upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy moun- 
 tain Jerusalem, saith the Lord; as the children of Is- 
 rael bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house 
 of the Lord. And 1 will also take of them for priests, 
 and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new hea- 
 vens, and the new earth, which I will make, shall re- 
 main before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and 
 your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that 
 from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath 
 to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, 
 saith the Lord." This is to be in consequence of the 
 report made by the escaped ; and, that the impressions 
 already received may be made more deep and lasting, 
 they shall, with thei* own eyes, see the pi oofs of God's 
 vengeance on their countrymen, who opposed them- 
 selves to the completion of' his designs. " And," says 
 the prophet, " they shall go forth, and look upon the 
 carcases of the men that have transgressed against me, 
 for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
 quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all 
 
 * Iia. Jxvi. 1524.
 
 214 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 flesh." A Jewish saying to express a great and dread- 
 ful destruction. 
 
 A parallel prophecy this, undoubtedly, with that 
 found in Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix. There we have 
 seen what the judgments of God, on Gog and his great 
 company, are to effect. "Thus will I magnify myself, 
 and sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of 
 many nations, and thou shalt know that I am the 
 Lord*." From this prophet we learn, that the num- 
 ber of those who escape to carry the awful tidings to 
 their several countries, are one sixth partf of the vast 
 multitude. And the prophet repeats it again and 
 again, that, by means of this judgment, not only Israel, 
 but the heathen, shall know the Lord, the holy One of 
 Israel. " And I will set my glory among the heathen, 
 and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have 
 executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. 
 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord 
 their God, from that day forward J." 
 
 What though Isaiah, nor any of the prophets in the 
 Old Testament, unless Ezekiel, speak of these invaders, 
 under the name of Gog or his multitude, yet, seeing 
 that this prophet declares that others had prophesied 
 of the same event, it follows that it was under other 
 names. " Art thou he (or, thou art he) of whom 1 
 have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets 
 of Israel, which prophesied in those days, many years, 
 that I will bring thee against them^r" Thus we learn 
 that this great and decisive' judgment on the enemies 
 of the people of God ; the report which the escaped 
 make; and what the heathen themselves will after- 
 wards see, is to be one principal occasion of their con- 
 version ; and that it is from this time forward that Is- 
 rael is to know the Lord. 
 
 3. We may expect, also, that, at this time, God will 
 raise up many faithful men, well qualified tor the ex- 
 traordinary work which he has for them to do, who will 
 devote themselves to the work of evangelizing, and 
 who will not only exert themselves for the instruction 
 of their own countrymen, but encounter every difficulty 
 
 Chap, xxxviii. 23. i Chap, xxxix. 2, J Ver. 2, 21, 22.. 
 xxxviii. 17.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 215 
 
 to carry the Gospel to the most distant parts of the 
 world. Independent of what the prophets have said 
 on this head, smrh means, for the conversion of the hea- 
 then, are naturally to be expected. It accords with 
 the great command of Jesus Christ, " Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature*"." 
 A command which was not only binding on the apos* 
 ties, but which was intended to be regarded by all 
 Christ's disciples, in every age, as circumstances might 
 be. And it is strange indeed to hear Christian bishops 
 assert what they do, that it is no longer the duty of 
 Christians to attempt (by instruction) the conversion of 
 heathens, but to leave them in the undisturbed exer- 
 cise of their established worship and opinions. 
 
 A way for that intercourse which is necessary for the 
 spread of the Gospel, has, for some time, been rapidly 
 opening, by the great and numerous discoveries which 
 have been made of peopled regions in the most distant 
 parts of the world ; so that there is, scarcely, any part 
 of the habitable globe but with which a communica- 
 tion is opened. These things are not to be considered 
 as taking place without a superintending Providence : 
 and the directions of Providence are always with de- 
 sign. And we may hope that, in this case, the design 
 is to facilitate the propagation of glad tidings to all 
 people. Nor can i retrain from taking notice of that 
 missionary spirit which is gone forth ; that concern 
 which is awakened in this, and other countries in Eu- 
 rope and America, for the conversion of those heathen 
 nations who have, hitherto, known little of Christians 
 but from their crimes ; learnt little from them but 
 their vices. The project which is carrying into 
 execution for printing the Scriptures into ^the Ben- 
 galee language and character, is worthy of Christians ; 
 and Mr. Carey, who, besides his exertions as a mis- 
 sionary, has long been labouring in the translation, 
 does more real honour to the Christian character, and 
 more service to humanity and the Christian cause, 
 than ten thousand ' mitred fronts which shew them- 
 selves in parliaments,' but that care not for the lost 
 whom Jesus Christ came to seek and to save. Yes, 
 
 * Mark ivi. 15.
 
 216 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 that concern which is awakened for the spread of the 
 Gospel among the heathen, is among the most pleasing 
 traits of the times. Not that we can flatter ourselves 
 with any great returns, as to the conversion of the hea- 
 then, for the exertions made at present ; but, whatever 
 the success, we are at least obeying the command of 
 our Lord, and acting on his benevolent views. And, 
 though I acknowledge I have but little hope, as to the 
 present moment, yet, I think, we are co-operating with 
 Providence, which is planting men, in different parts 
 of the globe, to be in readiness for action when the 
 great trumpet shall be sounded, and the day arrive 
 (and we may hope it is not far off) when the heathen 
 are to be given to the Son for his inheritance, and 
 when the earth is to be covered with the knowledge of 
 the Lord. 
 
 To the raising up of godly men to go forth and 
 preach the Gospel to distant nations, our Lord seems 
 to refer when he says, " He shall send his angels (mes- 
 sengers) with a great sound of a trumpet, &,c." And 
 the promise of God to his church, by Isaiah, is, and 
 it extends to the Gentile church as well as to the Jews 
 " Though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, 
 and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be 
 removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall 
 see thy teachers*." And at the time that Jerusalem is 
 to be called, " the throne of the Lord," the promise is, 
 " And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, 
 which shall feed you with knowledge and understand- 
 ing.' 5 
 
 But, though this may be expected to be the case 
 when the Lord returns to build up Zion ; yet even this 
 does not appear to be a sufficient means, (if we may 
 judge, not from the success of those who teach only 
 for hire, but even by what the best pastors and teachers 
 are now able to effect) for producing that general and 
 rapid conversion of mankind, which many prophecies 
 Jead us to expect. It is reasonable, therefore, to con- 
 clude that sqme means more extraordinary will be em- 
 ployed, 
 
 * Chap. xxx. 20, 21,
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 217 
 
 4. Hence, we must look for some extraordinary ef- 
 fusions of the Spirit, some supernatural means, to ef- 
 fect that which God has promised ; such as will oblige 
 men to see his hand, and by which pride will be hid 
 from man, and all the glory be secured to God. 
 This the Scriptures teach us to expect. Upon the 
 laud of tiie Jews, thorns and briers were to come up, 
 their palaces were to be forsaken, and the populous 
 city to be desolate. And how long? " Until the Spirit 
 be poured upon us from on high," says the prophet*. 
 And which strongly intimates that, at that time, there 
 will be extraordinary effusions of the Spirit of God. 
 And that it will be so, the prophqt Joel assures us in the 
 most express terms. 
 
 " And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will 
 pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons 
 and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall 
 dream dreams, your young inen shall see visions; and 
 also upon the servants, and upon the handmaids, in 
 those days, will I pour out my Spirit. And I will shew 
 wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood, and 
 rire, and pillars of smoke -(" This prophecy the apostle 
 Peter applies to what took place on the day of Pente- 
 cost. It had a partial fulfilment then, but it by no 
 means follows, that it is not to have a more complete 
 accomplishment hereafter; and this is the rather to be 
 concluded, as the prophet is so evidently speaking, in 
 the context, of that restoration of Israel which is yet to 
 come. The sentiments of Mr. Jurieu, on this subject, 
 are much to the purpose. " That lesser effusion of the 
 " Spirit," says he, " which the first Christians experi- 
 " enced, is not enough to fill up the sense of this pro- 
 (( phecy. 1. Because that did not extend very far; 
 " theiiumber was not great of those who did partake 
 "" of it. 2. That did not last but a little while, for even 
 " before the death of the apostles, the extraordinary 
 " gifts of the Spirit became rare; so that what was 
 " tuen was properly but a presage and type of that 
 " large effusion of the Spirit, which should be in the 
 " last period of the church ; not that all men shall then 
 <f become prophets, and be inspired, but all shall be 
 
 jixxii. IS. t Chap. ii. 2830.
 
 218 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 " assisted, and led by an extraordinary and all-powerful 
 " influence of the Holy Spirit*." 
 
 It is the general opinion of modern Christians, that 
 those extraordinary effusions, and influences, which at- 
 tended the first preaching of the Gospel, and those mi- 
 raculous powers with which the first preachers were 
 furnished, are withdrawn to be seen no more. But on 
 what authority is this opinion founded ? ISiot Scripture 
 authority certainly. It is said, ' They were continued 
 ' as long as necessary ; that when the Gospel had taken 
 ' deep root, it no longer needed their aid, and they 
 
 * were withheld ; and now, and to the end of the world, 
 
 * the Gospel is to be propagated only by the ordinary 
 ' means of instruction/ To support this, the Scriptures 
 say nothing. It is a conclusion assumed from the state 
 of things, as they are, and long have been. We have 
 just as much authority to say, miraculous powers, and 
 the extraordinary effusions of the Holy Spirit, were 
 withheld because Christians became worldly and cor- 
 rupt; and when they become more holy and more 
 worthy of their character, they will be renewed. But 
 this would be running also, \tithout a guide. The 
 troth seems to be, as it respects the latter part of the 
 position, that the extraordinary effusions of the Spirit 
 of God will again appear, in order to make Christians 
 more holy, and more worthy of their character, as well 
 as to add to their numbers, and not because they will 
 have become more worthy of such distinguished favor. 
 And why should we think this a strange thing, that 
 God should do that for his own glory and the conver- 
 sion of the nations, which we all acknowledge he 
 did at the first propagation of the Gospel? Are not 
 these extraordinary manifestations of his presence and 
 power as much wanting to facilitate the conversion of 
 toe Jews and heathen now, as formerly? And, surely, 
 it is worthy of the Creator of all to take some strong 
 measures for the recovery of his lost creatures. On the 
 whole, there is reason to conclude, from what God has 
 done, and from the language of the prophets, that, as 
 the Gospel owed its rapid progress at the first to the 
 extraordinary effusions of the Spirit, and the miracu- 
 
 * AcComp. of Scrip. Proph. Part II. ch. 24.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 219 
 
 Jous powers bestowed on its preachers, so there will 
 be something similar, to favour its progress in the 
 latter days. 
 
 5. Again, there are many eminent persons, who 
 have made the sacred prophecies their attentive study, 
 who have concluded that our Lord Jesus Christ will 
 literally appear to the Jewish nation, at least, if not to 
 all mankind, as he formerly appeared for the conversion 
 of Paul in his way to Damascus. And that this ap- 
 pearance will be at the moment when the invading 
 army or' Gog shall have broken into Jerusalem, and 
 the affairs of the returned Jews shall be in the most 
 desperate situation. The Scriptures which, among 
 others, are brought forward in support of this conclu- 
 sion, are such as these " The Lord shall roar out of 
 Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the hea. 
 vens and the earth shall shake ; but the Lord will be 
 the hope of his people, and the strength of the children 
 "of Israel, so shall ye know that 1 am the Lord your 
 God*." " In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite 
 every horse with astonishment, and his rider with 
 madness, I will open mine eyes upon the house of 
 Judah. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I 
 will seek to destroy all the nations that come against 
 Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of Da- 
 vid, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit 
 of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon 
 me (or upon him) whom they have pierced, and they 
 shall mourn for him. In that day shall there be a 
 great mourning in Jerusalem, &c -J-." " I will gather 
 all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city 
 shall be taken and the houses rifled, and the women ra- 
 vished, and half of the city shall go forth into capti- 
 vity. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against 
 those nations. And his feet shall stand in that day 
 upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem 
 on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in 
 the midst thereof towards the east, and towards the 
 west. And the Lord my God shall come, and all the 
 saints with thee. And living waters shall go out from 
 Jerusalem. And the Lord shall be king over all the 
 
 Jecl i;i, 1, \ Zecb. xii. 4, 914.
 
 220 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEtfS, 
 
 earth ; and in that day shall there be one Lord, and 
 his name one *." Again, the concluding words of our 
 Saviour in his last discourse to the Jews, " Behold your 
 house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, 
 Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed 
 is he that cometh in the name of the Lord f." If we 
 consider attentively what the prophets have said con- 
 cerning the great confederacy against the Jews in the 
 latter days, and the awful strait into which they will be 
 brought, and suppose this expectation of the personal 
 appearance of Christ to be well founded, it gives a pe- 
 culiar significancy to the parting words of the insulted 
 Messiah And it seems to me very probable that the 
 apostle Paul alludes to this expectation of the per- 
 sonal appearance of the Messiah -for the conversion of 
 the Jewish nation, in 1 Cor. xv.-8. where he says of 
 Jesus Christ, " He was seen of Cephas, then of the 
 twelve. After that he was seen of above five hun- 
 dred brethren at once : of whom the greater part re- 
 main unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 
 And after that he was seen of James : then of all the 
 apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of 
 one born out of due time" vcirtfu TO wTfu^ ; as to an 
 abortive, or one born before the due time. The due 
 time will be when the nation of the Jews, at a sight of 
 Christ, similar to that which occasioned the conversion 
 of this apostle, will be born at once ; and of which ge>- 
 ral conversion that may be considered as the pattern 
 and type. '* .' ... 
 
 Should the Messiah thus appear for the destruction 
 of the myriads gathered against the Jews, and for thei.r 
 deliverance, we need look no farther for the means and 
 causes of their conversion their instantaneous con- 
 version. A nation would be born at once; all would 
 exclaim, Blessed is lie that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord: and from that day forward would they know, 
 that the Lord was their God^. And what a tale would 
 the escaped have to tell their countrymen, who had not 
 heard the fame of Jehovah, nor seen his glory . This, 
 at once, accounts for their hastening to bring the re- 
 
 * Chap. xiv. t Matt, xxiii. 38, 3y. J Ezek. xxxix. 
 
 $Is*. Ixvi. 19,20.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIQNS. 221 
 
 mains of Israel an offering to the Lord, out of all na- 
 tions, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and 
 upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to God's holy moun- 
 tain Jerusalem ; and also for that general reception 
 which shall be given to the Gospel. If any can shew 
 reasons why things may not be thus, let them do so. 
 The Scriptures certainly seem to countenance this ex- 
 pectation of the personal appearance of the Son of 
 God. 
 
 6. It is well known that many contend, not only for 
 the personal appearance of Jesus Christ at the above 
 crisis, but also for his personal reign over all the earth ; 
 Jerusalem being the capital of his kingdom. As an 
 opinion which lias been entertained by Christians in 
 every age, it deserves some attention. I shall point 
 out a few of those Scriptures which are generally pro- 
 duced in favour of this idea, leaving every one to judge 
 for himself as to the conclusion which ought to be 
 drawn, only observing that, if the 'i prophets may be 
 considered as, at all, speaking in a literal sense, this 
 sentiment has a good foundation. And what substan- 
 tial arguments there are to expose, as absurd, the idea 
 of the Messiah's literally reigning on the earth, which 
 do not equally apply to the idea of his once suffering, I 
 know not. The enquiry turns on this. Do our sacred 
 Scriptures say any thing decisive on this head ? ' The 
 objections drawn from his being now glorified/ say 
 the advocates for his personal reign, ' are utterly with- 
 out weight. Is he now glorified ? so shall he be then, 
 and the whole earth shall be full of his glory' But 
 see a few of the Scriptures brought forward in this 
 question. , 
 
 The psalmist says, " The kings of the earth set them- 
 selves, and the rulers take counsel together against the 
 Lord, and against his anointed. He that sitteth in the 
 heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in deri- 
 sion. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and 
 vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my 
 king upon my holy hill of Zion*," &,c. " Unto us a 
 child is born, unto us a son is given, and the govern- 
 ment shall be upon his shoulder. Of the increase of
 
 222 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 his government and peace there shall be no end, upon 
 the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order 
 it, and to establish it with judgment, and with justice, 
 from henceforth, even for ever *." With this agrees 
 what the angel said to Mary (Luke i. 31 33.) " Thou 
 shalt bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus. 
 Ho shall be great, and be called the Son of the High- 
 est; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne 
 of his father David ; and he shall reign over the house 
 of Jacob for ever ; and of his kingdom there shall be 
 no end." How ? it is asked, without a great straining of 
 Scripture, can a throne and kingdom in the invisible 
 world be called the throne of David, and his kingdom? 
 The idea which this and other similar passages suggest, 
 at first sight, at least, is, that the person spoken of will 
 reign on earth as David did. " And there shall come 
 forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall 
 grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall 
 rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
 the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of know- 
 ledge, and the fear gf the Lord. And shall make him 
 of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and he 
 shall not judge alter the sight of the eyes, neither re- 
 prove after the hearing of his ears. But with righte- 
 ousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, 
 for the meek of the earth, &c.f" " Then the moon 
 shall be confounded, arid the sun ashamed, when the 
 Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jeru- 
 salem, and bei'ore his ancients gloriously +." ff For be- 
 hold, I create new heavens, and a new earth, and the 
 former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 
 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I 
 create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, 
 and her people a jov. And they shall build houses, 
 and inhabit J>em;' and they shall plant vineyards, and 
 eat the fruit of them. The wolf and the lamb shall 
 feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bul- 
 lock ; and dust shall be the serpent's meat: They shall 
 not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saiththe 
 Lord." " At that time they shall call Jerusalem the 
 
 *Ia. ix. 6, 7. t Isa. xi. 19. f xxir. 23. See also xxxii. 18, 
 
 9 U. 17 25.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 223 
 
 throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gather- 
 ed unto it to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem : Nei- 
 ther shall they walk any more after the imagination of 
 their evil hearts*." " And I the Lord will be their 
 God, and my servant David a prince among them. 
 I the Lord have spoken it f-" " I beheld till the 
 thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did 
 sit. I saw in the night visions ; and behold, one like 
 the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and 
 came to the Ancient of davs, and they brought him, 
 near before him. And there was given him dominion, 
 and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, 
 and languages, should serve him : His dominion is an 
 everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and 
 his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed J." 
 What Christian's heart does not ejaculate Come, Lord 
 Jesus, come quickly? 
 
 7- But there is another idea, which, though it may 
 appear to some more novel, must not be passed over 
 without notice. I shall do little more than state it, se- 
 lecting from the prophecies a few of those passages 
 which seem to give it countenance. 
 
 It is thought whether the sudden and general con- 
 version of the heathen, and of the Israelites, not yet 
 gathered, at the time of the deliverance of Jerusalem, 
 may not be occasioned by the appearance of a glory, 
 or luminous body in the heavens, in the latitude of Je- 
 rusalem, the symbol of the divine presence, similar to 
 the pillar of fire which attended the Israelites through 
 the wilderness, and to the glory over the mercy-seat, 
 only of a magnitude incomparably greater, being that 
 to distant nations, which the pillar of fire was to the 
 
 * Jcr. iii. 17. t Eeek. xxxir. 24. 
 
 f Dan. viii. 9 14. The reader may also turn to Joel iii. 1? 21. 
 Zeph. iii. 16 20. Zech. ii. 1013. viii. 3 8. xiv. pasiim. Rev. 
 xxi. xxii.and Matt. six. 28. Psalm xxii. 27. xlvi. Ixxii. xcvi xcviii. 
 and the words of our Lord, Matt. xix. 23. are deserving-of particular at- 
 tention ; Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, shall, 
 in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of iiis 
 glory, sit upon twelve thrones, &c." That is, at the time of the restitution 
 of all things, of which Peter spoke to the Jews, Acts iii. 21 j when Jesus 
 Christ will sit upon the throne of his father David, then will his apostles 
 be distinguished with peculiar honours.
 
 224 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, 
 
 twelve tribes * ; and which will appear at the instant 
 of the descent of Jesus Christ, and continue as a sign 
 to all nations. A glory literally, \ve know, is a lumi- 
 nous, or a bright and splendid body ; and the other 
 senses in which the word is used, are only figurative. 
 The word, also, which is translated sign, and some- 
 times ensign, signifies a standard, a token, a signal, 
 something extraordinary, a miracle, &c. 
 
 Whether the Scriptures, which give birth to the 
 above idea, he altogether figurative, or may be consi- 
 dered as at all literal, deserves consideration. I will 
 set down a few of them, and the reader may judge. 
 " And the Lord said (to Moses) t have pardoned ac- 
 cording to thy word. But as truly as I live, all the 
 earth shall be filled with the glory' of the Lordf." 
 " Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion ; so the 
 heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the 
 kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall 
 build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory ^." Isaiah 
 says, " And the Lord will create upon every dwelling 
 place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud, 
 and smol<e by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by 
 night; for upon all the glory shall be a defence /' 
 " And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which 
 shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the 
 Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. And he 
 shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assem- 
 ble the outcasts of Israel ||." " And he shall pass over 
 to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be 
 afraid of the ensign" (that is, Gog and his confede- 
 rates here prophesied of under the name of the Assy- 
 rian) " saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his 
 furnace in Jerusalem ^[." " Thus saith the Lord God, 
 Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the. Gentiles, and 
 setup my standard to the people, and they shall bring 
 thy sons in their arms**." " So shall they fear the 
 name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the 
 
 * Exod xiii. 21. t Numb.xiv. 20, 21. J Psal. cii. 1315. 
 
 $ Isa. iv. 5. Here ii an evident allusion to the miraculous pillar which 
 accompanied Israel in the lyilderness. 
 
 xi. 912. xxx. 9. * xlix. S2.
 
 THE CRISIS OF ALL NATIONS. 225 
 
 rising of the sun V " It shall come, that 1 will gather 
 all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see 
 my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I 
 will send those that escape of them unto the nations f." 
 Thus far Isaiah. By Ezekiel God says, " And I 
 will set my glory among the heathen, and all the hea- 
 then shall see my judgment which I have executed, and 
 my hand that I have laid upon them^." Thus the 
 prophets of the Old Testament; and when Jesus Christ 
 is warning his disciples against impostors, who would 
 pretend to be the Christ, and one would be saying, 
 " Lo, here is Christ/' and another, " Lo, there," he 
 gives them a certain sign by which they might form a 
 judgment of all such pretenders. " Behold, I have 
 told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto 
 you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth : Behold, 
 he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as 
 the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even 
 unto the west ; so shall also the coming of the Son of 
 man be" Its conspicuity is an essential sign <c Im<- 
 mediately after the tribulation of those days shall the 
 sun be darkened, and the inoon shall not give her light, 
 and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of 
 the heavens shall be shaken." Metaphorical language, 
 representing the fall of kingdoms and states, princes and 
 great men ; and the anarchy and confusion into which 
 society will be thrown, at the time when the tribulations 
 of the Jews shall be coming to an end, and when the 
 times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, as may be learnt 
 by comparing this passage with the parallel one in. 
 Luke xxi. Notice the following words of our Lord ! - 
 " And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in 
 heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn ; 
 and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds 
 of heaven with power and great glory |." The sign 
 pf the Son of man is distinct from the Son of man 
 himself. 
 
 These are some of the passages from whence the 
 
 * Isa. lix.19. t Ixvi. 18,19. t Ezek. xixix. 21, 
 
 Matth. xxiv. 35 30.
 
 226 THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, &C. 
 
 opinion is derived that, for the conversion of the hea- 
 then, to awaken their attention, and dispose them to 
 receive the Gospel ; and as a token to all nations of 
 the divine presence, there will not only be a transient 
 appearance of Jesus Christ in his descent from heaven 
 to earth, but a permanent glory, as a vast pillar of fire, 
 over Jerusalem, " the throne of the great King,"- 
 reaching to a height so as to illumine the distant na- 
 tions of the earth. Of things so transcending our con- 
 ceptions, and so obscurely (if at all) revealed, and so 
 far surpassing every thing that mankind have experi- 
 enced though in the history of God's dispensations to 
 ancient Israel, there was something like it we ought 
 to be careful in forming an opinion, and not exceed the 
 bounds of revelation and modesty, and set that down 
 for an article of our faith, which, at best, may be but a 
 doubtful conjecture. And yet, if revelation has, ap- 
 parently, said any thing on this head, there is no rea- 
 son why we should strain and'allegorize Scripture to get 
 rid of the sentiment. It conveys an exalted idea of 
 the designs of Deity as to our world ; and when we re- 
 member how little we know of the vast oeconomy of 
 God, and how incapable we are of comprehending his 
 scheme of grace towards men, even as to those parts 
 of it the most amply revealed, it becomes us to be dif- 
 fident of ourselves, and not form too hasty a judgment 
 in any matter which may seem to be revealed in God's 
 word, however visionary, at first sight, it may appear r 
 For it may appeal' so, merely because we have never 
 exercised our thoughts in such matters. That there 
 will be some extraordinary revelation of the divine 
 presence at the consummation of ail things, all Chris- 
 tians, who have studied the sacred records, believe : 
 how, particularly, no one can pretend to say ; but 
 should this sign of the Son of man ; this ensign set 
 up for the nations, be any thing like what has been 
 conjectured, then, in a sense which, perhaps, has not 
 been thought of, will be fulfilled that scenic prediction : 
 " And the city had no need of the sun, neither of 
 the moon to shine in it ; for the glory of God did 
 lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the 
 nations of them which are saved shall xvalk in the
 
 CONCLUSION. 227 
 
 light of it. And there shall be no night there, and 
 they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
 Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for 
 ever and ever. And he said unto me, these sayings 
 are faithful and true Behold, I come quickly. 
 Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy 
 of this book" That attentively observes them, and 
 acts worthy of the impressive and wonderful discoveries 
 here made. " For the time is at hand. He that is 
 unjust, let him be unjust still : and he that is filthy, 
 let him be filthy still : and he that is righteous, let 
 him be righteous still : and he that is holy, let him be 
 holy still. And behold, I come quickly; and my re- 
 ward is with me, to give to every man according as 
 his works shall be. Amen. Even so, come Lord 
 Jesus*." Thy mercy, O God, is our only refuge ! 
 Without thy grace, who may abide the day of thy 
 coming! Or who may stand when thou appearestt- 
 Grant us thy spirit, that we may repent and obey the 
 Gospel, and then " Will not we fear though the 
 earth be removed, and though the mountains be 
 carried into the midst of the sea. The Lord of hosts 
 is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge|." 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 IT is allowed that every position, in the foregoing 
 pages, is not supported with the same degree of 
 evidence ; and that two or three particulars may, at 
 first sight, and to those, especially, whose minds are 
 not conversant in such subjects, appear strange and 
 visionary : Nor am I sure that they will not appear so 
 even to many who have exercised themselves in these, 
 
 Rev. xxi. 23, 24. xxii. 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 2 
 t Mai. iii. 2. ; Pial. xUi. 2, 7. 
 
 g fi 

 
 228 CONCLUSION. 
 
 or similar researches. But however this may be, it 
 must be allowed by all serious minds, by all believers 
 in divine revelation, that the great question relative to 
 the future fortunes of the Jews, who, for so many 
 ages, have been preserved as by a continued miracle, 
 possesses considerable interest: Nor does our failure 
 in a few subordinate, or more obscure particulars, in- 
 validate the whole argument. The great facts which 
 more immediately 'concern the evidences of divine re- 
 velation, and which are designed by Providence to 
 counteract infidelity, and prove to mankind the reality 
 of religion, and the truth of the Christian religion in 
 particular the perfection of the Jewish are attended 
 with such a degree of proof, that, in these, we could 
 not well fail. Arid it is for these, therefore, I am most 
 concerned : Such as that the Jews, after their present 
 long captivity, will be gathered from all nations, and 
 be again restored to their own country, and be made 
 a holy and happy people. That their restoration will 
 be effected at a time of great and general calamities 
 and revolutions; and at the time of the fall of the 
 fourth monarchy, and of the Turkish empire in par- 
 ticular. That the commencement of their deliverance 
 will be before their conversion. That it is most 
 likely they will be first put in motion by some foreign 
 power, and that this power is some maritime one in 
 these western parts of the world. And that they 
 themselves, improbable as it may now seem, will be 
 distinguished instruments, in the hand of Providence, 
 in punishing and breaking to pieces the kingdoms that 
 have been their, oppressors, and which will oppose 
 their redemption and resettlement ; but in these con- 
 flicts, which are to bring about the awful designs of 
 God, they themselves, also, will endure great suffer- 
 ings, so that great numbers of them, it is probable, 
 will perish*. 
 
 When these things begin to come to pass, or, at 
 least, when they have -made some progress, mankind 
 will witness such incontrovertible proofs of the truth 
 of revelation, as were never before so generally seen. 
 How long it is to the time when " the dry bones of 
 
 * Zfch. xiii. 8, 9.
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the house of Israel" will begin to move, it is impossible 
 to say; but 1 feel a very strong persuasion that it is 
 not long. However, as it is in human nature to pre- 
 cipitate, it becomes us to be cautious. But although 
 no one can say how near, or how distant, the time 
 may be, when God will fulfil his promises to the 
 Jewish nation ; yet it is certain there never were so 
 many reasons for concluding it not to be very far off, 
 as at present. We live in awful times. We and our 
 fathers have seen wars, but, since man learnt to shed 
 blood, there never was one similar to the present, in 
 which the nations are dashing each other to pieces 
 about opinions and principles, which equally involve 
 religious establishments and civil governments. Events 
 , the most alarming follow each other in quick suc- 
 cession. " Babylon the great" is shaken to its founda- 
 tions. Rome itself has felt the shocks of revolution, 
 and its politico-ecclesiasticaj government is, at present, 
 extinct. The kingdom of the beast is fast filling with 
 darkness. The Turkish power is most seriously at- 
 tacked, and exhausted by its own violence ; emaciated 
 and enfeebled in every part, it is reduced to the 
 necessity of suing to its (till now) most inveterate and 
 dangerous enemy, to support its tottering throne*. 
 
 * Whatever, as to themselves, the result of the expedition of the 
 French in the east may be, yet as the consequence of it is to plunge 
 the Turks into the vortex of the dangerous commotions of the times, 
 and to involve them, perhaps, in unnatural and dangerous alliances; 
 and as it has given occasion for the dissemination, in their provinces, of 
 opinions and principles so opposite to passive obedience and non- 
 resistance, as well as to implicit faith, the issue, as it relates to t In- 
 stability of the Ottamon authority, and the credit of the prophet of 
 Mecca, may be fatal. The attempts of the disturbers of the repose of 
 the world may fail, so far as these attempts concern their own projects, 
 and their extraordinary expedition may not lead, directly, to the casting 
 out of the Turks from Egypt and Syria, and to the restoration of the 
 Jewish people to their own land ; but these events may be brought 
 about in a more circuitous way, and by means and instruments not 
 thought of; yet, as to the issue of things, there may be no reason to 
 doubt, namely, that the Mahometan power will soon perish from the 
 earth, and God's ancient people emerge from their miseries ; and how- 
 ever powerfully opposed, will recover their country, and rise to great- 
 ness. For as it is not from one particular event that our hope of the 
 speedy restoration of the Jews is drawn, but from the combined direction 
 of many, so it is not this or that particular circumstance, favourable or 
 unfavourable, that can materially affect it. 
 
 {pr Since the .above was writteu, in. 1799, the success of the French i*
 
 250 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Palestine itself is becoming the scene of contest; and 
 that ferment, which has been productive of such un- 
 expected and awful catastrophes in Europe, has reached 
 the shores of Egypt and Syria ; and opinions are set 
 afloat which not only threaten destruction to super- 
 stition and tyranny under every form, but which 
 attack also truth and justice, and threaten to overthrow 
 the whole fabric of human things, good and bad, and 
 reduce them all to one heap of ruin. If it please God 
 to suffer it to be so, may it be preparatory to a new 
 creation ! " The thoughts of God are not as our 
 thoughts, nor are our ways as his ways; for as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways 
 higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our 
 thoughts*." 
 
 A persuasion, which the events of ten years have 
 served to make invincible, has sunk deep into my 
 mind, that an awful crisis is at hand, and that what 
 we have seen is but the beginning of sorrows ; that the 
 wonderful occurrences of the present moment, so little 
 expected a few weeks ago, are pregnant with others 
 still more astonishing ; and that, however unconscious 
 the principal actors in the great drama may be, of the 
 parts which they are acting in the tragic accomplish- 
 ment of the awful decrees of heaven, yet they are 
 fulfilling " the determinate counsel of God" in bring- 
 ing about the execution of the judgments which he 
 hath prepared. This is my apology, if an apology be 
 thought necessary, for this publication of my thoughts. 
 Others may think that such discussions " ought to be 
 " discouraged;" and that, " from the prophetical 
 " books, to which the extraordinary events now 
 " passing on earth naturally turn the attention of 
 " every religious mind, no expectation" (as to the 
 unfulfilled prophecies drawing to a speedy completion) 
 
 Egypt and Syria bas been arrested by the arras of Great Britain, and 
 their schemes in the east for the present, at least, frustrated: But still 
 they seem looking with a wishful eye towards the same quarter, and 
 their plans of ambition evidently involve the future fortunes of those 
 blasted countries which have so long been the monotonous scenes of 
 desolation, of stupidity, and cruel despotism. Whatever may happen, 
 no change can be for the worse. Second edition* 
 
 * Isai. IT. 8, 9.
 
 CONCLUSION. 231 
 
 " can reasonably be drawn*." Every man (unless 
 we have lost all our liberties, and no one may speak 
 or write any thing but what favours the continuance of 
 the present destructive measures) has a right, modestly, 
 to declare his own opinion ; and I freely confess, that 
 mine is very opposite to the above ; and that I think 
 such discussions ought to be encouraged and pursued, 
 and that much, as to the general outline of things, 
 may be learnt from the prophecies ; ^and even cour- 
 tiers thought so a few years ago, when the subject 
 made in their favour. I think the most attentive re- 
 search ought to be made, at this time of fearful ex- 
 pectation, especially, into this part of sacred writ, and 
 that an alarm ought to be sounded in every ear ; that 
 the neglect of our clergy, particularly, on this head, 
 and the attempts which are made to excite prejudice 
 agafhst such subjects, and thus divert the public at- 
 tention from them, is one of the most fatal " signs of 
 the times," and what operates to harden the nation in 
 impenitence, and to give additional strength to that 
 dangerous infatuation which has seized the public 
 mind ; a blind and furious infatuation, that threatens 
 us with speedy ruin. If I err, either in the sentiments 
 which I entertain, or in the attempts which I make to 
 draw the attention of my countrymen to these subjects, 
 I am sure my error is innocent, because I am certain 
 my enquiries are sincere, and my motives and inten- 
 tions pure. If reproached, I cannot blush if per- 
 secuted, I cannot be afraid. But a few words shall 
 suffice for this Conclusion. 
 
 However defective the execution of what has been 
 undertaken in the foregoing pages may be, the subject, 
 most certainly, is of serious importance. That the 
 prophecies, if we have formed right notions of them, 
 look with a very unfavourable aspect on the cause we 
 are engaged in, is acknowledged. But, though we 
 were to shut our eyes against them, this would not 
 make our case the better ; and it is possible that some 
 good might be derived, would we come to. the light, 
 that our deeds might be reproved. The hope of this 
 good, however distant and faint, is enough to induce 
 
 * Bishop of Chester'.' lite Charge, p. 18,
 
 $32 CONCLUSION. 
 
 every lover of mankind to venture much to do all he 
 can to effect it. 
 
 But let us remember it does not follow, because our 
 cause maybe bad, that, therefore, that of our enemy 
 is altogether gqod. By no means. The crimes which 
 have been committed are doubtless very great, and 
 cannot go unpunished. All that the author wishes to 
 impress upon the reader's mind is, that there is reason 
 to conclude, both from prophecy, and the appearance 
 of things, that God, in his mysterious providence, is 
 employing the French (be they Deists or Atheists, or 
 whatever they may) as instruments to scourge the 
 nations for their sins, and, particularly, to inflict his 
 decisive judgments on Antichristian and Mahometan 
 oppressors : That on our part, as Christians and Pro- 
 testants, it would have been wise and right to have 
 done every thing possible to have avoided becoming 
 parties in the present horrid conflict; that we have 
 committed a fatal error in linking ourselves with those 
 whom our common religion has taught us to consider 
 as devoted to destruction, and that, therefore, no time 
 should be lost in endeavouring to escape the danger 
 we have brought ourselves into; a danger which, 
 however things might seem at first, or however they 
 may now appear to some, becomes more and more 
 threatening at every step we advance. 
 
 The situation into which our country is brought, is 
 matter of deep regret. If the prophecies be not a 
 fable, or the notions we have formed concerning them, 
 altogether wrong, then there is reason to fear that the 
 strength which is derived from most of our alliances' 
 will prove our weakness, and be found only the 
 strength of a millstone to sink us in the deep, to be 
 " found no more at all." If the time be come for the 
 overthrow of " Babylon the great;" for the extinc- 
 tion of the papal tyranny, and " making the whore 
 desolate, and stripping her naked ;" for bringing to 
 his end " the. king of the north, the desolating Turk ;" 
 and if the time be near when " God will have mercy 
 upon Zion," and " command deliverance for Jacob ;" 
 On what ground do we stand ? With whom are we 
 allied ? For what do we shed our blood, and spend
 
 "CONCLUSION. 233 
 
 our treasure ? On what is our confidence boilt, and 
 by what art, as professing Christians and Protestants, 
 do we cherish our hopes ? If God be effecting, our 
 business is not to question the Almighty as to the 
 instruments he uses, or the way in which his infinite 
 wisdom sees fit to bring about the fulfilment of the 
 eternal purposes. If God be effecting the things 
 which all Christians believe must some time take 
 place and nothing can look more like it ; and they 
 must be blind indeed who see no reasons for appre- 
 hension into wliat great waters have our rowers 
 brought us! How tremendous is our danger! By what 
 means can we possibly disengage ourselves, and make 
 our escape? 
 
 I am weary of politics, and, in ordinary cases, above 
 all things dislike their mixture with the subjects of 
 religion; but here it is impossible to separate them, 
 they are so originally, and necessarily, interwoven with 
 the subject. 
 
 Others may felicitate themselves with our flattering 
 prospects ; but to me, the stern refusal of the servants 
 of the crown to enter into any negotiations, with the 
 present rulers of France, for the restoration of peace, 
 is a subject of the greatest alarm. It makes the war a 
 war of extermination, and the most fearful con- 
 sequences may be apprehended*. Our enemies have 
 the fairest occasion they could wish for, for rekindlino- 
 that flame with increasing rage, which so lately in- 
 spired them with a spirit of contrivance and resolution, 
 that brought almost all Europe to their, feet. But a 
 flame which wanted fuel to keep it alive, and we have 
 furnished it. Surely this thing is from the Lord of 
 hosts, who hath a controversy with our nation, and 
 hath said, " Make the heart of this people fat, and 
 make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they 
 see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and under- 
 stand with their heart, and convert and be healedf." 
 
 * For ought that appears to the contrary f peace might have been 
 restored' to the world on terms much more advantageous to us and ou? 
 allies, than what we lately thought of demanding. For ought that ap- 
 pears to the contrary, we might have dictated peace almost on our OWB 
 terms. 
 
 t Isa. vi. 10.
 
 234 CONCLUSION*. 
 
 . * 
 
 And what consolation is to be derived from the 
 character and temper of the nation ? Vice' abounds 
 every where, and in all forms. A deterioration 19 our 
 moral character, as a people, is too manifest. As we 
 have increased in riches, we have increased in depra- 
 vation of character. The rapid decline of religious 
 principle is become so notorious, that it appears in all 
 our habits and conversation, and gives a colouring to 
 all our transactions. Infidelity spreads far and wide : 
 \ea, even the monster Atheism has emerged from his 
 hiding-place, and stalks about in open day, spreading 
 every where the most deadly poison, and planting, 
 equally in the minds of philosophers and mechanics, 
 of princes and peasants, the seeds of all sorts of crimes, 
 private and public. Every thing which holds society 
 together, and which secures the safety, good order, and 
 happiness of its members, seems fast dissolving. The 
 ministers of religion, too, are blowing the dying em- 
 bers of that rancorous spirit of division which, where- 
 ever it has prevailed, has produced such fatal effects 
 among Christians, and so multiplied the enemies of 
 religion ; and this at a time when the union of all is 
 so necessary to oppose the common foe. Add to all 
 this, that general, apathy which has seized all orders 
 of men among us ; that indifference to what is passing 
 in the world ; that unconcern (so that we can get 
 money, and enjoy ease and pleasure) even about the 
 aifairs of our own country, constitution and liberties ; 
 that perfect insensibility to the awful hand of God 
 which is stretched out to punish the nations for their 
 iniquities j that extravagant national pride and vain 
 confidence in our own prowess. What can all this 
 indicate, but that we are precipitating fast to that 
 abyss in which all other nations have been swallowed 
 up, whose long prosperity had produced the same 
 direful symptoms? Look abroad. God's judgments 
 ' are in the earth, but the inhabitants thereof have not 
 learnt righteousness*. The awful scene moves for- 
 ward, step by step, and quickens as it advances; but 
 God is riot acknowledged; his hand, which directs all. 
 is not seen, and we feel nothing, unless rage against 
 
 * Isa. xxvi. 9,
 
 CONCLUSION. . 35 
 
 the instruments employed? Repentance is hidden 
 from our eyes. " Alas for the day * for the day of the 
 Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Al- 
 mighty will it come*!" At least this may certainly be 
 expected, unless a timely repentance, and a change of 
 principles, measures, and manners, arrest its course. 
 
 May the mercy of God be shewn to us in opening 
 our eyes before it be too late, and in giving us a heart 
 to seek him, " while he may be found !" In averting 
 from our land the awful miseries which infatuation is 
 provoking, and in restoring to us the blessings of 
 PEACE ! 
 
 * Joel I 15. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY J. BABFJELD^ WARDOUR STEJEJtT. 

 
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