Chapter IV: Part 4

The good Christians of the United States, I do nut use the term in sarcasm, for they are good, speak in their books and sermons of the Christian religion as if it were every where the same as in the grand, free, and liberal republic. But the Fact is not so. An American who reads the poems of Homer, or Ovid's Metamorphoses, laughs at the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans as a ridiculous folly; but when he visits those countries in Christendom which are not Protestant, he will be inclined to regard their religion as a blasphemy against the Most High. Go where you will in those countries, if you look into their churches, you invariably nod "a molten image, or picture, and a teacher of lies." [fn117]

The prophets of the Old Testament reproached the idolatrous Jews, that "according to the number of their cities were their gods." But in the countries I speak of, the number of gods is according to the number of churches, and even houses; for every house contains an image or picture of some saint or other, who is considered as the tutelary guardian of the family.

H

Mr. Everett observes upon this prophecy of Jeremiah p. 75. of his work, "as it is near two thousand years since David has failed of a temporal prince up on his throne, and a temporal successor of Levites, and since it is declared that it shall NEVER fail of these, we must suppose that a spiritual secession and a spiritual service were intended: or else the solemn promise.-of God has been for two thousand years, without fulfillment."

"Ut semper!"------

Sternhold and Hopklns had great qualms, When they did quaver David's Psalms; "Which made their hearts full glad. But had the prophet back been sent, To hear them SING,--and you COMMENT, They surely had run mad."

I

PASSAGES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT PREDICTING THE RESTORATION OF THE DISPERSION.

"Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I DECLARE: BEFORE THEY SPRING FORTH I TELL you them."

"I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west: I will say to the north, give up; and to the south keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea I have made him. Is. xliii: 3, 6, 7.

"Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the peoples; 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 to thee with their face toward the earth, and shall lick up the dust of thy feet: and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered. But thus saith Jehovah. Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee; and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh: and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." Is. xlix.

" Jehovah shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places: and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein; thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me my people, and give ear unto me O, my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for alight of the peoples. My righteousness, is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples: the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they lean."

[See the Heb.] Is. li.

"Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded: for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, [i. e. thy ancient Idolatry] and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhoods [i. e. thy two dispersions] any more. For thy Maker is thy Husband, Jehovah of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the Holy one of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For Jehovah hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou hadst been refused saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer. For this is as the 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 will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed: but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted: behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones, and thy children shall be taught of Jehovah, and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression: for thou shalt not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near thee." Is. liv.

"Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy God: and for the Holy one of Israel; for he hath glorified thee," Is. lv. 5.

"Behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces [or wealth] of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee; the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah: all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense: and they shall show forth the praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth [i. e. the chiefs of the Arabs Nebaioth was the eldest son of Ishmael] shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance to mine altar, [doubtless, because they have been worshippers of one sole God of Abraham and the prophets since, the days of Mohammed] and I will beautify the house of my glory. "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the 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; unto the name of Jehovah thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel because He hath glorified thee. And 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. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night: that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box-tree together, 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 themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the city of Jehovah, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken, and hated, that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of endless [ac. to the Heb.] generations. Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver; and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders: but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day: neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy Glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified."' Is ch. Ix.

"Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt be no more termed forsaken: neither shall thy laud any more be termed desolate--For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee." Is. ch. Ixii.

"Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations: that ye may milk and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah. Behold I will extend Peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like an overflowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforted so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." Is. Ixvi.

"Thus saith Jehovah, keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold of it, that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger who hath joined himself unto Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah hath utterly separated me from his people--the sons of the stranger that join themselves to Jehovah, to serve him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant: even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on mine altar; for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Jehovah God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather others to him beside those that are gathered to him." Is. ch. Ivi.

"Tell ye and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time: Have not I Jehovah? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth: for I am God and, there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me: every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in Jehovah have I righteousness and strength: even to Him, shall men come: and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." [fn119] Is. xlv. 21. &c.

ERRATA.

(The manuscript of this book was written in little more than three weeks at Cairo, amidst the hurry and bustle of my preparations to accompany Ismael Pasha to the Upper Nile. It has been printed without my having had it in my power to correct any of the proofs. In consequence of one or both of these circumstances the following. Errata almost entirely literal have been committed. I believe however that the Scholar will not find any misstatement of facts, nor the Logician any flaw in the arguments; the book lays before the Public. On these two points I feel quite secure in this respect: I calmly and firmly lay my gage at the feet of all Christendom. Let him who dares to take it up, do it.)

[fn1 for "chooseth," read "chusest."]

[fn2 for "possessions," read "prepossessions"]

[fn3 for "these," read "their"]

[fn 4. Mr. Everett appears willing to allow, as said before, the existence of these contradictions in the narratives of the Evangelists, particularly in their accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, [See p.456. of his work.] but maintains their credibility nevertheless, and in justification of this opinion, he quotes p. 457, the contradictions of the historians of the execution of the Marquis of Argyle; a fact nevertheless not doubted. But the cases are by no means parallel; that a rebel should be decapitated is a fact of notorious frequency in British history and very probable in itself, and as it is a fact without consequence, no man will be inclined to doubt it, if it be affirmed by history, notwithstanding some contradictions in the accounts of the circumstances of his execution.

But I would ask Mr. Everett--if the same historians who report the execution of the Marquis of Argyle; had also affirmed that three days after he had his head cut off, he appeared again alive to his particular friends with his head on, talking and dining with them; and that one of these historians represent this to have taken place at London--another at Edinburgh--and a third at Stirling, would Mr. Everett, or any man in his senses, hesitate to consider these contradictions in the accounts of such a supernatural event as of no weight? Let us add to this another consideration.--Suppose that the Marquis of Argyle was a man of irreproachable and admirable character, and enthusiastically beloved by his friends, and that these friends believed in certain ancient prophecies which predicted that a Scotchman should arise, who should make Scotland supreme over all the earth, and live himself for ever; and that these friends believed the Marquis of Argyle to be the man: but that disappointed in their expectations by seeing him suffer his head to be cut off, they had their hopes revived by the appearance of this story of his having been seen alive by twelve of his most intimate friends, who were the heads of the party who had believed that the Marquis of Argyle would fulfill the prophecies aforesaid, and not content with receiving this contradictory story with avidity themselves, (which after all might have been invented as a salvo for his non-fulfillment or postponing the fulfillment of these prophecies, by submitting to be decapitated) insisted that every body else should believe it too, on pain of eternal damnation!--Would not Mr. Everett be inclined to suspect that these friends of the Marquis of Argyle were deluded men, and possibly noncompos mentis; and suppose that these friends of the Marquis of Argyle had told their party that he had been taken up to Heaven, for a time, but would return again into the World, before that generation had passed away, and would then fulfill the prophecies aforesaid; and that this party, notwithstanding, that the Marquis of Argyle did not come again before that generation had passed away nor for eighteen hundred years afterwards, still retained their belief in the aforesaid circumstances, and still insisted that everybody else should believe them too on pain of eternal damnation; would not Mr. Everett consider these men as certainly distracted? "Mulata[fn5] nomine de te fabula narratur," Mr. Everett.]

[fn5 for "mulata" read "mulatto"]

[fn6 Dr. Campbell in his notes to his translation of the Evangelists in loco. tries to prove that the Greek words in the Gospel of Matthew, which undoubtedly strictly and literally Signify "in the evening of the Sabbath," or "at the end of the Sabbath," may mean "the Sabbath being ended,"; which, if it could be established, would set aside the objection I have mentioned.]

[fn7 for 24 read 36]

[fn8 for 54 read 34]

[fn9 Of lrenaeus and. Tertullian Mr. Everett remarks, that "Tertullian was a very shrewd writer, [yes indeed, and of his fraudulent shrewdness Middleton gives some notable instances in his true inquiry] and Irenaeus less fool than knave," p. 471. of Mr. Everett's work. I would observe to Mr. Everett, that this Irenaeus is the first writer who mentions the four Gospels, and that the Fathers of the Church who came after him in affirming the genuineness of the four Gospels appeal to this Irenaeus this "half fool, half knave," as the authority and voucher for their authenticity; the evidence for their authenticity stops short with him. Justin Martyr who flourished about the year 140 of the Christian Era, in his apology quotes, indeed, Memoirs of Jesus Christ which he says, were written by Apostles and Apostolick men. But it is, acknowledged by Bishop Marsh in his notes to Michaelis Introduction, to the New Testament, that the quotations of Justin Martyr are so unlike the expressions in the received Evangelists to which they appear to refer, that one of two things must be true; either that Justin does not quote our present Gospels; or else, that they were in his time in a very different state, than what they now are.

Papias who wrote about 116 of the Christian Era says, that Matthew wrote a Gospel "in Hebrew which every one interpreted as he was able," but says nothing of a Gospel of Matthew in Greek; and that the present Greek Gospel called of Matthew could not be a translation from Matthew's Hebrew, appears from Bishops Marsh's Dissertation on the origin of these[fn10] first Gospels; where he proves that it is not a translation of one work, but a compilation from several. The same is maintained by the German Theologians to be presently mentioned.

[fn10 for "these," "the three"]

[fn11 These Sybiline oracles so often, and so confidently appealed to by the Fathers of the Church, are now universally allowed to have been forged by the Christians themselves: of them Scaliger speaks as follows.

"Quid pseudo--Sybilina oracula quae Christiani gentibus objiciebant, quum tamen e Christianorum officina prodiissent in Gentium autem Bibliothecis non reperirentur? Adeo verbum Dei inefficax esse censuerunt, ut regnum Christi sine mendaciis promoveri posse diffiderent? atque utinam illi firimi mentiri coepissent," apud La Roche Mem. Lit. 7. 331. as quoted by Mr. Everett, p. 228. of his work.

If the reader will consult Toland's Amyntor, he will find appended to that work, a list of the names of I think about a hundred Gospels, Epistles, and Revelations, forged by the Gentile Christians in the first centuries of the Christian Era. The Celebrated Semler, so distinguished for his knowledge in Biblical criticism and ecclesiastical antiquities, has said, as Mr. Everett allows, p. 464 of his work, that the general Epistles of James, Peter, and John and Jude, and the book of Revelations, contained in the New Testament at present, must be also placed upon the long list of pious frauds, fabricated in the first ages of Christianity.]

[fn12 It is an allowed principle of liberal criticism, that when the expressions of an author are capable of two senses, one of which would make him contradict himself, and the other would leave him consistent, it is but fair to suppose that he meant to be consistent, and therefore should be interpreted in the sense which would exclude self contradiction. How has the liberal Mr. Everett acted on an occasion of this kind? I had said in my first work "the Jewish Christians, the disciples of the twelve Apostles, NEVER received, but rejected every individual book of the present New Testament."

I had also maintained, that the Gospels were forged after the middle of the second century. Now any reasonable man would I believe understand me as using the expressions, "Jewish Christians, the disciples of the twelve Apostles," in the same sense as when we speak of the followers of Plato, Whitfield, or Wesley, by the name of Disciples of Plato, Whitfield, or Wesley, without confining the expression to signify their immediate disciples; the insertion of the words, "never received," also suggests that this must have been my meaning. Nevertheless Mr. Everett, in order to bring me in contradiction with myself in order to serve a turn of his own, remarks upon my words, "without presuming to decide upon the opinions of a writer, so keen in detecting dissonances as Mr. English, I do presume to think, that if every individual book, of the present New Testament, was rejected, by the disciples of the twelve Apostles, that they must have been in being at the time they were rejected, and therefore could not have been forged, a century after that period. I am not conscious of any wish to weaken the force of Mr. English's arguments, by affecting to speak of them in contemptuous terms, I would, as I have, answered them fairly, or not at all." p.445.]

[fn13 If so, what becomes of all Mr. Everett's laboured argument upon Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem contained in p. 401 et seq. of his work; if it be true that the prophecy was written, after the events predicted took place!]

[fn14 If this opinion be true, and Bishop Marsh may be considered as having almost demonstrated it to be so in his dissertation upon the origin of the three first Gospels, it follows, that these Gospels could not have been written by the Apostles, and immediate followers of Jesus Christ; for certainly, men personally and intimately acquainted with all his actions, and all his doctrines, (as were his Apostles and all his immediate followers, and influenced too by the Holy Ghost, as they are all represented to have been in the book of Acts, ch. iv. 31,) in setting about writing Memoirs of Jesus, would write from their own complete, inspired and personal knowledge; and would not compile from "books which had gone through various hands, and been variously altered and added to in the passage." No! such a procedure would be that of men who had no personal knowledge of the events they undertook to record; and who were therefore obliged to consult books for information.

In order to place in a fair light the absurdity of supposing the four Gospels to have been written by the Apostles and first followers of Jesus, I will suppose, a case. Suppose there should appear in the world, four different Lives of Napoleon pretending to have been written by four of his aids de camp, who had constantly been near his person, from the time that he commanded the troops in Paris till his dethronement; and that one of them represented that the expedition to Egypt took place when he was General of the troops in Paris, another that it took place when he was first Consul, and the others that it took place when he was Emperor. Would any man believe, that ALL these books were written by aids de-camp of Napoleon, who had been constantly near his person from the time that he commanded the troops of Paris till his dethronement?]

[fn15 The New Testament, is I believe unparalleled among all the ancient books that have come down to us for the number, and importance of the corruptions, and alterations, it has undergone. What! can learned Christians tell us of several hundred thousands of various readings, in copies of a small book like the New Testament--that almost every, perhaps every verse has been altered, interpolated, or retrenched in some copy or other--and then add in the same breath that the book is nevertheless to be received, as containing the uncorrupted doctrines of the founders of Christianity? If we did not know the inconsistency, and blindness of prejudice, one might be tempted to suspect that these learned men were hardly sincere.

What! is it to be insisted on that a book which Providence has evidently abandoned to carelessness, or to roguery, or to both, was nevertheless intended by the Supreme, as a credible record of an ultimate, permanent and universal religion for all mankind!!-- The insane effrontery of such a supposition deserves to be hooted out of countenance.

Mr. Everett says, p. 243. of his work "that not one of the books of the New Testament, nor all of them together, were intended to be a forensic defence of Christianity. On the contrary, the historical books are brief, and imperfect memoirs, which were not designed, nor supposed to contain all the faces, and which do not set forth, nor profess to set forth the evidences of the religion. The Epistolary parts are the counsels, instructions and affectionate sentiments which the occasions of the infant churches, drew from their founders. Now from these we expect, to collect the whole of Christianity, of its doctrines, its precepts, and its sanctions." Can Mr. Everett confidently believe, that God Almighty, who descended to the earth, to deliver a Code to one nation would have left the world to collect as they could a complete, universal, and permanent code of religion and, morals from "brief and imperfect," interpolated and corrupted memoirs, and a few occasional letters?]

[fn16 Mr. Everett recommends to me to adopt as an appropriate motto for the second edition of my first work, a passage from Celsus which speaks of the dispute, between the Jews and Christians as a "quarrel about the shadow of an ass." p. 327. of Mr. Everett's work.

Is it so indeed! How then has it happened that Mr. Everett's Coreligionists have for fifteen hundred years persecuted, despised, oppressed, trampled underfoot millions, plundered and massacred hundreds of thousands, tortured, racked, and roasted alive thousands of the Jewish nation; and all in a quarrel about "the shadow of an ass!" O shame, where is thy blush. O meek eye'd humanity, how hast thou been outraged and trampled on!

For my own part I do not consider it as a quarrel about "the shadow of an ass," I rather think it has a much greater resemblance to a quarrel about an ass in the Lion's skin; in which quarrel the Christians have shown themselves to be every thing but the Fox in the Fable upon that subject.]

[fn17 Mr. Everett, also quotes my words in another place into the 211 page of his work. "The Jews had certainly good reason from their prophecies, to expect no Messiah but one who should set on the Throne of David, and confer Liberty and happiness on them, and spread peace and happiness throughout the earth, and communicate the knowledge of God and virtue, and the love of their fellow men to every people."

Is this a character "whose laurel is to be watered by tears," the leaves of which is to "grow green in an atmosphere filled with sighs and groans?" I would ask Mr. Everett.]

[fn18 Mr. Everett says page, 107. with great gravity, "to hear the Evangelists charged in vulgar terms with misquoting and changing words, by one, who could himself fall into the errors and the misrepresentations we have just exposed, has moved me to a warmth of language, which I did not think to have used. But, I beg pardon: it is the New Testament which teaches us, that we "beware lest we condemn ourselves, in what we judge another." And Mr. English has let us know that the New Testament morality is pernicious to society. Justly, most Justly, does Dr. Leland observe, that "it would be hard to produce any persons whatever, who are chargeable with more unfair, and fraudulent management in their quotations, in curtailing, adding to, and altering the passages they cite, or taking them out of their connexion, and making them speak directly contrary to the sentiments of their authors than the Deistical Writers!!" They are indeed sad dogs, it must be allowed, Mr. Everett.]

[fn19 See Appendix B]

[fn20 Mr. Everett considers the happy reign of the Messiah as having actually commenced with the era of Jesus Christ, and that we are actually enjoying its blessings. Of course he must consider his being whipped, and gibbetted by his own subjects, and leaving the world in the hands of those holy men, Tiberius, Nero, Caligula, Domitian, and Heliogabalus, kingdom rising against kingdom, and nation against nation; (though the prophets declare that in the reign of the Messiah "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,") famines, earthquakes, and pestilences in divers places, (though the prophets declare that in the reign of the Messiah, the earth shall become a Paradise, and that God shall wipe all tears from off all faces, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away,) that horrid Jewish war in which perished more than eleven hundred thousand of the Jewish nation, while the rest were dispersed and enslaved, (though the prophets say, that in the reign of the Messiah the Jews should enjoy the most perfect and endless happiness,) the theological quarrels, frauds, forgeries. Councils, and Excommunications, and an endless detail of Battle and Murder, the irruptions and devastations of the Goths Huns and Vandals, the rise and establishment of "these venerable institutions," the Popedom and the Inquisition, the persecutions and wars excited by St. Dominic, the wars of Charlemagne, and the Teutonic Knights upon the Germans, giving them no alternative but the Gospel or the Sword, the Crusades, the pious exploits of Cortez and Pizarro in America, the comfortable state of things during the dark ages, the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the wars carried on by the Catholicks against the Protestants, and the wars since carried on by the Protestants and Catholicks, indiscriminately with each other, as among those "blessed events, and happy changes," I use Mr. Everett's words, intended by "the highly figurative language," of the Old Testament prophets predictive of the reign of the Messiah! If the reader will pursue those predictions contained in Appendix, B, or that beautiful compend of them in Pope's "Messiah" he will I believe allow, that if it were possible for such things as the above mentioned, to be really intended by those prophecies, they would be the greatest hoax, and the most flagrant and enormous verification of the old proverb "parturiunt montes nascitur ridiculus mus," on record.

[fn21 It is worth notice that when the term "Saviour," is applied in the Old Testament to men, it invariably signifies a temporal deliverer, for instance, Judges iii. 9.15, in the Hebrew.]

[fn22 The writers of the Old Testament frequently speak of the head, hands, ears, eyes, and even nostrils of the Deity. Will Mr. Everett infer that because these expressions must be understood, figuratively, that whenever the sacred writers speak of heads, hands, ears, eyes, and noses of men, that said heads, hands, ears, eyes, and noses had no physical existence, but must be interpreted figuratively? If so, I do not despair of seeing Mr. Everett publish a dissertation, crowded by numerous quotations from the Rabbies, in order to prove, that the history of David's cutting off the head of Goliath, was in all probability merely a figurative account, in the oriental style, of the success of the prophet David in a controversy he had with a certain Philistine Heathen Priest of the God Dagon, ("strange sea monster, upward man, and downward fish:") who had written a book in order to prove against the Israelites) that their law was "a dead letter," and they themselves no "nation."]

[fn23 Paul in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians appears to say, as he affirms "by the word of the Lord," that the second coming of Jesus to do all this, should take place during the life time of the generation to whom he was writing, for he says 1 Thess. ch. iv, 15, speaking of the Christians who had died before he wrote, "this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and the dead in Christ should rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

The Gospels represent Jesus as saying, that there were some of that generation who should not taste of death till they saw him come in the manner that Paul describes. For Mark, in the xiii. ch. of his Gospel, after representing Jesus as prophecying the destruction of Jerusalem, says that his discourse at that time went on as follows.

"But in those days after that tribulation, (i. e. after the siege and destruction of Jerusalem) the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And, the stars of Heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in Heaven shall be shaken. "And then shall they see the son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part the earth to the uttermost part of Heaven. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Mark, xiii. 24, &c.]

[fn24 after "was" insert "according to Mr. Everett,"]

[fn25 Mr. Everett has produced some authorities which make it doubtful whether the genuine reading in this place was "thy saints or thy pious ones," in the plural, or thy "saint, or thy pious one;" in the singular. The matter is not worth disputing about, if it be made evident that the Psalm refers to David.]

[fn26 Mr. Everett p. 87. of his work: in trying to prove that the original word signifies "corruption," has unhappily produced a passage which not only proves nothing in his favour, but a great deal in mine. "Therefore, says Daniel, I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption ("the word here in the original is from the same root as that, in the 16 Psalm translated by me destruction?") and I retained no strength." Dan. x. 8. Most commentators on this passage, I believe, suppose that Daniel meant to signify that he was petrified at the sight of the angel; and that his physical faculties were suspended through terror. Does Mr. Everett suppose, that the prophet meant to; signify that he was actually putrified at the sight of Gabriel?]

[fn27 for "Acts 4. 45" read "Acts 4:25"]

[fn28 "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand. To execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples: To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written; this honour have all his saints. Praise ye Jehovah. Ps. cxlix. This passage alludes to the same doctrine: there are many in the psalms and prophets of the same import. It is but justice however to the Hebrew prophets to add, that they hold the balance of justice between Jew and Gentile very fairly, in representing that on account of the superior light vouchsafed to the former, God would punish them "double for all their sins;" and that before they shall be advanced to the eternal supremacy promised them, the most terrible trials and severities shall exterminate the wicked and worthless from the nation.]

[fn29 Which is of the same family as the religion of Thibet. The Christians believe that God became incarnate in the infant Jesus. The Thibetians and Chinese believe that God is incarnate in the person of the Grand Lama. And each of them considers the other as "ignorant and deluded idolaters."]

[fn30 All the Christians throughout the world, except the Protestants who do not constitute more than a fifth of the Christian world, kneel and pray before the crucifix, images, and pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. Their churches are crowded with images and pictures, before which they burn lamps, tapers, and incense. The great toe of the right foot of an ancient bronze statue of Jupiter, christened St. Peter, in the magnificent Church of St. Peter at Rome, is nearly worn off by the devout kisses and rubbings of the worshippers of that Saint, If the spirit of the Unitarian Jew Peter, could animate that statue, I believe that the foot of it would have long since kicked the teeth down the throat of some of his worshippers. See Appendix, G. G.]

[fn31 That Mary is "the Mother of God!" is the creed of all the Christian sects except the Protestants, and Nestorians.

The European and Asiatic Christian churches, except a precious handful of Unitarians, appear to act upon the principles of the old Samaritans. So these nations feared Jehovah, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children; as did their Fathers, so do they unto this day." 2 Kings xvii 41. Their religion is as inconsistent and inconsequent as the conduct of Nebuchadnezzar; who "answered unto Daniel, and said, of a truth it is that your God is a God of Gods, and a Lord of Lords," Dan. ch. ii. 47. And who, notwithstanding, set up an idol of gold, and commanded all peoples, nations, and languages to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up: and threatened that whoso falleth not down; and worshippeth should be cast into a burning fiery furnace." ch. iii, and who on another occasion "acknowledged and blessed the most high, and praised and honoured him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation:" ch. iv. and who notwithstanding destroyed his Temple, and lodged its sacred vessels in the treasure house of his idol. The service of the Christian churches not Protestant resembles Bellshazzar's feast. They drink out of the golden, and silver vessels, which they have "taken out of the Temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem," and praise the Gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of wood, and of stone,[fn32] which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the result of the business, if the Old Testament predict the truth, will be, that the mysterious menaces written by the figures of God, will be fulfilled in confusion, wo, and destruction]

[fn32 I allude to the crucifixes, images, and pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Saints, with which all Christian churches, not protestant are filled.]

[fn33 for "come" read "came"]

[fn34 This is incorrect, Bethlehem is at present one of most populous cities in Palestine.]

[fn35 I request the reader to look at the Hebrew of Gen. x 14. which Mr. Everett must have neglected to do: as otherwise I cannot account for his having referred to a passage which directly establishes my interpretation of the passage in Micah against his own. I trust that this little circumstance will induce Mr. Everett to have a fellow feeling for some errors which he says exists [fn36] in my first publication. He will find some further proofs adduced from his book in the course of this work, of the truth of the old adage, "humanium est errare."]

[fn36 for "exists" read "exist"]

[fn37 v. 10. of the ix. Ch. Of Zechariah, "and I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battlebow shall be cut off; [i.e. there shall be war no more]; and he [i.e. the Messiah,] shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." Has this been yet fulfilled or have the nations called Christians, for the last 180 years, been more peaceable than others? on the contrary, is it not they who have perfectionated the arts of war and destruction!]

[fn38 "I render me," says Mr. Everett, "because I cheerfully allow" with Eichorn and De Rossi in loco, that it is supported by most authorities." Why then does Mr. Everett abuse and insult me, p. 103, 104., for neglecting to notice the other reading he mentions, which he considers not to be the true one! If it be erroneous, what is it good for and if it be false, how has the inspired Evangelist quoted a false reading, (Gospel according to John ch. xix. 34. &c.,) in order to make out a prophecy?

I had objected in my first publication that the assertion of Stephen, when filled with the Holy Ghost, that "When Abraham went out of the land of the Chaldees, he dwelt in Haran, from thence, after his father was dead, God led him unto this land in which ye dwell." Acts vii. 4., directly contradicts the chapter in Genesis, where the Story of Abraham's leaving Haran is related, for it is certain from thence, that Abraham left his father Zerah[fn39] in Haran alive when he departed, and that he did not die till many ' years afterwards."

On this Mr. Everett observes, "The difficulty is this, that Zerah is said in Genesis ch. 11. to have been seventy years old when Abraham was born, and to have lived two hundred and five years. But Abraham is also said to have left Haran when he was aged seventy-five years [Genesis xii. 14.]; at which time of course; his Father was one hundred and forty-five years old, and therefore must have lived sixty years after his son Abraham left Haran. But Stephen in the passage in question says, that Abraham left Haran after his Father was dead. Now this direct contradiction is quite cleared up by the Samaritan copies of the Pentateuch, which give the whole age of Zerah exactly 145 years: and confirm the account of Stephen, that Abraham waited till the decease of his father, and then immediately left Haran. Had Mr. English no light upon this subject, but what he derived from his unlettered Rabbi, or even from the Commentators whose "troubles" he finds or feigns, one could not blame him for passing over this fact in silence. But I remember well the time, when Mr. English collected[fn40] the text of the Samaritan copy as it stands in Kennicott's Bible, for the express purpose of ascertaining the diversity of the Hebrew and Samaritan texts. To suppress now a reading from this copy, which entirely removes his objection, argues a deplorable forgetfulness, or a willful fraud; and it would be a piece of affectation in me to speak of it in milder terms," p. 340. of Mr. Everett's work.

To put this courteous language to the blush, it is only necessary to observe, that the most distinguished Hebrew Critics [I think, if my memory does not deceive me, I may name De Rossi, for instance,] adhere to the reading of the Hebrew bible as the true one, and have not suffered themselves to be swayed by the strong Christian motives which have biassed Mr. Everett in this instance. Stephen, who was a Jew, would also never have given the preference to a reading-of the Pentateuch of the Samaritan's, which also abounds with blunders. The Gentile author of the Book of Acts probably fabricated the speech.]

[fn39 for "Zerah" read "Terah"]

[fn40 for "collected" read "collated"]

[fn41 Mr. Everett, in. a note to p. 194 of his work, speaks of Salathiel and Zorobabel as succeeding to the "throne of Judah after the Babylonish captivity. Any one who will read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah with attention, will be satisfied that this language is quite ridiculous: forasmuch as that Salathiel was a captive slave at Babylon, and Zorobabel was but at best the Governor of Judea for the King of Persia, and all the Jews under his command were subject to the orders of Tabnai[fn42] and Shether Boznia. "Governors beyond the river" for the Persian King. See Ezra ch. ix. 8, 9. Neh. ch. vi. 6, 7. and ch. ix. 37. In this and in many other instances, Mr. Everett in order to gain his cause, has been obliged to forget the command recorded in "the beggarly elements," to have been given from Mount Sinai, "thou shalt not speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment." Exod. xxiii, 2. There are, however, cases in which lawyers allow that this precept may be dispensed with, particularly if the cause be of great importance: and more particularly still when the client pays well.]

[fn42 for "Romans" read "Asmonaeans" for "Tabnai" read "Tatnai"]

[fn43 The Jewish Rabbies have been treated, by the Christian controversial writers, in the same manner as the foolish King of Israel was treated, by the messengers of the defeated Benhadad. "Now the men [the messengers of Benhadad] did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch at it." 1 Kings, ch. xx 33. The famous work of Dr. Allix, exposed by Nye, where Allix tries to show by quotations from Jewish writings, that the ancient Jews were Trinitarians, is a notable instance of this. Mr. Everett's work itself, enables me to lay before the reader one at least, which will verify my observation.

Mr. Cary in his refutation of my first work, quoted with great solemnity, one Rabbi Alshek as maintaining that the 53d. of Isaiah referred to the Messiah. Every one of Mr. Cary's lay readers, undoubtedly have supposed that this was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But it was not. The whole truth leaks out in Mr. Everett's work, in a note to p. 143, where Mr. Everett says, that this famous Rabbi "having acknowledged that the prophet had the Messiah in view [in the 53d. of Isaiah,], he afterwards applied the oracle to some other person, and finally to Moses!" Now in the name of common sense I would, ask, of what value can the testimony and authority of a man be, who could be capable of such contradictory nonsense as this.

The Jewish Rabbies, in general, have verified completely the prediction of the prophet. "Jehovah said, Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men, [possibly alluding to the traditions of the elders,] therefore, behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid," Is. ch. Xxix. 13, 14.

Mr. Everett says, that it is notorious that the Rabbies the most contemptible critics on the sacred writings that have appeared, p. 49. and in another part of his work, says that they are so silly that he is almost ashamed to quote them, 229. Notwithstanding all this, he is continually justifying his own follies by appealing to theirs: such is Mr. Everett's respect for the understandings of his readers, that he is continually hauling the poor Rabbies to the bar of the public; he makes them "hold up their culprit paws," and pinches their ears to make them say what he pleases. His pages are crowded with their names; unutterable names; names which reduce "arms! and George! and Brunswick!" into tameness and insignificance. If such means of defending Christianity are successful, I shall no longer doubt that it was possible for the Devil Asmodus to have been corked up in a bottle by the hard words of a conjurer.]

[fn44 for "carinficina," read "carnificina"]

[fn45 Or "soliloquize upon" the original word in the Hebrew is used in this sense in Is. ch. xiv. 16]

[fn46 "Thou hast made us the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples," says Jer. Lam. ch. iii. 45.]

[fn47 The prophet here compares Israel to the scape goat, who had the sins of the people-laid upon him, and was banished into the wilderness.]

[fn48 for "with" read "through"]

[fn49 Or "fierce oppressor." See Eichorn's Lex. In loc.]

[fn50 "In deaths often" says Paul, meaning terrible dangers or sufferings.]

[fn51 Mr. Everett in his zeal to catch me at a fault with regard to this prophecy of Isaiah, has himself stumbled and fallen. I had maintained in my first work, in reference to this passage, that of the subject of this prophecy it is; said, "He shall see his seed and shall prolong his days," and that therefore it could not relate to Jesus who had no posterity. Mr. Everett in his remarks upon this p. 147 of his work, spiritualises the word "seed," and says it relates to the church, and he exclaims against me as follows, p. 147. "What indolent carelessness it is to say that the word seed shall not be spiritualized here, when the very next verse says, he shall see the travail of his soul." "What poor mortals we are," says Sir Hugh! If Mr. Everett will look at the Hebrew, he will find that the "indolent carelessness" he speaks of, was not mine but his; for the Hebrew word translated travail, has no reference whatever to childbearing, but signifies fearful toil, or painful distress. The English word travail, in the time of the translators of the Bible had this signification. They have employed it in this signification in the passages following: "And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharoah and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way." Ex. ch. xviii. 8. Again, "this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith." Eccles. i. 13. As Mr. Everett says, p.114 of his work, "It is good to be positive but better to be correct; and the reader I doubt not will agree with me, that such dogmatical blundering as this is prevent-. ed from being offensive only as it is ludicrous."]

[fn52 The prophet represents here, that Israel should be to the nations what Aaron was to the Jews. Aaron was considered as bearing away the sins of the Jews on the day of atonement. "Ye shall be named the priests of Jehovah, and in men shall call you the ministers of our God." Is. ch. lxi. 6.]

[fn53 Have their complaints been "fiercer" than the flames of the piles of Madrid, Lisbon, Paris, Italy, Germany, and England, in which thousands of them have been burnt to ashes? For shame! Mr. Everett. The recording angel may drop a tear upon what you have written, not to blot it out, but in compassion for the miseries for which you seem to think words of "complaint" are an equivalent.]